A Little Head Clearing

[Nox]

Amaya walked Nox to a shady shop down a few blocks from Kallisti. It wasn't much but it would do in a this particular pinch. He'd find something a little more stable and more variety. But it did what needed doing.

Nox had pulled out his cooking supplies and found a safe place to actually cook something. He choose a room that had little belongings to make a make shift kitchen. He and Aurora would cook like this when they were hunting just the two of them when a fire was not hard to make. The whole thing made Nox a little sad. His sister was gone. He was alone.

The smell of chicken cooking on a pan with nothing but the power heating it made the room smell pretty fucking good. But Nox was lost in memories of his sister. Of sitting on a log laughing at his foolishness. Or making fun of him for some other silly thing. There were vegetables to cut and cook and lots of other things to do so he pushed the thoughts away and pressed a smile to his lips. "I hope you are hungry."

[Thalia]

NPC: Amaya 

It was the strangest way to spend a break. Amaya watched curiously as Nox set up his little make-shift kitchen. Furniture was sparse, as it was in many of the rooms upstairs, and she sat on the floor with her back pressed against the wall, brows drawn up in amusement and a small amount of fascination. Not that she could see much of the process of course. Still, it was weird and wonderful. 'You need to come see this.' The message pinged to Raffe, though they hadn't see him on the traipse back through the building. A more demure messaged followed for Carmen, though the office was empty. Not unusual for this time of day, even when the club was in full swing. 

The smell made her hungry. Ballet had always required a stringent regime she didn't really adhere to anymore (besides which, the meal was pretty healthy). "Always," she laughed. "There anything you need me to do?" Clearly there was other prep, but he was new, and she didn't want to step on toes -- either by assuming, or by failing to offer.

[Nox]

The other girls came and went but Amaya kept him company. He liked that, someone was at least there to talk to though he wasn't being the best host. So rude, little brother.

He was grateful for the offer to help. "You can make a tossed salad? Cut the veggies up?" the dressing was part of what Nox was making, more like a gravy but it went excellent on raw veggies as a dressing as well as on the chicken. He had learned a few things from Christian while living with a trained chef. Funny how Christian seemed to know how to do everything but clean the house. Though from what he understood Christian didn't handle the finances, that was an accountants job. Made sense with a buttload of cash like Dorian had. One good thing to come from that epic failure.

But Nox focused on the good and hoped he hadn't made too much food. There was no fridge to store leftovers in. He'd have to buy one for the rooms upstairs to at least share cold drinks. He wasn't exactly going to be able to keep it. It wasn't like pots and pans and definitely didn't fit into a backpack. He could shove a lot of things inside them, but there were limits. His crossbow, guns and knives were neatly shoved under his bed when he unpacked the camping gear. He wasn't worried about someone finding them, but weapons out in the open usually meant danger, and right now there was little danger.

The room smelled great and the lack of smoke made Nox smile, smelling like smoke was not his favorite thing in the world. If he'd had an oven there would have been roasted vegetables instead of a salad, but the salad was easier and Nox wasn't sure how to make an oven to do that, heating a pan was easy. Chicken in a creamy garlic lemon sauce and a tossed salad with bread on the side. It was a day old so Nox toasted it to the best of his ability. He couldn't bake bread - baking was never his thing.

"Food's on." And just on cue his stomach rumbled.

[Raffe]

Checking the stock took longer than Raffe expected. He made the orders and helped Carmen begin sorting through the list of other necessary jobs to prepare for the club’s opening. Habit ran cloths over the bar and cleaned sparkling glasses diligently. He took the shower skipped that morning and lingered an inordinately long time before donning the fresh tshirt draped in his hands. By now some of Kallisti’s regular performers were flitting about the club, giggling and conspiratorial about the show brewing in the theatre. Raffe grinned and teased in kind, content to be left outside the secret. Some time later Amaya’s message beeped his phone, rousing curiosity. He turned the screen around. “See what?”

They laughed. He followed the girls up, but inhaled the scent of food long before they reached the top of the stairs. A hungry grumble lurched deep in his stomach. Something else struck him too, harder to define, but it was forgotten as they trailed into one of the empty rooms. A grin perked his lips before he even noticed the unusual method of cooking. He hovered in the doorway. “Room for one more?”

[Nox]

The girls were taking food and Nox was more than happy to feed more. It had once been only him and Aurora. But at Dorian's he'd enjoyed the kitchen. It was an excellent kitchen, he'd miss that most.

But this would do for now. Until he found someplace more suitable. But a familiar voice pulled Nox from his happy moments only to smile brighter when he saw Raffe standing in the doorway. "Always for you." He flirted. Nox remembered his promise. But he couldn't help flirting, it came naturally as breathing, and now that even extended to men. Nox wondered if it had ever not extended to men. He didn't feel different. At least not until he realized what he was doing.

Nox held up a paper plate, because that was all he had right now, and a plastic fork. "Help yourself. it's not exactly gourmet, but it's edible." Nox plated his own. He might have to make more if he was feeding a crowd. The thought made him happy too. At least he could provide some service everyone would enjoy.

It wasn't exactly Nox's favorite meal, but he was impressed with himself and what he'd accomplished with little equipment. There might be other practical things to do than kill things with his power he thought to himself. Which made the smile stay. The last few days had been far better than the past few months. Something was bound to destroy it, but Nox told himself he'd hold on to new friends for as long as possible.

[Raffe]

Raffe’s gaze dipped away and back, grinning. His hair still curled damp from the shower, his feet bare beneath the cuffs of his jeans as he padded into the room and took the paper plate. The girls chattered quietly amongst themselves. Amaya smirked at him as he found a spot on the floor, but Raffe only winked playful back.

“This is impressive, especially without a kitchen.”

It tasted as good as it smelled, particularly since it had been a little while since he’d had a proper meal. Given the safe roof over his head he wasn’t complaining -- truth was he’d lived through worse, and staying here was only supposed to be temporary, but still, it was nice. “I hear the show’s all top secret. I don’t even get a little sneak peek?” He grinned.

[Nox]

Nox grinned and shrugged at the compliment. "It's nothing really. You learn to do with what you got and sometimes a fire in the woods on a hunt isn't exactly something you need even if you want it. That last year with my sister was rough just the two of us, but we made do. And you learned to live with what you could carry." Nox nodded to his accouterments of cooking accessories. That had been his life before Moscow. The memories slowly filtered back in, strange things sometimes reminding him of something the plane crash had taken from him.

The food was good, and filling and really that was all that mattered. There was still loads of work to do but Raffe's question made him grin mischievously. His thoughts lingering on the private show he'd like to give Raffe, but he didn't say it out loud. And Nox was eternally grateful that no one here was a Sentient. At least to his knowledge. Crushes were just that and ... there was no and it wasn't his call. Raffe made him smile in a stupid sort of way but it was happy and he'd take happy to hell any day. Nox pushed the looming rest of his life away. "I could tell you, but I'd have to kill you." Sage would be proud. Though Nox was sure the reference had been lost to the pop cultures of the past, Nox never saw the movie itself, and probably couldn't tell you the name, but that was about as much pop culture as he knew. Life on the road...

Nox chuckled more to himself than anything "It's not so much a secret. I can tell you all about it while I splice the music together tonight. And I'm sure you can manage to poke your head in and see that sneak peek anytime you want." Nox winked. Still lingering thoughts played through his head.

[Raffe]

Raffe knew a little bit about living with nothing, though it was a different sort of nothing. Sometimes he wondered what it might have been like to grow up in a traditional family, but such idle imaginings usually ended with a raw ache deep in his chest. It was stupid to miss a mother he barely remembered, and it was hardly a unique hardship. He liked the life he had now. He liked the people in it. Family had never been a thing of blood. Home had never been a thing with walls.

He grinned, massaging the scars across his throat. Nox sounded like he was quoting something, but Raffe couldn’t place what. It was the smile behind the tease that was infectious, sparking a memory he was trying very hard not to linger on, at least not at the moment. From the things Nox said alone he sensed something at least a little rare in the happiness of the moment. He was glad to share it.

The dry rasp of his laugh met the tease. Something glinted in return. They definitely weren’t talking about Kallisti’s stage anymore, and he doubted any of the girls missed the undercurrents, but he kept to the surface conversation. But for the knowing of his grin anyway.  “Sure, I can drop in later,” he said. “You have much left to practise for today?”

[Nox]

Moon Pyre or Juliana as Nox came to understand was her real name answered before Nox had a chance. "We are done for the day. The pretty boy has shown us what we need to know for now, he needs to get that music straight and figure out what he envisions for costumes. We all got acts to take care of too." She winked and smiled at the rest of the girls offering Candy who's real name was Amanda but preferred Mandy a hand.

Mist waved them on while she dug into a second helping "I'm going to eat my feelings." She never looked up from the plate she was poking at - she hadn't really eaten much. Her name was Mae and she was barely even old enough to be working here.

The girls all had lives outside their show names. And Nox liked the real them more than the fake smiles they wore when Amaya first introduced them.

Juliana giggled and leaned down to whisper in Mae's ear. The blue hair in Mae's hair swung wide as she looked from Raffe to Nox before she quickly stood up and smiled. "I guess I'll go dance the feelings." She gave the two men a second look before she hurried out the door.

Nox laughed as the girls all left. "I guess that's my hint that I need to work on the rest of the show." Though he was pretty sure Juliana had hinted at the obvious. But it only made things a little more awkward. "But I need a rigorous workout to clear my head a little." Nox grinned hoping that the implied invitation was actually understood, but he made sure to add to the words to make sure Raffe was aware of what he was planning on doing. "I need to find a good close gym with heavy things to lift. But a long run might have to do." Nox winked, if there were no other activities to do.

Nox stood up and offered Raffe a hand up. "Stop by later, and I'll tell ya all about the show."

[Raffe]

The room emptied out, some with a little more coaxing than others, and Raffe chuckled. He watched Nox stand and took the offered hand with a grin. Temptation lit from the touch, or maybe it was the invitation of Nox’s smile sizzling heat into his skin. Either way, he did not let go immediately after finding his feet, and the search of his gaze rested on Nox’s mouth for a long second before it lifted to find his eyes. On whim Raffe shifted close to whisper in his ear, voice softened with a smile, aware how the touch of hot breath would feel from his own experience hours before. 

“You’re going to undo me.” 

He seriously considered pressing his lips to the other man’s neck then. But the job came first, and Kallisti’s doors weren’t even open yet. He didn’t want to be the distraction that might cost Nox his place here, and Juliana had already pointed out how much work there was left to do. Still, he was grinning when he pulled back, and poked Nox playfully in the ribs to send him on his way.

“Go for your workout. I’ll catch up with you later.”