Alphonse opened his eyes and glanced over at the seat next to him. Calling three instances a "pattern" may have been a stretch, but this was his third trip on an airplane and the third time he'd drunk himself into a haze in preparation for it. The first time it had left him surly and quick to spout off at his fellow passengers, the second time he was able to keep himself quiet despite his distaste for the journey, but on flight number three, the unwashed rodent was... calm, much to the relief of his fellow passengers.

Beside him, and the source of the noise that had woken him up, sat his brother. Alfie had told Murina that he wanted to show Terry around the States, that after his trip to Boston he thought it might be fun for one of the other Norwiches to get a taste for American life, but the truth was much simpler: Alphonse didn't want to be alone. Walking around a busy city and surrounded by the hustle and bustle of Bostonian business, Alphonse Norwich had felt spectacularly alone in his last trip across the pond. For a rat raised surrounded by family, wandering the streets of Boston by himself and sleeping in an empty bed weren't quite as freeing as it might have been for others. Having a familiar face with him in Las Vegas would make the weekend go much more smoothly.

However, Terry wasn't making the plane ride into the United States more smoothly at all. The poor rat had taken to flight with far less grace than his older brother, although fortunately less confrontationally as well. Each creak and groan of the plane, every time it bounced or rumbled, Terrence's head snapped around to see where the "problem" was. Each time they banked from one side or the other, he let out an unhappy moan and complained about his stomach. Unlike Alfie, he wasn't particularly bothered by the mix of species all around him. Not that the other passengers realized that, given his nearly identical appearance to the blustering Alphonse, who felt no need to keep his opinions to himself. For Terry, the plane itself was the problem.

"...Terry, th' fuck 're you doin'?"

The younger Norwich was breathing heavily, squirming in his seat, face tight. "I don't feel s' good, mate..." he replied.

"S' go hit th' loo," Alfie said, letting his eyes drift shut once more.

"No, Alf... I mean I don't... urk..."

"Terry, if y' ain't up on y' heels, hit 'at little button an' get a drink. Just relax, we gonna be 'ere snaply li-FUCKIN' 'ELL TERRY!!!"

Two hours, several towels, profuse apologizing from Terrence and even more raucous laughter from Alphonse and the Norwiches were in the United States. The pair exited the terminal into the Las Vegas airport, and for the second time Alfie was surrounded by a crowd complaining about the stench from the rat they'd be stuck flying with, although it wasn't entirely him this go-round. The scene mirrored Alphonse's first arrival in Boston, with a few additions. The confident Brit striding along, the unhappy travellers around him, agent awaiting him just beyond the seats.

"Muri!" Alphonse shouted, arms spread wide. "Good t' see ye, luv!"

Murina nodded back, thrusting a hand forward for a shake, rather than the hug Alphonse was aiming for. She'd learned her lesson last time. "Alphonse, Terry, I trust the flight went w..." She stopped mid-sentence, nose wrinkling. "What's that smell?"

Snickering, Alfie gave his brother a punch on the shoulder. "Eh, 'is pup 'ere couldn't keep 'is brekkie where it was s'posed t' be. Y' shoulda seen 'em nonnies whingin' about th' stink!"

Terrence, ears bright red, pushed back at Alphonse. "Fuck off, mate! I never been up in one o' them! Ain't natural, flyin' 'round in a steel tube. What if it ran outta fuel, eh? We'd been up the tail proper!"

Despite the stench, Murina found herself unable to suppress a small grin at the two siblings tussling with one another. "All right, you two, settle down. We have a lot of ground to cover and not a lot of time to do it. Now let's go, I'll be driving us all over to the hotel so you can meet with the rest, and... Alfie?"

"Yeh, darling?"

"Behave."

Alphonse grinned ear to ear. "On me mum I will."

While Murina led the way, the two Norwiches walked side by side, with Terrence eyeing his brother sidelong.

"Sounds like y' made an impression last time, eh?" he said with a snicker.

"An' at was just a quick hello," Alfie replied.

The car ride to the hotel was uneventful. While they drove through Vegas, Murina did her best to explain the lay of the land, what the draft meant and how the Norwich boys were expected to behave during their stay (most of which was aimed at her client), but all the while the two were distracted by the sights of the city. They'd arrived just as the sun was going down, and the glowing lights of Las Vegas were turning on. Both British rats were pressed to the windows, staring out at the giant buildings, their neon signs and flashing displays. Whatever advice Murina was trying to give to Alphonse and Terrence was falling on deaf, rounded ears.

Murina chuckled quietly to herself and just shook her head, deciding that she'd let her passengers take in the sights. There would be plenty of time later to talk business.

Draft weekend was always a big event in Las Vegas, and 2013 was no exception. Hotels around the convention center were all packed with draft candidates, their families, coaches, and current athletes there to congratulate their new teammates. Whatever hustle and bustle Alphonse had seen during his trip to Boston paled in comparison to draft time Vegas, to say nothing of Rat Alley. The slack-jawed rats all but needed to be led by the hand into the hotel, unable to keep their eyes in front of them.

The hotel was considerably more posh than the one Alfie had stayed in before. For the first time, Murina was grateful for Alphonse's previous visit to the United States. He'd gotten out most of his initial venting out during that trip, with the insults against passersby and non-rat hotel employees. From his expression, it was clear the big rat was still not a fan of being in such an integrated environment, but at least he was less vocal about it. To his side, Terrence looked just as uncomfortable as Alfie, although unlike his brother he seemed more apt to make a clear space away from the "nonnies" than to engage them. Murina was taken by the contrast. Alphonse barrelled along as he walked, having no problems shoulder-shoving his way through a group, while Terrence did his best to avoid contact at all. It was clear that neither enjoyed being surrounded by a mixed-species crowd, but how they dealt with it could not have been more different.

When the three of them arrived at the door to Muri's room, she stopped a moment, turning toward the two rats, her expression serious.

"Okay, now before we go in, I need to explain some things."

The Norwich brothers glanced at each other, then nodded in response.

"Now, this is my usual pre-draft meeting. This is where I gather all of my clients for a quick sit down and a hello with one another where we can talk about what's expected of everyone going into the draft itself."

Alphonse snorted. "Okay, what's th' kink?"

Murina rolled her eyes. "No 'kink', Alphonse, but my other clients are in there. Including Evan Marshall. You remember him, right? The bird that went into the combine?" She noticed the rat's body tense up and nodded. "I thought so. And that's why we're talking out here," she continued, voice insistent but hushed. "I have several clients in here, of varying species, and I need YOU to stay on your best behavior. You act up now and no one's going to come within a mile of you on Sunday. Okay?"

Alphonse waved a big head. "Yeh yeh, let's just get 'is over with, eh?"

Muri opened the door and led the rats inside. It was a nice room, far bigger than the one Alphonse had in Boston last time, with a desk, separate bedroom, a small kitchenette. In the main area was a large couch and a few chairs, Murina's other clients perched around a coffee table. It was a mixed crew to be sure, with several species Alphonse and Terrence had never seen before. The lot of them turned to watch Murina enter with the brown rats. Prior to the meeting, Murina had explained Alphonse and his "...unique situation" to them, with an extra emphasis on them being as accommodating as possible and for the love of god don't take the bait no matter what he says.

Alfie and Terry walked through the group silently, each of them looking at the assembly with distaste and curiosity, respectively, taking a seat on one of the couches. The silence in the room hung heavy, eyes flickering from fur to fur.

Finally, Zack Tate, a zorilla out of California, decided to be the one to break the silence. "Ey, you're Archie, right? Good to meet ya! Muri's said a lotta good things!" the impossibly tall polecat offered in a haggard voice, sounding every bit the Californian, holding his huge hand out toward Alfie.

Lip curled, Alphonse looked at the big hand thrust toward him then ignored it. "Th' fuck are you s'posed t' be?" he snorted, sitting down heavily.

Zack laughed, waving casually and letting his arm drop again, elbow on his thigh. "Zorilla, bro! Never met one?"

Alfie looked Zack up and down before shaking his head and turning away. "An' I was 'appy wit' 'at."

Terrence was taken aback by the zorilla's unique appearance, the coloring of his fur, in particular Zack's haphazardly dyed mop of hair, jagged smile that was clearly the result of as wild a life as either had seen in the Alley. Neither of them had ever seen anything like him before, and not just in terms of his species.

Even staring down the barrel of a loaded Norwich, Zack kept up his good humor and clapped Alphonse on the back. "C'mon dude, we're all friends here!"

Immediately Alphonse was up on his feet, teeth bared and ready to fight. "Keep y' fuckin' filthy paws off mee, y' nonnie shit!" he spat at Zack, prompting the others in the room to immediately get up as well, all prepared to jump in if the need was there. For the first time, Alfie found himself not only outsized in a fight, but heavily outnumbered. Terrence had even grabbed him by the shoulders to pull him away from the polecat. A few seconds of heavy breathing, eyes jumping from bird to pangolin, hornet to pronghorn, and Alphonse relented, slowly letting himself back down on the chair, chest slowly resuming its normal breathing pace.

Murina seemed to have expected that outburst, but still looked relieved that it ended so quickly. "Now, if we're all finished, we can get this meeting under way. You all know me, and I know all of you, but let's go around quickly and introduce ourselves. Properly," Muri put extra emphasis on the last word, eyes on Alfie.

So the circle started.

"Evan Marshall!" piped up the helmeted woodpecker in a sing-song, if nasal, voice. Alphonse gave him an extra glare that quickly squelched the bird's cheery demeanor. He remembered Evan as being the one who "stole" his spot in the Top 24 combine.

"Shanice Alvares," said the hornet, her tone smooth and pleasant.

"Howdy y'all, Eli Shuck," the broad-shouldered pangolin said, nodding his head at the others.

"Mike Timmids," came the soft introduction from the pronghorn, his smaller frame and quiet introduction befitting his last name.

"Zack Tate!" the zorilla belted out cheerily.

There was a pause then as the room turned toward Alphonse, his big arms crossed and boots stretched out in front of him. After a pointed cought from Murina, he grunted. "...Alphonse Norwich IV," he said, reluctantly.

"And, of course, I'm Murina Beaubonique," the black rat said with a smile, hand on her chest. "Now I'm going to make this short and sweet, because I kn-"

Zack interrupted her, "Whoa, hey, wait a sec, Ms B! Still got one left!"

"Excuse me?"

The zorilla pointed over at Alphonse's brother. "He's gotta introduce himself!"

Murina chuckled, "Well, he's not my client, nor is he up for the draft, but... well, okay." She waved a hand indicatively.

"Eh... Terrence Norwich," Alfie's younger brother said with a lift of his hand, still feeling less than secure in the room of non-rats. He hadn't done it consciously, but as he sat down after the quick dust-up, Terrence had nudged his chair closer to Alfie's.

Murina nodded. "Terrence is Alphonse's brother. The rest of his family couldn't make it, unfortunately," she began, pausing only to glare at Eli after his snort. "ANYWAY, normally I don't have family in during the meeting, so if you don't mind, Terrence, I'm sure you could use a bite to eat and we have business to tend to. A few of my other clients are here, I'll have someone show you around." Noticing the conflicted opinion on the younger Norwich's face, Murina lifted a hand to silence his unspoken protests. "He's trustworthy. I promise. If it's all right with you, of course, Alfie?"

All eyes were on the rat with the blue mohawk and his junior sibling. It was a telling moment, offering Alfie a chance to play nice with another species unsupervised, even if it was vicariously through his brother. The two of them exchanged uneasy glances, before Terrence shrugged once and Alfie sighed.

"Yeh aw right," he said, almost sulky. Murina smiled brightly and quickly typed out a text message. She was proud of her client. Maybe he was learning after all.

The others talked amongst themselves while they waited (Zack tried to wrangle Alfie into the conversation a few times, only to be met with an icy stare). A few minutes later there was a knock at the door, and Murina sprang up to answer it.

"Ah! That must be Mr Garza," she said, waving for Terrence to follow.

The junior Norwich stood and made his way through the group toward the door, doing his best to keep maximal distance from each of the others along the way, and stood slightly behind Muri, although kept himself drawn up tall as he could. At the other side of the room sat Alphonse, eyes narrowed and locked on the door, lips tight. He knew he had to let Terrence go, but swore that if anything happened to him, everyone in the room and whoever it was standing outside it would regret it.

The door swung open, and in walked an incredibly tall locust, sharply dressed in a button down and slacks, smiling widely.

"Hola, Murina!" he said with a dip of his head.

"Tony," the rat responded. She nodded toward the wide-eyed rat to her right. "This is Terrence Norwich, Alphonse's younger brother. The rest of his family couldn't make it and I haven't checked them into their room yet, so I was hoping you could show him around for a little while, get an early dinner perhaps?"

"Of course!" the locust affirmed, pleased with the idea. Terrence was quickly ushered out of the room, looking over his shoulder at his brother as though he were being led to the guillotine. Smile as bright as ever, Murina closed the door and turned back toward the circle of draft candidates.

"There we go. Now we can get down to brass tacks. Now, as I said, I want to make this quick. I'm sure we're all hungry, and the Vegas lights are calling, but we need to go over some things first..."

Out in the hallway, Antonio and Terrence walked along, the rat doing his best not to stare at his chaperone. In all his years in the Alley, he'd never met an insect, let alone one that stood a head and a half taller than him. Antonio noticed Terrence's discomfort and chuckled, hands casually tucked in his front pockets.

"So... Muri tells me you are from a... Rat Alley, si?"

Terrence nodded lamely, "Eh, yeh. Jus' this li'l nook."

Antonio chuckled. "So this must be quite the experience, mm?"

Terry shrugged, "S'a big city," he offered back. The felt awkward having a guide taking him around, like a little pup.

"Si si, it is! So much to see and to do, and not enough time to take in all of it. Every time I am here, I find something new." The tall locust smiled and looked at his charge sideways. "But I am sure you are hungry. What would you like to eat?"

Delaying as long as he felt comfortable with, Terrence finally answered with a non-committal, "Oh, whatever you want," as though he'd had so many types in his life that he couldn't make up his mind.

The gambit didn't work on Antonio. He knew that little game well. Still, not wanting to embarrass the obviously awkward rat, Tony nodded and led the way. "I know just the place. Should be right up your alley, forgive the pun."

That got a small chuckle out of Terry, and Antonio's smile widened that much more.

The place, it turned out, was a bar and grill, though far more robust and expansive than any Terry had ever seen. The rat's senses were bombarded, his ears with the thumping music and din of the crowd, eyes with the lights from the signs and the huge flat-screen televisions playing sports on all sides, nose with the scent of colognes and body sprays as well as the deliciously cooked food. If he weren't experiencing it for himself, he'd have refused to believe such a place existed.

Noticing the rodent's slackjawed expression, Antonio leaned in with a grin. "I'll take you to one of the REALLY nice places next time," he said, soaking up Terrence's look of disbelief that this could be considered not among the really nice places.

The two of them took a seat at a table, off to the side and slightly away from the main crowd at the bar itself. Antonio had a feeling Terrence might not want to be in the midst of the busy crowd just yet. Ordering drinks, a margarita for the insect and a beer for the mammal, Tony took a moment to look his accompaniment over. The soft semi-mohawk, the way his shoulders hunched over, eyes flitting about the large room. It was endearing, in an odd way. All the stories Murina had told him about Alphonse seemed not to apply to his brother whatsoever. This rat wasn't aggressive or vile, he was almost gentle. Almost... no. No, he couldn't let his mind go there.

Their conversation went through the usual range of topics. Their flights over, the weather, what they thought of Alfie and his chances in the draft. Both avoided going into any particularly uncomfortable topics, which turned out to be most of them for Terrence. He was dodgy when it came to his home, his family, just what the "Biters" were (Tony had only heard that it was a rat group of some kind, not knowing the baggage it came with). It didn't take long before their list of subjects dried up and the two sat in an uncomfortable silence.

The song on the restaurant's playlist changed and Antonio let out a small chuckle, which piqued Terry's interest.

"Summin' funny 'bout th' song, mate?" he asked, tracing a finger along the rim of his glass.

Antonio shook his head. "No, no. This was mi novio's favorite song, and he ALWAYS stopped to listen to it as loud as he could whenever it came on the radio."

Terrence tilted his head curiously, finger absent-mindedly drumming a little pattern on the rim of his empty glass. "Y' what?"

Antonio chuckled. "Sorry. My boyfriend. Well, my ex-boyfriend."

The translation made Terry jolt in his seat, knocking the glass over and scrambling to catch it before it fell on the floor. He looked to the sides quickly, as if to make sure no one else heard.

"Are you okay, amigo?" Antonio asked, concerned over the rat's sudden outburst.

A few seconds later, Terry seemed convinced that Antonio's statement had gone unnoticed, and he nodded, leaning in over the table toward Tony. "Easy mate! Y'don't wanna get cracked, do ye?"

Antonio wasn't quite sure what "cracked" meant, but he felt he could piece it together well enough on his own. "Terrence... no one is getting, er, cracked. Are there no gay rats in the Alley?"

Terrence's mouth went dry. He swallowed, though it took a good bit of effort. "Er... there's some but... they ain't exactly well appreciated."

Antonio's antennae drooped faintly, getting a clearer picture than he expected. "I see," he said, looking down at his own drink for a moment. "Well, I can assure you, Terrence, that here it is much different, si si." He got a little grin on his face. "Ven aqui," he said, raising a long arm to flag down a waitress.

"Yes, sir?" the perky rabbit asked.

"Another round for us, and can you tell me the name of that last song? Mi ex boyfriend loved it, and I can never remember the name!"

Terrence went wide-eyed for the umpteenth time, doubly so when the waitress smiled and told him the title, then flounced back off to the bar to refresh their drinks. He kept watching, waiting for the other boot to drop. Something had to happen, there was no way that the big locust could drop a bomb like that and there be no consequences. He just admitted to being gay, a blanker! Where was the rage? The sneers? The looks of disgust? When none came, he looked back at Antonio, who had a sheepish little smile on his face.

"You see? This is not the Alley, Terrence."

The evening became much more relaxed after that, and topics drifted to the league, to Terry's musical endeavors. They talked, they drank, they laughed. It was an outing that Terrence Norwich never would have believed possible. The rat from the little hole in Toxteth sitting in a huge pub in the States, talking with a locust about his boyfriends. As alien as the punker rat felt, there was an odd freedom in it all. Sure, he was different, he was in a foreign land, he wasn't like anyone else around him. What made it all okay was that no one minded. Terrence's differences didn't make him an outcast. If anything, this was the city of different. Being unlike the rest made you fit in.

By the time they made their way back to the hotel, some time had passed and rat and locust were nicely buzzed. They made their way to the hotel and up to the floor that the meeting had been held on. Terrence didn't know where he should be going and Antonio's room was on another floor, but the hispanic insect had a feeling that the new draftees would be on the same floor as Muri herself. The black rat had a tendency to keep her clients on a short leash on Draft weekend, something he knew well.

It turned out Antonio was right, and down the hallway, Terry and Tony saw Murina and Alphonse standing in the hall, having a heated argument.

"I ain't beddin' up wit' at fuckin' nonnie!"

"You will NOT call him a nonnie, Alphonse, and this is not up for negotiation! Would you rather you spend the night with Evan?"

"Well what 'bout Terry, eh? Where's 'e s'posed t' sleep?"

"You can get a roll-out if you want, or one of you can sleep on the couch. Look, I didn't make you bring him along, I'm not MADE of money, I could only get so many rooms!"

"Go'n work y' wizzy, Muri! Get anotha room f'r 'at rotter in 'ere!"

A voice called out from inside the room. "Uh... I can hear you, dude!"

Alfie barked back, "Button it 'fore I do it for ye!"

Antonio and Terrence arrived just then, with the large locust furrowing his brow. "Is everything good, senorita?"

Murina sighed deeply and rubbed at her temples. "Things are fine. Just having a slight... disagreement about our sleeping arrangements."

Antonio chuckled knowingly. "I have space, perhaps one of them could stay with me?"

Muri smiled and patted Tony on his big arm, since it was hard for her to reach much higher. "I appreciate it, but Mr Norwich needs to understand that he can't call the shots. Sometimes, it means staying for two whole nights with someone he'd rather not," she stated, sharply, each word thrown at Alphonse like a knife. He pulled a face and crossed his arms, leaning back against the frame of the door.

"Well, Terrence here could stay with me, if that would be okay?" Antonio offered.

Alphonse immediately shook his head. "I don't fink so, mate," he spat, with the final word sounding less friendly than any of the others would have thought possible. "He's stayin' wit' me."

"Are you sure, senor?" Antonio asked. "I have a room to myself, it would be no prob-"

"He's stayin' 'ere an' 'at's fuckin' final!!" Alphonse barked, making Tony step back and shrink down as best as the plus-sized locust could. In the midst of it all, Terrence stayed quiet, avoiding making eye contact with any of the arguing parties. He didn't like being the focal point of a fight, but he knew better than to step up and argue against Alphonse.

Murina, again proving herself braver with Alfie than nearly the entirety of the Alley, stepped up close to him and raised up tall on her toes, finger in the broad-shoulder rat's face. "Listen! This is how it is! This is your room, this is his room! I'm not asking you to be best friends with him and go out for dinner, but just live in the same room and not kill each other! Do you think you can do that? Because if you can't, you're not ready for this league! Are you going to go home and tell your family that?"

The anger on Alphonse's face was crystal clear, but he knew she was right, and relented. "FINE!" he spat, turning and going into the room.

"Hey, dude! Got it all sorted out?"

"Fuck off!"

"Gotcha!"

Out in the hall, Murina rubbed at her temples, taking a deep breath. She wasn't terribly secure on her feet, but did her best to keep her composure. Finally she looked up at Antonio. "Thank you so much for taking Terrence away from the meeting. It was not as quick and breezy as they normally are due to... some surprise conflicts." She sighed and shook her head. "Anyway, I think everything is okay for the night at least. I'm going to go and just get some room service. Not in the mood for hitting the strip."

Watching the other rats head away, Antonio and Terrence chuckled quietly at one another.

"Er... I don't suppose I could get your number, Terrence?" Antonio asked. He quickly added, "To, you know, show you some of the other good places to eat here in Las Vegas."

Terrence's ears went red. "I er... I ain't got a phone, mate..."

Antonio perked. "Oh! Well... do you have Facebook? Or Twitter?"

Terrence looked at him blankly. "Like... a book wit' names in it? I don't got 'at many names..."

Tony laughed, putting a large hand over his mouth. "Okay, amigo. I will see you tomorrow then? Maybe to get another bite?"

Terry nodded, grinning lopsidedly. "If 'at's okay wit' you..."

Antonio smiled broadly. "Si! Good night Terrence."

The two then parted, each briefly looking back over their shoulders, considering for a small moment saying more, then deciding against it.

Murina slumped down on the couch in the same room that had just held all of her clients, the circle of athletes bickering and arguing about how fair it was to expect this and that from them throughout the weekend. To no surprise, most of the protests had come from one specific client, but that didn't make it any easier to deal with. She took out her red wine and poured a plus-sized glass, sitting back on the couch. He was gone, but the smell of Alphonse still hung in the room. Murina let out a soft 'ugh' and rested her head back on the cushions.

"Lord give me strength."

With two glasses of wine in her belly (as well as a chicken salad), Murina Beaubonique was feeling a little better, with a fresh perspective on the evening as it had gone so far. She knew it was unfair for her to be so hard on Alphonse. Okay, yes, he did need to grow up and understand that America was not the Alley, but at the same time... it wasn't the Alley. He wasn't like Evan or Zack, living in a melting pot and understanding mixed cultures. Alphonse was from a rats-only clatch buried in a poor city. He was acting admirably, given the circumstances. Or was he? After all, Terrence had grown up right beside him and seemed far less venomous about it.

All that notwithstanding, Murina was not one to let bad feelings linger, and so she decided to go down and talk to Alphonse, to hopefully iron out their disagreements. She looked at her desk clock. 10:42. Not terribly late, but without anyone to show him around or let him feel "in charge" she wasn't terribly concerned about Alphonse going out wandering. If anything, she had a feeling he would spend most of his time holed up in the room complaining about all the "nonnies", and chuckled to herself at the thought.

She arrived at the Norwich and Tate room and knocked a few times, listening to bodies within shuffling around.

"Yeh?" came a voice as the door opened, and Murina was greeted with the image of a shirtless Terrence Norwich, much like her arrival in the Alley so many weeks ago.

"Er... is Alphonse in there?"

Terrence turned to look into the dark room, just like last time, as though he needed to. "Eh... no, he ain't."

Murina's blood ran cold. "...he's not?" she asked, unable to believe what she'd heard.

Terry shook his head. "Sorry, Muri. He'n 'at Zack bloke went out 'bout an hour ago."

It was a moment of two emotions for Murina Beaubonique. On one hand, her famously specist client had made a friend with a non-rat, and had gone out to hit the town with him. On the other... her two most reckless clients were now out in Las Vegas, together. Unsupervised.

"Are... are you okay, Muri?" Terrence asked, noticing the black rat's uneasy stance.

"I'm... I'm fine," Murina answered. "Just... as soon as Alfie gets back, have him call me?"

Terrence nodded, and the American rat made her way back down the hallway to her room. The walls and floor swelled, pulsating. She'd anticipated many problems surrounding Alfie this weekend, but not this. She expected him to fight with her other clients, for him to refuse to get near them, for him to be so stubborn she would be ready to strangle him. She never expected that he'd strike up a friendship with Zack Tate and hit the town, and now she felt like an idiot for it. Neither were answering their phones.

Murina Beaubonique pulled out a glass and filled it to the brim with red wine again. This was looking to be the longest draft weekend of her career.