Alley Cats

Aubree was a little embarrassed when the tomcat admitted that the ferret was also the first he had talked to. What an impression her overly curious nature must have given him; she almost wished she hadn’t given her name. Time was running out though, she could feel it despite having no perception of time, and despite making no progress on seeing if her body was there or not, had indeed learned something tonight.


The tomcat made a comment about the weirdness only increasing and she gave a grin back, baring her teeth slightly. It was indeed getting weirder, and that made Aubree all the more excited to learn about their situation. <We should meet again sometime> the girl says it indiscriminately, and far too late as she once again blacks out.


When she wakes up, it’s to the sounds of the alarm at 8:10, without any response to what she had been through the night; she climbs out of her warm bed and stumbles off to the bathroom. A shower and then she was off to class, she’d text Julian on her way to school.
 
Julian was staring downwards a little bit as Daniel spoke, trying to make out the time on a watch he'd seen on a pedestrian. Hearing him laugh in his head, the boy returned a chuckle. <Don't think they'd believe us, anyways.>


The hawk was learning that seeing a watch and seeing the little numbers and arms on a watch were two totally different things. They were very high up after all, and that watch was infuriatingly small. It kept flashing in and out of view, and even with his improved eyesight it was nearly impossible to distinguish. <We should meet again,> said Daniel, and Julian agreed; <Jayers Park. Sure!> He was still staring. It was flashing into view... out of view... in... That was... that was the arm! There, pointed there at the... Oh, it was getting blurry. Then darkening. It was time, wasn't it.


...


Julian awoke to a peaceful ceiling, white and textured and really, really indistinct in comparison to his vision at night. Like always. The boy shifted to his right on the bed, checking the time-


"Crap!" fumbling, Julian threw the covers off and staggered out bed, heading to the closet.


8:40. Late. Again.


He swore the bird thing was getting to his head. Birdbrain, that's what he was. Alarms didn't set themselves.
 
When Veronica woke up, it was nine am, time for her to start getting ready to head out for her afternoon classes. The rest of the house was silent, which meant that Rinji was still sleeping; a silent house could only mean that she was gone or in some way unconscious, as she well knew.


Sitting up slowly, stretching her arms, she thought back to the night before. They had actually met another like them, albeit a puppyish bartender who Rinji was entirely too affectionate with. What did it mean, that she and Rinji were not the only ones? How many were out there? Was it something unique to this city, or did it take place all around the world?


She couldn't know, but it was an interesting new way to view a predicament she had become accustomed to and jaded towards. Once again Veronica actually cared to know what was going on with herself.


As she got out of bed, heading towards the bathroom to start up her shower, she was irritated but unsurprised when her sister barged in on her five minutes later. The bathroom door lock had broken long ago, which meant there was no such thing as a private moment when one had a sister who didn't know how to knock or why a person might actually WANT privacy.


"Rinji, you MIND?" she griped as her sister started primping in the mirror, chatting the whole way. How the woman could start talking the second she woke up was beyond Veronica. When Rinji kept talking even while brushing her teeth, Veronica just tuned her out.


Finally the older woman spit, rinsed her mouth, and turned towards the shower curtain with bright eyes that Veronica could picture even if she couldn't see them. "I can't wait until tonight! This is so exciting...Veronica, I still think he likes you. And I still think you should have met him alone."


Yeah, well, Veronica didn't exactly take advice from the woman who didn't know how to at the very least let someone have a shower alone.
 
This morning’s routine was being acted out far too early in Alexander’s opinion having woken at 8am restless, eyes blinking open and staring blankly at the silent clock on the bedside table as memory caught up with him in regard to last night’s events. He reached out suddenly for the capless ballpoint on his bedside before rolling onto his back, jotting several numbers upon his palm before his eyes closed tightly, brow furrowing gently in thought as he fought the mental fog of sleep.


“Five, five. . . five, two. . . five, two . . . seven, ah!” Eyes opening he quickly wrote the numbers as memory resurfaced, pausing once mid way through as the pressure caused him to blank.


Finally he collapsed back satisfied, observing his handiwork for a moment and running the familiar string of number through his mind satisfied before letting both hands drop, the pen clattering to the floor beside his bed as he mindlessly tossed it aside before bringing his arm beneath his head, eyes closing once more in relaxation. Though still he had not fallen back asleep.


It swas exciting. He had never considered the existence of others like himself, perhaps once or twice, though never in detail, rather dismissing the notion; if they existed he had never met anyone prior to last night. If they existed at all it was highly likely they were not about to broadcast the message and so he had kept his silence and solitude these past six months.


Moving into the kitchen now fully dressed; he knew better than to leave the warm confines of the steam filled bathroom ill prepared for the sudden drop in temperature-, he ruffled the towel on his head with one hand and picked up his smart phone idly with the other.


He stood there for a moment, staring at its darkening screen for a moment before his eyes flicked to the wall clock thoughtlessly, not so much forgetting the digital time revealing capabilities that the device in his hand possessed so much as he found it simpler to visualise time. Mentally turning its pointed digits to discern, estimate, plan out and keep track of the hours rather than performing the math. 10am. . .


Returning his attentions to the phone in his hand he flicked through the contacts and highlighted ‘Moira’ and began typing in a text message. Hitting send he then moved to the message pad on the counter beside his house phone; it had long since been out of service, Alexander having decided long ago that he much preferred having the option of turning the radiators on to having a house line-, before copying out the number Rinji had given him and composing a new text:


[ Replacing paws for fingers, this is a lot easier than sketching my full name in the dirt. Still up for watered down coffee? - Alexander (aka Sasha) ]

​
 
Rinji being Rinji, she was not one to often even keep track of her phone, let alone frequently checking it for missed messages or calls. It was after four pm, and there was approximately two minutes left of her break before she remembered to check her phone. That required quite a lot of digging through a purse so horrified that Veronica would have gone into another eye rolling spasm if she had seen it. Finally she located her phone and with a triumphant noise, checked missed messages.


Seeing the text from Sasha, aka Alexander- a name that she immediately liked for its strong, manly sound- Rinji grinned, immediately texting him back.


[Yes!!!! :) :) :D :D b off n 6 hrs :) :) ]


Veronica hated when she spoke without full complete sentences, and really hated when she put emoticons. But it had never stopped Rinji before, and it wasn't about to stop her now. Why type complete sentences when everyone understood what you mean anyway? Why not put smileys? How else would they know she was smiling?
 
Good morning Juls. Be prepared to thank me.


It was a rather silly message in probably anyone else’s eyes but Aubree had a rather coy smile as she hit send on the phone. Her hair was still wet, and she waited in her mother’s car for any sign of Christopher, who was painstakingly slow this morning. Her hand pushed eagerly at the horn again, signalling the boy to hurry up, which he sort of did. The dirty blonde twelve year old stumbled out of the house, dragging his feet and groaning as if going to school was the worst thing. Aubree only rolled her eyes and beeped again, such over dramatization for a simple day at school.


As Christopher got in the car, she finally got to shift the car back into reverse and back out of the driveway. Julian probably wouldn’t understand her text like any normal person, but then again he also probably forgot there was an assignment due today. The girl almost snickered, ready for his panic and for him to beg her to bail him out. At the same time, she knew it probably wouldn’t happen, he wouldn’t care and she’d end up giving him the work anyways.


She cursed herself for making two copies and made her way to her brother’s school, where she was dropping him off.
 
Jin groaned as her eyes fluttered open. She looked at the clock. Class. It was time for class.


She wondered how she had to attend something so mundane after experiencing something so unusual and incredible each night. It was truly like living two lives and after last night, Jin knew which one she preferred. The animal one. After all she had made a...friend she guessed the word was.


She stretched and got herself dressed. She looked at her unfinished homework and sighed deeply. She was going to have to work on it earlier but at least most of the unfinished assignments weren't due until a couple days for now. She had time to work on them. She wondered if she'd ever get the chance to pull a real all-night, no fur and whiskers involved.


As she moved about, brushing her hair and then pulling it into a ponytail, putting make-up on and then her clothes, she wondered if she'd get the chance to run into Aubree again tonight. Or even one of the others. She thought about the cats. Maybe she could locate them. See if they were also human.


"Jin you're going to be late to class," she heard her mother call up to her. Jin sighed again and grabbed her things. She headed downstairs flashed a smile, stealing a bagel and then running out the door.
 
"You forget to set your alarm clock again?" Julian's mother didn't seem pleased.


"Actually, it's my theory that an army of mice sneaked in overnight to turn off my alarm." Julian shoved a folder into his book bag. "Have you seen my biology notebook?"


"It's on the kitchen counter."


"Oh. Thanks!" he said, shouldering his bag and dashing off to the kitchen.


"How many more times are your teachers going to allow you to be late?" asked Lauren Locktar, walking over so that she could see him.


"I'm not going to be late," responded Julian, pulling his baseball cap onto his head.


"You are if you follow the speed limit!"


Julian made a dismissive noise. "I always follow the speed limit."


He snatched up the keys off of their hook, then looked back at his mother's skeptical look. "Well, almost always."


She sighed. "Just try not to miss the bus from now on."


"Sure. Bye mom!" he said, pulling open the door to the garage.


"Bye, Julian," his mother responded, as Julian unlocked the door to his mother's car and hopped in. His bookbag was dumped in the passenger seat. He'd been pleading for a car of his own for a while, but his parents had been impassive; something about grades. And money.


The boy checked his phone while pulling out of his driveway, glancing up often. Aubree had texted him: Be prepared to thank me. Julian stared at the screen for a moment, trying to figure out what she meant. What? he typed, but paused before sending it. Did he forget something again? Probably. However, even if he asked, Aubree would probably still keep him in the dark, so he chose a different, well-used response: randomness.


He erased What? and instead wrote, Did you see any werewolves last night?


Julian hit send, then looked up to turn a corner. It had seemed like a full moon yesterday, after all, and Eddy Compton from his homeroom was definitely hairy enough to fit the bill. Besides, he'd seen stranger things- like werehawks, wereowls, and bacon flavored ice-cream- which he swore they'd actually had on his vacation to New York. Some of his friends still wouldn't believe him.


He accelerated to 50mph, not wanting to be late for school. The speed limit at 40 slipped his mind.
 
The look on Aubree’s face probably couldn’t be described, having pulled out and read her phone’s new message. Werewolves? What the hell was Julian talking about? And how did it relate to anything Aubree had texted? Did he want her to take pictures of these ‘werewolves’? Realizing that she was putting a little too much thought into the text, she sighed and slipped her phone back into her pocket without answering, feeling her eyes roll.


Making sure her car was locked by hitting the button again she strolled away from it and towards the school. One final look around the parking lot for Juls, who hadn’t popped up in front of her yet nor was apparently anywhere behind her. For some reason he thought it funny to sneak up on her, as it often caused her to jump, squeak, and on one occasion flail.


There was also something else she reminded herself of, to ask Juls if he knew a boy named Jin; if the tomcat/human lived here that would be yet another connection between them. Taking out her phone again, she walked and texted; Are you late again? Then upon remembering the werewolf text, she stared hesitantly at the message before erasing it.


Just like Juls to have her stumped.
 
Veronica tried to go about her day at school as she normally would, focusing on classwork and lectures rather than anything about the meeting with Sasha as was to come later that night. But as the day carried on, she found it more and more difficult to do so. She found her thoughts drifting to wondering how he would look in person, how he would sound, how he would speak to her. She couldn't go by what Rinji would say or remember, of course, because her sister had a tendency to romanticize every person she encountered.


But what did it matter, really? What did she care?


By the time it was drawing close to nine, only an hour before she was to meet Sasha with Rinji, Veronica found herself actually wondering what to wear, and whether she should put on makeup. The thought was almost horrifying, as it was so out of character, and instead she deliberately chose to change into a plain shirt and jeans. She was NOT looking to impress anyone.
 
Alexander chuckled and raised his free hand, pointing at the mobile held in the other as he counted mutedly under his breath, wondering exactly just how many smilies a person coud fit into one message and intent on finding out and satisfying curiosity. . . Smiling he lowered his hand and re-read the message a final time before pushing himself up off the bar before him. Six. He had never been one to use smilies, was not entirely keen, and yet from Rinji it was somewhat endearing.


Picking up the four empty glasses on the bar before him using a single hand with practiced ease, Alexander tucked his phone away into his back pocket with the other as he glanced at the clock; quarter to five-, before resuming his task of refilling the glass washer.


The morning crowd had been relatively slow, the lunchtime rush had come and gone, now it was the calm before the storm, his patrons comprising of an elderly gentlemen, several workmen and a man mid way through eating what must be a late lunch as he flicked through the daily paper, and as usual in his boredom Alexander had began to prepare early for the night shift. Restocking the fridges, cleaning down the tables, wiping down the bar and emptying the bottle bins.
 
As Jin walked to her class she paused for a moment in her walking. She was near the park she had been at last night when she ran into Aubree. She looked over the place. It was a normal park, a few benches and trees and a fountain down a brick path. It was sort of big and a popular spot for beginning joggers. If she recall right, this was the place where she and a bunch of her friends snuck into after hearing reports of ghosts when she was in middle school. They found no ghosts, but did get chased off by a hobo.


At this time there wasn't a lot of people in the park. Some guy was sitting on a bench, headphones in, reading what seemed to be a textbook with a pad of paper nearby. A few joggers passed into the trees. It seemed different somehow now that it was day and she was human. But Jin decided it didn't matter. She just had to remember to return here. No she and the ferret did not arrange to meet, but she thought maybe she'd run into her. Of course she had those cats to track down and see if they were really cats or not.


The woman sighed deeply. It sure sound like a tiring night, but what else to do with her cat body? Well she could always nap. As she glanced back at the guy, she felt a sudden urge to go over and hiss at him to move. She blinked in confusion as she clutched her hand. Then she realize it was near the place she met Aubree. Ever since this had started she had begun to feel moments of possessiveness over spaces. She almost punched someone for sitting in her seat in one class. She even scratched her name into it. Got in trouble as well.


Jin rubbed her forehead as she reminded herself she was going to be late. This was not going well. She had to control this urge but it seems to be getting worse. She wondered, vaguely, if she'd take on another trait as well.


----


Daniel leaned back in his chair. The day seemed to be moving by too slowly. He could not wait to change this night. He had always looked forward to it but now he really was. To be able to have an adventure with someone else? It was awesome. Daniel could not stop grinning and he got ask why he was happy a lot during the day at work.


But he could not tell them why. Some asked if it had to do with his girlfriend, who was thankfully out of town at the moment. Daniel had to make it clear that his relationship had not changed in any way they might think. No babies and no marriage. But it was hard to keep it from them. Daniel had always wanted to reveal what was happening, but he never did. He didn't think they'd believe him and if they did or witness it, he wasn't sure what would happen.


But Daniel was fine with it. And he was no longer alone as well. Sure this Julian guy was much younger, but he did not see it as a barrier. They were birds when they would meet and it sort of leveled it off.


Yes he could not wait for tonight.
 
Julian thought he might be able to scrape by. Barring speeding tickets, random schedule changes and sudden earthquakes, he'd probably make it in time- especially if he took that new shortcut he'd discovered the last time he missed the bus. He didn't know how he'd never noticed the neigborhood. Maybe it had just popped out of the Earth overnight, like a demon. The suburbs from hell!


The car's blinking digital clock counted up the minutes until Julian finally arrived at his school, braking fiercely as he turned into the parking lot. He still had time before he had to be seated in homeroom. He parked, pulled out the keys, and stumbled out the door- just remembering to reach back in and snatch his backpack. The lot was pretty empty already- well, no, it was full of cars, Julian reasoned. But it was bereft of high schoolers, which was what mattered, because that meant they were either already inside or had been devoured by man-eating automobiles. Either way, he decided to hurry through.


His bag slung over one shoulder, Julian entered the school and quickly navigated to his locker, his sneakers squeaking slightly on the tiles. Thankfully, there were a few students still hanging about here, which debunked his carnivorous car theory. However, he didn't see Eddy Compton around, so the werewolf thing was still possible.


Julian spotted Aubree as he spun his combination lock with practiced ease. "Hey!" he called, since she didn't seem to have seen him yet. "'Bree!" When he had her attention, he asked, "What do you think would win, a werewolf or a man-eating car?" The boy was feeling especially random that day; maybe it was leftover excitement from the night before. He was going to meet Daniel again that night, too! There was no reason not to be gleeful- Oh, crap, those textbooks were heavy. Julian's train of thought derailed as he fumbled and spent a few moments trying not to drop his stack of books.
 
It was Rinji's general mode to be an energetic, cheerful person, which was always apparent to nearly every person she met from the get-go. This day in particular, however, she was so restless in her focus that her coworkers noticed it as unusual even for her. Tapping her fingers, shaking her leg unconsciously, humming under her breath, and always smiling, she appeared to be in her own world, as if she were nearly bursting with excitement. Some of the other tattoists regarded her with curiosity, and Arden, the only other female who worked with her, eventually asked her outright what was up.


"Someone looks like she had a good time last night," she said slyly, giving a wink, and Rinji giggled, winking back.


"Maybe."


Arden snickered, and Rinji grinned back at her, happy to have this secret for herself, even if Arden didn't really understand what was truly going on. A customer was walking in then, and so Arden, who had the appointment with him, had to throw her final comment over her shoulder as she walked forward to meet him.


"Ohhhh and tonight's a repeat, I take it? Nice!"


Throughout the day only working with customers and the focus it required kept Rinji from simply flitting about the room like a manic butterfly, shouting out her excitement for all to know. It had been the strangeness of her and Veronica's circumstances that kept her quiet before, but now, with another person as witness to it, another in their situation? She almost wanted to talk about it....she DID want to talk about it. If it wasn't for Veronica and how upset she would be, then she probably would.


She hoped that Veronica would actually come meet Sasha tonight, like she'd promised. She could see her sister deciding not to at the last moment...well she would just have to drag her out the second time herself, then.


She hoped there would be a second time. Rinji and men didn't always end so well...in fact, they never did.


Oh well, tonight would be different. She just knew it.
 
Aubree stared into space. Well, actually, she was staring at her phone’s blank response message with a rather thoughtful face on until the boy she was thinking of texting back sounded from behind her. Immediately clicking her phone shut she slid it in her pocket and waited until he called her by name…well, half-name before turning towards him.


Ah, the same Juls as ever, slight bedhead and an ever-confusing question that he posed to her. Deciding to throw him a little off track, she answers in all seriousness, “The man-eating car, of course…the werewolf’s only a werewolf on a full moon” she explains. Then closing her own locker, given that her materials were now stuffed in her tote, she led Julian onwards. Adding, subconsciously, “That is, if they existed” before glancing at the time only to panic.


“JULS!” she calls, “Why didn’t you tell me it was this late!?!?!” she accuses, before rushing on ahead of him. The boy often didn’t care about tardiness, but Aubree was one to be on the top of her attendance list, especially for History. Upon remembering what the first class was, she stops at the door and turns to Juls “Hope you finished the homework on your own” she teases, sticking her tongue out. Then she briskly walks into class, taking her seat next to where he would sit despite her teasing.
 
"The werewolf's only a werewolf on a full moon," Aubree reasoned. Julian was a little bit surprised at the serious response, but he recovered soon. Well, it was a full moon! Or close to one; he hadn't been able to tell exactly last night. Hawk eyes weren't that good. "All they'd have to do is try to pull out the keys, anyways," he joked. "Or put on the parking break. Though that doesn't really work sometimes...." Julian, taking the rest of the stuff he needed, decided against a pun about barking brakes. Heh? Get it? Barking, like a wolf? Eh? Eh, he didn't really know.


But they totally could exist. Maybe Aubree would understand if she heard his animal story. Maybe he should tell her now, having met others and all- but no. She already thought he was crazy enough.


No sooner had he closed his locker, however, when Aubree's voice suddenly pierced through the air. Julian flinched, before looking up to hear her. "Oh, come on, it's not that late!" he yelled, but his friend had already dashed off. Scooping a couple pencils off of the ground where he'd dropped them, he ran after.


Both of them suddenly paused outside the classroom. Julian was about to say something, but Aubree beat him to it, sticking her tongue out in the process. The boy wasn't completely surprised, after seeing her text, but stood there for a moment after she left, trying to remember what homework she could possibly be talking about. He then rushed in, rather not wanting to be officially tardy.


Julian headed to a customary seat near the back, finding an empty desk next to Aubree. "Homework?" he asked, deciding to just be direct this time, since class was pretty much already started.


Julian was also distracted by thinking of Daniel, the were-owl. He wished there was some way to easily reveal something like this to a friend, something that left no doubt.


Maybe... Maybe he could visit her as a hawk? If a bird started writing notes to her at night, then there wouldn't be much room for disbelief.


The boy didn't know that, even if she happened to be at her house for some reason, he'd find no one but a ferret.
 
Kicking his work shirt toward the washing machine as he began to pull on and fiddle with the buttons of his jacket; a military affair, dark grey in both colour and according to the label-, Sasha moved to the bathroom doorway, observing his reflection from a distance (His chosen colour scheme gray and black, literally lest he mess up with the shades of colour) in the mirror above the sink directly opposite in silent deliberation. . .


He looked down at his sock clad feet for a moment, then up, winking and moving away. Shoes. They were around here somewhere and he could not help but smile triumphant as he dragged a boot out from under the couch before casting about for the other. Gaze focused on the surrounding vicinity first before increasing in scope, following the path he most likely followed on his return home and haste to shower and change.


Having finally located his left boot by the door, Sasha collapsed onto the threadworn couch and began to unravel the laces, his leg bouncing an impatient jig even as his fingers worked at regular pace. He was excited, could almost not wait for tonight, at having found someone that he could share this whole experience and it showed in the smile he wore all the way to the agree place of meeting, arriving early at half past in his eagerness to meet the felines of last night.


Entering the establishment he took a moment to glance about in check at the assortment of customers; the pace busy but not crowded-, before leaning against the counter, his dark eyes scanning over the selection for a momment longer. Finally he placed his order, adding vanilla to the white chocolate mocha and making his way to an empty table made himself comfortable, turning sideways in his chair to lean against the wall as he pulled out his phone. Subtly taking a picture of an old bald man that took a seat at the table in front of him and attaching it to the message he began to compose.


Glancing up as he would every time from now on until his company arrived at the sound of the door jangling open rendering the purpose of the photo somewhat useless.

[ In case I miss you, I'll be hiding behind this guy. ]

​
 
Veronica had planned to show up at the coffee shop alone, and at least fifteen minutes late. She had intended to slip in unobtrusively, hopefully while Rinji and Sasha were already in the midst of a detailed and exuberant conversation, so she would be mostly ignored. That was what she hoped, but Rinji was Rinji, and it definitely wasn't what happened.


Instead, Rinji called her the exact second she got off work...over and over and over and over, until Veronica was so irritated she had to answer. Then, Rinji had, as only Rinji could, systematically wore her into agreeing that yes, she would first drop by their apartment to meet Rinji, and then drive over with her.


"Veronica, I need your advice and help and support in this, you HAVE to tell me what you think about my outfit!" Rinji had declared, which Veronica knew was absolutely unnecessary due to 1. She had beyond zero interest in clothing 2. She hated almost every outfit Rinji owned 3. Rinji would fully disregard any opinion she had by waving her off and saying she knew nothing about fashion. Still, Rinji was nothing if not persistent, and Veronica found herself very reluctantly showing up at their apartment.


She was then treated to at least an hour of Rinji throwing every item she owned onto the floor and then spreading it around like peanut butter on bread, holding up random items to ask Veronica such pressing questions as whether she preferred her pink fishnet tights to her red lace up gloves, and whether she thought that purple shoelaces in black boots was strange or not.


"Every single thing you own, every single thing you have ever put on your body, including your tattoos, and every single thing you have ever done or said is strange, Rinji," Veronica pointed out to her, crossing her arms as she stood impatiently leaned against her sister's door frame. "Even the fact that you changed your name to RINJI is strange."


"Oh Nica, you're just no fun... but does it look good?" was Rinji's undaunted response.


They were at least thirty minutes late by the time Rinji decided she was good to go, and she tried to make it even later when she actually took a good look at Veronica. "Nica, you don't even have any MAKEUP on! Your SHIRT! Your HAIR! Sit down, let me-"


"No," Veronica cut her off, even as Rinji was tugging at her arm, trying to force her towards her bed.


"Oh come on, sis, just-"


"No," Veronica repeated, and she snagged Rinji's keys from her hand, strode out the door, and started up the car, even going so far as to honk the horn. When Rinji finally slid into the seat beside her, huffing good naturedly, Veronica was somewhat surprised she had given up so easily...her sister must be REALLY excited.


When they entered the coffee shop together, Veronica scanned the room, looking for a blonde man sitting alone, but as it turned out Rinji was more than happy to find him for her. She pointed immediately, grinning as she grabbed Veronica's arm. "That's him, isn't he hot, Nica?"


Veronica knew her face was flaming red as her sister proceeded her, dragging her behind her by one arm. "Hi Sasha!"
 
He was on his second cup of coffee, the evidence of the first had been taken from the table, and he was in the middle of attempting the sudouku puzzle in a newspaper picked up on his return. The late night patrons had steadily thinned over the course of the hour to be replaced by new ones and Alexander had long since given up looking for the door. Was not really noticing much of anything anymore really as he became engulfed in finding where he had gone wrong. Now and then his phone would ring signalling a message and he would become distracted his expression solemn, but otherwise he was quite comfortable and was no longer noticing the time.


It was the calling of his name that finally broke him from his reverie and looking up somewhat suprised it took him a moment to remember why he was in fact here before breaking out in smile as he rose to meet and greet the two sisters.


"Rinji, you alright?" He said in direction of the blonde through his smile, no doubts in his mind as he indeed recognised and remembered serving her at the bar and he had no problem leaning forward in a friedly hug as he spoke. He retreated after several momments to look at the brunette standing with her, and with an open palmed gesture and expression that said he would but perhaps knew better than to embrace her in a similar fashion he extended one toward her in a more formal, less invasive greeting.


"Veronica, Right? I'm Sasha, Alexander, nice to meet you" He said breaking out in smile once more as he drew back and looked between the two contrasting individuals.


"This is totally mad, eh? I can't be the only one thinking it. . ." He finally voiced on the verge of muted laughter as he shook his head, referring to their shared situation, at actually meeting others face to face like himself who transformed night after night and he cleared his throat before looking up at the coffee menu for the third time that night with a gesture.


"So pick ya poison, they actually make a decent cup," He looked back at the two girls expectantly. "Though if not everything tastes better free"


He gestured toward the table at which he had been sat, his phone still resting upon the surface alongside his own cup and the open newspaper, left there in his excitement to meet the sisters, his coat hooked about the back of the chair he had been sitting. "I'll fetch them when their ready."
 
Rinji accepted the offered hug with enthusiasm, squeezing Alexander close and briefly resting her cheek against his in a friendly nuzzle not unlike her behavior she shows as a feline before breaking away, her hand trailing down his arm unconsciously, as though not quite letting go. Turning back towards Veronica, her hand still on Alexander's arm, she reaches to tug Veronica forward. "This is Alexander," she announces unnecessarily, and then adds, as if Alexander couldn't have guessed, "I'm Rinji and this is Veronica. If you really want to piss her off you can call her Niki, or even better, Ronnie. She doesn't like Nica much either because she's uptight about nicknames, just like everything else, but she at least lets me call her Nica without hitting me so she must like it all right, right?"


"Some people go by their own name that was written on the birth certificate, you know," Veronica muttered, and as she looked Alexander over, she saw that Veronica was right...he WAS sort of...well, she didn't use stupid teenager words like "hot" but he was attractive, anyway.


She hesitated before taking the hand he extended to her, shaking it only the amount of time necessary before quickly releasing and crossing her arms, stepping back. "I'll go order....something tells me Miss Pogo Stick doesn't need coffee though."


Rinji was in fact shifting her weight from one foot to the other as she spoke in a rather restless fashion as she called after Veronica, "See if they have any Red Bull, Nica!"


Regardless of whether they did or not, Veronica already knew her response to her would be no, they had run out of energy drinks of all kinds and types. She saw Rinji steering Alexander back towards his own table as if she, not he, had been originally sitting there, and rolled her eyes as she heard her sister speaking while she passed.


"Do you always go by Sasha? That's one of those names only a pretty hot guy can get away with but you qualify so it's fine. Do you ever go by Alex or Xander or something? I bet you could even get away with Ali...sorry about Veronica and her clothes, I totally tried to get her to change but you know Nica. You know she actually said you'd laugh at my clothes? She's so silly."


Rinji was currently wearing children's barettes shaped like dinosaurs, white fishnet gloves, a low-cut pink shirt with safety pins up the sides and splashes of glitter on the sleeves, a bright purple skirt with black polka dots, and red tights, paired with four inch platforms. It was embarrassing for Veronica to even be seen with her. Couldn't her sister just be....average? Ever?
 
As Julian slides into the seat next to Aubree she remembers his retort, if the car was man eating could they really get into the driver’s seat? Realizing she was putting a little too much thought into stupid ideas that had been planted in her head by Juls’ craziness she shakes her head. The boy had finally submitted to her bantering at least, and although she didn’t show it she was smiling on the inside.


“The 2-page history question thing about the reading material we got” she provides him with, taking out her own to show him. When one stays up until they turn into a ferret, they get a lot of work done… there were even a couple essays she started that weren’t due until next month. She looked over at Juls, if only she could tell him about her adventures, she bet he would enjoy that. Noticing that his collar’s slightly off she reaches over to fix it for him.
 
Alexander wanted to laugh, and unlike when he was a pup it now showed in his face, in his smile and the sound that escaped him as he was steered back toward the table mid red bull spiel and he turned slightly mid way to gesture to the one who would be serving Veronica, gesturing to both of the girls and then to himsef indicating that he would pick up the bill after before returning his attention to Rinji. A personality almost as sassy as her own name he was coming to quickly realize.


"I've heard Xander once or twice but I don't respond so it doesn't stick. Guess I don't much feel like one." He replied easily, before taking up her hand and leaning back as though to view, eyes moving over her choice of attire with a smile.


Always Rocky terrain with him, he never knew what to say at moments like these, was there a right thing? Rather aside from a quirky sense of style she looked fine, more than fine as his eyes lingered appreciatively here and there, and as he twirled her idly, he could not see the clash of colour that was, he guessed, perhaps the lingering issue here as in all it's washed out, black and white simplicity she looked absolutely fine.


"What? Is it the colour?" He asked with a playful smile, his tone light hearted, hiding the fact that honestly he had no idea, he had already made guesses as to her hair colour from what she had told him the night before, he himself registering it as white. Drawing a finger against one of the dinosaur barette's in intrigue and examination he encoruaged her to sit; cute, could that word be applied here?-, before situating himself back in his own seat. "You look good to me."


Pushing his phone to the side he didn't bother to remove the paper which was as flat as the table surface before leaning against the table on elbows leaning forward conspiritorially. "So Rinji, where'd that come from? Not to take the words from your mouth but i'm pretty sure it's not one for everyone."
 
"Do you feel like an Andy? Or an Ali? I think you'd be a cute Ali," Rinji remarks, smiling, and she appears to be dead serious in this statement. "Sasha Ali...Sashali....that just might be your new name!"


She laughed, eyes opening a little wider than usual with surprise and enjoyment when Alexander twirled her, causing her short skirt to spin out slightly. She reeled herself in, then back out again before releasing his hand, looking back at him still laughing a little as she responded to his question about her clothing. "Well, yeah, I mean how boring is it to wear all of one color, or colors that "go together" or whatever? Who says what goes together and what doesn't? Rainbows seem to go together pretty good and look at all the colors THOSE have, no one ever tells a rainbow to tone it down. Nica and her rules, you would think she's one of those people who won't wear white after Labor Day. She isn't though, I said something about that one time and she looked at me like she didn't know what I was talking about. She did the same thing when I told her about 4/20, you know. What kind of eighteen-year-old has never heard of 4/20?"


"One who doesn't hang around morons who like to get high?" Veronica answered for her, rolling her eyes, as she slid into the seat beside Rinji's at their table, careful not to look too often at Alexander straight on as she rested her elbows on the table. For some reason she sort of wished she HAD put on makeup for this and now it was irritating her that she even cared. Why DID she care? What was it about this guy, why was he so special that she actually cared? Especially when he clearly, obviously was into her sister.


"Oh Veronica, don't be silly, 4/20 is part of your educational experience as a teenager, I can't believe you were that oblivious," Rinji waved her off, before turning to smile at Alexander as he complimented her in front of her sister, fingering her barrettes. "Thank you...Veronica thought the dinosaurs were stupid, didn't you Nica? I told her she should let me put my skull head barrettes on her at the very least, or I'd make her wear a headband with alien attennae on it next time we go out, but then she threatened to stab me with a mascara brush and she does get pretty aggressive with pinching sometimes even though so far my eyes have survived our childhood intact...."


Veronica groaned under her breath, making a show of slightly knocking her head against the wall next to where she was seated, and Rinji smiled, reaching over to ruffle her hair. "Would you let me put makeup on you if you made a bruise doing that?"


When Veronica just glared, Rinji ruffled her hair again before turning back to Alexander, who had just asked her another question, this time about her name. "Rinji? Well, see, my name used to be Lindsey-"


"It's still on your birth certificate, so it still is," Veronica cut in, straightening to look at Alexander too, but Rinji waved her off in a manner that was beginning to look rather trademark for her as she continued.


"My name used to be Lindsey but that's so boring, you know? Like every fifth girl born my year was named Lindsey. And it can be spelled a zillion ways and it doesn't have any cool nicknames and it's such a cheerleader name, who ever heard of a tattoist named LINDSEY?"


"Rinji, you WERE a cheerleader," Veronica pointed out, but this too Rinji dismissed as unimportant truth.


"Yeah, well, I quit in eleventh grade so that doesn't count. Anyway Lindsey is boring so I looked up what Lindsey would be in Japanese one day, and it was Rinji, which is about a billion times cooler. So that's me now. Rinji...isn't it way better than Lindsey?"


She smiled, tilting her head as she nudged her knuckle into Alexander's chin. "I think you're a good Sashali."
 
"Huh," said Julian, slouching down in his seat and looking at her paper. He tilted his head slightly. "Don't remember getting that." He took it from her hands and flipped up the first page, pretending to scan it more than actually looking at it. "Is this for me?" he joked, sliding the paper to the opposite side of his desk.


The bell had rung and the class had started by now; a close call, if anything. History was off to its usual start, with its dates and facts and empires and kingdoms. Julian seriously didn't care about any of it. He lived in the present, and planned to keep it like that- unless he found a time machine or something. Then he'd be willing to break the time line a little. Aubree'd probably be concerned about how dangerous it would be; and it was true he'd probably end up breaking the universe or something. What would the machine look like? Maybe it would be hawk-sized. That would be cool.


The boy gave a little start when Aubree adjusted his collar. "Aubree," he grumbled, shifting his shoulder, but in good nature. He was used to her by now, and they'd both made allowances for each other anyhow. He really ought to find a way to tell her about the hawk thing....


"Do you know anyone named Daniel?" Julian asked, suddenly, turning to look at his friend. "Oldish dude, 27 years old." He thought for a second. "Well, that's not really old, but it's old for someone I'd be talking to." He had been talking to the owl like a friend; not like an adult. It was strange. Their bird forms were both six months old, though, right?
 
When he takes the paper from her, Aubree makes no move to take it back, only rolling her eyes at herself. She then pulled out the second copy ad placed it on the corner of her own desk, aptly listening as the teacher started their lesson. Julian seemed a little annoyed when she fixed his collar, but she only smiled in return, they were used to each other’s ‘faults’ now. After all, they had been friends for such a long time that she suspected he was her long lost younger brother (despite them being the same age).


In the middle of the lesson he asked her if she knew anyone named Daniel, immediately she thought of the boy who used to be in their grade level. Juls quickly explained he was older, meaning that he was older than anyone they were used to talking to. Aubree slowly shook her head, trying to search her memory banks for this ‘Daniel’ person her friend was looking for.


“I…don’t think so?” she notes, giving him an odd look; in a usual situation the blonde would ask why. However, she was about to ask something much along the same lines, “Have you ever met a Jin?” was her question. Aubree wasn’t sure how old he was or anything though, so I probably wouldn’t be much for Juls to go on. Her stomach seemed to growl in protest, reminding her of the fact she skipped breakfast.
 
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