Cain watched with a grin as Charline dug into a lobster head, her cheeks hollowing as she sucked all the meat and tomalley out, any pretense of elegance and class completely gone as she systematically devoured the crustation. She briefly paused to dunk the claw in some melted butter before continuing her mission of destroying the creature.

Tian just stared at her in shock as butter and pieces of lobster meat were spilled everywhere, and based on her previous demeanor Cain guessed he had never seen her like this. Cain dipped his own claw meat in some butter before eating it as well, watching as Tian stared at his lobster in anticipation.

The large man cracked the claw with his thumb and pointer finger before grabbing the meat and eating it. The man grinned at the taste before starting to eat the rest of it with as much gusto as Charline.

Cain stared at his own food for a moment, ‘Is it really that good?’ he thought in confusion, ‘I mean it's good, but…’ he stared at the once elegant woman slurping on a lobster leg ‘it can't be that good right?’ he thought, before shrugging and eating his own food.

After the woman finished the last of the legs, she seemed to gain some awareness of her surroundings again. Looking around she stared at the mess of lobster shells beneath her for a moment before her face lit up in shame. She saw Cain looking at her in amusement which only made things worse, her face going so red she looked like a tomato, “Oh dear, I may have gone a bit overboard” She said, trying desperately to regain her dignity.

Cain took pity on her and handed her a couple napkins, seeing her stare at them in confusion he told her they were to clean her face and hands. She gave him a thankful nod and wiped all the butter from her mouth and hands.

After she wiped all the butter and lobster meat from her hands she smiled at him, “So, Cain. If you can make food like this you are more than welcome in the Calico kingdom, in fact, would you be willing to work for me? You will be paid handsomely” She said with a seductive smile, pretending as if she wasn't just digging into a lobster face first.

Cain shook his head with a small smile, “Sorry but I have plans for the future, and working as a cook isn't one of them. I hope you understand.” He said.

Charline sighed but didn't look surprised, “Of course,” She said, before she spotted someone walk onto the platform. Cain looked over and saw a tall, muscular but lean woman walking over to the food with a hungry grin. She had gray, unkempt hair that went down to her shoulders and sharp looking teeth. For clothes she is wearing a clean pair of brown pants with what looked like some kind of bra to cover her generously sized chest. Over her shoulders was a large gray pelt from what Cain guessed was some kind of beast, and sitting comfortably on top of her head were two wolf ears, accompanied by a wolf tail poking out of her backside, ‘Ah, that's probably the Wolf Clan chief i've heard about’ cain thought.

Charline grimaced at the sight of the woman, “Excuse me Cain, but I have to make sure that damn woman doesn’t eat all of the food before the others arrive” She said before walking off at Cain's nod.

Tian looked up from his food, looking over at the two curiously before starting to eat again. Cain turned to the man and asked something that’s been on his mind for a while, “Hey Chief, do you think you can tell me a bit more about the human-beastkin war?” He asked, hoping he wasn't offending the man with the question.

Tian paused in confusion, “The war? Why would you want to know about that?” He asked.

Cain shrugged, “My people are like yours, extremely reclusive. I don't know a lot about the outside world but I'm curious to learn more.” He said, and he debated on just telling the man he came from another dimension, it would make everything so much easier. ‘Why am I even keeping it a secret? It’s not like he can do anything with the information' Cain thought with a frown.

Cutting through his thoughts the man nodded slightly, “I don’t know everything since we weren't involved in it, but humans and beastkin have quarreled since before recorded history. I’m not sure what the reason for all the fighting is, but I don't think anyone else does at this point either.” he said, his mood plummeting for a moment before he shook it off, “Anyways, the most recent war we had was about fifty years ago and it is said that it started because a bunch of human nobles came to our land and started taking slaves, but it's possible that is just propaganda.” He said, and Cain felt his respect for the main go up even farther at his ability to look at something like this objectively.

Cain nodded, “Was there a winner?” he asked.

Tian shrugged, “Not really, the humans lost more than the beastkin did but that is only because most of the nobles did not want to get involved. If they had, I think things might have turned out much differently. I suppose we should be thankful they were so busy in their own petty squabbles that they couldn't be bothered to invade us.” He said, and it was obvious he had no love for the human nobles by his tone. “After all, regular humans are easier to deal with, but once those royal bastards and their bloodline magics get involved we stand little chance.” he said in annoyance, before looking at Cain nervously, “Ah, I mean no offense though.” He said.

Cain waved it off, “None taken, I have no love for the human kingdoms so you don’t have to watch your words around me.” He said, seeing the man relax slightly. “What are bloodline magics though?” Cain asked.

At that Tian looked at him in confusion, “You don't know? I thought your teleportation was bloodline magic itself.” he said.

Cain sighed, ‘fuck it, I might as well tell him’ he thought before shrugging, “I’ll be honest with you Chief Tian, I am not from this world. When I teleport, I am not going back to a reclusive kingdom but an entirely different realm.” He said, watching the man's reaction.

The Chief's eyes widened for a moment before he nodded in understanding, “I see. That makes a lot more sense.”

Cain looked at him in disbelief, shocked by his underwhelming response, “You believe me?” he asked.

Tian nodded, “People traveling here from other worlds is rare but not unheard of, it is how most of the races arrived after all. While it is surprising that you're able to travel back and forth between two worlds, I am not surprised that you're not from this one. Everything about you feels foreign, including your food, in fact Kanuk even brought up the possibility to me but I brushed it off.” The chief said, ignoring Cain's floored look.

The human slapped his forehead, “And here I was, worried I’d have to defend my claim.” he sighed, although he wasn’t actually upset at this outcome. Ignoring Tian’s amused smile he instead brought up his question again, “So, bloodline magic? I really don’t know anything about magic because my homeworld is magicless.”

The large man raised an eyebrow at that, “Magicless huh? How interesting, how did that rectangle manage to freeze time though.” He said, but Cain just waved him off and said he’d explain what an iPhone was some other time, the beastkin nodded, “Well, bloodline magics are how the corrupt nobles have managed to stay in power. The noble families all have a special magic that they are born with, and it makes them incredibly powerful and difficult to deal with. From what I’ve heard a bloodline magic is anything either impossible to achieve with or completely outside the realm of the eight magical affinities, like flight or blood manipulation.” he said, his face grim, “It is the only reason they have not been overthrown, because from what I've heard there have been about a dozen revolutions already, but every time the nobles manage to stomp it out with brute force.”

Cain looked at the ground in contemplation, this was a lot of helpful information. “So that’s why you said they are a pain to deal with.” he muttered.

Tian nodded his head, “The average beastkin can take on several regular humans at a time, however humans with bloodline magics are a huge threat. They are the reason the human race is so powerful and widespread, as on average humans are much weaker than most of the other races, but the power of the nobles completely makes up for it.” he said.

The human contemplated what he said, and it didn’t paint a pretty picture. When he imagined a noble, he pictured a snotty, egotistical douchebag. Now imagining the same person with incredible power? Nothing good can come from it, and he’s not surprised that there have been a bunch of revolutions. “Absolute power corrupts absolutely” he whispered. 

Tian nodded, agreeing with what he said. They lapsed into silence for a moment, before Tian started eying his back curiously, “So what is with the strange sack on your back?” he asked.

Cain raised an eyebrow before laughing, he had completely forgotten he was wearing a backpack. “Well, I brought some gifts.” He said with a smile.