The way finds you

“Yeah but the difference between most siblings and my brother is that he’s crazy as I’m sure is fairly obvious to you based on what you heard,” he responded with a sigh. He loved his brother, he really did, but sometimes the overprotectiveness got to be too much. “Well there go my plans of asking you out. I just turned twenty-two.”

“ My break is in ten minutes, if you’re around by then… well – “ He didn’t finish that sentence, a smirk across his lips as he hoped he’d gotten his message across. It wasn’t because he couldn’t tell her just he wanted, but nearby customers were already staring at them and Ryker didn’t want to lose his job because a customer rat out on him, again. “ Well, I had to try, didn’t I? Just trying to get more money for the bar but I’m just fine with you paying for one… Though I dare say, your next drink is also on the house. ”

“I’ve been trying to do that for years. If you know how, I’m all ears,” Victor replied with a shrug of his own. “Uh…old enough. Why?” 

Victor spun around to find the source of the voice before an awkward laugh escaped his lips. “I don’t know if I’d call myself an adult just yet but I like to think that I have basic cleanliness down. Unfortunately my brother is under the impression that I’m an eight year old that needs to be reminded of these things.” As he spoke, his hand went into his hair. It was a nervous habit that he just couldn’t break. 

Nate’s smile widened, if at all possible, despite feeling bad for not visiting his friend in so long. The kiss was sweet and though he would insist others not do it, he knew that Fae was just a friendly girl, and often let her get away with it. “You leave a mark every time I see you.” He said, meaning the way she made him smile and laugh despite the strange things happening in the town around them. “Fire are very demanding, they need a lot of attention, kind of reminds me of someone.” He joked, not quite sure how to reply on the question of how he’s been, “I’ve been, okay, and that’s getting more troublesome each week, I don’t know how you manage it.” He didn’t even spare a glance at the humans around them, focusing himself on Fae and not the noises around them. “How are you? I mean, besides missing me of course.”

The smile that came to Nate’s face was instantaneous, the sound the woman’s bright voice combined with her familiar smile bringing happiness to the tired man. “It has been a while hasn’t it?” While her comment was right on the mark, the man still shook his head then gestured for the woman to join him at the table. “As much as I’ve missed you yelling at me for picking flowers that don’t match, work’s kept me busy.”

“Walk away and miss all the fun? The hell would I do that for?” Okay, so anyone else would have taken the chance to sprint full speed to the police station, but even if he did have a problem with crime, it would have been more than inconvenient for him to do so. It would mean the local department would have to open up an investigation within his new hunting grounds, and even he knew it was unrealistic to think he could evade them in that scenario. “Besides, you look like you could use all the help you can get.” It was a joke—mostly. Seth wasn’t normally in the business of being helpful or polite, but he hadn’t been sniffing around for no reason.

He had opened his mouth to answer when the presumed corpse began to regain consciousness, his attention snapping to the man that laid at her feet. The temptation to shove her aside and finish it off himself was hard to ignore, but before he could do so much as think about trying his luck, she had already ripped out his jugular. A pity… sort of. “Well, now that you mention it… I wouldn’t exactly turn down an invitation to dinner.” Seth bared his teeth in a sharp-toothed grin—it didn’t carry the same smug undertone this time, but whether it was friendly was… up to interpretation. “I was, honestly, prepared to fight for it, but if that’s not necessary…” He trailed off, offering a shrug. It was ( technically ) best to avoid conflict, wasn’t it?

The other werewolf was not part of her pack, clearly. He wasn’t a complete stranger either, having seen him around town before, but never would she have guessed, he was the other wolf going around killing humans. Not that she was the only one before him. The moment he bared his teeth, Faelyn raised an eyebrow at him, so this was how he wanted to play. “You better hide those, boy.” He clearly had no idea who he was dealing with, and the thought only made her smile. “Nobody invited you to dinner, and this is my kill. Mine.”

He did let a small grin pull up one side of his lips. Not sure if it was that instinctual pack mentality, but Jonah always enjoyed the solidity and strength in a higher ranked werewolf’s energy. Sometimes he couldn’t pick the other lower wolves out in a crowd, but that wasn’t the case here. “It does. I don’t think a lot of people put value in their appearance the way some of us like to.” He looked down at his beer as he paused, managing to look only slightly awkward for a moment, “I hate to disappoint, but fighting for sport isn’t really my thing.” Jonah lifted the mug to his lips, swallowing deep before forcing his gaze back her way, “Yeah, I am. Verth Hollow just seems like the place to be…” There was no need to lie, but he didn’t need to just offer up the reason he’d come to town either. “Name’s Jonah. Nice to know you.”

Ryker stared at the woman for a while considering her offer before serving two drinks, one for himself and one for her. “ Alright, one free drink but you can’t tell. Otherwise everyone will start thinking I have a favorite. ” He smiled then, drinking from his glass. “ If there’s no fight within the next hour, I’ll get you another one if not then you’ll pay everyone’s next round. ”

“ As much as I agree with you, is sort of in my job description. Can’t let those idiots break anything in the bar. ” Ryker replied with a shrug though made no motion of moving. For all it was worth as of now they weren’t damaging anything from the bar so he might as well let them break their heads. “ As much as I’d love that drink, I can assure you now it won’t happen. The police have bigger things to deal with than a simple bar fight. Let’s do something, if they make it through the next five minutes without breaking anything I’ll get you a free drink. ”

A bar wasn’t per se his typical scene, but Jonah was doing all sorts of new things lately. He had moved to a new place with the intent to settle down. He’d already gotten a job, had already been able to afford himself a mattress to sleep on, and dammit, even he figured he deserved to celebrate every once in awhile. Drunk was always hard to achieve, he figured it had something to do with the fur in his ears, but he didn’t mind. Whiskey was good, and if he could sip on it for a few hours, he wasn’t going complain. The fight a few feet away barely phased him, mostly he only tuned in when the woman next to him commented on it. He raised an eyebrow, “You think so? I hadn’t been paying much attention. But I can agree his hair does look awful.”

It seemed that he had touched a nerve with his retort, a fact that managed to bring a hint of a smile to his face. There was almost something cathartic about being a hypocrite once in a while, especially when it came to something as aggravating ( and rare ) as being caught for murder. “I’d use it. Just did, actually,” he replied, smugness creeping into his expression. “I wouldn’t call happening upon a crime scene nosy. Inconvenient, maybe—for you, anyhow.”

Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for her defensiveness to move onto more important things, like the fact that he hadn’t reacted like the average pedestrian. She was right, of course—anyone else would have sprinted away the moment they stumbled upon the scene… but it was quite clear that neither of them were like anyone else. “The hell would I bother with the cops for? I don’t have a stake in avenging anyone who gets dragged out here.” An honest answer, but maybe not exactly what she was looking for. “I don’t think I have to ask you why you’re standing out here. Seems pretty obvious to me what happened.”

The smile on his features was hard to miss. It spoke of an arrogance she’d give anything to wipe from his pretty face after he’d blatantly called her sloppy. He didn’t know just how close to death he’d been then, but Faelyn was not dumb. She could smell him, he wasn’t human, and as powerful as she was, she still was tiny next to him and that could be a disadvantage. “You could’ve walked away, then I wouldn’t still think you’re nosy and quite inconvenient.” Her arms fell to her sides, the blood covering her hands now leaving fresh stains on her dress. A shame, it was such a pretty one too. She should’ve known better than to use it to hunt, and yet…  

Blair let out a dry chuckle. “One could say I’ve had my fair share of feuds over the years, yes. I guess that makes me quite..knowledgeable.”  For a moment, her gaze wandered towards the girl. She seemed keen on this fight, she thought, tilting her head to the side as she gave her a once over.  “If I lose the next round’s on me and I’ll show you a little magic trick, and if I win …”, she hesitated for a moment, eyes flicking towards the fighting men, “I’ll get a kiss on the lips and a game of 20 questions with you, how about that?”