Divakar had a boyfriend at one point.

Neither sibling likes to talk about it.

It didn't end well.

"Stay close in here, okay?" Divakar instructed his sister. The tavern was full of people, and fortunately they managed to get here earlier then planned which meant no one had come in for drinks yet.

Nova looked around, having to turn her head in order to see everything. Divakar always had her wear her hood up so that her ears were covered whenever they went to jobs.

The tavern was a run down place, but they had come to see about job. Divakar was going to try his hand at cracking a safe for the owner of the place, and in their usual fashion they didn't ask whether or not the safe actually belonged to the guy. It was always better just to get it over with and get the heck outta town.

Nova bounced on her heels to keep herself from being bored, as Divakar talked to the owner, who notably towered over both of them, and followed when he signaled her to.

"You didn't say anything about a kid." The guy grumbled, as Divakar knelt in front of the safe.

"She won't be any trouble. Promise." Divakar said, a little annoyed. The guy had made him lose his focus on the lock. He tried to start over again.

"Whatever you say," the guy said, thankfully not breaking his concentration this time. That is, until he slammed the door.

Divakar gave the door a fiery gaze before turning back to the safe. "Can you please open that again?"

"Mmm-hmm!" Nova chirped, opening the door. She watched as some people started to enter the tavern, her ears twitching with each small click of the safe. Finally, after about 5 minutes, she heard a louder click. Curiously she moved from the door to sit and watch her brother pick the lock.

"Two more to go..." Divakar muttered.

After about fifteen minutes, he managed to get all three done, just as the owner had come back to check on them.

"About time you finished." He muttered rudely. Begrudgingly he took an envelope from his jacket.

Divakar accepted it, counting the money inside. "Hey, this isn't even half of what you offered. That's not fair!"

"Life ain't fair, kid." The guy said, walking over to the safe with a shrug. "Now get out of my tavern."

"No... no! That's not how this works! I got supplies to buy! This isn't even enough to get me to the next town over."

"Tough luck."

Nova watched as Divakar's temper flared. "Then what do I have to do to get the rest?!"

The guy looked back over his shoulder at Divakar, then back at the door where you could see people piling into the tavern.

"Well... I suppose you and the kid can work a shift for me. Seems fair enough, don't you think?" He said causally, as if he hadn't just cheated them out of money.

"But by then it'll be too late to travel! And I am not having me sister serve in a bar full of drunks!" Divakar nearly yelled.

"Fine. Just you then. She can sit behind the bar or whatever. But if she breaks anything, it comes outta what I've already given you."

"Fine!"

The guy left, muttering over moody teens. Nova watched, concerned.

Meanwhile Divakar thought over their predicament. They were only supposed to be here a day! They didn't have a camp here! And he had dealt with this guy's type of low down tricks before. There was no way they were staying the night here. No doubt the guy would try and convince them to do more free labor just to pay for spending the night. But taking the shift would mean not being able to set up camp before nightfall...

"Okay, new plan." He said, clapping his hands together and turning towards Nova. "I'm going to work this stupid shift, and you're going to just hang out for a bit, okay?"

"What about camp?" She asked, worry framing her face.

"Um.... don't worry about it! I'll figure us out something, got it?" He said, trying to be hopeful for her sake. She nodded, trying to match his confidence.

Both siblings headed out, making their way behind the bar. The oldest putting on a one of the dirty aprons Rude Jeff threw at him (Rude Jeff being the name Nova had decided to call the tavern owner).

Nova herself found an extra bar chair, spinning it slightly well she sat behind the bar counter, playing with the solitaire cards Divakar had made for them.

She had finished her fifth game when someone sat down on the other side of the counter.

"Wow! You're good at that, aren't you?"

Nova looked up. The guy who had sat down looked about Divakar's age, and had strawberry blond hair and blue eyes.

"I... I guess?" Nova said, blinking.

"Can I play?" He asked with a charming smile.

"Oh! Sure!" She said, perking up. Picking up the cards and shuffling them clumsily, she set up each of their cards. After a minute or so the guy talked again.

"So..." he said, moving a king to a free space. "How about we make this a little more fun? If you win, I'll buy you...."

He looked up at the menu, squinting. "Well, do you like soda?"

Nova nodded happily, moving one stack of cards on top of another.

"Is this kid bothering you?" Nova jumped, looking over her shoulder to see Rude Jeff, who was practically steaming. Rude Jeff turned around, shouting "hey Leopard boy! I thought I warned you to keep your sister under check!"

Nova's ears twitched at the round of laughter that came from the patrons while her brother nearly dropped a tray full of glasses.

"Oh it's no trouble at all, Henry! She's pleasant company." The redhead said sweetly. "Besides I asked to play with her."

Rude Jeff, who's name was apparently Henry (though Nova still like Rude Jeff much better), looked at them confused.

"If you say so," Henry shrugged. "If she bothers you, just get the waiter boy over here and tell him they can leave immediately."

"Awww come on now, Henry. Look at her! Do you really think such a small thing could cause any trouble?" Nova stared at the redhead curiously. Rarely was someone other then Divakar was on her side when it came to disagreements.

"Hmmph." Henry huffed, walking away.

Divakar hurried over, worry painted on his face. "Is everything alright?"

"Oh, you must be her brother!" The redhead said, his eyes shining. He held a hand out to shake. "My name is Kodi Hart. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too..." Diavakr said, shaking his hand awkwardly. "I'm Leo, this is Lynx."

Kodi smiled, "we're playing a card game. I told her if she wins, I'll buy her a soda. Is there anything she can't have?"

Divakar blinked. "Um. Well, as along as it doesn't have grapes in it..." He half muttered.

"Noted!" He said, winking at Nova. She smiled back at him. Divakar smiled a bit too, glad Nova was having fun for a change.

The older sibling went back to work, glancing at Nova every so often as her and Kodi played their cards. It was about 15 minutes before he walked over again, just as Nova won the game.

"Not bad, Kitten." Kodi hummed as Nova picked up the cards and shuffled them again. "What kind of soda do you want?"

"Ginger ale!" She said quickly, smiling. The redhead gave her an odd look, before paying for drink. Divakar shook his head, pouring her a glass before bringing it over.

"Another round?" Kodi asked. Nova nodded quickly. Divakar tried to play with her when he could, but he was often busy when they stopped places so they hadn't played anything together in a while.

The games went back and forth all evening, until Divakar was finished with the shift.

"Alright, now you have to pay me." Divakar snapped, putting the apron on the counter.

"Yeah, yeah hold your horses." Henry snapped back. He handed Divakar another envelope of money. Divakar counted it, frowning. That, plus the money he'd received before, only added up to half of what the ad promised.

"You still owe me!" He called out to the back room.

"Come back and work a shift tomorrow!" Henry yelled back.

Divakar steamed. They were supposed to be well on their way out of this town by now. Kodi observed silently. Divakar stormed over to Nova, "c'mon let's find somewhere else to stay the night." He muttered.

"You could stay at my place if you'd like." Kodi offered. Both siblings looked at him in shock.

"What's the catch?" Divakar asked suspiciously, crossing his arms.

"No catch, just wanted to help you out. The two of you seem pleasant enough company." Kodi said, smiling.

Nova looked between the two boys watching them closely. Divakar shifted on his feet. On one hand, he really needed someplace for the two of them to stay... on the other they had just met this guy.

He sighed, caving. At the very least they could go with him and Divakar could just keep watch all night while Nova slept.

"Okay, we'll come with you." Divakar agreed. Kodi smiled softly.

"Well then! Let's get going before it gets any darker out, hm?"

The redhead lead the two of them out the door, Nova staying close and behind Divakar as they followed. As long as Divakar trusted him she'd trust him, but she still felt off.

Eventually they came to an old apartment complex. On the inside their were clearly more people in other rooms. Kodi's apartment was a decent size.

"You two can sleep where you want. I'll just be on the bed." Kodi said calmly as he sat down on his bed. "Just turn the light off when you're ready to go to bed." He yawned.

Divakar watched him, squinting as he set up his and Nova's sleeping bags. It was Nova who turned off the light before they settled down to sleep. She was out in a few minutes, while Divakar willed himself to stay awake.

And so he would stay sitting there on his sleeping bag for a long while. Eventually his tiredness got the best of him and he fell asleep as well.

In the morning Divakar shot awake, looking around quickly. Nova was still sound asleep in her sleeping bag but Kodi was no where to be seen. That was, until he came through the door with a bag over his shoulder.

"Oh good morning. I was wondering when you'd wake up. I got some fruit from the market." He said sweetly, he set the bag on his bed, taking out one of the cartons of mixed fruit and bringing it over to Divakar.

"I- thanks?" Divakar said, taking the fruit.

"You're welcome! I thought you two would be hungry."

Divakar eyed him suspiciously, slowly opening the fruit before eating a strawberry. Slowly Nova got up with a yawn.

"Well good morning to you too sleeping beauty." Kodi joked, eating his own fruit.

"Who's that?" Nova asked, blinking.

"Nevermind then. Figured you were old enough to know."

"Old enough?"

"She's never watched the movie."

Nova looked between the two of them as confused as ever.

"I'm going back to bed." She complained, laying back down. The boys just chuckled at her antics.

"Thank you. For letting us spent the night." Divakar said, rubbing Nova's back.

"Hey, no big deal. I mean, if people don't stick together then we can't really expect much change in the world am I right?" Kodi asked, jokingly.

"Yeah. I guess you're right." Divakar said rubbing the back of his neck.

"Anyway, feel free to stay as long as you need. I don't mind the company." Kodi said with a shrug. "And that way you can get the money you need before you leave."

Divakar nodded. "True. I should probably get looking for another job."

"Well, if you don't feel like working for Henry again, there's another tavern on the other side of town. Nice people, you'll probably have to work for them for a while because they don't have much to pay with but at least you won't get cheated off of what your due." Kodi offered sincerely. His blue eyes glistened.

"I think I'll go there then." He said, "c'mon Nova, we gotta go."

The young Lynx grumbled, turning away from him. Kodi laughed.

"Eh, let her sleep. She'll be fine." Kodi said with a shrug. "I got to go run errands for some folks but I'll be back in two hours."

Divakar looked at Kodi, then at Nova. Well. He hadn't attacked them yet. He nodded.

"Got anything to write a note with?" Kodi handed him a sticky note and pen off his desk side table. Divakar quickly wrote down an explanation of where'd he be and then decided to stick the note to Nova's forehead.

"Ha! She'll see it for sure now."

"Eh, it might fall off."

"Well then. I'll be leaving. I'll see you when you get back." Kodi said watching Nova sleep peacefully.

"Yup. I'll see you later."

Both walked out the door before going in separate ways. Kodi smirked to himself as he walked way from the base.