prowler.

Alas, he was still on his job as a thief because very little brought enough money into his pockets these days. Even what meagre earnings he made off of stealing could not satisfy a few days of bed and food. He was reliant on the good nature of the people of Destarin and their wish to get off.

His eyes keenly scanned the place, illusions keeping all attention away from himself - at least making sure he was neither enticing nor interesting. He shifted shadows a little, and ensured his glass always looked full so not even the bartenders would spot him. And he waited for his moment.

Unfortunately for Jackson, his opponent was several paces ahead of him, and he watched as deft fingers slipped the pouch from the table except--

Jackson stopped in his tracks, head tilting slightly in confusion because while he'd seen the other thief steal the pouch, there it seemed to still sit. It was only another couple of moments before Jackson reached the table, his fingers moving to grasp what appeared to be the coin purse but they passed through nothing but an illusion.

"Fuck," Jackson grumbled to himself as he craned his head around, spotting the figure that was a short way away from the stall already. Luckily, the owner of the now stolen coins was still too distracted to notice the hijinks that had gone down, nor the way that Jackson raced off from the booth towards the other thief.

Zelda had always wanted a pet - she grew up surrounded by animals when she and River were children they were constantly surrounded by animals, both in the forms of familiars, wildlife, or shapeshifters coming to pay their parents a visit.  The house always felt on the emptier side without one, especially after her husband passed away.  There were talks of getting a dog before, and in the last few years she had always debated, but for whatever reason, the desire was never strong enough to act on it.

But for the last while, this beautiful cat had been circling around her store once the sun started to set and it was time to close up shop for the evening, and she had always left him a little bowl of warm milk right outside the back door.  The first step was getting him comfortable, and now, she had decided to set up a cozy chair in her garden to watch.  She wasn’t close enough for him to get scared, she assumed, but she wanted to see if she could get a better look, maybe try to lure him back to her house for a cozy blanket away from the elements.  Zelda saw him then, circling the corner of the wall, and she held out a hand in hopeful anticipation.  “Come here!” she cooed.  “I won’t hurt you, I just want to pet you!”

Jackson had started prowling around the sweets shop regularly when he spotted the owner putting out food and milk for the other strays. It was starting to become a bit of a routine for him, as the sun started setting he'd make his way over to the shop to see if the kind woman had set anything out for the strays.

Padding around the corner, he spotted the saucer of milk and moved to head straight towards it but jumped slightly, startled as the woman spoke. He hadn't paid enough attention to see her curled up in her chair when he'd rounded the corner. He remained still as she beaconed him towards her, tilting his head slightly. Had this been the first time he'd encountered the woman, he probably would have dashed off at her voice, but this woman had fed him for weeks now, and he couldn't help the way he cautiously moved towards her.

But that came with its own price, sapping what little strength he seemed to possess these days. And Tennyson had a difficult choice to make after arriving back to the hostel one night to find it as crowded as he'd ever seen it. It was clear to him other options had to be exercised, but there was no harm in weighing them over a pint, in a comfortable chair... by the warm fire...

And just like that he was waking up to a sly grin centimeters from his face, the proximity enough to jolt him out of his slumber. His brows furrowed at the expression on the other's face, and he sat up a bit with an inhale and a stretch of his back. "If I could afford one, I'd be up there," he yawned. "It's not too late, I hope."

"Sun went down about an hour ago," Jackson mused as he sat back in his chair and eyed the stranger curiously, "Another hour or so and they'd probably be kicking you out." He finished knowingly. He'd finished far too many of his nights passing out while drinking and getting booted from the tavern at the end of the night.

"You from around here?" Jackson leaned back in his seat, stretching his legs out towards the fire to soak in as much of the warmth as he could. "You don't really look like you're from around here."

She did lean on the bar at Jackson's words, one elbow on the surface while her palm cupped her chin. "Four around the clock, you say? Depends on who the guards are, certainly. Four humans wouldn't be much against all the supernatural around here," the mused aloud, fingers on her other hand drumming against the bartop. "Could be valuable, could be a person, could be a valuable person."

The tavern kept her fed, clothed, and with a roof over her head. But it was these secrets that she truly profited from. Even now as she was mulling it over out loud -- low enough not to be overheard -- Vee was already considering the best person to reveal said information. "Where did you overhear this, the docks?"

Jackson couldn't help the grin that spread on his lips as she leaned forward, taking in the information he was sharing. He probably should learn to guard the secrets he discovered as closely as Veda did, so often their value was lost on him, and maybe he liked the attention he got from the woman when he did have something juicy to share, sue him.

"Mhmmm," Jackson nodded quickly before leaning in a fraction closer with a glint in his eye and continued, "Well the ones they had standing there already sure didn't smell human."

"Yeah, by the docks on one of those big fancy ships from down south." He nodded again eagerly before taking a long gulp from his drink. "Bet they got all sorts of valuable shit on there." He mused, almost longingly.

The vampire's eyes went wide as the relatively large cat that had been cornered shifted quickly into that of a man taller than the vampire herself, near the entire green of her irises showing as she took him in. It was, as he spoke, that Bella realised the nakedness of him, her eyes having drifted down only to dramatically lift away, avoiding his manhood. "I could," she responded, pupils on one of the walls in the alley. "But they do not understand the words I speak as much as they understand the tone." 'Wait' was not so complicated as 'don't chase kittens who seem like they might not actually be cats.'

Her hands came to her throat, pulling at the fabric tie that held her robe over her shoulders, undoing the bow as she kept her gaze high, hearing his movement. She didn't realise he was trying to step away, or that he had since covered himself, not until the robe had been removed and she held it in front of herself, covering his lower half from her vision. It was not as though Bella had never seen a man naked before, she had seen hundreds, and that was what averted her gaze. Now that she was a vampire, now that she was free of her parents, she could choose who she wished to gaze upon so intimately and as of yet, that had not been anyone bar her sire who she had only ever even witnessed without a blouse, still covered for the most part, and many in town seemed to dress this way regardless.

"You are man now, so long as you do not attack myself of them their tempers will wane," she assured him but said waning was by no means immediate, both wolves still growling as Bella stepped between the two of them and to the man, offering him her plain black robe, only evidence of finery to it when the light hit and threads of bats could be seen amongst the edge of the fabric.

"You should teach them better manners." He said, as if teaching a wolf were an easy task. His eyes flickered up from the wolves to the woman when her robe, his brow raised in slight surprise but he took it without hesitation. His fingers brushed over the soft, clean material as he wrapped it around himself for some sense of modesty.

"Thank you, I uh--usually try to turn where I know I've got clothes stashed. But, y'know, didn't plan on running for my life this morning." He laughed, half joking though he kept glancing at the wolves to make sure they were keeping their distance.

"But I got all my bits and they look like they don't want to eat me as much now, so yeah, I think I'm okay. Thanks for making sure they didn't, y'know--eat me. That probably would have sucked." He laughed lightly.

Her nails softly scratching at his shoulder, as though to refocus his physicality she allowed the man working to step back a little more. Her employee was obviously aggravated but it wasn't rare around the club to have idiots wanting more than they could handle. If Evelyn had not intervened then some of the other guild members would have. Better her though, Evelyn was less likely to break his knees.

"Fact is, we're full up, and he's just horrifically bitter he can't drink on the job." A lie. Evelyn really didn't monitor such things but a lie easily uttered. They weren't full either really but she didn't want to distract from the entertainment in the cages by the sort of that was out of it. "So how about a drink from me instead?" Evelyn offered. "Worst case scenario we fight someone equally high on their spirits for you to play with."

"Well, who am I to refuse a beautiful woman wanting to buy me a drink?" Jackson smirked, his head instinctually tilting slightly and his eyes closed just for a moment to enjoy the feeling of her fingers brushing against his skin and if the atmosphere around them hadn't been so loud, she might have actually been able to hear him purr.

"'dunno if that would be fair to them," Jackson mused with a cheeky grin as his eyes opened and he shifted closer to her, more than happy to be distracted by whatever she had to offer. "Pretty sure I could kick anyone's ass any time." But the words had little weight to them, his attention fully on Evelyn and her touch.

Unfortunately for the man who collided with him outside the shop in which Ariel had just purchased a new coat, today Ariel was paying attention--and while the would-be thief certainly had a pretty face, it was not quite distracting enough for Ariel to miss his clumsy attempt at theft.

"Yes, you should," Ariel agreed drolly. "You ought to pay better attention to a great many things, pet. For example--"

The hand not holding his wrapped purchase moved, deceptively-strong fingers wrapping around the stranger's wrist and removing the hand from his pocket, holding it up between them.

"My purse is in my other pocket. Or were you looking to grab a handful of my ass? I'm flattered, I'm sure, but you could at least ask my name first."

Fuck.

The man's words were smooth and easy and didn't even shake as Jackson struggled quietly against his hold. Icy hot fear snaked down his spine and settled in his stomach as he realized this man was far more dangerous than he'd so foolishly assumed. And foolish he was, because despite that fear that sat in his gut, Jackson's lips spread into a crooked grin as he leaned in slightly.

"Well then if that's all it takes, what's your name, handsome?" His grin widened slightly and his canines sharpened instinctually, not above biting the other to get away if he had to.

The call of her nickname and sound of a smack pulled her from the crowded floor, heading towards the bar that she typically manned alone. "Hey, kitty cat," was her greeting, her sly grin changing to one of faux shock as Jackson pulled coin from his pocket. "You know flattery only gets you so far with me. That," she nodded towards his silver, "and the pretty please, though?" Veda shot him a wink as she turned to pour him a mug of ale. "Gets you so much further."

There was no mistaking the slight slur to his words, but she didn't mind. It would have been more shocking if he'd shown up in human form completely sober. "What's the word on the street tonight?"

"And this is why you're the best," he continued to lay the flattery on thick with a grin, "The bastard at the place down the street was trying to charge me double all because I apparently started a brawl that trashed his place last week" Jackson scoffed and waved his hands wide and exaggerated as if he wasn't guilty of the accusation.

He took another long sip of his drink before moving on, quickly distracted by the question and he leaned in a little closer over the counter.

"Y'know I overheard these two men fighting about how many men they needed to guard this new shipment coming in--one of those real fancy-looking boats always coming in from the south. They were real worked up about it too, saying they'd need at least four men round the clock. I bet there's something real valuable on there."

Jackson rambled on about what he'd overheard, sharing the information with Vee excitedly like it were nothing more than idle gossip. He'd never really been able to see the value in a secret the same way the woman did, since they weren't something he could physically hold or touch, so Vee often ended up on the receiving end of things he'd overheard.

Animals were, in many ways, quite intelligent, and in other ways not so much. Keen observers to their surroundings Bella had both witnessed the wolves that lived within her home carefully observing the guests to it, as well as being startled by sudden light and running into a wall. In this case, predatory instincts had taken over as Bella had wandered home from work. Not uncommon for the pair to chase rats and other small creatures, the neighbours didn't mind the rats being hunted certainly, the beasts rushed at the sight of a large cat.

Their excitement at the beasts size was evident, paws bounding them off down into an alley in the docks after it. Bella's own pace was far slower, absentmindedly dawdling after them. By the time she reached Quilt and Silk, the wolves of comparable size to one another but one coarse and brown while the other sleek and black, had cornered the cat into the back of the alley, the only escape through the wolves themselves if the cat dare risk it.

However, upon approach Bella observed the cat, if only because it was not their usual hunt and she assumed, at first, that they might belong to someone. The more her peridotite eyes observed them however, the stranger the creature seemed. They certainly appeared catlike, if a rougher larger cat with a thinness to them, but their movements weren't what Bella had witnessed in the past, they seemed less reactionary and more...aware.

The wolves took a few steps forward, Bella aware there was only so much she could do to stop them without her old aasimar abilities but as the cat was not attempting to harm her she hoped she was have a chance at subduing their predatory instincts. "Wait," she cautioned of the wolves who snarled and snapped, one palm on each of their backs, cautioning them to hold off. Perhaps they were no simple cat, maybe a witches familiar or...well Bella couldn't be quite sure but they were certainly not just a cat.

"They will bite if you don't give them reason not to," she cautioned, unsure whether the words would be understood. Witches familiars talked to them, so perhaps they could, if not maybe her hands on the wolves would be enough of a warning indicator.

Jackson ran, sprinting as fast as his four legs would carry him, getting an uneasy flashback to the night of the Strawberry Moon and the wolves that had snapped at his heels. That was a full moon and this was the middle of the day and yet Jackson still can't stop the fear that shakes through him as he darts down an alleyway hoping to find somewhere to climb high enough that the wolves won't be able to reach him. What he did not expect was to be faced with a dead end and walls far too smooth and high to climb.

Back arched and teeth bared Jackson hissed and growled back at the two creatures, trying to size them up, to see if he had any sort of chance in this fight. He swiped a set of claws at one of the wolves threateningly, only then realizing a woman stood behind them as she spoke.

He stood for a moment, his growl settling somewhere deep in his throat as he considered her words. His shifting was quick, not entirely painless, aching in a familiar and comforting way, and after a moment Jackson pushed himself up and was standing on his two human feet.

His heart hammered in his chest as Jackson eyed the wolves wearily before shifting his gaze back up to the woman. "Could you tell them it's fucking rude to chase someone just minding their own business?" He said roughly as if he hadn't just been a cat and it wasn't perfectly normal for other creatures to follow their instincts and chase.

Shuffling half a step backwards, Jackson's bare back brushed against the brick wall behind him and he cringed slightly at his own nakedness. He moved his hands to cover his groin for both protection and for some semblance of modesty; not that he cared much about the latter in most situations, but he was feeling awfully vulnerable in this one.