Page 9 of Search for the Lost

Crispin rolled his eyes. This was not going well. Not at all.

Aspin held out his hand to Cypher and batted his eyelashes, and even Crispin felt a strange, almost magnetic tug at his own brother’s charisma. “So nice to meet you, Mr. Appledrop. You look very handsome today.” He took Cypher’s furry hoofed hand and kissed it, then essayed a bow with a flourish of his own hand.

Cypher blushed, his skin turning from a balsa-wood tan to almost mahogany brown. “That’s very kind of you to say.”

Aspin bowed again. “It’s rare that I meet such a becoming young faun as yourself.”

Crispin growled. “All right, introductions are done. Let’s get this thing moving.” Around him the shape of the room wavered, melting a little before snapping back into place. Was that me?

Luckily the others didn’t seem to have noticed. They were all staring at him. Leo cleared his throat meaningfully.

Crispin felt the blood drain out of his face. He had forgotten, just for a moment, that he wasn’t himself. Quite literally. “I mean, let’s do whatever you want to do, Crispin, since you’re the boss here.”

It came out far more awkwardly than he intended.

Leo winked at him.

Maybe I really am picking up some of Leo’s tendencies. Crispin was starting to see his partner in a whole new light, one which explained so much of the way he behaved, and at the same time made Crispin feel far more sympathetic toward his messy human. Is it like this inside your head all the time?

“Oh, yes, right.” Leo blinked furiously. “Crispin. Me. I get to decide.”

Minkis snorted, but pretty much everyone else ignored him.

Cypher’s gaze shifted to Leo, and one eyebrow rose. “Yes, sir, as Leopold here has correctly identified, you’re the new director, so you’re in charge. What do you want to do?”

That was snarkier than necessary. He made a mental note to have a talk with Cypher about his tone when all of this was over.

Leo grinned, looking quite pleased with himself, which was rather disconcerting as his expression was reflected in the thirty mirrors that ringed the room. “Well, then, let’s go see the Oracle….”

“Maybe we should listen to the questions Cypher has first. There might be some urgent things there?” Crispin nudged. Although now that he thought about it, what was urgent, really? Pretty much everything could wait, if it had to. Maybe he’d been pushing himself and everyone else around him too hard. Why not take a quick break and have a sandwich or a coffee or some Diruvian fermented snack berries? Or maybe all three? Then they could take some time off and visit his Aunt Garelda on Flathium Four….

Pinch.

He needed to keep himself on track. Mother is missing, remember? Crispin’s forearm was turning bright pink and throbbing from all the pinching.

Leo nodded, squishing the bridge of his nose as if his brain hurt. “Yes. I agree. That would be the orderly thing to do and I’m an orderly person, so….” Leo cocked his head and looked questioningly at Cypher.

Crispin covered his mouth and coughed to keep himself from laughing.

Leo glared at him, but Cypher missed the interaction.

Cypher took the cue and plunged right into his list. “Well first off, there’s a matter of former director Krönk’s inquiry. She’s requesting that she receive her full pension, given her many years of service to OotL. But she was found guilty of conspiring against the agency, so that doesn’t seem right….”

“No pension for her.” Leo chopped the air with his hand. “Next?”

Crispin frowned. He would’ve dealt with the matter a little more delicately, but then again, he was not himself. Which was really starting to grate on him.

Cypher made a note. “Sounds good. Next… Curator Deepmountain flagged a possible problem in the Necessary Room. He said that several of the materials he picked up for his last mission were not, strictly speaking, necessary.”

Leo nodded five times, in what he probably thought looked like the gesture of a wise man, but only ended up making him seem like one of those bobblehead dolls they sold on Earth. “Yes. Let’s call the Necessary Technician. They can have a look at it.”

Cypher frowned delicately. “Do you mean the Engineering Department?” There was that raised eyebrow thing again. The office faun was able to speak volumes with just the little wiggly rows of hair above his eyes.

“Of course.” Leo said it decisively. “I was just testing you. You passed with flying colors.”

Cypher blushed again, but notably not as much as he had at Aspin’s compliment.

Crispin decided he had to break in. Or do I? Maybe I should just let him be⁠—