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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"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.

Kyle waited, listening as sharply as he was able to try to discern what was happening with basically no luck. When she finally gave him permission to turn around, he did so and wasted no time in moving over to the cage and opening the door. It was obvious how exhausted Alex was. Truth be told, she looked like shit.

"I'm going to touch you now." It was the only warning she got before he wrapped one arm around her back and dipped down to slip the other beneath her knees, picking her up in his arms unless she fought him. Assuming she didn't, he would carry her over to the couch and lay her down there.

"I'll make breakfast. You need anything? I didn't think- I shoulda brought coffee or something. Next time I'll plan ahead." He frowned slightly at her, waiting to make sure she was alright before he'd go to the kitchen.

Alex knew he was a sweet guy, but it still surprised her when he picked her up and carried her over to the couch. This kind of treatment was brand new - even Nikita, who had been great about dealing with the full moon, had usually just left a plate of scrambled eggs out for her and tried to act like Alex turning into a wolf every month was no big deal.

She wrapped an arm around his shoulders, her head sagging against his chest out of sheer exhaustion until he set her down. She shook her head in response to his question, her smile brightening slightly. "I'll be fine."

She was so used to being self-reliant that having someone else take care of her was almost disorienting. But, she reflected as she settled more comfortably onto the couch, she could get used to it.

He nodded, the concern clear on his face, before he turned and walked over to the kitchen. He returned a moment later with a glass of water, which he put down on the table next to Alex. Then he was back in the kitchen, pulling out what he needed and beginning to make a simple veggie scramble, based on what he found in her fridge. He also cut up and cooked some leftover sausage, to incorporate it into the scramble.

When it was finally done, he pulled out a couple plates and forks, divvying up the scramble onto their plates - hers with a little more - and making sure the stove was turned off and everything was safe. Then he walked over to the couch, handing her one of the plates. Kyle took a seat near her feet, gently encouraging her legs to the inside of the couch to make room for him on the edge. Then he looked over to her, still looking vaguely worried.

"You look like shit," he said finally, a smile playing at his lips with his teasing. "Remind me not to try it."

Alex had almost dozed off when he came back and handed her a plate. As she took it, she sat up a little straighter, propping herself up against the arm of a couch with a pillow. Her legs moved to accommodate him.

"You really know how to talk to girls," she teased back. She tried to suppress her smile, but didn't quite succeed.

After one bite of breakfast, she realized there was something stuck between two of her back teeth, which turned out to be a thread from the blanket. She scowled at it before flicking it onto the carpet. It could be a lot worse. All things considered, this was a really good morning.

Edited 2016-03-24 03:06 (UTC)

"I do," he admits, as though it's a great burden. "What can I say, girls appreciate my honesty."

Kyle flashes another light smile before shoving more food in his mouth. He can't help but keep an eye on her even as he eats, not knowing how she's doing. Although she's handled this plenty of times on her own, he doesn't know what it entails or how much time she's spent bloody, bruised, or passed out as a result. She's the type to endure almost anything, but that doesn't make it easy or fun. He misses what it is that she tosses onto the floor, feeling like now's not the time to question it.

"How are you feeling?" He asks finally, unable to hold back his concern any longer.

"How do they keep their hands off of you?" Alex smiled and raised a skeptical eyebrow at him before turning her attention back to her breakfast.

"I'm fine, really." It was never a pleasant experience, but she'd been through it plenty of times and she knew that after a meal, a shower, and a nap, she'd be back to her usual self.

Her legs were stiff from being in the cage all night, so she swiveled around to stretch them out in front of her and rest her heels on the floor, her elbow knocking his arm in the process and then coming to rest just lightly touching his elbow. There was no reason she had to be sitting that close to him, but she wasn't even consciously aware of how close they were.

"This is really good, by the way." She gestured at her plate. "Thanks for making it."

"They don't." He shrugged, playing up his popularity, as if he was out every night with a new girl. There was a time that might have been true, a long time ago. Too much had changed since- Or had it? His mind floated back to Nancy and Skip and forced him back to the present moment before he could go any further. It wasn't like that and, anyway, it didn't matter right now.

"Any time," he answered honestly as his brain caught up with her words. Making breakfast like this was a breeze and he was more than happy to do it for a friend, especially when they were sick, and especially when they were as good looking as Alex. Not that he was thinking about her naked. He was tired, okay. "What else can I do?"

Alex glanced sideways at him, wondering if that was just a joke, a comment on her, or if he actually had a string of girls out there falling all over him. Not that she would ever be even a tiny bit jealous about something like that. The small flare of annoyance she felt at that thought was obviously something else.

She finished the last few bites of breakfast and set the plate down on the table.

At his words, she shook her head, smiling. "Really, thank you. No one's ever done this for me before."

"People suck. You deserve better than that." Kyle straightened from the couch, picking up both their plates on his way to go do the dishes. He wondered if she needed to sleep or what else he should be doing. Because she clearly wasn't going to tell him what was actually on her mind right now. Or maybe he was trying too hard.

He called over the sound of the water. "You need to tell me, or I'm going to start trying to guess and it won't be pretty."

His reaction puzzled her. It had never occurred to her to think of it like that - she didn't really deserve anything. She certainly didn't feel entitled to a cute guy cooking her breakfast and washing dishes and wanting to attend to her every need, though she was enjoying it so far. Her eyes momentarily narrowed as she blinked at him. Once the initial moment of confusion had passed, she suddenly really wanted to kiss him, but he was already getting up to clear their dishes.

Alex knew what she really needed was a hot shower. She didn't want to move, but she forced herself to, scowling in discomfort as she stood and stretched her shoulders and neck, trying to work out some of the tension. "There's nothing, honestly." She smiled at him to reassure him that she'd be okay. "I'm gonna take a shower."

She started towards the bathroom, then stopped and looked back at him. "You could stay, though." She'd probably just doze off after the shower, but she liked having him around.

Kyle looked over as he finished rinsing his fork and turned off the water, watching Alex rise and recognizing the stiffness and hesitation for what it was. He'd seen plenty of it in his fellow recruits during Base and even Specialized Training, when you exhausted muscles you didn't even know you had or made them so sore you weren't even sure you could walk. But you always did.

He nodded slowly when she told him there wasn't anything he could do, though her decision to shower helped him feel better. He was doing pretty well for himself and was perfect under control until she just had to follow it up with the comment about his staying. Then he couldn't help himself. "Is that an invitation?"

Flashing a cheesy smirk, he made it clear that he was joking, instead walking over to pick up the strand she'd tossed to the ground to throw away and fetching her water glass to wash as well. It would help him to keep busy a little while she showered. Naked. In the other room. Which he would not enter.

Alex had turned back towards the bathroom when he spoke. She really didn't know how to answer that, because it was obviously a joke, but part of her wanted to say yes.

This wasn't a good time for this; she didn't feel well enough to do anything but take a hot shower and then pass out for a few hours. But it was never a good time, was it? She was too busy, or they couldn't be together until he knew she was a werewolf, or she was leaving anyway so why bother, or a million other reasons. But, more than ever after how generous and caring he'd been this morning, she wanted him. No matter how bad of an idea it was.

Abruptly, she turned around, and said, as though answering a challenge, "What if it was?"

Kyle paused halfway through washing the glass, turning off the water and shifting to look at her. He expected a smile, a mischievous grin that suggested she was teasing him in return. Instead, he found a determined look, a suggestion that she might actually be serious beneath the taunting stare. His mind raced to find a response that was neither encouraging or discouraging and all the jokes seemed to lean one way or another. "I'd say maybe when you're not so sore."

He gave a small smile before turning back to the sink, intentionally distracting himself with the dishes again.

Alex's head was too achy to walk over and grab him, which she might otherwise have done. She was too tired even to ask whether he was still upset with her, or if he'd taken the time he'd needed to think about it. For now, his totally ambiguous replyy was as good as she was going to get.

She grimaced, nodding, and watched him work on the dishes for just a moment before heading once again for the shower.

Kyle finished with the dishes, glancing back at the door she had disappeared behind and half-tempted to take her up on her offer. He hovered there, not moving, until the urge passed. Instead, he took up his usual seat on the couch, sliding down until his head laid on squishy back, waiting for Alex to return.

Or trying. Kyle fell asleep a moment later, sleep deprived as well. At least this time, his dreams were good.

Alex spent at least ten minutes half-asleep leaning against the shower wall, just letting the hot water run over her. Finally, reluctantly, she actually washed herself, then shut the water off and toweled herself dry.

She'd probably be more frustrated by the whole Kyle situation if she were more awake. As it was, when she emerged from the bathroom and saw him asleep on the couch, she frowned, gritting her teeth together before going over to him. She just wanted to know, one way or the other, but he was right. She was too exhausted right now to have that conversation.

He looked peaceful, happy. Her grimace turned into a rueful smile. She wished he could always look that way - he deserved some peace.

His neck was at a weird angle. She grabbed a pillow and moved to put it behind his head. "Hey. Move. You'll hurt your neck."

Kyle startled awake with the voice beside him, sitting up suddenly and reaching out to take the pillow from her. He stopped halfway to it, realizing what was happening, and smiled up at her, lifting his head to allow her to set the pillow there. Then he slapped the couch beside him, still clearly half asleep.

"Come lay down. You need sleep more than I do." There was plenty of space for her to stretch out with her feet or head on his lap, or for her to curl up against him. He left it intentionally open, not encouraging her in any way beyond to join him.

Alex had never attacked anybody in her sleep, so it wasn't something she was expecting him to do. She braced for it quickly though, and just as quickly relaxed when he got himself under control.

"Yeah, yeah," she muttered. She grabbed another pillow and threw it at the arm of the couch opposite him, then lay down and stretched out, her feet almost reluctantly sliding onto his lap. She didn't want to make it weird.

Within seconds of her head hitting the pillow, she was asleep.

Kyle smiled as she stretched out, wishing he'd thought to grab a blanket for her. Too late now. He wrapped a hand around her legs to hold them in place as he shifted to a more comfortable position, then released them. His hand laid casually on her legs, waiting until she was at peace, if not asleep, before closing his eyes to follow suit.

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March open post

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