#but it also partially conceals the back of the neck/shoulders area. his weak spot. melt him

[afternunh]

what's your hair long for sindri? so men can run their hands through it so gently? so they can pull it?

[asongstress1422]

If You Go Down to The Woods Today

Reylo Fanfic -- werewolf au

Read on: AO3

Happy Halloween!!

The prickle on the back of her neck had Rey turning around to scan the area, hand slipping into her coat pocket around the small canister of mace. It was just shy of three in the morning and for what Rey could see of the rain soaked street it was vode of life. Though her instincts had gotten her out of too many tight spots for her to just not listen to them now. It they told her something was out there, it was out there.

So she had two options.

First being go back the way she had come. It was about two blocks, less than five minutes if she ran, to the club where she worked, though she doubted anyone would still be there. On a night like this her coworkers would want to get home just as much as she did. But she could lock herself safely inside and call an uber, though even the shout few blocks to her apartment would send her bank account into the red.

Her second option was walking the four remaining blocks to her apartment. A longer distance, yes, but if things got really hairy there was a twenty-four hour convenience store that she could hide out in. It was Satur-- er, Sunday morning so that meant Bonnie would be manning the counter. Rey bit her lip, weighing the idea of potentially luring her problems to the woman’s place of employment against knowing the older woman had a concealed weapons permit and was always packing. And Rey’s apartment was only another block up from there.

Path decided, Rey buttoned her coat tight around her neck and, on a deep breath, closed her umbrella.  The mid-October rain was cold, instantly plastering her hair to her scalp. Shoving wet hair out of her eyes Rey marched forward, impromptu weapon clutched in her hands.

She made it about a block until her body screamed at her again and with little thought she turned, umbrella in a defensive block across her chest, palms and wrist loose, ready to counter just as her Sensei had drilled her.

A deeper shadow along the row of cars froze, yellow-green eyes reflecting the steep lamps. Her brain’s pseudo perpetrator.

Rey’s sigh floated in the air around her as her shoulders sagged in releaf. Then she laughed at herself further revealing her tension. “Good graces, boy, you scared me. What are you doing out here in all this wet, don’t you have some place to be?”

The dog remained pressed up against the red honda that had seen better days, completely motionless. Only its eyes followed her as she crouched on the sidewalk offering a hand. “Come on, I’m not going to hurt you,” she cood. “I just want to see if you got a collar so I can get you home.”

Slowly the animal moved, inching towards her and out of the shadow of the car.

“Wow,” Rey breathed as it cautiously slunk towards her, “you are a big boy, aren't you.”

In the weak light he appeared to be all black, long hair distorting his body as it dripped water. Kneeling as she was if he stood to his full height he his head would have topped hers but instead he kept his body hunkered close to the ground as he stretched out his huge head to sniff at her fingers, warm air curling over them.

Tentatively Rey scratched his chin. After a startled second of tension the great beast ease deeper into her palm. She ran her hands back to his neck. Finding no collar she gave it a good scratch as she looked down both ways of the empty road.

“Well, somebody has to be looking for you. You’re too well groomed to have been a stray long with all the hair you have.” He looked up to her as she spoke making them nearly nose to nose. “My goodness, you are a pretty thing.”

What she was about to do was probably one of her more stupid endeavors but her conscience simply wouldn’t let her leave the animal out in the rain. With a sigh she pushed to her feet.

“Okay, big guy, how about you come home with me and we’ll get you dry, does that sound good?” She smiled when his tail wagged, as if he actually understood her instead of responding the higher pitch in her voice. “Okay, let's go. And you can keep way any other stalkers I happen to pick up.”

Not bothering with the umbrella as she was already soaked, Rey and the animal walked the last few blocks to her apartment building.

“Just three flight of stairs and another door and we’re set,” she got out through clattering teeth. The dog pressed up against her side. “You’re sweet trying keep me warm but you’re probably just as cold as I am. I’ll get us fixed up as soon as we get inside.”

She was shaking so back by the time they finally reached her door it was a tryal to get the key in the lock but she managed. The apartment opened up into the living room, the space just big enough fo the couch to fit comfortably and everything else to squeeze in around. The lights were off inside but the key holder on the wall said one of her two roommates were home.

“We have to be quiet,” she whispered to the dog closing and locking the door, leaning the closed umbrella against the wall and hanging up her own keys. “Our lease says we can’t have animals.”

The dog whined softly once in reply but followed her as she led them into the bathroom. The fluorescents turned everything slightly orange as she shut the both of them inside. Zeroing in on the shower her first goal was turning the faucets all the way to hot.

“Okay, buddy, in you go.” He needed no second promoting hopping into the stall and laying under the hot water with a deep sigh. “Yeah, I bet that feels good.”

With numb fingers she picked at her own clothes, leaving them in a sopping pile on the floor.

“Hey, boy,” she said easing a foot under his rug like bulk, “scoot over some.”

He glanced up at her and nearly brained himself on the tub spout when he scrambled to his feet.

“It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to get warm, too.” She moaned as she stepped into the hot spray. The dog tensed, pressing his face deeper to the seam of the tiled wall.

After a long minute just standing there with the water thawing her out she set about her shower ritual, running shampoo and conditioner through her shoulder length hair before grabbing her body wash and turning on the dog who had remained motionless the corner the whole time.

“I hope the scent isn’t too strong for your nose but we’re also going to need something to cover up that wet dog smell.”

She squirted a great glob of the pink gel in her hands. He flinched at the first touch of her hand and she tried soothing him with kind gibberish as she ran the soap through his long fur. It took some finagling to get him all washed, as it almost seemed as he refused to look directly at her as she crouched before him in the tub, but finally the water ran clean.

“Okay, boy,” Rey said around a huge yawn as she shut off the water. “Lets get dried off then it’s time for bed.”

She stepped out snagging the towel from the bar on the wall and wrapping it around herself, not wanting to give up her warmth now that she had it back. She picked up her wet clothes and hung them over the shower rod to, hopefully, dry by morning. Grabbing a second towel she called for her shower mate who stepped dantaily over the high lip of the tub, seemingly fine to look at her now that she was covered.

“You so funny,” she cooed raking the towel over him, carefully patting around his eyes. Still too wet for her liking she pulled her seldom used hair dryer. Hoping not to scare him she was extra affectionate as she turned it on. Not that she had to worry, he loved it. Turning his face into the heat and sitting contently as she ran they dryer all over his body. She found that he had a cute little white half-sock on his left hind foot. He seemed disappointed when she finally shut the dryer off.

“I’m sorry,” she laughed, “but I need to go to bed.” She look him over with a frown. “Though your probable hunger, aren't you?” He perked up at that. “Okay,” she sighed. “Let me get some clothes on first.”

He followed behind her as she scurried on bare feet into her room across the hall. She quickly unbound the towel from around herself tossing her head down to wrapper her hair up in it. Diving into her dresser she pulled out the first things her hands grabbed; panties, sweatpants, an oversize sleep shirt, and her thickest pair of clean socks.

The dog was busy studying the ceiling when she turned back around. Shaking her head at herself for assigning gentlemanly behaviors to a animal she let the way into the way to the kitchen.

“I need to go shopping,” she grumbled half bent, shuffling things around in the fridge. Giving up on finding anything premade she grabbed out the half carton of eggs, the last tablespoon of foil wrapped butter, and took it to the stove.

Kicking the burner on high she tossed in half the pad of butter letting it partially melt before cracking in four eggs. Grabbing a fork from the drawer she gave them a scramble in the pan. Dash of salt, hint of pepper, a cursory flip and on a plate. Giving the eggs a change too cool, she didn’t want the dog to burn his tongue, Rey made herself some as well.

Finished she set his on the ground and opened the fridge for some salsa to go with hers. About to dig in when the dog let out a whine and pawed at her leg.

“What?” He looked at the salsa then back at her. Frowning, she picked up the jar she had set on the couter. “You want some?” He yip softly, licking his jowls as he dance in place. “It’s spicy, I don’t know if dogs can do spicy.” It was mild, she didn’t really like spice herself, but she was pretty sure the rule applied to dogs. He yipped again, insistant. “Fine, but I’m not making you anymore if you can’t eat it.”

The sounds of a beast feeding filled the small kitchen. Rey shook her head, forking up a bite of her own eggs. “First dinner date in six month and it’s will a dog.”

Metal ringing against ceramic dragged Rey from sleep. She rolled over to see at her roomate through bleary eyes as actually-to-god sunlight poured in through her crackerbox size window.

“You know we’re not aloud to have pets,” Paige said scooping another spoonful of mini wheats to her mouth.

“It’s just for one night,” Rey said trying to blink the sleep away.

“Don’t let Rose see him,” Paige warned. Rose was Paige’s four-year-younger sister that was in the inbetween stages of moving in with her boyfriend. Meaning most of her stuff was still here and she paid her third of the rent but she spent most of her time over there.

Rey nodded understanding. Growing up Rose had always wanted a pet but Paige had to put her foot down, barely able to make ends meet with just the two of them after their parents death.

“I took him on my run this morning to do his business,” Paige continued, “and fed him a can of tuna. Side note you’re, out of tuna.”

“Thanks,” Rey croaked stretching. She glanced down when her feet hit a large weight. The dog blinked at her, head lounging on his dinner-plate paws. If she had though he was large last night he was huge in the light of day. Curled as he was on her full sized mattress his tail still thumbed her upper arm in greeting. “Good morning to you, too.”

“He’s weird,” Paige said staring at the animal. “I had to bribe him with going outside before he’d leave you and I swear he glared at me when I tied a couple of scarves around him for a leash. But he kept pace with me fine and didn’t try to break free even though he could.”

Rey rubbed shoulder with her foot through the blanket. His tail thumbed again.

“Also, the wet dog towel you left handing in the bathroom?” Paige spoke around downing the last of the milk in her bowl. “Not cool.”

“I’ll do laundry,” Rey promised.

Paige grunted bending down to scratch between the dog’s ears. “Goodbye, mutt. It was nice having a running buddy.”

Rey stood in the kitchen nursing a cup of coffee, trying to figure out what her next steps would be getting him home. Paige had skipped out to work. Rose probably won't be home til late to get ready for school the next day and Rey didn’t have work until five. She could probably take him to the pound but she didn’t like the idea of him being in a cage. And what if his owner never found him?

She peeked over the counter to look at the dog as he munched on the defrosted lunch meat she had found in the back of the freezer. “You wouldn’t by chance be half homing pigeon would you, that way you can just lead me to your home?” she asked.

He glance up and Rey got the distinct impression of a yes before he stood and stretched and headed towards the front of the apartment. She came around the corner to see him waiting patiently at the door. “Well, okay. Let me go get on some shoes.”

Taking a leaf from Paige’s book Rey wrapped a scarf around his neck in an artistic take on a collar tying another on to it for a leash.

“Don’t you look handsome,” she said ruffling his scruff, the grey of the scarf setting off the near blue black of his fur.

“So once we’re out on the street, I’m going to give you an hour to find home, then we’ll need to figure out another plan.” She smiled ryle, “I should probably stop talking to you like you can understand me. I’ll be getting enough strange looks from leading around a hundred and fifty pound dog with a scarf.”

He gave her cheek a lick.

“Aww, your sweet.” She gave him another pat standing. “Let's go see if we can find who you belong to.”

Once they hit street level the dog was a like a man on a mission. He didn’t pull or try to get out of the haphazard lead rope but he did keep a steady pace that Rey had to nearly trot to keep up with. The ground was still wet and the air held the hit of a bite but the sun was shining brightly.

“I thought Paige said she ran with you today,” Rey panted fifteen minutes later. “Her route is like five miles. How do you have so much energy still?”

He gave no reply, even though Rey was half expecting one, diligent on his path. That was another thing, there was no backtracking, no hesitancy it was almost as if he actually knew where he was going. At ten minutes to his hour cut off he stopped across from a little cafe.

“Here?” Rey demanded trying to hide her disappointment. What did she expect? She had allowed a dog to lead her on a merry-goose chase across town. She sighed rubbing her face. “Guess we’ll just have to think of something else.”

Checking both ways for traffic the dog made for the door. Rey pulled back on the scarf. “We can’t go in there. It’s a restaurant, they don’t allow pets.”

He persisted forward. The knot came undone and she nearly stumbled at the unexpected slack. Instead of running off as would be normal, he gave what could only be described as an eye roll as he took the ‘leash’ in his mouth and dragged her to the front doors. She was too surprised to do anything else except let him.

As they crossed the street a waiter taking a couple's order on the outside patio looked up in surprised. “Solo?”

“You know him?” Rey asked, the dog sitting at her feet.

“Yes, well you know, his … owner? Yeah, his owner is a ..buddy of mine. That’s his dog ...Kkkyylo.”

“Didn’t you just call him ‘Solo’?” Rey asked.

“My friend's name’s Solo. The dog’s name Kylo.” He hurriedly turned back to his customers, “let me get this to the kitchen for you and I’ll be right back with your coffees.” He gestured for Rey to follow him inside.

“Can Kylo come in too?” She showed him the scarf, “I don’t have a proper leash for him and I’d hate for him to get lost again when he’s so close to being home.”

He looked down at the dog and flinched. “Yeah he can definitely come in. I’ll give his … owner a call. If you want to grab a table?”

“Yeah, sure. Take your time,” she reassured as he smiled and disappeared into the kitchen. Kylo followed her as she grabbed one of the side tables by the big bay window.

“What was your master thinking,” Rey asked him as she shed her coat, “naming you something as nonsensical as ‘Kylo’.” She ran a hand down his neck, “though I probably shouldn’t be saying that to you, it’s not like you named yourself. Kylo is a wonderful name for such a wonderful dog.” He laid head on her thigh. “I know, I’m sorry. I wont make fun of you anymore.”

The same waiter as before passed her with two lattes in hand. “I got a hold of someone, they’ll be by to pick him up in less then half an hour. If you can’t wait you can just leave him with me and I’ll see that he gets back.”

“No, I’ll wait.” She grinned up at him sheepishly, “I need to be the one to make sure he gets home.”

“I get it.” The man glance down at Kylo then away with a smile. “I’ll be right back to take your order.”

“No, that’s,” she started but he was already out the door, “okay.”

Rey sighed, it wasn’t as if a sandwich would break the bank. And she was hunger after all that walking. And she did get paid tomorrow. With a shrug she flipped open a menu left on an empty neighboring table.

“Does your owner come here often?” she found herself asking Kylo. “What does he usually get?”

She wasn’t sure if she was surprised or not when he nosed at the turkey club.

When the waiter, Paul was his name, came back round she ordered the sandwitch with the chicken noodle soup. She fed the strips of bacon to Kylo as they waited for whoever was going to pick him up to show.

A newer silver SUV style car pulled up to the curb outside the cafe. A woman draped in an elegant black shawl stepped out, her hair expertly coiffured. She set her sunglasses atop her hair as she entered the eatery eyes immediately lasering in on Kylo before flicking up to Rey as she stood.

“I’m Leia Organa,” the woman offered her hand.

“Rey Johnston,” answered shaking it once, trying to remember why that name sounded familiar. “I thought Paul said his owner was a man.”

“My son.” Leia said succinctly her eyes glaring down Kylo. “I told him to be careful when … walking his dog.”

Rey set a protective hand on Kylo’s head. “Yes, your son should have been more careful but its not Kylo’s fault he got lost, he’s just a dog.”

“Kylo?” Leia asked confused. The dog woofed softly at his name. “Right, Kylo.”

“And your son should really get him identification tags. If he wasn’t so smart we would have never found you.”

“I will definitely be having words with my son,” Leia said fastening hard eyes on Kylo. Taking a calming breath she turned back to Rey. “I’m sorry of all inconvenience this has caused you,” she reached in her purse slipping out several bills from her wallet holding them out to her, “please take this for your troubles with my thanks.”

“I appreciate the offer,” Rey said with a smile folding her hands in her pockets. “But if you can ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again that’s all the thanks I need. Kylo is a really special dog, I would hate for something bad to happen to him.”

“As would I,” Leia set the money on the table. “Thank you for taking care of him. Come B...Kylo, it’s time to go home.” Leia nodded her head regaly to Rey before turning to the door. Kylo pressed himself against Rey’s leg before following the woman out.

Rey watched out the front window, trying not to feel depressed as the car pulled way.

“It was less than a day,” she scolded herself. She was usually better with this kind of thing, it was the name reason she hadn't given Kylo a name in the intrume, she knew he would be leaving and she didn’t want to make a connection. And here she was sniveling over a dog.

She let out a gusty sigh, eye’s catching on the money out of the corner of her eye. Leia really shouldn’t have given her anything, it was her son’s dog to begin with and secondly Rey hadn't been looking for a reward. Absently she counted it, blinked, then counted it again more thoroughly.

Five hundred dollars.

She looked up with the half baked thought of running after the long gone car to give the money back. Who the heck just drops five hundred dollars in some random person’s hands. Shaking her head she walked up to the coffee bar.

“Paul?” The waiter looked up from adding a dusting of cinnamon to a drink. “You said you were friends with that woman’s son, right?”

He raised an eyebrow, “yes?”

“Can you give him something to return to her the next time you see him?”

“I don’t see him all that often,” he hedged frothing milk for a second drink and not getting eye contact.

“You can probable send it to her office,” the nice woman manning the Cash register said as she rang up Rey’s lunch.

“Her office,” she questioned handing over her bank card for payment.

“Yeah, the City Hall.” The woman said with a smile giving her the receipt to sign. “That was Mayor Organa.”

Rey went to work that night with the five hundred dollars in a marked envelope just waiting for a stamp. A stamp she wasn’t sure if she was going to put on it, thinking of the horrors of having some much untraceable cash lost in the mail. But it would be presumptuous to show up at the Mayor’s place of work, wouldn’t it?

“Rey,” her shift manager called over the pounding techno beat, “we need more glasses!”

Nodding her head to show she heard, Rey grabbed the bin of Dirties and carried it in the back. Returning with a loaded tray of Cleans she saw a man scanning behind the bar. His eyes immediately locked on her as she stepped through the swinging door, a charming smile on his lips. He was good looking; tall with dark hair just a bit longer than average and an aquiline nose.

Setting her burden down she half turned to ask over her shoulder as she stacked cups, ”can I get you something to drink?”

“No.” For a second it was as if his voice cut straight through all the noise of the loud bar. “I’ve come to return something.” His large hands set a bundle of charcoal material on the bar.

Recognising the material she nearly snorted in derision. He seemed a bit old to be having his mother step in to fix is mistakes but then again some people just never grew up, she’d served enough drinks to them to know the kind. “You must be Solo.”

“Ben,” he introduced, leaning on the bar as he offered his hand. Rey knew it would have been rude not to take it though she disengaged quickly. “I wanted to come and thank you,” his full lips twitched, “in person.”

“Mmmhmm,” she hummed turning her back on him tension in the line of her shoulders.

“You’re angry,” he questioned, “why.”

She slammed the last glass down tucking the tray under arm as she pivoted on him. “Do you have any idea how badly it could have gone with Kylo last night? He had no form on identification, no way to get home. He could have been hit by a car or taken to the pound or worse and nobody would have ever know.”

“Yes,” the smile on his lips died, eyes turning haunted. “Things would have gone a lot worse if you didn’t see him when you did.” Rey was surprised by the seriousness in his voice. But it was gone quickly replace with that same charming smile.  “So what do you do when your not working or out rescuing stray dogs?”

“Kylo’s not a stray,” she snapped. She bit her lip wishing she could have bitten her tongue before speaking. She quickly began cutting lime wedges for drink garnish.

“What do you mean?” Ben asked after a pause.

“Kylo was lost,” she emphasize, eyes glued on the cutting board. “He is not a stray. There’s a differences.”

“And what is that difference, Rey?”  Her head shot up at his intimate tone. Again it felt like his words surrounded her, cutting out the other sounds.

“‘Stray’ means your not wanted, ‘lost’ means somebody cares enough to look for you,” she found herself answering without really thinking. Annoyed with herself her tone turned caustic, “And how do you know my name?”

He sat back as if she had physically snapped at him instead of just verbally. “My, uh, mother. She must have mentioned it when she was dropping off Kylo.”

“Yeah, your mother Mayor Oranga. I can’t believe you didn’t even care enough to come pick him up yourself,” she shook her head.

Remembering that afternoon and Leia made her remember the envelope she had in her bag. Rey flagged down her manager from across the bar, tapping her wrist twice then mining cracking something in half. The other woman nodded turning back to her own customer.

“Stay there, I’ll be right back.” Rey glared over her shoulder at Kylo’s owner before as she turned away. She returned in under a minute with the money filled envelope which she handed over the bar to the man. “Can you see that your mother gets this? She forgot it when she picked up your dog. And keep the scarf, it looks better on Kylo then it ever did on me.”

Curiously he drew the paper under his nose as if scenting it. There was an amused curl to his lips when his eyes flashed up to hers. “My mother is not a forgetful person,” he said sliding the envelope back across the lacord finish wood. “I’m sure whatever this is, she intended for you to have it.”

Forcefully Rey set her fingers on the opposite edge and pushed it back to him, eye’s hard. “I don’t let others make up for someone else’s mistake.”

“How about you let me make up for it.” That curle turned into a full blown grin. “Dinner?”

Her eye’s raked over him. If she had met him in any other way, in any other place, she would have said yes.

When she got back on after her break he was gone. Tucked next to her cutting board was the envelope with a newly inked seven digit number on its corner.

“Is there something I can help you with, miss?” the secretary asked in a chipper voice with a kind smile.

“I, uh, have a letter. For Le-- Mrs. Ora-- the Mayor?” Rey stuttered wanting the tasteful beige carpet to swallow her.

“If you’ll give me just a second I’ll check if she’s in.”

“No, that’s okay. I could just leave--” the woman was already up and though the frosted glass door that lead to what Rey assumed was back offices.

Fidgeting awkwardly with the envelope Rey resigned herself with waiting. Catching the ten-thirty bus into the center of town she had been half hoping to catched Leia when she was out on lunch, wanting only to drop off the money and then move on to do her grocery shopping. She wanted to make Paige dinner for being so cool with the Kylo fiasco. She was thinking spaghetti and then they could take the leftovers for lunch--

Rey nearly jumped out of her skin when the secretary returned. “Leia will see you now.”

Leia Organa was seated behind her chrome and glass desk paperwork spread before her. She look just as regal today as she had yesterday, the gold beaded jacket adding a seasonal flare to her wardrobe. She frowned slightly behind the glasses perched on the edge of her nose. That quickly cleared when she recognised who had walked through her door.

“Aw, Ms. Johnston. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I just want to make sure you got this,” Rey said walking up to the desk and laying the envelope down before scurrying back to her place by the door. “I also wanted to ask how Kylo was.”

“He’s fine,” Leia answered absently running her fingers over the several scratch marks that blackened the bottom corner. “Is this my son’s phone number?”

“Uh, yeah,” Rey winced. She knew she should have put it in a new envelope but she had gotten that one from work and hadn’t wanted to ask for a replacement. “He stopped by my place of business last night. I tried giving it to him to give to you but he wouldn’t do it.”

“That sounds like him,” Leia sighed. She waved the envelope infront of her before setting it on the edge of the desk. “But that doesn't change the fact that I gave this to you for helping my son.”

“I helped Kylo and him getting back home is all the thanks I want.” Rey nodded her head, only just stopping herself from actually bowing. “Sorry for taking up your time. Have a nice day.” Before Leia could think of stopping her she turned and bolted.

Rey didn’t like being around politicians. Something about all that artifice made her skin crawl. It always felt like they were three steps ahead and lying through their teeth about it. And as cordial as Leia seemed Rey hadn't missed the pinching of the older woman’s lips when she had recognised the random sequence of digits or that her first instinct had been to throw money at Rey for her services.

Nodding to the security guard on duty as she steps through the glass front doors Rey is distracted enough that she runs right into someone trying to enter. A starbucks cup goes flying, spilling its contents on the concrete.

“I’m so sorry,” she starts mortified.

“Rey?”

She looks up. Of course it was Kylo’s neglectful owner looking like a poster child for Menswear Monthly. His glasses and the professional looking laptop case on his shoulder made the look more human instead of airbrushed but Rey still wished she could just disappear. She’d taken some care with her appearance but she still was only planning on going to the grocery store.

He seems just as surprised to see her as she was. “What are you doing here?”

She tried not to flinch at the shock in his voice still feeling a bit raw from her appointment with the mayor. “I came to see your mother.” She frowned, “but if you were going to see her today anyway you could have saved me the trip.”

“You returned the money?”

Rey’s hand’s went cold with the knowledge that he new his mother had paid her. “Yes,” she bit out.

“You didn’t have to,” he said softly closing the space between them.

“Yes, I did.” She took a deep breath tried to shake her defensive anger. “Look, I’m sorry for your coffee, let me spot you for another one.”

He held up a hand, “it was mostly gone anyway.” He got a sly look in his eye, ”though if you really want to make it up to me, you can accept my invitation to dinner.”

“I’m not doing this.” She dug in her pocket and counted out five ones, grabbing his hand and slapping them in it. “Buy your next coffee on me. I’m sorry I crashed into you.”

She turned and walked away knowing it was just her furtive imagination that made her think he said, “I’m not.”

Halloween was busy at the club, something about alcohol and costumes seemed to draw the weird out of people. Last year, a month into the job, Rey had dressed to the nines as a forest spirit, spending days making her costume from thrift store finds and random things she had at the apartment. She had walked home defeated with her broken paper mache antlers smelling of a medley of spilt drinks and one woman’s throw up.

This year Rey new better. Her minimum hassle costume consisted of a black tank top and short-shorts that she already owned and a tail and headband set she had picked up from the dollar store.

“It’s crazy tonight, must be the full moon,” one of the servers, Sasha, said coming up to the bar for a new round of drinks. She cast concerned eyes over Rey, “you do have a ride home tonight, right?”

Rey smiled over at her, touched, in the midst of making Frankenstein’s Monster a haunted martini. “I only live a few blocks up, I’ll be fine.”

“North or south?” A cheesy dracula, already two of his three sheets to the wind, asked from perch at the bar. “I’ll be more than happy to walk a pretty girl home.”

Sasha and her shared a look as Rey loaded the tray with a dozen shot glasses, filling them with tonight’s cotton candy colored special. They were cheap to make, tasted disgusting, and were selling like hot cakes.

“Thanks,” Rey gave her customer service smile, already use to this song and dance, “but I already got a boyfriend.”

“He doesn’t have to know,” the man slurred drunkully.

Rey chose to ignore him as Sasha took up her tray to wade back in the fray. Instead she turned to get the order of the third ‘Jake from State Farm’ she’d seen that night.

The rest of the night was pretty much a blur of progressively drunker people. She had started early and didn’t have closing so it was one-thirty when Rey stepped out of the back doors of the club. Just like she had predicted she had a whole tray of those cotton candy shots tipped on her when a zombie cheerleader and an awesome Princess Mononoke’s San had been started making out a bit aggressively. So instead of doning her coat, she was carrying it and freezing her butt off.

“Hey pretty girl, need someone to warm you up.”

“Your place or mine, kitty cat?”

She ignored the group drunken fools standing outside the front of the club smoking cigarettes and kept walking, way too tired to deal with their bull shit. She did, however, turn when they screamed.

One man was in the middle of the sidewalk on his ass. A large hulking mass radiating menice stood over the the terrified man. His friends stood frozen against the wall not knowing what to do. The dog made a step forward, a silent snarl shaking his body. This wasn’t good.

“Kylo, come.” The animal went rigid at the command. Slowly its great head turned away from its prey to eye her over a massive black shoulder. Rey’s eyes narrowed, she was having none of that, “I said come.”

Not waiting for him she turned and continued up the sidewalk. After a tense second she heard his nails on the cement as he stalked to her side. Not looking down she laid a hand on his warm head, icy fingers sinking into thick fur.

“Yo bitch! I was just trying to be nice, you didn’t have to sic your dog on me!” One of them men yelled, out of danger their drunk brains turned back on.

Kylo hesitated at her side as if he understood. She kept walking keeping her hand in his fur and he kept pace so as not to loose contract with her.

It took half way to getting home for Rey to lose the tension keeping her body going. She would have collapsed to the concrete it an early rain hadn’t wettened the ground, she didn’t want a wet but on top over everything else. So she locked her legs taking several deep breaths and letting them ghost around her as she let them out slowly. Kylo whined.

“I’m alright, boy,” she reassured rubbing tiredly at her face, it was just the adrenaline crash that was making her eyes tear up. She looked over to him and force a smile, “Paige is going to be so pissed at me when she sees you.”

He bumped up against her leg warming the chilled skin.

“It’s okay, I’m used to it. But, as Sensei says, its better to walk away instead of escalate things.” She patted him on the head. ”You never acted aggressive before, should I be scared of you?” she wondered aloud.

He licked her fingers, burying his muzzle in her palm and looking up at her with big puppy dog eyes.

She smiled, for real this time, and gave his chin a good scratch. “Let’s go home.”