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Post by rowanashke on Jul 9, 2008 23:52:23 GMT -5
Patrick watched her interaction with a faint smile; obviously, she was unused to dealing with people. He rather thought they were going to have to break her of that-but slowly and carefully, with all due respect and tolerance. It wasn't her fault.
When she spoke so bluntly, he chuckled, sipping his drink again before starting in. "Ok." he said, rolling his shoulders. "Start simple-why do you hate vampires so much that you came so far to find me?"
He leaned forward, once again resting his head on his fist, and watched her, his eyes shadowed and hidden. He braced himself for something tragic; her whole demeanor told him her story was not going to be pretty or sweet. Or easy to hear, probably.
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Post by kyla on Jul 10, 2008 0:12:21 GMT -5
Kyla was unused to hearing laughter, so she stared at him startled for a moment. She sighed then. She hated remembering but she knew that she had no choice. He wanted to know her story and as her alpha what he wanted actually mattered. She took a deep breath and settled back in the cushion of the booth, preparing herself for the pain.
"I was born in Egypt. My parents were incredibly poor but they loved each other with a passion it is rare to see. They were farmers and they always had to fight to make ends meet. My mother stayed out too late one night and got very sick. She slowly wasted away and my father, rather than live and take care of me, allowed himself to waste away with her." She took a shaky breath again and continued. "They both died two days before my ninth birthday. One of the families who lived nearby came and took me into their home, but they used me as a slave. It was obvious that they didn't care about me and they would only let me have enough food to live. I got out of there as soon as I could." Now she was getting to the hard part. "I managed myself pretty well but on one of my midnight runs I came across a wounded wolf. As you might be able to guess he was a werewolf. I nursed him back to health but I hadn't banked on how strong he would get. He bit me, and I turned. But I didn't mind. I was happy to be with him. We fell in love, but he was a lone wolf. He went off on his own often and one day he didn't come home. When I finally found him he was dead. A vampire showed up, making sure that he had finished the job. I fought him but I lost, he left me alive even though I wanted to die." She kept her eyes trained on the table the whole time.
"So I want to kill vampires. The end."
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Post by rowanashke on Jul 10, 2008 13:54:55 GMT -5
Patrick winced; he'd been right. Not pretty at all. "Mmm." he said, sighing. Picking up his glass, he stared at it for a moment, then shrugged. "My pack got attacked, back before I was the alpha. More than half of us got killed or injured; the vampires got away. I got the feeling they were just...out for a good time. We'd never had any dealings with vampires before that." He shrugged. "I took over the pack and got the survivors to safety, and I've been hunting vampires since then."
He sat the glass down, focusing on her. "So...we have a common history, Kyla. I can see why you came looking for me. I'm glad."
He smiled, briefly, then picked his glass up again, sipping it with a sigh. "Most of the pack is as bitter about vampires as we are. Some of them-either the ones who are too young to remember or joined since-aren't as strongly adverse to them, but I won't stand to hear anything good about them around me. They know better. None of them want to be exiled from the pack..." he shrugged, his face momentarily hard. "So they behave. If any of them harbor pro-vampire sentiments, they don't talk about them. Which is how I prefer it..."
The waiter reappeared and Patrick sighed. "T-bone for me, rare, baked potato. No gravy." He glanced at Kyla, wondering if she'd had time to pick anything out.
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Post by kyla on Jul 10, 2008 16:02:26 GMT -5
Kyla nearly grinned at Patrick's wince. Yes, that was how most people reacted when they heard her story. She listened to his story, slightly surprised how easily he offered his own story. Since he had no obligation to do so. She nodded as he told his story and then shrugged at the end. "I really had no choice. If a treaty is made between the races I will have a much harder time hunting down the vampire who killed my...killed..." She trailed off. He got the point and she couldn't bring herself to say it.
Kyla looked up at the waiter and sighed. She hadn't thought about what to eat. "Just...umm..." She stared at the table. "Same for me I guess, but I'll take gravy." She took a large gulp of her drink and sat twiddling her thumbs. She was so bad at this social thing. She could count on one hand the number of conversations she'd had with people that had not had awkward pauses...mostly generated by her. "Um...?"
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Post by rowanashke on Jul 12, 2008 10:06:11 GMT -5
Patrick eyed her, but made no move to fill in the awkward pause for several minutes. He was thinking; she was so edgy and uncomfortable. He wondered if there was some way to make her feel more at ease. Probably not, he decided with a sigh. She just needs time.
He shifted, then picked up his glass again. "Do you prefer to live alone, or do you want some roommates?" he asked suddenly. "I have both available; you can have your own little apartment, or there's space in the 'pack house'. It's up to you." He sipped his drink, his eyes moving over the crowd restlessly. He was starving; he hoped that the food was done quickly.
He could already smell the meat...
Setting his glass down, he returned his attention to Kyla, lifting his eyebrow questioningly. It would be interesting to see how she answered that question.
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Post by kyla on Jul 12, 2008 12:52:29 GMT -5
Kyla sighed and settled back in the booth again as the awkward pause continued. If he wasn't going to fill it neither was she. Now this was simply the brat in her coming out. She hated awkward silences and that would have showed, so she simply sat doing nothing but stare at him over the table. Part of her demanding to know what the hell she'd been thinking joining a pack, the other part telling that part to shut the hell up.
Kyla couldn't help it, she snorted at his question, and very nearly burst out laughing. "I very much prefer to live alone. If you hadn't noticed I'm not the best person to put around people, I'm ten times worse if you have to live with me. Therefore, I think it'd be best for everyone if I had my own apartment. Though it's quite endearing that you would think I could change so quickly."
She could see he was not 100% invested in their little chat and she laughed coldly beneath her breath, swearing she heard his stomach growling again. The poor wolf must be hungry, she could understand, the more they sat there, inhaling the scents wafting from the kitchen, the hungrier she got. Her own stomach had begun to growl intermittantly a few minutes ago.
"So tell me. Do we have any sort of plan yet?" She knew he would know what she was talking about, so she didn't bother explaining.
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Post by rowanashke on Jul 12, 2008 13:02:58 GMT -5
Patrick looked back at her, smiling a bit. "I thought so, but I wanted to make sure." he said quietly.
Shifting back in the seat, he sighed. "Not yet." He said. He knew what she meant, but he didn't know how much to say. He was still waiting...and he hated waiting. "We're still trying to gather information." he said softly. "It's...hard. So much is going on. I've sent...someone...to find out more."
He looked back at her and smiled agian, lopsidedly. "Sorry if I seem kind of distracted." he said, shrugging. "I'm starving, tired, worried and...well, tired." He laughed shortly, then leaned on his hand. "We'll find you a little apartment...there's one above mine, I think. You mind living in an attic?"
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Post by kyla on Jul 12, 2008 13:29:37 GMT -5
She nodded at his words, she could understand it was hard. This was war, well maybe not yet but it was shaping up to be war. Everything wasn't going to just fall into place. But she had expected something, some sort of plan. Oh well, that's why she had come, to be of help in whatever way she could. She nodded again, spies would help. She just hoped they were loyal and would not turn on the cause. It still worried her that there were some in the pack who were not vehemently against vampires, it might cause problems in the long run. She could only sit back and hope they were loyal. That's all anyone could do.
Her head shook nearly unnoticably. "It's fine. I can understand. I'm not exactly known as a conversationalist. Besides, I'm in the same boat. So really, it's fine." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Her eyelids dropping slightly closed as she thought back over her long journey from Egypt. She hadn't been moving for a while so her body was starting to ache all over, her feet and muscles were the worst. She looked up again at his words and shook her head. "No, I'm not picky about housing. As long as it's got all the necessities and it's my own, I'll be fine." She didn't know how she felt about living so near to him, but in some ways it would be good. He could be her liason to the outside world, her buffer.
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Post by rowanashke on Jul 12, 2008 23:32:23 GMT -5
Patrick shrugged, opting to leave the conversation about their plans for a later-and more secure-time. He shifted to a safer topic-the housing situation. "It's an attic apartment, right above mine. Outside door; you can come and go as you please. I think you'll like it. No tub-just a shower." He grinned, his eyes laughing gently at her. "you can always come and knock on my door-I have a big tub..."
He winked, obviously just teasing her. He couldn't help it; it was part of who he was, to tease the younger members of his pack. The waiter arrived, laden with their food, and Patrick's attention snapped to the plate. This being a werewolf resturaunt, the steak was perfect-huge, rare and delicious. Giving the boy a smile, he immediately dug in, sighing in relief and happiness.
"Mmm...starving." he mumbled. He ate quickly but neatly, his eyes constantly moving up to roam over the crowd. Old habit, but one that had kept him safe before. Never lower your guard...
A very hard-learned lesson indeed.
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Post by kyla on Jul 12, 2008 23:42:56 GMT -5
Kyla nodded. She very much appreciated the outside door, she would have hated having to go through a building, not being able to leave for fear of running into someone and having to make hallway conversation. She shuddered at the very thought, there was nothing she hated more than making small talk with people she could barely tolerate.
Her eyebrow raised in a surprisingly playful move for her at his teasing suggestion. "I appreciate the offer. I can't live without my long, soaking bubble baths. Though I would hate to take your tub away from you, perhaps you could just join me?" She had a feeling he was teasing her and the competitor in her had risen to the challenge.
She observed as he wolfed (forgive the pun) down his food and began to dig into hers as well. She ate as heartily as he did, not feeling any need to be feminine and petite around him. Why bother pretending? She nodded at his words and noticed his roaming eyes.
"So, how many times have you been caught off-guard?" She asked, staring at him meaningfully. She sensed there might be a story behind his actions, though it was possible they stemmed simply from his experience with the vampires. Either would make sense and she would accept either answer, maybe even listen with interest if there was a new story.
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Post by rowanashke on Jul 12, 2008 23:51:57 GMT -5
Patrick snorted in amusement at her reply to his teasing; he'd have to remember that, file it away for later consideration. And definately more teasing; he rather thought she needed it.
At her second question, however, he sighed. Pausing in his eating, he took a long drink and then shrugged, his eyes wry and shadowed. "Since that once? Never." He stated confidently, his voice low. "Once was enough...never again."
He shook his head, then stuffed another piece of steak into his mouth. The flow of his thoughts didn't stop, however. They all trust me to be there; how can I be there and here and over there at the same time? I can't keep them safe all the time. Have I done enough to teach them? Train them? Prepare them?
He sighed and finished off the steak, then licked the knife, his tongue catching all the juicy blood from the steak. "Once was enough." he said again, his voice heavy.
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Post by kyla on Jul 13, 2008 0:05:31 GMT -5
At his response Kyla was suddenly sorry she'd asked the question. She looked down and sighed. For some reason she felt like she had to fix it, fix the problem she'd caused. It was all well and good for her to be a depressed, self-absorbed wreck, but he had been at least semi-happy before she'd gotten her hands on him.
She reached over and touched his hand lightly. Barely even making contact. "I'm sorry." She whispered. She wasn't sure what else to say, she wasn't a mind reader so she couldn't just make everything better, but she knew something was on his mind. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked, trying not to pry. And the request was safe. If he talked, she didn't have to. Yes, even now she was being selfish.
She withdrew her hand and finished off the last of her own meal and then lifted her eyes to his face again.
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Post by rowanashke on Jul 13, 2008 11:38:58 GMT -5
Patrick caught her hand, turning it over and placing a quick kiss in the palm. "No, but thank you. It's fine." He smiled, releasing her, and sighed. "Finish up your food. I'd like to get you settled; we need to discuss some stuff that we can't, here."
He glanced around and smiled crookedly. "This is a good place, but still. There are things that should only be discussed in safe locations, yes?" He shrugged, then finished off the potato, eating a little slower but still with that neat, careful urgency.
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Post by kyla on Jul 13, 2008 11:54:35 GMT -5
Kyla flushed and nodded. She returned her focus to the food, flustered. Finished quickly and looked back up at him. She wondered what was so important they couldn't discuss it here, considering they seemed to not have any plan yet. She nodded to his words. "True." She said simply. She pushed her empty plate to the edge of the table to make it easier on the bus boy to clear the table.
She folded her arms neatly on the table and watched him finish his own food. "Ready when you are." She said. She thought she could hear a large group heading for the place anyway and she did not want to be here when they came, large noisy groups were her least favorite kind.
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Post by rowanashke on Jul 14, 2008 1:16:48 GMT -5
Patrick chuckled softly at her flustered state; it was kind of cute. FInishing, he dug his wallet out of his pocket and stood up, dropping a tip on the table. "Let's go." he said. He waited for her to stand, then went and paid the bill, exchanging a few words with the man behind the cash register. Then he led her out into the cool night, yawning, his never-ceasing eyes carefully watching all around him. Sniffing the air once, he nodded, then turned and smiled at her.
"We're alright; we have company. Can you smell them?" he asked softly, tilting his head. "They were worried about me, so they came to find me. Don't worry about them; I'll introduce you at a later time. You've got enough to deal with tonight." He offered her his arm, gallently, grinning again. "Let's away, my fair lady. To your tower."
It was nice to tease and laugh; he had a weary feeling that there wouldn't be much of it, pretty soon.
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