Ezbar had Quintin and Cleopatra in the same room after the phone call, he sat down with them and folded his hands.
"I got a few questions quickly" He said looking at Cleopatra "What are the chances of werehyenas surviving an artillery strike?"
Cleopatra thought first then answered "Well, if they were caught off guard, not very high, but if they were alert, they might avoid it, they'd probably hear the incoming rounds then move"
"Okay, so if they remain in one place, they'd be blown to bits right?"
"Most probably, but I never heard if any staying put for something like that, why do you ask Ezbar?"
"My contact in the military just informed me they blew a few up with artillery a couple of minutes ago"
Cleopatra gave a quick laugh "Then they were probably half asleep still"
"I can understand that, regardless, Quintin" He looked at him "You're going to Angola on a chopper first thing in the morning, to see if you can find something"
"What will I be looking for?"
"Survivors, remember I only need a pint of blood from one in it's were form, or if you could find it in it's human form somehow" Ezbar said.
Quintin nodded looking at the table in front of him 'That was quick' he thought.
"So, for the rest of the night, at your request, anything boy, tell me, and to the best of my abilities I will grant that request"
"What do you mean doc?"
"I take it you want some quality time with Naomi? Well I can organise a meal for you two on the roof of my labs, nice candle light dinner with some roses, wine, whaddya say?"
Quintin smiled "That sounds perfect, but I want something extra with that"
"Shoot boy, anything"
"A room for me and her to share for the night"
"Granted... Cleopatra, please insure young miss Naomi gets something nice to wear for the occasion" Ezbar said getting up, Cleopatra smiled at Quintin.
"Oh I have just the thing, you'll melt when you see her later, trust me"
It was a no holds barred this time Quintin thought later that night as he stood watching the neatly dressed table, doctor Ezbar somehow managed to fish out a neat suit for him to wear, one that sat slightly tight, but fit non the less.
He wanted to spill it all to Naomi tonight, he had questions that needed answers, and regardless of what she might say, he was going to ask them no matter what.
Quintin heard the footsteps come up the stairs so he stood ready with the rose, when Naomi came into the candle light Quintin's words left him; A traditional Egyptian dress, complete with a gold band snug under her breasts giving them lift, a gold choker around her neck, and a gold tiara on her forehead like a sweatband.
Her makeup also Egyptian like Cleopatra likes to wear it, finally a gold necklace with a broad and elegant plate resting on her bare bust, as well as golden armbands, she was something one only sees maybe in dreams, or movies, from her head to her heals, absolutely gorgeous.
"Are you going to say something?" Naomi asked smiling, she loved the way he was staring at her, it was an even better look than the one she got when she removed her shirt.
"I can't say anything, no words can describe you"
"Seriously? This is royal Egyptian attire, there are words for it" She said coming over to him.
"Not to me, I can't say anything to justify how you look, those words don't exist in my vocabulary, I'm sorry, I just don't have the words" He kept saying, but went silent when she came up to him.
The dark makeup bringing out those bottle blue eyes even more now, he gasped, feeling his breath leave him, like being lured to her, he bent over and gave her a kiss, she wanted to close her arms around him but he stopped her.
"Wait, I want to savour this moment" He said leading Naomi to the table and drawing a chair out for her.
"Savour it how?"
"I feel like, if I don't get a good look at you now, I might never get the chance again, forgive me, but it's like that flower that blooms only once a year thing"
She sighed, the words he spoke are what any woman would want to hear, but to her it wasn't enough.
"I'm not going to stop asking you Quintin? You can give a description? Why not just say you look like a queen? Or a princess?"
"Because you are the first woman... In my life I... You're the first woman this beautiful to ever be with me, on top of that, I love you, so I'm afraid if I say anything more than I need to, the words them selves will be blown away in the wind, all you need to know, without me saying it, is, you have my attention Naomi" He stuttered somewhat, but it seemed what he said was enough, her smile returned, along with that sweet blush on her cheeks.
"My question, to you Naomi, why me?"
A glass of wine stood ready so she took a sip, Naomi realised this is why he set this up, he wanted security.
"You know, I always thought I'd never meet a man that can give me what I want, because I had a big house, a fast car, a huge salary, I was happy Quintin. I made peace with the fact that no man will show up and best what I already had... until you came along"
"But I had nothing to give" He said squinting at the wine, Naomi smiled at him.
"Exactly"
Quintin frowned "You're not making any sense"
"You had nothing, yet you were the first man I met who didn't want anything, if there was anything you wanted in the past five years, from your own perspective of life, what is it?"
Quintin gave it some thought then shrugged "I realised I can't want, to want something, because it was always out of my reach, I didn't want a car, because I couldn't afford it, I never wanted food really, only needed it as every human did, never wanted money, only accepted it as it came along, and I never thought of meeting a woman... because who would want me?"
"And there you have it" Naomi said, she knew he would answer in a similar way "Everything I started liking about you, answered in one sentence"
"But Naomi? You could have so much more, someone much more good looking than me, much richer, someone who could make you very happy"
"You make me happy Quintin, it's the first time I said that to a man in all my life, why not leave it at that?"
"I'm a bum Naomi! I'm a street dog, I used to scavenge for food like a rat! filthy, in the dustbins, the sewers, the fucking back allies, It makes no sense for you to like me!"
"It's because you are you!" She yelled "You call yourself names without hesitation, you make jokes and laugh at your own jokes! And that's that! I want someone who only has himself to give, nothing more!" Her voice trembled, he could hear sadness.
"I well, I..." He decided it's gone on long enough, he didn't want to upset her any further.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell" He said softly.
"Promise me you won't change Quintin, promise me you'll stay the same man I met back then, the one who made stupid jokes about himself, living one day at a time, and being grateful to all the small things in life?"
He smiled "For you, I won't change a thing Naomi"
She took a sip of wine, she managed to hold the tears back, not wanting to spoil her makeup.
"You're the best thing that happened to me Naomi, you know that?"
She looked up at him, he was still contemplating the wine, it made her laugh.
"You don't have to drink it you know?"
"I tried my best" He shrugged putting the wine down, making her laugh again.
When Quintin looked up at her, he realised something that shocked him, the full moon is out, he looked at her, waiting for her to burst out of her skin, and that dress, the wolf coming at him...
But she remained sitting quietly looking at him, he frowned, but then she held her hands like claws and made a roar with as deep a voice as she could. Quintin shrieked falling back over his chair.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't resist" She said wailing of laughter.
"What the fuck?" He yelled standing up.
"I knew the moon was out already, but I'll only change when I directly look at it"
Quintin scratched his head and sat down at the table again "So that first night?"
She shyly smiled "Yeah, I might have done it on purpose, just to see how you reacted" She stuck her tongue out "It's revenge for you waving away my kindness so effortlessly"
"Are you serious right now!?"
She laughed "Yup, and to add to that, that knife you held to me, it really was silver, but silver doesn't burn us, for some reason we don't regenerate a wound made by a silver weapon, if you cut me with a normal steel knife, the wound instantly close, but with silver, I'd need stitches"
"You! You sly...! You know I really nearly crapped myself that time, for real!"
She laughed, Quintin got a kick out of her at least being happy again, so he said all he did smiling at her.
"I'm sorry, I won't do it again, okay?" She said.
"Well, you can if you want to, just warn me first, speaking of which, so you don't change at all unless you look at the moon?"
"Well, I won't say there's no changes at all, there are some changes, on the inside"
"As in?"
"I'm a lot hungrier, my adrenaline is spiked so I feel the need to, express myself in some physical way, everything is dialled to eleven, even my libido" She said as her face flushed up, but Quintin never heard of that word.
"Whats libido?"
Her face went a shade of red brighter "Um, well, sex drive, my confidence, all through the roof" She explained and took another sip of wine.
Quintin felt a stir in his gut as she explained, then swallowed.
"So, if, if you had to choose between being a wolf on the moon, or remain human? What would it be?" He asked going off topic, he didn't want that talk just yet.
Naomi finished her wine, then held the glass to him, he gladly took it from her to refill.
"I, don't want to answer that question" She said softly.
"Why?"
"I'm afraid if I tell you, you might have a different insight on me"
He shrugged as he gave her the glass back "Nothing will change that, trust me"
Naomi sipped at her wine again "I'm not sure you'll like what you hear" She kicked against it again.
Quintin realised she didn't really want to answer this question, but why?
"Fine then, you don't have to answer, I just thought you'd help me, since I'll become a wolf soon as well, what it feels like and all that"
Naomi sighed "Promise you won't think foul of me?"
He laughed shaking his head.
"Okay, well, I'd rather be a wolf" She said making him frown.
"That power, that, form, it's unexplainable, I feel unstoppable when I'm a wolf, no boundaries, a feared creature of nightmares.
At first the pain is absolutely unbearable, and the pain fuels your anger, making the wolf's rage that much more potent, only when you learn to bare with the pain can you truly control the beast, if not, all you become is a predator, a carnivore, rabid, always seeking to hunt, kill and feed"
Quintin sat dumbstruck watching her tell this with a slight smile on her face, he could have sworn she drooled at the end.
Naomi saw his face then shyly looked away "Told you you don't want to hear it"
He shrugged "You know, I actually felt like that once, believe it or not"
She looked back at him dumbfound.
"That time you're so hungry, that the thought of braking a bottle, using the bottleneck as a knife and kill someone, just to eat him, I actually felt that urge, I was so close to doing it as well"
Naomi sat shocked at his words "What did you do?"
Again Quintin shrugged "I ate Jimmy instead"
She wanted to laugh, but made sure first "Your pet rat?"
"Yup, little bastard chose the wrong damn time to come begging for food, little asshole freeloader, I can't say he deserved it, at least he did save me. Who ever knew rats could be that handy in times of need"
Naomi held her mouth closed and laughed so much tears came out.
"Eeuw Gross! That's disgusting! Did you at least cook him?"
"No, there was no time, I ate him raw"
Naomi gagged but couldn't stop laughing.
"I even made a proper memorial for the poor fella, a valiant ending indeed"
"Stop it Quintin!" She said between laughs "It's too much"
"On the bright side, he carried some sort of bacteria which made me sick, someone called the ambulance when I collapsed on the sidewalk, they wanted to pump my stomach empty but I told them not to, it was a meal that I didn't want to waste, a meal that took sacrifice"
She looked up at him, her makeup now smudged with tears "And then?"
"They had to sedate me, or otherwise I would have died, at the end of the day I got a nice bed to sleep in and good food to eat in that hospital, a good ending I might say, thanks to eating a rat"
Naomi took a napkin and wiped her tears, when she saw the black smudges she turned away from him, still giggling "That's the Quintin I was talking about" She said finally containing her laughter "Don't ever change that in you"
He smiled "How could I? When you're the first person in years who enjoy listening to me? Usually I was just scolded and told to leave"
"Well those fuckers don't know what they missed! Fuck them!" She suddenly burst out making him jump.
When she finally turned back to him he saw all the makeup was off, but that didn't make her any less beautiful, she smiled "I'm a mess"
"No!" He said chuckling "You're perfect" Quintin reached over the table and took both her hands.
"I know, this might seem abrupt, but, I asked Ezbar if I could have a room alone with you tonight? What would you say about that?"
A warm smile came on her face "I've really been hoping you'd do something like that"
Quintin stood up, still having her hand in his, and led her to the staircase.
Naomi followed his lead, keeping her eyes closed, even crossing them with her free hand, the moon's light brushing against her face, she felt it, but the moon will not have it's way with her tonight, not tonight.
In the room they were entwined with each other like poetry, the flow of water, rhythm.
In the dark the clothes were off, Naomi drew him back falling onto the bed, he on top of her, she submitted.
In the past she preferred to be on top, knowing she has all the control of what's happening, but now, with him, it was total white flag, allowing him to make love to her, this was where she wanted to be, what she has been looking for, no matter what the future holds for them, she was glad he refused her in the past, because the here and now, was perfect.