Daily Life of the Occasionally Furry (OPEN)

[Cadence]

It was a typical afternoon at The Marine. Cadence filled drinks for the usual patrons who sat at the same table, usually alone but if not then with same people that they sat by every time they came in. Sad love songs played softly over the old speaker system. Why play sad songs about lost love in a place where almost everyone was already down? One word, profit. The more upset a person was, the more they drank. It was bad for the patrons but good for The Marine. Cadence had been here two years but most of the customers had been here longer.

What was funny was that these folks really didn’t know how good they had it. Their wife had left them, they’d caught their husband cheating on them, someone they loved had died, so what? Things like that happened every day, it was normal even if it didn’t seem like it to the people involved. They should try walking a day in her shoes, or maybe paws was a better way to put it, then they’d see what alone really felt like. She wasn’t complaining, she’d come to enjoy her life here, but the fact that she turned furry once a month made it hard to sympathize.

An order for a drink brought her back to the real world. Cadence smiled and went behind the bar to begin filling up the glass. Her nose wrinkled at the smell of the beer slowly rising towards the top of the mug, alcohol smelled so much stronger to her enhanced senses and the bubbly scent burned her nose. That combined with the scents of smoke and mold that filled The Marine was one of the only downsides of working here. Though of course she’d never want to go back to a human’s duller senses, Cadence liked being able to see in the dark and tell if there was someone behind her without turning to look. You never knew when skills like that would come in handy, especially for a girl who worked in a pub. People got to drunk and they lost the ability to think clearly, it wasn’t the safest of jobs and she knew that, but it paid the bills.

[Taylor]

She had just needed to get out and do something, go someplace new. Getting ready she put on a nice black dress that was form fitting and slightly low cut. It fell a little past her knees. She had on soft makeup and her eyes were accented to help them stand out a bit more. Pulling into the Marine she hadn’t been to the place in awhile and a nice drink sitting back and relaxing watching some of the people go by would fill her afternoon. Walking in she undid the tie on her coat and unfastened the buttons. Walking up to the bar she smiled sweetly at a few people that smiled at her. Some she knew in passing and others she had no idea who they were. Finding an empty stool that wasn’t surrounded by people she slipped off her coat and sat it down on the empty stool next to her.

Sliding up onto the stool she crossed her legs at the knee and smoothed out the material of her skirt. Pulling out her wallet she sat it on her lap and waited for the bartender to come around. Her eyes moved carefully over everyone at the bar. A few faces were familiar and she waved back to one of the guys that recognized her from an old job as a waitress. Shaking her head she tapped her fingers lightly on the bar as she waited for the woman to make her way over to her. Taylor was not being impatient she was just doing it to pass the time. She understood what it was like to work one of these types of jobs and she was in no real rush to do anything or go anywhere.

[Cadence]

She delivered the beer to the guy who had ordered it and saw someone new enter out of the corner of her eye. She made her way back over to the bar to take the newcomer's order. It wasn't often that someone new came into The Marine, she'd have to mark the day on her calendar...first she'd have to buy a calendar.

The newcomer was a woman with long, dark hair, deep brown eyes and a little black dress that showed off her petite body. It was no wonder that the guys in the pub seemed happy to see her. But there was something else, something familiar about this new woman. Cadence just couldn't put her finger on it, it was something in the woman's eyes and her....

Smell! That was it! The woman smelled like damp forest earth, wildflowers and under all of that was the sweet musk of...wolf. Could it be? No, she didn't dare hope...but still, her nose couldn't really lie to her, could it? It wasn't likely that this woman had been wrestling with wolves before she'd come here, so the only likely explanation, alright well not likely explanation, but the best one was that this woman was a werewolf.

She realized that she'd been staring at the woman with a dumbfounded look on her face. She physically shook herself and forced a professional smile to cover the surprise on her face. "Um, what can I get for you...m'am?" She fished for a name.

How often had she wished for someone like her? How many sleepless nights had she spent wondering if there were others like her somewhere out in the world? She'd never really thought for a second that she'd actually find anyone. Just when she'd accepted her solitude...could it be that she'd actually found a fellow wolf?

[Taylor]

Taylor watched as the bartender served a guy at the other end of the bar. Her eyes studied her quickly. Taking in her features. Her fingers continued to tap the bar lightly as she turned and watched as the woman started to approach her. Sliding to the end of the stool she smiled and turned her head to watch as someone else entered the bar.

The scent of alcohol, and smoke distorted her sense of smell. Taking a deep breath she sighed softly and stilled her fingers as she noticed that the woman had stopped and was staring at her. Stilling her fingers on the bar she slid to the end of the stool and her brown eyes met the woman’s green ones. Letting herself smile softly she woman realized that she had been staring and watched her approach once more.

Seeing the smile on the woman’s face she smiled back. “I would like a captain and coke please.” She paused and caught the woman’s scent now that she was closer to her. The smoke still clouded her sense of smell but now she knew the reason that this woman had stopped and stared at her. She was another wolf. The underlying scent of the forest and wolf clung to the woman. After all these years another wolf had been around. “Please don’t call me m’am..please call me Taylor.” She smiled and let her brown eyes met the woman’s brilliant green ones and began to wonder just how long this woman had been in the city how long they had lived close to each other and never knew the other existed.

[Cadence]

Cadence smiled as she began to mix the drink. "Taylor it is." She mumbled. She was deliriously happy. All these years of being alone, of fighting alone, of hiding and now someone who she didn't have to hide from had just walked through the front door. It was to good to be true. She expected to wake up at any minute.

But she decided that she'd better play it cool for now. One, they were in public, and two well, there was no guarantee that Taylor had had the 'trouble' that she'd had with adjusting to her new life. Who knew? Maybe this woman just flew through it, maybe she had just been to weak to deal. Maybe her mind had blocked out those first full moons and no one else had ever had that problem. Maybe...stop it! She told herself fiercely.

Cadence set the drink down in front of her fellow wolf. There was so much she wanted to say, to ask! But she couldn't, not with so many humans around, at least not outright.

"So, how long have you been..here?" She asked, begging Taylor with her eyes to understand that she meant 'here' as in her current position. She tried to tell Taylor without words that what she was really asking was 'how long have you been a werewolf?'

[Taylor]

Taylor watched the woman as she began to mix her drink. She caught the mumble but did not remark on it. Her dark eyes moved around the bar once more and she relaxed. Always being cautious when she was someplace new. She had lived in the area for years but for some reason she always had the slight case of paranoia in new places. Placing her elbows on the bar she rested her chin on the back of her hands and watched this other wolf.

She had kept to herself and away from others as much as she could, minus school and when she worked. It could have been very easy for her to have missed another wolf in the city especially if she kept to hiding and kept to herself. Sitting up straighter she lifted her chin from her hands and tucked her bangs behind her ear as she watched the woman bring the drink to her and set it down.

Smiling she accepted the drink and took a sip. Twirling the straw around the glass as the woman asked her question. It could have meant one of two things, licking her bottom lip she looked into the woman’s green eyes. “Eight years” she paused and took another drink. “I am sorry but I did not catch your name…” she said with a smile and took another sip of her drink. Taylor normally wasn't one to just give out information to just anyone. This woman was the first and only were-wolf that she had ever met other than the guy that had changed her and left. This pub was not the best place for them to talk but a few words never hurt.

[Cadence]

Eight years? They'd been werewolves almost the same amount of time, only two years to separate them. Taylor seemed so calm though, it was almost embarrassing how her heart sped up with every new thing she learned. It was exciting, unbelievable that just when she'd given up the thing she'd wanted most just fell into her lap! Were there others like them in London? Was being a werewolf more common than she'd thought?

With Taylor sitting across from her, Cadence couldn't help but kick herself for not paying closer attention to the world around her these past two years. She'd been so concerned with keeping her secret hidden that she hadn't been looking for others like her. She'd kept herself at a distance because if no one knew her then no one could suspect her. How many others had she passed without knowing it?

Taylor's smile brought one to her own face. "Oh, right, I'm Cadence." She couldn't hold back her questions anymore. She wanted to ask this woman so much that she simply couldn't inside this crowded pub. "Hey, uh, what do you say that I take my break early and we go around back to talk?" She tried to sound casual and she thought that she'd succeeded, at least a little bit.

[Taylor]

Taylor watched the woman closely her face remaining pleasant and calm. It was one of the things that she had taught herself well was controling her emotions. It kept her few friends, the few that she kept, and her family from wondering about her. Her brother was the only one that she had to worry about but even she had kept her away. Sipping her drink she watched the smile play across the other womans face. "It is a pleasure Cadence."

When Cadence mentioned taking an early break so that they could talk. Taylor sipped her drink some more and pondered the idea. Inside the pub was not the best place for them to be talking even if it was with words with hidden meanings. Nodding her head she placed the drink down on the bar. "Sure, whenever you can take your break, we can talk." She smiled at her and began to wonder about the other woman infront of her.

[Cadence]

The thought of being alone, and therefore able to ask all the questions that were bubbling up inside of her, made Cadence feel like a kid on christmas morning. Her present was just sitting under the tree taunting her, just waiting to be unwrapped.

"Let's go now, they can deal without me for a few minutes." She laughed. She'd worked here for two years, it gave her something like seniority. Her boss wouldn't care if she took her break early considering all the times that he'd had to chase her out the door to get her to take a break at all.

"I'm taking my break!" She yelled at the small room behind the bar. "C'mon." She said the Taylor, not quite able to hide the wide grin that was crossing her face. She made her way around to the front of the bar and led the way to a side door that led into the alleyway where The Marine's employees took their smoking breaks.

Once they were outside, Cadence turned to face the other wolf, trying desperately to hide the excitement she felt. She'd play it cool and let Taylor talk first, she didn't want this woman to think she was some immature kid, bouncing at the thought of making a new friend. Even though.....that wasn't to far off from the truth of things.

[Taylor]

Taylor smiled when Cadence said about going right then. Hearing her laugh she nodded her head and finished her drink setting the empty glass back down. If it was alright for her to take a break right then, then they would go. Reaching for her purse and her coat she stood up when the other woman told her to follow. She did and slipped her arms into her coat and followed the other woman out a side door of the bar.

Stepping out into the alley Taylor looked down down the alley to the right and then to the left out of habit before letting her eyes return to Cadence. She was a cautious creature by nature, especially after she hand been turned. Her eyes moved over the other woman as now she could see her fully and she smiled. "I know you have questions, I can see them in your eyes." she chuckled softly. It was nice to finally see another wolf in this city.

"I have one question for you before we begin this. How long have you been a wolf Cadence?" The other woman had asked her and she answered. Not having the opportunity to fully ask inside she did so now. She was curious but had, had her hopes crushed one to many times to show her excitment.