<sup>It wasn't a secret that Luna wasn't exactly the richest cat in the business. But, hey, what sort of waitress was? Her apartment was shabby and dimly lit, but the walls were decorated with various posters of bands and other weird, colorful abstract pieces she had made herself. There was incense burning- there was always incense burning, but tonight it was more of a deep lavender than anything. The apartment was separated into two rooms, one with the bedroom and bathroom, the other with the open kitchen and living room area. It was tiny, but the only person there was Luna, at least for the moment. Her old roommate had gotten completely freaked out after she cut herself shaving but Luna was bleeding when she got out of the shower. Needless to say, THAT relationship didn't last long. But at least Luna learned to put up her walls better.

But at this very moment she wasn't in her apartment, she was outside, leaning against the brick wall, staring into space. In a sudden swift movement, she kicked her foot off the wall and began walking, her bright blue hair standing out against the dark street. It was late, but quiet, and Luna loved taking late-night walks. Besides, she didn't have to be in work tomorrow. What time was it anyway? Her watch read 1:13 a.m. Not too bad, at least not for her.

As she walked, she turned random corners, but she wasn't quite sure where she was headed. Her hands were deep in her pockets, and she was biting her lip. She had been daydreaming so much that she didn't notice running into a figure- so hard it pushed her backwards. She blinked and looked up, then gave an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there. I didn't think anybody was out this late except for me. My fault. Uh. Wait. Actually, could you help me? Do you know what street this is?"

She blinked again, her eyes adjusting as she realized where she was. A dark alleyway, with a bit of orange light coming from the opening at least twenty feet away. Okay, a bit scary, but she didn't even notice. She just wanted to get a mental note of where she was so she wouldn't have to sleep on the street later that night.

The fact that she had ran into a stranger on a late night in a dark alleyway while she was lost should have upset her to some degree, but if it did she didn't show it, her eyes wide and her smile still bright.</sup>

Well, finally Andre and him were in a relationship. He was so happy to be with the hunter and the fact that he could warm that icy exterior that Andre always put on made him feel almost like he had accomplished something.

He still kept his job as a stripper though, Andre never really said anything about his job so he assumed that it was okay for him to keep it. It was late at night when he was finally allowed to go home, counting his earnings for the night as he walked home. He made alot of money, course he was one of the most popular stripper at the Grill, he had alot of customers and fans.

He pulled the leather jacket closer to him as the wind picked up, shrieking through the alleyway he decided to take since it was a short cut to his home. He knew that Andre would probably get mad at him for clearly taking a more dangerous route home, but it was alot quicker than going down all those streets and having to stop and wait for traffic to go by.

He came out from the other side, looking both ways and didn't see anyone and turned left. He walked down the street, his shabby apartment complex in view but stopped, taking out a pack of smokes. He placed one between his lips and was trying to light it up with his crappy lighter when something hit him hard in the back. He staggered forward some, turning around to see who it was. He stared down at the young girl who apologized and asked him what street this was on.

Um...this is 21st street.... He answered.

<sup>The figure was taking shape in her eyes now. Crazy dark hair, a leather jacket, and smelling of cigarettes. 'Cool' came to mind. He was cool, man. She ran a hand through her hair, then looking around her, jumping a bit at the semi-familiar street name. "Oh, Geez. Thanks so much. I can make it from here. Maybe. Do you think so? Do you know where the hookers and drug dealers stand? Or are they not out yet? Because I don't want to run into them. Not because they're not nice; I'm sure they're nice. Just. You know. Hookers. Unless you're one. In which case I'm sorry."

She had barely paused to take a breath, then shoved her hands further into her jacket and looked up at the stranger. "Why are you out here? Do you like taking walks, too? Have I seen you around? No, I bet not. I would've remembered. Her face lit up suddenly in a smile. "I forgot to introduce myself! Man, that's so rude. I'm sorry. I'm Luna. I bet you have a cool name. Like Ripper or Led Zepplin or something."

If there was a machine to detect excitement in a person, Luna's was off the charts. A new friend. She was making a new friend. A cool dude. And they were going to go on long walks together and smoke cigarettes. Maybe.</sup>

Damn you ask alot of questions. He said, finally getting his cigarette to light up. He inhaled deeply, exhaling through his nose and created rings with his mouth, looking at the blue haired girl. Hmmm I guess I am close to being a hooker....but I am not one.....and yeah they are out and about.....just have to know where to go to find them. He said.

He leaned against the wall now, flicking the end of his cigarette and cocked an eyebrow at the blue haired girls next questions. I'm walking home from work...I live right down the road from here.....and I guess you can say I have a cool name...its Pain. He said.

He now looked the girl over and asked. Any reason why you are out here?[/color He asked.

<sup>"Pain. Ooh. Is that your real name? That's nice. But I hope you don't get hurt a lot. I don't like that. When we become better friends you'll see." She cocked her head to the side, watching the smoke curiously. "That's a neat trick."

"I like walking at night. Isn't it nice? Oh, and I don't want to find hookers. I'm all right, thanks. Huh. Anyways, how are you almost a hooker? Do you do it only sometimes? That's okay, we can still be friends. Don't worry." She gave a toothy smile, bouncing from side to side.</sup>

Actually Pain was his legal name.....his birth name....he had never really told anyone his read name before and the only person he would tell would be Andre, but the hunter had never really questioned his unusual name so far so he had never told the other his real name. He watched the blue haired ball of energy bounce around him, it was actually kinda cute and reminded him alot of how he acted when he was around Andre.

I am a stripper....no I have never actually slept with someone for money I usually let them do it for free. He said and chuckled.

He inhaled again, making rings before putting the cigarette out. You know...its not exactly safe out here...especially for a young girl. He said.

<sup>Luna shrugged. "Fine by me. I try not to get too involved in the sexual endeavors of others. Bleh." She pursed her lips together for a minute, thoughtful. "It would be sad though; if you were. I hear some people don't want it but they just get sucked in, you know? I hope you don't get sucked in. And a stripper! Wow! I could never do that! That's so interesting! You know, I've never met a stripper before. At least not one that told me about it. My mother would kill me if she saw." She grinned again, standing on her tip-toes for a minute before dropping back down on the concrete. At the mention of danger, she shook her head.

"It's dangerous for anybody nowadays. All these creepy crawlies running about. I just hope there's not a war. I mean. You know. Gangs. And. Stuff. She forgot. She wasn't supposed to just go around blurting out that she was some sort of superhero. Some people didn't know- and, plus, some people might want to kill her just for being weird. That wouldn't be fun. Nope.</sup>

There was a time when Pain almost got sucked him, but luckily he had a certain hunter friend who helped him get out of that jam. He had dated a guy who was a complete asshole, but he feed Pain pretty little lies and even made the stripper do things that weren't necessarily legal or even morally right.

He shook his head, pushing those thoughts of the past since that was in the past and this was now...now....he was with someone that was nice to him at least. He looked at the girl now, just listening as she went on and went, she sure did talk alot and had alot to say but that wasn't really a bad thing.

Well I guess that is true. He said, flicking the now one inch cigarette with his fingers.

<sup>The girl shivered, folding her arms across her chest before involuntarily bouncing from side to side. She eyed the cigarette again. "Are those really all that special? I tried one once, but threw up everywhere. Wait. Is that too much information? We just met. Anway. It was horrible. I'm glad you like them, though."

She shook her head limply, then furrowed her eyebrows together. "And don't worry, if anybody tries to hurt us I'm sure we could take them. Right? Right. You grab the head and I'll grab the legs? Yeah. Easy-peasy." She gave a tiny laugh, her own joke making her giggle.</sup>

This girl was weird and way to preppy for his taste, but he couldn't dis her because of her personality and guess it was a good thing to have happy people in this miserable world. He shrugged his shoulders at the question. Mmm I like them just fine....they calm me down. He said.

He chuckled at her words on defending themselves. Yeah and I'll melt them with my X-ray vision. He said.

<sup>Her eyes lit up in excitement at his next words. "X-ray vision? Are you serious? That's so cool! I wish I had that! Except for the melting thing. That's not very cool. I'd feel bad if I went around melting people all the time."

She didn't ask if he was joking, just simply believed him. There were so many superhumans like her nowadays, it wouldn't surprise her if he really had superhuman x-ray vision. Still, she probably shouldn't have been so quick to believe him, but, hey, he hadn't tried to stab her yet. So he was her friend. At least in her eyes.</sup>