Chapter 7
“Why are you here again, bastard?” Edward growled by the teth time, finally getting Owl to snap at him.
“Because until you have passed the exam, you’re still a minor.” Owl stretch his most arrogant smirk, “And it would be very irresponsible of me to let a bunch of kids go running through Central when they are ignorant of the setting and need a recommendation from someone in the military to vouch for you as you are, in fact, a minor.”
Edward’s entire body twitching in rage, he took a deep breath as if to prepare himself to scream but Ian’s hand on his shoulder made him deflate.
Owl allowed himself a little smug twitch of his lips.
Ian gave him a chiding look while Ace laughed himself silly; you see, he actually liked Owl and found his and Ed’s interactions hilarious. Ian, on the other hand, had little patience for either of their pettiness.
“Anyway, as your superior office and your dad, it is my duty to accompany you all the way.” Owl kicked Ed slightly, trying to get him out of the dark-corner. They were already late with the Lieutenant's warning. “So please, could you get in the train before it leaves us?”
{They get in the train}
“...anyway, I was wondering why Lieutenant Charis isn’t coming with us?” Edward asked once they were on their seats. “She barely lets you out her sight, so I’m surprised she’s not with us.”
“Ah, that. Well, you see the Lieutenant is….ah, confrontational.” Owl kept his eyes on the window.
Ace sat at his side, pressing against his side in an attempt of comforting him. Owl smiled down at him and ruffled his hair.
“Huh?”
“What do you mean, sir?”
Owl winced, looking back at his children.
“As you know, Yun is protective of me.” The Sahair siblings looked at him with a blank stare; that was the understatement of the year and they all knew it.
“Yeah.” Owl grimaced, “Let’s just say that Central is not the best place for her overprotectiveness. She’s too trigger-happy to keep me company during our stay there if we’re being sincere.”
“Is Central that dangerous?” Ace prodded with worry; his voice echoes the sentiment from the two older siblings. They really didn’t know where they were getting into.
“Not really,” Owl said softly, “It’s just a different air than Petra. There’s more soldiers to start and little green, if we're being sincere. The high ranking officers are the ones that put Yun on edge. I run my mouth a lot and some of them don’t take it that well, so leaving her behind is more for her piece of mind than anything else.”
“You run your mouth a lot, huh?” Ed says smugly; like he always did when Owl admitted to be anything but perfect. The little shit.
“Brother!” Ian cried; hitting his brother’s shoulder as a tired look crossed his expression.
Owl’s eyebrow twitched.
“Yeah, it seems that even if we don’t share blood. “His smile was a little too wide to be considered nice. “You really inherited my worst attributes, my poor little son.”
Owl noticed the metaphorical stone dropped in the shorter twin and was incredibly satisfied at how depressed Ed looked for a few seconds. He loved to raise a rid of that kid, his reactions were just priceless.
“How dare you fucking bastard?!”
Ian slapped his head hard, cutting the rant. “Are you sure you’re thirty, sir?”
“Are you calling me immature?” Owl asked playfully as he took his hand to his chest, in the dramatic fashion of an offended maiden.
“I would never, sir.” Ian lied to his face with nothing but the softest of smiles.
Owl eyes crinkled with hidden laughter, you see, there was a reason why Ian was his second favorite son (Ace was everyone’s favorite so he was sure Ian wouldn’t be offended) and this was it: He was a sassy little bugger.
Ed smiled, pride shining through his eyes.
Ace laughed with the joy of a child.
“I see.” Owl said with a content sigh, relaxing and deciding to enjoy the rest of the journey as he closed his eyes and tuned out the conversation the children were having.
Even if Yun was absent, this was good. And soon, soon he would be able to hug Lauren again and he would introduce his King and children to his loved friend.