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Things haven't been good since Bromley. Samantha's unhappy, the wolves are unhappy. Nobody's god damn happy, and it's time for something to change. Ghoul doesn't really know how to play the politics game, but he's hoping he can do something here. Since he started some of the problems, maybe he can also end them.

It's an effort that's probably long overdue, but better late than never, right?

He'd gone through all the proper channels for requesting a meeting with Samantha, and now here he is. Waiting for her in one of the newer libraries somewhere in Daybreak territory, seated at a 6-person table inside a private study room. He's playing around on his phone to pass the time, acting like he's not worried that Samantha won't even show.

He wouldn't put it past her.

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Lucky Ghoul, he's not only getting Samantha but also his favourite cat familiar. He might hear voices drifting from outside the room as the pair approach.

"...I wouldn't trust him if I were you."

"You never trust anyone."

There's a soft knock on the door before it opens and Samantha enters with Mogget draped around her shoulders like a furry scarf. He's here to protect her, which clearly means she doesn't think Ghoul is a threat. Just an annoyance, Mogget thinks.

His green eyes gleam at Ghoul like an insult as Samantha steps forward with a smile to shake his hand. "Hey. Sorry I'm late."

She's not sorry.

Oh, god. That's not...

Is it?

He looks up just as the door opens, and rolls his eyes before he has a chance to stop himself. Great. The cat. Who's enough of a distraction that Ghoul forgets himself for a moment- he has to scramble out of his seat and lean forward quickly to make sure Samantha's not left hanging for too long. He keeps the handshake brief, using the same hand to point at Mogget as soon as he lets Samantha go. "They let him in here? Really?"

On the plus side, seeing Mogget made Ghoul forget all about her tardiness.

"They let you in," is Mogget's reply. "And cats are much more civilised."

He jumps down onto the table as Samantha slides into one of the chairs, folding her arms. The cat takes a moment to cast around the study room but there's really not much of interest to see. He's wondering why Ghoul wanted to meet them in a library. Trying to appear serious?

"It's been a while," Samantha says once Ghoul has seated himself too. "Let me guess... Katherine sent you to apologise in person?"

She thinks he's come here with his tail between his legs. Mogget isn't so sure.

"Cats are fuckin' gross," he grumbles as he drops back in to his seat.

If he'd known Mogget was tagging along, he'd have set them to meet in a dog park just to piss him off. He'd picked a library for the sole fact that it seemed like the easiest option. He mostly lives in the den, so meeting there was out of the question, and a cafe or park seemed too... friendly. Weirdly date-like. Here it was at least quiet and offered some form of privacy.

And actually... "Katherine doesn't know I'm here." So, there's that.

"But you're sorta on the right track. You've been an asshole." Oh, great. What a wonderful opener. "But, we've kinda been assholes too. I'm wonderin' what we can do to fix that."

Having found the area completely bereft of any magical interest (much like Ghoul himself), Mogget lies down on his side, the tip of his tail twitching as he observes the conversation. Samantha strokes his head while she listens to Ghoul and he can tell by the sudden tension in her fingers that she doesn't like being called an asshole.

Well, most people don't.

Samantha shakes her head. "You came to me without talking to Katherine first? It was Katherine I made a deal with. If you have a problem with that, you need to work it out with her."

"Oh, I think he did," Mogget adds, remembering the sullen way Ghoul had responded to him in the park. "But perhaps not to his satisfaction."

Ghoul shrugs. Maybe he should have talked to Katherine first, but he assumed she would've given him an earful about causing enough trouble already. That, and he doubts she has the answers he wants.

He shoots a quick glare over at Mogget- silently urging him to keep his stupid mouth shut, before frowning across the table at Samantha. "That's not it. I'm not tryin' to change your deal with her, if that's what you're thinkin'. I just wanna figure all this out. Like, did you tell her you wanted to trap a bunch of fae when you paired up? And why go after 'em anyway? Stronger magic or whatever, sure, but I still don't get it. They ain't animals."

"Wow, your alpha really didn't tell you anything?" Samantha is honestly surprised. "She knew what she was getting into. I'm sorry if you didn't, but it's not my job to explain your alpha's orders. It sounds like you got a bum deal."

Katherine could have answered his questions. Samantha wanted to capture a bunch of fae to increase the witches' power: so what? The truth is that she didn't care about the fae. Katherine was willing to sacrifice them to get Circle Daybreak's support against the vampires.

Mogget is still watching Ghoul with something of a glint in his eyes. The wolf must have met a Seelie or two, he thinks, to have formed such an impression of them. He looks up at Samantha, tilting his head up to get her to scratch under his chin.

"Sure, fae aren't animals," Samantha goes on. "They're monsters. You know another name for them is demons, right? Where do you think those stories come from?"

Well, fuck. Some warning would have been nice. He's obviously displeased by this revelation- his face twists in to a quick grimace, but otherwise he doesn't comment on it. As much as he hates to admit it, he probably does owe Samantha some sort of an apology at this point. Later. Maybe. There are still things he wants to say and wants to know.

He's not so sure he's liking the answers he's getting so far, though. "Aw, c'mon. I'm sure some of 'em are no good," and he steals a quick glance over at Mogget as he says that part. He's not so much implying anything as he is wondering how much of a demon he is, "But not all of 'em. Not the ones who've been livin' around here and stayin' out of trouble. And there's stories about witches too, y'know. Satan-worshiping hags that steal kids and all that." There are stories about vampires and wolves, too. There are bad apples in every bunch, sure, but...

Ghoul doesn't yet understand how many fae work. He's never been on the unfortunate end of one's attitude or affection. He doesn't realize how volatile, temperamental, and obsessive they can be. He's too soft on them, holding them to human standards, which is his first mistake. They aren't human, they never will be, and most of them don't even try to be. He's just been lucky enough to meet (mostly) well-adjusted ones so far.

"Fae steal children. Anyone could have told you that. They steal children and sometimes they replace them with one of their own kind called a changeling so the parents don't even know that the child has gone until their son or daughter abandons them." She shakes her head. "Why am I here? If you want to learn about fae, read a book. You're wasting my time."

She stands up, clearly annoyed, and Mogget looks up at her, wondering if it's time to go already. Samantha only agreed to meet him because she thought Ghoul was here on behalf of Katherine. He's not surprised that she would object to having to play teacher to some ignorant werewolf.

There she goes. Being an asshole again.

Ghoul sighs in a very exaggerated, frustrated way as he sits back in his chair and scrubs his hands over his face. "Oh my god, you're the worst fucking person to talk to." The insult is muffled by his hands, but not muffled enough.

He lets his arms drop in to his lap seconds later. Then he casts a sympathetic look in Mogget's direction (no wonder he's such a pain in the ass, if he has to live with this every day), before scowling up at Samantha directly. "I'm not tryin' to learn about fae, I'm tryin' to learn about you." He's been making an effort to be nice. He figured he'd hear her out, get her point of view. Maybe there would be some kind of redeeming quality about her. But she's been about as useful as a wet match so far.

And his temper is quickly getting the better of him. "I'm tryin' to figure out if you've got a reason for makin' the decisions you have. Somethin' more than that generic bullshit you hacked up, 'cause I know you ain't stupid enough to believe they're all demons or whatever. And I thought you would've had a damn good reason for gettin' on the bad side of every decent fae in the city, instead of goin' after only the ones that make trouble." He shrugs. "So I figured maybe I missed somethin', but maybe you are just as psycho as you're makin' yourself out to be."

This is going well.

This is going excellently. Mogget is rather enjoying it, watching the tirade come out of Ghoul's mouth mirrored by the increasing rage in Samantha's expression. He has no filter and Samantha barely has a filter. It's one of her many flaws.

"Wow," says Samantha, after that little speech. "You know what, I am not going to stand here and be insulted. I'm done with you. Tell Katherine she needs to put a proper muzzle on her dogs."

And with that, she storms out. Like hell she's going to sit here and be lectured by some mangy wolf boy.

Mogget jumps down from the table to follow her, but pauses before he reaches the door, turning around to look up at Ghoul. "Surely even you must have guessed the reason. It's hardly a complex motive."

Why would anyone capture the fae of this city? Why enslave them as familiars? Why use their magic in witches' spells? There's only one answer.

If his eyes roll any harder, they're going to fall out of his head.

That sort of blew up horribly. And maybe that's a good thing. He doesn't like her or what she's been doing, but he'd thought that maybe if he could find a way to tolerate or reason with her, he could work with her more easily. She's god damn crazy, though. There's no ignoring or fixing that.

He watches Mogget trail after Samantha, giving him a flat stare when he actually stops to speak. "Yeah, the reason is she's an official dick. Sorry." Sorry that he's stuck with that, not that he's called her a dick. "Was really hopin' that wasn't the case, though."

That's not the reason, whether or not Mogget agrees with the sentiment. It appears that Ghoul hasn't learned anything from this conversation, but perhaps he didn't have much of a chance. Either way, Mogget doesn't care. He catches the door with a paw before it closes and slips through to leave along with Samantha.

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