Little Birdy Told Me

Cape Westwind, Late Evening
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The castrum was as busy in the evening as it was in the day, maybe even busier. The sun slowly set on the waters behind it so everything was cast in a dim, gold light with only a few circles of blinding fluorescent lights to break the monotonous sepia. Soldiers bustled around: some standing guard, some moving crates, some heading to another place they were stationed. They all wore the same uniform, faces masked, and the only differences between them were the occasional height differences between the purebloods and the recruits that were stationed there with them. Aside from one of them, of course. Rather than be garbed in the black half-robe that the rest of the legionaries wore, Avidia, or "Snow White" as the soldiers called her, was dressed in her own special uniform: A tunic of mismatched squares of white cloth and black leather, leather boots that served more as a form of stability than armor, and an Imperial Shadow Visor that rested over all three of her eyes. It drew notice, and as she walked past soldiers they straightened up and saluted.

Avidia strode with purpose into the large tower overlooking the peninsula. The lighting was a harsh change from the soft tones of the outdoors to the contrasting dark metal and white lights of inside the tower, but her visor helped mitigate any strain to her eyes. The guards paid her no mind as she entered. They were well aware of the respect her presence alone demanded. Regardless of any former rumors that had circulated about Snow White's loyalties, they had all been snuffed out. There was a change in her demeanor, between the way she carried herself now and the way she did a month ago. Anyone could see the confidence she held herself with now. Nobody would dare whisper behind her back or question her loyalties now.

The elevator ride up to one of the higher floors was short, and Avidia rode it in silence, back perfectly straight, chin up, hands clasped behind her back. The perfect soldier. When she stepped out into the hallway she found it was dark, and her hand raised to turn on the three red lights of her visor, illuminating the hallway in a dim red glow that helped make the contours of the walls visible to her. Finding the door she sought out was easy, and she slipped her identification card onto the panel in order to open it, not bothering to knock. The doors slid open with a hiss and she stepped inside quietly, the only sounds being the clacking of her heels on the metal floor. The room was like a combination of living quarters and an office, but her goal was the man who resided inside it. The doors slid shut behind her as she fully entered the room, toggling the lights of her visor back off and allowing a small smile to trace her lips. "So the rumors were true. The Little Birdy as returned to the nest."

There he stood, in his golden tinted uniform, staring back at Avidia with those sunglasses he liked to keep all those years ago. His posture was a lot more relaxed, and he was even leaning against the desk with his elbow. It was as if he were waiting for Avidia this whole time! And, as The Little Birdy had no real reason to love those he once did in Eorzea... He was completely himself again, his attitude, his lingo, his posture, his movements, and his cunning. He would feel absolutely familiar, and he radiated a much more youthful presence. Clearly, Decima had done something magnificent to rejuvenate such a jaded man.

Fabius adjusted his sunglasses and moved towards Avidia, and as their connection would tell, he had moved in to wrap his arms around her as tight as he could. He rested his chin against her right shoulder, and closed his metallic eyes whilst breathing in through his nose in the most calm of manners. He was home, and he was himself again. It felt... Nice. "The Little Birdy's returned to his nest, but he ain't slowin' down one inch. I've been given a small squad to command, like the old days." He whispered, his silky smooth voice oozed out like honey from a pot. And, he pulled back and placed his hands on her shoulders, "Mother says we've been punished enough. Apparently, it'll all go back to the way it was... If we don't be a bunch'a brats, that is." Fabius smirked and moooved back to his desk, gliding his metal fingertips along the wooden surface.

"She's tryin' somethin' new, too. Says you have her blessing, whatever that means." Ding-Ding-Ding, LOVE, baby. "I suppose she's gonna try her best to keep her 'children' in line, givin' us the ol' wambo combo of pain and misery, with a nice little uppercut of mercy and love." As he spoke, he would be glancing down at his desk with his free hand folded behind his back. He stopped, and placed his fingertips against a certain document. He had an intense gaze on it, clearly thinking to himself briefly.

Avidia stiffened when he hugged her, not that it would be very different from how she usually reacted when he hugged her. She'd always been a bit adverse to displays of affection like that, even in private, and after everything that they'd been through it'd certainly take her longer than usual to warm back up to them. She didn't push him away, but nor did she return his embrace, rather keeping her arms hanging at her sides. Her eyes, which had widened in shock at the hug, slowly closed as she took a brief moment to calm her nerves before taking in his words. And then, before she was able to do so fully, he had pulled away and had his hands on her shoulders. Good. This was something she was much better equipped to deal with.

Her eyes opened from behind her visor, looking up at him. Not that he could exactly see it given the metal and shaded glass that was hiding her eyes. The corner of her lips quirked up in a smirk identical to his, and she stepped over to the wall as he moved to his desk. Her eyes scanned it, tracing the liners of welded-together metal, looking for any sign of a bug or camera. Not that she had anything to hide from Decima, of course, but rather because she didn't take kindly to having private conversations being eavesdropped on. Upon finding nothing, even when her eyes skirted the corners of the ceiling, she seemed satisfied and turned back to Fabius.

"Yes, she seems to have given me her blessing for a lot of things." As she spoke she rested a hand gently on the hilt of her gunblade, which was safely sheathed at her hip. It was a silent acknowledgement of one of the many things that Decima had allowed her since returning. Her gunblade, which had been a staple of her fighting style ever since her enlistment, had only been the first thing Decima had given her upon her arrival. Apparently the woman had been quite pleased when Avidia had basically thrown herself at her feet, spewing forth her thoughts and feelings of being compromised, practically begging Decima to fix her brain. The woman had done so, of course, and it had been far more pleasant than Avidia had expected. She'd expected torture and experiments, but Decima had forgone all of those. The end result was a clearer mind than Avidia had had in a long time. Certainly Fabius's return had helped spur that along.

But Fabius was expecting her to continue speaking, so memories and thoughts of those times were gone as Avidia obliged. "She's placed me into a squad as well. They're good soldiers, but there's nothing special about them..." She trailed off, letting the end of that sentence hang unspoken: not special like her, Fabius, and Albinus had been. And then she cleared her throat and continued. "But she seems to have more plans. This squad is just a front, a test." That she's sure of. Decima had practically told her that much that day that she'd forced her to nearly shove R'aha off the cliff. It made Avidia clench and then relax her fist, suddenly acutely aware of the changes Decima had already begun implementing into her.

"Nothing... Special?" Fabius asked, dipping his head just a bit so that his chin could rest against his chest. As he did this, he'd look over at Avidia. His sunglasses had drooped down his nose, and his metal eyes locked on hers. They were different than the ones he had back in "Eorzea". While colorful, the irises had weird shutters. They were layered, like that of Japanese Armor. And, they had trouble locking onto anything specific. While he could SEE ALL, it certainly looked like he wasn't in his right mind. They wobbled drunkenly, but he wasn't drunk.

Fabius shrugged and flicked his hand up, causing the document which his fingertips rested on to fly towards Avidia in a sort of spiral. It was like a sloppy paper football, only it wasn't a ball and was actually just a piece of paper. She'd probably catch it, and when she did she'd be able to read it. And when she read it, she would see that it said this:

"Annexed Recruits:
PENDING
[[REDACTED]]

FROM: EORZEA"

"Who could it be, you think? While I ain't one to sweat the small stuff, which this could totally be. It still raises a little lick of concern, ya' feel? --- Although, it's probably jus' nothin'." Fabius looks back at his desk, then proceeds to organize some of his files. He was updating The Armstrong case, which was almost complete. That part of their lives was almost over, all Fabius had to do was file it in.