Wild at Heart (w/ Hisoka Kobayashi)

For a moment, Julius wondered if Charlotte had left. He was just beginning to tell himself he should check the bathroom and other out of sight places before jumping to conclusions when there was suddenly a knock on the door just behind him, and Charlotte popped up from where she'd been lying down on the couch. The adrenaline was instant, after being so on alert on his way home, and Julius' hand snapped out behind him to hover an inch away from the door, as if to keep it from being opened. He didn't make a sound or actually touch the wood, made himself stay still, stay calm, think before acting. It wouldn't do to scare off an actual neighbor, if it was one - that would only attract more attention.

Silent, Julius held a finger up to his lips to signal for quiet, just turning his head to listen to the voice beyond the door. It wasn't one he recognized, but as thorough as he normally was he couldn't say he knew absolutely every person in the complex, and if this person were truly searching for a pet they might have come from a different floor. Still, he remained on guard, waiting it out in silence until their visitor was ready to leave. Careful not to make a sound still, he stepped up to the door and looked through the peep hole in time to see the young man leaving, waited until he couldn't see the figure at all anymore and still counted to 60 seconds before opening the door.

He stepped out enough to look in all directions and be sure no one else was around, then took the flyer from the door, stepped back inside, and locked up as he closed it again. At first he didn't respond, looking at Charlotte with an eyebrow raised as if questioning the amount of concern in her voice, then quietly folded the flyer into a little square, walked into the kitchen, and threw it in the trash.

"Charlotte," he said firmly, keeping his voice down even as he set the new backpack on the counter and started to unload all the things he'd purchased, "you're on the run from a billionaire with a god complex and the moral standards of a piece of dryer lint. Other people's concerns can no longer be your concerns."

After a thought he paused, sighed, and softened his tone for her. "I know it's hard, but if you want to survive this, you're going to have to do your best not to think of other people. Once we step out of this building, nothing about them can matter to you. Not pets in danger, not frightened children, not newcomers lost in the city. You'll have to get used to the idea of telling people you can't help them and walking away. It might feel very real, but every innocent request has the potential to be just a trap."

She would be irritated or angry with him, surely, but she had to hear the truth. Perhaps if she wasn't here he would have helped look for the rabbit that may or may not be real, but she was here and she was in great danger, so people couldn't matter anymore. As much as he wanted her trust and cooperation, it was best she get used to the idea of just how cold he could be early on, so that when he made the tough decisions later she wouldn't be so shocked.

"You can take these clothes to try on, if you'd like." He said when he was done unpacking, getting a pair of scissors to open the plastic encasing her new cell phone. "I'm going to set up the new phone, then I'll show you a video on how to hide your hair under this wig. It's best to change your appearance as much as possible."
 
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When Julius peeked out of the peek hole he had seen a black haired male wearing a green turtle neck and black framed glasses on walking away. The male's hair was short but a few inches long and his body frame was lean yet muscular. Like the kind of guy who had likely been in a few fights and probably won most of them. The male had went left as he walked completely out of Julius' field of view and had gone around the side of the building. He silently stood at the corner in the shadow of the building sure that he wouldn't be seen, because most people rarely noticed their surroundings. If he was noticed by anyone he could simply say that he was looking for his non existent pet rabbit and they would believe him. It was something that would pull at anyone's heart except the male who he had seen go into his apartment. He was clearly unmoved and had remained completely silent. Most people that he told that story to had answered the door and shown some sort of sympathy even if they couldn't help. The way this guy had reacted made him wonder just who this guy was and why he seemed so cautious. So he waited while gazing over at a nearby car to watch what it's reflection showed. To his surprise he saw the door open and the male carefully scanned his surroundings before removing the flier from the door. With the flier in hand the male hadn't wasted any time shutting the door back.

'So he was avoiding me. I wonder why that is. Maybe I'll stick around to find out. In the meantime I'll have to keep his goons away from that apartment because I can't have them getting in the way of my fun.' He slyly thinks to himself and smirks.

Then he walks out from beside the building still holding a bunch of fliers in his hands as a man approached Julius' apartment. The man had managed to stop in front of the door and was about to knock on it when the black haired male called out to him.

"Excuse me sir, I don't mean to bother you. I've been away searching for my lost bunny Angel. Is there something I can help you with?" He asks with a kind smile.

The older male turned toward him with a slightly irritated look on his face, "Sorry to hear about your bunny and I hope that you find it soon. Now if you'll excuse me...I'm going door to door trying to sell a product. So I have to get back to work or my boss will have my head." The older male says.

"Thanks, I'm sure I'll find her soon and really? I live here so do you mind telling me more?" The black haired male says with a smile.

The older male frowns,"You live here?" He asks whiles gazing at the male suspiciously.

The black haired male simple nods, "Yep, I sure do. So what are you selling?" He asks enthusiastically .

The older male simply hands him a broucher, "That will answer all of your questions. Have a nice day he says before turning and walking to the next apartment door and knocking on it.

The blacked haired male looks down at the broucher before returning his gaze to the older male and waving to him," Thanks bro! I'm off to continue my search for my lost bunny! Good luck on your sales!" He says then turned and walked away.

'Mission accomplished. That was way easier than I thought it would be. Talk about gullible.' The black haired male thought to himself and slightly chuckled.


Meanwhile ~


Charlotte slightly frowns at Julius' response to what she had said. She was listening to him but she really didn't like what she was hearing and she was starting to feel upset with him about it. How could he expect for her to just turn a blind eye even if she saw someone who was clearly injured and bleeding. How was she supposed to deal with treating someone so coldly. That wasn't something that someone like her was capable of. Then there was also something else that was starting to nag at the back of her mind. It was a question that concerned her and she couldn't help glance over at the door again while in thought. Finally she returned her gaze to Julius with questioning eyes but this time there was worry growing in her eyes.

"I don't know how you expect for me to just ignore someone in need. Helping others is a normal human response at least in most cases. Although sometimes people will say that they're sorry and can't help you. How normal is it to completely ignore someone in their time of need and not even say anything? What if that guy found your lack of response strange?" She said clearly growing more concerned.

All of a sudden Charlotte's eyes widened in realization and she gets up from the couch quickly bolting into the kitchen without her shoes. Without saying a word she pulled off her right glove placing it on the island and used her telekinesis to retrieve the folded up flier from the trashcan. Once the flier is lifted up out of the trashcan she grabbed it with her left hand and looked over at Julius.

"I have to see if I can see anything from touching this...so here goes nothing." She said in a slightly nervous voice.

With a little hesitation she placed the folded flier into her right hand and her eyes widened again as an image played before her. She could see the same male that Julius had seen but his hair was red instead of black. He was busy printing off fliers from a computer as he spoke his thoughts out loud.

"This is such a hassle...it had better pay off otherwise I'll have gone through all of this trouble for nothing. Heh...as if a guy like me would ever bother with a pet bunny. I'd prefer something cool. Like a wolf or a snake or maybe a tarantula. A bunny is so lame." The male muttered to himself in annoyance.

She was still a little in shock as she dropped the flier back into the trashcan and took two steps back starting to breath a little heavy. She quickly looked at Julius again with a look of fear, realization and worry in her eyes.

"That guy...he was lying. He found a picture online of a bunny and printed it off. I don't know why though but he was complaining about the trouble he was going through. Who was he? There's no way he was an agent right? He definitely looked to young to be an agent. When you looked out of the peek hole what color was that guy's hair?" She asked sounding panicked but she was tying her best to regain her composure.

All kinds of questions were running through her mind at that moment and all she could think about was getting out of there. She knew that wasn't the best choice right now with it still being day time but how much time would they have? The only thing her intuition was telling her was to run, to get away from there as soon as possible.

"Okay, and thank you. Although you don't have to do that, I know how to wear a wig. Disguises were part of my training among other...things, that I learned how to do. My question is how soon can we get out of here? My intuition is practically screaming at me to leave this area. I don't know who that guy is but he's definitely trouble. My psychic intuition is never wrong and sometimes my psychometry really dials my intuition up to 1000." She says nervous and concerned.

She turned and walked back into the living room sat down on the couch then put her shoes on. Once she her shoes were on she swiftly walked over to get a look at the wig. She picked it up and examined it on the outside and inside. It was a pretty good wig that looked a lot like real human hair and even the shade of blonde was spot on. She was pretty impressed although in all honesty she would've never chosen blonde because in her opinion black was a better choice. Although at the same time blonde would also be the exact opposite from her natural brunette locks.
 
He had known she wouldn't understand, but it was still frustrating when she insisted she wouldn't be able to ignore people in need. He had a feeling making it clear to her that she could very well die doing it wouldn't help. She wasn't someone that had been surrounded by death and collateral damage for long enough to become desensitized to it. Until the moment came when she had to decide between a stranger and her own life or freedom, she wasn't going to listen to him. He had a feeling he was going to have to physically drag her away at some point.

"When I left, the youngest hound in training was 8 years old." He said, expression serious but unfazed. "Sekiro is not a man above using children and civilians to get to you if he wants you back badly enough. If his people are here, I can't risk someone recognizing my voice." He'd been gone a long time, but it was possible still, especially if he was already using the hounds.

He frowned when she got up, and might've scolded her for pulling the flyer back out if she hadn't taken off her glove. If her psychometry was consistent, and as accurate as her retelling of his misplacing the remote, it was going to be a useful tool and he was going to have to get used to believing her without any evidence.

"I've never seen him before," Julius said with a furrow in his brow when she said the young man at the door had been lying, "but it's not impossible. His hair was black. Why? If Sekiro's people are already here, we should get out while it's still daylight. If they spot us when there's witnesses, they'll be less likely to pull any major stunts."

Shaking his head, Julius pushed her new backpack across the island to her, along with her clothes, and took the small tent bag to carry back to his bedroom with him. "Repack your things into this, it'll hold them better. Fix your hair, eat something for lunch, try to relax while I go make a couple phone calls. We'll leave before dinner."

He had to call and tell his job he wouldn't be coming back for a while, if ever, and then another to get his rent payments taken care of in case he was gone for longer than he thought. Even if he wasn't present, he wanted it to be there in case he could come back after this whole ordeal was over. At the same time, he knew he should also notify the man that had gotten him the job in the first place, if only as a courtesy, and as a warning if they ever needed his help. The last thing he wanted was to be under the rule of another rich man - though his current benefactor seemed to be a decent human being so far - but Julius knew he needed to have backup plans for his backup plans or they would never survive.
 
Having convinced the older the male that he was the resident of that apartment the black haired male had succeeded in averting their attention. He had gotten there first so there was no way that he was going to let them get in his way. Especially if his instincts were correct and he would gladly bet his money on it. Of course the only reason he had such good luck was because he didn't have to check the areas that had already been searched. He simply started searching in the areas that hadn't been searched yet and it lead him to the apartment complex.

Flashback ~

The black haired male had hacked into the systems of Phoenix House and was searching their data base for any information he could find on Subject X-35. Including the description that the two males had given if the male that had aided Subject X-35 in her escape. Once he found what he was searching for he printed it off and also printed off the fliers he needed to pretend he was searching for his lost bunny.

"Now that I've got everything I need I'll go get started on my search. I'll have to wear a dumb disguise but it'll be worth it to finally meet you...Subject X-35 or should I say...Charlotte." He said and smiled while looking down at a sheet of paper that had a picture of Charlotte on it.

With everything he needed he left early that morning with the excuse that he was going to go enjoy his down time out of town. He had stated that he would return in three days and that they could call him if they needed him. So he got in his car then he put on a black wig and shaded in his red eyebrows with black eye pencil. With his identity disguised he started his search on foot. Once he reached the apartment complex he started walking from door to door. He had knocked on nearly every door when he heard a motorcycle approaching so he quickly hid behind a car to avoid being seen. He knew that subject X-35 was with a male so he carefully watched the male through a tinted window knowing that he wouldn't be seen. He quickly watched as the male got off of the motorcycle and removed his helmet after checking his surroundings. It was then that the black haired male realized that the white haired male matched the description he had obtained earlier. His eyes were wide with disbelief at his luck then they narrowed with determination and he started to grin deviously.

'That's gotta be the guy who helped her. He sure as hell definitely matches the description. Could I have gotten any luckier? Now...all I have to do is wait to see which apartment he goes to and I'll be all set.' He thinks proudly.

Currently~

Now that the stage was set all he had to do was wait, because they couldn't stay in there forever. He had seen the male carrying a backpack filling with items but he had no idea what those items were. If those were food supplies they wouldn't last long but still he would have to eat and sleep himself. If things too to long he would need to call in some backup but he wasn't sure that he could trust anyone not to rat him out to Sekiro. He hadn't averted the undercover agents attention from the male's apartment for noble reasons. He had his own goals and reasons for stabbing Sekiro in the back and he had no intentions of letting anyone interfere with his plans. With his plans in mind he walked out of sight again but he circled back around from the left side of the building. Then he took a wrench out of his pocket and used her ferrokinesis to mold it into a smooth disk with a reflective surface. Once the disk was ready he flattened the bottom so it could sit up on it's own then he sat it down on the grass and sat down beside it. He would use it to keep an eye out for it the male opened the door again because that's when he would make his move

Charlotte looked at Julius a bit shocked by his words and couldn't understand how someone could already be selected to become a Hell Hound at such a young age. Clearly Lupus House did things very differently but why children? The people who worked under Mr. Sekiro really were cruel hearted monsters who needed to be stopped. She carefully put the wig down on the island and looked back up at Julius with a faint frown.

"That's terrible...someone needs to stop them. Training young children like that and kidnapping people. They're all monsters and something needs to be done about them." She saids with hurt and anger in her voice.

She quickly nodded when he said that he couldn't risk letting them hear his voice incase any of them recognized his voice. He was right, there was a chance that his voice could be recognized by any of Mr. Sekiro's men. Also there was the problem of that unknown male.

"His hair was red, so he must have been wearing a disguise. That's even more concerning. Why would he need a disguise? I've never seen him before. He was dressed like...a hooligan but his computer skills were way above average. Does he sound like anyone you knew?" She asking clearly trying to put the pieces together.

Deep down she was hoping that this guy didn't have any connections to Mr. Sekiro but her intuition kept telling her that he was bad news. She just had the feeling that they were being circled by a predator, one that was just waiting to pounce. Just the thought was making her nervous.

"You're right, but it'll be easier to lose them at night time. It's harder to shake them during the day and I can only help out at night because I can't expose my abilities during the day." She said still worried.

She quickly grabbed her glove from off of the Island and slipped it back on before reaching for the backpack that Julius had slid over to her. The last thing she wanted was to accidentally touch his hand, especially not after realizing what could activate her psychometry at random. She didn't want to activate it by mistake so that was the main reason she wore the gloves.

"Thank you and alright I'll get ready." She says sitting the new backpack down on the floor.

She unzipped it before unzipping her old backpack and carefully started putting her things into it one item at a time. Like Julius had said that backpack was definitely roomier but it was a backpack for camping and her old backpack was a regular school backpack. It was time for an upgrade but she had no idea that Julius had written something like that down. To be honest she wasn't sure of what all he had written down on the list because she hadn't seen the entire list. While putting her things into the backpack she had nothing the other items that were already packed inside but seeing the package of underwear really made he feel embarrassed. A guy who was still a stranger had actually bought her underwear, which meant that he knew what they all looked like. She softly sighed and banished the thought from her mind so she could focus then zipped up the backpack. She stood up and picked up the wig again. She really didn't want to wear a wig right now but she didn't have any choice.

"Alright, I'm going to get put this wig on." She said with soft sigh.

Then she turned and walked down the hall until she found the bathroom which she stepped into after carefully flipping the switch up so she could see. Then she stepped into the bathroom taking note of how neat and clean it was so she could make sure that she left it that way. She carefully placed on the counter beside the sink and started braiding her hair so the wig would fit better. Then she looked around for a pair of scissors and was thankful when she spotted a pair. She picked them up and used them to remove the wig cap that was connected to one of the wig straps but cutting the plastic tag that held it in place. The wig cap it's self was closed up inside of a tiny resealable bag that she opened before removing the wig cap from. Since she was used to this it didn't take her long to put the wig cap and then the wig on. With a few adjustments the wig looked like it was her actual hair and she admired her new look in the mirror for a few minutes. She had no idea that blonde was so becoming of her because she was so used to wearing black wigs. She smiled then grabbed the bag and tag from the counter, put the scissors back and turned out the light before walking out of the bathroom. Once she finally reached the living room she walked into the kitchen to throw away the tag. Then she walked to her new backpack, unzipped it and put the bag for the wig cap inside before zipping it up again.

She was sure that Julius was likely still on the phone she sat down on the couch to wait until he was done. She knew that he had said that she could fix herself some food but she still didn't feel comfortable doing that just yet.
 
Julius realized his mistake immediately. Telling her about Lupus House was having the opposite effect as what he intended, driving her to righteous fury rather than shrinking back in fear at their ruthlessness. He wondered, for a moment, what it would do to her to tell her that he had started so early he knew no other home than the House before he'd left it as an adult. He had no recollection of his birth parents, and no concept of 'family' beyond the Hounds that had suffered with him. Even they had been constantly pitted against each other.

In the end, he decided it would be best to stay quiet.

It took nearly 30 minutes to get things settled with work and his apartment, and longer still to call one Lotheir Kiemlin, a rich businessman whose life Julius had saved while on a job two years before. The man had gotten him a job with a security company he owned in exchange, and every once in a while since then they'd had contact through business or simple emails. Julius did his best to stay distant, in case he ever needed to cut ties, but for now it was best to explain to the man that he would be gone a while, that there was danger but he was handling it. If all else failed, the man's predictable offer of aid could be called upon in the future, but for now Julius told him it would be fine, just an update.

He took the time to pack his own bag afterwards; two changes of clothes, cash and a passport, a few rations, the tent, a compressed camping blanket, a knife but no gun in case they were stopped for any reason, a few simple hygienic supplies. Whatever would fit, as minimal as he could make it while still bringing what he might need. It was best to travel light, and use the cash to buy anything else they might need along the way. Anything important he left behind would stay locked in the safe, but there was nothing he couldn't live without. He'd started from nothing before, and he could do it again.

When he emerged from his bedroom, Julius had not only the bag but a spare motorcycle helmet and two jackets. "I don't have a car," he explained, setting them on the kitchen island and taking note of how clean the room was. She hadn't eaten. "Just a bike. When we leave, you'll want to wear these. In the unlikely event of a crash, they'll save your literal skin. In the case of anything worse, make skin to skin contact with me. I know it makes you uncomfortable, but in a pinch I can spread my shield over you as well." He had a feeling, once Sekiro caught on and started sending Hounds after them, she was going to need that information.

"Even if you're not hungry, you should eat something." He left his things where they were and walked to the fridge to look inside. "What do you like? I'll make you something." He would eat light, keep his strength up without weighing himself down. He'd already lost sleep and had a feeling he wouldn't rest well for a few more days. Everything needed to be careful, measured between too much vigilance and too little, to ensure their survival.

"In the meantime, let's discuss. They won't shoot at us during the day, but you're right that escaping their notice might be easier in the dark." He was meant for stealth in minimal lighting, given his gift made him hard to see at night. "It is also easier to hide the use of your power - and mine - in the dark. But, on the flip side, it let's them hit us harder, too, and Rabbit Man is a wild card we can't predict either way. Both choices have their advantages. What is your . . . intuition telling you?"

It left a lot of room for error, so he would be on his guard, but if Charlotte would tell him the truth her precognitive abilities could save their hides some day. He was going to have to respect that.
 
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Even though the black haired male was staking out the area he still had to eat so he was glad that he had planned ahead and brought some food along. He reached to his left and pulled a black duffel bag that he had brought along over to him. He unzipped the bag and pulled out a bottle of water that he opened and took a drink from. Then he put the lid back on before slipping it back into the bag and pulled out a package of emergency food ration bars. They didn't need to be refrigerated because the packaging would keep them from going bad so he had brought almost a whole duffel bag full of them. He opened the package and pulled out a single bar then he resealable the package and it back into his duffle bag as he started eating the bar. Although he was eating he still kept an eye on the metal disk for any signs of movement from the apartment he was watching.

Meanwhile~

Charlotte could understand why Julius had ignored her rant of justice but what she wondered was why he hadn't answered her question about the male. Did that mean that he did know him or was he just unsure of what to tell her since he wasn't familiar with him?

'Should I ask him again or leave the topic alone?'She thought to herself feeling a little unsure.

When Julius had emerged from his room Charlotte was completely distracted by the two motorcycle helmets that he was carrying in his arms. At first she only quietly watched him as he walked over to the island and sat them down on top of it.

"Okay I understand but I don't know if I can do that whole...skin to skin thing. Are you sure your ability won't still work without doing that? I honestly would rather not have my psychometry activate during any kind of dangerous situation because I end up zoning out during. Also...I could end up seeing anything. Like...um...you taking a shower and I really don't want to see that." She says sounding clearly embarrassed as her cheeks started to slightly blush.

She quickly hid her cheeks by putting her face in her hands because the last thing she wanted was for Julius to see her blushing and get the wrong idea. It had nothing to do with any kind of attraction, she just didn't like the idea of seeing anybody naked. It was just way to awkward and wasn't something that she could handle especially since she was innocent and had no experience being so personal with a guy. Although it wasn't like she wanted him to know that either so she quickly changed the subject.

"Um...anything is fine. I can't exactly afford to be picky right now. Just nothing with cashews because I'm allergic."She said turning her head to the right so all he could see was the wig covering her face.

She forgot that her cheeks were still blushing a little and turned to look at Julius when he mentioned Sekiro's men and Rabbit Man as he called him. Hearing him say that made her think of some reject super hero and she couldn't help but laugh a little although she was quick to silence her laughter.

"Yeah there are advantages and disadvantages during daytime and nighttime. If I focus I can create my own shield in a way by creating a force to push back against any kind of projectile they try to use. So tranq darts won't do them any good this time as long as I'm ready for them. They won't use bullets because they're not trying to risk killing me so we just have to worry about abilities that I can't handle. Also did you actually call that guy Rabbit Man?"She says slightly amused as she slightly laughs again.

After she finally managed to get serious again she silently closed her eyes to focus in the hopes of using precognition to see the not so distant future. Precognition was something that only ever activated at random but she knew that she could really use it right now more than ever.

"I'm trying to see if I can have a vision of the near future. There's no guarantee that this will work though." She says nervously.

Keeping her eyes shut she thinks back to how angry she felt when she was talking about how someone needed to stop Sekiro and other men like him. She focused hard on trying to see into the future and on the anger she felt then just when she thought nothing would happen. Her eyes widened and she started to have a vision. In the vision she could clearly see Julius walking out of his apartment in front of her during the day time then when she followed him outside he stopped walking. He had held up his left hand to signal her to stop and when she looked around them there were multiple undercover agents still in the area. They had all spotted Julius and had quickly started running toward them yelling that he was the guy and she heard Julius tell her to run. She started running and heard the men yelling police and that they both under arrest. Which meant that they were posing as undercover police to make chasing them look less suspicious. Finally the vision ended and she blinked her eyes a few times and was breathing a little heavy.

"They'll still be in area and they'll see us if we go outside while there's still daylight. Also they're posing as undercover police. That's a problem...so it looks like nighttime it is."She says still trying to slow her breathing down.
 
((That's my bad, I think I accidentally ignored one of her questions 😂))


Julius made a mental note of her allergy and just started pulling sandwich ingredients out of the fridge, an eyebrow raised when he looked up to see her hiding her face from him, shy and uncomfortable. Normal people were so easily embarrassed, he had to keep reminding himself that until recently things like nudity, violence and atrocity had been foreign to her. He was sure some day he was going to offend her terribly by being immune to such things.

"It's only for life or death emergencies," he said, getting a couple of plates and bread from the cabinets. "If we find ourselves in a situation where my shield is the only thing keeping us alive, you'd probably appreciate being distracted. Honestly, Charlotte, me showering is probably the least offensive thing you could see."

If her psychic abilities worked like others he had seen, it would be more likely to latch on to stronger memories, like his encountering the Heart and all its pain as a child, his first kill at nine years old, being told to fight other hounds to the death repeatedly as they grew up and being healed just before he could die if he lost, any of the times he had been strapped down and hurt in ways she couldn't imagine under the guise of improving his ability to hold his shield in place under duress. As many horrible things as she could see that he had done in his life, or that had been done to him, it wasn't like he wanted to touch her either.

"Who knows," he added with a shrug, "maybe your psychometry won't even work through the shield. It's good to know you've got one, too, though. It could save our hides some day." He gave her a small, amused smile even as he cut an apple into slices and set them on the plate next to her sandwich. "What else am I supposed to call him? I don't know his name."

He was glad, at least, that she could smile for a moment, given the tense silence that followed as she struggled with her psychic abilities again, and he waited it out so as not to disturb her. "They're watching already, then. I didn't think they'd pick out our door so fast." Maybe they hadn't. Maybe they were just on the lookout in the building, and it was all coincidence. It didn't matter. They had their decision.

"Until then, you should rest." Julius walked over and set her plate on the coffee table, leaving her to recover in peace and going back to make his own food. "I know forcing your abilities isn't easy for you. So thank you." As much as she was relying on him for help, he had a feeling she was going to be the one to save him some day.
 
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((That's okay. lol 😂))

Still feeling embarrassed Charlotte still continued to keep her head turned away to keep her face hidden. There was just no way she could look at Julius right now especially not while he was still talking about the topic that she wanted to avoid. Maybe she shouldn't have said anything but she ended up letting her thoughts get the better of her and she said something that she regretted now. When she felt like he wouldn't notice she turned her head a little to glimpse at him mostly because she was curious about what he was making.

"Yeah I know, survival is more important. It's just that...if someone has never been exposed to certain things then it's a total shock to their system. You're right though, I could end up seeing something worse...just like all of the other times. Everything I've seen is something I can't forget...but that's just part of life." She says with a hint of sadness before giving a faint smile.

As she sat there watching Julius she couldn't help but wonder what kind of hell had he been through at Lupus House. Part of her wanted to tell him about all of the times she had been forced to use her psychometry and all of the terrible things she had seen. Vivid images of violence and all kinds of criminal activities that she wished she could forget. She also hadn't told him that she was being given psychotherapy before she escaped to help her heal from the damage that had been done to her mind. If being forced to use her psychometry wasn't already enough she also endured being strapped to a chair and shocked. That was until the scientist reached their goal of unlocking her psychometry. After that they tied her up and told her to try her best to levitate before pushing her into a swimming pool. Almost everytime she nearly drowned but someone would pull her out in time and they would repeat that exercise daily until she was able to levitate. It was cruel of them but they felt that it was a necessary measure to take in order to make her stronger. The scientists figuring out that her emotions were the key to her abilities only made things worse, because they started using more extreme measures to get the results they wanted. There were even times when their tests resulted in her throwing up, passing out or both. Honestly smiling or laughing were just coping mechanisms that Charlotte used to keep herself from being pulled under by all of things that she carried inside. She just didn't want Julius to know that she pretty much broken.

"Yeah, hopefully my psychometry isn't able to work with your shield activated. Well I call it a shield but it's just me creating a telekinetic push to repel projectiles. You tend to learn things like that when things...like uh...dodge balls are thrown at you."She said and nervously laughed a little.

As she watched Julius cutting up an apple she noticed a small smile become visible on his face before he mentioned the male who had left a flier. She thought about what he had said for a moment as she was trying to come up with something to call the male that sounded better than Rabbit Man.

"Hmm...his hair is actually red so what about Red?" She asks uncertainly then shrugging her shoulders.

Thinking back to the vision she had seen she remembered seeing the undercover agents just randomly roaming around which she found strange. Another thing she found strange is why hadn't any of them knocked on the door yet? The only one who had knocked on the door was Red as she called him but why? Charlotte's eyes widened and she suddenly gasped with realization before turning to fully look at Julius.

"I just realized a few things, so I don't think they know where we are yet. In my vision those undercover agents were just randomly walking around but none of them were anywhere near your apartment door. They actually looked like they were about to leave. So far no one has knocked on the door besides Red so, why is that? Do you think Red did something?" She asked as she tried to come up with reasons why no one but Red had knocked.

She was deep in thought when he walked over and sat the plate down on the coffee table in front of her distracting her from her train of thought. So she silently looked up at him then looked back down at the sandwich that had apple slices on the side. She returned her gaze to Julius and followed him with her eyes as he walked back into the kitchen.

"Okay I'll rest for now. Yeah but it's...it's no big deal. You're...you're welcome though Julius. Also thank you for everything." She said and smiled.

Charlotte looked away again trying to hide that she was a little caught off guard by him thanking her. It had been so long since anyone had thanked her for anything that she had gotten used to not being thanked. Now it seemed so strange to her to hear the words thank you being said to her. After a few moments she carefully removed her gloves and placed them on the couch beside her, then she nervously looked down at the plate of food. She needed to eat but she would have to be extra careful not to touch the plate or the coffee table. The only reason she could touch the food was because only weaker memories were ever attached to food. That was something that she glad for as she carefully picked up the sandwich and bite into it. Although it was just a sandwich she couldn't believe how good it was as she continued to and swallow.

"How is everything you make so good?"She asked happy and smiled.

Then she continued eating her sandwich with a smile still on her face. It was the first time that she had actually smiled a real smile and she couldn't believe how happy eating a sandwich was making her feel. It had been so long since she had actually felt that kind of joy and she started to get a little teary eyed while continuing to eat.
 
((Caught me just before I fell asleep. Have a good night!))

Everything I've seen is something I can't forget. He'd heard words like those before, from empty shells with hollow eyes, and it made the wolf in him cry out in sympathy. Not all of the Hounds had succeeded and grown. Some had broken, given up, did their best to die until their unwillingness to cooperate had earned them eternal freedom. They had been told to fight against each other, never to help another Hound and hamper their training - but in brief moments stolen away from the people that told them to fight, to get stronger at all costs, they had been kindred spirits in suffering. It wasn't really family, and sometimes it wasn't even affection, but each other's company was all they'd had. As far as he could see, Charlotte had been alone.

It was good, at least, to know that their specific door hadn't been chosen. It gave them a better chance of slipping out unnoticed after dark, but she was right. 'Red' was a wild card. The fact that his motivation and affiliation were both a mystery did not sit well with Julius.

"Maybe he's an outlier," he said with a shrug, as if he wasn't terribly concerned about it. No need to worry her with things she couldn't change. "Could be he's not even one of Sekiro's men, or he's after me, not you." Julius didn't think anyone would recognize him yet, not someone he wasn't already familiar with. He and the other Hounds that had escaped were basically useless to Sekiro, uncooperative and tasting freedom they wouldn't give up for anything else, and as such looking for them had become a waste of resources for the man very quickly. There was no need to look for an asset one could no longer control.

He offered a small smile at her enthusiasm as he assembled his own lunch, a sandwich half the size of hers and with only water to go with it, as it would hold him over for now. "The secret ingredient is freedom," he said with a dramatic little wave of his hand as if to sprinkle it on, trying to let her keep smiling, keep feeling as relaxed as possible, then just huffed a small breath of laughter and started putting everything back in the fridge to tidy up. "And handlers that know how to make food taste good cost too much. It's just a sandwich."

How poorly had she been fed, he wondered, to praise something so simple? He joked, but it probably actually was the freedom talking. Anything would be a greatly improved experience once suddenly out from under the thumb of a devil incarnate. For now, she could relax and eat and feel, if not happy, then at least relieved. Once they stepped out the front door, he was sure it would be a long while before she felt safe again.
 
((lol I have great timing then. 😂))

Charlotte was about half way through her sandwich when she paused to look at Julius. What he had said about Red made her think back to the way he had been dressed when she had seen an image of him play in her mind.

"Based on his rebellious way of dressing...you could be right about him being an outlier. Although we can't rule out that he may have some kind of connection to Yami Sekiro. Let's say that maybe he is after you. What would his reason for being after you be?" She curiously asked.

She thought about it for a moment then took a bite out of her sandwich and was chewing when what Red had said came back to her mind. A guy like him looking for a pet bunny just didn't make any sense when he could have said that he was looking for a dog. That would've been more believable instead of him claiming that his bunny had escaped. She couldn't help but think that it was a ridiculous lie as she swallowed her food. How on Earth would a little bunny rabbit escape anyway? She was about to take another bite of her sandwich when she thought back to Mr. Sekiro's creepy nickname for her. She froze for a moment then looked over at Julius.

"Red claimed that he was looking for his bunny that escaped. Meanwhile Sekiro calls me his little bunny rabbit and I just escaped. Also Red stated that he wasn't a salesman but he had seen them all over the place. It was like he was warning us about them, but why? Maybe I'm overthinking things but if I'm correct then Red's definitely connected to Sekiro but he's not an agent. So he's either a hired civilian or an ability user. "She said completely serious.

She really wished that she had more to go on but her information about Red was limited so it was difficult to tell what they were dealing with. If he was a hired civilian then they could handle that but if he was an ability user then she could only hope that he was a low level user. Either way it was best to deal with one thing at a time and right now she needed to relax so she pushed those thoughts aside. She took a deep breath then exhaled letting herself relax as she picked up a slice of apple then took a bite out of it and chewed it while enjoying the sweet taste of it. She swallowed then looked over at Julius and laughed a little.

"That's a real cute joke. Anyone can make a sandwich but not everyone can make a good sandwich. My mom taught me that and she was great at making sandwiches. My dad on the other hand...he...well he tried." She said a bit of an awkward smile.

Her dad was very enthusiastic when it came to everything but unfortunately he couldn't cook or even make a good sandwich.

"My dad would always put to much mayo on the bread and he put the cheese under the meat. When it came to the meats he always used cold cuts and sardines because he thought it tasted good. Then he would drown the sardines in mustard adding cut up hard boiled eggs and black olives on top." She says making a grossed out face.

Sure she had been eating healthy bland food for the last few years but she still knew when she tasted a well made sandwich, unlike her dad's sandwiches. Honestly she wasn't sure if they should even be considered as food.

"This is definitely not just a sandwich. He could open your own business and sell these sandwiches. I guarantee you people would buy them." She said smiling.

She had really missed having real food so she couldn't help but wonder what else Julius could cook as she took another bite of her sandwich.
She happily chewed while she sat there relaxing on the couch, while watching TV again since she had never bothered to turn it off. Some movie about a group of people who were stranded on an alien planet was on but she had never seen the movie before. So she curiously watched the movie. In the movie the group had just crash landed on the planet and discovered that their spaceship would need repairs. It was a stressful situation but they had no choice but to wait until the space ship was repaired before they could leave. In the meantime the other crew members had decided to split into small groups to search for food and water. A few members only wanted to explore this new and undocumented planet so they could take the information back to Earth with them. While watching the movie Charlotte had finished eating her sandwich and her apple slices. Now she was leaned back on the couch with her gloves back on her hands and almost completely engrossed in the movie.
 
Julius' expression scrunched up a little at Charlotte's little pet name, but didn't comment. He'd heard worse, and of the information she was giving him it was the one with the least important implications - he did, still, accept the fact that it would be creepy for her. The problem was Red. What was his angle? Was he trying to help them, or just leading them into a different sort of trap? Julius had to believe it was the latter, just to remain cautious, and for now couldn't let it alter their plans. He would be on guard, keep alert, and do everything carefully, but they would still leave when it was dark, with nothing but his bike and what fit in their packs. It was going to have to be good enough to get them where they would be relatively safe, or at least in a more defensible position if someone with strong gifts came after them.

"Technically, I am also an escaped experiment," he said instead of addressing much about their new adversary, just giving a little shrug. "There's just less to gain from finding me, especially after I've been gone so long. If they'd thought it was worth bringing me back, they'd've tried harder a long time ago, but someone might still want to kill me, or attempt to buy my services instead."

With the amount of skill and power they had been trained for, finding him and the other escaped Hounds would have caused too many losses for not enough gain, not unless the aim was to kill them. Julius knew none of them would ever work for Sekiro again. They would rather die, just as he would. It was why they'd all risked leaving.

Julius only gave a thoughtful little hum and another faint smile when Charlotte both praised him and reminisced about her parents, people he had to assume were already dead or she would've tried to contact them. He had never had parents, nor any sort of substitute for them, but while the true depth of feeling was foreign to him he could at least appreciate in theory that thinking about them would bring Charlotte both comfort and pain. It was one of the few minefields he was incapable of traversing, so he left it alone.

"If you say so." He murmured, clearly amused still but letting her have her quiet moment of thought about it. When she focused on the tv he finished his dinner, and as quietly as he could cleaned out the refrigerator of anything that would begin to rot and grow things while he was gone, leaving just a little behind in case they needed to eat more. He would take the trash bag out as they left. He left her dishes with her, so as not to disturb her by walking into her line of sight, and let her watch tv while he went to the bedroom to make sure he had everything he needed and wasn't leaving anything important behind. Once the sun went down, they would be ready.

Finally, when the credits were rolling and Charlotte would hopefully shake out of her own distraction, he came back for her dishes. "Any good?" He asked as he took them away. "I've never watched that one. Sounded exciting." He washed the dishes, quiet and methodical, and set them aside to dry In a rack. "You should pick a show that's only an hour next. It'll be dark by the time it's over, and we should leave as soon as it's safe enough. Think of restaurants you like. We'll have a discussion about where to go for dinner as we leave, make ourselves sound normal, give you a reason to look at me and keep your face turned away from everyone else until you've got the helmet on." Acting like a normal, oblivious person was, he had found, usually the best strategy for getting anywhere unaccosted.
 
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As the black haired male sat outside he started to get bored as time went by. He was used to stake outs but for reason this time waiting around was starting to get under his skin. Then again it could have been the fact that he was wearing a turtle neck sweater and a slightly itchy one at that. Also he normally had at least one other person along with him during a stake out but this time he was flying solo. So being alone meant no one else to talk to but he was glad that Sekiro's drones had all finally cleared out. They must have moved on to go search another area which was perfect for him. The last thing he wanted was to deal with annoying fleas getting in his way, now he only had to wait in order to carry out the rest of his plan. He really couldn't say how things would go with that other male around but he had a feeling that things wouldn't go as planned. He had different back up plans already prepared though because he was determined to make sure that he had the upper hand on Sekiro. He smirked as he silently waited and scratched at the right side of his neck a little with his left hand.

'Damn stupid turtle neck sweater. I can't wait to get rid of you. How do people wear this kind of crap any way? It's so uncomfortable and itchy.' He thinks a bit annoyed.


Meanwhile~


Although Charlotte was watching the movie she still kept track of what Julius had said and responded to her during a commercial break. She looked over at him and nodded her head.

"Yeah, you're right. Just incase anyone is trying to kill you, I'll make sure to keep an eye out. I can't have you end up killed because I still need your help. So no dying on my watch okay? By the way, that's an order." She says and gives Julius a warm smile.

She was clearly trying to keep the mood light even though it was a serious topic. She really didn't want to lose anyone else and even though she barely knew Julius, she had to admit that it was nice having some actual company. She wasn't sure about what he actually planned on doing in the long run so she didn't know how long he would actually stick around. From what she could tell he had been living alone before she ended up coming along and changing things. Julius didn't seem to mind to much so she guessed that he also enjoyed her company also.

"Yes I say so. Do you dare to question Queen Charlotte?" She said jokingly then smiled.

It was nice whenever Julius showed even the slightest amusement because it reminded her of the happy moments she shared with friends and family. It made her feel happy to be able to enjoy a nice moment like that and she hoped that they could keep enjoying nice moments like that. Although she knew that once they stepped outside of that door that things likely wouldn't be the same. She wasn't sure of how long things would be stressful and dangerous. How long would Sekiro actually keep trying to recapture her? She was deep in thought for
a second but then the commercial break ended so she returned to watching the movie. Only once every so often would she slyly glimpse over at Julius out of the corner of her eye curious about what he was up to. She had seen him cleaning out the refrigerator and throwing things out before walking by on his way to his bedroom. By the time the credits started rolling she looked over at him when he walked up to get her plate. She smiled with excitement at him and nodded.

"Yeah it was a really good movie. The ending really caught me off guard because out of a full crew of eight people only two survived long enough to get in the spaceship. Although they didn't know that the one of aliens had gotten on board with them and attacked one of them. His buddy killed the alien to get it off of his friend but he was badly wounded and bleeding." She says excited but minding how loud she was talking.

She stood up and walked over the island before continuing with the plot of the movie.

"As the guy flew the spaceship he saw Earth not to far away so he told his friend to hold on but his friend was already slipping away. The guy picked up speed and entered into the Earth's atmosphere crash landing near on land near a swamp. He was worried about his friend so he quickly ran to his side to hold him but he died in his arms. The strange part was that the guy hadn't landed on Earth." She said amused.

She laughed a little before continuing to tell how the movie ended.

"He was on another alien planet and after he exited the spaceship he found himself surrounded by what he thought was stranded humans These aliens looked almost identical to humans and they were all females. The thing is they all opened their mouths to reveal creepy alien type mouths. The look on his face was priceless." She says amused.

She had to manage to stop laughing but when she did she continued again.

"They all shriek at him and start running toward him before he screams. The screen goes black and the credits roll. That's funny because there's no way of knowing if he made it or not. It's sad he thought that he had finally made it home. What a plot twist though huh?" She says clearly glad that she had watched the movie.

It had definitely been way to long since she had seen a good movie but she really enjoyed the movie. She knew there was no way of knowing how long it would be because they could watch any TV again so she smiled at the thought of watching it with him.

"Well...how about you pick something for us to watch together before we have to get ready to leave. I'm fine with pretty anything as long as it isn't horror." She said then walked back over to the couch to sit down.

She looked over at Julius as she waited for him to join her and choose what they would be watching together. She had to be honest, she was really curious to see what you would choose to watch.
 
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((Another reply caught on my last check before sleep haha Excellent timing 👍))

"I'll have you know," Julius said when Charlotte demanded he not die, putting a hand to his heart in a sort of haughty posture meant to amuse her, "I am notoriously hard to kill." It was true, given his gift, but also simply meant to keep her relaxed and happy. He knew she was trying hard to hang onto it just as much as he was trying to let her have it. She had to face reality, but that didn't mean he couldn't say little things to make her smile. It was all the comfort he would be able to give her.

When the movie was over he listened to her retelling with little nods here and there, opening the pantry to look inside and picking out the few things that could possibly rot while he was away instead of simply being expired and unfit for consumption. He still wasn't sure if he would ever see the inside of this place again, but if he ever did he didn't want it to smell like rotten food and be filled with pests as a result. Everything else was negligible. Any decoration he had was simple and impersonal, no photos or personal notebooks or anything else that would tell someone much of anything about him were left behind. It was as 'clean' as he could get the place in the time and circumstances available to him.

"That sounds terrifying." He raised an eyebrow at her laughter, but with a slight smile at how she found it all so funny. It sounded like a movie meant to make people uneasy, not amused. "A good plot twist, I suppose. Maybe I'll watch it some time." She'd given him 'spoilers', but it wasn't like he cared much about such things.

When Charlotte suggested he pick out something to watch together, he paused with a loaf of bread in his hands and considered denying her. He had things to do, more things to prep in the apartment, more plans to make - but she already had enough things to worry about, and enough of him telling her she needed to re-enter reality and stop being naive. Keeping her sane was going to be just as important as keeping her safe.

In the end, he decided an hour wasn't worth enough to disappoint her further.

"All right." He said with a little shrug, and tossed what he had taken from the pantry into the trash bag before tying it off and turning to give her a sarcastic little bow. "As the Queen wishes."

He snatched up the remote on his way around the couch and took a seat on one side with plenty of room for her on the other, flipping through the channel guide to see what was on. "Don't worry. I don't really like horror either." If he wanted to see gore and terror, he had enough memories and nightmares to draw on. Most of the movies he'd deigned to look at hadn't been very scary to him anyway.

In the end, he settled on a rerun of a fake cop show called The Rookie, as it probably had enough action to keep her attention but threw in comedy as well to take the edge off. He would watch, and if asked could probably tell someone the gist of the episode, but mostly he sat looking at the tv and not really seeing it. There were too many things to think about.

"Time to go." He said when the episode was over, turning the tv off and getting up to look out the blinds to be sure it was dark enough. "Grab your bag, and follow my lead. We're just discussing where to go for dinner, hm? We'll be on the road in no time."

He offered her a smile to be reassuring, made sure she put on his spare jacket and took both her backpack and helmet with her, then mimed taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly as they paused at the door. "I've got your back." He gestured her forward as he opened the door, conversing with a casual tone and the volume of someone aware they lived very close to other people. "We can't go to Cavaretti's, it closed, like five minutes ago."

He touched her elbow gently to get her to turn and face him as he locked up behind them, then only nodded towards the parking lot as they started to walk, trash bag in one hand and helmet in the other. He'd seen a faint glint of something shining straight out from the door, and had to believe at least one person was still watching them. He had a feeling he knew which one, as well, and just hoped the act would stall Red long enough that they could get on his bike before they man reached them. If not, they were going to have to fight right here and now.

"Let's go to the diner instead. It's always empty on Tuesdays anyway, and I know you like their pancakes."
 
((Thanks hahaha. I still can't believe it though. 🤣))

Charlotte couldn't help but start laughing at how Julius had acted while jokingly responding to her joke about commanding him not to die. Then after she stopped laughing she tilted her head up while looking over at him.

"Very good indeed, I shall hope that you continue to be notoriously hard to kill." She says pretending to fan herself with fan then she stops and laughs again.

She grins and nods to his response to the end of the movie that she had just finished telling him all about. Although it hadn't dawned on her that in her moment of excitement that she had just told a bunch of spoilers about the ending.

"It was terrifying but still funny because of how ironic it was. Plus the special effects were good but not to the point of actually being scary. If the movie had have been scarier then there was no way I could've watched it. I would shut my eyes and missed some of the best parts. You should definitely watch it." She said still excited.

To her the movie kind of reminded her one of her favorite movies, which was the Chronicles of Riddick. So she was definitely looking forward to watching the movie again with Julius the second time around. When he decided to join her to watch TV that made Charlotte smile because watching TV with someone was always better than watching it alone. After he turned to sarcastically bow she laughed a little.

"A very wise choice. You are indeed a fine subject, Sir Julius." She said jokingly then laughed.

Charlotte watched as Julius walked over to the couch and picked up the remote before sitting down next to her on the couch. As he started clicking through the tv guide she watched to see what he would choose. Finally he had decided on a show called The Rookie which she had never seen before but it looked like a good show to her.

"That's good to know" She said before getting quite so she could watch the show.

An hour almost flew by and before she knew it Julius was telling her that it was time to go. She hated that time had passed so quickly but she quietly stood up and noticed Julius looking through the blinds. She gently nodded while mentally preparing herself.

"Okay." She said softly.

She took the spare jacket that he handed her and put it on before walking over to her new backpack to put it on. With both backpack straps securely on her shoulders she grabbed the helmet. She smiled in return and nodded then she took a deep breath before letting it out. She would have to relax as much as possible or she would give them away.

"That's to bad. I really had my heart set on their chicken Alfredo." She says causally walking out of the door.

She had put her head down for a moment as if watching where she was walking then she turned to face Julius after he slightly touched her elbow. She was a bit caught off guard but she made sure not to let it show on her face. He hadn't told her that he was going to do anything like that so she really hoped that he wouldn't do anything else unpredictable. Honestly she was already nervous and trying her best to keep calm as she waited on him to lock the door.

At that exact moment the black haired male was watching and he grinned when he saw them emerge from the apartment. He grabbed the disk and used his ferrokinesis to turn it into a ball before standing up and putting it into his pants pocket.

'Finally...I thought I would die of boredom waiting out here. Let's go mingle.' He thinks to himself as his boredom vanishes only to be replaced by excitement.

Doing her best to follow his lead Charlotte turns and starts walking close to Julius heading toward the parking lot.

"You're right, I do love the pancakes at Boomerang Diner. You know me all to well babe, but that's one of the reasons why I love you so much." She said and smiled the most convincing smile she could manage.

She almost choked on her words and deep down she felt the need to find the nearest trashcan to throw up in. Saying something so lovey-dovey actually made her feel sick to her stomach but she figured that it wouldn't look right if they were to casual in their conversation. Clearly a girl coming out of a guy's apartment at night didn't look right but it was normal if they were at least dating. Having to pretend still made her feel sick though and it was just plan embarrassing but she didn't let how she actually felt show on her face.

At the same time the black haired male slowly walked around the corner only three doors down from where Julius and Charlotte had been standing.

"Well...isn't that just sweet. I don't mean to interrupt you two love birds, but I need a brief moment of your time. Also don't worry, I come in peace...I promise. I just want to say that my bunny Angel was actually my father's, little bunny rabbit."He says calmly.

It was dark but the apartment complexes lights would still allow them to see that he was wearing black framed glasses and a green turtle neck sweater. Anyone could clearly see that the male worked out because his muscles were easily visible underneath the turtle neck sweater.

"He didn't treat her right so she escaped. Then I decided to search for her in the hopes of making her mine and keeping her safe from my father who doesn't deserve her. I plan to give her everything thing her heart desires and take away everything my father has but doesn't deserve. So tell me do I sound like a bad to either of you?" He said still maintaining his composure.

He didn't want to make them uneasy so he stayed where he was standing and simply folded his arms. He even did his best to look none threatening but that was why he had on the glasses and the forest turtle neck sweater. He was aware that needs were viewed in a more none threatening way so he had really hoped that it would work.

Charlotte had yet to look in the male's direction figuring that Julius likely wouldn't be very happy with her for doing that. She was still listening to what the male said though.

"He's definitely referring to me and I think he's talking about Sekiro. What now?" She faintly whispered knowing that the wig hid her face from the black haired male's view and that he wouldn't hear her.
 
Julius thought Charlotte was laying it on a bit thick, but her tone and delivery were good so he just gave her a big grin when she said she loved him, chuckling at the declaration. "I knew it had to be something." He said, as if he hadn't noticed Red approaching from behind them. So much for getting to his bike.

When the young man spoke, Julius slowed and turned to look over his shoulder, expression a mix of confused and amused, as if he couldn't tell whether he should be nervous or just laugh. With the added knowledge of Charlotte's old nickname, the pieces clicked together very fast. This man was one of Sekiro's for sure, one very close but not one that liked him, apparently. Julius had a bad feeling about that. It was too early to tell if he wanted to take her away somewhere or just kill her so Sekiro couldn't have her.

"It's all right," he said loud enough for both of them to hear, tone reassuring, and set the trash bag down next to her, "watch that for me, okay?"

Helmet in hand still, he stepped a little closer to where Red was standing and lowered his voice as if to keep Charlotte from hearing, holding his free hand up in a placating gesture. "Look, man, I'm really sorry about your bunny rabbit, and your daddy issues, but this is the first time my girlfriend's come to my place and I'm not gonna score tonight if you keep making her so nervous, all right? Be a pal and I'll help you slash your dad's tires for you tomorrow."

He gave a little laugh at that, starting to turn back to where Charlotte was waiting and raising his voice again for her to hear, the picture of an overconfident man who thought he had nothing to fear. "Let's go, babe. I gotta toss that bag out before we leave."

It was a clear enough direction for them to start moving, towards the dumpster not twenty feet away, and Julius had his shield up everywhere but his head and hands, ready even as he started to turn and give Red his back. If the man didn't believe that he'd made a mistake and they were just an everyday couple trying to go for a ride on his bike, there would probably be a fight. At the very least, he thought the guy might try to pull him back and punch him, and if the fight truly did start it would be good for Charlotte to run and hide behind the dumspter. This was going to be more trouble and more attention than he had wanted to have before they left.
 
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Charlotte simply stood completely silent as Julius responded to Red but what he had said definitely made her nervous. She couldn't help but wonder if she would have to protect herself and Julius from the male. The way he was talking made him seem like some kind of psychotic and creepy, obsessed stalker. He was definitely connected to Sekiro but in what way? Exactly who was this guy and what all did he know about her.

"Okay."She said a faint voice then slightly nodded.

She knew looking at the male was a bad idea but against her better judgement she turned her head and looked at him out of the corner of her eyes. Then she watched as Julius approached the male which made her start to really worry for his safety.

Red curiously watched Julius as he walked toward him and stopped wondering what he was about to say to him while still keeping his guard up. After hearing Julius' words Red couldn't help but smirk at him. As Charlotte watched Red and Julius she couldn't help but wonder what he had said to him because she couldn't make out anything. She wasn't sure what Julius was doing but if things got out of hand she was ready incase she was needed. Following suit Red also spoke lower so no one else but Julius could hear anything that he said to him.

"Oh is that so? I had no idea that she actually managed to find herself a boyfriend over night. So her knight in shining armor turned out to be her one true love huh? Talk about a real life fairy tale." Red says sarcastically.

He couldn't believe that this guy actually had the nerves to try to play him. Red was starting to run out of patience and was getting pissed off. When he saw the male turn back around clearly brushing him off Red walked up to him then reached out to grab his shoulder. If his timing was good and the male didn't stop or avoid him then he would grab him and forcefully turn him back around. He tightly clutched onto his shoulder as he glared at him.

"Seriously? Did you really think I would believe that bullshit?! I'm a hacker so it was easy to access her records and hack into the security cameras in the area of where she was last seen. I saw both of you." Red said with agitation in his voice.

Nothing annoyed him more than someone acting like they don't know anything when they did. It was something that Sekiro would do often before smiling after lying about what he knew. Red was pretty sure that he just did it to get on his nerves because he knew there wasn't anything he could do about it. Red also hated when people spoke to him in a condescending way. He felt like he wasn't being taken seriously. He really wanted to hit the guy in the face but he was still trying to maintain some level of selfcontrol as he clenched his jaw in anger. At that moment in his anger his eyes shifted showing tigers eyes as he glared at the male. Part of him wanted to fully shift so he could scare the guy half to death in his tiger form but he looked over at Charlotte for a second before returning his gaze to the male. He was sure that he would lose any chance at gaining her trust if he pulled a stunt like that so he resisted the urge. Instead he changed his eyes back and softened his gaze before he released the male's shoulder. There was still some anger within his eyes as he spoke again.

"You're fighting style from the footage isn't taught to normal people. So I ran a visual match search on you. I didn't get to read much because I triggered some anti hacker mechanism. Although I found out that you were a Hell Hound from Lupus House who escaped." He said.

Red looked at Charlotte for a moment then he returned his gaze at Julius. By now his eyes held a mixture of empathy and agitation within them.

"I know what that sick bastard had those parasites of his to do to her. Sure I'm no saint, but the kind of stuff he does pisses me off. I wasn't ordered to find her...yet, so I could've just decided that it wasn't my problem. My point is...I want to take Sekiro down but I need allies first. I figured maybe we could help each other out. By the way I'm the alpha of the Hell Hounds and my code name is Titanium but I go by Ti for short. My real name is Damian." He says behaving more relaxed.

Ti reached into his right back pocket and pulled out his wallet then he opened it and pulled out a card with his contact information on it. He held it out so that Julius could see what it was as he offered it to him.

"Here's my card it has all of the different ways you can reach me. I had a few made incase I find any potential allies. Those methods will allow us to communicate without being tracked. Also incase you still don't believe me...feel free to ask for proof or ask anything you want to know. Although I already through his search party off of your trail...for now and if I was after you two...you would've already been captured. I just wanted to talk."He says still holding out his card.

On the card was Damian's private email, pager number and secondary cell phone number. He had gotten the pager and second cell phone without Sekiro's knowledge. He had even bought himself a house in an undisclosed location so he could vanish from Sekiro's radar if his plan crashed and burned. The last thing he needed was to attempt a coupe and have it fail leaving him with nowhere to hide out until things cooled down.

Charlotte was waiting for Julius to walk back to her so they could leave when she saw Ti suddenly grab Julius and forcefully turn him back around. She was about to use her telekinesis to defend Julius but she decided to wait and keep watching first. She was glad that things had calmed down but she was even more confused when she saw Ti retrieve a card and offer it to Julius.

'A business card? What on Earth is going on? This guy is kinda scary but...still not as scary as Mr. Sekiro."She thought nervously.

Was this guy a friend or a foe? The things he had said made it seem like he at least really disliked Sekiro. So did the saying the enemy of my enemy is my friend apply in this situation?
 
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He'd touched a nerve. Julius realized that something was off about their new friend even as he started to turn away, but to abort the motion would've been even more suspicious. He let it go, took a step and a half, and when Red predictably reached for him to turn him around, Julius' other hand snapped instantly onto his wrist like a vice, ready to counter any blow, ready to refuse to let the man get out of arms' length. For a moment, he was sure their interaction was going to lead to a fight that would expose them both. It wasn't late enough in the night for this.

Julius refused to back down even when Red's eyes changed, trying to intimidate him. He didn't rise to the bait, didn't do any partial shifting or growling or bare his teeth at the man, only refused to relax his grip until Red started to let go first. Slowly, as the tension ebbed out of the other man and he started to run his mouth, they eased apart and Julius put a step between them so he was just out of arms length, stayed silent, and listened.

"You've caught me in a precarious position." He didn't look back at Charlotte to check on her, keeping Ti very carefully in his line of sight. His voice was calm, collected - and most importantly quiet. The last thing he wanted to deal with was nosy neighbors. "She and I just met, and I haven't been tapped in to Sekiro's operations in years. I don't know what new toys he has, what new lengths he'll go to, how desperate he truly is to have her back. I can only guess, and I hate working with guesses."

Julius paused, let it hang there as if this man had as much advantage as he seemed to think he did, and pocketed the card without looking at it. "But I'll tell you what I do know. You weren't born a hound, which means you were more a Phoenix than anything, and your gift must be a very strong one for him to grant you any pull over them. Something to do with metal, if I had to take an educated guess. Even without knowing what it is, I can still think of at least five Hounds that could kill you before you even had time to blink, if any two of them decided to work together against you." He let the idea sink in for only a second, let Ti come to the conclusion that just as easily as he thought he could kill Julius, Sekiro could sic the Hounds on him, then pressed on. "Still, if you, and they, haven't been ordered to come after us then Sekiro doesn't know I'm with her, so there may be some truth to your words yet. He would've told you to kill me."

And he would've explained how, would've dug back through research to let Ti in on just how Julius could die. The fact that he was still alive was a testament to at least that truth.

"All the proof I need is you letting us walk without telling anyone how we left, or which direction we went," Julius decided finally, carefully considering the man before him. Young. Hot-headed. Power brewing beneath his skin. He was dangerous, but perhaps some time soon he would be a useful tool. "If no one catches our trail for a few days, I'll know you've done your job. Then we'll talk."

It was all he could give without more information, more time. Julius had always had to fight his wolf's bleeding heart, and he had to be practical and remind himself he could only afford one charity case at a time. Sekiro was too big a target for just the two of them, but if Ti was going to try and win his and Charlotte's favor, he would be useful at a later date. Until now, Julius had been relying on the cold, self-serving teachings he'd been raised with to turn a blind eye to Sekiro's operations. He was only one person - even trained for efficiency and slaughter, it would never have been enough to stop the man. For days yet, he would be fighting with the part of him that knew if they got the rest of the Hounds on their side it would be easy. In a perfect world.

Finally, after a long, assessing stare, Julius finally deigned to break eye contact first, and turned to walk back to Charlotte's side. "Put your helmet on and let's go," he said quietly, even as he scooped up the trash and kept walking past her, "before he changes his mind."

One day Ti might wise up and realize Julius had no real desire to help him, but for now, hopefully he would no longer be a problem.
 
Although Ti had lost his temper a bit he had expected for the male to already have his guard up. He was just thankful that his temper hadn't caused a fight to start. He needed help and he really couldn't afford to be fighting with potential allies. He especially didn't want to have to face Charlotte's telekinetic ability. Sure he had ferrokinesis but he needed access to metal to use it. For her things were easier, she only needed to be able to focus and she could use her telekinesis anywhere at anytime. That put Ti at a huge disadvantage. As far as what the male Infront of him was capable of, Ti was sure that he had noticed something when he grabbed his shoulder. Although he had clasped down on it a bit forcefully it felt like he had grabbed onto a statue instead of a human being. So his best guess was that the male had some kind of defensive ability that gave him some form of armor. Ti could use his ferrokinesis for defending and attacking, he couldn't help but wonder if this guy could do the same.

"Well you're in luck then because I can bring you up to speed on everything. So guessing won't be required."He said as he put his wallet away in his left back pocket.

After listening to the male speak about him Ti couldn't help but slightly smirk a little. It wasn't his typical smug smirk at all. Instead it was an impressed smirk.

"Not bad, you're skills of deduction are still sharp. I wouldn't expect anything less from a Hell Hound from Lupus House. Although do you really think they could kill me? Well...maybe if they caught me of guard or attacked while I was sleeping. You're forgetting that like you said my ability has something to do with metal."He says in a cocky tone of voice.

Ti lightly chuckled but kept it down so Charlotte wouldn't hear. He had also kept his voice down so he was sure that she was wondering what they were still chatting about.

"It's called ferrokinesis. I can manipulate any kind of metal. Including metals in the human body. I could manipulate the metal in their blood to create spikes, blades or anything else destroying their heart or any other organs from the inside out. It would be like shooting a gun."He says calmly.

Ti confidently smiles and folds his arms to show his lack of worry about any of the hounds being able to kill him. Sure he was overconfident but he had been training on more creative ways to use his ferrokinesis. He had also gotten faster at using it so he could have better timing when it came to defending himself. Sure he wasn't born a Hell Hound but he worked hard and started off training his ability on his own long before he got kidnapped.

"Honestly one tried to challenge me but I used the metal in his legs to shatter both of his tibia and fibula bones. So if they manage to kill me, it won't be an easy kill. Also you're right if Sekiro had given the order you'd so be dead already, but it all depends on if I actually feel like obeying that fossilized dino shit or not."He said scarcasticly joking a little and smiled.

Ti knew that this guy didn't know him so he decided that he didn't want to come off as just some hot headed and dangerous guy so he made a little joke.

"Consider it done. I'm supposed to be out of town enjoying some down time anyway so I'll keep a low profile while I interfere with their search."He says amused.

Ti stood motionless watching the male and female for a few minutes then he waved and gave a friendly smile when he noticed Charlotte look over at him.

"Thank you for your time. I'm sure I'll find my bunny soon."He said making sure that anyone watching them wouldn't get suspicious.

Charlotte looked over at Ti as the Julius walked back over to her and she noticed Ti waving. This made her even more confused because she had just seen him show aggressive behavior toward Julius only just a few minutes ago. She couldn't help but wonder if this guy was bipolar or something. She didn't want to seem rude so she nervously returned his wave. Then she looked over at Julius who had picked up the trash bag and instructed her to put her helmet on so they could leave. Although she was caught off guard and confused by the last thing he had said.

'Wait...what did he just say?! What exactly is going on?!'She thinks nervously.

She wanted to ask Julius but decided that now wasn't a good time to ask questions. So she just put the helmet on and quietly followed Julius making sure to stay close to him. Ti finally turned his back to them and started walking away with his only focus being retrieving his tote bag and walking back to his car. Things had been a little rocky but they hadn't gone as bad as they could've, which Ti was glad for because he didn't feel like having to fight right now. Besides he needed to conserve his energy for more important things.
 
Julius' expression was impassive as he let Ti prattle on, but he couldn't find it in himself to believe that this child had been put in charge of the Hounds. Perhaps it was just in a desperate bid for help that he was revealing his entire hand at once. The worst thing he could possibly have done, after having the high ground as far as intel went, was explain exactly what his gift could do and to add on top of it that he had no help yet. He couldn't be exaggerating about his gift, Julius was sure, or he would never have survived with the Hounds at all.

Even while he listened, Julius could still think of several Hounds that could take down the man in front of him - perhaps not with only two, but still he knew that if they were instructed to kill the man in front of him, it would happen. One or two to distract, to take the hit regardless of their own safety, and a second or third party to kill Ti while he was distracted. He was too overconfident. It would be his downfall some day.

And yet, Julius couldn't help wondering just which Hound had gotten their leg shattered in an attempt to fight the man before him, and if they had lived through the attempt. With no Mabel around to heal them anymore, an injury could knock them down for good. How many of his old companions were still alive?

As much as he hated turning his back to a relative unknown, Julius took the calculated risk and just gently pushed Charlotte along with him towards the parking lot, tossing the trash in a dumpster as they went and making sure she'd put her helmet on properly as they made it to his bike.

"I'll explain later," he said quickly as he got on, turning to face her so she could hear him better through her helmet, "but for now he isn't our problem. Get on, hold on tight, and don't fight the lean when we turn. Just lean with me, and I'll account for your weight. Tap me and speak loudly if you need anything - we're going to be riding for a while."

He put his helmet on after that, and once she was settled backed them out of his parking spot to leave. They would take the highway nearest to them to get away from the search grid and local building cameras, and start making their way in the general direction of the destination he had in mind. Other than short pit stops for a bathroom, food, or for Charlotte to take a break, they probably wouldn't stop traveling until morning.
 
Upon reaching the spot where he had left his Tote bag To picked it up and slung if over his left shoulder then he started to scratch his neck again. Resisting the urge to scratch Infront of the male and Charlotte was difficult especially when the turtle neck was so itchy. Now he had no reason to stay in the area he was glad that he could finally leave and go change clothes. His next disguise definitely wasn't going to be a turtle neck sweater. Instead he would wear a high collared jacket and the hunter green turtle neck would be burned for sure. Ti sighed then started walking back to his car which he had parked a block away to look as though he really was looking for his pet bunny. While leaving the area of the apartment complex he glimpsed over at the male who was backing out of the spot where he had parked his motorcycle. He could tell by the way Charlotte was holding onto him for dear life that she had never ridden on a motorcycle before. He found it amusing and wondered just how tight was she holding on to the male while her eyes were shut tightly and he slightly laughed before shaking his head. Finally he looked away and continued walking away from them until he was completely out of sight.

'Good luck dealing with her. You have clue what you're in for. Maybe I should've handed him the info I printed off but whatever I'm sure he'll figure it out on his own." He says slightly chuckling.

Ti figured that he had already shared more than enough information with the male which he hadn't actually wanted to do because it wasn't his style. He didn't want to lose his chance at gaining allies so he had to gain their trust and the best way to do that was by sharing information. It was a way of showing vulnerability and lessening his appearance as a threat especially in the male's eyes. Gaining Charlotte's trust wouldn't be to difficult but gaining the male's trust would be the true task because if he didn't trust him then she wouldn't. He could only hope that he didn't make himself sound bad by mentioning shattering a former Hell Hounds bones in his lower legs. The male likely wondered if he had caused the male's death but the only thing he really did was took away the male's ability to ever stand or walk again.

"O...okay. That's...that's good to know at least."She said nervously as she continued following him.

Charlotte had done her best to do as instructed but when she put her arms around Julius and tightly closed her eyes. She also wasn't aware of just how tightly she was holding onto him because she was more focused on how scared she was about riding on a motorcycle. Although they hadn't even took off yet Charlotte was already starting to freak out just at the thought.

"Hey...any idea what you plan to order when we get to Boomerang Diner?"She nervously asked.

She knew they weren't really going there but she was just trying to make light conversation to help herself relax a little. She knew that staying as relaxed as possible was important because the last thing she needed to do was activate an ability by mistake. She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled to calm her nerves then she thought back to the movie she had watched which caused her to laugh a little. After laughing she finally felt better then she laid her head on Julius' back and noticed that she could hear his heartbeat. She smiled at the thought of having a way to distract herself from feeling nervous about riding on the motorcycle and she relaxed her grip around him a little. Just focusing on the sound of his heartbeat was a pleasant sound that made her think about the beating of a drum. Although it hadn't dawned on her that she could be making him feel uncomfortable but most stuff she did around him didn't really seem to phase him.

'This actually isn't that bad and Julius makes a pretty good pillow too. Not that I'll ever tell him that.' She thinks to herself and as she keeps smiling.

At the same time Ti was still walking to his car and mentally cursing for having to park it so far away. Walking wasn't what had him annoyed it was the sweater and the sooner he reached his car the sooner he could remove that cursed thing.

"As soon as I get back to my car...I'm taking this damn thing off and I'm burning it as soon as I get the chance. Never...again."He fumes in agitation as he walks faster while still scratching his neck again.
 
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