Juliet glanced up at Samual, she wasn't even sure if she had heard what he said... she had to struggle to remember the words that seemed distant memories; Eryan... he mentioned Eryan. Juliet had heard that name a dozen times, but she had never met the person to whom it belonged. "I guess so?" Juliet's guess quietly whispered. She had only been here for a couple months, arriving just a couple weeks before the attack. Eryan did seem to be the name on everyone's lips, and even Michael had mentioned her numerous times; usually in the statement 'You and Eryan would get along SO WELL!' A pang struck at Juliet, a quiet stab of guilt right between her lungs. Her jade stare returned to the fire, her knees drawn up to her chest, the quiet crackling of the fire seemed to calm her better than anything else. Somehow, the dancing embers soothed her feelings of alienation and regret. She was merely here in this moment, she was able to lose herself... if only briefly.<br/><br/>Juliet flinched when snapped out of her stupor by a hug, warm words, and steak from Aidan. One of the few that Juliet had felt a real connection with, the ever-present emotional tug beckoned Juliet towards absolution, a beckon that Juliet would ignore, as she had since the attack. She gently hugged Aidan back, fighting off the overwhelming emotional upheaval that seemed to breathe new life. Her knees dropped from her chest, and she accepted the still sizzling steak with gratitude and a whispered thanks. She had finally gotten used to simply accepting food, and not trying to hand it off to her partner... a bittersweet accomplishment.<br/><br/>She stared at her steak... she almost laughed at her memories:<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">"Jules, you have to eat meat... real meat." Micheal pleaded, as they sat in the middle of a restaurant in El Paso.<br/><br/>"Do you not know what a vegetarian is!?" Juliet denied the plate of sizzling meats. <br/><br/>"You can't live on just vegetables as a werewolf, sweety." his head cocked, "We're predators by our very nature." <br/><br/>"NO! <span style="font-weight: bold">YOU'RE</span> a predator! I can eat what I want, and I don't eat meat." She stressed the final words, her arms crossed as if that was the last anyone would hear of the subject. <br/><br/>"Jesus Jules, it's not like I stomped a kitten's head in to get this meat!" Michael had never been one for heavy moods or drama, so jokes were his go-to method of talking Juliet down. "C'mon, you need meat." He wiggled the plate at her. "It's barbecue." He spoke in a sing-song voice. <br/><br/>"So that's the cost of my soul? Barbecue sauce?"<br/><br/>"It's home-made." Michael smiled and Juliet laughed, a laugh she fought, her arms angrily crossed. </span><br/><br/>Ultimately he was right, and Jules eventually caved when she didn't have the energy to argue, let alone change forms. She was so stubborn, though she couldn't argue that she had grown out of that trait. She smiled awkwardly as she stared at the plate, teasing the food with her fork for a bit before snapping out of her nostalgia completely, and slowly eating the seared meat. She ate in silence, as she had grown accustomed to... though once again, that was a fairly new development. She was still adjusting to life without a mate, though lately her life had just become adjusting to new things. She adjusted to being a lycanthrope easily enough, but then there was adjusting to pack life... settling in and living in one place, which proved to be far more difficult than she imagined. Juliet always had wanderlust, which was one of the reasons her and Michael got along so well... he had a car and they always seemed to have gas... and a destination.<br/><br/>She looked to the group, gathered around the fire and it struck her really suddenly that these people had known Michael as well... maybe even better than she did. He lived with this pack for years before she had met him, she caught herself wondering who it was that had turned him, and if it was someone in this group. Juliet sighed a little as she realized that she knew almost nothing about his past, and wondered if people thought the same about her. She didn't talk about herself much; she had told a few stories about living in LA, meeting a couple celebrities, working as a waitress. She doubted anyone knew very much about her, and in a weird way that made the whole ordeal somehow easier to deal with.