Closed RP Meat and Greet

This RP is currently closed.

Obsidian’s eyes sharpened as he listened to Todd’s response, the only sign that it had affected him at all. The chase, the hunt, he was familiar with it. He had to feed far more often than Todd did, but just like Todd, the monster in Obsidian found the chase addictive. So addictive, in fact, that sometimes he hunted every single night, unable to ignore the part of his brain that craved stalking, ambushing, chasing. And then when the end finally came, and he could take everything from his prey, well. He relished in that moment when he saw life finally leave the eyes of his prey. Obsidian wasn’t ashamed of that moment of euphoria he felt when he took the final spark of life, of feeling the last burst of energy fill him. But then, it was over, and he was left energized and wanting to hunt again, left wanting to use that energy to take more.

Once, when Obsidian was younger, he had fallen to the hunt for a night. He had let himself go, shed the civilized side of himself, and stalked and chased and fed the entire night. And when the dawn came, he had almost burnt himself out, the amount of pure energy in his burning through his heart. He had killed ten people that night, and he remembered none of it. He only knew that his heart was beating so hard and twisted that it made his chest burn and ache. It left him shaking so badly that he could barely walk, barely move. He had gone home to Sulphur and Malachite and Lapis and they had caught him as he had fallen through the doorway, his body burning up and shaking and his mind clouded.

They’d had to move after that, after ten people had died, after his fingerprints were found and connected to his then alias. At some point, he had taken off his gloves so he could better feel the energy as he pulled it into himself, so he could lay his hands directly on his prey. A stupid choice made by the part of his brain that craved the last spark, that craved the chase, that wanted their deaths to be more personal. In a single night, he had ruined all of their lives in Virginia, and the four of them had fled to Pennsylvania, where they went about creating new aliases and scrubbing their records online.

That had been his lesson, both about losing control and about overeating.

Of course, sometimes Obsidian was also not the best at remembering to eat. That led to him being unable to hunt for himself, and he had come to rely heavily on the pack for those days when he pushed himself to exhaustion and tiredness. When he couldn’t fend for himself, and they either gave themselves to him or they found him someone who the monster could consume whole, those days he felt nothing but the purest gratitude and love. It was his own failings that made such measures and offerings necessary.

He said none of this. He simply gave Todd a small nod, took a drink of his whiskey, and continued to listen. Even if their versions of the hunt weren’t identical, Obsidian understood the addiction. He understood the dangers it posed, understood why Todd wouldn’t give into the temptation of the hunt. Because, as Todd had said, it was everything, heaven, full control, and pure ecstasy.

Around the table, Todd’s statements had given the others pause. Lapis was frowning, disappointed by the answer. Hemie and Rhody were whispering to each other again, soft things about how they couldn’t imagine living with such a thing. And Sulphur, well.

Sulphur leaned forward on his elbows, hands folded under his chin, and he asked, “What does this amass you? No, that’s not the right question. Yes, the right question is what do you actually do? Eating people must offer you benefits. I can’t imagine your life being so miserable and also getting nothing from it.”​
 
He recognized the sharpness in Obsidian’s eyes, and knew at a glance that while they weren’t the same, they were similar. Again, their experiences lined up. Whatever he didn’t say, Todd could tell, the same way he’d been able to see the predator in his eyes. He spoke from experience, when he spoke of the hunt, of survival. That was all Todd needed to know.

He realized he was still wearing his cap when Sulphur spoke up again. While he asked his questions, Todd removed the hat, and also shrugged out of his coat, leaving him comfortably in his argyle sweater. It was a lot less formal, but it was also a communication, maybe subconscious to most people in the room, although it was meant for Obsidian to notice. I’m comfortable, for now. The questions won’t make me run. Especially questions coming from Sulphur, and not from Lapis.

“I eat, I survive.” Todd shrugged, and leaned forward to pick up the rest of his Coke. “Eating is the outcome, not the cause. I’ve got benefits that help me get there, I guess. Good ears, a better nose. I’m stronger than I look, and pretty fast when I need to be. Like I said before, when I’ve recently eaten, I heal fast, so that’s a bonus.”

There was a moment of hesitation, as he sifted through what he could actually do. He tended to think of most of it as encompassed in I can hunt and eat people, but there were aspects of that which were much less obvious than some others.

“There is the camouflage.” He smiled, and it turned a little sheepish again. “I can… convince people to let their guard down. I don’t really know if that’s a ‘who I am’ or ‘what I am’ feature, but most humans don’t even notice me unless they’ve got a really good vibe checker.”

He took a sip of his soda, then decided in for a penny, in for a pound.

“And more literally, I can… well, it takes energy, and the right amount of stored mass, but I can take the uh… I can look like anyone I’ve eaten. That would be the most direct benefit, I guess.”

He waited for the deluge that came after that reveal, because usually it was the first thing he said when asked what kind of meta he was. It was good camouflage in that sense, but he was almost sure that wasn’t the actual intention of being able to use it. That was the realm of theory, though, about what his natural habitat and ecosystem should look like; but like a coyote in the city, he’d learned how to adapt what he had to survive in a vastly different world than the one he’d been designed for.
 

“You can turn into anyone you’ve eaten? Like completely change?” Lapis once again leaned in too close, Her head tilted upward to look up at Todd. Obsidian caught her gaze with a glower that had her backing up and out of his space. Even if she wouldn’t respect his clear disinterest and his opposition to her being in his personal space, Obsidian would. And because obsidian would, Lapis would as well. That was how it worked between the two of them.

On the far end of the table, Rhody leaned forward. She and Hemie had laced their hands together and placed them on the table, and he rubbed his thumb over her hand as she asked, “Would you mind showing us? It’s okay if you don’t want to, but we’ve never met a shapeshifter before.”

“That sounds cool as hell. Is it a full change? Like an entire change of your anatomy?”

“Oh, does it change your DNA? Like if we took your blood while you were changed, would it test as their blood?”

The couple were back to their questioning, now that there was less tension, now that Obsidian had relaxed back into his seat. He smiled softly at them. They had been like this ever since they met, soft and gentle with each other, but they had only gotten more so after they had gotten married in January. They were both so inquisitive that they bordered on obnoxious some days, especially when they were together.

“It sounds as though you’ve evolved to be better than humans in every way possible. That makes sense given they’re your prey. I wonder if the camouflage is designed specifically to allow you to hide in plain sight and make it easier for you to attract food. Or maybe it’s like how male butterflies are more colorful than their female partners, and it’s designed to be something that allows you to better attract attention away from a partner… but that would imply there are more of you. That would imply that you’ve got others out there like you.”

Obsidian looked at Sulphur with a raised eyebrow. The blonde man was thoughtfully rubbing a hand over his mouth, subconsciously tracing the shape of his lips. Obsidian was familiar with that look in his eyes, the faraway look that indicated he was processing information and making conclusions. This was why Sulphur liked to have all the facts. The more he knew, the more he understood, the more he could conclude.​
 
He had been on the edge of snapping at Lapis again when she looked at Ethan and backed down, reminding Todd of the pack dynamic. He was Obsidian’s guest, therefore Obsidian had the final say. Lapis clearly respected obsidian enough to observe that dynamic. An important note for later, since Hemie and Rhody were coming at him with more questions that Ethan didn’t stop. With one last warning glance at Lapis, he looked back at the couple.

“I can change my appearance, physically. Sometimes I can do the whole person, but usually I just do small parts, since a whole body shift would need a whole new outfit – nobody I’ve eaten yet has the same body type as me. Eyes, voice, some minor features like that. No, I’ve never cut myself open to test if my insides are different, or tested my own blood to see if it’s a DNA match. But it doesn’t hurt or anything. It’s like moving a muscle.”

This was the easiest thing to talk about, since it was his go-to for admitting he was a metahuman. It usually distracted people too much from asking more, and he’d actually planned to start with it here, too, if Obsidian hadn’t outed him right away as a predator.

Experience meant he had a demonstration prepared, though. He looked down, focused. He thought of the dollar-green eyes he’d used for Nat, for any other demonstration. Not the rich green of Summer’s, but the softer, nearly-blue ones, narrower. The man behind the eyes was still the same, when he looked up, and the shift looked uncanny, but much more like moving a muscle than any kind of weird ooze or rupture of bone. He relaxed the expression, and his eyes returned to his own blue before he looked back at Sulphur.

He’d decided to answer Sulphur’s question second, because it was a lot more interesting to him, and he wanted to be able to focus on it. It wasn’t every day you could propose theories about your own behavioral patterns and evolution, after all.

“I do agree about it being the first option. Protecting a mate doesn’t sound right, since my dad’s perfectly human. But bait? That tracks. Like an anglerfish, or that one species of firefly that makes the same mating signals as another species just to eat whatever it attracts. On a strictly practical level, looking and sounding like a loved one I’ve already consumed makes sense to draw out more prey. That’s not what I use it for, but that’s like a lot of the tools I’ve got. I have a lot of theories about the ecosystem I’m probably designed for, but that’s uh–” he turned red again. “Kind of off-topic, I know. I’ve adapted to what works best for me in my preferred environment, that’s what matters.”
 

“It’s not off topic. You were explicitly asked about it.” Obsidian tapped out a cigarette at the inside of the booth, taking it between his teeth and pulling it from the box. He flipped the lid back over it and returned it to his coat pocket. He started patting his pockets, but his face quirked as he realized his lighter was missing. He shifted the cigarette to his hand and turned toward Sulphur, to ask him– Sulphur was holding the old black zippo out to him. He gave the man a wry smile and accepted the lighter.

“You mentioned it was low on fluid so I refilled it.”Sulphur took the last sip of his screwdriver and stood, taking the glass to the bar. He stepped behind and began to clean it while the others continued to talk. Obsidian gave him a grateful smile from across the room and quickly lit his cigarette. He took a deep breath in through his lips, held it for a long moment, and then breathed it out through his nose. The smoke curled across the table and then drifted into the air.

“What’s your favorite part to eat?” Lapis piped back up, finally, and Obsidian rolled his eyes beneath his lids. He leveled half-lidded eyes at Todd and quirked an eyebrow. He was morbidly curious as well. The woman wasn’t leaning in anymore. She had drawn a knee up to her chest, her petite body almost folded in half.

“Lapis, that’s so gross. And rude.”

“Well I want to know, Rhody. And you and Hemie have gotten to ask all the questions, so now it’s my turn.”

Rhody gave her partner a look but Hemie just shook his head and shrugged, bringing their joined hands to his lips with an adoring look. Rhody’s face changed to a smile at her husband’s actions. She shook her head and huffed but allowed it, tipping her head toward him. He was quick to lower his own face to hers, and they sat with their foreheads together for a moment while Lapis stared Todd down.​
 
Despite the friendliness the pack was showing him, Todd couldn’t help but be reminded that he was an outsider by the series of little exchanges. If they all lived in the upstairs apartments, and judging by the way their scents mixed, these people did everything together. Every second at the table told him that Mal’s description of them as a family was a lot more accurate than he’d originally expected. And given that Todd hadn’t really had a family since his mom died, seeing this many people this happy together… hurt something, inside of him.

He wasn’t jealous of the pack at all, that wasn’t it. He didn’t want what they had, not exactly. But they made him think of Sam, of the things he wanted to do and he couldn’t have with her because of what he was. And he couldn’t have it here because of who he was.

Good thing he was used to being an outsider, because that would’ve bothered him otherwise.

Lapis demanded his attention again with a question that he’d known would be inevitable. He didn’t really want to answer that. He probably wouldn’t have answered, if Obsidian hadn’t looked at him, too. Ah, well. He’d already disclosed his least favorite part. It wasn’t like they were going to start giving him random bits of person. Probably. Besides, maybe with the morbid tidbit of information, Lapis would be preoccupied with the answer for a while.

“It’s okay, Rhody. It's um. Small bones. Hands and feet. It’s…” He shifted uncomfortably, aware that was what she wanted, but it was an uncomfortable admission. “It’s a texture thing. The whole– everything tastes the same, because it’s just raw meat, but some parts are definitely better textures.”
 

“Have you ever tried cooking people? Like, you might enjoy it more that way, don’t you think? I imagine it would taste way better than eating it raw.” Lapis was shaking her foot of the leg that wasn’t drawn up to her chest. She had a look of confusion plastered on her overly expressive face. To her, Obsidian was sure, this was a basic and probably necessary step in the consumption of people.

Obsidian knew, though, that Todd wouldn’t ever want that. The younger man was too remorseful of what he was to actually want to enjoy any part of what he did- least of all the actual consumption. There might be parts of it that his body forced him to enjoy, parts that evolution had demanded he have mechanisms in place to avoid starving himself to death. But those parts were biology, not his choices.

Rhody shook her head away from Hemie and gave Lapis a sharp look to the back of her head. “Lapis, could you be more insensitive if you tried? Because I don’t think it’s possible.”

Lapis turned in her seat and shot the woman the kind of look a small child might give their older sibling who was annoying them by reminding them of the rules when Mom and Dad were away for the night. “He’s perfectly capable of choosing not to answer himself, Rhody. Stop trying to moderate me.”

Lapis might listen to and respect Obsidian, but she had no such compunctions with the rest of the family. Save for Sulphur and himself, Lapis listened to no one, abided by no one’s rules, and could not be reigned in by anyone else’s words. That was why Rhody turned his disbelieving look to Obsidian himself, looking for some kind of support. The yellow-eyed man shook his head in denial, and she deflated.

“Todd is free to answer, or not answer, whatever he pleases. And unless it is clearly disrespectful, then Lapis is free to ask questions– although I will warn her, she is knocking on the door of acceptable.” The woman once again shrunk in on herself a bit, but she had a small smile that was mostly hidden by her short and spikey hair as she tilted her head.​
 
Todd frowned at Lapis as she pressed the question. Maybe he should’ve left the flavor detail out – Mary had thought he could taste the difference between blood types, after all. But Mary’s line of questioning had made him realize that assumptions like that were kind of a pet peeve. Raw beef didn’t taste different coming from two different cows. Without seasoning and preparation, the only differences really were textural.

The suggestion had crossed his mind before. In his earliest years, he’d always been deep in the hunt when he made his kill; feeding helped him come down from it, a natural conclusion, satisfaction of the high he’d been chasing with the prey. As he came away from that period, it had crossed his mind. But it was faster, and easier, to just take care of the problem where he butchered it, rather than trying to store it physically for later. Easier to avoid suspicion, and got rid of the evidence.

He might’ve even said those things out loud had it not been for the exchange between Lapis and Rhody. Todd liked Rhody. They were alike, he was pretty sure, as much as he could ignore the sharpness behind her eyes. He was coming to increasingly dislike Lapis. All he really needed to get over his hesitation was to hear Ethan say the words. He should’ve been worried about wanting permission, but he was trying to make a good first impression.

So he looked at Lapis, caught her eyes, then looked away in no particular direction. “If it’s all the same, I’d prefer not to answer that one.”

This was a good test, he decided. If she let it go and didn’t come back to it, then he could stop worrying about her. There really wasn’t any reason for him to be nervous about her in the first place, but this would reaffirm that. Hopefully. If she could control herself.
 

Lapis opened her mouth, but then seemed to think better of it. She pouted, like a disappointed child, and then sighed. The sigh turned into a blowing sound, and then into a groan of frustration. “Fine. Fine! How about this one? Do you consider yourself a different species? Or are you just a metahuman like the rest of us?”

With that question, Obsidian paused, his glass halfway lifted to his lips, before finishing the action. That was an interesting question. He supposed that Todd wouldn’t get so worked up over having to eat people if he considered himself not human. But then, Todd seemed exactly like the type of guy who would consider himself other because he considered himself a monster. Obsidian was curious to see which of those Todd leaned more toward at this point in his life.

Rhody and Hematite were whispering at the end of the table again, leaning into each other and whispering into each other’s hair to avoid having their lips read. “She asks the most fucked up questions sometimes. ‘Have you tried cooking it’, for fuck’s sake, Lapis.”

“It’s just who she is. She’ll never change no matter how much we all wish she would.”

“I think your questions were great, and very respectful. Just, by the way, okay?”

Rhody gave a soft laugh and kissed Hematite on the cheek, nuzzling her nose against his jaw. “Thank you, darling, but we should stop whispering before Obsidian says something.”

“As you wish, my princess.”

Sulphur rolled his eyes and let them land on Todd with a knowing look. Obsidian clocked the eye roll but said nothing. If it was something he needed to know or handle, then Sluphur would have told him directly. It more likely had something to do with the giggly mess at the end of the table, the giddy couple, who were loosening up after their drinks.

Obsidian turned his attention back to Todd, and noted that Sulphur was also giving the young man his fullest attention. Normally, that meant the man had something to say, or was looking for the final piece of a puzzle.​
 
Hemie and Rhody’s nauseating adorableness was enough to start to ease Todd’s tension. They had no idea– well, actually, they should know that he could hear them, he’d just said. But they either didn’t remember, or didn’t care, and that was even cuter.

And that was why he didn’t snap at Lapis again as she asked an only slightly tamer question.

“It wouldn’t be cannibalism if I was something else, would it?” He took a slow breath. “I know there are others like me, but… that makes sense, right? I can’t be the only one who’s evolved this way. That doesn’t mean we’re something else, not completely. Not if we can feel or think or love. I’m sure there are people who wouldn’t consider me a person, sure.”

He knew that. He knew it from the look in Arlo’s eyes. He knew from the way Nat had spoken when he found him eating. A predator wasn’t a person. It was a monster to be killed or avoided for the safety of the prey. The strong protected the weak. Metas protected people from monsters. Monsters like Todd. Monsters like Cryptid. Monsters like Obsidian.

He didn’t look at Obsidian right now. Todd didn’t need his reassurance that he was a person. He was a person. He’d learned from the ground up how to be a person, the hard way.

“But human, meta, monster, that doesn’t change what makes someone a person. Who we are isn’t really defined by what we are. It’s what we do that counts, and why we do it.”
 

“You know there are others like you? With certainty?”

Sulphur’s gaze turned sharp as he walked back to his seat at the table. His new glass was full of what looked like straight Coke. He sat down across from Lapis, but looked in Todd’s direction, his gaze thoughtful. Obsidian leaned forward onto the table, blowing another curling stream of smoke out before answering before Todd could.

“The one who killed Mal. He was like Todd. Called himself The Cryptid. He’s a vigilante. Never met a vigilante that eats people, but I suppose it exists. Todd here took a decent bite out of him, which distracted him enough for me to get to work. He was quite resilient though, because he managed to catch my arm. He fled shortly after that.” Obsidian rubbed his left arm, where he was still recovering from Todd’s bagh nahk. He only knew what the weapon was because he had researched it. He had done a lot of private research after their initial meeting, as well as what he had assigned to Lapis and Sulphur.

Obsidian took a long draw on his cigarette, looking at Todd to see if he would confirm the story. It was a simple enough story, but left room for Todd to fill in details, or explain why he was there on his own. The rest of the table were watching with interest as well, their expressions openly curious. Lapis was back to bouncing her leg on the chair so fast she might as well have been on drugs. Sulphur was leaning forward on his elbows again, his hands tucked together under his chin. Rhody, despite the fact that she was clearly listening, was rubbing the top of her head into Hemie’s chin, and he was smiling contentedly.

There was the shine of curiosity in all of their eyes, however, regardless of how much they seemed like they were paying attention. Obsidian knew it was because this was the first time they had heard real details of the story. Obsidian had been too full of grief when he had returned to explain anything to them. So now that they were finally getting details, they were all interested and paying attention.​
 
Sulphur’s voice pulled Todd’s eyes away from Lapis. It took him a second to realize what he’d just admitted to – he’d been making a point, not thinking his words through. He’d been thinking of his mother – if his dad was to be believed, anyway. If that wasn’t a coincidental delusion. Ethan had just saved Todd the trouble in that department. But, more importantly, he’d just given him the opening to resolve something he’d been worried about. After all, the Pack was smart. They were going to notice that most of the people being eaten were Crytpid’s targets, not Todd’s. They had to have noticed that about Jasper.

This reminded him that he was getting too comfortable too fast. Their eyes were on him, and he was once again just a fox in a wolf den. Just because their alpha liked him didn’t mean that the rest of them wouldn’t set on him with vicious pleasure if they had a reason to do so. Lapis especially, vibrating as she was, but they all shared that glint in their eyes.

So. How to go about this. Ethan clearly wanted him to expand on the story.

“Like I mentioned before, I’ve been thinking a lot about my… ecology, lately. There’s uh… there’s a good reason why. I’ve realized I’m designed for a much bigger range of territory and solitary hunting, especially given my mate can be human, and not like me. I think because of that it’s hard not to notice the signs that something like me is around.”

He was glad they couldn’t hear his heartbeat, that he kept a mask in place that showed no sign of his knowledge of certain death if he made a mistake.

“To make a really long investigation short I followed the smell of blood and– uh– winter? Menthol?” he knew just a little bit about his own scent. Just enough. “Those, and… god, I can’t really describe how predators smell like their prey, but it’s there. Smelled like me, and not like me. I checked it out, and that’s when I found the two of them. I’ve never felt territorial before. That’s probably what got into me. Kinda stupid looking back.”

He was sorting the pieces in his head, rearranging a few things to put himself in the right place, at the right time. He was crafting an alibi. He was really good at alibis.

“I didn’t take a bite out of him. He had too much padding for that. I did put a bite into him, though. I think I took him by surprise. Crushed his shoulder. Given that we heal he’s probably fine by now. I… imagine that’s going to have consequences, now that I think about it.”

Imagine was the right word, but it was a good excuse to look at Obsidian with a question in his eyes. A different question from what the rest of his pack would assume. A very simple, is that enough? rather than a nervous, Do you think?
 

Obsidian’s mouth curved up into a slight smile as he listened to Todd fabricate his story. It was a good one. He sounded mostly confident as he told it. That would be good enough for the Pack, who would trust Todd’s words, for the simple fact that Obsidian himself trusted Todd’s words. He nodded to Todd, a subtle nod, and then said, “I do believe that could have consequences.”

Words that meant something other than what the nod had meant. Words used to cover the tracks of their lie. As Obsidian expected, the Pack accepted his words as truth.

“Fascinating that you share a scent. Do you suspect that others like you all share the same base scent?”

“How many more of you do you think there are?”

“Guys, you’re missing something important! If he’s like Todd, this Cryptid, then if we study Todd we can learn all of his weaknesses.” Lapis slammed her hands down on the table in her excitement, her eyes gleaming with directed malice She turned her gaze on Todd, a manic and vicious smile on her face. “You have to train with us! Let us fight you! Even if you don’t fight the same, having you as a stand in–”

“Lapis.” The woman stopped talking and turned her head like a whip toward Obsidian. She cowed a bit at the look of sternness on the man’s face. “We could not possibly impose. Phrase it as a question, not a demand.”

The woman rolled her eyes and let them land on Todd once more. While the steel grey of them still held excitement and a trace of malice, though malice not directed at him, she asked in a more polite tone, “Todd. Do you think you could spar with us? It would help us to learn how to fight one of you.”

She sounded much more composed, much more civil, but in a practiced way. A way that made it obvious she had learned it and had never quite internalized it. The glint in her eyes spoke more to the truth of her state of mind than any inflection in her voice could ever hope to. The shine of violence, barely suppressed, mixed with the mania of someone close to an obsession. It was clear that she had directed all of the rage in her small form toward Cryptid.​
 
Obsidian accepted his answer, and the pack with him. Todd expected questions, and he was glad that Rhody’s and Sulphur’s were on the ecological side, at least. He’d been prepared to answer those kinds of questions eventually, even if they weren’t questions he had ready answers to, only hazy guesses.

He remembered his mother. He hadn’t had the nose he had today when he remembered her, and he didn’t really know how long his father had– how long she’d been a predator, before she died. But he did remember how she smelled like peppermint, even though most of her soaps were strawberry. She’d always wanted to be touching him, to keep him close and safe, so even as old as nine years he’d always been surrounded by her scent and her voice. Such an odd memory, all natural and warm.

Unlike Lapis, with her flowers and ozone and ferociously hungry eyes. Lapis, who would kill him on the spot if she knew the truth, like almost everyone here. She was furious. She was eager for blood. And Ethan didn’t offer him help beyond making it his choice, like all the other questions. Lapis didn’t take ‘no’ for an answer, and there were very few ways that he could answer that didn’t look suspicious.

It was a calculated decision. But he let his mask slip, just a little bit. Just enough that she’d see the fear in his eyes as he looked at her, all rage. He calculated it because he was almost certain she’d seen similar fear in previous attempts.

“I-I’m not– I – no, n-no thank you.” He put his hands up a little bit, and swallowed. That was enough. He could start putting the fear back in its box. “I don’t want to fight. I don’t want to fight anyone unless I have to, to– to eat. I’m trying to have a normal life outside of that, really. I don’t spar, I don’t train, I don’t even have those claw things. You wouldn’t learn anything from me. So– so no.”

The fox was rolling over and showing his belly to the wolves, hoping the little show of submission and understanding their combined power would inspire just a little mercy. Maybe not from this one, but based on Rhody – based on Ethan – he could put his trust that the pack would keep Lapis from tearing him apart over this. Especially with his very real nerves at the proposition.
 

Lapis was quick to lean in close and try to argue. “Listen, what are you gonna do then if he comes after you, you should fight with us so that–”

“Lapis, you are scaring him. Why can’t you be normal for like five minutes?”

“Rhody, you’re not in charge of me, stop trying to tell me what to do!”

“Then stop acting like a petulant child. You’re scaring him.”

Lapis turned her gaze to Obsidian. The man sighed and simply gave her a piercing stare. There was a moment of silence as they held eyes, and a dozen things passed between them in those moments. Lapis’s pleading, Obsidian’s insistence, Lapis’s disappointment, Obsidian’s reassurances. His voice was soft as he chose to speak to her. “Lovely, I think that’s enough from you tonight.”

The small woman groaned but sat back in her chair, her arms crossed and her head tilted back. Rhody gave a small, but satisfied smile in Obsidian’s direction. He returned the smile with a brief nod and went back to his cigarette. The woman at the far end of the table looked back in Todd’s direction.

“We’re sorry about her. She gets overeager. If you don’t want to fight us, you don’t have to. But maybe, if you don’t know how to fight, we could teach you. It’s better than allowing you to be defenseless. I don’t know what we would do if something happened to you that we could have stopped just by teaching you a few tricks.”

Obsidian quirked an eyebrow and looked in Todd’s direction. Rhody’s offer was made with a genuine sincerity that would have made it hard for anyone to say no to her. Now was the time to see just as far Todd was willing to push this, to see how much he was willing to fake. He gave the man a simple, interested look. Nothing that would suggest anything other than mild interest. But his eye gleamed with a sharpness that would be unmistakable to Todd.​
 
The gamble worked. He hadn’t realized just how tense his back and neck had gotten until he told them to release, and found himself almost slouching again as Lapis pulled away. The nerves – the fear – had been real enough, even Ethan would see that. The exchange hadn’t been missed, he’d just used the opportunity to calm down. He swallowed dryly as he glanced at Rhody to offer an apologetic (and grateful) smile.

“Arlo– my friend, Arlo. He did start teaching me boxing. I’m not exactly built for it, but I’m not helpless.”

Except against him.

Except against Mal, if I’d been in slightly worse shape.

Except against all of you if you learn the truth.

Except against other metas. It felt like he was meeting a new meta every day here in Pittsburgh. Not quite accurate, but given he’d only met two before he got here, and now he probably needed both hands to count all the metas he knew now (Slate included), it was close enough. A touch from Obsidian and the cold snapped back. Lament and that weird fucking sound. Nat’s metal powers. The World’s teleporting. Sam – even Sam. Even Sam. Sam with her bright fire, beautiful as she was, could and would kill him.

The smile faded, his brow furrowing just a little, the tinge of premature grief at the edges of his eyes. He glanced at Ethan, not for help, this time, but to gauge him, gauge his response, his interest. The sharpness was impossible to miss, since he was looking for it. It reminded him that Ethan wanted him. He couldn’t forget that. But Ethan was now definitely positioned between Todd and the rest of the pack, his one defender if anything happened. The one keeping anything from happening. And this was, ultimately, to his benefit.

He had to cave. Just a little.

“But… Cryptid is out there.” He sighed, his eyes dropping to the can of Coke on the table. “And there might be consequences for… there might be consequences. A few tricks might not hurt.”

He looked at Rhody, his smile cautious again, but real. His right hand reached up and tangled into the curls on the back of his head. He looked more tired, probably from the burst of fear, but the relaxation helped with his sincerity.

“Maybe I’ll take up a boxing class, too. Someone already suggested a good gym for it. I’ve just been putting it off. Give me a little while to get into that but I… I could be comfortable sparring after, maybe. Just give me a few weeks to think about it. Please.”
 

There was a soft silence at the table as all eyes turned toward Obsidian. The final say was his, now and always, and the rest of the pack looked to him eagerly for his answer. He was mid-drag of his cigarette, and he held the smoke in his lungs for a long time before breathing it out through his nose. “You’re in no way required to do anything you don’t wish to do, Todd. Take your time, go take some boxing classes, and when you want to, we’ll be here for you.”

He took the last pull of his cigarette as it hit the filter. The rest of the pack seemed to relax visibly at his words. Lapis still looked put out, but she stayed silent. She would for the rest of the night, likely, if their silent conversation had been impactful enough. He looked down the table and smiled faintly as he blew the stream of smoke up into the air, tilting his head back and closing his eyes.

His family had done well. They had been exactly how he’d predicted they would be– Rhody and Hematite, curious and gentle; Lapis, brash and demanding; and Sulphur, stern but inquisitive. The family balanced each other out, with Ethan there to support them the best he could. They were missing their loud and happy brawler, but they hadn’t let that bleed into the way they had treated Todd.

And Todd, who sat across from him– he hadn’t disappointed either. He had provided all the necessary lies, all the relevant information, all the pertinent answers. In fact, he had provided enough that he knew Sulphur and Lapis would begin to look him up again the moment he left. Maybe he had given too much. Obsidian was left hoping that maybe, just maybe, they didn’t find whatever they were looking for.​
 
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