anarchist_queen | Soho, Bordertown, Wednesday Afternoon

When Crystaviel and the others picked her up that afternoon, Leda was far more subdued than she'd been that morning.

She had had a disagreement with her parents. It hadn't been an argument because Leda had not been given much opportunity to argue. Her parents had wanted to discuss her education. By which they meant they wanted to inform her of the decision they'd already made. Leda had had no say in the matter.

The last time Leda had tried to argue with her parents, they had decided to send her to Faery to cure her of her errant ways. So she had run away. They knew she might object this time as well. So they had taken steps to prevent that.

"You will go to Faery. You'll leave tomorrow. If you decide to disobey us again...your magic will be forfeit." And before she could do or say anything he and her mother had said the incantation to place the geas on her.

Her dwelling on this situation, her enforced trip to Faery for the foreseeable future, the fact that she'd made the decision to return to Fandom despite recent events, and her current dilemma, may account for the fact that she failed to notice the pack of Wharf Rats that they passed on their way to Under The Hill. Or more precisely, the fact that one of said rats, was one of two prime suspects for burning down Castle Pup.

But he saw her.

The wine they ordered while they waited for their food helped to dispell her funk. She and Stormy Waves sat close beside each other, and regaled their friends with their discovery of the morning. Then she was asked to regale them with tales of Fandom and the wacky hijinks the silly humans and such had gotten up to.

"So, y'all slummin' too? These poor soho elves sure are funny eh?"

Leda glanced up. She had taken pains not to notice the pack of Rats when they'd come in. She was determined to enjoy her time rather than dwell on unpleasant things. So when one of them sauntered up to their table to talk to them, it took her by surprise.

She went back to her wine. Maybe he'd get bored and go away.

"It must be difficult," Stormy Waves said, grinning, "To acquire wisdom in a human's short lifespan."

"From the evidence," Crystaviel argued, turning her own grin on Leda, "It must be impossible."

Leda smiled absently and sipped her wine. She liked humans. They knew that. They were teasing her as much as making sport of the grungy human. She wouldn't participate or rise to the bait. They surely couldn't fault her for that right?

"Snatch any babies lately?" the Rat asked suddenly. That voice. It couldn't be. Could it?

Crystaviel and Stormy Waves gave each other a look that the others missed. Leda would have found it very interesting if she hadn't been trying with all her might to pretend none of this was happening. Mmm, good wine.

"If you think there are changelings in your family," Stormy Waves snarked, "The answer more likely lies with your mother's morals than Faery's intervention."

Okay that had been pretty clever. The idea of changelings had always kind of pissed Leda off. The bullshit humans had come up with about them astounded her sometimes.

"I'm not talking about changelings." the Rat formerly known as Just Ron, now called Gone said. "I'm talking about grabbing little kids-"

Stormy Waves interrupted him. "What did this human's mother lie with? An ape would account for his looks; an ass, his manner."

"Hey screw you Fairy." Gone snapped.

The Rats applauded, Stormy Waves pushed back his chair. But Leda touched his arm. She didn't want trouble. Even if Just Ron, or whatever his name was these days was starting to piss her off too. No elf liked that word.

"Why bruise your beautiful hand?" she asked him. She smiled at the guy she'd once known as Mooner's sidekick. "Doesn't his bark reveal his nature?"

"Yeah, yap, yap, yap you Elflands bitch."

Fine.

When Leda thought about it, which was rare, it made much more sense for Mooner to have been behind the fires at Elsewhere and Castle Pup than Just Ron. Mooner was insecure, and had therefore never taken rejection well, or not getting his own way. Both she and Mickey had broken up with him, which had set him against them both. And while she hadn't been sober to see it, she'd heard that Mooner had nearly self destructed when the Pups had voted not to turn their home into a music club like he'd suggested. And he'd always had a thing for fire.

But she was angry with her parents. She was scared of going to Faery, scared of losing her magic. She was with her friends and feeling pressured to not let a human get the upper hand on her. And the shakes were starting. She needed some Peca. And so an insult that might otherwise have been beneath her to react to, wound up being the straw that broke her back.

"Well if you're interested in bitches..." She spoke the incantation, confusing the humans, but making her friends snigger with approval. The moment she finished she felt dirty. But it was done.

Crystaviel gave Stormy Waves another significant look.

"Yeah f-" her former friend started, but broke off when the transformation began to take effect. His throat seized, his muscles protested. Fur began to sprout from his face and his hands began to enlongate. Howling in pain and fear, he ran from the club.

"Well done." Crystaviel beamed.

"What breed did you turn him into?" Stormy Waves asked, taking her hand.

Leda had no idea. She'd just said Dog.

"My vote is chihuahua." someone said, and Leda's friends burst into laughter.

To Be Continued...

[Much of the dialogue for this scene is taken from canon.]