sing the song of the sea

When Cain wasn't running his pack, the alpha could always be found within his bar, slinging shots, nursing a whiskey or performing on stage himself when the mood struck him. It always had a rowdy atmosphere of wolves, the scent of blood on the dirt road out front, not an uncommon thing given how many brawls broke out between wolves over the smallest of things.

But one simple rule was always followed - you didn't piss off the boss.

Although it seemed that night - one wolf in particular hadn't gotten the message. When he'd started pestering a couple of Nepenthe she-wolves that liked to enjoy the rum and juke - Cain had clocked him, sharp green eyes watching the outsider as he poured another round of drinks. As soon as the outsider had overstepped, the Alpha had struck. One hand like a steel vice around the wolf's throat, blood red eyes holding his gaze until the outsider looked away with a submissive whimper.

"I ain't gonna tell you twice. Next time I see you pesterin' my pack, thinkin' your some big dick-swingin' dog around my bar - I'll paint the road with your guts. Got it?" Cain growled, voice low, deadly.

What a fucking moron.

There were a handful of her clients from both the Ghouliard and Sinsation that she would attend on "dates" with, all for a pretty and hefty price at the end. Sometimes they weren't too bad. She has even enjoyed some of them, making it highly known by staying the knight with them. But then, there were the ones that were painfully humiliating. The ones where she'd give anything to throw her drink in the other's face and leave.

Again: the money was too good. So she remains stuck, enduring the bullshit until it's time for her to leave.

Karma's such a beautiful bitch.

Deniz had been sipping away and speaking with some wolves she knew, her date trying to look like a badass by flirting with a pack of she-wolves while ignoring her existence, when there was a sudden commotion. She had glance up to see the alpha handing his shit back to him and smirked, averting her gaze with a smirk. Until one of her friends asked if she was going to intervene. Sighing heavily, she took another sip.

Zane lifted his hands up, palms facing out, as if he was surrendering. "I am not here to lecture you." He didn't consider himself a bad boss. He trusted that if his employees needed a break, that they'd take it. He didn't mind. Their health -- physical and mental -- meant more to him than customers that might be sad or annoyed for a few minutes due to the break.

In terms of bosses, Zane Patel certainly was one of the good ones. At least, he made working at Sinsation easier. Her features softened at the sight of him and she began to relax again. "Here to give me a pep talk instead?" Deniz joked, resting her head against the wall. Of all the people who have entered her life since everything changed, he was one of those that she was, admittedly, grateful to have now.

"Someone sure was trigger-happy." The mermaid smirked in amusement having witnessed the scene for a time. Brought along as date by one of her regulars, Deniz had been attempting to pass the time by people-watching. Seeing who she might recognize, and then imagining the lives of those she didn't. As long as her regular was getting fed and felt happy for their night together afterward, she held no complaints.

Surprisingly, Heathcliff often enjoyed spending time at the beaches lining The Ocean, especially when the moon was bright and it was less likely for someone to be around - not that the vastness of the shoreline was a particularly busy place otherwise, whether through the sandy beaches, pebbled gulfs or rocky cliffs; it was the nature at its wildest, tinged with a hint of salt in the air. With a light hooded coat over his shoulders, for the night was chilly especially so close to the wide expanse of water, he walked along the shore with unhurriedness of someone admiring the Mother in all her wild glory with a melancholy yearning for it. Until he’d found a particularly nice spot to linger around, the view ahead of him beautiful to gaze at. He'd fancied he'd seen a gathering of glittering fish beneath the surface of the restless waters but it could also just be the moonlight dancing on the waves. He lingered, emerald eyes lost to the distance before he bent over to pick up a rounded, shiny pebble off the ground, rubbing its smooth shape between his long, elegant fingers. That was when his eyes sharpened, the points of his ears knifing through shoulder-length, curling hair picking up on a sound that was not made by his surroundings but rather someone in it, disturbing it. He should've known better. This world was too dangerous for casual strolls on foreign territory, even if just following the river eastward would easily bring anyone to the ocean's edge. The ocean was still a home to some - a cruel, foreign, deep and dark home but a home nevertheless and thus not deserted, it's shores not only Heathcliff's to haunt. Or was the sound coming from the surrounding shrubbery and forest trees? There was a road nearby, decrepit and neglected as it was, it was still used by weary travelers, merchant caravans, and whatever scattered armies and guerilla fighters pushing their own selfish causes needed it. Or monsters. Every corner of this world hid all sorts of monsters in human shape, lurking in the dark.

Heathcliff tensed, stood perfectly still and listened, eyes piercing through bright moonlight in attempt to spy anything at all that would tell him whether he was in danger or not, the picked up pebble still in his tight grip.

It did not happen what the day before brought out. Nor what the night ahead held in store. Returning home, letting the salty waves of the ocean course over her, made Deniz believe that maybe, just maybe, life will be alright again. That her siblings will be face, her parents' will know peace, and vengeance will finally be hers. No matter how long she bid her time to form a plan; everything will be as she wishes them to be. No matter what. No matter who may disagree. The opinions of any other creatures mattered not to her. Especially not the brethren of that bastard.

Now, Deniz recognizes that the friends of her enemy might enact their own revenge against her. She understands that far too perfectly, hence why she was taking her time by forming a plan instead of acting without thought. With each passing day, and the more she felt their touch on her being, the more she found herself growing closer to forgo her patience. Only for that touch to go lower and her forgetting ever wanting to tear them to shreds to begin with.

Growling softly in frustration, Deniz breached the water. The biting air bringing goosebumps to her skin while she gaze up at the night sky. Yet she didn't waste time taking a minute for herself: someone else was here. Tensing up and dark eyes beginning to search, they soon landed on the Fae. Quite some distance between them, yet she knew better than to underestimate other species.