Ryuji had been walking around the city for a couple hours now and he was getting really frustrated. The dark-elf woman was still following him everywhere he went. She wasn’t so bold as to stay right within eyeshot but he could catch glimpses of her every time he would turn a corner or turn around suddenly. He had even gone to the general store and milled about in there for a bit and then gone into the back to review the books, which were looking great now. He told Varon that he might have to travel a bit and offered him more float money, which he said they didn’t need now before he ducked out the back entrance.

He thought he had finally lost her but then he spotted her again as he was turning the corner to the bakery and now that he was in the bakery, he could see her milling about in the far edge of the crowd. She probably thought she was being inconspicuous but her clothing stood out a little too much for that to be possible. The incident that morning had left him ravenous and he was looking forward to something to take the edge off. He left after getting a couple sweet rolls and telling Lizbet that he might be gone for a bit. She seemed a little alarmed by that but he told her not to worry about it because he owned the bakery’s title. She was a little mollified but was still nervous about it.

He left by the opposite side and the dark-elf, whose name he had forgotten, was forced to run around to keep up. If he didn’t have so many things to do, he might find it funny. Right now, it was just making his stress ramp up to new levels. He really didn’t need this right now! He needed to tell Dorn and, most of all, Karen but he didn’t want to go to either of those places with this persistent woman running only a few paces behind him the whole way.

He decided to go to the market to get some… what did he need there? He needed travelling gear like a cloak and such. Perhaps a backpack with a bedroll. He could get some meat skewers along the way and… he looked down at his hand and sure enough, it was furry. ‘Great, now I have to lose her like… wait, I’m a beastfolk now!’ he thought. Time to double back and get some meat skewers and munch… oh for the love of, fine, I’ll go looking for meat skewers.

Miyako was furious, he had done it again! That slippery elf had gone into the market during the busiest part of the day and she couldn’t figure out where he had slipped off too. She thought he had gone down this alley but then when she got to the end and peeked out, he was nowhere to be found! How did he do that?

Ryuji was just letting his nose lead him. he was in a daze and his vision was a little red and hazy but he didn’t really notice, he just followed that smell. That smell? Yes, it was that smell again, the most tantalizing smell he had come across. He was off on the hunt! He could tell that the smell went this way and then over there. Finally, it was there in front of him, in the alley was a woman with the backpack full of the delicious savories stacked to the top. He approached her and barely had the mental wherewithal to pull out a couple of the useless metal disks she would want.

Kyarako was headed to the vendor listed on this guild posting. She had found a really big doe and was quite happy with the day. The guy on the listing had only wanted deer, which was boring, but she had enough time to go back out today because of how quickly she had gotten this one fulfilled.

Suddenly, she heard someone come bounding into the alley behind her and turned to see what was going on. to her surprise, the guy who had bought the meat for a silver was back. She had hoped she might run into him at some point but this was a lot sooner than she was expecting. Not that she would complain about making some extra coin.

Something was off, something was very different about him today. She tried to put her claw on it because it was making her a tad nervous. The wind coming her way was washing her in a mix of feral pheromones and he had used a good bit of cologne but it was even stronger today and different. No, there was something else, she spotted that he was wearing a wizard’s belt and her eyes went wide. He could do magic too? Was there anything he couldn’t do?

Still, there was something else that left her feeling off about the situation. She looked a bit more and finally saw his eyes. His eyes were almost glazed over and he was drooling. She was disconcerted by that and was getting ready to run, her instincts screaming at her that she was in danger! Just as she was about to turn and bolt away, he reached into his fancy pouch and pulled out a silver and then another!

Kyarako calmed her nerves, pushing the instinct telling her to run for her life down as she began unstrapping her backpack. The moment her backpack was in front of her his nose started twitching adorably and his eyes fastened on the backpack. She made a note to always have his food ready if they did manage to get together. She untied the top and pulled out four of the wrapped bundles of meat bulging from the top of the pack and just as before, his exchange of goods for silver was like lightning.

Kya was marveling at the two silvers in her hand when she heard the gnashing and tearing of the meat. She looked up and he had already devoured two of the bundles and was opening the third with his claws, not even bothering to untie the grass ties she used. She found herself captivated again and wondered if he was this ferocious when he was being intimate.

Kya found her mind wandering again to thoughts of intimacy with this man and was just starting to zone out when she caught herself. Looking up, he still had one bundle left to go. Good! She began retying her pack and shouldered it quickly before he could finish his meal. She stood waiting for him to finish and it didn’t take long at all.

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When the cat-girl cleared her throat, it was like a sheet of glass broke and Ryuji was finally in control of himself again. He looked around and realized for the first time that he was standing in front of the cat-girl. It took him a moment longer to piece together that he had run off and chased her down so he could scarf down more raw meat. The blood was still all over his fingers and muzzle so he took a moment to lick himself clean while he spoke to her. “Thank you very much! That was excellent! I don’t know why but the meat you carry around with you always smells absolutely delicious, I mean, it is delicious. So anyway, thank you!”

Kyarako smiled at the handsome wolf beastfolk man before realizing her tail was swishing madly behind her and with a slight bit of embarrassment, she discretely sniffed the air and realized she was dumping pheromones. She couldn’t compete with the amount he was pumping out but it was a lot. She had to ask now before she lost her nerve! “Well, I guess you could say I season the meat but it’s more partially curing it. You see the long thin leaves inside the big one that was wrapping the meat? That’s Bressu grass. It’s very absorbent and has a slightly spicy flavor that soaks into the meat as it dries it. It’s something my mom taught me a long time ago.”

“So, I was wondering? Do you have your own mercenary party? Maybe you have a party you joined or even one you started? Would you let me join your party, please?” Kyarako was horrified as her last couple sentences had flowed out in a rush and sounded very desperate. She turned away in shame, certain that this guy would read all her signs and be disgusted by her desperation. She couldn’t help her ears flattening against her head but looked back a little because she knew she had blown her chances with him but it was still rude not to look at him when he told her so.

Ryuji was left rather stunned by her earnest declaration and even more so by the cute display of bashfulness she put on afterward. It took him a bit longer to form a reply and he could see her puzzled expression at the way he was acting towards her but he had to go he reminded himself. “I… er, oh. Yes, I mean no, I don’t have a mercenary group I am a part of. I didn’t pass the guild’s entrance exams so I have to try again. I will consider your proposal and get back to you in five days. Meet me umm, I guess in front of the money changers around midday in five days. For now, if you’ll be excusing me.”

Kyarako was a little shocked by the way he reacted to her. It was like he wasn’t reading the signs right or maybe he was just being polite? Whatever it was it made her a little suspicious and more than a little curious. But she was prepared this time and when he shot out of the alley she waited only a brief pause before she went after him. she watched as he ducked down a side alley ahead and wondered why he would do something like that.

Ryuji was in a bit of a panic; the woman he was just speaking to was following him and he was about to transform back into an elf. He had to lose her somehow and the only thing he could think of was ducking in and out of alleys. They were in the midst of the city and there weren’t any of his properties nearby that he could just duck inside of. He could tell that she had just walked into the alley he was in so he sped up a little to try getting ahead of her before the transformation broke and went up another alley.

When he rounded the end of the alley he just about screamed in surprise and frustration. Who did he spot at the end of the alley but the dark-elf woman from earlier. She was fortunately turned away from him, scanning the crowd. In fact, she was probably still looking for him. Now he had to get past her too. Great, just great! He could tell that his transformation wasn’t going to last too much longer. Maybe he would have enough time to get by her and then duck back into the next alley over.

He started towards the end of the alley at a hurried pace and just as he was afraid of, the woman turned to look at him. he didn’t pay her any attention and she was just about to turn back around when she looked at what he was wearing and suddenly turned fully around, Crap! Ryuji tried to act like he didn’t notice her or wasn’t paying her any attention but she was making a beeline for him now. If he could just brush past her before the cat beastfolk caught up with him he could try making a break for it in the crowd.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of footsteps from the alleyway behind him. Oh, just great, she was following him that closely! He had to break past the woman who was angling directly for him. His concentration was on the woman coming up the alley behind him when he heard a gasp from the elf in front of him and then a hissing yelp from the woman behind him. when he focused on the elf woman, he saw that she had stopped and was staring at him with wide-eyed terror. Ryuji knew exactly what it was about but felt of his finger with his thumb and confirmed, great, no fir.

Ryuji stopped and stared at the dark-elf and waited for her to react while he listened to the cat-girl who had stopped a little way behind him. They both started forward at about the same time and walked towards him slowly. The dark-elf had taken on a slightly contemplative look and Ryuji knew that he wasn’t going to be able to brush this off. He turned a little and backed up until he was leaning against the wall. The cat-girl, despite being farther away, made it to him first because she was practically jogging. She came to a halt right in front of him and began looking him up and down.

The dark-elf walked in front of him then and seemed like she was having a hard time ripping her gaze away from him when she spared a glance at the cat-girl but after only a second and a scowl her gaze was back on him. the cat-girl flicked her eyes towards the dark-elf just in time to see her looking her way and her ears flattened and her tail bristled but it only lasted until she looked back at the sun-elf in front of her the next second. There was a long pregnant pause and then a flood of questions poured forth from both women.

Miyako. “So, that was you that day in the alleyway.”

Kyarako. “You really are an elf? Did you know you were eating meat?

Miyako. “How long has this been happening?”

Kyarako. “Is this your actual form or are you really a wolf-kin?”

Miyako. “What’s your relationship to this girl or the other one I saw you with?”

Kyarako. “You have another girl?”

Ryuji couldn’t make any of it out with them talking over each other and was going to stop them when he was hit with the same question from both of them just slightly out of sync. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he suddenly felt his face heating up. He remembered this one time he had been caught by his mother stealing a chikuwa out of the refrigerator and how ashamed he was, this was the same feeling. He had been caught in a lie right between them and there was no dodging this.