Alpha Project 3

Alpha Project 3; Dinner

Cap walked out of the shower, dressed once more in the black clothes he’d found himself in when he woke up. He followed his nose and walked into a modest little kitchen. Draco was piling food onto plates and lining them up on the counter.
“Hey, that was quick.” He laughed, noticing the look on Cap’s face. “Hungry?”
“Famished,” Cap admitted, “I missed real food like this...”
“I bet you did, locked away behind bars.” Draco laughed, “Grab a plate and follow me. We’ll let the vultures take their own food.” He picked up a plate piled high with rice and vegetables. It was all covered in an orange sauce. Cap took a deep breath, smelling the home cooked food as though he were a dying man taking his last breath. He quickly picked up a plate and followed Draco out of the room.
The room into which Draco had walked was a dining room, with a complete table set out. There were eleven free spaces, but Draco was already sitting at the head of the table.
“Sit here, on my left.” Draco nodded to a seat, “Let everyone else come in and then I’ll introduce you to them all.”
One by one the other members of the house walked into the room, each holding a plate of food. They each seemed intrigued by Cap’s presence.
“Right, guys,” Draco began, “You all know we’ve been planning on picking up another recruit for ages, yeah?”
“Yeah.” came the chorus of reply.
“Well, this is him.”
“No s**t.” Fox muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear. There were a few muffled laughs and one snort.
“Fox, behave. Anyway, this is Cap. He’s twenty three so he’s like your little brother or something. You gotta look after him. He’s not allowed to die any time soon.”
Cap looked down at his food, he was hungry but there was something about being stared at that got to him. He didn’t like the way they were all inquiring, yet friendly. He preferred the cold hatred he’d gotten in prison. “Hey.”
“Anyway, Cap, these are the guys.” Draco pointed his fork at the men sitting around the table, “Dev, Mickey, Samson, Ricco, Tyler, Fox, Ling, Robert, Frankie, and last but not least Kiba.”
Dev was a few years older than Cap, late twenties to early thirties. He was short, Indian and wore thick rimmed glasses pushed as far up his nose as he could get them. With a polite nod, he went back to eating. His skin was a dark brown, his hair was black and his teeth were dazzlingly white.
Mickey was taller than Dev, although not as tall as Cap. He was early twenties, wearing a black vest instead of the uniform black shirt everyone else wore. Mickey was muscled, but no more so than any of the other men around the table; his brown skin shone with sweat. He smiled warmly at Cap, his eyes were almost black and his loose afro was chocolate brown.
Samson was tall and slim. He was muscled, that Cap could tell because his shirt was stretched across his chest, tight around his chest and biceps. He had long wavy black hair that made him look like the perfect metal head. His nose was hooked and he wore an eye patch. His overall look reminded Cap of Captain Hook from his favourite childhood story, Peter Pan. Cap couldn’t tell his age, but he guessed early thirties.
Ricco was tattooed with a tribal pattern that crept up his neck and down his arms. His pale white skin made the black markings stand out. He was the only other man with blonde hair, although his was a near platinum white. His eyes were soft blue and friendly. He grinned at Cap and went back to eating.
Tyler was skinny, really skinny. He looked like a baby compared to everyone else. He was at least half the size of Ricco and probably a third of the size of Fox, who was sat next to him. He looked tanned, like he’d just come back from a holiday, and his black hair was styled into a short Mohawk. He had a lip ring and a nose piercing, both were silver. It looked like he used to have an eyebrow piercing but had let it close up, there were faint scars on his skin.
Fox still looked like a caveman on drugs; a ginger caveman, but a caveman none the less. His eyes were dark and brown. His thick beard was neater than earlier, but still a tangled mess. He looked like he’d just crawled out from under a rock. He was sat at the foot of the table, directly opposite Draco. Cap guessed he was second in command.
Ling didn’t look Chinese, but the tattoo on his wrist said otherwise. ‘Home is forever China’. He wore wristbands on the other arm, various political slogans were shouted out from them. Ling’s hair was cut in a military style, like Draco’s. It made his face look wider than it probably was. He wasn’t attractive; scars covered his face and neck and he had a pencil moustache. Cap figured he was probably an expert in some obscure language and fighting style, he had probably trained with monks and could take a kick to the balls with no pain.
Robert was stereotypical geek. Brown hair swept back, perfectly manicured hands and spectacles. He peered over the top of them and smiled politely, his eyes were light brown. He had the kind of face you would forget while you were looking at it, perfectly ordinary in every way. He was slim rather than muscled and his features were the most normal of anyone in the room. He bowed his head and smiled slightly, his glasses glinting in the light.
Frankie was probably the oldest of the men in the room. He was easily the upper end of fifty, short and slightly wrinkled. His hair was grey and his eyes were dull. He looked as though he’d seen too much in his life. He, if Cap was honest, was slightly scary. The others seemed to ignore his presence completely. He didn’t bother looking at the new recruit; he just kept eating his meal.
Kiba was the closest to Cap’s age, twenty five or twenty six. He was shorter than Cap, if only slightly. He was grinning, ear to ear.
“Nice to meet someone else younger than Dicky.” He nudged Cap. “If you wanna play footie or something, I’m always up for a game.”
“I don’t play football,” Cap muttered, “but thanks.”
“Don’t pla- You’re just like the rest of them.” Kiba sighed. “Always on about how football takes your concentration from your missions and... Yeah, it’s not fair!”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be, Cap. He’s just complaining.” Draco smiled.
“Cap. Where’d that come from?” Kiba asked. “I’m Kiba ‘cause it’s what my childhood dog was called. Fox is Fox ‘cause, well, his hair.”
“And my sly, cunning personality.” Fox laughed
“Sure.” Draco grinned, “We’ll go with that.”
“Dray’s called Draco ‘cause... This is funny, well, his first words when he woke up were ‘Draco Malfoy’. He says it’s because he was reading the Harry Potter books before he got drugged but I think it’s because he-”
“That’s enough.” Draco put his fork down. “Stop talking Kee.”
“Sorry, Dray.”
Cap shifted in his seat. The whole joking, friendly feel of these men made him feel uncomfortable but he ached to belong in the banter. The rest of the meal passed with small jibes between Kiba and Draco. Everyone enjoyed the little quips.

Reviews

[Amata Luna]

It feels like sharing a meal with strangers is somewhat "strange" and uncomfortable really. I can just imagine Cap in the middle of those men looking at him with that friendly eye. This is another cliff-hanger and a very good chapter. Now to ask, what happens next?