Two scenarios

Boisterous viking paired with silent sharpshooter and Ikea furniture.


Former King's hunt for his wives.

Next door to each other in one very tiny apartment complex.


What could go wrong?


Welcome to the Noba Log. A series that captures the chaotic nature of our Aikekunai Stasia and her former lives in high definition.

Hex codes in order of appearance: E:ff9505  A: 780116 J: f20089


"I HAVE BOUGHT the IKEA." 


Arthur looked at Eric, it had been Stasia's idea to separate the lives into groups to keep them all safe, he had drawn the short straw and was now the neighbour of Eric and Jillian. The former King looked at both of his lives, they were so different... they might as well be strangers if not for the fact that they all knew each other inside and out intimately. Eric had been hauling cardboard boxes up and down the two storey building for the good part of three hours – the man refused to take an elevator and that meant that Jillian was playing elevator tag, constantly getting in and out of the device in order to carry smaller, more fragile things that the viking would otherwise crumble in his hands. Arthur had moved in less than a month ago into room 204, and he had expected that his new neighbour would be a human, not these two.

Eric placed the last of the large rectangle boxes into the hallway and clapped his hands excitedly, behind him as silent as a mouse on a good day, Jillian slipped by with a soft toy that was double her size, Arthur didn't catch whether it was an elephant or not but when Jillian nearly crashed into one of the boxes – which would have caused a disastrous domino effect, Arthur decided it would be best to stick around and help them unpack and settle in before shutting the door to his apartment and finally getting some much deserved peace and quiet. The two men towered over Jillian who was the height of a very small seven-year old child she was in fact, by humans estimates well into her 20s, but one would not be able to deduce that based on her size or her selective mutism. Eric and Arthur listened as Jillian struggled to shove the last of her many soft toys onto the bed that she had - whilst Eric had been struggling to get the box labelled 'Söderhamn' through the less than large doorframe. Built her bed and was now already starting to put things in order. Eric wanted to bid adieu to Arthur, who pulled his second life behind him and walked into the small apartment himself, it was much like his own... just cluttered and filled to the brim with Ikea boxes.


"This will be a challenge. Can you even read the manuals? You do realise you have to build everything right?" 


"It CANNOT be THAT HARD. If MAN can do IT. SO can I. I AM not AFRAID."


One could not fault the viking persona for being confident, Arthur supposed. As they rearranged the boxes, Eric decided that it was most important to build his bed first... not that the man would use it, he could sleep anywhere be it on a pole, balcony railing... anything. Arthur decided that whilst Eric was getting started to make sure that both had something to eat, he peeked into Jillian's room just as the female was jumping up and down like a rabbit sticking pins into the ceiling to drape her tapestries, height did not in any case ever seemed to be a problem for Jillian... her leg muscles and jumping/climbing skills made up for it. He noticed the soft toys, the fact that the posters were somewhat age appropriate for a seven year old at first glance, the very white fluffy rug and the mountain of pillows. Jillian really only needed to build her wardrobe so that she could put her clothes away, out in public she dressed like a seven year old, which mostly took people by surprise – until they noticed that she was well endowed. He had to double take when she retrieved her sniper from its case, checking meticulously for any damage. 


"Where are you going to hide that?" 


She pointed to the soft toys. 


"There? Underneath them? But there's hardly any space?"


She did not respond and went back to inspecting her firearm. Arthur continued on his way into the very back of the studio apartment where Eric's room was, he recoiled... what was Eric thinking painting the walls bright green! The fluorescent shade stung at his eyes and he shut the door... if Eric needed help moving stuff into the bedroom then it would have to be Jillian who assisted... come to think of it... what colour had Jillian painted her walls? He doubled back hoping to catch a glimpse but she had shut and locked the door. Having made his mandatory circuit around the apartment he opened the fridge... only to find it empty. He checked the cabinets... also empty.

"Do neither of you need to eat or did you forget to get the groceries?"  

"GET later. MUST make HOUSE." 

"I'll go get something then for the both of you. Jillian what do you want?"

His response came in an origami folded arrowhead, unfolding it carefully as to not tear the thin paper he read the order out loud. 

"You want Udon... item number nineteen on their menu? From anywhere?"

Another note. From the place on the corner... come to think of it Arthur had never tried the food there, he mentally added that he should buy his own dinner whilst there. Eric was too busy trying to decipher the instructions for his bed to answer and so Arthur just presumed the man wanted something with a lot of protein... maybe a Tonkatsu? Shutting the cabinets, the fridge and some money out of Eric's wallet. Arthur made his way out of the apartment and towards the antique Japanese place that as Jillian had promise would be around the corner, the woman at the counter jumped when she saw how tall he was, his kept his eyes on the plastic display menus as she waited with pen and pad to take his orders down. 

"Number nineteen... two thirty fives and three number four." 

"Comes with miso soup already."

"Then take away the three number fours... and give me Takoyaki instead... two serves." 

"Spicy base for the udon?" 

"No thanks."


He remembered faintly that Jillian could not handle spicy food. As he paid, the woman's fingers touched his hands and her thoughts of wanting to bed him, amused Arthur. Those thoughts were shattered when she saw the wedding bands on his ring fingers. he waited outside the store, his eyes directly looking at the opposite side of the street where a cat was cleaning itself, there were kittens too he noticed but the cat didn't seem to know them and he wondered if the cat was perhaps their father? A pimple covered indistinguishable teenager, emerging from the public bathrooms picked the cat up and started to pick the kittens up too when Arthur intervened. 

"Are those stray?"

"No. They're mine. Looking to sell the kittens for twenty each." 

"I'll take two." 

"Sure. Which do you want?" 

He remembered once upon a time he owned two cats. It was why he didn't mind the impulse decision to buy two now. There were three kittens after all, all of them were female and were Tonkinese. The adult cat was indeed their father, what had happened to the mother Arthur had wondered? As he gave the kid cash to take all three - it hadn't felt right just buying two and leaving the last one alone to fend for itself with an uncaring father. With that, Arthur had to juggle three kittens and the takeout in his arms as he walked back to the apartment - once he had his dinner he was going to have Stasia express deliver kitten care supplies... all three seemed to be attached to his side from the get go – would he name them? He wasn't sure, maybe he would or maybe he'd wait for his wives to come back and then name them, that felt right. 

Reentering the apartment, he was not surprised to see Eric was still struggling with the bed frame, but that there was a full dining table, chairs and part of a storage unit was already built. Jillian was sitting cross legged on the floor on her iPad, occasionally sighing and shaking her head when Eric lifted up a piece of wood or something to ask if he was on the right track. Unlike with others, when he usually shouted at the top of his lungs and didn't care who could hear him,  Eric lowered his voice to the point of a whisper for Jillian. How Jillian had managed to get Eric to make such a dramatic switch for her, was something that Arthur would never understand. 

"Dinner." 

"KITTENS." 

that was enough to cause the kittens which Arthur was letting run around, return to him... scurrying until they were practically hiding in his pants legs... he sighed. Placing the plastic bags down and taking out the containers, retrieving his own items he gave a polite nod to Eric and Jillian as he turned around and left, taking his kittens with him. Arthur would return once he had eaten something and showed the kittens his apartment. The fact that their claws were digging into his skin, didn't bother him whatsoever as the door to his apartment shut behind him. The kittens dropped off sensing they were in a new place and continued their exploration. His apartment was sparsely decorated, with barely any furniture himself... he had never been materialistic, putting the provided plastic cutlery in the drawer, he took out a fork and sat down on the floor, food in hand so he could keep his eyes on the kittens, he had decided to order himself the same thing he had gotten for Eric, a Tonkatsu bento, he had been surprised to spy the six pieces of salmon and tuna sashimi... that replaced the gyoza that was supposed to come with the meal... the woman at the counter must have thought to impress him, too bad he was married. 

Next door in the meanwhile, Jillian was struggling with the supplied chopsticks. Eric traded his plastic fork - their cutlery was still in the wrapping in one of the boxes of yet-to-be built furniture. Thankful to be able to start her meal, she started slurping down the udon, Eric had noticed that when Jillian got to eat what she wanted, that a soft wave of happiness permeated from her, flowing into the surrounding area and thus lifting everyone else in the near vicinity up. He placed one of his pieces of crumbed covered pork into her bowl, she looked up at him. 

"Meat, good for you. Keep you strong." 

"No need for it."

She was a little croaky, her voice shaking a little from the lack of use. She coughed. Eric furrowed his brows and decided maybe it would be best not to have Jillian speak too often... yes she was capable of it but the fact that she had just tried to speak any higher than a whisper was clearly going to hurt her throat. He nudged the piece of meat with his chopstick, she hesitantly stabbed into it with her fork. He would not continue eating until she had swallows the meat... this was normal for the pair. Eric was constantly worried that Jillian did not eat enough and Jillian worried that the man who was basically like a dad to her was trying to force feed her. She took her glasses off, wiping away the condensation; as she continued to chew on the pork; it was not bad she had to admit but she also didn't like the general feeling of protein like pork in her mouth... Eric would not understand though, the man lived as though he'd never see food ever again – and it was only after much practice and training on Jillian's part that Eric stopped wolfing everything - including the bowl or plate... down. 

"See? Not so bad."

She shrugged and he laughed. They continued their meal in silence. Occasionally Jillian took off her glasses to wipe away the condensation that built up on the lenses. Eric would continue to try to bribe her into eating more of the pork, he had no trouble getting her to eat the Takoyaki, she loved the stuff. Once that was done, and Jillian had decided she would clean the trash up, that left Eric with the disaster that was his bed frame, he had made some progress but not enough that he'd be able to sleep on his new mattress tonight. Jillian returned, smelling a little bit like artificial lemon soap and sat down next to him, she picked up the manual and read it before she started to point and instruct Eric on what he was doing wrong (they had to deconstruct what he had done thus far and start again) Eric nodded and paid attention as Jillian showed him what each of the pictures meant when the point was not clear enough by her sighs and grimaces.

Arthur entered the apartment to find that the only box left was a cabinet, Eric mentioning that they decided to leave it for later because they weren't sure if they even had space. Stasia had delivered on the goods and now that his apartment was kitten-proof and a somewhat paradise for three felines, he was happy to leave them alone to play with their new cat tower and to eat what they wanted, he had been exasperated when Stasia explained that there was such thing as food meant for kittens and food meant for adult cats – when he couldn't tell her what age they were, she swore at him in Swedish before mentioning that if they looked too small then they were being underfed and needed a specific type of food to get them back on track and maybe some milk from a donor female cat. Arthur was pretty sure that the kittens had been weened... but hadn't asked the kid he had bought them from. 

"If you're going to be so irresponsible. Next time adopt them. Don't buy them from some random human off the street!" 

Was what Stasia had said before hanging up on Arthur and texting him to expect the goods to be delivered before the hour was up. Eric was lifting weights and standing outside on the balcony, his skin glistened with sweat as Jillian came out of their shared bathroom with her hair tucked and wrapped up in a pink towel. She walked past Arthur to grab a glass of water, in nothing but a baby blue towel. Did she feel no shame? Or did she not care? She gave him a look that screamed 'Not like you haven't seen my body before.' Something else that Arthur hadn't realised was that part of the wall of the pair's living room seemed to be covered in blackboard material, as there was a bucket of chalk pens sitting at the bottom; on it an illegible sprawl of symbols sat and Arthur found himself wondering if that was on purpose or not. 

"What is this?"

"This WEEK'S  menu. STASIA DROPPED OFF GROCERIES... or she sent SOMEONE to do IT. I THINK?" 

"What's the writing... I don't recognise the language." 

"JILLIAN and I SPECIAL code WE use IT to COMMUNICATE because I CANNOT read." 

"You shouldn't sound so proud of that fact... maybe we ought to get someone to teach you."

"NOT necessary. I AM fine. I CAN COPE with THIS NEW world." 

Arthur really did want to raise an another argument but was halted by Jillian who was giving him a look that suggested that he would find himself flying out of the window of their balcony. Eric went back to his workout, occasionally shouting random words he had picked up from Jillian... words that made no sense to Arthur and the first life had to wonder if Eric even knew what he was saying. Jillian decided to dress herself in a night gown covered in small purple bows, her hair dry and braided. She sat on the couch, iPad on her lap looking at some sort of map... Arthur sat down next to Jillian and peeked over her shoulder every now and then. 

"What are you looking at?"

She gave him a look that told him to go home and to stop bothering her. Eric now finished and still drenched in sweat moved past them, he glimpsed the iPad and frowned. Did Eric have a better idea? Arthur stood up and followed the male as he rummaged around for a clean towel and a new bottle of body wash... now that Arthur thought about it he hadn't actually seen the bathroom, sneaking behind Eric who opened the bathroom door... Art had expected a shower and a sink... but instead there was a clawfoot bath, a shower and... now he realised that because he was living on his alone that he had gotten the smaller of the two apartments available and that Eric and Jillian had gotten the larger newer one. He was envious! He loved taking baths and had to settle for a damn shower! The rows were neatly aligned with separate areas for Jillian and Eric, he could just make out that most of Jillian's products were lilac scented, whereas Eric used three in one conditioner-shampoo... 

"Don't tell me you use that." 

"I do. PROBLEM?"

"Yes, it's not good for your hair..."

"WHO cares? I am GETTING my HAIR DONE TOMORROW." 

Come to think of it, his hair was getting a little dull Arthur noted. Normally Eric had vibrant red hair. Arthur felt the sting of another one of Jillian's arrowheads hitting him square in the neck, slapping his neck and retrieving the note, he unfolded it and read it... the door to the bathroom shut and Arthur was forced to return to the living room... Jillian had changed or rather added a very puffy jacket and some boots to her ensemble. She wanted to go to the convenience store to buy snacks – as apparently Stasia or rather the people who Stasia hired for the groceries hadn't managed to locate Jillian preferred cup noodles. Eric wouldn't mind right? When he opened his mouth to announce it, Jillian finished folding a paper boat, she placed it on the kitchen counter and then proceeded to walk out... without Arthur. 

"Wait! Hold on!" 

Despite her size, Jillian was fast on her feet. She was already halfway towards the store by the time Arthur had put his shoes back on and was running after her. Stepping into the brightly-lit store, it felt like in someways that the shelves would swallow her up. She looked around, trying to find the appropriate section. Retrieving a plastic basket, she made the decision to just walk every aisle until she found what she was looking for. No one else in the store and the clerk at the counter had not even realised that someone was in their store... finding what she was looking for, she stood up on tippy toes and tried to reach for the top shelf. She was craving seafood flavoured instant noodles, but also wanted something that would compliment the cheese she spied in the fridge before. Arthur entered the store a little flustered, the clerk waved at him. 

"Sorry but did a child run in here?"

"No."

"Jillian are you here?" 

The tiny female poked her head out and gestured for him to hurry up. As he rounded the two aisles. He came to a stop... she was climbing the shelves and tossing the cup products into her basket. Picking the basket up Arthur stood there rather annoyed and a little overwhelmed that someone so small craved so much. He was going to talk to Stasia about this, surely this amount for someone Jillian's size would cause ill consequences – he had to remind himself that Stasia had blocked his number until tomorrow because she was still mad over the cat fiasco. 

"Let's hurry back before Eric thinks we've been taken." 

'Eric will be fine. He will read my note. He's used to this now.'

She continued on her shopping spree as though he had said nothing... the fact that Jillian could mentally project her words into other people's minds was still unnerving for the very first life of theirs. He sighed and  nodded solemnly... just how much was Jillian planning to spend? He could only pray that Eric's wallet would survive; it had been discovered much to everyone's horror and delight that because of her size... no one not even the bank believed that she was an adult and therefore all of her money was in a shared account with Eric... who had no concept of 'cost' or 'budgeting' and therefore was not trusted with a credit card... she had wanted Arthur to come because otherwise the human at the counter would have asked to have waited until her parent came inside the store to make sure that the purchases were legitimate. Arthur would have to do for this evening, even if he was reluctant.

Spotter



'I've marked your position.' 


She increased the scope by a minuscule amount, she could just see the top of Stasia's hair, which had been done in her signature take on a traditional Katsura. The only other sound that Jillian could detect that wasn't the koto that Stasia was playing at the moment, her nails plucking at the strings, the melancholic story that she was telling seemed to capture the group of men that she was entertaining, through a tiny peephole, Jillian was keeping an eye on the target, a notorious member of a Yakuza gang and the head honcho of an international syndicate that dealt in human bodies and what human bodies contained. Jillian shifted her arm and turned back to look at the unconscious tied down with chains and claimant sleeping tonic, Shinzo was out cold and as far as Jillian was concerned a nuisance. They had both spotted the swordsman playing security for the target and Jillian had taken the job of keeping Shinzo out of the picture seriously, so much so that she loaded four of her bullets with a serum that could kill a human from the coma they'd fall into but would just give a claimant or an Aikekunai in this case a very deep nap that they would wake up to feeling perfectly fine from. Three of the four had managed to get lodged inside Shinzo's body, the fourth he had stopped as he swaggered to and from before passing out. Jillian carried him to where she was now, tied him down in chains and kept his sword underneath her. She was sure he'd remain out cold for the duration of this hit, if not she'd just shoot him again and deal with Haden later.

Returning to the task at hand, she placed her finger on the trigger and moved the barrel of the firearm, as the song came to an end and Stasia was moving about, the target was still where he was though incredibly intoxicated. He was shouting something that Jillian didn't want to hear, she scowled when the man grabbed Stasia by the arm and yanked her down into his lap, this would have made anyone livid but not Stasia who fell onto the lap and playfully teased and joked with the drunk criminal. Jillian bit her lip when Stasia was forced into a position which meant that if Jillian were to shoot, it's have to go through her younger life and whilst dealing with a livid Irishman was manageable, dealing with DeVian was not. Stasia finally managed to free herself from the man's grasp as he fondled parts of her that she rather he not touch, pouring him another cup of warm sake, she moved in such a manner that she was now back behind the koto. She began to play another tune, this one more lively as her younger Geisha entered the room, each of them carrying a fan, the men shifted to give them space to perform.


"ここの女の子たちも足を広げているのか、それとも遊んで踊っているのか教えてください。 舞子さんと一緒に寝たいです。 あなたの名前は何でしたか？ いくら? 私は物々交換することができます、ちょうど限り、私は今夜あなたのベッドで終わるように。 " 

[Tell me do the girls here spread their legs too or do you all just play and dance? I'd love to sleep with you Maiko. What was your name again? How much? I can barter, just so long as I end up in your bed tonight. ]

"それは私たちの母親が決めることの問題です。"

[That is a matter for our mother to decide.]

Stasia did not halt playing and when she switched to another tune, Jillian knew it was time. She took one more breath before pushing the trigger, no one had even realised what had happened until the man's brain matter hit the opposing wall, every time Jillian took a life it was if time slowed down as the bullet ripped away the layers of flesh and falsity until all that was left was a soul to be examined... at her mercy. Alas, normally she would have considered this soul and its weight more seriously if she did not have such a biased for killing anyone or anything that harmed children. It took no memories, for her to know just much this man stank of death. Like a candle being snuffed out she dis-assembled her sniper and listened as the screams and the shouts began. Stasia cleared a path for her human younger Geisha with her scissors, slitting the throats of the rest of the man's company and redirected the spurt of blood towards the floor. 

Once both were packed up, Stasia calling in a team of water claimants to clean up the mess and a group of darkness claimants to wipe the mind of her underlings. She changed to something less conspicuous, Jillian in the meanwhile released Shinzo, placed his sword by his side and folded a small origami lotus blossom for him to read to inform him of what happened, she retrieved her bullets from inside the wounds it had cause and made sure they had closed up before clearing the space and rejoining Stasia who was already on her bike, engine on and waiting to leave. 

"Thanks for not shooting when I was on the pig's lap."

'It would have been unwise to do so. Can we go home?' 

"Yeah, I'll drop you off. Tell Arthur I said hello." 

'What about Eric?'

"Seeing you safe is all that he needs to know.... you did let Shinzo go right?"

'He should be awake in a moment.' 

"Good, Haden will kill us otherwise."

'Not if I kill him first.' 

"That's not funny." 


Jillian dusted her hand with the white chalk, clapping it caused a plume of white dust to settle onto her skin and her hair, she didn't mind this was necessary in order to climb, moving her tub of chalk aside she analysed the path to get to the top and nodded, she never liked the types of climbing that required ropes and pulleys, if she was going to climb she was going to climb with the risk of falling to her death, not that she would die from any fall but it was nice to pretend for a second that she was just a human. Jillian had located this rather sizeable boulder six weeks ago and as far as she knew there was only one other climber but they never seemed to be there when she was. So she began her ascent, the rock in question had over nineteen possible routes and she was going for the most difficult one, she had attempted some of the easier ones... the ones she felt were cheating but she had never tried this newest route – something else that she had noticed about this boulder was that someone at the top had engraved the first letter of their name with some sort of blade, who this 'L' person was? Jillian hadn't the slightest clue and the place never smelt like a claimant, so it had to be a human who was just extraordinarily good at bouldering... even better than Jillian. 

"Hey!" 

Someone shouted from the bottom, she was halfway up and trying to figure out her next move. She couldn't see them. 

"Can I use the chalk? Ran out."

She wasn't sure if they were human or claimant... their scent was off though... should she treat them as a claimant then?

'Go ahead.' 

"Who said that?"

Definitely a claimant if they were affected by her words.

'Me. Up here. You can use the chalk.'

"What the fuck?"

They still apparently were clueless that it was the tiny female making her way up the boulder at an awkward angle was speaking to them telepathically. She saw another hold and scampered up accordingly. Now that she had a better view of the area below her she finally spied who it was that wanted to borrow her chalk. They still hadn't moved. 

'Look up and to the right.' 

They did so and finally their eyes met, this person opened their mouth and she was sure they had something to say but she didn't have the time to listen. She was about to attempt a lunge she had never done before and that meant she needed to concentrate. She noticed they had changed stance and was now acting as her unofficial spotter... not that she needed one seeing as she was indestructible. Jumping up and grasping the stone barely, for a moment she swung in the air and there was a serious risk that she'd lose her grip and fall, but she persisted. Kicking her legs into the rock and telling herself to remain calm. Now she could see an entirely new part of the boulder that she hadn't seen previously, there was a big engraved 'X' on it. 

"Don't go there. Change the route. The rock is unstable." 

'I will be fine.'

"I've watched enough people plummet to their death. Please don't take the risk."

'You don't know me.'

"No but I am your spotter and I've climbed this boulder enough times to know that that route is not one you want to take."

'Coward.'

She touched the offending rock that the X was trying to warn her against, the rock did feel weaker and she stopped for a moment considering her next moves. it was as DeVian would put it 'you take unnecessary risks that lead to the worse for everyone. Stop being so selfish and actually consider for a moment that sometimes being the mute that you are isn't helpful.' Jillian closed her eyes and once she was sure she'd make it across. She jumped and reached out for the stone, and it was if that person below knew it would happen the rock shattered at the slightest touch and she was falling. The air around her whooshed before the sound of flesh meeting earth, it did knock the air out of her and the shattered rock fell around her like the ashes of a volcano. The person, her spotter she guess had been right. They ran towards her, phone at the ready to call for help, sitting up once she was sure she was alright she smiled and laughed. 

"You're laughing." 

"I am." 

"You... you should be dead... in pain."

"And yet. Let's do that again."

"No I think you should rest. You could actually be injured." 

She wiggled her toes and moved her armed in any which direction to prove that she was not at all hurt, but they didn't seem all that convinced. Jillian had not really ever spoken audibly to anyone but Eric and so the fact that she was now talking to this complete stranger with her voice rather than words in her mind cause her smile to falter as they bent down next to her and offered some water. 

"I'm fine really." 

"I don't believe you." 

"Jillian." She introduced herself, she wasn't going to bother with a surname... not like they'd remember her anyway. 

"Lynux."

"So you're the mystery 'L'" 

"You saw that???"

"I did. It annoyed me a little to know that there was someone out there better than me. Never thought I'd get the chance to meet you though." She coughed a little bit, her throat screaming, she took the water they had offered and took a swig before finally getting back on her feet. 

"Let's race." 

"We don't have a spotter." 

"I have a feeling, we won't need one." 


Trouble in Paradise



Eric half slammed half threw down the ball of dough he had been working with for the past ten minutes, was he maybe perhaps overdoing it? He had wanted to have pizza but without a phone nor knowledge of the local area he was stuck in a bit of a pickle, Arthur was nowhere to be seen and so Eric was stuck petsitting the three kittens – all of whom were sleeping on the couch. As he felt he was finally satisfied, he rinsed his hands and placed the rest of the dough into the fridge in an oiled glass bowl. Now ordinarily he would sit down on the couch and play with this multi coloured cube that Jillian had given him, she had explained that the goal was to get all of the same colours on each of the sides - he had managed to get one side, the white side altogether but he couldn't figure out how to do the rest. It bothered him immensely. Picking up the cube once more and sitting at the kitchen bench, he began to fiddle with the cube, today he was going to get all of the green ones in place and then the rest should sort itself out! 

"I can do this."

Rather than speak as he usually did, he lowered his volume as to not wake the kittens... all of which had their own coloured collars. It was really the only way to tell them apart. He looked up as the pink collared kitten aptly named Rose stretched, interrupting the grey collar named Pyrite and last but not least the blue one, or Sapphire. Sapphire and Pyrite promptly fell off the couch and yowled at the other, placing the cube down... he had forgotten the name of the damn thing he picked them both up and placed them back on the couch. Arthur had provided Eric with a small kit of things to do with the kittens, a feather, some sachets full of meat apparently – not that Eric believed it, because since when did meat come in plastic sachets labelled 'kit-a-licious chicken and gravy' just as he was about to sit back down to continue his conquest, the kittens jumped down and he could just barely hear their stomachs growling... perhaps like small children they needed to be fed constantly? If only he had a phone... 

"ALRIGHT. Beasties. I WILL get you YA FOOD."

His voice was a little louder now and the kittens moved back and he sighed... small animals had never really liked him after all. He got up and walked towards the small bag that Arthur had given him, unzipping it he could feel the kittens clawing at his feet their soft mews of hungers told him he seriously needed to hurry the hell up unless he wanted to become food for the three tiny beasties. Finding what he was looking for he shook the sachets. 

"THREE TYPES. CHICKEN and GRAVY. TUNA and GRAVY. BEEF and GRAVY." 

None of them gave him a human response, he decided maybe it'd be best to give them on each... finding the saucers usually reserved for tea cups and fine china, Eric tore open each of the sachets carefully and tried not to turn green at the smell... cat food really did smell like hell he thought. He recollected that Arthur had mentioned that once they had eaten it'd only take ninety minutes before any of them needed to use the bathroom, and that meant taking them to the litter tray outside which Arthur had also given Eric. Man was the most irresponsible pet owner in the world, Eric sighed. 'Remember to separate them when they eat so they don't fight. Pyrite especially' the first place had Tuna, scooping up Pyrite he placed the grey collared kitty down in front of his bedroom door, with the saucer of food and walked away; he quickly placed Sapphire and Rose at either side of the entrance way, Rose he felt would like the chicken as she was the most lady like, and then that left Beef for the biggest of the kittens Sapphire. All that could be heard for the foreseeable future was kittens lapping up the food with their tongues and occasionally biting, he made laps between them to make sure none of them were choking – he'd never be able to get Arthur off his back if one of the little beasties choked on their food and died. 

Arthur put the key into the hole and turned it, stepping in just as Eric opened the door, a sight to behold, for he had Pyrite and Sapphire in his vibrant red hair playing wrestle and then there was Rose who was sleepily looking around. Without hesitation, they switched positions so that it was Arthur who was covered in feline love, Eric passed him the survival kit that Arthur had provided for him and then shut the door, the man had pizza to make for god sake and those kittens despite being cute got in the way... returning to the stove, he opened the lid and inhaled the tomato marinara he had been preparing ever since the kittens had decided they too wanted to play chef. 

There was another rattle of keys as Eric pulled out his pizza from the oven, the scent of roasted peppers, buffalo mozzarella, smoked ham and just a few leaves of rocket made his stomach growl, gently placing it down on the cooling rack, as he retrieved the other one which Jillian had wanted, no marinara for her she preferred pesto, there was hunks of leftover roasted chicken, sweet potato, and after a quick reach into the fridge a small smidge of spicy peri peri sauce. The door had opened but no one had stepped foot yet. He moved towards the front door where Jillian was all sweaty in her rock climbing gear putting away her bucket of chalk, that was fine... normal even but the other person was not. They towered over Jillian, they were also in workout clothing that suggested climbing. 

"WHOSE that?" 

'Eric, this is Lynux' 

"YOU did not TELL me we WOULD HAVE GUESTS for DINNER?"

'Sorry, they can share half of mine.'

"YOU will BE LEFT hungry"

'That's ok.' 

"So I'm not the only one who can hear her voice inside my head."

"You HUMAN?"

'They don't know what they are. Go easy on them Eric.' 

His eyes narrowed and he returned to the kitchen, maybe that spare dough from before was going to come in handy and besides he had made too much sauce anyway. Half stomping back in there, Jillian smiled apologetically at Lynux who was looking a little frazzled...leading him into the living room, Jillian picked up the Rubik's cube and examined Eric's progress so far, he had managed to get another side - not the green side like he had hoped, but yellow together... but now one of his white pieces was off to the side next to a series of red and blue ones. She motioned at the bathroom door to which Eric nodded and then gestured at Lynux's chest to suggest 'can they borrow some of your clothes?' he sighed exasperated as he put in a smaller pizza, half his and half Jillian's into the oven. Jillian switched on the lights to the bathroom, grabbed some items from her room and shut the door, leaving Lynux to the very annoyed metal Aikekunai. 

Jillian stripped, she was grateful the apartment had a full length mirror, the last apartment had one that was far too high... she had to climb onto the sink in order to even see part of herself in the mirror. She sighed, she was the height of a seven year old but a fully developed adult... she wondered if Lynux minded that she was so small... she pinched her cheeks and turned the water on, she needed to wash all the chalk and worries away...

Ikea Dinners



“THREE. I said I WANTED three. ARE you DEAF?” 











Eric uncrossed his arms and placed them on the glass, the mortal server on the other side, looked like they were going through hell as they quickly tried to prepare two more identical plates, practically drowning in gravy, lingonberry sauce and the signature meatballs from Ikea that Eric had come to crave three times a week. Behind him several disgruntled families cursed him but dare not project their own protests - it seemed the fact he was half shouting and taller and beefier than anyone in the near vicinity gave him the designated role of ‘bully.’ 










“Is that enough?” 










“MORE potatoes.” 










Jillian who had been rummaging inside the children’s area of Ikea for a new soft toy up to this point, found herself joining Eric with a new lion, rhino and parrot. Her tiny figure seemed swallowed up as she nearly tripped over someone’s foot on her way through the queue to get to Eric who had turned his head at the sight of her, he then looked back at the server. 










“ANOTHER PLATE.” 










‘Veggie meatballs please.’










“VEGETARIAN BALLS.” Eric demanded. 










This most recent shout was enough to send the poor server into tears, no longer wanting to conceal the fact they were deathly terrified of this mass of a man. Jillian took pity on the server and had Eric focus on carrying her new acquired toys, standing on her tippy toes she gave the server a childlike look of glee. 










“You’re very pretty. Sorry my dad is so loud.” 










“It-it’s ok.” 










“No gravy please, just give me more of the jam. Thank you miss!”










It took no less than three more minutes to be out of the food area - the manager of this particular Ikea had for the past three months dealt with Eric and his cravings with a stiff smile and wave; waving them through payment with their own management bypass card. The mismatched pair sat as far away from the other families, Jillian decided she would not start with her main meal but would rather consume her two slices of almond cake. Forking the slice with care she watched as Eric, scraped his two additional serves onto the one plate making a monstrous pile. 










‘Why not just ask for it all one plate.’ 










“THEY won’t DO IT… TOO HARD to log IT in their system.” 










Jillian sighed and went to work on her cake as Eric seemed to swallow the food, what would have maybe taken another person at least forty-five minutes to eat three servings only took Eric five minutes, he barely even took a breath as he downed it - Jillian forcing him to wipe the mess around his mouth as she finally moved onto her dinner; Eric in the meanwhile was already tearing into the four Cinnamon rolls, barely content to stop (by the manager’s count, whenever Eric showed up, the amount of food he would consumed would be an entire trolley’s worth of food). 










‘Slow down, you’re making a scene and what did I say about eating with your hands.’ 










“IT IS A cinnamon ROLL. MEANT for hands NOT FANCY metal THINGS.” 










‘Cutlery. Please lower your voice… I can feel the stares on the back of my head.’ 










Referring to the families who were still keeping an eagle eye on Eric and his antics.  He moved onto his mousse cups, emptying the cup of its contents in one big mouthful, Jillian cringed and stabbed at her plant based protein, she covered each bite with a light smothering of the jam and ate in contented silence as Eric got up from the table they sat at and stomped-stampeded over to the food line again (the server who had been first to deal with him on this particular shift had been replaced with a less sensitive male who once placing that Eric had returned to the line, had called immediately for backup from the back). 










Jillian had drinking from her bottle of orange juice when a lady and her son went past their table and made a comment that didn’t sit at all well with the smaller of the Aikekunai. 










“What a caveman, poor girl probably lost her mother to that brute and his antics.” 










Screwing the cap back onto the bottle, Jillian wiped her mouth and picked up one of the unused knives she had been given by the anxiety ridden manager, she made sure no one was looking in the direction - their attention was back on Eric who was arguing with the servers over salmon and potato placement on his new plates of food. With the precision of an eye surgeon removing a tumour; she threw the knife directly into the woman’s shoulder. She then resumed eating as the woman screamed and made a fuss that someone had lodged a butter knife into her shoulder; there was no bleeding - not really, after all the fabric soaked it up as a security guard ran over, radioing for a medic and maybe an ambulance as the woman screeched and cried over the pain, not that her son was in much better of a state seeing his mother crying and all. 










’Take that you shallow mortal.’  










Jillian sneered into her mind, this caused the woman to jump and then fall on her tailbone, where a satisfying pop could be heard; another howl of pain as security and other workers started to try to clear the restaurant of their patrons; none of them dared tried with Eric who was pushing two trolleys back towards their spot with what appeared to be a new pasta dish and enough salmon to feed three grizzly bears. 










“WHAT happened?”










‘Dunno, she’s throwing up a fuss for no reason, got your food?’ 










“YES. AM very happy.” 










Eric sat down and began shovelling his food immediately.  Finished her own food, Jillian began to clear the table of trash and whatever else, mindful to give Eric proper space as he tossed salmon fillets up into the air; catching it with his teeth as he also drowned himself in chocolate milk. 






Bejewelled 


Arthur put the telescope down, before jotting down with his pencil the exact location of the stars; resting her head rather idly on his lap; Jaffe looked up at him as he placed the telescope back to his eyes to look at the stars ever more. She sat up and opened the picnic basket which they had been going through, she grasped the opened bottle of wine and poured herself another glass; they had already finished a bottle of rather vintage Champagne that was far older than she was with freshly shucked oysters that Arthur had been diving for earlier during the outing; she even tossed a small log onto the fire - why had she agreed to go; there was nothing interesting about the stars and they had already fucked, in fact she could still feel the slight pang of pain between her legs from a new position that she was pretty sure came out of yoga. 











“How dull.” 










“Nothing dull about the stars.” 










“Pay attention to me.” 










“I have and I do.” 










She wanted to swipe that damned telescope out of his hands and show him what ‘attention’ meant to her, but when he reached into the picnic basket and dislodged a false base, she was immediately curious. 










“Go on. You might like what you find.” 










“Do I get a hint?”










“No.” 



“You’re no fun.” 




“I could gag you if that made you feel any better.” 




“With?” 




She was being cheeky but he was having none of it as he shut his notebook and reached for his laptop, the telescope laid forgotten beside him. Nights like these often occurred when Jaffe was out of prey to hunt and usually when Arthur was feeling lonely or in the mood to just spend time with her - they never really spoke about anything much, their relationship was for the most part entirely physically with little to no romance or emotions involved. She rummaged through the false bottom until she found something cool and rather heavy, frowning she had to move close to the fire, and bring the basket with her as she placed everything else back on the picnic blanket and revealed to be a very expensive, very old choker that gleamed with diamonds and rubies and other stones she couldn’t quite see in the firelight. She nearly dropped it from the shock of the weight and the fact that Arthur had been basically carrying with them enough jewels to feed a small improvised country - that was not the only surprise, for as she held it closer to her eyes for inspection she noticed that it was attached quite rightly to a velvet lined silken rope. 




“Like it?”




She had no words, how was she supposed to respond to something like this? Physical violence? A threat? Perhaps a taunt? She was stunned silent as Arthur nonchalant as ever checked his emails and text messages and bantered silently with Jillian who (much to the smallest of the trio’s annoyance finally managed to get Eric out of Ikea and back home.) She had sent a snapshot of the two building what appeared to be more furniture with Eric looking at the instruction manual wrong. 




“Can I put it on?”




“It is yours.” 




“Can I put it in on you?”




“You can try but I doubt something made for you would fit my neck.” 




“We’ll see about that.” 




“I doubt your girlfriend will be pleased to see you wearing it.” 




“She’s not my girlfriend.” 




“Uh huh.” 




Arthur shut his laptop off and put all the devices and other things he had brought with him into his backpack, changing his position so that the firelight glinted off of his quickly warming skin. The pair sat in silence and stared each other, soon after Jaffe found herself wearing the collar? Choker? Both? Arthur in the meanwhile had a self satisfying almost shit eating grin; as though he had been waiting for this. 




“Remember this is but a business transaction.” 




“If you say so.”

Online Dating Scene


“I HAVE THE match!”




Eric announced holding up his phone as though it was a freshly killed stag’s head that he had decapitated mere seconds ago, Jillian looked up from her laptop – she had not slept in three days and in that time, Arthur had introduced the boisterous viking to the human online dating scene. At first Eric had no luck until he started taking scandalous or at least Jillian thought they were scandalous images of him pre, during and post workout – including a bathroom shot with a towel hanging off of his hips barely… he had to take it down after the company emailed Jillian stating that the image had crashed the application and had caused no amount of shock and panic over the human internet. Who were now hellbent on discovering Eric’s location – either to marry him or to get rid of him because of his physical appearance. 










“I have THE MATCH.” 










‘That makes nine hundred, did you forget the eight hundred and something other people you matched with?’










“THEY ARE all REAL people, YES?”










‘I doubt it, if any of them ask for your credit card details, you are not to answer.’










Jillian rubbed at her temples as Eric circled their tiny living room with glee; she didn’t even want to know who else had matched with him… she had seen his profile and apart from the images he had written three things: single father of a pre-teen daughter (she presumed that she was the daughter), Ikea enthusiast. This, it seemed to be the first thing people did not believe based off his physique and second that he was unemployed (as a result of being a professional viking. No one believed this one either, it bothered him immensely but he had no way of proving it unless he wanted to out himself and thus Jillian as non-humans). 










“Perhaps I meet SOME of THEM? That IS THE POINT. NO?” 










She logged off and shut her laptop down, her head really hurt and it didn’t help much that Eric was shouting at the top of his lungs and hooting whenever his phone told him he had made another match, Jillian partially wanted to skin Arthur and fill him full of rounds for introducing Eric to the infernal app. She climbed off the couch and plugged her laptop in before talking short strides to the kitchen; opening the fridge she took out one of the many boxes of pre-made meals that Eric had defrosted; these meals he made every Sunday evening and they lasted them the entire week, the only time they deviated was when Eric felt the itch to go back to Ikea or when Jillian was at work or as she mockingly called it “school.” 










Placing it in the microwave, the plastic lid removed just slightly she input the correct number – Eric had written on the lids in bright pink sharpie how many minutes the meals needed to be heated to be delicious. As the artificial red head sat down, his finger swiping the screen like an iPad kid, Jillian reached up and tried to grab one of the wine glasses kept on the lowest possible shelf, when she wasn’t able she climbed atop the kitchen island and leapt onto the opposing bench, grabbing the wine glass she jumped back down just as the microwave dinged. Normally Eric would have scolded her but he was too busy gleefully seeing the number of his matches grow. 










‘Want some?’ 










“Already ATE.” 










‘Ok… wine?’ She uncorked a bottle, it came from Stasia’s larder. 










“NO. WHAT is this UBER?” 










‘It’s a ride sharing app.’










“Why would YOU SHARE app? WHAT is this RIDE?” 










‘Like… cars and stuff, people pay other people to drive them around.’ 










“WASTE of MONEY, lazy HUMANS. They CAN WALK like I do.” 










As she sat down to enjoy her meal as well as the excellent chardonnay, she read the label, she liked the French stuff just as much as Stasia despised it – why the blonde fashion designer felt the need to buy the stuff she detested because of the way they tasted confused Jillian; but she supposed that if Stasia wasn’t going to drink it: she would. She was barely through her first veggie patty when Eric seemed to get up from the couch and stomp towards his bedroom, there was the sound of him rummaging through his wardrobe and the sound of the shower being turned on. 










‘What the hell are you doing?’










“I am GOING on a DATE.” 










‘Now??’










“YES!” He shouted over the water. 










She was going to need more wine, she barely heard him say that he was going to bring his date home. She nearly choked on the rich mushroom risotto, maybe glasses weren’t enough, she should just drink from the bottle she thought. As Eric came out of the bathroom and the bedroom, he dried his hair furiously with his towel and inspected himself in the lopsided, badly constructed mirror – the screws were too loose, Jillian felt. 










“How do I look?”










For the first time, Eric sounded genuinely nervous, he could clean up nicely Jillian supposed for one of her lives, and at least he didn’t dress like a clown like Stasia did around DeVian. He had chosen a simple knitted black sweater, a pair of deep maroon chinos and sneakers; he began to gnaw at his lip when Jillian didn’t respond immediately. She wiped her mouth, took another swig of chardonnay and came up behind his large frame, she had to tilt her head fully up and he had to lower his head almost down to the ground in order to see her face rather than the top of her head; she wasn’t wearing her glasses he noticed… how long had she been without them? 










“You look good Eric.” 










“Do I?”










‘I half expected you to go to your date naked and screaming like a viking.’ 










She joked, but her joke fell on deaf ears and she realised it made the male she adored as a big brother and paternal figure even more of a nervous wreck. Though she knew of every other life and their pairings, she had never known Eric’s and looking through his memories had felt like a violation of their close relationship; he had never shown any interest in romance and seemed content to be single, but now that she was watching him fidget she realised that Eric was in fact utterly alone and starting to worry that he’d never find his match again. 










“Hey,” she spoke aloud and he looked at her through the fear and nerves.










“You’ll do great. I know you will. If anything happens, I’ll kick their ass and erase them from existence.” 










Eric attempted a smile, and Jillian wrapped her arms around his tree trunk legs, the top of her head barely met his hips; once she was sure she had given him all of her confidence she stepped back and returned to her food. 










“Do I bring them back here?” He whispered.










‘If you want, if you do. I’ll stay in my room. Ok?’ 










“Ok. I will be back tonight.” 










‘Got it dad. Remember, you’ll do great.’ She teased.










Eric looked up and past the crowd of people, he had followed the directions laid out on this app called maps and was worried he might have gotten the address wrong when a short waif like woman who seemed to be swallowed up by the crowd jumped, her arms waving to catch his attention. Stepping away from the wall and tucking his phone into his pocket he brushed passed the humans and came to a stop just a few steps away from the female, she did not smell like a claimant; a human female would be his first encounter with romance since being brought back to life. 










“Nice to meet you, I am Eric.” He told himself he had to modulate his voice and speak appropriately. 










Her hair was not like the images she had taken in her own profile, rather than a luminous gold, he would compare it more to rusted bronze that had been neglected. He had liked her eyes when he had swiped on her, they had been this brilliant silver grey and maybe they were close to them but now that he saw her in person they were darker and more like storm clouds. The female smiled and offered her hand for him to shake; he had to be careful not to break her bones when he grasped her hand and shook it. 










“Brylee.” 










Her nose was accented by a piercing scar, perhaps she had removed it for the date? He allowed her to take the lead, and they began to walk in companionable silence; what was he supposed to say? What did the humans talk about nowadays? He flinched when she wrapped herself around one of his arms, she was cold to the touch, her heartbeat was hammering and he wondered if she was afraid? The crowds seem to get even thicker as they stepped into a roofed market; stalls were on either side with vendors shouting their fares. 










“Busy right?”










“Yes.” His answer was short and to the point.










“Are you hungry?”










Perhaps she thought it would be easier for them to talk if they were sitting. He nodded despite the fact he was not in fact hungry at all and this made Brylee blush. She seemed to know the market better than he did, as she navigated them; her arms still wrapped his arm. Soon they were in a quieter part of the market and there sat a small soup stall attached to an even smaller bakery - if you could call it that. She asked him what he wanted and he told her that she could pick.










She ended up with cream of leek soup and had chosen a tomato based soup which he suspected was supposed to be some kind of minestrone but resembled watered down red tinted juice with poor quality ingredients - perhaps she didn’t want to embarrass him, especially if he could not afford it. At least the bread was better, artisanal with grains like sesame, pumpkin, poppy and barley. As they picked one of the small plastic tables to sit at, Eric partially wished that he had not given Brylee power over his choice of meal. He spooned the lukewarm liquid as she tucked into her own bowl.










“So, you have a kid?” She said after two spoonfuls.










“I do, Jillian.”










“Were you married once?”










How was he supposed to answer that? He reached into Jillian’s consciousness, she was watching a movie and was checking her emails; she sat up when she realised Eric was in the back of her mind prodding. 










‘Everything alright?’










He relayed the message to her, biting into a slice of the bread to halt his response a little longer.










‘Just say you were widowed’ 










“Yes. I’m widowed.” 










He repeated like a young child would copy their peers in school following a teacher’s lesson. As they ate in what felt like the longest silence, Eric decided to focus solely on the slices of bread in front of him than try to swallow down anymore of the putrid concoction. Brylee was not a talker it seemed, and as she ate Eric realised they were not going to get along if he would have to continue this act of falsehood; pretending to be someone he was not, perhaps this was why claimants chose not to date or marry humans, they were too simple minded and unable to see the truth around them. 










“How’s the soup?” The business-owner asked.










Eric refused to answer verbally, shrugging his shoulders. Brylee gave the man a small smile and continued to down her soup as though she had been fasting. He tore into another slice of bread and inhaled, the smell of citrus alerted him to a fellow claimant; a waitress who was placing cups of coffee down for guests and chatting politely with passersby. He knew that she knew he was there, his scent of iron was unmistakable just as much as her’s was detectable. 










“Are you finished?” 










He hadn’t been paying attention and now Brylee was standing up and holding her hand out, what did she want? To hold his hand? Eric found himself honestly in a state of disinterest and annoyance - at least with claimants they knew what they wanted and didn’t ask so many meaningless questions. Eric was nice enough to help her clear their dishes and toss most of the terrible minestrone into the opened plastic bag; turns out he wasn’t the only one who had rejected the soup from their mouths or stomachs. 










“So what did you do before you became a father?” Brylee asked 










‘Just say you worked as a freelance boatman’. 










“A boatman.” He supposed being a viking did come with being on boats a lot. 










They walked side by side, she was still gripping his arm like a viper would it’s prey; in his mind his meeting had been a waste of time and honestly he could not wait to get away and back to the apartment… perhaps he should leave the online dating scene altogether; that could be done later, for now he had to find a way to get out of the situation… the predicament he had found himself in. She continues to chat, and he nodded and made short curt responses every single time the sentences ended in what sounded like a question; Jillian was listening in the entire time and providing answers and commentary; commentary that made this whole lacklustre experience just a little better. 










By the time they had parted ways and he had thanked her for the date whilst letting her down gently that she would not see him again, he rushed back to the apartment – or at least he tried to, along the way he stopped by the grocers and picked up some ingredients for dinner; yes they had meals prepped and ready to go in the fridge but he was suddenly craving something other than his steak; he wanted duck; picking up a small butternut pumpkin; he’d make something with it for Jillian – who despite his begging and pleading remained a strict vegetarian; it nearly borderline on this new ‘vegan’ thing that she had mentioned. 










He also picked up tubs of chocolate flavoured custard and a can of whipped cream; something in his gut told him that Jillian was about to have her menstrual cycle, he had asked her why she didn’t just get rid of it or switch it off like the rest of the people they knew who were claimants and who identified as female; her response had been that it was easier to blend in amongst the humans if she bled and had an excuse to flee places at a moment’s notice. Walking into the aisle where menstrual and reproductive products were held, he scanned the shelves and instinctively picked up the brick shaped containers – he didn’t know what all these mentions of wings and super and extra and sport meant but if Jillian used them and liked them; who was he to complain?




Another Attempt




So the first date had failed and sure that had put him off from trying again for a little while, but like an addict does at the first chance to relapse, he was back on the app and scrolling through his endless options again. Jillian had mentioned that she would be out of town for a few days, had several people to slay it seemed; so this was his chance to try and bring someone back to the apartment without the fear they would run away at the sight of Jillian sitting there on the couch. This next individual went by the name Summer, why anyone felt the need to name their daughter after the hottest parts of the year confounded Eric, but again he made no comment and met her at a jazz bar on a particularly cold and dreary evening, Jillian had told him that what he had worn to his first date was about the same thing that men his age wore to these bars, though she added he might want to add a button down shirt underneath whatever woollen or cashmere jumper he tossed on top.

He had been hopeful that this summer would be a claimant – but alas, she was a normal human, at least she looked more like her picture than Brylee had, she had arrived dressed in a violet turtleneck and a skirt so long and so thick in material that Eric was almost certain that if he were to lift it up he'd find a metal cage or a feral mink underneath it, her head was adorned with a beret and her nails were fake and sharp. She had ordered an espresso martini for herself and when it came time for him to pick his poison; he decided he would stick with water – part of him did not want to get drunk around humans, just in case like Lucas he would find himself atop a bar bench singing half naked about Amarjeet's eyes or breasts or something to that degree. The atmosphere of the place was not so bad, it was a bit dark for human eyesight and the music was only loud enough that you could still talk and still have enough privacy. She was not as touchy nor as chatty and he found himself having to put in active effort to listen to her. She was an a secretary during the day and an art critic by night. She owned three dogs – all Siberian huskies, male and very very vocal. 

"Did you work for a specific company?"

"Yes, but I cannot say who. I signed a NDA." 

He had never heard of these NDA things, were they supposed to be important? He wished Jillian were there to translate, but because she had closed her mind off to him and everyone of their other lives, he decided to ask Lucas instead. 

'NDA? Non disclosure agreement, basically you talk you walk kinda thing. Must work for someone pretty important.' 





"Do you enjoy the work?" 

"Yes but my boss is a total maniac, well at least the boss of my boss. The lady I answer too is really quite nice. She's in her sixties I think and wears these adorable kitten heels. She's actually the assistant to the head of the company or the vice of the company... I'm not actually too sure." 

Despite the fact that she had signed this NDA thing, she was still quite loose with the details, he nodded and as a plate of pita bread and a trio of dips was placed down in front of him, he was relieved to know that at least the food would be good, Summer adjusted on her stool and took a sip of her martini, he tore at a piece of the flat bread and dipped it into what he presume was spicy hummus. She popped an olive in her mouth and whilst she chewed he decided to change the subject of the conversation. 

"So, why jazz?" 

"Well this place is the only decent place that actually doesn't rip you off for the nibbles. We probably won't get full off the food or the drinks." 

"I see. It is quite nice, the hummus is lovely." 

"So tell me about your kid, I mean I'm a dog parent myself so I kinda get the stress and all." 

"There's not much to say, being a single father is nice. Not as hard as people make it out to be. Jillian is a good girl, she studies hard and is popular at school."

'Jillian tell you to say that?' Lucas commented. 

These were all lies of course. He could not tell this woman that his 'daughter' was in fact a sharp shooting assassin. He cleared his throat as he picked up another piece of pita; this time he chose to dip it in the eggplant. Summer gave him a soft smile and turned her head towards the stage as another group of musicians climbed up onto the small stage with their brass and drums and began to play a lively tune; accompanied by a woman who was shaking a Tamborine and singing. 

Eric and Summer ended up leaving the bar after the dips and bread were finished, they decided to walk along the quiet streets of the city, it turned out that she had also brought a trench coat with her to wear and so was independently walking alongside him, her boots clicked against the pavement and they joked about the weather and how they both thought that the dating app that had allowed them to meet was in fact used entirely for hookups rather than finding true love, as they rounded another street corner, they spotted a small French bistro that was still open, there were only a few tables taken and Summer gave him a look. 

"Do you like French food?"

"I do." He didn't mind it but it was not as good as other food. 

"This place does snails, are you against that?"

"No, not at all. Lead the way." He gestured to her and she giggled, walking hastily towards the front door of the establishment. 

They were both placed near the back in a small candle lit booth, the menus were laminated and aged, the actual food items were simple and Eric decided he would allow Summer to dictate what they would eat, he had noticed after they had left the Jazz bar that she had a slight accent; perhaps this was why she wanted to eat French food, perhaps she was French? As she looked over the menu and played with a curl of her charcoal black hair, he looked at the wine list; it was extensive and would pair well with anything Summer decided on, perhaps he should bring Jillian here, she'd like the food and the wine. 

The first course were as Summer promised was a dish called les escargots à la bourguignonne or snails covered in rich house made butter, freshly grown garlic and parsley; they were served six in total so three each, they were slightly chewy but overall enjoyable and Eric partially wished they had been served with bread rolls so that he could soak up all that butter. Wiping his mouth and taking a sip of a pinot noir dry rose labelled as Cupio – this was definitely more of a Lucas drink and he could feel the Frenchmen internally moan in delight. 

The second course had been two dishes, the first was ratatouille which Eric personally ate less of, the vegetables were all seasonal and he supposed it was decent, the other main was where he put most of his attention; a richly stewed  beef bourguignon and that Summer had decided was to be served alongside a bottle of merlot that came from Australia, and was named after someone; probably another human. Eric had been pleasantly surprised that Summer was so informed about food and even better she didn't seem to mind eating a good amount, an amount that Eric thought was more than appropriate and like his own; just as he thought the meal was over, Summer asked for the menu again. 

"How much of a sweet tooth do you have?" 

"So-so." 

Summer chuckled and ordered something that he didn't quite hear as inside the kitchen the sound of glass being dropped on the floor and a flurry of curses in both French and Spanish caught his attention, as the waiters cleared their table and prepared them for dessert – Summer would be taking their leftovers home he noticed, she placed her hand on the table and he almost felt compelled to grasp it in his own but was unsure of her intentions. Deciding to take the chance he placed his own far larger right hand upon her own and she ended up changing the position so that she could squeeze it. 

"Tonight has been amazing." She purred.

"It has, I have enjoyed it." 

"Shall we go back to yours or mine?"

"How far away is your place?"

"Not too far, a block away perhaps."

With that sorted, the waiters placed a singular plate of cherry clafoutis down between them, mounded on top was a generous serving of vanilla ice cream which began to melt the freshly baked tart. Stabbing at it with his fork, Eric allowed Summer to eat most of it, she seemed to enjoy it more than he did – he was grateful it was not overly sweet like some other French desserts like creme brûlée or éclair or profiteroles. He had been the one to settle the bill as Summer had excused herself and was in the bathroom freshening up, and once she was ready to leave, he allowed her to lead the way back to her apartment. Eric had not at all had any intention of sleeping with his dates, he just wanted companionship he didn't really need the physical release that most of his other lives needed – well that release was usually taken care of by Jillian's assassinations, Lucas and AJ's bedroom imagination and Stasia's relentless hours spent hand sewing her creations together. As they climbed the steps up towards the front door, Summer pulled him in, tilting her head up on her toes she placed a kiss on his lips as the door swung open and they half stumbled into the dark hallway.