"More interesting? Yes. Easier to shift? No. I chose a small town because it's easy to get out of town so I can shift without anyone noticing anything. Besides which, I enjoy the zoo here. My parents brought me here a few times when I was a child." Damien shrugged.

"What's it like?" Rose asked softly, curious. It was something she didn't understand, but she wanted to understand. She wanted to know.

"Shifting?" Damien chuckled quietly. "Well, I don't know if it's the same for all shifters, but for me it's like electricity running through my veins, like liquid fire. There's no pain, just this feeling running through your whole body, and then sounds get sharper and smells get more potent and everything just seems more... more."

"That actually sounds kind of trippy," Rose commented. She could really only imagine it. She was just human, after all, so she had no real comparison.

Damien smiled and nodded a bit. "It kind of is," he admitted. "Kind of confusing too at times. I wish I could show you, or let you feel how it is somehow."

"I think I'm okay the way I am," Rose replied. She didn't think she could handle something like that. She was a creature of habit, sudden changes threw her for a loop.

"Yeah, I know," Damien said with a little shrug. "Oh well." He stuck the pork loin in the oven to cook for a couple hours.

"I didn't mean to ask so many questions," Rose said. "I guess I'm just curious. I like knowing things."

"I don'y mind," Damien said with a smile. "Means you're not aboutto shoot me and run way." He paused. "Well, I hope not."

"You should know me better than that by now," Rose teased.

"No, I know to never underestimate a woman," Damien said, moving around his kitchen idly to make sure everything that needed to be getting cooked was cooking.

"I don't think I'm really that kind of person," Rose replied. "People tell me I'm too nice."

"I've seen more surprising things happen." Damien glanced over at her. "Let's go see if we can find the cat."

Rose grinned a bit and followed him. She had no idea where the cat would be hiding, so she was just tagging along.

Damien glanced around the living room before taking the stairs two at a time and going into his bedroom, which was remarkably clean for a single male. His cat was lounging in the middle of his bed, spread out in a patch of sunshine.

"There you are," Damien said, going over and tickling the cat's stomach. "This is my mishchief maker, Thor." The cat was indeed rather golden-colored and bigger than a normal housecat. "He's actually part some wild cat. He's a rescue. he would have been put down otherwise because no one else could deal with him."

"Sounds kind of like my dad's cat," Rose commented. "I swear the thing isn't normal."

"From what I got, he's not much outside of normal," Damien said with a shrug, sitting on his bed to pet Thor. "Probably second or third generation mix."

"Sirius was a stray, so anything's possible, I guess," Rose replied. "Evil little monster... He's mellowed out since we got him, but he's still a troublemaker."

Damien chuckled. "Those are the best kind," he said, rubbing Thor's stomach while the big cat purred. "You are allowed to pet him, you know."

Rose reached over and started to pet the massive cat, similar to the way she knew her own cat liked.

"I'm going to be covered in cat hair by the time I get home," she commented, "and my own cat isn't going to look at me for a week."

"She'll get over herself," Damien said with a grin.

"Eventually," Rose agreed. "But for about a week, she's going to ignore me and glare at me and other such things."

Damien chuckled quietly. "Well, that'll be her loss then."

Rose shrugged.

"She's spoiled," she said. "I've been spoiling her since I was eight."

Damien shrugged as well. "A week of not being totally spoiled won't kill her," he said reasonably.