stuff us in boxes that's where you want us

cardboard is boring, we brought our matches - look how it burns

It was too damn early in the morning to be yelled at by a homeless man who looked to be in his mid-forties that claimed his hat was haunted. He wanted her to see and there was no way she was letting him get close enough to touch her, she had lived in the city too long to know better. Yet she at least pretended to look inside the roughed-up fedora just the once. Yes, it was too early for this when all she wanted was to be left alone. Just when she thought she only had to worry about vampires fucking up her 'day', she remembered you lived in the west and just about anything can whip on through like a mini cyclone. At least her life was never boring. No, far from it. Her relationship with Sacrosanct as of late was filled with both love and hate, sometimes more or less of the other.

Yup, it was the kind of fun-filled morning that could only be found in her very own west. What she did not expect was for him to become devastated that she said she saw nothing in the hat when he seemed so steadfastly certain. She hadn't expected that. She expected more yelling, not the man to look so... crestfallen. She lost a package of pop rocks to that ordeal. Maybe not so much as lost so much as tossed it into the hat. It worked well enough for her to make it out unscathed. He seemed thrilled, muttering something to his hat and ran off, checking over his shoulder to make sure she wasn't going to try and take it back. Candy worked wonders, Harley was certain. With all the candy she had smuggled into Syn and offered covertly like a candy dealer, distributing it to some of the less fortunate weres that were unable to leave. To offer those people a small mouthful of sugary reprieve. It didn't do anything... not truly, it didn't give them their freedom or their lives back. Yet they seemed to like it. She didn't know how, but it helped, as ridiculous as it sounded. It had somehow become her small act of sugary rebellion that she also carried like a symbol of her illusionary freedom. Which was probably why it could usually always covertly be found in the depths of her pockets, even on the nights she ended up Syn free.

Ace's food, the original purpose of that jaunt out was also, fortunately, acquired without further incident. The content canine in tow, content to parade around like he was some kind of guard dog but she knew better. He didn't so much as bat an eye at the homeless man from earlier. Failed guard dog was more like it. With the practised art of unlocking her door with one hand, she made it home in one piece. Once she was able to put everything away in its rightful place, the were eyed the time on her surprisingly quiet phone. That date with Sly seemed to be looming ever closer. But what was she even doing going on a date? Yet, she didn't say no. She actually didn't want to say no. She thought she didn't do the whole dating thing... and yet why was she considering what she was going to wear? Why wasn't she questioning the fact that Sly should have been running far, far away or doing him a favour and not encourage it? All the things about Syn she could not answer should have been enough to deter him. It would be enough for most people, hell it was clear that he had a fistful of secrets himself. A soft groan left her lips, deciding to shove any of those thoughts off a cliff and watch them crash and burn in a cloud of dust when they obliterated on the floor. They were there only to ruin her fun. There was certainly no harm in having a little fun. No harm in a night out and getting those tiles fixed. There was nothing preventing her from a moment without the dismal storm cloud that seemed to follow her.

Yet, even still she considered maybe she could prove some point by wearing a burlap sack. Yeah, that would be a real 'hit' and enough to probably write her off as off-her-rocker crazy. If he didn't already. The thought brought a sound of amusement to her lips and yet at the end of the day, the burlap sac did not win. She actually ended up wearing something, well, flattering, at least to her own standards. She even made an effort to tame her hair, put on a little make up and enhance those feminine attributes as she knew how. Attracting guys wasn't exactly hard. But she sent most running by simply being who she was. It was almost amusing, not that they meshed well with her in the first place.

Once ready, she looked at herself in the mirror, the v-neck she wore showed off some seriously decent cleavage and a pair of black skinny jeans that were probably the most complimentary pants she owned. Thanks to flawless skin and good genes, she had nothing to complain about.

Ace had long since fallen sweetly asleep, apparently having grown bored with following Harley around that single-bedroom apartment that she gave a once over. There was plenty of time to spare. With that, the Were finally got comfortable, having the opportunity to sprawl lazily out on her plush grey fabric couch, propped up on some pillows with her slender legs bent at the knee with one leg draped over the other with her well-worn sketchbook cracked open to draw. She wasn't sure how much time had actually passed but she had nearly finished a sketch of a dragon piece she wanted to add along the spine of her back, beneath the phases of the moon that existed there. She just about added the final curl of that tail, the head reaching toward the moon above before she remembered she had a package of pop rocks with her name on it. She reached for it blindly from that short coffee table before she ripped open the top, tipping her head back to dump the entire contents into her mouth. That telltale familiar popping occurred like rapid gunfire on her tongue and the zing of sour green apple filled her mouth with intensity.

It was a firm knock at the door that prompted the woman to freeze, not like those pop rocks in her mouth that continued their continued assault. Oh shit, was it that time already? A short hum left her lips as her gaze leapt to the door as if to eye it strangely. She closed her book with a quick snap of finality, swinging her legs off the side of the couch before rolling her body upward to stand in a single dedicated movement. Harley then placed the unmarked black sketchbook and pencil upon the simple dark, what she called purposefully distressed coffee table with a thud. She hadn't expected him to be on time for some reason. She flattened out her shirt that had ridden up her flat stomach, covering one of the tattoos that peeked through before a hand reached up to comb through the sleek natural black hair that she wore down, its shade so similar to her feline form's fur, all to make sure nothing awkwardly stuck out of place. She looked around her apartment, partially expecting there to be metaphorical fires to be put out only there were none to be seen. Was she truly that jaded?

Ace already raced to the front door with clear exuberance for issuing an incredibly imposing sounding bark and yet his fluffy black tail seemed to wag and say another story. It hardly took any time to stride across her one-bedroom to make it to the door, unlocking the chain latch and then the two locks which clearly meant nothing... but more of a habit for a woman living alone.

She swung the door open to reveal the face of a frowning Sly, unsure what thought even put that look there before his bright blue eyes settled and focused upon her before he transformed before her very eyes. His lips shifted into a clear grin that was unusually contagious, her mouth only just barely started to finally tame its tiny crackling explosions. She swallowed what was left of that candy down as he motioned to dinner, those damn rocks still crackling annoyingly within her throat.

That grin seemed to light up his boyishly handsome face, he looked vivid as he declared dinner as promised. He refused to let her down. Those vivid violet eyes lowered to the big boxes of pizza and she lit up like a kid on Christmas. Somehow admitting she just downed a whole package of pop rocks didn't flow so freely from the tongue.

"For little ol' me? How did you know my eternal weakness for pizza? Come inside.." Seriously dude could never go wrong with some delicious carbs. It was obvious what lay in those boxes. That scent was unmistakable, along with the typical shape of those boxes, it made her mouth water as she happily took them drawing in their sweet scent as he fished out a small satchel from his pocket. Harley balanced the boxes with ease that she potentially could have excelled in moonlighting as a pizza delivery woman in another life, she was certain. She allowed him to slip inside the apartment before making sure the door was sealed shut behind him. "To answer your question that I know you are dying to know is.. no. There has been no further damage to the bathroom." She admitted with a hint of mischievousness that lit up her face all too easily.

It was then that Sly then dangled the satchel for her to take and that feline curiousity bloomed as she took it, her eyes honing upon the little bag. "Things could get a little weird if there is catnip in this thing.. " She mused as she moved further inside to slide the pizza boxes onto the kitchen countertop. Those instructions for the bag of herbs were simple enough and truly she was almost surprised he remembered them at all. People rarely followed through... It was almost a shame she didn't have a ghost to shoo away.

"That's really all I have to do? There is no spell or anything like that? Thanks, Sly, to you and your obscure witch friend." Could they make one for vampires too? Harley didn't know what compelled her to smell the satchel of herbs but she did... drawing the bag to her nose. It looked harmless like potpourri and yet she should have known better than to breathe in too deep when some particles of those herbs tickled the inside of her nose and she sneezed, her nose wrinkling afterwards. Probably shouldn't have done that. Served her right...

The spitfire's vivacious gaze returned to the warlock, as she was offered a true view of him. He looked different than the last time. His clothes were not at all like those work clothes that he had worn the last few times. This seemed too good for tiling a shower, she was certain. His tousled blond locks were no longer hidden behind that hat too. Was it possible for a person to get hotter every time you saw them? Or maybe it was the lack of existing chaos that seemed to surround the pair.

Her gaze flicked up to his familiar features. He was already giving the rundown of his plan with a distinct level of confidence. Go out first and tile later he claimed. A bold claim she had decided... hoping she hadn't offended him too badly for something she had yet to unforeseeably say. Yet the curiousity of those plans all but drew her interest before that question of what was up with her neighbour. Huh? That interest was soon replaced with confusion. "Sounds good, but I vote we eat that pizza before anything else while its still hot... but what do you mean about my neighbour, hmm you are going to need to be a little more specific. What did they look like?" Her neighbours were generally pretty harmless people she rarely saw, it was likely she wouldn't even know what their deal even was. She knew little more than one worked nights and the other she rarely even saw. She had a friend further down the hall... maybe he meant him? "Did someone give you some trouble?" Harley probed, singular dark manicured brow-raising, placing a hand on her hip as Ace nudged at Sly's hand as he investigated all the new scents he brought with him.

Harley Westward