maskormenacelogs | one cannot say: 'here are our monsters'

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one cannot say: 'here are our monsters'

WHO: Nicolas, Hayley
WHERE: Somewhere in Heropa, near the residential area.
WHEN: Late night, a day or two before the 20th
WHAT: Werewolf catches vampire hybrid having dinner, it does not end well.
WARNINGS: Violence, blood.

[ This hour of the night, trapped between the dead of it and a hopeful dawn, is one that belongs to the third shift, the troubled, and the things from stories the rest used to fear. For Nicolas, he would be hard put to tell if he belonged in the second or the third. Both, perhaps, even though he strikes an meek figure in the shadows, slouching along with the burnt ash at the tip of his cigarette marking his presence. He could move without sound if he honestly wanted, but he won't.

He honestly isn't looking for trouble.

Not here, in a place so strangely peaceful after catastrophe only a week or so ago.

And it wouldn't be the first time, often the one to be heard leaving the same house as Hayley at the strangest of hours, returning before the sun rises, never once mentioning any reason as to why. Wandering, filling the nights where he can't convince himself to shut down and sleep, maybe making a poorly advised visit to the twenty-four hour fast food joints. It varied.

It's another one of those nights for him and now he's just slowly picking his way home through backstreets and alleys. He expects another quiet arrival at the house, same as any other late night, and why wouldn't he? What could possibly be different? ]

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[ Hayley was a careful hunter these days. Ever since the minority report she'd not exactly been safe with the "V-word" but she wasn't as loose as usual. Nor was she as sloppy as usual. In New Orleans it was one thing. Vampires ruled the French Quarter at varying points in time, and there was always a way to get away with it. Various alliances and the like. She wasn't always the cruelest, but sometimes she could be and she'd been able to be at home.

Here? Not so much. Not with the way everyone watched for vampires. She didn't blame Toby, not really. He was doing what he had to. Just like she was. She didn't ask to be a vampire, but it had worked out in so many ways. And while she would prefer to be full werewolf, she wasn't about to neglect her other side.

Blood banks were too obvious and too difficult to work out, though, and she didn't want to draw attention to herself. And honestly? With all the shit going on lately she needed her strength, and nothing was as strong as straight from the tap.

Drunks worked. They weren't great. Actually she loathed them. But they worked. Unfortunately, a particularly sloppy drunk smeared blood on her as he stumbled in her arms. She'd grimaced. Rolled her eyes. Compelled him to forget and moved on to get home. Blood trailed from her chin to her chest, dabs of it on her neck. She went straight home, as quick as she good to clean it off as soon as he could.

She only stops short when she nearly collides with Nicolas. She wasn't expecting that. ]

Nicolas?

Shit. [ She mutters as she stumbles to a stop, trying to keep distance to hide the blood on her. ] What are you doing up?

[ Whereas Nicolas had remained angrily silent on the matter of vampires, existing, here. An infestation in a world with no natural defense against them was appalling. People lining up to offer them blood with never even knowing the corruption they exposed themselves to. To speak out would have only marked him to be watched, however, and so he did not. Instead, he offered like the rest of the fools and quietly planned.

But it isn't Hayley he'd been planning against. He wasn't even aware. That there'd been other wolves in the neighborhood, that much he could tell, but with no trouble coming from it, he had never pursued it, much less noted a smell of undeath. Differences, maybe, that he should have looked harder for. ]

Hayley? [ He stops, cringing back from the near collision out of instinct. He pulls the cigarette away from his lips, surprised for all of one, two seconds, until that shifts into immediate worry. Distance and the light may hide the blood, but he can tell. The smell is immediately apparent. ] You're bleeding...

[ He casts the cigarette down, stepping on it as he moves to approach her. ]

Are you okay?

[ It couldn't have been some random asshole, could it? Hey, watch where you're going. Hey, you watch you're going. Angry faces. Muttered grumblings. Everyone goes on their way.

Instead it was her roommate. Who actually knew her well enough to ask why there was blood all over her face. Did she say "shit" yet? Because she was still feeling that.

She took a step back. A little too quickly. She reached up to brush some of the blood away onto her jacket sleeve, looking down and away from him to try to hide it. As if that might make this all go away. ]

It's not mine.

Don't worry about it, I'm fine. I was going to head up and take a shower actually.

What do you mean not yours?

[ Was there a fight? Why would she be out here, this late, getting in fights?

He takes another step forward, this time reaching out to try and snag one of her arms. It's an invasion of space that's completely outside the norm for him, a man who's usually quiet and polite, keeping to himself, as far as housemates go. But the smell of blood puts him on edge, too much so to simply let this go unanswered. ]

Are you sure? Let me see.

[ As soon as he grabs her arm she jerks back. She fixes her eyes on him, her voice steel suddenly. ]

It's fine. Really.

Let it go. [ Her voice said not to ask anymore questions.

She wasn't ashamed of who she was, but the vampire thing had been a touchy subject with some people even before the report. And when she was covered in blood? Not really the time to be having that conversation. It tended to bring the worst of it to the forefront. ]

[ He doesn't, not immediately. Nicolas clenches his teeth, lips pursed into a thin, disapproving line over them. For a moment, it seems like he might not, but then he relents and releases her arm. ]

You're covered in blood, Hayley. How can I 'let it go'? Is someone after you? Were you being followed?

[ Her arm, sure, he'll let that go, but ask no questions? That isn't happening. ]

No. It's not-- [ Ugh. How did she have this conversation? Were this a few months ago, she would have had it upfront. Bad reactions had taught her better. That's what she got for thinking a world full of super freaks still didn't mean she wasn't part of the "monsters" group.

Now with blood on her face? She wanted to say it, but it looked so bad. She wiped at her mouth some more yet and glanced back at him. Why couldn't he just let it go? She couldn't have been stuck with a narcissistic roommate that only thought of themselves?

Well? Fine. ]

Look. I'm a vampire okay. Half. I'm half vampire. [ Already she was on the offensive, waiting for it. Even d'Artagnan hadn't taken the news well, and he was her best friend here. ]

[ Then, boy oh boy, is she going to regret this conversation. The reaction from Nicolas isn't to recoil or anything so blatant. It's to go still, very still, like a rabbit finding itself suddenly trapped somewhere with a predator. ]

A... what? [ For the most part, it may be due to some confusion. ] Half? How can you be half a vampire?

Magic. [ She didn't actually sound sarcastic.

He's not doing too much yet. Asking. Feeling it out. She gets that. Her eyes are intense on him, watching for the slightest bad reaction. Especially anything violent. She's not in the mood for an argument, either, but she's prepared for one. She's always prepared for one with this conversation these days. ]

Seriously. Vampirism was originally created through magic, so I don't know. I don't study how my own shit works it just does.

But I'm a hybrid. Vampire and werewolf.

[ Ah, there it is. There's the telling reaction. Vampire alone, apparently, may have been something he could keep any obvious opinion under wraps for, but when she claims to be a vampire as well as a werewolf, his gut instinct is to step back, a sudden, jerking motion. His hand goes immediately to something hidden under his long coat, at his side.

He's managed to disguise he carried it well up until now, but with the cloth moved aside, it becomes all too obvious he's going for a particularly long-looking knife. ]

Abomination. [ He doesn't yell the word, no, but says it in a hushed tone as his face twists with disgust. So much for having wanted to help her. ] You were feeding. That's where the blood is from.

[ Well that was one hell of a shitty gamble. Not only was Nicolas not okay with the vampire thing, he was apparently very not okay. ]

Hey! [ She shouted, jumping back as he drew out the knife. He looked like he hated her. That was great. Just great.

Her eyes turned yellow. A threat. Her hands were poised, almost on the edge of turning. ]

Yeah, I was feeding. I'm not a vampire with a death wish. I'm not going to stop living just because of what I am.

[ His own response to her preparing to change is to begin his own shift, putting on more mass as the pulls the knife free of the sheath. Hairier, fingernails beginning to become claws, teeth growing sharper. They're minor changes overall, something anyone who didn't know what to look for might miss, but they there nonetheless. ]

You are not only a leech, you are something worse. Even they would not let you live.

[ The minor detail most Garou and Kindred could agree on: abominations were bad news. ]

[ Okay this was escalating fast. Hayley was a second away from attacking him before he could attack her.

But she meant it. She didn't want a fight. She let her own claws extend and her teeth turned sharper. She didn't let her fangs get as long as they did as a vampire, though. She didn't need to unnerve.

She held her hands up in a symbol of surrender, open palms out to him. ]

Who's they?

Why does it matter that I'm both?! I'm not killing people or shit like that. I barely even feed anyway. [ Such a bad idea. ]

I'm just trying to make it. Like every other person here.

But you aren't a person.

[ All arguments and excuses fall on deaf ears, it would seem. He immediately strikes out after saying that, shedding the awkward, clumsy persona he'd carried on with in all the time he's lived here before. The attack is fast, inhumanly so, a blade seeking a place to stab. ]

I'm not wha-

[ She didn't really get to finish her sentence. He lashed out at her, faster than she expected but what she'd expect from someone of her world. She reacts a little slowly, though, underestimating his speed. He gets her arm, cutting through her coat and shoulder as she side-steps him.

She tries to shove her boot in his back, put distance back between them as she lets her arm slowly heal. ]

Jesus. Will you stop?! I don't want to fight you!

[ The boot to his back sends him staggering forward, further away from Hayley. In all honesty, he wants to fight her about as much as she does (not at all, that is), but some duties can't be ignored. Abomination can't be ignored. Acting quickly is all that keeps him from retreating in sheer horror.

He stops himself short of falling over and turns back around, flipping his knife into a better position, a better grip. ]

Then you should have hidden your transgressions better. How do you hide it? [ He demands. ] You should reek of corruption.

[ It was like he was speaking a second language at this point. Her face said as much. ]

What corruption? I'm not fully alive. That's about it. I'm not decaying or anything like that. [ Transgressions was..... well. Depended on how you looked at it. She didn't kill anyone tonight? Did that count?

At least he was talking. A little. She'd prefer that, but he still had the knife he'd gripped tighter. She edged her way back even more. Carefully so. ]

Stop pretending.

[ No werewolf untainted werewolf would ever choose to keep existing like this, none, there isn't a possibility. He'll have to go for a kill, if she's just buying time. For what, he isn't sure, but that has to be it. He lunges as she begins backing away, swinging the knife again, metal gleaming in what lights are still on in the street. ]

[ Great. Fighting more of her own kind. That was always brilliant. She loved that.

Hayley didn't hesitate to move away from blade again. He was fast, though. And clearly had practice with it. She tried ducking low as he came in fast to dodge. She let out a sharp scream she bit off as it tore at her shoulder.

With her free hand and him so close, she snarled and tried to slash at his stomach. ]

Back the fuck off. I didn't do anything to you.

[ Nicolas takes the glancing slash to his middle, but it comes up with mostly just sweater. There's good cause for why he wears clothes bigger than necessary, even in the heat of Florida. He whirls away, unwilling to get locked into close combat just yet. ]

It isn't me I worry for. [ Again, he leaps forth, taking another swing. ] This world has even less a defense against things like you than any other!

[ Hayley does her best to keep low as he leaps. Instead she aims for his feet, trying to tackle him down. Pin him. Keep him in one fucking spot despite the tear in her shoulder that won't heal if she keeps tearing it back apart. ]

Vampires?!

I'm not killing people. I didn't ask for this! I'm just doing enough to get by.

Hrg!

[ He misses, swinging overhead, and it leaves him open. She hits his legs, knocking him down. There's a scary thought, being held down by an abomination, of all things. He growls, twisting to shoot a furious look at her. ]

No one asks for it! But you chose to live on, despite knowing? What you are?!

[ The one good thing about fear is it's a feeling strong enough for him to latch onto, to funnel into something more useful. As he shouts back at her, fur begins to sprout up, teeth becoming more crowded, his jaw changing to accommodate for it. Shapeshifting is never pretty, watching human flesh twist itself into something else entirely, but it is what it is.

The strange thing to note, though, is how fine-tuned the change is. Even his clothing melts away into the dark fur, so does the knife he'd gripped so painfully hard before. What Hayley is left hanging onto isn't just a normal wolf, but something bigger, more primal. Wolf-shaped, sure, but more like dire-sized.

And that dire wolf? He immediately lashes out with his back legs, trying to knock her away. ]

[ Well.

Shit.

Was there a better word for it? Not really. She recognizes a turn, but. This turn? He's huge. He doesn't look like a man changed into a wolf, he looks like a hybrid of a man and a wolf. With something that almost makes her doubt herself.

Who's calling who an abomination?

His feet connect with her chest, and if she breathed it'd probably knock the air out of them. Still, it sends her flying. She hits the fire escape, cracking her head against the bars. ]

Damn it. [ She mutters, picking herself up. Blood comes away on her hand and she snarls for a second at the monster. She could fight. She could kill another werewolf-

No. She couldn't. Not here. Not him. She swallows, retracting her claws as she stares down at him. ]

I have a kid. [ She says emptily, then shrugs. ] I'm not dying at twenty-two because some witch bitches couldn't finish the job right. I have my daughter to think of.

[ She doesn't even know if he can understand her like this, but she's not waiting around for him to catch her. She turns and climbs up the fire escape at inhuman speeds. She's gone once she hits the roof. ]

[ Someone with a wider grasp on what a werewolf can truly be, that's who. Moot point, though, since right now he can't call her anything. Too many teeth, jaws all wrong. Fine for howling and growling, not so for hurling insults.

He whirls around to leap after Haley as she goes for the fire escape, but only follows her up as far as standing on his hind legs will allow. He snaps at empty air, snarls, but that's it. He ended up in a form without thumbs, so climbing is out of the question. He will mill around, trying to pick up her trail around the building, but that leads nowhere. With her on the roofs, she's likely long gone.

All that's left to do for Nicolas is to get back to the house, pack up, and pull his own vanishing act into the night.

So much for a safe home... ]

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one cannot say: 'here are our monsters'

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'no untainted werewolf' not no werewolf in the werewolf... too many werewolves...

all the werewolves tho

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