Kirei picked up the what seemed like a precious gem that dropped near her. A sapphire. The girl must truly have not meant to throw away a sapphire of such beauty, did she? If it were Kirei, there was no way she could do such a thing. She looked in the direction of where she was and then the direction of where she was going. Karma was a bitch, that was one thing she learned over her life. Taking it back to the girl would be the best option as of now.

The spider made her way over to the girl. It took a bit, as she was already a bit ahead, "Oujo-chan." Kirei spoke aloud in attempt to get her attention. The girl's name was easy enough to remember at least. She said it in many sentences and she wasn't exactly quite to escape a spider's ear. "Mulivon of Morrigan. Perhaps you should not throw away such a valuable gem with little worry. These are very precious items. If not for their value, then in their beauty." She could easily take it home at this point, but it just wouldn't sit right with her to not at least try to return it. If the girl would have no qualms, then she would walk home with it in hand.

Mulivon's grumbling had been interrupted by a strange word.

"Ojuchann?"

It didn't run off her tongue well, she turned to the words speaker. A rather shiny woman? So smooth was her hair and skin that it reminded her of a porcelain doll. If it where not strange Mulivon would have ran her fingers through her hair. A tinge of jealousy was felt seeing as her own hair is, while beautiful, far to curly to do anything of that sort.

As she paid more attention to the conversation the woman was attempting to have with her...It was yet again another lecture. She thinks that the gem is pretty? Yet no one else seems to give her treasures any value? It was all getting confusing.

"Smooth one, you say things that are so far contrary to the words of others that I doubt you! My treasures are clearly mere baubles, I have nothing to buy the treats of Iced cream and the coffee. My mother clearly sent me here in the hopes to make me feel a fool. Insolent Ian and Hag Isis, even the Woolly Simon seem to think me nothing more than a stumbling fawn!"

Mulivon was unaware that she had let so much slip from her tongue, nor the fact that she began stomping her feet while she spoke. Mulivon was clearly had grown from irritated to full on angry.

What an entertaining tongue this young woman had. Kirei knew that she had an accent herself, but this girl was going all out! "Well, I can understand the dilemma on their parts at least. Monetarily, they can only accept currency in their jobs. Technically." Kirei mentioned to the outraged girl. Her feet stomping was something else. The spider looked at Mulivon with the eyes of an adult wishing a child would calm down. "These gems you have could sell for a decent amount, just not at a cafe or an ice cream stand. There are specialized stores that actually deal with that like buying and selling them."

Kirei put her hand not holding the sapphire on Mulivon's shoulder hoping it would calm the girl down a little. "And assuming you meant me by 'Smooth One' I shall have you know that my name is Kirei. I am a Jorogumo, also, a detective. . . " Now she thought to the girl's last statement about being a stumbling fawn. . . "And on closer inspection. . . You look nothing like a deer, so I do not understand how they could mistake you for a stumbling fawn. Rather, you look like you'd be something small and fuzzy." Under her breath she muttered, "But not edible."

3rd of October
--------------------
Simon's breath huffed out in clear clouds, far more visible than most would. As a centaur, his body temperature was much higher than most. It helped that he had gone for a morning jog, nothing too extensive, but it did take him all around the town. A rare day off for him, Albert and Sarah were taking care of the cafe today. He wouldn't need to worry about it. His hooves clopped across the paved sidewalk as he took a moment to rest, stretching his arms and giving a slight wince as his sternum gave a popping noise.

"Geez I'm out of shape..."

He really should start being more active. Despite an entirely vegetarian diet and a job that had him constantly on the move, he was a centaur, and had originally maintained a very high octane lifestyle. Now, while he enjoyed the more sedate pace of life in Diehlstadt, it had meant his stamina had dropped. 10 miles in, and he was sweating. That wasn't normal. He gave a frown as he kicked his legs around, giving the muscles a good stretch and pop before preparing to set off again. He stopped as he saw a group of humans pull out a ladder for a storefront, alongside a giant banner decorated with pumpkins and red leaves. One waved at Simon as he approached.

"Good morning! Halloween decorations?"
"Morning Simon. Naw, those are mostly inside. It's for the Fall Fling."

It took a moment for the llama to piece it together.

"Oh! Right, the whole party...festival thing, yeah?"
"Bit of an understatement, but yeah. We haven't held it proper since the other species showed up, but now that you guys are more integrated, I hear the mayor wants you to experience it proper."

Simon scratched his head for a moment, trying to recall what he'd heard about the event.

"There's...a potluck type thing, fireworks..."
"Dancing, music, a cooking contest, costumes cause it's sort of halloween, a lot of folks come from the city to experience it as well, so we get a lot of new faces. I heard we're bringing in some bands and carnival stuff as well. Not sure how much of it will be able to be used by the other species though..."

Simon cantered in place for a bit, giving the men a wave as he started to head off on his jog again.

"Sounds like it'll be fun! Take care!"

With that, the centaur headed off on his early morning route. A festival huh? He had only really experienced jousting events in Centaur society. Probably very similar. This...cooking contest had piqued his interest though.

No flying cars, no robots or androids, and he hadn’t seen any laser guns yet either. On the plus side, gangs weren’t running the city and the world wasn’t decimated by a nuclear apocalypse, nor had the Soviet Union invaded, so it could be worse. Marty McFly got a flying skateboard and automatic tying shoes in 2015, and what do I get? A shit ton of monsters. Just my luck. He spotted the Pantera on the street, looking just as bizarre as him with its bright red paint and aggressively styled body in this new world of grey and black. Well, at least I got a better car than Marty. He hesitantly walked towards the car, his footing still unsure in his new body. It seemed just as new as the day he peeled out of the parking garage in it, a far cry from the twisted mess it became after tumbling down the cliff. His left hand carefully hooked itself into the door handle and it opened with a click. ”Well, it can’t kill me again…” Werner muttered before entering the car. His filthy suit soiled the black leather seats, and he felt the slick material against his exposed back. Taking a deep breath, Werner depressed the clutch and cranked the ignition, the keys already inside, and listened with pleasure as the basso profundo American V8 ripped from the deceptively Italian car. Werner felt in control of this new life behind the wheel. He felt whole, and knew what his next move needed to be, no matter how painful it might be.

Werner drove through Diehlstadt’s downtown area, a sense of deja vu washing over him. Everything felt so familiar, but just a little off. Aside from the creatures walking about, the town looked duller and sleeker, like the color had been turned off. Certainly, the age of excess was well over, replaced by a more conservative and polite society. Using his broken hand to awkwardly shift, he gradually made it to the residential area of Diehlstadt, which seemed more or less unchanged. If he had a heartbeat, it would have quickened as he approached a two story red brick house with a dormer roof. His childhood home. Cardboard box towers littered the well-kept lawn, and what he determined to be a moving van sat on the curb outside. Someone’s moving out. Or in. The thought came with despair. Werner hastily parked his car, stalling it in the process, and ran into his home. ”Mom? Dad?" he called out as he dashed through the unlocked door. Easy, they’re not as young as they used to be. Don’t give them a heart attack. If not for his frantic state of mind, Werner would have noticed the walls, once filled with family photos, were now white and barren. A man wielding an aluminum baseball bat emerged from the corner and took a wide swing at Werner. He might have been dead, but the zombie wasn’t slow; he leaned back just in time to dodge the blow, which crashed into the wall. ”Jesus! Why are you in my house!?” Werner exclaimed, taking a moment to look over the man. He was middle aged, lean build, and wearing jeans and a t-shirt. He very much reminded Werner of his father, though his dad never swung a bat at him.

”Your house? I’ve been fixing this place up for years you goon! Get out of my home, damn it!” The man replied, winding up for another swing. Werner caught a glimpse of a woman and child in the next room.

”Wait! What about the old owners?” Werner cried, holding his hands up. Maybe his parents moved. There was always hope.

”What? Hell, they died years ago! Now get the hell out!” The man yelled, thrusting the bat into Werner’s stomach, though it yielded no reaction. Dead. Like me. The tears never came, but god he wanted them. All that could have been if Werner hadn’t been so stupid flashed through his mind. Graduating with his smiling parents, building a big house for them to live in, giving them grandchildren. And what had their life been after he died? Losing their only child, and missing his resurrection only by a few years. Raising up their son only to plant him in the ground. Another landing of the bat prompted Werner to leave, acting on autopilot. He got into the car and slumped into the seat. Adrien.

Another familiar house, another hostile family. Perhaps knocking would have earned him a kinder reception, but it didn’t matter. His parents were dead and Adrien was gone. Werner thought of contacting his old friends, but by now they probably left Diehlstadt or forgot about him. No sense in bringing back bad memories. Instead, Werner drove to the storage units at the edge of town where his parents put some of his old things from high school. It wasn’t the most logical move, but Werner wasn’t thinking with a clear head. He drove down the gravel path to the units and saw a large crowd congregating around what he remembered as his unit.

”205itllbe215 205itllbe215!Goingoncegoingtwice sold! To the elf in the Cowboys jersey!” Werner heard a rapid-fire voice shout out. He made his way through the throng of people and confirmed it was his unit, being auctioned off by a skeleton in a suit no less. Without thinking, Werner dashed pass the auctioneer and into the unit, grabbing the nearest plastic tub he could get his hands on. ”Heyjustwha-” the skeleton made out before Werner dropped his shoulder and ran through the auctioneer, sending his bones flying. ”Come backhereyousunnavagun you can’t do that!” But Werner had already tossed the crate into the passenger side of his car and sped off. He took a look at the contents of the box while driving. Clothes, trophies, a couple pictures. It was all he had left of his old life now.

As the moonless night rolled in, Werner found himself in front of Masilalt’s door yet again, his good hand raised to knock, weighing his options. I really hope he wasn’t joking. Werner let his hand fall on the door and waited for the hulking beast to appear.

October 3rd, 2015
-------
In the past month, Werner spoke to only two people on a regular basis; Masilalt and the local butcher. The former because he lived with him and the latter to stop him from losing his mind. He spent most of his time locked up in Masilalt’s attic trying to piece together what happened in the past 30 years to his loved ones, but he was no detective, and newspaper clippings could only get you so far. Even though he found he didn’t need sleep, and couldn’t even if he even wanted to, Werner made little progress, only finding simple obituaries for his two parents. Oddly enough, nothing on Abioya. He paid Masilalt rent using what little funds were left in his savings account, which would run dry very soon, and helped around the house, along with the occasional voodoo experiment. Werner also learned a lot about his new form as well with the help of Masilalt. He could heal, albeit at a very slowed pace. His broken fingers, roughly taped up, were just now beginning to take a normal shape. On the upside, he didn’t feel pain, or any sensation for that matter. Always thinking about the positive side.

[color=steelblue]”Hey Masilalt, I’m going out!”[/color Werner shouted as he walked out the door. It could hardly be called going out, though, making his usual two-block walk to the grocery shop, and the only reason he made it was to avoid eating the next human he saw. The October breeze struck Werner right as he walked outside, but he didn’t notice. Temperature and wind gusts didn’t mean much to someone unable to feel hot or cold. He still wore weather-appropriate clothing however, to blend in more, and hide his grey and scarred skin as much as possible. He wore a heavy blue cardigan and slim fitting jeans tucked into beat-up nike sneakers, one of the few outfits he scavenged from his storage unit. He’d also taken to wearing dark wayfarer sunglasses to conceal his glowing eyes, which were rather off putting to humans.

Not everything was bad, though. He found a job as a substitute teacher with the local high school, and would start as soon as the math teacher went on maternity leave. Werner wasn’t particularly worried about the job; he attended MIT and graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering, so anything the school had to throw at him would be a piece of cake. Math didn’t change much with time, unlike other subjects. Still, he knew nothing about this new world, spending most of his time locked away. Each day he was falling behind, and he knew it. Fuck it, I have the rest of eternity to figure out what changed in 30 years. Masilalt told him that he couldn’t die unless his curse was broken, which was pretty unlikely, so he had some time.

Werner walked down the main street and noticed banners and decorations being hung up. Fall Fling? Damn, they’re still holding it! He’d never missed a single festival in Diehlstadt since his birth, and Werner would be damned if he’d miss them now he was alive. Guess it’s as good a time as any to return to the world of the living…

Ian was back to work, hopping from rooftop to rooftop with inhuman agility and dexterity. The secret to his amazing skill was simple, he had his tail out. Weak point that it is, the tail also gave a lot of advantage to make up for it, one of those being an increased sense of balance that allowed him to more easily maneuver above the town as he made his way to his next destination.

He soon arrived at the house in question, a suburban home that was host to a family of Kitsunes, japanese fox spirits that excelled at illusions and magic. He wiped off any dirt he may have accrued during the times he hadn't been such an awesome freerunner, and made sure to hide his tail under his shirt again before he finally rang the doorbell. After a few moments, the door opened and a beautiful woman dressed in a kimono appeared at the door, five golden tails spread out behind her, and a rather wary look on her face as she saw who was delivering the package. Ian paid it no mind, just reaching into his jacket to pull out the digital pad and the accompanied pen.

"Hello Ma'am, I've a package for a Miss . . . Kurohina, would she happen to be present at the moment."

"Ah, that would be me." The kitsune said, taking the pen and writing her signature in kanji. Taking the pad back, he reached into the travel bag that the company issued to all employees and handed her a cardboard box, which she took gratefully. She gave a quick thank you and farewell before closing the door. Leaving Ian to stand their for a few minutes as he speculated on the item the parcel had contained. I'm . . . 75% sure that it's a sex toy of some kind Ian thought with a chuckle before he looked over his pad, glad to see that he'd made all of his deliveries for the day.

A while later, he was in town, looking at all the decorations with a sense of giddy excitement. He was always up for a party, and this fall fling thing sounded like quite the big one. He might even get to score one or two babes while he was at it. Ian giggled to himself with glee, to bust in his own world to look infront of him and ended up walking right into some other guy on the street. They'd both go down in a tumble of flailing limbs before they sort each other out, Ian ending up on his rump and rubbing his head as he looked towards his victim.

"Sorry about that, wasn't paying any attention." He got himself up and dusted his clothes before holding a hand out to help out the guy in front of him. "You new around here, cause I don't think I've seen you around before."

@shivershiver

It was a bit boring. Kirei had only been at it for like, what? Two? Three hours? No one interesting had gone by and her mark wasn't doing anything. . . Irreputable. Not openly at least. She was sitting in the park, seemingly waiting for someone. "'While I'm at work she seems to be doing something behind my back. . .' he says. Just people watching. Like me. Waiting for a friend as well." She muttered to herself. It was easily October now, slightly cooler than had been a few months ago. A few months ago. . . She almost thought back on that time, when her mark suddenly stood up. The woman was a non-human, though what kind Kirei didn't know. Just that her husband had thought she was cheating on him or something. Well, if she was Kirei didn't think it was too bad. If he was that overprective of her that he hired a PI to keep an eye on her for a week, well Kirei would definitely want to keep her didstance from the man too.

Still, she just seemed to be meeting up with a woman. A friend, really. The two had met the last two days as well. They then went to the coffee shop right across the street from where Kirei lived. That's mostly why Kirei thought the woman was at least non-human, seeing as most of the customers at the shop were, in fact, non-humans. Unsurprisingly, they went the same place again. She didn't need to follow them in the store though. Her time to watch them for the day was just about up and previous study told her that they would just stay and gossip at the cafe. "I suppose I can just follow them home, seeing as it takes me to the same place." She followed the two, at a distance of course. Couldn't have them know she was there.

However, on the way she saw the Llama behind the cafe across the street from her house. Perhaps he was out on a morning run? Or something at least. Wanting to not seem impolite, she spoke up and greeted him. "Good morning, Simon." The woman said with a slight bow, show off her cultural background. Since coming over from the island nation, she found that having contact with others was a good thing over-all. Contact with others that wasn't about finding food for the future that is. "Enjoying your running?" She continued with a question. She didn't care all too much, but it was the way she found conversation worked over here.

@Spawnling

They were putting out flyers and posters for something called the 'Fall Fling,' though despite it's title seemed to be more of a festival than a traditional prom-like event like she first thought. Anna wasn't sure if she'd really go or not, at least at first, but had eventually convinced herself that she would attend but probably stay on the outskirts of the main events. She watched a couple teenagers hand out little pieces of paper, encouraging people to go and spread the word, but they hadn't bothered the cat girl yet - it was probably because she was sitting on the roof of her store, just watching.

The wall the made up the outline of the roof was just tall enough that you could sit on the floor and yet use it as a sort of elbow rest, which is exactly what Anna was, propping her side against it too in a lazily relaxed manner. She had taken the day off today as her thoughts were getting the better of her, not to mention her work ethic and ability to stay up all night often kept her customers happy as it was - even if a couple orders were delayed one day, she was sure it wouldn't be a big deal for her custom work.

She let out a sigh and pressed her cheek against the palm of her hand, trying to distract herself by watching the kids passing out advertisements, but it only worked out so well. It had been a few weeks, so Anna was sure by now that Kirei didn't have any interest in her. 'Can't believe it was a fluke... ugh,' she thought to herself. Since then she and Kirei had spoken on friendly terms, but the spider woman had seemingly pushed away from confronting Anna about anything they had talked about that day. It was probably pity, like the cat girl had figured it was, but the hard part? She was trying not to have feelings anymore and for some reason she couldn't shake it and it irritated and depressed her to no end.

Normally, Anna could convince herself to move on, stop wasting time on someone who didn't like her - one of them being Eliza. They still talked, they were still friends, though it had been a tad awkward but at least the angel was kind enough to still try. Kirei though, for an unknown reason that drove Anna crazy, just couldn't drop it like the others. Maybe way deep down, she still thought there was something between them. Maybe in the back of her mind, she could see something in the spideress' eyes. However the logical part of her mind, the one the replayed past experiences, couldn't come to grips that maybe Kirei still did care - it simply didn't make sense anymore.

It had only been another month in the town, but the month was a quarter of his total time spent in Diehlstadt. The summer had turned out better than he expected - It turned out that a lot of humans had been interested in monsters, and a voodoo-hoodoo practicing demon wasn't something they could just pass by. He didn't know how many of them would be returning clients (and he didn't expect many of them to become one), but he had made enough to keep him stable until Halloween rolled over.

Masilalt was excited over the month of October. Halloween meant that people got interested in all things occult, which was absolutely fantastic from his angle. It would take some of the strain off of having to compete with the girl, who also seemed to practice traditional medicine. From what he had seen so far, the town absolutely loved the holiday. He had even heard rumors about a festival, but hadn't heard any details yet. If he was fortunate, he would be able to vend at the event. Even if it didn't exist, however, it would be a nice excuse to drag Werner out for a bit.

The zombie had exceeded all of Masilalt's expectations. To be fair, the bar was set pretty low, but he has still learned a lot from Kliest about both zombies and humans. He picked up on things fast, which was a small blessing. He still didn't understand the man's willingness to take the attic, when the second floor went practically untouched. The alp didn't sleep and didn't have any use for bathrooms, so the floor had become a makeshift storage space. But as long as the zombie was happy with the attic, he could have it. He paid rent for it, too; not much, but he didn't need much. It was surprising that the man had any money at all. They even managed to pick up a job as a temporary teacher, or something along those lines. Masilalt preferred to stay out of the mess that was the way humans conducted their education, and didn't ask too many questions on the subject.

The only thing that really worried the demon was how much of a shut-in Werner had become. Something he had learned about humans was that they could be obsessive, and nothing could have taught him better than living with a man obsessed with change. He had thought about gently working on getting the zombie out of the house for more than an hour at a time, but Masilalt was not a gentle being. He had explained as much as he could on the subject of what had changed in 30 years, but he wasn't too helpful on that front. He never paid much attention to years, and sometimes he still forgot it wasn't the 1800s. But Kliest seemed like a man who would get his shit together soon, and would adapt well to his new life. Masilalt wouldn't have taken him in otherwise.

"Congratulations! Have fun, be safe." Masilalt gave a small round of applause as Werner left the house. Having someone around again to deal with his sarcasm was another small blessing. He took note of the time. He was expecting a delivery today, and wondered who would be the courier. Over the past month he had talked to Eliza once more - To apologize for his rudeness. He had finally come around to the idea of her species not being heaven-sent angels, and while he wasn't completely accepting of her yet, he was at least tolerant enough to let her touch his mail. He had only met Ian once, and found it nice to have another demon in the town. The two species didn't mix much, but he would take what he could get.

@Pyromania99

Simon glanced over at the voice speaking to him. He smiled at the Jorogumo, politeness dictating his actions more than anything. He had never carried much of a conversation with Kirei. She seemed to be completely uninterested in anything or anyone who wasn't either female or her current target for one of her stalking jobs, so there had been essentially no incentive to ever talk to her outside of when she got in one of her 'social' mindsets. He knew very little about her, short of her job, though that was fairly well known about the town. A private investigator in a small town tended to get noticed after awhile. Still, she was shockingly good at it. Almost like a phantom really. The llama cantered for a moment. Still, she was far from impolite, and Simon had no quarrels or problems with her.

"Oh, hello Miss Yamakumo. I am, since it's such a nice morning. What about you? Out for morning exercise or on a business run?"

The hybrid stretched out his front legs, leaning all the way down as several joints popped. He was roughly a mile from his cafe...a good way to wind down after the jog. Kicking his hooves out and rolling his shoulders, he placed one hand on his chest, giving a short frown before returning the smile to his face.