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Yes...you heard right...a Shirley Temple.

Bastian made a list of the drinks in his head, and left the group for the bar. He could sense Kem behind him, and didn't turn until they were actually at the bar.
Once the bartender approached, took the order, and gave Bastian a somewhat indulging look at the Shirley Temple order, Bastian again moved to stand between the teams on the floor, and Kem at the bar.

Paranoid...a little.


"We don't have time, so I'm just going to say this now, as quickly, and clearly as I can."

He took a breath, and willed himself to speak slowly, and calmly, not for Kem's benefit entirely, knowing he could just as easily spill out all he knew with some Italian tossed in for good measure, and wind up with a confused man in front of him.

"I'm not sure if you recall, the night you and Aishe came over for dinner...at Reign's?"

Not that Bastian questioned Kem's memory capabilities, but he wasn't sure how social the two neighbors were, and didn't want to assume everything they had spoken of that night would be quickly recalled.

"Specifically, we talked of the wolf that had been in her yard...the...werewolf?"

That point was something he truly couldn't remember if they had broached or not. It was a detail that needed discussion now though, so Bastian had no other choice but to bring it out into the open.

Kem`Raaisu 16 years ago
Kem accompanied Bastian to the bar, did his best to hang out as the order was placed, and provided appropriate paper currency as Bastian maneuvered himself in such a way as to block Kem from the rest of the group.

The reason for this became readily apparent, as Bastian proceeded to quite bluntly mention the dreaded 'w' word. Kem had a split second to ponder his reaction. Not what it should be; he and Aishe had been over this ground and they were quite certain that Bastian, at least, was a werewolf. But how exactly did the normal human respond?

He chuckled, opting for a low-key kind of response. "Right. How much have you had to drink? I thought we'd only been through one round."

Slowly his laughter died and a more serious expression fell across his face, giving him a chance to make sure the muscles he'd relied on for acting a long time ago still worked. "Oh. You really meant... werewolf? Seriously?"

He looked around, aware that frequent use of such a word might draw unnecessary attention. Fixing his eyes on Bastian, he gave a small sigh and switched languages effortlessly, to Italian.

"Would you prefer to continue this way? If you're serious about this, it might be easier to avoid undue attention if we keep it to ourselves as best we can."

He leaned aginst the bar and awaited Bastian's response, trying to look like a normal guy taking crazy shit from a friend in stride.

((ooc: All communication between Kem and Bas in Italian from here on out - we scribes are simply too lazy to translate.))
Bastian 16 years ago
"I know it sounds terribly...mythical, and not at all plausible, but my friend, I assure you I know what I'm talking about."

Kem's joking was expected, since Bastian had been the unbeliever before. He was thankful the man remained standing next to him, and hadn't run off thinking Bastian was mad. That, too, would have been an expected response, but one that would have required a lot more effort on Bastian's part, to deal with.

As Kem began speaking in Italian, Bastian took no notice. He still spoke it often enough to do so without thinking, and barely registered Kem's concerns, so wrapped up in his need to share information.

He did at least nod in agreement, before he gave Kem a bit more data to chew on.


"It's Aidan, Kem. Aidan is the...was the wolf that has been stalking Reign, and was on her property that night. His eyes gave him away...much like your's would if I were to have seen a wolf, or any other animal flashing those silvery eyes of yours. His are unique, and in addition unique in their differences together...his eyes are different colors, and the same that I saw in the wolf that night."

It wasn't a whole lot to give the Egyptian man, and Bastian now waited for arguments, but hoped he wouldn't have to play all his cards tonight, to convince Kem.
Kem`Raaisu 16 years ago
Kem crossed his arms, assuming a properly skeptical air. "All right... so wait, if I'm to believe you, you want me to not only accept that there are werewolves running around among us, but that the guy who just bought our drinks and seems to be pretty friendly with your girlfriend in an entirely not-creepy way is one of them?"

He raised one eyebrow at Bastian. "And all because his eyes are wierd? What does that make me, Dracula? Godzilla? How could you even see his eyes in here? That damn disco ball makes it impossible to tell. I didn't even get a look from where we were sitting."

That was entirely unture; vampire senses being what they were, Kem had no trouble picking out the details of the folks playing on both lanes. And, of course, technically speaking, he was Dracula. In addition, he not only knew about werewolves but suspected both Bastian and Aidan of being such.

When had he become such a liar? If he thought about it, he didn't like it one bit. But he had Clan security to think of. He liked Bastian. It would have been easy to confess all, and even easier to hold this conversation mind to mind. But Kem's sense of devotion and responsibility to Evenhet was rock-solid.

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, trying to look as if he were tolerantly giving Bas the benefit of doubt. "Look, even if he is some werewolf, what are we supposed to do about it? Jump him after the game in the parking lot and beat him senseless for sitting in Reign's yard snickering? Did you happen to see how big he is?"

Kem pointedly looked at Bastian, who was several inches shorter than he himself was. Kem was no slouch physically, but he had seen Aidan's physique and wouldn't want to tussle with the man.
Bastian 16 years ago
"Entirely not-creepy, to you maybe...not necessarily to me. But what could I do about it anyway..."

Bastian watched the skepticism wash over Kem's face, and knew he'd made a huge mistake confiding in the man. Damn but he needed Mosi, or even Diane right about now. Thanos...well, Thanos had told him to basically just live with Aidan, and not make trouble for the pack. Not that Bastian was interested in doing that anyway. But he had to find allies...he had to make sure people knew Aidan was about, just in case what he was putting out for all to see wound up being a facade.

And Bastian was also hoping perhaps if he could find someone else to believe him, he might be able to dissuade Reign from becoming too chummy with the enemy.


"When I shook the man's hand I saw his eyes, and...well I have very good night vision."

Inwardly he chuckled to himself with that admission, though he also felt bad not coming completely clean with Kem.

"You're right, I suppose. You have no reason to believe me, but how would you feel if you found out someone was stalking Aishe? Would you be content to just ignore things, and run the risk of something happening to her later? Reign has a good head on her shoulders, and is a strong woman, but sometimes those things don't allow her to see what's really in front of her."

Like when her stubborness almost got her killed the night he was bitten himself.

Looking at Kem casually, Bastian could see the man was taller, but he didn't have a lot of meat on his bones, and even together with Bastian, Aidan would be formidable.

Feeling defeated, Bastian turned when the bartender appeared with the drinks. Before he picked up the tray, he asked for a shot of scotch as well, and gave the man the additional money, plus a hefty tip. He had nothing further to give Kem, and now knew his impetuosity had been ill conceived, and pretty worthless. He would have to get back to stick to his own devices, and in that process figure out where he was going to go from here.
Kem`Raaisu 16 years ago
Kem held up his hands, frustrated with Bastian's response. "Hold on, I didn't say I don't believe you. Odd as it sounds, and believe me, I think it sounds plenty odd, I trust you."

He lifted his shoulders now. "I just don't know what you want to do about it."

Hadn't he asked Bastian that already? Kem had no troubles jumping on the werewolf bandwagon like a good pal... but was Bastian expecting him to know exactly what to do about it? He had a few ideas, but none he could confess to without giving Bas much more information than he wanted.

"You're the self-professed expert," he said with a grin instead. "You're supposed to tell me what to do here. I haven't got a clue."

He resumed his previous position, arms crossed, leaning against the bar, not worried about their drinks just yet. They'd get them back to the group presently, but Kem needed Bastian to realize he was an ally... perhaps a skeptical one, but an ally nonetheless.

"I don't want any trouble in our neighborhood," he added truthfully. "I don't want Aishe or Reign in danger, and if this guy," he nodded his chin in Aidan's direction, "is trouble, I want to know how to deal with him."
Bastian 16 years ago
"I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm an expert...but I have had some experiences with werewolves in my life."

For a second Bastian was now almost irritated that Kem had chosen to offer support, rather than consider him to be a crackpot, and leave it at that. But that second passed, and he was back on full 'get the bad guy' mode.

"I don't know. Maybe I was looking for someone else with a cooler head who might have some guiding advice for me. And there is the fact that this wolf was in your yard as well, and undoubtedly responsible for the missing raccoons. I guess I thought that between the two of us we might figure out something to do."

Perhaps that was the answer...there was nothing anyone could, or should do. The obvious, and probably best course of action to take was to do nothing, but be on cautious alert.

"I can tell you there are others in Nachton who are aware of the dangers here...Unfortunately their take on the matter right now is to just lay low, and not cause any trouble. And if I wasn't worried about Reign's connection, that advice might be a lot easier to swallow.

We can't just kill him..."

No matter how many problems that might solve.

When the bartender put the scotch on the tray, Bastian threw it back in one felled swoop, enjoying the burn as it slid down his throat.


"If nothing else, it does help that I know you've been apprised, and if you do believe me, you might look at things from a more wary position."

With the tray of drinks in his hands, Bastian waited to see how Kem would proceed. Strange as it might seem, just confiding in the man seemed to have helped Bastian, as if the release on a pressure cooker had been opened, even if just a bit.
Kem`Raaisu 16 years ago
Kem allowed his lips to twist up into a wry sort of smile. "I assure you my head is perfectly cool," he said. "My neighbor, who I don't know all that well, has just told me there's a werewolf with funny eyes stalking us all and eating my girlfriend's raccoon. I haven't called the hospital, and I am not running in the opposite direction and setting up a barbed wire perimeter around my house to keep wolves and nutjobs away. I'd call that a fairly cool head."

He allowed his features to relax into a more normal smile, hoping Bas would see the humor in it from Kem's side of the situation.

"I'm not going to ask you how you know so much about this particular topic, because I don't think you want me to know and I can respect that. But guiding advice? Bas, all I know about werewolves is that if you shoot them with silver bullets it hurts them, and that's from watching really bad B movies."

He grabbed his freshly opened beer from the tray before Bastian picked it up and took a healthy swallow, unfortunately just as Bastian mentioned killing the guy. Cupping his hand over his mouth and coughing half of the beer down he said in a low hiss, "Kill him? Kill him? I didn't just hear you say that, did I?"

Wide eyed, he closed his mouth, attempted not to choke on beer again (which was hardly the highlight of his night thus far) and said, "Yeah I'd have to agree - obviously, we can't kill him. Do you really think the authorities would be forgiving on that score? If you looked at them square in the face and said, 'Sorry officer, but he was a werewolf and he ate my neighbors' raccoon. It won't happen again,' do you think they wouldn't lock you up?"

Neighborhood watch was one thing, but premeditated murder was another entirely. He put his hand on Bastian's arm and said, "I'll help watch out for the guy, Bastian. Hell, if he so much as sniffs in the wrong corner I will do my best to help you take him out. But do you realize how insane this all sounds from my viewpoint?"

He watched Bastian earnestly. Kem was only willing to go so far for someone he barely knew. He liked Bastian but he was talking about murder, for crying out loud. The idea was repugnant to him. He didn't want to jeopardize what was a good rapport with a perfectly nice guy, but damn - Bastian had a way of coming off as really really intense. Hopefully he'd see it from Kem's angle and realize exactly how he sounded.

Maybe he ought to be building that barbed wire perimeter after all... if Bastian got any ideas into his head that Reign's neighbors were vampires, Kem could see things going - poorly.
Bastian 16 years ago
By now Bastian was convinced he'd made a huge mistake in judgment bringing Kem into the picture, and was quite relieved he hadn't opened himself up any more than he had. As it was he was pretty sure the man thought he might be slightly, if not totally insane, and would have to do everything he could to make him see otherwise.
It was hearing Kem repeat the words "kill him" that roused Bastian and forced him to look up more seriously.


"Of course we can't kill him, I may seem a little pazzesco at the moment, but I truly haven't lost it completely. Though I will tell you that sometimes it isn't as difficult to hide a body, or make murder look like something else entirely. But no, merde no, I'm not about to go off and dispatch the man..."

He would do what he could to learn how to protect himself and those he loved, but there were other people who made killing their business, and were much more adept that Bastian would ever be.

When Bastian had begun to investigate the wolf who bit him he had run into many different characters, some of the lesser savory types. When it became known that he had money, several volunteered to 'take care' of the man he sought, no questions for enough pay. But he had never even remotely considered taking Michael out, even after he'd found out the man's whereabouts.

But back then it had all been Bastian's risk, and it hadn't mattered the way it did now, when Reign could also be in harms way. Yet he knew unless it came down to a fight for survival, he probably wouldn't have it in him.
The far away look that he had in his eyes disappeared, and Bastian nodded as Kem agreed to take the information he'd been given under advisement.


"I do sincerely understand how preposterous this sounds, and know I shouldn't have burdened you with it. I appreciate you listening though, and would consider it a great favor if you would just keep an extra eye out, and on Aishe, especially since the two of you seem quite taken with the two of them."

He could barely stomach the thought of Aidan and Nikhila, having already condemned the woman, with the man, but he tried admirably to keep his voice devoid of any emotion that might indicate his true feelings.

"I'll not speak on any of this again tonight. Shall we return?"

He would still discuss the evening with Reign, even if he dreaded it more than the conversation he just had with Kem. Seeing disbelief, and disregard in Reign's eyes would cut him so much more deeply than any skepticism Kem might have. But he knew he couldn't avoid the matter, and getting it over with would hopefully ease his discomfort.
Kem`Raaisu 16 years ago
Kem held his hand up as if to forestall Bastian from speaking any more. "Enough enough. I don't need to hear about dead bodies and illegal activity. I don't know where you've been hanging out, but I've got a girlfriend to look after, too. hard to do when I'm being pulled in for questioning because I'm listening to you."

He offered Bastian a wan smile that didn't really help diffuse the tension of the situation any. How could the man stand there and calmly speak to him of hiding bodies and arranging murders, and expect him to take that sort of discussion in stride?

With a sigh he shrugged his shoulders. Let it be, he told himself. No sense upsetting Bastian any further. he looked back at the shorter man. "Sorry," he said. "This is just all, well - a bit much for me to fathom. My life's pretty boring. Archive this, file that, research another thing. No one tells me werewolves are sniffing around my backyard on a regular basis. My eyes are both yours, but at some point you're gonig to have to let me know what to look for... because aside from a big guy with funny eyes, I'm not seeing the wolf thing."

When Bastian suggested they drop it, Kem just nodded once, shortly. "That's probably for the best. If we need to, we can resume this in another time and place."

Kem turned and headed back toward the group, noting as he did that it appeared to be his turn.

((ooc: Kem out))
Bastian 16 years ago
He could have chastised himself repeatedly for making an error in judgment, or he could hope that nothing too terrible would occur, and just go from here on his own again. Seeing how the latter would be more productive, Bastian chose that path.

It might do him good to go for a run back on pack grounds. He had run into Mosi, and Diane there once, maybe he'd meet up with others of his kind again, and find ways to incorporate them into his mission. Of course he could always just attend pack meetings, but that wouldn't really be as challenging.


"Yes, you do have a way of finding the most difficult road to travel first."

He whispered to himself as he rejoined the group with Kem.

(Bastian out)