[C] Useless Persuit

Raisa gave an amused smile as Dario held his hand out to her, she took it and stood up, thanking him for heading toward the employee exit.

Walking down the street she idly scratched her nose, brows furrowing at the scent lingering on her hand, she could smell Dario and something else lingering on his own skin.

A cat, no, a shifter. That was interesting, she hadn't ran into a shifter in Catania yet, plenty of Vampires and Lycan, a fair few Necromancers too.

She hummed softly and looked up at Dario for a moment.

"Hey, Old Man Don, look what the cat dragged in," Liq called as the three entered the pizza parlour.

"Hey, Don, how you doing?" Dario called as the three made their way to the back of the floor, taking up the booth right next to the kitchen doors. Their favourite booth.

"Dario Corvi, where have you been, young man? I haven't seen you in months," the skeletal old man asked sternly as he leaned over the counter.

Dario gave a sheepish little grin. "Life's been rough, Old Man. You've got no idea. I promise when I get some spare time and cash next, I'll be down. I miss this old place."

"Evening Don!"

Raisa called out, padding over to the counter and leaning over it, giving the old man a soft peck on the cheek before heading back to their booth and flopping down into the padded chair.

She came here nearly every day now and the old man felt like family, it was just lucky for her that this place was close to the store she worked at.

"Dinner is on me, boys."
Magic words to their ears she was sure, but it was worth it, business was going strong and she had reason to celebrate, another mating season passed without getting pregnant, definitely something to rejoice about.

Liq cheered at those magic words.

Dario looked a little less...cheery. But you could tell he was thankful for it. Dario still wasn't as popular as Liq in the club. He couldn't get away with cashing out often.

"Thanks, Raisa."

Liq leant over the table to call out for Don. "The usual for the three of us and a dessert pizza. You know what we like, Old Man."

Dario rolled his eyes, pushing Liq back in his spot. "I don't know how you haven't been banned from here yet. You don't have any manners to speak of."

Liq shrugged. "Everyone just loves my charm."

"Don't mention it, we're celebrating."
She replied, wavering her hand dismissively at Dario thanks.

"Not everyone is graced with beauty, talent and good manners like you and I, Dario.

Sadly Liq hasn't got any of those three virtues, I think Don takes pity on him."

Raisa laughed and braced herself for a hit she was sure she would be receiving.

"Oh hardyha," Liq snorted, flipping Rai the bird.

"It doesn't look like you're graced with any of them, either. Just Dario around here with any of them."

The human shook his head with a little grin. The two bantered like an old married couple. If he didn't know better, he was certain there'd be a ring on her finger.

"There you go. Hawaiian, meatlovers and BBQ chicken. Enjoy, kids."

Dario dragged the BBQ chicken in front of him immediately, picking up a slice and biting into it with a purr. That tasted so good. He really did miss Don's cooking.

Liq dug into his Hawaiian with gusto.

Rai grinned at the man cheerily as she was flipped off.
"I can agree to that, he is definitely better looking than you are, the cute ones are always gay."

She huffed, resting her head on her palm glumly as she looked over at the man longingly.

The eagerness of both men couldn't compete with how quickly Raisa picked up a slice and devoured it. A Lycan's appetite was the real curse, she could eat and be starving again ten minutes later.

"Unless, of course, they're me."

Dario smirked. "Yeah, right. You're super cute," the human snorted, his hand coming up to grip the back of Liq's neck, forcing him forwards so his face smashed into his pizza.

The Necromancer cried out, lifting his head with a deathly glare. A piece of pineapple clung to his cheek.

"Bastard."

"Takes one to know one, asshole," Dario retorted with a grin.

Raisa burst into a fit of laughter as she watched the two men interact.

Reaching over she stole the piece of pineapple and ate it with a small purr.

"Oh I like you."

The woman snickered, anyone who could annoy Liq as much as she could was definitely a keeper.

"You sure you have no interest in women?"
She asked, leaning over the table enough to show off her chest.

Dario chuckled, sliding out of the booth and nudging Rai aside so he could sit next to her and hopefully evade Liq's wrath.

"Sorry, sweetheart. Breasts just don't do it for me."

He could outright say she was a beautiful woman, but he just didn't feel attracted to that beauty.

He much preferred the beautiful ass that usually spent its days curled up on his couch waiting for him to get home.

Dario, not knowing the severity of the action, swiped a slice of pizza off Rai's plate, biting into it with a purr. That was good. He might just have to have this next time he came here.

Rai moved over so that Dario could sit beside her, giving him a kicked puppy expression, boobs were her best weapon and he wasn't falling for it.

"That's a shame, I'd go home with you over him any day."

That wasn't entirely true, humans were too fragile, if she got riled up and bit him she would have to relive the other night all over again.

"So, you got a boyfriend?"

She asked, personal space wasn't one of Raisa's strong points.

The woman froze slightly as he stole some of her food, biting back a snarl, they were in public, she couldn't just lash out at him, plus he had no idea what he was doing.

Instead she played it off, giving him a playful glare and growl and pulling her plate away from him protectively, quickly eating another slice.

Dario laughed as Khaliq gave a childish pout.

"Sorry, Raisa. You'll have to find someone else that'll fall for the sin of your body. It's beautiful, just not doing it for me."

Another laugh left the human's throat when she growled playfully and hid her plate from him. He offered a slice of his own pizza as a peace offering.

"I do," he replied with a little smile.

He had the sweetest boyfriend around.

"I guess I just have to settle for Liq then, that's a shame."

She shook her head softly at the offered pizza, he had worked hard tonight and suffered under Liq's hand, he deserved it, plus she preferred beef over chicken any day.

The woman devoured it eagerly, munching away before starting conversation again.

"He's not interested in women at all is he?"
She asked jokingly with a smile, she could only imagine what the man's boyfriend would look like, already she was picturing another large hulking man.

"I would say you'll survive, but..." Dario gave Liq a pointed stare.

Being stuck with Liq wasn't a great experience. Dario could attest to that one personally.

"I'm pretty sure he's happy with me. Sorry, Raisa."

He grinned as he pulled out his phone, holding it out for her to see the background.

It was a picture of Hayden laid out on his couch wearing just one of his overly large shirts. He'd come home to that not so long ago. Hayden had been trying to wait up for him but had fallen asleep.

It was the sweetest sight he had ever seen.

Raisa looked down at the picture and let out a soft coo.

"N'awwww."

It definitely was not what he was expecting, the two of them would look so strange together standing side by side, judging by the size of the shirt on him the boy would have to be smaller than she was.

"Oh Dario he is adorable! Definitely not my type, but he looks so precious."

Dario grinned at her coo.

He wasn't the only one that found his little Hayden absolutely adorable.

He'd have to hide the poor boy away from a lot of women if they ever went out together. Poor thing would be bombarded by lots of cooing old women that wanted to hug him and pinch his cheeks.

"He is, isn't he?"

Dario's eyes turned up to Khaliq. "He's way cuter than your ass could ever be."

"Yeah fucking right. I'm the cutest thing alive. Right, Rai?"

"Sorry to say it Liq but the boy wins hands down, he is such a cutie."

Raisa took one last look at the image, smiling endearingly.

"He must be absolutely tiny, what is he like five and a half feet?"

She asked, looking back up at Dario when something clicked in her more.

"Oh, poor little thing."
She muttered softly, she could only imagine what Dario had meant when he said he hadn't been seeing a lot of action lately, she couldn't imagine such a small boy being able to handle a man like that.

"Thereabouts."

Hayden was a wisp of a boy. Absolutely tiny.

Dario arched a brow at Rai's soft mutter. His mind hadn't been following the same path as hers had. he didn't know what she was thinking.

The human looked up when Don appeared at their table with a dessert pizza.

"Oh, Old Man, you really know how to spoil us," the human said as he reached for a slice, purring contentedly when the chocolate melted on his tongue.

"You should bring him out one night, I'd love to meet him."

She replied, the smile returning to her face, that was their private life and she wouldn't delve into it any further.

"I promise I wont try to steal him away...okay maybe just for a hug."

She admitted with a smirk as she took a slice of the dessert pizza and chewed it with a purr.

"Is he old enough to drink? You should bring him to the club one night."

"I'll see if he wants to come out and meet a few people next time I see him."

He'd like to see Hayden meet his friends. He hoped they'd all get along with each other.

"Don't hug him too much. If he's hugged-out, I won't be too happy."

The man nodded. "Perhaps not to Zo. Last time he was there wasn't a great experience for him. We could probably find another nice bar around. Invite a group out and make it a party."

"Being social is always fun."

She replied as she leaned back in the chair, stretching her arms over her head with a contented groan.

Her belly was full so she was perfectly happy.

"Fair enough, we could always head down the Last Stand, my band plays there on the weekends."

She mused as she glanced over at Liq, giving the man a soft smile.

A surprised little grin curled his lips.

"So you're the ones I hear." He'd been up at Red's house numerous times and heard a band playing downstairs before. "You're pretty good."

Dario took up another slice of pizza. Liq growled softly as he pulled the plate towards him. The rest of the pizza was his and he'd fight to the death over it.

"Bubblegum bitch," the Necromancer said, grinning widely. He'd always remember that song.

"Thanks."
She replied with a smile as she looked over at him.
"Yeah I play drums and sing on occasion."

She added as her gaze fell back onto Liq with a chuckle.
"Bubblegum bitch is right, and don't you forget it."

Her own grin matched his, that had been a fun night.

"You've got talent."

Dario had been meaning to actually go down and listen to the band without two floors separating them but he hadn't found the time.

The last time he had been down in the bar with the band there was when he disappeared into the bathroom to pick up that guy...whatshisname... to fuck Red with.

"The bitch part is definitely right," Liq snorted.

"It's just a little bit of fun to burn some energy."

It was a good reason to get out of the house and interact with people, that had no desire to extend beyond playing in bars.

She laughed at Liq's retort, yeah she could accept that, she really could be a bitch when she wanted to be.