Carpe diem [Haley]

[Julian]

The last thing he remembered before blacking out was the stoic face of the Queen as his blood flew everywhere, staining the throne room. He had felt immense pain with each cut, and though he couldn’t remember exactly what sort of horrid noises escaped his lips as he accepted his punishment, he knew that he didn’t scream. It was the one satisfaction that Julian refused to let Annette have. As she continued to maim him, the nimbus found his anger towards the woman and the pixie behind her slowly dissipate. Was this death? Were these two the ones to grant him the freedom that he had sought for? He disliked who his executioners were, but at least something was going right for him today.

He felt heaviness in his wrists, and watched as the Queen and the pixie grew further and further in distance. Slowly, everything began to blur and fade to blackness. And while he lay still where the lions had placed him, he dreamed. Not quite so much a dream as it was a recurring nightmare. It was all so vivid, the Queen’s caustic words ringing as she cut away at his flesh, that green-haired bastard with that condescending look that just wouldn’t leave his face. He was relatively quiet during the real events, but in this dream, he could hear himself screaming and begging for his life. He watched himself act out of character, unable to take control of his own body and voice. Every once in a while, Julian would feel his eyes open, and see nothing but darkness; he was completely unaware of the eclipse. However, he quickly fell into a deep sleep again, returning to the nightmare, growing more frustrated each time he reached the moment where he showed weakness to Annette.

Julian wasn’t sure how much time had passed between that day and now, but one minute the Queen was laughing at his misery, the next, she had started to lick his face. It was all very bizarre (shouldn’t she be cutting a bitch right now?!) and it jolted him into full consciousness. Though his arms ached, he pushed away the sun bear that was currently seemed to be on a mission to cover his face with bear saliva. When the bear finally backed off, it promptly sat on its haunches and simply looked at her bonded with a happy, open mouthed expression. Julian reflexively raised his arms to wipe away at his face, grimacing from the pain that shot up from his elbows. He gave up after clearing his eye area, somewhat disappointed at himself for his low pain tolerance. He assessed himself, noticing the ripped dress pants mottled with dirt and damp from melted snow. Exactly how long had he been lying there? Why wasn’t he dead from thirst or starvation? And how did he manage to escape pneumonia or hypothermia considering his mostly undressed state?

Though all these questions all popped into Julian’s mind, the one that actually fell out of his mouth was directed at his mantel. ”Where the bloody hell have you been?” There was a tint of anger in his voice. ”And fat lot of help you were back there while I got dragged off!” Never mind that he had willingly given himself up to avoid fighting; everything was the bear’s fault right now as far as the nimbus was concerned. He stared at Misha expecting her to have some sort of remorse on her face, but all he got was that same I’m-ever-so-happy-to-see-you-alive stare. ”Stop looking at me like that. And don’t ever lick my face again. The last thing I need is a bear-induced wet dream.”

Julian decided it was high time to stop sitting… wherever he was, and find himself some clothes. Perhaps take a nice long bath while he was at it. He did smell awful. He tried to stand, only to pathetically fall back down as his Achilles tendon and knees simply refused to support him. He looked down, expecting the wounds to bleed out from that maneuver, but when they only pulsated, he simply stared at those cuts quizzically. He was unfamiliar of the magic in this land, and had no idea that Annette was the one that kept him from falling into trance. He gave a low chuckle at his current predicament, unsure of what to think. ”That stupid fucking bitch.”

[Haley]

”Dude, you look like shit.” Haley’s abrupt appearance probably would have gone unnoticed by Julian but not his bear. At first she had been casually walking up towards him, content on poking what she thought had been a dead body with the stick that was firmly clenched in her right hand. Then a fucking bear showed up and Haley had quickly taken to standing the fuck still because the last thing she wanted was to be mauled this early in the morning. She had stayed that way, Akuji poised at her left side, his hair standing on end, the entire time Julian had taken to conversing with himself. It had taken all of her inner strength to stifle the snicker that threatened to rip from her throat when he fell down due to his injuries. She found his little plight endearingly hilarious. However, the moment he mentioned a bitch was the moment her hazel eyes narrowed and she decided to make herself known.

Now there she was, crouching a few feet from him. Her stick had been discarded moments earlier and now her elbows were nestled on her knees. Akuji dropped down next to her, his nose slightly upturned. This man reeked. Haley gave Julian a long glance-over, ignoring the bear for now. It seemed like a relatively dumb animal – at least, compared to its master. Haley rested her pointy little chin on one open hand, tilting her head just a bit as she observed him, her face decidedly blank and half-hidden by her light red-brown hair. When she finally spoke her voice was filled with the same smirk that encompassed her maw, revealing bright, glittering teeth, ”Let me guess. You pissed off Miss holier-than-thou I-have-a-stick-permanently-shoved-up-my-ass Queen bitch and it back-fired on ya huh?” Her grin grew, ”Sucks to be you.”

She shifted her weight slightly, one hand dropping to flick an ant from her jean shorts. Haley was dressed deceptively cute today – black tights under dark blue-jean shorts with a tight light-blue cami and a large, soft slowing cream over-shirt. The only bit of clothing that revealed her inner punk were her black and white checkered converse shoes. Even her make-up was light – pale pink and cream shadow with a dusting of gold glitter on her cheeks. Still, her tongue was anything but cute, ”Not sure if you know this yet or not, but you fucking stink dude. Seriously.” She wrinkled her nose, ”But whatev’s.” Haley held out a small hand, ”The name’s Haley. I haven’t seen you around before. How long you been rotting out here?”

[Julian]

He turned immediately towards the sound of Haley’s voice, eyes narrowing as he tried to spot her in the grass. He scowled a little at the first comment, ”Yes, I’m well aware. Thanks for point that out - ” She kept talking, preventing him from completing that sentence with a more scathing ‘Captain Obvious’, but that was probably a good thing. He didn’t really know what to think of her -- the clothes she wore suited her, yet Julian had the feeling that she was one of those people who could clean up nicely, and just never tried. That very fact sort of disappointed him as he scrutinized her outfit. Personally, he thought that a jean skirt would have been more appropriate, but he would keep this to himself.

Julian simply listened as Haley continued. He smirked at Haley’s poignant description of the Queen, laughing heartily and flashing the usual Hollywood smile. At least, as much of a Hollywood smile as a man caked in dirt and grime could manage. He was less than pleased of having to meet someone under these conditions -- his teeth were most definitely not sparkling, and the dirt covering his torso probably hid that well-chiseled figure. He was sure that the pulsating cuts all over his joints, hands, feet and back didn’t help either, but there was nothing he could do about all this, and it irked him. Still, many of these things were put aside as his interest in Haley grew.

”Julian” he offered, declining to comment on his stench and Haley’s liberal use of ‘dude’. ”I haven’t been around much, mostly because I’ve been… here. From some time mid-winter until now.” He gave the uninteresting answer, because it got the job done. He wasn’t feeling very social at the moment, and had so many questions. ”You seem to know quite a bit about this world. Mind me asking a few questions? The first one should be easy: Where the hell are we? And please don’t say ‘Not Kansas’. I’m really not in the mood.”

As he asked, Misha slowly trekked over towards Haley and Akuji, stopping somewhere halfway between Julian and them. As the sun bear walked closer, it would be very apparent that the bear was no more than five feet in length and no more than three feet in height. She was more or less just a giant ball of fur. After sniffing the air a few times, she sat where she had walked to, looking back towards Julian. She had lost interest in the other two, mostly because they didn’t smell like honey. ”That’s Misha, by the way. I think she’s happy to meet you. Say hi, Misha.” The bear snorted, and instead chose to curl into a ball and nap.

[Haley]

He was distractingly cute, despite the fact that his very appearance made Haley’s skin crawl. Perhaps she would feel differently once he had a bath, but for now Haley didn’t know if her fascination with him spawned from her feelings of disgust, or if it was genuine interest. Either way, the female was quite experienced at breathing through her mouth to avoid foul smells, and had thus proceeded to block his stench from her nostrils. Still, she could practically taste his filth, which did not help the situation.

She said nothing as he offered his name – Haley wasn’t quite sure if it was a pleasure to meet him yet or not. At least this guy had a sense of humor, and Haley found herself smiling faintly long after his uproarious laughter. His response to her question was unexpected. She would have thought that after all the scouring she had done of these woods she would have encountered him long before this. At the same time, Haley inwardly admitted that she had been holed up in her room quite a bit lately; it was quite possible that her lack of activity caused her to miss him.

His question caused the tilt of her head to deepen. From it she could only assume that he had procured his injuries very shortly after arriving in Alanor. Since the Queen was easily affronted, Haley wasn’t sure how grievous an action he had committed to justify his trance-like state. At the same time, the very fact that he had mentioned Kansas was enough to clue her in just a tad. He was like she; he obviously knew very little about Alanor, and, it was obvious he had at least some knowledge of Earth and America. If he had truly come back to Alanor shortly after she had, then he might be well versed in the ways of modern Earth, which meant that he was now vastly more interesting than any other idiot she had met thus far.

”Alanor.” She answered blandly, ”Home of the faerie. You’re in the Seelie court right now, since you’re Seelie.” She stated the last part with a distinct duh underlying her words. Haley’s eyes redirected to watch as Misha came in-between them and promptly decided to nap. Now that the bear was closer, Haley had an urge to leap onto it and snuggle deep down into its fur. Misha looked extraordinarily comfortable. Haley glanced over towards Akuji, who was just as comfortable to cuddle with of course, but much smaller, ”This is Akuji. He’s probably not so happy to meet you, but feel free to ignore him. I do all the time.” As if to emphasize her words, Akuji bared his teeth at the male. He didn’t particularly dislike this man, but he definitely didn’t trust him.

Haley straightened her head and stifled a yawn. She ran a hand through her hair, pushing it back and out of her face. Her hazel eyes, quite a bit more green today than usual, scrutinized Julian, their depths picking him apart piece by piece in search for who-knows-what. ”You from America or something? Although the Queen seems to have already established this, Alanor is nothing like the states. One wrong move and you get your neck slit. You’ve missed a lot since you’ve been out.” Her voice lacked its previous sardonic tone. She had become quite serious, though her face remained calm, inquisitive even.

[Julian]

America. Now there was a word that Julian was not expecting to hear again. His blue-grey eyes lit up more than ever at the word, dancing around as he really tried to scrutinize Haley’s look. He listened more attentively than ever, trying to place her accent. He was quite pleased when Haley mentioned the country he had grown so fond of. ”I am. Was that Kansas reference a dead giveaway? I ought to work on my subtlety more. And thanks for the warning, but I’m pretty sure I already discovered that the hard way. Though in my case, it wasn’t so much my neck as it was every other limb on my body. Well, for future reference, I suppose I should let you know that cutting out early in one of her parties is just a god-awful idea. Don’t do it. No matter how much of a drag it is, just don’t.” He continued to give her that pleasant smile that he used so often back on Earth. ”Are you an American as well? I can’t quite get a grasp on that accent of yours. Perhaps you traveled often while you were still there?” The Nimbus felt himself becoming more relaxed. Talking to someone sensible in this strange place certainly helped.

He waited for her to respond, before some cogs and wheels in his head turned, stringing together that odd collection of words he had heard thrown around since his arrival. Now there was ‘Alanor’ to add to the list. And ‘faerie’. Wait a minute. He knew that one -- even a five-year-old knew that word, and he shuddered at the implications. ”Land of faerie? Like the little people with wings that go around giving children money for their teeth, or turning pumpkins into carriages?” He scoffed bitterly. ”Don’t tell me that any second now, that crazy broad that cut me up is going to waltz out and tell me to go… godmother some child! Besides, I’m pretty sure I lack the whole magic aspect that makes all those stories so frilly and happy.”

Julian’s little tirade seemed to cause major discomfort to Misha, who promptly woke up and padded over towards Haley. She looked up at her with large brown eyes for a second as if she were expecting a pat on the head. The sun bear curled up at the Nimbus’ feet and resumed her nap. She didn’t seem to mind that Akuji was baring his teeth was probably extremely territorial. Julian seemed less than pleased at Misha’s action, and reminded himself to scold her later. For now, he kept his focus on Haley. ”Sorry. I hope that didn’t offend you or anything… if you’re a faerie or whatever. And for the record, I really do apologize for general lack of hygiene. I would go and clean up, but I really can’t move from this spot at the moment. At least, not without excruciating pain.”

[Haley]

He sure talked a lot. Haley was prone to prattling along from time to time, but she was never the type that could patiently sit and listen to someone else blab. While what he said was vaguely interesting, the only bit she showed any response to was when he asked her the question she knew was coming. Haley’s lips upturned into what she considered a smile but looked distinctly more animalistic than she intended, ”I am. Raised in Texas, moved up north when I was a teen. I dropped the southern accent just for kicks, though I didn’t pick up the tongue of my northern friends. Guess you could call my accent an anomaly, because even I don’t know what the fuck it is.” She smirked slightly as one hand absentmindedly scratched the top of her dog’s head. ”Only places I traveled to were Korea and Japan. Military does that to you.”

Julian’s reaction to her statement about faeries was entertaining to say the least. Haley found her smile growing and she stifled the onslaught of laughter that attempted to slide through her lips. An image of the Red Queen wielding a fairy godmother wand with little pink wings flitted through her head and Haley snorted. Annette was more likely to be the source of nightmares for children. And Julian? He was right. The male was definitely not a creature of the fairy tales so commonly heard back on Earth. He was a Nimbus, like she. Unfortunately, also like she, he had come to Alanor with preconceptions of what a faerie would be; preconceptions that were dead wrong. ”You’re thinking of pixies, though most pixies now-a-days are bigger than their ancestors used to be. Result of too much inter-racial breeding.” Was racial the right word there? Haley mentally shrugged, and she would have continued speaking, but it was at that moment that the bear decided to nestle down in front of her.

Haley’s smile grew broader and without hesitation the woman reached out to gently pet the bear atop the head. Julian’s words were heard but partially ignored in favor of fawning over his mantel. While Akuji seemed a bit disgruntled, the creature did nothing. He knew no harm would come of it, though the rigidity of his muscles proclaimed to the world that he was ready to act incase some semblance of a threat came into existence. Haley glanced up as Julian finished speaking, blinking a few times as if she were digesting his little apologies, ”What the fuck are you saying sorry for?” She rolled her eyes, ”I don’t get offended easily, and you certainly can’t help your situation.” It suddenly occurred to her that she should help him in some way. Or at least offer. ”Look. I don’t really fancy sitting here forever, so how about I take you somewhere to clean up. It shouldn’t take you too long to heal. You’re a Nimbus after all.” Despite her use of terms, Haley offered no real explanation. She didn’t intend to until she got into a more comfortable environment.

Slowly the woman stood and slipped to the side of the bear. She came beside Julian and bent down again, ”Unless you’re too much of a bitch to endure some pain in favor of getting clean.” She flashed him another one of her toothy smiles, something that suggested she was just messing with him instead of being too serious. Haley offered her hand. Should he accept it she would help him stand.

[Julian]

[OOC: Urgh. Timely post fail. >.<]

”Military?” The tone in his voice was filled with disbelief. Julian took a moment to wrap his head around how the petite person before him had quite possibly been in combat. ”That’s very impressive. Hat’s off to you.” The tone of his voice was filled with the utmost respect and his right hand reached upward and properly saluted Haley. He expected a large amount of pain to follow, rebelling his every movement, but his arm felt only slightly sore. Julian was confused by this, and wanted to take more time to think. However, Haley was talking about something important, and it seemed far more helpful to listen to her than to come up with the wrong explanation for what was happening.

Julian remained motionless as Haley walked up to him, and even chuckled at Haley’s words before taking her hand with a smile. ”I’ll pass on being a bitch.” Julian let go of Haley’s hand as soon as he was on his feet, and used his hands to steady himself. It had been a long time since he stood upright, and his whole body was tingling. Oddly enough, he didn’t fall again, and not a single part of his body was in any sort of pain. Julian shot Haley a rather bewildered look before examining his hands. It took a while before it registered that this was the fast healing that Haley had briefly mentioned.

Almost all of the pulsating cuts that were so hideous only moments before seemed to have vanished; the only remainders of the Queen’s fury were the whip-like lashings on his back and scars vaguely in the shape of roses on the backs of both of his hands. He looked at his hands wide-eyed, as if discovering he could move them for the first time in his life, and muttered a simple “God-fucking-damn-it” at the scars. Was this some sort of joke? He was clearly not happy with the marks left behind, but he put this aside and focused back on Haley. Though he wore a smile, there was a bit of anger left in his eyes.

”So how far do we need to walk before I can stop smelling like crap? And can I get a change of clothes there?” He rattled off the questions quickly, and stopped talking long enough for her to reply and possibly start leading the way. Julian would walk beside her if she set off, mulling over the pieces of information that Haley did give him about Alanor. Suddenly, Annette’s words began to make more sense to him, but he still had no intentions of going to make amends. What’s done is done, after all. And that green-haired guy suddenly made more sense as well -- he must be one of those inter-racial beings that Haley mentioned. It certainly would explain those huge-ass wings.

[Haley]

Haley allowed herself a little smirk at Julian’s comment regarding her time spent in the military. Though she had been practically forced into it, Haley had quickly come to regard the military as her home. She had excelled due to her faerie blood, her strength and speed equaling that of the majority of the men, especially since Air Force physical fitness regulations tended to be a bit more lax than other military branches. Still, her misanthropic qualities had kept her from actually fitting into such a group-oriented environment, so even though she had enjoyed serving her country, Haley was glad to be her own person again. Unfortunately now she had an asshole Queen with terrifying powers to deal with. Haley wasn’t exactly sure if she was better or worse off in the long run.

Once she helped him up, Haley withdrew her hand and wiped it absentmindedly on her shorts, as if attempting to get rid of whatever germs had come from him. His response had garnered a pretty big grin from her, which quickly faded as the curse words that followed caught her attention. Her quick eyes spotted the intricately carved scars and her expression darkened. She knew if the Queen ever did something like that to her that she would go bonkers – she was pretty sure she knew how Julian was feeling now.

”Not far.” She answered as she took off, her face now blank but thoughtful, ”You can bathe at my place and I’ll get a servant to fetch you some clothes.” …since he sure as hell wouldn’t fit into hers. Haley’s pace was naturally quick, so it wouldn’t take long before they reached the living area. Though her rank dictated her a spot in the castle, Haley had opted to remain in a smaller place, away from the immediate vicinity of the Queen. She remained quiet for most of their short walk, Akuji trailing by her side and occasionally shooting Julian a glare. When they finally did reach her home, Haley unlocked the place and slipped inside, not really bothering to hold the door open for him.

The home was somewhat barren – no decorations graced the walls and furniture was scarce. To the side was her bedroom with the Japanese-style black futon, dresser and chest. In the main room was her desk and bookshelves. The desk was littered with several knives – she had spent the previous night cleaning them. Haley gestured towards the door off to the left, ”Bathroom is that way. Have at it.”

[Julian]

Well, this certainly was a different experience. Julian had been invited to a woman’s home for many reasons in the past, but for a bath? Now that’s a first. He kept up with Haley’s pace easily, and flashed Akuji a grin every time the dog decided to throw him a glare. Julian wasn’t really sure what else to do, and Misha was simply not helping by running off to chase butterflies every so often. Haley walked into her room without holding the door, but Julian didn’t really except her to. He kept it from shutting with one hand and took off his dress shoes so that he wouldn’t track too much dirt through Haley’s living quarters. Turning to the out-of-breath bear behind him, he pointed a finger straight at her. ”Sit. And stay. And don’t do anything stupid.” Misha did as she was told, although not without a huff of disapproval over her treatment.

Julian quickly followed Haley into her room, holding the door so that it would shut without so much as a click. He glanced about, noticing how she lived with nothing but bare necessities. A part of Julian seemed disappointed to learn that her room was less poster-covered with rock bands and more practical. The set of recently cleaned knives, however, prevented him from rattling off any snarky comments about her choices in interior design.

When Haley gestured off to her left, Julian took a few steps towards the bathroom. He stopped about halfway, turning and glancing at Haley from an angle. ”Thanks. You really are a life saver.” He ruffled his hair a bit, before smiling a bit mischievously, a twinkle in his blue-gray eyes. ”You’re welcome to join me.” He added in a wink, but quickly followed with a half-hearted ”Just kidding!” before Haley could respond. Truthfully, it didn’t matter to him if she joined or not. On the one hand, he could brood over his life choices; on the other, companionship wouldn’t be all too bad.

He continued walking to the door and opened it halfway, ”Oh, and if you could please let the servant know that I won’t wear anything less formal than a suit, that would be fantastic. And my shoes need a shine.” Julian walked in, instantly disappointed again at the plainness of the room. He wasn’t in any position to complain, but couldn’t help wondering why there was absolutely no sign of excess in Haley’s life. The least she could have had were some hand-crafted Italian faucets. Julian sighed heavily, heading straight for a bath -- he had felt most like himself just moments ago, but was suddenly overcome with a melancholy that he simply couldn’t shake off. What he wanted was to forget about the majority of his experiences thus far in this insane little world.

[Haley]

His thoughts on her interior décor would have been brushed off had he chosen to make them. Haley had spent a long time in the military – she was used to traveling with minimal personal possessions. So far the woman considered Alanor as a temporary home and the very fact that she kept everything neatly packed away and organized was a clue in on just how detached from this world she really was. The Nimbus also cared little for excess – gold faucets and gaudy furniture did little for her; she saw no need for them.

Haley snorted at his offer for the joint bath and rolled her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something but was completely caught off guard by his following request. She outwardly scoffed the moment he vanished into her bathroom, her lips curling into a sneer. A bit conceited much? Haley, whose emotions tended to change as quickly as the direction of the wind, fought back the bile that rose in her throat and slipped past the bear and to the door. She left the room to quickly summon a servant and relayed the request. As she returned to the room, Haley stopped to glance down at the bear. It was a well-behaved beast, but Haley couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for it. The little Nimbus considered animals (or most of them) to be more valuable than people. The fact that it was sitting outside while everyone else was inside bothered her. Gently, Haley reached down to pat the bear on the head, hopefully gathering its attention. She then gestured towards the open door. Whether or not the bear accepted her invitation was up to it. Haley didn't wait long before she swept back into her room.

Julian was the second person to enter her apartment. Haley briefly entertained the thought of using him in the same manner she had used Marat. Perhaps when he was cleaner she would push his buttons. He was a man – Haley had little doubt that he could deny his loins, especially after having been knocked out for so long. A knock on the door startled her out of her thoughts and Haley went to retrieve the suit and now clean pair of shoes. She thanked the servant liberally, a bit ashamed of having used the pixie garlanger (Haley despised using servants but knew of their necessity), and closed the door, turning just as the door to the bathroom opened, ”Took you long enough.” She mumbled and held out the clothes and shoes, ”Guessed your sizes. Shouldn’t be too far off.” After all, she was the queen of observation.

(ooc: pure crap, but I rushed it ><)

[Julian]

Conceited was quite possibly a single water molecule living at the very tip of an enormous iceberg. If Haley had met Julian soon after his arrival in Alanor, she might have had the good fortune of experiencing the full extent of his narcissistic ways. “Good”, of course, being very loosely defined here. Haley’s dismissal of Julian’s bath proposal was all sorts of a fantastic decision.

While Julian was left to bathe and sulk alone (and he did spend the majority of his time doing the latter, and trying to rub away at those rose-like scars), Misha picked her head up as Haley opened the door. The bear purred as Haley pat her, and slid her head forward so that the fae’s hand rested near her ears. Now that would be a good scratching spot. But when no scratches were given, Misha looked upwards and found herself in a dilemma: disobey her bonded’s ‘stay’ command or turn down the Nice Lady’s invitation. Nearly a second after deciding that Julian’s idea of punishment was probably in the form of verbal abuse, the bear padded her way into Haley’s room. The first few steps were cautious, an attempt to seem as non-intrusive as possible so that Akuji would ignore the bear in the room. Misha took a quick glace back at Haley before deciding that she wanted to take up residence on the Nimbus’ rug.

Julian had just cracked open the door to ask for his clothes when they were promptly shoved into his face. He mumbled a ‘thank you’ at some point, and held back the urge to insist that he didn’t take that long. He assessed the clothes that he was handed, making a wry face at the pinstripes. He was going to have to make the most of the smarmy lawyer look, he told himself, and that was ok. Julian walked out of Haley’s bathroom fully-clothed waist down, white dress shirt unbuttoned, and the skinny tie draped around his neck. He had neatly folded the jacket and carried it on his arm. He played the just-got-out-of-the-shower part all too well, what with the absolutely messy hair (on the other hand, it could be a near-perfect bedhead) and all.

He gave Haley his best smile, hoping like hell that she would be in some sort of shock seeing a cleaner, more put together version of him. A quick glance at Misha made a bit of annoyance flash across his face before suppressing the need to comment. He turned his attention toward Haley. ”So.” He started buttoning his shirt. ”What do faeries do for fun around here? Drink? Dance? Prance around a maypole?”

[Haley]

Unfortunately for Julian, Haley was immune to the whole sex-appeal thing. As she watched him emerge from the bathroom she did take a moment to reassess him. There was no doubt in her mind that Julian was attractive - after all, he was faerie. At the same time, Haley literally had no sex-drive. His steamy appearance did little but solidify him as a possible bed-mate in the near future....after a bit of booze. Speaking of which, "Drink." A roguish smile topped her pert little lips as the prospect of alcohol hung thick in the air. "Well..." She paused and tilted her head as if in thought, "That's what I do anyways. The way I see it, there are three things Seelie faerie seem to love." She held up a hand and counted them on her fingers as she went along, "Booze, sex, and fighting. I can step you through them if you'd like, though if you're from Earth I doubt you're ignorant of such activities." The offer was sly but it stood firmly.

Haley shifted from her position and began to tuck away the knives on her desk. She slipped a small switchblade into her back pocket, biting her lip in punishment for forgetting the item previously. Akuji, who was currently nestled under the desk in his usual position, reached out to poke her in the leg with his nose. He was hungry and she needed to feed him. The little Nimbus shot him a glance and rolled her eyes. "Lazy beast." She muttered and nudged him teasingly with her foot. She then rotated back to look at Julian, "Either way I'm starved and I'm sure you are too. Come on. I'll take you to Sabrina's." She headed for the door, pausing at the frame, "Unless you'd prefer to wander off on your own. Don't let me stop you." As always, Haley didn't really care if he chose to follow her. She'd probably be out the door by the time he was able to answer her, Akuji hot on her heels.