Thief of the Heart//SEREN

It was not often that Cade bought into the coffee hype train. He had enough problems with abusing several other substances on sporadic occasions, he wasn’t looking to add another to that list. That said though, there came certain days where he felt low energy enough to necessitate some caffeine intake. It was one of those days.

He really needed to stop waking up in strange beds, it was clearly affecting his sleeping habits. It wasn’t even that exciting of a sexcapade either. Cade had become so open to just whoever, whenever they asked. Each time, it felt less and less personal, and more and more like a job. He punched in, punched out, repeat. He was chasing a feeling, he knew that. The feeling of ecstasy, the perfect lay. That momentous occasion when fireworks would burst from his head. It was hardly the first time he found himself on this quest, and he had no idea why he hasn’t learned from his past mistakes yet.

Anyways, Coffee Central would soon find that they had a new patron coming through their door, a sunken eyed Cade in desperate need of a pick-me-up. He paid little mind to the students and children of Foresta littered about the place, they’ve probably seen him in worse conditions before. He also didn’t care all that much. He just sauntered through the café, tucking in his dress shirt and adjusting his flashy vest with a few rustling flaps.

As Cade shook the grogginess inhabiting his mind out of his ears, he made a sudden discovery. He wasn’t good with faces on most days, but the customer currently at cash had a familiar look to her. Brunette, squat, vacuous eyes. There wasn’t a name coming to mind, but a judgement of character was slowly forming. His eyes moved away from her face, focusing on her body. For a moment, Cade pictured her naked. As he did, for some reason he pictured her with a birthmark below her naval. Just then, his eyes shot open intensely wide. Coffee or no, he needed to leave.

Slowly, Cade tried to turn away, being as discrete as he possibly could, but it was no use. The beady eyes of the woman fixed on the teacher. She slammed her change on the counter and immediately power walked to his location, her steps like miniature tremors. “Hey, asshole” she sneered loudly, her tone calling upon the attention of the room.

Cade very carefully turned back around, wielding a calm complexion that would rival a saint’s in terms of purity. He took a brief moment to assess the situation, noting that there was more steam radiating from her head than the cup of coffee she had in her hand. Situation was not optimal, he might get the coffee he was craving, but not in the way he might want. He could still steer this vessel. “My brother’s name is pronounced Ashol, and I apologize for whatever he’s done to you, good day” he claimed politely with a bow of his head.

Before he could take his leave though, as he predicted, the hot beverage was quickly splashed in his face. He knew the name of the game and shut his eyes with such intensity that not even the gods themselves could pry them open. Luckily, the owners of the coffee shop were sensible human beings and didn’t serve their beverages at scalding temperatures. With his eyes firmly shut, Cade added “okay, I deserved that” with a bit of coffee flying off his lips. It was quickly followed up by a swift smack across his cheek, the kind that unhinged your jaw and made your tongue rub up against the inside of your cheek to survey the damage. “That one, not so much. I think there’s a lawsuit in that one.”

The shorter woman looked up to the man with nothing but spite slapped across her face. Her head was shivering with anger. “You deserve so much worse” she spat back, her tone alone suggesting that she was holding back tears. “You said you could fix me. You promised me the world.”

With the coffee more or less dripped off his face, Cade finally opened his eyes again. He raised a logical finger. “I promised you a night” he offered simply.

Cade’s methods were most certainly not working, as evident by the second backhand smashing across his cheek. This time though, it caused him to stumble back, nearly colliding with the counter behind him. “And you were gone before morning, you hapless bitch.”

Serenity was having a peaceful morning, it was the weekend so there was no rush to make her way to the school today. She had picked clothes for comfort, black yoga pants that emphasized her shape a bit more than she would have preferred along with tan sandals. For her shirt, a plum colored relaxed muscle tank. Before she had left today, she had actually gone out of her way to check with her neighbor that everything looked fine. Normally, Serenity was very prone to wearing copies of the same thing throughout the week. Weekends were when she chose to let the rest of her wardrobe out into the sunlight.

The older lady was easy to compliment her, although expressing some concern for the giant bruise that had formed on her left foot. Serenity had waved her hand at the woman, "It's fine, it doesn't bother me." She had said to her. Wishing the the other woman a good day, Serenity had continued on her walk. Port Albion was a decent enough town in her opinion, she had been here a few years and save for a few incidents - Serenity was content with the thought of staying here for the rest of her life.

Walking through the town center, Serenity made her way to Coffee Central. She stepped in and snapped her cane open to tap around her, like she did most weekends as the cashier at the front greeted her. "Just coffee, nothing extra, right?" the cashier asked her. Serenity nodded, remaining silent but offering a pleasant expression. She moved to pay and then made her way down to where the coffee be set out. A few minutes passed and her coffee was done. The barista in question handed her drink directly to her. She thanked him and then made her way toward an empty table. One or two students voices came to her, greeting her and Serenity responded in kind. Today was a peaceful day.

No sooner than she had been sitting down, having had one sip of her coffee that she felt like someone she might have known had ambled their way into the coffee shop. She waited, curious as to where she could place that smell. Despite being just a few feet away, it was a practiced ability for Serenity to zero in on different people in a room. Her students were easy enough, the ones that came to class she knew instantaneously.

This one wasn't a student though, Serenity breathed deep of her coffee and took a second sip before a sharp voice of a woman caught her attention. She turned her head in the direction of where the voice was coming from, only to sigh deeply as she heard the voice that responded to it. How could it be that she was having this great morning and all of suddenly, she found herself beyond annoyed. There was something about that man's voice that grated on her nerves.

She heard the splash then, followed by his response and for the briefest second Serenity had wished she could have seen that. Followed by what was said on the woman's part, Serenity frowned and moved to stand up. There was a part of her that told her she shouldn't get involved, that whatever he did he probably deserved it. There was another part of her, she decided that she wasn't going to do this for him. She was going to do this for her.

Leaving her coffee on the table with it's only three sips, Serenity lightly tapped her way over to the two. She moved past the male teacher with ease, only to stop in front of the woman - slyly positioning herself in between the two. "Excuse me, I couldn't help but overhear that you think this man is a giant piece of shit. While, you're probably right - I was wondering, could you help me find my way to one of the outside tables? You could tell me more about it and it's a bit too cold in here for my tastes."

The second blow that Cade took nearly caused his feet to fail him. Not that it was particularly powerful, more so that it was unexpected and the quick successions of her assaults were disorienting. He managed to grab the counter behind him, stabilizing himself to prevent any further pratfalls. Once he had his third leg in hand, he had to think and think quickly. Unfortunately, his foggy brain didn’t help matters, but the easy options were quick to form in his mind. Running was always a good option, especially in a situation he couldn’t weasel his way out of. Talking was certainly getting him nowhere.

As he ran through his options, a third party joined the fray. Being that it was Serenity who stepped in, he thought his chances of an unscathed escape had suddenly dwindled. The unexpected happened though, instead of continuing the curb stomping alongside the scorned woman she stood between the two of them like a mediator. For a brief second, Cade felt a sudden air of relief. Once that second was over though, he realized that the bad situation might have just gotten worse. If there was anyone who threatened his position at the school, it was Serenity. Would it be such a good idea to let her talk with the woman? She would have first hand knowledge of his habits outside of school and the school board, headmistress, and/or the secretary were merely one call away.

Before the woman could pipe up about Serenity’s offer, Cade butted in, swiftly whisking himself over to the blind woman’s side. “Y’know, I could also use a bit of fresh air right about now. I’ll take you outside” he offered like a gentleman, displaying his arm like he was ready to link up with hers.

The pure emotional rage that infested the woman’s mind was filtered out through a deep exhale from her nose. It sounded like the groan of a goblin. She shot Cade a menacing gaze, one that only gained more strength the longer he spoke. She dismissed the man with a shake of her head and positioned herself closer to Serenity. She gently took hold of her arm. “I think a change of scenery would do all of us some good.”

As the woman directed Serenity to the nearest exit, Cade chimed in with a quick background interjection “some of us, actually, scenery’s not a huge deal for people who can’t see.”

The woman offered Cade nothing but a tired glance over her shoulder, continuing out of the café with Serenity in tow, presumably.

That just left Cade at the center of the coffee shop, his face scrunching to its thinking position. It was the perfect opportunity for him to duck out, but the danger that Ms. Hikaru posed hadn’t really gone away. There was still time for him to control the narrative and prevent the duo from talking it out. Naturally, how he would do that would have to be thought up on the fly. One thing was for certain, he wasn’t going to accomplish it from within the building, so he subtly followed the duo outside.

Serenity was just about to say something to Cade, when the other woman finally cut in - leading her out of the building. "I'm not sure how it was, but I guarantee you, you can find someone better." Serenity offered up her words of wisdom easily. She didn't know this woman and more than likely would probably never talk to her again, it had been difficult for her to even attempt to get involved in the first place. She had decided awhile ago, that she wanted to be a better person, or at least try. That had to count for something, right?

As they made their way outside, Serenity stopped for a moment, "I work with the man, too. Trust me, there are plenty of other men on this island." Her words were easy, but just a tiny bit empty. She was unpracticed in these sort of setting and she found herself missing her cup of coffee, quite terribly so. Once she finished deescalating this situation, she would get back inside and get another coffee. It would be easy enough to go home, if she really wanted too. Serenity decided she would probably go for a walk around the town after this, if she managed to get away in a timely manner.

As the two moved their conversation outside, the woman got herself a breath of fresh air. Almost instantaneously, the redness in her face drained, like the brief distraction was enough to quell her rage. It also helped that Cade was no longer within her range of vision. He was still quite close though. The man very deftly tiptoed his way out the door behind them, slipping away to the other side of the building as discreetly as he could. His head creeped around the corner, listening in on what the two were saying as he was hatching his scheme.

With Serenity by her side, the short woman rested her back on the side of the building, looking to the sky and sighing as her blind compatriot offered the most basic of answers. She didn’t seem to be all that confident in her own words, but it was the thought that counted. “I know, but it’s not about that” she replied with ease. “It’s about the sting.”

They were very quickly getting to the heat of the topic, Cade had to act fast. Just then, a server came out the door and turned the corner towards Cade. His destination was more likely the patio that was a little further past him, given his tray of drinks, but Cade made sure he was a detour on his path by snapping for his attention. “Ey, you see that girl over there?” he whispered in a raspy voice, pointing to the woman. The server absently gazed at Cade’s proposition. “She said your bowtie looks stupid.” The server’s complexion remained unaltered. He shrugged and continued forth.

Cade was left puzzled. That normally worked. Time was of the essence, he needed to make a better plan and fast. Maybe he could interrupt…

“Mr. Lemaire?” a nasally voice grew from behind him. Given that he was in the middle of deep thought, the sudden voice was completely unexpected, causing him to jump a bit. He quickly turned around to get a good look at the sudden interloper. It was a student, though not one he would recognize by name. “I saw what happened, that was pretty messed up, bruh” the teenager added sympathetically.

The teacher straightened himself out, adjusting his coffee stained collar. “Yes, my dry cleaner will probably agree” Cade replied with a low tone. Well, it seemed that by losing one hand, he gained another he could play. “You know, you might be able to help me though. How well do you know Ms. Hikaru over there?”

The boy scratched his head and peered around the corner subtly. “Not very. I took her class a couple years ago…”

“Good, good. So, you know to go to her if your having troubles with your powers” the man rhetorically asked as he placed his arm around the boy’s shoulders. The boy was nodding along. “I need you to distract her. Occupy her time or just lead her away from that other woman. There’s a lot of false accusations about me going around and Ms. Hikaru seems to be collecting them.”

The boy’s eyes were rolling around a bit, clearly uncertain about what he got himself into. “Uh… What do you want me to do?” After the boy asked this question, Cade leaned in and began to whisper into his ear.

Meanwhile, back at the other side of the building. “I spend a lot of time in bars. Just drinking so I can feel numb. My husband passed away a couple years back. Sorry if that’s a lot. I don’t much care for company, I drink alone. Then comes this guy, who just won’t stop talking at me. It was annoying at first, but there’s just something about it that makes you feel special. He wasn’t charming, but he made me feel human again. He would talk about how lone wolves didn’t exist, wolves are pack animals and all that, so lone wolves should stick together. It was the first time I’ve felt connect to someone in years, then he just-” the woman went on to explain until she was suddenly interrupted.

The teenager came running toward Ms. Hikaru in a panic, his feet stomping around like he was a child who really needed to go to the bathroom. Nothing about his person seemed off, until one looked to his panicked face, more specifically the rhino horn that was sprouting where his nose should have been. “Ms. Hikaru! Idon’twhathappenedIthinkIdranktoomuchcoffee!” he spurted out of his mouth with a ‘time is of the essence’ tone. He panted out a couple of quick hectic breaths. “I’m going into premature transformation! What do I do!?”

Serenity listened to the woman idly as she spoke, what had attracted her to the man in the first place. If she had the functioning muscles in her eyes, she would have easily rolled them. Lone wolves? What a load of bull. She recognized the ploy way too quickly and had heard it before. She didn't get a chance to even respond to the other woman though, as the sound of student calling her name caused her to stop and turn toward the sound. She hesitated briefly, she couldn't recall any students in her current year classes with the same voice. He must have been a previous student of hers, she was a little annoyed at herself for not remember.

"Okay, okay. Calm down." Serenity knelt down near the boy that was panicking, holding her hands out toward him, but not quite touching him. "When did this start? Just remember you have to breathe first." True to her name, Serenity was peaceful when confronted with a possible anxiety inducing situation. All of her focus now was on the student now, she turned her head briefly toward the woman that she had been speaking too before "Give me just a moment, if you don't mind."

The teenager continued his unwary wobbling, though it was slightly muted by Serenity’s calming demeanour. Like she instructed, the boy tried his best to settle himself with some deep elongated breaths. Like a meditative ritual. After a few of these breaths, he was settled enough to answer her inquiries. “Well, I, uh, I realized I was late for my rehearsal, so I chugged the rest of my coffee. I don’t usually drink that much coffee in one sitting, I didn’t think-” just as his mouth was running, it grew exponentially, now taking the shape of a rhino’s muzzle. The boy’s speech patterns switched to a rhino’s hum.

The woman’s expression quickly switched from a distant reflective one to that of confused concern. She clearly didn’t understand the situation, but wasn’t holding it against Serenity. “Oh, oh no, I totally get it” she replied as she absently looked around, with an expression that pretty well showed that she was wondering whether she should leave.

From the corner of the building, Cade was watching and smirking. All was going according to plan. It was time to enact phase two. Turning around, Cade literally wiped the smile off his face, replacing it with a countenance of hysteria. Just as the server was on his way back into the building, Cade cut him off yet again. “Sir!” he loudly proclaimed.

The server raised a hand and put on his serious face. “I’ll have you know this was my grandpa’s bowtie” he spoke, suddenly offended.

Cade shook his head in pseudo-frustration. “No, no, I’m with the school. We have an emergency” he added with his sturdy authoritative voice. He blindly pointed behind him, though surprisingly dead on to the teenager’s location, like he rehearsed it. “That boy over there is a were-rhino, you need to evacuate the area. Me and my co-worker are handling the situation.”

As the server peered over Cade’s shoulder, he spotted the boy in question falling to his hands and knees. His head had become full rhino, but his mighty maw was doing its best to inhale and exhale in a calming manner. The man’s expression turned to one of shock. Immediately, he pushed Cade out of the way and sprinted toward the area of incident.

Cade was kind of off put by the aggressiveness of the server’s shove, but other than that, it was all falling together. He nodded, in appreciation of his handiwork. That expression slowly shifted once he noticed that the server wasn’t running toward the woman, but toward the boy. That wasn’t who needed evacuating. Oh no, bowtie guy was a hero...

Dramatically standing over the were-rhino’s body, the server held out his hands like he was about to slam all his fingers on a keyboard. “Don’t worry, I got this!” he announced with the utmost confidence he could muster. With that, his fingers expanded, turning into long rubbery ropes that quickly ensnared the morphing student’s body. In return, the rhino headed child let out a bellowing cry, suddenly jerking around like the helpless animal he was about to become.

Serenity listened to the child as he spoke, pausing as his voice turned human to animal. She still had no idea which student she was talking too and was severely lacking a lot of information. What she gathered through context clues was some sort of transformation (as the student had already stated). She truly wanted to give the student the benefit of the doubt, but she found herself pausing as the student fully explained that he drank too much coffee in one go. When was the last time she had heard coffee messing with someones abilities? Serenity frowned, it wasn't totally unbelievable - but she was feeling a little skeptical at the situation.

Before it continued though, a man cut in between the two of them. From the sound of the man in question, Serenity recognized him as one of the servers at the coffee shop. She was familiar with most of the people that worked there, but didn't know this man in question too well. "Hold on!" Serenity reached forward to stop the man, but it was too late. She had no way of actually knowing what had just happened, but the yell of the student told her all that she needed to know.

Serenity was quick to react as she grabbed onto the man's shoulder that had stepped in front of her, with one hand she kept him still, with the other one she sent a quick karate chop to the man's carotid artery - the speed and power which she delivered the thrust happened in a blink of an eye. Another second passed and Serenity listened as the server dropped like a brick to the floor, she sighed deeply - she might not be able to come here for coffee again.

"Hey, hey. Are you okay? Remember, keep breathing." Serenity reached forward then stepping over the man she had just knocked out without a second thought, setting her hand on top of the were-rhino's head in attempt to gain some connection with the student. "Sorry, that happened. People are idiots, right?" Serenity laughed lightly at her own joke, trying to gain control of the situation.

Caught in mid-sprint, Cade was on his way to intercept bowtie guy. The man was clearly a fool, but Cade must have been a bigger one to trust the server to do his job right. He had an idea about how he could deescalate the situation, but it was not nearly as fast as Serenity’s solution. One quick throat chop and the man was flat on his face. Just by watching the display, Cade felt his windpipe clamp up by proxy. That was neither here nor there though, as he was currently at ground zero for the were-rhino transformation.

It was controlled chaos, was being the operative word. The boy had said that he could feign his transformation to a certain extent without wholly triggering it, but given the fact that his whole body was pulsing and inflating to rhino size, they might have gone past that margin. No thanks to that amateur hour hero. The situation was growing outside of its intended purposes, Cade had to contain the chaos.

While Cade ran off to be at Ms. Hikaru’s side, the petite brunette woman was left in stunned awe at the collapsed barista. Her eyes bounced between the were-rhino and the incapacitated server before she suddenly sprang into action. Coiling her arms underneath the man’s armpits, she quickly but gently dragged the man away from the immediate danger zone.

The boy’s limbs were taking the form of mighty stumps, fumbling and curling, trying to plant themselves on firm ground. The rhino’s mouth remained agape, breathing steadily. He released a pleasant-sounding grumble to Ms. Hikaru, or at least, as pleasant as a rhino could make a sound.

Cade hovered over his co-worker, curving his body over hers to observe her method. It was clear to him, based on her profession, that she knew what she was doing and, well, he didn’t. It was best for him to not interfere, but given the fact that he had functional eyes and she didn’t, he might need to lend them for the sake of diffusing the situation as quick as possible. “Okay, hey, hear me out, I’m going to be helpful for once” he quickly yammered, mostly to indicate who he was so he didn’t get a surprise neck chop. He might still get one, but that would be on her. “He’s Lester Smith, were-rhino. Don’t touch his horn, that’s all they told me” he informed quickly and confidently. Whether or not that information would be useful might be down to how good Serenity’s memory was, or, rather, if there was anything useful information she could recall.

Just as she was trying to reach out to the student, there was a voice that came up behind her causing the frustration that she had contained inside her to unfold exponentially. Turning her head slightly to the side, in Cade's direction it was obvious from her severe expression that she was not happy with the situation. "I swear, if you don't get the fuck out of here I'm gonna kick your ass into next Tuesday." She muttered at the man through gritted teeth. He offered her information on the student though, causing her to pause and shake her head and turn her attention back to the were-rhino.

The name Lester Smith did sound familiar to her, she had quite a few Smith students before. However, the amount of Smith students where she had spoken to the parents helped her recollection considerably. It was a few years ago, but she remembered when she did a consult with the student that he had told her that his mom singing to him helped calm his transformations. Inwardly, she groaned at the thought. She had to do what she had to do. Reaching forward, she placed her hand on the other side of the were-rhino's face and started to hum a child's lullaby that came to mind. The humming was not her voice anymore, instead it had a more angelic, lighter quality to it. It was obvious that the true owner of this voice had a gentle soul.

To say that Serenity’s reaction was par for the course was an understatement, but Cade personally would have preferred the ol’ buddy cop reaction where they had a moment of understanding. After all, he was trying to save the day. Granted, it was a situation that he set up, but Ms. Hikaru didn’t know that.

Given the fact that there wasn’t anything for Cade to do except watch Serenity do her business, he respected her wishes and stepped back a bit. “Jesus, threaten me with a good time” he muttered to himself. He could offer his assistance, but she was clearly not interested in it. He didn’t want to stray too far, after all if her treatment didn’t work then they would be stuck with a rampaging rhino and like it or not she probably couldn’t handle that on her own. Though, that would be impressive to watch.

The rhino’s head remained restless, squirming about as the changes to his bodily structure continued. The creature seemed alarmed by Serenity’s arm wrapping around its head. At the sound of the lullaby though, its ears twitched, eyes straight forward as though it was snapped to attention. The pulsing of the boy’s body ceased and it collapsed to the ground, limbs splayed outward with reckless abandon. As the soothing angelic tune played, the creature’s eyes calmly rolled back, its eyelids acting like a cushy blanket when they pulled over its creamy whites. An audible snore signaled his reversion back to human form, his body shrinking and his skin becoming squishier. What was left was a half naked teenager sleeping on the pavement, lucky to have a pair of shorts that survived the midway point of the transformation.

Meanwhile, several meters away from the inciting incident, the short brunette woman had the barista laid on the ground, resting his head in her lap. He slowly began to come to, his eyelashes shielding the cracks of his eyes. Their two faces were locked upon each other, hers was shading his from the sun. His lips parted weakly. “Are you… an angel?” bowtie guy breathed out.

The woman’s head shook dramatically. “You were so brave” she commended with maximum sympathy.

“Bleh” Cade released with pure primal instinct. He refused to even acknowledge the scene happening behind him. Not even the corner of his eye could take that amount of cheese. At least she was being dealt with.

Anyways, Cade took this moment to approach Serenity again, now that the dust had settled. There was a curious quirk to his head as he looked down upon her. “So, did you know to do that the whole time and were just waiting for a dramatic moment to come along, or did I save the day?” he quizzed with his hands held out in a half shrug. It took a lot for Cade to not go into a song and dance about how she was welcome for his help, but that would definitely be pushing it. He’d prefer to not have to dislodge a boot from his rectum.

Under normal circumstances with just about any other person, Cade would have offered his hand to help his co-worker up, but he knew better than to extend any part of his toward Serenity. Instead, he stood there, inspecting Lester’s unconscious body. He probably had to do something about that. That was for later though. “Can I get a recording of that, by the way? He gets really frustrated with equations and I preferred my first desk over the replacements they sent me.”

Serenity remained still as she sensed a change was happening in the student, she choose not to acknowledge the man behind her until everything was okay with Lester. A few minutes passed and as he drifted away from her, Serenity sensed the situation was handled. Moving to stand up, Serenity brushed off her yoga pants before turning in Cade's direction. She paid no attention to whatever was happening with the woman she had spoken to before, instead crossing her arms across her chest - her retort was quick and sharp and back to her normal voice. "Naturally, I was waiting for the right moment. You know, wanted to bring some drama to the situation." Her voice dripped with sarcasm, it was obvious she was referencing their last run in with each other.

There was no way she was going to admit that he helped her, at least, not right now.

"Absolutely not, I don't feel like being sued anytime soon." It would be easy for Serenity to copy famous singers and mimic their voices, she could be stand-ins for celebrities. When she listened to songs on the radio, despite being a terrible singer herself, she was a fantastic mimic when it came to songs. Her power allowed her to be, but it was something she truthfully didn't think too much about. In fact, she felt like she was getting a bit distracted from the actual situation - she would either have to bring that student back to school or go inside and call the school nurse to come get him.

"I thought you would have left after your run in with that woman, did you see the student in the coffee shop before?" Serenity asked the other teacher then with a pensive sort of squeeze to her brows.

At Serenity’s reply, Cade let out a lowly snicker. He supposed he walked right into that one. Maybe he should have went into the song and dance number instead. At least then he would have gotten a better opportunity to stroke his own ego some more because Serenity was doing no stroking of any sort. No matter. “Well, good on you for being not boring” he replied simply.

Again, the man looked over the body of the boy, putting his mathematical mind to work as he tried to calculate his weight based on visual cues. At the very least, he would weigh less than a rhino in this form. Cade listened to the woman’s response to his inquiry, a slight frown growing from her disinterest. “Hm. Shame. I guess I’ll just have to work on my humming. Clearly, you’re the expert though, I might have to get you to teach me how you hit those high notes. Didn’t take you for the sing-songy type”

Just then, Cade squatted down, preparing himself to lift the teenager in a cradling position. He didn’t have any other idea of how to carry him, considering that he was a bit too big to just lug over his shoulder. At the questioning of whether he encountered the boy within the shop before the incident, Cade couldn’t lie. He couldn’t lie because, technically, he met the boy outside of the shop. “No” he stated simply and guiltlessly. “And please, I’ve had people do worse things to me in a place of business. That never stops me. Besides I still needed my-” suddenly a flash of memory entered his brain. An expression of shock consumed his face. He snapped his fingers and transitioned that motion into a balled-up fist, shaking it with regret. “Ah! I never got that coffee” he added with frustration.

A sigh exited the man’s mouth. “Oh well, the day has presented me with enough stimulus.” Cade looked down at his brown stained collar. “Or I could just siphon it from my shirt. Either or.” With that, the man scooped his arms underneath the teenager’s body and lifted him off the ground, returning himself to a standing position.

Mr. Lemaire was being a bit more curt with her than she would have expected it. There last two interactions, he seemed to be nothing but chatty. While he still carried that trait, it seemed a little bit different. A little... dismissive? Something strange was definitely going on. "I am not the sing-songy type." Serenity stated quite plainly. She thought for a moment, had she been to mean before? "I am a terrible singer, in fact. You'll catch me dead before you hear me trying to sing with my real voice." Admittedly, Serenity was a tad bit thankful he hadn't gone out of his way to question her power. It wasn't like she would lie if he asked, if anything she found herself being a bit too open to fault sometimes.

Once again, Serenity's concern at the present situation was cut short. Simple, curt statement from a man that could talk a dead person back to life. Then, there he went off on a different tangent and Serenity suddenly felt like she needed to keep him talking for once. "I'll buy one for you if you tell me more about what you saw before," She offered up the prospect of coffee casually, like one would offer a piece of gum.

There was a shuffle of noise that took Serenity all but a few seconds to recognize what was happening. "Ah, never mind." Suddenly, she remembered what her job was and had retracted the offer for a free beverage just as quickly as she had given it. They were teachers, they couldn't just leave the student lying there on the street. She opened her mouth, debating on telling him the process he should follow on bringing a student to the nurses office - only to stop herself short. "Will you be able to carry him all the way back?" Serenity asked her companion then. It was a bit of a walk back to the school from the village, she couldn't help but question him, although the source of the concern was a bit confusing.

Cade’s head quirked curiously at Serenity when she denied her singing talents. Was she that self conscious of her singing voice, or was there something more to it? After all, with nearly every person on the island having a power there was always that small factor of unpredictability. It tended to make reading people that much more frustrating. Take bowtie guy for instance, he probably would have stuck to the script if not for his tentacle fingers. “Hm, strange, your voice sounded quite real to me. What, was that someone else singing out of your mouth?”

Serenity seemed particularly interested in what happened before the event occurred. Cade might have been suspicious about whether or not she was trying to rightfully pin the blame on him if not for the fact that they were both under the employment of the school. Considering what almost happened, they probably needed to record the happenings in an incident report, even if no one got hurt. Well, no one got hurt as a result of the student’s powers going out of control. Serenity’s throat chop was a different beast entirely. Cade didn’t see the necessity in filing an incident report, but Ms. Hikaru was more by the books than he was, so he didn’t really question it.

A free coffee would have been nice, but they couldn’t just leave a student unconscious in the middle of town. Responsibility wasn’t Cade’s strong suit, but he knew that much. “Perhaps another time then? A shared coffee over...” Cade had to think for a moment, trying to find an accurate term for their relationship. They weren’t friends, and acquaintances might be pushing it considering that the last time they spoke his back had a quick arrangement with the pavement. Enemies wasn’t the right word either since they were at least agreeable in casual conversation. Frenemies might be the right terminology, but Cade settled for “coworkers.”

“For the sake of getting my statement in though” Cade added abruptly. “I saw about as much as you. Coffee does wonders for many parts of the body, the eyes not being one of them. Particularly, when its applied directly. The most I saw was our boy here running to you with a horn instead of a nose. I was kind of insulted that he went to you before me, but I guess he knows how to pick’em” he explained in further detail with a shrug.

At Serenity’s inquiry, Cade slightly curled the boy in his arms like he was a dumbbell, further testing his weight. He wasn’t much of a heavy lifter, but he wasn’t a slouch either. He responded with a reasonable head bob. “I might not be able to run a marathon like this, but I can at the very least get him back to the school. Its not the first time I’ve carried a student to the nurse’s office.” That said, that Kotaro kid was much lighter, he thought. “If you really want, I could take his arms and you grab him by the legs and we can swing set him all the way back” he offered, his tone sounding quite logical.