The Roof

[Annelise]

Annelise just needed to stay busy to stay sane. That was how she looked at it, anyway. If she kept busy, then she wasn’t thinking and if she wasn’t thinking, then she wasn’t focusing on the things in the past that she couldn’t change. Keeping busy also helped in keeping her from getting restless, which would have had her climbing the walls almost before she was able to figure out what was happening. The fighter was always happiest when she was doing something, so the busier she was, the better.

At her friend’s suggestion, Annelise found herself smiling. She didn’t let herself get lost in fantasy worlds often, but the thought of making one with Jess and seeing what they could come up with sounded like a great deal of fun. “That sounds great, Jess. I haven’t let my imagination run away with me in a long time.”

[Jess]

In a way, Jess simply flat out refused to acknowledge her past. There were certain wolves in the pack, she knew, that had a great talent for loosing bits of their history that they didn’t want. Madison for example, seemed genuinely confused the few times Jess had talked about anything in the past, even events that had occurred a few weeks ago. She lacked that same skill, she couldn’t make the unpleasant – or even pleasant – parts of her history go completely away, but she could let them fade as much as possible into the white mist and then just pretend they weren’t there at all. It wasn’t healthy, but Jess didn’t think she was ready to deal with some of the worst parts of her life.

She didn’t think she would ever be.

But back to the safety of the imaginary world, where there were limits. Not just on your imagination, although ultimately it was that which marked the end boundaries of the world you create. Yet there were other, far more subtle limits there too. No vampires for one thing, simply by default. Jess might not actively state in any of her daydreaming that the undead were either a thing of the past or had never existed at all, they were simply… not there. “Imagination is like any other part of the body, you’ve got to keep it exercised, to keep it flexible and usable.”

[Annelise]

It would have been nice to be able to make the bad parts of her past fade, but so much of that had shaped who she currently was that it would have been hard to remain herself had she let it. She preferred the good parts, though, just like anyone else. The laughter, the training… the first kiss on the cliff overlooking the lake at sunrise one Christmas morning… That memory could almost chase away the memories of blood and death. Almost…

While there were no vampires in the fantasy world for Jess, there were no murdering, plotting rogues in it for Annelise. If there were, they were being dealt with harshly. She wasn’t the sort to think that all rogues were nasty and should be eliminated- that was far from the way it was- but there were some… It was best not to think about that. This was supposed to be fun and she was determined to make sure it was.

“Good point,” Annelise agreed with a nod. “I think my imagination could use the workout.”

[Rory]

Continued from: Hallways with Dylan and Lily

Apparently they weren’t the only ones to come up with the idea of going to the roof. Then again, it was such a cool idea that of course others would think of it as well. Rory waved towards Jess and Annelise, some part of him wondering what the two girls were gossiping about and wanting so desperately to know. Curiosity was a dangerous thing, he knew that. He also knew that whatever they were talking about was none of his business and probably not that interesting to him anyway. It didn’t stop the niggling feeling though, even as he turned to take in the rest of the roof, breathing deeply.

Everything looked so nice from up high, Rory taking a few steps away from both the entrance back down into the hotel and the part of the roof currently occupied by his friends. Yes, he might have an insatiable curiosity at times, but he wasn’t rude and standing too close to them would just be rude. Plus, he wanted to look over the opposite edge, towards the street and where the fighters would eventually leave.

“Oh, awesome, stars,” Rory remarked, looking up as he walked and doing a small little spin to get the full view of all the bright dots up above them. Grinning happily he looked back at Dylan and Lily, just feeling contented, the warm satisfied feeling of being safe and with friends. There was really nothing like it in the world and nobody like the two behind him, which just made it that much better.

[Dylan]

They had made a brief stop on the way up so Dylan could set Goliath back in his room; as much as he kept an eye out for the kitten, he didn’t trust himself to stop the little ball of wacky fur from bundling towards the edge of the roof, and if the young cat actually fell off? Well, Dylan didn’t even want to contemplate it. So Goliath was safely tucked away in the confines of his room, busy chasing a bell-containing ball around the vast expanse of the carpeted floor. Sure, he might wreak some havoc while Dylan was gone, but it wouldn’t be anything new, and at least he wouldn’t take any life-threatening falls in there.

Giving Annelise an almost automatic nod, his immediate respect for another fighter rising to the surface, Dylan then offered Jess a smile that almost touched on brotherly. It wasn’t because she was close with Kate, another fighter, that Dylan found himself fond of the female, but because he genuinely liked her as an individual. Then again, there weren’t many people in the pack who hadn’t earned that kind of response from the Irish-born fighter by now.

Stepping across the roof and away from the doorway and its ‘shed’ that had led them out onto the highest point of The Hyperion, Dylan followed Rory’s gaze upward. It was a clear night, and just as the younger male had exclaimed, there were indeed stars, and enough to cast a gentle glow over the hotel and a good deal of Los Angeles around them. “You sure can’t beat this view, sometimes,” he said by way of agreement, tossing Rory a grin.

[Annelise]

Annelise looked towards the door when it opened, allowing Rory, Dylan and Lily onto the roof, returning Rory’s wave and Dylan’s nod before turning back to Jess and what they were doing. It was such a nice night out that she wasn’t at all surprised that the others had decided to make their way up to the roof. It was a wonderful place to be on nights such as this. The courtyard was nice, but it couldn’t beat the rooftop on a beautiful, clear night. She honestly didn’t know of many places that could and certainly none actually in the area. Or even in the country.

Not that that mattered though. It was one of the best views in the city in her opinion and she certainly couldn’t argue with having it at her disposal whenever she decided to wander up and look around. It was a great place to let herself get lost in her thoughts when she didn’t want to be inside or in the courtyard.

[Dylan]

It wasn’t a strain for a werewolf’s ears, to hear the revving of engines from below. Striding away from Rory, he moved to the exterior ledge of the hotel and leaned over to see the three vehicles, all dark in colour and practical in design, as they sped in a line away from The Hyperion, out of the lot and into the streets of Los Angeles. Dylan propped himself against that ledge that separated them from open air, the warm breeze catching his spiky hair and shifting it around his scalp, watching the lights of the vehicles until they were out of sight.

The group was underway; what they were off to do, no one really knew, but Dylan believed they would all find out in time. All in good time; wasn’t that how the saying went? Performing a lazy sweep of the land below and the buildings around them, he pulled in a deep breath and then stood to his full height, eyes going skyward again, taking in the night time view that, behind him, Rory found so captivating.

[Jess]

Her conscious mind took a few seconds to catch up with the unconscious, the part of her that had already sensed the approach of more pack mates, and the part that had heard the door open as three stepped out. When her brain finally kicked into gear, a moment or two behind that of Annelise, she looked over as well, taking in the newcomers. There was a warm smile on her face at the sight of such a varied collection of her friends, from the happy that was Rory, and to the brother she had never known in Dylan and felt blessed every time they talked. And then there was Lily, someone Jess felt very close to, someone she saw a lot of herself in and someone who never seemed to mind if they spend hours in silence.

Everybody in the pack was special to Jess for their own reasons, but right now, seated up in the cool air, and surrounded by those she counted amongst the closest of the close, Jess couldn’t remember feeling as happy and as content as she did. Really the only thing that could make it better would be if Kate wandered up, but he was probably doing his own fighter thing and if nothing else, the dreamy female could – and would – respect that. “My favourite places in my imagination look at lot like this moment,” Jess confided to Annelise, turning her attention fully back on the female, a shy smile on her face.

[Rory]

He linked arms with Lily as she moved up beside him without even looking back down, an automatic move that spoke of the comfort they had around each other. It wasn’t just to keep her safe – Rory wouldn’t want her to wander off without thinking but at the same time he didn’t want her to think he thought she was incapable. So many thoughts. Rory just liked playing his own part, no matter how small it was in doing something to help. Plus, there was nothing wrong in linking arms with a friend for the simple reason of wanting to do that, and right now, he did.

Where else was there in the world to be, but here, with friends and family? Rory knew that dotted around the city were numerous wolves who for whatever reason didn’t want a pack life and he could respect that, even if he couldn’t understand it.

Rory looked back down at Dylan’s words, pleased smile on his face at their meaning, knowing that it wasn’t stupid to admire something pretty. Acknowledgement and some kind of approval, he took it back, what he had thought mere moments ago. A much better place than that moment in time, was this moment in time. “Moon is nice too…” there was a faint trace of wistfulness in his voice as he spoke, eyeing the sliver of moon in the sky. Someday, he’d be able to see that full again, and all the magic it cast with its light.

[Dylan]

Giving his shoulders a relaxed roll and sighing in satisfaction as he felt something pop and then sit back where it ought to be, Dylan glanced across the roof at the pack members gathered. An odd assortment, to be sure, but not an unpleasant crowd when it came to company. Then again, there weren’t many people in the pack who Dylan would class as ‘unpleasant’ in any way; it took a lot to push him to genuine dislike, and so far, no one had earned that kind of classification from the Irish-born fighter. For that, he was thankful.

Rory’s smile reignited his own, and turned it into a crooked grin, and soon enough he was nodding at the younger male’s new words. What was better to a peaceful werewolf, or group of werewolves, than a beautiful moon overhead? In Dylan’s mind, it was oddly perfect. It wasn’t full, so it wasn’t holding any kind of sway over the youngsters among them, there was nothing driving them to be irritable, and other than the unknown difficulty at their human lawyer’s home, everything just kind of felt right. Deciding to perch himself on the ledge behind him, not even thinking about how daredevil or extreme, even terrifying, it might seem to any humans who happened to glance up and see him with his back facing the open sky and the deadly drop, he said by way of agreement, “You can say that again.”

[Rosaline]

She'd been wandering aimlessly for most of the day, flitting in and out of various rooms and engaging anyone who would talk with her. There was nothing better than an uneventful day at the Hyperion, though when the Alphas and a group of fighter suddenly ran off with some kind of urgency, it did make Rosie somewhat nervous. Of course they had folk to look after, but she didn't like the idea of any of her fellow packmates in danger.

So, Rosaline had found her way up to the roof in order to watch the city. Some of her friends had obviously had the same idea and, for awhile, she kept to herself, until she caught a familiar scent. Her face brightened considerably when she saw Dylan accompanied by Rory and Lily, and decided to join the trio;

"Hi," she all but chirruped to the group. Rosaline stopped behind Rory, arms locking around the male's waist as she flashed Lily and Dylan equally dazzling smiles.

[Annelise]

The blonde fighter glanced up again as Rosaline, but looked back to Jess as soon as the other female went to join Rory, Lily and Dylan. It really did seem as if the rooftop was the place to be for the moment- unless it was with Cole and the others, but seeing as how she had opted to stay behind in order to be at the pack home should things go downhill, that didn’t count. Annelise was pretty much always happy to have anyone in the pack around, even if they weren’t actually talking with each other. Companionship didn’t always have to require conversation, after all. Just knowing they were there was usually more than enough for Annelise.

There wasn’t anything (anything that was possible, at any rate) that would have made that moment better for Annelise, though the situation would far from deteriorate if anyone else decided to wander up and join them. Like everyone, Annelise needed her alone time, but right now was far from being one of those times; she was extremely content to have anyone and everyone around right then. At Jess’ comment, Annelise smiled. “It really is a nice scene, isn’t it? Relative peace, friends around. Hard to improve on it unless you add everyone else to it.”

[Rory]

Rory bit his lip to stop himself doing just that. It was something of a habit with him, whenever anyone said or joked ‘you can say that again’ the cheesy part of his personality wanted to oblige, complete with over the top delivery. He wondered where that saying had come from since people didn’t really want you to say something again, along with all the strange other sayings that populated the language. What was up with ‘if wishes were horses, beggars would ride?’ for example. How could a wish be a horse? And what if the beggar didn’t know how to ride, or was a werewolf and thus unable to or something.

Before she actually reached them, Rory had gotten a sense of the approaching female behind them, his joy knowing no bounds as she approached. For a moment he had wondered if she had been planning to wander over to Jess and Annelise and while there was nothing wrong with either of those two, having more in his little group just made him happy. More so when she wrapped his arms around his waist as she reached him. He tilted his head upwards to catch side of her face, catching sight of part of that smile. All he needed now was Keegan and maybe one of his ‘sisters’ and this would be the best evening this week.

“Hellooooo Rosaline!”

[Dylan]

At Rosie’s appearance, Dylan’s expression had broken into a wide grin as he returned her greeting in kind, before it toned down into a smile, his posture relaxed as he remained on his perch, looking almost like a young boy waiting at the doctor’s office, on the very verge of swinging his legs out of restlessness. Not a very intimidating pose for a fighter, but Dylan wasn’t in that ‘mode’, that particular frame of mind, at least not right at that moment. He had come up to the roof with Rory and Lily with the intention of relaxing and getting some fresh air, and even with several other fighters and the two most dominant members of the pack off to tackle some unknown trouble, he was determined to do just that.

Though, saying that, there was a part of him that itched to ask Annelise whether or not she knew anything, and if so, if she knew more. Irina hadn’t been able to tell them much, but as far as the Irish-born fighter knew, Annelise had come up here earlier in the day with Liluye, and Noah and Kai had also headed up this way. Now those three were gone, presumably recruited for whatever had gone ‘wrong’ at Marion’s place. For the time being, he held his tongue and did his best to put it out of his mind.

[Rosaline]

The auburn wolf beamed, squeezing Rory tight for a moment before she winked at both him and Lily. "Here's lookin' at you, schweetheart," she drawled in her best Bugsy Malone voice. The American gangster front didn't last long; Rosie couldn't help but giggle. Rory was released and Rosie moved to join Dylan, leaning her back against the ledge between his legs. The female grinned up at the fighter for a moment before reaching up to scratch through his tousled hair as she spoke;

"Sure is quiet around here," she commented with a chuckle. "Definitely something new."