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It was 10pm on a weeknight and time for doughnuts and meeting his bud Krishna, with a side of physics homework. This was clearly a great plan with no possible downsides. Wasn't there a saying, 'it's Friday somewhere?' Which didn't really apply, since he was studying for a test on said Friday. Oh well. Sekani Fitzmartin was practically in pajamas, his tennis shoes and warm hoodie breaking up the look of having rolled out of bed and all the way to the nearby doughnut shop. He had no shame, though this was a usual sight to the late-night baker anyway. Usually Sekani was not the only student in there looking like that, too. There were worse clientele to have.

The bluenette had arrived a bit earlier than anticipated, so his booth was already swagged out with an open book, notebook likewise, and an assortment of doughy delights - one rainbow-iced bearclaw picked out especially for Krishna for obvious reasons (besides it being delicious). Sekani hoped it wouldn't be too awkward for his friend. It was pretty normal to invite fellow students to cram sessions, but for some reason he had blurted out the invitation the last time they met. Meeting for beers or something like that, sure; that's normal. He should really be accustomed to his brain haphazardly combining need with what you want to do.

The familiar door jingle caught Sekani's attention, and he smiled broadly to see this time it was his friend. Waving back, he suddenly felt sheepish at how well Krishna was put together in relation. It wasn't as though he expected another set of pajamas walk in, but to Sekani it was a pretty plush ensemble for the night. Still, he admitted to himself, it suited the other man. Hopefully, the doughnuts would make up for any transgressions!

"I don't see the point in getting completely dressed again after the post afternoon, pre-bed nap," he reasoned. "Besides, you just ratcheted the after-hours dress code in here up a few notches." Sekani paused to make sure there was enough room to be comfortable on the other side of the table. Forward as ever, he placed the rainbow glazed bearclaw square in front of Krishna.

"On me. They have a great bearclaw here."

"Oh, praise late-night pastry Jesus," Sekani thought at the offer, but outwardly he simply replied, "It's a deal. Black, two creams, one sugar." The truth was, this was the last bearclaw in the place until the next morning, but he was convinced that his new friend had to absolutely try one. And now there was going to be coffee, too! Studying was going to be intense.

Studying was going to be so intense, in fact, that when Krishna moved to leave the table, Sekani happened to notice a rather large shadow outside of the shop. Not physically large, in itself, but large for a shadow, which is usually a slip cast off of something else. It was away again in the night as quickly as it had solidified. Sekani gave the window an odd, curious look. If this was a worse neighborhood, he would have been more worried. Then again... things were weird in Destiny City in the last couple of years. Maybe Krishna had seen something on the way in to explain it.

Sekani blinked at the question, quickly surfacing from his fixation on the curiousness happening on the other side of the window. Purple eyes flicked to his coffee-laden companion, though they were dragged back to the scene of the crime as he spoke.

"I thought I saw something weird out there," he replied, paying no mind if what he said sounded crazy or not, because it was the truth. He reached for a coffee that was hopefully his own and sipped. What slipped past his lips had indeed been tamed by cream and sugar - whether this was luck or Krishna had assured it (also luck) or he had just stolen Krishna's drink was up for debate. "Not wrong, I guess. It was like a huge--" Sekani was cut off by the oddity flitting by the window, once again only appearing long enough for an observer to know they had seen something and then to doubt it. The meager other patrons of the little shop were too engrossed in conversation or studies to take similar note. His mind cycled through a few options, like a late-night blimp or some nocturnal birds playing with the light cast from streetlamps, but the angle was all wrong. "A huge shadow," he said, finishing the thought. Scooting out of the booth (and still gripping his coffee), Sekani went to stand close to the window.

"It's not a bad neighborhood," Sekani followed up, nodding to Krishna's offer of bravery. "College crowd can get a little wild, if you count that." He couldn't remember a time when this late-night stop had been the site of anything seriously untoward, which could be the result of the DCPD patrols near campus or the shotgun the owner kept under the counter. It would figure that the one night he brings Krishna along, something weird would pop up. The vehemence with which he was shoving his face against the cold glass was currently making it very hard to drink coffee, however; but not for lack of trying. Ignore it, then, the bluenette determined. Just ignore it, go back to studying, and have that delicious bear---

"THERE!" It was more akin to a bark than proper communication, but it was all the warning Krishna got before Sekani was out of the door and Krishna's aforementioned offer of bravery lost in a moment of spontaneity. He followed whatever-it-was to the mouth of a wide alley around the side of the donut shop, stuttering to a stop before entirely following it in.
“Hey, are you just trying to creep people out or something?!” he called, echoes bouncing off of the bricks and darkness; then, almost an afterthought, “Are you alright?”

His first reaction was to drop his coffee. Luckily, it was so diluted with cream and sugar that the dots of splattered coffee that managed to reach skin were sufficiently tame. His second reaction was to mourn the loss of said coffee to the cruel, cruel asphalt. Finally, the rest of his brain caught up and Sekani got back on track as to why he had dropped it in the first place.

“What is… even… what?” the blunette repeated, squinting at the odd, monochromatic figures in the alleyway, as if it would force them to make more sense. You didn’t need to call the Ghostbusters on a bunch of college hooligans. It was not helping that they really looked too much like himself and Krishna for good taste, which wasn't helping him to accept the situation any quicker. He took a step back, wanting to heed his friend’s warning, but his retreat stuttered. “But what about you..?”

The slight sizzling sound of coffee and relative nonchalance of this stranger's reaction was all the convincing Sekani needed that they needed to gtfo. His face fell, slipping from confusion down to concern, and all the way to freaking out. Sekani's own double chuckled in a rough, steccato way at the assault, unconcerned with his partner's burns. Obviously keeping it together a bit better. Sekani's hands grasped at air - he didn't even have a coffee to slow his own doppelganger down. They definitely needed the Ghostbusters or an exorcist or maybe---

A strong hand on his arm pulled him - quite literally - back to the task of gtfo. His legs reacted immediately when urged, falling into step with Krishna for retreat. It was when they turned the corner to escape the alleyway that he got the idea.

"Hereherehere!" was the only explanation he could force out over his vocal chords.

Sekani flipped their grip, snagging Krishna's arm with his own and powering forward in a rush, and took the lead. This was armored (sorta), lockable (though the owner never did), and full of provisions (a generous generalization). It was a short sprint to the back of the donut delivery truck parked outside of the shop. It brought late-night donuts to the campus nearby, making a killing off of half-asleep students more than willing to pay for day-old donuts and fresh, hot coffee.

Sekani threw open the back doors and nearly belly-flopped inside.

"On it!"

Sekani launched himself up by his hands, feet taking their place as he hurdled between the driver's seat and the passenger. His palm slammed down on the lock just as he caught a slip of shadow outside the window. He didn't want to see the rest, or encourage it. He quickly retreated behind the seats, back to the wide cargo area bereft of cargo save for a few donuts he could spot and two portable coffee machines. Krishna had the back doors, so they should be secure for awhile. Sekani flopped down, resting his back against the driver's side seat and running a hand through some stray blue strands. His mind was trying to replace instinct with more advanced levels of thought, but catching up was difficult. His mouth caught up first.

"What the hell," he hissed under his breath. "Pain doesn't do much, but... they still seem sorta human, right? Breaking the glass should be hard." He was thinking aloud, but his eyes sought out Krishna's.