Tifa & Sparkles (Darkhunter)

[Tifa Lockhart]

Andy wasn't far behind Laura, shouldering her bag and pausing to lock up the store behind her.
"Leave him alone, Laura. Daniel will hate you if you walk home with another strange man," she scolded, giving Rayn a quick apologetic look.

[Sparkles]

Rayn was completely stoic on the walk home, not expressing any emotions in either his voice, body language or facial expression. When they reached her unit, he spoke up for the first time. "Go inside, close the door and do not open it for anyone or anything. I need to go to home and pick up some supplies. I should be back rather soon. he stood and waited for her to go inside, not making eye contact.
He didn't want to intimidate her.. but he didn't want or need a friend either. It would have to be a precarious balance.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Andy was a little put off by his abruptness, but she nodded and obeyed him without protest. It wasn't until the door's lock made a solid 'thunk' behind her that she sobbed.
"So unfair..." she moaned as she trudged to the kitchen to get her dinner from the night before out of the fridge and reheat it.

[Sparkles]

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose to ward off a headache as he made his way to his home.
What was he being unfair about?.... He was no more to her than any randomly selected person on the street as he walked by them now, more or less blending in. As he arrived home, his phone began to ring.
"who's this?" he didn't recognise the number
"Stop being so closed off general. You'd both be more than welcomed into each others lives."
Recognising the voice on the phone as the one he'd talked to a few nights back, he growled just loud enough for the other on the phone to hear his displeasure.
The female voice sighed at this in a way that said she was neither worried or impressed by this exterior, which just agitated him more. "Tell me who you are"
"Not yet. But I feel it would be easier for you if you know who Andraste is. She is the daughter of the last Malachai"

[Tifa Lockhart]

It had never felt lonely sitting on her couch eating a reheated dinner and watching whatever anime she'd bothered to throw into the DVD player before. Now however, as she sat there watching the characters exchanging professions of love, she ached... and the silence became almost deafening.
"Why'd he have to bring up my parents..." she growled, turning the TV off and curling up on her side.

[Sparkles]

"...no.. that's not possible. All the Malachai vanished when he did."

"All but one. You see, one of the sephirii survived, which I could not allow. It outweighed the balance. So I resurrected the last of the Malachai. He escaped his confinement and married a wiccan woman."

...'lies'... "give me proof"

"I do not need to. you already know the truth"

The call ended and left Rayn with more of a headache than he'd started with. He went and got changed into new clothes and concealed more weapons than he should need within them.

On his was back to Andraste's unit, he contemplated what the woman had said. It was unlike him, but he felt compelled to believe her. Andraste was the daughter of the last Malachai... and that changed a lot. he got on the phone to Acheron and updated him.
"I was aware that the malachai had lived and had a child. And that the girl you're protecting was her."
Trying to control his temper, Rayn ground his teeth, "I would have apprieciated that more if you had told me earlier"
"You didn't need to know"
He was getting sick of not needing to know things that he considered ontop of his 'need to know' list.
"Calm down Rayn. She doesn't know. Anything. You have to help her before someone else does"
"... I don't know how.."
"You don't need to"
the call ended and left Rayn standing outside Andraste's door unsure as to his next move.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Andraste was laying on the floor again, this time she was sprawled out in front of her drawing pad, sketching two of her favourite characters meeting and shaking hands. She was wearing a pair of orange headphones, the kind that covered the whole ear, not the little earbuds. On one ear they read "Persona 4" in white writing, while the other ear had "Yosuke Hanamura" written on it. She had her music up pretty loud in an effort to drown out the silence around her.

[Sparkles]

Acknowledging that he needed to gain her trust, and only knowing one way to do so, Rayn knocked on Andraste's front door. When she didn't answer, he knocked again, harder. Instead of knocking a third time, he picked her lock with one of his finer daggers, no thicker than the mid-length of a small feather and no wider than a pencil; yet razor sharp and deadly.
In a matter of seconds, the door was opened, the weapon was concealed, Rayn was inside, and the door was locked shut again behind him. He leaned back against the door with his hands tucked into his pockets as he peered down at Andraste, wondering how long it would take her to realise he was there.

[Tifa Lockhart]

It didn't take Andraste long... even though she hadn't heard the knocking, or in fact the picking of her lock, a strange prickling sensation ran up her spine as he stood there. She turned slowly, as if scared to look, but the terror in her expression loosened the moment she saw it was him.
"How did you...?" she began, pulling the headphones off and leaving them looped around her neck. "Actually no, nevermind."
She turned back to her drawing to close the cover and put it back in the cupboard under the TV where she obviously stored it.

[Sparkles]

Chuckling, Rayn went and sat on the couch. "I think we need to clarify a few details. I wish to ask you a few questions.. and in turn, you can ask a few questions of me.. does that sound fair?"
he'd obviously worked on what he was to say and had it in mind to remain casual, friendly and open. At least as far as he could.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Andy blinked at Rayn several times before she nodded, albeit hesitantly. She had a feeling he'd ask about her parents again... and she just REALLY didn't want to talk about them.
And did she really have any questions for him? She couldn't think of any...
"Alright then..."

[Sparkles]

Making a steeple with his finger in front of his lips, he decided to be upfront with what he knew. "Please wait until I've finished.." he gethered up what he knew about the malachai, and placed him in a family scene. He could only imagine the outcome, but he had a fairly good idea, "Your father was a historian you said.. yet i'm unbelieveing that he was ever able to hold onto a job. That's when he wasn't in jail, anyway. And he was frequently. When he was, you'd never hear from him, and your mother would never speak of him. When he wasn't, he'd spend little time with you, his child, instead leaving for long periods and making your mother cry. The time he spent at home isn't a positive memory for you, i'm sure. He was arrogant, rude, and even violent. He'd tell you that everything you believed in was a lie and that one day you would see the world the way he saw it; weak and feeble. If you made friends when he was gone, he would scare them off and threaten you if they didn't leave when he returned. Then, as you got older, you stopped trying, and he stopped coming home... and then the next you knew.. your mother was crying, and she told you that your father had been murdered in a prison brawl" he was extracting her thoughts before the thought them, prompting his next line before he was lost with the limited amount that he knew. But she knew.. and he was able to use that. "I know this Andraste, because I knew of your father's people. I knew what they were like. Do you know your father's people Andraste? Or did he leave you to find out yourself?"
it was blunt and he was sure that it hurt her to relive those memories, but he needed them fresh if he was going to tell her what he needed to.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Andraste looked displeased at his choice of topic almost immediately, but the more he continued to speak the more apparent it became that this was a topic she was terrified to even think about. First she leaned back a little, her eyebrows furrowed. Then she drew her knees up to her chest, the expression almost pleading him to stop talking. Then her arms wrapped around her legs and she hid her face.
Finally though, seconds before he finished, she raised her hands to cover her ears.
"S-Stop it!" she pleaded, not lifting her head from her knees, and her knuckles had gone white where they clutched desperately at her head, trying to keep his words out. "He's dead and I'm glad!"
The lights overhead flickered strangely, growing brighter for a moment before dimming right down and then returning to normal.
She seemed too distressed to take into account how exactly he knew these things. She didn't really seem to respond to his question about her knowing about 'his people', speaking of her father as something different from humans.

[Sparkles]

The lights let Rayn know just how urgent it was that Andraste learn about and be taught how to use her powers before she hurt other, herself, or someone else came for her.
He moved down from the couch to kneel in front of her. "Shh" he soothed, "It'll be alright. He is dead, and there are many who're just as pleased about that as you are. Myself included." he ducked his head to try to get into her field of vision so that she could see how sincere he was.
He didn't dare touch her, unwilling to frighten her more until she handled herself.

[Tifa Lockhart]

"Why did you bring him up?" she whimpered, raising her head just a little to meet his gaze when he knelt down. There were already tears moistening her cheeks.