Ymiden 5th 719
He had learned a lot about how Cobra operates from Kar the past few Trials, but so far found little to no way to actually get to the man without greater risk. He wanted to come up with a means of luring him out, and trapping him somewhere where the bastard had no means of escaping. Doing that would be hard but killing him would likely be even harder, if this asshole literally had goons watching his back at every turn. Thus he spent time reading over the translated version of the notes Kar wrote, as the original notebook was left for him to look at as well also. Seeing the old Vauni words again... really brought back many memories of way back when.
Two fucking arcs ago.
He fell in love once more with another woman whose affections belonged towards another, even when for a moment she seemed to want Patrick just as badly. No... he was a third wheel to them and always would've been, no point in dwelling on the past now when the present demanded more importance. He owed it to Dom to find and kill Cobra, to exact vengeance where no one else seemed able to. It was ironic because his older brother never wanted him to be involved, and yet by some twisted sense of fate he was suddenly drawn in anyways. He didn't expect Kar's story to be true all the way, and the fact Dom still had holes in his memory didn't help either.
So pretty much the Rharnian was going in blind with all of this, just as he normally would with everything else as usual. As he started to further read on about a few of the smuggling operations Cobra had done, Patrick heard a knock at the door to his home and looked up from the desk. Who the fuck could this be? He hadn't expected company anytime soon, and Kar made it clear he'd reach out firsthand before coming into direct contact. Cameron didn't know where to find him either, so this had to be somebody Patrick either knew or... a courier dropping off another correspondence note? "For fucks sake." He sighed as he leaned back to scoot his chair a few inches, so that he rose to a stand with relative ease before leaving the office.
"Something tells me you're going to like this!" Ri almost sang in harmony as she fluttered eagerly down the hall towards him.
"I don't know, I'm starting to get a little sick of these unexpected surprises." He remarked as he led the way to the front door, another knock heard as he entered the reception area. "I'm coming, I'm coming." Once he arrived and opened the door to see who stood outside, Patrick immediately found himself pleasantly surprised just like Ri'ku had insisted. Crowley stood at the door with his left hand tucked in the pocket of his pants, and a cigar hanging between his fingers as he beamed at the sight of Patrick.
"Sounds like now's not a good time. Should I come back and try again later?"
"Crowley! You old bastard!" The enthusiasm in Pat's voice led the old timer to chuckle as he and Pat took a moment to hug one another. "What are you doing here?! I didn't think you'd come all the way to Rharne!"
"What? Just because I'm a retired treasure hunter doesn't mean I still can't travel?!" He mused with a half-made grin as his grizzly features relaxed. "It's been too long kiddo, last I wrote to you I got word back practically a season later! Where were ya?!"
"Scalvoris I think," Patrick appeared to have a moment of questionable doubt as he thought about it, "I managed to head there thanks to an old friend. We went our separate ways afterwards though, spent a little time there before coming back home."
Crowley couldn't help but chuckle. "Causing trouble like the usual."
"Eh... In a way... yeah?" The Rharnian did his best to hide it, granted his case of 'trouble' had been more out of help... rather than actual harm tended to do. Then again most harm was usually brought upon himself like always, which was why Crowley's combination of concern in his eyes along with a soft smile was all too expected.
"You haven't changed one bit."
"Ahem." A softer lilted voice sounded in to remind Crowley of her presence, as the old timer raised his eyebrows with a bit of surprise.
"Whoops! Almost forgot!" He admitted as he moved aside to reveal just who had accompanied him, Patrick's enthusiasm suddenly died when he laid eyes upon her. If it were anybody else then he would've teased Crowley, congratulated him and asked when he'd tie the knot... but who he saw clearly wasn't a joke, much less a ghost of his past as she stood off the porch with her arms crossed. "I believe you two know each other."
As he said this Lexi reluctantly gestured a single wave as if to greet him, the sudden awkwardness apparent for her just as it was for Patrick. "... Where have I heard that before..." First Kar and now his ex from so long ago, who had a young boy accompanying her as well as they both stared.
"Hi Pat." The brunette finally greeted a little softly, as her nerves were obviously worked up over this meeting.
"...Hi."
"Well uh... This clearly didn't go how I expected it to." Crowley muttered a little dumbfounded, disturbed by how quickly the two seemed to withdraw from one another.
"Sorry, come on in!" Patrick urged as he moved to allow them inside, Patrick couldn't help but look out towards the field to make sure nobody else had seen them. It wasn't that he had a sneaking suspicion that he was being watched, even though he probably was, it was just that the timing of all this seemed to be... far too impeccable to be considered mere coincidence. Thus he quickly followed them inside as the three got themselves situated, with Lexi and the kid on the sofa while Pat and Crowley sat in chairs across from it.
Before too long the story became clear and thankfully, Patrick knew it was a story that he could trust well enough. Crowley had went on about how things in Ne'haer had gotten iffy, and that what with the politicking getting out of hand he felt the need to leave. Surprisingly when he was getting ready to do just that, the kid with Lexi had been caught sneaking into his abode after hearing about the story of Orimar. He'd apparently wanted to find out more about it as the mentioning of a Rharnian meant something to him, and given that his mother was in fact the woman he used to love... Patrick started to connect dots quicker than some would give him credit for.
"So... he's..."
"Ain't it crazy?!" Crowley cheered as Lexi and boy she introduced as Daxter watched Ri'ku fluttering around. "She was determined to scold him of course, but when I learned why he wanted to know more about Orimar; I quickly remembered the story you told me about her."
"It was really pure chance, I was surprised to find out he actually meant you when he told us about the expedition." Lexi added in as Patrick sat low into his chair with arms crossed, his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to make sense of everything now. Everything. Right up until now. How the hell did his life come together like this... in a time where he joined a cause, fighting alongside friends on the brink of war... and the fucking fates ordained that his best friend and past lover show up on his doorstep; alongside with a bastard he never knew about for twelve arcs.
"Sincerely... fuck you." He silently urged to whatever fucking Immortal or higher power called for this to happen. This was by far the last thing he needed on his plate at the moment... "Hey Crowley, would you excuse me and Alexis while we talk in my office?" Lexi's eyes widened and Crowley shrugged with a perplexed expression on his face, thus Patrick didn't waste any time hopping onto his feet to lead the way to his office. Lexi herself told Dax that she'd be right back as she then followed after him moments later, the door hesitantly shut behind her as she quietly turned to face him. Patrick stood with a heavy lean against the desk, his arms used to prop him up while his head hung low. "How long?"
"Look Pat now's not the-"
"How fucking long?!" He snapped with a furious gaze shot to her, the surprise in her expression met with anger as well.
"Don't even go there, you made it clear you never wanted-"
"Never what?! Never wanted to settle down, start a family and live in a wealthy house up in the Glass Quarter?!"
"It was-"
"It was all that we talked about! You, me, and Dom! We all wanted to live a better life, and then fourteen Arcs pass you just come back; with that kid who I know good and well has to be mine?!"
"It was a mistake!!" Patrick looked to her baffled and nearly speechless, as he clearly failed to register what she meant by that.
"Oh." He chuckled nervously with a few short bounces on his heels. "Oh I get it now. Living with me was a mistake. Great. Really explains why you never even bothered to write anything to me."
"That's not..." Lexi growled as she did the same trick she always would do, which was roll her eyes every time he did something to aggravate her. "I'm saying that I made a mistake! Okay?!"
"Oh! Ya think!!" Patrick retorted aggressively as he started to grow louder. "Twelve fucking Arcs Alexis!! Twelve!! Do have any idea how much that hurts?! That's already over half his childhood I've missed, that I could've been a part of if you'd just fucking wrote!!"
"Oh fuck you Pat, you know that's one of the things that drove me crazy! Always focused on you and what you wanted, hell anytime it came to something I wanted I felt left out."
"Bullshit!!"
"It was always about what you and your brother wanted! Always wanting to live in a nice fancy house, with your ideals on fancy parties and wealthy friends! When it came down to when I wanted to leave, it was you that gave up and insisted I go!"
"I didn't tell you to fucking walk out on us! You did that yourself!"
"You encouraged it!!" She insisted as he pointed a finger with the intention to declare otherwise, that is until a knock on the office door interrupted their heated argument.
Crowley regrettably peeked in from behind the door, his brows folded together as his brown eyes moved from Lexi to Pat. "Um... sorry to interrupt, but ugh there's a lion in your front yard."
"A WHAT?!" She sounded furious.
"Ugh no, no, no. It's fine!" Patrick tried to assure Lexi as she ran past him out the office, her first thought to check on Daxter before looking outside the window to see Lush.
"Why is there a damn lion on your front porch?!" The woman nearly screamed as she pulled the kid away, obviously fearful that the predator might notice and attack.
"I said it's fine! He's a good friend, practically harmless unless you give him reason to!"
"The FUCK is it doing on your front porch?!"
"Don't fucking worry about it! Now if you don't mind, I'd like to wrap up our previous damn conversation!"
"Oh, oh no." Lexi feigned the best chuckle she could. "We're past that now. It's done and over, come on Dax let's go." She urged as she shepherded the poor kid out, eager to put as much distance between them and lion as Lush watched them walk off.
Patrick watched for a moment before kicking hard at the doorway, furious to watch as Lexi yet again fucking walked away from him once more. "FUCK!!"
"Easy Pat, easy!" Crowley urged as he tried to calm the Rharnian down. "Gods I had no idea you both had it that bad."
"Oh yeah!" He declared lividly as he marched his way past Crowley towards the kitchen area. "That fucking bad!!"
"Wha, where ya goin?!"
"Look Crowley it was great to catch up man, really, but I need to ask you one big favor for me." He urged as he filed through the cupboards for a full bottle of whiskey. Actually... Fuck it. Where was that bourbon. "Keep an eye on her and the kid for me, I've got a lot going on that I can't be distracted from."
"We'll sure..." There came a hint of sadness in his tone. "But what about you? If there's something I can do then-"
"I got my ass covered," Patrick reassured him as he shook the half filled bottle of bourbon, "trust me I'll be fine. Now please, go make sure she's okay! When I get the chance, I'll reach out to you okay?" Crowley looked at him alarmingly and slowly nodded to show he understood, a solemn farewell waved at him as he headed for the door to go on out. While he'd hopefully try to catch up with the other two, Patrick returned back to his office to try and focus on his current work... only to find that drinking bourbon and being angry... merely resulted in him being far too distracted to get anything done.
"Patrick", "Follower", "Ri", "Lush", "NPC"
