Dashing Devil Omnibus 2: Books 4-6, page 39
“Oh, yeah?” Boyd chuckled at the less than slick transition.
“Mhmm.” Connor nodded seriously. “She said that the way you handled Archangel was funny, and then… um… what was it? Oh yeah, she said she admired the way you stood up for Changed in the interview afterwards. She warned me that a lot of people aren’t going to like you for that, so I have to be extra careful not to tell anyone I know you… but that made you doing it even braver. Then I asked if that made you cool, and she said you were pretty cool.”
“Well, I’m glad she thinks so.”
Boyd smiled good-naturedly. He doubted that the fairy-featured spitfire meant it in a way that indicated any interest in him. She still seemed adamantly against superfluous interactions with him or just about anyone else on the team—with the possible exception of Laura—both before and during dinner.
Of course, there was the whole ‘off-duty activities’ thing… and she had been a little more open in the conversation this evening. She didn’t even leave a seat between her and the person next to her at dinner—which Boyd attributed to having a matching number on either side of the table at the time.
He kicked the situation over to his Gestalt to get his opinion on that matter.
His Gestalt sent him back the vague sense that he needed more data. There were signs of interest—but of course there were. Had he seen it himself? That said, her stated opinion on the topic had been a firm no. She might just be confused, but either way, that meant she wasn’t interested enough for Boyd to worry about doing anything about it.
Time would tell.
“Yeah, um, so what do you think of my sister?” Connor asked, his eyes attempting to look innocently curious—though completely failing on the innocent front.
“She’s very good at her job.” Boyd kept the chuckle from his voice.
“Okay. But she’s really pretty, isn’t she?” the boy asked, doing his best to hide his ulterior motives.
Boyd let the chuckle out at that point. “Yeah, she’s really pretty, Conor. But I see what you are getting at, and I don’t think she likes me. Sorry, buddy.”
The gears started to turn behind Connor’s eyes again as he watched Boyd for a moment. He shook his head and evidently decided to abandon that line of thought for now, because he asked, “Yeah, um, so what was the battle with the Last Dragon really like? I want to hear all about it.”
“So, the first thing you have to understand, is that I put a lot of time in training to do what I did…” Boyd began his retelling, starting with the part that was most important for a boy like Connor to understand—don’t try this at home.
Boyd took his time telling Connor about their plan and then how things turned out, but he didn’t want to keep the others waiting. Connor listened and asked plenty of questions, but Boyd kept it from going on too long. He would be able to speak to the boy more regularly now that he wasn’t under a media blackout. He didn’t need to run through all his conversation material at once.
In the end, Boyd left his office after the twenty-minute call. He found the group of women gathered in one of the seating areas large enough for all of them, with the seating arranged to face a good-sized viewscreen. The group was in the middle of discussing what sounded like a drinking game of Raev’s creation.
A spot had been left open between Silvie and Mindy on the middle couch most directly facing the screen, which is where Boyd settled into. Both women immediately snuggled into him as he settled and he hooked his wings up over the rear of the couch.
“Okay, simple is always better. Let’s stick with one shot for each duplicate that gets destroyed.” Raev finalized the rules from where she sat on a separate couch with Laura and Daisy, although given that only the vixen and the nurse had two dozen shots lined up in front of them, it didn’t look like the fairy was participating in this drinking game.
“That sounds good to me,” Laura agreed and then smiled when Boyd recounted the shots, his concern written on his face.
Raev would likely be fine, but two dozen shots seemed an awful lot for someone without a Powered constitution. His Gestalt reminded Boyd that Laura’s status as a Powered was still in question, and who better than a medical professional to know how much she could drink? He held his tongue.
Tinker, who had been sharing a loveseat with Kayla, hopped down and came over to Boyd. He sensed her desire through their Bond and happily pulled her up into his lap when she reached him, giving the petite woman her favorite little nuzzle as she settled in. With Silver and Mindy on either side and Tinker in his lap, he was completely surrounded by feminine smells, warmth, and softness.
He was altogether content. His Gestalt thought there might be hope for him yet.
“I take it we are watching something,” Boyd rumbled contentedly as Kayla handled the tablet that controlled the entertainment system.
“Yup!” Kayla seemed nearly as happy as Boyd. “Tinker’s program took most of the work out of selecting the best shots, so I was able to put together the footage from the fight we’ll use for the feature-length release. It took me about an hour. I did it when I snuck away from the party after all the juicy bits had been shared.”
The reporter waved a hand at the ranks of shots. “These two wanted to drink, so they put together a drinking game around it.” She nodded towards Raev and Laura.
“Wait…” Boyd rumbled, turning a concerned look on the ladies in question. “Is the plan to drink each time one of my duplicates gets destroyed during the air chase?”
“Yup!,” Raev popped the ‘p’ and then grinned at him. “Laura here is convinced she can outdrink me, so we bet a dare on it.”
Boyd shifted his gaze to Laura who wore an innocent expression, although he noted the confidence burning bright in her light green eyes. “It might have seemed like a long time during the moment, but you both understand that Raev’s duplicates only came into play for a few minutes… and dropped like flies during it, right? We planned to use them in the final stage, but had to improvise.”
“Wait, your one-man charge was improvised?” Daisy asked, her shock clear on her face.
“None of our plans involved anyone facing the dragon without direct support, no.” Boyd shook his head while looking between Raev and Laura.
“Won’t be a problem for me.” Raev shrugged and shot Laura a challenging look.
“I can handle it.” Laura’s eye contained a similar challenge but remained focused on Boyd.
This earned a velvet chuckle from Raev.
Boyd shrugged and mentally ran through his training on the topic. “Just understand that I’m perfectly willing to induce vomiting if signs of alcohol poisoning appear.” He arched an eyebrow at Laura. “I hope you have clearly marked glucose IVs in the clinic, or I’ll tear the place apart looking for them.”
“Don’t you dare!” Laura glared at him. “The inventory system will point you right to them, but they are in the fridge marked G-1. The Thiamine is in there, too, if you think to use it—not that we’ll need either.”
“I figure you’d know better than me, and I trust your judgment.” Boyd was completely relaxed with lovely women pressed into him from most angles. He regretted wearing the shirt as it blocked the silky feel of Tinker’s big shirt, the velvet of Mindy’s dress, and the thin cotton that covered Silvie’s contrasting firmness and softness. “I just wanted to make sure you put the thought into the amount and the timeframe before committing to the rules of your drinking game.”
“Darling is big on stuff like that.” Silvie giggled as she snuggled into his side while Tinker nestled back into his chest, giving her nice little rump a wiggle. Apparently, he was being rewarded for demonstrating his concern.
“He meant it when he acknowledged that you are better informed than him on the topic,” Mindy added—addressing one of Laura’s thoughts, no doubt. “He wasn’t questioning your judgment at all. If you were anyone but the only medical personnel for hundreds of miles, he wouldn’t even have brought up being prepared to treat you for alcohol poisoning.”
“Mind Readers are such fun,” Kayla laughed in response to the way Laura gave a pleased nod, the challenge in her eyes fading into satisfaction. “Okay, so I’m going to have to talk you through some of it, but I’m going to cut in and get this started so I can get back to work on finishing it.”
When everyone nodded, Kayla grinned. “Okay, here we go. I want to open with the action, then we’ll show the behind-the-scenes stuff.” Kayla hit play before anyone could reply.
Chapter 40
They all settled back to watch Kayla’s early draft of the special. Boyd was suitably impressed with what she had managed to put together in a few short hours. It started with footage of Archangel’s many promises to defeat the Last Dragon, the first clip a compilation of about twenty seconds with progressively shorter segments that focused on him saying the words, “I promise.”
Boyd grinned as it next showed him doing just the opposite, as he encouraged his team when they’d loaded the Osprey and departed the base. Kayla used a slow build of dramatic music with a sudden clash at the moment the Blonde Buffoon abandoned Hope to face the terror he’d just finished promising to kill alone the most important thing he did in the field. She showed Hope’s prediction of Boyd’s arrival and then her one angel stand, evoking suspense with similarly clever music choices.
The music shifted sharply to something much more hopeful as the screen split to show Hope on one side and Boyd crouching down in preparation to launch and pull her from the beast’s path. Kayla included the kiss, making sure she had a good angle. Boyd suspected she might even have slowed it down a touch for effect—that, or maybe the moment had lasted longer than he’d thought.
She didn’t include a voice-over during the fight, instead using music in an attempt to immerse and hook the viewer. It worked on them, at least, as everyone’s eyes remained riveted to the screen despite their having lived it all. Well, everyone’s eyes but Raev’s and Laura’s—who spent several minutes of the most intense part of the action pounding shots as Boyd’s illusory duplicates died in droves. Their eyes, which they likely had trouble focusing, returned to the screen after that part was over.
It ran right through Archangel’s attack on Boyd, the Blonde Buffoon’s clearly distraught state afterwards, and up to the point he eventually issued the request for the duel. Hope folded herself into Boyd’s arms for a bit after Archangel left, which it was clear she adored as evidenced by the pleased little smile on her perfect lips the entire time.
Then, it moved into something more like a storyboard with Kayla verbally running through some sound bites she wanted to get from different members of the team interspersed with parts of the interview she had led and some training footage they’d provided her. The reporter’s choices made it clear she understood the team’s targeted message without having to be told.
The look she gave Boyd as it all came to a close told him she thought he was the one she needed to impress. Hopeful concern filled her light brown eyes, but a smile curled her lips—likely because he had made sure his approval had shown on his face throughout the viewing.
She had done an excellent job, after all. That settled something Davis had asked him to consider in the post-interview debrief. He hadn’t been overly concerned about it before, but he had even less objections, now. The fact that everyone, starting with the two who had likely taken a few too many shots part way through, clapped enthusiastically when it finished likely helped ease the concern Boyd had seen in her eyes.
“It’s not quite finished, obviously,” Kayla said after taking a brief bow. “I’m hoping each of you can give me a little time tomorrow to record a few sound bites. The actual sound and effects guys will touch it up, too,” she was careful to add.
“That was amazing as it was, once we fill in those gaps,” Silvie bubbled as she leaned back into his arm after clapping enthusiastically. “I think I’m sold. Darling?”
Boyd chuckled when Kayla bit her lower lip, which was still curled in a smile at the sides. While she hadn’t asked or brought it up in any way, she was either aware of the decision that was pending his approval as the team’s Captain, or was just angling to impress him—possibly hoping to earn some additional commitments in return.
Boyd turned a grin at Silvie who smiled sweetly up at him while resting her cheek on his bicep. “I was going to wait until I saw the finished results, but yeah, I’m on board. Team?” He included the others in the decision.
“I already made my opinion known,” Mindy replied cryptically, which could only be to mess with the reporter a bit, given she had given her firm support early on. That almost settled it, or at least it answered any concerns or questions they might have had, given Mindy’s insight into the woman in question.
“Um, yeah… I guess I’m fine with it, since you promised,” Tinker said.
She was the only one he was really asking, seeing as she was the only one with any strong compunctions against being thrust into the media spotlight. He’d promised to keep her exposure limited if she agreed and then gave her some time to think about it. Boyd double-checked her state over their Bond to make sure she wasn’t agreeing now because of peer pressure.
While a little nervous, she was determined.
“Sshe alrready had my vvote.” Raev slurred her words just a little, but seemed mostly there as she gave Boyd a victorious grin.
Glancing down at the table, he counted the empty shot glasses before each woman and found that Raev had three more than Laura, presumably winning the game.
“Whhy noot,” Laura’s slur was notably heavier, despite having drank less. “Hic! Ash long ash sshe promisesesss to only shhow my good side.” Their trauma nurse frowned at Boyd. “Nnnot ssure if I wass part of the disscusshon or jussth in the room.”
Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes slipped out of focus, but she remained upright under her own power, albeit with a little help from the couch.
Boyd shook his head and gave a chuckle. “I hope this means you’ve learned not to try to outdrink Raev.”
“Mnff,” Laura shrugged, “jussth outta practish… but yesh, I losht. Whatsh my dare?”
She turned to Raev with an unconcerned expression. Raev appeared to think about it for a moment, her emerald eyes wandering over the area as if searching for options. Much to his concern, they settled on Boyd before lighting up with an idea.
Lips curling in a grin, the kitsune leaned into the nurse and excitedly whispered into her ear. More concerning was the girlish giggle the nurse replied with, and the knowing smiles both women gave him afterward. Boyd decided that Raev surely wouldn’t have dared the woman to do anything too untoward. He remained on alert for any shenanigans born from inebriation.
“Okay, this pause is killing me,” Kayla complained, breaking Boyd’s focus from the amused expressions on his lover’s and their nurse’s faces. “What just got voted on?”
Boyd put the potential test of his self-control to the back of his mind and turned a knowing smirk of his own on Kayla. She seemed to be a woman torn, once again having something she wanted possibly in sight… if she had an inkling about what Davis had requested of Boyd
.
He had already let it build up enough, so didn’t make her suffer any longer. “How would you feel about being embedded with The Devoted through my upcoming duel with Archangel? You would be in place to document parts of my training and help improve our public image as we focused on that in leu of the standard decompression cycle a team would normally do after something like killing the Last Dragon.”
“Yes… wait─what?”
Kayla’s first response was most likely the honest one, but it seemed like she’d answered before fully processing the offer, and then had asked for clarification.
“Embedded? I was told I might be offered the chance to cover the duel from your perspective… but, fully embedded?”
“Well,” Raev let loose her velvet chuckle, “em-bedded… not in-bed-ded. That would be a no-no.”
“Yes, I’ll certainly be asked, and the Fact Checkers would gleefully call me out on it if I lied,” Kayla nodded to the slightly drunk kitsune. “The public would eat me alive, and it would be a hit on Boyd, too. No concerns here, I can separate business from pleasure.”
She smirked at the three women plastered to him, with several others in the room who would likely gladly trade places with them. “It doesn’t look like Boyd is lacking for attention, so I doubt it will be a concern from his perspective.”
“Kuh-he!” Mindy laughed her little laugh.
The big Hero found that concerning, too. When he checked back with his Gestalt, Boyd found him still in agreement that Kayla, while undoubtedly attractive, was off limits. She had more value as a reporter than a lover, and had much to gain from the arrangement as well.
Claiming her would be a disservice to her career. His Gestalt believed that Mindy’s laugh was either unrelated or originated from a thought on Kayla’s end. Boyd trusted his self-control—there were only so many women like Raev in the world, after all—so when he replied, he said, “To answer your question… yes, fully embedded. We have a room for you and plenty of camera and editing equipment on hand. You would, of course, be able to make a single round trip to Glorith to pick up any personal effects. You’ll have to make do with camera drones, though—there was a flag in Craig’s background check. Nothing too concerning, just some low-end information selling, but Davis isn’t willing to take the risk.”
“Tinker’s drones do a much better job anyway, and I reported that information selling myself after he refused to stop when I warned him about it. I was worried it would affect my career.” She looked conflicted for all of maybe two seconds, then that concern settled into a wide grin before she added, “Not that it would matter. I’m definitely in. Where do I sign?”
