forum •Apotheosis of Abnormality• [one/one]

Started July 27, 2022 by @Dayzed forum

tune

Wynn grinned at the thought of more food. The gang kept everybody fed well enough but that didn't really entail multiple meals in one sitting. Vance was pretty strict on what they were allowed to eat, too, so fast food was a luxury even to Wynn.
"Marcus likes sweets too, but he only really ever gets them for himself when he's in a weird mood." Wynn paused for a moment, frowning. "Or when he's in a good mood… it's hard to tell sometimes."
Wynn seemed surprised at Jen's genuine words and even more so at Rae's following tease. Though he tried hard to keep it hidden behind a harsh wall of skepticism. He might be acting friendly towards these people but that didn't mean he trusted them. He wasn't fully convinced this wasn't some sort of ruse to make him and Marcus fall into a fall sense of security or maybe just relax them before they became lab rats.
Regardless, Wynn still shook his head at the question.
"Not often, often, no. Maybe one meal a day on a good week."

Wynn seemed to falter entirely at the inquiry. His spines clicked together as they raised for a moment before falling slowly.
Should he really be considering telling them his whole life story? If things went south it'd be nice to have at least someone listen to what he had to say but… he was also technically a prisoner waiting to be transferred to a more professional prison.
"No, you're not overstepping. I wasn't expecting the questions." Wynn muttered, feeling strangely sick at the idea that these hunters suddenly felt bad for their prey. For Wynn. He was hardly human.
"It was actually for other reasons not related to what I am, in the species-area at least. My parents weren't actually my parents, we'll just say I'm adopted as that's the best way to really describe it in your terms. For us, it's more of a… parasitic sort of deal. Like one of those birds that sneak its babies into other birds' nests to care for. Either way, these people took me in, they were both witches who worked for A.C.E., though for the side that's less about guns and hunting. They disowned me for other reasons after I made a few choices for myself and how I wanted to look. I chose the name Wynn, I'll give you that much of a hint." Wynn shifted anxiously, both wishing and not wishing that they'd understand what he meant.
He always did grow nervous when talking about the real reason his parents decided to kick him to the curb. It made him feel self-conscious and he was never really sure when someone would react badly to it. At least with other Abnormalities, he knew they had a wide variety of identities that varied from fluid to the complete absence of one and so they'd accept it as fact.
"The gang wasn't my first choice in lifestyle after leaving. I actually did try to keep going normally but it turns out A.C.E. requires a lot of background and paperwork that I don't have and the other sirens were a lot more solitary than I liked. I met Marcus and Marx while looking for a job and they offered me a place. In a weird way, it does feel like a family. It's extremely dysfunctional though, Marx is a madman who thinks he can overthrow A.C.E., Vance hates all of our guts but still makes us food, there are quite a few members I've only met or seen very briefly but they hang around, and Camilla is a drunkard entering the late stages of Lycanthropy so who knows how long we have before she ends up a monster…" Wynn paused to gather his anxious thoughts, scratching at a patch of scaled skin. "But we all belong, and we have a place to go back to at night."

It was strange to Wynn, that their two groups had such different and intense views of the same organization. On one side was the belief and loyalty that A.C.E was family and gave them purpose. On the other was a group that had been wronged by A.C.E. and suffered the consequences. One that idolized and one that despised.
And yet Jen still seemed to find some kind of sympathy for the siren and his pyromaniac witch friend both of whom had voiced their disliking of A.C.E. rather loudly.

It was surprisingly painful to sit under the hot water of the shower. Marcus had to cut his shower short in favor of sitting on the floor twisted awkwardly as he attempted to pick out bits of shredded clothing, and wash dirt and soot from the tattered skin.
It took him way too long to figure out how to cover it, finally deciding on a gauze-medical tape mixture. One glance in the mirror and he knew Camilla would disapprove. It looked awful all taped up like some child's haphazard attempt at a craft. But it was at least covered and clean. That's all that he really cared about at the moment.
Now all he really wished was that he looked half decent.
Marcus pulled at the bags under his eyes, making a face at his reflection and huffing. How was one supposed to be an intimidating second-hand man in a gang if they looked like they were suffering from consumption?!
As he dropped his hands, his eyes trailed to the dark, black lines inked across his skin and a strange melancholy took over his thoughts. Marcus sighed, pulling himself away from the mirror and picking up the soft fabric of the pajamas he had been given. He turned them over a few times in his hands silently wondering if he should ask Marx for a pair once he returned. They were much nicer than the oversized T-shirt he usually wore to bed.

Once dressed, the witch cautiously opened the door, taking a quick glance around before he tried to sneak his way back to the room he had been shown. He didn't feel much like talking and he definitely didn't want Wynn to see him in such nice clothes. He'd get made fun of for not matching.

Rae smiled at that. These people seemed a lot more human than she had originally been told. A.C.E demonized some of them, exalting others, but one thing that was taught was that they were all dangerous, no matter what level they were categorized in.

Jen suddenly felt very ill for Wynn. One meal? A day? There was no way that was how these guys were living. Had the system failed them that badly? Food was an important thing for Jen. He didn't speak it often but the reason he was so hell-bent on having everyone fed was because back in his home country food was scarce. You never knew when your next meal would be and you could go a week without anything but a tortilla and some salt, maybe a lemon if you were lucky. There were so many days when he went hungry and he suffered along with his siblings because of it. Never again. He made that promise and he didn't care what he had to do to keep the others safe and fed. He'd do anything, even if it was the wrong choice.
Rae looked at Wynn's spines, they were something she had been intrigued by, she wanted to ask about them but felt it was rude to do so. As Rae listened she nodded, feeling like she knew what he meant, but not entirely.
Jen crossed his arms as he also listened to Wynn's explanation. Acting almost like an adult who was listening to one of their kids. It's something his own adopted father did at times when he was younger and Jen would ramble on about things.
"You chose your name…" Jen's eyes hardened a little in thought, then his eyes lit up when things clicked. Back when they had first met, Wynn had gestured to his chest while talking about getting disowned.
"I see…" Jen's eyes softened and he smiled, though he tried to hide the fact that he was able to put two and two together. Jen was incredibly insightful and got things very quickly. It was one of the reasons he was the leader.
"Well you might not care about what I think but I think they were stupid for kicking you out. Once you adopt a kid, if that's what you're looking to do, you do anything to protect them. No questions asked." He put his hand on Rae's head as if trying to convey something. Rae only seemed confused by this.
Hearing that A.C.E made it near impossible for others to get a job or even live in society didn't sit right with Jen. If A.C.E was doing this, then turning around and telling them that the ones suffering were the ones to blame, Jen had a problem with that. He didn't stop to talk to the people they had captured for a long time. It was no wonder Jake was so against the idea of A.C.E and their ways.

Jake clicked his tongue.
"Ding ding ding," He said as if reading Jen's thoughts. "Looks like a lightbulb just went off in your head. It's about time." He said, a wicked smile on his face now.
Jen looked over at Jake and narrowed his eyes, then focused his attention back on Wynn. This changed things, but also nothing at the same time. Jen had blindly followed for so long, following in his father's footsteps, but now that things showed that A.C.E wasn't everything they talked themselves to be, it conflicted with Jen's deep loyalty. The people who had given them a place to exist, to belong, albeit with high expectations, were the ones contributing the most to the problem, and instead of fixing it, they were only making it worse. It wouldn't be long before they'd have more people trying to take a stand and getting killed. Getting killed by Apotheosis. And just like that Jen felt like he needed to sit down.
"I think I'm going to be sick," He said, though didn't elaborate on it. To make matters worse there was nothing he could do because if he did he could possibly be sacrificing everything he held dear to his heart. The question now was, were their lives worth saving after everything they had done? The answer? No. But Jen loved everyone so much he couldn't imagine putting them through so much for everyone else. They deserved to live just like everyone else. But so did Wynn and Marcus and everyone who had been wronged by A.C.E.

"So, it is like family," Jen said, though he looked very unwell at this point. He looked to Jake who was looking to the hallway where the rest of the rooms were. He looked to Rae who gave him a small smile. Ezekiel and Blake had left to their family, so it was only them, but Andre, Niveus, Aaron, Casimir, Jake, Ezekiel, Blake, and Rae. He couldn't imagine them dead or worse.
"Do you want to go back to them?" Came Jen's final question, to which Jake suddenly looked at Jen. Jake never knew what Jen was thinking. He was the leader but at this exact moment, Jake knew with what intention he was asking that question with.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here" Jake suddenly chimed in. "The fact that I have the be the voice of reason for you Jen, really says something," Jake said, his eyes now cold and still as his eyes pierced through Jen.
"I don't care whatever it is that you're feeling. Turn it fucking off. I'm with you all the way, but not right now." He said, his gray eyes glaring at Jen, whose soft eyes looked a little sad now.
Jen took in a shaky breath.
"While you're here you can have whatever you want, food-wise. We'll get you clothes if you so wish. This isn't because I feel sorry for you. This is because I believe everyone should be treated equally regardless of who they may be" With that Jen avoided eye contact with Wynn.
"I'll go order and pick up the food, is there anything else you would like?" Came Jen's question, though now he seemed torn, his voice attempting to be cold and detached but failing as he had already made the mistake of falling for Wynn. In the sense that he felt that Wynn should be someone who was taken care of, not living the way he did and going to the place where he was going to die at.

Jake dismissed Jen with his eyes as he went back to staring at the hallway. No one. No one was going to put his sister at risk of being killed. Jake was nowhere near as loyal to A.C.E as Jen was, but there was one person that made him a shield, someone who protected A.C.E at all costs no matter what, and that someone was Aster. And right now, he had no room for error.

Wynn seemed relieved to have hardly any reaction at all, glad that Jen had been rather discrete about the revelation.
"They were stupid, I'm great. Though I suppose I have to thank them for getting me kicked out, I did manage to find people I like much more than the ones I used to have to deal with. Gods were the homeschooled kids in my 'classes' intolerable. They were all A.C.E. kids, most were either human or witches and just as clueless about the issues of us as you guys are." Wynn grinned wickedly, the expression only growing as he watched Jen suddenly come to realization.
Wynn leaned back a little, tilting his head as Jen had an internal battle. Even if these people had treated them fairly kindly, Wynn took great pleasure to see them so torn. He hoped - if it came to be - his death would eat them all up inside. Their endless torment would be enough vengeance to keep him from coming back from the dead to haunt the shit out of Jake.
There was little hope or comfort in hearing Jen's hesitance. Wynn knew there was no chance they'd just let two marked Abnormalities walk out like it was nothing. Jake's words confirmed it.
"Even if I wanted to, there is hardly any chance of me or Marcus just waltzing on out of here. Imagine the fit your superiors would have."
The siren narrowed his eyes at Jen, rattling his spines for a short moment.
"Sure… I'm fine on clothes, you might want to pick something up for Marcus, or at least let him borrow something. I'm pretty sure he ruined his clothes with that last ward, he refuses to invest in fireproof clothing regardless of how many times I tell him he needs to. Otherwise, no, nothing else. Go ahead and get the food."

"Yeah… imagine…" Jen thought, trying to picture how it would all play out. If they caught wind of any type of rebellion, they'd all get executed on the spot. It was almost like they didn't have free will to do anything but this job. Jen tried to fight it, trying to persuade his mind that they did, but the more he thought about it, the more his head ran in circles trying to justify A.C.E's rules.
With Wynn's last words Jen nodded and headed out the door.
It left Rae and Jake in the same room as Wynn. There was an awkward silence as Jen left like he had been keeping everything from crumbling down into nothing but quietness.
It was then that Jake finally spoke up.

"Do you know what he likes to wear? I can text Jen with some details on what he should get, if not, that's fine too, he'll probably get him something warm" Jake thought. Jen was like that. He paid close attention to someone and figured out someone's needs. It wasn't too hard when people gave you clues all the time.
"I uhm" Rae looked to Jake, somehow for approval but Jake only stared back, not really understanding.
"I hope you live," She says lowly. "You're young, no one should have to go through what you went through," She says, Jake at this point was uninterested again, staring down the hallway….again.
"You think he'll be fine? I did throw that grenade and while it might have been shielded for a second, it still hit" Jake said. The entire time Jake had been wondering if Marcus had been able to patch himself up properly.
"Think he might want something else from the store?" It was disgusting. For Jake to be so invested in another person. He felt it. Felt the drop in his stomach when he saw Marcus and even now, the interest that came onto him after seeing him tonight. The whole thing made him want to get away. He didn't want to be near Marcus but he didn't have a choice. He was stuck. It was confusing, the curiosity of how Marcus was doing, what he was feeling, and the ripping desire to go back to how he had been before. Bored and uninterested.
Rae caught onto this interest and wondered if Jake saw something more in Marcus.
"Would you also like to take a bath? Before food gets here?" Rae offered Wynn, a tiny smile on her face as if telling him that right now she wasn't an enemy, even though that's exactly what she was. She hoped that he would accept her silent peace treaty, and even if he didn't, she didn't have anything against him. She'd continue to be herself.

The silence that followed was too much for Wynn at the moment. He tried to fill it with soft clicks from his spines and voice alike, anxiously picking at the webbing between his fingers.
He was all too glad to answer Jake if it replaced the awkwardness with something else. Wynn never did take to awkward situations very well.
"Nothing too tight, or really too warm. I'm sure he'd wear anything you give him as long as it's not too heavy or hot. He keeps his heat well, probably the nature of his magic more than anything. Though, now that I think about it, if he doesn't have access to that he might get cold…" Wynn trailed off, puzzling over it. Hopefully, Marcus's pyromaniac ass wouldn't get trigger-happy and light the whole apartment on fire.
The siren paused at Rae's words, something like distaste coming across his face for a split second before he shook his head and grimaced. "The sentiment is kind of you, but I'm sure Marcus would agree with me when I say we'd both rather die than end up in an A.C.E. facility." He bit back.
Wynn's spines rattled in annoyance. He stared Jake down disapprovingly, sizing him up before he folded his arms and grumbled something about 'bad taste' under his breath.
"I don't know. He's stubborn as hell when it comes to accepting help so if you really want to make sure he's alright, you'll have to either force him to show you he took care of it or do it yourself. As for items from the store, he'll decline, but - and as much as I dislike the thought of you anywhere near him - he likes sugar wafers… it might be enough to persuade him to let you look at least." Wynn glared at Jake, sizing him up one last time before he scoffed and turned away. "I wouldn't be telling you this if I thought I had any other choice. I can't help fix anything at the moment, webbed fingers make first aid hard, and your leader seems like the type to respect boundaries. You're on thin ice, try anything with him and I might take my execution in the form of being gunned down for ripping your throat out."
Wynn turned to size up Rae for a moment, tilting his head as he thought over the pros and cons of a nice shower. "I would, actually, it might be nice to wash off tonight. As long as you make sure nothing goes wrong while I'm in." He trusted Rae more than any of the others, he felt she'd at least keep her word. For now, he'd accept her silent peace treaty but only towards her. The others would have to prove they held their word.

Jake nodded at Wynn's words, taking out his phone and promptly texting something, before looking up at Wynn at his next words.
"Well, you're definitely not dying, and you'll definitely be delivered to A.C.E. You have no choice here, as for Marcus…" Jake trailed off.
"Well, I'm not sure what they'll do with him, maybe they'll put you both in the same room, though I doubt it" Jake said casually. Rae's gaze softened at what Wynn said. She didn't mind it, the hostility, it came with the job, though she had never been nice or felt this way towards anyone before, all she had known was carrying out tasks, and never stopping to talk to anyone like Jake did.
Jake gave Wynn a smirk when he told him the secret to Marcus' sweet tooth.
"Right-o, will do, and don't worry about me doing anything to Marcus, I'm not interested" He lied. "I mean, he is very interesting, but I have no plans to kill him myself or do anything really." He said as he kept looking down at his phone, texting, then smiling softly when Jen texted back. He always sent back little emojis to convey his emotions and Jake thought that was cute in its own way.
"You know, I think it's quite adorable when you try to size me up, instead of trying to at least pretend to friend your captors to escape, you decide to indulge in your own pride and die rather than gain sympathy from us, I mean, you've already go Rae's sympathy by the looks of it. A shame really for a dead man walking" Jake hummed, to which Rae blushed a little, glaring at Jake.
"I might have sympathy, but it seems like it's not wanted, so I would much rather you not say things like that" She pouted. Jake laughed softly.
"My bad. If you were in my position you wouldn't last a second. At least now you know why I do what I do" He said, trailing off when Jen texted him again, then refocusing on texting back.
Rae rolled her eyes and looked back to Wynn.
"Well, all you have to know is that I think you're neat" She shrugged, then smiled when Wynn took up his offer to take a shower.
"Of course. I'll make sure Jake doesn't get anywhere near you, sometimes that's kind of my job." She joked, to which Jake looked up, shooting a death glare at Rae.
"Right, I may hit on almost everyone but trust me when I say at least I got good taste," He said, smiling at Wynn.
"Not to say that you're not attractive in some way for someone else, just not for me" He said, shooing them both away.
Rae looked at Wynn's hand, but decided against grabbing him, he might not like that.
"Follow me," Rae said as she led Wynn down the hallway and to the bathroom where Marcus had been previously. "It's a little bit small, but it's enough to move around in. We don't have many people staying here except for me and four others so that's why. Rent's not exactly cheap in other places anyways so we make do" Rae talked as she opened the door to the bathroom and waited for Wynn.
"I'll wait outside, or if you prefer I can go away," She said, looking to the room where Marcus was in. She also wondered if he was alright.

"Even if we are handed to A.C.E. they won't be given an easy task. I'm sure Marx will give them hell for Marcus and as for me, I've lived my life, if they want to experiment on me they'll have to do it on my corpse." The threat was clear as day. Wynn wouldn't give them a live subject to experiment on. If Marx and the gang didn't come for them before A.C.E. did, he'd turn his own claws and spines on himself.

Wynn found it very hard to believe Jake had no interest in the witch. It was very obvious that he felt something for Marcus and it slightly irked Wynn.
"I've played my cards already, bastard. Why would I bother telling my whole sob story to people who think I'm no more than an animal? It wouldn't change anything. I'd rather not waste my energy on idiotic ideals. It is no concern of mine who ends up sympathizing or growing attached to me." Wynn lied, biting back what he really wanted to say to the silver-eyed fucker who thought himself so high and mighty for not having a heart.
"You wouldn't be the first to think I'm interesting." He told Rae, though his tone seemed to indicate he was talking about something much more grim.
"Keep him from either of us, me or Light. Marx might want more than just your head for taking something he loves from him."
Wynn feigned hurt at Jake's words, dramatically looking away purely to mock the other. "The asshole I don't care for at all isn't interested in me? Oh, how awful." He bared his teeth at Jake in an awful sneer, flipping him off as best he could.
"Fuck off into oncoming traffic."

Wynn gave Jake one last glare before he followed after Rae willingly. He looked around the small space, rattling for a moment before he stepped into the bathroom and sighed. "This is fine. I only need warm water to wash off, I don't have to do much else, I am a creature of the water after all." He turned back to look at Rae, tilting his head.
"Do what you want, if you want to stay, then stay. I won't stop you," he told her, sighing deeply as he slid off what little bit of a shirt he wore.

Jake did not look impressed at Wynn's threat. Many had done the same, yet they were kept from dying, just as Jake had been kept from suicide. He had tried many times, but he was always brought back unwillingly.
"Right," Jake said, a little more serious this time.
Though a small smile made its way onto Jake's lips.
"Mmmm not well enough apparently" Jake taunted, though stopped there, not wanting to get the other too riled up.
Rae's eyes drooped some at the guy's back-and-forth argument. She hated conflict, but this was to be expected with Jake and prisoners who were destined for death.
Jake's eyes seemed to glint at that. Something he loves? So then that meant Marcus and Marx were dating. That seemed to make Jake quiet like he wasn't sure how to react.
"Of course, I'm sure he's much better than me in every single way," Jake said, slightly believing it since he didn't exactly know Marx. He wondered what their relationship looked like and if Marx would really come for Marcus. Was his love that deep for him? It had to be.
Jake swallowed. There was no room for him, though it wouldn't be the first time he stole someone from another person, though he didn't enjoy it. Stealing from others even if he could.
He stared at Wynn as he flipped him off, not being able to say anything else as the information that was given to him was enough to silence him.
Rae at this point had a sort of repressed smile on her face. Jake? Speechless? Now that was a sight to see. As Wynn entered the bathroom Rae nodded.
"Then I'll wait here. I doubt Jake will try anything seeing how things are, but even if he does I'll keep him away." She said, giving him a nod and closing the door.
Rae looked down at her shoes as she waited, kicking at the floor slightly. It was weird. They had never had prisoners before, nothing quite like these two. She had seen prisoners but back at A.C.E's headquarters, never here among them.

It didn't take long for Jen to arrive with the food. Rae was still with Wynn as Jake laid on the couch, looking at his phone, then at Jen when he came in.

"Where's Wynn and Rae?" He asked.
"Shower," Jake said, his mood seemingly having been ruined.
"You're in a bad mood, did they do something?" Jen frowned.
Jake looked over to Jen and smiled, annoyed.
"Mind your business before I actually take my frustration out on you" He threatened to which Jen narrowed his eyes.
"Well, the food is here and I got what you asked for," He said putting the bag on the table.
"Got a few extra snacks for you and the rest. As for the clothes, I got a short sleeve and a long sleeve, depending on what he wants. Have you checked up on him?" Jen asked, genuinely wondering if Jake was as interested as he seemed to be.
"Absolutely not" Jake scoffed. "You think I'm going to risk poking at an already angry bear? You got me fucked up" Jake said suddenly sitting up and eyeing the bags.
Jen sighed deeply.
"Take them to him. If he's asleep leave him be. Let them rest." Jen ordered to which Jake rolled his eyes.
"I may be a monster Jen, but even I will leave someone alone if they don't want anything to do with me," He said getting up and snatching the bag, and making his way down the hall.
As soon as Rae saw Jake, she narrowed her eyes.
"You can't come in here" She got into a guard stance. Jake sighed at her poor attempt at a joke.
"I'm not here for the dumbass, I'm here for the other one," He said, knocking lightly on the door to where Marcus was at. Although Marcus didn't answer Jake cracked the door open slightly to see if he was asleep.

As Jake checked up on Marcus, Jen unpacked everything and brought down some dishes from the cupboards. He laid everything out so that when Wynn and Rae were done they wouldn't have to wait as they seemed to be the most eager to eat out of everyone there.
Jen brought everything to the living room as there wasn't enough room in the kitchen. He looked at the TV that was still playing Alice and Wonderland, still in the early stages. He smiled. He was sure they would enjoy it.

Wynn grit his teeth and rattled his spines at Jake though he said nothing in return. As fun as getting into a fistfight with Jake sounded, Wynn really didn't want to expedite their transfer to A.C.E.'s hands.
He scoffed when Jake spoke of Marx in such high terms, giving Jake an incredulous look. "Oh no, he's an asshole. I hate him just as much as I hate you but I also don't get much of a say when it comes to Marx." He grumbled, moving to Rae.
There was a slight satisfaction in finally getting Jake to shut up, though Wynn felt slightly guilty for using Marx's obsession with the witch to do so. Marcus claimed to be equally as in love with the gang leader but Wynn could see the hesitation, the fear, and the conflict every time the topic came up. Their 'love' was conditional, Marx was controlling. It wasn't something that worked for a healthy relationship.

Wynn gave Rae a toothy smile, dipping his head down in thanks as the door closed. "I won't be too long." He called through the door. A moment later the sound of the shower filled the space, and a light humming that seemed almost relieved.

Marcus had to admit he hadn't really tried to sleep. He really had just needed a moment alone, away from everything and everyone. Though now he was, he was starting to regret it. At first, he had laid down, staring at the ceiling to try and avoid the eyes of the posters around him but when that proved to do nothing but aggravate his anxiety he elected instead to throw himself into checking on his wounds, both new and old.

When Jake came to check on him, he was sitting on the edge of the bed with the shirt of his pajamas gingerly in his mouth to keep it out of the way while he treated his burns. He was thankful he had decided to steal the burn cream from the first aid kit, it was heaven to have the cool substance against the wounds.
He glanced towards the door when it cracked open, giving Jake a curious look and pausing in his efforts. His lackluster attempt to fix up his gunshot wound was on full display, the edges of the medical gauze slightly yellowed now from the antibiotics he had used on it. There were other dark splotches starting to appear across his side where he had hit the ground after the grenade, joining the array of yellow and green that had been there since the beginning of the week.
There were more runes tattooed across his midsection most surrounded by unnatural, angry burns that followed their shapes almost perfectly. Marcus soon continued rubbing the cream over these burns, grimacing.
"Nice to see you have the decency to knock first." His words were slightly muffled by the fabric in his mouth.

Jake's eyes seemed to relax once they landed on the gang member. Seeing him treat his wounds filled Jake with guilt. He wasn't sure why. Maybe because the grenade had been his doing. Jake never went overboard with his killings, he made sure they were to the point, though, some of them had received Jake's wrath when he was in less than an ideal spot with his mind. Those, he carried around with him everywhere, they haunted him, the screams, the pleading, and the crying. Sometimes he didn't know what possessed him to do such atrocities, but it didn't matter because he had done it in the end.
"Sorry…" Jake grumbled. He might have had the decency to knock, but he hadn't waited for Marcus to say anything, though he did stand outside for a second just in case he was changing.
"I brought some stuff for you," Jake said as he walked in and closed the door behind him. He walked over to the dresser and turned on a small night lamp that was beside it so as to not turn on the big one as he thought maybe Marcus would want it that way.
"Wynn said that you like sugar wafers?" Jake sort of questioned, wondering if the siren had lied to him, though it seemed unlikely.
"Jen got you uhhh… strawberry sugar wafers, vanilla, and chocolate" Jake raised his eyebrows at that, Jen really had gone overboard with the snacks.
"There are other snacks over in the kitchen if you're interested," He said at last.
"Oh! And he got you some clothes- you can keep the ones you have on right now, but in case you want to change, they're here" He said as he looked at the burn marks and other bruises on Marcus' skin. He wondered what kind of activities he was doing to collect all of those.
"Would you mind if I took a look? I can help you apply the cream in places you can't reach, if you want to stop for any reason I'll stop" He said, his eyes trained on Marcus, looking like he really meant it, though promptly looking away when he realized he was staring too much.

Jen walked back to his van to pull out the drinks. He had gotten different ones from soft drinks like fruit punch to fizzy drinks like coke, and energy drinks from different brands.
Once back inside he arranged everything. It seemed odd to be having such a big meal, it almost felt like the death penalty where they asked someone what they would like as their last meal, though Jen tried not to think about it too much. If worse came to worse, he'd do something about it.
This had been the first time Jen had questioned anything and was starting to regret working for A.C.E. He imagined himself in Wynn and Marcus' situation and couldn't help but want a little bit of help out of their dilemma. What really got Jen was that anyone one of them could have turned to a life in a gang and have been hunted down by A.C.E.

After grabbing the cups and setting them down on the table, Jen walked down the hallway where Rae was sitting by the door, drawing on her arms with a pen. There were hearts, stars, and other shapes involved like flowers and lines to make a simple tattoo-looking ink drawing on the skin.
She looked up.
"Wynn's still in the shower, it shouldn't be long," She said smiling at Jen, grateful to have him with them again.
"You know, if you wanted a tattoo you should go get one done professionally so it'll last longer" Jen commented, to which Rae's smile only got bigger.
"Where's the fun in that? I can't change it if I got it done professionally, besides, I like that it can wash away, my father would have not approved" She said, smiling a little nervously now, though it was mostly playfulness.
Jen's eyes softened at the mention of Rae's father. He had died a few years back when she had joined Apotheosis. A truck accident. Rae's father had been driving a semi-truck and Rae had been in the passenger seat. They collided at an intersection with another semi truck and Rae had seen her father die. It was something that had scarred her for years, only to be getting better now.
"Well, I'll go wait in the living room and watch Alice in Wonderland," He said jokingly.

Marcus tensed when he heard the door click shut, pausing again as he lifted his head to watch Jake approach. He eyed the bag he carried wearily.
"What kind of stuff…?" he started, blinking in the light of the lamp but silently thankful for the light. His eyes lit up as Jake explained, his gaze flickering for a moment to the bag in excitement. He did love sugar wafers… though he didn't appreciate Wynn giving away his secrets like that.
"Is this some sort of bribe to get me to do something?" Marcus asked wearily though he still slid over to take a curious peek into the bag. Once he confirmed it was indeed snacks and clothes he seemed to relax.
"I'll change later, maybe tomorrow morning." Marcus returned to assessing which burns he could reach and treat, more so to distract himself from the other presence in the room. He could feel Jake's eyes on him. It made him want to hide from everything.

Marcus froze at the offer letting it turn over in his mind for a moment before he stopped what he was doing and looked directly at Jake. A conflicted expression flashed across the witch's face as he studied the other.
After a long moment of silence, Marcus slid over and gestured for Jake to come closer.
"Fine. But if for any reason I don't like what you're doing you leave, got it? This is only because I can't see them all so don't get any ideas."

There was a soft click as the bathroom door swung open. Wynn ran his fingers through his hair as he exited, looking down at Rae and grinning.
"Sorry for the wait, it's hard to get clothes on over spines, there's a reason most of my shirts don't have any backs." he hummed, pausing for a moment as he studied the pen on her arms. He had caught the tail end of their conversation and felt somewhat amused by the idea of someone like Jen encouraging tattoos. It matched him.
"You know they have a lot of different ways to make semi-permanent tattoos? They last for a few weeks but eventually wash off. When Marcus was first trying out his magic in a combat setting he used to draw the runes he needed on his arms in sharpie and it always smudged too much to be useful so one day he got tired of it and found a few ways to pretty much dye his skin. Of course, those faded eventually too and he got tired of redoing them. Camilla eventually just tattooed them for him. Not the best idea for runes, really, if you fail at a circle or overuse spells it tends to backfire on those runes. Not really great if they're…." He trailed off, frowning. "I don't know why I'm telling you all of that, you probably know how it works."
Wynn shook his head, sighing gently before he gestured back towards the main room. "I'm done in here, now I need to win this competition you started earlier."

"It is a bribe," Jake said, amusement in his eyes at Marcus' hidden excitement. "Though, not a bad one, just so you'll let me look at you to make sure you've got every wound covered, infections and fevers are the worst," Jake said as he sat on the bed opposite from Marcus. He watched Marcus as he thought it over, whether he wanted Jake touching him or not. To be honest, Jake thought he would decline but was pleasantly surprised when he accepted.

When Marcus moved to the side a bit to let him sit beside him, Jake stood up and promptly went over to the other bed.
"Don't worry, I don't usually overstay my welcome." He said seriously, grabbing the cream from beside Marcus and taking his arm warmers off to reveal the previous scarred arms. He squeezed the tube so that the cream came out onto his hand which felt too bare. He didn't like it, but he also didn't like the thought of getting his warmers dirty.
"And I have plenty of ideas, though, I'm not one to do things without consent. Consent is everything" He said, at last, there being a hidden meaning behind his last words. There was a reason why Jake held consent in such high regard, he felt that everyone should, but unfortunately, some people really were assholes. Assholes he had no problem killing.

"I may seem pretty bad to you, especially Wynn, but I promise I don't overdo it. I'm not-" I'm not a monster. He thought even though he would say that he was to beat others to it.
He slowly lifted the shirt from Marcus' back and looked at all the bruises, some of them looked old and he frowned. Again. What exactly was he doing to get all of these? He thought but figured he shouldn't ask about it.
Jake gently applied the cream to the burned areas and softly massaged it into his skin. His touch was strangely tender, something that didn't match him at all. His hands were also slightly cold despite having something to warm them.
"But as I was saying, I'm not all bad…" He said softly, a hint of sadness in his voice. "There's a reason I don't hold sympathy for you guys, and that has to do with keeping my sanity intact" He explained. "Some of us don't willingly work for A.C.E just in case you were wondering" Jake hummed as he kept applying the cream to Marcus' skin.
Once every area was covered on his back, Jake put down his shirt.
"Anywhere else you would like me to help you with? It seems like you got all your wounds covered so that's good" He noted, a casual side smile on his face.

Rae smiled back at Wynn when he grinned at her.
"All good!" She chirped, pocketing her pen and getting up. "As you can see I entertain myself pretty well" She laughed softly. "Besides, it isn't as long as I thought it would be, Jake takes super long showers, you at least beat him" She side smiled.

Rae looked at Wynn curiously.
"Really? I didn't know about that! Do you think I could get some custom-made ones? I don't like anything permanent on my skin, I want to honor my father, he wouldn't have liked it very much if I had gotten tattoos on my skin, besides, I'm afraid of needles" She chuckled.
Rae nodded at Wynn.
"That's okay, I can listen to you explain it again, it's nice to re-learn things, I forget a lot so a reminder is nice," She said, walking down the hall with Wynn and into the kitchen area. "But that would be quite annoying to have to redo them, I do mine for fun, it takes my mind off the hurt," She said, a little too cheerfully for that sentence.
There was a devilish smile that replaced Rae's previous cheery mood when Wynn mentioned the competition.
"Just so you know I haven't eaten much today so I might beat you, don't be a sore loser when I win" She taunted playfully, though she had yet to see how much Wynn could wolf down.

Entering the living room, Jen was sitting on the couch, watching Alice in Wonderland, not exactly a joke anymore. He looked up to the two that approached.
"Food's on the table in the kitchen, you can go ahead and get started, I'm going to wait for Jake and Niveus to finish up what they're doing," Jen explained and gestured to the kitchen, telling them to help themselves.
Rae flashed a smile in Wynn's direction.
"Okay!" She walked over to the kitchen and looked at all the food laid out in front of them.
"You can choose whichever one you want, I think….these and these are ours" She picked out the ones that were in to-go boxes, there were others still in bags.
"I think those are ours too, but we can get them later," She said, handing a box to Wynn and getting one for herself, and opening it. She reached over to the bag and took out two forks, handing one to Wynn as well.

"You're lucky I'm easy to win over." He mused, staring at the bag for a moment longer. Marcus couldn't decide if he felt touched by the action or if he should be wary of the kindness. It felt more like pity to him… or maybe as if they were trying to make themselves feel better about handing them over to A.C.E.
"You're strangely accommodating for a group of hunters." The witch glanced curiously over at Jake as he took off his warmers. The scars were curious, but nothing he hadn't seen before. It wasn't unlikely to come across beings with heavy scarring in his line of 'work'. Marcus had quite a few himself both from others and self-inflicted.
Marcus narrowed his eyes at Jake, looking him up and down for a moment. "Asshole… keep your decency…" He muttered, turning his head away. Small alarm bells were going off in his head though he tried his best to shove the rising anxiety down. Maybe he should have asked if Wynn could have done this instead.

He tensed as Jake started on the wounds on his back, staring at the bed in front of him. The tenderness of it all put Marcus on edge more than anything else that had happened in the last few hours. He had expected these people to be just as unforgiving as the rest of the A.C.E. agency members and instead had found a group of teens no older than he and Wynn who gave them food and first aid.
It was too comfortable. Marcus didn't trust it at all.
"Doesn't matter if it's willing or not. Doesn't change things at all." Marcus grumbled, hugging his knees to his chest. "You can tell us all you want that you're not a bad person and it won't make a difference. Not a single Abnormality you hunt will believe you regardless if they are innocent or not. At the end of the day, you're the people who lead us to a slow and painful death, don't waste your breath trying to get us to sympathize with you. It's a waste of energy."
He turned to look at Jake once he had finished, shaking his head. "No, everything else will heal fine on its own." Marcus paused, awkwardly picking at the scabs on his arms. "Thank you…" He added, shrinking in on himself.
Marcus seemed to hesitate for a moment, his brow furrowing in frustration. "You knew, back in the cafe." He started, struggling with each word as if he didn't quite know what to say. "You didn't do anything about it. Why not then? It would have been much easier to catch us off guard at that moment rather than wait for Marx to do something."

"Really, now? That's a surprise." He replied lowly, glancing towards the room Marcus was in and narrowing his eyes. He had given Jake the benefit of the doubt in this situation, he hoped he wouldn't regret doing so later.

Wynn gave Rae a crooked smile, shrugging. "I don't know about custom ones, you'd have to look into it, I'm sure it exists somewhere. I don't get tattoos, doesn't exactly work when your skin is partially scaled. Besides, glamour spells let you look any way you want so why bother?" Wynn gave her a look at her next words, choosing to not reply more so out of the fear he'd say something dumb.
A wicked look replaced his smile, a rough, growling laugh leaving his chest. "You haven't had much interaction with Abnormalities, have you? Hate to tell you, but I have about four years of extra calories to make up for." He mused, following after her and rattling his spines excitedly.

Wynn glanced at the tv, tilting his head at the curious visuals. He hadn't ever seen Alice in Wonderland but he had heard plenty about it. Camilla loved the movie. She had once told him that she used to watch it after particularly rough transformations. He could see the appeal, it's strangeness felt familiar.

Wynn took the food offered to him thankfully, his eyes widening when Rae pointed out what else was theirs to eat. Talking about large amounts of food was one thing, seeing it all in front of him was another. He was still confident that he would eat it all but it admittedly had been a while since he had eaten this much. Maybe their time here wouldn't be the worst idea? If Wynn played his cards right, he might be able to escape these guys and convince Marx and the gang that he and Marcus were locked up in some secret human laboratory…
He just had to pull the right heartstrings.

Jake smiled at that line. Easy to win over. He wondered about that. He listened to Marcus' words and shrugged even though he couldn't see him.
"Would you rather us treat you like dirt?" Jake questioned. "Listen, I know it's hard to believe but not all of us are bad, I'm not talking about myself at all, more so Jen and Rae. You have them to thank for all the 'accommodations', Jen doesn't like treating people badly even though that's our line of work, we leave that up to A.C.E. We're only contracted, and we do as we're told. Your lives aren't the only ones on the line" Jake said casually, frowning again when he glanced at the markings again. He had avoided looking at Marcus and let his hands touch where they needed to go, feeling the roughness of some parts.
Jake's eyes softened at Marcus' rejection to his own words. He hadn't wanted to start off on the wrong foot, but things had just played out this way, there was no changing it.

"That is true, we do the most gruesome killings, we torture others and we show indifference" Jake paused. "Sounds like us," He said as he kept applying the cream. Jake wouldn't argue with Marcus, he was right, mostly because of him. Jake had a bad reputation on the streets, even among both families. Except for Jake's father.

Jake's father adored him and called him the pride of his family as Jake was subjected to pain over and over again. That would soon change though, as all things did.
Once Marcus turned around, Jake looked into his eyes for a brief second before looking away, acting like he wasn't into this as much as he was.
The question didn't catch him off guard though.
"I'm a sucker for pretty guys," Jake said, a small smile making its way onto his lips before it dropped and he turned to something more serious.
"There were others around," Jake said simply. "Sure, we could have waited for you guys to come out and ambush you when you were alone out of sight, Jen wanted to so badly, but" Jake seemed to stop. "But I couldn't," Jake said now looking down at his hands, examining his chipped black painted nails.
"You seemed to be enjoying yourself with your friend, who am I to take any of that away?" He looked up, a faint blush on his cheeks.
"And as confident as I am that I can take you in a fight, I didn't want to. I didn't know back then because you seemed pretty available, but you have a partner, yeah? And I'm sure you want to get back to him as soon as possible" Jake stood up. "Or well, Wynn said that he'd come and get you before anything happens." Jake rubbed his arms, feeling the cool air on his arms for more than he liked.
"Maybe that's for the best," He said walking to the door.
"Would you like to come to the living room? I'm sure the others would like to have you, besides, it's not like you can sleep right?" Jake said looking at Marcus before opening the door and waiting for him.
A lot of questions were swimming in Jake's head, but he decided to shut it off for tonight. He was tired. Balancing school, work, and playing A.C.E's puppet took a lot out of someone, and Jake honestly wanted to lay down and never wake up again. The exhaustion penetrated his very bones, he felt like he could drop dead at any moment, but it was not like he had the luxury of giving up. Not yet.

Rae looked at Wynn and smiled. Maybe there were other options she could choose from, she thought about this, she'd definitely look it up later. It was intriguing in its own way, there had to be something like that out there, out of all the things marketed, there had to be.
The excitement Wynn exhibited only served to make Rae even more excited. There was never really anyone who liked eating competitions, especially when she could beat them all, Andre had quite an appetite but he rarely participated in her games. Jen didn't like wasting food or overstuffing himself, and the others well…they weren't a fan, especially Aaron.
The thought of eating and excitement soon left her as quickly as it had come though. Easily, these people could have been her friends at school, very good friends, but the cards hadn't been dealt that way and it saddened her. Secretly, Rae wondered when their leader would come and get them, maybe they would get away. Every fiber of Rae's being begged whoever was looking down on them, would allow that to happen. A.C.E would be royally pissed, knowing they had these guys so close to their grasp only for them to slip away last second.
Even though Rae wanted that, she knew it was no use. They'd be sent out to capture them again until they succeeded or some of them died.
Rae grabbed some of the Mexican food that Jen had brought and looked over at the drinks.
"We usually have drinks in the fridge, but it seems we ran out so Jen bought some more, help yourself to anything we have available," She said, then motioned for Wynn to come to the living room and sit down when he was done grabbing what he wanted to drink. Rae patted the cushion beside her, seemingly happy to have Wynn with her. Jen was on the far right of the couch, drinking something as his eyes were on the tv, not minding Rae much. He looked over at Wynn though, watching his movement. Something had changed while Jen had been out. He had some time to think about it and while he hated the idea of hurting someone when they had already been wronged, he couldn't help it. He would deliver these two kids to A.C.E if it was the last thing he did. He just had to not think about it. He needed to stop talking, needed to stop asking stupid questions. That was the fastest way to death and he'd be damned if he let his family get killed over two strangers.

"I don't know… might make it feel less weird, I'm used to that at least," Marcus admitted truthfully, shrugging slightly. "I don't doubt your words, not everybody is willing to play the cards they are handed. I'm just telling you that in the end, that kindness won't matter. It never does." From his experience, nobody was kind just to be kind. There was always fine print to accepting a kindness. He had yet to figure out what Jen's fine print said.
Marcus stayed silent for the rest of the time Jake worked, trying hard not to flinch away from certain touches.

Marcus rolled his eyes, turning his face away from Jake to hide the red in his face. "You have strange taste." He huffed playfully, tugging on his shirt awkwardly. He stole a glance at Jake when he started to explain, watching as he seemed to retreat inward. For a moment, Marcus's expression softened. He opened his mouth to say something but froze at the next words.
He'd have to really tear into Wynn about keeping his mouth shut after all of this went down.
"Partner… yeah, sure. He'll probably only show up because his pride was bruised." Marcus made a face at that though the smallest bit of guilt picked at his heart strings. He had done this to himself, really. Even if it wasn't exactly a willing or established relationship he had committed to remaining in it. Marx claimed it was established, so he couldn't just throw that away.
"Maybe it is." Marcus stood, looking between the bed and the door with a frown. Jake's offer was tempting. He really wouldn't be sleeping much and the thought of having at least some kind of distraction for the night sounded better than sitting in a room alone with his existential dread.
"Alright, maybe just for a bit." He ran his fingers through his tangled hair, shuffling awkwardly over to the door.

Wynn took one look at the drinks and grew overwhelmed. "This should be fine, maybe water later but not at the moment." He followed after Rae with a slight skip in his step, unable to help the slight tremble of excitement in his spines.
He paused at the couch, glaring down at the soft cushion as if he were sizing it up. Jen's gaze didn't help his internal struggle, though he waved it off with a small smile of his own that seemed halfhearted. Eventually he took a seat, staring at the screen for a long moment before he tilted his head and opened up the food he held.
"Camilla likes this movie a lot. I haven't sat down to watch it though I can admit I've never fully understood her reasoning for picking this one as a favorite. Considering her situation, I guess I could see partially why. Something so strange and weird would feel so normal after such a violent and unnatural change in her life. It's just, why pick the movie your designated handler used to try and distract you with so he could murder you, you know? A strange thing to enjoy when it was the background music to you ripping his throat out in self defense." Wynn stated casually, humming along to the music of the movie as he situated himself more.

"Hmmm…" Jake hummed lightly at Marcus' words as if judging him slightly. Was he such a broken kid that he couldn't trust others to be kind for the sake of being kind? Such people existed, Jen was living proof of that, though he was still very much rough around the edges, even now. Something he carried since childhood. Jake never really learned about Jen's past and Jen never talked about it either. It felt violating that Jen knew his but not vice versa.
Jake arched an eyebrow at the comment about having strange taste. He smiled, rather mischievously.
"I'll have you know I have excellent taste." He paused. "Though it's not always that someone catches my eye, I'm not used to being attracted to someone this way," He said, eye wandering from Marcus to the bed he sat on. Andre's bed. He seemed to grow serious for a split moment.

"Anyways, it doesn't matter, you'll be on your way soon, and hopefully we won't see each other again" He smiled, now seemingly annoyed. Not at Marcus but at the feelings that overwhelmed his chest. He barely knew the guy, so it had to be the prettiness of his face that Jake found attractive. A little-known secret about Jake though, that everyone knew, was that he was attracted to those who seemed troubled. Never romantically, but felt that he needed to help others to atone for his sins.
Jake flirted, used people for money in one-night stands, and gave false words of love, but never fell into it. Even now he kept true to that, he felt it was a waste, but getting with someone was always a plus, especially when they were interesting to Jake. He loved stories and hearing about others' pasts as sad as they would be, but it gave him something to think about on nights when he couldn't sleep. He knew everyone's history in Apotheosis, as did the others about each member, everyone except their leader.
"Well that sounds pretty shitty" Jake commented and couldn't help but feel uncomfortable by Marcus' words, Jake had thought he'd be coming to get them both, but with the way Wynn said he'd fend for himself because only Marcus would be the one getting rescued, left a bad taste in his mouth. Marx was their leader, and while he didn't expect the guy to have morals or treat his members equally, he had at least hoped he held some sort of attachment to the others, maybe as fellow teammates seeing how they did everything together, but not everyone had a community that felt like family.

Jake looked over at Marcus when he stood up and reluctantly agreed. Jake waited for Marcus to exit the room before he went over to the bag that contained the sweets. He walked over and handed one of the sugar wafers to Marcus before he closed the door.
"Just in case you don't want to eat anything" He shrugged. "There's more than enough food for everyone if you change your mind though, there's also coffee if you're into that kind of thing" He smiled a little too happily at that as Jake had been the one to buy it, he was a huge coffee fan.

Rae nodded at Wynn's choice of water for later. Rae had seen the movie a thousand times at this point, so when Wynn began to speak again about the other members of his gang, Rae found herself listening more to him rather than paying attention to the movie.
"That does seem very strange" Rae agreed, though internally she panicked at knowing what kind of background his friends held. It seemed violent. And while violence was the norm for Apotheosis, each member took it differently, and Rae definitely was the oddball of the group. While others brushed it off as something not out of the ordinary, Rae couldn't shake it. She found herself stuck on the horrors that happened around her. Part of her wished she could lead a different life away from so much bloodshed, but that simply wasn't an option, especially when she was the leader of a biker gang. They all relied on her to keep them safe from the government. If she stepped away, they ran the risk of getting persecuted like Wynn's gang and that was something she would not allow to happen. They had helped her so much after the death of her father and she owed her life to them, she could at least do this much for them.
"I think it is a rather usual movie, but I grew up watching these sorts of things, a little bit different than your friend, but there's a sort of comfort in seeing things of the past, knowing what you've gone through and how much you've grown, for me it's a nostalgia factor" She shrugged as she began to eat her food.
"Though, your friend's past sounds very troubling…" She trailed off, not sure what else to say.

Marcus rolled his eyes at Jake, snickering softly. "Your tastes are awful even if I think they're interesting…" Marcus paused for dramatic effect, sizing Jake up for a momet. "Well, they're misplaced and that's enough to confuse me enough I want to know why." He admitted, nervously tracing the lines of one of his tattoos. It didn't feel the same now that he didn't have access to his own fire. It all made him feel… wrong.
"Yes, hopefully…" He muttered, shrinking away from Jake as his mood seemed to shift dramatically.

"It is, we deal with it." He muttered, shruggling lightly. Even if it was uncomfortable at best, it was still the way he had lived for the last couple of years.
Marx didn't need to look out for the entirety of the group, most of the time they were fine on their own. Marx made sure the majority of them stayed out of too much trouble and was willing to bail out those who found themselves in a tricky situation but only if it benefited his plans in the long run.
He wasn't a bad leader per se, just one who did things on his own timetables.
Even if Wynn found himself to be not worth much to Marx, Wynn was important to Marcus and that was enough. Marcus was sure they'd both end up 'rescued.'
Marcus was fine by it all. It wasn't like he had known much else.

He stared at Jake for a long moment when he offered the wafers to him. He gently took them from the other, thanking him quietly.
"What kind of coffee?"

Wynn shrugged, opening his food and grinning down at it. His mouth watered at the smell, excitement bubbling up in his chest all over again.
Gods he loved food.
"That makes sense… I kind of wonder if that's what it is for Camilla too." He hummed, shrugging again. "You get used to troubling pasts. A lot of us have them. Marcus burned his house down on accident and lost his mother to it, Vance killed the guy who had his family under strict contract, I ate a few people once I ran out of money for food, Camilla ate the man who cared for her after he tried to kill her. I don't actually know what Marx's deal is, I'm sure he's got plenty of issues too. Regardless, we've all got something wrong with us. Why do you think we're not too keen on going to A.C.E. for help?" He asked her plainly, looking over at her with an amused smile.

Jake gave Marcus a smile as if he was an old friend and not a prisoner doomed to die at the hands of A.C.E. It felt weird to be so carefree with someone who was considered dangerous, Marcus could strangle the living hell out of him and Jake knew he had to fight back, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to if that's how things went down.
"Misplaced? Want to know why?" Jake said casually, thinking about it for a moment. "Besides having a pretty face?" He questioned. "I think I have a thing for danger," He said as he made his way to the kitchen. Jake said it with a straight face, but part of him knew he was still suicidal about everything and he was just looking for a way out.
"You're basically the embodiment of it, or at least everyone seems to think so" Jake kept talking. "Jake be careful, Jake do your job, Jake stop messing around" He made his voice whiny so as to mimic the voices of others.
"It's always Jake this Jake that, but if you ask me, I'm not too fond of listening to others and the more something is forbidden, the more it makes me want it" Jake looked over at Marcus with an amusing glint in his eye, meaning him.

"Anyways, coffee." He moved on to the next topic. "Anything you want basically, I'm not a barista but I know a thing or two about coffee, I make all sorts at home" He paused at the word 'home'. Didn't feel like one but it was what it was.
"Let's see, here we can make…expresso, latte, cappuccino, mocha, black, irish" He looked over at Jen to make sure he hadn't heard the last one. Jen looked over at Jake, arching an eyebrow, wondering why he was looking at him.
"We're not supposed to have whiskey or any type of alcoholic drinks, but I might sneak some in from time to time." He shrugged. "We have a lot of options, just tell me what you want and I'll see if I can make it happen," Jake said as he went over to the coffee maker. He sure seemed chatty for someone who was constantly on guard. Thing was, Jake seriously had a thing for Marcus, and his over-chattiness was him trying to not fumble all over the place and make an absolute fool out of himself. He was nervous. Not something that happened often, but the combination of having someone he found attractive in the same room with him, not to mention how dangerous the situation was, was enough to make his anxiety spike.

Rae ate her food as Wynn explained briefly some of the gang member's pasts. She seemed to be pretty relaxed at the thought of someone eating another person even though they themselves were eating.
"You've eaten others before??" She questioned, more intrigued than anything else. She hesitated before she asked the following question.
"What did it taste like?"
Jen, having caught onto the conversation now felt a little queasy at the thought and looked over at Wynn and Rae curiously, as if he was also interested.
"Maybe you shouldn't ask questions like that Rae…" Jen said quietly, not sure if he wanted to know the answer to her question.
When Wynn said the last bit Rae nodded.
"I get it, you guys would not be treated fairly even though you only had to do what you needed to do for survival." It put things into perspective for Rae, A.C.E was not fond of abnormalities even though they were there for the regulation of nonhuman entities. You would think that they would be treated a bit better, but instead, some of them were shunned.
"I'm sorry though, I know it's not what you want to hear" Rae put down her fork as she spoke and stopped eating for a second. "I wish things weren't this way…" She looked at Jen, as if pleading for something, and Jen, knowing exactly what it was, looked away. Absolutely not.
Rae looked down at her food. She wished she could share these moments with more people, if only they got to know everyone before they killed them, then more would survive. Sure, at Apotheosis' cost, but that was someone's life they were taking away. Rae was against the idea of killing others and even though she knew she had to do it, she didn't want to. She protested a lot against the idea of killing off people, which was sometimes called for, as the program they worked for was a combination of A.C.E and N.E.X.U.S. Rae understood hunting down humans who did wrong, but even some of them had gray areas, and even though they did the vilest things, Rae couldn't help but have sympathy for the worst of the worst when their stories came to light. Some of them anyways, some were just lost causes.
"Anyways, I think you're great, you've had to go through a lot, more than I can say, and I wouldn't ever judge you for what you've had to do," She said as she stuffed her mouth with more food, as if angry that someone would look at Wynn and want to get rid of him for just surviving. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got at A.C.E and the more she wanted out.

Marcus gave Jake a questioning look, glancing down at himself for a moment before laughing quietly. Him? The embodiment of danger? Everyone did seem to think of him that way. Some part of him wondered had he been more attuned to a different frequency of magic would he have been considered less dangerous? Less violate? If he could control water instead of fire, or maybe manipulate the shadows to hide himself, would that make a difference?
It was nice food for thought albeit a bit of a sad one.
"Can't fault you for that… I do the same thing." He paused for a moment, looking Jake over. "Forbidden things are… tempting, I will admit that." He admitted sheepishly, moving to lean against a counter.

"Do you usually take your coffee Irish?" Marcus questioned, a glint of amusement in his eye as he watched Jen cast Jake a questioning glance. "As much as I love a good alcohol, Wynn would kill me. How about a mocha? Or a latte? Something warm and sweet sounds really nice at the moment. The more sugary the better."

Wynn snickered at Jen's reaction, leaning back more and pretending to think. The soft click of his spines gave away his amusement as he debated answering her anyways.
"Tough. Stress doesn't do good things to meat. Wouldn't recommend human, it's not the best."
A simple answer to the question, one broad enough it hopefully wouldn't make Jen sick to his stomach.
Wynn studied Rae's expression, a small pit of guilt eating at his mind. He had tried to sow seeds of doubt into the minds of these people purposefully just to spite them and yet seeing the conflict in Rae's expression left a bad taste in his mouth.
"Don't regret your actions now, don't feel bad for the likes of us. I may play up our sob stories but in the end, we are a danger to your kind, are we not?" He told her, snapping his teeth as if to prove his point.
Wynn fell quiet, however, as she gave him those last words to ruminate on. He stared down at his food, frowning deeply before lifting it to his mouth and nearly swallowing it whole.
"Your loss… we're all nutcases." He mused.

"Too tempting" Jake commented as he got the coffee maker ready.
At Marcus' question, he hesitated.
"No," He said, though it sounded like a lie. He looked over to Marcus and gave him a smile. "I prefer black coffee with a lot of creamer and sugar, but Irish is a perfect second," He said, watching as Marcus leaned against the counter.
"Alcohol is nice, we can't really have it because of the nature of our job, can't be off guard, we always have a target on our backs," He said, the thought throwing him back to reality and the situation they were in. He stayed quiet for a few seconds, acknowledging it.
"Can't tell you the number of times I've been jumped by others and beaten bloody" Jake said, though there was a smile on his face when he said it as if relishing those moments. Jen knew about this and insisted on traveling together but Jake didn't want Jen to be too concerned with him. It felt a little restrictive to be monitored all the time, not that he wasn't sure that the government wasn't already doing that.
He listened to Marcus' request.
"Will do," He said as he got to work. He smiled at the sugar part. Glad he wasn't the only one who loved a shit ton of sugar in his coffee, it was to be expected if they liked sweets.
"I know this is a little out of pocket, but what's it like?" Jake questioned. "You know, being part of a gang?" He hummed, wanting to get to know Marcus a little better and what his thoughts were on the whole thing. Jake did this with everyone. He struck up a friendly conversation with people who he wasn't supposed to. It made his job a lot harder, but Jake could take harder.
"You don't have to answer if you don't like, you guys are just interesting. It's been a while since anyone has done anything this big out in the open before, real stupid if you ask me, should have planned a little more, but is this what you like doing? Do you feel like you need to do it?" He questioned, wondering if there was something more to their motives other than wanting to tear A.C.E a new one.

"We would probably taste terrible then, especially Jen" Rae said, not hiding the huge smile that came onto her face when Jen looked horrified at the thought of being eaten. Why were they talking about this again?
"Listen, despite the fact that I hate where this conversation is going, I would like to think that I would taste…decent." He said, though unsure of himself. Rae seemed to lose it at that and let out a high-pitched sweet laugh, almost bordering on contagious. Jen smiled at that and shook his head.
"I've had enough of this conversation I'm going to the kitchen to get something to eat," He said as he got up and moved towards the other two who were in the kitchen.
"You really don't listen to the doctors do you?" Jen asked Jake who waved him away.
"It's not for me, it's for the strawberry fraisier," He said, refraining from saying Marcus' real name as that's the way he wanted it. Jake had a slight smile on his face every time he called Marcus by that name. It fit him a little too well.
Jen looked over at Marcus.
"Were you not able to get some rest? I know these circumstances are the last thing that'll let you rest and I apologize for that, but you should definitely get some after you're done here" To prepare you for what's next. He thought, moving to one of the bags and taking out a container with food in it.
"You should eat," Jen said to Jake who seemed to ignore it. "I mean it." Jen said, his words a little more firm this time.
"Yeah yeah, I will eventually," Jake said reluctantly and Jen shook his head.

Rae listened to Wynn, clenching the container that her food was in.

"I regret a lot of things and this is another one," Rae said as she stopped eating again. She looked over at Wynn a more serious expression on her face like she didn't like the fact that Wynn was trying to persuade her to not feel sorry for them. It was ingrained in her nature to be the sympathetic of the bunch. Unlike the others, Rae couldn't just do things to do things, even if she had a threat hanging over her head.
"You're not" Rae seemed to snap, though, at Wynn snapping his teeth, she couldn't keep a straight face. "Dangerous? Maybe, but so are we, Apotheosis would be hunted if we weren't who we are" Rae said, and saying those words out loud really yelled favoritism.
"If we hadn't been trained from a young age to be who we are, I'm sure at least one of us would have ended up joining one of you guys."
Little did Rae know that one of them had already joined the other side, playing with death as he balanced being in Apotheosis and being part of a gang. Andre was known to be gentle but there was something lethal about him when it came to obtaining the one thing that could make things better, if only for a short amount of time.
"Everyone's dangerous to a degree and I'm just really sad now that someone like you has had to go through this, don't take this the wrong way, but I really think that you can be doing so much better even though I know that you weren't really given options." Rae seemed to space off as she spoke, it seemed to really mess with her that good people were going down the wrong path. She wanted to help so badly that it physically pained her, her heart was crying out at the fact that she could do nothing to help this situation.
She hesitated.
"If…" She started. "If you were given a second chance, maybe A.C.E reconsiders, would you take it?" Her eyes looked sad and droopy now like the tiredness had caught up with her. There was one person in the whole group who could probably maybe persuade the government, A.C.E., to reconsider. And that person was Aaron. He had connections with the government directly as he was the kid of one of the top richest families. Rae was seriously considering asking him for a favor at this point, but knowing Aaron, who had basically everything, she wasn't sure if anything was good enough in exchange for a favor. Maybe a favor for a favor.

Jake's comments only further confused Marcus. He was trying to test the waters and push Jake's words a little more just to test them. He hadn't expected the attraction to actually be truth. He thought Jake was making fun of him like Marx's friends often did.
It made Marcus a little flustered and he knew that was wrong. Was he really so deprived of affection that he was willing to throw himself at anyone who showed even just a little more interest in him than Marx did? Gods he was pathetic…
Despite that, Marcus couldn't quite make himself want to drop the feelings.

"Black coffee with creamer and sugar…" Marcus repeated, tilting his head slightly. A fair choice in coffee.
"Alcohol is nice, on days I have someone standing by with a fire extinguisher. I attempt too many drunken arson attempts for my own good." He mused, sneaking a glance at Jake for a moment when the other fell into silence.
"Happens too often, doesn't it? Feels like you go looking for it after a bit." Marcus muttered, picking at the edge of the soft material of his shirt.
He cracked a small smile, watching Jake start on his drink. He looked around for a moment before he pulled himself up onto the counter to sit, sighing in relief when the pressure was taken off of his aching abdomen.
"Not as exciting as you'd think. And I'd hardly call us an actual 'gang'. We're more of a group of misfits who think we can take down an entire government armed and trained to deal with beings like us." Marcus admitted, letting himself spill his guts for once about what he really thought of the group.
"I don't mind telling you. There's a chance I'll never get to tell anyone." Marcus replied, waving away Jake's words.
"I agree with you. It was stupid. Marx is impulsive and arrogant and never thinks anything through if he's convinced he's good enough to do it. And then he has the gall to be upset and surprised when things fall through and go to shit. And Vance doesn't care enough to stop him, he's the only other person Marx will actually listen to because they're 'similiar beings of non-human origin'. Any of the others don't even register in Marx's head except for maybe Camilla because she's our medic and maybe Em, but I think he sees Em as something no longer capable of human thought, kind of like a pet dog… Wynn is recognized and I'm…" Marcus suddenly fell silent, his brows furrowing as he debated admitting things he could never take back. There was always the chance he would escape from here… did he want to risk letting Jake know the most vulnerable side of him? No. He'd take this to his grave.
"I also hold no power, despite being second to Marx." It wasn't a lie, so he didn't feel bad about saying it.
"It's not that I feel like I need to do it and I definetly don't fully like doing it, it's just that I made stupid choices and now I don't get the freedom to do anything else."

Wynn snickered as Jen grew more uncomfortable. He found it strangely funny even if a part of him nagged to stop antagonizing the man who had fed him.
"You might. I don't find human the best meal out there, I much prefer other things so you're safe. Just stay away from most bodies of water if you hear voices that are just a little too interesting or attractive and you'll be fine." Wynn teased, watching as Jen stood. He let out a small giggle and turned back to Rae.

Marcus looked up when Jen spoke, giving him a weary glance. His aprehension faded away, however, when Jake spoke up. Marcus grinned at the nickname, shaking his head at it. What a strange thing to call someone you had admitted to seeing as 'dangerous'.
"Ah… no. Too much anxiety. I don't think I will be getting any rest. It's not really possible," He replied, playing with the edge of his shirt once again as Jen's gaze fell on him.
He fell silent as Jen chastized Jake, reminded again of the fact that he did not belong here.

Wynn seemed to grow more distraught when Rae refused to go with his 'advice'. He didn't look over at her, instead finishing off his food and setting it down. He nodded gently at her words, ackowlding that he understood that her group was no different than his.
"Have you ever considered that loosing our sense of pity and empathy might be more benefitial in our situations?" He asked her, a new and intense seriousness to his tone. It wasn't said in a way meant to antagonize. The words were presented as merely facts, as if Wynn had gained some forbidden knowledge and had fallen into disarray over it.
"I know it's supposed to be what makes us humane, but both of us know that we aren't supposed to be humane. We are all dangerous to a degree, and it's not fair that our circumstances were piss-poor, but we're here now and we are being asked to do something that is supposed to be for the betterment of our respective people. If the past was unfair it no longer matters. We are being asked to do things that require us to be monsters."
He sighed deeply, letting her space off and letting himself wallow in the mood he had created for himself.
"I'm not sure anymore what we're supposed to be feeling or how we're supposed to be. It feels like at this point, I should just be the monster they see me as. Make's it easier to accept that A.C.E. is going to put me down like some rabid animal."

Rae's words made him freeze up. He hadn't ever really been asked that question, hadn't ever considered how he'd respond. It confused him the more he tried to think over it.
"I… I don't know. I don't know anything different. I don't want to go back to being under survelience at all times of my life because I'm not human but…" Wynn glanced back at Marcus, his brows furrowing. "I think it'd be good for both of us to get away from the gang."

"It's…normal," Jake said, referring to his coffee choice, making a small gesture with his hands as he prepared everything. He looked at Marcus from the corner of his eyes when he explained the alcohol and why it wasn't such a good idea.
"Sounds hot," Jake said, meaning it in every sense of the word, though he didn't elaborate. He measured the coffee as he finally had all the ingredients in front of him and hummed lightly and nodded at Marcus' next words.
"Right, I mean, it can be fun," Jake said casually. He loaded the coffee into the machine and started to put the water in, then turned it on. It wasn't a fancy coffee maker but Jake made do with what he had.

"Who knows, maybe you can. Maybe that's why they're so terrified of you guys" Jake commented, a smile appearing on his lips, though his back was turned to Marcus as they spoke. He listened as the other went on a tangent about everyone in his group, listing people off and what they meant for their leader. When it came to Marcus though he seemed to stop.
Jake turned on his heels rather dramatically and crossed his arms as he watched the other grow silent. Now that he was interested in knowing about.
When Marcus said he held no power in Marx's eyes Jake let out a small 'hm' as if not satisfied with that answer. He didn't believe it for one second. Marcus was the right-hand man of Marx, that had to count for something. He held power, even if the guy didn't realize it. After all, Wynn was so sure that Marx would come for them, for Marcus.
Jake walked over to Marcus, staring into his eyes, a little too close for comfort.
"Somehow, I don't believe you," Jake said, his eyes still and wondering if he could get anything else out of Marcus before A.C.E came to take them away.
Jake took a step back, knowing full well that Marcus could deck him if he taunted him too much.

"So what you're saying is, you wouldn't be doing this if it were for you?" Jake questioned, his posture relaxed, but his arms still crossed, not entirely trusting the other in front of him.
"That's something to go off of," Jake said, though not making any sense in what he was saying.

Jen seemed to pale at Wynn's warning, and Rae only seemed further amused. The guy had balls for saying something like that to their leader, but she respected it.
As Jen looked through the bags he nodded, not to anyone in particular, well, to Marcus, but not in his direction.
"I guess you'll be up with our night owl then," Jen said as he took out a container, then checked to make sure it was the right one. He'd take that one to Niveus as he was probably with Artemy in the other room. Artemy should probably eat too…Jen seemed distracted as he rummaged through the bags once again.
"It's not that I want to be a night owl, my work is just…done at night. It's when others are more willing to come to me" Jake defended himself, turning to the coffee machine when it indicated it was done.
"I need to earn money somehow" Jake rolled his eyes. "Especially if you want me to pull my weight around here" Jake took the container from the coffee machine and poured the liquid into a mug. The mug was black and had the words "BIG DICK ENERGY" written on them in white. It had been gifted to Jake and it had been his favorite ever since. If anyone used his mug he was definitely throwing hands. It was…special. In a way.
Jake added the cream and chocolate to the bottom with a spoon and then topped it with some cream foam so it looked somewhat fancy. He didn't know if Marcus wanted more sugar in his coffee so he took the sugar container with him over to Marcus and placed it beside him, then handed him the coffee mug, but paused right as he was about to give it to him.
He squinted. Was it too hot to be held? Marcus was a fire type, but would it be too hot? Jake turned without saying a word and grabbed a small rag, he wrapped the mug and it was only then that he took it over to Marcus and properly presented him with it.
"We don't need any more burns added to you, I think you've had enough," Jake said as he watched Marcus.

Rae was silent as Wynn spoke. Wondering if everything that had happened to him was enough to make him grow pessimistic about the world.
"Strangely…no." Rae said quietly. "I don't want to be another bad person in the world even if that's what I'm considered. I'll try my hardest to do what's right and use whatever I have in my power to help those that need it, even if it means using brute strength to give those people some hope, some help. Maybe we're not supposed to be gentle people, but we can still use the qualities we have for good. We don't always have to be monsters, we can change that" Rae said, a smile appearing on her face as she talked. She loved seeing the better in people, how humans and other beings were just little people living on this giant rock and trying to find a way to survive.
"I don't think we're monsters though" Rae's eyes softened as she turned to look at Wynn. "We can act like one sometimes, but there's still some good in all of us. Cheesy, I know, but we'll just have to find another way. If we don't get other options, then we make other options, with the same brute force we have" She gave Wynn a giant smile.
"I refuse to play into whatever role we've been giving, I'll fight till I drop, even if it gets me killed" Rae seemed determined about this fact.
At Wynn's mood drop, Rae's mood also seemed to drop, mirroring his emotions. Her heart felt heavy for the siren. Not just imagining what it would be like to be in his position, but also him, as a human being, deserving of love and being given a second chance.
"You can choose to be seen as a monster, but you and I both know you're not one," Rae said, setting her container aside when she was done. She turned her body towards Wynn and crossed her legs on the sofa, getting into a more comfortable position to speak to him.
Rae's face seem gentle and caring for Wynn, even though she had barely just met him. They didn't bring abnormalities around here, into their home often so when they got the chance to chat, Rae took it. Wynn was the very first to speak to her without trying to rip her throat out. Others were more reserved, felt resentment, and rightfully so. She couldn't force anyone to talk, but it really did help to get perspective on the other side.
"We'll just have to change that then," Rae said optimistically. It was a lot easier said than done, they'd really have to fight for abnormalities rights and change a few laws. That was not an easy thing and they probably wouldn't see it in their lifetime, but it was worth fighting for. So that others didn't feel like Wynn.
Rae seemed pretty taken by Wynn as she listened to him and they spoke. He wasn't like anyone else she had spoken to before, for someone with abilities. Someone nonhuman.

"It is, almost shockingly so. The big scary Abnormality hunter has a normal coffee order." Marcus mocked, a bite to his words he really hadn't meant for.
Marcus narrowed his eyes once more at Jake, unsure whether or not he should take that as concerning or flattering. He dismissed it, opting instead to watch as Jake made his drink.
"You have concerning tastes…"

He scoffed, lifting his head to stare at Jake. "Maybe. Maybe not. Don't understand why they're terrified of us." He muttered, frowning for a moment as he seriously considered the sentiment.
Maybe A.C.E. saw more potential in them.

Marcus hesitated for a small moment when Jake turned to face him, feeling suddenly very uncomfortable with the conversation.
He shrank away from Jake when the other got close, his eyes flickering across his face in suspicion. Too close…
"You should… I have limited use. Fire only goes so far." Marcus replied cooly though his voice wavered a bit.

"No, I don't care either way what happens." A lie. Marcus tried very very hard to tell himself that was what he believed. Sure he wouldn't have willingly joined people as extreme as Marx and his little group but he really did want to spit in the face of A.C.E. just a little.
And maybe in Jake's face at the moment.
He gave he other a questioning glance, huffing slightly.

Marcus eyed Jen suspiciously, tilting his head a little when he spoke. He glanced over at Jake, waiting for the other to respond before he put his own input in.
"Nighttime is nice. It's quiet, calm. And fire is prettier in the dark, you can see more of the sparks and feel the heat more. I wouldn't mind having more of my work at night."

Marcus seemed amused by the rag but took the mug anyways, relishing in the warmth that filled his hands. He was strangely cold without the constant flow of his magic through his fingers and arms so the drink was a warm welcome.
"You don't need to worry about that. It takes a lot of heat to burn me. A fun perk to having the literal essence of fire burning through your veins constantly. Unfortunately, it doesn't often protect me against actual flames, especially not those made by others like me that's why this…" he gestured to his torso and arms with a soft laugh. "… is the way that it is. I may also have potentially overused said fire… rune circles are a bitch when they backfire, fortunately, that includes anyone within my general vicinity so it makes for a wonderful backup plan." He mused, giving Jake a wicked grin.

"Interesting. You're very optimistic for your situation." Wynn commented, not meaning to be rude about it, purely observational.
He picked at the tough skin around his claws, eyes narrowing as she spoke. He seemed to be seriously considering her words, but something in his eyes spoke of hesitance to believe her.
Her heart was in a good place but it was unfortunately in one he couldn't quite understand or take part in.
"I am, though. Regardless if that word is taken in a hypothetical way or in a literal sense, I am not human. You are. You don't understand it, do you? They watch us more closely than they do you. It doesn't matter to them that we experience human emotion, they are searching for any reason to put us down as rabid animals. Any show of negative emotion, any anger or frustration, is automatically attributed to our 'natural beings' and reinforces their views of us regardless of how wrong those views are. I can know I'm not a monster, you could know it too, but unless the entirety of your kind suddenly switch their views, they will always see us as monsters." Wynn's tone was smooth, practiced even, as he spoke, looking at her dead in the eye as he tried to explain his predicament.

Wynn seemed bewildered by her optimism, his spines clacking as he shook his head in disbelief. A small smile made it's way to his face, however, and he laughed softly.
"Gods you're all so weird. Guess now I can't eat you after all, you're at least trying to understand us."

Jake flexed his jaw as a smile of this motherfucker came onto his face, no one was that bold to mock Jake, only the people he worked with, so having someone outside of that circle be so challenging with him made Jake smile, a genuine one, as if he couldn't believe it.
He simply stared at Marcus when he said he had concerning tastes, the smile still stuck to his face.
"You don't understand?" Jake repeated, genuinely surprised about that. "Have you seen what you can do? Not to mention that you get away with it every time- well, that was until now" Jake said, correcting himself.
The way Marcus' voice wavered, though he tried to play the tough guy made Jake's smile widen as if taunting him. It's like he got a kick out of seeing others scared.
"Alright, I believe you," He said, though those words were empty. His smile dropped gradually, though he did seem to be in a very good mood. He crossed his arms and leaned again the counter as he listened to Marcus speak.
"I'm with you there, people leave you alone at night, mostly anyways." Jake looked over at Jen as he grabbed what he was looking for and promptly left the kitchen without saying anything. Jake figured it was to give the other containers to Niveus and Artemy.

"Well, it seems that Wynn worries, a lot," Jake said tilting his head in Wynn and Rae's direction as to gesture to them.
At the subtle threat Marcus threw his way, Jake looked at him curiously.
"And you say I have concerning tastes" Jake smiled as Marcus drank his coffee. Jake didn't say anything as he did so because he knew he'd look like he wanted praise or approval that he had done a decent enough job. So he opted to look elsewhere as silence filled the air, he did, however, want to know if Marcus liked it, so he kept looking over to see if he could read him, but Jake had never been good at that.

Rae sucked in a deep breath as Wynn explained it all and sadness filled her eyes as if her optimism had been crushed. She knew that. She wasn't that stupid but having the words be said out loud made everything seem more like there was nothing to be done about the situation.
"I wish I could do more" Was all that Rae said at last, unsure of what more she could say to that. He was right after all and everybody knew it.
His laugh however brought her back from thinking about how there was nothing to do. At least for now. She smiled at him.
"Maybe, just a little" She mused. "Well I'm glad you changed your mind," Rae said proudly with the same smile still on her face.
"After this" Rae started. "Would you like to go to sleep? We can stay up if you don't think you can sleep tonight, but there are always beds waiting for you" Rae offered, knowing it was getting really late and they were almost done with their food.
"I would recommend it" Rae pushed the idea to Wynn, knowing A.C.E would most likely be here tomorrow.
"But then again, I don't know your sleep schedule- if you have one"

Marcus stared back at Jake, finding a small amount of satisfaction in pulling such a reaction out of Jake. It filled him with strange adrenaline he was worried he may grow dependent on.
"I don't understand it. You are just as capable of doing whatever you want with fire. How is what I do any different? I can touch it? I guess but it's really not all that impressive. Just useful. I will admit though, that I do take pride in the fact that it took you guy this long to capture me. Feels like I had a good run." He shrugged, grinning a little.
Marcus ignored Jake's next words. He knew Jake didn't believe him but he wasn't going to give the other something to use against him.
"Nobody is nice. Noone to bother you." He sighed deeply, watching Jen until he no longer could physically see him. Why he trusted Jake more than Jen was beyond even him. Jake was… comfortable. Not in the sense that he made Marcus feel safe, more so that his presence was familiar: threatening and intimidating. Marcus knew how to deal with people like that. He did not know how to deal with someone like Jen, who oozed protective goodness that made Marcus queazy.

"He does. He's the only friend I got." The witch muttered, looking over at Wynn and sighing gently. He was glad he had someone on his side. As much as he told Wynn to fuck off, the siren refused to leave.
Felt good to have him there.
"Hey, at least mine is fairly common." Marcus mused, bringing the mug to his lips. The moment the hot liquid met his tongue he melted. It had been too fucking long since he had had something this sweet and comforting.
"You should have gone into the cafe business, didn't know you could make such a good drink. It's not very 'big and scary hunter' of you. Don't tell me even you have a soft side?" Marcus poked, purely to see if he could get some kind of reaction from Jake over it.

"You're doing all you can. It's admirable, Rae." He reassured, giving her a small smile.
"Just a little? Hmm… seems more than that to me." He joked, nudging her gently with his elbow. "But yes, I have changed my mind. You're lucky." There was an amused lilt to his voice that tried to tell her he was purely joking.

"Well, seeing as how I'm a creature of the night… why not try to get some sort of rest? It's been a very long day and I'd rather sleep than sulk about what is going to happen to us tomorrow. One can only hope Marx has a plan. Or Vance, even if the guy finds us annoying I know he's not too fond of letting us suffer." Wynn mused, not sounding very convinced.
"I don't have a sleep schedule. We sleep when we can."