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Zerrex snarled and jerked his head to the side as the sawblade whizzed by, but almost too late: a moment later, several wisps of white hair floated down, and a droplet of blood rolled along the reptile's cheek from a long, shallow cut.

Immediately, Tinman squeaked and grabbed his muzzle, causing the sawblade that he'd just sent flying through the air to plummet to the ground. His eyes were wide and round as he stared at Zerrex, the dozen or so sawblades that littered the back yard of the Drakkaren's all giving a bit of a shiver, as if the badger's emotions somehow passed into the serrated discs of metal. "Oh my Gods! I'm so sorry, Zerrex, are you okay?"

"Tinny, please." The Drakkaren frowned a bit as Tinman started forwards, reaching into his pocket for a loose handkerchief, and then the reptile dropped his ready position with a sigh as the badger jogged quickly up to him, Cherry watching with amusement from where she leaned against Cindy's cabin. "Look, it's part of the training, it's really... Tinny!"

But the badger merely pushed his arm away... or rather, pushed at the reptile's arm with a grunt of effort and managed to make it budge slightly as Zerrex brought his arms up in an almost defensive posture, trying to ward off Tinman as he dabbed at the cut on his cheek with his hankie. "I know, but couldn't we use something else less dangerous? And stay still, please, Zerrex, I don't think it cut deep but I want to make sure..."

"Really, Tinman. I'm fine." Finally, the reptile reached down and simply picked the badger up, making him squeak, before he set him down firmly a few feet away. He coughed, and Zerrex idly rubbed at his unhurt cheek as he made a bit of a face. "And if we use something that doesn't have any actual danger associated with it, I'll be more relaxed. I need to train hard, in a tense environment..."

"Who's tense around here?" Cherry called, then she straightened and brushed herself off, coughing and wandering forwards as she crossed her arms, looking mildly amused as Tinny reached up and squeezed an ear nervously, tossing a look back at her. "I mean, I only saw you lifting and pushing more weight today than I ever have in my life, and forcing me to keep working out with you for hours on end until you were finally so sore that I had to all but drag your ass upstairs for lunch... and now you've got Tinny here throwing big fucking spiked pieces of metal at you so you can practice batting them away." A pause, and a bit of a grin as Zerrex looked at her flatly. "But come on, who's tense?"

The male Drakkaren sighed, reaching up to rub at his temple slowly, and Cherry contemplated for a moment on pointing out that he had a good chunk of hair missing from his right side. "Cherry, I need to train..."

"But training all the time will just wear you down." The female softened as Tinman spoke quietly, looking at Zerrex with a compassion that made the tall reptile feel almost ashamed of how hard he'd been pushing himself... and everyone around him. "Please, Mr. Zerrex. Let's take a break... you need a rest."

"I will take a break, the day before I fight Requiem, I'll let my body regenerate fully so I'll be in tiptop condition..." Zerrex responded stubbornly... then he sighed at the combined looks of Cherry and Tinman. Well... I guess when Cherry's even looking at me that way... he couldn't help but smile at the thought, gazing back at the muscular female and finally relenting. "I guess a ten minute break can't hurt... and Tinny? It's just Zerrex."

"Okay, that's good then, Zerrex." Tinman smiled widely and nodded, then quickly ran past the two, looking over his shoulder and calling: "I'll make tea!"

The two nodded, then both winced as he almost dropped his foot on a sawblade stuck in the ground, but the metal disc suddenly rolled to the side, sending up a spray of dirt as Tinman released a yelp and stumbled: thankfully, he'd noticed in time. Then he continued on towards the house as Zerrex shook his head and laughed a bit, saying softly: "Funny. I thought this was our house and he's the guest."

"You know he likes to help out." Cherry replied, gently wrapping an arm around the reptile's waist: he let his own drape around hers, and for a moment they looked almost like a storybook couple... except for the fact that the male was covered in sweat, missing a bit of hair, and had a few minor cuts and one or two older wounds along his body, not to mention the bruising that still clothed parts of his form. And of course, the fact that Cherry was simply Cherry, and she could never look the role of a child's storybook heroine.

Then the two traded a smile and they headed towards the house, carefully stepping around the sawblades that littered the ground, before entering from the back door and finding Tinny busily working around the kitchen, humming to himself as he prepared several small sandwiches: as he worked, a knife floated through the air and cut each sandwich that he'd made into quarters, the badger glancing to the side every so often to make sure it was doing its job properly. Behind him, a kettle sat on the stove, already filled with water and heating slowly up as Cherry headed for the fridge and Zerrex rested back against the wall, rubbing the back of his head and laughing a bit. "Tinman, you really don't have to go through all this trouble..."

"No, no, don't worry about it!" Tinny replied with a smile at Zerrex, then he rose a hand and the knife floated into it. The badger used it to cut the last sandwich he'd made, then he pulled out a plate - having to stand on his toes and reach high to get into the top cupboard - before piling the prepared food on it and holding the plate out towards Cherry, who blinked and reared back a bit. "Ham and cheese, have one!"

"Uh..." Cherry winced, and Zerrex snorted amusedly as she obviously attempted to think up some excuse that wouldn't hurt Tinny's feelings... then she coughed and pointed out the window as the other two looked up at a familiar low rumbling. "Sounds like a car's pulling in. I'll go check who it is."

She quickly slid past Tinman, then jaunted towards the door as Zerrex walked up beside the badger. Tinny shot a hurt look after Cherry, but then he smiled again as Zerrex took one of the sandwich quarters and put it in his muzzle, chewing thoughtfully as he watched his wife open the door and grin slightly outside. Lately, Cherry'd been trying to get awkwardly close with Lone... not that he was worried about her leaving him, but even he thought that there was such a thing as taking one's powers of seduction too far. After all, it was kinda mean even in his opinion to spend all her time terrorizing or enthralling him.

And of course it was Lone who pulled up in his cherry red sports car... Zerrex slowly walked to the window, peering out as Tinman followed him with the tray in his hands, looking like either a trusted servant or a close friend; in reality, he was a bit of both. The wolf had his sunglasses on and was dressed in stupid clothes, and he had the roof of his sleek car rolled back... the reptile guessed that he hadn't learned his lesson the first time he'd trashed his car, and wondered how long it would be before this shiny new beast went balls-up as well.

The wolf climbed out with a superior look on his face that told Zerrex he'd done something either really stupid or had some gossip he wanted to share... but he paused at the sight of Cherry, one hand on the open door of his car, looking as if he wanted to leap back into the driver's seat and take off. Cherry, however, walked quickly down the driveway with a deadly smile on her face that Lone obviously mistook for pleased, and Zerrex rolled his eyes before glancing down at Tinny, saying mildly: "We might not see her back tonight. She already knows I won't give her sex... so she'll either toy with Lone or get him to chauffeur her around. Come on, we have to get back to work."

"I'm sorry, Zerrex... it's really not her fault." Tinman said quietly, as Zerrex turned away. The reptile blinked, then he laughed faintly and tried to ignore the surprise he felt that Tinman had apparently seen right through the casual mask that usually even Cherry couldn't penetrate. So instead, he just stood silently, ignoring the anger and the jealousy and the cold, simple pride he'd always taken in having Cherry as his own... and then he managed a bit of a smile as he forced those feelings away, instead glancing over his shoulder at Tinman.

"It's nothing. But... come on. Let's... let's sit together and finish off those sandwiches. And... I guess we have time for tea or coffee afterwards, if you want..." he paused at the delighted look on the badger's face, brushing his hair out of his eyes as he shrugged and couldn't resist glancing past him and out at the two standing in the driveway: one who fancied herself his wife despite her willingness to dance with the one who fancied himself his archrival.

Cherry, on the other hand, saw nothing wrong with what she was doing: it had always been the way things had been done for her, after all. And slutty or not, she did want a good lay... sex was one of the necessary provisions of life for her, even if Zerrex didn't always act that way. So now she leaned against the wolf's sports car, smiling at him and tilting her head upwards as she asked in a sly voice: "So Lone... you look pretty happy... you do somethin' good?"

"Pretty good, I think." Lone said immodestly, nodding and giving a slight grin in return, feeling his ego bloating up as he closed the driver's side door and rested against it, looking up at the sky and flicking his sunglasses down so he could look overtop with, periwinkle eyes glinting. "I ran into Requiem earlier today... and I'm pretty sure I know where he is, but I'm just having someone check into it. They should get back to me later."

He thought it wasn't so much a lie as a careful step around the truth: after all, the next time he talked to the Godkillers, they would likely have all sorts of information pertaining to Requiem. Their network through the slums and Comfort Town area of Baskin's Grove was quite impressive... and of course, since Apple Villa was really just the other half of town now, they'd managed to expand their webwork into there. Hell, on that side of town - the side of town Lone still secretly gave the most money to and thought of as the 'right' side of the tracks - there was quite an impressive Godkiller following. And he couldn't help but feel elated as Cherry gave a warm smile and nod, crossing her arms as she looked at the wolf appreciatively. "Really? That's great to hear, Lone... I'm sure that must've been pretty hard."

"Nothing's too much for you, babe." Lone replied warmly, ignoring the fact that it was originally Elliot who had told him to hunt down Requiem. Then he patted the side of his car, tilting his head and looking at the female with what he thought was a seductive look, but in reality was more lustful and hungry than attractive. "So, you want to go for a ride with me? Maybe we could do some more lookin' around together... tough, great-looking girl like you should be able to help out in all kinds of ways, after all."

Cherry pretended to be more flattered by the comment then she really was, smiling in return to the wolf to bolster his confidence, then easily sliding across the hood of the car, then she hopped the door of the sports car and landed easily inside, at the same time reaching a hand down to grab the handle to push the passenger seat back: the one thoughtful thing the wolf had put in - or maybe it was just to kiss ass - was the fact that the seats could slide back further than normal, so even someone the size of Zerrex could rest their feet fairly comfortably in the leg well. "Sure, wolf... let's go have some fun on the town, huh?"

Lone blinked at the smooth action of the female, almost entranced by the way she moved and her grace... forgetting entirely for the moment the fact she was precognitive and abused her ability on a regular basis so she could better flaunt her body. "Uh... yeah! That sounds great!" The wolf grinned widely, then he attempted to jackknife the car door and land in his seat, grunting as he landed heavily on his tailbone and his paws smacked painfully against the steering wheel on their way down. He winced, but then grinned again as Cherry looked at him with a smile he didn't realize was patronizing, immediately turning the keys in the ignition and almost flooding the engine as he made it roar.

Then he reversed out onto the street before driving smoothly forwards, leaning back in the seat, elbow out on the window, enjoying the wind and his new female companion. He tossed looks at her every now and then as she let her head fall back, putting her hands behind her head as she let out a sigh and her breasts pushed against the tight cloth that constricted them, and he licked his muzzle slowly at the sight, wondering again how she'd look without any clothing on... and feeling his pride swell as he thought again of just how damn popular he must be, since she had abandoned Zerrex for him.

Score another one for Lone... he thought smugly, smiling to himself as he looked back ahead out the window and made an illegal pass around a truck... at the same time driving through a stop sign and cutting off another car that had been about to pass through the intersection. After all, this was the third time Cherry had chosen to come with him instead of staying home with Zerrex, and they always went out drinking or driving around and having a general blast. True, true... sometimes she was still a bitch, and sometimes she knocked him around... but he was wondering if that was her way of showing affection, or maybe even if Zerrex was putting her up to it.

They'd never gotten up to anything nasty yet, but Lone thought they key word there was 'yet...' after all, who could resist him, right? And he loved to imagine the look on Zerrex's face and the feelings he must be having at knowing his wife, his favorite bitch, was happier hanging out with the male the big dumb lizard had so viciously - and unfairly, unjustly, unrightly! - beaten down those three years ago and turned into a puppet. Well, now it looked like the puppet was starting to throw his strings around his "master's" neck, and if he played his cards right... well, he thought he could have one fine bitch-bodyguard that would provide him with a good lay and good protection, and he could get Zerrex right out of the picture. It just meant waiting until Requiem kicked the stupid lizard's ass, after all... I mean, no one... no one... can buff up enough to take on someone that huge in just a week. Zerrex would have to be... I dunno... some kind of super-freak to be able to do that! And hell, even if he managed to get up his strength a lot... that Requiem dude has crazy skills.

He paused to toss another look at Cherry as they drove towards Camelot Bridge - the only connecting bridge that led over the creek that separated Comfort Town and Apple Villa - and he tilted his head before asking cheerfully: "So hey, babe. What do you wanna do?"

Cherry glanced up at the sky thoughtfully, eyes opening as she mused to herself. It was almost dinner, and she thought a bit of food wouldn't hurt... and her stomach rumbled in agreement. So she turned her gaze to Lone, deciding that she could take things a step further with him, too, smiling sweetly as she tilted her head. "You know any good restaurants around here, wolf? We could have dinner together, if you wanted."

Internally, Lone grinned widely at this, and he shifted a bit in his seat as he felt anxious excitement building in his body. Oh, score! "Sure, hot stuff, I know a great place... real nice, you'll love it." He paused, then winked at her as he glanced away from the road again, doing his best to look confident as he pushed his chest out and straightened, while trying to keep his body relaxed. "And maybe we can go out to a little spot I know afterwards, huh? You'll love it, I promise."

"Sounds wonderful to me, Lone." Cherry responded in as sweet a voice as she could manage, inwardly rolling her eyes. She knew what that meant... but the fact she hadn't gotten her usual morning and afternoon fun with Zerrex had her honestly contemplating having fun with the wolf. She realized it probably wouldn't be too good, and his idea of foreplay was probably her giving him a blowjob... but she was nonetheless seriously thinking about it. After all, it would be giving him a lot more rope for him to hang himself with... and she was already well aware that the wolf was starting to fall victim to his own misinterpretation of her being 'his.'

Cherry's goals weren't exactly complex: she wanted three things at this point and time. One was to get laid, because she needed sex on a daily basis so she didn't get all twitchy and bitchy, no matter how bad the sex was... two was to make sure she had Lone completely under her control... and oddly enough, this was more for Zerrex than herself... and three was a bit of a stupid reason, but it was there nonetheless: she wanted Zerrex to pay more attention to her.

Well, okay, she knew they were all pretty stupid reasons. But she could still use them to justify her actions at least to herself, and she thought that was what mattered in the end...

And maybe she didn't exactly need the sex, no... but... it was what she was used to. For years now, she'd been getting laid at least two, three times every day... hell, ever since the Goth Legion, there'd always been at least someone around to give her a ride or at least act as a playmate. And when she'd gotten back together with Zerrex, he'd been more than capable of meeting her sexual needs... but now, all of a sudden, she was supposed to go cold turkey? She understood that Cindy was gone, yes... and she knew that Zerrex had to work and train hard to get her back, too... but she didn't see the point of getting rid of all their fun when it wasn't like the Drakkaren could train every minute of the day, or that by being so frigging serious all the time he'd get her back sooner... it didn't make sense to her.

Lone, too, wasn't just here because he'd satisfy her first desire. She was all too well aware the wolf was a lying bastard... after all, he'd been the one to hire her to kill Zerrex those three years ago, and her other Goth Legion buddies. Plus she knew that Lone had been up to plenty of nasty activities behind Zerrex's back, and he tended to brag to her about these whenever she got him drunk or even horny... and she didn't know which of those was easier to do. It was like he thought she wouldn't tell Zerrex... and although she hadn't - mostly because the wolf's idea of a big scam over Zerrex was taking fifty bucks out of the parks and recreation budget and putting it into his own account - that didn't mean she wouldn't if something dangerous cropped up.

She didn't like Lone; in fact, she hated him a bit. She couldn't understand why Cindy had never done what she was doing... she knew that her daughter had made peace with the fact that the wolf had raped her, and she didn't so much as flinch even when the wolf hit on her these days, just politely turned him away. Cherry was also aware that Cindy, with Zerrex as a parent, was definitely capable of a lot more nastier things than she'd ever taken part of... but the young Drakkaren had such a weird sense of dignity and responsibility that stopped her from ever doing anything Cherry saw as fun or retributive. But she guessed that everyone was different... and she was more than happy to play Lone to get revenge for everyone. She had a simple enough plan, after all... get Lone to think that she cared about him or that he had some entitlement to her, then let him do something to try and prove his "right" to her or that he was better than Zerrex... and let Zerrex beat the living shit out of him and hopefully kill him this time around. It was maybe a touch manipulative, yes... but she didn't really like the fact that the goddamn wolf was still alive after all these years. In her opinion, Zerrex should have raped Lone to death, burned down the mayor's mansion with him inside, and then offered the ashes to Mary's grave to put her to rest. But the one time she'd shared this idea with the Drakkaren, Zerrex had looked oddly stricken, before finally saying quietly that Mary wouldn't have been given peace by such an offering, but it would probably make her restless even in her grave. Cherry had been confused - actually, still was - by this sentiment, but she had shrugged it off; it did, however, nip at the back of her mind every now and then.

Lastly, she felt that Zerrex hadn't exactly been paying her enough attention recently... sure, they were really just getting in tight with each other again, and maybe their initial meeting three years ago - her helping Lone snag Mary, giving him her gun to kill the maid, and then duelling Zerrex, wrecking his motorcycle, and nearly chopping his arm off with his own sword - had been just a bit rocky... but still. It had been three years... and even Lone had been forgiven his sins by the reptile. Maybe it was unfair that she saw some of the things the reptile was doing these days as weak, but maybe not... after all, Lone had caused a living hell three years ago and almost brought Baskin's Grove to destruction.

They had been married for two years now... and Cherry never regretted it, but as she absently played with the ring, she wondered what it really meant. It wasn't like their relationship had changed at all... they still did as they pleased, owed each other nothing, and raised Cindy as best they could together. They just had some legal papers saying they were married... and these nice-looking rings. And over the last year, it had been... she had felt a bit more shunted to the side. Zerrex had been spending more and more time with his daughter, teaching her things, showing her stuff, and he'd been less rough and tumble with Cherry. Hell, they'd even had an argument about her shooting out glass cups in the backyard. They had enough money to buy cups made of platinum and laced with diamonds if they wanted to... she didn't see why it had really mattered that she'd been throwing crappy glass ones into the air and shooting them down.

It might be terrible of her to think, but she thought it was a good thing that Cindy was away from Zerrex for a while. Maybe it would let him learn he didn't need her to survive... but that thought made a strange worm of anxiety squirm uneasily in her gut. She knew that Zerrex didn't really need her either, when it came right down to it. But she thought at worst, she didn't need him... but it only took a moment for her to realize this was a bit of a bitter joke, as she glanced away to the side, watching buildings whiz by as Lone cursed to himself about missing a turnoff somewhere.

When they'd separated back in the Goth Legion, Cherry had been hurt but had shrugged it off: back then, she thought that Zerrex had just been a fun fuckbuddy and a strong leader. At first, she'd only missed a fuckbuddy and leader... and then a week later, she'd felt a strange lump in her throat and her hands had started shaking, and she couldn't help but think more and more of the old Captain Ravenlight. Odd feelings had taken hold, and for years she'd worked on doing nothing but trying to forget him. But then, when she'd gotten that email from Lone, she'd tried instead to hate him... yet all she'd managed to do was get desperate and try to kill him not out of hatred, but so that Zerrex wouldn't suffer the dishonor of Vamp putting a bullet in the back of his head with a sniper rifle or forcing Tinny to drop a C4-laden car on him.

A few times over the last three years, Cherry had almost wanted to leave... not because Zerrex made her unhappy, but because she felt the attachment to him growing. Because she loved him, and sometimes that still made her feel weak: unlike the Boss, she hadn't exactly found anyone else until she'd met him that made her feel that way, and had never had anyone else to talk to about her past, or feelings, or who tried to show her there was some good, some light left inside. All she was - and all she wanted to think of herself as - was a cruel, dominating succubus that used sex and manipulation to get her way... with the backup plan being torture, force, and at worst, a sniper rifle backed by her precog abilities.

Zerrex, however, made her feel soft and fluffy. Which disgusted her before and after, but felt so goddamn good during. And now, horribly, she missed the fact that Zerrex hadn't been holding her and cuddling with her as often as he had in the past, that he'd been working more and more with Cindy on training and exercises, and that he'd been getting out and dealing with jobs that were less violent and more legal. So she figured if she reminded Zerrex of who she was... of her importance... and maybe if she made it seem like she was almost considering going to someone else on a more daily basis for sex or pleasures, he might start giving her what she wanted more often.

She nodded a bit to herself as Lone slowed the sports car, then pulled up into a parking lot and into a space he kept reserved at the restaurant. He looked over at her and grinned in a way that was terrible and predatory, and she felt a sick lurch in her stomach as she smiled seductively back and reached out to gently put a hand against his chest. She felt her fingers sink gently into black fur, felt sweat and a lukewarm heart radiating from him, and her eyes picked up the faintest of bulges at his crotch as she drew her gaze slowly over a body that was rotund and apparently already aroused... and for a moment, she wondered why the hell she didn't just tell Zerrex she wanted to spend more time with him. She began to shrug it off, and then a horrible thought ran through her mind that almost made her freeze up. I'm acting just like those jealous bitches I never wanted to become.

Lone was climbing out of the car now, and Cherry swore under her breath before she climbed out as well and plastered a smile on her muzzle again, closing her eyes for a moment as something else came to her: it was a trick that Zerrex had taught her... actually, something he'd taught all of them back in the Goth Legion. Admittedly, the powerful male wasn't very smart when it came to academics and all that other crap... but when it came to analyzing a situation, he could produce incredible results and calculations. And one of the most basic tricks he'd taught them was how to size up yourself from someone else's point of view. The real trick wasn't the analysis, though... it was looking at yourself without trying to make up reasons for what you were doing or justifying your actions. It was looking in the mirror without looking at the pretty parts of the reflection and ignoring the ugliness... and without judging the person who you were pretending to be.

Zerrex had an honor streak she found ridiculous at times, for instance... but she couldn't look at him as being overly protective or too honest for his own damn good. She had to look through his eyes, which meant seeing a lot of black and white, and very few reasonable justifications. She knew she'd look like a whore to him if he found out her thoughts on what she was doing... and worse, she knew he'd be disappointed. Looking at things from his viewpoint was incredibly hard for her... because it was painful. She wasn't as honest with him as he thought, and she didn't live up to some of his expectations, but faked it... and as she walked towards the restaurant, slipping an arm around Lone and trying to strut still, trying to keep her face smiling and eyes warm, she found her thinking breaking up for the first time in years... and felt like she had been blind to her own actions.

She knew she'd always been the most undisciplined member of the Goth Legion... and had somehow thought that since the Legion was now gone, the discipline wouldn't be a factor anymore. But it had always been with Zerrex... self-control was something the Drakkaren prided himself on. She bit her muzzle as she looked down, as Lone called loudly and irritably for service as they waited in the lobby of the restaurant to be seated. As she analyzed herself in this moment of strange clarity, she recognized a terrible truth... right now, she was standing by someone who was exactly like her, but just pronounced in different ways.

She felt suddenly ridiculous... then she shook her head, muttering to herself under her breath as Lone tapped a paw impatiently, leaning against her, his hand sliding lower along her side... and she tried to laugh it off. Chick flick moments, moments of... "oh my God, what have I become?" realization didn't happen in reality like this... she must just be having a hot flash or... or some kind of weird moment of guilt, since she wasn't used to feeling that sort of thing. But as she shifted uncomfortably, hating the way Lone's gaze turned up to hers as she looked down at him, hating the feel of his hand resting now low on her hip and the grin spreading over his handsome but somehow not-attractive face, with those glittering grey eyes that were so hollow beneath the gleam of lust... she realized she actually had had an epiphany.

The Drakkaren returned Lone's smile, forcing herself to wrap her arm tighter around his body, but flexing her muscles as she dropped a hand to the one that was clutching her hip, grasping it to stop him from going any lower as she managed to keep her tone soft, saying in as light a voice as she could manage: "Hey, big boy... dessert comes after supper, not before."

Lone merely winked, replying in a voice he probably thought was sexy: "But I just want a little appetizer before dinner... you're so hot that I just can't wait to have just a little taste." His hand tried to slide lower again, the wolf's other moving to grasp his waistband lightly, as he puffed his chest out and pulled in his gut. As Cherry looked at him flaunting his body, she couldn't help but notice that his pants had tented quite a bit now... and she felt a wave of disgust in her mind as she realized that the wolf didn't just have an erection, his pants were designed so that the legs were baggy as hell but the crotch tight. She also noticed that he'd shifted his arm to pull his shirt open, as if he thought his body was sexy... and then she realized what exactly had caused her little miracle of suddenly seeing herself in a different light.

Earlier, Zerrex had mentioned something about her showing off her body a bit too much... had said that she'd been acting like Lone, and she had been offended all to Hell. And she realized that this whole time she'd been analyzing the wolf, comparing the way he acted to her own... and now she'd come to realize that everything about the lupine that disgusted her, she did herself. She hadn't had some stupid dramatic moment of realization, she'd been slapped in the face by a wolf that probably weighed two-fifty on a good day and who strutted around like he owned the town... when he was just a pathetic political puppet that danced on strings Zerrex pulled.

The only sudden realization she'd had was that she'd been acting like a dumb blonde in one of those retarded, dramatic movies about love triangles. That had been enough to trigger everything else and bring her mind back from 'crying, whiny bitch' to 'cold, analytical military' mode. She realized, however, that she hadn't exactly been much into the latter mode this last little while... that more and more, she'd been vying like an idiot child for attention, bouncing around Zerrex more and more and probably getting underfoot... hell, she'd even been hitting on Cindy, flirting with the girl who was supposed to be her daughter, just so she could get more involved when sexual situations did crop up between her and Zerrex. And that was freakish, she had to admit... well, sure, it was weird how Zerrex and Cindy slept with each other on a regular basis, but they had started off as lovers... finding out they were father and daughter had come later, and been more of an ironic twist of fate than anything else.

But now she had to play through the farce she had constructed... deal with Lone, and give him what she'd all but promised. All she wanted to do was return to Zerrex, and apologize for what she'd done, and help him get back his daughter, but she knew that with his strange sense of honor, he'd see her leaving Lone as not living up to her responsibilities, and not facing the consequences she created. Sure, fucking him was also going to cause her a mess to deal with, but she'd gone and boxed herself in now... and she was well aware that Zerrex would be far more disappointed with her if she came crying back like a child, instead of walking back to him as an adult after dealing with her duties... because with Zerrex, intent was almost as important as the action itself.

Besides, he had every right to be angry... now that she was thinking straight again instead of just being sex-hungry and jealous, she knew that his constant training was definitely the right idea. It would bolster his endurance, increase his strength, and sharpen his skills... and even though he only had a week and one day of rest, the Drakkaren healed most wounds almost overnight and would doubtless be in better shape than he ever had been when he faced Requiem next. Although she knew it looked like Requiem had held a major, indisputable advantage over Zerrex... she thought that the gap between them wasn't as insurmountable as it seemed. The giant Dragokkaren had made mistakes, after all... and he hadn't let Zerrex recover from too many attacks, meaning that the behemoth probably recognized his nephew as a major threat.

Now, all she wanted to do was help Zerrex train... and help him get his daughter back. But, as a timberwolf in a black suit approached, wincing a bit as Lone finally turned his slavering gaze from Cherry to glare at the manager of the restaurant, the masculine female recognized that she didn't have to let tonight go to waste and become hell entirely. Lone was a gossip-hound who was all too happy to babble cheerfully on and on about every bit of dirty news in the city, and getting him even the slightest bit drunk meant he would reveal everything right down to his credit card number if asked right. Another advantage... despite how often he bragged about his alcohol tolerance, giving him a shot of tequila generally knocked him on his ass for about half an hour and had him howling jazz if prompted to 'serenade someone with his beautiful singing voice.'

So once more, Cherry turned her attention to seducing Lone... but for a less selfish reason than before, smiling courteously as Lone commanded that they be given his usual booth. The manager led them into the main room of the restaurant immediately, at the same time giving a list of today's cuisine... Lone and Cherry, however, both ignored this. The wolf always ordered something ridiculous that wasn't on the menu, just to show off his power... and Cherry thought she'd be nice and order whatever today's special was.

The manager bowed them into Lone's favorite seat: a secluded booth underneath the second floor balcony, giving them privacy but the ability to spy on everyone else, as the manager lit the candles at the table with an expensive-looking, silver-plated lighter. Lone's eyes settled on this suddenly, and he held his hands out, looking like a greedy child: for a moment, the fellow, gray-furred wolf looked confused... then he winced a bit as Lone snarled: "Idiot! Lemme see that!"

"My apologies, sir." The manager responded courteously, and Cherry gave a slight grin of admiration and tipped him a wink as she caught his eye, making him give the slightest of smiles as he handed over the lighter. He sidled a bit closer to her end of the table, and she felt in her pocket for a moment before taking out her wallet and quickly extracting a twenty, as Lone ogled the lighter and flicked up the lid.

She slid it into one of the hands of the timberwolf as Lone held the lighter close to his face, inspecting the design on it, before his finger slipped on the wheel and he yelped: he dropped the lighter, and it fell to the floor. As Lone muttered angrily, nursing his hurt hand and slowly rolling onto his side to attempt to snag the lighter on the ground, she looked up as the manager looked at her with surprise, and she murmured under her breath: "For the trouble. And I got a fifty here with your name on it if you bring me a bottle of vodka that's been mislabelled champagne... plus whatever the price of that is, too."

Lone was still on his side, pretending to fumble for the lighter but in reality trying not to cry at the burn he'd sustained on his fingers, and the manager glanced at him before giving a somewhat-unprofessional grin and thumbs-up. Lately, a lot of the former Apple Villa businesses had become more relaxed than snobby, but he was quick to return to his formal expression as the arctic wolf finally sat up and crossed his arms, huffing and mumbling angrily: "Forget it, I'm not a servant. You can pick it up yourself... mine's better, anyway..."

"I bet." Cherry said in a marvelling voice, leaning on her elbows and resting her muzzle on them, looking at the wolf with warm eyes. The manager suppressed a snort as he squatted to pick up his lighter, then he stood and Cherry smiled at Lone as he combed at his ruffled fur, pacifying the stupid lupine as he puffed out his chest a bit, then glared at the manager.

"Now hey. I want to order a steak, biggest one you got on grill, and um... mashed potatoes, lots of gravy, and pork salad." The wolf commanded in his firmest 'I'm the boss and you're the little servant bitch' voice, then he glanced over at Cherry and gave a smile that attempted charming but only reached the status of leer. "And what about you, my darling?"

Cherry repressed a snort at the last word, half-wanting to reach across the table and see if she could break the wolf's skull with one punch, but instead she managed to smile in return and fluttered her eyes, leaning forwards a bit before glancing up at the manager. "What's today's special?"

The timberwolf gave a professional half-smile, putting his hands behind his back and responding smoothly: "The special today is grilled lobster, professionally prepared with our vintage house cuisine, buttered and served with garlic and shrimp salad. And of course, it comes with a bottle of our finest champagne, of which we only have ten bottles left in stock."

Lone's ears - trained to listen for words such as 'finest,' 'perfect,' 'vintage,' and 'x-number in stock' while ignoring most of the rest of the sentence - perked up immediately at this... and the vision of buttered lobster made him lick his lips hungrily, drool forming at the corners of his mouth and looking as excited about the food as he had about the prospect of finally getting into Cherry's pants. "Two specials then, on top of the other order... and don't cheat me by only giving me one bottle of champagne! Even the strongest stuff you got won't make either of us more than tipsy, I want enough to go around, pal."

"I wouldn't dream of it, sir." The timberwolf replied honestly, with a peculiar smile on his face and a polite nod: Cherry decided she really liked this guy, whoever he was. He bowed to them both, then turned and headed for the kitchens, strolling casually away with his hands behind his back. It almost made up for the fact that Lone had actually ordered for her, like she was his pet... it was something Zerrex had never and would never do, out of both respect and simple politeness, and it made her cringe at what was going to come next and miss him all the more.

Then Lone leaned across the table, grinning, the candlelight playing shadows over his face as he rested on one hand and tilted his head, saying cheerfully: "So is this great or what? Beautiful place, great food, dessert to look forwards to..." His eyes gleamed as he bowed his head forwards a bit more, adding in a lower voice: "And an even better dessert after that."

"I really can't wait." Cherry responded seductively, slowly tracing a pattern on the table in front of her with one claw, lightly bringing her other hand to her mouth and biting one of her fingers gently, finding herself bitterly amused that she could actually be hating herself for doing what had before been so natural and easy to her. "But you know, it takes quite a guy to please me... someone who's big and strong and handsome, who's got great tastes and style... someone who likes to do it rough and spontaneous..."

As she spoke, she kept her eyes on the wolf, who was all but drooling again at her, and she was more than willing to bet he was almost creaming himself as she kept a smile playing over her features, locking their eyes as she tilted her head upwards a bit and added in an easy voice: "I mean, I'm sure you fill at least some of those... but... do you fill all of them?"

Slowly, to add the final touch, she moved her foot forwards and gently stroked a combat boot against his leg, making the lupine jump a bit. He was almost panting, and it was both pitiful and entertaining to watch him nod rapidly, then suddenly take control of himself again as he flexed his body and grinned at her, leaning forwards and almost singeing his nose on the candles - this time, however, he barely noticed the fact he'd nearly burned himself. "Oh... give me the chance, and I won't just fill all of those requirements, but all of you... I'm... quite the big, strong boy, you know..."

His paw slowly pushed back, rubbing at her leg as he fidgeted in his seat, looking at her with an intensity that was disturbing, a single streamer of saliva dropping from his muzzle and landing on the black tabletop below. Cherry restrained herself, instead thinking of all the other people she had fucked over the years as a spy for the Goth Legion, or just because she was horny, or even gotten into bed with just to dominate, even rape or kill... but somehow, Lone was different. Yes, he was handsome... sure, from the bulge in his pants, he was probably a bit bigger than the average male... and when he wasn't being an asshole - which, unfortunately, wasn't that often - he could be alright to hang around... but at the same time, he was still more disgusting than even the worst tyrants she'd gotten in bed with, the kind of guys who liked to kick and whip the people they had sex with - usually little girls - before raping them in a way that would tear them up and leave them hurting for weeks, even months.

Lone, on the other hand, was completely enthralled with Cherry, and licking up every bit of praise, every look she gave him. His penis felt like it had been replaced by a rail spike... an enormous rail spike at that, which threatened to tear right through his pants at any moment. He shifted back and forth, and then grinned a bit to himself as he found himself half-wishing it would... he bet she'd jump right on him at the sight of his big wolf meat, and they could fuck right here on the table and give everyone a show.

Bet I'd make everyone jealous, too... this bitch is even hotter than Cindy! And raping her was like a dream... Lone thought, then he winced a bit inwardly, as a bit of apprehension licked at his insides. He didn't like to think of that rape... mostly because it had been so goddamn wonderful, and unfortunately the last he'd ever committed. Zerrex had kept him on the tight and narrow, and he hated that his roughest sex acts had to be paid for now from a hooker or someone else who would take a bribe and let him do as he pleased...

But Cherry... Cherry might just let him get real rough with her and not mind. After all, she was Zerrex's bitch... and he knew from the police reports in the "improbable cases" file that he'd committed quite a share of his own rapes. It often made him wonder why he and Zerrex didn't get along better... they both liked the same things, after all! He just wanted a good fling that would sure, maybe leave the girl scared at first... but hey, Cindy had forgiven him. Hell, she probably even had dreams about him, and was just too shy to ask him for another time around... or maybe Zerrex was just hogging her all to himself.

The lupine's eyes roved over Cherry, settling on her breasts for a few moments as he sat back a bit, his stomach giving a rumble that turned his immediate desire from sex to hunger... although he still enjoyed the eye candy, and it made his rail spike erection throb hard in his pants, licking his muzzle slowly... Cherry gave him an even better view as she leaned forwards and looked off to the side, her eyes half-lidded, and he thought she knew he was looking, but she definitely seemed willing to give him a nicer view. Slowly, he dragged his eyes away from her breasts to admire the rest of her body, her curves, her figure, her beautiful scales and sexiest of all, her muscles...

The wolf blinked and backed up his thoughts hastily, quickly looking down at himself with a cough and feeling a bit of a blush rising at his color. He hadn't just thought that, had he? He shook his head quickly, putting it off to the... the smoke in the room... but the thought came back almost immediately, and he winced as he found himself looking not at her breasts, but again over her arms.

"So uh. So hey! How... um... what's on your mind, gorgeous?" he asked, fingers tapping against the table quickly as he looked at Cherry again with a bit of a grin, but he felt sweat starting to roll down his face. His erection wasn't fading at all... but the horniness that had taken over his mind for the most part was bringing up different thoughts now, bridging into things he found sexy but didn't want to admit, things that almost terrified him as he tried to look at Cherry with confidence and desire, but the latter was quickly deflating, and he found his lust for something else was growing. Slowly, he glanced around the room, and then he let out a sigh of relief as he saw the timberwolf approaching.

"Oh, there's the champagne!" Lone interrupted, as Cherry opened her mouth. She frowned a bit, confused, as the wolf opened his arms and gave a shaky laugh, noting that the moody lupine was acting weird even more than usual. The manager gave him a look as he set the bottles down and nodded politely, and the wolf looked up at him, eyes roving over his body and the taunt suit he wore, and he was horrified when his mind suddenly asked: I wonder what he looks like naked.

A blush crept over the lupine's features as the manager took a step back, saying casually: "Your food will be along within twenty minutes. Please, enjoy the champagne. I'll serve you myself when your meal is ready."

"Good to hear..." Lone mumbled, shrinking in his seat a bit and now trying to hide his erection - it still felt huge, but now in a bad way. The timberwolf gave him an odd look, but then he turned and walked smoothly away... and Lone was horrified as he felt his eyes slip to watch the fellow lupine's buttocks before he tore his eyes away and looked at Cherry, trying to focus on her again and licking his muzzle hungrily. But she had sat back, arms crossed, and was giving him an odd look... and fear that she knew what was on his mind made him lose any interest in her sexually as he sat up and grabbed at a bottle of champagne, almost knocking over one of the glasses the manager had placed down with ornamented, decorative bucket that held the two bottles, ice cubes flying from it as the wolf almost smacked himself with the bottle before clawing at the cork and saying in a strangled voice: "Hey, why let this wait, huh?"

What. The. Fuck. Cherry only stared as Lone managed to rip the cork off without even using the corkscrew, the wolf not noticing the lack of pop or how loose the cork had been in the bottle. And then she couldn't repress a smile as the wolf immediately tilted the bottle up to his maw and drank deeply before coughing and spluttering, holding the bottle at arm's length and staring at the label as he blinked slowly. Before he could say anything, however, Cherry tilted her head as she picked up the other bottle, asking innocently: "What is it? The champagne too strong?"

"What? No!" Lone's pride immediately took over, and he quickly disregarded the strange taste of the 'champagne' in the bottle as he looked at Cherry with obvious displeasure: her insinuation had managed to nick just the right nerve, making him immediately go from frightened at the thoughts he was having to obnoxious. "I was just surprised at the taste." He paused, then shrugged and took another deep drink as Cherry grabbed a glass, then used the corkscrew to pull the top carefully off her bottle and poured the clear alcohol into her own glass.

Lone frowned at the look, but there was heat growing in his body and he swayed a bit on the seat before shaking his head, tilting his muzzle as he took another deep drink. Something seemed wrong... but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. "Hey... that doesn't look like champagne."

"Yes it does." Cherry replied casually, picking up her glass and swirling it as she smiled, tilting her head and purposefully looking at the wolf with calm condescending, which caused him to sulk childishly... but he brightened a bit as she filled his glass with her bottle and pushed it over to him. He took a sip from the neck of his own bottle, but then picked up his own glass as Cherry's held hers up, now smiling. "Here's to you, Lone."

"Here's to me!" Lone replied agreeably, his voice a bit loud as he grinned and swayed a bit on his seat again, raising his glass and sloshing a bit of the vodka over the side, staining his fur. Then he and Cherry both drank deeply, the female savoring more the taste of victory than the alcohol as Lone poured most of the drink into his muzzle, the rest of it splashing down his front and ruff as he upended the entire glass. Then he let out a sigh and relaxed, clunking the glass loudly against the table as he grinned stupidly.

Slowly, he swayed on the spot, then he blinked a few times, feeling pleasant and happy. Cherry sipped at her drink, taking her time and looking at the wolf with mild amusement, recognizing that he was already fairly drunk. Well, that's what happens when you guzzle what you think is party champagne like water, when it's really hard vodka... she thought with definite entertainment: this was a part of the night she'd save to tell Zerrex last, since it would probably cheer them both up after he bitched her out for manipulating and sleeping with the wolf as she'd done. She relaxed a bit against her side of the booth, then she decided to test Lone out a bit: it would be important to make sure that he both didn't drink himself to death, but that he stayed drunk the entire conversation... a fine balance to maintain, since once Lone started eating it would suck up a lot of the alcohol, and over a long period of time with how much he stuffed his face with... that, and he'd probably end up puking a few times, which would also have the nasty effect of sobering him up faster, even though it would also make him feel like shit... which she really wouldn't mind. But that would also happen if he drank too much... and she thought he was already on the edge there.

Of course, she'd had to deal with this same set of circumstances even in the Goth Legion when she'd acted as spy or decoy... so she used a fairly effective technique that worked with even the temperamental drunks. She reached across and gently plucked the wolf's bottle of champagne from his hand, which made him frown at first... but then he smiled warmly as she filled his glass for him before putting the bottle down... just out of the wolf's reach, which he didn't notice. Then she did her usual test to check exactly how drunk the lupine was. "Lone, how do I look, huh?"

"Babe, you are... you're gorgeous." Lone extolled, grinning lopsidedly as he rose his glass, swaying a bit in his seat and nodding firmly. His voice was slurred, and a bit louder than normal... and Cherry judged he was at the right level of inebriation when his next words caught her attention. "You're so hot... you got those awesome jugs, and those huge guns..."

Lone chortled to himself, sipping at his vodka again as he nodded again rapidly, and Cherry smiled and tilted her head seductively, asking in a voice that was gentle but laced with curiosity and surprise she didn't have to fake: "You mean my muscles?"

"Hot!" Lone blurted, then he laughed at himself and grinned again, dropping his glass - thankfully, it remained upright and only tottered a bit as he made wide gestures with his hands. "I mean, like... they're so big and stuff! You almost look as sexy as that big dude you hang around with all the time... wha... what's his name... Zerrex!"

Cherry blinked at this and gaped, but thankfully, Lone took this as if she was shocked by the compliment, not as if she was shocked by the fact that Lone had some hidden, latent homosexual attraction to a certain huge male he'd always worked so hard to crush. "Yeah, I'm serious! You're that sexy, babe! And your tits... your tits are like, wow, too, but not as much as the muscles, seriously, yeah."

The female Drakkaren took a moment to reflect on the wolf's words... but all-in-all, she wasn't exactly surprised, as a slow smile spread over her features and she said in as happy and pleased a voice as she could manage: "Why, thank you, Lone. That's really touching..."

As the wolf grinned again and swayed on the spot, sipping at his vodka, Cherry let herself return to her thoughts for a few moments - if the wolf was drunk enough to admit he secretly got off to guys, then she thought he probably also had lost all track of time already. Lone, really, was a classic case of violently-repressed gay... unlike Zerrex, when he raped a female, the lupine always seemed convinced that they would forgive him and that they even secretly enjoyed it, from the way he acted around Cindy and the other things he'd told her in the past while liquored-up. Furthermore, he obviously had an obsession with Zerrex, from the way that he'd flip back and forth from attempting to woo the Drakkaren into his point of view, then suddenly switching to making attempts to blot him out of existence. Cherry figured that was probably because Lone couldn't deal with the fact that he found another male attractive... and it would explain why the wolf would look at Zerrex with shining eyes while in the same room together, but would do nothing but badmouth and try to convince everyone he wasn't important if not.

It made her curious as to what else she could find out, though, that she could later use to blackmail Lone or just have a laugh with Zerrex over... so she tilted her head, then asked in a sweet voice: "So, you think the Boss is sexy too, huh? I mean, he is handsome, isn't he?"

"Yeah!" Lone agreed immediately, nodding and looking at her seriously as he reached for the bottle of booze: he frowned as he failed to reach it, then peered at his glass and relaxed, apparently deciding he still had enough left to be okay, taking another swig of the stuff before continuing to speak, voice slurring a bit more now. "He... he's really... hot and stuff... I mean, damn, he must be... you know, like, huge in the downstairs department from what I've heard... but... even without that, he's all... muscular and sexy and he's got those pretty green eyes, like, he could... he could be like, a model if he wanted to, I think, he's really pretty."

The wolf broke off, then hiccupped before nodding sagely, and Cherry couldn't repress a wide smile: it only made Lone smile back childishly, though, then he reached for the bottle again and almost knocked over the candle. Cherry quickly reached out, catching the wolf's hand and squeezing it in her own, lacing their fingers together as Lone gave wide, surprised eyes, staring as her thumb trailed gently over the back of his hand and she said in a voice she attempted to make shy: "You know, I really like you, Lone... and it makes me really happy you like Zerrex, too... maybe we should get together sometime and hang out."

"Yeah!" Lone brightened visibly at this, reaching out his other hand as well: Cherry winced a bit as it slapped the table a few times before finally setting on top of hers, his claws scratching lightly against her scales as he looked at her with wide eyes and dumb happiness. Then he paused for a moment and seemed to think deeply before finally saying in a slow voice: "Are we... we're supposed to have fun ourselves tonight, though... I wanna be with you alonely-lonely so we can make love just me and you..."

The female Drakkaren worked hard to repress both a mild shiver and a snort of laughter, instead forcing herself to smile as she replied in as kind a voice as she could manage: "Well, of course, silly. I've been looking forwards to that all day." A pause, then she added: "You're my favorite, you know."

Immediately, Lone attempted to puff out his chest as he grinned widely, pulling his hands back and grabbing the edge of the table as he nodded fervently, then he paused and looked to the side before clapping as he saw the manager pushing a food-laden cart towards them, giving a loud laugh and calling out drunkenly: "Hey, you sexy wolf! Bring that shit over here, yeah! Damn, smells fine!"

Cherry suddenly had the distinct impression that everyone in the restaurant was looking at Lone and herself with horror... and although she had rarely felt the sting of embarrassment in the past, no matter what she was doing... she most certainly felt it now, attempting to scrunch back in her seat and wincing. Suddenly, she could sympathize with how Zerrex must feel when she acted the way she sometimes did... and so she promised herself silently that if she made it out of here without killing the wolf - who was still clapping and donkey-laughing raucously - that she'd never again make a complete ass out of herself in public without good reason.

The manager, however, seemed rather used to Lone's behavior: it made her wonder if the wolf came here alone or with the variety of creepy, political 'friends' and 'admirers' he had when he wanted to get wasted. He served them, still acting pleasant and polite, announcing in a casual but professional voice: "Your dinner, sir and madam. The lobster is fresh off the grill, the steak is prepared as you like it, Mr. Mayor, rare but warmed through. Can I get yourself or the lady anything else to drink?"

"Pour me another glass of that good shit! Your champagne is... it's... magnific!" As Lone chortled to himself, it took Cherry a moment to realize that he'd just tried to pronounce 'magnifique,' and ended up making up an entirely different word instead. As the manager reached for the bottle, however, she quickly glanced up and caught his eye, and the timberwolf smiled before instead picking up the water jug that rested on the cart, filling Lone's glass. The drunken arctic wolf failed to notice this, as he reached down and picked up his drink, then he rose it violently and sloshed water all over his hand as he called brazenly: "To me! Long live the fuckin' king, baby!"

The manager merely nodded, then smiled at Cherry before leaving, and the Drakkaren grinned slightly as she watched him walk away. Lone was smacking his lips together, then he looked over at Cherry owlishly and frowned a bit, as she turned her gaze to him and smiled. "You know, I could've sworn that... that this champion was... you know, tasted different last time I tried..."

Champion? Oh my Gods. Now just to keep him this drunk... "Here, let me pour you another glass." The female responded sweetly, then she poured more vodka from the bottle into the wolf's half-full glass of water. It bubbled a bit, and for a moment Lone looked at this event, enthralled. Cherry, meanwhile, refilled her own glass and took a slow drink as she gazed down at the lobster on her plate, sitting in the middle of a prepared salad made from lettuce, some other vegetables she didn't know, and shrimp that gave the meal an extra decorative flare. It certainly smelled delicious... and there was a cup of some weird garlic sauce stuff and a lemon, along with a variety of utensils. The female felt oddly out of her element, not knowing what any of the stuff really was for sure... but the fact that it at least smelled really good was a start.

Lone, on the other hand, had started in on his steak... which looked to her like something that even Zerrex would have trouble eating. He was slavering and his eyes were almost bulging with joy as he stabbed his fork into the soft meat and then sawed at it with his knife messily... the wolf was so drunk, however, that he failed to cut straight or even through the meat at all, so when he lifted it the entire steak came off the plate and only ripped a bit, juices and the sauce it had been marinated in spilling back down onto the plate... the plate that held the steak and mashed potatoes, in any case. His lobster sat nearby, and so did another bowl of salad that had bits and pieces of meat throughout it, along with a bottle of dressing and a small dish of gravy.

The lupine giggled stupidly at the sight of the steak, then he simply shoved it into his muzzle and began to chew, grinning like a child at Cherry as the female did everything she could to repress the weird horror it gave her. The steak bobbed up and down, flecks of grease and meaty sauce sprinkling everywhere as he chewed, then it fell from his muzzle to land half on the plate and half on the table with a sickening splat that sent pellets of juice flying in all directions.

Lone merely chortled again at this, exposing a terrible vision of half-chewed meat for a moment, then he swallowed and looked at Cherry before making frenzied motions with his hands, commanding: "Eat! Eat!" in a voice that was both happy and petulant. Cherry, her stomach twisting as the wolf picked up the steak with his fork and plopped it back on the plate, had never really felt less hungry in her life... but then she glanced down at the lobster and steeled herself. She figured if she kept her mind on the food, her eyes on her side of the table, and didn't give the wolf too much more to drink until after his first course... she could probably make it through dinner. But at this point, she didn't think she'd ever been more sorry that she'd tried to get laid in her entire life.

It didn't take her long to figure out what the various little tools on the platter were used for... one cracked the shell of the lobster, another was used to remove pieces of meat from where cracking it would probably just squish the meat inside, like the narrow ends of claws and tail, and one could be used to sprinkle the garlic stuff on it... which added a very distinct, very wonderful flavor. Cherry found herself delighted at how much she enjoyed the lobster's taste... a pleasant surprise, but a glance up at Lone almost ruined her appetite.

The wolf had literally ripped apart his steak, and bits and pieces of it were scattered around his side of the table... along with a few chunks of mashed potato, spilled vodka, and broken glass from when he'd finally managed to slap his glass over so hard it had shattered. He had given an apologetic grin at this, then said "Oops!" before laughing raucously and simply snatching the bottle, sucking greedily at the neck and keeping it close at hand. His fur and shirt were flecked with grease, gravy, and juices from the steak, and he likely had a good amount of both potato and meat in his lap as well.

He had just started on his salad... and Cherry couldn't help but notice that he was doing the best he could to avoid eating too many leaves of lettuce and instead gulping down the pork. After only a minute or so, he dropped the bowl onto his plate, and Cherry heard the bottom of it crack: she glanced down, and saw a single crack radiating up to the side of the bowl, barely visible from where it was half-buried in the mashed potatoes the wolf had started on but never gotten around to eating.

Lone, meanwhile, looked nothing short of pleased with himself: his muzzle was coated in all variety of food, however, and then his eyes widened as he suddenly shoved his plate forwards and grabbed greedily at the lobster, and Cherry let out a disgusted cry and jumped back in her seat as the gravy pitcher overturned and sent a flood of the stuff over the table, spilling over her edge and almost into her lap: she'd managed to jump to the side in time, however, and was now pressed against the wall of the booth, glaring at the wolf as he looked back at her stupidly and asked in an impatient voice: "Well? How is it?"

"It's good." Cherry replied flatly, as she picked up a cloth napkin from the table and quickly soaked up as much of the gravy as she could, reflecting that the worst thing was the fact that Lone sounded more sober than drunk now. She glanced at her mostly-eaten lobster, but another look at Lone simply drowning his in the garlic sauce made her stomach feel queasy, and instead she grabbed the bottle of vodka to fortify herself as she wiped at the edge of the table and seat before finally tossing the napkin onto her plate with disgust.

Lone reached down, ignoring the garlic sauce that had coated the entire lobster, then he grabbed the body with one hand and tail with the other before grunting and simply ripping it off, all but drooling as he looked at it. Moving with a horrible quickness, he picked up a knife and stabbed it into the tender meat inside before simply opening his muzzle and tilting his head back, raising the tail above his face and hungrily sweeping the meat inside down into his jaws, garlic sauce spilling down his muzzle and features that had a look on them that was terribly like ecstasy. Cherry felt herself wanting to gag, so she quickly took her eyes off the wolf, staring down into the champagne bottle instead and taking a deep whiff of the vodka, forcing her mind to wonder how much the alcohol percentage of this stuff was instead of how the wolf could put so much away and if he was at least going to clean up before he tried to fuck her...

The wolf took all of five minutes to demolish his lobster, then he shoved that away as well and took another deep swig from his bottle, grinning across at Cherry. Once more, he was starting to sway a bit on the spot, looking tired as well as tipsy now, and then he finally asked her in a voice that the slur had returned to: "So, babe, what do you want for dessert? They got great dessert here, and so we gotta have somethin' good after such a nice, light supper."

Cherry stared a bit at Lone, unable to believe he had just referred to his horrible gorging as a 'light supper.' She managed to recover, however, and instead cleared her throat, finally saying in a voice that she hoped wasn't too strained: "Oh well, I'll just have some ice cream or something... I gotta watch my figure, you know." She gave a bit of a smile at this, inwardly noting to leave that part of the conversation out of the story she told Zerrex: he'd never let her live it down.

Lone, however, looked almost offended, responding petulantly: "Hey, don't go hitting on fat chicks now. I mean, they're... they're not so good looking, but have you ever ridden one? You... you gotta do it right... but... damn, they're- oh hey! Hey, black guy! I wan' service, pronto!"

Cherry made a face, but felt relieved nonetheless as the manager came over - she blushed deeply as he looked at the war zone on the table, but then he simply looked at Lone with a smile she taught was tired and horribly used to this sort of thing. "I take it you enjoyed your meal, sir?"

"It was... it was... shit!" Lone slammed a fist on the table, rattling the plates and spilling a bit more food into his lap as he managed to glare up at the timberwolf. "I'll... I demand a coup de gras... you know... a fucking... maze do etters."

The female Drakkaren bit her cheek hard, doing everything she could to just keep a straight face. A coup de gras and maison d'etre have absolutely nothing to do with food, Lone... the word you're looking for is gratis... she thought mildly to herself, clutching the table firmly. The timberwolf, however, only smiled pleasantly at Lone and bowed, saying in an apologetic tone: "Of course, sir." He paused, glanced at Cherry with an eyebrow raised, and she quickly mouthed two words as Lone crossed his arms and looked vindictively up at the manager: I'll pay.

"I'm over here... short... shorty!" The arctic wolf flapped his arms, then he picked up the bottle and drank deeply from it before huffing... and coughing, face reddening as he grabbed at his nose, spittle and droplets of vodka flying from his mouth. Apparently he'd managed to send a good amount of the alcohol into his nostrils with his snort, and now tears sprung to his eyes as he grabbed at his face and whined, ears flattening back.

"Would you like dessert, sir?" The manager asked mildly, continuing to look at Lone seriously: a smile twitched at his features, however, as Lone straightened and wiped quickly at his eyes, drawing himself up and looking like nothing more than an overweight, oversized toddler who'd gotten himself messy trying to eat supper like a big boy. Suddenly, he shook his entire body and crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes as he tilted his muzzle arrogantly: the gesture was ridiculous enough that Cherry had to raise a hand to her muzzle and clamp it over her mouth to hide a snort and grin.

The drunk arctic wolf, however, was obviously deadly serious, as he said firmly: "I wan'... free... a big bucket of... of..." he paused, peered at Cherry, then returned his gaze to the timberwolf and said firmly: "Strawberry ice cream! 'Cause... 'cause chicks dig strawberries and... and that's like her name, you know?" Suddenly he tilted his head and looked back and forth, almost lost and childlike.

"Yes Lone. That's my name. Strawberry." Cherry smiled consolingly at the wolf, crossing her arms and leaning back in the booth. Lone, however, looked more than pleased with himself as he smiled stupidly up at the manager.

Then he rose a finger and added: "And I want... um... a... a fucking... cake! Get me a cake in... the shape of my head, with... with chocolate frosting for my black parts and vanilla for the not black stuff and um... big candy eyes! And make it snappy! And get the black... the black stuff right!" Lone looked at the timberwolf seriously as he grabbed at the bottle of vodka, missed, and then instead grabbed his own throat in what was almost a pantomime of choking. Then he bowed forwards to point at his eartips, but overbalanced and instead collapsed on the floor.

The wolf kicked and gave a donkey-laugh, struggling to get up before yelling and shoving away the manager's hand, as he half-kneeled to help him: a few moments later, he managed to claw his way back onto his seat and looked from Cherry to the timberwolf before rubbing at his head and mumbling to himself about an ear infection. The manager nodded sympathetically, then he quickly walked away, leaving the female Drakkaren once more trying to figure out how to deal best with the drunken idiot in front of her.

Lone, however, solved her problems for her: as he took a last sip from the bottle of vodka, someone sat down at the piano in the corner of the room and began to tinkle out a soft melody. The wolf's ears perked, and he began to tap his fingers in time with the song, humming it under his breath: as Cherry watched, however, the lupine quickly lost track of what he was doing and instead frowned, before turning towards the direction the music was coming from. Apparently, something about the music playing bothered him... and from the look on his face, it was probably the fact that the piano player was obviously far superior to him in terms of his craft.

"Hey! You suck!" he yelled, and Cherry's eyes widened as he seized the bottle by the neck and drew it back to throw it at the pianist in the far corner of the room: she knew he wouldn't be able to throw that far, but she had a sudden, ridiculous need to stop the wolf from likely hurting someone innocent who was just trying to enjoy their dinner. However, the lupine upended the bottle when he pulled back to throw, and instead of tossing it, he let out a yelp as the contents of the bottle spilled free and poured onto the seat and one leg of his baggy pants, his eyes widening in what looked like horror before he dropped the bottle and bent down, hands pressing against the cushion, the bottle hitting first the seat before falling to clang against the floor and roll under the table. "No, that's mine!"

As Lone was bent down, trying to somehow magically reverse time with his whining, Cherry immediately seized the bottle remaining on the table and grabbed the corkscrew that still bore the cork on one end of it, slamming it onto the neck before dropping the bottle on the seat beside her, safely hidden from Lone's view. The wolf straightened, looking sullenly around, then he looked up at the Drakkaren sadly. "No more champagne."

"Well, maybe we can order more when the manager comes back." Cherry responded in a soothing voice, and Lone smiled immediately, looking pacified and nodding as he rested back against the booth. The wolf was soused enough that even real champagne would probably keep him drunk until they were done dessert... or at least to the point where she could still extract some information from him.

She paused, then decided now would be as good a time as any to start in on the inebriated wolf, tilting her head and asking in a gentle voice: "So Lone. You find out anything about Requiem?"

"Sure!" Lone nodded seriously, then he paused and looked confused for a moment, frowning a bit. "What did I tell you already?"

"Oh, not too much... but I'd love to hear you tell me all over again what happened. Your stories are so exciting." Cherry responded warmly, and Lone puffed up immediately, grinning at the female stupidly. He swayed a bit on the spot, then brushed at his dirty shirt as the muscular reptile held back the urge to laugh at his useless smoothing out of his clothing.

Then she listened as Lone instead recounted exactly what had happened that morning: and, unlike normally, it was extremely easy to figure out what was the truth and what wasn't, since when the wolf got drunk, his stories became nothing short of fantastic. For instance, Requiem apparently tried to run him over with a shopping cart at some reason - Lone's reason was that the Dragokkaren was a meanie-head just like Zerrex - but Lone had stopped him with one hand, then chased him out of the grocery store, to the applause of everyone else. The dreaminess in the wolf's eyes told Cherry he was probably envisioning himself as a muscular giant who made even Requiem look puny, and that he saw the giant running in terror as he strode behind him with females - or, from the lupine's secret fantasies, males - crawling all over his body and begging for sex.

She did, however, find out something that Zerrex would find interesting, that Lone hadn't mentioned earlier. The Godkillers' inner circle had been there... and when he'd told them about what had happened in the park - probably the stupidest thing the wolf could have done - their leader, Felicity, had been, in Lone's poetic words 'surprised... you know, like... like she had been fucking Zerrex and he took off his costume and it turned out to be you, and you had a big spiky lizard penis with spikes and stuff on it, and you put it up her butt instead of in her pussy.'

Cherry had snorted amusedly at this little bit of wisdom, and Lone had looked pleased with himself... but mentally, she was working out what exactly this meant. Zerrex had always made it extremely clear that she wasn't to hurt Felicity, no matter how she acted or what it seemed like she was doing... and she got the idea that he knew something about her he hadn't bothered to share. But she also knew that the other Godkillers - particularly Tank - weren't exactly friendly-friendly... and if Felicity really wasn't someone who was a threat, she thought that the punk vixen must have no idea about what Tank was doing behind the scenes.

After all, Tank was definitely anti-Boss... she thought he probably wanted the position himself, or was jealous of all the attention that Zerrex gleaned. He and Lone would probably make great pals, with their love of guns and general stupidity, if they ever figured out they had those things in common. Fortunately, however, it had never occurred to Lone to enlist the Godkillers' help in trying to get rid of Zerrex... although now that she thought about it, Felicity herself had always been polite and courteous whenever they'd crossed paths. So maybe it wasn't so much that Lone hadn't tried to get their help as that Felicity had never allowed her gang to make any hostile moves towards Zerrex.

Of course, even if the Godkillers did all hate Zerrex, that was probably the smartest move... Cherry knew her husband had a nasty temper when it came to people trying to usurp him or take over the town, since he himself had never really seen himself as anything more than a figurehead. The Drakkaren had no interest in running the town as his own playground, despite the fact he obviously could if he ever wanted to, and Lone didn't really seem to get the fact that all of Zerrex's actions benefited the town, and rarely him. He still paid for his electricity and water and food, just like everyone else... and Cherry knew damn well that Lone sent the bill for his mansion and all the food he bought - which must be a hell of a lot - to the city council under the guise of 'city utilities bill no. 542.' The wolf probably hadn't actually paid for anything himself in years, except for his very-illegal gun collection and his porn... even the sports car had been bought with funds meant for the city's transportation services.

The wolf-in-question was swaying a bit on the spot and looking moody: apparently he didn't like the fact that Cherry had descended into her own thoughts instead of praising him. So she sighed mentally and psyched herself up, then smiled at wolf and gazed over him, finally saying in a warm voice: "You know, Lone, you have a really strong, powerful voice for telling stories..."

Lone smiled at her, happy that he was once more having his ego stroked as he nodded firmly and crossed his arms. "I always thought about bein'... being a radio host, you know." He said, voice slurring and eyes looking at her beadily before he grinned and tilted his head. "Hey, wanna hear another story? It's um... it's um about... it's about a dream I had!"

"Sure." Cherry smiled back, not really liking the fact that Lone had a dream he wanted to tell her about: it would probably be something about how they'd screwed their brains out on the beach or some crap like that. The wolf, however, leaned in close and looked back and forth seriously, then he began to talk in a low, almost hoarse voice that was just a bit too loud to be a proper whisper.

"Well... it's about Zerrex." At this, Cherry leaned forwards a bit, careful to avoid the congealing gravy on the table and feeling her interest blossoming. "See... I had this... this wonderful dream 'bout him, but you know... it scared me, 'cause I woke up really hard and you know, guys... guys ain't 'sposed to get off to other guys..."

"But that is sexy on all kinds of levels, guy on guy." The female replied smoothly, and then she added quickly at Lone's hesitant smile: "And I mean, something like you and Zerrex? I bet that'd make all the girls squeal and all the other guys jealous."

As expected, Lone immediately grinned stupidly and nodded drunkenly, almost falling face-first into the cooling food that dotted the table as he exclaimed: "Yeah! Yeah, I bet... me and him, we're both so sexy and... yeah, I mean, I'm all kinds of hot and powerful and shit!"

Cherry let him go on for a while, knowing he would continue after he finished his usual self-inflation, and, as expected, it only took a few more minutes of listening to him extolling how 'big,' 'strong,' 'handsome,' and 'powerful' he was before he got back on topic. Even drunk, the wolf had a one-track mind, and he always had to be in control of the conversation: but it meant that he often let things slip that he shouldn't, so long as it was on the subject of his choice. "See, so this dream... this dream, right? I had this dream... and... and Zer and I were in it, and like... I guess we were at my mansion and shit. And he all comes in, and like... I was like... yeah, I guess I was kinda scared at first, but then he comes over to me and it was pretty damn... I mean, he was shirtless, and all that muscle was bulging all over the place...

"It was awesome! And he leans down and kisses me and I was just..." Lone had a look of bliss on his features as he grinned and swayed back and forth, looking over at Cherry with round eyes. "Have you ever had a dream you could like, swear is real? And then like... you wake up and it's not and you're so disappointed but still so like... fucking... aroused that... hey! Cake!"

Cherry blinked, watching as Lone's short attention span saved him and stopped him from saying anything more stupid, and she turned her head to look at the manager once more wheeling a cart towards them: this time, it bore a large cake that was indeed in the shape of a wolf's head, with chocolate-tipped ears and a black throat. The eyes were some kind of sugar candy, and the nose also looked like black chocolate... but all around the lower edges was some kind of golden frosting. Lone frowned at this, leaning forwards and peering at the edge of the cake before, ridiculously, picking up a spoon and trying to inspect himself in it - ironically, the utensil was one of the few clean things on the table. "Hey, I don't see any gold..."

"It's just your aura of importance, sir." The manager said swiftly, and Lone beamed proudly, puffing out his chest for the umpteenth time that day: Cherry was starting to honestly wonder if his ribs were going to crack from his lungs putting so much pressure on them. The timberwolf smiled politely back, doing his best to remain courteous even as Lone simply used his arms to sweep his plates out of the way and making room for the cake in front of him: obviously, he had no intent of sharing.

The manager placed the cake down, then he picked up a bowl of strawberry ice cream: Cherry was amused to note that it was topped with... well... cherries. It was also lightly drizzled in chocolate sauce and sprinkles, and a spoon was already anchored in one of the mounds of the dessert. She nodded politely to the manager, who bowed to her and then quickly headed away as Lone smacked his lips loudly. Before he made it out of safe hearing range, however, Lone turned and yelled loudly after him: "Hey, sexy! I wan' a bottle of wine, too! Gimme some of that mulberry shit!"

The timberwolf turned and bowed respectfully from his distance away, then he turned and once more headed off, pushing the dolly along in front of him towards the kitchens. Cherry admired his self-control, then looked at the arctic wolf in front of her again, who obviously... lacked in that area.

Lone was grinning widely, rubbing his hands together as he looked at his cake. He stuck a finger into the muzzle of the wolf, then put it into his mouth, making a loud, slurping sound as he sucked the crumbs and icing off it. Then he paused, looking across at Cherry, and for a moment she thought he was going to offer her a piece before he opened his muzzle and asked blatantly: "Can I have some of your ice cream?"

The female Drakkaren had to restrain herself from throwing the bowl at him, instead reminding herself that he was drunk... but it didn't do much. She had a feeling that even if the wolf had been stone cold sober, he still would have asked for her ice cream... just in a more tactful way. However, she managed a smile, and then scooped up a good chunk of it and plopped it onto the wolf's cake, saying sweetly: "There you go, Lone. That enough?"

"For now." Lone said comfortably, swaying a bit on the spot. He grinned at her as if he'd just said the most charming thing in the world, though, then his ears perked up and he turned as a waiter approached with a bottle of wine. The wolf bounced almost excitedly in his seat, looking idiotic, then, once the feline was close enough, he half-stood and snatched the bottle away before falling backwards and landing on the bench with a grunt. Even on his back, however, he held up a hand and beckoned greedily for the corkscrew, and Cherry didn't blame the poor tiger at the disgust she saw flash on his features. "Gimme and get out of here!"

"Sir." The blue-vested male said courteously, then he handed over the corkscrew and turned, heading quickly away. Cherry watched as Lone forcefully righted himself, the wolf almost panting from even that small exertion, then he grinned across at the female Drakkaren before clumsily getting the corkscrew on and ripping the cork free, giving a giggle and letting out a stupid "oops" as the red wine spilled onto his rotund stomach and shirt. Then he quickly took a swig of the wine from the bottle and let out a long sigh of relief, putting it down beside the cake before picking up his fork and looking across at Cherry with a smile.

"Dig in!" he cried, then immediately took his own advice, leaning down and beginning to shovel cake into his mouth at a manic rate, chewing lustily and causing crumbs to fly everywhere, bits of chewed pastry falling out of his mouth and icing smearing his muzzle. Cherry leaned back a bit in disgust, then started in on her own ice cream.

In the fifteen minutes she took to enjoy her dessert, Lone had demolished his cake so it no long resembled anything but a pile of yellow-white crumbs, with a few larger pieces here and there: much of the rest was in his fur, and splattered around the table and on the bench. He was nursing the wine bottle as he swayed a bit, but he hadn't drank down too much yet... but also hadn't offered any to Cherry, which irritated her. However, the wolf soon put the bottle aside and stood, letting out a sigh of relief and stumbling drunkenly away from the booth, calling over his shoulder with a grin: "Meet me at the car, babe! I gotta take a leak, and then we can go out to a beautiful place I know!"

The wolf cackled as he staggered off towards the bathrooms, and Cherry mumbled and slid carefully free from the table, pulling another twenty out of her wallet and throwing it on her seat - the table was too messy to dare put a tip on, and she felt honestly sorry for whoever had to clean up the disgusting disaster that the lupine had left behind. She watched him waddling off towards the bathrooms for a moment, his ass swaying like he was trying to show off his body, stumbling over his own paws and making people stare... then she shook her head slowly before walking up to the front, where the manager stood by a polished silver register. She coughed a bit as he looked at her with a respectful smile, then she rubbed the back of her head as she reached into her pocket and pulled out her wallet. "You uh. Handled yourself well."

"Mayor Wulfe comes in here two, three nights a week... sometimes again on the weekend if he has 'company' or is with his friends." The timberwolf replied idly, brushing at the lapels of his black suit before glancing off in the direction of the bathroom. "He's always like this. It's actually better when he's drunk... he yells at the staff less, doesn't order us around, and loses the ability to aim if he tries throwing food."

Cherry snorted as she produced her credit card, and she held it up. The lupine nodded, then he quickly keyed the amount owed into the register before taking her credit card and running it through the machine. It whirred, and he handed her a keypad to verify. "You should just kick him out sometime. I doubt anyone would complain, including the Boss..." She paused as she read over the amount, then blinked and stared at the manager. "Holy shit."

"Sorry. But it's kind of you to pay. Generally Mayor Wulfe is more of a write off than anything else, worse if he gets rowdy. He usually says the food is terrible and generally complains until we finally give it to him free." The timberwolf replied apologetically, then he paused. "Tips and... the bonus for getting the proper alcohol are factored in, by the way, so that's part of the reason it's so high. Also because Mayor Wulfe always orders specially-prepared items we have to order in, since they aren't on the menu."

"Oh. Well. That makes a bit more sense then." Cherry said slowly, but the price still seemed ridiculously high to her. She'd never paid more than fifty dollars for a meal in her life... and this was more than ten times that at five hundred and eighty-seven dollars... and twenty-two cents. "Uh... the meal was delicious, though. I've never had lobster before."

"Come in some time with the Boss, and we'll give you the best seats in the place and you can have it on the house, served with our finest wine." The manager smiled and nodded, bowing a bit as Cherry hit the buttons to confirm her purchase. Then he took the keyboard back as the female Drakkaren laughed a bit, rubbing her head as she took her credit card from the wolf.

"Thanks... I'll keep that in mind." she replied, feeling somewhat touched that these polite, posh people would actually invite her and Zerrex into their world... a world where they definitely did not fit in. Then she quickly turned and headed out to the car, not wanting Lone to make a scene if he saw her talking to the manager.

She sat in the red sports car and waited a few minutes as she looked up at the sky: it had darkened into full night now, and although she guessed it was still early, clouds had obscured most of the stars. She found herself quietly wondering what Zerrex was up to... and then glanced over at the doors of the restaurant and winced a bit as Lone staggered out, yelling something vulgar over his shoulder before he stumble-walked towards the car, grinning stupidly. She winced at how drunk he still was, but was a bit reassured when the wolf staggered but managed to catch himself instead of falling, cursing under his breath instead of going into drunken laughter.

He yanked the door open and slid into the sports car, then he grinned at Cherry: she was disgusted by the fact he had obviously made little more than a perfunctory effort to clean himself up; his fur was still greasy, his muzzle wet with water now as much as everything else that had coated it. He leaned towards her, apparently thinking he deserved a kiss... but Cherry quickly rose a finger and smiled, saying in a seductive voice: "Not yet, Lone... first you have to show me that special place you promised.

The wolf frowned a bit, blinking slowly... then he nodded and grinned stupidly at this. "Yeah! That's right!"

The lupine dug in his pocket for his keys, giggling to himself, excitement rolling through his being... and meanwhile, Cherry was leaning against the car door and doing everything she could to psych herself up for what she was trying to think of as just as job, wincing at the fact she couldn't just break the wolf over her knee or anything like that. As much as she knew he and Zerrex didn't get along... Zerrex did protect Lone to an extent, which she found weird. But she guessed it was a combination of his own honor and the fact that Lone was easy to manipulate in the position of mayor... along with what he guessed would have been Mary's last wishes and Cindy's known thoughts about the wolf.