“I’m a veterinarian, actually.”

The woman who stepped through the doorway spoke in the soft, if sarcastic, tone of a close friend as she continued to rebuke the witch, “And you know I don’t like that joke.” Tucking a frizzy lock of her white hair behind a curled horn, she looked up at John. He couldn’t help but stare back in shock.

‘Mary’ was about the same height as Emily, only with deeply tanned skin and inhumanly orange eyes. She wore a knit, cream-colored sweater only a shade or two off from her pale hair that had a rather distracting cleavage window cut out. The clear, delicious view of her moderate chest pointed out a distinct lack of a bra. Her sweater clung tightly to her stomach and hips, ending at her upper thighs where a bit more of her brown skin was exposed before a pair of tall, black leather boots encased her legs and feet.

He could feel her eyes on him as he ogled her and John quickly cast Observe to have an excuse for his behaviour. John saw Emily jump in surprise before he remembered they were in a party. It wouldn’t be too far a stretch to assume she could see the popup now.

Observe leveled up!
The use of Observe will now give you additional information about your target.

The newcomer turned to her friend with a frown pouting her plump lips. “And you know I don’t like being called Mary.” A slight blush warmed her cheeks as she smiled shyly at John. “Please, call me Marissa, and you are...?” She left the question hanging in the air.

John shook his head, dismissing the Observe sheet, but Emily kept hers open, smiling as she read it. “I’m John. Emily thought you might be able to help me out with something.” He bit his lip, unsure how to explain the situation they had called her in to help with.

“Oh!” The sweet sheep girl visibly perked up. “Do you have a pet that needs looking after?”

“Uh, no…” he licked his lips, mouth getting dry, “not exactly.”

Finished reading, Emily closed the pop-up and winked at Marissa. “John here is a lycan.” The pair watched as the sheep girl went very pale. “But he’s new. Got turned a few days ago and doesn’t know how to shift, or even if he can, really.”

“Emily,” Mary’s voice was soft and a little shaky, “why am I here?”

“Well,” the herbalist rushed to explain as John just stood back, watching them, “I was trying to think of ways to make him shift, and I don’t exactly want to put anyone in danger to do so, and you know I can’t really summon anything very well, so I figured calling you would be the next best thing…” As she spoke, she'd been avoiding eye contact, but now Emily looked up at her friend. “You’re technically a prey animal, and he’s a predator, so I had the idea that maybe he could chase you and it’d make him shift.”

“Em!”

"You can always knock him out if things get too hairy!" Emily protested.

“You say that like I can just do it at will,” the innocent girl groaned.

“C’mon.” Emily’s tone turned to begging as she hugged her friend and John realized that though the two seemed the same height, Marissa was wearing very tall heels. “Help us, Marissa. You’re his only hope.”

Mary snorted and pried herself out of Emily’s arms. “I’ll help out, but is the chase really necessary?”

“Honestly,” John shrugged, deciding this was his moment to speak up, “I don’t think so, but Emily seems to think I need to know what will make me shift.”

“No, the chase isn’t necessary, but she does have a point,” the bolkin sighed before smiling up at him. “Besides, I’m guessing you want to figure out what all you can do, too?”

The lycan nodded silently, catching a glimpse of a smug smile on Emily’s lips. “But I don’t want to put anyone in danger.”

“John, she won’t be in danger.” The witch held up a hand, stopping Marissa from interrupting her before she could. “She’s got this nifty ability where, if prepared, she can knock an attacker ****.”

The lamb moved the hand out of her face. “It’s a defensive skill my kind has. Being a prey animal, we needed a way to defend ourselves against, say, your kind.” She smiled nervously and he nodded, urging her to continue. “It takes some expensive materials and I can’t cast it instantly like one of Emily’s spells. But,” she paused, giving her friend a level look, “unlike some of her spells, mine doesn’t miss.”

“Hey!”

John smiled, more relaxed by the girls’ easy friendship. “Makes sense. How do we want to do this?”

Marissa bit her lip, looking out over the field. “Well, I could use a head start before you start chasing me, but before we begin, could I ask a favor?”

’What could she possibly want from me?’ “Uh, sure. Why not?”

She reached up to brush a white curl behind her soft lamb ear, a gentle pink warming up the honey tones of her skin. “If I do wind up knocking you out,” she paused to take a steadying breath, “may I draw some blood and other samples to test?”

“Oh!” he exclaimed. ’I guess I shouldn’t be all that surprised. She is a vet, maybe she could figure out something.’ “It couldn’t hurt. I mean, I’m looking for more information, right?”

“Exactly!” She bounced in place, the movement drawing John’s eyes to her ample cleavage before he caught himself and looked back at her face. “I was thinking if I had some samples, I could run some tests to see how your blood and tissues react to different stimuli. A bit like how you’d test to see what kind of antibiotics would work when you’re sick.”

John bristled but smirked wryly. “You know, I was feeling rather sick after the first day. Splitting headache and fever, and I was nauseated, too.”

Emboldened by the prospect of an experiment, Mary took a step forward and reached up to touch the gamer’s forehead. He held his breath; her hand was warmer than he expected, but still cool. “Hmm. You’re still a little warm, but that may just be a werewolf thing. They tend to run at the temperature a canine would, understandably.” Removing her hand, she turned towards the circle and swiftly walked right back to the door still standing in the center. When she opened it, John was still surprised to see the shop on the other side, an odd sight to see when there was no visible wall around the door separating the two worlds.

Marissa picked up a black bag from the ground on the other side and shut the door again.

“Alright. Give me a thirty second count?”

He laughed. “Whenever you’re ready.”

The vet handed her bag to Emily and stretched out her legs before giving him a nod. “Ready.”

John cleared his throat.