"Hey lovely, everything going okay in here?"
Oxyi let out a long, frustrated sigh and sank back into the sofa as the elder feline padded softly into the living room. Geralt still had that same worn and tired expression that he'd had ever since they left Barru X, but now, a small smile also graced his face. He looked tidier too; it seemed that the chat they'd all had the other night had done Geralt some good. His old, tattered gown still looked tattered, but now it was a freshly washed, soft shade of blue.
Oxyi rubbed her eyes and stretched her neck; she'd been sitting, hunched over her phone and furiously swiping and typing for... well, she wasn't actually sure. But it had been light outside when she started, and now the living room was illuminated only by the faint glow coming off their second-hand TV.
"Hey, Geralt. Yeah, yeah, things are going okay... Close the door behind you, would you?" She quickly glanced through the crack in the doorway, checking the coast was clear. She wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but if there was one person here she could trust, she knew she could trust Geralt.
He eyed her softly but curiously, and did as she asked. As he did, the unmistakable chime of cutlery clinking against bowls rang out around the room, and Oxyi spied the large tub of strawberry ice cream tucked underneath the feline's arm.
"I hope you brought two spoons!"
Geralt chuckled and sat down beside the lioness. "Your spoon, my dear." He said, holding it out for her.
With a grin, Oxyi quickly took it and plunged it straight into the middle of the open tub.
"Guess we won't be needing these then!" Geralt smiled, and placed the bowls to the side.
"Oh, sorry!" Oxyi laughed around a mouthful of the pink ice-cream.
"So... why don't you tell me what's got you looking so worried?" Geralt asked gently, taking his spoon and scraping a little ice cream from the corner of the tub.
"Ugh, I don't know. Maybe it's something, maybe it's nothing." Oxyi lowered her voice a little with a glance towards the door. "I've been keeping an eye on our money situation. And we're doing fine, we've got plenty to cover rent and the bills, and thanks to Seeth's new contracts, our savings are looking great. It shouldn't be long before we can actually start looking into hiring some scouts, maybe even some mercenaries, and getting Diego back."
"That sounds great!" Geralt said, licking the end of his spoon. "But I'm sensing there's a but?"
"Well... But there should be more in there. Look." Oxyi rested her spoon against the arm of the chair and leaned in slightly, showing Geralt her phone. "This is our savings account -" Geralt raised an impressed eyebrow as Oxyi scrolled down. "-And here's our deposit history. I'm in there, every single week. Trent's in there, Seeth's in there loads. But look at Venner. She hardly deposits at all any more, and when she does, it's fuck all. She's putting in less than Trent, and I know she earns more than he does. She earns more than me some weeks."
Geralt didn't say anything. He stared at the figures in front of him and rubbed his chin, thinking.
"And I know we said that Venner didn't have to pay in." Oxyi continued. "She's done so much for us, what with getting us this flat, and letting Seeth use her ship for jobs. But she said she wanted to help us with the 'Save Diego Fund.' And then, I noticed this." Oxyi scrolled right to the top of the page, and showed one solitary transaction, in red, sticking out like a sore thumb. A withdrawal.
"She took money out of the savings account?" Geralt exclaimed.
"Yep." Oxyi slumped back and pressed a hand to her forehead. She could feel the anger rising in her chest again. "Now it's one thing to change your mind about contributing to save someone who's capture you may as well have fucking orchestrated - sorry, sorry, I didn't mean that. She was put in a lose-lose situation, Diego for her husband, I know." Oxyi sighed deeply through her nose as Geralt gave her a stern look. "I just, I don't get it. I mean, I like Venner. She's lovely when we're out working together, don't have a bad thing to say about her. So why is she taking our money out? We're not struggling for cash. Is she hiding it for herself? She planning on taking as much money as possible and running? Maybe she's just testing the waters right now, to see if we're smart enough to notice a withdrawal." Oxyi scoffed, and tossed her phone down on the coffee table before shovelling a heaped spoonful of ice cream onto her mouth. "Maybe I had her wrong this whole time."
"It could have been an accident, you know." Geralt murmured.
"I know, I did think about that. But the timing's off, we haven't been paid from our last contract yet. And the amount too, seems too small to me to be a deposit. I'm gonna have to confront her about it, and I'm really not looking forward to that." Just the thought of having that conversation was enough to stress Oxyi out; she dug her fingers into the sides of the sofa cushions and tried to calm down a little. "If she was short on money, why wouldn't she just tell us?"
Geralt sat quietly for a few seconds, deep in thought. He stared down at his distorted reflection in his spoon, tilting it gently from side to side. Finally he spoke.
"What do you think of Robin, Oxyi?"
"Uh... Robin?" Oxyi asked, taken aback by the question. "I don't... He seems alright? Between our jobs, I don't really see that much of him,... Wait, you weren't asking if I found him... attractive, were you?" Oxyi suddenly blushed heavily and awkwardly. "Because I do not - This is not some ploy for me to try and take Venner's husband!"
"No, Oxyi! I wasn't implying that at all." Geralt chuckled, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Honestly, Oxyi, you've got to get better at talking about men." His smile flickered away, and he dropped his hand. "What is Robin's job? Do you actually know?"
"N-No, I don't... Some sort of fancy office job in The Plaza, isn't it? But like I said, I don't see much of him. I see plenty of those fancy techni-coloured suits he wears every day though, the washer dryer is always full of 'em! Looks like a big wet bag of skittles. What're you getting at anyway, Geralt?"
"What I'm getting at... and don't breathe a word of this to anyone -" Geralt quickly glanced at the door and dropped his voice. "- But I think he's mistreating her."
Oxyi froze. For a long moment she just sat and stared at Geralt, trying to take in his words.
