Whose emotions are these? Not mine!

Vasili strolled in through the club's back entrance, his ears tuned into the hushed conversations around him.

A slender guy muttered under his breath, "Damn, did you see all that blood on him?"

A petite girl chimed in, "Yeah, that guy is an animal...total feral behavior." Vasili shot a soulful glance in her direction just before he reached the main floor. 

At this point, the onlookers were damn-near confident, making their rubbernecking obvious to "the monster" himself.

Vasili thought to himself, wondering if he should have gone so far without explicit instructions. Reaching an unoccupied table with napkins, he took a few and started wiping the blue off himself.

He noticed Maranda and Elias approaching while he wiped. Turning to them, he asked casually, "How'd I do? I chased'em down, took care of business, and even let everyone see the aftermath."

The affect Vasili displayed was disturbing Maranda and Elias, the cold manner of speaking was indicative of something deeper happening. The Prince of Darkness himself spoke up, "Hey, man. Are you good? You are kinda' giving me the creeps right now, and that is saying something..."

Vasili exchanged a glance with Maranda, noting that her daggers wouldn't piece his scales, the Dragon whispered that she would target his eyes and ears, the weakest points on Dragons.

She returned his analysis, breaking into a grin as she spoke, "Do you want to find out?"

Vasili pulled back because it was a stupid idea. The moment having passed, he answered Elias, "Yeah. I am good. Actually...I am better than good. I feel fantastic."

Cracking his neck and popping his knuckles, Vasili noticed an odd reaction appeared on Elias' face again.

"What?" Vasili asked.

Elias broke into a small smile, mentioning something important, "How, uh, do you FEEL?"

Vasili shook his head, "I don't understand. I FEEL good? Shouldn't I?"

Elias nodded in agreement, then shook his head vigorously, "Yeah...no, not at all." He took a moment, bracing himself for Vasili's reaction as he said, "You just killed someone. Like. You tore their throat out if my reports are correct."

Vasili squinted and muttered, "How'd you get a report on what happened already? Actually, never mind." Before Elias continued, "Are you sure you don't feel anything inside yourself? Like, existential dread, or regret or something?"

Vasili took that queue, looking within to find no turmoil. The Ram agreed with his actions. The Lion felt it was the natural course of nature, as shocking as snow during winter. The Dragon wanted more...but what did Vasili think?

He tried to find himself.

He assumed his old self would have disagreed slightly, but only in the brutality of it all. Vasili knew he had never been one to cry over a mugger getting his "just deserts" or someone fucking around and finding out. Some people EARNED their Darwin award-Vasili was sure of it.

Going deeper within himself, Vasili knew that the guy back there had something bad planned for him. It wouldn't stand up in a court of law, but it was a bad vibe. A vibe like seeing ski-masked men enter a liquor store at 3 a.m. Something horrible was clearly going to happen if he didn't stop it.

Did Vasili feel 'bad' about that? Did he mourn the loss of life, the possibilities that could have been had the man not met him? No. He might have before he became a Chimera, some human part of himself holding onto a societal standard. "Internalized social morality," he could feel the Ram say off in the distance.

But he didn't care. It was that guy or him, period. He'd never apologize for surviving.

Vasili returned to the real world, hearing the crinkling of glass as someone swept behind the bar.

He looked around, apologizing for what happened, "My bad, man. I didn't know I could yell that loudly...haha." 

Elias waved it off, "No worries, I have been thinking about remodeling the bar again."

Even though Elias was a trillionaire, Vasili still felt bad about breaking so much and ruining their night.

Elias realized what just happened, "Wait. So you can feel your emotions? You aren't feral?"

The question took Vasili off guard as he responded, "What the hell is being 'feral'? I heard a girl talk about that while I was coming in."

"Well, all those monsters in myth and legend don't come from nowhere. Basically, if a creature taps into its Essence and gives up control. Then, they become the monster within. Any instinct, any urge, out in the world, for all to witness." Throwing his arm around Vasili, he continued, "But you do feel things, right? You are in control?"

The Dragon, Ram, and Lion all began to return to the depths of his mind, almost as if they knew they were no longer required.

"Yeah, I think I am good." He smiled, feeling more human than he had all night.

Tapping his talons against the table absentmindedly, he wondered, "Can I have the amulet back?"

Elias smiled, pulling it from nowhere and dropping it into Vasili's open hand.

"Sure. I just needed'em all to see what they were dealing with. It isn't every day that you see a Chimera with as much 'Dragon' as you. Hell, it sounded like you landed on the roof."

Elias laughed at the idea and gestured for a drink to be brought over, being taken off guard when Vasili answered, "Yeah, who knew I could jump that high, watch out, NBA, I'm coming!"

Laughing, Vasili failed to notice that Elias and Maranda exchanged exasperated looks.

Elias caught on at the end of his laugh, adding, "But you didn't really jump forty feet, right?"

Vasili nodded, "Oh, yeah. I have a forty-foot vertical, haha."

Elias, unsure of how to clear this up, gave up on it.

"We will just have to find out what you are made of when we do a physical tomorrow." Elias grabbed onto the glass he was being served.

"Oh? A physical? Is the Doc coming over?"

Maranda chimed in, "Actually, I will be administering it."

Vasili looked at her and nodded nervously, ignoring the natural comment about her holding his...never mind.

Maranda took the moment to lean closer, a blush going across his scales, "Cut it out."

The formalities of Maranda's "job" were gone. She was just hanging out with them as she stabbed her dagger into the table. Vasili watched as she toyed with her blade, wood splintering and splitting as she carved a symbol into the surface.

Elias sipped and added, "I much prefer this to the formality that Sebastian uses, ya' know?" Then, at that moment, "Young Master! You are safe?!"

The Vampire butler rushed forward, hurriedly checking over Elias' body like a mother hen.

Vasili laughed and watched the uncomfortable expression return to Elias' face.