Marcus Jade Mustang's Story

Jade exhaled deeply, letting out a long stream of thick smoke into the air. A chunk of ash fell to the ground as he brought the cigarette away from his mouth, tilting his head back until it hit the cool brick wall behind him, tousling his already matted black hair. He shoved his free hand deep into the pocket of his thin, dark grey hoodie, crossing one leg in front of the other casually while his back rested against the wall. Opening his resting eyelid, he brought the half-way finished cigarette to his lips, let it hang there, and ran the hand that previously held it to run through the knots at the back of his head. His eyes darted around the street, once in a while staring at some of the people who passed by him, on their way to god-knows-where. It wasn't too much longer before he let his eye slip closed again, his head drop back to the rough, cold bricks, and his hand take the cigarette from his mouth to exhale once again. That's all he wanted to do today, really. Stand around half-dressed in just a comfortable sweatshirt and loose-fitting jeans, not bother with anyone or anything, smoke a cigarette or two (or more), and just relax. He didn't want to go back inside to his lower mid-level apartment. Didn't want to put on some intricate outfit. Didn't want to comb his hair. Didn't want to check with work. Hell, he didn't even want to put shoes on, remembering his completely bare feet. He inhaled again, the same process repeating itself.

JAAAAAAAAADE.

Oh dear god. The cigarette nearly dropped out of his hand with that one. Damn, she was being quiet. Well, he couldn't expect her to stay that way forever, could he? He sighed out a puff of smoke.

What, Thea? honestly, its too early. Go back to being slightly less irritating, he thought at her, trying to mask his agitation with her that had begun to creep its way across his calm face. He stared out at his cigarette. He was one more annoyance from needing another one of these this morning.

We both know that isn't happening, she replied. Thea seemed to be equally as agitated with Jade's defiance to what she wanted him to do. And I'm already tired of this. We're going to be doing something fun today, right?

No, Jade answered plainly. F*ck no. Though he sort of understood the answer would be yes. Well, fun for Thea, anyway. Not so much for him. He rolled his eye, flicking away the butt of his cigarette and turning to scurry up the front stairs to his apartment building. He stopped at the door, pulling his other hand out from his pocket with the door keys, and wiggling his toes against the chilly cement while he unlocked the door. He quickly slipped inside and pulled the door closed, slipping both of his hands into the big pocket of his hoodie. You wanna take over in the meantime, then? You know I sure as hell aren't in the mood to go about picking out some stupid outfit, let alone get ready at all.

Thea didn't even have to answer. Within milliseconds, Jade could feel himself sink back, Thea pushing herself forward to control his body. He just let himself relax down into that darker place of 'look but don't touch.' Thea flexed Jade's body, every muscle felt tired and just wanted to lie down, but it was still just the after effects of Jade not wanting to move. She quickly got him into motion, smiling and opening his eye more fully, pulling his hands out of his pockets and running up the stairway. Avoiding the elevator of course, because she'd never hear the end of it if she stuffed Jade into that kind of small space. She stopped to huff on the third floor, the tired body weighing her down a bit, but quickly got back into step, skidding to a stop at the fifth floor apartment to unlock the door and step inside.

It was as chilly in the apartment as it was outside. After all, the windows all remained open, and one or two had even been shattered. It had been more on accident than anything else, but Jade hadn't bothered to get them fixed, of course. It just hadn't been necessary. As for the lack of doors on their hinges that would have lead to the bathroom and bedroom, well, those had been removed when he moved in, and burned in one of the back alleys. The landlord hadn't approved, of course, but Jade assured him that the doors would be replaced and everything would be as good as new when he moved out. Not that it would happen very soon. Jade was comfortable in his crappy apartment in his very lower-average level of the city. Why change things? For now, Thea focused on moving him into the bedroom to change into something a little less lazy. The outfit he'd selected was far from flattering. Jade drowned in big clothing, with that less than bulky frame of his. Not to mention he just plain looked like he was going to lay down for a nap, although he probably would have hoped that was what he would be doing today. She got moving to picking something a bit more decent for him, opening up his drawers and rummaging through.

In the end, He wore a white button up with a loose, dark red sweater over it, showing just the collar. She selected a different pair of jeans for him as well, picking another dark pair that simply fit him better, and pulled his black, mid-calf high boots on. After ripping through his hair with a brush for a good ten minutes, she felt herself pushed out of the way, Jade eager to take back the reigns and toss the brush back into the drawer where it belonged.

Damnit, Thea, you're going to tear out all my hair at this rate, he thought, tousling it with one hand before putting his eye patch back over his empty lid quickly and walking out of his bathroom. He stuffed his phone, cigarettes, and lighter into his pockets before heading back out again, jogging down the stairs to be outside sooner rather than later. Whatever, she responded. That't what you get for letting your hair get so tangled in the first place.

Jade ignored her, pushing out the front door and onto the street. He pulled a cigarette and popped it in his mouth as he walked, lighting it quickly and breathing it in. He pulled the cigarette from his mouth and let out the usual thick smoke into the air to mix with the other people on the street. A couple people gave him some looks, but he barely noticed aside from hearing their negative thoughts a bit louder than the usual murmur of people's brains. He simply focused on pulling out his phone and checking for messages from work with his free hand while continuing the droning motion of inhale and exhale, occasionally letting it hang in his mouth. The way things were looking, he'd have at least most of the day before he got any calls from the piece of sh*t that replaced him as hunting leader, but no one would trust a contractor, even a contractor who'd been raised since infantry to be a hunter, go around calling the shots. He simply had to wait around for orders, otherwise he'd be under lock down until his actions were fully investigated, blah blah blah. Honestly, he couldn't care. But this simply meant he had to find ways to occupy Thea all day. This was really just going to suck.

Do you really need to keep smoking? You already had one!! Thea bothered. She wasn't really interested in having to sit through his stupid cigarettes all day. The taste wasn't even good. She figured the only reason Jade liked them was because it was bad for him, and other people disliked it. Oh wait, she didn't have to figure. SHE MOTHER F*CKING KNEW. Wonderful part about sharing a brain, and being a psychic type; no need for guess work.

F*ck off, I can have as many as I want, Jade retorted, stuffing his phone and the hand that had been holding it into his pants pocket and focusing back on his cigarette. And if you even think of throwing this one down, I'm just going to pull out another one.

Thea would have grumbled or something, if that was even a thing that you could do without like a mouth and throat and stuff, but of course, not having Jade's body currently, she settled for doing... nothing... Because she wasn't in the mood to grab hold of his body while it was still only half-awake, and figured she'd mess with Jade more while he was less compliant. For now, she just let him walk to wherever. If he didn't decide on something soon, she promised herself she'd take over the show.

Talhnir had wandered down from the higher levels of the city to here, the lower-average part of the city. It had been on a whim really, he didn’t even particularly like this part of the city. It had none of the lavish over-indulgence of the higher parts, nor any the self-destructive apathy that ran rampant in the lower parts. Yet here he was, buying cigarettes from a lady who had been jumping at voices only she could hear ever since Talhnir came in. It was a short and delicious distraction from the otherwise oppressing mundanity of this level. For a few moments he had thought to plant a few suicidal thoughts in her mind as well, perhaps even push her over the edge. But no, today there was no time for such indulgences, no time to follow her around and see the conclusion. After all, he had finally found something of interest on this level, perhaps even the reason for the hunch that brought him here.

The human child he had, at first glance, nothing that would interest him. He was clearly a boy of fashion, a boy that conformed to the average masses, unwilling to express himself in any meaningful way, the only daring part of his attire that eye-patch he wore. Talhnir had grimaced when he noticed that boy who had seemed so deliciously apathetic before would be a slave to fashion, in fact, he had though to kill him then and there. But the voices had disagreed, so he waited and watched, hiding his presence as best he could. And that’s when he noticed something. A slight tic, nearly invisible, when he lit up that cigarette. Was he talking to someone only he could hear? A contractor, in this city that had banned such interactions between humans and demons? A human who still dared to stretch out his hands to the brightly burning suns and grasp a handful of the gods forbidden fire? If it were, he had stumbled on an interesting creature indeed. He had thought to invade the boy’s mind, tear out the secrets, but if he did have a contract with a powerful demon, such a thing may become too much trouble than it was worth. No, instead he would test him. As he stalked the boy, he slowly stopped hiding his presence, revealing , bit-by-bit, more of what he truly was.

Talhnir smiled a smile that showed neither humour nor a good nature. 'Maybe this level won't be so mundane after all…'

The slow, dull murmur in the air seemed to spike randomly; an odd sort of mental state that seemed slightly more malignant than the usual hustle and bustle of mundane noise that came from regular people. Jade's stride slowed slightly, before he noticed the reaction and sped back up to his regular pace, eye darting back and forth around the area while he attempted to focus in on it. He strained, but could reach nothing. Whatever it was was staying masked from him, trying to hide, at least for the moment. Jade lifted his cigarette to his mouth, inhaling a bit more deeply this time. After a moment, using his free hand to dig a finger underneath his eye patch to scratch his empty lid underneath, he dropped the hand and brought the cigarette from his mouth, exhaling the thick smoke into the air.

He kept his mind on the masked consciousness for a while, paying close attention while the guard slipped lower and lower. Whoever it was, they had enough ability to hide themselves, and Jade figured they'd be able to detect him prodding at their head as well. There were quite a few demons who could detect tampering once it started happening quickly, and even some humans who trained themselves to notice. Jade stepped lightly around the new mind, trying to remain subtle, now only beginning to hear the kinds of murmurs that a brain would normally put out... except... different somehow. Something seemed more dangerous, more powerful. He didn't even have to focus in specifically to tell. But he didn't suspect just a human borrowing some powers, either. This was a demon, there was no denying it. Jade knew what a mischievous demon felt like mentally at this point, after having the job of detecting them and snuffing them out along with their contractors when on jobs. For now, he tried to ignore this new demon, placing the cigarette back in his mouth to sit in between his lips and continued on his way.

His focus is on you, you know, Thea interrupted. Her tone suggested that she had noticed the other demon long before Jade had, but hadn't cared to inform him. That was just like her, paying attention and expecting others to do so as well. Anyone who wasn't constantly alerted for fluctuations in their environment would surely have been deemed an idiot in her book. At the very least, her interest was piqued. Thea would never be one to pass up the chance to play with someone. Demon or otherwise. It was true, she didn't care much for demons - not most of the lot, anyway - but she enjoyed the idea of interaction, and any person was worth meddling with.

Yeah, yeah, Jade responded, pulling away the cigarette and letting the smoke spill from his nostrils before eventually parting his lips to allow the rest to mull into the air. I could tell. I'm just not sure I'm quite as interested is all... He pondered the idea, twisting his head around to give his remaining eye a better view, to attempt a visual while he mentally relocated the source of the new mental sensation. The sight of the demon's pursuit was certainly nonchalant. A typical person would not have thought much of the tall blond - aside perhaps from his handsomeness - and that he was simply just one of the crowd. Someone well off, here strictly on the business of hassling renters who didn't pay their bills, or something along those lines. Others discarded the mans presence, their usual mull of hustling and bustling on their ways far to important to bother with paying attention to the little details. Someone who couldn't detect his intent, would have been completely unaware to his stalking nature and piqued interest. Jade's dull expression, piercing, pale blue eye, landed on the sight, his lid relaxed on a narrow glance. He brought his body around to be facing taller boy's direction, taking a few more strides backwards - or, the same direction he had originally been facing - until stopping at the corner. I suppose I have nothing else to do as of yet, He thought, not even in particular to Thea.

For now he stood still, waiting for the demon to catch up to him. His gaze was expectant, his expression bored. Jade seemed as if he were already tired of the interaction before it had even taken place. He was quite interested, curious to understand what the demon's interest was, but there would be little to allude to such a concept. His detachment from the emotion certainly didn't help, or, it did, perhaps. Part of him believed that people seemed so much weaker when they expressed exactly how their feelings fluctuated every moment of every day, but the concept of getting how he felt across to others didn't seem to compute very much either. Thea had often stated that Jade had a personality much like some of the demons she knew. All great big sticks in the mud. And she hated them. Honestly Jade couldn't have given two shits even if he wanted to. Her point exactly.

Jade stretched his thoughts out to the approaching demon, a bit too impatient to wait for the demon to approach for beginning the exchange. Did you want something? He asked, pushing the idea directly into the demons range of senses, sure that he would hear it. Jade's tone sounding irritated and impatient. He wanted the point and he wanted it now. No use in beating around the bush. That certainly didn't mean Jade didn't have time for some fun and games, of course. But that was an activity saved for second.

Talhnir kept smiling as he followed the human through the crowd. The boy had most definitely slowed a bit a few steps ago, had the boy noticed him? Or had he simply stepped in something? The voices had trouble deciding. Talhnir kept his eye on him, the other humans around him slowly turning into a blur, creatures of such insignificance their presence was barely worth the effort to register it. And then it happened, even as the voices debated amongst themselves whether the boy had noticed or not, a slight presence danced around his own. In his mind the already blurred forms of the humans around him faded, even the streets and the buildings disappeared like snow before the sun, leaving only Talhnir and the boy. This was not a trick humans could learn, it belonged to demons. Talhnir was nearly brought back to reality as the realization struck him, humans are not psychic.

His grin widened, as he stared at the boys back, so clearly visible now that the obstructions had vanished. He was definitely a contractor then. Either that or a demon like himself. With his back turned he could not tell whether the boy displayed any tics indicative of a conversation with a presence known only to the contractor. This puzzle was becoming interesting, was he a human or a demon? And if he was a demon, what sort? If he was a human, why did he reach out for the forbidden fruit of power? The voices had yelled human before, but now weren’t so sure. Figures, they were always useless when their input could have been helpful.

As Talhnir intensified his stare on the boy, as if staring with such intent could simply reveal whatever secrets he might have had. It didn’t work, of course. He needed to use his power and enter the boy’s mind for that and it was not yet time, why waste a great puzzle by looking up the solution? When the boy suddenly turned Talhnir was knocked back into reality, humans that were invisible previously returned as blurred forms all around him, dull and grey buildings shone once more with their incredible lack of artistic inspiration. Talhnir found himself looking straight into the one eye of the boy for a moment. He was definitely noticed then. The voices were talking all at once now, suggesting a million and one ways to proceed.

‘Did you want something’?

The voice pierced the thousands other voices he could hear. All at once they were silenced, their wise council wisely help back. Talhnir found he had stopped dead in his tracks. Simply looking in the boys direction. It struck him he had never met anyone like himself. Never met another psychic demon. For a moment his entire body tensed up, this meant he was not unique. With a sigh he relaxed again, the voices were right. Being the only one of your kind is lonely. Better to have others who understand the pain. With renewed confidence he walked towards the boy, before stopping again a few steps away from the boy. With a smile he bowed before he looked in his directions and opened part of his mind, let the answer to the boys question flow out.

‘I was just wondering if you hear voices that no one else can hear?’

It did not matter to Talhnir that the voices escaped together with his message and now sought refuge in the minds of the humans around him. All that mattered was solving the puzzle he had found.

‘I was just wondering if you hear voices that no one else can hear?’

Jade studied the voice that escaped from the demon's head, paying close attention to the little whispers and murmurs that escaped with it. How peculiar this guy was. Was that sort of thing really all he was interested in? Hearing voices... Was he just wondering about Jade's abilities that he'd gotten from Thea? It certainly didn't seem like such a big deal to Jade, but perhaps this demon was venturing from a different part of town where contractors and demons were less easily found? Honestly, he really wasn't sure. After a moment of analyzing, he averted his gaze, leaning back against the wall behind him and crossing his arms. He appeared to turn his attention to the crowd, scanning the moving masses with his eye, avoiding the direct gaze of the other person. He'd only been feeling the burn of eye contact a few moments before already being tired of it, and feeling awkward. He waited until the demon caught up with him to address him, and didn't even bother with keeping it on a mental level.

"You make it sound like we're talking about schizophrenia here," Jade responded, giving a short glance at the demon before looking back into the street once more. "Technically speaking, yes. I do. But I don't think it's in the same way that you do, exactly."

He lifted his hand from it's crossed position, pulling at his ear piercings on one side - another of his little awkward ticks, of which he had many different little ones. Dropping the hand almost as soon as it had gone up, he brought his cigarette back to his lips, breathing it in, and letting the smoke pour from his nostrils for a while as he brought the cigarette away again. There wasn't much left of this one, and he contemplated having another one immediately after, but was quickly scolded by a very pissed off demon in his head that hadn't even wanted him to start the one in his hands.

"So is that all, then?" He added. "Just wondering if I'm on the same psycho-train that you're on? Seem's like something pretty dull to be getting all excited over, if you ask me. Don't suppose there are any follow-up questions?"

Jade set his cigarette back in between his lips. Thea was quiet for the most part, not so interested in making comments to jade in particular - though of course certain things could be heard - but seeming to focus her attention to the other demon. Most likely, she was picking at him lightly, almost undetectable, looking at every little thing she could get away with looking at without being noticed. Of course, whatever knowledge she might have managed to retrieve, she wasn't going to bother sharing that with Jade. He, on the other hand, simply prodded at the mind a little more loosely, tearing through whatever was open and revealed and poking at the things that were being shielded still. He'd never been one who liked privacy, after all. If asked a question directly, he'd never lie about the answer. He may play games and twist words and avoid the answer, but never lie. Not once. He honestly wasn't sure that he even could, but he didn't mind. Bitter, painful truth was fun to spurt out at people who never wanted to hear it, and people who knew him for never withholding his information also happened to be much more believing when he threw out hurtful insults. But even still, he just didn't like the idea of keeping things private. He kept no wards on his own mind, and not to mention, hated doors. Hence, ridding them from his own apartment. He didn't understand people who hid their secrets, but then again, he wouldn't have understood the concept of people who would have had some sort of response to particular secrets. Jade just didn't understand the concept of 'caring' really. But it was on very seldom occasions that he would actually wish he did understand. People were so odd. He enjoyed being able to read them so easily.

His glance traveled back over to the demon, scanning him up and down, almost scaling him up. He couldn't say he was sure why this guy was so focused on talking to him. Jade could admit to himself that he was hardly interesting. Thea told him that on a regular basis. He just hoped there would be something a little more entertaining to this conversation.

The boy looked away and dropped their psychic conversation in favour for a more conventional one. A sign of weakness? Perhaps. It demanded further investigation. Talhnir’s grin grew more ferocious as he walked closer to the boy to stand within earshot, lighting up a cigarette as he did so. One more step. The boy seemed to speak as soon as he came within earshot. Something about schizophrenia. Were they talking about Schizophrenia? He couldn’t remember. The voices wouldn’t shut up for long enough to let him concentrate.

"So is that all, then?" The boy added. "Just wondering if I'm on the same psycho-train that you're on? Seem's like something pretty dull to be getting all excited over, if you ask me. Don't suppose there are any follow-up questions?"

Finally some silence. Talhnir focused once more on the human in front of him. For someone who seemed to consider it dull he didn’t seem in any rush to get rid of Talhnir. The voices were talking again. Warning him, about… something. Something was probing. Not the crude and disinterested attempts of the human, no this had the feel of something like himself. A parasite then. Talhnir’s grin grew even wider as he made a show of taking a drag from his cigarette and spewing the smoke out to mingle with the city’s air. Truth be told, he didn’t even know why he came to talk to this boy specifically. Maybe he simply wanted to flex his powers once more, not on the weak and easily destroyed mind of some pathetic human, or even the mind of a proper demon. No, perhaps all he wanted was to test his metal against a mind like his own. At least, that’s what the voices were telling Talhnir, he couldn’t be sure himself.

Talhnir smirked once more. If they wanted to play mind games. So could he. “So… what made you want the power of a demon? I’m pretty sure that is illegal these days.” He said as he tested the defences of both the boy and the presence within the human. But this was no simple prodding or poking. No attempts to scrape the surface thoughts away in order to gleam what little information might lie hidden there. No, Talhnir wanted to truly test the pair. He would push and push, until he could enter their minds and take what he wanted from there. It was up to them to defend themselves. Talhnir’s smirk grew into a near inhuman savage grin as he took another drag from his cigarette and listened to the voices shrill laughter. Perhaps another would be added this day.

“So… what made you want the power of a demon? I’m pretty sure that is illegal these days.” The demon thought at him, pushing the conversation onward.

"Oh, boy," Jade stated, voice dull and dripping with sarcasm. "Don't you ask all the hard questions, hmm?" He rolled his eyes, shaking his head. He still didn't bother to use mental communication. It seemed pointless, and Jade really didn't care if he was overheard. He took one last, long drag of his cigarette before flicking it away and stomping it out on the ground. As the action was completed, He immediately noticed that Thea was pleased. She could tolerate cigarette smoking in some bodies, but not all of them, and certainly not in Jade's. It was simply one of her peculiarities.

"But as a matter of fact," he continued, finally addressing the question. "It's not illegal for me. I'm an exception to the rule. I can do whatever I want." Doing whatever he wanted was a bit of a stretch, of course, but essentially true for the fact that he wanted very little. His contract was allowed because he was a weapon to kill contractors. it was a "sacrifice" in the eyes of his organization, to give himself up for the sake of the cause. Or some extreme sort of bullshit along those lines. Either way, he got a bonus for contracting, and he'd fully accepted the fact that he'd be killed along with all the other contractors once the rest of the hunters were done with him. It was just one more reason for him to heighten the amount of things he did that threatened his health. It just emphasized a self-destructive nature.

He scanned the crowed, not sure what to do with himself, really. How boring. Simple questions, no games. Just a typical demon thinking he was a step ahead for some particular reason? What a pain, really. Thea still wasn't paying any attention to Jade, no matter how many time he bothered her about giving up this little game. Perhaps she knew that he still wanted to play, too. But this game was beginning to seem boring.

Thea was too busy, setting up wards in Jade's mind where Jade was too stuck up to put any, while simultaneously probing quietly through the other demon's mind. Dissecting the voices, flipping through thoughts, scaling up brain capacity. Nothing too personal, like memories or qualities, but even still, she would always make it a point to be thorough whilst sneaking around a mind unwelcome. Mainly because more often than not, she didn't get much of a second chance. Getting noticed and booted out made it a lot harder to penetrate someone's mind a second time, mainly because the then knew what the person's presence felt like. Whatever. Thea honestly just liked being nose. Knowing everything was supposed to be her deal, and it was a very rare occasion when she didn't know. Not to mention that she was very determined to keep up with her reputation of being a know it all. It was important. Jade on the other hand, had a very different style. When he wasn't in the mood for being careful - which he was very good at - he ripped through peoples minds violently, shredding through information like a rabid animal. Some minds couldn't take that kind of violence, and were destroyed completely by it. Others got headaches. People who could resist being tampered with could block him before it was too late when he did that sort of noticeable thing. His sort of extraction of information was how people got murdered psychically, but Thea wasn't about to tell him that that was how to do it. She told him that humans couldn't do it, instead, mainly because she thought Jade would be one to abuse that kind of weapon. Ripping apart a brain to kill someone was no small matter, and it was bad enough that such a violent psyche belonged to a human anyway. No, she'd let him figure that out for himself. Either way, Jade had a perfectly subtle prod for anyone he wasn't intending on destroying in the first place.

Whatever demon might be accompanying this human was proving to be more skilled in the matters of the mind than Talhnir had expected. His own mental attempts at invading their minds were met with skilful defences and quick counter attacks. Talhnir smiled a little as the voices got more excited, suggesting he simply wreck their minds, it wouldn’t be such a bad thing, now would it? What would they do, just another comatose person as a result of demon interaction. Just one more thing for the hunters to throw on the burning pyre that was hate for all of demonkind.

Speaking of hunters… What had the human said? "It's not illegal for me. I'm an exception to the rule. I can do whatever I want." Talhnir’s smile faded before he caught his own weakening focus and forced it back onto his face, but this time all entertainment and jovial thoughts had vanished. Even the voices had gone quiet. That didn’t make any sense. It IS illegal. No human should be above that law, no matter how powerful connections they might have. Thoughts began churning in his head as he withdrew the probes from the humans mind, focusing only on defending his own psyche from the demon within the human. He had heard rumours that the Hunters themselves might’ve been recruiting or even creating contractors in their war on demons. But he had dismissed such rumours for the longest time, both out of a lack of interest in the hunters and the absurdity of such a claim. In his experience, contractors were purely selfish creatures, as were the demons they formed contracts with. A pair of beings like that would never work with an organization like the Hunter, would they?

Talhnir frowned slightly, if this man was a hunter this might be a trap. Once more the voices began speaking, pointing out shadows in which a team of hunters might lie in waiting, ready to ambush him. Pointing out the original hunch that had brought Talhnir here might’ve been a simple lure to capture a rouge demon like himself. The beginnings of cold sweat were forming on Talhnir’s forehead. He had to get out of here… as quickly as possible. [i]”Is that so… well… I suppose I was wrong then. I would not have liked to see a heinous law breaker such as a rouge contractor running around free after all. I suppose I should take my leave…” A most flimsy excuse, but in his state he could not come up with anything that might satisfy this man or his demon. Talhnir quickly made his way back through the crowd, subtly influencing the weak minded humans there to cover his retreat, to form a moving mass between him and the boy. When he got far enough he broke into a sprint, down to the nearest access shaft leading down. He needed to think.

"Is that so… well… I suppose I was wrong then. I would not have liked to see a heinous law breaker such as a rouge contractor running around free after all. I suppose I should take my leave…" The demon said mentally, before heading off as quickly as possible and covering his tracks.

See, Jade? Thea interrupted, sounding a bit smug. You scare away all the cute boys.

Jade ignored her.

How peculiar, though, the demon just scampering off like he had something better to do. Jade certainly didn't, and even if he did, he would never be so prompt about it. Probably that little piece of information about being a hunter made him nervous, which was completely stupid, after all. Demons very often didn't have anything to worry about with hunters, especially ones with contracts, as any hunting work had to be reported and approved before carried out, for fear that the contracting hunters were double agents or whatever. But he supposed the demon wasn't aware of this little detail. After all, it wasn't like every demon kept on perfect tabs with the treaty. Hunters, of course, had to know every inch of it, and every loophole.

"Hey kid would you mind giving me a cigarette. I don't usually smoke, but it's been quite a while."

Jade jolted, straightening up and twisting quickly to see who had spoken, immediately his eyes met with a man's chest, and he had to look upward quite a bit to see his face. His eye stayed a little wide at the person while he back-tracked on what the question was.

"Damn, you're like a fucking mountain, aren't you?" He said, turning his attention away from the much taller man and pulling his pack of cigarettes from his back pocket. He pulled one out for himself first and placed it between his lips before handing one over to the man and shoving the pack back into it's place again. "Whatever, I have plenty, so I don't care."

Jade...

He pulled his lighter next, lighting up and passing it on to mountain man. "Ignore the surprise I got, though," he said, pointing at his eye patch. "You walked up on my blind side."

Jaaaaade!

Once the man gave back the lighter, he made a quick motion to put it back as w--

JAAAAAAADE!!!

OH SHIT, he gave an irritated glare at the dropped lighter, feeling frustrated. His head felt like bursting, and he just wanted Thea to go away for once. He bent to pick it up and shoved it back into his pocket after a short moment of brushing it off. Damn it, Thea, he thought, taking a deep breath and glaring into the crowd. A few people noticed the look he was giving and made an effort to keep a distance. what the hell do you want?

You already had two cigarettes! She responded. Put it down before I make you!

Don't even think about it, He thought back, trying to split his focus and gave a quick glance back at the man, studying him for a moment before looking back into the crowd. No need to risk an unnecessary amount of eye contact, of course. Don't go wasting my cigarettes. This is my last one until later, I promise. This guy made me take them out, I might as well get some enjoyment out of it.

UUUUUUGHHHHHHH...

Jade winced, putting his hand to his head and grinding his teeth. When Thea got loud, it wasn't just for attention, it was for pain. Like a terrible headache that happens instantly and all at once. No, worse... Perhaps more like having your head slammed into a brick wall while someone screams in your ear. Shut up! he thought, shaking his head and putting the hand into his pocket, using the other hand to pull the cigarette away from his lips and breath out the smoke. He leaned back against the building behind him, pulling out his phone to check the time and see if he'd gotten any messages. By now, it seemed the chances of work were slim to none, and he was perfectly fine with that. But now he needed to come up with something to do today. And he hadn't even gotten a spiked coffee yet.... what a pain. Thea was always a little easier to tolerate when he was a little more numb in the brain, as well was hearing every single muttering mind within the mile all at once. Alcohol had begun to be more of a daily routine than an addiction over the past two years of having Thea in his head. Just another necessary feat. Not that he was complaining, of course.

He placed the cigarette back in his mouth, breathing in the ash and half watching as the end fell to the ground when he brought it away from his lips, the smoke coming out with the breath from his nose until he opened his mouth. He glanced back to his blind spot to see if the tall guy was even still there. It was hard to pay attention to an individual at this point; not mentally, anyway. As soon as the aftershock of Thea's irritating outburst was fading, he made an eager attempt to focus.

Alois watched the kid's nose almost graze past his chest, from his height he could see as the top of the boy's head turned slowly into forehead then finally his face. The first thing he noticed was the eye patch over one of the boy's eyes, the next thing was that the other eye was really freaking big. Then he noticed the silence. A smile flashed across Alois' face. It seemed Alois had caused this man quite a shock, considering how much time it was taking for him to respond, the shock may have actually killed him.

"Damn, you're like a fucking mountain, aren't you?"

Upon hearing that Alois practically glowed with pride. Flexing his muscles Alois exclaimed "Damn straight I'm a fucking mountain. Just as big and twice as solid." Amongst all the showing off he barely noticed the outstretched hand with a cigarette in it. He quickly accepted it.

"Whatever, I have plenty, so i don't care."

Noticing that the boy had a cigarette his in mouth as well he knew he was guaranteed a chance to ask for a light. The boy pulled his lighter, lighting up then passing it to Alois before he even had a chance to ask.

"Ignore the surprise I got, though," he said, pointing at his eye patch. "You walked up on my blind side."

Alois lit his cigarette, thinking the kid's blind side was something he would have to remember. While giving the kid his lighter back, his eyes closed as he slowly inhaled, enjoying every second of his first draw in years. "Whoa", Alois shuddered, noticing a sudden change, the vibes coming off this kid who was just a few seconds ago cool, were now angry and intense. Even the idiots in the crowd must have noticed it, for they parted as if the boy was Moses. He watched the boy pick up his lighter and wondered if dropping it caused of the change. "No" he thought "Couldn't be. If that was the case I probably wouldn't be smoking this square right now." He inhaled catching the quick glance the boy spared him

UUUUUUGHHHHHHH...

Alois coughed out a surprised "What the hell" watching his second draw mix with the air in front of his face. The boy's hand shot up to his face and all the muscles in his jaw tightened up. He knew the boy was in some serious pain. Normally Alois wouldn't have given this a second look. The way he saw it if the boy was still standing he was A-okay, but considering that he was in the boy's debt. "Hey kid are you okay?" The boy shook his head no, then pulled out his phone. Alois wondered if he was going to call an ambulance, but then he saw it get put promptly back in the pocket. After a bit of silence the kid glanced back at Alois, eyes not completely focused. Alois sighed feeling a bit sorry for the boy.

"Look kid, you need me to help you home, just ask. I do kinda still owe you for the cigarette, and i hate to have any kinds of lingering debts, even little stuff." He realized how sappy he was starting to sound. "And actually I do need a job so if you could pay me afterwards that'd be great. Hell I'll do just about anything as long as I'm gettin' paid for it. Cause goddamn it! I really want some booze."

Alois broke into fake crying near the end to see if that would lift the kids mood. But by the looks of it he still seemed a bit out of it. Alois thought hard, looking for anything that might warrnt a laugh. He found only one.

"Name's Alois by the way, pleased to make your acquaintance." he said while offering the boy a bow befitting a curtain call.

Alois laughed at the thought. "All this time spent talking and we didn't even know each other's name's."

Jade took a deep breath, picking up his gaze and finally bringing himself to focus on the skyscraper of a man in front of him. His immediate thought was how uncomfortable it was, despite the fact that he knew he was being spoken to about something. This tall, looming man was just so intimidating, especially at such a close range, and the situation exaggerated so much by Jade's fear of people (especially men) and eye contact. Neither was a crippling fear, of course, but it simply made the idea of this guy sticking around so close an uncomfortable one.

"Look kid, you need me to help you home, just ask. I do kinda still owe you for the cigarette, and i hate to have any kinds of lingering debts, even little stuff." The man was saying. Jade had to let the statement process a few moments in his own lag to realize that the man had noticed his painful expression in response to Thea's antics. Jade made the mental note right then and there to focus in, not let anything else distract him, and focus on this man's brainwaves and thoughts while he was still here. "And actually I do need a job so if you could pay me afterwards that'd be great. Hell I'll do just about anything as long as I'm gettin' paid for it. Cause goddamn it! I really want some booze."

Jade was about to reply, to plainly state how he was completely fine, and that the man was an idiot for implying that he would be so weak as to be crippled by a small headache, or, something along those lines, along with mocking him about the payment suggestion. But his mouth snapped shut, and he stared with a curious - and quite judgmental expression - while the man put forth some completely obnoxious fake crying. How the action was necessary in the least, Jade had absolutely no idea. Was it supposed to be humorous or something? To him, it just looked ridiculous. Humor was just one of those things that he took a very particular pleasure in, and anything he would have deemed funny would have been something offensive, or humiliating to someone. He seemed to take a certain sick pleasure in other people's misfortune. If it hadn't been for the man trying to be funny, he would have found the situation moderately amusing.

"Name's Alois by the way, pleased to make your acquaintance." The man stated after a moment, bowing as if he were a performer upon a stage that had just given his best performance. Alois gave a small laugh. "All this time spent talking and we didn't even know each other's name's."

Jade just rolled his eye, pulling his cigarette from his lips and breathing out the smoke. "If you really think it's that important, my name's Jade. I would say it's nice to meet you but the time spent with you standing here has been giving me a much vaster mix of emotions than 'nice' can describe. Whether you choose to take that as a positive or a negative comment, that's up to you."

He shoved his free hand in his pocket, watching the crowd once again, rather than looking at Alois. "Look, Alois, normally.... People don't stick around to see what they can do for the guy who handed them a smoke. They light up and leave, not stick around and try to be buds with the guy that handed the cigarette over to them."

He took a moment, looking at the half-finished cigarette in his hand and decided to flick it away. Thea was making a lot of arguments about it, and the two conversations were beginning to make things so much worse. Jade shifted his weight on his feet, managing to move a few extra inches away from Alois in the process. His hand that had been in his pocket rose up, scratching lightly around the edge of his eye patch, before he restrained himself, but only managing to change the habit to a different one; pulling at some of the piercings in his ear instead.

"Honestly, first of all, I'm fine. I've got a bit of a headache, and that's completely normal. Second, it's just a cigarette, not a sports car, and as i said to you when handing it over; I. Don't. Care. And thirdly, you want money, i'll give you some cash if you do some things for me like stand a minimum of four feet away from me at all times and not try to be funny because personally I don't like humor." He shrugged, giving Alois a dry look before turning his gaze quickly away. "I'm not exactly a fun person unless you get a kick out of being ridiculed."

Bored, and beginning to fret that she'd lose another opportunity to have some fun due to Jade's dreadful personality, Thea started pushing forward, forcing her way out quickly, and with a slight flinch, immediately brought Jade's body to a friendlier, more feminine posture. She elbowed Alois in the stomach, having to pick up Jade's arm quite a bit more than she would have for anyone else, and gave Alois a completely out of character grin that was probably frightening after Jade's previous behavior.

"Oh, don't listen to anything I say!!" She said, putting on hand up on Jade's hip. "I'm absolutely nuts! Do you have any Idea how much weed i smoke?" She laughed, almost as if all the attitude earlier had just been one silly joke. The difference between Jade controlling his body and Thea controlling his body was like night and day. Jade made such an effort to be cold and harsh, introverted, and seemed like glaring was the only expression he was capable of.Thea on the other hand, easily played off of every single cute aspect of Jade's appearance, and the way she moved him made him seem more like a flat-chested girl with short, messy hair. "Seriously, I'm just like a total asshole half of the time, so just ignore that."

She gave a sweet smile up at Alois, making so much more eye contact than Jade had. She wasn't the one who was afraid of it, after all. Jade on the other hand felt horrified, but no matter how much he tried to pry the control away from Thea, she just wouldn't budge. He let himself sink back, fuming at her and trying to slip her up and distract her at every chance he got, but sadly, she was much more focused than he was. She could admit on a regular basis that he was good with her abilities, but it would take so much more for him to even hold a candle to her. After all, She'd been in control of them far longer than he had.