Disclaimer: I said it once, if ya didn't see it go back to the last chapter…XP
"You should deactivate your Innocence, yours is a little more noticeable than mine," he gave an all out grin, showing shark teeth.
"How did you get those?"
"A flower bit me," Alystar chuckled as he finally caught sight of the other boy, this one younger and holding what looked like a boomerang in his right hand. There was another, a young woman, older than the boys, crossing her arms. Gloved hands clenched as she searched him over, so that's who grabbed him. "Anyway, how 'bout that meal? I'm starving, my treat." He turned to leave the station, remembering a little pizzeria close by.
"Claud?" The older and younger looked to the middle, who just shrugged away his invocation to follow after the strange man.
Alystar sat down, his hesitant companions following suit, and ordered enough pies to feed half the city. The waitress kept asking how big the party would get, not quite accepting the, "We're just really hungry," line.
When the first round came out of the over, three pizzas were set on the table. "Only three ovens?" Alystar smiled, carefully as he saw Claud quickly grab up one of the metal trays, claiming it as his.
"Jeez, he eats more than you Claud," the younger of the boys blurted out as Alystar finished the last of his crust, eagerly waiting his next pie.
"Large bite radius, and parasite types always eat a lot…" He fell silent as the waitress set a few more down. Three bites in, halfway through the slice, he coughed and gagged a bit.
"You alright?"
"Yeah," he blinked watering eyes. Glancing back at the kitchen, he was getting watchful looks from the cook that had nothing to do with his health. "Seems they forgot to chop the cloves before they put them on the pizza…"
"Garlic?" The three started as Alystar got over biting into a half cooked bulb without expecting it.
"…" All he could do was shake his head and smile full out at the cook before going back to finishing his second pie before the third could get done.
"Parasite type?" Claud asked through half the pizza stuffed in his mouth.
"It means you don't have to have an item or a weapon with you to Invoke your Innocence. Ugh, use your power," he rephrased when they all stared at him confused. "Mine is a parasite type… to an extreme," he rolled his eyes. "My teeth are made of Innocence, like your wings are, and a lot of my power is in my blood. And, as you saw, I am able to drink Akuma/demon blood to strengthen my abilities."
Another pizza and he quickly scarfed down half of it before the startled miss could even get out of the way. God he was hungry, he half blamed the fact on his interrupted snack, the other half went to him having to slow down on the last pizza because of the excess garlic.
"You know, chewing usually is involved," the waitress giggled once she got over the inicial shock. Both Claud and Alystar looked up at her, Claud's slice half hanging out of his mouth and Alystar frowning over a few over cooked pieces of crust.
There was the sound of crunching when Alystar suddenly bit through the petrified pieces of crust, sending a few ends to clatter onto the metal tray. "Uh… We might need a few more…"
The two on the other end of the table shoved away the tray they were sharing, nearly half the pizza left on it. "Really?" Alystar asked even as Claud grabbed the biggest slice. "Hey, share!" There was only two smaller pieces left as he quickly devoured one before reaching for the other.
Claud batted his hand away, trying to sneak the slice away with his other hand. He failed when Alystar took a snap at the half airborne piece, startling the boy into dropping it back on the tray. "Shouldn't have done that," Alystar was startled by the young woman's voice. He looked up at the shy smile on her face as he grabbed the forgotten slice.
"What," he yipped as a sharp pain shot through his hand. "Ow, ow, ow! Let go you little," Claud had grabbed at the slice with his teeth and just so happened to have grabbed the two fingers closest to him as well.
"You started it…" The woman chuckled and sipped at her drink. "Spit it out Claud, you don't know where it's been."
Claud blinked before releasing Alystar's hand, hacking as if to get the taste out of his mouth. "Ack! Gunpowder!" He grabbed the nearest drink and downed it as the bitey gaped at him.
"You honestly just…" Alystar started laughing as Claud downed another glass. "What were you thinking?"
"That was my slice damnit!"
"That explains it," Alystar smiled and offered another drink to the boy. "Sorry about the gunpowder, the Akuma shot me a few times."
"Shot, what? I saw you , you deflected them"
"Not all of them. Two bullets and one graze," Alystar pushed his coat off his shoulder to show the hole left in his shirt close to the collar bone. "All my wounds heal when I drink from Akuma."
"How are you alive? I've seen people shot before, they all crumble into ash," the youngest boy spoke, his eyes were sorrowful.
"I am nearly immune to their poison. It takes massive injuries and constant feeding before I can even be effected by it." He fell silent, leaving out the fact that Akuma blood was the only reason he was still around, able to explain all this to this generation of Exorcists. "It is getting late, and I need to find a place for the night," he went to go settle the bill while the kids exchanged looks.
"Place?"
"Yeah, I was going to travel west for awhile. See where it took me, but the Akuma and now you. I can't leave you all alone. I just wish I hadn't waited until after I sold my house to leave."
Alystar was oblivious of the looks the boys were giving each other and the young woman. "Alright, but you know the rules…"
"Hey, Jaws! Why don't you stay with us for the night?"
"Jaws?"
"Yeah, it ain't much, just a lumpy old couch, but it's a roof and a safe place to rest. Wadda ya day? Just until you find a place," Claud looked hopeful. Alystar knew he had to have had the same look when Allen and Lavi had asked him to join them. The boy had found someone like him; he didn't want to lose him without at least understanding why he was the way he was.
"Alright," Alystar smiled as they left the restaurant, the woman was leading and he gladly followed as the boys prattled on about something. "Wait… What are the 'rules'?"
"The rules of bringing home stray," was all the woman said as Alystar stumbled to keep up when they collided with a crowd of people.
"S-s-strays?" He stammered when the crowd parted.
"Yeah, you know, no peeing on the rug."
"No chewing the furniture." The boys looked at him at the same time said, "Chew bone…"
"Bone? What? HEY!"
"And finally." The woman turned, causing Alystar to stumble to a stop before colliding with her. "It's your responsibility to feed it… Claud, Erin, your allowances have been halved for the food supply."
"Hey, that's no fair!" The youngest, Erin fumed, "He's Claud's stray not mine!"
"Halved! Come on! I'll starve if you do that!"
"You'll just have to go without snacking every hour…"
"But Taaaaaaac," they both whined, reminding of someone whining to their mother.
"Tac?"
"That's me. Welcome," she held out a gloved hand.
"Thank you," he took it. "Alystar."
"All right Alystar, let me say this," he was suddenly off balanced as she drug him down to her level. "Put these kids in danger, or get them hurt and I will personally pull out every one of those fangs of your…" She released him, he over compensated the sudden balance shift and ended up on his but staring up at a slightly decrepit building. "What are you waiting for? You were invited, come on in."
"Home sweet home," the boys laughed and followed after.
Author's corner:
Yay! BIO time! If you can't tell so far most everyone's OC's and if you can't… go back and read the books again! LOL
Anyway. Here they are
Claud:
Around 16yrs old. "Big brother" type, though he can be just as whiny as the next kid. He shows an aura of strength but is very self conscious about his difference. He is the only Parasite type in this little troupe. His main anti-Akuma weapon is his wings, they appear to be 'bound' bird wings when he activates them on his own but when Akuma are near they appear to be thin, almost translucent, moth wings. They emit a fine powder that can be used as an area attack that eats away at Akuma as the main attack the other forms of attack are currently unknown.
Erin:
Around 14. "Little brother" is the exact term for him, though he tends to have a mouth worthy of an adult most of the time… He's an equipt type that uses a black boomerang as his weapon.
Tac:
Aka Tacy is around 19. She is the "Mother/big sister" to these two runaways. She tends to be the silent protector/helper but can still be fun. She's an equipt type that uses a set of black gloves as he weapon.
