_{Early Morning
Velvet's Room
Interacting with:@KuroSuzy, @DragonydasTheria (barely)}

---

There are stories that say vampires are heartless monsters. Stories where they're heartless creatures of the night with souls awash in blood and shadow, only donning the human guise to blend in, so they can creep up to their prey undiscovered. Where human emotions are seen as inextricable to humanity, and when one is lost, the other follows.

Velvet was not one of those vampires.

She was as vulnerable to the whims of emotion as anybody else. Even back during her Queen of the Night phase, it was because she was just...so angry. And anger was an emotion. So when Suzy wrote out the message on the monitor, she felt a lump of cold lead drop into her stomach. She'd never asked how Suzy died, just like she never talked about how she was turned; it just felt too personal, like asking or telling would be somehow violating. Something it felt like you just shouldn't do. But imagining a child, wrists tied and drowned...

It had been a long, long, long time since she'd thought about the death of her own daughter all those centuries ago. But those old bloody memories leapt to the forefront of her mind. It was so long ago now that any trace of grief had vanished over the course of time, but the murder of children was always a tragedy. Consequently, when she spoke, her voice was unusually soft and tender. "Suzy..."

But there she trailed off. It had been far too long since she'd been a mother for her to actually say anything insightful. And it'd probably annoy Suzy if she tried. So instead she just gazed at the area around her computer, wishing fervently that she could actually see the poor girl.

She was saved by having to think of something to say in response to such awful news by the timely arrival of Duscenia and departure of Theria. As the dryad stepped in through the door, she saw the blood-soaked and obviously injured Velvet and gave a low whistle. Of surprise or intrigue, Velvet wasn't sure. It had always been hard for her to tell what the doctor was thinking; it was like trying to read a book written in an alien language. She hadn't seen her much in the first place; just meeting her in hallways or cafeterias now and then, and that one check-up right when she first joined the condo. But still, dryads always had the best poker faces.

Well, figurately, at least. She'd never played poker with a dryad. "Wow, that's almost impressive! How did you manage this?"

"Werewolf," replied Velvet, refusing to elaborate. She just did not want to go over the whole cluster again. Painful, generally unpleasant, and worst of all, embarrassing. "This is just a formality anyway, you know I'll be fine. This won't take that long to heal, so can I just—" get into bed, she was about to say, until she looked down at herself and once again realized that oh, right, she was completely covered in blood. Duscenia hadn't even taken out her things, and she rose to go before Velvet cut her off.

"Actually, Doc, can you bandage me up anyway? I have a pretty nice mattress in that tomb over there and I'd rather not have to replace it because the whole thing got soaked."

"Oh~? Are you telling me that you need medical attention, Ms. Coventry? A higher ancient vampire like yourself?" Velvet rolled her eyes, but grinned alongside Duscenia as the dryad plopped her kit to the floor, taking out a twin rolls of bandages and medical tape. She gestured, and Velvet reached her hand out obligingly. Blood almost immediately bled through the gauze wrapping, but the pressure meant it'd stop bleeding sooner and a lot of it would be absorbed. She fumbled with her shirt for a minute before sighing and ripped it off her so Duscenia could wipe the blood off her chest and then bandage it as well. Man, she'd liked that shirt, too.

The doctor knew what she was doing, Velvet had to give her that. She'd barely blinked, and her wounds were securely bound. It was, quite frankly, weird. She hadn't actually gotten medical treatment in aaaaages, and the medical treatment at the time was applying leeches to draw out the bad blood and balance the humors. This was...novel. Still, it meant blood wasn't going everywhere now, so that was nice. She opened her mouth to say something to Duscenia, but the second she did, an enormous yawn split her face. She blinked heavily. "Thanks, Duscy. 'Preesh. But I'm exhausted, I need to go to sleep now or I'm liable to collapse." With that said, she turned on her heel. Didn't see Duscenia leave or anything, but she heard the door close as she walked to her dresser to toss on a nightshirt.

Another long yawn. She shoved the half-ton stone aside as though it were no more than mere cardboard, then sat down on the rim of her bed and looked back over to her computer. "Sorry, Suzy. But I really need to sleep. If you want to talk more tonight, I'll be here." With that said, she fell back into the tomb, nestling into her mattress and pillows.

She was asleep before she could even put the cover back on.

---

Location: the Cafeteria.
Interactions: @Xaltwind@CitrusArms@Red Wizard

Um. what? what did nick do wrong? did he look too nice nice? was there some kind of handbook for friendship? he didn't know. It's not like they had instructions. Nicholas looked annoyed as he spoke, but didn't sound it. "Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to scare you off." Nicholas got up and walked through the halls, not even bothering to clean up his plate.

He is infuriated. Infuriated at his situation, at his life, at his lack of skills, and at this stupid apartment. This place was a prison, and one day, He would find a way to get everyone out. He turned into a fly and flew up to the roof, and layed down, looking at the view. he waited a bit, and looked at the stars, the rage inside not quelling one bit. "This sun... it's fake! everything is fake! I have sat up here, Day after day, and night after night, and nothing, fucking CHANGES! ... When will i be able to see the real sun? On my own roof? at my own time? ... Damn whoever made this place. I will burn the world and your lies." Shi waited a bit longer, and went to his room where he sat down and reverted to his true form, which was too terrifying for most people to see. (Shown in the char sheet) he then passed out in his room. One day i swear, i will be free.

Location: Building #1; Ground Floor; Breakfast
Interactions: @Xaltwind Miyuki, @Red Wizard Ryū

If she didn’t at least do a little bit of ground work, she’d be in a tight spot. Her talismans would stop working and she wouldn’t be able to- well, come to think of it. She shouldn’t need to worry about those kinds of defenses here. Maybe she could see if the management needed help with their barriers? Though, they seemed to have things well in hand.

As Miyuki responded coldly to the nearby apparent-human, Yumeiko was reminded of how Miyuki’s earlier scolding, and the rare occurrences before that. Always about how she was too nice or forgiving or kind or not selfish enough. Which she thought was strange, but perhaps now she was beginning to understand. If she’d been less welcoming to the, frankly, nosy intrusion, perhaps Miyuki’s mood would have remained fair. Miyuki had said something to her about, how did it go.. something about giving the time of day to field rodents.

A calling from nearby drew both foxes’ attention. Miyuki was in a sour mood now, and probably wouldn’t entertain this kind of silliness. Yumeiko gave a slow, soft sigh, the kind you give when you measure your reaction. She wet her lips as she chewed the words, “miss, I’m approaching five-hundred years old. I’m not some puppy to be baby-talked.”

When Yumeiko turned back to the beautiful woman across from her, she saw it in her posture. And then her name was used, not some pet name. She listened carefully and nodded, “perhaps you’re right. This is not a small place, after all.” Her ears tucked back and her tails waggled when receiving her kiss, but before she could turn to Nicolas to glare him down, he rose and left, himself.

That left her with the woman who had addressed her so indignantly. This woman wanted to caress Yumeiko’s sacred body like one might a dog? And to demand that the spirit fox go hither to facilitate such an exchange. Hmph! Preposterous. “You may approach me, but I yet withhold permission to touch me.” She might even be older than that. She felt like her tails came to her in longer than 100 year increments.

The waitress came by again, and Yumeiko put in an order for more fruit and a “milk shake.” It sounded delicious, from the menu entry. Strawberry. Ichigo wa ichiban!

---

Locations: Bldg 1, Restaurant Interactions: @Xaltwind@CitrusArms

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Ryū pouted her lip when the dark doggo refused to play, looking after her longingly as she opted to leave the canteen. She'd seen it on TV all the time, this scratching behind the ear business, and had been looking forward to try it. Honestly, she couldn't figure out why the two of them hadn't come yapping right away, tongues lolling happily. The puppers on TV always did, and they seemed to like it so much! Aww~, she whined, Don't go, cutesie liddle pupperino! I just wanted to say hi! But her efforts were in vain - no soft ears or fluffy tails to stroke for poor Ryū.

Grumbling, she turned her attention to the lighter one, and instantly lit up again. For all her indignation, she had thrown the dragon a figurative bone in her quest to pet the puppers; she had given Ryū permission to approach. Giddy with excitement, she bounced over to the Kyuubi, a wild grin accompanying her wide eyes as she went. She stopped just inches short, her gaze locked on the foxs eyes. Her fingers itched with desire to ruffle the soft fur, but she reigned herself in, fingers clenching and unclenching at her sides. Hi~, she chirped, I'm Ryū. I'm a dragon! Haven't seen you here before. Who and what are you - she couldn't stop herself - aside from the cutest liddle pupper I've ever seen!?

Location: Building #1; Ground Floor; Breakfast
Interactions: @Red Wizard Ryū

Yumeiko had not expected her invitation to elicit such a fast response, but perhaps she should have. The red-headed girl came bounding toward her, causing Yumeiko to lean back as the girl - Ryū - came just a bit too close at high speed. The priestess took a measured breath and restored her posture, unwilling to leave ground given over.

“Ryū, the Dragon,” she repeated, carefully digesting the information as she did. A dragon? Didn’t look like any dragon she’d ever seen. They weren’t known for transforming, either. At least, not in her homeland.. wait a minute. Ryū the Dragon? That was a bit on-the-nose, wasn’t it? First, she should respond properly. Ignoring the part about being a cute pupper, “I am a Kinko Seishin. I believe, in English, that roughly translates to Golden Spirit Fox. My name is Yumeiko no Akame no Kami. My companion and I just moved in recently, it’s good to meet someone so,” she paused, “friendly.”

“You are a dragon, you say? Where from? I've not met a dragon like yourself.” The strength of this woman was different from the dragons of her homeland. It wasn't a spiritual or even arcane power that radiated from her, but sheer vitality. Incredible.

The berries came out and Yumeiko began to pick at them, waiting for the milkshake to follow. Perhaps she should try some bacon and eggs, as well?

---

Location: Building 1, Courtyard
Interactions: @LupusIntus

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Max declined her offer. Iris watched him intently as he stuttered over his words as he declined as gently as he could. Her blue eyes watched his face as she took a deep inhale of breath. The scent of his anxiety flushed through her senses and she leaned back on her palms. This man really was such a ball of fear and anxiety. How in the world did he get this job? Even as his phone rang with his alarm, he practically jumped out of his skin. As he stood up, excusing himself, the wolf gave a roll of her eyes as she lazily flopped down onto her back, her eyes locking once more onto the meat cart.

As the doctor answered the call, Iris's ears flicked towards Max and listened in even though she slowly began to slink her way closer and closer towards the meat cart. When the doctor began screaming at someone on the other end, Iris huffed and flattened her ears against her head. She reached out and shoved her hand into the mostly empty box of steaks and grinned broadly when she felt the familiar texture of raw meat under her touch.

“Yep, you should probably, definitely do that.” Iris said as she pulled her hand free from the box, pulling a few steaks out from the box and peering back at Max with a grin. “I'll just take these but I'm done. Swear. Well,” She paused a moment before she reached in one last time with her other hand, grabbing one last steak. “Okay, now I'm done. Double swear.” Just to prove her point, she stepped away from the box as she stuck one of the many steaks into her mouth. “Yep. This should definitely be enough. Probably.” She eyed the box before she shook her head and took another step away, like an addict stepping away from the target of their addiction. “Yeah. Definitely need to get away from that crate.”

She chewed eagerly as she peered once more at Max. She gave a small salute with a hand full of meat, gave a broad grin that flashed under the sun before she turned and sprinted off deeper into the courtyard. If she stayed next to Max and that crate of meat any longer, there wouldn't be anything left for him to deliver to the chef later. She could also feel herself growing tired. She needed to find a nice cool place to eat and rest. The multiple transformations in such a short time was finally catching up to her and she was starting to feel as heavy as lead.

Iris could hear the chatter of other residents but this part of the courtyard had large, ancient oaks that gave great shade. She shoved the last of the steaks into her mouth before she lowered herself down in the cool grass under the largest of the oaks. She wiped her hands off in the grass before releasing a loud and long yawn. She stretched and grunted before she laid curled up comfortably in the shade. It was too early in the morning. She could just go to her room but the wolf much rathered the feel and sounds of the outdoors over the plush and quiet bed.

Her ears flicked every which way for a moment before she let out another long yawn and closed her eyes off to the world. It wasn't long until the wolf’s breathing came in deep and calm. After a few minutes of sleep, her body began to revert back to human. The fur retracted back into her skin to be absorbed. Her face shifted and flattened, the snout shrinking down to a normal human nose and mouth once more. Claws and bones shrunk and soon just a normal sized Iris laid curled up in the cool grass in sweatpants that were now far too stretched out to fit her properly. She snored a moment before shifting out of the curled up shape, sprawling out under the tree, still quite asleep with her clothes all askew.

---

The air was crisp in the morning. It always was. Dew had settled and was greeted by the sun rising over the horizon. The town was bustling with people heading to work or getting their day started. The walk in had been long, but it was the quietest march she'd been on. As the building came into view, Rebecca looked it over. It seemed fairly bland and drab. Hard to believe it was a place full of weird creatures on the inside, but she had been familiar with these kinds of dealings before. A few of her friends were able to make things happen with helping her skirt the state police and other places frequented by undercover FBI and Sheriff Deputies. Her brothers looked out for her, because she looked out for them once too. In Laos, Cambodia, North Vietnam, Southern China, Iran, Grenada, Panama, Kuwait, Somalia, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan...

Back home, none of them wanted to see her labeled as a ruthless monster bent only on destruction. They wanted her to have a chance at a normal life too. Everyone else had rotated out and new faces came in, so in the last 2000's she made her call and decided she had overstayed her welcome. From then on it was couch surfing and late night shifts at local places for meager pay. She couldn't afford to make use of her skills because it would only draw attention. No one would give a second thought to another dishwasher or line cook in the back of a kitchen. Still they always managed to hone in on her. It was hard to vanish without having to go completely off the reservation.

The building was a chance. A chance to disappear almost completely. To truly live off the reservation without having to live off the land. It was almost too good to be true. It had taken a lot of convincing in her days, but now she stood before the towers. Her olive drab M65 field parka kept her body defended against the threat of the errant morning breeze. The tapes above her breast pockets read "HOLLOWAY" on the right and "U.S. ARMY" on the left. On her right shoulder was a reversed American flag, indicative of a member of the military. On the left was a shield patch that was red with gold bordering, featuring a USAF command pilot wings badge, a skull with a green beret atop a banner reading MACVSOG, and the bottom end of an anchor with a mooring line. A pair of Wrangler jeans had seen more than enough grass and mud and dirt from the stains and the wear on them. Old jungle combat boots had been tied up and had their laces tucked away to avoid snagging on anything. A large green duffel bag was slung across her left shoulder full of everything she needed to live out in the field for a good while.

Rebecca stepped off towards the apartments. It was uncanny the way everything seemed to be so quiet from the outside. Maybe things could be different for her here. A chance at a real quiet life. Did she want that? It wasn't for certain, but she would give it an honest try. After all, she had friends and had her ways if things didn't work out. She could just disappear when the time was right, but she needed to get her mind together. After all, nothing worth doing was ever easy. She pushed through the door and walked up to the front desk, which was currently unoccupied and did her best to switch her outward expression to a softer yet exhausted look. Being personable was still a big challenge.

_{Location: URC Courtyard ——> URC Ground Hallways
Time of Day: Early Morning
Relevant Cast:@Xaltwind}

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Max simply watched Iris with a tight, amused smile as she gobbled nearly everything remaining in the box, the rest surely sporting large paw prints and wolf hair after all her rooting around. “Enjoy the rest of your morning…” He called after her as she loped across the yard. With a long sigh he inspected the box’s leftovers and grimaced, knowing full well what Cai would have to say. There was always a bit extra in the deliveries he could pull from, the condo taking great precautions to ensure adequate stocks for the nore temperamental carnivores, but the spice-loving crocodile creature was particular about his orders.

The large human pushed the dolly cart along, back towards Building 1, and planned on getting his work day back on track. He had the rest of the deliveries for the buildings, plus adding the new visitor requests to the calendar, and there was the dishwasher on the third floor he needed to look at (he wasnt exactly a handyman but often resolved very basic issues that arose when modern human technology met ancient or otherwise ‘old-fashioned’ monsters). They probably put dish-soap in it again…

These thought and many others were spinning though his head as he reached the doorway, the distraction completely blinding him to the person heading out as he was heading in. He managed to pull the cart up short and avoid a collision as the doors slid open, but seeing the voluptuous fox (in the near literal sense) made the color drain from his face. Of all the demons and ghosts and vampires and ghouls that called Umbra Rose their home, Miyuki no Suzuyami frightened Max the most and he usually took great care to avoid her at all costs.

“G-good m-m-morning, Suzuyami-san.” He stuttered, eyes fixing solely on the dolly handle he held in a white-knuckled grip.

Angel Glorinthy

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Location: Building 1, Floor 1, Room 1
Time of Day: Early Morning
Interactions: N/A

---

Angel jerks up from bed as light streams through the window. One glance at her alarm clock tells her two things.
One, she forgot to set it.
Two, she has overslept.
"Oh, dear God. Why have I been so tired lately?" Angel thinks as she lets out a groan. She shoves off her covers. Then it hits her.
"Great. I've missed cleaning every single nightwalker's* room. Ugh..."
Reaching over, she grabs her work phone. Sure enough, she has several missed messages, but mostly from other staff. Why in the world didn't someone come and wake her?
Guess she'd better head to the lobby and see what she needs to do, if she *can* still do it. Most of the nightwalkers are probably already asleep, and they likely wouldn't appreciate being awoken...hopefully she could make up for it.
"On the bright side, maybe that cute clerk will be there...what was his name again? Oh, well, it doesn't matter. All the more excuse to get a closer look." She deliberates for a moment, before walking out of her room and into the hallway.

*This is what she calls people living there who are primarily up at night.

.

Lcationn: Umbra Rose Condos, Bldg #1, Ground Floor, Hallways (near cafeteria) -> Courtyards (MIyuk), Bldg #1 Ground Floor Elevator (Max)
Time of Day: Early Morning
Relevant Cast: @LupusIntus Max, @AlmostEternity Angel

---

As the dark fox lady exited the cafeteria in her soured mood, she had to stop almost at once after stepping out into the halls. Had she not, a certain buffon might've accidentally hit her with that tiny hand-cart filled with crates. The culprit of this near-tragic offense? Why, none other than the jittery, stuttering, fumbling, bumbling, swrating-like-a-ham-in-an-over front desk clerk! What was his name again? Eri... Elm... Ecto... Ricks... Gah, whatever! He was being considerate enough to try and address her with her homeland's way of speaking, but it felt... Off... When speaking this western language. Plus.... Why was he staring down at the handles of his vertical wheelbarrow...?

"Good morning, Mr. Ricksong. I appreciate you trying to make me feel at home, but using my homeland's honorifics sounds very odd in your language. And this is your homeland, so let's talk as your people do." The fox was being... Polite... But her voice was still cold and sounded as if it had a bit of sting to it, ready to cut and puncture at the slightest misstep. Also, she totally got Max's name wrong.

"Now... I believe it's rather rude not to look at the person you're speaking with, isn't that right?" She folded her arms under her cheest and tapped the side of her upper arm with one of her fingers. Her tails weren't swaying or moving at all. And her head was slightly raised and tilted backwards, as if she was trying to look down on this man - who was ironically taller than her.

Max glanced left then right but there was nowhere to hide: he was standing in the middle of the path, pushing a cumbersome cart, and the fox-spirit was right there. "O-of course... Missssssus- Miss-" The clerk tried desperately to remember if the two fox-spirit residents were married or co-habitating or just really really really good friends or- Oh, why did she have to make everything so hard.

Max immediately cursed himself for that turn of phrase as she demanded eye contact. His head went in an almost comical circle, out to the side, then up and finally above and down until he was staring dead into the center of her forehead. With great effort his dark brown eyes trickled down to meet hers. With a sheepish smile, he gave a polite nod. "Miss Suzuyami..." Willpower at its limit, he didnt dare correct her regarding his last name.

"Good boy." She stated, seemingly content with him having decided to look at her face. Although, her tone was more like that of an owner praising their dog for properly peforming a trick, rather than expressing gratitude towards another, fellow sentient being.

"I've had a very eventful morning. First one of my new neighbours tried to eat me when I aided them up the stairs. Then my breakfast was interupted by some man who didn't seem to care whether I replied to him or not. Followed soon by some woman I've enver seen who treated me and my dearest as if we were little pet dogs to be coddled." This of course had nothing to do with Max, and was in no way, shape or form his fault, yet for some reason the dark-haired fox spirit with the golden pruple eyes (which is totally a real color by the way) was staring himdown with a displeased frown and laying all of this on him, as if it was somehow his fault. "And now when I try to go outside for some fresh air, I almost get run down by a man and his cart, full of... What are those anyway? They smell of... Meat?" She continued, although an eyebrow was raised at the realization that the poor human was carting around a load of protein-rich beast-flesh.

Max's internal grimace grew with every 'slight' Miyuki described but he managed to keep his expression passive and attentive. He could see now this had to do with Velvet and Iris considering the small bandages on her neck. Oh gods, Velvet tried to snack on THAT. Is she insane!? When he realized he was staring, his cheeks flushed and he stiffened. Eyes UP, you idiot. Eyes UP. Despite very much wanting to apologise profusely and run away as quickly as possible it was one of his many duties to note greviences as they arose and even his terror and flushed face wouldn't stop him from doing his job. "Y-yes, it's the weekly butcher delivery for Building 1. I even have the delivery for you and your-... for you and Miss Yumeiko." He indicated the thankfully untouched box in the Floor 4 stack. "I believe it contains pork and Wagyu beef cuts? A-and I'll be sure to discuss Miss Coventry's... predilicions for 'eating' in the mornings with Ms. Thelia... I'm sorry for not doing more to prevent these... unfortunate incidents."

The kyuubi stood silent for a while, her eyes still fixed - and cold as icey daggers - fixed on the unfortunate man. However, after she noticed the reddening of his cheeks, and the mention of food which was meant for her neck of the woods, the fox spirit's tails started to involuntairily rustle and move, even if only slightly. She let her folded arms under her chest fall to her sides, which caused said chest to jiggle from the sudden shift of them no longer being able to rest on the woman's arms. She let out a small, quick sigh.

"See that you do. We were told that this was a safe place to live, hence why we agreed to move here." Her expression softened, if only a little, and her eyes stopped trying to bore holes through Max's soul, now content with just expressing casual disdain. "I'm not sure I'll be able to remain so... Passive... If this sort of thing happens again. Self-defense and all that, you understand, yes~?" At mention of self-defense, Max could notice that her eyes lit up with an eerie glow, and she had a smile on her face. A smile. It was not a good smile.

Maybe she's always grumpy from lower back pain... Max couldn't stop thoughts like these as he made a mental note to suggest finding or training a chiropractor for the complex to Miss Thelia. "Y-yes! Well... Everyone deserves to live in safety!" Max chirped quickly, hoping that this Miyuki would also include normal-everyday-humans-just-doing-their-jobs in that 'everyone'. "No need for wasting energy! I'm sure all the residents and staff can get along." He gave her his best 'hospitality manager smile' and hoped his earnestness translated well enough to disarm the rather volitile fox-spirit.

"Let's hope so..." The kyuubi replied, now starting to walk. Walk forward. Walk towards MAx. Ashe came closer and closer, the man could see the corner of the lady's motuh start to form a more wry smile than the one from before...

As she passed his shoulder, her arm shot up and a dainty finger trailed across the man's cheek, down across his jawline and finally left his skin at the very tip of his chin.

"... For your sake..." Her voice was smooth and alluring, but also dangerously laced with black, poisonous honey. As she moved past the man, two of her tails also decided to give him a parting-gift. One brushing along the length of his arm, the other giving a quick bop-whip to his abdomen, before the foxy lady with all the curves, left the poor fellow in the hall with his dolly full of meats.

Though before she could disappear entirely, she turned her head to look over her own shoulder back at him.

"Oh, and be a dear and make sure that box of ours doesn't end going missing, alright~?" Had she smelled the wolf's scent on some of the boxes too perhaps?

[quote=@LupusIntus]
Every cell in his body wanted to flinch away from the fox’s touch but, to his credit, Max managed to keep his reaction to a quick intake of breath and a stopped heart. “O-o-of course Suzuyami-sa- Miss Miyo- Miss Suzuyami!” He gave a glance over his shoulder to make sure she was truly sauntering away before exhaling with a soft groan. “And Thelia wonders why I always drop my pen under the desk when she comes through the lobby…”

Meanwhile, Miyuki finally left the interior of Building 1, exiting through the door and stepping out into the morning light of the still-rising sun. Taking a deep breath, she took in the fresh air of the outdoors, tinted with the scent of exhaust fumes and the various other smells that were present ina a modern human city. She wrinkled her nose. Then proceeded to look around. There didn't seem to be faces out and about just yet, although she did spot an odd pair off some distance away... A .... Horse? ... No, a horse-woman? And... What was that...? A butterfly? A giant butterfly? How... Peculiar. Shed' not seen these types of youkai before, but then again, this was a strange new land to her.

She knew she'd seen the horse woman's race somwhere though, but where...? Oh, right! She was one of those creatures that appeared in the wesern horoscopes! She'd read a magazine with those on the way from Japan over to the Americas. What were they called agian though? The picture she'd seen had depicted a male horse-man with a bow and arroow... They were called... Sage... Saga... Sagi... Saga-taurus? Yes, that seemed right. Although, the two seemed engaged in a conversation, and she honestly wasn't too keen on wagering her mood on talking to more of the reisdents here after this morning's experiences so far. Instead, the fox spirit sauntered over to a little bench and plopped herself down, content to just enjoy some peace and quiet for a bit.

---

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Location: building 1, floor 5, Room 1 -> Courtyards
Time: early mornin'
Interactions: @LupusIntus

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It had been an hour. he had been asleep for an hour. He awoke and shifted to a recognisable form. He chose his typical one, A 15 yr old with light blue hair, a light blue hoodie, and a kind face. this form was used when interacting with people most of the time. He had 100s of forms, each with their own stories, histories, and beliefs. this one was just a boy, a shapeshifter like him, but with a heart of gold, even though it had a mischievous side. it was looking for a way to be useful to people while still having fun. Shi also pretended that it was a cook.

Shi shifted a scarf into place to cover his neck, and he walked out the door. he walked past a slime roomba on the way, which was nice. Man i love those guys. as he was walking, he saw a fox, angel, and a human. Oh, nice! max is a nice guy. but i haven't interacted with the fox or angel much... "Heya! what's happening?"

Location: Building 1: 205 -> Ground floor, Reception
Interactions: @Lugubrious, @Massasauga

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After clearing up her tears and adjusting her glasses, she slowly slithered towards the stairway that led her down to the ground floor. Her mind was still occupied with what had just occurred and the tears were still threatening to come back. The attack, the feeding, the blood… Suzy… Poor Suzy…

Arborox had taught Theria that some ghosts had a very tragic backstory, usually involving murder, so Theria made an effort not to ask about anyone’s history, ghosts and spirits especially. After all, Theria was a softie… Always wanting for people to smile and laugh… and the fact that she could also feel what their snakes felt, never helped to keep her composure, especially when all of them were sad.

Pippin, the most affectionate of her snakes, hissed gently as she brushed herself against Theria’s cheek, letting Theria know that whatever happened, Pippin was always there to make her feel better. Theria smiled with the gesture, giving small scratches on the tiny snoot of Pippin as a thanks. She knew that whatever happened, she could always count on her most trusted friends and advisers… Pippin could always cheer her up… Layla was always paying attention to the smallest detail… Xena was always ready to attack and protect Theria… Neiko always made sure that Theria came out of her room looking the snazziest… Kaki always reminded Theria to eat… Sheila was always ready to cause chaos and break the monotony.. Isela was always questioning things and making sure that Theria learned… And Kisses… Kisses was always asleep.

She slithered down the stairs towards the first floor, holding on to the banisters for support. Going down the stairs was always a challenge for her serpentine figure and it also didn’t help that she was very clumsy. She usually took the elevator to descend floors, but right now, she needed time. She needed to go slow to get her head in the game… After all, Umbra Rose Condos still needed it's Assistant Manager.

She stopped on top of the stairs to the ground floor to have a final moment to get herself straight. She once again asked Layla if the coast was clear, and after Layla said yes, she once again approached a wall, looked right towards it and removed her glasses to clean up her eyes. As she was doing this however, Layla gave a quick but warning hiss as someone had just started to come down the stairs from the second floor. With the glasses still in her hand, Theria closed her eyes and darted to a more secluded spot… She waited a bit and then opened her eyes and cleared them of tears before putting back her glasses. Fortunately, she had not been spotted… or if she was, the resident hadn’t made a sound about it.

As she returned back to the stairway, she took one final glance at the scene of the attack. Either the cleaning services had already been alerted or a single cleaner slime had found the traces of blood and had already started to clean up everything. She knew that now that one slime had started to clean, their queen was also aware of what was happening. Soon, many more slimes would appear and help clean the mess faster. This at least was something else she didn’t need to worry about anymore. Now she only needed to find Miyuki to have her wounds checked out and Max to talk about getting an emergency fridge for the entrance.

She continued her journey back to the ground floor, slithering slowly while holding on to the bannister. She could hear that someone had started using the elevator but when she looked towards it it was already too late to see who it was. After descending all the stairs, she slithered towards the reception area. There was a resident there… Khalid… and someone else she didn’t recognize. Was she a new resident that she hadn’t met before? Couldn’t be a human that was just lost, that for certain… At least the barriers hadn’t sounded any alarms…

“Hello Miss. Mister Alhazred. Good morning. I’ll be right with you if you don’t mind. I just need to check out some messages.” She said, smiling, as she sat by the computer. She could see she had some more notifications. And she had just started clearing the ones from the night before the whole incident took place… She skimmed through them quickly just to see if there was an urgent one. No urgent ones, but there was an email from mister Alhazred. She took a glance over it and nodded, pressing the button to start the printing orders.

As she did so, she looked back towards Khalid. “Mister Alhazred, it’s printing. It shouldn’t take too long.” Then she turned her attention back to Rebecca. “I’m really sorry Miss. Is this your first time here? I’m afraid I do not recognize you.”

Rebecca Holloway
Lobby Front Desk

The lobby seemed very spacious. Most everything was quiet, but Rebecca heard a lot of commotion carried from the upper floors through the halls. Muffled talking and moving. She paid little mind. She was perpetually tired after having walked all the way here for miles. All she really wanted right now was a bite and a bed, though she wasn't sure if she'd get any sleep at this hour. She barely even noticed the man at the front desk standing at her side, but said nothing anyway. She had business to attend to after all.

“I’m really sorry Miss. Is this your first time here? I’m afraid I do not recognize you.”

Rebecca turned to look at the woman who was made of snakes. It was a bit striking and she would've averted her eyes to keep from turning to stone if she didn't already look right at her, proving that she wasn't Medusa. She itched at the band-aid across her nose before digging into her pocket and producing a card with a scribbling of a name and address.

"Yeah I was told you help people like me. I'm looking for a place to stay. Quiet. Covert. Off the grid, so to speak. Friend of mine pointed me to this guy who said to come here. Wouldn't mind getting something to eat either."

Curt. Short. To the point. She slid the card across the desk and put her hand in her pocket. Something ruffled from under her field parka. The head of a snake poked out, staring intently at the head of snakes in front of it. Slowly, lazily, it slithered out from the parka until Rebecca put her hand to it and brought it back.

"Slick, no. Stay."

---

Locations: Bldg 1, Restaurant Interactions: @CitrusArms

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Ryū tilted her head to the side as Yumeiko spoke, catching about half of what she said while distracted by the fluffy ears and tails. If she could only get to touch them... She had always been fashinated with fur, and softness in general, seeing as it was so different from her own nature of hard scales and sharp teeth. Her true dragon form was incapable of enjoying such things, being made not to caress but to rend, and she had only recently started appreciating the perks of her human disguises abilities, albeit still disliking its weakness and small size. She understood, much to her disappointment, that the fox lady in front of her lacked the inherently playful qualities of the puppers she'd seen on TV, but... There was always hope!

A Kinky Seiwhatnow? she replied, stifling a giggle, Never heard of that before. So you're some kind of fox spirit. That's cool! She didn't know much about foxes, but gathered that, hopefully, they weren't much to different from doggos in the end. They certainly looked much alike, just a little fancier. Yeah, I'm a dragon! Rawr!~ she continued, A great red one, at that. The biggest, baddest, bestest kind! And I'm from all around, or, I've been all around. Can't remember where I hatched, it was very long ago and I can't recall much besides a big cave and piles of gold somewhere in the mountains. But back then, humans were still running around with iron suits and flailing swords and axes and stuff. They hid out in these big stone houses, trying to keep all that shiny gold and jewels away from us. Not that it helped them much, heehee~. There were more of us back then, at least out in the open. Don't know what happened to the others. Haven't seen my mother or any of the other hatchlings in forever. I raised myself when I got kicked out, as all dragons do. Got my own hoard, too!

Ryū sneaked a quick glance at the berries Yumeiko was eating. She'd never understood eating plants. They were just more colorful versions of grass or leaves, weren't they? But people seemed to like them well enough. One day she'd have to try one. She was going to have to fit in after all, if she wanted to rule this new human world. So, what's it like being a fox? she said, turning her unblinking gaze back to Yumeiko, What do you, like, do? Are you also keeping hoards? She fidgeted her hands a bit, trying a friendly grin. Do you, uh, like to play? she added, hoping against all hope, Or like, uh, getting scratched and petted?

Location: Building #1; Ground Floor; Breakfast
Interactions: @Red Wizard Ryū

Yumeiko smiled softly, though it was of dry humor. She “hmm”d before repeating carefully, “Kinko seishin. But, ‘spirit fox’ will be good enough. Trying to use English to accurately describe me is tricky. To call me a ‘spirit’ conjures a certain image, not unlike a ghost, but that simply isn’t accurate. I have this corporeal body, as you well know.”

As Ryū went on to describe her existence until now in a general sense, Yumeiko could not help but think of some of the manga the last of the shrine maidens had been reading. Big stone houses with treasure hoards, like a castle? Iron suits and swords and axes, it all sounded vaguely familiar, but she could only think of vague recollections of the things she saw in those books, not anything like a country. It was a little sad, to the spirit fox, that Ryū hadn’t seen much of her kind at all in what sounded like a long time. That she mentioned it at all must have meant she missed seeing other dragons. Now, what was this about a hoard? No, no hoarding is bad, it makes such a mess. She’d been out to do a spiritual cleansing in a hoarder’s old place, once. Nasty.

Should she just ignore the question about keeping hoards? “As a servant of my Goddess, Akame no Kami, I pact with gods and spirits on her behalf, and maintain relations with the human component of Her Shrine. I make grand appearances before humans in need of vision and play the part of High Priestess, as necessary.” The milkshake came and she placed an order for bacon and eggs, then dropped a few of her berries in the milkshake and began to eat it with a spoon. “We, ah, do not keep a hoard, but we do take patronage from our visitors to keep the shrine running. That’s not presently an issue, however.” The current primary shrine was located entirely in their condo, which presented.. other problems.

Did she play or take pets? Yumeiko gazed at the dragon, thoughtfully, as an idea formed in her mind, “I do, sometimes, grant the patrons of the shrine the boon of caressing my fox body." Her tails flicked behind her. She rather enjoyed pets, but could only imagine what Miyuki would say. As well, she had to try and draw patronage to the shrine. Worship is such a strong word. “The extra lucky ones can touch my tails.”

She’d left a strawberry in her berry dish, and pushed it toward Ryu, having seen her eye it, “here, have a strawberry. And do have a seat, please.” Ryū was still very close. After she offered, Yumeiko pulled a strawberry out of her milkshake in her spoon. The spirit fox grabbed it by the leaves and carefully bit the vanilla milkshake-covered strawberry flesh away from around the stem, before placing the leftover little bit on her empty french toast plate.

When sitting in idle anticipation, awaiting the arrival and subsequent help of someone else, the mind tended to wander–especially if that mind belonged to a writer. A mind often leveraged to conjure forth intricate narratives, loquacious verbiage, romanticized mundanity, and highly descriptive scenes could seldom sit still, so while the writer’s body remained anchored firmly in place, his consciousness couldn’t help but range far afield through the uncharted realms of imagination. As he waited Khalid reminisced, waxed poetic, made mountains out of molehills, and generally got lost in thought. Agonizing over his current crisis wouldn’t solve anything, after all, so like dough he kneaded his beleaguered brain in an attempt to coax out character concepts, plot points, and compelling turns of phrase he could use later. Whether they generated any usable material or not, these mental exercised made the minutes fly by, but this frenzied daydreaming also occupied the thin man to such an extent that even as he stared at the complex’s front entrance, he didn’t notice the unfamiliar silhouette approaching the doors until they swung open to admit her.

Khalid straightened up, blinking repeatedly as the sudden disturbance stirred him from his absent-minded reverie. His eyes, fixated on a vista so distant that nobody else could possibly see it, refocused on the foreground and allowed him to witness the newcomer for the first time. In an instant Khalid realized that he’d never seen this person before, and if not for his well-practiced composure, he would have raised both brows in puzzled surprise. Of course, in terms of appearance there was nothing strange about her–and that was what was so strange. For all intents and purposes, this woman looked one hundred percent human, with not even subtle monstrous features or behaviors to betray a true nature breaking through the facade. It went without saying, though, that no human should be able to so brazenly stroll through those unassuming doors. That paradox could only mean that there was more than met the eye to this woman. Khalid hypothesized that he must be looking at a very convincing shapeshifter, or a powerful illusion. It did occur to him that he might be looking into a mirror, and that another practitioner of the arcane arts had managed to penetrate this place. Regardless, and much to his chagrin, it seemed that this woman’s true nature lay beyond his powers of perception right now.

Stumped by the question of what monster this woman might really be, Khalid took another tact, and opted to re-evaluate her as a human instead. Just what sort of person was he looking at? A quick examination made the answer crystal clear, but even without the telltale tags on her clothing that identified ‘Holloway’ as a US soldier, Khalid might have been able to guess. Though women in the army didn’t need to cut their hair if they wore it up, hers had still been cropped to a military-authorized trim, and despite growing out a little since then it gave no indication of styling. There was a world-weariness etched into her face, far deeper-seeded than that of the sad-sack salaryman or unemployed doomscroller. Those stony features had no doubt been hardened by terrible trials, evidence of an equally hardened heart, and those bandages were just icing on the cake. Even the way she moved across the foyer, her posture rigid and straight but too powerful to be called stiff, suggested a sense of discipline so thoroughly drilled in that it had become unconscious and involuntary. Her eyes were vacant, almost glassy, like she wasn’t all here, and some part of her remained on those distant battlefields. When those eyes roved over Khalid, he wondered if she even saw him.

He didn’t necessarily mind being ignored, though. When one thought of United States soldiers and middle easterners, the association was seldom positive. Of course, he had neither family history nor personal grudges to hold against her, and there was nothing about his place of origin -political, societal, or spiritual- that commanded any particular allegiance from a non-practicing Muslim like him. Still, Khalid did not like any being that might think to command power over him. No one, monster or man, living or dead, was entitled to the respect of Khalid Alhazred. No one.

Of course, for all Khalid’s overthinking, what actually happened in the lobby was very uneventful. Holloway entered, walked right by the thin man in his chair, and stopped at the vacant front desk. Under normal circumstances he might have objected to someone cutting the line, but she could go first this time. Right now he happened to be very interested to know more about who -or what- this newcomer was, in part because of something that happened right after she passed by. His stone talismans, dangling from his belt, shuddered and opened their eyes. They peered after Holloway as she receded from their owner, their enchanted lids only sliding closed again once she got a certain distance from them. That was all the confirmation Khalid needed to know that there was some sort of magic in play. “Curiouser and curiouser,” he quoted beneath his breath.

Since it would be rude to stare, Khalid turned around again and settled in to wait. Luckily, neither he nor Holloway had to wait long. The rhythmic sound of large scutes sliding across the floor announced the return of Miss Theria Lasthena to her post. If she was perceptive, she might notice Khalid scoping out her arrival with what looked like a pocket makeup mirror. Once he confirmed that her glasses were on, though, the mirror vanished just as quickly as it appeared. “Good morning, Miss Lasthena,” Khalid replied as he rose, turning to face the gorgon without a trace of anxiety on his face. As always, he spoke with measured, grammatically perfect English, flavored with a noticeable but hard-to-place accent. “Please, take all the time you need.”

In short order, his business cards and posters were printing. “Thank you,” he told her with a respectful nod of his head. It was polite of her to not say anything about the eldritch smell that tended to cling to him thanks to the Shoggoth. He did think it strange that Holloway didn’t remark on the odor either…perhaps army rations had dulled a couple of her senses? Or perhaps the smell of a Shoggoth simply wasn’t all that extraordinary to her. Khalid gave Holloway a wide berth as he waited for his papers to finish printing, listening to her exchange with Theria. People like you, hmm? Her words backed up what her appearance suggested about her not being on active duty, implying that she needed somewhere to hide. That same desire brought most Umbra Rose tenants here, but her military trappings made Khalid wonder just what she might be fleeing.

Then the cover slipped, and Khalid did not fail to notice. A creature emerged from Holloway’s clothes, a serpent that she identified by name and command as a separate entity, rather than a part of her. Slick, eh? It receded the next moment, leaving Khalid with more questions than answers. Before he could ponder much, however, his satchel stirred. The Shoggoth within bubbled up like bread in a baking oven, threatening to spill through the gap and into the public eye. Momentary panic spurred Khalid to turn away and grab his spray bottle in order to spritz Horace through the opening. After a moment, the unsavory sludge relaxed again, but Khalid remained alert. “What’s gotten into you?” he murmured, more to himself than the creature. Once he made sure that the Shoggoth was placated, the eruditionist returned his attention to the ladies. Just what was this 'Slick', to have prompted a reaction like that…?

Angel Glorinthy

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Location: Building 1, Floor 1, Room 1
Time of Day: Early Morning
Interactions: @LupusIntus(Max)

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Angel blinks for a second at the desk clerk, surprised he was, well, right there in the hallway. She hadn't even needed to search for him.
"Oh, umm, yeah!" Why the heck am I getting so flustered? Angel took a moment before responding again. Maybe she was suffering from an early morning brain lag. "Thanks for taking care of that...uh, I, um, needed to talk to you."
The guy stares at her for a moment, silent.
Angel felt her cheeks start to heat. Could this get any more awkward for her?
"I mean, I needed to ask you some questions. Is there anything I missed while I was asleep? I may or may not have overslept..." Angel trails off, wondering if he'd think she was sloppy, a failure. Maybe he'd regret getting her advertised in the newsletter.
She studies his face, trying to ignore the fluttery feeling in her stomach and focus on what exactly he could be thinking.
Then she realized he was squinting. Oops... Her glow was near full-brightness, and she hadn't even realized it. She focused on winding it down so he could see her without nearly going blind while she waited for his reply.

_{Location: URC 1: Ground Hallways —> Ground Reception
Time of Day: Early Morning
Relevant Cast:@Lugubrious@Massasauga@dragonydas}

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Max quickly delivered the remaining packages on his cart, storing the raw meat in the designated coolers of each room with an order. No other residents or attacks or disasters distracted him from his task and when it was done he returned to the loading dock and was relieved to find the packages for building’s 2 and 3 had already been picked up by the other monster staff and were likely on their way to be delivered.

He pulled the Nutri-Grain out of his pocket and ate it thoughtfully as he walked. It was funny to be thankful he only fielded one veiled threat this morning, and that was from Miyuki which was pretty much par for the course. Less than the URC average and FAR less than the average at the Waldorf Astonia in Chicago. All in all, not a bad morning.

Turning into the Lobby, Max was surprised to find it rather busy. He quickened his pace and flashed Miss Thelia an apologetic smile as he came up behind the counter and tried to get his bearings. The printer beeped as its task completed and Max grabbed the large stack of paper and brought it over.

Shoggoth… Therapy?

“I believe these are yours, Mister Alhazred…” The large man said, setting the stack on the counter before the man. His smile was a tad strained as the seemingly normal looking human made him particularly nervous. He didnt know what a ‘Shoggoth’ was but the resident profile mentioned a lot about ‘indescribably terror’ and ‘madness inducing appearance’. Max already felt insane most work-days and he didn't want to add more into the mix.

The second individual, military in appearance, was currently sprouting a snake from their coat. “Good morning.” Max said brightly, a slight tilt to his head. “Are you a… new resident?” His eyes flicked questioningly between the Thelia and the new arrival.