Johnny was admittedly a little nervouse. Sure, El Marinero was a seedy little place owned by his close friends and he was better protected here than any other place outside of his villa or the restraunt but Dustbin was still an unknown quantity. But his friends were quite interested in making more node-bearing friendships and Johnny liked the idea that it could help business as well as possibly help a nova who got a raw-deal.

His message to Dustbin was to meet him around two am. Hopefully he had a watch. In communications he'd made it pretty clear he was destitute. So Johnny sat, nervous, sipping his pina colada and listening random creeks of the deserted bar and the occasional shuffle of his protectors.

The message said to be careful. That Mikita was. Years of living life as a criminal, bred caution and tact. Also included was a reference to 'to others' who would also be there. If things became tense or dangerous, he would kill who he could, then leave. He hope it didn't come to that. Johnny promised him a source of sustenance.

Dustbin looked at pictures of the club in Havana, where he was to meet with Johnny. With a picture and coordinates of the location, the jump there would be close. With luck, he could arrive inside the club...if not, he could find himself in the ocean a hundred miles away from the El Marinero.

He pictured himself standing in the club in Havana. From there, he moved his sight further away until he could view the street. He kept moving his vision further away; from the block, to the burough, then the city. Soon he was looking at the Western Hemisphere, with the Island of Cuba visible. It was at that point, he sent quantum surging through his node, his mind locking in on the location in his mind. In a flash, he found himself standing in a puddle of brackish water. There were strange white receptacles that he could only assume were toilets.

He quickly surveyed his surroundings and noticed he was alone. That was good. The last thing he wanted was a bunch of onlookers talking about a 'scarfed nova who appeared out of thin air'.

He opened the door exiting the bathroom. The area beyond was dark and smelled of cigar smoke. People were speaking in a strange language. Hungry and wary, Dustbin hoped this was the place.

(OOC: 8 successes on Teleport)

Johnny's eyes went wide when he saw Dustbin exit the bathroom.

Kind of hard to prepare yourself for that, he thought as he motioned to his "friend" closest to Dustbin.

Antonio Sparrezza walked forward, tamping down his nerves as he did so. This Dust character needed to be dealt with carefully and Tony was chosen to be one of Johnny's companions tonight due to his calm demenor and ability to stay cool when others would lose their composure.

"Mr. Dustbin?" he said with a genial tone, "I'm Tony. If you'd follow me I'd like to introduce you to John."

"I will follow." Dustbin said tersely with his heavy Africa accent. There were several others he could see. At least they have not tried to watch him from the shadows. He always felt it when someone watched. When someone did spy on him, it made him nervous. Eventually his nervousness changed to anger. They here to make me deal. They not watching me yet. The moment they did however, he would voice his anger and demand they satisfy his honor. You show me respect. You not spy on me! He pushed that thought from his mind before he made himself angry. It was no way to start making a deal.

He started to wonder what "E" would think about him coming to this place. She seemed to understand his needs, and he suspected she would understand. Mikita liked "E", and wondered that if it was not for his leprosy, they might become intimate. Yet, his need to annihilate and consume the bodies of people coupled with his horrific appearance left no doubt in his mind what he was: A demon. No amount of juju would alter what he was. Why do they insist on calling me a Nova? he thought, referring to the Western world's name for his abilities. "E" would not get herself involved with a demon.

He followed this 'Antonio', if that's what his real name was. Mikita suspeced he was a criminal. Criminals were liars and cheats. He used to be a liar and a cheat too. He smile briefly knowing that he was among good company. They shared a common brotherhood.

Mikit kept his hands to his side as they brought him to meet 'John'. He was always loath to shake hands..not so much for him, but because the startled reactions made for bad first impressions. He would do it if offered because it was the standard greeting. I'm hungry. His stomach growled, and is head began hurting. Having to wait for a meal made him upset. Hope he hurries up.

Johnny had been a waiter for two years and a maitre'd for two more as he'd been learning the restraunt business. He'd learn to recognize different types of customers quickly. You had your "Don't you know how important I am?" types, the "This place is expensive as hell and you better be worth every penny." and also the type he saw standing before him."I want food and I want it now!"He smiled broadly and stood up. "Hi there Dustbin, my names Johnny and I've been in the business long enough to know when I'm standing in front of a hungry person. So let's get that out of the way so we can talk without that hanging over our head." He motioned to Antonio and the quiet man quickly cleared the table Jonny had been sitting at, leaving it bare except for a few graffiti messages gouged into the surface.Johnny did a couple of deep knee bends and said, "I need to concentrate pretty heavily here, Dustbin. So I'm going to have to ask for some quiet." As he did so Antonio motioned to the handful of others in the room to shut up and keep still. Johnny squatted down at the edge of the table and laid his hands out flat upon it. His breathing deepened and his eyes closed. A sound like the hissing of sand on a windy beach arose from his skin and a mist flowed out from his fingertips.  The mist soon covered the table like a thick cloth. It thickened and started to rise up, but not evenly. It was apparent almost immedietely that a body was forming up from within the mist. It was nude and clean with the merest wisps of mist clinging to smooth skin. Johnny's breathing was labored as he stood up."Here you go Dustbin. You eat and then we can talk."

Mikita watched in envy and amusement as Johnny created an exact duplicate of himself. As promised it was not alive. It shouldn't make a difference. He knew me hungry. That good! He tried puzzling the how, but soon turned his attention to the meal in front of him.

He stood over the fresh body and then stopped. There were others around, and they meant to watch him feed. It bothered him. When he ate, he exposed his mangled face and lips, and he was not some animal to be watched.

"I not eat while people watch" He said coldly, his temper still in check. "I dust it for you. I eat when only two here. The rest leave so I eat."

To those watching it was only a slight glance from Dusbin. For Dustbin, the familiar surge of quantum made him drool. His mind now associated his 'dusting' with eating. He was like Pavlov's Dogs.

The body on the table instantly flashed into non-existence. A brief shimmer of dust motes seemed to float into a small pile. He exhaled and found himself licking his lips in anticipation.

"It done. Leave me so I can eat. When I done, you come back and we talk."

(OOC: 8 levels of Aggrivated Damage to dead body)

Leave? Why?

The request, well actually, demand, caught Johnny off guard, "Um...okay. No problem, Dustbin." He motioned to Antonio and his men towards the backroom.

"Just give a shout when you're ready.", said simply.

Hope he doesn't take off after snacking. It'd be a real shame.

That they showed him the proper respect meant that they were genuine. He might not mind feeding in front of them afterall. They had left, however, and he prepared to feed.

He had the Eufiber pull away from his face, revealing a horribly maimed visage. Lips were gone, showing rows of brown and grey teeth. The ears were nothing more that small flaps surrounding holes in this head. His facial bones jutted forth from sunken cheeks. Of his nose, all that remained was a dark hole that revealing the sinus cavities. The skin was ashen and mottled.

With hands that had only stubby fingers remaining, he started scooping the ashes into them. With a ritualistic fervor, he began to pour the ash into his cadaverous maw. When he finished, he began licking the remaining dustlike material from his fingers with an orgiastic humming.

Wiping the saliva from his hands, Dustbin looked over at Johnny. It was probably a smile, but it was hard to tell without much skin around the mouth. He replaced the headscarf.

"They can come back. I ready to talk."

When Johnny had first started interacting with his friends from New York he'd encountered a nova enforcer by the name of Scarcrow. He was a hideous mess of burnt tissue and it was only due to Johnny's interaction with this mangled being that he developed the poker face that prevented him from gagging at the sight of Dustbin shoveling human ash into his inhuman maw.

Thankfully it was over quickly.

"Okay then, Dustbin, let's talk. First off as you saw making a body requires quite a bit of effort on my part. It's not gotten any easier for me so creating an extra one every day isn't probably something I could do. How often would you need a full body? No need to discuss payment if I'm not able to even give you what you need."

Dustbin savored the ashes, as dry and tasteless as they were. While he fed, his guest showed no emotion. Yet somehow, he got the feeling that that no-one was escaped the visiual horror his feeding must instill.

"I not need one everyday. I have other places to get them too. You make only when I need."

He cocked his head to the side. "So what do I do for you to pay?" It was obvious that payment would mean some sort of service. Mikita suspected that Antonio and his men would ask him to take care of their problems in much the same way as "E" and her friends. He would get two meals out of his dealings with Johnny. This arrangement would be best for those times when he could not readily find a meal. "I eat first, then work off payment?"

Johnny was suprised. Dusty wasn't as slow on the uptake as he'd expected. He only hoped that he wasn't pure of heart because Johnny was pretty sure that Antonio's bosses weren't interested in having a boyscout on the "payroll".

"Well, first thing Dustbin, this one was on the house. A way of saying hi. You showed some trust coming to meet me here and I appreciate that," it was easy at this point, talking to Dustbin. All he had to do was be honest, which was good because Johnny wasn't the greatest liar.

"Basically you'd do stuff for Antonio over there," he motioned to the taciturn man who'd come back into the room. "To be honest, I've got no idea doing what. Antonio represents interests that are my partners. They have interest in my restraunt and when I told them about your situation they offered pony up some extra cash for me to offer you some food. In return I suspect they're going to want you to do things with your powers. What, I don't know."

He sighed, "Heck, I don't even know if it's legal," he arched an eyebrow and looked straight into Dustbin's eyes, "is that a problem? The fact that I don't know what they want?"

"No." Dustbin responded to Johnny's inquiry about illegality bothering him. "I do what they want to pay back meals."

He looked over at Antonio and gave him a knowing nodd, with an evil glint flashing in his eye. Dustbin motioned at the empty seats at the table, implying that he wanted Antonio and his 'associates' to sit and talk. He was pretty sure he knew what kind of 'work they would want him to do.

Tony looked on as the two novas spoke and he was pleased when he was called over.

He walked over and sat down, a quiet smile on his face, "Thank you for speaking to me Mr. Dustbin. I appreciate that you seem to be okay with what Johnny has said so far. I'd like to speak with you but the business of which we speak is not for Johnny's ears."

He looked over to Johnny but kept speaking to Dustbin, "Johnny is a friend of my bosses and to be brutally honest he is not a man of business. He is a restraunteur, a valued partner but one who's view of the world is a little lighter and gentler than my own. He came to us asking if there was a way to help out a nova that had unusual needs. You. He knows that we've put much money into his restraunt and are concerned about anything that would drain his ability to produce that unique meat for his tables. But he's a good man and he wants to help. So we want to help. But at this point he needs to leave."

He looks back at Dustbin directly, not blanching at the little bit of horror that peaks through the wrappings around Dustbin's head, "Can you accept this?"

He waited as Johnny left, leaving him alone with Tony. After what Tony had said about Johnny, Mikita understood that the business they were going to conduct was of a certain nature. Having Johhny witness it, would put him in a difficult and compromising position. His mind repeated an old African phrase. A child's innocence will keep the innocent safe.

"Depends." Dustbin said flatly as he turned his head slightly. "He help me. You help him. Then I help you?" He paused briefly after his question. "What 'help' you need?" He knew what they wanted him to do, he just wanted to hear it from the man's mouth.

The flat tone of voice spoke volumes so Tony didn't pull any punches, "Things more folks wouldn't want to do. Things they'd be a bit too gentle to consider."

Tony leaned back a bit, the way he spoke wasn't challenging or rude, simply matter of fact, "But I'm not stupid and I hope to god you aren't either. I'm not going to say anything right now that could be construed as conspiracy to do anything illegal. I'm not trying to entrap you and I'm not going to let myself be entrapped. So suffice it to say that if you work with us it won't be for burning trash."

So, it was on the line. Would Dustbin come aboard?

"You think you could live the kind of life I'm talking about?"

He doesn't know. Good. Mikita liked his anonymity. It is what allowed him to keep feeding. If the world knew about his past, they would hunt him for the rest of his life.

"I will help you." He said to Tony as he let part of his scarf slip on purpose to expose his maw. He continued, "The 'life' is familiar to me." He hoped that Tony understood what he was trying to tell him. "I find it 'comforting'".

He eyed the man carefully. Both of them were criminal, and they would seek advantage over eachother. He needed to clarify his offer, so there would be no misunderstanding.

"I will work when I need to eat here. I will not be part of your family. I want...independent contract status." He had already signed into an agreement with 'E' and her family. Being in two competing gangs was the fastest way to die. Hiring yourself out however, could be justified. As long as you don't betray your primary patron.

Tony smiled, this was easier than he had a chance to hope. A good opening relationship and maybe later it could be more...exclusive. And permenent. But time would tell.

He offered his hand to the nova, "You're an up front kind of guy Dustbin. I'm glad we could come to this accomodation. May good things come to both of us."

"Johnny contact you." It was a statement meant to finalize their agreement. "You contact me."

Dustbin reaches into his shirt pocket and pulls out a pen. On it, he writes a secure OpNet address where he can be contacted.

"I go now. Luck and health to you." Dustbin looked back towards where Johnny had gone. He would have wanted to bid farewell. Mikita was sure he would see him again.