Vaut landed on his bed, his back still shredded from the gravel, and yet he didn't scream in pain. The excitement of the hunt had yet to wane.
"That should do it." Pink smiles as he finishes laying on the bandages. "It wasn't too bad, but to avoid infection you should keep it clean." The glacis wearing young man waves as Vaut leaves.
When Lance returned the sun had long been up. He didn't talk to anyone, just entering the main annex and slamming the door behind him.
Vaut was concerned but didn't think much of it.
A month later.
"Vaut." A woman calls out Vaut's name as she passes by. "Did you see the news?" She stops to stare him in the eyes.
She was a civilian working in a small flower shop down the street. "What news?" Vaut asks with genuine curiosity.
"Lots of people have been going missing recently, rumor has it the serial killer from ten years ago is back at it again."
"Oh?" Vaut slightly slumps. "I see."
She left soon after being replaced by a massive fat guy wearing an opera mask, he sniffs the air next to Vaut. "Are you the new Gray?" Was what he asked.
"And you must be the Red I heard about." Vaut nods.
Before he knew it, the massive hand was wrapped around Vaut's neck picking him up into the air. "She was yummy, I wonder how you will taste."
"Cut it out you slob." A smart looking man grabs his arm. "What did I tell you about eating living people?"
"It will upset my stomach." Red calmly sets down Vaut, causing Vaut to reach for his neck gasping for air.
"I am Yellow, your senour, and also a senour your mage." The smart looking man speaks. "This is my little brother, Red. He is the disposal within the Freed clan."
"This is Yellow, my older brother." Red speaks, adding a grumble to each word. "He is the strategist within the Freed clan."
"Together we make the Mage brothers." They say in unison, though only Yellow had emotion in his voice.
"Is that so?" Vaut coughs harder.
"Anyways young man, we will make our leave." Both of them entered the compound without saying another word.
Vaut stood in silence until his shift ended. He couldn't help but wonder once more if this life was for him.
"Old sport you're doing it all wrong." The older man guides Vaut's hands as they play golf. "See that hole over there, disregard it. The beauty of a good shot is the perfect line up. So if you don't think you can hit the hole, don't aim for the hole." He pulls Vaut's hands as the club makes contact with the ball. He had not hit it hard, so the ball rolled slowly, coming to a halt downhill of the hole with about a two-foot gap. "Now hit it, hit her with passion."
Vaut slowly walked up to the ball, he leveled out his shoulders preparing for his swing, and when the club struck the ball, it moved ever so close to the hole before rolling back down the hill. "I don't think I am good enough." Vaut slouches.
"Hogwash, we all start somewhere, it would be absurd to believe you can master something from the start. If it was that easy, why do it at all." The older man walks over to the ball, hitting it just right for it to slide into the hole. "It is imperfection that makes humans human, without imperfection we are just machines. Don't you agree?"
"Sure." Vaut nods along.
"Let me ask you a riddle. I am order and yet I am chaos, I am peace and yet I am war, what am I?"
"I don't know." Vaut shrugs.
"Please, you hardly tried." The older man frowns. "The answer is humanity, we strive for both peace and order, but we still create war and chaos. These contradictory ideals is what drives us. How might a man think he can achieve peace through war? How might all order be stained with disorder? We are here, to not just understand the world, but surpass it. That is what it means to be human. Humans are broken by design."
Vaut didn't think he would get a philosophy lesson when Lance's father asked him to play golf, but it felt strangely enlightening. Perhaps not in the way intended, but it felt to him like there was more to the Freed family then he even thought.
"Now that I caught you here, how would you like to hear some more riddles?"
Vaut shrugged roughly. "Sure."