The Girl Next Door

[pinkroses]

((Reserved for Harlequin))

It had been a long and busy night at the bar, and Caden had been responsible for shutting up tonight as well so it was pretty late by the time he reached the apartment block where he lived. Sometimes after a shift like that he was exhausted and all he wanted to do was fall into bed, especially when it was soon after a full moon, but it had been a couple of weeks since he’d last changed – and even that had been as exhausting as usual.

He guessed hooking up with Nebi had more benefits than just the obviously pleasurable ones. Wearing himself out with her and relieving the tension of being locked up in a cage in ways other than the monster chucking himself at the wall all night meant he hadn’t actually felt like death the morning after changing.  It was enlightening and Caden had every intention of seeing her again at the next full moon, even if they didn’t manage to get together all that much in between.

Even when it wasn’t close to a full moon there were always tiring nights at the bar – and then there were nights like this, which left Caden buzzing and knowing he wouldn’t be able to get to sleep for hours yet.

There was a nip in the air, but Caden hadn’t bothered with a jacket tonight. He was wearing a smart black shirt which showed him to be a higher ranking than the other barstaff whose uniform consisted of a black shirt instead. The sleeves were rolled up to just under his elbows and he wore a well-fitting pair of dark denim jeans with them. The top few buttons of his shirt were undone and Caden had forgotten the smear of lipstick across his neck from an amorous customer who had been reluctant to leave when it came time to shut up tonight.

Not having much else to do, and debating whether to watch a movie to wind down Caden headed for the mailboxes and pulled out his pile of junk mail. He never got any interesting post – only bills and junk – but he felt like he should check it every now and again and in the middle of the night there was less of a rush of people coming and going in the apartment block so he could browse through it in peace, leaning back against the wall beside the row of boxes.

His attention was pulled away from a menu of a Chinese restaurant trying to drum up business by the sound of approaching footsteps and his green eyes flickered upwards to see who else would be up and about in the building at this time of night. He knew there were a couple of people who liked to do laundry at stupid’o’clock, or perhaps it was someone leaving after a booty call. Either way, it was bound to be more interesting than chicken chow mein.

[Harlequin]

What it was was a grumpy-looking scarred-up Indian girl talking on a cell phone as she came down the stairs.

"So you're ditching me."

A pause,

"So you're ditching me for your stupid vampdad. Again."

A longer pause,

"Dude, whatever, Ami. I really wish you would just fuck him so I wouldn't have to listen to your excuses all the time. And don't even tell me you don't want to fuck him, you hussy, otherwise you woulda let me have a crack at that perfect porcelain – hello? Hellooooo? Earth to fuckmouth, hello? Bitch!"

She looked down at the phone and groaned in exasperation, "Slut!" she emphasized. Whatever she'd been going to do, she was dressed to kill in tight, high-waisted black leather shorts that emphasized her round hips and tiny waist; a structured bustier top and electric green tights that disappeared into a pair of towering patent pumps. But it was back to the closet with all the bullshit, apparently. Another night on the couch watching X-files reruns like a loser.

Fluffing a hand through the freshly-set waves of her hair, she pocketed her phone and looked up. Her eyes landed on Caden leaning against the mailboxes and her face went from downright surly to positively delighted in a flash of recognition. Maybe this night wasn't a bust after all. "Oh hey! You're Caden, right? Nebi's squeeze?"

[pinkroses]

Caden couldn’t help but let his green eyes drift over the woman in front of him, who by the sounds of it was all dressed up with nowhere to go. He raised an eyebrow slightly as she came out with his name and he searched frantically through his mind for hers, but he was drawing blanks other than recognising her from passing in the hall every now and again. When he’d seen her with Tau it had been at a distance and they hadn’t spoken, so he didn’t put that together (especially since his head had been too full of Nebi at that moment than anyone else).

“Uh, yeah, I guess,” Caden said, pushing his body away from the wall a little and letting his handful of junkmail drop down to his side as he watched her warily, wondering how much about him she knew. “Are you a friend of Nebi’s?” he asked, finding it weird that Nebi wouldn’t have mentioned that she was friends with someone else in the building.  “Or Arik?” he added. That might make more sense, if they’d run into each other in the building since Nebi’s brother had moved in. It felt odd that someone knew his name when he hadn’t given it to them – and given how much Nebi and her family knew about him he was well aware that this woman might very well know a lot more about him than he told to most people.

[Harlequin]

His questions – coupled his expression shift – drew a short, musical laugh from the singer. "Yeah, kinda. More Tau's friend." Friend. The lie slipped easily from her tongue, "You were pretty keen to beat feet the one time we almost-met. I'm Morgaine." She stepped forward and held out her hand for a shake, the friendly smile on her tattooed face edged with the knowing he was afraid of.

[pinkroses]

Caden’s smile had faded completely at her laugh and the mention of Tau. He knew Nebi’s father wasn’t a fan of werewolves and Tau was a little too close to Dom for Caden’s liking. Shifters working together to keep the cursed werewolves under control. 

But Morgaine wasn’t a shifter – at least Caden didn’t think she was. She hadn’t shown any of the animalistic traits Caden had seen in Nebi, Tau and Dom as well as the other shifters he’d met at the Oligarchy, and she was actually stepping closer when most of them turned up their nose at his scent when they got too close. Nebi was one of the exceptions to that rule, although she’d delighted in telling him how terrible he smelt, it didn’t seem to bother her all that much.

His eyes stayed fixed on hers as he reached out to return the handshake with a firm grip as he tried to remember when they would have ‘almost-met’.

“You were at the warehouse,” he said after a moment, not bothering making it a question. The warehouse was the only place he’d seen Tau and there had been a woman with him then, but Caden hadn’t wanted to linger and meet Nebi’s father just before he was about to shift.

“But you’re human?” he added, letting that one come out as a question as he wasn’t completely sure. Maybe she was just better at hiding her animal nature than the other shifters he’d met. She’d been talking pretty loudly on the phone, he’d heard the mention of a ‘vamp’, but she was warm to touch and he knew he’d seen her during the day before.

[Harlequin]

The further shift in his expression se her brow a-quirk. Not a fan of Tau then, maybe? She couldn't help but wonder why. She smiled on, undeterred by his sudden wariness.

You were at the warehouse. A quick one, this Caden. Hers wasn't a face many forgot – but it had been dark, and he had been in an awful hurry. But he had a strong grip, and she liked a man with a good handshake. She released his hand well before the shake became awkward.

"Plain old, garden variety," she said by way of confirmation, hands held out as she shrugged. "I just hang out with a hairy," and dead and bloodthirsty "crowd, I guess."

Then, eyes suddenly bright, she aked "You comin' or goin'?" She did just get ditched, after all, and those barstools (or movie seats, or whatever – she hadn't really planned anything specific, persay, for her big night out with Ami) weren't gonna fill themselves.

[pinkroses]

Caden felt himself relax slightly as Morgaine confirmed she was human and he gave a tiny nod, confirming to himself that she wasn’t about to turn into a wildcat (not literally at least) to herd him around. Okay, so she knew what he was, which he wasn’t best pleased with, but she didn’t seem to care about it. And just because she spent time with shifters didn’t mean she had the same views as them.

He raised an eyebrow at her sudden question and his eyes flickered to the foot of the stairs. Well, now was his chance to go if he wanted to, but hadn’t he just been thinking to himself that he wasn’t ready for the night to end?

“I just got home from work, but I’m not ready to turn in just yet. You need a replacement to go out for a drink?” he asked, a small smile returning to his lips finally. “Who was ditching you?” he added, gesturing towards her phone.

[Harlequin]

"I thought you'd never ask." Morgaine grinned at him, a cross between a wolf and a sunflower. And immediately ruined it by roling her eyes in answer to his next question.  "Ugh, my bassist. She got herself vamped up and now she's got no time for the living. Total bummer."

The phone went into her back pocket, and she made quick work of shrugging on the jacket – a cute black wool number with an asymmetrical zipper and four three-inch silver spikes poking up from the squared-off shoulders – that had previously been resting in the crook of her arm. "We were gonna go to neo-Risk, but fuck that. I'm feelin' dive-bar, how about you?" She offered an elbow, like a true gentleman.

[pinkroses]

“Vamped up? I assume you mean actually turned rather than just changing how she dressed. That’s gotta suck. She’s gonna hate how you smell after hanging out with me,” Caden said with a grin, grabbing Morgaine’s hand and weaving their arms together so it was her taking his arm instead of accepting hers.

“Dive-bar sounds good,” Caden agreed with a nod. He didn’t really care where they went, as long as it wasn’t just sitting at home debating calling Nebi. “You in a band then?” he asked as they strolled, letting her guide the way to the bar she had in mind. His green eyes drifted over Morgaine thoughtfully – he didn’t recognise her from a few of the gigs he’d seen around, but he didn’t spend that much time looking for live music. The bar he worked in was too small for live gigs really so it wasn’t like doing research or anything and he was working most nights when things like that were going on. With her tattoos and general presence Caden guessed hers was a face he would have recognised if he’d seen it before.