Mara
Rogue Werewolf
Departed
Posts: 260
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Post by Mara on Nov 26, 2010 4:44:17 GMT
Mara listened to the chopping of the knife hitting the cutting board - the even movements. His knife skills were incredible, but the blonde wolf was taking his time over the vegetables, each being done with care. Each segment would be even, she knew - and she watched for a moment before turning to the stove, where a large pan sat. She turned on the heat, dashed some oil into the pan - turning, she found the biggest pot she could, and put water on to boil.
The mundane tasks were easy to do without concentration, something that she had come to appreciate. Her wolf was always bringing sensations to the forefront of her mind, and for now it was the smells that she had to deal with. The oil heating seemed to clog her nose, keeping out the now familiar scents of Kyle and the other members of the pack. She blew air out her nose in a huff and tried to concentrate on one smell entirely, seperating the scents in her mind - the garlic, the onions that were nearly oppressive if she let them be - weeding down to the fainter scents. Her concentration was such that she forgot for a moment was she was doing, holding the knife and the garlic over the oil. A sharp, coppery scent filled her nose suddenly and she swore, throwing the garlic and knife down, a long slash suddenly in her finger. Her temper flashed and she stomped it down, a growl coming to her throat as she wrapped a tea towel around her finger and scowled hard.
She breathed in, tapping into the calm that Kyle's presence lent and ignored the red heat that flooded into her face. Something simple like losing concentration near the moon could send her over... without Kyle here...
A repeat of her first moon was not what she was looking for, and she angrily checked the pan for blood droplets while she clumsily tried to hold the garlic to add it to the oil before the pan overwarmed.
"Not the special seasoning I was going for..."
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Kyle
Pack Werewolf
Cole's Pack: Fighter
Will they open their eyes and realise we are one?
Posts: 63
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Post by Kyle on Nov 26, 2010 22:43:47 GMT
There were doubtless people out there in the world who would observe Kyle and class him OCD to one degree or another. The fighter himself would never even consider such a thing, really he didn't think of those sorts of labels or diagnoses as important in any way, but he would be able to see where it came from. He was meticulous about so many things, he liked everything to be in its place, and he didn't like mess or spontaneity or disarray. It had been one of the appeals of training to be a fighter, the control and precision it offered, the focus and the discipline, all of which were things that Kyle held in high regard. In the years before he had been able to control his wolf, Kyle had been frustrated a great deal, to the point where those who had only come to know him in recent years -- especially those like Mara who had only known him a matter of weeks -- would hardly have recognised him.
Mara's curse had his head turning though in truth he had already scented the faintest bite of blood, knowing instantly what must have happened and assuring himself that it would heal quickly. There was no danger, nothing to defend against, and his wolf quieted as that knowledge sank into place. Reaching out -- the vegetables were all chopped and ready to add whenever Mara saw fit -- he added the garlic for the she-wolf before taking the hand with the wounded finger, unravelled the dishcloth from around it, saying as he did so, "It will heal quickly, but you should clean it just in case." The skin would close over in a couple of minutes at the most but it never hurt to rinse out a simple cut, even if you were a werewolf.
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Mara
Rogue Werewolf
Departed
Posts: 260
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Post by Mara on Nov 26, 2010 23:56:33 GMT
Mara avoided contact most of the time. It brought with it the emotions of the people that touched her, and as a wolf, it hit her like a brick wall if the time of the moon was a hair too close. She was getting better, but it still meant she had to withdraw from even the most benign contact - passing in a hallway. Her wolf didn't see it as a backing down - to her wry amusement, it saw it as more of a protection for the other being. The oldest wolves, however, it was more that her wolf wanted to be respectful, and brushing against them might give her feelings she shouldn't intrude on.
She lived physically apart as much as she could, and hoped one day it would change - wolves were such pack animals that sometimes she ached for a simple hug or a hand on the shoulder. She knew most of the Hyperion knew about her empathy - Nerys was one of the few remaining who would put a hand on her shoulder - the Beta understood Mara better than so many in the pack and could give out very little, and certainly nothing to set Mara off. She was grateful, but those interactions were rare with Nerys' own special abilities taking her so much.
Kyle's fingers on her hand brought the blonde wolf's calmness across her skin in a cooling wave... peace and a sense of belonging moved across her skin. Mara closed her eyes for a second, the emotions warring through her in an instant. Part of her wanted to snap at him to let go, part of her was so grateful for the contact it made her nearly dizzy - but there wasn't time to let herself look at any of it in detail.
She nodded, not trusting her voice, much less with an audience, and reluctantly began to withdraw her hand to move to the sink before the wound closed too much.
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Kyle
Pack Werewolf
Cole's Pack: Fighter
Will they open their eyes and realise we are one?
Posts: 63
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Post by Kyle on Nov 27, 2010 0:53:50 GMT
Kyle was aware just how much physical contact could affect Mara but he was also just as aware of his affect on her, how much his stoicism and seemingly effortless and eternal calm could put everything within her at ease when it might otherwise be in a state of turmoil. Kyle suspected he could touch her and there would be no unpleasantness of any kind. That didn't stop Kyle from feeling a flicker of concern that he had somehow overstepped when Mara's eyes closed that way, and when he released her it was slow and natural so as not to give anything away. His feelings were so guarded that he expected that tiny little glimmer of something beyond the norm might not have slipped through her shields but there was no telling, not without asking, and it was not Kyle's place to ask and besides he hardly wished to draw attention to something so small and insignificant.
He watched her move towards the sink and lowered his gaze to the vegetables on the chopping board, taking the knife and separating the little groups of chunks and slices again, neatening more out of habit than any kind of awkwardness. As a general rule Kyle never felt awkward, the instances were few and far between, enough of a rarity that it usually startled anyone who witnessed such a thing.
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Mara
Rogue Werewolf
Departed
Posts: 260
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Post by Mara on Dec 3, 2010 22:50:14 GMT
She rinsed the barely seeping wound under the tap, sticking the end of the tea towel in her pocket to put into the laundry later. No matter how incredible the immune system of a werewolf, she couldn't leave a bloodied towel in the kitchen. She stared at her finger for a moment, the skin nearly visibly healing before her as the blood stopped flowing at all and the cut took on a faint pink tinge. She shook her head, and moved back to the pan.
She was inside herself now, checking her shields, dealing with her wolf, who had come alive with the contact. She denied herself contact, and it sometimes objected. Thankfully in this case, it simply suggested that being near other wolves was not a bad thing... not in words, but in flashes of feeling that she then had to school as her empathy made them boil through her. The kitchen wasn't crowded, so it was only a short time before she was completely aware and herself again.
She busied herself with adding the vegetables to the mix and before long she had a pan full of a savoury red sauce, bubbling away. The meat had been browned and was in the pan as well - the pasta a moment away from being finished. She looked over at Kyle - "Do you think the leftovers will last more than an hour?"
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Kyle
Pack Werewolf
Cole's Pack: Fighter
Will they open their eyes and realise we are one?
Posts: 63
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Post by Kyle on Dec 4, 2010 20:21:48 GMT
Kyle lifted his head from his observation of Mara's busy movements with checking the sauce and the pasta to meet her gaze steadily. "Unlikely," he said succinctly though there was a thin thread of amusement to his response. Food tended not to last long around werewolves, especially a whole pack, and with a pack as large as the one Cole had gathered together under one roof, it was only a matter of time before anything edible was consumed and never seen again. A wolf's metabolism was much faster than any human's, they burned through a considerable amount of energy and when they were tapping into any of their genetic advantages -- whether it be speed and agility, strength or even something as unconscious as their healing factor -- the need for calories and sustenance was only increased.
The pasta would not last long, not at all, especially not if Mara intended to open it up for anyone and everyone who might be hungry. His pale gaze moved past Mara, keenly cutting through the downward-hanging blonde hair that shadowed his features, he regarded the Beta male and the vividly-haired female fighter. "Very unlikely," he corrected himself even as he moved his gaze back to Mara's, strongly suspecting she would feel the low hum of amusement that worked its way through him, so subtle few others would have been able to identify it.
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Mara
Rogue Werewolf
Departed
Posts: 260
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Post by Mara on Dec 5, 2010 23:51:41 GMT
Mara turned away to the cupboards to keep the smile on her face hidden as Kyle's emotions seeped through her skin. The amusement from him felt like warm sun when it happened, and she needed to make sure that the other wolves didn't see it. Explaining her mirth when it seemed to have no basis wouldn't be easy, and they probably wouldn't believe the amount of depth of emotion that did live under the blond fighter's outward stoicism.
She gathered two bowls from the cupboard and heaped them with the freshly made pasta and sauce. Then she took a post it note from the side and put on the stove next to the steaming pile of pasta - " Available, if the pot is washed when empty". It pretty much assured her that the food would be gone, but she also liked leaving it - the pack had become her home, and if someone got a full stomach from her efforts, even enjoying it, she was pleased.
"Guys, that pot is offlimits from your challenge please - I'd like it enjoyed, not scarfed." She smiled at the Beta and the other fighter, and then handed one of the two bowls to Kyle with a slight nod. "Your reward for your efforts."
She tilted her head towards the door as a question: Should we take these somewhere else to eat?
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Kyle
Pack Werewolf
Cole's Pack: Fighter
Will they open their eyes and realise we are one?
Posts: 63
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Post by Kyle on Dec 7, 2010 20:08:10 GMT
Accepting the bowl of pasta, Kyle let the smell of it fill him and felt the appreciative, eager shift of his wolf, a much more open and expressive creature than he had ever been in his human guise. He and the wolf within were one, no werewolf was two separate entities but instead two sides of the same coin but he had noticed over the years that his animal side was a little bolder and more forward than the side of him that was a man. He didn't doubt that it was something others in the pack had picked up on as well, especially given how stoic and straightforward and steady he was at any other time.
"Thank you." There was a warm appreciation in his voice even if the inflection didn't change much and he dipped his head in a nod for emphasis. The food smelt good, just as it had when it had been cooking, and he didn't doubt it would taste as good as it smelled. There was only one way to find out for sure, of course, and when she gestured with her head towards the door separating the kitchen from the large but comfortable dining room, he gave a smaller, simpler nod, agreeing with her suggestion before he headed towards the barrier, pushing it open and standing out of the way so Mara could pass and enter ahead of him.
CONTINUED IN: The Dining Room with Mara.
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