I say hey there, we don't play fair||OPEN-TEACHERS

It was around evening time when Arthur managed to get down to the kitchen, clad in loose jeans a white button up t-shirt and a black apron - A.J indeed looked like he was a man about to get to work. Shuffling through the fridge, Arthur pulled out some steaks and set them out to cook as he moved his attention to making mashed potatoes and beans. While he worked, the young man hummed to himself and tapped his foot while he was at as standstill.

"Sunshine, sunshine, it's fine
I feel it in my skin, warming up my mind,
Sometimes you gotta give in to win,
I love the days when it shines, whoa let it shine"

In a matter of thirty minutes, Arthur finished up the making a meal for the teachers setting the food out on the buffet table near the kitchen along with some salad. As he finished finally he set up a plate for himself on the counter - a small steak with a little bit of mashed potatoes. The next moment - Arthur shifted into a large domestic calico cat. He jumped onto the counter and promptly went to eating his meal as a cat - the young man seeming to enjoy food a little bit more while he was a feline. All the meanwhile he kept an eye on the door, to see if anyone would follow the scent of just naturally come in to have something to eat.

He could not fight it any longer. Tobias' stomach was a twisted knot and his hands were shaking slightly because of the low blood sugar. He needed something juicy and practically raw that he could rip apart with his teeth. This close to the shift, he needed meat. He hurried toward the dining hall unable to think of anything else, not even a cigarette, and when he was close enough he was pulled forward by the heavy smells. Tobias didn't even notice the cat, or saw and didn't care, he certainly smelled it underneath all the different aromas of food, but all he wanted was something to keep him going. Something to fill him up and stick to his ribs as it were.

He decided what he really wanted, and what he hadn't had in ears was a proper fry-up, a full Irish breakfast...a heart attack on a plate. Rashers of bacon, sausages, fried eggs, blood pudding, potato farl, sauteed, sliced potato, and fried tomato. Just thinking about it made his mouth water. But when Tobias got to the buffet, he saw no blood pudding or, worse, any potato farl. So he forgot about the pudding and had wheat toast instead. Then, Tobias made up a cup of strong black coffee and found an empty table where he could read his old paper back, currently stuffed into his back pocket, and enjoy his heart attack.

Arthur's ears perked up slightly as a man about the same age as him walked through the door, he caught the tension in his body and picked up on his need for food - it was an animal thing after all. Noticing Tobias picking up some food, Arthur's feline form smoothly went back to eating - sneezing lightly as his nose picked up some of the pepper and salt from his mashed potatoes. Finishing up his food within the next few minutes, Arthur licked the plate clean then promptly jumped off of the counter - changing back to his human form in a quick sort of manner. Grabbing his plate as he took it to the sink to wash it off, he looked briefly back to Tobias - seeing as how he was the only one here to eat he might as well ask if there was anything else he wanted. "Would you like me to cook anything else for you, sir?" he asked over the sound of the running water.

Tobias, who had just started The Illustrated Man, hardly looked up. He glanced up slightly and mumbled between his cigarette, "Thanks...I'm fine," the he went back to his book. The question had put him off. Didn't the guy see he was eating enough for two people just now? He glanced up over the top of his book again and sniffed the air. Behind the smell of old and faded pages, and the greasy food, black coffee and cigarette smoke, Tobias could smell the cat in the cook's thread. He accepted this and went back to his potato.

After a while, he dog eared his book and finished his coffee. Lighting another cigarette, Tobias stood, stretched and brought his empty dishes to the stack where the other used flatware went and refilled his coffee. He felt better now that he had eaten, less tired and that was good too. "Thanks," he said to the cook, his accent skipping over the H as usual. Tobias returned to his seat, kicked his feet up on the opposite chair and continued to read, drink and smoke.

A fresh start at a new school; how wonderful it would be for her. Her family needed help with their new pack leader, a pup whose ears were bigger than his head. Stupid little pup, has no clue what he’s going to do for the pack. The thought made her growl. She had to leave her pack, leave the people she loved most just to ensure their financial safety.

Walking into the school ground, a woman close to her age almost knocked her over. Koda’s eyes narrowed, and she growled a little. Before she could say anything, the woman sighed and shook her head. “I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed. “I’ve been running around all day and I’m just so hungry and –“ She cut herself off and shook her head again. Koda rose an eyebrow when the woman held out her hand. “I’m Amorina, the nurse here at Foresta Academy. Are you the new Art teacher?”

Koda grasped Amorina’s hand with a nod. “Miakoda Solomon and yes, I am the new teacher. Is everyone here so… flustered?”

Amy snorted and crossed her arms over her chest. “Nope, just the nurse. You have no idea what kind of trouble these kids can get in to… but, are you hungry? I think somebody is cookin’ something up in the kitchen.” What else could she do? A new teacher with no idea what was around? Miakoda forced a smile onto her face and followed Amorina into the dining hall.

Amy looked around the dining hall and smiled at a familiar face. “Toby!” she called, walking over to sit beside him. “How have you been?” Koda walked over to them and the smell of wolf filled her nose. It wasn’t as strong as the ‘wolves from her pack, but she could smell it, and she didn’t like it too much. With another sniff, she could easily smell cat. Hmm. This school would end up being very interesting indeed.

“Oh, before I forget, Tobias, this is Miakoda; Miakoda, this is Tobias.”

"...a mandar dinero a Jaime tambien," Caroline was muttering to herself as she counted off the things she needed to do before breakfast the next day. She was supposed to meet Emilio here for dinner, but he had stopped by her classroom on her way out to tell her he would be late.

She hoped he wasn't going to take his time. As she entered the teacher's dining room, she saw one person she knew moderately well, one person who was an acquaintance whose name eluded her at the moment, and two people she had never met before.

Caroline was not the type of person to act aloof in social situations, but she didn't want to deal with the embarrassment of forgetting somebody's name shortly after meeting them. It should have been pretty easy to remember too... Started with a hard consonant, she was sure. K? G?

She wondered how well he knew the women who were talking with him and noted the book. So, perhaps, he had not been expecting company. A smile flickered across her face just before she gave the group a nod in case they noticed her entrance. It was the most polite thing she could do without going over there and making her bad memory a thing of public record.

She went and got a small portion of some nonspecific food and a mug of tea. For the sake of her manners (which were taking a huge hit by this point,) she paused to introduce herself to the chef. "Good evening. New to Foresta?"

Arthur glanced back at Tobias, biting his tongue at the man's tone and instead his attention being throughly distracted the two women - cross that, three women that walked into the room. He watched idly for a moment as the blonde haired woman introduced the darker haired woman to the arrogant man, and then as the other woman came up to him he hesitated for a moment - seeming almost a little surprised at her acknowledgement of him seeing as how the other three weren't that interested in his presence.

Nodding at her, he offered up a very pleasant feline-like smile. "I just started about a week ago, I'm Arthur Holly." His dark hazel eyes glanced toward the other three in the room for a moment before he decided to keep his attention on the pleasant woman in front of him.

Tobias stood, clutching his cigarette between his teeth, and held out a hand. “Grand to know you so,” he mumbled around the smoke. He had looked briefly at Amy but quickly locked eyes with Miakoda immediately. He sniffed the air and his thick brow furrowed. She was like him, but somehow different and he couldn’t quite place it at first…but then he realized it was what he couldn’t smell, rather than what he could. He couldn’t smell the unwillingness. Or the pain.

He squared his shoulders so that while his stance was still relaxed, he quietly stated his role that he was a lone wolf, and an alpha. Tobias gave a small, crooked grin, and said goodbye to Amy with a short nod. “How do you find the place?” he asked Miakoda politely, his eyes trailing to the doors when Caroline came in. His grin became decidedly more wicked when she nodded in their direction. He turned his icy blue eyes back to Miakoda but kept an ear on the conversation the cat and Caroline were having with one another.

Amy, sensing an odd similarity between them, took notice of Toby’s nod and walked towards the smaller group. Her eyes picked Caroline out and she gave a wave. “Sorry, don’t mean to intrude,” she apologized. “I think there’s going to be some odd conversation between those two…”

It wasn’t that she could read minds or even detect feelings of people. The tension was so thick, she had to almost swim through it. She had no idea what Miakoda was other than the new teacher. Maybe she was a spy of some sort?

Koda, on the other hand, had lifted one eyebrow in a rather amused look. She knew what he was, and his posture made her want to laugh. He may be the alpha within his pack, but he certainly was not her alpha. Since he made it obvious he had no pack, who was he the alpha of? Not himself; her nose picked up anticipation, fear and suffering.

“You cannot control it.”

She was not one for formalities. With another ‘wolf, she could say so many things without saying a word. She was the daughter of alphas, practically an alpha herself with her parents’ depleting health. She would not succumb to anyone but another ‘wolf who could prove themselves worthy. He was not even the same species as she; why would she even consider him an alpha.

Caroline smiled, feeling a little more at ease despite the fact that this was a dining room and everyone was standing. She had noted the man's hesitation and wondered if he was shy or something.

That impression fled when he smiled pleasantly. It reminded her of something, but she couldn't figure it out. Not completely human. But that wasn't something to think too hard about since she knew many of the teachers and students could not be considered not quite human. Nikolai, one of her few close friends at this institution was a were-dragon and she had briefly dated a necromancer (leading up to an entirely unpleasant conclusion.) If that didn't shift some paradigm, nothing would.

She smiled back. He seemed nice. "Arthur Holly," she repeated, just to fix it in her memory. No need to make the same mistake twice. "Nice you meet you. I'm Caroline Harlequin. I've been here for a while." She glanced around as though she were going to say something very secretive, then leaned over to whisper, "Things change here so quickly I might as well have arrived a week ago myself. You soon learn to bob and weave pretty well." She used her gift to aim the whisper to Arthur, muffling the sound waves going in other directions. It was instinctual to do this since she didn't like the telltale s-s sounds of whispering to reach others.

She glanced over at the arrival of Amy and listened. She raised an eyebrow and glanced at the guy whose name she couldn't remember and the woman she had never met. The way they were standing made her feel slightly nervous to be even in the same room. Caroline nodded and forced a smile back onto her face. "I can see what you mean. Amy, this is Arthur Holly. He's new." She turned to Arthur and added, "This is Amorina Riddell, the school nurse. One of the most capable people I've ever met."

"Caroline Harlequin? Oh, that's a nice name. It flows," Arthur idly noted as the woman introduced herself. As she leaned over and whispered in his ear, Arthur nodded briefly before returning back to his typical expression - shadowed eyes with a peaceful quirk in the corners of his lips.

As the blonde woman approached them though, once again Arthur hesitated - this time mostly because he had been enjoying the one - on - one company with Caroline. She reminded him of his mother almost in a sense, the woman seeming to want to help Arthur fit in. His attention though went to Amy as they were introduced to each other, and as Arthur once again lifted his lips to smile - this time there was just a wee bit more tooth in it. "It's nice to meet you," he said to her - holding out his hand to shake in all politeness.

Tobias passed a hand over his stubble and eyed Koda wearily. He was tired and much to so for this battle. At least she was aware of where he stood and wouldn’t try anything funny, or at least not yet. He scowled at her when she made the comment about him not in control. Tobias hated people knowing what he was, even if everyone else was a gifted too. Right now he had wanted nothing more than to speak with Caroline and see if there was something there…something he could work with.

Tobias sighed and lit another cigarette. “I’m going to fill up on coffee. Did you want anything?” on a better day he…the thought stopped. No, he wouldn’t ever think to challenge a woman. It wasn’t because he thought women were a lesser race, quite the contrary, but he had thought of the look his ex would have given him, and his daughter…and mother, if they saw him trying to play control games with Koda. He was raised better, taught better. What he was doing earlier, well, that was just taking the piss wasn’t it?

||Ooc: Bugger. Trying to get the seperate groups together again...sorry for the delay everyone! ||

Amorina smiled at Caroline and scoffed. “Oh no, if I’m the most capable person you’ve ever met, you need to meet more people,” she laughed. Since her meeting with Emilio, something had changed in her. There seemed to be a hope there that hadn’t been in a long time. She was thankful for the two of them, Emilio and Catherine. Catherine was a good friend, and Emilio was the best boyfriend she’d ever had.

Turning back to Arthur, she smiled and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you as well. How long have you been here?” New staff members were rare in Foresta, so it was nice to see some new faces. Then again, when you’re missing in action for a while, new faces pop up even if they’ve been there the whole time.

Miakoda sniffed a bit, but shook her head. “No, thank you. I would like to talk to you more on this subject, though. You need help, and I may be able to give it to you.” The ‘wolf watched her cousin, of sorts, with an intrigued look. She had heard of Halflings, but had never come across one. She heard they were reckless, a poison to the breed. Watching this one, it seemed to be true.

“Were you born this way?”

Caroline grinned and replied, "Oh, nonsense. You don't do yourself credit, Amy." This was actually turning out to be quite pleasant. A new coworker and getting a chance to chat with Amy? Even the tea was excellent today. Either that or her mood was affecting her perception. She could have answered Amy's question for Arthur, but she figured that it would sound rude.

Besides, she could be quiet and enjoy the company of these people. She glanced at the other two and the tension seemed mostly gone. Strange. The English teacher still harbored hope that she would not have to remember the guy's name. Her glance over, she returned her focus to the conversation at hand.

"About a week, not that long really." Arthur replied to Amy's question quickly with a mischievous demeanor about him. There were many people around that were finally starting to affect him, their energies all colliding together and Arthur couldn't help but want to cook something. After all, he had already made the meal for the day - but his habit of spoiling people just was something he could almost never refuse. "Would you ladies like to have anything to snack on? I'd love to make something for the two of you." He would have naturally mentioned the dark haired woman and the man he was about to pick a fight with earlier, but of course they were a bit aways from the conversation - so his kindness only stretched out to those whom he was currently conversing with.

Arthur had always been very much in love with the idea of lots of people sitting down at a table and having a good conversation with good food - in a sense he had a family ideal all though it wouldn't seem that quite obvious to the naked eye.

Glancing back and forth between Caroline and Amy again, he smiled once more - the man very much wanting to be of some sort of use to the women.