Neon Lights

43

"Before that," Draven said, jabbing his thumb over his shoulders at the black car parked just a few steps from them. "We might as well get somewhere more discrete."

Callisto raised his eyebrows. The last time they had been in that car, he was brought to meet Angelo. Were they going to meet someone else again this time? He shifted his gaze back to Draven. If he agreed, he would once again be on an unknown road to somewhere. If he didn't... he supposed he could invite the man to his apartment again.

But just before he could think about it any further, Draven turned around and walked to the car. Leaving him with no choice, Callisto huffed a breath and followed him. Once he got into the vehicle, he let his body melt into the seat, noting the space between him and Draven. The other man already was taking off his coat to place it on his lap.

"Well?" Callisto said.

Draven glanced at him before the corners of his lips quirked upwards. "Relax, what's the rush?"

"Seeing how you ambushed me in the dark," Callisto said, almost dryly, "I thought it was urgent."

"It is," Draven said, crossing one leg over his other. "But that doesn't mean we have to get to it right now." He then turned his gaze on Callisto. "You're arriving home late."

That was an unexpected question.

"Well... I can come home whenever I want," Callisto said, licking his bottom lip when the words left his mouth. Draven simply chuckled under his breath. His cheeks warmed at the sound. It had been a while since he had heard the other man softly chuckle like that. Turning to look at his lap, he forced his quickly beating heart to slow down. "I had a meeting with someone."

"Who?" Draven said, shifting in his seat. Callisto tossed another look at him. Should he tell him? He knew that he didn't like Rave. At the brief hesitation, Draven raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

"Does it matter?" Callisto said, earning a blank look aimed at him. Clearly it did matter then... In the end, he sighed and said, "Rave."

It would be amusing at the immediate reaction he got from Draven at the mere mention of his android friend's name. With furrowed eyebrows and a frown on his lips, the other man narrowed his gaze at Callisto. "Why?"

"Why?" The question aimed at Callisto was like a double-edged sword. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he knew Draven even after this long. He could tell he was walking into a trap. "We're... friends." It was the safest answer.

"Friends." Draven spit the word out like it was poison. "Sure... friends."

"I don't understand what you mean by that," Callisto said, unamused. "Rave's my friend. There's nothing wrong meeting up with him, is there?"

"There isn't." Draven finally looked away, turning his gaze to the window. With his elbow on the door rest and cheek on his fist, eyes now fully turned to the scenery outside, the man said, "It's just surprising who you would consider as friends."

Callisto let those words sink in his head. "Yeah, I have bad taste sometimes," he conceded. "I knew you, didn't I?"

Draven's shoulders tensed. And yet he still didn't look at him. "Funny."

It really wasn't and Callisto wasn't sure why he said that either. But he didn't know what else to do when Draven got this way. He pressed his lips together and looked away too. Rave might be his friend but... he couldn't trust him. And it was funny that in the end, he chose to believe what Draven said more.

He could convey that to the other man. To get him out of this sulk he found himself in but he didn't think he had any right for that. In the end, with a slight guilt gnawing in his chest at Draven's turned body from him, he said, "Sorry. I didn't mean it that way."

Draven's body relaxed immediately. He turned his head to look at Callisto then. "No, you meant it."

Callisto met his gaze. "Maybe but... it's not like it's a bad thing." With eyebrows raised from the other man, it was clear he was waiting for an explanation. His cheeks warmed further at the expectant look. "I mean... you're helping me find Luna. Rave didn't do that..."

"So, I'm better than him?" Draven said.

A shrug was all he could give to him. Not when his throat tightened at the words that he had to let out of his mouth. There was no way he could admit that without Draven, he wouldn't even be this close to finding Luna.

"Can we talk about that intel you got about Alia now?" Callisto said in a desperate attempt to change the topic.

"I'll take that deflection as a yes," Draven said, lips quirking upwards again when Callisto glared at him. Then, he shifted in his seat and leaned forward a little to open a compartment in front of him. A tablet was taken from there and he swiped on the screen a few times before he handed it to Callisto. "Read it."

"What?" Callisto still took the tablet though he was getting nervous at the seriousness in his voice. Scanning the screen, his breath hitched in his throat and his anxiety became stronger as the words registered in his head. "What... is this?"

"What do you think?" Draven's response was no help.

Because it was self-explanatory with what he was reading.

It was a report on Alia and in it detailed her connections with everyone — with people he didn't even think she had connections with. Most of the names didn't mean anything to him, but there was one that had him pausing.

Chandelier.

That name itself didn't really ring any bells — but the person's affiliation to the Gulls party had him pausing.

"Who's Chandelier?" Callisto said.

Draven pressed his lips together to form a thin line. After a moment of silence, he said, "The real face of the Gulls party."

"Real face?"

"Real face." Draven turned his body slightly so he was facing Callisto. He pointed a finger at the tablet. "The Gulls party's current leader is a mere puppet. The real leader had always been the same person from the start, no matter how many members that was seen running for the position."

Callisto's mind reeled at the words. "That makes... no sense." He frowned. "How could that be? People voted for these parties. People chose these people. Not..."

Draven hummed. "You may think so, but that's not how it works." When Callisto finally met his gaze, he tapped a hand on his own forehead. "I have eyes everywhere. Trust me. I know who Chandelier is."

"Alright..." Callisto went back to read the report. The more he read, the less it made sense. Alia was close to Chandelier and they seemed to be working with them. But what really caught him off guard was how Alia was personally involved with an experiment called 'Tomorrow's Dawn' with the party. With Chandelier. "What... is she doing with Chandelier?"

"Things she shouldn't be doing," Draven said with a sigh. "Chandelier's been looking for something all this while and Alia could provide them with it."

Callisto placed the tablet face down on his lap, trying to process the information that had been presented to him. "What is Tomorrow's Dawn?"

"Something dangerous," Draven said, leaning into his seat. "I can't tell you what it is yet. I need my informant to confirm my suspicions but... Chandelier has had this goal for a while now and they might have found a way to reach it."

"You're talking like you know this Chandelier person personally," Callisto said, frowning deeper.

Draven glanced at him before he looked away. "Unfortunately."

Surprised at the admission, Callisto sat straighter. "You know them?"

"I, unfortunately, do. And Luna's disappearance might be related to them and this experiment."

 Callisto noted quickly that he was not disclosing much information about his connection with Chandelier. He wanted to poke and prod on that line of inquiry but he knew this wasn't the moment. Instead, he focused on Luna. "Are you saying Luna might be involved in this... Tomorrow's Dawn too?"

Draven shrugged. "I don't know. But I'm hoping she isn't." He looked at Callisto straight in the eye and added, "Because if she is... I don't think we can save her anymore."