AND I HAVE RETURNED! YET AGAIN! Missing April Fool's Day...again...Man I'm just lucky I don't have any real deadlines I gotta work with...Anywho, the story continues! So come along! Join Miss Nyx Cimmer and her gal pals of Team PANE as they take to the streets of Mantle in hopes of finding something nice for that certain crummy cougar in their life.
"I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that we're lost…"
"Don't be silly Nyx, we're not lost."
"Really now?" Nyx drawled out, tugging her scarf up in the hopes of keeping her face warm before huffing. "Well then navigator Mentha, how about you tell me where the heck are we?"
"Mantle." The peppy girl with a pair of perky puppy ears replied simply, humming softly as she and her batty buddies strolled along the back streets of said city. "Which is in Solitas, which is obviously underneath Atlas. Ergo, we know approximately exactly where we are."
"Alright smartypants...where in Mantle are we?"
"Not a clue."
Nyx could only cup her face and groan...at least the girl was honest...not that that made things any better. "So, again, we're lost..."
"We're not lost Nyx. We're exploring!" Sparing a glance over her shoulder, the happy huntress in training flashed a simple smile. "Think of it as an adventure, I just know we'll find something great!"
"My money's on frostbite..."
"If the sound's anything to go off of, we're approaching the city's mining district…" Anti chimed in softly, her ears flicking slightly atop her head...one of her minute tells of discomfort.
"Oh great, so we're leaving the slums and heading into the super slums...lovely…" With a huff, Nyx kicked a small chunk of stone down the road. "I really hate this city…"
"Yes, you've made that quite clear several times already cousin."
"Well excuuuuuuuuuuuuse me, but I can't help it! This dump is the worst!"
Judging by the sigh that followed, Anti knew better than to challenge her...but Eon was unfortunately not so weak willed. "Nyx...c'mon...it's just a little shopping, it's not that bad…"
"We could've done that in Atlas!"
"You hate shopping in Atlas though Nyx..." Anti replied with a flat tone and brief glance.
Darn her cousin and her logic! "Yeah well...we could've just ordered something online! Heck we just got done working as delivery girls! Why didn't we just get them to deliver us something asap?"
"While it would be nice to see our friends again so soon...Shopping online is just…" Eon trailed off before sighing. "It's just...so impersonal…"
"And I really doubt Mr. Howl or the Lepus cousins would be able to get anything to us on such short notice." Anti chimed in softly.
"Exactly. And while I'm sure Blizzard and Ava would love to make us eat those words, we're already down here so we may as well keep moving forward!"
"Booooo…"
"Plus we're in another kingdom, a completely different continent! We should be trying to take in as much of the sights as we can."
"Oh and what a sight...boarded up buildings, graffiti, trash everywhere...and the smell! Boy oh boy…I can't wait to tell Ma and everyone back at Haven about this place…"
"You're laying it on quite thick aren't you cousin?"
"Hey it's not my fault this place sucks!" The tiny, fanged fem groaned, kicking a loose piece of rubble down the road before wrapping her arms around herself, desperately trying to preserve body heat. "It's so stupid and ugly and cold!
"Didn't you say the same thing about Atlas?"
"Yeah well it's true!" With another huff, the bat Faunus turned her eyes skyward, staring at the massive chunk of earth floating above them. "Atlas is boring! Everything's so white and shiny and new...but at the same time it's super ugly and has, like, zero character! Not to mention all the rich racist fancy shmancy schmucks stinking up the joint...Meanwhile this dump's dirty, ugly, and somehow it's even colder! It's like two fucking polar opposites!"
"Cold air sinks Nyx…"
Eon gave a simple nod of agreement in response to Anti's comment, before speaking up once again herself. "And looks aside, this is the home of several of our friends...so please stop badmouthing it."
"Oh c...The city doesn't have feelings!" Coming upon the same chunk of stone, Nyx gave it another kick, huffing as the thing bounced further down the road.
"No, but the people that call it home certainly do…I know Snow and Ginger don't like it when people insult this city. Not to mention Miss Spell and everyone back at the courier company." Eon spared a brief glance back as Nyx blew a quick raspberry. "And what about you Nyx? You visit the local blood bank fairly often don't you? How do you think the employees there would feel if they heard you insulting everything about their home?"
"Pretty sure as long as I'm either giving or taking blood, Izzy and everyone else don't really care..."
"Just because someone doesn't outright express their feelings doesn't mean that they're not uncomfortable…" The lankier bat chimed in, giving her...vertically challenged cousin a flat look and receiving a pout in response.
"Whatever…I'll keep my totally right feelings about this d...g…c...city." Nyx hissed out the words and batted her favorite kicking stone once more. "To myself."
"Thank you Nyx."
"Yeah whatever...Why the heck are we going through all this again?"
"Because we missed Feli's birthday Nyx, you know that."
"Yeah, well it's not our fault no one told us!" What, were they just expected to know when everyone's birthdays were? Heck, Percy apparently knew, and it wasn't like she said anything! Though she and Felinus obviously didn't get along, so that was kinda understandable.
"Maybe not, but we do know now. And getting him something nice is the least we could do."
"Why though? We don't owe that puma punk anything! Especially not after he snuck into our room!"
"Because despite his...quirks...Felinus is our friend." Eon answered simply with a shrug.
"You mean he's a friend of a friend..." Nyx grumbled, shoving her hands into her pockets as she trudged along after the taller two, eyes locked firmly on her rocky target.
"Well...I suppose you could put it that way….Though I like to think that we're all friends…and he was at least nice enough not to get you into trouble for going into the men's restroom."
"Plus he left you that body pillow." Anti muttered under her breath before sidestepping Nyx's next kicked stone without even breaking her stride.
"So...again...I'd like to think we're all friends here." Letting out a sigh, Eon allowed her ears to droop as she focused her attention forward. "It's not like we have all that many..."
The little vampire immediately bristled at that. "What are you talking about?! We got plenty of friends! Don't tell me you forgot about Kas, Rita, Del, and everyone else back in Mistral!"
"Of course I haven't Nyx..." The coyote sighed as she spared her small friend a sideways glance. "But here in Atlas? We don't exactly have all that many friends...and I don't want to upset or lose the few we do have…"
Oh come on...why was everyone playing with her emotions today?! Why couldn't she just be allowed to be pissy? Ginger had to go all...orphan sob story...Hade had to be a cuddly puppy...now Eon had to play the lonely card too?! WHY?! It wasn't fair! They were all awesome, and they could do SO much better for friends…even if Solitas was a stupid ice ball mostly populated by stupid racists...Besides, they even had other friends! Or...people that weren't incredibly awful...like the folks at the courier company...and Eon's boss...and Izzy and her kids off at the blood bank...and...and...dammit...now she was getting sappy too!
"FINE!" Nyx suddenly yelled, her cousin and friend jumping in surprise before relaxing as the smaller girl suddenly pulled her leg bag before swinging it forward, kicking her stone with a MASSIVE amount of force. "We'll get the stupid cat his stupid p-"
The trio simultaneously flinched, their eyes shooting forward as the sound of a sharp crack filled the air followed by a meaty thud...coming from the very same direction Nyx had punted her stone...and judging by the unmoving and vaguely humanoid shaped form laying in the middle of the sidewalk...there was a very strong possibility that that stone had just nailed a poor random bystander.
"FUCK!" Hissing to herself, Nyx dashed forward, her body deconstructing into a dark misty fog before reforming beside the unfortunate victim of her attempt to vent her frustration. "Hey are you al-'' The little Huntress in training choked and recoiled as she took in the crumpled form...they were so...so small...Had...had she just hit a child? Oh no...fuck...fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck….oh this was bad…
No.
Calm down.
Don't lose your cool. Medics need to keep calm. Focus on the patient now, break down later. Inhaling deeply, Nyx clenched every bit of her body that she could before exhaling, forcing herself to relax and filing away her anger, sadness, frustration, and all the other unnecessary emotions for later as she slipped into her medical professional mode, scanning her unfortunate victim critically.
"Hey, can you hear me?" She asked loudly and firmly, immediately sliding her backpack off and as the crumpled form let out a weak groan. "Okay, I'm going to take that as a yes. Now I need you to stay calm and try not to move too much."
Taking the following groan as another sign of understanding, Nyx's eyes started working up and down the bundled up body. They had on a heavy winter puffer jacket...may have cushioned the impact of the stone or at least the fall even if only slightly...There was no clear exit wound, so either she hadn't kicked as hard as she thought, or the stone was lodged in the kids body...though seeing as she could neither see nor smell any blood…(Hard to pick up anything other than the oddly powerful stench of tobacco...dumb kid, didn't they know smoking was bad for them?)...No blood meant that a puncture wound or a cut were unlikely as well...that said, they may have a concussion or a fracture depending on where they were hit and how they landed.
"Ughhh…"
Nyx blinked again, jumping as the small figure started to move again. "Hey! Hey hey hey, easy. I told you not to move!" Her response was little more than another groan as her victim (A boy? Likely, given the the deeper voice) moved a hand around, patting the sidewalk as if trying to find something. "You hear me? Hey!"
"Shut it." Nyx squeaked, recoiling from the sudden deep voice from the small form...had...well...either she'd hit the kid in the throat...or more likely…Phasing back a bit and landing on her feet, Nyx frowned, her red eyes locking onto the dull green globes of the foul smelling chocolate skinned boy...who actually appeared to be a foul smelling, chocolate skinned MAN...an unusually small chocolate skinned man...who smelled bad...
"Nyx." With another squeak, the bat in question whirled around, finding her cousin and teammate standing side by side, an unamused look on Anti's face while Eon held her scroll in her hand, clearly ready to call for a team of medical responders.
"Is he okay?"
"Define okay." The deep voice brought Nyx's attention back to her unfortunate victim, the small man now on his hands and knees, one hand caressing his face as he let out another groan. "Fucking….hell...what...did someone shoot me again?"
"Again?"
The Huntress trio's simultaneous voice earned a brief snort of either amusement or annoyance from the small stranger, his eyes clenched shut as he continued to cup his forehead with one hand while the other blindly patted around on the ground beneath him. "That's gonna leave one helluva mark…"
"Do...you need help sir?" Eon asked softly, her hand still clutching her scroll, ready to call for help at a moment's notice.
"I'm good…Just...need a sec..." Letting out a groan of annoyance, the man arched his head towards the trio. "So...any of you girls wanna tell me what the hell hit me?"
Nyx squeaked, before coughing into her hand as she grabbed her bag off the street. "Oh uh...you...uh...you just…" Got nailed at mach something or another by a rock? Kicked by an angry Huntress? Who just so happened to be a Faunus? Yeah, that'd go over great...how was she supposed to spin this? Play dumb? Blame someone else? Write it off as a chunk of Atlas falling?
"It was a stone." Nyx squeaked as she whirled around, eyes wide as she looked to her taller cousin, only to shrink in on herself as Anti glared at her and just...radiated disappointment...
"Ah...That'd do it…" Grumbling under his breath, the man let out a brief sound of triumph before rolling off of his knees, landing on his ass with a sigh as he lowered his hand revealing...nothing...well, aside from some swelling. "Nothing like a fucking goose egg on your forehead…" He grumbled, bringing up the hand that had been pawing at the ground revealing a bent smoldering cigarette in his palm. After a brief scan, the man shrugged, blew over it, and just went right ahead and wrapped his lips around the disgusting thing, his eyes shutting once more as he took a long drag from the dirty cancer stick, ignoring the judgmental looks of disgust from the Faunus trio.
"Sir, are you feeling okay?" Eon asked softly, finally succeeding in getting the man to open his eyes again, his green globes giving her the briefest disinterested glance, before his head suddenly whipped towards her, eyes wide with confusion as he looked the confused canine up and down as if he was staring at a ghost. "Sir?"
Blinking again, the man jumped a bit before nodding. "Wh, yeah. Yeah I'm fine just...a little dazed is all...nothing to worry about..."
"Are you sure? We can call an ambulance."
"I'm good."
"Are you positive? Do you have any blurry vision? Hear any ringing? Any..." Eon looked towards Nyx, clearly hoping that the resident medic would have some insight...but as Nyx remained tight lipped, Eon grasped at straws. "Any...other symptoms? Do you know where you are?"
"Yes, No, No, No, Mantle." The man grumbled, closing an eye and rubbing his head with one hand, his other eye stayed firmly locked on Eon as the kind coyote crouched down before him.
"Do you know what happened?"
"Not a clue." Taking a long drag from the cigarette as it came back to life, the miniscule man pushed himself to his feet, waving a hand vaguely towards Anti as she continued to hover over her cousin like an angry parent. "That said, Smoothie there mentioned a stone...so I'm pretty sure I know what happened." He muttered, focusing his green gaze on Nyx, the little vampire averting her eyes until his attention shifted back to her taller teammates. "And just so we don't beat around the bush anymore than we already have, I don't have a concussion kid."
"Are you sure? Visiting a doctor may be wise..."
"Oh trust me, I'd know..." That wasn't concerning in the slightest...though no more so than the comment about getting shot...still, Nyx kept quiet, not wanting to upset the man further...all things considered though, he seemed fine...surprisingly so…it was honestly a bit off concerning. He just had this...this...odd sort of air about him...and it wasn't just the choking scent of tobacco…Nor the fact that he was only slightly taller than her…he took that rock to the face and got up like it was nothing! Even his bruise wasn't that bad! That wasn't normal! And that crap about getting shot? Who the hell was he? A Huntsman? If so then why did he dress and smell like a hobo? Either ignorant to the girl's focused attention, or simply ignoring it, the dark skinned man took another drag from his cigarette, before nodding to the trio. "So...what's a couplea cute outta towners like you doing down here? Mantle ain't exactly a tourist hotspot...Most folks prefer the city in the clouds to the dirty crater beneath it."
"We're Huntresses actually. And we're here to do some shopping…" Anti muttered, earning a soft snort from the man. "We figured we might have better luck finding what we need here than we would in Atlas..."
"Better luck getting service you mean." The man muttered, his eyes scanning over each of the girls' Faunus traits before rolling his eyes. "Well you ain't exactly wrong there...so, what're ya looking for? Dust? Tools? Souvenirs?"
"Birthday gifts." Eon replied with a bashful smile. "We...were out on a training mission, and we unknowingly missed a friend's birthday…"
"Friend of a friend." Nyx grumbled.
"Friend. So we're hoping to pick up some belated gifts for him."
"Ah…" The man hummed, nodding his head simply before as he crossed his arms. "Good girls. Always nice to indulge a friend..." Nyx blinked as she noticed the man's eyes on her again, shifting uncomfortably as he took another drag from his crooked cigarette. "Doubly so when they're a friend of a friend...and even more so when they're a major pain in the ass. Ain't that right Squirt?"
The little bat blinked before bristling a bit at the nickname...though she forced herself to stay calm...wouldn't look good to assault the guy twice...Taking a deep breath, she offered the man a small smile before nodding back towards her gal pals. "R...right...so yeah, anyways...like the girls said, we got shopping to do...you gonna be good if we take off old man? We can call you a cab or something to get you home..."
There was a brief moment...a flash of annoyance on the small man's face, those dull green globes narrowing in an almost catlike manner, before he suddenly appeared in Nyx's face...far faster than he had any right to move, and far closer to the little huntress than he had any right to be. "Word of warning kid." He hissed, the rancid stench of cigarette smoke choking Nyx's senses as he blew a black cloud into her face. "Don't ever call me old."
And just like that, any prior shame or concern for the man was gone, much like how he too was gone a moment later, Nyx's blind groin kick missing its mark as Anti tugged her away while Eon stepped between the two half pints. "Sir please, I know you were just...hurt...but there's no reason to resort to violence." The normally calm and friendly coyote Faunus asked muttered stiffly with a frown, staring down the small man as he eyed them with that same bored expression.
"Who's resorting to violence?" With a snort, the man reclined back against the chipped brick wall of a blackened, burnt, and boarded up building behind him. "All I did was tell your little friend there not to call me old. She's the one that tried to kick me…" Bringing the battered cigarette back to his lip, the man closed his eyes and took one final drag, arching his head back and blowing out a ring of smoke. "Not to mention that whole punting a rock at me thing. Ya ask me, I'd say the squirt could use a serious attitude adjustment…" He suddenly flicked the bent butt forward, and as much as Nyx immediately hated herself for doing so...she flinched as the smoldering butt flew straight over her head, earning a snort of amusement from the man as he looked over the trio once more. "Course that wouldn't mean much coming from a guy like me, now would it?"
Nyx was practically seething...dumb smelly jerk, getting all up in her face, making her look dumb...throwing...flicking...literring at her! Who did he think he was?! Sure, she kicked a stone at him...but that was a total accident! She'd...well...she hadn't actually said she was sorry...but she tried taking care of him! That was as good as an apology! Even better! Probably…It didn't change the fact that the guy was a total jerk! Balling up her hands into two furious fists, she shot the smug short shit of a sir the hardest glare she could, silently weighing the pros and cons of kicking the shit out of the guy...A Huntress in training (three if the girls decided to join her) against one short stinky smoker? It'd be so unfair it wouldn't even be funny…even unarmed they could probably kick the guy's ass up and down the filthy Solitas streets...sure, they might get in some trouble for it...but the dude deserved it! And if he could take a stone to the face he could probably take a beating…probably...
Unfortunately, Eon would never resort to violence...not immediately anyways…And she made that quite clear as she gave the stranger a slow nod before shifting her stance slightly. "Nyx can be...abrasive at times...we're sorry about if she's upset you."
TRAITOR! Nyx felt her entire body bristle as her red eyes shot towards her frosty friend. "I'm not!"
"Myself and her cousin are sorry." Eon specified, and Anti (who also seemed to be in a particularly traitorous mood) had the nerve to nod silently in agreement! "And for what it's worth, I can tell that you're an incredibly sweet man sir."
"Ha!" Loathe as she was to admit it, Nyx and the man laughed simultaneously at Eon's nonsense. The man shaking his head back in amusement before wiping away an imaginary tear. "Good one kid...I needed a good laugh..." Chuckling to himself, the small man centered a lazy gaze on the uncomfortable canine. "Me, Sweet...That's real cute girly...sound just like…" The man trailed off, his lazy look sharpening a bit as he focused on Eon's face.
"What?" Pausing momentarily, Eon cupped her cheek. "Is there something on my face?" She turned slightly, focusing her attention on the ill matched cousins before eeping as the small man suddenly appeared beside her, eyeing her up and down before slowly starting to circle her, seemingly unconcerned about the girl's growing discomfort. "S...sir?"
The stranger responded with little more than a soft hum, continuing to circle the girl all the while ignoring her batty buddies. "Y'know...at first I thought I was just dreaming...but now that I really get a good look at you…you're even more alike than I thought..."
"C-come again sir?"
"Nothing...nothing…" The man hummed, coming to a stop between the coyote and the chiroptera cousins, closing his eyes as a thoughtful look worked over his disinterested face. "Probably nothing...you have a family there doggo?"
"I...y-yes? I have an aunt and uncle...and a cousin…back in Mistral..." Eon muttered, turning to face the man before squeaking as he suddenly squatted down in front of her, eyeing her legs critically...like sorta weirdo...or creep...creepy weirdo.
"Any serious family health problems?"
"Er...other than needing glasses...no? None that I know of...Why?"
"Semblance?"
"I…" Eon's words were suddenly cut off with a squeak as the man suddenly reached forward, cupping and squeezing her right calf with one hand while the other lifted up her pant leg, exposing more and more skin to the cold Mantle air as his hands traveled further and further up her leg. "SIR!" In a flash, Eon's aura was active, a blue hue coating her body as she tore her leg free and moved away from the man...not that it was all that necessary, as both Cimmer cousins had moved to her aid. In a flash Anti had torn the small stranger away from her teammate, twisting his arm behind his back with one hand while her other gripped the man's chin, tugging his head back and exposing his throat. An exposure that Nyx saw fit to capitalize on, immediately phasing into place and pressing an empty syringe towards the smelly man's throat.
"That's quite enough sir." Anti muttered.
"Yeah! You think you can just feel up our girl Eon like that?!" Nyx hissed, her makeshift weapon of choice against the man's flesh.
"Eon huh…" The man muttered dryly, shifting his eyes towards the confused coyote as she stood off to the side. "Last name?"
"Hey hey hey!" Nyx hissed, pressing the needle against the man's throat as her cousin tightened her grip on him. "Don't ignore us ya jerk! And leave her outta this! In case you haven't noticed, you're not in a position to be asking questions!"
"I've been in worse."
"Good for you ya creep…" Nyx grumbled in annoyance before pressing forward again. "Now talk! Why're ya skeeving on our girl? What's with all the creepy questions? You some kinda perv or something? Please say yes, I'm having a real shitty day, and beating a pervert to a pulp would really help brighten things up..."
"Picking on a poor old man? Have you no shame?"
"Sh-P...You just got done bitching about ME calling you old!"
"Did I? I must've forgotten...being old does that to you..."
"Senile ol-"
"Can we please stop with the eccentricities?" Anti huffed, tugging the man's head back. "Nyx, put the needle down, and sir, just answer the question. Please."
"Jeez, twist my arm why don'tcha…" The man immediately groaned as the young woman did as he'd instructed, much to her cousin's amusement.
"Okay Anti I think he's had enough." Suddenly, three pairs of eyes shifted over towards Eon, the frosty fisher frowning towards her teammate. "You can let him go now."
"What?!" Nyx squeaked, whirling towards her teammate. "But he-"
"Didn't do anything worthy of physical harm. And despite your attempts, he clearly isn't talking...And I sincerely doubt pressuring him or using force is going to get us anywhere." Focusing her attention back on the small man, Eon took a deep breath before smiling and offering a hand. "Eon Mentha, Huntress in training and member of Mistral Academy's Team PANE. It's a pleasure to meet you sir."
After a beat of silence, the man let out a soft hum. "Mentha huh..." Humming to himself, the man gave a simple nod before swinging his free hand forward, clapping it against Eon's before giving the girl's larger hand a surprisingly firm and strong shake. "Call me T. Nice to meet you Fishstick."
"Fishstick?" Eon squeaked in confusion, immediately recoiling and cupping a hand to her face as she attempted to check her breath.
"You want us to call you T?" Nyx muttered, receiving a simple nod from the miniscule man as he used his free hand to pluck his cigarette from his lips. "Are you serious?"
"Yup."
"I take it T is short for something?" Anti muttered, finally releasing her grip on the man's arm before stepping around him to offer her own hand. "Antigone Cimmer."
"But folks tend to just call you Anti." The man, T, muttered dryly before chuckling as he clasped her hand and gave her a shake. "And you got it in one Smoothie."
"Smoothie?" Anti blinked, equally confused as to the sudden nickname tossed her way…
"Smoothie." The man muttered simply, before pointing towards the flustered mess formerly known as Eon Mentha. "Fishstick." He then directed a finger towards Nyx, practically tickling her nose with it. "Squirt."
"Sq-FUCK YOU!"
"Sorry to disappoint kid, but I ain't into minors." Retracting his finger before Nyx could bite it off, T popped his hands into his jacket pockets. "Sides, it was either that, Pancake, or Strawberry Shortcake. Pick your poison."
"How about none of the above?!"
"Blood Pudding? Nah that's too long...mmmmm...know what, I'll just call you Pud'n for short."
Oh...oh she was going to kill this man...Nyx shuddered, her body starting to smoke involuntarily as she fought a losing battle to suppress the growing urge to throttle the stupid smoker...luckily though, Eon was on point, bringing Nyx back to reality with a firm hand and a small supply of her calming semblance.
"Sir, with all due respect, can you please stop antagonizing my teammate?"
"Pretty sure Pud'n doesn't need much help in that regard."
"Well you're not exactly wrong there." Anti muttered, ignoring her cousin's squawk of anger before continuing: "That said, you've yet to tell us your name...or tell us why exactly you're so interested in our teammate..."
"Let's just say my name's trouble and leave it at that." The man muttered, snorting briefly to himself as he rolled his eyes. "As for your other question…" T trailed off, pulling back his jacket with one hand and reaching into it with the other, in a way that Nyx absolutely REFUSED to believe was anything other than a way to put her and her teammates on edge...especially when she saw the way the slight upturn in the man's lip when all three girls' bodies lit up with their auras...only to grow as the light show faded when he simply produced a cigarette pack. "Let's just say Fishstick reminds me of a certain someone I know..."
"I...I do?"
"Oh yeah, spitting image if I ever saw one…minus a couplea things here and there..." Taking a moment to look the coyote Faunus up and down, the man simply closed his eyes before idly tapping his pack against his palm a few times. "Plus, minus...whatever you wanna call it..."
"Do you mind if I ask who?"
"Not anyone you'd know." T muttered softly before simply shrugging. "And I wouldn't worry about it...it's nothing...probably nothing…maybe hit up a doctor and get some blood tests and x-rays done though...just to be safe..."
"Y'know you're really selling that creep angle there bud." Nyx grumbled, crossing her arms as she gave the man an annoyed look, sparing a brief look towards Eon as her flow of aura slowed to a stop and she eyed the man with a look of concern.
"Guilty as charged." The man shrugged before popping open his pack and pointing it towards Nyx. "Meanwhile you're doing a good job playing the part of the annoying little shit. So I guess we all play our roles fairly well." Chuckling softly to himself, the man bit down on the end of one of his cancer sticks before tugging it out and hiding the pack back away within his jacket. "Anyhow...you kids said you had some shopping to do?"
"Oh! Yes, we have to get some gifts for our friend Felinus." Eon, replied with a bashful smile, her concern either fading or being filed away for later as her aura and cheery disposition returned.
"Ya know what you're gonna get the guy?" Cupping the end of his cigarette, T closed his eyes, a faint glow appearing in his palm as the end was lit.
"Well...no...not really…" With a sigh, the fisher stroked her neck before shrugging uselessly. "Aside from maybe some fish, the only other lead we had was his friend suggesting we get him some cooking supplies and maybe a box of Pumpkin Pete's...that's all we really had to go off of though…"
"Wow, fish and cereal. What a winning combination."
"Yeah…" Eon muttered, her ears lowering along with her aura. "We...don't really know that much about him...we're not the best of friends…"
"Certainly sounds it." Nyx growled as the man took a long drag from his cigarette...where did he get off?! Unfortunately the dark skinned shortie ignored her glare, leaning his head back and blowing out a ring of smoke before humming. "Still, maybe this black cat has a little luck to spare for a couple of desperate dames."
"Aren't black cats supposed to be bad luck?" Nyx asked dryly as she placed her hands on her hips.
"That's a matter of perspective." The man replied simply before shrugging. "Though to be fair, I never did say what kinda luck it'd be." Lowering his head, he gave the trio a half lidded smirk. "Sides...when it comes to finding a special little something for that favorite pain in your ass…A bit of shit luck might be just what you need..."
The girls blinked, seemingly caught off guard by the small stranger's sudden proposal. Looking amongst themselves before Eon saw fit to speak up. "Not to sound ungrateful Mist-"
"I told you to call me T Fishstick." The man grumbled simply closing his eyes as he ducked his left hand into his pocket and pointed his smoking cigarette towards the confused coyote with the other. "T. You can call me Sir if you want, but none of that Mister crap, alright? It's T. JUST, T." The man stated firmly but simply, returning his cancer stick to his lips before taking another long drag.
"Lemme guess. You pity the fool who calls you Mister T?" Nyx snickered to herself, only for it to slowly die off as a dark look formed on the man's face, smoke slowly escaping from his nostrils like some ancient dragon.
"No. I pity the corpses of the fools that call me that." The man growled as he turned a half lidded gaze towards Nyx, a surprising fire burning in those green globes of his.
"Okay...T…" Eon started softly, shifting her feet a bit as the man's attention turned to her. "Not to be rude...but...why is it you want to help us out exactly?"
"Why indeed…" The man grumbled under his breath before shrugging. "Let's just chalk it up to some good ol catty curiosity…I got nothing going on right now, sides, I wanna learn a bit more about what kinda girls the cat and the brats conned into being their friends…"
"Cat and the…Wait, are you...do you know Felinus? Team RFGH?"
"Unfortunately..." Grumbling to himself, T took another long drag from his cigarette before blowing out another ring of smoke. "Believe it or not, me and those little shits go way back...And I gotta say, you girls could do waaaaaay better…"
"SEE?! Even this dick of a dude agrees!"
The miniscule man let out an amused snort, smirking ever so slightly as he plucked his cigarette from his lips, tapping away some ash on the end. "That said, I gotta give you girls props, those four fucks aint the easiest to get along with...and seeing as you're going the extra mile to actually entertain the punk of a puma...I thought I might offer you a little help finding the guy a nice belated birthday gift…Lucky you, eh?" Puffing up his chest, the small man sauntered forward, passing between Nyx and Eon before making his way down one of Mantle's back alleys. "Come along then ladies, we got shopping to do."
He didn't even bother waiting, simply marching along like he expected them to follow...how dumb did he think they were? Following some creep down a smelly dark alley? After he'd already skeeved on Eon? Called them those dumb nicknames? Wouldn't even tell them his name? Why wou-Aaaaaaaaand Eon and Anti were following the deranged deadbeat….
"HEY! Where are you girls going?!" Nyx squeaked, only to receive a pair of confused looks from her teammates.
"We're following T." Anti muttered simply, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world before continuing on her way.
Eon at least had the decency to stop, but she wasn't much better. "Yeah, I...thought that was obvious."
"He was feeling up your leg a minute ago!" Nyx screeched in frustration, waving her hands about wildly as she stared at the taller fisher. "Why would you follow him down a dark alley?!" Seriously! What was wrong with everyone today?!
"He says he knows Felinus...and that he's gonna help us find him some presents...why wouldn't we follow him?"
"Anyone can say they know someone! What, you gonna believe me if I say I'm a White Fang Lieutenant? Or that I'm on the SDC board of directors?"
"Wouldn't those be mutually exclusive?"
"That's not the point! We don't know this guy! He could be taking us somewhere to be jumped!"
"Why would he want to do that exactly?"
"Cause he's an asshole!"
"Yo Fishstick! Pud'n! Pick up the pace! My little sister walks faster than you, and she's in a wheelchair!"
What. The. Fuck. Whirling towards the direction the apathetic asshole had gone, Nyx found herself...just...at a loss for words...what do you even say to something like that? Surely the girls would think twice now...right….right…?
Wrong. "Coming T!" Eon called cheerfully, a warm aura coated hand stroking over Nyx's head. "Come on, you gotta admit you're curious about him too." Eon giggled as she hurried after Anti and the apathetic asshole enigma that was...T.
Curious? Yeah, sure, about as morbidly curious as she was to learn first hand what getting mauled by a Sabyr or hit by a car was like…why was she here again? To buy gifts for a dickhead she had a vaguely miniscule amount of sympathy for? And now she was supposed to follow some super short super skeevy super creep who knows where? Screw that…
With a huff, Nyx turned her back on the retreating forms of her traitorous teammates and Mister 'I Pity The Corpses' T. Let em waste their time with that dickish deadbeat...follow him wherever and get in whatever stupid trouble they wanted...she'd just go back to their dorm room and face whatever prank comeuppance Feli had in store for her...maybe she'd even play it off as that being her present to the dumb cat, seeing as he loved pranks so much. Of course she'd be sure to give it back twice as bad….that'd teach the punk...and when the girls inevitably needed a rescue, she'd rally the troops (Percy...and probably Team RFGH for letting Felinus cause the whole shit show) before coming down and putting that little punk in his place.
Good plan Nyx. Mentally patting herself on the back, Nyx fished her scroll out of her pocket, only to choke in surprise when she saw her battery charge in the single digits...she...she'd charged her scroll last night! She knew she had! So why was it nearly dead?! Sure, she'd been fooling around on it a bit earlier, but...it shouldn't be this drained! Fuck. Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck….Oh man, she needed her scroll! How was she supposed to get back to the school without her GPS?!
Yeah, sure, it was pretty obvious where Atlas was...Hard to miss the city built on a giant rock floating precariously above you. And the academy wouldn't be that hard to find either. But the problem was going to be actually GETTING back up onto the stupid rock the city and academy were built upon...how the hell was she supposed to find an Air Bus terminal without her scroll to give her directions?! She was a Huntress not a Pathfinder!
Okay, okay, calm down...just...open up the map, and mem- "FUCK!" Jumping as her scroll's precious percent ticked down, the little bat whirled around, centering herself before taking a step forward. "Okay, gotta hurAGH!"
Nyx's voice and thoughts came to a sudden, choking, screeching, and honking stop as she stepped into the road...Right in front of a speeding SDC Mining transport truck.
And just like that, the story has become an Isekai! Who'd've thunk it?! Well, hopefully Nyx finally gets to relax a bit in the next world...or if nothing else, maybe she'll find a nice gift for Felinus...maybe...possibly...hopefully...but probably not...Wonder if T'll take Nyx's space with her...indisposed...They could be team PEAT! That name at least alludes more to some form of color more than PANE does...