I am the Lord of Mild Inconvenience, but you may call me Lokì. I live with a Manticore, and she's awesome; but do you know what isn't awesome?

Having my sleep interrupted every night by rabid monster hunters, hunting the heart of a Manticore for whatever cockamamie spell or hokum potion some degenerate with a lick of magical power wants to make.

Again, Lord of Mild Inconvenience, and the Patron Saint of Karens. But that also affects me, too.

I woke up all at once and looked at the clock - its display showed 3:03 am, and I groaned. The tinkling of glass in the apartment next door alerted me. Again. So I stood up, completely naked with my Dingle dangling, and grabbed my slightly saint-like robe with a perfectly placed hole, alongside my keys (that had conveniently fallen down the back of my bedside cabinet).

I flipped my flops on to my feet, and opened the door, going to the apartment next door. The display on the outside said 420, and I knocked on the door. Calling out, I said, "Hello?"

I grinned as a muffled thump, followed by a series of deeper thumps came through the door. How unfortunate, that the assailant's shoelace had managed to come undone and fall under his falling foot. Then, he had stood up, only to find that the floorboard, which had up until now been completely secure, had lost nails, leading to it tipping him up and into the oak coffee table Mani had in her apartment.

I knocked on the door again, calling out, to hear a muffled curse and then a much more feminine, "What the hell," followed by a crunching sound and muffled screams.

A couple of minutes later, after hearing Mani rummaging around, she appeared, her tail-stinger wagging happily. She had managed to pick up a mismatched set in spite of her obsessive orderliness; romantic rose pyjama pants combined with a Minnie Mouse top that curved beautifully along her body.

I whistled in appreciation, and she swatted at me, although there was no anger in it. "Thanks again!" She smiled, and her venomous fangs displayed themselves, a sign of her tension. She snuggled into me, and I hugged her back, gently ruffling her bed head of amber-blonde back into shape.

She sighed, and then froze. She looked at me and then glared down.

"Well, that's certainly inconvenient," I said, as I looked down too.