Devonwood Park

[Connor]

Connor eyed the fence thoughtfully, automatically adjusting his stance so as to get over it with ease and without accidentally impaling himself with his own weapons. He didn’t want to land and have his sword stabbing him – it would add a whole new dimension to falling on your sword. A slightly larger smile broke on his face as he crouched and then leaped, his wolf excited at the action. Hands slapped against the top of the fence, giving him that little extra thrust and allowing him to land gracefully next to Reese, alert and ready for any dangers.

The fence was no defence against people like him and he knew that a determined human would be able to get in if they really, really wanted. The park was silent around them however and after a moment he relaxed, satisfied for the moment. “I’ll watch your stuff,” Connor offered with a light shrug. “I’m not going to change.”

[Connor]

Connor crouched down so that his eye line was more even with Reese in his wolf form and shook his head, a soft snort of laughter slipping out at the puppy like actions. He knew exactly what the other werewolf was trying to do and while it was amusing, it was also pointless. Connor could be the most stubborn guy around if he wanted to stick his heels in, and anyway he had his reasons for refusing the change.

“Someone has to keep watch,” he pointed out, letting the smile that had been fighting to get on his face finally fix and stay there. “It’s a dangerous city, and we’re still in the centre of it.” Connor was a protector, a fighter through and through and he thought nothing of giving up the chance to let his other side out and give it a run in order to ensure he could offer the best protection.

If someone came across them, then he thought he would be far more useful as a human in order to deal with and neutralise the threat.

[Connor]

“I’m such a soft touch…” Connor grumbled as Reese looked upset and then darted off. He wasn’t going to feel guilty or bad at refusing to play. He just wasn’t. Connor didn’t play. He never had and if he was being honest, he wasn’t completely sure just how to play. The fighter felt annoyed slightly, that Reese had managed to provoke feelings like that in him before turning and neatly tiding all the items that belonged to the other wolf into one small pile, out of sight from any casual viewer.

He moved forward slowly and leaned against one of the many trees, watching as Reese raced off through the park. Sighing lightly, Connor cast one last look behind him and then moved off against the younger wolf, deciding it would be best if he kept him in his sights, even if Reese clearly must be able to defend himself. He was a werewolf after all.

[Connor]

He ignored the little voice in his head that pointed out running free was a lot of fun and it wasn’t fair that someone he had just met got to have fun while he stayed in human form on the night of the full moon of all nights. And Reese was looking as if he was having fun, tormenting the cat he was currently chasing.

“Duty before pleasure,” Connor murmured softly to himself, ruthlessly pushing down the urges. It had been a long time since he had run with anyone and even longer since he had run for the sake of running or run for the sheer joy of it all. His old pack hadn’t approved of the fighters wasting time in such a frivolous manner and any attempts had been quickly discouraged. In painful ways to ensure the lesson was well learnt and didn’t need to be repeated. Connor had always been a quick study.

A twig snapped to Connor’s right and he spun, eyes narrowed as he searched for the owner of the noise. It was probably just another cat, but it never hurt to be sure. Temporarily taking his attention completely off the other wolf he prowled to the side, gaze intent.

[Connor]

As expected the small noise had been caused by a cat, the feline fleeing in panic at Connor’s approach. He stared after the small bundle of fur for a few moments before chuckling lightly and shaking his head. The fighter turned back towards Reese with a small smile, feeling more relaxed – and froze, smile slipping off his face. A yelp and a whine…

Connor shot off, feet pounding lightly on the ground, annoyance on his face. Something was wrong and he had let himself get distracted by a cat of all things. This was not good, not good at all. It was a shameful loss of attention really. The fighter burst out of the trees, eyes quickly taking in the scene in front of him, a growl rumbling out of his throat at the sight of a filthy human attacking Reese.

He jumped forward, using his body to crash against the dirty looking man and knock him away from the cowering werewolf. Connor growled again, firmly placing himself between the human and the wolf. As the human hit out, he blocked easily and forcibly kicked out, sending the man falling to the ground. The fighter jumped forward, eyes flashing white at the sight of the blade and the smell of blood.

“Bad mistake,” he snarled, ignoring the fear in the human’s eyes, ignoring the muttered curse and the way he tried to scramble free. Connor strode forward, one hand reaching for the homeless looking man’s coat, the one grabbing his wrist and squeezing tightly. The human screamed out, bones crunching under the grip, knife falling harmlessly to the floor. There was nothing like pain to sober someone up and Connor could see the clarity start to return as he was hauled to his feet.

Connor spun him round to face Reese, grabbing him in a choking hold with his left hand, gun appearing in his right.

“Apologise to him,” Connor said softly, gun placed against the temple of the man, arm still wrapped around his neck. “I can make you hurt for hours, so humour me and apologise to him,” he added smoothly.

[Connor]

Connor let out a string of Gaelic curses as the wolf vanished away into the undergrowth. He could understand why the werewolf had run – the flight instinct could be just as strong and sometimes even stronger than the fight instinct. That didn’t mean however he could just let Reese run about wounded, scared and alone in the park, no matter how much part of him didn’t want to get involved any further. He had saved Reese and the Chinese had a saying; When you save a life, it isn’t they who owe you, but you who owe them. For the rest of your life.

Without any hesitation he tightened his arm choke around the homeless man’s neck, quickly and efficiently knocking the man out cold. Connor pulled back, letting the limp body drop to the ground as he stepped forward and slotted his gun back into its holster. He had to find the other werewolf, he was responsible for him.

Sniffing a few times, the fighter located the scent of the injured wolf and confidently took off, pace steady and sure as he followed the trail.

[Connor]

The growl was not too unexpected but even so Connor’s eyes flashed bright white in clear annoyance. He didn’t want to be trailing through a cold and dark park in the middle of the night after a werewolf that clearly didn’t want him there. Connor just wanted to go back to his apartment and pretend none of this had happened. Not that he would of course. Or that he even really wanted to do that. Reese could have growled louder, longer, more serious and still Connor would have gone after him.

He did not abandon his charges so easily. The yip reassured him slightly as he stopped in front of Reese’s hiding place and he waited for a few moments before sighing. It seemed he wasn’t going to come out. Slowly, so as not to spook Reese, he leaned down into a crouch, staring towards the hiding place.

“Reese… come on out, he’s gone. He isn’t going to hurt you anymore…” Connor trailed off and ran a hand through his hair. He was no good at things like this. “Come on, at least let me check your wounds. You’re safe. You have my word.”

[Connor]

“I don’t give my word lightly,” Connor replied, hesitating for a moment before he began to shrug out of his coat, eyes fixed on Reese’s form all the time. “I promise. Until you end up with your pack, I’ll look out for you.” He fully pulled off his coat, grabbing his sword from its sheath as he went. Still keeping his movements slow and steady, he placed the weapon down on the ground. There was no point leaving it in his coat – if you weren’t careful, the sword could dig into the person wearing the coat.

“Come on out and let me look,” he offered, holding out the coat in what he hoped was a non-threatening action. “I’m not going to hurt you, but you can’t stay here all night and you certainly can’t stay here without some kind of treatment.”

[Connor]

“Don’t be sorry.” Connor made no effort to move forward, watching Reese carefully instead. The other werewolf seemed only an inch away from bolting again and Connor did not intend to spend the next few hours playing hide and go seek with a jittery werewolf. “You didn’t do anything wrong.” He took in the other injuries on him as best he could from his distance, realising as he did so he was going to have to get a better look.

“I’m going to come closer, take a proper look at your arm, is that okay?” Connor asked gently, keeping his body as relaxed and as non-threatening as he could manage. “It might hurt when I touch it, but it’s only to check it out. Then we’ll get out of here; find somewhere safe for you…”

[Connor]

“Hey, hey, its okay, I’m not going to hurt you. If I wanted to hurt you, I wouldn’t waste my time pretending to help you,” Connor soothed before winching slightly, realising exactly how that sounded. “Not that I’m pretending… oh screw it, I’m no good at this,” he muttered, more to himself than the scared wolf in front of him as he slowly moved forward, pausing right before Reese. “I want to help.”

Connor carefully reached out, peeling his jacket back slightly to get a better look at the wound in the side, believing it to be the lesser one. He quickly felt around it, skilful fingers taking in the spread of the wound without doing any further damage and he hoped without too much pain. “There… that wasn’t too bad, was it?” He smiled for a second, the expression changing his whole face dramatically. The wound was an inch or so deep, but certainly not as bad as it could be. Which left the shoulder, an injury Connor knew was worse, by the way Reese was holding his arm.

[Connor]

“Considering the life I live…” Connor trailed off as he carefully began to probe around the wound on Reese’s shoulder, concentrating on the task at hand before he picked up his sentence again, speaking in an almost off-hand tone. “It’s had blood on it before. It’ll come off.” He frowned at the wound, eyes shining his otherworldly hue. There were times when he really hated humans.

“Dominant species my ass…” Connor muttered darkly as he pulled away from the other wolf, rocking back onto his heels. “It’ll heal… your side one is already starting to close. How about we get you somewhere where you can sleep? Somewhere away from humans.” Where, Connor wasn’t sure. He had a feeling Reese wouldn’t appreciate being taken to a motel and there was that promise he had made. Which left only one choice really…

[Connor]

“Come on then.” Connor climbed to his feet and offered a hand to Reese, flashing the other werewolf another one of his bright smiles. “We’ll get those wounds cleaned up properly as well.” He was just going to have to take Reese back to his apartment for the night. And then come the morning he was going to have to take him to the pack’s base.

Connor was fairly confident he had been able to locate the hub of werewolf activity in this half of the city but he had hoped to stay away from the building for a little longer, keeping his head down and finding out as much as he could about the wolves inside before making any kind of move. He was just going to have to be careful. And possibly ask Reese not to mention him at all. The two began to slowly move through the pack, back towards the bag and clothes, Connor’s senses on high alert in case they were attacked again.

[Connor]

The fighter pulled his own coat back on, slipping the sword back into its sheath. It was a foolish thing perhaps, but instantly Connor felt stronger, more confident, better able to protect himself and Reese. Just knowing that the sword was in its proper place made him feel good. It was more than a sword or a status symbol or whatever people thought about swords, it was a part of him, as much as his arm or his leg.

“I’ll carry that,” he offered and without waiting for permission, smoothly took the bag out of Reese’s hands. There was no way Connor was going to let him carry something with an injured arm. It would have been too mean and cold-hearted. They moved off again, reaching the locked gate in a matter of moments.

“Well, we’re not jumping this time…” He pulled one of his guns out, flipping the safety off smoothly and with barely a second’s pause to aim fired it at the padlock. With a grunt Connor then stepped forward and kicked out, slamming both gates wide open. “Safest place I guess is my apartment. You can crash there tonight.”

Continued at; Apartment Complex; Building C; Connor’s Apartment with Reese

[Simon]

Simon called his little Yorkshire Terrier his baby for a reason.

First and foremost she was the single sweetest little creature to ever exist on this or any other planet, and you could quote him on that. Belle was the apple of his eye, his little beauty. When all else failed, and when all of his other relationships went to shit -- which they did more often than not -- Belle never failed him. She didn't care if he spent all weekend watching soccer, or left a mess in the kitchen. Her affection never waned, she was always unbelievably happy to see him, and it was difficult for the Frenchman not to smile when the little dog was at his side.

Such was the case on this particular summer night. Mild insomnia kept Simon from turning in too early and, when a movie and a beer hadn't helped, he quickly decided that there was no better way to spend his night that with his best girl. Her little tags jingle-jangled cheerily as she trotted beside him on her lead. Every once and awhile, the tiny terrier would look up to Simon and grin her doggy grin. It was enough to melt his heart, dammit, and Simon found himself grinning as his long legs carried him along the paved walking path.