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René had seen the mauvian sneak into his shop and made sure to try and keep his customers from noticing that a cat had entered. Once they’d cleared, he started to finalize the receipts in his ledger as Katya approached. It wasn’t a surprise that she’d heard him that night with Alexandre so he nodded before tucking his work away.

“I think… I do, at least a bit if it can help Alexandre out. I think maybe that would be better because I worry that he would be too distracted if he came with me while I was figuring things out. I wouldn’t want him to get hurt because of that.” He knew they were capable but at the same time, he also knew they were being extra careful with him to make up for what had happened.

Motioning for Katya to come behind the counter, he took a seat on his stool and rested his chin on his hand while thinking. “I still am a bit unsure of it all, given how things happened, but I do want to help if I can. I don’t like feeling useless and when he showed up here bleeding…” Trailing off, he sighed and rubbed his face. “I worry is all.”

“That’s reassuring at least, so you can tell if something nasty is near and… you can hide us in a way right? I think I remember that from when Alexandre fed me that thing…” It had been a bit uncomfortable after the fact but it had helped with his injuries.

Readjusting so that she had more space on the counter, René nodded along with what she was saying. It made sense because he was also worried about messing up on his part of things. It was reassuring, to say the least, that a third party had a better view of things, he’d not really gotten the time to speak one-on-one with her with how often he’d been spending time with Alexandre. The only place he really was by himself was during the few days at work the other didn’t join him and the weeknights when he stayed at his apartment.

“He’s sort of been doing that even before February, if not as directly as it seems. But I guess yeah, I don’t want to just be on the sidelines of things. It’s one thing to be kept safe another to be sheltered and I guess that’s kind of a hazy line.” Reaching out, he pet her while working through the words. It was always habit to fall back to his French but that wasn’t really as much of an option with her, at least he figured.

“It would be good maybe to meet others but I am a bit worried about bumping into that nasty one that kicked a lot of this off, not that everything that happened after it was a bad thing but still. I want to play it safer, I have a lot of things I’m juggling to stay here in Destiny City so I can’t really risk getting banged up and not being able to open up shop. I really want to do what I can to make sure that doesn’t happen, I’m quite attached if it wasn’t obvious enough.” He took the jab with a laugh but other than that, he left out all the teasing that usually peppered his conversations. Even if he didn’t like serious topics and skirted around them as best he could, this was something he had to deal with.

“Okay, then that means I’m hidden which means that I’m less likely to be found out like Alexandre was that night.” That was a plus at least, sort of an invisibility cloak sort of thing he figured which would help while he slowly navigated this whole new side of things. The second bit had him a bit conflicted but it was also something Alexandre had brought up in part.

“I don’t really understand that bit about magic but it won’t…. Kill me right? Just maybe like the recoil from a shot?” At least he really hoped so and it was written all over his face as he had paled a bit. It also made him wonder just how young people were in this whole mess, Alexandre had mentioned children and it didn’t sit right with him at all. But as Katya continued, René could tell that things were a lot more organized for the Negaverse which made him worry just a bit less. As long as he had others around and kept from taking risks he should be fine, which for this type of thing he knew he would definitely be staying on the safer side of things. Sure he took risks in business and pleasure but neither of those would leave him bleeding on a doorstep, at least normally.

“I hope he does keep safe, I want to make sure he comes back in one piece even if maybe I’m a bit selfish about it after January. I won’t apologize for trying to pull him away from this all either though.” Watching the mauvian carefully, he adjusted on the stool.

“Do I need to be magical to see this database? Or do you just have access to it at all times because you’re… you?” He wasn’t sure exactly how to describe her without offending her and he really didn’t want to offend the mauvian if he could manage it. Thinking of a backup, he pulled one of his history books out from under the counter. “If you want to read through some of my books while I’m looking over it you can. I don’t think anyone will be in before I close up with how bad the weather looks like it will be getting. After I close up, maybe we can look into things on the way home. I can try this whole thing out while bringing you home to Alexandre’s place?”

Pulling the tablet close, he looked it over and started navigating his way through the training guide as he listened to Katya. “I appreciate it, Katya, I want to avoid being caught out if I can while figuring things out. So there are a lot more rules to this magic stuff than I thought, at least that’s sort of nice.” Tapping through the screens, he read quickly and filtered the keywords he’d need and important topics to revisit. Pausing as he reached the bit about starseeds, he gagged as he thought about the one he’d eaten. Alexandre hadn’t exactly said what it had been when they’d fed him the thing. Clenching his stomach, he dry heaved for a moment before settling back down and avoiding losing his lunch.

“He fed me someone’s soul?” It was a quiet question as he pulled the tablet back and kept reading. Chewing on the inside of his cheek, he thought about it but really couldn’t be mad at the other. They’d done it to help him after he’d been banged up really bad so it wasn’t like it was malicious. It wasn’t something to take lightly but he figured that given the situation, he was very lucky to have had someone on this side of things that had wanted him around.

Source after source, he read over the pertinent information he needed to get started and pointers on what the enemies looked like and their normal methods of attack. It didn’t quite settle well with him but he knew enough about the normal type of fighting to already start planning the best way he could dip into things and hopefully stay safe. Later he’d look over the other files but he was still a bit hesitant to bump into any of them that might be like the one that had kicked this all off.

Hours seemed to pass without any more customers as he sifted through all the information, there was so much, and most of it went over his head. It started to settle how much of Alexandre’s life had been intertwined with this and why it had been so important that he knew at least a bit about what was going on. Sitting up and stretching, he felt the familiar pops and cracks of his joints in his neck. He’d been hunched over the tablet for far too long, too focused on the thing as he read through it. “I think we can head out now, after we walk a bit away from the shop I should use my pen then things can start, right? I shouldn’t do it too close to the shop in case someone sees me walking out like that.”

Taking in a deep breath as they confirmed things, he just tried to push it under the rug in his mind. It would be easier to not think about the things like that, just thinking of them as some sort of healing magic item or something. But he would be cautious of the things either way after reading up about them. “It does, a bit…” The fact that they’d been taken in sort of a last resort situation, much as he’d heard Lorcan talking about when they’d come to his shop to check on Alexandre.

Getting up from his stool, he packed things up and carefully picked Katya up to carry her out with him so he could lock up the shop. She wasn’t too big or heavy so he sort of draped her over his shoulder while fiddling with the keys until the lock clicked and let him know everything was closed up for the day.

“So… not close to here or Alexandre’s home… I think I remember the way there so let’s try it out?” Walking a few blocks from his shop, he picked one of the alleys that was a bit dimmer than the rest and pulled out that pen of his. Staring at it, he hesitated for just a few moments before calling out and powering up. Closing his eyes as his uniform melted over his clothing, he knew there was a hole in his chest now but didn’t want to look at it yet. Taking a deep breath he opened his eyes and looked at Katya. “Yes, don’t tell my angel. I don’t want him to worry about this when we both already worry about things not working out for the normal side of things.”

It was a bit funny in a way, that they worried about messing up just as much as he worried about messing up. Things were going smoother now though, even if just the smallest bit of him still worried about them vanishing. Now it was time to take steps to try and make sure it didn’t happen because he didn’t want to get hurt again.

Reaching up to pet the mauvian slightly, he shuffled through the alleyways and made his way toward Alexandre’s home. It was normally a half-hour drive so if he walked it, it would be a lot longer. Though each step he took did feel a bit quicker so maybe it wouldn’t be as bad of a trek as it would be if he walked normally. “I’m glad you think it will go well, I really hope it does…” Fiddling with the long strands of hair as he walked became a better way to keep his mind off the hole in his chest.

Each movement he took was still skittish though, that worry that something could jump out or that the black and green-haired woman would appear and take another shot at him. Both Alexandre and Katya had reassured him that the woman couldn’t do anything to him but it was still something he wasn’t ready to risk. Maybe if he could figure this out and fix whatever wonkiness was with the magic he had, then maybe he would be able to handle this with the ease he had with most things in his life.

René nearly jumped out of his skin when he happened upon someone sleeping near one of the dumpsters. The smell of alcohol and bodily fluids hit him as he pressed himself behind the other side of the thing. They were snoring, or at least were making a sound that sort of fit that description. Thinking through the training guide, he thought maybe he should try to siphon off a bit of energy if he could.

Kneeling down to the side of the unconscious man, he focused and touched a finger to them as he siphoned off a bit of energy. It took a few tries as he kept losing focus at every small noise that echoed in the alley but eventually, he got it and slowly stepped back with the orb and examined it before sending it into his subspace. Leaving the man behind, he made his way through a few more alleys before daring to speak up.

“I know they can’t sense me but damn… I feel like a kid trying to sneak out for a party. Trying to gather energy takes more focus than the guide lets on.” It would get easier, he figured, as he ranked up or got more practice. There was information regarding that but at least he had started which was progress in itself.

“That’s a relief, it means I won’t have to be as close either right?” Rubbing his hands off on his uniform as he walked, he tried to keep a lookout for other civilians or if anyone else was powered up as he kept to the alleys and tried not to make too much noise. He wanted to avoid attention tonight if he could.

The laughter startled him as he moved across the street to the next alleyway, trying to keep track of where he was heading in this maze of a city. “Well, maybe I am a bad influence on him since he kept sneaking out to see me.” Teasing just a bit, he spotted a path that looked like it led to a park. Taking their advice, he avoided it and kept to the alleys, checking his phone to see that he was only about five or so minutes away from his destination.

“No rooftops, I want to stay low and out of sight for now if I can. I guess if people sleep on benches in parks that would make sense why both sides frequent there. I should power down here soon though, I don’t want him to find out but I think he’ll enjoy the fact I’m stopping over. It’ll be a nice surprise and I’m a bit tired after this jog.” A few more blocks and he returned to normal after making sure there wasn’t anyone around to see him. That was the last thing he wanted, someone following him to Alexandre’s place. “You sneak in another way? Or do you think he won’t figure it out if you’re with me?” Looking at the cat on his shoulder, he offered some slight chin scratches to her while digging in his pocket for the house key with his other hand.