POV: John, the first
Date: May 28, 1997
Time: 7:15 PM

I guarantee most people don't have to deal with a tiger sleeping on their couch. On the other hand, most people who would have to deal with this issue aren't dealing with a tiger that will not maul you just because it's hungry. This tiger is far more tame than that, and even wears clothes sometimes. Sometimes. Even if I startle her awake, she won't attack me.

I dropped the stack of folders I brought in from the other room, letting them slam down onto the table right next to her face, and Rix jumped awake. I knew that would work. She looked around, probably looking to find the source of the disturbance, and eventually settled on the folders.

"Oh, it was you fellas, huh?"

I will encourage this behavior and guide it towards something helpful. "Yup. I caught them in the other room, trying to avoid being read. You should probably show them who's boss by reading them thoroughly."

As she digs into the folders to read all the files that I asked her to read two days ago, I headed back into the room where she hid them. I've turned a few rooms of the house into a sort of office, though none of it really brings in a lot of money. There's a place to relax, a sort of common room, and then the work space and storage. We're continuing our search for things that are supernatural, mainly for the purposes of either proving they are perfectly natural or making them cease to be so annoyingly unnatural. That's my objective, anyway.

Yes, this is my house. Mostly paid for by my wife, but I live here so it's mine. She's aware that I use it for this, and helps out like a good wife when she's got a day off. Madine, Melany and Lillin are my part-time 'employees', though I don't really pay any of them. They rely on actual jobs to get by, and work here in their spare time, because God knows Mary has a hard enough time supporting herself and I along with our freeloading unemployable tiger, Rix, who is doing her best to at least be of use to me.

While Rix is reclining in the other room, I found everyone else who is here today in the 'office' working about as hard as I'd expect. Mary's still at work, and she's probably keeping Lillin there. Oh, if you're wondering who the fuck Lillin is, she's that girl who got shot in the face. Her looks have held up surprisingly well for her, despite missing an eye, so that's good. Since it was just a little bit my fault she got shot, Mary's given her a job because, well, the eye patch does turn off a lot of employers.

Since they're not here, however, it's just Madine and Melany working away. And when I say working, I mean Madine is asleep and Melany is playing something on a Game Boy. What weird world is this, that Rix is the only one actually working? Oh well, it's not like we have terribly much to work on right now. There's only so much we can do to locate supernatural phenomena. Most of the time, when we do find something, it's because I was actually out looking for it, not because something showed up in the papers or we got a tip.

Speaking of the papers, I picked up the tabloid from next to Madine's sleeping face. After flipping through it quickly, and seeing that there's nothing even remotely credible, I drop it on Madine's head, waking her up, and turn my attention to Melany. "Beat that cannon guy yet?"

"It's Ganon. Also I'm playing Metroid."

Absolute malarkey, those aren't words. "Madine, how are you doing?"

"Shit."

Better than usual. "Who's on the phone?" There's supposed to be someone at the phone at all hours, because we do advertise. I still go places and take the mysticism out of things. You would think that doesn't pay anything, and it almost does, but some people will pay real money to be told that they have leaky pipes and old wiring rather than a ghost. Usually it's Rix, but she seems to be on break.

Melany ignored me, probably because she has to fight King Tuba or whatever. Madine rubbed her head idly, looking around the room for the answer. "Uhh... the phone. Right, I'd wake up if it rang."

I'm not too worried. It's been a few weeks since we got a call. Both of these girls are clearly tired from working all day. If I recall, Madine is a day shift manager at a small grocery store, and Melany has been doing waitress stuff at a diner. That's not much, when you think about it, and definitely not the glamorous lives they used to lead, but it's something.

Melany wanted to work in an office, maybe as a secretary or just in a call center, but she got turned down a lot before someone finally told her it was cause she dyed her hair purple. Not dark purple like Elena's hair was, but a lighter shade. Still, no one wanted to hire that, so she ended up serving people food and being known as that one waitress with the purple hair. Good for her.

Madine seems to fit into her job pretty well, but I'm sure they gave her some weird looks when they found out she used to own a carnival. She worked there normally for a few years, I think since '95, and just recently she's been given this manager position. She's pretty natural at telling people what to do, so it's a good fit for her.

I gave Madine a nudge with the back of my hand. "Medication?"

"Oh." She tiredly turned back to the desk she'd been sleeping at and searched for her meds. "I'll... find them. Hold on." I don't like to see her taking antidepressants like this, but it's better than when she just desperately needed to take them. Ever since Elena died, she's been changed. I am worried, but there's not really a lot I can do for her besides keep reminding her to take her meds.

The door opened behind me and Rix walked in. She had the folders she was supposed to be going through in one hand, and another folder that I did not give her in her other hand. "So, I was reading, right?" She just starts talking like she was continuing a conversation that hadn't actually happened. "I decided to take a break for a minute and fool around with my hat, and this guy was hiding in there." She held up the new folder.

I took it from her and flipped through it. Something about some case, probably something Mary's working on. I wonder what significance this will have. Oh well, I guess it's better that I hold on to it and give it to her when she gets back. Who knows, maybe someone will steal it and Rix just nabbed it back from them. Or maybe Rix just stole sensitive documents, in which case I should stop reading.

I give Rix a pat on the head. She doesn't know any better, so I might as well treat her well for it. "Good job. Now do your actual job."

Her ears twitched, and she turns and springs away. Judging by the ears, she's going off to greet Mary who's just gotten home. I should head after her, then, and give this folder over to Mary as soon as I can. Even if it isn't part of a case she's working on, it's for the best that it's in the hands of a lawyer and not a magician. Or a tiger.

As I left that part of the house, walking down the short hallway with the kitchen at the end, I can hear Mary and Lillin talking around Rix. It sounds like Mary's just realized she left something at the office and is about to go back to get it. Rix is getting head pats from both of them, for sure, but I gather that Lillin's going to wait here. I bet it's this folder that she forgot.

From the kitchen, I call out to my wife. "Rix grabbed something from her hat. You looking for this uh..." I check the files again. "Miyaal?" Don't know if I pronounced that correctly.

I can hear the annoyed huff from down the hall, and Mary barges into her kitchen, taking the folder from me and opening it. She nods, exasperated. "Yup. That's the one."

"Any idea if it's important?"

Rix ran past, and Lillin stopped just inside the kitchen door, eyeing the folder suspiciously. Both Mary and Lillin look annoyed to see the folder here, but it's two different kinds of annoyed. I can read my wife well enough. She's annoyed at Lillin, who probably forgot it in the office somewhere. It's the tired annoyance of someone who just wants the work day to be over now. Lillin looks annoyed, like this is what ruined her day. I'll have to give Rix another pat on the head. She doesn't know what she did, and neither do I, but for all Lillin's innocent charm, for some reason it just feels good to see Rix unknowingly disrupt her plans.

Oh, right. Lillin is trying desperately to be a homewrecker. She hasn't succeeded, as of yet, and it's more entertaining to watch her fail than it could ever be to let her get her way. This time, I didn't even have to do anything, and what was most likely an attempt at getting me alone has completely falling flat.

"What's this Miyaal case, then? Can you tell me about it?"

Mary closed the folder and tossed it onto the table, and then she sat herself in my lap and wrapped her arms around my shoulders, pressing her chest into my arm. She slipped into her lazy voice, the one that she'd learned got her the best results before and during bed. "Just the last loose end from the Vandekut case. The daughter of one of the victims. My interest is mostly academic, but I'd gladly tell you more about having children later..."

Lillin excused herself from the kitchen. Rix is a fantastic wing woman, and neither she nor Mary realize it.