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Testing, Testing, Is This Thing On? (Attn: Kem)

She'd managed a week. A blessedly normal week, no lost luggage, no vampires, just art, a brand new museum to learn, and running. Nachton was proving a wonderful place for free running, it was a lovely side benefit. But she'd been told 'as soon as she could'. Thérèse couldn't hold off the need to do this any more.

It was extremely odd, she loved the hunt, she loved the challenge and gathering information, it was what she did. What she was good at. She hated that it wasn't her idea or her choice of quarry. But there was nothing that could be done.

Much more cautious since that first night she shifted on pack grounds. It was a bit of a run, but the crisp night and her easy ground eating lope made it enjoyable and quick. As tempting as the beach was, Thérèse decided it was far too open and exposed. Nearing a more residential area she reduced her speed to a trot and kept to shadows and side streets and did her best stray dog imitation. Any one who got a good look at her wouldn't buy it unless the were half blind or totally ignorant of wolves, but she tried.

Reaching her destination Thérèse slowed even further letting the scents tell her what was happening. The strongest was obviously the home owner, it was fresh and there were layers and layers of it. The one that caught her most by surprise was a wolf, a male. He was here often enough, she was probably intruding on his territory. She didn't care, she had a job to do.

There was also a dog, that was confirmed by a sudden loud barking from within the house. Thérèse growled slightly and even though it was against her instincts, shrank into the shadows. Hoping to shake the dog she skirted the house, easily hopping over the fence into the back yard.

Reign 14 years ago
Who knew Kem made cookies. Really? She never would have guessed that. And now, as a result of her urge to make brownies Reign had apparently started a minor war. She, however, was the only one of the lot of them that could gain any weight. Positively unfair.

Tonight, it was pancakes though, and those were -not- for Kem (or even Aishe despite the fact that they were chocolate chip pancakes) they were dinner. It was, what? Ten, ten thirty and she hadn't had dinner yet and this seemed liked the fastest and easiest thing to do.

She was mixing up the batter, the griddle was heating up and Bela Lugosi's Dracula was playing on the TV. She might have borrowed that from Kem. The man had more bad vampire movies than Reign knew existed. This one actually was pretty good, thank good, she knew because she'd seen it before.

Dracula was saying something in that over the top accent of his and she was debating the legality of setting Sirius on trick or treators when the mutt in question had a freak out. God she forgot how loud he could be. Reign willed herself to calm, it was just a cat or a late jogger or something.

When he didn't stop after a second and moved through the house at a jog trot to her bedroom at the back of the house and kept barking and then around to the sliding glass door and -kept- barking, Reign started to freak out a bit. A lot.

Setting her pancake batter down she nervously licked her lips, checked to see the doors were locked and debated looking for the baseball bat. At least she knew where her phone was this time.
Kem`Raaisu 14 years ago
Kem had pulled a 48-hour marathon at Meridian owing to a series of meetings that had to be taken care of during the day. So, obviously, he'd been stuck there, awake, for two nights and two days, until the sun had gone down and he'd driven himself tiredly home around sundown.

He hadn't moved much since walking in the door. He'd dragged himself into the bedroom and faceplanted onto the bed that smelled deliciously of vanilla, passing out against the cool crisp cotton. It couldn't have been too long before he was blinking awake, though, feeling edgy and inexplicably jumpy.

Rolling over, he did something he hadn't done since he and Aishe had first moved in together; he turned over, felt that familiar "oh shit" weightless feeling, and promptly plummeted to the floor.


"Damnit."

He rubbed his eyes and considered dragging the comforter off the bed and just going back to sleep right there on the floor but suddenly he realized what the jumpy feeling was.


[Reign?]

The phone rang at the same time, and he was already moving, stumbling to his feet in a tangle of bedclothes.

[What's wrong? Are you at home? I'm coming.]

Knowing the answer would be forthcoming momentarily Kem didn't waste time; he headed out his front door and dashed across the street to Reign's place as fast as a vampire on foot could go.
Reign 14 years ago
She whistled sharply for Sirius. He didn't obey right away, which meant something was out there for sure. Having the big dog right by her, even if he was still growing at some unknown entity was reassuring.

The voice in her head made her jump, Reign still wasn't used to that. Without thinking about it she hung up the phone and shoved it back in her pocket.


[Jesus Kem, use the phone.]

Reign found some weird vestige of courage and humor, well she faked it pretty well any way. Sirius charged the sliding glass door again. She could see a shadow, something... it was big what ever it was. Not as big as The Boy but big.

[I don't know what it is. I'm home there is -something- out there. It's big.]
Therese 14 years ago
The wolf scent was -every where- this woman was well protected.

It took everything she had not to answer the challenge of the dog. It was like nails on a chalkboard. Part of Thérèse was praying the home owner would be fool enough to open the door and let the dog out. It would be no contest and it would give her the satisfaction of taking action of some kind. But she was only supposed to recon this. Thérèse didn't so much as growl at the animal.

Finally she decided she could learn nothing more in the back yard. Nor could she take the constant barking ay longer. Lightly, effortlessly she again cleared the fence. Smoothly landing on the other side, Thérèse had planed to make a more detailed survey of the front yard, but there was some one there. Tall, pale hair, she didn't stick around to take notes.

Lowering her head and flattening her ears Thérèse debated giving this one trouble. But only for a second. Then she thought better of it. Instead Thérèse did the practical thing and faded into the shadows and stayed there as she loped away.


((OOC... Thérèse out))
Kem`Raaisu 14 years ago
Sprinting into Reign's front yard Kem's keen eyes saw the wolf hurtle over the fence. It stopped, though, lowered itself down, and turned away, melting into the shadows. He listened for long enough to suspect it had left. He wouldn't know one wolf from another but even if he had, he hadn't seen much of this one. Just enough to know what it was.

Did Xephier send someone? Had Drew? Kem thought he would recognize Drew if he saw him again. Either way the younger man wouldn't have run from Kem. At least, he didn't think so. No, this situation was decidedly odd.

He turned toward Reign's house.
[Phones take far too long. You want results, or you want chatter?]

She was clearly on edge; he didn't blame her. Walking up to the front dorr he pushed her panic away from his own mind and focused on projecting calm and serenity.

"It's me, Sirius." He tapped at Reign's door, which she had been keeping locked. She had given him a key but he'd promptly handed it back. He'd promised not to take advantage of her status as a familiar and in his mind, that meant knocking. Always.

When she let him in he reached out for her. He couldn't help it; the gesture was as natural to him now as her reaction must have been. There were some things he couldn't help with this bond, try as he might.


"Are you all right?"

It was important to him that she be all right. Not in the same way, exactly, that Aishe and Pak were important to him or that Evenhet was important to him, but he knew if anything happened to his familiar he would be injured in some way as well.
Reign 14 years ago
[Both?]

Reign's 'voice' sort of wavered as Sirius charged to the other side of the house still barking and then charged back to the front door. He, however, had become as used to Kem's presence as Reign had and went from threatening to jumping up on the door anxious to see their neighbor. He knew that Reign always felt better when Kem was there.

As Reign unlocked to door the dog still stood between her and the outside world. Once the door was shut and locked and reign relaxed Sirius took up his quiet watch again. Reign for her part, more than slightly out of character, burrowed into Kem's hug. She didn't know how much of it was the whole familiar thing and how much of it was real, but when Kem was there things got better. She felt safe again.

Hugging Kem back she nodded against his chest.


"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little freaked. There was something out there wasn't there?"Â?

Slowly, reluctantly Reign stepped back from Kem. She wasn't the overly clingy type, sure it felt good but she wasn't going to let this become a crutch.

"You're OK aren't you? It didn't get you?"Â?

Since Kem had chased the monster out from under her bed, or her yard as the case may be, her next concern was for Kem. She couldn't let anything happen to him.
Kem`Raaisu 14 years ago
Kem held Reign close for a moment, releasing her when she pulled away and smiling reassuringly down at her. "There was a wolf in your backyard," he said with a nod. "It ran when it saw me. I don't think it planned on your having company."

He spread his arms at Reign's inspection to show her he was perfectly fine. "No problems," he said. "Everything's all right."

The television was on; Reign had obviously been watching a movie. He drew her to the couch and sat down with her, aiming at giving some semblance of normalcy back to her night.

"I don't know why you seem to attract so much attention," he said with a grin. "Maybe they lost some money betting against you at a pool tournament."

Inside, it was difficult to make light of the situation but he didn't want Reign to know he was that worried. It would only act against the glamour he had working on her to calm her.

He would talk to Drew when he went back to work. Maybe he could locate Xephier too. It might be worth it if he could manage to figure out what about Reign made her so interesting. Xephier was possibly not going to be as helpful as Drew; after all, the big man had basically told Kem not to trust him. There was Nikhila Gounder, too. She and Kem had a decent relationship. He might be able to get some answers from her.
Reign 14 years ago
Reign took a good look at Kem and nodded in satisfaction when he did a little show and tell act demonstrating he was OK. If Reign had though he was in trouble, scared or not she would have charged out there to help. Although, she would have called 9-1-1 and Aishe first.

Her face lost a little color when Kem suggested it was a lost bet. He had no way of knowing it, but she'd wound up in the emergency room as a teenager for similar reason. She still had a long scar along the back of her arm to prove it. So this seemed perfectly plausible to Reign.

When Kem sat down though, she relaxed a if he was here it was OK.


"Yeah I'm sure. That's how all the odds makers work these days. They sic wolves on the favorites."Â?

About then Reign started smelling smoke and charged into the kitchen, Sirius with her. She'd left the burner on under the griddle. Turning it off and pulling the pan off the heat she waved it about, trying to cool it so she could use it.

"Did you want some pancakes? Chocolate chip... OJ... Beer...you're not hungry are you?"Â?

It had also been a while since Kem had nibbled and Reign didn't know if he had to eat every time he chased wolves off or just every other.

((OOC.... yeah this got posted as Nikhila first... I'm sure Xeph would have been thrilled))
Kem`Raaisu 14 years ago
Kem listened to Reign's tone of voice more than her words. Like him, she tended to try to be sarcastic and humorous when she was worried. And she was worried; it was apparent in her movements and her tone.

He shook his head with a smile when he was offered food; prior to their impromptu baking war, which had progressed from simple desserts to some more... interesting... attempts to good-naturedly out-do each other, he hadn't been a big eater and still wasn't.


"What I'm going to do is sit here and finish watching this movie with you," he said. "And then you're going to go to sleep because it's way past your bedtime and I'm going to turn on another one."

And endeavor not to fall asleep himself. But sleep could wait. It was more important that Reign feel safe tonight. Which made him reconsider biting her. He didn't need to, not really, but it might be worth it. He'd only bitten her once since making her his familiar. He didn't feed very often. If it would help Reign relax, though, which it seemed to do, it might not be a bad idea. He waited for her to get her food and rejoin him though. No rush. She seemed all right for now.
Reign 14 years ago
"Some of us need to eat every day you know."Â?

Reign goaded him a bit as she reheated the griddle to a sane temperature and started pouring pancake batter on it. The beauty of pancakes is they wouldn't take long to make. She nudged Sirius out of the kitchen and he went to settle in the living room with Kem.

"If you are going to baby sit me you might as well start it over. I'm not more than thirty minutes into it. You can tell me if you recognize any one."Â?

It took next to no time and the pancakes were done. Reign poured a glass of OJ, she did occasionally have pancakes and beer, but not tonight.

As she sat down on the sofa, curling one leg under her, with Kem she felt a little guilty. She hadn't brought him anything to eat -and- she was keeping him from Aishe.


"Are you -sure- you don't want any? And you don't have to stay you know. I'll be fine."Â?

She was pretty sure she would any way. Besides, they had now proved that this whole alarm system worked. That gave Reign a bit more confidence. Although, she didn't like to think about what might have happened if Kem had been at work of if this had happened during the day.
Kem`Raaisu 14 years ago
Kem made a face at Reign. "It's so overrated. Once every couple weeks should be plenty for everyone."

He helped himself to the remote and re-started the movie. "I resent that. You act like I'm old or something. I wasn't even legal drinking age when I was turned."

Kem reclined on Reign's couch and tucked his hands behind his head.
"I'm not babysitting. I'm socializing. Besides," he added glumly, "Aishe's at work still. I'm off the hook because I've been there for two days solid and even vampires have limits. No unions, but limits."

Of course he didn't have to stay. But it was easier to keep Reign calm when he was close by, and he didn't want to run the risk that she might have anymore night visitors.
Reign 14 years ago
"They had laws back then?"Â?

Actually Reign had no idea how old Kem was. She had the distinct impression that he was not at all young. Probably even older than Pakpao, but she didn't know just -how- old. Part of her was dying to know. She had a classical studies degree after all and he might be a primary source. But it seemed rude to ask.

Happily munching on her pancakes she choked a bit when he said he'd been at work for two days.


"You need a better gig. Two days is too much. Try being your own boss."Â?

Privately she disagreed with Kem. He was baby sitting. And really, she didn't mind.
Kem`Raaisu 14 years ago
Kem snorted and frowned. "Oh, we had laws all right. I had a really good up-close-and-personal with our law system. No drinking age though, you're right."

If Reign wanted a history lesson he was willing to give her one; talking about his history wasn't the gut-wrenching experience it used to be. She'd never indicated a deep interest though and he wasn't the type to bring the topic up unless requested to. Being with Aishe had brought him very much into the "here" and "now" of things.


"I am the boss," he lamented. "Mostly."

As far as the archives went there was no one to tell him when and when not to work; Kem set his own schedule and it generally worked in favor of Meridian. He had once been heckled to take a vacation and he hadn't handled it well. And it was out of the question altogether with Alfarinn off who knew where.
Reign 14 years ago
"Some day... when I'm not mostly asleep you can explain that to me. Date... historical figures... the works. I'll take notes."Â?

Reign said with barley concealed interest. Depending on how old Kem was she would love to introduce him to her father. Not that she would ever shove Kem at her dad and say hear is a really old vampire talk to him, but she could dream.

Pancakes were as fast to eat as they were to make and soon enough Reign was licking her lips and curling up in the corner quite satisfied.


"The heck you say."Â?

No longer hungry and soothed by Kem's presence she was ready to think about why he'd come over in the first place.

"You're sure it was a wolf? It wasn't just Drew being... well Drew? I mean he is a wolf but..."Â?

Nerves resurfaced as she thought about this. The Doc would have told her if he was sending some one over. At least Reign thought he would. He'd been awful busy lately, maybe it slipped his mind.
Kem`Raaisu 14 years ago
Kem nodded his head at Reign. "You've got a deal."

He would want the same in her position... probably be more annoying about it too. Exponentially.

"I do say," Kem said, stifling a yawn. He was supopsed to require less sleep than the average human, not more. This was just silly.

At Reign's question Kem regarded her solemnly, considering whether to tell her a comforting lie or the not-so-comforting truth. The latter won out; he wasn't really the lying type.


"I was locked in your bathroom for four hours with Drew the Wolf," he said gently. "I like to think I'd recognize him if I saw him."
Reign 14 years ago
"Well... yeah... I guess you would wouldn't you."Â?

Well there went that idea. Maybe it was Wil or Jared. That could happen. Maybe they were out looking for Drew, they'd both swing by here. The odds were pretty good that they wouldn't just randomly tangle with a human. The Doc had pretty strict rules about that.

This sounded like such a good idea Reign managed to convince herself, mostly.


"You know it could be a couple of his... well our friends looking for him. He told me he was going to go running tonight."Â?

Part of the reason he was out running was she had planned on getting back late (hence dinner at this hour) and Reign had started getting cross with his mother hen attitude. She really did understand that was just how wolves worked and cut him a lot of slack but there came a time when a girl had to assert herself.

Now if he wanted to come back tomorrow night and just screw around, that they could do.
Kem`Raaisu 14 years ago
"So, you'll have me for tonight and Drew tomorrow night. And if anything happens during the day, Reign, you're to head out that door and over to our house as fast as you possibly can. No argument."

Kem was well aware that he couldn't protect Reign during a daylight assault unless she managed to find him. Most days he was at home and that was simple enough.

He smiled at her and shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm sorry it has to be that way. I know you don't like it. I'm working on getting to the bottom of this, I promise. Just be patient while we get the ball rolling. Please?"

Kem didn't blame Reign for not wanted to be babysat or protected. She was the independent sort, but even she had to rely on her friends once in a while.
Reign 14 years ago
Reign was torn between amusement and comfort when Kem gave his ultimatum. It wasn't like they hadn't had this conversation before and she knew that really that was the only sane thing to do. But it still sort of irritated her.

Reign knew it wasn't full proof though. What if she couldn't get out of the house? Or what if these weirdos, who ever they were, tracked her down while she was on the road or even just at the hall or out with Hans? Since she knew how many holes there were in the plan Reign didn't fight him on it.

Besides he was putting himself out and at risk, it would be a poor way to repay him and certainly it didn't help me. It was still odd that she had those strange sort of urges to help Kem. Truly that was what was keeping Reign from protesting too hard about being protected.


"Yes dad."Â?

But it wasn't resentful it was teasing.

She half sighed and half yawned.


"I know. It'll work out eventually and I appreciate the help. Really. Any leads?"Â?
Kem`Raaisu 14 years ago
Kem quirked a pale eyebrow at Reign before laughing softly. "All right, I'm sorry. I know it sounds demanding."

He didn't know what else to tell her though; he should know if something was wrong with her. If that were the case he could send to her and, if need be, send help. She knew that though. It wasn't the best protection ever but it was better than being stuck alone during the day.

He shook his head at her.
"I'm working on it, I'll let you know what I find when I find it."

It might be time to pay a call on the neighborhood wolves.
Reign 14 years ago
"It sounds like you're as worried as I am. Which makes me feel a little less crazy."Â?

She reassured him.

Reign yawned again and decided that little bit of excitement had taken up the last of her energy. She gathered up her dishes and wandered back to the kitchen to clean up a bit. The bowl, spatula, griddle, and all that good jazz got rinsed off and stuck in the dishwasher.

Flopping back on the couch for a second Reign fought of -another- yawn with a big stretch.


"Thanks."Â?

She said absently.

"I think I'm going to turn in. If you don't mind."Â?

Assured that that had been his plan Reign wandered off for bed. But she left the door open, just in case. Part of her would have been happier sleeping on the couch with Kem, but that also would have been sort of odd. Tomorrow she'd have The Boy to snuggle up to and that would just have to do.

((OOC... all out with permission.))