big dick energy

“Do I look like I’m fucking married?” Iann replied, more testy than any regular person would be, as he held up his left hand.    “I found out when I was really young and I guess I’ve just been obsessing ever since.  Like a nerd,” Iann said it, before Bobby did.  Granted she could always call him a creep, which technically suited him as well.  

He grinned though, at her questions and wagged a finger at her.  “See - I like this.  Pulling from pop culture, lots of which is right, but only in certain ways.  And other things are wrong, but only in different ways.  It is very confusing and as luck would have it the University library has a great section for newbies.  I think it’s called ‘Are You New?’.  And funny enough, I don’t think they meant it as a joke.  Or maybe they did…”  Cassie had an ironic sense of humour, sometimes.  

“Go there, read through some of the pamphlets and brochures.  You’re not the only special bastard to stumble into this town a newly-made whatever.  Babyvamps, werepups, hell, I once knew of a merm with amnesia who thought he was human.  The library’s got you covered.  If you go to City Hall they’ll just direct you there.”

Watching her suck down the thick fleshy milkshake was nothing short of disgusting, particularly her pleasure.  Iann could face certain aspects of death and rot without blinking an eye; other things still made him instinctively squeamish.  He looked at Bobby and gave her a watery smile.  “Tastes good huh?  Yeah it does.”

He nodded when she said she’d find someone to chain her up.  “Ask the hardware store to give you werewolf chains, they sell it by the yard.  We have town maps downstairs in the lobby, I’ll show you directions to the hardware and the university, when we’re done here.”  But as for going feral, Iann’s mouth screwed to the side.

“You could end up killing someone.  Or end up getting killed.  A pack could find you and subdue you.  If you get tranq’d by the cops, it only lasts a few hours because of your healing factor, and they’d just give you enough to transport you back to their holding cell to wait out the night.  If someone else, ah, captures you…well,”  Iann gave a one-shouldered shrug.  “That’s just a risk you’d take.  Some vampires find wolfblood very tasty, makes ‘em verile.  And some witches find plenty of uses for wolf parts.”

The food came then, warmed slices of bright red meat for Bobby, and a steak sandwich for Iann.  He figured if he was going to have to smell raw beef, he might as well be eating beef himself.

“Good luck charm huh?“ Iann grunted between bites. “Because you turned into a wolf, or because that werewolf didn’t kill you?”

“Yeah, you look like you’d be married cause you look old.” Bobby was matter of fact in her tone, shrugging and leaning back in her seat. She wrapped her lips around her straw and slurped, pumping her eyebrows playfully at Iann. “It tastes surprisingly good. Want a sip?” She clocked his discomfort and was fully throwing it in his face. 

“This town really has everything.” Bobby thought it sounded fantastical and odd for the town’s hardware store to have werewolf chains. “Are there other places like this? For years these people have existed?” It took a moment of Bobby staring into space, thinking about all the times she could have encountered a supernatural being without even realizing it before something clicked. “I always thought one of my foster moms was a witch. I found eyes in her kitchen pantry once, but no one believed me.” Bobby huffed, rolling her eyes. “I knew I was right.”

Bobby audibly grunted when the food came and only paused for a moment before digging in - like an animal, but she’d always eaten like this. The raw meat had a natural sweet quality to it and Bob ran her tongue along her teeth, searching further for the taste after each bite. She was so tired and hungry she didn’t register it as something new and animalistic she was doing. “Haven’t you always wanted to sink your teeth into raw meat? I guess this is a plus. I remember staring at slabs of red meat at the grocery stores and just wanting to bite.”

Ruby couldn’t help the small huff of laughter as the woman made a joke in return. “Don’t push your luck, honey,” she said of any completion of said art. She watched as the woman seemed to take in the information Ruby gave her, even indirectly. When she raised her nose to give Ruby a sniff, Ruby stood still, letting herself be… well, smelled. She remembered being new to what she was. How terrifying it was, how if she hadn’t had Ryden there with her she probably would’ve died. 

 So Ruby could empathize. But she couldn’t do that if this woman wouldn’t talk to her. She waited for an answer, and when it came, Ruby’s concern grew exponentially. “Alright. A week then.” She looked around, not that it mattered if anyone knew this woman was a wolf; everyone here was something, even if it was a human that was ‘in the know,’ like Iann. 

“You got somebody after you?” Ruby asked, taking a small step forwards. “If you do, we can take care of it. The Sheriff’s a good man. You can talk to him. If not…” She checked her watch, noting the time between now and the next full moon. “We can take care o’ other stuff too. First shift ain’t no fun, but… lots of people ‘round town to help you out.” 

She gave the woman a soft smile. “I’m Ruby, by the way. I was bitten too. ‘Round two years ago now. Here. She pushed up her left sleeve over the bite mark on her forearm. It marred the colorful sunburst tattoo inked onto her skin there, but the mark was was unmistakable. “See? Bitten.” 

Blowing a huff of air out of her lips, she hauled her backpack further up onto her shoulder and finally approached Ruby, now that an arrest was off the table. She was trying to listen to Iann too, her Yoda, when he said the cops could be trusted. This one, at least, seemed alright and something about her smell comforted Bobby. Ruby. “I’m Bob,” she said when she finally stepped up to the woman, giving her a small, but genuine smile. “Bob and Ruby both kind of seem like dog names, huh?”

Ruby’s first question made a tight and wide smile bloom on Bobby’s face, partnering a curious gleam in her eye when she heard the cop guessed it. Maybe Bobby would have super wolf senses too, or maybe Bob was that much of an open book. For a moment she thought about actually telling Ruby, but old habits died hard. Besides, she was already picturing the exasperated look on the woman’s face when she inevitably had to tell her the backstory and Ruby learned why someone was after her. 

“I don’t want to talk to some dusty old sheriff.” Bobby’s eyes narrowed, but she conceded. “I’ll talk to you. No one’s after me though, it’s fine.” The tight smile returned. Bob always smiled when she lied. “But...this guy told me you guys can throw me in a cell during the first...” Bob scratched the gauze wrapped around her right forearm, the position mirroring Ruby’s bite. She had clumsily rewrapped it herself that morning, with a little help from the insistent Pixi. “Mine isn’t as pretty as yours yet.” 

“I don’t want to be thrown in a cell,” she admitted. “I don’t...want people watching me when this happens. Has seriously, no one done this alone before?” Bob couldn’t shake the image of her body contorting on the floor of a jail cell, people sipping their coffees and watching as she completely lost control like she was a sideshow. She’d never seen anyone turn, all she had to draw from were nightmares. “What was your first night like? How much do you even get to remember?”

“It’s spelled On-the-nose but it’s pronounced Pettaline, ma’am.” People who didn’t care for cops usually made it pretty clear within the first couple of seconds they saw you, so Ephram generally made it a point not to react to that with any answering hostility. It was rarely worth it and just got in the way of the job he intended to do, and he had thick skin when it came to his professional capacity.

He held up his hands and stepped back out of the way as Bobby passed, but stayed close enough once she started investigating the knocked-out criminals. “Operate on you, yeah. It’s entirely possible they might have had some other goal in mind, but that’s the particulars of this location’s history.” Ephram holstered his service revolver and stooped to secure the knocked-out would-be hostage takers before calling in to dispatch to send out a squad car and officers to take them in to the station. He gave Bobby a tight grin and said, “Sometimes it pays to be brushed up on your horror movies in this town. Especially when you work –”

The noise from the alley interrupted him, and Ephram frowned, returning Bobby’s look. “If I told you to stay put while I check that out, any chance you’d actually listen to me? What’s your name, anyhow?” The sound of the high window cracking from the room where Bobby had been held broke into his question, and Ephram diverted from that line of conversation, instead asking, “–did you see any more others than who’s already laid out on the floor here?”

Before Pettaline could start moving both men, Bobby took her chance. Without comment, Bob leaned over and snatched the unmoved man’s phone out of his jacket in one smooth motion. It didn’t even look like a burner phone and Bobby wanted to scoff at the amateur hour set up these guys had. It took them barely any time to be caught. To be fair, her shouts probably didn’t help them out in that regard. “Evidence,” she quipped before the sheriff could say anything, holding up the phone and giving him a wolfish (ha) smile that indicated she was more excited about having the phone than she should be.

All the westerns she’d seen told her that this guy was by the book, but maybe he’d surprise her when wannabe surgeons were loose in his town. Bob slipped the phone into the pocket of her overalls, flashing the cop a toothy grin and introducing herself - sort of. “I’m Bob.” Another noise from the alleyway, a string of curses. “Those were the only two dicks I had to deal with, but they were waiting for something.” 

Bob gestured for Ephram to move first - she was no hero - when they got out into the alleyway the first thing she saw was a black truck, the cab empty of a driver, but the bed full of some kind of gear covered with a shiny metallic tarp. A short and stout man, dressed surprisingly well for how nondescript the truck was, uncovered a corner of the tarp. When Bob gracelessly popped into the alleyway, he looked up with his eyes widening. There was a split second where it looked like he may have put his hands up, but he ended up diving behind the truck and firing a round wildly over his head. 

Iann’s inspection had little to do with good bedside manner, and everything to do with making sure she wasn’t infected or some further development happened that would need attending too.  After all, her story - for what it was worth - still didn’t quite jive in Iann’s mind.  Someone sent to kill her (implying that whatever Bobby’d done was either very bad or the person who sent the hit on her was very extreme) and yet they instead turned her into a werewolf. 

There was some discrepancy there; but Iann had gathered by now that he’d gotten Bobby at a ‘good’ moment in her delirium, when she was weak and willing enough to fill Iann in on some details.  He wasn’t sure he’d get that lucky if he asked for more details now that she was restored.  

However, Iann had spent enough time with werewolves to know that not all werewolves were the same.  The varied wildly on the biological and magical danger scale, some leaning towards semi-demonic, others merely akin to large puppydogs.  If Iann didn’t check Bobby’s injuries, there was always the possibility of an infection so bad it could lead to amputation. Werewolf healing factor or not.  Iann would rather not have it head to that…considering it had already happened once before.

So he checked her, and he seemed grudgingly okay with how it looked.  Food was important though - a werewolf in transition needed to be fed.

“You could definitely eat a horse,” Iann said as they headed up to the bistro.  “Raw and living horsemeat too. And if you got questions, I got answers.  I just don’t got fast thumbs - it’s easier to just talk to you.”

As they sat he did pull out his phone though, putting on his glasses so he could find her questions. They were important enough to re-address now.  But first –

“Amanita, can you get her the werewolf special? And the usual for me is fine,” Iann asked the waitress, who nodded perkily and bounced away.  

“Ahhh okay lesse here.”  Iann tapped his phone again.  “Okay - silver is a thing.  Externally it’s itchy, but inside you - like a knife or a bullet - it can lead to infection. Just keep away from it in general.  You can learn the rules as you go - the cops here aren’t like they are out in the world though,” Iann said with a smile.

“And they get pretty upset if you try to treat them like regular pigs, so.  Just think of them like exasperated kindergarten teachers and not a power-hungry bigoted boysclub, and you’ll do fine.  This town is spooky because it’s a supernatural town. The only reason you even found it was because you’re a werewolf now.  It’s secret, hidden from humans.  Well, normal humans.”

Amanita returned with two milkshakes - vanilla for Iann and a red one for Bobby.  “Drink it, it’s meaty.  You might gag first but keep drinking and you’ll love it.”

He took a drag from his own milkshake.  “I know all this because I just do.  And I helped you because you were bleeding everywhere. You’ll be feral the first few times you shift, so it’s better to keep yourself chained up or safely locked up, yeah.  The cops can help you with that, incidentally.  When that feralness goes away depends on your ability to handle it. After that you can learn how to shift at will.  And you’ll be hairy, but no one cares.”

Then with a big flourish, he pulled her baseball cap out from his pocket, and Iann grinned widely.  “Voila!”

Bobby put an elbow on the table, leaning her head on her fist and watching Iann curiously as he put on his glasses - something that made her lips quirk up - and quickly went through her questions. She had even more, building up as they sat there. Enough that she already was feeling antsy and like she wanted to cut Iann off.

“I didn’t like my kindergarten teachers either,” Bobby gave a sharp nod and a skeptical look, but he was right. There was no reason to give the cops in a new town a reason to hate her anyway, especially when Bob liked to play under the radar. “Normal humans. You’re not normal. What, your spouse a werewolf? Are you some kind of vampire thrall? Oh, or a witch thrall. Is that a thing? Probably, right? Are vampire thralls an actual thing too? Goddamn, dude. Is there like a pamphlet about this shit? There really should be.”  

Motormouth was officially on, but just as Bobby was building up momentum, her milkshake was set on the table with a clang that sounded way too loud to Bob. Initially, she sneered, but when she actually caught a whiff and looked at the concoction, there was some deep caveman part of her that wanted it. It was the same way she always felt while staring at raw meat, werewolf or no. Bobby always wanted to sink her teeth into it. She started drinking without complaint, any nausea roiling her stomach fading. 

Bobby grimaced at Iann’s suggestion. She expected she’d have to get locked up during the full moon she just...well, she thought that by then she would have someone in this town she could ask - the other option was horrifying. Bobby could picture it already, her shoved in a cell with uniformed cops she didn’t know, didn’t like, didn’t trust just staring. It didn’t matter how much of disgruntled kindergarten teachers they were, the idea didn’t sit well with her. “Sounds like a fucking nightmare. I’ll find someone else to chain me up, thank you!” A gnawing voice in the back of her head admitted that she’d never find someone she trusted enough to do that. “What happens if I just...go feral? No one there. Like, I get angry and turn or something, if that’s a thing. Or I don’t get chained up in time. People in this town are probably capable, would they...” Bobby shook her head, brow furrowed. “They gotta have procedures in place for that, that I’m hoping include tranqs.”

Maya reacted immediately when a woman ask her to cover me. Even as she was pulled into an alley, her head swiveled back to see where the threat was. She expected to see some creepy dude. Without having to look, she put herself between the stranger and the street, effectively blocking anyone’s view. 

The words the stranger said sunk in quicker than usual thanks to Maya’s immediate jump to high alert. Her posture relaxed as she huffed a laugh. She didn’t move though, still blocking the stranger from this mysterious tandem bikes fanatic. “Jesus, give a bitch a heart attack, why don’t you?” Maya said with no malice in her voice. 

She felt a bittersweet tug at her heart when the stranger said she smelled good. It reminded her of how Ruby used to give her shit for smelling like Ryden. But it wouldn’t be that anymore. She pushed the feeling aside. Instead, Maya replied, “Probably, I just came from work.” 

The smile that found its place on Bobby’s lips when the stranger, without question, got into a protective pose in front of her was blinding. Bobby was just tickled someone actually listened to her. Someone who helped without question was always an interesting type too. “I like keeping things exciting and I’ve found inducing a heart attack is pretty spontaneous,” Bobby said quietly, her ears now catching the slow clicks of a bicycle being walked on a sidewalk. Showtime.

There was a doorway that partially obscured any part of Bobby that the sweet-smelling girl didn’t. She completely pressed herself against it, feeling the cool metal of the door on her palms as she watched a blue head pass by, making questioning coos as they did. “It’s weird, right?” Bobby asked, stepping out of the doorway, peeking her head out of the alleyway to follow that bobbing blue speck until it disappeared around a corner. “This town is weird. I don’t even know how to ride a bike.” Bobby turned back to the stranger, giving her a questioning look.

“Well after you made a big to-do about being able to pay or whatever last night, I figured you would.  Although that might’ve just been the raging fever talking considering you were literally heavily wounded by a werewolf attack.”  Iann grouchily ignored the ‘Doctor’ comment, wanting to snipe that it was his brother who was the doctor; but saying that would be meaningless to Bobby, who didn’t know shit from shinola.

Instead, he just put the back of his hand on her forehead, then took her bitten arm and inspected the dressing.  There was a spot of blood, but not much else.  “Ditching right now is probably not the best idea because you’re fucked up,” Iann said, figuring he should go for as plain and blunt an explanation as he could. 

 “You’ll recover eventually, but what you need right now is a place to rest and recuperate while your body…lycanthropates.”  He’d just made up that word, it was useful.

“So jaunting about hauling around this old thing and trying to hit on pretty chicas is probably not a good idea right now.”

Then the questions started up again.  It wasn’t like Bobby was burdened with them but more like once she started to ask, she couldn’t stop.  Iann stared at her flatly, although he was completely happy to answer the questions.  Just not standing in the hallway of his Inn.

“Are you hungry?  I’ll bet you’re starving right about now, hm.  Do me a huge favour and go stow your crap back in your room, huh? Then come with me.”

Bobby couldn’t help herself from flinching from Iann’s touch, like the back of his hand scalded her. “Don’t...” she began to say, before exhaling through flared nostrils and allowing Iann to inspect her wound, her fever. He had already patched her up, crossed that line when she was delirious, it shouldn’t hurt to allow him to do the same thing now, but still, her jaw was clenched as he took a look at her wound.

She talked a big game, but she always went home alone. Bobby had been alone for years. Sitting up in her ivory tower she practically built herself, purposefully cutting herself off from the real world. Bobby hadn’t been touched by someone that cared about her since she was twenty-two and it had been a while before that too. 

The relief when he let her go was palpable, but she felt tempered now, an almost contrite expression on her face as she nodded, actually listened without fighting and let out a quiet, “Yeah, okay,” before turning back to her room to put her things away. 

Iann was still there when she came out, scratching the back of her neck. “I could eat a horse,” she quipped, trying to shake herself off. She gave Iann a smirk that wasn’t all the way there. “And I could eat a horse now, right? Weird. Okay Bossman, lead the way. But just so you know, I’m not fucked up. I feel fine.” Lie. Her body no longer felt like her own, something unfamiliar was buzzing through her veins and she felt like her teeth were clenched all the time now and she just wanted to hit something. 

Miguel nodded along to her question. The idea was close enough. Molly had her name before Miguel had his after-all. “Yeah, something like that.” He smiled a little as Molly nuzzled her lap and wagged her tail gently. 

“Yeah. A bit. I don’t know any witches that can cure lycanthropy, but I know a few that might be able to help depending on what you’re looking for. Full moon charms, things like that, to help the transition,” he was babbling just a tiny bit. 

Miguel didn’t introduce himself as a witch, he didn’t feel particularly witchy at the moment, but he could always send customers to Ciara.  

Bobby slumped in her seat beside Miguel, an overdramatic pout on her face. Iann had already filled her in on moon charms, that wasn’t what she wanted. She just wanted to be human again, get the hell out of this town and go back to her perfect little isolated life where she didn’t have to venture outside of her apartment for anything other than going to the dispensary. “Dude, this sucks.” She slumped all the way over now, onto Molly, wrapping up the dog in a full-body hug before she started to get wriggly, preferring freedom to a stranger smothering her. 

She snapped up, turning to Miguel again with a raised eyebrow. “I don’t believe that in thousands of years, no one has ever even tried to find a cure for this shit. You know what, if no one else is gonna do it, I am.” Bobby sat up, new energy invigorating her body. “I’d bet my life that I’m smarter than anyone else that’s tried.” And she kind of was betting her life.

Bobby’s scrabbling against the wall in an attempt to reach the high windows had the effect of obscuring, for a little while at least, the sounds coming from the main part of the abandoned, ramshackle candy shop: some shouts, a brief tussle, shots fired and then one of the voices from before saying, “We got a hostage! In the back room there, so you better not shoot me or my other friend in there is gonna kill her before you have a chance!”

A banging came on the door and the voice continued, “Hey, wolf chick, tell this fuckin’ pig you’re locked in there tight and totally helpless!”

There was a low, scoffing response, and then another, louder, more definitive bang against the door, followed by the distinct sound of a body sliding down against it. And then it was unlocked, and a tall blond man gingerly stepped around the body he’d shoved aside in order to open it, his firearm held downwards.

“Well I’ll be a griffin’s grandma,” he said, then holstered his gun, tugging the front brim of his hat. “Sheriff Ephram Pettaline. Didn’t think they actually did have anybody back here – you hurt? They didn’t operate on you none yet, did they?” He craned his neck from side to side, as if he was trying to see all around Bobby for possible operation sites.

When Bobby heard more shouting, about a hostage, she stopped her scrabbling, still halfway up the wall, hands clinging desperately to the window sill as she turned her wide eyes towards the closed door that the commotion was coming from. Gunshots, Bobby could smell the gun powder and something animalistic inside of her raised its hackles. She never had been a fan of guns. Too unpredictable for her like. She loved a good right hook, though.

She dropped from where she was attempting to perch and leaned up against the wall, furrowed brows staring at the door as she waited for whoever had come to save her to either get killed or get it done. She resented having been put in the position of the damsel in distress, but hell, she’d take the help. Even if it was from a cop. Who else did she think was going to come for her? Just a helpful citizen walking down the street? Still, her gut reaction was to sneer when she saw him come in, sheriff’s hat and all. “We must be in a fucking western,” she murmured to herself, blowing out an exhale of relief. 

“Howdy,” Bobby gave him a quick two-finger salute. “Sheriff On-the-nose. They just knocked me out and locked me up. Sounded like they were waiting for something. I’m fine, I’m fine. Don’t touch me,” she said preemptively, brushing past Pettaline without touching him, through the door where she saw the bodies of her captors. Wordlessly, expressionless, she tapped the hand of one with her foot, looking down at him curiously. She’d only seen a dead body once before and she had poked at it then too. Neither of the bodies was the wolf that turned her, is what she realized after her inspection. “They wanted to operate on me? You sure? Dude, I think you’ve been watching too many horror movies.”

After a night of deliberating, Iann eventually called Aunt Jasmine back in Portland.  She’d know best - she’d been at the house the longest, and Aunt Daisy would just try to distract him, while Aunt Poppy didn’t have time for indulging in his nostalgic nonsense, plus she’d convince him to come down this weekend to fix something or the other, and Iann already had a packed schedule.  

And he knew he’d drop all of it, for the Aunts.

He asked about a girl named ‘Bobby Harlow’, and Aunt Jasmine eventually said she kind of remembered a name like that.  It was before his mother ended up in the hospital, so about ten or twelve years.  Iann did the math in his head’ by then, Bobbly would’ve been an adult, he presumed.  Mostly an adult.  Aunt Jasmine said that Aunt Carnation seemed to know her, and that was all Aunt Jasmine remembered.

Iann brooded on the call after saying his goodbyes (dodging the questions of visiting Portland with promises) as he thought about Bobby.  Did he want to bring it up, or no?  Everything screamed no, but his curiousity meeped ‘yes’. Dammit.

When the texts came in, Iann couldn’t help but smile at first.  He’d been hoping this would happen in some form or another.

[TXT] yes, but it doesn’t do much

[TXT] full ass

[TXT] maybe.  perhaps.  they do everything

[TXT] is death a cure?

[TXT] it’s 

But Iann grunted because the questions were coming faster than Iann could reply.  Fortunately he got to the Inn by the time her last text came in, and Iann nabbed the baseball hat from the back office and jogged up the stairs.  

Which opened right onto Bobby, as she was tromping down the hall.

“Whoa - what?  Oh - “ Iann started to say, until he noticed her duffel slung in her arm.  Folding the baseball cap into his arm, Iann thinned his eyes at her.  “Hey…Are you trying to ditch?”

Bobby froze in a ridiculous position when she saw Iann, mid-step like she was just hit while playing freeze tag, her eyes wide with an expression that basically said: ruh roh. In an instant she melted, scoffing at Iann in an overdramatic fashion that reeked of overcompensating. “Ditch? What? No?” Once more she sputtered unconvincingly shaking her head, before stopping, biting at her bottom lip and inclining her head towards Iann. “Okay yeah. But relax, Dr. Wannabe, I was gonna pay up.”

Hefting the duffel bag back on her shoulder, she set Benny down on the nearest surface, a small table set in the hallway for decoration. Her eyes soon trained in on Iann and narrowed. “While you’re here...so even if I did a dab, that wouldn’t get me as high? Witches do everything? That sounds scary as fuck. There’s no cure? None? That doesn’t sound realistic.”

As she spoke, Bobby was gesturing wildly with her hands, the questions flowing out like a waterfall. Bobby didn’t consider herself a talkative person, but she was curious. If she decided she cared about something or someone, she wanted to know everything about it. Right now she couldn’t think of anything she cared about more than figuring out who the fuck she was now. Her questions continued. Some she repeated from her texts, others were new.

Ruby sighed and crossed her arms as the woman continued to look at her with no small amount of skepticism. She got it, she really did. Cops were the bad guy, right? At least to people that thought the law didn’t apply. But the Sheriff’s Department worked hard to try and not be the bad guy. And honestly, there were far worse things than a bit of harmless graffiti that could be cleaned up with a simple spell. Especially from someone new to town. 

The comments - along with the woman’s jittery, ready to flee body language -  earned the paint-splattered woman a raised eyebrow. “If I have to chase you… I’ll arrest you on pure principle.” At four months pregnant - a fact that was just starting to show - Ruby wasn’t in the mood to run anywhere if she didn’t choose to. And chasing down a fleeing perp was not on her To-Do List for the day. 

“Everybody’s had a hard week.” Not the first time someone had used that excuse to try and get out of a ticket. Which was what Ruby decided to do instead of all the paperwork of actually arresting someone. “But tell ya what… since you’re obviously new - we’ll get to that - and unless you’re runnin’ some… ass-art syndicate I don’t know about, then I’ll give you a warnin’, hm? But next time, asses in the right place, okay? Or it’s a real ticket.” 

When it was done, Ruby answered the woman’s question despite her insistence that she’d changed her mind. She tipped her head, peering curiously at the other wolf. Damn, Ruby thought. She’s not only new to town… she’s a new wolf too. Has to be. 

Ruby knew that feeling all too well. She gave the woman a small, but genuine smile. “I know you’re new because I don’t know your smell, honey.” A small pause as Ruby seemed to consider something. “How long ago were you bit?”

When Bobby finally stopped looking for the exits and actually looked at the woman - tall, pretty, hair that Bobby would want to run her fingers through if the woman didn’t have a badge, pregnant. Now she had a hangdog expression on her face, letting out a soft ‘oh’. The thought that running from a pregnant woman probably would be a lot easier flitted through her mind, but at that point she didn’t know what this woman was or what she was capable of. Fuck, she hated the unknowable quality of this town.

“No ass-art syndicates.” Bobby raised the two fingers on her right hand, scouts honor. “Yet. It sounds like a good business opportunity that would really reinvigorate the arts in this neighborhood,” she quipped, cocking her head. “One ass and done...” Bobby trailed off, glancing back at her mural. “You’re not going to let me finish it and add the stink lines, right?”

Her smell. Well that clinched it. A wolf, like her. Bobby’s mind revolted from that thought, like her. Something in Bobby still felt so inarguably human, she didn’t want to give that up, especially not in her own head. Bobby’s curiosity won out over appearing human though and without conscious thought, her nostrils flared and she started sniffing the air curiously, brows furrowed. 

This was what a wolf smells like, she memorized and cataloged the scent, grateful to have at least one puzzle piece of her jumbled senses fall into place. At the very least, it was what this wolf smelled like. When this woman told Bobby who she was, the blonde only became warier. She wanted to get to know this woman, ask her questions, maybe find comfort from her new life in her steady voice, but Bobby knew on that path there was only pain. 

“I dunno,” Bobby gave a dismissive shrug, her voice small now. “Almost a week.” Her arms crossed over her chest and she looked down at her shoes. Still, with muddied stains from the thunderous night she ran from California.

Dogs could be therapy, and Molly plopped her head on the strangers lap and let herself be smooshed and pet and coddled. Miguel chanced sitting on the bench next to the blonde and pursed his lips. The sudden drop into the supernatural was always hard - not that Miguel could even understand it. He was born a witch. 

“Her name is Molly. I’m Miguel.” He sat quietly with her, shoulder to shoulder, not quite touching - and he thought desperately for something comforting to say. Maybe she didn’t want some shitty platitude from a perfect stranger but Miguel’s mind didn’t work that way. 

Miguel shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned back on the bench. Okay, maybe he couldn’t think of anything to say to help, but maybe a dog and another human presence would help. 

“Molly and Miguel,” she tried out the names in her mouth, appreciating the alliteration. She liked B sounds, Benny, boobies, bobble, anything that sounded like her name. The narrowed look she gave Miguel, one of skepticism and distrust melted slightly. God, ever since this bite she was turning soft. “Did you name him Miguel so he would match your name? Hmm?” she asked Molly, currently drooling happily onto her lap.

She was definitely in shock, and that was reasonable.  But there was also something about the way Bobby was handling this, that made Iann suspect that perhaps in some conscious or subconscious way, through some experience or encounter that her mind simply didn’t process properly, that Bobby knew supernaturals existed.  Maybe she didn’t know it explicitly until this very moment when she had no other choice but to acknowledge it.  But maybe there’d been instances in her past that her mind made connections to now.  A sort of ‘oh right - so that was why that person looked like that’ from five, ten, twenty years ago.  

Iann nodded, biting down on his smile when she graced him with yet another name.  “Sure thing.  Whatever you wanna ask me.”

In the elevator, Iann easily responded,  “Cardero.  Iann Cardero…ah…” he pat around his short for a while, and eventually drew out a bent, slightly fuzzy business card.  “That’s my cell number,” he said, pointing at the second number on the card.  

He chuckled when Bobby asked if he would like being a werewolf, but before he answered the elevator dinged and Iann walked her towards one of the two doors in the short, wide hallway.  “You got the Mediterranean suite, it’s very nice.  Breezy and roomy - which is good, because you’re gonna feel really overheated tonight so the cold’ll probably be welcome.”

Iann ran the key card through and opened the door for her, hovering at the doorway as he watched her practically drag herself and her duffel into the suite.  “Bathroom, mini kitchen with a stocked fridge, living area and the bedroom’s over there.  Make yourself at home.”

He grinned crookedly.  “And yeah, you’re still gonna be billed, and if you wanna wash dishes in the bistro, then by all means. But you still get a discount.  Call it a farewell-to-human favour from another human.”

“Huh. One of my aunties lives at a house called Cardero. Or...owned by a Cardero in Portland. I can’t remember which.” Bobby flicked the business card. “Looks like I’m continuing the tradition.” Not an auntie, but Bobby called her one. The nicest foster mom she ever had and for the shortest amount of time too. Bobby was furious when they tried to pull her away from Aunt Dory, but she was ten and her hot temper hadn’t quite kicked in.

Tracing the number on the card carefully, she walked into her new, temporary home and took in the large windows. They opened up to a view on the street and Bob could see the muddy shortcut she used to get to the inn. The rain made it a dreary scene, but the sound of the steady downpour was calming. 

The suite itself was far sleeker than what she thought she was going to stay in. She looked back at Iann, furrowing her brows and stepping forward towards him slightly, gaze searching. “Hey,” she began, unsure of how she was going to finish the sentence when she began, “uh - you know.” She coughed uncomfortably. “Just. Thanks.” Bobby paused, a small, but awkward silence filling the void.