Apollo smiled as he walked through the club district. It'd been a good night as far as he was concerned. $200 in tips down the strap and not a single hit and run. Even better, it was early in the night, only about 23:00 . The timing was perfect. If he ran he could make it to mass at Saint Mary's of the Seven Sufferings.

Unfortunately, the dingo was too caught up in his own mind, he walked directly into a person wearing a large purple hoody. Looking down and offering his hand he apologized, "Je m'excuse... Excuse me... I'm sorry... Let me help you up."

To be honest, Bryson had been paying no attention whatsoever so great his rush to get out of the area he was in. Next time he got the urge to leave where was familiar he would remember to buy a map. He landed on the ground hard enough to knock the air out of him. He reovered in time to hear as the male apologized and offered him a hand up. Bryson didn't feel in a trusting enough mood so he pulled himself to his feet and brushed himself off. "It's okay," he said quickly as he tried to reassure the other male without being within arm's reach.

Apollo blinked at the man in front of him. He'd refused a hand up and recoiled swiftly. He also looks more than a little confused. The canide smiled once more apologetically, "Really, it's my fault. I wasn't watching where I was going. You, however, appear to be more than a little lost. Can I give you directions to make up for my lack of atention?"

Bryson immediately felt guilty. Really, the man had only been trying to help him after running into him. "I...Well, I don't know where I am," he admitted sheepishly, "I just...Well, I was walking and I got lost. I think that is what I get for not buying a map first thing." He paused a moment and sighed. "To be honest, I don't know WHERE I am trying to get to but..." he looked around with more than a bit of trepidation, "Here is definitely not it."

The comment from the young human brought a very doglike sound of wonder from the older man. "Well, I think it's obvious you've found your way into the high end entertainment area. I just came from Blood Dolls. That building is Noaptea Romana and beside it Countdown to Ruin. Most of the businesses in this part of town are owned by either the Master of the City or some form of furry. We call this the fang district since there's always a hungry vampire waiting to eat you."

The dingo waited for the obvious newcomer to digest the information. Smiling he said, "If you want sanctuary and don't mind being around the oddest set of people ever, you'll be wanting Saint Mary's of Grace."

Bryson flinched at the mention of hungry vampires and made a mental note to NEVER be on this street alone at night. Hearing that there was sanctuary offered at a church, he halts. "I don't know," he said, "I don't have very good opinions of churches. My father is a preacher and...well, his god and I don't see eye to eye on a lot of things. I doubt I would be welcome."

Apollo smiled at the others aversion to vampires. "The vampires really aren't so bad... Some of them are a *wild* ride to let feed off you. As for the church, believe my, I understand. Mary of Grace is the only church in town that I can go to openly. Father MacNamara is the only priest in town who'll give communion to lycantrhopes, homosexuals, etc. Of course, to me, that means he's the better christian."

Bryson looked at him curiously. "So he doesn't, at least openly, condemn homosexuals?" he asked. It was not what he had expected to hear. He had to admit curiousity. While his father had made it quite clear that what he was, that who he was made God sick to his stomach, he often had to wonder if that was really the truth.

Apollo smiled, "I don't know that he jumps for joy at two guys together, but most of the people he sees have far worse problems. Turning furry once a month and wanting to eat people is worse than loving them. At least that's the prevailing thought."

Bryson managed a slightly bitter smile. "Tell that to my father. At least he said they didn't have a choice in turning into an animal. Someone who was gay however..." He stopped, "I am sorry, I am sure you don't want to hear me whine." He sighed and weighed his two options. He could just stay lost and possibly end up dinner or he could take his chances and go to a church for the first time in almost three years. "I think I will try to go to Mary of Grace. As long as I don't end up being smitted with l ightning, I'll be fine," he finally replied trying to sound lighter than he felt.

Apollo's beat growled inwardly at the boy'd father, who he didn't know from Adam. He clamped it down. Somehow, he didn't think emitting growls and snarling would make the red-head any more comfortable. He settled instead for a mild joke, "Dude, I just finished taking off my clothes in front of a bunch of guys so they could stuff money down my jock strap. If I dont burst into flames entering, I think you'll be fine."

He turned towards the proper section and began to walk slowly, "We'll probably miss midnight mass, but that's OK. The church is always open. It's run by a werewolf after all."

Bryson stared at Apollo's back as the male walked unable to come up with a response to the male's comment other than choking sounds which, probably were only amusing him. He could believe that the leader of the church was a werewolf but the male's profession? He clammped his mouth shut to refrain from sounding like any more of an idiot.

Apollo, deeply amused at the young man's attempts at communication threw a small lilt into his walk and a gentle sway, just for good effect. Plus it helped his inner beast calm down a bit instead of wanting to harm people. He looked over his shoulder, "Once you can breath again, are you coming or should I paint a neon sign over your head saying 'free food'?"

Bryson managed to find his voice. "I am following you," he muttered, "Though at this point, I might be better off if I went and found the paint myself and did the sign myself. I might have a better sense of color then you do peripheral vision." He knew he was being petulant but he figured that it was obvious that he was going with him. It didn't help that he felt edgy and uncomfortable on the street regardless of time. It was made more apparant by the fact he paled everytime they crossed an alleyway.

Apollo decided to let discretion be the better part of valor and deftly ignored the comment about his vision. The other was entirely too edgy and jumpy for his own good. Sighing, Apollo muttered inwardly, "God grant me the grace.."

Of course, the dingo did have some of his own power to work with. He slowed down to walk beside Bryson and let his energy flicker out of himself and touch the human in a cooling wave. "You've no need to worry, oetit humaine... The retribution would be horrific if there were any problems on this street, and its unthinkable inside the sanctuary. Now, let's get going before I throw you over my shoulder so we can get there before morning."

Bryson felt the calming waves flood through him and feels himself relax. His own powers suddenly flare to life and magnify it. He heard the male's comment about throwing him over his shoulder and blushed grateful for his hoody covering his face. "Okay," he whispered, "I just...alleys make me nervous." Oh, they made him more than nervous but he doubted the male needed that much information.

Apollo looked at the other man. Perhaps he'd ask another time. For the moment, that the other was relaxing was good, and he'd have to be content there. However, Bryson's reaction caused him to laugh and lean in close enough to whisper, "You're blushing. You do realize, that hoodie isn't hiding anything from, oh, 80% of the people on this street."

Satisfied that he'd probably made the other even more self-concous, he put an arm around the other's shoudler tentatively and started steering.

It took only a few seconds for the male's words to sink in and then all his comments before hand made perfect sense. "Oh, god," he groaned, "How I missed that..." His face was scarlet now and he had the impression that some divine being watched and chuckled as he made an immense fool of himself. He would have stopped in the middle of the street, however, Apollo's grip made it impossible so he just let the male steer him and decided to refrain from trying to make himself look like an even bigger idiot.

Apollo laughed at the younger one as they started leaving the club area, "Dont worry. You're being ignored by the vast majority of people here. I'm just teasing you. I have to ask, why did you come to Miami? If you were trying to get lost, you picked the wrong city."

Bryson siighed softly before he responded, "I wanted to get as far away from my hometown as I could with what money I had. I couldn't stand being there...I couldn't get myself to heal being around what was hurting me most. I am just not sure that coming here was a great idea either." He paused, "I do realize that I am probably drawing more attention to myself then I am actually trying to but...it's been a security blanket for a while so I just wear the hoody. I guess it has something to do with living in an area that had little to do with the magical and preternatrual community. Those without gifts are prone to leave me alone because they can't sense what I can do." He shook his head. "I think I am going to need to find a half-decent therapist soon before I manage to offend almost everyone I meet. I don't mean to...I just...I have a phobia that is not going away easily. I tried for two years to get help but it was impossible to talk to people who agreed with my father's view on homosexuality. How the hell am I supposed to heal when I get told that the reason I was gang-raped was because God wanted to punish me for being gay?" He knew he was revealing far more than he should and probably far more than Apollow wanted to hear but once he got started it was hard to stop.

Apollo blnked rapidly at the man walking with him. He hadn't really expected to hear that much out of him, especially considering they'd just met less than 15 minutes prior. Looking at him, Apollo felt the urge to reach out and help him like one would a child. Before he realized it, he'd reached out and touched the other man tentatively, "Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up anything unpleasant."

Bryson tensed at the touch but then relaxed. "No, I just...I have a lot of anger to work through and when someone gets me started..." He sighed. "I am sorry, you probably didn't need to hear most of that. You aren't responsible for my state of mind....nor is my wellbeing really your concern." He pushed his hands into his pockets to refrain from fiddling with his hair, a nervous tic that was more bothersome than helpful. "I am grateful for your company though," he added as an afterthought, "I am not sure I would have wanted to be lost there after dark...though I make a frightfully pathetic target when I am scared."

The Dingo pondered for a moment at the human. Looking back later, he might wodner if his words were the right ones, but hey, naivite has its uses. He murmered to Bryson, "That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it."

With that he led Bryson the last few steps out of the clubs, "I cannot claim to inherit paradise if I ignore the suffering of humanity. For tonight, you will rest in sanctuary."

OOC: I'll leave it up to you to reply here or whether we should move to the church