A Friend of a Friend [Nox's Building]

[Hayden]

It had been the middle of the night when Nox sent Hayden a text.

Need you to talk to someone soon as you can make the time. Gotta former Atharim. Her father found out she's wolfkin and now he's hunting her. Got an email said was having ideations of the unaliving/harm type.

Nox's text had come in short strings of text and Hayden interrupted. 

Say no more. Got it. What's her name?

Nox quickly replied

Elyse.  Thanks man.

Hayden knew Nox struggled with similar problems, though they'd only touched on it. He wondered how many other Atharim struggled with the guilt and same issues and never told anyone.  He could probably make a real business out talking to just Atharim. But they were a special breed of people. And why his father had him doing what he was doing. Though he'd have preferred Hayden take up arms with the inquisitors and find the traitors.  Instead of listening to their woes.

Hayden made his way around the corner to Nox's house.  He opened the door and knocked on the door.  

Sky answered. "Can I help you?"

Hayden chuckled. "I'm hoping I can talk to Elyse, Nox sent me. I know she'll be leaving for work soon, just wanted to touch base."

Sky buzzed the door open "You can make yourself at home in the living space, Hayden. I will call Elyse"

Hayden climbed the stairs two at a time thinking about all the times he'd climbed the Harbour's stairs to see Nox when he'd come back from his job.  This was different.  Though he'd been her a few times to talk to some of the older kids, he'd wait till Nox got back to speak to the little ones. Last thing he needed was someone calling protective services on him (or even Nox for that matter).  

Hayden did as Sky said and made himself at home by opening the fridge and starting to make some breakfast. Normally he'd be doing the whole serving beer thing, this was different. He still wanted the casual feel of just talking to a friend.

---

In only Elyse's room. "Elyse, you have a guest.  Hayden Sebastian says Nox sent him to talk to you."

[Elyse]

Elyse hadn’t started crying until Nox had sent her a message. It was then she realized she’d have to open up. And it was someone she didn’t know.

Hey. Got Adrian's email. Sending my friend Hayden to talk to you. He understands what we do, you did.

She responded. Okay. I’m sorry. And I’m scared.

She waited in her room, but in reality, she had rarely left. She only left when eating or working. There didn’t seem to be any reason to leave. So when Sky told her Hayden was waiting for her downstairs, she took a few moments to stand up, pocketing her wallet as she did.

She was dressed simply in a pair of jeans and a light blue t-shirt. She moved slowly, her steps small and light, and as she arrived closer to where Hayden would be, she became self conscious. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to make herself as small and unobtrusive as possible, but she could smell food. Was he making breakfast? What kind of a therapist was this guy. Was he even a therapist?

And there he was. A man she had never seen before, digging through the fridge and preparing food. She blinked at that, but walked forward, still hugging herself with her eyes on the ground. She wasn’t crying, but her cheeks still bore the stains of tears. The guilt was there, as always, waiting to pounce on something.

She walked to the counter, but didn’t look up as she spoke. ”You’re Hayden?” was all she asked. She wasn’t sure this was going to work, but she was going to try.

[Hayden]

He heard the footsteps before he saw the woman walk into the living space. She was cute and with golden eyes. He gave her props for that. It said she felt comfortable in her skin at the very least, so it was something else that needed addressing.

She didn't look like she wanted to be there. This was her home. She needed to feel comfortable. "I am. Nox wanted me to come talk with you. I'm not a therapist -- not really. So this is just two people talking. I actually am a damn fine bartender. I do not cook like Nox, but I figured you still needed to eat, and I can make breakfast. It's a bit too early to be drinking." He said as he placed the bacon, eggs, sausages, tomato and mushroom on the counter. He'd have to look in the cabinets for some beans. Nox surely had some?

"Why don't you sit down. Would you like something to drink. Coffee? Orange Juice?" He didn't really wait for her sit or answer. He just wanted to make her feel comfortable so he kept talking about himself. "I know you probably think it looks strange that I'm making myself at home in Nox's kitchen. We haven't known each other long, and actually we hadn't spoken in a couple months till the other night when his house party turned into an orgie on his arrival. I remember the day he walked into my bar. Just another dumb Atharim kid looking to kill his mark and be on his way. Except that's not Nox. Took him a week to finish the job and we talked a lot during that time. How'd you meet him?" Hayden didn't really care, he actually already knew that this was Nox's ex-girlfriend. The name came up a few times in their converations. But this wasn't about Nox, it was about making her feel comfortable to talk.

[Elyse]

Elyse still didn’t look up. She could smell the food, but her stomach didn’t want it. She felt sick, and she knew that was because of everything going on. She knew she should eat something, but her appetite was gone this morning. That is what the guilt latched on to. Hayden was making food for her. How rude it was of her to refuse it. Even if she didn’t have an appetite, the guilt always did. She didn’t start sobbing, but tears began to fall anyway.

 Hayden talked about Nox. And a brief smile came to her lips as he mentioned them talking a lot for the week Nox has met with Hayden as she thought about how there definitely hadn’t been a lot of silence in that discussion, like Nox, it seemed Hayden liked to talk. The smile lasted a few seconds and then was gone. Replaced by the sad expression she had before. 

”I met him…” her breath hitched, threating to turn the falling tears into full blown crying. ”Started texting him when I first came to Moscow. Went on a hunt when he got back. He was my boyfriend. Happier times.”

Her voice was quiet and reserved. Elyse knew he was trying to help. It was just hard for her.  It didn’t help that she was scared and wasn’t sure what to say. ”Im sorry, I’m not very good at this…” she whispered. Not even sure what this was.

[Hayden]

Hayden chuckled as she claimed inadequacies at therapy strategies. "There is not a single person who is good at talking to strangers about none-of-their-business. I'm not going to ask you how you feel? Or tell you what you should be feeling. Seriously, I'm just making your breakfast." And from the look on her face she didn't feel the idea of food. "Let's start with some toast."

Hayden opened the cabinets looking for some bread. Nox had to have bread. And he did, probably way more than any one person should have. There were all the sandwich type and they easily fit into the toaster. Hayden chuckled. "I guess all the kids eat sandwiches." He popped a couple slices down in the toaster for each of them.

She'd brought up their former status so safe play to talk more about that. "What's it like living with your ex? Not sure I've ever left a relationship that I could do that with. More importantly." Hayden put his elbows on the counter and rested his chin in his hands and leaned towards her, not too close, but like he really wanted to know the answer. "What's it like living with so many kids?"

[Elyse]

Elyse didn’t smile, and she felt bad for her responses. Hayden seemed like a really nice guy. In fact, if she was in a normal state of mind, she could see herself laughing, chatting, and enjoying the breakfast he wanted to make for her. But this wasn’t a normal day for her. The last couple of days hadn’t been normal for her, and Nox had sent her a stranger to come talk to her, and she really didn’t understand what he was trying to do.

Hayden didn’t seem to want to talk to her about her issues. In fact he was avoiding them entirely. He even said he was a bartender. What was going on? How was this going to help? Had it been anyone besides Nox, she would have felt like this was some sort of joke, but she trusted Nox. There had to be a reason why Nox wanted him to talk to her. Elyse took a couple of breaths to calm down. She could feel her pulse rising.

She shrugged at his question. ”Havent been here long. Nox hasn’t really been here since I got here. And the kids - well I don’t see them much. Don’t really leave my room unless I’m eating or working.” somewhere it clicked that maybe Hayden just wanted her to feel comfortable. But she couldn’t feel that way unless she knew why Nox had chosen him. She also knew she might come across as rude, even if that wasn’t what she had intended.  ”Please don’t take this the wrong way, but why did Nox send you?”

[Hayden]

Hayden chuckled and turned around to grab the toast that popped up from the toaster. He didn't turn around "Butter, Jam, Peanut butter. You gotta eat kid, even if it's just a bit."

"Butter." Elyse answered.

He turned around with toast on a plate for them both and pushed it towards her. His had strawberry jam. Not his favorite but it was sweet. "The real truth. I work for the Atharim. I know the kinds of things you see, the kinds of shit that you've had to do. I know your father is hunting you. I know Nox is going kill your father, not because you asked, but because that's just what he does for family. Nox deals with similar issues of self destruction. He trusts me with his problems. He figures you needed someone to talk who wasn't going to tell you how you should feel. Or that you were crazy because of the things you've seen."

Hayden took a bit of his toast and chewed slowly as he leaned back against the counter behind him facing Elyse. "And I'm here because he asked me. He knows you won't talk to him. And you can't just talk to anyone. He trusts me.

[Elyse]

Elyse appreciated his candor and it caused her to actually look up. Guilt began to feed again because she felt she had treated him like shit. She wasn’t sure if it was true or not, but guilt didn’t care about the truth.  It only wanted to feed.

She looked at the toast, ripped off a small piece and ate it. Then another. Then she picked up the whole slice. Now that she was eating her appetite was back, telling her she needed sustenance. She finished the first slice and then the second.

”Is orange juice still on the table?” she asked.

”Aboslutely,” he said and moved to pour her a glass.

”Thank you,” she said and took a deep drink. Hayden began making breakfast again. ”You were asking what it’s like living here. Truth is I don’t like it here. It’s not the people. The kids are great. They have problems. real problems - not like mine.” Guilt stabbed at her. ”No it just feels…like a cage. It’s impersonal, a fortress, and that stupid AI is always watching and listening to everything. I’m here because I have nowhere else to go. Because he’ll find me easier out there. Because this is probably the safest place for me to be.”

((With Hayden))

[Hayden]

Hayden laughed as he started battering the mushrooms and tomatoes to fry up. The beans could be done without for now. Maybe next time. "Do you know Nox?" He chuckled a little more. "I mean really know him?"

It was more a rhetorical question. "Nox lives out of two bags. He has no taste in clothes. This is all his hacker buddy giving him something so it's not empty. I'll tell you what I told those kids. This is your house. This is your home. Nox has funds that Sage set aside for decorating. Nox is never going to make this house feel like a home cause he's fucking Atharim. And American Atharim at that. He's going to live out of a bag and make very little mark on where he is because he expects to move at the blink of an eye. Just don't touch his room. And I don't mean the one everyone set aside for him upstairs, cause he won't use it."

He started frying up the sausage and bacon. "Elyse, make it your home, because Nox does not and has never had a home he hasn't left with in months. You need to make this home, for you, and those kids because that AI ain't going anywhere. And there isn't anything you can do about it. It's here to help Nox, ignore it. I'll talk to him about limiting it to mundane tasks unless asked. That way no one here has to have the uncomfortable conversation." He smiled at her.

"I have a safe house around the corner, if you need something of a break. The bar's not done, but the rooms are. There is no weapons cache, and most Atharim tend to avoid Nox's perimeter right now. They don't particularly like being hounded by Sage's drones. Nox's house isn't the fortress, it's the three block radius in which he has every camera tapped, and sensors that tell him when anything and everything crosses it. This house is a safe house, nothing more. But it's sterile and new and never been lived in. Make it your home hun. Nox won't be upset. He'll thank you."

"And maybe if you add some color, throw a few pillows, change the curtains, buy new furniture all on Nox's dime mind you. Maybe that will help with the depression and the ideation of self-harm."

[Elyse]

Elyse looked at him and for the first time really saw Hayden. And now it made sense why Nox had picked him. Because his solution was so easy. She had said it herself. It was impersonal. So the answer was make it personal. She began to look around. There was space there for a dining room table where everyone could eat together. The walls, simply whitewashed had significant room for artwork or wall hanging. The curtains were atrocious. Put up someone who just wanted someone there. The sofa was a gross gray. It looked like a fortress, but now she could see it as a canvas.

Elyse stood up, ”Excuse me, I’ll be right back,”

She went upstairs and pulled, grabbed a notebook and a pencil. And then head back down and began to write a shopping list. She’d have Anna help. The whole place could just use a woman’s touch.

”Seems incredibly simple, she said. ”But might help. Certainly couldn’t hurt.” she looked up from her writing. ”But there is a bigger issue here. Guilt. It’s there. Always - eating me from the inside.” mentioning it caused it to rise up within her. She began to cry. ”I don’t know how to stop it. Everyone says I shouldn’t be feeling it, but it won’t stop. I can’t make it stop, even when I tell myself I didn’t do anything wrong.” she wiped her eyes and finished off her orange juice. ”Why can’t I stop it, Hayden. What am I doing wrong?”