Sample Scene: wtf!?!

[mericlecure]

Who: Astrid and Oz Where: outside the Lockwood house When: afternoon Game: Epitaph || scene Astrid was growling now, circling about and glaring at the surroundings in general. Everywhere. She could smell him everywhere in that moment. With years of having to go on barest traces and hints, her nose was absolutely overwhelmed with his scent right now. Fresh. Fresher than even last time... a couple days ago? She wasn't sure. It wasn't as if the absolutely bizarre Endless Wandering had been nice enough to provide a calendar. But, in whatever time had passed, he had been here! Her nose told her that unquestionably. The trail was so so so fresh and yet, like last time, it just... ended. Poofed. And it didn't make sense!!! Really, it was just not computing at all, and Astrid was quite literally circling the house (which she had kinda broken into only to find nothing) and eying it with a look that was frustrated and helpless and confused as hell all at once. It was very much an extreme case of despairing "wha...? what the hell???" taking over her features. She only took a break from her eying her Displeasure at the house and its scent-laden mind-fuckery to thoroughly inspect every little thing that caught her eye regardless of how horribly ridiculous it was. She had currently even gone as far as to push apart a bush and practically bury her head in it, just to be certain no full-grown male was somehow hiding inside. Impractical? Yes. But no more so than the damned scent-trail just disappearing! ...Again. She was just at a loss. Because everything was adding up to him having to be there. Her nose was telling her explicity that he should be here. Her nose, which just wasn't wrong! Ever. Except apparently it was, because he wasn't anywhere to be found. Somehow he had left and not taken his scent with him. Which was just... impossible and fucked up on so many levels. It was frustrating and infuriating and completely overtook her mind and all her senses at the moment. To the point that none of her facilities were spared for anything other than tracking Mathias -- or the two related male scents -- down. Her nose and ears weren't allowing anything else to come through that wasn't related to that search. Her tail could have been on fire -- not that it was visible at the moment -- and Astrid could have carried on combing through that bush. Right now it was a feat she had managed enough sense at all to not uproot the place in wolf-form; ...and anything beyond that was just asking too much.

[REPLY]

Few things got Oz's attention like hearing growls. He was out wandering around because he couldn't find Megan. And sure, it wasn't like he needed to know where she was every second of every day or anything, but generally he saw her in the mornings at least, when he sort of subtly went around and checked on all of his pack members. And she wasn't there. He'd tried tracking her but her trail didn't make any sense, so he'd opted to try and not panic, knowing she had friends in town, so he'd gone looking in that way, telling himself he was being paranoid and she was probably just out. And he was walking long minding his own business as he tracked right up until he heard growling, and looked over to see some woman literally lurking in the bushes. "...so I'll just come out and say it." he said to her. "But that's wicked suspicious behavior." he commented, tone conversational. "Like to the point where you're kind of a cliche right now, even." he tilted his head down to peer at her over the tops of his sunglasses, scars around his blind eye framed a little in that moment, before he pushed them back up into place.

[REPLY]

What with her intent focus on just finding... something. anything. She wasn't exactly at her characteristic best in the 'Pay Attention!' game right now. So it took her a second to register that, hey! somebody was here and he was kinda sorta talking to her with words and all that. And once that bulletin hit Astrid was quick to turn around and focus her gaze on Oz. But the full of her attention was on him just long enough to gauge there wasn't anything threatening in his manner before half of it warily returned to the house. Because, what with all fundamental natural laws completely uprooted, it didn't seem much of a stretch that the whole damn house might up and disappear on her too. Really. The complete mind-fuckery of suddenly disappearing trails and her nonsensical wandering only left Astrid feeling like she couldn't not expect anything as she tried to anticipate the insane. "The people in this house are missing," she stated, not feeling nor looking apologetic or sheepish about lurking even though she understood what he had said. And although her volume was also at a conversational level, there were definite notes of panic and distress in there. She wasn't great at hiding emotions, especially not with something so monumental. She was looking for her Mate, and now the other scents, and scoping out every nook and cranny to find them was right as far as her instincts went. It wasn't just about Mathias right now. It was also about those other two scents. Male. Similar to Mathias' in a way that only close relatives could be. And even if Astrid had never met them before or even known of their existence, that didn't stop her mind from automatically clicking them into 'Pack'. Which meant she was responsible for finding them too, and couldn't rest easy until they were safe and properly accounted for.

[REPLY]

That had Oz frowning a little bit. He also walked a little closer, so he could get a better scent off of things, the house, and he knew some were familiar. Like that Dorian guy who'd gone to England with them. And Dean's friend, though Dean's friend sort of always seemed to have the scent of blood on him too, which was more than a little disconcerting. Still. He might actually know the owners. Plus the whole 'missing' thing peaked his interest, what with him wandering around looking for someone else who up and fucking disappeared. Last he'd checked, the only person who likely lived here that should be disappeared was Caleb. "...this the residence of some brothers?" he asked. Since he didn't quite remember a last name. Just first names.

[REPLY]

"Yes." Astrid answered, sounding pretty certain on that fact for somebody who had only just discovered Mathias even had family. But she knew Mathias' scent all too well, and she got that the others were similar to his in a way her own siblings' were similar to her own. When Oz walked closer, a little bit more of her attention ticked away from the house and onto him. Because, without Mathias and his brothers around, somebody had to keep an eye on the territory. And there was the slight issue of her not-so-keen breaking and entering skills leaning more toward breaking the back door lock than actually picking it, which had her feeling a little bit more vigilante about protecting the place. But, again, nothing about Oz's demeanor was threatening so she let that part of her mind return back to, well, the freakin' disappearance of her Pack. ...Except there was something in Oz's scent that was picking at her, eliciting a frown. She should have noticed it, oh, immediately. But she had just encountered her Mate's freshest trail in six years only to have it just disappear -- not grow cold, disappear. So for anything non-Mathias related? her mind hadn't really been listening in to what her nose was 'hearing'. But with Oz coming closer certain things finally filtered through to the forefront. Now, Astrid was not an expert on the wide range of human scents. Sure, there were human's that smelled a bit different, but she couldn't really identify what she hadn't encountered before. And strange scents could have been due to exotic foods in their main diet as much as they could have been due to them being... well, nonhuman. But this wasn't the case here. If anything, there was something incredibly familiar about his scent. Lupine, in fact. And that finally had her full attention pulled away from the house so nose, ears, and eyes could observe Oz more thoroughly.

[REPLY]

Oz's cues were more along the lines of how she moved, her general behavior. Which was weird, to say the least. Weird enough that he picked up on it (and that wasn't always the case with him) and also recognized it a bit. Once he got a little closer, and skirted around a bit so he was downwind, the scent of her marked things more clearly. Yep. This girl either spent copious amounts of time with wolves or werewolves or she was one. "One of them works at a book store downtown." he said. "Have you checked there?"

[REPLY]

"He wasn't there," she replied, her tone stating how Not Happy she was with that fact, eyes tracking Oz's movements but not doing anything to dissuade him when he came closer. The house had been the first stop the moment she realized she was no longer wandering aimlessly about. And she had tried tracking the various trails about -- this time not straying at all far from the town -- and a bookstore named Alexandria had been one of them. And unfortunately asking around wasn't so helpful when she didn't know the scent's name or what he looked like. And coming and straight out and asking about Mathias wasn't really on the table yet either. For one, Astrid didn't know if he was even going by his name -- it wasn't as if she hadn't encountered more than a couple aliases. And she had enough awareness of his own safety to not possibly out him if he wasn't going by his name. And for two? Astrid was, at least, someone who learned pretty quickly from her mistakes -- especially the kind that left scars. And she had learned some caution was needed when inquiring about Mathias in general. "Do you know them?" she asked, very curious about that. For as much as she wanted to address the Wolf issue, the fact was that getting info about Mathias and his brothers took priority.

[REPLY]

Nodding, Oz glanced towards the house. "We aren't drinking buddies or anything, but yeah, I know them." he said. "Dorian helped out me and mine recently." And Caleb's my kinda-kid's best friend...who's off fighting vampires in England. yep. That'll go down well. "If you're looking for Caleb, he's out of town." he added, to kind of address that.

[REPLY]

Dorian and Caleb. That information was immediately stored to memory, written in stone there along with every piece of info or rumor she got in regards to Mathias. It didn't exactly tell her which scent to which name, but at least she had names now. Though if she had to guess? She would guess Dorian was the one at the bookstore. Because if Oz knew that Caleb was out of town, then he wouldn't have suggested her to check the bookstore for him, right? "You and your own?" she reiterated. She was assuming he was referring to his pack, but was all too aware that she didn't know everything to pass up a chance to make sure. "And where is Caleb? When did he leave?" She wasn't pleased with the news that Caleb was out of town -- for various reasons -- which showed clearly in the frown she wore. And, as if she hadn't already barraged Oz with enough questions, she added a bit more earnestly, "And the last brother? What about him?"

[REPLY]

Oz stared for a few long moments. The other brother? That was worded weirdly. "...who are you?" he asked, instead of answering her questions. Granted, he'd not said anything that was direly important or anything. Nothing that couldn't have been found out some other way that wasn't him running his mouth, but he was done giving out information since she was...well. Acting pretty weird. Best not to keep talking until he had a better idea what the score was.

[REPLY]

"Astrid," she answered, watching him as he watched her. The way Oz stared at her wasn't lost on Astrid -- it was a familiar enough look, one she learned to take as a cue that she was acting odd as far as others were concerned. Unfortunately it didn't help at all to tell her what they saw that was 'off'. "I'm looking for my Mate," she answered, keeping her eyes on him with the admission before turning the gaze back up to frown at the empty house. Lying on the spot wasn't something she was great with, although normally she substituted 'Mate' with poorly-fit-but-more-acceptable terms such as 'boyfriend', 'lover', 'husband', etc. But Oz was a werewolf, which meant he was likely to understand the significance in the term 'Mate' that all those other human terms just didn't manage. Or at least she hoped he did, because she had encountered a lot of mistakes and lessons highlighting that things weren't always to her world view.

[REPLY]

Well, that did actually explain a lot. Mostly, though, he didn't quite remember the brothers having a Mate. Of course, he didn't know Mathias that well, so it was possible, but he was pretty damn certain Dean might have mentioned if Caleb had one. Plus, there was that part where after Caleb had been back for a while, his scent and Nic's were pretty heavy on one another. Not that that would matter to humans, but still. And Dorian...yeah. He didn't know. But he did know that he'd not caught this woman's scent before, on any of them. Not even a trace. "I see." he said. "And...your Mate is...?" he promted, while trying not to also be feeling sympathy pangs. He knew exactly what it was like to be without your mate. He'd spent three years being a miserable bastad without his.

[REPLY]

Astrid surveyed him for a long moment, because she had a decision to make and it shouldn't be taken lightly. Her years of travel and culture shocks and rude awakenings had taught her that not everyone was as trustworthy as they appeared -- and some could even fool a lycanthrope. But she also had limitations, which she was very aware of, and just wouldn't have gotten to where she was without having to trust and depend on some people along the way. It was a delicate balance, and one she still occasionally fell to the wrong side of. But Oz was also a werewolf, which meant she was more prone to trusting and had a better time reading him. And this was a strange town and one she didn't know anyone except for Mathias in, and she knew she wasn't going to get far by herself. She was a pack creature, gong solo was harder and felt unnatural even if she had to manage it before. "Mathias," she answered, really just having to gamble that he was going by his name. Then, after another careful moment of observing Oz and weighing things in her head, she expanded, "but it's been years since I saw him last." And again, seeing as how she wasn't built for hiding things, the pain and frustration was all there in that confession.

[REPLY]

Oz waited out her assessment, not holding it against her that she felt the need to. he just stood there, watching her, being non-threatening. Because so far, while behaving a little weird, she'd not done anything he couldn't understand, (even the bushes thing, because he'd done that more than once) or he could really take issue with. So he waited it out. When he got the name, he nodded. And also did feel that pang. Years. yeah he knew what that was like. "Want a cup of coffee?" he asked, thinking he could take her to the diner and get her story at least. Maybe Megan would be there. And sure, that wasn't likely, but he could hope, right?

[REPLY]

Astrid's eyes were on Oz at the offer, though they shortly returned to the empty house just after it before coming back on him. "The house is empty," she pointed out, literally gesturing with her hand toward the building, "No one will be here if someone tries to get in." Because, yeah, that instinctual urge to protect and stand guard was very present. And a bit obvious, what with her vocalizing that concern and all. ...And it didn't help that she kinda sorta definitely broke a lock to get in. Which, even if the door was closed, it had Astrid hyper-aware that she would be leaving Mathias and his brothers' -- her Pack's -- house unprotected and vulnerable.

[REPLY]

"Generally speaking, just because a house is empty, that doesn't mean that there are rogue bands of people just waiting to get in." Oz pointed out, tone light. "It'll be fine. Besides, it's just a house. If they're not there, then they aren't there to look after." he said, framing it differently for her. "Come on. Coffee won't hurt you." he promised.

[REPLY]

She was initially going to stand her ground, mentioning the broken-lock thing and all, but the different way of framing things had its effect. Or, well, an effect. Because just because she was stepping away from the house didn't mean it wouldn't be itching at her mind while she was away. Nor did it mean she could just easily nod and skip away the moment she did so. Even if she did nod after a moment, it took Astrid a couple of looks back at the house, often with some frowning, before she finally made her way off the premises. Along the way her nose went into hyper-drive, trying for a last-minute grab of any scents or clues she might've missed. Although now she did pick up on something her mind had been too frazzled to pick up before -- the lupine undercurrent of a female scent that seemed to trail along for a bit with the scent she labeled 'Dorian' for now. She catalogued that tidbit of info away in her mind, though it didn't really give her much in terms of Dorian's whereabouts. But it was something to ask Oz about. And, seeing as how they were off the brothers' territory and Oz was the one with the lay of the land and she was the stranger, Astrid set her pace to let him lead with her in close step slightly behind him. She wasn't one to follow paces behind, but she made sure not actually step in front of him at any point, offering up that Respect.

[REPLY]

Oz appreciated the gesture, though didn't mention it. "So, where are you from? How long has it been since you've seen Mathias?" he asked. "And whatever other bits you want to toss in to your life story that I should know, feel free." he added, happy to listen. And possibly see what he could do to help, depending. There was still no trace of Megan really. Which wasn't good.

[REPLY]

"Six years," she answered in regards to when she saw Mathias last, seeing as how that was the easiest bit to reply to. "I was still staying with my Pack, up in the mountains -- the Rockies. The only humans nearby were almost as secluded as us. I didn't have much contact with them, and I wasn't interested in one until Mathias showed up one day." There was a slight pause there, in the recollection. Fortunately or not, the years of absence and the disturbing things she had learned about Mathias didn't dampen her memory of that first encounter. Of how he had caught her interest, and what she had felt and had never second-guessed going whole-heartedly with. "But I took things for granted," she interjected that key point into her story, glancing sideways at Oz, "there were important differences between how I thought on things and how a human did that it never even crossed my mind to wonder about." And the aching nostalgia brought on by her earlier recollection was replaced with a look more sad and frustrated and bitter just before her next statement: "Humans don't have Mates." Oh, they mated alright. And they had lovers and boyfriends and girlfriends and spouses and 'friends with benefits' and all that. All labels that could be removed and broken up with and left and transferred to someone new. But a Mate was something permanent, something etched deep into one's very being, and a Mate couldn't be broken with no matter how painful and one-sided and awful the situation may be.

[REPLY]

Oz definitely understood the bit about humans not having Mates. After all, his Mate, his wife, was human. Totally vanilla, run of the mill human. And he'd considered himself Mated to her since he was fifteen. Hell, he'd even asked her to marry him at that age. It was a little on the insane side, if one judged by human standards. but what he was picking more out from what she was saying was that she wasn't with her pack anymore. And that? Was never a good thing. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as they walked. "How long has it been since you were with your pack?" he asked.

[REPLY]

"Six years," she answered in a manner very aware of the gravity of that statement. "I left after Mathias did." And her tone reflected that had been a hard hard decision. It still was. On Astrid, and she knew on her other pack members as well. She still kept in contact -- especially after werewolves became both public knowledge and public fear -- but it was in no way at all the same. "I tried returning home twice, and I even tried settling down with new packs a couple of times... but I could never stay. I didn't know Mathias was going to leave until he was gone, and I didn't know where he went, or if he was safe, or anything..." and, yeah, some of the instability resulting from that wavered through her voice. "No matter what I tried, in the end I couldn't settle down." Which was something she was very aware took it's toll, even if trying to maintain pack connections or collect 'makeshift Packs' helped stave off a more serious issue. The fact was that Pack wasn't meant to be something changed and discarded like clothes on a back. And like the Mating Bond, Pack was also something meant to be reciprocated. Which wasn't often the case with her makeshift Packs -- she would meet people, take it upon herself to look out for them, check on them, protect them... but often those people weren't lycanthropes, much less werewolves. Which meant she usually ended up freaking them out, and sometimes meant they'd take full advantage of it, and rarely was something both appreciate and reciprocated. It was almost never fair, and almost always awful; but she had survived thus far -- not without scars and scratches and instability issues she was keenly aware of -- but, with something like finding her Mate at stake, she had survived.

[REPLY]

Six years was one hell of a long time to be apart from one's pack. He got it, but damn. it had him keeping a better eye on her. Because that? Was completely lone wolf territory, and one never quite knew what they were going to do. Still, he could follow what she was saying and understand it. Perfectly, even. he'd wandered after Sophie had left the country. So much so that when she'd apparently made an attempt to send him something he was so far off the radar it never reached him. "That's a long time, Astrid." he said, tone light, gentle, even. "Are you okay?" he asked, figuring she'd know what he was talking about.

[REPLY]

Astrid knew what he was talking about, although she didn't answer the question immediately. She wasn't good at lying -- it often didn't cross her mind to do so -- and Oz was also a werewolf and would pick up on her poor lying skills. But that didn't mean she didn't feel a bit cautious -- because, yes, she was aware that Lone Wolf syndrome was pretty damn bad. A wolf that suffered from it was an unstable and unpredictable presence that could easily endanger the rest of the pack. And some packs would rather take care of the threat than risk it, and Astrid herself really wouldn't blame them. At least Oz's demeanor wasn't giving off any red flags in that regard, but that didn't mean Astrid's self-preservation wasn't leaning towards cautious. "Not completely," she admitted, her attention and senses fully fixated on him to pick up the slightest changes in his demeanor. She wasn't threatening, but she was certainly wary -- she was just waiting on Oz's reaction as to whether to kick it up to defensive. "Constant traveling hasn't been easy, and picking up and leaving Packs is never going to be natural. But, even with that, I never let myself spend much time alone."

[REPLY]

"Still." Oz said. "Tell me about picking up and leaving packs." he invited, still keeping his tone light, not judgmental. Basically, he didn't like the idea of a lone wolf wandering around town. It could be a danger to everyone. But if he was going to attempt to make sure she had a place to be, then he needed to know what kind of person she was, and what she was doing. If she was just following around Mathias, then maybe it would be fine, because she'd have someplace to settle--assuming Mathias was staying here, what with him not being around now and all, but still. It was all a lot to consider, and he wanted to be better informed.

[REPLY]

"They aren't what you'd probably consider proper packs," she clarified, after a long-ish moment of assessing him. "Not many humans understand Pack." Or nonhumans for that matter, because it hadn't just been human beings she had encountered. But she was holding off on that for now, as part of it certainly linked to her tracking Mathias' trail amongst the supernatural. And Astrid may have been gambling a bit in trusting Oz with her own story? But she sure as hell wasn't going to risk possibly bringing anything on her Mate. Werewolf or not, she had only just met Oz. "Mathias travels a lot -- all over the world. I tracked him, but sometimes even I would lose his trail." Although nothing at all like this time. Those times? The trail just went cold. It was never some incredibly fresh scent that just disappeared. "I didn't usually meet other wolves or lycanthropes. But I met a lot of people, and sort of..." she paused for a moment, trying to think of the right words. "...adopted them. Most of the time I didn't know them long before I did. And it didn't always work out well," she admitted, nose crinkling in frustration there. Because, yeah, while it was a bit better than the ones who took advantage? Most people didn't appreciate being followed and watched after and -- even after Astrid finally realized that -- she just couldn't help it. Hodgepodge pack or not, those people were still Her Pack in those moments, and she couldn't just not check up on them.

[REPLY]

One thing Oz knew a lot about was having non-werewolves in your pack. And how most of the time they didn't get it. Or they got some of it, but never quite all of it. He was lucky enough to have people who understood for the most part, and what they didn't get they knew specifically how he dealt with things and what was and wasn't important. Then there were people like Dean, who he would swear had to be a werewolf in a different life, to understand it so well without being one. He also knew about collecting people. He did it all the time. Fuck, he'd just picked up four more. Though really, he'd done that because he needed a pack and was a werewolf all on his own. But that wasn't the point, he could understand what she was talking about. Nodding, he kept listening. "Go on." he said. "And for the record, I understand exactly what you're talking about." he said, just so she didn't feel like he was standing there thinking she was nuts or something.

[REPLY]

The reassurance helped. Quite a bit, actually. Because Astrid had grown up in a secluded environment with a very set and rigid idea of how a werewolf's life was properly lived -- with fundamental rules about Mates, and Pack, and just those Natural Rules that ran through the blood of her culture. But she had effectively spent the past six years living in a manner that thoroughly disregarded everything she had known and seemingly everything her instincts declared was Right. But those instincts and those fundamental beliefs were never actually uprooted -- though things might have been easier if they had been. No, those urges and that mindset were still deeply embedded within her, she just felt like she often made decision and now lived in a way that trod down on them regardless. And, yes, that had left her sometimes feeling like she was some sort of abomination of nature -- constantly moving around in an unnatural manner, collecting people she barely knew and who knew nothing of Pack, and tracking a Mate who wasn't actually mated to her. So it was with a little bit more of a relaxed stance that Astrid continued, although the wariness was never going to completely leave the picture, "Usually the Packs ended up being one-sided." She closed her eyes for the briefest moment, mouth gritted slightly as she tried to push off the sting of old wounds with this recollection. But it was only for a brief moment, and her eyes were open and focused ahead of her again as she barreled on through part of her story. And, despite the anguishing mess of past and recent events, a tiny part of her manage to appreciate that she could share her story. "Humans... usually didn't take to well to being checked up on, especially by someone the just met." She paused a little before admitting, "And, half the time?, I got that I made them uncomfortable when they first met me." She knew she did that, and that she wasn't socially graceful in the non-werewolf world. And she tried to learn, and amend herself in public. She did! And she had managed somewhat, enough to be not as disastrous when she first set out. But it was a steep learning curve, and she certainly hadn't mastered it. "And some people realized Pack -- but not in the right way." She paused for a moment, struggling a bit with words that got her point across. "They... knew Pack from my point of view, that I was there for them. But they never reciprocated, only just..." gah, words words words, what were the words? "...using it. For themselves."

[REPLY]

That had Oz looking Displeased. That he didn't find right at all, not something he could abide by. Not that he had any say and these people from the sounds of it were long gone, but still. "So you left. They were packs that didn't quite work, and you had to follow your Mate anyhow?" he assessed, checking that he had that boiled down correctly, turning them onto another street towards the diner.

[REPLY]

Astrid nodded. "And even with a proper Pack -- or just the few people who seemed to understand Pack -- sometimes I tried to stay." A troubled look and frown appeared, her conflicting emotions in full play across her face. There was the guilty shame of admitting she had actually tried giving up searching for her Mate, and there was the guilty shame of abandoning the decent pack members she had left behind. And there was that constant desperate frustration at not really managing to succeed in either area, much less both. "There's that saying -- 'You can't run with two Packs'--" Astrid herself taking taking for granted the phrase was common among other Wolves, "--it's true. Mathias is my Mate." Although the tone she had there plainly revealed she wasn't happy with the situation, although it was hard to distinguish if it was anger or frustration or just hurt. "He's the most important part of my Pack. Settling into another Pack without him... never works out." And sometimes she really, truly deeply wished it would. It was just a sore situation in general, one that had her feeling emotionally lost half the time as she tried to steer through where her instinct and rationality collided, and her keen self-preservation took a backseat.

[REPLY]

Even if the saying wasn't one he had heard before, he could get the truth of it. He had those kinds of problems just with having pack members in more than one household. It sucked, frankly. "Have you talked to him about this?" he asked, figuring that there were problems. They'd been apart, and if she was going after a human...well. Yeah. he could kind of see how this was playing out, he just wanted to have it clarified. And goddamnit he still wasn't catching any signs of Megan.

[REPLY]

"No." Tone revealing that, yes, there were problems. "I haven't seen him in six years." And she really didn't know what would go down once she finally caught up with him. Predicting human reactions was impossible enough -- but a demon's? Astrid had encountered them, more than once, and they were absolute mind-fucks. Even when she could tell they weren't lying? She learned that certainly didn't make them trustworthy. "He actually... doesn't even know what I am, and I'm not sure how dangerous it could be to reveal that." She didn't know how Mathias viewed werewolves. If the public's reaction and past demon experiences were any clue? She could only guess it wouldn't be well. Beyond that she didn't know. She didn't know Mathias, and couldn't begin to guess whether revealing herself might end with him trying to kill her. Again, it was the classic battle of Mathias vs. her Self-Preservation. Because for all her tracking him, and her all-consuming obsession with the man? She was pretty much blind once it would come to actually dealing with him. He was her Mate, yes. She knew she would die for him, but that didn't mean she trusted him. And the fact that she didn't rationally trust her Mate hurt in ways impossible to describe. But if half the shit she heard about him was true? Then trust was really just out of the question.

[REPLY]

"Okaaaay." Oz said. "You never talked to him about it? Ever?" he asked. "I...are we talking one night stand here?" he asked, thinking that could definitely throw a wrench in the works. A lot of werewolves just weren't built for that kind of thing. and he again was feeling sympathy pangs. It wasn't like when he'd gotten himself Mated that Sophie had been ready for it. he had, but that was purely the wolf in him. He'd found nothing odd about deciding at fifteen that this girl he'd been with once(and even then under the influence of a spell, not that the wolf cared) was the only girl he ever wanted or needed. Most fifteen year old males are terrified of even the word 'marriage'. And he was more than happy to sign himself away to her forever. All based on one night. And sure, he'd liked her before, had had a crush and everything but that had been much more 'normal'. That other stuf...not so much! "...does he know you're here?" And are you going to get slapped with a stalking charge?

[REPLY]

"Not a one night stand," Astrid answered, scowling there. Her wolf nature found the mere existence of that term offensive on principle. And it didn't help that, yes, Mathias had one-night stands. She had met some of them, and Was Not Thrilled. But then she sighed, "I was just... that naive. And stupid. I didn't really know anything about humans--" certainly nothing about nonhumans "--except that most didn't know about us, some were hunters, and they couldn't change like we could. But other than that I assumed they were basically the same. In their thinking -- even on Mates." And it almost looked like she wanted to thunk her head against the building wall right now, because she had obviously learned that was a big ol' dose of 'WRONG!!!!'. "We didn't mate immediately after meeting," Astrid stated, ever one to be direct regardless (or oblivious) of how uncomfortably odd she might sound. "And I don't know if he became my Mate before or during." On her end? There was intense interest from the get-go, which became very intense feelings, and then became, well, very intense passion. Even before clothes came off, she would have died for the man. "But when he became mine I never knew to think I might not be his. And, with the rest of our lives ahead of us, not even talking about what I am was as important as being with him." For all intents and purposes, she had been in the rabbit-like 'newlywed' stage. And that thrill at being Mated and the intensity she felt for toward her Mate had, in fact, been an unexpected, all-consuming obsession that hadn't let her think straight. Hell, she had trouble thinking straight when it came to Mathias even now. If stalking charges had occurred to her? They really just were at the bottom of her list of concerns. "But no, he doesn't know I'm here."

[REPLY]

Oz listened, though winced faintly at some things. "Okay, Astrid. First thing--if you're going to say things that are blatantly out of the ordinary, lower your voice a little. There are hunters in this town, we don't want to draw attention." he said gently. Then he attempted to tackle the rest of it. "So you had a relationship with him, which he took off from, and you've been following him since?" Yep. Stalker charges. They were in the air. He'd just been lucky in his own choices of friends that they'd never done the same to him, really. Because they very much could have. He'd follow people around, follow them home, and it all made sense to him.

[REPLY]

Astrid nodded, acknowledging Oz's advice in addition to confirming his assessment. She wasn't one who flailed when mistakes were pointed out to her. Around humans she could come off socially awkward, she knew that even if that general awareness didn't point out exactly how -- what with things seeming perfectly normal to her, it wasn't like she could immediately guess what was odd to others. So she took that advice, not making a fuss about it. She'd rather have something pointed out to her verbally than have to learn form more painful or serious consequences. "That's correct," she answered, lowering her voice.

[REPLY]

"What are your plans for when you find him?" Oz asked, holding open the door to the diner for her as they arrived. He figured she had some sort of idea. Or maybe she didn't. Maybe she was playing everything by ear, and that was all. In which case--well that was going to go well. But still, maybe he could talk things out at any rate.

[REPLY]

"I don't know," she admitted, voice still at a careful volume what with them being indoors and all. "When I first set out there was no doubt of being together when I found him, but--" her shoulders sank a little, "--I'm not his... soulmate." She hadn't been his first and she hadn't been his last... and that knowledge had never gotten easier with time. "But he's mine. And I have to find him, and see him, and make sure him and his brothers are safe and not hurt." That was most definitely Priority Number One and it was nonnegotiable. Everything else? came after ensuring the safety of her Mate and his Pack. "But after that..." she paused, trying to think on what her plans were. It was a thought she had given a lot -- almost incessant -- thought to over the past six years. And the more she had traveled and learned the more she came to same conclusion: "I don't know what to do after. I don't know what to expect. I'm not very good at guessing what... people... will do." Because, yes, Astrid had learned early on that saying something like 'human' was easily noticed. And they were in a diner, with people; so she took the painstaking care to edit herself, because she wasn't just walking outside and only talking to another Wolf anymore. Unfortunately having to stop and think and edit herself meant it took longer to answer. "I just know... people... never end up doing what I would do, and thought they would have done. I know I'm not going to lie to him." Lying to her Mate? Was abso-completely-lutely out of any consideration. Although Astrid's shoulder's seem to sink lower as she finished, "But I don't know him. I don't know if I can trust him." Which was fucking. awful.

[REPLY]

Leading them to a booth in the back, Oz sat down, and finally propped his sunglasses up on top of his head, deliberately choosing to sit in the shadows. His effectively-blind eye didn't take bright light well, after all. He didn't fancy a migraine today. He rubbed a little at the scars around said eye, thinking over what she said. "If the guy is the kind who wanders around that much, and you don't know if you can trust him and you don't know him really, you might want to prepare yourself for the possibility that he won't want you in his life." he said, tone gentle. Very gentle, actually, because he knew what that felt like. "Which means you'll have to decide what you're doing if that's the case." he said. "It's something to consider before you talk to him."

[REPLY]

Even if she didn't blame Oz, it wasn't a statement she took very well. Not. at. all. Because trying to preemptively decide what would happen in that worst-case was like telling her 'hey so the air you breath is going to be sucked out into space, think about what you'll do after that'... except what Oz had posed was worse. It wasn't as if that wasn't a possibility -- she had known it was a possibility, and one that seemed more and more likely as the years progressed. But every time trying to think what she would do after that was just hitting a long, endless black wall of despair. One that was impossible for her to see past, much less try to plan and decide for 'life' after it. And even though Astrid didn't say anything for a while, all of that sentiment was pure on her face. "He might not want me in his life," she admitted, once she could manage around her emotions enough to not only speak, but to say something that was so monumentally hard on her to say. "I would... try to cut myself out of his life, if it came down to that. But I can't cut him out of mine." Which didn't really give any decision or possibility of what she would do, because that was just where her ability to plan past the situation ended. She couldn't -- period. It wasn't that she wouldn't, she was just 100% incapable of 'moving on' and 'getting over him'. He was rooted into the deepest fundamentals of her being: mentally, spiritually, biologically, or whatever. And even if Astrid never came miles near him or didn't even stay on the same continent, that fact was never going to go away.

[REPLY]

Oz knew what he was doing, what he was saying to her. He knew how much it had to suck, he knew how painful even the thought had to be. He just also knew that she probably needed to think about it before it happened. Because that was going to be a bitch if she didn't. "So if you tried to cut yourself out of his life, where would you go?" he asked.

[REPLY]

That took another long while to answer. Where would she go? There was back home, but she had a knowledge both instinctual and rational that told her trying to settle home a third time wasn't going to go any better than it had before. Because even if they were the Pack she had grown up with, and leaving them had been so heartbreaking, in her mind they weren't her true Pack anymore. Once she had a Mate, he (and now his brothers) became her true Pack. And for Astrid, 'you can't run with two Packs' held true to a very very deep level. She loved her family, and would give her life for them without a second's thought, but the fact was that breaking off from the Pack she grew up wasn't unnatural even if it was painful. Heading out to form a new Pack with a Mate was pretty common, actually, and it was only because her Pack back home had plenty of land, resources, and seclusion that people leaving wasn't as frequent as in other packs. "It won't work if I go back home," she voiced, assuming Oz got that the issue wasn't with her family's willingness to take her back. "And even if... I don't interfere, and he never knows I'm around... I can't just stay away from him... never knowing... " and her voice turned a bit desperately pained at the idea, her looking as awful as it made her feel. But then thinking on the alternative, of just hovering in the periphery, never interfering, making sure he was safe and having to deal with smelling or hearing or knowing when he was with some other female was... Astrid was at a true loss as to what was worse. So all that had basically left her with: she couldn't be or interfere with her Mate, she couldn't stick around keeping tabs on the silent periphery, and she couldn't stand completely isolating herself form him to the point of not knowing when he was even okay or not. And yet, if that situation did arrive, she'd have to pick one of those situations and try not to let it drive her insane -- which was, to Astrid, a fate more frightening than death.

[REPLY]

Oz could definitely take pity on her. He could understand, and didn't figure he'd be any better off if Sophie hadn't changed her mind on things. She had, and it had taken a long ass time, and he still carried emotional scars and issues from their time apart. So yes, he got it. "Are you planning on staying in the area?" he asked. "If you are--do you have someplace to stay?" He still wasn't one hundred percent sure about her and all, but at the end of the day, he was the kind of guy who adopted people, and this girl probably needed the stability the commune could provide, even if she didn't get her Mate to agree to be with her. That wasn't a situation that really worked out well for anyone, but he could try to do as much damage control as possible.

[REPLY]

"I can't leave. He's missing -- I have to find him. And his brothers. And the freshest sc--" she managed to catch herself there, and cut off from saying 'scent', "--trail is at the house." Granted, for the what she determined was the Caleb scent it wasn't, but for Mathias is sure as hell was. "I'm not leaving unless I find something that definitely points him toward somewhere else. Because I was here, before. And found the house. I don't know how long ago. But I couldn't find Mathias then either, and when I went to blindly search around for something, I got... lost. Except I shouldn't have." She really, really didn't know how to explain what had happened there. Astrid was as comfortable and sure-footed in any forest as she was awkward in any brick-and-concrete city. "And then when I came back -- he had been here. Except now he's just... disappeared," and the phrasing came out more like a pained moan. Because, aside from the great despair inherent in her situation, Astrid wasn't really one to wallow or ever bemoan 'what if' about the past. Except right now. Right now there was some serious berating going on. Because if she had just stay put at the house when she first got here? She wouldn't have missed the Mate she had been searching six years for.

[REPLY]

"Leaving the area causes...issues." Oz said. "So I don't recommend trying it. So, alright, you want to stick around, and try to find him but the trail's cold. I actually was out looking for one of my wards, who...well let's just call it the same thing, from the sounds of it. She went to sleep at home, and now she's not there but I can't catch her scent leaving. So...I've just been searching." He sighed. "I suppose we could do so together. And if we can't find anything by later, you can stay with me. Being in an empty house with the owners missing probably won't work out well for you."

[REPLY]

Astrid was having one of those jarring moments where the Wolf and Rationality weren't connecting too well. Those moments were she understood both, but they were on completely separate and completely contradictory levels. It wasn't a pleasant experience, feeling herself so entirely split in a manner that no words could properly describe. Mainly the Wolf was thinking it was in no way in hell acceptable to abandon the post where the freshest trail was -- that she should keep watch until Mathias reappeared or she got a definite clue to his whereabouts and that was it. But the rational part was aware that, yes, camping out around the house probably would be problematic. So Astrid took a moment to answer, struggling to find some kind of impossible compromise between the two wholly different viewpoints. The one thing the wolf and rationality seemed to agree on was that working together was better than going alone. So Astrid figured she'd start there. "We could both try the house again," which was mainly offered to try to appease the wolf's urge to check on that than the off-chance Oz might see something she had missed. "There's a scent that might be of interest to you," she said, volume dropping, referring to the female lupine one she had picked up. "And if nothing still gets pick up there... I'll help you track after your ward." She would need something to do to keep herself from going insane retracing the same steps with Mathias, and maybe trailing after a similar disappearance could give her insight into his. "And yes, camping around houses can bring problems," she admitted with the certainty of somebody who had personal experience with said problems. It didn't mean she'd be unable to not check on the house, but at least she wasn't going to be staying there.

[END SCENE]