Blood of the Devil (Tinder and Yuuki_Tatsunohi)

Nike​

Nike got out of the car. "If anyone's gonna stand out here, it's gonna be you. You're only lucky that Milton is willing to put up with you acting like a weirdo or you'd probably be found already."

She made a point to check that her tail had been tucked away in her shorts. After the angel got snippy with her, she'd hate to get spotted for something as stupid as that. She straightened her clothes after, doing her best to own the odd style. Retro wasn't unheard of as a fashion statement, so no one would be bothered by her. At worst someone would call her a hipster. She frowned a bit at that thought. Better than being called a thug, she supposed.

She kept in step with the angel, enjoying the semi-lively surroundings. It was nothing compared to the big city, but any place was better than the nothing by the cabin. "I made up a list in my head so we can actually get some worthwhile food at the house. I'm going to assume you can't cook since you don't understand how basic refrigeration works, so we'll stick to simple stuff I know how to make. It won't be as impressive as Milton, but I'm not living on cotton candy for however long I'm stuck with you." She grabbed a cart as they walked inside. "First up is fruit and veggies. Remember, this stuff doesn't keep for long, so we're only grabbing what we can eat within a week or less. More than that and we risk stuff going moldy. The only exceptions are root vegetables. Those will keep long enough, so a bag of potatoes will be good for long term food. Maybe sweet potatoes. I think I remember how to make fries out of those."

She grabbed a five pound bag to start things off and put it in the cart. Her attention turned to the angel. "Have you ever tried any of this stuff or should I just pick out whatever I like to eat?"

Zien​

Zien nodded approvingly. Diana was taking this seriously and that was a good sign in itself. She didn't have to break any records today, only show him she was willing to push herself to reach where she needed to be. That required inner strength and motivation. No amount of pressure from him going to turn her in an agent.

"Good, let's go."

It was a short drive to the athletic center and he ensured they had a private room to begin. There was no need to embarrass her in front of a crowd. That would be terrible for her morale when she needed to be focusing on her own limits and goals to set.

"Start with warm ups. Do whatever stretches you would normally do, and if you're unsure, you can follow after me." He began with his neck, rolling it in circles to loosen the muscles there. It had been a while since he had done a proper workout, so today would do him some good. He could use it after watching them wheel his old mentor to the morgue in a body bag. It had awoken old memories he didn't care to revisit. He'd buried those memories with training back then. He could do it again.

"Have you had any martial arts training?" He transitioned into shoulders circles.
 
Simon​
Simon ignored her retort, alarming the car once she had closed the door. Instantly he was on high alert, eyes scanning through the residents going about their day. He watched to see if anyone noticed him and to see if anyone didn't. He watched if others paid attention to the inconsistencies in how he was seen. If one person could see him and the other could not it would only be a matter of time before a Hunter comes rushing over. They passed through the automatic doors with no trouble and Simon took a deep breath. He remained on alert, especially now that the two of them were in an enclosed space, not to mention there was no way to know how careful this girl would be.

She grabbed a cart before he could say anything, listing off things needed to buy as well as making jabs at his cooking ability. He crossed his arms as she nagged him about nutrition and how to store food. He half wanted to interrupt her and tell her he knew how to store food right! That was what the freezer was for.

Simon stared at the bag she plopped in the cart. "That is literally dirt," he said, pointing at the oblong-shaped brown things. "How on earth do you plan to eat dirt?" He glanced around, then grabbed a package of donuts from the bakery. "This is food and it looks like food. While that—" he made a face at the bag she picked out "—looks like dirt."

He plopped the donuts onto the cart, giving her a triumphant smirk before marching down another aisle and pulling out a few bags of chips. He specifically chose brightly colored bags, not caring if the flavors were spicy, salty, or some other odd flavor created by the manufacturer. Human food was always so bright and colorful and full of flavor. So unlike the rations back home which were bland and often hard as a rock.

After dumping a few packages of cookies, he strode towards the frozen aisle. "All we need now is sweet cold cream stuff and then we're done here."

Diana​
In no time they were at the training center, taking a private room reserved for them. Zien began to stretch, and Diana followed suit, stretching her legs behind her. She felt like she was in her gym classes back at school, those five-minute warmups her teacher made them all do before whatever physical activity was planned for the day. She hoped they wouldn't be doing anything like the mile run. She hated those.

"Not really," she replied. After another moment, Diana imitated his arm circles. "Dad did once try to teach me how to disarm someone just in case, but he had me try to learn a defensive spell. Oh! One time Nike tried to teach me how to do a takedown. She said she used this all the time in her ring fi—" Diana shut her mouth. She was always so careful not to expose her sister's fighting ventures, especially to their dad. Anytime Xander and Nike fought, and it was often because of fighting, that often led to awkward chance encounters as well as Nike disappearing for a day or two without a word.

Did it matter anymore? Xander was dead and her sister's body was out there hosting some monster. Diana sighed.

"She once tried to teach me how to do a takedown. I ended up more on the ground than her." She smiled bitterly. "That's kinda it for any martial arts training."
 
Nike​

Nike watched the display and scoffed. "How the hell have you not died of scurvy? I've seen college students that eat better than you. You can get whatever you want, but I'm getting decent food and I'm not leaving until I've got plenty of it!"

She steered the cart back toward the fresh foods. First, she grabbed a bushel of apples followed by a cluster of bananas and a few mangos that were on sale. Vegetables she would get frozen to save on money and avoid them going bad before she could eat them. She needed some meat too. Protein would fill her up fast and make her less dependent on Milton's fish. Not that she disliked his fish, but she didn't want to rely on him for her whole stay with this angel. She chose sausage and chicken along with a few pre-breaded options that looked easy enough to make on her own. Then she returned to the aisles that Simon had rushed down and picked up some instant coffee, a bag of sugar and a few bundles of noodles. Other essentials like eggs and milk and butter and bread followed along with cheese. By the time she returned to the frozen foods, she had easily filled up half the cart with her own food and was much more satisfied with the haul.

Once the ice cream and her frozen veggies were in the cart, she turned toward the essentials area. "Now I just need to get shampoo and all that stuff. It's a pain having to buy it all new when I've got a ton of half-used back home, but I guess Xander is too busy to send it right now. We can go after this unless there's more unhealthy shit you want to get." She gave him an unimpressed look. "I've got no idea how you haven't landed in the hospital eating like this. You've been surviving off sugar and dairy from the looks of it. Any normal person eating like this would've ended up in the ER with stomach problems." She considered for moment. "Maybe I should get some laxatives to be safe."

Zien​

Oh. That was an interesting revelation. That could be a clue to where she could've gone if a demon was in control. Maybe she'd been possessed for a long time… No, Xander was too good for that. He would've noticed early on if anything had happened. But she might've gone back to her old haunts after the attack trying to find a safe space away from G.U.A.R.D.S. No one was going to say anything out there and she wouldn't look out of place if she had been there before.

That would have to wait until later.

"Good to know. I'll put that on the top of the list." He moved onto the next stretch. "Come on now. Let's get this finish and do some warmup cardio on the treadmill."

The initial results were about what he expected. Typical for high school student who hadn't done much outside of required classes. It was going to take time to build up her stamina and strength to get her to an acceptable performance level. He made notes on the paper he had kept out next to him: beginner judo, runs for endurance training, and weights for strength training. More specialized training to do with demons and angels and possessions would have to come after. It was going to be a long road ahead of them.

"Alright, take five. Get some water. I think I have an idea of where we need to begin." He picked up his own water and took a quick sip. "We're going to start with basic weight training today and tomorrow we'll get into judo. I want you to start running every morning. You can either choose to come here and do it or you can go somewhere around my apartment but only accompanied. Young women running alone are in danger from much more than just demons." He watched her in silence for a few moments. "Or, if this is already sounding too daunting, now is the time to tell me. We can place you in a foster house for a year until you're old enough to be on your own. You can focus on school and whatever future you'd like. What I'm asking you to do today is only the beginning. It's going to get harder from here."
 
Simon​
He glared at the demon as she took his cart away, going back to the section with the dirt-shaped ovals. Fine, she can eat those yucky-looking things for all he cared. If it also kept her quiet and out of his sight when they got back home, then all more for her. He perused through the doors until he came across a familiar mint green carton. Mint chocolate chip, as it was called. His favorite. He grabbed a carton, but then noticed a particularly colorful carton labeled 'sherbet.' It looked good so he grabbed that one too. Then he noticed another flavor. It wasn't as bright as the sherbet or in the color he usually liked to get, but the font on the package seemed to pop at him with the picture of tiny paw prints all over. 'Bear tracks' as it was called.

"The ice cream is going melt if you keep standing there."

Simon jumped, leaping back from the freezer which closed with a dull, but loud, thud. A worker raised one eyebrow at him.

"Get what you want when you know," he said. "We can't have those freezers overworking themselves here. Unlike others." He muttered the last part more to himself, pushing his cart full of new stock items. Simon didn't even hesitate; with the two cartons of ice cream already in his hands, he walked straight out of the frozen dairy section, crossing paths with Nike. He dumped the ice cream in the cart among the other items following her to another part of the store.

"I'm good," he replied shortly, ignoring her remark on his choices in food. His mind was still on his encounter with the worker. That was way too close. He was lucky enough the man could see him and even more lucky no one else was there other than him. The demon somehow managed to get by as well, especially with her full cart.

When she finished grabbing her items, he made his way toward the registers. He watched each open register; the cashiers were busy scanning the items of other shoppers, and another worker walked by with a can of peach halves. One cashier briefly glanced at him as she scanned each item of the current customer.

"That one," he murmured, jutting his chin in the cashier's direction. "She can see us."

Diana ​
Zien guided her toward one of the treadmills and had her do a few minutes of jogging with many pauses to catch her breath throughout. By the time Zien called to a stop, Diana could feel the sweat on the back of her neck, and she was visibly out of breath. While getting an A in Gym was the easiest thing in the world, she could hardly be considered athletic. She never was picked first for a team in any game, and she'd rather instead run in the background doing her best to avoid getting hit in the face. If Nike was on her team, Diana preferred to stick close to her sister for the best protection.

Diana wiped her brow, taking a large gulp from her water bottle. Her new teacher listed his plan for her and she made a face when he said she needed to start running in the morning every day.

Diana shook her head when he offered the alternative. She grit her teeth, angry at the implication she's not cut out for this. She has zero athletic ability, barely knows any spells, and couldn't even wield a weapon. She was far from an ideal candidate much less an apprentice. Her big show to become a hunter was something in the heat of the moment but goddammit she lost her family. She wanted to become a hunter, and she was going to be a hunter.

"I'll do my morning runs here," she said. She capped her water bottle. As much as it would be convenient to start her morning runs around the apartment, Zien had a point that running around a neighborhood she didn't know was too dangerous. For now, she could just take a bus to get here until she picks up a few fighting skills to protect her. "Let's do the weightlifting. Show me how to use the weights."
 
Nike

​
"No duh she can see us. Everyone can see us. What do you think you're wearing an invisibility cloak or did the old man also forget to explain how eyes work?" Nike huffed as she pushed the cart in the direction of the woman. She had no interest in fighting about it. She wanted to get their food and leave. Then they could get back to the cabin, get everything settled in the fridge, make some real food, and get back to ignoring the asshole. If only she could find a computer or a phone to take with her so she had anything to do there. Not that the cabin was going to have WIFI. She could download a few things before they left civilization, but only if the angel were willing to wait. Maybe Milton had a radio or something. Anything would be better than silence.

The checkout process went smoothly enough. She split their food and took care of her own purchases so the angle couldn't complain about her wasting money, and then she packed everything up as compactly as possible. It was surprisingly difficult. Had she lost that much muscle sitting around this last week?

"Pop the trunk," she called to the angel as they reached the car. She dropped the bags in and took the opportunity to stretch. It was only midmorning and yet she found herself starving. There had to be somewhere to get a quick bite before they left. A yummy smelled wafted her way. Was that fried chicken? No, spicier. Her eyes landed on a food cart on the corner selling what looked to be falafels. Her stomach growled. "Hey, before we go, we should grab some of that for the car. Falafel and hummus sound amazing right now."

Zien

​
Zien nodded. It was her choice, and so long as she was committed, he saw no reason not to move forward. "You're warmed up, so we can get right into it. Always warm up before lifting. That means stretches and light cardio. Your daily jog should suffice." He led her over to the weights. "The point of weight training is finding the right edge to grow without injury. Your first priority is good form. You will not start adding weight until you prove that your form is impeccable. Once you know what your form ought to look like, we will find a set of weights that challenges you, but not so much that you risk straining your muscles. We want to maximize your reps, not the weight. Shortcuts will land you on bedrest for a week and that will put your training at risk. Don't be dumb and try to rush. You wouldn't be the first person who's career ended prematurely.

He'd seen too many promising recruits thrown out of the program after failing their physicals. Diana would not go the same way if he had anything to say about it. That drive she had…it reminded him too much of the child he had been when Xander picked him up. There could be something brilliant there if he nurtured it. He owed Xander that much.

"Form first. The most important element of this is a strong core. If you can't keep your ab muscles firm, you'll risk hurting your back." He located a pair of lighter hand weights. "You admitted you haven't done much exercising before. Have you done any core strengthening work like yoga?"
 
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