New Orleans-Hitting the ground running (Melissa's arrival) (Attn: Anyone)

It may have been a long cab ride, but Melissa's anxiety made time fly by. Her anxiety over finding the right people in the city before bumping into the wrong people, finding the people important to her, and whether or not her sire would actually mail all of her textbooks to her apartment once she moved in, or if she had burned them all because she never understood why Melissa kept so many. All of these thoughts kept Melissa silent until the cab finally arrived just a few blocks away from her new apartment.

As Melissa grabs her suitcase and backpack containing her laptop before exiting the cab, the gruff voice of the cab driver stops her in mid-reach for the door handle.

"Miss Watkins." He says slowly. She stops from moving any further and raises her head, meeting his eyes in the review mirror. "Yes, I know who you are and what you are." He drops his Mask and suddenly Melissa can feel his beast pushing at her in the confines of the car. She shivers slightly and fights off the urge to get out of the cab in a rush, her grip on her suitcase handle getting tighter.

"No need to speak, let me do the talking. You may call me Mr. Brown. I am here for a specific purpose. Do not worry I was invited to the city by one of it's more powerful members. However, in order to do my job effectivly I need some assistence. Since you and I share a Family, I thought maybe you could help me. I need you to observe the Prince very carefully should you get the chance to meet him. Look for signs of an unfit mind, instability, infirmity anything of the sort. If you notice anything out of the ordinary with him, please give me a call."

He hands her a small card with nothing but "Mr. Brown" and a phone number printed in regular font on it. He smiles and then, through the rearview, showing just a hint of fang and he puts his Mask back into place. Shifting slightly in his seat, he reaches for a lever and her door opens silently.

"Thank you for your time, Miss Watkins. No charge for the fare."

Melissa still hasn't moved towards the door, her eyes remain fixated on Mr. Brown. So much is unnerving her, but mostly it's the mention of "Family." Her ultimate question is which family, her family back home or her family in her new home? Before she can ruminate any further, she realizes that the opening of the door was not a suggestion, but more likely a hint and so she says "...uhh thanks. I'll let you know if I find anything." and steps out of the cab. She stands on the street watching the cab drive off until it disappears into the night, shaking her head.

Terrific, I'm not in this city for five seconds and I'm being asked to assess the capacity of the Prince. I'm wondering if I should've stuck with San Fransisco like I originally planned, is their Prince unstable?.

Melissa begins walking toward her new home, checking her surroundings more than she would have had she not met Mr. Brown. As she walks she wonders just who this will be benefiting and for what purpose, but at least she's not worried about her textbooks anymore.

As Melissa reaches the entrance to her apartment building, she sees a man leaning against the wall in a casual pose. He is tall, with short black hair, intense grey eyes, and a young smooth face. She would put him in his early thirties if it wasn't for the strong predater aura that seems to flow off of him and creep up her spine. He straightens to his full 6'4 height as he sees her approaching the door, tugs at the bottom of his dark blue knit sweater to straighten it and offers a wide smile.

"Evenin Ma'am." His voice is smooth with a slight New Orleans accent but there is something else to the tone that would suggest he spent time in Europe. "I'm Sheriff Donnavan, the local welcome committe. Can I help you with that bag of yours?"

Melissa nearly drops her suitcase when she feels yet the presence of another bearing down on her inner core. It's enough to make her overlook the chivalrous gesture he makes. Instead she smiles and says "Oh I'm fine thank you. It's nice to meet you Sheriff, I am Dr. Melissa Watkins. I have to say I'm impressed with the promptness of your cities welcoming committee. she really means that too considering he's the second kindred to catch her off guard tonight as if he'd been expecting her. "I have to just put these in my apartment, but would you like to come in? I imagine you have some questions for me to answer." Melissa is careful not to assume that Sheriff Donnovan's formal nature is sincere, and that it's possible he may be here warn her to pack her bags and turn around. Either way, this is why she's chosen to offer her cooperation, since getting on the wrong foot of the Sheriff would not bode well for her future stay here, if there is a future at all.

Donnavan smiles and nods as he steps aside to allow Melissa to enter the building. He follows her to the door of her apartment, moving at a leasurly pace. It doesn't take Melissa very long to acclimate to his beast considering the slouched, relaxed exterior of the vampire.

"It don't take very long for us to know when a new arrival comes in, Dr. Watkins. We got eyes and ears all around this place and with the recent cooperations of everyone we get regular reports from the furries around the city. I'm not here to cause you any trouble though, Ma'am. Just want to make sure you get yourself settled in and start meetin' the right people."

He glances up and down the hallway as if looking for moving shadows and then smiles down at her again. "I got no questions at the moment. Just a message from our Seneschal. He'd like you to come to St. Charles Guest House tomorrow night."

He hands her a flyer with the location of the building and waits for her to take it before he speaks again. "I assume you know the usual rules? Lettin' the rest of the rabble know 'bout us didn't change a whole lot. Still not allowed to eat nothin' til you've been acknowledged properly. The big guy in charge is a mite picky 'bout who eats where so I'll let the Seneschal fill you in on all that. So long as you can stay out of trouble before tomorrow night, I think you'll be fine. I can answer any questions you have though."

Melissa is surprised with how open of a network New Orleans seems, she's now curious as to where certain parts connect and disconnect. She takes the flyer saying "Thank you Sheriff. Yes I am aware of the rules regarding food but I appreciate you helping me get in touch with the Senechal. I will be there tomorrow night.I don't have any questions regarding our friends and family but I was wondering if you knew which areas are best to stay away from if we want to avoid trouble with our neighbors, such as the furries?" being that she's new, Melissa feels it would be best to remain within the areas that are Kindred friendly at least until she has expanded her own network as well.

Donnavan nods. "I see you've been around this block more ten once. Good question. Yes, I can give you that information. The parks and cemetaries are all off limits to kindred. Off limits literally means enter at your own risk. The wolves own the parks now as well as the Bayou around the city. The cemetaries are places sacred for the dead and we don't have any business with the dead so the Prince has decreed those areas be left alone. The French Quarter is home to the faeries. They're generally nice folks and don't mind visitors so long as you don't go sinking your fangs into anyone."

He stops and leans against the wall deciding if that's all he can tell her. Shaking hi9s head, he gives her a careless smile obviously meant to entice a more relaxed and informal conversation. "Think that's about all I can give you for now. The Seneschal will outline the rest and if you pardon my sayin' it, I don't really want to overstep my bounds in that area."

Melissa nods and says "I understand. I will do well to avoid the areas you indicated and proceed in the French Quarter with caution. Thank you for all your help Sheriff. " She stands to wait and see if there is anything else before opening the door to her apartment.

Donnavan nods once and steps away from the wall taking Melissa's tone as a dismissal. He smiles slightly at the professional manner in which she continues to talk to him and decides she might be a harder nut to crack then he suspected.

"Of course Doctor, that'is one of the reasons I'm here. You have yourself a good evenin' now." He tips an invisible hat to her and saunters back down the hallway humming to himself.