Rubricated Inhibitions

[Esme]

Calandra Porter


Girl of Shadows



​

Finding herself in a peculiar situation, Calandra Porter had two options. She was pleased with neither option, as one was up to chance and the other meant she would be giving her hunters one hell of a flag. A white one right up to the big man's desk himself. So as she stared down at the five obviously intoxicated humans in front of her, she took the lesser of two evils.


Pushing off the balls of her feet she tried to spring herself past them fast enough to keep her out of arms reach when they took chase like she knew they would. She didn't quite make it as far as she had wanted and hitting the brick wall with her back, she may have actually went back farther than before. It was hard to tell, hard walls all felt the same really.


With the ferociousness of a cornered cobra she bit down hard on the arm that had bared her against the club's wall. The desired effect was achieved and she was let go. Only for the consequence of her action to come swinging back at her in the form of a ham sized fist to her face. She wasn't sure if it was her jaw or his knuckles that shifted with the force of it. On the second swing she became aware that it was her face as it popped back into place.


She'd taken some nasty beatings in the academy on missions, but at least then she could have utilized her skill set properly. And sad day for her, she'd left her knife at home. But then, murdering drunken idiots wasn't quite her style or her prerogative. God, what had she done to piss them off again?


Oh, right...


At least the tiny redheaded girlie had finally gotten them to leave her alone. Cal just had to shoot down their pride and sense of worth to do it. Turns out however, her one shot about them not knowing how to treat a lady properly was correct and as she got pulled into the middle of them, exchanging her lesser blows for their excessive blows she wondered how long it'd take for the club's security camera to pick up what was going on.


Her luck, the thing was probably broken and she was going to be waking up tomorrow in a ditch. If at all.

 

[Coro]

Axel Kuwagata

The Kabuto
​

Unable to walk past and contain his abundant curiosity, the cloaked figure peered into the alleyway, where the source of the commotion was coming from. He'd been passing the club on a whim, a nice burger joint was right beside it. In times like this, good food was calming and helped one keep their wits about them. He had been tempted to go into the club as well, but that'd be testing his luck. He'd used up enough of it in the escape....


Tilting his head to the side in confusion, he wondered what the group of five of six guys was doing. Seemed like they were kicking and hitting something..... Holy crap they're beating up a hobo. He concluded, furrowing his brow, a feeling of righteousness well up in his chest. Sighing, the young man strolled valiantly into the alleyway, his beige cloak billowing like a flag in a strong wind. Underneath, one could see jeans, and curiously, the figure was wearing a pair of flip flops. In this weather, it was a little cold for those. His jeans seemed to be a little torn up as well.


"Hey, what is this, a bad action-movie opening? If so, that makes me the hero, and you guys the poor suckers I beat up to look cool." The cloaked figure called out, chuckling at his own attempt at humour. The beating ceased, and the six, not five, young men turned, sharing angry glances. Who the fuck was this guy? That wasn't even funny. Did he think that was funny?


"Fuck you man." One of the young men yelled, stepping out from the group as the cloaked man continued to walk forward, undaunted by the approach of bully, his fist pulled back, ready to strike. Licking his lips, the young man swung his fist.


And it stopped, like it had hit a wall, as it connected with the cloaked figure's face. A moment passed as the thug blinked, before shrieking in pain, pulling back his obviously broken hand. The knuckles were out of place and split, as if he'd picked a fight with a brick wall. From under the cloak, a smile twisted upwards. A pitch black hand reached out, glimmering in the low light, as if it were armoured. What seemed to be claws decorated the fingers, and odd-looking spines jutted out from the elbow. The demonic hand grabbed the thug by the face, picked him off the ground with seeming ease, and flung him towards the group.


Toppling two more of the thugs, they scrambled quickly back up to their feet, the one who had been grabbed and tossed like a rag doll forgetting the pain in his knuckles as he shrieked once more in horror, a chuckling noise coming from the cloaked figure. He ran out of the alley and into the street, screaming bloody murder, something about a monster.


The rest of his gang, in a fit of similar fear, split from the scene, leaving their targeted punching bag alone on the damp ground.


The cloaked figure slid his arm back into the cloak, the shiny black carapace-like appendage disappearing from sight.


".... You okay?" He asked of the girl, noting her features. She'd be really pretty if she didn't have a black eye and a possibly broken nose....

 

[Esme]

In a blur of motions her executioners had dissipated. Staying slightly curled over, hands on her knees as blood dripped from her face Cal breathed hard. Her left side felt like it was on fire, things hurt that shouldn't and her hand just didn't want to bend in the right direction.


Wiping under her nose, she winced. It was definitely broken. Looking at the blood she'd put on the back of her hand she sighed. Which was a bad idea, really. Looking up at her savior as he spoke, she let out a laugh of sorts. Rough and not unlike someone who'd been through a lot of shit in their life.


"Yeah...I am. " Standing up right, hand going to her side she tilted a bit. Blood was a nasty thing to have in your mouth, even nastier to look at as it hit the ground in a pleasant spatter. "So, what's a kaijin doing helping my sorry ass?"

 

[Coro]

Caught off guard, the cloaked figure jerked upright, glancing back out towards the street. Panic seeped into his movements. Despite his obvious strength, he was definitely not one for subtleties and cunning.


"Shit, how'd you know? You saw? But even if you saw, you wouldn't know what you saw, unless you knew what you saw was something you knew...." He rambled, pulling off the hood of the cloak, revealing a half insect, half human visage. He seemed to be trying to hold onto the last remaining bits of his human form, but obviously couldn't maintain it. His lack of energy, food, and sleep prevented him from holding it any further than half, at best, resulting in a strange look. His legs seemed normal, but his arms and torso were obviously inhuman, and his face was a jumbled mess of human looking bits and not. He was lucky his hair was one of the human bits, preventing his Kabuto's horn from jutting out and ruining the entire disguise.

 

[Esme]

Holding up her hand, Cal offered it as a gesture of good faith. Hell, she was far from one to be making him nervous. Pulling herself into some semblance of not bloody and damaged she cocked her head towards the alley's opening.


"Talk and move kid, it's safer." With a rough motion she pulled her jacket's hood up. One pocket dig later and she had cancer between her lips. A shadow seemed to curl up over her shoulder and through the air, ethereal in nature. And then her stick was burning and the shade was gone. Moving past him, she gave his shoulder a hard pat.


"Come on, I look about as bad as this situation is going to get if you fully flip. "


Without checking to see if he was even following her, she started walking. Sticking to side streets and short cuts as much as possible, she got herself to the alcove just below the stairs in front of her apartment door. Quick key shuffle and she glided through, leaving the door open as lights turned on automatically.

 

[Coro]

Magic. He hissed in his mind, biting his lower lip as his thoughts ran wild.





Noting the girl's innate skill with magic, to not even use an incantation, or any visible catalyst to control that shadow... She was definitely not someone to fuck around with, the young man concluded. Distrusting, he pulled up his hood as well, and followed in an awkward silence. Upon reaching the door to her apartment, he assumed since she had a key, he closed it behind him, removing his coat and abandoning his human form altogether. A large horn jutting out from his forehead, a Kabuto's main distinguishing feature, and the black carapace spreading to cover his entire body, the young man's voice took on a wispy quality as he talked.


"You'll forgive me for not trusting you entirely... Your kind usually doesn't treat mine too nicely. What's a witch like you doing here in the city, apparently even owning property? Your like should either be at The Academy, The Bureau, or in one of The Council's forts." He remarked, his body language tense, as if he was waiting for the inevitable.

 

[Esme]

Shoving out the remains of her cigarette in a white ash tray on a stand she shrugged. Stripping off her coat, she kept moving through the place. Ducking into the bathroom she started poking at her face. It wasn't a pretty sight, not that it ever really was. Poking at spots, moving her jaw, she had gotten herself pretty fucked up. Why did they always go for the face?


As she let water start to warm up, she glanced out at him from the open door, "Firstly, witch is a banned word here. As far as we're concerned, I'm nothing more than a safe place to crash at right now. As far as the Academy is concerned, I resigned. The other two should be assuming I'm dead if Astrumregis doesn't get his way. "


The water turned pink as she dunked her head into it. It felt both refreshing and painful as new places started stinging and old started feeling relieved. Her hands tightened around the counter edge as she pulled up from it, water dripping off her like rain. "Secondly, a creature like you shouldn't even be out among humans so you have no room to question me here."

 

[Coro]

Blinking his four compound eyes, the Kabuto sneered a little at the tone of her last comment. That sounded like something one of the Bureau's dogs would say. He'd remember that, maybe address it later. Saying that a kaijin shouldn't be around humans was something of a touchy subject to most kaijin, as they were sentient and possessed reason like humans. Having to constantly hide from humans, and from the Council was a difficult life, getting more and more difficult by the day.


"... So what you're saying is that you're on the run too then?" He asked, a nasty grin forming on his face. "If so, I think we can... Help each other out." He noted, tapping his clawed finger against the armour on his thighs, a clacking noise being produced.

 

[Esme]

"Running? Oh no. In truth, I've done nothing for them to hunt me down. They just don't appreciate people going ghost on them and I'm much too good at this game of hide and seek I've set up." Grabbing a towel on her way back out, she dried her face off. At least her nose had stopped bleeding.


"However, I owe you currently, so there's that to address if you're meaning to strike up a deal with the devil."

 

[Coro]

Shaking his head, the Kabuto wasn't entirely sure. This could be a Bureau trap, they were after him currently.... It wouldn't be unexpected to have a sting operation lying in wait for any kaijin, not just him, that escaped.


But he was in dire straights. He didn't really know where to go from here, being a member of the Kuwagata family that managed to escape the Bureau's clutches. He was their number one target right now.


"... Well, hello then Satan, I assume. Axel Kuwagata. I think we can make a deal?" He quipped, a mixed expression gracing his visage, something of a sneer crossed with a pout. It wasn't very flattering with his Kabuto features.

 

[Esme]

"Calandra, though Satan has a nice ring to it." She offered back. She crossed her arms over her chest and perched herself into a lean on the door frame she'd come through. Towel slung over one shoulder, black wife beater, and one hell of a tattoo sleeve of a whole lot of Academy mission symbols, high classed mages, humans, even a few kaiju and kaijin symbols scattered here and there. A testament to the amount of lives she'd given the under taker.


Extending out the hand attached to that arm, she grinned darkly. "It just costs one soul."

 

[Coro]

Eyeing the symbols that ran down her arm, Axel raised his hand somewhat warily. Making sure not to clench on his own, due to his immense strength as a Kabuto, Axel wanted to avoid breaking this woman's hand, knowing full well her and her magic could most likely tear his carapace apart. He allowed her to grip his hand, and shook on the deal before pulling his arm back almost hastily.


"There's just one complication with that, Ms. Devil." He remarked, a smile crossing his insect face, a strange sight to behold as the armoured carapace around his mouth twisted in plates to allow the smile. "I'm a kaijin, I'm a soulless monster. Can I offer you someone else's?" He finished his joke, chuckling at his own weird humour.

 

[Esme]

"Everyone has a soul, even you." She pulled her arm back and crossed it again, "Unless of course you've already sold it to me, but then you'd be a socio path and feel nothing. But uh, my going rate for other's is somewhere around that of a small child's heart."


Rubbing her hands together she padded her legs with them, "So, I'm assuming food and drink are first? " She pointed through the door frame opposite of hers, "Kitchen's in there, believe the stuff in the crock pot should be about done, if not, left overs are in the fridge. Are you a coffee or tea person?"

 

[Coro]

Shrugging, Axel wandered forward, discovering a coffee table and a couch, along with a wall-mounted TV and other furniture. His wonder was apparent as he sat down on the couch, testing it and bouncing a little, poking at it with his clawed hands. Accidentally, he poked an armoured finger through the couch, and into the stuffing within the pillow. Pulling his finger out, he grinned sheepishly, or at least what his carapace and facial structure would allow him to attempt to portray as sheepish.


"... Uh, as far as diet goes, I'm a herbyvar, I think the guy said? I like plants and stuff. Honey and sap would be really nice, those are like human's dessert." Axel explained his Kabuto diet.


Glancing once more at the tattoos on the girl's arm, Axel blinked his four eyes and spoke up.


"So you were from the Academy.... What did you do there? You're obviously well trained. You handle magic naturally." He stated in observation. For a kaijin, he'd seen his fair share of magic and mages, mostly in conflict. The Kuwagata family of Kabuto were heinously famous for resisting and rebelling against the Bureau, Academy, and Council.

 

[Esme]

"Herbivore, or, in non insect terms, vegetarian. " Cal offered, not in the slightest fazed by the pillow mishap. At least that part would be easy, she didn't particularly make a habit of hosting meat products in her food. As for honey and sap....well, she had honey at least? She ducked into the room, checking on her shit and grabbing a little bear bottle off a shelf.


As for his other question, she didn't answer. She was glad her back was to him as her expression grew dark. She was not a pleasant person, wasn't, she didn't know anymore. She had been lethal, was still lethal, though only when it came to her manipulation over her magic. She could slink in and out of shadows like no tomorrow, but no amount of pride she had in her technical skills could mask her disgust in what her former self did for a profession.


"It doesn't matter now." She returned with the bottle and two bowls, setting them down on the coffee table.

 

[Coro]

Picking up the bottle of honey, Axel's mouth twisted into a slightly frightening visage, but one that was easily recognized as a smile. He nodded his thanks, bringing the curious contraption of the bottle up to his mouth. Gnawing on the cap momentarily before it opened and some sweet honey oozed out, he began tilting it back to let the sweet nectar drip into his mouth. Rather concerning noises could be heard from the carapace covered maw.


However, a knocking at the door signified the arrival of someone. A rather melodious voice called out in addition to the knocking.


"Yoohooo, Cal, are you home? It's Hope, I'd like to talk to yoooou." The voice of a man who seemed to be about the same age as the odd pair in Cal's apartment called out, a cheery tone to his words. "Oh, and Zek's here too." He added, seeming somewhat less pleased about that last part, as if he'd almost been forced to add it in as a afterthought.


Axel perked up, honey dripping from his lips and onto the couch between his legs. Glancing about, his vision drifted upwards towards his horn, jutting out an easy foot and a half from his head.


His eyes widened immediately in panic. He seemed to asking Cal what to do, but without speaking, so as to not alert the person at the door of his presence. It was too much of a coincidence.

 

[Esme]

Cal's mood went from alright, to about as bad as her face felt at that voice. Of all the people that would manage to find her, it would be Hope. But of course, she doubted he found her, and that it was all Zek. She never did like the blood hound in-tuned bastard one bit. But, she hadn't done anything wrong, she lied to herself, she'd retired like it was her right and opted to forgo magic for human living. She'd alerted no one to the existence of magic, he had nothing on her.


Nothing except for the bug like thing sitting in front of her, in her living room, in her apartment. With a channeling ring on his damn finger of all things. A light dinged above her head as she looked at him for a moment. Reaching over the coffee table, she grabbed the hand with the ring and did what she'd only seen others do and charged it with her own magic. An added bonus of masking the ring to something akin to an engagement type, along with her own. Because Hope knew her style.


Letting go of his hand that was progressively becoming more flesh like, she waited a moment until she knew for for certain that he wasn't spotting any exoskeleton. Just...blonde baby faced dude that he was. Added bonus, that one. Moving towards the door, she scowled, the annoyed and disturbed look she wore behind busied eyes fully believable because that was precisely how she felt. Opening the door just wide enough for her to put her body in the way, foot cocked so he couldn't push it open any further, she looked at them both.


Hope, the eternal asshole of propriety with his lame suits and what she assumed he thought was a swauve and alluring cologne. And Zek, the badstreak lover's dreamboy. Big, long dark hair, and lots of leather, from the jacket to the pants. She folded her arms, looking for once up at Hope due to the lack of shoes.


"I suggest making this quick, you're kind of interrupting something."

 

[Coro]

Axel blinked, looking over his quickly changing form, somewhat confused as to what was happening. But, with mages around, it was always like this, wasn't it?


"Actually, I'm here to warn you, Cal. Please, I'd appreciate it if you let me in." He spoke in a rather low, and serious voice, almost out of character for him. Glancing at Zeke, he motioned for him to leave, as if he'd done his job in helping Hope find Cal. ".... Is there someone here with you?" He asked of Cal, turning his gaze back to her, raising an eyebrow.

 

[Esme]

"Yes, there is." Cal said with a sharp tongue, "Someone I'd rather not have meet my old boss, if you don't mind."


She adjusted her foot, making sure it was wedged better to prevent the door moving. Hope was stubborn, she knew he wouldn't let this go easily.

 

[Coro]

Scowling slightly, the young man brushed the well groomed, if slightly long platinum hair from his eyes, the steely blue of his pupils focused solely on Cal.


"Cal. I don't care if you're off making merry with some poor human who's in over his head. Well alright, I care slightly, I'm hurt deeply, wounded terribly. But this matter actually concerns your safety, so I'd REALLY appreciate it if you either let me in, or came out to talk to me without a door in-between us. I mean honestly, how do you expect me to save you if you won't even trust me?" He asked, going from a serious tone at the beginning of his ramble, but after the second sentence assuming a rather smug, somewhat condescending tone of voice, one he seemed far too comfortable with.

 

[Esme]

Cal eyed him sharply, used to him playing his stupid games. It's how he got people on his side, to do what he wanted, she'd seen it all before. How he'd always been with her because she refused every one of his ignorant advances to date. He was an ace when it came to guilt. Too bad she didn't have any when it came to him. She cocked her head over her shoulder.


"Darling, I'm stepping out for a brief moment, if I don't come back in in five minutes, you know which number to call, ask for Alecia Porter. "


A bluff, but something to make Hope thing twice if he wanted to try anything. She stepped out from behind the door, closing it behind her and leaning against it. Her hand was settled on the door knob, her stance unmoving. Entire body reading lethal. She'd taken down bigger fish than Hope, she told herself.


"Talk."

 

[Coro]

Rolling his eyes, Hope's smug grin only seemed to get bigger.


"Funny you mention your mother, I was actually going to bring her up. Some of the other council members weren't too fond of your departure. The only reason the Academy hasn't sent out any squads for your capture is because I denied those requests and helped Counilwoman Porter vouch for you. You know too much in their eyes, Cal. However, it seems the Bureau holds no good will for you, unlike me. The beast Zaria, his handler, and the director of the Bureau had a meeting tonight with Councilman Jerome, someone who isn't your biggest fan." Hope explained, putting his hands in his pockets as he mentioned Cal's mother, his shoulders drooping as he brought up the Bureau. Hope and the current Bureau director didn't quite see eye to eye on most matters. "... I can't protect you from them, if they're doing it secretly. It's gone over my head. So, there's your fair warning, as my past employee. If you'd like to ditch your little human fling in there, you know where to find me anytime, Cal." He added, with a wink, turning on his heels and strolling off, seeming a little down.


"No Zek, before you say it, we aren't going out. This wasn't a rejection. Doesn't count." He said huffily as he departed, in a lower voice than he'd been conversing with Cal in.

 

[Esme]

As Hope walked away, Cal grinned darkly before starting to laugh.


"Holy shit...," She giggled out wildly, like she was absolutely mental, "That's literally all that was for... ? " Shaking her head, she ducked back into her apartment, locking the door behind her. Looking at the beetle boy she grinned.


"Turns out you're right too, I'm also being hunted. Ironically, by your people's section as it turns out."

 

[Coro]

Axel blinked, still looking over his now-human hands. Flexing the fingers, he scowled slightly, in this human form he felt so much weaker. And squishy. Were all humans squishy like this? Where was their carapace, how did they protect themselves? He almost refused to believe that such weak defenceless creatures, even ones who could perform magic, currently ruled this planet.


After hearing about how Cal was currently being hunted as well, he forgot about his mixed feelings about his human form.


".... That's probably bad. What're we gonna do?" He asked, picking up the bottle of honey once more, opening it and drinking from it. The honey leaked out over his lips once more, this time spilling on his torn clothes.

 

[Esme]

"Depends on you, really. If you want to continue on your own, that's fine. Otherwise, I'm packing up shop and going ghost. " Cal shrugged, plopping down into an arm chair and picking up one of the two bowls she'd brought out. Stirring her fork through the food, she sighed. Her mother could only do so much to save her hide, just like she could only do so much when it had come to Dad being excused. Either she won out or at least bought her time, or she had to yield. Or die. Whichever came first, really.


And with the Bureau involved....well, Zaria was a bastard of a man who was known for his viscous and relentless nature. A kaijin of death, really. Sure, she'd nuked a lot of beasties in her day, a lot of mages too. But that....thing...was on a different level entirely. More human than human and yet not at all.


"I mean, I could stay and hope for the best, deal as they come. But I don't know where that would leave you and currently, I owe you."