“What? Of course I don't mind! Everyone's different, you know? I'm all for accepting people.”

"Ah, I'm glad." Daemon murmured, looking down as the other man took the mask off. He'd only look up when asked, give Koyaani a sense of control over his identity.

“Do I look anything like how you imagined me?” Daemon looked up and caught his breath, before revealing a smile.

"Near exact, actually, though I gave you a bit rougher features in the illusion where your mask was." He answered. "I can give you a cream for that. The creases, I mean." He continued. "I use it for my own mask. I created it myself, actually. You put it on before you put the mask on, and you don't get creases afterwards. You can use it after getting creases, of course; it's just easier to use previous." He got up and grabbed some out of the cabinet in the bathroom. He returned and uncapped the lid, putting a bit on the creases on Koyaani's face. They started disappearing almost instantly.

"It toughens the first couple layers of skin, the ones easily torn. You don't feel it at all, but it makes the molecules denser without inhibiting movement. I based it off a formula I had originally created as an intravenous thing for the Heroes that couldn't block or move as quickly. It didn't work too well, it messed up the muscles- made 'em too stiff- in the original testing phase. I tried it as a topical cream next, seeing if it was just because the inner body couldn't handle it. It's been working great for a year. I sell it to a few who really need it, but I'd never release the formula to H.UN.T. Gods know what those dubasses woyuld do with it, even under Mercy's watchful eye..." He rambled, a bit of his Chemistry genius shining through. He took his hand away as the last crease on Koyaani's face disappeared.

"There, good as new."

"Near exact, actually, though I gave you a bit rougher features in the illusion where your mask was."
Koyaani laughed, rather surprised and not sure what else to say. Daemon soon changed the subject and pointed out the creases on his face, talking about how he'd go and get a cream for it that he made. Koyaani tilted his head as Daemon walked to the bathroom and came back with a bottle of cream. He started rubbing some of the solution on, and so he stayed still and wondered if it was making an effect.

"It toughens the first couple layers of skin, the ones easily torn. You don't feel it at all, but it makes the molecules denser without inhibiting movement. I based it off a formula I had originally created as an intravenous thing for the Heroes that couldn't block or move as quickly. It didn't work too well, it messed up the muscles- made 'em too stiff- in the original testing phase. I tried it as a topical cream next, seeing if it was just because the inner body couldn't handle it. It's been working great for a year. I sell it to a few who really need it, but I'd never release the formula to H.UN.T. Gods know what those dumbasses would do with it, even under Mercy's watchful eye..." 

Koyaani's eyes widened as he listened into Daemon talking about the cream and gently rubbing it into his face at the same time. He was so into what he was talking about he didn't even notice Koyaani smirking a bit. It was very interesting seeing him so passionate and found it kind of cool he was able to get him talking. He couldn't say for sure he really knew what he was talking about, though, so he peered up at him intently and wondered if the cream was working or not. 

Soon Daemon backed away from rubbing his face, and Koyaani touched.

"There, good as new." 

He definitely felt the difference and nodded his head earnestly. “Wow, it works!” He touched his face even more, almost as if he didn't believe the cream would work so quickly and furrowed a brow at Daemon. “You're really good at this chemistry kind of stuff. I can't believe you made this by yourself.”

“You're really good at this chemistry kind of stuff. I can't believe you made this by yourself.”

Daemon scratched the back of is head and gave Koyaani a disgruntled look. "What're you talkin' about, dude, I graduated all of school- which, by the way, includes college- when I was 14. I'm a fuckin' genuis, you think I can't make some skin strengthening cream?" He felt slightly insulted, before remembering that Koyaani still didn't really know that much about him. "Oh, right, you just met me." He shrugged. He was about to continue-in a less crass way- explaining, but his cell phone rang. He answered the call without looking, holding his finger up to Koyaani, and put the phone to his ear.

"What." Was his curt answer.

"Your father wants you to come i-"

"No."

"Bu-"

"No."

"He ordered i-"

"No, I'm not fucking coming in, I told him I wanted as little to do with it as possible and that he can't just fucking call me in. I'm his son, not a dog. Right now I've got a sister who practically cried herself to sleep because of that bastard, I'm not about t-"

"DAEMON AXEL MALONE YOU GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE THIS FUCKING INSTANT!" Daemon winced and pulled the phone away from his ear as his father interrupted, screaming through it so it could practically be heard through the whole apartment.

"HOWABOUT YOU KISS MY ASS INSTEAD, OLD MAN!" He yelled back, his short fuse already blowing. His eyes glowed a malicious green. "I'M NOT LETTING YOU RUIN MY LIFE BY PULLING ME BACK! DAMI ISN'T EVEN APART OF THIS AND BECAUSE OF YOU SHE CAN'T MAKE ANY CLOSE RELATIONS! HOW MANY GODS-BE-DAMNED TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU TO LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE?!"

"YOU'VE GOT A DUTY TO YOUR FAMILY-"

"LIKE HELL I DO, YOU PRICK! I'VE GOT A DUTY TO DAMI, I OWE YOU NOTHING-"

"THAT AIN'T GONNA MATTER WHEN LUCID STARTS GOING AFTER EVERYON-" Daemon threw his cellphone across the room and it shattered on impact, leaving a small hole in the wall. His breaths were short, let out in angry huffs. His fists were clenched and he glared at the opposite wall.

"You and daddy had a fight again." The voice was small, and Daemon's eyes softened, returning to their brown state. He never really took into account if people would hear him and his dad fighting, he never cared when he blew his fuse. "He just wants you to come home. He told me."

"He wants to pull me back into the business, Dami, and you know I don't swing like that." He whispered. She nodded.

"I should go see him, calm him down. It was nice meeting you, Blaine." She said, leaving before Daemon could stop her. Oh, and Koyaani just heard all of that.Great.

Daemon sighed. Far too much was happening. It seems like everything he was keeping hidden about himself decided to crop up on the one day a Recruit-Hero-to-be was there. Everything he'd kept from H.UN.T; his identity, his sister, his father...it's all coming down on him today.

If that's not Karma making him her bitch, he didn't know what was.

"What're you talkin' about, dude, I graduated all of school- which, by the way, includes college- when I was 14. I'm a fuckin' genuis, you think I can't make some skin strengthening cream?"

Koyaani raised an eyebrow for a moment before Daemon's realization hit him. Koyaani glared a little bit. “Yeah, show off much?” He thought, but the random bit of information did explain things. It was surprising to learn, though that he graduated at 14 years old. Who would have thought? He would have liked to learn more, but soon the phone rang shutting their conversation down completely.

At first Koyaani zoned out, looking around the room for a clock of some sort but he didn't find anything. It had to be late though, so he hoped he could probably go to sleep soon. The interesting turn of events beforehand really distracted his need to pass out.

"DAEMON AXEL MALONE YOU GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE THIS FUCKING INSTANT!"

Koyaani blinked and his thoughts were soon taken out by a loud noise coming from speakers. It was the person on the other end of Daemons call. He didn't hear the name so well through the call, but the man on the line sounded furious. Maybe he was the father they were talking about?

"HOWABOUT YOU KISS MY ASS INSTEAD, OLD MAN!" He yelled back, his short fuse already blowing. His eyes glowed a malicious green. "I'M NOT LETTING YOU RUIN MY LIFE BY PULLING ME BACK! DAMI ISN'T EVEN APART OF THIS AND BECAUSE OF YOU SHE CAN'T MAKE ANY CLOSE RELATIONS! HOW MANY GODS-BE-DAMNED TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU TO LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE?!"

By this time Koyaani couldn't stop listening even if he wanted to. He glanced away, but he doubted Daemon even noticed. Besides, there wasn't anything to do, it wasn't his issue...he was just in the middle of a confusing predicament.

His attention was soon fixated on Daemon, though, he he yelled and threw his phone across the room, breaking it. He was off into his own world in a rage, but thankfully his sister came in to calm him down just a little. They spoke privately with one another and Koyaani attempted to ignore it so he wouldn't get too deep into their personal lives.

"I should go see him, calm him down. It was nice meeting you, Blaine." He looked up from a haze and smiled before she left. “Alright, get home safely.” He waved and she was gone. There was an awkward silence between Daemon and Koyaani. He knew that Daemon was probably trying to cool off from the sudden events, but he cleared his throat and felt the silence couldn't be kept any longer.

“You don't look so good...maybe you should call it a night for now?” He suggested, also feeling weary himself.

"Yeah...Yeah...Sorry...I-I didn't...sorry." Daemon whispered, heading to his room and closing the door. He fell onto the bed and stuffed his face into the pillow, tears of anger and built up emotions in general soaking into the black cushion. He screamed into his pillow for a few minutes before falling asleep.

Day Two
begins with next post

Matt was hardly able to sleep soundly. He kept tossing and turning on the futon and he wasn't all that sure why. He thought it was probably because he stayed up too late, but he still felt weary. He was able to get about five hours of bed rest before he woke up at 6:45.

Matt was able to find the bathroom and find a spare toothbrush to use, so he freshened up before making his way into the kitchen. He didn't have any belongings with him except his wallet, and his mother said she'd mail his things up in about a week. He sighed not knowing what else to do other than to try to make something to eat. When he peered into the fridge there wasn't all that much in there, but it wasn't cluttered, and the expiration dates looked good. Matt awkwardly shuffled through every drawer and cabinet to make a simple breakfast of french toast, but it all went downhill we he couldn't find a pan. By the time he finally was able to prepare everything, thirty minutes went by as he set the toast in the pan to cook. Meanwhile, he looked at the mess around him and hurried to put everything back in it's place...even though he couldn't remember where everything went. "I think I'm getting too comfortable in his apartment...or maybe I'm just really hungry."

Daemon twisted and turned throughout the night, feebly attempting to get out of the horrific nightmares that left him mute with terror every night. That was something he'd noticed ever since gaining his powers; every night, without fail, he would have nightmares upon falling asleep. He hadn't dreamed of anything good since he was twelve. Not dreaming? More tiring than staying up at night. But always having nightmares was worse than both of those combined. He'd tried, once, to force either dreams or dreamless/nightmare-less sleep before; He'd worked on the formula and the correct dosage per hour. He created a sleeping mask that would distribute the chemical easily. It had completely backfired. His powers, as though having a life of their own-and being very angry-, seemed to make the nightmares even worse, pushing the chemical out of the system by making sure he still had glimpses of horrific sights; This got his adrenaline pumping and he would sweat out the chemical quicker than it could be distributed. Needless to say, his plan had been extremely ineffective. He never made another batch after that. The chemical in his mask was the only thing that could ever even dampen his powers, for his sake and others'.

He shot up in bed, gasps stuck in his throat and damp sheets sticking to his frame. His eyes were wide as he fumbled for the small clock on his bedside. 7:20. He pulled on a tank top and lazily walked out of the room, leaning on the wall in exhaustion. He rubbed his eyes as he looked into the kitchen at the back of the other man. He smirked.

"Koyaani, are you cooking?" He laughed, looking at the man as he attempted to put all the supplies back in the right places.

Matt kept re-opening cabinets and forgetting which one he last opened. He felt so scatterbrained and probably nervous because he didn't know if Daemon would have minded him going through everything. "Really though, is it weird that I'm just kinda cooking in the kitchen of a guy I met yesterday?" He thought self conciously while gradually moving slower. Suddenly, Matt heard an amused voice behind him and he accidentally dropped the spatula.

"G-Good morning!" He put on a nervous smile as he picked up the spatula and froze. "Yeah, haha...hope you don't mind me wrecking your kitchen. I uh, made some french toast so feel free to take some." Matt pointed to a plate of a couple of slices of toast on a plate, and then glanced at some of the items still scattered on the counter. "Oh yeah...I totally forgot where those went." He mumbled and scratched the back of his neck. It was too early for this and he was hungry. The toast looked like it cooled completely, so he started eating a slice.

"Ah, that's a'right. I didn't even know I had half this shit. Dami brings stuff over from the house and never takes anything back when she leaves." He explained, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorway as he scanned the supplies around the kitchen. He looked at the french toast, but his stomach was still twisting from the nightmare and he couldn't even think of eating. "Thanks, man, but I don't eat in the mornings. I just drink water, mostly." He pushed off the doorway and walked forward, putting all the stuff away in any drawer they would fit in. He was still shaking from the nightmare, but doing his best to hide it.

"I don't even know how to cook much, why the hell does Dami bring all this over?"

"Ah, that's a'right. I didn't even know I had half this shit. Dami brings stuff over from the house and never takes anything back when she leaves." Daemon crossed his arms to explain, and Matt nodded mumbling something like "I see". He continued chowing down pieces of french toast when he heard Daemon say that he actually didn't eat breakfast in the mornings. Once he swallowed down his french toast he cleared his throat and smiled.

"Oh really? I didn't know that. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, ya know?" He glanced down at the plate of sighed, wondering if he'd be able to eat a whole plate of french toast. Maybe he could since he didn't even eat yesterday.

Daemon was putting away items in a drawer. For some reason Matt got the feeling that he looked...tense, though. Matt raised another slice of toast and started eating again, feeling content. "God, I'm such a fatass..."

"I don't even know how to cook much, why the hell does Dami bring all this over?"

He tuned out and realized that Daemon was shaking. Could it be that he was still thinking about what happened with his father? "His personal issues must have been really serious." He thought. Matt froze a bit and raised his eyebrow. He stared at his hand that was shaking a little bit. "Yeah, uh, are you...okay? You don't look so good."

"Uh, y-yeah, fine." He lied, throwing the last object in another random drawer. "Just...still tired..." He mumbled.

"Did you get a good night's sleep? I know the futon isn't that comfortable." He asked as he st across from Koyaani.

Matt's mouth hung agape for a brief moment, not knowing what else to say. It was completely obvious his partner was hung on something, but of course he wasn't saying anything. He seemed to be handling it on his own, and it wasn't his business, so Matt let it evaporate. "Yeah, we went to sleep pretty late last night. I'm surprised I'm wide awake..." He trailed off smirking, then turned to eat another piece of his toast.

"Did you get a good night's sleep? I know the futon isn't that comfortable."

Matt looked up and nodded with a smile. "Yeah, no worries, it was great. It totally beats sleeping on a bus the night before." He managed to smirk out before finally realizing he couldn't force himself to eat any more toast.

Daemon glanced around, after Koyaani reassured him that the futon was fine. Had it been later in the day, Daemon would have been a little more interested and would have asked how far Koyaani had come to ave had to sleep on a bus. But it was still morning and the nightmares were still lingering, making him tense. He kept catching glances of shadows that had no source and things that should've inanimate were shifting and morphing. If he didn't get to his mask soon then the illusions might take over again.

For some reason, though, Daemon didn't want Koyaani to know that the chemical was protecting him as well as the people he used them on. He'd already told the other man about it's dampening effects for others, because he had to explain why he didn't like keeping the illusion over Dami the other night, but he didn't want Koyaani to know that his own powers attacked him. That he couldn't control them himself, and that he needed chemicals to- technically- survive.

BRIIIIIIING

Daemon jumped in his seat and his head whipped towards his room, where the noise was coming from. His eyes were wide and his breath erratic as he tried to force his mind to think of the source of the noise. Then, he remembered; his comm. link was on his nightstand. He forced himself to calm down when he remembered Koyaani was sitting across from him, front row seat for that little spectacle that was Daemon's freak out. He took a deep breath and got up without a word.

His movements were jerky and tense, but he got to his room and answered the comm. link, putting it in his ear to talk as he opened the panel in his wall and took out his suit. The agent on the other end spoke into his ear, information "needed" for when him and Koyaani would get to base-not that he'd tollway rules set forth- and the other duo they'd be training with. Daemon smirked as he pulled his mask on. He took another deep breath and walked back into the kitchen.

"Hey, Koyaani, suit up." He called, knocking on the kitchen's archway. "We're heading for H.UN.T in fifteen."

That was it. Matt couldn't continue this. He had two slices left but it was complete torture, they looked so delicious, but his stomach said no. He was about to say something to Damon as he glanced back up at him, but noticed something...strange about his appearance. He seemed paranoid. Suddenly, Damon's comm. link was ringing. Without a chance to ask or say anything, Damon ran to his room and vanished from sight. Matt instead stared at his plate. “I'll deal with you later.” He got up and put the toast in the fridge, hoping to finish it sometime during the day, when his hunger kicked back in.

Just at the right time, Damon came back in with his mask on. At the sight of that, Matt already knew what was going on.

"Hey, Koyaani, suit up." He called, knocking on the kitchen's archway. "We're heading for H.UN.T in fifteen."

Matt closed the fridge door and started moving. “Aye aye captain.” He smirked and looked around in the next room for his stuff. It was scattered all over the place, but he was able to find everything. While he started changing in the living room he froze for a moment. “Shit. I hope I don't get cramps.” His mood dropped a little bit and hoped that his stomach would be able to handle the movement. “Maybe I should drink protein shakes in the morning and eat solid food later...”

By the time he finished changing, he looked around for Lucid. “Alright, I'm ready.”

Lucid sighed as he and Koyaani entered the H.UN.T HQ- had to ride my motorcycle all the way to the next fuckin' city didn't think about Koyaani having to hold on to me the whole time glad I had the mask on so he didn't see me blushing like a damned schoolgirl and we're an hour late dammit Mercy's gonna bitch at me- and his disjointed thoughts raced through his head as he lead Koyaani to the training center that they were going to be in with Lightbulb and his Recruit.

"Glad you could join us, Lucid."

'Shit'

"Yeah, well, I had to ride out to the next city over because our building with the transporter tile got demolished-"

"How the hell did it get demolished?" Mercy cut him off, crossing her arms and glaring. Lucid sent a speedy glance to Koyaani before replying.

"I had a guy run a truck into it." He lied, his tone nonchalant as he waved a hand. Her glare got worse.

"We'll send a clean up crew." She grit her teeth. "Anything else?"

"Yeah." He smirked. "You owe me ten bucks." That actually caused her to lose her composure; her arms dropped to her sides as she spluttered indignantly. Lucid just grinned, unseen behind the mask.

Koyaani was all for trying new things, or at least, he always thought he was. He spent the entire motorcycle ride with Lucid trying to hold on and hoping he wouldn't fall off of it and die. Alas, that would be his death after spending a day at his new job...falling off a motorcycle and dying. He felt like a little part of his pride died too after holding onto Lucid for a whole hour. Well, he wasn't here to look cool anyway, he was here to learn...and there was a hell of a lot to learn while he was here.

When they finally reached the H.UN.T taskforce it only now occurred to Koyaani that he had no idea what kind of mission to expect while they were here, if it even was a mission. They soon met up with the woman he saw yesterday, Mercy, initiating things with Lucid. Koyaani glanced around until he started catching up with the conversation, Lucid obviously lying about the warehouse thing. Koyaani was completely okay with that, especially after the scary look on Mercy's face. He feigned ignorance.

Mercy grit her teeth. "Anything else?"

"Yeah." Lucid smirked. "You owe me ten bucks."

Koyaani had stayed quiet all up to this point. “Son of a---...S-Seriously...!?” Mercy looked like she had completely lost it too and started stuttering. “I can't believe he was serious about that! Is that cocky bastard smirking under his mask? I bet he is, wow, yeah, laugh it up pal.”

Koyaani tried to take a deep breath and stop himself from saying something he'd regret. Besides, Lucid did lie for him just a couple of moments ago.

Lucid started laughing when Koyaani cried out. It was a full-stomached laugh, because the look on the visible part of Koyaani's face was half shocked and half pissed off. "Dude, of course I was serious, I could buy like four bags of Jelly Bellies with ten dollars." He said once he'd gathered his breath back. Mercy was staring at him with something akin to shock, and Lucid realized this was one of the first times he'd laughed in front of her. Lightbulb looked more scared than shocked, and his recruit just stood to the side, looking extremely confused. With those two both looking over Crystalden, Lucid had to wonder if there was even darkness during the nighttime. Must be hell for the civilians.

"I never agreed to that." Mercy finally settled with saying. Lucid turned back on her.

"You agreed to it as soon as you sent Koyaani after me when I left yesterday." He answered simply. "Face it, Merce, the only way to get me to stop bugging you about it is to give me the ten bucks." He added, holding his hand out. After a short pause-and Mercy looking at Koyaani's injured shoulder-, a ten dollar bill was roughly slapped into the waiting hand.

"Just get to training you little prick."

"Yes Ma'am, Mercy Ma'am!" Lucid mock saluted, stuffing the money in his pocket. Once Mercy left the room, he turned to Lightbulb and his Recruit. "What do you say, you wanna do a 2 on 2 fight, Lightbulb?"

"It's Irradiate!"

"Whatever."

Mercy, Irradiate, and the other recruit all fell strangely silent as they watched Lucid crack up with hearty laughter. Koyaani glared at Lucid's expressive response.

"Dude, of course I was serious, I could buy like four bags of Jelly Bellies with ten dollars." Lucid replied, and with a little bit of bugging Mercy was finally able to settle him with a 10 dollar bill.

“You are un...believable.” Koyaani uttered out with fatigue.

Once Mercy left the room and the veterans were through with their arguing, it was training time for Koyaani and Irradiate's recruit. The training lasted about two and half hours (with a break in between) of the mentors sharing techniques and answered some questions. However, it was Irradiate, more specifically who handled most of the talking. Lucid didn't seem as into it as the other mentor did. He chimed in every now and again making some kind of snark comment and “Lightbulb” back-lashing. It was a (somewhat) progressive first day of training.

---

Koyaani let out a sigh of relief when they finally exited the H.UN.T headquarters. He now felt less anxious about his training here now that he was slowly becoming comfortable with the way things worked.

“Well, what now?” Koyaani turned to Lucid and asked, then paused. He immediately remembered Lucid's plan for the 10 bucks that Mercy gave him. The words “Jelly bellies” repeated over and over in his head and hoped he wouldn't...actually go buy candy.

"Now?" Lucid asked, pulling away from the curb and cranking the throttle once Koyaani got on behind him. He didn't answer the other man for a few minutes, "Now we go home and get changed into Civvies so that we can go out without people cowering or throwing things at us." He answered, speeding up. Once they got back to the apartment, about an hour later, Lucid took his mask off and sighed at the rarely inhaled-for him, anyways- fresh air. He ruffled his own hair and tossed his uniform into the hidden compartment, going into his room to get his civilian clothes on.

He came back out a few minutes later in a pair of ripped jeans, and green shirt, and a dark-washed jean jacket. "Alright," He grinned at Koyaani, waving the ten dollars. "let's go get those Jelly Bellies." And he walked out the door.

When they got back at home, Matt finally felt at ease. This secret identity thing was starting to irritate him, but he hoped he'd get used to it...eventually. He changed his outfit quickly into casual jeans and a navy blue t-shirt. He was reading magazine with some of the local restaurants in the city when Damon came back in, in his civilian attire, and looked like he was about to go somewhere.

“Any closer I wouldda ripped those 10 bucks out of your hands...” He grumbled, but followed Damon regardless, he had no other choice. He still couldn't believe Damon would actually buy 10 dollars worth of candy jelly beans when he could have gone for some chipotle. “He would have never stricken me as a guy who likes candy...” Matt gazed at him skeptically as they walked, “He's just really...unpredictable. It's scary.”

They walked for a short distance when they arrived at a candy shop (Matt was amazed that stores dedicated to candy actually existed) and a bell rung as they walked in. He glanced around the bright isles and looked confusedly at all the candy he had never even heard of in his life.