Morning Glory OPEN

Lycari

Careful as to not trip any pedestrian traffic, Lycari stretched out his long legs and downed more lemonade. When Emeline told him the good news, he straightened up and smiled back at her.

"Can we call him now?" Lycari asked eagerly. "I guess one of the things I'll need as a brand new New Yorker is one of those phones, but first things first.

"I sure hope he's not charging more money than I've got on me right now. That'd be a real disappointment."

His chances of continuing his search and being somewhat comfortable while doing it were beginning to come true. He still needed to meet with the local shifters. They'd be the best source of information about his people.

But first, the ID!

Lycari

With a quizzical look, Lycari asked, "What's a metro? If it's like a train, I've seen them but not ridden one."

Life in New York was full of surprises for a guy like him. First, that elevator thing, which he chose not to use if possible. There was something about being in a little box that went up and down that just didnt't sit right with him. Buses, cars, tractors and heavy equipment were things he had little experience with. Ski-Doos and sleds, they were different.

He thought a train would be kind of fun. It would be nice to see the scenery go by. He looked forward to this little trip.

Lycari

"Well, most of it's been manual labor, like feeding the stock, cleaning barns, milking -- and let me tell you that's fun when the cows aren't sure if you're a wolf or not," he listed, "I've thrown hay around, driven tractors and small trucks.

"Up north, I've made arrows, bows, spears, done flint knapping, repaired leather harness."

He looked at her watching for a frown or two when he went on with, "I've hunted and prepared carcasses. I've also taken parties out on hunts and taught wilderness survival."

"Not too useful for the city is it?"

Lycari

"That's sort of why I thought the zoo might be a good fit for me. Mucking out animals is no problem for me. I am one."

He laughed softly.

"Let's take care of the ID part first, then I can go and see about that job you had in mind for me. If they need a resume, then I can take care of that this evening."

He looked sober and thoughtful.

"What's a resume? Is it like a list of jobs you've done before?"

Lycari was learning quite a bit about living in the city. While back home was a hard life, cities seemed to have their own difficulties. He wasn't worried though. If worst came to worst, he could hide out as a wolf. In fact a couple came by walking a large black dog. This time the dog sniffed in Lycari's direction and timidly made its way to the opposite side of its people. The couple must have been used to this, as the man holding the leash simply changed hands and they kept on going.

The shifter pointed at the trio.

"I could do that, no problems. Not hide, but walk on a leash. I've pulled sleds, you know," he grinned, "I wasn't only a guide. I was part of the transportation team sometimes."

Lycari

The shifter grabbed the bill and paid. The waitress brought over a little bag with his egg sandwich in it for later. As they left, he took a good look at the area and the sign, memorizing it for later. He'd definitely come back here.

"Maybe I could say I grew up on an off the grid commune? I mean, I sorta did."

He thought hard about what kind of city type work experience he had, which was none, but some of his jobs did have some bearing on available hirings. He could be a bouncer at a club. Mucking out pens at a zoo would be a cinch. Just about anything physical would be easy. He wasn't adverse to learning new things either.

Soon they arrived at a set of stairs that led down into a smelly, noisy concrete hole. Lycari put two and two together and came up with underground train. He set his shoulders and followed Emeline down the stairs. His inner wolf had some serious misgivings about this, but he fought them down. People in the city did this every day. Most of them were fine.

Although he was holding it together rather well, Lycari's wariness showed up in his next question.

"Um... has anyone ever died on one of these things?"

Lycari

The shifter looked a little sick at her explanation, but since he knew he was pretty good on his balance and agility, he really didn't have any fear of falling onto the tracks. Now derailment on the other hand....

"Well, okay," he nodded, "But the first sign of it jumping the tracks you and I are outta there!"

Once underground and at railside, Lycari had a good look around. Sounds echoed and gave him a slight case of conniptions, but he learned to ignore this quickly. It really wasn't too crowded, but since they were going out of the business district, he imagined that it would be hellish at dinner hour. The station was tiled everywhere and Lycari glumly thought that this was because of the relative ease of wiping the blood from it when someone got themselves squashed by a train. The tracks themselves were sunk into a long pit that entered at one end and exited at the other. He stood well back from the edge. Down one end of the cave was a red light and the other had a green one. In the distance he could hear something trainlike heading their way.

"It's coming," he noted to Emeline.

The front of the train pulled around a curve in the tracks and sped towards them. People behind them stepped forward eagerly, but Lycari didn't move no matter how much others pushed. When the train glided to a stop with its doors right in front of him and Emeline, he waited. With a whoosh, two doors slid open.

'So far, so good,' Lycari thought to himself as Emeline led him on.

"I guess we wait for the derailment part now?" He innocently asked Emeline.

At his words, several fellow commuters glanced at him with concern. Lycari grinned back at them.

"I'm a country boy," he admitted.

The train started up with a bit of a jerk and Lycari was fortunate that his balance was as good as he knew it was because several passengers swayed into him. Being New Yorkers there wasn't a single excuse me from the lot. A couple of teenage girls slipped through the crowd to stand closer to the shifter and whispered between themselves, sending sly smiles his way. Lycari nodded to them in a friendly manner.

Several stops went by and Emeline didn't signal that it was time to get off. Passengers came and went, all of them on their way to various personal errands. Lycari began to feel a bit more at ease on the train. Since Emeline seemed to think that discussion about his life wasn't for the public, he kept quiet and people watched.

A couple of young men stood at one end of the train car and they too were eyeing the passengers, but not with the innocent curiosity that the shifter had. They checked for pockets and handbags and open bags. Almost immediately Lycari zeroed in on them. He prodded Emeline.

"I think we've got trouble," he informed her quietly. He lifted his chin in the direction of the would be thieves, "Right over there."