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Post by *James Silvius on Jul 17, 2008 1:41:33 GMT -5
James woke up to find himself on the floor, his cheek pressed against the wood. The coolness of it had stirred him. He lifted his head groggily. He must have rolled off the couch in the middle of the night... maybe he should have taken the bed.
James stood up slowly. It was dark outside. Had he slept all day? His back felt a whole lot better at any rate. Patrick would understand. James froze. Patrick. Yesterday came back to him in a mind-numbing flash.
James sat back down on the beaten up couch and shoved some white stuffing that exploded from it aside. He gazed around the room. His room. Patrick was his new leader now. Well that's what he wanted.
James stood again. He would have to see his new leader himself now just to prove that he was still sane. The floorboards creaked under his bare feet. He slapped his right pocket to make sure his key was still there. It was.
Patrick told him the night before his place was never locked. He also said he wanted to check his back in the morning that surprisingly felt fine now, save the soreness from sleeping half the night on the floor.
James padded down the hallway and stopped in front of Patrick's apartment door. He twisted the door knob gently, opened the door a crack, and poked his head in.
"Er, anyone home?"
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Post by rowanashke on Jul 17, 2008 8:36:28 GMT -5
Patrick yawned and rubbed his face, staring down at his cup of coffee. He'd gotten to sleep, finally, but he'd woken up a bare few hours later. Oh well. He could sleep when he was dead, right?
He sipped his cofeee and stretched, trying to work the kinks out of his back. Getting older sucked. He remembered when he was young, when he could do three all-nighters in a row and feel as fresh as he'd started. Maybe that was just wistful thinking.
He was dressed in just a pair of comfortable sweat-pants, bare-footed. He didn't expect anyone this early. When he heard his door creak, he froze, wary, but the scent of James hit him before James' tentative voice floated in.
"Come in, kid." He called, sighing. God, didn't anyone sleep in? The thought, hard on his previous musing, made him grin wryly. "How's your back? Want some coffee?"
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Post by *James Silvius on Jul 17, 2008 13:51:49 GMT -5
James brought the rest of his body in the room and closed the door behind him. He took a seat at the counter. The smell of coffee teased him. His stomach also grumbled somewhat.
"Yeah, coffee would be perfect actually," he gave in. The caffeine would wake him up even more, he was still wiping the blur from his eyes.
James sat up straight and cracked his neck and back. God that felt so good. "The wound is fine. My back's just a little sore from sleeping on the couch and the floor," he informed his new leader. He would have to do something about this later. Shopping wasn't one of his strong suits, so he would have to enlist another person to help him with that.
"So this is going to be my home from now on. You do understand that I have to take you to my old leader, right?" he asked. Patrick already displayed certain traits that suggested he didn't like talking to other leaders. But this would be necessary. Even if Patrick wouldn't go with him, James would have to go himself. Everyone was probably worried sick!
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Post by rowanashke on Jul 18, 2008 11:13:14 GMT -5
Patrick chuckled and poured him a cup of coffee; he refrained from asking why he'd slept on the floor. Poor kid...it was probably better than the bed. He made a mental note to make sure he got something better, then dismissed it from his mind.
"Yeah." he said in answer to James' question. "I know." He sighed; he hated talking with other alphas. Everything was all posing and watching and wariness. Usually, anyway. But there was no way around it; he'd made a commitment to the kid, and he'd have to go through with it. If James felt more comfortable talking to his former pack-leader with Patrick by his side, then so be it.
"I want to look at your back before we leave." he said, sitting back down and sipping his coffee. "Make sure it's closed up-I might have to stitch it, if it keeps opening." He'd done enough stitching in his life to not be worried about it. It wasn't that hard, really. Like sewing cloth.
He yawned again. Late nights and no sleep...he sighed and polished off the cup, then rose to pour himself a new one. "How far away does this pack of yours live?" he asked curiously. He knew there were some other packs in the area, but they carefully avoided his territory. And his pack avoided theirs.
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Post by *James Silvius on Jul 18, 2008 11:30:38 GMT -5
James was relieved. It would be easier to talk to Gavin if he was with him. He expected the visit to not be a long one at all. Gavin was understanding and knew this day would eventually come. He would let him go but not before he hugged him to death. James thought again of his back. He wasn't crazy about stitches, but he didn't want the thing to get infected.
"If I'm going to be shifting into wolf form today, then I think it might need some stitches," he said truthfully. Maybe he should have lied. He felt pretty comfortable with Patrick touching him after last night, but he'd always given himself stitches.
"My pack is not far from here. They've rented an house for this trip. It's maybe a couple miles at the most."
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Post by rowanashke on Jul 19, 2008 19:06:33 GMT -5
Patrick nodded, then finished off his second cup. "Alright." he said, shrugging. "Let me grab some stuff...mm. Let's do this here. If the blood gets too bad, I can mop it up. Better than the carpet."
He smiled and padded into the bathroom, humming under his breath as he found the first aid kit, which was considerably augmented from a normal one. After all, this wasn't the first time he'd given his packmates stiches in his kitchen. It wasn't like they could just go to the hospital for vampire-inflicted wounds...
He returned to the kitchen, then moved to the counter. "I don't have any pain-killer." he said. "You're going to have to grit your teeth and bear it...you want some whiskey?"
He began to set out the supplies, then turned and lit the stove to sterlize the needle.
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Post by *James Silvius on Jul 19, 2008 19:23:25 GMT -5
James nodded meekly and turned himself around so Patrick could have his entire back in view. He figured he didn't have any pain killers. He never had pain killers when his old pack patched him up. He had an ok tolerance for pain, but that gash stretched diagonally straight down his back. Well he knew one thing for a fact, he would be spending some time in his wolf form today.
James cringed when Patrick mentioned the whiskey. Yuck, he positively hated alcohol. He would just have to grit his teeth like Patrick said. He would have to get used to this. "No whiskey, just do your best back there. I should be ok," he was trying to convince himself more than Patrick. Pointy objects weren't his thing.
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Post by rowanashke on Jul 19, 2008 20:57:16 GMT -5
Patick snorted, but if the kid was going to play superman, he wasn't going to argue. "Ok. Sit as still as you can."
He heated the needle, then threaded the medical-thread and started working, hissing under his breath as he carefully and as quickly as he could stabbed the needle through his skin, pulling the two edges of the gash together as tightly as he could. Long practice enabled him to do it deftly; the stiches were even, not jagged, and they didn't pull the skin unevenly. He knew that James had to be hurting, but he continued, ready to grab James's shoulder if he jerked too hard.
When he was done, he knotted it off, then doused a rag with peroxide and applied it liberally to the area. Again, damn...that had to hurt. When he was done, he spread a salve over it and re-bandaged it, then tapped James on the shoulder. "All done, kid." he said quietly.
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Post by *James Silvius on Jul 20, 2008 11:46:15 GMT -5
James tensed every muscle in his body, squeezed his eyes shut, and gritted his teeth. It felt painfully slow to him and he was starting to want the whiskey in some ways more than others. James clutched the counter top until his knuckles turned white and tried his best not to move. A few twitching here and there, but otherwise he didn't move too much to ruin any stitching.
James could feel the hotness of the needle diving in and out. He wasn't squeamish, so he didn't have to worry about passing out or anything. What hurt the most was when the gash started closing together. Since it was already a day, it healed up pretty wide. It didn't feel smooth, it felt forced.
What he completely forgot about his operation was the peroxide bit. It took him by surprise and it did sting like hell. His body jerked violently and he bit his tongue to keep from crying out. Once Patrick applied the salve, it soothed the burning somewhat. Finally Patrick was finished.
"Thanks," he said simply. He got up, walked over to the sink and filled up a glass of water for himself. He downed the glass as if he were taking shots. James leaned his waist against the counter and turned to Patrick. "When are you ready to go?"
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Post by rowanashke on Jul 22, 2008 23:31:24 GMT -5
Patrick watched him, idly cleaning the tools. "When your hand stops shaking like that." he said mildly, flicking his eyes over the kid's body. "Sit down a moment."
He packed the equipment back up and carried it to the bathroom, replacing it in the cuboard. Then he deviated to his bedroom and pulled some real clothing on, a dark grey t-shirt over a pair of comfortable blue-jeans. After a second, he added a jacket over it, and then slipped on a pair of shoes. Returning to the kitchen, he stretched. "Feeling steadier?" he asked quietly. If so, he was ready to go...but he didn't want the kid passing out on him half way there....
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Post by *James Silvius on Jul 23, 2008 12:32:36 GMT -5
James took his seat again. It was true, he was shaking somewhat. He watched Patrick as he packed up the medical supplies, put them back, and then left to go change his clothes. By the time he got back James was feeling a lot better.
"Yeah, I'm alright now. James was eager to go and see his old pack leader. It would be the last time he would see his pack before he was officially part of Patrick's. James stood, sauntered to the door, opened it, and waited to Patrick to follow.
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Post by rowanashke on Jul 27, 2008 11:21:31 GMT -5
Patrick observed the saunter with a slight grin; the kid was fine. He stretched again, then followed James to the door. He never locked his apartment; any packmember was free to wander in and out. Closing the door behind him, he tipped his head, sniffing the bright morning air cautiously.
"Lead the way, kid." Patrick said quietly, his eyes moving restlessly over his surroundings. Even during the day, he couldn't let his guard drop. There might not be vampires in the bright light of the day, but that didn't mean they couldn't get hurt...
He hoped that this meeting went well. James seemed to believe his old pack-leader wouldn't have a problem with him transferring; Patrick wasn't sure how he felt about that. If one his his pack was doign that, sure...he'd let him go....but he wouldn't be happy about it.
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Post by *James Silvius on Jul 27, 2008 16:38:01 GMT -5
James nodded and began walking. His pace wasn't too fast, but Patrick could probably tell he wanted to get where they were going in a bad way. The sunlight somewhat stung his eyes when he came into full view of it. His whole life was spent in the dark.
James liked Patrick. He felt he was trustworthy and would prove to be a good father figure to him someday. He knew what he was doing, that was for certain. James' biggest fear at the moment was disappointment. He wouldn't want Patrick getting any wrong images of him.
"Tell me about the rest of the wolves in your pack. Who are they and how have they come to join you?" James wondered. He would have to get acquainted to the other members if he was going to fit in. Would they accept him openly?
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Post by rowanashke on Jul 28, 2008 10:27:50 GMT -5
Patrick sighed and smiled at the same time. "Mmm. The others in my pack..."
He quirked his eyebrows, his mind ranging over the various members of his pack. "Some of them have been with me forever, since before I became alpha." he said softly. "Most of them have just wandered in. I take in strays, you see..."
He stepped aside to let a large woman carrying several boxes pass, remaining silent until she'd gone. "Anytime I find a werewolf in trouble, I stop to offer assistance. A place to sleep, food, medical help..." He flashed a quick smile at James. "If they want to stick around, they're welcome to, or they can move on when they're ready. I don't put any kind of conditions on my help."
He shrugged. "A lot of them stay; it's nice to have a pack." He glanced down an alley as they passed it, his eyes taking in all the details before moving on. "not many weres can handle being alone all the time. Humans and wolves both are social creatures; it's a survival instinct. Power in numbers."
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Post by *James Silvius on Jul 28, 2008 16:19:12 GMT -5
Listening to Patrick, he minded him of his old pack leader in many ways. Gavin's pack was a little different though. He focused on bringing in older were's. James was the youngest there. But they all loved him and they didn't treat him any differently.
James was a stray. He always felt alone, even before he was bitten. He liked this life better somewhat - more company. Patrick still hadn't told him about the members specifically, but he wanted to find out himself. He wanted to pass his own judgments before Patrick said anything.
Turning a corner now, James knew they were almost to their destination point. "You're a good man, Patrick. Not many leaders are like you. I've met quite a few since we trade with a few other packs and strike deals with them. Most of them are all about control. They want the stronger wolves in the world."
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