When we finally got out of the cafeteria, she held two bags full of sweets and juices to her chest like it was a treasure to be kept from the world.
"So, what is your name?" I ask, trying to stir up a conversation.
"Nazira, My name's Nazira Ali." She replied, still buzzing with the earlier excitement.
Well Nazira, you look quite stupid. I wanted to say, but I didn't. The old me, the one who had just joined the DHO would've said it, but it was the present me now, so I held it back.
"What's your name?" She asked, stuffing the third cupcake in her mouth since we stepped out of the café.
"Emery Nathon." I replied stoically. I didn't want to be frank with her, let alone become her friend.
"Oh, nice name. Can I call you Emery, just Emery?"
"No." The word came out unannounced like it had been inscribed in my mind. I didn't want to be mean with her, but I didn't want to be her friend either.
Thankfully, she didn't take it to heart and just replied with a simple "Okay!".
"So, what do I have to do with the shiny watch, the creepy, scary looking guy gave me?" She asked as we settled down on the benches outside the building for a moment. She finally stopped eating and I took a breath of relief because watching her eat that much was making me dizzy. She sure did have an appetite.
I prodded the answer to her question in my mind. What would be the right words to tell her that she could be even suspended if that 'creepy, scary looking guy' who was our alliance chief found out that she didn't even know what to do with her 'shiny watch'.
"That creepy-scary looking guy has a name and that name is important to us because he is our alliance chief. And that shiny silver watch, you have to set it up yourself. You'll get your mission notifications through the watch."
"Actually, he did explain to me how to use the watch and everything else, but I wasn't listening." She announced, giving me a toothy grin.
"You what?! Where the hell was your mind?" I asked in disbelief and annoyance.
How could you be so dumb?
Chief never explained anything to newbies. They had to go around asking people for help and figure it out themselves. He wasn't even generous enough to tell me who my colleagues were when I first joined.
"I'm sorry, I was just too busy admiring his pretty office that I forgot to listen to what he was saying."
I let out a frustrated sigh. "Give me the watch."
----------------------------
In the end, I explained everything to her, like Alexis had when I had joined one year ago.
I opened the door to her office, and upon seeing an unfamiliar face with me, she frowned.
"Who's she and why is she here? You know no one is allowed in my office except you two." She said as she glared at me displeasingly. Nazira should have been offended or hurt, but if she was anything, she was surprised as she entered the office behind me, discarding the bags of sweets which she had emptied in an hour.
"This is your office?" She asked me.
"Not hers, it's mine, and you're not welcome here, so leave." Nyxis intervened. She wasn't like me or Alexis, she didn't care about what others thought, all she knew was that it was her office and only Alexis and I were allowed in.
"Oh, I'm sorry, did I do something wrong? You look... angry." Nazira asked her innocently. She was clearly not reading the room.
"I am angry, you're not one of us. So, leave." She repeated, harsher this time and just as I was about to stop her, someone else did it for me.
"Come on, Sis, don't scare our newbie." Standing in the doorway, leaning against the door frame, a tall and handsome Alexis shot a smile at his sister.
"Alex's right. She just joined today, you should just let her be for today and tomorrow she'll find her own group of friends."
Nyxis shut up because when it was the two of us convincing her to do or don't do something, she actually stopped. She stomped angrily and back to her computer.
Nazira finally found an opening and spoke.
"Why am I not welcomed? I mean, why can't I be friends with you guys? Is something wrong with me?" She asked and that unwavering, cheerful smile of hers faded away for a moment and there was just something in her eyes that spoke Why not me?
Alexis strode forward, towering above her as he got a little close. "Who said you aren't?"
"Your sister." I replied.
"Pfff, who listens to that oaf?"
"That oaf is your older sister. But yeah, I guess you're right." I turned my attention to her.
"Welcome to the gang, Nazira Ali."
--------------------------
🔸Tip: The Desicles Hunting Alliance is the major alliance that carries out the main purpose of the DHO. Hunting out desicles and killing them is their main job. Alexis, Emery and now Nazira are from the D.hunting alliance.
The Tech Alliance, which is the second major alliance handles seeking out main threats that certain desicles pose and sending their locations to D.hunters to hunt. Each member of the tech alliance has their own office and no one is allowed in their offices except those they want.
Nyxis is from the tech alliance and Emery and Alexis hang out in her office till they get a mission.