A New Life

[Nox]

Nox nodded, "Upstairs, no problem, except to take him out." Nox grinned though that wouldn't be a problem. Nova would only be around of Nox were here anyway.

Nox picked up the tray and shifted it to one hand. The tray was light enough to hold that way now that the coffee was empty. He'd earn his place at least that's how he always felt he'd done. He'd worked hard for his father, and then with Aurora, and again with Aria. Then again with Dorian, but he'd failed in all of it, trusting things he shouldn't have and ignoring others. Nox didn't bother to vow to do better - there was no point in it. Just do was all he had left. He'd do what he could the best he could and if it wasn't enough then he'd just keep trying.

But his day was going well and Nox didn't want to ruin his mood with thinking like shit. So he smiled at Raffe as he passed and flicked the collar of the other man's sweater, "You don't have to hide that on account of me. It's a sign you survived, and chicks dig scars right?" Nox winked and headed out of Carmen's office as they'd been aptly dismissed. He waited for the other man to show him around. There were butterflies floating around Nox's stomach, he wasn't nervous about Raffe necessarily just new situations never really made him comfortable. And this, was all new.

[Raffe]

Nox plucked at the fabric covering his throat. Raffe blinked at the passing touch, replacing it with his own fingers like the scar itched underneath. He wondered what Carmen had told him. “Thought it might put you off.” Off what he didn't clarify, though he was grinning. He glanced back at Carmen, scruffing a hand through his gold curls, but she paid him no mind.

Deft fingers stole the tray propped on Nox’s fingers once they entered the main club. The ambience was different during the day, like someone pressed pause on the flow of time. Shadows captured the corners like a mausoleum, all its decadent furnishings strangely quiet. “Housekeeping later,” he said, placing the burden down, then knocked his fist against the bar with a grin. “My kingdom.” 

A few strides brought him amongst the nestling tables. A small stage draped in a curtain of deep jewel velvet backdropped the furthest wall behind his shoulder. Damask inlaid the walls. Raffe gave a lavish bow, arms spread. An errant grin propped his lips when his head popped back up.

“Welcome to Kallisti.” One hand gestured a roped off door. “The theatre is that way. You’re really going to dance here?”

[Nox]

Nox grinned at Raffe's comment. "I wasn't staring at the scars." But they moved through the empty club, it was completely different than the last time they'd been here. Raffe claimed the bar and Nox added. "Bet you mix a killer cocktail." Though Nox wasn't really a mixed drink drinker he preferred a beer, and then only a few. He wasn't going to repeat his father's failures. That was the one thing he never wanted to do, even if his whole life he'd wanted to be just like his father.

Everything always came back to the dark and dreary, though there was a cute man who was entertaining him, flouring bow and all. It made Nox smile. He asked about dancing here. Nox nodded. "That's the plan. If I can remember how that is." He grinned at Raffe. "I don't know if my mother would approve of a burlesque show anymore than a strip club, but hey, a guys gotta do what a guys gotta do to make some money." Nox showed off a little footwork without fumbling his stance at all. He was showing off, but soon he'd be really showing off. Nox seized up on his power half way through the little jig and the aurora borealis played across the walls. Yeah - he could do this.

[Raffe]

Raffe laughed. If the rasp of his voice was like a strained whisper, this sounded more like a gurgle. Pain flared, soothed by the press of his palm, though he was still grinning. He couldn’t help it. Once the pain faded his hands slunk into his pockets. He didn’t know the story that had brought Nox to Kallisti’s sanctuary, at least not yet, but he did wonder. Almost everyone had a tale to tell about how they ended up here, to become a part of this strange family.

He watched unabashed at the lithe moves, gaze only peeling away when the walls began to swim with sparkling colour. He gave a low whistle of admiration. Some of the girls augmented their acts with flourishes he knew came from the power, but he’d never seen anything quite like that. His attention lingered a moment longer before he headed for the roped off area. The twin doors were ornate; purposefully severe.

“I’m sure she’ll come round. There’s more to burlesque than getting naked on stage; it’s a storyteller’s art. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to be easy on the eye either.”

He held the door so Nox could have a look at the theatre iinside.

[Nox]

Raffe laughed and Nox felt bad that it seemed to hurt. Nox grinned. "I'll try not to make you laugh."

But despite the little show and Raffe's good nature his mother was mentioned again and Nox's smile dipped a little from the memories. "She can't come around, she's not even mad. Can't be. She's been gone for a lot of years." Nox said as Raffe pushed open the doors and Nox took in the inside. It was a new sight for him in all the lush and extravagant things. There really was no wonder Nox had never been here more than once, and then only to celebrate Bas' life. He'd met Kali over there, Nox turned from the theater itself, he was sure he'd be seeing it more later. Kali had been more of a threat than Jay would ever be and yet he'd gotten away with that one, but not Jay. He hadn't slept with Kali, but he could have, would have probably should have. Would have ended that a whole lot sooner.

Nox turned back to the faint memories of the place and then back to Raffe. "I'm sure easy on the eyes helps with tips at the bar as well. At least I'll see if I can put my normally destructive gifts to more mundane and flirty uses." The power still flowed through Nox and he smiled as he flicked the collar of Raffe's sweater again before he dropped the power. "Carmen said the room your friend used to keep. What happened if he's not here anymore?"

Nox's wallet chirped and he groaned. It better not be Dorian begging. He'd already gotten one text that said they needed to talk. Nox couldn't right now. Later... he thought to himself.

Nox smiled as he saw the simple message.

How'd it go????

Nox tapped out a quick message in response.

I'm in, Roof and Job, will call later and tell you more.

Nox resisted the urge to add cute boy in the room as if he were a twelve year old boy chatting with his sister. That thought made Nox smile brighter as he tucked his walled into his pocket returning his attention to said cute boy. Such a different mind set, not that he was complaining, but it made Nox rethink all his prior interactions with men.

[Raffe]

Raffe’s expression sobered abruptly. The colour drained. “Shit. I’m sorry.” He dredged through his memory searching for evidence of a cue missed, but he knew well enough the reasons he’d been distracted. Real smooth, Raffe. As Nox turned back out, he rubbed at the back of his own neck, searching for the words. “Not that it’s any sort of consolation, but I lost mine a long time ago too. Never really knew her actually. I was raised by the state.” The fact he had spent nearly a week locked up with her decomposing body as a child didn’t seem like the sort of detail to share, nor the later discovery that she had been murdered by a man who’d forgotten to chase up the niggling loose end of the kid he left behind. Raffe didn’t call him father. It wasn’t a title he had ever earned despite the blood they shared.

He followed back into the main club, pulling the doors closed behind him. “Sure doesn’t hurt,” he agreed with a crooked grin. He’d take that compliment, glad he had not plummeted the mood to unsalvageable levels. Something unseen flicked at his collar, and Raffe’s gaze ghosted down before it bounced back up to the man’s smile. He tugged playful at the front of Nox’s shirt in return as he passed. “Unfair advantage,” he grinned.

Raffe led the way through the tables, quiet while Nox tinkered for a moment on his phone. The question smoothed his mood somewhat softer, his relationship with Kasun having become something more complex than the ugly wounds at his neck suggested. He didn’t blame the other man for the savagery of his instinct, not like Carmen did. The memory of his fear the night Oriena crooked a finger in the doorway of his room lingered. Worry clouded his brow in response. “I’d like to know myself, actually. Oriena came and took him. Haven’t seen either of them since.”

They passed through the backstage dressing room. Costumes lined the walls; lace and glitter, leather and feathers. Huge gilded mirrors framed full-length, spaced in sections. It was dim now, but usually the light cast dewy and soft. His hand passed through gauzy fabrics, remembering suddenly how he’d fallen back into the hangers after Kas had turned on him, dismissing the memory just as quickly despite a painful twinge. Beyond were the showers, a communal area with a few stalls. The stairs in the adjoining hallway led upstairs.

“I don’t know what Carmen told you but it wasn’t Kasun’s fault. Not really,” he said. “She doesn’t see it that way after what he did, but he’s still family.”

[Nox]

Nox waved away Raffe's worry over his mother. It wasn't something Nox dwelled on but he shared his own sad story and Nox felt bad for feeling bad about his own. Though watching your mother die and you can do nothing but stand and stare it stayed with you.

But neither of them let the bad back story kill the mood, Raffe teased him back and Nox couldn't help the widening of his smile. "Life's not fair." He wasn't sure how many times he heard that growing up. His father was such a prick sometimes.

The name Oriena rang a bell. It trigged more memories. Memories of after the plane crash, and then later at the ball. "She gets around." It wasn't meant to be an insult. Oriena found a wolfkin, and was possessed by an Ijiraq and she collected channelers. A powder key Carmen had called it.

"She said he wasn't feral. But a wolf is still a wolf. I almost got a friend hurt by my ex-girlfriend because she smelled me all over him, and her wolf kicked into gear full on jealous. She was fully in control of herself, knew who she was, didn't display any outwards signs other than the golden eyes, but the wolf is strong. And if she hadn't been in control of herself, my friend would probably have been hurt the same as you." Nox smirked. "And if you went in without a weapon or help, the fact that you survived is pretty awesome. The one kin I went after with my Dad that attacked me had me on the ground on my back in seconds. I had a knife, but little good it would do if I couldn't use it. I managed to get a jab into his gut with the knife, but not without a few scratches to my chest but it was all I could do to keep it from my neck."

Nox took cursory note of the room, the exits the showers and the mirrors. The costumes were only a passing note as thoughts trickled into his head of what he could preform. It wasn't so simple as he made it out to be. It had been a very long time since he'd danced in front of anyone for any other reason than because he was out at a club.

[Raffe]

Kas was dangerous; of course Raffe understood that, how could he not? But growing up he’d seen so many times how kids got left behind because no one ever took that chance. Drugs and gang life swallowed the innocent whole and spat them out broken, all because they’d had the misfortune of being born poor, or to the wrong people -- or with differences they couldn’t control. Carmen didn’t understand where the forgiveness came from, and he didn’t expect Nox to understand where it sprang from either. Maybe Raffe couldn’t even wholly explain it himself, but it seemed a better way to live than the alternative.

“Well, if you’ve met Oriena, maybe you know why I’m worried about Kas.” He crooked a half smile, but the concern knit his brow softly all the same. Raffe wore feelings like jewellery and was never much apologetic for it. The problem was he didn’t even know where to begin looking, and a week spent fevered in bed had let what had even existed of a trail grow cold. It wasn’t Nox’s problem, though.

“So what you’re telling me, is you have a few scars under there too?” He grinned but refrained from tugging Nox's shirt again as he led the way up the stairs. A hand massaged his throat to fight the chuckle that wanted to leak out. “You know you make me sound like quite the hero. I don’t remember much of what happened to be honest.” He shrugged, not particularly willing to dig through the memories. Maybe Kasun realised enough of what he was doing to reign himself in, or maybe even in the red mist he recognised family. Pack, he'd called it.

“That must have been before you found out what you could do? What’s it like, this channeling thing.” The building that housed the club was grand, old architecture. Though it lacked the decadent decor up here there were still brief flashes of that beauty; high ceilings and ornate cornices. “This is me.” He rapped his fist against the door frame he paused outside. A clear view showed the small room within. Raffe had crashed here from time to time before, but since his injury it had taken on a permanence that gave a little more character to the humble furnishings. A colourful bedspread, a littering of splayed books, and a crowd of plants that sat on the windowsill.

“There are some house rules to cover, but it can wait until after you settle in. You have your pick. We might need to move some furniture around, though.”

[Nox]

"I've only met her once or twice and both times she was pretty scary. Granted the second time it wasn't her fault. But if you want I can try to figure out where your friend went." It was his job to find wolfkin after all, and with that thought. "I promise I will only defend myself." He didn't want to kill anyone specifically but he would if he had to. Most of his humanoid kills except Rougs were in self defense. At least those he was in control of the outcome. His father not so much.

Nox grinned at the scars comment. "A few I'm sure you're likely to see at some point." Nox didn't add anything to it, if the communal shower down stairs was all they had then there was a very high probability he'd see a lot more just as a casual passerby. "Though mine are small in comparison to yours and most of them are fairly old." After Aurora learned to heal he'd gotten less until she died that was, now he was sure they'd start piling up again. "Even if he wasn't a wolf kin stepping in to save someone else or stop a friend from doing something stupid is kinda heroic." It wasn't his words, those were his sisters he knew, Nox didn't believe them of himself no matter how many times he told them to himself. And Aurora's words were pale in comparison to his memories of her.

"It was before I did my thing, before my sister too. If my dad knew what I was I wouldn't be standing here. My sister and I would have been dead, and my father and mother right along with us. My father was a faithful zealot, he believed in our teachings fully. And if the word of law was you kill all reborn gods, and their immediate families, that's what he'd do. Even if it meant taking his own.

Raffe knocked on his door frame before Nox could finish answering his question, so Nox looked inside with a casual glance. The plants were the thing that caught his attention most, such a strange thing to have, but it fit the man knocking on the wood to begin with. "Colorful." He meant the plants. Nox didn't travel far before he pushed open a room that was near Raffe, he wasn't overly picky. And it was easier than moving the conversation to another room. "As long as they all have a bed any of them will do."

Though Nox stepped towards the stairs and asked. "Are there any other exits up here, ways up, other than the fire escape?" Nox was ready to position himself in the most convenient place to defend himself and his new friends. Nox pulled the power around him again and made a floating orb so he could take the shadows out of the corners and look for any hiding places. He was a lot paranoid. "If you'd asked me over a month ago, what it was like I'd have told you it was the greatest thing in the world. But that changed when I nearly had my power ripped out of me by a monster who fed on it. But it beats the fevers and chills and the sickness - especially the dying part. I was just thankful we knew what was going on when I saved my sister with a fireball, once you learn to grab the power on your own you are safe from the sickness. I can't imagine all those families lost because of lack of knowledge."

Nox had heard the bit about house rules and he'd have to know them sooner rather than later, he was more likely to break them without knowing and he didn't want to do it on accident. But that was later.

[Raffe]

He couldn't help the beam of his grin, though admittedly he didn’t much try. Nox offered his help so casually, but it meant something to Raffe -- particularly the promise. Oriena had talked about snakes often enough that he understood what Nox had been, and of course he’d seen the newsfeeds that followed Ascendancy’s Arch. Kasun might be a monster to everyone else, but Raffe was sure he wasn’t a lost cause. Nox agreed to a chance. That was all he needed. “Actually I would really appreciate that.”

The other man’s words made him feel warm even if he didn't much believe them (what Nox called heroic, pretty much everyone else called stupid). He could feel the spread of a faint blush against his skin, but it wasn't unpleasant, and certainly not something to hide. It didn't embarrass him either, but it did make him smile more. Enough that he scruffed a hand through his hair and tried to clear his throat (which didn’t go so well).

“That’s very black and white,” he said, though clearly the idea disturbed him. Whole families dead, and for what? It sounded beyond comprehension; too vast a thing for one person to have such power at their fingertips. But not something to kill for. He had trouble wrapping his mind around that, even though he knew it was true. But then he’d never understood how his father had killed his mother either. And certainly he’d had less reason.

“Uh. No, I don’t think so.” Raffe had never really considered the security of this place, but it wasn’t like Nox didn’t have a reason to be paranoid. A faint frown drifted across his expression, though he couldn’t fully say why -- like a drill against his skull. Not that he could put his finger on it. “It must be scary,” he agreed. “The not knowing. A creature they preys on channelers doesn’t exactly sound all warm and fuzzy either.” Incredulity flickered, but not disbelief. Life had been strange for a long time, but he doubted it’d ever quite stop surprising. He paused a moment, curious. “The girls say it’s like joy. Strange how something so wonderful can come from something so dark. Did you ever think about teaching? I’m sure they’d be people you could help.”