Creature City

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Cecilia's face was rapt and she grinned as Jet told her tale – all she knew of adventure were those precious, blurred memories of her time as a very small child. Beneath her many layers of thick furs, her heartbeat elevated as she imagined what it must be like to run wild through the woods at night and catch thieves like the heroes in the books she was read years ago.
"What happened?"
 
"Yeah, a room." Abner says, rubbing his tired eyes and leaning against the counter. The receptionist or whatever role she played in the room booking process blinked, wide doe eyes taking in the tall arachnid. She's some sort of hybrid, he thinks, an innocent rabbit girl with floppy white ears. Her petite hands type in keys on her junky computer, and she looks up briefly.
"Have any pets?" Her nose twitches.
"Does it look like I do?" Abner passes a weary glance her way, tapping his foot against the flooring.
"Oh no it's just- well I thought-" There's a pause and she breathes outwards. "It's an extra twenty five if you did have a pet with ya."
The spider's face is vacant, and he folds his arms across his chest. "Yeah alright thanks. Can I go now?" He stares around the enterance area, looking at a leaflet stand placed in the centre of the first floor and reading of all the mundane holidays they were advertising.
"Uhm. Yes." She blinks again. "I think." She passes him the keys, and he walks away, glad to separate himself from the annoying receptionist and the disinfectant smell of the lobby.

Cullette sits with a book in her lap, the tv a muffled background noise as pictures flashed and snips of dialogue filled her ears. She thinks about her nest, and her dear sisters back home. What would they be doing now? Probably preparing for the winter with her mother. Closing the book shut, she pulls the blanket around her shoulders, settling down and closing her eyes with a satisfied hum. They day's events run over in her head, the spider, the escape, and the protection those two boys offered. Azur and... Galzra.
 
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Jack shrugged out of his coat and hung it on the stand by the door – from here, he could see Arrow rummaging in their cupboards for cereal. Smiling softly, he padded over and wrapped his arms around the boy's middle, resting his chin on his shoulder. Arrow relaxed against him and shook cereal into a china bowl.
"Who was that Araneae?" he asked, his skin radiating heat through his thin grey shirt – Jack could feel it even through all his layers of clothing.
"Oh, no-one," he said, rocking gently on his heels.
"You gave him your number," Arrow reminded him, his voice laced with something that made Jack chuckle.
"Arrow's jealous!" He laughed into the Nix's bronze neck and pressed a kiss to the base of it. "I promise he was no-one, love. I was only speaking to him to get information out of him – and it paid off. I got his number because what he knew was too precious for me not to have a way of getting hold of him."
"What was that, then?" Though he was still peckish, Arrow abandoned his cereal to turn in Jack's arms and face him, head tilted. Jack paused and a cocky smile grew on his face.
"There's a human kid in the city, they reckon. That's why the Araneae are moving all of a sudden – they're tracking it. You know the healthy children are worth loads." Arrow traced Jack's jaw with his middle finger absent-mindedly.
"I suppose you're going to dive into the search, too?"
"Absolutely not. I've got people who owe me a favour that will do it. I'll oversee it, of course." He paused a moment, recognising the real question behind Arrow's words. "I'm not going to up and leave just because of one rumour. I told you I'd stay a week or so and I meant it. I'll make a few calls at most, that's it." The Nix regarded the grey-skinned redhead with wide yellow eyes, then seemed to relent and pressed their foreheads together, noses brushing.
"All right." He let Jack push him against the counter and wind his arms around his shoulders. The dark business with which Jack was involved was forgotten as they relaxed into the safety of being close and loved.
"I want to take you out to dinner. Somewhere fancy."
Arrow chuckled softly.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah. Maybe after this child business blows over I'll have enough to do it."
"Mm. Where would you take me?"
"Easy. That place by the river – it serves amazing steak. The champagne's awesome. One of my clients took me there for a meeting a couple of months back, and I haven't stopped thinking about it since."
"It sounds nice. I'd even wear a suit for it."
"Of course." There was a soft silence interrupted only by their sighs as each was taken up with images of that small dream. Arrow opened his eyes and found Jack already looking at him; he smiled and pulled off Jack's beanie to tangle his fingers in red curls.
"Arrow."
"Mm?"
"I love you."
Arrow smiled and his eyes crinkled at the edges in his happiness.
"I know. Now get off - I want my cereal."
 
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Jet chuckled. "As it turns out, some of his friends had decided to ambush us. They very nearly caught me off guard- would have done had I not been prepared for such an event. Three of them leapt out from an alleyway. One attempted to grab the man, one the bag, and one me. I dropped the man and the bag, and flung out my wings. They didn't exactly have a fun time." Colliding with Jet's wings was never fun, as people found out; she'd had things done to them to make them as solid as steel when she entered combat. Nobody knew how, or why, or indeed what, and Jet never told. "The third one hit me, though, despite my attempts to block them. A swift kick to the legs and I swept him off his feet- rather gracefully, I might add- and the second soon joined him. Then, the first guy and the remaining thug were off down the alleyway with the bag. So, leaving the two guys I'd taken down already where the cops would find them, I gave chase." She described how she raced after them, vaulting over crates and under clotheslines, ducking and weaving through thin street after street until she reached a tall house. She described how she's shimmied up the drainpipe and given chase on the rooftops, the thrill of the hunt taking over. She described, with a glow in her eyes, the moment when she'd leapt off the rooftop and onto the villain's backs, knocking them to the ground. How they'd wrestled for a good ten minutes or so before she finally landed a blow to the temple and the stomach, knocking one out and winding the other.
"And after all that I simply stood, dusted myself off and grabbed the bag and the guy, and made to walk away. The other guy tried to get up and attack me again, but I was expecting it. With a simple roundhouse kick he was sprawled against the wall, and I was able to turn the guy in, and return the jade statue to the restaurant successfully."
 
Cecilia could feel the thrill of the chase surging in her chest at Jet's words and she laughed at its end.
"Wow," she said with a wide grin. "You fought off three attackers! You really are a hero." She glanced admiringly at Jet's steel-tipped wings and chuckled, recalling their part in the story.
"You do all of that, and yet you still find time to look after Alexis and the boys – and now another child, too," she commented, in awe of her friend. She knew where Jet was based but had never been there, nor had she met her mismatched family. Of course, she'd heard all about them – Alexis and Azur and Galzra – and fancied one day she might know them, perhaps even regard them as friends.
 
Jet rubbed the back of her head with a nervous chuckle, fighting down the blush that threatened to creep across her pale skin. She was by no means used to compliments, and always got a little embarrassed by them. "I think 'hero' is a bit of a stretch.." Her gaze turned back to her friend as she gave a soft smile. "But it doesn't mean I don't appreciate the title." Gods knew she rarely recieved compliments half as much as insults for her work. That was another reason why she liked Cecilia's company- she was so nice, and pretty much the only person to compliment her. Even her own family didn't do it outright- it was expressed through Alexis' admiring looks, like Jet was the whole world, and through Azur and Galzra's soft smiles and little nods of thanks. She had little doubt that compliments would always fluster her like that. "It's always fun to retell adventures. The feeling of adrenaline never really leaves you." Oh, how she wanted to offer for Cecilia to come and meet the family! The restaurant was fairly wealthy, and she kept her house clean. She wanted to invite her friend on adventures with them, if only because she felt pity for the girl, seeing the spark in her eyes...and not least because Cecilia and the Chief were the only friends she had. Sometimes it was hard to resist the urge, but...well, she supposed someday she would work up the courage to ask. The thought amused her; information dealer Jet, scared of asking a friend to come adventure and meet the family?
But, she was. She wasn't sure why, exactly, but she was almost afraid to ask her friend.
The moment had passed. Supressing a sigh, she resigned herself to asking; "How's life been over here, then? Anything happen?"
 
Cecilia chuckled.
"I wish," she said as the waiter brought over plates of small appetizers and sparkling glasses of champagne. "Nothing ever happens around here. I went to a dinner party last week – my father wanted me to meet Lord Estelwulf's son. He was nice, I guess. A little too dull for me." She sighed softly, remembering her father had set up another meeting for the two of them. She supposed she should probably marry him; it wasn't like she ever saw herself falling in love. None of the rich boys had the spark that she unconsciously looked for – the kind she only saw in adventurers from old movies.
 
Jet raised an eyebrow. "Another admirer?" It wasn't uncommon to hear of Cecilia being set up with all sorts of rich folk, she supposed that was fairly normal in this community. Of course, that didn't mean she approved, by any means. She did wish her friend could find true happiness, but it seemed in this sort of world it was a little harder than one might expect. She noticed the longing look in her friend's eyes, and suddenly remembered something. "And what about the boys on the western side, near the edge of the city? They're not as wealthy as the ones in the center here, but they're still rich with good amounts of cash to their names. I saw a client the other day, actually. They said recently they'd been to that area, and it turns out a few of the boys in that area have a certain sense of...adventure." She was wearing that smirk by this point, the know-it-all smirk that said 'I know exactly what you want' And she did. Cecilia was one for adventure, it was hard to hide that fact from her. So, when she'd heard the boys in the western area of the rich sector liked to explore the nearby woods, it was almost a win-win situation in her eyes. "In fact, some of them might become even richer than the ones here when they become head of their estates." She knew that would appeal to Cecilia's father; a chance to make his daughter truly happy, and to marry her to a wealthy family that had high chances of getting even wealthier in the future.
 
Cecilia's grey face seemed to flush a little pink as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"I might have to mention them to my father," she said with a flustered smile. "I don't think he's very well acquainted with the Western families, but if they're as wealthy as you say, perhaps he'll look into it." Altair grumbled happily as his mistress put a plate of salmon down for him – it had been brought by their waiter specially for the Griffin, seasoned and decorated with basil leaves. His golden wings shifted and twitched as he ate, as they always did when he was pleased.
 
Jet chuckled, nodding to the waiter as they set down her food. "I figured that would get your attention. The Western families don't really have many connections to the center sector, but there are a few who'd be more than willing." She watched Altair with interest. Griffins always fascinated her, and she never quite got her head around the majesty of the creature. She turned her attention back to her food before it was noticeable that she was staring.
 
The hyena chuckles, laughing at the girl seated across from him. The arachnid narrows her eyes. "So last night my brother gets beat up, right? Then today, I'm with a client, and he asks a couple of suspicious questions and leaves. He tracked mud into my carpet and everything." She sighs, taking a sip of her water. The ice cubes are in perfect spheres, and she blinks. "Damn this place is fancy." The waiter nearby keeps looking at them from where he's standing, nervous glances their way when he thinks they won't notice. Initially, it was hard to muscle their way into a five-star restaurant in the rich part of the city, but the hyena with his persuasive gun did just fine. Now he's listening, leaning forward and flashing white canines. "So what's this got to do with me?" He lets out an involuntary hoot of laughter, a trait most of their kin possess. She finds their kind tolerable, but only because they're in the same boat. The Hyanids were seen often as loud and uncouth, and inappropriate at the best of times.
"Anyway. My brother told me passively when he was way out of it that the guy who beat him up had blonde hair-"
"Way out of it?"
"I think he had a concussion, to be honest. Didn't look too good when I found him in an alleyway." She makes a general gesture and the hyena nods, taking the phrase and the context of it in. He lights a cigarette, turning heads. The table across murmurs disapprovingly, but the hyena grins at them because they're clothed in silks and velvet. "Sorry ladies and gents. But you're just going to have to put up with it on the premises that you have everything else you want in life." He gives a wave, and the table looks away, going back to their food with glares. One of them tries to call a waiter over to remove him and his smoke, but the waiter remains by the counter, pretending not to have seen him blatantly light the thing.
"So." Minerva furrows her brow. "Like I said."
"Sorry, carry on."
"I'm pretty sure the client I met today, and the guy who beat up my brother had some sort of connection. But what I want to know is, why us? Why is this fella going around targeting Araneae for?"
 
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Cecilia ate politely and slowly despite the ravenous hunger that came with being a Wendigo – twenty years of lessons in how to be a lady had taught her how to control her monstrous appetite. She opened her mouth to say something to her companion when two very out-of-place guests caught her eye; a Hyanid and Araneae sat not too far away from them, the Araneae scantily clad and regarding the other with calculating eyes, the Hyanid sucking lazily on a cigarette and laughing raucously. She shifted in her seat and her fork hung in the air, halfway to her mouth – there was something unsettling about those two. Almost as if they were from another world. She wasn't familiar with the dark parts of the city but she was sure that was where these shadowy strangers must come from; they just had that kind of feeling. The kind that says stay away, I'm dangerous.
 
Jet looked over, raising an eyebrow cautiously. "Ah." she murmured softly, as her eyes settled upon the Araneae at the table. "That's...hm." Her brow furrowed in thought. The soft black feathers on her wings ruffled ever so slightly, as though an invisible breeze had brushed past them, and she began listening in. She caught the last part of the Araneae's words, and her expression softened somewhat. Although she did not believe she explicitly knew the man being addressed, she had a few ideas as to how to find out. "It looks like the boys will be busy tonight." An offhand comment as she turned back to her food, voice lowered so only Cecilia and Altair heard. Still, as she ate, she reached inside herself and drew a small strand of magic- not commonly used by her or indeed most people in this city, but useful when she needed it to be- and let it drift in the direction of the two, briefly wafting over them before disappearing, appearing merely as a thin strand of smoke. She didn't want it to be visually seen, however. This particular strand was to be sensed, to announce her presence in the hopes these two would divulge possibly vital information to her.
 
The hyena tilts his head to the side, surveying the scene in quiet. "Who knows? I haven't heard much from your end anyway. Your kind fuck anything up recently?"
Minerva laughs despite herself, shaking her head at how blunt the question was. "Not that I know of. I mean, I know people don't like us, but I find my brother slumped in some alleyway, and then on the same day this shady client shows up and leaves before I even do anything. It doesn't make sense, you know?"
The hyena makes an amused yip, "Could be an attack on the family business, not something about kin. Sending out feelers maybe. Plus, everyone knows this kind of thing isn't uncommon with your brother. Maybe he got into a fight because of drugs? He's got debts to pay, Min."
The spider adjusts her sleeves, regretting walking out in the cold dressed as she was. But the hyena's a friend of the family, and she knows he's smarter than he looks.
Smoke curls and spirals around the Hyanid's muzzle, and he seems like he's considering something. "You reckon there's a lot of rich folk here?"
"Yeah. Why?"
 
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Cecilia looked expectantly to Jet as she noticed her friend begin to listen in on the two's conversation – she couldn't hear what they were saying as a Wendigo relied much more on smell. It was what had drawn her attention to them in the first place; the sudden, acrid stench of smoke and the scent of damp shadow. Beside her, Altair shifted defensively as he sensed minute threat leaking from these out-of-place creatures.
 
Jet hummed, leaning forward on the table slightly, keeping her voice low so they couldn't hear. "My boys rescued a wasp hybrid earlier from the same Araneae as over there. It's interesting to hear they're also having problems. Reports of Araneae are fun enough to handle, but someone chasing up on them?" She gave a sly grin, the kind that was rarely seen by most other than when she was really getting excited over an idea. "If I can get in on it, this may be the most interesting case I've had in a while."
 
The hyena's ear twitched, and he shrugged. "Hans should run his operations around here." Is all he says, taking another puff of his cigarette.
Minerva leans forward, hands clasped together and elbows resting on the table. "You don't think the guy's sniffing around us because of the rumour, do you? I mean, it was one of our kind to first confirm the rumour about the human kid, if not start the whole thing off. People are desperate, and others need the money." She lowered her voice, and the hyena nodded, understanding full well to what extent some creatures could go for some cash and a seat at the big table.
"It's plausible. Your kind seem to know more about the human kid than any other kind. So maybe he's tracking down it's whereabouts through the Araneae?"
"Could be. But the fella didn't ask me about any human kid while I was entertaining."
"Maybe he changed his mind and left." Their food arrives, but both barely react, instead trading theories. The waitress scurries away as soon as she sets the plates down, perhaps sensing a certain aura surrounding the two.
 
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Cecilia grinned at Jet's enthusiasm.
"You'll have to tell me all about it," she said, enraptured by the mystery of the possible case. "Are Azur and Galzra okay? I don't know much about that kind –" she spat in a rich-girl kind of way, "but my Father says they're low-life beasts. Did she hurt the boys?"
 
"I want the best on this job. No exceptions."
There was a pause as someone muttered on the other line and Jack's expression turned stormy.
"Did you not hear me? I said no. Fucking. Exceptions." Another pause. "Do you realise how important this is? This is a human child! A fat, giggling sack of blood – in our territory." His fingers drummed on the counter. "I don't bloody care how tied down they are, I want them doing this. Got it? Okay, good." He ran a hand through his loose thatch of red curls. When he spoke, his voice was impenetrable ice. "You make sure she doesn't find out. Jet is my friend, but getting her involved if she doesn't already know is pointless. You see if she knows anything and you tell me. I want it done in three days." He glanced down at his empty plate which had been heaped with raw human meat a few minutes ago and sighed, swiping some excess blood onto the pad of his index finger and pressing it to his tongue.
"Right. Good. I'll be down in three days to reconvene –" a dissatisfied murmur on the other end made his eyebrows knit together, "no, I told you, this business can't be postponed. Not even for a bloodsack like the kid we've got on our hands. I'll be down in three days and no less." He hung up and slipped his battered Blackberry into his pocket, reaching for a packet of chewing gum – when he'd just fed, his mouth always reeked of blood, and he was paranoid that it bothered Arrow, so he masked it with heady peppermint after each meal.
"You're postponing business for three days just to sit around and watch crap movies with me?" Arrow asked from the sofa, concealing his giddy happiness with a quirked eyebrow and amused sarcasm.
"I made you a promise," Jack responded simply, dropping his plate into the sink and padding over to him. Balanced on the sofa's arm was a laptop with the title screen of Peter Pan displayed – Arrow loved the human film company Disney, and it was enough for Jack to see his face light up like a child's when they watched them together. He stood up to let Jack take up his usual position, sitting with his back against the sofa's other arm, facing the laptop. Arrow then dropped into the space between his legs and settled his bare back against Jack's chest. Jack sighed contentedly and laced their fingers together as the half-phoenix boy reached out to press play. His skin was deep bronze, as if he was of Egyptian origin, and his hair was a rich, dark brown, almost black. Beneath thick eyebrows, his warm yellow eyes seemed to spill a soft glow onto the gentle swell of his cheekbones. Jack had decided many years ago that Arrow was the most beautiful creature he'd ever come across, and this hadn't changed. The opening credits bloomed across the screen and Jack's phone buzzed against his thigh; he fished it from his pocket and read the received message.
From: Fang
All is set. Best men on job. Will see you in three days, Chief.
"Turn it off, the movie's started," Arrow playfully complained, flexing his hand to breathe life back into the fire beside them. Jack grumbled something quiet and incoherent into Arrow's hair as he switched it off and breathed in – Arrow smelled of new flames and the trees in summer and a saltwater lake, and he nestled his head into the base of Jack's neck. In one bone-white hand the Wendigo still gripped his phone, but it was turned off for the moment. He knew it wouldn't be long before it was a hive of activity – he'd set his best on this job, and he was certain they would not fail him.
 
Jet stifled a laugh at her friend's prejudice. "Of course they are. They know not to approach someone unless it's safe to do so- or unless they know they're stronger than their opponents." Her phone buzzed, interrupting her before she could continue, and she quickly opened it.
From: Galzra
The kid's sleeping. I think something might be a little off. Azur reported back; there's a sudden buzz in D3 where he is. Will keep posted.
Her brow furrowed. D3 was the code they had for Jack's place and the mile-wide radius surrounding it. They'd split the city up into sections, and coded them with a letter and number, so they could talk efficiently and discuss plans with no eavesdroppers being able to know where they would be. She noted the two newcomers hadn't caught her presence yet, and let a soft hum slip. "No, the boys are just fine. They weren't hurt. Not all of them are low-life beasts- it just depends which ones you get to know." She tucked her phone away, pulling a small card out of her pocket and scribbling on it. "I must hurry back, though. It appears there's trouble of a different kind brewing."
 
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