The Custodes

Chapter 11 - Past and Future Scars

Noah had been sitting at some outdoor cafe that he'd picked at random, waiting for the pair to show up. There weren't many others eating there, considering the fairly dull weather didn't exactly promote sitting outside, but Noah hardly cared about where he'd chosen to meet up and simply sat alone at one of the tables, minding his own business. He was particularly deep in his thoughts, having just spoken to Hector about a number of things, and was trying to figure out the best way to explain everything he'd been told to Neo and Kayla. He felt slightly bad leaving Neo to deal with Kayla when the two barely knew each other, but considering Kayla had mentioned that she was still with Neo when she called, it seemed like he'd made the right choice. And it was definitely the right choice in terms of staying to talk with Hector. The man seemed so much more willing to explain things to Noah, things spanning from what he could do with his powers, even giving him a small lesson on them, to telling the boy where Hector discovered everything he knew himself. There was a lot he had to take in, but he knew it'd give them an edge against their fight with Zuro. Just as his thoughts were drifting to the other members of the group, he was suddenly snapped out of them by a teenage girl's voice "Can I take your order?" Noah looked up in the direction of the voice, surprised at her presence, then composed himself as he cleared his throat. "Oh um...I don't know if I'll be here long, but I suppose just a cherry coke is fine." He said, watching the girl as she nodded her head and flashed him a small smile. She was significantly good looking, but in a more modest way than other girls Noah had seen. Her black hair was tied up behind her head and she donned simple black clothing underneath a white apron, the cafe's logo printed on the front. Her eyes shone a brilliant blue and a few tiny freckles spotted her cheeks, complimenting her elegant features, and Noah had to guess that she was pretty close to him in terms of age. "Waiting on someone?" She asked curiously, motioning to the empty seats at the table he was sitting at. "Yeah, friends actually. They should be here anytime now." Noah answered, wondering how far away Neo and Kayla had actually gone that it was taking them this long to arrive. "Ah. Not a girlfriend I hope?" The girl asked confidently, catching Noah out at the possible flirtatious underlying of her question. A light blush hit the boy's face and he quickly let out a laugh "Ah, I'm afraid not. I don't exactly have um...anyone like that." He said, his thoughts immediately drifting to Kelsie and causing him to silently curse himself. "I can tell. You blushed at just the suggestion of it." The girl said, her eyes flickering teasingly as she let a smile come to her face "One cherry coke, I'll have that out for you in a sec." And with that she turned around and headed back inside the cafe, leaving Noah alone as he watched her walk away, the tiny increments of a smile appearing on his face. What a strange encounter. He'd been approached by girls before, though not frequently enough to label him as a player or anything, but none of them had acted like that waitress had. Maybe if he weren't so obsessed with a certain someone he would- a hand suddenly slapped the table in front of him, causing him to jump and turn just as a body slumped into the seat across from him. Noah's features relaxed as he looked across the table at Neo, but soon changed into a suspicious expression as he caught the boy's shit-eating grin "What?" "We saw your little talk with that waitress. And also saw you smiling giddily as she left." Neo said suggestively as Kayla sat down in one of the other free seats, sighing at Neo's antics but also looking at Noah to hear what he had to say about it. "Giddily? I wasn't-...so what if we talked? She seemed a little flirty, but she's probably like that to all guy customers her age." Noah said nonchalantly, shrugging off what Neo was suggesting. "Why don't you ask for her number?" Neo pushed, glancing at the cafe window to try and get a glimpse at the girl again. "You know, I don't seem to recall you ever becoming a relationship guru." Noah jabbed at Neo, but the boy simply grinned wider as he looked back at him. "It was right around the time that hospital collapsed on me. Sort of like an epiphany, you know?" He joked, stifling a small laugh from Noah and a smirk from Kayla. "Seriously though, what's the harm in going for it? Live your life to the fullest while you've still got it." Neo said, turning a little more serious now as Noah looked down "Listen I just...don't want to, alright?" "It's useless Neo." Kayla said to him from her seat, motioning to Noah "Me and Synth have tried get him to move forward but it's never managed to work. He's too hung up on-" "I know but...come on Noah, you've got to realise Kelsie is a lost cause. If a relationship is what you want, she's not the person to go for. Be happy." Neo told him, watching as the boy looked up to meet his gaze, then sighed deeply. "You're unbearably persuasive Neo. Even when you don't try to be." Noah said with a small smile, causing Neo's face to light up and a vague blush to appear on Kayla's face, one that both boys failed to notice. "So you'll ask her for it?" Neo questioned as Noah waved his hand in the air "I'll wait till she comes over again then decide. She might've not actually been flirting with me you know." "Yeah, yeah, whatever." Neo replied, glancing over at the cafe again to spot the waitress just as she walked out. He tried not to smile too obviously as she approached the table and set Noah's glass down in front of him "One cherry coke. I see your friends found their way here." "They did indeed. How much is that by the way?" Noah asked her as Neo and Kayla acted as casual as can be. "You know what, just have it on the house. Though I'm afraid my boss will kill me if I do the same for you guys." The girl looked at Neo and Kayla as she spoke, with Kayla flashing a polite smile and Neo placing a hand against his heart in mock anguish "How crushing. What does Noah have that I don't?" He asked, clearly instigating the girl's flirting but receiving a light kick from Noah at the same time. "I think you know him better than me. You'll have to answer that for yourself." The girl said to Neo, amused by his questioning. "Well, he's always free for you to get to know better." The boy said without missing a beat, though receiving an even harder kick from Noah as he averted his gaze. "I'll definitely keep that in mind." She chimed as she met Noah's gaze, flashing him such a quick wink that he was almost sure he'd imagined it before she left the table. "That seemed to go well." Neo said, interlocking his fingers together on the table as he smiled at Noah. "You're a fuckwit." Noah stated firmly, with Neo looking aghast "A fuckwit who just set you up. You have to go for it now." "Just cause you've persuaded me to ask for her number doesn't mean it'll go anywhere after that." Noah told him, which the boy nodded understandingly at "My help will have been put to good use anyway. You have to tell me though - why are you so in love with Kelsie?" Noah tensed up slightly as Neo spoke, then let out an exhale and rubbed his forehead, opening his mouth to speak only to be cut off by Kayla "That's a question even I don't know the answer to. I'm starting to convince myself there isn't one." "Seriously?" Neo said as he looked at Noah, but the boy glanced away, not meeting his gaze. "Anyway, I think we should get to what we actually met up to talk about." Kayla said, trying her best to move the subject along and receiving a small nod from Noah. "You're right. I have a lot to get through, but I'll let you know the most important stuff first. Hector is willing to train us all, he said he'll teach us individually until we know everything he does about our powers. After that it's just a matter of honing them until we're as strong as possible." Noah explained to Kayla and Neo, who both watched him and listened intently "All except Axel that is. Don't ask me why he's an exception, Hector just muttered something about not being able to teach him anything and changed the subject right away." "That's pretty strange. Did he end up teaching you anything?" Neo questioned, trying to hear exactly what Noah got up to while they were away. "Yeah, a lot actually. Which leads me onto my next point. I know a way to keep an eye on Zuro, kind of. I'll need to go to different spots in the city and set it up, but my powers should let us know whenever Zuro is in a certain area. It's just down to us to get there in time." "Seems like you learned a shit ton." Neo commented, with Noah smiling slightly "You've barely scratched the surface. You should both go back to his as soon as you get the chance, though maybe not at the same time. I'm sure he'll tell you just as much stuff as he did me." "Sounds like a plan then. Did you get any closer to figuring out how Hector knows all the stuff he does?" Neo asked curiously, the question being one that's been at the back of his mind since the first encounter with the old man. "Yes. It's...complicated. Better he tells you than I do, but I have no reason to doubt that what he's said is the truth." Noah nodded confidently, as Kayla leaned forward in her seat to gain the pair's attention. "Alright well now that we've gotten that sorted, I think I'm going to see Hector again. I have...a lot of questions for him, and I should probably learn everything about my powers before I use them as uncaringly as I did before." She said as she slowly stood up from the table. "I could go with you if you wanted." Neo suggested as his hand subconsciously brushed against the side of Kayla's in an attempt to be somewhat comforting. The girl glanced at Noah, seeing that he wasn't paying attention to the gesture, but quickly slipped her hand away from Neo's anyway as she shook her head "No, I'll be alright. You two should go do your setting up for Zuro's next attack in the meantime." "I agree. Plus, I definitely think we have some more to talk about." Noah said to Neo, as the black haired boy gave a nod "You're right. Stay safe alright? Call us if you need anything." He told Kayla with a small smile, one she halfheartedly returned before giving a small goodbye and walking out of the cafe. "So-" Noah started, but Neo halted him by holding up a hand. "Wait. You haven't even taken a sip of your coke, and I want you to be doing so when I tell you this." The boy said with a small amused smile, with Noah letting out a sigh but deciding to humour him. He took a drink of his cherry coke, as Neo quickly blurted out what he had to say "Kayla kissed me." Noah paused halfway through his sip, then gulped it down without so much as spluttering, much to Neo's disappointment. Noah's eyes scanned Neo's face, searching for any hint of humour in it, but he found nothing other than the boy's wide, almost giddy grin. "I don't believe you."  He stayed simply, crossing his arms over his chest as though he was now interrogating Neo. "Why not? It happened." Neo defended, looking somewhat upset by Noah's disbelief, however the boy stood his ground and shook his head. "Listen, me and Kayla are close. Really close. In all the years I've known her she has never ever cared about guys. Or any sort of romantic relationship at all. She's exactly like me, except I have Kelsie as an excuse. I find it extremely hard to believe that in the short time you two have known each other, you suddenly managed to break through every single one of her barriers and make something happen with her." Noah stated, meeting Neo's gaze, though even throughout his monologue he was starting to realise Neo had no motive to lie about such a thing. The black haired boy looked right back at Noah, even leaning forward in his chair for effect "It happened. I don't know why she did it all of a sudden, and I certainly don't know what it means for us going forward, but it was...nice." "Neo, I'm gonna have to take the older brother position in this situation so let me ask you a question." Noah said, suddenly a tad bit protective over Kayla, but Neo seemed prepared to listen to him "Do you care about her?" "Yes." Neo answered almost immediately, watching Noah as the boy let out a sigh. "That's just the thing. You also care about helpless civilians out on the streets - people you've never met before." Neo narrowed his eyes, puzzled by what Noah was saying "I don't exactly see what you're getting at." Noah sighed, considering dropping the subject for a second, but overall feeling like he had to say what he thought "This isn't just about going for Kayla for the sake of it, or because she kissed you. If you want to commit to this, then you need to properly commit. Otherwise it'll end in hurt, for her more than you." "You're still not being clear. I am committed, alright?" Neo said, clearly unhappy with the way Noah is seeming trying to lecture him. "Neo, there's two things you need to understand for this to work. The first is Kayla as a person and the second is the whole relationship side of it, and right now you don't have enough of a clue about either." "And you do?" Neo said sharply, causing Noah to narrow his eyes in displeasure at his snapping. Neo paused for a second, then sighed and waved his hand apologetically, but went on calmly regardless "Look, Noah, I get you're trying to offer me advice, but you have about as much experience as me in this field. And I'm not an idiot, I have a good enough idea of what I'm doing." "Okay, okay." Noah said, taking another sip of his coke before setting it down and looking back at Neo "I'll take your word for it, just...Kayla's a complicated person. With complicated feelings and actions to go along with them. That's what I mean by committing - if you do, you'll have to get through all that." Neo gave a small nod of understanding as he locked his fingers together on top of the table "I'll keep that in mind." "Good." Noah downed more of his drink, all but finishing it as he glanced around the cafe simplemindedly "Should we head out? We've got a good few places to get to, and it'll definitely take a while." "Yeah, lets do it. But not until you get that girl's number." Neo smirked as he stood up, nodding towards the inside of the cafe. Noah sighed, glancing for any sign of the girl and spotting her through the window as she served a table "You know what, she seems busy, I think we should just-" "Nope." Neo interrupted, his smirk remaining on his face "If she doesn't give you her number - fair enough, I will drop the subject. But I guarantee I won't let you step foot out of this cafe until you at least attempt it." Noah watched the boy for a second, taking in the seriousness in his words. Realistically, he could probably make a break for it and be gone before Neo even noticed, but ultimately he decided it really wasn't worth the trouble to try. "If this goes south I'm blaming you and will subsequently hate you forever." He grumbled as he stood up, with Neo letting out a laugh. "I'll take full responsibility. And if it works I get to say I told you so. Now get in there." Neo said as he shooed Noah away, moving to stand in the street and turning to watch as the boy sighed and walked towards the cafe. Whatever went on inside the cafe was obscured from Neo's vision, but roughly a minute later Noah emerged from the entrance, shoving something into his pocket quickly. Neo's signature shit-eating grin appeared on his face as Noah approached him and began walking down the street without even waiting for him to follow. The boy caught up however, both of them looking forward in a moment of silence. "I told y-" "Don't even." Noah cut Neo off as they continued walking, though Neo could see a glint of subdued happiness in the boy's features. He let out a laugh, placing both hands behind his head as he looked down the street "So, where to first?"