He took a step towards Brigid's door. Then he took another. He wondered if he should instead wait for a better opportunity. Maybe Brigid might choose to leave the base again. But when? Would another chance present itself to him? He couldn't risk it, yet he couldn't decide if getting caught right now was a price he was willing to pay.
He hadn't realized it, but he was already halfway towards the door. He took out Bevan's phone and checked the battery. Half the life of the device still called for usage. Maitho could extend the battery power if he disabled some of the apps and features of the phone. That could be enough. After all, the phone had lasted for more than twelve hours by consuming just fifty percent of its life. He might just need to use the phone for another few hours, give or take. But would it actually last that long while it was active?
Time seemed to pass without his knowledge. He could have been standing there for under a minute or for as long as five. It was difficult to be certain.
He placed the phone in his pocket. The last thing he wanted was for someone to discover him with stolen property. It would only exacerbate the destruction of his credibility with the team, not that it wasn't slowly happening already. He knew that it was only because of Epona and Quinn that he had some modicum of power to wield when facing Brigid.
He took another step forward.
"Maitho?" The voice behind him was instantly recognizable.
He froze in his tracks, then had the strong urge to slap his forehead for doing so. Now he definitely looked suspicious. His heart felt like it was about to break through his ribcage. A sudden burst of heat traveled down his face and across his back. He felt a numbing sensation on his fingers.
He quickly turned around to face Epona.
Time seemed to freeze. A million thoughts and explanations bustled around in his head for attention. The entire hallway seemed to blur around him as his attention honed in on the woman standing in front of him.
He wanted to say something, but held himself back from speaking first. That would sound like he was guilty of something. At that moment, he needed to show that he had no idea what Epona was going to say next. The expression on her face could be anything, from curiosity to doubt.
"Headin for a quick shower?" she asked.
Was that what he was about to do? He could answer in the affirmative. But that would be too easy. He had been coincidentally about to do what she had just suggested. It wouldn't be an impossible situation, but it would be a suspicious one. Perhaps he was just overthinking all of it. Maybe she was making a simple observation and it didn't matter what he answered. Yet he couldn't shake the feeling that if he answered wrong, then he would be pushing himself away from the one person whose trust he gained more than the others.
"Honestly, no," said Maitho. It was true. "I just don't know what I should be doing now." Also true. He wondered if the vagueness of his response would come into question.
It was only after Epona showed the objects she had been holding that he realized that her hands had been at her back this whole time. He recognized the items she was holding, but it took a few seconds more to name them.
Epona held two bottles of beer in one hand and a can opener in the other. She gave a shrug. "No sure aboot the food, but the drinks are covered." She began walking towards him. "Maybe ye can figure oot whit tae dae after some liquid motivation."
Despite everything, the laugh escaped Maitho without his permission. He was surprised at first, but allowed himself to loosen up. His nerves had been stretched to their limits for the whole day. It wouldn't hurt to give himself a moment of respite.
He felt relief, though whether it was more because he wasn't discovered or because of the thought of having a drink, he couldn't really say. He just decided to stop analyzing each and every idea he came across. It was time to simply roll with the situation. For once, he didn't want to ponder about ulterior motives or clandestine plans.
"Come on. Bevan is joinin us." Saying that, Epona headed out the door.
Maitho gave one long look at Brigid's room before joining Epona. Guess he had to look for another opportunity after all. He decided to follow Epona. At first he thought it was because he didn't want to raise suspicions by waiting too long. It then occurred to him that he truly wanted to spend a moment with other people in a casual setting. He had never been good at socializing, but he might as well add it to his impromptu bucket list he had just created seconds ago.
When he re-entered the security room, Bevan was taking a long swig from a bottle. His eyes traveled sideways while the bottle was still tilted back. He stopped drinking to say something to Maitho, but the only sound that escaped his lips was a guttural burp. His eyes widened at his own reaction.
Maitho chuckled. He loved the sound that came out of him. It was pleasant even to his own ears. He walked up to the sofa, this time without even the slightest hint of apprehension, and sat down like it was the most natural thing to do. His body settled into the sofa, as opposed to how it tried to understand what position it had to take earlier when he was about to have a conversation with Brigid.
Epona handed him an opened beer. Maitho accepted it without resistance by pinching the neck of the bottle. He moved the bottle around and watched the liquid swish inside.
"Tae the little moments," said Epona, raising her drink in a toast.
Maitho matched her action, clinking the bottle. Bevan joined them. Together, the three took a silent gulp. Maitho exhaled in delight. He could feel the liquid warm its way down his throat until it settled down comfortably in his belly. This simple situation where he enjoyed a drink with a few people he knew could have been a habit he could get used to. Too late for that he supposed.
He didn't feel the absence of the missing person in the room. It was odd, but for the first time, he wasn't feeling like he had to be concerned about her. But he couldn't think that way. Not when Bevan was around.
A thought appeared in Maitho's mind. "You should tell her," he said to Bevan. The other man looked at him as though he had just asked a complex math problem. Maitho clarified. "It was kind of obvious. The way she connects with you. Especially the ease at which she tries to comfort you. The fact that she looks at you warmly even though you do something she may not approve of. Thhe time that she came to heal you first when we faced off against Raiden." Maitho thought for a while. "And that she likes to partner with you more often." He could see the understanding dawn on Bevan's face. "I can't say if she shares your feelings, but I think she might be aware of them. So why not just let her know how you feel?"
Bevan blushed. Epona spoke. "It daes no tak a genius tae figure that oot. Ye are an open book."
"Take it from me," said Maitho, bringing the beer close to his mouth. "I know all too well what it's like to be short on time. You should just go for it." He thought that the little reminder of his death would sully his mood. Oddly, it didn't. Maybe it might happen eventually, but in the presence of the two Guardians and a cool beer in his hand, his fate just felt like a normal fact about his life.
"Ah'm tryin tae enjoy a beer here," said Epona, arms raised to either side of her. "An ah wad like a side o joy an no gloom, thank ye very much."
Maitho laughed. "Me too. But it's either I enjoy this beer and laugh at my fate. Or use the beer to drown in my sorrows."
"Or," Epona said, but had to pause while she took a sip, "Ye coud juist get bloody drunk."
"I'll get there eventually," said Maitho, offering a quick laugh. Even Epona couldn't keep the smile from forming on her face.
"Exactly," said Bevan, a little too eager to speak. "Forget about everything and get drunk."
"Ye dinnae get tae skip yer quaisten that easily," Epona reminded him.
Bevan spread his arms. "Hey, when did I become the center of attention? Isn't it Maitho?" His voice trailed off. "Ah crap, I just ruined the moment."
Maitho shook his head. "You didn't. I better start getting used to it quickly."
There was silence. It wasn't awkward. At least to Maitho. He simply felt that it allowed him to stop thinking about anything related to the end of the month.
Bevan's soft voice interrupted the stillness. He spoke with a sense of yearning. "It's not that I don't want to," he said as a wistful look passed his eyes. "It's just that she still thinks about him." He corrected himself. "Angus. He was part of our team as well." Maitho didn't ask about what happened. He instead took another swig of the beer. "He disappeared, in case you were wondering," said Bevan.
Maitho showed that he understood, but that he was not going to pry any further. Bevan chose to continue, perhaps because they were on the topic of the Celtic team leader. "She wasn't always like this. After what happened to Angus, she changed. It didn't happen overnight, but it was happening right before my eyes and there was nothing I could do." He twisted the bottle in his hand then blew out through the corner of his mouth. The drink was definitely helping him speak more freely than before. "Now she just does what she wants to do and there's no one who can stop her."
It was Bevan's words that began to convince Maitho of his next steps. Up until that moment, it felt as though he was at a crossroad, hoping that some answer would present itself to him. It finally seemed as though he had found it.
He stayed with the duo for a little while longer, engaging in idle banter. He knew that perhaps this moment would never repeat itself. It was one of a kind, like the perfect picture that could never be replicated. He absorbed as much of the sounds and sights as possible. Epona's sharp but friendly rejoinders. Bevan's awkward explanations. They were all precious gems in the treasure chest of his memories. One that he would not even be able to access in the end.
A single bottle turned to four. Eventually, Maitho found a reason to excuse himself, proclaiming loudly that he needed to unload "his full barrel". He bumped his leg on the sofa, almost tripping over. It wasn't intentional. He joined in the laughter that burst out from Bevan. Epona simply rolled her eyes, "It's only four bottles, for godsakes."
Maitho entered the hallway. He made his way forward, the walls tilting at odd angles to accommodate his dancing gait. It was confirmed at that moment that he could definitely not hold his alcohol. At least not to the level of the other two, who seemed closer to looking sober.
Yet his mind still understood his mission. He directly made his way to Brigid's door and grabbed the doorknob. When he checked the hallway, he discovered that no one had followed him. He closed his eyes, made a small hope and twisted the knob.
The door didn't open.
His eyes opened in a state of panic. He looked down and noticed that in his current state, he had twisted the knob the wrong way. He tried again. This time, the wooden barrier to Brigid's room swung open.
He once again checked behind him and confirmed that he was still alone. It took him a few tries before he could fish out Bevan's phone. Once done, he took out his own and navigated to his settings. He muted all sounds. He then opened the contacts in Bevan's phone. He didn't have to scroll too long before he found the name that he was looking for. His own.
The Celtic Guardian had enough phone numbers to count off using ten or fewer fingers. Maitho called his number and answered the call on his phone. He then locked his device before transferring it to his jeans pocked. He locked Bevan's phone as well to provent the screen from turning on without warning. He knew that there were still changes that could turn on a locked screen. Which was also why he was going to take an extra step.
Brigid's room was sparsely furnished with just a single bedside table. The space looked almost barren when one compared it to the room on the upper floor that he had seen when he first faced-off against Raiden. He imagined that all the other rooms on the upper floors of the buildings were all similarly furnished in artful decor and expensive furnitures. The rooms in the basement of the building were definitely utilitarian.
He walked over to the single bed and got down on his knees. He placed the phone face-down on the floor so that even if the screen turned on, it wouldn't easily alert someone to the device's presence. After pausing for a moment to check if there were any sounds of footsteps and confirming that there was no one in the hallway, he pushed the phone under Brigid's bed. The device was far enough that she wouldn't be able to notice it easily, but closer to the edge of the bed to pick out any sounds.
There was no need to waste any time. Pushing himself to his feet, he walked unsteadily to his feet. He tripped and in order to compensate for his loss of balance, his hand automatically reached out to steady himself on a walled-surface. He pushed himself against the door, causing it to bang hard against the wall behind it.
The shock he felt pushed out any sensation of inebriation. He stood stunned. But only for a second. He recovered and pushed himself out into the hallway. He reached around and realized that the door was still pushed against the wall. He had to step into Brigid's room to grab the handle. He quickly closed the door, not being quiet about the process.
He started walking quickly towards his room, using his shoulder to balance himself on the hallway wall. When he reached his room, he didn't bother entering it. He opened the door. Then he sat down on the floor next to it, straightening his legs.
It was just in time. Bevan burst into the hallway. His wide eyes took the scene. Then he began to chuckle, which eventually turned to laughter that made him clutch his belly.
Maitho smiled, partially because he was happy he wasn't discovered near the Celtic leader's room and partially because he knew he looked like a drunk who couldn't wak straight. Epona leaned in behind Bevan. "Whit the bloody hell happened tae ye?"
Maitho responded. "I tripped."
That was when Brigid called Epona's phone.