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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"What am I supposed to do? You want me to tell you? It could ruin your life, Kyle. It could get you killed." Alex was emphasizing the fact that she'd been trying to protect him because it made her feel less guilty about lying. Of course she wouldn't have told him the truth at first, not when they'd just met and he was still practically a stranger. But he wasn't a stranger anymore.

She wanted one honest relationship in her life, one real thing. And maybe all of this, this whole fight and trying to tell him the truth without really telling him anything, maybe it was just to make herself feel better, to win him over, because she wanted that honest relationship. Maybe it really was just to protect him. Maybe it was her clumsy way of trying to hurt him as little as possible in the long run. Most likely, it was some combination of the three.

She pressed her lips together in a thin line. "I am protecting you," she said softly. "I just-- I don't want to lie anymore."

Kyle wordlessly threw up his hands in frustration, staring at her expectantly. He meant what he said. She could tell him or not, but the justifications and excuses drove him crazy. Ignorance was bliss and Kyle was a fan of not knowing what he didn't know when it came to things like this, though he preferred knowing the full story if given the option. It was the in between he didn't like.

"I'm not going to guilt you into telling me shit you don't want to tell me- or can't tell me, whatever. So don't. Don't tell me." He said after a beat, shaking his head. He straightened from the counter, grabbing the spare key she set out for him and moving as if to leave, though he paused and turned to face her again less than halfway there. "It doesn't mean I trust you any less."

Alex thought he would want to at least know where the boundaries were and what she hadn't been honest about, even if he was alright not knowing the whole truth. Apparently that just made him more frustrated.

As he started to leave, Alex stood on the spot, her back to him, not turning around even when he stopped. She could feel moisture starting to well up in the corners of her eyes, which frustrated her all the more.

"Fine. Okay." He could leave if he wanted to. She couldn't think of a way to fix everything, so they might as well just leave it there.

Kyle frowned at the back of her, watching in silence and waiting for her to turn around. When she didn't, he pocketed the key and waited some more. Eventually he sighed, tone more weary than angry when he spoke again.

"If you didn't want the brownies, you could have just said so." An intentional dig, a joke meant to force her to either yell at him or break down or lighten up or something. He refused to leave it there, especially since he might not see her again until the full moon and had every intention of showing up in her apartment that next morning.

"I don't care about the brownies," Alex said miserably. They were a nice perk, but really they were just an excuse for him to hang out. She took a breath, swallowing hard and gritting her teeth to make sure she was absolutely not going to cry before she turned around.

"I know this is complicated, and if you wanna go, I get it." It was completely sincere, not meant to guilt him or be passive aggressive. She did get it. She wasn't sure herself whether she wanted him to go or stay.

Edited 2016-03-21 07:33 (UTC)

She took the comment literally, but at least it was a response. He crossed his arms as he waited silently for the follow up, hoping there would be one. Just when he was about to consider he may have been wrong, she finally turned around and he intentionally loosened up, dropping his arms to his sides.

He shook his head at her words. Kyle had decided he liked Alex, which meant he was in it for the long haul, for better or worse. Unless she flat out told him to go away, he would be here. He might leave, but he would return. Right now, he wanted a hell of a lot more to stay and maybe hear some genuine explanations - or, hell, to make some damn brownies - rather than to leave with the same angry knot in his stomach and tension in his shoulders.

"I don't want to. I will, if you tell me to, but I don't want to." He took a couple steps forward to emphasize the point, bringing him to the end of the counter. "I want you to tell me what you want to tell me, and not tell me what you don't want to tell me. I don't like that you feel guilty because of me and I sure as hell don't want to coerce you in any way. But I'll listen, if you want to talk."

Alex shook her head slowly, taking another shaky breath in as she felt the knot in pit of her stomach start to fade. "Then don't go."

It seemed strange that he was so willing to put up with her secrecy, but she was more grateful for it than she knew how to express. He frustrated her, and worried her, and sometimes they argued over the pettiest things, but when he came back her stomach did a flip that had nothing to do with guilt or frustration or fear.

"I want to tell you. I will tell you," she promised. "Some of it I just... need time."

"Okay, I won't." He couldn't help but smile at the repetition and the stubbornness between them. Now that the tension was mostly fading, it seemed easier. Kyle ignored the part of him that wanted to pull her into his arms and comfort her, knowing it was all more complicated than that now.

"Then take time." This time, his shrug was genuine. It was that simple to him. It didn't really matter what her past was, only her present and only what related to him. Kyle had a sense that even some of that was hidden, but it was worth it- she was worth it. Nearly as much because of how few friends he had in London as because of how much he cared about her specifically. "Let's try to avoid any more nine millimeter surprises though."

One corner of Alex's mouth twitched upwards. She was still upset, but the fact that he could move on so quickly helped a lot. "That's the only one."

Her only qualm about telling him her real identity was the danger it would put him in. She could even talk about her parents' deaths fairly easily. Everything else was harder, and there were a few things she couldn't imagine ever telling him, but maybe, given time, she'd tell him some of it. She was glad he seemed content to let her have that time.

"We should make the brownies or put the stuff in the fridge," she said, trying to find something to focus on besides him. They weren't arguing anymore, but she was still a little tense. She moved to put the eggs in the fridge.

Edited 2016-03-22 02:36 (UTC)

He tilted his head, acquiescing that it was probably a good idea. Kyle grabbed the oil and box to set aside on the counter instead of in the middle of everything, watching as she put the eggs away. It was confusing, the conflicting ideas in his mind: he was as nervous about her pulling a gun on him as he was eager to press her against the counter and kiss her again.

"Want to watch a movie?" He asked as a way of distracting the both of them, glancing about at the apartment and realizing that he didn't recall seeing a television. Though, worst case, he supposed they could watch something on her laptop. If she had one.

Once the eggs were stored, Alex turned back to him, awkwardly trying to stick her hands in her pockets before putting them on the counter behind her back instead. She didn't know what to do now, so for a moment she just watched him, waiting to see what he'd say. He was a lot better at ploughing through the more strained moments between them than she was.

"I don't have a tv. Or any movies," she said ruefully. A movie appealed to her more than making brownies - instead of trying to make conversation, they could focus on something else and cool down for a while. "I've got a laptop, if you've got... Netflix." She didn't actually know how Netflix worked, but maybe it was a thing you could pull up on computers.

"That works." He replied with a smile, grateful for something easier between them. He then adopted a pensive expression and glanced around her apartment, nodding sagely after a moment. "We'll have to sit pretty close together to both see. Is that going to be a problem?"

The question was intentionally serious, to downplay the seriousness of it entirely. A genuine inquiry masked as a jest. Before she had a chance to answer, he started moving to her couch, waiting for her answer without exactly waiting for it. "Grab your laptop and I can log in. You better have an idea of what you want to watch though, because I'll waste a stupid amount of time trying to pick something."

Alex pushed away from the counter and shook her head. She wasn't entirely sure what he meant by the question, whether he was worried about her attacking him, or kissing him again, or if he thought she was so upset that she couldn't possibly sit on the same piece of furniture as him. That annoyed her a little, though she wasn't sure why, and her response came out somewhat brusque. "No, that's fine."

She went to grab the computer from the little table in the corner where she kept it and set it on the table in front of the couch, then sat down and folded her legs under herself.

"I dunno how it works." She gestured vaguely at the laptop, letting him know he could go ahead and do whatever he was going to do with it. There wasn't anything interesting or personal on the laptop - the internet history was blank and she hadn't even bothered to change the default wallpaper.

She looked over at him and offered him a hint of a smile. "We watched like six hours of Star Wars, you owe me six hours of superheroes."

Kyle slid to the edge of the couch when sat beside him, only to gain access to the laptop. He cast a glance over at her with the notice of the default wallpaper and, well, default almost everything. It resembled her apartment in a way, almost no personal touches. There was something he found upsetting about that. Maybe because that was the way he'd been while wanting to die, before Cooper had pulled him back into living.

Without a word, he returned his attention to the laptop, calling up the browser and typing in Netflix. Kyle logged into his account without a consideration for security, even saving his password into her browser for later so she could use it as often as she wanted.

"Superheroes it is." He replied with a smile, browsing through the available titles. "Thor, Iron Man 2, Avengers, or Man of Steel? Please don't say Iron Man 2."

Alex squinted at him, almost smiling but pretending to be more annoyed than she was. "I liked the first Iron Man."

"Iron Man 2!" He half-shouted enthusiastically, as if it was exactly what he wanted or as if he'd just won a round of bingo. Kyle flashed her a grin, opening the movie and setting it up to full screen. He adjusted the laptop slightly and then slid back on the couch, intentionally moving closer to her while seeming like there was no thought involved at all. He lifted an arm to rest behind her on the back of the couch, opening up his body for her to lean into if she wanted yet saying nothing of it.

Alex wasn't expecting that outburst, and her eyebrows shot up, her mouth falling open for a moment before she quickly regained her composure.

"Alright," she agreed slowly, suddenly skeptical given his sudden and loud change of heart.

She settled back, her knee knocking against his thigh as she shifted to find a more comfortable spot on the couch. She didn't even notice him moving closer to her until he was already there, and she cleared her throat. It was just a little too close a little too fast, and she couldn't help but wonder whether they were completely alright again, right back to where they'd been.

When he put his arm behind her, she glanced sideways at him. She couldn't tell whether he was making a move or just stretching out. For the moment, they were comfortable enough with each other, and she didn't want to risk that by interpreting the gesture wrong, so she did nothing about it.

"Why didn't you want to watch this one?" She smiled slightly, watching the opening start to play. "What's so bad about it?"

Kyle glanced over to her before returning his attention to the screen. This felt right, felt easy. Friendship without all the pressure for everything else, enjoying a movie together, taking it easy and ignoring all the shit from the last couple weeks.

"I heard it was terrible," he replied with a smile. "But that's okay. We'll find out."

For a moment, Alex ended up watching him instead of the movie, until she realized she was staring and looked back at the computer, smiling. It was almost impossible to believe that they'd had a huge fight just minutes ago. It was easy to settle back into their friendship, and she liked that, though part of her still wanted more.

A thought occurred to her. "Hang on, we're missing something."

She smiled at him before running over to the freezer and grabbing a tub of s'mores ice cream and two spoons. It wasn't a healthy lunch, but it wasn't any worse than the brownies they'd planned to eat. And you needed a snack to watch a movie.

She dropped back onto the couch and handed him a spoon. "Okay."

Kyle looked at her when she spoke. He dropped his arm back into his own space as she bolted from the couch, eyes following her to the kitchen. If it wasn't basically still in credits, he would have paused it, but he figured she wasn't missing much.

He couldn't help but smile when she returned with ice cream, accepting the spoon easily. "Thanks. I'm glad to see there's no shortage of junk food at your place."

"Hey, you're supposed to eat junk food when you watch this kind of movie." Alex set the tub in her lap before realizing he'd have to reach to get at it. She moved closer to him until her shoulder bumped his, and she glanced at him to make sure he was alright with her sitting so close. Unless he objected, she balanced the tub of ice cream precariously on her leg and scooped out a chunk of fudge.

Kyle barely even noticed their shoulders touching, used to the casual physical contact. Noticing the tub wobbling slightly, he reached out to hold it steady, his arm brushing her side without a second thought. He took a spoonful after she did, smiling and trying to focus on the movie instead of the girl beside him. The hot spy helped with that a little bit.

They watched the movie as friends, enjoying each others' company and inching ever closer to something they might not be able to come back from. For now, he'd continue to deny it, claiming it was all part of their easy friendship, and focus on just having a good time after all the arguments. After all, that was progress in itself.

The full moon was only a couple of days later. Knowing that Kyle would be showing up early in the morning, Alex covered the cage with the heaviest blanket she owned, hopefully too heavy for the wolf to pull into the cage and tear up. The whole experience would be a lot less awkward if Kyle didn't walk in on her naked.

Fortunately, the plan more or less worked, thanks to the entire bottle of wolfsbane potion she'd forced down the night before. She woke to find only a small corner of the blanket shredded, and while she was stiff from being in the cage all night and her head hurt from not having slept well, there weren't all the aches and pains that usually came with the wolf trying to bludgeon its way through steel bars.

She lifted the blanket enough to see the key hanging on its peg within easy reach of the door, and the pile of clothes she'd left close enough to grab, and immediately groaned and shut her eyes. The sunlight was way too bright.

Edited 2016-03-24 01:23 (UTC)

Kyle was outside her apartment door nearly an hour before sunrise, worried he might miss it and not knowing exactly where in the sunrise process she would transform. He pressed his ear to the wood, listening, until the snarls and heavy breathing disappeared and he heard a groan that belonged to a voice he actually knew. He pulled out his keys and found hers, unlocking the door and rushing into the apartment. Kyle closed and locked the door behind him before hurrying to find Alex.

The moment he spotted her, he stopped. It took a moment for his brain to catch up with what his eyes were seeing, that she was, in fact, naked. He turned around, smiling at the strangeness of the situation to avoid stressing about it. "Hey. You need a towel or something?"

Alex groaned again, turning away from him and reaching for her clothes. So much for trying to avoid the awkwardness. "Thanks," she mumbled as she practically tripped into the pajama pants and then painstakingly pulled the tank top over her head. "But I got it."

She turned around again to see him with his back to her. The awkwardness aside, it was nice not waking up to an empty apartment. She gave him a wan smile and said, "You can turn around."

All she really wanted to do was lie down, but she had to at least brush her teeth first. And her hair. And she wanted to have something to eat besides the blanket.

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ignore the inaccuracies of available netflix content

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