Well, that was certainly impressive. Shane sat there sipping his drink moderately uncomfortable as he sat face to face with a lion. Well, a lions face on a man’s body, slightly more unsettling. He just sat there for a moment, admiring the mutation. He hadn’t exactly had the clearest memory of what it had been that the man could do, but this certainly brought it back. Some kind of chimera man, pretty damn terrifying, and seeing him speak like that only made it stranger.

“I have to eat whatever I shift into.”

And suddenly the entire thing becomes much more impressive with a few quick words. He ate a lion? He’d dealt with bears and wolves before, but never big cats. He’d suspected that there may have been cougars in his forest, but he’d never encountered any, and none ever challenged his right to a kill. The wolves were a different story though, causing problems for him on a fairly regular basis. He’d taken quite a few down, but usually it was easier to just stay above them in the tree line then battle it out. From what he knew of lions they didn’t operate that differently from the wolves, however they’re certainly much larger then any dog he’d ever encountered.

“Well…” he started, realizing he hadn’t said much since the transformation had begun. “I certainly can’t claim that one. How did you get it? Did you actually go to Africa?” He was quite intrigued by the image of this man wrestling a lion into submission before killing it. In his head he just assumed that a gun was the weapon of choice, but the image wasn’t going to be shaked anytime soon.

“My list will probably far less impressive now.” He took another full sized sip from his mug, starting to feel more comfortable with the giant, toothed mouth inches from his face. “I mean, I was just going to name off some of the strange things the people were wearing at the time.”

Maybe that was too much information?

>> “Well…I certainly can’t claim that one. How did you get it? Did you actually go to Africa?”[/i]

The feline head smirked, baring fangs in the process, but Vicente didn’t respond right away. Instead he cracked his neck to the side. It must have been funny to see a lion do this, but the assassin really did not care what other people think. Instead he grabbed his shot of tequila and down the burning liquid down the feline throat. Lion or man, tequila still burned and it still felt good.

He chuckled as he turned to face Shane.

“No, Bronx zoo,” he said matter of factly. “Might as well have been though. This lion was a newbie, freshly brought over and extremely territorial. He came at me with everything he hand,” Vicente laughed. “But I still managed to wrestle the big cat to the ground. I didn’t walk away without a scar or two.”

The lion laughed. Again, a very disturbing sight, but he shrugged it off. He then turned to Shane as the kid started to explain about himself…

>> “My list will probably far less impressive now…I mean, I was just going to name off some of the strange things the people were wearing at the time.”

He smirked, his predatory eyes watching him closely.

“Go ahead,” he urged him. Vicente really seemed like he wanted to make friends with the kid. In reality the more the kid talked, the more he drank. And the more he drank, the more likely he was to listen to his…proposition…

Blood had just become slightly more intimidating. Wrestling a lion and living to tell the tale would be a feat on it’s own, but winning put it just over the top in the badass category. Rex had shuffled over to their area to clear another set of glasses from the counter and was caught off guard by the lion’s head on the return trip, not noticing as he passed them the first time. His shock almost caused him to drop the glasses, but luckily the mini arms were able to catch it. Shane caught the whole thing, and chuckled to himself. He didn’t laugh like that often. He was really beginning to enjoy himself.

“Alright,” Shane started, taking another sip before he continued. “Well, I’ve figured out I can’t stomach any type of metal. Almost anything else will break down eventually, even if it doesn’t add much to the bulk. But not metal. It just won’t settle and ends ups scratching up my insides.” He paused for effect, making cutting motions across his abdomen. He found it smirk worthy, but he couldn’t really read the cat’s face to tell if Blood had. Probably best to just keep moving along, he thought to himself.

“I’ve found myself coughing up belt buckles and zippers more times then I can count. The little things, like rings or necklaces, they come up fine, but the worst one yet, well it almost killed me.” He leaned in close, as if he didn’t want to anyone to hear this part, despite being fine with anyone who cared enough to eaves drop knowing everything else. “I almost slaughtered my insides when I managed to swallow a knife.”

He leaned back again. Showing off his gut and making a circular motion around the area that he’d managed to pull it out before any real damage had been caused.

“It must have been sheathed when I first swallowed it, because it was a few hours before I started feeling the pain in my chest.” The guy had been a low life, or at least that’s how he looked. The knife justified that theory after the fact, but at the time he had just been waiting alone in an alley, Shane’s ideal hunting ground since he’d arrived in the city. The man was likely a drug dealer of some sort, and it was very likely that Shane had swallowed those up as well. It’s possible that they may have numbed the pain a bit, explaining the delay on his discovery of the offending item, but he never overdosed, so either the man wasn’t holding much, or what he had wasn’t that strong.

He was really having a hard time reading the lion’s expressions. He had no idea if his story lied up to his claims. He didn’t really care either way though. It was fun to share that with someone else. Up until that moment, there wasn’t anyone else who knew about the knife, let alone the difficulty swallowing metal.

>> “Alright…Well, I’ve figured out I can’t stomach any type of metal. Almost anything else will break down eventually, even if it doesn’t add much to the bulk. But not metal. It just won’t settle and ends ups scratching up my insides.”[/i]

Vicente smirked.

So the kid could had quite the appetite. He could swallow metal without even realizing it? He had to admit that that was quite impressive, especially since something like that would normally kill a regular person. But the fact that this kid could do something like this was impressive.

He took a mental note. Maybe he could definitely prove useful with getting rid of a body or two…

>> “I’ve found myself coughing up belt buckles and zippers more times then I can count. The little things, like rings or necklaces, they come up fine, but the worst one yet, well it almost killed me…I almost slaughtered my insides when I managed to swallow a knife.”

He arched his brow on his lion head. That…was very interesting…

>> “It must have been sheathed when I first swallowed it, because it was a few hours before I started feeling the pain in my chest.”[/color]

“And yet here you are, alive and well,” he said with a nod. “That’s very, very impressive. So, what you’ve just…eaten people whole?”

Vicente was struck with the image he had seen when he was still going to school as a kid. A teacher’s pet python used to love mice. One day he made them watch as it constricted the rodent and then slowly began to shove it down its gullet. He wondered if the same principle was used for Shane. That was definitely make an entertaining show to watch…

“So, what you’ve just…eaten people whole?”

Shane leaned in a bit. He wasn’t exactly ashamed of his habits, but he didn’t really want everyone else knowing what he did on his own time, at least not that stuff anyways. The two of them hadn’t exactly been keeping a low profile since they came in, and the lion’s head really added another level of the presence in the dim room. In the back of his mind he knew that oddities likely weren’t uncommon in a place like this, after all, the bouncer was a giant slime ball and the bartender had four arms. But even then “I eat people” weren’t exactly the words he was looking forward to splashing all over their eavesdropping ears.

“It’s not really eating.” He whispered before pausing for a moment to think about what the best word would be. “It’s more like absorbing them into my body. The mouth isn’t really necessary at all.“ He closed his mouth up leaving a smooth deadpan face with nothing more then his eye’s to emote with. A slit opened up again shortly thereafter and he started up again, still is whisper.

“I’m not a monster or anything." He was quite firm in his tone. He really wanted that point across. "I don’t just go for people. I usually stick with animals, actually. People just aren’t off the menu either”

He leaned back and looked around the room to see if anyone had been listening in. There wasn’t a single face that seemed remotely interested in what was happening at the counter though, and he relaxed in his seat. It did feel good to discuss things like that sometimes.

>> “It’s not really eating…It’s more like absorbing them into my body. The mouth isn’t really necessary at all.“[/i]

Vicente listened closely.

>> “I’m not a monster or anything…I don’t just go for people. I usually stick with animals, actually. People just aren’t off the menu either”[/i]

Huh…a monster with a conscience. That was, suffice it to say, interesting. Though he would have felt better if the kid were more a creature of unquenchable hungry, hearing the details from Shane seemed to mean that he was growing more and more comfortable with his circumstances. He did what he had to do. If he wanted to live, he had to eat. And eating, or absorbing as he called it, was an essential of life. When left with little change, what was he really supposed to do?

Vicente’s feline features smirked as he closed his eyes and began the shift back. After all, they were drawing enough attention and they didn’t need any more.

Bones painfully cracked and reshaped until finally the feline was gone and replaced with the normal head and features of a living man. He breathed heavily for a second before he managed to push past the pain. He cracked his neck to the side, grinned and sighed. It was always more comfortable to be human. Now…how to broach his proposition to Shane…

He grinned as he tapped his shotglass for another refill.

“You know, kid, if you’re still hungry, let me know. Can’t go around all skin and bones, you know?” His smirk looked almost charitable and angelic…almost…

Shane sat in silence for a moment; taking little sips of his beer as he watched Blood change his head back to a human. It really was an impressive feat. It left him feeling quite relieved about his own power though, watching the moment of pain on his face as the last few changes were taking place but hadn’t quite finished. He was quite lucky that there wasn’t any pain involved with his shifting.

His glass was aiming up to the ceiling when Blood finally finished as Shane swallowed the last few drops of his second glass of the night. A tingling feeling was beginning to spread throughout his body and he was feeling quite warm inside. He was feeling quite good. His company flipped over his cup at the bar, and Shane slid his mug over to rest it next to the smaller shot glass. He was only half paying attention to what blood was saying, but a few key words snapped him back from his little haze into reality.

“You know, kid, if you’re still hungry, let me know. Can’t go around all skin and bones, you know?”

His stomach growled with excitement, and audibly at that. There was no denying he could use any meals he could get at this point. Regardless of what he had in mind, it was probably for the best if he at least had a listen to what Blood had to offer.

“I could probably afford to put on a few pounds.” He smiled and looked to his gut, sucking it in slightly. “Why, what did you have in mind?”

The kid drained his next beer and he looked so much happier. Vicente had to smirk at this. It seemed as if the kid were ready to finally hear his proposition. Which was good because Vicente really disliked being in this bar. It just served as a good meeting point for him from time to time. But also seeing that the kid was looking like he might be a little more open to suggestion, Vicente smirked as he leaned closer. After all, such meets were supposed to be secret. Right?

>> “I could probably afford to put on a few pounds…What, what did you have in mind?”[/color]

He grinned.

“Well,” Vicente started as he looked around to make sure that Rex was busy on the other side of the bar. “I could purchase another steak sandwich for you but I doubt that Rexy has enough rancid steak back there to fully satisfy you. So…how about something…bigger?”

He relaxed back and let the words sink into the kids skull. It was only when he started to make the connections that Vicente leaned back in again to whisper.

“You seem like you’re a good kid and you have some talent about you. Why not make some money as well as get a full stomach?” it was an honest sounded proposal. “Unfortunately there are a lot of bad people in the world and I may be called upon to take care or one or two of them. Sadly it’s just so messy. I think someone like you with your talents could make an excellent name for themselves, and be fed in the process.”

Once again he sat back and let the kid think about it.

“You seem like you’re a good kid and you have some talent about you. Why not make some money as well as get a full stomach?”

Shane had a fairly large grin on his face. The man had managed to toss a complement, and offer of money and a full stomach all in two short sentences! All of those were things he could get excited about, and he was already in a pretty good mood. To say the least, Shane was interested in hearing more, but the excitement he was feeling was written all over his face.

“Unfortunately there are a lot of bad people in the world and I may be called upon to take care or one or two of them.“

This comment, however, brought him back to reality again, even if it took a second to register. There were definitely worse things he could have said. The fact that he mentioned that the people he dealt with were the “bad” people made the whole comment much easier to deal with, but his skepticism was certainly beginning to grow.

“Sadly it’s just so messy. I think someone like you with your talents could make an excellent name for themselves, and be fed in the process.”

Shane was a little dumbfounded by the words he was hearing. He knew enough about alcohol to know he was getting drunk and that that could be a factor of him not hearing correctly. He knew he was hearing the right words though. He was starting to feel at least a little uncomfortable though. He took a quick glance around the room to make sure no one had decided that now was the time to look up from their drinks.

The most surprising part, though, was that he didn’t have any kind of immediate aversion to the idea.

“What exactly would you want me to do?” he asked, seeing no harm in trying to get the whole picture. After all, it’s hard to really evaluate that sort of proposition based solely on vague comments alone.

Food, Money, Power…who would be stupid enough to turn that down? Obvious not Shane because it seemed to Vicente that each time he spoke he was reeling the boy in deeper and deeper into whatever it was that he had in mind. Shane seemed to be slightly uncomfortable, but he was willing to listen. And that was a good thing. That’s all he needed, to get in a few words and before he knew it, Shane would listen to absolutely anything he had to say.

But he needed to hook him first. Shane was nibbling at the prospect of being hired, of wanting to know exactly what his job was going to entail was an entirely different matter all together. And that was all the opening that he needed…

>> “What exactly would you want me to do?”

Vicente smirked and nodded.

“Clean up,” Vicente mutter a bit matter-of-factly. “Truthfully, my job is a bit messy. In order for me to continue I cannot always just leaves bodies behind,” he said in a low whisper and looked at Shane closely. “That’s where you can come in.” he paused as he turned to Rex and ordered his last tequila. When it finally came and Rex was gone, Vicente pulled his wallet out from his coat pocket. Easily he counted out $150 and laid them on the table for Shane to grab. “First job is a test. You do good, we can talk about giving you a more permanent job later."

Truth be told, the money was the least enticing part of the whole thing. He didn’t exactly like being in any of the types of places or situations where they would be of use to him. In fact, he really hadn’t really held the stuff since he was a kid. Looking at the pile of crinkly bills in front of him, he couldn’t even gauge if that was a sizeable sum, or something to be scoffed at.

Still, there was something that seemed unnatural about the whole thing. He’d never really eaten anything he hadn’t killed before, and he’d had at least one bad experience with doing the deed with others… watching. “First job is a test. You do good, we can talk about giving you a more permanent job later.” Those words were what worried him, the test part in particular. Any kind of pressure was not something he could deal with very well, at least in that category. Eaten had always been a very private part of his life, and not something that he was particularly interested in sharing with rest of the world beyond the knowledge that it does happen.

His stomach growled as he looked at the money. He rubbed it soothingly to try and calm it down. He was really hungry. Perhaps he could get over it just this one time. Who knows, maybe he wouldn’t pass the test and he wouldn’t need to deal with this again after the first time. What could one time hurt?

“OK,” he said looking back up to Blood. “What’s this test going to be then?”

There. Vicente had made the proposition. It was good money and the kid would get a hell of a meal out of it. Even if he did refuse, well, no harm done. The kid was going to be pretty drunk soon, especially if it was something that he didn’t do regularly, so even if he did refuse he more than likely wouldn’t even remember the proposition. So it was easy enough to let go.

But as Vicente sat back, he listened intently as Shane’s stomach suddenly let out another loud growl. It was as if his stomach were making the choice for him.

>> “OK…What’s this test going to be then?”[/color]

He grinned.

The assassin sighed as he sat up straight, adjusted his jacket briefly and then leaned in so that Shane could hear him more closely.

“I just came from a job,” he said with nod. “House down the street, red brick, with a green awning. I had to take someone out, unfortunately I didn’t have the time to…dispose of the body. If you can take care of that for me, money is yours.”

Simple request…no?

“Unfortunately I didn’t have the time to…dispose of the body. If you can take care of that for me, money is yours.”

The way he said it really did make it feel like a fairly easy job. He may have said “I left some food out on the table back at the house. It’s yours if you’re willing to head back there and get it.” But at this point, an easy meal was sounding better and better the more they talked about it.

Then he took to thinking how this could be any worse then what he did in the first place. The animals and people he’d eaten had, for the most part just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, but it’s not like they had done much to deserve their fate. If he took this route, he might actually be doing a favor for the rest of the city, cleaning up the streets, so to speak.

“That’s it, eh?” He started. “I think I could handle that.” He spoke with a level of confidence that may have been convincing to anyone who couldn’t see his face, which was shriveled and screamed second thoughts.

Really though, what’s the worst that could happen?

Vicente sat back as he let Shane think over the prospect. In all honesty it was a fairly simply job. The sad fact was that Vicente really hadn’t had time to clean up the site so someone like Shane could definitely come in handle. On top of this, because of his abilities, he could make it a fairly quick job. All he had to do was get back into the building, swallow up the body, and tada! Instant disposal. Vicente was more inclined to like the idea more and more as time passed.

He returned from this thoughts, though, when he saw boy look towards him, still patting his stomach.

>> “That’s it, eh? I think I could handle that.” [/color]

Vicente grinned.

“Very good,” he said with a respectful nod. He then pulled out his wallet. “How about, I pay the rest of our bill, and I’ll show you the house, then…you can see if you can handle it. Sound like a plan?”

“Sounds good,” Shane responded. He shifted some of his mass back towards his tiny little legs. For a while there (if you weren’t looking at his lower half) he was doing a good job hiding how thin he was. But now that that part of him was being put back to where it rightfully belongs, the weakness started to creep back onto his face. He zipped his coat up to try and conceal his body a bit better.

Blood left a few bucks on the counter for Rex and the two tossed a few passive aggressive jokes back and forth before he and Shane started heading for the door. Jells opened the door for the two of them and the cold air hit him like a punch to the face. He’d forgotten what it was like outside, and suddenly he wasn’t so eager to go back out to the real world.

Jells went for another handshake as they were exiting, but Shane slid his hands into his pockets, quietly saying, “I’m good,” as he walked out the door. He grumbled something to himself as Blood followed behind.

As the wandered down the street, the realization that he was actually going through with this began to sink in. He flipped up the collar of his jacked and pulled his hat low; he really did hate walking among people, especially when he was on his way to a murder scene. He kept reminding himself that despite how strange this was, this man deserved what he got, and there was no reason to feel guilty about benefiting from his misfortune. Still, the curiosity was getting the better of him.

“So, what did this guy do, anyways?” He asked, unsure if he should have.