Blue Forest Banshee by PlaidDragon
Part 3
I was awake, though still in bed, when Q called. Normally, I don't like being disturbed that early, but I will always make an exception for Q; he's that sort of person.
We've known each other for some time, since I was about ten. He was very young then, but still older than he looks, and already a Wizard of immense power. He picked me out of a rowdy crowd of pre-adolescents and informed the IchiBan that he would expect me to be sent to him when I was of a proper age. Surprisingly, the IchiBan didn't argue. We got to know each other well, when I began at the academy, and became friends. Q is the Board of Sorcery's top investigator now, but then he was a screener and a catalyst.
He greeted me that morning with polite small talk, inquiring after my Clan, the IchiBan and my health. I replied as politely, rolling my eyes in exasperation. Q is unfailingly polite to everyone, even someone as lacking in the social graces as I am. And I mirror his manners because he is my friend, and under everything else, I love him dearly.
When the assurances of good health all around were behind us, he got straight to the point.
"Heero, I have a new prospect coming today. Could you meet the train, please?"
I swung my legs off the bed and sat up. "What time?"
"The 1054, from Missaugua. Platform seven."
"Got it. Shall I offer lunch?" Some prospects he wants to see immediately, others not so immediately. I have yet to figure out his criteria.
"Yes, please. On my account, of course." He was smiling, I knew, winding a lock of golden hair endlessly around his finger. "Duo Maxwell. Look for a five-foot-long braid of auburn hair. Also, smile. You look much less threatening when you smile."
I smiled then, where he couldn't see. My kind are born looking threatening, a smile is hardly a relief. But I answered anyway. "I will try my best not to frighten your fledgling."
"Thank you, Heero. I will see you when you bring Duo, after lunch. Safe journey."
"And to you."