Don't Get Caught.

Juliet chuckled and glanced up, meeting the eyes of an unfamiliar guy. They were both sitting at the bar, just a few seats away from one another. She noticed that he had a soda in his hand. “Well yours won’t ever kick in unless you add some rum to it.” She smiled and took a swig of her drink. She had never seen someone come to a bar to drink a soda. It just wasn’t something that was done often, if ever. 

“I can buy you a drink, if you’d like?” Juliet asked, an eyebrow raising as she smiled. “I mean, a coke is fine, if that’s what you want. I just thought I’d offer an alternative drink.” 

Juliet stood up from her seat and walked slowly to the seat next to him. She hopped up onto the bar stool and twirled it around until she faced him. She crossed her legs and smiled at him. “I’m Juliet, by the way.” She offered her hand towards him. “I come here, more often than I care to admit but I don’t remember ever seeing you, or even introducing myself. Although, maybe I did when I was wasted and I just didn’t know it?” She suggested but shrugged her shoulders. 

Tim put on a mock-surprised face and looked down at his coke can. “You mean... this won’t get me drunk?” He turned his wide eyes back to the woman, face serious for only half a second more before it cracked into a grin. 

“No thank you,” he said in reply to her offer. “If you ordered a drink for me from any of the bar tenders that work here, they’d probably think I’ve been body-snatched or something.” That joke had varying levels of seriousness to it, depending on the bartender. “I don’t drink normally, and the whole staff knows it. Its their favorite topic, practically. A grown man who doesn’t drink,” he rolled his eyes (but it was more fond than annoyed) and shrugged at her as if to say ‘what can you do.’ 

Timothy set his can down as Juliet stood, shifting to face her more when she twisted in her new seat. “Timothy,” he replied shortly as he shook her hand. “I don’t believe we’ve met,” he assured her, retracting his hand from her grip. “I normally don’t visit during business hours.” Timothy nodded at the bartender who set his order down on the counter before walking off to see another customer. “My sister owns the place.”

@timothygardner

Juliet found herself bored, yet again. Sebastian wasn’t around and she didn’t have any plans for that night. She found herself walking to the Pub on the Outskirts of town. It was only a few minutes away from her apartment complex and it was the easiest place to get to by foot. She hated to admit it but she was becoming a regular. 

In her past life, she wasn’t much of a drinker. She had had maybe one or two drinks before. She always liked to stay level headed and focused. But with her new life, it was different. She’d rather be medicated by alcohol and human blood than anything, although, drinking human blood had gotten her into trouble in the past with her friends. She recently chose to try to keep her blood cravings on the down low, especially in a town full of humans.

Juliet made her way into the Pub and took a seat at the bar. She glanced over the menu of drinks but didn’t really have a preferred alcoholic drink. Instead, she ordered a lemonade and vodka to start with. Juliet stared down at her drink, using the small straw to push the ice around in the cup. 

Timothy was never really a drinker. He’d had a few on his twenty first birthday, but only after Nathan had goaded him into it. “It’s a rite of passage, Tim, c’mon.” But other than that night, he’d avoided alcohol. He didn’t have any real reason not to, he just simply didn’t. Or maybe it was some instinctual part of him always fearing an attack from someone or something and needing to stay alert, either way, he hadn’t visited his sister’s pub to drink. The food was decent enough even if The Black Knight was mostly popular for the alcohol. 

Timothy had just put in an order for the kitchen, wanting to grab a bite to eat while he waited on Nathan and Charlie. Mercedes had named him primary owner of her store in her will, but he didn’t know anything about owning a business. He wanted all of his siblings to have a say in what would happen, so they were meeting in the pub. It was probably they easiest place to track down Lachlan, anyway. While he was waiting on his order, a woman sat at the bar a few seats away from him. He recognized her from one of his previous visits to the pub. 

“I hear the vodka kicks in faster if you actually drink it,” he said, just loud enough to be heard over the noise of some drunken hunters over by the dart board. “That could just be a rumor though,” he teased, tilting his coke can toward her in a half-hearted toast before taking a sip. The woman looked like she was having a rough day, although it was hard to find someone who wasn’t, lately. Maybe she’d welcome his distraction from her thoughts, or maybe she’d bite his head off. At least he’d have someone to talk to until his siblings arrived.

The name of your muse in my phone:

Lach Attack

A picture that my muse has of you in contacts:

The ringtone for your muse:

Head Will Roll- Yeah Yeah Yeahs

My muse’s last text to your muse:

The two needed to work on their relationship, to say the least. The young dog must have been sick and tired of dilly dallying because it no longer waited for Mica. The trainer had warned that younger service dogs could be energetic and there for troublesome at times, so a walk would help solve that, right? Mica traveled down the sidewalk, in the direction she heard her canine companion go. The pace was much slower than her normal because she was listening for anything that would give any clue where her dog ran off to. A game if felt like the animal way playing as it never truly went far, but just far enough. A stranger’s voice caught her attention. Sighing heavily, she walked slowly towards the new voice that was making friends with the German Shepherd in training. The orange and yellow aura surrounding him was studied; nothing bad was coming off of it. 

“That depends. Is she an adorable fur ball with a service dog vest on her?” A smile grew as there was a loud bark. It was like the dog was answering and it caused a light laugh to leave her lips. “Certainly sounds like my dog. This is Lady, though she has no manners like a proper lady would.” A leash that had been chewed through was held up to prove her point. “She has no shame!” Kneeling down to get closer to the dog she tied a knot around the collar, it was just going to have to do for now.

“Mica Summers.” She said once back on her feet. A hand was held out for him to shake. “Who do I have to thank for wrangling in my dog?”

Timothy watched the young woman as she knelt to reclaim the dog. “She seems like a bit of a handful,” he said, chuckling. He shook her hand once she was standing again. “Timothy Gardner. Nice to meet you,” he reached down to scratch Lady’s head. “And you, Lady.”

Tim had always liked animals, but his life had never been one very well suited to pets. Even now, the small apartment he shared with Charlie couldn’t really support a pet, but Spencer had trusted Charlie with his dog, Alpha, and Timmy could admit that the lab’s presence helped him sleep slightly better. “How long have you and Lady been together?” He couldn’t help but be curious. Clearly Mica and Lady had some issues, but he could also tell the pair cared for each other. 

“That’s a shame. It’s a handy skill to have and if you’re as good as you say you are you shouldn’t give it up.” Carmen shrugged. “Locking it was a good idea, you never know what sort of riffraff is roaming the streets these days.” she smirked, weary of his approach. She sauntered inside when she realized he was giving her the all clear to do so. “I know bits and pieces about your family. Your sister isn’t…wasn’t the most talkative person. Unless you got her really, really, really drunk. Then she’s pretty much an open book.” she smiled. “A very long and very complicated book.” Carmen stopped for a moment once inside Hexbound, taking inventory of all the things she could remember from her last visit. It hadn’t changed at all, and that strangely put Carmen at ease. “Let’s just agree to disagree on the whole criminal thing.” She said as she made her way over to a section of books. “My name’s Carmen.” She smirked. “Now there’s two things you know about me.” Carmen glanced over at Timothy, her eyes lingering as she tried to figure him out. “If there’s anything else you’d like to know, all you have to do is ask. In the meantime, I’m gonna get to work.”

“I never said I’d given it up, only that she hoped I had,” he said offhandedly, following the woman inside and closing the door behind them. It was strange to listen to someone else’s perspective on his oldest sister. It made sense that the Mercedes he’d known wasn’t the same Mercedes everyone knew- everyone had different versions of themselves they shared with the world- but it was still a strange concept to be faced with. 

Timothy made his way to the counter, swiping away a thin layer of dust that had settled since anyone had last been in the shop. He wanted to know more about the side of Mercedes this woman- no, Carmen- had known. He wanted to know how she matched up with his own version of his sister, how she was different, and if Carmen knew any secrets he didn’t. And she’d given him permission to ask, so why was he suddenly speechless?

He busied himself with counting the money in the register, wanting to be sure no one had been in it since he’d locked the place up. There was no real reason for him to leave the money in there. Technically, the shop was his now (or at least partially his), but he couldn’t shake the feeling that Mercedes would come in at any moment and catch him pocketing the cash like a kid with his hand in the cookie jar. 

Finally, he settled on a question that seemed safe enough. He looked up from the register, flicking his eyes around the shop until he spotted Carmen among the shelves and displays. “You said that Mercedes used to leave the back door open for you, that you helped each other out. What kind of help?”

Carmen peers into the shadows, finally noticing the figure behind her. “Ouch.” she says placing one hand over her heart, “That hurt.” she smirks, her other hand still on the door. She stares at the young man across from her, trying to figure out which of Mercedes’s siblings she’s talking to. “So which one are you?” she asks opening the door and leaning in the threshold. “You don’t strike me as the musical type so I’m gonna guess that you’re not Nathan and Spencer’s six feet under along with half the town. You don’t look like a Lachlan and everyone knows Charlie so you must be Timothy.” Carmen snaps her fingers together at the realization. “Mercedes mentioned you a few times but forgot to tell me about your lock picking prowess.” she snarked back. “I would’ve gone thru the front door but no one’s ever here and then there’s the shrine.” she bit the inside of her cheek. “And for the record I’m not a criminal, your sister and I used to help each other out, though she usually left the back door open.” 

“She probably didn’t mention it because it was a hobby she’d hoped I’d quit doing,” he replied, not bothering to confirm his identity. Clearly, she’d figured out who he was. He held up the key ring he had hooked on his pointer finger, jingling it a bit. “I locked it once she... once things went to shit. Didn’t need any of the idiots in town helping themselves to the register.” He stepped forward, nodding his head as if to say ‘go inside.’ This was a conversation he wanted to have, but not on the street where just anyone could listen in. “I’m afraid you’ve got me at a disadvantage. You seem to know quite a bit about my family, but I don’t know anything about you. And for the record, breaking and entering is a crime, which does in fact make you a criminal,” a small smile slipped onto his face. “So, I guess I know one thing about you.” 

Although he’d said it jokingly, he still didn’t trust the woman. She could say whatever she wanted about her relationship with Mercedes; it was her word against a dead woman’s, and the dead couldn’t defend themselves. 

Iron Man.… The hazy look that had taken over Rosie’s face broke apart for a moment and she smiled. He wasn’t wrong: the girl was used to having to be tough as nails. One did not just merely survive after nearly being killed by a werewolf and becoming one herself. “I have the Genius part down, but I’m missing the Billionaire Playboy Philanthropist part. It’s more like Genius Broke ‘Just a Nurse’ Extraordinaire.” 

She followed him inside, not wanting to cause any more worry on an already stressful evening and she stayed still as Timothy looked her over. She tried to contain a laugh when he told her she’d live. “Oh Lord, you’re starting to sound like me. You sure you weren’t a nurse in a past life?”

Timothy chuckled. “I don’t know about another life, but in this one,” he trailed off with a shrug. “Big family.” The smile never fell completely from his face, but it did flicker. Now wasn’t the time to focus on what he’d lost, though. Now was a time for action. 

“For the record, Ms. ‘Just a Nurse,’ I think you’re much more impressive than any billionaire superhero.” Timothy looked toward the staircase, surprised at his own sincerity, and gestured vaguely with his hand. “So, uh,” he started awkwardly, “anyone in particular you want to check on? Sibling? Boyfriend? That other nurse ever manage to set you up with anyone?” He couldn’t help but slip the jest in.

Timothy had been at Hexbound sorting through his sister’s things and tidying up the shop all afternoon. It hadn’t been easy. He found himself constantly getting lost in memories of Mercedes, and he was glad he’d come alone that day. He had just locked up the shop and started walking with his bike, the sun setting and causing the strange greenish glow of the sky to become impossibly more ominous, when a dog came bounding up to him on the sidewalk, barking happily. It was a German Shepherd, and he guessed it was still pretty young based on it’s size. 

“Hey buddy,” he said to the dog, smiling fondly. The pup’s excited nature reminded him of Spencer’s dog, Alpha. It would seem Timothy was just cursed with reminders of his lost siblings today. He put the kickstand down on his bike and crouched to pet the dog as it sniffed at him. The brightly colored "service dog" vest hadn't failed to catch his attention, so he quickly fumbled for the tags. "Where's your owner at, huh? I bet there's someone missing you," he crooned. He held on to the dog’s collar and looked around for anyone who could be missing the furry little friend. 

“Hey, excuse me!” he half-shouted as he spotted a dark haired woman moving slowly further up the sidewalk, doing his best not to spook the dog. “Ma’am,” he stood and took a few steps, stooped to keep a hold on the pup’s collar, “ma’am, is this your dog?

“Dude, right? I feel like I just need an IV giving me coffee twenty four seven cause it’s my life blood right now.” Of course fae was taking a temporary break from coffee so fae could eventually attempt a round of sleep. Or at least something a bit less caffeinated. “It was a pretty typical job at first. This dude got a program stolen from him that was still in the process of getting a patent so I hacked the person that stole it and erased any trace of my employers tech anywhere then helped him improve his security. He also threw in a few hundred extra for me to get a little revenge for him. So I put a little bug in the other’s computer that makes ads pop up like crazy whenever they open any internet browser.”

Timothy let out a chuckle as fae described the bug. “Devious. That’s the Charlie I know and love,” he joked. “In a few days, you should put an advertisement somewhere that the person who hacked him will see it to get them to pay you to remove your own bug. Double the pay-out.”  Scheming with Charlie was always one of Timmy’s favorite pass-times, even if the schemes were only hypothetical. 

He took another sip of his drink, more mindful of the heat this time.  “So what’s new in your world besides work? Kicked anyone’s teeth in lately?”

“It’s not stealing, it’s secret borrowing.”