Moy Mell, 14: Caged

"Moy Mell, 14: Caged"

orig. 12/00/2017

Zoro, Elly, Sanji, Chris Redfield, Shiro, Aizawa Shota, Knuckles - PG-13

Original Concept, mixed fandoms

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Only Chris knew what had happened to Zoro the night of the spa incident. He'd gotten a text from the head of security, asking him to come help "with something". The message was curt, and didn't elaborate on what the "something" might be. Upon arriving at the complex's common area where he'd been told to meet, he spotted Zoro looking an absolute mess. His hair was ruffled and he was wearing a white shirt instead of the coat he normally wore. It was stained in sweat, evidence that he had been working out nonstop and hadn't even bothered to shower before coming here. He held up a hand when the other man would have spoken, silencing Chris before he even opened his mouth.

"Have to go back to the gym," he explained curtly. "Need someone else to take over. Will you?"

"Well, yes, but what -"

"Kitchen," he grunted shortly, and now Chris saw that his bluntness was a mask for other emotions he was trying to hide. His single eye was red, with a smudge of dark underneath that gave him an unhealthy appearance. He turned and walked as fast as he could out the doors, leaving Chris stunned at how shaken he appeared. When he arrived at the kitchen in the mansion he didn't know what had gotten the swordsman so upset, but as the night wore on his eyes were opened more and more. He kept silent and did his job, only interfering when he heard the terrible roar from inside the beach house. Once Elly had left, he'd turned to the blond man and warned him to be careful. The cook's mood was morose as he replied that he was trying.

"I messed up, I think," he admitted sheepishly. "Maybe too far, too fast. She's ... she's not like other women."

"She's not a woman." Chris reminded him gently. "Look, I know that you're in love and everything, but don't forget she has different rules than the rest of us. Like the tail thing."

"Yeah, she goes all to pieces. I didn't even touch it. I swear."

Chris sighed. "I have to follow. Just leave her alone for awhile, all right?"

They'd agreed, and everything went smoothly after that. Of course, he said nothing about it to Zoro the next day at the briefing. The others were all chatting and drinking coffee, not thinking much of his appearance as everyone was worried and many weren't looking their best. Their leader made sure to show his gratitude before addressing his team.

"Thanks," he said, coming up to clap him on the shoulder.

"Not a problem." Chris replied in as inoffensive a tone as possible.

The green-haired man sighed and ran a hand across his haggard features. "Jackson, you said you had something for us."

"I found out who the stalker is!"

He slammed his hands on the table, his eye lighting up. "Good work! Who?"

The nerdy young man slipped his phone out of his pocket and typed something in. "Here - it'll show up on the screen in the corner." He pointed, and they all blinked at the blown up photo of a young woman in a waitressing outfit from All Blue. 

"That's, uh, not someone I would think of," someone said quietly. 

"They aren't all gonna be creepy old weirdos," Knuckles grunted.

"Well put," Chris murmured. 

"It makes sense," Zoro added. "The last death threat, it mentioned the idiot cook and how their ... relationship was crap." No one seemed to notice the slight pause as he choked that word out, but Chris raised an eyebrow. 

"I sent the work to the local police chapter, but they said we get to detain her as she won't suspect anything if some of us go to the restaurant. Preferably with Sanji as well, since it would look weird otherwise. 'Cause it's his restaurant. You know."

Zoro nodded. "Her shift starts in...?"

"A few hours. She's breakfast run this morning."

"All right. Chris, Shiro, you're with me. We're going to talk to that moron so he knows what's going on first."  

When they got to the mansion, they found Sanji sitting in the living room looking for all the world like a little kid put in "time out". He was pale except for a hard blush across his cheeks that wouldn't seem to go away and there were wads of bloody tissue stuffed up his nose.

"What the hell, cook?" Zoro raised an eyebrow at his comical appearance.

"Angel has a friend over," he shrugged uncomfortably as if that explained everything.

Shiro also raised his eyebrows. "And she drained you of all your blood? Vampire?"

"Succubus," Chris surmised.

Sanji nodded grimly. "It hasn't been the best morning."

"Moron," Zoro snarled. When the other would have argued back, though, he held up a hand. "Shut up. Something important is going to happen, and you have to be a part of it."

The cook did not take the news well. When Zoro explained they'd caught the culprit he was happy, but upon hearing who it was his face fell. 

"It was my fault." He grasped the knot of his tie and cinched it tighter around his neck, perhaps unconsciously. Shiro scratched the back of his neck, staring off into the distance and mock-whistling. Chris elbowed him. 

"No time for that." Zoro shrugged. "You have to come with us when we detain her."

"She's - uh, you're not going to do it, are you? Personally?"

"No." Chris stepped up. "Shiro and I have the details of the job. We'll bring her into the center for the cops to pick up."

"I'm gonna have to talk to Aizawa." Zoro strode confidently to the kitchen door. 

Sanji squeaked comically. "W - wait! You ass! That other girl's still in there and she's - !"

Inside, Elly was sighing dismally to her friend. "I almost attacked him. And he didn't even touch it, you know - just got kind of close." She waved her tail around behind her as she spoke.

"You know I'm not gonna say much about relationships." The succubus was dressed as her kind normally were with a lot of heart cutouts and patterns on what little fabric the outfit contained. Her wings fluttered as she pondered what the other demoness said, tracing circles around her coffee cup. When Elly had called to ask to chat, she'd thought it would be because things were getting better. But now she wasn't sure what to say to comfort her friend. 

 "Yeah. But I am attracted to him, Bella!"

"Uh huh." She raised her cup and drank, peering at her over the rim. "The one that came in here and fainted when he saw me?"

"Um. Yeah." Her ears drooped a bit. She knew what a man's reaction to a succubus would be, knew they had very little control, but it still made her unhappy that he'd responded as much as he had. Bella said nothing again. She knew her power disturbed others sometimes, even her best friend. 

Oddly, though, the guard in the corner hadn't seemed affected. They didn't notice him because he was standing so silently and off to the side, but Shota Aizawa kept his gaze firmly on his surroundings and Elly. He tensed all over when the door opened, but nodded when he saw his boss.

"Hey." Zoro strode over, grunting at Elly. Bella raised her eyebrows. As she watched incredulously, the green-haired man walked over to the older, darker haired one and talked quietly for a time. Neither one had the reaction that Sanji had from looking at her. 

"I think we're missing something serious." Aizawa shook his head. "I know I've only been here a month, but this seems too easy. May we talk more about it?"

Zoro frowned. "Too easy? All right - Shiro, get in here!"

"Uh, what's up?" He stared right at the succubus and didn't blink. "Hi, Bella."

"Hey, kiddo." This one didn't surprise her at all; there were some men that simply didn't prefer succubi. She could smell it on them. 

"What do you need me for?" 

"Stay here. Aizawa wants to discuss something with me."