July 26, 2012


The air was warm and kind of humid that evening as Riley and David walked towards Zen Gardens after a long day at the hotel. A long and strange day, in fact, and the highlight of that strangeness was, without a doubt, the lunchtime talk between Riley and Jenni. Riley'd come back from that talk pissed off, a bit confused, and basically wondering why the hell Dan seemed to attract crazy women. At any other time, David would have pointed out that Riley herself had been?still was, honestly?very attracted to Dan. Since he valued his facial attachment, though, he kept quiet this time around. Besides, he was kind of mystified, too. Sure, Riley and Dan's abilities were pretty badass, and he would've loved to have a nose like theirs. The whole 'mindless animal that might eat people every full moon' part of the process kind of turned him off of it, though.

"So she was totally serious?" He was picking up the conversation a couple hours later, but figured she could follow long without much effort. Who else would he be talking about?

"Huh? What? Oh, yeah," Riley said, surfacing from dark, troubled thoughts. "Serious as a f*cking heart-attack. I doubt talking to me did anything more than cement her desire." She shrugged and sighed softly. "I just hope Danny has the sense not to give in."

"Yeah, same here." He had to wonder, though, if they were overlooking an important fact: Dan didn't think being a Lycan was any kind of curse. He wasn't the victim of an attack, or a bad transfusion, or what-have-you. He'd never had the kind of struggle Riley'd had coming to grips with her new nature. "I'm not so sure he does, though."

One corner of her mouth curled up in a wry smirk. "Yeah, he doesn't quite understand, despite seeing me struggle with it for a year or more." She shrugged. "If he gives in, he'll become very familiar with it."

He nodded. "True." He decided that he would see about taking Dan aside and talking to him for a bit. Maybe he could find out what was going on inside that not-quite-human mind. In the meantime, they were approaching the invisible line that separated the Five Kingdoms from the rest of the city, and while the place was undeniably cleaner and better-lit than it used to be, it was still a dangerous place.

"That meeting tonight was all about how Fionna's gonna deal with the yakuza," Riley said as they turned under the huge torii gate that marked the southern boundary of Little Tokyo.

"Anything come of it?"

"Other than giving me the overwhelming desire to bash someone's head against the wall repeatedly, nah, not really. Fio wants to have some big parlay with the yakie's head honcho. I'm not certain what she thinks she's gonna get from it."

He snorted. "Re-election."

"She already got that. You wanna know something that just pisses me off about the whole thing?" They passed by Moshi-Moshi Sushi on the outskirts of Shuijin Park on their way to Zen.

"What's that?" He glanced into Moshi-Moshi, wondering if Riley was hungry enough to stop in and grab a bite.

"How many other organizations, or hell, simple citizens, around the city are doing the exact same thing? Why is Fio taking an interest in the yakuza?"

"It's personal," he replied. "It doesn't really have anything to do with public safety or whatever bullsh*t they want to call it."

"Especially when there's someone out there randomly murdering 30 people a night and she?s got someone who made a random comment in a packed bar under the microscope."

"That's politics for you. Having someone to blame is a lot more important than fixing the problem."

He glanced back once to see Riley going up the wall like a...well, like a Cat. Good. Her superior senses would give her an even bigger advantage up there. Plus, people hardly ever looked up, unless they'd been trained to do so. When he reached the end of the alley, he peered around the corner. When he saw the scene in the courtyard, his eyes narrowed and his fists clenched involuntarily. He straightened and stepped out into plain sight, all thoughts of stealth gone. "Hey, kusottare," he yelled loudly, pulling out the single worst Japanese insult Riley had ever taught him. "Come try me." The Japanese men's heads whipped around at the sound of David's dirty Japanese and their eyes widened with shock.

Riley chuckled softly and shook her head. Of course. He couldn?t remember how to say ?I love you? but the words for ?dumb mother*cker? were imprinted on his brain. She slipped down the side of the building, going as quietly as she could. She dropped soundlessly into the courtyard and straightened, looking Oliver over. The boy?young man, really?was a mess, but none of the injuries looked life-threatening, just painful as hell. Broken nose, blackened eyes, probably a couple of teeth missing. He was clutching his stomach, curled into a half-fetal position. Probably had some cracked ribs, too. Riley ducked down, making herself as small and inconspicuous as possible. She'd concentrate on getting Oliver away and leave the beat down to David. The temptation to just pull out the Sig and shoot the idiots was nearly overwhelming.

After a couple of seconds, it seemed to register with Oliver that he wasn't being hurt any more. His puffy eyes slitted?that was the best they'd be able to do for a while?and a little sigh trickled out of his mouth when he recognized Riley hovering over him. He kept quiet, though, whether out of instinct or understanding.

One of the Japanese stood up straighter and turned to face David with an ugly smirk. "Your Japanese is good. You must be f*cking that neko oni."

Riley opened her mouth to protest being called a cat demon and thought better of it. The two yakuza closest to her still had their attention on David so she carefully reached down and cupped her hands under Oliver's elbows, helping him creep into the lee of the building, hiding him away in the shadows behind her.

"You must be f*cking yourself," David replied. "Or is that your usual expression?" He couldn't see Riley, but he knew what she was doing as if he was right next to her. He took a couple of steps to the right, knowing that the Yaks?if they could even call themselves Yaks?would follow the movement.

Just as she got Oliver squared away and safe for the moment, one of the yaks looked down and saw that their prey was gone. He looked around and cried out when he spotted Riley. She winked at him and then threw a jab at the underside of his jaw, pulling the punch at the last moment. Wouldn't do to have herself wind up on Fio's yakuza killer list. The poor man didn't even have time to react before her punch laid him out flat. Of course, this just served to draw attention to her, but she was more than ready to deal with it. The four remaining yakies split themselves into two groups, two facing Riley and two facing David.

There was no reason to hold off now?Oliver was out of the way, and the Yaks knew Riley was there. Waiting would just give them time to act, and he didn't see any reason to let them get that far. David surged forward, closing his hand on the elbow of the guy to left who was either playing with himself or going for a gun stuck?foolishly?down the front of his pants. "Shoot your balls off another time," he hissed, clamping down hard on the ulna nerve, the so-called 'funny bone'. The Yak didn't find much humor in the way a bolt of searing pain shot through his whole arm, rendering his hand numb and unresponsive. David spun in a half-circle, using that same elbow grip to sling his captive into his buddy. Both men went down hard.

Three down, two to go. As they were staring in dumb-founded shock at the fact that three of their comrades were now on the ground, moaning in pain or just plain unconscious, Riley helped the one on her left to join them by pivoting at the waist and snapping a side-kick to his temple. He keeled over and before he could even hit the ground, she'd grabbed the Last Yakuza Standing in a choke-hold. "Listen very carefully to me," she said in a low, menacing Japanese growl.

The man she'd grabbed froze, his courage evaporating in the face of that growl and the impossible, unforgiving strength in the arm that was cutting off his air supply. With four of his friends down and out in the space of a few seconds, he was beginning to realize the precariousness of the situation he was in.

"You may think you own this neighbourhood," she said, lowering her head so that her mouth was right next to his ear. "But you'd be wrong. This is our neighbourhood. We own it. Everyone who lives here, but most especially these kids, are under our protection. Do you understand me?" He tried to take a breath, but that slender arm was as unyielding as a hangman's noose. Spots swam before his eyes as he bobbed his head up and down several times. Dimly, he was aware of warm wetness spreading down the front of his biker pants, but the inability to breathe overshadowed the humiliation of losing control of his bladder. She loosened her grip and he dropped to the ground. She kicked him gently in the small of his back, shoving him over onto his face. "Tell Kotetsu what I told you." He nodded once and clambered to his feet before running off.

August 12, 2012



"There's a new French place not far from us," he said as they left the always bizarre and always entertaining Red Dragon Inn behind. "Want to check it out?" He was trying to keep things light, since it was obvious she was upset, and would've been even if Duci and Katt hadn't said anything about it. He just couldn't figure out why on earth she'd ever think he would leave, though. Couldn't she tell how he felt every time he saw her?

"French? Sure. It's been a long time since I've had French food." She slid out of his embrace, but reached to take his hand instead. Despite the weirdness of her feelings towards him lately, it was difficult to be around him without touching him. "Where is it?"

"In New Haven. Pretty close to Dan's, actually." Most of the time, he was okay with her reticence to talk about things that were bothering her, but right now, he really wished she'd just tell him. He didn't like this distance she was putting between them, not one bit.

She nodded but remained silent through the rest of their walk. When they arrived at the restaurant, Chez Felix, which was located not far from the Heavenly Boutique, Riley paused for a second to look the place over. It looked like it had been there forever; it was a dark wood and dark brick building with ivy covering the facade and what appeared to be a thatched roof. "Huh," she said quietly. "It looks like an old French farm house. Hope the food's good."

"Me too. One of Dan's chefs was talking about it the other day. He sounded pretty complimentary." He went to the entrance and pulled open the door, glancing inside. The interior was packed, though subdued and quiet. The French farmhouse theme was continued inside. The walls were white washed and covered with photographs of the French countryside, the floors were ceramic tiles, and the upholstery, curtains, rugs, and table linens were in shades of blue, yellow, green, and white. Riley sniffed as she went through the door and her stomach grumbled. "Oh, man. I smell Chateau Briand."

"Looks pretty authentic to me," he said?not that he'd ever been to France. A smiling host met them just inside and lead them to a table near one of the walls, presented them with menus, and then vanished. Riley quietly looked over the menu and decided that she'd beg David to share an order of Chateau Briand. It had been years since she'd enjoyed the tender French Provencal-style roast beef and her mouth was watering, just thinking about it.

He picked up his own menu and read through it. The meals were in French, unsurprisingly, but thankfully there was an English description right below them. "Some good stuff on here," he said. "See anything that strikes your fancy?" He was planning to let her order anything she wanted, in hopes that it would improve her mood.

"Chateau Briand. It's so good. And maybe the mussels to start and definitely have to get cr?me br?l?e, too."

He looked at the description for the Chateau Briand, and had to admit that it did look rather good. The price was kind of high, but he figured it was for a good cause--namely, making Riley happy again. And that was worth any number of high-end meals. "It does sound good," he said. "Let's go for it." He caught the waiter's eyes and the man came over quickly to take their order. Along with the mussels, Riley ordered a glass of pinot grigio and a glass of shiraz to go with the beef. After the waiter left, she sat back and nibbled on a piece of warm, buttery sourdough, studiously avoiding David's eyes.

He picked up a piece of the bread and toyed with it, pondering whether or not to try to keep the meal conversation light, or jump right into the heart of the matter. It wasn't an easy decision. Normally, he'd be all for diving right in; he didn't really like beating around the bush. He was worried that she would just shut down, though. While he was dithering, the mussels and wine arrived, and Riley jumped in, delicately prying the bits of delicious meat from their shells and using the bread to sop up the juices. As she ate, she made happy sounds of contentment. In the end, his natural straightforwardness won out, unsurprisingly. He set the bread down and said, "Riley...Katt sent me a text saying you needed me right away, and then Duci told me that you think I'm leaving you. What's going on?"

August 18, 2012



After Riley sprinted off from the ice cream party at the Red Dragon, after a very public spat with Duci, after she'd finally had enough of the fighting over an assh*t like Jochin, Riley hunted the extensive forests north of the city. She hung around Daniel's cabin for a while, hoping he'd come out to play, but he had been occupied with his new girlfriend and Riley felt strange interrupting. So she spent the rest of her time out alone, tracking and eventually bringing down a magnificent buck with a beautiful five-point rack. Unfortunately, Jaguar had absolutely no appreciation for the beauty of the animal and left what She didn't eat high in a tree, where it would either rot or be picked apart by scavengers who also shared her disinterest in the primal loveliness of the deer.

Meanwhile, David walked home by himself, carrying Riley's clothes. He could understand why she was upset, obviously, and why she'd decided to handle it this way. He firmly told himself not to feel abandoned, despite the treacherous little voice that whispered she had, in fact, run off without him?the very definition of abandonment. When he got home, he put her clothes in the laundry hamper, her jewelry back in the box on her dresser, then went to take a shower. He had a suspicion that it was going to be a while before she got home. What he really wanted to do was go out and find her, but that was a hopeless task. Even someone like him couldn't find a jaguar hunting in the forests at night unless She found him first.

After the shower, he found that he was too wired to consider laying down, or any sort of relaxing, so he went out back to do some practicing. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough, either, so he put his clothes back on?he?d gone out in just a pair of shorts?and left the house, heading for heading for Little Tokyo. Maybe he'd get lucky and someone would try to mug him. Or a gang of yaks would try to get some revenge, if he was really lucky. Yes, David was kind of spoiling for a fight, which was extremely unusual for him. Even Riley would've been shocked by air of barely-suppressed mayhem that surrounded him as he stalked through the streets towards the Five Kingdoms. People walking down the sidewalk towards him took one look and moved to the other side of the road. That suited him just fine.

Soon, he passed through the torii gate and kept going, taking a route that would lead him directly past the Social Club. He was looking for trouble, after all, and that was the best place for him to find it. The entrance to the Social Club was thronged with people, as it was pretty much every night. Gamblers, fighters, hookers, spectators, and, of course, yakuza, all milling around outside as they waited to get in. The yaks and the fighters didn't actually have to wait, for obvious reasons, but plenty of them did anyway, making deals and bets, picking up a whore for the night, or whatever. As he drew nearer to the crowd, the doors opened, spilling out bright lights, music, and...a very familiar figure. He stopped in stunned surprise as Chien stepped over the threshold. His second-best student was a sorry sight; face bruised and bloodied, one eye swollen shut. Yet he was grinning and holding up a thick wad of cash, waving it like a trophy.

Chien hadn't seen him?David was still in the shadows cast by the few streetlights, and his student was too busy showing off his winnings. David frowned as he watched. He wanted to run up and confront Chien, ask him what the hell he thought he was doing, fighting in the yakuza's club for money. The only thing holding him back was the knowledge that it would almost certainly lead to a fight with a whole bunch of yaks, and while that prospect sounded great, there were also a ton of more-or-less innocent people who'd get caught in it, not to mention Chien himself. He'd be pissed off if David started yelling at him right there and then, and losing one friend in a night was already one too many.

So he just watched as his student and friend went off into the night, still clutching his spoils of battle and a woman of negotiable affections. At least now David understood the mysterious bruises and the too-expensive presents Chien had been getting himself lately. He also had to admit that some small part of him felt some pride that Chien was obviously winning his fights if he'd gotten enough money to buy the things he had.

By the time Chien and the whore had vanished into the distance, David realized that the urge to get into a fight had disappeared along with him. He sighed softly and turned away from the Social Club, walking back out of Little Tokyo and across the city home again. It was after midnight now, and he thought he might try to get some sleep. He wasn't too confident about his prospects, though. Without Riley's warm body next to him, the bed would seem a cold and lonely place.

She stopped and looked at him with a frown of concern. "What's wrong? You look like someone ran over your puppy."

"Last night," he started, "After you...left, I took a walk into Little Tokyo." She nodded, going back to her food now to give him the chance to explain without much interruption. "I wasn't in a very good mood," he admitted. "I was kind of hoping I'd run into some yaks, in fact."

Her brow arched. "Naughty boy," she said with a smirk. She understood the temptation.

The corner of his mouth ticked upwards briefly, but he shook his head. "I went to the Social Club, but before anything else could happen, I saw Chien." She frowned, failing to see why this would be a bad thing. "He was coming out of the Club, babe. With a fistful of cash and a busted-up face."

"Oh," she said quietly and then shook her head with a sigh. "Has everyone we know lost their faculties? What is it with people making stupid decisions that're gonna come back and bite them in the *ss?"

"I don't know," he said. "Why the hell would he spend his nights in those blood sport games? He's not an idiot, or one of those guys who loves hurting other people."

She shrugged and ate the last bit of egg and swallowed the last sip of coffee. "Money. Girls. What he perceives as respect. How old is he? Twenty, twenty-one?"

"Yeah, something like that," he said, nodding. She was right, of course. "What should I do? Kick his ass for it? Ignore it? Tell him it's a bad idea?"

She barked out a single, bitter laugh and shook her head. "After this week? Everything that's happened between my best friend and I? What do you think?"

He reached across and covered her hand with his, hating that sound of pain in her voice. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.

She shrugged a little and sat back with a sigh. "I made my bed, right? Just...don't screw up with Chien, okay? He's young and impressionable. He's at a dangerous place in his life right now. He needs his sifu's guidance and perhaps more importantly, his friendship."

"That's what I'm worried about. What if I pretend I don't know anything, and he gets himself hurt badly? Or worse?"

She was quiet for a while and then leaned forward, her caramel eyes intense on his chocolately brown ones. "Then just let him know that you know what he's doing. But don't give him ultimatums. Don't make him choose. That's..." She trailed off and then shrugged again, a casual lifting of one shoulder that spoke of something that hurt far too badly to give voice to. "What're we doing today?" she said, changing the subject abruptly, and standing and bringing their dishes to the sink to wash.

"Cheung still hates him. Complains about drool on his pristine floors," she said as they slipped into the studios. Padma, the receptionist, was on the phone and Leslie was leading her kundalini yoga class in the yoga room.

"Well. He's always going to find something to complain about when it comes to you." He shrugged slightly. They'd both realized that nothing was ever going to change Cheung's unreasonable attitude towards her.

She dumped her bag in one of the chairs at the back of the dance room and shut the door firmly. "You know what I think?" she asked as she stripped off her shoes and socks and t-shirt, revealing a black sports bra.

"Sometimes," he answered, watching. He never passed up an opportunity to look at her, especially when she was revealing more skin than usual. "Not at the moment, though." He was too busy admiring her body to be trying to read her mind.

She snickered and shook her head. "Funny man." She began stretching using the barre for support. "I think he's secretly in love with me."

"Cheung?" He snorted. "I'm not sure he even loves his own mom." Then he shrugged. "Couldn't fault his taste, though." He tugged his shirt off and stretched, reaching for the ceiling, then pulling one arm down behind his back, followed by the other.

"No, he's gotta love his Mama. Don't all good and obedient Chinese boys love their Mamas?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yup. Filial piety is a very important thing to a traditional Chinese." He kicked his shoes off, bouncing up and down lightly on the balls of his bare feet.

She mimicked him before reaching down to crack her toes and then performed some stretches for them and her feet as well. "Did you? Were you good and obedient?" He never talked about his childhood or his parents much. She always had the sense that there was something unhappy and tragic lurking in his past.

Another nod. "I was a pretty good kid, I think. Since most of my time was spent learning bagua, I didn't get into a lot of trouble the kids around Chinatown usually did. My sifu would've been disappointed in me if I had." He did some twists, and then rolled his shoulder forwards and backwards.

She smiled softly. "I know what you mean. My Madame and my parents would have strung me up by my toenails if I didn't keep my grades up or if I'd gotten into any serious trouble." She finished her stretches and then moved into the middle of the room, standing loose and relaxed on the balls of her feet, watching him warily.

"Yeah. And by the time I was old enough to be getting into real trouble, making my sifu proud of me was really important. In some ways, even more so than my parents." He walked out and stopped five or six feet in front of her, arms down at his sides. She nodded, realising that they had the same relationship with their mentors. She said as much as lifted her hands up, left leading right, at about chest height. She slowly began circling to her left, her eyes never leaving David's face as she moved.

"Doesn't surprise me," he answered. He turned as she circled, keeping her in front of him, and lifted his hands to chest height, open and ready. He was already starting to smile just a bit. He loved these sparring sessions with her?which probably made him a little bit of a sado-masochist, honestly, since they invariably beat the sh*t out of each other. It healed shortly afterwards, of course, but still...it was probably kind of weird.

August 27, 2012



Riley did not look like someone who was giving a huge party in less than a week's time. She looked like someone had just run over her dog. Dark circles lay purple and black underneath her eyes, hair lank and droopy, eyes hollow and listless. With the blue moon just days away, she should be restless, nervous, energetically on edge. Instead she slunk into the Inn through the mire in the alley and lurked for a moment near the back door.

Look what the cat dragged in was an inappropriate statement in this moment, wasn't it? Sal set himself to staring at the bedraggled cat. Her eyes narrowed and she snarled in a rather feral manner at Sal. No, that was not a come on. It was more of a challenge. Which was also not a come on. Up went his brows. Was she seriously itching to pick a fight with him? Right now? In her state? He stared.

She stared right back. Maybe a good fight was what she needed to shake this feeling, this horrible, awful, icky feeling that had been dogging her for weeks now. Seriously, if anyone could understand occasional homicidal urges, she figured it would be Sal. Her attention flitted once more towards the hearth and then the front doors. "Awesome," she muttered and took a shuffling step backwards, all the fight draining from her in the blink of an eye.

He set aside his mug of coffee, then. Still hadn't had any of it to drink yet anyway. Riley did not look like herself at all. He straightened up, crossed his arms, and continued to stare her down. Was she going to make him get out from behind the bar? He scratched his jaw, considering, and then meandered out from behind the bar, again a wide berth around Chilly McSlaver, and crept closer to Riley. A glance aside to whatever it was that deflated her slowed his progress even further. He jerked his chin up hello to Duci, and then focused back on Riley. Okay. He was close enough to punch. Now what?

She ignored Katt and Duci?harsh, but better than a full-blown shouting match, ce n'est pas vrai??and reached out the grab Sal's shoulder to yank him closer. Whatever she had to say was for his ears only. He shuffled in close enough so that he wasn't bending over, and listened. She said in a soft voice, "I want your help with something."

Hold the phone! Was the world ending? Was he just not feeling the fire and brimstone raining from the sky? He drew back his chin just far enough to allow himself to look at her slantways, brows high. Generally, this is where he asks, "Who do you want me to kill?" It was right there. On the tip of his tongue. He was so goddamn tempted to say it. But this was Riley. Good and decent and righteous?Oh, who the hell are we kidding? That's exactly what he asked her, albeit in a hushed murmur.

She shook her head a bit. "No, you misunderstand me. I want you to let me help you with that." Her voice had slipped to barely above a whisper. She was walking a rather thin line here, a thin dangerous line and if certain people, whose names might or might not have rhymed with Pravid, ever found out that this conversation had ever happened, she would be in for a world of hurt. Not to mention homeless and divorced.

His brows really couldn't hitch up any higher, but they sure as hell tried in that moment. She'll forgive him, certainly, for actually taking a second to literally pinch himself. Nope. Not dreaming. He straightened up slowly and looked over his shoulder. There were people who could be listening around here! And if he knew anything about the tabloids whatsoever, he may have even suspected there were hidden cameras and microphones hidden all over the Inn to catch these kinds of abnormal conversations. It's just that kind of paranoia that had him grabbing Riley by the arm, yanking open the back door, and hauling her out into the alley to continue this discussion where there were less ears to hear them with. Once the door clicked shut behind him, he hissed, "You want me to what?" What kind of bizarre parallel universe had he wound up in!?

"I'm serious, Salvador," she said, stumbling gracelessly along behind him. And to prove it, she'd used his whole name. Once they were out back and she'd assured herself that there was no one else around for a few blocks, she shook his hand off her arm and skewered him with a look. "I want to go with you the next to you go hunting."