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[MsBarrows]

The forecast of sunny and hot for Saturday proved true; by the time David had finished his yard work, and gone back indoors to call Jane and see if she was ready to go to the beach, he was looking forward to the date for more then just the opportunity to see her again.

"It's a hothouse here," she told him. "The air-conditioning is on the fritz again. I'm ready to go as soon as you are."

"Come here and join me for lunch first," he suggested. "I'm making a Caprese salad with fresh garden tomatoes."

"Yum! I'll be right over. Just need to throw my things in a bag," she said.

She was knocking on the door less then ten minutes later, and the two had a refreshing cold luncheon before climbing into David's truck, and setting off for the beach.

Jane patted the dashboard fondly as they pulled out of the driveway. "Still going strong... Padraig chose well when he bought this one. Not like the truck he had before it, that he was calling the Rustbucket within two years of purchasing. Turn left when you reach the highway, and then it's the first right afterwards, once we reach the bottom of the hill."

David glanced over at Jane. "I sometimes forget how well you must have known my great-uncle."

She smiled. "Padraig was a nice old man. And my honorary uncle, since I didn't have any real ones. At least, not any real ones I knew about... I suppose it's entirely possible my father had brothers. Heavens, for all I know, I have half-siblings out there somewhere. Possibly a lot of them, if he made a regular habit of bedding lonely women, like he did with my mother," she added acerbically.

David glanced over at her. The wind through the open window was blowing wisps of her hair into her face. She didn't seem to notice, as she gazed out the window at the passing scenery.

"Do you ever wish you'd known him?" he asked. "Your father, I mean."

"Sometimes. When I was younger. Now..." she shrugged. "I don't see what difference it would make. I have my life, he has his, and even if I bumped into him tomorrow, I wouldn't know him from Adam anyway; it's not like Mom had a picture of him or anything. I'd be surprised if he even remembers her - just another lonely woman in another small town in the middle of nowhere."

David nodded, and concentrated on his driving. It wasn't very far to the lake; the route was much longer by car then on foot would have been, but it was less then a quarter of an hour after they'd left the house before he pulled to a stop.

On one side of the road, away from the lake, was a motel, a bit time-worn but not quite seedy looking. Across from the motel was a small campground, with it's own section of beach, and beside it, the public beach. Up by the road there was a small area of seating with a charcoal grill for food preparation, a fenced-in area with a basketball hoop, and a low painted brick structure that was obviously a public washroom. Rustic log fencing ran along the top of a short drop-off, beyond which a smooth sand beach sloped down into the lake.

Even from up here he could feel the difference in temperature near the lake; the slight breeze off of it was almost chilly. He wondered if it was spring-fed, or just run-off from the surrounding mountains that rose so abruptly from it's shores.

"We're lucky," Jane said as she led the way down the wooden stairs to the beach (0080). "Even with all the mining and logging in the area, this lake managed to stay pure and clear. It'll be a little cold this early in the summer; takes it a while to heat up. And even in late summer you don't have to dive deep to find cold currents. It's quite deep out in the middle, and the depths never really warm up," she explained.

David looked around. To the right the shore rose sharply, quickly changing from a tree-covered hillside to granite cliffs rising near-vertically from the lake. To the left the shore remained lower; beyond a nearby dock area, it was lined with stands of trees and occasional cottages, the highway visibly curving off along a shelf of land that followed around the foot of the mountain that loomed over the town. "What's off that way?" he asked. (0081)

"Oh, the highway dead-ends just out of sight around the mountain; that's the old industrial area. There's not much out there; the old minehead for the main shaft, some falling-apart buildings, that sort of thing. There's a caretaker's cottage, too; Padraig used to go visit the caretaker sometimes. The McPhersons will need to hire a new man one of these days, or rather their lawyers will have to sort it out; Dennis can't be all that much younger then Padraig was. Probably should have retired years ago, but he and his wife lived in the caretaker's cottage all their married life, and he can't bear to leave it."

David nodded. "This is a nice beach," he said, kneeling down to run his fingers through the sand. The sand was sun-heated and clean, with nothing worse along the tideline down by the water then some bits of twigs and leaves and dead pine needles. The air off the lake smelled of nothing but trees and water. The place must be nearly as perfect as it had been when men had first started to settle the area; Jane was right, they were lucky.

"Let's build a sand castle," Jane suggested, crouching down beside him. The two worked together, moistening the sand and heaping it up, sculpting in into a low, tower-decorated mound. (0082)

"Come on, let's go swimming," Jane finally suggested. "And then once the lake has made us all cold and goose-fleshed, we can sunbathe for a while and let the sun bake some heat back into us."

David laughed. "Sounds good," he said agreeably, and the two waded out.

For all its gentle slope from the low cliff backing it, the beach dropped off very suddenly once you actually got into the water. Within a few steps, the two of them were swimming rather then wading. Jane proved right about the lake temperature, too - only the top foot or two of the lake was sun-warmed, and going much below that it was almost bitterly cold. (0083)

The two swam around for a while, occasionally diving down, but mainly sticking to the warmer surface layer. "Your lips are turning blue," Jane told him after a while. "Ready to go back in yet?" (0084)

"Oh yes," he agreed. "Much more of this and my teeth are going to be chattering."

Jane laughed, and the two swam back to the beach.

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[MsBarrows]

Jane had brought sun towels for both of them, and cautioned David that no matter how cold he was feeling right now, he'd best put on some suntan oil before lying down, or he'd risk getting a bad burn.

"I don't burn," he told her, and stretched out comfortably on his towel. "Though with your fair complexion I bet you do."

"You'll regret that later," she said warningly, though whether she meant the remark or him not using sun block wasn't clear. Jane took the time to slather oil on her own skin before lying down. (0085)

Lying in the warm sun, with the cool breeze off the lake to keep them from overheating, was very pleasant, David decided. He could hear the waves lapping quietly against the shore, and people talking and playing basketball up near the road; they seemed to be the only two willing to brave the waters this early in the summer.

He'd almost dozed off when he suddenly heard the slight crunching of footsteps in the sand drawing close, then stopping. He opened his eyes and craned his head back, and found himself with an upside-down view of the head of a dog that had settled down to sit on the sand near them. (0086)

"I hope that's not you that smells so distressingly of old carpets," Jane commented dryly, her eyes still shut against the glare of the sun overhead.

"No, we have four-footed company," David said. She rolled over and up on one elbow, blinking as she looked to see what he was talking about.

"Oh, what a gorgeous dog!" she exclaimed, and rose to her feet.

The dog startled away at her movement, then stopped again further down the beach and looked back at them curiously.

"Don't be scared, boy," she called softly. "I'm not going to hurt you."

David rose as well, and followed her as she slowly advanced on the dog. Its head and tail dipped, ears flicking back and forth, and it whined worriedly.

"Shhh, shhh, good boy," she called softly, and dropped into a crouch, hand out invitingly. "Stay there," she hissed to David. "He's scared."

David stood still, and watched the dog. It glanced back and forth between him and Jane, then half-lowered itself to the sand, slinking a couple of steps closer to them and craning its massive head forward to sniff delicately at her fingers. She was right about it being gorgeous; it had a thick, glossy coat, shading from a warm caramel colour through to a near-black in areas, with lighter paws and underbelly. It sniffed her fingers again, then whined and licked them, legs straightening out of its crouch.

"Good boy!" Jane said again, and ran her hand down the fur on its neck, before burying both hands in its ruff to give the area behind its ears a good scratching. "Whose a handsome boy then? You're not any of our town dogs... and no collar, either." (0087)

"Think he's a stray?" David asked. The dog started again at the sound of his voice, then came over and sniffed cautiously at his knees before returning to Jane for further attention, tail just barely wagging from side to side.

"Might be. Or he belongs to someone in one of the cottages, or staying at the campground or motel." Jane said.

After making much of the dog for a few more minutes, she sighed and rose to her feet. "I always wanted a dog, growing up," she said. "But Mom didn't like them, and after she passed away... well, my apartment building doesn't allow them. So I make do with being friends with every dog in town," she finished with a grin. "At least all the ones whose owners let them run free, which covers most of them. This is a good town to be a dog in; no leash laws, and as long as it has a collar or at least a microchip, and isn't aggressive, no problem with letting dogs run free."

She leaned down again and dug her hands into the dog's ruff again, then straightened up with a frown. "Don't think it's chipped, either, or at least not in the usual location on the neck if it is."

"You can tell that by touch?" David asked, surprised. He didn't know much about pets, he'd be the first to admit, but he knew that microchips were tiny things.

"Usually, yes - the chip is in a little capsule, it makes a hard little lump about the size of a grain of rice, just under the skin. They're implanted in a fairly standardized spot to make them easier to find with the chip reader. If you know what to look for and in what area, they're not that hard to find by feel."

The dog raised it's head and sniffed, looking towards the higher area backing the beach. Jane sniffed too.

"Smells like someone has fired up the grill. I smell hot dogs and hamburgers cooking. Come on, let's go get some before it's all gone," she said.

David followed her as she gathered their things back into her capacious beach bag, and climbed the stairs back up to the seating area. She spent a few minutes greeting people and introducing David around, and adding her contribution to the meal to a nearby table - a big jar of pickles, and a bag of cookies - before claiming a couple of burgers for herself and David.

They hadn't been eating for long before the dog reappeared, peering at the noisy crowd from the top of the stairs for a couple of minutes before following its nose over to their table. It looked hungrily at their plates and whined softly. (0088)

"Poor boy... are you hungry?" Jane asked it. Its tail twitched from side to side, once, its eyes remaining locked on their plates.

"He can have the rest of mine, I'm still full from lunch," David said, and got up to put his plate down on the ground. The dog lowered its head, sniffed, then hungrily inhaled the remains of his burger. (0089)

Jane watched it eat. "Poor thing must be starving, eating that way," she said, and rose to add her own burger to its meal. "You keep an eye on it, I'm going to ask around and try to find out who owns it," she said decisively, and headed off to the nearest cluster of people to start asking questions.

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[MsBarrows]

After the dog had finished eating, David cautiously tried petting him; cautiously because he'd never had much to do with dogs, and was a little nervous around them; the little yappy ones because their barking was so often aggressive, and big ones like this fellow was because... well, they were big. To his relief, the dog was as nervous of him as he was of it, and once they both got past their initial hesitation, petting him turned out to be surprisingly enjoyable, especially when the dog so clearly liked it that he half-closed his eyes and leaned into David's hands. (0090)

"I can see you've won him over," Jane said, returning to find the two of them sitting down on a bench together, the dog's heavy head resting on David's knee while he toyed with its ear.

"Him or me?" David asked, smiling up at her.

"Both," she said with a grin, then frowned. "I've asked around - no one here recognizes him, no one has come camping with a dog yet this year, and the only recognition he has at the motel is that they've had to chase him away from their garbage cans twice already; Stella tells me she thinks he's been in the area for at least a week, with no sign of an owner."

She bent down and peered into the dog's face. He raised his head and grinned at her, tongue lolling out of his mouth. "What about it, fella? Are you lost?" she asked, and scratched him behind the ear.

"There's no help for it, I suppose - you'll have to take him home," she said.

"Me?" David asked, startled. "Why me?" he asked, rising to his feet.

"I already told you, my place doesn't allow pets. You don't have a similar problem, Mr Landlord sir, so you get to look after this guy while I try and find out who owns him," she explained, then gave him a hug. "Come on... it's the right thing to do. And he likes you already," she pointed out. (0091)

"Oh, gods, what am I letting myself get talked into..." David moaned. "What if he doesn't have an owner?" he asked.

Jane shrugged. "Then we find him one. Or you get to keep him, if you like him enough by then."

"All right," David reluctantly agreed as he followed her over to the truck. And hoped she'd find someone to claim the dog; he didn't think he was ready to be a dog owner.

"Good," she said, and turned to look back at the dog, who was sitting up on the bench, watching them walk away. "Come on, boy," she called, slapping her leg. "Come!"

He leapt down from the bench and trotted over, and when Jane opened the truck door and took a seat, happily jumped in and curled up on the floor at her feet.

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"You're home pretty late," William observed as David entered the living room. "Have a good day at the beach?" (0092)

"Yes, though that's not why I'm late. Jane insisted on my bringing home a souvenir," he explained, and gestured towards the dog as it entered the room behind him, looking around warily and sniffing everything curiously.

"That's a pretty big dog," William exclaimed. "Stray?"

"We think so. Jane insisted that we drive into town and have him checked over at the 24-hour veterinary clinic there; he's not microchipped or tattooed, at least not that they could find, and the technician said his claws were naturally worn down, not cut. So we got him his shots, and dosed with a half dozen different medicines, and picked up some food and stuff, and I'm stuck with him for now."

"He have a name?" William asked, watching as the dog came over and sniffed cautiously at his knees.

David shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

The dog stood still a moment, looking back and forth between the two, then walked over and leaned heavily against David's legs, and whined softly.

"And you know we're talking about you, don't you?" David said, and found himself bending down to scratch the dog, who promptly flopped over on one side and begged to have his belly scratched. David obliged, and was surprised to realize how much he'd already come to like the nameless mutt. (0093)

"He likes you," William observed, a smile in his voice.

"Yeah, Jane said the same thing," David said. "So... anything exciting happen while I was out?"

"Nothing earth-shattering," William said glumly. "Robin went out shortly after you did, and isn't back yet."

"Ahhh. So no confession yet."

"Nope, not yet."

"Should I start kicking you every time I see you miss a chance to talk to her?"

"I doubt it'd help. And then she'd want to know why I was saying 'ouch!' all the time."

David laughed, then rose to his feet. "I'd better put out some food for this guy. And introduce him to the yard. I hope he's already trained..." he added, frowning down at the dog. "I haven't a clue how to train him if he's not."

William smiled. "I grew up with dogs - my mother bred show champions. I can help you if you need it."

"Thank all gods, someone who knows something about them... I'm clueless, we never had any when I was growing up."

The two headed outside, the dog following at their heels.

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[deagh]

Jane said:

"I hope that's not you that smells so distressingly of old carpets,"

I know what they should name him :D Although perhaps not, might give him ideas. That dog was a Naughty Boy, plus he smelled of lavatory carpet, iirc.

[wordlesswriter]

awe poor William. everyone around him is enjoy the sweet bliss of love and he's just to awestruck by Robin to say anything.

love the dog, he's so cute.

[silverpole]

deagh said:

I know what they should name him :D Although perhaps not, might give him ideas. That dog was a Naughty Boy, plus he smelled of lavatory carpet, iirc.

Woof bloody woof.

[MsBarrows]

silverpole said:

deagh said:

I know what they should name him :D Although perhaps not, might give him ideas. That dog was a Naughty Boy, plus he smelled of lavatory carpet, iirc.

Woof bloody woof.

:lol: - no, I am not naming him Gaspode!

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James leaned back in one of the patio chairs out on his balcony, and gazed off into the night. He sighed. He felt... grumpy. Unsettled. He had a good life here, he knew - plenty of partners to share his bed, regular feeding, acceptance for what he was, and even a few real friends. Even family, in the form of Jane, something very few other vampires could boast of. (0094)

And yet... he had to admit, he was increasingly unhappy. If anything, perhaps, things were too easy for him here. It was decades since he'd last had to actively hunt for food, had to put himself in danger to fulfill his needs. He found himself missing Padraig intensely; oh, he had a few other friends whom he'd been close with for almost as long, but Padraig had always been special; not only the first to really accept him, but the friend to whom he'd always been able to turn when he needed someone to talk to. And Padraig had had a knack for cutting through even the most complex problems, for finding the simple thread implicit in the tangled knot.

He looked over at Jane's building, and wondered if she was still awake. She was almost as good as Padraig at sorting out problems or making him see when he was worrying over nothing. He'd risen to his feet and gone back indoors before changing his mind about calling her; he didn't know what to say to her even if he did call. Since he was now indoors anyway, he went and changed into his pyjamas. He was too restless to sleep yet, however, and returned directly to the living room, sitting down at his chess table only to immeadiately rise to his feet again, realizing he'd be unable to concentrate on it at all.

He paced, restlessly, wishing he'd had someone over tonight. But the only person he'd have particularly felt like inviting over would have been Noel, and after the energetic evening out the two of them had had only a couple of days earlier... well, it was much too soon to have Noel over again. He'd have welcomed even a new random visitor tonight, for the change in routine it would have been, if nothing else.

He abruptly returned to the balcony. If he was going to pace back and forth, better it not be directly over David and Robin's bedrooms; he wouldn't want his creaking footsteps to keep them awake. Padraig had never complained of it, but then, Padraig had been half-deaf for the last thirty years.

He'd only just stepped to the railing when a threatening snarl broke the silence. Startled, he looked down and saw a massive dog rising to its feet on the balcony below, teeth gleaming whitely in the light from the exterior lights. (0095)

"Great, just what this house needs... a dog," he muttered. Animals tended to react poorly to vampires; he didn't know if it was because they felt there was something wrong about them, or just knew them for the predators they were, but very few of them would tolerate being around him for long.

The dog's snarl deepened, a clear warn-off that it felt he was too close to the territory or person that it believed was its to guard. "Hush your yap, puppy," he growled down at it. "I'm not likely to hurt David, and this is my territory."

Talking was a mistake; the dog froze, then crouched and looked measuringly at the distance between it and where he stood, hind end wiggling. It would decide it couldn't make it any minute now, and start barking, he realized. As much as a decision to retreat rankled, it was best for him to go back indoors before he set it off and they woke the household, not to mention the surrounding neighbourhood.

He'd only just gone inside when he heard a heavy thump outside, and realized the dog had attempted the jump after all. He turned to look, and was shocked to see it charging through the open door behind him (0096). Not only had it tried; it had succeeded, clearing what was easily at least ten feet in vertical height. Its menacing silence as it charged towards him made its presence even more frightening then a crescendo of barking would have been; it was intent on him, concentrating on him in a way that precluded the sort of hysterical barking a less focused animal might have displayed.

He barely had time to register its presence before it had launched itself at him, jaws gaping wide as it drove towards him. He only barely managed to deflect its strike, and was driven backwards to the floor by the shock of the impact. For a moment he couldn't breathe, the blow having knocked the air out of him, but even as he whooped for air he started fighting back, grabbing hold of the dog's muzzle to keep those lethal teeth away from himself, curling up his knees to protect his stomach from its clawed feet.

They struggled in silence for several long minutes. The dog was strong and limber, but James had a very long lifetime's experience of keeping himself alive behind him, which had included a fair share of dirty fighting at times. Old instincts re-awoke as he wrestled with his furred attacker, and finally succeeded in pinning the dog down, one hand keeping its head pressed helplessly down against the floor while the other kept its frantically kicking hindquarters away from himself. (0097)

Finally able to catch his breath, he swore softly. He should probably have mentioned something to David about how poorly animals reacted to vampires; but he'd never expected that David would bring home a pet, much less that it would be done so suddenly, without him finding out about it until too late to do anything about it.

The dog had gone still. For a moment he worried that he'd done it an injury, and started to remove his weight from it, then it twisted suddenly, and closed its jaws around his wrist, biting down with crushing force. He cursed, throwing himself down across it, freeing his other hand to grasp the dog's lower jaw before it could close its mouth enough to do anything worse then bruise him, wincing as its flailing feet scored marks across his unclothed belly.

"Let go!" he hissed angrily at it. "Drop it! Drop it!"

Its blue eyes rolled sideways to meet his, lip curling back as it snarled hatred at him. He'd have to do it the hard way, he decided, and took a steadying breath before releasing its jaw again, wincing as his free hand dropped to cup the dog's head, senses driving inwards, racing to overwhelm the dog's mind before it could do real injury to his trapped wrist.

And felt shocked, as he engaged the mind inside the sleek-pelted skull. It wasn't an animal. Or at least - not wholly an animal. The mind was as much pure dog-mind as anything he'd ever touched before, but there was something else there - something other, something not part of the dog-mind, but threaded through and through it, tangled and enmeshed with it, blended with it to the degree that where the dog-mind ended and the other-mind started was nearly impossible to distinguish.

He wasn't entirely sure just what this beast was, but he was suddenly abruptly certain that whatever it was - it wasn't a dog.

Fascinated by what he was sensing, he forced himself to tear his attention away from the odd mind long enough to quickly locate and take control of the parts of the dog-mind that were in charge of controlling its body. The heavy jaws slackened, falling open, freeing his abused wrist. He'd have a fearsome bruise there later, he knew, but thankfully no permanent damage. The hound now held motionless by his presence in its mind, he changed position, his hand maintaining contact with its head while he shifted into a more comfortable position, kneeling on the floor beside its outstretched body (0098).

Satisfied, he closed his eyes and mentally dove back in. He didn't know how long he lost himself in just looking at the oddness inside. It was wrong, he felt; badly wrong. Without conscious thought, he found himself picking at it, trying to separate the bright threads of the other-mind from the denser dog-mind. Thread was a good analogy, he decided quickly; it was as if he'd been handed a heavy cable-knit sweater of dense oily wool, and told he must pick out a silken thread that had been mixed in during the knitting, without either harming the garment or breaking the thread.

He didn't know how long he worked at it; hours, perhaps, by the increasing soreness of his body, as he crouched uncomfortably over the beast, slowing picking out the loops and whorls of bright thread. In his mental picture of the mind before him, they now seemed to float in a loose ball; near the denser dog-mind and still partially entangled with it, but distinctly separate. And then he seemed to reach some critical mass of them; the loose ball tumbled, tightened, glowed more brightly. A force knocked him away from the dog.

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[MsBarrows]

He opened his eyes and sat back up again in time to see what looked like golden fire flickering around the dog's body. The dog twisted, turned, stretched oddly, and as the fire reached an eye-watering climax of brightness before finally fading away, the dog... changed.

"Were," James breathed, staring at the darkly furred creature sprawled on the floor. Its head snapped to the side to look towards him, and he abruptly realized that there was no more sense or sanity in its bright blue eyes then there'd been in the dog's eyes, earlier. Even as it snarled and struggled to rise he flung himself forward, pinning it to the floor again, driving his senses back into its mind. (0099)

Fear. Fear and confusion. Emotion it had in plenty; of sense, little more then what might be found in a newborn. How long had it been a dog, he wondered, that it had forgotten how to be human as well? Staring down into its frightened blue eyes, he was sure it had been human, once; but now it only knew doggish things. Was this the cause of the brighter mind being so entwined with the dense? Or the effect of it?

He could feel it trembling in fear; partially because it didn't know, could not even begin to understand, what had happened to it, and partially because it knew him for an even greater predator then itself, and it helpless before him.

He breathed out slowly, forcing himself to calm. Its fear of him was awakening long-suppressed instincts of his own; their struggle, brief as it was, had left him excited, longing to feed from the prey he'd subdued. His teeth ached with their extension to the feeding position; he doubted seeing those sharp fangs so close to its own face and throat was doing anything to soothe the frightened creature.

He forced himself to close his mouth, willing the fangs to retract. He cautiously shifted position, raising himself up to take more of his weight on his own hands and knees, instead of on the Were. His hand brushed along its side as he moved, and it trembled. Not in fear; though fear was still there, overwhelmingly there. He hesitated, then touched its side purposefully, stroking the coarse-looking fur. It was softer then it looked, the coarseness more an illusion of its uneven length then of the actual hairs.

Fear. Fear and confusion and... desire? Desire to be touched; something both the dog- and other-mind wanted. He cautiously lightened his vice-like grip on its head, and brushed his hand along its fur again.

Its mouth fell open as it gasped, reacting to his touch. It wanted, and feared what it wanted. The combination of fear and desire was unbearably heady; James had to close his eyes to its bright-eyed, pleading look, draw slow careful breaths, to regain his control of himself (0100). He wanted this creature, suddenly, wanted to possess it, in every way he could, with every sense he could, both mentally and physically.

He forced himself to release it, to give up control of its body, control of its mind, to rise to his feet and back off a few steps. He stood and watched, as it lay still for a while, still half-stunned by the confusing things that had happened to it, then slowly gathered itself, rising into a crouch, watching him warily. Still more animal-mind in control then man, he judged; it was a truly strange creature.

"Come," he told it gently, backing further away, maintaining eye contact; turning his back on something that frightened wouldn't be wise, not when flight-or-fight instincts might still trigger another attack. Its eyes followed him, an unwavering stare. "Come," he said again, barely louder then a breath, holding out one hand. Its eyes grew clearer, less lost, as it looked at him. Looked at his hand. Glanced towards the nearby door to the balcony, still open from its precipitous entrance.

"Come," he said again, softly, letting some of his own yearning show through in his voice, and discarding wisdom, forced himself to turn away from it, opening his bedroom door, stepping into his room, trusting that something more rational then just the animal mind controlled it now.

He stood still, listened to it rise to its feet. Heard its feet scuffing against the floor as it moved. Looked back, and watched as it gave one final dismissive glance at the open door, then stalked by it and followed him.

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[MsBarrows]

James lay quietly, arms loosely encircling the creature that shared his bed. The Were was awake, he knew; it growled warningly any time he moved. As it had growled even as it had joined him on his bed, its fear of him making it warn him off even as its desire for touch made it submit to him. That had been an overly exciting first time for the both of them; he blessed the years of bedroom experience he had behind him, that had enabled him to distract the poor man-beast with physical sensation before things could go sour and turn into a deadly fight between natural enemies.

He'd fed, eventually; fed deeply, more then he'd have dared with a human - the stories about the regenerative powers of Weres were certainly true. Even now, he could likely feed again without harming it, and the thought of doing so, of again experiencing its mix of fear and desire was almost enough to break his self-control and risk it.

He moved enough to lean forward, breathe deeply of the creature's scent. It badly needed a bath, but under the stink of dirt and fear-sweat and sex it had a natural musky odour that he thought would be pleasant when it was clean. (0101)

His movement made it growl again, its head turning to lightly clamp teeth on the wrist under its head. It, too, had fangs; he could feel its canines pressing against his skin, a ticklish feeling as their length transmitted the vibrations of its growl.

"None of that," he whispered quietly. "Friends."

It didn't respond to his words - it hadn't responded to any words all night, other then to his initial invitation to come - but it lay still, its growl slowly fading away, and then licked his wrist in dog-like apology, before returning to its previous position.

He'd slipped back into its mind again at some point during the long night; not enough to control, but enough to sense its reaction to things. It was enjoying being held like this, he knew, enjoying the companionable contact of their bodies even as it still feared his presence at its back. He "looked" at its mind again, noting that the brighter threads had tightened into a smooth, dense ball, resting against but not re-engaging with the density of the dog-mind. There were still many bright threads mixed into there, linking the two parts together. He supposed at some point he should try to untangle it further, but for now it seemed to have achieved some sort of fragile balance between its dual natures; best to leave it alone for a while before interfering further, he judged.

As he felt the sun approaching the horizon, the bright ball trembled, contracted further. He was unsurprised as bright fire engulfed the creature once more, kicking him out of its mind, transforming it back into the dog it had been before. Dog in shape only, he noted; the look it gave him as it struggled out from under the sheets and rose to its feet betrayed that what he had awoken the night before was still aware behind those bright blue eyes.

It snarled at him, in true warning this time, its hackles rising, then jumped down from the bed and trotted away without a backwards glance. He sat up, watching it leave, and wondered if it would return. And what he'd do if it didn't. (0102)

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[silverpole]

Well. Now I'm beating myself up about not having seen that coming. Five years of reading MsB stories and you still manage to pull one over on me! Well done.

[MsBarrows]

silverpole said:

Well. Now I'm beating myself up about not having seen that coming. Five years of reading MsB stories and you still manage to pull one over on me! Well done.

:rofl: - nice to know I can still manage to surprise my readers occasionally... as often as I threw around curveballs and cliffhangers in the Soups, and to a lesser degree in AFT and Catla's Story, I figure you guys are a pretty suspicious bunch by now!

------

William tugged at his collar as he hurried up the walkway to the house. It was turning into a real scorcher today, and the air-conditioning in the car had broken down yet again on the drive home. Maybe it was time he gave in and let his driver pick out something nicer to chauffeur him to and from work in.

"You're home early!" Robin exclaimed with surprise as he walked into the living room.

He smiled, please to find her at home for once. "We signed off an a major contract earlier today; had a big luncheon to celebrate, and then the boss gave everyone the rest of the day off as thanks for all their hard work," he explained.

"Nice boss," she observed, smiling cheerfully at him.

"He's okay," William said agreeably, then cocked his head at her. "Not busy this afternoon?" he asked her.

"Nope, the only thing I had on my schedule for the afternoon was a private lesson, and the girl's mother called just before lunch to let me know that Lily twisted her ankle this morning and wouldn't be able to make it this week. Possibly not next week, either; it's not broken, but it might be sprained. She'll call me once they know - they were still waiting in Emergency to see a doctor when she called."

"Ouch. Poor Lily," William said.

They two fell silent. It quickly stretched into an awkward silence.

"So, I..." William started, just as Robin said "I was..."

"Oh, sorry, you first," he said apologetically.

"No, that's fine, you go ahead," she urged.

"You sure?"

"Yes, please, what were you going to say?" she asked.

William squirmed uncomfortably. "I, err... I was going to ask if..." (0103)

"Yes? Ask if what?" she prompted when he fell silent again.

"Oh, gods, I suck at this," he abruptly said, straightening up and putting his hand over his eyes, then sliding it down his face, holding it cupped over his mouth for a moment and breathing out noisily before finally dropping it. "Look... Robin... I know this is coming out of left field, but... I like you. A lot. More then I can possibly even begin to explain, and..."

He trailed off, seeing the brilliant smile that was blossoming on her face. "...and I actually have a chance, don't I?" he said, wonderingly. (0104)

Robin laughed, then nodded her head. "Yes. The feeling is mutual. Liking you, and... not knowing what to do about it," she finished softly, blushing.

"Well... aren't we a pair," William observed quietly, and slowly stepped forward, reaching forward to take her into his arms.

"Ouch!" they both exclaimed a moment later, springing apart as they clumsily bumped noses on their first attempt at a kiss. (0105)

Then Robin smiled at William, and the second attempt - went better. Much better. (0106)

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[MsBarrows]

They gazed fondly at each other as it ended, then both burst into laughter. (0107)

"We certainly are a pair," Robin said. "Though I'd hate to say a pair of what... gods, William, I've wanted to say something for so long now, and been petrified that maybe you didn't feel the same way about me, and..."

William knew he was grinning like an idiot by now, and he didn't care. She liked him... Robin liked him! "I've been wanting to say something since the first day I met you," he confessed.

"Then why didn't you?" she asked.

"I was scared! I've... never dated. And I'm no good at social situations, and back then I could barely afford to keep myself in ramen noodles, much less think of taking a girl out somewhere, and..."

Robin smiled, and stepped closer again to put her arms around William (0108). "And none of that matters," she said, feeling increasingly confident now that she knew he liked her. "It took me a little longer then just the first time I met you to know I liked you, and as more then just a pleasant housemate, but... it wasn't very much longer. So you and I... we've wasted enough time already, haven't we?"

William laughed. "If you're saying I could have confessed any time in the past five years and it would have been fine... then yes, Robin, we've wasted more then enough time," he agreed.

Their third attempt at a kiss was extremely satisfactory to both of them. (0109)

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[MsBarrows]

"So have you figured out a name for the dog yet?" Robin asked David as she picked a book off the bookshelf and settled down on the loveseat.

"No, I haven't any idea what to call him," David admitted, looking up from the book he was studying.

"No sign of an owner yet?"

"None... and Jane's been asking everyone who has come to the Hair Salon all week, so if he belonged to anyone in the area, she'd have heard by now. So he's either wandered into the area on his own power, or was dumped here."

"Poor dog," Robin said. "But at least he has a good home now."

James wandered into the room, and flopped down onto the sofa beside David. "What's that you're reading?" he asked curiously, peering over David's shoulder at the book.

"Dog training manual," David said. "One recommended by William's mother. Though so far the dog seems to not actually need any training... but I can't count on that to hold true for everything, William says, so better I study up and know what to do ahead of time."

James nodded. The dog chose just then to wander into the room. It looked around, spotted James, and gave a single low growl before turning and stalking off again. (0110)

"Uh-oh," David said, and started to flip through the manual.

James laughed, and put out his hand to stop David. "Don't worry about it," he said. "Very few animals will tolerate vampires. That was actually a very calm and restrained response, compared to how most dogs would have reacted in a similar situation."

"Really?" David said, then frowned. "I didn't know that... about animals and vampires, that is."

"I figured that, when I tripped over the latest addition to our household," James said dryly. "Thankfully we managed to work out our territorial imperatives without actually harming each other."

"That... sounds like his first reaction to you wasn't calm and restrained." Robin said, looking up from her book.

James smiled. "It wasn't," he said, and rather then go into further details, excused himself and went back to his own apartment.

He noticed that while the dog didn't like to enter a room he was in, it was often nearby. Usually making a point of ignoring him, yet... always somewhere near. (0111)

He waited patiently; he had all the time in the world, after all.

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[deagh]

MsBarrows said:

William laughed. "If you're saying I could have confessed any time in the past five years and it would have been fine... then yes, Robin, we've wasted more then enough time," he agreed.

Yay! About time! Good for you for sucking it up and saying something, William!

[MsBarrows]

Robin was amused at what a difference it had made in her life, finding out that William felt for her the same thing that she felt for him. In some ways it left their life mainly unchanged - they still had their own separate schedules, their own differing interested. They still often had no more time together in a day then sharing a meal and conversation (0112). But when they could be together, they were, and many ws the evening now when Robin would come home tired from a late class or a performance somewhere, and find William waiting up to spend some time with her.

Usually they did nothing more exciting then play a little chess, or sit down and watch a movie together (0113), but the fact that it was time spent in each others company, time spent touching and talking and just being with the one they loved... that made it special.

In the end it was Robin who made the decision that it was past time for them to take it further then just hugging and kissing; as sweet as hugs and kisses were, it was only the baby steps of their growing relationship, she knew.

"William..." she said hesitantly one evening, as they were about to part and go their way to their separate rooms.

He turned and looked enquiringly at her, then reached out and took her by the hand. "What is it?" he asked.

"Come to my room tonight," she said, shyly, and felt his hand tighten convulsively in nervousness, before a slow smile lit his face. (0114)

"Are you sure?" he asked quietly.

She smiled warmly at him, her brief worry over her decision already fading, replaced with certainty. "Yes," she said, and led him into her room.

They were both shy and hesitant. Just lying down side by side on her bed made them both feel self-conscious and awkward. Finally William slid closer, leaning against the headboard and putting his arm around her (0115). Cuddling together was nice, and when William finally gathered his courage to begin touching and kissing her... well, it was clumsy, and awkward, and oh-so-sweet. After a while they both forgot their shyness and hesitation, clumsiness fading in the face of one of the oldest instincts in the world.

Waking up in each others arms the next morning, they smiled happily at each other, all awkwardness forgotten. (0116)

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[MsBarrows]

James tried to concentrate on reading his book, but was finding it hard going. He hadn't had anyone over for the last few nights, and was starting to feel the hunger as he hadn't in some years. One or two more nights left at most, before he'd have to have to invite someone over so he could feed. He was hesitant to do so, wanting to keep his nights free in case the Were finally made up its mind to approach him. Thinking of the creature brought a smile to his lips; for all that it still kept its distance from him, he knew that it had maintained an interest in him, just as he in his turn was intrigued by it.

As if summoned by his thoughts, the door to his apartment creaked open, and the dog slunk into the room (0117). It stopped and turned to look at him, giving a low, menacing growl. James sat very still, almost holding his breath, and watched.

After a while it looked away from him and began a cautious circuit of the room, keeping its distance from him as it sniffed everything cautiously. He lowered his book. The movement made it flinch, looking quickly over at him to growl again. He calmly closed and put aside the volume, then sat motionless again, hands resting on his knees. After a moment, satisfied that he wasn't about to move again, the dog resumed its circuit.

As it was investigating the kitchen the dishwasher, which had been quietly filling itself, switched to a wash cycle. The sudden sound, faint as it was, made the dog yelp and jump back. James felt a smile twitching at his lips as it glared over his shoulder at him as if he was responsible for the noise, before cautiously giving the dishwasher a thorough sniffing. (0118)

Eventually its explorations brought it back into the living room. Gradually it worked its way closer and closer to him, eventually coming over to sniff around his feet, growling softly all the while. It took a step closer, raising its head to investigate his knees and hands (0119), then leaned forward, opening its massive jaws and closing them gently around one wrist. It bit down, not hard, but firmly, its teeth indenting his skin.

And then it released his wrist and stepped back, falling silent, looking at him expectantly. The not-bite had been a warning, he knew, a drawing of lines; that it could harm him if he harmed it.

Moving slowly, he slid to the floor, carefully not standing up; towering over the dog could be mistaken as a threatening gesture. He knelt in a crouch, and slowly reached out. The dog watched his hand warily, just the slightest hint of its reverberant growl sounding as his fingers finally touched its head. (0120)

He found the minds within much as he'd last seen them, the hard bright ball and the dense mass, laced together with fine shining strands. Once again he combed strands free of the dense mass, and once again the creature changed, golden fire coruscating over it, its dog-shape twisting and stretching into a man-like form.

He rose to his feet, meeting its eyes, seeing the challenge in them. He stepped forward. It still didn't speak, but had no hesitation in making it clear what it wanted of him (0121). He led it to his bed.

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[MsBarrows]

He awoke the next morning to find the Were still there, back in dog-form and stretched out on top of the rumpled sheets on the other half of the bed (0122). It raised its head at his movement, gave a single short, rumbling growl, and curled up again.

James snorted as he rose to his feet. "You could at least move so I can make the bed properly," he observed. (0123)

The dog flicked one ear, but otherwise showed no sign of paying any attention to his words. James shook his head, and went off to the bathroom to bathe and brush his teeth. It was still there when he came out to dress, and when he went out to the main room, it followed him. It stayed near him as he made himself a light brunch and checked his email, occasionally growling lowly if he passed too near it or moved too suddenly, but otherwise just watched him silently.

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"Is it my imagination, or has that dog been sticking to you like glue lately?" David asked James, looking to where the dog stood attentively nearby as he and James caught a bit of late afternoon sun. (0124)

"It's not your imagination," James said lazily, occupied in soaking up the sun-warmth like cat. "I think he's decided to adopt me as his person."

The dog stepped forward and nosed at James' hand, growling briefly, then stepped away and flopped over on its side, looking expectantly at James. James laughed, and rose from the lounger, stepping over to crouch down and scratch its belly. The dog kept up a deep growl the entire time, even as it wiggled in pleasure at the scratching. (0125)

"That is just plain weird," David observed.

"He's overcoming a lot of instincts just to come anywhere near me, much less tolerate it when I touch him," James said softly, smiling down at the dog. "I think he likes me."

"And here I thought I was the one going to get stuck owning him," David said, grinning. "Well, you're more then welcome to him - I was only looking after him because Jane insisted."

James laughed. "She's good at twisting people's arms," he observed, then looked down at the dog. "How about it, boy? Are we friends?" he asked.

The dog didn't reply, other then to wiggle again, demanding that James scratch its belly some more.

"Have a name for it yet?" David asked.

James shrugged. "Not yet. I'll let you once he lets me know what to call him," he added with an amused grin.

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He soon moved all the dog's things - his bowl and chew toys - up to his own apartment (0126). The dog had already pretty much moved in with him anyway, he might as well make it official. He was worried at first how it might react to his regular visitors, but to his relief it didn't seem to be possessive of his attentions; it greeted his first visitor with a sniff, begged a scratch behind the ears, and then wandered off on its own business while he was entertaining his guest.

On nights when he didn't have another companion there it slept on his bed, otherwise it curled up and slept wherever it was when it felt tired. And every now and then it would approach him, and make it clear it wanted his help to turn from dog-form to Were-form once again. He was always glad to oblige.

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[MsBarrows]

James heard a tap on his door, and turned away from his computer to see Jane at his door. He rose and hurried over to let her in, the two exchanging an affectionate hug. (0127)

"You didn't call first, girl-chick," he chided her, smiling fondly at her even as he did.

"Of course not. I actually walked over to see David, but it turns out that he's driven into town to do some shopping. So I decided I might as well come up and see if you were free instead."

"The horror... relegated to second choice," he said sadly, putting one hand to his forehead in a dramatically tragic pose. "You don't love me any more!"

Jane laughed. "Lies! Lies and foul calumnies," she exclaimed. "I just love him more, that's all," she added with a grin.

James made a face, then grinned back at her. "Which is exactly the way it's supposed to be. So you and the dear boy are getting along well then?" he asked, and took a seat on the couch, gesturing for her to join him.

"Yes, we're doing well," she agreed, then gave James a thoughtful look. "And what about you? Noel was complaining recently that he doesn't see as much of you lately. Have a new special someone?" (0128)

James smiled slightly, shrugged non-noncommittally. "Possibly. It's... hard to tell, just yet."

"A-ha! So there's at least someone new then? Come on, who is it? A summer person or something? I'd have heard by now if it was anyone I knew... everyone tells me all the juicy new gossip..."

"Yes, there's someone new. He's... different. Very different."

"Different? How?" she asked curiously.

"It's... hard to explain," James said, fumbling for words. He couldn't think of how to explain the Were to her; not in any way that wouldn't leave her feeling worried and unsettled, anyway. Hells, just thinking about their odd, silent relationship made him feel unsettled, and he was one of the participants...

"I've never seen you at a loss for words before," Jane said after a moment, looking at him thoughtfully. "Now I'm really curious... and want to meet this person. Come on, who is he?"

"I... can't tell you just yet," James said slowly.

Jane gave him a look, then slowly smiled. "I suppose I can wait," she said softly. "Though I'm going to be wondering and guessing until I find out."

The two looked up at the sound of a vehicle pulling in. "And that would be David, at a guess," Jane said, rising to her feet. "I should run."

"You only come to see me as an afterthought, and then you disappear again almost as soon as you come," he said, shaking his head mournfully.

"I know, your life is such a tragedy," she said, smiling fondly at him. "I'll drop by again soon... and don't forget that I want to meet this mystery man of yours at some point!"

James laughed. "I'll remember. Now go have fun getting David all hot and bothered, sweetie." (0129)

"I will!" she said, grinning, and hurried off to find David.

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[MsBarrows]

David finished eating his lunch, and stood up to take his plate to the dishwasher. He found his way into the kitchen blocked by James and the dog. (0130)

He shook his head and smiled. "As many times as I've seen him do that now," he observed to James, "I still can't get over how he growls even while begging for you to scratch him more."

James glanced up, then moved to the side a little so that David could step over the dog and get past the pair of them. "He just likes being petted," he said. "Enough to not be overly fussy about who's doing the petting."

David laughed as he bent down to put his dish away. "You're the only one I've seen him beg for scratches from," he said. "Oh, he'll accept them from other people, if they're offered, but he doesn't do that whole flop-over-and-invite-them routine like he does with you."

James smiled fondly down at the dog, fingers still busy in its belly fur. "Yeah, well, he likes me," he said, then glanced up. "I haven't seen Robin and William yet today - are they around?"

"No, I think they're out on a date today," David said.

"Oh? Things are going well between them then?" James asked, rising up from scratching the dog.

"Yes, you could say they're getting along very well," David agreed, thinking of how he'd noticed that the two had definitely gotten further along in their relationship already then he and Jane had. (0131)

James gave David a curious look as he washed his hands at the sink, removing any doggishness from them. "Things not going well with you and Jane?" he asked.

"What? Oh, no, we're doing great. We're just taking things a little slower," he added, then grinned. "At least with us you don't have a check first to know whether or not it's safe to enter a room, anyway." (0132)

James grinned. "Well, you have to remember, Robin and William have already known each other for, what, about four or five years already? And you and Jane have only known each other for a few months. They're catching up on lost time, while you two are still in the getting-to-know-one-another phase of your relationship."

David smiled. "I suppose that's one way of looking at it. Oh, don't get me wrong, things are going well between us, I just sometimes wish they'd go... a little faster."

James laughed. "Typical male. But... take my advice. Just enjoy your time together, don't be in any rush to move on to the next step. The more time you two take to get to know one another first, the better it'll be when you finally do come together."

"Voice of experience?"

"Oh, yes. Lots and lots of experience. Not all of it as pleasant as it could have been. Hmmm, and speaking of pleasant, there's a certain female friend I owe a phone call or three to. See you later, Davey-boy."

"Later, James," David said, and started putting away the leftovers from making lunch. A whine drew his attention, and he found the dog staring fixedly at the platter in his hand.

"You know leftovers aren't good for you," he said, severely.

The dog glanced at him, then resumed staring at the plate, and licked its lips.

"And you know I'm a total pushover," he said, and "accidentally" dropped half a sandwich on the floor before putting the remainder away in the fridge.

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[MsBarrows]

Just a random post, I wanted to show you all an overview of Pentland and the surrounding area, so you have a better feel for what's being described when the characters are talking about where things are. I'm still working on making more buildings in the industrial and lakeside areas, though Pentland proper is pretty much complete, as are most of the most-immediately-needed extra locations for storytelling use.

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