A Day Off

[Elyse]

Elyse closed her eyes as Cade began his explanation and she focused her scent on him. Elyse couldn't really explain it better. Her first couple of nights at Kallisti the scents had been overwhelming. Everyone had a different scent and lust prevailed over all. The mix of scents had an interesting effect on her libido - particularly those first few nights. Mae had been helpful in relieving that at times - but Elyse had to share, so some nights she was on her own. In time, it had become a necessity to learn how to focus her sense of smell on certain people, and she had become quite good at it.

The coffee shop smelled of coffee grounds, baked goods. She could smell irritation from one of the baristas, and varying emotions from customers. Elyse tuned all of that out, focusing on Cade, and as he spoke, Elyse detected no change in his scent. Elyse could feel Anna begin to move, perhaps to speak, and Elyse took her hand and opened her eyes.

"He isn't lying," Elyse said, calmly, looking at Cade. Cade was looking for his family - a situation that Elyse could relate with very well. The thought of her family made her tattoo itch. She wanted to get it removed, but hadn't worked up the courage yet.

"So you think he's telling the truth about them being brothers?"

Elyse recalled a picture that Nox had once shown her. It contained his mother and his sister, and had she not been looking for it, Elyse probably wouldn't have noticed the resemblance between the women and Cade.

"I don't know for sure - but Cade thinks so - and there is a resemblance. No matter what, I think Cade is being honest with us." Elyse chuckled and addressed Cade directly. "I apologize, we are being extremely rude. I hope you can understand our suspicions. You can't be too careful."

Elyse looked at Anna and gave her an encouraging smile. That was enough for the other woman to follow suit. It was obvious the two women knew Nox. "You asked us about him. What is it you're looking for - a meeting?" Anna said, turning to Cade.

[Cade]

They talked about him like he wasn't there. It was a first for him, usually he was fully part of the discussion. Or at least he wasn't being ignored or talked around. Even when he was in trouble as an intern.

When they finally got around to him he gave them a smirk, but he didn't say anything, until Anna asked him what he wanted. He didn't exactly want a meeting though that would be helpful if they knew how to contact him. "Well I went to this club, your club, and asked around, he hasn't been on the scene for a couple of months. I think some of them might have gotten the wrong idea about why I was looking for him. The same with that fight club, though there they were a little more round about in their answers. A violent place. " Cade said absently. It wasn't like him to frequent places like that. "I just want to know if he's still around, or if you know when he might be on again so I can introduce myself sometime. I won't take much of his time. I just have some questions he might be able to answer." Medical History being number one on Cade's list.

[Elyse]

Elyse nodded, understanding at least what Cade wanted. She still couldn't shake that he was looking for a family member. He wanted some sort of answers Nox could provide. It was a journey that many wouldn't understand. Elyse had lost her family. They had essentially abandoned her when she had told her mother about her wolfkin abilities. It was true that Elyse had made the choice to live her true life instead of hiding as her mother had persisted. A slight sense of guilt came up as she remembered that call. She fought with herself about this often. Her parents had decided not to accept her. This wasn't her fault. Elyse could feel the emotions rising, but she kept it off of her face. Still she wouldn't be able to forever.

"Excuse me," Elyse said, standing up. The slight look of sadness touching her face as she headed to the bathroom to calm down. As she locked the door behind her she looked in the mirror before removing her coat and raising her sleeve to see the tattoo. Elyse had known why it was hard to get rid of it. It was the only thing left of her former life. It was her one tie to her old family.

Elyse knew it was time to let go. Soon, the tattoo would be gone, and Elyse felt the pain of loss rise up in her chest. She didn't hide it - she let the tears come as she mourned this. She knew soon though that she would truly be free. Her new family had taught her she was strong. She could make it through this.

[Anna]

Anna looked to Elyse as she stood, feeling concern for her friend as she headed to the bathroom.  Something had just happened to Elyse, and Anna hoped she was okay.  Deep down, Anna knew Elyse would be fine.  She was strong.

"She'll be okay," Anna said both to Cade and to reassure herself that it would be true.

She turned to Cade.  Unlike Elyse, she hadn't seen the pictures of Nox's mother and sister, or if she had, she hadn't taken enough notice of them to verify that there was a resemblance.  Anna trusted Elyse's judgement however, certain that it came from Elyse's super wolf powers. Anna felt only a slight twinge of jealousy that Elyse seemed to have control of hers.  Anna still couldn't channel unless she was nervous, and the more she spent time with the other channelers, the more she got excited to use it.

"We're a very close group and very protective of our own.  Likely when you were asking, you were arousing suspicion as you did with us," she spoke calmly. "Please don't take it personal, it's not meant to be so.  I haven't seen him in quite sometime.  He was around recently - we got a Christmas gift from him. I honestly don't know where he is or when he'll be back.  He plays his cards close to his chest." Anna sighed, and took another drink of her coffee. "If you like though, I'd be willing to send him a message telling him about this meeting, and that you'd like to talk to him.  I can't guarantee he'll say yes or even when or if he'll respond, but maybe you'll get something."

[Nesrin Aziz]

She glanced up when a trio took the table adjacent, but only for a moment. For all appearances, Nesrin was little more than a student busy with work. An old-fashioned laptop was open on her table, a coffee cup balanced beside it. Black curls fell about her shoulders, pinned back from her face, and she was snuggled down in an MSU hoodie. Her back was to the wall, her screen not visible to the casual eye, but anyone who took a peek would only see someone researching the Brotherhood of the Ascendant Flame. Theology was one of many things she had studied over the years she and Zar travelled, and the birth of a new religion certainly qualified interest, though that was of course not quite why she was curious. It served for a believable reason though, and no one much questioned the inquisitiveness of a student.

In fact she’d intended on scoping the place out for the first time today, but the fucking puzzle box was consuming her thoughts, and she still hadn’t figured out the combination to open it. She hadn’t replied to Zigzag since his explanation of the Emissary. If he had any sense he would have ratted her out by now rather than face the punishment he seemed to think was coming for them, but all that meant was they’d have her name, the address of the property she never stayed in, and that she was supposedly enrolled at the university as a post-grad. Nesrin was a ghost, and she lived as one. Anyone who came looking would soon find that out.

She was half listening to the conversation beside her as she worked, in part because she recognised the sound of the video the man played on his wallet. When one of the women excused herself and walked away, Nesrin paused to take a sip of her coffee. When she put the cup down, it caught the edge of the laptop. Coffee flooded everywhere, including her own lap as she scraped her chair back, reaching for the tiny serviette to dab at her keyboard. “Nonono!”

[Cade]

Elyse got up and left, she looked like something he said had upset her. Though he didn't really see what. Cade smiled at Anna, she knew her friend best. And before he could agree to the contact the woman next to them spilled their coffee all over themself and her laptop. Cade pushed his chair back and grabbed their napkins and started sopping up her coffee on the laptop.

"You alright?" He looked over to Anna. "You think you can ask the barrista if they have any towels?"

[Anna]

Before Cade could answer, there was a commotion at a table next to them.  Cade moved faster than Anna did to help the poor women who spilled her coffee.  Anna nodded at Cade's request, heading to the front counter and asking for towels.  The barista had seen the accident and had already grabbed some, but was a little flustered there being people at the counter.

"We got this," Anna said, the young kid looking back and forth between her and the customers, before deciding Anna and Cade could handle the spill.

Anna came to the table and handed out towels, and started trying to soak up some to the coffee.  "Are you okay, miss?" she asked. "Any burns?

((OOC: Elyse - needs a little more time - feel free to continue another round and I'll bring her back in))

[Nesrin Aziz]

You could nearly always rely on the intervention of good samaritans. Which was fortunate since her own serviette quickly became little more than a sopping brown mess disintegrating between her fingers. The man from the adjacent table leaned over to add his efforts to the salvage, and Nesrin glanced at him in gratitude. 

“Yeah, just…” She bit her lip, concern pinching her eyes as she reached to press some buttons on the keyboard. The screen was frozen, and it was making a strained whirring noise. “All my work is on here.”

The woman returned with towels, and Nesrin accepted one, offering a thankful smile, though it faded into anxiety over the labouring laptop. They made short work of the spill.

“Ness,” she supplied, which wasn’t entirely a lie – no one ever pronounced her name right anyway, and she had reasons to be a little circumspect right now. “I’m okay,” she added, glancing down at the damp stain of coffee all down herself, which she began to blot with the towel. “It wasn’t too hot. Not a way I’d recommend anyone to warm up, though.” She laughed a little, eyes warm, and glanced between the two of them apologetically. “I’m sorry I ruined your date.”

[Cade]

Cade laughed nervously. "This isn't a date. They are friends of a man I'm looking for." He said with a smile. He didn't mean he couldn't or wouldn't, just that it wasn't. He shrugged. "Hopefully there isn't anything on there you didn't save. If you turn it off now, it might not burn up. Let it dry out." That's what IT always told him when mishaps like this happened. Or at least that's what all the IT nerds told him when shit happened the day before finals.

"I'm Cade. This is Anna. Her friend is Elyse, she's in the restroom." He supposed that's where Elyse had disappeared off too. "Let me buy you another coffee and maybe you can find someone to take the laptop to get it looked at. I'm sure there is a directory somewhere."

He sat back down and offered Ness a seat at their table. "Anna was just offering to make contact with the man I'm looking for." He grinned at Anna. "I'd love it if you could arrange anything, at least give him my number." He took a pen from his briefcase and jotted down his wallet's number and pushed it across to Anna. "Don't tell him I'm claiming to be his brother, just say some guy is looking for you." He chuckled. "I know it's not any better, but it'll go with the assumption that I had been looking for him because he was my type, that was made at your club." He hadn't gotten the runaround at the club, they had told him straight he wasn't there and hadn't been for months. But unlike Anna, they didn't offer to make contact. Must be some sort of policy or something.

[Anna]

Anna smiled at the date comment and Cade’s repsonse. ”Well, I was about to ask him to take me to dinner,” she said, giving Cade a smile and a wink. She hadn’t been planning on it - but the date comment made her feel flirty. She’d leave it to Cade to decide whether she was being serious or joking. It was a little bit of both.

She sat down taking the number from Cade and composing a message to Nox. Cade seemed to have the tech issues down, but as she typed, Anna chimed in one thing. ”For tech people you’ll probably have to go farther into the city. Not much of that sort in this market. Mostly coffee/tea shops, crafty stuff, food, some clothes, and a flower shop I think. I could be wrong though.”

Nox, it’s Anna from Kallisti. Elyse and I met a guy who’s looking for you. Elyse’s wolfy sense makes her think he doesn’t have any bad intentions. I figured I’d tell you and give you his info and you can do with that as you will.

PS thanks for the Christmas present. I’m looking forward to using it. Merry Christmas!!

XOXO

Attachment included: Contact Details: Cade

Anna sent the message and took a drink of her coffee as Elyse arrived back at the table. Amongst the look of confusion at their new guest, Anna could tell that Elyse had been crying. She hadn’t covered it well, but it never fully disappeared until enough time had passed. [color=lightblue]”You okay?”] she asked as Elyse sat down.