Minke's Story

Ralph gulped as they traipsed up the stairs to the apartment. He'd been on the receiving end of dark looks like that before.
"I'm not goin to hurt you," Ralph coughed. "I don't know about heroic but... I was trying to help. He hurt you totally unprovoked, like out of nowhere and... I guess I just don't like bullies. I'm glad you're alright." Ralph's chest still twinges where Benny's curse had hit him.
"Psychoshit bastard," growled Ralph. "The Hell kind of mage is he?"

Once inside the apartment, Minke went straight for the towels, then the zip-lock bags, and the ice box. Tossing the ice in the bags, she then surrounded it with a towel so the cold wouldn't shock him. "Lay down on the couch. This'll have to do for today, but tomorrow I'll have a healer come in and do what he can." She walked over to him and handed over the ice pack.

"I...think he's some kind of biomage. He stopped my heart somehow. I've barely known about magic that can affect someone directly like that before. Did he try to do the same to you? How'd he get you like this?"

"I chased him down," began Ralph, taking the ice pack and gingerly holding it up against his ribs. "Managed to catch up to him where you found me. we had been throwing spells at each other, neither of us landing a solid hit magically, so we took it to fists. I would've had him but he threw a spell at me under a punch and nailed me while I blocked the hit."
Ralph winced. He sat down on the couch and laid against a few pillows, trying to take as much weight as he could off of his rib. He took off his jacket, folding it and sliding it under the table in front of the couch.
"Felt like my heart was exploding. Fucking agony," continued Ralph. "After that he just started getting shots in, and, well..." He gestured around his beaten face and body. "Broke his nose though. That felt good."

Sitting down on the table in front of him, Minke massaged her temples. She would have to report the incident to the WCPD, but that hardly mattered when she had Hatyara. Especially since the Wing City Police Department had its hands full in serial killers, Aschen, rogue supernaturals, and the like. Oh, she didn't even want to think about all the attacks that had happened on the building which they were stationed at, itself...

"I am so sorry," she piped up, squeezing her eyes shut. Her mouth formed into a tight line. "I mean, I only just met you today, not even an hour ago, and..." She gestured her hand out to the situation. "This. Fucking...Wing City." A curse that went around a lot on Aslund.

Minke got up from her seat and walked into the bathroom, retrieving a bottle of alcohol, and then in the kitchen, getting some paper towels. She returned and sat in front of him. "I really don't know much about first aid, but you look rightly awful. You've got blood-" She gestured again, just generally, around his face.

"...I...also don't think I've given you a proper thanks. It was a bit stupid, but it was, ah," She smiled out the side of her lips, shrugging. "Brave."

Ralph smiled weakly.
"Thanks. You're doing just fine. I'm pretty sure 'a bit stupid' can be applied to most of the things I do.You can keep that, by the way," Ralph said, pointing the the pile of gold chains topped with a diamond. "It's how I've been living the last seven months, I can make more whenever I need the cash. Might wanna, er, wash it though, before you hock it."
And you don't have to thank me," he added. "Ever. You share you smokes, invite me in from the rain, give me tea, least I can do is get my ass kicked for you." He grinned up at her.

Minke glanced toward the chains and the diamond. She had to fight, just a little, not to cringe at the prospect of touching it. Perhaps later. With gloves.

She faced Ralph once more and let out a small chuckle. "If that's all I have to do to recruit a man who's willing to chase some sociopath for me, then I'm surprised I don't have them lining up at my door." She gave him a wink, then began to wet the paper towels with the alcohol. She paused, hands shaking so much she nearly dropped the bottle.

"Jesus Christ, can't you two ever use the front door!?" she scowled.

"Front doors are for people who can't climb balconies," said a smooth, low female voice.

"In other words, front doors are for morons," furthered a rougher, darker man's. Two people silently walked around the couch from the direction of the balcony, and both were threatening. One, the first who had spoken, a woman equally as slender as Minke, but much taller, wearing armor somewhat akin to something from ages past, designed for modern day style. Her hair flowed around her as though she were underwater. Powerful energy, that which was not magical, emanated from her form.

The other was an equally as tall, broad-shouldered, well-toned man with dirty blonde hair and tan skin. He was clad in a typical black trench coat, and around his belt buckle there was a pistol and a few other, unrecognizable gadgets. On his hip there was a sword.

"These are my...colleagues. Everyone, this is Ralph," said Minke.

Ralph eyed the two newcomers. Unusual by his old standards, yes, but after some of the things he'd seen in the last few months, the appearance of the two didn't much phase him.
"Pleasure to meet you two," he called, giving a limp wave.
"Whatever you put in your hair, miss," Ralph chided. "I want a bottle." He climbed to his feet and limped over to stand in front of Minke's colleagues. Still holding the ice to his side with his left hand, he extended his right to shake the woman's hand, then the woman's.

Neither extended their hands to shake with Raplh's. They eyed him critically. Mink stood up to try and get Ralph to sit back down. "Don't...mind your manners around these people. I hardly think they care either way. Oh, and their names- Duke and Aave, just so you know who you'll be frustrated with in the future," she told him, shooting a glare at the two. "Won't you stop just staring and sit down? The guy is probably not coming back. Ralph broke his nose and he ran off."

"Doesn't mean he won't be back. He could have friends. He could be planning something," replied Aave. She kept her sharp, needle stare on Ralph. "What do you have to do with all this?"

Ralph lowered his hand.
"Tough crowd, huh?" Muttered Ralph. "Nice to meet you too." He limped back to the couch and laid back down.
"And you've discovered my secret evil plan to get myself beat up, too. You guys are good." He picked up his 45 minute old cup of tea and downed it. It was cold.
"Minke let me in off the street a little more than an hour ago," said Ralph. "She and her friend Benny were really nice to me until Benny went apeshit, attacked Minke with some dark mojo and jumped off the balcony. I chased after him and we scrapped and here we are." Ralph sighed, then winced. The first-aid alcohol stung.
"I'm not here to hurt anybody," said Ralph seriously, looking around to all three faces present. "Except maybe Benny, now. Wouldn't mind turning that guy inside out in round 2."

"Wouldn't be the strangest diabolical plan we've had in the past," groaned Duke, sneering. "We've had suicides turn into slaughters."

"In a city like this you run into very tricky, very intelligent terrorists and serial killers," continued Aave. Both of the Hatyara agents shifted their gaze to Minke critically, then back to Ralph. "We appreciate your efforts, and will handle the situation from here. You will be safe tonight."

They both turned heel and began to walk out. Minke put her chin in her palm and sighed. "Don't let the door hit your ass on the way," she commented to them. She did not get a response.

When they were gone, Minke looked toward Ralph apologetically. "I don't work with nice people."

Ralph blinked a few times, a blank expression on his face.
"What exactly is it that you do, Mink?" he asked. "Though honestly," he continued, a small grin crossing his face, "I think I can guess. You help people, right? Use your... gifts to put down all the nasty booga-boos and very bad men that threaten all the good little boys and girls of this city? No, even better, the world?"
Ralph gave a laugh, but it was mirthless, and he was no longer smiling. "That about it?" His tone was unkind and a dark look hung about Ralph's face. A pained expression. A look of regret.

Minke snorted at his comment, his laugh, his mockery. She shook her head then stood up from the table. Her eyes became distant as she looked past him.

"Yeah, that would be nice, wouldn't it? If that's what it was. Hunting down Supernaturals that cause trouble. That's what the job description says. No one bothers to read the fine print, though." She gave him a tight smile.

If only it was night time. Then she could have made the excuse to go to bed. To leave. She didn't appreciate that tone. Even so, she seemed to brighten right back up, changing the subject. "Well! We've had an eventful morning, haven't we? You're just going to have to rest here for a little while with that rib, and, well, the rest of your injuries." She walked right past him, then stopped, looking at the boxed leftovers sitting on the counter. She had taken it out for herself and Benny earlier. Minke frowned.

"Hm," she mused, putting a hand on the counter. "Why is it you seem so sour?"

Ralph looked away, apologetically. He'd offended her, he could tell.
"I'm... Sorry," he muttered. "I didn't mean to..." He trailed off for a moment, apparently wrestling with something internally.
"That was my life," he said with tones of bitterness and sorrow. "That's how I wasted my life, trying to do good. To help people against these things, but it just brought misery and death to everyone around me. I wasn't even saving lives, just trading the survival of strangers for the pain and death of the people I actually cared about. Even the ones I could protect... I'll never see again. I'm not from this world. I've been stuck here for seven months. I don't think I can ever go home."
Ralph was practically shaking with rage and frustration. He hadn't let any of this out since he arrived on Terra. To anyone.
"This world," he breathed, calming himself down, "I don't belong here. I don't matter here. All the people I've saved, and in the end no one saved me."
There was silence for a minute or two. Then Ralph spoke again, eyeing the leftovers.
"I'm starving," he admitted, somewhat embarrassed. "When I get carried away with my magic, it fucks up my metabolism. I've been puking on an empty stomach all morning." He truly felt terrible now. Here was the first person in months who had treated him with any sort of kindness with immediately trying to kill him afterwards, and he'd been a derisive jerk.
"I'm sorry," he repeated, his head in his hands. "I didn't mean to unload like that."

"Stop...apologizing so much," she replied, holding up a hand to silence him. "Wing City...Aslund...Terra..." She looked away from Ralph as she spoke, setting her hands to work as she opened up the Tupperware cases.

"When this place takes people from anywhere else, as if often does...either by portal, or some kind of other space warping, which is why people often find themselves on a walk through some woods to end up in somewhere like this-" She stuck a fork in the leftovers, which was a lump of cooked noodles, that smelled suspiciously like Pad Thai, "-it doesn't mean nothing. Every person who's ever come here has had a reason. Hmph." The noodles splattered on a plate she'd taken out. She quickly got to another.

"Even the scum of this Terra has got a reason, even if it's just to fuck up someone else's day." Her tone was incredibly sour. She put one plate in the microwave, then put it on for some odd amount of minutes. While it warmed up, she leaned her hip onto the counter.

"A lot of your efforts'll feel in vain, but that's the part about being a hero. That's why most people aren't one. There's no selfishness allowed. There's no getting back."

"Yeah, well being a hero sucks ass," concluded Ralph, entirely out of steam.
"How about you Mink? What's your story?" Ralph said before sneezing. He hadn't noticed himself shivering before. He needed to get some food in himself fast.
"Don't hold back. I had my chance to never, ever shut up. Really, hit me with the secret origin or Minke... er... Lastname," he finished, awkwardly.

The microwave beeped. Minke took the food out and laid the plate in front of Ralph. "Me?" She half-smiled as she did before, then moved to repeat the process with her own plate.

"I...well..." Her arms overlapped one another over her breasts, lips scrunching to the side. "I have a very...complicated history. And I don't have a surname. Those both tie in to one another." She held up her hand, all fingers but the index and middle curled toward her palm. They both came together. "I...was not grown up in the city after the age of six. Or anywhere normal. I was grown up in a tiny little facility for a bunch of maniacs." Minke bit her lip and scratched at her elbow.

"It's a big, hackneyed kind of story. Being the experiment and escaping and tasting freedom, then learning how to merge with society in the normal ways you should. I'm sure you were looking for something special. There's really nothing special about it. It's a story you'll here over and over again here."

"Well, if you... don't feel like... digging into it right now, I'll respect that," said Ralph, before shoveling unevenly heated pad thai down his throat, his words broken up by not-nearly-frequent-enough chewing. "But... don't think I believe... for a second there's not something special... to it. You're different, Minke. Someone like you... means something. Maybe I'll hear it again, and again here... but I'd love to hear it from you someday."
Neither of them had timed it, but Ralph finished the food in front of him in exactly forty-seven seconds. He looked up at Minke, smiling warmly.
"Maybe sometime when I'm not getting my ribs broken in the rain," he added lightly, and with the briefest of soft glances before adding more food to his plate.

As Minke played with the noodles on her plate, she looked toward Ralph. As he spoke, the tense smile melted into a toothy grin, and then past that, into a laugh. The woman put her plate right back down, walking over to him. Her hand lifted to clear her bangs from her eyes.

"You're something, alright," she stated, amused. "Maybe Merrick will let me keep you for a while. I'll just beg him and tell him he owes me for his mistake." She gestured to the food. "Eat as much as you like. It's good food...but I'm not sure if it's my place to ask if you should try to keep it down." She winked, moving over to a chair to sit down.

"I... couldn't impose," started Ralph brightly as he shoveled more leftovers from the tupperware to his plate, without stopping to microwave it. "Though on second thought," he added, pausing and turning to face Minke, next to him. "Never know when Ol' Benny might come back. I suppose I could, y'know, stick around for a bit, make sure you're not, attacked or something." Ralph smirked. He liked something about the way Minke brushed the hair out of her eyes. And how she winked.
"Y'know, like a bouncer for your house. Who can make people throw up. With his brain. And hey if it turns out to be fun, so be it."

"Well, I suppose I couldn't deny something as reasonable as that." Minke looped her thumbs through her belt hoops, shrugging her shoulders up beside her ears with a simper. "But...Iiii dunno. People might get a little suspicious, since there's been three men in this house since the morning started. Might stir up some rumors."

She pushed off from the counter softly and meandered around him. "Though, with Benny out there, how's a little girl like me gonna sleep at night?" She raised her arms to flex, as though she were some muscle man. Her lips pursed. "I'm gonna need a big manly-man like you to protect me!" She paused and rolled her eyes. "Even if that means dispelling all the Thai food I so graciously cooked the day before."