[hr][h1][color=00aeef]Aiden Cross[/color][/h1][hr]

Aiden continued to chew his snacks as Taylor and one of the other girls yelled at him, the grin never leaving his face. Somewhere in his mind, he was being an a complete asshole, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care during this moment in time. A part of him even found their anger to be somewhat amusing even, in the way people find it funny when a tiny dog starts barking at you. Their words were about as meaningful to him as a tiny dogs barking, just not as mind numbingly annoying, though they were harder to shut up. The thought brought a slight chuckle from him before he decided to respond, first to Taylor, than the girl who was missing an arm, then to the loud mouth.

[color=0072bc]“You’re right, I don’t know you, but I’m free to form any idea in my head about you from what I’ve seen and heard. If you have a problem with that, then do something about it and change my mind, cause at least I had the courtesy to tell you straight to your face. And if you’re going to go to the trouble of verbally insulting me, at least do it in English so I can understand what the hell you’re saying, unless you’re afraid of a little retaliation.”[/color] As he spoke, Taylor would notice a bit of a warmth beginning to radiate off of him, not a lot, but enough to be noticeable. His eyes were also beginning to slowly shift from their light, icy blue, into a slightly luminescent red, and the scale-like markings on his neck and lower face would begin to spread up his face, though it  was a slow and barely noticeable progression. 

His eyes would then shift over to Inaje, the look in his eyes being very predatory in the face of weak prey.  For a split-second, Aiden was consumed by predatory instinct, his body tensing up as if he was about to pounce, but he quickly regained his senses by sheer force of will, looking away from the girl before he lost control of himself. [color=0072bc]“True, she did take care of that idiot, but it wasn’t like the loud-mouth over here needed it. From what I can tell, she was about to deck the guy with that water of hers, but if she hadn’t been a meta, it would’ve been a good deed.”[/color] Aiden took a moment to consider something, and whether or not he should tell these people, but decided why the hell not. [color=0072bc]“To be honest, I was about to take the guy down myself, but for . . . less than noble reasons. As you can see, I’m a bestial-type Meta, and with that distinction comes these annoying things known as predatory instincts, of which I’ve little to no control over. When I saw that guy running away, picking up the subtle scents of fear that only a predator can truly detect, I was a split second away from hunting the guy down. So this girl did a lot more good than she realized, know that I think about, cause if she hadn’t have intervened, your little bag snatcher would be in a lot worse shape than he is know and I’d be in trouble with NEST again.” [/color]

That would’ve made it the third attack this month, and the only reason he wasn’t already in jail because of it is because he had technically been making a ‘citizen’s arrest’ when he apprehended the occasional purse snatcher and pickpocket on his walks. Just the thought of NEST made him paranoid, as he couldn’t help but look behind him as if he was expecting an agent to appear behind just by speaking their name. After that little episode of paranoia, he finally turned his attention to the loud mouth, who was to him the most bothersome out of the whole bunch, especially with her insults. With a face like his, he had heard a lot worse, especially from those fuckin’ Pure-supporters. Besides that, he could never really get into World of Warcraft, he was more of a MOBA kinda guy, so his main source of long sleepless nights in front of a computer was League of Legends and Smite. Thus, her insult had no effect on him besides making him snicker a little. [color=0072bc]“If you want to be specific, I came from my dorm room at Academy 12, getting in my daily exercise for the day. As for backing off, I’d really like to see you fucking make me. If you can, that is?”[/color] Out of everyone here, this one was the closest to getting mauled. Not because he wanted, quite the opposite, but because she was challenging him the most, both with her words and her actions. Every cell in his body was pushing him, screaming at him to shift into his halfling state and show this girl her place in the food chain, and he was having a rather hard time keeping it in check. If this went on for much longer, he was more than likely going to lose it, but he couldn’t just walk away. That be showing weakness, and right now, that was the worst thing he could ever imagine doing.

[@Maxx]
[@Mr Allen J]
[@ToadRopes]

[hr][h1][color=ed1c24]Aleksander Volkov[/color][/h1][hr]

[color=ed1c24]“Lihua, no need for such formalities outside the office, please, just call me Alek if you will. As for food, I’d love to try some of the local flavor around here, as I don’t usually come this way. I had a delivery to make for my shop, a custom necklace for the client’s grandmother, made with blue diamonds and topaz, wrapped in a beautiful silver casing. It took me a couple days to get it just right, but in the end, I think it was on of my finest works.”[/color] Alek spoke with as much pride about his side job as he did for his work with NEST as he followed Lihua down the street, his colors changing to a bright gold as he did so. Turning to Lihua, he remembered that she had a daughter as well, though the child’s name escaped him at the moment. “[color=ed1c24]Hey, would there happen to be any celebr-.” [/color]

Alek began, but was caught off guard by his fellow agents question, though he really shouldn’t have been. The Fiend attack on Festival was all anyone had been talking about. His opinion on the matter would be seen before it was heard, as his hair and eyes became a deep, dark red color. [color=ed1c24]“I feel that it was despicable and could’ve been avoided if NEST had taken the Fiends more seriously. They think that just because their forces are made up off drugged up nobodies that they aren’t a big threat, but to me that was what made them more so. They have no rhyme, no reason, no clear motives for what they do and why they kill. If I could ever get my hands on this Khan . . .”[/color] He let the statement hang in the air, his hands clenched into fist for a sometime before he took a calming breathe. His color returned to it’s neutral, lighter red coloring as temper faded away. Once he had calmed down enough that he could trust himself to speak, he continued. [color=ed1c24]“Anyway, I believe that the entire situation was poorly handled, but at least now NEST is going to do something about it. A pity that it had to come at the cost of 50 peoples lives.”[/color]

Alek let out a sigh, thinking to his own daughter, who was turning 15 this year. Luckily, she hadn’t been anywhere near the fighting. He would’ve been there as well if it wasn’t for the fact that he’d been assigned to another part of the country to deal with some Meta-human terroist cell in Nebraska. They were untrained, but had some powerhouses that could cause a lot of damage if left unchecked. He’d taken two of them out, but had to kill the last one. He had to see some good men die on that mission, and it sickened him how he was able to so calmly live on with that. But that was the life he’d signed up for, the life he’d lived for over 20 years, and he wasn’t about to start complaining now. [color=ed1c24]“I just hope we can stop them before they strike again, as well find out the truth behind those missing scientists and their equipment. Something about the whole thing just doesn’t smell right to me.”[/color]