SPIDERWEB

"A background check?" Mr. Cloud repeated, "on the new admin?"

"Yes," Vixen nodded.

"Why?" Mr. Cloud asked, getting up from his seat on the floor and to the same table next to his bed where a small notebook laid. He picked up the notebook and turned to stare at Vixen, "haven't seen you so interested in someone for a while now."

"I asked for a background check," Vixen retorted, standing up from his seat and heading towards the door, "not to judge my level of interest in the people I investigate."

"Sure," Mr. Cloud grinned, turning to a page in the book, "125 more chances for me to do anything you want."

"You mean 130 more chances," Vixen corrected, "you had a wipeout on more prominent people in your scene yesterday didn't you? Don't try to cheat me, no matter how many heads you have in this prison you created, my feet can wander outside these doors."

"Looks like someone has been doing some investigating themselves, why do you even need my help if you're this good yourself?" Mr. Cloud asked, his eyebrows rising.

"There are some things I need a more involved team to

"Hey," Mr. Cloud called out.

"What?" Vixen replied harshly, it felt like he was slowly starting to regret coming to his dad.

Mr. Cloud pointed to the empty s.p.a.ce next to the header, name, on his notebook, "her name?"

Vixen hesitated for a second before reluctantly letting her name slide off his tongue, "Regan. Regan Duran."

"Regan… Nice name she got going," Mr. Cloud grinned, writing down her name, in parentheses, he wrote 'Vixen's new interest' and giggled to himself.

"I TOLD YOU IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" Vixen yelled, his grip on the door handle tightening.

"I never said what I was thinking about," Mr. Cloud shrugged, his grin growing bigger, "unless, you were thinking that way about her and it, therefore, makes you think that I thought that way too."

"I-" Vixen mumbled, his brain momentarily malfunctioning as he tried to make sense of the gibberish his father had sprouted, finally when he did, his face darkened into a frown, "I said NO. I gave up on useless emotions like that long ago. In this place where I live, feelings are a hindrance and only bite me back."

"Sure," Mr. Cloud nodded dismissing his resistance.

"I'll be going now," Vixen grumbled, turning his back to his dad and opening the door, "before another ridiculous comment comes out of those brute lips of yours." He stepped outside the room before turning back for one last time, "also, I took your new set of keys. You won't be leaving anytime soon anyway, so just stay put," then slammed the door shut.

"Ha," Mr. Cloud scoffed as he heard the footsteps of his son slowly slip away, "a hindrance huh? Well-spoken from the son of a psychopath." He walked to his bed and laid down, staring at the name in the book. But you're a bad liar, Mr. Cloud thought to himself. He had noticed the moment of hesitation in Vixen's words when he had asked for the girl's name. Regan Duran huh? He thought and flicked the s.p.a.ce beside her name on his notebook, a girl capable enough to make Vixen hesitate… a grin grew on his face. Interesting.