Heidi
Rogue Werewolf
Departed
One step at a time; one hope, then another.
Posts: 300
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Post by Heidi on Jan 23, 2006 4:19:06 GMT
Heidi sighed, and got up to close the door. She'd heard Steven's mild rebuke of the younger wolf, and appreciated it, but it wasn't quite enough to silence the growling in her mind.
Practically everything about Alise rubbed Heidi the wrong way. She was young -- very, very young, not even thirty-five -- and though youth in itself was not a detriment, it wasn't exactly an accomplishment either. She was boisterous and flirtatious and loud and outspoken; she would have had a hard time being more different from Heidi if she'd tried.
And she likes Steven too much.
The thought came unbidden, and she shook her head. Enough of that. There was work to do.
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Steven
Beta Werewolf
Cole's Pack
Posts: 141
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Post by Steven on Jan 24, 2006 6:27:15 GMT
Continued from The Hallway, sorta
A little while later, Steven found himself outside Heidi's office once more. As much as he hated to, he was going to have to apologize . . . I hate doing this . . . There'll be no living with her for a while, after this. With a sigh, he finally screwed up the courage and knocked.
"Come in," said the voice, more distracted than anything else.
Sighing, he took another deep breath before stepping inside. "Can we talk?"
"Huh?" She glanced up from the computer screen, blinked, and rubbed her eyes. "Oh...sure."
"About what happened . . . "
"You and your little friend, you mean?"
He grimaced slightly. "Yeah, that . . ." He gritted his teeth slightly before muttering, "I'm sorry."
Heidi lifted her eyebrows, but didn't say anything for a moment. "Well. That was unexpected," she said finally.
"Not easy to do, either." He sighed, shaking his head. "Alise went too far . . . I'm sorry about that."
She shrugged. "She does like the men."
He sighed, shaking his head. "Not that part. The way she acted towards you. She was out of line."
"Well, I agree, but you're not the one who ought to apologize for it. That was hardly your fault."
"I shouldn't have encouraged her."
"You didn't encourage her to be rude to me...I even heard you tell her she was going too far."
Steven frowned faintly, shaking his head. "You don't make things easy, do you?"
"What am I doing?" she asked bluntly. "You came in here apologizing, which I appreciate, and I'm trying to tell you that you're not at fault."
He sighed, not sure what to do or say. Had he just apologized when he didn't need to? If that's right . . . then I'm extremely dumb for not catching it. "You sure?"
"Well, yeah. I mean, it's really nice that you wanted to come in here and apologize, don't get me wrong. But...I blamed Alise, not you."
He was quiet before shaking his head slightly. "Really doubt you'll get an apology out of her."
"So do I. But I promise I won't lose sleep over it," she said composedly. She regarded him thoughtfully. "That was very good of you, though. Thanks."
He shrugged lightly, giving her a faint smile. "Figured I should apologize at least once, since I seem to keep screwing up."
She chuckled. "Oh, as if I don't forgive you every time."
"Still, doesn't hurt to do it at least ONCE . . ."
"Glad it's not painful for you."
Steven grinned lightly. "Hey, I never said THAT . . ."
Heidi laughed. "So where is your little flirt, anyway? She get tired of you already?"
Steven gave her a sheepish smile. "I kinda ditched her . . . " He paused, chuckling. When he spoke again, his accent slipped slightly, as it was prone to do at random times. "Honestly? She gets on my nerves somethin' fierce, after a few minutes . . ."
The accent was, as it ever was, too endearing for Heidi's comfort. "You have higher tolerance for her than I do, then," she joked. "Anyway, I thought you liked having pretty young things fawning over you."
He shot her a roguish grin, shrugging. "I do . . . Just not her."
"Oh, well, try to let her down easy." She tidied a stack of papers. 'Just because you can break hearts doesn't mean you should."
He frowned lightly at that. "I'm HOPING she's not been taking me seriously."
"Couldn't speak to that. Some of your other flirtations, though, I sometimes wonder."
He frowned faintly, his brow furrowing. "I REALLY hope no one takes me seriously . . ."
"Not a one of them is serious?" she asked good-naturedly, looking in a drawer to hide her expression.
He scoffed faintly then. "Nope. I mean, come on! I'm never serious when I flirt."
"I'll bear that in mind," she said dryly, "in case you ever get bored enough to start flirting with me."
He smirked faintly. "But that would mess up the nice dynamic we have going."
"We have a dynamic?"
"You saying we don't?"
"Teasing. You're right...our relationship is perfect the way it is."
He smiled and nodded emphatically. "Exactly."
"Well, then. Glad we're in agreement." I really need to stop talking.
He nodded again before standing up a little straighter. "Well, guess I'd better quit distracting you."
"What? Oh...yes...I should get back to work."
He nodded and, with a small wave, headed out. Why am I drowsy? I think it's time for a nap . . .
Continued in Steven's Bedroom
written, obviously, with Heidi
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Heidi
Rogue Werewolf
Departed
One step at a time; one hope, then another.
Posts: 300
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Post by Heidi on Jan 27, 2006 17:07:26 GMT
After Steven's departure, Heidi found it difficult to concentrate. Certain little thoughts were batting themselves around in her mind.
For as much bickering and quarrelling as they were known for doing, the Betas really did enjoy a very firm, solid friendship. She was fond of Steven, albeit somewhat grudgingly; he knew how to push her buttons as no one else did.
Yes. Their relationship was perfect just as it was.
Really.
So that settled that. Moving on.
She pondered Andrew. It amused her deeply that a human was attracted to her. She wondered, idly, if Marion had explained to the young man just exactly what the pack was; she was more than six hundred years older than Andrew, and the Alphas and Steven were even older than she was.
The question was, would he do anything about it? And if he did, what should her reaction be? She had to admit that it would be sort of nice to be on the receiving end of some attentions, but there was a certain element of danger to getting involved with a human. Ultimately, if she grew too attached to him, the only recourse would be to turn him, or else he would age and die and she would go on alone.
This was not, she admitted, a very likely scenario. She would much prefer a mate who was...older. A seasoned veteran of lycanthropy. Someone who, like herself, had centuries of life to look back upon, and contemplate, and discuss. Still...Andrew's infatuation was flattering. It wouldn't hurt to see him socially, she supposed -- in a business fashion if nothing else. And it would possibly do a bit to counteract the reputation she was certain she had for being as boring as a werewolf can possibly be.
But there was no question, she ultimately had to concede to herself, that it would be...really quite nice to have a mate. An actual mate. She'd only ever had the one, and that had not exactly been by choice; she had been his eroberung, his conquest. If she ever had a mate again, she wanted to be his equal. And despite his many excellent qualities, Andrew really would not do.
She shook her head. This was leading nowhere, or nowhere she cared to go at least. Chiding herself for losing focus, she turned her attention back to George Taylor and the client in Oregon, and her attempts to establish a link between them.
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Sissy
Pack Werewolf
Cole's Pack
Live, laugh, and love.
Posts: 197
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Post by Sissy on Jan 27, 2006 18:38:33 GMT
Continued from: The Dining Room
Sissy was rather surprised to find that she had stopped in front of Heidi's office during her wanderings and found herself wondering if she should knock. She hated to bother the Beta- especially since she hadn't exactly meant to end up there and had nothing particular to say- but she knocked.
Out of the Alphas and Betas, Heidi was the one Sissy felt most comfortable and relaxed around. She knew perfectly well that it was because of Heidi's calm, understanding and, yes, bookwormish, ways. Sissy had more in common with Heidi than she did with Cole, Dia or Steven and therefore, she wasn't quite as intimidated by the female Beta. The intimidation was still there, but it wasn't quite as profound.
If she's busy, I'll just duck out really quickly and try not to bother her any more than necessary. With that decided, she waited.
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Heidi
Rogue Werewolf
Departed
One step at a time; one hope, then another.
Posts: 300
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Post by Heidi on Jan 27, 2006 19:21:56 GMT
Heidi glanced up curiously at the knock. "It's open," she called. Her nose told her that it was one of the younger wolves, but she was too distracted by her work and her other thoughts to be certain which one. When the door opened to reveal Sissy, she smiled. "Hi, Sissy. Come on in."
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Sissy
Pack Werewolf
Cole's Pack
Live, laugh, and love.
Posts: 197
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Post by Sissy on Jan 27, 2006 19:37:43 GMT
Sissy stepped into the room, returning the smile. "I'm not interrupting, am I? If I am, I'll go. I just started to get a little restless and ended up here as I was wandering around." It was rare for Heidi not to be working on something, so there would be no hard feelings if the Beta asked to be left alone. As a matter of fact, Sissy was fairly certain that she had interrupted Heidi in her work. "Actually, why don't I just let you go back to what you were doing? It isn't as if there's any particular reason I came by." She turned and started to leave.
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Heidi
Rogue Werewolf
Departed
One step at a time; one hope, then another.
Posts: 300
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Post by Heidi on Jan 27, 2006 19:41:33 GMT
"No, no, come on in," Heidi said reassuringly, pushing the computer away from herself slightly. "Believe me, I could do with a break. After a while, all the dates and names start to look alike." She chuckled, rubbing her eyes.
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Sissy
Pack Werewolf
Cole's Pack
Live, laugh, and love.
Posts: 197
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Post by Sissy on Jan 27, 2006 21:03:38 GMT
Sissy turned away from the door, smiling slightly. "It sounds a bit like what happens to me when I've been reading too long," she commented. Sissy thought for a moment. "Are you still working on the George Taylor thing?" She was curious as to how it was coming along, having heard a little about what Heidi was trying to do.
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Heidi
Rogue Werewolf
Departed
One step at a time; one hope, then another.
Posts: 300
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Post by Heidi on Jan 27, 2006 22:37:31 GMT
"Yes, still on it," she replied, with a slightly weary smile. "It's a tricky situation, but I guess there's no real rush. I only got the job yesterday. So..." Heidi stretched a bit, leaning back in her chair more comfortably. "What's happening downstairs? Devon driving Cassie crazy again?"
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Sissy
Pack Werewolf
Cole's Pack
Live, laugh, and love.
Posts: 197
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Post by Sissy on Jan 27, 2006 22:46:34 GMT
"I think it's fair to say that they're driving each other crazy," Sissy answered. "There were some fries thrown across the table, but nothing extremely serious. Kyle said that if it wasn't a lie, he would say they would get over it." She shrugged slightly. "You really didn't miss anything except Devon giving us a peek at some food in his mouth when he decided to talk with his mouth full and I wish I would have missed that one."
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Heidi
Rogue Werewolf
Departed
One step at a time; one hope, then another.
Posts: 300
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Post by Heidi on Jan 27, 2006 23:03:36 GMT
Heidi laughed. "Either those two are going to kill each other one day, or they're destined to be mates. I don't know when I've seen a pair like them. They're impossible."
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Sissy
Pack Werewolf
Cole's Pack
Live, laugh, and love.
Posts: 197
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Post by Sissy on Jan 27, 2006 23:15:09 GMT
"True, but I think they enjoy tormenting each other too much to worry about them killing each other. The mate thing, I can actually sort of see. They're a cute pair when they aren't at one another's throats." She almost- almost- said that she thought the same about Heidi and Steven, but she caught herself before that managed to escape. Instead, she went with something else. "With the way Alise likes to flirt, the rest of us are going to be lucky if we can find mates."
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Heidi
Rogue Werewolf
Departed
One step at a time; one hope, then another.
Posts: 300
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Post by Heidi on Jan 27, 2006 23:21:22 GMT
Heidi nodded, smiling fondly. "They are rather sweet," she agreed. At the mention of Alise, the briefest gold tint brightened the brown of her eyes. "As to Alise....well....she certainly does enjoy the attention of the men, no question. But as long as she's not stupid enough to start flirting with Cole, or any other taken males, there's really not much that can be said against her behavior, save that she may find it gets her into trouble someday."
I hope I'm watching when it does...oh, mean, Heidi. Behave yourself. Set a good example.
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Sissy
Pack Werewolf
Cole's Pack
Live, laugh, and love.
Posts: 197
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Post by Sissy on Jan 27, 2006 23:27:32 GMT
As brief as it was, Sissy had caught the gold in Heidi's eyes and grimaced at her mistake. She should have known better than to mention Alise and would have smacked herself in the forehead had she not been in the presence of the Beta. Now she felt extremely akward and had no idea of what to say.
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Heidi
Rogue Werewolf
Departed
One step at a time; one hope, then another.
Posts: 300
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Post by Heidi on Jan 27, 2006 23:32:24 GMT
Heidi sensed Sissy's sudden discomfort, and felt a bit guilty about it. Of course the younger wolf wouldn't have known that Alise was presently a large thorn in Heidi's side. "Well, in any case," the Beta continued, trying to move past it, "I think I've had quite enough of colonial Amerian history for one afternoon -- or evening, as it seems to be nearing," she added, glancing at her wristwatch. "Think any of the others would be up for some group activity?"
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