Paradise Creamery vanilla

can be afternoon or evening :3

---

Some people would say it was getting too cold for ice cream, and Levi didn't want to be part of that conversation. Anyway, outside temperature was barely relevant to him, thank you.

He was making a point of getting his bearings in most cities, especially those that had a vague link with his actual life. Alamada was Mr Eli's professionnal territory, so that counted. The ice cream was just the icing on the cake (heh).

While this was still claimed territory, it had a different feel than the others? Less hostile perhaps? But maybe it was in his head. And you know what else was in his head? The yote. Showing teeth for no apparent reason again, but Levi knew to take it personal and just go on with it.

He looked up, giving a glance at the other patrons, accidentally getting caught in someone's eye contact. You know what was worse than eye contact? Eye contact while eating ice cream.

Time to look away and get very VERY interested in that phone! Weren't cellphone formidable? Such feats of technology! Such innovation! Such a good reason to ignore all strangers!

Outfit

---

Jordan had last worn her Dorothy costume in high school. Old friends had invited her to a Halloween party that evening and craving anything normal again, she told a very pissed off cat they were going. So, after she pulled out her old costume, they went!

Which was sort of a mistake? Jordan had spent the majority of the evening trying to get out of awkward "what are you up to now?" conversations with people who, post-school, already seemed to have steady incomes? How was that even possible at twenty-five? No one else in her old friend group seemed to understand what it was like to hustle and not have insurance or enough food to feed a starving cat. Not that she told them about the cat. Just. Yeah. They didn't get it. It made her more upset than she wanted it to, so on the way out of Alameda, she stopped in at the ice cream shop Finn's friend, Zachary, owned and hoped she wouldn't run into him.

Instead she found herself staring at someone, mid-spoonful of mint chocolate chip ice cream and narrowing her gaze. Why did he feel... the same but different?

He looked at her, too, which caused her to freeze awkwardly, ice cream dripping off her spoon onto her pretend Toto.

"Oh no!" She breathed quietly and started to reach for napkins, trying to save what she could of the stuffed animal from her youth.

Whispers were not lost to him since June 3rd, 2022, and this one coming from the same direction his unfortunate eye contact recipient had been got him to try another look, the sidest of side looks possible considering the not-that-side-ly way their tables were placed.

The girl was certainly in costume. Which made him stare. He had a costume at home, or rather inside his skin, should he get it out and match, ha ha, no, please, don't-

The coyote yawned and got into the laziest, slowest stretch ever, one looong paw after the other. Purple eyes staring intently at the girl, but the beast couldn't care less about clothes, fashion, Halloween and ice cream. This was not a magic human like the one with the yucky bread.

This was an animal. Unknown animal. But, something very, very interesting was in play here. This was a baby. An easy prey, if they so desired.

Which Levi VERY MUCH DID NOT. Despite himself, he kept staring. He had never, ever encountered a shifter that felt weaker than himself. Some were on the same level, like Brooke. But ones that were that... irrelevant (wow this is so rude, sorry stranger girl) were mindblowing.

The coyote showed teeth in that twisted imitation of a smile Levi was so wary of. He tried to focus on the vanilla goodness and on cold hard facts. Strength didn't mean much if the girl turned out to be a bear. The image of the gigantic mammal filled their shared brain and had his beast settle slightly. For now.

Jordan may have been scrambling for napkins to wipe the mint green ice cream off her favourite childhood stuffy but the animal within her was alert and poised, ready to run if needed. She understood the situation far more than Jordan ever felt she could. There was the acknowledgment of a hiss as Jordan looked up and caught the man staring at her this time.

Why. Was. He. Staring. At. Her?

Did she have ice cream on her face or was it for the same reason she’d been staring earlier? Just two beasts trying to figure one another out?

It was probably that but Jordan didn’t have a good grasp on what the heck her cat was doing most of the time.

"Sorry," She said quietly and sunk down in her chair, feeling exposed and unable to understand how. What was he?

The unnecessary politeness thrown his way was his anchor through a more 'human' way to navigate this. The coyote would stare endlessly, content to keep the weakling in his line of sight without getting closer, for now.

"You did nothing wrong." Levi told her, smiling with his eyes closed.

Any amount of eye contact over zero was draining his social battery fast.

She did nothing wrong. Right. Well. It sort of felt like it? But she hadn't! But- but-

Jordan nodded slowly and bunched the wet napkins she'd used in a pile on the table, feeling bad about the mess she'd made. The stuffed animal looked okay though. No mint green dye found its way into its fur.

The cat wasn't sure what to make of the threat sitting a couple of tables away.

"What, um. What are you?" Oh no! Was that rude? "Sorry." Stop apologizing!

'What are you' always felt so uncomfortable a question to receive. He wasn't a 'what', he was a 'who'. So his smile faded just a little, but the coyote didn't care about endless human chatter and lowered his head to rest it on his paws. Still staring. Always staring.

Levi had half a mind to retort 'manager at Dog Run' because that's the 'what' he was. But this was also information to find him later, and for some reason, he didn't want to give location hints. 'Coyote' was also a location hint, not that the weakling (stop making him think of her like this, 'yote!) looked like she knew where to find the band.

"Canine" would be his answer for now. "You?"

If she gave him the courtesy of specificity, he might return the favor.

It was not a good question to ask but Jordan didn't have a lot of experience talking to weres. She frowned and turned sheepish as she ran her fingers along the side of the wicker basket on the table. A way to self-soothe with an increasingly anxious cat in her head.

Canine.

Well, that could be anything.

If Jordan was a more suave human being, she might have smirked and said something like 'feline'. But she was Jordan, so she just told him the truth.

"A grumpy manul."

cw thoughts of predation and cruelty

---

The coyote only cared for human babble when it looked like there was a point to it. And it did, as the baby exhibited passive body language.

Levi knew what a manul was, which had two distinct consequences. The first one was his face lighting up with surprise as his smile returned in full force. Tiny cats could be weres too? This was much too adorable.

"Did you know manuls evolved to their current form over ten millions years ago and didn't change much since? They got to perfection so quickly and thrived in their environment, it's just so exceptional, don't you think?" He let out.

The second consequence was that of course he visualized what a manul was. His beast was just as enthusiastic, but for all the wrong reasons.

A snack-sized little cat. The creature next to them posed absolutely no threat, as she was weaker and smaller than them. They could close their jaws around her throat and squeeze the life out of her. They would barely get scratched. Easy prey. One they could toy with. The coyote would remember that scent.

If anyone asked Levi what the worst part of being a were was, he'd awkwardly say breaking bones, ha ha. But secretly, it wasn't.

The worst part was having to deal with violent impulses that were not him.

His smile wouldn't falter though. No need to rattle the kitty.

That seemed to endear him to her, which was promising when she was already pretty timid! He even spouted off a fact she had no knowledge of. For all of her research into being a were, Jordan hadn't really researched the actual animal she found herself strapped to.

Her eyebrows raised a little as she considered what he said. Hear that manul monster? You have pretty much always been like this.

"Neat," She nodded, though had difficulty really enjoying it or agreeing with him. So, she didn't deny or agree. Jordan had been able to mimic any psychic power up to a few months ago and now she was... this. A small scaredy cat.

It was hard to think of the cat as cool or interesting, let alone exceptional. The cat hissed in her betrayal.

"What kind of canine?"

Oh, yeah, he did mentally decide he would share this information if she did. He didn't really want to though. It wasn't as if she could force him to say anything, too.

In the end, maintaining polite conversation was probably the best way to avoid an escalation. He remembered how hard it had been to keep the coyote inside when he was less experienced, and if she shifted, he doubted he'd be able to hold in his own.

And then police sirens. The band would kick him out. He'd lose his job.

"Coyote." He replied. Much easier to just admit it than choose this as the hill to go to prison for.

Said coyote snapped his jaws at this word he recognized. Warning or salutation, no idea, but either way it would be lost to the manul girl.

A coyote? Really? Jordan's eyebrows raised as she considered that fact. He could probably eat her if they were in their animal forms, couldn't he? The cat backed up a little in her mind, spine arching as she took in the new threat.

"Wow," She breathed as she considered it. "How, um, how long have you been doing that?" As if it were a job and not a thing they dealt with twenty-four seven.

What was this, an interview? Was he the first she ever met?

Oh, wait, maybe. Levi tended to forget most weres didn't have the safety net of a group. He was likely an exception, having been in a band from the start and nearly all this time. There was some sympathy for the manul girl. He was not a gambling man, but he would bet his whole inheritance leftovers on the fact there was no grumpy clowders. Not here, not anywhere.

"Longer than you, that's for sure." He commented, and might have left it at that, but he wanted to learn more about small werecats. "We passed the two-year mark recently. It was... a journey."

A journey some people decided to abandon. Like Mathis. Levi was surprised to realize it had been a few days since he last thought about him. What was he up to? Had he... done "it" yet? Would he even tell him? After all, this unturning thing put a wall between them.

A sigh that had nothing to do with the current conversation still cameo'd in it.

Longer than her. Yeah. Probably. Two years. It wasn't that long but it was long enough for him to seem like he sort of had it together. Apparently, it was a journey.

"Yeah, I'm starting to get that." She sighed and had a bite of her ice cream before it melted completely in the bowl. "How do you manage it?" A beat.

"Sorry. That's probably personal."

Interview confirmed. Maybe this was an abandoned one.

"Well, uh."

Yes, this was personal, but yes, he could answer. With a lot of mental effort, he got up from his table to do sit at hers. What was meant as a way to keep the conversation a little more private rattled the coyote, who took this for the beginning of a hunt.

The fact that Levi would deny eye contact may or may not delay the manul girl's notice of the purple spots in his eyes.

"It took a while to get what he wants, but usually it's food, long runs, and sometimes stalk people in alleyways."

Whoops that last thing wasn't meant for out loud but the beast's heightened presence made his filter less functional.

"Joke." He lied with an awkward chuckle.

Food, long runs, and stalking people apparently. Jordan raised her eyebrows, surprised by the statement, until he said it was a joke.

It unnerved her. Like. Really unnerved her. Enough that she sort of wanted to leave? Which felt rude especially since he switched tables but the cat was on edge and she was fairly certain the man’s irises had specks of purple in them which couldn’t be good, even if it was pretty.

"Right." Um.

The coyote wanted him to lean in and look right in the eyes of the cat. To show it who was in charge. The prey was cornered, they couldn't just leave. Levi disagreed. He got up from the barely sat on chair, leaving the now empty bowl behind.

"And sometimes disagree with him while knowing you'll be punished later." He added on a gentle, wistful tone. "Hope yours is nicer."

Those would have been good parting words if he wasn't rooted in place by said disagreement. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Jordan watched him with curiosity and fear, wondering what he would do or say next. Or maybe it was the cat that was truly watching. She didn’t really know? But if he looked at her, too, he’d find purple speckled irises.

"Yeah. Um. I don’t really know what that all means." Punished? What?? Her eyes flickered to the bus stop in the distance. Could she make it there without issue?

The coyote wanted to stare. Levi indulged him.

Her eyes are purple too.

This was a very human thing to notice, and exactly the detail he needed to take back some control and in true Levi fashion, launch into more details than were asked of him.

"So, if you're new to this, than maybe you didn't notice yet the impulses? Like the things you wanna do, but not you? It comes from them." He explained, and with every word the coyote receded a little, as if lulled to sleep by the flow of words. "Eating more and the such, and all the meat. Also sometimes getting uh..." He lowered his voice. "...into the fur suit. You can always try to say no but sometimes it doesn't work. My... buddy gets, uh, petty. Like, ah ah, you said no about chasing the squirrel, now I'll break your bones, puny human. But, but maybe it's just mine. Maybe it's a me problem. I don't know. But it is a bit easier!"

This was the first time a coyote wave had flowed back instead of drowning him. There was progress indeed.

He said a lot. A lot of things she already knew but she knew them more as just things to prepare for. Impulses made sense but she didn't like it. She didn't like any of it.

Sitting with a creature in her head trying to take control was a lot. It was... too much?

"Yeah." She nodded and felt uneasy.

"I guess it's like that."

Either she was accepting everything and taking it in stride, or the situation didn't fully dawn on her yet. And really, what business of his was this? He couldn't help. Didn't know if he wanted to help. Okay, yes, he did want to help a little, but he had his own beast to wrangle.

"You have someone that can help?" He asked still.

The helper couldn't be him, and he only knew coyotes and a soon-to-be ex-cheetah. Oh, and Waylin. Foxes were probably of a size that didn't make a fluffy cat look appealing. Maybe.

Jordan nodded. She had Céleste and Finn. Both of them were offering very different ways of helping. The cat wasn’t as big of a fan of the second option. The one that still played around in her mind as a possibility.

"Yeah. The person who att- turned me." She corrected herself. She was trying to see her maker in a better light.

Good. The small cats were helping each other out. The coyote also approved, it meant there was another easy target in town.

This one could be left alone for now, the beast decided. The chase would be more fun if it was unexpected.

"You can undo it to, if you want." Levi added. "But from what I've been told, it's very dangerous, because it's not a secret. The other beasts, they'll know, and be angry."

Or maybe Mathis lied to him to have a convenient reason to not be in the same room as him ever again.

Levi pushed the cruel thought away, but it twisted his heart all the same.

The cat hissed as unturnings came up again, claws out and digging them into Jordan’s mind as she tried her best to ignore the beast. It was hard to focus on conversation with a wild animal in her brain longing to get out. Longing to prove her worth here.

The purple in her irises increased, consuming her natural hazel with more intensity as she looked at the coyote man sitting across from her.

It would be dangerous to unturn. To be around other weres. But apart from Céleste, Jordan didn’t really have any were friends. She had psychic friends.

"That’s…" She trailed off, unable to continue. To agree. It was clear she was trying very hard to keep it together. A haggard breath released from her mouth and she shut her eyes, willing the cat away. It wasn’t really helping?

---

not shifting yet, but probably next round if the dice deem it so

Oh shit. Why was shutting up never an option?

"Oh, uh." He stammered and backed away a little. "Maybe not the best time for this, huh, I'm sorry, please calm down."

When had 'calm down' over worked? Maybe this time if they were both lucky.

It was maybe the one time ever in history that telling someone to calm down actually worked.

Jordan took a breath and slowly — very, very slowly — the purple in her irises gave way to her regular hazel.

"I’m gonna… go. Thank you. Um." Yeah. Maybe she’d just go home and hope for the best.

It worked. But then the prey was getting away and Levi very much wanted the coyote to pick a lane.

He followed, against his will. Managed to convince himself he was done anyway.

"Just keep walking at a regular pace." He suggested."Don't run."

Then he would resolutely go the other way, hoping she would heed his warning.

Why was he following her????!!!!! Jordan very much did not want to be followed!!!! Thank you!!!

Scared, her voice trembled as she mumbled a garbled, inhuman-sounding, "Stop following me!" The cat did not take well to being followed, and it was clear in the way her ribs started to break and reshape themselves the moment she stepped out of the ice cream parlour onto the sidewalk.

Levi felt horrible, and the terror in her voice made it worse. Then the bones.

His own twisted in sympathy, the coyote snapped his jaws, ready for the hunt.

But NO!

This had been his body first! It was his choice! And he said NO!

"I'm sorry!!" He shouted, not caring about the weird looks he got.

Then starting running away from the mess he just created. Knowing full well he was going to pay for this later. But he wouldn't regret it.

Coyote could break his bones but not his spirit.