lupus iustitiae

Riley didn’t belong in his life. Not down here in the dirt and blood where Lazkano’s curse had already spread through him like a deadly disease, eating everything good, everything human, piece by piece. He shook his head at her now, weak but insistent, his back still pressed to the tree. "You don’t… you don’t owe me this," voice breaking halfway through. "Don’t… don’t lie for me, don’t…"

He could only breathe a faint sigh of relief when she didn’t fight him on it, when she followed his instructions without argument. He didn’t know how long he could last out here — how long he could hold the line without hurting her. He couldn’t bear the thought of it.

When the line connected and she spoke with Arleen, the wolf listened to every word. Voices muffled but cutting just enough to remind him what was at stake. Yuisa couldn’t know, could she? No, she had the pack to take care of. Someone had to keep them together while Arleen kept him at bay. There was no one else. When the call finally died in her hand, he let out a quiet, hoarse: "Thank you."

But there was still one more thing she had to do. "Tell Liam—" a shaky hand stopped her before she could dial, reaching out weakly for her. "—don’t call. Just text him to get my daughter. She gets scared when she’s left waiting too long. Thinks something’s happened to me… I don’t— I don’t want her to be afraid."

Matteo silences that when he thanks her, and it sits, rancid in the pit of their stomach because why is he thanking her for locking him up? How is this supposed to help anyone? But he asks her to do one more thing and she doesn't have the heart to say no. Instead, they lift up his phone once more and scroll until they find Liam's contact information and they quickly type out a message.

"Pick up Addie, please. I'll explain later."

They don't know if the syntax is right, or if Teo even really texts like this, can't think back to the slew of messages that are stored in their own phone because so much shit is flying through their brain. They shove the phone back into their pocket and look back at the man. They want to ask for details. What is going on? Why is he asking her to betray him like this?

But the words stick in their throat and she stays silent until sensitive ears pick up on the crunch of gravel and the murmur of voices, the sharp scent of wolves following them soon after. "They're here," she says quietly and Riley carefully peers around the trees. "We're over here," she calls out. "I'm gonna bring him over closer to the road."

This is the last thing any of them need right now -- not her, not Yuisa, not Anish, not even Matteo. But it's happening and if that self-righteous thorn in her side Riley is offering an olive branch of aid to Warwick, she's not gonna bite the kid's arm off. She's not gonna play fetch with it neither, but this is bigger than them.

She makes the call not to get her Alpha involved yet, though. Not after how things went down with Mario so recently. There's ways around this.

Arleen makes the excuse to cut out from work and very few of her fellow officers worry too much about it. They know she's got 'special needs' and other business. So once she clears the outside of the precinct, she's making calls to a few Warwicks she knows she can trust -- not just to get her there, not just to find Matteo, but also not to cause a war just for the fun of it.

She hates being carried, but out where they're at, the wheelchair's more trouble than it's worth. Not far to go, at least. It's the redhead and three others -- they know Teo, know what happened to his father, but don't know what's happening here and now. Arleen's ears perk to the sound of Riley's otherwise annoying voice. She cants her head towards the sound and her crew follows.

"Jesus Christ," she mutters, anger muddled and misplaced over everyone involved here. "What the fuck happened? What the fuck is happening? We can take him from here, you've... done enough, I'm sure." Arleen nearly bites her tongue trying to soften it. This doesn't mean anything in the grand scheme -- Warwick doesn't owe Takeda anything for the courtesy. But it's good to see some wolves haven't completely forgotten that those who are born to it are all one breed, in the end.

"Teo... what am I gonna do with you?"

Arleen can't hide the little growl in her throat the mention of Avi and Matteo. It's the last thing either of them need to be dealing with tonight -- the redhead has already spotted Sammy, who sometimes pops around the police station thanks to his dad's position on the squad. It's too much. Can't they just enjoy the night? Yuisa should be celebrated and respected, not expected to bend over backwards for the delegations who want to discuss vampires running roughshod over the town thanks to the work of a few witches.

"Yeah, we can just hold hands," she promises, threading her fingers in between Yuisa's. "None of that bullshit right now, I promise. I know you'll represent us with pride, gorgeous." Arleen looks up at Yuisa and offers her best reassuring smile. She always looks up to her Alpha, for many reasons. Doesn't envy her for the diplomacy of it all.

Not so run of the mill, actually. He knew something big was supposed to be happening, politically, but most of what he’d heard was buzz about vampires and witchy jewelry. “What’s your pack? I’m not really up to date on all the specifics of the politics happening here.” 

First to admit it, huh? She hopes that isn't a mistake on her part. Still, it's more likely than not that either strong booze or vampiric compulsion will dull the edge on his mind tonight. At the least, Arleen doubts a kid like Sammy could be too dangerous with this sort of information. He's sweet, sure, but just a mite goofy -- makes it harder to take him seriously once they're all back on the outside.

It's one small advantage to her position, not really making a convincing wolf to those who doubt you can be a monster and be in a wheelchair at once.

It's calming, the scent of her. "Mm, I like the way you say our town."

It's nice, being able to be more forward here. There's no media here. This isn't an open event. They can be less cautious. Sometimes, she hates how useful a wolf inside the police is, because it makes... them... so difficult. She'd never tell Arleen to quit, but she often wishes she would; go private. Let her have her cake and eat it, too.

She does notice the occasional judgemental view askance towards some of the visiting packs, and her eyes drift over towards Arleen, expression stoning over. "Do I need to start something?"

Arleen gingerly brushes her thumb over Yuisa's cheek as she holds it there. "These territories and treaties are all nice and pretty on paper, but the real lines are drawn in the dirt. Families might share blood, but unless you're willing to bleed for your pack too, what's the point of it all?"

But so long as everyone else is trading on paper, looking at those lines neatly inked on the maps and beneath signatures, Arleen will leverage her position to give Warwick its four legs up.

“I, uh... I don’t know if this crossed your desk, but do you remember that body I found a couple months ago? The animal attack?” He asked, air quotes around the words animal attack, pausing to find the right words. He still didn't like thinking about the sight of it. “The vampire was still there when I found him. I didn’t put that in the official report, because... yknow, terrifying night man chewing on a neck, but I told my best friend, and he admitted to being a witch. Everything just kind of domino’d from there. But, enough about that, what are you doing here?”

"I've never knowingly been around this many supernaturals before."

The way he says it brings a genuine chuckle out of Arleen. Oh, the things the humans of Port Leiry don't know could fill a book and a half. Still, she wonders what Sammy's real thoughts about all of this are. Is he hungry for more? Foolhardy enough to dig below the surface on something he really ought not to?

"You're gonna have to be a mite more specific, Sammy," Arleen says, "Lotta animal attacks cross my desk." But she thinks she knows the one he means. Certainly wasn't one of the ones she doctored to cover up someone else's indiscretions.

"You met a vampire and a witch already? Wow. You've just about run the gamut." She's not exactly trying to be patronizing, but she's amused. This is fun -- not often she gets to do this. And being best friends with a witch... she wonders why the Keels boy wasn't exposed to all of this sooner. "You do have to be careful around those vampires. Lucky you weren't bit too."

Someday, if he's not careful, he'll cross her desk in the worst way.

“Oh, my dad’s not here. He thinks I’m staying the night at my friend’s apartment, and, uh... could you not mention any of this to him, actually?” Sammy said, lowering his voice a bit as if he was trying to keep a secret from being overheard. “He doesn’t know about the non-human side of the city, which seems to be a lot of the city. My best friend’s a witch, he got me through the door, but he’s...” He looked around. Everett was still off in another part of the ballroom, “Mingling, I think? I didn’t think that I’d recognize so many people here. Like you!”

"Oh, I won't tell him. I know how to keep a secret," Arleen says, smiling to herself like it's the funniest thing in the world. "That is, so long as you don't do anything worth gettin' arrested over." The wolf hardly has to worry about him, she's sure. But who knows what a party like this could entail.

"You've got a witch friend, huh? Interesting." The ease with which the words come off his lips have her wondering just what all he knows already. Funny, Arleen's never really thought of Sammy as a smart kid -- but knowing he's the one with his eyes open, while his old man has no clue... Interesting. "Yeah, well, Port Leiry is always full of surprises."

She wonders, then, just how much he knows about the 'animal attacks' and other cases they're always dealing with at the station.

She's already found Avi, already found the meek little red-head from Eventide, already scouted out wherever Lihuén is, and it's the ire, it's the fucking cornered dog feeling she's starting to feel. Berzerker had been a bust, poilitically speaking, but getting the deal settled with one of Ru Huang's wolves sympathetic to The Cause had given her a small boost of confidence that, disagreements or no, not everybody was angled against her here.

She hands a glass to Bailey, she catches a glimpse of Avi nearby, and a snarling expression overtakes her features and she balks.

"They don't fucking see the vision, here, I feel like a fucking pariah."

A Butterfly Witch flits by, giggling, and she can almost feel glass cracking under a too-tight grip. "Jesus."

She sips her drink. "What's your read?"

Arleen takes the glass that's offered, her claw-tipped rings gently clinking against it's surface. She looks up at Yuisa and sees the tension twitching in her jaw, furrowing her brow line.

The wheelchair-bound wolf is worried about her own optics beside the Alpha, knowing that not everyone would agree that an injured packmate could still have value. The Berserkers were smart enough not to say as much, but she knows when someone's looking at her versus looking down at her. She's gotten used to that, from her vantage. Arleen just hopes she isn't making things difficult for Yuisa.

"Everything is shiny and new, on both sides of the coin," she says, eyes and ears scanning the room and its throngs. "We're quaint, to them. They're exotic, to us. But this is our territory -- yeah, the building's neutral, but it all comes back to Warwick. Even the Hassims, even the Lazkanos."

Then they would take away his kid. And who else did she have, if not him? His brother was nowhere to be found and even if someone did hand Addie over to Cesar, what good would that do? The same curse ran through his veins. Was he even alive anymore? Matteo hadn’t heard from him in years. She’d be ripped from his hands and swallowed by the system. Placed in some foster home with strangers who didn’t know her laugh or how she liked her eggs. Liam would try to hold onto her, Matteo knew that much. He’d ruin himself trying. He still had his own ghosts to battle, and he wasn’t ready to be anyone’s father, no matter how hard he tried.

"They’ll take her from me," Matteo said, the words escaping in a choked breath. "My baby girl — they’ll take her away." You’d never hurt your kid, Riley had said. But they were wrong. This was already hurting her. He shook his head, violently now. "Riley—" his voice cracked like a fault line, like everything inside him was splitting wide open.

They were finally willing to listen, it seemed, and for the sake of getting through to them, Matteo paused, all movement ceasing: "Riley, I need you to understand. I’ve been managing this — this condition for most of my life. My brother, and my father— It’s hereditary. A bloodline curse." Matteo tried to explain, but words came out broken and wobbly, uneven — "It wears you down, piece by piece, until the line between you and the animal becomes impossible to distinguish." One hand still gripped onto them, holding on for dear life. "That’s how my father died. He—he was gone, Riley. I walked into that house and he didn’t even know who I was.” His gaze flickered up to meet theirs, hollow and dark. "He looked at me like I was nothing. And I’m telling you this because I know, I know —that’s where I’m headed."

But Matteo's lands cut through the problem-solving and planning mode they've instinctively fallen into. It's more than just the wolf that Riley had assumed. They've never heard of curses beyond the general one that afflicts all werewolves, though they're starting to realize that there's a lot about this side of the world that they simply are unaware of, despite having been part of it her entire life.

Riley admits that they don't know how to grasp this desperation. Their parents never wanted them, never cared for them so openly like this. When they packed up and left, they never even got a hint of whether they were looking, a suspicion that was only confirmed a decade later. But the way Matteo looks at them, it's genuine terror and Riley takes a deep breath.

"Arleen Bailey?" they say skeptically. If this is what it takes to get Matteo to stop fighting them and get him someplace where he can fall apart with less eyes watching, then they can swallow their pride. This goes beyond what they can do with their connections and it lights an uncomfortable fire in their stomach when they acknowledge that internally.

They press the older wolf against the trunk of a tree, hidden in the shadows. They think about all of the trace evidence that they are leaving behind and hopes that whatever protocol they have in place at the police department knows how to handle this. Fishing Matteo's phone out of his pocket, they scroll through the contacts and find the number they're looking for, leaving behind a bloody thumbprint on the screen as they press call, speaking as soon as they hear the other wolf pick up.

"Don't talk and listen to me. Matteo got himself in trouble and he said you should be looped in. The woods on the edge of the city, over by the diner on 22nd. I don't know what kind of clean up crew y'all have for these kinds of things, but you need to send one here, and-" They look back over at Matteo, lips pinched into a thin line. "And I think you're going to need to lock him up." The very thought makes nausea roll through Riley's stomach, but they don't know what other option there is right now.

It's a busy enough day at the precinct, but Arleen always has time for a call from a fellow packmate. Matteo doesn't usually call without warning, though, so the wolf has no time to excuse herself from the bullpen before she picks up. "Teo, what's --"

But the voice on the other end of the line isn't his. It takes her a moment to place it, even with heightened hearing across the filter of cellular transmission. That Takeda kid -- what are they doing with Matteo's phone? The officer thinks of barking back, but Riley gets there first, all but telling her to keep her trap shut. Arleen eyes her coworkers around the office and growls low in frustration.

Teo's in trouble? Christ...

Better sell the act -- Arleen isn't on any official PLPD equipment but she sandwiches the phone between her ear and shoulder, and sets to taking some notes. It's chicken scratch, no one looking over her shoulder would be able to make a lick of sense of it. Takeda mentions cleanup and already, Arleen knows she's looking at Warwick resources, not official police stuff. Can she do this without looping in Yuisa? Does she want to?

"God damn it, Matteo," she mutters. But the other wolf's suggestion of locking him up... It makes the dog in Arleen barking mad at the notion. That's one of theirs. Ain't no way he's succumbing to his curse already, so soon after his father had to be put down. Two dead Warwicks -- hell, two dead Lazkanos in twice as many months isn't a good sign. Especially with Teo's younger brother sniffing Harford tail... with the littler Hassim too. Fuck.

"I'll do what's best for the pack," she growls low into the phone receiver. "Don't fuckin' move, I'll get a team out there in 30."

If Arleen really does have to lock him up, it won't be in the station. If he's really that bad, she's going to have to start making the call on what's best for the good of others. Damn it, she has to do this without dragging Yuisa into it, even if she's reluctant to work with that packless brat besides.

The next bit was... not exactly what Olivia wanted to hear. Not that she can trust them — it was a relief hearing that from Arleen — but trusting herself? That had always been an issue. She could see where she was coming from, absolutely, Warwick was a lot, much more than she expected them to be, and Olivia absolutely wanted to keep up and be on the same level as everyone, but that was much easier said than done. Olivia just didn't have the edge her packmates did, no matter how you cut it. "I promise I'll do my best. I don't know how that looks like yet, I'm still figuring it out, but I'll do it for the pack." A beat. "I'm very thankful for Yuisa for taking me in, I want to help her too. I didn't even know she's a new Alpha, she doesn't look like it if you ask me, but I'm definitely on her side."

Olivia really appreciated Arleen's words. Yeah, Yuisa was a really good guide when it came to wolf stuff, but it was very clear now that she needed to talk to someone else from the pack, someone who'd been there for a long time, to feel more comfortable about the day-to-day of being a Warwick. She'd give her a hug right now if it that wasn't weird.

"I can hack it," she nodded confidently, "can't say I won't stumble every now and then while I'm still learning, but I'm here for the long haul. I want people to rely on me and I want to rely on everyone too. That's actually very important to me. Being a part of a community like this? It's all I've always wanted," she gave her a sincere smile. "And not that you need to hear me from me, I think you are a pretty badass wolf just the way you are. I'm really glad that I'm on your team"

"Well, we'll help you figure it out. Better than muddling around without a pack -- or worse, the wrong pack. But you'll have to learn to run quickly enough so we don't leave you behind," she says. It's not meant to be a threat -- but the name Warwick comes with a certain degree of authority around here, as well as an expectation of strength, certainty, and responsibility.

"That's the thing. A true Warwick is always prepared to assert themselves, even against a failing Alpha. Yui had that strength in her all along, so she wasn't afraid to do what was needed, and we'll all be much better off for it."

Mario Lazkano wasn't willing to let go when he needed to, and ended up clinging to other Warwicks and dragging them down in the process. Arleen knows it can't be easy for Matteo and his particular sickness, to sit and wait and think he's going to be next on the chopping block. But if he sits and wallows in it, it'll only bring the pack down. They'll protect him 'til it starts becoming a problem rather than a boon.

"And I know Yui won't say it in so many words, but she's on your side too. Your side is Warwick, and she sees a lot of potential in you. I do too, but, she's the one callin' the shots, a'course," she nods. The girl's sincerity is sweet, and Arleen can see that blossoming into a ferocity if they hone it just right.

After all, wolf strength doesn't just come from hate, rage, and hunger. It also comes from love, in its way. It's a love that uses claws and fangs and snapping jaws to say I love you, I'd kill for you, you are my family. Yuisa didn't kill Mario because she hated him. No, the way Arleen sees it, she killed him because she loved Warwick so much, she needed to see it thrive.

"I'll tell you this -- back home, in Kansas, I made some bad decisions that hurt my pack. I thought I was doin' what was right at the time, but turns out it wasn't. Thought I knew best, but I was wrong. Warwick's my second chance, and I don't take that lightly. If you have questions, if you need help, you come to us 'fore you get too deep into some trouble. M'kay?"

She doesn't want to entertain what will need to be done, and she knows she doesn't need to with Arleen. She's relatively certain she doesn't need to worry with Anish and Matteo, but even so - folks have gone soft before under pressure. "Either of them flip and we've got a pack war on our hands. The new woman who took over Garnett is useless. Eventide's full of mongrels intermingling with truebloods, and their Alpha is a fucking runt besides, only a matter of time before Avi gets his little hooks into that one and turns them vassal.

She hears her phone ding, looks at it with a dawning expression of annoyance.

"We need more blood in, this shit is stagnant."

It's not easy, growing the ranks and maintaining honor at the same time. "We need to cast a wider net, maybe start throwing some of my weight around, put preassure on Vampire interests, see if we can't put a target on Harford's back."

She stands from where she looms over manifests and maps and invoices, moves towards Arleen. Warwick's chief bargaining chip is the Docks. The Shipping. Everyone, everyone in this city goes through the Port Authority, and Warwick's alpha is in control of the Port Authority. It's time to use that. "Gonna need you to be extra diligent, too. Any fuck ups lead you somewhere even near Avi's camp, I need you pulling those threads." The back of her knuckles brush gently over Arleen's forearm arm. "You're gonna be the secret weapon. At the end of the day."

Arleen isn't going to doubt her Alpha. She knows there's a hard line that has to be drawn between family and pack when your family stops being part of your pack. Years ago, she'd put the law above her own pack, and her family drew that line for her. But it's why she's worked doubly hard every day since to show where her loyalties rested. It's why she takes the law into her own grasp and bends it to the pack's needs. Still, Arleen is a little more willing to give Anish and Matteo the benefit of the doubt -- they've done nothing yet to suggest to her they'd be disloyal. She nods firmly.

"I'll keep my ears open. If there's even a hint of them siding with their brothers above Warwick, I'll let you know. Already warned one of those Eventides that my courtesy only goes so far when their Alpha can't keep track of who's biting who."

One of the perks of having access to information from all across the city. It makes this sorta work a little easier.

"I know it's been difficult lately, but... I mean, I know it sounds easy to say'n all, but quality over quantity is gonna outlast any big pack that can't even keep itself on four feet," she suggests. Arleen looks over at Yuisa, eyes soft with a sympathy of frustration she doesn't share with many. Often, there's no sympathy and all frustration.

"At least Olivia's a good kid, and we'll sharpen her fangs yet. And soon as I can crack this bizarre murder case, I'll have a better idea where to start pointing fingers for the humans in the department. Put civilian pressure on another faction, find out who dropped a man in Primrose Park and thought they could get away with it."

Arleen agrees that Harford is especially their biggest liability and the younger Hassim has been running his mouth off in ways she'd like to give him a wallop for. It's a shame Remi Felix is more of a lover than a fighter, because the firefighter and their strength could be just what Warwick needs -- and Arleen and they already have a somewhat decent rapport. Professional, at least. The hairs on her arm stand on end as Yui's knuckles brush over her. She wishes more than anything she could get up and run with her Alpha, take the fight to these mongrels with the earth beneath her feet.

"Anything you need. You have my life, Yuisa, and whatever I can make with it. I'd be lost without Warwick. If folks like Hassim and Lazkano want to throw that away for brothers who've proved their disloyalty... well, we'll give 'em hell."

Unfortunately, there's still a persistent sting loitering about, and it's sobered him to a near uncomfortable degree. It's not about what she says, how she says it, but rather the fact that he can't even bark back the way he wants. Oh, he'd give her a front row seat to all the sass in the world if he could.

His smirk tightens like he's keeping it there just to spite her. Cozying up is interesting when Avi is here more for pleasure than for business. Somewhere along the line on Yuisa's tenure, Warwick clearly have forgotten how to have fun. Checks out, considering the stick up both Arleen and Yuisa's asses. Avi silently snickers to himself about it. There's another pang, because he is truly gutted he can't just give the ribbing right back to her.

When Arleen is done, Avi rolls his eyes again, grabs a glass from a server passing by with a tray of drinks, takes a sip. There's some of that warmth back. He shifts his attention back to Arleen, slowly gestures up and down his own body, then begins to form letters with his free hand. V-I- and his other hand clumsily joins while holding a drink to form a P. A finger then points to Arleen before he swipes the invisible dust off his shoulder with a scoff. You ain't shit.

"You? A VIP?" She scoffs. Even if he were invited, Arleen can hardly imagine whoever invited him considered him truly important. The place stinks of magic, though, and she can only imagine what nonsense he's gotten himself tangled in. That must be why Avi is dead silent -- some witch mercifully took his tongue after they realized how much slobber it was tracking around the club.

"Figures you'd have to have things handed to you. But, hey, look at that -- Yuisa and I are here all the same. Used our heads, and yours seems to have gone loping off into the night."

Arleen scans the room for her partner. As fun as this is, she's trying to enjoy herself too, as much as every half-magical function in this city is business to the Warwicks. She can bark at Avi any damn day, and as much as she doesn't miss his voice, it's a clear waste of her time and energy to be fighting the battle one-sided. She wonders if that poncy vampire woman got someone to take his voice -- might've been better if she ripped out his throat entirely.

"Anyways, I'll tell Yui you said hi. Or would have, if you hadn't made a total fool of yourself and Harford already somehow. If your tongue isn't working, I'd recommend talking out of your ass instead -- since you're already such an expert there, Avi."

who: @howlonwheels

Portside's empty, it's after close - the last few people allowed to stay past that mark had filtered out some time ago, and for the past hour, it's just been Yuisa and Arleen.

Yui's fingers scratch at the scalp beneath her cascade of dark hair as she regards the patina and scratched texture of the old bar top, rather than the info Arleen's brought along for them to go over together. Something is shifting, in the city - something that, if they aren't careful, threatens to run away without them. If it isn't the fucking Vampires, it's Hunters, if not them, then its a bunch of mongrel accidents getting an inflated sense of value.

"We've really gotta take a look into whatever the fuck Hassim is selling to those Harford people. Regular fucking uprising going on with them soon if we don't watch out." She mashes a palm into her forehead, trying to beat back a headache. "His folks all but disown him and he's still pulling it out. Little fucker."

She turns to Arleen, then. "You got any more info on that weird fuckin' corpse?"

Closing time. There's a point when the Portside get quiet, like an exhale. Never perfectly quiet, not for a couple of Warwicks, but quiet enough. When Arleen's away from the hum of her work at the police station, she feels like she can loosen up a little more. Let the wolf have some slack.

There's lots of rumblings, though, that not even a wolf's hearing can pick up. Nose, ears, eyes all together -- and having access to PLPD's resources extends their reach that much further.

"He can bluster all he likes, but without Warwick to back him up and bail him out when he's in trouble, I'm thinkin' he won't be cashing those checks his mouth is writing," Arleen says, having no trouble talking ill of the former packmate. She knows Anish, his brother, has thoughts on all that -- family ties, but pack is family when it comes down to it. She doesn't want to see Avi rehabilitated. She wants to see him punished, or better yet, buried under the weight of his own choices. "But he's resourceful, I'll grant him that."

The redhead drums a few fingers on the bartop where she can reach it. A contemplative hum in her throat. "Not if you're askin' whodunnit. My money's still on some vampire, maybe used to be a witch. I've started runnin' a cipher on the note that was left. Says 'I SEE YOU' but there's symbols in the spaces I can't make much sense of yet. Makes sense, with the fuckin' eye in the forehead. Dunno, it doesn't fit any MO I can find on past kills, even dating far back as the 30s and 40s. So if it's a vampire, it's a new one," the cop explains. "Couldn't smell a lick of wolf on it, though, and I don't think any of the mutt packs are that... creative, let's say."

But Avi decides he wants a refresh if he's going to deal with her. Makes it more fun.

Dumb, brave, and loud, he turns back to press a quick peck to the mask once more. He swears it warms under his lips, swears he can hear it grumble out a low, dry laugh. But he feels magic bloom again beneath his touch - tinged a little differently this time, and thinks nothing of it. His senses must be off. He is absolutely shitfaced, after all.

He opens his mouth to fire back at Arleen, something golden, something devastating, but nothing comes out. Not even a squeak. His fingers come up to rub at his throat, and a sardonic grin stretches across his face because of course. The masks of Khaos seem to be as benevolent as they are cruel.

It stings. But whatever. He's still hot shit. He can still get his point across.

He slaps the back of his hand over his forehead with dramatic flair, as if she's grievously wounded his soul. Then a silent scoff, shake of his head, and roll of his eyes, as if to say Yeah, fucking right. You can't touch me.

So much for loud. Is he miming at her? Arleen has never known Avi to actually shut up, not even when begged for it.

She can't decide if she's delighted or annoyed.

"Seriously? Nothing smart to say? Nothing stupid? I heard you running your jaw off 'round the club all night, Avi, don't tell me you're afraid of the big bad wolf," she mutters, shaking her head. Arleen really doesn't know if she's disappointed he can't speak or more annoyed at the fact he's chosen now of all times to go all dumb on her. And the boy is not an actor, that much she knows for sure.

"Yeah, well, here's one right back," Arleen says, turning both of her middle fingers up at him before reaching again for her drink. "You know, whatever you think you're doin' cozying up to the owners of this place, it won't work. Yui and I are here specifically to make sure you Harfords know your place. There's so many magic folk in here it's makin' me dizzy, but you're not gonna get far swallowing your tongue the first time someone barks back atcha."

Well, Harford isn't the only reason she and Yuisa are here, but it never hurts to have strength in Warwick numbers.