Kaden eyed the old man at the bar suspiciously for a few moments longer until he thought he heard John say something. When he pried his eyes away from the strange man at the bar he was only in time to see John already slipping away from the table. Was it something he'd said? Probably... he wasn't good a this whole "socialization" thing.

[i]I was crass again, wasn't I?[/i] he mused in his head, wondering where exactly he'd gone wrong. [i]Oh well...[/i] He shrugged, giving up on the subject almost immediately.

"Goldfish... really? Come on." He heard a familiar voice from behind him. He turned his head once more, and then tilted it down, to see a familiar face. Lilith, the little girl who'd gotten him to the bar in the first place. She had very long, and very curly blond hair that extended down to her waist and spilled over her shoulders, and she wore an extravagant pink and white dress with lacy frills and hems.

[i]Ah, that must have been it...[/i] He thought. "What? It's a nickname. People like nicknames."

"Oh, it was plenty amusing." LIlith hopped up onto the chair John had vacated, though she stood in it rather than sitting. "But still, you're very-"

"Insensitive? Yeah, I get that a lot."

"You're incorrigible." Lilith shook her head. "Why do I even bother with you?" Indeed, it seemed Lilith had made socializing Kaden into her pet project. Because of this, Kaden had managed to learn a few things about the mysterious girl, who to him at least was now much less of a mystery. If anything, she was a sad story. She was like him, a shape-shifter, but she was not a skin-walker, and she couldn't transform anymore. She was a witch's familiar, but her witch had died leaving her alone and cut off from most of her magic. She could have bonded to another witch; in fact she could even have bonded to Kaden, but she refused to, feeling it would insult her former master's memory. Apparently she'd been very attached to her witch, who had been a benevolent and kind being compared to most witches.

"Well, I've made progress haven't I? I can hold a conversation now..." Kaden muttered, averting his gaze.

"Right, until you scare the other person off. Face it Kaden, you're still crude and in need of refining." She leaned across the table and pinched his cheek, making him flinch and turn to face her again, lest she do it again.

"What are you up to, you aren't here to lecture me again, are you?" Kaden sighed. She didn't look like she was prepared to "train" him today.

"Nah! I'm off to gather more lost souls! Well, I haven't had much luck lately, but I'm sure there are more out there somewhere!" Lilith said, hopping back off the chair. "Maybe I'll find another, more receptive fixer-upper!" Kaden just rolled his eyes at that. "Anyway, if you really want to improve, you just need more practice. Hm, you just got back from another hike, right? You must be hungry."

"What are you-"

"HEY! Can we get some service over here!" Lilith shouted towards the bar. "There, now eat and make nice while I'm gone! Ta-ta!" With that, Lilith skipped out of the bar in her ever continuing search for "lost souls."

". . . why do I come here?" He appreciated Lilith's effort, but her insistence that he interact with other people got old after a while.