It was just past ten o'clock, when Boethius Aquila stepped out of back entrance to the Ace High and began walking towards Cedarwood. He held the leashes of two dogs in one leather-gloved hand; an old, silver-backed German shepherd, and a young Mastiff puppy. The pup tugged and chewed at his leash, but the shepherd walked stoically at his side.

Turning up the collar of his dark woollen pea jacket against the cold winter night, Bo headed off towards the park, alone except for his canine companions. Lily had been dressed to go with him, but as they were clipping on the leashes she had received a call concerning her guards detaining a known card counter. With a kiss to his cheek and no apology, she had removed her jacket and left Bo to tend to her business.

Between the casino and the coven, she had ditched Bo far more than he liked these past few weeks. Frowning at the thought, he guided the dogs through the park entrance and pulled the iron gate closed behind them with a loud clang! which rang out into the silent night but did little to boost his mood. Shoving his free hand into his pocket, he let the puppy choose their direction and began to walk deeper into the park.

Hale spent most of his time climbing trees, truthfully it was more than that. He climbed pretty much anything that he could climb. Whether it was a tree or one of the larger tombstones near the Ishak coven. So as per usual, Hale was perched in a tree in Cedarwood Park, yet unlike his usual staring a looking at everything, his eyes were closed and it looked like he was meditating. Something in the Ishak library had made him very curious and he was now trying it out. He wanted to see if it was possible to make his impressive power seem less and look more the part of a child. Granted that the mortals wouldn't know the difference but it was for the older and more experienced people of his kind.

He had seemed to be succeeding and he felt as if he had more control over his power, which thrilled him. If he had knew that this would have been the result he would have done it sooner. His eyes snapped open as he felt a younger presence brush his mind. He opened his eyes and they searched the area that surrounded him. Far off, he could see a man that was walking two dogs and he recognized that as the younger presence that he had felt. A small grin spread across his child-like features, this could end up being interesting.

Keeping his powers in check to make them seem less, he pounced off in the darkness, leaping from tree to tree, until he landed on one that was near the vampire male. He hanged upside down from the lowest branch. "Hello, what's your name?"

Bo glanced up as Hale swung down from a nearby tree, concealing his look of mild surprise behind a vaguely irritated expression. He was aware that there were other immortals present in the park – that much was obvious without even searching – the surprise and annoyance was that one was speaking to him.

"I'm Bo." He replied simply.

Apparently not in the mood to make either friends or idle conversation, he kept walking past the tree Hale was hanging from and led the dogs down the path towards the center of the park. The German shepherd followed obediently but the Mastiff pulled at his leash, sniffing the air to find the source of Hale's scent.

Hale watched him curiously as the man walked past him. Bo? He frowned, wasn't that a dog's name? He was pretty sure it was. He then grinned, it was pushing buttons time. The other one was already irritated, a few buttons pushed here and there would accomplish a great deal and brighten up his night.

He jumped down and chased after the man. "Hold on. I want to ask you something." He pretended to act like an annoying brat, making sure that his power was pulled tight inside him. He wanted to see if it would be effective, if he could fool another vampire. It was a night for experiences and tests. He stopped next to the man and kept up with his stride easily. "Isn't Bo a dog's name?" He glanced purposely at the dogs that he was walking.

Bo sighed inwardly at this obviously stupid question. After owning countless dogs he knew that you should not name one anything that rhymed with the word 'no', to save confusion in training, but he also knew Hale probably wasn't expecting a serious answer.

He paused, and stared down from his great height at this little boy of an immortal. Boy in the physical sense, of course. While the details emanating from the boy were hazy, it was clear to Boethius that this was an old and most likely powerful vampire.

And Bo could not possibly care less about who the fuck he was. He just wondered why the hell he was bothering him.

"Anything can be a dog's name. Why are you talking to me?" He asked impatiently, his low voice containing no hint of humour.

The German shepherd, when his master stopped, obediently stopped and sat back on his haunches, while the Mastiff began sniffing curiously at Hale's shoes, his tail wagging so swiftly his entire backside swung from side to side.

Hale knew nothing about dogs. They had never been part of his youth, much less of his vampire life. Dogs were more of a curiosity to him than anything. He simply couldn't understand why the animals would want to be obedient. The question that he had asked came from the fact that he had heard someone name their dog Bo. He had heard it only in passing.

Hale stared up at the man, innocence in his eyes. "Am I not allowed to talk to you? I simply thought that it would ease my boredom. I tend to get cranky when I'm bored and I thought that talking to you might be a better idea all together." He looked down at the small dog sniffing his shoes, tail wagging. His head tilted slightly to the side, before he bent over and pet the top of the dog's head. He could smell the owner of the dogs and knew her to be the head of the Enashe coven. Under any other circumstance he probably would have killed the dogs, yet he had no desire to start a coven war, so he refrained, keeping his more volatile nature under wraps.

Hale turned his head to Bo, a grin spread across his face. "It is also possible that I simply want to annoy you, because I enjoy that and I like to see what makes vampires tick." He simply had to find the right catalyst for this one. He was sure there was one.

"Good luck with that." Boethius sneered. There was only one person who could make Bo irrationally annoyed simply with his presence, and that person was Colton Holstein. This kid didn't look like ol' Colt, so to Bo he might as well not exist.

The puppy reacted happily to Hale's attention, pawing at his hand with his too-big-for-his-body puppy paws and swiping at his wrist with his little pink tongue.

"Adelphus, come." Bo commanded, tugging on the leash he still held. Obediently, but somewhat reluctantly, the Mastiff backed away from Hale and toddled after his master as Bo turned and kept walking down the path they were standing on. The elder dog stood and followed in heel, without much more than a glance back at the other man.

Hale watched with regret as the other vampire walked away, he wanted to play with the puppy.. Didn't Bo know that it was a bad idea to turn away from an older vampire? Didn't he know that older vampires tended to be unpredictable and Hale more so? Hale followed after him staying a distance behind Bo, wondering what to do to regain Bo's attention.

He followed for what seemed like a long time until he noticed the man's height. Granted he wasn't as tall as the trees, but he was taller than Hale. Hale let a childish grin grace his face as light filled his eyes. He glanced at the man and measured the distance, he should be able to reach him. Hale pounced aiming for Bo's back, hoping to land straight onto it.

As Hale landed on his back, Boethius reacted swiftly, an advantage he still retained from all his old gladiatorial training. Reaching behind himself with his free hand, he grasped Hale's leg and flung the much smaller vampire away from him, down onto the snowy path. The puppy barked excitedly as Hale went flying through the air, and strained at his leash to run to where he landed, but Bo kept him in heel and turned to keep walking.

Ordinarily, he would have reacted much more severely, but he knew Hale was angling for a response which Bo was determined not to give. "Don't you get it? I'm not playing your game." He said evenly, glowering down at the annoying little thing. "Go find some mortals to torment and leave me alone."

"Darling? To whom are you speaking?" A woman's voice intruded as a tall blonde rounded a bend in the path and approached from behind.

Bo stood up straighter and looked over at her, still irritated from Hale's attempt to use him as a jungle gym, but said nothing.

"I brought your gloves. The card shark was nothing, I just had him killed." She continued as she handed Bo a pair of leather gloves and raised herself on her tiptoes to kiss his jaw. "And this is?" She asked pointedly, looking over at Hale.


OOC| You seem to have a typo in your member title; 'a vampires'. Shouldn't it be 'a vampire' or just 'vampires'? Or is that intentional, maybe a reference to something that I don't get? |

Hale reacted just as swiftly, managing to twist himself in midair and landing on his feet on the path. He grinned at the excited yapping the puppy was making, he wanted to pet the puppy again. He was so cute. "Bother mortals? They aren't any fun, they die to quickly and feel fear much too fast. You're more of a challenge." Hale did like challenges and Bo was playing his game, simply by tossing him off so quickly. Hale would need to get a stronger grip. He was strong for such a puny looking vampire.

Hale angled his head as a blond woman came around the corner. He watched her his eyes curious. Was this the leader of the Enashe coven? He wasn't sure, it was so hard to tell these days. "Khaldun Mdjai if it pleases my lady." He even did a small bow. It was polite to show respect without grovelling. He didn't grovel, never did. He was almost positive that she was the leader. "Would my lady please introduce herself? I'm at a lost."

(OOC: I think the sentence was too long, I'll check it out..)

"Perhaps I like having you there." She replied with an enigmatic smirk. She knelt down as the puppy excitedly padded over to her and cooed over it, roughly rubbing his ears. "Hello little Adel! And my Hawkeye." She reached over and stroked the chest of the German shepherd as he sidled up close to his mistress, and gently kissed the silky fur between his eyes. Standing once more, she took the leash that Bo offered her, and in return gave him an inquisitive look.

"He seems intent on goading me." He said with a shrug.

"What a foolish thing." She laughed, knowing Bo so well, and looked back over at Hale. "My name is Lily Colwyn. This is Boethius Aquila. Why are you attempting to hide yourself?" She asked coyly, being easily able to spot the shield Hale was endeavouring to conceal his power behind.

OOC| Sorry for the delay. |

Hale frowned and memorized her face. He would eventually figure who she was, it was only a question of time. He had time, a lot of it. Then again she had introduced herself, he grinned. This was a smart one. She had been able to tell. "I'm not really hiding myself, I call it practice. Practice makes perfect right?" It was still sloppy if younger vampires could see it, he would have to work at it.

He shrugged his shoulder. "He's fun." He remarked speaking about Bo. "He threw me over his shoulder, like it was a reflex. Must have been a gladiator or something. If it was up to me I'd play with him everyday. Eventually I would get through. I'm very persistent, very much like a ten year old." He grinned at Bo. "We'd have so much fun together."

"Then I suggest you keep practising." She said coldly. She did not understand why he would wish to do this; she personally saw no reason to hide your strength from anyone, whether they are weaker or stronger. Lily was a brisk, what-you-see-is-what-you-get type, and she also knew power had little to do with age.

Bo stared down at Hale's grin, his face as unwelcoming as ever. "I was a gladiator." He said gruffly. "And no, we would not."

"Unfortunately, my Bo does not enjoy playing with many people besides me." Lily said with a smile, linking her arm with one of Bo's. He turned and looked down at her as she spoke, his face swiftly changing from the subtly hostile look it gave Hale, into a more relaxed expression. "I'm afraid you'll have to find another playmate, Hale." She added.

Hale shook his head. "You don't understand. Doing this kind of training enables me to control my sometimes out of control powers. Without this control, I could do something dangerous just like that." He released his powers and snapped his fingers, a small flame appeared on the tip of his fingers. "See?" Fire was the most fearsome element and could burn almost through anything. Even though he had his powers under control, he still had some more basic problems. When he shot them, they didn't always go where he wanted.

He looked up at Bo and scuffed his foot like a sullen child. "You are no fun." He looked straight up at him. "You are lucky that she is here and that you are under her protection." Threat or warning? Whichever it was, it was clear that Hale found Bo lucky. He knew that at the moment that he would not succeed in getting under Bo's skin, so instead he decided to talk. "So how close are you two? Simple business associates or you simply belong to the same coven?"

"Her protection?" Bo asked, his voice combining a loaded mix of contempt and disbelief. He scoffed under his breath and gave the tiny vampire a withering look.

"Bo is not one of my coven, but we are close." Lily replied to Hale's question. "He's not my husband but he might as well be. I can't seem to get rid of the man, no matter how hard I try." She looked up at Bo and smirked at her joke, but it was clear from her expression that she loved him dearly.

Bo looked back over at her and suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. Whereas he remained calm from Hale's provocation out of stubbornness, he did not react to Lily's out of an easy comfort with her barbs born from a long companionship. "May we continue? The dogs are growing restless." He said, pointedly ignoring her comment.

Lily took the leash attached to the puppy from Bo's hands and began walking down the path, not bothering to look behind her to see if anyone was following. The puppy, for his part, yapped in excitement and bounded ahead of her, strained at the end of his leash to sniff and snap at the piles of snow on the side of the path.