Beep. Beep. Beep.

"Oh, shut up," Zeph groaned as he hit his alarm. He rolled over in bed. He didn't want to go to work, it sucked. He whined as he kicked the covers off. "Why couldn't I just have inherited a lot of money?" Life wouldn't have been so bad. He sat up in bed, sliding his shoes on and headed over to his closet. Same uniform every day. Ugh. 

He heard the usual knocking on the door. Those idiots. He groaned again as he stumbled over to it and unlocked it. "I told you, I have to work tonight."

"Skip it," they insisted. Yeah, that would be nice, but how would he pay his rent?

"Sure, if you pay for the rent this month. Cough it up." Zeph smiled and reached out his hand. "No? Then bug off." He closed the door again, and put on his uniform. His friends were a bunch of idiots sometimes, they just did that to annoy him. He left and went on guard duty for two hours. He had to make up his extra hours since he went out last week.

After his shift was over, he was tired. He went down to the local pub for a drink. He signaled the waitress. She had a nice little butt that shook just right as she came over.

"Hello, sir, I will be your waitress for this evening," she said to him. "May I get you something?"

"Yeah, your number?" Zeph wasn't surprised when he groaned. "No? Okay, two sours and some mnui." He watched her walk away again, sliding out of his seat some. Oh, if only he had the money to woo something like that. Look at those curves. Some guys had all the luck.

"Hey." A guy strolled over to him. "Stay in your seat."

Another waiter guy. "Why, jealous?" Zeph stuck his tongue out at him. "Eh, go ahead, she's not my type."

"What?" He fidgeted. "I don't like her."

"Sure you do, you're the only guy in here not looking at her butt." Zeph shouldered him. "You know the old saying. If a woman passes and you are looking at her and not her butt, you're in trouble. Good luck." He watched the waiter walk away, miffed. Yeah, he had that effect on some people. Zeph was often too blunt.

"Your sours and mnui, sir."

Zeph looked up. That voice. It was sweet, not the regular voices of females he was used to hearing. Definitely not the same waitress. "Hey." He held out his hand to her.

She looked at him oddly a second, before shaking his hand. "Sir."

He looked at the name tag on her. "Kyrella Saga. Funny name, new in town?"

"No, I've been here a little while." She ripped off a ticket for him. "Pay when you are ready."

"Okay." He sat there, eating his food but looking at her. She wasn't half as gorgeous as the other waitress but she looked sweet and tempting He felt himself getting shouldered and saw his sister. "What?"

"Need a favor." Muin winked at him.

Zeph groaned and rolled his eyes. He knew what always followed after that. "I don't have time to play chauffeur for your date, Muin, I'm busy. I've got duty tonight. Make Xiam do it, or convince dad."

"Liar, you're not busy." Muin bopped him on the ear. "Not that busy from the look of things." She took one of his sours.

"Easy with that, those drinks aren't made for little girls," Zeph teased her. Still, while he was doing that he watched the waitress Kyrella cleaning glassware in the back. 

"Interesting." Muin shouldered him. "Usually you're staring at the butt. You like that one."

///"What, me?" Zeph took a bite of his mnui. "I'm just a stupid guard, what would she like about me?" Still, she was cute. Her beautiful colored tail curled just so, and there was something open and warmly in her eyes. "Then again, what have I got to lose?" He drummed his seat and went over to the counter. "You busy later?"

She was startled by his presence. "What?"

"Busy?" Zeph gestured to the time on the wall. "I've got duty tonight, but I'll blow it off if you want to get out." He winked at her. "Get to know each other."

"Uh." She shifted uncomfortably. "Well?"///

Was that scene real? He was still sitting, why did he just fantasize about her? What was it about her? Something. He'd never met her, yet she seemed so familiar. A strange image of her covering her gorgeous hair and tail all in black came to his mind. Why would he imagine that? No one should cover up that creature, it would be a crime. Her beauty was a gift to the world.

Zeph made his way up there, his little sister tagging along. "Excuse me, miss? Do I know you?"

"It's a line, a corny line. He's good for it though," Muin said to the woman. "My brother's been staring at your face, not your butt. You know the old saying, so that's a good sign."

"Muin," Zeph warned her. He looked back toward Kyrella. "Well?"

///"I have a no date policy," Kyra shrugged. "Sorry, Zeph."///

"I don't know, Zeph, maybe?" she answered back.

"What?" Zeph blinked. "You knew my name?"

"No. Well, I don't know. You looked like a Zeph." She picked up a glass and started to clean it.

"Eh, better luck next time." Muin patted his shoulder and left, whistling a jaunty tune since neither of them would get a date tonight.

This was the point where he usually gave up on a woman, but Kyrella called to him, tingling his senses. "Why do you have a no date policy?" He laid his hands on hers. Presumptuous, he couldn't believe he was doing it.

She didn't back his hand away either. "I didn't tell you about that." She glanced towards him. Her eyes shone something familiar. A sparkle that he couldn't place. She turned back to cleaning glasses. "Mister Zeph, I have a father who is very cautious."

"I'll deal to talk to you," he said. "It's a good sign that he's tough, someone like you should have some protection." Well, that was weird wording. He'd be fairly surprised if that didn't scare her off.

"He's put guys in the hospital for asking for dates," she said. "I doubt he'd be any more lenient about just talking. I'm just . . .I'm very important to him. I'm sorry, but father would never allow it."

"Okay." Zeph may look like an average joe, but he was cunning. "I think I'm gonna stick around here tonight. For awhile. When do you get off?"

"I can't date," Kyrella reminded him. "You know that."

"I know, and I haven't asked that. It's not against the law to stay in a restaurant. I'll keep the ordering steady," Zeph promised. She gave him a funny look, and he took back off to his space.

He sat for hours, watching her. There was no time he could recall meeting her, but it felt like he hadn't just met her. So that he could stay, he kept ordering drinks or appetizers. She didn't fail either. Whenever he finished his drink or appetizer, she was right there, asking him if he needed more.

Towards closing, he saw her starting to close up. He stood up and approached her. "Where do you live?"

"You don't want to know." Kyra kept cleaning the glasses. "Are you coming back tomorrow?"

Zeph grinned. "Eh, probably. I'll have to work though, I kind of put it off tonight for you." Maybe that would help her be merciful. "It's better if I walk you home."

"I live a block away."

"Never know who's out there." He looked at her up and down, before catching her eyes. "Please? I'd feel better."

"I'm not glass," she said, "but, okay."

I'm not glass. That sounded like something he'd heard before. Huh. 

"Just, a walk, and not to my front door," she warned him. "My dad would be furious."

If Zeph had to take some pummels, he would. Every father had to let go one day. At least he knew with a 'no date policy', Kyra had never had any boyfriends. No one would want to throw a fight against whoever her father had been. Maybe he should consider it? She was bright, sweet, and sexy. A little shy, but just enough to hold his interest. Those scenes though, in his head. He wanted to know more about them.

As they began to walk out, that feeling came back. "Do you ever get the feeling we've met before?"

She didn't look toward him. "It's a strange sense. I know what you mean."

"Did we know each other as kids?" It was bugging the heck out of Zeph. "Was your family uhhh . . ." He snapped his fingers, something was on the tip of his tongue. "In some kind of war?"

"No. No war that I know of." She looked him up and down as he did to her before. "There hasn't been any war, but maybe we did meet as very young children. Have you always been around here?"

"Oh yeah, always. You?" Zeph asked.

"No, I grew up far away." Kyra scratched her head. "Zeph, I'm scared."

Zeph looked around. "Scared of what?" Were guys actually around, trying to get at her? "I would fight if I had to."

"No, I mean, these feelings." Kyra stopped. "I want to run away from you and kiss you at the same time. I don't even know who you are." She looked at him. "Your eyes, they seem so familiar. But they don't . . .have something. I don't know." She grabbed her head.

"Hey." Zeph touched her arms, helping to bring them from her head. The action had pulled him closer. "It's okay, Kyra."

"Kyra. How do I know that?" Kyra tried to move away. "Why did you call me that?"

"I don't know." Zeph tried to pull her back. "Don't go. I'm not trying to scare you, I swear, Kyra. This stuff between us, I'm not causing it." The draw between them, it was so intense. "Just, don't run. I'd never hurt you."

"I know. Somehow." Her face showed such confusion as she raised her eyebrow. "I don't get it, I don't, but I know that. You would give your life to protect me." She touched his face softly. She took her hand away and looked at a house on the right. "That's it, right there. We better part ways. I don't want my father to see you."

Zeph wouldn't allow that though. "I'm a proper guy. I need to walk you up to your own door." He grabbed her hand. "Don't be afraid."

"You have no idea what you are getting into," Kyra warned him. "Please, Zeph, I don't want to see you hurt."

"I'm not glass either." Zeph walked up the path and knocked on the door. 

A woman answered the door with a smile on her face, until she saw them holding hands. "Kyrella. No."

Kyrella held his hand tighter. "This is Zephyr, mother."

"Come in. You, stay there." Her mother glared at him while she pulled in her daughter. In her place, stood a hulking man.

Her father. Zeph smiled and stayed strong. "Sir, a fine day to you. I walked your daughter home."

No words of thanks, of course. Instead, he heard a different tone. "Don't walk her home again." 

"I don't think I could keep that promise." Zeph continued to smile even though he could hear the growling, rumbling from her father. "I would like to date your daughter. I have no money amount to offer, but I am good for it."

"I don't care about money, get out." Her father slammed the door. "Stay away from my daughter!"