undergrounds | August Catch-All for Girl

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August Catch-All for Girl

A. Late August; Open

Girl stood underneath the low awning of a shop, wrapped fish and chips held to her chest. It was late enough that most of the buildings on the street were closing up, natural light dying and artificial street lamps casting a sallow glow. Girl murmured gently, the noise lost to the hissing and screeching of the tabby hunched atop the awning.

Girl held up a chunk of the fish, trying to feed it to the upset cat. The creature swiped at her fingers and Girl jumped, dropping the corner of meat. She stuck her fingers in her mouth, sucking off grease and blood with a whine before trying again. There were enough red marks on her hands and so little of her meal left to show it wasn't the first time it had happened. There was probably something to be said about doing the same thing over and over, and still expecting a different result.

"Come on, kitty," she said sweetly, ignoring that the cat hunched further as she got closer with another piece of food. "You don't have to be scared of me. Just come down."

B. [Wild card it or pm for a specific prompt. Closed starters are in the comments.]

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Between helping Johanna and the pack’s territory disputes, Girl’s been too stressed to worry about pleasantries. When things finally started to settle down, she thought it was time to make a call on the promise she’d made to Cole. Finding his alley wasn’t too hard, though she did take a wrong turn trying to remember the directions and had spent far too long talking to empty air a few streets over. Not that he would need to know that.

Still, even thinking she had the right address, Girl felt awkward trying to call him out in the empty alleyway. “Cole?” She asked the wall, glancing around the clutter of the area. “Are you still here? I said I’d come and here I am.”

"Girl!" She hears him before she sees him. Cole sounds downright ecstatic. "You came!"

A moment or two later he materializes, the same awkward, lanky ghost that she first met, but this time he's brimming with excitement. Cole smiles a small little smile. He looks downright happy and downright excited despite the fact that they're in the middle of a slightly trashed alleyway. Obviously it hasn't been cleaned up in a while but Cole doesn't seem to mind.

"I wasn't sure. I'm glad you're here, Girl."

Girl at least manages to keep from jumping when he suddenly speaks and just as suddenly appears. It's not like she thinks he's scary looking, quite the opposite in fact, but she's not used to ghosts. He, and all the creatures she's meet here, still fascinate her though, and she grins as he fades into existence.

"Sorry, I should have stopped by earlier. Got kinda busy and well, you know how it is." She shrugs sheepishly. She supposes 'busy' might not mean much to a ghost. What did Cole do all day out here? "How you been?"

He doesn't really know how it is. Busy? He hasn't been busy in years. Still, Girl was living and living people often had lots of different things to do, so while he doesn't know how it is, he knows how it should be.

"I've been fine. I've been around. More people have shown up around here which is always good." There are days when he can leave the alleyway, and days when he's pulled tight, made less, and he simply can't leave the alleyway. People visiting are always wonderful in Cole's mind.

Edited 2017-08-22 13:58 (UTC)

"Really? Have you met a lot of other people then?" That makes her feel a little better about not showing up sooner. If he had other people to talk to she didn't have to feel guilty. "People like us, or normal humans?"

Girl picks a wall to lean against, dusting off the brick and trying to get comfortable. She anticipates sticking around a while. "So, I know I promised to get you around the full moon. Sorry about, uh, not doing that. I was thinkin' maybe next month? If you were still interested."

"People like us. Normal humans can't see me." It's stated in a matter of fact tone. He tries and hopes and prays that normal humans could see him, whispering in their ears, placing a hand on their shoulders, throwing a telekinetic temper tantrum in the hopes that someone would pay attention. But it never worked.

As Girl mentions next month, however, Cole nods. "I am. You'll need someone to talk to, after all." And of course that would be him. She can't hurt him in the first place.

"Oh, right." She winces. That certainly cut off most of the city. Most of the people who passed by the alley had to be just human, right? "Wow, that's- well, I hope you get to see plenty of witches and wolves and stuff come through here. Were any of them wolves?"

Girl grins, nodding quickly. "Yeah. When I turn back. Sorry to say you'll probably be pretty bored with me when I'm turned. Unless you start throwin' stuff for me to chase, but that wouldn't be any different from being around a dog."

"I met one. His name was...Ghoul?" It's said as if Cole isn't entirely sure what the wolf's name was. He thought it was Ghoul. But that's silly. He's a wolf, not a ghoul.

"I like his tattoos."

"Yeah, Ghoul. Fun Ghoul. He's in our pack. He was the first wolf I even met in this city." Her face lit up and she started to nod quickly. From the excited way she speaks, it's clear it's someone she really likes.

"Did he let you look at them?" She laughed. "The showoff."

The warehouse was a good idea and one she was excited about, mostly. She liked the den, honestly, and all the other wolves in the pack, but there was something nice about having a place that was all their own. It was like a joining some exclusive club. Girl wanted to enjoy it. Except there was a faint guilt that made her wonder how long she’d be welcome to their little club.

“Ghoul?” She sulked up to him from the corner she’d claimed for her own, kicking aimlessly at the floor. A few weeks beyond all the chaos and raging tempers of the battlefield gave Girl a little perspective. She still didn’t think she deserved to be treated like such a kid, but she felt a little bad about arguing so much with him. For all she knew, Ghoul was still a little annoyed with her. “You busy?”

Hearing his name prompts Ghoul to make a sound of acknowledgement, although he doesn't immediately look up. He remains where he has been for the last little while, hunched over a counter and messily scribbling in a tiny notebook. There are a few pieces of hardware scattered around him, as well- he's working on something warehouse-related, apparently. Probably a list of fixes, plans, and materials needed, and it's obviously kind of involved.

But he stops, lifts his head, and shrugs at her question. Is he busy? Yes. "Not really." He's never too busy for one of his own... and a brain-break would be nice. After dropping his pen, he leans his upper half against the counter, stretching his arms out in front of himself like a cat unfolding. "What's goin' on?"

A little too late, he realizes that maybe he should have brushed her off after all. She looks and sounds kind of serious, and he worries that maybe The Conversation is about to sneak up on him. Y'know, the same one he's been skillfully avoiding.

She bites her lip, looking at everything scattered around him. She takes a step back. He's busy, clearly, even if he says he isn't. Maybe it was just one of those tricks adults liked to pull, say one thing and mean another. She should drop it, come back later or never, whichever kept her off the hook longer. But he's staring at her and she has to say something.

Girl opens her mouth to lie, throw him off and instead comes out, "Are you still pissed at me?" No, that wasn't right. She flushes, but doesn't take it back. She is curious and there wouldn't be much point in telling him anything else if he was just going to chew her out from the get go. "I wanna talk to you but I'm not gonna if you're mad."

Aw, fuck. This is it, isn't it.

"I'm not pissed at you." It's a statement that isn't exactly supported by the disgruntled look on his face. It's not because of her, though; what he's said is (mostly) true, he's not mat at her. Not anymore. Not really. It's just the situation that's making his face look like that, because he's not great with the aftermath of emotional outbursts.

Ghoul pats a hand against the counter top, coaxing her closer. "We can talk, s'fine. You first."

She squints at him, distrust all over her face. Sure he ain't mad. Just like she ain't been skipping math. Her face twists up but she leans against the counter anyway, propping her elbow across from him. She picks at his stuff, rolling a loose screw around in a lopsided circle.

"Gotta promise you won't start shoutin'." Her nose wrinkles and she stares at the wall over his shoulder. She'd rather get another safety lecture from Laura than talk about this, her special mom-brand guilt trip and all, but Girl supposes it's better Ghoul than Katherine. "A while back, there was some people lookin' for a wolf. They were sayin' the wolf went out into the vamp's streets and killed one of 'em. There were some rumors for a bit, you know, about a reward if anyone could find the wolf and turn 'em in or whatever."

She plucks at the screw, expression turning shifty. "Did you hear anything about that?"

He watches the screw twirl away from her finger, breathing out a slow sigh. She's made a difficult demand... Ghoul replies with a hum, bringing a hand up and shoving his fist against his mouth. Doing so provides the benefits of propping his head up and blocking off any words he might want to say loud-and-angrily.

When he finally looks back up at her face, his expression is one of outright confusion, and maybe a dash of suspicion. This isn't exactly how he thought this discussion would go. What kind of scene is she setting up here?

"Yes...?" His answer is slightly garbled, muffled by the curl of his fingers. "Kinda figured it was bullshit. Some bunk story meant to cause a fight."

Her shoulders hunch. Wouldn't things be so much easier if it was all just the story being sold by some shit stirrer? She grimaces, flicking the screw down the length of the counter top and sighing when it pings off of his other tools.

"It's not bullshit," Girl says quietly, glancing at him nervously. She's pretty sure, promise or not, this is where the shouting will come in. "I know 'cause I might have been there?" Her voice goes high, like she could play it off as a question. She slumps over the counter, already looking at him like a scolded dog.

Rest in pieces, mouth-blockade.

Ghoul's hand drops away and suddenly he's partially stretched across the counter. "Excuse the fuck outta me?" Okay, to his credit, it's not shouting. It's just... loud, stern questioning. For the moment. He doesn't even really look that furious, just mostly shocked, so that's probably good, right?

Not really. His mind has jumped to the worst conclusion, which is interpreting her I might have been there as I might have done it. The shock is only temporary. Full-on parental rage is right around the corner.

She shrinks back, nearly falling from her seat. For a while moment she interprets his sudden movement as him jumping at her and it startles the usual sass right out of her. "I didn't mean to end up there!" Her voice starts off shrill, defensive. "This is why I didn't wanna say anything. I knew everyone would just get mad."

"Look I was only there 'cause I thought she'd get hurt. I didn't think anyone would actually die, I was just tryin' to keep her from gettin' attacked, right? I wasn't tryin' to start shit! It just happened!" She leans forward again, slapping a hand on her chest with a dull thud. Girl doesn't realize what he's thinking or how what she's saying sounds, just that he's upset. She stops, considering the look on his face. Her own turns desperate and her arms cross over her chest. "You would have done the same thing if you were there!"

"Hold on, fuckin'- wait-" Ghoul waves a hand at her, slowly retreating back to his own side of the table. She's panic-babbling a lot of information at once, but he catches the most important part. "You're sayin' you didn't do it then, yeah?"

Okay. Okay, okay. That's good. He exhales loudly, shaking his head. "Fuckin' had me thinkin' you had the whole nest on your ass." He would've fought them all off, for the record.

But it's nice to know he won't have to. Yet. "Who'd you think was gonna get hurt...? One of ours?"

She pauses, halfway to hyperventilating and clutching her arms so tight her skin was turning white underneath her fingertips. A wrinkle forms between her eyebrows, bewildered. "What? You thought I did it?"

For a moment Girl looks hurt, even though rationally she knew she had to reason to be. She was already lying to him, in a manner of speaking, why shouldn't he think she did it? "I don't want to start some war! I'm not that stupid."

But still stupid enough to go following after someone who might. And there she is back to looking contrite. "Sort of. Did you ever meet Johanna?"

"That's what you made it sound like!" His voice is a little shrill when he says it, like he feels the need to defend himself from the god damn child.

Then he flinches, because he realizes it sounds like he is calling her stupid. That's not what he's aiming for. "I'm not thinkin' bad about you, okay? It's just." He motions vaguely with his hands, and that totally explains it. "Y'know?" No, Ghoul. No one knows. Words were invented for a reason.

He's halfway through shrugging at her with a dumb, useless expression on his face because the name Johanna doesn't ring a bell. Until it suddenly does. "Wait, yeah! She tried to blackmail me one time," he recalls, sounding thoughtful and hilariously casual about it, as if that's a completely normal statement to make about another person. "I kinda liked her... She started all this shit, though?"

"No I didn't!" Maybe she did. Girl's not thinking to hard about how she sounds. But even reasonable doubt won't stop her from whining and defending herself.

The hurt expression returns and lingers, like a dulled light behind her eyes. His attempt to smooth it over only lessens it by degrees instead of making it leave completely. "I don't know," she says petulantly, just to put him on the spot.

Her frown twists from upset to confused. Blackmail? "She did what? Why?" Johanna had been a little intense, sure. But Girl didn't think she was really out to get anyone. "She'd already changed, ya know? It was the night of the moon and I don't think she knew what she was gettin' into."

That's what Girl had been telling herself since it happened. Johanna couldn't have really been looking to start something with the vampires. No one would have run straight into vampire territory and risk their life on purpose, would they?

"I just followed her into the fangs streets 'cause I thought she was gonna get hurt. And then she attacked one and all I knew was to get her out before his friends came lookin' for revenge."

Ghoul seems to deflate a little, frowning at the look on her face. Come on... Why's she gotta be like that? He doesn't know what he hates more; that god damn look, or being the one who put it there.

He shakes his head distractedly, answering her question after a few seconds of silence. "I dunno. Maybe blackmail's a strong word. It was just a little bit of threatening over some money... I liked her nerve, though." He shrugs. What a way to make new friends.

At least he doesn't chase them in to enemy territory.

Except, from the sound of things, Girl's entirely right. He would've done the same thing and he knows it, which makes him groan. How the hell is he supposed to tell her don't do this when she's fully aware he'd make the exact same move? He's being slowly crushed under his reluctance to admit as much, and ends up resting his head down on the counter before grudgingly telling her, "You did right." That's what being a wolf is all about, isn't it? Looking out for your kind.

"Where's she at now?"

She'd almost feel bad about the look she was putting on his face if she wasn't upset herself.

"Why was she after you 'bout money?" She'd given Girl money- to get rid of her but the principle felt the same. Girl snorted, amusement momentarily peaking through the need to keep pouting. "Kinda crazy to like someone who's puttin' you through shit."

Which, honestly, means there's something to be said that he's still putting up with her. And why she came to talk to him about this in the first place. Out of the pack, Girl expected Ghoul to be the one most willing to indulge her side on this. She was expecting a little leniency, a lesser lecture than she'd get from everyone else. Not the understanding.

"Really?" He's caught her off guard. Her voice was quiet and her eyes saucer wide. Maybe it's not meant to be a compliment with how he sounds saying it, but Girl takes it as one. She was ready to argue until she was blue that she was in the right, but personal belief paled in comparison to hearing someone else say it.

"She left London. Guess she went back to the States."

Good of her to ask, because Ghoul is the best at explaining. "'Cause I had some, and she wanted it." Shrug. Why does anyone go after someone with money? Money solves a lot of problems.

Except it won't solve Ghoul's problem, which is a headstrong pup with a habit of getting herself in to sticky situations. He cringes against the counter, not even bothering to look up because he hears that astonished tone in her voice and he can just imagine the look on her face... "That doesn't mean I want you to keep doin' it!" Even if he knows that, sometimes, it's too late to know whether looking out for someone turns in to something wildly dangerous until you're in the thick of it.

Jo's gone, though. She can't create any new issues, at least. With a slow breath, Ghoul picks his head back up, glowering weakly. "You're gettin' in to too much hot water lately." Uh oh, here comes the lecture... "I don't like it. You don't even know how to defend yourself. Who's workin' with you on it?" Wait, what.

That would probably count as an explanation to someone who wouldn't bother for further questions, but Ghoul's facing a teenager. "That doesn't tell me anything," she says with a slight whine. "She didn't act like a thief to me."

And clearly when Girl makes a decision about someone or something, she sets her jaw to it like a dog with a bone. It's why the hope on her face drops when he denies that she should keep at it. For a moment she turns surly, ready to argue that he shouldn't praise her if he's just going to turn around and tell her she has to stop. Maybe to argue the possibility he could need her help someday.

But then Ghoul goes and catches her off guard again. She should really start expecting that around him. "I got a knife. What more do I need?" Girl asks, bewildered. She's got her pocket knife, bravado, and a lot of luck that hasn't required more from her thus far. "No one's workin' with me 'bout it. I'm fine."

Mogget was flying home in crow form when he spotted the girl – Girl – trying and failing to feed the cat. Well, that wasn't an opportunity he could miss, was it? He swooped down on the awning, transforming back into his cat form as he did so, fur bristling, teeth bared. He barely even needed to hiss; the tabby jumped as if it had been scalded and fell off the awning. It landed on its feet and streaked away, to Mogget's great satisfaction.

He peered down at Girl. "I smell blood. What are you doing?"

She jumped when the cat did, startled by it's sudden movement and her own sent several chips flying to the pavement. Girl frowned, holding an outstretched arm like she stood a chance of catching it. She looked back up to where Mogget sat, glaring until he spoke and she recognized him. Right, not the best idea to yell at the talking cat. "You didn't have to scare him," she protested weakly, brushing crumbs off her shirt.

"He was just scared. I saw him sniffing around the trash and thought he must be hungry. But he freaked out when I got too close to feed him," Girl said, shaking her hand lightly to try to remove the sting. Without the stray to focus on, the pain was far more noticeable. "It's not that much blood."

That seemed strangely kind for a werewolf. Weren't they all dog people? And yet she seemed to have some instinctive sympathy for strays.

"It's enough to put any normal person off," Mogget replied, settling down with his paws just over the edge of the awning. "Why not you?"

She snorted, shaking her head. What about her had ever been normal? But she was sure that wasn't what he was getting at. "Ain't his fault if he don't trust people. Somebody's probably been mean to him so somebody else has gotta teach him people can be nice. The scratches will heal anyway. My kind are pretty durable."

She shrugged, expression turning sheepish. "Sides, I kinda like cats."

His green eyes shone in the dark. "If you taught it to be trusting of humans, it would only fall prey to those who are inclined to be cruel. The creature is right to be wary. Especially when you try to feed it dross like that."

He could smell the fish and chips wrapped in greasy newspaper, and it was so very sad to see delicious fish ruined like that. Fish should be fresh-caught and eaten, not cooked and covered in batter.

She frowned, shaking her head quickly. She had plans for that little cat if only it had come down to her. "If I taught it to trust humans, he could just come home and live me. Nobody would be mean to it again. I'd be good to him."

Girl held up the grease stained papers, snagging out a chip to pop in her mouth. "Dross? What's wrong with fish and chips?"

Edited 2017-09-05 03:03 (UTC)

"Everything." The cat got to his feet, staring down at her. He felt quite passionately about this. "You take perfectly good fish and you ruin it by cooking it in grease and covering it in breadcrumbs. It's an affront to the very concept of food."

"Really? So you'd rather have it raw?" She licked her fingers, giggling. She could understand an actual cat preferring fresh fish, but not whatever Mogget was. If she wasn't still wary of him she'd ask if he only liked it after he became cat-like. "If you're sayin' I could get a cat to follow me home with the raw stuff, I guess I gotta get fishin'."

"Of course." Of course he preferred his fish raw. Who wouldn't? Well, humans, obviously, but then humans had all sorts of bizarre habits. He gave her a dubious look. "Can you fish?"

If she could, then why was she wasting her time buying fish and chips?

Gross. Girl nearly voices the thought aloud, but she doesn't want to offend him. She supposes she'd go for something just as raw if she was let out in wolf form.

"I guess. I mean, it can't be hard if people have been doin' it since forever. Just a pole and bait and a lot of waitin' right?" She hasn't tried before, the desert didn't provide many water sport opportunities, but TV didn't make it look too difficult.

He shakes his head. "So you can't."

That's his judgement. Clearly she hasn't done it before, ergo she can't do it. She could learn, of course. But that's not the same as being able to fish right now. He stands up, stretching, and pads over to jump onto the awning of the next shop along.

"It's a skill like any other and must be learned." He's still watching Girl as he moves. "Though learning it shouldn't take long."

Not if she has half a brain. He doesn't think she's a fool, despite her poor culinary choices.

"I probably could," she says childishly, lips pursing. It didn't seem hard and Girl's always had an exaggerated opinion of her own abilities. She follows Mogget with her eyes, worried he will take off.

"I'm a quick learner," she offers eagerly, despite her statement just seconds ago. "It wouldn't be hard to get good at it. Probably wouldn't take the day."

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August Catch-All for Girl

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A

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