Monty watches him and says, "Why don't you go introduce yourself? We could always talk later. you never know when you'll get a chance to meet a pretty girl." He grins, "And maybe you'll get lucky." He turns to Dana, "What kind of shop do you own?"

Betha glances over to the three of them and overhears Dana talk about a shop so she approaches them.

"Um, hi, I'm Betha," she says to make herself known. She turns to Dana, "I couldn't help but overhear you have a shop. You wouldn't happen to be looking to hire anyone, would you?"

Chase smiles and get's up. "I like the way you think Monty," he chuckles and pats the vampire on the shoulder as he walks by. He walks up and sits next to the red head. "Hi I'm Chase," he grinned at her. "Can I get you a drink?"

"A little bakery not too far from here," Dana said, taking a sip from her refill. "Sorry, honey, don't have quite enough yet to hire anyone but myself. Have to pay the bills, and all." She smiled, a quick kind of apology. "I only got started a little while ago."

"Ah," Monty sighs, "I can almost remember the taste of bread."

Betha smiles back. "I understand. I'm just new to town and looking for a job. A friend's been paying my rent but I've been hoping to relieve him of that," she says with a little chuckle.

Chase cleared his throat, not trying to be rude and interrupt the girls conversation. He hadn't meant to over them. "Sorry," he apologized, clearing his throat again.

Dana looked down at her glass. "Sorry, Monty, if I upset you," she said, then looked back up at the redhead, Betha. "I understand. I had to do that for a bit." She looked up at Chase. "I think he wants to talk to you."

Betha turns to Chase.

"I'm sorry," she apologizes to him. "That was a little rude of me. I wasn't trying to ignore."

Betha smiles sweetly at him.

"No it's alright," Chase smiled sweetly at her. "I'm new here too and I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Chase," he stuck out his hand.

Betha took his hand and shook it.

"I'm Betha, it's nice to meet you."

"Oh it's not really a problem. Just almost remembering. That happens when you get old and decrepit like me," He jokes with a grin. "Really. you don't need to worry about pissing me off. I don't get angry easily."

Chase took her hand gently and then released it. "You're a lepard, so that means you belong to Anita?," he questioned, sitting down beside her and trying to make conversation. "I haven't met her yet, but her reputation proceeds her."

"I'm kind of hoping to get old and decrepit, just not as old as you probably are," she said. She heard Chase mention Anita, and almost shivered. "And I'm really hoping to not get on Anita's bad side. I figure staying out of everyone's way is the smartest way to go about doing that." She drank more, larger sips than she had been taking, and looked at the half-full glass.

Betha was impressed. "That's correct," she said. "I see her here and there, but she's been pretty busy since I've come to town. I see my Nimir-Raj more often then I see Anita."

Chase thought for a moment, then looked back at Betha. "Nimir-raj?" He was trying to remember all the different titles. "That would be Micah, right?"

Betha laughed, "Yes. He's been helping me get on my feet here."

"Well that's good," Chase smiled. "I am very gracious to Richard for taking me in after my clan fell apart. All I've known is the clan, so I was lost, but now I feel as if I have purpose again.'

"She's not really frightening... quite the opposite, but if you piss her off, she is probably the most unhealthy thing to be around." He looks around. "you'll be fine," He says to the leopard, "She makes exceptions for the leopards." Monty turns to Chase, "And you should be fine so long as you follow the rules of the city and your clan." He seems to think for a moment, "Dana should be fine so long as she doesn't stirr any trouble between the various were factions."

"Oh I plan to follow the rules," Chase said seriously, looking over at Monty. "I wouldn't want to mess up my chances of being in the clan."

Betha nodded, "Sounds great. I've heard of Richard but not too much."
Betha took a drink of her water.

"Good to know," she says to Monty. "I don't plan to cause anyone any trouble either way though."

Chase notices that Betha was just drinking water. "Can I get you anything else, I don't mind?," he smiled at her, motioning Dave over to them.

Dana quickly looked back up at Monty, a flash of anger. "Why would I? I moved here to get away from my old clan, and they were bad enough all on their own. I'm not going to ruin my chances of living even somewhat peacefully." She sighed, turning to face the window. Calm down, Dana... silly snake... he probably didn't mean anything by it. "Sorry, Monty... I didn't mean to snap like that. I've been sleeping horribly recently, and it shows, sometimes."

Betha smiled looking at her now empty glass.

"I don't really drink but I could use another water," she answered Chase.

(( Sorry it took so long for me to post, I had to fight with the computer. And a reminder: Try to stay way from one or two liners, it's hard to work off that for some of us. ))

Hiro stepped out of the bathroom, the scratchy hotel towel wrapped about his waist. He tossed a few things about on the bed, then slid on his last clean pair of pants, ignoring his still-damp hair and skin. He looked to the shirt he had been wearing and sighed, he didn't have enough clothes for this trip. He picked up the tattered, bloody garment and tossed it into his bag, wincing as the wound on his arm stretched. He glanced at it, then the closed gashes on his torso, then pulled on a black tank top. He finished dressing and packed everything into the thin, oblong bag, weapons carefully stowed among the clothing. He pulled on a simple black button-up, leaving it open, and tugged his black leather fedora farther down on his head as he walked to the door.

He opened the door slightly, slipped the "Do not disturb" sign on the knob, gently closed it, and turned off the light. He slung his bag over his shoulder and closed his eyes, feeling the world jerk as it fell away, blurring.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a dense copse of trees. He could hear the highway not far off, telling him he was in the right direction. He moved slightly, stepping into a darker part of the trees, and closed his eyes once again, tearing himself away from the world, wrapped in shadow. He melded like this four more times before finding himself under a bridge in what he recognized to be the "Blood Quarter" of Saint Louis. He swayed on his feet as the hunger hit him almost painfully. 'Kuso... That took more out of me then I thought it would.' He thought bitterly as he started to step into the city lights.

He stopped then, and thought for a moment. He had no idea where the house of the master of the city is. He had heard of it, but hadn't the slightest idea of where to go next. He calmed his throbbing stomach and concentrated, feeling about. He opened his eerie, mis-colored eyes in a bit of surprise. There was a rather large collection of Weres and Vampires not far from where he stood. Now with that heading, Hiro climbed over the slanted, concrete bank and quickly made his way to the building.