Chapter 05.4: The Rustic Cafe

The Rustic Cafe was an ancient relic in Muruya. A generation of passionate mixologists kept the place in relative upkeep while maintaining the decaying image of the outside. The roof had rustic metallic steel on the outside coated with a darker, uneven colour of orange from the sand. The inside had marble pillars that stubbornly kept the rooftops up. Sandstone, a speciality in Muruya, was a cheaper and stronger building material than brick. Sandstone did have the con of weakening and leaking in the rain. Hands and hours kept the maintenance up quarterly. A matching bar, tables, and a cabinet consisted of the aforementioned material.

Volpes Vodka and Sedaluna's Absolut were some of the more expensive drinks. Queenslayer Fav was the drink that Max decided to go with that night. All it would take was a flash of his Shield in his wallet to give him unlimited drinks at this place. Thankfully, there was a Nonperson that he could rely on as a bartender tonight instead of the stuffy Native chef.

A Nonperson was a complimentary term often used for Driders in Muruya. She had a mane of red hair draping off her porcelain shoulders like fire. Freckles dot her cheeks, shoulders, and places where her hair covers. Her love for Pest was always the first thing people noticed outside of her hair. It was like her pixie cut was on steroids, gracefully covering her left breast as ink covered the right. Ink shaped like a skeleton hand was on the right side of her bare scalp. How many eyes Zorana had was a mystery to Max. The only eye she has ever revealed was the right, where one would imagine it with long lashes and green orbs. Zo's eye focused on the crowd behind Maxwell. Only her form from the hips up was visible. Her slouch and shoulders made it apparent she was sitting down while cleaning a glass. The soft chatter of people was light today. It seemed like tonight was a slow day for the bar, "A bottle of Queenslayer, a cup of olives, and another of sliced lemons."

"Fuck off, I don't give customers food--" Zorana responded immediately as if she was about to repeat something for the hundredth time. When she finally locked an eye on him, her entire frame stiffened. Then, Max took notice of her lips when she squeaked his name, "Stone! It's been nearly a year!"

Shimmering pink venom ran from the corners of her lips like saliva. Zora's full lips were coated with the substance when she licked them. When she rose, that was when Max's 'favourite' part of herself reared its head.

Zo's lower body was that of a brown recluse. There was a smooth moulding where the spider half met where one's legs would begin. Her human half took Officer Stone's mind off of it despite her lower half's skittering movements as she got his vodka. Max opened his wallet to humble-brag about his Shield. Earning a murmuring sound from the nonperson and a raised eyebrow, "Nice, so you finally serving in the M.H.P.D. How does it feel?"

He laid down an entire 'whole' for the bottle and a bowl of mixed olives/lemons. Zorana snatched up the golden, puzzle-shaped currency, a whole representing two weeks' pay in Muruya. Her mannerisms showed a not-so-subtle shift as she fervently listened to him, "It feels like I am going insane. These last two days have been..."

The words hung there in the air while Maxwell naturally did his drinking ritual: a cheek-full of olives, followed by a shot, then swallowing down the potent mixture with a lemon wedge. A sigh escaped as Stone stared into the middle distance.

"Lay it on me. Maybe I can give my two cents." Either the vodka, the sizable tip he gave her, or the touch of her natural stiletto nails on Stone's shoulder made him feel talkable--swallowing down some olives while glossing over the details of the last few days. Something was unnerving about the way that Ana listened. Surprise never gripped her even when he had mentioned the murder and drama with the Muruya Heroes, "By the void, sound like you had quite the time since joining the Force, Stone. James is probably already better and scheming your death. There is a silver lining, however."

Maxwell had yet to learn where there were any positives nor mention of James by name in his story. During his tale, he polished off half of the bottle and the last of his olives. Despite this, he remembered telling her about Kuro and the assessment test, "I am a Black Flame user, too. Do you want to know more about it?"

"I do." His answer was immediate because there was only one thing on his mind. Tomorrow, there would be a meet-up between him and a Demonkin. James, a brilliant technomancer, infamous smuggler, and masterful user of Red Flame, earned him the title of a Hero. It would take every bit of knowledge he could get and a handful of luck to help him out. Zorana whistled with her thumb and pointer finger as a Native male in a chef uniform stumbled from the kitchen. Jangling from a pocketful of pieces and parts followed the cook while he approached, eyeing Max, "Eh, got a problem, Ana?"

"Nah, but can you watch the bar for an hour or two, Toby?" The look Toby gave her was one of disgust and curiosity that made Max observe the Native features more. Logan's style was atypical of most Natives, but Toby wore his stereotypes on his sleeve. Toby's vanilla skin glowed with his all-black chef's uniform. Freshly pressed as if it had just come from the cleaners, Toby's fingers absentmindedly rubbed across the single flour stain that tarnished the outfit. His brunette locks were only shown in wisps underneath the matching black hat with a fluffy, almost muffinlike, top. Toby's eyes mirrored Maxwell's to an almost scary degree. There was no gun on his hip but instead the more traditional knife. The sheath was tough looking and blackish leather slathered with charcoal. A plastic handle wrapped around with layers of a golden cloth almost distracted from the fact that it was just an average kitchen knife. Every movement made Max wonder how rich he would be if Toby fell. A strong chin and bottom-heavy build made him have second thoughts about it, "Fine. One hour; otherwise, I am throwing you under to the Dog."

"Love you, thanks, and whatever." Zorana was already moving from the bar. The way her body moved gracefully with the random spider footfalls made Zo hard to look at. It was efficient because she stayed ahead of him. Staring at the Drider's thorax stirred the demon inside him, 'Mfph, Champ, I am gonna hit that. Get a good look at that spinneret. The forbidden fourth hole.'

"I will do no such thing, Demon." When he shifted his eyes to the back of Zorana's head, he felt something behind his eye socket, itching the nerve like pins. Kuro continued, 'One, I specifically said I will be doing the tapping. You should thank me for letting you experience this since you screwed up everything with Elise. Judging from your memories, she has the Dickends? Babes with dickends fuck the best; hope that little sow of yours won't notice.'

Again, Max became a prisoner of his own body, except that only his head became numb this time. The pinpricks disappeared with his eyes moving downward on his own. There was something erotic about a woman's exposed shoulders. A promise of supple, bare sideboob flashed him with every sway of her body. Zorana's spider half might have been doing all the work going up the stairs, but her hips moved regardless. Kuro's voice echoed in his skull while staring at the jiggling, exposed woman's rear that rested on her spider half like a centaur.

'Three, you will die without my help messing with this little cutie.'

Max gave up his futile resistance with his eyes scanning down her strangely fleshly, veiny, soft thorax that she had led to a lewd-looking opening at the end. The hole was puckered inward like a tiny orifice, except it shimmered and flexed constantly. A string of white webbing clung stubbornly to it like drool, 'Finally, you knew this girl before you married that cheating whore of a human, right? You are so weird. Why do you do things that go directly against your happiness to appear normal? Afraid someone might find out that you aren't?!'

"Hey, you listen here, Demon!"

"Yo, Stone, can you please stop that?" Max suddenly gained control over his eyes to make eye contact with Zorana. He already knew what she was going to say, but he decided to return her scowl with a coy smile, "Stop what?"

"Sexualizing me and talking to yourself. Jeez, I thought you said you would get medicine for that...." Zorana's voice trailed off for a moment as if expecting him to give her a response. She was the only one who knew about his schizophrenia before Kuro arrived in his head. Shaking his head after processing the Huntress' words, "Do you have eyes on the back of your eyes or something? Is this your room?"

Max immediately regretted asking the second question because it looked like she would give him an earnest response to the first. The doorway was covered in so much silk that only strands of the brownish sandstone underneath were visible. She gave him the side-eye as he swore he saw blinking beneath her hair. A strange feeling like rubber-wet cement torn off a stone surface echoed as Zorana's towering frame went smoothly into her room. The pinkish substance that ran off her lips began to flow when she spoke, "Yes, yes, come on in. Here, we can have some privacy. Plus, thank you for your tip, Officer Stone!"