Crimson

Bitter Vita.

Vita and Marcel had continued to drink after Juno left .

As Marcel drank more , he spoke of the problems Agrippa was facing .

Vita had drank little and listened to what the man had to say .

At first , he had instantly hated the man for his ability to touch the boy Juno , as he wished .

But , now it seemed he hated him just a tad bit less .

Nero had disappeared a while back with the redheaded man .

Vita was sure he did not want to know what they were up to .

Marcel was looking sober now , staring at the lights that danced on his glass .

" No one would want to help you catch the one -eyed thief ", he looked up at Vita .

Vita grimaced ," Why do you think so? "

Marcel smiled , a sad smile .

" I run a design house against my father's wishes . So , I was not exactly disappointed when I found out that someone had stolen something from him ".

Vita had no idea how this was related to the thief but he did not want to rush the man .

Marcel took a large gulp , emptying his glass .

" I employed only vermillions to work at the house , for completely selfish reasons . I wanted to show my father that I was a better man than he was ", he continued running his fingers through his hair .

" Last year , I heard some of my workers talking about a shelter that was built behind the city .

Some kind of heated shelter . Most of the Vermillion moved there when the cold became unbearable . They got food and warm clothings and some were given jobs ".

He looked at Vita ," Do you know where I'm going with this? "

Vita shook his head .

Nero and the redhead were making their way to him .

The crowd had began to thin out.

Marcel nodded towards the redhead ," Keanu and I made rough calculations of how much it would take to build a completely functional heated house and the cost of feeding and clothing the people that lived within it last year ".

" It cost around a thousand gold bars ".

This was from the redhead , Keanu.

Vita looked at Nero , Nero did not particularly look surprised with this information .

Now , he was curious about where Nero had been for the last half hour .

Marcel nodded vigorously ," Yes,a thousand gold bars . Which is exactly the rough sum of the worth of the items that were stolen last year ".

He continued, " When the house first opened,the soldiers were always there creating issues . Then , some sort of security system was mounted and the soldiers began to avoid the building and it's general area ".

Vita was less and less impressed with the state of things at Agrippa .

" How exactly does the Conclave or the royal Crimson not know about this? ",Vita asked no one in particular .

Keanu laughed , a bitter laugh."The Conclave and the royals care nothing for Agrippa " .

" Even the local gangs protect the house from outsiders . It's precise location is a mystery and no one will tell you where it is . I believe that it can not be only Keanu and I that figured the thief was building houses and feeding the citizens ".

Marcel shook his head , " You should be careful not to get mobbed ".

" The cold came earlier this year, which means the ring that was stolen is probably going to feed people overtime , no one will talk to you . Either because of their hatred of soldiers or because they are aware of the thiefs intentions ".

Marcel pushed his stool back , stumbling a little as he got on his feet .

Keanu was by his side in a flash supporting him .The two men began to hobble as they walked towards the entrance .

From the corner of his eyes , Vita watched Nero jump up and run after the men .

Vita ordered one last drink and downed it as he pondered over what the men had said , it explained the disgusted look the people had been giving them that had made them discard their clothes for more casual clothing .

Nero walked back in and took his seat , he looked over at his friend .

Nero's face was clouded , he was angry, waiting for Vita to noticed.

" Why are you angry? ",he asked.

Nero turned his head slightly .

" It's you , I can see it in your eyes ", Nero accused .

Vita twirled his glass , stalling .

" What do you see in my eyes ?"

Nero shook his head .

" Don't try to pretend . I know you better than anyone . That's your shitty resolve showing . You want to catch the thief more now ".

Nero was glaring at him now .

Vita smiled ," You're the same . You're interested in the redhead but that doesn't mean you ever let go of the mission . You must have soothed him till he told you something about the case ".

Nero grunted ," His name is Keanu and he's strangely not interested , yet" ,he added hurriedly.

Vita looked on , waiting.

Nero continued," He and his friends seem to have been investigating the thief . It also seems like the one in a love triangle with you....

Vita choked .

Nero grabbed his biceps and began to hit his back , not remotely gently.

Vita calmed down," I am not in a love triangle with anyone ".

Nero smirked," Yes , I believe you . You just wanted to get rid of his clothes and have your wild way with him . Of course , after treating Marcel to the sharpened edge of your blade ".

Nero was laughing maniacally now .

" So,I didn't know that was your type ",Nero choked out.

" I didn't know either , since he's one of a kind ", Vita mumbled.

Nero grimaced ," Don't ever say that. Don't you dare go sappy on me . But , I do agree , he's incredibly unique ".

They both grinned awkwardly for a moment .

" Wait , why are you smiling ?",Vita asked, dreading the answer.

If Nero liked Juno , then , he had no chance .

Not that he minded all that much.He really didn't even mind .

Nero chuckled," Hold your horses . He's beautiful , almost ethereal and I definitely know how to appreciate beauty. But,he doesn't seem like the sort to be interested in a brief tumble . Keanu is more my style.And most of all,I wouldn't go near the only person you've ever paid any type of attention to ".

Vita nodded .

He had first noticed Juno when someone from their table had shouted while playing cards , he had been annoyed at all the noise their table and it's onlookers were making .

Then , he had heard the laughing , he had stood up and walked over to the bar and seen him .

He had known he was male even before he had seen his face .

The red of his clothes peeking through his dark coat made Vita hot even before he saw his face .

His braid had been gradually coming loose , so , when he threw his head back , laughing , his braid came completely undone exposing Vita to his flushed face framed by his hair , midnight blue hair whose complete length was partially hidden within the coat .

Vita had held his breath , praying to whatever deity that cared to listen for the boy not to notice his wide eyed ogling .

During the game , he had noticed several other men and women that had been watching his Juno .

When the boy had walked towards him , he had almost held Nero's hand to stop the shaking .

Then , he'd had to watch as the man that had introduced himself as Marcel flirted with his boy under the guise of friendship .

Nero was blinking at him .

" What ? ", he was grunting a lot .

" Are you done fantasizing about your boy now ?" , Nero asked sweetly.

Vita frowned ," He's not my boy ".

Nero nodded ," Then I guess he's Marcel's boy ".

Vita grunted again, " He's no one's boy ".

" Tell that to yourself ",Nero replied.

Vita cleared his throat noisily ," Could you continue what you were saying about Keanu and his friends? "

Nero smiled , smile number 12 , Vita chose to ignore him .

" Keanu says they have been investigating the thief . He's sure that the thief having one eye is just a rumor and most times Jun , the soldier amongst them spreads the rumors of the thiefs exploits .

They don't want the government to keep it hidden , they also spread the governments plans to warn the thief . It's safe to say they're fanboys of the thief ", Nero finished with a smile .

" You're one too ",Vita said.

Nero looked confused ," What ?"

" A fan of the thief , you looked a lot impressed when I told you the painting at the governor's building had been exchanged " , Vita replied .

Nero smiled knowingly .

Vita stood ," Pay up , the Haze should be in full swing now . I want to cover as much ground as possible today ".

Nero groaned ," Why do I have to be the one to pay ?"

" Aren't you a fan ?".

Vita grabbed his coat from behind him as he stood .

He walked out of the establishment and waited at the entrance for Nero to catch up with him .

Nero walked out emptyhanded and without his coat on .

Vita shook his head ," Coat".

Nero ran back in and was out a few seconds later.

They went behind the building where a small stable sat,after checking out Fabia and the other horse that Nero had decided to call mindblown , since he was a result of mind-blowing s*x,they went on their way .

The city was even colder in the night , much colder than Caeso on it's coldest days and Vita wondered faintly what their thief was doing .

Worrying about the Agrippan citizens?

He urged Fabia to move faster despite the cold promising him a warm stable at the Haze .

*****

The Haze's building looked very much like a haze .

Dim , colourful lanterns lit up the whole building . A storey building with several windows .

After locating the stables , they found the entrance . A wide , opened square for all to enter .

Nero was smiling , enjoying the ambience while Vita only felt greatly uncomfortable .

On entering the building , he realized the outside looked very different from the inside .

The building was open in the middle . A kind of party space that was bordered by four walls , a two storey was built by the four walls leaving the middle open . There were no windows or doors just spaces meant for windows and doors .

The air was intoxicating.

A mixture of drinks , opium and s*x .

Speaking of s*x , most of the people engaged in it were in the open with no regard for decency .

There were people everywhere in different stages of inebriation and undress .

A woman with a thick , black band around her neck and no clothes or even footwear grabbed his forearms and proceeded to rub her body all over him like a monkey .

A wanton monkey,if there were such.

Vita peeled her off and placed her gently on a sofa with two sleeping also naked girls .

One of the girls had an intricate blue pattern on her breast and face , A blue-blooded vermillion.

Looking around , Vita realized that a lot of the men and women were also possessing different patterns on their bodies with varying colours .

He heard a loud whoop somewhere and turned searching for the source.

Ahead , he saw Nero talking with two naked young men . One of the men had a naked woman with red lines on her body sucking him off . Nero was naked too , his lines and scars out on display and explaining animatedly with a lot of wild hand gestures .

Vita kept walking , slower than he liked because there were people doing it everywhere . It was almost as if they were on something .

Well ,it seems they were on something .

On a table at the center , there was a large glass jar filled with pills .

They definitely were not antibiotics . Vita had somehow missed the table when he had first come in because it seemed everyone made a beeline for the table once they came in .

Vita wanted to find a seat to observe but it seemed seating next to anyone was a sign that you were interested .

So ,he stood.

Walking around and peeking into random doors and windows of the buildings surrounding the fest .

No one even cared enough to scream at him , most of them had beckoned him to join , others had just gone back to what they were doing when they realized he was only passing and not joining .

Up ahead , he saw a woman walking up the stairs to the first storey of one of the buildings .

She was also fully dressed and looked familiar .

Vita followed her jogging slightly to keep up .

When she finally finished climbing the stairs , she looked around .

Larona , the governor's aide was here too .

She waved towards someone that Vita couldn't see and smiled widely . She was wearing the same clothes from earlier, but now , she looked quite overdressed .

The person she had been waving to came forward into the light .

He was holding a drink , Vita's heart stopped for the second time that day .

It was Juno .

He had taken off his coat exposing the red that Vita had been trying to guess what exactly it was .

A red hanfu , it was untied , leaving Juno's chest exposed.

He was wearing a band like the woman from earlier, except his was gold .It clung to his neck.

His hair was down ,swept back like a dark cloud .There was a gold hoop in one of his ears,it had not been there earlier too and he was smiling .

He was smiling and not at Vita .

Vita remembered where he had heard the name now .

The king had once told him about gods that existed once , a long time ago .

He had told him tales of gods and goddesses.Juno had been the Queen of goddesses.

Why was his name Juno when he was obviously a boy ? Every inch of his chest that was exposed ascertained that .

Vita began to climb the stairs unconsciously .

When he realized what he was doing , he stopped , contemplating turning but he had caught Juno's eyes .

The boy was looking at him , not with surprise but something else.

He had a look that Vita recognized all too well .

He had seen it alot on Nero ,it was the look of an extremely inebriated person . Vita continued climbing up the stairs , watching the colours fleet around his eyes .

They were not green like he had thought but a bluish green .

His lashes kept shaking.

He stumbled and Vita rushed forward but the boy only adjusted himself and laughed .

The action opening his clothes further to reveal more of his chest .

His trouser was placed very low on his waist and Vita could make out the beginning of a V .

Someone cleared their throat and Vita hurriedly looked up , he had just been caught staring at Juno .

Larona was standing off to the side,her eyes were twinkling .

Vita nodded at her , he did not want her to know that Juno knew he was a brigadier .

Larona turned to Juno, " I should get going dear , come visit me soon ".

She waved and rushed down the stairs .

" She must be in a hurry " , Juno muttered .

" What are you doing here ?" , he asked.

Vita watched as Juno's tongue darted out wetting his lips .

He swallowed , his trouser had become tighter and he was hot all over.

Juno was watching him quietly .

Vita grabbed his arm," And you , what are you doing here ?".

Juno smiled as he wiggled out of Vita's grip ," I work here and I need to get back to work " .

Vita took a deep breath , there was no need to get angry .

He could make Juno see reason , he should have known when the boy had been dressed in silk .

He would give him whatever amount he needed . They had to leave now.

" You don't have to work here anymore ", Vita started.

The boy blinked , Vita was about to explain when a man came out of the room Juno had come out of .

It was the only room with a door . The man was naked from the waist up and looked nothing like anyone Vita had seen , but , he knew what the man was,an albino .

His golden hair was braided into three long corn rows . The rows were bejeweled with shiny, silver clips.The man also had hoops on but his were silver .

He had black ink on his skin , the black ink were of words and images and completely covered his lower torso and one of his arms .

The stranger gave Vita a once-over before turning to Juno .

" Come on J , you've been out too long ".

His voice was deep and cracked as though it hurt to talk .

Vita watched with rage as Juno nodded.Juno smiled at him.

"It's not the kind of work you think, brigadier. Ali is my friend".

Juno waved as he walked in ahead of the albino man .

They stared at each other before the man also turned and walked in , slamming the door .

Vita was sure he had seen the man flinch when Juno had called him a friend .

Vita had dropped it because he had known Juno was not lying .

And the flinch had proved that the man and Juno weren't intimate like the man wished .

Vita sighed loudly,it was almost dawn.He had to look for Nero and drag his ass to the quarters the governor had provided for him .

He had wanted to find the thief in three days .

A whole day had passed and the only thing he had achieved was several hard ons in only a few hours.