aperitif

She was caught mid swig when the familiar bulk of a male settled across the flames from her. Theory choked it down best as she could, trying to mask her surprise. Her eyes watered fiercely as the liquor burned its way down her throat, half down the wrong pipe from her surprise mid-gulp. There had to be a reason that so many wolves seemed to like drinking. Ah. The pleasant warmth spread from her throat, down into her gut, and then tingled down her legs all the way to the tips of her toes. Feeling as if she was lit from within by a bonfire, Theo finally regarded him completely. "Shogun," she said, trying to maintain an air of professional courtesy even as the drink warmed her from the inside out.

"And where is the lovely Empress tonight?" It was the LOVE Carnival, after all. Such a man wouldn't come alone, unless he was looking for trouble. Of that, there was plenty to be found. Shapes moved away from the midway, flitting towards the shadows and the surrounding forests like moths drawn to some distant other flame. It didn't occur to her that his relationship would ever be in flux - the Ashen Empress had seemed unlikely to let anything she deemed "hers" out of her clutches. Theo had gotten the distinct impression that sharing was not in the Empire's vocabularly.