A Fancy Dinner Party (Invite Only)

Rusted machines, corroded wires and a lingering stench of the UDC, it was a place for Rare Hunters to call home ever since they had seized power in Southern Keiritsu. Sliver had made himself right at home setting up a bunk in a derelict section where he could have some privacy, the remains of his last food donor would have been pushed under a forlorn manhole cover into the already pungent sewer system. The edible cuts of meat squirreled away into his private deep freeze. He had selected a fine pairing of cheap wine and shoulder steaks for his dinner and it was about time for the festivities to begin, after all the headquarters seemed abandoned for the moment. Setting about marinating the steaks with his favorite spices in a simple mixture was an easy task. Whistling to himself he would head for the kitchen with a knowing smile tugging at the corners of his lips. The old UDC headquarters was of a familiar lay out to Sliver and as such he made his way to the kitchen a couple of fresh steaks marinating in a special blend of spices, he would smile his mask removed as he strode over confidently and started up the grill adjusting the temperature slowly as his eyes fixed on the flames his gaze softening, ah fire so beautiful. He smiled again to himself slowly adjusting his bandages back into place and tugging his suit into the perfect position to rest over the bandages. Satisfied the grill had hit the temperature needed to sear the meat Sliver would toss the steaks onto the grill, a most intoxicating aroma filling the air. Whistling happily he would lean back against a rusted out piece of machinery watching the flames of the grill as they sealed in the flavor of the spices, he would shrug before grabbing a spatula and flipping the steaks to get an even sear.

Footsteps could be heard echoing throughout the halls of the building. Very soft footsteps it would seem, as their sound of impact wouldn't be very loud. Eliza had decided to walk throughout the building as it was more or less empty, for a sense of the area. However it didn't seem it mattered if the place was filled with frightening looking adults or empty. Either way the atmosphere gave her the chills.

What would snap her out of this state would be a scent drifting to her nose. The smell of food in the midst of being cooked. She stopped in place to look for a possible source, being able to hear the sound of searing meat as she did so. It wasn't far from where she was. In fact it would only take the girl a short walk around the corner to find the room where both the sound and scent were their most potent. Taking a quick look inside from outside the doorway, she could see a few steaks being made on a grill. She would however, side step to the side of the door frame as she would see the cook. Another very frightening looking person, practically a walking mummy. The one thing she could have hoped to take her mind away from the ominous atmosphere and it had to be ruined by a creepy looking adult, Eliza thought to herself.

Her hand clutched onto her cloak, furthering wrapping it around herself. She didn't have to interact with them, maybe she could just hide and watch. This was the closest thing she had in terms of any coping method for being away from home. The child proceeded to lean he torso to the side, attempting to peak at the searing steaks and not focus on the bandaged man.

As soon as the intruders eyes fell upon him Sliver knew he was being watched, his body tensed for a nanosecond as he quickly checked his surroundings without moving his head, his eyes flicking over the different entrances before he caught sight of a small figure watching him from the doorway. Reaching up slowly he would simply take a few bandages and fix them back over the lower section of his mouth, the smile had faded a look of curiosity beginning to seep through as he stood pretending to have not noticed the watcher. Lazily he would check the meat again producing a knife from a small box of utensils and cutting easily into the tender meal he was working to prepare, a little to red, he would frown setting about finding a burger not from his private stock selecting some lean ground beef and after unwinding the bandages from his hands and washing them thoroughly before pressing a couple of patties would toss them on the grill next to his own meal. He sat back head lolling to one side in feigned sleep as he waited for the meat to finish cooking. Finally the aroma blossomed coming into its full fragrance as the burgers and steaks finished, just a little pink on the inside, perfection. He would sigh re-wrapping the bandages around his hands before producing two plates and a bun, he would now turn his gaze to the doorway with the watcher, "you may as well come out, I don't bite children." He would step closer to the doorway the plate with the bun for the burger outstretched, "besides you have to be hungry to come find me here." He would point to a fridge half hidden by the surrounding junk, it was a nice industrial size stainless steel thing with plenty of storage space, and he had managed to rig it to keep things chilled at the right temperature, crispy lettuce and other greens were stored along with four different types of cheese; Gouda, Cheddar, American, and Provolone; neatly wrapped in fresh packages from a butcher in town. "If you want toppings they're stored there."

Well that sure worked wonderfully for her, the girl thought to herself. Though she did manage to get food out of it instead of being murdered like she originally thought would happen by interacting with any of the weirdos in this place. The girl would happily accept the burger she was given, walking inside the kitchen and proceeding to make her way to the fridge. Obviously this was brought in and not left by...whoever last owned this building. The fridge was in much better condition than a lot of machinery in this building. The girl would take a slice of cheddar , along with some lettuce and sliced tomato for her burger. She was incredibly hungry, Sameonna wasn't around at the moment and she was the only one she felt really comfortable talking to. She closed the fridge after getting what she wanted and turned around, looking at the male. She might now be somewhat involved with a criminal "organization", but that was no reason to forget her manners.

"Uhh...thank you." She spoke meekly.

As grateful as she was for the offered food, she was still intimidated by the male. His appearance really wasn't all that inviting, wrapped up head to toe in bandages and cloth with the exception of his eyes. That didn't really help when she was already wary of essentially everyone in and around headquarters. Nonetheless, she was still hungry. The little girl held the plate in one hand as she picked the burger up with another, biting into the patty and all while giving a satisfied sigh.

He watched the girl go about preparing the burger before sliding his own steaks onto a plate, with a small sigh he would once again lean back against a wall, producing a fork after removing the bandages from his mouth. Licking his lips once before digging into his meal he would eat in a rather refined style the plate balanced neatly on one hand as he maneuvered the knife with his free hand, dividing the steak into bite sized morsels of goodness. Smiling to himself he would savor every bite, hardly paying any attention to the small interloper. Finally after finishing his two steaks in a matter of five minutes he would pause for a moment, laying the plate and utensils to one side on a counter top, his gaze had fixed once more on the girl, but before turning to face her he made sure he re-fixed the bandages over the lower half of his face a small twinkling in his eyes the only hint to the smile that lay beneath. "New hire? You seem awfully jumpy to be just loitering around at headquarters...does my appearance unsettle you little lady?" He would shrug philosophically taking her reaction to his rather strange appearance in stride, he thought himself a damn fine specimen but maybe this child didn't have as many miles on her mind as he had at her age. "You duel I presume, what sort of monsters do you run?" He would continue to lean back kind of slumping down so as to not loom over the smaller figure he was conversing with, it was weird forming words for another to hear and actually listen to, instead of just filling out mission forms for the handlers, a nice feeling really. Keeping his height on the shorter side by keeping his body slightly bent and holding himself with a shorter center of gravity he would start to leave, headed for a nice walk around the neighborhood, almost as an afterthought he would turn back to fix her in his gaze once again and offer, "if you like I'm about to head out for a little walk, care to come along maybe we'll find something entertaining."

The girl finished her burger, having tried to forget the presence of the bandaged man. It was a bit hard, she didn't have very much to distract her that wasn't unsettling in some way. Instead she'd just have to stare off and simply focus on the taste of the burger she had been given. It was pretty good. She just wished the cheddar would have had more time to sit out and get to room temperature. The chill of the cheese contrasted too much with the heat of the burger, she thought.

Her efforts to ignore the man would be in vain, as he would initiate conversation with her. Did she find him unsettling by appearance? Well of course she did. He was a walking talking mummy and he still scared her, and she found normal mummies to be fascinating! Her eyes darted back and forth as silence filled the air. Well...this wasn't a time to start being rude if she decided to be somewhat considerate from the beginning. She wouldn't speak however, only giving a nod in response to the male's question.

His questions kept coming, and now he was asking about the monsters in her deck. That was...sort of suspicious. To be in this building and making one's self at home, it could be assumed that they were a rare hunter. She had the same title, yes. But she wasn't sure how rare hunters acted among other ones. She didn't know if they stole from each other, and if so how often. Swallowing the food in her mouth, Eliza would give an answer. A verbal one at that.

"Umm...strong ones?" she replied.

The child attempted to sound vague. She didn't want to be a target in a group she belonged it, but she didn't want to start of lying and becoming untrustworthy. Soon after giving her reply, she finished the rest of her morsel, hearing the man's offer for a walk. Now she had a decision to make. She could very well walk away right now. She might not even see this guy again unless he followed her. There were plenty of other rare hunters in and out of the building. What would be the odds of him finding her again? But she didn't know how well these people responded to things that could be taken as even slightly rude. Maybe they were just normal people who stole cards. Or maybe they were incredibly emotional and their violent tendancies fluctuated with their emotional state. She'd had to play is safe(ish) for now and just go with this man.

"Uh...sure" she said, placing her plate with the man's.