Coffee After An Appointment

[Cade]

Cade sighed. He spoke like monsters were real, and it was a normal way to talk. He seemed off but Cade didn't know him so he figured it was the way he was. Who knew what a life off the grid was like, he sure didn't.

Cade had a lot of questions he didn't even know where to start. "You don't know anything about our mother's health history then?"

Nox shook his head. "Was perfectly fine up until the mauling."

"By a... what did you call it... a hell hound? What's that mean?" Cade sounded a bit dazed, if a hell hound sounded like what it was then why the fuck?

Nox leaned forward shifting the baby's and bottle to the side and Cade noticed for the first time that the hand holding the bottle wasn't exactly real. It was physically there, but it was a prosthetic. "How did you lose the hand?" he blurted out without a thought. And the cork was unbottled and other questions flooded out. "Who's Aurora? And a monster? What happened to your dad, was he killed by some innane creature too? How did you know I met the girls here? Did they tell you? And how do you know so much about me? You haven't even asked anything." That was a crux, he hadn't asked him about himself, hadn't mentioned anything about him specifically was he that out of sorts that he couldn't even be poliet?

[Nox]

Nox leaned forward shifting Lily to the side so she didn't bump into the table between them, but the questions fell out of Cade's mouth once he was brave enough to ask the next question. Nox sat back with a wry smile as Cade poured out the questions.

A lot had been piled on the normal seeming person. He'd been dumped into his world unceremoniously and even as Nox waited for the questions to stop Cade continued with another even after he had paused to think.

"I saw this... thing."

"What kinda thing?" Nox asked curiously.

Cade shook his head. "You wouldn't believe me."

Nox chuckled. "You'd be surprised what I'd believe. I just told you my mother was mauled by a hell-hound. Our mother. Trust me, there is nothing in this world you can tell me I won't beleive you. I'd even bet Santa Clause was real at one point in time."

Cade stared at Nox. Nox wondered if he was trying to figure him out. So he talked instead. "I grew up hunting monsters. My dad was born Atharim. His father was Atharim and his father, for as long as we could remember there has always been a Durante hunting monsters. Don't know if the legacy will continue since I'm last in the line. I've fought and killed all manner of strange creatures."

Cade continued to stare at Nox like he was out of his mind. Nox smirked. The music wasn't exactly sarcastic in nature but how could he not play that card? "I saved and killed parts of Lily's family escaping the nest of a bunch of canabalistic monsters called Rougarou. I lost my arm to some scientifically generated crossbreds -- a parasitic embodiment of both monsters they came from. Hell up until the past day or so I was a fucking monster by all Atharim accounts."

[Enrique]

Enrique smiled. Marta was changing. She wanted to meet new people. It had been hard listening to her conversation though. It seemed she thought she was taking him away from being happy. She wasn’t - but she had a point. He had given up a lot, and by all accounts it sounded like Marta wanted him to start hunting monsters again. He wondered why that came up. He didn’t think she was lying about this cave to do so - Marta wasn’t manipulative. 

Meeting Marisol was a step up for her though. It meant she was beginning to find some sort of “normalcy” given her traumatic past and being her being wolfkin. 

”Ricky, can I give Nox a Christmas present - right now since he’s here,” his thoughts were interrupted by Marta’s words. 

Enrique nodded. ”Sure. Just be polite,” Marta smiled and stood up.

[Marta]

Marta stood and went to the counter to the nice lady and Splash followed wearing her red support animal vest. . ”Excuse me, Miss. can I get something so that a friend can get a drink that I paid for. Like a gift certificate for a free drink?”

”Of course - just one?”

”No - two please,” Marta said, and the woman rang her up. Marta paid using her own money and grabbed the two certificates and headed towards Nox’s table.

She approached and Nox still smelled weird. The other man smelled confused and uncertain. There was maybe a little fear mixed in. There was a lot going on there. It wouldn’t do to stick around long. She also knew Ricky would be watching.

”Excuse me,” she said, more to the stranger than Nox. ”Im sorry to interrupt, I just wanted to give my friend a Christmas present.” she put the certificate for the prepaid drink on the table in front of him. The other she put in front of the stranger. ”And one for you too! Merry Christmas!

As she placed it on the counter someone entered the cafe. The wind blew and Marta smelled something. Her eyes went to the door, a look of concern on her face as a scent blew in on the wind. She had thought she smelled blood.

[Cade]

This man was freaking out of his mind! Monsters weren't real. The more his so-called brother talked the more and more he sounded crazy and the more questions he had. Sure he'd seen some bad things in his life, but this man claimed to see fucking monsters.

Words formed on his lips but Cade was never able to articulate them. All those years of medical school hadn't prepared him for someone else's delusions that were obviously so real to him his entire life revolved around them. It explained alot actually why there was nothing before Moscow and the accident that took out his plane. Cade was almost 100% certain he would have some fantastical reason for the accident, too.

A teenage girl interrupted before Cade could form any sentence. He just looked at her as Nox smiled. "Thank you. But you didn't have to." She shoved a gift certificate at him too and Cade blinked softly at and slammed his hands on the table catching the lifting papers as the door opened.

The girls eyes went wide and Nox turned towards the door. "What did you smell, Marta?"

[Nox]

Marta's guardian had stood up and was heading their way when Marta's eyes grew big and she stared out the door. Nox turned quickly to follow her eye line and instictintively drew upon the power and found it missing. "Fuck!" he muttered under his breath. Nox asked "What did you smell, Marta?"

Marta hesitated, her eyes remaining focused on the door. ”Blood…”

Nox stood up, untying the knot that kept Lily to his chest. Nox looked towards the man he knew was also a hunter. "She smells blood." Nox turned to Cade and Marta "Stay here!" As he told them to stay he placed Lily carefully in Marta's hands. "You got this."

He didn't hesitate even without a power, or a gun. It didn't matter there was something was wrong and it needed to be handled. Nox left his coat outside and was bombarded with the frigid temperatures as he looked up and down the street. "Sky, can you do what Wicked does? I need it now. I need eyes in the sky and I need to know of any struggles in the past few minutes -- anything at all that looks strange and close."

The HUD on the lens warriors popped up with a tiny map that Sky was displaying anything. Nox looked around for anyone and anything suspicious that seemed like 'blood'.

[Enrique]

Enrique was keeping an eye on Marta as she moved. She had shown some desire to listen in on their conversation. But as her head snapped to the door, Enrique stood and moved. She didn’t move like that often - not unless she smelled something. Nox spoke as he approached telling her she smelled blood, and then began to rush out the door after handing the baby to Marta.

Marta looked at Enrique. ”Go!”

Enrique didn’t relish leaving her here with this random guy. He activated his earpiece and called Marisol - god he hoped she was free. ”Hey Enrique, what’s up?”

”Need a favor - someone to look after Marta for awhile - can you do it? Please,” he said, pleading.

”Sure thing - let me know where,” she responded, concerned.

Enrique did letting her know Marta had the dog and baby. That would be a nice riddle for her. He began to leave. ”Stay at thr table. Marisol is on her way. Be good!

Enrique ran after Nox. The adrenaline kicked in. God it felt good to be doing this again. He caught up. Unsure if Nox was armed, he spoke. ”You need anything let me know,”

[Nox]

Nox barely remembered his name. He was pretty sure Marta had called him Ricky, but Nox wasn't ever good with names.

The HUD showed a disturbance to the left of the café and Nox moved in that direction "Sky, show me the feed of the nearest disturbance." He said as he nodded towards the direction to go as Ricky came out beside him.

The feed showed an nearly empty alley with a pair of struggling feet kicking on the other side of the dumpster.

Very few monsters hunted in day light. And only when the pickens were slime in the underground. Clearing the refugees out might have been a godsend if whatever it was was feeding topside.

Nox lowered his voice and spoke to his companion. "We got a vic around the corner, no idea what's got it." Nox didn't have a weapon, and he didn't know what he was coming up against. But he'd been trained in hand to hand, as much as he hated fighting that way, it was still a way to dispatch a monster -- as long as it wasn't an Oni, and then he was fucked. But Oni don't hide behind dumpsters hiding their kills. They are bulls in china shops, they aren't careful.

The entrance to the alley was a few feet away and Nox peered around the corner looking for what advantages they had. The creature and its victim were still out of site and as long as they were quiet they'd get the jump on it.

Nox signaled for Ricky to cover him as he moved in towards the near side of the dumpster. there was a wooden handle sticking up from the bin and Nox carefully reached in and pulled the broken handle of a mop or broom from the refuse. With it by his side he looked towards Ricky asking if he was ready? They didn't know what they were going to be coming up against. With a signal of assent, Nox crept around the dumpster and took two steps back from it towards the opposite wall and tapped the new weapon on the ground. Alerting the dreyken he now saw to his presence. It hissed and sputtered blood at him and lunged towards Nox, leaving the victim's lifeless corpse to collapse completely to the ground as the creature dropped it.

Nox managed to parry one blow, but the second set of razor sharp talons of the dreyken caught his side leaving a wide gash in his abdomen -- if it had gone any deeper he'd be spilling guts out all over the floor.

[Cade]

Nox quickly stood up as the girl said 'Blood'. He didn't doubt her word. Cade wasn't sure what the fuck was going on. How could she smell blood, the only thing he could smell was coffee and pastries baking. But the baby was thrust into the girls hands and he was out the door with only a passing word to him, a stranger man who Cade was pretty sure was with the little girl.

There was certain about of curiousity but there were two children who's guardians had just up and left without even a 'will you watch them'. Cade struggled with wanting to follow and with staying with the children who were now left alone at his table.

Cade stood up and fought with his inner self. He knew the right thing was to stay, but he wanted to see how crazy his brother actually was. Did he think he was really fighting monsters?

A woman rushed into the café and looked around frantically her eyes settling on the girl and the baby and rushed over. Someone else was now responsible for the girls. Cade grabbed his coat and threw it on over his shoulders and pushed his arms through as he rushed out the door after them.

He glanced down the sidewalk and found them just rounding the alley way. Cade followed and soon there was much more noise coming from the alley both men had disappeared from. Cade expected to find a fight, but when he rounded the corner he did not expect to see Nox fighting with a broken handle against a creature that made him go pale. He'd seen something exactly like it before... there was no mistake -- the long knife like talons on the ends of its fingers, the pale skin, the hissing sound it made as it had chased him and Anna. Cade was frozen in fear.

[[ Marisol modded with permission ]]

[Marisol]

The call from Enrique was odd, but Marisol could hear the urgency in his voice. It was the voice that said - ask questions later. She trusted that instinct. His girl needed someone right now. Marisol moved with urgency. She lived near the cafe so it wasn’t an issue of time, but she just sensed she had to get there fast.

She arrived and saw who could only be Marta. A man stood next to her, but he left as soon as she got there. He didn’t concern Marisol. Only the girl and the infant did.

”You must be Marta, I’m Marisol,” she said to the girl who’s attention was wrapped completely by the child in her arms.