116 Serene

"Mr. Cloud?" Antonin called out softly. 

Vixen rolled his eyes, slight annoyance poking at him. "I noticed this before, but can you drop the formalities a bit? At least stick to one. Mr. Cloud or Mr. Vixen."

"Should I call you Vixen then?" Antonin asked, his eyes brightening slightly. 

"Do as you please," Vixen shrugged.

Antonin's smile widened to a bean. "Thank you!"

Vixen almost had to shield his eyes from it, "You're welcome."

Antonin stepped closer to Regan. She looked serene, in her own element, like a sloth on its tree, she was deep in slumber. He grinned, she looked cute. He liked it. 

Antonin looked up at Vixen cheerfully. "What can I do, Vixen?"

"Be me," Vixen muttered, turning back to Regan. 

"Excuse me? Be who?" Antonin's eyes opened in surprise. 

"Be me," Vixen repeated. 

Antonin's eyes widened in bewilderment. 'Was that even possible?' he thought to himself. He looked up at Vixen in confusion. "Could you please clarify?"

"You're going to take my place," Vixen repeated. 

'What a great way to clarify,' Ryder thought. 

'Shut up,' Vixen spat back.

"What do you mean by take your place?" Antonin cocked his head, his expression begging for more clarification. 

Vixen stared at him, his gaze seconds away from being demeaning, seconds away from laughing, seconds away from frowning, and seconds away from remaining as stoic as a rock. They remained like a rock.

"I don't want her to know I was here," Vixen sighed, turning to Regan, "she doesn't need to know."

Antonin glanced at Vixen and then back to Regan, his confusion deepening. "Why not?"

"She doesn't need to know," Vixen repeated. He turned to Antonin, his gaze sending shivers down his spine. "I'm sure you've noticed." Immediately after, he turned back to Regan.

Antonin didn't need to ask. He had a feeling that Vixen was going to explain again. Antonin grinned internally. 'He has a tendency to speak in small sentences,' he thought to himself.

'Is that supposed to be cute?' Ryder snapped back.

'Damn right,' Antonin smirked. 

'The more I stay in your mind, the weirder you become,' Ryder rolled his eyes.

'Thanks. Don't complain when you can't leave though,' Antonin shrugged.

"She's been a little unstable lately, she probably zones out at times, has mood swings, probably has moments where she is ridiculously quiet and then ridiculously loud the next," Vixen muttered, he looked up at Antonin and locked yes with him, "hasn't she?"

Vixen nodded. His eyes returning to Regan beside him. He didn't look the slightest bit surprised.

Antonin cocked his head to the right and observed Vixen. "How did you know? You haven't seen her in the past few days so how do you know how she would be?"

Vixen's hand raised up and grazed Regan's face, picking up a piece of her hair and brushing it behind her ears. His eyes drooped for a second. "Because I did it to her."

Antonin's eyes wavered for a second. It was then that he noticed their hands. They were tightly interlocked and laid calmly on the bed. He looked up to Vixen, he was holding her hand. 

Antonin let out a weak chuckle. 'Ah..' he thought to himself. 

Vixen played with a bit of Rega's curly locks for a second before letting it fall to the bed. He turned to look at Antonin. 

"Surprisingly, you're not asking any questions this time," Vixen smirked.

Antonin flinched, his eyes skirting from their hand to Vixen. "A-ah.. yes, why is it your fault?"

Vixen's lips pursed against each other. "That's something I'd rather not say. It's not my words to say after all. If she wants you to know, she'll tell you."

"Ah yes," Antonin smiled. 'I doubt that she will though.'

'Damn right she won't idiot,' Ryder sighed. His snarky comment was strained. He felt the same. He flinched when Antonin let out a sigh. He nodded. 'Take a seat Antonin.'

"What's the thing with you not wanting her to see you though?" Ryder muttered.

"She hates me. I'm the last person that she needs to see right now. She has already started her stability, my presence would bring it all crashing down," Vixen sighed.

"Stability? What stability? What happened earlier was anything but stability and I was everything but the person who helped her, why should I take the credit for it?" Ryder exclaimed, making sure to keep his voice down. "I don't want wrongfully given praise."

Vixen twitched, a smile formed on his face. Ryder stared back at him, his eyes wavering when they realized that it wasn't smile. It was a threat, he was putting Ryder in his place. 

"Praise? Do you think I'm giving you praise?" Vixen's eyebrows raised up. "Don't make me laugh. Not everything has to do with you. If I wanted to give you credit, I would have walked away when you asked for help but then again I doubt you would have done anything to help in I didn't step in."

Ryder's eye twitched. He was annoyed, he wanted to say something back, to refute him, but the words wouldn't form. He was right after all.

"I'm not doing this to give anyone glory. In fact, nothing I did is worth 'glory' not every good deed has to be rewarded. I was simply doing my job. Just like you should have done yours," Vixen snapped. He turned back to Regan. 

Ryder let out a stifled sigh of relief when Vixen's eyes turned away from him. 

"I'm not doing this for you or me, I'm doing this for Regan," Vixen muttered. He reached out to her face and flicked her forehead. 'This idiot.'

"Doing it for Regan? Don't you think you're depriving her of something she should have rather than something you think she shouldn't have?" Ryder snapped back. "What if she wants to know who did it? I don't know about you but I'd hate to be in debt with whoever helped me on something. I'd hate it even more if I'm tricked about it and now had to carry that debt without knowing who to give it to."

"Don't act as if you know what's going on in her mind right now," Vixen snapped, "because if you did, you wouldn't be making this kind of argument right now."

"And you're supposed to know?" Ryder cocked his head mockingly. 

Vixen's head swiveled to Ryder's quicker than he could even notice his head turning. "Yes." Before he knew it, he was dragged into tense eye contact with Vixen, his violet eyes sinking into Ryder's. He was staring deeper than just at his eyes. "I know exactly what's in her mind and if not, I'd know more than you do." 

Ryder shuddered. He tried his best to stay in contact with Vixen's eyes and just about when he was about to look away, Vixen turned back to Regan.

"Can tell that you care but," Vixen muttered, suppressing a smile when Regan gripped his finger for a moment before relaxing again. "There's a fine line between caring and being over-bearing."

Vixen looked back at Ryder for a moment. "I know where my line is and I never overstep. It seems like it's something you need to work on."

Ryder took another hit. It was impossible to stay in a conversation with Vixen. It was stifling, almost as if someone was standing over him and watching him closely with judgeful demeaning gazes. It was something Vixen had a tendency to come across as. Stifling and dominant. They were features Ryder and Antonin both hated and loved about him.

"Anyways, I didn't come here to argue with you. I came here to help Regan and called you here to help her too," Vixen sighed, "You weren't able to help her in her most crucial moment, but you can make up for it with this."

"How? Why? Why would you like to hide it from her? Why not just tell her yourself."

Vixen's eyes twitched. It was from annoyance, he hated too many questions at once. 

"She lost her footing," Vixen muttered. 

"What?"

"On her rocky terrain, she lost her footing and began to slide. It has happened before and she was saved but she will not always be saved. She needed to walk without her walking stick, with her own gear, with her own mind," Vixen muttered, staring down at Regan's gentle and calm face. "She needs to find her footing. To do that, I need to leave."

Ryder didn���t understand a word Vixen had said but he had an idea. It was enough to get a grip on the situation. "How do you suppose we do that?" he asked. 

Vixen looked at Regan, "I have a plan," he turned to Ryder, his eyes glowing with dominance, "and it will be followed."