Shoot Your Shot

Chapter 15

Pentious followed Arackniss inside, which was an interesting experience to say the least. He'd never seen everyone's reactions to Arackniss coming into the office or leaving, because the only times he'd come in himself the man had already been there. Now, he got to see the looks of respect his lover received just by walking into a room. There was a mix of fear and awe that showed easily on the faces of those who saw them, but there was also a bit of shock, and whispers. They didn't stay on the ground level, though, they simply dropped by Arackniss' office so that he could grab a thick file in a manilla folder and then headed upstairs. Standing in the elevator, Pentious felt small. The realization that he was standing with two Huntsman spiders behind him, each large enough to flip a car easily, and his Overlord lover beside him was enough to make his physical size seem like the largest thing he had going for him. And none of that mattered when Arackniss brushed the back of his hand against Pentious', because then the ride wasn't nearly long enough. He wanted more than just a light brush of hands. He craved the contact they'd had a mere hour before, laying on the couch together. What was the point of taking a day off if they were just going to drag his lover back in anyways for something as stupid as a joke from Lucifer?

They reached the top floor and stepped out, but this time, unlike the first time he'd been here, the receptionist said nothing. She immediately stood and buzzed them in without hesitation. And that seemed to be a habit, the silence and the standing when he walked into a room. Pentious wondered if it was something he'd initiated, though he heavily doubted that, or if it was some Family habit that had been there from his predecessor. The snake could remember the Overlord of Drugs from before, back from just shortly after he'd died himself. The man had been a large creature, though not as big as Henroin, and he'd been nasty. From what he remembered, the man had been some type of giant tarantula, but he'd had no problems with public acts of cruelty and showmanship. And now, Pentious had a new question to ask. "Random thought, did you ever meet the man who came before your father?"

"The man who came before him?"

"The previous Overlord, from before your father took over."

"Yes, I did, but I never spent much time with him and he died when I was really young, so it wasn't that big of a deal." He looked down at Arackniss in confusion.

"You knew him... in life?" His lover looked back at him and chuckled.

"He was my grandfather." Before he could ask any more questions, they arrived at the door to Don Henroin's office. The monstrous man outside saw them approaching and knocked on the door before they'd come, so they were only standing outside for maybe a few seconds before the door was opened by Henroin himself. They stepped inside, but Luca and Stefano took their places outside the office, just like Orco. "Where is it?" Henroin grabbed the papers from the desk and handed it to Arackniss and his lover sneered. "Arrogante re dell'orgoglio." After a moment, he shook his head and handed the page to Pentious, who read it over quickly. Sure enough, the entire request was written in full, Parisienne French, which told Pentious something about how the King of Pride saw himself. "What's wrong?" Looking up at Arackniss, he realized he'd been shaking his head and scowling.

"I was just thinking that it's very like Lucifer to not only write the entire request in French, but to do so in Parisienne French. The whole thing is feminine." Everything except the last line which he had to read twice to understand. It's meaning rang very clear for him, even though it seemed very strange for them.

Votre temps presse, Thomas.

He translated the document word for word, but the last line, he excused, telling them it was gibberish and didn't mean anything. As chaotic as the King was, and clearly he'd done something similar before, the two believed him and filed the request away after inputting it into the system. Throughout the interaction, Henroin kept stopping to look up at him suspiciously, and there was a tension in the air. It wasn't until it was all done with that Arackniss broke and turned to face the older man. "Smettila."