☾ 𝓱𝓸𝔀𝓵𝓮𝓻

“……” Head cocks to the side, the goddess looking puzzled, though it’s not by the definition. “If that is the case, why did you not simply say so the first time I asked? That seems a fairly simple concept to me…”

Fang laughed a good bit watching Kadence’s reaction to her magic tricks. It was too easy to play around and get a few good moments like that with the other. Letting the fire die out completely, the woman shifted only to smile.

“I am quite handy. You seem to forget you aren’t the only one who is a bit on the supernatural plain of existence.”

“I don’t forget,” Words shot back too quickly, eyes narrowing at the accusation. “I just... I’m not very imaginative.” Sure, she’d known about the fire thing, but she didn’t know the other could fix wounds and shit. 

                        Harmless. Well, more or less. The facts are that Kadence is in more danger than she is a danger to anyone else. National Parks make some kind of weird sense, given that the park animals are generally protected from poaching and the like.

Not from hunters, though. She had to know that she’d cause a ruckus as soon as someone saw her and reported what they saw, and a ruckus means gun-toting, Miller-drinking, man pain-having hunters.

              Once Faith’s weapon is securely out of the way, she hefts the strap of a gym bag off her shoulder and tosses the thing on the ground so she can rifle through it, “You’re what I’m doing here, Thinkenstein.” It takes a few long seconds for Faith to find what she’s looking for, a ridiculously over-sized plaid shirt. She balls it up and tosses it to Kadence, “Somebody saw your ass. You’re the big noise with hunters around these parts. What the hell are you tryin’ to do, get your face shot off?”

“Oh.” Well, that wasn’t good. If Faith was here, that meant others would be coming too. Darn it. Had she really been so careless? When she’d been in her wolf form so long, sometimes the animal took over, and her better senses got lost. Kadence couldn’t remember being spotted, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t happened. Obviously it had. 

She awkwardly caught the shirt that was thrown at her, grateful for the clothing. “You’re the only one seeing my ass.” She muttered to herself, slipping on the shirt and buttoning it up. It was more akin to a dress on her, Kadence even shorter than the Slayer, though it certainly kept Kadence comfortably covered. “Thanks. My clothes are....somewhere.” Not close by. 

Fang heard the comment and only smirked. The wolf hadn’t quite learned all of her little tricks yet but it was about time it dawned on her. Once the bandage was in place and properly secured, the woman stepped back only to how the flat of her palm. It remained plain for a few moments before fire sparked and burned for a few moments.

“Fire is my element or did you forget that little bit hm? I can manipulate it if I try hard enough and it is useful in healing injuries or purifying them. I just used a bit of it to help speed your healing along. It shouldn’t scar either as long as you keep it cleaned properly.”

“You---” Eyes widened in disbelief at seeing the fire in the other woman’s palm, glancing back and forth between her wound and Fang’s hand. She knew Fang could play with fire, but it seems there was a whole aspect to that she’d never imagined. 

Grabbing a clean cloth, Fang approached and carefully applied a bit of pressure to the injury to bleed it on purpose for a few moments. Warmth would spread from her hand into the skin itself to try and kick start the healing process to rid any infections. A few tricks she had yet to unveil to many people.

“You’ll feel warm for a while there but it should be clean. Here, let me bandage it to keep it that way while it mends itself. See? That wasn’t so bad was it?”

The pout on her lips only grew when Fang pressed the cloth against her wound. It hurt, but not enough to draw a sound from her. There was a heat, however, that she wasn’t expecting, Kadence’s confused glance flicking from Fang’s face to her hands and back again. “--What..?” That wasn’t normal. 

                    When you’re a beast of some sort, and you’ve got a Slayer on your tail, your best hope is that your Slayer is Faith. Or one of the few other chicks in the field who see grey areas. Her itching trigger finger went the way of the dodo over a decade earlier, path to redemption putting the kabosh on shoot first, ask questions later. Doesn’t make Faith a better Slayer, but it does make her less likely to kill whatever she comes across than she was in her youth.

She figured this thing was the shifting kind, because even sentient monster wolves can’t help themselves when there’s living, breathing food so close. They aren’t going to not attack a wayward hunter, it’s just not how things work, so when this particular wolf starts easy form, Faith’s got to admit to being a little relieved.

        Still, better safe than sorry and she’s still taking aim when she’s suddenly greeted by familiar eyes. Kadence. Damn it. Faith sighs, licks the corner of her mouth and half-rolls her eyes. Peels the gun back and starts to pack it away, “Man, you got a real thing for national parks. The hell you doin’ this far West? Thought you were headed for the Ozarks.”

There’s a moment where she thinks Faith might not lower the weapon - even after seeing who she was -  so when it’s pulled away, Kadence lets out a small breath. “----I like the trees.” She says in her own, very weak, defense. A shrug at the other woman’s comment. She’d been headed there, but the full moon broke, and her wolf called.. and well, this was a good a place as any. “Too many tourists.” She lied, an easier explanation. 

She rose to her feet slowly, not oblivious to the fact that she was naked. Clothes, unfortunately, didn’t stay with her during a shift. They were tucked away in a small burrow she’d made, should she need them ---- though that wasn’t very helpful right at this moment. It’s not like shifting back in front of someone had been on her to-do list when she’d woken up this morning. 

How the hell did this complete stranger know about her blood sugar? Beck looked back down to the sandwich. Living on the road meant food was scarce at times, and on those days feeding her dogs was always more important than feeding herself. The last three days she’d relinquished most of the food she found to her familiars as well as the last of her sustenance potions. She’d need to make more now. She’d had every intention to do save the sandwich to give to them later as well, but now she couldn’t afford to start a fight with a stranger in public and risk the attention that might bring. Not this close to Seattle. Beck sighed… well, she was actually starting to feel dizzy.

“So-” She picked off a piece of the sandwich, “Are your days normally spent telling strangers to eat their lunch?”

“-----Not exactly.” Usually, she keep her sense of smell to herself, and any observations that came with it. However, she couldn’t ignore the fact that the blonde girl was practically on the verge of passing out and something like that would only cause a scene. Kadence wasn’t a huge fan of crowds. Besides, she didn’t actually want the girl to pass out. She could be a little callous at times, but she had a heart. “But then, most people don’t need to be reminded to eat.” 

“…..if you know what it means, why can you not explain it to me? I do not mind if it takes a while. I am patient.” 

So clearly Makaria wasn’t letting this go. A grumble left Kadence, the wolf sitting down --- as if that somehow helped her think. “It’s like... you can’t have two good things. At once. You can’t have your cake...to keep, and eat it at the same time.” 

Fang growled a bit herself at the other’s refusal until she decided not to have it. Stepping up, the demon looked down at her.

“Let me clean the damn thing before I hogtie you in place to do it anyway. You don’t want an infection.”

Eyes flicked up to look at the other woman, Kadence realizing just how small she herself was. Didn’t exactly help the ‘tough guy’ attitude she was trying to portray. “Fine...fine. But... you have to be gentle, ok?”