local werewolf goes awoo

Sylvia was tittering nervously at the battle unfolding before her.  She was confident Silas would win in the end, but she wasn’t sure what the injuries were going to look like after this was all over.  The sound of Silas’ jaw snapping out of place made her stomach roll – that was a classic Arabelle move.  Clearly she was right about the fighting dojo.

There didn’t seem to be a good place for her to step in, and frankly it didn’t seem like Silas wanted much help.  Only playing support wasn’t going to help in the long run; she bit her hand hard until she drew blood and quickly drew a complex pattern on the ground, keeping one eye on the fight in front of her.  Sylvia recited a spell and the mandala glowed green; she clutched her chest as she felt a piece of her soul rip away.  A man yawned as he lazily floated out of the glowing symbol; he wore a gladiators outfit, and leaned on a massive spectral sword.

“How can I help you Sylvia?”  He spoke with a very strange, almost Italian accent.  “I was a tad busy, so get on with it.”  Sylvia was still recovering from the pain as she shakily pointed towards Silas’ tussle with the vampire; he had latched on to her arm, but she was about to throw another punch that would probably take the werewolf out of the fight for a moment.

The man hefted his sword over his shoulder.  “Of course.”  While the vampire was fast, the spirit was faster; he grabbed her hand before it connected with Silas’ jaw and twisted it behind her back.  A kind smile was on his face as she writhed around – one arm captured by Silas, the other by the ghost – to face him; her already pale cheeks seemed to pale more.

“I apologize child, but I was interrupted while I was in the middle of a game of chess, so I do need to end this quickly.”  He released her arm and immediately brandished his sword; it sliced through the air with a distinct whooshing noise and chopped off her free arm.  The arm plopped to the ground; the wound sizzled and glowed blue as she let out a high pitched, agonized scream.  He swung it again and lopped off her opposite leg; she tried to collapse to the ground, but Silas was holding her up with her other arm.  The wounds stopped sizzling and appeared to be cauterized.

“I believe you can handle the rest.”  He gave Silas a bow as he slowly dissipated, a mocking smile playing at his lips.  Sylvia was slammed into the ground as the piece of soul suddenly reattached; she let out a small whimper as she slowly stood up panting – she needed to be ready if Silas required a shielding spell.

Silas’ ears flicked as he heard an unfamiliar voice speaking with Sylvia. He assumed it was one of her friends that she liked to summon now and then, which was something he was aware she could do but had never witnessed for himself. Deciding it was nothing to worry about, he was instead focused on the quick movement that was just outside of his field of vision directed at him; it was going to connect any second, perhaps knocking his jaw off for a second time, or maybe this time the vampire had decided to go for his eye.

He wondered in passing what he might look like with an eye patch, probably super fucking badass -- but Sylvia would probably be able to fix him if he did manage to lose an eye. She had quite literally put pieces of him back together before... But still, an eyepatch, you couldn’t get much cooler than that, right? Regardless, Silas was determined not to let go. He locked his jaw on the vampire’s arm, causing her to flinch for just a moment before her prepared attack, which was just enough.

The movement was quick, but Silas was able to catch everything that happened in the brief seconds that it occurred. The lopped off limbs fell to the ground, sizzling and emitting a rather unpleasant odor. The vampire’s weight dropped toward the ground but Silas easily held her up. He turned his head toward the ghostly figure with his copper eyes narrowed in annoyance before opening his mouth to let the vampire fall onto the ground at his feet.

Sylvia felt a thrilling chill wrack her body for a moment as she snatched the crucifix out of the bag.  It’d been awhile since she’d but her battle skills to work; while she didn’t consider herself a fighter, it was getting a little boring simply going through basic exercises in the dojo once a week.  She stretched her arms into the air to pop her shoulders before cartwheeling into the teleportation circle she’d drawn in the corner of the room.

She cartwheeling out the other end and knocked right into the unsuspecting vampire.  The vampire – a woman she vaguely recognized from the fighting dojo – fell onto her butt on the floor; she gave Sylvia a very befuddled look.

“Yeah, Arabelle taught me that one.”  The young looking vampire was the master of insane looking surprise attacks, but the cartwheel was the only one Sylvia had managed to master to any degree.  “Anyway I’m sorry for what I’m about to do, but also not really.”  The woman rolled out of the way into a standing position as Sylvia took a step forward, but Sylvia predicated it and leapt towards her at the same time.  She wrapped her arms around her neck and they instantly teleported into the middle of the street.

Sylvia wasn’t sure how close she had managed to keep them to the safehouse – she was just picturing the street in her mind, not a particular part of the street – but the vampire was disoriented enough from the spell that Sylvia at least had enough time to brandish her stake.  The vampire blinked a few times before finally regaining her sense of direction.  She bared her fangs at Sylvia and launched herself towards the witch.

Unfortunately for Sylvia, she was at a massive disadvantage as far as speed went; unfortunately for the vampire, Sylvia didn’t need speed when she knew her backup was coming.  She only barely managed to put up a shielding spell in time, but she could see Silas’ hulking figure bounding up the street.

“Oh, this really is unfortunate for you.”  The vampire – apparently too distracted to notice Silas quickly gaining on them – paused mid-punch to give Sylvia a quizzical look.  Silas pounced on her as Sylvia twirled out of the way; now she was support, which was her preferred method of fighting anyway.

“Silas be careful; she trains in the dojo so she probably knows some of Arabelle’s anti-werewolf techniques.”

The sounds in the building across the street were as clear as a bell to his sensitive hearing. With his ears perked in that direction, Silas heard each footstep and word exchanged between Sylvia and the vampire. He might have been worried about his friend if she wasn’t one of the very few people he knew that he would think twice before picking a serious fight with.

As he waited, he glanced at the vial of holy water that Sylvia had given him, which was balanced on one of the steel rungs of the fire escape ladder, where his clothes also hung. For a moment he thought about leaving it behind; using things like that wasn’t really his style. But then he decided to take it, holding it between his teeth just before the dueling pair arrived in the middle of the street.

That was his cue, and in just a few bounding strides on all fours he was able to close the distance, and Sylvia slipped out of the way just in time for his massive body to collide with the much smaller vampire, knocking her to the ground. His massive claws pinned her to the crumbling asphalt; a normal person probably wouldn’t survive such an attack, but the person hissing and baring her fangs below him was far from normal. He heard Sylvia’s warning just as he crushed the bottle of holy water between his teeth, showering the liquid over the vampire’s face.

The resulting shriek was ear-splitting, and not a second later Silas felt a blow to the side of his jaw that sent everything spinning. He quickly leaped back and away from the screaming vampire, his mouth hanging open at a grotesque angle, lolling tongue dripping with saliva and blood from breaking the vial in his mouth. His jaw was dislocated on one side; luckily for him this had happened before, so he was able to set it back into place fairly easily, with a painful snap that seemed to echo around his skull for a moment.

“Now you tell me.” Silas uttered in a joking tone as he rubbed the side of his face with the heel of his clawed hand. He was probably more amused than he should be for someone who nearly had half of his face knocked off, but how often did he get a chance to fight a vampire? He spit out a shard of glass that had been lodged into his tongue, and the vampire stood up, still holding half of her burned face with one hand while giving Silas a murderous look. He returned it with a bloody grin.

Silas bounded toward the vampire again, without much thought toward any kind of strategy. The lady might have had a few tricks up her sleeve, which might have evened the playing field more if he didn’t have a witch backing him up. Ignoring the pain in his jaw, Silas opened wide went straight for the vampire’s head. Anticipating her moving out of the way, his head followed her movement with surprising speed of his size, until her hand and forearm were caught between his massive teeth. Although it took a bit more effort than usual, he managed to bite down until he felt the crunch of the woman’s bones in his head.

“Onto the street…?”  Hmm, there were a few ways she could do it.  “Well, remember how I teleported us back home a few weeks ago?  I can do that but faster as long as I don’t try to be so specific with where I want to end up.  It should also disorient them enough to give us an advantage.”  She wasn’t entirely confident that she’d be able to grab him before Whit swallowed him whole, but she was hoping he’d hold back if only because Goldie was with him.

Sylvia bobbed her head.  “Yeah, I think that should work.  Or, I’ll at least attempt to make it work.”  She stood up to approach the screen and leaned in to look at the camera keeping an eye on Whit and Goldie.  “I think they’re almost asleep already.  We should probably make sure we’re ready to mobilize.”  She crossed the room to find the duffle bag she had packed; it was full of anti-vampire weapons, but would also work well enough against a few different possible assailants.

“I’m sure your teeth and claws are good enough weapons, but maybe keep one of these somewhere close just in case.”  Sylvia grabbed two wooden stakes from the duffle and tossed one to Silas, the other she tucked in the waistband of her jeans.  “I also have Holy Water packed in here.  I’d dump some on your hands when you get a chance; even if their not the wet, they’ll still burn the vampire when you touch them.”

She shoved a small bottle in her pocket and threw the other one to Silas over her shoulder.  “There’s some other stuff in here if you want to look, but I’d say those are the two most important.  Er– if you look in here, watch out for that crucifix.  It’s pure silver.”

“Just try not to get killed, yeah?” Silas flipped through the camera screens. It wasn’t that he was particularly worried; Sylvia was one of the last people he would want to get into a serious fight with. But no one was invincible, and he would although he would never admit it out loud, he had developed a fondness toward the witch and would definitely feel it if anything happened to her. “If you can’t get him onto the street, get him somewhere close. I’ll be able to get to him quick enough if he’s near the building.”

He caught the two items one after the other, in one of his large hands and placed them on the desk as he continued to monitor the cameras. He doubted that he would have much use for them, but it was nice to have them just in case. While Sylvia was preparing herself Silas did the same, although his process was much simpler. He pulled his shirt off over his head and tossed it onto a counter somewhere. He would worry about the rest of his clothes while he was waiting for Sylvia to deal with the mole inside the building.

“Thanks.” Silas thought he caught a glimpse of something on one of the screens, but when he zoomed in on it there was nothing there. Wishful thinking, perhaps. Unless they were lucky, he supposed they could be staring at this screen for the next two or three days. “Hopefully we can get to this guy before he has the misfortune of running into Whit-- Hang on a minute.” Clicking to the next screen, he watched a medium sized tree limb bend unnaturally beneath a window that was just outside of the frame of the camera. A second later, the limb sprung back up as if an invisible weight had been lifted off of it. “Looks like our cue.”

He flashed Sylvia a grin before taking the quickest exit, grabbing the vial of holy water and leaving the stake, then ducking out of the fire escape window and hopping over the railing. He arrived on the ground below with a forward roll to muffle his landing, and once he was in the dark cover of the alley beside the building he quickly removed the rest of his clothes.

The night was cold, although Silas didn’t seem to take much notice as he walked among the crooked and leaning moss-covered headstones that jutted out of a thick covering of fog. The scene was cliche, if not outright creepy, but footsteps were self-assured and he didn’t attempt to hide his presence as he weaved his way toward the center of the large graveyard, following the wretched scent of decay.

Although he was partially was obscured by the heavy fog, the other recognized him immediately. Perhaps it wasn’t much of a surprise, his large frame cut a rather distinctive figure even under such low-visibility conditions.

“Aw, don’t be such a sore loser. Admit it, you had fun last time.” He grinned, although there was something a bit sinister in the toothy expression. Silas had enjoyed the fight much more than he should have; it was somehow more fun when there’s a real chance that you could die. “Not in the mood, huh? What’s got you so preoccupied?”

Sylvia hadn’t been able to sleep at all.  Only a very small part of it could be considered nervousness; mostly she was excited.  Not sleeping was basically second nature to her, so she wasn’t exactly hurting.  Still, she was making an attempt to sleep by at least closing her eyes while she wasn’t in charge of watching the cameras.  When Silas spoke the corner of her mouth twitched into a smile.

“I think they’re cute.  A little sweetness doesn’t hurt every once in awhile.”  She opened her eyes and uncrossed her arms.  “After listening to some of the arguments my next door neighbors get into, I’d personally much rather watch those two cuddle innocently.  Anyway, I have a sneaking suspicion that once they fall asleep that’s when we’ll be getting some action.  They may or may not know Whit is there, and if they do know he’s there then they’re well aware that he can tear them to shreds if they so much as look at Goldie the wrong way.  Once he’s asleep they’ll be able to take him by surprise.”

She stretched her arms and yawned as she leaned forward to look at the cameras Silas was watching.  “I guess the question is whether we want to catch them before they get in the building to cut them off, or if we’d rather take it off the street.  We don’t exactly have many people choosing to pass through this area now that it’s dark; I’m indifferent either way.  I don’t want to wake up Whit or else he’ll try to join in, but I can’t imagine there’s any way to really make this quiet.”

Sylvia was silent for a moment.  There were pros and cons to both sides, but she would prefer to keep it outside as a whole.  There was a distinct possibility that both she and Silas would cause some sort of structural damage to the building if they attempted to take it inside.  She finally shrugged.

“Up to you.  I’m only a strategist in theory.  I can run the numbers in my head, but they never end up looking the same in real life.  You have more experience than me when it comes to that.”

“To each their own, I guess.” Silas shrugged, sometimes it was best to agree to disagree. In this case he had to admit to himself that there must have been something about Whit and Goldie’s relationship that he simply couldn’t see. While it seemed pointless and childish to him, they clearly had their reasons for sticking by each other. Whit had even murdered several people (and eaten one) for Goldie, which was highly out of character for him. At the end of the day, Silas simply had to accept that he didn’t know anything and move on.

Silas listened to Sylvia speak as he ran through several scenarios in his head. Keeping Whit out of the picture would be ideal, since there was a good possibility that he would try to kill anyone who even looked like they were a threat to Goldie.

“Things never work out according to plan.” Silas agreed, his eyes still glued to the monitor. He cycled through a few of the cameras before settling on the grid of multiple camera angles on a single screen. “But in this case I think you’re right. We should try to take the fight away from those two if we can.”

Fritz quirked an eyebrow at Silas’ answer to his greater truth and attempted to hide a smile.  He silently picked up his bowl and downed the rest of the broth; he gently placed it back on the table and took another sip of water.  “I was in seminary school, so I suppose I was never really interested in romance.  You’re correct that I am looking for something.  Or rather, someone.”

He looked around the small restaurant again to ensure no one was eavesdropping before continuing.  “My brother disappeared some time ago.  I have been looking for him, but I struggle to keep up.  It sometimes feels as if he’s being controlled by someone else.  I try not to theorize lest I drive myself insane, but I can never catch up to him before he ends up in the next place.  He leaves me clues, but is gone by the time I arrive.”

Fritz’ eyes wandered to the door; it was still drizzling outside, luckily there appeared to be a hotel next door and he wouldn’t be forced to walk in the rain to find shelter.  He took another drink of water.  “It’s puzzling.  Why would someone want to move him so often?  But that’s the only explanation that makes sense.  He would have no reason to be coyly leaving me riddles unless that was the one way he could attempt to communicate.”  He was pensive for a moment before shrugging.

“I cannot pretend to know the inner workings of his mind, but I like to believe my brother wouldn’t do something so cruel as to deliberately mislead me.”

The conversation took a dramatic turn that Silas certainly hadn’t expected, although he couldn’t say that he was disappointed. His mysterious new acquaintance certainly was more interesting than his rather unassuming appearance suggested, although he felt that he was still only scratching the surface.

“That’s rough, buddy.” ...was the very sensitive and carefully crafted answer that Silas mustered after Fritz’ revelation about his lost brother. Although despite the lack of softness in his word choice, it wasn’t as if Silas was completely detached from the situation; he wasn’t heartless, after all. “Is there a reason the authorities haven’t been able to track him down?”

Silas steepled his fingers and rested his chin on the point for a moment, contemplating the situation. His voice lowered as he continued.

FRIENDSHIP.     childhood friends  /  work buddies or coworkers  /  family friends  /  friends with benefits  /  smoking buddies  /  adventure buddies  /  fake friends  /  recently friends  /  party buddies  /  friendship of need  /  dying friendship  /  circumstantial friendship  /  partners in crime  /  old friendship  /  [ your muse ] is the good influence  /  [ your muse ] is the bad influence  /  [ my muse ] is the good influence  /  [ my muse ] is the bad influence  /  opposites attract  /  ride or die  /  frenemies  /  roommates or flatmates  /  penpals  /  exes to friends  /  enemies to friends  /  other .

ROMANCE.     childhood sweethearts  /  [ your muse is mines ] childhood crush  /  [ my muse is yours ] childhood crush  /  exes  /  exes to lovers  /  forbidden lovers  /  highschool sweethearts  /  secret relationship  /  opposites attract  /  long distance  /  unrequited [ from your muses side ]  /  unrequited [ from my muses side ]  /  unrequited [ from both sides ]  /  skinny love  /  friends to lovers  /  enemies to lovers  /  spurious relationship  /  power couple  /  newly entered  /  soulmates [ metaphorical ]  /  soulmates  [ literal ]  /  awkward  /  turning toxic  /  toxic love  /  cheating [ on your muse ]  /  cheating [ with your muse ]  /  other .

FAMILIAL.     siblings [ half ]  /  siblings [ step ]  /  [ my muse ] is an older sibling figure to your younger sibling figure  /  [ my muse ] is a younger sibling figure to your older sibling figure muse  /  [ my muse ] is a parental figure to yours  /  [ my muse ] is a child figure to your muse  /  guardian figure  /  legal guardian  /  adoptive child  /  foster child  /  [ your muse ] is taken under mines wing  /  [ my muse ] is taken under yours wing  /  other .

FRIENDSHIP.     childhood friends  /  work buddies or coworkers  /  family friends  /  friends with benefits  /  smoking buddies  /  adventure buddies  /  fake friends  /  recently friends  /  party buddies  /  friendship of need  /  dying friendship  /  circumstantial friendship  /  partners in crime  /  old friendship  /  [ your muse ] is the good influence  /  [ your muse ] is the bad influence  /  [ my muse ] is the good influence  /  [ my muse ] is the bad influence  /  opposites attract /  ride or die  /  frenemies  /  roommates or flatmates  /  penpals  /  exes to friends  /  enemies to friends  /  other .

ROMANCE.     childhood sweethearts  /  [ your muse is mines ] childhood crush  /  [ my muse is yours ] childhood crush  /  exes  /  exes to lovers  /  forbidden lovers  /  highschool sweethearts  /  secret relationship  /  opposites attract  /  long distance  /  unrequited [ from your muses side ]  /  unrequited [ from my muses side ]  /  unrequited [ from both sides ]  /  skinny love  /  friends to lovers  /  enemies to lovers  /  spurious relationship  /  power couple  /  newly entered  /  soulmates [ metaphorical ]  /  soulmates  [ literal ]  /  awkward  /  turning toxic  /  toxic love  /  cheating [ on your muse ]  /  cheating [ with your muse ]  /  other .

FAMILIAL.     siblings [ half ]  /  siblings [ step ]  /  [ my muse ] is an older sibling figure to your younger sibling figure  /  [ my muse ] is a younger sibling figure to your older sibling figure muse  /  [ my muse ] is a parental figure to yours  /  [ my muse ] is a child figure to your muse  /  guardian figure  /  legal guardian  /  adoptive child  /  foster child  /  [ your muse ] is taken under mines wing  /  [ my muse ] is taken under yours wing  /  other .

FRIENDSHIP.     childhood friends  /  work buddies or coworkers  /  family friends  /  friends with benefits  /  smoking buddies  /  adventure buddies  /  fake friends  /  recently friends  /  party buddies  /  friendship of need  /  dying friendship  /  circumstantial friendship  /  partners in crime  /  old friendship  /  [ your muse ] is the good influence  /  [ your muse ] is the bad influence  /  [ my muse ] is the good influence  /  [ my muse ] is the bad influence  /  opposites attract /  ride or die  /  frenemies  /  roommates or flatmates  /  penpals  /  exes to friends  /  enemies to friends  /  other .

ROMANCE.     childhood sweethearts  /  [ your muse is mines ] childhood crush  /  [ my muse is yours ] childhood crush  /  exes  /  exes to lovers  /  forbidden lovers  /  highschool sweethearts  /  secret relationship  /  opposites attract  /  long distance  /  unrequited [ from your muses side ]  /  unrequited [ from my muses side ]  /  unrequited [ from both sides ]  /  skinny love  /  friends to lovers  /  enemies to lovers  /  spurious relationship  /  power couple  /  newly entered  /  soulmates [ metaphorical ]  /  soulmates  [ literal ]  /  awkward  /  turning toxic  /  toxic love  /  cheating [ on your muse ]  /  cheating [ with your muse ]  /  other .

FAMILIAL.     siblings [ half ]  /  siblings [ step ]  /  [ my muse ] is an older sibling figure to your younger sibling figure  /  [ my muse ] is a younger sibling figure to your older sibling figure muse  /  [ my muse ] is a parental figure to yours  /  [ my muse ] is a child figure to your muse  /  guardian figure  /  legal guardian  /  adoptive child  /  foster child  /  [ your muse ] is taken under mines wing  /  [ my muse ] is taken under yours wing  /  other .

PRE-ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIP MEME 0.2

over a year ago, i made this meme & since then, it’s blown up. so, over a year later — i thought i would make a new one. so here it is, after several requests & a pile of brains,  THE PRE-ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIP MEME 0.2

send me a  ✿  and i’ll fill out the template below. bold for things i could definitely see or want, italics for things i could see or am unsure of and striked out for things i don’t want or cannot see.

FRIENDSHIP.     childhood friends  /  work buddies or coworkers  /  family friends  /  friends with benefits  /  smoking buddies  /  adventure buddies  /  fake friends  /  recently friends  /  party buddies  /  friendship of need  /  dying friendship  /  circumstantial friendship  /  partners in crime  /  old friendship  /  [ your muse ] is the good influence  /  [ your muse ] is the bad influence  /  [ my muse ] is the good influence  /  [ my muse ] is the bad influence  /  opposites attract  /  ride or die  /  frenemies  /  roommates or flatmates  /  penpals  /  exes to friends  /  enemies to friends  /  other .

ROMANCE.     childhood sweethearts  /  [ your muse is mines ] childhood crush  /  [ my muse is yours ] childhood crush  /  exes  /  exes to lovers  /  forbidden lovers  /  highschool sweethearts  /  secret relationship  /  opposites attract  /  long distance  /  unrequited [ from your muses side ]  /  unrequited [ from my muses side ]  /  unrequited [ from both sides ]  /  skinny love  /  friends to lovers  /  enemies to lovers  /  spurious relationship  /  power couple  /  newly entered  /  soulmates [ metaphorical ]  /  soulmates  [ literal ]  /  awkward  /  turning toxic  /  toxic love  /  cheating [ on your muse ]  /  cheating [ with your muse ]  /  other .

FAMILIAL.     siblings [ half ]  /  siblings [ step ]  /  [ my muse ] is an older sibling figure to your younger sibling figure  /  [ my muse ] is a younger sibling figure to your older sibling figure muse  /  [ my muse ] is a parental figure to yours  /  [ my muse ] is a child figure to your muse  /  guardian figure  /  legal guardian  /  adoptive child  /  foster child  /  [ your muse ] is taken under mines wing  /  [ my muse ] is taken under yours wing  /  other .

Dramatic size differences in ships

“The company of wolves” ☾

Inktober Day 31 - Crawl

Sylvia rolled her eyes so hard they strained for a moment as he described sex as a hobby.  He was delusional, but entertaining at least.  When he followed up with a relatively thoughtful suggestion to vacation in a cabin she was actually quite surprised.  She tapped her chin pensively for a moment.  It wasn’t a bad idea; she had a stack of books that was just getting higher and higher since she never had time to read them.  She could even make tea with wild plants instead of the ones she grew in her garden.

“That’s actually not an awful idea all things considered.  I figured you were going to suggest the red light district in Amsterdam, but that was surprisingly normal.  Although cabin rentals are a bit pricey…”  Well, it’s not like she vacationed often.  And it was paid, at any rate.  “I suppose I could indulge.  Especially since I wouldn’t be spending much money on anything else.”  She felt a bubbling in her chest that she could only assume was a feeling excitement.

“I could finally finish knitting that scarf I started two years ago– don’t follow that up with a grandma comment, I’m begging you.”  One of the best parts of her job was that she worked alone.  She could start this vacation the moment they trapped this turncoat and no one would be affected by her decision.  Now she was quite fired up as she clicked through the cameras again.  “Alright, I’ve made my decision.  This moment we capture this stupid vampire I’m going to take a weeks vacation.  It’ll be just my luck that we have to wait here for days before they show up.  The world will end before I get to take my vacation.” 

“Hey, I don’t only come up with bad ideas. Sometimes that rock in my head works extra hard and comes up with a not-awful one from time to time.” Silas scoffed, although he was actually pretty pleased that Sylvia liked his suggestion. In fact she seemed to like the idea the more she talked about it, and he watched her with some bemusement as she mentioned her two-year-long knitting project.

“Well, that’s a relief. Hate to have you fall ill for a month, then I’ll be the only one for Whit to complain about all his problems to.” He glanced at the clock in the corner of the computer monitor and closed his eyes. He had about fifteen minutes to get a power nap in before he had to tag in. Silas had a notorious skill for falling asleep absolutely anywhere, even standing if he really wanted to. “Wake me up when the hour’s up, alright?”

Several hours later, it was once again Silas’ turn to monitor the cameras. It was dark outside, and with none of the street lights actually functioning it was pitch-black. The perfect time for a vampire to make a move, if it was indeed a vampire that they were looking for.

Silas clicked through the cameras again and paused on the screen that showed Goldie and Whit sharing a blanket on the couch as they attempted to sleep. Whit appeared to be on edge, which wasn’t a surprise -- until Goldie turned her head to place a kiss on his cheek. Then it seemed like she whispered something close to his ear, and he relaxed, his shoulders visibly loosening up. Silas wrinkled his nose and clicked to the next screen; if he had to witness many more of those types of scenes he was going to lose his mind.

“I just know.  I can tell when someone has ulterior motives.”  He drank some of the broth and nodded.  Technically Silas could be ‘taking him for a ride’, but he felt like he could tell when someone was swindling him.  That was definitely a learned skill, and one that he struggled to master.  Fritz slurped some more noodles and appeared quite contemplative for a moment.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been someone’s ‘type’ before.  Regardless, I can sense that you tell jokes like that a lot.  I may appear naïve, but I’m not so clueless as you believe.”  He strongly disagreed that people didn’t always have motives – they were maybe unaware of their own motives, but they existed.  Now wasn’t the time to discuss such issues of morality.

Fritz felt that Silas’ admission that he was simply nosy was a cop out.  He would likely deal with more prodding later on, but he was starting to catch on.  Silas was crass and said things most people kept to themselves, but he was also quite smart despite the airs he put on.  Fritz needed to be careful, but he had a feeling this man would get the truth out of him sooner rather than later.  There were only so many lies he could concoct.

He took a sip of water and finally picked at a piece of squid which he popped in his mouth.  “So how old are you then?  It’s only fair I get to ask as well.  The greater truth I’m seeking is whether or not you’re being serious about me being your ‘type’.  The only people I have witness pick up young men such as myself are always older.”  Fritz picked up another piece of squid and squeezed it with his chopsticks.  “You don’t appear to be that old, but perhaps you have had cosmetic surgery done in order to look young.”

“Right, right. Because you’re an ‘old soul.’“ Silas nodded as he slurped some more noodles. Despite the conversation, he had been eating at an almost inhuman pace. The enormous bowl was already almost nothing but broth and a few straggling bits of beef and noodle.

He could also sense that Fritz hadn’t been entirely satisfied with his answer. Silas began spooning some broth into his mouth, consciously slowing down his eating pace as he listened to the other speak. He was caught slightly off-guard by the back handed accusation, or perhaps a simple attempt to get a rise out of him. He couldn’t tell which just yet.

“Hold up, hold up, hold up. Are you suggesting that it would even be possible to achieve this,” he gestured at his face, then his body, “through plastic surgery?” He gathered up the remaining few pieces of steak and tendon with his chopsticks, putting them in his mouth all at once. “Not a chance in hell, alright? Anyway, to answer your question. Physically I’m 24, but I guess you could say I’m an old soul, as well.”

He cracked a crooked half-smile as he echoed Fritz’ answer from before. “But I’ll help you out with your greater truth. I guess you got me there, I don’t really have a type. Actually I’m into a lot of types, and whether or not you fit under that umbrella probably doesn’t matter since you don’t seem to be interested in romance. You’re looking for... something else. Am I right?”