Prospector's roll a D20 to see how many shots of vodka
#1

Can be set whatever time of day :3



She didn't want to be home.

She also didn't know where she wanted to be.

So she drove south aimlessly. Ended up in Camp Baron by the time her body demanded food. Food, food, food. It occupied most of her brain space these days and she figured it was because she couldn't be bothered to do (or think about) anything else. So she pulled into the parking lot of some barbeque place.

Meat. Tried to avoid it but here she was with a craving for something heavy.

She shuffled on inside. A bit disheveled, irritable. Did she feel a headache coming on too? Great.

Plopped down at the bar seating. Then stared at the menu as if she planned to pierce it with her gaze alone.
#2
This part of town might as well be bear, coyote and painted dog territory with how much Kara hung out human and shifted. Prospector’s was just a bonus to any visit to see her friend down in the Sanctuary or to people watch. Bbq was a love song to a were and she was a hopeless romantic to its siren call no question.

Sitting at the bar, foot bouncing against the metal footrest that ran around the bottom to the tune of a faint country track, Kara was consumed with contentment. It was so easy to simply relax considering work was done for the day, nothing to really worry about was coming up, and there was food. Lotsa food.

A girl arriving to the bar pulled Kara’s gaze mid bite, meat heavy on her tongue, taking in the sheer weight of that look. Jesus, what was eating at her? Weird.

Taking a long sip of tea, Kara lifted a pickle, crunching through it halfway before words came out. ”Not finding what you wanted?”
#3
It was as if every sense had been cranked wildly up.

Touch, scent, sight. Sound was real bad but her skin felt hot. Enough that she wondered if she looked as sweaty as she felt under her clothes.

”Not finding what you wanted?”

"Never. Not these days." Snuffled out as she tried to pick out…something. Anything off the menu. She warily eyed the woman, the food she had. She looked comfortable and Kheira envied it, but maybe she could use it to her advantage here.

"You know the biggest thing they serve here?"
#4
The answer was met with a pause and a blink. Well that was a weird introspective moment Kara was subjected to. Life was bleeding into the girl’s dinner and now hers, yikes.

They were then moving right along to actual menu items it’d seem. She shoved the rest of the spear into her mouth, nodding with a hum. ”Yerp!” Shifting her weight, Kara would lean over and reach towards the menu, tapping near a section as she swallowed. ”If you’re game you want the beef ribs. They’re as big as your face.”
#5
Once upon a time, she would have stayed very far away from beef ribs. Especially ones as big as her face. It sounded awful. Disastrous. Now it sounded like the only thing that would sate her ever lasting hunger.

"Perfect." She might have left it at that but, uh, well she felt some twinge of embarrassment. Self awareness. "Um, thanks, by the way. Didn't mean to be all..." Rolled her shoulders.

Gross. Bad. Mean. Downright ruining someone's dinner vibe probably with her own sickly vibe.
#6
Shifting back right side up in her own seat, she’d give the stranger a smile to the comment wondering already how much was gonna get eaten here. Her bet? Maybe, a quarter of it all.

Thanks and an apology weren’t really expected, especially when it came to the comment before. A hand lifted fingers away as if brushing off something. ”Ah, don’t worry ‘bout it. I’ve had my share of shitty days. I get ya.”
#7
It was hard to maintain full positivity. She still sort of...swayed and dipped into that sharpness she carried with her now.

"Yeah? Bet my last few weeks put bad days to shame." Huffed sharp laughter at herself.

So much for not bringing down someone's dinner night further.
#8
Woof. Give an inch, take a mile. Kara lifted a brow, face scrunched in sympathy even as it had been self deprecatingly laughed out. There was a lot of heavy baggage here, clearly.

”That sounds like a headache and a half. You gonna be okay?”
#9
Was she gonna be okay?

Was she?

"Just...a lot of big life changes unexpectedly." Say more. Dump it all out. None of it mattered and yet she didn't. Bit her own tongue.

She considered buying a drink out of apology but that didn't feel right! Nothing felt right!

Especially not how she felt like she was burning up in here and that headache still threatened in the back of her skull. Rolled up her sleeves as if that might help her skin cool.
#10
Nodding slowly, Kara could understand that. She’d been through a lot of unexpected life changes to know how gross everything felt during then. It always felt endless and then one day it wasn’t seemingly without some grand finish line.

”Sorry to hear that. I hope things chill out soon for you.” She meant it, really. ”Till then, you can drown your worries in good food at least.” Just trying to make things light-hearted again, or something.

Picking up where she’d left off, Kara would dip a bite in sauce, dog happy to keep their appetite up despite the weird mood currently surrounding the bar.
#11
There would be no chill to be found, but yeah. Maybe she could drown herself in food and see what happened whenever the hell things changed for her.

"On board with that." A loose huff that could count as laughter.

Maybe it was best to just stay silent now. Order herself that giant meal and a glass of ice water, then kind of just...exist. Stew in her own thoughts for now.
#12
Well, at least she was trying. Kara’s lips would quirk to the side in a smile at the comment.

And well, if she was gonna be her neighbor for a course of a whole meal and they were already this far into a weird hello, maybe best to at least add to it. So, after the order was taken and off the guy went into punching it in for the kitchen, Kara would break the lull of silence.

”Sooo, gotta name?”
#13
She hadn't expected further conversation and maybe it was only because she knew she wouldn't be as kind. That didn't stop her from attempting to be kind, though.

"Kheira. You?"

Then she tried to sort of...guess names. In her head. Which proved to be impossible but kept her from being bitter — so kind of a win.
#14
Kheira was a unique name, not many up and around using it. How did you spell it?

”Kara,” she offered back. ”You live around this hoedown part of town?” Said with a joking smile of course, she wasn’t looking to get under anyone’s collar.
#15
Kara.

She wouldn’t have ever guessed it but it was a nice name.

"Nope." Soft pop on the P, little shake of her head. "Actually live up in Graupel Canyon. Never really made it down this way before." Before everything but blah, blah, blah. Nobody wanted to hear it, Kheira.

"You a local to here?"
#16
Graupel Canyon was def on a different side of town and many degrees up. Kheira had bestowed them with navigating down a mountainside to sit at the alter of bbq. Leave it to food to bring around newcomers.

She blew out air between lips at the mention of her being a local. ”Might as well be with how much I’m here, but nope. Live over in Alder Heights.”
#17
"Yeah? What's it like?"

Maybe she could wander through and sight see places with this whole life crisis. Get some use out of it.
#18
She grabbed at a piece of her bread, applying a chunk of butter to it.

”Mmm, its bustlin’ I guess? It’s got a lot of people around age and there seems to always be some kinda party going on.” Also vampires that’d been pretty content with just standing and learning about her before leaving, so there was that she guessed. Not hostile neighbors for the win. ”It’s not bad.”
#19
She watched the bread.

Considered destroying a whole loaf.

"I take it their food offerings aren't nearly as good though?"

And food was the only thing she could think about now. Despite the sheen of sweat that built up uncomfortably on her exposed (and unexposed, really) skin.
#20
The girl smelled like sweat, something that was getting more pungent as time went on even with ac blasting. Weird. Thanks over the top dog sense for that great fact.

”It’s whatever,” she waved with the torn piece before stuffing it in her mouth. ”Overpriced, I guess.”
#21
Whatever. Overpriced.

Sounded like she shouldn't go to Alder Heights for their food. Bummer.

Stomach rumbled, low and angry. Kheira might have been ashamed if her whole life wasn't weird shambled shame now.

"I know I've already been a pain—" And she had been. She had that level of self awareness through her weirdness. "But can I ask you something weird? I just. Need an outside perspective." Said the woman who cut herself off from the outside.
#22
There Kheira went again with a down start which, why was that a trend? But, moving on, there was something she wanted an outside perspective on. She didn’t mind helping give an outside lens if asked. It couldn’t be that weird anyways considering just how much Kara had seen personally.

”Sure, fire away,” she intoned, looking to her fully, further bites of food left for later.
#23
Her stomach dropped despite the permission to continue.

"If you got...hurt by something. Like a wild animal or whatever — hypothetically — then someone told you that you were going to become that thing, what would you say? Believe it?"

Hypothetically.

Ha.
#24
Kara almost wanted to ask for a repeat to see if she heard right, but it was a lot of words, too many to be misheard.

She eyed her, looking for some sign of getting fucked up, dog suddenly very keen on helping find anything out of place down to how a piece of baby hair was subtly moving with the air currents. If Kara were to grasp her arm right now would her temperature be in sync with her own or clammy because she was normal temp? What animal were they talking about? Who was being mentioned and did she know them or was it all stemming from some kinda show or talk with coworkers? Hard to tell nowadays.

“Hypothetically, in this scenario,” she began, matching the tone and leaning back in her seat. “I’d be pretty inclined to believe it. World’s weird as shit, turning into an animal seems par the course.”
#25
Hypothetically.

Hypothetically, echoed in her brain as if she could convince herself it was.

She'd melt in this damn seat, sipped from the just as sweaty water glass as she mulled over the words. Believe it. Everyone told her to and yet Kheira so badly wished not to.

"In...this scenario, what do you do next? After everyone tells you the same thing." Maybe that was the question she should have been asking everyone all along. Not whether to believe it or not but what she did from here.
#26
Her mouth moved to the side, chewing on the answer for a beat.

”Depends,” Kara shrugged. Exploding into fur without a sire wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea and Kheira didn't strike her as the sort to thrive on that if that really was who they were talking about here. ”I figure I got some sorta time limit, right,” she questioned rhetorically, hand motioning. ”I’d prob try to find the asshole responsible, make ‘em help. If I can’t do that, find someone who can.”
#27
In anticipation, she nearly swallowed her tongue while chewing on her cheek.

The answer felt like a dead end too. Kheira had not a single clue how to find the person and maybe stubbornly she didn't want to. Whatever that meant for the both of them.

"You think they have support groups for people to find..." Clammy hand wave. "Adopters? Hypothetically." Sad snort of laughter.
#28
A support group for people to find adopters, that was interesting. Kind of like a group, right? But, different kinda.

”S’pose anything’s possible.”

She leaned forward, arm against the bar, hand supporting her chin as she shot a quick look over at the bartender who was gratefully on the other side. Good. Turning attention back to Khiera, she pushed further into the topic to see if anything would clarify further than this weird ‘its not me, but also what if’. ”You gotta lotta hypotheticals. You wanna level with me why?" Kara had to cover her own tracks too just in the chance she was maybe thinking too much into this, so she'd add on more. "Writing a book?"
#29
Maybe she should. Write a book that is. What an unbelievable story that everyone told her to believe.

"No." A little shake of her head.

"I’m the…hypothetical. So not really hypothetical."

Her tongue felt numb from saying the same word so much, a good distraction from wondering what Kara might say.
#30
A whistle sounded. ”Well, shit. That’s a drag, man.” Jealousy sure did just kick in from the dog with the confirmed news. Someone had attacked Kheira and didn’t follow up? Jesus. She would’ve already done a much better job. If she was gonna get turned, why couldn’t it have been Kara herself? Girl wouldn’t be moping right now to a stranger not knowing what to do.

”Mind if I ask what attacked you,” she questioned at a lower volume. Who's door did she need to show up at?
#31
"Some giant wolf." Shifted in her seat lightly. "I don’t think I would wanna find them, y’know? It seems…counterintuitive to go after someone who wouldn’t tell you the news themself." Not that Kheira had given them much choice but it wasn’t as if the dog had come sniffing back around either.
#32
A wolf. Leave it to the dogs with superiority complexes to not take responsibility. Sure her’s had been an attack and run, but the pack had found her and from the looks of it that’s not what was happening here.

An exhale was pushed out at the comment and Kara gave a slow nod. ”Yeah, I get you. I wouldn’t do it either.” Except maybe to give a good bite in retaliation to remember her by.

With a finger motioning to all of her, she asked, ”You got a fever? Better hearing and sight? All the above?” Kheira had already said she was starving so what were a few more boxes?
#33
At least she wasn’t alone in that department.

Another sip of water that no matter how much it chilled her teeth, didn’t seem to do much about the — Fever. Kara was an expert it seemed. Although really it felt like everybody knew more than her.

"Guilty as charged. All of the above."

She wondered for the first time if she should even be here. What if she sneezed or coughed? Would she pass it along to somebody else?

God she hoped not.

"Everyone’s an expert on this stuff but me." A joke, punctuated by stifled laughter.
#34
Kheira was on the fast track to werewolfdom then for sure.

The laughter from the girl drew a small grin out of Kara, shaking her head. “Nah, you’re just insanely lucky in finding people who do,” she corrected. Seriously though, meeting two people that had info to share was like something in a million chance.

Picking up her drink, she continued on, looking at the way the ice shifted as the cup subtlety turned in her hand. ”Kinda hard not to pick up a thing or two after being at this a while.”

From there Kara took a sip.
#35
If somebody looked at her face, they’d practically see the gears turn and click into place.

"Oh." She breathed out in slow realization. "You’re a…wolf?" Hushed for privacy but still serious.

A werewolf at a barbecue joint.
#36
Even with it hushed she heard it clear as day and nearly choked on water in laughter.

Beating her chest to clear her throat, she shook her head.

“Definitely not. I’m a painted dog,” she said back quietly, taking a deep breath to steady herself. “And a hundred times cooler.”
#37
Oh. So. Not a wolf but still a dog.

Maybe they were all dogs. Which a news search would tell her otherwise but she didn’t remember every headline either.

"Yeah? Didn’t even know that was an option."

Option like anybody had a choice.
#38
She nodded, totally understanding the sentiment. It seemed completely out of left field when the classic wolf was always forefront in the public’s mind. ”I didn’t either, but a chomp later and here I am.” Wet with glass condensation jazz hands. Surprise!

”I’ve seen some other ‘options’ out there and if I had to be anything at all, pretty happy it was this.”
#39
She didn’t even really know what to say. It was hard to pretend she was okay with turning into anything besides human or using powers.

Powers.

She hadn’t even thought about that. Twenty years with them and they would be…gone? An addition to? Almost as scared to know as she was to change.

"You know any of those support groups then?" Laughed soft but kind of sad still. Only momentarily as someone approached with her meal.

Food would be the quickest mood fix for her now.
#40
Mmm that was harder. There were groups, but ‘adoption’ was a funny word in this context, especially with Kheira not wanting to find her sire.

Kara quieted as food was brought out, assuring the waiter she was not done and then they were left to their devices.

A careful look to make sure no one was listening in again as she opened her mouth again, ”Yeah, but depends on what you’re wanting out of it.” Kara picked up her fork again, playing around with some beans on the side. ”You interested at all in hooking up with people like the one that got ya?”
#41
Was she?

Did she really want to surround herself with people like who had done this?

"If I say no does that make me a bad person?" Asked before she picked up a beef rib.

It was uncomfortable how hungry she was for it.
#42
How was she a bad person? ”Nah, it ain’t for everyone,” she reassured. There were a lot of sour turned people out there, Kheira wasn’t the first. Lucky for her, there were choices and Kheira didn’t need to associate with anyone she didn’t want to.

Taking that bite, she talked through it some. This was a pretty big offer, a lot of responsibility, but it’d be pretty shitty to not put her own name into the ring here. ”S’what I can do is offer my help if you want? I’ve got some friends ‘round here that’d be down to offer a hand too.” Something told her Maxine and Natasha wouldn’t mind. Maybe, Wallace could be roped into it too.
#43
"I'd...appreciate it." Easier to choose the person who hadn't bit her. The person she met as just normal people.

"You think I can cash in my option? Pick my...favorite animal or whatever. Like kids dream of."

A tease to herself more than anything else. Another bite on the rib clutched between her hands.
#44
Well just like that she was a mentor and the baby wolf was hers. ”Count it done then,” Kara grinned genuinely.

Kheira’s comment ahd been said as a lofty joke, but it did give her pause. There was actually a way to do that they could try, but Kara’d figured it was off the table considering. ”Well… yeah. Probably,” she confirmed seriously, cutting through the tease as Kheira took that bite. Kara had never seen it happen personally, but the logic checked out enough to give it a go. ”You just gotta get torn up again or something like spit in your system, it might stick.”
#45
Probably.

She just needed to get mauled again! No biggie!

Or.

Spit. Which she guessed made sense. The dog had bit her. Dog saliva. Infected. She could see the parallels. She also didn't miss how Kara seemed...serious. Definitely not a joke response.

"I'd much rather go the spit route." She didn't know if that was her asking or just a statement. Another bite of ribs. Eyes awkwardly bounced between basket and Kara.
#46
Side grin to the comment, she put attention to plopping a piece of meat into sauce, pepperflakes adding to the smoky flavor. ”Easy enough.” Much better for all parties involved if there were less animal teeth and claws.

A stir of the piece and she looked to Kheira with interest. ”If you’re serious ‘bout things, any kind in particular on your mind?”
#47
Admittedly Kheira forgot all animals the moment she had been asked.

Except, y'know, the two dogs in the forefront of her mind. Wolf and...Painted dog. It felt like a big thing to ask a woman she had just met but they had shared this much so. There was no harm in asking, right?

"What about...yours? Is that too, like, presumptuous?"
#48
Hers. Like a painted dog, the only one seemingly in Colorado. The amount the animal leaped in excitement was bordering on ridiculous, offering thoughts of biting right now with human teeth which was gross to consider.

Kara had already agreed to mentor, so what was one level up from that to full blown sire for some chick down on her luck? Except for the fact it came with a lot more responsibility. It would be doing a good thing giving control where it’d been vested away though. It was better this than some wolf who didn’t like her kind or herself. Even worse, some other non-wolf person as a sire Kara would need to be on their ass about doing what they needed to do.

Ah, hell, guess she was doing this. Chewing on the bite, she put a foot to the leg support between Kheira’s stool’s legs. ”Maybe, but I'm down.” How to do it though? There was of course a classic spit swap, but they had to make sure it stuck. ”Here.” Thought forming, she grabbed her near empty cup, tilting it side to side in a ‘tada’ motion before pouring what was left of the ice into Kheira's and some into a napkin. From there, Kara inhaled pulling into her sinuses and back of throat making a loud ungodly noise before spitting a massive loogie down into the liquid and offering it over with a toothy smile. ”Bottoms up.”
#49
She was down. Okay. Easy. Kara made all of this so incredibly easy. Now they just had to figure out how to do this.

Except it seemed Kara had something in mind. She watched the glasses move and then...oh God. What the fuck was happening. She watched in both horror and wonder. The awful sound of loogie hacking was followed by it being deposited into the glass. And now.

Now...

Kheira had to drink it. Signified by the words from Kara and the offered loogie glass. "Okay." A firm nod as she took the glass. Tried not to stare at the contents within it. Closed her eyes real tight and then.

Drank.

It would be her only option if she wanted to be something else. So. Down it went and she kept both eyes and mouth closed for a few seconds longer than she needed to. Let the weird feeling settle within her. She guessed that was it?

"So...when will we know?"

A gender reveal party except it was for an animal.
#50
The look on her face was worth every penny. Kara was so so so sure this was gonna lead to a gagging no, full disgust and asking about other options. There were a few, but this one held a lot of promise all wrapped up in a ball of spit. Surprisingly, there was acceptance though. So what was almost a small dare became her watching in morbid fascination that she was actually going to down it. Disgusting. She couldn’t look away.

And down it went between a screwed up face.

Pushing the girl’s drink towards her while still a bit wide eyed in awe, Kara leaned against the side of the bar again, a finger pointing up, voice low just for them. ”Full moon’ll be your hatch date.”
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