Can't Fight the Moonlight

"I find peace in nature. In solitude. I was born in the mountains and so I return to them, regularly, much like the birds return to the sea, or the moon returns to the sky," Amita explained. "Hmm, both, I suppose. But I meant the latter. Gays as you call them. There was no word for it, not truly, when I last was in town." Amita smiled, something almost coy. "I am no witch, by our standards. But I am sure there are people out there who would describe me as such, simply for loving a woman." She gave a short pause before asking, "And you? Are you a witch or no?"

"Oh, I very much care if people find me hot. As long as those people are women or femme presenting," Addie snorted, shaking her head. "I don't buy for a minute that Bella didn't know she was hot. Book or movie version." She scoffed, swatting playfully at Kiraz. "I do not brood. You seem like much more of a brooder to me. I bet you brood in the rain all the time. It's those big doe eyes of yours. Very disarming. Plus I'm way paler." She shivered again, unable to help herself. Watched the flick of Kiraz's eyes down to her lips. "Yeah," she mumbled, "get that, too." Addie hated being inside her own head, maybe that's what all the drugs and alcohol was really for. Taking a drag of her cigarette again, Addie then leaned closer to Kiraz, before lifting a hand to grab her chin, prodding her to open her mouth. When she did, Addie simply shotgunned the smoke directly into Kiraz's mouth before sitting back, smiling.

"My parents fucked off the moment they could," Addie said, tapping the ash from the end of the cig. "Maybe we're all born fucked up." She certainly had been, too. She didn't think it really mattered, in the end. "Not to sound, like, a fuckin' therapist, but different doesn't mean wrong. But I guess every family has to have at least one. Least it makes you interesting, to me." Not that Addie's opinion really meant much to anyone.

"Trust me, I know. Guess that's why you're supposed to trust your gut or whatever. Otherwise you end up bitten in a dead end town, like me." She gestured to herself. Laughed a little. "More like opposite of uptight. They were as absentee as absentee parents get without disapperin' all together. Left me to raise my two little sisters." She clicked her jaw. "As if I wasn't a kid, too." Addie glanced at her sideways, almost a hint of something deeply ingrained inside of her. Some sadness she just couldn't ever escape. Then she looked way. "Think I indulged a little too much."

Kiraz typically wouldn't let anyone prod her mouth open, but Addie had piqued her curiousity and when Addie blew the smoke in her direction, Kiraz closed the gap between them, pressing her lips firmly against Addie's to wipe away any semblance of that smile.

"No. Not all. Just us," Kiraz whispered after a prolonged beat, reaching over to swipe the cigarette from Addie's hand as she leaned back to bring it up to her lips. "It doesn't, but I am," She nodded her head certain of that fact. Wrong. It was one of the first things she'd learned after trying to acclimate back into school after the truth about Eda had dropped. Her brain was twisted in a way the other kids would never understand. In the kind of way she knew she'd have to hide to save herself from being completely ostracized. "But, hey, at least it makes me interesting, right?"

"Yeah, well, if you hadn't been bitten in a dead-end town, we wouldn't have met, right? So guess there is always some silver linings, unless I end up being the worse thing that ever happened to you, which could also be a very high possibility," Kiraz hummed under her breath as she turned her head back toward Addie and flashed her a smile. "Maybe, but then I guess I could say the same."

Ignacio offered a low hum as he continued his ascent upward. "The United States is very broad and very wide, is it not?" He held his hands out as if to indicate the country's literal width. "In Europe, you can visit other place more easily in some ways. We were in Spain often. Switzerland," he explained. "I suppose I could prepare in advance, oui, but do you think there is much local taste for live poetry? 'Slam' poetry is not my forte, but poems were always performed, yes. 'Wars and the man, I sing, who, forced by fate and haughty Juno’s unrelenting hate, expelled and exiled, left the Trojan shore.'"

Ignacio smiled. "Ah, so you are an artist. What do you enjoy to photograph? Would you like to return to 'doctoring' one day, as it were?" He laughed heartily at that. "I am indeed very much the same as blades of grass. 'All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall.' We are rather fragile, even we poor immortals, yes? But grass returns too. So does Ignacio." He shrugged his shoulders.

"So complex is the mortal experience," Ignacio suggested. "Perhaps not all scientists, no, but Dhruv, I have read his words. I feel in them the passion with which he pursed them, the thirst for knowing, the zeal to share what has been found. That is poetry to me. So. There is no need to defend his honor, yes? I have called him nothing undesirable, unless a poet-scientist is an undesirable thing to be. It was not for those I have named. Perhaps it is for him." He raised an eyebrow. "Is fiction not truth? Do not the literary critics among us speak out loudly when a character behaves in a way we know to lack truth, hm? We have always told stories to whittle the edges of the grand scheme in which we find ourselves. To tell stories is to tell about ourselves is to tell what we know is to tell what we find worth telling. All bends toward the fullness of truth." He hummed.

"Of course, I am. I am having a Socratic discussion. It is the same as asking a man if he is grass or if he has ever heard of fiction." He smiled. "If that is objectivity, then no field of science, no scientist, and no poet has ever been it. And if they had, how would our subjective senses even know? Another open question, mind you. I do not think it has an answer."

Ignacio sighed. "Mon Dieu. Who has tried to undermine, my friend? All, oui, all I have suggested is that science and poetry share characteristics in common. I did not mean to offend you. I apologize if I have. I ask you kindly not to make a scarecrow of me in turn. I am a scientist. I have published in journals on the husbandry of insects, based on the learning of all who came before me. But...oui, I do not have to convince you of anything. You win. Victory." He put his hands, making a bit of a face.

"Am I underestimating the sentiment of scientists? No. Perhaps overestimating, so it would seem." He shook his head. "Data is data, but interpretation of it is wrapped up in the interpreter. I have not read that study. I cannot comment on it. But I would suggest STEM fields tend to require less person-to-person interaction." He sighed again. "Who is going 'tit for tat?' I do not want to do that, no. I am not competing." He narrowed his eyes. "Does everyone understand his theorem then? In any case, I disagree with his quote. What is the opposite? Poetry obscures what is known by everyone in a way they cannot understand? Did Dirac believe no one knew gravity before someone told us how we could articulate it? No. Just as no poet believes no one knew yearning before they told us how we could articulate it."

"Good. Let us get the doors open." Ignacio moved on ahead, moving to hold the door open from the stairwell.

"It is. But I grew up only an hour outside of here. Though I have traveled a ton, so I definitely miss country hopping and backpacking. Backpacking was the best," She let out a soft and wistful sigh. "I took so many photos when I was over there. I work as a photographer now as well as an awoober driver, but yeah, I do. I'm sure the town would eat it up. Especially the vampires. I think they'd love that kind of stuff," She nodded encouragingly.

"I am," She nodded. "I like," She pressed her lips together as though to mull over the thought. "To capture the messy moments of humanity, I suppose? The things others deem ugly. But, uh, typically I'm only hired around here for events and weddings, so what I like to capture tends to stay just for me," Kiraz admitted with another shrug, only for her brows to raise when he said he was the same as a blade of grass. "And this is why you're a poet," She rolled her eyes lightly over, no longer seeing the point in actually engaging in a scientific discussion with a man who thought he was the same as a blade of grass or thought moral philosophy was at all the same as science.

"If you hang out in a lab for long enough, you'll know that a poet-scientist is often an undesirable thing to be," She explained, though he was allowed to call Dhruv whatever he wanted. "But if you want to call passion poetry or Dhruv a poet, then go right ahead. Not my circus, not my monkeys, though oh my god," Kiraz could feel her brow literally twitching as he started down another rabbit hole. "Fiction is fantasy. Make-believe. Well-worded lies strung together to offer the reader an ounce of escapism. Just because an author uses it as a way to explore their own perception of reality or puts some actual facts or truth into it doesn't make it true, and at this point I am done with this conversation, no offense, because if it carries on, I will say something I shouldn't," as he would not take it very well or stab him in the process, "as I actually happen to hate moral philosophy, which isn't science by the way. It's humanities. Not saying you're not a scientist, but let's just talk about something else, okay?" She said as she finally reached the top step. "I said a lack of, not none, and once again I'm not having this conversation with a man who is going to question every definition of a word. Go talk to an English major. I promise you, they'll love this. Truly, but let's just get back to the elevators, okay?" Before she wound up breaking an accord and had the angry wolf man even more mad at her, and she'd seen those veins bulging along his neck. She didn't think they could take much more.

"No, you said they were the same, just as you said you are the exact same as a blade of grass, so at this point, we can agree to disagree. Conversation terminée. Believe what you want." She threw her hands up in the air as though to wave the white flag. "You didn't offend me. I just don't like a lot of moral philosophy. I never really have, and you seem to love it, so by all means, love it to your heart's content. I'd just think you should love it with Dhruv or anyone else, is all. But we're good otherwise, okay? Okay," She gave him a thumbs up as she kept moving, ignoring any other points he made on the matter for both of their sanity. "Cool. So, how do we want to do this? Should I just yank it open with my bare hands or what?"

JC shifted on the sofa, stretching out his limbs. "I am bitter. I'm so bitter. But...sure. Yeah. Like I said, I'm probably going to have to step to the side, so I'll back off...let things happen." Looking up, then, he met her eye and spoke uneasily. "I think a lot of people would be a lot happier if I were dead, Meena." Curling into himself a bit, then, JC grit his teeth. "If that's what she told you, it's just...it's not true. I'm sorry. I know she's your advisor. I know she's your friend. I appreciate you speaking with her. Really, I do. I trust you. But there's no construing happening here. She literally threatened me with it out loud. I don't know how else to take 'I don't want to hit you with this' but as a threat to hit me with it unless I dropped the flag. So." There was no ease in his tone. "It's whatever. It happened. It's done. And I'm trying not to keep getting worked up about it."

JC sighed again. "Skating is all I've ever loved. I poured my whole life into it. Since I was a little kid. Everything else is just work. Which is fine. People work. I don't have to like it. I just have to be able to do it. I was lugging shit when I was building up my coaching profile. You get on with it." He smiled with some fatigue, letting out a laugh. "Savings? Meena, look, if we're going to combine things, I need to...give you a realistic picture of my finances here. I have some savings. A real emergency would blow through them. In a good year, I make, like, 50K? Give or take? I'm a contractor at the ice rink. My amateur classes are part-time, so I don't get medical, life insurance, a 401K, none of that. And during my prime? I could maybe make 70K on grants, stipends, and local sponsors. I mean, I was never in the Olympics, so I didn't even touch national corporation money. That's when you get into six figures. Maybe. And whatever I did make, I spent on training, which racks up into the thousands easy, and I'm still paying off medical debt from my injury because I was on low-tier marketplace insurance at the time. Free agent life, you know? Like, I know you didn't mean anything by it, I do, but my situation is...sort of just how it is for a lot of people."

"I know you never asked for this, and I get needing time. I do. I think that's a good idea to take it. But maybe during that time you should talk to... some of the bitten wolves? I again am not saying it is at all the same, but some of your own people were turned, irrevocably changing what they were at their core. And as much as it can be hard not to feel bitter, there is still a community of people in this town who would understand. I can help you set up a controlled area?" She offered. "Obviously, I wouldn't be there when you shift to give you peace of mind. I know the last thing you'd want is to risk hurting me, but I was going to ask Nyra if she might help oversee controlled shifts of my own, given that she can fly and all."

"I think that list is a lot fewer than your mind would like you to believe, Júlio César," She whispered softly back to him. "I get why you're upset, but I don't really think you can say what is or isn't true regarding why she brought the bat to the game to begin with. That's her own reasoning, which I already told her was out of line to arrive at a sporting event with, but plenty of residents show up armed to events nowadays given this town's track record. As for her comment, I'm not saying that it couldn't be perceived as a threat or wasn't one. I'm explaining that she hadn't arrived at the game with the intent to do such, and if you have further questions about her reasoning, you should ask her, but I said I'm handling it, and I am. And I thought you barely remembered it, but now you can quote her verbatim?" She asked, softly, not at all questioning him, but wanting to understand, "You said you wanted a break from Council issues, so let's not talk about it at the present, and talk about something a little more pressing, like are your memories coming back to you now, or how does that work?"

"Okay, then why not stick to skating? You might not create the next Olympian, but that doesn't mean there isn't still value in it or that people don't want to learn. I see kids in this town wanting to learn how to skate all the time. And you could always expand? Teach both figure skating and hockey. I'm sure the school would love having an intramural hockey team," She suggested. But when he kept talking about getting a job he didn't like, regardless, a sigh broke from her lips as her eyes met his and she asked him forthright, "Júlio César, look at me. Do you actually want to have this conversation, or have you already decided what you're going to do for yourself?" Her voice was soft as she spoke, and while she would hardly judge him for it, she did want to check to see if anything she said on the matter was truly going to be as fruitless as it felt. "And why are you so adamant about looking into a job you don't even love at the present? You just said you were stressed, and starting a new job is nothing but stressful. You just told me you thought you might need to step away from the Council for a little bit. Are you sure you want to add anything else to your plate right about now?"

"I'm aware of how it is for a lot of people, JC. I've known you've needed to have money to make money all my life. You're talking to a woman who got married as a financial decision. Not as a love match. Even if Teddy lucked out far more financially in that arrangement than I had. But as much as it was a teasing comment, it also doesn't mean that it isn't mildly concerning for anyone mortal who has to live paycheck by paycheck, because whether or not it's right or fair, there will come a time when age catches up to them, and they'll be unable to work. And I know many can not do a thing about it, but why do you think I donate so much to this town and care so much about helping anyone in it who hasn't been taught how to invest financially? I invested money for Ralph to set him and all of his living ancestors up for success, because I have more than I will ever need," She explained quietly.

"If we want to talk financials, my father was a self-made entrepreneur who became one of the wealthiest men in all of England by the year 1787, and all that wealth has only accumulated. You can imagine how much that might equate to my net worth, but I only keep at most one billion tied up in accounts and assets at any given time. The rest is all donated to fundraisers and charities around the world. So when I say you don't need to stress about taking on a job you wouldn't want at the present, I mean it, and that's not me swooping in to try to financially resolve everything, or reducing or erasing very real concerns. But that is me saying that you don't have to shoulder everything on your own anymore. If you truly want to be a we, then let's be one. But that means big decisions regarding our personal lives are made together, as they affect both of us. It means that if you're stressed or struggling, you have someone to rely on and vice versa. If one of us is feeling the weight of the world, the other can help carry part of it, which includes things like emergencies."

"We're not. But I've lost nearly everyone I've ever cared about, Júlio César, and while I respect your decision to stay mortal for the rest of your days, I am telling you-" She started to say, but as he carried on with 'when things are better' and 'when we get through all this together', she pressed her lips together, squeezing her eyes shut as she breathed through the own feelings threatening to claw their way out. "I'm telling you that the person who will have to live with that grief won't be me. That's all. I'm sorry if that puts more on your plate, but I needed to say it, because there might never be a right time and you deserve to know. But now that you do, it can be your call if you ever want to bring it up again, and okay. I'll, uh, I'll be right back," She said as she started to stand up from the couch. "To go grab that shirt? Meet me in the kitchen?"

"I don't need to wait and see. I've lived it. Both as a banshee and now," Z offered the Alpha a soft smile, this time with their fangs on display. "I know how these stories go. Maybe not all the details, but history has a way of often repeating itself." Though at the mention of the foreboding prophecy, Z let out a longing sigh. "Oh how I miss propheticizing. It was terrible in the moment, mind you, but it's always funny the memories you hold dear after you're no longer able to experience them. Though, oh darling, it's hardly just you. It's the culture. It's why as part of your sabbatical, why not swing by my shop? Treat yourself? Kick your feet up and relax, hm? Not if I beat you to it first," Z teased. "I need to swing by to procure one of those daylight rings," They explained as they motioned up to the umbrella overhead and how they unfortunately were having to cover themselves amidst the heat. And you as well. Oh, just about the past twenty-six years or so? I died in town, so I've been putting off the whole reunion. But its certaintly good to be back now."

"I don't know." It boggled the mind, yet not as much as the stranger's attention. Yasin had to regroup. "Could be cold feet. The old cap and gown has me that much closer to the end. I don't like endings." Yet if he didn't get his diploma, what was he doing? What was this for? This habit of idling wasn't new. It was familiar and hurt, like he was trying to keep himself in stasis. If nothing changed, nothing would end. If nothing ended, he wouldn't get hurt. It all cycled back to the beginning, fitting into his brain like an ouroboros. Yasin was still trying to preserve a different time, a different school, a different life.

"Am I speaking with a humanist?" He asked now, smiling again. They seemed to say achievement like it was quaint, even foreign, but not in the clinical way Silicon Valley people did. "Advocating for freedom, happiness, autonomy, progress—all the good stuff?"

"With something..." Yasin thought about it some more. He wasn't much of a leader, but you didn't need to lead to stand out. "Something like Big Tech, but all mine? Be my own boss, typing my own code..." He snapped a finger. "Very Go the Distance, except real."

"Hm, could be? But endings are inevitable, my darling," Zeina hummed softly under their breath as if speaking from experience. "Just as every ending marks a new beginning." Love, loss, life- it was all a vision cycle that seemed to repeat again and again and again. It had been a pattern Zeina had spent centuries trying to desperately break, only to eventually give up fighting the inevitable. They might still not particularly enjoy endings, but they had learned over time how one loss simply paved the way for another love.

"No," they coyly shook their head in response to the person before them's curious question. "Not a humanist. Simply a curious observer," and possibly a fatalist. But that was neither this nor that. "Is it? All the good stuff? Does that make you a humanist? Believing that you, yourself, are free to bear the burden of responsibility? To give meaning to your own life and work for the greater good of society? Is that what you think true freedom is?"

"Let me guess. You'd like to build a legacy for yourself?" They hummed as they rested their head against the palm of their hand. "To be your own boss and be one of the fortunate few who go off to be incredibly successful? You'd like to be remembered? To leave your mark on this world far after you're gone? How far off am I?"

He hummed softly. "It's hard not to blame myself, Meena. It sort of feels like most people do, anyway. So why not? Maybe a lot of it's deserved too. I'm difficult. I don't beat around the bush. I call shit out. Everyone would be a lot happier if I kissed them on the forehead and said 'do whatever the fuck you want.' But I'm not bitter." He was, and the sensation was a festering one. He seized hold of it before it could settle too deeply into his gut. JC closed his eyes with it, trying to ground himself.

"I don't know either. Hell. Maybe acknowledgement is enough. But the last time I brought it up...it's like...I don't know. I don't matter. I'm just collateral damage." He shifted his shoulders from side to side. "The pack has no issues with the clan. We're good, okay? But, Mimi, with love, with respect...for my sake, the person holding the bat wasn't some random vampire. It was your advisor, right? It's hard. I get it. God, do I get it. But that is a complicating factor. I trust that you're dealing with it, and I'm grateful." JC nodded, voice trailing off. "But yeah. I don't wanna talk Council anymore."

Looking up, JC met her eye. "That's life, Meena. You do what you got to do to get by." He smiled weakly. "And I do need something to do with my time, you know. Otherwise, I'd sit around and be a pain in everyone's ass." He cleared his throat, flashing her a teasing look. JC's expression softened. "I have most things I want, Meena. It doesn't really take much. And I do love you. But you hear what you're saying, don't you? What's mine is yours, and what's yours is mine? For the rest of my life? This is not a proposal, and if that's not ever in your cards again, I believe we can have a long, fulfilling, happy life without one. But was that something we should discuss? In-depth? Like real people who aren't just their Council positions?" He hummed, pushing some hair from her face. "A percentage of zero is zero. I need to look out for some kind of job. But I find work fulfilling." He smiled.

"I could go for breakfast," JC whispered back. "Let me help. You can wear one of my shirts, and I'll throw on just an apron. Do you need to feed? You can if you do."

"Oh, really?" She rolled her eyes softly as she pointed out, "You sound bitter. I know it might be hard to give other people the benefit of the doubt right now, but no one is blaming you for the stop sign, and I'm not saying that this town doesn't love to point fingers, because it does, and, us, leaders are treated often to an unfair standard as everyone else. But maybe we all need to stop pointing fingers at each other if we want to find any semblance of common ground?"

"You're not collateral. I'm sure people just don't know what to say, but I know it doesn't make those feelings go away," She trailed off. "I know. I spoke to her on the matter, and I don't agree with what happened, but she wasn't carrying a bat around to threaten anybody with. I can very much see how it can be and was construed as such, which is why I said I'm handling it. Nor am I telling you this to make excuses, but she brought the bat to Capture the Flag to make people forget as to how she's a weapon. There are plenty of us in Lunar Cove affected by ichor right now, and we're all grieving and coming to terms with what happened to us in our own ways, and the werewolves are hardly the only species in town people are terrified of. And with fear, well..." He knew how people could be. They both knew firsthand how fear could make others react. "Let's not talk about the Council anymore, okay?"

"I'm not saying you shouldn't have a job, Moonfang," She rolled her eyes lightly. "I'm just saying it should be something you actually enjoy, whether that is skating or another love of yours. I don't think that's such a wild concept, do you?" She poked him lightly in the chest at the thought. "You know I was talking financially. I just don't see the point in you taking a gig you don't like just to be able to pay a bill, when we're already living together, and between the two of us, have more than enough to not ever have to worry about a stop sign, for example." She moved to sit up. "Do you not have savings? Because if not, that is mildly concerning for someone your age," She teased. "If you want to discuss it in depth," She paused momentarily before giving him a small nod in consideration. "We can, though I think the whole mortality question we are always skirting around might be more pressing before we discuss what we'd want this to look like down the line. Though the concept of it is not... well, I wouldn't say it's never in my cards again."

"Mhm. I like the sound of that, though," She teased, pressing a tender kiss against his lips before she pulled back just enough to admit, "I do, but until I get the whole growing wings and losing control thing under wraps, I think it might be best if I stick to blood bags for now and you go on vervain like we previously discussed."

"No, it's fine. I get it. I wouldn't spend all that money on something I didn't really, really want to do." He had poured so much of his life into the one thing he wanted to do, and that had proven a bust. JC sighed, offering a weak smile. "Thank you, but no thank you. I do drink, but just...it's hot. It's early. Maybe some other time."

Raising his brow, then, JC cocked his head to one side. "Uh...look, you don't actually know me. I don't know you." This came flatly. "But sure. You got me there. I don't know all the ins and outs of all the witch shit. Sorry. My mother was one, but she wasn't in the coven. I'm not trying to bullshit anyone, though. It's very hot. It's very dry. But sure. Heard. Got it. I can't stop you."

JC offered a stilted nod, stomach lurching a bit. "Uh, we don't have any right now actually. But you know, I'm getting a wolf telepathy thing. I'm needed somewhere. So we're going to have to rain check, yeah? You can find your way back, right?"

"I don't even really have all that kind of money. We live paycheck to paycheck, but I take it you like the whole competitive skating thing?" She asked, though her eyes did fall at the outstretched bottle before she moved to tuck the good liquor she had back into her pocket. "Suit yourself."

"I didn't say I did?" She held up her hands in the air as if to signal that she hadn't meant any harm by it. "All I was trying to say is that you seem really stressed, dude, and you're right, I don't know you. But from an outsider perspective, it seems like you've got a lot going on and you look really tense, so I figured if I offered you the good weed or a drink, it might help? Sorry if that was overstepping," or if that tense look of his was just his face doing that and he really wasn't all that tense at all. "I just meant that, like, if you spend all your time worried about others, who's going to worry about you, I guess? That and you did seem kinda overly cautious about the whole forest fire thing. Not saying you don't have a reason to be, but like I did put the joint away and am telling you I'm not going to start a forest fire, so if anything happens after that, you kinda just gotta trust that people can be accountable for their own shit, ya know?"

"You're good. I don't know the ins and outs of all the wolf shit. No dude. I meant, I was saying it would be shitty if everyone wanted me to deal with their messes cause of my job, but I can also handle myself. But," Lennon had to do a double-take as the Alpha of all people just tried to fake a phone call with her. "Did you seriously just try to pull a 'fake a phone call' on me? I might not know much about wolves, but I've lived in this town for long enough to see how you all shift to talk to one another." Not to mention she was a telepath and would be able to hear if he got a message all of a sudden. "What the hell man? Were the being out of cheese puffs a lie too?!"

"You do," said Yasin, leaning into it. "I think you could convince me of anything."

This question was harder to answer. Big Tech promised a stable and lucrative career, but...there was always a but. He always found a reason why it wouldn't work—it wasn't what he imagined doing, it was competitive, it was exhausting—almost as quickly as he found a reason to do it. "I'm not used to second guessing," Yasin suggested, brow furrowing. That was close, but not quite enough. "I prefer to leap before I look." Something about the situation had Yasin stuck. "I'm coming around to the idea that I'll realize why Big Tech isn't working for me, but it hasn't happened yet. Hence our bargain."

"Only the cherry blossoms?" Curiosity piqued, he still could not believe his ears. Of all the things... "Not that they aren't great, but please tell me you're exploring other stuff too."

"Have you ever thought that might be your reason right there, Handsome?" Their gaze fluttered up from their drink back towards the man before them as they playfully suggested, "You like adventure and to jump headfirst into the deep end. You said it yourself, you're not someone to play it safe, so why are you now?"

"Among other things," They smirked. "You're not the only one who likes to dive right in, darling, and I happen to enjoy human achievement, so I'm here taking in the sights and the cherry blossoms while attending a lecture or two."

"Congrats." They lifted their drinks to cheer him. "So, Mr. Student, Scholar, Engineer, and Entrepreneur, if Big Tech isn't in your future, then how do you want to make a splash in the real world?"

"Since...I don't know. At least the late 90s. Largely out of Canada, surprising no one. There are online courses. And in-person courses, sure. Probably a few thousand dollars. But again, that's if you want to work on the big Olympic rinks. And it's beyond just driving the Zamboni. It's heating and dehumidification and water system management. Everything you need to get a place operational." He hummed. "Sports. Working out. I used to be a professional athlete. We were tested for things like cannabis. I guess I never really acquire the taste," JC explained. He raised an eyebrow. "I never said you were planning on it. But again. It's dry. I think we should probably not start any fires in the woods. Did you know the former Supreme? Also a witch with ice spells. Didn't save the inn from a fire spell." He clicked his tongue. "Well, we clean up after ourselves for the most part. And I feel it's still polite to tidy before company...even if the company does it for a living, huh? It'd be pretty shitty if everyone just wanted you to deal with it because of your job." He shrugged his shoulders, starting through the trees along a hidden path he had walked countless times before on two legs and four.

"Oh yikes. That's a lot. Nah, I just want to drive it like once would be cool. I don't really think I need to get into all that heating, dehumidification shit, 'cuse my language," She reasoned, running her hand along the back of her neck at the thought. "Oh, well, you should've just said so. Mini fireball?" She finished a travel-sized little bottle of fireball out of her other pocket to offer out to him. "Or do you not drink either?"

"Dude, can I say this? I'm going to say it, but I think you'd seem a whole lot less stressed if you stopped, I dunno, trying to micromanage everyone else? No offense, but It's a joint. It's not starting any fires in the woods, and yeah, I knew of Poppy and I never really got the hype about her, but, dude, that's also not how light magic works. I get you're saying it with confidence, but you are talking to a witch right now who gets that you're the Alpha, but is also going to respectfully call you out on your bullshit. Poppy was a light magic witch. She couldn't do ice spells or ice magic. The closest light witches have is the Chill at Will spell, which can only cool things down if they touch them, and it can't freeze shit. I'm different."

"Valid and eh. It would be, but I can handle myself," The corner of her lips lifted up every so slightly as she side-stepped into tandem with his. "So is it true y'all have like an endless supply of vegan cheese puffs or some shit? I've heard the Wolf Den is like the Mary Poppy's bag of them, but figured that might just be the rumor mill."

JC stared up at the ceiling, gaze distant as a thousand thoughts colored his mind. "It's not them. But it's unsafe to travel for competitions. And private ice training is a luxury. I'm just getting fewer. And it's not like I can go out there and scout the next Olympic medalist. I might have to start considering other options. Which is fine. I'm not too proud. I've done just about every job a person can do."

He cracked a teasing smile. "We could. But I don't want you to have to contribute to the stop sign, Meena. I did it. It was my fault. But sure. We can have one for shared expenses that are both our faults. Or for...things we both want. What do we both want? I think we should put in a steam room." He nudged her playfully, grateful. "Let's go this week. Set up an account."

JC laughed. "Me? Get under your skin? I'm innocent." He let out a long breath, a shiver rolling through him. "But not that innocent." Strong but gentle hands laced upward, tugging her so close, then, as if they really could melt completely together just like this.

"I'm here, and I'm listening," She assured him as she continued to trace soft circles along his skin. "I know. I didn't say it because I thought you would. I'm telling you the truth because I love you too and I don't think it's right for you to blame yourself when you were antagonized. Even if I know, as the Clan Leader, I probably shouldn't. You deserve to know." It wasn't fair what had happened to him, to them. None of this situation was fair, but neither were the members of the town's expectations for them to just suck it up and deal with, when they were people just as any other resident, who, when provoked like with a bat or some choice words, were bound to react. "And no. I don't think it's unfair to think. I think that is fairly likely, actually. And I know you want reciprocity, rightful so, but I'm not sure what the new leaders can even say outside of the fact that they don't condone what Poppy did. I'm sorry," She frowned at the thought. Her bottom lip jutted out slightly as she let out a soft sigh of her own. "I know what it's like to be voted to die by a fellow leader, and I know we're just expected to brush it off, but I also know that it doesn't get easier. And of course. The Clan has no issues with the pack. I hope you know that. And as for select vampires, I'm... trying to navigate misdirected fear and grief. It's just... this job isn't always easy, is it? But enough Council talk. You are currently on vacation, which means that this is a Council-free household at the present," she decided, determined to offer him some semblance of reprieve and hopefully joy if she could.

"You could, if you wanted to, but look at me," She gave his chin a small nudge as she told him, "I know we're both workaholics, but I don't want you taking a job you don't love. Not when there isn't any reason to, and before you start with me, I know you're more equipped to take care of and financially support yourself. But you happen to have a selfish girlfriend who is well aware that time will never be on our side. So, I happen to want to have as much of it as I can with you and," A genuine laugh broke from her lips at the mention of the stop sign. "You are more than welcome to pay for the stop sign," She promised, lifting her hands up even to make it abundantly clear that she was hardly going to fight him on it. "Though, let's, and it should be more than just for things for the house or for the two of us. It should be for anything either of us might need or want. Okay?" She nudged him lightly back. "You're the one who said that you loved me and don't have any plans of being with anyone else for the rest of your life, right? So, in that case, wouldn't you say that what's mine is yours and what's yours is mine? And if so, then even if we invested the same percentage of our overarching finances into a shared account, I hate to tell you this, but it means that both of us are," She scrunched up her nose as she flashed him a teasing look. "Filthy stinking rich and don't need to be doing anything that we don't love."

"I think that could be arranged," She teased. Another flutter of laughter escaped her lips as she kissed him. "Though we might have to move at some point. Last I checked, werewolves need to eat, but I could always put on one of your shirts and make breakfast before we end up right back here."