WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU...

You'll never take me alive! A shot in the dark could come back to haunt you. With the long arm of the law ever extending, whether it holds a gun or an olive branch at the end is up to you.

Lev's non selective TRAVIS HACKETT from Supermassive's The Quarry

" Banana bread ? " Travis replies groggily, still half asleep without his morning coffee. " Banana bread's fine . " His expression nor his voice give any of it away, but the tender way his hand comes up to cover Lalo's is his way of recuperating the affection.

            he struggled to meet his older brother in the eye, instead dropping himself onto the bench with a thud. he’d need a long shower before he would go find his clothes once more and could start to pretend once more that he was as normal as could be. for his kids’ sake and his.

             ‘ hungry, mostly. ‘ chris pushed his hand through his graying hair, recoiling at the feeling of blood, still sticky. still, that was par for the course, he’d learned after the dozens of times he’d transformed. there was something else wrong though, that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

             tentatively, he moved to rub at his teeth with one calloused thumb, feeling something stuck in between them. while transforming was painful enough, the things that remained when he reverted back were more chilling. with a shuddering breath, he managed to dislodge whatever it was. flesh, badly torn and almost unrecognizable, but impossible to be anything else. it was almost enough to make him break down right then and there.

Travis watches him pensively. He shakes his head in resignment. Part of him blames Chris for all of this. The curse, the hunting, the endless worry. But he still loves him. He’s still his baby brother, even with bits of flesh stuck in his teeth. There is nothing in him that thinks he deserves any of this. The faster they find this white wolf, the faster they can all go back to the way things were.

But full moon has just passed, all they can do is lick their wounds and wait for the next one. Every month feels like a lifetime while somehow simultaneously never giving them enough time to prepare.

Stupid enough to get so close. The thought came before he could stop it and he shook it away as he suppressed another wince — The reminder of how many times he had been shot making the wounds, some already healed and some in the middle of healing, throb sharply. At least it wouldn’t leave any real damage, right? Not that many things could do that. “Did I try eating you or something?” Decker could not help but think that that was unlikely. He had, more or less, trained himself to leave humans alone even when he lost control of the werewolf side.

But the cop had still shot at him which meant that he had to have done something. Or it was a fear response. Either one wouldn’t have surprised Decker all that much given some of the full moons that he had experienced.

The spare seconds of silence were enough for him to try and take everything in. The things that he could remember from the night before, waking up to some officer hovering over him and being herded into a cop car. His chin raised slightly as he took a sniff of the air, trying to work through the sensation of smells, eyeing the officer beside him for a second.

There was a drag of silence at the question. “You think that you’re in a position to be making demands?” Maybe the aggression, the urge for violence, was what fed him those words but there was some truth to it. Decker did not have the benefit of being a giant monster out for blood anymore but that didn’t mean he stopped being dangerous.

" I don't know what your intentions were . A giant beast leapt at me . I didn't need more reason to defend myself . " He explains. His voice is monotone as he describes it, but despite how calm he’s presenting himself he still is anything but. The adrenaline has nearly completely left him. He’s just exhausted now.

The only reaction to the threat is a quirked brow. He doesn't even glance over. " I don't think you realise the position you're in , sir . " He says, his right hand pointedly falls from the steering wheel to the gun snugly resting in its holster on his belt. He doesn't unclasp it. But the message is clear. " I should be arresting you . Given your ... Condition . I suggest you try very hard not to have that happen . Threatening a police officer is not a good start . " Travis is still mulling over how he should handle this man. How honest he is, but especially how hostile he is will definitely impact whatever decision he ends up making.

“Travis,” he repeats the name he had read from papers multiple times. “Nice to meet you Travis,” he offers the man his hand.

He really was a suspicious sort, wasn’t he? Lalo was glad he had done his research beforehand, and came with a full cover story. “Just thought I’d offer an ear if you wanted it,” he says with a slight shrug. 

He watches the bob of Travis’ Adam’s apple as he takes a sip of his drink. “Only the pretty ones,” he tells him with a subtle smile and searches to meet his eyes. There was something quite exciting about doing this dance with a cop. Even though he was far from home, and he didn’t honestly think he had anything to fear from a small town sheriff like Travis, a cop was still a cop, and here he was, trying to seduce one. “It’s not that hard to find the puppy eyes attractive, you know.”

Travis definitely doesn't consider himself pretty or attractive by any measure of the words. So the flirting- that's what it is, right? It throws him completely off center. He can’t even remember the last time somebody tried flirting with him. Decades ago, probably. It's not a loss he has spent much time thinking about. He's not the type desperate for that kind of attention.

... Doesn't mean it's not nice to receive it every once in a while.

He meets Lalo’s eyes. The confusion clear on his experssion. His mind immediately offers the explanation that this is definitely not genuine. Why would someone like Lalo, a mysterious stranger from out of town who is actually attractive flirt with him if not for some nefarious ulterior motive?

                    “  we  need  to  pick  up  max.  ”  neither  of  them  is  the  other’s  ideal  companion,  right  now—  she  assumes  so,  anyway.  unless  travis  is  a  lot  more  fucked  up  than  she  realized.  or  maybe  the  list  of  his  ideal  companions  has  just  shortened  significantly  in  the  last  twelve  hours.  speaking  of  his  decimated  family  tree:  the  authorities  have  been  contacted  and  there’s  a  snowball's  chance  in  hell  that  she’s  leaving  him  to  talk  to  them  without  her  present  to  defend  herself.  ergo,  where  she  goes,  he  goes.  she  stands  before  him,  bloody  hands  on  her  hips.  “  c’mon.  the  real  cops  are  on  their  way  and  we  need  to  get  our  story  straight.  ”

@abcvethelaw​​  liked  for  a  starter  !!

Travis is vaguely aware that the night is ending, and that whatever state of shock has kept him going up to this point is likely to wear off soon. The curse has ended. 6 years of torment finally over. But only after half of his family has died for it. Both actions by the same hand. The irony is not lost on him.

In spite of all her actions, all the words exchanged between them, he never wished any ill will upon Laura. Not for killing Kaylee, not even when she hesitated to kill Silas. She’s far from his ideal companion right now. But above all, somehow, he finds that he’s just grateful to not be left alone to clean up the mess. Again. 

He thought that he was better at controlling it. As much as one could control something like the curse that tugged and dragged at him every full moon. As far as he knew, he had not attacked anything aside from the occasional animal — Something that was made easier when he knew to avoid North Kill and the Quarry as a whole. It helped that the monster inside of him seemed just as eager to be on his own as the human counterpart.

Over a decade with the moon-based curse meant that he could manage that with some ease. It was almost like he knew better than to go after humans when he was under the influence of a full moon. Most of the time.

The come down from full moons, though, were never an easy thing. The aggression and blood-lust did not fade as quickly as one would hope. Half the time, you would be left confused and a bit lost depending on where you had ended up during the night before. Not to mention the lack of clothing that came with the transformation back into a human.

The sheriff had been lucky. Decker could feel the aggression that had been pumping through him still — The urge to bare blunt teeth and dig them into his throat before /ripping/. The lucky aspect was the, in the end, the other man had walked away with only a punch to the face. A meager thing if you could have considered the alternative.

“What what was about?” He suppressed a wince at the pain pulsing through his veins. There was not much that he could do but sit and bare it as his body slowly stitched itself back together. The only evidence of their apparent struggle from a mere few hours ago the slowly healing bullet wounds along Decker’s body.

In all honesty, all he wanted was to find some clothes to put on and go home. Prepare himself for the next full moon.

Travis finally glances towards him as he tries to play dumb. As if the look on his face wasnt enough to express his annoyance already he sighs deeply as he turns his attention back on the road. “ I emptied the clip in my gun on you , ten minutes later you’re sitting here next to me fresh as a daisy . How stupid do you think I am ? “ he snaps.

Fresh as a daisy might’ve been a bit of an overstatement. Though, the actively healing bullet wounds don’t do much to help his case either. 

Of course Travis already knows exactly what this is about. He’s seen Chris, Kaylee and Caleb transform himself. Has dealt with the repercussions of having werewolf family for years now. But whatever this man is, however similar, the differences are what fascinate him. Most blatantly how different his werewolf form had looked. If there are more like him out there he needs to know.

He smiles wide as the sheriff finally takes a seat. Though the man’s hesitance is clear, he takes it as encouragement that he didn’t seem to be put off by the flirting.

The corner of his lip tugs up at the way the sheriff asks his name. “Eduardo, but you can call me Lalo,” he delivers the well practised line smoothly, his accent coming though clearly as he says his own name. He turns more towards the sheriff on his stool, opens his body language to him, “Are you writing this down, officer—?” who? he left the end of the teasing question open with an expectant look.

He takes a sip of his whiskey. “So, may I ask what got you looking all puppy-dog-in-the-rain-like back there. Had a long night?” He was a bit surprised at how genuine that question turned. He didn’t know yet the extent of what this man had gone through. He had read the police reports, and the speculation in the papers of what had happened in this town two years ago. Still, he did not care about this man, and there was rarely room for sympathy in his line of work.

“ It’s Travis . “ He responds curtly. He's gotten used to sticking to his first name since what's locally referred to as 'the incident'. The amount of reporters, internet sleuths or general crime junkies that have sought out the area after what happened has dwindled down significantly over the years. But if he has to hear 'Hackett? Like Hackett's Quarry?' one more time he might actually go crazy. He’s even taken to leaving his nametag off his uniform.

The weirdly sincere concern makes him frown. Okay, maybe he had been sulking a little bit. But surely puppy in the rain is a bit much. Either way, why would he care? “ What’s it to you ? “ He asks, doing nothing to hide his suspicion. After a tense pause, he sighs. “ ... I mean , a long night . Yeah . I guess . “ He adds awkwardly. 

He only glares at her through her laughter. He knows he deserves this, deep down somewhere, so he doesn’t interrupt. Just stands there quietly as she lets it all out. The knowledge nor his compliance make him any less annoyed though. This is exactly what he meant. Out of all the people Chris could have attacked it just had to be the most smart-ass, uncooperative kids.

“ I wish I could , I really wish I could . “ He cryptically responds. The words are genuine despite their vagueness and despite Travis’s lack of emotional expression. There is nothing he would want more than to let them go, unharmed, and to never see either of them again. Leave this all behind him. He bends down to place the platter of food he brought for her on the ground. It’s just a bowl of soup and a few pieces of bread. He gently pushes it inside before raising again.

   " you could ask a little nicer. “ the brunet mutters as eyes narrow into a small glare for but a brief second – obviously, the teen doesn’t like to be snapped at like this, but at least dylan can understand that this mess of a situation isn’t doing anyone good as far as their levels of stress went. much less for someone so directly connected to it all. granted he’s not doing .. too well himself, if he’s honest, but there’ll be time to break down later. if they only manage to make it out of there, that is. 

  “ well if someone let us know why we shouldn’t stay outside, none of this would be happening either. so y’know … “ he pauses, unsure whether pushing the matter regarding the cop’s family is the right way to go, before he decides against it. there’s time for blasé dylan and his jokes and this isn’t it. “ could just say there’s a shit ton of bears or something, it might have kept us inside. “ probably. well – or they would have laughed it off and stayed outside, anyway. which is definitely more likely. if only they knew … 

  then perhaps he wouldn’t need a reminder of just how deep into this they were, every time hands reached for something, only for his brain to catch up to the fact that he was now lacking one. ignoring the sight of the stump, dylan grabs a hold of the vial, popping it open with his remaining hand. “ uh .. that’s gross. “ nevermind the fact that he’s caked in dirt and dried blood already, but it’s mostly the smell that hits his nostrils that gets him. “ and this is supposed to help? ‘cause i’m not so much into blood play, man, uh – “ at this rate, he’ll do anything, so he takes a deep breath and tilts his head, emptying the vial on his face, before smearing it around with his hand. “ yup, still feels absolutely disgusting … don’t know what i expected, really. “

Travis only rolls his eyes, then starts tuning out his further complaining about one sentence in. Convinced he won’t say anything of worth, he instead turns his attention to their surroundings. It’s a strange feeling, he grew up in these woods. Knows them like the back of his hand. He could fill several novels with the childhood memories he has with these trees as their backdrop. 

They used to feel safe. Now, under the blanket of night with only the unsettling light the full moon provides to guide them. It’s like a cruel mockery of what it once was. 

“ Just hurry it up . “ He snaps when he realises the kid is still complaining. They’re sitting ducks out here. The sheriff only has his service gun. He’s grateful to have a weapon at all, but he knows it would barely be enough to inconvenience a werewolf if it did come to that. He’d really rather not shoot any of his lycan family (again). For that, he’s almost grateful he doesn’t have the shotgun with the silver bullets.