More Than Human

Chapter 75: Family Introductions

"Excited for you to meet the rest of the boys." Price told them as they walked from Farah and Alex's room toward the kitchen.

"I am eager as well, Captain." Farah told him, "I know a task force like this is something you have been striving for. Are they all monsters?"

Price nodded, "You and I are the only humans around here Farah."

"Good. They are more my speed anyway." She joked.

"Right." Price furrowed his brow, glancing between her and Alex, "On that note, I should warn you both. The other boys are not as relaxed as Kyle is."

"Kyle? Relaxed?" Alex chuckled.

"Well, that's sort of what I mean." Price explained further, "They're just sort of... excitable. Particularly... one of them."

"What do you mean?" Farah asked as they approached the doorway.

"Well-."

"Soap! Give that back! Fuckin' hell!"

They entered in time to see Soap practically sprinting in circles around the kitchen island, repeatedly dodging Ghost's attempts at grabbing a dish towel from him.

"Nunca tengo estos problemas con mi pareja." Alejandro told Ghost, who shot him a fierce glare.

"A huevo!" Rudy agreed in his best impression of Ghost's horrendous pronunciation and voice.

"Not helping, Rudy!" Alejandro complained.

"Should I...?" König tried to speak up, getting interrupted.

"If ye were really upset ya would've caught me by now!" Soap teased.

"Don't try me, Sergeant." Ghost huffed.

Before this could go further, König snaked a tentacle around and snagged Soap around the waist and lifted him up and off the ground. He yelped and wiggled around in his grasp. Ghost walked up and snatched the towel from his hand.

"Och! No fair! Teamin' up on a poor defenseless soul such as myself! I thought we were friends, König." He whined getting lowered to the floor.

"We are friends." König assured, patting his head with the still near tentacle, "I am just more afraid of the Lieutenant than I am of you."

"And calling yourself defenseless might just be the biggest lie you've ever told, Johnny." Ghost rolled his eyes.

Price cleared his throat loudly, getting them all to look in his direction. Noticing the two newcomers.

"Boys." He said, a little sternly, "This is Farah and Alex. They're visiting for a bit."

All of the men in the room straightened up a bit, trying to seem like the sophisticated special operations task force that they were supposed to be.

Soap, ever the confident one, stepped forward first and held out a hand, "Sergeant MacTavish. Call me Soap!"

Farah snorted and raised a brow, accepting the hand shake, Alex following after her.

"Never met a harpy before!" Soap grinned.

"Never met a Scot before." Alex teased back, "The most formidable monster of them all."

"Oh, I like him." Soap's smile widened.

"You'll have to excuse Soap." Price told them, "Werewolves his age, fully grown, but still practically puppies."

"Dinnae listen to him. I'm very mature." He winked at Farah.

Before anyone could argue for or against that sentiment, Simon came up behind him and placed a firm hand on his shoulder, reaching out his other around him for introduction.

"Ghost."

"Could have guessed that one." Alex commented.

Farah glanced between him and Soap, "You keep this one in line, Lieutenant?"

"When I can." Ghost told her with a nod.

The pair stepped aside and the Vaqueros were next.

"Colonel Alejandro Vargas, a pleasure to meet you and your bird." He teased looking between her and Alex. She smiled, clearly pleased that Alex had been recognized as hers."

She gestured with her chin toward Rudy, "This one yours?"

Alejandro grinned, always excited when Rudy was the topic of conversation, "Sí. This is Sergeant Major Rodolfo Parra, my second in command."

Rudy blushed a bit, skin shifting colors slightly. Farah and Alex looked toward Price for guidance.

"Ghost is a vampire, Alejandro is a chupacabra, and Rudy is a siren." He explained.

Both their eyes widened at that.

"A chupacabra and a siren? What an intriguing pair." Farah commented.

"It is a story that I am sure you will hear during your stay." Alejandro assured, taking ahold of Rudy's hand and pressing a kiss to his knuckles.

The final individual was the hulking mass in the hood. After a glance at Price and an encouraging nod he stepped forward, "I am König." He spoke a little quietly.

Introductions were the worst part of meeting new people. He would have just preferred they skipped that step and pretended that they had known each other for years.

He snaked out a couple of tentacles, one for each newcomer to shake.

Price jumped in to help ease some of the first meeting awkwardness, "With his old task force, König helped rescue some of your people from a trafficking ring in Berlin, Farah."

She raised an eyebrow, "Really? Thank you for your assistance."

He shrugged, "I like to help. The mask scared them and I felt quite bad about it."

"You must be quite the asset in the field." Alex observed, "A kraken? With all these arms? An impressive battering ram."

The entire room mumbled their agreement. Ghost and Price had seen his work in action. König was a terrifying man to have as an enemy.

He looked a little sheepish and kicked his boot at the tile slightly, "Ja. But I always wanted to be a sniper."

A hush fell over the room.

"I didnae know that!" Soap said after a moment, "Did anyone else know that?"

A chorus of shaking heads.

"But, König..." Rudy spoke, "you're so..."

"Big?" König looked at him with slightly miserable eyes behind the hood, "I know, Kleiner Fisch. It is my greatest asset and my mightiest curse."

A few tentacles emerged from beneath his clothes and flopped onto the floor.

"You should have said something sooner." Price chuckled, "Simon is quite large and he gets along just fine. Maybe he can show you a few tricks and I'll give you some opportunities on future missions."

König perked up at that, "Really, Captain?"

Farah and Alex both chuckled.

"Interesting little group you have here, Sir." Alex commented.

"You have no idea, Son."