Second Moon

[pinkroses]

Caden had been in a pretty good mood when he entered the warehouse – a bit tense, but ready to take on what was coming. But when he ran into Dominik his answer to the question of being sedated was still a firm ‘no’ before he headed off to get ready for the night.

Dom was hopeful that the kid burning off some steam with Nebi would help his temper when he changed, but he would have preferred not to risk it. It didn’t look like he had much of a choice though. If he sedated Caden without his permission no doubt the werewolf would stop coming and that would just mean a Hell of a lot more work for him.

He was pleased Caden had managed to have his day with Nebi – but his happiness at having Tau’s daughter around disappeared when he spotted the young cougar with a human in tow. He strode towards the pair, his expression darkening as he caught some of the rubbish Nebi was spouting as she tried to impress her friend.

“This is not a party or a zoo, Nebi, you can’t just bring anyone here,” he growled at the girl before turning his glare towards Morgaine, stepping a little closer as he took in her scent, but not going as far as actually sniffing her like Tau might have done. And probably had by the smell of her. What the Hell was Tau playing at, letting her come in here?

“Who are you, what are you doing here?” Dom asked the human, his gaze drifting over her face, taking in the tattoos and scars underneath before his grey eyes settled on hers. Obviously she knew about shifters and werewolves (if she hadn’t before he guessed Nebi and Tau would have told her since she arrived. He was tired after not sleeping the night before and frustrated with Caden, as well as a dozen other little things which he’d had to sort out during the day when he would have much preferred to be spending time with his mate and his cub. The last thing he needed was a human hanging around that he would have to worry about.

[Harlequin]

As Nebi dragged her about inside, describing things so enthusiastically, Morgaine couldn't help but get swept up in it, laughing and grinning all the while –

Until Broody McBadnews stepped up to ruin their fun. Her mouth twisted at the 'zoo' comment. She knew what THAT felt like, working at Risk in the capacity she did, but Nebi hadn't really been talking about the wolves themselves that much, had she? No, she was just giving Morgaine a tour of the facility. There wasn't anything wrong with that, so what was the big deal? It's not like Morgaine didn't know werewolves existed, and Tau knew she wouldn't go blabbing about the place, so what was this guy's problem? Were his panties in a twist because she was Human?  She guessed by the fact that he wasn't under glass that he wasn't a werewolf, but he didn't seem to be under Tau's direction because he was getting all up in Tau's kid's face, either, so not a shifter?

Whatever he was, if he was on her tits because she was Human, well – she gave him the same saccharin grin she gave all racists, and stepped up to meet him, hand held out for a shaking.

"Hi! I'm Morgaine, an old friend of Tau's. I ran across this place by accident, actually. Almost got my head taken off by a dog-guy! Nebi was bringing me to the kitchens –" Nebi had mentioned those, right? Morgaine sure hoped so. She also hoped Nebi would play along with her gambit. She told the lie with total confidence, thinking there was no reason for Dom to misbelieve her. "– For a snack, but we got a little distracted. Is there a problem?"

[pinkroses]

Dom reacted to her handshake by putting out his own and giving hers a firm shake. He’d worked hard to learn human traits after spending so long in the wild and he was glad they came now without trying too hard. But the glint in his eyes was still dangerous as he watched her.

“Yes, there is a problem, although Nebi probably doesn’t see it,” Dom said, shooting a scowl at the young shifter. Why hadn’t Tau taken her in hand a long time ago? That was his place though, not Dom. Part of Dom’s job was keeping human’s safe from those he’d gathered together here.

“This is not a restaurant either. As I’m sure you’re aware from Nebi’s explanations, there will soon be over a hundred werewolves shifting in this building. It is difficult enough keeping them calm, under control and to stop them from hurting themselves and others without someone that they would want to attack parading around. Nebi, don’t you remember Caden’s reaction to seeing you last night?” Dom asked with a growl, turning his grey eyes back to the cougar shifter again.

“And I don’t care if you were planning on leaving before the moon rises, any of them could shift at any moment,” he added, lowering his voice as he gestured towards the cages where people were making themselves comfortable. Most of them looked at ease but one of two, Caden included, were pacing in the small space and looked like they would rather be anywhere else.

[Existentially Odd]

Morgaine's arm became something for Nebi to put between her and Dom and her expression was perfecty cowed as she did her best to hide behind the human she now realised she shouldn't have brought in here without permission.  One eye could still be seen by the Werewolf District Leader as it regarded him from behind Morgaine's arm.  "Sorry.  We'll go," she said in a small, contrite voice, taking a step towards the exit and hoping her human companion would just come with her without too much fuss.  She was hanging onto that arm with both of hers twined around it now, just in case.

[Harlequin]

If her being there was really such a big deal, maybe Dom would have considered moving his lecture outside? Having some big motherfucker posturing up all tense-like on a supposed prey animal didn't seem like something that would set a soon-to-be predator's mind at ease, but whatever. As Nebi moved behind her, she instinctively shifted to shield the girl, though she kept her eyes on Dom and her grin firmly in place despite the hardness of his words.

She was about to share her thoughts when her gaze shifted to the restless form of Caden – Hey, didn't she recognize that guy from the laundry room? Weird. – and she thought better of it. He was probably right. It took a little bit of tugging, but she allowed the cub to drag her outside. She kept her eyes on Dom for as long as possible.

If they weren't followed – as a quick glance behind her would show – she huffed a sigh as soon as they left the building – and the big guy's earshot. "What. A. Diiiick," she groaned, then turned her eyes back on Nebi, "Ugh, fuck that guy. What was he talking about? Did your boyfriend  freak out or something last night?"

If they were followed – well, she left off the first two statements, but treated Nebi to an eye-roll that conveyed the same sentiment.

[Existentially Odd]

Nebi giggled uproariously at hearing Dom called a dick, understanding the literal use of the word - as a penis - but not familiar with hearing someone likened to one.  The image in her mind was offensively rude and decidedly naughty because of that!

"He's actually a bear," she corrected once Morgaine had finished ranting and she'd managed to get her laughter under control.  She also loosened her grip  and stepped forward so that she could look at the human woman more easily.  "Last night Caden turned into a werewolf and threw himself at the glass until I left.  Dom wanted to put some medicine in his meat tonight so he'd sleep because he doesn't like being locked up.  I don't know what will happen tonight but I'd hate to have to run him down if he got out," she admitted, her mouth twisting sadly to punctuate her momentary distress at this thought.  She was all curious frowns an instant later, though.  "What's a boyfriend?"

She'd heard the term on television and around humans but she wasn't sure she exactly knew what the term entailed and she wanted to be sure, since Morgaine had used it to describe Caden and her.

[Harlequin]

Morgaine's brain too was overwhelmed with images of a dick-shifter when Nebi asserted that he was a bear and not, in fact, a dick  – so she was glad when Nebi continued. She frowned at the idea of Nebi having to run her boo down, clearly also displeased with the thought.

But then she had a question to answer. Ugh, hadn't Alec taught her cougar-kids anything? "It's like...Humans mate for life, right? Having a boyfriend is like having a life-mate, but not really. You're kind of just trying them on for size, to see if you want to be with them forever. If they annoy you too much or they're no good in bed or whatever you can cut 'em loose without as much trouble, y'know?" Clearly, from the look on Nebi's face, the cub did not know. Morgaine shrugged helplessly. "I think it might be a Human thing."

[Existentially Odd]

Nebi stared intently at Morgaine, a frown marring her forehead and a tilt to her head as she did her best to listen and understand.  Tau walked over to them once he saw them re-emerge and, from a distance, he was concerned by that look on his cub's face; any time she concentrated that hard, things were bound to get uncomfortable.

"Maybe," the shifter agreed thoughtfully, but then decided she'd have a go at deciphering the weird phrases Morgaine had used anyway.  "So... if Caden is a good size for me and I like him in bed, I should call him my boyfriend until I want to cut him up?"

Tau arrived at that exact moment, wearing a generally startled expression and interjecting swiftly.  "Who are you cutting up?"

Nebi turned to him and answered just as quickly and with complete seriousness.  "Caden."

"Why?" her father asked, his tone declaring that he was alarmed.  He spared Morgaine an admonishing look, assuming she must have somehow encouraged this behaviour.

"When I don't want him to be my life-mate," Nebi answered in a sarcastic tone that just screamed, 'Duh!'.

"You will not," Tau declared, obviously feeling his cub might be capable of such behaviour, because he didn't think to question the sanity behind such an act, he simply forbade it.

"Well, but I don't want to be with him forever!" Nebi declared plaintively, flipping her hands outward in consternation and stomping a bare foot for good measure.

"You don't have to be," her father growled, his expression an austere scowl.

Nebi opened her mouth to argue but paused before any sound came out, her instinct to argue quelled as she realised her father had just said what she wanted to hear.  Her expression became curious but placid almost instantly and she looked back at Morgaine with an enlightened smile.  "So I should cut him up?" she asked encouragingly.

Tau also looked at his human friend, though his face was a good deal darker and his gaze demanding instead of pleased.

[Harlequin]

As the conversation went on, Morgaine's hands slowly went from her pockets to covering her nose and mouth, eyes wide in horror. Nebi didn't actually think...? No, she couldn't think that was an okay thing to do, could she? Ever? The way Tau talked to her made Morgaine suspicious that yes, in fact, it could and the implications of that were just –

"Okay, first of all, I said 'cut him loose'," Morgaine rationalized, taking her hands away from her face and raising them in a supplicating gesture as she looked at Tau, expression clearly dismayed, "Which is a figure of speech –" This she directed at Nebi, brows knit in concern "– Meaning that you cut the emotional ties you have to him, by not seeing or fucking him any more. It is neeever okay to just cut somebody up. Unless they do it to you first. Or to stop them from doing it to you. If you want to stop seeing somebody, you just say so."

[Existentially Odd]

"See?" Tau demanded triumphantly of Nebi, his expression admonishing.

Nebi was frowning, putting work into figuring Morgaine's words out.  After a few moments she started nodding and looking at the human in an enlightened manner.  "Ohhh, okay!  I understand now - cut him loose, right.  I hadn't heard that before," she nodded, pleased with herself that she'd learned something new.  Her smile turned beguiling as she grinned at Morgaine.  "I don't have any emotional ties to Caden and I would never cut anybody up, don't worry.  Not with a knife," she assured, thinking that if things got scary, she'd shift and scratch instead but maybe Morgaine didn't want to hear that, either.  She was sending off some pretty freaked out smells already.

"Good," Tau said firmly, feeling that was as good an end as any to that line of discussion.  He took a moment to look towards the entry to the warehouse and up into the sky, alarmed to see the moon rising and understanding that the most dangerous point of the night was fast approaching.  He sniffed the air for good measure, his body tensing as he looked seriously at Morgaine.  "You should probably go.  The werewolves are about to shift and if anything's going to happen, it's likely to be now.  I'll see you next week."

"Next week?" Nebi piped up, interested because it seemed logical she'd be included (to her).

Tau scowled at his cub.  "Morgaine's going to help me find you and Arik somewhere to live.  By yourselves.  Not together."

Nebi gazed at Morgaine in wonderment, her face lit up like any child whose Christmases have all come at once.  "Really?" she squealed excitedly, already wondering why her littermate hadn't mentioned this on their drive.

[Harlequin]

Morgaine visibly relaxed at Nebi's assurances, letting go of her worry with a shrug. But it was back almost as soon as Tau reminded her of what exactly this place was. She followed his gaze to the full-bellied moon, and nodded her agreement. She'd rather worry about muggers than whatever lay behind the doors of that warehouse; those glass enclosures had seemed pretty sturdy, but if the shifter were worried then so was she.

"Yeah, good call. I got a mad hunger, anyways." She grinned at him, "I'll catch you then."

And then Nebi was all bubbly-interruption gal again, dragging the Human's attention away, "Uh...yup!" she chirped, "Should be a good time. Gonna be a surprise, though, for you kids. Otherwise where's the fun?" she held her hands out, beseeching, but she was already backing away, ready to turn and stroll off at any moment.

[Existentially Odd]

Nebi's excitement grew visibly but even in the midst of it she recognised Morgaine's desire for escape so, unable to contain herself, she leapt upon her father instead, squealing.  He caught her nimbly, frowning mildly over her shoulder as she wrapped her legs around his waist, her arms about his neck and squeezed him for all she was worth.  "My own place?  That's great!"

Tau merely sighed and patted her back before attempting to disentangle his cub, noting that Morgaine seemed amused by his discomfort (before she turned and disappeared into the night).  He silently vowed that he would find some way to make her feel this awkward when they met up for their house-hunting expedition.  He had a few ideas already.