Author Note: This story is divided into two parts (as of now, that may grow later). The first part is done and I'm approximately halfway through the second. I've made banners for the story parts as well as each chapter, a link to which I will post at the end of the first part. Each chapter has a theme song that I recommend listening to but isn't necessary.

By the way this story will have hints of slash and of a threesome. Nothing graphic. But you have been warned.

Chapter Title: Tripping

Song: Trip Like I Do by The Crystal Method

I hustled off the elevated train into the cold winter air, fighting the tourist crowd with practiced ease while also keeping my precious warm coffee from spilling. The lights of the Blood District were already on, a gaudy wave of advertising to lure in the waves of mortals craving a little bit of perceived danger. My eyes involuntarily rolled at their naivety, they were paying out the ass for a watered down show.

I pushed my way to the front of the largest line, clutching my coffee and a flyer advertising an interview for a roommate. Apparently my hopefully future roomie worked here and could only schedule an interview during their break. "Hey, back of the line," the bouncer called in warning. I paused at the sight of the gargantuan and significantly intimidating figure guarding the door.

As much of a city girl as I am, my voice still stuttered a little, "I’m here to see, um," I looked down at the paper in my hand, "Gabriel? For an appointment."

He consulted a clipboard then waved me on without a word. Inside was a small entry room with a blacked out glass door emitting muffled sounds. Pushing it open I paused and stood in the doorway until people behind me pushed me aside. The sounds proved to be music, Atreyu’s version of You Give Love A Bad Name if I was correct, and it was accompanied by three men dancing on a stage while being heckled by a screaming crowd of women and men.

My mouth had fallen open and I knew I stood out in my heavy winter wear compared to the other club goers variety pack of leather and vinyl and other materials I could barely comprehend. It was an alternative dance club as further evidenced by the crowd dancing and the swirls of glow sticks. I turned on my heel to leave but my elbow was caught and I wheeled, ready to throw my lukewarm coffee on my groper.

"Kaida?" a slender man with tan skin and bright blue eyes asked. He was built like a swimmer, which was showcased by the long sleeved fishnet shirt and tight leather pants in a red so dark it was almost black.

"I, uh, maybe?" I said, unsure still of the whole situation.

He flashed me a bright smile and slid his arm down my coat sleeve to shake my free hand. "I hope you aren’t running away, but I figured I should catch you just in case."

"Look, I’m sorry to waste your time but this definitely isn’t my scene and I don’t think we’d have anything in common. So it was nice meeting you, but goodbye." I made to leave again but he kept hold of my coat sleeve with a sudden desperate expression.

"Please, just stay for an interview. I don’t know if you know but it isn’t easy finding someone to not only live in the Blood District but to live with a were at that. I tried finding a roommate from my circle but didn’t have any takers," he explained, leading my through the crowd toward an Employees Only door. Through it we entered into a quieter hallway lined with doors and he tugged me down it, past two people carrying boxes of alcohol to the bar into a room where two other people—a man and a woman—were taking a break.

"Please have a seat," Gabriel said politely guiding me to a worn couch. I wasn’t used to being led around but at the moment I had no choice and allowed him to pull me over. "These are two of my co-workers, Carys and Zaven."

Carys was a tall blonde haired woman wearing a sleeveless cat suit and who waved at me with a bright smile, revealing exaggerated canines. Zaven just looked at me silently with unnaturally golden brown eyes that reminded me of a wolf sizing up its prey.

"Hello," I said with a smile, before turning toward Gabriel who had settled himself onto the couch as well. He was relaxed enough to appear almost boneless and it was very eerie to say the least. "Well, I guess I should tell you about myself. I’m twenty-five and a Linguistics-slash-International Relations major from Kyoto, though I was born in the US. I don’t care if you’re a werewolf or whatever as long as the rent is reasonable and you’re not a horrible roommate."

"I’m Gabriel and I dance and DJ at night while doing some of the administrative work on my off days. I’m twenty-three and happen to be of the wolf persuasion."

I nodded and studied him a moment. "The prices in your ad were pretty nice, do they still stand? Cause living in a pay by the week arrangement is getting a little old."

"Everything is the same as in the ad. If you want to wait a few hours you can come see the apartment when I get off work."

I wanted to see the place I might be living in but spending more than a few hours here would almost be torture. I sighed, no pain no gain, and nodded. "All right."

Gabriel smiled brightly and stood, going out of the room while holding the universal ‘just a minute’ signal. We sat there in awkward silence before Zaven opened his mouth and spoke in perfect Russian, "A linguistics major?"

It took my brain a moment to process the words before I answered, "Yes. I have an ear for languages so it made sense. I have a goal to learn as many languages as possible."

"Fluently or in passing?"

"Fluently of course. That would defy the point if I didn’t. I think it’s more interesting to communicate with people in the native language instead of hoping they know English. Plus, it’s helped me find some awesome restaurants."

He finally cracked a smile. "I agree. You can stray from the tourist track."

"You speak Russian really well, you barely have an accent at all. I would assume you were from Moscow if we were in Russia right now," Carys threw in. I looked at her in surprise and she smiled. "My father was Russian and my mother was Irish-American, thus my name."

"What other languages are you fluent in?" Zaven asked.

"Russian, Latin, German, Korean, and Japanese. And English of course."

"Wow, how did you accomplish that in such a short time?" Carys asked.

"Well, my mom was Japanese so that was native as was English. I learned German in high school and in college I studied Russian and Latin. I picked up the Korean while living there."

Gabriel had re-entered at the end of my explanation and he was standing in the doorway with a surprised and amused look. "I congratulate you, Zaven hardly speaks to anyone."

The pale man shot Gabriel a look then declared in English, "I like her. Keep this one." He then checked his watch and with a nod of his head headed out of the room, apparently back to work.

Carys swore then jumped up. "Time to go back to serving the crowds. Nice meeting you Kaida, we’ll have to talk again sometime." She waved then left at a quick pace. I got the impression that she was always moving quickly, not content to sit still.

My attention was brought back to the present when Gabriel dangled a necklace of some sort in my face. I grasped the laminated placard hanging from the rope and read it aloud, "Guest pass?"

"You can go out into the club and if you get aggravated you can come back here. Otherwise you wouldn’t be able to and would be stuck out there."

"You know, I think we’re going to get along quite well," I said in recognition of his consideration, taking the pass and hanging it around my neck. "Thanks."

"Well, I have to get back to work. I’ll be done in about two hours. Meet me back here, okay?"

I nodded and checked my watch as he left. I had two hours to kill and I began by removing my scarf, gloves, and coat. I laid them across the back of a lone chair and straightened my black turtleneck sweater. It got boring quickly and I shrugged, heading back out into the club area for at least some amusement. The room was even more crowded than before, yet I managed to find a seat in a little alcove built into the wall with a bench seat.

Surveying the room I caught sight of Carys behind the bar serving drinks with ease. Continuing on I hunted for Gabriel and Zaven and when I found them I was glad I didn’t have anything to drink at the moment as the pair danced together in one of the cages set up around the room because I would have choked on it. I only recognized them by the flash of Zaven’s eyes in the strobe lights shifting colors and stared in shock.

I hadn’t gotten a couple-y vibe from them but they danced seductively and with such familiarity that I had to wonder about their sexual preferences. It was unexpected but also rather enticing and I couldn’t have torn my eyes away even if an elephant had stampeded by. Gabriel’s eyes caught mine and he smirked a little at my rapt attention, turning his back to Zaven’s chest. Through his movements he directed Zaven’s eyes to mine as well and I found myself drawn into them.

My world narrowed to the blue and gold eyes shifting under the moving lights as they slid against one another. Their movements were effortless and unconscious, marking them as something other than human. I found that I could understand us normal humans' obsession with weres, the drive to flock to clubs like this. Here we could immerse ourselves and pretend for just a moment that we were as they were, while wishing we could move like them.

Someone crossing in front of my vision broke the spell and I stood, heading to the bar through the dancers. I ended up in front of Carys who smiled brightly. "Hello again. What can I get you?" she asked.

"Just a soda please."

"Really, after the eye sex you had there I figured you’d want something with more kick to it."

"After what?" I sputtered, my mouth dropping open.

She eyed me knowingly. "Deny all you like. But have a shot on me. You could use it to cool off."

I didn’t question the fact that alcohol would in fact warm me up but took the offered shot of raspberry vodka. Downing it in one go, I coughed at the bite and sat the glass back on the counter. "Maybe one more," I said after a moment. She grinned and refilled the glass, also sitting my soda next to it.

The second shot went down more easily and filling warmer I picked up my plastic cup and headed back to my alcove. Zaven and Gabriel had moved from the cage and I didn’t see them again. It was an hour later when I headed back to meet him, still feeling the warmth of the vodka but suitably sober to travel.

The room was still empty but I went ahead and pulled on my outerwear, wrapping my scarf as the pair entered the room still a bit sweaty. Zaven’s shirt was unbuttoned and apparently he didn’t give a damn at the moment as they flopped onto the couch carelessly.

"So are you two together?" I asked curiously.

"Pardon?" Gabriel asked, looking up at me. I raised a brow and didn’t elaborate. "Oh, the dancing? Nah, that’s just for show." He wiggled his eyebrows at me.

"You seemed to enjoy it," Zaven threw in, speaking Russian.

I blushed and Gabriel looked like he was dying to figure out what had been said. "And if I did?" I replied despite the embarrassment. I refused to let someone get the better of me.

He shrugged. "No crime in looking."

"Just looking?" I inquired, my mouth running away from me.

He made the same movement but didn’t reply, just looking at me with his shielded eyes not giving away his thoughts. My gaze went back to Gabriel and I smiled brightly. "So, the apartment?" I asked.

"Smooth. But I will eventually find out what you were saying," he answered, standing and going to a row of lockers.

"But not when I’m around and that’s all that matters."

He grabbed his own winter wear, spurring Zaven to stand and begin layering clothes to venture outside. When finished we went out the back exit and headed down the street. "We live near here."

My footsteps hitched. "We?"

"Oh yeah, Zaven lives in the same building a floor up. Mainly wolves live there; a few have human roommates as well. It’s like any other replace regardless of the tenants."

I nodded in understanding and silence reigned until we reached the elevator inside a five-story brick building. On the fourth floor Gabriel said goodbye to Zaven and stepped off. "Well, nice meeting you," I said to him. He smiled enigmatically and took my hand, kissing my knuckle through the glove. Then he pushed me past the elevator doors just before they started closing.

"Okay, I’ve never seen him be that nice to someone he just met. I am thoroughly suspicious now," Gabriel commented as he unlocked his door. I shrugged and stepped inside behind him. The place was small but cozy and well kept. I checked out my potential room and the other rooms before agreeing to move in. Arranging to move in the next day, he gave me a key and I headed back to my motel room.