SEMI-OPEN | and in the end it was all Will Graham's fault

[proteus]

WHO: BADER and ACE and WILL GRAHAM
WHERE: Residence #002 in De Chima, Virginia + the animal quarantine holding cells at a local SPCA center where bad dogs go to think about what they've done
WHEN: The night of August 11th and August 12th
WHAT: Supernatural puppies not getting along and then someone calls the fucking cops
WARNINGS: Violence and potentially life-threatening injuries to both people and animals.

I. CLOSED TO ACE AND #002 RESIDENTS - w2g Will

[ The last few nights had passed by quietly and the move from Florida with the more temperate Virginia town had gone off with little fanfare. A room for Bader had already been cordoned off with the standard locks on the doors and black out curtains for the morning hours, and Will had gotten his bait shop going with only the Swear-In upsetting the minutiae of their everyday lives. New housemates started to trickle in after the latest influx of imPorts but with with the excitement of the Swear-In and everything else going on even they had moved in passing under their radar.

Sometime Monday night Will had mentioned in passing that he would be having company which really should have set off some kind of red flag when he talked about it like it was somehow relevant to Bader, but she just let it go. Removed from her usual routine of stalking the borders of the Virginia woods or slinking about town all night, Bader was home- again because Will was so adamant about her meeting this friend of his. Curled up on the floor between the cheap, government couch and arm chair with her muzzle rested on her paws she zoned out watching a movie edited for time and content on basic cable. Will's guest would be here soon, and that made Bader wonder if she should have taken another bath this week. ]

Comments

OPEN | Animal quarantine holding cells at a local SPCA

[proteus]

[ August 12th and 24 Hours into Ace and Bader's two-day quarantine after being apprehended. Authorities have begrudgingly allowed visitation rights for other imPorts. There are two rows of 4x5 animals cage going floor to ceiling to in two different rooms and for obvious reasons both offenders were kept separate rooms. ]

Ace

[aggressiveapathy]

I can't believe you got in a cat fight.

[ April isn't angry, she's not disappointed. In fact, she's biting down a laugh as she finally gets to the cage area. Out of all the house members, she'd ranked Ace near the bottom (just above Cole) on the one most likely to cause felony level of property damage. ]

[ifnotloyal]

[ Ace doesn't find it as funny. What April finds in the SPCA cage is him, curled up tightly in a far corner, though he will lift his head up to look at her when she speaks up. ]

It wasn't a cat...

[ Said so glumly, so very glumly. Geez, Ace, she didn't mean a real cat! ]

[aggressiveapathy]

[ She leans up against the cage, her amusement slipping behind the typical deadpan somewhat in the face of his persistent sulking. ]

Don't be a gerbil. You've only got another day or whatever in lock up.

[ifnotloyal]

[ The gerbil comment manages to get a larger response, where he at least uncurls enough so he can properly portray full confusion via body language. Most of it comes through with how his ears and head tilt, of course, but hey, he isn't a ball of black and white fluff anymore.

A... gerbil? ]

I'm not... [ Oh. Wait. That expression, that one she's always wearing. ] Was that a joke?

[ He is never sure with April. ]

And I know. I just, well, I don't like cages.

[aggressiveapathy]

See, you get people.

[She slides down the wall, until she's sitting cross-legged in front of the cell. It was weird looking down at him still.]

But don't get caught next time. Problem solved.

[ifnotloyal]

I don't want there to be a next time...

[ He breathes out heavily and drags himself up to his paws only enough to get himself across the cage, to the side she's closest to. Once there, he'll flop down again, pressed miserably against the chainlink. ]

I bit people, April. Everyone knows what happens to dogs who bite people.

[ Even the dogs know, even the dogs. ]

Bader

[shutterbugged]

[Peter stands in front of the cage with his arms crossed, expression flitting rapidly back and forth between amusement, annoyance, digest and a rueful sort of sympathy. In one hand he's holding a clear disposable plastic cup with the (rapidly melting) blood popsicles stuck inside. (The smell off that might explain the disgust, actually.)]

You could have told me they were blood popsicles.

[proteus]

[ Changed back to avoid draining herself, Bader was curled up in the back corner as Peter approached. Excitably she ran for the gate door when he spoke. Front paws latch onto the chainlink cage door with Bader stuffing her nose through an opening, tongue poking through her teeth and tail wagging as she whined high-pitched and necessitous. Peter was her favorite person right now. ]

Pigs blood. [ She said way too casually before first popsicle pushed the the cage she was on with ravenous need. Peering up at him, mouth red with melting and gelatinous blood she cocked her head ] You didn't eat one, did you?

Never mind. You did me a favor, and I sort of owe you an explanation.

[shutterbugged]

[Honestly, she'd be cute if she weren't so... vampirey. Peter didn't know it was possible to be torn between amusement and nausea, and despite his best efforts it probably shows. He pushes through another popsicle anyway.]

Yeah, I'd say so. Do you normally go around picking fights with werewolves?

[proteus]

[ Popsicle sticks licked clean before the blood could melt, Bader felt much more at ease and in control of herself on that alone. Peter really did not grasp the scope of what he did for her; her being starved with only a chain link cage door between her and a lot of innocent people was bad news for everyone.

The transition from animal to person happens after a quick glance down either end of the kennels and a quick confirmations that they were alone. Bader stretches and her image shifts like a double exposure over an old polaroid being split apart until there is a woman on two feet and blessedly dressed on the other side of the cage popping a sore joint in her shoulder. ]

I actively avoid werewolves, so no. [ Bader shrugs as she dusts off some dirt off a beat up old plaid pullover. ]

And obviously you've figured out what I am by now- Val did in seconds after she noticed I wasn't breathing, but I think she is just really pedantic even for a three year old. But I digress.

That fight went down on pure instinct; I get that sounds cheap, but I assure you that after this happened to me the humanity you see is the real illusion. [ Bader motions to the herself; the thing on two legs being a piece of work to maintain these days. ] We smelled each other out, and it our blood...mixed sending us into a sort of frenzy. I don't think that dog is a real werewolf, just something that was imbued with the blood- if he was a real Garou I sure as hell wouldn't be standing here talking to you.

Understand that where I'm from saying this is a death sentence on every end. What I am is a Gangrel. It's like a type of vampire that is close the animal side of this whole 'beast inside of us' poetic nonsense. There are a lot of types of....us, and we all hate each other on some level. We have rules, rules that I don't even always agree with and suffice to say I broke from recognizing any ruling body of vampire society after being dicked over one too many times.

Vampires like to play up secrecy and call it protecting us from humans and vice versa, but really it's old, old money sitting in their ivory towers and stewing over old grudges and calling it politics while the young generation pays for it- we call it Jyhad. I only came into the blood because I had the shit misfortune of being lured under false pretenses, and even if being an Independent vampire like myself is a way quick to get you on everyone's shit list it is really what makes me free to avoid becoming a threat to humans. I mean, before coming here I haven't even been around people for well over a year. And that isn't even because I have trouble controlling myself; I don't even really hurt a person when I feed. It's just a Gangrel trait to be a little people shy.

Not shitting you, but even though I've only been like this for a couple years now explaining any of this requires a sit down.

[shutterbugged]

[Peter's seen the transformation once before, but even on repeat viewing it's hard to wrap his head around -- like a special effect more than reality. And yet Bader herself looks so ordinary in this form -- run down, even. Well, anyone would if they were trapped in a dog pen, vampire wolf or no vampire wolf.

Or Gangrel or no Gangrel, apparently.]

So, some politicians are actual blood-suckers? Color me surprised.

[Not the most useful factoid to pick out of that info-dump, but his mouth is running while his brain's still trying to process.]

Sorry, sorry. This is, um -- no offense -- kind of a lot. Just give me a second.

[proteus]

It's alright. [ She doesn't need to breath but manages to laugh with an unflattering little snort. ]

Politicians and just about every other flavor of conspiracy, yeah. And if you thought old conservatives were made about the Second Vatican Council then you have clearly never seen a vampire flip shit about a sudden lack of Latin.

[ Bader leans up against the gate with a crooked smile that is, for lack of a better word, wolfish. ]

Everywhere.

for ace!

[waiting]

[ He'd gotten the call shortly after they were actually apprehended -- and Bradbury's still a little fuzzy on who they were, exactly -- but he hasn't been allowed to actually visit until now. Predictably, when Bradbury comes in, he's flushed and not quite panicking, but definitely a little wild-eyed, given the disaster scenarios running through his head. When his gaze falls on Ace, he actually sags a little with relief, stepping over as close as the bars will allow. ]

Are you okay? What happened?

[ifnotloyal]

[ Where Bradbury is worried, Ace just looks... ashamed. He shouldn't have to deal with this. He shouldn't have to see him like this. Ace himself is crowded back into one corner of the cell, although he does raise his head to look when Bradbury arrives. ]

Rick! [ Can he go home yet?! No, no, he knows better, not yet. ] There was a monster in Will's house, an undead one...

[ And he thought his friend was in trouble, naturally. ]

[waiting]

[ Who's Will? Bradbury wants to ask, but he stops himself -- Ace is obviously worked up enough, without Bradbury asking unnecessary questions. He's a friend of Ace, and that's all he really needs to know.

He didn't get the full run-down, but property destruction certainly had something to do with it, and it makes a little more sense now. A dog with lycanthropy and a reason to hate the supernatural running into the undead had more reason than most to react badly -- hell, the only reason he hadn't bitten Mitch was because Bradbury had been there.

Bradbury exhales, crouching down despite Ace's efforts to pull away, and reaches his fingers out through the bars. Of course, given his arm is fairly beefy, it doesn't get too far. ]

Hey. C'mere. [ He'll keep asking Ace about what happened in a moment, but it doesn't look like being in a cage has done him any favors. ]

[ifnotloyal]

[ There's some reluctance to move from his spot in the corner, but as upset as he is, the general domestic want for contact overrides the neurosis of being locked up. He hefts himself up to his paws and crosses back over to the side Bradbury crouches at and leans heavily against the chain link fencing. ]

Are you here to get me?

[ Again, although the circumstances are different this time around. Still, his ears perk up some, as he becomes a little more hopeful at the possibility. ]

[waiting]

Wish I was, buddy. [ Bradbury sounds suitably apologetic, if nothing else. ] They say they can't release you until your time's up, so I'm just here to check on how you're doing.

[ He pauses, considering how to word the next question. ]

Did they tell you ... about your job?

[ifnotloyal]

[ At that, Ace will give him a curious squint, head tilting. ]

What about my job?

hay u guys

[infomodder]

[Most everything is going fine enough, compared to what life would be back home. Stuck in a cell as one of Frederick Chilton's patients, apparently with Abel Gideon nearby, probably having to deal with Hannibal looking at him sadly because Will was seen as crazy and that wasn't something that looked good on his resume or his friend, Freddie Lounds out there ruining life for Jack Crawford and the rest of the team, no Abigail Hobbs anywhere, this? This superpowered mess of a world? It's not so bad.

So sometimes Will thinks that something nice can happen and it just be nice. The idea that this could go horribly wrong because every time nice things almost happen back home, they end up nearly turned into mushroom people or brutally murdered or something else awful, that's completely off his radar. What's better than a talking dog and a talking wolf? The two of them talking to each other, that's what. He doesn't really stop to think too much about how Bader's overly attracted to him when he's got a bloody gash because she's a Goddamn wolf. She licks the already cut parts of him, doesn't make new ones. Nor does he stop to think about Ace's werewolf nonsense, if only because he doesn't know about it.

So while there might be evidence to suggest this could go wrong, it's not the wrong he could ever imagine without some effort. Bader and Ace might sniff the air and conveniently pick up a bunch of blood and, surprise, look, there's a ton of shallow graves near De Chima #002, who put all those bodies there? That's more along the lines of what Will would assume as the worst that could happen.

Which is why he's all smiles when he throws open the door and sees Ace not too far from the house. It's why he waves excitedly. It's why he sounds like an actual happy person when he calls out:]

Bader! Come on. He's here.

[He has no idea what's about to happen and that's written all over his face because he looks way too giddy about this. Like a kid in a candy store, not like a criminal mastermind watching his plan to destroy a house and multiple lives finally come to fruition.

Dumbass.]

[ifnotloyal]

[ Ace had jumped at the opportunity to explore a new city and visit a friend who'd since moved. The past few weeks had left Heropa smelling sour for him and, as he's begun to exercise the strange freedoms afforded to him simply by being an imPort (a dog not needing a leash, a dog free to port between major cities; those things aren't normal, but he's getting used to it), the offer to visit was worth taking a chance on pushing those limits.

It took awhile to navigate on his own, though, so when his search for something familiar in the neighborhood happens upon Will at his door, he can't help but perk up at the sight. ]

Hey! Will! I made it!

[ Say hello to the dog loping up towards the open door, tail wagging, to greet his friend. ]

no shallow graves in the making of this thread

[proteus]

[ Will calling out to her got her to stir and the sound of something coming up the walk finally tore her attention away from the basic cable schlock she had been so sucked into. Pushing up on her front legs she stretched muscles that were always stiff and padded around the couch and into where the entrance of the house came off into the living room.

Almost immediately the balmy Virginia night air wafted in something alarming that made her hackles shoot up down her back. Her steps towards the front entrance become more deliberately and paced as she stalks up from behind Will and peers around his legs.

Tail turned around parallel with her back pulled into a severe line and ears flat against her head the instant a dog comes ambling up towards the house. It smelled familiar, like watered down death; she knew that stench like the copper tang of blood on the back of her throat. She had run from it before, but for whatever reason it only sent her seeing red. Werewolves.

Between her tongue pushing through exposed teeth against yanked back jowls a vicious, hunted growl tore from her throat that reverberated against the walls and rattled in her chest like a death knell. Bader hunkered down, snarling at Ace in a threat display from beside Will before she took one slow, deliberate step forward followed by another. ]

that was also bader's fault.

[infomodder]

[Will had enough time to pull out his stupid bag of dog treats, and was about to crouch down when he caught sight of Bader next to his legs. Someone else, someone who didn't live with her, might have felt fear that they were in trouble, might have seen those teeth, those flat ears, heard that terrible growl, and decided it was time they get out of Dodge because that's rather horrifying. Will stalked a conversation long enough to hear her say he was safe with her, but that that didn't extend to everyone.

For some reason, it doesn't seem to extend to Ace.

As much as it reminds him of his own first time meeting Ace, which turned out rather fine, he's also very aware that Bader is not like Gunther. She's not a dog, and she's not his dog. He can't click his tongue or clap his hands and tell her to stop and it be effective. What he can do, what he does, is slam the door without even looking at Ace, no verbal or physical apology. It's worked before!

With humans.]

You met him already? Got a problem?

[He piss in your Cheerios?

Perhaps he should have given her a name, he thinks, but it was a surprise. It was supposed to be nice. It was not supposed to get this reaction. His voice is low, unamused, but if he was a dog or wolf, he might have a similar reaction to people he had met and didn't get along with.

He's trying to be understanding, completely ignorant of how much he can't understand just yet.

What can a Husky do to a door?]

sure sure blame the vampire

[ifnotloyal]

[ Will should have slammed the door shut sooner, but too little, too late. The moment the growling had begun, Ace had focused intently on the source. A wolf is what sight told him. Too bad sight isn't what he relies on to tell him a whole story.

Before the door is closed in his face, he'll have snapped to attention, taking on his own defensive stance as Bader stepped closer. His other senses told him decay, a lack of warmth under that fur, no raging heartbeat to accompany the aggression the wolf was putting out.

And then his view was blocked with one act of Will.

Well, Will has about ten seconds to pose his question to Bader before he discovers that a husky doesn't need a door to enter. A great weight hits the nearest window and the glass gives, shattering inwards and across the living room of Residence 002. Ace hits the floor and rolls, coming back up among the shards, but ignoring them. Let them dig in, he knows he'll heal. ]

Will, get away from that thing!

[proteus]

Smells wrong.

[ Bader does not need to move her mouth to speak in this form but the way she says it is strained, forced through teeth still clamped down and grinding together. Forcing herself through the high wire act of maintaining human-level rationale and the beast twisting up inside her irritated by that acrid stench coming off that dog that was also not a dog that overwhelmed her sense of fight or flight.

There the only words she managed before Ace hurled himself through the window. Glass fell like shrapnel catching the light from the living room lamp knocked over in the commotion. Ace rolls out in a grey and white blur that Bader's eyes latched onto as he rises. Even closer that same odor tugged at her senses and chilled her bones.

Bader darts passed Will without sparring a thought to what he made of any of this or that he knew Ace beforehand. Maw yawning open lined with white teeth she lunges at Ace at a dead run, snarling and snapping. Behind her the entrance hall table is toppled over, lamp and all, and in her wake the carpet is dug up and torn to shred as her paws rip through anything standing between her and Ace. ]