2021-02-13 - Blinded by the light

Having caught up with Nova in the park, Seth leads her back to the parking lot and over towards his '68 Cobra, "Come on. Let's get you home, but I need you to stay awake enough to give me directions. I have no idea where it is you live." With a practiced hand, the enforcer pulls the keys from his pocket and slides one into the lock in a swift and easy motion, unlocking the passenger side door and opening it for Nova. "Or at the very least give me an address I can plug into the GPS. Then you can nap to your heart's content."

Typically Nova would have been all about Seth's car. It was a thing of beauty to anyone who had half a heart in the automotive world. Clutching at the sleeves of her orange hoodie, she barely notices the door open. His finesse with keys would also usually have her approval. In a small tired voice, she rests her head against his passenger seat, looking at him pleadingly. "Can I just like, chill in your car for a bit?" This is probably an odd request, possibly one driven by sleep deprivation. She sits up a little, waiting for him to take the drivers side.

"Sure," Seth says as he closes the door to the passenger side. The enforcer makes his way around to the driver's side and climbs in himself, letting the door close behind him with a thunk. Seth slips the keys into the ignition and fires up the '68, letting the car warm up and with it the heated air that will come from the vents on the dashboard. "Take as long as you need, Nova. I have no plans am I am not in a rush to go anywhere, so we don't have to leave anywhere soon. Chill away."

Nova seems grateful for the ability to relax, some of the tension leaving her neck. The shivering lessens without the February breeze. She pauses and then looks up from her dark lashes at the Cobra's owner. "You got shine right? I can see it. Some people don't know they got it." Peeling one hand from the over sized florescent sleeve, she bites at one acrylic thumb. There was an amount of anxiety to her, more visible this close. Her emotional state put under a magnifying glass.

Seth nods once in reply. "I'm a...what is it Itz called me..a maker? Shaper? Something like that. I apparently can heal, among other things. I don't have a lot of practice in it though. I ignored it for a long, long time and only recently started to even believe it to be possible."

The enforcer turns to watch her, his hawklike eyes darting towards her hand as it emerges from her sleeve. Seeing it empty, Seth leans back into the seat and lets out a slow breath, "You alright? You seem to be somewhat on edge. You don't seem to be the tyrant that Ravn seems to be so afraid of," Seth says with a hint of a chuckle to his voice. "I don't know what you did to him, but you made an impression."

The corners of Nova's ample lips creep upward, her thumbnail removed from her them. She fiddles with the orange fibers in one hand, eye's locked onto Seth's. "That's the kind we Nazario's don't got. It's increíble to see. Like watching what Jesucristo could do."

She gives a short laugh at the enforcer's idea that she may in fact be dangerous. "Sorry bout that, thought your friend was a cop. He asked a lot of questions about a murder like I knew some shit." Another slow pause. "I'm plenty dangerous Papi, I just don't need no fucking switchblade. That's the problem ya?" Upturned lips flatten at the thought. "They say the brighter you got it, the worse the things come at you." Nova makes sure he isn't laughing at her. "It makes being by myself or sleeping? Infierno." Lips stretch to once side, not sure if she wanted to finish saying what was on her mind. "Usually I'm the one who can make sure I always have people to be around...but here? Rekani's doing better with that. Hermano is never home. It's just been real dark and uh, quiet."

"Yeah, well, I've only used it a couple of times. Once when Ravn was stabbed, another when someone else got shot." Seth says with a roll of his shoulder. "Seems to have done the trick though, so I have no complaints, though I think the comparison to Christ might be a bit overdoing it."

Seth takes in another deep breath and settles back to get comfortable in the car seat. "Oh, I'm sure you are. Ravn's just the curious sort, but I can guarantee he is not a cop. If anything the guy is a history teacher, with a side order of former con-artist and pickpocket. The closest thing to a cop he might be is being friendly with de la Vega," Seth says with a snort.

As sure continues, Seth peeks an eye open and looks over at the exotic dancer, "Oh. Those kind of nightmares. I've had a few of those. Had a pregnant toad lay eggs all over me once and all I was wearing was someone's borrowed apron. It was revolting. Is that why you look like you haven't slept in days? Can't sleep alone?"

Nova's face scrunches in disgust of the idea of Seth's nightmare. "That's fucked veto." Not wanting to dwell on that mental image for long, she processes the rest of the redhead's words. "You'd think someone who has stolen stuff would know better than to ask a latina about murder while she's working a club. In Miami we call that profiling." A single sculpted brow is raised at the idea that the amateur investigator teaches history.

"I'm not saying you are the son of God, that shit ain't right. I'm saying being able to heal people like that seems like a miracle or something." Yes the stripper is religious. She may need to pay rent, but never worked on Sunday's.

"I can too sleep alone!" She shoots back with a fire to her. "I just don't want to be alone in my own head all the time. I keep seeing this body mill and there was a darkness I tried to get in the head of? That mierda will mess you right up. I still don't know what it was. Drugs will work sometimes, but if you are in a bad state?" Nova lets out a low whistle. "Let's just say your trip's not five stars." The last bit is less quarrelsome more afraid.

Lifting his hands in a sign of compliance and/or surrender Seth mutters out a quick, "Woah, sorry. I wasn't trying to imply anything. I'm not trying to get in your pants or anything. It just sounded like you were saying it was hard to sleep without someone else around."

The mention of a body mill causes Seth to stop short though, his eyes narrowing. "Been to a place like that myself. A few of us found a guy who was an 'artist' for the other side, or at least he was being recruited as such. Got pulled into his dream, and it was a horror show. He was," Seth pauses for a moment, '...assembling bodies out of corpses. Putting bestial heads on the bodies. I thought we had stopped him. Maybe I need to go pay good ole' Dan a visit."

There is a penitent quality to how Nova looks at him now. This was one of the first times someone in this place had offered to try to fix something for her, or at least make it better. She shakes her head, hoops jingling. "I think this is something different." One foot flexes, pointing her toe, dancer's habit. "It was just a whole place made of suffering and power. We fed it by being there."

A sigh escapes her, coming to terms with the facts. "You're right though, I don't. I don't think I've ever been as alone as I am here, and here is the worst for it so far. This place has problems." Nova looks about like she might start crying, "Thank you. For being the first person to give a fuck." Dahlia was a lifesaver, but she was also a coworker. Favors were a currency. He had no skin in the game.

"I don't know. Sure sounds like the same kind of place." Seth says as he folds his arms over his chest. "I gave a few of those dog-headed murder things some lead poisoning and told Dan that I would do the same to him if he didn't stop playing the fool. I'm just going to have to go double-check on him. If he wets himself at the sight of me, well then he is probably still on the straight and narrow."

Seth looks over at Nova, his brow arching in a concerned and confused look, "Seriously? You have been hanging out with the wrong people then. You should give Ravn another chance, and I should introduce you to Alexander. If anyone would give a fuck it is those two. Ravn is very much an 'us vs them' type whereas Alexander is...well...he is Alexander. He is a case all to himself. Kind of like Rain Man, but with seeing justice served instead of having to go watch Judge Wapner. "

Seth reaches over slowly, planning on giving the woman a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder but ready to bail on the idea at any sign of resistance to the effort. "That being said, if you need a place to crash that has others around so you can get some sleep, I can probably help out with that. Anyone you trust to watch over you I can call? Anyplace I can drop you off that you would feel comfortable at? From what you have been saying it sounds like any pharmacutical help would be a bad idea at this point, but you look like you could use a solid 12 hours or more. "

A simultaneous sniffle and brief laugh leave Nova. "You're not scared of nothing huh?" Balling the vibrant fabric of one sleeve in her left hand, she dabs at the inner corner where her eye threatened to leak. Nova was truly trying to hold herself together the best she could, but there was also a strength to the built man that made her feel like she didn't have to? Probably just more that could be sorted out with sleep.

"Nah it's just me and hermano. I don't know anyone really that I don't work with besides some chick named Isabelle I met in a nightmare. Your amigos sound fun but maybe not my crowd? A lot of people got problems with the whole career thing. I do things like street racing and partying which this town doesn't seem to do too much of?" She does not move away, instead she moves her right hand up to touch his. "I got a place, just empty. It was just us for a long time. Rekani's got a girl for the first time in I don't know how long. He doesn't come home much. We usually leave a place by now, but I don't think he will..."

Nova's fingers are cool and smooth, nails resting atop his hand. "This isn't bad though, talking to someone." She replies.

”Not usually, ” Seth admits. ”Do what I do long enough and you learn that fear is just an emotion like any other. You can learn to suppress it or use it for your favor. If you let it lock you up, you end up hurt or worse.”

The enforcer gives Nova’s shoulder a squeeze, ”Well I'm here, and I am a good listener so if you want to just hang here and chat I have no other plans today.”

“See, now you gotta tell me what you do.” Nova looks at him shrewdly. “I’ll know if you lie.” She might be teasing him. She considers what he says. Nova has never been good at controlling how she feels.

She looks at him hopefully, maybe batting her lashes, maybe just sleepy. “I’d ask what you are doing tomorrow but that would also mean I’d been putting off being around you this whole time for no reason.” She moves closer to the vent, thankful for the warm air.

"I'm in enforcement. I work as a bouncer over at the Firefly." Seth says with a practiced tone as if he has said it thousands of times before. It's not a lie, it is his official job on paper and something he does get paid for. "I also do the lighting tech over there, but that doesn't have the same risk factor as bouncing does." the enforcer says with a slight chuckle.

He leans forward, adjusting the temperature on the dash to make it a bit warmer to help thaw out the chilled woman, "Honestly, I've got no plans. I can hang out as long as you want. My plans today were going for a jog, then going home and chilling in front of the TV, or going to the gym should I get the urge. I live a very complicated life."

There is a momentary bright glint about Nova, like the sun has chosen to blind them through the windows at that instant. It leaves as quickly as it comes. The Latina is squinting at him and has raised a brow, a face that says 'really?'. "That ain't all and you know it." She says flatly to him. Her tone turns teasing, "I'll give you points for not straight up lying, that's clever. Just not all the truth neither."

She is officially giving him a smug smirk, possibly excited to see his reaction. Her eyes glint on the mischievous side, a curiosity on how many people called him on his bs regularly. Her shaking ceases entirely, quite comfortable in his warm vehicle.

If calling him out on the omission of the 'real' job bothers Seth, it doesn't show other than a small smirk that toys on the edge of his lip. "As I said, I work in enforcement. That is all the truth you are going to get, so take that how you like." The enforcer doesn't seem willing to budge in giving any more information out other than what he has already spilled. He looks forward, out the front window and sighs, combing his fingers through his short red hair, "My cousin in Felix Monaghan, if that sheds any light onto things." It may, it may not. It isn't a huge secret that Felix is the head of organized crime in the area, but only if you are someone that would have that kind of info in the first place.

"So, what is it you do with your shimmering lights there, Nova. Apparently a bit of a mentalist is my guess."

"All I know about Felix, is that most of my plugs go through him at some point so pissing him off sounds loco. I haven't been deep enough in the culture here to get into that kind of trouble." Nova winks at the ambiguous man, "Not that I don't like trouble." She points to his radio in a silent question of permission. She was fine with the redhead being mysterious, more than anything Nova just wanted to point out that lying to her was a dumb idea. The concept was more to set a precedent.

"You can look, won't even fight you on it." While she didn't have the ability herself, she had meant people around the world who could see relative strength of abilities or types. They were relatively rare, but she was pretty sure most could patch up a wound. Part of her is mildly amused at the concept of a fight with him. Right now, she would obviously lose. In general though Nova was athletic and quick. Seth was strong and seemed to notice things at a faster pace than she. Maybe one day it would be worth placing bets. Her smirk spreads to a smile at the idea.

Seth nods his permission with an added "Feel free." tacked on for good measure. "It's set for classic rock, but change it to whatever you want."

The enforcer nods again in agreement with Nova about Felix, "Yeah, pissing him off is a bad idea. I would advise against it, it is an action not a lot of people tend to make twice." Seth reaches up and rubs at the scruff on his chin. "Take that as you will, and you are probably correct in your first guess."

As for looking, Seth arches a brow and looks over to Nova with a puzzled expression, "I wouldn't even know where to fucking start with that kind of thing, to be totally honest. I have never done something like that before. I've already mentioned I am new to all this woo-woo shit. I had to have someone hold my hand as I did a heal the first time. It isn't like this all comes with a manual." Seth rolls his shoulder into a shrug, "I got a cooler in the trunk. Did you want some water? I might have something stronger as well."

The dark haired woman takes note of the number the station was sent to. She then fiddles about until she finds something in the vein of today’s hits. Nova can’t help but bounce her shoulders forwards and backwards rolling them in time to music. It was ingrained in her being at this point.

“ I’ll take whatever the fuck you’re feeling if you are supplying.” She says in much higher spirits than she had been.

“We were fucking born this way. Mis padres thought there were demons or something in the house. It’s why we moved from Puerto Rico.” She plays this off as not a big deal in her expression. Hazel iris’ focus on what was quickly becoming her favorite person in Gray Harbor. “You just try it. Not saying it’s easy, takes effort. You can do it whether you know or not. If you accidentally set something on fire I’ll throw a black out zone, so no worries.”

Nova rolls up her sleeves to reveal a myriad of tattoos penned to her skin.

"That is how all this shit got started," Seth says with a laugh, "I set something, or should I say, someone, on fire when I was a kid. Just a small one, nothing lethal but nobody believed me when I told them I was just thinking about it, so I ended up suppressing that shit for decades up until recently." Seth shrugs and looks over at Nova, "So...I just kind try it? I mean, I suppose it couldn't hurt."

Seth shifts a bit in his chair, angling to face Nova more directly and tries to focus, distracted for a moment by the rolling up of the sleeves. "Nice ink. That is a lot of work. Must have cost a pretty penny to have all that done. Ok...focus on you, let's see what I can do here."

Nova nods knowingly, it wasn't something uncommon around the first couple times someone used their abilities. "I feel you papi, hopefully now you met the right kinda people though?" She strike a pose, hand beneath her chin, blinking her lashes at him and laughing. "You just gotta fuck a couple tattoo artists." She says nonchalantly about the ink.

She watches him with equal focus, a kind of standoff. True to her word, she doesn't try to fight anything, just let's him see her.

The enforcer squints hard at her for a moment, a chuckle coming to his lips as to how she 'paid' for her ink. Then suddenly he winces, covering his eyes as if he looked directly into the sun for a second and curses under his breath in a string of profanity that would make a sailor proud. "Damn it all, I swear you did that on purpose. Fucking near blinded me with that shit...but from the glance I did get before you lit up like the God damned sun on a hot summer's day I wasn't far of the mark. Mentalist for sure. I think that is what Alexander is as well. He isn't likely your type of guy to hang with, but he is the one that has been teaching me most about all this shit."

Seth continues to rub at his eyes, trying to get rid of the spots and after-effects that still pepper his vision. "I need a beer."

Nova cannot stop herself from cackling madly at his reaction, putting fingers to her mouth to try to stifle her laughter. "Lo siento!" Snicker "Catholic's honor, I did not think about what that would look like if you never looked at nobody else before." She catches her breath and watches him with amusement. Between how comical she found this and the heat of the car, Nova takes off her hoodie entirely. Beneath is a black Nike sports bra to match her leggings and of course, more permanent art.

Hoops move about as she pops her head through the garments. "Okay so now I gotta ask what you like to drink. I feel like I owe you that at some point for blinding the shit outta ya." She bites her lip to stop herself from snickering once more.

"Whiskey," Seth says without much hesitation. "At least that is my drink of choice, but I am not picky. I've downed some vodka swill over at the Pourhouse that seemed to be the drink of the day, I don't even know what was in it. It might have been a vodka tonic? I don't recall but I wasn't paying for it so I didn't care at the time. It did the job it was supposed to do."

The enforcer continues to rub at his eyes, trying to be able to see clearly out of them so he hasn't noticed Nova's shedding of the hoodie yet, "Is it that bright for everyone, or is that just unique to you, because God damn that hurt. I can't see how people go around looking at people like that without everyone squinting like peering at a desert sun." Seth smirks, shaking his head as the laughter sort of subsides. "Glad I could be amusing at least," he says as he himself chuckles a moment. "At least you're in a better mood."

"The Firefly keeps having weird mystery glowy shooters, those things will mess you up"She says rembering all the shapes and colors that came along with them. "Whiskey is all right, don't know it as good as my hot bitch tequila though so you are gonna have to give me a brand unless you just want the most expensive shit in the store." Ahh price, how people without preference pick good booze.

"Never been there, only the Two's like once?" Nova assumed that was a bar. She snickers again when he asks about her shine. "Nah, I am uhhh, like max volume from what a friend told me? Rekani is pretty strong too. Probably should started you on a dimmer bulb ." Nova jokes "I'd offer to kiss it and make it better, but this place is a freaking pride parade. Not that I'm complaining." She implies vaguely. "I am feeling better, all thanks to you." Nova has a smidgen of color returning to her cheeks.

"You don't have to buy me shit, Nova. I'm not looking for anything." Seth says with a chuckle. "You want to surprise me with a good bottle of tequila if that if your preference, then I'll defer to your tastes and go with that.

Continuing to chuckle, he continues to speak. "Yeah, it's a dive bar. It's where I go when I don't want to drink at work, and I don't feel like going to somewhere as touristy as the Twofer. Maggi's good people even if she does bust my balls. She runs the place." He shrugs his shoulder, leaning the seat back a bit. "As for pride parades, I'm all for supporting them but I don't march in them. I would have to decline a kiss at any rate. I don't know if my not-girlfriend has a jealous streak and I would hate to find out because she has guns. Lots of guns."

Nova gives a fake pout, sticking out her bottom lip. “I can share, especially if she’s not your girlfriend.” This is punctuated with a wink “Besides, I do march so that isn’t part of the problem for me if she’s sexy too.”

Pout turns to a side smile as she looks him up and down in appraisal. “Not like it’s the first time I’ve been shot at.” Such are the charms of Nova. Unabashed flirting at anyone she found attractive regardless of orientation or relationship status. This is also a sure sign she is doing better.

Seth continues to chuckle, "You know, I honestly don't know if she would march or not. I've never asked and it has never come up. One of these days I'll have to ask her."

Seth leans the car seat back a bit more, getting it to about a 45-degree angle or so as he stretches out, "I don't know who she would shoot. You, me, or both of us. While it's true we haven't put any labels on anything, as flattered as I am it isn't really a theory I want to put to the test. And I am flattered, don't get me wrong. Maybe I'll drag her along to the Cabaret sometime and you can test your own theories." Seth says with a smirk.

"Oooo, hmm I typically fail tests. Never been good at them. I can always keep a secret though, if you end up bored." Who needed to study when you could just read someone's mind for the answers? Nova was not looking at him any less suggestively.

"I am happy I am getting to know you no matter what. Just know I'm not the sort to lay off. My brother's girlfriend is pretty cute. I have already let her know she's having sex with the wrong sibling." This is said in jest. She would never seriously try to ruin anything for Rekani. For anyone else though...questionable. "I might be able to smoke now and get some sleep without things being too bad. Thank you again."

"I'll keep that in mind." Seth tells Nova with a shake of his head, "The getting to know you part, I'm good with that. It never hurts to have extra friends, Nova. As for the rest, I can't fault you for your never give up, never surrender attitude since I have the same kind of mentality. I'll just have to keep my guard up around you." The enforcer says the last with a wink as he looks over with a half-laugh, half-smile on his face.

Seth pulls the recline lever and sits his seatback upright, "I did promise you that I would visit you at the Cabaret, so at the very least you have me on the hook for me tossing a few bills your way there. I'm not one to break a promise. So, where can I take you, and you are welcome. I'm glad you are feeling better."