Night's Omen

The halls at Onyx were, as usual, far from clearing out as the sun went down.  Yeah, the stories about vampires and only coming out after sunset were (mostly) bullshit, but it didn't change the fact that the creepy crawlies preferred the nightlife.  As a result, so did the guilds, which made overnights a necessity.  For trainees, that was something to get used to, and Tuck was all about helping them out.

Actually, that was a lie.  Normally, he didn't give a shit about the trainees except to try to weasel his way out of having to babysit any of them, but he'd found one he actually liked, so he was changing his tune up enough for a trial run.  It helped that he'd met Lily, chatted her up and liked her before he realized she was a trainee, mostly due to the confidence she carried herself with and the fact she was a stunning blonde in a house full of killers.  She fit in because a lot of the guild women were hot, but trainees weren't usually all confidence.  The trainers tended to break them down, then build them back up, and until they were finished, it just wasn't there.  Lily was different, and so, she had Tuck's interest, which meant that Tucker had Zaine's interest, but he wasn't afraid and none of the trainers ever complained too hard about not having to fight hunters to take an interest in the trainees.  Besides, Tucker had some...advantages that even Zaine didn't know the extent of, so Lily was pretty damn safe with him.

"Tuck!  Man, what're you doin' in here?  Thought you had a thing tonight?"

A glance up revealed Payne, his sometimes partner-in-crime, who was actually crazier than he was and just as slippery; that fucker literally pulled crazy shit out of his sleeves, pockets and anywhere else you could possibly hope he might have an ace hidden.  Tucker knew enough about magic and crazy to have an idea how it worked, but it confused him that Payne could only do that.  It seemed to him like someone with that kind of handle on magic would do more, but Payne just said he had a 'talent' and that was that.  Whatever, he was great in a fight and even better at a party.  "I do have a thing, just picking up some company.  A guy like me doesn't have to spend his Friday nights alone, not that you know much about that, right?"

Payne burst out laughing right along with Tucker's grin, as expected, and threw an arm around him as they walked down the hall.  "The day you're more of a swag-master than me will be a sorry day, my friend.  Who's the victim tonight?"

"Riiiiight.  How's things with Lannister?"  Sore spot, he was assuming, since Payne hadn't shown up with words of triumph, but maybe he was making progress.  Based on the way his face closed up some and he winced, it didn't look it, but who knew?

"Uh, yeah, she's got her eye on some uptight bastard, some fancy shrink.  Gotta give it to the guy, he's pretty smooth, but it's in a weird way."

"Weird how?  Think he's a supe?"

"Like, old-fashioned, maybe?  He might be, but I don't think he's a vamp."

"How do you know?  I mean, not all vamps are psycho killers anymore, but still."

"Sure, cause psycho killers just work that out of their systems after a century, right?  I dunno, could be, but she's interested enough that Hudson's been keeping an eye on the guy, and we're pretty damn sure he's not.  None of the habits we look for, so he's either more slick than we think, he's something else, or he's just a vanilla shrink."

"Yeah, not sure how vanilla any shrinks are.  Mrs. Rashana's nice as hell, and you see who she's married to.  Can't imagine that's vanilla."

"Gross, man, I don't wanna think about anything Dev does behind closed doors.  He'd probably lobotomy us both for considering it.  Quit before we get too far behind, feel me?"

Tucker laughed and shrugged Payne's arm off, which had tightened briefly into an almost-hold when he went on about the Rashanas, but he agreed.  No getting on Dev's shit list.  "Sure thing.  Good luck with Alexis, I'm taking Winter on the hunt with me tonight, see how she does.  Zaine's all about how awesome she is, so guess we'll see."

"Winter, huh?  She's the blonde, right?  Hot.  Maybe she'll freak out and you can calm her nerves with booze after?" the crazier of the two suggested, grinning and failing to dodge the elbow to his ribs that immediately followed.  "Okay, okay, maybe not.  Besides, your tricks have gotta be better than that.  Love potion?"

"Would you shut that hole in your face already?  Love potions aren't my area, check the library under 'old birds', maybe you'll get lucky.  Now get lost, creeper."

Scott just laughed again and waved as he wandered off, probably because Hudson turned the corner and gave him a look, then nodded to Tucker.  Since he wanted nothing to do with the spying out of those two, even if it was with the best intentions towards the woman they both gave quite a few shits about, Tucker was fine with taking off towards Lily's room and rapping his knuckles against the door.

"Suit up, Winter, I got a hall pass from your teacher to have a little fun tonight.  Don't get your ass kicked, and I'll buy you ice cream after," he called in the door, leaning on it until he heard movement just beyond it, and then he stepped back to avoid the awkward of falling on his face at her feet.  Not cool.  "You game?"

 Tucker wasn't the only one who found Lily's confidence unique for a trainee - the other trainers had come to that conclusion when she didn't shudder and break beneath their rule in her first week. She became some sort of specialty project after that, at least for Zaine, who most hunters at Onyx had personally seen permanently cripple hopefuls within their first month. Of course, it wasn't widespread knowledge that Lilyana wasn't programmed to have self-doubt, either - that certainly helped.

She was only dimly aware that she'd earned a reputation, however; she was often around Zaine, and nobody in their right mind would make a remark as to whether or not she was "hot" (though it didn't stop them from thinking it). Lily was aware of her looks, she simply wasn't in on the fact that anyone else was. She kept that sort of thing out of the guild.

When she heard a knock at her door, she almost didn't get off of her bed. In fact, when Tucker started speaking, she still hadn't moved - she was laying on top of her ruby red comforter, lollipop in her mouth, skimming the newest roundup the guild had released. It contained all of the available targets and offered information on some of the ongoing operations they had. Technically as a trainee she would have a hard time getting into any of it, but with Zaine backing her, she found that a lot of doors opened that otherwise wouldn't. Speaking of doors opening, she noiselessly rolled off of the bed, swinging her long legs out and pulling herself into a standing position. She opened the door swiftly, only a small smirk on her mouth as she mentally chided herself for not moving any faster. If she had, she might have gotten Tucker to stumble a little, which most people (especially trainees) couldn't do.

She arched her brows at him, tossing her arrow-straight blonde hair away from her face as she spoke. "Suit up? Should I find a ball gown, or is this okay?" she asked, blinking her blue eyes rapidly. She was fully dressed - almost like she'd been expecting him. In truth, she'd been expecting anyone, and so after her daily ass-beating by Zaine (which was becoming more of a mutual thing), she'd changed into her going-out clothing rather than her going-to-bed clothing. It was worth noting that she was right in what would be considered Tucker's personal bubble. It was either that Lily didn't know that she was too close to him or didn't care, and in truth, it was probably the latter as she hadn't earned a reputation for being a space invader.

It was also worth noting that she was still holding that stupidly large Carousel lollipop in her hand. No, there was no way she didn't know what she looked like. At all.

It was true, all of the trainers had looked in on Lily's progress once or twice, mostly to see how one of Grayson's 'dolls' did under their training regiment, since Quinn had shown up 'all grown up', in a sense.  Tucker wasn't aware of all that, though he knew there was something special about Lily because he could see the bit of magic that lingered there from the procedure; a lot of what Grayson did was science, but he had too many supernaturals, including a sorcerer necromancer, on hand and involved for it to be pure science.  That, and the magical help made the process that much smoother.  Tucker had the potential for some serious power and he was working his way into it, but he wasn't quite at the point that he could pick apart what the magic around Lily was.  He just knew it was there, and it intrigued him on top of everything else about her.

He hadn't mentioned any of what he thought about her just yet, partially because Zaine was not the kind of guy you wanted to put off, and Tucker had a reputation around the guilds for getting along with pretty much anyone.  You could partner him with whoever you wanted, and as long as he wasn't permanently partnered, he got along with all of them.  It made him a good asset and a successful alternate, and he wasn't deluding himself into thinking that nobody in the guild knew about some of his 'talents'.  As long as they didn't get any ideas about poking or prodding, which he wasn't sure he trusted Cobriana not to consider (that snake was an opportunist), he was comfortable here. 

It was not usual for him to be taken off-guard, which Lily almost managed just because she was so damn quiet and he attributed to the fox thing, but he still managed that cocky smirk right back at her since she hadn't.  Also, because she was standing way in his space looking awesome with that ridiculous lollipop in hand, but you know.  No big deal.

"You get extra credit if you pull this off in a ballgown, but it's not required to pass," he snarked back, not letting the fact that she actually got into his personal bubble when she wasn't one of the few people as familiar with him as Payne make him back off any.  Intrigued indeed.  "What you've got on is fine.  Good to know I was on the money with the offer of ice cream, though.  I'll keep your sweet tooth in mind."

It was all teasing, which he had the reputation for, but this might have definitely been pushing the line between friendly teasing and friendly flirting, which he figured she was so asking for right about then.  This was going to be fun.

Lily didn't have any idea as to what sort of magic was on or around her, fortunately - she was as magical as a rock. Not pristinely ungifted, the likes of which hadn't been seen except in rare occasions, but she just wasn't receptive to it. She was a magical creature by nature, what with the whole turning into a fucking fox thing, but it wasn't the same sort of magic that Tucker, or anyone else like him, really dealt in. Shifters were their own stupid set of rules and complications.

When he didn't back out of her doorway, and instead maintained his relaxed posture, Lily mentally put a point in his favour. Most men wouldn't be comfortable with her being so close - mostly because of Zaine, who'd somehow scent-marked her or rubbed off on her otherwise to the extent that made people literally go out of their way to avoid her at times. It was fortunate that he was so terrifying nobody dared to get a rumour going, because as much time as they spent together would make anyone wonder - if it wasn't for the fact that she was top of her group almost every time.

"You just want to see me in a dress," she taunted. She reached in her room, not taking her eyes off of him, turning out her light. "I just need to grab something on the way out," she said with a smile. She slid by him, the watermelon scent of the lollipop (and probably some sort of soap or something, because it smelled too good to just be a sucker) lingering in her wake. She walked away like she was going solo, but that was merely a testament to that self-confidence that had been mentioned earlier - Lily walked like she owned everything around her, all of the fucking time.
 
She came to the area where the day room was, crossing through it to take a shortcut to the garage - but also because she needed to make good on grabbing something. As she came within fifteen or so feet of the table where red rags and the scent of CLP were, she whistled sharply. A dark-haired boy spun around in a rolling chair and threw something to her open hands around the time she was within a few feet. Lily held it up to inspect it, revealing an H&K USP Match .45, and turned to walk backwards so she could speak. "Thanks, man. I owe you one. Looks a lot better than how you found it."

"You owe me several, but I'll start with you finding me another one of those," he said, nodding to the gun he'd thrown her. She'd enlisted him to clean it, since he'd been begging to tool around with it, and he figured it was as good a chance as any to get a better look at it. "I'm serious, those things are hella hard to find."

Lily turned back around, never breaking stride. "I'll see what I can do, Force."

She finally did break her stride, but it was only because by the time she got into the next hallway, Zaine was standing in her way. He had his arms folded across his chest, and looked beyond her to Tucker, then back at her. "What's wrong, Winter? Can't clean your own weapon?"

It was rare to see someone speak to Zaine like Lily was about to, so it was probably better only Tucker was there to witness it. She smiled at him, holding the pistol at her side in a relaxed manner. "Outsourcing," she answered glibly. "He did say he wanted to familiarize himself with it. Who am I to deny a fellow enthusiast?" she asked, shrugging innocently.

It was also rare to watch Zaine suppress a smile, but it was happening. "You're picking up bad habits, Lily," he warned. He wasn't convincing. "Tucker, are you here to help her pick up more?" And suddenly he wasn't smiling quite so much, and that WAY he had about himself with Lily had dissolved, leaving the normal Zaine in its place. To be fair, Zaine had to protect an asset, especially one on loan from Grayson, but he also had a soft spot for Lily because she had essentially imprinted on him her first few days there. Like a baby duck. He didn't dislike Tucker at all, in fact, he found him a most capable hunter, but that didn't mean he wouldn't fuck him up if he didn't bring Lily back in one (very solid) piece.

The fact that Zaine didn't scare him had already come up, but he sure as hell wasn't going to let the trainer's scare-factor get in the way of his interest in Lily, especially when she was potentially using the man's backing to make others back off for fear of repercussions.  He was standing his ground, and comfortably so, though getting Zaine all pissed off wasn't one of his goals.  It was easier not to, since the man could definitely make his life more difficult than he liked it.  He'd been trained by Stavros, so while he respected Zaine and his abilities, he didn't have the fear of God instilled in him by that one, and he was a confident one himself. 

"Maybe sometime, but not on this kill," he returned, maintaining the eye contact challenge she'd started right up until she slid by him with that sweet smell of hers falling behind her, which he thought was a pretty fantastic talent women seemed to have.  Finding out that her 'something' that she needed to grab was a gun that she'd talked Cody Force into cleaning was interesting, but mostly made him wonder if she was turning into the type to flirt with the guys to get what she wanted, or if it was legitimately just because she'd promised to find the kid the gun she was dangling in front of him this time.  Time would tell, but he was hoping it was the latter.  The girls that got by on their looks got boring, and the promises wouldn't last around the guildhouse.

Zaine's appearance wasn't all that surprising, especially since it was Lily involved and that man seemed to have a sixth sense about her (which made Tucker's interest slightly insane, but he'd been called worse), but Tuck just kind of watched, picking up whatever little cues he could between the two of them.  He wasn't sure exactly how Zaine's internal workings went, but the guy was definitely attached to her, that much was obvious.  It was interesting to see, and not something he intended to test by getting Lily into trouble.  He wouldn't be taking her out if he wasn't confident she was coming back in one piece.

"If you thought my habits were that bad, you wouldn't have agreed to let her play with me," he pointed out, hands raising in a silent bid for a break.  Zaine had already seen the job he was working that evening and knew where they'd be.  She was about as safe in this line of work as she could be.  "I'm just offering some field experience."

"That better be all you're offering," Zaine said, a stern look thrown at Lily for good measure. She looked shocked for a second, then her expression gave way to something more angelic, which was obviously just a lie. Zaine merely stood by as she rolled onto her toes and gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek.

"I'll be home by midnight, dad," she promised.

"Oh, just go," he said, looking altogether flustered and somehow defeated - and then menacing at Tucker one last time before he finally disappeared around the corner. Truth be told, Zaine hadn't expected that; physical affection was lost on him most days simply because he wasn't hunting for it. He'd taken a slight liking to a girl at Eden's club, but that wasn't realistic, and Lily - dad, really?

If one really looked back at all of their history together, they could probably grasp rather quickly why Lucien had to separate them after the events of Midnight's attack. There was legitimate bad blood between them, a sort of familial betrayal the likes of which Zaine wasn't inclined to experience ever again, given how un-Serpiente his mannerisms were. But in the end, they were very much Serpiente, weren't they?

"Come on, Tuck, before he changes his mind," Lily urged, already holding the door open to the parking garage. She had her phone in her other hand, the Match safely tucked in the holster that lay beneath her jacket. It was slightly impractical on the draw, but convenient for the moment. She didn't intend to use it if she didn't have to, anyways. Ammo was getting pricey. On her phone, she scrolled absently, letting him do the talking and walking. If Tucker glanced at it, he could see that she was on some website for firearm auctions - guess she really did intend to find Cody a model after all. One glance at the prices would pretty much make him determine how worth it the endeavour truly was (one seller, 1.5k... yikes).

With a tilt of his head and a small smile, Tuck managed to get across just how 'silly' he thought it was that Zaine was so worried about what he was offering.  He didn't have a response other than that because there really wasn't any good response other than the look he'd given.  Zaine would find something wrong with anything he had to say at this point, so Lily had the floor.  Funny, he had to wonder if he'd be going through something along these lines with Alice at some point down the road, which wasn't actually all that funny now that he thought about it.  Terrifying, really.  Hopefully, when she got to appealing to him through cute and big blue eyes, it wouldn't be to go hunt vampires.  He wanted better for her.

"Sounds like a plan," he agreed, snapping out of those nightmarish thoughts to follow her out to the garage and take point to his car.  Unlike some of the other hunters, he had a pretty modest Toyota, nice without being insanely expensive, and had a hell of a bank account building for his daughter with the 'change'.  He spent money on guns and ammunition as he needed them and the research to further his craft (which included visits to spend time with Dash Salvatore), but the rest all went to Alice. 

"You think he's gonna shell out that much cash for one of those?" he asked, somewhat interested because he didn't know Cody all that well, but he could make his guesses.  Personally, he wouldn't put out that kind of money for it, but he tended to go for practical on his weaponry; if a gun half the price did the job just as well, it was fine with him.  He had other advantages, and he wasn't one of the people in the guilds that he'd consider an expert with firearms.  There was a reason he'd trained exclusively with Stavros, and the Arun had still found it necessary to contact Salvatore to get him proper instruction.  His skills were a bit...beyond the typical witch, even a typical Arun.

He was still holding his breath to see if Alice picked any of it up, particularly the planeswalking trick of his, because that was the most dangerous for her to accidentally do.  Until he knew, he'd wait and hope that she still had a few years.  He was also hoping that Lily would stick around, since he was eventually going to have to talk to her about 'girl things', and that was another thing that his seemingly boundless self-confidence was a bit iffy on.  He had a few years for that as well, but it was still a concern watching other hunters deal with their daughters and sisters; Connor's small battles to look out for Kenzie, who was about to be going into high school and already a handful, felt almost like a warning.  "Alice insisted on making cookies this afternoon and sending you some, so they're in the car."