Ordinary
#5 of The Creed
The Creed
Chapter 4: Ordinary
With a grunt, Avitus leveraged open the door to his small flat, holding a large brown paper bag of groceries in both arms. He stepped into the apartment and walked past the tiled entryway into the kitchen. He dropped the bag onto the wooden counter and opened the fridge and cabinets. The man transferred the items in the bag to the opened container, the Assassin humming quietly to himself as he worked.
It had been two weeks since he had been set loose to live in this strange world, and he had been doing his best to live a normal life, in an abnormal world. He found work at a private security firm called Aegis, it was relatively easy to get hired with his previous Assassin training, surpassing the physical and mental requirements. He had found a newspaper with the company on the front page and had been quick to inquire about a position. It was the perfect job for him; it allowed him to continue to follow the code of the Assassins, if loosely. And it also kept his desire to safeguard innocents from harm, satiated.
_Aegis_was a company that provided worldwide protection to those who needed it. He had only been hired recently and was stuck with assignments in Paris, but he knew that soon he would be able to branch out to real crisis zones. Than he could really do what he wanted, so for now his job consisted of private protection of banks, museums, and other domestic places.
The man finished stocking his kitchen for the week and dusted off his hands before grabbing a soda and sandwich from the fridge. He took them into the living room with him.
The main room was a comfortably small carpeted area that only spanned a hundred and fifty square feet. It was more than enough for him. The room was occupied by a coffee table, sofa, television, a tall lamp in the corner, and a window of the Parisian skyline. The walls were painted a dark chocolate brown and the lamp when turned on, gave off a warm yellow light.
Avitus slowly sat down on the brown couch, placed the food and drink down, and grabbed the remote for the TV, which was sitting by a few books on history. He clicked the device, turning the tube on, and put it back on the table.
The man snapped the top of the soda and took a sip, letting the carbonated liquid bubble down his throat. As the TV chattered on about the daily news he reached into his jacket and dropped his handgun onto the rectangular table.
He replaced the drink with the sandwich and picked up one of the books from the table in his other hand. He alternated eating and drinking as he read up on the medieval era of history.
Much of his free time since coming here had been spent on studying the history of this world; he wanted to see what similarities and what differences there were. And yet perhaps most importantly, he was looking for any information that could reveal the existence of the order of Assassins in this world.
He hypothesized that if these worlds were so closely parallel, that there was a very real possibility that they existed here as well. But if they did, that also meant that the Templar were here as well.
Avitus was uncertain whether he should be grateful or distraught that he had not uncovered anything yet.
He spent an hour on the couch reading, log after he finished his meal. But after finding nothing in the book he selected he returned the now finished volume back on the table and stood up, collecting his trash and placing it in the bin in the kitchen.
From there he passed through a short hallway into his bedroom, another small affair with chocolate shaded walls. It had a decently sized bed and an end table with a lamp. He walked over to the table and placed his other handgun on it. After a long winded debate, had managed to convince Carmelita to allow him both, but could not get anything else from his stuff.
Avitus turned his head absently and saw his reflection in the closet's glass panned door.
His lightly tanned visage had a dark brown goatee and his hair was cut short. His blue-green eyes had an almost unnoticeable dark ring under them from many late nights.
Avitus was wearing his black leather jacket, a grey shirt with black trimming, tailored black jeans (so that there was no hole in the back), and he was still wearing his black leather steel-toed boots. Avitus slipped out of the jacket and placed it on the bed. There were two brown leather shoulder holsters where his guns went, a sheath for a long blade at his waist, and the shirt stuck out a small bit. He removed the holsters, sheath, and shirt, placing them with the jacket.
On his chest was a form fitting chest piece made of some type of alloy, it worked much like a Kevlar vest. It stopped bullets, but not nearly as efficiently as his suit. Still, it was way better than not having any protection at all. He unstrapped it and placed it with everything else, leaving him in an athletic black undershirt.
With that done, he went prone and started to do pushups by the side of the bed.
Avitus worked out to keep fit and ready, not wanting to let his skill fade. He didn't have any equipment yet to help him, as money was still tight, but he wanted to get something when he had the chance.
He worked up a good sweat after an hour long workout, and went to the bathroom to take a shower. The shower itself was small, like everything in the apartment, and it was slightly frustrating to have to use it. He stood at around six and a half feet tall and the shower was designed with much shorter people in mind.
But he did manage to get cleaned up and slipped into some blue sweatpants and a clean pair of grey socks. His apartment's air conditioner was terrible at its job, add that to the mid-summer Parisian heat, and he had decided to go shirtless. He walked out of the shower and headed back to the living room, towel draped across his bare shoulders.
The TV was still on and the news team pair, a male weasel and lioness, was talking about a recent string of heists in plaguing the city. He listened to the report as he began to disassemble his handgun for some routine maintenance.
Apparently, the thieves were incredibly talented and no evidence had been discovered yet that could pin them down. But the team did allude to some cooper fellow. From what they were saying, he was a rather infamous thief and was known for heists of this perfection.
The Assassin shrugged, if he happened to try that while he was on the job, he would take the guy and his friends down. Honestly, he was itching for some excitement, so far all he had done was bust some thugs' heads, it was hardly fitting for a master, if somewhat recently retired, Assassin. He just hoped that they would put up a decent challenge.
While he was placing his gun back together, there was a light knock at his door. He finished and left it on the table to answer the door, wiping his hands on a small cloth. He stooped in the threshold and grabbed the knob, pulling the door open with a twist.
As he took in the sight of the person standing there he smiled kindly. "Hello Fiona, what can I do for you on this day?"
Standing on the other side of the entryway was a short orange tabby with dark green eyes. She stood roughly at about 5'5 and was rather plump. She was wearing a purple shirt and blue jeans with a pair of cozy looking flip-flops and a little black purse was slung on one shoulder. The fur that lay exposed was a soft orange color with darker orange stripes that ran in lines across her arms. The feline had a petite and somewhat cute narrow muzzle that had two strips aiming towards her features on her fuzzy cheeks. Long red hair rand down to her waist and her paws had black socks. The girl's plumpness could be attributed to her love of food and books, hardly going out of her small apartment. Yet even as thick as she was, Fiona had a dainty air about her.
He had encountered the feline a few days after he moved into his apartment; she had bumped into him while he was carrying up his usual week's groceries, tearing the bag and sending the contents across the lacquered wooden floor. Fiona had apologized profusely and helped him clean up, carrying some of them inside. From there she had inquired about his oddness and he had spun his generated story.
Yet it also turned out, much to his surprise that she worked as a teller at the bank he had been tasked with watching. Since then, they had formed a somewhat interesting friendship. It always seemed that the poor girl was in some sort of predicament every time he saw her and needed his help.
Absently, the Assassin began to wonder what it was this time.
Fiona had been strangely quite after he opened the door and so he returned his attention to the girl. When he looked down to the feline he noticed that she was staring at his chest and her cheeks were a slightly darker shade of orange. Yet the cat shook her head, flopping her ears rather doggishly, and focused her attention on his face, cheeks darkening. "H-hey Avitus," She squeaked guilty, as if she had been caught stealing, which confused the Assassin to no end.
But he brushed past that, not certain what it was about.
"I'm in a spot of trouble at the moment." She muttered with a small nervous laugh, scratching at her arm with her claws and looking at him embarrassedly. "It seems that I locked myself out of my apartment, and since today is Sunday the locksmith is closed. And since money is tight I don't want to have to check into a hotel, so I was wondering...." She dragged her sandaled paws in little circles on the wooden floor. "....If I-I could stay at your place for the night, b-but just until the locksmith comes by!" She added hastily.
He thought it over, and decided that it would be unchivalrous to not help her. "Of course you can, for be it to leave a friend in need." He moved out of the way of the door and gestured for her to step inside.
"Thanks, and I'm sorry for any inconvenience I am causing you." She said guiltily, stepping into the small hallway.
"Don't concern yourself with that." Avitus replied warmly as he turned to lead her farther into the small home. "I always pride myself on helping those in need; it's a little tenant of mine that I follow." He chuckled wryly. "Please, have a seat." He gestured for her to sit on the couch.
The feline smiled thankfully and sat down, placing her purse on the coffee table. Her eyes widened marginally and her ears flattened as she noticed the firearm sitting there.
Avitus saw that and apologized. "Sorry, I was just fixing it up a little." He picked it up and quickly deposited back in his bedroom with the rest of his gear, stashing it all in the closet, inside the safe in the back behind his clothes.
He came back and sat down in the chair besides the couch. "Now, how did you lock yourself out of your apartment?" He asked interestedly.
Fiona smiled and chuckled weakly, fiddling with her tail as it laid in her lap. "Well, I lost my key and my replacement is actually in the apartment itself, a little blunder on my part."
"That is indeed a terrible string of events, don't worry, you are free to stay until this matter is resolved, you have my word. And I am a man of my word." Avitus swore to her.
She grinned up at him. "Thanks, it's good to know I have a friend to count on." Her tail was steadily pattering in her lap.
With that out of the way they talked about small things, and she inquired about his interest in history after seeing the small pile of books on his table.
"Oh that?" He asked. "That's just a little hobby of mine; you can say I am looking into the past for an answer to my future."
That made her giggle and she waived her paws at him. "Oooh...sounds mysterious."
He chuckled. "Not mysterious, more like historical soul searching."
From there she asked some more questions about him personally and he gave her a somewhat honest rundown. "My parents were a part of a prestigious group and raised me to become a member like they were, but they were in an accident and passed away while I was young, after they died I was taken care of by the group and eventually joined them. But things back home fell apart and I found myself here, since then...I've just been trying to find my way so to speak."
"I'm sorry to hear about your parents." Fiona soothed, leaning close to pat his knee comfortingly.
He nodded softly and changed the subject to a lighter note. He asked about her family and listened as she regaled him with stories. Apparently she was from America and her family moved here when she had been a kitten. Her father worked as an attorney and her mother was an accomplished physician. She had a brother and two sisters, and they were both infuriating and great. The reason she lived in such a small apartment was that she wanted to make it on her own, not taking any help from her family. Fiona moved out of her parent's home as soon as she hit eighteen and has been alone ever since. Now the twenty one year old cat was happy with her accomplishments.
"That's most impressive; most people would not try to earn things for themselves if they didn't have to." He praised her.
She smiled from the acclaim and looked at him shyly. "Yeah, I just wanted everything I have to be earned by myself and no one else."
As he was about to ask her more about her life, he heard a buzzing noise from his bedroom and remembered something. He had to report in to Carmelita at the precinct. He stood up. "If you would excuse me, I have to take care of an important errand. It should only be an hour or so. But you are free to everything in the house while I'm gone. The remote's on the table, there's food in the fridge if you are hungry, and the bathroom is open."
"Oh okay then, I'll wait for you to get back." She replied, sounding a little crestfallen. Fiona had hoped to talk with him for a while more.
He made an apologetic expression and exited to his room, changing into a new set of clothes, this time a red shirt and black jeans. Avitus grabbed one of his pistols and his knife from the safe, and equipped them, hidden under the jacket. After that he slapped on a black cap, laced up his boots, and headed to the door. He saw that Fiona was already comfortably slaying on his couch and reading one of the books he had on the table, the renaissance era. Her paws swayed, hanging the edge of the couch and her tail lazily bobbed off to her left.
He bade her goodbye again and walked out of the apartment, jogging down the stairs and walking towards the sleek black car he took from the police impound. The original owners would not need it ever again and so he had taken it for his own use. He slipped into the automobile and keyed the engine, backing it out of its spot and driving towards the precinct.
*********
The drive took ten minutes, including traffic, and he parked his car at the front and walked inside the building. He passed a few officers and they greeted him cheerfully. Avitus had become somewhat of a recognized figure at the precinct.
He said his hellos and made his way to the front desk. Sitting there, was a small female skunk, typing away determinedly at the computer in front of her with her agile fingers. The glow of the screen reflected off her glossy black fur in the low light, and accentuated her attractive features. Her ears flicked at the sound of his approach and she looked up to him with a welcoming smile. "Hey there Avitus, are you here for your weekly checkup?" She inquired cheerily, always seeming to be upbeat.
Over the course of the time he knew her, Rosy had slowly become more open and less introverted around him. Now she hardly looked away during their conversations and became more animate as she spoke, more at ease with him.
The man nodded and replied in an equally positive demeanor. "Got in one there Rosy, got to be on time. You remember what happened when I was late the first time."
The skunk giggled and nodded back. "Yeah, she was so upset she threw a stapler at ya!"
Avitus smiled back, but rubbed a spot on his head subconsciously. "Yep, she's definitely not one to trifle with. So is the irate ball of fur in her office?"
"Uh huh, been in there all day, and I would caution you, she seems to be a little down today."
"Why's that?" He asked, concerned for her. After all, she was one of the few people he knew in this world."
"It is not right for me to say, perhaps if you ask she will tell you. It's a sore topic though." Rosy explained.
Avitus frowned thoughtfully and excused himself, heading over to the vixen's office. He traversed the large room and stopped at her door. Avitus moved his hand to knock but stopped himself, a little nervous. But he discarded his caution and lightly rapped on the door.
There was a soft "Come in," And he twisted the knob to walk inside.
The Assassin took gave the office a quick up-down. Carmelita was sitting at her desk in her usual garb, slightly slumped. There was a piece of paper on the oaken surface that she prodded absently with a pen. Her muzzle was equipped with a slender frown and he knew her posture very well. He had seen it on many of his fellow Assassins, usually on a day of remembrance of either a loved one or unpleasant memory.
Avitus slowly entered and sat at the opposite chair, waiting patiently. After a few minutes of silence, the vixen placed the pen, almost ritualistically, on the desk's surface and turned to him. Her usually bright amber eyes seemed dimmed and she when she spoke, it was not in the usual fiery way that he had grown accustomed to.
"Avitus, I take it you have been acclimatizing well?" She inquired, getting straight to business. It was most unlike her, from what he had gathered about her personality so far. The last time had come; they had talked agreeably for an hour before getting down to business.
"Indeed, it is a little odd at times, but I am managing." He responded simply, watching her with a concerned frown. He didn't like this change in her. Granted he didn't know her that well, but he was a naturally caring person and hated it when people were in ill straights.
"That's good." Carmelita said, almost disinterestedly as she sighed so quietly he almost did not catch it.
They talked as usual, but she was very introspective throughout and seemed to only be going through the motions. As that continued, his disquiet slowly rose until he felt that he had to say something to address the elephant in the room.
Throwing caution to the wind as his concern outweighed it, he voiced his fear. "Excuse me..." He cut in. "But are you feeling well Carmelita?"
Carmelita twitched, slowly processing what he had said, and focused on him with a most unpleasant grimace. "What does it matter to you?" The vixen growled aggressively, ears splayed back and black lips pulled up into a toothy snarl, flipping into a hostile stance.
The animalistic growl made the hardened Assassin instinctively flinch and lean back in his chair. "Forgive me; I was just concerned for your welfare, as you have done for me. But I am sorry if it was inappropriate of me. I will leave." He apologized and stood up hurriedly from his chair, wary of incurring her wrath further.
As his fingers ghosted across the bronze doorknob, he heard her call out loudly.
"Avitus wait! Please....sit back down." He looked over his shoulder and saw the vixen gesturing for him to sit back down, almost pleading.
After a few moments he nodded and regained his seat, watching her a little warily.
This time, her ears were pulled back in guilt rather than anger and her paws lay on the desk as she fiddled with the things spread across it, fastidiously. "I'm sorry about that." She muttered with a sigh. "I shouldn't take out my repressed anger on you. It's just that lately I have been a little emotionally imbalanced."
Avitus placed a hand on one of her paws and noticed that it was trembling softly. "It is more than alright, I have had a lot of experience with emotional pain." He spoke warmly and with a deep understanding.
She looked up to his sympathetic eyes and smiled feebly. As she felt the bare skin of his hand on her paw, she noticed that the feeling of depression and betrayal that Sly had inflicted her with subside until it had almost vanished. The strange reaction she had made her curious as to why his touch affected her so. But before she could dwell on that he spoke again.
"I can tell you from experience that the pain will always linger. Yet it will lessen as time passes, and soon it will become something that you can live with." He told her this as if he knew exactly what she was troubled by.
"How do you know this?" She asked, mystified.
At that Avitus have a pained smile, more like a wry grimace. "My life is no stranger to heartache. And if you have had as much as I have, and I hope you never will, you begin to develop a sense of it in others."
Moments later, the man reversed completely, chuckling lightly. "But I digress; we are far off topic at the moment. We are here for my review."
Carmelita nodded at that, suddenly consumed by a desire to press him further on his knowledge. But she smelt that same smell he gave off in the underground parking garage, and so let it be for the moment.
Avitus smiled as he began to tell her about his most recent exploits and the job he found for himself. As some points he cracked a joke that even managed to tickle her seemingly deceased funny bone. Yet as the hour dragged on, he slowly winded down, finishing on the note that his job was something he enjoyed.
"It has always been my vested interest to protect those who are in need, and this job allows me to do that. So I guess you can say that integration has been surprisingly pleasant." He finished off with a lopsided grin.
She could not help but return it as she finished up her notes, ready to give it to the Chief. "I am happy to hear that you are doing well." Carmelita added as she finished her last scribble.
"So am I." He said with a chuckle that seemed to liven up the room. The man glanced down at the watch he had slapped on before he left and seemed shocked. "Wow, I have been here longer than I expected." The usually hour long review had stretched into three. "It has been a pleasure but I must be going." He said reluctantly as he stood up from his chair.
Carmelita watched as he readied to leave and began to think. The next time she would see him would be in a week, a week where her depression would slowly manifest itself once more. But whenever he was around it seemed to fade away, as if he passively emitted something that repelled it. Thoughts of a week without that barrier filled her with dread. So as the man reached for the door she called out again, almost in a whimper. "Wait Avitus, I wanted to ask you a question before you leave."
The man turned back with the same smile he always seemed to have. "Of course, what do you need?"
"I was wondering..." she began, suddenly becoming nervous and stuttering for some reason she could not unearth. "I-If you w-would want to get something to eat tomorrow...I'll buy." She added, hoping to sway him.
His smile widened. "Sure, I would like that."
Her tail began to wag happily on the other side of the chair, through the threaded hole. "Great, I'll call you after work and we can set it up then."
"That would be great, but it has to be after seven 'o'clock, as that's when the bank closes."
"Of course, I'll call you around eight."
"Good, it's a date..." The man said with a teasing chuckle as he left the room leaving her with blush and a lite feathery feeling in her stomach.
The door to her office closed and she could hear his footsteps recede. The vixen sighed and leaned back in her chair thoughtfully, trying to puzzle out what all this was, and where it was leading.
*********
Avitus opened the door to his apartment and shuffled inside. The day had faded until the sun hid behind the forest of buildings. It was around late evening and he was tired from the long day. He walked deeper into his home and turned to the left. What he saw made him smile, as it was rather adorable.
Fiona had fallen asleep on the couch, book opened on top of her muzzle, draping across her fuzzy cheeks. It seemed that she had gotten halfway through the renaissance volume before succumbing to slumber. A slight purr emitted from within her plump chest and her tail flicked back and forth lazily. One paw hung off the side, almost to the floor, and the other sat on her stomach.
He laughed softly as he walked over, taking the book off her face and putting it back on the table. Then he scooped her up in his arms and carrying her to his bedroom. As he was walking towards the room she wrapped her soft furred ginger arms around his shoulders and snuggled into his chest, her purr intensified and she mumbled incoherently, burrowing her muzzle under his armpit. It reminded him almost of a feral cat.
Avitus entered the bedchamber and used his free hand to lift the covers, sliding her inside. It took a little doing but he managed to get her clutches off him without waking her up. He made sure she was comfortable and drew the covers over her body. As he looked at her he could not help but plant a small kiss on her furred forehead, she was just too cute not too. "Bene dormite parum angelus...." He whispered and turned to leave.
He had no idea that his exit had been watched by a pair of dark green eyes, above a smiling muzzle.