A Neighborhood Affair

[kewefefe]

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Cassey held the same curiosity about shifting Abram held. She wanted to ask what the process was for transforming into a wolf, but wasn’t sure how to ask her question. What if it were some secret of the trade? You tell, you die sort of deal. Cassey most certainly did not want to die nor did she want to be a murderer. So it was best to leave such questions off of the questions list until the two grew closer. ”Hm?” she asked somewhat daze by her own confusion on whether she should ask her question or not. Her eyes moved towards her cat as she gave a sheepishly laugh. ”Enzo. He’s name is Enzo.” she said happily. What an odd name for a cat indeed. It was strong, human almost. Which only made sense seeing as who the cat really was. ”Well this cat is special.” she explained when Abram claimed that he didn’t know cats could be perverts. ”And haven’t you heard? Any animal or creature can be a pervert. They call them hornDOGS do they not?” she teased. Cassey had to hold back a laugh when Abram scolded her teacher. She knew her laughs would get her yelled at later, but it was humorous to think that this werewolf was yelling at one of the most dignified professors in entire magical realm.

It wasn’t long before the two met up with the eccentric chef with a love for all things strange. The woman seemed all too pleased to be in the presence of a werewolf. It was a lovely change of pace from the usual stiff deadbeat vampires. ”Knowing those friendly bats of ours they will give you at least a week before biting into that lovely little neck of yours.” she winked back even bumping her hip into his as she spoke. The grogon couldn’t help but laugh even harder when the dog claimed he was going to try to woo the witch away from the vampire. It was cute to say the least. Besides, the grogon saw Cassey as a sort of younger sister and Cassey’s infatuation with a certain vampire was not healthy. ”Oh in that case, I think you’ll be the best of friends.” she teased back causing a confused look to surface on Cassey’s face.

”Woo? Who are you wooing? Why are you wooing someone?” she questioned her eyebrows frowning as she spoke. Cassey never did like being outside of whatever circle of friendship there may have been. The clearly older grogon woman laughed as she watched the little witch fret over what they were discussing. ”What about your girlfriend? Are you trying to woo her? Are you guys in a fight?” she asked, but before she could get her answer, the chef pushed her along.

”Careful with her Mr. Wolf.” she waved off causing Cassey to hold an even more confused expression. Who in the world were they even talking about? Cassey shook the feeling away as she pulled the wolf along with her. There was no use in fretting too much over it now right? Right. Determination was Cassey’s codename. She had to stay focused and finish training her new werewolf buddy.

That was easier said then done because almost as soon as that lovely couple saw Abram, all hell broke loose. Luckily, Enzo was there to ease the tension. Not without easing his own tension as a sort of reward for his heroism. It was right after Cassey had slammed the book on top of her cat when Abram walked in. The girl’s blushing cheeks were unmistakable as she gave the werewolf an innocent look. ”You have no idea…” she glared at the cat when Abram stated that Enzo probably deserved the treatment he received. ”Huh? Oh that guy….” What was she supposed to say? Cassey doubted Enzo wanted the truth of his humanity to be known just yet.

Biting her lip, she shook her head no when he asked if the man was a manager. ”He’s not a manager.” she said leading the way towards the chef station. ”Okay so you know how I told you that witches and wizards can turn into cats? Well that was my teacher….he helps me out of tight situations.” That was enough information without being too much right? ”You just hand the order over to Tammy.” she said glancing at the Grogon they had met earlier that day.

”Already making trouble Wolf-boy?” asked Tammy leaning through the window to take the werewolf’s order. She laughed a hardy laugh when she saw his handwriting. It was so different from the handwriting she was used to. Most of the vampires had mastered the art of writing. ”Ah, it’s been a while since I saw chicken scratch handwriting.” she said before placing the order with the others.

”Now we can tr- Eeep.” she said as she looked down at Enzo who looked about ready to kill her. ”Oh Enzo…I’m sorry, but you really should not have been touching me there.” she scolded the cat who was staring daggers up at her. She wiggled her window finger at him as she continued to speak to him as if he were a person. Well, of coarse he was a person, but to anyone else watching the whole ordeal seemed odd. ”Now, I respect you, but I am a lady and should be treated as such.” she said holding up her finger with pride.

Enzo hissed before sticking his head up with pride. ”Come on don’t be like that…I’ll let you order one of those nasty movies you liiikkee.” she said causing Enzo to glance back at her with hopeful eyes. ”I’m not watching it with you though! You sicko!” she said causing the cat to roll his eyes before he walked towards her jumping on her back. And like that all was settled between Cassey and her teacher. ”Now, while we wait for the order to finish being made, I can show you the different parts of the back.” she said leading the way.

She stopped at the table that once held the Edward vampire. ”Here is where people eat.” she said holding her arms out as if she were selling the table. ”People usually eat in pairs. Makes it less boring. You can be my lunch partner if you like.” she said happily with her hands behind her back before she moved on to the next portion she wanted to show him. ”The bathroom is through that door. Girls on the right boys on the left.” she said her finger pointing towards the way. ”Simple enough no?”

”Except you are forgetting he is a moron. I doubt he even understands what you are saying. Look at how dazed his expression in.” whispered Enzo causing Cassey to wrinkle her nose.

”Weeell, it looks like we finished our tour early. Which means we can get to know one another.” she said sitting down and offering the seat next to her to the man. ”As you know my name is Cassandra. Or Cassey, Cass, whatever you like to call me for short.” she said her body swaying slightly as she spoke. She was about to continue when the bell rang calling them towards the chef station. ”Oh looks like the order is done!” she said excitedly leading the two towards the food. ”Careful, it took me forever to learn how to carry those trays.” she said as she looked at the Evans food.

”Alright! To the Evans’ table!” she said leading the way back to the pet storeowners. Enzo was mumbling this and that as he poked his head out of her bag. After giving the couple their food, it was time to move to the next table. Which just so happened to be a group of college students.

”Aren’t you just the cutest!” said one of the boys as he leaned towards Cassey pulling her tail lightly. ”Let me guess…you are a cat girl?” he said in a flirty manner. His girlfriend seemed less then pleased as she kicked him under the table. ”What!?” he asked glaring at her.

”Oh what is HE supposed to be?” asked the girl obviously trying to out do her boyfriend by flirting with the male portion of the odd duo. ”Another vampire?”

”No, he is a werewolf and I am a witch.” explained Cassey as she looked towards Abram to let him take their order.

”He doesn’t look like a werewolf. I thought werewolves were supposed to be big. He’s lanky.” mocked the male as he teasingly grabbed Cassey’s tail causing her to pull away from him and stand slightly behind Abram. ”Even that kid on Twilight was big…he’s too skinny to be a werewolf.”

”I personally think he is CUTE.” said his girlfriend causing the male to glare as he fixed his baseball cap. ”Can you make your tail appear whenever you like? If so…that is like really hot.” she said leaning towards Abram slightly.

”What would you suggest Miss Pussycat?” asked the boyfriend causing his girlfriend to frown.

”Well, we have some lovely items on this side of the menu…I personally like the Kitty-Cat Combo. It is perfect for couples.” she said with a happy expression causing the man to look up at her with a sly grin. He nodded as both he and his girlfriend ordered. After taking the order, Cassey looked at Abram. ”Yeah, be warned some of the costumers can be a bit…grabby.” she said patting down her fake tail. ”You get used to it.” she promised.

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After dealing with that unruly wolf-man, Darius made his way back to his former seat. He listened as the young woman protested against having weekly meetings. His expression was solid and professional, but a part of him was disappointed. Why couldn’t Lydia be like all the other women Darius had come into contact with? No, instead she had to be logical. Damn logic. It was out to get him and there was nothing he could do about it. Maybe there was some spell he could cast that could take a bit of Cassey’s silliness and admiration for Darius and place it into Lydia? Although, the very thought of having ANY part of Cassey in Lydia frighten the man enough for him to shake away the thought all together. No, it was better to keep Lydia the way she was. Granted, it didn’t help his ego that she seemed to be so unaffected by his charm. Deeming them as a friendly offer between business partners. Not even the wine seemed to clue the woman in that there was a hint of romance in the air. Maybe he wasn’t being obvious enough? Or maybe this was just Lydia’s own special form of flirting? Either way, Darius knew what he had to do. ”Yes, I am busy, but you are new. I can always make an exception for a new friend.” he argued.

Then the woman had to go and use logic again. Claiming that it would make more sense for her to just call on him as needed. Damn logic. Darius while forcing a smile nodded. ”That works for me. But I do hope you will at least call me to let me know how you are doing. I don’t want to our friendship to be based on only the negative qualities of our businesses.” he said smoothly as a way to get Lydia to agree to at least pick up the phone and give him a friendly chat. That wasn’t asking too much now was it? Licking his lips, he gave the girl a solid nod himself. ”I mean I think we can each find time once a week to speak? Even if the meeting is over the phone.” Darius didn’t plan on letting that little bird slip out of his fingertips THAT easily. No, he was going to put up a fight to get her to agree to giving him her attention for at least ten minutes every week. Maybe it was a bit selfish, but Darius was old and rarely found things interesting any more.

When the topic turned personal, the man moved closer towards the woman. It was as if he were giving her his undivided attention because his company needed to know who they were dealing with. Truth be told, the vampire simply wanted to know more about the woman. Single. His mind wheeled in an exited manner he didn’t even know he had. Never did Darius think he could be this excited to find out a fellow associate was single. He covered his smirk with his hand as he nodded. Smiling at this information would more likely than not seem as if he were taunting her or some other negative emotion. ”Being Traditional is not a bad quality though. Especially during these uncertain times.” he explained. ”A woman with morals is much more appealing to a man than a woman with a loose heart. Because although the loose woman is fun for the evening, she will not hold her lover’s affections. How can you trust a woman who does not respect herself enough to hold onto her virtues?” questioned the vampire with a slight wink.

A very faint blush appeared on the male’s cheeks. So faint it could have easily been passed off as a sort of natural glow. But that blush had arrived across his cheeks because Lydia had stated that she envied him. She actually envied him? The male had to shake himself back into reality as he nodded his head. ”I suppose you could say I am married to my work. I just haven’t found a woman interesting enough to keep me away long enough for us to exchange vows.” he said making a light joke at his situation. When Lydia claimed that people saw her as unstable a thought came to mind. The vampire had to hold back his beaming smile. It was brilliant! He knew exactly what he could do.

Darius’s heart began to beat faster than he thought it could beat. Granted, it wasn’t nearly as fast as a human’s but fast for someone in his line of life. So the directors were giving her a hard time? Well Darius could fix that quite easily. ”Many fear the same thing about myself.” he coolly lied nodding his head in agreement. ”Of coarse, I am a male so it is easily forgiven, but family run businesses tend to stay away from me. Claiming that my sinful ways are not marketable.” There was a small hint of truth there, but the lies laid on top nearly made the truth disappear. ”You are not off topic. You actually bring up a VERY valid point.”

The vampire was slowly easing into his idea. This was perfect! Maybe their relationship could start out as something fake to get the Directors off her back then develop into something real? ”Now, I hope you do not think I am too forward in saying this Lydia…but I have a solution to both our problems.” his tone was cooing to the woman like a tiger ready to attack. ”Why don’t we make these meetings of ours seem…a bit more romantic?” he offered standing upwards. He moved towards the window that allowed him to see down below.

His eyes instantly glared as he watched the werewolf and witch. Stupid dog. Shaking that unpleasant thought away, Darius turned back around. ”I mean it is very difficult for me to find a woman who is interested in things other than my money, status, and looks.” he said with his hands behind his back. Of coarse there WAS Cassey, but that young woman was borderline insane. At least in Darius’s book she was. ”Would you mind if we…dated? For the sake of our companies of coarse?” he asked in a professional tone.

This was perfect! She was like a young dove falling for his trap! Okay. Maybe that was a bit extreme, but Darius was pleased. Pleased that he might actually get Lydia to agree. ”I really hope you don’t think that I am some odd fellow requesting this. I just want your company to seem stable. Because when your company looks stable my company looks stable.” such a smooth talker this one was! Sitting back down, the man tilted his head to the side. ”What do you think?” he asked hoping she would fall for his latest idea.













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[Lady March Hare]

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ｈｅａｒｔ ｈｉｔ ａ ｐｒｏｂｌｅｍ ｉｎ ｔｈｅ { ｅ ａ ｒ ｌ ｙ } ｈｏｕｒｓ,
Ｓｏ Ｉ ｓｔｏｐｐｅｄ ｉｔ ｄｅａｄ ｆｏｒ ａ ｂｅａｔ ｏｒ ｔｗｏ.
[ＷＯＯ - ＨＯＯ!]
Ｂｕｔ Ｉ ＣＵＴ ｓｏｍｅ ｃｏｒｄ (ａｎｄ Ｉ ｓｈｏｕｌｄｎ'ｔ ｈａｖｅ ｄｏｎｅ ｉｔ)
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▇ location: D A R I U S' iO F F I C E XXXXX ▇ mood: F L U S T E R E D XXXXX ♫ q u i e t m e l o d y ♫XX
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Safe in her ignorance, Lydia felt the tense ball of nerves that had been sitting in her stomach relax slowly, and she smiled at his kind concession. She studied his face closely for any hint of insult at her amendment to his original offer, and she took his placid expression as a good sign. New friend. That was nice to hear. She was going to have to get used to that. Brushing straying strands of hair behind her ear, the girl considered the vampire’s counter amendment only momentarily; it seemed reasonable enough, and she could already sense it would be a time to look forward to.

“That’s more then acceptable.” she said with a nod and a smile. “I’ll call you every time our stock prices rise,” she added –as close to joking as Lydia got while she had her game face on—and shifted to slip a hand into her jacket pocket. A small case was flicked open with the ease of practice and the girl’s fingers emerged with a slim white card threaded between them. It was a simple business card, the like of which she carried with her wherever she went on the off chance that she would meet someone beneficial. “This is my business card, so you’ll know who’s calling. The number at the top is the official company number just in case you don’t already have it, but the number below it is my cell number. And you won’t have to worry about getting tangled up with waiting since this is a private line. Only my personal friends and my secretary have this number.” she added with a small nod as she leant forward to hand Darius the card. Yes, she meant friends; Lydia had actually introduced herself to Abram and others of his pack with a business card. Most of which were squinted at, folded into tiny paper airplanes, or chewed on. It had clearly been a dog whistle moment, and she was infinitely relieved that she wouldn’t have to deal with such actions where Darius was concerned. “Just in case you need to get to me before I can get to you.” she finished as the card slipped from her fingers and she straightened in her seat.

She liked Darius. Something about the calm, collected vampire had her talking with warmth in place of the frigid irritation that had been in her voice so often of late. It was oddly comforting just being around him. Had her mother not been at that very moment floating around in President Heaven, she would have shaken her head at the gray eyed girl’s stupidity and sat her down for a very important talk. And former President Fabien had positively adored Darius. But this situation clearly outlined an obvious flaw in Lydia’s otherwise rigidly maintained personality: while she was by no means naive in the ways of the world, her singular mindedness that was brought about by youth and enthusiasm that others her age directed towards more traditionally acceptable pastimes was not shared equally by every man of business that she interacted with, and it was going to trip her up aggressively in the future if she wasn’t careful.

“Oh, I agree.” she affirmed, lowering her eyes slightly at his wink. Was that supposed to be a compliment? She wasn’t sure; so she took it as a compliment to her mother and nodded. “Mother often said something………. similar to me.” Actually, her mother had always said the cruder, ‘a whore always chases the thing behind what she gets, be it money, power, or love’, which Lydia supposed applied in this situation. Ah, life without her mother’s continuous truisms; it looked to be a less colorful future already. She returned her eyes to Darius just in time to see him… no, it must have been a trick of the light. His words caught her by surprise and she laughed before she could stop herself. “Well, when you put it like that, I suppose I can’t be surprised. I can’t imagine what a woman would have to do to keep a man like yourself interested in her. It must be a constant struggle… I hope you’ll keep in mind that we can’t all be as interesting as you and be a little sympathetic towards the next woman who tries for you, Darius. For your new friend’s sake, if not hers.” the ignorant woman said warmly, looking at him with an open fondness that her recently assumed friendship was rather quickly validating. It was the most sincere she’d been with anyone in the business world… well, ever. She caught herself eventually and cleared her throat, her small smile somewhat apologetic.

His next words, however, touched a nerve, and the smile was long gone.

“What? How unprofessional.” she added shortly, the light of insult in her eyes on Darius’ behalf towards such judgmental people. She understood such shortsighted misunderstandings about herself, a relative newcomer and a woman young enough to still be grouped in with the idiots of her age, but Darius? Darius? People were clearly idiots, she decided, acknowledging only slight bias on Darius’ behalf in her conclusion. She took a sip of wine to stop her grumbling; she knew from personal experience that once she started on the fallacies of the business world, it would be a while before she stopped. Abram called it ‘boring everyone in the immediate area to death’. So she’d shut up. And his next words insured that she did, if only momentarily.

“Romantic?” she questioned, wondering if she’d heard him correctly.

Darius stood and wandered to the window, and though she expected him to laugh at her foolish misunderstanding of his statement he did nothing of the sort. She followed him with her wide gray eyes, stunned. Romantic? What did he mean? That word didn’t have much of a place in her perception of the business world, and she struggled to come to an understanding of his statement with an effort that hinted that there was something severely wrong with her. Darius turned back to her and she looked at him instantly for the explanation that she was positive was hiding somewhere in this conversation, but instead she was floored when ‘romantic’ was coupled with ‘dated’. She mentally backtracked; where had this come from?! The poor vampire’s obvious flirtations didn’t even get a chance to register before she settled on her own behavior. What impression had she given off? Had her words somehow come off as flirtatious? Impossible! As Abram often pointed out, the girl couldn’t consciously flirt herself out of a paper bag; she was usually too cranky for such nonsense. And when she tried to flirt, she came off as completely ridiculous! Then she had to look at another option: had this been Darius’ intention from the beginning, to somehow lure her into dating? That thought was just as ridiculous to the brunette no matter how true it would prove to be in her future; she sensed genuine goodwill from the vampire. Besides, he had been nothing but kind towards her, and had he been the sort of man to attempt such things on a regular basis, her mother would have been sure to warn her in advance about the man that had so often come up in conversation! Lydia instantly scolded herself severely for allowing herself to think such a thing, her face red. Neither of these options could be true, so there much be a third. The answer had to lay with Darius. Lips parted to stumble through an awkward inquiry, but she was startled to discover that she was having trouble forming the words. Her mind was reaching, desperate for a proper explanation and Darius timed the release of the metaphorical life preserver just right.

“Stability…” she breathed under her breath, allowing that to sink in. Oh. Oh. It took a moment, and then relief sunk in. That made sense, and her face stayed red now out of embarrassment. To think that for a moment she’d thought he was interested in her as a woman… she cut that thought off before it could form properly. She was ashamed of herself. Darius was the first to reach out to her with kindness and support, and she had instantly thought the worst about him the first time he attempted to give her the aid she had asked for. “N-No, of course not. I already have the highest sort of respect for you; I couldn't think that.” she replied a bit shakily, cursing the strange tone of her voice and her continued idiocy. Her words were a slight lie, but necessary for the scramble back to normalcy. “I’m… ahem, excuse me. I’m afraid you surprised me a bit. I thought… w-well, never mind what I thought. I see what you mean. If we… if we dated… yes. That would be mutually beneficial.” She gave herself a mental slap, ordered herself to be professional, and for God’s sake, stop that blushing! She needed to think, to be level headed. What would her mother advise?

To think things through in light of their advantages and disadvantages, Lydia concluded. Of course, what her mother actually would have told her was that she was starting to look suspiciously like one of those characters in old cartoons that blindly followed a trail of candy to its eventual end under a cardboard box held up by a stick soon yanked away by the string at its base. Then again, President Fabien Senior had always been more flowery with her language then her predecessor.

Advantages: stability, shutting up one part of the Board of Directors’ complaints, waylaying continued conjectures about her personal life, forming stronger business alliances, having more opportunity to learn from Darius while still managing to be of some use to him.

Disadvantages: …?

Well, Lydia could think of one, but it didn’t have much to do with the business, and was therefore not overly viable. She would be embarrassed during the adjustment period of such an arrangement. It wasn’t that she’d never dated before; she had, twice. The first time she had basically bullied the boy into the relationship for the experience of having been in a relationship; the second was a halfhearted attempt to get over Abram sometime soon after realizing her feelings for him had intensified; neither had lasted long. Abram. She bit her bottom lip. Abram would be sure to disapprove. He believed in only getting involved romantically with others with pure intentions; it was one of the many reasons that she and he would never date. He would never consent to date someone he didn’t have true feelings for, not for any reason. And she was positive that he would abhor this arrangement, one that called for dating for show. She’d have no choice, if she wanted to keep the peace, she’d have to lie to him. That brought her no small amount of hesitation. She didn’t want to lie to Abram, not about anything. But she’d never be able to tell him the truth: she loved him, and she didn’t want to see the disgust she was positive the truth would invoke in the eyes she loved. So, there were two disadvantages.

But she had to be honest with herself: she was never going to admit how she felt to Abram. Romance was not the focus of her life; the business was. Abram was a part of her present, but there was no guarantee he’d be in her future. And neither would the business she’d invested her life into maintaining if she didn’t play her cards right. The idea of failing, the idea of having her mother’s life work snatched away from her grasping fingers… that was an infinitely more painful thought than lying to the werewolf could ever be. Perhaps coming to that conclusion made her cruel, no less unfeeling than the businessmen and women whom she was struggling to best. But she’d never striven to be any better a person than them, simply one that lasted longer in their completely competitive field.

Darius was waiting for her response, his dark eyes studying her in a way that threatened to bring back her blush. One of the first rules of business: one couldn’t afford to hesitate when presented with the best possible solution. Oh, he was sly all right; with the stability of both her company and his laid out before her, the only right answer was to take the bait.

“I think…” she began slowly. “I think that’s a good idea. I’d have never have thought to… but I guess that’s just one of many things I have to learn.” she added, shaking off her apprehension with effort and squaring her slim shoulders. Yes; she should take a page from Darius’ book. Darius certainly wasn’t acting like a ninny because of a business strategy that was outside of the box. She resolved then and there to tell him her initial reaction to his proposition and her struggle to a decision at some point in the future as a form of self-punishment. He could laugh at her, and she could strengthen her resolve, and she’d never have to worry about acting so foolishly ever again. Her voice was back to calm and confident when she spoke again. “You’re right. If we date, it’ll eliminate a good number of problems for both of us. So let’s do it.”

Back in business mode, the girl slid her cell phone from her pocket and switched to her calendar, scanning the events scheduled therein. She’d have to rearrange her schedule, surely –drat, she’d just told Olivia that morning to confirm everything without her proof, and she didn’t know how extensive of a reschedule it would be—and her brow puckered in a frown as she thumbed down through the weeks.

“Let’s see; how should we go about doing this?” she murmured. “It won’t do either of us a bit of good if no one knows about our dating. Personal announcements might be in order, or perhaps showing up to a social function together would be a better approach…”

Yes, methodical planning was good. It gave her the distraction she needed while the pink of her blush took its good sweet time in fading from her cheeks.

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Ｉ ｓａｉｄ ｎｏ, ｎｏ ｙｏｕ'ｒｅ ｎｏｔ ｔｈｅ ｏｎｅ ｆｏｒ ｍｅ!
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▇ location: R E S T U R A N T XXXXX ▇ mood: M A K I N G iF R I E N D S ? XXXXX ♫ u p b e a t m e l o d y ♫XX
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“Enzo, huh?” Abram questioned, studying the little black cat curiously. “That’s a funny name for a cat. But then again, so’s Mittens and Fluffy and all of those other things people call their cats, I guess.” He flicked his eyes to the witch, then chuckled. “Enzo, the Special Pervert. Got it.” He confirmed with a nod. It was difficult to say if Abram would have changed his tune if he’d been in the know about who he was really talking about and to. True, he didn’t know much at all about the Witch Council, and it was safe to say that he wouldn’t know Enzo from Adam even if he did, but he might have been a little more polite. Maybe; he’d had a strange sort of day. Then again, ‘polite’ was a relative term to the werewolf; how he and his interpreted the expression was surely difficult from how Enzo would. So perhaps it was better for all involved that Abram stayed in the dark. A brow quirked at Cassey’s words, and he tried to keep himself from laughing long enough to level her with an offended look. “Hey, now; dogs just got a bad rep. I’ve known animals that were just as bad, if not worse.” he said in as serious a tone as he could manage. Which wasn’t much, coming from Abram, but at least he got points for trying.

He and Tammy were going to be friends; of this Abram was almost positive. It was nice to get a bit of a breather from the vampire worship going on around him, and her easy-going attitude made the tension that was sure to be rising in the air in the days ahead far away and of no immediate concern to the green eyed packmate. That raised his count to two people he worked with that he liked and, considering, he felt like these numbers were impressive and worthy of notation.

“Nah; I’m not worried about that. If we smell as bad as the vampires say we do, we must taste even worse. I think I’m safe.” he retorted to the Gorgon with a confident smile. It was a running joke in the werewolf clans, and it made him happy to be able to bring it up in casual conversation. And though the woman laughed at Abram’s statement about wooing Cassey, the werewolf got the vibe she wouldn’t murder him if he tried which, oddly enough, served as encouragement for a statement initially said half in jest. The cook’s statement earned her an impish grin. “I sure hope so.” he added with a nod before looking to Cassey. She had an adorably confounded look on her face, her purple eyes darting back and forth between them, and the werewolf laughed when he realized that she had somehow completely missed her place in his exchange with Tammy. That warranted another gentle cat ear-flicking, which he gave her promptly, and a bit of healthy, harmless teasing.

“I’m going to be wooing someone you know very, very well. You should probably pay attention so you can warn her about it. Ah, but it’s too late now!” he said, avoiding telling her directly just to enjoy the discovery of another cute expression a little longer. Abram glanced away from her only at the Gorgon’s words, offering her a compliant sort of smile as reassurance as he continued. “And she’s not my gi-” But Cassey’s hand tightened around his and he was pulled along again; he sighed a bit theatrically but tucked the explanation away once again for later.

Much later, seeing as explaining himself in any way was completely forgotten in the face of the absolute chaos that his simple presence brought to the restaurant. Abram had never been aware that simply being seen could invoke such a violent reaction… but, hey, the more you know. As long as there was something to smile about, something to laugh at, the werewolf could shake off such unpleasantness like water droplets. The world was an oft angry place; to move through it holding on to the bad feelings one accumulated did nothing but punish the one carrying the load. At least, that was Abram’s belief.

Besides, it would have been darn hard for the wereboy to stay feeling angry or resentful upon returning to the kitchen. If that blush and innocent expression was any indication, Cassey was up to something. The urge to tease was strong, but he resisted with a chuckle.

“Hey, say no more.” he said, holding his hands up. They dropped back to his sides comfortably at her next words, and he tilted his head to the side curiously as she spoke. Well, he supposed it was good that there wasn’t another authority figure at the restaurant that wanted him to get hit by a car, but the fact that the man was Cassey’s teacher confused him. Teacher of what? Magic and stuff? Hm; he supposed he really should learn a little bit about what witches did at some point in the near future. Especially if he was serious about wooing Cassey, which he was already pretty sure he was. “A teacher?” he scratched the tip of his nose with the pen cap thoughtfully. “I see… sounds like a pretty useful guy to have around. Even if he is rude.” he added almost to himself, making a face. “So he just… poofs up when you need him? That must be pretty nice.”

Following her indication and filing the name Tammy in his memory banks, Abram sauntered over to the Gorgon’s window and handed her the order. “Causing trouble? Who? Me? Never!” he insisted, attempting to look as innocent as possible. After all, it was technically the pet shop’s fault, not his… right? Right. Blowing bangs from his eyes, he laughed at the cook’s assessment, shaking his head. “Hey, it’s readable! And there’s an added bonus. If you squint, it looks kind of like cursive!” Which was an important trait in any chicken scratch master’s art, obviously.

Giving her a wave of farewell, he turned and trotted back to Cassey’s side, staring at her when he came to the conclusion that she was in some sort of intense conversation with her cat. Hm… people and their pets. He wasn’t sure he’d ever understand it. She and the cat seemed to reach some sort of appropriate consensus as they turned to him, and it was time to continue the tour. Sliding his hands into pockets to keep himself from fiddling with his vest (that was going to take some getting used to), Abram trailed after the witch, glancing only casually at the things she pointed out. Only the mention of being lunch buddies really stood out to him and, had his tail been visible, it would have been wagging at that one. Lunch Time with Cass; it sounded like a pleasant enough enterprise, and he nodded at the suggestion. It was his favorite time of day already.

“Simple.” he parroted. His active listening skills needed work, but the young man figured that he’d be able to pick up anything his wandering thoughts caused him to miss easily enough. There was that strange sensation of whispering again; he scrunched an eye shut and rubbed at one of his humanoid ears, wondering if the events of the day had knocked something loose. He blinked and slapped his attention back to Cassey at the idea of getting to know one another better; he’d been thinking he’d have to corner her after work for that sort of information. He plopped eagerly into the proffered chair; this he could pay attention to, and with much enthusiasm. “Cassandra.” he said, just to try the name out. It brought to mind a powerful enchantress of the King Author persuasion, all dramatic billowing black dress and the elements bending to furious will. Talk about imagination, and Abram grinned widely at the thought of the innocent looking little witch breaking bad in such a way. It would be undoubtedly horrifying, and his amusement was suddenly replaced with a shudder. She had nearly killed him with a smile and sunshine; thinking about what she might be able to do if she actually got angry about something gave him the creeps. “Cassey.” he corrected himself with determination as he banished those thoughts to the same corner of his mind in which the pet shop fiasco was corralled.

A bell dinged and caught him off guard; his eyes snapped to the sound in surprise. Ah, so that’s what that meant… oh well; he supposed he’d have to get used to it. His nose detected tasty victuals and he nodded, pushing his lean form from the chair as he regained his feet. Well, almost; he stumbled over the shoes, and shot them a stern look. The shoes, for their part, did their best to look innocent. Placing one foot carefully in front of the other, he returned to Tammy’s little box, nodding and looking determined at the witch’s words.

“Thanks.” he offered to the cook as he carefully lifted the tray into the air. Other than the drinks sloshing a bit threateningly to let him know if he was tilting the tray a little too far to either the left or right it was easy enough, a little easier then holding a squirming werewolf pup. And, seeing as he was pretty sure he wasn’t expected to throw the tray into the air at any particular point to amuse it, his confidence was spiking again. Still, with the sort of day he’d been having he kept a close eye on it as he followed Cassey back into the portion of the restaurant that held the paying patrons. The particular paying patrons that he was delivering to continued to eye him warily, but he mostly ignored it as he balanced the tray as best he could and set their orders. He gave the wrong drink to the wrong Evans, but seeing as he’d been expecting to drop the whole mess on Wilbert, Abram was pretty proud of himself. “There we go!” he said with a grin. “Anything else I can get you?”

The Evans traded wary looks, and seeing as the Mister didn’t seem to trust himself to speak to the overeager wolfboy, his wife offered a brief, “No, thank you.” as response. That was good enough for Abram, so he eased back from the pair to a safe distance before turning away. A relieved sigh left him in a rush; it was a relief to have that particular order behind him. The next group seemed to be young people. Oh, good; Abram was starting to get a strange feeling that the elderly just didn’t like him. Completely plausible.

“Hi there…” he greeted this next group, lifting an eyebrow at the oddly forward male. Ear flicking was one thing, but tail pulling was a big no-no in the werewolf mentality, even if said tail was fake. His smile dropped slightly and he felt a slight growl bubbling up in his throat, but he choked it back. Despite his efforts, he hadn’t forgotten the Evan’s fiasco; if that teacher hadn’t shown up, he could have gotten Cassey into big trouble. And that was the last thing he wanted to do. So he restrained himself to shifting a bit closer to the witch and tried to force his focus to the ridiculous conversation they were starring in. That was easier with the girl’s assumption. “Vampire?” he objected, making a face. Well, that was offensive but, seeing as the girl clearly didn’t mean any harm, he dismissed it. What didn’t get a dismissal was the grabby guy, and as she ducked behind him Abram shifted his body to block the path between the patron and Cassey. “Well, as much as I do hate to disappoint a Twilight fan, ‘fraid you’ll just have to make due with me. Mention your expectations to the boss; I’m sure he’d love to hear what the customers want when it comes to werewolves.” There was a flash of something feral in Abram’s eyes as he continued, even though the smile stayed on his face. “Now, since what you want doesn’t seem to be on the menu, what else can I get you?”

A little voice in his mind, the sarcastic one that critiqued what he did and why, noted that mouthing off to customers probably wasn’t part of Waitor 101. Tone it down, Abram.

”Hey, one favorable vote’s not bad.” he said, directing a warm smile to the brute’s girlfriend. Another one that needed a helpful intervention talk, with diagrams. However, he lifted his brows curiously at her question about his tail. “My tail? Well, yeah… we all can do that.” he answered her in a tone that clearly stated that he hadn’t the foggiest idea why a werecreature would ever want to do such a thing in his current situation.

Werewolves were masters of the controlled change; unlike human mythos that had their kind uncontrollably twisting into animal form, the change was always a conscious effort and, therefore, could be stopped or continued at the individual’s discretion. Mastery of control was a big deal in the werewolf community; the younger members of the pack were often guilty of contorting their muzzles and bodies in such a way to make them creatures unrecognizable without intense scrutiny and sneaking off to rural areas to pretend to be El Chupacabra, or whatever local legend asked for, while more mature members of the pack often participated in Shift-Offs, which sought to deem who in the pack had grown most creative in their transformation, or fastest, or some other category decided upon beforehand. Abram himself had participated in both pursuits with great enjoyment, but since they tended to be clothing-optional sort of events, the green eyed werewolf wasn’t surprised that it wasn’t widely known about. Most clothes just couldn't stand up to the change. But the human form was usually assumed in an attempt to blend or serve not to freak out the humans, so going about half transformed in a place such as this was a strange concept to him.

“Hot, huh? I don’t know about that; I’d be kind of worried. You boyfriend seems to like pulling on tails, and I don’t think I could handle that.” he added with a wink and another click of his pen. “What can I get you?” He scribbled their orders down, running his tongue over his canines as he tried to focus on keeping the handwriting a bit cleaner. He finished and admired his handiwork; nope, complete failure. Oh well. “All right, we’ll be back with your stuff soon.”

Calling the product you’re supposed to be pushing ‘stuff’; also probably not advisable, Abram’s common sense noted. He cheerfully ignored it and turned to trot after Cassey to the back, his eyes carefully tracing over her form as his expression turned a little more serious.

“Grabby? That was pretty darn close to being sexual harassment.” he pointed out in disapproval. Again, a discrepancies in cultures; in werewolf society, disrespect of such a nature warranted a pound of flesh as repayment. Literally. But, as he had been told endlessly ever since he was a pup, such reactions were not generally acceptable in ‘human society’, the general term for any place that was outside of the werewolf den network. ”I don’t like it. Can’t that boss of yours put up a sign or something? ‘Hands caught touching our waitresses will be gnawed off’? Or something?” he joked. Or, maybe it wasn’t a joke; it was difficult to tell with Abram. No matter how sweet tempered, warm hearted, or good natured he or any of his kinfolk were, there was an undeniable animal nature at their hearts, after all.

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{ ｓ ｅ ｎ ｔ } ｉｔ ｔｏ ａ ｐｌａｃｅ ｉｎ ｔｈｅ ｍｉｄｄｌｅ ｏｆ ｎｏｗｈｅｒｅ
Ｗｉｔｈ ａ ＢＩＧ ＢＬＡＣＫ ＨＯＲＳＥ ａｎｄ ａ ｃｈｅｒｒｙ ｔｒｅｅ.
[ＷＯＯ - ＨＯＯ!]
Ｎｏｗ ｉｔ ｗｏｎ'ｔ ｃｏｍｅ ｂａｃｋ, 'ｃａｕｓｅ ｉｔ'ｓ ｏｈ ｓｏ ｈａｐｐｙ
▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ Ａｎｄ ｎｏｗ Ｉ'ｖｅ ｇｏｔ ａ ｈｏｌｅ ｆｏr ｔｈｅ ｗｏｒｌｄ ｔｏ ｓｅｅ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇

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A light but sincere smile surfaced on the young witch’s lips when Abram seemed to accept her explanation on why she was mercilessly beating her poor innocent kitty-cat. ”Yes teacher. I mean witches don’t just grow on trees you know.” she said with a solid nod as if that was enough of a reason as to why she needed a teacher. Her eyes shifted to the side when Abram claimed that Enzo seemed like a pretty useful guy. Sure he was useful…when he wasn’t chasing tail like some teenage boy. Not that Cassandra would ever tell Abram that. Looking back, she decided to skip that comment and move on to the next. ”En…Teacher has a way of knowing when I am in trouble. It is pretty nice.” she agreed, but she would never ever tell Enzo such a thing. That furball was cocky enough as it was. The last thing she needed was to tell him that she appreciated his odd mannerism. Knowing Enzo, he would only continue with the dramatics and insist that some perverted male-fetish fantasy must be acted out according to his will, to really show him just how much he was appreciated. The very notion had Cassey looking back to the area she had left her teacher. Seeing that the cat was still there twitch, she turned back to face her new werewolf friend.

Tammy’s hand laid playfully against her hip as she gleefully exchanged a glance with the new employee. ”Somehow…I find that VERY hard to believe.” she said placing the order with the rest. ”When are unruly young werewolves ever up to anything, but bad behavior? They don’t call it acting like a dog because dogs are of the utmost courtesy now do they?” she asked curiously before turning her gaze to the witch next to him. ”Especially when said werewolves are trying to woo certain young ladies? Sorry love, but I find it hard to believe that you were doing something other than causing problems.” There those two went again talking about wooing someone. Who in the world were they going on about? Abram had said earlier it was someone Cassey was very close to…maybe the witch was friends with Lydia in another life? It seemed to be the only explanation.

The thought caused fine stress lines to scatter across her youthful face as she held a determined expression. She was going to figure this out! Well, at least that was the plan before she got distracted by the other two’s next conversation. ”Oh lucky me. I get to squint!” said Tammy sarcastically sticking her tongue out at the other. ”Go on you two before I get nasty and look at you straight in the eyes.” she threatened, but her tone told the truth about her intensions. Her threat was simply out of good humor nothing more nothing less.

Soon the two departed from the cook, and took their seats at the table. It was just a matter of waiting for their food. Abram seemed to be getting the hang of this after all. See? All of those nah-sayers were wrong! Clearly, Cassey was a wonderful teacher! The witch’s hands clasped together as she let them lean against her cheek. ”So you are really understanding everything? Is it really that simple?” she asked leaning towards him slightly. ”That’s wonderful! My last student…well. Nevermind.” she said blushing her eyes staring down at her feet. She bit down against her bottom lip as she twisted in her seat. Luckily the bell saved the young woman from having to explain what had happened to the last person she had traded. Jumping to her feet, Cassey lead the way.

This leading brought the two to their newest customers. The male of the little duo frowned when he heard that werewolf call him a Twilight fan. His eyes instantly narrowed as he leaned back slightly. ”Hardly.” he argued before his nose wrinkled at Abram’s off color comment about picking something on the menu. The college student held an overly built frame giving him a look that resembled an overstuffed child’s toy. It was clear that he had had it easy when it came to winning the affections of easily manipulated young girls. Upon closer examination, it was clear that the woman he was with was hardly a woman at all. Sure her make-up was done as if she were in her twenties, but her facial features as well as attitude showed her true age. In fact, the girl was even leaning forward slightly to look at her waiter. If she were in a cartoon she might have even held little hearts in her eyes. While the man had an appearance most would call beefy, he did not come even close to matching Abram’s charm and alluring appearance. Which may have been why this ‘beefcake’ was giving the other such a hard time.

Cassey seemed to take a personally interest when the teenager inquired if Abram could have a tail without completely transforming. Her eyes looked up at the other employee as she listened for his response. She was slightly disappointed when Abram gave a sarcastic response to the question. ”Too bad…I would have LOVED to see you with cute little ears.” said the girl leaning against her wrist. She glared at her boyfriend as he looked back at her. It was clear the two were going to have a long talk while their waiters left

Once they were out of hearing range, Cassey couldn’t help but move her eyes away from Abram’s eyes. It was the first time she didn’t look directly into his eyes when he spoke to her. Instead she was looking up at the top of his head where those wolfy ears should have been. She had stopped walking and was standing in front of him as she gave the top of his head a thoughtful look. ”Huh?” she asked finally looking back at his eyes when he questioned her about a sign. ”I never thought of that.” she said placing her index finger against the side of her cheek. ”I just sort of figured that we were supposed to make the customer as happy as possible.” she said with a thoughtful look.

Her eyes continued to stare at him as she took a step closer to him. Her violet eyes were determined as she stared up at the top of his head. ”Can you really make your wolf ears appear without fully transforming?” she finally asked her before taking a step towards. Her body was tilted to the side slightly as she gave him a thoughtful look. Stretching her small body upwards she tried to reach the top of his head. She ended up missing his head causing her hand to fall against his face. ”Are they hidden under you hair?” she asked backing the other into a corner with her persistence.

Cassey’s excitement could no longer be held as she began to clap enthusiastically. ”Please…oh please may I see your ears and tail?” she asked her eyes warm with anticipation. ”That is sooo cool! Oh may I touch it? Would that be okay? Please!? Mother never liked dogs. But when I was little I wanted a puppy so bad!” she said her body standing on its tippy toes. Her eyes held the stars as she looked at Abram as if he were some sort of super hero. ”Oh please….please!” she said pressing her hands together as if she were praying.

”Yo, loverbirds….the boss man seems to have some sort of an announcement.” she said waving the two off.

”Announcement? That’s weird…” claimed Cassey before a girlish blush appeared across her lips. Maybe Darius was finally going to announce his undying love for her? Cassey glanced down at her feet as she let her index fingers press against one another. She probably would have stayed there longer too if it wasn’t for Tammy grabbing her arm and pulling her along.

”Who is the human girl?” whispered Edward to Andrew as he bumped the other in the shoulder. ”She’s cute…Erm, but not as cute as you Tammy!” he said quickly to the woman who knocked the back of his neck with her open palm.

”Yeah, yeah, yeah. Edward. Maybe tonight you might like sleeping in the dog house.” she threatened popping her knuckles. So that was the wife he had talked about earlier that day. ”Don’t make me beat your sorry racist as-“

”Tammy…please.” scolded Darius holding up his hand as he kept his other arm around Lydia’s shoulder. Tammy rolled her eyes as she looked down at the witch.

Cassey held a confused expression as she looked at the arm then at Darius’s stern glance. Why was Abram’s girlfriend so close to her dear love? ”Now, I come here to tell you all that Lydia and myself are dating. This being the case, I want you to-“

”What do you mean dating?” asked the woman bursting into a fit of laughter. ”Is this…is this a joke? Where’s the camera old man?” she asked causing Darius’s eyebrow to twitch. Tammy was the only person in that whole establishment who could talk to Darius like that.

”Like I was saying…” he said his eyes narrowed at the woman. ”I want you to treat Lydia with as much respect as you show me.” he said his eyes slanted towards Tammy’s direction.

”D…D…Dating? You mean….you are….dating….her? I….” Cassey turned her body and faced the corner causing Enzo to walk towards her. He moved his head towards Cassey’s leg as a way to offer her a bit of support. However, the witch would have none of it. Jumping upwards, she nearly knocked the poor cat clear across the room. ”This is PERFECT!” she said rushing towards Lydia taking the girl’s hands in her own. Darius’s lifted his eyebrow as he looked at the witch. ”We shall be rivals for the heart of Darius!” she announced causing Darius to slap his forehead. ”This is clearly a test! To see if I can handle-“ Tammy moved towards Cassey and lightly let her fist slam on the top of the younger girl’s head.

”You’d best get out of here Dary before Cassey puts a spell on your new human girlfriend.” she said pointing her thumb towards the exit.

”Owie…ow….Taammmyy.” whined Cassey causing the other employees to shift a laugh at the witch.

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A business card? Darius was amused to say the least. He was old, but not even he had come across a young woman who gave a business card as a way to make a relationship more personal. Maybe if she was married he could see her giving a business card, but most women her age would fumble through their purse, pull out their phone, and exchanged numbers through physical means. He took the card and tilted it sideways to read the print. After nodding at the number, he pulled out his wallet and placed it inside. ”I apologize, but I am not nearly as neat or organized as yourself.” he said with a small grin as he pulled out a sheet of paper. He gracefully cut the paper into a business card shape and size. His cut was fine as if he had used scissors. Pulling out a pin, he wrote down his name, business, and number. ”Here we are. Once again sorry, but I don’t tend to give my phone number out.” he said stretching the paper towards the young woman.

The young woman’s words had Darius letting out a small bitter laugh. She made the vampire seem so…difficult. No, she wasn’t trying to make him sound difficult it just sort of came out that way. The warmness she showed when she spoke about how he should give the next woman he came into contact with a chance made him feel all the worse about the way he had treated the fairer sex. ”Lydia…you make it seem like I am a very difficult man to please.” he couldn’t help but muse. His expression was light to show he held not bitter feeling towards the girl herself. ”I wouldn’t say that all women lack the ability to keep me interested. I mean I am sure there is at least one woman who can keep me coming back.” he claimed being as subtle as ever. Maybe she would clue in? Maybe not. Letting out a sigh he watched the passion fill the woman’s eyes.

Darius shifted in his seat as he looked at her. Interesting. It wasn’t often a woman dismissed the actions of others out of her own pure intentions. Sure, many would do so in hopes of winning his affections, but somehow Darius doubted these were Lydia’s intentions. No, she was upset because there was an injustice that needed correction. Admirable to say the least.

So was it any wonder why Darius got the notion in his mind to prey on the girl’s kind heart? Alright, maybe that was a bit to far to say he was preying on her heart. It wasn’t like he was trying to harm her. He just didn’t know how else to win her affections. Lydia was not like any woman he had ever met before. Other girls were easy to deal with, but she was so…focused. Even more focused than her dearly departed mother. Darius, however, was clever. And being the clever man he was, he hatched a plan that would not only help Lydia’s situation, but help his own situation. Now his situation was most certainly not the same situation she was in. His situation was more internal than external. Shaking the thought away, Darius continued his cooing tongue.

She had said yes? Darius had to take a step back for a moment as he stared at the woman. Her shook his head from his momentary freeze quickly regaining his composure. Darius nodded his head as he offered the other a pleased smile. ”We can start with my staff.” he said not exactly giving the woman a choice in the manner. ”I mean…we might as well no? It will be a simple announcement? Get people talking?” He really was a clever man.

Darius moved himself towards Lydia so his arms were fastened closely around her waist. ”For show.” he said gently brushing her hair away from her cheek. He winked before pulling away, but keeping his hand wrapped closely around her shoulder. To the outside world, they seemed to fit perfectly. The man held such a confidence as he escorted Lydia from his office down the stairs. There were only two things he had to worry about Tammy and Cassey.

The vampire and gorgon went back much farther than anyone else in that establishment. This being the case, Darius knew he could not hide anything from her. The woman always held the nasty habit of being the only person who could easily see past his plans. She was also one of the only people in that restaurant who was not afraid to speak her mind on any manner. The vampire was not looking forward to her sharp tongue and wicked wit. Maybe he could tell Tammy that they were discussing her surprise party? Or something else along those lines that would get her to not come? He doubted such cheap tricks would work. Sighing, he shook the thought away knowing that there was no escaping the snake-haired lady.

Cassey was the man’s next issue. If it wasn’t for the fact that he needed a witch, he probably would have fired her upon learning who she was. Sure the girl was sweet, but she was such a nuisance. The last thing he needed was for Lydia to feel uncomfortable because some crazy witch was out to attack her. No, this was a happy moment. He had to keep his mind focused. ”You ready for this?” he whispered into her ear as if he were telling her a lover’s song. He even lightly kissed her before moving his head forward. It was for show right? He might as well enjoy the ride. ”Andrew…call everyone.” he told the vampire as he continued to let his hands brush across Lydia.

Darius would be a liar if he said he wasn’t enjoying himself. If Lydia objected to his advances, he could just claim that he was trying to get into the part of the loving boyfriend. It was perfect. Finally, after pulling everyone inside, the entire staff was there. Darius gazed back at his employees and frowned as Tammy already began to make a scene. Annoying woman. Sure, she was a dear friend, but that didn’t mean he had to like her all the time.

The next annoyance came in the form of Cassey. She seemed to have some inner-battle with herself as she claimed that Lydia was her…rival? Rolling his eyes Darius, pulled Lydia closer. ”Would all of you stop?” he asked his tone darkening as he looked directly at the wolf. There was a hint of cockiness in his expression as he looked at the other. It was the sweet icing on the cake that Darius was able to get under the werewolf’s skin. ”You really shouldn’t make such a big deal about this.” he said causing Tammy to raise an eyebrow.

There was a true smile on her vampire friend’s lips. Something she hadn’t seen in a very long time. She blinked and for once said nothing. ”I just wanted you to meet her. And remember…treat her as you would treat me.” he said before lightly kissing Lydia’s cheek.

Cassey’s own cheeks blushed as she watched Darius kiss the human girl. ”Oh he is testing me Enzo!” she said to the cat who was on her shoulder. ”That’s it…just testing!” she reassured herself.

”Says you. All I know is that human girl is cuutee. Look at her eyes…and that body! Her chest has to b-“ Cassey lifted her hand up punching Enzo right between the eyes as her eyebrow twitched. ”See? And you wonder why you are single.” he muttered in annoyance from his wounded position.

The witch had to think up her own plan, something to get Darius to love her. That’s when she looked at Abram. What was he thinking? Wasn’t Lydia the love of his life? Shaking the thought away, Cassey hid her eyes as she listened to Darius speak. ”Do you have anything to say…darling?” he asked giving Lydia the floor.













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[Lady March Hare]

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ｍｙ
ｈｅａｒｔ ｈｉｔ ａ ｐｒｏｂｌｅｍ ｉｎ ｔｈｅ { ｅ ａ ｒ ｌ ｙ } ｈｏｕｒｓ,
Ｓｏ Ｉ ｓｔｏｐｐｅｄ ｉｔ ｄｅａｄ ｆｏｒ ａ ｂｅａｔ ｏｒ ｔｗｏ.
[ＷＯＯ - ＨＯＯ!]
Ｂｕｔ Ｉ ＣＵＴ ｓｏｍｅ ｃｏｒｄ (ａｎｄ Ｉ ｓｈｏｕｌｄｎ'ｔ ｈａｖｅ ｄｏｎｅ ｉｔ)
▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ Ａｎｄ ｉｔ ｗｏｎ'ｔ ｆｏｒｇｉｖｅ ｍｅ ａｆｔｅｒ ａｌｌ ｔｈｅｓｅ ｙｅａｒｓ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇

▇ location: R E S T U R A N T XXXXX ▇ mood: D E T E R M I N E D XXXXX ♫ q u i e t m e l o d y ♫XX
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“Hm?” big gray eyed blinked, and the young woman’s smile turned slightly sheepish. “Ahah… I’m sorry. I suppose I’m a bit… overeager. But at this point I’d rather be overly prepared then under prepared. You know… trying to make a good impression and all.” She felt like she’d been saying something of the like quite frequently since entering into Darius’ office, and she scolded herself for being repetitive. She waited quietly and then reached to take the small piece of paper he offered her in return. Studying it discretely, Lydia smiled at the handwriting and nodded, slipping it into her jacket pocket and resolving herself to memorizing it as soon as possible. “Oh, it’s nothing to apologize for! I’m honored. Thank you.” She smiled at his ‘card’ for a moment longer--its creation had been adorable to watch, not that she'd say such a thing aloud--but her attention popped back next to him at his next words. “Ah… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend. I simply meant… well… I didn’t mean to imply that you’re difficult… I’m positive there is such a person. I just mean to say that she would have to be particularly special to…” Strange; her meaning didn’t seem to be getting any clearer. And there was no open offense in the vampire’s eyes so she cut her reply off as such with a clearing of her throat and a small, apologetic smile as the implication in his words flew harmlessly over her head.

Forcing the last of her blush from her cheeks, Lydia thought over their arrangement one last time and nodded to herself, determination flaring within her. She had to ignore her initial hesitation and give it her all, just like she would to any other aspect of her business. At his suggestion of where to start she returned her attention to him and nodded eagerly. Perfect; these were people close to Darius, and if she was convincing enough to their eyes, then surely she would stand up to the eyes of the press. It would be good to start practicing immediately. And, she added to herself grimly, there was the added bonus of letting Abram know immediately how things stood. She feared he would not approve even if he thought she was head over heels in love with Darius, and she didn’t want to drag out the delicate issues of this arrangement any more then she had to.

“Good idea.” Lydia nodded as she closed down her phone and returned it to its nest in her pocket. Setting her glass down on a stable flat surface, she got to her feet and was almost instantly in his arms. Her heart fluttered slightly from the combination of the move’s sudden sureness and residual nerves, and she stared up at him as he moved the hair from her face. Catching herself only at his wink, she shook herself and tried for a smile in return. “Of course…” she murmured as his arm twined around her and she settled herself a little closer to his side experimentally. Darius added slight pressure on her shoulders, and she moved forward to their first test.

While Darius mulled over the difficulties that lay in the form of the two women in his employment, Lydia set her mind to her own predicament. Say what you will about the girl’s obvious ignorance; now that she and Darius were ‘dating’ she was all business, trying to plot out the proper sort of actions to get them the best response they could hope for. Well, first of all she’d have to remember to smile, or at least look somewhat pleased with the situation; she had a bad habit of adapting a steely eyed stare when she wasn’t paying attention, and aside from making people occasionally uncomfortable it did not for a happy creature dating make. And she’d have to figure out what to do with her hands; should she wrap them around the vampire and snuggle close? No; it might look like she was clinging to him and she didn’t want to give off the appearance of desperation or like she was after something from him. They would surely be looking for that, if they cared even half as much about their collective boss as she suspected. And what about..?

But there was no more time to plan, for the girl heard voices rapidly approaching and the vampire’s lips brushed against her ear. Spots of color rising in her cheeks, the usually stern eyed girl actually looked charmingly bashful as they stepped in to meet them, slipping one hand around his waist and fisting her hand against his back. Darius’ gentle touch reminded her of her determined planning and she shook herself, steeling herself for the eyes that would fall on them. And fall on them they did; though a soft smile stayed on her lips her expression was carefully maintained. Familiar green eyes seemed to immediately find hers –perhaps she had sought them out despite her best intentions?—and she cringed inside at the shock she saw there. Ignoring her personal feelings, she stayed silent while Darius addressed the issue in a quick, to the point manner. It made her feel immensely better about herself in general to have it all laid out quickly. Now that it had been said, she could stoop worrying herself and go with the plan.

A woman –a Gorgon, by the looks of it-- laughed at the mention of their dating, and Lydia almost grimaced. She had been worried about this. Was the idea that Darius would associate with someone such as herself, a human with little importance in the grand scheme of things, too far fetched for people to believe? Her gaze stayed steady; she had expected this. After all, Darius was handsome, charming, established… she was going to have to pay close attention to herself, since she was clearly the weak link in this arrangement. She was going to have to prove herself. That thought lit the fires of determination in her. She could hold up her part of this arrangement, and she would!

And then the little witch’s voice caught her ear and brought her very quickly from her thoughts. Her eyes slid from a notably pissed-looking Abram to that familiar hatted head, turned away in what Lydia could only assume was pain. Her conscience twinged; she hadn’t even spared a thought about the girl who so obviously loved Darius when she’d agreed to this arrangement. It was clear that she was growing crookeder and crookeder by the day. What part would that girl play in their little scheme? Darius seemed to have no feelings for her, but the girl obviously could not say the same. She was clearly hurt, but would she be angry? Lydia had even less experience in dealing with angry witches then she did with vampires, and the realization made her cringe. Perhaps taking the girl aside for some sort of negotiation was in order, or perhaps a small hint that this relationship wasn’t… no, she couldn’t do that. Everyone had to believe it was real, what she and Darius had, or the whole scheme would fall apart. Of course, Lydia’s concerns were for nothing, for Cassey was a stronger (or more optimistic) creature then that. There was a flying thing that looked suspiciously like a cat and then the witch was suddenly before her, eyes bright and speaking with enthusiasm. Lydia started slightly as Cassey grabbed her hands and pulled her close as if the two of them were engaging in some sort of pact, and gray eyes widened with shock.

“Rivals?” she deadpanned. “Miss, I’m afraid that isn’t something I’m…” her jaws snapped shut as the Gorgon planted her fist on top of the witch’s head to silence her. It seemed to be all in good fun, and Lydia quirked an eyebrow as she carefully disentangled her hands from Cassey’s grasp. “Are you all right?” she inquired somewhat hesitantly, concerned despite being positive that such a light-hearted reaction from the people watching couldn’t bode ill for the enthusiastic witchling, but also not wanting to prompt any more unnecessary touching. She straightened and didn’t resist as Darius pulled her closer, angling her body more against him hesitantly. Those big purple eyes were making her feel like she’d murdered Santa Clause the day before Christmas, especially when he pressed a kiss to her cheek. The poor witch girl was right there, and such a move might… oh, no, wait; the witch was still positive it was a test of some sort. Lydia sighed; she was a corporate machine, and she didn’t really have the time to process such things, regrettable as it was.

He called her darling; that would take some getting used to. Clearing her throat gently, the young woman knocked bangs from her eyes habitually and forced a small, even smile on her lips. Abram’s stunned gaze was burning a hole in her head so she looked to all of them but him, attempting to meet the eyes of each save for the werewolf and the witch girl. “Hello… my name is Lydia Fabien. I work over at Fellowship Pharmaceuticals. It's a pleasure to meet all of you. I’m afraid I’m going to be borrowing your boss whenever you can spare him. And, perhaps, sometimes when you can’t… but I promise I’ll keep that to a minimum.” She assured them. Because obviously what was on everyone that worked in the restaurant’s minds was whether or not she would be detracting from their boss’ work ethic. Obviously. “I hope to get to know you all personally sometime in the near future.” She finished with a small nod.

But she wasn't going to get off scot free, because in that moment Abram found his voice.

Lydia tensed slightly. She shifted to shoot him a cool, disproving look, like he was a child acting out in class but he stared back at her boldly, filling her with a sort of dread. Abram was protective and Abram was loyal and Abram didn't know how to keep his damn mouth shut. And Lydia desperately didn't want the wolf man to get fired; she knew that he needed this job. And she knew that he was the sort that wouldn't stop until he had laid out every thought and suspicion once they had been amassed, which would surely insult Darius, which she didn't want either. So she had to diffuse the situation, and fast.

“Not now, Abram.” she murmured, her voice flat. Tilting her head back to stare up at the face of the man she was dating for show, she forced animation back into her voice. “I'm not worried about spells, but we should probably move along. We're going to be late, Darius.” To what? The businesswoman had no idea; she'd make something up if someone thought to inquire without qualms. She shifted to make some space between them and immediately compensated by reaching for Darius' hand, threading their fingers together so that there would be no chance of the vampire slipping free from her should Abram speak again. "Again, nice meeting you all. Please excuse us." she added, all but dragging Darius towards the exit Tammy had indicated.

It wasn't until they had passed safely through the exit and she had put some distance between the two sections of the restaurant did the girl's footsteps slow to a crawl. Her grip on Darius' hand stayed firm and her eyes dropped to the floor, a stern expression on her face. It hadn't felt good saying that to her best friend, but it had to be done. Presented with the same situation over again, she would make no changes. In her mind, she'd made the best possible choices. Her silence didn't last for long, and when she lifted her head it was to turn that steely determination towards Darius.

“About Abram.” she got right to the point. “I'll be talking to him as soon as possible about... our situation. I'll find something believable to tell him so he won't give you any trouble. He's... a goodhearted guy, but I'm afraid he worries too much. I'll do my best to ensure that he isn't an issue and make it up to you should he... slip up.” she sighed heavily; as much as she assumed Abram would keep himself in line, her life was now closely tangled with Darius', and she had to prepare for the worst just in case. She glanced down at their linked hands for a long moment, blinked, then released the vampire with a clearing of her throat. “Oh, I'm sorry... I didn't even think. Dragging a man away from his own staff...” she continued, sounding like she was scolding herself.

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Ｉ ｓａｉｄ ｎｏ, ｎｏ ｙｏｕ'ｒｅ ｎｏｔ ｔｈｅ ｏｎｅ ｆｏｒ ｍｅ!
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▇ location: R E S T U R A N T XXXXX ▇ mood: W T F ? ! ? XXXXX ♫ u p b e a t m e l o d y ♫XX
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Abram felt he could contest her statement. Witches might not grow on trees but, seeing as the two of them had met because the purple eyed girl had fallen from one, in his world view they might have well have. If they did, he’d have more of a chance to know of the chaos in advance. He could have warned the sidewalk they were coming down for a visit. Oh well. He mused over the conundrum that was Enzo as the separate character of Cassey’s teacher curiously; the guy had looked young enough, and if it had been any other girl he might have been concerned that there was something between the little witch and the teacher that showed up to get her out of tough spots. But this was Cassey he was thinking about, and the girl hadn’t been shy in the assurance that she was in love with the fangface that ran the joint. He seemed like the only real rival that would ever exist for Cassey’s attention; of that Abram was sure. Which was nice, because he knew a lot more about why it was a bad idea to go chasing after vampires than why it would be bad to go chasing after a wizard; but it was also rather sad seeing as Abram had known the witch for less than a day and had already come to the strong conclusion that her over the top feelings were not the easily shaken sort. Prying her affections off of Darius was sure to be a tiring thing… not that he paid much credence to that sort of observation.

The werewolf’s eyes lit in amusement at Tammy’s observations. “Hey, come on now; I’ve been on my best behavior! If I was being unruly here, I’d have been kicked out already. You really should be complementing me about it, actually.” he insisted, grinning impishly. “Like I said, dogs just have a bad rep. You know what are really the worst? Monkeys. Monkeys are terrible. They’re rude, they throw things, and I’m pretty sure they cheat at cards.” How he had come to this last conclusion remained unexplained as he cut his eyes to Cassey. Nope; seemed that she was still missing it. People shouldn’t be allowed to be so oblivious, he mused; it offered people like himself entirely too many opportunities to tease. “I’ll be on my best behavior because I’m trying to woo certain young ladies. Honestly, I’m not that much of an animal!” he laughed. “And squinting’s good for you. I’m pretty sure it builds character.” The licensed medical staff in his head assured him that this was so. “Yeah, yeah… we’re goin’, we’re goin’…”

The wait was a short one when waiting with Cassey, and green eyes widened slightly as the witch leaned closer to him. “Uh, yeah, sure it is…” Abram had the feeling he’d pay for that lie if it was discovered that he hadn’t been paying as much attention as he should have to the important, work-related bits. Oh well. He quirked an eyebrow and studied Cassey’s suddenly demure expression curiously. “Last student?” He started, but the bell rang loudly in his ears. Rubbing at them, he made a mental note to ask the girl about it again at a later date. Then again, she hadn’t seemed too comfortable at the recollection… perhaps it would be better if he asked Tammy. The Gorgon seemed like the sort that would know all of the ins and outs of this establishment.

Abram only grinned at the college male’s scoffing. There was rarely ever anything humans could do to really get his dander up, and in his opinion there were few things less intimidating then human bulk. He’d once seen on television that it took a fully armed SWAT team to take done a lone, angry chimp. And the members of SWAT were both big and heavily armed. It was difficult to see humans as much of a threat after seeing something like that. The female, however, tugged at his heartstrings. Human females were also at the bottom of the female equality food chain. Abram didn’t particularly like vampire women, but at least he knew they didn’t take crap from anybody, especially not their equals in their race. Werewolf women were prone to maulings if they thought their men were doing them wrong. And witches were notorious through history for their retributive might. But human women tended to make fools of themselves when it came to love... not that this was a trait exclusive to humans, but they seemed to excel in it. He’d seen far too many like this one, young and trying too hard for the attentions of a halfwit. It made him wonder about the future of the species as a whole, if he were to be honest.

“Ah, maybe next time.” He said with a playful wink. Abram rarely set out to be flirty to the women he interacted with on purpose, it was just a default reaction built into his personality. The trading of flirty banter was a cultural standard in packs, after all. True, it would be called somewhat shameless by human standards, but Abram didn’t mind. Hey, if it made the girl on the receiving end smile, that was good enough justification for him. Despite his occasionally silver tongue, he was surprisingly pure in his intentions. In fact, Abram could think of only one exception to his generalization, one exception where his thoughts were concerned with something other then a smile as reward, and that one exception was looking at him as if she was of the same mind of the young people that they had been serving.

“Yeah, customers being happy I can understand. But not that happy… here you go, Tammy. ‘Nother order. And I wrote real pretty on this one, just for you.” He said as he handed the couple’s orders over to the sassy cook.

The werewolf turned and started slightly at the witch’s suddenness. She was much closer then she’d been to him thus far, and it was extremely difficult for him to focus on anything else for several long seconds. She smelled good –aside from that cat smell, but he could ignore that—and it brought a sort of dopy smile to his lips. Ah, but he was distracted again; focus on the words, Abram. She was looking in the general up vicinity with some interest. “What?” he asked, tilting his head to the side. “Oh, my ears… yeah, sure. Ears, tail, fur, scary wolf face; whatever you want.” His voice trailed off as fingers came to rest on his cheek. Once again, a single touch monopolized his entire attention. “Huh?” he repeated, chanting his ‘pay attention’ mantra in his head. “No, they’re not hidden like that. It’s more like… well, I guess it won’t make much sense if I explained it. I’d probably have to show you.” The words caught him slightly by surprise, and he couldn’t help but grin at himself. Normally, it would take a great deal for him to give in and just transform for the heck of it. “Which… I guess I can do. Since you’re pretty cute and all.”

Ears were easy; even pups could manage to pop their ears in and out at will. It didn’t even require the restructuring of too many muscles and nerve endings. It hardly required a thought, and definitely not the running concentration that transforming legs or restructuring the torso would have demanded. Fortunate, considering the circumstances. Cells shifted and he gave a hard shake of his head, ears popping into place atop his shaggy head. They were the same tawny color as his hair, and flicked a few times as if to adjust to their sudden and unusual summons.

“Sorry, you’ll have to make due with just the ears. This costume’s not exactly tail-friendly.” He informed her with a chuckle. Her reaction was as enthusiastic as he should have expected, and his smile was a bit disbelieving. Abram suddenly felt that he should have expected something pet-dog related. “Well, sure… I guess so.” He replied, amused. Who didn’t love a good ear scratch, after all? As long as it wasn’t tail pulling. Tail pulling was unforgivable. Well, maybe not unforgivable, but it wasn’t very polite. Hesitating for a brief second in thought about how to go about allowing such a thing to the shorter girl, he started to duck his head, but paused at the Gorgon’s words. His face tugged into a frown; that the ‘boss-man’ had something he wanted to get off his chest was not really reason enough for diverting his attention from the task at hand, at least not in Abram’s mind. Still, Cassey was distracted, so he sighed and scratched his head. Might as well listen to what the bat boss had to say. The werewolf crossed his arms over his chest as he turned towards the vampire… and froze.

“Wait… what the..?”

Lydia was there and, alarmingly, the vampire had his arm wrapped around her. What did he think he was doing?! The plight of his human packmate warranted immediate action, but Lydia was staring at him, and something in her eyes kept him frozen. She was staring at him as if she knew he’d react this way, and thought him an idiot all the more for it. He knew that stare; he’d gotten it often enough in the past. His jaw dropped as he was smacked with the implications: Lydia wasn’t being attacked, and she wasn’t being held against her will. Lydia wanted to be there, with the vampire’s arm draped around her! Abram was floored.

He was glad Tammy spoke, because she was able to say the words he wasn’t quite able to get out.

Dating? Dating!? No way; Abram’s gaze flicked back to that of his friend, intently studying her for any more subtle hint that she was under duress. She stared back at him steadily, but again, Lydia was always like that. Especially when she was under duress. Curses! Why had they never established some sort of code to use in case of emergency?! That’s what normal people did in their friendships, wasn’t it?! But he didn’t have time to waste on that, because Lydia and Darius were not dating. Absolutely not. Lydia wasn’t allowed to date a vampire. No way. Actually, Lydia wasn’t allowed to date any creature that wasn’t human; her wolf brother had snarled her status as off limits to even his pack from day one. No, Lydia was to date, eventually marry, and be happy with a human. Not even a human, an accountant, the safest form of human, as everyone knew. Someone who would be appropriately nervous and wary of the wolf pack that would fall upon him with teeth and claws should he put as much as a toe out of line. That didn’t describe a vampire at all, and especially not this vampire! His jaw snapped shut and his eyes flashed. No, something was definitely wrong here.

Cassey’s words hit his ears and he felt strengthening comradery between the two of them; it seemed he wasn’t the only one horrified with this turn of events. Or… maybe he was; Abram watched in utter disbelief as the witch girl set her angry black cat flying and pounced on Lydia. Battle for the heart of… what, was she crazy? So heartsick that she was making things up to compensate? He wanted to drag her back from the bloodsucker before he could pulled whatever trick he had on Lydia on Cassey. But, perhaps he already had, because even in the face of their boss’ announcement she seemed confident that it was some test to… Abram stiffened. Could it be? Was the relationship between Cassey and Darius far more warped then even Abram could have imagined, and that this was some sort of effort on the male’s part to intensify Cassey’s affections? Normally Abram wouldn’t have thought there could be anything more intense then Cassey’s current professions of adoration for the bloodsucker, but now he was thinking the worst. Optimism be damned, and his concern for both young women skyrocketed. In Abram’s eyes, Darius was cleanly reduced to the worst of villains. He didn’t know how he’d done it, and he didn’t know exactly why, but he was clearly evil!

No sooner did that thought cross his mind then the vampire turned his gaze to him directly, and Abram bristled at his expression. Newly exposed wolf ears flattened against his head, and a soft warning growl bubbled in his throat. If the vampire didn't know good and well what his werewolf employee was thinking, then Abram would eat his obnoxious shoes. Instinct warranted baring one's teeth and growling further, but Abram resisted and tore his attention away from Darius, settling it instead on his sister substitute. This wasn't like her; she just didn't start dating anyone who asked, and she wasn't the sort to fall for smooth talking or romancing. He demanded an explanation! The girl's methodical introduction (under any other circumstance he would have groaned and reminded himself to tease her later about being so rigid and formal with her introductions) shocked him into action, and as he spoke he took a step forward, frowning.

"Hold on a minute!" he said, his voice tense. "What are you talking about, Lydia? You can't honestly mea-"

She cut him off with such a careless dismissal that it was like a slap, and he blinked, staring at her in shock. Her expressions were difficult for him to read in the best of times, and as this clearly wasn't one of them her current look was impossible to decipher; with a pointed look she turned away to speak to the bloodsucker, and the green eyed boy was left with the undeniable feeling that he had been snubbed. That stung. Lydia had never so blatantly dismissed him like that before. Not when he called her up to badger her in the middle of a meeting, not when he and his packmates showed up at her place during the full moon to 'serenade' her, not ever. It had always been a roll of the eyes, a sarcastic remark, something, anything was better then then casual dismissal that had been thrown to someone that was supposed to be the closest of friends far too easily for his tastes. And yet she'd done it, turning to drag the vampire away from the young man who was supposed to be her brother with alarming eagerness. Was she actually holding his hand?! They disappeared before he could see for sure.

For a long minute after they left, the werewolf was silent, debating the wisdom of going after them immediately. He was clearly too upset to deal with this in a rational enough manner to appease Lydia, and that would probably only piss her off and amuse Darius. He needed to cool down. He needed to think. But it was hard, and he curled his hands into fists at his side.

"I don't like this." he finally murmured, his tone laced with concern. "If she won't come to me for help... She doesn't have a pack of her own. Who's going to protect her from that guy?"

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Ｉ
{ ｓ ｅ ｎ ｔ } ｉｔ ｔｏ ａ ｐｌａｃｅ ｉｎ ｔｈｅ ｍｉｄｄｌｅ ｏｆ ｎｏｗｈｅｒｅ
Ｗｉｔｈ ａ ＢＩＧ ＢＬＡＣＫ ＨＯＲＳＥ ａｎｄ ａ ｃｈｅｒｒｙ ｔｒｅｅ.
[ＷＯＯ - ＨＯＯ!]
Ｎｏｗ ｉｔ ｗｏｎ'ｔ ｃｏｍｅ ｂａｃｋ, 'ｃａｕｓｅ ｉｔ'ｓ ｏｈ ｓｏ ｈａｐｐｙ
▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ Ａｎｄ ｎｏｗ Ｉ'ｖｅ ｇｏｔ ａ ｈｏｌｅ ｆｏr ｔｈｅ ｗｏｒｌｄ ｔｏ ｓｅｅ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇

[kewefefe]

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Ⓣⓗⓔ Ⓛⓞⓥⓔⓢⓘⓒⓚ Ⓑⓡⓞⓞⓜ Ⓡⓘⓓⓔⓡ

Determination. It was probably one of the only things that Cassey and Lydia could willingly agree on. Although the two were strikingly different, they both shared that common determination. Cassey had her game face on as she watched the departing figures of the new couple. Shutting her hand into a fist, Cassey lightly slammed the closed hand into her open palm. This was clearly a test. A test she would- Her thoughts stopped when she heard the werewolf boy’s question. Her index finger pressed against her cheek as she gave a thoughtful look. That’s when her eyes caught sight of the fallen Enzo. She quickly bent down and pulled the poor cat into her arms patting the top of his head in hopes that he would feel better. After repositioning the cat in her arms so he was resting like a stuffed animal, she turned her attention towards the wolf. Abram seemed to hold a lot of resentment to the vampire, but why? ”Why are you worried about Darius?” she asked her body tilting to the side.

People tended to think the worst of the vampire, but why? From what Cassey knew of him, Darius had done nothing but helped her. If it wasn’t for him, Cassey did not what would have happened to her. ”Darius is a very good person.” she said blushing as she spoke. The top of her head leaned against Enzo’s head as she shut her eyes. ”I know he is a vampire, but he has one of the biggest hearts I’ve ever seen.” The blush only darkened as she talked about her employer. She even rubbed her toe against the ground as her body swayed. She resembled a teenage girl who was experiencing her first crush. ”Darius wouldn’t hurt a soul!” argued the girl as she walked towards Abram. Only Ezno came in between them as her eyebrow frowned. ”That man is a good man. I mean he…” she looked down again that blush flowing across her cheeks as her heart raced. ”Just trust me…he is a good person!” she repeated her eyes staring into his. She probably would have continued too if Enzo didn’t let out an irritated groan. Cassey bit down against her bottom lip as her eyes looked off to the side. ”I-“

”Hey! These orders aren’t going to delivery themselves!” called Tammy causing Cassey to swing around. Her long hair brushed against Abram as she led the way to the orders. ”You seem to be taking this well Cass.” she noted as she watched the witch.

”Course I am! I mean if I can make it through this test…well then Darius will have to see that we are meant to be!” she said taking the tray from the gorgon. Tammy made a slight tsking noise as she shooed the two off. The walk towards the couple was quick much quicker than Cassey thought it would be. ”Here we are!” The girl practically sang as she handed the couple from earlier their drinks. ”Sorry it took so long.” she said biting down against her bottom lip while rubbing the back of her neck. The apology seemed to be well received as the young girl practically jumped up at the sight of Abram’s ears.

”That is just TOO cute!” she squealed causing Cassey to blink as she placed the tray over her mouth as a sort of shield. She took a step away from Abram as the enthusiastic girl stared at him. ”They are the same color….oh my goodness they twitched!” she said causing Cassey to look up at the ears as well.

”Oh my gods they DID twitch!” she said dropping the tray so she could move closer to the poor wolfboy. Both Cassey and the customer were leaning towards Abram as they looked up at him. ”That is soo cool! I wanna touch them!” she said bouncing up slightly. ”Aww they twitched again!” she said her hands leaning against her cheek.

The male customer stood up and glared at the werewolf. His hand was sticking out towards the wolf as he got ready to give that uncontrollable flirt a piece of his mind. ”I think it’s time we-“ Before he could finish, something or rather someone hit him in the back of his head causing him to fall forward against the table like a sack of potatoes. The man who was responsible for the hitting was the All-Powerful cat wizard Enzo. He had hit the boy with the back end of his staff as he watched him fall down.

His eyes watched the college student before lifting towards the teenage girl. The old wizard really was a shameless flirt as he let his own cat ears twitched in delight. ”It’s so strange that we could meet her-“ He began fluttering his hair back as he spoke, but the teenage girl took no interest in him. Instead, she moved towards her boyfriend.

”Jake!” she called her eyes filled with worry. ”Why in the world would you do that? Come on baby…let’s get out of here.” she said as she helped the daze boy up. Cassey slapped her hand over her forehead as she watched the departing figures.

”Thanks a lot Enzo…that’s coming out of MY paycheck you know.” she said crossing her arms as she glanced back at him. Her eyes were steady as her teacher shrugged his shoulder. ”Don’t say it.” she said holding up her hand. ”I know. I know this is all part of some big ’master’ plan. Doesn’t change the fact that I’m the one the one suffering.” she whined her face filled with sadness as the wizard jumped down towards the witch.

Enzo draped his hand affectionately over the witch. At first he looked as if he were going to comfort her in the means that an older brother might. However, his hand seemed to be a bit of an explorer. ”Cassandra my dear sweet Cassandra…I really mean you no ill-will. This IS all part of a plan.” he said his hand resting securely on her chest.

”Yeah…a plan to get you laid.” she huffed back before blinking as Mr. Grabby Hands got a bit too grabby. Cassey lifted up her foot and stomped down on his causing the man to fall backwards. ”Ahh- per….wait My Darius is going somewhere other than to work senses are tingaling!” she said rushing off to the back. Enzo groaned as he looked down at his poor foot. After changing as quickly as she possibly could, she came back out to Abram and the fallen Enzo. ”Umm…yeah this is all part of your ummm training….Come on!” she said before darting towards the exit.

”Cass!?” called Enzo as he slowly stood up. Cassey stopped mid-run so she could hear what he had to say. ”Did you at least tell someone you were leaving work?” he asked watched the girl who gave a solid nod. ”Well…let’s go. Sorry Abram.” he said placing his hand against the werewolf’s shoulder. ”But it is just going to b-“

”Nooo silly. Abram HAS to come. He can sniff them out if we need him too!” declared the witch causing Enzo to narrow his eyes. ”Besides, I already got the okay. Tammy is making up some excuse as we speak.” To be fair, Tammy’s excuses weren’t exactly the best excuses. More likely than not she was probably going to have a bit of funny spreading lies or telling the complete truth.

Enzo rolled his eyes before walking towards Cassey. ”Are you sure you don’t want me to just flirt with the human? She is a cute little thing. I mean did you see here eyes?” But somehow Cassey doubted the man was talking about eyes any more with the way he had his hands positioned in front of his chest. Rolling her eyes, Cassey pointed forward.

”Operation…stalk- I mean follow Darius Plan A is under way!” she said with such excitement in her voice.

✄------------------------------------------------------

Ⓣⓗⓔ Ⓓⓘⓢⓣⓐⓝⓣ Ⓑⓛⓞⓞⓓⓢⓤⓒⓚⓔⓡ

Lydia was handling this whole situation much better than Darius could have ever dream. Her voice was direct, positive, and she held authority. Even the vampires seemed to stop their jeering and joking after her words. It was nice to know if they were to ever get serious, she could handle the pressure. So the vampire allowed Lydia to drag him out of his restaurant towards the street. ”It’s fine…no need to apologize. Werewolves tend to be very protective of their packmates. Or people they see as their packmats.” he said holding up his free hand as he spoke. He had to keep his distaste for the werewolf at bay. If he wanted this to work (which he clearly did) he was going to have to play the part of the good guy. Not that Darius wasn’t a generally good person, but he just had to be kinder than usual. He smirked as she told him she would make it up to him if he slipped up. Pulling the woman closer (in hopes of seeing her blush again), the man tilted his head to the side. ”And how my dear would you be making it up to me?” he asked playfully.

If Lydia said something about the closeness, he could always claim that he was trying to get her used to it for the company of course! He let the girl go so he could address her next apology. ”It’s fine…we need to have people see us out in public ANYWAYS.” he said letting Lydia walk on her own two feet. He kept her hand in his as he began to lead the way. Darius was happy. Anyone who knew the man could see the slight gleam in his eyes as he kept his other hand in his pocket. ”I believe we have some getting to know each other business to get out of the way?” he asked looking back at her with a stern glance.

”How do you know Abram?” he tried to keep his expression light as he talked about the other man. How Lydia could stand being around him was well beyond the vampire’s comprehension. His eyes narrowed slightly just thinking about it, but when he looked back at Lydia he kept his expression soft. Act. He had to keep his act of not completely hating the werewolf up.

After listening to her story, he continued. ”I bet you are wondering how I met someone as strange as Cassey no?” he asked his eyes darkening as he spoke. ”Witches and wizards are different.” he said his eyes staring off into the distance as he thought about those strange men and women. ”It’s hard to explain. Not even I know the completely workings of their realm or world.” He stopped for a moment before continuing. ”Cassey’s mother and father were very different people. Her mother was part of their council, an upstanding citizen according to their standards. She even made a deal with myself to ensure the stability between our two races.” he explained dropping her hand so he could cross his arms. ”However, Cassandra doesn’t know that bit of information about my relationship with her mother. Now the girl’s father, however, is what is known as a Dark One. He has been living longer than even a majority of the vampires themselves. It was even rumored for a while that he created the demons you know as myself and my kinsmen.”

His eyes held a slight bit of pity in them before continuing. ”The man fell in love with Cassey’s mother. And for a while, everyone thought that finally there was going to be peace and harmony. But his followers were not so keen on the idea of letting their leader go off and play married Harry.” he explained shutting his eyes as he recalled the events. Taking a deep breath, he continues. ”They killed Cassey’s mother first.” His voice trailed slightly as he spoke. ”That woman was one hell of a witch though because before letting herself die, she teleported herself and the teenage Cassey to my house.” he looked away as he spoke. ”Those followers set their eyes to Cassey next. You see Cassey’s older sister, though very talented, had long ago denounced her witch heritage. She works as a doctor or lawyer or something now. Her whereabouts are kept hidden. So they only knew of the younger sister.” Swallowing he paused for a moment. ”That’s where her infatuation with me lies. I protected her from danger while those followers tried to kill her.” Darius was leaving out a couple of parts of the story, one being the situation with the girl’s father. However, he felt that the less Lydia knew about the details the better off she was.

”Oh…look at what I did.” he said brushing his hands through his hair. ”I went down memory lane didn’t I? I completely ruined the mood. Let’s talk about something else shall we?” he offered as he began to take the lead once more. ”What else would you like to know about me?” he inquired.

Cassey, on the other hand, was following after the two like some mad woman trying to find her cheating husband. ”Is this really appropriate Cassey?” he questioned in a whisper as the little trio hid behind a wall. ”Although…” he said with a sly grin when Lydia seemed to drop something. His head perked up a bit as he tried to get a better glance. ”Damn it! The vampire picked it up FOR her…why does he have to be all gentleman like.” he whined.

”Oh you dropped this.” said Darius politely handing the girl the notebook she had dropped. ”You are very organized you know that right? What a wonderful quality.” he said smiling back at her as he clasped his hands behind his back.

”What are they saying?” asked Cassey as she pressed herself closer. Her head barely popping up. ”Oh no! He’s smiling! That means he is having a good time! My rival is a worthy foe indeed!” she claimed her hands jumping up to her lips.

”She’s more than that…” said Enzo causing Cassey to slap him in the chest. Why couldn’t he stay in his cat form? At least then she could throw him in her bag or something. But nooo he just had to be all big and obnoxious. He was about to say something more, but both the witch and werewolf seemed more than a little annoyed. ”What? I was just ADMIRING the pretty lady!” he stated innocently. Cassey rolled her eyes before glancing back.

”Whhhhaaa? They’re gone! Where did they go-“ she stopped mid sentence as she glanced up only to see the vampire standing right behind her with Lydia in his arms.

Placing Lydia back to her feet, Darius glared at the odd little trio. He had figured out their wandering eyes before. So while they were speaking, he (without explaining what he was doing to Lydia) lifted the girl up and moved the two right behind them. ”What are you doing Cassandra?” he asked his voice stern and direct.

”I um…I’m on date. What are you jealous?” she asked trying to hug Abram only to accidentally punch him in the face. ”Oh Abram!” she said her hands jumping to her lips while the vampire rolled his eyes.

’Then why is Enzo here? Hm?” he asked.

”Someone has to pay…duh.” she said causing Enzo to slap his forehead at her explanation. ”Stop being so nosy. We are having a grand o’ld time. Now be gone with you.” she stated making a shooing noise.

”It is so lovely to meet you Miss Lydia.” said Enzo lifting her hand up into his. ”You are far pretty than I could have ever imagined.” he said before lightly moving her hand away so he could hug her. What? Maybe he was a very huggy sort of guy? She didn’t know that! Although what she would know is that he had a bad cause of wandering hands. In the course of a few seconds, his hands were already sliding along her backside while that cattail of his wrapped around her leg.

”Pervert….” groaned Cassey as she watched her teacher.













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[Lady March Hare]

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ｍｙ
ｈｅａｒｔ ｈｉｔ ａ ｐｒｏｂｌｅｍ ｉｎ ｔｈｅ { ｅ ａ ｒ ｌ ｙ } ｈｏｕｒｓ,
Ｓｏ Ｉ ｓｔｏｐｐｅｄ ｉｔ ｄｅａｄ ｆｏｒ ａ ｂｅａｔ ｏｒ ｔｗｏ.
[ＷＯＯ - ＨＯＯ!]
Ｂｕｔ Ｉ ＣＵＴ ｓｏｍｅ ｃｏｒｄ (ａｎｄ Ｉ ｓｈｏｕｌｄｎ'ｔ ｈａｖｅ ｄｏｎｅ ｉｔ)
▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ Ａｎｄ ｉｔ ｗｏｎ'ｔ ｆｏｒｇｉｖｅ ｍｅ ａｆｔｅｒ ａｌｌ ｔｈｅｓｅ ｙｅａｒｓ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇

▇ location: O U T S I D E XXXXX ▇ mood: T H O U G H T F U L XXXXX ♫ q u i e t m e l o d y ♫XX
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Though she tried to hold it back, a relieved sigh escaped Lydia’s lips. Good; he hadn’t taken offense to Abram’s antagonism. Her lips twitched into a smile; Darius’ front of benevolence towards her werewolf friend worked well. Sure, she sensed that he wasn’t fond of the blonde, but it seemed to her that Darius didn’t care about Abram overmuch one way or the other, which suited Lydia just fine. She blinked and cleared her throat slightly as he pulled her closer, the slightest hints of pink in her cheeks as she looked up at him with a lifted eyebrow. This time she caught the nuances (remarkably) in his words, but, seeing as they were a playful jab at the possible double meaning of her own words, she was going to try her darndest to pretend she didn't have a clue what he was talking about. Because admitting otherwise was a little embarrassing, and the girl had a pretty strict policy about embarrassing herself. In general, she was against it.

“Renegotiating the terms of your contract with my company in your favor, of course.” She replied matter-of-factly. Yes, that sounded right. She straightened herself, then looked down at their linked hands carefully. Yes, that was something couples did casually; it would be normal for them to walk hand in hand. Her brow furrowed slightly as she logged that away; since there wasn’t an exact audience before her, she wasn’t quite sure how she should act. She had been raised to think of this man with great respect and she usually would have reacted as such, but couples were supposed to be close and intimate… it was quiet the head scratcher. He spoke again and her attention snapped back to him; his expression reminded her that there was business to be doing. The business of gathering substantial information on one another so that they would be a believable couple, of course! Abram really was a topic to cover quickly, so Lydia nodded and continued in her same matter-of-fact tone. “We met when I broke into his den-house.”

She walked in silence for a moment before she came to the conclusion that such an offhanded comment probably demanded elaboration.

“It’s sort of a common thing, but when I was a child there was always some annoying person or another that would try to kidnap me for ransom or to trip up my mother. Or for some other such nonsense; honestly I never made much of an effort to bother myself with the details of the whys.” The gray eyed girl continued lazily, trying to acclimate herself to the feeling of holding a man’s hand over an extended period of time. “After one of the stupider of these attempts, I’d gotten away easily enough but was completely lost. I was looking for a phone when I found Abram’s den-house. I suppose you know werewolves keep all of the windows in their homes open so they can some through them without having to worry about latches or locks or anything… anyway, I decided that an open window was an open invitation. They weren’t too fond of that, especially since when I came in I stepped on one of the wolves’ tails. They’re rather particular about their tails.” Lydia paused to make a face. “Anyway, Abram was the one that smoothed the whole thing over for me. And he let me use his phone, and stay with the pack until the car was sent for me. We’ve been friends ever since.” The girl grinned slightly. “To tell you the truth, he annoyed me terribly when we first met. He was so.... excitable, I suppose is the word. For a while he would show up laughing, saying he was just stopping by to make sure I wasn't getting lost or into trouble. I almost called the pound on him once, but I realized that word had somehow gotten around that I was befriending werewolves and that it was serving as a pretty efficient deterrent against the stupider kidnapping plots. And... well, before I knew it, he'd grown on me. He and the rest of the pack. We've been like family ever since.”

It was a heartwarming feeling, remembering those early days. When she had been very young, she had always wanted a family that consisted of more then just herself and her mother, and the day when it finally sunk in that she had a whole furry pack to add to her family's numbers had been a happy one. The grinning Abram of her memories was replaced by an older Abram, looking at her with a hurt, confused expression in his eyes. But no, she didn’t want to think aboutthat right now. She blinked and shook her head to free herself of that thought process, and studied the vampire from the corner of her eye curiously.

“Well, yes, I had wondered…” she said slowly, almost adding that she was sure it would have been far too rude to ask, but she kept that part to herself. Lydia stayed silent, allowing him to explain Cassey’s past and his connection to it. Her face stayed carefully blank, the only emotion displaying itself in the widening of her eyes. Cassey’s past was heart-wrenching and complicated, and the businesswoman couldn’t help but feel sympathy for the spastic witch. After all, none of the incompetent bad guys Lydia had come into contact with during her life had been trying to kill her, and the thought of anyone falling under such hateful intentions made something inside of her go cold. Considering the circumstances, it amazed the brunette that the purple eyed spell caster was still cheerful and upbeat after such harrowing experiences. She kept her mouth shut, squeezing the vampire’s hand in an instinctive show of comfort before releasing it and holding her hands before her. “I… I see.” She murmured at last. Silence reigned for a second, then Lydia smiled. “So, you’re her knight in shining armor. No wonder she’s so head over heels for you. Any girl would be.”

“Oh, what mood?” she replied, flicking her free hand dismissively. Now she was curious, and it was time to indulge her secret nosiness. “To be sure, I have many questions about you… but… since we we’re on the subject… Oh, excuse me.” She said as a man passing them brushed past her. She glanced after him with a frown. Rude; and, on top of it, she’d dropped her… A smile flickered on her lips as she reached to take the notebook from the vampire and shifted to hold it in the crook of her arm. “Thank you. As for being organized… ah, I suppose I’m actually pretty neurotic about it.” She admitted, sounding somewhat apprehensive about herself for the first time. “But it is a comfort to know that, at least like this, I won’t forget anythi-”

The end of her word was swallowed up by a little gasp as her feet were suddenly and inexplicably leaving the ground. She reached to clench her fist in the nearest available surface of substance –Darius’s shirt—in surprise, and looked to the side to find that they were inexplicably before Abram, Cassey, and a man Lydia hadn’t met. Darius shifted her in his arms and she got her feet under her, a little disoriented. Well, that had been unexpected.

“Abram?” she frowned, stilling slightly when Cassey threw out the explanation that they were out on a date? What? Logic instantly interceded; she’d just heard why Cassey was so devoted to Darius and, though Abram was a smooth operator, he wasn’t that smooth, not by a long shot. It was silly, and hypocritical, she added, how easily just the thought of Abram dating someone had shocked her. There was a sound of pain happening and Lydia’s eyes widened; Abram was in pain again. “Ah…” she started as if to step forward, but found herself stopped as the stranger took her hand. She looked him directly in the eye, scanning his features to ensure that he was a stranger. “I’m sorry, have we met?” she asked as her hand was moved aside, and the slim girl stiffened noticeably as the man wrapped his arms around her. Well, this was uncomfortable. That went for double seconds later, and Lydia’s eye twitched as his hand wandered somewhere it was NOT allowed. “Sir, do you know the meaning of the term ‘sexual harassment class action suit’?” she asked conversationally as she reached back to pry the offending hand off of her and holding it away from her body, kicking free of his tail in irritation. “If you don’t, I’d be more then happy to educate you.”

Releasing Enzo, she directed her attention to the others and side stepped around him, folding her arms across her chest as she studied Cassey and Abram.

“Now, what are you doing here, really?” she looked at Abram, unapologetically suspicious. “Abram, if you dragged Cassey out here for some reason, I’m going to laugh at you when you get fired. It will be a long laugh, too.”

“Hey, this wasn’t my idea.” Abram said, but something about his reply seemed a little smug and Lydia was suspicious.

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Ｉ ｓａｉｄ ｎｏ, ｎｏ ｙｏｕ'ｒｅ ｎｏｔ ｔｈｅ ｏｎｅ ｆｏｒ ｍｅ!
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▇ location: O U T S I D E XXXXX ▇ mood: S U S P I C I O U S XXXXX ♫ u p b e a t m e l o d y ♫XX
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Abram cut his eyes to the side, his ears still flattened back against his head. Cassey’s question hung in the air, but the normally verbose young man only shook his head in response. Despite the fact that Darius struck Abram wrong personally, it wasn’t the vampire himself that raised such alarm. Darius just represented something bigger in that moment, something that had been lurking about the edges of Lydia’s camp ever since he’d known the brunette. But the werewolf wasn’t sure how to properly explain such a thing, nor was he in the particular mood to. The situation had made him downright cranky. Cassey shifted and the movement drew his eyes to her instantly. Just like always, she portrayed such sincerity when she spoke, such bashful honesty that, despite the fact that the man she referred to was one Abram didn’t trust, his expression softened ever-so-slightly at her words. Not that he actually believed most of her words, but a close study of her face revealed that she did, with all of her heart, and the sandy haired lad sighed. In actuality, he realized that he probably shouldn’t be worried about Lydia when it came to this vampire… after all, the human had a mean streak that had gotten her out of scrapes involving some pretty nefarious sorts in the past. The one he should be, and was, worried about was Cassey. She was utterly devoted to Darius, despite everything.

Wooing her away from the vampire would be difficult, Abram mused with a hint of sadness. Expressive green eyes blinked, then hardened slightly in determination. He wasn’t joking anymore; he was serious. He lifted a hand as if to pat her head, caught himself, them smiled wryly and plopped his hand to pat Enzo’s head instead. Just because the cat would hate it, and that would be amusing enough to distract him from his irritation enough to keep him from saying things that would, at this point, only hurt the sweet creature standing before him.

“I feel the same way, kitty.” He said, quickly pulling his hand back before the cat could maul him too badly. Tammy called out to them and Cassey turned away, the ends of her hair flicking through his raised fingers as she went. The werewolf blinked and lifted his fingers to his nose for a secretive sniff –her scent was faint and dwindling, but it was there—and then, with one last look towards the exit Darius and Lydia had passed through, he followed Cassey to the Gorgon to offer his assistance.

His mood was rebounding, but he was still noticeably less openly friendly when they returned to their customers. Only when the young woman they were serving squealed did he properly focus on her again, cocking his head to the side instinctively. He had completely forgotten his furry ears were visible, strange as it sounded. “What is?” he replied instinctively, reaching a hand up to scratch the top of his head—oh, yeah; that’s right. “Oh… thanks, I guess.” His grin was back, his personally falling back into place with only slight difficulty. A slightly nervous laugh escaped him when both of the young women leaned closer to him as he tried to keep his ears as still as possible. Not that they listened to him very well; they reacted to emotion and sensory triggers, not silly things like trying to look a little less adorable. “A-All right, Cassey, all right… hold on. The nice people need to get started on their meal…”

Really, Abram wouldn’t have minded Cassey cooing over his ears; she did smell awfully nice, the more he thought about it. And the customer seemed in a happier mood, so that was a plus. But the human male did not seem to be thinking about sunshine and rainbows and, instead of joining in on the fun with a friendly jab like Abram would have expected from a werewolf, he seemed of a mind to cause trouble. Like Abram couldn’t just chew off the arm reaching towards him or something. Not that Abram would do such a thing, but the mentality struck him as silly. Silly humans. Fortunately Enzo appeared with a resounding crack that dropped the human to the ground and made Abram wince.

“Whoa…” he stooped to lean over the human with a disbelieving expression. “Hey, are you okay, man?” The human girl took to her fallen lover, worrying over him, and Abram straightened with a sigh, slipping his hands in his pockets as he watched them. A soft laugh escaped him as the two left the restaurant, his arm wrapped around her shoulders as she supported him, and cut his eyes to Enzo. “Hey, I’d testify that he tripped and fell.” The werewolf added with a small shrug. Honesty was a strange, shifting part of his morality. Whether the offer still stood when the wizard went in for a clear grope was debatable; Abram’s mouth dropped open in disbelief, and an eye twitched slightly. His first thought was that they were in public; his second ran along the lines of hands off accompanied with a warning growl. Fortunately, these two thoughts got tangled up together and never quite got vocalized, and before Abram knew it Enzo was on the floor. Suddenly, the little witch’s chaotic powers seemed not only explainable, but justified. It was a veritable revelation. “I get it now… and I don’t feel sorry for you at all.”

“Wait, what?” he asked. This job didn’t feel like one he could just walk away from without explanation, especially not on his first day. Darius would be sure to hate such behavior. Ah, the silver lining; the werewolf had found it. Silver lining number two: Cassey wanted him to come with her! It was a good thing his tail wasn’t visible, because it would have been wagging. His grin widened as he glanced at Enzo and his obvious attempt to brush him off. Haha, take that, wizard! Cassey wanted him around… to sniff out the vampire if they lost him. Had he been in motion, Abram surely would have tripped and fallen on his face. Oh, that’s right; for half a second, he forgot who it was talking to him. “Oh, okay…” he said with a heavy sigh. Tammy was covering them, that reassured him. He had no clue about her history with covering for her coworkers. It really wasn’t his day. He grinned and shifted to rest his hand on Enzo’s shoulder as the man had done to him seconds before, smile as innocent as he could manage it. “Looks like you’re stuck with me, Mr. Teacher.” He said brightly as he moved past the man to the witch’s side. “And hey, let’s try something. Let’s pretend those ‘eyes’ you’re talking about belong to my little sister, and that every time I hear you say stuff like that, it makes me want to bite you.” He added, planting himself at Cassey’s side and making a face. See, this was why he worried about the women he met in his life. This stuff.

They were perhaps an unlikely trio, and when he realized it Abram grinned wryly. It had certainly been a strange day. He used his nose as was deemed his reason for coming along, but Cassey’s ‘Darius is going somewhere other than to work senses’ proved to be strangely efficient as well. He thought she’d been joking; now he was watching her with mild suspicion. The girl was a natural at this stuff? Fortunately he was of a mind to stalk this particular couple anyway, and offered to the operation an enthusiasm that, while no match for Cassey’s, at least made an effort to keep up.

“Stop complaining, Teach. And wipe that grin off your face; it’s creeping me out.” Abram muttered as the three of them ducked behind a wall. His ears folded back against his hair in an attempt to help him blend a little better, and the man carefully peaked out at the couple for any signs of nefarious things happening. The small show of chivalry didn’t fool him, and he narrowed his eyes in slight suspicion. Lydia seemed relaxed enough and, as Cassey pointed out with dismay, Darius seemed to be smiling; the situation didn’t seem to hint at any immediate danger. Abram had to resist the childish urge to pout; there was danger in this situation somewhere, he just knew it. His face twitched and became drawn, and he shifted his attention to Enzo with a frown. “If you think I’m joking about biting you, I’m not.” The werewolf promised, looking back to Lydia moodily. Only, Lydia and Darius were gone; Abram stiffened. “What the..?! Cassey, where did they-?” His nose was working faster then his brain and he twisted to stare at the vampire warily. It did no good for his mood to see Lydia in the man’s arms; great, now she was going to smell like bloodsucker. Wonderful. Oh well, facing them was preferable anyway.

Cassey told a lie, and though Abram doubted it would be effective he filed it away in his memory to be reflected on later. It was a pleasant sort of thing to hear her say, after all. But for now, he had to focus on being appropriately disapproving of the nonsense that stood before him in the form of the ‘relationship’ between the human and the vampire. He was going to say something combative. It would release stress, and would be wonderfully therapeutic. Yes, saying something snarky would be good for him. At least, it would have been had Cassey’s fist not suddenly connected with his face with surprising force for one so small. It hurt less than surprised him, and he stumbled slightly, snapping a hand to the side to catch the wall so he wouldn’t tumble to the ground completely. Wow, even her affection hurt; Abram supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised.

“Ow, Cass…” he muttered as he righted himself, rubbing at his cheek but looking at the girl reassuringly. Compared to all of the other ways she’d leveled him that day, a punch to the face would probably prove to be the most redemptive to his manly, manly ego. Shaking it off, he directed his gaze to Darius. “That’s right; that’s what this is. We are allowed to be out in public, aren’t we… wait. Enzo?” He glanced at the wizard with a frown, decided that was something to worry about later, then looked back to the vampire. “No crime against walking. Why; are you up to something we should be worrying about?”

“Absolutely.” Lydia responded, looking irritated. “Really, it’s a good thing you came along, Abram. I was this close to giving into temptation and mugging Darius. Or pushing him in front of a car. Or kicking him aggressively in the shin. It was something downright evil, I promise you. But, since you all came along, I’ve remembered myself and will stay on the right path. Oh, thank you.”

“Enough with the sarcasm.” Abram said in irritation. “You know I wasn’t talking to you.”

“Tch.” Lydia turned her gaze to Cassey. “It’s Miss. Cassandra, isn’t it? I apologize for the bickering, and for interrupting your date.” She said calmly, addressing the date she was pretty sure wasn’t happening simply to give the other young woman an out.

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{ ｓ ｅ ｎ ｔ } ｉｔ ｔｏ ａ ｐｌａｃｅ ｉｎ ｔｈｅ ｍｉｄｄｌｅ ｏｆ ｎｏｗｈｅｒｅ
Ｗｉｔｈ ａ ＢＩＧ ＢＬＡＣＫ ＨＯＲＳＥ ａｎｄ ａ ｃｈｅｒｒｙ ｔｒｅｅ.
[ＷＯＯ - ＨＯＯ!]
Ｎｏｗ ｉｔ ｗｏｎ'ｔ ｃｏｍｅ ｂａｃｋ, 'ｃａｕｓｅ ｉｔ'ｓ ｏｈ ｓｏ ｈａｐｐｙ
▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ Ａｎｄ ｎｏｗ Ｉ'ｖｅ ｇｏｔ ａ ｈｏｌｅ ｆｏr ｔｈｅ ｗｏｒｌｄ ｔｏ ｓｅｅ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇

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Ⓣⓗⓔ Ⓛⓞⓥⓔⓢⓘⓒⓚ Ⓑⓡⓞⓞⓜ Ⓡⓘⓓⓔⓡ

Enzo was anything, but pleased. Even those who did not know that that cat was secretly human could feel a certain amount of annoyance drifting from his tiny, itty-bitty, body. Who did this wereboy think he was? No one (except for a pretty lady erm…or not so pretty lady when Enzo was feeling extra desperate) got to touch his head. His eyes narrowed as he gave a kitty-cat hiss. What made the situation all the more trying for the cat was the fact that Abram tried to gain some sort of common ground between the two. Enzo made a huffing noise to show the room just how much he disagreed. Enzo was a grand teacher. A man who was known in the magical realm as a great and power wizard! Witches and wizards from all around hired him to teach their children. His spells alone could cause a man to plead and beg for mercy. Did this pup really think that they were equals? HA! Enzo thought not. The old man would have continued his thoughts if Cassey wouldn’t have dropped him. He let out a bone-crushing groan as he watched the girl run off towards Tammy. She may have been as cute as a bucket full of babies, kitties, and puppies all together in an Easter Basket on Christmas Eve, but she was as deadly as a snake with a grudge out to take down corporate America.

Everything was happening so quickly. First Cassey was getting a tray, Enzo could accept this, but now she was doing something that was sure to give that wizard turned pussycat a heart attack. The wizard had little time to regain himself before Cassey and some adorable teenage girl were making their move towards Abram. Cassey could be so ridiculous some times. Both her and the other girl looked about ready to jump the werewolf, however, through a course of a few quick actions (by Enzo) the male portion of the group was down and the girl was gone. Enzo was clearly the hero in this situation. Well, at least he felt as if he were the hero. Anyone looking at his face could see the cockiness flowing from him as if he had just found a cure for cancer. So was it really so bad that this wizard-save-the-day-handsome gent was going in for a small piece of reward? Clearly it was, as Cassey shoved the other to the floor. ”Wait…you get what? she asked Abram in a confused manner before her short attention span had her running off towards Tammy. Enzo would have to be Cassey’s ears because the girl was far to concerned with a certain vampire to listen to anything Abram had to say.

Lifting and dusting himself off, Enzo turned towards Abram. Oh goody, they were going to bring the dog with them. Enzo mentally groaned as he glared at the other. ”Great…try not to get your fleas everywhere dog breath. And don’t think I haven’t see the way you look at my student.” he warned. Oh NOW Cassey was his student. A few moments ago when he was being Mr. Grabby-Grab the student-teacher ethics were a distant thought, but now that he knew Abram was coming…well it was a completely different story. ”And I also saw you smelling your hand…pervert.” Yes, Enzo HAD just used the p-word. Not that he cared overly much for his hypocrisy. He was a wizard not a saint. Enzo glared at the other when Abram threatened him about Lydia. ”You’re doing a FINE job at protecting her now aren’t you?” Not one of his best comebacks, but at least he knew it would be enough to ignite the wolf’s temper.

”Oh what? So I’m not allowed to be happy?” questioned Enzo as he leaned past Cassey. He would have continued to if the girl hadn’t held up her hand as if she just discovered some grand secret. She ran off without warning and headed towards the wall. The bickering between wolf and wizard only increased as they finally caught sight of the girl. ”Bet you would just LOVE to bite me wouldn’t you? It’s the closest you’ll ever get to my student.” he mumbled causing Cassey to frown.

”Hush! You two are being too loud!” she complained her eyes focused. It didn’t matter how focused the young woman was because within a matter of seconds, the vampire and human girl were right in front of them, a discovery that had Cassey hurting the poor werewolf again. ”Oh I’m sorry Abram!” she said sadly as she tried to make him feel better. Her eyes glared as she watched Enzo. She would have shoved her teacher away, but Lydia seemed to be able to hold her own quite nicely.

”Aren’t you two supposed to be at work?” asked Darius as he watched Enzo lick his battle scars. Not literally of coarse, but he was groaning and moaning as if Lydia had broken his arm. ”Why are you out here?” he asked looking down at Cassey. His expression unmoving as she placed her index finger against the side of her lip.

”Yes, that’s my name…was Darius talking about me? Not that I care or anything.” she said looking up at the girl with big purple eyes. She blinked slightly when she heard Darius’s question about their jobs. ”We are on our lunch break silly.” she said shrugging her shoulder as if this sort of behavior was normal. Had this been any other employee, Darius might have yelled at them. But he never could yell at that ridiculous witch.

”Cassandra.” he said giving her a solid look. ”Go home child…and don’t hang out with that wolf. It’s not healthy for you.” he said his tone gently as if he were talking to his own child. He brushed his fingers through his hair before glancing at Enzo. ”I thought you were supposed to be watching her…why is she hanging out with some do-?” he asked before catching himself. ”This stranger?” his eyes looked towards the human quickly before looking back at the teacher.

”What!? I can take care of myself you know!” Cassey spoke up before Enzo got a chance. ”And what’s wrong with Abram? Are you jealous or something?” she asked as she hugged onto the wolf’s arm. It was a slight miracle she didn’t hurt him. The vampire’s jaw tightened as he shifted in his stance.

His expression was still as he shut his eyes. ”Cassandra…stop making a scene.” he said opening his eyes to look at her. ”What’s wrong with him?” he repeated sighing as he looked at the human girl than at the witch. What was he supposed to say? ”You’re too young to date, and that’s just that.” he said causing Cassey’s jaw to drop. He turned his focus on Lydia. ”Shall we?” he asked causing the witch to narrow her eyes.

”Too young to date!? What is THAT supposed to mean!? I have boobs and everything! I am old enough to date.” she argued pointing at the vampire who stopped his walking and turned around to face her. Enzo let out a sigh as he leaned against the wall. He was staying out of this one. He learned a LONG time ago that it was best to not get into the middle of those two. ”I’m living on my own aren’t I? That has to mean something doesn’t it!? Just admit you are jealous.”

Jealous of Cassey finding a lover? Hardly. Darius had seen the girl grow into the young lady she was today. He could never imagine seeing her as anything, but that silly child. ”Cassandra…stop.” he said holding up his hand. ”Enough of this.” his tone was stern as his eyes held a certain determination. ”Now you may have the rest of the day off, but if I hear that you are off doing something reckless again…”

”You’ll do what?” she asked taking a step forward. Her hands were against her hips as she spoke.

”I’ll tell the council that this realm isn’t safe for you anymore. And that you need extra protection.” he stated simply causing Cassey to turn away in sadness. The vampire took a deep breath and repositioned his arm around Lydia. ”Stop ruining our date.” he glared looking directly at Abram as he spoke. With that thought in mind, the man departed.

”Way to help out Enzo.” glared Cassey as she pouted slightly. She sat down next to the wall as she let her head lean against her knees.

”What did you want me to do?” he asked sitting next to her. ”Besides, maybe you should just go home. Forget about the stupid wolf.” Ouch. Abram was RIGHT there!

Cassey pouted when she heard her teacher’s comment. ”For starters, Abram is my friend. Secondly, why would I want to go home. I mean didn’t you see the gleam in his eye?” Enzo had to slap his forehead. He knew where this slippery slope was headed. ”Obviously, Darius is trying to see if I can handle an argument. So that way when we get married I will know how to deal with it. It’s so simple. Gees, why didn’t I think of it before! And he is only threatening the council to see how far my love will really go.” The girl jump up her heart filled with joy. She was ready to st- Before her thought could finish, her stomach began to growl. A deep blush formed over her cheeks causing her to face the wall. ”I forgot to eat this morning….all the excitement you know.” she said looking back at Abram with those big doey eyes. Even Enzo had to let out a soft aww when he saw her expression.

✄------------------------------------------------------

Ⓣⓗⓔ Ⓓⓘⓢⓣⓐⓝⓣ Ⓑⓛⓞⓞⓓⓢⓤⓒⓚⓔⓡ

Lydia had to have been the most adorable woman Darius had had the pleasure of coming into contact with. She was so…unusually innocent. Her reactions were completely business-directed as if nothing else in the world matter except for the business aspect. ”Yes…renegotiating sounds good.” said Darius a bit taken back by her comment. It was odd being around a woman who was falling into a fluttering mass of goo at his words. His head tilted slightly as he listened to her explanation about how she met the werewolf. Sure, it was a cute story, but it didn’t make Darius feel any closer with the furball. If anything, it gave Darius more reason to dislike him. Clearly, the wolf was trying to take advantage of the human. Getting close to her, just so he could steal her heart and not return the feelings. Alright, maybe Darius was thinking with a jealous mind, but he didn’t care. Besides, it was doubtful he would stop thinking the worse of the wolf any time soon. Those warm-blooded dogs needed to keep to themselves and leave cute girls like Lydia alone.

Darius’s mind became public enemy number one as he began to overthink what Lydia had just said. Instead of it being a lovely story about how two friends got to know each other it turned into some horrifying scare flick filled with deception. Turning his head to the side, his mind became public enemy number one.

Into the Mind of Darius the Vampire

A much younger version of Lydia blinked slightly as she glanced down at her feet. ”I…I’m so sorry. I was just coming in because th-“ Her large eyes looked up as a beast of a man grabbed her shoulders. ”Y…You’re hurting me.” she begged before the creature leaned in closer to her. His mind was filled with one thing and one thing only.

”You stepped on my friend’s tail…now you must pay the ultimate price.” snapped the voice of Abram. But the Abram of Darius’s creative mind looked as if he had just stepped out of the Hollywood production of some scary movie.

Exiting the Mind of Darius the Vampire

Blinking, Darius felt his stomach do about three different turns. How could he even let poor Cassandra around that beast. Sure, Cassey was annoying, but not even she should have to face that dog’s wrath. Maybe if Darius politely explained to her the situation she would be more willing to stay away from the wolf? Turning, Darius explained his own connection to the witch. While his lips spoke, his mind continued to fill with outlandish images of Abram doing awful things to the little witch. Darius gave a faint smile when Lydia explained how he was Cassey’s knight. ”I suppose, but it is still very odd to me. I mean I saw this girl when she was a child. So thinking about her romantically? I suppose you can see where I am coming from no?” he asked glancing at the human. He smiled when the girl questioned what mood. Yes, Lydia was beautiful both inside and out. ”And I would be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.” he said bending down towards her notebook. He narrowed his eyes at the man before sniffing the air. Odd. He could have sworn that he smelled that smell somewhere else. It was so familiar, but who- He was cut off by Lydia’s voice. ”It’s not a bad thing to be organized though.” he argued finally tearing his eyes away from the departing figure back towards the human. Once again, before the girl could finish her words Darius lifted her up and took her to Abram, Enzo, and Cassey.

Darius watched his new human girlfriend in interest. There was a hint of sadness in her eyes when Cassey said her little fib. Why? Did she…he was caught off by Cassey’s ridiculous nature causing him to look back at her. He would deal with Enzo later. Right now Cassey needed his full attention. ”I know very well it wasn’t your idea.” said Darius as if claiming without saying that Abram was too simple to think up a plan. After this, Darius continued with scolding Cassey. Deep down, the vampire knew that his words were falling on deaf ears. If anything, it was only going to make her love for him all the stronger.

However, Darius didn’t have time to think about that. So placing his hand against Lydia’s back he led the human away. ”One of these days Cassey is going to get herself into trouble.” he noted his nose wrinkling. There was that smell again. He glanced around, but saw nothing. Strange. It wasn’t Cassey’s smell nor was it Abram’s stench. ”Now I believe you had some questions to ask?” he questioned tilting his head towards Lydia. His ears twitched as he heard something moving.

”What is that?” he questioned looking around, but seeing nothing. Was it an invisible spell? Why would a witch or wizard be following Darius when Cassey was so close? Lightly pulling Lydia to his side, the vampire looked around. ”Sorry, I just think that there might be something out there.” he said forgetting for a moment that the woman next to him was a human. It probably was not the wisest choice to be discussing the sounds of the forest with someone who lacked the ability to hear or smell such things.

No, Darius would not let his date be ruined again! This was his moment to have alone with Lydia. ”Let’s go.” he said taking her hand in his again. They needed to get away from this area. Why was the universe so against Darius being able to have a lovely date with a lovely young woman? Darius had been extra good that year. He filed his taxes on time, gave bonuses, and even started to feed a local cat. So why oh why was the universe trying to ruin the moment?

”Tell me more about yourself…do you happen to have any hobbies?” he asked curiously trying to be polite. He turned his eyes towards hers before looking forward again. ”Also is there anywhere you would like to go? I mean I think I should figure out where your favorite places are.” he offered her a smile. Maybe the universe wasn’t so so bad. The smell had disappeared so that was a positive sign was it not? Yes, everything was looking up. Darius would be able to conquer this date and when the affections of a certain human girl.

His head tilted to the side as he lost focus. Was Lydia speaking? What was she talking about? Darius nod slightly in agreement only to notice that he was supposed to say no where he said yes. ”I mean…no?” he questioned. Never had he had a moment such as this. Sure he had been around lovely young women before, but he was always so composed. Yet, there he was making a fool of himself. ”I’m sorry Lydia…I just long day.” His dark eyes almost looked animated as he turned them away from hers. There was a small, very faint, hint of blush as he rubbed the back of his neck.












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[Lady March Hare]

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ｍｙ
ｈｅａｒｔ ｈｉｔ ａ ｐｒｏｂｌｅｍ ｉｎ ｔｈｅ { ｅ ａ ｒ ｌ ｙ } ｈｏｕｒｓ,
Ｓｏ Ｉ ｓｔｏｐｐｅｄ ｉｔ ｄｅａｄ ｆｏｒ ａ ｂｅａｔ ｏｒ ｔｗｏ.
[ＷＯＯ - ＨＯＯ!]
Ｂｕｔ Ｉ ＣＵＴ ｓｏｍｅ ｃｏｒｄ (ａｎｄ Ｉ ｓｈｏｕｌｄｎ'ｔ ｈａｖｅ ｄｏｎｅ ｉｔ)
▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ Ａｎｄ ｉｔ ｗｏｎ'ｔ ｆｏｒｇｉｖｅ ｍｅ ａｆｔｅｒ ａｌｌ ｔｈｅｓｅ ｙｅａｒｓ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇

▇ location: O U T S I D E XXXXX ▇ mood: U G H . . . XXXXX ♫ q u i e t m e l o d y ♫XX
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A smile lit Lydia’s lips—Mission Don’t Embarrass Yourself: Sucessful!—and the young woman nodded. That, at least, could be arranged with ease; she was already fantasizing about playing around with the paperwork. Really, she was a very strange girl, that Lydia. Completely oblivious to the dark interpretation of her past, the brunette brushed stray strands of hair behind her ears and nodded. The situation between Darius and Cassey that had made her decide early on that it was best to keep her nose out of made a great deal of sense now. She was able to understand, to a small degree, the source behind the little witch’s intensity and devotion; it was far more then just a schoolgirl crush, since there was a bond between them. And, to the same degree, she understood why Darius couldn’t see Cassey differently to return her feelings. It was sad (Lydia was secretly a romantic and, had the relationship before her been in a book or movie, she was sure to have been rooting for the Little Witch that Could), but understandable.

“That makes sense.” She conceded with a straight face. “But she’s still young…” Lydia stopped herself with a small frown; in actuality she had no idea how old the girl was and, since witches and wizards had the power of spells on their sides, it was probably a bad idea to make assumptions that youth equaled inexperience in anyway. After all, that probably only applied to humans, and Lydia sighed at the conclusion. The girl loved being human, but had to concede that it sucked at times. Shaking her head and tugging her jacket back into place, Lydia made a mental note to wish Cassey the best before dismissing the girl from the forefront of her mind. She had to think of some logical questions to ask, to better strengthen their fake relationship. Instead, she got to deal with Abram, Enzo, and Cassey. Oh well; Fate was in a strange humor that day.

“Hm.” A single eyebrow lifted, and Lydia studied Enzo unapologetically. Coming to the conclusion that the man wouldn’t last a minute in front of her attorneys and as ignorant as Abram to his strengths and status within the witch and wizard community, Enzo was therefore deemed of no further concern. The businesswoman caught Darius’ eye as he looked her way and grimaced; Darius was clearly making efforts to be civil. Abram, on the other hand, was not. “Well, he mentioned your name just now.” She answered Cassey, keeping her tone professional. Lydia was unsure if mentioning that they had spoken of the girl would be good or bad and, in light of such indecision, decided to attest to neither.

It was a strange thing, that little hint of jealousy that refused to go away. Lydia had thought that she had schooled herself out of such silly, childish reactions, that when Abram did end up with another girl it would hardly phase her. But though she only showed outward reaction by staring at Cassey and Abram disbelievingly, inside the jealousy continued to twinge. The two had known one another for less than a day, and the witch was already comfortable with reaching out and hugging Abram to her in a way Lydia still wasn’t, not even after years of knowing the young man. And Abram, clearly, was not objecting to Cassey’s touch; on the contrary, Lydia’s instincts warned her that he wouldn’t mind such a thing at all. And were those his furry ears atop his head? While still in his human form? Not many people could have talked him into doing that; not even Lydia herself. She’d tried; his reaction had usually been a laugh, or perhaps doing a full transformation just to piss her off. Gray eyes flicked to Cassey – had she been the one to convince him? The jealously whispered yes, and while Darius attempted to convince Cassey, Lydia’s smile turned wry. A small part of her wished she could so readily believe that Abram’s closeness to another woman was a part of some test. But she couldn’t. Taking a quick breath, Lydia shook herself. These were not the sort of thoughts to be having when around people. Later, when she wasn’t in the middle of a date with a vampire and arguing with a werewolf and being stunned by a witch; then she would address these festering thoughts.

“Abram, please.” she sighed, resisting the urge to rub at her temples.

“Don’t talk about me like I’m being the unreasonable one here.” The werewolf replied. “I’m just telling it like it is. What I don’t get is why you’re not doing the same.”

“That’s it. I’m buying a dog whistle.” She grumbled. Abram looked at her in disbelief. “That’s right. It’s come to this. I’m playing the dog whistle card.” She added, trying not to sound as tired as she suddenly felt. She had predicted that Abram would be less than receptive to her agreement with Darius, but he didn’t even know the reason behind it, and the wolf boy was already soundly against it. Why was he being so combative about this? It wasn’t in his nature that Lydia had seen; she couldn’t think of a time when she’d seen him be as openly aggressive as he was being now. Playful bickering; that was more of the sort of thing the gray eyed businesswoman was used to seeing from him. Did Abram really hate vampires that much? Was that what this was about? “I don’t know why you’re acting this way. I promise I’ll explain everything to you later. Stop being ridiculous.”

"I’m ‘being ridiculous’ because I’m trying to protect you.” Abram insisted with a frown.

“Which is greatly appreciated, but largely unnecessary.” Lydia countered. “I can take care of myself.”

The werewolf groaned, clearly not agreeing with that little statement, but turned his attention to Darius. Which was not a positive in Lydia’s mind by any means, but apparently there was no stopping Abram. He had something on his mind and was apparently just in the mood to say it. The brunette cringed at the werewolf’s tone, both exasperated and a touch embarrassed. So much for her recommendation meaning anything to Darius in the future. And so much for having trust in one’s friends! Did the werewolf who Lydia thought knew her so well really think that she didn’t know exactly what she was getting herself into? The nerve! When Darius’ arm came to circle back around her it served as a great comfort, and she shot a last long look at Abram and Cassey (she had completely forgotten about Enzo at this point) before allowing Darius to lead her away.

“Ah…” Lydia lifted her eyes from where they had been fixed on the ground in embarrassment for the last several minutes to her pretend lover. She hesitated. “Yes… perhaps. But at least… you don’t have to worry about that where Abram is concerned. He runs at the mouth sometimes… rarely…” she frowned, unsure if she should mention just how rarely or not, “But he has a good heart. He shouldn’t be any trouble to Miss. Cassandra. Besides,” she remembered, her expression becoming quiet drawn. “if it came down to an issue of protecting herself from him for some reason, I’m pretty sure she could take him. She has several times today already, after all.”

“Question…” she murmured, casting her mind back to a time before she had become quite to irritated. “Ah, that’s right. I actually did have a question for you. I just hope that its not too… personal.” The girl blinked, then tilted her head back to get a better glimpse of the vampire’s face as he pulled her close to his side. Her brow furrowed and she shifted to try and follow Darius’ line of sight. “Something out there?” she parroted, confused. She looked again; she didn’t see anything, nor did she hear anything. But she didn’t doubt the vampire at her side; humans also sucked because of their inferior senses, as she felt a certain best friend was constantly reminding her. She tried squinting… no, no, that didn’t help at all. Frowning, the young woman pressed herself a little closer to Darius subconsciously, eying their surroundings with suspicion. The idea that there could be something or someone out there that she just wasn’t capable of sensing gave her the creeps. “Good idea.” She murmured, unable to help glancing over her shoulder suspiciously as Darius led her away.

“Hobbies?” her tone was distracted, and the young woman lifted a fist to her lips and cleared her throat before answering him. “Not many… to be honest, my life revolves around my business. To an extent that I don’t have time for much else and, were I to have many hobbies, they’d probably be business-related.” Well, that was certainly true. “But I do like to read, so I suppose that counts. Ah… saying it aloud, and I realize what a boring person I am.” She said with a soft giggle before turning her eyes to him. “And yourself? What do you do in your spare time?” she questioned. She stayed silent and attentive through his response before continuing. “As for favorite places… I suppose it won’t surprise you if I admit that I’m just as boring.” But the girl hesitated, her expression suddenly thoughtful. “Hm… actually… I do have a sort of favorite place. It’s not too far from here, actually. I suppose it wouldn’t be out of the question to walk there. Unless, of course, you have business to attend to. Do you have to get back to work?” she asked, grinning when he nodded. Of course he did; what was she doing suggesting such a thing when she clearly understood what a busy man the vampire beside her was? His quick counter with a negative caught her off guard, and she studied him curiously. Her expression softened at his words.

“Ah… I see.” She murmured, lifting a hand to skim her fingers lightly against his cheek. A frown furrowed her brow and when she spoke her voice was soft, but with a concerned undertone. “Perhaps we’ve done enough for today. I don’t want you to feel pressured to spend time with me when you have other concerns to take care of. And if you don’t take some time to relax, you could push yourself too hard and end up getting sick.” Did vampires get sick? Lydia had no idea and, perhaps in a show of the general ignorance she was berating herself for before, the inclination didn’t cross her mind. And, even if it had, she probably wouldn’t have cared much; having a concern for health was having a concern for health, as far as the gray eyed girl was concerned. “You do make sure you get enough rest, don’t you, Darius?”

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Ｉ ｓａｉｄ ｎｏ, ｎｏ ｙｏｕ'ｒｅ ｎｏｔ ｔｈｅ ｏｎｅ ｆｏｒ ｍｅ!
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▇ location: O U T S I D E XXXXX ▇ mood: G R R R R R . . .XXXXX ♫ u p b e a t m e l o d y ♫XX
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Abram blinked, his attention shifting to Enzo in surprise. He studied the man for a moment, then grinned widely. He didn’t respond to antagonism… especially from someone who’d been leveled by Cassandra so easily. The werewolf had been there himself; he knew what it was like. “Fleas? Hm, well I’ll see what I can do about them.” He replied jokingly, sliding his hands into his pockets and rocking back slightly on his heels. Trying to replace this amusement with his best puppy-dog eyes, he blinked at the other man innocently, attempting to radiate sincerity. Had he a halo on a stick he could have held up over his head, he would have used it. “Huh? What way are you talking about? ‘Fraid you’re going to have to be more specific. Was I looking at her in a weird way?” He shrugged his shoulders, apparently unable to keep a boyish, teasing grin off his lips. “Was I being perverted? Weird… but you’re the expert; you’d know.”

The joviality present in his tone soured rather quickly, however, as the conversation turned to Lydia. He was looking forward to the playful arguments (at least, playful in HIS mind) that were sure to bubble up between himself and the teacher when it came to Cassey, since he was of a pretty clear mind of how he’d be interacting with the witch girl in light of his recent determination to woo her. But how to deal with Lydia’s unexpected and inexplicable decision escaped him, and he didn’t need to be reminded. Enzo’s words were a jab that got beneath his armor, and he made a face, his eyes darkening.

“Shut up. Not that it’s any of your business, but I’ll be protecting her just fine.” He muttered as they walked, his ears folding back against his head. Not protecting the pack was an ultimate low, and the thought of it made him cringe. Green eyes flicked towards the wizard, and he smirked slightly. “Biting you would be fun… but I think that’d be a bad taste to get out of my mouth. And if that’s really what you think, it’ll be even easier getting around you then I’d have thought it would be.” Abram said, having little qualms about mouthing off to the powerful spell caster. Ignorance really is bliss.

Creeping about like a bunch of fugitives, and clearly not intended for a life of crime, the three were found out with relative quickness. Abram might have been miffed about this, musing unhappily over a vampire out-stalking a werewolf and the like, but Cassey spared him from this mental exercise by punching him in the face. (Optimism!) Fortunately this was the least damaging of Cassey’s attacks that day, so the tawny haired boy was able to shake it off well enough once the shock wore off.

“Don’t worry about it, Cass; I’m okay.” He assured her before quickly turning his attention to the vampire. Considering, he’d done a marvelous job holding his tongue in the restaurant, but Abram was having a rather difficult time repeating the trick. Green eyes darkened in another scowl, and the werewolf might have taken an aggressive step closer to the vampire had Cassey not hugged his arm to her. He glanced down at her quickly before returning his attention to Darius. “Being with me is unhealthy? That’s a laugh, especially coming from someone like you. Let’s talk about whatever this is you’re pulling first. And Cassey can be with whoever she wants to be with.”

“Abram, shut up.” Lydia hissed. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, so just be quiet.”

“Maybe he is jealous if he’s this concerned, Cassey.” Abram continued, ignoring the human and nodding vigorously at Cassey’s words. “Yeah, boobs and everyth-!” His brain caught up with his mouth on that one, and he choked on his words; apparently one was never too mad to think bad thoughts, and he shook his head hard before continuing. “Er, I mean, w-what right do you have to tell her what to do anyway?” Well, he was her boss, Abram realized once the words had left his mouth, and was completely entitled to tell her what to do. Huh. Well, clearly her personal life was none of his concern and the werewolf rallied his frustration with the vampire around this point.

However, the conversation took a turn that distracted him. Council? Extra protection? The threat didn’t mean much to Abram. Sure, he knew that the witches had a Council, which the werewolf understood to be something like the bosses of the race. Were life a video game and the Council the opponents, they would be the final boss. Yeah, that made sense. But what did this group have to do with Cassey specifically? And why was their interference such an effective weapon against the little witch? Abram frowned, but it was clearly not the time to ease his confusion; he’d have to ask Cassey at a later date. Darius’s next words made Abram bristle.

“Your what?!” he growled. “Oh, if it’s ruining your ‘date’ you’re looking for, I can… hey! Don’t walk away from me!” His words were ignored and despite the urge to stomp after them in irritation, Abram held himself back. After all, he hadn’t been the only one clashing with the couple and, after a lingering stare after Darius and Lydia, he tore his gaze away and directed his green gaze to Cassey. He studied her for a minute, then snorted before moving back to where the witch sat with her teacher against the wall. Surprisingly he made for Enzo first, pausing before him and leaning close to the man before taking a noticeable sniff. It was far easier to get a scent verification away from the restaurant and with the stink of vampire fading from his senses. He made a face, then moved away. “Sorry, Kitty Cat, but it looks like you’re going to have to put up with this stupid wolf a little longer.” Giving the man a pointed, slightly irritated look, Abram shifted to lean his back against the wall on Cassey’s other side, folding his arms over his chest as he thought. The small smile that lit his lips when Cassey stood up to him faded at her justification of Darius’ words and actions. “Geeze, Cassey…” he started, then cut himself off as she turned away, her stomach growling noticeably. Green eyes widened, his lip twitched, and before the werewolf quite knew what he was doing he was laughing. It was one of those deep, belly laughs that shakes the whole frame, and he leaned a little more against the wall and covered his mouth with his hand as he found to control himself.

“C-Cassey…” he breathed when he regained some semblance of control over himself. “You’re… you’re so cute. You realize that, don’t you?” His irritation had been booted to Irritation Prison for the time being, and he offered her a crooked sort of smile as he pushed himself off the wall and reached to plop a hand atop her head in a gentle pat. “You’re probably crazy, but cute.” He moved his hand away from her head and laced it with the other behind his head, studying the witchling. “Well, since he gave us time off, and since you’re kind of obviously hungry, why don’t we go get something to eat? It’ll be my treat… you know, to thank you for all your help today.” He said, grimly editing all the heaping helpings of pain that she had also dealt out from his memory. The werewolf then looked to Enzo, an amused light in his eyes. “You can come too if you want, Kitty. You know, to supervise. Unless you want to go home. If that’s the case, don’t let me keep you…”


o.o.c: Gah, Abram's post suddenly fills me with rage. Sorry about that. @_____@

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Ｉ
{ ｓ ｅ ｎ ｔ } ｉｔ ｔｏ ａ ｐｌａｃｅ ｉｎ ｔｈｅ ｍｉｄｄｌｅ ｏｆ ｎｏｗｈｅｒｅ
Ｗｉｔｈ ａ ＢＩＧ ＢＬＡＣＫ ＨＯＲＳＥ ａｎｄ ａ ｃｈｅｒｒｙ ｔｒｅｅ.
[ＷＯＯ - ＨＯＯ!]
Ｎｏｗ ｉｔ ｗｏｎ'ｔ ｃｏｍｅ ｂａｃｋ, 'ｃａｕｓｅ ｉｔ'ｓ ｏｈ ｓｏ ｈａｐｐｙ
▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ Ａｎｄ ｎｏｗ Ｉ'ｖｅ ｇｏｔ ａ ｈｏｌｅ ｆｏr ｔｈｅ ｗｏｒｌｄ ｔｏ ｓｅｅ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇

[kewefefe]

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Ⓣⓗⓔ Ⓛⓞⓥⓔⓢⓘⓒⓚ Ⓑⓡⓞⓞⓜ Ⓡⓘⓓⓔⓡ

Cassey’s plans for that day were completely ruined. This was not how she thought she would be spending her afternoon. If nothing else, she assumed she would have at least eaten by this point. Blinking, the girl watched as Abram’s reaction to her hunger. Her head tilted in a confused manner as her eyebrow frowned. ”Cute?” she repeated a very faint giggle leaving her lips as she watched his crooked smile. If this were Abram’s romantic comedy, she may have even confessed her undying love for her new friend. Instead of shouting her undying love, the girl reached both her hands up towards the top of Abram’s head and pulled at his ears. She lightly squeezed them as if to make sure they were real. ”By the power of Ra!” she said pushing herself up so that she was taller than the boy.

Abram clearly had little time to react as the girl pressed her chest into his face so she could have better access to his ears. ”Enzo…come feel this!” she demanded to the wizard who had long ago decided now was the best time to take up the hobby of people watching. He hadn’t even heard the comment Abram had made about uninviting the old wizard. Maybe if he had, he would have reacted in a more civil manner than he was about to. Cassey giggled lightly as she began to scratch the back of his ears. ”I don’t think I’m cr-“ she was abruptly cut from her unholy act (at least to the wizard it look very unholy) by a cat jumping towards Abram.

”Enzo!” said the witchling covering her eyes as her teacher (in his cat form) decided to show the wereboy just what happened to those who tried to take advantage of Cassey. Alright, so maybe Abram wasn’t at fault in this situation. It was Cassey who had grabbed Abram’s ears and pushed herself into him. However, Enzo could care less as he tried to scratch the other’s face. ”Bad kitty!” said Cassey yanking her teacher off of Abram. Her teeth clenched down against her bottom lip as she stood over Abram holding her kitty-cat up as if he were Simba from the Lion King. Shifting Enzo into her bag, she bent down towards Abram. ”Are you alright?” she asked brushing his bangs out of his face. ”OH! I know what will make you all better!” she said jumping up doing a double kick against the poor werewolf’s face and neck.

This time, Cassey was a bit too preoccupied to notice what she had done as she swung her bag around. Her hand shifted through the bag, but she seemed to be having some difficulty locating what it was she wanted. So being the clever little thing she was, she placed the bag on the floor. ”Oh where is it?” she asked as she pulled out a whole broom from her bag. ”That’s not it…hm..” she said as she let nearly half of her entire body slip into the bag, only her legs stuck out as Enzo’s eyes widened.

”Cassey! You’re in a skirt!” hissed the teacher from inside the bag. Damn. She was in his way.

”Here we are!” said Cassey finally pulling herself out of her bag. She shut the magical bag closing Enzo off as she held out what it was she had been looking for. Now upon first glance, the object might have seemed like a guy’s fantasy. There the pretty girl was with bandages to clean up a man’s wounds. However, upon closer examination it was clear to see that those bandages included medical alcohol something that would cause a great deal of pain. ”Alright Mr. Abram. Just let Nurse Cassandra help you out!” she said bouncing toward him. Her first touch was gentle as if to calm the boy down. Then came her next touch. Without warning, she poured the alcohol down against his wounds.

”No! You have to stay still! I need to put more on you!” she argued as she held him down as she continued to pour the painful substance on his wounds. Maybe if she would have listened to the boy, she may have heard the small tidbit about how werewolves heal. So this whole process of trying to heal him was useless and did nothing, but possible cause him more pain. ”Shh…shh…shh people are looking.” she said placing her tiny hand against his mouth. ”I just need to wrap it up okay?” she said as she finally finished fixing the poor wolf. ”There! Good as new!” she said with her hands pressed against her cheek.

”Pst…I’ll say he is as good as nothing!” complained the wizard named Enzo as half his frame stuck out from Cassey’s bag. Cassey glanced back at him and was about to say something before her stomach growled again. Sighing, the wizard dusted himself off.

”Enzo…stop being such a sourpuss.” said the girl crossing her arms. ”Instead you should be happy that I was able to take care of Abram so well.” she said fondly as she looked back at the boy. ”I think I should become a nurse! Oooh then I’d get to wear those cool little nurse hats.” said the witch who seemed to be interested in hate. Sure Enzo could burst her bubble and explain how nurses no longer wore hats, but what would be the point? He doubted Cassey’s interested in the medical field would last longer than that afternoon. ”Aaaaalllrrriigghhtt Abram. You said you were going to buy us lunch!” she said giving his doggy ear one more scratch. She jumped to her feet and leaned down slightly to look at him.

”I guess a free meal is a free meal.” said the wizard sticking his hands in his pockets. He would have spoken further, but his watch began to ring. He frowned as he looked at his watch then back at Cassey. Rubbing the back of his neck with his other hand, he sighed gently. ”Cassey…do you think you’ll be okay? I am being summoned.” he said looking at the determined witch who gave him a solid nod. He smiled back at her before looking towards Abram. His smile faded into a frown as he looked at the werewolf. ”If there is so much as a scratch on her head, you won’t have to deal with me….it is her father that you will have to concern yourself with. And believe me no one wants to deal with him.” he warned. He would have said the name of the man too if it wasn’t for the fact that his watch rung again. ”Take care Cassandra.” he said lightly patting her on the head before disappearing in a puff of purple smoke.

Cassey waved to the disappearing smoke before looking at Abram. ”Oh Enzo is just being dramatic. My father is a big softy.” she said dismissing the other man’s claim with her hands moving back and forth. ”Oh I think you might know him. I remember my dad talking about how he had a run in with werewolves when he was younger.” she said with her hands behind his back. ”You may know him by the name of the Great Wizard Odin.” she said giggling slightly as she said her father’s name deeper than the rest of her statement.

The man’s name was enough to frighten any race. Even the humans knew Odin as one of the Norse gods. Granted, he was not a god, but his magic and wisdom had captivated even their stories. Every other race knew him as something to fear. The man who had tormented them and made their wild childhood nightmares come to life. He was a powerful man whose temper was known across the lands. ”Abram…are you alright?” she asked taking a step towards him slightly.

✄------------------------------------------------------

Ⓣⓗⓔ Ⓓⓘⓢⓣⓐⓝⓣ Ⓑⓛⓞⓞⓓⓢⓤⓒⓚⓔⓡ

Darius had many things on his mind as he walked away from Abram. Firstly, he wasn’t about to turn around to give the boy any sort of recognition. Secondly, the look in Lydia’s gray eyes had his head spinning. She seemed distant almost jealous as she looked at the wolf and witch. Why couldn’t she be jealous at the fact that Cassey was head over heels for Darius? When Darius spoke about Cassey’s crush, Lydia seemed more than a little accepting. If the old vampire didn’t know any better, he might have even assumed the gray eyed girl was rooting for that witchling. Impossible! How could she possible prefer that fool over this vampire? Darius was clearly the wealthier, worldlier, and better looking of the two. So why was she so distressed about the wolf? All Darius could hope for was that Odin made his appearance and killed the wolf. That was a bit extreme, but the vampire was a jealous beast indeed.

The vampire’s fist clenched slightly as he listened to the human girl speak about that…that dog of all things! ”I’m sure he is a very nice person.” The words were forced and stung to even say. He shut his eyes before listening to her next comment. At least THAT was something that could lighten even this old vampire’s mood. ”And if Cassey doesn’t kill him, I’m sure Od- erm she’ll be fine.” he said catching himself. The last thing he wanted was to get the curious human even more curious about things she should not know about.

Lydia was right about to ask her question, when there was a sudden sound causing the vampire’s attention to shift towards that. Darius did feel bad about not hearing her question before asking his own. ”That doesn’t make you boring.” he argued. ”Besides, too much excitement isn’t always a good thing. Believe me. It is nice to take things down a notch and just enjoy a good book.” he said hoping that would make her feel better about her hobbies. Personally, he found it interesting that she actually thought about business as much as she did. Besides, if she looked that adorable just thinking about business, Darius could only imagine what she looked like when she was doing it. His eyes faded as he let his mind wander.

Before his mind could drift to far away, he caught on to what was happening. ”NO!” he said a bit too enthusiastically. Choking back an awkward laugh, he rubbed the back of his neck. ”I mean…no I don’t have any affairs to attend to. I am all yours for the time being. We should enjoy ourselves.” he said trying to sound as professional as he possibly could. Damn those gray eyes and their ability to distract him! The wolf was clearly a fool for not wooing this woman while he had a chance. ”I would never feel pressured to spend time with you. Believe me. I mea-“ he stopped himself and fixed his tie. He was getting MUCH to personal now. What was he thinking? She probably thought he was a complete fool. Shaking the thought away, he finally thought of something to say to her.

However, Lydia’s next question caught the man off guard. Get enough rest? The vampire had to laugh as he stared at her. Did she really just ask if he got enough rest? Never had a human asked him such a question. ”Well, vampires are a bit different than what people think.” he began to explain easing into the topic as he became more comfortable in his stance. ”We clearly do not burn up in the sun as you can see.” he said holding out his arm towards the light. ”Nor do we sparkle. Most of these old rumors were started by vampires to keep people one their toes. The reason most vampires were spotted at night is because it is easier to well I don’t think I have to explain more than that do I?” he asked feeling slightly uncomfortable with the current topic.

It wasn’t that Darius was ashamed of his batty heritage as much as he didn’t want to make the young woman uncomfortable. He had had his love interests in the past react…well a bit awkwardly after finding out certain aspects of his personal life. Humans seemed to be in a love hate relationship with those creatures of the night. On one hand, the loved the idea of being taken in by some flawless beauty, but at the same time resented them. Darius learned a long time ago there was really no winning. So it was best to just live and let live. About the only human who seemed to hold a solid, kind, and genuine interest in his vampire lifestyle was Lydia’s mother. And judging by the way Lydia was listening to Darius, he could tell she held that same genuine personality. He couldn’t help but smile as he felt perfectly comfortable explaining everything there was to know.

”Humans tend to think solely based on the stories they hear. I guess that is one of the reasons I made that restaurant.” he said rubbing his chin in deep thought. ”I wanted to poke fun at those old stereotypes that once haunted all of our kinds.” he said before laughing somewhat at all of the friction it had caused. ”Not everyone seems to take humor in the concept. The witch and wizard community seem to find it to be the most offensive. I personally think it is because it hits home for them.” he said lightly letting his body bump against hers in an almost causally flirty manner. ”The stories are a part of our history though. And I feel like instead of trying to hide this history, we should embrace it.” he said looking to the side. ”You’ll have to excuse me. I often end up going off on a tangent.” he apologized giving her a solid nod as if that would prove his case.

Obviously, Darius held good intentions with his business. It wasn’t like he was trying to hurt anyone’s name. He was simply trying to break the bridges. Well, it also didn’t hurt that he was making good money by doing this. Plus he DID pay his staff very well so Darius wasn’t a complete heartless monstar as so many people liked to call him now days.

Shifting his gaze, he continued. ”For rest? It’s the same as humans except we don’t need as much sleep.” he explained. ”I rarely get sick…In fact, I don’t believe I have ever gotten sick. At least not in the traditional sense of the word. Our sickness is a bit different.” he said winking lightly to lighten the mood. ”Are there any more questions you would like to ask? I hope I don’t scare you too much with my less than favorable eating habits.” He flashed his fangs ever so gently before continuing.

He stopped for a moment to look around. ”So where is this place you were talking about?” he asked moving in front of her.













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[Lady March Hare]

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ｈｅａｒｔ ｈｉｔ ａ ｐｒｏｂｌｅｍ ｉｎ ｔｈｅ { ｅ ａ ｒ ｌ ｙ } ｈｏｕｒｓ,
Ｓｏ Ｉ ｓｔｏｐｐｅｄ ｉｔ ｄｅａｄ ｆｏｒ ａ ｂｅａｔ ｏｒ ｔｗｏ.
[ＷＯＯ - ＨＯＯ!]
Ｂｕｔ Ｉ ＣＵＴ ｓｏｍｅ ｃｏｒｄ (ａｎｄ Ｉ ｓｈｏｕｌｄｎ'ｔ ｈａｖｅ ｄｏｎｅ ｉｔ)
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▇ location: O U T S I D E XXXXX ▇ mood: R E L A X E D XXXXX ♫ q u i e t m e l o d y ♫XX
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Lydia lifted an eyebrow, studying her companion from the corner of her eye. He had caught himself in saying something, but she couldn’t get a good read of exactly what from his face. Her curiosity flared for a moment, then waned; she supposed that it wasn’t quiet her place to pry, not at the moment, at least. Shrugging it off, the young woman couldn’t help the small smile that lit her lips at Darius’ insistence. “Ah, you’re a gentleman; I’d assumed as much.” She replied lightly. “Well, thank you for saying so. And giving my love for books, I can’t help but agree. But I hope you’ll let me know if I do start boring you. I have a habit of doing that, apparently.” She added, glancing at him with a smile to let him know that she was joking. Lydia didn’t really think that she would be boring Darius too often; after all, they were probably going to spend a lot of time talking about business! And what could be more entertaining then facts and figures, Lydia wanted to know.

“Darius…” she looked at him curiously; the enthusiasm of his reply had caught her off guard. “Ah, well, all right. I just wanted to make sure.” She stared up at him steadily, curious once again. Darius was a straightforward, honest sort of man in the human’s eyes, but though he had great control over his expression she couldn’t help feeling that he had a strange range of reactions towards her and the things she said. The human couldn’t help a small sigh; considering how generally ignorant she must sound, she supposed she couldn’t blame him. This suspicion was reinforced as Darius laughed and, after turning her words over in her mind, the young woman’s face heated up in a blush. Her earlier efforts to not come across to the handsome vampire as an idiot had clearly been in vain, and Lydia made a stern mental note to think before she spoke.

“Forgive me.” She murmured, withdrawing her hand and clearing her throat. “I’m afraid I forgot who I was talking to.” Lydia’s eyes were interested as Darius explained the particulars of his race. He seemed at ease, and that in turned helped the blush fade from her cheeks. She nodded slowly and turned over what he told her in her mind, determined not to forget so much as a word of the vampire’s explanation. After all, it had been one of the things she was going to have to research anyway, and at least this way she would know that her information was authentic. Besides, she couldn’t deny that she was curious; despite how much time she’d spent working with them, vampires continued to be mysteriously elusive creatures to her. Her body brushed against his, and she smiled up at him. “Ah, no reason to apologize. I’m often guilty of doing the same thing when I’m talking about my business. But I have to say, I’m glad you brought it up… I was going to ask you about it, your restaurant. It’s a genius idea, if you don’t mind my saying so, but I’ll admit I was curious about how you were getting away with it. Like you said, not everyone responds well to teasing. But I suppose in light of the things you’ve been telling me, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you’ve found a way to make it work.” She smiled warmly; few things made Lydia as happy as good business.

“Hm.” The gray eyed girl studied Darius’ expression carefully as he came to stand before her, thoughtfully silent for a long minute. “Darius…” she started slowly. “It occurs to me that there’s probably something I should make clear straight off the bat. I understand that the relationship between humans and vampires has been… strained in the past, to say the least. And I know that there are a great deal of reactions from humans even today when it comes to your kind. But I want to make sure that you know, before we go any further in our arrangement, that I have no qualms whatsoever about who you are and how you live. That includes your diet.” A wry sort of smile flicked on the girl’s lips, and she tilted her head slightly to the side. “You probably don’t need the reminder, but I was raised in the mindset of my company. For as long as I can remember, a good portion of my life has dealt with the dealing and supplying of blood, human blood, to those such as yourself. Not only am I used to the idea, I have a difficult time imagining things being any different. If a vampire needs human blood to survive, a vampire needs human blood to survive. It’s not wrong, diabolical, or scary; it’s just nature. Especially these days, when efforts have been made to make the process easier on everyone involved.” Lydia shifted her weight and continued confidently. “What I mean to say, Darius, is that you don’t ever have to worry about you frightening me just by being what you are. Since we’re going to be business associates and friends, I hope you can come to speak comfortably around me about anything. Even, and perhaps especially, about human blood. It is, after all, my business.” She finished, leaning closer to him with a small, sweet smile.

A thought occurred to her, and the businesswoman straightened, lifting a hand. “Ah… I probably sound silly. I don’t want to give you the impression that I’m some sort of blood fanatic, or that I’m one of those humans that has overly romantic ideas about the human-willing blood cults.” For she certainly did not; they were bad for business. “I just want you to know for sure that I won’t be uncomfortable when the issue comes up in the future. And I’m sure it will, since we’ll be spending a lot of time together, won’t we?”

With that bit of business cleared up, Lydia returned her attention to her special place, crossing her arms over her chest and looking thoughtful. It suddenly occurred to her that the first place she should probably take Darius would be to her office; after all, their little plan was to get the Board of Directors off her back, and that was the most likely place to find them. Yes, that would make the most business sense; the place that had first popped into her mind was oddly intimate and close to her heart for their first day together. She hesitated. But no, that was just silly; of course she should embrace intimate! It would help her acclimate to their fake relationship all the faster, which in turn would make her performance in public more believable. The office would be addressed later. Besides, wasn’t it usually a good idea to introduce a new boyfriend to the family first?

“I’d like to take you to meet my Uncle.” Lydia answered Darius at last, her head dipping into a childish nod. She started to turn away, then caught herself and reached to take his hand—practice makes perfect!—before continuing. “He owns a bookstore I spent a good deal of time in as a child; he and I are very close. And I’m pretty sure he’d be furious if I started dating someone without bringing them by to meet him. It’s not that he’s overly protective, mind you… just extremely nosey.”

As she talked, the human girl tugged gently on Darius’ hand to guide him along what was a very familiar path to her Uncle’s bookstore. It was a relatively short walk as Lydia knew all of the shortcuts to this particular establishment, and before long the two of them came to pause before a wooden building sandwiched between a bakery and a boutique. It wasn’t an overly large place, two stories with many closed windows and a single entrance, and a wooden sign swinging in the breeze out front identified the place as Miser’s Books – Buy and Sell. The place didn’t look particularly open, but that didn’t dissuade Lydia. A soft smile lit her lips as she guided Darius to the entrance.

“Here we go…” she murmured as she pushed the door inwards to the dark shop. Even to her human senses the place had a musky, old smell, the smell of books mingling with the scent of animals. The dim lights took some adjusting to, and Lydia squinted as she stepped inside. “Uncle Mi? Are you in here?”

There was a second’s silence before a raspy voice answered her. “Lydia? Is that you? Well, well; so it is. Well, come on in; you’re letting the warmth out.”

Lydia rolled her unusual eyes and released Darius’ hand as he stepped inside, moving to close the door behind them. As she did the clunking of hooves announced the arrival of “Uncle Mi”. It was immediately apparent that the girl was not related to her uncle by blood, for the man was a satyr, the hair along his goat haunches just starting to gray with age. His hair was pulled back from his face, but his bright blue eyes were magnified several times their original size by a pair of wire specs, which clashed quite horribly with the pink and green Hawaiian shirt he was wearing.

“‘Bout time you came to see me, Lydia.” The satyr was grumbling. “I haven’t seen you since the funeral, and I’m rather offended. I could have died and you might not have noticed! Just because you’re a big bad President doing whatever the hell it is you do these days doesn’t mean you can get away with neglecting an old satyr on a fixed income…” The satyr stopped as he focused properly on his guests, namely Darius. “Oh! You brought someone with you. Why didn’t you say something?”

“You didn’t give me a chance.” Lydia replied with a roll of her eyes. “Darius, this is my Uncle, Miser Canter. Uncle Mi, this is Darius Constantine. You may know him from…”

“I know the name.” Miser cut her off, reaching forward to shake Darius’ hand with enthusiasm. “Right nice to meet you. I always did like your sort. Damn classy bunch, vampires… the whole lot of you. You’ve never mentioned you two were friends, Lydia.”

“We’re not.” Lydia insisted. She didn’t know much about the whole relationship mumbo jumbo, but she knew that if it got around that she and Darius were just friends, their plot would never work. “We’re dating. Because we’re in love.” Hm, that didn’t sound sincere enough; the gray eyed girl made a mental note to practice such confessions in private. Maybe go for something more bashful? She wasn’t sure if she could be bashful on cue.

“Oh ho, is that so?” Mi adjusted his glasses with a grin. “Good! About time! I was getting tired of you dragging nothing but humans and werewolves in to see me. Bah, humans… no spine! Remember that one, Lydia? He started crying the moment he saw me, like I was something out of his worst nightmares; you remember, Lydia?” Lydia grimaced; she remembered. “And werewolves… don’t get me started on those mutts! I’ll tell you, Darius –you don’t mind if I call you Darius, do you?—those mutts, they do nothin’ but cause trouble, all the time. And I can’t get the smell out even after they leave; it sinks into the wood, you know?”

Lydia sighed heavily and shook her head. Her adopted Uncle could be a hateful, racist old goat, but he was one of her favorite people, and therefore got away with a lot that other people wouldn’t have. She cut her eyes to Darius, watching him carefully. Uncle Mi was an over the top sort of fellow, and the girl puzzled over whether his attitude would strike Darius wrong or not. She cringed at the thought –having another person close to her to apologize for was not something she would look forward to—but decided that it was simply unavoidable. Her family, of which her satyr Uncle was all that remained, had to be dealt with, and sooner rather than later.

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“Yeah, cu-ah…” Abram closed an eye as Cassey reached over to grab his ears, his smile staying in place. He should have known she would eventually come back to the petting; like most things seemed to be with Cassey, it was something that had been addressed with enthusiasm and would therefore not be forgotten so easily. The werewolf didn’t object to it; after all, everyone loved a good ear rub. He opened his mouth to tell her so, but didn’t get a chance as the oblivious little witch’s chest came into contact with his face. The poor boy’s entire body tensed up and his arms flicked up as if to grab on to her, then flinched back as if she was on fire before settling into a sort of flapping while his scrambled brain tried to figure out where was safe to touch. What little could be seen of his face turned red, and though he tried to speak his voice was muffled against her. “Cassey! H-Hold on!” He might have gained control of himself, pulled her carefully off of him, and maintain at least a portion of his dignity if she hadn’t started scratching his ears. Abram was a sucker for having his ears scratched, after all. He made a noise deep in his throat, then shook himself, startled with how quickly his mind had gone to the gutter.

Bad thoughts, bad thoughts, bad thoughts, BAD THOUGHTS!

Giving himself a firm mental slap, he gently grabbed Cassey by the waist and pushed her back from him, his normally relaxed expression rather flustered. It would have been a far easier task to do, he assured himself, if she hadn’t started scratching his ears; he wasn’t a complete pervert, he was just caught off guard! Yeah, that was it! So what if he was breathing a bit quickly – it was because he was surprised, not because he was a dog at heart no matter how hard he’d try to redeem the creatures to Tammy before. Obviously. Unfortunately justification was doing little to stop the bad thoughts, and Abram shook his head as hard as he could. Nope; still not helping. ‘Fortunately’, Enzo offered his assistance in this field as he sprang at Abram’s face with claws extended.

“Ouch! Hey, cut that-OUCH!” Abram yelped. His brief second of being relieved that claws to the face were indeed the cure for the Bad Thoughts was quickly trumped by the stinging, and he dropped his hands from Cassey and reached to try and grab Enzo by the back of the neck to pry him off. If nothing else, Abram had learned about that little cat handling trick during his employment at the pet store. That probably would have only served to infuriate the wizard all the more, so it was rather fortunate that Cassey got to him first. “Damn… ngh, yeah, I’m fi-” Well, he was going to say that he was fine, but then Cassey’s ninja-like ability to debilitate him showed itself again. The unfortunate werewolf slumped back against the wall with a groan and a wince, the breath knocked out of him. The purple eyed witch was a force to be reckoned with. His vision went dark; was he dying? Oh, no; things were clearing up again, and Cassey was leaning his way. What had she said? ‘Nurse Cassandra’?

“Ah… hah… n-not necessary.” He said, lifting a hand to weakly wave her off. Cassey, of course, ignored him, and Abram, distracted by her gentle touch as he seemed so inclined to be, relaxed very slightly… and then the burning of the alcohol began. A dog-like yelp of objection escaped him, and Abram immediately started reaching for her hands. “Ouch! Geeze, that burns! Cassey, I don’t need this stuff! I can heal myself easy! GAH! Don’t pour more o-” Her hand came to cover his mouth and he winced; he didn’t care about the people watching. Was this really how humans were forced to deal with their wounds? It was terrible! And it didn’t help that the alcohol was strong, making his eyes water and absolutely wiping out any scent but its own. It was both painful and disorienting… what a deal! “Geeze…” he breathed as the girl sat back, apparently satisfied with her work. “That was almost as bad as getting shot…” he lifted a hand to his face and the bandages, poking them tentatively. “I feel like a mummy…” That was an exaggeration, to be sure, but the young werewolf wasn’t used to dealing with bandages. It took him a second before his grin crept back to his face, and despite the alarming calamity he’d been forced to endure, he lifted a hand to rest on the back of hers. “Thanks… but you know, you didn’t have to go through all that trouble. You should have just kissed it and made it better. Easiest nursing job ever.”

“All right, all right.” He sighed, shaking his head in disbelief. It was a strange day, alright. “Ah… yeah, lunch.” Abram parroted, a little distracted by her final scratching of his ear. Even if Abram hadn’t been a particularly even tempered guy, he was pretty sure the whole situation would have been made right again by a good ear scratch. Cassey was a natural. With only a small wince, the battered werewolf clamored to his feet, apparently unable to help worrying with the bandage on his face like a child. They still stung, so the green eyed guy spared half a second’s though to send his skin pulling closed over the scratches, leaving him as good as new. He lifted a hand to remove the bandages, but caught himself with a glance to Cassey. Well, she had put quite a lot of effort into them… Sighing, he allowed his arm to drop and shoved his hands into his pockets before turning his attention to Enzo. “Hm? Ha! Like I’d let something scratch that cute little face.” He gave Enzo a cheeky wink – again, just to piss him off—and waved slightly as the wizard poofed away.

“Your father, huh?” Abram’s smile dropped as he looked to Cassey, and his eyes widened slightly. For a long moment, he just stared at Cassey. “…wait a minute. You mean, Odin? The Odin?” Abram knew little about the Witch and Wizard community, but everyone knew the name Odin. Especially werewolves; Odin was one of the few entities that werewolf elders spoke of in hushed tones. Which was strange indeed, since the werewolf community usually held little regard for those who they clashed with in the past. But Odin had been different; afterwards the werewolves had had no choice but to acknowledge the Great Wizard’s strength, and they grudgingly respected him. In that ‘oh shiz, this man is a monster, we need to be careful’ sort of way so popular in the animal kingdom, of course. “The Great Wizard Odin?” Abram repeated, staring at Cassey hard as she stepped closer to him. He tilted his head to the side. He leaned close to her face; he squinted into her eyes. “Seriously?” He straightened, then suddenly grinned. “You’re yanking my chain, right?” he chuckled, reaching boldly to take the witch’s hand. “You had me going there for a second… pretty funny. Now, come on; you can tell me all about him on the way.” Abram chuckled.

He didn’t ask permission to take her hand, and he didn’t wait for it; only wincing dramatically for effect, he guided the young woman in the opposite direction that Darius and Lydia had taken. Lydia had promised to explain things to him, and Abram was determined to hold her to that; he didn’t like her situation, but he was trusting that she knew what she was doing… for the moment. Besides, Abram had never been very good at multitasking, and he had a very clear idea in his head when he suggested lunch. Not that it was any sort of a plot, but it was a favorite place, a wolf place; it was probably a good thing that Enzo’d excused himself, because it was doubtful such a place would have appealed to him. But it made Abram grin to think about taking Cassey there for one reason and one reason only: some of his wolf brothers worked there, and he wanted to see if her chaotic powers worked on everyone, or if it was just him.

“This place I’m taking you… it’s one of my favorites. The Wolf’s Bane… ever been? Eh, probably not, not with that cat of yours around.” Abram paused, then made a face. “Anyway, a few of my brothers and sisters work there. Want to meet them? And the food’s pretty good too." He probably would have continued, but a voice shouted to interrupt him.

"Abraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam!" Abram's wolfy ears twitched in the direction of the sound. "Duuuude, what the hell are you wearing?!"

“Hey, speak of the devil..." Abram chuckled as the man who had shouted out to them with little to no regard to the startled people around them jogged towards them. The man was a bit stockier than Abram, with russet hair falling into black eyes and a mile wide grin on his face. “For your information, Dio, this is a classy uniform. I look suave."

"You look like you've been in a bar fight." Dio snickered. "but enough about you. Who's this?" The other werewolf sidestepped Abram and eyed Cassey curiously. "What the... holy crap. You're adorable! She's adorable!" The werewolf suddenly leaned closer to Cassey and held a hand to his mouth, whispering loudly. "Miss! Did this man abduct you against your will? Blink if the answer's yes!"

“Ignore the idiot, Cassey." Abram said with a wide grin. “This is Dio; he's one of my packmates. This is Cassey. She's training me in my new job."

"Ha! New job... I swear, you'll be fired in no time. You're not good for anything but Rogue missions, Abram; might as well stop pretending otherwise." Dio laughed, turning his teasing grin back to Cassey. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Cassey. I don't get to meet many witches. Are all of you cute? If so, that explains it..." he snickered at some private joke, and Abram rolled his eyes. "Are you guys going to the Bane?"

“Yup."

"Ah; and here I am, just getting off. If I didn't have to go to sleep so badly, I'd join you." Dio sighed, regretful. "The rest of your little clique is there bothering the boss, just to warn you."

“I figured they would be. We just got back this morning, so they're probably all still pumped."

"You can say that again." Dio chuckled, but cut himself off with a huge yawn. "Geeze... that's my cue. I'll see you later, Abram... and hey, Cassey, stop by the den-house some time! We love company!" He added cheekily, tossing a wave their way before turning to continue on his way.

“Heh..." Shaking his head, Abram turned his attention back to Cassey. “'Fraid you're going to have to meet a few people just like him if you want free food, Cassey. Come on; the place is just around the corner."

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{ ｓ ｅ ｎ ｔ } ｉｔ ｔｏ ａ ｐｌａｃｅ ｉｎ ｔｈｅ ｍｉｄｄｌｅ ｏｆ ｎｏｗｈｅｒｅ
Ｗｉｔｈ ａ ＢＩＧ ＢＬＡＣＫ ＨＯＲＳＥ ａｎｄ ａ ｃｈｅｒｒｙ ｔｒｅｅ.
[ＷＯＯ - ＨＯＯ!]
Ｎｏｗ ｉｔ ｗｏｎ'ｔ ｃｏｍｅ ｂａｃｋ, 'ｃａｕｓｅ ｉｔ'ｓ ｏｈ ｓｏ ｈａｐｐｙ
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Cassandra was her very own one-woman show. Within the small amount of time she had known Abram, the witch had proven that she was a force to be reckon. She had already single-handedly taken down a wolf twice her size without so much as breaking a sweat. Now that…that took talent. Her head tilted sideways causing her hair to flutter against her forehead when Abram claimed that he looked like a mummy. Pausing for a moment, she gave him a solid nod. Her expression was serious as if the werewolf’s comment was solemn and deemed the utmost respect. ”You do.” she finally said her head nodding in concentration for what he said. The simple statement turned complex in the girl’s mind as questions floated about and lost control of themselves. Could werewolves be mummies? Maybe those dogs featured in Egyptian art were really werewolves? Cassey’s lips opened and she was just about to speak when Abram baffled the young woman all the more. She held a bewildered expression when he claimed that she could have easily kissed it all better. ”Really?” Maybe it was some spell Cassey had missed out on? Abram seemed trust-worthy enough. ”Is that a spell or something? What do I need to say after I kiss you?” she asked leaning towards him.

The girl might have even kissed him too if it wasn’t for Enzo interrupting. He brought the little duo back to the world of the sane. His nose wrinkled as he glared at the werewolf. ”I hope you are THIS witty when you are thrown into the doghouse for that wicked tongue of yours.” warned the wizard who had yet to forget Abram’s earlier comments about biting him. Regrettably, Enzo disappeared leaving Cassey in Abram’s uncapable hands.

Abram was slowly but surely proving to be the most puzzling man Cassey had ever come into contact with. ”Yes the Odin.” she repeated her eyebrows frowning at the wolf’s reaction. Did she come across as dishonest? Why did he keep repeating everything she had just said? ”Yanking your…chain?” she repeated confused by the slang she had never heard. The witch term for ‘yanking someone’s chain’ was ‘turning someone’s kettle’ so it was clear that the girl was misunderstanding the wolf. She held out her hands just to make sure she was not holding some sort of chain. Her violet eyes squinted just in case this chain Abram spoke about was itty-bitty. She was caught by surprise as the wolf grabbed her hand and began to tug her along. ”Why do you thi-“ she was going to ask him why he thought she was joking about her father when she noticed his wolf-ears twitch again. She couldn’t help her delighted squeal as she stared up at them. All thoughts of her father disappeared as she watched them in utter amazement. ”How do you change so easily? I’ve tried…but it never works out.” she said shivering at the memory.

There was a light breeze causing Cassey to take a step closer to the werewolf. She was watching the road ahead before she heard the boy talk about the place they were going. She had heard about Wolf’s Bane a few times from some of her braver human schoolgirl friends, but she herself had never been. It wasn’t that she was against going there or frightened of the place as much as had little time to think about it. With human schoolwork as well as learning basic introduction skills into the magical realm, Cassey rarely had time to think about being frightened of the wolves’ den. However, for some reason, humans, vampires and all those other creatures of the world tended to stay away from these so called ‘wolf’ sections. It wasn’t an uncommon theme for races to hang around in places oriented around their own beings. The vampires tended to stick with the vampires and the witches with the witches, and so on. Sure, there was equality all around and people were allowed to go to these different sections, but it was rare. Granted, as of recently this Wolf’s Bane had become a popular destination for tourists of all sorts. Even with the sudden popularity, that ignorant backwards thinking continued to ensue.

Cassey could clearly remember her human friend Becky’s boosting about going to the Wolf’s Bane. Unlike most witches, Cassey had gone to a number human school. Her father claiming that his daughters should fully enjoy their human lives before being shipped off to some magical realm witch factory. Anyways, this Becky girl would always come to school bragging about her many adventures with the wolves. Claiming that they were nothing, but wild animals. ”I’ve never been, but my friend Becky used to talk about this place a lot.” she placed her index finger against the side of her lip as she recalled the memory. Even back then, Cassey always assumed Becky was a bit off. These thoughts were only concluded as Cassey came in contact with the werewolf Abram. ”Oh you have brothers and sisters? I would LOVE to meet them!” she said before looking towards the other boy.

She took a slight step to the side so she could properly examine this new figure. Clearly, Becky was completely off base with her claims. None of these wolves looked thirsty for human flesh. Not that Cassey had anything to worry about. She WAS a witch after all. Besides, it wasn’t like Cassey ever took anything her delusional friend said seriously. Her father and mother had taught her better than to fall for stereotypes. Cassey looked back at Dio with the same curiosity as she let her head poke up to get a better view. ”Well seeing as I have to blink, then would that mean he abducted me? What if I blink more than once? Does that mean he has abducted me on more than one occasion? Oh no! That would be horrible.” she said her hand jumping towards her lips. Her elbow ended up knocking backwards into Abram as the boy spoke. ”Oh hello there Dio…I was just teasing about the whole abducting thing.” she said sticking her hand out towards the other for a good solid shake. Once again her arms seemed to fling back slightly causing Abram to suffer through yet another slam in the chest. ”Abram…you seem to be a very clumsy sort of person.” she said glancing back at the boy who was in pain. Little did she know that SHE was the clumsy one hurting HIM. Oh well, as they say ignorance is bliss.

Cassey instantly frowned when Dio claimed that Abram wasn’t good for anything. ”Oh but he HAS to do well!” she argued. ”Don’t worry Dio! I will make it my personal mission to transform No-Good Abram into an upstanding citizen…with awesome waitering skills!” she said dreaming big as she often did. ”Wait…not that you are no-good Abram!” she said quickly looking back at him. ”I just mean…” There was that blush again. Her head turned back towards Dio as he asked if all witches were cute. ”Well, I guess that depends on the witch you are talking about. My older sister was more beautiful than cute.” she said thinking about her sister. ”And my older brother would probably die if someone called him cute. He’s not the sort of wizard you mess with.” she said thinking about her brother. The boy had received his father’s dark side making him yet another well-known dark wizard. This time, however, she decided against saying her brother’s name. It was probably best to just leace that conversation alone for the time being. ”Wait…explains what?” she asked remembering his last statement. Why did everyone around Cassey seem to have some private joke? ”Is this about wooing some girl again?” she asked placing her hand against her hip.

Before she knew it, the boy was explaining how he had to leave. ”Well, maybe next time you can come along.” she said nodding her head. She waved the other off before looking back at Abram. ”That’s fine. I liked him. He was very nice.” she said before pausing again. ”Can he also make his ears pop out of his head?” she asked curiously while the two walked towards the place she had heard so much about.

Upon entering, Cassey smelled one thing and one thing only. Her nose wiggled in delight as she clasped her hands together against her cheek. ”Is that…cake I smell?” she asked with hopeful eyes. Her small tongue licked her lips as she glanced up at Abram. She lightly tugged on his arm before speaking. ”Now hear me out…” she said standing in front of him. ”You said you would pay…so I mean that means that I can pick what I want to eat right?” she asked before she noticed one of the waitresses carrying a plate of deserts.

Her eyes looked like a small child in a candy store as she cupped her hands together again. She leaned forward before looking back at him. ”How about sweets? I mean…you said anything I’d like.” she said leaning towards him slightly before noticing the entire set up of the whole restaurant. ”Oh this place is awesome!” she said in an excited tone before she caught sight of two wolves transforming different parts of themselves.

They had to be only pups. However, Cassey looked at them and began to speak to them as if they were her age. ”Oh that is amazing!” she said as one of them transformed his muzzle. ”You are so talented!” she clapped. ”You are so young and yet you can do so much.” Her tone was delighted as she patted down her skirt. ”Abram? Do you see how amazing these two are! Oh I wish I could do that.” she said giggling at their different stunts. ”Last time I tried to change into a cat I got stuck with only a tail for a week straight. I had to cut all of my skirts.” she said with a remorseful sigh. ”But look at you! I…oh I’m sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt you two playing together!” she said jumping up and moving back towards Abram. ”Oh what is that delightful smell? Everything looks so yummy!” she said seeing yet another desert make its way to a table.

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Why in the world did Lydia keep assuming she was boring? It slightly perplexed the vampire as he watched the young woman. Just because Lydia wasn’t falling from trees or barking at cars didn’t mean she wasn’t interesting. The woman simply had a different sort of interest level than those around her. She had pegged this old vampire’s interest hadn’t she? Not to mention, as much as it pained Darius to admit, she had managed to wiggle her way into the heart of that dog. If Lydia wasn’t at least a bit interesting why would Abram come back to her time and time again? ”Why do you keep insisting you are boring?” asked Darius without second guessing his forward question. Age and time had made the man confident in his interrogation of others. ”I doubt someone who has a werewolf friend could ever be that boring.” It was a complement of course. ”Even if those dogs irritate me…they are anything, but boring.” he admitted trying to make her feel better.

Once again, Lydia was showing just how interesting she could be in the course of a few moments. Darius never knew how the young businesswoman was going to react. His chuckle seemed to…embarrass her? He watched her face flush before shaking his hand back and forth. ”No reason to be embarrassed. Many people forget what I am after a while.” he said with a thoughtful expression. His smile lifted a bit higher when he heard her speak. He was about to comment on what she said about his restaurant when Lydia continued to explain how she felt about the whole drinking human blood. Lifting his free hand, Darius placed it on top of her head. ”Your determination my dear, is beyond adorable as well as admirable. Thank you.” he said shifting his hand away from its resting position. See? She was positively fascinating. ”I thought you said you were boring Lydia? Anyone with that sort of view on vampires cannot possible be boring.” he said lightly touching the top of her nose before dropping his arm to the side.

Lifting his hand to his lips, Darius had to hide his laughter. The girl was just so…cute. There she was apologizing her what she said. ”Pity.” he said quickly making his face serious as he turned his head to the side. ”I was hoping we would get to have a strange occult sacrifice together where we drink the blood of some untainted virgin on the next eclipse.” It was hard to tell if the man was serious or joking as he glanced back at her. There was a hint of darkness in his tone as he took a step towards her. Maybe Darius should have taken a few more lessons in human 101 because clearly he was misunderstanding normal social endeavors.

”I’m kidding of course!” he said quickly instantly feeling remorse if he had somehow frightened or embarrassed her. ”I was trying to ease the mood oh you know right?” he asked rubbing the back of his neck. He wasn’t usually this…awkward…around the fairer sex. So why in the world was he acting so strange? Darius made a mental note to investigate this further. Maybe he could even send one of his servants out to buy him that self-help video for vampires trying to make human friends. Granted, he would have to ask someone he trusted. He could not very well let the mass media know he was trying to learn how to function in society. Sighing, Darius shook the thought away and focused his attention back on the lady to his right.

”Your…uncle?” he repeated blinking in almost the same fashion Cassey had earlier. This human girl was just filled with surprises wasn’t she? Honestly, Darius was assuming Lydia would take him to a restaurant or a park or even her office. Sure, he knew she liked books, but it still surprised him that this was her special place. What surprised him even more was the fact that she wanted him to meet her uncle. How very personal. Maybe the girl loved him? A small sense of cockiness began to lift in the old vampire as his inner thoughts complimented his witty self. It was that joke. That joke was what gained the fair president’s heart. He just knew it. Well, he thought he knew it before Lydia mentioned how the uncle would be furious if she didn’t bring over her new boyfriend.

Darius nearly tripped over his own two feet at her confession as to why she wanted him to meet her uncle. Well, maybe she still held a secret longing for him? It was possible. Right? Now Darius usually wasn’t one to be optimistic about such things, but even he could make an exception especially when the exception involved the pretty gray-eyed girl. ”I see…well I’ll try to be on my best behavior then.” he said placing his hand over his heart as if he were taking an oath.

Clearly the two were meant to be together. Just look at their hands! That was proof enough! The girl’s smaller hand seemed to fit perfectly well with his larger one. There was a hint of pride as he let Lydia take the lead. He watched in interest as even her walk seemed to hold that same determination she always shined. Darius knew wolves were foolish, but Abram couldn’t have been THIS foolish to let such a beauty get out of his grasp now could he? The vampire shook his head. Why was he even thinking about that furball? Oh that’s right. The human girl seemed to fancy him. Rolling his dark eyes, the man couldn’t help but huff slightly at the very notion of her liking the dimwitted boy. Jealousy was such a cruel mistress tugging at the sinful man’s heart and refusing to let go.

”I think I’ve heard of this place before.” said the vampire as he glanced up at the name. He knew he had heard of it, but where? That’s when he recalled one of his vampire friends talking about the bookstore being wonderfully old fashion and how the shopkeeper was an interesting man. Darius could have sworn that the owner of this bookstore was anything, but human. The way the other vampire spoke, the man couldn’t have been human. Maybe Darius was thinking of a different bookstore? It would only make sense. Lydia was clearly human there wasn’t a part of her not human. Darius took a small sniff just to make sure that he was correct in assuming she was human before glancing up at her Uncle Mi.

Now that man was clearly NOT human. Questions began to swirl in the vampires mind as he kept a civil glance at the raspy voiced individual. Satyrs were always an interesting bunch. Much better than those wolves Lydia had come into contact with. Why couldn’t the human girl be friends with more satyrs? Should they could be a bit…odd….at times, but they always meant well. Plus, they were not wolves. Darius dropped Lydia’s hand to let her move towards her uncle. He placed his hands behind his back as he glanced around the small bookstore. His friend was positively right. This place held a hint of magical delight about it.

Taking a deep breath, Darius inhaled the odor of old books. It was a faded smell, but a smell Darius had learned to love. Technology may have made it easier to access books online, but there was still something so alluring about the actual paper. It reminded Darius of his younger days. A slight smile appeared as he looked at the satyr who was sporting a Hawaiian shirt. Lydia’s whole family seemed to have interesting people in it. The last satyr Darius had come into contact with was a bit more…tense than this relaxed on. So it was very calming to be around someone who wasn’t fretting about what to do next.

Darius gave a solid nod to the other as he allowed Lydia to introduce him. The vampire held his own hand out and shook the others before laughing at Mi’s comment. Darius placed an at ease smile as he put on his game face. Darius was a natural born sales man and as such deemed it of the utmost importance to impress the first family member Lydia had introduced him to. ”It is a pleasure to meet you sir.” said the vampire showing the other respect. Darius may have been older than the satyr, but seeing as this satyr was in a position that deemed respect, the vampire would show him such respect. Darius was never above treating those younger than him as if they were older. He was the same way when it came to aging humans. He would act as if he were the younger and address them as their elder. It was the stages of life that made all the difference and clearly this satyr was at a different stage than Darius.

Darius turned his glance back to Lydia when she said so forwardly that they were in love. ”Geeze, Ly.” he said giving her a petname. ”You could at least smile when you say we are in love.” he said crossing his arms and giving her a playful disapproving look. ”You make it sound as if this whole relationship is some setup.” he joked in a sarcastic manner. Yes, Darius HAD just said their hidden agenda, but he did it with a confidence that could not be shaken.

The vampire turned his attention back towards Mi when he began to bring up stories of Lydia’s past lovers. ”Is that so?” he asked in legitimate interest. ”Well, you have to remember. Satyrs eat the hearts of young foolish teenagers who walk by themselves late at night.” he teased poking fun at the more outlandish claims made by humans. Most satyrs were vegetarians so why in the world would they be eating teenagers? His smile only increased as the man began to talk poorly about the wolves. Now this, this was a conversation Darius could learn to love. However, he would hold his tongue (somewhat) because of certain young lady.

”Now, now wolves are not all bad.” he countered holding up his finger as if he had some grand comment to say on the subject. He probably would have said something outlandish and racist, but held his tongue. ”They are good at bringing in quite a bit of business from our female customers. Something about unruly, shaggy haired, drifters strikes at a girl’s heartstrings you know?” he asked before shaking his head. ”If all else fails, we can always just blow the whistle on them.” he said with a hint of desire lost in his expression. What he wouldn’t give to blow the whistle at Abram every single time he saw that ridiculous young man. ”Now an associate of mine says your collection is far superior than any other in town.” said Darius changing the subject before he got a bit TOO comfortable with mocking those unlovable pooches. ”She even mentioned you have a few first editions? Some from Odin himself if I’m not mistaken.” he said crossing his arms as he spoke.












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[Lady March Hare]

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ｈｅａｒｔ ｈｉｔ ａ ｐｒｏｂｌｅｍ ｉｎ ｔｈｅ { ｅ ａ ｒ ｌ ｙ } ｈｏｕｒｓ,
Ｓｏ Ｉ ｓｔｏｐｐｅｄ ｉｔ ｄｅａｄ ｆｏｒ ａ ｂｅａｔ ｏｒ ｔｗｏ.
[ＷＯＯ - ＨＯＯ!]
Ｂｕｔ Ｉ ＣＵＴ ｓｏｍｅ ｃｏｒｄ (ａｎｄ Ｉ ｓｈｏｕｌｄｎ'ｔ ｈａｖｅ ｄｏｎｅ ｉｔ)
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▇ location: M I S E R ' S iS H O P XXXXX ▇ mood: . . . XXXXX ♫ q u i e t m e l o d y ♫XX
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“Oh, do I?” the brunette stopped herself, trying to backtrack over the last few minutes. “Ah, I guess I do. I suppose it’s because I hear it a lot from Abram and the pack. They’re awfully difficult to entertain.” She reported thoughtfully. His words had the human looking up at him curiously, and after a long minute she grinned. “Well, thank you.” She said simply, but sincerely. It warmed some little corner of her heart to hear that she at least wouldn’t have to worry about putting Darius to sleep with her talk. She was so pleased that she let the issue drop, a small smile pulling at her lips, and had enthusiasm behind her words as she continued. And upon explaining her stance on the blood issue, Lydia was expecting a stately nod or simple acknowledgement that the air was cleared between them on that particular issue. His move caught her off guard, and she blinked up at him in confusion. “Adorable?” she murmured, turning his compliment over in her head. The only person who had ever called her any such thing had been her mother, and the gray eyed girl had been under the impression that the woman had to say such things. It was a strange thing, trying to think of herself as ‘adorable’. She almost asked him to explain, but stopped herself quickly. Really, how old was she; five? His touch to her nose almost made her jump, and she blushed slightly before quickly lowering her eyes. Strange, why was she blushing? She rubbed at her nose with a perplexed frown, then shook herself.

His next words caught her off guard as well, and the young woman’s attention snapped back to Darius, her expression carefully blank but confusion flickering in her eyes. He wanted to what..? The girl blinked, tilting her head to the side as if his words were some sort of secret code, her eyes showing comprehension only when Darius explained it was a joke. She might have smiled, but instead forced her expression to stay placid. “A joke? Oh, good. I was worried. I’ve heard it’s extremely difficult to find an untainted virgin any time before the eclipse. I’d worry that they’d be sold out.” she answered him. She stared up at him for a beat, then smiled at him.

“Yes, my uncle. He’s really the only family I see regularly, especially since my mother died.” Lydia answered him as they walked. “He’s a bit… eccentric. But he’s a good man. And despite the fact that he’s horribly intrusive, he’s always looking out for me.” Lydia smiled softly as she fell silent. The satyr’s presence and personality had been of great comfort to her, especially in recent days. Lydia blinked and looked up at the man at her side curiously. “Are you alright?” she questioned curiously, then smiled. “I have no doubt that you will. The one I’m worried about is Uncle.”

Yes, it was getting easier, this walking hand and hand stuff. Lydia had never been much of a hand holder; even when she was a child she’d avoided clinging to hands that reached out towards her. She didn’t really have a reason why… maybe it was because she liked the feeling of moving forward unfettered, or maybe it was because she’d never been much of one to spare thoughts towards such a touch. Hand holding made her think of happy teenage girls tugging along their flavor of the week with coquettish giggles and batting eyelashes. Lydia had certainly never been that sort of girl. But she had to admit, there was something satisfying about the ways their hands linked together. Like something about them was compatible, she noted with satisfaction. Of course, in Lydia’s mind this equated with their plan having a sort of chemistry that would make it effective and believable.

Well, anxiety about Miser and Darius not hitting it off seemed wasted; though the vampire responded to the old goat’s chattering with restraint that her Uncle never seemed able to grasp, Lydia relaxed a little at the general friendly air between them. If there was one thing she knew about Miser, it was that if a person struck him wrong, they knew about it. Extensively. Whether this was because Miser and Darius had things in common or because Darius was just a natural at the schmoozing, Lydia couldn’t say for certain, but the human girl suspected the latter. Which only made her smile; she would expect no less.

“Baah, what’s with the ‘sir’ stuff?” the aging satyr chortled. “Call me Miser. Or Mi. Hell, I’ll even answer to Uncle Mi. With enthusiasm!”

“Uncle Mi…” Lydia came as close to a groan as she seemed able, rolling her eyes slightly. Big gray eyes blinked, then shifted to gaze at Darius and her newly acquired pet name curiously. Her eyes widened as he spoke; what was he doing?! Not even her Uncle could know that… Lydia stopped herself with a mental slap. She was an idiot. Clearing her throat a bit apprehensively at her instant error, the young woman tried for a smile. “Ah… I forgot.” she said honestly, a wry, apologetic smile lighting her lips.

“Ha!” Miser slapped his furry knee with a wide, approving grin. “You know, you’d think some of those humans would get wise. I’m half goat! Is there a less threatening animal out there? Bah! Maybe a rabbit..!”

“Actually, goats can be quite aggressive.” Lydia couldn’t resist pointing out.

“Oh, shush!” Mi dismissed that observation with a wave of his hand. “The point is, you humans believe some stupid things. I’ll bet you’ve had to deal with more then your fair share of human idiocy, huh Darius?” he chortled, then looked at the vampire with interest. “Is that so? Hm, curious… ah, I know what that is. It’s the puppy effect! Human women seem to have a weakness for puppies… I’ve even seen human men take a puppy out on a walk to pick up chicks. Werewolves have that formula figured out; they’re their own puppy chick-magnets.” Miser chuckled, his bright gaze flicking to Lydia. “And the whistle does sound appealing… even werewolf-lovers like Lydia here dream of getting their hands on one. Don’t you, Lydia?”

“It’s at the top of my shopping list.” the brunette acknowledged, a steely note in her eyes.

Chuckling, Miser redirected his attention to Darius, looking visibly pleased with the man’s words. “Superior, huh?” he couldn’t seem to help puffing up a bit in pride, making a halfhearted show at modesty. “Well, superior is probably an exaggeration… but I like to think that it’s a very nice collection. A very nice collection indeed.” Uncle Mi shot a furtitive gaze about his shop as if in fear of being overheard, then grinned widely. “You heard correctly. They’re fine old texts, from back in the days when the binding of books was a new and exciting innovation. I have three total, all of which are spelled, and one of which is in a language that I’ve had no luck understanding at all. Of course, that’s no surprise, considering where they came from.” Miser chuckled, then turned away. “Would you like to see them? Give me just a minute and I’ll put on the tea. Can’t look at books without tea now, can we?”

“Ah, Uncle…” Lydia started to politely object, but the satyr had already shuffled away. The young woman sighed, smiled, and looked at Darius in approval. “Wow… you won him over quicker then I thought you would. In fact, I think you have a new best friend.” She sounded encouraged, and Lydia would have willingly admitted that she was. Sure, this particular visit had revealed that she had some things to work on, but the visit was already going favorably. Uncle Miser had even managed to appear mostly normal! It was a small miracle; she had been expecting him to say something like…

“Lydia!” the satyr called loudly from the back, his raspy voice insistent. “You’re alone with your boyfriend! If I don’t come back and see those stupid shirt buttons undone, I’m going to be very disappointed!”

Vulgar. Yeah, something like that. Lydia’s eye twitched, and she cast a drawn, disbelieving look to the back before looking back to Darius.

“I never thought to ask my mother exactly where she and Miser met, but they were friends for most of their lives.” she explained, looking very much like she was counting to ten in her mind. “They got to be so close that by the time I came around, they were practically brother and sister. I can only ever remember calling him Uncle and, since my father wasn’t around, he was often like a dad to me. A strange, overly concerned, slightly creepy dad.”

“You don’t have to worry about if I’m listening!” Miser chose that moment to shout. “Because I assure you I’m not!”

Lydia sighed, suddenly feeling very, very old and she smiled at her vampire companion apologetically. “I think that he’s concerned that I’ll be alone forever, or some such nonsense, because he’s far too interested in my social life to be healthy otherwise. Which is why I thought coming here first wise… he’s probably the worst you’ll have to deal with from my end.” she added, trying to add a positive spin like Darius was able to do so easily.

“Damn it!” Miser swore bitterly as he stomped back into view, a tea tray clasped between his hands and tea sloshing every which way. “Lydia, why isn’t your shirt off?!”

“Because this is a public place.” Lydia replied flatly, chosing that one reason out of many simply because it was the easiest to validate.

“Bah!” this was clearly not an acceptable excuse to the satyr. “That’s supposed to be what makes it exciting!”

“Uncle, please.”

“Bah! You’re no fun.” Mi pouted, pressing cups of tea into his guests’ hands.

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Ｉ ｓａｉｄ ｎｏ, ｎｏ ｙｏｕ'ｒｅ ｎｏｔ ｔｈｅ ｏｎｅ ｆｏｒ ｍｅ!
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Abram knew he should probably wipe the wide, dopey grin from his lips, but he just couldn’t. Cassey was just too cute; she’d taken his teasing unabashedly and had apparently been half a second away from kissing him. Talk about trusting; really, it was no wonder Enzo worried about her, and the werewolf looked at the wizard as innocently as he could. He wouldn’t have taken advantage of Cassey’s innocence and tricked her into kissing him… not this soon after meeting her, at least. Maybe the day after, but certainly not the day of! Not that he was going to tell Enzo that; something about agitating the cat-wizard-cat in any possible way was just morally satisfying. Abram didn’t question it; it was instinct. So he practiced his puppy dog eyes at the man’s warning, dismissing it from his mind the instant the perverted wizard disappeared.

“Yanking my chain… it’s… it’s slang. You know, for joking around. Pulling my leg.” Abram replied mechanically, unable to help his continued staring at the girl. It was unfathomable; his picture of what the Great Wizard Odin was and had come to represent clashed horribly with his surmise of Cassey. Never the twain shall meet, and such. Cassey was the daughter of that hell raiser? “So you’re not joking.” He felt the need to reaffirm, his expression slightly drawn. Maybe he was thinking about this the wrong way; Cassey had wielded strange and uncontrollable powers over his luck; maybe she really was the daughter of the powerful Odin. Man, if there were a thought to make the young werewolf paranoid, that would be it. Shaking the thoughts away, he shifted to study Cassey openly as they walked. “Sorry… it’s just… kind of hard for me to believe. Odin’s…” He stopped himself with a small frown. It probably wasn’t the best idea to go into specifics about what the werewolves thought not about the Great and Powerful Odin, but about her father. “…to werewolves, your dad’s a pretty scary guy. I guess I’m just surprised that he has kids…” Well, that wasn’t exactly true, so Abram amended his statement. “Or, I never expected to meet any of them. And, even if I did, I wouldn’t expect them to be so…” he trailed off, holding his free hand to his face as if it would help him think of the right word. He’d have to think about that.

“Hm?” he glanced up from under his bangs as if expecting to see the fuzzy ears atop his head, then grinned. “Oh, that… well, I’m a werewolf. Changing shape is what we do. All day, every day, 24/7. It gets to be pretty easy when you practice that much.” He informed her. “Hmm… you have? That’s something I’d like to see!” he laughed.

“Your friend, huh?” Abram asked with a wry grin. He could only imagine the sort of talk that had been going around about the place. Most of it true, mind you, and others elaborated and embellished with enthusiasm to draw in the thrill seekers. “Well, don’t believe everything she told you. We werewolves can be a rough bunch, but not all the time.” Abram grinned as the little witch affirmed that she wanted to meet his wolf siblings; he’d have to remind them to be on their best behaviors.

Dio, a werewolf that had been working at the Wolf’s Bane for a good five years, had all the ease and familiarity about him that had made him such a good bartender. Abram was secretly relieved that he was the first of his packmates to meet Cassey; some of the others could be a little rambunctious around new people, and he thought it might be wise to ease into the situation. Just in case. Cassey’s reaction to Dio’s teasing was a good sign, and the amusement in the other wolf’s eyes boded well. It could be somewhat difficult to get in with a wolf clan sometimes; if one member set his or herself against a person, the whole pack would usually oblige likewise. Not that Abram had been worrying about that particular aspect of it, but it was nice to see that the pack’s appreciation of Cassey wouldn’t revolve only around his favoritism. Having pack support was an important part of the wooing process; Abram was pretty sure that was in the handbook.

“Oof!” Abram grunted as her elbow connected with his stomach. “Cassey, watch the elbo-” Her other arm swung back to connect with his chest and shut him up. How many times was this little creature going to knock the wind out of him?

“HA!” Dio’s eye were sparkling with amusement as he glanced at his good buddy Abram, then back to Cassey in approval. “Ouch… you leveled him. Haha, if he WAS trying to kidnap you, you’d come out on top. I wouldn’t be worried.” He snickered, having no idea just how right he was about that, and reached to take her hand. “Yeah, I figured as much. You’re alright, kid.” He said good-naturedly before releasing her hand. It apparently took all of the wereman’s willpower to keep himself from tilting his head back and cackling.

“S-Shut up, Dio…” Abram murmured before he could start, poking his stomach tenderly as if to check that all of his organs were still in the proper place. He deadpanned at Cassey’s words. “Huh? Clumsy?! Me?”

“Maybe it’s love that makes the world difficult to navigate, Abram?” Dio said with an exaggerated wink. There was a short silence, then he answered himself. “Nah, clumsy seems a good word for it…”

“See these inches between us, Dio? I can be across them like this!” Abram said, snapping his fingers.

“Not in front of your girlfriend, mate! Don’t want to scare her off, do you?” Dio laughed, lifting an eyebrow at Cassey’s words. “Well, if you can transform Abram into an upstanding citizen, I’ll be really impressed. I’ve been trying to do the same thing for ages.”

“Jumping out of bushes and ear biting is not the same thing as transforming someone into an upstanding citizen.”

“Sure it is!” Dio might have continued with this train of thought had he not caught sight of Cassey’s blush. “Awww…” Dark eyes cut to Abram teasingly, his grin suggestive to say the least, and he chuckled. “Well, brother aside, that sounds promising. Screw weregirls; I’m going to sniff out a cute little witch to date.” He promised Cassey with a teasing smile.

“Alexis will rip your throat out if she hears you talking like that.” Abram reminded him with a grin.

“Eeeeesh…” Dio’s expression turned drawn as his fiancé’s name entered the conversation. “I never said it, I never said it..!”

“Don’t worry about it, Cassey.” Abram said with a roll of his eyes, patting the top of her hatted head. But apparently unable to resist, he winked at her teasingly when she posed the question about if it had anything to do with the wooing. Waving his friend off, he glanced down at the witch approvingly, lips splitting back into a grin. “He sure can.” Abram confirmed as he led the way around the corner to the front of the Wolf’s Bane, the entrance of which was modest enough and seemed to be relatively free of customers. It was still relatively early for the bar scene to light up, after all. “But he might not show ‘em to you unless you bribe him with something. He’s not as nice as I am.” He teased, since the young man in question wasn’t there to defend himself. He reached to hook a finger in the door’s handle and pulled it open for her before ducking inside.

It was surprisingly well lit inside, and surprisingly pretty; everything seemed to be crafted from rich wood that was kept in perfect condition, each piece buffed to a shine. The air smelled like food, and music too soft to be really discernible streamed through carefully hidden speakers. There was movement in the back and a roll of loud laughter; five werewolves were sprawled across chairs and apparently greatly amused at the expense of one of their own.

“Hm?” Abram lifted a brow and grinned as the little witch looked up at him seriously. Cake was apparently a very serious concern. “You can smell the cake? That’s a good nose you have there…” He looked at her a little suspiciously, then grinned and shook it off as he resisted the urge to pinch her cheeks. “Hey, I said I’d pay, and I’ll pay. Whatever you want, Cassey, my treat.” He assured her, secretly looking forward to seeing just what the witch would go after in a werewolf joint. Cassey practically bounced to the two pups at play, and Abram grinned as he tugged the door shut firmly behind them. The two pups looked up at Cassey with wide eyes for one second… two… and then sported matching grins. They had found an appreciative audience, and you could literally see their little chests puff out in pride as they focused on transforming and looking professional. It was difficult for Abram not to laugh at their earnest efforts.

“Ah… welcome back, Abram.” The woman sitting closest to the pups, their mother, spoke up. If there was a woman who looked least likely to be a werewolf, it was this woman. She was small boned and petite, fair skinned and blue eyed with straw colored curls and, while she wasn’t exactly pretty, there was something so warm and maternial in her very nature that she seemed to have a sort of glow. The woman cocked her head to the side dog-like, looking at Cassey curiously. “Oh, what’s this? I thought you went to lunch with Lydia… who is this?”

“Hey, Mary.” Abram greeted the woman. “It’s a long story… this is Cassey. I got a job…”

“Oh dear…” the werewoman sighed, her expression drawn.

“And she’s training me.” Abram spoke over her, grinning. “We got the afternoon off, and she’s hungry. So I figured I’d bring her by to meet the pack, get some food… you know, the usual.”

“I see…” Mary murmured, her eyes alight with interest as she hopped off of the barstool and moved to stand before Cassey. For a long moment she seemed content with eagerly scanning the young witch’s face before reaching to take her hand in her own, giving it a warm pat. “Why, you’re beautiful! Just look at those eyes!” Mary exclaimed, smiling at her warmly. “Ah, and you’re a witch? It’s impossible not to notice in this closed in place; its very nice to meet you. We don’t get many witches here, and it’s a real shame! Isn’t it, Jacob?” She shifted to call over her shoulder in the general vicinity of the bar.

For a moment no one answered her, and then a monstrous man emerged from the back, pausing behind the bar. The man was built like a bodybuilder, arguably one of the largest werewolves around, with dark skin that clearly showed off the raised white scars of battles past along his arms. His hair was dark and cut close to his skull, his eyes were stern and brown, and his strong features seemed to be set in a permanent disapproving scowl. Overall, the man had a menacing aura to contrast that of the woman that called him; not even the frilly apron wrapped around his torso or the meticulously frosted cake on the platter between his hands could offset his murderous airs.

“This is my husband, Jacob… just like the young man in that series. What was it called again? Dusk? Evening… something…” the woman waved her hand dismissively before turning her attention back to Cassey. “I like to tease him about it, but it makes him all huffy. It’s rather adorable, actually. Oh, and I’m Mary. Very nice to meet you, Cassey dear.”

“Happy to meet you.” Jacob spoke up, sounding appropriately badass enough for his build. “I made some cake.” Rather than seeming an angry sort, Jacob had apparently just been cursed to forever look like a big angry bouncer.

“And it smells delicious, honey.” Mary beamed at him before leaning to whisper to Cassey. “I’m afraid I’m no good at cooking. Jakey-poo is the only thing keeping this place afloat!”

“He looks like a murderer, but his cooking is great.” Abram said.

“Oh! Abram said you were hungry! Would you like some cake?” Mary kept her grin on Cassey’s head and tugged her gently away from Abram towards the bar. It might have been an innocent enough move, but she shot a teasing look over her shoulder at Abram. The werewolf on the receiving end made a face at her.

“Abram!” another of the werewolves in the bar howled. “What the hell are you wearing?”

Feeling a strange sense of deja vu, Abram moved to the bar with Cassey and cast his eyes towards the voice. Though he was on friendly terms with all of the werewolves in the bar, many of which were in his pack, there were only five who were considered his ‘brothers and sisters’. They were a specialized division within the pack, and therefore were very close. Mary was one of these five, and the other four prowled closer as soon as their noses caught scent of the witch. The first was female, the only other ‘sister’; she carried herself with the casual arrogance of a woman who knew she was gorgeous, with ropey black locks tied back from her face with leather ties, big blue eyes, and pouty lips. Her eyes passed over Abram dismissively and settled on Cassey, sizing her up. Right on this woman’s metaphorical tail was a shorter male that was downright scrawny, a build that made him look markedly younger then he really was. There was a huge, cocky grin on his lips and a sparkle in his piercing blue eyes, which mirrored the woman before him’s scanning of Cassey but with clearly opposite intentions. Next came a rather human looking man with cautious brown eyes and messy brown hair, something about him coming across as so alarmingly ‘normal’ that it was often only his scent that betrayed him as a werewolf. Bringing up the rear of the charge was a man of remarkably similar build and facial similarity to Abram, the only one of the ‘brothers and sisters’ able to make such a claim. His hair was black and carefully combed back from his rather stern face, and his eyes were a duller shade of Abram’s green. His expression was unreadable as he took in Cassey.

“Brace yourself, Cassey.” Abram said, plopping onto a bar stool as Jacob busied himself with cutting a perfect six degree angle from his three tiered masterpiece for Cassey. “These are my brothers and sisters. We’re not exactly related like the human meaning behind those words… oh, ‘cept me and Dog; he’s my blood related cousin. But these are the ones I spend all my time with. Guys, don’t jump on her. I’m serious.” He gave them a pointed look before introductions. “This is Cassey.”

“Stop that sniffing, Clyde! Don’t be rude.” Mary chided the scrawniest of the group.

“The woman that looks like she’s chewed on a lemon recently is Alexis…”

“Shut up, Abram.” Alexis growled.

“…the one trying to sniff you is Clyde.” Abram continued, punching the werewolf he addressed casually in the shoulder, sending the smaller man stumbling.

“Ow, hey; I’m just trying to get to know her.” Clyde said with a boyish smile. “Nice to meet you, witchling!”

“Just ignore him; he thinks he’s slick.” The remarkably human looking member of the group spoke up, adjusting his glasses. “Hi, I’m Matthew… you can call me Matty. Everyone else does.”

“And the guy in the back is Bartholomew.” Abram finished. There was a short, embarrassed silence, and the eyes of the man being addressed narrowed slowly, threateningly. “But we all just call him Dog.” Abram finished with a teasing grin.

“Get it?” Clyde gushed, leaning close to Cassey. “‘Dog’? Like, like a real dog? Like a puppy? Dog! It’s funny, right?”

“Shut up, Clyde.” Dog growled.

“Right?” Clyde continued with a laugh.

“Here; have some cake.” Jacob’s thunderous voice interrupted as he set a delicate porcelain plate with a perfectly cut piece of cake on the bar before Cassey. He seemed to be glowering, the cake cutter still grasped in his palm seeming somehow to be morphed into an instrument of torture just by being gripped in his beefy hand. And his gaze stayed locked on Cassey as he slowly slid a fork towards her. “Please, tell me exactly what you think of this recipe.”

▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ Ｓｏ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇
Ｉ
{ ｓ ｅ ｎ ｔ } ｉｔ ｔｏ ａ ｐｌａｃｅ ｉｎ ｔｈｅ ｍｉｄｄｌｅ ｏｆ ｎｏｗｈｅｒｅ
Ｗｉｔｈ ａ ＢＩＧ ＢＬＡＣＫ ＨＯＲＳＥ ａｎｄ ａ ｃｈｅｒｒｙ ｔｒｅｅ.
[ＷＯＯ - ＨＯＯ!]
Ｎｏｗ ｉｔ ｗｏｎ'ｔ ｃｏｍｅ ｂａｃｋ, 'ｃａｕｓｅ ｉｔ'ｓ ｏｈ ｓｏ ｈａｐｐｙ
▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ Ａｎｄ ｎｏｗ Ｉ'ｖｅ ｇｏｔ ａ ｈｏｌｅ ｆｏr ｔｈｅ ｗｏｒｌｄ ｔｏ ｓｅｅ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇

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Cassandra had to hide her obvious giggle and delight with Dio’s actions. What could the witchling say? The boy was funny and held a certain amount of boyish charm. ”You’re alright too!” she said giving the other an exaggerated thumbs up. ”Love?” she repeated that confused expression resurfacing as she slowly dropped her hand. Was Abram in love? Who was this mysterious girl everyone around Abram kept bringing up? She had to have been a rather lovely young woman to earn so much recognition. ”Girlfriend?” Cassey looked around to see if there was another girl around. Maybe it was just a wolf thing? They could have easily meant that Cassey was a friend who happened to be female. She thought about questioning what they meant when her short attention span was once again taken away. She held a childish grin as she pictured Dio jumping out of random trees and bushes in order to teach Abram.

”Oh? Is Alexis Dio’s girl?” inquired the witch as she watched Abram’s brother freak out about the possibility of this weregirl finding out that he claimed witch girls were cuter. Before long, the black-haired wolf was off to his own affairs leaving behind a very curious Cassey. After his departure, the witchling turned towards Abram and instantly questioned the bartender’s abilities. ”Really?” she asked when Abram stated that Dio could also make his ears appear at will just as Abram had. ”Bribe…” her creative mind began to think of what she could possibly use in order to bride the man into letting her see his wolfy ears. She turned her attention back towards Abram as she gave him a playful smirk. ”Well thank you for letting me see your ears in that case!” she said patting him lightly on the arm.

The witch moved her hands behind her back as she walked into the wolf’s restaurant. ”I always have a good nose when it comes to sweets.” she said carefully touching the side of her nose before taking a step forward. ”You mean it!?” she asked excitedly when Abram told her she could have whatever she wanted to eat. Before Abram could confirm his statement, the witch was off focusing all of her attention on the two pups. ”You are so amazing!” she continued to compliment before the two little ones moved back towards their mother. Cassey had always wanted a younger brother or sister. Her head turned sideways as she looked at the woman sitting closest to the two pups.

Cassey’s dark hair flung across her cheeks as her head turned sideways so she could exam the woman. The witch resembled a curious puppy herself as her eyes stared back at Mary’s. This Mary looked so…well she just didn’t look like a wolf at all! It confused Cassey slightly as her eyebrows curved. She had to be a wolf. Clearly, the two pups were hers. Not to mention she seemed comfortable in her position. Even if she had married into a family of wolves, it was doubtful she could hold this amount of ease without being a wolf herself. Although the woman may not have had the appearance of a wolf, she DID have was a certain air about her. Mary was welcoming, friendly, and held the air of a loving mother wolf. Cassey brushed her bangs out of her eyes slightly as the woman looked at her. Her cheeks instantly blushed when Mary commented on her eyes. Rubbing the back of her neck, the witch laughed off the compliment. ”Thank you…I get them from my mother.” she said happily. ”Oh well I’m glad I was able to come here then!” she said her expression getting serious for a moment. Well, it was serious until she saw the large man.

Cassey’s expression was unreadable for a moment before she clapped. ”OH!” she said looking up at him. Cassey’s body was leaning forward as her right hand’s index finger pressed against her lip. She held up her other index finger before speaking. ”I bet there isn’t a jar in the world you cannot open!” said the very blunt witch clearly amazed by his size. That was until she saw the cake. Her tiny tongue ran across her lips as she looked at the object the man was carrying. Her fingers clasped together as she leaned slightly closer to him. She was about to compliment the design of the cake when she heard Mary’s voice. Her entire body swung around to face Mary. ”Oh I know what you are talking about!....” she paused. ”Midnight!” she said getting the name horribly wrong. ”Erm, I don’t think that is the name for it…either way I am VERY happy to meet you!” she said waving to Mary before looking back at Jacob.

”Your cake is beautiful!” said Cassey finally able to compliment the cake she had had her eyes on. ”Oh you can say that again! Um, not the murderer part but the cooking is great part!” she said as she leaned upwards slightly. ”Oh that’s okay Mary! Who needs to learn how to cook when someone cooks like that?” she teased happily as she delightfully watched the cake with hungry eyes. Her head eagerly nodded a yes when Mary asked if she would like some. ”Oh yes! If you don’t mind I would LOVE to try some.” she said following close to Abram.

The witch sat next to Abram and let her fingers delicately lay against the bar. She watched Jacob with interest as he worked with the cake. Her attention was soon taken as Abram’s brothers and sister came towards the two. Her body swung around to face the others. There was one who seemed to interest Cassey the most out of the group. Her eyes seemed to lock on his. ”Oh you look so much like-!” she jumped off of her bar stool and was about to finish her statement before she noticed that someone was sniffing her. She blinked at him before hearing the name of the beautiful she-wolf. The Clyde fellow would have to wait for a moment.

”Oh this is Dio’s girl! My goodness you are BEAUTIFUL!” said Cassey nodding her head while staring at Alexis. She soon walked around the lovely female before stopping at her front. ”Your hair…it looks so soft! I bet you look adorable with wolf ears.” she said her eyes showing just how true her words really were. ”Dio is so lucky!” she continued to compliment only feeding the other girl’s ego.

That’s when her head turned back around to face Clyde. ”Oh are you okay?” she asked as she watched the boy stumble back. ”Nice to meet you as well!” she said bending down to look at him before glancing at Mathew. ”Matty!” she said pointing at him.

Her head swung towards Abram when he said his cousin’s name. ”WHAT A COOL NAME!” she said jumping up. ”Bar-Tho-Lo-Mew.” she said pronouncing it slower. ”But don’t worry Dog. I will-“ she was cut off by Clyde this time. ”Oh that IS clever! Maybe I should start calling my teacher Kitty because he turns into a cat?” she suggested giggling at the thought of Enzo being called Kitty. She could already picture the teacher flipping out at the very notion.

”Dog.” said Cassey with a serious expression as she looked up at him. ”You look JUST like Abram.” she said making a circle around his face with her index finger. ”That is WONDEFUL!” she said breaking her seriousness with a smile. ”Which means…you can also transform yes? So it would be like Abram transforming except if Abram had black hair!” she said contemplating it for a moment.

The girl’s contemplation came to a halt as soon as her ears heard Jacob’s voice. ”Oh it looks positively wonderful!” she said sitting on the stool. She politely took the fork from the other. She gave him a solid nod before taking a bite of cake. Her eyes widened slightly as she remained silent for at least a minute. Her hands slammed against the bar as she pushed herself up. ”This is the most amazing thing I have ever tasted!” she said before sitting back down.

”Yummy! This is so good!” she said fondly pausing just to take in the flavor. ”Oh Abram try this!” she said as she took a forkful of the desert and held it out to Abram. It seemed like a cute enough situation. It had all the makes of romance. However, gravity seemed to dislike that poor wereboy as Cassey’s hand slipped. Instead of feeding the other delicious cake, she ended up shooting cake all over Abram’s face. ”Abram!” she said nervously as she began to frantically look for a towel. She grabbed the towel and attempted to wipe his face before pushing a bit too hard causing Abram to be knocked off the barstool. ”Abram!” she said jumping down to move next to him.

The witch gently moved his head over her lap just to make sure there was no damage done. ”Are you alright?” she asked as nervously looked at him. She lifted the towel to the other’s face and gently cleaned off the cake she had thrown at him. ”Jacob…your cake is so tastey Abram can’t even sit properly!” she exclaimed suddenly growing excited as she jumped up knocking Abram into the stool and back again.

”Which means….this will surely win the heart of my love interest!” she said pointing at the werewolf. ”As they say, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. So if I could get that certain someone to eat this…he will see how yummy it is. Think I made it and fall in love with me! I won’t tell him the truth till we are married! Then he’ll have to forgive me because hey we’re- Oh Abram are you alright?” she asked looking back down at the boy. She placed her hands on her knees as her head tilted. ”You are a very clumsy young wolf aren’t you? Oh and forget about that cake okay? Just um…pretend you never saw me eating it and where I got it from!”

It would seem to those listening as if she were trying to get the cake for Abram especially since she told him to completely forget about the cake. Cassey hopped up and kneeled against the barstool in order to give her full attention to Jacob. ”How much would oh…five cakes cost?” she asked placing her bag against the barstool next to her. She leaned into it as she first pulled out a broom. After her broom, she yanked out a book, a wand, what looked to be a decorative plant, until finally she pulled out her wallet. ”How much would you like?” she asked her eyebrows crunched in a serious manner.

The girl paused for a moment as she turned her eyes to the right and noticed an object hanging as a sort of decoration. ”Oh!” she said leaving all of her belongings as she darted to the artifact from a distant war. It looked like a small piece of wood, but upon closer investigation it was clear that it held magic behind it. She stared at the object with interest. ”That’s Vidar’s.” she said saying her brother’s name. However, it was doubtful anyone would know the connection. ”The tip of his wand.” she said staring at it. ”Hm….BYE!” she said as she ran towards her bag. She began to stuff all of her belongings back inside. She paused as she looked at the cake then at her bag.

She wanted to finish eating her cake….but. ”Well…maybe I could have ONE more slice before leaving?” she asked sporting her very own sad kitty-cat eyes.

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Darius frowned slightly when he heard Lydia’s comment about the wolves. ”Well, that’s just because they have the attention spans similar to small rodents.” he claimed nodding his head at her before looking forward. His frown turned into a smirk when she repeated the word adorable. ”Yes, adorable.” he repeated crossing his arms as he spoke. He nodded his head vigorously just to make sure she understood how serious he was about the situation. However, his head nodding came to a halt when the human matched his wit with wit of her own. The vampire placed his hand against his lips as he lifted his eyebrow.

Lydia was so…somber when she spoke of finding an untainted virgin as if she actually had to do such a thing for her new vampire friend. Darius honestly would not be surprised if the young miss went searching around from county to county to see if she could find one JUST to keep their businesses afloat. It might have seemed extreme to some, but to Darius? Well, it seemed dedicated and determined. It was rare to find someone that devoted to their profession. Something Darius couldn’t help but admire. It wasn’t until she smiled that the man let out the laugh he had been holding back. Goodness, he couldn’t remember a time he had laughed THIS much. ”For a second there, I thought you were going to run away from me not because you were frightened, but because you needed to find that untainted virgin we spoke of.” he said lightly.

It didn’t take the two long before they were in the small shop speaking to Miser. Yes, Darius was pulling out all of the charm he could muster. However the vampire knew even if he wasn’t trying to make a good impression, he would have liked this satyr. The man was interesting to say the least. ”Mi it shall be.” he said assuring the man with his hand over his heart. Uncle Mi seemed a bit too personal and Miser seemed a bit too formal. Mi was the perfect balance between the three different choices.

Darius delicately placed his arm around Lydia as he gave her a fond lover’s glance. ”Ly! You are being so bashful this afternoon!” he said pulling her closer as he rubbed her other arm. ”I hope I’m not embarrassing you TOO much?” he asked winking at her before releasing her from his grasp so he could talk to the other man.

”Rabbits ARE rather crafty.” he countered lifting up his finger as he spoke. He turned towards Lydia as she mentioned something about goats being aggressive and shifted back a laugh. When Mi questioned Darius about the idiotic things humans said about vampires, the man couldn’t help his reluctant sigh. His head dropped slightly as he thought about all of the time he had to explain that he most certainly did not sparkle.

”It’s a very stressful situation.” he said his palm resting against his forehead. There were slight stress lines across his flawless face as he thought about all of the teenage hearts he had broken in the past. ”You would be surprised how many teenage girls come trick-or-treating at my house every year.” he said his eyes lowering at the thought. ”For some odd reason, they think that state law doesn’t pertain to those with fangs. That I am going to sleep with some child just because their latest novel told them so.” he groaned as he blew his bangs out of his face. ”I mean why would they automatically assume that every single vampire is going to be after someone that young.” he said shaking his head at the whole idea. ”Humans also don’t seem to understand that a married man or a man committed to a relationship is not interested in running off with the first pretty face they see. Just because we are vampires does not mean that we cannot have morals either.” he said sighing slightly.

”My sister, Isabella seems to have the hardest time dealing with the whole vampire-moral situation.” he said thinking about his female vampire friend. ”She has two kids, a husband, and yet is STILL dealing with those awkward comments.” he said sighing at the memory. ”They wouldn’t even allow her to partake in bake sales for the longest time because the other mothers were scared she might drug the children. Luckily, I helped put a stop to that situation.” he said with a sly grin. It took a bit of threatening on Darius’s behave, but no one made his baby sister feel unwelcomed. It was strange how those mothers changed their tone as soon as they found out whose name was on the founding of their beloved school and whose company basically owned it.

Darius held his thoughtful expression until he heard Mi’s next comment about those dogs. ”Cheap tricks…that’s all they are.” he said dismissing the dogs as nothing, but a bag full of cheap tricks. ”They may get the attention of the girl, but I doubt such tricks will keep a woman for too long.” he said or at least he hoped. There had to be a way for him to successfully gain Lydia’s admiration.

Maybe Lydia was just caught up in that girlish fantasy that involved werewolves? His eyebrow left as he looked at her. Darius placed his hand over his chin as he leaned back. What caused such an infatuation in the young woman’s heart? That’s when Darius shook his head as he silently figured out what caused women to be so attached to those useless dogs. ”I think women go for those dogs because it is something they can take care of. It is in the woman’s caring nature to desire such a needy creature.” said Darius had just slammed Abram without sounding a bit harsh or rude. ”I think a dog whistle would be a wonderful investment Lydia.” he reassured smirking at the image of seeing Abram withering in pain at the sound.

”Really?” questioned Darius when Mi stated that he had note one, but three copies from Odin’s collection. ”I would say that that is superior.” reassured the vampire. ”I’ve looked all over town trying to find a bookshop like this. That actually has things worth value.” he said glancing around. ”I would love to see them…if it isn’t too much trouble?” he said smiling as the man offered tea. ”Of course.” he nodded.

Darius soon turned his attention back towards Lydia as she spoke to him. ”Your uncle is a very interesting man Ly.” he said laughing at the new best friend comment. ”Who knows? I may just have found a new best friend…So much for Abram winning that spot eh?” he asked teasing her slightly as he nudged her with his elbow. It was doubtful Abram and Darius would ever be more than enemies. Friends, was a stretch that not even the creative Darius could imagine. Yes, Darius could be just as creative as the next person! Well, when given the opportunity to do such a thing.

The vampire’s eyes widened as he began to choke at the satyr’s words. His face became a shade of red unmatched by anything that had been seen that day. ”I…” The charismatic man was at a loss for words. Blinking, he pulled himself back into reality. Well, he tried to before he noticed Lydia moved.

As much as the vampire tried to boast about his morals and good heart, when it came down to it, he was as perverted as the rest of the male population. ”Keep it pure.” he mentally schooled himself as he stared at her chest before looking at the ceiling when she turned back. Yes! The ceiling was very interesting! Interesting indeed! Nothing was more interesting than Lydia’s….CEILING!

Wait…was the girl talking? His eyes shifted back towards Lydia. What was she saying? Was she asking him about his childhood? Was she talking about her childhood? What was he supposed to say? ”Yeah…” he said blinking figuring a solid yeah would have to work for now. Those eyes. Why did she have to have such lovely eyes? Then the notion of undressing her resurfaced as the uncle spoke again. Mi did say he wasn’t listening…Darius stretched his hand out for a moment. Maybe he could tell Lydia that they had to become one for the company of course. He blinked as he noticed his hand and swiftly brushed Lydia’s shoulder. ”Sorry, I thought I saw a bug on you.” Sometimes the oldest tricks in the book were the best.

”He shouldn’t be worried about such a thing.” reassured Darius. ”I doubt a woman as pretty as yourself with such a sweet temper would stay alone forever.” he said honestly as he smiled at her. Yes! Pure thoughts were…gone. Why did Mi have to mention Lydia’s shirt again? Darius’s eyes fell to her chest before looking back at Miser. It was not polite to stare at a woman in public like some uncivilized teenage boy.

”Miser, I think it would be best if you didn’t tempt me.” said Darius as he took the cup of tea from the other. ”It is hard enough trying to behave myself while around your niece.” he said sitting down on one of the chairs. ”Lydia is a very good girl and I would not want to ruin that because I was impatient.” he said taking a fake sip. Darius could not digest human food, but he could pertain to. It seemed to put humans at ease when he faked certain activities. It was a trick he had learned long ago.

”Ly is not like any other young woman I have ever met before.” said Darius his voice as true as his intentions. ”Women now days forget that modesty is the best seduction tool.” he said looking at her before glancing at Miser. ”So why would I want to ruin that? I am an old creature. I can wait until she is ready.” Such a gentleman this vampire seemed to be!

”Now that I have embarrassed Ly to the point that I know I will hear ALL about it as soon as we leave, let’s look at those books.” he said playing the teasing boyfriend as he sat up slightly.













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[Lady March Hare]

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ｈｅａｒｔ ｈｉｔ ａ ｐｒｏｂｌｅｍ ｉｎ ｔｈｅ { ｅ ａ ｒ ｌ ｙ } ｈｏｕｒｓ,
Ｓｏ Ｉ ｓｔｏｐｐｅｄ ｉｔ ｄｅａｄ ｆｏｒ ａ ｂｅａｔ ｏｒ ｔｗｏ.
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Ｂｕｔ Ｉ ＣＵＴ ｓｏｍｅ ｃｏｒｄ (ａｎｄ Ｉ ｓｈｏｕｌｄｎ'ｔ ｈａｖｅ ｄｏｎｅ ｉｔ)
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“Well, I suppose there isn’t much I can say to argue that.” Lydia admitted with a small sigh. Though she would never refer to those she loved as ‘small rodents’, the werewolves were notoriously easy to distract. She then turned her attention to his confirmation, her eyes stern as she studied him but not doing much to distract from the red in her cheeks. “I… I see.” she lied, clearing her throat. Her expression softened, and a soft laugh of her own bubbled up from her throat. “Ah, anything for my partner.” she replied with a light joke, pressing her hand gently to her chest in a mimic of Darius himself. The amount of truth behind her words was debatable; after all, Lydia was notorious for doing just about anything for business. Whether or not she’d actually go about hunting down said untainted virgin was clearly up for debate.

Miser’s eyes, magnified by the glasses balanced on his nose, sparkled, and the old goat gave a stately nod towards the two new arrivals to his shop. Mi, apparently, he could deal with. “Good. You and I will be good friends in no time.” he assured the vampire. His grin only grew by leaps and bounds as he watched Darius wrap his arm around Lydia with approval. “Good! It’s not often enough that I get to see the girl flustered, Darius. Embarrass her as much and as often as you can. She needs frequent reminding that she isn’t a machine.”

“I’m not embarrassed…” Lydia insisted from under the vampire’s arm, but the lingering pink in her cheeks and the difficulty she had in meeting Darius’ eyes didn’t lend credence to her words. Something about the look in those dark eyes, something about that expression, suddenly made her feel like she was very interested in the ground, in her shoes, in something, anything else. It was a rather novel reaction for the brunette; she was used to being able to stare down hatred, admiration, jealousy… a whole range of emotions and intentions. Really it was vain to think so, but the human had mostly felt that she had personally dealt with and conquered all qualms involved in dealing with these emotions. So it was silly, embarrassing, to think that she was having sudden difficulties dealing with love, especially love that she knew to be faked. How silly! Darius was clearly better at this then she was, and the reminder resolved her.

“Is that so?” Miser murmured sympathetically, studying the vampire and shaking his head slowly at his tale. “That sounds like quite the headache. Lydia, keep a hold of this one; his head’s in the right place, and you won’t have to worry about him chasing off after some younger girl.”

“Uncle… stop talking about Darius like he isn’t standing a foot in front of you.” Lydia ordered, deadpanning.

“I think that the problem with humans seems to be just that: morality.” Mi continued as if he hadn’t heard his human family member. The irony of Miser speaking as an authority on morals was completely lost on the satyr in question, and he continued thoughtfully. “For all of those years that humans pretended that we were just flights of fancy or myths instead of living, breathing creatures, they used our types, yours in particular, Darius, to live out their own fantasies. And now that they know their ‘monsters’ are real? Bah! Time to live out the dream.” Miser sighed, shaking his head sadly. “Really; humans these days.”

“Now, now; we humans aren’t all that bad.” Lydia argued with a wry smile. “I’ll have you know that I’ve never showed up on a vampire’s doorstep to harass him, and neither have any of the humans I know. I think we’ve come quite a long way as a species.”

“Baaaah; I’d argue that.” And Miser might have, had he any inclination that his adopted niece was listening to him anymore. But the girl’s gray eyes were firmly locked on the vampire, her expression openly curious. Miser studied the girl for a second, then grinned. He knew genuine interest when he saw it.

“Your sister?” Lydia asked, tilting her head to the side slightly. This was important! A girlfriend would be expected to know everything there was to know about her boyfriend’s family, wouldn’t she? Lydia thought so, and she started the recorder in her mind as she paid close attention to Darius’ words. Her brow furrowed, and the young businesswoman’s eyes darkened; a true product of how she was raised, she genuinely hated baseless examples of prejudice like the one her vampire friend was describing. “Really? Drug? That’s horrible.” she muttered, her tone disapproving. Really, people could be so stupid. For several long moments she was lost in though as Darius and Miser continued their conversation; catching herself, Lydia shook her head and focused on the flow of their words. “Ah…” she started, then grinned very slightly. “I suppose that leaves it to me to be devil’s advocate. You’re both biased against the wolves from the start, so of course you couldn’t understand. They’re not just dogs, just like you aren’t just a goat, Uncle Mi. They’re people too, and just like people of any race, they have the ability to win people over.” Of course, she knew this from experience, but she certainly wasn’t going to say so aloud. It would give Uncle Miser a heart attack, surely, and she was pretty sure Darius would just think her silly. And she didn’t want that; she was trying to pull her weight in this little agreement of theirs, remember?

“Oh, it’s no trouble.” Miser insisted as he turned away with a flippant twist of his hand. “No trouble at all.”

“Hmm…” Lydia followed her uncle’s retreat with a small smile before turning the expression onto Darius. “I’m glad you think so; thank you. I was afraid he’d offend you somehow, to be honest. He has a habit of being rather off-color.” she admitted, then laughed softly. “Ah, poor Abram! I’m sure he had his heart set on being your best friend. Oh well.”

Darius did not react well to Miser’s comments, which were indeed off-color, and the brunette cleared her throat slightly as she looked at Darius out of the corner of her eye. There was such a strange expression on his face; the girl couldn’t begin to imagine what he was thinking. Whatever it was, it seemed to deeply involve either the ceiling or the notebook she cradled against her chest, or perhaps both. Lydia wanted to set her mind to the task of deciphering what great business-oriented thoughts Darius was having that combined the two, but she had socializing to do. She turned the full force of her gaze back on Darius at his reply, turning it over in her head curiously before shrugging it off. She supposed it wasn’t too detrimental that Darius knew that the old goat was a pervert; it was bound to come up at some point anyway. Darius’ fingers skimmed against her and she snapped her eyes back to his.

“Oh?” she looked down at herself with suspicion, brushing herself off just in case there were any more bugs creeping about. She couldn’t help it; it was a reflex. “Thank you.”

Really, it was no wonder that Abram was so worried about his human friend: when her blind drive and determination mixed with other living creatures, it made her out to be ignorant and easily fooled. When Lydia knew that she was being hit on, she was an ice queen; impervious to any attack, unyielding to any shows of charm, and ready to go with a sneer and a sexual harassment lawyer at any second. But just because it was all for the business, because Lydia had invested her trust in the assumption that Darius was in the same boat as she and therefore had the same feelings was all it took to breech her iron wall. It was a glaring personality flaw made obvious to those that paid attention; even Miser, who knew nothing of their arrangement, sensed that Lydia was approaching this relationship with more enthusiasm then any other before her, and was seeking to monopolize on it. Darius’ words were sweet, invoking a smile, and Lydia surely would have replied to them had Miser’s appearance not rendered such a thing too intimate to discuss aloud.

Miser, though clearly disappointed that (and uncomprehending as to why) he hadn’t returned to find his niece half naked, studied Darius with approval. Hey, if he couldn’t force their actions to be X-Rated, at least getting their thoughts there was better then nothing. With the civility of a saint (at least, he thought so), Miser decided to not point out his observations on that particular point… he didn’t have to, when Darius provided the material himself. The satyr chuckled heartily. “Tempt you? Who, me? Wouldn’t dream of it. If Lydia doesn’t start doing it herself, however, things may have to change. And for God’s sake, don’t behave!”

“Uncle, I thought you were trying to be old and wise.” Lydia said with a roll of her eyes. “You’re not coming across as very convincing.”

“Not that I don’t admire your stance on the issue, Darius.” Mi continued, waving his niece’s dry words off easily. He was silent for a moment as he took in Darius’ words, his smile flickering to warm for the briefest of seconds. Briefest of seconds, for in the time it took him to blink he swore and looked at Lydia sternly. “Did you hear that? Did you hear that? He’s perfect! If you don’t start throwing yourself at him this very instant, I’ll kill you.”

“Shut up, Miser.” Lydia said, pressing her fist to her lips and clearing her throat. Really, Darius was far too good at this; she’d have to ask him later how often he’d said something similar to past lovers. That was sure to be an interesting conversation. But something about Miser’s words combined with Darius’ in the form of a brainwave. Seduction? Lydia’s expression turned thoughtful and inwards, trusting Darius’ silver tongue to smooth the rocky path that Miser’s lewd nature had created. “Hmm…” Shaking that away for later, the brunette took a careful sip of her tea, and then moved to perch matter-of-factly on the arm of Darius’ chair. Yes, that was the right dose of intimacy, wasn’t it? Lydia made another mental note to check at a later time. “You see, Uncle Mi, Darius is a gentleman. You have to realize at some point that not all men think like you do. You’re a terrible representation of the male race.”

“A gentleman is still a man.” Miser snickered as he shifted to a very plain looking door behind the check out. “But that’s a discussion for another day, apparently. I’ll get the books.”

“Hm; Miser is in a particularly saucy mood today.” Lydia sighed to her companion. “Not that he isn’t always that way to some degree, but today particularly so. It must have been something he ate.”

“I can hear you now, you know.” Uncle Mi said in disapproval as he emerged from his storage room with a long, flat wooden box. Navigating it carefully, the goat man kicked a table out into the middle of the room with a cloven hoof and carefully placed the box upon it. Banishing trace particles of dust from the box’s top with his fingers, Miser shifted to unfasten two heavy locks before pushing the box lid open to reveal the three books. “Here they are, Darius. Don’t ask me how I got them, for I’ll always plead the 5th. I don’t know nothin’ about where they came from, how Odin came to ‘lose’ them, or anything like that. I just know that they’re authentic and I know that the seller got them all at once. Take from that what you will. I don’t see morals as big issues in the books I purchase; my concern is that they aren’t left in the hands of fools who will only destroy them.” the satyr said with a nod. He was a goofy sort of man, but he truly was serious about his beloved books. “These in particular have an added danger from just floating around on the general market. It would take a pretty powerful witch or wizard, but since those exist I have the feeling that these books could easily fall into the wrong hands. Which is unacceptable. The wrong hands are rarely very good at preserving books.”

“You’ve never mentioned that you had books like these around, Mi.” Lydia said, observing the books with a frown.

“Baaah! As if I would! The less interaction a human like you has with things such as this, the better.” the satyr insisted. Lydia made a face since she did hate to be thought down on, but sipped at her tea instead of protesting something that made sense. Blasted logic. “Well, what do you think, Darius? Do you have a special interest in the writings of Odin?” the goat man continued, looking at the vampire eagerly.

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Ｉ ｓａｉｄ ｎｏ, ｎｏ ｙｏｕ'ｒｅ ｎｏｔ ｔｈｅ ｏｎｅ ｆｏｒ ｍｅ!
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“Ah, I see…” the werewolf said in a bemused tone, studying the witch as the two of them entered the establishment. Despite the fact that accelerated senses of smell weren’t something he was aware that witches were capable of, he believed in Cassey’s ability wholeheartedly. For no other reason, perhaps, beside because it was Cassey. “And yeah, I mean it. Knock yourself out.” he added, dropping a hand to ruffle the hair of the closest pup. The little boy made a childish growling noise and swiped at his hand, which Abram was able to dodge with a chuckle.

Perhaps Fortune was attempting to make up for the terrible way she’d been treating Abram that day, for the next wolf Cassey was to encounter was Mary. Mary was one of the most even tempered women that Abram had ever met, warm and accepting and prone to taking outsiders under her wing more quickly then almost any other of his pack. Really, it was difficult for even Abram to believe that she was one of his sisters at times; she was just so gentle, that it belied the animal nature that lingered in even her heart. If Dio was a good first werewolf for Cassey to meet, Mary was certainly a good second. If nothing else, the blonde werewolf always made a good impression. She couldn’t help but gush over new people. It was just in her nature.

“Your mother must be a lovely woman.” Mary proceeded to gush, looking Cassey over fondly one last time. “And we’re glad to have you. I hope you’ll let us know immediately if we commit any obvious faux pas. We werewolves can be a rather rough bunch at times, but I like to think that we do try our best!” the she-wolf insisted with enthusiasm. Her attention shifted to her husband, and a proud smile lit her lips. “Oh, that he can! It’s simply wonderful. I don’t have to ever worry about breaking a nail with those silly jar lids. And it’s so nice that he can open them without smashing them to pieces like I so often do. Really, it’s such a waste when that happens.” Mary sighed.

“Jar?” Jacob parroted gruffly. He looked absolutely befuddled by the turn the conversation had taken… at least, as befuddled as his stern countenance could be.

“No, I’m pretty sure you’re correct, Cassey. It’s Midnight.” Mary continued with confidence, the jar conversation already far behind her.

“I’m pretty sure you’re both wrong.” Abram chuckled.

“Wonderful! Go on, cut her a piece, Jakey... don’t be shy!”

Abram chuckled and slid to sit with a sigh, flicking his bangs from his eyes. Cassey seemed to be another one of those people who found a way to vibe with anyone who she happened to be with, any place, any time. He watched her from the corner of his eye, trying not to grin too widely at the young woman’s enthusiasm. The werewolf swung about in his seat to better face his siblings, watching their reactions carefully. They all reacted exactly how he would have predicted, if he’d had the time. Cassey directed her attention to the group, and Abram lifted an eyebrow at her initial reaction. One of the group had caught her attention… looked like who? Was she talking about Dog and their resemblance? Abram’s grin turned a little goofy; it probably meant absolutely nothing, coming from Cassey the way it had, but some part of him was encouraged by the simple fact that the little witch could get so excited about the family resemblance. Like she was paying special attention to him, or something. Of course, there was really no time to appreciate that properly, because the overeager Clyde was doing some inappropriate sniffing.

“Talk about having no manners.” he commented lightly as Clyde rubbed his arm, watery puppy dog eyes out in full force. Abram had seen them too many times before and, as such, was completely immune. No wonder his stint of employment at the pet store had been such a short one. “Try to control yourself. We’re all here to make friend, remember?”

“Pssssh!” Clyde dismissed that instantly, allowing his expression to drop when he realized that it wasn’t having the desired effect. The scrawny werewolf apparently had a very short attention span, since his eyes flicked up to Abram’s head and he let loose a howl of laughter. “Are those your ears? Hey, did you forget that you’re in human form, Abram? D’awwww, they’re so cute and fluffeh!”

“I’ll show you cute and fluffy.” Abram vowed with a grin, no real venom in his voice. Bantering and playful bickering was the basis of his relationship with this particular werewolf.

“Hm?” Alexis’ stern gaze lingered on Cassey’s face for another long second, and then softened ever-so-slightly. “Humph. I like to think that he is my man.” the werewolf corrected Cassey haughtily, a slight, approving smirk tugging at her lips. Alexis clearly wasn’t one that made too many female friends on a regular basis because of that haughty attitude, but she was also one clearly used to getting compliments; they seemed to relax her, as if she didn’t take any personal pleasure from them, but just enjoyed them because they were common enough to be familiar. Abram rolled his eyes –the girl could be so vain—but didn’t comment as the dark haired woman continued. “You met Dio? When? Heh… you should tell him that the next time you see him. I always get the feeling that that man has wandering eyes. Every time he’s out of hearing range, he’s flirting…”

“That’s an unfair sort of thing to say, Alexis.” Matty objected. “Especially since he’s not here to defend himself.”

“Like hell it’s unfair!”

“Dio and Alexis are engaged.” Abram leaned close to murmur to Cassey. There was really no reason to speak softly; it just seemed like as good a reason to get up close and personal as any. Besides, Cassey had a habit of smelling good. “Their relationship is really constructive. Really, really constructive.”

“Go to hell, Abram.”

“Already there, babe.” Abram answered with a cheeky wink that only seemed to irritate the easily-irritated Alexis further. She was easily ignored as the sandy haired youth grinned slowly at the little witch’s attention to his cousin. Again, irrational good-signing. A sparkle lit his eyes, and though he caught his cousin’s speak-and-die look that was cast over Cassey’s head, he couldn’t help his teasing grin. “That’s his name, alright. I think it suits him, but he doesn’t seem to like it for some reason.”

“Oh, look.” Dog grumbled in ‘delight’. “Your girlfriend gets Clyde’s humor. Great.” Though Cassey’s words continued to be directed his way, Dog didn’t seem too inclined to answer. Clearly, despite the fact that they looked alike, Dog had not inherited his cousin’s open, talkative personality. He shifted in slight irritation, and answered her only reluctantly. “Yeah, I transform. We all do. Just like Abram.” the man added, his jade eyes flicking to his cousin and the ghost of a smirk finally making its appearance on his face. Smiling was apparently another thing that Dog didn’t do too often. Abram lifted an eyebrow, but didn’t take the bait.

“Yeah, that’s cake for you.” Alexis grumbled, leaning her chin in her palm as she continued to study Cassey in mild disapproval. Probably just because she was inclined to look that was when she stopped paying attention, but one could never tell with Alexis. “You’re an excitable little thing, aren’t you?”

“Oh hot damn, Jacob made cake!” Clyde appeared to just notice. “Cut me a piece!”

“Now Clyde, you know how you get when someone feeds you sugar…” Mary started in a warning tone.

“Aw! Come oooonn!”

Jacob ignored the rest of his pack, focusing entirely on Cassey. His dark eyes followed the progress of cake to mouth intently, and at her profession that it was good his countenance went through an alarming transformation. Rather, his expression didn’t change too much, but he blushed like a schoolgirl. This came as a surprise to none of his brothers and sisters, who laughed, and made his wife look at him adoringly. Clearly, Jacob was the big softy of the group despite his appearance.

“I’m glad you like it.” Jacob replied, his gruff tones successfully hiding his delight. “Have some more.”

“See? The guy’s a natural.” Abram said lazily. “And people wonder how he keeps this place afloat single-handedly.” Abram probably would have said more (partially out of admiration for his packmate, partially because watching the behemoth of a man acting all bashful always amused him), but Cassey turned towards him with food. Green eyes blinked at her a bit disbelievingly, and Abram’s heart lifted; maybe the girl wasn’t as unapproachable as he’d been expecting! Introducing her to the pack was apparently a good move, and now he could………… sit back and whimper under the combined might of an oblivious Cassey and a clearly bored Fate, of course. In a flash his vision was obscured with cake, and before he had time to be anything other then surprised at this development he was topping off the barstool. Werewolves, unlike cats, do not always land on their feet, and the young man grunted as his back connected with the floor.

“Oh, Abram!” Mary started in alarm, words that were difficult to hear over the howls of laughter that the move initiated from the rest on the pack, sans Jacob. Jacob only seemed to mourn the loss of a delicious cake morsel.

“…ow.” Yes, that seemed appropriate. ‘Ow’; what more needed to be said? Really, it was a good thing Abram didn’t take either the universe’s abuse or the mocking of others seriously, or this would have been a very embarrassing moment for him. Instead, the werewolf grinned wryly and prepared himself to rock to his feet, but froze when Cassey crouched down beside him. Well, this was a pleasant development. A very pleasant development indeed; he almost didn’t hear the laughter anymore, not with his head in Cassey’s lap. Instinct screamed that he should learn from experience, that the calamity that followed Cassey was rarely satisfied with leveling him once and to therefore not allow his mind to become entranced by the intimacy of the moment and caught off guard. Abram, however, wasn’t doing a very good job of listening to instinct that day. He held very still for Cassey to clean his face, closing his eyes when she got close to them (just in case, Instinct…), and unable to help a small, infectious grin. At her comment, the werewolf made a face. “Cassey…” he started, but then instinct was proven correct one again as the hapless werewolf found himself in pain again. This time he didn’t try to get up for a long minute; it felt like a good time to stay down.

“Abram..!” Mary said slowly, seeming torn between her motherly urge to treat wounds and her other motherly urge to see romantic moments play out well. Who knows; if she stayed out of it, more intimate moments might be had!

“Abram?” Matty sounded absolutely flabbergasted. He rubbed at his eyes beneath his glasses, then took a step closer to his wolf brother. “Are you alright?”

“Holy sh… She just took him out!” Alexis, for once, sounded impressed.

“HAHAHAHAHAHHAAA!!!”

“Stop wasting my cake, Abram.” Jacob grumbled, unconcerned with the young werewolf’s health.

“Wow. One witch did what six straight Rogues couldn’t.” Dog moved to look down at his cousin with a flat, disbelieving expression. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Get… me… a medic.”

“Not a chance.”

“Love interest?” Mary, relieved of her concerns of Abram’s dying from the little encounter by his voice, turned to the really important topic quickly. Her whole expression brightened as she took a quick look at Cassey’s indicator, seemed to fight back a delighted squeal, and struggled to sound politely disinterested. “Oh… I… I just… tehe! Oh, I’m sure that will work! Abram! You forget everything she told you to this instant!”

“What?” Abram croaked, his head still spinning a bit as he looked up at Cassey.

“Well, well, well… I thought I sensed something here, but I had no idea you were into that kind of stuff, Abram.” Alexis said with a smirk.

“What?” Really, Abram wasn’t in the mood to talk. He was overly occupied with getting his feet under him again.

“H-Holy cow!” Clyde crowed. “That was amazing. You’re like an Abram-busting machine! I think I love you!”

“Shut up, Clyde.” Dog muttered. Really, he acted all distant and cool, but the young werewolf was secretly always on his cousin’s side. Dog shifted his suspicious gaze to Cassey, flicking a hand out to help yank Abram to his feet almost subconsciously, as he watched the witch. His eyes grew ever so slightly as she pulled a random assortment of items from her bag; of the assembled werewolves, his expression stayed the most placid at this display.

“No charge for friends.” Jacob insisted in his grumbling manner. ”When do you want them by?”

“Thanks, Dog…” Abram was finally right enough to say, giving his silent cousin a strong pat on the shoulder as he redirected his attention to the witch. All things considered, his family was behaving themselves remarkably in the face of the witch’s ability to kick his butt; he had no doubt that he’d be hearing about it in spades later. Which he didn’t particularly mind; he had enough dirt on them to level the playing field. So bright green eyes sought out Cassey just in time to see her dart across the bar; a brow lifted and Abram shook himself before he spoke. “What are you doing, Cassey?” The purple eyed girl seemed fixated on a bit of wood hanging on the wall, and Abram’s furry ears flicked forward to catch her murmured words. “Vid-what?” he started to question, but jumped slightly at the girl’s sudden farewell. Abram frowned in confusion. “Hey, Cassey… you have to leave?” he asked, trying not to sound too much like a kicked puppy. Hey, just like any other sort of dog, werewolves got dependant very quickly.

“Ah..?” Mary looked confused, but quickly nodded. “Of course you can have another piece of cake. Really, there’s no need to hurry off!”

“Yeah, stay a while, Cassey!” Abram encouraged. “I’m going to treat you to whatever you want to eat, and all of it that you can eat, remember?”

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{ ｓ ｅ ｎ ｔ } ｉｔ ｔｏ ａ ｐｌａｃｅ ｉｎ ｔｈｅ ｍｉｄｄｌｅ ｏｆ ｎｏｗｈｅｒｅ
Ｗｉｔｈ ａ ＢＩＧ ＢＬＡＣＫ ＨＯＲＳＥ ａｎｄ ａ ｃｈｅｒｒｙ ｔｒｅｅ.
[ＷＯＯ - ＨＯＯ!]
Ｎｏｗ ｉｔ ｗｏｎ'ｔ ｃｏｍｅ ｂａｃｋ, 'ｃａｕｓｅ ｉｔ'ｓ ｏｈ ｓｏ ｈａｐｐｙ
▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ Ａｎｄ ｎｏｗ Ｉ'ｖｅ ｇｏｔ ａ ｈｏｌｅ ｆｏr ｔｈｅ ｗｏｒｌｄ ｔｏ ｓｅｅ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇ ▇

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Cassey had a faint yet melancholic smile across her lips when Mary stated that her mother must have been a lovely woman. She quickly shook the sad expression away as she nodded her head in agreement. ”Thank you. She was a wonderful woman indeed.” she said happy the conversation changed from the topic of her mother to something easier to digest. ”You all have been nothing, but kind to me Mary! All of you! I would never think of you guys as rough at all!” she quickly defended before placing her fingers against her lips as she listened to Abram’s sister explain how she usually broke the jars. ”Maybe Enzo could take a few lessons from Jacob. That way he doesn’t have to rely on his magic as much as he does.” she said in a know-it-for-fact sort of manner. ”Where are my manners? Enzo is my teacher.” she explained to clear up the air before there were any misunderstandings.

The young witch was taking a liking to Mary. The older she-wolf was just so welcoming that it was difficult not to like her. ”Are you sure it isn’t Midnight?” asked Cassey looking at Abram for a solid three seconds before her attention was diverted elsewhere. Cassey seemed to misunderstand Clyde’s sarcastic compliment as she nodded with the boy. She was about to eagerly agree when she noticed Abram’s reaction. ”But they are cute Abram!” she said thinking that Clyde’s comment was done with the utmost sincerity. ”Do you not like to be called cute Abram?” she asked instantly feeling guilty as she sported that same sad puppy dog eyes Clyde had just sported. ”I didn’t know. I’m sorry. Don’t worry! I’ll make sure to not call you cute!” she said saluting the other before fluttering towards Alexis without second guessing her decision.

”Your man? Sorry for the misunderstanding in that case.” she said giving the other girl a solid nod. ”I met him right before we came in here. He was very nice!” she reassured not wanting the kind wolf to get into trouble. ”How could he possibly have wandering eyes?” she asked blinking at the notion. This Alexis girl was completely flawless, and she seemed to have a saucy personality to boot. It confused Cassey to think that someone could have wandering eyes when the person they were with was so interesting. ”ENGAGED!? That’s wonderful! Oh when are they getting married?” asked the romantic little witch before hearing Abram’s next comment. ”Constructive is good though! My dad used to tell me that if mom hadn’t hit him as much as she did, he would have wiped out all of the human race by now.” she said her finger touching the tip of her lip. Now if any other person would have said this, it might have been a laughing manner. However, this was Odin she was talking about so it was hard to decipher if his comment was a true threat or causal banter.

She shrugged her shoulders as she glanced at Dog while Abram spoke. ”It’s an interesting name.” she defended looking at the one who resembled Abram so much. She watched anxiously for the other to answer her question. Her fingers were clasped together as she watched him with the utmost attention. ”Really?” she asked brightly. ”Oh you all make it look so easy!” she said with a soft lover’s sigh. Her attention was once again redirected as cake came into view. ”Why wouldn’t I be excited? Life is meant to be enjoyed no?” asked Cassey tilting her head at Alexis. ”Besides, my mom wasn’t much of a baker and my father thought that burned Goat Cheese with Frog legs was a suitable dessert. So can you blame a girl for being excited at the sight of a real dessert?” she asked with that same bright attitude.

”Like it? No, no no no no I love it Jacob!” said Cassey. Within the course of a few minutes, Cassey had successfully taken down the young werewolf Abram. It was as if Abram never stood a chance against the oblivious girl. The sad part was the fact that Cassey didn’t even seem to be trying to hurt him. It just sort of happened.

”Yes love interest!” repeated Cassey happy to find that there was another who seemed to be just as interested in wooing a man as Cassey was. Yes, Mary was positively perfect! ”Into…what kind of stuff?” asked Cassey looking back at Alexis for a brief moment.

Her attention shifted from Alexis’s comment to Clyde. ”Abram-busting machine?” she repeated about to question the wolf when Dog shut the smaller boy up. She shrugged the thought off a she began to search through her bag. ”No charge? I could never let you do all of this work for free! Besides, I don’t want to completely trick my future lover. At least if I pay, it will show that I put some effort no? Hmm, how about tomorrow after work? I’ll pick them up then? And how about we go with just one?” she suggested holding up her index finger.

After discussing her terms with Jacob, she had a brief moment when the strange object hanging off the wall before returning. ”I think leaving would be best.” said Cassey as she waited for another slice. ”That’s really sweet of you bu-“ Before she could finish the ground began to bubble. Cassey lifted her feet up into herself on the barstool as if she were used to such a thing.

”CASSANDRA!!!” yelled the voice as Cassey idly ate the cake. Her small head bouncing back and forth completely unconcern with the event taking place. Enzo sure knew how to make his presence known as his entire body rotated in a hellish-demented manner. He resembled something from a child’s worst nightmare as the spirits pulling him up wailed and cried. Finally, the man was among the living. His arms were crossed and his expression stern. ”What ar-I…wha-“ he was at a loss for words as he saw Vidar’s wand tip. ”That means…” he glanced at Jacob with widened eyes. He gave the wolf a solid nod as if he knew him, but wasn’t about to talk about their intertwined history. Now was not the time or the place to discuss such a thing.

”Enzo! You should try this cake. It is very yummy.” said the little witch causing Enzo to slap his forehead. He gently placed his hand against the top of her head. He found it difficult to stay too upset while in Cassey’s presence.

There were words on the tip of his tongue when his keen senses caught the presence of a beautiful woman. ”What sort of magical romantic fates could have possibly thought to bring me to a place like this?” asked the dramatic wizard as he made his way to Alexis. He let one hand brush his bangs out of his face as the other slammed into the wall next to her head. ”Obviously, our lives were meant to intertwine. I know that it might be a difficult journey seeing as you are a wolf and I am a grand wizard. But I will make it work.”

Cassey leaned towards Mary turning her fork against her left over cake before speaking. ”That is Enzo…he is my teacher. He’s a bit of a flirt.” she explained winking as she looked back at Jacob. She wanted to ask why the two seemed to look at each other as if they knew one another, but decided against it.

The witch jumped off of the barstool as she lifted her bag. ”Enzo…” she said shaking her head at the man. ”She is engaged you dirty old man!” she scolded causing Enzo to lift an eyebrow and take a step back.

”So it is a forbidden love we share? Even better.” he said rubbing his chin as his eyes fogged over. It was clear that his thoughts were anything but noble. How could they possible be noble with that perverted grin he was sporting. He was even sweating slightly as he laughed to himself.

Into the Mind of a Peverted Teacher

”Oh Enzo…forget about that stupid man I am supposed to marry. You are the only one for me.” said Alexis in a dramatic tone as the human girl Lydia nodded in agreement.

Even Jacob seemed to have a cameo in this dream as he willingly handed his wife over to Enzo. He gave the other a silent nod as if to say ‘It’s okay for you to sleep with my wife…really I don’t care.’

”Ladies please…there is enough of me to go around.” he said holding his hands out to stop their longing fingers.

Leaving the Mind of a Peverted Teacher

”Really, I said it was fine…no.” said Enzo with that continuous stare. Obviously, his daydream had gotten a bit too real.

”Enzo?” asked Cassey poking his cheek as she held her bag over her lips. ”I think he got lost in his fantasies again.” she said as the wizard finally snapped out of his daydream.

”Huh? What were we discussing?” he asked causing Cassey to roll her eyes. ”That’s right! What are you doing all the way out here? And you.” he said pointing towards Abram. ”Why wouldn’t you tell me you were taking her ALL the way out here? Stupid dog.” he said slapping Abram behind the back of his neck. ”Cassey, you know very well you aren’t supposed to travel out of the area the Council deemed as safe. This is wolf territory.” he said glancing at her knowing that her vampire guardians couldn’t very well step on this side. ”Something could have happened…I doubt dogbreath over there could have been very much help.” said the prideless wizard as he shot his them at Abram.

”You okay Abram?” asked Cassey looking at him before looking back at Enzo. ”But Enzo…nothing happened. You worry too much.” she said dismissing his claims with the twist of her wrist. ”Besides, I have to come back here tomorrow for Darius’s cake!”

”Something COULD have happened Cassey.” snapped the wizard taking a teacher’s stance as he glared at her. ”The council – Wait…Darius? Cake? Child what on earth are you talking about?” he asked fearing what her answer would be.

”Well, the way to a man’s heart is his stomach right? So I was going to woo Darius over with some of this yummy cake!” she said holding up the empty plate.

”Darius is a vampire. He doesn’t eat cake.” he sighed as he looked at Cassey’s saddened expression. ”Now collect your things. We’re leaving. I’m sure you saw Vidar’s wand already yes? You know what that means. Come on.” he said glaring at Abram. ”I trust you for what? An hour? And you take her here?” he grumbled.

”Thank you everyone! Sorry about how rude Enzo was!” apologized Cassey bowing to the group as she stood by the exit. ”Jacob…um scratch the cake idea! Unless you can make a blood cake.” she said before being yanked by Enzo. ”Erm…bye!” she waved.

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Miser had a valid point. Embarrassing Lydia could have a very positive outcome. The satyr would be pleased to see his niece acting like something other than a robot while Darius got the pleasure of seeing Lydia acting bashful and shy. The thought alone had a smile appearing across his tempted lips. She was such an adorable little thing, even more so when she was embarrassed. ”Personally,” began the man honestly. It was being oddly honest that evening. ”I just like to see her blush. It’s cute.” he said winking at Lydia in hopes that her cheeks would burn with embarrassment once more. He laughed when Mi claimed that Lydia should keep a hold of the old vampire. Now if only he could get Lydia to see this, Darius would be one happy restaurant owner.

The satyr seemed to give his niece’s warning little heed as he continued to discuss the morality of humans and their fantasies. ”I never really thought about it like that.” Darius said rubbing his chin as this new prospect was brought into light. ”Live out the dream…” he repeated as if his business mind was lingering on the idea. He barely had time to really think about this possible catch phrase when he heard Lydia’s soft voice. ”Aw, I’m sure I wouldn’t be complaining so much if you were to show up at my door Lydia.” he said with yet another playful wink. He coughed somewhat clearing his throat.

If there was one thing Miser was positively right about it was that men were men no matter how much they tried to hide their more animalistic sides. All Darius’s mind needed was his own suggestion of Lydia coming to his house and already he was gone. The thought alone sent his mind sailing off on a lust-filled adventure. Deep within the folds of his mind, he held an image of the human named Lydia sporting a uniform as she squealed at his presence. Luckily, the topic of his sister came into play clearing all of those less than favorable thoughts. He wrinkled his nose and continued with his story.

Lydia was much too innocent for her own good. He felt the sudden urge to send her away to his sister. Maybe Isabella could talk some sense into her? It was worth a shot. He sighed as he watched her. There Lydia was already defending those good-for-nothing wolves. She began her defensive stance almost as soon as the other two started to speak poorly of her beloved canine friends. ”If I didn’t know any better Ly, I’d say you have a bit of a pup-crush.” he teased leaning lazily against the palm of his hand. There was a slight pain in his chest as he said his playful banter. The vampire quickly shook the thought away as he kept his smile up and running. If he wanted to woo Lydia, he just needed to put all of this wolf-liking nonsense behind her. Darius was determined to face her crush head on. Make her see how silly she was for liking that foolish Abram.

After Mi left to go fetch the tea, Darius turned towards Lydia. ”Offended me? Heaven’s no. It’s refreshing to see someone so willing to speak their mind. Everyone is so politically correct now days.” he said thinking about it as he stretched his arms behind his back before letting them rest in front of him.

That was it, next chance Darius got he was sending Lydia off to his sister’s. The human was clearly much too innocent for her own good. Darius suddenly felt the urge to do two things as he watched her reaction to his bug comment. Firstly, he wanted to kiss her. She was simply too cute not to kiss! Secondly, he wanted no needed to send her off to either some remote island away from the male population or to his sister’s. That sort of innocence was too precious to be corrupted. He sighed as he looked at her gray eyes. Yup. She had no idea what he was trying to do. Which made him both worried and happy at the same time. Worried because God only knew what that wolf might have done to her, but happy because he didn’t have to face that awkward situation of her snapping at him for giving into temptation.

The vampire felt the cooling rush of ease as soon as Miser returned. ”Believe me, Miser…” groaned Darius when the goat-man claimed that Lydia needed to tempt Darius more. ”She is tempting enough. I cannot imagine what will happen to me if she were to actually try to seduce me.” he said rubbing his eyes as he spoke. He cracked a smile when Miser claimed that he was perfect. Wonderful. He had won the admiration of the uncle. Now if he could get the girl to like him everything would be just swell. He watched Lydia slightly with the tilt of his head. Maybe it really was possible for her to fall for him? She seemed to have no qualms about his race nor did she fear him in the slightest. That was a clear added bonus. The only thing the vampire had to worry about was that werewolf. And in the case that Lydia couldn’t fall for him by her own actions, maybe Darius could come up with another outlandish claim about this being part of some plot for the two to keep their companies. It worked this far? Maybe he could push it a little more?

Sighing while brushing his hair out of his face, Darius had never felt so dirty in all his life. Using something like business to get the girl. He was above that wasn’t he? Apparently not. Then again, he had never had a werewolf as a rival for the affections of a young woman. It was those puppy-dog eyes. How could a creature of the damned possible stand a chance against that?

Finally the books came into play causing Darius’s body to shift forward. At last, he could direct all of his thought process on something other than Lydia. It was not healthy to be thinking about someone this often. Maybe this was what the humans were always raving about? Puppy love? Ugh. There was that word again…puppy. Shaking his head, Darius moved towards the books.

He let his thin fingertip trail across the books as he watched the words float about. His expression was stern, dark, and thoughtful. It was as if nothing else in the world matter except for that book. ”It’s a good thing he didn’t mention these books.” said Darius as he flipped through the pages reading the forgotten language. ”In the wrong hands they can cause a lot of trouble.” he said nonchalantly. The last thing he wanted to do was frighten Lydia.

Darius glanced up when the satyr asked what his interest in Odin was. ”Well, I’m sure you have heard about Odin’s recent reappearance in this world.” he said keeping the details simple. ”It is not even him I am worried about as much as his son.” he said leaning back. Once again Darius kept his knowledge of the situation hidden. He was, however, about to continue when the door of Miser’s shop opened causing Darius to stand and take a defensive stance. The vampire’s fangs were out as his arms stretched.

”M’lord.” said the man with his hand against his chest. He was bowing towards Darius in complete humility as if Darius were a king. ”She is out of our region…” he said glancing up at the man. The young gent slowly turned his gaze towards Lydia. He gave her a faint smile before quickly looking back at Darius.

”What do you mean?” asked Darius his eyebrows frowning.

”She is…in the wolves’ territory.” he said his eyes meeting Darius. It was rare to see Darius actually looking another in the eyes. ”We followed as close as we could, but like I said it’s wolves territory. And she disappeared into Jacob’s place.” said the man causing Darius to look the other way.

Jacob was known to most of the other races as the one who had single-handedly taken down Odin’s son Vidar. The vampires knew not to mess with a creature who could take down that madman. Darius had even made an agreement with Jacob. The vampires would stay out of their region if the werewolves stayed out of theirs. It had worked rather well. Both groups kept civil.

The fates hated Darius. They really did. Darius groaned as he glanced back at Lydia. ”I apologize Ly.” he said glancing back at the vampire boy. ”Are you all at least staying near the outside of the area? What about the council? Have they said anything?” he hissed trying to keep his temper down.

”The council is in a meeting M’lord…Enzo is with them.” he said causing Darius to shut his eyes. Darius hissed something in another language causing the vampire to rush out of the shop.

”Lydia. It seems that our date will have to continue tomorrow if you don’t mind.” he said kissing her cheek. ”Edward will be walking you home.” he said as another vampire appeared leaning against the doorframe. ”I know you are an independent young woman, but I would feel so much better if you let Edward take you home.” he said holding her hand before letting it go. In a flash of a second, Darius was gone.

”Sorry missy. I guess you are stuck with me.” said Edward pointing to himself. ”Aw don’t look so disappointed. I can make funny faces.” he said pulling against the bottom of his eyelid and sticking out his tongue. ”Don’t worry about the dogs. Darius and Jacob have a pack.” he reassured as he nodded towards Miser. ”Oh this reminds me. My wife wanted me to retu-“ he patted himself down frowning. ”Tammy is gonna kill me! I was supposed to return a book to you, but it appears I lost it. Don’t worry. I promise I will find it…just don’t tell her okay?” he pleaded to Miser.

Darius, in the meantime, had appeared at the Wolf’s Bane about ten minutes after Cassey had left with Enzo. ”I know we have an agreement Jacob, but this is different. Cassandra.” he said his eyes narrowing at that loveable dog. He brushed his shoulders off as he walked towards the werewolf. The vampire nose twitched as if being in this establishment made him physically ill. ”Odin’s daughter. Where is she?” he asked glaring at the wolf. ”She is innocent. If you so much as hurt a hair on her head. It isn’t just mean you will deal with, but the whole cou-“ His nose twitched as he stopped speaking. ”Enzo?” he questioned before letting out a sigh of relief. Good. Her guardian had showed up. This was further justified by the buzzing of his phone. He glanced down at the text to see that Cassey was once again in their neck of the woods. Fixing his clothes, he turned towards Abram. ”Do not tell Cassey that I came here to see if she is alright.” he would have furthered his threat before looking back at Jacob. ”I stand by what I said. I promised the girl’s dying mother that I would not let a single hair on her head be harmed. Take that as a warning. All of you.” he said glaring at Abram.












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