Chicagoland

Kallistrate Dimitriou massaged her temples as she strode into the Black Dog, oxfords clicking on the hard floor. Her button down green blouse was covered with a sleek black blazer, the sleeves of which were folded up, paired with slim black slacks. Her gun was back at the station; her badge, hidden in the blazer. Just in case. It was a weeknight at the small bar, and thankfully fairly empty. A few people did stand here and there, mostly at the bar, but her usual booth in the back corner was empty. Her heels hurt, her head hurt, and she just wanted a drink to relax. To the bar first, then.

One of the usual bartenders finished making a drink for someone else and sauntered over to her. "What can I get you?"

Leaning a bit on the bar to take some pressure off her aching feet, Kallistrate looked at the brief menu and decided to order what she usually did on days like this. "An Argonaut, please. Double shot of Chimarae."

"Coming right up," he said, wariness entering his expression. A stressed Kallistrate was not a safe Kallistrate, although she did her best not to take it on innocent bystanders.

The 'Argonaut,' Kallistrate's destresser of choice, was a combination of several liqueurs, the largest portion of which was Chimarae. Chimarae was a monster-grade alcohol of rather lethal but impressive strength as well as the most upscale way to get the most trashed, the most quickly unless you wanted to spend several hundred dollars on something stronger. The bartender presented her a drink that was gold in color and topped with a paper 'shield' and a fig, sure to take the edge off a hard day at Chicagoland's Monster Investigators. She took the drink and, thanking the bartender, who helpfully opened her tab without her having to ask, she walked back to her booth. Sighing in relief to be off her feet at last, she took a sip of her drink.

Ahhh. Perfect.

Unbinding her snakes, Kallistrate relaxed in the booth and took another sip. A few of her snakes tried to take a sip as well, but she brushed them away. That was the last thing she needed, tipsy snakes, as the alcohol made them more than a little unpredictable. The Black Dog might not be the most sophisticated bar in Chicagoland, but the drinks were always well made and the limited variety of food, excellent. She visited regularly, like many others, giving the Black Dog the benefit of a CMI officer on the premises, who even off duty would suppress anything ridiculous from happening. She hoped nothing of that sort would happen tonight so she could enjoy her drink without having to get up.

It was closing time at the local library and Jake found himself lingering over a few of the latest arrivals to the store. Most were New Age items featuring your fortune through the stars and tarot cards. Calloused hands slid over the books and for a moment he wondered what it would be like to have real magic at his finger tips, magic he could control and follow his every whim. Alas, things were not so and Jake let his hand slide away, magic was for witches and wizards, not for the likes of him.

He piled the new books away on a cart that would be put out in the morning and looked around the empty library. Its floors filled with shelves upon selves of books. It was always quite peaceful being on the closing shift. Sweeping the floors and dusting was quite calming for him and he enjoyed the quite moments with the books he loved. His chores finished Jake grabbed his keys and things and shut off the last of the lights and left through the front door taking care to lock it.

Now that the day was done he supposed he should head on home but the Black Dog along the way called out to him and he found himself grinning. It wouldn't hurt to have a beer. Jake liked the dark looming walls of the Black Dog and the conversations were half decent as well. The previous night Jake had gotten into a debate with a Werewolf over how similar they were to shifters. Neither had come to much of an agreement but they had parted on good terms.

He adjusted his shirt and loosened his tie a little, the library had high expectations of it's workers and were expected to dress nicely. Jake had no problem with and enjoyed the sense of class that his job gave him. He headed down the road and took the time to slick his hair back a little before he entered the pub.

He opened the large, heavy wooden door to the pub and walked in, the scent of deep fried what ever filled his nose and the soft chatter of the few folks already there filled his ears. He gazed around the room and saw a few familiar faces, the woman at the back for instance. Her saw her come in every once in a while but never really got the chance to talk to her. In all honestly the snakes intimidated him.

He took a seat at the bar not to far from her and wondered if he might work up the courage to say hello, but he thought perhaps it was not the time as she seemed rather grumpy. So instead he held up his hand and ordered a light beer, nothing to strong. It wouldn't give him a buzz, it was just something to enjoy while he wound down from a long day of being on his feet.

Every once in a while he would glance at the woman with his green eyes and when he made eye contact with her accidentally he gave hr a crooked grin and an awkward smile. Then turning away he groaned and wondered where his courage had gone.

Argus

A proper pack was long due in Arcane Towne, but in current circumstances, lone wolves and ferals were all that’s left. The werewolf society was idle and in desperate need of order, these days it seemed that Argus was the only one keeping these pups together. Young werewolves of the town had taken to playing truant in effort to fight for the Arcane Society. More than once Argus had been alerted of brutal attacks, and worse, fights between the gang of teenagers. They were blinded by heroic fantasies and dreams of human (and possibly vampire) Armageddon. If anything, these senseless pups were the only ‘pack’ around.

You’re going to… for this…
I can say whatever I…
Stop! … This has gone… of hand…

Argus raced after the sounds of their voices, leaving the kitchen behind and a crew of workers to tend to their own. As a key chef of the kitchen, they were going to be asking a lot of questions once he returned. He stripped off his apron and shirt, tossing them into the air. In the distance, Argus heard ragged waves of growls and yelps. He had to get to the bottom of this before that snake-haired CMI did. Two fully-fledged wolves hurled their great bodies at one another; every vicious bite came like a thunder strike in the sky. A small group of teenagers cheered and whistled, throwing their fists into the air. Among them were a couple of humans, Argus could smell. What the hell are they doing?!

He stumbled and crouched to the ground, digging his fingers in the earth. A wave of heat swept over him, followed by a ragged breathing that grew into harsh, growls of a beast. Pain found him on all sides. Argus squeezed his eyes shut.

In this body, Argus could see the red smear on the ruff of the young, sandy furred wolf. His opponent was likely to kill him if he continued to strike at his throat; Argus knew that in human form, those wounds would be fatal. Argus charged at the opponent before he could make one final blow, dug his fangs into his shoulder and seized the thrashing pup to the ground. Yelps and cries echoed in the air, Argus took a step back and watched him wither into a human. Just a boy. A sixteen-year old, no more.

The hustle and bustle of the Chicagoland Chapter of the Monster Advocacy Agency was a familiar bit of background noise to the slightly stressed looking witch packing up her desk for the evening. The stacks of the most recent complaints to come in on vandalism and boycotting were still stacked on her desk next to a rather worn down unicorn figurine that acted as a sentinel and guard for her paperwork. She had accidentally animated him ages ago and he seemed content to patrol her desk and keep the various animated odds and ends in line so she left him alone. Even gave him the name Percival and left little bits of apple out for him to munch on when she was at home.

Speaking of things to eat as she gave a distracted look at her clock she winced and grabbed the lead that she was obliged to put on her familiar Alistair when she walked him out and about. The old badger had curled up in a large dog basket near her desk and taken a nap after harassing the other smaller familiars for a bit and giving her co-workers paranoid and distrustful looks. “Come along Alistair we’re running a bit late but if we hurry we should be to make it to the Black Dog before it gets too crowded.” She said as she made her way over and fastened his lead on his harness. She always felt a little foolish when using it as Alistair was hardly the kind of familiar to wander but rules were rules. As a Monster Advocate it would look poorly on her department if she didn’t follow them.

At least Alistair had stopped complaining about the harness and lead and now only gave both a disgusted snort when he put them on. His licensing tags glinted a little as he opened up one black eye and grunted at her as he uncurled from his spot in the corner. He grumbled to himself in his usual brusque manner but followed along behind Minerva anyway giving the few people in the office distrustful looks before ambling out at Minerva’s heels. As they walked Minerva loosened the messy bun on her head and let her curly brown hair finally complete the slow break for freedom it had begun somewhere around noon. As it fell around her shoulders she made sure to tuck it behind her ears to keep it out of her eyes. The rest of her work outfit, a lovely pale blue blouse and black slacks paired with a black jacket that she kept over her arm as she walked out. Her sensible and comfortable black dress shoes finished the outfit.

But clothes were the least of her worries as she made her way to the witch space corridor at the bottom of the brownstone that house the CCMAA offices and made her way to the door with the stylized black dog over the top, a door that led to the back of the Black Dog and right near their old Monster back room. Minerva and Alistair both made their way through the door walking down the odd elongated space that led straight to a fairly well kept back alley behind the Black Dog. Minerva walked calmly to through the back room and made her way through to the front where the place seemed to be filling up nicely. But Minerva walked to the bar and put in a quick order for her usual order of Witch’s Brew and a wing platter.

She settled down at one of the stools to wait for her order with Alistair snarling at her feet as people walked far to close to the old badger for his comfort. He seemed to take particular offense at the man nearest to her, someone she recognized as a librarian she saw from time to time. Minerva gave him a stern look and slid into the stool next to the librarian. She had been meaning to visit the library recently to pick up some books on artwork and animation that she wanted to use for her studies. She had made Specialist several years ago in object animation and she was eager to try her hand at expanding her mastery into another field. Alistair grumbled a rude comment at her feet before shifting closer to the bar to give the vampire on her other side an equally distrustful glare. “Stop it you or I’m not ordering any new plums for you." Minerva hissed before turning to back to the librarian.

"Hello there, Jake right? I hope you don't mind my asking this but I was wondering if you had heard of any new artbooks coming in at the library? I recommended they purchase a classical art history book a while back and I gotten so busy I haven't had a chance to check to see if it's come in." She asked settling down and keeping a half an eye on Alistair to make sure he didn't actually attack someone instead of just threatening and muttering about it.

Jake looked away from the woman in the corner when he heard the growls and protests of a disgruntled Badger. He raised a brow at the familiar face, she was a brunette, her hair tied up in a nice bun with a few strands of hair falling down around her face. She had an interesting look about her and Jake offered her a smile, he had seen her around in the library and had recommended a few books to her. She was an art buff and he liked talking about the different art ages.

It took him a moment to remember her name and he lifted his glass in greeting, "Hello Minerva." she asked about a book that she wanted in the library and Jake dug through the new books he had seen that day and nodded, "Yeah I think we did, I also saw a book on the evolution of Art Deco, if that pipes your interest." He finished off his beer and signaled for another, "Can I get you anything?" He offered. Perhaps she might stay and they could debate on a few topics, that would be a wonderful end to the night for him.

He glanced at the badger on the floor and tried to remember the name for the creature but couldn't, the cat in him wanted to move back to safety but he forced his human self to stay put and act as naturally as he could. "I can put the books on hold for you." He offered. "I work in the morning, so I can snatch them for you."

LOVINO AMORE

Lovino Amore glared as a bunch of giggling twenty somethings made their way out of the shop at the end of another long day. They were apparently familiar with his family’s dating company and had spent the entire time they were in the shop giggling and asking him ridiculous questions about cupids or telling him sob stories about their pathetic dating lives. He’d been tempted to dump a love potion in their drink and point them at the nearest bum but he was trying to work on his temper. Besides the two old witches who ran the place had enough to deal with without him adding another reason for the CMI to come sniffing around.

Still all that bullshit was exactly the reason he was against the whole monster and human community integrating thing. He had enough issues trying to get monster to take him seriously he didn’t need to add being hounded by selfish or bored humans to the mix. As it was every time he met people like that he had to fight the urge to curse them as it brought back the entire reason he had left Heartstrings in the first place. All that bullshit about true love had been annoying but he was a cupid for the gods sake, and he grew up with two of the biggest empty headed romantics on the planet. His twin and elder sister really believed in their job as “ambassadors of true love” or whatever the shit they were calling it now. Lovino thought it was horseshit and worse that the greedy people of the world were taking advantage of his less intelligent siblings.

It got to the point where he couldn’t take it anymore and he quit. Working at Cauldron Cakes might not be a perfect job, sadly he still dealt with people’s rampant stupidity on a daily basis, but it was a lot more tolerable than Heartstrings. At least here when he got pissed he just went in the back and cooked up some nice baked goods until he cooled off.

But it was closing time and he was in no mood to brood at his house for a few hours so he decided to head on down to the Black Dog for a quick drink to unwind before heading home. Hopefully things would be rather tame today and he wouldn’t be tempted to use any less-than benign magic on anyone and get kicked out again. It had happened a month ago when some ass wouldn’t take “not interested not move your face” for an acceptable answer. Lovino was still not sorry for making him fall madly in love with a lamp post but his parole officer had been less than pleased and the owner of the Black Dog hadn’t appreciated him punching the guy in the face prior to enchanting him either.

With that slightly uplifting thought in mind he finished cleaning the counters in tables of Cauldron Cakes, returned his apron, and locked up the shop as he made his way out into the night. He was wearing a nice pair of loafers, some black slacks, and a rather fetching blue shirt. The outfit made him look a little more upscale than strictly necessary for the homey little shop he worked at but he refused to lower his standards of dress just because he spent most of his days baking or waiting tables.

It didn’t long for him to make his way to the outskirts of Arcane Towne and his favorite bar. He did see a handful of kids outside in the midst of what seemed to be some kind of werewolf falling out. He snorted to himself at the stupidity of the youth before sidestepping neatly and entering the bar. He was not the kind of guy to stick his nose where it wasn’t needed and he avoided fighting as much as possible. Mostly because his best means of defending himself were all unfortunately “illegal and dangerous uses of magic”. So best to stay out of whatever was going on. Although once inside he did catch sight of someone who probably would want to know about the scuffle outside. His parole officer was sitting tucked away and after placing a quick order of Dionysis’ Delight at the bar, he strolled over to her with his usual snarky smile in place.

“Chilling out after a long day of dealing with delinquents and ignorant asses I see, Kalli. Hate to be the one to but speaking of ignorant asses there's a whole pack of the furry and fleabitten variety out front who seem to be having some kind of stupid pissing contest.” He said sliding into the seat across from her as he carelessly indicated to the front of the bar.

Kallistrate took a long sip of her drink, bringing it down to about half its original volume. "Good evening, Lovi." Eating her fig, which had absorbed just enough of the liqueur at this point to make it a nice little treat, she gave herself a moment to chew before swallowing and speaking again.

"Yes, I'd been hearing it. I was giving them a moment to get it under control, but as it doesn't seem to be stopping I'm going to go intervene." Her snakes, as usual, largely ignored Lovi as a non-threat, but the scuffle out front was raising them into a tizzy. Not that she believed Lovi was harmless, she was sure he had some weapons to bear including his cupid powers that had and could again deal with any problems he encountered. However, she'd known him and been his parole officer long enough to know of a certainty that he presented no threat to her, personally, and her snakes had reacted on that instinctual knowledge weeks before she'd come to trust him. They occupied a strange middle ground, in Kallistrate's mind, between friends and their legal relationship where Kalli had to keep an eye on him for the rest of his parole period. Whether or not they remained friends after that period was done was hard to say.

"But as I've had a long day of dealing with 'asses,' as you say, I have no compunction in knocking of few of those furry simpletons' heads together. I sincerely hope they won't keep me from my drink for long, I deserve a bit of relaxation this evening. You'll excuse me, won't you, while I deal with this?"

As she walked back towards the door, she made the decision to leave her snakes how they were. Writhing on her head and spread out in their anticipation of the fight, a few were even starting to hiss. Kallistrate knew what sight that made, and took full advantage of it in her work and off-work time. Werewolves were close to animals and humans, so her venom would likely be perilous, even deadly to them. Out front and to the side of the building in an alley stood a ring of young werewolves and a few humans, along with what she recognized as the chef of the Black Dog, Argus Lefroy, still in his wolf form.

*No biting* she urged her snakes as she tried to get them to close their mouths in a mix of an instinctual reining in and a difficult to describe sort of telepathic speech without words. Intimidation was well and good, but her venom could very well kill all but the Black Dog chef, and perhaps even him, depending on his age and strength. Her snakes calmed slightly but kept themselves spread, draping themselves in front of her shoulders or using their muscles to curl out and forward from her body. Taking a careful stance some ten feet away from the group, Kallistrate addressed them, moving her badge to her hip and sweeping her blazer away from it on both sides, her hands at her hips.

"Good evening, gentlemen," she remarked loudly, her badge glinting in the light of the one streetlamp that stood at the street where the alley began. Her crimson snakes, blue eyes wide open, were still hissing. "My name is Lieutenant Dimitriou and I'm with the Chicagoland Monster Investigators. I highly suggest that you disperse immediately, or shall I intervene and forcibly restrain you before hauling all of you back to the station?"

The circle froze, most in fear. She could tell the humans among them and quite a few of the young wolves hadn't seen her particular species before and they were torn between awe, bewilderment, and wetting their pants. Ah, the young. Kallistrate took a strong step forward and that was enough to disperse a large part of the crowd who decided a narrow alley with a gorgon was a dangerous place to be. They rushed out of the alley giving her and her snakes a wide berth. A few of her snakes decided to wriggle and half-strike at them as the young troublemakers passed, out of amusement and to ensure they did not forget the CMI was always watching them.

Taking a few more steps, the echo of her oxfords on the pavement an emphatic warning, she approached the chef. "Mr. Lefroy, may I ask what is going on here?"

Taking a sip of his drink, Arnelius glances toward the door as he hears the sounds of growls drift through it as a young man walks in. Damn Werewolves. Can't they just let a man have a relaxing drink without causing trouble. He makes an odd sort of old man harumph noise as he shifts in his seat. A server brings him his mozzerela sticks, and he offers a thank you to the young man before beginning to eat them. A handsome woman takes a seat close to him, dragging a lovely badger along with her. My, he has an amazing coat of fur. I'd love to get the chance to work on him. he thinks admiring the sheen of the badger's fur. The badger turns and starts cursing at him in mumbled english, almost as if he had heard what Arnelius was thinking. Not quite sure whom to ask, he gestures at the badger, also trying to get the womn's attention. "May I?" He asks, hoping to get a feel of the fur along his back.

Kallistrate watched where he looked and nodded. "Of course. I would not wish to endanger your position when you were merely trying to rein in the young wolves. I have a seat in one of the back booths, but perhaps the kitchen would be better, for privacy?"

Following Mr. Lefroy to the location of his choice, Kallistrate pondered her options. She was only about a quarter buzzed, and in no mood to haul anyone back to the station tonight. If she had to, she would have, but it would have made her even more venomous than usual to the offenders, pun intended.

When they sat down, Kallistrate thought longingly for her drink and began, in a low voice, "Pack...issues are, as you know, governed within the pack, as far as bureaucracy is concerned. Since there were a few humans involved tonight, this issue could be CCMAA territory. One of their Advocates is here tonight, Minerva Eldridge? I don't know if you two are acquainted but I have worked with her on several occasions and she is very competent. If she can't help you, she'll know someone who can."

Her snakes had calmed down, so she considered whether or not to tie them back again. Deciding against it, as it was her off time and they deserved a little freedom after a long day, she continued. "I don't know what group you're aligned with, but if you aren't comfortable with the CCMAA's involvement, as humans aren't a big part of your issue, I can see what I can do. Frankly, the pack doesn't communicate with us too much about their status in the city, although I remember hearing a while ago that the official pack may have moved, so you know more than I do on this issue. Please take my offer of help seriously, because feral wolves without any control can cause havoc in town, and I don't want to have to start putting cubs in prison if there's a way around it."

Kallistrate rubbed the bridge of her nose in a pinching motion with two fingers. "It's been a long day, Mr. Lefroy, and diplomacy was never my strong point to begin with, so if I've stepped on any werewolf toes or mores I apologize. The Director at the station is also a werewolf, so I can also get you an appointment to speak with him if that's what's needed. Just..." she sighed. "How can I help you, help them?"

Minerva nodded, she had no specific preference for period of art just yet she was more researching and trying to find the medium that resonated with her the most. Her particular branch of magic worked best when creativity and emotion could combine into animating whatever medium she was working on. Art Deco seemed like it might be a nice bold style that she could look through when she got home. The librarian seemed excited to talk of his work which Minerva could certainly understand. When he offered to by her something from the bar however she politely declined, “That’s not necessary I was just going to get my usual meal and unwind for awhile. But thank you for the offer.” She said.

At the offer to hold some books she smiled gratefully, “That would be lovely actually. I should be able to swing by after work to pick them up. Also if you have anything on pottery or sculpting that would be nice. I’m thinking that might be a nice way of expanding my magic a bit from just animating knick knacks on my desk.” She said cheerfully. As she spoke she noticed that Alistair had mostly given up growling at passersby although he seemed to look towards the front every now and again with a deep grumble rising in his throat. No doubt he thought someone would come bursting in magic blazing or something, although he did seem to have some kind of deep distrust to the vampire sitting next to her. Dividing his time nearly equally between warily observing the bar and sniping angrily at the vampire.

She was about to reprimand him again when her food platter came along. Witch’s Brew and a small order of newt tenders. She had never asked if they were actual newt or not but either way both Alistair and Minerva were suitably fond of them. She hoped by giving him a bit to eat he’d calm down a little from grumbling at her feet. She put two tenders on a napkin before leaning down and placing it at Alistair’s feet. “There you are grumpy, now eat your dinner and try not to make a scene.” she said patting him on the head. She also put in a small order of lizard tongues to finish off Alistair’s dinner.

The server took the order saying it would be a bit of a wait, which was no problem, and Minerva was about to continue her conversation with the librarian when the vampire next to her asked to pet Alistair. Alistair himself bared his teeth in response and growled which caused Minerva to look at him sternly. “It would serve you right if I said yes you ornery old man. I keep telling you that you’re going to have to learn to be more sociable.” She told her familiar who gave her a defiant look before finishing off his tenders. Minerva sighed and turned to the vampire, “I’m sorry he’s just not in a fit mood for being handled tonight. Maybe if he calms down after his dinner you could give it a try but for now I’m worried you’ll loose a finger if you get too close.” Minerva said ignoring the grumbled comment “it will be the least o’ the things the bloody leech loses he puts a hand on me.” from her rather aggrieved familiar.

"Thank you, Mr. Lefroy," Kallistrate watched him walk back to the kitchen. He'd been dismissive of her offer, or perhaps saw no need for it, but for all that he'd been informative and polite. Before she went back to her booth, she decided to honor Mr. Lefroy's openness by doing him a favor. Also, she kind of wanted to intimidate someone and the cubs hadn't been satisfying.

Tracking down Mr. Lefroy's boss, who had left the office grumbling but had seemed at least a little cowed by her presence, she smiled and spoke. If it could be called a smile, as it was more a bearing of teeth. "Mr. Lefroy was kind enough to share some pertinent information, and assured me that he will be taking these things in hand. I trust that his attitude of responsibility towards his community and respect towards myself, as an officer, is appreciated at this establishment?"

He grumbled some more, but nodded. Good. Because if he'd given her trouble, she'd have no problem making life difficult for him. Mr. Lefroy wasn't a friend, but he had done her a good turn, and she always paid her debts. "Excellent," she said, smiling wider, her snakes waving a little at him. "He is a superb chef and I am fond of this bar. It was nice speaking to you." Kallistrate liked it a little too much that he cringed away from her when she walked past him, too close on purpose, and one of her snakes slid across his arm. Without the release of a good fight--and she hadn't been able to chase down any criminals in a week--she had to get her satisfaction where she could. At least this was a good cause, unlike if she'd succumbed to the temptation to thrash children much below her age and abilities.

She ordered the pie Mr. Lefroy recommended and went back to her booth. Pulling out her phone as she sat down, she made a note to go back and talk to him if there were incidents with the boys she'd seen tonight, and then put it away again. She had to have it on her, in case there was an emergency, but there was no reason she had to be thinking about work. Kallistrate was glad Mr. Lefroy had made the suggestion of the steak and kidney pie, some carbs would soak up the alcohol and it sounded like a very comforting pastry.

Her drink was still thankfully at her place, so she took a long sip and looked up at Lovi. "That's sorted, at least for now. Have you met the chef here, a Mr. Argus Lefroy? Appears like a fairly nice gentleman, or gentle-wolf, whatever the pc term may be."

Arnelius glances at the badger after the woman speaks. "Yes, I can see where you can come to that conclusion. I see the fellow is rather disgruntled at the moment. Did he get rained on or something?" With that Arnelius goes back to his drink and his food, giving the occasional glance to the badger. He does see some fierce looking woman enter the bar with a werewolf after apparently settling the dispute with the group of dogs outside. Maybe now he could relax in peace. He finishes his drink and calls over a bartender. "Hello there my boy, give me something magical. I don't care what, decide for me, surprise me." The man sizes him up, then goes over to a cupboard and begins pulling out several ingredients, and a wand. He pours various liquids in, along with some powders and something from a jar marked 'thingawumits', shakes it all up, pours it into a glass of ice, then flicks the wand and makes it shimmer and sheen like a rainbow. He walks over to Arnelius and hands it to him. "Pixie Juice. It tastes best if you eat the ice cubes afterwards." He says before walking away. Arnelius holds it up, looks through it, sniffs it, then takes a sip. It has some normal flavors, pineapple, mango, and orange juice. But then out of nowhere a kicking spicyness. He sets it down and looks around, all the reds in the room look more vivid, as well as the greens. He takes another sip and can't identify what he tastes. He sets it down and eats more mozzerela sticks.

Lovino watched as Kalli left to go deal with the flea-bitten mongrels out front. She looked like she was eager to bust a few heads so he settled back to wait for her to be done. As he waited he looked around the bar idly to see if he recognized any of the other patrons. A handful looked like a few of customers that frequented Cauldron Cakes, and a blonde in the far corner chatting up some random guy was definitely one of the more annoying members of Heartstrings. He even spotted the CCMAA witch that he was forever sending complaints too who seemed to have settled into the bar with her vicious overgrown rat.

When his drink arrived Lovino had done a thorough scanning of the bar’s current patrons and was ready to simply enjoy his drink and ignore everyone. This was also near to the time when Kalli returned with one of the employees who had a vaguely familiar look, probably someone that served food or something. They were chatting a bit before the owner came out with a familiar look on his face, looking ready to give someone hell before Kalli decides to put him in his place. Lovino snorted softly to himself as Kalli made her way back to the table with a pie in hand.

When she asked if he had met the chef, which he assumed was the guy she had been talking to, he shook his head. “You know me I’m not much for socializing. I can’t stand most people anyway so I figure what’s the point in bothering? I did see you give the old man a bit of a fright, can’t say as he didn’t have it coming.” Lovino said easily.

Argus

Due to early unfortunate events, Podge the head-chef, kindly granted Argus an early night and paid time off work for whatever ‘wolf’ needs were to be met. Argus insisted, and protested the offer, but the benevolence and candid warmth of the giant was a magic Argus found he could not resist. He smothered Podge with his sincerest thanks and gratitude, and just as he brushed the CMI’s pie with finishing touches, he took his leave out the back door.

An overwhelming heat seized his body; Argus crouched to the ground and sprang from his feet into the body of the wolf. He walked briskly to the front of the bar, and after taking one look through the window, he made his way to the cabin near the wood. As the night advanced, the world around him seemed to quieten, spare the distant ruffles and hoots of the creatures that came after dark. He kept away from the road and followed the dirt path. Argus’ dark, silver fur swayed in the cool wind. His spirits were calm, peaceful.

Argus’ thoughts were busied with earlier events; he wandered where the pups were in Arcana Towne. Somewhere hidden in the wood? Perhaps back in the protection of the pack? He could not say. Their unpracticed senses and skills were a disadvantage should they decide to take refuge in the wood. Apart from werewolves, other creatures prowled the wilderness, often relentless and scavenging…

The blinking porch light pulled Argus’ from his ponderings, he scurried towards the cabin. An incontrollable shuddering found his shoulders and extended throughout him, until the last of his dark fur fell from his body, and his fingers lightly touched the surface of his cheeks. Trees surrounded the humble cabin. It was a twenty minute walk away from the bar, and the roads, if the right path was pursued. Argus pulled a key from a crack on the wooden floor, and pushed it through the keyhole. He picked a t-shirt from the couch and threw it over him, along with a pair of trousers. The house was dark, but spotless, Agrus could smell. His cabin was small, yet warm and modest. The living room consisted of a simple grey couch that sat on a rug, with cushions, and to his pleasure, no television.

Just as he proceeded to the bedroom, he heard anguished, fearful howls.