Also, posting this early because I have nothing better to do--

:O
Babyyyyyyy!!!

She looks so good in stormy weather,
I approve of this on all levels.

She however looks very disapproving atm,
FSG FH JGNG

Also I'm terrible at staying on model for my own characters and always tend to eyeball the colors. X'D
The ref system in colors is kinda bad anyway gfy HF gg.

I'll go reply now!

Hello there.

@Rad

Althea's face turned sour as Terry started listing names. "Alright I'm going to stop you right there."
She folded her arms and turned to Denarius. "This was a waste of time, c'mon Den let's go."
Althea started walking down the tunnel not letting Terry see the rest of her changing expression, which looked sick.
Den gave one confused glance at Terry before following after his partner.

@Rad
"Charming" Euterpe mused sarcastically.
"I don't think I could though, too busy listening to ghastly voices of the people around me." She shot a glare behind Arc to where Stal went then continued to retch in an odd manner.

(My characters are so rood that I have to apologize on their behalf >:[ )

(Hey guys! I stepped away for a minute. XD
@Alk - I'm glad you like my Euterpe doodle. :D Feathery/fluffy dragons are fun to draw--)

@Alk

'Huh?' said Terry unintelligently. He stared after the duo as they walked away down the dimly-lit tunnel, unsure whether to follow or not. //Was it something I said? Just what are those kids up to, anyway?// he thought.

(I'm kinda just assuming they don't have him handcuffed anymore, let me know if I should change that.)

(Well Den probably dispelled/will dispel it once they're a good ways away.
It requires him to be in range and in focus to keep it going anyway. :00 )

(Feathered dragons are fun Ehehehe,
Which reminds I wonder how Crowley would react around Euterpe?
They're both rude birds, Crowley probably more so haha. X'D )

(Crowley would probably insult/make fun of her relentlessly, especially about the fact that she doesn't fly. I think he'd also try to pick a fight with her. XD)

@Alk

Loch narrowed her eyes at Euterpe's strange response, but couldn't decide whether to retort or not. In the end, she just said, 'Well, whatever makes you happy,' and wandered off to go talk with Pyre on the sidelines. The redhaired vampire was being rather quiet, seeming content to observe his surroundings and listen to the conversations.

Arc glanced back and forth between Euterpe and his bandmates, clearing his throat awkwardly. '...Hmm, yes, well, I should probably go and check on Stal.' With that, he quickly slipped off towards the stage.

Dianne: “If you can, then do it. Don’t raise your voice at me.”

{Just then, Stella walks out from back stage.}

Stella: “Ah, you must be the band Dianne wanted me to meet. The Sickness, was it?”

{Her tone of voice is one of impatience and annoyance.}

@Xeno

As Stella came over, Gray let out a long-suffering - but quiet - sigh, while Stal raised his head with a faint air of arrogance. 'The Plague, ma'am,' he replied, making an effort to keep his tone mostly polite this time. 'We're a rock band who play small gigs all over EC.'

While this was happening, Arc came over to join them, throwing a worried glance at Stal. //I'd better make sure he doesn't say anything stupid,// the drummer thought. //If he messes up, it'll be down to me to salvage our chances.//

(I think I'm going to make Arc not a shapeshifter... because there are too many shifters in this band.)

Stella: "Mhmm...Ok, small gig band, welcome to the big leagues. Set up your stuff on the stage and play me something. Show me what you got. But, I do need to say..."

{She momentarily glances over at Pyre before continuing.}

Stella: "I don't appreciate you people snooping around here before we're ready. You want to see the place, you ask. Normally, I'd kick you out for that, but Dianne seems to have faith in you, so, you're getting a chance. But, if you want access to this establishment, you go through me, got it?"

Stal's eye twitched at the reminder of what Pyre had done. 'Sorry, ma'am. I didn't ask him to come sneaking around in here this morning. He does stupid things sometimes. I'll make sure nothing like that happens again.'

Stal turned his head and yelled out to Loch and Pyre, who were still hanging around near Euterpe's table.

'YOU TWO! Get onto this stage, bring your stuff - we're gonna show this place what we're good at!'

With that, Stal, Gray and Arc hurried off to begin setting up their instruments and equipment.

{As Stal's band hurries to set up, Dianne and Stella start to converse quietly.}

Dianne: "Yikes. Way to make them nervous."

Stella: "They were asking for it, sending that gaudy fool to sneak in before hours. Why not just ask to see the venue like a normal person?"

Dolorus: //Look at him, does he look normal? Do any of them?//

Dianne: "You're one to talk, Dolorus. You're a bloody revenant whom only two people in the entire city can hear. My point is, if they hit it big with the clientelle, this could really help them. They seem like good people."

Stella: "Ok, but I won't hold back in my critique."

Loch and Pyre glanced up upon hearing Stal's roar. 'Welp, that's our cue,' Loch whispered, and ran off to join him on stage. Pyre tossed a curious glance towards Euterpe before following, leaving the feathered dragon alone with her food.

'What are we playing?' Loch asked as she pulled her guitar out of its case.

'The thing we've been rehearsing all week, don't you remember anything?' Stal snapped. It was clear that nerves were making him bad-tempered. When Loch's expression remained blank, he sighed. 'We're going to start with Nightmares and Dreams, because that's our best song. If they ask us to do anything else, we'll play Crosshairs and A Million Colours.'

Loch nodded. 'OK, got it. And, Stal? Chill out. Stage fright isn't gonna help any of us.'

(RIP Alk)

(Oh noes, Alk got caught by the Mongey boi. XD)

{Stella proceeds to sit in front of the stage, waiting patiently for them to be ready.}

Stal gazed around the bar. //No-one's paying attention yet. Start playing, and all the attention will come this way. That's how it usually goes when we perform anywhere else.//

He took a deep breath and curled his claws around the microphone stand. To his right stood Gray on bass; to his left stood Loch on guitar and Pyre on keyboard; and behind him was Arc on drums.

'Are we ready?' he growled. 'Let's hit it.'

Arc tapped one of his drums four times, and the band launched into an explosion of powerful noise. It sounded like a metal song, with a fast beat and heavy guitar. The aggressive lyrics seemed to touch on Stal's desire to become known and his overwhelming fear of failing. His voice was low, gruff, and emotional. The band members all seemed to be playing well, though Loch made a couple of minor mistakes during the harder guitar parts.

(Uh, Stal, the place isn't even open yet. There's no one at the bar bro.)
{Stella gives no reaction to the song, simply listening and contemplating the loud storm of sounds they were eminating.}

Dolorus: //Awfully loud, aren't they? Hmm, well, the singer has feeling, but it reeks of...desparation. Hm? was that an error by their guitarist? Tsk, tsk, the halmark of a band is its ability to perform under pressure.//

(Weeeell there's staff, and Euterpe. XD
He probably likes to imagine there are lots of people watching, it helps him perform better.)

Despite not hearing Dolorus's comments, Stal was aware of Loch's errors. He threw a scathing glance towards her, causing her to roll her eyes exasperatedly as the band entered an instrumental section. She began playing a long, complex guitar solo, backed up by Gray's bass.

Given a brief period of not having to sing, Stal glanced at Stella, wondering what she thought of them. But he found it hard to read her expression.

{Stella narrows her eyes at Stal, catching his glance.}

Dolorus: //Oh, he just looked at you. I think he's self conscious. He can /feel/ you judging him. Is that honestly fair, though? He's pouring his heart out for all to see. Can you really say he's, as you put it, trash tier? Is it even your place to say?//

{Stella puts a hand to her mouth and mutters lowly, too low for the band to hear.}

Stella: "I don't need a philosophical discussion on it, Dolorus. Can it!"

As the song neared its end, all of the band members seemed to catch onto the importance of the moment and Stal's nervousness. They played to the best of their ability, and for the last minute of the song, even Loch didn't make any slip-ups.

Finally, the music came to a crashing halt with Arc hitting his cymbals. Stal didn't look at his bandmates, but instead fixed his gaze on Stella - almost defiantly - and waited for her to say something.

Everyone was silent - except for Loch, who kept nervously plucking one of her guitar strings, producing a small noise.

{Stella stands, looking right at Stal.}

Stella: "Ok, I'll keep it simple. You were clearly very nervous. I caught a few mistakes with your guitarists. But, we have two no-shows tonight, and your genre matches our venue, so...you can play here tonight, if you want. If the people like you, we'll consider making this a regular thing."

Clear, visible relief washed over Stal's face. 'Tonight? Really?' He coughed awkwardly and tried to restrain his excitement. 'Thanks. I appreciate it. We'll play to their very best of our ability.'

Loch grinned. 'Yeah, and I'll try not to make so many mistakes. Honestly though? That was pretty clean by my standards. I usually do worse.'

Stal shot her a look, warning her to shut up.

'What time do you want us to perform tonight?' he asked Stella.

{Stella gave an unamused look to Loch.}

Dolorus: //Ok, maybe she's trash tier...//

Stella: "You're slated for 8:00 pm. Don't. Be. Late. I don't tolerate tardiness. I would be careful, though, a lot of people come through here, including scouts for the music industry. Don't get into your own head."

'We won't be late,' said Stal gruffly. 'I can promise that.' He turned to give Arc a stern look, knowing that the do-gooder drummer was the one who usually got held up and, as a result, made them late to gigs. //You'd better not screw this one up, Arc. I might have a hard time forgiving you if you do.//

He climbed down from the stage. 'Thanks again,' he growled.

'Yeah, thanks,' chimed in Loch as she hopped down after him. 'I know you probably think I'm pretty bad, but I'll get some more practice in today, and tonight's show will be perfect. Everyone'll love us.'

Pyre was the last off the stage. 'And sorry about what happened earlier,' he said sheepishly. 'I think I already apologised for that, but ehh... I swear I just didn't know the place wasn't open.'

{Stella just looks at Pyre with an unamused expression.}

Stella: "Yeah, sure. Whatever. But next time you want to look around before hours, ask."

{With that, she walks off, back to her office.}

@Alk/ @Xeno

With the success of their audition, Stal's mood had improved dramatically, but there was still a feeling of worry hanging over him. He knew they had to come back here and perform in just a few hours. If they screwed up here, in front of such a large audience who were used to hearing great bands, then it might just be the end of his career.

'OK, let's go home and start practicing,' he growled as they headed towards the exit.

'What?' said Loch. 'No way. We've spent half the day practicing, and we know all the songs by heart anyway. Also, /you/ might not need to eat, but most of us do.'

Stal sighed. 'Fine, do whatever you want, just make sure you're here before 8PM.'

On the way through the bar, Arc paused near Euterpe's table. 'What did you think of that? We're pretty good, right?' he said with a smile.

(I'm gonna stop there, give Alk a chance to catch up. X) )

(Ok)

(Hi sorry for disappearing!
I'm back now :0 )

(Hey Alk!
I gotta go in a minute, my wifi's being turned off, but go ahead and reply to stuff if you want. :D)

(I was just reading up! I'll go do that soon, hope I didn't hold anything for too long. )

@Rad
Euterpe had her head on the table with a long face. She flicked her ear a few times. "Those were some weird noises, especially that string thingy."

Just then Shepherd came running down the stairs with Marco ahead of him. He was able to grab the dog quickly before it did any damage but in doing so he slipped and fell near Euterpe's table.

"You smell like strawberries." Remarked Euterpe looking over the boy.

Shepherd stood up with the dog in his arms. "Yeah, but don't eat the soap, it tastes nasty."
He then turned to Arc and said. "Sorry about that, err crash landing. I heard some banging and thought the house was under assault. But everyone seems ok?" He looked around a bit puzzled.

@Rad

Althea and Denarius began navigating through the tunnels. Silence followed for the rest of their time underground. Occasionally Den would glance back behind to see if they were being followed, but he didn't spot anything. Althea just kept moving not looking in such a good moon.

After leaving the tunnels the two stopped at a local burger and shakes, where Althea treated Den to some ice cream.
They didn't eat there ofcourse though, Althea ordered their food to go. The duo we're planning to eat at park somewhere, and hopefully go over their next move.

(I hope that suffices! :000 )

@Alk

{Dianne walks upto the group.}

Dianne: "Hello, Shepherd. You and Marco look much better cleaned up. Euterpe, if you want to wash up, I can show you to the bath."

'Oh yes, everyone's quite alright,' said Arc, looking over Shepherd curiously. 'The noise you heard was probably just our band. We were auditioning for a performance tonight. Sorry about how loud it was.'

'Don't apologise for being /loud,/ that's the whole point,' said Loch.

Somewhere in EC, Mason was sitting outside a cafe, enjoying a cup of tea while he waited for news from his pack. He'd heard about someone trying to enter the tunnels close to their hideout entrance and was rather afraid that his fellow werewolves might have been... overzealous in their attempts to steer them away.

And then his phone rang.

'Yes?'

'Boss,' said a weary-sounding Terry. 'Uhh, everyone's fine. The base is secure. But I need to tell you about these kids who were wandering around the tunnels. They're obviously thieves, and...' Terry went on to give Mason a description of everything Althea and Den had done between entering the tunnel and leaving it.

When this was over, Mason picked up his tea only to discover it had gone cold. Scowling, he replied, 'Well, I can't say I'm impressed with how you handled this situation, but it could have been worse. At least they're gone now, and they don't know where the hideout is. But I do agree that they're a suspicious pair.'

'They seemed concerned that we're stealing too much, leaving them with nothing,' added Terry.

Mason scoffed. 'Nothing? Ridiculous. This city is large enough to support hundreds of petty thieves. We only steal from the richest citizens; they can steal from whoever they want.'

The conversation went on for a few minutes, Terry eventually ending the call after saying that he was going to tighten the hideout's security just in case the strange duo tried to get in there and take their valuables. Mason put his phone away and rested his head in his hands, gazing thoughtfully across the street.

'...Oh well. What does any of this matter anyway? They're no threat to us. As I've always said, let the common criminals squabble among themselves in the gutter. /We/ do what we do for the best reasons possible.'

(AHHH)

@Rad/Xeno

Euterpe's face soured once again. "I don't smell bad!"
Shepherd held Marco to her face. "Yeah you do, even Marco smells better than you and he's a dog."
Euterpe scowled at the comparison but didn't say anymore.

"So that was you guys?" Shepherd looked even more confused than ever. "Hm, well I guess I'm not used to hearing music so vividly played." He said smiling before turning to Dianne. " I can help out with the food if you need, where should I put Marco?"

Euterpe leaned closer to Arc. "I don't smell bad do I?" She asked hoping to receive a certain answer.
(I actually had someone ask me if their armpits smelled, boi that was so weird.)

The duo sat by a picnic table to begin what would be their dinner.
Althea didn't order anything and was playing around with some pebbles she found on the ground.
Denarius just watch as he munch on some food. He had a plate of sweet potato fries and a burger to go with it.
"Why did we let him go?" He finally asked now that they were ways away.
"We'll -uh, turns out their a flop in terms of loot. Probably had nothing in their stupid hideout anyway. Besides we have enough treasures buried to keep us going -provided the law doesn't find it..." She said softly, but the thought still bugged her. //They haven't robbed the Downer's yet, at least not yet- no they wouldn't be stupid enough to go there anyway...We'll, they don't seem like the bright bunch, and they do have a whole pack...//

@Alkaline

{Dianne chuckles a bit at Shepherd's exchange.}

Dianne: "Oh, you'll just be helping with general things, like washing the dishes, sweeping, and bussing tables. As for Marco, would he be comfortable in a room, or does he need to be outside? It's either going to be upstairs or tied up in the alley."

@Alk

Arc took a moment to consider the question. Truthfully, she smelled rather like fish and saltwater, but he felt it would be rude to say that. 'Well... you smell of /something,/ but I wouldn't call it a /bad/ smell,' he said carefully.

Loch snorted. 'I'm gonna be honest since he won't - you smell like a rotting ocean,' she said, glancing at Euterpe.

'Loch!' said Pyre in protest.

'What? It's true.'

( @Alk - Hmm, so Althea thinks the werewolves might try robbing her family?
Well, they /are/ pretty rich... >:) )

(They are very rich >:)))
I sorta going for a blackmail hehe, maybe she starts investigating and then the fam blames her. Whoooshhhh )