Darren
Those two will be the death of me, I swear, AJ's only purpose in this world is to piss me off, and Ren's purpose is to make me question every decision I've ever made. I just wish they'd keep their sex life off of my furniture. I sigh in frustration as I viciously scrub the gray marble counter, damn they're filthy, the maids should be the ones taking care of this. I scrub off coffee stains and jam, miscellaneous sticky substances. I grimace as I hear AJ call out Ren's name from inside the shower, I scrub harder attempting to scrub away the very memory of AJ sitting on it, Ren up against him like a fucking koala, The image disturbs me. I cringe as I hear more moans filtering through the first floor like a symphony of irony. I can't stand this, I can't very well forbid it either. I roll my eyes to myself. Screw it, I'll make them clean up my counters. I discard my rag into the laundry bin just around the corner. I walk into the small lounge area across from the pale arched doorway of the kitchen. It's a small, mostly unused area, everything has a fine layer of dust, the mahogany wood in the kitchen is everywhere on the first floor, second floor, where the bedrooms are, is carpet, and the third floor is covered in mats, for training. There are two 4 cube shelves on either side of the makeshift living room. Books neatly organized by height in each square. There is a simple gray couch on the left side of the room and two bean bags to the right. In the center of the area is a dark glass coffee table. On it lay my helmet and keys. Quickly, I scoop them up and stride down the hallway, pretending not to hear the sounds of pleasure over the running water. I rap 3 times on the door before yelling loud enough for them to hear.
"You have 5 minutes before I go in there, drag you both out by your hair and force you to scrub all of the counters naked and with a toothbrush!"
The water turns off the second I'm finished speaking. I hear shuffling around in the bathroom. AJ is the first to emerge, looking rather pleased with himself, the arrogant smile snapping into place amidst all his other features. His yellow-blonde hair dripping…a towel wrapped around his waist…. I force a cocky grin on my face.
"That's much better." I ruffle his hair and cast a menacing gaze towards him. "Clean your genital residue off of every single piece of furniture it rests on, and I won't mess up your pretty face."
I sometimes forget how quick of a thinker AJ is, it seems he had already known what I was going to say before I had even begun my sentence. He angles his head up towards mine, his cocky smirk becoming sultry,
"You think I'm pretty?"
He flashes his green eyes at me with curiosity. I swallow, speechless, AJ smiles wider.
"What's wrong boss man? Cat got your tongue?"
he throws his head back against the dark gray walls and laughs. His hair falling into his eyes when he looks at me again. The sound clears my mind and allows me to speak once again. "I know you think you're pretty" I try to deflect the topic, the truth is, I think AJ is beautiful. He's just aggravating as all hell and sometimes I think he would look prettier smeared across the pavement. When AJ doesn't make an effort to respond I continue, thankfully my tactic succeeded.
"Didn't I give you orders?"
I say to him inquisitively. He doesn't move, he just continues staring at me. I roll my eyes, he's just stalling. I tell myself, I lean over the top of him and lower my voice to a dangerous tone.
"Shouldn't you be, I dunno, following those orders?"
By this point Ren has also emerged from the bathroom, also with a towel around his waist. He crosses his arms over his chest and leans against the doorframe, watching us with a bored expression. He catches AJ's eye and gives him a look, I'm not sure what the look is. It's the kind of seamless intimacy that comes from knowing someone for years. I never had the luxury of a best friend. Much less a best friend turned lover. With a submissive sigh AJ meanders off towards the stairs, most likely to his room to get dressed. Ren continues to stare at me. I raise an eyebrow at him.
"Something you wanna say England?"
He steps away from the doorframe, his cold gaze not leaving my face as I stare expectantly. It reminds me slightly of the first time I met him. My back pressed against the cold red lockers as he dug his fingers into my arm. Asking me questions vehemently about who I was, what I was doing and how I knew who he was. Of course I already knew that Ren was capable of it.
"No." he says coldly "Nothing at all."
He stalks down the hallway towards the stairs without another word. Another thing about Ren is that he always finds a way to leave people feeling afraid. Another reason he was useful I suppose. With his lack of remorse, cold exterior, and stomach for violence, Ren is also a great interrogator. Being raised into W.A.R.M.T.H I had figured out that everything about a person, even their unstable temperament, can be an asset. As a boy I had seen and heard many things about 'the four' and it took me a long time to understand how a group with so many flaws could be an unstoppable team. Mostly I had heard of AJ. The mischief maker, everytime he was held in police custody it showed up on our radar. We had to make sure nothing ever stuck. He might not realize it but he may very well be the most crucial part of this team. I heard of Ren and his psychosis, a risk the agency had to take. No one else in the world has a skill set quite as refined as Ren. I heard of Raven too, though many of the men my father worked with didn't speak about her too much. I think they were all afraid of her. I think they probably had good reasons for it too, and of course, our star. Amora, tactical advantage and now, since everything has turned out so sour...some incredibly valuable insight. Jasper was never able to find out who the double agent was before he died. With Amora, maybe we'll at least know how to stop whoever is creating the super soldiers. I shake my head. Between the super soldiers, the secret agency, the double agents, and the infuriating romances. I'm starting to feel like a secondary character in a badly written novel.