Things That Go Bump in the Night

Kiyoshi had quietly left his room and trotted out along the trails into the woods. He wanted to be outside. It was getting a little confining indoors. Most people had been kind but Kiyo's own insecurities preyed on him nightly and he had a hard time settling. It was difficult to sleep.

He had been spending a lot of time at Terminus helping to get it ready for its opening, instead of making connections in his Pack. He did it to himself. He knew that.

Yet, he was too afraid to do it any other way. Kiyo supposed after a while fear became a lifestyle. So here he was again, slinking out of a real room with his sleeping bag under one arm, creeping down the hallways and finally out into the woods. More and more he was considering Evan's offer. Maybe he could stay with him.

He liked Evan. He might even like Guillaume... a bit.

Kiyo reached a little clearing just off one of the narrower trails in the woods. He laid out his sleeping bag and then reached into his pocket. He sighed happily as he slipped his fingers into the loops of his poi. Standing still for a moment and breathing deeply, he felt everything around him, taking it all in. The earth beneath his feet, the sky over his head. The soft noises of night birds and other small animals all around. He tasted the gentle breeze and found it soothing.

With that taste still upon his tongue he bent and turned each poi on. He wasn't using fire here in the woods. He had led lights in each one. As they glowed, a slow transition through all the colors of the rainbow, he suddenly began to move. Within seconds his poi were spinning quickly through the air and Kiyo had settled into a relaxing rhythm.

Kiyoshi Salinas 12 years ago
Kiyo felt a glimmer of hope at Tavi's words. He desperately wanted to have a place here. Well, anywhere, but here, in Nachton... it would be nice. More than nice. His face lit up briefly as he considered it, before he schooled his expression back to some sort of calm neutrality. "I'd like that."

He'd love it. But Kiyo had enough experience not got truly get his hopes up. He'd met some very nice Packmates since arriving in Nachton but they weren't all like that. The Pack in Brazil was far more - old school. Kiyo had been happy to leave it; someone such as he didn't belong there.


"I'll still be interested," he said softly. Tavi had been nothing but kind to him since his arrival. If he could help her out in any way, and for such a cause, Kiyo would do whatever she asked. Granted, due to her rank he would have done so anyway but in this case the offer was sincere and entirely voluntary.

He smiled at her interest in the wii.
"We have them at Terminus," he said. "Maybe you could come before hours some time? Or after," he shrugged. It was aftr hours now; in these early hours of the morning the club was closed but Evan would still be up and about, as Kiyoshi had been. Kiyoshi, with his night job, never slept until the sun was just coming up. "I doubt Evan would mind but I can ask."

Evan and Tavi knew each other, as far as he knew. They seemed to like each other, at least if the content of Tavi's conversations was any indicator.


"I like the elf too," he said with a grin. "Maybe it's the long hair."

He continued to make his steak vanish at a fast rate. Kiyo was always hungry, and he didn't see any reason to linger over his meal. It was delicious, therefore it should be in his stomach, yesterday. He might have to find more after this. The portion had been more than generous but he found himself tempted to lick the plate when he was done.
Octavia Emiliano 12 years ago
Tavi smiled at Kiyo. The look of hope that lit up his face was adorable; it was sad that he quickly hid it under something more neutral. She wasn't sure where he was from but now she wanted to know more. Something suggested that he wouldn't tell her much unless she were to pry and that would make him uncomfortable. Was it okay to snoop on your friends if it was for their own good? Somehow she doubted it. Maybe she would be patient and just ask him a question here and there. She could piece together the story from that.

"Alright. I'll let you know when I have any leads. Uhm, can you fight, if you had to? If the answer is no then I'll just make sure not to get you into trouble." Tavi grinned, her smile suggesting she got into trouble quite often.

The visit to Terminus sounded like fun and she was glad that Kiyo offered to show her around before or after hours so that she could spend time with him when he wasn't working. Tavi did want to see him tend the bar some time though but she didn't want to disturb him while he was doing his job, especially if one of his bosses had no sense of humor.

Tavi pulled out her phone and waved it at her new friend.
"Want me to text him? He's remarkably tech savvy for someone so bloody old." She also knew that the vampire would still be up and about at this hour. She just left him not long ago anyway. "Or you can, whichever."

She looked Kiyo over and nodded.
"I can see the resemblance. Ever think of going blond? I can do that for you if you like." He wouldn't make a great blond...well, maybe, but it would have to be the right shade to compliment his skin tone. Still, Kiyo looked better as a brunette. Now if he wanted to dye his hair blue or something, then that might suit but it would be a shame to have to grow it back out. Temporary, definitely something temporary.

Watching him devour his steak in record time made her smile. It was like watching Tobi at his most hungry. She wondered if he sometimes didn't have enough to eat. Tavi was starting to feel like a worrying over protective mother. With a mental sigh to herself, she raised her eyebrows and looked down at the plate.
"Want another? There's plenty." Tavi quickly chewed a few more pieces of her own meal. She would eat another one if it made him feel better about accepting.
Kiyoshi Salinas 12 years ago
Kiyoshi raised his brows in surprise at Tavi's question. Could he fight? "Yes," he said. "If I have to. I wouldn't be a liability." Kiyoshi generally preferred not to, but when you had a thing you wanted to keep to yourself it helped to be able to defend your right to it. Kiyo had learned that lesson very early.

He pondered the idea of Tavi getting into trouble and decided it couldn't always be mischief of her own making. She was too nice, very genuine. That said, he could see her not being completely innocent. He wouldn't mind getting into trouble with her, he figured, if it was for a good cause.

She wanted to text Evan immediately and Kiyoshi considered. It wasn't that early; the bar had only just closed in the last hour or two. There were a couple more hours left before sunrise, and even sunrise didn't mean Evan was asleep... just that he was indoors.


"Sure, if you want," Kiyoshi said, "otherwise I can just ask him later tonight when I go back to work."

Kiyoshi was still of the opinion that he didn't need any time off. He seemed to be in the minority there but he was still going to fight for a 7/7 work schedule. Thus far he had been unsuccessful on that front.

Being compared to the Gauntlet elf made him chuckle.
"I don't think blond suits me. Maybe something with a bit more red in it." Just like that, too, he was offered another steak. Was he staring that hard at his plate? Kiyoshi considered for a moment. If he declined, would Tavi even believe he wasn't hungry while he went searching for food elsewhere?

He made his decision quickly, surprising himself.
"I can get it," he said, standing and moving to where Tavi had been earlier. "Elf needs food badly," he muttered to himself as he opened the cooler and looked around. Spying the object of his desire, he helped himself to another sizable steak. "Do you want more?"

Maybe it was a small thing, but Kiyo rarely ever felt at home enough with his Pack to make free as if he owned the place. This was sort of new... a little uncomfortable like a new pair of shows, but he thought maybe if he did it some more he could get used to it.
Octavia Emiliano 12 years ago
The little mother in her was happy to hear that Kiyo could take care of himself. She didn't want to get him into a fight and these days she was less inclined to start something herself. There had been a phase when she would jump at the chance to get in the middle of something. After her time as an officer where she had suspects that were aggressive and took offense at anything and everything. After a while that got pretty old.

Tavi clicked away on her phone when Kiyo said it was okay to send a text to Evan. She hit send and then smiled up at her pack mate, putting her phone away.

She had sent:

Mind a mini pack invasion before you open sometime? I am here with Kiyo and don't want to distract him while he works.

Looking at the other werewolf thoughtfully, she said.
"Hmm, red might be nice. How about some red strands?"

Kiyo said he could get the steak. Tavi shoo'ed him towards the refrigerator with her fork.
"Go for it." She popped another piece into her mouth and looked at what he was coming out with. Tavi laughed at his Gauntlet inspired joke and shook her head. "Sure, I can eat some more. I'm trying to work on my figure." She might have hips if she strapped a steak to each side. "Its a rigid Atkins diet. Not a single carb in sight."
Kiyoshi Salinas 12 years ago
While Tavi texted Evan Kiyoshi put his plate back down. And then he realized that Tavi was dead serious about dying his hair. He considered, and then shrugged. "Okay," he said. What could it hurt? If she wanted to play with his hair she could. Truth be told, he thought he might enjoy it. "What kind of red? Like, fire engine? Mid life crisis sports car red? Or darker?"

He was curious what she envisioned. His hair was rather long and already had some reddish highlights to it. Putting deliberate color in it would either look pretty good, or really bad.

He took Tavi's plate from her and gave her another serving of steak as well.
"There you are," he said, returning it to her and taking his seat again.

Kiyo eyed Tavi critically when she mentioned working on her figure.
"You don't need to work on it," he said. "It looks just fine the way it is."

It wasn't flattery, not from Kiyo. He just gave her his honest opinion. Tavi was not made of curves; far from it. Like Kiyo she was built on angular, straight lines. He thought she was attractive though, more hard and athletic than soft and plushy. She looked strong. He did feel his cheeks turn red though, as he offered his unasked-for opinion.

Turning away he dove into his third steak with gusto, tearing into it with sharp teeth and chewing enthusiastically. Swallowing he gave a soft sigh of pleasure. Eating was definitely one of his favorite hobbies... as long as only meat was involved. Looking at Tavi he said,
"Do you eat sushi too, or do you prefer to stick to turf, and no surf?"

He wouldn't mind someone to hunt down sushi restaurants with. Eating with Evan was fun, because Evan was fun to talk to. But Kiyo felt bad when he was the only one actually consuming anything.
Octavia Emiliano 12 years ago
Tavi smiled. "Well, I figure what with your fondness for fire and all that we could do a couple of different colours of red so that it looked more like flames. Like a coppery orange just a bit brighter than your hair and a deeper smoldering red that is darker. We could get some really long extensions if you didn't want to dye your own hair." Finishing up her second steak, Tavi added. "I've got connections." She winked at him. Hair accessories, serious black market business. In truth, extensions that long tended to be expensive but she could cut a deal and they wouldn't be true human hair so that would cut the cost down a bit.

Her phone buzzed and beeped. Tavi looked at it and then showed it to the bartender.


"Aww, look, he cares." She smiled at Kiyoshi.

Her new friend told her that she did not need to work on her figure and that made him just that much more loveable as far as she was concerned. Tavi smiled and leaned over and kissed him gently on the cheek.
"You're sweet." The blush was absolutely completely and utterly charming.

Tavi returned to the new portion of her meal to save him any further embarrassment and so he wouldn't think she wasn't really hungry. Swallowing a piece of steak, she took a sip of her juice and then answered.
"I love love LOVE sushi. On top of that it makes eating raw things socially acceptable. I can actually go somewhere and eat and look normal."

She popped another piece of meat in her mouth and then mumbled around it.
"Min ou, I fink fhe west of em awre cwazy." Tavi finished it and then added. "All that sizzling and such...its just not natural and you can't convince me that it is. I've yet to see a bear pop out his handy camping stove and grill his fish before chowing down or monkeys either so... it just plain weird. It takes all the flavor out of the meat and a good bit of the nutrition too, no doubt." That might not be so for meat but she had heard that over cooking vegetables leeched some of the nutrients out of them so it was a good sounding argument whether it was true or not.
Kiyoshi Salinas 12 years ago
Kiyoshi laughed softly. "No need to break the law for me," he said with a brief grin. "I'm fine with dye."

He was definitely intrigued at the idea of dying his hair fire colors.
"You think you can do that?" He picked up a few hanks of his long auburn hair and held them up for scrutiny. "Like, here? And maybe some here?"

Tossing his hair back over his shoulder he considered it while he took another huge bite of steak. He peered at the message on Tavi's phone when it came in and smiled.
"He's a very caring person."

Maybe he would have thought differently if anyone else owned the bar. Kiyo didn't doubt that Evan appreciated the fact that his skills did bring in business. But he also knew that Evan was just a nice person. Even when schmoozing with patrons there was something warm about him. Kiyo was attracted to it and he didn't think many people were immune to that charm.

Tavi surprised him with the little kiss on his cheek. Kiyo felt his ears grow hot as his slight blush deepened to something that probably resembled a color she wanted to put in his hair. He looked down, embarrassed, and shrugged a little. He had just been honest.

He was glad when Tavi jumped with him to the change of subject and he looked back up at her when she agreed with him about raw food. He did grimace and blanch a little bit when she mentioned the sizzling and popping... Kiyo had to try not to think about that too hard or it would put him off his nice, raw steak and that would be a tragedy of epic proportions.


"Maybe we can go out for sushi some time, then," he suggested tentatively. Inwardly he blinked at himself. He could probably count the number of times in his life he'd invited a woman out for a meal on one hand. Well, more like one finger.

If you counted right now.

It wasn't like it was a date or anything, he just liked Tavi. Who knew. The daughter of the Savia and Sarkis... but she was so nice, even though she was forthright and somewhat blunt, traits that tended to frighten Kiyo away. She was comforting to be around, like if anything went wrong she would tak charge and know just what to do where Kiyo would flounder and look for direction. Every Alpha needed wolves beneath them; tentative and fearful as Kiyo might be, it was in him to respond to authority. He responded better to Tavi than he imagined he would to either of her parents.
Octavia Emiliano 12 years ago
"What?" Tavi looked at him and wondered what she was going to be doing to break the law, not that she minded. "Oh." She laughed and then lifted her a long strand of her own sea green hair. "I meant with the salons. I have the other kind as well..." Tavi smiled at him. "but in this case I just mean to suppliers that deal with celebrities and eccentric rich people who might like their page boy hair cut super long by tomorrow."

If he was willing to dye it then that would be much easier. "Yes, I can do that. I did this." Again she pointed to her own hair. "Its much easier on someone else's head."

Tavi wondered whether Evan had shown Kiyo the secret happenings that went on for the R'asa and the occasional vampire. He might help the Kadzait as well but if he did then she had not encountered them. Tavi seriously doubted that Evan would choose sides with the packs. He was pretty against conflicts with werewolves and vampires and she was pretty sure that included conflicts between werewolves and werewolves.

"Yes, he is."

Kiyoshi suggested they go out some time for sushi. She grinned at him and nodded. "Absolutely! There is this little place nearby that has the BEST sushi. It has a stupid name. I would have totally passed it up except I was...running from the police..." She popped a piece of steak in her mouth and chewed. "Okay not running, riding...anyway, I stashed my bike for a while and needed a place to chill out while they gave up the search and this place was within walking distance so I gave it a try." Tavi left out her vampire cat friend for now but she kind of hoped to see the silver cat again some time.

She looked over at him and smiled. Was this Kiyo's way of asking her out on a date? Tavi was not sure. He was cute and one of her own pack this time. That might be a nice change. Perhaps she would wait and see what happened. She certainly didn't want to scare him away with her forwardness.

"So have you met anyone else here yet?"

He was very quiet; she wondered if he had trouble making friends. It might be especially difficult with the pack. They tended to be a hard lot to get to know between a distrust of outsiders and their territorial nature. In her experience, you just had to shove right in like you belonged until they gave up and decided that you did.
Kiyoshi Salinas 12 years ago
Kiyo returned Tavi's smile as his slight joke dawned on her. He tilted his head at her curiously at her assessment of the personality of celebrities. "Do they really do that?"

He couldn't imagine it. Fake hair on a whim... it seemed so frivolous. Maybe that made him a hypocrite since here they were, talking about dying his hair strange colors for the hell of it but it seemed different to him. At least it was his hair to begin with, not someone else's.

Kiyo polished his third steak off in record time and thought he might consider not being hungry anymore. He was happy to hear that Tavi's assessment of Evan matched his own and was once again tempted to go over to Terminus and see if the vampire was there. Maybe if there was an out of the way place he could sleep for the day too.

He derailed that train of thought to listen to Tavi's story about her run... no, ride... from the cops. His eyebrows traveled up his forehead a bit but he had already decided he could see her as a part-time troublemaker. The moral of the story was, she knew a really good place to get sushi. And she would go eat with him, which, he thought, would be fun.

Kiyo balked a little at her next question. He didn't really want to admit that he'd met no one since starting his job. He hadn't tried, they hadn't tried... Kiyo was content to slink around in the shadows and no one seemed particularly interested in dragging him out of them.


"Uh. Just Guillaume." And then he brightened. "Oh and I met someone tonight. Greer. He was... nice."

Greer had been nice. Stupid gorgeous, but nice. Kiyo had tried not to be intimidated.


"I'm supposed to teach him poi sometime."

There. He beamed, feeling sociable and gregarious. He had met a person! And they had talked. And Greer might actually remember who he was tomorrow!

Feeling accomplished, Kiyo picked up his plate and rinsed it off, cleaning it with soap and a rag before setting it aside to dry.
Octavia Emiliano 12 years ago
Tavi rolled her eyes heavenward and then looked at him while shaking her head. "Oh yeah, they do that."

She continued eating while Kiyo talked about who he had met so far. The list was not long. There was the boss who was a pack member and another guy. The name sounded familiar and she thought she knew who Kiyoshi was talking about.
"A blond? Tall, long curly hair?" Long here was obviously a relative term. "I think Therese mentioned him. I've only seen him once at the campfire. He hasn't been here long either." Tavi smiled at Kiyo. "He could probably use a friend himself." She said as she watched him get up and go to the sink.

Polishing off the last of her steak and finishing her juice, Tavi brought her dishes over as well. She leaned against the counter and looked at him.
"So poi, hmm?" She smiled and turned to wash off her plate and glass. "Perhaps you can teach me a few new tricks if you're interested." Tavi had spun poi from time to time at the camp fires in the past. They were pretty and she could dance with them but it was only a hobby and she could use some practice. "I have a couple of sets. No fire ones though. I bought these for raves and such."

Perhaps Kiyo would find some friends this way. Tavi was sure more people would be interested in learning how to spin poi if they saw them around and if they saw Kiyo teaching both her and Greer then they would know who to ask about it.
Kiyoshi Salinas 12 years ago
Kiyo nodded at Tavi. "Yeah, that sounds like him. He's sort of unreal. Who is Therese?"

He was curious about everyone on the grounds... particularly who to avoid. generally that list included 'everyone' for Kiyo but he had revised it a bit. Evan and Tavi of course, were not on it. Guillaume, he was still on the fence about.


"He didn't seem like the type to need a friend," Kiyo said to Tavi. Then he realized it sounded wrong and revised his words, tripping over them a little. "I mean he seemed friendly. Confident."

People like Greer didn't need friends, friends found them. At least that was the impression he had given Kiyo from their short meeting. Maybe he was wrong; it wouldn't be a first.

Kiyo took Tavi's dishes from her and washed them since he was standing at the sink already. He nodded at her.
"Yeah. I like spinning, it's relaxing."

She seemed interested. Kiyo could teach her plenty, if she wanted him to.
"Sure," he said, and then he realized he was doubly roped into the campfire. He might have been able to duck out on Greer here and there but not Tavi. Even if he didn't think of her as a friend, she was still an Emiliano. He looked down at the plate he was washing. Maybe she wouldn't want him to teach her then. She hadn't stated a time.

He decided to switch topics to something safer.
"So, when did you want to go to Terminus?"
Octavia Emiliano 12 years ago
Tavi blinked at Kiyo but let him have the dishes, taking them back from him to dry them and set them on the rack.

"Uhm, She's a friend of mine. A pack mate from France. She is the curator for the Arch." And the person sleeping with my father. Probably best to leave that part out for now. Tavi was happy for them both though. It was something that was difficult to say as the daughter that should be a neutral party in her parent's divorce. Truth is, she'd like both her parents to be happy. Right now at least one of them was.

She smiled at Kiyo and gave him a little sideways hug as he agreed with her about the blond. "Confident, doesn't mean not lonely. I try my best to look self assured and cheerful when I meet new people. I figure they don't know me so they don't want to hear about my problems." She shrugged; perhaps she was not the most personable individual and therefore no expert. Tavi's methods were as much about her own emotional defense as anything else; don't let people close until you were sure about them, be sunny and carefree and never let them see they've hurt you.

Kiyo talked about spinning and said that it was relaxing. Tavi could see that; she felt the same way about dancing and riding her bike. They were different but the same; she focused on nothing else but driving or dancing and the cares of the world disappeared for a while. "I can understand that." She smiled at him.

"Hmm, maybe tomorrow night?" She had to get some sleep and then do some telephone research and potentially follow that up with some actual field work if the phone calls turned up anything useful.
Kiyoshi Salinas 12 years ago
"The Arch?" A museum of some kind obviously, but Kiyo wasn't sure what the Arch was. He was not good with directions... he hadn't explored Nachton too much yet for fear of getting lost.

He frowned at Tavi's assessment of Greer. "You think he has problems?" Kiyo nodded sympathetically. Everyone had problems. He hoped Greer's weren't so bad. He was nice. "I just try not to look like I'm three seconds away from wetting myself and call it a win," he said frankly. Kiyo hated meeting new people. They were all terrifying.

It seemed they would be going to terminus reasonably soon and that pleased Kiyo.
"Okay. We can head over there whenever you're ready. I like getting there early."

If he wasn't there already. He was still waffling on the subject. Was it too soon to take Evan up on his offer? Maybe. How soon was too soon?
Octavia Emiliano 12 years ago
"Yeah, big museum...I haven't really been yet but I'm sure its amazing." Tavi shrugged and looked unrepentant. Art was nice and all but there was just only so much of it that she would be interested in at one time. People seemed to want to go see the whole place and that was certainly more cost and time effective but she would be happier going and seeing just one wing each visit.

"Who doesn't have problems? I'm sure he's normal and all that but everyone's got their secrets." She narrowed her eyes and peered closely at Kiyo. "Like you...maybe you're harboring some dark and secret fantasy to be the world's first musical porn star." Tavi paused at his approach to meeting new people. Giggling softly, she gave him a big smile and a hug. "I don't know why. I think you're wonderful."

"Sounds good." Tavi gave him a final squeeze and a peck on the cheek. "I'm off to get some beauty sleep before I have to get up and be useful." She snatched up a piece of a paper towel and took the dry erase marker of the little note board on the fridge. Tavi wrote down her number and handed it to Kiyo. "Call me tomorrow when you're up and we can set up a time and place to meet."

"Sweet dreams, Kiyo. See ya tomorrow."

((OOC: Tavi out pending a response from the wannabe musical porn star ))
Kiyoshi Salinas 12 years ago
"Oh cool. I was wondering if there was someplace like that around. I figured there was."

"Musical porn?" Kiyo blurted, completely taken by surprise. "I don't even get that much action the regular way!"

His face flamed as he realized exactly what he'd said and he considered just trying to hide under the counter, but he somehow merited a hug from Tavi, who might possibly think he was a little less wonderful after that admission. Her frank forwardness shut him up completely as he rocked back on his heels and then glanced surreptitiously around to look for someone else in the room who might possibly the correct recipient of the 'wonderful' label.

There appeared to be no one, though, so Kiyo hugged Tavi back and shook his head, temporarily robbed of his power of speech. Mutely he took the paper towel with Tavi's phone number on it and nodded at her, eyes wide.


"I will," he said. "Sweet dreams Tavi."

Once she had gone Kiyoshi glanced down at his sleeping bag and then back at the door. He picked it up, waffling a little. Did he really want to be here? Or... somewhere else? Tavi being here had made it more acceptable to him, a little less like a temporary stop and a little more like something that might be a home. But he remembered Evan's offer too, and Kiyo was torn.

The sun would be up soon.

Kiyo picked up his sleeping bag and trotted out of the kitchen, down the hall, and out the door away from his Pack's grounds.


((ooc: Kiyo out))