Saving The World In Spite of Ourselves

[Midian]

"I will second that," Shola murmured to Lilith. "It just... tastes rather off, all of it. But we've got to do the best we can."
She patted the werewolf's shoulder on the way out of the store.

---

The blurry form that was Dante was, for a time, still and breathing slowly. However, it seemed the anesthesia wore off suddenly and he snapped awake with a sharp, deep breath that became frightened pants. Kaden heard the rattling of the restraints, silent, and then the sound of one clicking open.

"Stupid bint," Dante mumbled, his voice tight and slurred. The assassin's body swayed unsteadily, and after a moment Kaden heard him rattling the other wrist cuff, every now and then a nervous laugh bubbling up and shaking his body. When Kaden moved he saw Dante's head whip around to watch him, the older man going completely still for a moment. The next his efforts with the wrist cuff were renewed and Kaden heard it click open.

"You're awake," muttered in Kaden's general direction, almost as if accusing him of consciousness. There was more rattling, and Kaden could hear the heart monitor on Dante's side of the room beginning to beep faster.

"Why are you in here with me?" Dante growled, although he wasn't particularly facing Kaden when he spoke. Two more clicks and Dante shuddered in pain, remaining still a moment before gingerly moving from the bed and standing. He limped slowly over towards Kaden, towering over the Daalai man and looking down at him with wide-blown pupils.
"You're hers. Your eyes aren't the same... Recessive? I didn't see anyone else like you."

He swayed a little on the spot, leaning down to look closer before he heard the door unlock. When he saw it was the others he seemed to calm a little, making his way back to the bed and giving Shola the widest berth of them all. He didn't lie down ,but sat on the edge instead.

"Are you supposed to be moving around?!" Shola exclaimed, looking horrified. "And what were you doing to Kaden?!"

She looked to Kaden, brow knit in worry.
"Kaden, are you okay?"

 

[Falcon]

"I got hit and they stuck me with you to keep us together i guess," Kaden answered still trying to get his eyes to focus. Dante standing over him still seems a bit of a blur and there was a dull ache Kaden knew should be a raging headache if he wasn't so hyped up on pain killers he could barely think straight. Kaden knew that feeling too.
It was clear he was no threat to anyone at the moment even without being tied down.

"Didn't do nothing to me," Kaden answered Shola with slightly slurred speech. "And I dunno. I'm hyped up on meds and fuzzy as hell. Can feel i should be hurten' but-- nothen-- Heya sis! guess you geta babysit both of us now. Sorry."

Trevean observed quietly from the door.

 

[Kura]

As they entered the clinic, Lilith found herself at the front of the group, hurrying along behind that nurse that was showing them to Kaden and Dante's room. Once the door opened, Lilith's heart caught in her throat as she saw Dante sitting on the edge of his bed. Shola obviously had similar thoughts as she asked him if he was supposed to be up.

Lilith moved first to Kaden's bed, running a hand gingerly over his forehead and smiling at his babysitting remark.

"Trust me, I would much rather babysit you both simultaneously than have no one to babysit at all. It's almost like you both live to see who will give me a heart attack first."

Once she was convinced that her brother was okay, she moved aside to allow Nadia room beside Kaden and quickly made her way over Dante's bed, kneeling beside him.

"Shols is right, you shouldn't be standing up yet. Clara would be awfully pissed off if you managed to ruin what she took so long to fix."

She helped him at least sit back on the bed, sitting on the side and silently looking him over. The shade of yellow in his skin still lingered, but was obviously on its way to resolving and getting back to it's old pale color once more. Lilith leaned against Dante, resting her head softly on his shoulder.

"I can't even describe how it feels to know that you're alright."

 

[Midian]

"Yeah, yeah I... I'm high as a kite," he finally responded, looking at their hands on the bed.

They were allowed to stay most of the day, and the next day Kaden was allowed to go home with them. By that point Alastair had brought an air mattress for more of them to sleep on. For the next week they were able to visit Dante in the clinic and he improved each day, quickly moving to leg braces and crutches once the potent anesthesia wore off and he was starting to feel pain. The surgery scars overlapped many of his old ones, but at their last visit to the clinic, Dante met them at the doors, dressed and with both a healthier complexion and brighter, more predatory eyes than they had seen before.
"I'm back in business. Clara's taking me to the PT building to put me through my paces and make sure everything took. You're all, uh... Well, since you don't need to be left unattended, we're going on a fieldtrip."

"Pack it in!" Clara announced, jingling car keys as she strode in with a large bag slung over her shoulder. She led them to a beat up pistachio-colored van.
"I rented it for the trip and because I need to drop off some borrowed equipment at another clinic. Pile in! There aren't seatbelts, so just hold on really tight and aim for the seat ahead of you if we stop suddenly."

Dante took the front passenger's seat and Clara jammed her foot on the gas, slinging them out into traffic. They shot down the highway. They stopped briefly at another nondescript clinic and Clara briefly took the large bag in, returning a minute later at a half-jog and hopping back into the car. They were soon at a large, warehouse-like building and Clara told them to pile out, waving them into the building. There were treadmills and a large, jungle-gym structure connected to the walls.
"I'm going to calibrate my scanners and equipment, so you all entertain yourselves for a bit," Clara said, producing a tablet and wandering off to a seat with her nose buried in it . Nadia walked over to the free weights and begin trying them out, grunting and struggling with a large one clasped in both hands. Dante shook his head, hiding a grin as he watched her, turning to Lilith.
"What can you lift?"
"Stay off the equipment until the test, Dante!" Clara yelled across the room.
"Look at this," Shola said to Trevean, lifting a large medicine ball and tossing it to him. Over from the corner, there was a "thunk" as Nadia bent at the waist, the weight thunking on the floor.
"Ughhh," she groaned, trying to lift it again.

 

[Falcon]

The days passed slowly especially for Kaden who was still feeling a bit groggy and in general trying not to beat himself up. He expected any moment to be scolded by Shola, and there way something about the look Nadia was giving him that he couldn't quite place. He felt like a fool and at the same time knew he hadn't done anything wrong.

At this point, though, he wasn't even sure where to begin and found it was best to simply stay in an out of the way corner observing and keeping his idle hands busy twisting silver wire around the bit of blue sea-glass he'd found in his pocket after the dream space. He still had no idea what had happened in it either.

Kaden failed, however, to note several important things. That Trevean seemed to be hiding an increasing cough (although pretty much everyone missed this), that in spite of this cough he somehow managed to cook and incredible dinner out of convenience store junk on the 14th because it was some sort of big day, and that for the whole week the city seemed to be in a better and kinder mood than when they first arrived.

When they reached the gym Kaden finally seemed to feel he was in somewhat familiar territory. The equipment was fancier, but the young man knew a training ground when he saw one. Not about to let Nadia hurt herself he moved over to spot her.

"Lift with your knees, not your back," he instructed, and moving to a larger weight next to her proceed to demonstrate.
As he straightened into the lift, however, something fell from his pocket and rolled to Nadia's feet.
The sea-glass bracelet he'd been working on.

 

[Kura]

All of the nervousness and uncertainty that surrounded Dante's surgery and recovery in Lilith's mind slowly began to melt away day by day as she visited Dante at the clinic. On the last day, Lilith's heart leapt when Dante met them at the door, quickly followed by a shiver down her spine and flush of the cheeks when she met those eyes.

After piling into the van along with the others, Lilith preemptively braced herself for the ride over by securing her hands at her sides. Luckily, aside from some sharp turns, the ride to the PT building was rather smooth, and Lilith stuck close to Dante as the group made their way inside. Passing over the threshold, Lilith looked around with her mouth agape. Somehow, the building looked even bigger on the inside. She stared at the jungle gyms and workout equipment. Never had she seen such a massive place specifically for training.

Nodding at Clara as she parted from the group to calibrate her equipment, Lilith wandered alongside Dante over to the weightlifting area to watch Nadia.

"What can you lift?" Dante asked, and Lilith only raised an eyebrow at him. Without a word, Lilith walked over to a pair of large kettlebells. With little effort the young werewolf lifted one with each hand, returning Dante's grin as she lifted them above her head.

"It's a werewolf thing." She said simply, "If I weren't a freak of nature it would be a little more difficult for me."

 

[Midian]

"I like that you're freaky. You make it look good," Dante replied evently, watching her with a crooked, proud smile. Glancing back at Clara, who was going something on her tablet, he sauntered over to Lilith and grabbed her around the waist, hoisting her and the kettle bells up after a muttered "lock your arms" to keep her from bashing herself, or him, with the equipment.
"Dante! I said stay off the equipment!" Clara yelled.
"I'm not on the equipment!" He called back, but quickly put Lilith down as Clara glared at him over the top of her tablet, a look clearly practiced with the intent to stop most mischief in assassins and ordinary souls. Shola, who had stopped to watch the exchange, nodded in approval. As she looked at Trevean she lightly touched his shoulder, indicating a weight bench.
"Do you want to go sit down? You're looking a little peaky," she said, going to sit with him and resting her hand on his knee.
"Are you feeling okay? You've seemed a little off, although as unclean as the air is here... I'm surprised the others don't seem to feel worse. I blew my nose this morning and it was black from this awful smog," she said, looking over as Dante took the kettle bells from Lilith and set them back on the rack, pointing out a larger set to see if she could pick them up.

Not too far from them Nadia watched Kaden demonstrate, then slowly mimicking him and managing to left the weight a little before it clunked on the floor again.
"Maybe Dante was right and I need to start trying to lift... weights..." she trailed off, bending to pick up the sea glass that had fallen on the floor.
"Did you make this?" She asked, holding her hand out to him to show it to him.
"How did you find... this... This is sea glass I used to have. How'd you get it?"

 

[Falcon]

Trevean let his hands settled over Shola's as he slumped in his seat. He squeezed her fingers carefully.
"I've always been sensitive to pollution," he explained. "Legend says it's the price we pay for our shifting abilities, what keeps us in balance. It makes sense for me to be getting sick here. But if we finish quickly a good dunk in a living river or the ocean will fix me." He tried to smile to reassure her while at the same time concealing the truth of how ill he felt from the bond. Trevean only hopes she'd forgive him if she ever found out he'd done so.

Kaden, meanwhile, was struggling to find the right reaction. He knew Nadia wasn't accusing him of stealing and yet this place had him so tense....
"I -- um-- it's not finished," he blurted finally, using the motion of setting the weights down to cover the hesitation in his answer. "It was in my pocket after my dream space-- Don't know how it got there," he continued awkwardly. "No one's told me what happened, but - um - well it made me think of you so - I - I was - makingitforyou."
There was no hiding the flush to his cheeks even with his tanned skin.
"I know we don't see eye to eye most of the time but - well i don't want you to hate me either--" his voice was very soft by the end of it.

 

[Midian]

"I, uh— I don't hate you... And I don't want you to hate me either," she said quietly, looking down at the half-finished bracelet and slowly turning it over in her hands.
"So, uh... I'll give it back to you so you can finish it. But it looks cool," she said, holding the piece back out to him in her open palm. As he took it she withdrew her hand, her cheeks a bit pink as well. Shola tapped Trevean's knee and discreetly gestured to the two of them.
"It looks like they might be on the mend with each other," Shola whispered, looking over as Clara called for Dante to come over. She showed him something on the tablet which he nodded along to. She strapped a sleek, black band to one wrist and handed him a wireless black patch, which he stuck to his chest.
"Listen for the clicker, one holds, two stops. If something hurts, stop, okay?" She said, gesturing him towards a balance beam and looking at the tablet as he hoisted himself up, going through various gymnastic features of endurance and strength. Clara kept consulting the tablet, which she was glad to show to Lilith. The attachments showed his heartbeat, breathing, and blood pressure, as well as which muscle groups were under the most stress. As he held himself up on his arms, feet still in the air, Clara clicked the small, handheld device and he obediantly held the pose, although after a moment Lilith could see discrete trembles in his posture. As welll, the tablet indicated harder breathing and elevating heartrate.
"Don't push yourself so hard you hurt yourself. You can call for a break," Clara reminded him, but he presisted, red creeping into his face and chest. Finally, Clara gave two clicks and he pushed himself off, landing in a crouch and panting.
"You're doing well, just keep an eye on that arm for another couple of days and you'll be doing fine."
"Good, I'm really hoping to get them out of your apartment today or tomorrow," he said, peeling the lead off and returning the bracelet.
"Good. They're all really, really considerate guests, but my apartment's only 600 square and there are a lot of you."
"It's much appreciated," Shola said, following the others out of the gym and back to the vehicle.
"Clara, drop me off up here," Dante said, pointing at a large, mall-sized building.
"Mkay, you taking anybody with you?" She asked, pulling into the outsized parking lot.
"Uh, Lil, you wanna come? Nads? Anyone?" He asked, climbing out of the van. Nadia jumped out too, and Shola looked out the window at the crowds of people milling around.
"Either I or Kaden should go with you three. Kaden, would you rather go with them, or go back to the clinic?"

 

[Falcon]

It only took Kaden about half a second to look around before he made his decision.
"I'll go," he said flatly.
He shared a look with Shola a moment, gave a small nod toward Trevean, and knew she understood. The nack looked tired. In this place, going into unknown territory, looking tired made him a target. And being her other half it meant Shola would be the better choice to stay with him.
"No offense boss lady, but I think I'm the more intimidating in appearance between the two of us."

Kaden was one of the first out of the van, but after the others who were going filed out he took up the rear. Best to let Dante lead since the assassin knew where he was going. Besides, Kaden knew how to watch the rear. ahead of Dante and behind himself as well. He might be getting over a head injury but he was more than capable of fighting. and In this place he would not make the same mistake twice. His heart sunk as he realized what that might mean.
One hand absently moved to his pocket to play with the sea-glass bracelet as the walked into the gigantic apartment complex

"I never imagined so many people could live crammed so close together," he murmured.

---

Trevean sank slowly back into the car seat as the vehicle continued back to the clinic. A little rest and he would be right as rain. One hand reached for Shola's trying to reassure her. Trevean had not forgotten how much she hated cars or vans, or buses or anything not an animal that moved. Had he been in better shape he might have used it as an excuse to flirt.

 

[Midian]

"I actually have no idea how many people are in Cyberia, isn't like they do a census like they used to" Dante replied, half-distracted as he flipped through a touch-screen directory.
"But a lot of people live like this because I can at least tell you-- there's a damn lot of us. I like places like this because the floors have apartments and shops, so you all can go do stuff without having to be looked after. A lot of assassins live in places like this, so it's pretty secure."

Nadia glanced behind her, most of the color draining out of her face as she unconsciously pressed a little closer to Kaden.
"Uh... How exactly is that safer, again?"
"Believe it or not, we don't like doing jobs near where we live. You know. Don't shit where you eat. Plus that's a lease breach for a lot of places, and moving is a pain. Aaanndd all the complexes talk to each other, and some other places might not take you if you do that since it'll drive off other renters. There's no government or anything, but money sure does a lot... Mkay, the main office is closed today, but they've got a little leasing office open that can at least tell us what's available and give us some paperwork."

He gestured for them to follow him to a small, window-fronted office with a perfunctory plum-colored couch in the front and a dark wood desk with an older man hunched over it, reading something on a tablet. The man looked up as they entered and nodded to the couch.
"We wanted to know what you've got available for immediate move-in," Dante said, wasting no time and sitting on the couch.
"Two bed, fourth floor, appliances, no laundry, no TV," the man replied.
"Got anything else?" Dante countered.
"Nope."

The assassin sighed and nodded.
"We'll take it, then."
"All of you?" the man questioned, a sharp edge in his voice.
"Huh? Oh! No, just us, right sweetheart?" Dante replied, laying his hand over Lilith's.

Well, he'd thought it was Lilith's; her peripheral vision had noted skin the color of hers, but while engrossed in trying to bluff, he'd forgotten Lilith was seated on the other side of him, and his instead grabbed Kaden's hand.
"They're-- his sister and niece, just spending the day with us. We'd really like the apartment," Dante finished, managing to keep a straight face. The man hesitated, then nodded and looked pleased.
"The leasing manager isn't in today, but you can bring the paperwork in first thing tomorrow."

He turned and handed Kaden a paper lease about twenty pages long, and Dante thanked the agent, hustling them all out before Nadia could collapse on a bench, giggling.
"I'm sorry Lil-- I really thought it was you. And, uh-- sorry Kaden. But at least we got the paperwork. Let's get lunch and then go meet up with the others. Tomorrow after they approve the lease we can furnish the apartment. I don't care what we eat, so why don't you three look at the directory and pick something you wanna try?"

 

[Kura]

((Collab with Falcon))

It made a lot of sense to Kaden that the assassins would protect their own buildings. In a place with no law it seemed that was about as close to the law as one could get. Still, he wasn't sure it was as reassuring as Dante made it out to be. He tried to keep an eye on everyone, including Lilith, who was taking in as much of the surroundings as she could as they made their way into the building. It wasn't that Kaden believed his sister couldn't defend herself, but going wolf might not be the best idea in a place like this.


Light but he was so on edge… and his scalp still itched.


Lilith, meanwhile, found herself intrigued despite the dark, dingy surroundings. People-watching had never been a favorite pastime of hers, but she was seriously considering picking it up.


"Believe it or not, we don't like doing jobs near where we live. You know. Don't shit where you eat. Plus that's a lease breach for a lot of places, and moving is a pain. Aaanndd all the complexes talk to each other, and some other places might not take you if you do that since it'll drive off other renters. There's no government or anything, but money sure does a lot... "


"Makes sense." Lilith replied, shrugging slightly and glancing over to Dante.


The inside of the leasing office was very dull, much like the rest of what they had seen of Cyberia so far. The old man hunched over the desk look almost as happy to be there as they were, and Lilith wondered what he was looking at so intently on his screen. Sticking close to Dante, she sat a little closer than necessary on the couch and found herself unable to keep herself from wrinkling her nose a bit when the old man told them what was available.


This look, however, did not stay on Lilith's face for very long. In Dante's attempt to lie to the old man, the assassin had not placed his hand on hers, but on her brother's. Lilith's face dropped, and what seemed like the greatest battle ever fought raged inside of her as she forced her face to remain straight. Her eyes, on the other hand, darted to Kaden to see his immediate reaction.


Kaden was having a similar internal battle of his own. Had it been a joke he might have playfully slugged the other man, but this was Dante and not Addae. Dante must have some reason… It took everything Kaden had not to look like a deer staring at a bright light, but instead force what he hoped was a believable smile as he took the paperwork. He barely managed to hold it until they were outside again.


"I'm sorry Lil-- I really thought it was you. And, uh-- sorry Kaden…"


"Uh huh and she gets the first apology," Kaden grumped as Nadia broken down into giggles. The Daalai man's eyes were too busy scanning the perimeter for him to pay any attention to the question about lunch.

Lilith, on the other hand, grinned widely and snorted as she accepted Dante's apology.


"I have to admit. That's the most amusing thing I've seen you do since we met. And I have seen you do a lot of things."


Lilith nodded vigorously at the idea of lunch. Not having had any meat for a while had left the werewolf feeling starved and a little weaker than normal. Unsure of what they would find at most of the places listed, Lilith closed her eyes and pointed at one of the options.


"Ummmm… here." She said, opening an eye and looking at the name. "It's a.. Burger place? Well, how bad can it be? Lead the way, Dante!"


"Burger place?" Kaden questioned distractedly as Lilith chose. "Those are the meat sandwiches with cheese and veggies right? What do they use to make it here? Mashed veggies in a pattie?"


He once again fell behind to tail the rest of the group as Dante led but not before Lilith caught him reaching up to scratch the place on the side of his head where he had until very recently sported several stitches.there was a stripe of short scruff there where the doctors had cut his hair to get at the injury. The spot he was itching at looked a bit raw. Lilith hung back a few steps to put herself in sync with Kaden, shoving her hands in her hoodie pockets.


"You shouldn't pick at that. It's already beginning to look aggravated. You're going to get it infected. Is it bothering you? I can ask Dante to get you something to put on it."


Kaden snached his hand down from his head looking a bit abashed. "Yeah," he admitted slowly, "It itches like crazy… I was going to ask the Clara lady when we got back… I'm not sure Dante would care. We have bigger things to worry about."


Lilith smiled and rested a hand on her brother's back. "You know that's not true. Dante does care. We'll ask after lunch. If you can even call it that.." She sighed as they approached the restaurant. Once they made their way to the table, Lilith scanned the menu, looking at Dante pleadingly when nothing appeared appetizing.

 

[Midian]

Dante scanned the menu and pointed to a couple of items that seemed close to meat to Lilith, ordering all of them sodas as the waiter breezed by. Nadia jammed her straw in her soda happily, pushing around the candy red cherries as she sipped it.
"None of it's gonna taste like meat... But I think that's closer-- hey, c'mon, don't blow bubbles in that," Dante groused and Nadia laughed, but stopped and glanced over at Kaden to see the irritated incision.

"Hey, is it bothering you?" she asked Kaden, pointing to her own head to mime the injury.
"I've got something for it, hang on," Dante said, digging first in his pockets and then his bag to produce a tin of a grey, greasy substance.
"That'll numb it for awhile."
"Need help with it?" Nadia asked shyly, gesturing to the tin.