[IC] Ink On Your Soul - Reboot (Members Needed!)

It's a rainy Saturday evening in New York City. Both humans and creatures scuttle away, trying to get out from the rain. And some don't, some love the rain in the city. It's about eleven fifty-three in the evening, close to the next day in the city that never sleeps. Tonight, or maybe tomorrow morning, is the night (or day) that several will bump into their soulmates; maybe in the laundromat finishing up some late laundry, or in a bar as they drink the night away, or maybe even in their own building. Some are excited, and some are terrified. But one thing is for sure.

Everyone will meet who they were destined to be with.

[GoodLuckTuck]

Julie Ambers sat in a booth some club, hiding from the rain. This was typically how she spent her Saturday evenings. She took a sip of her Coke n' Jack, looking around nervously like she did. A man walked up to her. He was in his early thirties and had obviously had a few drinks.
"Dance with me" he stated, and Julie nervously shook her head.
"N-No thank you," she stumbled over her own words.
"That wasn't a question, pretty little missy," he grabbed her arm, sitting down next to her. He was close, and Julie could smell his drunken breath. "I want, to dance," he stated, looking into her eyes and there was something in his. Being immortal, Julie had had this happen to her more than once, and she could identify it as lust.
"I said, no," she now stated, forcefully pushing him off of her. He fell on to the floor, and she quickly got up on the other end of the booth.

"You bitch!" he yelled, anger now in his eyes as he stood up. "You're gonna pay!"
"Stay away!" she shouted back, backing up. Fortunately, the bar tender who knew her, and was a dragon, had noticed. Unfourtnely, Julie didn't notice the man's arm come down and strike her. She fell, and the bartender came over and to handle the situation. He locked the man in the back and called the police. When he was taken care of, he turned to where she was sitting and handed her some ice.
"You okay miss? want another drink? On the house."
She shook her head, handing him back his ice. She knew the bruise would arrive and then heal quickly.
"I...I think I'm just gonna leave," she spoke, and he could barely hear her before she left.

Julie walked out into the pouring rain on the street and after walking a bit, proceeded to break down in tears.
"He's right. You are a bitch. You should've fought him," the demon said inside her head. She ignored her, like she'd learned to do.

[Daemanis]

The poetry reading at the nearby Jazz club was running a little later than usual however Cienna didn’t mind sitting in the back with a drink in her hands, she could smell the sweet smell of the Cienna wafting up to her over the smell of cigarettes and sweat. It was a desert red that she had become partial to since she had discovered this club. She felt the fatigue of the day beginning to catch up with her as she stifled a yawn, she would down the rest of her glass rising from the chair at the same time her wings fanning out and lifting her gently off the ground. As she is inside she would hover two and a half feet off the ground so that she was at eye level for all the other patrons and made her way towards the entrance.

“Night Cienna.” The bar keeper called out to her waving with a friendly smile. He was a kind man whom had introduced her to the wine that carried the same name as her as a joke.
“Night” she would say waving back and exiting, the rain outside smelled fresh washing away the strong smells inside, she would drift out into the cool weather using her wind magic to create a protective barrier around her from the water. She would begin the short trek home which she had long since memorized using the wind that the water was throwing up to navigate made it easier than having to read still wind. She found herself enjoying herself even if the buzz she had got from her glass of wine made it so that she had to concentrate a little harder on flying than she normally would.
This part of town she had come to know as the ‘party central’ as there were a lot of different clubs and people were always mingling even this late at night. As she drifted along the sidewalk at a speed that would be considered walking speed if she were actually walking she felt a slight heat in her right wrist though she thought nothing of it, that is until she got closer to another club where that heat suddenly increased to a full-on burn.

‘something isn’t right’ she thought to herself rubbing the blazing part on her wrist. She would come to a stop near where she would guess the entrance to this particular club was based on the way the sound from inside seemed to increase and decrease in pitch.
She felt the wind deflecting around a person standing just outside and decided to ask, even if she would much prefer to ask someone she knew the pain in her wrist demanded that she stop as it was distracting her.
“U…uhm… E.. excus… excuse me…” she asked timidly extending the wind barrier she had generated to encompass the person she was talking to as she detected she was not covered by an umbrella or anything. “C…Can… can you… see… a.. a bite… o…on… m..m…my wrist…” she asked nervously as she extended her wrist to the person that she guessed was a woman based on her size and body type.

[GoodLuckTuck]

When the wrist containing the name in Fae began to burn, Julie ignored it. She also had to ignore the voice in her head, which had decided it wanted to continue to talk to her. She sighed, pulling out what looked like a small metal tube. It was an e-cigarette, filled with a special medicine. She screwed it closed, and it lit. She sucked in a puff and blew out a blue smoke.
"Those really don't work, ya know? And you really should have punched him. I'm sure you're sick and tired of all those men, trying to pick you up. Especially when they find out you're not attracted to them. One of these nights, I'd like to go back to their place. Lead them on, ya know? And then when the time is right, just as they're about to 'score', we'd pull out our knife and-"

“U…uhm… E.. excus… excuse me…” Julie heard, and as she looked up she noticed the terrible burning on her wrist. At first, she didn't see the small creature. And then she did. It was a fairy. Julie had seen them before in her time, but not too recently. She gave a few blinks and tilted her head, curious as she took another puff. She blew it away from the fairy.
“C…Can… can you… see… a.. a bite… o…on… m..m…my wrist…”

Julie stopped leaning against the wall, and glanced forward. Instead of seeing a bite, Julie saw a name. It was glowing, and it looked kind of like hers. Wait....
Julie stepped forward, tilting her head to get a look. It didn't look like her name, it was her name! She quickly looked up at the small creature, scared. What was the date today? She brought out her phone quickly, looking at the lock screen.

It was today. And apparently, it was now.
"Ah...H-Hello," she spoke, stopping her e-cigar and putting it away with her phone. "I'm...I'm your Soulmate. I'm afraid I-I don't know your name...I know it's Fae, but I-I can't read it," she stumbled on her own words, bringing up her own wrist for the fairy to look at.

[Daemanis]

"Ah...H-Hello,"
She heard the voice of a woman confirming her suspicions, the tone sounded almost as scared as she was. ‘She’s a shy type as well’ she thought to herself slightly relaxing, knowing a shy person would be less likely to do anything that would be considered dangerous.
. "I'm...I'm your Soulmate. I'm afraid I-I don't know your name...I know it's Fae, but I-I can't read it,"
‘wait what did she just say’ her eyes go wide in shock, as her mind raced to try and understand the meaning of that, was she simply trying to pick her up or was there more to it.
She remembered the tales she had heard about soul bonding, something she never put too much faith in never having seen anything on it and not having found anything written in the books she often read.
She felt the wind around them deflect as the woman raised her arm for one reason or another. It is at that point that she remembered
‘Some are born with a name printed on their wrists with a date, this mark is the one they are destined to be with and it is unavoidable.’
“w… wai… wait…” she stammered as she rapidly tried to put everything together her mind racing a million miles a second “your… your name…” she continues before taking a deep breath in an attempt to focus. “your name... it’s on my wrist?” she asks before remembering that the woman before her had raised her arm to show her presumably. “and s… sorry… I can’t… I can’t read… well… that’s not exactly true… I… I can read… but only… braille…” she says rambling and then trailing off looking down a bright scarlet flush spreading across her face unsure of how her ‘soul mate’ would take the news of her being blind. She felt her heart trying to beat out of her chest as if to support what the woman before her was saying.
The burning in her arm was spreading as if demanding that she do something, but what, she couldn’t think what else there was to this soul bond thing, did they have to touch, what did they have to do to stop this burning sensation. It was then that it occurred to her that she hadn’t given her name.
“Cienna….” She says softly “Cienna Rose…” she adds unsure of what she should be doing or even how to act.
The only relationship experiences she had was with Emerald and that was now years ago, should they go out? Should they organize a date… and then she remembered what she was wearing and though she knew that many loved the look of her diminutive body she worried that this woman before her would not like her looks or the fact that she was exposing quite a bit of her body. She also knew a lot of the other races disliked the fact that wind fairies were permanently tiny unlike some of the other fairies that could shape shift she was stuck like this.
“I hope… I… IhopeI’mnotadissappointmentasasoulmatesorryI’mnottaller…” she kind of verbally vomits what was going through her mind, before covering her mouth with both her hands wanting to die.

[GoodLuckTuck]

"I can’t… I can’t read… well… that’s not exactly true… I… I can read… but only… braille…”
Julie's eyes widened and lowered her arm, self-conscious. "Oh! I-I'm sorry," she stammered. It seemed that the both of them had similar ways of dealing with social interactions. "I shouldn't-ve assumed anything."
"Ahhh, bliiiind. An...an easy...picking...," the creature inside her spoke in her head, obviously drugged up from the e-cigar. Julie stumbled a bit due to this, and barely caught the tiny fairy's name.
"Cienna Rose? Wow, that's...that's really pretty. I like it." The next part took her a moment to register and she shook her head, before remembering the tiny thing could not see her. "No, no! I-It's alright, really. I-I once had a soulmate who was a dwarf. That was...that was quite interesting," Julie said, giving a small chuckle as she remembered.
"Isn't...isn't thaaaaat one the ooooone I...I killed?" Julie ignored the voice again, now shaking her head.
"I...I-It's been a while since I've had a soulmate. I can't quite remember what happens after this part, hehehe." This was all so strange to her. A blind fairy. Well, neither of that quite mattered. She would still love Cienna Rose anyway. It was always what happened.
"Um, well...the night is young, as they say, haha. Although I'm not quite sure who 'they' are.... Anyways! My place! My...My apartment. I want to get to know you. Although, I'm not sure I should invite one there on the first date...o-or whatever this is! Um, I know a cafe near my apartment which is near here! Do you want to go there? O-Or something else...?"
Man. She was really bad at this. How had she had so many girlfriends again?

[Daemanis]

"Oh! I-I'm sorry,"
Cienna shook her head at this, she was used to people assuming that she could see, after all that was the normal, most people could see, and it was something that she was used to.
"I shouldn't’ve assumed anything."
“No, No, don’t... don’t... don’t be sorry” she stammered quickly, trying to alleviate any possible distress that the woman might be feeling. She felt the wind deflect again as she stumbled and moved as fast and as fluid as any of the fae races grabbing hold of the woman before her and instantly the burning in her wrist stopped, touching her sent a different kind of feeling through her this time though and she couldn’t say that it was a bad feeling even if she wanted to.
"Cienna Rose? Wow, that's...that's really pretty. I like it."
Hearing this the blush that was already on her face deepened she had to admit that she had received many compliments throughout the years, however she never really cared what others thought of her, now this woman simply saying that her name was pretty made her heart completely skip a beat.

"No, no! I-It's alright, really. I-I once had a soulmate who was a dwarf. That was...that was quite interesting,"
That was interesting, she couldn’t say if Emerald had been a soulmate or not as she had no way of seeing and they had been in constant contact since they were little. She guessed that she wasn’t however as they kept in touch now and then and she had heard that a person can only have one soulmate at a time. “I w… I would… I would say…” she trails off her hands still holding onto the woman in front of her and not really wanting to let go. “I would say that you are my first…” then a thought occurred to her that shocked her and sent her mind reeling, she didn’t want to go through the pain of losing a soul mate. “Sorry that didn’t… I didn’t… I mean… I’m… a Fairy… so… so.” She takes a deep breath before starting again. “I’ll live forever, basically...” she clarifies what she meant with a small sigh of relief.
"I...I-It's been a while since I've had a soulmate. I can't quite remember what happens after this part, hehehe."
“Well I guess, I guess we should go talk somewhere, I’m still really new to even having someone in my life.” She says acknowledging her own inexperience in relationships. “I’ve only ever been with one other person.” She finishes softly.
"Um, well...the night is young, as they say, haha. Although I'm not quite sure who 'they' are.... Anyways! My place! My...My apartment. I want to get to know you. Although, I'm not sure I should invite one there on the first date...o-or whatever this is! Um, I know a cafe near my apartment which is near here! Do you want to go there? O-Or something else...?"
“Well I could use with some food, I forgot to eat earlier” she says with a bright smile before it finally occurred to her that she didn’t even know her soulmates name.
“uh…uhm… yo… you’re… your name?” she asked not sure if she was supposed to know it already but having no way to know it she guessed it would be fine if she asked however this still made her nervous. She made sure that her soul mate was able to stand on her own before letting go and hovering backwards just a little as her own impulses were starting to get the better of her and if she didn't move back she was going to end up running her hands all over her face so that she might get a better picture of the woman that she was fated to be with.

[Avanhelsing]

It was a beautiful night in New York City. The sun was setting it was going to be a nice night. Not that Owen would have known that. He had work to do and this corpse was not going to sew itself. It was possible to do that but the results were always messy. His current patient was not exactly happy to be there. The living corpse was currently missing an arm due to the subway which hid the lab. No one ever came to the old abandoned subway platform by Central Park. The city had forgotten about it,so the Underhills had taken the platform as a hiding spot for the compound. No one quite knew how deep the tunnels went in New York so it was perfect. There were constant people getting killed so the bodies just came rolling in. Owen had taken the zombies to Hart Island,the local Potter's Field in the city to collect some bodies. No one seemed to care about bodies going missing in the mass graveyard. So Owen was able to take his small boat and come back with a whole stack of corpses.

"Gahahauhuh"The zombie moaned as Owen sewed an arm onto the open stump. "Oh be quiet you. It's your own fault for walking near the tracks. It will be done soon. "Owen said as Moe and Bob,two of his mummies, carried the bodies into the modern looking walk in freezer. The room looked like it belonged in Anciebt Egypt with its altars and hieroglyphics on the wall. The illusion was broken by the modern tools all over. Owen had added a more modern touch to the area. Once the arm was on,Owen smiled and walked from the blood stained table. He had research to do but something told him to just go out on the town. He should go for a walk or something. With a quick look at his currently prepared mummies, Owen turned to leave. He was wearing a tight black shirt and jeans since those were easier for him. As usual,he looked down at his arm to see the name Abel on it. He was both worried abd excited to meet the man. It was his chance to be normal. He just needed to find the guy.

Owen walked out the door with the ghosts in tow. They had been following him for now. "Master... you can't leave... you have work to do!" One of the moaned as Owen snuck out of the lab and onto the fake platform. "I'll be fine and it's not like they are going anywhere. I still Need to test the new batch of winged monsters but that can wait. I need to just go walking. You all are welcome to come. " Owen said as he pulled out a blue tooth earpiece. He figured he could talk to the hosts without the looks from other walkers. To them it would look like he was talking on the phone. Owen pulled out a weathered copy of Grays Anatomy as he walked. He could walk this area blindfolded. He knew he would be safe.

[GoodLuckTuck]

When Cienna grabbed ahold of her hand, or her finger actually, Julie was surprised. She smiled as the burning faded away, content that the two had met. When her soulmate agreed to the cafe, Julie gave a nod before stopping herself. It was useless, but she'd still nodded. A natural instinct.
"Let's walk over," she said, beginning to do so.
"My...my name. It's Julie. Julie Ambers." She was silent for a moment as they walked, before it registered in her mind what the fairy had said a while ago. "You'll...you'll live forever?" she asked, her hopes getting up.
"Don't yooooou even get those up, little missy!" Now, the demon had a sing-songy tone. "When she meets meeeee, it won't be so fuuuuun anymooooore!" Julie had finally had enough.
"Shut up," she muttered under her breath, and then was worried her fairy friend might've heard her. "Sorry, I was talking...to...to myself. It's a long story," she finally sighed. She quickly led the two (or rather, three) of them to the cafe.

When they got to a booth, Julie sat down and ordered a hot chocolate. She waited for Cienna to order, and then spoke.
"So, forever, huh? How long have you been around then? Because I've seen...a lot. If you don't mind me asking, that is," she quickly added in.

[Daemanis]

When the woman suggested walking to the café she felt a small rush or excitement, all too many of the other races preferred to use cars or the likes and for her that just felt cramped the air always felt to still inside them. She would bring herself to hovering height in line with the woman, which she could tell, she was already quickly becoming attached to.
"My...my name. It's Julie. Julie Ambers."
‘Julie Ambers’ she thought to herself silently mouthing the words to herself, she had to admit that it had a certain ring to it, as if the name itself resonated with her very being. ‘Yes, it is a very nice name indeed to have.’ She thought to herself. While she thought her wings would lazily flap back and forth similar to that of a butterflies though they technically didn’t have to move at all to give her flight, She was doing it more as a subconscious method of reading the wind, creating little eddies that would swirl around them and fan out revealing any and all objects around.
She was happy to be led while lost in her own thoughts which somehow less than an hour prior were filled with nothing but curling up in her bed now however, that was the last thing she wanted to do as this woman filled her thoughts wanting to know everything about her.
"You'll...you'll live forever?"
She barely heard the question and had to snap back to reality, however before she could formulate a response to this line of inquiry she heard.
"Shut up,"
It was whispered almost inaudibly however just loud enough for her enhanced ears to pick up, the words had stunned her, not even sure she had said anything she looks perplexed and a little hurt until Julie had added.
"Sorry, I was talking...to...to myself. It's a long story,"
Relief flooded through her, she hadn’t offended Julie, the something else seemed to worm it’s way into her mind, ‘Is Julie mad?’ she thought to herself the word mad feeling almost repulsive in this sentence. ‘Or maybe she isn’t as human as I originally thought.’ She reassured herself with this thought, after all she had come across many races in her time that had, well to say the least their was two of them sharing one body and they would switch quite often. She found her mind wondering off on this new tangent of thought trying to figure out this enigma that was Julie Ambers.

Before she could get too far along the rabbit hole that is her own mind they had entered the café and been approached by the waitress. She listened as Julie ordered a hot chocolate and then seemed to look at her. She felt a smile cross her lips before herself ordering a Mint tea and garden salad. It’s not that she couldn’t eat meat like other fairies it’s more, that she didn’t like what it did to her when she did. She chose some years ago to become vegetarian as the Wind fairies are predatory fairies and can become quite dark should they not control themselves. Since her choice to become a Vegetarian she had been much happier with in her own little world.
"So, forever, huh? How long have you been around then? Because I've seen...a lot. If you don't mind me asking, that is,"
She would giggle at this question, a sound like a bubbling brook in the middle of a midsummers day in a forest. “Yes… forever… well kind of, I can die if someone knows how to kill me.” She says as she faces Julie her mind trying to picture all the facets of who Julie was. “I am well, I was born some 200 years ago.” She added after some thought “I think, I stopped counting years a long time ago.” She would continue. She knew most long-lived species tended to stop counting years after a hundred or so years. The air in this café felt good to her, or was it that Julie was there, she couldn’t tell but even sitting her wings were picking up the slight vibrations in the air emanating from across the table, not as clear but she was perfectly aware she was there.

“Can… Can I ask… Are you… Are you Human?” she was curious she had no way of knowing anything about her partner other than what she could discern from the brief touch and the sound of her voice. She gathered from her voice that she could not be too old if she were human which her body shape suggested, and well she felt young to her, which she knew by her own body to be deceptive.
The only thing that kept ringing through when she thought of Julie as Human was that she had, had a prior soul mate and most humans don’t live long enough to see two soul mates in one life.

[BlackPanther]

Abel inhaled the scents around him as he relaxed in the bar. Bright blue eyes nearly glowing under the shadow of his hat as he took in the uncharacteristic peacefulness of the current area. A peacefulness he suspected would not last very long. Alas, he was proved correct. A group of loud guys burst in and began demanding drinks, shattering the calmness of earlier. He felt himself wince at the loud noises and briefly wonder if New York was such a great place to live after all.

Abel recognized one guy....a guy that had been in one of the strip clubs he had worked at as a bouncer. The guy happened to come in on gay night...the sheer bigotry from that memory caused a soft growl to escape him. The guy turned...big guy with a big mouth. "Hey...its that queer guy" The guys stood and tried to intimidatingly walk to abel. Abel felt a brow quirk as he stood, crossing him arms. He would not get angry this time. He would not loose his cool and toss a man through a wall. That was...more then a one time thing, but he would get a handle on himself. The leader? sneered at him. "A damn sinner like you is going to burn straight in hell with the rest of you freaks" He felt himself snap. The anger rose up like fire and he found himself moving. Grabbing the man with one hand before tossing him at the wall causing a chain reaction of the other two trying to jump in. He threw some punches...they missed some punches. He could feel his canines lengthening and knew that he had to get out of there before he killed them. A few more punches and they were done. They quickly left and he went the opposite way.

Abel's steps led him into an alley where he punched the brick before inhaling. It was a nice night, one filled with scents...his eyes shut for a moment as he slowly opened his eyes and glanced at the name on his arm. Would they accept someone who had a habit of seeing red at certain words. He shook his head causing water to fling in random directions as his waterlogged shirt no longer held any mystery of his body shape. A sigh escaped him as he left the alley. Rain was terrible...but his damn rage made him stomp out here without even realizing that it was wet outside. With a grumble, he stalked his way toward his house. A walk would be good for him...in fact maybe he could stop by central park and change shape. Though wet fur was miserable....his thoughts becoming more random as he walked, causing any feelings on his arm to be nonexistent.

[EchoicChamber]

Madison loved his job.

Perhaps some would have called it monotonous. Repetitive, even, to spend so many years researching the same groups, looking over the same data, compiling said data into a format that the public could understand. But Madison relished in it all. Every day spent in his work was something new learned, or even relearned, like finding an old crumpled twenty stuffed in the pocket of a favorite jacket. It helped that the work itself was hardly boring, leading him to fantastical places, and allowing him to become acquainted with the most interesting people.

Madison was entertaining two such guests in his office currently. The first was a lovely young woman by the name of Faust. He had met her through mutual friends, and, after a few lunches, he invited her to stop by his office to demonstrate her particularly curious power to him in person. She accepted, and was here now, picking at the velvet arm of her chair and frowning to herself.

The second was “Russell”, a giant, writhing pile of...something indescribable that Faust had summoned in the center of his office. Madison had no words to describe the jumble of flesh that was strewn upon his floor, and, whenever he attempted to get a closer look at it to try and understand what, exactly, he was looking at, he found that his eyes would begin to bleed profusely.

So Madison settled for staring at a spot just to the left of Russell, or glancing over at Faust, or dropping his gaze to his notes. No point in pressing what quite clearly shouldn’t be pressed, after all.

“So, Russell.” Madison began, “This…’salivating void’ you mentioned- is this a part of the world you came from?”

Russell hissed. It drew the mints that had been offered to it into one of its countless orifices, and cried in a voice that had no sound inside Madison’s head.

“COUNTLESS EYES

SALIVATING

THE STARS ARE

SOON TO SWALLOW

EXTINGUISH THE SEAS EXTINGUISH THE SEAS EXTINGUISH”

Madison sketched the words down onto his paper, nodding to himself. “I see. Unfortunately, I’m not quite sure how to do that, Russell. My apologies. ”

“WE ARE BUT ONE OF HIS TONGUES, WHISPERING WORDS THAT WE KNOW

LISTEN

AND

WAIT”

“Thank you very much. I’ll do my best to follow your advice.” Clicking his pen, Madison glanced over at Faust, smiling warmly at the witch. “Alright, I believe that I’ve gotten all the recordings that I need for this session. We can schedule another appointment in the future, once you and Russell are ready.”

“Oh. Well.” Faust gave an awkward chuckle, rubbing her hands together. “That’s good. That’s good. We can come back in a few weeks. I was just worried you would be trying to put Russell into some special Russell jail or something. He really doesn’t like that.”

“I would hate to upset you or Russell,” Madison replied. His voice was as warm as ever, although his eyes were sober. “Both of you have been wonderful guests. In fact, would you and him like to come over for lunch once our next studies are over?”

Faust swallowed. She pulled at the pink locks that had fallen into her face, tearing off a few loose strands. “Sure. Sure. That sounds nice. Thank you, Mr. Lovette.”

“No, thank you for yours and his time.” Beaming, Madison sat up, watching as Faust dismissed Russell away to whatever plane he had came from before reaching to shake her hand. Once the woman left, Madison circled the office, switching off the various recording devices- of both magical and mundane natures- that he had scattered throughout the room in preparation for the visit.

This truly had been an interesting session.

---

Once everything had been properly packed away, and once the data was recorded and properly backed up (Madison had found that any visual recordings of the session had been ruined, much to his dismay), the researcher left his office and began his stroll back home. His work and home were so close that he hardly bothered to drive, preferring to simply let his feet take him to and fro. It left him ample time to mull over his research, and that was something he found quite precious.
As the rain began to fall in heavy sheets upon the vampire, he glanced up, smiled, and opened a bright red umbrella above his head before continuing his trudge forwards. He would let himself enjoy it more fully once he was home.

[Erklings25]

Friedrich Vogel

---

"And thus, with the sunrise illuminating the forest, the party departed. The question stands: werewolves, fact or fiction?"

Fritz stepped away from the window, turning to his boss. "So, what do you think, Herr Bush?" He placed the papers down on his desk, staring expectantly. As junior editor of The Weekly Journal he still had to write articles until he got a promotion. Mr Bush promised him a promotion was coming soon, but he highly doubted it.

"Well, Friedrich, it's got possibilities. But it's a bit flowery. I mean, this is a newspaper article not some poetry. Keep it pithy. I expect a re-write by Tuesday." Fritz nodded curtly, gathering his papers and putting them in his brief case. "Of course. Sorry for dragging you along to another late night writing session. Good evening."

Foiled again. Friedrich stormed out of the high rise, spiking up the collar of his leather jacket. It was raining outside, he knew he should have brought his coat. He worked late with his boss every Saturday so they usually stayed up until midnight. Tonight was no different. Except for the fact that today he would meet his soulmate. Damn.

He stood on the pavement trying to hail a cab. Nobody seemed to notice him, caught up among all the drunk people leaving the bars early. They were going to have more fun in the cab than in the bar, clearly. Fritz decided to screw going home early. If he was going to re-write that article, he was going to do it hungover. The way all his best ideas came.

He sauntered into the bar, placing his briefcase next to his stool. "Hey, bartender! I'll have a whiskey, straight." Downing his drink, he noticed the man on the stool next to him had dissapeared. And his wallet was gone. He quietly stalked up to the man, who was trying to chat up some girls. Without saying a word, he tapped the man on the shoulder.

"Hey, buddy, what's the problem?" He asked, cockily. "My wallet." Was all Fritz said, holding out his hand. "Oh no," replied his adversary, "I ain't got it." Fritz nodded his head, muttering an apology, before punching the man in the jaw. His victim responded with a kick to the shins. As they started to fight each other, more and more people started to join in. Frtiz, with his opponent against the wall just smiled, taking his wallet back, head butting the man and sauntering back to the bar.

[Avanhelsing]

In typical Owen fashion,he hadn't even noticed that it was raining. His kind was far too focused on his book and the spirits around him. There were more of them out then usual. Something was bothering them but Owen didn't have time to poll the wraiths and see why they were angry. He had more important things on his mind other than who had pissed them off. Most people would have freaked out seeing a being of shadows and anger just started hovering next to you. Owen just thought it was an odd happening. There was nothing evil about the wraiths when they were like this. As Owen walked,the ghost started to speak.

"He's close... Death Speaker, you're close to him...." The wraith moaned in his ear. Sometimes the wraiths could sense things that humans could not. Most of the time it was just gibberish but Owen sometimes listened to their council. "He's near.... Be ready... The one who shifts is close..." The wraith continued as Owen just looked up from his book. He didn't have time for madness.

His steps were random as he walked through the park. It was a beautiful night for a walk since the rain did not bother him. He was used to being wet since his job was not a clean one. Owen was not looking where he was going as he just wandered. He didn't notice his arm since he had more important stuff on his mind.

[BlackPanther]

Abel kept walking. Part of his mind wondering if he would have to buy another hat after all this rain. The far more feline side of himself was nearly howling at him to get out of the wet and into somewhere dry. Anywhere dry. A huff escaped him and he finally managed to look where he was going but too late.

Abel bumped into a guy. A guy with a book and a Bluetooth and his arm was finally too much for him to ignore. He looked down to the words scrolled onto his arm to notice it basically glowing at this point. He stared at it before his bright blue eyes finally gazed upon the guy. "....I'm sorry.....Uhm....are you Owen?" a mix of emotions hit his voice. He was nervous as hell...what if this guy wasn't Owen...or wasn't the right Owen.

Abels gaze under his hat was one of hope. His emotions very easily read in his eyes. In the back of his mind he had a weird feeling. As if something he couldn't quite see was there watching him. That really didn't help the situation for him.

[Avanhelsing]

"He's close! So very close! Oh Speaker... he approaches. "The wraith howled as he spun around him. The ghost knew that Owen was on their side and he could help them. It was nice to help the dead with their issues. They in turn would help him. It was easy to spot museum guards when the resident ghosts were watching out. Owen was reading about how to dissect an arm when he felt himself collide with someone. His arm was burning and the wraith just would not stop babbling.

Owen's hand went flying and the book spun into the air. To Abel it would appear that the book had vanished in mid air. Owen could see the wraith holding the book like a dog holding a stick. It couldn't use the book but it could hide it. His arm was burning like it was on fire. This had to be the guy. Owen stared up as his eyes tried to read the other man.

"I'm ..Owen but you already knew that..." He sputtered a little worried about meeting his soulmate if this was him. He was taller than Owen had expected and didn't look like he belonged in the city. Course Owen didn't belong here either. Owen was feeling a strange feeling of hope. He wouldn't be alone any more. "You're Abel?" He asked a little confused on what to say to the man he was supposed to spend his life with. The wraith was hovering close enough to Abel so that the cowboy could hear a strange wind in his ear.

[GoodLuckTuck]

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|Café with @Daemanis|

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“I am well, I was born some 200 years ago. I think I stopped counting years a long time ago.”
Julie gave a giggle, nodding as she understood. She really had to stop doing that. "I know the feeling. I took have stopped counting. Although, I still doubt that you're older than I am."
“Can… Can I ask… Are you… Are you Human?"
Julie blinked several times, shocked by the question at first. Then she realized that her soulmate was blind, and therefore could not see if she was human or not. "Again, it's complicated. Technically yes, I am human. But...," Julie struggled to continue on to the next part. Their drinks arrived, the waitress telling Cierra that her food would be out in a minute. Julie picked up her mug and took a sip of the hot chocolate, the warm liquid dissolving on her tongue and flowing down her throat.
"A long, long long long, time ago, I did something wrong. I offended some gods somewhere, and I don't know what I did or why it deserved punishment. Yet here I am. There's more to me I could tell you about. Something...Someone..."
"Yes, tell her all about me. Then she'll be terrified. She'll know I'm coming but never know when. It will torment her to know I will be inside you."
Julie shook her head, changing her mind. "No...I don't want you to meet...her. N-Nevermind," she quickly said, taking another sip of her hot chocolate. "Listen, I have a lot of dark history to me. So if you don't think you can do this...i-it's fine..."
Julie looked down knowing she was making it about her, and she felt bad about it. She just didn't want to hurt another Soulmate again.

[BlackPanther]

Abel watched the book fly and nearly went to grab it, bit it seemed to vanish in thin air. He blinked and felt his brow furrow. A ghost? Being that he had a feline side he could sometimes feel ghosts...but couldn't seem to see them. He shook off the confusion and decided instead to focus on the man in front of him. Though the rain was really awful.

Abel felt his mouth go into a smile as the guy confirmed that he was Owen. This was his soulmate. When asked if he was Abel he nodded. "Yeah...I'm Abel" He felt a giddiness he hadn't expected to feel along with the urge to rub his scent on the guy. But that would be more than a little weird so instead his nostrils flared for a second and absorbed his soulmates scent. Mine the thought skidded through at a speed that he couldn't even fully realize he had it.

Abel heard a wind like noise near his ear and felt himself lightly move away from it. He stood there awkwardly before speaking. "....Want to get somewhere dry and....talk?" He really wanted out of the rain now that he wasn't in such a bad mood. That and he was sure that trying to get to know each other in rain would be difficult at best.

[Avanhelsing]

Owen gave the wraith a glare as it seemed oddly pleased with itself. He didn't want to freak the other man out right now. Nothing made the guys run quite like a ghost slinking around them. He once dated a guy who ran screaming from the building in his underwear after the ghosts had opened every drawer in the kitchen. That was the last time Owen had brought a guy around the house.

This guy seemed interesting but there was something up with him. He almost felt feline since the ghosts were freaking out around him. Cats could see ghosts and some could interact with them. The mummies refused go near cats and would run from them. Espie had mentioned once that Cats were the guardians of the underworld. It was interesting to say the least. The rain left little to the imagination of Abel's body. Owen looked oddly dry as he stood there in the rain.

"That sounds great... I don't know anywhere nearby though. I don't get out a lot..."He admitted as he watched the other man. This was going to be interesting. "So uhh... Lead the way?" Owen said sounding extremely nervous. He had never done this before.

[BlackPanther]

Abel nodded again. He was feeling incredibly awkward...awkward and giddy. He took a second before moving...an odd feline grace to the way he walked which didn't really fit the cowboy self. That never did help with the bullying when he was younger, but he had come to terms with it.

Abel made sure to walk next to Owen instead of shoot ahead to get out of the rain sooner. He navigated the place easily. Taking occasionally short cuts until eventually, they reached an apartment building. Abel paused before looking at Owen. "I hope this is okay...I...really don't like rain"

Abel couldn't shake a hint of uneasiness he still had. Old fears creeping up now that he was face to face with the name that had been on his arm for so long. His hands were in his pockets making him seem like he was fine. At least...he thought it did.

[Avanhelsing]

Owen had been wondering about this day for years. He had drawn what he thought Abel would look like. Something had always told him that he would be tall but never that he would wear a cowboy hat. Owen had pages of drawings fro when he was little about who the other man would be. There was something cat like about how he moved. This was the second time that Owen got the feeling of cats around Abel. He didn't mind cats or dogs. He had never had a living pst. He had once reanimated a cat when he was younger but Mr. Stinky wasn't a real pet in typical sense.

Owen followed next to Abel managing to keep up even though he didn't really walk above ground all that much. Underground he was a master of getting around. Since certain creatures liked to hide down their, Owen had learned the tunnels from a young age. "Already taking me home. I like the way you think,Abel. "Owen teased to try and break the awkward feelings in the air. "So I never did introduce myself. Owen Underhill. Necromancer extraordinaire. I see and command dead people. "He joked as he watched Abel for a response. Most people responded the same way with fear.