Post by Seniade on Mar 31, 2016 23:08:45 GMT
The flat was pretty much as you left it when you passed out in front of the TV, the TV had gone into standby mode and that irritating little red light was flashing away like a berzerk thing but otherwise everything seemed fine. It was however dark outside, you'd probably been crashed out for a couple of hours maybe longer. What had been a "I'll just sit down for a bit then I'll do the dishes" had turned into "I'll just sit down for a bit and then i'll... ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ". Something woke you up, it wasn't the noisey bitch upstairs who walked like she'd had her feet surgically replaced with concrete blocks, and you're pretty sure it wasn't that loud mouthed like cock womble next door either, he'd be stoned out of his little tree by now and his guitar hero "sessions" didn't usually start til about three am when he and his "mates" were well and truly wankered. But something had very definitely disturbed you. There would be little to smell, the place might smell damper, more musty like someone had let a wet dog dry out on your sofa.
The aching pounding in his head was the second thing he noticed when Ben let out a snort and flinched awake, his eyes squinted half shut against that stupid light on the telly. In a more than pissy mood, he mashed the button to shut the stupid fucker off on the remote and then tossed it on the floor, having forgone the usual coffee table for a more... eclectic placeholder of newspapers he had been scouring. Why he continued a habit like looking for reports that sounded like a vampire attack at this point was beyond his understanding; they seemed to gravitate towards him lately... or maybe it was the girl, the mute one who signed her fingers almost as quickly as his mother could reprimand her sons for being disobedient. He grunted in a very guy-like manner as he hauled himself from the sofa and moved to the kitchen sink, flicking the faucet on and leaning his head down to drink directly from the tap, figuring the cold water might help to soothe the little demons stabbing at his brain from inside his skull.
While he was making a very noisy thing out of trying to re-hydrate himself, the smell drifted across Ben's sensitive nasal receptors again and made him shut the water off, frowning a little as he stood and looked around, moving through his little flat cautiously. He scratched at the exposed flesh of his abdomen as he tried to remember if he had changed his boxers last night before flopping on the sofa in his drunken stupor... or if he had simply gotten too warm and just thrown clothes around his apartment in his normal manner. Damn girl... last time I try and look after her with a leech around... He rubbed his chin absentmindedly considering he needed a shave... where in the fuck was that smell coming from?!
It'd get stronger towards the bathroom, if he were to head that way he'd see the light was on as always, after all us boys do not turn that shit off unless we absolutely have to, there was the faint sound of running water coming from the room, like he'd left a tap slowly gurgling away to itself, however there was what looked like steam or mist creeping out from under the doorway. Had he left the shower on? Well he had just passed out last night? So a quick sniff would soon confirm that he hadn't showered, although he couldn't hear it running. What the actual fuck.
The tap running was not a sound he expected to hear this early in the morning... in his own flat when he hadn't even taken a piss yet this morning. Just how many beers had he consumed trying to keep Lana from making him and the leech from the library hook up? With a half smile at the memory of the girl's attempt at making him and Arty make piece, Ben reached out slowly, cautiously to push open the bathroom door, half expecting one of the others of his pack to jump out at him in some fruitless effort to scare him. The shower tap was running and his footsteps were silent, cautious as he moved across the tile to reach a hand out and yank the curtain back.
As he reached out the shower curtain would twitch in a way that suggested a breeze, it moved without being touched and a deep rich bank of steam like mist poured out from behind it, it unlike your average variety garden steam did not do it's level best to head for the ceiling before becoming mildew spawning condensation, this mist sunk down to the ground and parted round Ben's feet. It seemed to be pouring in from the outside at a furious rate rushing past him at shin height.
The twitch of the curtain gave even his hangover-addled brain pause as he watched it creep down from over the tub and separate around his feet, flowing out toward the rest of the flat, making him glare at it as if it had offended him. His hackles rose at such an oddity which much surely be the work of the Wyrm... nothing in the modern world ever acted like this. The werewolf planted his feet and reached out to yank the curtain open, his irritation fueling strength to such a height where the plastic piece of material simply ripped right off the plastic clear little rings that held the thing up.
Lana had little sleep thus far and the night was not progressing in her opinion to the way she wished it to go. Twice she had run into that man, the one with the piercing blue eyes and still she was no closer to figuring out just why he cared what happened to her. Or at least that is how it seemed. He just kept showing up out of nowhere and that in itself had plagued her overly tired mind to the point that sleep was inevitable. She was a full grown woman and could take care of herself, even though most saw her as a damaged little girl, she was an adult.
She tossed herself over to her side and lay there while staring at the wall. The lights from outside sending a dim hue of red and blue over her room. Even if she could shut her mind down, the damned lights would keep her awake. Lana had no recourse except to wake that man up and get some answers. Lana didn't bother to dress herself really, she was covered enough even for the streets of Birmingham, at least in a way that most wouldn't bat an eye at her. She'd come off like any young adult who had no desire in dawning her proper attire, she didn't have to worry too much anyhow as she lived in the same building as he did. something she figured out when she was walking home from the pub last eve. Lana left her tidy little nook of the world and would move down the hall in her plaid cotton paja pants and tank, her pink fuzzy bunny slippers ears bouncing to every step she took. She moved quietly considering that most of the time due to the noise of the neighbor beneath her she had to stomp on the floor most times. This was different, she wanted the element of surprise and she even brought a gift... a stout strong cup of joe as she came to rest before that mans door and her knuckles would fall against the freshly painted wood.. WRAPPPP WRAPPPPP WRAPPPP.
The mist ran right past him and his little outburst of "Whattheactualshittingfuckery" and seemed to have a mind of it's very own. As the curtain came down and the cheaply made rings and pole came with it making that odd 'tinny cheap metal hits even cheaper plastic bathtub' noise Ben's nose would go to Defcon 1. He'd suddenly get a shiver down his spine and a grubby earthy stale sweat smell coming from directly behind him. If he were to turn, he'd find himself face to face with what could only be described as a Glabro man, a face that was mostly hair with a pair of cainines that'd make a lion jealous. It was however a face you wouldn't recognise at all. Wether he turned around or not a deep bass voice would rumble out "Well you fucked that good and hard"
Emlyn strolled down the street, casually wandering towards his destination. He promised the mutt an explanation as to why he didn't want to take a bite to drink from little Arlanna, and Emlyn wanted to confirm a handful of things with Arlanna herself, which the mutt once again insisted to being there for. It would have been a large pain in the ass if the mutt had lived elsewhere, but luckily, they were right next to each other... and Emlyn brought a dog whistle. He turned down the street that their apartments were located, casually tossing the whistle into the air and catching it repeatedly. Emlyn flicked what was left of his latest cigarette away before he entered the complex proper.
Emlyn started to blow a tune through the dog whistle as he walked. In doing so, he almost didn't notice Arlanna's fluffy bunny slippers as she turned into the alcove that housed the mutt's door. Emlyn simply adjusted his path, and walked quietly up to Arlanna. "Evening, Arlanna," Emlyn said, finally taking a break from the dog whistle. "How've you been since we last spok- talke-... saw each other?" Emlyn then returned to the whistle, blowing out an upbeat tune that would most certainly get stuck in the mutt's head in the same annoying pitch of the whistle.
"Motherfuckingsonofabitch!" Ben's cursing was loud as the ringing of the broken shower curtain rod and tub made his head feel like his skull was about to split open when his inherit senses ratcheted up to "WARNING!" and made the 'wolf turn 'round... to come face to face with one of his own kind that he did not recognize. Fear did not register in his mind of the Glabro as he slammed down hard on every instinct in his body telling him to shift, attack, <i>kill</i>. The knock on the door made his head snap to the side in distraction and he sniffed cautiously, but all he could smell was the overpowering familiarity of his own kind... shifted and way too angry-looking to be friendly. "You need to fucking tell me how you got in here or get the fuck out."
The whistle however, made both of them flinch and shake their heads back and forth at the high pitch of it, and Ben silently thanked the lousy sense of humor the first leech he met had. He might be an annoying fuck but he wasn't out to kill Ben, at least not yet so far as the werewolf knew. He let out a snarl of rage and barreled full-tilt toward the Glabro, intending on making a break for his front door where the knock had come from. Let the fuck tear up his apartment, nothing was there of value anyway.
Lana had no knowledge of what was going on inside the small flat which was quite similar to her own, however when the familiar voice had captured her attention those duel toned hues lifted to meet the rather handsome form of what could be described as none other than Johnny Depp's clone. She gave a bit of a smile and shifted the hot cup of coffee from her one hand to the other and began to sign out to him at his greetings. However mid flow of finger movement and she remembered he couldn't follow her so her gaze shifted along the man's body rather intensely before locating a pen somewhere on his person. Her hand patting along the side of his body before shifting to his suit coat and unbuttoning it if possible, trying to find something to write with to explain.
It was just as her hand began to shift to his front pocket , fingertips pointing downward and just beginning to slip into the warmth of cotton fabric and perhaps a little too close to his appendage when the noise from inside the apartment began to rise. Lana withdrew her hand and frowned a bit, wondering if perhaps she picked a wrong time to be curious as it seemed that man had brought the suit home for a night of rolling in the sheets. She didn't know whether to be impressed, turned on or outraged that she wasn't a choice for either . Looking to Emlyn she gave a bit of a shoulder shrug and motioned to the door then to her ear to indicate the sounds of love making rough gruff manly style coming from inside. Her gaze seeking suggestions of what to do next.
The young werewolf lunged forwards all fuzzy and cute, or so his intruder thought, now the intruder had a little trick that ben and his buddies in the Guardians didn't, and this little trick was going to cost Ben his dignity and possibly his front teeth if he wasn't careful. The broad squat "glabro man" exploded. Well not so much exploded but where one second there was deep rumbly piss taking house breaker for the important three seconds of Ben's rush and grab maneuver there was nothing but more mist. As Ben passed right through the intruder reformed almost exactly where he'd been moments before the impromptu lunge. "Sorry mate, I ain't one for cuddles." Could your kind turn into mist? Was that something those inbred Russians could do? Well this guy didn't seem Russian, he didn't smell like pickled cabbage and wasn't holding a bottle of Smirnoff. He also sounded like he'd been dragged up in south Essex. That and he had the faint aura of "permanently grubby" even though he seemed perfectly clean.
Emlyn paused mid whistle when Arlanna began to feel about his coat... and then inside his coat... and then nearer to his manhood. He was glad it had been decades since he had found a reason to gorge himself enough for it to be functional. "Uhh... Appreciate the gestur-" Emlyn began, before hearing the ruckus inside as well, and then noticing that Arlanna trying to gesture what she was meaning. "Oh, you were looking for something to write on... well then...awkward...sorry about assuming."
"I could open the door for us. Not quite sure how the big guy would like that though... Don't quite want to have him even more annoyed with me. Not yet at least," Emlyn said, walking over and knocking on the door with quite a bit more force than Arlanna, or any human for that matter, could do without hurting themselves."Hey Ben. If you have a female friend in there, may want to keep it down or finish up. We'll be upstairs when you're done. It's about time I gave you that explanation."
Ben found himself going head-over-ass into his living room when the other turning into fucking mist and simply re-formed after the werewolf was on the floor, telling him he's not up for cuddling. This wasn't a pack-mate... not even the same species as Ben but the over-powering smell of sweat permeated everything to fool even his nose. "You cowardly fuck!" He had had all he could take from this douchebag... invading his space when the werewolf was trying to keep his head from splitting apart after having to deal with another fucking leech. The werewolf's fist came down hard on the floor in frustration as he got up again, glaring at the intruder. "I don't know who the fuck you are, but if you don't get the fuck out, right now, I'm going to rip you apart!" He could ear Emlyn's voice now outside the door, pounding on his door and insinuating that Ben needed to hurry up with whatever female he was supposedly fooling about with. Well it was more complimentary than Lana's assumption with Arty at the bar. But he was far too gone at this point, fueled by rage and indignation at whoever the fuck would dare come into his home like this.
Lana stood there quietly listening to you fumble over your words and as you stated you appreciated the gesture, her brows furrowed. She had just spent half the night in the pub with two rather dauntingly handsome men who had made it quite clear that she was the furthest thing from their mind and now you.... you assumed she was feeling you up in hopes for a roll in the sack. Not that she wouldn't love to feel the clone of Johnny Depp against her, but she wasn't that rude or forth comming so now your words had officially made her feel like shite.
She stood there with that hot cup of coffee in her hands as you apologized and went on to knock on that door. Further insulting her as you called out that he had a female friend in there . Lana was now as low as she could go, standing there with her little pink bunny slippers on and in her less than appropriate clothing, basically flannel pj's and tank. Her hair hung in an unkempt mess about her shoulders and she was wiling to go home in self defeat until you stated you'd be upstairs . Her head lifted as she looked at you. Wait a moment, she lived upstairs and didn't you just state that she wasn't your type ? You insult her twice and then invite yourself up to her apartment ? What the heck was up with that ... She was quite certain you were a giant tease and you were again making fun of her. That cup of coffee she'd been holding had been flung at you, well in your direction at least. The liquid scalding to say the least and she would storm off down the hall towards the stairs only to turn back around and retrieve her cup which lay spinning about on the ground before she once again headed to her apartment, thinking to herself as she stomped her feet as loud as she could . " The nerve of some men, search for a pen, they assume you want a poking only to turn you down and invite themselves to your home.... Has the whole world turned insane. " she mused to herself as she faded from your sight.
An unearthly sound of pain emitted from Ben's throat as he felt his body start to heat, cells expanding, multiplying several thousand times per second as he shot up a half foot in height and his muscles began to expand and strain at his boxers, but not tearing them. He felt his teeth start to sharpen in his mouth and the nails on his fingers elongate and thicken into likeness of claws. His greater weight made him start to hunch forward, glaring down the mimicry of his kind from ice blue eyes belonging to a true Glabro-wolf form.
The stranger looked on as the scantily clad garou went all "teen wolf" on him. He'd seen it a few times, the stranger was less intimidated by it than most of his kind would be. The stranger knew he was quite capable in turning this boy into a pair of puppy skin gloves in his current state, should he go full blown wolfboner pissed, he'd have some considerable issues though. He raised his hands palms towards the shifting Ben. Alright steady on fella, you're more trigger happy than I was told" He reached into his long grubby trench coat the other hand still held out where ben could see it. "I'm interested in something that's come up and you're involved wether you like it or not. Hagley hall ring any bells?" His other hand slowly came out of his pocked and it held a brochure all about Hagley hall. "Oh, I'm Derin by the way, we have a few acquaintances in common"
Emlyn suddenly felt scalding liquid pouring down on top of him, forcing him to release a hiss that sounded less than human. "What the fuck?!" Emlyn said, immediately dropping the dog whistle and stopping his assault on the door. He looked over to Arlanna as he began to focus on healing the burns as quickly as possible (blood point spent) "What did I do?" he asked as she scooped up her coffee cup and stormed off back upstairs, almost forgetting that that wouldn't be answered until she got a pen and paper. Emlyn wiped what liquid he could off his suit coat, before quickly following and catching up to Arlanna.
"Hey, hey, hey. Did I do something to offend you?" Emlyn asked, genuinely confused. "Whatever I did, I didn't mean it. Ben just wanted to be there when I expla-" Emlyn was cut off by the scream coming from Ben's apartment. Whatever it was, it wasn't a pleasurable kind of scream, and was wholly too manly to be a woman. Emlyn's tone quickly changed, turning to serious. "Arlanna, please stay here." Emlyn said, turning and tossing off his coat. He didn't want that ripped tonight. With a bit of a running start, Emlyn leaned his shoulder into the door, slamming into it with his strength as well as the bit of momentum he had gained.
The door would cave under the Vampires charge, the shitty little Yale lock giving way, two little screws and a inch and a half dead bolt didn't take much convincing to be cleanly separated from the wall mounting. Emlyn and Lana would see a scantily clad Ben in his hairy man form in a now far to tight pair of boxers and a man in his late thirties, well.... man is an over statement. To them he'd look much the same as ben, hairy, a bit of a pronounced muzzle, huge canines and bright yellow eyes. Lana wouldn't recognise him. Emlyn would. He was the Gangrel Primogen, a risk taker and a rough around the edges sort of Elder. One with a slow burning fuse but when it went off.... everyone knew about it.
Still having no clue what was going on inside Ben's appartment, Lana had been on her way up the steps, huffing out small breaths while her bunny eared slippers lopped from one step to the other. When you spoke she paused in step and looked at you, frustration and anger in her gaze. You asked her a question of what you did and all you had to do was be male in this instance. She was well on her way to considering a woman partner since the men here found her sooooo repulsive and yet she couldn't quite explain why she felt like a slighted teen ager who had been crushing on a cute guy or two.. It was when the scream lifted that she glanced towards Ben's door and you ushered the order to stay there. What the fuck, was she a kid? NOOOOOOO! She was not standing there while you went off to save the very man who had slighted her and went home with someone else... the least he could have done was tell her he wasn't interested and perhaps stop following her about.. Nope Arlana was not in the mood to listen to anyone and there she came behind you towards Ben's door. She wasn't afraid and she could toss her cup at what ever or whomever was making him scream if she had to.
The door seemed to fall open and just behind Emlyn, she entered hurrying before she tried to come to a sliding halt. Her bunny slippers sliding along the wooden flooring which didn't seem to help. She would go sliding into the man who was standing there, her eyes wide with shock and fear as she couldn't even produce a sound to scream. Her hands outstretched to push against the first form she fell against. It wouldn't take long for the hands to go flying as she was signing up a storm. " Who the fuck...What the shit.... " She couldn't think, what the fuck was that thing she was staring at? It was a toss between a badger and a wolf and as tall as a bear, the other man seemed to be similar and lana wanted no parts of either as she quickly backtracked and stepped to the door which was laying on the floor. She was the silent observer and right now was thinking someone had slipped some roofies in her drink earlier.
Ben towered above the stranger, panting heavily after his first shift was complete, glaring down at him with fury and rage running rampant as his bloodstream. His voice came out a guttural snarl, still human but not wholly at the same time. "What the FUCK would you EXPECT... coming into my HOME, UNINVITED!" He snarled, every shouted word reverberating in a deep baritone around the room. Trigger happy... he's lucky I'm not hungry after a fucking hangover... His eyes did not miss the hand's movement sliding into the pocket of the man's coat and he instantly went on full-scale 'alert' all of his wolf-ish 'radar' humming and a low, steady growl crackling in deep in his throat. However, rather than a weapon of some kind or more mist to come out across the floor and confuse him, the other pulled out a paper brochure that made the wolf take a breath of pause. At the mention of Hagley Hall, the wolf let out another low snarl and took a swing at the impostor. He had not appreciating his mind being fucked with by whatever it was at the library and this piece of scum invading his space would not be permitted to leave after making, what Ben perceived as, a threat.
Before the blow could connect, the sound of his door being popped out of it's lock completely distracted the young wolf again and he saw the ever impertinent leech make his way inside. Shortly after, the audible thump of a body hitting another made him look up and spot the girl... THAT LITTLE GIRL... the reason why he had a splitting headache in the first place. And an innocent in all this. He huffed heavily, shooting a warning glare at the impostor.
Emlyn skidded to a halt just past where the door found it's resting place on the ground. He looked from Ben to the man he was confronting, before uttering. "Oh shit..." Before he could process much more, Arlanna came skidding in and slammed into the wolf. Oh shit... Emlyn helped Arlanna as she backpedalled, grabbing her collar and gently pulling her behind him and towards the door. With Arlanna out of the way, Emlyn settled where he stood, on the balls of his feet. He was ready to swing a punch at either of the monsters before him, though he would much rather to punch the wolf instead of Derin. "Evening Derin. I didn't know you were a dog person." Emlyn said casually, protectively standing in front of Arlanna. "What's a Primogen like you doing antagonizing this wolf?
There was a furr of movement of furry arms and suddenly she was pulled back by the collar of her shirt. She couldn't even state thank you, but what the hell was she thanking any of them for in the first place. She was just standing behind Emlyn who had become a formidable wall of protection between her and the two abomoniable snowmen. Peeking out from behind him as she watched the two and he began to speak to both of them. Her brows furrowed and she glanced from one to the other in a triangle of confusion and with a wave of her hands up in a gesture of" fuck my life " she shook her head and turned to walk the hell out. She didn't want any parts of these overly hormonal men and what ever drugs she was trying to come to terms with. She was either drunk beyond belief, having one hell of a nightmare in which she'd like to wake up from but she certainly as hell wasn't staying here.
Derin took the growling rant at face value, people.... well people is a bit of a loose term when you considered who he was referring to when he thought about it. People seemed to think an angry werewolf was a bad thing. They just tended to be a bit smashy smashy, they did however have issues speaking clearly, so anything they'd muster up would probably be worth listening to. That or it was some "please don't kill me" bullshit. He was about to make his point when the door caved in, a skinny little man burst through it. Derin recognised the Keeper of eylisium almost at once, the second stumbling figure not so much. His featured would mystically warp and shift of their own free will into a more human looking form. It was derins own face circa 1500 before the new jaw line and the annoying ear hair. Oh and the rather glorious fangs. Lana might get a glimpse of feral wolf man but that's all it had have been. As the Ventrue recovered, he snapped out a witticism, Derin retorted without much thought. "Better the dogs, than bitches like you." Derin had a lot of time for dogs, his oldest companions were two Wolf hounds both of them nearly as old as himself. He also ascribed to the British philosophy of 'The more people I meet the more I like my dog'. As for little mute Lana, she'd probably need to make a courage roll, the big scary ball of rage and fur she'd just landed on looked like ben but with, you know fangs and fur. To her, she might rationalise Derins "wolf face" she'd briefly seen as a trick of the eye mixing up the two men in a blur of falling on your face.
The creased brow almost made Ben's expression look like the beast he was when he heard Emlyn greet the other as an old friend, and simply refer to him as a 'wolf. What did he know of wolves, the leech? Did he bring this invader into Ben's home after their first meeting with the rogue ones of Emlyn's kind before? The thought felt much akin to betrayal; he had given Emlyn more than the benefit of the doubt that most creatures loyal to the Wyrm should receive from a Guardian of Beormingas. Another movement saw a quick snarl erupt from the raging wolf's throat but he quieted it down, seeing the girl scrambling away from him in fear. Damn. Doing my job just makes humans afraid of me apparently. He growled in a manner that seemed to be an almost grunt of disappointment before listening to and watching the exchange between Emlyn & Derin, his previous assumption that they were chummy mates apparently wrong. He bore his fangs at the other when he used some strange misty-magic shit to make himself look human again.
Slowly, so slowly, Ben's temper backed off as he watched the two who knew each other and he could feel the rage ebbing away, tilting his head back and closing his eyes.
The shift back into a human was much easier than the one into any one of his wolf-ish forms, but he didn't feel threatened by the other when the image returned to that of something similar to a human. He had to hold onto his boxers by hand now though, since they were stretched out by the rapid shift into a Glabro. "What the fuck do you know about Hagley Hall, you impertinent twat?" He demanded, yanking the brochure out of Derin's hands.
"Always with the 'great' comebacks," Emlyn said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "So, are you going to answer my question, or not?" Emlyn, somehow, almost forgot about the big bad wolf in the room, and turned to Ben, just as he was turning back to normal. "Ah, so you are ok under all that fur. I doubt that you were willingly entertaining a Primogen. Ben, meet Derin, the Gangrel Primogen. Think of him like...a chieftain? I don't know what is at the top of your hierarchy." It barely even registered in his mind that Arlana left the room. Emlyn took a step forward when Ben snatched the brochure away from Derin. Emlyn found this amusing, and would certainly prefer to stay neutral, but he couldn't shake the feeling that if he stood by and let the Gangrel Primogen die, it would probably come back to bite him.
Derin let the brochure slip out of his fingers as the angry young man snatched it. The insult washed over him, he'd been called worse by things bigger and badder than any of you currently present and he was still standing. When Emlyn spoke up he bit down the urge to strangle the upstart Ventrue. As much as he'd love to turn the pretty boy inside out and nail his arse to a wall Derin had to remind himself that he couldn't get away with that kind of behaviour any more. Forensics and due process were a wonderful leap for mankind but a giant kick in the ass for a Gangrel with a temper and a vindictive streak. Mister Cyncad my business with this young man is my own, however since he's blurted it out already, I'm investigating a little matter for the Primogen council. A little something that's come up pertaining the Library and Hagley hall. I'm sure I need say no more?. He'd look the young woman up and down, including the hilarious slippers. And who might this be? He had reacted on instinct to rework his appearance, he didn't have the gift so many of his kind did to read auras or heighten his senses so much that he could hear hearts beating, so he often had to do it the old fashioned way and ask.
None had seemed to even notice that Lana was getting ready to leave and as your voice had lifted she'd already reached the door or rather what was left of it. She didn't really understand the words being thrown about, how could she, she was a little human mute with no knowledge of what lay beneath the sleep of the city and it seemed to escape all of their attention that somehow they had all managed to break the masquerade because now she was quite aware that at least Ben wasn't normal. He was literally the freaking chupicabra or something along those lines.
It was when you asked about her, she paused in step and turned to look at you over her shoulder. Her gaze being rather unique as she had one blue eye and one green, had now focused on you intently. Her pouty features had furrowed a moment before she began to sign out her name. " Arlana " She signed, her lips mimicking each letter and word she emphasized. She'd step closer of course, when she was finished with her fast and furious movement of fingers and offer her hand in a kindly introduction.
Ben's hand was crumpling the brochure as he watched the impostor, invader reprimand both him and Emlyn in regards to what his business was in his home and investigating something for his Primogen council. Ben's eyes looked from Derin back over to Emlyn as he attempted to make introduction of them both, relating Derin to the 'chieftan' of... Gangrels? What in the fucking hell were Gangrels? Was it a new breed of leech then? Is that what he was doing in Ben's flat, making a nusiance of himself with fog and mist? He stood up straight and moved to stand before the retreating Arlana when Derin made note of her. "She's nothing to you and you would be well served to forget her, right now, or deal with me." Ben shot Emlyn a look that was probably a mention the warning went for him too but at this stage, Emlyn already knew Ben's position in this. Arlana might fear him but she was still a mortal innocent and would not be taken by a leech on his watch. He might've broken some of the Veil shifting like that, but it was bound to happen sooner or later, quick tempers and all ran hot in his blood. He glanced over his shoulder at the girl and tried to give her an apologetic "Sorry, but this is for your own good" kind of expression.
Emlyn paused for a moment at the mention of the council, before relaxing quite a bit and sighing. "No, you don't have to say anything else. However, if you don't mind, I would prefer to stay until you leave. I have a feeling that if I casually left you here, the -possibly low- chance that he would win, or -gods forbid- you die, the it would look badly on me, and probably come back to bite me." Emlyn moved once more to a defensive position in front of Arlana. " Ben is correct. She's off limits. Someone from our society owes her a favor."
The Elder gangrel snorted, there was a little ring of protection around this mortal, someone owed her favours. An interesting tit bit of information. Something Ansel would probably pay good money for. Derin was reluctant to talk about the issue at hand infront of the Keeper. He'd discuss it almost freely with the young wolf because he was so far a very minor part in the big game of undead life, the Keeper however was a slightly larger and more annoyingly persistant part of it. He had no idea what the girl had signed but he'd lip read enough shaddy deals in his time to catch her name. " Well Miss Arlana, I shall leave you with your protectors. He looked at Emlyn, and gave him a disapproving look, a Ventrue in debt. The idea amused him. He looked back to Ben, "I'd appreciate your in put on hagley hall. Your kind are not the only one's interested in it. Not for the first time your kind and mine are on the same side of the fence. Ask your elders, give them my name. Might smooth a few ruffled feathers. " He tossed a card he'd palmed from his pocket, it was the name of a small and quite high class antiques dealership on the outskirts of the city. Leave me a message here and I'll be more than willing to pool our information.
Ben stepped in front of me as did Emlyn and a narrowed gaze found the back of both of their heads . Even when ben cast his beautiful blue eyes, she didn't flinch and meerly lifted her nose up in the air before she removed her bunny slipper and tossed it hard at the back of his head . Her gaze then averted to the other man present and she gave an incline of her head before mouthing that she was pleased to meet him and that seeing how he was the only normal one in the room, she'd not mind a cup of coffee sometime with him
Being one handed at the moment, with his left occupied holding up his trousers was doing a great job of killing Ben's intimidation presence but Emlyn surprised him by moving in front of Arlana as well... at the same time as insulting the young wolf's pride which had already taken quite the bruising and beating this evening from Derin and his irritation. The werewolf gave Emlyn a simple nod of respect for the back up, he'd argue semantics with the leech later when Arlana was less likely to be dead within thirty seconds of one of the three of them saying something that offended the others. The snort made the wolf narrow his eyes in irritation at the 'Gangrel' male thinking he still might like to tear him limb from limb... but he was the equivalent of a Garou elder... he shook his head a little, knowing full well he didn't have the power, nor rank to even attempt that sort of a smackdown, no matter how much he deserved it. As he frowned at Derin, reaching out to take the card from him with a whip-quick gesture, eyeballing the location before returning his icy gaze to his... opponent?
"I haven't the foggiest what the fuck Hagley Hall is on about. I don't appreciate your kind fucking with my mind. I was minding my own FUCKING business in the library and someone decided they were going to put the place in my head. You are far too liberal with going places you aren't invited." Ben snapped, his tongue the only weapon he had at the moment. Just as he was about to start in on him again he felt a soft 'whumpf' of something hitting his head. He frowned, turned around and looked down at the offending bunny slipper... before lifting his gaze back up to Arlana. "Was that really necessary? I'm trying to help you. That's what I've been doing this entire time, you know. You don't have to be ungrateful about it, for fucks sake." He replied, returning his watchful gaze to Derin. "I'll ask... I'm probably about to get reamed up one side and down the other, but rest assured, who I'm asking won't take kindly to what you're doing either. Her temper is worse than mine." He gave Derin his best attempt at a feral smile and waved a hand at the destroyed door, reaching back to push Arlana gently out of the way. "Now get the fuck out."
Derin gave a great shit eating grin. " I'm well aware of the fact that I'm unwelcome, so i'll fuck off for now." With that Derin stuffed his hands into the pockets of his trench, and headed for the door. He'd not look back, looking back is what prey species did, he knew he could tear the ventrue clean in half and the wolf boy would be an issue but let the dog have his day his pride was dented enough. Derin had been given some very important advise many many years ago and he occasionally heeded it. Pick the battles you are sure you can win. In this case he was only "pretty sure" and he had no need for direct confrontation. He stepped over the door wreckage and paused as he stepped out into the hallway. Looking briefly in both directions he headed for the stairs, lifts annoyed him and made him feel a little trapped. So 300 stairs later he'd be back out on the street. Kids....
Emlyn finally relaxed once Derin left, sighing heavily. Emlyn waited until he was sure that Derin was far enough away before he tried to say anything. "Excuse my language, but I fucking hate Gangrels," Emlyn said, stepping outside to grab his coat, or more accurately, the cigarettes and lighter inside. He popped the pack and took the lucky cig that hoped up, lighting it as he spoke while walking back to the doorway. "They are so bland yet so arrogent, it's painful." Emlyn went through a couple moments of the motions of smoking, not bothering to exhale the smoke as he did so, calming himself. "Derin's the worst of them in my opinion..." Emlyn made sure to flick his ashes outside of Ben's room as he stood there and smoked. "Think you now have even more questions, don't ya Ben?"
The aching pounding in his head was the second thing he noticed when Ben let out a snort and flinched awake, his eyes squinted half shut against that stupid light on the telly. In a more than pissy mood, he mashed the button to shut the stupid fucker off on the remote and then tossed it on the floor, having forgone the usual coffee table for a more... eclectic placeholder of newspapers he had been scouring. Why he continued a habit like looking for reports that sounded like a vampire attack at this point was beyond his understanding; they seemed to gravitate towards him lately... or maybe it was the girl, the mute one who signed her fingers almost as quickly as his mother could reprimand her sons for being disobedient. He grunted in a very guy-like manner as he hauled himself from the sofa and moved to the kitchen sink, flicking the faucet on and leaning his head down to drink directly from the tap, figuring the cold water might help to soothe the little demons stabbing at his brain from inside his skull.
While he was making a very noisy thing out of trying to re-hydrate himself, the smell drifted across Ben's sensitive nasal receptors again and made him shut the water off, frowning a little as he stood and looked around, moving through his little flat cautiously. He scratched at the exposed flesh of his abdomen as he tried to remember if he had changed his boxers last night before flopping on the sofa in his drunken stupor... or if he had simply gotten too warm and just thrown clothes around his apartment in his normal manner. Damn girl... last time I try and look after her with a leech around... He rubbed his chin absentmindedly considering he needed a shave... where in the fuck was that smell coming from?!
It'd get stronger towards the bathroom, if he were to head that way he'd see the light was on as always, after all us boys do not turn that shit off unless we absolutely have to, there was the faint sound of running water coming from the room, like he'd left a tap slowly gurgling away to itself, however there was what looked like steam or mist creeping out from under the doorway. Had he left the shower on? Well he had just passed out last night? So a quick sniff would soon confirm that he hadn't showered, although he couldn't hear it running. What the actual fuck.
The tap running was not a sound he expected to hear this early in the morning... in his own flat when he hadn't even taken a piss yet this morning. Just how many beers had he consumed trying to keep Lana from making him and the leech from the library hook up? With a half smile at the memory of the girl's attempt at making him and Arty make piece, Ben reached out slowly, cautiously to push open the bathroom door, half expecting one of the others of his pack to jump out at him in some fruitless effort to scare him. The shower tap was running and his footsteps were silent, cautious as he moved across the tile to reach a hand out and yank the curtain back.
As he reached out the shower curtain would twitch in a way that suggested a breeze, it moved without being touched and a deep rich bank of steam like mist poured out from behind it, it unlike your average variety garden steam did not do it's level best to head for the ceiling before becoming mildew spawning condensation, this mist sunk down to the ground and parted round Ben's feet. It seemed to be pouring in from the outside at a furious rate rushing past him at shin height.
The twitch of the curtain gave even his hangover-addled brain pause as he watched it creep down from over the tub and separate around his feet, flowing out toward the rest of the flat, making him glare at it as if it had offended him. His hackles rose at such an oddity which much surely be the work of the Wyrm... nothing in the modern world ever acted like this. The werewolf planted his feet and reached out to yank the curtain open, his irritation fueling strength to such a height where the plastic piece of material simply ripped right off the plastic clear little rings that held the thing up.
Lana had little sleep thus far and the night was not progressing in her opinion to the way she wished it to go. Twice she had run into that man, the one with the piercing blue eyes and still she was no closer to figuring out just why he cared what happened to her. Or at least that is how it seemed. He just kept showing up out of nowhere and that in itself had plagued her overly tired mind to the point that sleep was inevitable. She was a full grown woman and could take care of herself, even though most saw her as a damaged little girl, she was an adult.
She tossed herself over to her side and lay there while staring at the wall. The lights from outside sending a dim hue of red and blue over her room. Even if she could shut her mind down, the damned lights would keep her awake. Lana had no recourse except to wake that man up and get some answers. Lana didn't bother to dress herself really, she was covered enough even for the streets of Birmingham, at least in a way that most wouldn't bat an eye at her. She'd come off like any young adult who had no desire in dawning her proper attire, she didn't have to worry too much anyhow as she lived in the same building as he did. something she figured out when she was walking home from the pub last eve. Lana left her tidy little nook of the world and would move down the hall in her plaid cotton paja pants and tank, her pink fuzzy bunny slippers ears bouncing to every step she took. She moved quietly considering that most of the time due to the noise of the neighbor beneath her she had to stomp on the floor most times. This was different, she wanted the element of surprise and she even brought a gift... a stout strong cup of joe as she came to rest before that mans door and her knuckles would fall against the freshly painted wood.. WRAPPPP WRAPPPPP WRAPPPP.
The mist ran right past him and his little outburst of "Whattheactualshittingfuckery" and seemed to have a mind of it's very own. As the curtain came down and the cheaply made rings and pole came with it making that odd 'tinny cheap metal hits even cheaper plastic bathtub' noise Ben's nose would go to Defcon 1. He'd suddenly get a shiver down his spine and a grubby earthy stale sweat smell coming from directly behind him. If he were to turn, he'd find himself face to face with what could only be described as a Glabro man, a face that was mostly hair with a pair of cainines that'd make a lion jealous. It was however a face you wouldn't recognise at all. Wether he turned around or not a deep bass voice would rumble out "Well you fucked that good and hard"
Emlyn strolled down the street, casually wandering towards his destination. He promised the mutt an explanation as to why he didn't want to take a bite to drink from little Arlanna, and Emlyn wanted to confirm a handful of things with Arlanna herself, which the mutt once again insisted to being there for. It would have been a large pain in the ass if the mutt had lived elsewhere, but luckily, they were right next to each other... and Emlyn brought a dog whistle. He turned down the street that their apartments were located, casually tossing the whistle into the air and catching it repeatedly. Emlyn flicked what was left of his latest cigarette away before he entered the complex proper.
Emlyn started to blow a tune through the dog whistle as he walked. In doing so, he almost didn't notice Arlanna's fluffy bunny slippers as she turned into the alcove that housed the mutt's door. Emlyn simply adjusted his path, and walked quietly up to Arlanna. "Evening, Arlanna," Emlyn said, finally taking a break from the dog whistle. "How've you been since we last spok- talke-... saw each other?" Emlyn then returned to the whistle, blowing out an upbeat tune that would most certainly get stuck in the mutt's head in the same annoying pitch of the whistle.
"Motherfuckingsonofabitch!" Ben's cursing was loud as the ringing of the broken shower curtain rod and tub made his head feel like his skull was about to split open when his inherit senses ratcheted up to "WARNING!" and made the 'wolf turn 'round... to come face to face with one of his own kind that he did not recognize. Fear did not register in his mind of the Glabro as he slammed down hard on every instinct in his body telling him to shift, attack, <i>kill</i>. The knock on the door made his head snap to the side in distraction and he sniffed cautiously, but all he could smell was the overpowering familiarity of his own kind... shifted and way too angry-looking to be friendly. "You need to fucking tell me how you got in here or get the fuck out."
The whistle however, made both of them flinch and shake their heads back and forth at the high pitch of it, and Ben silently thanked the lousy sense of humor the first leech he met had. He might be an annoying fuck but he wasn't out to kill Ben, at least not yet so far as the werewolf knew. He let out a snarl of rage and barreled full-tilt toward the Glabro, intending on making a break for his front door where the knock had come from. Let the fuck tear up his apartment, nothing was there of value anyway.
Lana had no knowledge of what was going on inside the small flat which was quite similar to her own, however when the familiar voice had captured her attention those duel toned hues lifted to meet the rather handsome form of what could be described as none other than Johnny Depp's clone. She gave a bit of a smile and shifted the hot cup of coffee from her one hand to the other and began to sign out to him at his greetings. However mid flow of finger movement and she remembered he couldn't follow her so her gaze shifted along the man's body rather intensely before locating a pen somewhere on his person. Her hand patting along the side of his body before shifting to his suit coat and unbuttoning it if possible, trying to find something to write with to explain.
It was just as her hand began to shift to his front pocket , fingertips pointing downward and just beginning to slip into the warmth of cotton fabric and perhaps a little too close to his appendage when the noise from inside the apartment began to rise. Lana withdrew her hand and frowned a bit, wondering if perhaps she picked a wrong time to be curious as it seemed that man had brought the suit home for a night of rolling in the sheets. She didn't know whether to be impressed, turned on or outraged that she wasn't a choice for either . Looking to Emlyn she gave a bit of a shoulder shrug and motioned to the door then to her ear to indicate the sounds of love making rough gruff manly style coming from inside. Her gaze seeking suggestions of what to do next.
The young werewolf lunged forwards all fuzzy and cute, or so his intruder thought, now the intruder had a little trick that ben and his buddies in the Guardians didn't, and this little trick was going to cost Ben his dignity and possibly his front teeth if he wasn't careful. The broad squat "glabro man" exploded. Well not so much exploded but where one second there was deep rumbly piss taking house breaker for the important three seconds of Ben's rush and grab maneuver there was nothing but more mist. As Ben passed right through the intruder reformed almost exactly where he'd been moments before the impromptu lunge. "Sorry mate, I ain't one for cuddles." Could your kind turn into mist? Was that something those inbred Russians could do? Well this guy didn't seem Russian, he didn't smell like pickled cabbage and wasn't holding a bottle of Smirnoff. He also sounded like he'd been dragged up in south Essex. That and he had the faint aura of "permanently grubby" even though he seemed perfectly clean.
Emlyn paused mid whistle when Arlanna began to feel about his coat... and then inside his coat... and then nearer to his manhood. He was glad it had been decades since he had found a reason to gorge himself enough for it to be functional. "Uhh... Appreciate the gestur-" Emlyn began, before hearing the ruckus inside as well, and then noticing that Arlanna trying to gesture what she was meaning. "Oh, you were looking for something to write on... well then...awkward...sorry about assuming."
"I could open the door for us. Not quite sure how the big guy would like that though... Don't quite want to have him even more annoyed with me. Not yet at least," Emlyn said, walking over and knocking on the door with quite a bit more force than Arlanna, or any human for that matter, could do without hurting themselves."Hey Ben. If you have a female friend in there, may want to keep it down or finish up. We'll be upstairs when you're done. It's about time I gave you that explanation."
Ben found himself going head-over-ass into his living room when the other turning into fucking mist and simply re-formed after the werewolf was on the floor, telling him he's not up for cuddling. This wasn't a pack-mate... not even the same species as Ben but the over-powering smell of sweat permeated everything to fool even his nose. "You cowardly fuck!" He had had all he could take from this douchebag... invading his space when the werewolf was trying to keep his head from splitting apart after having to deal with another fucking leech. The werewolf's fist came down hard on the floor in frustration as he got up again, glaring at the intruder. "I don't know who the fuck you are, but if you don't get the fuck out, right now, I'm going to rip you apart!" He could ear Emlyn's voice now outside the door, pounding on his door and insinuating that Ben needed to hurry up with whatever female he was supposedly fooling about with. Well it was more complimentary than Lana's assumption with Arty at the bar. But he was far too gone at this point, fueled by rage and indignation at whoever the fuck would dare come into his home like this.
Lana stood there quietly listening to you fumble over your words and as you stated you appreciated the gesture, her brows furrowed. She had just spent half the night in the pub with two rather dauntingly handsome men who had made it quite clear that she was the furthest thing from their mind and now you.... you assumed she was feeling you up in hopes for a roll in the sack. Not that she wouldn't love to feel the clone of Johnny Depp against her, but she wasn't that rude or forth comming so now your words had officially made her feel like shite.
She stood there with that hot cup of coffee in her hands as you apologized and went on to knock on that door. Further insulting her as you called out that he had a female friend in there . Lana was now as low as she could go, standing there with her little pink bunny slippers on and in her less than appropriate clothing, basically flannel pj's and tank. Her hair hung in an unkempt mess about her shoulders and she was wiling to go home in self defeat until you stated you'd be upstairs . Her head lifted as she looked at you. Wait a moment, she lived upstairs and didn't you just state that she wasn't your type ? You insult her twice and then invite yourself up to her apartment ? What the heck was up with that ... She was quite certain you were a giant tease and you were again making fun of her. That cup of coffee she'd been holding had been flung at you, well in your direction at least. The liquid scalding to say the least and she would storm off down the hall towards the stairs only to turn back around and retrieve her cup which lay spinning about on the ground before she once again headed to her apartment, thinking to herself as she stomped her feet as loud as she could . " The nerve of some men, search for a pen, they assume you want a poking only to turn you down and invite themselves to your home.... Has the whole world turned insane. " she mused to herself as she faded from your sight.
An unearthly sound of pain emitted from Ben's throat as he felt his body start to heat, cells expanding, multiplying several thousand times per second as he shot up a half foot in height and his muscles began to expand and strain at his boxers, but not tearing them. He felt his teeth start to sharpen in his mouth and the nails on his fingers elongate and thicken into likeness of claws. His greater weight made him start to hunch forward, glaring down the mimicry of his kind from ice blue eyes belonging to a true Glabro-wolf form.
The stranger looked on as the scantily clad garou went all "teen wolf" on him. He'd seen it a few times, the stranger was less intimidated by it than most of his kind would be. The stranger knew he was quite capable in turning this boy into a pair of puppy skin gloves in his current state, should he go full blown wolfboner pissed, he'd have some considerable issues though. He raised his hands palms towards the shifting Ben. Alright steady on fella, you're more trigger happy than I was told" He reached into his long grubby trench coat the other hand still held out where ben could see it. "I'm interested in something that's come up and you're involved wether you like it or not. Hagley hall ring any bells?" His other hand slowly came out of his pocked and it held a brochure all about Hagley hall. "Oh, I'm Derin by the way, we have a few acquaintances in common"
Emlyn suddenly felt scalding liquid pouring down on top of him, forcing him to release a hiss that sounded less than human. "What the fuck?!" Emlyn said, immediately dropping the dog whistle and stopping his assault on the door. He looked over to Arlanna as he began to focus on healing the burns as quickly as possible (blood point spent) "What did I do?" he asked as she scooped up her coffee cup and stormed off back upstairs, almost forgetting that that wouldn't be answered until she got a pen and paper. Emlyn wiped what liquid he could off his suit coat, before quickly following and catching up to Arlanna.
"Hey, hey, hey. Did I do something to offend you?" Emlyn asked, genuinely confused. "Whatever I did, I didn't mean it. Ben just wanted to be there when I expla-" Emlyn was cut off by the scream coming from Ben's apartment. Whatever it was, it wasn't a pleasurable kind of scream, and was wholly too manly to be a woman. Emlyn's tone quickly changed, turning to serious. "Arlanna, please stay here." Emlyn said, turning and tossing off his coat. He didn't want that ripped tonight. With a bit of a running start, Emlyn leaned his shoulder into the door, slamming into it with his strength as well as the bit of momentum he had gained.
The door would cave under the Vampires charge, the shitty little Yale lock giving way, two little screws and a inch and a half dead bolt didn't take much convincing to be cleanly separated from the wall mounting. Emlyn and Lana would see a scantily clad Ben in his hairy man form in a now far to tight pair of boxers and a man in his late thirties, well.... man is an over statement. To them he'd look much the same as ben, hairy, a bit of a pronounced muzzle, huge canines and bright yellow eyes. Lana wouldn't recognise him. Emlyn would. He was the Gangrel Primogen, a risk taker and a rough around the edges sort of Elder. One with a slow burning fuse but when it went off.... everyone knew about it.
Still having no clue what was going on inside Ben's appartment, Lana had been on her way up the steps, huffing out small breaths while her bunny eared slippers lopped from one step to the other. When you spoke she paused in step and looked at you, frustration and anger in her gaze. You asked her a question of what you did and all you had to do was be male in this instance. She was well on her way to considering a woman partner since the men here found her sooooo repulsive and yet she couldn't quite explain why she felt like a slighted teen ager who had been crushing on a cute guy or two.. It was when the scream lifted that she glanced towards Ben's door and you ushered the order to stay there. What the fuck, was she a kid? NOOOOOOO! She was not standing there while you went off to save the very man who had slighted her and went home with someone else... the least he could have done was tell her he wasn't interested and perhaps stop following her about.. Nope Arlana was not in the mood to listen to anyone and there she came behind you towards Ben's door. She wasn't afraid and she could toss her cup at what ever or whomever was making him scream if she had to.
The door seemed to fall open and just behind Emlyn, she entered hurrying before she tried to come to a sliding halt. Her bunny slippers sliding along the wooden flooring which didn't seem to help. She would go sliding into the man who was standing there, her eyes wide with shock and fear as she couldn't even produce a sound to scream. Her hands outstretched to push against the first form she fell against. It wouldn't take long for the hands to go flying as she was signing up a storm. " Who the fuck...What the shit.... " She couldn't think, what the fuck was that thing she was staring at? It was a toss between a badger and a wolf and as tall as a bear, the other man seemed to be similar and lana wanted no parts of either as she quickly backtracked and stepped to the door which was laying on the floor. She was the silent observer and right now was thinking someone had slipped some roofies in her drink earlier.
Ben towered above the stranger, panting heavily after his first shift was complete, glaring down at him with fury and rage running rampant as his bloodstream. His voice came out a guttural snarl, still human but not wholly at the same time. "What the FUCK would you EXPECT... coming into my HOME, UNINVITED!" He snarled, every shouted word reverberating in a deep baritone around the room. Trigger happy... he's lucky I'm not hungry after a fucking hangover... His eyes did not miss the hand's movement sliding into the pocket of the man's coat and he instantly went on full-scale 'alert' all of his wolf-ish 'radar' humming and a low, steady growl crackling in deep in his throat. However, rather than a weapon of some kind or more mist to come out across the floor and confuse him, the other pulled out a paper brochure that made the wolf take a breath of pause. At the mention of Hagley Hall, the wolf let out another low snarl and took a swing at the impostor. He had not appreciating his mind being fucked with by whatever it was at the library and this piece of scum invading his space would not be permitted to leave after making, what Ben perceived as, a threat.
Before the blow could connect, the sound of his door being popped out of it's lock completely distracted the young wolf again and he saw the ever impertinent leech make his way inside. Shortly after, the audible thump of a body hitting another made him look up and spot the girl... THAT LITTLE GIRL... the reason why he had a splitting headache in the first place. And an innocent in all this. He huffed heavily, shooting a warning glare at the impostor.
Emlyn skidded to a halt just past where the door found it's resting place on the ground. He looked from Ben to the man he was confronting, before uttering. "Oh shit..." Before he could process much more, Arlanna came skidding in and slammed into the wolf. Oh shit... Emlyn helped Arlanna as she backpedalled, grabbing her collar and gently pulling her behind him and towards the door. With Arlanna out of the way, Emlyn settled where he stood, on the balls of his feet. He was ready to swing a punch at either of the monsters before him, though he would much rather to punch the wolf instead of Derin. "Evening Derin. I didn't know you were a dog person." Emlyn said casually, protectively standing in front of Arlanna. "What's a Primogen like you doing antagonizing this wolf?
There was a furr of movement of furry arms and suddenly she was pulled back by the collar of her shirt. She couldn't even state thank you, but what the hell was she thanking any of them for in the first place. She was just standing behind Emlyn who had become a formidable wall of protection between her and the two abomoniable snowmen. Peeking out from behind him as she watched the two and he began to speak to both of them. Her brows furrowed and she glanced from one to the other in a triangle of confusion and with a wave of her hands up in a gesture of" fuck my life " she shook her head and turned to walk the hell out. She didn't want any parts of these overly hormonal men and what ever drugs she was trying to come to terms with. She was either drunk beyond belief, having one hell of a nightmare in which she'd like to wake up from but she certainly as hell wasn't staying here.
Derin took the growling rant at face value, people.... well people is a bit of a loose term when you considered who he was referring to when he thought about it. People seemed to think an angry werewolf was a bad thing. They just tended to be a bit smashy smashy, they did however have issues speaking clearly, so anything they'd muster up would probably be worth listening to. That or it was some "please don't kill me" bullshit. He was about to make his point when the door caved in, a skinny little man burst through it. Derin recognised the Keeper of eylisium almost at once, the second stumbling figure not so much. His featured would mystically warp and shift of their own free will into a more human looking form. It was derins own face circa 1500 before the new jaw line and the annoying ear hair. Oh and the rather glorious fangs. Lana might get a glimpse of feral wolf man but that's all it had have been. As the Ventrue recovered, he snapped out a witticism, Derin retorted without much thought. "Better the dogs, than bitches like you." Derin had a lot of time for dogs, his oldest companions were two Wolf hounds both of them nearly as old as himself. He also ascribed to the British philosophy of 'The more people I meet the more I like my dog'. As for little mute Lana, she'd probably need to make a courage roll, the big scary ball of rage and fur she'd just landed on looked like ben but with, you know fangs and fur. To her, she might rationalise Derins "wolf face" she'd briefly seen as a trick of the eye mixing up the two men in a blur of falling on your face.
The creased brow almost made Ben's expression look like the beast he was when he heard Emlyn greet the other as an old friend, and simply refer to him as a 'wolf. What did he know of wolves, the leech? Did he bring this invader into Ben's home after their first meeting with the rogue ones of Emlyn's kind before? The thought felt much akin to betrayal; he had given Emlyn more than the benefit of the doubt that most creatures loyal to the Wyrm should receive from a Guardian of Beormingas. Another movement saw a quick snarl erupt from the raging wolf's throat but he quieted it down, seeing the girl scrambling away from him in fear. Damn. Doing my job just makes humans afraid of me apparently. He growled in a manner that seemed to be an almost grunt of disappointment before listening to and watching the exchange between Emlyn & Derin, his previous assumption that they were chummy mates apparently wrong. He bore his fangs at the other when he used some strange misty-magic shit to make himself look human again.
Slowly, so slowly, Ben's temper backed off as he watched the two who knew each other and he could feel the rage ebbing away, tilting his head back and closing his eyes.
The shift back into a human was much easier than the one into any one of his wolf-ish forms, but he didn't feel threatened by the other when the image returned to that of something similar to a human. He had to hold onto his boxers by hand now though, since they were stretched out by the rapid shift into a Glabro. "What the fuck do you know about Hagley Hall, you impertinent twat?" He demanded, yanking the brochure out of Derin's hands.
"Always with the 'great' comebacks," Emlyn said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "So, are you going to answer my question, or not?" Emlyn, somehow, almost forgot about the big bad wolf in the room, and turned to Ben, just as he was turning back to normal. "Ah, so you are ok under all that fur. I doubt that you were willingly entertaining a Primogen. Ben, meet Derin, the Gangrel Primogen. Think of him like...a chieftain? I don't know what is at the top of your hierarchy." It barely even registered in his mind that Arlana left the room. Emlyn took a step forward when Ben snatched the brochure away from Derin. Emlyn found this amusing, and would certainly prefer to stay neutral, but he couldn't shake the feeling that if he stood by and let the Gangrel Primogen die, it would probably come back to bite him.
Derin let the brochure slip out of his fingers as the angry young man snatched it. The insult washed over him, he'd been called worse by things bigger and badder than any of you currently present and he was still standing. When Emlyn spoke up he bit down the urge to strangle the upstart Ventrue. As much as he'd love to turn the pretty boy inside out and nail his arse to a wall Derin had to remind himself that he couldn't get away with that kind of behaviour any more. Forensics and due process were a wonderful leap for mankind but a giant kick in the ass for a Gangrel with a temper and a vindictive streak. Mister Cyncad my business with this young man is my own, however since he's blurted it out already, I'm investigating a little matter for the Primogen council. A little something that's come up pertaining the Library and Hagley hall. I'm sure I need say no more?. He'd look the young woman up and down, including the hilarious slippers. And who might this be? He had reacted on instinct to rework his appearance, he didn't have the gift so many of his kind did to read auras or heighten his senses so much that he could hear hearts beating, so he often had to do it the old fashioned way and ask.
None had seemed to even notice that Lana was getting ready to leave and as your voice had lifted she'd already reached the door or rather what was left of it. She didn't really understand the words being thrown about, how could she, she was a little human mute with no knowledge of what lay beneath the sleep of the city and it seemed to escape all of their attention that somehow they had all managed to break the masquerade because now she was quite aware that at least Ben wasn't normal. He was literally the freaking chupicabra or something along those lines.
It was when you asked about her, she paused in step and turned to look at you over her shoulder. Her gaze being rather unique as she had one blue eye and one green, had now focused on you intently. Her pouty features had furrowed a moment before she began to sign out her name. " Arlana " She signed, her lips mimicking each letter and word she emphasized. She'd step closer of course, when she was finished with her fast and furious movement of fingers and offer her hand in a kindly introduction.
Ben's hand was crumpling the brochure as he watched the impostor, invader reprimand both him and Emlyn in regards to what his business was in his home and investigating something for his Primogen council. Ben's eyes looked from Derin back over to Emlyn as he attempted to make introduction of them both, relating Derin to the 'chieftan' of... Gangrels? What in the fucking hell were Gangrels? Was it a new breed of leech then? Is that what he was doing in Ben's flat, making a nusiance of himself with fog and mist? He stood up straight and moved to stand before the retreating Arlana when Derin made note of her. "She's nothing to you and you would be well served to forget her, right now, or deal with me." Ben shot Emlyn a look that was probably a mention the warning went for him too but at this stage, Emlyn already knew Ben's position in this. Arlana might fear him but she was still a mortal innocent and would not be taken by a leech on his watch. He might've broken some of the Veil shifting like that, but it was bound to happen sooner or later, quick tempers and all ran hot in his blood. He glanced over his shoulder at the girl and tried to give her an apologetic "Sorry, but this is for your own good" kind of expression.
Emlyn paused for a moment at the mention of the council, before relaxing quite a bit and sighing. "No, you don't have to say anything else. However, if you don't mind, I would prefer to stay until you leave. I have a feeling that if I casually left you here, the -possibly low- chance that he would win, or -gods forbid- you die, the it would look badly on me, and probably come back to bite me." Emlyn moved once more to a defensive position in front of Arlana. " Ben is correct. She's off limits. Someone from our society owes her a favor."
The Elder gangrel snorted, there was a little ring of protection around this mortal, someone owed her favours. An interesting tit bit of information. Something Ansel would probably pay good money for. Derin was reluctant to talk about the issue at hand infront of the Keeper. He'd discuss it almost freely with the young wolf because he was so far a very minor part in the big game of undead life, the Keeper however was a slightly larger and more annoyingly persistant part of it. He had no idea what the girl had signed but he'd lip read enough shaddy deals in his time to catch her name. " Well Miss Arlana, I shall leave you with your protectors. He looked at Emlyn, and gave him a disapproving look, a Ventrue in debt. The idea amused him. He looked back to Ben, "I'd appreciate your in put on hagley hall. Your kind are not the only one's interested in it. Not for the first time your kind and mine are on the same side of the fence. Ask your elders, give them my name. Might smooth a few ruffled feathers. " He tossed a card he'd palmed from his pocket, it was the name of a small and quite high class antiques dealership on the outskirts of the city. Leave me a message here and I'll be more than willing to pool our information.
Ben stepped in front of me as did Emlyn and a narrowed gaze found the back of both of their heads . Even when ben cast his beautiful blue eyes, she didn't flinch and meerly lifted her nose up in the air before she removed her bunny slipper and tossed it hard at the back of his head . Her gaze then averted to the other man present and she gave an incline of her head before mouthing that she was pleased to meet him and that seeing how he was the only normal one in the room, she'd not mind a cup of coffee sometime with him
Being one handed at the moment, with his left occupied holding up his trousers was doing a great job of killing Ben's intimidation presence but Emlyn surprised him by moving in front of Arlana as well... at the same time as insulting the young wolf's pride which had already taken quite the bruising and beating this evening from Derin and his irritation. The werewolf gave Emlyn a simple nod of respect for the back up, he'd argue semantics with the leech later when Arlana was less likely to be dead within thirty seconds of one of the three of them saying something that offended the others. The snort made the wolf narrow his eyes in irritation at the 'Gangrel' male thinking he still might like to tear him limb from limb... but he was the equivalent of a Garou elder... he shook his head a little, knowing full well he didn't have the power, nor rank to even attempt that sort of a smackdown, no matter how much he deserved it. As he frowned at Derin, reaching out to take the card from him with a whip-quick gesture, eyeballing the location before returning his icy gaze to his... opponent?
"I haven't the foggiest what the fuck Hagley Hall is on about. I don't appreciate your kind fucking with my mind. I was minding my own FUCKING business in the library and someone decided they were going to put the place in my head. You are far too liberal with going places you aren't invited." Ben snapped, his tongue the only weapon he had at the moment. Just as he was about to start in on him again he felt a soft 'whumpf' of something hitting his head. He frowned, turned around and looked down at the offending bunny slipper... before lifting his gaze back up to Arlana. "Was that really necessary? I'm trying to help you. That's what I've been doing this entire time, you know. You don't have to be ungrateful about it, for fucks sake." He replied, returning his watchful gaze to Derin. "I'll ask... I'm probably about to get reamed up one side and down the other, but rest assured, who I'm asking won't take kindly to what you're doing either. Her temper is worse than mine." He gave Derin his best attempt at a feral smile and waved a hand at the destroyed door, reaching back to push Arlana gently out of the way. "Now get the fuck out."
Derin gave a great shit eating grin. " I'm well aware of the fact that I'm unwelcome, so i'll fuck off for now." With that Derin stuffed his hands into the pockets of his trench, and headed for the door. He'd not look back, looking back is what prey species did, he knew he could tear the ventrue clean in half and the wolf boy would be an issue but let the dog have his day his pride was dented enough. Derin had been given some very important advise many many years ago and he occasionally heeded it. Pick the battles you are sure you can win. In this case he was only "pretty sure" and he had no need for direct confrontation. He stepped over the door wreckage and paused as he stepped out into the hallway. Looking briefly in both directions he headed for the stairs, lifts annoyed him and made him feel a little trapped. So 300 stairs later he'd be back out on the street. Kids....
Emlyn finally relaxed once Derin left, sighing heavily. Emlyn waited until he was sure that Derin was far enough away before he tried to say anything. "Excuse my language, but I fucking hate Gangrels," Emlyn said, stepping outside to grab his coat, or more accurately, the cigarettes and lighter inside. He popped the pack and took the lucky cig that hoped up, lighting it as he spoke while walking back to the doorway. "They are so bland yet so arrogent, it's painful." Emlyn went through a couple moments of the motions of smoking, not bothering to exhale the smoke as he did so, calming himself. "Derin's the worst of them in my opinion..." Emlyn made sure to flick his ashes outside of Ben's room as he stood there and smoked. "Think you now have even more questions, don't ya Ben?"
