"No, It's okay... I wonder how you did end up here..." Heather whispered, this was unbelievably awkward. Before she could say more though, she woke up. Some early rays of sunlight were shining through her window, lighting up her childish room. She hugged one of the pillows to her chest and made a silent promise to herself, she would never fall in love. From what she had just experienced of it, it was way too uncomfortable. Trying to forget about her nightmare and the man who had transformed it into a dream she walked into the dining room and threw out the sandwich from last night, it had started to go fuzzy.

Tait found himself suddenly cast out of the dream and back in his own apartment. He groaned, feeling dizzy for a moment, it was always so disorienting when the dreamer woke up before he could leave. He looked out the window and felt his eyebrows raise, it was already dawn, he never wondered out so long, that meant he would have to go to work with no rest, except for the brief trancelike phase required to allow him to dream walk. He groaned and changed into a fresh pair of clothes and walked out of his apartment, off to a knew day, his mind still boggled by the night's events. He shrugged though and figured it was just coincidence and went about his day.

JJ had long since left the building top. the children had passed by without paying much attention to her. she figured to looked like some person out for a smoke from this high up. She flew from the roof and tossed the remains of the dog into a dumpster. she then flew through the night, revealing in her powerful wings. As the dawn approached-- she could always sense its nearness-- JJ turned and flew back in the direction of the gothic-style cathedral she had perched on last day. she fit in well there and people never stopped to wonder if the gargoyle had been there the night before. She settled on top of the building, walking about a bit more until she would have to return to her stone form. she crouched down, folding her wings as the sun's rays streaked the sky, instantly turning JJ to stone.

"Oh, hi Mom!" Anya smiled. It wasn't every day she talked to her parents. They lived halfway across the country, and their lives were busy. Then she heard a faint rattle in the background. Great. Her mother was angry. "No, I know. I should have called as soon as I heard about... Look, it's been chaotic here. My job…" It was true, after the murder of the gnomish professor -- and he really had been a gnome, not to mention a pillar of the community, and a rich Pulitzer Prize winner to boot -- the community had gone into shock. Which was turning into uproar. Parents would be worried. "I'm fine," she insisted, after weathering the verbal storm of the timber rattler on the other end of the line. "Really. I didn't know David that well, and I'm not involved with the investigation, I swear."

David. That really had been the gnome's name. It was a joke, of course. Gnomes were usually long-lived little Earth elementals, and not easy to kill. The professor had changed his name periodically to fit in with Mundane society as well as could be managed.

Anya hadn't known him well, it was true, but she would miss him. And his books. She had them all, or at least those written under his current (last) identity. He'd been a humorist, and reading those novels always cheered her up after a bad day.

"Look, can I talk to Dad?" Her mind had wandered, and she wasn't sure what her mother had started up on. "Oh. Swimming. Of course he is." Her father's patron was a water moccasin. Swimming was in his blood. How he'd ended up with a rattler was beyond her, though she supposed it involved a beach. She'd never asked.

It was a long conversation, and by the time she hung up, it was the wee hours of morning. When the phone rang again with the dawn, she was not in the best of moods.

***

Underneath the park's inevitable tippy merry-go-round there was a shadow. It was a bit darker than the shadows around it, and perfectly round. Moreover, it never moved with the light. Nobody noticed it, however, because it really was only the size of a silver dollar. Even if they had, they would never have taken the strange patch of darkness for a portal.

Kesha, following her instinct, had dragged a disappointed and protesting Betsy back to the apartment. This had been due to the shadow on the rooftops, not the one under the playground equipment, but Betsy had been lucky just the same. The evening kickball game had ended in one broken ankle, one sprained, a bloody nose, various cuts, bruises, and tears. How this had come about so quickly, and the game ended so badly, none of the parents or children knew. All they knew was that evening playtime sessions were at an end.

Whoever had placed the portal, however, knew very well, for through the shadow came tiny, brightly-colored creatures on fly-like gossamer wings. They were small humanoids of indeterminate gender and minimal thought. They were imps, hatched to cause mischief and feed on pain. Dash had been rendered more vulnerable to Chaos recently, and they were a minor infection, like a cold.

And, like a cold, they would spread. By the time day broke, they were all over the city. One radioactive green creature found itself in a comfortable nook behind the wing of a lone gargoyle, settled itself in for the day and awaited the next evening's playtime.

The wall of LCD panels cast the room in a blue glow, and Maximilian slouched in the worn, leather chair, rubbing his temples. A low hiss escaped him as he worked through another migraine, eyes closed tightly. Various places were pictured on the screens, a security system of sorts, with views of the yard, the garage, and other rooms of the house, yet some looked out into a city street, or a children's playground. Morning had broke, the suns rays just barely peeking through the heavy curtains that covered the tall windows, but the footage that was playing was running from last night.

Just as he lifted his head, and forced his eyes open, trying once more to stare at the screens, he focused on the green specks that flittered about the images. A sigh escaped him and he shook his head, "This should be fun." He groaned and slouched more in the chair, his head resting against the worn back, eyes closed. While he was of the Chaos, he didn't need any more problems than usual. That was one thing that came with being on the bad side, everyone was bad, and out to get everyone else, so they were nearly as much his problem as they were people on the good side.

He tapped his fingers three times on the arm of the chair, willing that this damned headache would just stop. He had spent the past five days cooped up in this hell, trying to work through it. While he had 2700 square ft of rooms to roam, his own personal library, and a staff of 13, he hated being here, and wasn't very happy. His huge house stood in a large, but rather sparse few acres of land on the outskirts of the city, and hardly fit in with the dull greys of the buildings, as it was more done in the style of an older Victorian house, with a wrap-around porch. It is painted a pale green, with bright white trim, and well-kept but hardly landscaped.

When Ted went to work in his garden that morning, he found a new electronic gismo there. He didn't see it, really -- it was much too small and shielded for that -- but he sensed it. Everything else in his substantial, colorful garden was very much alive, even the soil, and the device was an obvious void. It was easy enough to dispatch, of course. He'd done it before, usually with insects. This particular bug was swallowed by a dragonfly, who would carry it to Ted's reclusive neighbor.

Ted had never actually seen his neighbor, but often thought about him as he pruned his pomegranate trees and hoed his rows of parsnips and spice beans. He even went so far as to send organic herbal tonics to the mansion, good for various ailments and potions. The unicorn, he was a good neighbor, he thought.

This morning he sent an emissary in the form of a Lunar Singing Dog, which strongly resembled a Labrador retriever but for the pure white fur and the tendency to bark commercial jingles out of tune, to the mansion carrying several vials of sleep aids and pain relievers. And a card on handmade recycled paper.. Ted never got such things in return. Just strongly worded letters and restraining orders. They got read over once, and then found themselves in the compost heap. But, well, he'd keep trying!

As if his headache wasn't bad enough, when he managed to move (and leave the darkness of his room) he happened to open the door. To his "excitement" it was another freak of nature, brought forth by the hippie that resided next door. After managing to work through the horribly done jingles, and grab the stuff that the creature carried, he slammed the large wooden door, and tossed the package on the side table. While the hippie often did send some rather useful packages, he wouldn't ever admit it.

"Johnson!" He cried out, and rubbed his temples are he remembered his headache. It was just a few moments before a decently dressed man appeared from the south corridor. He was in slacks and a button-up shirt, untucked though. "Really?" Maximillian asked looking at the man, but he had a somewhat of a grin on his face. "Hey, it was my day off." Johnson said with a shrug, grinning wildly. "Write me another letter to that hippie. About the singing dog, and his hippie concoctions." The man didn't say anymore, instead he just walked away and left Johnson standing there. Max climbed the stairs to his room and with the shades shut tight, and the lights off, his climbed into the darkness. It was going to be a long day. It was bad enough he would have to be up in a few hours to take care of some business...

As Maximillian slept, Johnson made sure that a very stern letter found it's way to the hippies doorstep, and another bug was placed.

Tait walked down the street on his way to work, he always walked to work, he hated cars most of his people did. It was just part of a dream walkers nature to walk. On his way to the office he always picked up coffee for the company, even if he wasn't one of the secretaries it was just a nice thing to do. So as he walked into the Starbucks right by his office, Tait looked around and noticed a new woman he hadn't seen in the store before, that moved very snake like walk in the door. Tait shrugged, he was here every morning so he figured he knew most of the regulars by now, so a part of him wandered why he hadn't seen her before?

Zaria walked down the streets of the city, a scowl on her face, as normal, she looked around looking angry as always. Her ears twitched slightly as she walked, though she had them hidden under her hair so that she appeared a mundane, she could still her the world around her easier than the average human, and as always it was giving her a slight headache, thus making her grumpier. The poor fool who crossed her path was probably in for it.]

Gabriel looked up at the bright morning sun. He'd just flown in a day ago and was getting used to the city. it was a nice place though. His thoughts were preoccupied with what to do with the day when he nearly ran into a young woman walking the opposite direction. He winced slightly, already noticing that annoyed look in her eyes. He took a quick step back. "I'm sorry, ma'am. that was my fault."

Zaria growled slightly at the man before her, "Watch were your going." she snapped. She then raised an eyebrow at him noticing his odd appearance, even odder than her own. She grinned at him slightly, revealing shaper canines than normal, "Well aren't you interesting looking...." she murmured, though their seemed to be slighty menace in her voice

Gabriel's eyes narrowed at the woman. she was sharp and not content to just write off abnormalities without thought. perhaps...he looked closer at her. she wasn't quite human looking. just tiny changes, or maybe it was his senses going crazy. She was definitely the sexy killer type. "I could say the same for you," he responded in a terse voice.

Anya couldn't really complain about her boss. Frederick Lombardi treated her with respect that she rarely found among the mundanes. Many normal humans seemed to have a deeply instinctual, often subconscious, aversion to reptiles and insects, and the like. While Anya could pass as normal, more or less, people could still pick up… something. The way she moved, something in her eyes, her cool, dry skin. Something. It hadn't made finding a job any easier.

But Frederick had hired her, and given her interesting tasks to do among the menial ones. And she'd been there for a few years now. How much that had to do with the pet snakes he had at home -- he brought the scent of boa and ball python with him to the office, so she knew -- she didn't dare ask.

This morning, however, he'd forgotten coffee, and he really did need it to function. So, he'd called, bright and early, from his desk. She assumed there was a desk under there. Luckily, Starbucks was on the way. And boy did she need a booster herself.

As she entered the coffee shop, her ankle-length red skirt flowing around her human legs, a strangely handsome man caught her eye. She hadn't seen him around before. How strange. Well, conversation would have to wait until after she'd downed an espresso…

After rubbing the sleep from her eyes and brushing her teeth Heather changed out of yesterday's crumpled clothes, not really bothering to check what she was wearing. After much stretching and yawning Heather managed to convince herself to go to the park; she'd promised Samuel, her best friend since grade three, that she would meet him there. They had been planning this for the past week, it didn't seem like much but she hadn't seen Samuel since before the murder of David, head of Arcane Order. Samuel wasn't Arcane but he was... Special. He seemed to be able to pick up on things that other mundanes would just shrug off. Samuel was actually the only mundane Heather had shown her arcane form to, he had worked it out beforehand though. Not all of it; just that Heather was different. They had arranged the meeting over the phone and Heather was anxious to see how he was faring. Heather lived only a block away from the park, so instead of hailing a taxi she started walking excitedly towards the assigned meeting place.

(Yay! New NPC! :D)

Zaria smirked at the man before her, "How astute of you." she laughed softly, crossing her arms over her chest. "Bet you can't guess what I am though?" Zaria laughed again slightly, it was a favorite game of hers to get people to figure out what she was, afterall who would expect a vampire and elf to be together and produce a child?

Tait walked up to the front of the line, ordering the typical coffee he did for the office, the lady behind the front counter smiled at him, knowing who it was and began the abnormally large order relatively fast. Tait stepped to the side, keeping a curious gaze on the graceful moving woman, she just couldn't be normal.

Gabriel sighed. "I'm really not fond of guessing, but with pointy teeth like that, I'd say you're a vampire." He wasn't sure of what to make of this woman. she wasn't acting downright evil or anything but there was something menacing about her all the same. He decided there was no harm though and joined in the 'game'. "Care to guess what I am?" Though he figured he wasn't all that different looking from the average dragon, but then, there weren't a lot of weredragons around.

Zaria shook her head, "Only half right, sir." she said, grinning. She twitched her hair behind her ear to reveal her the other aspect of her abnormality, a definitely pointy ear. She looked at him and shrugged, "Don't really know, perhaps a wizard or a mage with such odd color eyes." Though the way she said sir did not seem to be a term of respect just a think to call him with lack of a name.

Ted noticed the note not long after it arrived. He'd moved on to the rutabaga patch by then, to weed and to imbue the roots with symbiotic magic microbes. What would happen then, he had no idea, but it was worth a try. Even if his root crop exploded. That was always fun. It had happened before. And it had resulted in letters, naturally.

The contents of this note seemed to be about the same as usual. Stop with the noise, yada yada yada. So much for freedom and living off the grid, Ted thought, as he pet his Lunar dog (who had decided to hum the Nestle song on repeat) and sat on the steps of his modest abode, paper in hand.

Of course the note had come with a new bug. Ahh, well, he'd take care of it later. For now, it was live and let live. He sent the dog back with a jar of organic farkleberry jam, and went back to his potentially explosive rutabagas.

Anya gave the man a curious glance out of the corner of her eye as she took her place at the counter. He knew what he was doing, certainly. His had been a huge order, whereas the naga fumbled with her own small one. A mocha latte for the boss and an espresso. She generally just made coffee at home, and brought it in to work. Cheaper that way. At least carrying it wouldn't be an issue.

Then something got her attention. The shop naturally tasted strongly of coffee, tea, flavorings, steam… It was a morass of scent, and not really a bad one. Or an unexpected one. But something poked through, tasting vaguely of ozone and flowers, and it was coming from the man beside her. That was not a human scent. What was he? Not that she could ask that here… "Excuse me," she finally said to him, after paying for the caffeine fix. "Have I, um, seen you before?"

Gabriel sighed. Did she always start conversations like this? "So you are part.....elf too?" he guessed. He caught her tone, though he hadn't really expected to hear respect from her. He wasn't going to say anything about it. "You are quite off. I am no wizard. I'd show you a hint but it would not be something so simple as a pointy ear, so it'd hardly be a good idea to do so in an area like this." He paused, then decided to say something more anyways. "You know, most people exchange names before species. I'm Gabriel."

Tait looked at the woman surprised, "I was actually wondering that myself", he said in his mild mannered voice. "I'm in here often and I don't believe I've seen you before" He looked at her, looking for other signs of her non-mundane nature, curious as to what it was.

Zaria looked at the man for a moment then shrugged, "I'm Zaria." she said, not willing to admit some level of curiousity about this man in general, it wasn't often she met such an usual looking Arcane afterall.

Anya looked back at Tait, dark eyes unblinking, and managed a close-lipped smile. "You must be, with an order like that. They seem to know you. I haven't stopped here in a year or so." Or was it two? She couldn't remember. Was she really talking with a stranger, making a connection? Well, it would be a few minutes before her own order was ready, so she guessed it couldn't hurt. She fussed a little with her purse, finally stuffing it in her tote bag, the better to carry the coffee with.

"Nice to meet you, Zaria," Gabriel said politely though he wasn't sure yet if that would be so. "I suppose you won't guess what I am, so I will have to tell you." He stepped closer to her since there were other people walking along the street now and rather close to him. "I'm a dragon," he whispered with a slight grin.

Tait chuckled slighly, "Yeah they do, but I figure it's nice to brin coffee in for everyone, so I don't mind." He shook his head at himself, realizing how odd it would be to hear another dreamwalker say that. He was constantly away of what an audity he was. He actually feared that between the charismatic charm he had as a dreamwalker and his own nice personality, he could manipulate people without even meaning to.

Zaria made a face at him, "Well it would explain the eyes and the hair, but that seems a bit hard to believe." she scoffed.

The woman flushed a little. "Yes, that is nice. I should probably do this more often. It's a small office, and…" She trailed. She brought her own coffee to work, and Fred generally brought his. It was just an especially early morning this time. Neither of them could really afford to make gourmet caffeine a regular thing.

Okay, this was weird. She was talking to a stranger and he wasn't shying away. His scent had changed a bit, too, shifting from ozone to earth and forest floors. Beautiful and soothing. What was he? "So, um, where do you… what is your work?"

Gabriel wasn't really surprised she didn't quite believe him. "We are few in number so we are more myth now than anything. Besides, is a dragon more strange than a vampire elf woman?" He was starting to feel more comfortable around her thankfully and she didn't look like she would bite him or anything drastic. maybe she wasn't as bad as he initially thought.

Tait smiled at her, I work at the computer company, just doing your average programming and the like." he said, his nature still obviously friendly. He would admit his curiousity, the very curiousity that led him to wander into certain dreams and stay long enough to be noticed, was beginning to get the better of him and he wanted to ask this woman what she was, but that would be rude and a bad way of exposing his own arcane nature.

Zaria laughed at him, "Well let's just say I'm one of a kind." She looked at him when she noticed something, his scent while potent and a definite good scent pricked at her sense it didn't ignite the one thing in her nature that truly made her vicious, her bloodlust. She blinked in surprise, he was the first creature she'd come across this hadn't happened to.