Night's Omen

Stella pushed her chair in with a long leg, and walked to the bar. She pushed back long strands of blonde hair away from her face, and smiled a little at Paris. "Can I have one of those good drinks?"  she asked, implying that she wanted the stuff that would actually get her drunk. Paris laughed and poured her a drink that was composed mostly of a rather vicious liquid, one that Stella eyed curiously.

"Mm.. this is a bit dodgy..." she said, her Aussie accent definitely apparent as she picked it up and eyed it. "Pour me another," she requested. She looked over her shoulder, brow arched. She was going to find another shifter to make swallow this foul liquid first... she was in no mood to become an experiment.

Caleb strolled into the Mojo Lounge and went straight for the bar sitting next to a pretty blonde.  "Can I have one of your strongest drinks of courage?" He asked Paris at the bar casually as he pulled up a stool and sat down in it. His own Aussie accent was a little strong.  There was a faint smell of osmething not altogether human in the air, but Caleb was so used to it wherever he went, he mostly ignored it.

Running a hand through his curly blonde hair, he smiled at the girl next to him.  "Pleasant evening, isn't it?"

He was in the mood to get drunk tonight.  He'd come back from a pretty fun kill and with a new paycheck in the bank, he was ready to just cut loose and have a bit of fun.

Paris laughed and looked pointedly at Stella, as if to say, Here's your victim. "I believe," she said between giggles, "the young lady has what you're looking for. Just don't have too much - that's how Darren and I ended up together. On weekends, anyways." She turned and went back to helping other customers before hopping the counter to switch shifts. She was gunna saaaang.

Stella smiled at Caleb brightly when she heard his accent, though her hyena nose was confused as to what he was. He smelled... she couldn't place it. He didn't smell like the cats she'd met at all, but he certainly wasn't Pakana. Still, she held out one of the large shot glasses to him, anyways.

"Cheers?" she said, tilting her head in that adorable way she always did. She wasn't taking a sip until he did - it smelled awful.

Caleb chuckled a little looking from one woman to the other, feeling slightly lost, something the overconfident and cocky Dingo shape-shifter did not enjoy.  He'd have to gin control soon or he was going to end up the victim of some attack by the female species.  The woman next to him definately wasn't entirely human.  She didn't smell like most girls.  She didn't smell like the women in his guild... and she definately didn't smell like a Dingo, sadly.

"Cheers!"

It didn't really matter what she smelled like, he took the shot glass from her anyways and downed it in one swift gulp. The liquid tasted god-awful, but he was used to tasting liquid that wasn't really meant to be ingested.  He licked his lips and sighed, before checking himself to make sure he was still alive.

Casually looking at the blonde he added, "By the way, I'm Caleb.  And you are?"

At his tip and sip, Stella waited a split second, and then followed, eyes never leaving him. She was waiting to see if he dropped dead, but since it didn't happen, she woefully ingested the foul concoction. She set the glass down, feeling a little more stupid for having consumed it. Her chest was on fire, and instantly, she wanted to vomit. She held all that in, however, and asked for another round.

"Stella," she said, holding a hand out. "And, I know this is going to sound very forward, and usually I'm not, but I did just get off my shift so I suppose I've still got a bit of my on-air personality left... What in the hell are you?" she asked finally. "You're not a cat, not a hyena, not a bird. That much I can conclude, and, wow, that stuff is strong," she added, swaying back in her chair for a second. It was going right to her legs.

"The beauty of being this way is you can't just get drunk normally.. the bad part is, unless you drink chronically, you're always a lightweight."

Caleb smiled and chuckled, ordering himself another as well.  "Yes, well it is the strongest stuff at the bar," he said to her comment on the strength of the drink.  When she started to sway in her seat, Caleb couldn't help but smirk.  Things looked like they were starting to look up on his end and down on her end.  Too bad his head was feeling a little heavier than usual.

"And, I know this is going to sound very forward, and usually I'm not, but I did just get off my shift so I suppose I've still got a bit of my on-air personality left... What in the hell are you?  You're not a cat, not a hyena, not a bird. That much I can conclude, and, wow, that stuff is strong."

The moment Caleb heard that, he couldn't help but laugh.  He wasn't going to ask the question, but it was on his mind.  Bowing his head slightly he said, "I, my dear, am a Dingo.  And you are?"

Stella took the next shot, and set the glass down, pushing it as far to the edge of the bar as she could to get it away from her. The problem with being a Hyena was that even in humanoid form, everything was still scented at an extremely magnified rate, meaning that smell was going to cling to her nose long after she'd left the bar. It smelled, and tasted, like... you know when they're tarring the highway? That.

"A Dingo? I've never seen a Dingo before," she said, excited in spite of herself. "Well, I've seen real ones, but I've never seen a.. you know what I mean. Wow, that's really... neat," she concluded. She wanted to get a better smell, but she wasn't quite that bold, at least not yet.

"I'm Pakana. Hyena, you know? So's my mum. Have you always been, or did you get turned?" It seemed like such natural subject matter. "There are others, too. Hyenas, I mean. None that I found until I lived here for a while. Three so far, two are..." she trailed off. Did she say they were Hunters? Probably not. "Pretty badass," she concluded. She smiled a little at him. She'd been longing for that familiar tone of voice from someone not her parents. She hated how much it made her stand out, it was like Pakana all over again. Something really cool, with nobody to share it with.

Caleb took his own shot and set it down, sliding it away. "Yeah, my parents and I moved to the states when I was... younger.  We're all Dingoes, but my brother and sisters have adapted to fit in more... you know, made themselves more human and mostly ignored the special bit of... ourselves." he said... seemingly rambling.  However, there was a distinct look of distaste there.

"Pakana's pretty cool, I haven't really met many other's, though..."  He didn't know whether or not she knew about Hunters.  He didn't even know whether or not he should tell her about them.  "You know, now that I think about it, your voice is a little familiar..."

He looked at her carefully as though trying to figure out where he'd heard her before.  Then he ordered another shot.  Part of him wanted to see if she'd order and take another drink as well, or if she'd just pass on this one.  Caleb didn't really care.  Well, he did, but he couldn't let it on.  He was pretty happy to have a drinking partner.  It always stunk to drink alone.

Stella stared at him for a minute, and then ordered another shot, too. At this rate, he was either going to be holding her hair back while she puked, or trying to push her off of him. "Familiar? Hmmm... " she smiled a little. "Like rock music? I'm Star when I'm on air. K-Rock," she smiled. "From 9-3 weekdays, and 5-12 Saturdays. PM to AM, that is. I'm the 'overnight' DJ.. I get to take all the calls from angry parents for the 'devil music' I play. Which makes me play Ministry. I wish they'd learn."

She dropped back her shot before he could his, feeling a bit competitive. She didn't like the idea of being out-drank, even if it wasn't just human alcohol anymore they were working with.

Caleb smiled as Stella ordered another shot and drank it.  Also not wanting to be out-drunk, he took his shot only moments after hers, though he'd been planning to hold off on actually drinking it for a while.  The feeling of swallowing fire that had previously come with taking the shot was starting to fade.  Caleb wondered if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Then he decided it didn't matter.

"Actually I do.  So does the laugh come with the Pakana territory, or is that something you taught yourself to do on your own?" he asked with a friendly smile.  He decided not to order another drink of a little while.  He wasn't sure how much he'd take before he wouldn't be so charming.  Usually he srank other stuff.

"The laugh... I taught myself how to do it when I got into radio. I did it on air a lot to try and source out other Pakana. It worked, once. I met a fellow named Jason who heard it. Usually though people think it's either a very unique laugh or a recording," she said with a giggle. "Normally I don't make that sound. I've got a lot of fans who've never seen me, but if they heard it... white on rice."

"You mentioned siblings... I don't have any. What was that like? I was lonely constantly. Pakana have this... thing... we need to be around others like us. It actually destroyed my only long-term relationship, but there were other reasons aside from that." Yeah, like Daniel wasn't the nicest vampire she could have ended up with. He never beat her, but he wasn't always her favourite person.

"Wow, I think I might have to slow down on those drinks," she said after a second. Her cheeks were a little rosy from the mixture. "This place always ensures a good time, at least."

Caleb nodded and smiled at her answer to the laugh question.  He had thought it was a recording, but hyenas were supposed to be known for their laugh so it was worth a shot... or something likehat.

He shrugged at her family question.  He wasn't sure how to describe it, "Dingos are pretty drawn to our own kind too.  I always felt safe an secure with them, though my parents were a little shocked because I was the only one who liked to be a Dingo most of the time.  The others... well they were all very happy walking on two legs."  He chuckled, remembering his childhood.  "You had to enjoy being alone though, right?  I mean, me and my brother and sisters always felt crowded by eachother.  Here in the city you can't really be around a bunch of your kind.  We need area to run and roam.  I guess that's how I landed in my kind of work..."

Caleb realized that he really liked talking about himself.  And that he had probably said a little too much.  He drummed his fingers on his lips as he thought of the things he probably shouldn't have said.  After a moment he added, looking into her eyes, "Though, if you got after any of that lot, I'll go straight for your throat."

"I don't think you have to worry about that. I'm mostly non-violent, unless you corner me." She thought briefly of the man who'd intended to take her to Midnight. She was glad Ebere had been with her. She didn't like the threat all the same, though, and it made her quiet for a moment. She was trying to be more 'tough' like Skye and Ebere, but it was hard. Even in a matriarchal society, Stella wasn't as dominant as she could have been.

"I didn't like being alone, actually. It makes me sick. Made my mum sick. Something about the way we're wired, I guess. Keep us alone long enough, and we just... sort of stop."

"Weird..." Caleb replied.  He'd always thought he was wired wrong in some way.  There were times when he loved being around people, especially others of his kind.  Then there were times when he just wanted to be on his own.  He'd seen it a bit in his family.  In fact it was only around them that they could sort of tell when a person would go through that sort of shift.  In fact, his brother Devin hated being around things most of the time.

"The family's always been going back and forth... My brother because solitary a couple years ago and he hasn't turned back.  Everyone else mostly stays together," he said with a shrug.  He was happy she hadn't caught on to the whole bit about his work.  That made things easier.

"So, you know a lot more, now, right?  You aren't going to just stop riht here in the middle of the bar, right?"

"I won't just stop, no. But if I lived on my own with no other people around me for years, I'm sure I wouldn't be quite sane when you found me next," she said with a small smile. The thought wasn't an idea that she liked.

"You don't smoke, do you?" she asked suddenly. "I never do, but when I drink, I always want a cigarette. It's such a human thing to do," she said with a wrinkled nose. "So what do you do, anyways? You don't look like the fast food type. You can't be military because of your hair... hmm.." She tapped her finger on her chin, studying him.