"These?" Rin asks, gesturing to a rack of clothes.
Ezra pauses, squinting as he thinks. "It's all so, dark," he says finally, giving a sigh.
"Ya don't like dark clothes?" Mahin asks as she shifts through the hangers. "There's a few white and grey ones in here, or do ya want color?"
Ezra falls silent, crossing his arms tighter over his chest in frustration. "I don't want sharp or dark colors. That's what I wore as a fighter. I hate them on me. I always have."
The girls fall silent, glancing back at the Ezra. "You know why, right?" Rin asks, tilting her head and putting her fingertips to her chin. "You're small. The black leather and silver spikes were for intimidation, and to make up for your size and build. They made me do the same thing."
"So you understand what I'm saying?" Ezra asks, watching Rin pout her bottom lip and nod.
"I shop at a store a few blocks away called Candies," she explains. "Everything is really bright and pastel. Really pretty, and the complete opposite of my old uniform."
Rin lets the information hang, allowing Ezra to chew on the unspoken suggestion. His tongue runs over his teeth and fangs.
"Do you think we could check it out?" Ezra asks, taking a step back as a bright grin spreads on Rin's face.
"Really?" she asks quietly.
"Oh no," Mahin mumbles.
"Let's go!" Rin jumps, grabbing Ezra's wrist and pulling him to the exit. It takes a moment but his lips tug up, letting a laugh rattle in his chest as Mahin shouts behind them.
"I have to put this stuff back! Guys! Ya better wait for me! RIN!"
-:*:-
"Ya don't have to let her drag ya into this if ya don't want," Mahin whispers in Ezra's ear.
Ezra shakes his head, looking around the store as Rin pulls him in and points to different display racks. "They have everything here," she explains excitedly, skipping to a table that holds nothing but pastel sweaters.
"I didn't know half of these colors existed," Ezra mutters, running his clean hands over the fabric. The cotton sticks to his rough and calloused fingers, but soothes his shaking hands.
"If you get one of those you'll have to get some pants to match," Rin rambles, "or shorts; they'd match better... Why are you smiling?"
Ezra looks up, not bothering to stifle his growing grin. "It's just," he says, pinking up a soft pink sweater and holding it in the air, "I can't think of a bigger middle finger to Orgon, than to kill him looking like everything he never wanted me to be."
Rin and Mahin look at each other, breaking into smiles. "He has strong motives." Mahin nudges her partner. "I like the look in his eyes."
"We will make you cute!" Rin cheers, "but fierce! Rub it in your conductors face! He'll become a laughing stock in the underground after people see who he was using as a fighter! It happened to my conductor, and we hunted him fast after his fall- no one was laughing after what I did to him."
"This is perfect," Ezra says, thumbing the cotton sweater. "What else did you want to show me?"
"There's so much!" Rin laughs, pulling the vampire to another display shelf. "We'll get you set up. This is becoming the best night ever!"
"Ya got her wound up," Mahin teases, letting herself smile. "We may be here a while."
-:*:-
"Amelia isn't going to know what to think when we get back."
Ezra shrugs, not bothering to pull the wide collar of his new sweater back over his shoulder after it slides off. Even though the bright color looks odd against his grey tinted skin, it's a good change. He doesn't mention how warm it keeps him.
"Is it too long?" Mahin asks, gesturing to Ezra's top. "Jesse knows how to tailor; he owes us a favor anyway."
Ezra holds up his hand, only the tips of his fingers and broken nails visible from under the long sleeves. "I like it this way," he says, pushing up the thin wire glasses sitting on his nose.
He had been hesitant to mention that he owned some before being taken as a fighter, but the girls happily stopped at a local dollar store and let him find the best replica. Mahin even bought a pink beaded chain with her own money to clip to either side of the earpieces and drape behind his neck; she didn't want them to fall off and break while at the S1 base.
"You look so good!" Rin exclaims, proud of her outfit suggestions. She carries a colorful bag in her hand, holding a few items she bought for herself. "The style suits you. You look cute and fluffy, but also like you could kick butt if you wanted."
"Perfect message." Ezra smiles, running his tongue over his teeth. "I doubt anyone could recognize me now that I look like this."
"Hey girls, whatcha got there?"
Rin looks up, pulling her bag away before a stranger can dip his hand in it. He pouts his lip, trailing behind Mahin as they keep walking.
"Oh come on," the chubby man pleads lazily. The smell of alcohol suddenly makes Ezra choke, scrunching up his nose at the intrusive memories that flood his head. Alcohol is a common tool used to get people foolish enough to put large bets on the fighters.
There had been many nights where empty bottles were thrown into the arena, making the crowd laugh as the fighters danced over broken glass.
"What do you have in there?" the man asks again, this time seizing the handle of Rin's bag. Her eyes suddenly flare bright blue, but the man is knocked down before she can raise her hand to strike him.
He gasps as the air is knocked out of his lungs, almost suffocating Ezra on the smell of vodka and unbrushed teeth.
"Okay, okay!" he cries, making any civilians on the sidewalk quickly step away. A few stop beside the girls and watch Ezra's nails dig into either of the drunk's shoulders. "I don't want any trouble!"
"Yet trouble follows you, doesn't it?" Ezra growls, the scent of the man's breath ruthlessly building up bubbles of aggression in his lungs. He bares his teeth, seeing the man spot his six shining fangs with a new flush of fear. They must be terrifying to look at, because it appears the man has never seen so many on one vampire before.
"Ezra," Mahin suddenly says, "let him go. He's just a drunk; he's not goin' to hurt us."
Ezra looks up, making his eyes flash red in the shadow of his hair. He pauses a moment, seeing the sad yet unaffected eyes of the two girls staring down at him. His fingers curl tighter, making the man whimper before he pushes himself off his knees.
He straightens his shirt, brushing the dust and pebbles from his bare knees. They appear scraped and bead with blood, showing just how hard he had landed on the sidewalk. They'll heal on their own.
Ezra doesn't hesitate before he moves forward, stepping past the few spectators that had stopped to watch the uneventful encounter. Enough people have already ogled at him. He's not here to put on a show for anymore.
Mahin's chain had come in handy, catching his glasses around his neck when they had flown off from his sudden speed. Dusting them off with his sleeve, he puts them back on his face with shaking hands.
"Ezra," Rin says gently, appearing at his side, "are you alright?"
Mahin steps up to his other side. "We know it was just an instinctive reaction," she says, almost setting her hand on his shoulder before changing her mind. "We're not-"
"Where else did you want to take me?" Ezra cuts her off, blowing out a puff of air before finally walking at less a frustrated speed. "I don't know how much longer I want to stay out here."
Mahin falls silent, making an obvious attempt to read the other's face. He glances at her, watching her eyes before she shifts them away.
"We wanted to take ya to get a sanguisberry shake or somethin'," Mahin says, speaking quieter than she did before. Ezra looks away, pressing down the pang of guilt that rattles somewhere in his chest. "I thought we had all night. Ya won't be able to go out in the day, and most of our missions are at night so sometimes it's hard to find a time to go out."
Ezra keeps his chin up, gaze straight as he shoves back the urge to look behind him at the man who's probably still on the sidewalk. "That's true," he says, gripping his long sleeves. He learned not to rub his hands together with his anxiousness after being trained to not show fear. "We do have all night. You two wouldn't mind showing me the city? I have to relearn its layout."
Rin lets a small smile slip onto her face, straightening her back. "We want to take you to 24/7 first. It's like a modern coffee shop, and has about every drink you could ever imagine."
She easily slips back into rambling, listing off every place she can think of. "There's a few more clothing stores we can show you, since you only got one outfit and probably won't want to wear that until you get your own cut and can buy more."
"Wait." Ezra catches her before she can continue. "My own cut?"
"Ya think our people get all their stuff for free?" Mahin chuckles to herself. "We get paid every week; like a balance for all the rings we help bust or the aftercare we do. To start in S1 ya have to work around the buildin', and Amelia and Clover will watch ya and see when you're ready to move up and up until ya get to work on the field."
"You'll get to work with us too!" Rin exclaims. "I doubt it'll take long for you to get to that stage. You're smart and quite calm for such a long time fighter. At least it appears so; I can't read what's going on in your mind."
"She can read your aura, though," Mahin quips. "Just sayin'."
"You don't think it'll take long for me to climb the ranks?" Ezra asks, seeing Rin glance at him as they walk.
"Don't get too excited," she says, taking a sharp turn into a corner shop with a neon purple sign. "You'll be put through a lot of tests. We can't risk a former fighter being put back into a ring and losing it over a trigger from the noises or smells."
They walk up to the counter, Mahin asking for a worker named Iris.
"Okay, Ezra," Mahin says as she leans one elbow on the counter, "the sanguisberry is technically different than blood, so it can mess with your system a little. Nothin' dramatic, just a little discomfort until your body adjusts to the different diet."
Ezra tilts his head, seeing an older teenage girl step up to the counter. The scent of a werewolf catches his nose, despite being covered by the smell of the busy shop and heavy perfume.
"Did you see that?" the girl, Iris, says as she smiles, "he already knows what I am. I saw his nose go up."
Rin looks over at Ezra, seeing him glare at the barista as she leans on the counter in front of them. "What is she?" Rin asks, making him look over at her.
"A werewolf," Ezra says lowly, quiet enough so no one else in the shop can hear. It's filled with more supernatural beings than humans, but he keeps his voice in check anyway.
"Side effects to new users of sanguisberry include temporary of each of the following." Iris grins, not afraid to stare the now tense male in the eyes. "Nausea, dizziness, excess saliva, watery eyes, lack of energy, and in some cases vomiting and stomach cramps."
"I remember those." Mahin laughs, nudging Ezra to break him from the staring contest with the counter worker. "Don't worry though, they go away faster than ya think. It's amazin' how sudden your body learns to accept what it has at hand."
"You work for them, don't you?" Ezra quips, stating the question more than asking it.
Iris grins brightly, standing up straight. "You're pretty smart," she compliments, stepping to the many machines on the back counter before beginning to put together what Ezra guesses is given to most new vampires who don't want to drink human blood. "But you're not the only one to have figure that out. I will admit though, you were one of the quickest."
It doesn't take long for Iris to set a clear plastic cup in front of Ezra, name printed on the lid with a permanent marker. Popping a straw through the top, she slides the crimson across the counter.
"Enjoy." She grins, winking and making the male narrow his eyes. "It really doesn't taste all that bad, I think you'll be hooked pretty soon."
Ezra doesn't break his stare as he grabs the cup, only turning his head once the girls begin to lead him to a small corner booth. They sit.
Rin and Mahin look at each other, quiet before smiling wide and giving each other a high five that startles Ezra into looking up.
"You passed the test!" Rin cheers, making him furrow his eyebrows.
"It was a placement test, so to say. We know ya have something against werewolves," Mahin states, "and we know it stems back from the fightin'. It's mean, but it lets us know how far you are in mental control and irritation management and all that. Iris obviously does work for us, but she's told to act challengingly to the newcomers we bring in."
"Congrats, Ezra," a voice says, making Ezra look up. Iris smiles warmly this time, setting a little tray of sample pastries down onto the table. She stands up straight, holding her hands together over her work apron. "You passed your first test, as in there will be many more as you work with S1. I don't doubt you'll pass many of them, but even faithful Amelia and Clover don't know what they're going to test you on yet. Most of the grades are just spontaneous. I wish you the best of luck." She steps away.
Ezra lifts his cup up with both hands, rolling the straw between two fingers before resting it on his bottom lip. "Is she paid to say that too?" he asks, finally taking a sip.
"Nope." Mahin laughs, unfazed as Ezra chokes and covers his mouth with his hand; a common reaction if it's a vampire's first time with the popular drink. "I think she's puttin' some faith in you; that came straight from the heart."