A Business Transaction (Aiden)

((This thread is to take place in the past. Sometime in the middle of May, before the storm.))

With trepidation as his companion for the evening, Stuart entered Rory Fallon's pub on Saturday night shortly before nine as instructed by Hannah. He was about to meet with someone who would sell him the wolfsbane that Hannah brewed. Stuart had never heard of wolfsbane before coming to Cat's Claw -- apparently it was some sort of medicine that controlled lycanthropy. He had been shocked to hear there was such a thing, but he took Hannah at her word. She hadn't steered him wrong yet.

When she told him about wolfsbane his first thought was for Zippy. Both of them could use the medicine, certainly, but Zippy more so. She was working at the Avery estate and had to be on the grounds at night. She was fortunate that the only full moon since she had taken the job had occured on a night that she was not scheduled to work, and so she was able to go to the mountains to transform without anyone being the wiser.

Stuart, of course, being jobless and not bound to remain one place or other, had had it easier than she. He was a boarder at Holly St. James' home and during the nights of the full moon had been able to slip away before moonrise and come back the next morning. He had been waiting for Holly to question him as to his whereabouts these two nights, but perhaps she was too polite to do such a thing.

Hannah had given him a business card with a crescent moon stamped on the back and told him to look for a man in the pub this Saturday night who was wearing a jacket with this design on the front. Stuart had never stared at men's jackets so much as he had tonight. He felt completely conspicuous -- more so than usual. He always stood out in Cat's Claw as "The American", but tonight was worse. He felt as though a bright beacon of light shone down on him, pointing out to everyone that here was the werewolf in their midst.

Keeping his head down he went straight to the bar and ordered a lager. He thought of ordering a shot of whiskey to calm his nerves but decided against it. He wanted to have a clear head for this meeting. He tried to be subtle about scoping out the bar as he drank, but really... there could be nothing subtle about a single man -- one from out of town, to top it all off -- who was looking around at other men's jackets.

Just when he began to feel completely ridiculous and ready to abandon the whole scheme, Stuart spotted a man at a small table to the side of the room with a crescent moon sewn to the front left pocket of his jacket. That was it, that was the symbol he was supposed to be looking for. He discreetly pulled the card out of his shirt pocket and turned it over, looking at the symbol on the card and then looking back at the man's black jacket. A perfect match. He was pleased that he had been able to make the match so quickly. He took another sip of his beer and, standing, walked over to the table where the man was seated.

As he approached, he felt a strange jolt of recognition. He was unable to see the man's face clearly but he had the feeling that he had met this man already. This was not good. Stuart had hoped to meet this go-between in total anonymity, a simple and plain transaction to be conducted and forgotten. That he had run across this person before and might again in the future gave him no small measure of discomfort. He nearly turned tail and ran; it was only out of concern for his sister that he was able to talk himself into staying. Digging down deep, Stuart tried to put aside the fear that was gnawing at him and walked to the table, the business card hidden in his hand. He drew closer to the man and suddenly realized where he had seen him. It was the man who had asked him to deliver Quidditch tickets to Chad Stevens at the An Taoisigh. Stuart recovered enough from the surprise by the time he reached the table.

"Good evening," he said hestitantly. "May I join you?"