96 Switch

"Hm?" Regan cocked her head curiously. 

Antonin looked up at Regan and she flinched, the look was back. 

She bit back a smile. 

"Why must you know?" Antonin asked.

"Hmm… cuz' I want to know more about you. Is it weird for me to want to know more about the person who will be looking after me for… well as long as Vixen plans really. I don't want to be in the same room with someone I don't even know much about, I want to know more about you, so won't you tell me more?" Regan smiled, propping her elbow on the table again. 

Antonin chuckled. "You sound a bit more interested than you should be," he grinned eying Regan, "I've never had someone ask that question to me before… it's a bit... Alarming?"

"Exciting you mean," Regan scoffed.

"Hmm," Antonin nodded, "we can call it that too."

They sat in silence for a second as they kept eye contact. 

Regan twirled her fork in her spaghetti and looked up at Antonin who was following her every movement. She smirked when she caught his gaze, "You're not going to tell me?"

Antonin leaned forward, still maintaining a distance between him and Regan. " What's in it for me? I'm not going to talk about myself without having some reward."

"Hmm…" Regan looked down at her hand and moved it, her ring reflecting light again. "I can tell you more about this ring."

Antonin looked down at her hand and shrugged, "I'm not sure. I'm not the one that should be interested in that ring right now. Ask again later and the ring would be suitable."

Regan's eyebrow raised with curiosity, "Huh? Then what would you like instead?"

Antonin shrugged, "I can't make up my mind right now so how about I tell you more about me right now and take my reward later?" 

Regan paused before answering. She didn't like the way things were going but she didn't feel like stopping either. It was the only interesting thing that had happened in her time here and she was not about to bring it to a screeching stop so quickly. She would take the risk.

"As long as it's in my power then why not?" she replied, "unless there's another option?"

"Hm, well you could wait till tomorrow and wager with the ring but I'm guessing I wouldn't be in the mood for it by then," Antonin chuckled, "my mind changes quite quickly you know?"

'It looks like your personality does too,' Regan thought to herself. "Ok then, I'll take now over tomorrow."

"Nice decision," Antonin nodded. 

"But it doesn't seem like you have a lot of time left before you have to leave," Regan nodded towards the clock on the wall, "you might have to leave in the middle of our conversation."

Regan smiled. "Glad we think the same way," she chuckled. 

"Hmm, same," Antonin nodded, "so what would you like to know, darling?" 

Regan grinned, "one, why are you here?"

"Gee, straight to the point I see," Antonin groaned, raising his hand and stretched.

"Would you have liked me beat around the bush? Sorry, not that type of person," Regan shrugged. 

A smile crept onto Antonin's face and he looked at her, curiosity ever so strong in his dazed eyes. "I know. That's what I like about you."

Regan flinched feeling a bit threatened by his gaze, "yea yea, answer my question."

"I'm afraid the cost is going to be big though," Antonin smirked.

"Once again, anything within my power, I will grant," Regan smiled, "I've lost everything valuable to me anyways."

"Hmm," Antonin stared at her for a moment and let out a small chuckle, "that's good."

"Ok then, begin whatever tale you have for me today," Regan urged, "don't try to stall anymore."

"Ok then. Where should I start? From the beginning or from halfway through?" Antonin asked, placing his arms behind him and leaned back against them.

"A summary. A nice summary that thoroughly mentions the beginning, middle, and the end of whatever plotline your story has," Regan muttered, taking a bite out of the spaghetti on her fork. 

"Sure, then it might end up being a bit long. I gotta take as long as I can anyways," Antonin muttered with a chuckle, "but first-"

He reached for the hair tie that pulled back long waves of black into a low hanging ponytail and yanked it loose. Waves of black fell down to his shoulders, framing his face perfectly. Then he placed his hair-tie down on the table and ran his hand through the long waves of hair with his hand, a long sigh of relief flowing out his mouth. 

"I hate my hair to be tied," he smiled, turning to Regan who had kept staring at him. He ruffled his hair and pulled some strands of hair away from his face. "It gives me a sense of relaxation when I free my hair y'know."

Regan giggled, "relatable."

"Anyways, I was brought here about… years ago I guess? I can't really count. No family members so don't even ask. One was murdered by the very person I admire and I'm glad they're dead. I guess I'm here to pay off an eternal debt since I can't repay this debt," Antonin smiled, a spark of mischievousness flashed in his eyes, "I'm sure you can guess what kind of debt I have."

"Yea, I can tell," Regan nodded, "Where are you from? And what happened to that family member?"

"They took a shot to the head. Bang!" Antonin chortled, "Hmm, I'm not sure how to describe where I'm from though… the underground? The streets? Maybe a gang. All I know is that I was a shuttle boy who was born into the business. In fact… I might be in jail or juvie if not for this asylum but in the end, I'm imprisoned by the same thing that saved me."

Regan gave a nod to show she was listening. 

"Anyways, my past dealt with all sorts of problems that I helped people with. Anything for a little cash when you have a family that doesn't care if you come home covered in blood and might only get worried if I don't get home because they need someone to be the breadwinner. Even if they are 3 times my age and don't know how to get up from a couch," Antonin chuckled, "but they weren't afraid to get up and mingle with the very thing that led me down a stairway of every club on the streets. They're paying for that behind bars by now probably. I don't really know lol."

"Breadwinner? Can't they go get a job by themselves? How old were you even when they started doing that to you," Regan muttered, slightly alarmed at his past.

"As I said, I was born into it," Antonin shrugged, "Literally was born in a club as my mum was trying to cheat on my father. He walked in right on time to see his child being born at least. And no, they can't get a job. They're either under house arrest or just being too lazy to go out and work so as their oldest and only, I got the pleasure~ to work."

"Oh…" Regan muttered.

"Ain't as interesting as you thought it would be was it?" Antonin smiled.

"Never said that," Regan smiled.

"Hmm, you humor me, love," Antonin grinned, "anyways, there was a big gig, the popo ran in and everything crumbled. Luckily, the man of this place was there and basically had the police under his fingertips so he saved me and dragged me to this place to pay off the dues that were unpayable. So here I am now, finally meeting something that excites me in this hell."

"And that's supposed to be me?" Regan chortled, "quite surprised that you didn't meet something interesting before me."

"Hm… I guess I did... But after opening my eyes a few years ago, they weren't really interesting when I thought about it anyway," Antonin shrugged before giving Regan another one of his chilling smiles, "you, on the other hand, take the cake."

"Haha," Regan chuckled, "it's a pleasure."

"Anyways, that's the end of my story," Antonin sighed, running his hand through his hair again, "it's not as interesting when I say it out loud. Anything else you want to know?"

Regan gave it a thought before nodding. "One more thing," she smiled, her grin soon turning into a frown, "who the fuck are you?"

Antonin flinched, the question taking him by surprise. He ruffled his hair and chuckled, "Glad you asked hun, my name is, Ryder. Nice to meet you, Regan."