The night shift (att: Ambrose)
Diane sighed and shifted in her seat at the front desk. Looking up at the clock she noted it was half past ten. With an hour and a half left to be open and not a soul in sight she had to wonder why they stayed open this late every Thursday. Bastian had said it was the only way to compete when the city ran 24 hours. It made her wonder just who all these night owls were that they coudln't have their pets serviced in the day time like everyone else. Still it was only one day a week that they were open later than the usual so she didn't complain too much. Mostly it all took place in her head.
No one had come in since eight o'clock and Bastian was still out of town. Mostly she had spent the time on Hulu watching the first season of Son's of Anarchy. Jax Teller was hot and she wasn't afraid to watch and rewatch the episodes so she could oogle at him. The man wore white tennis shoes on a harley and never got a speck of dirt on them. It was improbable but added to his take no shit, not even from dirt, attitude.
Standing up to stretch Diane hit pause on the computer and stepped into the back to check on the overnight animals. It was doubtful that anyone would walk in at the very moment anyways and she wasn't too worried that she wouldn't hear them if they did.
"I wouldn't go that far if I were you."Â?
He was pretty bad about superstitions. The rabbits foot, he wouldn't go under ladders, hated black cats, had a horseshoe hung up in his rooms at the manor and had insisted on one over the two main entrances of Belle's place. And that was just scratching the surface. He wasn't hampered by them, but... well... they were there and he sure wasn't going to advertise them.
Instead he wheeled Midnight in a small circle and pointed her out toward the road.
"No worries, my own fault for waiting so long."Â?
He mimed tugging the brim of his hat down. The gesture was so old and so practiced you could just not notice he didn't have a hat on.
"Thanks ma'am. I'll need that luck."Â?
And so would she. He thought as he asked Midnight for a trot and headed home. Interesting town Nachton and it only got more interesting the longer he lived here.
((OOC... out))
Since Trayce had come with his warning and then stood her up on the night of the full moon, Diane had been laying low. She hadn't changed much except when she had to so there wasn't much effort on her part now. It wasn't like she spent every day shifting back and forth, pushing her body to its limits.
As her new form locked into place, she raised her head high and inhaled deeply. Catching Ambrose's scent she turned in it's direction and took off running, careful to stay low and in the trees that were scattered along the drive. There was no sign of him and she rethought how much time it took her to secure the building. Perhaps she should have just left it and came back to lock it all down.
As Diane weaved in and out of the bushes and trees, another scent was mingled amongst Ambrose and Midnight. Gasoline, oil, rubber, all the things associated with those giant metal objects called cars. The smell was newer than the old rubber bits that had been left in the road from both her and Bastian. And the most compelling thing was the absence of his scent farther down the road. Suspicion roared to life inside her and she trotted back to where the smell of the vehicle was the heaviest. It had probably been parked here and it rested and cooled as Ambrose talked her up.
A growl rumbled from deep within her chest and she let out a howl of fury. Something was going on, and she didn't know what.
(ooc : out, sorry for delayed ending!)