All For Love [Reth x OC x Jel]

Hunters

knock knock

Reth had gotten up to start making dinner by the time there was another knock on the door; letting him turn away from the stove for a second to open it. He'd expected to find Kanyatta and Nai'o on the otherside; but instead, he found Hissan and Tau on the front steps, and blinked when the plumehound instantly whined and tried to push past his knees, sniffing the air to follow a scent. "Oh, hey-" he blinked, stepping aside to let Tau through and watch the pup trot off, sniffing the ground until he picked up on something and followed the trail into the tearoom; no doubt looking for Azu, now that he thought about it.

"Hello.." Hissan narrowed his eyes for a moment, stepping inside as he glanced after Tau, before meeting Reth's eyes. He didnt exactly like Reth; but he couldnt pretend that seeing the chef here, taking care of his partners, did help him ease up. It hadnt fit with his mental image of the flirty, faithless playboy he'd once assumed Reth to be; but when he'd heard from his mother that Azu had gotten hurt, and then heard from Ashura that Reth had stopped working to take care of her...it made him rethink his opinion of the chef, at least a little. "We came to see Azu. And, to give her these.." he hummed, reaching into his bag and taking out a few spare sernuk and chappa steaks that he'd collected through out the day, for her. "Food for the next few days; dont burn any.."

Reth knew that Hissan didnt think much of him; but that didnt stop him from smirking a little and teasing the hunter, as he took the cuts of meat from him. "Damn, I didnt realize you had a heart~ I'll make good use of 'em." he chuckled, nodding after Tau as he turned back to the kitchen, starting to walk back to the stove. "Azu's in the tearoom; she wanted to talk to you anyway."

Hissan nodded as he turned to follow his Plumehound companion, walking into the sitting area to find him with his head in Azu's lap, getting attention from the wounded hunter. He spared a glance at Miles as he passed the chair she was sitting in; before sitting in the armchair opposite from her, and turning to Azu. "You scared him, you know. He sniffed out the spot where you got rammed; there was still blood on the ground.." he frowned, pausing to dig into his bag again and take out the bloodstained needle he'd found on the ground, near the waterfalls.. "He found this, too; want to explain to me what the fuck happened out there?"

Azu could feel Jel and Miles look at her as she sighed, reaching out to take Jel's needle back even as one hand continued to pet Tau; frowning when she caught the tailor staring at it with tears in his eyes again. "Somebody else must've spooked a sernuk, because he ran at me from the Outskirts. I hit the ground before I'd realized what happened, and when I managed to get up it was...bad enough that I had to improvise.." she sighed, clutching the needle in her fingers. "Lucky I had this damn thing, too."

Hissan stared at her for a long moment, before sighing along and nodding; before his eyes finally focused on the odd drawings on her arm. "What's that?"

"Oh, thats just a drawing Miles did; they're scars I'd had on my first body. You remember me telling you about some of them, Im sure."

"I remember you mentioning having claw marks on your forearms once, yes.." Hissan glared at her, knowing better than to let her hide details by now. "You didnt mention that there were more than that."

"Oh-ho yeah; I had a ton of them, once; it made Jel and Reth cry when she drew them all.." Azu laughed humorlessly, setting the needle aside so that she could pet Tau with both hands again; holding back a frown when she felt Jel squeeze her waist in his hand, and scooting a little closer to him so he could hold her tighter. "..I kind of just wanted to leave it all in my past life; but thats not fair to all of you.." she sighed, leaning her head against Jel's shoulder.

"Definitely helps explain why Azu is the way she is." Miles chuckled, standing up to show him the sketchbook; handing it to the Hunter and watching as even he furrowed his brow at it. "I know you're more used to scars, coming from a hunting tribe.."