Matthias pulled himself into his work uniform. He and Lukas had a job across town to investigate a strange thumping in the basement of an apartment building. Grabbing his hunter's gear from the closet, the tall blonde called down the hall to his partner. "Lukas, you ready? We've got to be there in a half hour."
Lukas walked out into the hall with his gear in hand. His nonchalant gaze fell on Matthias and he raised an eyebrow. His eyes flicked to the kitchen. He nodded to what he saw there. "Troll is going to go with us," the Norwegian said shortly.
Matthias nodded. His ever present goofy grin widened. "Just means we get more help! But, this time please tell me if I'm punching Troll or the monster we're hunting. He almost killed me last time…" he said, just a little too enthusiastic for Lukas's taste.
"Go get in the van, idiot."
Matthias hurried of to load his gear and his partner's into their "Monster Van", as he called it. In reality it was a large white van with the pair's logo, a troll with a banner over it saying "L. M. Monster Hunting Services", on it. He started the vehicle as Lukas trudged down the stairs with a thermos of coffee in his hand.
Lukas plopped down in his seat and buckled his seatbelt. Matthias reversed the van out into the street and took off towards their job site. As the Dane drove through town he felt hot breath ruffle his hair. He smirked. "Hello, Troll," Matthias hummed. Just because he couldn't see the creatures doesn't mean he couldn't be affected by them. He could affect them just as much as they affected him.
No, Matthias couldn't see or hear the things that Lukas could, but he could see, hear, and feel what those things did to other things. Like the strangely affectionate troll breathing down his neck. He could definitely feel that.
He parked the van on the side of the road in front of the average size apartment building. He hopped out of the vehicle and swung open the rear doors of the van. He stepped to the side to allow Troll to get out. After the creature had moved himself out of the way, Matthias leaned forward to grab his and Lukas's gear. He handed the smaller blonde his light gear and shrugged his own gear on.
Lukas reached the brick building first. He pulled open the door for Matthias and Troll. Matthias thanked his friend louder than needed. The taller blonde assumed Troll had done the same. Lukas kept a frown on his face.
Matthias grinned down at his partner. "The manager said he was in 2B, right?" he asked. Lukas nodded.
"That's upstairs, right?"
Lukas nodded again.
Matthias pulled Lukas up the flight of stairs by his wrist. Lukas glared up at his partner when they reached the top.
"You can let go of my wrist, moron," Lukas snapped. Matthias laughed nervously and pulled his hand away with an apology. Lukas continued to glare at him as he walked to the apartment manager's home.
Matthias caught up with him as Lukas knocked. After a few moments a tan brunette man opened the door. He slipped out into the hall. "Hola! I'm guessing you two are the monster hunters I called?" Lukas nodded. "Oh, good! You see, I called a plumber and he checked the pipes, but there was nothing wrong. And I called someone to check the beams, again, nothing wrong! It seems nothing is wrong, but the thumping sound is still there! You guys will help me?"
Matthias grinned. "Yeah, we'll help, that's why we're here," he said to the manager. "By the way, this is Lukas, I'm Matthias," he added to introduce himself. Matthias held out his hand.
"I am Antonio," said the manager, shaking Matthias's hand. "The noise usually starts around ten o'clock, so you'll probably want to go down to the basement soon," he said.
Matthias agreed and asked if Antonio could take them down to the basement. The manager was about to lead the pair downstairs when a boy who looked about six or seven shot out of his apartment and latched onto his leg, crying all the while. "Uncle Toni," he wailed "Lovi is being mean again!"
"My apologies, but I have to take care of my nephews," Antonio said hurriedly, hugging the child that he picked up off his leg. He strode back into his apartment. Matthias looked at Lukas. Lovi was a nickname for one of Lukas's little brother's friends.
After some yelling, an auburn haired teen stormed out of the apartment spewing curses and venomous phrases. He turned back towards the apartment. "I'm going to Emil's, bastard!" he shouted back to his uncle. He moved to storm down the stairs, but slammed into Lukas.
"Hey! Watch where you're- Oh, hey Lukas. What are you doing here? And why is this idiot with you?" Lovi asked the short blonde.
"Your uncle called us for a job," Lukas replied. "Have fun with Emil, Lovino."
Lovino muttered a quick 'Whatever' and hurried of to his car. Antonio reentered the hallway, sighing and shaking his head. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a loud thump. Lukas thought he heard a crackling, high pitched laughter.
Antonio motioned for Matthias and Lukas to follow him. He led them down to a nondescript door. He opened the door and moved to turn on the lights. Lukas moved Antonio's arm away from the light switch. "Whatever's down there will expect something if the lights are on," Matthias explained.
"Oh, okay, but it's extremely dark downstairs," Antonio cautioned.
Lukas pointed to their flashlights. "You can go back to your nephew, we can handle everything," Matthias said. Antonio nodded and walked back upstairs.
Matthias looked at his partner, then at the basement steps. He grinned. He gestured for Lukas to go ahead of him. "Ladies first."
Lukas glared at Matthias. "Better get your ass moving, then."
Matthias laughed, but went downstairs first. Lukas made a warning noise as his partner reached the bottom. The taller blonde turned to look at him with a hum. Just as Lukas opened his mouth to utter another warning, a small horde of imps leapt onto Matthias and pulled him away.
Lukas shot down the stairs, following the high pitched giggling of the imps. He could feel Troll right behind him. He had to find Matthias. Alone, the Dane was nothing to magical creatures, he couldn't see them.
The Norwegian skidded around a corner to see a ring of about ten imps around Matthias. Troll lumbered up to the ring and picked up the Danish man and put down him by Lukas. The imps scattered and hid wherever they could. This was going to be quite the hunt.