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The Half Moon Club (EvelynWillows x Collector of Rarities)

"Well, isn't the military the same thing but more lethal?" replied Carla. "In the MMA, we're two consenting adults beating the shit out of each other for money and, at least for me, because I enjoy it. I like a good brawl, probably about as much as I enjoy a good fuck. I'm just more choosy about who I let into my bed. So, it is personal in the MMA, although not because we hate each other. Although I suppose some of us might hate each other anyways. Wars have always struck me as stupid: everyone gets up in arms about stupid little issues. And it's never the people who start the wars that you see on the battlefield: it's always a bunch of people who need a paycheck or who got drafted. If the politicians feel so strongly about the causes they fight for, why don't they pick up a rifle or step into a ring and do something about it?" She took a breath to calm herself down. "I don't have anything against the soldiers, but I have a problem with the idea of armies. Armies ruin lives: they never make anything better. Winning a war might fix one problem, but it causes a whole bunch more along the way. The way I was raised, if you've got a problem with someone, you let them know in person: you don't drag in anyone who doesn't have anything to do with it. That way, either you kick the shit out of them or they kick the shit out of you. It's simple."

She jabbed her fork into her food a little too hard, creating a small crack in the plate. "But what do I know? I can hardly claim to be all that wise. After all, I'm the one who wound up alone."
 
It didn't take a lot to get Carla riled up. Joe twirled his pasta and watched the way her face grew more animated as she continued speaking, fanning the flames of her own emotional fire. He would have loved to get into a discussion with her about wars, politics, or something else of relevancy to their lives, but he had the feeling that she'd be more emotion than thought, and it wouldn't accomplish anything.


"Hey," he said quietly as he laid a hand over her wrist, the one with the plate-cracking fork. "I'm not judging you here. I'm just asking questions to get to know you. I'm sorry if it hit a nerve." He removed his hand and leaned back in his chair. "So I guess you're getting a little bored now that you're out of the MMA? I mean, if you enjoy fighting as much as fucking, then it's about time for a fight, isn't it?"
 
"It's alright," sighed Carla. "My parents got caught in the crossfire back in..." she bit her lip, not wanting to reveal that she was over a hundred years old. "Anyways, I've gotten used to them not being around, but I haven't been a big fan of the military ever since. That, and I really do think that you should be willing to put your own life on the line if you're willing to send thousands to their deaths for your cause."

She chuckled and shook her head. "I left the MMA a couple of months ago," she said. "I've mostly been using toys to satisfy my sexual appetite since then. It's not perfect, but I'm not about to slug a random person just 'cause I'm itching for a fight. Besides, I can just swing by the gym or any random dojo for sparring night if I really need to vent. And if I get too bored as a security guard, I suppose I could open up my own dojo and teach lessons for a while." She smiled coyly up at Joe. "Or, if this goes well, we might wind up scratching each other's itches and neither of us will have to worry about getting bored."
 
"I'm not going to talk politics or policies with you, Carla. I have a feeling that we'd have too many issues we disagree over to ever wind up in bed." He broke off a piece of bread and swirled it around in the sauce. "I don't want to figure out what we don't agree on; I want to find out what we do agree about."

He took her hand in one of his and turned it over, then drew a finger along her palm and down her wrist. "You are...really driven by passions, aren't you? I mean...fighting, sex, food, drink, it's all passionate things to do. You seem like a risk-taker. Maybe even an adrenaline junkie. You haven't made it a habit to pick up strangers and take them to bed, do you?" His finger trailed over her hand and wrist lazily, making small figure eights on her flesh. "You know that's a very dangerous thing to do don't you?"
 
"I'm more likely to go bunjee jumping than take someone into my bed," said Carla. "I know that bunjee jumping will satisfy me. I don't have the same guarantee with random strangers. I'm very picky like that. Honestly, I'd be more likely to pick up a random woman than a man, but still... I'm picky with potential mates. But overall, you're right: I like my thrills. The bigger the better. I even go hunting on occasion."

She smirked up at Joe. "I'm of the belief that nothing should be done dispassionately. If you're going to do it, you should put your all into it. Life's just boring otherwise." She chuckled. "And then there are days where I'm completely hypocritical and just want to stay at home and not really get invested in anything. I suppose it's only natural to get tired out after you've been giving everything you do your all. Or maybe I just talk big and occasionally act on it. I've never looked all that deeply inwards."
 
He laughed heartily when Carla said that she didn't have the same guaranteed of satisfaction from a one night stand. Joe shook his head and leaned back in his chair. "Wow. You're very much a passionate person. I do understand those days when you just want to stay inside and do nothing; it's a kind of depression. It can be hard to break out of."

When the waitress brought the check he snatched it off the plate and then slid a few twenties under the receipt. "Okay, we've eaten. How about showing me some of your other haunts?"
 
"I wouldn't call it a depression," said Carla, "at least not all of the time. It can be lonely sometimes, yeah, and that can be depressing, but other times it's just because I feel like I've got nothing to do. That's partially why I decided to get the job with Bruce: if nothing else, it's a reason to get out of bed and get dressed every day. And you can never say that dealing with drunk college kids is boring. Frustrating, yes, but never boring."

Carla nodded and stood, leading Joe back to his car. "Go drive back through Harvard," she instructed. "There's a great music store there that sells a lot of used stuff. Mostly CDs, but they've got some cassette tapes and records as well. It's where I've been going to get my music ever since I got into town. Sound good?"
 
"You should have kids," Joe said when Carla mentioned that sometimes she needed to have a reason to get out of bed and dressed every day. "They'll keep you going every day, whether you want to keep going or not." He opened the door for Carla and followed her instructions on the drive. "There's a little shop there named Planet Records. That's not where we're going, is it?" He waited for her answer and then nodded.

"You know, Carla, you don't have to show me how relate-able we are by showing me that you know what cassettes and records are. I mean, I'm glad that it's not an 8-track store, but I get it. Our age's not something that bothers you. But I'd like to know if you're just looking for a Friend with Benefits or if you might be wanting something more out of this. It changes everything, depending on what our final goal is gonna be." He cleared his throat. "I have to tell you now that I'm not interested in being just one of the dozen or so numbers on your booty call list. That doesn't really do it for me."
 
Carla's mouth spread into a wide grin as Joe mentioned Planet Records. "You've been there, then!" she said, joyfully, as she snuggled up to Joe. "I guess you don't need me to give you directions."

She thought for a while about Joe's question, stifling a laugh as he talked about her age; she was old enough to be his great grandmother, but part of her didn't want to tell him that. It was kind of funny to let him think that he was the one dating someone younger. It was a good one: one that needed to be asked. "Well, I used to have a lot of friends," she said at last. "People I knew who I trusted completely. There was a bond between us, and I was intimate with quite a few of them. That was a long time ago, though, and I came to Boston to get a fresh start. I'm not really looking for kids or anything, not yet, but I came to Boston to start fresh, so I suppose it might be good to try approaching my relationships differently. Besides, you're pretty much the only person I know, so I don't think that you're going to have much competition." She paused for a moment before grinning up at him. "Although... can we add in a caveat that we can have a threesome if we find someone we both think is cute?"
 
"Yeah, I've been there." His tone wasn't completely ecstatic, but he was still driving towards it. As Carla spoke about her past relationships he nodded, absorbing more information about her and mentally weighing the risks and rewards of having a physical relationship with her. He liked the way she sat close to him, almost cuddling, and the way she felt in the crook of his arm.

Joe scoffed a little when Carla said that he wouldn't have much competition. "Oh, I guess I win by default, is that what you're saying?" He gave her a little grin. "That doesn't do much to inspire a man's ego, you know." His fingers played with the hem of her tee-shirt sleeve as he negotiated the roads of downtown Harvard. He wasn't exactly thrilled when she asked if they could leave their relationship open to a threesome. "I...ah, I don't know about that one. Let's play that by ear if it ever comes up, okay?"

His smile faded into a look of thoughtfulness as they approached a parking spot. The only thing bad about driving into downtown was the steep price of real estate. Still, it was nice to have the convenience of a car. "Well, we're here. Hopefully there won't be too many cute coeds you want to bring home with us today." He winked. "I'm not ready to answer your last question this soon."
 
Carla chuckled and smiled up at him as she slipped out of the car. "Then I won't bring it up until you are," she said. "You know, most guys would be thrilled to have a girlfriend who starts the relationship by saying "yes, I'm open to a threesome". Unless, of course, you've got your eye on Freddy and know he won't be up for it?"

She smiled playfully up at him as she lead him towards the store. Joe seemed to take everything so seriously: he was fun in short bursts, but somber seemed to be his default state of mind. Carla was perfectly okay with this: she found it fun to tease him. Of course, she wasn't out to actually offend him, but she didn't see her tiring of teasing him anytime soon. And if he decided to retaliate by taking her over his knee, well, that was really just an added bonus.

Carla pushed open the door to Planet Records and waved to the girl behind the counter. Carla was a regular, so she was familiar with the people who usually sat behind the register. She got an odd look, since she was accompanied by Joe, but the girl didn't say anything. Carla began perusing the CDs: she mainly loaded CDs onto her iTunes and transferred them to her iPod. It was a good way to get a lot of music that wasn't available on iTunes. Carla really liked anything that got a response out of her. Most of her iPod had music that made her want to move: anything from heavy metal to dubstep to salsa music. She did have some slower music, though, and was delighted to find a Mumford and Sons album that she didn't already own. The album was only five dollars, but she tended to overpay small businesses she liked and adamantly refuse to take her change. She kept an eye on Joe, seeing what kind of music he liked.
 
"Freddy, huh? He'd be thrilled, I'm sure. As long as I left you home, that is." Joe grinned at Carla and shook his head. "No, it's just that the thought of sharing someone I'm involved with, with someone else, kind of throws me out of the ballpark. It's not what I prefer." He watched her walking in front of him, her hips swaying provocatively. He was certain that she knew what she was doing with those hips of hers.

When they went into the music store he did a visual swipe of the people inside, and his heart sunk when he saw who was behind the counter. It figured that she'd be there on the one day he chose to show up. The girl behind the counter was in her mid-thirties, with a young short and sassy hair cut to go with her punky clothes and too-high heels. She had a few tatts on her arms and neck that complemented her piercings well, but in the glare of daylight she'd look more like what she was; a woman trying to extend her youth longer than it should have been. Her makeup was intended to hide the creeping crow's feet at the corners of her eyes, and around her mouth the puckering from smoking too many clove cigarettes were beginning to show.

As Joe tried to walk along with Carla and ignore the girl at the counter he caught her glaring at him through a shelf of records. Trying not to roll his eyes he broke away from Carla to see what the girl had to say to him.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" She harshly whispered. "Are you stalking me?"

"Nooo, I'm here with a friend, that's all. I was hoping it would be your day off."

"Good luck with that! I have to work six days a week now to make ends meet. The alimony's not cutting it."

Joe raised his hands, palm outwards. "Hey, I'm just here shopping with a friend. If you want to talk alimony or crap like that you know who my attorney is." He took a step back.

"The cost of living's going up," she nearly snarled, eliciting a startled look from one of the other patrons. "If you can afford to go on dates then you can afford to increase the payments."

"What happened to 'Loverboy' Larry?"

She slapped him. "Fuck. You. He left me for an intern a year ago, asshole."

"That surprises me, Ronnie. He left his wife and kids for you, and you're surprised that he'd leave you for someone else. People don't change." He took a thumb and wiped the blood off the corner of his lip. "I can see you're exactly the same as you were when we were married. A little more ink, but otherwise, you're the same bitch I divorced."
 
Carla growled. For a moment, she sounded like an actual animal before she regained control over herself and made it sound more human. She'd assumed that Ronnie had been a fairly normal person, but it seemed like she'd been wrong in her initial assessment. She slid her CD back into the rack, a mild pang of regret that she wouldn't be buying it today, as she stepped forwards and slammed her hands down on the counter.

"You will not talk to my friend like that, whelp," she growled, making no attempt to keep her voice down. "I don't know what history you two have, but Joe is a decent man; far better than you deserve. I will make this simple: if you insult my friends, you insult me, and I am not someone you want to offend. You have also lost yourself a customer: I will not be returning here." There was something very old and very furious in Carla's eyes. She was still young by wolf standards, but she was more than three times Ronnie's age. Carla had lived through wars and lost her parents to one. She had loved and lost and struggled through stakes far higher than anything the woman before here had ever even contemplated. Carla had lost everything she loved and now only had Joe to hang onto. There was murder in Carla's glare.

Before Ronnie had a chance to respond, Carla grabbed a hold of Joe's shirt and dragged him effortlessly out the door, which she paused to slam shut behind her. She let go of Joe's shirt and took several deep breaths to calm herself before turning back to face him. "You know, all you would have needed to tell me was that your ex wife worked there," she said. "I would have taken you somewhere else."
 
Ronnie was shocked by Carla's interference. By all appearances, Carla was the young one of the three, and according to Joe she was 'just a friend'. "Hey look you bitch-"

"Carla, it's okay-" both Joe and Ronnie were caught off guard when Carla grabbed Joe by the shirt and dragged him out of the shop. As Carla took a few minutes to calm herself, Joe rebuttoned his shirt and straightened himself up after being removed from the shop so suddenly.

"You know, all you would have needed to tell me was that your ex wife worked there," Carla said. "I would have taken you somewhere else."

"There was a chance she was off tonight. Why should I make parts of the world off-limits just because someone might be there? It's stupid. Thank God I don't have an ounce of pride left with that woman, or else being dragged off by a buck and a quarter little half-pint might have embarrassed me." He shook his head. "Besides, you don't have to stop shopping at a place you work just because she's there. She's just an employee. That's all. She doesn't mean anything to me anymore."
 
Carla chuckled. "I'm not going to stop coming here because she has a history with you," she said. "I'm going to stop coming because I don't want my money going to a spiteful bitch like her. Besides, after today, she'd be glaring at me the whole time I shopped anyways and that'd just be uncomfortable. I mean, I suppose I could peek in the window to see if she's behind the counter or not..." she bit her lip and glanced back at the store. "I guess you're right," she sighed. "It's just... I came to Boston to get away from all of the unpleasantness and I don't want more of it in my life. Then again, Victoria followed me here, so I suppose unpleasantness is going to follow me whether I like it or not."

She wanted to go over and press herself against Joe, but hesitated. She didn't know if it would be the right thing to do in this situation. "Your past doesn't matter to me, Joe," she said. "God knows I've got a lot of stuff I want to keep buried. I don't care that you used to be married to Ronnie or what happened between the two of you: tell me whatever you want me to know and leave out the bits you don't want to share." A small smile spread across her face. "Although, I am curious to know her real name: I've only ever known her as Ronnie."
 
"Veronica Lynn Jones...Morgan. She's Veronica Morgan still as far as I know." Joe ran a hand through his hair and then shrugged.

"Okay, the cliff notes version: We were married young, had a couple of kids. I was back and forth with the military. She met someone." He paused. "On her way back from a rendezvous, drunk, she accidentally hit our kids and killed them. We got divorced."

Joe swallowed. "That's it. No more skeletons in my closet. How about yours?" He sighed and turned to look down the street. "You know what? Why don't we go for a drive?" He turned back to look at Carla and tossed her the keys. "You drive."
 
Carla bit her lip as Joe tossed her the keys. She didn't like being put on the spot like this. Still, she accepted the keys and slid into the driver's seat. She turned on the car and started driving. She didn't have a particular destination in mind at the moment, so she just drove. After a few minutes of silence, she spoke.

"It's not as simple with me," she said, her voice soft. "With you, there's no love lost between you and your wife. I made promises that I hold sacred to people I cared dearly for and I could get in a lot of trouble with Bruce if I told you too much. But, cliffs notes version, I'm older than I look, I did a lot of traveling, made a lot of friends and studied every martial art I could find. Then my feud with Veronica escalated too far and she killed some of the people I held dear. I then severed ties with the friends she didn't know about and made sure they didn't come looking for me. It was hard: I needed to violate their trust and destroy the good image they had of me. Then I came to Boston and became a shut in until I joined the MMA." She sighed and shook her head. "It might be better if we end the date here: I want to talk to Bruce and see if I can get him to let me share more. Of course, if you could always pester him yourself. I'm kind of at the old wolf's mercy here: I could lose my job and a lot more if I tell you too much."
 
Joe shook his head. "I don't need to know more, Carla, really. Who you were isn't as important to me as who you are." He put an arm on the backrest of the chair and began to play with Carla's hair as she drove. "Why don't we just not worry about whatever you and Bruce have going on, Carla? I've had enough intrigue and secrecy to last me a lifetime."

He turned and watched the scenery move past them as she drove. After about ten minutes of silence he turned back towards Carla. "Are you sure you want to end our date here? Or maybe you'd rather go back to your place and fuck?"
 
"Well, you said you didn't want this to be about sex," she said, "so it's probably best that we don't. I'd like to keep going, but... I'm not really sure what to do. I mean, you want to see a day that's essentially me and I don't do all that much since I quit the MMA. I'm not very interesting and I don't know what to show you. I mean, we could go browse the Coop for a while, if you like, or we could go see what's playing at the Kendall, but I don't really do much else besides drink and occasionally hunt, but even then I haven't done that in a while. I'm just not that interesting of a person."

She sighed and leaned her head back a little bit against Joe's hand as they came to a red light. "I want this date to go well, but I don't know what to do."
 
Joe looked at her from the corner of his eyes. "Never mind, Carla. It's okay, we'll just get you home and call it a date." He rested his head against the glass and looked out into the city. He thought he had put the old aches and pains behind him years ago, but seeing Ronnie like that again just made the loss all the more poignant. It felt strange to caress the hair of a woman who just rejected him, so Joe used his left hand to turn on the radio.

Old eighties rock filled the speakers and the silence between them. Joe sighed softly. There was a few things he had to do for Bruce at the club, but then Joe decided that he would take the rest of the night off. This was promising to be a tough night for memories.
 
Carla sighed. She'd fucked up. That seemed to be a running theme for her lately. First, she thought she could just have a normal date, but she accidentally brought Joe to the place where his ex-wife worked. Then, when he'd asked her what to do next, she'd drawn a blank. She didn't want the date to end, but she couldn't think of anything to do. "Hey... we could stay at my place for a bit and play Rock Band, if you like," she suggested, hoping that he wouldn't want to leave immediately. "I'm far from the world's best singer, but I think it's kind of the point to sing badly."

She looked over at Joe, her eyes a little pleading. She didn't want to look pathetic, but Joe's opinion mattered to her a lot right now. She didn't want to be rejected by the first friend she'd managed to make in a long time.
 
He looked over at her and smiled. "Yeah, I'm not really one for video games but I'd watch." He smirked softly. "Unless the idea of me watching you having fun turns you off."

Joe was referencing the previous night when Carla teased him for telling her to touch herself.

"I just feel like being somewhere a little less public right now. Your apartment's fine." He watched the shops move by as Carla continued to drive. He turned back towards her and reached out to take her hand in his. "It's okay, Carla. I just hit a little snag with Ronnie. It's not you; it's me."
 
Carla cracked a smile, but there was something sad in it. "Look, I want to do something we can both enjoy," she said, turning towards her apartment. "I can find us something on Netflix to watch if you like, or... I dunno. We could just cuddle or something. I just... I want our first date to end on a positive note."

She pulled up in front of her apartment and pulled a piece of paper out of the glove compartment, which she scrawled her apartment number on so that Joe wouldn't get towed and stuck it on the dashboard. She then looked over at Joe and bit her lip. "So... what do you want to do?"
 
He looked over at her. "I told you what I want to do. But a movie on the couch sounds good." His lips curved into a smile. He nodded towards the slip of paper she slid onto his dashboard. "Are you sure that thing will keep me from getting a ticket?"

Joe reached over and took the keys out of the ignition and then went around to help Carla with the door. As he walked around the car he pulled out his phone and dialed up Bruce to let him know that he might be in late that night, if at all. "Alright, Carla. I'm all yours. Let's go burn some electricity and take up some real estate on that couch of yours."
 
"The landlord never made proper signs," explained Calra. "But you see that coed right there?" she indicated a small sequence of numbers below her apartment number. "That'll keep you out of any trouble."

Carla smiled and lead Joe upstairs, back to her apartment. Once the door was secured behind them, she tugged Joe over to the couch and picked up the remote for her smart TV, which she turned on and selected Netflix on. She scrolled through the movies a little before turning to look at Joe. "I'm guessing you'd like something a little light-hearted after today, huh?" she asked. "Or is there something in particular that you want to watch?"
 
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