It's gold and it's glowing with all the life you have left

[hark_and_hush]

Who: Ruby, Wallie, OPEN
Where: The edge of the woods and then inside the woods
When: Night 56
What: Wolfy funtimes
Warnings: Potential for violence, but it's unlikely

[ Threads below and ready! If you prefer past tense, just tag with it and I'll match. OOC post here. ]

Comments

For Wallie

[hark_and_hush]

Ruby had called Wallie to meet her by the edge of the forest. She's been feeling more bold lately and that scares her, but maybe it's time she tries to see if she can control the wolf the way she used to.

It's been a long time and it took her a while to do it in the first place, but at least she knows she can trust Wallie, though she's thinking it might have been safer to ask Gwydion or Logan. She really hopes that her instincts are right about this.

Re: For Wallie

[reluctantsword]

Wallie is there, as promised. What Ruby might want is a mystery to him; it could be any number of things, and it's probably best not to jump to conclusions. Meeting at night near the woods is... well, it speaks of intrigue.

"Ruby." He greets her with a warm smile. "What did you want to talk about?"

[hark_and_hush]

She takes a deep breath. "I trust you." She starts to unhook her cloak, but she keeps it around her shoulders. "Do you trust me?"

He's kept her secret and he doesn't act like he's afraid of her. That has to mean something. She just hopes she isn't making a terrible mistake.

[reluctantsword]

He pauses, more because the question surprises him than because he honestly needs to consider the question.

"Yes, I trust you." Does he? After a moment, Wallie has to conclude that yes, he does. He always wants to see the best in people, but he never felt like he had to look that hard for it in Ruby. "What's going on?"

[hark_and_hush]

"Full moon." She gestures up with her head. She thinks that he'll catch on, but then he comes from a place without curses and magic, right? Maybe she needs to spell it out.

She sighs. "When I take this off, I'll be a wolf. I might need you to get it back on me if I can't control it. I haven't transformed in a long time." She clutches the cloak tightly. "You can say no. It might be dangerous. Before I learned to control it, I... I hurt someone."

Not-quite in control [open]

[hark_and_hush]

She's running and it's been so long since she's let herself run like this. Oh, the things she can smell. She flares her nostrils and growls. Prey.

[bostonhowler]

Brigid needs a run. A long run. The moon is high overhead and she manages to walk to the edge of the woods. Her breath plumes into the air. She glances behind her and pulls up her hair into a pony tail and then winds it up into a bun.

A deep breath in and then she takes off into the woods. Her claws grow, her fangs appear. Her eyes flash blue as she races through the trees. Bounding over a log, she catches the scent of a few different things. Her attention is caught by something in the trees. She skids to a stop, sniffing deeply.

Her lip curls up a bit, but she doesn't growl. She also doesn't move any closer or away. Curiosity is holding her still. The wolf is big, bigger than she's used to. But she hasn't smelled any alphas in town.

[hark_and_hush]

Ruby eyes the creature sharply. It isn't quite one of hers, but it's similar. The smell is so familiar, but just a little off.

She remembers the pack she'd met and she raises her hackles as she moves closer, a low growl rumbling. Her thoughts are jumbled, mixing with instinct and senses beyond what she's used to.

All she can focus on is the threat. That smell means a threat. She has to protect what's hers. Snow.

[bostonhowler]

Brigid holds her ground. During the full moon, she lets the wolf slip a little closer to the surface, giving her a confidence she doesn't have as a human.

Her claws dig into the ground under her. She sniffs the air and takes a step forward. Brigid offers no threat, no growl.

She settles into a crouch, Brigid cocks her head to the side; a curious puppy, confronted with an adult never seen before.

[hark_and_hush]

Ruby approaches Brigid slowly. She's alert and ready to act, but she's not quite issuing a threat so much as a defensive warning.

A little bit more of Ruby is leaking through and even if the wolf senses another wolf here, she's starting to see the difference. This isn't one of the dire wolves and it isn't exactly like her, either.

She sniffs at it cautiously.

In-control wolfy adventures [open]

[hark_and_hush]

Ruby shows her teeth and it would almost be a grin if she were a human girl right now. For the first time in a long time, Ruby and Red and the wolf are all one. There's no question of where any of them start or end. She's needed this like nothing else and she takes off, running and darting between trees.

The morning after [open]

[hark_and_hush]

Ruby had woken up in the woods with twigs and leaves in her hair, but all she'd felt was relief. The memories were still fuzzy, but she'd had control. She can remember that much and she needs to find Wallie and celebrate.

Reaching up to pull a twig out of her hair, she thinks she might need a shower first.

[greenisnteasy]

Bruce is out for his morning jog, skirting the edges of the trees as he goes, even if he's not super fond of seeing the changes in the park area thanks to the Hulk's rampage. He slows to a stop when he spots her, and he stares past her into the woods to make sure there isn't something pursuing her. His first thought is that she's been rejected by the scientists for whatever reason.

"Hey there," he calls, coming closer to her. "You okay?"

[hark_and_hush]

She looks up at him sharply as he breaks her reverie. "Bruce!"

Looking down she realizes she must look like a mess. Best case scenario, she looks like she just had sex in the woods. She laughs a little. Honestly, she's feeling a little manic after last night, her hands shaking with leftover adrenaline as her chest shakes. "Out for a stroll?"

Yeah, she's just going to... deflect.

[greenisnteasy]

He's still thinking she was just messed with by the guys in the white coats, and now he's even more concerned by how she's deflecting. He comes closer, looking her over for signs of injury or anything else more worrying than twigs in her hair.

"Morning jog. What about you? How are you feeling?"

[greatatboats]

Out and about was best for Clint right now. He couldn't just hang out in his attic all the time with his swiped liquor. It was antisocial and he was tired of feeling like the house was judging him despite the fact that most of the tenants were not people he ran into regularly. He actually didn't even know most of them which was okay with him. He did however find himself feeling like a prick when he was around Kenzi. She wanted him to be the person she knew, but he didn't know how to be him. He couldn't remember.

He set out into the woods on his own with his bow and arrows he managed to make in his alone time. He had a handful when he came, but he had more now. His quiver was strapped to his back to keep him from somehow losing them. He lost pretty much everything he put his hands on.

Clint did not expect to find a woman on his hunt. This was new. "Rough night?" He hadn't even bothered to draw an arrow.

[hark_and_hush]

Ruby was so lost in thought that she jumped when she heard his voice. She wasn't sure how she hadn't smelled him coming, but then she was a little lost in her own head.

"Just going for a morning stroll?" She couldn't help making it a little bit of a question. It really wasn't her best lie, especially when she could feel the twigs in her hair and there was dirt all over her long skirt. She really had to sell this better.

[greatatboats]

Clint tilted his head. He wasn't sure if he actually believed that. She was covered in brush and sitting on the ground. Something happened. Maybe she did what Laura warned him about and wandered out here on her own. Maybe whatever was out here just got to her. Laura hadn't exactly been specific about the bad guys, but this place didn't seem like it had a strict set of guidelines.

Instead he just smiled and stooped to offer her a hand. "Well, I'm not one to stand in the way of a morning stroll. Need an escort home maybe?" He wasn't going to press her about sitting in the woods on her own like that. Maybe she had a bad night. He wasn't going to pry.

[undomesticated]

Riley was out for a jog, both because she enjoyed running in the morning and because she was trying to get a better layout of the town. Humming to herself, the tune jilted and jerky as her feet pounded on the ground, she wasn't expecting to run into anyone out here so early in the morning. She especially wasn't expecting to run into anyone who had the distinct scent of wolf on them mixed with a disheveled appearance.

Her first thought was 'had it been a full moon last night?', followed by wondering how many werewolves there were in the small town. She slowed as she came closer, giving the woman a quick look of assessment. She didn't appear to be hurt and Riley couldn't pick up any blood, so it seemed it wasn't a bad change, as far as changes went. She waited until she got closer to say something, not wanting to give the cameras more than they already got. "Hey. Everything good?"

[hark_and_hush]

Ruby's nose wrinkles as she smells Riley coming. Cat? No, girl. The cat smell is faint, like there's cat hair on her clothes or something. It doesn't matter and Ruby shakes her head. "I'm alright."

Something is scratching at the back of her neck under her hair and her face twists a little in discomfort as she reaches up to dislodge a damp, dead leaf. She drops it on the ground and gives Riley a little smile. "You know, other than needing a shower pretty badly."

[undomesticated]

"Shower and maybe something to eat?" She'd seen some werewolves become ravenous after a shift, especially if they hadn't hunted and caught anything while shifted.

Coming a little closer, she slowly reached her hand up to get a stray piece of bark out of the woman's hair. "I guess it could have been worse, right? At least you're not naked."

After the morning after [For Wallie]

[hark_and_hush]

Ruby moves quickly through the town to Wallie's house. She can't remember how they interacted, but it must have been fine. There's no blood, no smell of it in the air, and she can remember enough to know that she had control last night.

It's early, but she knocks loudly, anyway. She has a feeling he hasn't slept, anyway.

Re: After the morning after [For Wallie]

[reluctantsword]

Wallie hasn't slept much, in fact. He's half convinced he's done something terrible, let loose a werewolf on the community, failed Ruby's request to make sure she was in control.

He hasn't been sure what to expect, but he's obediently kept her cloak safe, if nothing else.

By the time there's a knock on the door, Wallie's given up on sleep entirely and put coffee on, while he wanders around in a bathrobe and sweatpants. When he opens the door and sees Ruby, though, his face lights up with relief. She's all right. He can only hope everyone else is, too.

"Well." His smile is boyish, slightly helpless. "Come in, have some coffee."

[hark_and_hush]

Ruby grins in return. Coffee sounds nice and she steps inside, looking around. She hasn't been here before.

"It's all a little fuzzy, but I think it went alright, right? No one got hut?" She couldn't smell blood. She couldn't find any signs of anything bad happening and that has to count for something, right?

She turns to him for confirmation, though. She needs that. She's not really happy so much as she's manic, running on a hyper need for everything to be okay and for her to not have made a terrible mistake.

[reluctantsword]

"Not to my knowledge."

Wallie'd had an ear to his wrist most of the night, waiting for a call for help, or the sounds of trouble from town, anything that should suggest he ought to go attempt to intervene. His own close call -- and he wasn't even sure exactly how close it had been -- hardly seemed worth mentioning.

"I think everything turned out as well as we might expect. I think you can call this a success. How do you take your coffee?" He pulls a mug down from a cupboard and pours a cup for her.