From Throuveil to Mundane in 20 Secs

[Cedric Von Engel]

With Kalypsa’s distraction was instantly apparent. And that tactical mind started to work in overdrive. He dropped the stick, yes a weapon, but he still needed to blend in here. Yes it was Avandrya, but there where mostly humans here. Denure really should not have had enough time to have gotten to the door, there was still a very good chance that he got blocked in if they split up and cornered him. And with that the grin returned, and quickly turning to Kalypsa.

“Kaly, that was perfect timing, I could kiss you! Game or no game, you’ve got your tab covered for the week! Ok, I’m headed up the left side. You flank over and cover the right… I want him unharmed. I’m sure Denure knows something of these hunters!”

And like a shot, was off and moving thru the left side of the crowd looking for the shifter. Pushing his way towards the front he still had not seen the Shifter’s face, when he reached the front of the crowd, and coincidentally the exit and the bouncers. Nothing! It would have been extremely unlikely to have gotten thru. With that thought Cedric looked over to see if Kalypsa had any luck.

[Kalypsa Cardei]

Kalypsa smiled brightly at the complement. Before turning away from him and going after their target. She spotted him instantly, which wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

The fight that she had created was supposed to land in front of him blocking his way, but his stubborn ass decided to try and move through it. This landed him right in the middle of the argument, which quickly turned into a brawl. She winced when Gray hit the man. Violence was not tolerated in Avandrya, especially by those of the non-human persuasion.

Kalypsa ran her hands over her face and sighed. Things sure in hell weren’t going as planned. She began racing through the crowd, darting between bodies, toward Gray. She’s hoped she’d get to him before a bouncer got to him, but her hoped were quickly dashed. She saw the protector reach for him and quickly hit him with some calm and happy feelings. She didn’t want to be responsible for the man getting into too much trouble. She moved to continue following them but she had moved deep enough into the crowd that the people created a wall of bodies.

She held still took a deep breathe and let her senses move through the crowd, calming the small riot along the way, but when the crowd finally dissipated Gray was nowhere to be seen, but she did manage to spot the Protector who had gotten to him. She caught up to him and asked him about Gray.

“I put him in a meeting room to cool off, he’s probably gone by now… is there any reason I should have kept him?”

“No not at all. Just making sure he was alright. Thank you.” Kalypsa sighed. She hadn’t managed to catch him, but she was relieved that he hadn’t got to caught up in the fight. She would’ve hated explaining to Ryuu that it was her fault that Gray got into the mess in the first place… and she might’ve even felt bad if he had been hurt. That would’ve been odd.

She pondered on her strange feelings as she made her way back to Cedric.

“I had him, I lost him, and now have been informed it is very unlikely that he remains in Avandrya.” She said feeling a little irked at the fact that she had failed.

[Cedric Von Engel]

Cedric looked around and knew his time had passed and the Shifter had escaped. He knew the Shifter was into some shady stuff, but had no proof, and again it was reinforced in his mind because of the Shifter fleeing. Something screamed in Cedric’s head that Denure was bad news.

His thoughts where confirmed by the approach of Kalypsa alone. This had been a total bust! It started with a little flirting with a beautiful girl, and some ended up a disaster… A small riot and chasing down a member of the underground would need to be explained to Ryuu, and rightfully he would not be happy. Luckily no one got hurt. But it was still he’s responsibility to keep the people out of danger. But how can he scold her for doing what he wanted after all. Well, he never did vocalize his desire, but again… semantics. He was in the wrong, and it fell to his shoulders, and so will the blame.

Speaking of Kaly… Where did he want to take things? He’d be lying to himself to say that she wasn’t the most beautiful creature in the place! Guise or no… And again if he said that the thought of the two of them intertwined didn’t haunt a few of his dreams. But how do you mix business with pleasure? And of course, all of that hinges on her feelings too. Huh… That’s all rather funny. One Thousand years old and still can’t figure out women. Maybe I should write a book… Men, stop trying to understand and just love! Speaking of business time to get back at it…

Cedric faced Kalypsa, and looking her straight in the eyes while she made her short report, he tried to keep his expression soft.

“Well, it’s most likely for the best. Denure is clearly hiding something. I want to question him, but not haul him in like a criminal. As of yet he has done nothing wrong. This could have been a lot worse if someone was seriously injured. But don’t worry, I’ll take it up with Ryuu when I see him. I’ll get it sorted out.”

Putting the grin back on his face, he double checked with the bouncers that all was well now, and with the guardians of the throuveil that they where sound. Then finally facing Kaly again…

“So… I clearly lost the first game and Yup... I’ve got your tab for a week. Shall we rake them again? Or did you have something else in mind?”

[Kalypsa Cardei]

Kalypsa mind was frantic, but in not such a chaotic way. None of her thoughts were sticking. They just passed through her mind, barely making themselves known. Only one thought really stuck, and it wasn’t really a thought at all, more of an image. The only thing that was sticking in her head was Gray’s face. She wondered why she suddenly found her so distracted by him. She hadn’t realized just how severely, until she noticed she’d missed an entire conversation.

She stared at Cedric blankly for a moment. He had a somewhat forced looking grin across his features.

What had he been saying? Think Kalypsa, it’s not very polite to completely ignore people.

She looked him over. His body was turned slightly toward the pool table. Ah yes, he’d been talking about the game. She dropped the perplexed look and replaced it with a smile and comprehension.

“Well I am working for the rest of the night and I would like to be here when Ryuu arrives, so I am afraid that leaves not a lot of room elsewhere. But I have absolutely no problem schooling you at pool again.”

She lead the way over to the tables, a little more quickly than the last time.

“I’ll rack. You break, and this time you can pick the conditions of our game.”

She looked up at him a smile on her face as she methodically popped the balls into the triangle, perfectly ordered, without looking down.

[Cedric Von Engel]

The blank and perplexed looks from Kaly didn’t escape him. But he hid his disappointment and kept his expression soft and unassuming. Inwardly his disappointment and sadness would have triggered even the weakest of psychics that is if not for his walls.

As she starting racking the balls, he made his way over to the bar for the next round. With a grin Cedric explained to the bartender that the rest of Kaly’s drinks tonight where going on his bill, but nothing crazy was to be allowed. He left with Kaly’s drink in hand and as he approached she had just finished setting up the table. Putting the drink in front of her, and leaning close to talk over the noise.

“Sorry Kaly, I lost track of the time… I have to go see someone, so I’ll see ya later on. So try not to get into too much trouble”

Giving her a big grin, he exited the club and walked around to the back. Coming around the corner he gave a nod to the guard and asked how the night was? The guard answered that things where quiet, just a couple of kids looking to sneak in to beat the line ups, nothing unusual. With the threat of the hunters he pushed for extra security, you couldn’t be too careful. Plus it also allowed him to park his old busted up Harley there too. Opening the secret compartment under the seat, he took out his .45 and slipped it into his belt, and then went about concealing his knives in his boots and else where. He felt better being armed now. But another look at his watch reminded him that if he was to make it in time for confession tonight he’d have to hustle. With a last nod to the guard, and a roar of the old engine out of the alleyway he burst.

[Kalypsa Cardei]

Kalypsa took the drink with a smile and watched as Cedric moved through the crowd and out of sight. For such an interesting start to the night, this hadn’t ended up at all like she’d hoped. Though at the moment she couldn’t quite grasp what it was she had hoped in the first place.

She sat back on the pool table, nursing her drink and looking out at the crowd around her. People really should try and be more interesting. A young man who had seen Cedric leave propositioned her for a game, but she quickly shot him down.

She was still hungry, but she would remain that way, as she found herself uninterested in anyone the club currently had to offer. It had been a strange night indeed. She hoped Ryuu would arrive shortly so she could give her report of the night and go about some of her other business, and for once in a long while she hoped the rest of the night would be a quiet one.

((TBC in Avandrya))