Varen yawned and looked down to see Aislinn resting her head upon his chest. She was an odd one to him, noticing she had a lot of traits of more than just a fox. Rubbing his eyes a bit he let out one more yawn before trying to sit up and realized her arms were wrapped around his bare chest. Only in his jeans, his t-shirt tossed aside to the chair across the room.

Aislinn’s soft voice let out a little yawn but her mouth hardly opened for it. Snuggling herself closer to him, she whispered softly, “That was a great sleep. I haven’t slept that well in a few years.” Varen scoffed teasingly, “Living on your own in a place like this, and dressed the way you do in this cold place? I’m not surprised. I may not be affected by the cold like you do because of my lineage, but I know it’s not healthy for others when I’m this comfortable with it.”

Aislinn sat up and stretched her arms over her head with a soft moan, “Well I have you now. Didn’t think I’d meet a big shot like you. You really saved me Varen… thanks.” Resting his legs over the edge of the bed, Varen hung his head slightly with both arms hanging between his spread legs, “Don’t thank me just yet. Marco and his men ain’t exactly an easy pile of shit to dig your way out of.”

“You have a history with them, what is it?” Aislinn asked curiously as she walked over to the small kitchen-like area of the room to start up a pot of coffee. He rubbed his neck with a smile and sighed, “Marco was someone I met just after my father died two years ago. Ironically he set me up to become a merc, guarding him for a short time. He set me straight to keep me from losing it with both my parents dead.”

“I’ve heard about your mother, stories about what happened to her,” she softly stated. Looking up to her a bit puzzled he opened his mouth but she quickly followed, “You’re an infamous merc Varen. If someone didn’t know about your mother being slaughtered by the lions of your village, they’re not in touch with the media.” He chuckled a bit, “Guess you’re right. I do have a name for myself, surprised it just traveled that well.”

He walked over to the chair with his shirt to put it on and sighed, “Calvin Marco, used my first merc gig to get away with thirty million dollars. You know as well as I do with how things are, that’s a hurt on anyone’s wallet. I eventually was caught by a group called the…” “The R.O. the Renegade Operatives, a group of former C.I.A agents, right?”

Turning to Aislinn with a smirk he noticed a smug look on her face, “You’re a bit too well informed. Watch it, knowledge is power, but those with power are the ones that are targeted most. Long story short they believed me, and one by one I’ve been taking out Marco’s men when I could.”

The smell of coffee filled the room as Varen inhaled it with a smile. “Gimme a cup light with three sugars,” he asked in a soft tone. “My, my, the big bad Varen likes his coffee light and sweet huh?” she teased with a wink and handed him a mug per his requested order. “I like my coffee the way I like my girls, what can I say?” Taking a sip he sighed contently, “So question about you. You know what I am, but what about you?”

“So rude to ask,” she stated, as she sipped from her coffee before sticking her tongue out to show she was teasing again, “Dark and strong by the way, just how I like my men. But I’m an arctic fox and serval, mother is a fox of course. Anything else you need to know about me?”

Varen shook his head with a snicker and downed half of his coffee before letting out a bit of steam from his maw, “Ever had a hot drink meet a cold tongue? It burns yet it doesn’t at the same time. So, we need to figure out where to go from here. Marco doesn’t take lightly to those trying to dodge debt. He hates it even more when I poke my head into things.”

“Varen… before you go on I have a suggestion. I have a place of my own, not too far from here actually, and motels can get pretty expensive. If you’re planning on staying here until things get better, maybe you could stay with me. I work at a bar too, so you can get some good info there, that’s how I found out about Marco.”

“You’re a handy lil girl ya know that?” he said with a laugh as he finished his coffee. She downed the rest of hers to only follow with a grumble, “I’ll have you know I’m twenty and going to be twenty-one in a few months!” “Twenty and working in a bar, damn shit’s really hitting the fan if kids your age are already doing that,” he muttered a bit, eyes lowering to the counter as he rested his mug on it.

“You know things are getting bad all over, here in Halstead is no different,” she replied softly. The two remained silent for a few moments before she whispered, “How old are you?” “Twenty-three,” he replied before turning to the door, “You gotta get to work today?” She nodded with a soft “Mhm,” as she followed him out the door.

Aislinn picked up his jacket and wrapped it around herself. The sleeves went a bit pass her hands and the length of the jacket was to her thighs. Varen chuckled as he put an arm around her and lead her downstairs to the counter. Pulling out his wallet he swiped his card for the payment, groaning at the eight-hundred dollar charge.

As they walked away he muttered, “Stayed a bit longer than I wanted to, why couldn’t you have gotten in trouble three days ago?” The two laughed as they walked to her apartment building. He studied the neighborhood for any strange signs. The only thing that seemed odd to him is the dull silence in the air, irritating him that in such a popular city, it would be so quiet on a work day.

“The fact it’s a Thursday and dead silent makes me uneasy,” Varen muttered as his tail began to whip at the brick street repeatedly. “You could start a fight with someone if bugs you that much,” Aislinn said with a giggle before hugging his arm. “I’ll pass, I get in enough trouble anyway. R.O. gets P.O’d if I do anything brash.”

“You know if you need a job while you’re here, I’m sure Jeremy wouldn’t mind so you could have a bit of extra cash since you’re protecting me for free,” Aislinn offered as they stopped in front of her apartment building. Turning around she looked across the street to the bar, “I’m not far from my job.”

Varen quickly took notice that this was in fact the same bar he pulled her out from when he saved her. This struck curiosity to him quickly and he couldn’t help but ask, “Where did you come from if you live right across the street from your job?”

“My father’s just a little sick, caught the flu a few days ago, and my mother was busy yesterday at her job, I was off, so I went to take care of him.” She sighed before resting back against the red-bricked building, “He gave me what money he could spare so I could pay Marco’s men, but I was short three-hundred. I’m so behind on payments right now.”

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a phone and made a call. Tapping his foot impatiently he sighed before finally hearing someone. “Yeah, look I’ve got a pretty good lead on Marco right now. He’s got beef with this girl, pretty deep shit she’s in so the further she’s in the more likely he is to take matter into his own hands.”

Varen paused waiting for the person he was talking to, to finish speaking. “Yeah I know, and I’m doing it for free. Think you could hook me up for a bit until things are settled here? Should only be a month before I’m able to find cases, maybe less.” Waiting a moment more for another response he laughed a bit, “Alright thanks T, I’ll make sure to get this shit settled.”

“Who’s T?” Aislinn curiously muttered to herself, not realizing it was loud enough for him to hear. “Don’t be jealous, Tanya is my boss, the leader of R.O. and a good friend. She sets me up with all the tough cases, recommending them. You know my track record for my cases right?” “About eight cases a month, never once failed, unless you include Marco, which wasn’t a real case since he turned on you.”

“You got that last one from my story didn’t you?” Varen asked with a sly grin. Aislinn gave him a wink, “I’m a lot smarter than I lead on to be. Wasn’t smart of me to deal with Marco’s men but I needed something to help my father. He’s gotten sick a lot more lately.”

Resting a hand on her shoulder, Varen kissed her forehead and whispered, “I’ll make everything better, I promise, on my mother’s grave, I will get you out of this.” A few roofs away a camera took a shot of him kissing her forehead as a hoarse female voice whispered, “You’ve got a warm heart for a cold blooded creature Varen, thanks for the exploit.”