undergrounds | you'll never know what hit you

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you'll never know what hit you

[ooc: This is the Kyle werewolf bite/curse log, plus random other stuff. Feel free to add a new thread or hit me up for plotting!]

i. WON'T SUSPECT A THING [CLOSED to Abigail] - backdated to earlier in March
Kyle arrived at the Widdowson Estate with relative calm. Where once the property was moderately intimidating, his previous chat with its owner had set him at ease and he now felt welcomed to the foreboding structure. Stepping up to the main stoop, he gave the door a few hard knocks and waited for either Abigail or one of her staff to open the door for him.

He wasn't expected and it didn't occur to him until standing at the door that she might not even be home. His concern for Alex was escalating, however, and if it was true that a witch could provide his friend with some kind of moon necklace, then he had to ask the most powerful witch he felt that he could ask. And then convince her that it was worth it, regardless of the price that he would need to pay.

ii. HURT YOU FROM INSIDE [OPEN to first response]
It was late into the evening when Kyle was out and about. While he hadn't exactly adapted the moniker of hunter, he had turned into something of a vigilante, keeping his eyes and ears out and trying to protect unsuspecting humans from vampires and other creatures of the night.

For once, it wasn't a vampire he stumbled onto, but a pair of injured people with what could only be animal scratches on their chests. Last he checked, there were no escaped wolves or rabid dogs in the area, which meant he was probably coming up on an actual werewolf. In wolf form. That would eat him alive.

He didn't pull his knife out yet, waiting for now as he followed the trail of blood. When he rounded the corner and came face-to-face with the werewolf, that's when he had a real problem. The thing was on him before he even had time to draw his weapon, teeth clamping down on his left shoulder while it clawed at his side. Kyle struggled to get the thing off of him, the air knocked out of him from hitting the ground.

[ooc: Feel free to jump in to fight it, scare it away, or find Kyle after it leaves!]

iii. THE POISON IN YOUR BONES [CLOSED to Nancy]
It wasn't the brightest idea. Nancy told him it was a less than ideal neighborhood and here he was, stumbling around it injured and desperate in the middle of the night. He found her building after some backtracking, disoriented and working off of a shit memory anyway, and ran his hand across all the buzzers. Someone finally let him in, while another tenant cursed him out for the late buzz and most didn't respond at all. Once inside, he made his way to Nancy's door and begin pounding on it.

His left arm was curled defensively against his body. Kyle had wrapped his t-shirt around the wound and tucked it under his hoodie, which he zipped up to hide his otherwise scratched and exposed torso as well. When Nancy finally opened the door, he practically fell against the doorway.

"Hi." A smile, red lips on a pale face. "I'm sorry. I didn't know where else to go."

The black of the hoodie hid the color of the blood, but there were still traces on his face and his hair that the hood couldn't hide. With more light, even the black hoodie would reveal the moisture it absorbed.

iv. THE LOVER TO YOUR NIGHTMARE [CLOSED to Alex] - forward-dated to tomorrow
Nancy had taken care of the bulk of his injuries, but it was the curse that worried him more than the injuries or the pain. When he found out that it was something that couldn't be immediately healed, he'd waited until he was alone and allowed himself to break down for a minute. Then he slept it off.

Not that he slept well, or very long. More nightmares, now of himself killing someone and transforming into the monster that Alex was so afraid of. He refused to kill a living person, yet he also refused to live with the threat hanging over his head, like Skip did. He wanted to go back to being a normal human. And while there was a possibility of that, right now, he was running late for a breakfast date of sorts. They were supposed to be cooking french toast.

Kyle followed someone into the building and knocked on Alex's door. His hoodie hid what damage remained, though it was very apparent on his face that he'd slept like shit and wasn't exactly in full health. As if nothing was wrong, he offered her a smile. "Sorry I'm late."

v. A HEAVY BURDEN THAT YOU CAN'T BEAR (Clubbing) [OPEN] - end of March anytime
Kyle wasn't running away exactly. He was biding his time, accepting his powerlessness while he waited for the witches that were helping him to do more. Since he couldn't do anything other than wait, he spent the time coping in his own way: loud music and alcohol.

He was on his fourth drink, already tipsy and trying to make his way to plastered. He spent equal time between the bar, ordering and drinking his shots and beer, and the dance floor, losing himself in whatever company he could find. It took him back to the days when he was the guy guys wanted to be and girls wanted to be with. When it was easy. Whatever could help him forget the rest of the shit for now, even if the ache in his shoulder was a constant reminder.

vi. WHAT YOU MADE OF ME (Hillingdon House) [OPEN] - end of March anytime
Although not exactly a hunter, Kyle had been accepted as part of Hillingdon and had made casual acquaintance there for information and resources. Now it was time to step it up. He spent hours for days on end at the House, trying to find people with information to chat with, to find out more about everything there was to know. Including the political bullshit, trying to figure out where Hillingdon stood and who was with who.

His other objective was to buy a rifle. The soldier was missing his old best friend and the security she provided. He knew the laws, which is why he'd put it off this long, but Alex was right to keep a gun with wooden bullets. Between the vampires and the werewolves, Kyle was getting to be uncomfortably in over his head and wanted to remedy that.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Nancy snaps in disappointment. "Drat- I had always wondered that, but didn't want to be rude and ask." Seriously, that's upsetting. Aren't you supposed to share similar features with your animal form? Wasn't it a rule?

"It'd at least help you narrow it down some."

"Oh. I don't know. I was going off what you said." He laughs at the idea of the both of them being disappointed in something they don't even know for sure. A witch and a human theorizing about werewolves as if they have a clue. "I'll ask one. It'd definitely be helpful if they do look alike."

"Sorry," she started, "I completely misheard you. But, yeah, one of us will have to, at any rate." Because now it was a mystery that needed to be solved. And they couldn't exactly get out the Underground Google.

Why such a thing didn't exist, she really, really wanted to know.

"Alright- and that's the last of the blood. Lavender and raspberries?"

"I will. You worry about finding me a cure or anti-curse or whatever the hell it's called." He tried to smile at the thought, but the result was something forced, so he let it drop away. Kyle was more worried than he generally let on and now was definitely no exception.

At the latter, a real smile returned and he dropped his arms slowly from the edge of the tub down into the pink water before scooting forward to give her space to wash his hair without making a complete mess. "Surprise me."

"I think calling it a cure is the best option." Simpler, at least.

"Surprise it is," she said, taking one of the bottles of shampoo from around her bathtub. Shifting, Nancy reaches up to her sink and takes down a cup she usually uses for drinking out of, and dunks it into the bath, picking up some of the warm water. Carefully, she drizzles it over his head, trying to avoid his face, but getting his hair wet. Once that's done, she pours a healthy amount of shampoo into her hands and starts to apply it to his hair.

A generous lather starts up, and Nancy wastes no time in working the shampoo throughout his hair, using her nails to give him a good scalp massage as she cleans. Somewhere through this, she's started to hum absentmindedly.

Kyle tilts his head back to help her keep the water from his face. He grimaces a little as she scrubs at his scalp, clearly having found a bruise or cut in there somewhere. It's not nearly bad enough to give attention to and he quickly encourages her to continue with a wave of his hand, dismissing any potential concern. Outside of the small pain one on part of his scalp, it feels good and he has to remind himself that now is not the time or place to pursue what his body is interested in.

Kyle listens to her hum in silence for a short while before feeling compelled to speak again. He's not generally one for comfortable silences.

"So which one is it?" He sniffs the air. "Is that... raspberry?"

She winces for him, when she hits the bruise, and makes a note to be more careful, the next time she trails her nails over the spot. Carefully, she massages the back of his neck where his scull meets his spine, letting him relax however much he wants.

She enjoys it, honestly. Men are at their best when they relax. It's cute, honestly.

"And here I thought the pink bubbles wouldn't give it away," she said cheekily, moving to massage the rest of his scalp a bit more. "I think you're just about lathered up. I'm gonna run some fresh water behind you, alright?"

Kyle leans into the massage, enjoying the feeling of being touched, pampered, and cared for. He sighs a little wistfully as she prepares to rinse his hair, knowing that the massage had to end sometime and yet wanting it to go on forever.

"If I wasn't so tired, I could stay here for hours," he murmurs, closing his eyes and tilting his head back again as he waits for her to help him rinse. "I owe you. Especially when you find that cure. I don't know how I'll repay you."

"I know- you'll fall asleep." Which she really didn't want him to do in her bathtub. An accidental drowning is not something she wanted to deal with, on top of everything else. With the water going behind him, she fills up some fresh, warm water, and starts to rinse his hair gently.

"You don't owe me anything."

"Yeah, okay, sure," he replies dismissively. Last time, he took her out to dinner. This time, he feels like he should be doing more. Kyle idly wonders if he should find her a place to live, which leads to thinking about being roommates, which leads to him wondering if he could handle that. Instead of thinking about it, because he's Kyle, he brings it up. "Hey, I have an idea. Why don't you come live with me? I mean, when I get my new place. You could keep this place for work, but then you could have someplace safer to sleep and hide your stuff in between."

Nancy nearly chokes on her own spit. "Come live with you?" Oh lord. "I- I couldn't. Thank you, that's an incredibly generous offer, but I just can't accept. It's far, far too much." She didn't deserve that. Having a place just for work would be nice, but...

Oh god. "I can't. I keep awful hours, anyway, and I'm a rubbish roommate. Ask my brothers, they'll tell you."

Her nose was starting to turn red.

"Not like that," he replies, misinterpreting her hesitation. "I don't want anything. You can chip in for rent when you can afford it. I don't care about the hours and I'd appreciate the company. I go a little crazy when I'm by myself too long, you know? It's part of the reason I've put off finding my own place already."

Not that his job pays that well, but he's fairly low maintenance and good at saving money, so he can certainly afford a two bedroom place.

"And you can't be any worse than the assholes I shared a barracks with," he laughs, though it's said endearingly. Kyle loves those people. There's a slight delirium to his words, between the injury and the fatigue, but he means the offer. Even if it was a terrible idea, which he actually thinks it's not, he'd mean it.

"I don't know," she says, rinsing his hair again. "I think you're in a lot of pain right now, Kyle. Which I'll get you something for next, promise, but... I've only just moved, and I couldn't, really." This conversation was going to go on for a while, and she didn't have the wherewithal to cut it short like she had the last time.

"Besides, wouldn't it be odd, you bringing girls over and they meet your hooker roommate?" Ultimate cock-block.

"You're not my 'hooker roommate,' you're my friend." He argues. Kyle considers adding that he doesn't bring that many girls home until he remembers his recent adventures with Skip and Alex and realizes that maybe that's not the best point to try to make. "If you don't want to, it's not like I'm going to force you. But you'd be doing me a favor."

Kyle closes his eyes again, trying to focus on their conversation with her hands in his hair and the pain in his shoulder. "Besides, it'd save me coming over here when I get hurt."

A favor. Oh, why does he have to put it like that it makes her a million times more likely to take him up on it.

She sighs.

"I'll think about it." Well. So much for that conversation.

"Are you planning on making this more of a habit? Should I take a first-aid course for when magic fails me?" Seriously, humans had some pretty useful items. They'd been able to help her wonderfully after her recent stay in the hospital.

He smiles. As far as he's concerned, that's probably a no, but at least she seems willing to entertain the idea. Kyle runs a hand over his chest, to try to get some of the water off, awkwardly chilly now that his body's crashing and he's sitting, wet, in tepid water. He doesn't say anything about it really, figuring they're not far off.

"We could take it together," he teases in response, though he agrees it might not be a terrible idea. "Just in case."

"Between the two of us, I think we could use it." Which is pretty much a yes.

She finishes rinsing out the rest of the shampoo, and moves away from the tub to fetch him a towel. It's not the fluffiest, but it does it's job. "Alright, I think you're good to go. I'll see what I've got for pain, if you want to get changed again."

She moves to leave the bathroom to start her mission.

"Like study buddies, but for injuries. Cruddy buddies?" He offers, joking around without really thinking much about it.

Kyle gingerly runs a hand through his hair to push it back, wincing with the effort. He carefully stands and steps out of the tub as Nancy retrieves the towel. He accepts it and immediately dries his face in order to give her a proper smile. "Thanks."

Once she leaves, he looks at his clothes and frowns a little. Kyle dries off as best he can with the injuries, removing his underwear and laying it over the bathtub's edge to dry. When he's finished, he wraps the towel around his waist and secures it with a twist. Then he walks into the other room to find Nancy. "Hey, uh, do you have some sweatpants and a t-shirt, by any chance? I'd rather not go commando unless I have to."

He doesn't mind being shirtless in her place, but he'll have to go home eventually. With his own shirt destroyed and the jacket patched with blood, Kyle feels a little weird wearing either. Unless he leaves right now, in the cover of the dark. But that still leaves the problem of zippers and chafing.

Nancy has to laugh. "You should have seen me when I was stuck in the hospital, then." Because that really seems to be a great term for the two of them. Cruddy buddies.

While he's getting dressed, Nancy's cleaning up a bit, and looking for some sort of pain reliever. Kyle's reappearance (which she really has to appreciate, wounds or no) causes her to look up. "Of course- sweats and a t-shirt. I can't promise you'll look great, but I'll do what I can." She leaves the kitchen for the matter of clothing, and returns shortly with a pair of baggy sweat pants and some odd free t-shirt.

"I figured this would work better than yoga pants." She hands them over. "Keep your shirt off, I'm going to bandage the wounds when you're dressed."

"Thanks," he offers again, in exchange for the clothes. Kyle slips behind the bathroom door, sliding the towel from around his body. He raises his voice to call through the space between them as he begins getting dressed in the makeshift clothing. "When were you in the hospital? What for?"

The sweatpants are a little short, but they fit well enough and he tugs them low on his hips to compensate for the length. He's a fraction of a second into putting on the shirt until he remembers the futility of the gesture. Kyle hooks the towel on what seems to be a drying hook and walks out of the bathroom again, laying the t-shirt over the back of a chair so he knows where it is for later.

Both his shoulder and side are red with inflammation, his shoulder also swollen and tight. He takes a seat where he was before, turning to face Nancy, trying to ignore the fact that blood is already slowly forcing its way through the thin scabs of his injuries. "I'd hardly call this dressed, but it seems like a good time to bandage some wounds."

"End of February," she explains. "I tripped on a patch of ice, going down some stairs. Real stupid reason to land yourself in A&E." That was what she was telling people had happened, and few seemed to actually buy it as the truth. But she didn't need people involved in her family affairs, at the end of the day. They were complicated enough without that.

"Bloody- yeah, close enough. Take a seat and let's start taping this up as best I can." They were really gonna need some medical classes here. "I'm gonna lay down some gauze, and I'll need you to put your good hand on it, alright? Starting with your shoulder. Then I'll tape a large bit of tape over it, and repeat." It was more for her benefit than for Kyle's, as she explained her thought process.

"Happy Valentine's Day to you. But I think I wouldn't mind a mundane injury like that next time. Gettin' kind of sick of all this supernatural shit." Not the people or even the fighting, but the dichotomous factions and ever present bullying and subterfuge that was reminding him more and more of his days in high school. Only now it was adults with real money and power playing at the same tricks.

He nods at her explanation and says nothing against it. It seems as good a description as what they might do with him in the army hospital. Maybe a little more tape and a lot more profanity, but mostly with the same result. Kyle settles and waits for her, offering his hand as needed. "Do you do this a lot?"

"I hear you," she echoes him. "Bright side is you should heal a lot faster now." As she speaks, she tapes carefully with his help. "But I understand what you're saying. My life has been surrounded by the supernatural since I can remember, but I can imagine how you must be feeling about it all." Once you start to notice it, it tends to be something you can't fully get rid of, the supernatural elements of their city.

"What, tape up attractive half-naked men in my flat? No, can't say I have."

"What?" He snaps to look at her, a little afraid of her words. It angers him to think one careless move might be changing him, even if it means something he can definitely benefit from. Maybe being a werewolf wouldn't be such a bad idea- No. No, it definitely would be. "Isn't that after I kill someone?"

He bristles at the idea, blaming the irritation on his fatigue and settling back down again, resting his arm on the table. "You can't take that back, you know. We both agree I'm attractive."

There's a moment, just a small moment where Nancy recoils from him. It's half a second long, just as long as the snap lasts. But when he sits back down, she's a bit more careful now. He wouldn't hurt her, not on purpose, but she'd thought that about Fagin, too.

"I'm not sure," she has to admit. "I always thought healing came with the bite." More research for her to do.

The humor brings a breath of fresh air into the room, lightening in up just the smallest amount. A nervous smile, and Nancy laughs. "I'm not dead, I can notice when someone's attractive."

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this is all so hella weird but I love it?

+1 ♥

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