Second Chances

[Nox]

A familiar voice pulled Nox from the feeling and he flicked the music in his ear to something akin to faking he was alright. He wasn't. But no one had to worry about him. He'd recover, though the stabbing pain in his head said that he might need to take a pain killer or two. It seemed to come with the new territory.

Nox stood up and shook Emily's hand with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Ms. Shale, or would you prefer Mrs. Vanders?" The voice of Sage in his ear reminding him she had recently gotten married. He tried not to roll his eyes at the formality. It was business and Sage had insisted he be present instead of the hacker handling it all from the confines of the computer. Nox wanted the money, he wanted the plan to work, he had to show up. And he agreed. It gave him something else to think about other than the shit hand he'd been dealt. Be rid of the horde mean being rid of the power. It was a hard truth to swallow and it ate at him as every minute passed if he wasn't preoccupied with other things. So everyone kept him busy. It was Ana and Emily's turn.

"Sage, Mr. Parker." Nox growled. "I can't do this so forgive me for just being me. Sage told me what you'd order -- a Carmel macchiato, though it might be at a drinkable level now, it's been sitting a bit." He didn't mention that normally it would still be piping hot except he lost his ability to fucking channel. It was a never ending reminder of his new life.

"Ana will be late. I've never known her to be on time much less early." He pulled out the chair for Emily which wasn't the business side of things, but purely a Nox thing to do. At least he was pretty sure being flirty and polite was something he'd do. Specially with someone who could potentially hate his guts. He didn't blame Emily for her dislike of him. He had left. He'd been a jerk. He wasn't that guy anymore. A lot had changed.

Nox was well aware that she wore the tenements of a business deal and he wore jeans and a hoodie -- at least neither were his classic ripped jeans and old worn hoodie -- He really needed to get that back from Raffe, it might make a few things a bit easier on his mind. Though it would be a small comfort to have the last thing his mother had bought him around his shoulders but it would be a comfort. He was advocating for the refugees with much less and he didn't own a suit or tie and if he did they wouldn't be suitable for a business meeting -- more likely to be tear away or holes in the cheeks. Not that he actually owned anything like that anyway that was all Kallisti. But he didn't apologize for his wear or his behavior, if they liked the idea they liked it and if they couldn't deal with him like this then helping the refugees was probably too far down their line anyway.

Nox flicked his eyes to change the mood in his mind. Something less serious, he was drowning in it. He'd have to see if Ashton could nail the right feeling he wanted for normal days of self reflection without the haunting of his past and nightmares and all that was shit with the world. They'd find something -- eventually.