Part 6: Tea and Rocks

Benjamin sat on the couch with his ankle resting on his knee. He had perfected the ability to look relaxed while assessing the situation over the past year.

Sell out. Emilia thought with a bitter smirk.

She placed tea and biscuits on the table with a smile before sitting down in a chair that blocked his path to the kitchen. Her father hovered behind Benjamin to obstruct his way to the bedroom where Jayden rested.

"You have acclimated well," Benjamin noted, picking up his cup.

Her father snorted from the doorway. "She didn't have much choice."

"Nice to see you again too, Liam," Benjamin stated with a smirk. "Your wife wanted me to send her love. She said you would know what her love means."

Emilia rolled her eyes as one of her sloth slippers tapped the floor agitatedly. "What did you come here to say, Bennie boy?"

Benjamin laughed before taking a sip from his cup. "Cute, Emi. I would think you would be more afraid to see me here after the stunt you pulled last night."

A slow smile spread across her lips as Emilia leaned back in her chair. "I have no idea what you mean. I did nothing that is out of the rules and regulations of my current place of residence. The Guild doesn't extend here."

Liam snorted as Benjamin took a longer than necessary sip of his tea. A groan could be heard further down the hall, causing Liam to bang against the wall. Emilia shared a nervous glance with her father.

"I'll go check on him," Liam said to Emilia before walking away.

"He okay?" Benjamin whispered.

Emilia observed the flash of genuine concern on Benjamin's face before nodding. "Yeah, I made sure of it. He is just on concussion protocols now."

Benjamin pressed his lips together before placing his tea down. "Well, that takes care of one of the reasons they sent me here."

"My mother should know me better than to think I'd let a turning happen." Emilia almost laughed while averting her eyes into the coffee cup. "Are the pleasantries done now?"

Benjamin shifted slightly in his chair before leaning forward. "We are in a bit of pickle here, Emi. I am here to offer you a deal."

Emilia's phone buzzed on the table. They both glanced at it. She provided an apologetic smile laced with the tiniest hint of sarcasm while grabbing it. Crazy Rock Man flashed across the screen.

"Sorry, I need to take this." She turned her attention from Benjamin to the phone. "Hey, how are you?"

A male voice huffed on the other side. "I am downstairs. What's the code?"

Emilia mentally cursed her luck. Of course, they would have to be here at the same time. She glanced at Benjamin, who smirked while picking up his teacup. He was reading her.

"Let him in." Benjamin shrugged. "I think we all should have a nice chat."

"2456#," Emilia hissed into the phone. "Just come up to flat 27. The door is unlocked."

Emilie turned to the door and snapped her fingers, causing the click of an unlocking door to sound.

"Did you just unlock the door?" Jayden's voice sounded from the doorway.

Emilia sighed, refusing to look in the doorway. "It's an old trick."

"A bloody cool one!" Jayden yelled before muttering something to himself in pain.

Emilia turned to the doorway to see Jayden shielding his eyes from the light with his father standing beside him. She motioned for him to sit on the couch. Benjamin smirked at her as she walked back over to her chair to sit down.

Her phone buzzed again. Emilia looked down and rolled her eyes at the message notification from Bifrost.

"So, what else have you not told me?" Jayden asked. "I'm sure the mods would fancy knowing about your little quirks."

"I'm sure they would," she muttered, opening the message on her phone. "Benjamin, this is Jayden. Jayden, this is Benjamin."

The two men nodded to one another as Emilia's eyebrows furrowed together while reading the message. She jutted her lower lip out and mentally shrugged to herself when he passed the initial "not a creeper" test. Her head tilted to the right, and she clicked on his profile. The guy was cute in the elven sort of way.

Benjamin snorted. "She has a lot of quirks to keep under wraps. Don't you, Emi?"

She shrugged without looking up from her phone. "It is only a quirk if it is unexpected or deviant."

Emilia scrolled through the elf's pictures on her phone. He looked to be about 6ft tall with pale blonde hair. She could not decide if he was too manicured for her. Emilia clicked over to the message. She got as far as Your ethereal beauty before closing it and turning her full attention back to the men in the room.

"What?" She asked, their expectant faces making her dad snort.

"I'll go make some more tea," Liam announced, walking towards the kitchen.

"I had to check on my new match." Emilia defended with wide eyes. "Anyway, what is this deal you had to offer?"

Jayden looked between the two with furrowed eyebrows. "Who is he to offer a deal?"

"I work for the Hunters Guild." Benjamin shrugged before taking a longer than necessary sip of his tea.

"Could you look anymore conceited when you did that?" Emilia laughed.

The front door opened, making Jayden jump.

Emilia shook her head. "It's fine. It's my rock guy."

"I have a name," the new male voice stated.

Three sets of eyes turned to watch a tanned skin man with a shaved head walked into the room. He had a messenger back slung across his body and held a small box in one hand.

"My name is Vijay," he announced, walking to the small coffee table and sitting down beside it.

Emilia slapped her hand to her forehead. "Vijay! Nice, I will try to remember that."

Vijay rolled his eyes, placing the box on the table. He shrugged his strap off his shoulder.

"Would you like some tea?" Liam called from the kitchen.

"That would be brilliant. Cheers!" Vijay called in return.

Jayden placed a hand to his forehead. "Can we somehow dim the lights? And, why are all these people here?"

"Sure," Emilia smiled, snapping her fingers towards the windows, causing shades to drop down and the overhead lights to go to 50%. "He is here for a deal. He is here for information." She supplied, pointing to each man.

"Ah." Jayden nodded. "What's the deal?"

Everyone in the room turned to Benjamin, who smiled. "I really like the vibes in this room." He moved his arms around. "This might work out better than expected. I should have known you would deliver, Emi."

Emilia took of one of her sloth slippers and threw it at Benjamin. "Stop stalling and tell me why you are here."

The sloth slipper caused Benjamin to spill some tea on himself. He provided her a side-eyed glare while placing his tea down. Benjamin picked up the slipper and threw it back at her.

"Fine, as much as I enjoy this nostalgia, I should get to the point." He sighed. "The Hunters Guild is aware of a power-building under London that may, or may not, be connected to the series of missing women. We cannot take care of it because London is out of our jurisdiction. We need you to take care of it, Emi. If you do, we will reinstate your full license and provide you international jurisdiction so that you do not need to return to America."

Emilia pressed her lips together while placing the slipper back on her foot.

"Wow," Jayden sighed. "You had an HG license?"

"Had is the main word, there," Emilia replied. "If I don't accept?"

Benjamin crossed his arms and leaned back. "You remain banned, and we will shut down your little association while blacklisting you from all other groups internationally."

"We should take it if this means we find the missing girls," Jayden stated.

Emilia scrunched her nose. "When did this become we?"

Jayden's phone began to buzz in his pocket before the sound of chirping started. He cursed slightly before pulling it out and glancing at it. "It's the mods."

Emilia rolled her eyes. "Of course it is; put them on speaker."

"Should I just go help that guy with tea?" Vijay motioned to the stack of papers and the yellow, green, blue, and red rocks that glowed on the table

Emilia's shoulders tensed while eyeing the rocks and nodded. "We'll call you back when we're ready. Thanks again for coming over."

"Hey guys," Jayden said. "I put you on speaker."

"Perfect," a robotic voice sounded. "We were hoping for this. Ready?"

"Yep," another robotic voice agreed before clearing his voice.

"Benjamin is a dick," the two robotic voices began to sing. "He tries to control our Emilia even though she could kick his ass so swift. But he has to be a dick. An American arse in the worst sense; who did not consider including her bosses in the deal. Nope, Benjamin is a wanker, and has a brain smaller than his prick."

The last word extended on a high note making Emilia smirk as Benjamin's frown began to tick. She could tell he was trying to connect to them through the phone but found no success.

"By the way," one of the robotic voices added. "We guess it's pretty small, or you wouldn't have to result to this mind game bullshit with our Emilia."

The unison robotic laughter used to unnerve Emilia, but now she felt oddly comforted by it. Like she had some weird brothers watching out for her.

"What do you want?" Benjamin asked.

"Easy," the robotic voice stated. "We want to be part of the deal. Emilia takes care of the underground mess, and we all get international HG licensure."

Emilia shook her head. "You two are being greedy. Why should I do all the work?"

"We plan to help," the robotic voice replied. "Do all the guiding bullshit once we get the rock man's information."

"Fuck Yeah!" The other robotic voice added.

Jayden sat in the chair in shock before clearing his throat. "I want to get a license too."

"You are on concussion protocols," Emilia almost screamed, pointing at him. "There is no way you can help me. Plus, I can't have you freeze again."

"I didn't freeze," Jayden replied in a subdued tone.

"Everyone shut it!" Benjamin yelled, standing. "I will see if we can get the licensure agreement extended if you guys all prove to be of worth, but—"

Emilia cut him off. "They will all require training before full licensure. No more marks."

Benjamin held her gaze for a moment before nodding. "No more marks. We will do it right if it goes through."

Liam walked past Benjamin to sit on the couch. "I am sure it won't be a problem. Emilia's mom has wanted to crack this island for a while."

"Corporate politics!" The robotic voice screamed in glee. "How exciting!"

Emilia shook her head. "I guess I have no choice but to agree now."

"Excellent." Benjamin nodded. "Then, I will leave you to the planning with this, uhm—crew?"

"Oh, don't be an ass," Emilia hissed. "You just said you got good vibes."

Benjamin waved away her words. "I need to go handle some other matters. Let me know when it's completed, and try not to burn down any more buildings. We don't have the resources here for that kind of cover-up."

Emilia sighed before nodding. Benjamin walked over to her and engulfed her in a hug.

"I missed you," he whispered in her ear before turning and walking out of the flat.

Vijay made an awe sound as he walked back into the room. "That was so sweet. Did you two have sex or something?"

"Interesting," one of the robotic voices stated. "We must—"

Emilia rolled her eyes and hung up the phone. "Time for mission talk, not missionary talk."

Jayden shifted on his seat before nodding as Liam sighed. This mission was about to become more complicated than necessary.

***

Dating Advice from a Hunter:

Never underestimate the value of a being that can meet you at your level. For instance, if you're a girl that doesn't like to shave your legs regularly, maybe it'd be a good idea to date a werewolf. The idea of a hot elven guy seems fantastic until he says chipped nail polish is offensive. Be true to your maintenance level because Beyonce can't upgrade everyone but we all can show someone to the left.

Happy Hunting,

E.V. 

***

Thank you for reading!  Just out of curiosity, who is your favorite character so far?  I know who I enjoy writing the most... but, yeah.  Let me know!  And, if you have any comments or notice any grammatical errors, please let me know!  :)

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Story WC: 13,283

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