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1. KUNSTKAMMER (closed : for lan)
He'd originally planned on waiting until after the moon had passed before bothering with Lan's vial, but it's been sitting in the hiding place he'd found for it, silently taunting him. February is a plenty busy month so he should have more than enough to keep his mind occupied, yet he still finds himself distracted, his thoughts often drawn back towards the possibilities that Lan's project holds. The curiosity is slowly killing him.

A couple days after the Imbolc festival, he finally breaks. He's got himself a quiet evening and a golden opportunity to find out what happens when he drinks that weird shit, and so he does just that.

He makes it a few more days before slinking in to Lan's shop again, looking pretty ragged when he drags himself through the door. As far as he knows, it's not because of what she'd given him. It's the day before the full moon, is all- he probably shouldn't even be here when he's like this, but the feeling of restlessness has become unbearable. If he's going to suffer all day, he might as well suffer and accomplish something.

Ghoul slowly shuffles his way around shelves, sounding almost as rough as he looks when he quietly asks, "Lan...?"

2. I DARE YOU TO PET HIM (wolf shenanigans/OPEN)
There's a full moon out, and that can only mean one thing: wolves.

Strangely enough, there's one running about alone in one of the larger parks rather than East End's usual territory. Maybe it's a rogue. Maybe it escaped from wherever it locked itself up. Whatever the case, it doesn't seem to be up to too much trouble at the moment. Sprinting through trees, digging holes, chewing on things. The usual kinds of energetic canine business. But, wolves can be pretty unpredictable. Who knows how it'll react when faced with company.

[ don't be afraid to hmu at

blastcorps for #2! i won't let him hurt anyone without permission, but if you're open to that possibility (or if you'd rather hurt him?) let me know! ]

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Ghoul's face remains pretty impassive, but his head tilts in a way that tips off the fact that he's actually interested in this line of conversation. Sounds like Party's got some personal shit going on.

Better ask about it. "Why can't you go back home if shit gets bad here? What're you runnin' from?"

"Don't got a home to go back to. This is it." It's only sort of a lie, really. He can't go back and he can't think of it as home anymore. If he went back, he'd only put his family in danger. It's better if they just don't know where he is at all.

"Had a special sorta hunters on my ass for a minute there. They ain't here."

He slouches forward. "That's shitty." That should be the end of the conversation, but he's got a troubled look on his face and a whole lot more questions. This is only the beginning. "What'd you do to get hunters after you?"

Party runs his fingers through his still-wet bright hair. He's not a liar by nature, really, but he doesn't like giving away too much of himself that isn't in his art, either.

"Killed one of 'em." Because it's not as if Ghoul hasn't killed, too. They've all taken at least one life by their nature. "They were already comin' after my friends. Wasn't gonna lay low and let 'em get hurt."

Oh.

That doesn't exactly explain why he was neck-deep in hunters enough to kill one in the first place, but Ghoul's got a new thread to pull. His voice is softer when he asks his next question, because yapping about killing people out in the open is tricky business. "That why your curse thing kicked in?"

Consider it a polite way of asking if that was the first person he'd ever killed.

"Does it matter?" Party's attention moves to his nails and he starts picked dirt out from under one of them with some extreme focus. "I was always gonna be like this and he had it coming. Ain't never hurt anyone who didn't have it coming."

Ghoul's expression is almost as unamused as his tone suddenly is. "You tried to bite the fuck outta me just today."

He arguably had it coming.

"My point stands." Party laughs and kicks Ghoul under the table because he can and because maybe he can distract Ghoul onto a new topic. "Are you gonna stick around if things get shitty?"

"You're a dick." The kick makes him flinch, but he ends up grinning regardless. Since Party started it this time, he doesn't feel bad about kicking back. He sighs soon afterwards at the question. "Yeah, I gotta. Until I do what I need to here anyway, then I have to go back." Lots of no-choice phrasing going on there.

"What're you doin'? Where's home?" He punctuates each question with another light kick. He's really not one to give up questioning.

"Thinkin' about bustin' your leg." Isn't he just hilarious. He makes a specific effort to stomp on Party's foot beneath the table, so maybe not. At least it's a relatively gentle stomp. Sort of. It's more of a warning than anything.

He considers dodging both questions altogether, but maybe this could work out in his favor... "Home's west. And if I tell you what I'm s'posed to do, you gotta help me do it. You up for a surprise?"

He balls up a napkin and throws it at Ghoul's face.

"Love surprises. I'll help if you tell me where west is." It's not like Party's really a man of his word. If he doesn't like what Ghoul's doing, he'll just find a way to stop it.

He splutters for a couple seconds after the napkin nails him right in the face, clearly caught by surprise. "Why're you throwin' stuff at my face? Go fuck yourself." He snatches it up and tosses it back before answering, "It's in fuckin' California. Deal's done, you're stuck helpin' if you don't get murdered at this table in the next ten minutes."

Party giggles and bats the napkin onto the table when it comes back. "Where? I was in SoCal for a minute there."

Which is a total lie, because he'd grown up there all his life, but Ghoul doesn't need to know where his family is. He needs to keep them safe.

He crams bacon in his mouth and waits for an answer.

Evidently Ghoul's still feeling vindictive. He picks up his butter knife, smacking it broadside across Party's knuckles as soon as his hand comes back in to reaching distance. Not to hurt him- just to be annoying and messy, since the knife is all syrupy and gross.

He keeps his eyes averted when he answers, "Yeah, that area, actually." If Party'd only been in the area for a short while, he probably doesn't know the whole situation there. No need to spill the beans if it's not necessary.

Ghoul gets another kick for that, because what a little shit. Making someone sticky is crossing a line!

"You have any run-ins with SCARECROW?" And then he chews the bacon with vigor at Ghoul, because fuck you.

He doesn't even seem to notice the kick this time. His attention snaps back up to Party's face. "What?" Oh, shit. Party's a little more up to date than he'd thought.

He draws away a bit, retreating in to his seat and even going so far as to pull his hands back, settling them in his lap. Unknowingly closing himself off, because he's not sure he if likes where this is going. "Did you?"

Party just nods. "Took at least one of those shady fucks out."

He takes the quiet moment of Ghoul's retreat to stuff his face with vigor, still speaking with his mouth full. "That why you're here?"

"Seriously?" It makes a lot of sense. Special hunters who ran him out of town sure is a mild way of putting it.

He nods at the question distractedly, then fires off a couple of his own. "Who were you runnin' around with? Are they here too?"

"Nah. I was gettin' too much attention. Had to get outta there to keep everyone safe." His family, mostly, but he'd been calling attention to his friends, too. Everyone is safer with him far away, because he's not willing to hide who and what he is. "Ran with one of the cooler gangs around LA for a while."

He laughs suddenly. "You were involved in somethin' cool?" How very rude. But all right, it's sort of cool. And it's good to know his group is still possibly-alive somewhere.

Maybe this is fine.

Ghoul grins just slightly and leans in again, feeling comfortable enough to joke, "I get it, but don't think I'm gonna start bein' nice to you just 'cause we got some shit in common."

"Better be nice if you expect my help, asshole. What're we doin? Huh huh? What're we up to?"

He guzzles his coffee like it's water in the desert, half the cup gone in a matter of seconds, and then he gets right back to stuffing his mouth.

"We doin' somethin' cool?"

"Can't call me an asshole if you want me to be nice, jackoff." Ghoul rolls his eyes and spears a piece of sausage with his fork, flinging it on to Party's plate a moment later. Something to maybe shut him up for a second. "Don't get all excited, just gotta find somebody. You heard of a Phoenix Witch?"

"Nah, but I can sniff around." He's on the sausage like a starving man who's just trekked through the desert, because hello meat.

"So you're just here to find this witch lady? What's she gonna do? What's she for?"

Christ. Party's eating like he hasn't seen solid food in three weeks. It should be gross or something, he supposes, but it ends up being more entertaining than anything, and he laughs one of his weird little snickers.

He's amused enough to continue feeding the zoo exhibit, this time by scooping up a piece of potato and catapulting it towards Party's dish. "Yep. And it's a lot harder than it sounds, actually." All this playing around with his food doesn't seem to be breaking his stride in the conversation, at least. "Dunno what she's gonna do. There's supposed to be some project or somethin' Better Living's workin' on, and I guess this fucker either helped or saw or knows how to wreck it."