The rest of the afternoon had passed in swift succession. The two
lovers had taken lunch out of the restraunt across the street from the
Starbucks onto the busy sidewalks. The street was pretty upscale with the
gutters clean; at least to the naked eye.
With the doggy bags – which Chloe poked fun at the coincidence with the Glasswalker – in hand, they strolled down to a park a block over. It was well kept save where an irresponsible teenager had tossed a soda can or two at the hoop shaped trash bins and missed, leaving the aluminum cylinder to roll a foot before stopping from loss of momentum.
Black asphalt paved the way through the park, making a scenic surrounding without actually leading the people into the scenery. It gave the city types some sense of connection back to Gaia; whether real or imagined depended on the person.
The duo followed the asphalt as it curved out of view of the main entrance before stepping into the scenery. Fifteen feet in, the copse of trees was thick enough that nothing could see into it from the path although it opened up on the opposite end to the vast field where, down the hill from where the copse of trees stood, dogs and owners played games during the summer and into the fall before cold set in with the ever constant dreary rain.
"Looks good." Luther commented as he plopped down onto the inch high grass. Immediately, he dug into one of the bags and withdrew a white Chinese box and dug into the chicken fried rice contained within.
Chloe glanced down at Luther as he ate with a faint smile. She did realize how lucky she was that Luther wasn't her enemy once he had had his first change. She worried when she was confronted by his Garou heritage. She knew exactly what it meant and the problems that could have arisen from it..
.. but it didn't happen. The killing blow didn't land and when she opened her eyes a few moments later, she witnessed his change back into his homid state; the state of the human banker that could probably hack his way out of a seamless steel cage. Looks and intelligence: very rare but the change made her cringe.
They held onto one another in the dark streets of Toronto that night. Both frightened; both knowing nothing would ever be the same.
Chloe dropped down beside Luther and leaned against his shoulder. She sensed more then saw him pause in mid-bite, his nostrils flare as he breathed in the faint scent of the Wyrm that infested half of Chloe's lineage. The half she desperately tried to hide with various perfumes because she knew it troubled him even though he'd never admit it to her face.
Luther went back to eating, a wave of silence washing over the couple as they sat in the copse.
A man walked across the field, nimbly dodging a dog and his master as they threw about a dark red Frisbee. His niveous hair fell to his waist. It stood out against the dark blue, unbuttoned shirt which he wore over a tighter fitted white shirt and blue jeans.
He was European. Maybe Austrian if one looked close enough. His skin was pale and his form lean. Traveler-of-Snow, or Artemis, glanced down at the canine, his eyes locking with it for a quick moment. The message was transferred and the golden retriever ran back to his master, snagging the treat from the unlabeled bag at his feet.
Artemis smiled briefly before his gaze turned to the hillside overlooked the field. A copse of trees stood on it and two figures beneath it. He paused in his casual stride as he watched them from a distance contemplatively.
It was dangerous; their relationship. Imagine the potential for disaster if his young ward could give birth. An abomination. Artemis shuddered at the thought, pushing it back from his mind. He'd deal with that when the time came. No need to upset her before perhaps the most important confrontation in her life – up until this point.
He glanced up from his thoughts at his name, his human name. His young ward was waving to him.
Chloe's green eyes burned brightly as she scanned the area around herself. Her eyes landed on the Galliard in the middle of the field. He stood completely still. Chloe frowned and moved to her knees before waving toward him, "Artemis!"
Artemis crossed the field and climbed the hill until he came within arms length of the two. He sat down across from them, tugging lightly at the Levi jeans that made him uncomfortable.
After he had settled, he began to speak, "I bought us tickets on a private jet. The owner was running low on funds and he transports cargo between the two. He agreed to give us passage over the major airlines." He grinned ferally, "Don't have to sell Chloe's services off."
Not letting the horrible joke sink in, the lupus-born Artemis continued as he glanced over his shoulder, the man and dog still within sight though the man was speaking with another woman who glanced repeatedly upward at the trio on the hill, "We're being followed. That woman down there has been following me for the last half mile."
Artemis reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out an envelope. He handed it over to Luther and stated crisply, "Burn the envelope after you commit the address to memory."
Luther nodded before the trio rose and went their ways.
The woman, Mercedes, was an undercover detective of Scotland Yard. She talked briefly with the owner of the Golden Retriever. He was utterly boring as he tried to impress her. Mister Donovan would be pleased with the information she would retrieve on his daughter and her kidnappers, one being a man that the young woman had become obsessed with shortly before he whisked her away.
Mercedes gave the gentlemen she 'spoke with' a smile and a nod as he asked her something she didn't catch before he continued on. Luckily, it seemed the man could hold two sides of a conversation easily...
A/N: That's it for this chapter. Can you feel the plot building? Eh. =P :purrssss:
With the doggy bags – which Chloe poked fun at the coincidence with the Glasswalker – in hand, they strolled down to a park a block over. It was well kept save where an irresponsible teenager had tossed a soda can or two at the hoop shaped trash bins and missed, leaving the aluminum cylinder to roll a foot before stopping from loss of momentum.
Black asphalt paved the way through the park, making a scenic surrounding without actually leading the people into the scenery. It gave the city types some sense of connection back to Gaia; whether real or imagined depended on the person.
The duo followed the asphalt as it curved out of view of the main entrance before stepping into the scenery. Fifteen feet in, the copse of trees was thick enough that nothing could see into it from the path although it opened up on the opposite end to the vast field where, down the hill from where the copse of trees stood, dogs and owners played games during the summer and into the fall before cold set in with the ever constant dreary rain.
"Looks good." Luther commented as he plopped down onto the inch high grass. Immediately, he dug into one of the bags and withdrew a white Chinese box and dug into the chicken fried rice contained within.
Chloe glanced down at Luther as he ate with a faint smile. She did realize how lucky she was that Luther wasn't her enemy once he had had his first change. She worried when she was confronted by his Garou heritage. She knew exactly what it meant and the problems that could have arisen from it..
.. but it didn't happen. The killing blow didn't land and when she opened her eyes a few moments later, she witnessed his change back into his homid state; the state of the human banker that could probably hack his way out of a seamless steel cage. Looks and intelligence: very rare but the change made her cringe.
They held onto one another in the dark streets of Toronto that night. Both frightened; both knowing nothing would ever be the same.
Chloe dropped down beside Luther and leaned against his shoulder. She sensed more then saw him pause in mid-bite, his nostrils flare as he breathed in the faint scent of the Wyrm that infested half of Chloe's lineage. The half she desperately tried to hide with various perfumes because she knew it troubled him even though he'd never admit it to her face.
Luther went back to eating, a wave of silence washing over the couple as they sat in the copse.
A man walked across the field, nimbly dodging a dog and his master as they threw about a dark red Frisbee. His niveous hair fell to his waist. It stood out against the dark blue, unbuttoned shirt which he wore over a tighter fitted white shirt and blue jeans.
He was European. Maybe Austrian if one looked close enough. His skin was pale and his form lean. Traveler-of-Snow, or Artemis, glanced down at the canine, his eyes locking with it for a quick moment. The message was transferred and the golden retriever ran back to his master, snagging the treat from the unlabeled bag at his feet.
Artemis smiled briefly before his gaze turned to the hillside overlooked the field. A copse of trees stood on it and two figures beneath it. He paused in his casual stride as he watched them from a distance contemplatively.
It was dangerous; their relationship. Imagine the potential for disaster if his young ward could give birth. An abomination. Artemis shuddered at the thought, pushing it back from his mind. He'd deal with that when the time came. No need to upset her before perhaps the most important confrontation in her life – up until this point.
He glanced up from his thoughts at his name, his human name. His young ward was waving to him.
Chloe's green eyes burned brightly as she scanned the area around herself. Her eyes landed on the Galliard in the middle of the field. He stood completely still. Chloe frowned and moved to her knees before waving toward him, "Artemis!"
Artemis crossed the field and climbed the hill until he came within arms length of the two. He sat down across from them, tugging lightly at the Levi jeans that made him uncomfortable.
After he had settled, he began to speak, "I bought us tickets on a private jet. The owner was running low on funds and he transports cargo between the two. He agreed to give us passage over the major airlines." He grinned ferally, "Don't have to sell Chloe's services off."
Not letting the horrible joke sink in, the lupus-born Artemis continued as he glanced over his shoulder, the man and dog still within sight though the man was speaking with another woman who glanced repeatedly upward at the trio on the hill, "We're being followed. That woman down there has been following me for the last half mile."
Artemis reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out an envelope. He handed it over to Luther and stated crisply, "Burn the envelope after you commit the address to memory."
Luther nodded before the trio rose and went their ways.
The woman, Mercedes, was an undercover detective of Scotland Yard. She talked briefly with the owner of the Golden Retriever. He was utterly boring as he tried to impress her. Mister Donovan would be pleased with the information she would retrieve on his daughter and her kidnappers, one being a man that the young woman had become obsessed with shortly before he whisked her away.
Mercedes gave the gentlemen she 'spoke with' a smile and a nod as he asked her something she didn't catch before he continued on. Luckily, it seemed the man could hold two sides of a conversation easily...
A/N: That's it for this chapter. Can you feel the plot building? Eh. =P :purrssss: