<blockquote><div><cite>Allie wrote:</cite>"Hey, it's just 'Sherani,' okay? No need for all that formal stuff, right? I mean, I'm not callin' you Mister Ureck."</div></blockquote><br/><br/>"Of course, M- I mean... Sherani," Ureck replied, his surprise clear in his expression as much as his voice. It had become something of a habit for the collie to speak formally, regardless of who he had to address. Unlike many of his current idiosyncrasies, this one came about much earlier than his time with the Grangers, where it was a policy at the Grand Espen Library to treat all patrons with the utmost respect. Yet after descending into the Guild Rangers' web, the habit took on another significance altogether. Polite people were unconfrontational, unlikely to be trouble, and, most importantly, uninteresting. Easily spoken to and even more easily forgotten, it had been a key to his survival, giving his employers little reason to put him on the dinner platter.<br/><br/>However, things had changed drastically within the last few days. He had cast off the chains that had bound him for so many years, something he never would have thought himself capable of until Sherani and Lilium had come into his life, and finally giving him the chance to undo the wrong he had helped sow. However, it also meant that the habits he had acquired during his time with them no longer carried the weight they once did. Now, speaking formally wouldn't have any applications beyond strangers he stumbled across. And at this point, they were certainly not strangers.<br/><br/><blockquote><div><cite>Allie wrote:</cite>"So, it's like this: I've got this competition going with the Alpha's daughter, Aideen... we're both s'posed to bag with as many guys as many guys as we can, outside our clan, and whoever's got the most gets to lord it over the other one when we get together. I told her before I left for Espen that I was gonna really go wild in town, and smash her score up, but, well... what with that whole 'famine' thing goin' on, and gettin' arrested, and almost kidnapped, I kinda sorta haven't gotten any in a month... oh man, she's never gonna let me live it down... Anyway, that's where you come in. See, we get big bonus points if we can bang a guy hard enough that he comes looking for us again. The way I figure, it if she sees you tagging along and finds out you're from Espen, she'll think I gave you the best sex EVER, and get so jealous she won't even ask about the other ones."</div></blockquote><br/><br/>Ureck's expression remained as attentive as ever as he listened to the shifter explain her little challenge, yet as the gravity of her request began to sink in she would notice his eyes widen ever-so-slightly. She... she wanted him to pose as a love interest? Again, it was something he hadn't had the luxury of indulging in much under the Grangers, whose female predators often ended passionate nights with lower agents by savoring a nice dinner with them. Beyond that, however, was a deeper conviction the shifter's request had brought to the surface despite the collie's efforts, causing him to turn to the forest beyond and take on a sullen look. Why did faking love seem to strike such a wrong chord...?<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">No, snap out of it Ureck. She wouldn't have wanted you to be like this</span>, he thought to himself, shaking his head briskly. As Sherani had suspected, he had lived through many more hard points in life than he let on, and during such times he had picked up yet another lesson about the life he had fallen into. It helped little to dwell on his losses, to let them fester like a disease in him instead of channeling such emotions into the desire to live. His mind drifted back to the shifter, and it didn't take long for his apprehensions to fade away. In her own way, Sherani carried a type of attractiveness he had never seen before, and her willingness to help and her go-getter attitude had warmed over the collie's heart. There was nothing wrong with showing his love to someone he didn't have to fake it...<br/><br/>He turned back to Sherani quickly, his genial puppyish smile having returned to his face. "I would love to play that part for you, Sherani," he said happily, his tail waving slowly as she spoke. "We have become friends now as far as I am concerned, and the least I could do is help you win your little challenge." He chuckled softly before taking the shifter's hand and smiling softly at her. "Also... we do not have to pretend if you would rather not, Sherani. If we happen to fall into a lot more than a bar fight together... I for one would never complain..."