There was a half knock at the door, and Rhenakos slipped into the washroom. If Vela noticed him, she didn’t seem to care, and he stripped off his own clothes, and came towards her, taking a look at her body. There were new scars since the last time they had seen each other, and he frowned. Without a warning, he came up behind her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

“Hey Vela,” he said with a grin. “Thought you could use a bit of company!”

With the force only Vela could have supplied, she elbowed him in the stomach, and as he bent over coughing, leaned over into his face with a smile. “Why hello, Rhen..” She hadn’t exactly kicked him out, and this had always been the way they interacted. For Vela and Rhenakos, this was almost romantic.

Almost.

Rhenakos recovered, and roughly countered by pinning her down on the floor. The two were smiling at each other. Business as usual. Once they had run it out of their system, Rhenakos offered to help clean her up. Between her wing, and the newer bolt wounds she had received, she could definitely use it.

“You know…” Rhenakos said as he gently scrubbed behind her lower wing joints, “Os and I really do get along. It may not seem like it, but…we’re trying. Izzy was…a problem, but we’re trying to get back on track. I’ve calmed down a lot.” There was sincerity in his voice. “And I know it can’t work between us…I’m not what you’re looking for. But I’ll always be here to help when I can. You know that…”

They had always been rough around the edges with each other which is why they had tried to begin with. Rhenakos was just late on the growing up bit though and their chance was lost. Vela often blamed the demon he was hunting down for the bad omen signs that followed him.

Even with her wing missing Rhenakos made quick work of her and found herself almost questioning why she had let him leave to begin with. Until it dawned on her that it was she who had in fact ditched him. Letting him stay with her in the bath she leaned back enough to look up at him as he washed her.

“I can see you are trying Rhenakos. You and she seem to fit really well together.” She hummed softly as she closed her eyes. “You’ve grown up Rhen. I’m happy to see that. You’re right it’s a bit too late for us though but I am glad you have Os and Izzy.” She could only assume that Os was okay with him fucking around since he did it so openly where they lived. “If anything I bet Izzy is just like you and her… So it will take a bit of rearing.”

Her voice got a bit quiet as she reached behind her and found his hand, “For what it’s worth I know. I do care about you.” Her eyes found him again and she offered a smile, “but you were headed down a bad path and it hurt me to watch. The whole thing after Osiria’s death too…” It sucked to talk about feelings when she wasn’t used to showing how soft she was. “And if I had stayed…” Did she have to say it? She would have been the one he killed.

She patted his hand. “I bet it looks super bad doesn’t it?” She couldn’t see her back but from Drake’s reaction, it had to be bad. "Drake scared them off and I think Sularia's military drove them away so I have no idea where the hell he ended up or I would give him a piece of my mind." She sounded tired now that she was relaxing in the water.

The hunter sighed. “I don’t know if I exactly trust this Drake guy just yet, but I’m glad he was at least there to help. What was the bastards name…Cletus? Clarence?” He thought for a moment. “Ah right…Claude.” Rhenakos made a mental note to talk to Lewis later about a certain contract. After all, the assassin did owe him for the last ‘job’ he was required to do.

The hunter shivered, trying to suppress the memories. “Here, let’s get the rest of you taken care of.” He focused on helping get Vela cleaned up, and the two of them dried off and made their way to the room Rhenakos was staying in. He offered her a pair of his shirt and pants, which she graciously accepted for the time being. It was better than nothing.

“Raile can probably get you something better tomorrow,” he said as they descended back into the main shop.

Drake had preoccupied himself with talking to Raile, who had been telling stories of the days he had with Vela before he had settled down in the shop. They had an off and on kind of relationship when it came to cave diving. There were some jobs that required a bit of Raile’s finesse, not to mention the absurd amount of artifacts and other useful trinkets he had. He was just finishing up one story about how they managed to navigate a half destroyed, rotting ship out of a particularly nasty cove when the two came back.

“You look a lot better, Vela bean,” Raile said with a smile. “We’ve got an appointment with Lady Angela tomorrow to take a look at what we can do with your wing. Until then, I’d say just rest the best you can.”

“Yeah… He hates you.” Vela chuckled a bit. “I don’t think his jaw looks right from the last time you punched him across the face.”

Once she was dried off she just took his shirt which was big enough to be a dress on her, “No thanks on the pants. Your shirts still cover me pretty good… If not more.” Did he get bigger? She tilted her head a bit. Or did she shrink? “I’m sure he’ll add it onto my tab. He always does.”

Vela smirked a bit as Raile spoke to her and nodded, “Yeah, we managed to get any of the metal out of the wounds too. Hopefully, she doesn’t charge you too much for the home visit.” She was still surprised that a goddess was related to Leilah and Kalina.

“You should tell Drake about how we got you started into the trade business.” She hugged Raile from behind and pulled at his face. “How we dressed up like fortune tellers and charged an obscene amount of money for fortunes.” Looking at Drake she picked up Raile’s cup of coffee. “I can read tea leaves and I have this thing when bad omens are about to happen.”

Just then the store door open and the Terrowins came in. As Simone crossed the thershold of the shop the cup that Vela held shattered. “Just… like that.” Her eyes went to Simone, “You are about to have bad luck.”

“I think the omen is her,” Leilah spoke up. “This is Simone, Lewis, baby Everett, and Rex.”

“How the hell does someone become an omen?” Vela stepped away from Raile.

“Long story short I’m a creature that death follows or so the legends say. I’m not entirely too sure myself. Lady Angela made me what I am.” Simone answered it casually. “We’re here for Everett’s cold and Rex needs his check-up this month just to make sure he’s gaining weight now.”

Vela’s eyes went to Rex and he looked… a little familiar to her. Where had she seen his face?

The whole fact that Rex was having a checkup had put him into an angsty mood. But then again, he was the son of Rhenakos, which in, a sense, meant that almost everything put him in an angsty mood. Still, the ten year old took one look at Vela when he walked in, and his eyes widened. He tried to smoothly approach her, and with a smirk and a wink, tried a famously (bad) pickup line.

“Hey, do you come he-” he stopped. “Wait, is that my dad’s shirt?” he looked to see Rhenakos with his arms crossed, standing with a half smirk.

“Oh, so this is how you treat someone you meet for the first time?” the hunter asked. “Rex, this is Vela. Vela, this is my son Rex. It’s…complicated.”

Lewis scoffed, “Please. You hired a whore instead of a healer and got what you paid for.”

“She did patch me up though,” Rhenakos replied back heatedly. “Besides…you try looking up the right person when you’re half dead.”

“I don’t fuck up,” Lewis replied. “And the rare times that I do, I have backup.” He looked to Simone. “Speaking of, let’s get this out of the way.” He put his hand on Rex’s shoulder. “Everett first. Simone is telling me he isn’t dying, but…” He gave a look to Simone, who merely smiled and nodded. “Right…Everett first.”

Despite his calm demeanor, Simone knew that Lewis was panicking on the inside. But it was just a cold. And a light one at that.

Then it hit Vela when he said dad. “… You created a mini-you and he is just as bad at pick up lines as you! I REMEMBER YOU USING THAT LINE ON ME!” She was poking Rhenakos in the chest. “Something about falling from heaven too. Some real stupid shit.”

The angel took there and put her hands on her hips, “What is with you and fucking up at whore houses.”

“Oh, I have to hear this one,” Osiria put Izzy in her lap and looked up at her husband.

Simone held Everett and left with Leilah so the doctor could look him over. Everett seemed miserable but otherwise fine.

Vela set the scene, “So I met Rhenakos in a tavern in Vilpamolan. I was scouting for someone who could help me with this hell of a job Raile found out about. I was going to find a sealed tomb out in the desert and raid it for all the goodies.” She used her hands as she spoke. “And I found this asshole with three women in his lap. He saw me asking around for an escort and volunteered. The problem was we had to go get the information from another hunter who didn’t want to give it up.

It was crazy. The hunter was a horny bastard and he was in this brothel in Mamlak. So I managed to talk one of the whores into trading places with me. They were numbered and his favorite number was the one I traded with. Whatever to get the job done could always just have Rhenakos knock his ass out. Well, Rhenakos had to also go and be there so he ordered a whore too. Only he forgot my number and called it.”

Osiria facepalmed lightly. “Oh no.”

“Oh yes. So the thing about this whore house is that everything is out in the open. Everyone can see what you are doing and so on and so forth. I didn’t know this when we decided on this route. We had no choice but to go through with Rhenakos’s order and let me tell you… He’s a fucking pig.”

Rhenakos rolled his eyes, “You only say that now because you’re a sassy cunt. You weren’t complaining then, nor the twenty or so other times you practically hopped on and-”

The younger Rex put his hands to his ears, “I REALLY DON’T NEED TO BE HEARING THIS!” With that, he walked into the check up room, gladly taking that over the conversation that the adults were having in the room.

Raile shook his head, “I swear, that kid is going to have more trauma than he really needs growing up.” He looked at Vela and Rhenakos. “Do try to keep the stories a little tame around the kids, all right? I know it’s hard to do. Especially for you, Vela.” He gave her a look. “Anyway…once they’re done, we can hole you up in a room at the inn down the road. Unless Osiria wants to share a bed, in which case Rhenakos can sleep on the spare couch.”

The hunter rolled his eyes, “If that’s the case, I might as well steal Kali’s bed. She ain’t gonna be using it since she’s on another binge.” If the woman wasn’t ‘married’ to Raile, it was because she was more married to her work, even though the twins and Raile had a domestic partnership of sorts. It was an odd little family they had.

“Whatever works,” Raile said as he waved his hand. “Just as long as the kids get enough sleep. It’s hard enough as it is….”

Vela waved her hand, “I forgot Rex was here. My bad, it’s hard to change habits after two thousand years and I’ve never really been around kids very long.”

Simone was comforting Rex in with Leilah before coming out with Everett. He seemed a bit happier now as Simone was wiping his nose, “Leilah says he is fine. He should be all better in a few days. She gave him some kind of berry mixture to help him though.” She held up the small jam jar. “He likes it.”

Everett let out a squeal and kicked his feet for the first time in a few days, “Yeah you feel better, don’t you? Auntie Lei fixed you right now.” Simone rubbed her nose to his and passed him to Lewis.

Vela tilted her head a bit, “So what the hell is your story anyway? I’ve never seen a cup break like that except just before I dumped Rhenakos.”

Simone tilted her head a bit, “I was fey-cursed and from a place called Auclair. It was a very long time ago possibly before you were born. Lewis saved me and killed me to free me.”

“No wonder Rhenakos said you lot were worse,” Vela was blunt but Simone just smiled.

“I wouldn’t say worse but Lewis and I have been very blessed with what we’ve received. So what is your story?”

“I took eight bolts. Six into my back, one in my wing, and one shot off my other wing. I work for Raile as his treasure hunter. Drake saved me so I am repaying him by getting him work,” she pointed towards Drake.

On the topic of rooms, she shook her head, “I’ll get a room in an inn with Drake since we’ll be working together we might as well get used to it. Besides you know me… It’s under the stars or a tavern room. Always has been. I need to keep on the move.”

With that, Drake and Vela left the shop and made their way towards the inn. The night was quiet and the sky was lit up with stars. It didn’t take them long to reach the inn, and with a note from Raile, the two secured a single room. Key word, single. Raile had some pull, but it was late, and the inn was full up.

“I don’t mind sharing. It’s the same as in the cave. I can take the floor,” Drake said. It was hard for him to admit, but he did want the bed. Having not slept properly for ages, being locked in a crystal and all, he wanted at least a night’s rest, but that wasn’t seeming likely anytime soon. “In fact, I think I’ll hit up a tavern for awhile. I could use a drink after everything.”

Drake was in the room long enough to set the majority of his gear down, and then made his way back downstairs, asking for directions to where the tavern might be. He didn’t have much silver on him, but enough that it would be a worthwhile trip to wind down.

And give me time to think. At the speed that everything was happening, he hadn’t had a chance to really process everything. The crystal, his memories, and his new partnership with Vela. A night like this would do wonders for it…

“You can share the bed with me, idiot. You probably need it more than I do but since my back is fucked up I don’t mind sharing with you. I’m not shy so unless you are… You are fine to sleep with me.”

After a hot minute, she came down and found the tavern and stood by Drake, “Come with me, dragon boy.”

She was getting looking for being in only a shirt but honestly fuck them. She got them to the bar and plopped herself up on the stool. “Start the drinks.”

“Coin or tab?”

“Tab. Put it in Raile Talon’s name.” Oh, he was going to think she was just fucking precious. The drinks started to pour in and she started to down them. She didn’t talk much until a man approached her.

“In an outfit like that,” the man started.

“In an outfit like this you can go fuck yourself,” Vela took what drink she had left and threw it all over the man. “Get get easy pussy somewhere else dick bag.”