After his purgatory of a day, Noel is even more grateful than usual to return home.
His apartment is small, barely saved from being a studio by the fact that there's technically a wall between the sleeping area and living area, but it's close to the agency and the building is nice enough that he isn't in constant fear of the appliances breaking down. Working at Halo definitely isn't perfect, but even a low-class guide like him gets paid enough to afford to live alone in the middle of the city. Obviously, salaries scale with class in the operations branch, so higher class suites make even more, but for flunkies, Halo is the best deal in the entire country. Another reason he's hesitant to leave. This is as good as it can be for him if he wants to work as a guide.
Technically, he could get a civilian job; he graduated college with a General Studies degree. But it's a matter of pride. His mother was an amazing guide, and she used to tell him stories about her time in the field. To Noel, she was more like a superhero than his esper father, risking her own safety to help humanity's only defense against the malforms, putting the fate of the world before her own. Noel always thought it was so noble. And then after he manifested and his mother died and his father lost all interest in him, his grandma used to take his hands and tell him it didn't matter what class he was, that he could follow in his mother's footsteps by helping people in his own way.
Back then, he resolved to work as a guide, to honor his mother and grandmother's faith in him. Even when his father tried to stop him, Noel forged ahead and accepted the consequences. He's not going to throw away all of his hard work over the past two years just because of a few bad days.
Heaving a sigh, Noel plunks his bag down on the kitchen table just before a small, fuzzy shape brushes his leg. Coppelia blinks bright amber eyes up at him, letting out a throaty meow.
"Hello, princess." Noel leans down to scratch her back and she purrs loudly, bonking her head against his shin. "And hello to you too," he tells the black shape on top of the cat tower by the sofa. Poe merely looks on in disdain.
Coppelia and Poe are both rescues. Noel found Coppelia as a tiny calico kitten two years ago after someone taped her into a box and threw her in a dumpster. Her raspy little meows attracted his attention on his way home and he had to climb into the dumpster and sift through several layers of trash before he found her. She was hypothermic and malnourished, and the vet had to amputate half of her tail, but despite how terribly her life started, she grew into the sweetest, most patient cat in the whole world. She kept him company while he adjusted to his new job and to living alone. Poe, a sleek black cat, came a year later but is around five years older than Coppelia. He was rescued from a hoarding situation and then returned to the shelter twice due to his cold attitude. When Noel saw the listing online, he figured Coppelia's easy going nature might make a good match, and he was right. Over the past year, Poe has warmed up considerably, and while he's not as cuddly as Coppelia, he rubs and purrs just like any other cat when Noel pets him.
Noel never had pets growing up, his father doesn't like them, so he never realized how much he loved animals until he moved out, but now he can't imagine living without them. Sometimes his cats are the only things that get him through the day.
"Did you two miss me?" Noel asks.
Coppelia hops onto the table and sits, staring at him expectantly.
"Yeah, alright, I got it."
Poe ventures down from his perch when Noel sets out their food, and once they're both eating, Noel trudges into the living area and flops onto the couch, popping the top buttons on his collared shirt. He's usually drained after work, literally if he worked a shift in the guiding center, but today he feels especially listless.
Interacting with both Jade and Beckett, however brief, really took it out of him.
Sighing again, he reaches for the remote and flips the TV on with some vague notion of finishing the documentary he started last week, but the program playing on the last channel he watched catches his attention.
The channel is one of the several 24-hour news networks he gets, and they seem to be running a late evening story about Halo's newest satellite campus. It's pre-recorded, going by the sunny footage, and the hosts are talking over video of the Sealtiel Campus commencement held in Solis a few weeks ago.
"—this is Halo's fourth satellite campus," the female host is explaining. "As with the others, Halo has borrowed the name of an archangel from Christian mythology. What do you think they'll do when they run out of archangels, Steve? Move down the hierarchy?"
"They've still got a ways to go before that, Vanessa," her male counterpart responds cheerfully. "Opening one of these campuses is no small feat. Everything in the facility is top-of-the-line and Halo has spared no expense with equipment or staffing. The budget released by the Halo business branch estimated the total cost of the new construction to be—"
He goes on about some ridiculously high numbers, but Noel tunes him out, frowning at the video playing out on screen. The footage is from the commencement ceremony, showing a small group of people up on a temporary stage in front of the gleaming new Sealtiel building, taking turns giving speeches to a crowd of press and guests. Noel recognizes the man currently at the podium as Nikolai Penn, the director of Halo's operations branch. He's a tall, forbidding-looking man with jet black hair and a dark, close-cropped beard, and Noel knows that he's an A-rank guide who's worked at Halo nearly his whole life. He's speaking into a microphone, and behind him, Noel can make out the seated figures of several other people he recognizes.
Namely, Jade, looking bored out of his mind. He's not slouching or doing anything to appear rude, but his face is blank and anyone can tell he's not paying any attention to what Director Penn is saying, bold considering that's his boss. Despite himself, Noel's eyes linger on Jade's disinterested face. His artfully messy curls gleam like ebony in the sun, and his arms are crossed, emphasizing the muscles inside his rolled-up shirtsleeves. It's no wonder Halo trots him out for these events even when he clearly doesn't like them. He's handsome enough that his obvious apathy doesn't matter.
Beside him is a civilian man that Noel has only ever seen in passing, Fletcher Ransom, Jade's uncle and Halo's liaison within the Federal Paradigm Department. He's not too old, perhaps in his late forties, with dark brown hair starting to go gray at the temples, and tan skin several shades lighter than Jades. The only point of similarity between Jade and his uncle that Noel can pick out on video is their eyes; they're both sporting the same electric blue gaze, a dead giveaway for the famous Ransom family.
As Noel watches, Jade's uncle smirks at something Director Penn says and leans over to whisper in Jade's ear. Jade doesn't respond beyond an indifferent glance but his uncle seems satisfied enough. It's common knowledge that Jade lived with his uncle starting from his early teens, following the death of his parents, but the details are hazy. The relationship is portrayed positively by the media, the benevolent uncle taking in his brother's son and all that, but according to what Noel heard at lunch, things must not be quite that simple.
"—Esper Ransom didn't give a speech at this event, unfortunately." Noel tunes back in to the female host lamenting Jade's silence during the commencement. "He doesn't often speak in public, except during official press conferences."
"A bit of a shame, considering half of the live viewers were undoubtedly hoping to hear from Halo's most famous Angel," the male host chimes in.
"Angel is right," the female host sighs theatrically. "Look at that jawline. And his uncle isn't half bad either!"
"The last Halo official to speak was the President herself," the male host brings it back around to the topic at hand just as Director Penn steps back and a woman with long gray hair done up in an elaborate bun takes his place at the podium. "Corinthia Laine has been Halo's president since 298 A.P.[1] and she oversees both the operations branch and the business branch. She was at the commencement in order to voice her support for the new campus's outreach programs within the city—"
Noel has never met Halo's president, but he's seen her from a middle distance several times at agency events. She's a beautiful woman, especially for her age, and she's still ranked as an S-class guide, although she's bonded to her husband and doesn't do field work. Her lined, elegant face is never particularly friendly, but she has a steady air to her that makes Halo's other officers fall easily in line. Halo has always been successful, but their net worth has gone up significantly since she took over, primarily due to her acceptance of private defense contracts.
Noel watches the screen absently, letting the commentators' words roll over him. When President Laine finishes her speech, everyone applauds, and the people on the stage all stand up to leave. The president stops to talk to Jade, and Noel obviously can't hear what they're saying, but Jade looks just as bored with her as he did with everything else. She doesn't seem to mind, and she even rests a hand familiarly on Jade's arm, smiling at him.
A questioning chirp pulls Noel's attention away from the screen as Coppelia hops onto the sofa and flops over for her after-dinner tummy rub. Smiling, Noel obliges, petting through the soft fur on her stomach.
"See that guy?" he asks her, gesturing to the TV, where the camera is now following Jade off the stage while information about his latest accomplishments scrolls across the bottom of the screen. "That's the most powerful esper in the country. And I saved his life."
She purrs, blinking slowly.
"But I can never tell him. And if he finds out, he'll probably—" Noel hesitates. What exactly would Jade do if he discovered Noel was the guide who saved him? If he really has that much trouble syncing with other guides, he might insist that Noel start guiding him regularly, but that seems unlikely. He'd have to be desperate to lower himself to using a D-class guide. No, he'd probably just be disappointed and move on, but Noel can't risk him revealing the truth. What if someone does the math and figures out about his transference? The danger outweighs any momentary clout Noel might gain from others knowing that he saved Jade Ransom.
"Well, he'll probably be embarrassed that he was saved by a D-class," Noel finishes. "And then he'll keep looking for a real guide to sync with."
Coppelia squirms around on her back, kicking lightly at his hand. Poe slinks out of the kitchen and under the coffee table, peering out of the shadows with his green, diamond-shaped eyes.
"It's better like this," Noel tells them. "For everyone. Eventually Jade will give up and move on and everything will go back to normal and I'll never have to talk to him again. Right?"
Coppelia purrs. Poe glares.
"Right," Noel confirms.
Decisively flicking the TV off, he pushes himself to his feet and connects his phone to the speaker in the kitchen, selecting one of his favorite playlists. He needs to make dinner before it gets too late.
[1] After Paradigm (liked A.D. or C.E.)