Father

'I wish I had been on Mars with you.'

I raised my eyes from my crossword puzzle. My awkward conversation with Andrei had reached a point resulting in a not-at-all comfortable silence, only for him to break it in a way that almost gave me whiplash.

'Your pardon?' The werebear just stared steadily at my question. What did he mean? Was he talking about his were instincts, or just plain old human urge for violence? He hadn't really fought since his Securist days, only working as a bodyguard or bouncer.

Andrei rubbed his clean-shaved chin as he considered his next words. So young, you'd have thought if you saw him on the street. Judging by our faces alone, I could have been  his father.

'You could have died there, David.'

I scoffed. 'How?'

'The reptilians might be atheists, as far as we know, but what if they weren't? What if they had holy powers? Or allies with such powers?'

Aaaah...that was his fear? 'Then we wouldn't be talking right now. And, if they did and you were there, you could have, what, saved me? Here's a hypothesis of my own, a much more likely one: what if they had silver?'

The were smirked darkly. 'Then we wouldn't be talking right now, I suppose.'

His order-the usual, as he'd told the waiter-arrived, and I wasn't surprised so much at the size of the keg as I was at the smell.

'Honey with your drinks? Really? Way to avoid the stereotypes...'

He shrugged. 'I've already abandoned my cub,' I cringed. 'As male bears are wont to do. Why not go all the way?' Shrugging again, he knocked back enough mead to stop a human's heart.

'Andrei? If you ever call me "cub" again, I'll have to kill you, everyone who heard, and then myself. After I cut my ears off.'

'Hah! Fair enough...'

A few more minutes passed, the bar unusually quiet for a Saturday night. But then, Andrei had ordered so many rounds for everyone it was a surprise they weren't snoring.

'Do you know  why I didn't come with you to Mars?'

I looked at him sharply, wondering if the drink had got him maudlin. But his black eyes were as sharp as ever. Not that weres could get drunk, or even buzzed.

'It was a job for the dead. The people-depending what country you ask-no one would miss.'

'You really think anyone would miss  me, David?' Andrei asked drily. 'The reason I didn't-couldn't-go has little to do with what I am, and much to do with  who I am.'

Leaning back in my chair, I gestured for him to continue. Taking another swig and nodding, he did.

'When I met Simona,' we both winced at my mother's name, though, I imagined, for different reasons. 'I didn't know she was a minor. More fool me-what good are these senses if they can't help me see disasters coming? But, just as foolishly, I carried on, and only learned the truth several months into the pregnancy. Maybe her fear of what could-and did-happen made her talk.' Andrei gripped the steel tabletop, his-only human in appearance-hand crushing it like silly string. 'Damn her for lying and riling me up, and damn me for letting myelf be led on.' He lowered his head, raven hair shadowing his eyes. When he spoke, his voice was a rasping whisper, edging into a growl. His eyes were just as dark and beady as the beast's he became. 'Damn us both for not thinking ahead.'

'...What does this have to do with Mars?" I asked, not knowing how to feel about this...apology?'

Andrei snickered sardonically. ' "Comrade Dravich, a  child? How could you? The apparatus will not be stained by the memory of your reckless advances". That black mark is  never going away, David. You can be sure all my employers since then knew who they were hiring, and felt I was the right man. But ARC didn't. Indiscipline like that is not tolerated within their ranks, it seems...good for them. Once you put on that uniform, remember what it means. Don't be stupid like me.'

***

Friend (?)

In the years since the Cold Madness, I quit teaching for the second time, and the first in my unlife. Not immediately, of course. After my generation at the time graduated. I still met with Eric and Bogdan sometimes, when the vamps patrolled as Supernatural Servicemen. Romania's supernatural law enforcement organisation was relatively new and thinly-spread, so they needed all they could get. And my other students still greeted me when we crossed each other on the street, which was all I could ask for, really. At least I hadn't been one of those boring or forgettable teachers.

Because I was still in my training period, ARC didn't have me on a base all the time, so I found different ways to fill my free time. And, if I could help people both at work and outside it, and kill time while doing it...well, what more could I ask for? The pantheons were still in a cold war, glaring at every suspicious move the others made, and ARC, and its national counterparts, mostly acted to mediate skirmishes and misunderstandings.

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I sometimes played veterinary, treating supernatural animals, but mostly, I worked with my hands. Strong and untiring as I was, overseers wanted me almost as much as workers felt I was showing them up. And, since I couldn't work without getting paid or people would cry undead slavery, I had to be careful not to hog jobs.

I was moving debris, both physically and by manipulating air, while my colleagues for the day demolished an old city block straddling the edges of Bucharest's old centre and the Haunts, the quarter populated by undead. I didn't expect her there.

Mia had grown even taller since graduation-not as tall as Lucian, but I still felt short next to her. Her orange-yellow scales, usually reflective, glimmered dully under the dust covering them.

'Lucas doesn't have me at the counter everyday, David,' she grinned, tossing an I-beam into the truck like a multi-ton pillow. "Says my presence is "disruptive to a serious workplace environment".' As she quoted her boss, the zmeu mimicked chewing on a blunt, eyes narrowed in disapproval. 'And having me hang around when he's greeting people doesn't help his blood pressure, so...a girl's gotta keep herself entertained.'

With how many jokes she cracked about working the stick when he made her mop, I imagined he loved these days when she was away almost as much as he hated me for suggesting her as an employee.

'It's good to see your generation helping out,' I nodded, tossing a car-sized slab of reinforced concrete on top of the steel beam. 'Don't listen to those grumblings about apathetic youths.'

As we cleaned out the place, I mostly ignored her flirting or responded with sarcasm. Much like we used to do in class.

Unlike in class, however, there was another flirty joker here, and he thought he was hilarious to boot.

'We should clean each other later, scales,' the wereowl chuckled as he threw down a a mostly-compacted fridge down at her. 'We can wash too.'

'Oh, good idea!' Mia waved up at him with a fanged grin. 'I'm rarely covered in white stuff like this, mind. There's usually a  lot more of it...'

The steel pipe I was holding turned to metallic dust in my grip. Another worker, a purple, four-headed zmeu, saw my scowl and put a hand the size of a trashcan lid on my shoulder.

'Dude,' he whispered. 'Don't get wound up. We're all like that...'

'I know you're all like that,' I said. Dammit. 'But there's this thing called self-control, which you have and she clearly doesn't.' Then, turning to the owl, 'Piss off, hooters! Horny clown around my age leering at college girls? That's the reason everyone thinks our generation just swung it around.'

'We're just playing, strigoi,' the owl scowled, though it was hard to tell with the wide eyes and beak. 'Don't get so-'

'Wound up, yes. And you!' Mia raised an amused eyebrow as I pointed at her. 'Don't encourage such people, and don't talk like that, it's improper.' Her eyes glazed over as I got into a long rant about Aaron, Lucas and the dignity zmei could achieve, if they wanted. The owl threw his wings up at my rambling, while the purple zmeu retreated, bushy goatees swaying side to side as he shook his heads.

Mia asked me to hang around for a bit after the gig was done, saying she wanted to talk.

'You know, David, I always found it cute that you tried to raise me and the others, not just teach us. I, personally, really appreciated that. You were my first parent, in some ways,' the said as she slipped off the overalls. The original owner would likely have found them baggy, but on her, they had looked almost skintight.

I blinked as the clothes underneath were revealed. Nothing overly-exposing (shocking, for her), but...

Damn. I didn't have abs. Not that that was an excuse to notice hers.

'But,' she continued, red eyes narrowed in slight annoyance. 'I think I can choose how and who I talk with, ok? You might not have noticed, but I'm a big girl now.'

'Oh, I noticed, alright,' my dumb mouth blurted before my brain could catch up and slap it.

Mia smiled. 'And speaking of adults...I think I'm old enough now for you to consider me one in reality, not just on paper.' She had actually been an adult even in high school. Having started out school an year later than most, she'd been nearly twenty upon graduation, three years ago. The zmeu scratched at her bony, spiky crest. 'How about we clean out the air between us? Your affronted daddy instincts are kind of funny, but only up to a point.'

'It's a date.' Fuck you  again, mouth.