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Nocturne stood in line at the Starbucks he usually went to when he was on his way to or from picking Lyric up from one of her dance classes. Normally he ordered ahead on his app so he could simply swoop in and collect the order and be on his way but today he had to reload the payment. Most would simply do so with their credit card attached to the app but Nocturne wasn’t most people and knew better to flat out trust every app around with how easy it was to hack into something.

When it was his turn at the counter, Nocturne pulled out the cash he wanted to add, had his phone scanned, and then placed the two drink order before scanning the card app once more. He moved down to the waiting area and tossed his sister a quick text to say he would be there soon so she would be ready at the door. He had never missed one of her shows and even sat in on the occasional open practice but Nocturne tried to avoid loitering in the halls as Lyric’s classmates liked to chat him up. Sometimes it was amusing but he tried his best not to encourage it and preferred Lyric dashing out as soon as he pulled up.

As he tucked his phone back into his pocket, Nocturne felt like he was being watched and caught the barista making Lyric’s frappucino glancing continuously at him. What was her problem? He was fairly certain he didn’t know her and recognized her as one of the girls that sometimes worked when he came in but that was it. Strange but as long as she made the drinks right, he didn’t care how much she ogled him.

It was nearing the end of another shift, and another day without seeing the man Asher had asked her to keep an eye out for. She hadn’t asked why her Alpha was interested in the mundane, all she knew was that she’d been failing to find out anything about the young man in the time between his first text, and that very moment she existed in. And not doing what Asher wanted was never a good idea.

Which was why Audrey had to be elbowed twice by one of her coworkers and a nod sent subtly towards a customer. Audrey bit her bottom lip and glanced his way. Oh far out it was him! She bit her bottom lip harder, but not quite enough to break the skin as she flailed silently on the spot before function came back to her. She took the first of the drinks – Piglet – with the usual order of soy iced mocha, and set about creating the drink. Once it was done, she set it on the pickup bench, and turned to the next drink – this one was for Tigger – and was quickly put together as Audrey gathered together all her courage to try and chat up the young man.

“Order for Piglet and Tigger?” She said, making the two names a question even as she boldly made eye contact with the attractive guy. She smiled brightly, fluttering her lashes a little and feeling like a complete fool as she made sure he took both drinks. “No Pooh Bear?” She asked playfully, lingering for a few moments before she let the cups free from her grasp. God she was so terrible at this; she could feel her whole face heating up. All she needed was the guy’s name, that was it. How hard was it to get someone’s name? “Do you always go by Tigger?” She asked, doing her damnedest to be attractive and engaging while feeling like a pup lost in the middle of the forest by itself on the full moon. Which is probably what she would be, if she failed to get Asher the information he was after!

Nocturne stepped forward as his order was called out. He saw the bright smile and fluttering lashes and sighed inwardly as another young woman decided to shoot her shot with him. Having experience with such a thing thanks to Lyric’s friends, Nocturne gave a friendly enough smile in return since being a complete ass either made them whine endlessly or more determined. Teenaged girls were weird. Besides, this one—Audrey from the name tag—might just be borderline flirty with all of her customers as she aimed for tips.

“Last I heard, he was still grounded,” Nocturne replied without missing a beat. Cody was their Pooh in their Hundred Acre Woods—or the backyard depending on who you asked and at what age they were at the time—and the little cub had gone and made friends with a vampire that took him to a bar. It honestly wasn’t that surprising given Cody’s personality nor was the punishment a shock either. Mama bear probably wanted to skin him alive but her mates distracted her.

At the next question, Nocturne started to think Audrey was trying to flirt and not just chat a customer up for tips. But was she trying to get his name or simply curious about the characters he chose to use? “When it suits me.” Maybe he was being a tad mean with the vague and short answers but he wasn’t one to openly talk about his personal life and he really didn’t want to encourage her as he had pegged her to be in her late teens which was too young for his tastes.

It then occurred to him that she may be affiliated with Rafe and was trying to get more information out of him. In a split second decision he decided to throw in the nickname he used with Jasper to see if it brought out any hint of recognition. “I sometimes go by Moonlight as well.”

Audrey blinked once at the comment of Pooh Bear being grounded, but quickly brought up a warm smile. “That’s too bad,” she said as kindly as possible without sounding weird or like she was trying too hard. Which she knew she was; flirting was not her forte and she was painfully aware of that as she met the brown eyed gaze of her customer. It really didn’t help that he was gorgeous – and that thought just made her cheeks warm up that much more.

Unfortunately, getting words out of this guy was like pulling teeth! Audrey had no idea how to proceed; it wasn’t like she could force him to talk to her, especially now he had his drinks and could be on his way at any moment. That was when he threw out another nickname, and Audrey paused as she considered him; in that moment, she was careful to breathe in deeply without being obvious about it, suddenly cautious that Moonlight could be a moniker for a wolf not in their pack. It would be an ironic name to go by.

He didn’t smell of wolf, though – not that she could pick up, anyway, and she was sure Asher would have made a point to let her know if this Moonlight Tigger was a wolf, either lone or part of another pack. So no, he wasn’t a wolf. Yet. She realised with a start, perhaps Asher wanted this man in their Pack. “That’s adorable,” she said instead, with only a small pause having passed between his comment and her response. She gave a half smile, in an attempt to be coy and playful.

“Is Piglet your girlfriend?” she asked sweetly as the flush in her cheeks intensified. She knew he bought a drink for a girl, but she’d never gotten a close or good look at her; long hair, slim and always bounding onto the back of the motorcycle that Moonlight Tigger rode in on. She wouldn’t be surprised if he had a girlfriend, and calling her Piglet was way too cute.

Adorable? He could see that about being called Tigger and it was partly why he went with it for the drinks but Moonlight didn't qualify in his mind. Perhaps because it was a partial translation of his actual name and he didn't view Nocturne as a cutesy name either. He just chalked it up to teenage girls being weird yet again. But other than her word choice, Noct didn't catch any recognition to the name or that he had turned a trap back around on Audrey. There was still a chance she was a day worker for Rafe but it didn't seem as high now.

Was Piglet his girlfriend? Nocturne smiled at the idea and was close to saying yes in case it helped Audrey back down. But some people knew their nicknames or might recognize Lyric and it would be an awkward mess. So he went with the truth. "No." Well, it was the truth, he simply didn't elaborate to add clarification.

"Piglet is waiting, however. Sooo... bye." Nocturne decided that was enough of being flirted with that day and turned to head out. He didn't have his bike that day, instead taking the Pops Approved Car--or Pac as he and Lyric called the Jeep Grand Cherokee. It was too hot out and a lazy drive in the air conditioning with maybe a stop at the beach sounded like a chill way to wind down the day.

Audrey didn’t really have much time to ponder on the answers she was given by Moonlight Tigger; the fact that Piglet wasn’t his girlfriend was noted, and she nodded in response before getting called away to work on the next drink; the lull was at a close and apparently so was her discussion with Moonlight Tigger. She watched as he left, biting her lip as she handed over the next order.

Finishing the current order she was handed, Audrey excused herself for a five minute break, so she could text Asher what she had learned so far about the man of the moment. Hopefully what she had managed to find would be of interest and enough to avoid being in trouble for not finding out more. Maybe it would help Asher find out who the young man was, and hopefully her awkwardly terrible flirting hadn’t scared Moonlight Tigger away from the Starbucks… Hopefully.