Ghosts of the Past

[homeless_pard]

Who: Beryl, Nat, a reporter?
When: Once she's back on the low level MMA circuit, before the looking at buying a place.
What: Being...traced?

She adjusted the tape along her hands and smiled loosening up a touch in her corner. It was good to be back honestly, she'd taken four out of five matches so far and things were doing okay. She was getting her rhythm back, and she could see Nat sitting in the stands, that delicate mix of apprehensive and delighted to watch her. She could get the mixed feelings honestly, they made sense...

...but she was belatedly glad her boy was tall yes. Else she couldn't have picked him out so easily with many of the 'fans' choosing to fill the bleachers near him. She blew him a cheerful kiss before sliding her bite guard back in and ignored the honest to gods flashes going off as she turned her back to eye her opponent. A lot of sports enthusiasts and writers actually went with real cameras instead of cellphones so it could get a little bulb happy out there.

Given where the majority of the crowd was, well, the photography had to be getting great shots of her opponent's form...and her ass. Great, Nat was going to scrapbook the shit out of any magazines she ended up in and it would be nicknamed the 'hot in spandex' book or something by Eric and Lani. It made her snort a laugh, which pissed off her opponent, making him swing just a touch wide so she could bend and lash her heel into his hip, then her knee to his chin ad he buckled. TKO.

She grinned, adrenaline singing through her as she turned to beam at Nat, and caught another faceful of flashbulbs. Bah. "Excuse me, Beryl? Are you Ms. Beryl?"

"Hey, yeah, but I'm busy," she snorted ducking under the ropes to go to Nat for a kiss before hitting the showers! She barely registered the unassuming man muttering an apology and just flashing a few more pics before she was happily padding to the showers. Charles was going to demand she try that move on him again in a few days as they practiced so she didn't bother trying to poke him now. Let him go home and grump about getting old to his teens, who'd reassure him and make him a protein shake before he got a beer. He was a good guy, just competitive as shit.

After Beryl was safely away the man wove carefully through the crowd to smile hesitantly at Nathaniel, "hey, can you spell her name for me? I want to be sure to get things right but she...I guess she doesn't do ringside interviews huh?"

Comments

[homeless_pard]

Dan laughed, "well yeah that's why they cap things though, we're not exactly wining and dining senators or anything...buffets are amazing. Cheap AND good for protein loading!"

Beryl "The Lotus," she smiled. "Their food is better."

[nathanielgrayson]

"That's really nice, though. Thanks!" Clearly there were more perks to professional jobs than he'd thought!

He nodded in agreement, "Oh yeah, it's so good." And even if it wasn't, Beryl liked it better...

[homeless_pard]

Hey, she was a fighter, she HAD to pay attention to diet quality! "I'm open to other suggestions you know," she teased gently. Just saying it wasn't a STATEMENT just a suggestion?

Dan made a note, along the lines of 'healthy' for anyone who spied the pad. Whether that was the food or the relationship ,well, who knew? "Like I said, People! And people gotta eat!" he grinned.

[nathanielgrayson]

He gave a low giggle. "You know I'm not picky, babe: I'll eat anything."

[homeless_pard]

Dan blinked? "With that body?!" WHAT?! Shit. Mental note not pad note!

"Blessings of a golden metabolism," Beryl smiled, a touch more teeth than normal JUST IN CASE. "He burns everything between that and work, I'm jealous."

[nathanielgrayson]

Nathaniel leaned closer, using what looked like a loving hug between boyfriend and girlfriend to silently thank her. "See," he chuckled, "doesn't he sound like he's got his eye on me?"

[homeless_pard]

"Babe, everyone has their eye on you," she chuckled warmly. "How could they not?" He was literal eye candy!

Dan shook his head in amusement, "honeymoon dating phase?" he teased.

[nathanielgrayson]

Nathaniel was still comfortably leaning into Beryl when he stifled a giggle at Dan. "You could say that." If he was counting only St. Louis time and not how much time passed in Khem's world.

[homeless_pard]

"You two are cute, which is really not a word I'm used to with my articles..." he laughed.

"Mmmm, well, mostly my Nat," Beryl admitted easily. He was fucking adorable and she loved him.

[nathanielgrayson]

"Probably for the best," Nathaniel laughed, "I don't think the women fighters would enjoy articles describing them as 'cute'" He gave another playful wink to Dan. "I don't mind it, though."

[homeless_pard]

"Duly noted!" he laughed, making an obvious note on his pad. "Cute cheerleader boyfriend, dangerous fighter girl...I'm going to get so detailed over dinner!"

Beryl chuckled, "alright, meet you there?"

"Yup! Say the restaurant name again so I can google it and get a table for three?"

[nathanielgrayson]

"The Lotus." Nathaniel eased effortlessly to her side as he sensed Beryl readying to leave. "But hey," he joked to Beryl while he eyed Dan, "I'd totally be a cheerleader for you. Or maybe I can be one of those ring girls on TV!"

[homeless_pard]

"Want to strut with a sign each round?" she snickered, pinching his hip. "You'd be sexy as hell, fighters would be distracted." Her among them obviously!

"Lotus it is, see you tomorrow?"

[nathanielgrayson]

"Absolutely. But if Charles is mean to me you have to beat him up." He flashed his stage grin and gave a little turn for her. He wasn't going to walk far without her, but with a final wink to Dan he made sure to work that walk. "See you then!"

[homeless_pard]

"No doubt about that babe, he gives you a side eye and he's toast!" she promised cheerfully.

Dan just shook his head in amusement, watching them walk off!

* * *

Dinner the next day was pleasant, normal, full of things anyone would expect a woman-centric sport magazine to ask about. Normal.

Easy.

Nothing to worry about at all. It made the thugs melting out of the shadows on her way home all the more surprising. Not that she froze mind you, she was too primed for fighting to do that, but she didn't notice the needle that made it against her shoulder in the melee where several people got broken bones and at least one got dropped permanently.

Drugs were never good though. "That can drop a shifter," Dan noted almost apologetically as her bones went liquid on her. "Just let go."

"Fuck you," she growled, blacking out. If she focused inward maybe she could burn it faster.

Dan sighed and looked the dead guy over, "load up everything, leave no traces. I'll sit with her."

[nathanielgrayson]

Nathaniel was simply glowing when he got to the Circus that night. Even Asher's grumbling about the "stench" of what Nathaniel had eaten for dinner couldn't wipe the grin from his face. Beryl was going to be in a magazine! He was so happy for her, that all her hard work was paying off.

So despite the unappealing smell, Asher fed very well.

Nathaniel didn't stay long at the Circus: he found that being 'gods-touched' he had much more stamina and recovery after a feeding. Plus, he was so excited to go home and talk to Beryl about the dinner interview that he told Dylan he didn't need a ride home with the other donors, he'd call up an Uber.

He was still a little hazy when he got in the car, but he confirmed the destination and settled back comfortably to watch out the window.

[homeless_pard]

"Bad part of town," the driver noted, glancing back. It was just something they told ANYONE headed to bad areas no matter where they caught hi scab! "Going go be okay?" He was fine if he switched destinations?

[nathanielgrayson]

Nathaniel scoffed quietly from the back. "There's a lot worse than this. As long as you don't mind."

But he had an odd, uneasy feeling as they continued on, like a sort of panic tugging subtly deep inside him. He frowned and watched out the windows. Why was he feeling like this? He wasn't afraid of this area...

"Hey, can you stop a second? Please?" he asked suddenly.

The driver glanced up at him like he was crazy.

"Please stop. Right here." He opened the door and stepped out of the car, his senses on high alert. What was that? He walked forward, feeling that frightened tug in his gut.

"Hey kid!" The driver called out. "What are you doing, get back in the car!"

"One second..." Nathaniel called back. He reached the dark opening of an alley and peered down it.

[homeless_pard]

There was a singular person in the alley, a person who seemed more intent on scrubbing and spraying things that seemed oddly scent numbing, than caring who had just shown up. Still, they paused after a moment, peering at Nat, "the fuck you want kid?"

The cabby leaned over the seat, worried, "get back in!" This did NOT seem great!

[nathanielgrayson]

Nathaniel felt himself drawn closer, barely hearing his driver as he moved into the darkness. "What are you doing?" he asked in an eerily calm voice.

His nose wrinkled at the scent of the spray as he quickly scanned the are the person was spraying. He didn't see much of anything; that was actually more worrisome.

[homeless_pard]

"None of your business kid," the man growled. "You're delaying my work!"

The cabby was a good guy honestly, he was stepping out, a thick baton in his hands, "hey guy, leave my fair alone!"

[nathanielgrayson]

Unfortunately for both the the cabbie and the other guy, Nathaniel was more intent on the pull from his gut than any threats being uttered around him. He was blinking, a nearly blank expression on his face as he turned here and there, nostrils flaring ever so slightly.

"Fuck you, man, get your fare the fuck outta here!" the man snarled. He angrily sprayed a stream of cleaning liquid towards Nathaniel. Nathaniel dodged to the side faster than the man could follow, keeping him well away from the splash of chemicals. But there, where he landed on the pavement...he leaned forward, taking a deeper whiff.

That was Beryl's hair oil. His gut twisted violently and his eyes widened in panic. "Where is she?" he choked out.

"The fuck you talking about, kid? Go on and get outta here!"

Nathaniel was visibly trembling as he rose to his feet. "The woman that was here. Where is she?!"

[homeless_pard]

"Hey my fair knows what he's doing!" The cabby snarled. He really hoped that was true anyway, sure he'd gotten nice tips from people in a full on psychotic break but that wasn't the norm, right?!

Hopefully anyway.

The cleaner snarled quietly, "think I'd be hanging out here in an alley if I had a woman?"

[nathanielgrayson]

Nathaniel's lip curled with a low growl that he seemed completely unaware of as he stalked towards the cleaner. It was hardly an intimidating growl with his shaking, but coupled with the desperate panic in his eyes it was enough to give anyone pause. "Where. Did they go."

[homeless_pard]

Growling? Fuck this was suppose to be the vamp-snack, not someone actually worth anything! "Step off boy!" he growled back, dropping the cleaner bottle. "You're starting to freak me out."

"He may have a gun, all crazy people have guns!" the cabby warned, nervous. "He took your baby girl? Am I being punked?"