March 3, 2012

Saturday night at the Red Dragon had started off as inconsequentially as he could have hoped for. It had been too long since he had been a part of the night life of Rhy'Din, so long he couldn't even account for the time. A year, at least, had come and went, he was pretty sure. In all his time away, self-exiled and secluded, he had not counted the days.

Though he could feel the day of his so-called birth approaching. Soon his mother would be waking from her season-long slumber, and he was scheduled to age another year. Seventeen days away. A restlessness and desire for human interaction had stirred him out of his hidey hole and sent him roaming those old streets again. His feet led him to the Red Dragon Inn, a common haunt from once upon a time.

Inside, the crowd was thick and mostly unfamiliar. The only face he immediately recognized belonged to a she-dragon. There were other faces, ones he had seen the night before when he had taken those first tentative steps into reintegrating himself with society, but he knew not the names to identify them. This night he only wanted to sit and watch, however, so instead of stopping by the bar for a drink he skulked right to a booth and slithered into the back of it to watch the commons from the depths of embracing shadows.

His solitude was shortly lived. Rekah soon arrived, and her presence warmed him to his cold and chilly core. Deciding he did not actually want to be alone in his people-watching, he drew her attention and enveloped her in a hug. He owed her a birthday present, besides, and she had been overjoyed to receive the double-bladed pocket knife he had chosen for her. One could have called it a batarang.

They enjoyed an amiable silence, content in each other?s company, for a time, until he saw the ghost.

The man came in through the back alley door, opening and closing the door as if he were a living thing. He was built lean and lithe, with long white hair that could have been any range of color from blonde to silver. He saw only white, and that the man wore it long, unbound. The skin was a dusky gray which could have either meant the man was actually that color, or he had a rich tan. There was something uncomfortably familiar about the way the man walked, about the way he grinned.

Given time, he could have dismissed the man as a figment of his imagination. It wouldn't have been the first time he had seen people there who really weren't. In retrospect, he wished that had been the case, but someone acknowledged him and called him by name. "What are you up to, Rei?"

Salvador's lungs seized.

March 3, 2012

Hearing Rei?s name, Rekah perked right up. She leaned out of the booth and waved wildly at him from across the room. In a blind, wide-eyed panic, Salvador yanked her back into the booth and clapped his hand over her mouth. His heart was pounding violently in his chest. He prayed and prayed, silently prayed, that the man had not seen her exuberant display of greeting, but his prayers went unanswered.

The man had seen her, and then seen her disappear. It was only natural that he?d be concerned for her well-being and cross the room to interrogate who he very likely suspected to be a kidnapper. Salvador watched him approach; he saw a glimmer of purple in irises that a second later were only so much gray. It was him, he knew. There was nobody else it could be, but too long ago he had written him off as dead. Even the boy?s mother had given up hope of ever seeing him again.

This was no boy, though, not the hunchbacked stranger who so long ago had burst into his cabin thinking it a safe refuge to stow away in. He moved with the sensual grace of a man who had come and gone through puberty. He was a man who walked the walk and talked the talk. He had the same careless cheer that he had always exhibited as a child, though. He reached over his shoulder to touch one of the blades of some oddly star-shaped weapon strapped to his back, and fearlessly asked, ?Here now, laddio. What you think you doin? to the lass there??

Salvador hid himself behind all of Rekah?s ratty red hair, one arm coiled vice-grip tight around her waist to hold her against him. He peered out through the strands and whispered into her ear ?Nothing?s wrong,? he hissed. ?You?re fine.? And by then another man had joined Rei in looming at the end of the table. He felt cornered, smothered, trapped, and he didn?t like it one bit.

Ever obedient, and even more cheerful than this ghost from his past, Rekah gave a lopsided grin when Salvador pulled his hand away from her mouth. ?Oh we?re fine!? she chirped. She wasn?t the least bit distressed, and it showed.

The other man pulled a pair of dice from a pocket and began bouncing them from finger to finger as he leaned into the booth with too curious eyes. ?Right,? he said. ?Don?t mind me then.?

?Not at all,? Rekah said cheerfully. He could have kissed her for being such a good sport, but he didn?t want to give up his cover.

?You?re fine,? said the man with the purple eyes, doubtfully. ?Well, that?s good to know, Rekah-lass.? His smile was all sweetness and light for the girl, but it had a much sharper edge to it as he tipped his head to the side to try to see behind the wealth of her fiery hair. ?Who?s that holding you, Rekah??

It was purely instinctual, the low and grumbling growl that poured against Rekah?s neck. He was cornered, and animals didn?t like being cornered. He also didn?t like strangers looming all into his space. His eyes ticked aside to regard the man with the dice through some of Rekah?s ratty tangles, but it was a fleeting thing. His attention ticked back quickly to regard Rei, as much of it as he could manage through all her hair. Again, he murmured in her ear, ?Don?t you dare tell him my name. A friend. Just a friend.?

Rekah, God bless her, kept smiling. ?He?s a friend,? she said. ?He is very shy.?

The growl only made the other man grin, like one of those pompous rich standing on the right side of the glass at the zoo, tapping at it and oh so pleased with how the lion roared in frustration. He held his free hand out to Rekah and introduced himself. ?Pleased to meet you, by the way,? he said. ?Name?s Triste.?

Salvador wormed the fingers of his free hand up under Rekah?s elbow and helped bounce her arm up to shake Triste?s hand, but he had no intention of releasing his safety restraint hold on her waist. With his assistance, she reached up and shook Triste?s hand, saying, ?Nice to meet you, Triste. I?m Rekah.?

To further taunt the cornered lion, the man daringly slipped his dice into Rekah?s hand. They smoked for a second before disappearing into harmless sparks. ?Intriguing to say the least,? he said aside to Rei.

Still, he could not believe his eyes. He had no intention of letting the accomplice get the best of him, coax him into acting against his will. All he could think to do was mumble a common uncertainty into Rekah?s ear. ?Is he solid? Is he real?? To which Rekah nodded an affirmative, accompanied with a cheerful ?Uh huh.?

Rei had his own measure of disbelief, but just like old times he vocalized his thoughts instead of keeping them inside. ?He?s shy. And he lives here in Rhy?Din? How . . . unexpected.? His grin took on the aspect of a wolf, then, white teeth gleaming in his mouth. Eyes ticked to regard Triste a moment, as he and Rekah shook hands, then he had the audacity to threaten him again. ?By the by,? he said, ?this girl is special. You hurt her, folks will kill you. Just sayin?. I?ll be the first in line, right?? He even upnodded as a sign of manly certainty. He tried again to peer around Rekah?s hair to see him more clearly. ?Won?t do you any good, man, being shy. Folks?ll just kill you.?

And it was those words that elicited a chuckle, deep and low and wickedly amused. Salvador was incapable of not being amused by such threats. People threatened to kill him all the time, but it was ironic that anyone other than himself was doing so because of Rekah. ?Yo s?, hombre,? he rumbled through her hair. ?Oh, I know. The first one to kill anyone hurting my Rekah is me.? His Rekah. HIS. That hint of Spanish flavor made his accent clear, and likely familiar to Rei. He hadn?t intended to reveal himself. Not now. Maybe not ever. But he hadn?t been able to hold those thoughts in. Salvador Delahada did not suffer threats lightly.

Just hearing his voice had affected Rei as instantly and suddenly as seeing Rei?s face had affected Salvador, and in an instant he had slid onto the bench opposite in the booth to get a better look at him. Gone was the humor, brows furrowed. His gaze was intensely demanding.

Salvador twitched reflexively and wedged his spine into the corner where the wall met the back of the bench he was seated on. His grip tightened around Rekah?s waist, and his other arm slipped around his back so he could slip his hand up under his coat and curl his fingers around the hilt of his hidden tanto. Could he do it, though? If it came down to it, could he really plunge eight inches of steel into the heart of a man who had, once upon a time, been his best friend? He wasn?t so certain, but just feeling the grip put him at better ease.

Once Rei?s gaze had penetrated the gloom, and Rekah?s hair, he knew. The sharp inhalation of air as he sucked in a breath was the first sign. His sculpted lips went slack for a moment as the reality hit him. A cold, hard, unpalatable reality that he had no more wish to face than Salvador did. He could see it all in his eyes, in his body language. Rei slumped back in the booth like a man defeated. A sigh left him as he pushed out of the booth to stand at the end again. His voice was flat-toned, his face inscrutable. Pretense was non-sequitur. ?Sal.?

When Rei retreated from the booth, his arm loosened up, just marginally. He was intent on continuing to use Rekah as a human body shield, for the time being. He twisted ever so slightly to again put his back to the wall. They both had sharp, pointy objects in which to cut the tension in the air, if they chose. He echoed the tone, or lack thereof, when he acknowledged just who this particular ghost was. ?Rei.?

And Rekah, God bless her, didn?t want to be left out, so she threw her name into the mix. ?Rekah.?

For a fleeting moment, a smile as faint as a breath rose on Rei?s lips for Rekah. Amethyst and rust met for an even more fractional instant. Everything that could have ever been said went unsaid. It was too much, for the both of them. ?Lot of things happened, compadr?,? Rei said, all the spirit having been drained from his voice. ?I was an idiot kid who got sucked into something sick and bad. Anytime you wanna talk about that, lemme know. If you do, anyway.?

Some things hadn?t changed. Rei was still the more talkative of the two. There was no real surprise in the fact that Salvador?s only response was a noncommittal grunt. Yeah. A lot of things had happened. That was true enough for the both of them.

The other man, Triste, had made himself at home in the booth by taking up the seat on the other side and spinning the dice around on the table. Rekah was attempting idle chit-chat, but all Salvador wanted to do was rip out his throat. Thankfully, even after all these years, Rei knew him well enough to warn off his other friend. ?Dude, he isn?t the kinda guy you want to push, yeah? Best you vacate and let him chill out.? And then to Salvador, he said, ?Sal . . . it?s good . . . almost . . . seein? ya. Find me when you want.? There was a certain ?if? in there, unspoken.

Wisely, Rei turned and moved back to the bar. You don?t corner an animal. You let it come to you.


________________________________________________
(Taken from live play, with thanks to the players of Rei, Rekah, and Triste.)

March 3, 2012

Salvador left the Inn that night in a fury.

This can?t be happening, he thought. The last time he had seen Rei was nearly seven years past, and he had been so wrapped up in his affair with Mica that he was certain the nephilim boy had decided his romance was more important than friendship. When the drow boy had died, Rei had not come to his friends for help; he had gone out alone and struck whatever deal with whatever entity to bring his lover back to life.

If it weren?t for Carolyn, Salvador would have never known Mica had died in the first place. His supposed best friend certainly hadn?t told him, hadn?t come to him in his grief. Salvador hadn?t seen him at school since. And again someone else told him that Mica was no longer dead, many moons later, but now alive and well.

So Rei got to be the hero, and then he vanished.

As the years went by, he remembered running into Gem, the nephilim boy?s mother. She had always been a kind and pretty little thing. Even as a not-child, Salvador had been taller than her. He had always admired her in some ways, but mostly when he saw her she made him sad. Just seeing her reminded him of the friend he had lost. Not to death, oh no. That would have been too simple, too finite and even too much of a relief. Rei had simply gone, left everyone else who loved him behind, and gave his all to just one.

Nobody else mattered.

And that?s the way Salvador translated the cut ties, the end to communication, the never seeing his best friend ever again. He figured Rei had come to his senses, realized just how much of a monster the boy he tried to believe wasn?t actually was. Mica won, and Rei agreed, for whatever reason, never to see Salvador or any of his other deviant friends ever again. All of this and worse he had imagined, until he just let himself believe that Rei was dead.

It was easier to believe he was dead. If he thought of Rei as dead, then he didn?t have to suffer the feeble hope that some day he might see him again. He no longer had to imagine the disapproval and the horror that a Rei still around would look upon him with, a fear he had always held onto. Everyone had forsaken him, except for Sin. And when Sin came, it was easy to forget Rei. It was easy to move on. It was easy to accept himself for the monster, yes monster, he good and truly was.

Salvador took that monster with him into the Arena that night. More than anything he wanted to hurt somebody, to make someone bleed. Having himself beat to hell with a light saber had not really been his plan, and the pain that would have usually satisfied him had not been enough. He knew after one quick duel that he wasn?t going to find his release that way. So he stormed back upstairs, out into the back alley, and kept on walking.

There was no stopping him. He was a man with a purpose, pure and unadulterated murder. The hunger for bloodshed ebbed off of him in furious waves. So much so that it took well over a mile of walking before he stumbled upon a likely pair of victims.

In the Arena, his thirst for blood was kept in check by rules and forms and regulations. There were certain edicts to stand by. Don?t plunge your sword down someone?s throat, for instance, because that?s bad form. No decapitating either. That wouldn?t be kosher. There were no duels to the death, at least none that he had ever seen. Life or death circumstances tended to motivate a man to win more than lose, but no matter how hard he tried he could not adapt his natural fighting style to the rings.

Because outside of the rings, there tended to be two idiots leaping out of cross-sections with swords held at his throat telling him to, ?Give us yer purse, yeah??

Salvador had smelled them long before he had seen them. With his mind set on the hunt, his senses heightened awareness of his surroundings. The two men had been lurking to the left and right, smelling like they hadn?t washed in years. Their swords were old and chipped, one with an edge of rust near the pommel, and had likely been stolen off another corpse somewhere near the docks. He was ready for them with his hands raised even before they turned their respective corners and threatened his Adam?s apple with tools they obviously didn?t even know how to handle.

The man on the left stood with his knees locked, fully facing him, and held the sword with both hands. Likely he didn?t have the upper arm strength to wield a full bastard sword with just the one hand. And he had also never been trained in proper footwork to keep his balance, let alone not have a knee accidentally broken.

The man on the right also kept his knees locked, but turned himself too far to the side, as if he were copying a pose he?d seen in a bad swashbuckling movie. His off hand was even held up in the air behind him as if cupping a glass of water.

Salvador smiled, slowly and viciously. ?Hola, mis gustos dulces,? he purred at them. The two men exchanged puzzled looks, which was his perfect opportunity to strike. He swept his arms up under the two swords, rocking back on the heel of one foot to angle his neck and chin out of the way of any mishap, to knock them aside. This surprised both men nicely, so well, in fact, that it took little effort for Salvador to then duck and dive low between them. He slipped a short blade into either hand, from the sleeves of his jacket, and jammed them into the knees of both men.

They dropped rather quickly, abandoning their own swords in favor of clutching at their knees. They were screaming, which wouldn?t do at all. There was no real reason as to why he chose the man on the left over the man on the right to die first. He just happened to turn to him, grab him by the head, and snap his neck with a sharp and practice twist. The other one immediately started freaking out even more, but Salvador didn?t want him immediately dead. One of them had to live, had to be savored. The dead one was for science.

To silence the living thief, he thumped his head back hard against the ground. Once didn?t work, so he had to do it twice. Then he went silent and still. Salvador checked his pulse and was gleeful that the heart was still beating. The living, though now unconscious, man he scooped up and slung over his shoulder. The dead one he grabbed by the hair and dragged along behind him.

All the way home, Salvador hummed Beethoven?s Ode to Joy, and was certain to take the paths less traveled. In the morning, he had work to do.

March 5, 2012

The night had already started out on a sour note when Rekah refused to let him eat her boyfriend. He had thought the Outback to be a refuge where he wouldn?t have run across the subject of his discontent. Fate had another opinion on the matter, however, and soon enough there he was.

Amidst all the hustle and bustle of the dueling crowd, where fists were flying with blood from split lips and broken noses, it was really not so surprising that Rekah was the first to see him. She had been tangled in Jasper?s arms, the pair acting like chimpanzees mutually grooming one another, when suddenly she perked up and shouted his name over the heads of all and sundry. Bouncing up on her toes, she cried, ?Oh, Rei!?

Instantly, his spine stiffened and his lungs seized as they had that previous night. He didn?t turn to look. The thought was that maybe if he didn?t move Rei wouldn?t see him sitting there at the bar. It was a futile hope, though, even he knew it. He heard the hesitation in step that informed him Rei had seen him sulking there after all. He muttered, ?Huh,? and then proceeded along his course. ?Hey, almost-aunt Rekah. Or perhaps it should be Sort-of-Aunt Rekah.?

From his position he did notice Jasper disentangling himself from the girl. ?Or you can just call me Rekah?? she suggested to Rei. She gave her boyfriend a quick hug before climbing up and over the bar to launch herself at the nephilim mongrel.

Salvador worked his jaw to ease the previous tension of restraining himself from mauling and murdering Jasper, rubbed is palms on his knees and let out a long and heavy exhale. You can do this, he told himself, a silent pep talk. But first he needed liquid courage. ?Jasper, give me a bottle of tequila, por favor,? he requested quietly. The fae did not hesitate on meeting the order; he turned and took down the largest bottle on the shelf.

?I suppose that works too,? he heard Rei saying. ?Rekah.? And then a surprised, ?Whoa!? Out of his peripheral vision, Salvador noticed that the mongrel had at least managed to catch her when she jumped from the bar. He staggered a half step backward, but they stayed upright. He hugged her hard. ?Good to see you, lass.?

Rekah hugged the nephilim tightly and kissed his cheek. ?It?s good you are here,? she said.

No blind fool, Jasper set the bottle down on the counter in front of Sal and then scooted down quickly to the other end to see if another patron needed a refill. Salvador couldn?t restrain the itsy, bitsy curl of a wicked smile that formed on one corner of his mouth. In under 20 minutes, he decided he actually liked this boyfriend of Rekah?s. He took up the bottle and muttered, ?Gracias,? while rising to his feet.

Nearby, he heard Rei agreeing with Rekah on his being present and accounted for. ?It is,? he said. And when Sal turned he realized that rust and amethyst had locked gazes for just long enough for a silent message to pass between them. No pressure, man, see? Rei?s eyes said to him. But to Rekah he said directly, ?Took me three years to make it here. I had to follow a star.?

?Which one?? Rekah asked. ?I have a lot of stars. Maybe you followed one of mine?? She looked so hopeful.

Salvador knew better, though. He remembered well the mongrel?s father, a tall and imposing man with stars literally in his eyes, eyes that were black voids with the night sky encapsulated within them. He also remembered well how Rei told him he could hear the stars, how they spoke to him, and how a long time ago he had thought himself crazy for being the only one. Then he?d met his father, and been disappointed as well as abandoned.

He shook his head to clear away that brief snippet of memory, then turned to Jasper again. As an afterthought he requested two glasses. There was a moment of unexplained pause before the fae taking two glasses from the cabinet. He put them on the bar where he was and this time stood his ground, the brave fool. Salvador allowed him a respite from the hunger in his eyes, let the fae see that he?d earned an ounce of respect without malice, then took up the glasses with a curt nod of thanks. He turned away from the bar and walked across the room to an empty table against the wall. Along the way, he lifted the tequila bottle to indicate his are of choice, for Rei?s benefit. Silently he passed along the message that he?d be over there, waiting, and Rei was welcome to join him when he so chose. No pressure.

He passed by on the fringes of continued conversation. Half of it had been lost to his ears when for an instant he had let a memory consume him. Rekah was saying, ?Your kin is still around too. Tall, mean looking angel woman.? Sal knew who she meant, but he hadn?t the heart to smile, not even when Rei confirmed the name.

?Fury?? He could hear the smile in Rei?s voice. He had always had the kind of smile you could hear. But his back was turned to the pair of them, then, as he made his trek to a new seat in the room. ?I miss Aunt Fury. I liked her, even if she is grumpy as sh*t.?

Of course, Salvador chose the chair against the wall, so he could put his back to the shadows and keep an eye on the room at large. He set the bottle and two glasses in the center of the table before slouching into the seat. He crossed his arms, put his feet flat on the floor but spaced apart. Then it was only a matter of waiting, though he didn?t have to wait long.

?Rekah, m?gonna go talk to Sal,? he heard Rei say. There was something else, but the mongrel lowered his voice and Salvador didn?t care to extend his hearing to listen in. Though he did notice how Rei patted the 2.5 foot razor sharp monstrous form of boomerang strapped to his back. An interesting weapon, he noted, and thought perhaps some day he?d ask about it.

Rekah did not understand the first thing about subterfuge, though, so her voice rang loud and clear as ever. ?Oooh,? she said. ?Okay. I?ve used up my Sal points for today. Sorry. Otherwise I?d tell him he can?t kill you.?

Rei chuckled softly at the girl, then leaned in to chastely kiss her cheek. ?Okay, dearling,? he said. ?See you later, huh?? Then he turned to stride over to Sal?s table of choice.


_____________________________________
(Taken from live play with thanks to Jasper, Rekah, and Rei.)

March 5, 2012

Through the corner of his eye, he tracked Rei?s approach. Mostly his attention was lacking, drifting in and out of old memories that the star child?s returned existence had dredged out of the rubble of dashed hopes and forgotten joys. Seeing him now, knowing he was alive, after too many years, was a knife twisting in a heart he tried very hard to convince everyone else was dead of all feeling. Rei being here hurt, but he was damned if he was going to let it show.

He waited, patient as a viper laying in wait under a rock. Rei sauntered; that was just the way he tended to move. Less the boy he had been to the man ? a fine, goddamn good looking man ? he was now, but that was the same. He moved in skin made of confidence. There were subtle betrayals, however, that Salvador had not forgotten how to see. Body language was just another language in his repertoire that he knew fluently well. There was tension in the nephilim?s shoulders, his torso too rigid despite his natural gait.

Rei paused at the side of the table, amethyst eyes searching to make contact with Salvador?s own. He didn?t grant the nephilim that immediate privilege, however. He counted the seconds silently in his head, one to ten, before closing his eyes, a trait like his mother. Once Rei seated himself in the chair opposite, he turned his head to focus his attention on him and only then opened his eyes to allow rust to meet amethyst. He kept his face devoid of all expression, combined traits from both of his parents. He wore the mask of stoicism well.

His gaze could be disconcerting, he well knew. A part of him felt dirty for leveling that cool mask on a man he had once called a dear friend. He watched Rei?s chest seize, noted he stopped breathing, and knew how the weight must have settled uncomfortably on him. Their relationship had meant so much; it had been everything. Until?

They had never been lovers, only friends, best friends. The bond had been deep, however. The breaking of it had left an invisible scar so deep that neither one was sure there were appropriate words available to mend the fissure. Rei swallowed hard once their eyes met. Finally, he pulled in a breath and his words came without forethought. ?Sorry is not enough,? he said. ?Can never be enough. I would say it, will say it, but I know it can?t make up for what I did. What I . . . was lured into.?

This was the part where he was supposed to say something, not just stare blankly, with a fever burning deep in rusty eyes, so strong he could have burnt hole?s in Rei?s face had he such a super power. Salvador had never been good with words, however. He was taciturn, as his father had been; stoic, as his mother was, formidable in silence. A muscle ticked in his jaw, an indication that for a second he had almost, almost said something, but whatever it was had been arrested before it could even be a thought. So he swallowed down the words that would never be and just waited. Certainly, Rei had more to say.

Rei averted his eyes long enough to examine the bottle of tequila between them, the wood grains of the table, and then found Sal?s eyes again. A long silence settled between them before the star child found the courage to open the flood gates of explanation. ?I?m gonna tell you what I?ve pieced together,? he said. ?We can go from there, yeah?? He pulled in a breath to formulate his thoughts further.

Salvador saw the longing in those eyes, the need for liquid courage. He stopped staring and shifted more upright in his chair. Unfolding his arms, he leaned forward, grabbed the bottle, twisted off the cap, and filled those two glasses with tequila. He slid one to Rei?s side of the table and pulled the other back toward himself, leaving the bottle between them to indicate it was now communal and could be used to refill at will. He left his own drink untouched for the moment, though, sinking back into his previous slouch and arms-crossed position. His eyes were less of a death-glare when he turned his attention back on Rei.

They were a pair of mongrels, the two of them. For his part, Rei did not shift under the renewed gaze. Though less intense, it still carried extra weight. The nephilim endured the burden well. He snagged the shot glass up in long, nimble fingers, downed it with a little grimace. Then he pulled in a breath and began, eyes on the empty glass as he did so. ?So you know when he first started coming around.? There was no need to clarify who ?he? was, they both knew. ?He got under my skin. You didn?t get why. Hell, I didn?t get why. I think I have a handle on that, now.?

Rei reached for the bottle in pause, poured himself another shot, though didn?t drink it immediately. ?Then when he died, it shook me bad,? he said. ?When he was relifed or healed or whatever the f*ck happened, I was over the moon. I was an angsty, stupid teen who was being led around by his d*ck.? There he took the pause to drink.

Salvador was a good listener, too good. He followed Rei?s movements, watched the way his mouth moved when the words poured out. He watched his hand pick up the shot, the swallow of liquid down the throat. He watched the refill and the pause to collect thoughts. He could have been a statue, the kind that people get all creeped out about and swear its eyes are following them everywhere they go. He said nothing, only listened.

That was best for Rei, though; he had a lot to get out. ?I couldn?t seem to see anyone but him, feel anyone but what was between us. It was oddly intense. So unreal, but real. When he wanted to leave, I couldn?t say no, Sal. I couldn?t say no.? His hands clenched, balled up into tight fists, the shot glass tipping over, empty, because he had downed it again. Those fists lifted up, as if he were going to slam them down onto the tabletop, but instead he lowered them with infinite gentleness simply to rest them there, his eyes gone back into the past. Seven years. Haunted. ?I didn?t want to leave you,? he went on. ?I didn?t want to leave my Ilhar. I didn?t want to leave anyone here, but I had to go with him. It was like . . . like an impulsion. Almost like a geas.?

There was confusion and pain in those eyes, Salvador saw. He watched as Rei wrestled with the war of emotions he kept not so well contained. Sometimes, sometimes, he could be infinitely patient. This was one of those times. Though as he listened, the fire was dwindling in his own eyes. Though his face still expressed nothing, deep inside there was something: an aching, longing, understanding sympathy, and regret.

Rei let a little breath drift out and his eyes moved up to the rafters overhead. This was difficult for him, Sal could tell. ?So we left,? he said. ?We went to some pocket universe that Mith had created.? Mithril. He remembered that creature. A child torn asunder from a demon and a monster, one third of which his own uncle had gifted to him. But that was another matter entirely. ?Or at least, I think it was him that did it,? Rei said. ?I couldn?t leave without one of them taking me with them. It had some kinda boundaries that you had to be a dimension hopper to get through. Ilhar was brought in, but she didn?t want to stay. He ? Mica ? he wanted her to stay, I think for me. So I wouldn?t want to leave.?

His hand reached up, unballing the fingers, and raked his silver hair back from his face in an impatient and frustrated gesture. Just thinking about those days obviously made him itch to punch something, now. ?He started to change,? Rei went on. ?He got really demanding. Controlling. Mith left. They all left, and it was just me and him. Mother didn?t come anymore. I didn?t know it then, but she couldn?t get back in. He?d done something to keep her out. Then....? Rei paused to look at his empty glass, and Sal?s full one. ?Drink that, so I don?t feel like an idiot here, huh??

For a fraction of an instant, a piece of the old Rei broke through. It was enough of a mid-switch to make Salvador smile, a little. He straightened up again, unfolding his arms, and picked up the full glass as requested. He didn?t bother telling Rei that it wouldn?t amount to any good. Sal couldn?t get drunk, but the cross-breed had left before ever knowing about those experiments. He raised the glass a little, cheers, and knocked the shot down. A quick swallow and the barest thunk of the glass back on the table marked the end of it. He refilled both before settling back as before.

When that was done, Rei nodded, a silent thank you. His lips twitched, as if the reflex to smile had been crushed dead before allowed to rise. He resumed his sordid little story. ?Then things got stranger and stranger,? he said. ?This was, oh, maybe two years after we left. I wanted to come back, but he kept saying no. Always had a reason. Something to wait on. Something to finish.? Rei?s face changed, a subtle shift to one of dark strain. ?He got worse and worse. Mica went mad, Sal. He went bad. Before the . . . the end . . . I saw him one night, out by the lake we had there. He wasn?t alone.? Faded fury rippled across his features. ?He was with Gadreel.? The name was spoken with seething disdain.

Salvador remembered well the demon who had trespassed on the Keeper?s domain. He remembered how the fae had punished him for his transgressions and split him into thirds. The boy had been Mithril. The weakened demon remained Gadreel. And the shadow of pure evil had been Lusus, a captive of the Keeper himself that had later become a gift, re-gifted.

?I started connecting dots, yanno?? Rei continued without skipping a beat. ?About how he was so appealing to me. About how he knew so much, knew what to say and when to say it. How he came back to life, Sal. I can?t say for sure, but it seems to me awfully convenient that the demon who trapped Kakabel and tried so hard to kill me and Ilhar was there with Mica.? His face went steely hard, then.

?I started working my weaving to see if I could figure a way out,? Rei said. ?It took me months. Finally, I was starting to break through . . . and Mica happened along.? He took pause to down the shot, then. After the glass thunked down on the table, he unleashed his confession in a very quiet voice. ?I killed him.?

As the tale neared its end, his eyes lowered. Slowly and surely the long, hard staring dwindled into nothing, and his attention found the full shot glass in front of him. His eyes eased, but something sad lingered on his face. There was sympathy, for a certainty, but it was not his turn to tell tales. He knew how it felt to be responsible for the death of a dear loved one, how the act could stain the soul and leave a wound that never healed. Silence settled between them for a few long seconds before he picked up his shot glass, downed the tequila within, refilled, drank again, and refilled once more. That last he left on the table before him, however, and still he had nothing to say. What could he say?

Rei visibly relaxed when the weight of his once-friend?s stare fell away. Only a little. There was still a thick tension between them, a deep wound created by time that could only be healed by time. He downed the shot Sal had poured for him. ?So I was trapped in that place,? he said quietly. ?It took me a bit longer to rip my way out, my weaving got me through. But I ended up some place that no one had ever heard of. Rhy?Din. Hell, it took me a year to learn the language. I thought I would never see this place again. Something isn?t right with my weaving, now. Something broke, I guess. Ilhar is going to see what she can do. Anyway, I think Kakabel sent me a star.? Funny how he never called the angel ?Father,? but understandable. ?Some damned, annoying as hell star kept singing at me.? He brushed an ear irritably, in memory. ?Wouldn?t let me be. I felt compelled to follow it. Managed to lead me here. Took about two years. And so there you have it, Sal.?

The nephilim had exhausted his words by then. Salvador refilled the shot glass for him, then downed his own fourth shot to only refill it again as well. Rei didn?t need to know that only the one of them was going to get sh*tfaced from all this drinking. Looking into the tequila in his glass, he turned it on the table, processing, thinking. Words really had never been his strong suit. Rei had said a sh*t ton; it was quite a lot to absorb. Turn, turn, lift, and he tossed down shot number five without the merest flinch. Clearly in all these years he had become something of an experienced drinker! Among other things. He didn?t even know the first thing, the right thing, to say, and Rei deserved better than his usual crude idiocy.

Rei downed shot number five with a grimace, and after a long silence said, ?M?sorry, man. Sorry I left at all.? He then poured the sixth shot for the both of them. Salvador knocked it back the moment it was poured, without a thought.

He grasped onto what he thought was the best thing to say, though in retrospect it had been entirely the wrong question to ask. He spoke soft, a melancholy rumble with his eyes on the shot glass being turned between his fingers. ?Do you regret killing him??

Amethyst eyes shot up to single out Sal?s rusty ones. His lips twisted into a shark?s grin, his eyes darker, almost black. ?No,? he said. ?No, I don?t regret it at all. Maybe I should, but I can?t. D?like to do the same to that demon. He?s already f*cked up my life enough, damn his eyes.?

That was not at all the answer he had been expecting. So much really had changed. Their roles were almost completely reversed. The Rei he had known then would have looked upon killing as wrong, no matter the reasons. He would have disapproved of everything Sal had ever done in his life. He felt his brows draw together and his mouth curve into a frown. Exhaling through his nostrils, he refilled his own glass, took down shot number seven, and then decided he was done. He pushed back the chair and rose to stand. Though he didn?t immediately take his leave; he stood there uncertainly. ?There?s so much to tell,? he mumbled. ?I owe you my story.? It was only fair, an even trade. ?But not tonight.? He had to walk and think on all this now.

Without so much as hello, nice to see you again, oh how I missed you, nor even a good-bye, he walked away from the table and headed toward the doors.


__________________________
(Taken from live play with thanks to Rei.)

June 10, 2012

A solid month had come and gone before their paths crossed again. For thirty days Salvador was left wondering if perhaps he had only hallucinated the entire reunion. Though there had been witnesses, no one spoke of it. And of course many things had happened to distract him from thinking about Rei much at all.

On this particular night, he had just finished indulging himself in a taste of fae blood from Chryrie, the generous minx, when he heard his name. An overload of magic that he didn?t need was flooding through his veins and leaving him feeling light, intoxicated. He had been oblivious of the mongrel?s arrival until he said, ?Hello, Sal.?

Salvador blinked sluggishly, searching for the source of the too-familiar voice. There he spotted Rei at the bar, fetching himself a drink. Rust locked onto amethyst, and he stared at the other man with a hint of wide-eyed trepidation. Fortunately, Vera had taken it upon herself to bombard the nephilim with questions, so there was a moment of distraction between them.

There was a bottle of tequila on the table in front of him. He focused on that, suddenly incapable of remembering how it got there. Head bowed ever so slightly, he smeared a thumb pad across his lips to rub off as much glittery blood residue there might be and lick it clean. He actually felt a swell of embarrassment from being caught in the act of feeding. He hadn?t wanted Rei to see him like this, ever.

Unfortunately, Vera had not been able to keep the mongrel?s interested for long. Soon enough the man had snatched up two shot glasses, smoothly stated his apologies and intentions, disengaged himself from conversation with the woman, and strolled over to the chess table where Salvador was sitting.

He checked his fingers. There was still some glitter, but he was never going to get rid of that. At least not for a week. He smeared the back of a wrist across his mouth in a last ditch effort and smoothed his palms down over his shirt like the next best thing to actual soap and water. He was so not ready for this. Clearing his throat, he readjusted himself in his seat and tried not to look like he was split seconds away from diving out a window.

Rei softly trod across the floorboards, keeping that amethyst gaze locked on him with scrutinous intensity. A smile that had a definitely feral edge to it curved his mouth into that half-smile that was such a trademark of him. Gently setting the glasses down on the table as he arrived, he spoke in a low voice. ?I've been doing some reading,? he said.

Salvador?s initial and super eloquent response to this coded greeting was, ?Djh--!? That noise wasn't anywhere near to the words he had meant to say. He shifted uncomfortably. First he straightened up and cleared his throat again. "Have you?" He didn't look at Rei directly. Instead he reached out to pick up an imaginary chess piece. When his fingers didn't meet any resistance, he realized he was hallucinating a set-up board. Fae blood made him high. He tapped the empty square on the equally empty grid as if to say "sit," and then withdrew his hand to snatch up the bottle of tequila. That was real, thank God. He cracked it open and filled up the glasses.

The tracker watched the motions of those fingers, his eyes narrowed slightly upon them, his smile growing a bit wider. The tapping understood, he settled his lean, rangy body into the chair opposite Sal. More dust brushed off his thighs. He watched the pouring, finally taking his eyes off Sal's face.

A silence stretched between them as Salvador struggled to focus and ignore the multitude of distractions surrounding them. There was Desdenova, a boy instead of the man he remembered from long ago, playing at childish games with Chryrie?s boyfriend of the year. There were conversations buzzing around on topics he knew a little about. But none of those were important.

He blinked, shook his head, and tried his damnedest not to be too terribly distracted. So he looked back at the table, nudged one full glass of tequila across the grid and closer to Rei. He wasn't ready to relax yet. No slouching as a sign of lethargic comfort as was more typical. "And, ah, what did you learn?" His voice almost squeaked. Good sweet baby Jesus was he nervous!

They were an interesting foil for each other. Rei was all comfy slouching compared to the other, legs stretched out below the table and crossed at the ankles, his back leaning against the chair he sat in, once he had pulled his glaive free and set it next to him, leaning against the table. Indolent ease seemed to scream from him, but it was a very well practiced pose. He was as tense and uncertain as the other man, but he was oh so very good at pretending otherwise. The only tell was perhaps the faintest clenching of his jawline as he considered the question.

?I learned that sht happens,? Rei said. ?Rather a lot. And it changes people some.? Lifting up his glass, he drained the shot, the fire of it burning its way down his throat, and taking the travel dust with it. ? Only halfway through, though.?

Salvador usually wasn't like this. People didn't make him edgy and paranoid. He was more often so full of calm confidence, lazy and uncaring. He could appear as sated as a well fed mountain lion basking on a sun rock on the best of days. Now he was jittery, though. His eyes were still glazed and he refused to meet Rei's. He rubbed the back of his neck, scratched at the ridge of the uppermost spike under his collar. "You should burn them," he decided suddenly. "They're not worth reading. Forget--"

And then he cut his attention aside to Chryrie, who had interrupted to ask who his friend was. Likely she had noticed how much Salvador was squirming in his chair. "Uh." Right. Manners. Those things he doesn't have any of. "Rei," he said, gesturing to the man across from him, and, "Chryrie," he said, gesturing over to her. There. Done.

Salvador noticed, even through this new distraction, how his words affected the man sharing his table. Rei?s silvery brows suddenly contracted into a ferocious frown. The suggestion that he should burn the journals Sal had loaned him to read obviously fit ill with the half-elf mongrel. But then his expression softened as he turned his attention on Chryrie. The pair of them exchanged words concerning familiarity and the nephilim?s elvish mother who was better known in these parts than he.

In the meantime, Salvador closed his eyes and exhaled as the spotlight of amethyst eyes stopped being centered on him. Blindly, he scooped up his own glass of tequila and gulped down its contents. Though it wasn't going to do him any good, he refilled the glass immediately thereafter anyway and slumped back into his chair.

Rei then excused himself to the men?s room, allegedly to take a moment to clean off all the dirt and grime he had collected on the road. This left Salvador in a panic, uncertain as to whether he should run now or stick around. This was his perfect opportunity, but he hesitated too long under Chryrie?s concerned questioning into the nature of his well-being.

The mongrel came slinking back into the main room, glaive shining and reflecting light. His hair was damp around his face, the perfectly straight silver hanging down like shimmering plumb lines, not a wave or curl daring to touch the fine silk. He was clearly cleaner, and more refreshed. Taking in the scene, his chiseled lips curved into a half smile again. Sal hadn't left.

Rei moved over to take his seat again. He heard the other conversations, or bits of them. They didn't mean anything to him yet, as he didn't know the people they were speaking of. Once settled, he leaned forward and put the tip of one long finger solidly and yet gently onto the tabletop. A definitive "look here" motion, and Salvador did look, rather intently, at that dusky finger.

As if they had not been interrupted in the conversation by his absence, Rei went on, saying, ?Never. They are a wonderful insight into someone I knew as well or better than any other. To burn them would be to cut off my balls and sell them on the street as dainties for sauce-dipping.? There, that was plain, right?

Salvador listened raptly, though he still had yet to meet those haunting amethyst eyes. His brows lifted high, a clear indication that he was not at all believing what he was hearing. Those words were completely unexpected. He had thought for sure the things written in his journals would have chased the mongrel off, perhaps had even hoped as much. It would have been better on them both if Salvador were capable of scaring him away, but Rei was a persistent cuss. At the time, he didn?t realize just how much.

Slowly, he tipped his chin to actually look at the man, stunned. When he actually looked at the tracker, Rei?s full smile dawned. It was an expression strongly akin to Gem's Brilliant Smile, the one that blasted everyone with her happiness when she gave it. Such a beam hit Salvador hard. He got the sense Rei would pay dearly for the old ease they had used to have between them.

A momentary respite from the grave seriousness of their conversation came again in the form of an interruption. This one was more jovial and had set the fae-child to laughing, silently. Even the mongrel seated across from him took the moment to indulge in laughter, his much less restrained than Salvador?s almost ever was.

After a few moments, Salvador took in a deep breath through his fingers and exhaled a bit audibly, a calming sigh. He straightened up, then, pushing back from the table so his spine rested against the back of the chair. First he looked at the bottle between them. Then he looked at Rei, head tilting a bit to one side as he considered. "I always feared you'd hate the . . . man I've become," he said softly. There was hesitation in using the term "man," because he never really thought of himself as one. A monster, sure.

Rei was locked in full concentration on him. This was Important. Very much so. The formidable focus that could be so very intent and intractable was on him. The words that came were like a windbreak in a howling torrent of rain and wind. A lee in the storm. His smile flickered again, and he shook his head, though his eyes were serious.

?We ? you and I ? we had something grand back before. I blew it by leaving ? and for a damned poor reason, at that. What you became ? what you are ? is still all tied up with that boy I used to know and love.? Rei?s eyes flickered down to the table for a long moment. ?Happen I didn't turn out so great, you know. I don't judge if I can help it.? Then he looked back up at Salvador. ?I just ? would be very glad of the chance to get to know who you are now. You started that process with the journals, which was immensely brave of you.? He shook his head. ?The courage of a God, you have, and other things besides. I am ? still ? your friend.?

Salvador considered the severity of the mongrel's words. He looked down at the table again to recall what had been. He scratched idly at his sternum and splayed his hand there afterward, thinking, listening, absorbing. These were words that weighed heavily upon him, twisted and turned in ways he wasn?t entirely certain he was comfortable with.

"Hah. Please. I'm no god." He shook his head. The very idea unnerved him a little, but there was no way of explaining the why of that to Rei. That story was in his journals too, vaguely. He cut his eyes aside and fought off the chill that wracked his spine just remembering the ancient one that had wanted to claim him with a minuscule shudder.

"The boy you knew was stupid, but loyal,? Salvador went on to say. ?I would've done anything for you, Rei. When you left--" He had been so utterly lost. A dog without a master. Fortunately someone had rescued and adopted him, though. He shook his head, deciding it best not to dwell on what was. "I thought you dead." It had been healthier on his mind to think of Rei that way instead of always hoping some day he'd return. "I never thought--" Rusty eyes cut up to look at him again, just look. Stare, really, and he lost his words.

Salvador?s words caused the old lines of grieving to line Rei?s face, youthful though it was. He had grieved much over his foolish actions back in the day. The tracker didn't evade the steady gaze, though, for he had his own brand of courage, he did. Repentance was a hard robe to wear, but he wore it with determination. ?That I would return? Would break free of that ... that fatal attraction?? One hand came up to gesture with a hard slash in the air. A sigh broke from the mongrel. ?I was bespelled and a fool to boot. You were ? are ? worth a million of Mica. I can't change what I did ... what I fell for. But I am back, and I am here to stay. Perhaps we can forge something between us, hmm? Something good.?

...worth a million of Mica.

Those were the words that betrayed the lie the man tried to wrap around his heart.

Oooh what those words could mean. His brows pulled together as he puzzled over it. Best not to assume, right? He lifted his hand off his chest to smear it over his mouth, as if the words he wanted to speak didn't sit well. But a man had to know. So when his hand fell away again, he asked, quietly, "And what did you have in mind?" Riddles were the work of fae, and that bothered him. He preferred it when people were plain with him.

A hint of the truth again flickered in amethysts, but Rei didn't look away, still. A long breath was pulled into finely shaped nostrils, the slight flare taking in the scent that was Sal. It was a heady one, and not all unpleasant. There was blood ... and other things. Fall leaves, rust and decay. Sweat and dirt, steel and oil too. ?I put no confines on what may become, Salvador. Let us see where the winds of change take us, hmm??

The knit in Salvador?s brows stayed, and his hand slipped back up over his mouth, but he nodded. He gleaned the deeper meanings and they made his heart thud with an ache. He refused to let himself say anything for fear of all the wrong words spilling out as they tended to do.

His nod had been viewed as acceptance of a deal, as partly intended. A breath of relief drifted out of Rei's parted lips, and he nodded slightly. The hand over the mouth of Sal was studied for a moment. Thoughts flashed over his face in too rapid a succession to interpret, before his inscrutable look settled firmly back into place. ?I think this is a good beginning, then. I won't strain it by staying.?

The mongrel?s insouciant grin slid over his lips as he stood up, glaive gathered up and slung over his shoulders to rest on his back again. ?I won't kiss you goodbye,? he said to Salvador, which made his lungs seize again as they had that first night. Rusty eyes widened some, paranoid. He took in a deep breath. Exhaled. All through his nose. Took in another breath and held it.

Rei turned, and in one smooth motion tipped the sitting Chryrie backwards in his arms and planted a very inappropriate kiss on her. After, he murmured against her lips. ?...but I will kiss this one.? He released her and swept out of the Inn before anyone had any time to recover their breath. The general?s son had always been the sort to make a grand exit, and Salvador watched him the entire time, until he was gone, and even then stared at the door for a long while afterward.


___________________________
(Adapted from live play with Elemmiire Rei.)

I see this life
Like a swinging vine
Swing my heart across the line

Once again he had neglected to wear his jacket, which meant that he was potentially unarmed. Just because he was not wearing a knife, however, did not mean he was not dangerous. Tonight's random tee-shirt of choice had a logo on it, actually; he was advertising "Liquid Heat," a new hot drink item on the market, in pink lettering on a black background. He was also wearing loose fit jeans and black hiking boots with the laces removed, as per usual.

Following along with the trend of what was normal, Salvador prowled down the back alley behind the Red Dragon intent on entering the Inn through that door. Something, however, slowed his gait. A whiff of a scent. A whisper of noise. Some presently unidentified thingamajig that gave him pause.

The sound of prancing hoof-beats was like no other. Clop clop, clop clop all in short, 3/4 time. An equine snort echoed in the chill Spring air, the animal held back from an all out gallop along the cobbled street. "If I let you go, you thick headed idiot, you'll fall on the cobbles. Go on, keep snorting. I won't have the ostler wipe you down, you great lout." That voice, a rumbling baritone of some depth spilled into the frosty air as the duo came into sight of the tavern.

Sounds had a way of carrying in a silent city. Most of the evening patrons were gathered inside where it was warmer. The thaw was only a few short weeks in its process and the nights could still be cold. Only because he had stopped to listen had Salvador heard anything at all. He recognized that voice, and for a moment in time he had considered the option of turning right back around and going home.

Salvador Delahada was anything but a coward, however, and he did not run. He slipped in through the back alley door pretending as if nothing at all whatsoever had him even the slightest bit spooked. He let the door fall shut behind him on its own and turned rusty eyes about to take in the stock of current patrons within. The only person he recognized right away was Katt, and managed a smirk and a wink. He was not in any hurry to detach himself from the wall, and venture further inward. Not yet. His fingers drummed out a rhythm against his thigh, calculating as he waited.

There was a child in the Inn that night, and his aversion to not-adult creatures kept him where he was just long enough for the back alley door to admit another body.

The man that came in was only marginally taller than Salvador, with long pale hair that could have been just as well silver as gold. He had no way of knowing. Desert spice and sand scents clung to his dusky skin. He was dressed in attire from another time period, the usual medieval garb he preferred: heavy leggings protected his legs under leather boots that laced from ankle to just a couple inches over the knee. Above that belts that interlaced in complicated fashion and which held a myriad of items. And then above that, a leather vest and nothing else, all covered over by a Dire Bear cloak.

First, the man did not notice him, and for the span of a second Salvador felt a fleeting hope that maybe he could blend into the wall and become invisible. Rei?s gaze swept over the crowd, and Salvador held his breath. Much to his misfortune, however, the rest of the room seemed to be focused on him. He felt eyes everywhere, all watching as if they could see into his head and were enjoying frolicking through the fields of tension he had yet to mow down.

"Mmm, pretty pretty." Rei murmured this to no one in particular as his rakish gaze slicked over Katt and the other women present. But they all faded to insignificance, of course, once he spotted the one holding up the wall. "Well, well, well. Look what the...what exactly did drag you in, Sal?"

"Tch." He choked on a noise and his shoulders tensed. Rusty eyes ticked aside taking note of Taneth, who had given up the game by sing-songing her girly nickname for him, but mostly... Rei. Suddenly he was the center of attention, and this made him uncomfortable. "Uh." Something had dragged him in. He had a name for it, but he refused to acknowledge it just now. He grasped at mental straws, spotted the bar, and spouted off the name of the first beverage that came to mind. "Coffee," he said abruptly,and went that way.

Andu, the minotaur, heard him coming and -- bless him to pieces -- had a mug of his growing famous Hacienda Esmeralda waiting for him on the bar by the time he arrived. Taneth was giggling at him, as if she could sense his discomfort and found it delightful. That girl was more sadistic than people realized. What was worse, though, was that Rei was following him. ?Great,? the mongrel said nearby, ?you can buy for us.?

"OhJesusthankyouAndu," Salvador said in a rush. He snatched up that beautiful, wonderful mug and adjusted course immediately away from the bar as if he were a pinball. He stopped abruptly, though, because there Rei right there. "Nngh." Us? When had they become an us?

"Where's mine?" Rei?s lips twitched as he looked deadpanned at Sal. It was obvious the mongrel was restraining an urge to laugh, and Salvador was pretty sure it was at his own expense. Were his thoughts really that palpable?

Suddenly he understood what people meant when they talked about those dreams they had of going to school in their birthday suits.

"Uh." He looked down at the steam rising from the mug in his hands. It took him a moment. Count to seven. He ticked a glance aside, considering asking Andu for a second mug. His jaw muscles tightened. And then, after another beat, he just sort of thrust his own mug out toward Rei's chest, setting it on his own palm and just barely holding the handle so that when it was claimed he could let go fast without actually having to touch him.

But Rei...sidestepped. "Oh, dear boy. No need to make such a noble sacrifice." He grinned like a mad thing at Sal and then walked right on past him to the bar. Just. Like. That. "Yo, Andu, got one for me? Only with a shot of whiskey and none of that fluffy stuff?"

He shut his eyes and inhaled as Rei passed him by. Did he... did he just call him 'boy'? Them's fightin words! But you know what? Sal let it slide. Now that there wasn't a mongrel barrier blocking his path, he uprooted himself and continued onward to just some random table. Not his table. Nope. Not the one with the chess board nailed and glued to the surface. He was so out of sorts that any old table would do. So long as it was empty and he was the first one sitting down at it. He plopped the mug down first, then took a chair.

There was a moment of respite when Katt tried to coax him into joining her at her table, which would have required him to move from the one he had just sat down at. The argument was rendered moot when Taneth made herself at home in his lap, and for a time he was soothed with the mechanical motions of combing her hair with his fingers and working a tiny braid into the side.

Rei had temporarily swept himself up in talking up the rest of the room, to Salvador?s well hidden but tremendous relief. Much as he might have tried, though, he could not block out the man?s voice, and the great big belly laugh he unleashed a time or two. It didn?t help that Taneth asked about him, the way she does. "Who is that purple eyed man? He is cute. And you seemed nervous."

Purple, no. They were like gemstones, glinting and sharp and pure. Amethyst. A long ago memory of the first time he had met the mongrel, as an awkward boy whose wings were ever-present, flashed into the forefront of his thoughts. For a fleeting moment in that time he had seen the color of them, and had thought he had hallucinated it. Hearing Taneth say so now was a confirmation that he had not been as crazy as people had suspected after all, and so he remembered.

"I should very much like to touch his hair,? Taneth went on. ?Do you think he might be a good dancer?"

"Uh." Taneth's inquiry made him a little twitchy. "That's..." He looked over. Looked right at him. "Rei. And yes probably. Why don't you go ask him." Anything, anyone, to distract the mongrel from coming over here. Taneth did not take the bait, but neither did Rei invite himself to the table as he suspected he might.

They talked idly of different sorts of things while he combed her hair with his fingers and worked on that tiny braid. The entire time, Rei was watching. He could feel the eyes on him, knew whose they were, but managed all the same to maintain a display of oblivious indifference.

"Oh, look,? Taneth said. ?Purple eyes Rei and Katt are talking. You should smile and have them come sit with you." She purred like a kitten. "You know, be friendly."

His mouth curved into something amused, just barely. Then a little more, and he snerked, cleared his throat, tried to make a straight face. Eyes closed as he sought for composure, he took a deep breath through his nostrils. When he opened his eyes, he looked first at Rei, then at Katt, and then back to Rei. "You heard the girl. Get your asses over here."

A bit of playful bickering transpired between Rei and Katt, the latter refusing to budge probably just to spite him for having denied her earlier. The mongrel gave up on trying to coax her over to the table while Taneth was telling him all about her Charlie. Sometimes, in moments like these, he wondered what had happened to Tormay, but he never asked.

A smirk had tilted onto chiseled lips as Rei hooked a chair with one foot, dragged it over and sat across from the man he used to know so damned well. "Sally,? he said, repeating the nickname that Taneth called him far too frequently. ?It's a good name. Suits you. " The mongrel took a sip of his coffee.

He cut a semi-glowering look sharply up at Rei as his shadow loomed over and made that remark, but he ignored the chance at a counter in favor of turning his free hand over, palm up, and asked Taneth for a ribbon. She usually had those in abundance. ?Here you go,? she said, handing him one. Salvador was finished with her mini-braid and he tied it off before all his hard work came undone, while she said, ?Hello, Rei-doll.?

When he was finished tying off the braid, he gave Rei a pointed look. Did he really want him to comment on Taneth's nickname for him? ?Hello, doll-baby,? the mongrel said, giving the girl a casually devastating smile, setting the cup down on the table. Of course, the look Rei slanted over to Sal dared him to do it. He should have expected that.

Taneth unleashed a girlish giggle between the two of them, then her prettiest smile for Rei, all bright and glorious. Rei pretended to be blown away, one hand clutching at his chest and the other put to his forehead. ?Oh, fairest one, don't tease me that way, lest I be dashed on the rocks of despair.?

"Oh, you." Taneth turned a playfully dismissive wave at Rei. "You are too cute."

His eyes went half-lidded while Taneth and Rei bandied words, like a cat too lazy to get off his perch and pounce. He let the insinuations about the nickname slide, like he always did. Honestly, it did not bother him, and it amused him how hard people tried sometimes. He dragged his fingertips oh so super gently along Taneth's mini braid and tilted his head. Interrupting the banter a moment, he told Rei, ?Taneth wants to know if you dance.?

Rei finished his coffee, setting the mug down on the table. Those amethyst eyes lifted, a bit of a brooding look returning as Sal's fingers slid over Taneth's pretty hair, but he grinned a bit. ?My ilhar taught me to dance, Taneth. In many ways.?

?Tch. Oh, now you're being crude, mi amigo." Salvador chided Rei, perhaps even playfully. There was a vicious cut to his slice of a grin there. Distraction came in the sound of bells that go jingle-jangle. His attention diverted and he spied Thorn coming in the door. He got lost in watching the way she moved, in the way she dressed. She was going to be the death of him one day.

In that moment, Taneth abandoned his lap, and only her movement drew his attention back to the present, out of the sordid daydreams and fantasies DatAss implanted in his head. He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat when the girl took her leave. He wished her well and tried not to let it show that being left alone at the table with Rei disturbed him.

They tried at conversation for a minute, but the flavor of the words turned awkward. He was silently grateful when Thorn came over to join them. She plunked her happy ass down on a chair and said, ?Evenin',? in her Southern drawl. A dimpled smile was tugging and dancing at the corners of her lips. ?How're y'all doin'??

Salvador made quick introductions by stating names and pointing one or the other out in turn, back and forth. He sat back and watched the conversational ball roll between the pair as they indulged in getting to know one another. One thing among all others that Thorn stood out and struck home, ?I kinda remember a Rei that had Sal twitchy an' jumpy's a cat in a room full'a dogs.?

Oh, the laugh that rumbled forth, from belly to chest to throat at Thorn's words. Rei was unable to keep himself from trying to meet Salvador?s eye for long. Purple wended its way back to rust, and the mongrel said, ?Yeah. Yeah, that were me, alright.?

All of this only served to increase the tension crawling under the fae-child?s skin. Probably the only one between them had an inkling as to why he was uncomfortable was Rei, but he couldn?t be completely sure. The mongrel had built up so many walls that he couldn?t even read the man?s aura.

He just let Rei and Thorn flirt with each other. Unless otherwise prodded, he thought maybe he could sit there with his eyes closed and head bowed, and just listen to them. Everything would be okay if he didn't have to talk. He listened to the talk of acid burns and idly commented about Thorn being a badass, trying very hard to involve himself in the company. Things were going well until a very specific thrum coursed through his veins and pulled his attention away.

Out there, over and beyond the slope of the mongrel?s shoulder, through the windows that spilled light onto the porch? He knew something was out there, something familiar that called to him like a Siren?s song. He could almost put a name to it, but the spell was broken by abrupt movement.

Rei stood up, and his parting words were brusque. Salvador only blinked back in time to the point where he heard his single-syllable nickname spoken, startled by the sudden change in atmosphere. ?...Sal.? Whatever the mongrel had been about to say was left unsaid. He grimaced, his face showing a frustrated mishmash of emotions. ?Vith.? And then he turned on a heel, grabbed up his glaive and his cloak and headed for the alley door.

Salvador stared, dumbstruck, and watched until the angel?s son was gone from sight. Even then he stared at the closed door for a long moment. After a time, he dropped an F bomb under his breath and silently took a moment to cuss himself out.

Things never were going to go easy with them, were they? No. Not anymore.

The fuse was lit.


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(Adapted from live play with Rei, Taneth, and Thorn.)