Number Six

“I am her tribute. Survival is my gift to her.”

[loriensninth]

The smirk that stretched across his lips was unapologetic. Even though that punch that Six delivered had hurt, —sometimes Nine forgot just how strong she was—the reaction that he had gotten out of her was definitely worth it. It was too funny to see her getting riled up like that. “Loosen up, lover,” he teased her, leaning against the kitchen counter as he watched her unpack. “That’s no way for you to be treating someone who you’re oh-so-in love with, is that?”

[marenelizabeth-six]

"Not in public." She replied as she unpacked some of the things, implying that she could punch him however she wanted when they were out of the public eye.

She kept most of her own things in her bag, wanting to be able to make the quickest getaway possible in case they had to leave; which they would.

[loriensninth]

"Maren, darling, do me a favor and remind me to never let you come up with the backstories ever again."

[marenelizabeth-six]

Her face slacked at the name, and punched him hard in the arm. "I told you not to call me that." She replied, "and because you would have come up with something better? I don't think so, darling." It was true that the backstory could have been better, especially because now they would have to be all touchy feely with one another, which was not what she'd planned to be doing out here. But that didn't matter, it was one of the better backstories they could have gone with, and made sense given their age and wouldn't arouse too many questions when asked.

[loriensninth]

— “So, we’re apparently a pair of young lovers who are moving in together for college, eh?”

[marenelizabeth-six]

"And Canadian too, apparently." 

[loriensninth]

moments ➺ six & nine

[loriensninth]

"Act first, ask later," Nine hissed when Six incredulously repeated his words. Okay, maybe ‘weather magic thingy’ was not the best way to describe Six’s Legacy without offending her, but hey, could anyone really blame him? He was panicking, and there was no time to think through his words without blurting them out. Thankfully, Six seemed to caught on, though, and let go off his arm before shoving him out the door. He wasted no time breaking into a sprint, praying that both of them would make it out of the house safely before a fire started.

Alas, it seemed like his prayers were going to go unanswered. There wasn’t any slow fire that was beginning to devour the house, but this was worse. Instead of fire slowly spreading, what they got was a loud, banging explosion that nearly sent Nine flying. Acting on instinct, he dropped to the ground as fast as he could and rolled over. It was better rolling on the ground than being airborne and then coming into contact with the ground fast and hard. At least the chances of injuries weren’t as high that way. Well, if nothing hit him from above, that was.

As soon as he was a safe distance from the exploding house, Nine glanced up to look at the damage that he had done. I’m so stupid for not turning off that goddamned—Ouch! His regrets for being an idiot was cut off short as his eyes grew wide, finding himself unable to roll away before Six crash-landed onto him. Pushing Six off from him, he propped himself on his elbows and offered his companion a sheepish grin. “Oops? Think that I might’ve messed up a little back there,” Nine admitted, hoping that Six wouldn’t be too furious.

[marenelizabeth-six]

Six rolled off to the ground roughly as Nine pushed her off. She let her head fall back into the sand, before she pushed herself up, angry with what had just happened. "A little?" She asked incredulously before punching him.

She turned back to the house, watching it as it burned slowly. She passed a hand through her hair as she watched, then thought about what had happened. She supposed it could have been worst, it wasn't like it couldn't have happened to anybody-- actually, scratch that, it could probably only happen to them. But she should have known-- should have smelt it even before lighting up the fire. 

She made a mental note of checking every kitchen appliances in the future. She turned back to Nine and sighed, shaking her head before she said, "let's go." And made her way to the vehicle. They could argue in the car, right now they had to get far away from this town. She knew all too well how fast the Mogs were at responding to disturbances that seemed out of the ordinary for the human world.

[loriensninth]

moments ➺ six & nine

[loriensninth]

He almost didn’t want to get off from the couch that he was sitting on, watching at the flames engulfed the identities that they had carved for themselves in this town. It’s time to move on, he told himself. There was no use in pining for settling down. It wasn’t possible. And even if he and Six could somehow find a place that was as safe as the penthouse back in Chicago, Nine knew that she would never let him persuade her into staying in one place. Besides, the stakes were high now. He wasn’t stupid. He knew that there were things that he and Six needed to do if they wanted to ensure the survival of their race. This wasn’t the time to sit back and relax. They had to find the other Garde soon.

Nine shook his head, hating the fact that he had grown to like this town more than he should. It wasn’t as though he made lots of friends or anything, but they had stayed in this town longer than they had in the last three towns they had been in combined. It was beginning to feel like home—if he forgot the fact that the one-story house that he and Six were renting was nothing compared to the penthouse in Chicago. He had to stop being so sentimental about moving around. This was his life now. As the flames ate up the very last of the papers lying around, he braced himself to move on from Warren to someplace new. The best thing about leaving was probably creating a new identity, something that he had always looked forward to. Nine tried to hold on to that as he watched the papers turned to grey ashes. He wondered what his new name was going to be. Probably Alex. Alex was a cool name.

Sighing, Nine eventually got up and followed Six, grabbing his bags. He hadn’t even crossed half of the living room before he smelled it, though. It was the smell of something burning. And it came from the kitchen. Nine’s eyes grew wide when he realized what it was. He must’ve forgotten to turn off the stove after heating up some soup earlier. Well, shit. Cursing under his breath, he rushed to Six’s side and clung to her arm. “I might’ve done something very, very stupid, and if we don’t get out soon, we’ll turn to ashes in mere minutes,” he muttered, hoping that for once, his companion wouldn’t stop to lecture him first before jumping into action. “Do your weather magic thingy.”

[marenelizabeth-six]

Six could feel Nine staying at his spot on the couch as she moved away from it, letting him have his last moments with their home before moving on. He was always so sentimental about these things, she'd given up trying to coax him into following her right away. Instead, she gave him five minutes now, and then they were gone. And if he wasn't out in five minutes? She would drag him out the door. 

She smelt the tangent smell a little while before Nine grabbed at her arm. She listened intently at what he was saying, and her face hardened with every word and shook her head. "'Weather magic thingy'?" She started, but let go. There were more pressing matters at hand, "go." She said quietly at first, "outside! Go! Run!" She said louder this time, pushing him toward the door and following behind. 

The blast knocked her off her feet, not having made it far enough away from the house in time to be scattered from the explosion. She was airborne for a few seconds before she landed hard on Nine, her ears ringing and she could feel the air singing with the heat the blast had produced as well as the fire that was now burning down their previous home. "Dammit, Nine!" She said once the ringing in her ears finally lessened and she could actually hear her own voice.

[loriensninth]

moments ➺ six & nine

The moment where they finally decided to move on to a new place was the always the most bittersweet one. Nine enjoyed that feeling of knowing that he was going to start fresh, but at the same time, with each life he left behind, the harder it got to move forward. And the stakes grew higher too. Moving on meant that it wasn’t safe where they were anymore. Nine’s heart ached remembering the long years he spent with Sandor in the Windy City. They had been safe there for a long time. At least, until he managed to screw everything up and get his Cépan killed. 

Trying to wave those thoughts away, he focused on the current situation. They were ready to leave. And they should probably leave now. Waiting for longer would only add up to their danger in this town. Getting up from his seat in the kitchen, Nine ventured out toward the living room—where he presumed Six to be in. Sure enough, he found her there. He took a seat on the couch, turning to face her. “You ready?” he asked, though he knew that the question was directed mostly to himself rather than to her. Warren might not be a very interesting town, but it was beginning to grow on him. He would probably miss it.

"You do the honors this time," Nine went on, gesturing toward the documents they had of their aliases—which were lying on the table. He had burnt down the last one they had in their old home, and in all truth, it wasn’t a very pleasant thing to do. He hated the fact that they had to burn down any evidence they had of themselves in order to survive. Despite already being on the run with Six for some time already for now, he couldn’t help but miss the time when it was just him and Sandor in that penthouse. He had gotten way too used to it. There was a moment back then where he thought he wouldn’t have to run ever again. Now that he was finally back to running from town to town, it was difficult to adjust.

[marenelizabeth-six]

Six moved around the room, picking up things that could track them, or identify either of them. Somehow she'd even found photographs of the two, and figured it was probably Nine's doing. She didn't much care for the things she was throwing into the center of the living room, atop a spot of gasoline that sat on the table.

She finished up throwing the items onto the surface as Nine walked in. She turned away and traveled across the room, making sure she hadn't missed anything that should be the primary thing they wanted gone. "Are you?" She replied as she came back with another document she'd missed and threw it in with the rest.

If she were completely honest she didn't truly understand why he wanted to do the burning. After all, she did control the elements and could start it instantly with an object that was easily combustible. But she let him do it nonetheless, often times because it was good for him to learn that they couldn't simply lounge around and do nothing even if they wanted to. She didn't, of course, but she included herself in nonetheless.

She put her hand up and only had to concentrate a bit before the papers burst into flames right in front of them. She watched it burn for only a few seconds before they returned to Nine, "let's go." She told him right as she started to move.