Realistic or Modern Fairweather Communications - Urban Fantasy

[Reynarda]

Azrael relaxed slightly. It wasn’t that she had been worried Wade was afraid of her, really. She just didn’t want him to have that at the back of his mind.

However, her face went bright red when Lev said he would have carried her. Her brain was supplying her with what that would probably look like and she was way too tired to get her blushing under control.

Thea, of course, did not fail to notice. The smirk on their face formed a dimple. In a tone they figured was relatively quiet, they asked, “You kissed him yet?”

“Thea!” Azrael hissed, flushing even darker. When they snickered, Azrael said, “Stop, I do not have any blood to spare for craniofacial erythema.”

Thea shook their head. “I didn’t even know there was a medical term for blushing. You’re such a nerd.” She glanced at Lev, pleased at how well he was caring for their Doc. “You know you’re dating a nerd, right?”

“It’s not that bad,” Azrael said in answer to Lev’s question and trying to talk over Thea.

Tucking in the bandage, Thea glanced at her. “She is lying. Hypotension isn’t as bad in vampires because they actually don’t have high blood pressures to begin with, but you can’t give them transfusions. So it can be very dangerous depending on how much they lose.”

Azrael shook her bottle of erythropoietin. “I took some, and I got blood. I’m fine.”

Thea eyed her, not placated in the slightest. But Azrael was saved from more mother-henning by the mention of food and polite society’s view on cannibalism. They snickered. They supposed Wade and Percival may take offense to such behavior considering they were the three humans.

This amusement quickly shifted when Percival said “we” had things to come clean about. Thea squinted at him. What sort of things did he have to come clean about?

But then something was off… “Hold up, Percival, how long has your hair been flirting with the color pink?”

Thea looked back at Azrael and pointed as of to ask if the Doc had noticed. Azrael didn’t look surprised and Thea scowled at her. How dare she keep Percival Fairweather’s new style a secret like this.

“I have zero secrets,” Thea interrupted Wade. Actually, they had a few, but they were unimportant and—

Azrael had noticed the shift in Thea’s heart rate and was arching an eyebrow at her medical assistant. Cheeks darkening, Thea quickly looked away. They hadn’t wanted to mention they’d applied for nursing school at Columbia University in case they didn’t get in. They had, of course, put Dr. Drake down as a reference, but they sort of hoped the admissions people just wouldn’t call her if they didn’t get in.

However, Azrael’s suspicious gaze was completely wiped from their mind as Percival announced he was, in fact, a vampire.

“What?!” Thea demanded. “You can’t be a vampire! Doc, he can’t be a vampire.”

Azrael, more than amused by her medical assistant’s reaction, couldn’t help asking, “Why not?”

Thea waved their arms. “You look like a vampire! You wear all black and you look at people like you’re mentally dissecting them—“

“That’s just how doctors look at people.”

“—but Percival Fairweather—I mean look at him!” Thea gestured to Percival as if that explained everything. “He has hair almost as cool as mine—hold up.”

Thea rounded on Percival, their eyes squinted. “Does Tristan have pink hair?!”

“Thea,” Azrael sighed, not wanting them to overwhelm Percival. “Tristan does not secretly have—“

“Naga?” Thea cut her off. “Wait you’re a snake? Is that why it’s a normal-person temperature in here and not frigid? You turned up the heat for Percival? So you knew!”

Azrael spread her hands. She knew Thea was not actually surprised she had known, they were just verbally processing everything.

Still. “Thea,” Azrael said gently. “That was a lot for Percival to reveal. Go easy on him.”

Thea shrugged at Percival. “You’re a vampire-naga with pink hair. Totally rad.” They grabbed Azrael’s knee. “That means. Three out of five of us do have fangs! We really are fang gang!”

Azrael gave the top of Thea’s head an affectionate pat.

But then Wade was trying to make a break for it, and Azrael sat forward, opening her mouth to stop him. Lev handled it, and she relaxed back into her chair.

When Percival decided to be assertive, Azrael arched her eyebrow. “You need to know that, do you? And what do you plan on doing with that information, Percival?”

Thea glanced between them, wondering if this was about to become a bunch of tired vampires posturing. While that would be hilarious and also annoying, everyone seemed to be missing something.

“Yeah, that’s not important either. What’s important is that we’re all ignoring the fact that somebody gave herself hypotension, apparently due to magic, and the other vampire in the room also looks like he’s about to fall asleep.” Thea squinted at Azrael. “You first. I assume the cut has something to do with your lack of blood?”

Azrael sighed. “I may have panicked a little when I realized my mother was in here alone with Percival. I… used a bit of my blood to create a shield around him. It’s a spell I could do in my sleep, but since we were far apart…” Azrael shrugged, a little embarrassed. “I misjudged and burned more of my blood than I intended.”

Thea shook their head in exasperation. They didn’t know a whole lot about blood magic, but they knew the Doc was careful about how she used it. She must have been really freaked.

“How much?”

Azrael made a show of examining Thea’s bandaging skills.

“Dr. Azrael Drake. I know you have an estimate of how much blood you lost,” Thea said in their firmest voice.

Azrael cleared her throat. “About a liter.”

“WHAT!” Thea shrieked, making Azrael wince. Azrael was not a tall person, so Thea figured she was below the supposed human average of five liters of blood. “The stab victim we sewed up—how much had he lost?”

Azrael sighed. “Two. But I will heal quickly, quit worrying. Remember I have a higher reserve volume than a human.”

Thea was not placated. They frowned with their best disproving frown at Azrael. Azrael squirmed a little under their gaze. Of course Thea had been paying close attention to the vampire stab victim they had cared for and was now using that knowledge against her.

“I am fine, I will heal. But Percival is right. We could have a supernatural turf war on our hands and I don’t want any of you getting caught in the crossfire.”

Thea waved a dismissive hand. “We can deal with that when we learn what’s up with Percival. I assume the Doc has been taking care of you, but given it takes about three months to replace 500ml of blood she will have to tell me what to do to care for you. Don’t worry, she’s very good at bossing me around. So. What’s going on with you? Why are you so tired?”

They knew Percival had been the “secret emergency” patient, but they figured they’d generously let him reveal that.

“And keep in mind you are on thin ice for not telling me you were part of the pink hair club. We could have been hair buddies.”

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Lev grinned proudly.

"Oh I know. It's fine because I like nerds," he said, squeezing Azrael's hand. Right. They were dating now. They had even had a date earlier, even if it had kind of ended abruptly. He was less pleased that she was downplaying her condition, but he wasn't going to bring it up in front of all their friends. The last thing he wanted to do was embarrass her, and he had a feeling she would react better if he gently brought it up later, when they were alone.

Percival sighed when Thea brought up his hair. Right. He should probably talk about that.

"It's natural. It's not quite natural for humans, so I usually wear a glamour, but I'm exhausted. If we're coming clean about things anyways, then there's no point in wearing myself out," he said with a puff of breath. His mouth quirked up a little bit as Thea decided that he couldn't be a vampire, and he considered for a moment showing them his fangs just to drive it home. Of course, that would be extremely rude in both his cultures, and he didn't really want to get into the size and shape of vampire fangs vs naga fangs.

"Tristan has a different mother. Normandy is my only sibling who shares both my parents. I have eight other half brothers and twelve half sisters that I know of, but only Tristan and Normandy live in New York," he explained with a little shrug.

The snake thing was a bit different to be talking about out in the open. He was unused to bringing it up to people who didn't know.

"Er, yes, I am a snake of sorts. I don't want to shapeshift here, though. Apartment units aren't designed to accommodate my size," he added awkwardly. He could curl up very well in Azrael's living room, but the furniture would need to be pushed out of the way. It was also just weird to be showing his true self to folks who weren't family or 'in the know'.

When Azrael turned on him, he almost sputtered. Perhaps it was the fact that he had grown up in a matriarchal family where the women were fierce and in control, but he instinctively bowed his head in the face of her authority.

"Er, I just want to avoid conflict," he said, though his tone was sufficiently cowed. "Because I know the way my mother conducts business, and--"

He broke off when Thea went off on their rant, and Lev's face turned sufficiently worried.

"Ok, you never said it was that bad," he said with a frown. "You are going to be ok now though, right?"

He glanced between her and Percival, who awkwardly nodded. It was a lot of blood, but it wasn't fatal. As the other vampire in the room, Lev figured he was a good enough study to use as a base line.

Said base line was not prepared for quite the attention Thea ended up giving him, and he sputtered a bit under their barrage of questions.

"Er, I'm not entirely sure. My mother has been getting threats recently, and I think I was drugged in the cab last night? I'll be fine. My magic is just a little, erm, 'out of whack'. After a good rest and a soak in my mother's pool everything will be back to normal."

He awkwardly brushed a lock of hair behind his ear, his cheeks flushing darker than normal.

"I don't usually show people," he admitted. "My colouring is a bit of a genetic anomaly? It's close enough to blond that it’s easy to mimic.”

He was a bit baffled by the reaction, honestly. His unique colouring was usually a cause for worry. His mother of course found his scale pattern unique, but it wasn’t exactly desirable for future breeding purposes.

 

[Reynarda]

Azrael felt further embarrassment creep up her face as Lev announced he liked nerds. This was getting out of hand. She was a very serious vampire with a medical doctorate and she did not blush.

"It's natural?" Thea echoed in response to Percival's hair color revelation. They squinted at him, fairly certain he was messing with them. However, further revelations hit them, and they demanded, "Wait! You have a tail?"

"Thea, not this again," Azrael sighed.

"Percival gets naturally pink hair and a tail? How is this fair? The universe is a cruel and unusual mistress." Thea placed their hand on their forehead as if bearing a great injustice. They popped their eyes back open and asked, "So how big are you, then?"

"Thea!" Azrael scolded. She sighed. "Percival, Thea is a very curious individual and you can ignore or decline any of their questions."

"Ok but I also have a kidney question," Thea announced. "Because you said vampire kidneys work differently since most of your diet is liquid, but like don't snakes also swallow things whole and I think I remember reptiles don't do urea so like... Doc how does that work?"

Azrael sighed because that was a very fun question she would like to try to answer but also she guessed Percival would find a discourse on his kidneys to be awkward. "Can I answer that later?"

"Don't forget."

Azrael frowned at Percival as he immediately went all meek. She sighed. She didn't mean to bully him. Anyway, Thea was determined to make everyone worry about her. She rolled her eyes. "I'm fine."

"Ok, Dr. Lost-A-Liter-Of-Blood."

"My bones are currently rectifying that issue, Thea. I'll be back to normal in a matter of hours." Still, she was tired, and she liked the thought of curling up on the couch and resting. She eyed Wade sulking on her couch and tried to think of the most graceful way to stagger over to the couch and shoo him over so she could sit on her favorite side.

This musing was cut off by the start of a knock at her door and then a yelp. Azrael shot off the chair with a hissed vampire curse and darted to the door, which opened for her.

On the other side, an unfortunate adolescent delivery guy was waving his injured hand.

"I am so sorry," Azrael said, immediately leaning on the door. "The door has some of electrical short."

The teen sighed. Being a pizza deliverer in New York City meant he saw all sorts of weird things. He was fairly sure some sort of magic had just attacked him, but he wasn't about to out the spooky lady who was handing him a very generous tip. He glanced at the group behind her and shrugged. "No worries. Have a nice evening."

"You, too, stay warm."

Thea appeared and quickly took the pizza before Azrael swayed and dumped it all on the floor. "Sit," they commanded. "Where are the plates?"

Before Azrael could answer, Thea was opening cabinets. They found the stack of four plates she kept mostly for show and brought them to the coffee table. Azrael sank onto the couch as Thea popped the boxes open.

Thea waited until everyone had started getting pizza before saying, "Percival, you were drugged? Like roofied?"

They glanced at Azrael to confirm she had been handling it. Azrael gave a short nod, and Thea relaxed.

Biting into their pizza, Thea kept their eyes on Azrael. "Percival was roofied and his mom's a mob boss. Doc?"

Azrael sighed. Right. She couldn't avoid this anymore. "My family is the Blood Mafia in Ohio. It seems like they've decided to try their hand in New York. They dabble in a bit of everything, but mostly weapons and magic and other black market stuff. They have a fewer smaller gangs that answer to them, too, and they've got quite a few law enforcement and government officials in Columbus, Cleveland, and Chicago in their pockets. They were mostly in the background until the new mayor of Columbus won the election seven or so years ago. She arrested or fired a lot of the dirty officials and started doing raids. It turned into a bloodbath. I'm pretty sure the mayor is some sort of nonhuman because she's evaded my family so far. That got heated, so they moved down to Cleveland just when I was starting my residency at the Cleveland Clinic. They owned Cleveland until recently. Somehow, the mayor in Columbus influenced a clean official to run for mayor in Cleveland and he won. Now they're getting heat there. I assumed they'd try for Chicago next since they have a lot of underlings there, but I guess they decided the City was better. Anyway, we vampires are pretty territorial, so when we move into an area with a leading family, the polite thing to do is introduce yourself and essentially promise not to try anything. Very few of us are openly vampires, of course, so it really depends on how well that secret is guarded." She nodded to Percival. "Really, I should have introduced myself to Percival's father, but the Fairweathers are pretty quiet about their species and I'm lying about mine. But my family will not be doing that."

Thea raised their hand. "Do other vampires know you're a vampire?"

Azrael sighed. "I had to reveal my species to one of them to get close enough to help her, and she spread it around. So, yes, a few. That's why we get so many vampire patients. I've actually had a few new vampires come to me for introduction. I had to explain I wasn't actually the dominant vampire in the area."

"Wait, how many vampires have we treated?"

Azrael ignored the question. "Anyway, we most likely have a bit of time before Percival's mother notices my family. They start by getting corrupt officials on their payroll. Once they have enough to make it difficult for any action against them, then they will start doing business." Letting out a breath, Azrael admitted, "But I'm not really sure what to do about it. I'm not going to run again, and I will treat either side, but I have no idea how to stop this from becoming a turf war."

 

[Mikotsuhime]

Percival cleared his throat, his shoulders drawn up tight. It was very strange to hear someone so excited about his colouring. It was unique and striking, and his mother had initially been excited about his potential to make very beautiful babies, but there were downsides. He had no tolerance for the sun, and his immune system was weaker than it should be. Such health conditions didn't matter for a trophy husband, but they did call his ability as a sire into question.

"It's a genetic condition," he repeated with a grimace. "It's unusual colouring even for my kind, which is why I hide it. I suppose it is aesthetically pleasing to some, but honestly I would much prefer to look like my sister."

Normandy had their mother's dark skin and hair, with a long and powerful tail in the deep brown colours of their family. She could spend all day in the sun without worrying about magic-grade sunblock and uv deflection spells.

Wade gave Percival a funny look. He had been quiet for a while, staying in his own seat quietly. It was odd enough that it concerned Percival, but he didn't think it was his place to step in. When Wade was well and truly hurt, he didn't actually lash out the way most people expected. He stewed in his feelings instead, and until he had a chance to sort out of his thoughts, Percival didn't want to upset him further.

"A fucking tail," he grumbled, and Percival flinched. Right. He had never really thought he would be talking about his heritage with Wade. It was a very strange and somewhat unpleasant feeling.

"Asking someone how long their tail is is akin to asking what size bra they wear," he warned Thea with a small grimace. "It's not quite polite conversation. Last I measured, it was around thirty six feet, but I haven't really been keeping up with it."

He didn't mind necessarily that he was on the small side. But continuously being reminded that he only grew a couple of inches per year did nothing good to his self esteem. He would always be smaller than his female relatives anyways.

But then they were asking about his kidneys, and Percival just stared.

"Er," he began, because he didn't actually know how his kidneys functioned, he just hoped that they did. Growing up as a mix of two species had been... interesting. His humanoid form was as much his own body as his snake one, due to a mix of two different magics. He had frightened the hell out of his nanny when he had peed the bed when he was a toddler. At least as an adult he had a more solid idea of what exactly he could and could not do.

At least Azrael had his back, and they were soon saved by the pizza guy.

Wade scooched over when Azrael sat down beside him, and Lev gave him and Percival both a studying look before he grabbed an extra plate and handed it to Wade.

"Eat some pepperoni," he instructed, and Wade pouted at him, but took the offering.

He was half-way through his slice when the conversation around him kicked in, and he dropped the pizza onto the plate in shock.

"Wait, you were roofied?!" he repeated, and Percival flinched again. Right. Everyone was very surprised about this, and he had to remember that it wasn't exactly a normal occurrence.

"I think so?" he said, hating how his voice came out as a question. "It isn't... unusual. Both of my parents are very influential and have a lot of enemies. People are more likely to go after me than Normandy, since I'm a male."

He shrugged his shoulders, and Wade gaped at him, then growled under his breath.

"Fuck! That's not fucking normal! You know that's not normal, right?! Being drugged and kidnapped and whatever the hell is not normal. What the hell. Is that why you always watched me make you food when we lived together?!"

The fury was building in his voice, and Percival frowned.

"No. Well, at first, yes, but after the first month, I just liked to watch you cook." He shifted uncomfortably, and Wade swore loudly.

"That's fucked up! You being a fucking snake and not telling me, that's also fucked up, but for fuck's sake. What the hell did your parents do, that you can talk about this like it's normal?!"

Percival gave Azrael a pleading look, like he didn't know what to do and needed help. In his mind, it made sense. His parents had warned him from a young age that their lives were dangerous, and as a result, his life would be dangerous too. He had accepted it ages ago.

Lev placed a reassuring hand on Wade's shoulder, giving Azrael a slightly worried look.

"Hey, are you ok? Do you want me to maybe take you to my place?" he asked quietly. He doubted Sariel would still be outside, but he would feel better if Wade were somewhere with supernaturals around anyways. Humans had come a long way with innovations in security, but when an angry vampire was after you, it was best to have someone else with claws and magic to fight back.

Wade growled again, the noise low and angry in his throat, but when Lev squeezed his shoulder for a second time he deflated. He collapsed back down onto the couch, a scowl on his face.

"No. I want to stay, so I know what's going on," he snarled pointedly at Percival. Percival grimaced, fidgeting with his fingers.

"Nobody outside of the species knows about that," he mumbled, and Wade snorted.

"Yeah, sure. Fine. I mean, it's not like you told me you were a vampire either," he grumbled. Percival pursed his mouth, because that felt a little unfair, but he refused to rise to the bait. They had more important things to worry about.

"My mother has a number of officials already under her belt. She owns the NYPD's VICE unit, and I'm fairly certain she has regular contact with the police commissioner," he said with a shrug. "Naga are just as territorial as vampires, and while my father would be livid about an invasion of his territory, she would be worse."

He chewed on his lower lip, letting out a sigh.

"My mother likes to send strong messages. Honestly, I don't want to say it, but I don't see this ending without casualties. The best thing to do would be the leave the city until it blows over."

He gave Thea and Lev a meaningful look, and Lev immediately shook his head.

"Nope. No way. I'm not leaving my home because of a gang war. We don't have to come up with a solution to this tonight, but I refuse to do that to my parents. Their entire lives are here. My dad would never be able to just pick up and start somewhere new."

His mother, maybe. She was better at dealing with change, but his father was a creature of habit. The entire city could burn down around him, and he wouldn't leave his home.

"Az just said she wasn't going to run," Wade said, his voice slightly calmer than before. Slightly. "And I'm not leaving. There are too many good people in this city who could be affected. Could you not talk to your mom? I mean, you're the precious golden boy. Surely she'd listen to you."

Percival made a face, his hands clenching into fists at his sides.

"The most important thing I offer my mother is the ability to give children," he said, his voice sharp. "She doesn't take my input on business matters. Normandy is the heir to the business, and I don't want to bring her into something that might harm her. Besides, she loves my father. Even without the illegal business, she would not take kindly to another vampire clan trying to poach his territory."

 

[Reynarda]

"Why would you want to look like everyone else? That's so boring," Thea announced.

"Thea," Azrael sighed for what was probably the fiftieth time.

Thea did feel a little bad to learn that they had asked a mildly rude question, but not bad enough not to say, "Doc asks people about their bra size all the time."

"Appropriate bra size is very important," Azrael said, completely unfazed. "You'd be surprised how many back problems I've solved with that question alone."

Thea snorted but then gasped. "Thirty-six feet?! That's amazing! You must be a very majestic naga."

Fortunately for Percival and all involved, Thea immediately began devouring their pizza, which entirely occupied their mouth.

Azrael had curled herself up on the couch and probably would have drifted off to sleep if Wade hadn't lost his composure over Percival's acceptance about being roofied. She knew he was angry because he was afraid for Percival, but that didn't make approaching it any easier. She caught Percival's panicked look but really wasn't sure what to do without pulling Wade to the side and interpreting.

"Wade, Percival is not at fault for being roofied," she said by way of gentle reminder that he was not actually angry at Percival. But as his heart rate increased, she shifted towards him, also resting a hand on his arm.

When he snarled at Percival, she said, "Wade" gently but firmly. This was not the way to deal with his anger, fear, and frustration. As Wade sat back down, she shifted so her shoulder was resting against his. He had responded well to physical contact before, so she hoped it would help settle him a bit.

Azrael unfocused her eyes, listening as Percival explained his mother's hold on the city. She dug into the part of her mind that was familiar with crime tactics, trying to guess what her mother's first move would be.

It would definitely be a blood bath, and Azrael was not entirely certain her family would come out on top. Her mother's attempt to drag her back into the family business was starting to make more sense. Regardless, she needed to start practicing hemomancy regularly. It increased her likelihood of getting caught, but she had more to lose now.

"I'm not leaving because of some turf war," Thea said flatly. "If I had to move every time some gang warred with another, I'd never settle down. Anyway, someone needs to help Doc with all the casualties, and I don't think any of you have medical training." They squinted at the three men, daring them to say they could take their place. When no challenge was forthcoming, Thea said, "Right, Doc? Doc? Doc. Earth to Dr. Azrael Drake."

Azrael shook herself. "Sorry, just thinking. What am I agreeing to?"

"That I can't skip town because you need me to medically assist you."

Azrael smiled fondly. "Well, I doubt you would leave even if I told you to. But, yes, I would more than appreciate the assistance of a discrete and knowledgeable individual such as yourself."

Thea grinned.

Azrael slid her eyes to Percival. "Really, if anyone should leave until this blows over, it should be you. Of anyone in this room, you are most likely to be used as a pawn--no offense, just the facts. You are the son of both the leading crime boss and the most influential vampire. And my mother met you. When things start to get messy, my mother may resort to kidnapping and blackmail. The protection I wove around you won't last long, and if I ever do have to go toe-to-toe with my mother, I will lose. I've only once manged to weave a protection that my family can't break, and I had pints and pints of blood that was not mine at my disposal."

"Ok, so I don't really know how your magic works and all that, but what if we like... borrowed some of the blood we keep in the fridge?" Thea asked. "We could wrap Percival in magical bloody bubble wrap."

"The older the blood, the less use I can get out of it," Azrael explained. "I get the most... mileage, I guess, out of my own blood. I'd have to use some of Percival's and..." She trailed off, trying to figure out how not to sound like a very creepy vampire. "I'd have to... touch, uh, his blood. Which I have been very careful not to do."

"Why?"

Azrael shifted uncomfortably. It wasn't that she thought it was weird or creepy, she worried that her relatively new friends would find it weird and creepy. "Once I interact with someone's blood, if gives me a certain... power over their blood."

Thea contemplated this. "But you've never touched my blood and you activated my white blood cells."

"But I've touched you." Azrael suddenly straightened. "Percival, did you shake my mother's hand or anything like that?"

 

[CasualTea]

"...Actual. We're RTB."

A call was made from an oil rig off the Gulf of Mexico around three o' clock AM eastern standard time. It would take the caller just some time before returning to the states via ship back to Manhatten and then transferred into a car to a nearby safehouse. There, a woman with white hair with faded red tips came out of the car wearing an attire which consisted of black slacks and a plain button up white shirt. She wore black gloves which she had kept on for the duration of her trip. She carried with her a hefty duffel bag and a two-handed katana strapped to her back. She entered the house and was greeted by a man with a small scar running through his cheek. He greeted her. "Good work yet again. I really wish you were one of my shadows." She shook her head as she headed to the living room, which she had seemed to have frequented. "You know me. Your other shadows might not approve of me." She replied. He shrugged before he headed to the living room with her. "Well, most of them like the way you work. At least, that's the very few who know what you can do. You know I take good care of making sure your work is kept under wraps." "Well, let's keep it that way." She said before she watched the man light a fire in the fireplace. She would then take off her gloves and throw it into the fire and watched them burn. "Money's already transferred, right?" She asked knowing the answer. She would've given him Hell if it wasn't He knew it too. He nodded.

"Yona, you could get way more money if you signed on with my original offer. Sure, you make the same amount for the work you do like everyone else. But if you were to join up officially, there'd be a pretty big bonus." He said. Yona shook her head. "No. I only do this once in awhile because I'm waiting for a more... Secure job. If anyone found out you were harboring an inhuman, especially when that inhuman cannot die no matter what happens to her, things could get ugly. Not in the ranks but internationally too. Especially for me." She stated. The man and Yona knew this implication very well. Everything would be on her. Especially when she hasn't registered as an inhuman. "...I trust you'll keep everything about me under wraps. That's part of the contract anyway." He sighed and nodded. "Don't worry. Violating that contract brings me more harm than good anyway."

Soon, Yona exited the safehouse, bringing her duffel bag of weapons and katana with her. She went to over to a dark green car and put her duffel bag into the trunk and her katana in the passenger seat. She soon started to drive home after confirming that she received a some sums of money from multiple sources which totaled to a very large sum. The amount she received was quite large and was being managed by someone who was affiliated with the P.M.C. she just took a job for. On the way home, she wanted to get a quick drink. Not alcohol but a milk tea. She later stopped by a cafe and ordered some warm milk tea. Being out at sea made her want something warm. Taking a drink from her cup, she let the warmth of the drink permeate her being as she took a moment to relax. It was fine weather for the morning. She found it quite surprising she can actually relax like this even though she had just killed a lot of people and took money for it.

In the end, that's how the world works. Money can buy lots of things, especially power. The ones whom she killed, at least they were people who just happened to be on the wrong side, who wanted to disrupt peace. She was still a soldier, Yona thought. But she needed to make some new friends. Some careful ones too. She considers herself very lucky to have met her contractor. Hell, maybe she just has so much luck that she even attained immortality without her even knowing. If only she was so lucky...

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

The little bell on the door rang as it shot open, the nose of a skateboard kicking up as two figures entered. One was a mix of girlish and boyish features. Pale skin, light beige hair stuck up in a small, messy ponytail. One side of her hair held hot pink streaks, as if she were going through her rebellious teen stage in her early 20's and had implemented it herself without her parents' permission. And such a guess wouldn't be far off either. She wore a black jean jacket, a logo on the back of white mountains, seemingly a walking advertisement for some kind of shop. Pyrenees Repair, it said underneath. Underneath that was a hoodie, the hood poking out to hang on her back. Her eyes were a dark brown, carrying with her a sense of warmth. Currently, she didn't advertise her weredog look as she didn't feel like it, though she was not one to care about how others perceived her. She lived openly, learning from a young age due to status. She had been immune to unfair treatment most of her life due to wealth. As her skateboard went up, it flashed an image of a white dog baring its teeth in a snarl. The background was as pink as her streaks. They flipped the skateboard up, and grabbed it by the nose, perching it on their shoulder wheels up as they walked inside, holding the door open for another girl.

The other girl looked younger, and more skittish. Her silver hair, almost looking white, was tied back in a messy little ponytail. She wore a bright red coat, a lining of cream fluff around the hood that gave it the look of a winter coat. She looked more professional than the skater, with a button-down shirt and cargo pants, though her black boots were stained with dried mud. She wore oversized glasses, as if that might distract people from her unusual eyes that scanned the morning crowd, a color somewhere between amber and bright yellow. But there was no actual purpose behind the things besides a facade, as she didn't need glasses. Her eyesight was impeccable, and the only time she needed such things were when she was really trying to focus. Besides, it was merely like looking through a window, as the glasses weren't prescription at all. It was just glass, fake for personal reasons.

They walked to the counter, Red following Skater as they stalked over and struck up a conversation with the current person on register. They both ordered coffee, Skye grabbing a couple morning Danishes to go with it. They grabbed a seat, Skye digging into her Danishes.

"Slow down there, Killer." Charlie quipped, chiding their friend on her eating habits. They had a bit of time before each had to go in for work so no rush was needed.

"S-Sorry." Skye said, Danish crowding her jaws. She wiped some off her chin and began to eat slower, now savoring the meal rather than shoving it down like a rabid animal.

"Do the Fairweather's not feed their employees or something?" Charlie asked, more of a joke than anything. "You're so famished from over working yourself you're delirious. Oh, what have they done to you?" Charlie put a hand over their heart all 'woe is me' like, mocking the situation which Skye gave a playful roll of her eyes to.

"It's actually a pretty good environment for corporate. They've got a huge cafeteria. A lot of name brand stuff there too."

Charlie just rolled their eyes and shrugged, taking a sip of coffee. "If you say so. Just try not to be sucked over to the dark side. Rich types like them make a big show of caring about their employees, especially if they've got unions on their cases. It's just to protect their precious image. Trust me, I know. I'm betting anything they don't care about their employees, and their interns even less. Why you'd ever want to work there is beyond me."

Yeah, beyond Skye too. If only Charlie knew what she really wanted by interning there, but Skye would never be able to tell them the truth.

 

[CasualTea]

The little bell on the door rang as it shot open, the nose of a skateboard kicking up as two figures entered. One was a mix of girlish and boyish features. Pale skin, light beige hair stuck up in a small, messy ponytail. One side of her hair held hot pink streaks, as if she were going through her rebellious teen stage in her early 20's and had implemented it herself without her parents' permission. And such a guess wouldn't be far off either. She wore a black jean jacket, a logo on the back of white mountains, seemingly a walking advertisement for some kind of shop. Pyrenees Repair, it said underneath. Underneath that was a hoodie, the hood poking out to hang on her back. Her eyes were a dark brown, carrying with her a sense of warmth. Currently, she didn't advertise her weredog look as she didn't feel like it, though she was not one to care about how others perceived her. She lived openly, learning from a young age due to status. She had been immune to unfair treatment most of her life due to wealth. As her skateboard went up, it flashed an image of a white dog baring its teeth in a snarl. The background was as pink as her streaks. They flipped the skateboard up, and grabbed it by the nose, perching it on their shoulder wheels up as they walked inside, holding the door open for another girl.

The other girl looked younger, and more skittish. Her silver hair, almost looking white, was tied back in a messy little ponytail. She wore a bright red coat, a lining of cream fluff around the hood that gave it the look of a winter coat. She looked more professional than the skater, with a button-down shirt and cargo pants, though her black boots were stained with dried mud. She wore oversized glasses, as if that might distract people from her unusual eyes that scanned the morning crowd, a color somewhere between amber and bright yellow. But there was no actual purpose behind the things besides a facade, as she didn't need glasses. Her eyesight was impeccable, and the only time she needed such things were when she was really trying to focus. Besides, it was merely like looking through a window, as the glasses weren't prescription at all. It was just glass, fake for personal reasons.

They walked to the counter, Red following Skater as they stalked over and struck up a conversation with the current person on register. They both ordered coffee, Skye grabbing a couple morning Danishes to go with it. They grabbed a seat, Skye digging into her Danishes.

"Slow down there, Killer." Charlie quipped, chiding their friend on her eating habits. They had a bit of time before each had to go in for work so no rush was needed.

"S-Sorry." Skye said, Danish crowding her jaws. She wiped some off her chin and began to eat slower, now savoring the meal rather than shoving it down like a rabid animal.

"Do the Fairweather's not feed their employees or something?" Charlie asked, more of a joke than anything. "You're so famished from over working yourself you're delirious. Oh, what have they done to you?" Charlie put a hand over their heart all 'woe is me' like, mocking the situation which Skye gave a playful roll of her eyes to.

"It's actually a pretty good environment for corporate. They've got a huge cafeteria. A lot of name brand stuff there too."

Charlie just rolled their eyes and shrugged, taking a sip of coffee. "If you say so. Just try not to be sucked over to the dark side. Rich types like them make a big show of caring about their employees, especially if they've got unions on their cases. It's just to protect their precious image. Trust me, I know. I'm betting anything they don't care about their employees, and their interns even less. Why you'd ever want to work there is beyond me."

Yeah, beyond Skye too. If only Charlie knew what she really wanted by interning there, but Skye would never be able to tell them the truth.

As Yona was enjoying her milk tea, she heard the door open as two individuals entered. Both seeming like opposites to a degree but also of the same kind. They were both inhuman. She didn't mind them as it was broad daylight and it looks like they were just here to grab some food. She noticed that they sat at a table behind her but didn't look back. She didn't have a reason to. She began to overhear their conversation. One name piqued Yona's interest.

Fairweather.

It was a company that she applied to for a job, preferably a security role to make use of her talents. She heard that they would hire anyone. Even inhumans. She supposed that the company recognized raw talent would take anyone on board to make use of it. A good business practice, but what are the implications? Surely, discrimination would occur, wouldn't it? Plus, it seemed rather conservative from what she heard from rumors. She wondered if that's why she never got a reply or any sort of notice from the company regarding her application. It must've been buried with the rest.

Soon, she looked outside just to observe the daylight. It seemed rather peaceful. There was no need to interact with the two at the time. What was there to interact with them for? She didn't know them nor they seemed to be of need of her company. It also seemed that they lived in different worlds, which would be very true if she was lumped with any other civilian. Plus, they seemed like interns. At least one of them was. That's not a fish big enough to try and gain connections with. Even if she could, from the sound of things no one would listen to an intern.

However, maybe if she listened in on them more, she could gain some more information. She wasn't going to leave any time soon so she might as well continue to listen to them chat.

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

"I'm making use of my skills?" Skye said, skirting around the truth. "I mean, it's good experience. People will recognize you if you work for Fairweather."

"If you wanted experience, I've told you you can come work with me and my uncle. It's better than sitting in a cubicle all day long. Its more hands-on work at the shop." Charlie said, a clear disgust for Skye's corporate job.

"Thanks, but.." Skye tried to think of a lie that was plausible. "I want to strike out on my own." Only a half lie, as she didn't want to rely on Charlie's generosity for her whole life. She didn't like being a burden for them and their uncle.

"Offers always there if you ever want to take it." Charlie shrugged, sipping on coffee. "What are you even working on that gets you oh so much experience?"

"I'm writing code for this project. It's a lot of experimental stuff so they need a lot of programmers. Can't say more about it." Skye explained, knowing that was a simple enough explanation without giving too much away. "But I'm not doing anything big, really. They tell me what they need done, I code it. We've had some slight problems, but that's to be expected."

"Problems? Let me guess, those problems usually end up your work to fix." Charlie gave a side eye as Skye scratched the back of her head with a nervous smile. "Knew it. This is why rich, private companies always suck. They push the work onto the interns and the ones who are lower on the ladder. Meanwhile they all get the credit. Whatever project you're working on is going to get credited to the Fairweather's. Corporate sucks."

"But the project was their idea. It's only fair they get the credit." Skye backed down as soon as Charlie raised an eyebrow. She just always thought the worst when it came to the rich and famous, because of her own background. "I-I guess you do have the most experience with these people."

"Understatement of the year." They mumbled, tracing a finger around the rim of their coffee mug, almost as if they were sulking like a child.

"How is that going anyways?"

"Oh, don't get me started." Charlie vented. "Guess who I got a call from? My dad's finally found use for me."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Finally wants to take me off the shelf after how many years? He's starting with the same bullshit. Started off asking me how I was doing, warming me up to him, but I know his tricks by now. Then he started giving me the whole spiel about 'oh Charlie you have a duty as the heir to this company' and 'be a man and come back to fulfill your responsibilities'." Charlie said in a perfect imitation of their father, switching on a perfect French accent. They had one themselves, but they could turn it on and off. She'd been raised around her father so her voice had developed French as well but growing up in America she also had the influence of the American accent, so she ended up developing two different voices that she could switch on and off purely by will. She kept on her usual voice though, which she considered to be the American accent. "Dealing with him is such a pain, I swear."

 

[CasualTea]

"I'm making use of my skills?" Skye said, skirting around the truth. "I mean, it's good experience. People will recognize you if you work for Fairweather."

"If you wanted experience, I've told you you can come work with me and my uncle. It's better than sitting in a cubicle all day long. Its more hands-on work at the shop." Charlie said, a clear disgust for Skye's corporate job.

"Thanks, but.." Skye tried to think of a lie that was plausible. "I want to strike out on my own." Only a half lie, as she didn't want to rely on Charlie's generosity for her whole life. She didn't like being a burden for them and their uncle.

"Offers always there if you ever want to take it." Charlie shrugged, sipping on coffee. "What are you even working on that gets you oh so much experience?"

"I'm writing code for this project. It's a lot of experimental stuff so they need a lot of programmers. Can't say more about it." Skye explained, knowing that was a simple enough explanation without giving too much away. "But I'm not doing anything big, really. They tell me what they need done, I code it. We've had some slight problems, but that's to be expected."

"Problems? Let me guess, those problems usually end up your work to fix." Charlie gave a side eye as Skye scratched the back of her head with a nervous smile. "Knew it. This is why rich, private companies always suck. They push the work onto the interns and the ones who are lower on the ladder. Meanwhile they all get the credit. Whatever project you're working on is going to get credited to the Fairweather's. Corporate sucks."

"But the project was their idea. It's only fair they get the credit." Skye backed down as soon as Charlie raised an eyebrow. She just always thought the worst when it came to the rich and famous, because of her own background. "I-I guess you do have the most experience with these people."

"Understatement of the year." They mumbled, tracing a finger around the rim of their coffee mug, almost as if they were sulking like a child.

"How is that going anyways?"

"Oh, don't get me started." Charlie vented. "Guess who I got a call from? My dad's finally found use for me."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Finally wants to take me off the shelf after how many years? He's starting with the same bullshit. Started off asking me how I was doing, warming me up to him, but I know his tricks by now. Then he started giving me the whole spiel about 'oh Charlie you have a duty as the heir to this company' and 'be a man and come back to fulfill your responsibilities'." Charlie said in a perfect imitation of their father, switching on a perfect French accent. They had one themselves, but they could turn it on and off. She'd been raised around her father so her voice had developed French as well but growing up in America she also had the influence of the American accent, so she ended up developing two different voices that she could switch on and off purely by will. She kept on her usual voice though, which she considered to be the American accent. "Dealing with him is such a pain, I swear."

"But... Why sacrifice a lavish lifestyle?"

That's what Yona thought. She didn't understand this individual's pains. Obviously, anyone would want to take control of a company or be the heir to one if it meant a higher quality of living. They'd literally shower in money. But how come she doesn't want to take the mantle? Any of her friends in her Korea would take that type of offer straight up and be set for life. Even if it meant there would be responsibilities they'd have to manage, there would always be a way to split the work and manage those people to get the job done and continue raking more money into the company.

Unless, what she could be referring to is an arranged marriage. Out of curiosity, she looked behind her as if just to check her surroundings. She took a quick glance at the two girls and then looked back to the front. From her quick peak, she could note that they both had wolf-like features. Though one of them was obviously a girl, the other seemed like a mix of both. Is this what they call a transgender? Or gender fluid? She wasn't sure what the correct term was as she never met someone like them before. She had a rough impression from what the internet offers, but the real thing always gives a second impression. She couldn't name a definitive title after all.

Soon, she had finished her drink and was about to get up. However, during her ascent she had dropped her pistol, a glock that she had kept for self defense. She remembered that during her op previously, the strap for her holster had snapped off due to it getting shot. She had to stow it away behind her jacket for awhile so as to not lose such equipment. Well, it seems that the dead came back to bite her in the ass by telling everyone she was carrying a firearm. It made a rather noticeable metallic sound upon impact with the tiles.

She cursed under her breath before she knelt down to pick it up. The impact of it dropping already gave away the fact she was carrying a firearm so she might as well just not worry about stowing it away quickly and took the time to check if the safety was engaged. Firearms safety is an absolute must especially in the civilian world. She would not point that thing at anything she wasn't willing to destroy. After making sure the safety was still in place, she stowed it behind her tucking it securely between her belt and her jeans. She made sure that her jacket was long enough to conceal it before going to the bathroom to wash her hands.

However, that doesn't mean the other customers didn't notice and was bewildered by what happened. Some of them up and left before she would come back while others sat there in silence and decided to laugh off an uncomfortable situation. People handle these sorts of situations in their own way to alleviate themselves or cope. But what would the wolf duo do with the information about a gunman was sitting behind them the entire time? Not only that, she had just left her backpack next to her chair on the ground. She could be coming back. What would she have inside? Curiosity kills the cat, but will the wolves try their luck?

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

"So, what are you going to do about it?"

"Continue working at the shop, that's what." Charlie answered, taking a sip of coffee. "He has no right anyways. I'm just gonna leave it alone unless he makes a bigger fuss about it."

Before they could continue their conversation, they heard a crash behind them. Skye's shoulders jumped, the girl being immediately jumpy as she picked up the loud noise. Charlie was more calm about the noise, less scared and more intrigued at what it could be. Both snapped their heads back to the noise, to see a pistol on the ground, a girl behind them going to pick it up quickly, before rushing off to the bathroom, the door swinging behind her with the room in silence. The silence repealed with the squeak of chairs as customers got up, meanwhile Skye's skin prickled with the same dread as the other patrons. Well, maybe a different kind of dread, but a dread all the same.

The gun was a trigger for Skye. She'd always been told of the dangers from her gang about being careful while out in the open. Its why she didn't openly display herself as an inhuman, apart for her unnatural eyes, as someone could notice her. And she couldn't forget the obvious factor of discrimination. But also, the factor of potentially being noticed and targeted by people trying to track down the gang of inhumans. And someone carrying a gun, sitting directly behind Skye and Charlie, well it didn't make her feel all too confident. But she tried to rationalize it, turning back to Charlie.

"M-Maybe she's an officer? They do carry guns on them." She suggested, more for herself rather than Charlie. To calm her own nerves.

"Beats me." Charlie shrugged, looking behind Skye.

"Maybe we should get out of here." Skye said, eyes shifting around uncomfortably. They met Charlie's, who looked straight through the girl, probably not even listening to her. What was more, they had that unmistakable twinkle in their eyes. They harbored mischief in their glance. "Charlie..."

But before she could say anything more, her friend dashed up from her chair and snatched something off the floor. Placing it up on the table, Charlie unzipped the pack and peered curiously inside. "Charlie! Laissez-faire! Hands off, that's not yours." Skye said in a hushed hiss.

"Y'know, that's not as clever as you think it is."

 

[CasualTea]

"So, what are you going to do about it?"

"Continue working at the shop, that's what." Charlie answered, taking a sip of coffee. "He has no right anyways. I'm just gonna leave it alone unless he makes a bigger fuss about it."

Before they could continue their conversation, they heard a crash behind them. Skye's shoulders jumped, the girl being immediately jumpy as she picked up the loud noise. Charlie was more calm about the noise, less scared and more intrigued at what it could be. Both snapped their heads back to the noise, to see a pistol on the ground, a girl behind them going to pick it up quickly, before rushing off to the bathroom, the door swinging behind her with the room in silence. The silence repealed with the squeak of chairs as customers got up, meanwhile Skye's skin prickled with the same dread as the other patrons. Well, maybe a different kind of dread, but a dread all the same.

The gun was a trigger for Skye. She'd always been told of the dangers from her gang about being careful while out in the open. Its why she didn't openly display herself as an inhuman, apart for her unnatural eyes, as someone could notice her. And she couldn't forget the obvious factor of discrimination. But also, the factor of potentially being noticed and targeted by people trying to track down the gang of inhumans. And someone carrying a gun, sitting directly behind Skye and Charlie, well it didn't make her feel all too confident. But she tried to rationalize it, turning back to Charlie.

"M-Maybe she's an officer? They do carry guns on them." She suggested, more for herself rather than Charlie. To calm her own nerves.

"Beats me." Charlie shrugged, looking behind Skye.

"Maybe we should get out of here." Skye said, eyes shifting around uncomfortably. They met Charlie's, who looked straight through the girl, probably not even listening to her. What was more, they had that unmistakable twinkle in their eyes. They harbored mischief in their glance. "Charlie..."

But before she could say anything more, her friend dashed up from her chair and snatched something off the floor. Placing it up on the table, Charlie unzipped the pack and peered curiously inside. "Charlie! Laissez-faire! Hands off, that's not yours." Skye said in a hushed hiss.

"Y'know, that's not as clever as you think it is."

Inside the bag, they found a flip-knife, a multi-tool for screws that use a hexagon shape, a small flashlight, and a pistol-carbine conversion kit with a foldable stock, red dot and angled foregrip already attached to it along with a couple of spare pistol magazines. There was also a laptop with a hard cover protecting it as well as a phone charger and laptop charger. That was only the main storage space of the backpack. What more could there be in the other compartments? So many questions...

"...Find something you like?"

A low, threatening voice said from beside them. It was the woman from before, Yona. She was watching Charlie intently with her hands in her jacket pockets. The gun out of sight. She actually had come out of the bathroom quickly because all she needed to do was splash some water in her face to freshen herself up further. She was up since two in the morning so it made sense that she might feel a bit of fatigue. When she had come out, she was a bit astonished that the girl was already peering into her bag like some middle-school punk who usually took the nerd's lunch money. She only then just walked up quietly and watched them for a second before saying something.

She soon calmly took the bag and zipped it up, looking at Skye then Charlie with disappointment. More so towards Charlie. "What were you thinking? You know what I got and obviously you can start assuming what sort of occupation I have." She was just going to let them off at that but she thought that maybe this sort of lecture wasn't enough for the delinquent. She pulled up a chair and sat beside them, laying her bag on the table and slipping her pistol under it. She made sure they noticed where she placed the pistol and rested her hand next to the bag, half of it under it. With her other hand, she reached into a smaller compartment of the bag and turned on an electronic device which seemed to be some sort of jammer as the other customers seemed to have trouble accessing the internet and any cellular data. It was even apparent on the TV screen on the wall that it was lagging severely. She leaned back in her chair and crossed a leg over the other. "...Perhaps, you looked into my bag because we're in that sort of relationship. What is it... Friends? Maybe something closer." She said with a slight smirk. "Well, come on. Let's talk about something. Like friends."

She knew they were non-humans but they didn't if she was one as well. She could use this to her advantage. If they threatened to call the cops, she could just say that they attempted to steal her belongings and she had to pull her pistol out in a sort of self-defense to protect her property. But nonetheless, it shouldn't come to that. She was just going to have a bit of fun with them. "How about I start us off..." She pondered, making expressions to make it look like she was giving some serious thought. She clicked her tongue before she started speaking. "What about Fairweather? You two seem to have very different views on the company. I'd like to know. I did send them an application for a job that was close to home, it'd be nice to get some insight." She said. She then looked to Skye. "I know you work there. You can tell me how the work environment is, friend."

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

Charlie rummaged around in the bag, finding more incriminating details. Spare pistol magazines and a multi-tool with a hexagon shape, the latter much more familiar to her. Skye as well. She could guess some of these things were used for gun care, while the rest were miscellaneous items. Two chargers and a laptop, which she was gonna ask Skye to dip into, as she was far better with code than they were. Skye could work with gears and code her inventions, while Charlie worked to get cars up and running. Her line of business didn't involve code, while Skye literally worked at Fairweather on a coding project. Though they had no idea of Skye's criminal background, they still thought their friend would be their best bet at unlocking the secrets that lay within. She could hack into it quickly and they could decide the nature of the items contained within the bag, however a voice from beside them made Charlie's shoulders flinch.

The same woman that had dropped the gun came back for her bag, looking displeased at the pair. Charlie instinctively made a protective stance in front of Skye, much like how she would with Jameson. The woman walked over to the bag, zipping it up, and then gave them a lecture like she was their mother telling them not to track dirt in the house or mess around with bugs.

"I can start assuming that you may be a criminal." Charlie shot back fast. They didn't seem scared or intimidated at all. They were used to more terrifying presences, like their father. Yona was child's play to deal with, however her friend beside her didn't quite think the same, looking nervous and like she would bolt any second. "And it's my civil duty to make sure you don't kill anyone with that gun you're hiding."

Clearly, nothing was getting past Charlie, as she already knew Yona was hiding the gun. Meanwhile, Skye wanted to bolt. She took one glance at the woman's obvious display of slipping the pistol under the bag she lay upon the table, and already she wished to be out of the cafe. Was this discrimination? Skye didn't look like a werewolf right now. Well, at least the only thing showing were her yellow canid eyes, something she couldn't control. But maybe the woman with the gun had known already she was a werewolf. Maybe she knew about the gang she belonged to, and the shady affairs that went on within to help inhumans live normal lives without discrimination. The gang that also wished to topple the human hierarchy. Something that humans wouldn't let come to pass, and she was convinced they'd sent the armed human to get her. After all, she had no idea that she was staring at a human turned inhuman.

Charlie turned to see the static on the cafe's TV, and that the picture lagged behind the static audio, having trouble keeping up until the static overtook the TV completely. Skye recognized it as the effect of a jamming signal, having built one that functioned like it before. They were cornered now. They couldn't flip open their phones and call for help, and there was basically a gun being pointed at them. It was over for them. They were-

Charlie grabbed Skye's hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze and smiling at the girl. She made light of the terrible situation, cocking a mischievous grin to both girls, which eased some of Skye's nervousness. How could she be scared with Charlie acting so goofy? "Sure, friend." Charlie responded to Yona's comments. If they were at all fazed, they didn't let anything on about it.

The girls were a little shocked about the choice of topic. Charlie was expecting the whole 'now why would you do that' spiel, the same she'd heard in high school when she'd started trouble purely to chafe against her father's rule. Of course, with him being such an influential figure, nothing was ever done to her. She got a lecture at home, and the threat of an all-male boarding school, but nothing really happened. But of course, this wasn't high school anymore. She was a twenty-year-old, almost twenty-one, woman. And a crazy lady with a gun was asking them questions about Fairweather of all things. The Winthrop name would have no sway in this situation, not that Charlie ever wanted to use it anyways, and it would probably cause more problems than it was worth. They wouldn't put it past ol' Crazy Gun Lady to try to kidnap the heir to Winthrop Wineries and use them as ransom, not that they suspected their father would do jack shit about a situation like that. They were stuck with this, both of them, but the question seemed to be mostly for Skye. The girl looked to them and they nodded forward, signaling her to answer. That was probably the only way to get out of this situation, besides transforming into her Pyrenees form and jumping the woman. Though she'd rather avoid the attention that would bring.

The fact that this woman could potentially work with her did not make Skye feel great, but she decided to answer, nonetheless. Plus, the fact that she knew she worked there gave her the creeps, even though it was information she just gleaned by listening into the conversation. "Its.. fine there. It really depends on what department you're in, I guess. My department can be a lot of work at times but its, uh, good experience. What do you.. wanna know?"

 

[CasualTea]

Charlie rummaged around in the bag, finding more incriminating details. Spare pistol magazines and a multi-tool with a hexagon shape, the latter much more familiar to her. Skye as well. She could guess some of these things were used for gun care, while the rest were miscellaneous items. Two chargers and a laptop, which she was gonna ask Skye to dip into, as she was far better with code than they were. Skye could work with gears and code her inventions, while Charlie worked to get cars up and running. Her line of business didn't involve code, while Skye literally worked at Fairweather on a coding project. Though they had no idea of Skye's criminal background, they still thought their friend would be their best bet at unlocking the secrets that lay within. She could hack into it quickly and they could decide the nature of the items contained within the bag, however a voice from beside them made Charlie's shoulders flinch.

The same woman that had dropped the gun came back for her bag, looking displeased at the pair. Charlie instinctively made a protective stance in front of Skye, much like how she would with Jameson. The woman walked over to the bag, zipping it up, and then gave them a lecture like she was their mother telling them not to track dirt in the house or mess around with bugs.

"I can start assuming that you may be a criminal." Charlie shot back fast. They didn't seem scared or intimidated at all. They were used to more terrifying presences, like their father. Yona was child's play to deal with, however her friend beside her didn't quite think the same, looking nervous and like she would bolt any second. "And it's my civil duty to make sure you don't kill anyone with that gun you're hiding."

Clearly, nothing was getting past Charlie, as she already knew Yona was hiding the gun. Meanwhile, Skye wanted to bolt. She took one glance at the woman's obvious display of slipping the pistol under the bag she lay upon the table, and already she wished to be out of the cafe. Was this discrimination? Skye didn't look like a werewolf right now. Well, at least the only thing showing were her yellow canid eyes, something she couldn't control. But maybe the woman with the gun had known already she was a werewolf. Maybe she knew about the gang she belonged to, and the shady affairs that went on within to help inhumans live normal lives without discrimination. The gang that also wished to topple the human hierarchy. Something that humans wouldn't let come to pass, and she was convinced they'd sent the armed human to get her. After all, she had no idea that she was staring at a human turned inhuman.

Charlie turned to see the static on the cafe's TV, and that the picture lagged behind the static audio, having trouble keeping up until the static overtook the TV completely. Skye recognized it as the effect of a jamming signal, having built one that functioned like it before. They were cornered now. They couldn't flip open their phones and call for help, and there was basically a gun being pointed at them. It was over for them. They were-

Charlie grabbed Skye's hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze and smiling at the girl. She made light of the terrible situation, cocking a mischievous grin to both girls, which eased some of Skye's nervousness. How could she be scared with Charlie acting so goofy? "Sure, friend." Charlie responded to Yona's comments. If they were at all fazed, they didn't let anything on about it.

The girls were a little shocked about the choice of topic. Charlie was expecting the whole 'now why would you do that' spiel, the same she'd heard in high school when she'd started trouble purely to chafe against her father's rule. Of course, with him being such an influential figure, nothing was ever done to her. She got a lecture at home, and the threat of an all-male boarding school, but nothing really happened. But of course, this wasn't high school anymore. She was a twenty-year-old, almost twenty-one, woman. And a crazy lady with a gun was asking them questions about Fairweather of all things. The Winthrop name would have no sway in this situation, not that Charlie ever wanted to use it anyways, and it would probably cause more problems than it was worth. They wouldn't put it past ol' Crazy Gun Lady to try to kidnap the heir to Winthrop Wineries and use them as ransom, not that they suspected their father would do jack shit about a situation like that. They were stuck with this, both of them, but the question seemed to be mostly for Skye. The girl looked to them and they nodded forward, signaling her to answer. That was probably the only way to get out of this situation, besides transforming into her Pyrenees form and jumping the woman. Though she'd rather avoid the attention that would bring.

The fact that this woman could potentially work with her did not make Skye feel great, but she decided to answer, nonetheless. Plus, the fact that she knew she worked there gave her the creeps, even though it was information she just gleaned by listening into the conversation. "Its.. fine there. It really depends on what department you're in, I guess. My department can be a lot of work at times but its, uh, good experience. What do you.. wanna know?"

A small smile broke out on Yona's face. Good, it didn't take long for them to actually cooperate and answer a question for her. A genuine one at that. "...Anything that an employee should know. Benefits, pay... Sick days and vacation. Tea between lower managers and upper and their work ethics. Maybe their security detail, how good they are." She said leaning back in her chair and crossing one leg over the other. "I only ask since I want to know what I can offer to the table to spice up my application. It's been a few weeks since I sent one and to think I've not gotten a response... Makes me wonder. Maybe the application I sent was put under someone lazy or that person quit and left a lot of work behind without passing it over to the next." She soon flicked on the safety mechanism on the pistol from under the bag and stowed it away. She knows they wouldn't try anything. At least, for the moment but maybe since she put it away... Will they try?

The jammer was still on in which she switched off when she noticed everything calmed down at least. With the jammer off, the TV regained its picture. "All I simply want is a job. If you knew my stories, you'd probably understand too that I do wish to have a comfortable life. Like everyone else who already has a comfortable life, they have a steady and clean job expecting paychecks every one or two weeks." She pondered a little what else she could ask. She knew that she wouldn't get hired by either of these two, they're not recruiters. And she seems more like an intern at the bottom of the ladder. "Of course, I applied for a security position since it's more simple than office work. But if they already have enough, then I can try my hand at a little coding. Some of my friends actually know a lot about it and make lots of money with it."

"Anyway... taking what I asked before into account, you know anything?" She asked, not really expecting much. It shows on her face even. She expected that she just knew very little of how the upper ladders worked and what they actually did. All she could gain was just the benefits that Skye receives and how often she gets paid as well as how much.

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

Things seemed to significantly calm down as Charlie and Skye just complied with the woman's wishes. Yona really just wanted information, and it seemed like she picked on the delinquent and their unwilling accomplice to get that information from. What seemed like a pretty big initial scare lessened and lessened. As she talked the pistol was put on safety and retracked, and the pair could hear the normal audio from the TV, not hindered by static any longer. It seemed they overreacted, but the reaction was a pretty reasonable one. And with that, the tension that showed within the pair seemed to ease up. It was almost as if they basically hadn't been kidnapped for information, and like a nice hangout between friends. Though obviously that wasn't the case.

"Tea?" Skye questioned in a murmur when Yona mentioned it, looking over to Charlie who shrugged. They didn't know anything about this whole tea deal. Skye assumed maybe it was something that applied between coworkers, but even Charlie didn't know about it. It brought up some questions about the woman since that really wasn't a part of the working experience in New York.

"Somehow security seems to suit you." Charlie quipped, flashing a quick look towards the bag. She earned a soft elbow to the arm from Skye, who got unexpectantly excited when Yona mentioned trying her hand at coding.

"I work in programming. Coding and development for a project that we're working on. It's hard if you don't know what you're doing, and you won't last long if you aren't that good with it. There's not really room for error, at least that's the impression I get from my supervisors. Well, the head of the department is really nice, and all the other employees too. I think it's more so pressure from the top."

"Typical rich folks." Charlie shot in, earning a glance from Skye, though this time she continued without a reprimand.

"Uh, sorry. Anyways, I'm not the best person to ask about this stuff. I'm just an intern. I don't have a lot of information about normal employee stuff." Skye thought back to how threatening the woman had been, and how she had only loosened up after they complied. If she thought she was lying or withholding information, which she wasn't, then they might be back in that situation. She couldn't do that to Charlie, so she racked her brain for any information she could think of. Anything that she knew about even without being a proper employee. "Um, I get paid a decent amount for my internship, though. I guess people who have coding skills are valued since it's a newer skill. Especially for a tech company like Fairweather. And I guess it helps that the company is a huge conglomerate. They can afford to pay good wages to their employees, and even their interns."

Though, the look on Yona's face didn't convey that she expected much more than that, Skye continued. She'd seen that face before. People not expecting much from a werewolf, always shocked when she fixed things instead of broke them in the stereotypical werewolf rage. Some part of her wished to prove Yona wrong, that she was as important as everyone else, while the other part of her stayed grounded in the reality of the situation, trying to protect the both of them with the information Skye could provide.

"Let's see.. they do have an in-building clinic. And an in-house doctor. There are some rumors about her, and I've never gone to see her, but I don't think it's all that bad if they offer the service. There's also a cafeteria in the building with a lot of different stuff. Uh, security is pretty good, I mean this is Fairweather we're talking about. But they seem like they'd always be open to more officers. It is a big building. Though I suppose maybe you could offer some of those stories you say you have to the application, to stand out against the rest. Sorry.. if I couldn't help more."

 

[CasualTea]

Things seemed to significantly calm down as Charlie and Skye just complied with the woman's wishes. Yona really just wanted information, and it seemed like she picked on the delinquent and their unwilling accomplice to get that information from. What seemed like a pretty big initial scare lessened and lessened. As she talked the pistol was put on safety and retracked, and the pair could hear the normal audio from the TV, not hindered by static any longer. It seemed they overreacted, but the reaction was a pretty reasonable one. And with that, the tension that showed within the pair seemed to ease up. It was almost as if they basically hadn't been kidnapped for information, and like a nice hangout between friends. Though obviously that wasn't the case.

"Tea?" Skye questioned in a murmur when Yona mentioned it, looking over to Charlie who shrugged. They didn't know anything about this whole tea deal. Skye assumed maybe it was something that applied between coworkers, but even Charlie didn't know about it. It brought up some questions about the woman since that really wasn't a part of the working experience in New York.

"Somehow security seems to suit you." Charlie quipped, flashing a quick look towards the bag. She earned a soft elbow to the arm from Skye, who got unexpectantly excited when Yona mentioned trying her hand at coding.

"I work in programming. Coding and development for a project that we're working on. It's hard if you don't know what you're doing, and you won't last long if you aren't that good with it. There's not really room for error, at least that's the impression I get from my supervisors. Well, the head of the department is really nice, and all the other employees too. I think it's more so pressure from the top."

"Typical rich folks." Charlie shot in, earning a glance from Skye, though this time she continued without a reprimand.

"Uh, sorry. Anyways, I'm not the best person to ask about this stuff. I'm just an intern. I don't have a lot of information about normal employee stuff." Skye thought back to how threatening the woman had been, and how she had only loosened up after they complied. If she thought she was lying or withholding information, which she wasn't, then they might be back in that situation. She couldn't do that to Charlie, so she racked her brain for any information she could think of. Anything that she knew about even without being a proper employee. "Um, I get paid a decent amount for my internship, though. I guess people who have coding skills are valued since it's a newer skill. Especially for a tech company like Fairweather. And I guess it helps that the company is a huge conglomerate. They can afford to pay good wages to their employees, and even their interns."

Though, the look on Yona's face didn't convey that she expected much more than that, Skye continued. She'd seen that face before. People not expecting much from a werewolf, always shocked when she fixed things instead of broke them in the stereotypical werewolf rage. Some part of her wished to prove Yona wrong, that she was as important as everyone else, while the other part of her stayed grounded in the reality of the situation, trying to protect the both of them with the information Skye could provide.

"Let's see.. they do have an in-building clinic. And an in-house doctor. There are some rumors about her, and I've never gone to see her, but I don't think it's all that bad if they offer the service. There's also a cafeteria in the building with a lot of different stuff. Uh, security is pretty good, I mean this is Fairweather we're talking about. But they seem like they'd always be open to more officers. It is a big building. Though I suppose maybe you could offer some of those stories you say you have to the application, to stand out against the rest. Sorry.. if I couldn't help more."

The information was an eyebrow raiser for Yona. She grinned and nodded with the information she got. That was... A little more than what she expected. It was satisfactory. She wasn't going to do anything if it was not to her expectations but she gained something useful. She didn't think the intern would have information of the family's personal staff who doesn't work at the corporate building. What she could do with this information, she doesn't know. It's interesting, but for the moment useless.

"That's fine. I guess experience in the Korean military isn't enough for a job application. What use is training shirtless in the snow when there's no snow in the building?" She joked. "Looks like I have to find other ways to spice up my application." She soon started to take a minute to process the information she was given. So the pay is actually pretty good and they're in need of more security force personnel. Though she wondered if she can be stationed near the corporate building, it's closer to her house anyway. She doesn't like long commutes much. She can handle long trips but that's because it's once in awhile when she rolls with the P.M.C.'s. She didn't want to use them for her application but she just might and may have to reveal that she is an inhuman who can heal rapidly. Being able to not die after fatal injuries would be unbelievable to most. She still has to think of the implications of her newfound "immortality."

"Anyway, I wasn't sure of it now but you two are... non-humans, no?" She said loud enough that only the group could hear. She had been examining Skye and Charlie while processing the information. Especially Skye. She could tell from her eyes that she wasn't like the other humans. She also heard some rumors about Fairweather taking in both humans and non-humans as long as they had the talent and skill they need to employ them. "...What's Fairweather's stance on non-humans? As well as humans? Does that affect the work environment at all? Creates any... tea-- I mean, heh... drama among coworkers?" She asked, having to clarify what she meant by tea since they hadn't a clue what she meant by it. Maybe this intern holds a lot more information than she thought.

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

The grin from Yona at the information given was definitely a stress reliever, at least for Skye. It meant that she hadn't fucked up. She seemed to untuck, her posture growing less tight and more casual. She no longer self-consciously fidgeted with her shirt under the table, and her face seemed to drain of its sunset color, anxiety having made her face bright with a flush torrent of pink. But just like her face, the tension in the room seemed to steadily drain away. Still there because of the awkwardness of the situation, however not as prevalent as before.

Skye and Charlie exchanged looks when she dropped the bombshell of her having experience in the Korean military. Ok, so a lot of things were starting to make sense now. The main question now was, if she was in the U.S now, and by extension no longer serving, why did she need such weapons with her? Maybe she had enemies from her time in the military. Or maybe she was like Skye, a scared inhuman who was particularly cautious. While Skye was a shut-in to avoid perilous interactions, Yona seemed like quite the opposite, a fighter with weapons for defense.

And as if on cue, Yona started asking about in-humans. In fact, she hit the nail on the head by calling the two in-humans. "Um, I'm human, actually." Skye interjected, her voice unusual in its frantic tone and fast speech. A lie, but one born out of fear and necessity. Skye had faced enough injustice where she felt she had to lie, meanwhile Charlie simply shrugged to the idea. Because of their family's high stature within society, prejudice and injustice had never really hit them as much as in-humans less protected by wealth.

Skye, putting aside her frantic lying, seriously thought about the question. Thought about everything she had seen within the company regarding in-humans. "Well, they have to do all the legal formalities, like asking for species, but that's never used against you or anything. It seems to be a pretty welcoming environment for everyone. I don't think they really have a stance on whether your human or inhuman, just that you can get the work done and have talent in it."

"As for the relationships between coworkers, I don't know if I just work in a chill department, but there's no drama regarding species really. Maybe some problems between coworkers here and there, but just the usual stuff. In fact, there's this Kumiho guy in my department, but no one really cares that he's a Kumiho. He's generally very well respected among the staff. Everyone comes to him if they have problems, and his opinion is valued a lot among staff. It surprises me that he's not farther up the ladder. I guess he's content with where he is. But, yeah, everyone just respects each other, no matter what your species is."

 

[CasualTea]

The grin from Yona at the information given was definitely a stress reliever, at least for Skye. It meant that she hadn't fucked up. She seemed to untuck, her posture growing less tight and more casual. She no longer self-consciously fidgeted with her shirt under the table, and her face seemed to drain of its sunset color, anxiety having made her face bright with a flush torrent of pink. But just like her face, the tension in the room seemed to steadily drain away. Still there because of the awkwardness of the situation, however not as prevalent as before.

Skye and Charlie exchanged looks when she dropped the bombshell of her having experience in the Korean military. Ok, so a lot of things were starting to make sense now. The main question now was, if she was in the U.S now, and by extension no longer serving, why did she need such weapons with her? Maybe she had enemies from her time in the military. Or maybe she was like Skye, a scared inhuman who was particularly cautious. While Skye was a shut-in to avoid perilous interactions, Yona seemed like quite the opposite, a fighter with weapons for defense.

And as if on cue, Yona started asking about in-humans. In fact, she hit the nail on the head by calling the two in-humans. "Um, I'm human, actually." Skye interjected, her voice unusual in its frantic tone and fast speech. A lie, but one born out of fear and necessity. Skye had faced enough injustice where she felt she had to lie, meanwhile Charlie simply shrugged to the idea. Because of their family's high stature within society, prejudice and injustice had never really hit them as much as in-humans less protected by wealth.

Skye, putting aside her frantic lying, seriously thought about the question. Thought about everything she had seen within the company regarding in-humans. "Well, they have to do all the legal formalities, like asking for species, but that's never used against you or anything. It seems to be a pretty welcoming environment for everyone. I don't think they really have a stance on whether your human or inhuman, just that you can get the work done and have talent in it."

"As for the relationships between coworkers, I don't know if I just work in a chill department, but there's no drama regarding species really. Maybe some problems between coworkers here and there, but just the usual stuff. In fact, there's this Kumiho guy in my department, but no one really cares that he's a Kumiho. He's generally very well respected among the staff. Everyone comes to him if they have problems, and his opinion is valued a lot among staff. It surprises me that he's not farther up the ladder. I guess he's content with where he is. But, yeah, everyone just respects each other, no matter what your species is."

As soon as Skye lied, she caught onto it quite quickly. She didn't mind if she was a non-human and was open about it. At least with her, she knew she wouldn't get attacked at least. She seemed too docile to do such a thing. Charlie however does look like someone that could be a threat, but not for fun or for pleasure. She wouldn't have to worry anyway. Even if they hurt her, it wouldn't affect her much compared what she could do to them.

As she listened, she started to wonder if she should open up to the fact she was also a non-human. If nobody cared, then she could. Right? Well, if she were to tell people she had traits of an immortal or cursed to never die from injury or unnatural causes, she would get hounded questions a plenty about the implications of what that meant to her. She doesn't even want to think about her next sixty or seventy years. Would she still grow old and die? Will she just never age and watch everyone around her die as she lived on for centuries? It gets a little sickening to even think about it.

As for talent, she definitely has some noteworthy. She has combat experience and being a soldier, some leadership characteristics as well. She could make a good manager if she wanted to. Due to her being part of a P.M.C. who has some shady rules of engagement, she also picked up some coding that went hand in hand with engineering. Strike drones and mobile ballistic missiles are not very easy to build and maintain.

"Huh... I thought the company was bad, judging from what this one said about it." She said as she looked at Charlie. She heard one side, she would like to hear the other. Well, maybe not. She got a text on her phone which pinged her notification sound. She took a second to realize it was a specific sound she set up with the P.M.C., the one who contracted her. She glanced at the two before taking her phone out to read the message. Her quizzical expression turned to one with concern.

The message she received was not a good one. At the rig she was deployed to just recently, the mission was to eliminate and sabotage a cartel smuggling dead drop and clear it out of any threats as well of confiscate contraband and any suspicious cargo. One of the cartel members who was hiding in a locker, took a picture of Yona and had sent it to the other members. This made Yona clench her phone a little as she realized what could happen now. Her family and friends in Korea would be safe since this specific cartel only operates in North America. Now the problem was, she was going to be hunted around in the United States. Her contractor, Graves, has already took action to strengthen surveillance on the cartel's movements in Mexico but there will be some members operating in the U.S. under the radar already and are now actively looking for her.

Graves also took the liberty to start filtering and removing any information about her from the internet to give the cartel a more difficult times to find and locate her as well as figuring out any of her personal information. She knows Graves has her back at all times, but this will only be a temporary measure until they can find out about where the low-profile members. While that happens, it seems like he will start taking more directive action in their country to hinder their progress and influence.

After coming to the conclusion that she would be fine for now, she realized that there was two civilians in front of her, whom she just threatened because they were looking in her bag and extorted them for information about a company she wanted to work at. "Ahem.. I think I got to go soon. Um... Hopefully I can get in at the job and we can work together maybe. You seem like a capable person." She said as she was getting up and grabbing her bag. She looked out the window, almost a little paranoid just in case there was someone watching her.

To her surprise, there was. A group of four. All male, casual clothes and of Mexican origin. They were sitting in a car on the other side of the street. One of them was watching her intently, but she can see that he was holding a submachine gun. The others probably had guns as well, but held it under the window to conceal it. It looks like they were waiting for approval to engage.

She slowly sat down and sighed, putting the bag on her lap and taking out the pistol and inserting it into the carbine conversion kit. Her expression turned serious as she took out her phone and put it on the table. Skye and Charlie can see her screen as well. They can see her change from the messaging app to another app which had six red circles on a black background. She pressed the circles in a three-ping combination and her phone made a sound. From there, she left her phone on the table and looked up at the two and at everyone else.

"Everyone should get down. Slowly." She said as she pulled the charging slide of her weapon, loading a live round into the chamber but kept the gun flat on her lap. From where she sat, her back was facing the window but she knew what was going to happen. Seconds later, the TV started to lag and devolve into a static mess again, like she did when she turned on the jamming device in her bag. Both her hands were on her weapon, she couldn't have turned hers on again.

Soon, a man's voice started to sound from her phone which was still on the same app. "Something wrong with your drink, sweet heart?" "They're quicker than I thought. They already have eyes and I got civvies in here with me. I count six others that are endangered." She stated sternly. Soon, the workers started to hide behind the counter and the other patrons moved to do the same in a calm manner. Frightened, but nothing too drastic.

"What are the targets?"

"Four males. Lightly armed."

"Across the street?"

"In the car."

"...Visual. We're in the states now so we must be engaged to engage. Do what they do. When they get out, you get out. Snipers en route to position, ETA thirty seconds. Clean up crew in fifty. Hang tight."

And with that, he hung up. She leaned back into her chair, waiting. It looked like she was listening for the doors of their car to open and close. With the city's approval of a healthy inspection certificate framed on the wall on the other side, she actually had a perfect mirror to see the car.

"Just follow what I say, and you two will be fine."

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

"It is bad." Charlie responded to Yona's comments, though it didn't seem like she was listening. "Sure, on the surface they seem fine, but if you look deeper, I'm sure it's just another soulless corporation who doesn't even care about Inhumans. I bet the only reason they hire Inhumans now is because of all the societal changes. They just care about their image to outside viewers."

Skye looked about to interject when a notification sound buzzed, but Charlie went on. "Like, that Kumiho guy you were talking about, I bet he hasn't moved up because they offer higher positions to humans. And also corporate is a bitch to a get promotions in."

But before the two could continue going back and forth on their views of the company, Yona but in saying she'd have to go. "Uh, yeah, you as well." Skye responded, "Good luck." She said, though it was halfhearted given the nature of the relationship, unsure if she really should be wishing the woman that. But that awkwardness didn't last, as Yona slowly sat down once more. Skye and Charlie exchanged a look at her expression, and the phone that she dropped onto the table. "W-Whats going on?" Skye asked when Yona told the patrons to get down.

There was one guy sitting with tea that didn't get down, though stayed calm. He was a scraggly blonde, looking not much older than Yona if he even was older. He wore modest clothing, with a long brown overcoat over it. But his eyes were what stuck out the most, glazed over as if the man was dead. They were blue, except a desaturated and unfocused blue. Misty, something that could also come about from blindness. In fact, a dog lay at his feet, looking to be a mixed breed border collie. A seeing eye dog, she looked to be. She had the build of a border collie, but the markings and coloration of an Australian shepherd. Steel gray with orange underneath, and a white undercoat. Her ears were tipped black, one flopped down, the other perking upright. And her markings of black on her gray back were striking. They were the usual stripes and dots of an Australian shepherd, however they somehow looked like images. They were like clouds sprouting from her back, shifting. Sometimes they looked like regular markings, other times images. A curved line looked like a snake striking for prey, and a wide dot looked like a falcon striking down on another dot, this one a swimming fish. It was strange but fascinating.

The guy looked forward at his drink, or at least he faced that direction, while the dog stared intently at Yona, shifting occasionally to the two with her, and the cartel guys outside. But the guy just calmly sat, drinking his tea, while the other patrons cowered, and the group with Yona sat in mixed confusion and apprehension.

The two looked in more confused, one startled one aggressive, as a new voice appeared on the phone. The two conversed and gave them hints to the situation, Skye understanding because of her criminal background, and Charlie from watching too many detective flicks. The woman told them to follow what she said, and they'll be fine, but Charlie wasn't having it, putting a hand on Skye's shoulder, who was looking around scared and frantically. "Could you at least tell us what the hell you just got us into?"

 

[CasualTea]

"It is bad." Charlie responded to Yona's comments, though it didn't seem like she was listening. "Sure, on the surface they seem fine, but if you look deeper, I'm sure it's just another soulless corporation who doesn't even care about Inhumans. I bet the only reason they hire Inhumans now is because of all the societal changes. They just care about their image to outside viewers."

Skye looked about to interject when a notification sound buzzed, but Charlie went on. "Like, that Kumiho guy you were talking about, I bet he hasn't moved up because they offer higher positions to humans. And also corporate is a bitch to a get promotions in."

But before the two could continue going back and forth on their views of the company, Yona but in saying she'd have to go. "Uh, yeah, you as well." Skye responded, "Good luck." She said, though it was halfhearted given the nature of the relationship, unsure if she really should be wishing the woman that. But that awkwardness didn't last, as Yona slowly sat down once more. Skye and Charlie exchanged a look at her expression, and the phone that she dropped onto the table. "W-Whats going on?" Skye asked when Yona told the patrons to get down.

There was one guy sitting with tea that didn't get down, though stayed calm. He was a scraggly blonde, looking not much older than Yona if he even was older. He wore modest clothing, with a long brown overcoat over it. But his eyes were what stuck out the most, glazed over as if the man was dead. They were blue, except a desaturated and unfocused blue. Misty, something that could also come about from blindness. In fact, a dog lay at his feet, looking to be a mixed breed border collie. A seeing eye dog, she looked to be. She had the build of a border collie, but the markings and coloration of an Australian shepherd. Steel gray with orange underneath, and a white undercoat. Her ears were tipped black, one flopped down, the other perking upright. And her markings of black on her gray back were striking. They were the usual stripes and dots of an Australian shepherd, however they somehow looked like images. They were like clouds sprouting from her back, shifting. Sometimes they looked like regular markings, other times images. A curved line looked like a snake striking for prey, and a wide dot looked like a falcon striking down on another dot, this one a swimming fish. It was strange but fascinating.

The guy looked forward at his drink, or at least he faced that direction, while the dog stared intently at Yona, shifting occasionally to the two with her, and the cartel guys outside. But the guy just calmly sat, drinking his tea, while the other patrons cowered, and the group with Yona sat in mixed confusion and apprehension.

The two looked in more confused, one startled one aggressive, as a new voice appeared on the phone. The two conversed and gave them hints to the situation, Skye understanding because of her criminal background, and Charlie from watching too many detective flicks. The woman told them to follow what she said, and they'll be fine, but Charlie wasn't having it, putting a hand on Skye's shoulder, who was looking around scared and frantically. "Could you at least tell us what the hell you just got us into?"

Yona shook her head. "I literally do not have the time to explain every little detail--" She cut herself off as she heard the door of the car open and the reflection of the frame reflected that. She immediately turned around while standing up, raising her weapon to aim at one of the members. The one who got out came from the front passenger seat had his pistol raised at her. Before she could fire, he shot her shoulder which made her fall back into the table, flipping it. The other members got out as well before pushing towards the cafe.

Yona grunted at the new wound that she gained, gritting her teeth. "Fuckin'... Just do as I say!" She said before getting up and firing back at the cartel members, killing the one who shot her while the others ran and took cover behind the other parked vehicles or anything they could find for cover. She continued shooting at them as she was making her way to the door and kicking it open. She started to shoot when one of the remaining three peeked out from their cover to fire back. They started yelling at each other in spanish as they tried to coordinate with each other.

It didn't matter much before she got close to one of them and started moving like a cage fighter given a gun. Every movement she made with her body as she was taking the member down seemed to be done so professionally and skillfully. It looked like it was polished after tons of training and on the field experience. Ultimately, she killed him after a little work before training her gun up again to actually hit one of the two who revealed themselves from the cover they had to shoot her. Unfortunately for him, he was gunned down immediately being inflicted with kill shots to the body. However, the last remaining member who was armed with a submachine gun, an Uzi, began shooting at Yona and landed multiple hits on her which caused Yona to fall lifeless to the ground.

The last remaining member of the group of four, went over to Yona's body and shot a few more bullets just to insult her corpse which he took pride in killing her. He then looked towards the cafe and saw how many witnesses there were. Of course, every one of them saw what he looked like. It would be smart to kill everyone there so no one could say a word about what he did. Before he could raises his gun an inch, he was tackled through the glass by a woman with silver hair. It was Yona.

How did she not die? You saw it, everyone saw it. She ate so many bullets that it would for sure kill someone twice. Somehow, Yona is just able to defy death and started preparing someone else in her place to meet God. As she was wrestling with him and disarming him, she pulled out her pistol that she had taken out of the conversion kit and pressed it against the man's forehead before pulling the trigger. The floor splattered with blood from underneath his head and his body fell limp. A bloodied, seemingly uninjured Yona who was catching her breath was now standing herself up over her kill. She looked as if she wasn't hurt at all. Not even a scratch or a bruise was on her body. All there is was just blood that had splattered from those previous shots but no entry or exit wound was detected on her body.

She looked up at the two exhaustively and disheveled as she wondered if they did what she had told them or did they not follow what she had said.

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

The woman seemed frustrated with the pair, a million different troubles and stresses on her mind, but they were scared too. Both of them, even if Charlie would never admit it. They wanted to know what they were dealing with, after all neither of them were as experienced with this sort of thing as Yona. Not experienced enough to stay as calm as her. Skye had been involved with guns and gangs before, but she never saw any real action, just the engineer and programmer behind the gang's gadgets. They were both terrified out of their wits over what they'd become involved in.

Charlie's ears heard the gun blast before the fast-paced bullet could hit its mark. She knew it came from outside, rather than the readied gun their new 'friend' had aimed at a car seen outside of the cafe's window. Charlie had acted fast, instincts driving her body to get her and her friend out of the way. She held her arms outstretched to push Skye to the ground, and when they connected with Skye they were white, clawed paws. Her mouth elongated to a muzzle and her size shrank to a fluffy mass of white fur on all fours, paws included. She grew a fluffy tail, and her ears grew and folded over at the side of their head to become folded canine ears. Suddenly, in one instant, where Charlie had been turned into a fluffy, snow white Great Pyrenees Mountain Dog.

The first instinct Charlie had was protection, so they'd transformed into their dog form, pushed Skye to the ground, and stood over her in a protective manner. Their body was low to the ground so they would avoid the air teeming with flying bullets as the gunslingers duked it out. Their body tensed, their form outstretched protectively, watching the situation unfold for any increasing danger.

And plenty of danger came. At least, not for the two, anyways. It all happened so fast. Instantly, yelling one final warning to them, the woman got up and started firing. Charlie saw one guy slump against the car as Yona's bullet connected with him, paired with a splatter of blood on the side of the vehicle. The other attackers hid behind cover, but the woman kept shooting bullets through what was once the window to the cafe, now an open hole as the glass had shattered from the barrage of bullets.

Yona kicked open the door and went outside, taking down the cartel members one by one. It was an insane display; one Charlie had never imagined she'd witness in person. Meanwhile, Skye kept her head to the floor and pressed her hands to her sensitive ears to protect them from the loud shots. She only looked up when the Uzi had been fired, multiple shots ringing through the air, all connecting and logging into Yona's body before she fell to the ground, all hope seeming lost. They didn't know the guys had been after Yona, thinking they were just murderers coming to shoot up a shop for the sake of killing people. They thought they'd be the next one's lying on the ground in a pool of their own blood, just as dead as Yona.

Charlie growled, ready to go down with a good fight, but her growl cut off after seeing the next crazy event unfold. Yona, the same woman who had just died a second ago, tackled and disarmed the last remaining cartel member. They came barreling into the cafe, Yona perched on top of him, taking out the pistol she'd dropped before, the very thing that had started their meeting and interaction, and pressed it to the man's head, killing him and leaving a blood spatter on the floor. She stood up, breathing heavily, and looked over to the two.

What was left of the cafe was cowering patrons, glass shards and bullet casings scattered everywhere, windows just presenting an open hole, the glass panes completely shattered and busted. There were some smoking bullet holes presented in the framework of the building, and blood pooled around spots where Yona had been hit, and of course the final kill shot to the last remaining cartel member, pooling crimson around his head. Everything was completely busted, in chaos and disrepair, except for one aspect. The same blind man from before remained completely calm, still in his chair, sipping coffee from his cup. He didn't look even remotely scared, despite him looking blind and not deaf. He could hear the commotion and know something was wrong and that he needed to cower to protect himself, but he didn't. He stayed completely relaxed, much like the Australian Shepherd/Border Collie mix at his heels. The dog looked completely fine, even though something so loud should've scared the poor pup out of her wits. What was more, her eyes had been trained on the whole situation from start to finish, looking like she could actually comprehend the gun violence. The shots and the cartel guys, and Yona's supposed death. And now her head seemed fixed upon Yona herself, standing over her final kill. Their whole deal just seemed... odd. Odd even for the supernatural world they lived in.

Charlie shifted back into human form, no sign of any weredog traits she'd shown previously, helping Skye up and allowing her to balance on them. They both seemed extremely shaken, like anyone else, but they were handling it. Charlie was pretending to be the big one, her big sister instincts taking hold to protect Skye by seeming confident and unafraid. And Skye tried to rationalize the violence with everything she'd seen and heard from her gang. They just stared back at Yona, breathing as heavily as her despite not even being in the action, before Charlie yelled, "Who the hell are you?!"

 

[CasualTea]

The woman seemed frustrated with the pair, a million different troubles and stresses on her mind, but they were scared too. Both of them, even if Charlie would never admit it. They wanted to know what they were dealing with, after all neither of them were as experienced with this sort of thing as Yona. Not experienced enough to stay as calm as her. Skye had been involved with guns and gangs before, but she never saw any real action, just the engineer and programmer behind the gang's gadgets. They were both terrified out of their wits over what they'd become involved in.

Charlie's ears heard the gun blast before the fast-paced bullet could hit its mark. She knew it came from outside, rather than the readied gun their new 'friend' had aimed at a car seen outside of the cafe's window. Charlie had acted fast, instincts driving her body to get her and her friend out of the way. She held her arms outstretched to push Skye to the ground, and when they connected with Skye they were white, clawed paws. Her mouth elongated to a muzzle and her size shrank to a fluffy mass of white fur on all fours, paws included. She grew a fluffy tail, and her ears grew and folded over at the side of their head to become folded canine ears. Suddenly, in one instant, where Charlie had been turned into a fluffy, snow white Great Pyrenees Mountain Dog.

The first instinct Charlie had was protection, so they'd transformed into their dog form, pushed Skye to the ground, and stood over her in a protective manner. Their body was low to the ground so they would avoid the air teeming with flying bullets as the gunslingers duked it out. Their body tensed, their form outstretched protectively, watching the situation unfold for any increasing danger.

And plenty of danger came. At least, not for the two, anyways. It all happened so fast. Instantly, yelling one final warning to them, the woman got up and started firing. Charlie saw one guy slump against the car as Yona's bullet connected with him, paired with a splatter of blood on the side of the vehicle. The other attackers hid behind cover, but the woman kept shooting bullets through what was once the window to the cafe, now an open hole as the glass had shattered from the barrage of bullets.

Yona kicked open the door and went outside, taking down the cartel members one by one. It was an insane display; one Charlie had never imagined she'd witness in person. Meanwhile, Skye kept her head to the floor and pressed her hands to her sensitive ears to protect them from the loud shots. She only looked up when the Uzi had been fired, multiple shots ringing through the air, all connecting and logging into Yona's body before she fell to the ground, all hope seeming lost. They didn't know the guys had been after Yona, thinking they were just murderers coming to shoot up a shop for the sake of killing people. They thought they'd be the next one's lying on the ground in a pool of their own blood, just as dead as Yona.

Charlie growled, ready to go down with a good fight, but her growl cut off after seeing the next crazy event unfold. Yona, the same woman who had just died a second ago, tackled and disarmed the last remaining cartel member. They came barreling into the cafe, Yona perched on top of him, taking out the pistol she'd dropped before, the very thing that had started their meeting and interaction, and pressed it to the man's head, killing him and leaving a blood spatter on the floor. She stood up, breathing heavily, and looked over to the two.

What was left of the cafe was cowering patrons, glass shards and bullet casings scattered everywhere, windows just presenting an open hole, the glass panes completely shattered and busted. There were some smoking bullet holes presented in the framework of the building, and blood pooled around spots where Yona had been hit, and of course the final kill shot to the last remaining cartel member, pooling crimson around his head. Everything was completely busted, in chaos and disrepair, except for one aspect. The same blind man from before remained completely calm, still in his chair, sipping coffee from his cup. He didn't look even remotely scared, despite him looking blind and not deaf. He could hear the commotion and know something was wrong and that he needed to cower to protect himself, but he didn't. He stayed completely relaxed, much like the Australian Shepherd/Border Collie mix at his heels. The dog looked completely fine, even though something so loud should've scared the poor pup out of her wits. What was more, her eyes had been trained on the whole situation from start to finish, looking like she could actually comprehend the gun violence. The shots and the cartel guys, and Yona's supposed death. And now her head seemed fixed upon Yona herself, standing over her final kill. Their whole deal just seemed... odd. Odd even for the supernatural world they lived in.

Charlie shifted back into human form, no sign of any weredog traits she'd shown previously, helping Skye up and allowing her to balance on them. They both seemed extremely shaken, like anyone else, but they were handling it. Charlie was pretending to be the big one, her big sister instincts taking hold to protect Skye by seeming confident and unafraid. And Skye tried to rationalize the violence with everything she'd seen and heard from her gang. They just stared back at Yona, breathing as heavily as her despite not even being in the action, before Charlie yelled, "Who the hell are you?!"

A sigh of relief had escaped Yona's lips. She was glad no one else had gotten hurt. If they did, it'd weigh a little on her for not acting faster. One thing that did catch her attention was the blind man and his dog. Especially his dog. Sure, the man can be calm all he wanted but the dog? Too calm. She suspected they were somehow linked to the supernatural rather than just an ordinary pairing. Speaking of pairings, she didn't think she'd see Charlie in her... weredog form. That was certainly a surprise. She very well understood it was to protect Skye.

She soon stepped off her kill and went over to her phone that was dropped on the ground, picked it up and stowed it away. "Like I said, ex-military. Now I'm in contract with a P.M.C. who is based here in the states. That's all I can tell you as the rest of the details are classified." She said bluntly before two black vans pulled up to the cafe and soldiers wearing black uniforms came out. Most wearing gear while the only varying wear was their head wear. Some had helmets, others had caps. However, you could tell they weren't normal military as they all wore balaclavas to hide their faces. Yona looked at them calmly before giving a nod. One of the soldiers caught Yona's gesture and ordered the rest to start the site. They brought body bags and power wash machines to clean away the blood. Two of the soldiers came into the cafe and started to remove the body of Yona's last kill and another pair came in to clean off the blood.

The one who gave the orders prior, also had come inside and walked over to Yona. His rifle hanging from a sling at his side. "We'll take surveillance from here. Janitor-7 Victor is en-route, 8 Mikes out." With that, Yona gave another nod and he hung around to watch the process of the clean up. "Solid copy. I'll keep the India Bravos in check." On his and the other soldier's arms was a patch. Supposedly their insignias. It was a picture of a black spades with a rook chess piece inside. The words on the outer rim of the patch were hard to make it but it read; "Umbra Catervae, Shadow Company." He looked back at Yona and began speaking once more. "There won't be any further Alphas, they've been neutralized. We're starting to make preps for our next play. If you'd like, you can join us to help out." Yona looked at the pair before shaking her head. "I'll stay. They... probably have questions for me that I can answer. It's the best I can do to put them at ease. RTB for now, I'll contact Carrier actual at a later time. Advise set up for external interrogatives." The squad leader seemed to have taken a moment to process Yona's words before giving affirmation. "Yep yep." After the cleaning was done, the squad leader walked away along with the rest of the soldiers. All the blood stains and bodies were removed thoroughly. They all got into the same van and drove off.

After a moment of silence, Yona started to move again, fixing the table back up and propping herself a chair to sit down. She soon started to put her conversion kit back in her back and unchamber her pistol, ejecting the magazine and pulling the slide back far enough to eject the round. After it was flung out, she caught it and put it back into the magazine. She then proceeded to put the two separately back into her bag as she spoke. "I know I said I can answer your questions, but the answer would most likely be that it's classified. However, we can go somewhere else you feel comfortable and I can tell you some of the more shallow details. If you're that curious." She said, wondering if curiosity will get the better of the two like they did with her bag upon their first meeting.

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

Yona seemed way calmer than the two others, and everyone else in the cafe. She explained who she was, ex-military with a contract with a P.M.C., but that's all she could say as the rest was classified. Needless to say, that wasn't enough for the two. Charlie barely even knew what a P.M.C. was, coming from a well-off family that had no ties to that sort of life, but Skye knew well enough, because her gang had to be careful of those sorts. "Private Military Company..." Skye murmured low, and Charlie was able to get a clearer picture of just who they were dealing with.

Suddenly, their eyes went wide and they looked around as their advanced hearing picked up more wheels on the road. They were afraid that more of those armed people were coming, after all they had no idea what was going on. Black vans drove up, and soldiers got out dressed all in black. Skye yelped and hid behind Charlie, who put their arms in front of her in a protective manner and glared at the soldiers as if she might turn into her weredog form once more and bite their heads off. Still, none of them tried to touch the two. A few got near them one time, but that was simply to get to a spot where they could repair the damages caused by the altercation or pick up any loose shells that could be used by local law enforcement to trace back to them. They noticed the spade and rook patch on the soldiers' clothing, so dark they almost couldn't make out the words, but they each made a mental list of them, for different reasons. Charlie was intent on finding out all she could about this "Umbra Catervae: Shadow Company", even if it might be hard to find anything about it, while Skye needed to warn her gang about the P.M.C., and that they saw her here.

One guy came up to Yona, the leader it seemed, and spit out a million different words and possible code-names that Charlie didn't understand, nor Skye. Yona responded with more confusing talk, then followed up with staying she'd stay to assist the two civilians she dragged into this whole affair. And once everything was cleaned up, the soldiers piled into their vans, paying the pair no mind, and drove off, leaving only Yona with them.

Soon enough the woman was propping back up the table and sitting in a chair like she hadn't just died in a shoot off and armed soldiers in black suits hadn't just cleaned the whole thing up. She said that the answers to their questions would probably be classified, but they could go somewhere else to get better details. And though Charlie would love that, Skye not so much, there was no way they were going somewhere with this woman. Maybe it sounded snobby given Charlie's background, but they would feel much better having a security detail around them if they were going to talk to Yona somewhere else, who seemed to have death follow her wherever she went and was a big enough threat herself.

"Uh, thank you, but no. I wasn't born yesterday. You never go to a second location, especially not with someone who has contacts with armed soldiers and guns stored in their bag." Being the heir to a huge wine company, that line of thinking had been pounded into their head, as someone could easily kidnap them for ransom. "This whole thing is crazy." They muttered, still protective over Skye.

 

[CasualTea]

Yona seemed way calmer than the two others, and everyone else in the cafe. She explained who she was, ex-military with a contract with a P.M.C., but that's all she could say as the rest was classified. Needless to say, that wasn't enough for the two. Charlie barely even knew what a P.M.C. was, coming from a well-off family that had no ties to that sort of life, but Skye knew well enough, because her gang had to be careful of those sorts. "Private Military Company..." Skye murmured low, and Charlie was able to get a clearer picture of just who they were dealing with.

Suddenly, their eyes went wide and they looked around as their advanced hearing picked up more wheels on the road. They were afraid that more of those armed people were coming, after all they had no idea what was going on. Black vans drove up, and soldiers got out dressed all in black. Skye yelped and hid behind Charlie, who put their arms in front of her in a protective manner and glared at the soldiers as if she might turn into her weredog form once more and bite their heads off. Still, none of them tried to touch the two. A few got near them one time, but that was simply to get to a spot where they could repair the damages caused by the altercation or pick up any loose shells that could be used by local law enforcement to trace back to them. They noticed the spade and rook patch on the soldiers' clothing, so dark they almost couldn't make out the words, but they each made a mental list of them, for different reasons. Charlie was intent on finding out all she could about this "Umbra Catervae: Shadow Company", even if it might be hard to find anything about it, while Skye needed to warn her gang about the P.M.C., and that they saw her here.

One guy came up to Yona, the leader it seemed, and spit out a million different words and possible code-names that Charlie didn't understand, nor Skye. Yona responded with more confusing talk, then followed up with staying she'd stay to assist the two civilians she dragged into this whole affair. And once everything was cleaned up, the soldiers piled into their vans, paying the pair no mind, and drove off, leaving only Yona with them.

Soon enough the woman was propping back up the table and sitting in a chair like she hadn't just died in a shoot off and armed soldiers in black suits hadn't just cleaned the whole thing up. She said that the answers to their questions would probably be classified, but they could go somewhere else to get better details. And though Charlie would love that, Skye not so much, there was no way they were going somewhere with this woman. Maybe it sounded snobby given Charlie's background, but they would feel much better having a security detail around them if they were going to talk to Yona somewhere else, who seemed to have death follow her wherever she went and was a big enough threat herself.

"Uh, thank you, but no. I wasn't born yesterday. You never go to a second location, especially not with someone who has contacts with armed soldiers and guns stored in their bag." Being the heir to a huge wine company, that line of thinking had been pounded into their head, as someone could easily kidnap them for ransom. "This whole thing is crazy." They muttered, still protective over Skye.

Yona gave a soft chuckle. It appears the pair did learn from their first interaction. They were cautious now. Especially now that they have a better idea who she really was. It seemed mentioning P.M.C. shook Skye a little and having that big show of force in front of them how they worked also clicked for Charlie. Looks like it's about time she made her leave. She gave a nod before she got up and slung her backpack on before reaching into her pocket and getting her wallet. She pulled out a hundred dollar bill from it and left it on the table as a tip for the cafe. "Enjoy the tea then. World's a lot more crazier than you know." She said before she took one more glance at the old man and his dog before proceeding out. It was also around this time, the TV and electronics started to function properly again. The jamming devices that were nearby in the area seemed to have switched off.

The street seemed so still. There was no movement from any civilian or the like. By now, it was only starting to flow with traffic like a roadblock had just been lifted. Which might've been the case. As Yona stepped out the door, she didn't bother looking around for any more encounters because she knew. If her 'shadows' were nearby and hit the site, it was always cleaned off and stayed so. She headed to her car, opened the passenger side and set her backpack in the back. You could also see a katana resting in the passenger seat, it being in a well-maintained condition. It seemed old but new at the same time. She took a moment and inspected her car. There wasn't any damage from the engagement she had with the members prior. She didn't want the car being damaged as it would raise some eyebrows, rather than worry about costs. Her handler can definitely pay for all of it. She soon got in the driver's seat and started the car, ready to head home if no one stopped her.

 

[AlphaBlueWolf]

Charlie raised an eyebrow to the woman's chuckle. She stood, and Charlie backed them up, still apprehensive and protective, yet Yona simply placed down a hundred-dollar bill, a huge tip for just some tea, though maybe appropriate for the amount of trouble that was caused, and then began to leave. She told them to enjoy the tea and gave them one final piece of information. 'World's a lot more crazier than you know.'

Yeah, no kidding. They knew that for sure now.

As soon as the door closed, Charlie turned on their heels to make sure Skye was ok. They were both shaken by the chaos, but neither one of them had gotten injured, not even a scratch. The same could be said about everyone else in the cafe, though they didn't have the same direct contact with the girl that couldn't die. They determined that they'd wait for her to leave before walking out of the cafe. After all, they'd rather not stay here any longer after what happened. They sat down to wait, watching as the first of the patrons made their leave, a young man holding onto the handle of a seeing eye dog. He grabbed the door and went out with the pooch calmly.

The man walked out to the street, the only civilian walking on the pavement of the sidewalk. He approached a car with its door open, a woman right about to hop into the driver's seat. He passed her, grabbing her hand to deposit a small rectangle of paper in her hand, then let go.

"If you want it..." Came a murmur in Yona's ear. Pressed into her hand was a card. On the front, the logo for a P.M.C, the Mylan Institute. Underneath the logo was a phone number written in the ink of a pen. On the back the same ink read, 'Job and protection'. The man continued walking along the sidewalk, acting like nothing happened and letting the dog lead him on from the successful drop off.