[O] Abandoned

The night was cool, the people scarce. No one wanted to be out in town in the middle of the week at an ungodly hour of the morning.

As figures passed through the streets, there was one body that didn’t move.

A single body that lay still against the locked door of a tattoo shop, wrapped in a thick coat, occasionally shuffling a little to wipe at his runny nose or wet cheeks.

His eyes were red and swollen; a clear sign that he’d been crying for quite a while.

He curled himself up tighter as a group of drunken youths passed him, whispering comments to each other and throwing strange looks in his direction.

Raisa rushed back to the tattoo parlor, she had left her phone behind and she didn't like to be parted from it at the moment.

Ukraine was in shambles with the riots and protesting, her family had warned her not to come back home when she had insisted on it but they called often with any updates.

They had been avoid any of the action since the news of the government sending out snipers to deal with the issue, they may be supernatural but no one enjoys getting shot.

Her boots clicked along the path, a mess of blue curls bouncing as she moved.

Her eyes landed on the small boy, a beggar? She sniffed the air softly, he smelled of canine, odd.

She moved closer, as she did so the smell of salt hit her nose, tears.

"Hey." She cooed softly, moving a little closer to the weeping teen.

"Are you okay?" She asked, kneeling down in front of him.

The boy almost didn't hear the click of heels against the pavement heading towards him.

He wiped his cheeks as they grew closer, sniffling softly as he wiped his runny nose, too.

His eyes snapped up when the woman knelt in front of him. His eyes, though red and puffy, were wide and fringed with a thick fringe of dark lashes.

He curled up a little tighter as he buried his face in his knees.

He didn't want anyone to see him like this.

"It's alright if you don't wanna talk, pup, but I need to get into the store.

You can come inside if you like, it's quiet, warm and you can grab something to drink."

She wouldn't push him, not if he was this upset and not wanting to talk about it.

Raisa pushed herself to her feet and unlocked the door, stepping over the curled up teen as she entered inside to get her phone, Liq could just come here and get her once his shift finished instead.

The boy sniffled again and looked up as he heard the door open behind him and the woman step over him.

After a few moments, he slowly pushed himself to his feet and stepped into the shop hesitantly. He closed the door gently behind himself and just stood hesitantly in the doorway.

He didn't know what to do with himself.

His eyes dropped to his feet and he chewed on his lip.

Raisa had heard him step into the store easily enough from the back room.

"Staff room is back here if you want to sit down."

She called out as she searched for her phone, hastily checking her messages as she spotted it.

Raisa put the kettle on, boiling some water to make herself a coffee.

"Do you want something to drink? Tea, coffee? I think there is some soda left in the fridge."

This child smelled odd, he smelled strongly of female, yet there was a strong scent of testosterone, that given with his appearance led the woman to believe he may very well be transgender, it wasn't that much of a rarity these days.

He padded towards slowly as she called out to him.

He hesitated in the doorway for a moment before moving to take a seat on one of the couches in the room.

The boy clasped his hands together in his lap, staring down at them as he picked at the feathered skin around his nails.

"Tea would be nice, please," he murmured softly. His accent was thick and very easy to pick out. Hungarian. It was shaky, though. Very rough. Obvious that he'd been crying for quite a long time.

Raisa nodded and got to work making the tea he had asked for as well as the coffee for herself.

Working here had it's perks, mainly how nice the employee section was.

"Here."

She muttered as she handed him the drink, taking a seat on the adjacent seat.

"So what's with all the water works out side of the store?"

She asked, slightly worried that something had happened to the child.

The boy took a sip of the tea given to him.

"Thank you," he murmured softly.

It was nice to have a hot drink. The way that the mug warmed his hands comforted him a lot. It reminded him of back home.

Home.

The boy sniffled again as he raised a hand to wipe his cheeks as more tears spilled.

"I-it's- I'm sorry. I didn't. I-I didn't," he murmured.

The boy took a sip of the tea given to him.

"Thank you," he murmured softly.

It was nice to have a hot drink. The way that the mug warmed his hands comforted him a lot. It reminded him of back home.

Home.

The boy sniffled again as he raised a hand to wipe his cheeks as more tears spilled.

"I-it's- I'm sorry. I didn't. I-I didn't," he murmured.

Raisa hushed him softly as she moved to sit beside him.

"Shhhh, it's alright you don't need to be sorry, you didn't do anything wrong."

She muttered, stroking his arms softly. Now that she was close to him she could smell him all too clearly. The smell of canine lingered on his skin mixed in with the muddied scent of female and male.

It clicked easier when the scent was close.
"You're a shape-shifter right?"

She assumed since he was sitting there crying on the street that he had no where else to go.

"If you need somewhere to stay, I can take you up to the coven with me, there is plenty of spare beds."

He flinched when she began stroking his arm, expecting a much rougher act.

It took a moment for him to settle down a little.

He nodded at her question. Yes, he was a Shifter.

"Spare beds?" There was somewhere he could stay? "I-I don't have any money." He didn't have anything. Just the clothes on his back.

"You don't need money. It's free for any supernatural to stay there."

She replied, with a soft smile.

"It's safe there, better than being out on the street."

If he was scare of the coven she didn't mind letting him stay in her room, there were spare beds since Alexis and Arzu hadn't been living there.

It suited her fine, meant the dogs had more space to roam around and her and Liq had more privacy.

A safe place he could stay that he didn't have to pay for?

He... He couldn't believe it. It sounded too good to be true. Way too good to be true.

There had to be some hidden cost or condition that would be the downfall for him.

"I can really stay there? Really?"

"Yeah, you can, we all stay there for free. I don't think the head of the coven would accept our money even if we tried to pay her."

She replied with a soft chuckle.

"If you're scared you can stay in my room if you like, I have two big dogs who will happily guard you. Normally the rooms are separated into female and male but it doesn't matter.

If not, I can find you an empty room to stay in."

He gave her a watery little smile. "Thank you."

She was being so kind to him. He hadn't expected this kindness from anyone. People in the street definitely hand't cared. They just walked past him and turned their nose up at him.

She'd been kind. Given him a drink and was even organising a place for him to stay.

His blinked hard as he bit his lip, wiping at his eyes again. "Th-thank you," he whispered again in a cracked, wobbly voice.

Raisa reached over and grabbed a tissue for him, handing it to the small boy.

"It's fine, I would have felt horrible leaving you out on the street all night, this isn't the best part of town for someone as young as you."

This was a seedier part of Catania full of bars and clubs.

"We will have to walk to my car."

She always left it in Zo's parking it, the club had bouncers so it was safer there than here, their car park was too easy to break into.

He knew this was a terrible part of town, but he had just needed to get away. He'd just run and ended up here.

"I'm Tibor," he murmured softly before taking another sip of his tea.

She'd done so much for him and all he could do was give her his name. it wasn't even a legal name yet.

He drained the last of his tea, but still clutched the hot mug.

"Raisa."

She replied with a soft smile as she drained the rest of her coffee with a soft purr.

"Though normally people just call me Rai."

She added with a little shrug, she didn't mind either way, both were fine.

"I hope you don't mind if I drop in to see my partner first? I was meant to pick him up from work."

Rai.

Tibor shook his head. "I don't want to intrude."

She could do anything that she wanted. Se was doing this for him out of the goodness of her heart. He wasn't going to be a little bitch about her wanting to do other things.

She'd already been so kind already. He wasn't going to shove that back in her face by denying her something that she already had planned.

"Come on then, lets go see my bitch before he starts complaining that I was late."

She replied with a chuckle as she got to her feet, placing their mugs in the sink before shutting the lights off and leading him outside.

"It's not far, just down the road, stay close."

She was older than he was, and well known in these parts, she would keep him safe.

The teen stood when he was prompted.

He stood awkwardly, his hands stuffing into his pockets. He chewed on his lip slowly as he waited for Rai to herd him out of the shop.

Slouched like this, he was very slightly shorter than the woman. If he were stood at his proper height, he'd be the same height as her, if not a little taller.

He padded after her like a lost puppy - which he effectively was - when she made her way outside.

"I'll make it a short visit so we can get you up to the coven and comfortable."

If Liq had a problem with it then he could just come with them for the night, if not, well than his loss.

She led the boy toward the club, walking through the back entrance as if she owned the place, she was here every night so no one really cared if she was wandering around back stage.

She grasped onto the pup's hand and led him through the door and back to where the men normally hung out.

"Liq?"

She called out as she moved toward their usual couch.

"Can... can we go somewhere else before we go to the coven?" he asked softly.

There was one place he wanted to go beforehand. It wouldn't take long. He knew it wouldn't. More than anything, he just wanted to see it for himself.

Tibor held onto the woman's hand tightly as she led him into the back of a club.

He tensed up a little, eyes wide as he stared around at all the men either barely dressed or not dressed at all around.

What...what sort of club was this?

"Of course we can, you're indulging me after all."

She had been allowed to come here so she would allow him to go anywhere he wanted before they went to the coven.

"Don't mind the men."

She muttered as she sat on the couch and pulled him down to sit beside her.

"They all look imposing but they are all kittens."

She assured, she could quite easily kick the ass of most of the men in this place, except for a small handful. Most of them were more afraid of her wrath if they messed with her than than Liq's or Dario's. She was glad, she had become quite good friends with the human since they had met.