Unlikely Heroes-Draft 1

Chapter 7

With Chimney gone Noc breathed a huge sigh of relief, but realizing what he has just done he muttered, "I...uh. Sorry about the beer." He didn't like showing that he could be made upset, but Chimney was an expert on finding weaknesses and exploiting them, and he knew exactly which of Noc's buttons he could push. And that fact pissed Nocturne off to no end.

On the plus side, his hosts didn't seem all that upset, Marc had already begun cleaning up the mess, "Hey dude don't worry about it. I'll get you another if you promise to not fling it at the wall though", he shot Noc a cheeky grin.

"Ah, yes, thank you." he still felt ashamed but it was good to know he was in decent company finally. These two confused him but at least they were friendly.

Marc swept the broken glass into a dustpan, "Why do you hang around that guy anyways?"

"Believe me, it's not by any choice of mine. I can't fucking stand him."

Iblis rumbled, "I can't imagine why, he's bursting with so much positivity." He hopped off his perch and came over to help Marc, gathering up some of the mess Chim had left behind from his eating.

Marc snorted, "I'll come back with a new beer. Want anything else?"

"No, thank you." it was oddly comforting to see such a scene of domesticity despite the strangeness of everything that had happened previously.

He listened to them talking in the kitchen, and he smirked at the conversation. Chim apparently had left his shirt behind and they were commenting on it.

"Why is there a big "D" on his shirt?"

"Is it a D? I thought it was just a strange stain. I can't seem to be able to remove it. "

"Why bother? We didn't even get a thank you for the food..."

"It's his nature. He is a well of every emotion humans associate with negativity. Getting angry at him would be like getting angry at a viper for striking. He doesn't feel as we do. He is incapable, except in the smallest of ways. Nocturne though, he's different..."

Nocturne turned his attention back to his surroundings. He picked up one of the photographs sitting next to the couch, there was Marc and Iblis together on a beach somewhere, with Amira and...What the hell was that? It was roughly the same size and shape as a child, but was pure shadow, with its only defining features being a set of horns and pearly white fangs. He could only assume this was Kenith but that just brought even more questions to mind.

Suddenly he felt a pair of eyes on him, and looking towards the end of the couch he spotted the same round black eyes that had peered at him from before. She looked like the banshee child he had found before, but with Marc's eyes and thick black fluff keeping her wrapped up like a winter coat...leaving only her small pale face and hands exposed. She was perched on the end of the couch, turning her head to the side as she studied him.

He put the photograph down and looked over at her, "It's not polite to stare you know".

Instead of being deterred she hopped on her tiny paw feet over into his lap, peering right up into his face. He felt so awkward. He hadn't held a child in years and yet in the past 24 hours he's had to carry one through dangerous, unfamiliar territory and now this.

She looked closely at him, before finally asking, "Why are you sad?"

It felt like his chest had been hit by a truck. How would she even know? How could she? He couldn't even say anything as she pressed herself against his chest, nestling right against his heart. He raised shaking hands to support her small body. He had not been this terrified in ages, and he cradled her as gently as he could. Oh god it was so much like when he held his daughter. His heart began to ache in his chest.