RENEGADES
x ambassadors
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↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺
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Later that day, it was a starless night.
The sky was tucked beneath a puffy duvet of dark clouds, grey and dull like the ghost of someone's past. Glassy drops of rain drummed lustily against nature all around, as it was pouring down rather heavily, even noisily enough to drown out the distant howls of lone wolves. The impending night felt frightening, yes, but there was an enticing sort of halloo to it, a call to the easily tempted, an invitation to dig deeper into a bottomless void of secrets.
Nyx sat cozily in a booth at GrubHub, the diner she worked at.
It was owned by the friendliest of couples, the Hecks, an old and jolly pair.
Her eyes reflected the bolts of lightning that surged past the clouds as she gazed up at the wailing sky. There was comfort in the synchronized tapping of its tears against the windows of the diner. As her palm delicately pressed to the window in front of her, an unsteady breath tumbled off her parted lips and fogged around the glass.
It was the best kind of music, the sort that silenced her thoughts and muffled the chaos of the big bad world out there.
Sheltered with Nyx were her three co-workers – Jane, Louise, and Isaiah.
The trio was made of perfectly unfitting pieces, adding up to an amusing puzzle: there was an impulsive rebel, an uncoordinated stumblebum, and a responsible nanny.
Jane was a passionate young woman. She had a fire within her, the kind that bowed to no one but only soared high up to meet the impossible. She was made of lightning, there was a gorgeous sort of electricity whirling in her bewitching eyes, and they were always glistening with the fierce twinkle of a rebel.
Having eloped from home right after graduating university two years ago, leaving behind her wealthy and well-reputed parents, to escape their impossibly high standards, Jane had stumbled across GrubHub on a stormy evening, having no place to go in a state so new - especially after cutting herself off from her loaded bank account.
She wanted no part of what she hadn't earned, this was part of the prize that came with the decision of leaving home and all that it offered.
That's when she made her first friend in an alien land.
"Lou," Jane hummed in content.
Louise was an adorable round woman made of all things affectionate and loving.
A literal Teletubby, her coworkers would say. There was nothing more innocent than her toothy grin, and she was said to hold a kind of magic in her hands when it came to cooking absolutely anything up. She was GrubHub's most prized possession.
Being the oldest of the quartet, people would often assume that she was the most responsible and careful – but they could not have been more wrong. Louise wasn't clumsy on purpose. She was habitually uncoordinated, unintentionally blind, and accidentally deaf to the path of caution. In the process of putting her heart and soul into her job, she would always – literally, always – forget the world around her. She'd never pay exclusive attention to her surroundings, constantly dropping things and if it weren't for the rest of the staff, she surely would've burnt the diner down. All credit to her selfless desire to serve the best.
Summed up, Louise was dangerous to everyone's path except her own. The Hecks had even considered baby-proofing the kitchen, that's how worried they were when it came to her safety.
Two years ago, Lousie had been yelling at a vendor right outside GrubHub, lecturing him about how he hadn't delivered apples of her choice - deeply red, hard on the outside, and perfectly juicy on the inside.
It was then that she'd seen a drenched Jane taking shelter under the diner's roof, a couple of suitcases on either side of her soaked silhouette.
After Louise had offered Jane a steaming cup of hot chocolate, the pair of women had conversed for an hour straight.
Lucky for Jane, the Hecks were looking for a waitress at the time of her arrival, a job that she had successfully earned because of her charm and promising commitment.
Louise had taken Jane home that night, offering her a place to stay in her cozy studio apartment.
Now, two years later, the duo was living in a shared two-bedroom apartment, a place they called home.
"You're magic," Jane told her older friend. Her crimson lips were pouted around a paper straw as she sipped on a blueberry milkshake made for her by Louise. "This milkshake is better than everything that Isaiah has ever made,"
Narrowing his chartreuse eyes at the strawberry blonde, Isaiah remarked, "That's not what you were saying to that lasagne yesterday, Jane."
Isaiah was a striking man in his mid-thirties, tall and bulky with the warmest of hearts.
Even though he kept his soft spot concealed for most of the time, and even with his hunky appearance making it hard to tell if he had one, those who were allowed to see past all the muscle knew just how deeply he felt.
Isaiah was the second oldest of the lot. He had been working at GrubHub since the very first day, instantly hired as a chef because of his unusually rare talent when it came to cooking up new recipes of his own. Apart from being a mastermind behind the diner's popularity, he was also pretty much a babysitter to his three coworkers. They were the closest he had to a family. Isaiah cared for Nyx like a protective parent would, looked after Jane like an older brother does, and kept Louise away from harm like everyone constantly attempted.
It was funny that in spite of how strong he was, the only person who could ever physically hurt him without even trying was Louise, all claps to her natural carelessness.
Nyx watched with a small smile as her fellows bantered playfully, Louise and Jane ganging up on Isaiah while the man only stood helplessly.
None of them had stability when it came to family.
They did not have anyone to return to, and so they felt like more of a home to each other than their own blood had ever done.
The pitter-patter of the rain was powerful, loud enough to drown out all commotion happening outside the diner. So, when the quartet heard the chime of the little bell hung on the door, they put on confused and mildly surprised expressions.
They wondered who had risked braving the wrath of the downpour just for some junk food.
Standing there were two boys, both of them fairly drenched from the rain.
Their hair was a newly swamped mess, dripping with droplets of water. The clothes they wore clung dangerously to their toned bodies, soaked and wrinkled from the bad weather. There was a fresh sort of glow on their beautiful faces, courtesy of the raindrops having left little kisses on their freezing skin.
They looked like everything one had always wanted but could never really have.
"You're a fucking pig, Warren," boy number one said to boy number two. "Did we really have to drive all the way here in this weather? You could've easily gotten us killed,"
Then, not so subtly, he ended with a mumble, "Fucking idiot,"
Boy number two ignored his friend.
Instead, he looked at the quartet that stood curiously staring at them. "Hey," he greeted. "You guys open?"
The diner wasn't expecting any customers tonight considering the climatic circumstances, so the pair's arrival had caught them all off guard.
Isaiah snapped out of his daze first, slipping his chef's hat back on and announcing, "We're open."
"Sweet." boy number two gave a dimpled grin.
Nyx stood up on uncertain legs and took distracted steps over to the counter where Jane had quickly sipped the remnants of her milkshake.
As the former stood motionless, watching the familiar faces walk further into the diner and seat themselves in a booth, the latter discarded her cup and stood by her side.
Letting out a hushed whistle, Jane whispered to Nyx, "Good to know I'm not the only one completely bedazzled by them."
Blinking once, the cinnamon head shook her head against what Jane was implying and said, "I know them."
The strawberry blonde's head whipped over to Nyx, "You do?"
Nyx nodded, still looking at the topic of their conversation, "Yeah, we go to the same school."
Jane followed the girl's line of sight and asked, "Well? Who are they?"
"Warren Hudson and Azriel Logan," Nyx answered.
"They sound–"
Before Jane could finish her sentence, the brunette had turned to look at her with a cocked brow as if already knowing what she was going to say. Realizing this, Jane put on an innocent smile that was anything but.
"–nice. That's what I wanted to say. They sound nice."
Nyx skeptically countered, "So you weren't going to comment on how attractive you think they are?"
The strawberry gave a one-sided grin, "Absolutely not. But clearly, you think that they're attractive. Why don't you go talk to them? Maybe start by taking their order?"
Nyx shook her head quickly, "I don't think that's the best idea. Besides, they're at your table."
Jane found an excuse just as fast, whining adorably, "Oh, come on! I swear this has nothing to do with my undying wish to see your teenage romance flourish. My tummy's weighing me down, Lou made me too much of that milkshake, I can't even walk straight,"
"How did you even get away with breaking your leg at a party you were grounded from going to? You're a terrible liar, Jane," Nyx pointed out playfully.
"Just go, we'll only be doing our job, it won't mean anything," Jane assured, holding back a grin when her friend let out a defeated sigh and straightened out her uniform skirt and patted down the wrinkles on her collared top.
Nyx walked over to where the boys were sitting, hoping that she wouldn't be interrupting their conversation.
"Good evening," she greeted with a smile. "What are you in the mood for today?"
It was Warren Hudson who acknowledged her first.
He looked up and offered Nyx one of his adorable, boyish smiles, dimples wide and deep on both sides of his plump lips.
He was gorgeous, the nyctophile noted as she stood close to him, earning a proper glimpse at the golden boy. He had the brightest of curls, aureate and messy, glowing like the sun's radiance. There was a twinkle in his silver eyes, and they were prettier than the stars, harmless mischief lay swirling in those friendly pools of stardust smoke. His features were delicately toned, not exclusively defined but soft to admire.
"Hey," Warren greeted right back.
He then surveyed the menu for a moment before saying, "How about a pepperoni pizza and some curly fries to go with it?"
Nyx nodded and noted his order down, "You got it."
She then turned to Azriel without thinking twice about it.
The raven monster was already looking at her, elemental eyes narrowed in recognition, jaw very slightly clenched.
"You're the one that stepped between me and that kid today," he stated.
There was fury in his irises, flecks of blue suddenly overpowering the hazel hues. The strength of his gaze sent a tingle of fluster webbing into Nyx's chest, forcing her to fight it.
"Someone had to help him," the cinnamon head said.
Her tone held no kind of accusation, there was no flicker of a taunt either.
She had seen Azriel's bloodied artwork on many other broken faces and bones, Troy wasn't the first one.
But, she had never judged, and she still didn't.
Every story had two sides to it, sides best and truly told only by those involved directly.
Who was to say that Troy, a boy with twisted standards for humor and entertainment – or any of those other nosy kids that had been in his place – hadn't been the first to peeve Azriel, a boy who never bothered anybody for even the smallest of reasons?
Troy could have been at fault too, he could've been hungry enough to crave a sickly amusing kick out of poking somebody for a momentary laugh.
Consequently, Nyx chose to drop the topic.
She knew it didn't concern her as Azriel had his reasons and Troy had his faults.
Instead, she asked politely, "Have you decided on your order yet?"
Azriel took a quick, almost unnoticeable glance at the golden badge that was pinned to her uniform top, easily catching her name but saying nothing of it.
"Two cheeseburgers," he complied, pushing the menu away with the tip of his bandaged fingers.
"Anything to drink?" Nyx offered, in reply to which Warren grinned sheepishly, "A mixed berry smoothie, please."
Holding back a smile at the aureate's boyish gesture, the girl focused on noting down Azriel's order after he mumbled, "A blackberry soda,"
"Your food will be here soon," Nyx informed the boys before leaving their table.
She wasn't surprised to find a mildly interested Jane grinning as her favorite fantasy had finally come true.
It wasn't Jane's fault, she knew that Nyx didn't have many people to socialize with. It was something she'd never mentioned to the girl since she didn't want to pinch a touchy matter.
The young woman had spent her teenage youth breaking all kinds of rules, bending her morals to make so many wild memories that Nyx loved to hear about, the very stories that Isaiah advised her to not take ideas from since he worried it would get her in trouble.
Jane wasn't a bad influence, no, she was Nyx's dose of vivaciousness.
"Got you guys an order!" Nyx said to the pair of chefs, passing them the small sheet through the window situated in the wall dividing the diner and the kitchen. "Lou, it's time to pull out the blackberries again,"
Isaiah visibly paled the slightest bit, freezing in his spot for a moment as he let Nyx's words settle in.
Not too long ago, Louise had been sorting through a carton of blackberries - the kind of cleaning where she tosses to the ground whatever she thinks is stale without thinking twice of how it may cause someone, everyone but her, to slip.
Exactly that had happened to Isaiah.
He'd slipped on the squashed blackberries, sliding across the floor in a bad manner, spraining his ankle because of how odd his landing had been.
So really, this incident only proved how the only force mighty enough to physically hurt a man as big as Isaiah was a stumblebum named Louise.
"Tell me about them?" Jane pleaded once her friend took a seat on the barstool next to hers.
"I don't really know much, just that they're best friends. I can guarantee, though, that they're contrasting like the moon compared to the sun," Nyx expressed what she thought of the pair.
It was true.
Blood was the only hindrance to the boys not being brothers, but it didn't matter to them.
They were so much more than what mere blood ties could make them.
It was also true, the fact that they were so different from each other, like how the radiant sun was so divergent from the pearly moon.
"Oh, come on, Nyx!" Jane begged. "Give me some of that gossip that every teenage girl has for the world to hear. I have a boring, eventless life, I need this,"
Rolling her fiery eyes at her friend's dramatics, smiling in the process, Nyx began, "Well, one of them's the best our basketball team has ever seen, and he's a disappointment to stereotypes about jocks because he's too sweet for that madness."
Warren Hudson was golden, especially in comparison to how hollow and typical his fellows could be.
"The other one nearly disfigured a boy's face today, except, scratch that nearly,"
Azriel Logan was thunder, a sort of raging calm, the monster that is perfectly harmless until prodded.
Immediately interested in the latter, Jane inquired, "Which one?"
She had been in a fair number of fights, successfully knocking the daylights out of so many girls and boys for doing her wrong.
"The raven-haired one – Azriel," Nyx answered.
"Oh, how I miss the joys of being in high school," Jane confessed.
The brunette raised a questioning brow at the strawberry blonde to ask her just what about high school was worth missing.
Realizing this, Jane rephrased herself with a single-sided grin, a spark in her electric eyes, "You know, so much to watch, all those rules to break, hundreds of faces to punch for thousands of reasons,"
"There you go," Isaiah interrupted the girls' conversation.
He held out the tray of food for Nyx to take, refusing to let Louise touch anything with a drink on it, a drink that she would inevitably wound up spilling.
Nyx then made her way over to the boys' table, a small smile on her lips as she placed their orders down on it.
Only one of the pair returned her friendly gesture while the other sat bored and still - it wasn't hard to guess who did what.
She then left them in each other's company, going back to her coworkers who had returned to lazing around now that they were done serving their only customers.
The quartet spent the next forty minutes listening to Jane list the number of times Louise had almost burnt their apartment down and how she had immediately compensated for it with her one-of-a-kind recipes, leaving Isaiah to shake his head at the story.
"I'm not even surprised that you've lost count of the times she has done that. Really." he'd said.
Nyx had faded in and out of the conversation, her attention being called for by Azriel's presence not too far from her.
She couldn't help sneaking glances at him.
There was so much about him that screamed deafeningly, his hooded eyes held so much more than just mystic beauty, there was a lot about him that the world had lost.
Azriel Logan was a boy with no stars left to give, his sky was empty, his moon was broken - and yet, he was the most beautiful monster there had ever been.
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