Can't Fight the Moonlight

"Shut your what?" Ken questioned. It was hardly the first time he'd heard the greeting, yet asking had become something of a habit. "Do I look sick?" It wasn't really a question. He had spent the better part of a week confined to bed and had no intention of repeating the experience if he could help it. "And do you honestly think I'd step outside my house if I still was?" Catching a cold in the first place was offensive enough, but feeling worse than death because of something as mundane as a virus had been an indignity, something he had no desire to experience again, and was immensely grateful that particular chapter seemed to be behind him. "Don't ask stupid questions." She should've known better. If he was still contagious, he'd be staying much farther away than six feet. "I want my usual table too."

"Pie hole. We've been over this. It's an expression. Hence the name of the store," She rolled her eyes lightly over, though the corners of her lips lifted ever so slightly as this little exchange had become one of their many routines. "No, but you can never be too careful. What if you're like a silent carrier?" Gigi posed, already moving to go wipe down his usual table for him. It was already pristine, given that he was the first customer to claim it that morning, but sanitizers only killed 99.9% of all germs, so another quick scrub down hardly hurt. "Sickness can mess with people's brains. The cold medicine can make you all loopy, and then the next thing I know, my perfectly reasonable friend is out here doing something completely uncharacteristic. If you hadn't just been ill, I wouldn't have had to ask, but we had entered into uncharted territory, though-" She let out a sigh of relief given that he was clearly better enough to give her sass. "Thankfully, you're back to normal, so you're table and I'll be right out with those pastries."

He had always liked the heat, always had - he lived for the too long days, the slight sheen on skin, the orange haze that seemed to settle over everything. He could imagine himself living somewhere where it was so dry that you could never quite wash away the grime where the nights were bright and the days dry. His skin had turned golden from stealing every moment he could in the sun, and his hair had curled at the ends from the humidity. Walking his kept his head up, basking in the warmth, savouring the glare of the sun, until a fat droplet landed on his face, then his shoulder, then everywhere else. He stopped in his tracks, the rain soaking him through, turning to face the culprit. "I don't particularly care about your soufflés at the moment, I'm more concerned about walking around looking like a drowned rat." He returned, gesturing down to himself and the clothes now uncomfortably clinging to his skin.

"Oh, the horror of having to cool down a few degrees. You poor baby," Gigi gave Mac a purposeful eye roll. "You're not the wicked witch of the west. I think you'll live," She huffed, not going to bother to be concerned about the mechanic who was hardly out here reciprocating the sentiment. If he didn't care about her soufflés, then why on earth should she care that he got wet? If anything, she did him a favor. Now, with his shirt practically sticking to his tan skin, she was sure people in town would be even more all over him than they were before. If anything, he had upgraded, and he should be so welcome.

Location ➠ The Pie Hole Status ➠ Closed to Gigi (@cantfightmoonlight)

"Oh no!" Gigi clasped her hands over her mouth from where she stood behind the counter. Her wings fluttering behind her as she instantly realized what might've happened. "What did you eat? Because, um, I don't know how to say this, but we have our regular line of baked goods," She said, motioning over to the front display cabinet filled with all of the standard pastries and breads one could choose from. "And then we have our selection of fae food and with a handful of magical side effects ranging from shrinking to the size of a thimble to a quite a number of other things," She said as she pointed to the sign lining the second display table that specifically said to eat at your own risk.

"Evet. It's a beautiful day. What would you expect me to be doing? Sitting in a dark hot box of an apartment or bookstore?" She glanced up at the vampire from over the rim of her sunglasses. "Here I have a nice ocean breeze, the water, and can work on my tan. You can join me if you'd like," She offered as she motioned to the empty beach chair beside her. "Unless you'd rather stay huddled up in some powerless hole somewhere instead."

"Yes. Why? What did you think he was getting up to?" She wondered curiously. "Right? I mean it's still a huge discovery and an amazing accomplishment on Dhruv's part, blah di dah dah, and all, but it does make a lot of sense, huh?" Kiraz nodded happily along, always glad to partake in a conversation about medical studies and new findings. "I'd say so, given that I'm living proof of just that," She pointed out as she flashed Rangi a grin, only for her smile to falter ever so slightly as she said, "Is it? The wolf bite is painful. This takes some of the pain out of it, hopefully helping the transition for those like me who did want to turn and, as for others, I get not wanting to be turned by accident, but the chances of that happening seem really low in the grand scheme of things, and realistically, you'd be more likely to be slobbered on with an open wound and turn rather than injected. But, now thanks to science, you have the awareness to be careful and protect yourself from that happening," She reasoned. "Just as vampires can better protect themselves from the toxics in the saliva, ya di yah dah."

Location ➠ Shipfaced Status ➠ Open (@lunarcovestarters)

"You can password protect individual photos? And here I thought it was just the phone as a whole," The bartender mused, cutting into Yasin and the technologically confused resident beside him. "Guess that would've come in handy during the last hack," He mused, remembering the time his own personal photos had been leaked onto Lunar Link for the town's personal amusement, not that he particularly minded. There was nothing he was personally ashamed of on his phone from getting forwarded around, but as he watched the exchange between the technically challenged and Yasin, he leaned against the bar and softly pointed out to the other dude. "Hey man, this is a bar. So, how about I give you both a round on the house and we save any further IT questions for Monday, what do you say?" He offered up with a tilt of his brow.

Sun-Hee wore a Girl Kisser crop top and baggy jorts. It wasn't so much an outfit for Pride but what she'd wear casually any day. "Oh, wow!" She snickered before continuing on sarcastically. "Thanks Vik. I was really worried no one would know I was gay." With a big smile on her face, Sun-Hee put on the cape. "Run off with the rest of the lesbians in town?" She hummed, as if she were taking it under consideration. "I guess there's really not a better way to spend Pride... and you? Seeing your husband?"

"God forbid," He rolled his eyes lightly over as the corner of his lips itched up in amusement of how decked out his sister seemed to be for the occasion, both with and without the cape he had gifted her. "Eh. He's around here somewhere, likely off denying the fact that we're married, the bastard," He teased, having been carrying on the running joke that him and Dhruv were married for years now and he certainly wasn't about to stop teasing his best friend about it now. Though he did appreciate his sister being in on the joke herself.

Sun-Hee felt underdressed in her own home as she answered the door in a sweatsuit to Kiraz with a pride balloon. "Hey Ki." She couldn't help but grin. "Happy Pride." Lunar Cove felt like lesbian heaven, sometimes. All the women in town were hot. She was beginning to think it was a requirement for residency. "Right, right. You wanted to feed me icecream?"

"Whoa, that wasn't our deal," Kiraz scrunched her nose and shook her head by the other woman's statement. "I wanted to eat ice cream with you, obviously. Now where is your fridge? I'm starved and was promised frozen treats," She asked as she stepped past Sun-Hee, kicking off her shoes and making herself right at home in the other woman's house.

"It was a joke, Len." The witch winked playfully at the other. "Not even one with me?" Sun-Hee continued on teasingly. "I thought you'd like that." Her lips rolled together a she fought the widening of her smirk. "Nah, I think he'll hold his own." Or end up bloodied and bruised trying. "Only cash?" She asked with a snicker before the rest of their conversation continued in silence, as she observed Lennon's eyes dip. Like what you see?

"I'm aware. I was making one back," Len pointed out as she shook her head lightly back and forth. "Cute, but no. And who says I didn't? But this here is business," She smirked back, even if by 'business' she was technically out here running illegal betting on an already rather unsanctioned fight. "Depends," She did, however, quip as her eyes lifted slowly back up to meet the other woman's gaze. What other form of payment did you have in mind?

“Woah, hey–” Surprise colored Cassandra's features as she turned away from the panel of buttons towards the panicking pixie. Instinctively, she follows Leyla to kneeling before her, close but not so close that she might feel crowded. “We're going to be fine, okay? Fire department should be here asap, we just have to hang tight.” Cassandra was no stranger to panic attacks, the icy fear that grips the chest like a vice one she is all too familiar with, but she's never found herself on the opposite end of it. She had never been particularly good with comforting others, at least not outside of those she's close to, but through therapy and her own trials and errors she feels like she should know enough to try and calm the other down. “Can you take a deep breath with me?” She softened her voice, keeping her eyes on Leyla's as she inhaled deep, holding the breath for several beats before exhaling slow and repeating. “Just focus on me, okay?”

“Uhuh, yup. Totally fine. Nothing bad at all is going to happen," She nodded along to Cassandra despite the worry beginning to twist in her gut. "But-" Her voice broke as she gave Cassandra one deep breath and then the other, nodding as she focused in on the wolf beside her. "But- w-what if I have another dilemma? Like what if- what if I have to use the ladies room and I don't know how long I'm going to be able to hold it? How long did you say its going to be until the fire department comes?"