tooth & claw

He had been too busy when they first moved to thinking about it too much, but moving to someplace as mundane as Colchester had been a very strange experience. The world hadn't felt fully alive the way it had in Swynlake - like it was missing something vital. Felix hadn't thought the lack of magic would bother him, being as Mundane as they came, but he'd still felt it. Being back home felt like being back in a world full of color.

"I'm glad you're enjoying it! Swynlake really is a lovely place if you've got the nerves for it. Especially in the winter!" He unscrewed the next dead bulb and quickly replaced it while he talked. "The winter fairies really outdid themselves this year!"

"Oh, don't you worry about me, I've got nerve." Mitte calls up with a wry twist of her mouth, "actually, I camp out by the lake sometimes- not as often as I used to- and being the first to see it frozen over always felt like something special." She bobs her head in a nod, "sure gets the festivities flowing different than any other place I've been."

Actually, she'd spent her first winter here living in some families attic, and even that had felt distinctly cozy in a way it didn't usually.

The face looking across at him was familiar but not enough to place it. Banzai also found himself preoccupied with the stress of life…or his infatuation with his girlfriend. Even she was gone now - taking care of whatever she needed to. Banzai respected it but the resentment and stress built.

Why was he always left alone. To figure it out.

So hell yeah it tracked - Banzai was at some bar nearly every night.

“Happy Pixies is gone.” Banzai snarked. “Place was a shithole” was it really? No. Was it tied to the steaming pile of shit that was MAFIA? Yes. Was it owned by probably the worst individual in the world? Yes. So sue him for being happy it was gone. “Happy they’ve turned that around. Swynlake is interesting..” Banzai only offered a playful laugh as he agreed with what Max had to say.

The conversation also seemed to flow so naturally - which was rare. Banzai always felt on guard when meeting strangers and there was also some judgment or pointed eyes. Clocking his sinister demeanor - or so he thought. “I am in grad school over at the university. Magizoology.” Which Banzai was actually proud of. “Then I sort of dabble in family business. My father is a politician over in the states and is the head of our family.” Banzai rolled his eyes at the last bit. “So I’m always on call.”

"Magizoology and politics? Sounds like a couple of pretty different hats to be trying to wear all the time." Mitte says with something like empathy, leaning against the bar a bit heavier, "you ever just tell your old man you're busy with your own shit?"

She hoped he didn't- she hoped she could convince him to try and ruin his own life in one covnersation at bar. There was something powerful in it she was craving, even more than his blood right now.

He raised an eyebrow at the mention of being pulled into a book. That could happen? The one town dream that he had experienced had been so idyllic in comparison, almost boring compared to dealing with an axe murderer.

"Been here for one, yeah, but it was nothing like that. Are they usually so... violent?" This town never failed to surprise him. If that was the norm, he wanted to be mentally prepared to deal with it.

There had been a twist of irony about the whole thing, her being a lumberjack and all, if she was recalling it correctly.

She drops into a chair at a nearby table and resists the impolite urge to kick her feet up at the desk, "there's been some cool shit too- I was a well rich lady on the titanic, I was a spy one time..." She waves a hand in a bit of a 'and so on' gesture, "they're fun, makes things feel fresh I guess- you never know who you'll end up making friends with."

But of course, as soon as there was a mention of an apartment, Johnny forgot all about Enchantra. Nor did he really listen to anything about it being a work in progress, or cobbled together - who cared anyways? "I'm getting invited back?" He asked, teasing lightly as he reached for his drink again.

She has the grace to play coy for a moment when he asks about getting invited back, then gives him a grin, all teeth. "I do have to see your dancing before I can confirm or deny, but the odds are in your favour so far." Mitte wiggles her shoulders a little and glances towards the little dancefloor, then back at Johnny. "It's my round, if you need another drink first."

But they weren't on a job site, so he kept his mouth shut and stretched his arm out. He held the bulb up victoriously, letting out a short laugh as she applauded him.

A part of him expected her to carry on walking, but was pleasantly surprised when she struck up conversation instead. He welcomed it gladly. "It's my first year doing it for Castle Suites," he said, not looking away from his work even as he talked. "Just got hired on this year! But I used to do it at my last house every year, and the family home before that! It actually was on the same corner." He gestured towards where the old block had been before it was expanded on. "This used to be more family homes before they got torn down."

Felix had known about the demolition as soon as it had been announced, learning about it from his mother -- who had heard it through the grapvine -- during a family dinner. He'd had time to make peace with it, though the thought still made a par tof him twinge with what might have been homesickness.

It was weird, living on the block you grew up on but never being able to go home again. He wondered for a moment how Ralph felt about it.

"What about you?" he asked. "Been in town long?"

Torn down family homes weren't anything to write home about, admittedly, but at least it told her he like to chat. Mitte stuck her hands back in her pockets and rocked back on her heels to watch him, "few years now. Long enough to see a few places come and go, not long enough to find local happenings run of the mill." Some people woke up from those dreams and could just shrug their shoulders and carry on- she hadn't mastered that yet, always dwelled for a few days. "Reckon I'll be here a while though, got a lot going on for such a small place to keep a lady entertained."

Usually use to the driver seat - he was ready to humor her with the idea only to provide something he didn't really think through much. Little miss thing though really brought it though. It was the change in the cars direction that got his attention. Leaning forward Buster looked up and out the window. They had entered the estate. The long winding road that led its way through the willows - with the old grey castle looming just over a small hill.

"I'll be your muscle then darlin. You be whoever it is you fancy to be." He looked to to her and threw he head back towards the window. "Its show time."

"Don't get me wrong dear, I think you look awful pretty." She fawned, batting her lashes a bit, "it just doesn't really say... Collector of stolen royal jewels." She rolled down her own window to get a better look, zeroing in on the castle in the distance, giving a low whistle. "Damn. This is fancy fancy, okay. Better remember my manners." She ran her tongue across her teeth and smoothed out her dress.

Once they'd parked up she inconspicously checked her breath as she stepped out of the car, making sure it wasn't coppery- not a good place to be giving off weird vibes, if she could help it. Some people just sensed something.

"Do you know the folks we're dealing with? Worked with them before?" She asked as the knock on the door rang out across a quiet estate, hearing footsteps too early to say anything about them. "If this is a private sale, I can't imagine it'll really take all that long anyway, god forbid outsiders linger too long on their ground."

Maybe he would work on learning something useful. He couldn't exactly go to university, not having been to any other formal schooling, but he could learn some skills that could help people or something. He'd have to look into what options were out there for that.

"Well, I got these recommendations from some friends." He looked at his list, which ranged from Shakespeare to manga, not sure what on the list would be good for her. "You can look it over, if you want."

Stiles was starting to seem like a pretty dry well, but hey ho. She shuckled a bit at the reccomendation list, recognizing some but not a lot. "Shakespeare?" Mitte pulled a bit of a face, "oy, you migth have some boring friends, sorry. Don't believe the hype, Romeo and Juliet is a bunch of nonsence." Not that she'd ever read it, but everyone knew that story. "Star-crossed my ass, needed to get their acts together."

She taps a familiar entry on the list, "haven't read those, but Swynlake pulled us all into it once. You been around for any of those funky dreams yet?" Mitte hummed, a laugh a little too slow to be all the way real, "got hacked to death by a guy with an axe. Interesting time, for sure... Probably won't be as fun to re-live, though."

“Banzai.” He said with a slick smile. “Banzai Bungu.” As if that would mean anything to her. Banzai knew it might but this Max would have to be well connected enough to know of him and his family.

“Feel free to exploit the tab. I could buy us a couple bottle as a corner of this joint if I wanted.” Banzai bragged a bit. “Just didn’t think o needed to put out like that tonight. Plus you’ve got your own tab.” He held up his beer “I took you up on the offer. A treat - thanks Miss Max.”

Her cocktail arrived and she gently clinked glasses with him, holding her glass to her lips and taking a tiny sip that looked bigger, "I've seen you here a few times, I think." Like she doesn't have perfect recall, "Swynlake nightlife can be a little strange, places are never closed down for a normal reason but half the crowd ain't normal, either."

She looks over like she's analyzing him, and tries not to get distracted by stray hairs or the way the collar of his shirt is a little wonky. "You seem normal enough, for now. What do you do during the day?"

“Don’t have much of a story. Nah.” He shook his head a bit. “I only did so much research on the original owners. Can’t pretend to be connected there…at least not in the main line - these buyers could know and put us.” That was the last thing Buster wanted - to be outed.

“We could though play a part. I love a good game.” A smile broke through when she pegged him for nervous.

“Nah not nervous but if you want to play a cover then darlin spin us a story…I’ll buy in.”

"Let's think... We could be wealthy collectors... We've seen pretty much everything worth a damn on the right side of the tracks and we want the stuff that really wows." Mitte shifted a bit in her seat to look him up and down, "even in your fancy threads you don't really hit that mark... Maybe you're the muscle. People never peg the lady for the thief anyway. This is going to be fun." She grinned, "last thing I shifted was some art work- y'know, the big castle? Didn't need a story for that though, used an old contact I had in London." She waved a hand, "kinda a long time ago now, but I don't live flashy. I reckon you're moving a bit more gear than I do with my one man band."

Laughing lightly, he said, "I think there's worse things in that forest than bears." He wouldn't be camping out there, that was for sure. He didn't even really like walking through it in broad daylight, let alone spending the night there. She was either brave or stupid, or maybe a mix of the two.

"You don't have any Enchantra related horror stories?" Johnny asked, eyebrow arching as he took another sip of his drink.

She waved a hand like it was no big deal, tethered and untameable all at once. "And I only go out there if I think the place is in a good mood- were you here when it was growing those poisonous flowers? Fiesty place, for sure." Mitte nodded, a smile curving her lips, "don't worry, I also have an apartment in town so you won't get invited back to a tent." She pauses for a second, fingernails drumming against the table, "it is a little cobbled together right now- I moved from a furnished place to unfurnished, so she's a work in progress."

@poor-princejohn

Eyes bouncing up and down trying to see if he recognized her at all but he didn't. "Well Max I might go do just that....whenever you're done with all this." Banzai simply looked at whoever she was spending her time with and rolled his eyes. He was better company than them. No doubt. "Why don't you find me at the bar."

So she excused herself from her friend and nipped to the ladies room, tipping the remnants of her cocktail down the sink and looking in the mirror for a moment. Her makeup didn't tend to move these days unless someone else was smudging it. She didn't sweat or cry, so everything looked fine.

There was a crowd, and she meandered through it slowly to get back to the bar, finding him mid order and setting her empty glass down, signaling to a bartender for a fresh one. "You got a name of your own, then..?" She asked, leaning with one hip against the bar and fluffing a hand through her hair. "Don't worry- if there's a tab under it I won't exploit it." Mitte wouldn't be paying hers anyway, so it didn't matter.

At this point, the streets had stopped pulling tricks on him and he rarely got lost. Still, there were things about town that continued to surprise him.

"Oh, awesome. Good habbit, keeps the brain active." She nods enthusiastically, as if she has to worry about her brain deteriorating. "Me? Yeah, just for fun, too. My full time education days are way, waay behind me." She chuckles, "sometimes I think about going back to uni part time to learn something useful, like accounting or shit, but then I remember I'd rather die." Not that she'd ever been to uni in the first plaace, but Mitte just imagined it as a unique kind of hell. "Got any good reccomendations? I could use a new trilogy to sink my teeth into, or something."

"Could you do me a kindness and pass it up to me? I'd greatly appreciate it!"

He didn't recognize her, but she moved with too much confidence to be a tourist. She must have moved here after he left.

"Can you catch good?" She decided to ask, tossing the bulb a little way up and catching it back in her palm as it started to drop, "I've got a good arm, and the snow is decent enough to cushion its fall." She pretends to squint at the bulb to make sure it isn't damaged. She was actually better at kicking a ball than throwing it herself, but her sight had to be sharp enough to make this easy.

He makes the catch though, and she gives him a little good natured round of applause as he sets back to work, "don't think I've ever caught you stringing up the Christmas lights before," Mitte hums, "you do it every year?"

"Ah, just family stuff. I grew up on the Isle of Wight." He said, before shaking his head. "Which is nowhere near as fun as Europe and actually incredibly boring. I have travelled a fair bit, though. Been to a few places in Europe, out to North America. Greece is nice, but admittedly I've only been on a lads holiday out there, so I didn't really get to appreciate the culture." He added with a wry smile.

She nods along as he starts talking about travelling instead, "aaahh, all sweaty clubs and hangovers on the beach, was it?" Mitte can only put it together from bad bbc three reality shows and the like, one of those cliche expereinces she'd never had the money or the friends for. "I guess culture is important too, though I'm more about people, honestly. And good food." She tries not to make that sound like an afterthought- though really, she did wonder if the blood of a sun-baked greek would taste any different...

"I guess once I'm out there I can pick up reccomendations as I go for the next place to check out. North America might be a little far for me- awesome lakes out there though, right? Maybe one day." Mitte wasn't sure if she'd ever trust herself in a metal tube for that long surrounded by beating hearts, btu there had to be a few short trips she could take to get her closer.

She goes to sip her drink, and starts talking again before it actually hits her mouth, "I mean, not that our lake isn't lovely at the right time of year, and we don't have to worry about bears. Camped out by there a few times myself."

“Aw, darn it.”

Felix stared at the hole in the snow that was the only sign of where the replacement bulb had fallen, a helpless expression on his face. Even though he’d tested and checked the lights on the strands a half-dozen times before hanging them on the building, there were already a few dead bulbs that needed to be replaced. It was a common problem in Swynlake thanks to all of the magic in the air, and especially in the winter time when tourism was at its peak, so luckily Felix had already ordered plenty of replacements.

But he did have to put them up himself, which is what led to this situation he was in now. Two stories up on a ladder in the snow, looking down at the ground that felt miles away

Ugh, he really did not want to climb all the way back down for one bulb, but it was the only green bulb he had left! He couldn’t just put a red bulb in instead, it would ruin the pattern and drive him mad!

It was a bit annoying to have to wear them herself, but by now she'd figured out leather gloves with silky linings were more comfortable on her senses than the cotton kind, and the right kind of earmuffs hardly muffled her superior hearing.

She was pretty sure she'd actually heard the whiz and thump of something falling into the snow, but hadn't really considered it her problem until someone had called out to her. She squinted up at him, quirking a brow at him up a ladder alone, in the snow. "You drop something, pal?" She guessed, "see where it went?"