forum •Apotheosis of Abnormality• [one/one]

Started July 27, 2022 by @Dayzed business

tune

Xio let out a soft laugh, shaking her head and turning to look at Wynn and Marcus. “I don’t have many friends. Those two and a handful of others. The only ones I’d consider coffee-getting friends would be Jeremy and then those two.” She smiled slightly before turning back to Rae. “I think they’re all busy at the moment. The only person who might bother us would be the owner of the cafe. She acts scary but she’s a good person.”

Wynn’s scowl deepened slightly though he didn’t respond, huffing slightly.
At Jake’s comment Wynn turned to glare at him. “Ask him yourself, asshole. Marcus has a habit of putting up with shit he shouldn’t.”
“What is it with you guys and telling the people who literally tried to kill us like a month ago my flaws?” Marcus grumbled, shifting on his feet.

“What a shame, you and Marcus aren’t compatible then.” Wynn grumbled, waving away Jake’s words. “You’d taste bad, there’s a reason Cam didn’t want to actually bite you.”
Wynn took a step back to let Marcus go, handing him one of the spines out of his pocket and frowning.
“Don’t do anything stupid.” He called after the witch. Marcus waved in return, smiling weakly.

---

The witch allowed Jake to pull him to his side, matching his steps. Even after Jake released him, Marcus didn’t lose the pace. He understood that Jake wanted him at his side. He assumed it was to make sure Marcus didn’t try anything.
Marcus made a face, shaking his head. “That one will have to stay in your fantasies, pervert.” he growled.
After a small pause he reached up to feel along his ear, sighing. “I’ll probably go with a helix or two. I like those. Or maybe even just my first lobe.” He admitted, shifting lightly.

Rae nodded at Xio's words.
"Oh, alright then," She glanced over at Marcus and Wynn. They really were good people even though her job said otherwise. "Well, uhm, I guess if you'll lead the way?" Rae asked shyly, not wanting to push Xio or anything, but somewhere deep down she was really excited to be invited for coffee with someone else than Apotheosis. Things like these were rare for her as the friends she had in school didn't hang out much due to her work and their busy schedules as well. Yet it was strange- making time for someone she had just met over a few long-term friends, it's not that she preferred hanging out with strangers at all, but Xio gave her a good vibe and Rae was actually really curious to see where this would go. But it was coffee, right? There probably wouldn't be much after that anyways- but coffee was good!

---

As Jake walked, he seemed a bit bothered by something- maybe even irked. It had nothing to do with Marcus but had everything to do with him at the same time. Not compatible. He knew it was mostly a joke because of the "no burning" comment, but it still seemed to put him in a bad mood. And putting up with stuff? What stuff? It's not like Marcus was a prostitute and had to deal with ill-tempered people on a daily basis- but Wynn had said something about Marx. He looked over at Marcus before he spoke again.

He smiled at Marcus' first words, but it didn't seem genuine this time, none of the cockiness he had just a minute ago.
"Was worth a shot" She shrugged, watching Marcus assess where he would want his ears pierced. "Oh, a helix?" He asked, raising his eyebrow and then laughing at the last bit. "I would recommend starting off with just the first one and letting that heal- or well if you want, that's not exactly how I did mine, I got a little crazy when I found out I could pay for piercings and got about at least two in each ear" He admitted, reached up to tap on his left ear which was the one facing Marcus. There was a lobe and helix piercing with three more piercings in between the helix piercing. The three piercings were small black spikes, the ends of the helix jewelry also seemed to match the other three.
"As long as you keep up with the cleaning process, nothing too major should happen," He said finally, growing quiet for a second before asking the question he was curious about.
"Uhm, about what your friend said…" Jake trailed off. "What did he mean? That you put up with 'stuff'? I just can't see it" He said a bit softer in the end. In Jake's mind, Marcus was a really tough individual and could take anything thrown at him, but Jake would also like to think that he put people in their place when they tried anything he didn't like.

“Yes! Follow me!” Xio chirped, hopping towards the entrance happily. She glanced over her shoulder to see if Rae was following, letting out more chittering sounds when she found the other was indeed joining her.
Xio paused for a moment, waiting for Rae to catch up to her side. “Rae, was it?” She asked sheepishly, picking nervously at the feathers around one of her wounds. “And is coffee okay? There are other places we could go, coffee was just the first thing that came to my mind.”

---

Marcus shot Jake a look, rolling his eyes after. At least he was listening to what he wanted to do and didn’t seem to be pushing Marcus for something he wasn’t comfortable with.
“Just because you said that, I’m getting my helix first, just to spite you.” Marcus mused, grinning. And a helix would piss Marx off the most.
Marcus looked over Jake’s piercings, silently admiring how well they fit Jake’s character. He sighed softly, shrugging. “I’ll deal with it. Despite my infamy, I take rather good care of my self… most of the time.”

Marcus fell silent at Jake’s questioning, something in his stature wilting. He turned his head away, staring at the ground and shoved his hands in his pockets and scoffed.
“I don’t think the nature of my love life concerns you.” He grumbled, swallowing hard. He stole a glance at Jake’s face after a moment, frowning slightly. The softness of the question had thrown him off… and maybe tugged a little at his heart strings.
He sighed deeply.
“Listen, you don’t know shit about me, okay? Don’t assume anything about me.” Marcus rubbed at a few of the yellowing bruises along his shoulder, momentarily reminded where they came from. “But, since you’re so curious and I need a chance to vent because he pissed me off… Marx isn’t exactly the romantic type. He is when he wants something from me, but only then. Otherwise he just does whatever the fuck he wants regardless of who it hurts. He doesn’t care what others think or what might happen to them. He does things for his own gain. He’s an asshole with a twisted sense of self-importance who does things regardless of the consequences as long as it benefits himself. If anything goes wrong or not in a way that satisfies him, he lashes out and makes sure you hurt for it.” Marcus scowled, the runes along his arms starting to glow lightly. “And yet for some reason I seem to be into that… and I do owe him at least my time. He did get me out of a bad situation and he does seem to still love me in some way. I just-“ he huffed, rubbing at his face. “Every time I get the balls to leave he either threatens me until I go back or he acts so lovey and kind that I’m reminded of how he used to be. It’s confusing as all hell and Wynn is fed up with it, wants me to go for something more stable.”

Rae jogged to catch up with Xio, a smile on her face at the sounds the other made. It was…adorable? She didn't know how to describe it but it sounded very happy and Rae enjoyed seeing others excited.
"Yeah, it's Rae," She said also stopping when Xio did. She thought about her question. "I don't mind coffee," She said, even though Rae wasn't a huge fan of coffee. She liked the more fizzy side of things but Rae didn't want to be rude, besides, it had been a while seen she had any, maybe her palate had changed. "I mean as long as there's food too I'm happy to go where ever you want to" She held onto the bag Xio had given her, seeing what the other wanted to do.

---

Jake opened his mouth to protest at Marcus' choice but just gave a defeated sigh, knowing there was nothing he could do about that.
"You're so charming.." Jake muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes. "And you say that but have your friend on your ass probably what I assume to be twenty-four-seven about you making terrible decisions and getting hurt a lot" Jake waved his hand around, gesturing as he spoke.

They walked in silence for a while before Jake pitched his question.
At Marcus' reply, Jake stiffened, his shoulders tensing a little. He looked straight ahead instead of looking over at Marcus, something he had been doing a lot as they walked, like he couldn't get enough of just looking at him, but right now there was something bubbling up inside of him. He didn't know what it was, but he didn't like the uncomfortable feeling.

"Yeah, you're right." Jake said a bit bitterly, though, finally looked over at the guy when he addressed him. Jake scoffed at Marcus' words, not really saying anything, probably because Marcus had a point.
As Marcus spoke, pretty much ranting about the guy, Jake's face flushed a little as he looked down at his feet as he walked, some of the things Marcus said seemed to fit his own character and Jake was aware of that- having been told it many times. He felt…a bit ashamed? Wondering if that's how others talked about him behind his back. He didn't mind it- he tried to tell himself and was pretty good at showing that nothing bothered him, but it did cut deep sometimes.

"Leave him." Jake said suddenly, now feeling his face heat up. Although the words that Marcus spoke did make him feel targeted even though he wasn't talking about him, he shoved everything down, trying not to think about it, but for some reason, it bothered him.
A lot.

"I doubt he genuinely loves you." Jake said harshly. "You can keep deluding yourself if you'd like, but that doesn't change the facts." Truth was, Jake didn't know this to be a hundred percent true. He didn't know the guy, but he just wanted Marx away. Away from the person walking beside him.
"You should go for something more stable," Jake said finally, his eyes softening as they came into view of the tattoo/piercing shop he always went to. "I'm sure there are some guys out there who'd cherish you" Jake could be cruel with his words, but it was a weird balance of soft and harsh at times as if he didn't know how to act or what to say at times. He couldn't make up his mind on how open he wanted to be with others and as a result, it always made people avoid him.

“Oh good!” She hummed, looking pleased with herself to have remembered the correct name. Marcus had indeed been slightly correct about her absent-minded nature. Names were the hardest to keep in her head.
“Of course! It’s a cafe, there’s plenty of other stuff!” She reassured, offering a small smile once more before she gently took Rae’s wrist and led her from the building and out onto the street.
She released Rae when she seemed to realize she was still holding her wrist, apologizing softly before she reached into the pockets of her skirt and pulled a bracelet from it.
“Just until we get to where we’re going, I need to look more human.” She explained, slipping the bracelet on and humming when she seemed to transform into a human almost as quickly as Wynn did. She hummed happily, turning to smile at Rae. Unlike Wynn’s disguise, Xio’s form seemed to resemble her a lot, albeit considerably less feathered.
“This isn’t actually a human form, I can do one of those but again, that takes a bit and it’s uncomfortable. This is a glamour spell, all of my feathers are still here and sometimes people can actually see past the spell and see them but they’re usually fairly hidden. It’s like a short term solution until we get to the place.”

---

Marcus’s grin grew. He laughed and shrugged idly before lifting his head and placing his hand under his chin, presenting his face with a feigned pride.
“Oh I’m the most charming and I know it. Wynn knows it too, that’s why he’s so on my ass about everything.” He joked, rolling his eyes at himself. “Wynn is why I’m still not dead.” He admitted, something hidden beneath his words that admitted he wasn’t just talking about being kept from harm… Wynn had stopped him from going through with certain plans far too often - and often without Wynn even realizing he had done so.

Marcus hadn’t even noticed how much Jake had been looking at him until the other stopped. Now he felt suddenly more aware of his being, and slightly uncomfortable now that the other seemed so… stiff.

“Wha-” Jake’s sudden words made Marcus double take. He stared at Jake for a long time, taking in the advice he had just been given and frowning. Marcus’s eyes dropped back to their feet, his brows furrowed.
That was now four people to give him the same exact advice about his relationship. Wynn, Xio, Van (even though Marcus assumed Vance was trying to be an asshole reaching for power that time), and now Jake all seemed to agree that Marx wasn’t good for Marcus. That was… concerning.
“What a strange thing to say considering you’ve been flirting with me since the moment we met.” Marcus replied bitterly. Truth be told, Jake was probably right about everything and yet that pissed Marcus off slightly to think about. It also made him slightly depressed. He had been suspecting it for months now but he didn’t want to admit it; Marx didn’t love him. Not in any way that was healthy.
“Something stable… I don’t think anyone stable would go for someone like me. I’m the walking manifestation of bad decisions. Nobody wants me and anyone who does won’t stick around.”

Rae didn't seem to mind Xio leading her out onto the streets- for all she knew this could be a very clever plan of getting her alone and then striking when she was most vulnerable…buuutttt she would take those chances- I mean, Xio was really starting to grow on her, charmed by her nature and personality. Rae was absolutely in love with how Xio carried herself and even a little more curious about the other.

Rae hummed lightly when Xio finally let go of her and apologized for it. Xio seemed very soft in Rae's eyes, immediately being labeled as 'someone to protect'.

She nodded at Xio, seeming mesmerized by the more human form Xio took on.
"You're very cute" Rae beamed as she joined Xio's side to walk with her. "Though, I do like the feathers a lot" She nudged Xio gently, a giant smile on her face.

---

Jake gave a small sound of disbelief, although very playful this time around. His eyes softened a little at Marcus' next words. It was nice to have friends like that- they were the solid ground underneath you and without them, they would fall, hard.

He didn't say anything to those words Marcus had spoken, just seeming to be a silent agreement there.
At Marcus' surprised look, Jake glanced over at him, looking at the guy from the corner of his eyes, there being more curiosity there than anything else.

Jake scoffed at Marcus.
"I know I'm not one to be giving advice to others, but don't make him worry." Jake said, again avoiding looking at Marcus. "Wynn I mean, and your other friends. He likes you enough to protect you from things that will hurt you" Me being a prime example. Jake thought. "Don't take that for granted" He muttered at the end.

Jake gave a laugh at Marcus' obvious point.
"Yeah, I have," He said simply. "I figure I'd keep shooting my shot till you completely shut me down- you haven't really uhh what was it that he said? Turned me into a…..a human bonfire." Jake said at last, firmly. "That counts for something right?" He snickered at the other. "But you're right. That came out of nowhere, just, you don't seem half bad" He noted. And you need to be with someone that's not half bad too.

Jake thought about that. Someone stable. Yeah. That was a bit hard considering who they were.
"I like bad decisions," Jake said randomly, seeing what Marcus' reaction to that would be. He expected a scoff or a look of disgust, it was what he was typically given. At the words "Nobody wants me." Jake seemed to grow quiet, feeling a sort of tightness in his chest.
"I guess we're in the same boat then," He said softly, now opening the door to the shop for Marcus to go through first.

Xio’s eyes widened at Rae’s words. She flushed, looking down to try and hide it. Cute… “Oh… thanks… It gets the job done.” She replied softly, smoothing out her clothes. The skirt fit a little longer now that she didn’t have awkwardly shaped talons in the way. She hummed softly as she picked at its fabric, trying to distract herself.
“F-feathers… yes! I like them too!” She choked out, giggling nervously and nudging Rae back.
“They’re a pain to keep nice sometimes, though.”

---

Marcus stared at their feet for a moment, sighing softly. He really should start being more careful about what he did. He did worry Wynn a little too much.
“I know…” he muttered, sighing.

Marcus rolled his eyes, looking back up at Jake. Any guilt he had felt before suddenly vanished. “I haven’t done so yet because you haven’t tested my patience to that point.” He mused, shaking his head. “I don’t do that to just anybody, you know. You have to really be pissing me off or trying to kill me to become a bonfire. As you say, ‘I’m not half bad.’” Truth be told, Marcus didn’t like using his fire on others. Nobody deserved such an agonizing death…

The corners of Marcus’s mouth twitched for a moment, his expression bordering on something amused before he reeled himself in and gave Jake an exasperated look.
“Maybe try and make a good decision for once in your life.” He huffed, rolling his eyes.
Marcus looked over at Jake for a moment, frowning before he entered the space. “Yeah… I guess we are.” He muttered as he passed, something bitter rising in his chest. Had they met under different circumstances, Marcus may have found a friend in Jake… eventually. He didn’t seem half bad himself.

"I'm sure they look great even if they're all ruffled up" Rae gushed, just very happy to have someone else to talk to. She did genuinely like the way Xio looked, with and without the illusion of seeming more human.

---

"Guess I'll have to try harder to piss you off then, yeah?" Jake mused, slightly hinting at the fact that he had been playing with death for a while now.

Jake nearly let out a startled laugh at Marcus' words. Maybe try and make a good decision for once in your life. Adorable.
"No thank you, never have and never will, don't plan on starting now" He smirked, though, in his mind, having Marcus to himself sounded like a great idea. Delicious even. Perfect decision, but that was an idea that would have to be tossed out the window in favor of his current goals. It had always been like that, he never took anything good for himself, choosing to take the harder path, the one that dealt more pain. Sometimes it was intentional. Other times it was not.

"But I appreciate your concern, you're very lovely" Jake hummed, walking in after him.

The tattoo and piercing shop had a few people inside already, a few faint conversations going. A dark-skinned guy was at the counter whining about something to an attractive-looking guy who was working there.
Once Jake and Marcus came in, the two guys looked over at them and Andre suddenly lit up, bouncing his way over to Jake, wrapping his arms around his neck.
"I told him you had an appointment today" Andre cooed, glancing over at the guy who was at the counter, he shook his head and rolled his eyes. Andre looked Jake over, his eyes landing on his lips, but his attention was suddenly caught on Marcus who had come in first. He seemed to be waiting for the other, but Andre assumed Marcus had come in alone even though Jake trailed behind him.
"Oh…" Andre said letting Jake go and taking a small step back, knowing exactly who Marcus was, slight terror building up inside of him. If he was here then that meant they had to report this to A.C.E.
"Don't worry, he's not a threat- for now. Or at least I hope" Jake stared at Marcus for a while, unsure of what to say. "He's just someone who I'm getting to know, he's accompanying me to get the tongue piercing," He said at last, to which Andre eyed Marcus curiously. He did not seem to like that at all, but even less when Jake talked about the tongue piercing.
"Again with that? Seriously? If you don't want to do it you don't have to" Andre said, seeming a bit ticked. Jake shrugged.
"It's already paid for" Was all he said as he smiled at Andre and stepped past him to talk to the person at the counter.
Andre looked from Marcus to the walls nervously, not really sure how to feel about this.

He had the urge to report this to A.C.E.
Not because it was urgent, although it was, but because he didn't like the fact that Jake had given the guy a nickname and was constantly all over him.

Xiomara let out a soft laugh, risking a glance at Rae. “You're a very strange human, pardon me for saying so. Not a bad strange, it’s something good, I promise.” She smiled to herself, gently tugging on Rae’s sleeve as she led her onto a lively little street. Rows and rows of small business, store fronts, and small coffee shops lined the street. People wandered in and out of the buildings, chatting idly with companions as they did so.
“Not a lot of humans are eager to quickly get to know us. It’s nice to have someone who wants to for a change.”

---

Marcus made a small sound of understanding. “I see. That’s why you want me around. You’ll have to find some other witch to fulfill your little fantasies.” He gave Jake a very fake, exaggerated smile and waved his hands as if he were shooing Jake away.

“Your funeral.” Marcus replied, though he supposed he wasn’t one to really talk. He himself made bad decisions, sometimes on purpose.
Oh well, he supposed. The semantics didn’t really matter.

He made a face at Jake’s words, muttering under his breath about how he was very much not lovely.

Marcus took a small glance around the shop the moment he entered, shoving his hands in his pockets and frowning. Now he remembered why he didn’t often come to places like these.
He always got the same look from every tattoo artist he had ever met: disdain, amusement, confusion… it was hard to explain to non-Abnormalities the reasonings behind his own tattoos. Marcus sometimes wished he had done something more artistic than line said rune’s up in rows and circles.
Oh well.

He eyed Andre up until the point the other hung themselves off of Jake, Marcus’s gaze shifting to something he pretended to be infinitely more interesting to the side.
He probably should have realized that despite Jake’s asshole nature and general standoffish vibe there was the high chance that he too had a relationship.
Not that Marcus cared much, he was more surprised about the fact that Jake let anyone close enough for something like that.

Marcus turned to look at Jake when he felt the other’s eyes on him, standing a little taller to try and hide the anxiousness he was now feeling.
“Don’t get used to it. I’m not sticking around any longer than I have to.” He muttered, eyeing Andre carefully, almost daring him to do something.
Perhaps this was a mistake… Marcus forgot that his face was practically plastered on every Abnormality wanted list and he was sure a few non-Abnormality newspapers as well.
“I don’t just randomly attack people. I have a normal life too, y’know? There’s no threat here unless you make it so.” He mumbled, watching Jake leave to talk to the guy at the counter.
He pretended to hardly give Andre any heed, though he secretly watched him out of the corner of his eye just in case. He didn’t recognize Andre at all, but something in him - call it intuition or general smarts - told him that this guy had something to do with Jake’s little group of A.C.E. fanatics.

Rae gave Xio a huge smile, though, it seemed a little shy even though she was attempting to seem bright and lively.

"I don't think I've ever been told that before" She mused. "Though I'm glad it's a good kind of strange- I guess I just don't really anyone as drastically different from anyone else unless you're the type of person to hurt others" Just like Rae, everyone else in Apotheosis held some similarity to her thoughts. They were very aware that they were not the good guys- Jen was the only one seeming to be in denial until recently. His reality had been shattered and he didn't quite know what to do with it. Everyone saw that but no one dared to try to approach him on the subject for the fear that he may lose it.

Rae put Apotheosis in that category. In the category of people who hurt others. Maybe it wasn't because they wanted to but they had to but the technicalities were irrelevant she felt. Even if you didn't mean it, you still hurt others and that's all that was counted at the end of the day- how you made others feel and how you treated them.

"I hadn't really gathered the courage to really start interacting with others that A.C.E deemed inappropriate even though I wanted to, but Jake told me I couldn't keep doing that. 'There are a lot of great people out there no matter what they looked like, it's just a matter of taking the initiative of getting to know them' is what he said, or something along those lines" Rae quoted, walking with Xio as she tugged on her sleeve to follow. The gesture really seemed to make Rae melt, loving the fact that Xio wasn't at all hesitant to do something like that with her, it showed openness and Rae was grateful for that despite Xio knowing who she was.

---

Jake scoffed at Marcus' antics. The guy was funny, he had to give him that, the smile on his face only confirming it as a truth.

Once inside and finishing his interaction with Andre and hearing Marcus' words he hummed in amusement.

"We'll see about that, maybe I'll make it so that you spend the rest of the day with me" He joked, something that Andre seemed to grow sour to.

When Jake was done talking to the guy at the counter he went to join Marcus again but Andre stood between them.
"Can I talk to you for a second?" He asked. "In private?" He looked over at Marcus as if insinuating it was about him- because it was. Jake looked at Marcus when Andre did.
"Alright," He told Andre. "Give me a second," He said to Marcus before stepping outside once again with the guy.

"We have to report this." Andre said in a panic, an underlying desperation of getting Marcus away.
"We're not reporting anything," Jake said casually. "because if you do, you're not gonna like what comes next. Don't think I will just let this go and be happy with you once it's over or time has passed" He said. Jake was…manipulative in a sense of the word- definitely an asshole and he wasn't afraid to say or do things to get his way. He knew how much he meant to Andre and losing him would crush him, so he used it against him.
"Though if you do keep quiet we might be able to keep seeing each other" Jake said in a tone as if he didn't care either way.

Andre seemed to wilt at that.
"You can't be serious" Andre bounced a little, maybe it was out of anxiety, maybe it was because he was afraid, he didn't know.
"If you keep quiet I'll give you something," Jake said. "You know there's always something to be gained from me," He said a bit more provocatively this time. Andre knew where this was going and he didn't want it to stop. He couldn't let it stop, it was his only escape from everything else. He stood there like he didn't have the right words to say.
"Glad we've both come to the same understanding," Jake said as he turned to go back in, leaving Andre outside with a conflicted look on his face. He was a bit red in the face at Jake's suggestive nature but also seemed full of anxiety. Andre was the type of person that didn't know what to do, he needed a guide, but at the same time he just wanted to feel okay and Jake provided that for him. He didn't want to lose his drug of choice now that the majority of what he liked was banned.

Jake stepped back inside and gave one look to Marcus before looking away slightly. He struggled to keep his eyes on the guy as if his stare alone would break him. Jake didn't like the fact that he existed and others acknowledged that he existed, not because he was particularly suicidal at the moment, just that it felt very strange and uncomfortable.
"Sorry about that, you don't know him and I think it's better if it stays that way, but he's a friend of mine and Jen's. We all work together" He said, not needing to say anything else, knowing that Marcus had probably already pieced everything together by now.
He didn't wait for Marcus to say anything as he ushered him further into the back where they did the piercings, though, now, it seemed that Jake's mood had dipped a little. While he had no problems using anything to his advantage, it did leave him with a sick feeling, a constant guilt in the back of his mind that ate at him for being this way. An anxiety that shook his hands slightly telling him I don't want to be this way. Just another thing he ignored. It was fine. What did it matter if he hurt others? Hurt his friends. The sick feeling grew inside of him at the thought.

It was fine. Everything was fine. It didn't matter. It didn't matter. He kept repeating in his mind as if trying to convince himself that he believed those words. Maybe if he said it enough times it would come true, then he wouldn't have to worry about anything- about feeling this way.

"Alright, you'll sit here and someone will come to pierce you, I told them what you wanted but if you want something else as well they can do that for you," Jake said, hiding his inner turmoil, something he did very well- that was until it boiled over. Though, that was not something that would happen so soon.
…
He hoped.
"Once they're done with yours it'll be my turn," He said, now seeming a bit nervous himself. Jake didn't have a problem with needles, it was just the nature of the piercing that he was anxious for. He wondered how he would do his job in the next few days if it was still healing and if it hurt, though, he supposed that was the purpose of it and their intent.

“Strange is good. In this situation at least.” Xio laughed softly, returning Rae’s grin.

She made a face when Jake was mentioned though she let out a soft laugh regardless, humming in thought.
“Well, he’s not wrong, you know. Even if I don’t trust him much he at least seems to know what he’s taking about. Plenty of us are worthy of getting to know. In fact, the majority of us are good.” Xio gave Rae a playful smile, turning down an alleyway that at first glance appeared to be a dead end. However, the moment Xiomara got close to the wall at the far end, a small archway seemed to just pop into existence, revealing a very different street lined with strange stores. Abnormalities of all sorts - humanoid or otherwise - wandered down the shop fronts, pausing outside of specialty-made clothing stores and small apothecaries to check the items on display. Once through the archway, Xio’s human disguise dropped just as quickly as it came. If one were to have seen it only out of the corner of their eye or at a glance, they would have assumed it was a trick of the light.
She shook out her winged arms, humming happily when she found that her bandages didn’t ruffle her feathers too badly with the movements.

“Much better.” The harpy chirped, once again gently tugging at Rae’s clothes as she gently led her into one of the buildings.
The smell of coffee and sugar was intense but not overbearing in the small space. It was decorated in warm colors and soft-looking chairs. The cafe was fairly empty, though the soft sound of chatter filled the air - a mix of strange languages.
As Xio passed the tables to the counter, a few of the beings looked up and smiled nervously at her. She chittered in return, waving enthusiastically.

---

Marcus rolled his eyes at Jake’s words, crossing his arms. “I don’t think what you covered is enough for me to hang about for the rest of the day.” He grumbled, sighing.

As Andre pulled Jake over, Marcus raised his eyebrow. This definitely was a conversation regarding him and he knew exactly what it was going to be.
It wasn’t hard to understand that anyone mixed up with Jake was probably bad for Marcus’s safety.
He nodded at Jake, gesturing for them to go ahead with their talk. He watched them until they disappeared through the door, shoving his hands into his pockets to give them something to do.
Marcus couldn’t help but feel anxious all of the sudden. Perhaps walking off alone with someone who’s had a track record of trying to arrest you was a bad idea.
Just maybe.

Jake’s words upon his return did little to ease Marcus’s anxiety. Even as he was pushed into the back room, he glanced over his shoulder nervously and gave Jake a suspicious glance.

He chose to remain silent, though, and let Jake explain what was to happen.
“Alright… me first.” He repeated, staring at Jake for a long moment before he moved to the seat and plopped into it. “You going to stay here and watch?” He asked nonchalantly, gesturing to one of the other chairs in the room.
“You nervous?” He asked after a moment, grinning though there wasn’t any teasing in his voice or expression.

Rae snickered at Xio's face when Jake was brought up. It was the typical reaction others had to her friend.

She nodded at Xio's words.
"Yeah, I mean, he does have his moments, I think he was the first one to talk about you guys so positively" She shrugged a little. Even Jen had been a bit hesitant at first, granted, they had all been kids at the time. Jen was the second to come around, a bit quicker than the rest.

Once they turned down the alleyway Rae seemed a bit confused as to why Xio would bring her here, a slight panic building that this was indeed what she had been afraid it would be, though, Xio's soft nature made her doubt her violent thoughts.

It was only until they got closer that something new was revealed- a different street, something Rae had read in books as a kid, things of magic and maybe even a trip into the past- it's the vibes that it gave her and she couldn't help the small gasp that came from her.

Rae followed the other, more amazement in her eyes than hesitance of any sort. This was the first time Rae had seen anything like this, it was no secret in Apotheosis that Abnormalities kept themselves hidden- it was a rule, one that was meant to be kept. If they didn't, that's where they came in to keep the public safe….or well, "safe". Very few knew of their existence and those that did kept their mouths shut unless they wanted trouble.

As they walked down the streets, Rae found herself staring a bit too long at certain beings, some of whom were less humanoid and more animalistic in shape. She hadn't meant to, but she just couldn't look away. There were so many different beings that it made her head spin, slightly from the excitement of seeing something new and also because she knew she shouldn't be here.
However, the promise of spending time with Xio moved her forward, risking getting scolded by A.C.E. Even though Xio was not a threat, as it had been labeled in her ID, A.C.E. did not like Apotheosis interacting with any of them outside of work, even if it was safe to do so.

Rae watched as Xio waved to others, and seeing their nervousness, she wondered why that was- maybe they were just naturally nervous around humans like herself, or maybe it was the gun at her hip…Rae looked down to see the holster, the outside looking slightly different than a regular gun for it had been modified- Apotheosis switching over to the silver bullets they had been given to deal with Abnormalities. It was much more effective and now that it had passed the trial runs, they were given permission to use it on Abnormality threats.

She swallowed harshly as she sat in a booth with Xio, slowly sinking into the cushion, now looking down at the table in front of her. It was at these times that she was harshly reminded about who she was and why she couldn't enjoy simple things like these.

---

At Marcus' suspicious glance, Jake sighed a little.

"I told him not to do anything." Jake started, feeling it was necessary to ease Marcus' anxiety. "No one will know" He leaned against the wall now, opting to stand rather than to sit.

He pursed his lips at Marcus' question.
"Yeah, I think I'll stand," He said, rubbing at his arms like he was cold, though it was mostly out of anticipation that it would be his turn after Marcus. It was the whole reason why he wanted someone to be with him- so he didn't have to do it alone. He knew bringing Marcus was probably one of the worst ideas he could have thought of, knowing that one of his friends would have been a better option for calming him down around needles. Jake wasn't as afraid of them as he used to be, having enough exposure around them, but they still put him on edge, especially when they were near his face.

"A little," He said softly, now kicking at an invisible pebble on the ground, something he did when he was waiting for something to happen, sort of an anxious tick. It made him look a bit childish but it was something to distract him as he brushed the soles of his shoes against the ground. He looked up at Marcus' grin, giving him a small one of his own, though looking away shortly after.
"If anyone should be nervous it's you, this is your first one, right?" He arched an eyebrow, then turned as he watched someone come in to get things started. Seeing the surgical gloves on the other made Jake shut up real quick, now going back to his previous little game of kicking the invisible pebble, though he seemed a bit more intimidated now.

“That’s… interesting.” Xiomara admitted, tilting her head curiously. “He doesn’t seem to like us much, I’m surprised he’s the most open to… getting mixed up with our lot.” She commented, shrugging lightly.

Xio glanced at Rae once they had entered the little street, twittering happily at the awestruck look on her face.
It wasn’t often a non-Abnormality human entered one of these spaces, Xio hoped Rae wouldn’t feel too out of place.

Once sat, Xio offered Rae a sympathetic smile and leaned over the table to gently place her hand over Rae’s.
“Hey, it’s okay.” She reassured, fluffing her feathers up. “You’re still welcome here. Don’t mind them much. I think they’re still nervous after Hebe declared me her friend. Hebe making you someone close usually means you’re some kind of big, spooky crime lord.” The harpy laughed, tapping Rae’s hand softly before she took her own back. “If anything, having you here with me will make them think that’s true and I find that very funny.”

---

Marcus nodded in acknowledgment, though his body language seemed to relax some. He wasn’t sure how much of Jake’s word he could trust but in the moment he’d take it.
Anything to feel some semblance of normalcy an activity such as this one provided.

The witch shrugged, leaning back in his own seat and sighing. “Whatever you’re comfortable with.” He replied, never taking his eyes off Jake. Though this time it seemed to be Marcus trying to figure him out.
His eyes narrowed slightly with Jake’s reply, but there was something soft behind his cold exterior.
“Seems like a rough one to get, I don’t blame you.” Marcus could understand being nervous for such things. Wynn didn’t much like needles or surgical settings either.
“Oh? Me? No, I’m not all that nervous. I’ve seen it done before and I’ve had worse things happen.” Marcus laughed, though he too rubbed at his arms.
Truth be told, he was a little nervous. Not about getting the peircing, he truly didn’t mind that part. It was the reaction to said peircing that scared him. There were two possible outcomes and neither of them were ideal…
Either Marx really liked the surprise or he really hated it.
Marcus hated to think what would happen to him in either situation.
Best case scenario he’d have to remove the peircing and deal with it just healing. Worst case…? That wasn’t something he was willing to elaborate on even to his own brain at the moment.

When the piercer came into the room, Marcus straightened, shoving his thoughts down and offering the person a light smile. He glanced at Jake, his brows furrowing slightly.
“Hey, if you’re going to watch, then get over here and watch asshole.” He huffed, though Marcus’s words worked more as a distraction for Jake than anything. Marcus was trying to get him to focus on anything else than his own thoughts.
“God if you’re really that nervous about it, I’ll stay nearby and you can hold onto my shirt or something.”

Rae was about to say something on Jake's behalf, but she knew he would not appreciate her telling others about his situation- hell, no one knew except Apotheosis and certain A.C.E. personnel. He liked to keep it that way, never getting too involved with others outside of their friend group let alone spilling his life story to others. It was rare to get a piece of information out of Jake that was about his life. Sometimes it was implied but never really elaborated on.
"Yeah.." Rae gave Xio a weak laugh, now fidgeting with the bag Xio had given to her. It looked like she wanted to say something more but wasn't allowing herself to.

Surprisingly, Rae did not feel out of place, the street and shops gave off so much life, that it felt like she belonged there. Her bubbly nature fitting like a puzzle piece to the bustling vendors and customers alike.

After they had sat, Rae's eyes quickly moved up to meet Xio's when she placed a hand over hers, a light embarrassed shade of red spreading on her face. Her eyes dropped again to stare at their hands together. She didn't mind it, in fact, she quite curiously liked it. It always felt nice to be close to someone like this and when her father had died it had seemed like the end of that. Never being able to find someone who quite filled the gap he had left, romantic or platonic. Jen did a good job of being the parent of the group, but Rae knew he was just a kid- like her, and it felt wrong to ask him to be someone more.

"Thanks" Rae muttered, a small smile on her face again. "I thought it had maybe been the gun- though, I'm sure that doesn't help either" She laughed along with Xio.
"Evil" Rae commented jokingly at Xio's last bit, though, the huge smile on her face told her that Rae didn't hate that kind of playfulness.
"But who's Hebe? I think I've heard the name tossed around here and there, but it's never really been brought up fully" She asked, now seeming curious, though, the calm look on Rae's face just told that this was just another conversation to fill the time. Truth was, she wanted to know more about Xio, her life, her interests and whatnot, but felt she should slide into it slowly, not directly bombarding the harpy with so many questions at once.

---

"I'm not sure, it could be," Jake said, his personality seemed toned down a bit. He didn't seem overly angry or cold or cynical or flirty or even tired, just a bit… normal. If that was even a word you could use to describe Jake. He looked calm, perhaps just slightly anxious as well.

Jake watched Marcus' movements as they reflected his, the same gesture done to indicate he too was a bit on edge about the piercing.

"Yeah, alright tough guy," Jake said, now cracking a smile, though, it seemed a bit more friendly this time around than flirty and looking for something more.

Jake had thought to keep his distance from the pyromaniac, not wanting to be too overbearing- the last thing the guy needed was to have an A.C.E. specialist hovering over him, but Marcus' words caught him off guard. He scowled at the 'asshole' part, but didn't hate it, immediately pushing himself off the wall and walking over to stand by Marcus.

At the last line that came out of Marcus' mouth, Jake shot him a displeased look, though, the way his heart sped up to the offer said something else.
"Maybe I will" Jake muttered stubbornly, his eyes looking at the person who was getting things ready on a small metal rolling table. At the sight of everything laid down on it, Jake quickly sat down beside Marcus, knowing that it was a terrible mistake to keep standing when the tools made his legs feel like jello.
To some, this seemed like an overreaction, and maybe it was for someone as tough as Jake, but every time he looked at a needle- especially something so thick that was going to go into his body, his mind screamed. The connection of those needles that wouldn't do any harm to him, linked to the ones Nexus used on him. Because Nexus and A.C.E. were partnered, Nexus being mostly in the shadows of A.C.E. who was the face of everything, they had permission to take Apotheosis, one member at a time, to try out new weapons that were in the making and certain approved drugs, but….sometimes their disappearances would go…unnoticed by A.C.E. and Nexus took advantage of that.

Xio gave her a small, curious look but didn’t pry. It was best not to in this situation. Jake seemed to be a touchy subject. Or rather the group in its entirety was a touchy subject. Xio wasn’t quite sure.

The harpy took note of the soft look Rae gave their hands, a soft bloom of warmth prickling at the edges of her chest. Her feathers fluffed lightly, the edges of a blush staining her face pink.
“C-Could have been the gun too… it’s definitely a surprise to see such things here…” she replied quietly, though Rae’s laugh made her giggle softly.
“I’m very evil I’ll have you know.” Xiomara joked, grinning.
Her expression grew softer, however, as the topic turned to the Sphinx.
“I’m sure you guys have heard of her. She’s the Sphinx who runs a few of the cafe’s around here. She acts all tough - and she is, mind you - but she’s rather kind if you’re the type of person she respects. She’s notorious for her reputation of helping Abnormalities in any situation - even to the point of doing something not entirely legal. Not that you’d ever be able to prove it.” Xio paused for a moment, thinking for a second before twittering happily. “I’m pretty sure she’s in good favors with a couple of gods.”

---

Marcus nodded, looking away suddenly. He had wanted normal, so why was seeing and hearing Jake act so normal making Marcus so… uncomfortable.
Perhaps it was all just unusual…

He stuck his tongue out at Jake at his comment, flipping him off rather than replying. He laughed along, only feeling slightly called out.

“Good. Keep your word, those are binding you know. Especially in witchcraft.” He snickered softly. Marcus seemed pleased with himself as Jake moved to stand beside him, he opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted when the piercer clicked their tongue to get his attention.
“Alright, so I was given a basic run down of what you want, but you’ll have to explain it to me more seeing as how you’re technically a walk-in as your friend here so graciously snuck you in at the last fucking moment.” They gave Jake a playful glare, grinning. “Anyways, I brought a couple of options for the actual jewelry piece, nothing too intense or fancy mind you, this is something that your body is really going to try and reject.” They explained, gesturing to their equipment on the rolling table. Next to the cleaning items sat a cluster of different colored rings. Marcus stared at them for a long time, chewing on his lip before he glanced at Jake. He looked so nervous for someone who was supposed to be a stone-cold Abnormality killer.
It pulled at Marcus’s heartstrings, despite his best attempts at trying to squash it down.
“Alright, what color?” Marcus asked suddenly, turning to the other. “You wanted to pick didn’t you?”
Distractions. Maybe if he distracted Jake enough the other would look less spooked and Marcus’s chest wouldn’t ache so badly….

Rae watched the feathers on Xio fluff up a bit, a small warm laugh coming from her as she realized the rosiness that had spread on the other's face as well, listening to her stutter her way through her words.

Rae didn't comment on it, although, a bit of heat rushed up to her own face at seeing the "distress" on Xio.

She smiled at Xio's words, specifically the part where she said they wouldn't be able to prove anything, which was very fair. Rae wasn't exactly itching to convict Abnormalities even though that was her job, it was better if things stayed the way they were.

At the last part, however, Rae froze, her breathing stopping momentarily before it shakily resumed. She gave Xio a nervous smile now.
"I-I'm sorry, gods…?" She asked. That was more than a mildly terrifying thought to Rae. They didn't come across those too often, or even those who had god-like qualities but weren't. A.C.E. had been wanting to get their hands on someone like that for the longest time but had never succeeded- for obvious reasons.

---

Jake rolled his eyes at Marcus flipping him off. It was amusing, yet there was something oddly charming about it too.
He scoffed at Marcus' words. Binding. He merely thought in his own head in almost a sarcastic manner.

As the piercer spoke to Marcus, Jake watched as the two interacted, his eyes meeting the other as they were addressed, a smile now on his face at the playfulness. He waved the other away, another eye roll coming from him, though it quickly faltered into something a bit more serious again, bordering on nervous as he fixated his attention on his hands, specifically the black nail polish he liked to chip away at when he didn't have anything else to fidget with.

Marcus randomly speaking to him made Jake blink, turning to look at him now, his cat-like eyes slightly wide at the attention that was willingly given to him.
"Oh-.." Jake said dumbfounded like he hadn't been expecting it. Yes, he had pitched the idea for Marcus to get a piercing and maybe even threw around the joke a lot that he wanted to choose, but at the end of the day, they were only jokes, and Jake wasn't about to choose for someone else, especially if they disliked it as much as he thought they did.

Jake craned his neck now to see the jewelry on the metal table, his eyes skimming over the colors. His eyes slowly drifted over to Marcus after that, mainly staring at his bottle-green eyes. While Jake thought to do something of the same color that would fit Marcus, the thought of giving him a black jewelry piercing was too tempting.
"Black" Jake said finally, a stupid grin on his face. "So we match," He said proudly, placing his chin on the palm of his hand as he waited to see Marcus' reaction and the piercer move to finally start the process.

Xio laughed softly at the nervousness, nodding as she moved to prop her head up with one hand on her chin.
“Don’t worry, they’re lesser gods, some don’t even make the pantheons they’re associated with. And the rest simply claim to be gods, I don’t think they’re actually anything of the sort. I haven’t met any yet but apparently they like to visit later at night. Which explains why I haven’t met any. I can’t see very good at night so I don’t go out as often.” She chirped happily, tilting her head slightly as she glanced over the menu.
A lot of the items on it were… strange to say the least. There were quite a few marked as “specialty” items meant for certain beings. The most notable being an entire section just for vampiric persons, filled with exactly what you’d expect: blood and viscera.
Xio didn’t seem phased by any of it, skipping over the specialties and jumping right to the drinks with a happy trill.

“What are you thinking of getting? We’ll have to order at the counter but I wanted to make sure we got a seat first.” She looked up at Rae expectantly, her brown eyes wide with excitement.

---

Marcus seemed slightly smug about catching Jake off-guard. He watched the other as he studied the options, his gaze never wavering. Not even when Jake’s eyes met his and something like a cold shiver ran down his spine.
Marcus worried Jake would catch the turmoil brewing in his brain if the other stared for long enough. He didn’t want to give the other another thing to hold over his head.

Thankfully, though, Jake soon made his decision.
Marcus glanced down at the black piercing, nodding his agreement (and acceptance) of the choice.
Jake’s comment on why he picked the black earned him a suspicious glance from Marcus, who felt a slight wave of hesitance now. He turned his face away for a moment, a slight pink making his face a bit hotter than it was before.
Matching with Jake… this could end up being a very very bad idea…. Again.
Not that he didn’t want to do get the piercing - and he didn’t really care if he and Jake matched - but the ever-looming presence of Marx hung over his shoulder, whispering about how fucked he’d be if the gang leader found any reason to believe Marcus was “unfaithful”. Even if that was as simple as having the same color of jewelry as another person. The chimera liked to make reaches and damn were they reaches.

“Let’s do the black, then.” He said regardless of his spiraling thoughts, smiling nervously when the piercer nodded and picked up the jewelry mentioned.
“Alright. I’ll numb the area and then we’ll go ahead and stick ya.” They said cheerfully, gesturing for Marcus to lean over closer. He did so, closing his eyes as the piercer cleaned and prepped the area, marking where the holes would go. Once they finished they moved to grab the needle, tapping the side of Marcus’s head to get his attention.
“It’ll be quick, one little prick, and you’re done.” They told him, waiting for Marcus to nod in return before they hummed and lined up the needle. “I like doing these ones, cartilage makes a fun sound when you pierce it.” They mused, laughing.
Marcus hardly got time to register what the other had said before the needle was pushed promptly through his ear. He did his best not to flinch but it had caught him off guard.
And it did indeed make a sound, one he wasn’t sure he liked. A solid crunch that reverberated through his skull.
“Fuck man, some more warning.” He huffed, though he grinned afterwards to show he was mostly joking.
“Damn you bleed a lot.” Was the only response he got as the piercer cleaned the area and gently slid the jewelry into its place, making sure it locked closed. “Alright. You’re done. We’ll give you some care products, make sure you clean it as often as we tell you too, got it? And don’t sleep or lay on it. If it swells a lot or gets too infected, give us a call.” They told him, looking him over for a moment as the witch sat up a little more and reached up to gingerly feel around the new metal. They handed Marcus a mirror off their little table, which he took with a soft “thanks” and immediately studied the new jewelry.
He had to admit… black looked fucking good on him.
Perhaps it was his pale complexion.

Rae let out a breath she had been holding, maybe it was for comical effect, or maybe she was genuinely shocked to know the kind of people Xio was in association with- either way, it wasn't any less scary if someone was bold enough to say they were a god. How much power did that person hold to give themselves that title? Surely it couldn't be anything weak and anything over the average for Abnormalities was more than a struggle. I mean, hell, it was already a struggle with your day-to-day gang runners.

Though, Xio seemed to be confident in the fact that they weren't anyone dangerous- but it was just that. It was coming from Xio who was an abnormality- and as much as Rae didn't want to think a certain way, there was always that fear in the back of her mind, the lessons they had been taught. Every Abnormality is dangerous. They will kill you given the chance. Logically Rae knew that wasn't true, but you couldn't refute the fact that they were much stronger than an average human not armed to the T.
Rae gave Xio a small smile.
"Is your vision very bad at night?" She asked, wondering if it was just something normal Xio had in common with the humans or if it had something to do with the species she was.

When given a nudge to see the menu, Rae picked it up as well, having been too focused talking with Xio that she had forgotten they were in a cafe, if only for a few seconds.
She opened it and stopped when she saw all the different items- things you would never see in a simple human establishment.
"O-oh.." Rae said audibly in reaction to the vampire specialties, then looked up to Xio when she asked what she thought of getting.
"Uhm…" Rae concentrated on the menu again, skimming past certain "delicacies" they had, catching a glimpse of something less than flavorful- or at least for her. "I'll have the uhh croissant bacon egg and cheese sandwich and a tea-" Rae said as if she were having a business meeting- it's not that she wanted to come off as formal, but she wanted to be extra polite around Xio. "The- the valerian tea" She finished, doing a double take when she saw Xio's excited wide eyes.
Rae had never had a crush before and she wasn't sure what she'd do if she ever did have one- love seemed very complicated- or so Jake told her. Even Jen agreed at times.

---

A small amused laugh bubbled out of Jake at the suspicious look Marcus gave him. Yeah, this would never get old. He tilted his head slightly when Marcus looked away, wondering if his words had done something- and they had, he just didn't know if it was a good or bad thing.

Nearly all the blood drained from Jake's face at the crunch sound even though he had his own ears pierced and exactly in the places Marcus had just gotten his. But that was before. Before all the poking and prodding had gotten worse. There had been a time when Jake had been okay with needles, not giving it two thoughts, but he struggled now- struggled to even look at them.

However, the thought and mini panic seemed to be wiped from him as he saw Marcus with the new jewelry on his ear, watching him look at it through a mirror now. There was something stunning about the black against Marcus' fair complexion. He swallowed harshly at the thoughts in his head.

"You look-" He paused. Good? Hot? "…lovely.." Jake said, at last, his face turning a bit rosy from saying something so soft for once, his voice trailing off, only confirming the genuineness in his tone.
However, it seemed Jake was uncomfortable with being "affectionate", quickly adding to his sentence.
"For someone with such a distasteful personality anyways," He said, giving Marcus a proud smile.

Jake watched the piercer clean up the area and leave to get more things for Jake's piercing, only to come back a minute later and start to set up again.

They looked over at Jake, knowing that the guy could handle himself, but also knowing it had been a while.

"When you're ready," They said, gesturing to the small metal rolling table, to which Jake had him and Marcus switch positions so he was sitting where Marcus had been previously. He let out a small huff as if to get his nerves out, but not trying to make a huge scene.

“Oh it’s terrible at night. Ever heard of night blindness? It’s a condition some of you humans have too, and most harpy’s share that diagnosis. We’re not built for the night.” She paused, thinking for a moment. “Well, some are, depends on their type. I’m not a nocturnal harpy so I unfortunately am not blessed with good vision in the dark.” She laughed softly, shrugging lightly. Despite her awful vision at night, she could get around just fine. Xio simply preferred not to. Daytime was much nicer anyway, and less full of things like Marx.

The corners of the harpy’s mouth twitched up into a smile. How formal.
She reached over again to gently tap Rae’s hand, smiling warmly. “Sounds good, valerian tea is lovely. Would you want to come with me to order? I can leave my bag here to mark our spot.” She was simply trying to calm Rae a little, let her know it was alright to be casual with her.
Xio wasn’t much of an important person in her own eyes, definitely not an Abnormality worthy of any high regards or even any extra precautions.

---

The witch glanced over at Jake, confused by the genuinity in his voice. And then Jake tacked on the jab at his personality and Marcus was rolling his eyes. The heat in his face, however, didn’t go away.
“Wow, thanks. Glad you think I’m at least attractive in the physical sense, though it’s a shame my personality turns you off.” He joked back, setting the mirror down. “I make a great date, just so you know.”

Marcus watched Jake for a moment, only looking away when they had them switch places. He stood awkwardly in the same place Jake had, looking over the table and the equipment there with slight interest.
A tongue piercing, while a little out there, strangely fit with Jake and he couldn’t pinpoint why.

He glanced at the other when he huffed, giving him an amused smile. “You alright down there?” He asked, leaning slightly over to be eye-level with Jake.

"Oh- no, I didn't know about that-" Rae paused a little to let Xio finish, a small smile tugging at her lips as Xio talked about who she was and where she came from in a sense. "I don't know too much about Harpies- or well, even the human body, I was never good at sciences" She gave a small polite laugh. Rae knew she should be more aware of the beings around her, but she had never bothered, only doing her job just as everyone else. No one bothered to look into the abnormalities like that, the exception of course being Blake who studied them relentlessly. If you had a question about anyone or anything, she was the person you went to, science and anatomy being her strengths.
Rae froze when Xio tapped on her hand lightly as if to tell her everything was alright. Her eyes looked down, a warmness spreading on her face. She was probably making a fool of herself and yet was clueless about it all the same.

She gently grabbed Xio's hand, running her thumb over the part where the feathers ended towards her hand. Rae had a very curious look on her face as she "investigated" Xio's appearance, this time a bit more close and involved.
"It's very interesting…" Rae muttered, looking up to see Xio and realizing she had gotten carried away.
"O-oh, I'm sorry-" She said, letting Xio take her hand back, looking a bit uncomfortable now. "And yes- I…wouldn't mind going with you" Rae brightened up a little at the "invitation", now getting up to go with Xio, though, Rae herself did not set down the tote bag Xio had given her, as if trying to guard it so no one took it from her.

---

Jake clicked his tongue at Marcus' words.
"Mmm, I never said that," He remarked lightly, absolutely in love with the guy's personality. "Just pointing out what others say" He smiled, sitting up straight so the piercer could examine him.
He paused at the last bit.
"Oh really?" Jake questioned, his eyebrow arched. "Then let me take you out on a date to confirm- oh wait, you don't have the balls" Jake grinned now opening his mouth and letting the other mark the area where the needle would go through. Jake knew- or maybe he thought he knew, that Marcus would 100% decline his offer, which is why he had joked about it- well. Maybe half-joked about it. Part of him was curious to see what a date would look like with this guy, but the other half was calm at the fact that he wouldn't be roped into going on a date- I mean, he didn't know the first thing about dates. Andre had taken him on one once but….that had ended disastrously.

Once marked and ready to go, Jake flexed his hands, then rubbed them on his pants as more of a soothing action. He shot Marcus a slightly dirty look at his taunt, searching the other's eyes, though seeming to be shy about holding eye contact for too long, looking away after only two seconds.
"Peachy…" He muttered. He was not about to freak out in front of the strawberry pastry, in his nightmares. He had a reputation to keep up.

The piercer ran their tongue over the left side of their teeth as they held the needle in their hand, waiting for the interaction to end, finally smiling when Jake gave them the attention to proceed.
"Not going to go over this with you, you already know," They said, tapping on Jake's lips to get him to open up when Jake seemed hesitant.

After a beat longer Jake gave in, allowing for the other to place the needle over the marking, giving it a once over to make sure everything was correct.
"Alright, on a count to three," They said, to which Jake nodded, balling his hands into fists, anticipating the pain. "One" They simply said before pushing the needle through to which it caught Jake off guard and before he could react, the hard part was over. He gave the other a hard glare to which they simply snickered, reaching over to grab the barbell piercing and sliding it through. They knew Jake long enough to know that a stunt like that was acceptable and Jake wouldn't actually kill them for it.

"Standard jewelry for you while it heals. It will swell which is why we give you guys a longer barbell. Once it heals you can change it, but please be mindful of the material you choose and where you buy it from if you don't get it from us" They said as they finished screwing on the little ball piece on one of the ends. "Rinse your mouth out every time you eat-" They paused, glancing over at Marcus for a second. "And no kissing while it heals- or blowjobs. No sharing cups or utensils either, all the fun stuff" They went back to examining Jake one last time before letting him go.
Jake rolled his eyes at the unnecessary information from them.
"Yeah, alright," He said, feeling the new foreign object in his mouth and finding it slightly hard to talk so his words came out a bit slower than they had before.

“That’s fair, it is a complicated subject”. Xio mused, shrugging lightly. She was a bit of a nerd… she had spent plenty of time perched on the edges of buildings listening to college lectures. It was surprisingly easy to stay hidden.

Xio froze at the touch, the feathers on her neck fluffing up at the surprisingly enjoyable sensation. She watched Rae investigate, staying strangely still for fear of interrupting.
She looked up at Rae at the same time the other did, offering her a warm smile.
“It’s fine. I don’t mind the curiosity, all you have to do is ask and I’ll show you.” She reassured, slowly taking her hand back. It wasn’t often a human found her interesting.

Xiomara stood with Rae, smoothing out her skirt and humming softly. She glanced at the bag Rae held but didn’t comment on it, understanding right away.
It made her smile a little.
“Shall we then?” She asked with a small giggle before starting towards the counter, gently running her fingers along the feathers Rae had touched.

---

“Ah, been listening to the rumors on the street? I’m honored you think of me.” Marcus snickered softly, thought some part of him worried over exactly what Jake had heard.
He hoped the other hadn’t dug too deep into what others had said. He didn’t want Jake to learn anything more about Marx and his… relationship habits.

Marcus opened his mouth then promptly shut it at Jake’s words, huffing at the emotional whirlwind Jake had just given him.
On one hand, he was annoyed and slightly offended by Jake calling him out… but on the other hand his face was suddenly very hot and he had to turn his head almost all the way away to hide it.
“You don’t have the balls to plan a good date.” He grumbled back.

Marcus flashed a shit-eating grin at Jake’s dirty look, tilting his head slightly. Even with his taunting, there was something soft behind his expression, something understanding hidden there.
“Just checking, you seem nervous.” He added, throwing his hands up in mock surrender before stepping back to let the piercer do their job.

He made a face as the needle passed through Jake’s tongue, shivering lightly in discomfort. He didn’t like that visual one bit.
He did, however, strangely like how the barbell looked once it was in. It almost made him want one.
Almost.

Marcus caught the glance and gave the piercer a suspicious look, not liking where this was going…
He flushed bright red at the next words, flipping around to hide his fluster and mutter about how “he and Jake weren’t even together like that.”

There was a sort of happy smile on Rae's face at Xio's words, it looked almost child-like in nature.

"Thank you," She said softly, not being able to contain the warm fuzzy feeling inside of her chest, watching Xio now touch the same spot she had. It made Rae's face flush a little, wondering if Xio felt any particular way about it and if Rae should actually reel it in a little with the extra touchiness and familiarity she had picked up with both her and Wynn almost right away. She wondered if that was a wrong thing to do, knowing that not everyone would be so receptive to her at first glance.
Wynn had been that way when she started talking to him, but he had eventually warmed up to her.

"Yeah- we shall," Rae said, slightly giddy, now following Xio to the front.
It was a nice break from everything at the moment, and by hell would Rae enjoy every second she had of this.

---

Jake gave Marcus an amused smile for his words instead of answering. He had heard a lot about the guy, maybe some of it he had gone looking for himself, but it didn't matter. What mattered was that he had heard a lot and his friends only seemed to confirm what he had heard to be true.
All this talk about Marx and his right-hand man, how could he not be curious about that? Jake was pretty sure the whole world- or at least those who knew- were curious as to who these people were, though, Jake knew exactly what his intentions had been when he had gone out looking for those answers.

Jake seemed very proud at the reaction he got from Marcus, only to hear him grumble a challenge. Everyone who knew Jake knew not to challenge him. He would try his hardest to prove the other party wrong, on various occasions, taking it way too far. Like the time Jen had said he couldn't eat a whole bakery. He later came to regret it. They had had pastries for weeks after that.

"Oh really?" Jake spoke, his voice sounding slightly seductive, switching to his work voice for a split second. "I bet I can pull something better than your leader" He taunted, wondering if that would hit a nerve. He knew that if Marx were here right now, he'd have ripped Jake to shreds for just interacting with one of his gang members this way. Jake always had a way of being too familiar with people who he was not supposed to be familiar with.

Jake merely narrowed his eyes at Marcus' grin. Yeah, he was an attractive motherfucker, it wasn't hard to see why Marx had picked someone like Marcus. He rolled his eyes at Marcus', what he perceived to be, fake concern.

Once everything was said and done, he gave a curious glance at Marcus who seemed very flustered at the moment, Jake only catching the tail end of his words, and for once, deciding to respect Marcus and his relationship status.
"He's right, we're not together, in fact, I forced him to come here with me," Jake said, a smile on his face, though it didn't seem quite amused or proud or much of anything, just very plain- normal. It was a smile you gave everyone, a sort of polite one.
"But thanks, I appreciate everything you've done for me" Jake shook the other's hand who gave him the same smile in return, though, seeming a bit warmer than before.
"Of course, you're always welcome here," They said as they started to clean up once more. "I'll see you later," They said, noticing how Jake was getting ready to leave. Jake gave them a small dismissing wave as he led Marcus out of the small room.

Because Jake had paid for everything as soon as they had come in, he walked Marcus right out the door, giving faint nods to the others who were still working around.
"Well, that's it" Jake gave Marcus a half smile. "Thanks for coming with me, I know it was a lot to ask for," He said, a soft yet deep laugh leaving his throat, his eyes now going to Marcus' new piercing. They softened as he stared at the black jewelry.
"Is there anything I can do for the lovely pastry before it leaves?" He mused, staring down at the other male. Jake seemed awfully polite and formal now, some part of him being genuinely grateful for the other coming with him, even if Jake had basically blackmailed him. It had been a lot of fun, probably the most fun he had had in a while.

Xio nodded and chirped her reply, the sound happier than it had been.
Truth be told, Xio was sort of loving the attention. It felt… nice. And she wouldn’t admit it out loud but the last time she had her feathers touched - not counting Marcus and Wynn and Rae helping free her from the wire - was ages ago and even then that was her father chiding her on letting her feathers get so rough; and much like a mother worrying over their child’s hair, he had sat her down and fixed them for her.
And that had been far from the gentle touch Rae had just used.
It made her feathers stand on end again, though she played it off as excitement for ordering as she wandered over to the counter, smoothing down the feathers along her arms when they refused to return to their positions.

At the counter, Xio smiled at the one behind it; a rather tall, pale individual covered from head to tail with rather soft floral tattoos. He wore his half shaved dyed black hair up but even with that one could tell that the remaining hair there was long. And because it was pulled away from his ears, all of his many piercings were now on display.
He grinned down at Xio, recognition lighting up his face.
“Xiomara, long time no see, I was beginning to think you’d flew south.” He joked, his eyes flickering for a moment over to Rae before returning to Xio. There was a curiosity burning in his eyes now, one that Xio knew she’d probably have to answer too once Rae had left.
Xio grinned back regardless, twittering once or twice before rolling her eyes.
“It’s nice to see you too,” she hummed, giving him a small wave.
He opened his mouth to say something, only to be interrupted;
“Atlas. Hurry up and take their damn order, you can chat after.” Another male grumbled as he joined Atlas’s side. He was much more average-looking, with shorter brown hair and a permanent RBF. But his eyes were a startling amber-color and the feeling of his magic frequency tasted of iron and smoke to most Abnormalities.
He paused for a moment, like he had just bit his tongue before taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, rubbing at his face. Atlas turned his grin to him, snickering.
“Such vulgar language, Cole, you could have asked kindly.” He purred, though his hand moved to gently tug on the other’s sleeve, a soft concern in his eyes as he searched the others face.
Cole returned the soft expression with one of his own, more reassuring ones, tapping on Atlas’s hand to get him to let go.

“Whatever, sorry, I wasn’t… I’m fine just take the order.” Cole replied. His voice seemed… different now in a strange way, as if the one from before was someone borrowing his voice box.
Xio didn’t bat an eye at it, instead laughing softly and leaning forwards to steal a quick glance at the cakes and pastries in the display.
“We’ll take a bacon, egg, cheese croissant and a valerian tea. And a…” she paused again, making a soft clicking sound while she decided. “Vanilla coffee cake and hot chocolate.”
“Good choice good choice, we’ll have that right out for you Xio.” Atlas nodded as he placed the order and took Xio’s payment, giving her a discount per Hebe’s orders.
“But now that’s out of the way,” he stepped slightly to the side, leaning his elbows on the counter. “Who’s this with you?” He smiled at Rae, the expression almost as bright as the sun.

---

It was hard to avoid gossip and talk when one mentioned the gang and it’s two literally fiery leaders. Anyone who knew something was eager to talk about it, spewing their theories and repeating information they had gathered themselves.
That was what Marcus hated the most, though. Everyone treated the situation like some hot new scandal, watching it play out with candid enjoyment like they were watching some kind of twisted play.
The general consensus was that Marx was some kind of Abnormality terrorist mastermind and Marcus was his dangerous, pretty little consort.
It pissed Marcus off to hear in passing how people romanticized his relationship with Marx, calling them “akin to a gay Bonnie and Clyde couple”.
He was sure his father was absolutely livid about it all… not that he cared much about the man anyways but it was a bit of a funny thought…

Regardless of all of that, Marcus was sure Jake had heard it all. He just didn’t want the other to think the rumors were true.
He wasn’t as into it as everyone said he was.
But he sure as hell didn’t want Jake to know the truth either. That was almost worse.
He’d prefer it if Jake would promptly erase any knowledge of Marcus from his mind.

The hairs on the back of Marcus’s neck stood on end. The tone switch was just as alarming as it was intriguing. Alarm bells rang in his head but he ignored them for a moment, actually considering accepting if not just to make Jake falter a little.
There definitely wasn’t a curiosity there. Nope not at all. He definitely didn’t think that Jake was right in his words and probably would do a better job…
At least, Marcus had to tell himself that so he wouldn’t fold right there out of spite.
“You’re making it harder for me to want to accept.” He lied through his teeth instead, acting like he hadn’t considered Jake’s propositions a couple of times already.

He paced a bit as Jake spoke to the piercer, sighing softly when the other confirmed his words. He didn’t necessarily mind the fact they thought he and Jake were together. He just couldn’t risk any rumors getting back to Marx, no matter how small.

He followed Jake out of the room, waving goodbye to the piercer and thanking them again.
He stayed fairly silent until they exited the shop, where he sighed deeply and glanced back before reaching up to feel the piercing once more.
He shrugged when Jake spoke to him, giving the other one of his own smiles.
“It was a good excuse to be out and about for longer.” Marcus laughed softly, though the sound was strained.
He stared at Jake for a long while as he debated the question. What could Jake do for him? Distract him for longer? Pretend kidnap him so he wouldn’t have to go back to the gang house that night?
Though tempting, that was out of the question.
“Give me your number so I know who to bill if my piercing gets all fucked up.” He muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Rae picked up on the different pitch Xio's chirps were, she sounded…happier? Rae's eyes softened at that, she must really love places like this, and to be fair they were really calming, she couldn't blame her.

Once at the counter to order, she watched Xio attempt to tame her feathers, Rae found it infinitely adorable that her feathers would listen to her when excited. It was a good way of knowing what kind of mood Xio was in she noted. Though, that thought led to another- wondering what it looked like when Xio was very pissed off. Did her feathers also fluff up like some birds did to appear larger? A small soft sound left her as she thought about these things- she would have to ask Blake when she got back home. The excitement of wanting to know more about Xio consumed her as the other ordered for the both of them.

Because Rae had been so deep into her thoughts, she hadn't gotten a chance to meet the gentleman at the counter who was speaking with Xio now, staying behind the other as if trying to isolate herself from the others, as if somewhere in her mind she knew she didn't belong- letting Xio take the reins on this.
When they spoke, however, it was when Rae looked up to see and- holy shit. The guy looked a little more than intimidating, but Rae's eyes widened slightly to see the guy's style, seeming impressed, almost in awe of them.
The guy had long hair, it seemed, kind of like Niveus, though wondering if it was just as long too.
Rae listened to the back-and-forth conversation, these two seeming to know each other. When his eyes met Rae's blue ones for a moment, she tensed up a bit.

It wasn't long before another guy joined the first, Rae being more relaxed around them as they seemed…well, not that intimidating at first glance.
There was a split second where Rae frowned, confused, as she touched her bottom lip, wondering if at one point she had bitten her tongue or lip. She knew for a fact that blood tasted like iron, though very faintly, like it almost wasn't there.

The switch in tone from the other snapped Rae out of her curiosity about having a cut somewhere.

After the order was taken, Rae shifted a bit on her feet when Altas leaned forward on the counter, flashing her a charming warm smile. It seemed to catch her way off, the only thing she was able to do was give a nervous smile, wondering if they would hold it against her if they knew who she was- or worse, if they decided that she was no good for Xio and thought her a threat. Rae could be dangerous in her own regard but she didn't use it unnecessarily. Just like there was a dislike for Abnormalities on her end, she assumed that there must be a dislike for Apotheosis too on theirs, Apotheosis wasn't exactly known to be kind….

"I'm Rae!" She blurted out, sounding a bit frantic. She stuck her arm out very stiffly, her whole body tensing as she did so to shake his hand. "I-I just met Xio not a little while ago while she was hurt- though, I wouldn't ever do anything like that to her-" She quickly added after, feeling it was necessary. "It's nice to meet you…uhm, sir" She dipped her head slightly because by all hell she was not going to mess this up, especially if it was one of Xio's close friends.

---

Although Jake had heard those rumors and more, he did well in brushing them away, it seeming like it didn't really bother him- because why should he get messed up over the fact that the prettiest guy he had ever seen was with someone like that? Like he gave a fuck. Everyone had their preferences.
Jake absolutely believed Marcus was into that type of thing, believing some of the rumors as they held valid evidence about the situation with Marcus and Marx, but again, he didn't comment on it.

Jake rolled his eyes at Marcus, although a smile decorated his face as he got the reaction he had wanted. He didn't know how to set up dates like that- how would he go all out?? He also didn't have nearly enough money for something like that-

Talking to Marcus outside of the piercing shop like this made a sort of sad expression pass by Jake's face. Maybe it was the fact this was the end of his little adventure with the other, or that after this it was back at being at each other's throats- not that they weren't now, but it was different, it's not like Marcus had completely hated this- he hoped.

Though, at the exchanging numbers bit he sort of froze, blinking with the same stupid yet surprised look he had before when Marcus had called him over to his side while he got pierced. He looked much like a spooked cat, if barely. A small relieved sigh left him as he rummaged in his back pocket for his phone, taking out his cigarette carton in the process which was a bit crushed now.
He turned the phone on, swallowing harshly at all the missed phone calls and texts. He swiped them away, searching for his number once again.
After a second he handed his phone to Marcus so he could jot it down on a piece of paper or something- Jake not having anything on him at the moment, just a half-used chapstick, the keys to the apartment, and crumpled up dollar bills.
"You have a strange way of asking to see me more" Jake mused, though, that was just wishful thinking.

Atlas’s face slowly lit up with a smile as Rae introduced herself. He shook her hand calmly, nodding curtly in greeting.
“Atlas is fine. That’s Cole,” he nodded towards the other worker, going as far as to bump hips with him. Cole shot him a dirty look but Atlas only laughed and turned back to Rae.
“You don’t need to worry about me, Rae. Or even Cole. Xio doesn’t act this happy around just anyone.” He reassured, grinning. “Besides, if you hurt her you’d have to answer to her father and Hebe first and seeing as how you aren’t dead yet, you’re just fine.” He winked, grinning from ear to ear.
Cole huffed lightly, rolling his eyes as he turned to start on the drinks the two had ordered. “Listen, as long as you keep your bullshit to yourself and actual Abnormality criminals I don’t give a fuck what you do.” Cole warned, eyeing the strange weaponry Rae carried with an understandable amount of caution.
Perhaps he should have just told her to mind her own shit… he wasn’t the most legal either.

Atlas gave his partner a sympathetic glance before he turned to prepare the food items.
He handed them over on small plates, taking a small moment to look over Xio. The bandages were a concern but he understood the harpy’s situation enough to have a fairly good guess about what had happened.
“Hebe will be angry. She just helped him out.” Atlas said quietly, his voice and tone shifting to something melancholy. Xio twittered, tapping the edge of her plate as she took it.
“I know. But maybe she’ll finally decide he isn’t worth the time?” She replied bitterly, glancing up when Cole let out a low, inhuman growling sound.
“Listen, we all respect Hebe and she’s nice enough but I don’t think she gives a damn what kind of people her contractors and customers are. Hell, she hardly cares who her workers are,” He gestured to Atlas and himself, as if to prove a point.
Atlas sighed, suddenly looking very tired “She is rather morally gray. But she still doesn’t appreciate it when people hurt her friends.” He mumbled, though he didn’t sound fully convinced. Cole set the finished drinks on the counter and gave Atlas’s hand a gentle tap - his own form of strange comfort. The other seemed to relax with it, tapping Cole back.
Xio puffed her feathers up, lifting one foot to clack her talons against the ground. “He’ll end up crossing a boundary with someone one of these days. Maybe A.C.E. will finally get him and he’ll get what’s coming to him.” She huffed, looking over at Rae and letting her feathers slowly relax. “Enough of that, though. I’ll tell you guys about it all later, I don’t want to bring the mood down.” She added, smiling warmly at Rae.
Atlas glanced between the two and grinned again, his mood shifting once again to something bright.
“Well, don’t let me interrupt your coffee date, then. Stay safe, Birdy, seriously.” Atlas gave them both a sunny wink, grinning as he turned to Cole who only sighed and glanced over at Xio and Rae.
“Don’t be stupid. We’ll both be here if you need us if that happens but try not to be.” He warned, though the edges of his words were soft.
Xio nodded, grinning as she waved them both goodbye and took her items, looking over at Rae to make sure she was also ready.

---

Marcus raised an eyebrow, taking Jake’s phone from him. He pulled his own phone out and quickly added the number to a note, not willing to risk having the contact just in case.
He did, however, put his own number into Jake’s phone, handing it back while avoiding eye contact with the other.
“I said what I needed it for.” He said simply, pocketing his phone and turning away sheepishly.
If he were being honest, he had more fun than he thought he would. It was a nice reprieve from, well, everything and Jake was weirdly easy to talk to.
Besides, when had Marcus ever not gotten himself involved with something dangerous? It was sort of exciting to be chatting so freely with the enemy. And if it cost him his life eventually he wouldn’t mind much. He didn’t have much of a life anyways.

“I guess this means you gotta go?” He asked awkwardly, briefly wondering what he himself would do. He wasn’t going back to the house, that was for sure. He’d give the hotheaded gang leader a night to cool off before he went back.
Maybe he’d see if Xio would let him crash at her place? Or perhaps he’d just go find some bus station or something.
He sure as hell couldn’t afford to pay for a motel - even a shitty one - and he sure as hell wasn’t going to ask Jake for that. The other would get the wrong idea. Or at least joke about it.
His best bet for a warm safe place was going to be Xio, it was just a matter of getting over the guilt he felt about taking her space.
He sighed as his mood dropped, rubbing at his face. He wasn’t supposed to be so emotional and yet here he was, frustrated and angry with Marx and… disappointed? with the disappearance of his current company.
God.
Wynn was going to kill him if he ever found out Marcus was getting cozy with the enemy.

Rae nodded at his words. These two were Atlas and Cole.
A small blush made its way onto her face, though immediately the fuzzy feeling got crushed by his next words, giving a nervous smile at that. She wondered if she could promise something like that. Protecting Xio….she glanced over at the harpy.

There was a pricking sensation on the back of her neck, almost like a shiver at Cole's words. He really was not the friendliest even though with his appearance you would think otherwise.
"Y-yeah…right.." She looked away now, feeling a deep sinking sensation in her chest, though, tried her best not to show the clear disappointment on her face. Not with anything that Cole had said, but just feeling deeply uncomfortable…with herself. For being this. Whatever she had become. Sometimes, it almost felt like there was no humanity left in her even though she tried desperately to hold onto the tiniest bits of them that she could. She knew that the whole of Apotheosis felt that way, some more than others, but it's not like they got to complain about it- or anything really.

Rae took her plate, only listening to bits and pieces of their conversation. Her mind wandered off to different thoughts, thoughts that honestly made her feel sleepy for lack of better words.

At the mention of A.C.E. it seemed to almost be a trigger for Rae, snapping out of her thoughts so quickly and standing a bit straighter- her shoulders tense, now facing Atlas and looking to the others around. Her face heated up when she realized the small actions on her part, looking away and blinking a bit to attempt and push the embarrassment she felt away.

Rae gave Xio a small smile when she decided to end the conversation. For the most part, Rae had been silent but her mind was racing, a million thoughts jumbled together, full of things that she couldn't say out loud. She dipped her head slightly to both Cole and Atlas, thanking them for their time and work.

Once the interaction ended and they sat back in their booth, Rae reached for the sandwich, her hand shaking only slightly, almost to the point where one wouldn't be able to catch it, but it was there. Over the years, this had been a necessary thing. Hiding the way you felt had been the only way to survive. Her father would have never treated her this way…. the thought gave her a jab of pain in her chest, finding it almost hard to breathe for a moment.

Rae took a huge bite of the sandwich suddenly as if trying to use it as a way to cope. Food had always been a comfort for her. She ate more than most but never gained unnecessary weight because of the grueling training they did- not to mention their actual jobs.
Her need to constantly be eating to distract herself had gotten worse over the past few years, it never having been that bad before, but no one had picked up on it as something abnormal, thinking it was just her fast metabolism, getting very hungry very fast- sometimes, she even got praise for making herself sick by eating so much to the point she threw up, it being seen as impressive.

---

Jake gave a low chuckle at Marcus' stubbornness.
"Right, right, my bad" He sang, taking his phone back when handed to him, watching the other's mannerisms for a moment.
"Why? Want me to stick around?" He asked, a slanted smile on his face, wondering when it would be too much for Marcus. He looked down at his phone, looking at his contacts, humming lightly when he saw the new number that had been added. He quickly edited it so the contact was named "Strawberry Fraisier" with a cake emoji followed by a fire emoji at the end of it, snickering softly to himself.
He pocketed his phone after it had been successfully edited, giving Marcus a once over.

"Listen, I have the whole day to myself- believe it or not, getting shot does not have its perks, not being efficient enough to track you guys down, however, gets you a day or two more to heal than what the doctor prescribed." He said, a smile on his face. "And while I have nothing to do and could go home to sleep, you won't catch me dead in that house," He said his facial expression shifting to something dangerous, a hatred behind his eyes for a split second, all amusement gone from his face for that moment.

"So" He continued, casually extending his hand for Marcus to take it, hoping that he would. It looked almost like what one would expect to see when they made a deal with the devil. "Want to go cause trouble and really rip A.C.E. a new one?" He questioned, there being a genuine sadistic smile on his face at the thought. This was one of the many reasons why no one ever got involved with Jake. He always had crazy ideas that would get others killed- he had come close so many times.

Jake had, on his own, done things that A.C.E. and Nexus didn't know of, like sabotaging more things than their precious experiments, Blake completely freaking out when she came to find out her specimens had been tampered with. Sometimes slashing the tires of the large tank-like cars that were used contain the abnormalities. "Misplacing" high-tech weaponry that was in the process of being completed, most times being prototypes and one-of-a-kind- something they could not replicate easily.

Maybe, just maybe, once, he may or may not have distributed medical supplies and equipment to certain people so that they then got handed into the "wrong" hands of people, those people being abnormalities who could use advanced medicines to help with the damage that would otherwise be irreparable without A.C.E.'s aid.
However, Jake never took the credit for anything. God forbid A.C.E. found out. He was happy enough getting back at A.C.E. and seeing them frantically trying to clean up his messes. It was the least they could do for Jake after putting him through hell.
There was satisfaction in watching the organization nearly crash and burn from time to time.

Both Cole and Atlas nodded at Rae’s thanks but only Atlas offered her a warm smile and a wave goodbye.
Cole gave her yet another once over but this time his expression was softer. Rae wasn’t all bad, he had decided, though it was too early to fully make a decision.
The two chatted idly while Xio and Rae returned to their seats, watching the two with curiosity before they returned to their work, Atlas occasionally purposefully bumping into Cole just to get a reaction out of him.

Xiomara took a couple of bites out of her coffee cake, idly watching people pass by the large windows at the front of the little cafe.
After a moment she turned her gaze back to Rae, looking a little more nervous.
“I don’t think you’d do anything to me.” She said quietly, a gentle tapping sound starting up as she nervously tapped her feet on the ground. “You’re not dangerous. Or at least not bad, I’m sure you could handle yourself but I don’t think you’d ever attack someone for no reason.” She picked up her drink and took a long sip from it, hiding behind it just in case what she had said backfired for any reason.

---

Marcus glanced down at his feet at the question, huffing but not answering. Unfortunately for him, the glance said it all; he wasn’t opposed to the idea of Jake sticking around. Or at least if the other followed he wouldn’t say no.
The pink in his cheeks seemed to be a permanent addition to his appearance for the meantime, it didn’t let up even as he tried to rub it away.

As Jake spoke, Marcus turned back to face him, staring at the spot just to the left of his ear rather than looking him in the eye or anywhere in the face - he couldn’t bring himself to look at the other directly, too afraid of the shit-eating grin he’d probably find on there. He was convinced the other would mostly go and make fun of him.

So imagine Marcus’s surprise when Jake held his hand out and offered a deal he couldn’t take back rather than anything stupid.
He was being serious.
Oh shit! He was being serious!

The witch took Jake’s hand after some hesitance, shaking it and nodding gently. “I’m surprised you’re so open to fucking with them.” Marcus admitted, huffing a little when he realized what exactly he had gotten himself into.
“But yes… I want to rip A.C.E. a new one. They’re too cocky for their own food.” He grumbled, shaking his head.

Rae's eyes flickered up to Xio when she started talking again, her chews getting slower as she listened to what she had to say. It took a moment for Rae to completely swallow her food and even then, there was a silence that fell over them for a moment longer after that.
"Thank you…" She said softly, but the expression on her face said she wasn't fully convinced by Xio's words. Maybe there was something Rae wasn't saying, but it's not like she was keeping any secrets. Everyone in the Abnormality community knew who Apotheosis was- and if they didn't? They were in for a rude awakening.

…do anything to me…
Rae took another bite of her sandwich feeling increasingly anxious. She sure as hell hoped it didn't come down to that. Rae herself would never want to do anything to Xio, but A.C.E. was notorious for taking the things you loved and using them against you. A prime example of that being Jake.

At being called "not dangerous" Rae's eyes widened slightly, blinking a bit in disbelief at her words, the warm fuzzy feeling coming back to her. She quickly finished chewing again and gave Xio a big smile.
"T-Thanks..!" She gushed, her voice soft and low as if afraid to jinx it. Rae's mood lightened up again, seeming happier to hear those words. Rae had never wanted to be labeled as "dangerous" towards anyone in her life, but that's all she heard on a daily basis and had come to accept it, but hearing someone from the group who despised them say that held a lot of credibility- there was no way Xio was saying that just to say it, if she didn't like her, she wouldn't even bother with Rae.

"You know, I can't wait to try the stuff your father made, it smells really good…"

Rae then proceeded to ask Xio about the feathers and what kind of foods were in the bag, the conversation leading into Xio's parents and then more about the gang, Hebe, Atlas, Cole, and a bit of where she had come from.
There were also mentions of Apotheosis, but Rae tried her hardest to keep it light so the mood wouldn't be brought down, usually only talking about how much of a dumbass Jake and Jen were and how they were constantly at each other's throats- in a good way….most of the time anyway.

---

Jake took Marcus' silence as a yes, a soft smile replacing his taunting one. Well. It was a bit of a surprise to Jake, but he wouldn't question Marcus' tastes- I mean, he definitely would in his head, but not out loud. The guy was with Marx of all people, he thought that said enough. He didn't need people pointing it out all the time. Bad habits were hard to break and sometimes, you got addicted to the terribleness of life, not really having known anything else. Adjusting to something normal or healthy almost gave you withdrawal symptoms- not that Jake had tried that once. Not at all. Certainly not him.

Marcus' surprised look really seemed to make Jake extremely excited. He probably wasn't counting on Jake to say something so out of left field, his smile growing and almost bordering on seeming insane, but the thought of having someone help with this, who was an abnormality, was the ultimate "fuck you" to A.C.E. and it would top most of what he had done so far- not that they would ever know, but Jake would, and that was enough for him for the time being.

At the shake, Jake grabbed onto Marcus' hand a bit tighter than one would expect and pulled him closer. His initial excitement having died down only slightly, now replaced with a mischievous look. He gently tilted Marcus' chin up so that they were making eye contact, Jake's eyes seeming a bit cold yet there being a lot of determination behind them.
"Remember strawberry fraisier, you don't know anything about me, just like I don't know anything about you" Still, the grin wasn't wiped off of his face at Marcus' next words.

-

It had gotten dark out when Jake met up with Apotheosis back at their apartment, looking to be in much of a better mood than most days which made Jen arch an eyebrow at that. The TV turned on to display the late-night news and on it?
A huge explosion having destroyed most of the west side of A.C.E.'s main building, the one in charge of the other smaller branches of their same organization. They had their staff spread out across the country, but Apotheosis always stuck close to the main building- the largest building, topping even the main government itself.

The news displayed the absolute chaos around the building, the fire still raging on as the recording went on- smaller explosions going off as the fire spread to the other gas tanks and they were unable to put it out in time. They spoke about it being another terrorist attack, someone having opened the gas tanks on the bottom floor so that it filled the bottom portion of the building. There was a lot of speculation that it had been an inside job, but no one knew who it had been, the guards positioned around the building taken down. Not killed, simply knocked out.
Then the mention of fire. An "abnormal amount of fire" having set everything off.
Jake hummed to himself as he listened in on the news, as if intrigued by it all. Usually, Jake's stunts were sloppy, but with Marcus' help, this had been a piece of cake. It would take A.C.E. ages to repair the damage done. He was almost certain they were scrambling to cover everything up right now.

Xio seemed proud of herself when she got Rae to come back out of her funk, her eyes lighting up alongside Rae’s. She let out a happy chirp, nodding her head enthusiastically.

“He makes very good food! I hope you like it.” She replied excitedly, puffing her feathers up proudly. She couldn’t wait to tell her father that someone else enjoyed his food. He’d be proud as well.

Xio chittered and cooed as Rae spoke, adding her own commentary and sharing small things about herself when prompted; explaining her feathers, talking about her home life, explaining Hebe and the cafe - she even spoke on other harpies and the reasonings behind Xio and her father’s choice to remain out of a brood.
Xio thought it to be a delightful time, listening intently about Rae’s life and laughing at Jen and Jake’s antics.

---

Marcus took one glance at Jake’s near-insane grin and almost started to regret his agreement.
Almost.
The temptation to really fuck with Nexus and A.C.E. was too strong. He still could feel the wounds A.C.E. had given him despite the fact they were well healed and scarred over.
He also wasn’t so ready to forgive Nexus for stripping him of his magic while he was in their care.” That emptiness wasn’t one he’d soon forget.

Marcus’s expression grew hard as he was pulled closer, lifting his head to snarl slightly at Jake in warning. But that died somewhat as Jake lifted his chin, forcing their eyes to meet.
He huffed lightly at the other’s words, searching his expression for a long moment.
“You think I hadn’t figured as much?” He replied cooly, reaching up to grab Jake’s wrist, his fingers strangely cold despite the dull glow that started across the tattoos on his body. He grinned wickedly in return, tilting his head more into Jake’s touch, if only but to get a reaction.
Truth be told, he was unnerved by the other’s bold actions and words, and a little flustered by them. But he played it off as best he could, swallowing hard.
“You better be interesting.”

-

Marcus sipped idly at a cup of hot chocolate as he watched the news, leaning back in the cafe chair he had chosen with a soft hum. He ignored the dark sky outside as well as the frustrated gazes of baristas trying to get ready to close for the night.

If they understood the ache in his bones and skin they’d let him stay for several more minutes to prevent an unfortunate amount of arson within their little cafe.
He was itching to keep burning shit, the satisfaction of feeling his fire grow and destroy was addictive and the adrenaline of doing it with Jake of all people was something he soon wouldn’t forget.
And the damage it did to A.C.E.? Perhaps it was just enough to put the gang ahead, even slightly so.

He’d leave once the news finished their report, and perhaps give the workers what was left in his pockets as a tip.
The rest of his night he’d spend awake, avoiding the gang house as much as possible until the cold got too unbearable even for his trigger-happy fire.

---

[A Bit O’ Time Later]

“YOU DUMBASS!!”
Marcus dove out of the way of a thrown liquor bottle, cowering beneath the spray of golden liquor that now dropped down the wall.
Marx’s expression soured. He stomped his way over and forcefully grabbed Marcus’s arm, ripping it away from where the witch had thrown it to protect his face.
Marx sneered at the terrified expression given to him, twisting the other’s arm painfully to remove the terror he saw.
It worked wonders as Marcus’s face contorted in pain and he cried out. Only a few days prior the witch had dislocated that very same shoulder, and Marx was sure the pain was still heavy there.

“Had you not stuck your pretty little face in danger, perhaps A.C.E. wouldn’t be so hard on us. Look what you’ve done, Marcy,” The gang leader roughly grabbed Marcus’s face and forced him to look at the old television set sitting on the other side of the room.
On its screen played an Abnormality news report, warning of harsher punishment to any Abnormality who broke the law - regardless of the reason or severity of the crime.
On screen, multiple blurry photos of Marcus and Marx and the gang flashed, the reporter urging any Abnormality who wanted the harsher punishments lifted to give any information regarding the terrorists on screen.

It hadn’t taken long for A.C.E. to find some way to blame the “inside terrorist attack” that Marcus and Jake had preformed on Marx and his gang.
Marx had - at first - welcomed the allegations, spewing how if they took credit it would show A.C.E. how dangerous they really were.
And now here the gang leader was, pissed off about the consequences of taking responsibility for one of the largest attacks on the main A.C.E. building.
And he was blaming it on Marcus… again.
Because of course Marx knew exactly who had gotten involved, he could smell the magic and fire on Marcus when the other returned that night.
Marx wasn’t stupid.

The witch shuddered when Marx slipped his hands into Marcus’s collar, ripping him up to his feet and snarling.
“You’re lucky I’m feeling generous today, Marcy, or I’d lock you downstairs with Em for another two weeks.”
“Please don’t…” Marcus choked out, tears pooling in the corners of his eyes. Marx lurched forwards, making the witch flinch until he realized Marx was doing so to kiss the tears away.
“No need to cry, yet, love. I’m giving you a chance to fix your mistake. I do love you after all~” Marx cooed, a deadly edge to his tone. “I’ll give you one chance to redeem yourself in the form of information. You’re good at that, Marcy, I know you are. You’ve heard from Hebe that something is going on, right? The old bitch knows more than she’s letting on but it’s enough to scare even her into silence. You’re willing to satiate my curiosity aren’t you, baby?” His hands moved to take Marcus’s wrists, pinning the other against the liquor-stained wall and smiling sweetly.
“Find out what A.C.E. is planning before it happens and I’ll think about forgiving you. This is your area of strength, I’m confident you’ll succeed.” Marx leaned forwards and stole a kiss away before he released Marcus, ruffling the witch’s hair and giving him a soft smile.
“Now, I’m leaving for a few meetings, I expect you’ll get right onto finding that out for me, yes? I’ll see you later, love.” Marx waved as he left the room, leaving Marcus to slowly slip down the wall and hug his trembling knees to his chest, the tears in his eyes finally spilling over.

Marcus sobbed into the stuffy air, sniffling as he aggressively wiped at his face.
“Fuck me…”
This was an impossible task. Marx knew that.
It was just another way to fuck with Marcus’s feelings. He wanted to watch the witch struggle for a little while before he broke him again.
To get info out of Hebe was impossible. To get it from A.C.E., however? That was insanity.
And for something so vague?
Who knew if Marcus would find something only for Marx to deem it “not important enough”.
He did things like that all the damn time. He’d ask Marcus to collect information on vague subjects to purposefully punish him when the answer wasn’t good enough.
And it never was good enough.

Marcus cried well until the liquor soaked in the back of his shirt dried and left a sticky mess on the wall.
He didn’t even bother to pull his shirt off, instead reaching into his pocket to pull out his phone.
He stared at its dark screen for a long time, helplessness filling his chest.
He had to at least try, right?
Even if it was out of desperation?
There was one person he could try to get information out of… but would it be worth it enough to potentially face the consequences?

No.
He’d try Jake after begging Hebe to give him anything.
For now all he could do was pray A.C.E. actually had something going on….

Well, Jake was in some deep shit now.

He knew the possible consequences of pulling a stunt like that, but he hadn't ever thought that A.C.E. would go into action over something they had no proof of. But still, even if they had no proof who else could it have been? Surely not some rando by himself- no. This had to have been the work of someone with an abnormality.

Ever since they had announced it, Jake's constant thought had been turn yourself in, turn yourself in, tell them it was you and no one else- you have to tell them but the fear that ripped through his body every time he worked to nerve to talk to his father was too much. He'd throw up.
Again.

Jake had considered putting everyone he knew and loved in danger simply to finally admit for once that this had been him.
Ever since Jake had been a kid he'd do whatever the hell he wanted, A.C.E. never really said much because they adored the little serial killer they had made Jake into, but in recent years with Jen and the others chastising him for never thinking about anyone but himself and the hurt he would cause to everyone around him when he took it too far one day….well, he was starting to realize the gravity of being reckless- even if it didn't affect him directly. It was quite apparent now the extent of the damage he could do, something that had him feeling sick all morning.

Unknowingly, he had caused a chain reaction, one that was set in motion and could not be stopped, because once A.C.E. announced it, it was set in stone.

The announcement in question?

A public execution.

A.C.E. had decided they were doing a public execution on a few of the Abnormalities they kept captive. The ones chosen for the execution being composed of five beings who hadn't seen their families in years and had been experimented on over and over again while in captivity. The reasons for this? It all came back to Jake. His stupid actions now costing the Abnormalities more than ever.

It was a display of intimidation. To put them back in their place and have them think twice about doing something like that to a government building again, because if they attempted to demolish a building, what was to say that they wouldn't turn violent towards the humans too, or worse?

"What is it, Jake?" Aristide spoke, his eyes glued to the computer screen in front of him, furiously typing away, a frown etched between his eyebrows as he read something before starting to type again.
"I did it." Jake said, his eyes cloaked with fear as the words came out of his mouth. Aristide hand's froze over his keyboard, now crossing them on the desk to give Jake his full attention.
"Good, now that they've been loaded onto the trucks, double-check that everyone is ready to leave in a few minutes. Once I'm done typing up this report on who we extracted from the cells and that night's occurrences, we'll leave." He said, expecting Jake to leave as soon as he finished talking. But he didn't. Jake stood there like a deer in headlights, fidgeting with something in his pockets, looking like he wanted to say something.

"What is it now?" Aristide said tiredly, already having a lot on his plate to deal with.
"What if I don't want to do this?" Jake spoke quickly, the words almost getting caught in his throat at the end. "We don't have to do this, right?" There was instant regret as soon as they left him, his eyes trailing up to look at Aristide.
Jake's body was always tense when talking to his father, his eyes trained on the floor when in his presence, this time, however, he dared to look at his father's face.

Big mistake.

Two icy cold eyes stared at Jake as Aristide was silent for a second. Jake swallowed harshly, Aristide's lack of words speaking volumes.
"It's not that I don't want to do this!" Jake quickly added, a shaky smile on his face, the words tasting bitter in his mouth, bitter enough to make him want to throw up. "I'm just very tired and I know I've had enough time to heal from the bullet wound and that my exhaustion is no excuse, but I've been doing everything you've told me to do all these years so I was hoping you'd let me sit this one out- just this once," Jake said desperately, almost bordering on pleading.

Jake was no stranger to killing and torturing both Abnormalities and humans alike, but that was all behind closed doors. This would be the first time the whole world of Abnormalities would know who he was and what family he belonged to. What he was capable of. He hadn't made too much of a huge impression on the nonhuman beings yet, sure, they knew him and steered clear of him because he was part of Apotheosis, but Aristide and his brother Darius were the main ones who were feared. They were the ones you didn't want to cross, the brutal ones who seemed to have no compassion towards anyone, even their own. Jake was just the younger child of this family of executioners and hadn't made his debut yet.

"You're asking me to let you pass on a huge opportunity?" Aristide questioned, there being no hint of emotion in his tone, trying to understand what Jake was saying, thinking it impossible that one of his children would stray away from the path that was already set for them. He had taught them better than that.

Jake swallowed harshly, staying silent. If he answered that question he didn't know how his father would react. It was always fifty-fifty with him.

Suddenly, Aristide stood, making his way over to Jake, his stride leisurely, pushing Jake almost over the edge with his nerves.
"Hit me, Jake" Aristide spoke as soon as he stopped in front of Jake.
Jake's heart quickened, was this another command he had to carry out, or was Aristide testing him? Testing him, surely he had to be testing him and even if it was a command, there was no way Jake could do something like that.

"I-I…" Jake stuttered and before he knew it Aristide's knuckles connected with Jake's jaw, effectively knocking him back, but not enough for Jake to lose his balance. Jake's eyes shot up at Aristide as soon as he had gathered himself which took mere seconds.
"What's wrong Jake? Why can't you hit me?" He asked, walking towards him again. Jake's body screamed for him to run, but he had been conditioned to know that if he ran, he'd be in for a taste of hell later.
"I-I can't, you're my-" And just like that another hit connected with Jake in almost the same spot as before, his cheek getting the brunt if it this time, the right hook knocking him to the floor. He was sure that would leave a bruise that wouldn't go away for days after this.
"How many times have I told you to not call me father or dad or any variations of whatever kids call their legal guardians? You call me Aristide. Nothing else. Now answer the damn question, Jake. It's really not that hard." He hissed, starting to lose his temper.

Aristide crouched down and grabbed Jake by the hair, forcing Jake to lift his head up and look at him, Jake's eyes wide as he kept perfectly still, hands by his side placed on the floor, there being a bit of blood dripping down his nose now.
"Don't make me-!" He said, a dangerous edge to his tone, bordering on a warning as it almost turned into a yell. Arisitde's eyes wide and livid as he gave Jake a look.

"I can't!" Jake suddenly cried out at seeing Aristide reach for something in his back pocket. "I'm scared!" He choked back a sob, and it was only then that Aristide let him go, Jake's body slumping a little as he tried to keep himself in an upright sitting position.
Aristide stood up, looking down at Jake.
"That is why we are doing this Jake. If there is enough fear instilled into them they won't dare to touch you." Aristide spoke, his words cruel. "Surely you have noticed by now that they have never stepped out of line until recently, you want to know why? It's because we've been the ones to keep them in line all these years. If we let up now, the next thing you'll see on the news is our deaths. We are simply defending our lives from them. So, tell me, do you still want to sit this out?" He asked.
Jake's body shook slightly.
"Get up Jake, stop disgracing yourself like this"
And without another word Jake stood, his eyes glued to the floor.

"Did I hit you too hard, Jake?" Aristide asked again, wondering when Jake would answer his previous question.
"No sir, you didn't." He lied.
"Then?"
"I don't."
"More words Jake or I won't have a choice but to take one of your friends to go in your stead."
"I'm not running away, I'll execute them. I want to." Jake's voice took on an unusually cold tone, now looking a bit distant as Aristide nodded in approval. It made Jake's skin crawl.

"Great, good to have you on the same page. Now change of plans. You will be executing all five." He stated, Jake's head snapping up so quickly he almost gave himself vertigo, the fear back on his face. Jake's mouth was suddenly dry at Aristide's final decision, not finding the words to try and persuade his father to not do this. Originally, Jake was only supposed to execute one, but now, it was all five. "Your brother and I will watch and if things get complicated we'll step in," He said, now walking back over to his desk, grabbing a few papers, and then walking over to stand in front of Jake again.

"I heard you asked someone from one of the other departments to print these out for you- what for? I haven't the faintest idea, but you're looking at five lives that will end today" He shoved the papers onto Jake's chest, Jake not moving to take them.
The five pages drifted to the ground, two of them landing upright to reveal two reports of two abnormalities, the page detailing who they were and what they were capable of. Their names, ages, genders, families, friends, lovers, kids, food preferences, intelligence level, and blood type among other things. Small pictures had been clipped to the top left-hand side of the pages.
Jake stared at one of the images that landed closest to his shoes, the picture displaying a young girl with the most animated smile on her face, her eyes bright as she stared right at the camera when her picture had been taken. She probably couldn't have been more than ten years old in that picture.

Jake swallowed back the bile that threatened to make him gag.

Someone just kill me….before I make the biggest mistake of my life. He closed his eyes tightly when Arisitde left the room, trying to steady his breathing, hoping that if there was a god out there like Jen believed there was, that it would hear him and do the one thing that he had failed to do over the years.