undergrounds | March open post

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March open post

I. The Department Store [OPEN]
Waltham Forest, Morning

A relaxed morning in bed with a cup of tea had turned into a trip to the store to buy a new set of sheets. The mattress was dry now, at least, even if it would probably smell like tea forever, but she'd somehow managed to scrub a hole right through one of the sheets so she'd need a new set of those. The new sheets came with new pillowcases, and she decided she might as well get new blankets too, because her blankets had also fallen victim to the tea disaster, and before she knew it the three hundred pounds she had left in the world became less than two hundred and fifty.

Loaded down with new linens, she headed for the cafe and bought a sandwich and a cup of coffee, ruefully counting out her change. She was so preoccupied with that, hoping that maybe the barista had miscalculated and maybe coffee and a sandwich wasn't really that expensive, that she failed to notice when she nearly walked right into someone, only barely stopping herself spilling coffee all over them.

"I'm so sorry," she said quickly, immediately readjusting her grip on the coffee.

II. The Mansion [OPEN]
Westminster, Night

Alex needed the money. Badly. And it wasn't like she was robbing an orphanage or a bunch of nuns or something. She did research. The guy whose house she was breaking into in the middle of the night was filthy rich and not very nice, and if the contents of his safe happened to go missing, well, that sucked for him. Getting into the mansion was easy, and cracking the safe wasn't much harder. There was some cash and a small bag of diamonds, which she took, and a lot of papers, which she left.

Before tonight, she'd figured out how many guards there were, and had so, so carefully avoided all of them. So it came as a huge surprise when she heard a floorboard creak and whirled around to find a guard pointing his gun at her.

A short fight later, Alex was running full speed towards the outside fence. She'd been shot in the shoulder and her hands were slick with blood from digging the bullet out, which made climbing the fence a lot more difficult. Some other guard must have heard the gunshot, because as her hand finally gripped the top of the fence, all the outside lights turned on, lighting the yard up as bright as day. She felt someone grabbing at her ankle, kicked out as hard as she could, and hauled herself over the fence onto the sidewalk. She almost landed square on somebody's head.

III. The Bus Stop [OPEN]
City of London, Early Afternoon

The bus was late. This bus was always late, and Alex knew its exact schedule because Edith rode this bus every week. She had to buy cat food, and it had to be specialty cat food from a specialty store in the City. Alex hadn't believed that at first, because an 85 year old werewolf who was obsessed with cats didn't seem like it could possibly be real. And yet, here she was, carrying around a thirty pound bag of cat food for Edith for the third week in a row.

She didn't hate it as much as she thought she would have. Cleaning dentures was gross, and doing the dishes and laundry and changing beds was tedious. But helping the elderly members of the pack generally felt kind of... good. Which was a weird feeling.

Alex was snapped out of her reverie by someone barreling past her, snatching Edith's purse as he went. Alex did the first thing that came to mind: she hurled the bag of cat food at the thief. It hit him square in the back, broke, and sent its contents showering over a near passerby. She ran over, picked Edith's purse up, and kicked the thief onto his back. He was out cold.

"Are you okay?" she demanded of the passerby.

IV. The Diner [CLOSED to Illya] (backdated to a couple weeks ago)
Camden, Evening

Three weeks to the day that Illya made his deal, Alex waited for him in a small diner near the British Museum. She'd scraped together a few thousand pounds and had it converted to rubles, so she would be able to buy weapons and transportation once she got into Russia. She'd mapped Pinksy Forest, partially from memory and partially by bothering immigrants in Little Russia, and she had some ideas of where the pack's new den might be. All she needed was a way into the country, and Illya, she hoped, would have one for her.

She was too excited to eat. If this worked out, she might be only weeks or even days away from going... not home, exactly, Russia wasn't home anymore. Back to where she started. To finally get closure for everything that had happened to her in the past six years. But she ordered some eggs and sausage for the appearance and sat, picking at them while she watched the minutes tick away on her phone, waiting for him to show.

V. The Confrontation [CLOSED to Kyle] (backdated to late February)

After Lupercalia, Alex spent days worrying that she had ruined whatever relationship she had with Kyle and wondering whether it would be easier to simply pretend she had never met him and move on. But he was a hunter, or at least somehow involved with the supernatural. And even if he'd never directly lied to her, he'd concealed the truth, and in her eyes that was just as bad. She wanted an explanation. Before long, she had worked up enough anger to storm all the way to his place with every intention of confronting him.

There were no obvious signs of life there. Maybe he was out. She raised her hand to bang on the door when she remembered that even if Kyle was a liar, his aunt and uncle might be clueless and innocent, and she didn't want to get them involved. If they came to the door, she would have to exchange pleasantries and possibly pretend to be there for some innocuous reason when all she wanted to do was shout at Kyle.

Instead of knocking, she yanked out her phone and called him. If he didn't answer, then she'd knock.

VI. Choose Your Own Adventure! [OPEN]
Anywhere, Any Time

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"It's a date- plan." Kyle corrected himself before she could, flashing a grin at her and then withdrawing up the steps to the safety of his own space. It was good to air their grievances and move on, to get back to a place of trust after all the shit that went down that night and all the secrets revealed. He wondered if it brought them closer, just knowing.

He turned and gave her a wink before disappearing inside.

Alex was almost content to leave it there. She smiled when he grinned, but the smile faded as he moved inside, and she took a breath, her eyes drifting away down the street.

She probably should have left it there. She'd spent weeks telling herself that allowing anything more than friendship between them would be a disaster. But right then and there, how much she wanted him outweighed how bad an idea it definitely was.

"Kyle. Wait." She stepped after him. For just a second, she hesitated, waiting to see whether he would pull away. If he didn't, she leaned in to kiss him.

Kyle turned halfway through the door, immediately stepping back out onto the landing again. His expression was one of concern, wondering what it was that she wanted or, specifically, what it was that might be upsetting her. When she closed most of the distance between them, he was honestly a little confused. When the kiss followed, he was a lot confused.

It only took a fraction of a second for him to return the kiss, lifting a hand to the side of her neck to encourage the action. He withdrew after, staring at her with a face still painted with confusion.

"What the hell was that?" He asked softly, not knowing what to think but clearly not upset or put off by the action. The memory of Skip flashed through his mind, and Nancy, and he wondered what the hell it was about London or if this is what it was like outside of the military.

Alex wrapped a hand around the side of his neck, which slipped upwards to run through his hair as her other hand pressed against his chest. When he pulled out of the kiss, she dropped both hands, running one through her own hair before stepping back.

"I-- I wanted to." She glanced away before looking back at him defiantly. She didn't think she'd have to explain it and she wasn't sure how. "I know I said we couldn't but you didn't know what I was, and I didn't want to have to hide that from you if we weren't just friends." Not a lie, but only one reason why this was a terrible idea. It was, though, the only reason she'd admit to.

"'If we weren't just friends,'" he echoed quietly, still trying to puzzle it out. Kyle couldn't quite tell if Alex was playing around and debating a test drive with him for fun, although she didn't seem as much like the type, or if she was trying to admit to something deeper. Either way, he was pretty sure that now wasn't the time.

Kyle lifted his gaze to meet hers again, having stared at the sidewalk while he thought, and gave a small nod. "Okay. Thank you- thanks. Uh, I'm going to need a minute, to wrap my head around this. After all the 'just friends' everything. We'll, uh, talk more tomorrow, okay?"

He didn't hesitate to lean in and kiss her again, because he didn't want it to come across as a rejection. Kyle liked her, more than he'd allowed himself to previously, and he wanted more of whatever this was. But he also had some shit to think about and sort through before spontaneously launching himself into something real.

Alex leaned away when he tried to kiss her again. Either he wanted this or he didn't, and if he needed time to think about it, that was fine. But she didn't want him to kiss her if he wasn't sure.

"Yeah. Tomorrow," she agreed.

He might need time to think, but she would probably just spend the time worrying about whether or not she'd made a huge mistake. She genuinely liked him, but she might be leaving soon, she might be dead soon if things went badly in Russia, and she was still lying to him about her past. Just associating with her could put him in danger if Semak found out that she was alive.

She looked at him helplessly for just a moment, not sure what she wanted or what she should do, before turning to leave.

Kyle wanted to stop her. He could see her expression and wanted to comfort her, to kiss her again and let it be easy and consequences be damned. But he also wasn't that guy who wanted to commit if he wasn't sure and maybe this was her way of understanding that.

"Tomorrow," he repeated firmly, to reduce the potential that the comment would be taken as bullshit. But otherwise, he watched her go, shaking his head and cursing under his breath about how broken he was, how the girl confused the hell out of him, and what the hell was he even doing. The girl had a moat around the walls that lead to her secrets and he wasn't confident in his ability not to break her heart.

Once she got back to her apartment, Alex briefly wondered whether she should text him her address at all, or if she'd wrecked everything and should just leave for Russia that night. But the timing was off. At least that's what she told herself when she texted him.

She only had two nightmares that night, one in which Kyle was secretly in league with Sergei Semak and tried to murder her, and another in which he died in her arms. Neither was encouraging.

The next morning, tired and nervous, she had her key copied and bought chocolate frosting, just like she said she would. Then, for lack of anything better to do, she spent two hours on the treadmill while she waited for him to show up, wondering what he'd say and what she should say.

Edited 2016-03-20 03:14 (UTC)

Kyle had his own nightmares. Werewolves chasing him through the fields near his old house in Ohio, Alex the werewolf becoming Alex the vampire and inviting him to join her. There was another dream with Alex and Skip that was considerably more enjoyable, but it did little to assuage his anxiety when he snapped awake at four in the morning. The soldier got up instead of going back to bed, showering the night sweats away and then going for a run.

He arrived to Alex's in the later morning, when he was confident she would be awake. Instead of bringing pre-made brownies, he brought a box and the ingredients to make them, not sure what she would have in the house.

He'd been stressed out all morning about the kiss, about whether Alex being part of this world made it easier or harder for them to be a thing, about whether he was even ready to try to be in a relationship. Kyle had the sinking feeling that their friendship was continuing to mutate and would never be the same. He could either choose to step up and get more or run away and miss out. The soldier didn't like to run.

Arriving at the building, he pressed the buzzer for the number she had given him, noticing the blank name plate beside the number.

"Hey, it's Betty Crocker. I have a delivery for one Alex Winslow.." He flashed a grin up to the camera, not sure if it was meant for security or for the tenants, just in case.

Alex had just finished a very quick shower when the buzzer went off. She spent fifteen agonizing seconds deciding what to wear - and whether it mattered at all what she wore - before picking a fairly boring pair of jeans and sweater.

She buzzed him up then opened her door. Once he got there, she didn't say anything, waiting for him to speak first.

Kyle was back to his usual self. He didn't hesitate to let himself in the open door, closing it behind him and looking around the place. He flashed Alex a smile before moving past her to the kitchen counter, setting the bags down and immediately working to unload the eggs, oil, and box of brownie mix. Then he folded up the paper bag and set it aside before planting a hand on the counter to lean on and turning to face her again.

"Hey." Intentionally playing up his smile, knowing its effect.

Alex shut the door behind him and watched him, frowning, brows furrowing and then relaxing. As he unpacked, she stared at him like he was a challenge, determined not to back down in any way but also completely unsure of what was going to happen, what he expected to happen, or what she wanted to happen.

The smile was completely unfair. She gritted her teeth a little harder in response, trying not to react to it.

"I got frosting," she said uselessly.

"I got brownies." Kyle was all but determined to plow his way through this potentially awkward situation like in his good ol' football days: with broad strokes and blunt force. Although he could be serious when he tried, he wasn't great at it and it always set him more on edge and brought about more lingering symptoms than if he could keep things light.

With the same friendly manner, "Did you get the key?"

If Kyle wasn't going to bring up the kiss, neither was Alex. It might be better to pretend it never happened and get back to being friends. Everything would be much less confusing and awkward that way.

She went over to the coffee table and grabbed the duplicate key. "Promise me," she said as she came back to him, not holding the key out yet, "that you won't use it while the moon's up."

Kyle moved to take hold of her hand holding the key, strategically moving to position Alex between himself and the counter behind her. He offered the same smile as he closed most of the distance between them, his voice dropping to be jokingly seductive. "I can't promise that. I can only promise I won't use it while this full moon is out."

Alex's stomach did a flip when he stepped closer to her. Whether it was nerves or attraction or both, she couldn't tell.

She clamped her hand down on the key, refusing to let go of it. "No full moon, ever, or I'm not giving it to you."

Kyle's fingers tried gently to slip beneath hers, finding it impossible. He did his best to maintain his pseudo suave attitude in the face of crushing defeat, determined not to give up. "Then I guess I'll break the door down. I hope your neighbors like you."

He leaned in to a close proximity, resisting the urge to kiss her right then only because his attention was on the key and trying to take it from her hand. Promises weren't cheap and he had no intention of making one he couldn't keep. Not unless absolutely necessary to protect her.

Alex wrenched her hand away from his. She did it as gently as possible, knowing she was preternaturally strong and he wasn't, and she didn't want to hurt him. But she wasn't giving up the key until he swore he wouldn't use it to do anything stupid.

"I'm serious. The wolf is dangerous, it could kill you." She wasn't impressed by the faux sauveness, but she was touched by the fact that he wanted to be with her during the full moon, even if it was stupidly dangerous.

"I'm used to being around things that can kill me," he replied without missing a beat.

Kyle dropped his hand away and withdrew entirely, sighing as he turned back toward the counter. He moved to open the box of mix, distracting himself from his frustration with her the only way he really knew how. It frustrated him that she never let him in, even while claiming that she trusted him. But it was something he could live with.

"I promise you I won't use it to come in while this full moon is up, and I won't come in during any other full moon without your permission. Unless it's to save your life." He glanced up at her before his attention shifted to rifling through her cabinets for a large bowl. "Take it or leave it. Either way, we're still making the damn brownies."

"Fine." Alex put the key onto the counter and pushed it over to him. That was all she wanted, really, to know that he wouldn't use it while she was wolfed out. She wouldn't be giving her permission, ever.

She walked around him to turn the oven on, focusing on that rather than on him and whatever might or might not be between them.

Kyle set the bowl on the counter, looking up first to the key, then to the frustrated woman walking beside him. He turned around to lean back against the counter, reaching out to try to take her hand in his. While he wasn't entirely sure what he wanted right now, he knew that he didn't want her to be upset, or angry with him. He knew he wanted to be close to her and comfort her and make things alright again.

"Hey," he said as he tried gently to pull her back to him. "I'm not stupid. I won't put myself in danger without a damn good reason. But I also don't want to make a promise that I don't know I can keep and forever is a long-ass time."

Alex let him take her hand and pull her in. She really didn't want to fight with him, especially since he was actually being very sweet. But she couldn't handle the thought of him getting hurt or killed, and the thought of that happening because of her was even worse.

"Okay, I get it." She didn't think he was incompetent. If he'd spent all that time fighting vampires and was still alive, obviously he could take care of himself. But he'd never encountered a wolf before, and she couldn't help but worry. "I'm not saying you're stupid." She might have thought it once or twice, but she wasn't saying it out loud. "I-- You think I could live with myself if I woke up in the morning and I'd killed you? Just don't let that happen, okay?"

"I promise I won't let you kill me," he offered, twisting his hand around to interlace their fingers together. Kyle gave her a wide smile, as if it really was just that easy. And maybe it was, with how well he was trained and her only changing on the full moon. Or maybe it was a million times worse than he imagined. But he could handle it.

Alex didn't think it was that easy, but she knew that would have to be enough. He wouldn't come over during the full moon without permission, which she wouldn't give. She didn't think she could argue it any further than that.

"Good." A thought occurred to her. With her free hand, she reached up under the hood of the stove and pulled out the gun she kept hidden there. She still didn't use the stovetop often enough to have moved it. "Just in case, this is there."

She'd rather he shoot her if he had to than get eaten by the wolf.

As soon as Kyle saw the gun, he dropped Alex's hand and took a step back, confused as to whether he should be surrendering or preparing to fight. After a moment, he slowly caught on that she was making him aware of it in case he needed it, but there was still a giant middle ground she had leapt over to get there.

"What the hell, Alex? You have a gun?" That would be unusual enough in America. In England, it was more than a rarity. "Why do you have a gun? Is that the only one?"

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