sixthiterationlogs | howling in the hills

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howling in the hills

WHO: Vasquez
WHERE: The Woods
WHEN: November 27 - December 2
OPEN TO: OTA
WARNINGS: Animal Transformation

What Great Fur You Have

After he'd healed from his illness, Vasquez probably should have been more thankful for his good health.

Instead, he's quickly remembered all the secrets about himself that he had given up. He remembered confessing about his fears, showing his weakness, and worse, he thinks he remembers telling Faraday things that he'd vowed to keep inside. For sure, he shouldn't have told him how Rose Creek had ended, because thinking about that gory conclusion wasn't good for anyone. When he'd healed, he'd marched himself down to that bunker where it had a machine for powers and he did what any cowardly man who never took responsibility for anything or anyone would do.

He turned himself into a wolf and went out into the wilderness, knowing that so long as he was an animal, he wouldn't have to talk about any feelings.

Unfortunately, it also means that you don't get to eat so easy and raw venison is not something Vasquez likes, which is why there's a wolf sitting outside of a house, making whining sounds and pawing at the window, pleading for whatever food is inside. He's not eating raw meat, not unless he absolutely has to, and he didn't even do that when he'd been half-starving in a dead man's cabin.

Human Skin

Eventually, he knows that this transformation won't last forever. When he'd gone to the machine, it had said a week, and counting the days, Vasquez knows that his time is quickly coming up. Of course, he didn't exactly plan it completely, because when the week is up, he's nowhere near the clothes he'd hidden, which leaves him standing near the outskirts of the south village (more in it than out), hands over his personal area, cheeks flush with red.

This is definitely not how he had intended to end this, and he knows that getting all the way back to the house isn't an option. Even stealing something isn't such a good idea, because he doesn't want to burst into anyone's house like this.

They might get the wrong idea.

So, it looks like a kind gesture is all that's going to save Vasquez, and a little humiliation until then. "Morning," he greets the nearest person with a smile, fucking freezing. "Maybe, I don't know, you have a jacket you can give me? I think it would be best for everyone if I could get some clothes."

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That is the most perfect begging pose she's ever seen, enough that one eyebrow arches halfway up her forehead at him, and when he moves to start spelling out words in the dirt just off to the side of her front steps, the other one quickly joins it. Yep, this is definitely not a wolf-wolf, and he's definitely just a resident who's turned up at her door looking for dinner. Well, there's worse she could do than make a new friend.

Stepping back, she opens the door the rest of the way, gesturing for him to come up the stairs and into the house, now at least marginally warmer than outside, if still a little cool. She's still getting the hang of the antique furnace in the basement, and hasn't bothered with the radiators in the rooms she hasn't finished yet. "Come on," she says with a nod, motioning him in. "I'm a terrible cook, but I've got some leftovers from the inn. How's rabbit stew sound to you?"

He lets out a happy yipping sound, because anything that isn't raw food is going to be miles above what he could do for himself. He trots along, a self-satisfied wiggle of tail and body because he's feeling pretty smug about being able to find himself some food and he's starved.

Vasquez and starving go hand in hand, but he's never been an animal while in that situation. He thinks maybe he should probably shift back, though, because the person he's avoiding isn't here.

That said, he also wants to make sure he's not going to be completely inappropriate, so he looks around and noses at a blanket, getting under it and giving the woman a barking sound, just to let her know that something is about to happen.

She's going to be taking that as a yes to rabbit stew, and it's with a faintly amused, half-resigned smile that she closes the door behind him. She's not a pet kind of person in general, never mind the fact that he's not even an animal at all, but the enthusiasm is still contagious. At least it's breaking up a day of fairly dull housework scrubbing surfaces.

She looks perplexed for a moment as he dives for the blanket on the chaise, wriggling under it and barking; is this some sort of weird wolf thing? Again, not actually a wolf, she reminds herself, and it only takes a split second before her expression clears and she processes what he's trying to get across. She turns around with a sigh, presenting him with her back.

"Not sure I'm going to have any clothes that are going to fit you," she calls back over her shoulder, waiting to see who exactly her visitor is.

Vasquez shifts back to himself and wraps the blanket around his waist like he's come out of a shower. At six foot four, she definitely isn't going to have anything to fit him, but he shrugs as he walks, barefoot, into the kitchen and makes a show of sniffing the air around him.

"Shorts?" he suggests, because even if they're tight on him, they're better than just keeping this blanket around him. "Or a sheet you could drape over my shoulders like I'm a Roman?" he quips, giving her a broad grin. "I'm Vasquez, by the way."

"You know, if you were looking to meet the neighbors, you could have come knocking wearing pants. I would have answered the door." As dry as her voice is, it's still more amused than irritated. There are worse things to come walking in the front door, and she's perfectly capable of taking care of herself, even if he is quite a bit larger than she'd expected.

One look as he walks by her and she's sure nothing she's got is going to do much for him at all. He's over a foot taller than her, and while he's not as bulky as some, he's still big enough that her pants aren't going to do much. Fortunately, between one of the big cloaks she'd liberated from the clothing stores she's been using as a blanket and the creative use of a bit of rope, she's got a perfectly serviceable robe to hand him, lips quirking in a smile.

"Natasha," she tells him, offering a name as she tilts her head back to look at him. "You spend a lot of time wandering around howling at strangers' doors, Vasquez?"

Vasquez shrugs as he adjusts his clothing, adjusting this fancy little robe she's made him and giving a nod of approval. "I didn't think I was going to be meeting any neighbours today, but I forgot how long it's been since I ate," he admits.

"Raw rabbits, this isn't something so much that I want to be eating," he confesses, with an apologetic look. "And I only start howling when I have to get some food in me and home is very far away." The truth is actually that home has someone in it that he's trying to avoid, but she doesn't need to know that.

"Besides, you let me in and gave me clothes. It's very generous," he praises.

"Wel, you did come pretty far out," she allows. Number forty is all the way at the end of the eastern road out of the village. The only thing further is the springs. "Only thing out this way are the springs. You're lucky I'm a sucker for a furry face." She leads the way into the kitchen, then disappears off into the back mudroom, coming back with a covered bowl from the icebox. It's sans ice at the moment, but considering how low temperatures have been outside the last week, it's still doing the job.

"I can heat it up, if you've got problems with cold, too," is the amused offer that comes with a raised eyebrow as she lifts the bowl in one hand. "I mean, if I'm being generous. Wouldn't want you changing your mind, telling everyone in the village otherwise." Although some parties might not believe him if he told them this story, either.

"I live in the North Village, this is nothing," Vasquez says dismissively, because honestly, the only reason he'd wandered down is because the North Village had Faraday and that was much too dangerous to think about when he's trying to keep away from the man.

He snorts and reaches for the bowl, shaking his head. "I've eaten much worse," he guarantees, gesturing for it so he can dig in. "You're not going to make me eat alone, though, are you?" he asks, giving her a look like this is a step too far, manners-wise.

"What's it like up there?" she asks curiously. She knows Bobo lives up that way, but she hasn't met anyone else specifically. Seems like most folks have tended to stick to the South Village, but that could have as much to do with not wanting to move too far from their entry point into the village, or the fact that two thirds of the population seems to be from her world, as anything else to do with the village specifically.

His look and the words make her smile, and she shakes her head, passing the bowl over, along with a spoon from the drawer to her left. "Lo siento, I already had lunch. But I'll have a cup of tea with you, if that'll make you feel better about eating alone."

"Quiet," he says, with the praiseful voice of a man who enjoys that quiet. "Not isolated, though. I live with two others," he says, which keeps him from going too crazy from a lack of interaction. Besides, between Bobo and Faraday, when he wants more sane company, he just comes back down this way.

Giving her an impressed look, he appreciates the Spanish. "That'd be good," he says. "I'll still feel like I'm eating too much, but at least I won't do it completely alone."

"Quiet is good," she says approvingly, though there's a rueful twist of her lips at the rest. "I'm not sure I could live with other people, though. I like my space." Though obviously she'll share it occasionally. Visitors are nice, constant company isn't really her style.

Moving to the stove, she fills the kettle with water from the tap and opens the front of the cast iron appliance, poking the embers within back into a flame hot enough to start warming the water. The tea is herbal, made from local plants, and she does miss coffee, but it's good enough for now. "You're welcome to stay a little while, and I don't mind sharing what I have," she tells him. "Maybe one day you'll do the same for me, though I don't plan on turning up on four legs at anyone's door any time soon."

He used to think that, when he was on the drive, but then he'd learned what it's like to be truly alone and since then, he hasn't wanted to be on his own. "I snore, so it's lucky they put up with me," he jokes, but it's true.

"I feel safer, knowing I have people at my back," he keeps going, which isn't a joke. The first time he'd slept soundly was with the others sleeping near him, guns in hand. "You want to take a walk, you can come up to the north village," he invites her with an easy smile. "Give Bobo and Faraday a scare that I have new friends."

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howling in the hills

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