Hugo Mendoza

“P-Pikachu?” She frowned as she looked up, suddenly becoming confused because the conversation suddenly took a turn with the mention of the clouds. Now Nikita was figuring out just which one he was describing. “I… d-don’t see it.. S-Sorry, I .. which one?” Hopefully she didn’t annoy the other by not spotting said cloud right away. “Um.. T-this one.” She showed the cover of her book to him. “It’s.. it’s i-interesting, at least I.. I think it is.. But I’m told that n-not many people enjoy it…”

“Yeah!” he said excitedly. “Not there.” Hugo said before taking hold of her by both her arms and turning her to one side before pointing up at the cloud again. “There. The resemblance is uncanny!” He merely glanced at the book before grinning at her. “I mean, if you like it, that’s what matters, right?”

Lucy couldn’t help but smile at how cheerful and eager, it was a nice change from the usual no-time-to-chat mood most people seemed to be in. She knew she’d seen him before, when she brought her cat in for check ups and shots, much to the cat’s dismay, but she didn’t think she’d forget his smile. Now, despite how busy she had been she had decided to take the time to make treats for the animals here, she did it at least once a month but usually he wasn’t the one here when she dropped them off. “Ah, no,” Lucy didn’t sit he gestured to the seats, following him “Actually I brought treats for the animals, and for you guys.” Smiling more, she watched him set the box down, laughing a little at his adoption question “No, no, I have a cat who’s more than enough trouble.”

His smile only widened when she said that she had brought over treats for the animals and the staff. “Oh my God, you’re Lucy.” he said happily. “So nice to meet you. Thank you so much, you really didn't have to, you know. But the chocolate chip cookies which you brought last month were really to die for. Do you work at a store or something? Because I would visit everyday and buy those cookies.” He chuckled a little when she mentioned her cat. “If you ever feel like adding to the trouble, we have a few new kittens we need homes. You could also tell your friends.”

“Uh…” Russell murmured out with a slight shrug, taking a quick glance around the place. “Surely they have records on that sort of thing?” He asked back before giving off a small barking laugh. “Not monsters is always a good start. But, just okay? Are you sure? I like to think I’m a little better than just okay.”

Emma was too excited about the rock to let Hugo finish with what he was starting to say. This was too rare of a moment for it to be interrupt by another topic. They had time to talk about it later if it was that important. She was happy he saw it too, going to place it in her bag before stopping at his question. This topic hadn’t come up with learning things about her new life, but she didn’t see why not either. “We should be able to do what we love, and if that means collecting rocks than why should it matter? I’m going to do it anyways because I already have a small collection of rocks that I like.”

Carolina leaned back against the wall behind her bed with a small sigh. She had cleaned out her closet for the millionth time. Washed the kitchen counters, tried to find a series to watch by herself, called Nate just to talk, and now she was out of excuses to stay home. Which wasn’t good. Something she was trying to be at the moment. Good and stable and.. more normal maybe? Pressing her lips together the vampire looked longingly at this incredibly cute dress she had found the other day which hung on her bedroom closet door. It was the perfect one for a night out dancing. But a night out never turned into ‘just a night out’. You could bet that she would end up doing something else she shouldn’t, pissing someone off and creating chaos or just plain get ensnared by someone to participate in something trouble-like. A temptation began to tug at her, Lina slipped off her current outfit to put the dress on, studying herself in the mirror as she lifted her hair up to see if a ponytail would be better or not. In the middle of the process, there was a knock on the door. Padding out of her room, barefooted, Carolina opened the door. Not surprisingly, the sight of a distressed Hugo had the same effect on her as always, as she steeled herself for the gut punch of guilt, her eyes going wide and concerned by default. “Of course hon come, come. Doesn’t matter what time it is.” She said, taking both his hands in hers as she gently led him inside, the door shutting on its own behind them. “Can’t sleep?” Lina guessed, her mind racing at top speed in order to come up with anything that might make him feel better. 

He was glad when she asked him to get inside, not that she had ever refused him before. But somehow he always felt like he was troubling her at the wrong times and this time was no different. “Yeah..” he said slowly when she asked if he could not sleep. “It’s the same thing again and again. Same dreams. My mom and my dad and blood and.. I can’t deal with it.” he said in a pained voice. The blood in his hands, always coming back to haunt him. And then imagines of him chasing after his sister but atleast, thanks to Alister, he hadn’t ended up killing her too. He cursed the vampire who turned him every time he was reminded so vividly of what he had done the night he had turned. It was a few seconds before he finally took in the girl’s appearance. His eyes widened slightly seeing what she was wearing. She looked incredibly pretty, she always did of course, but this was more so that usual. It was a good thing that he couldn't blush or he would likely have turned a bright shade of pink -- one of the very many perks of being a vampire. But seeing her attire, he wondered if despite her insisting that it didn’t matter what time it is, he had interrupted her evening.  “Were you going somewhere? Its okay if you are, I can go back home. Come back and talk to you tomorrow or something. The walk was good for me, I sort of already feel better, you know? I don't want to interrupt -- uh -- anything.” He had to force himself to stop his rambling. “I just mean, if you are busy I get it. I can go.”

“I.. I should have been looking where I was going too. I’m .. i’m sorry. Really, it’s ..it’s my fault. I.. Was reading the book and.. I shoudn’t have b-but I was and didn’t s-see that you were t-there so I’m sorry.. Really. I.. I’m okay.. A-are you?” She rambled on.

“I am fine, really, it’s totally okay.’ he insisted. “But look, that cloud really looks like pikachu, don’t you think? Even the tail and all!” he said looking up and getting distracted all over again. “Um, sorry -- what book is that?” he asked when his concentration went back to the girl again.

“I don’t know…” she shrugged, the smile quickly becoming a grin. ”I’m not a mermaid.” To think that fishes were a lot more powerful than her even in that sense truly made her laugh, making her wonder what was even the point of having powers in the first place. “I don’t know about you, but I’d like to be a mermaid.”

“I would like to be one too.” he chuckled. “Well, not a mermaid but.. merboy? merman? I guess whatever they call them -- but I’ll pass if the price is my voice or something. I cannot imagine a life without being able to talk.” He shuddered a little at the thought.

Mariana knew she was right, especially when thinking about her co-worker and friend wearing what he had pulled out to take a look at. She only shrugged, adding, “I know.” Her voice was matter-of-factly, as she took a look over the clothes on the rack before she saw Hugo grab another top that looked a whole lot better than the first. “Well, the color looks a lot better already.” She stated while taking a closer inspection at the top, placing her hand on the material to feel the texture of it. She was proud that he was learning what looked good and what didn’t look good, but it still was a work in progress. “I think this could suit you. Where were you thinking of wearing it?” She asked almost condescendingly so. 

“Thanks.” A wide smile grew on his lips when she approved of the shirt he had picked out. He trusted her advice. If she said it suited him, it must -- even if he wasn’t all that sure about it. “For work, or you know, college.” he said looking at the price tag to make sure it wasn’t all too expensive. He began to look for another shirt -- he need a few new ones, his old ones were starting to get.. well, old. And someone at college had already pointed out that he wore the same clothes over and over again. He didn't see a problem in that but maybe a few new shirts wouldn't hurt. “How about this?”

Russell gave another glance over the young man with a short chuckle, giving him a one off shrug. “I’m never opposed to double checking.” It wasn’t that he cared too much about the building, but the people were something he liked to think he cared about from time to time. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt. If we can prevent future deaths, then that would make us good people, huh?”

Hugo smiled brightly. “How do we do that? How do we double check?” he wondered out loud. “Well, I think if we do what we can to prevent deaths, it just makes us.. people? I guess? And not monsters. Good people are those who actually go out of their way to help those in need, you know. We are okay, I guess. We are okay people, we do what we can.”

Elijah was exhausted. All he wanted to do was go to his room, lay down, and cry until he fell asleep. He got back home to see that his sister and mother weren’t home yet, so he knew that he wouldn’t have any disturbances from them… but as he approached his door, he spotted Hugo with Mister Whiskers. Immediately, the blond paused and swallowed hard, trying to make himself appear more normal, instead of the mess of a person he felt like. “Hey, Hugo.” He said from behind him, trying to force a small smile. “What’s up?”

The door had barely even opened and Hugo had begun to ramble without so much as a hello to Elijah. Mister Whiskers walked into Eli’s apartment like he owned the place. “We were just going back home but you know how Whiz gets, he really wanted to see you. And if I say no he would scratch me to --” His chattering stopped when his eyes fell on the other, the grin on his face fading away. He looked a mess, his eyes were puffy and red and it was easy for Hugo to say that he was not his usual cheerful self. “Eli -- what’s going on with you, are you alright?” he asked before realizing that it was such a stupid question really. He was obviously not alright. “Hey -- it’s going to be okay.” he said before throwing his arms around the other and pulling him into  a hug.