Brotherly Love Means Beating Up People Who Hurt You Who: Tayne and Torshael and Brock (NPC) Where: Torshael's place When: 6ish in the evening
Though he'd gotten through his ride with Krist all right, the drizzles picked up again after it, which made Tayne a little more tense. Which was a problem, since he was also a little sore. Krist had a big barrel to try and fit one's legs around, and they'd ridden a fairly long while.
And it still sounded so goddamn dirty, no matter how innocent the "ride" actually was.
He finally got the guy dropped off at Justin's, in the end, though-- a little early, so he had time to get a couple errands run before he met his brother-- and finally got to Torshael's, a few movies in hand and hoping to hell his brother had the pizza ready, as promised. He was starving.
Torshael had ordered the pizza, and it had just arrived about ten minutes ago. He was keeping it warm in the oven on a pizza tray. He had gotten a medium for himself and a large for his brother, he knew how giant his brother's appetite could be. The pastor had been jumping at shadows all day since he was attacked. His arm was now properly stitched up and bandaged, and covered with a long sleeved grey cotton shirt. He was wearing jeans with it, and white socks. Brock was curled up on the floor in the middle of the kitchen, trying not to be in the way but afraid to go very far from Torshael. His human would not get hurt again.
Torshael had managed to cast a healing spell on his arm this afternoon, so it was feeling much better. It would probably be a week before he could get the stitches out, still, but at least it was good practice for his healing spells. Brock made it a lot easier as well.
Since Tayne wasn't wearing his usual charm to keep his nose and ears to himself-- it was in his pocket, just in case he really needed it-- he could smell the pizza as he climbed up onto the porch. Damn, it smelled good. There were hints of other things, too, but the pizza was mostly covering them from outside the house. Maybe he could get a better idea what they were once he got inside. He shifted the movies to one arm and knocked. "Yo, big brother, open up man!" he called, grinning, momentarily oblivious to Torshael's nerve, pain, and previous night's excitement.
Torshael jumped hard at the knock, but breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Tayne's voice. "Coming!" He said from the kitchen and hurried to the door, opening it with a smile. "How are you, Tayne? Come in, come in." Torshael held the door open for his brother. "The pizza just got here a little bit ago, it's in the oven keeping warm. Hope you're hungry, got you a large."
"Hell, man, you think even at my worst I could eat a--" As Tayne came in, closing the door behind him with a foot and clapping his brother on the back, he stopped and frowned. Fear, blood, surgical stitching, and gause. Those were all smells he knew, after he'd had to inflict them on himself since he'd bitten. "What happened?" he demanded before he thought.
"We can always stick it in the fridge, not like I wouldn't eat it tomorrow anyway," Torshael said with a grin, then looked at his brother curiously. "What do you mean?" He knew what Tayne was probably referring to--but how could he know about his arm? It wasn't in the news, the only other one to know about it was Brock and Roxy, and the hospital staff.
Brock didn't bother to go to the door with Torshael, but he did keep an eye on the two. He knew there was no way Tayne could smell that unless he had a sense of smell like Brock did. And he could smell the faint smell of wet fur. There were no other animals in the house. He sniffed the air again. Cat.
For a moment Tayne floundered, scowling and leading his brother into the kitchen while he tried to think of what to say. He could think of anything, so he just said, without explanation or preamble, "You're hurt. Who hurt you?" A pastor didn't get stitches from an accident.
"I was attacked at the church last night, but it's behind me now, and it won't happen again. I'm going to the locksmith tomorrow to get better locks for the church." Torshael smiled at his brother and then took the pizza out of the oven. He was so forgiving, he wanted to forget all about the whole incident. No supernatural was that evil.
It won't happen again. Brock said from the middle of the kitchen floor into their minds. He looked up at Tayne curiously. I am Brock, you must be Tayne.
Torshael looked down at his familiar. "Oh, sorry Brock. That's Brock, my familiar." He got out two plates and handed one to Tayne.
There was going to be more than just better locks on Tor's church if his brother had anything to say about it. Tayne was going to do something about this-- he didn't know what yet, but nobody attacked his family without him doing something about it. Brock spoke before he could start peppering Torshael with questions, though, and he dragged his attention to the here and now for a moment again.
He gave Brock a taut sort of grin. "Hey, nice to, uh, meet you. I'd offer to shake hands, but I dunno how that'd work with a paw...."
Brock chortled in their minds. Thanks, it's alright. He couldn't shake the smell of cat coming from Tayne, but for once he decided to be tactful and not mention it to Torshael. Yet.
Torshael grabbed some pizza and headed out to the living room. He had a decent sized TV, not that he ever watched it, and a DVD player that was slowly collecting dust. "But how did you know I was hurt, Tayne? Did you talk to someone at the hospital? I asked them to not mention it." He was quite curious now.
"I, uh." Tayne winced, running a hand over his lightly-tangled hair. That had been stupid. But when it came to family, he had a hard time keeping protective reactions under control. Or, well, he had a hard time keeping protective reactions under control most of the time, actually, but with family it was worse. "It's... kind of a long story." And not one he'd wanted to tell anyone else until after the full moon, after he'd gotten the full impact of it all and he knew where he stood.
"That's fine, if you don't want to talk about it. I understand." Torshael wasn't the pushy kind, and even if he kept few secrets from his family, he understood the importance of keeping some things to one self. He took a bite of pizza and then went to fiddle with the DVD player and TV to turn them both on. "What movies did you bring?" He asked, glancing back at his brother.
Tayne stared at his brother a beat, blinking at the unexpected incuriousness. He wasn't even going to ask further? Wait for said long story? Was he really off the hook? He finally shook himself out of it and offered the three movies he'd brought for his brother to choose from.
"I mean, unless you want to talk about it.." Torshael said, taking the movies and looking them over. The pastor was pretty much willing to watch anything, though gore grossed him out. He picked "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," as it looked the most interesting. He could guess his brother was some kind of supernatural, psychic, maybe were. Something that could either pick up on his thoughts or the smell. But what was the point of pressuring someone into talking about something if they didn't feel comfortable with it? Torshael would get the whole story eventually.
Shaking his head, Tayne said, "Sometimes you surprise me, bro. I kind of expected to be grilled." He knew his brother wasn't the most demanding of people, but was he really going to let Tayne get away with not telling him that something had apparently changed enough that he could tell he was hurt? It really did surprise him. He headed back into the kitchen to get himself some of that pizza, still warring over whether to say anything.
"That was my first reaction, but as long as you're not hurting anyone, I'm not going to hold you down until you tell me." Torshael laughed a little. "I like having you around, I'm not going to scare you off by harassing you about something you feel uncomfortable talking about." He finished off one piece of pizza and went on to the next. "Does Nessa know?" That would be a good way for Torshael to tell whether this thing was bad, or that Tayne was in a position to hurt anyone. Nessa would have definitely let the family know if something horrible was happening to her brother.
Well, that was going to be awkward. Tayne waited until he came back in with his own pizza to answer, feeling like this was weirdly anticlimactic. If he was this laid-back about the slip, would he really freak out about the bite? "She had a vision about it, yeah," he said, dropping down onto the couch to start eating, himself. "I g-got bit, Tor'. Full moon night. I was gonna tell everyone after my first full, once I knew exactly what it was all like...."
Torshael stared at his brother in shock. Bitten. That had to be all kinds of awful for Tayne. "Oh god. Are you okay?" Torshael reached out and touched his brother's arm. He'd attributed the nervousness in his brother lately to being a hunter, but it all made sense now. His thoughts were filled with concern for Tayne. It had to be a total shock to his system. There were a few members of his congregation who were bitten weres, and they never attended church on a full moon. Too many people, too many chances to accidentally shift, one of them had told him.
That was a little more like what Tayne had expected, the shock. Though at least he hadn't pulled back-- not that he had honestly expected him to, but... well. He'd spent too long worrying about things like that, from anyone, for it to be a completely alien concern. "Yeah, Tor'. I'm fine. I healed up in a couple days, even, it was weird." Though he probably wanted to know more emotionally, Tayne wasn't really the type to talk about that much, not even to his brother.
"Is there anything I can do?" Torshael asked, nearly radiating concern. He didn't know what he could do. Bitten weres had to lock themselves up on the full moon, he knew, but everything else it seemed like they had to handle on their own. He didn't want Tayne to feel alone, most of all. The pastor was well aware that Tayne didn't like talking about his emotions, but this wasn't exactly a normal situation.
"Not freaking out'd be g-g-good," Tayne said with a wry little grin. He reached over to squeeze his brother's shoulder-- he appreciated the concern, but it made him feel even more awkward. "I'm fine, Tor'. Really. Nothing hurts, I'm not crazy or anything, and I've got plans for the full moon. I'm getting used to the senses thing. I'm doin' all right, really."
Torshael smiled, trying to not seem so concerned. He knew his brother wasn't great with emotions and expressing them, so he reached for his pizza and took another bite. "Good, I'm glad to hear that. And..thank you for telling me." Now, to focus on the movie and hopefully make his brother feel less awkward about the whole situation.
"Was g-gonna tell you after the full moon, anyhow," Tayne mumbled, feeling guilty that he hadn't sooner, now that the guy knew and knew he hadn't said anything for two weeks. But at least it was out, now. "Um. Don't tell Grandad or Mother yet, okay?" Vanessa and Torshael were both pretty non-violent, not actual hunters, and neither of them really shared their mother's hysterical tendencies, so he should have expected them both to take it okay-- but he wasn't so sure about his grandfather and mother yet.
"Yeah, I understand. Tell them in your own time." Torshael hoped his brother would eventually tell their mother and grandfather, but he also knew how they would probably react. He would offer to be there when Tayne told them, but it would probably make the situation more uncomfortable. Tayne knew that his brother would be there for him. "So do you..uh..know what animal you are?" He knew that bitten weres became something in the family of the person who had bitten them...or something like that.
"Tiger," Tayne answered around more pizza. He swallowed the bite he'd been working on, then added, "Not for-sure, ain't ch-changed yet, but another tiger smelled me out and said I was. Need to get some books at the library 'bout tigers, don't know a lot yet, really." He really needed to do that. Maybe tomorrow on his way home from work, or something. He could read them aloud to Krist and they'd learn together, or something.
"That's a good idea. Can't hurt to know as much as possible about it," Torshael said, trying to be comforting. Maybe some research on blood hunters would make him feel less paranoid since he'd been attacked. He just couldn't calm down since then. It reminded him too much of being attacked when he was ten. "Do you, uh, know anything about blood hunters?" That probably gave away his attacker, but Torshael was too worried now to be concerned about what the hunter had said to him. It wasn't like Tayne was going to go running to the police about it.
It did indeed give away his attacker. Tayne sat up straight with shocked outrage. "Yes, I do, I've actually met one or two-- what the hell, man, it was a blood hunter??" Oh, was he going to fuck someone's shit up when he found out who this was. Tayne hated blood hunters on principle, but the thought that one of them had come near his brother just pissed him off to no end. "Who was it? What did they look like? Did they use magic?" All things he'd need to know to find the bastard.
"I-I can only assume it was one. He took my blood," Torshael said, growing softer as he spoke. He didn't know it had been such a big deal, or he definitely wouldn't have mentioned it. No need for Tayne to worry about it, he doubted he'd be attacked again. Though that was more of a hope. "He-he didn't use magic. I don't think. He had dark hair and this..horrific smile.." Torshael stared off as he remembered, and shivered. "It just--it just reminded me of when I was attacked by that vampire." Now his voice was no more than a whisper.
"Hey... hey, we'll make sure it doesn't happen again. A'ight?" Tayne reached over to grip his brother's shoulder, looking concerned. "Vampire or human or whatever the hell he was. We can get Mother to get some new wards on your church, or somethin'. And I can get a good sniff-around and see what I can come up with." He grinned a bit wanly, casting a brief glance in Brock's direction. Maybe the badger knew more than his witch?
Brock bared his teeth at their conversation. He couldn't describe the man, since he'd been knocked out right after biting him, but he certainly knew what he smelled like. Sense of smell was a badger's most important sense. He'd have to go sniffing around town, maybe Tayne could take him. Definitely didn't want Torshael to know what he was planning.
"Yeah." Torshael took a deep breath and shook his head, his usual smile back on his face. "I'll ask Mom about it. I need to practice my warding anyway. Thanks." He stood and went out to get another piece of pizza.
Brock spoke to him and Tayne as he walked. You know that guy that attacked you is going down, right?
"Brock, I know you're angry, but if we respond to that hunter, he'll just attack us again." Unless they killed him, and Torshael didn't want to think about that. "It's best just to defend myself the best I can with wards and hope for the best." He sat back down next to Tayne and stared down at his slice of pizza. Thinking about all this made the pizza much less appetizing.
"Hell, if I have my way, fucker won't know what hit him, so nothing could get back to you." Not that he was really planning on killing whoever it was-- maybe; possibly; perhaps-- but he would definitely at least wind up in jail. Tayne clapped Torshael on the shoulder. "Let's just let it drop... if you're not gonna tell me anything more, I'll do some digging on my own. You can't seriously expect your brother not to beat up the guys who beat you up, right? C'mon, now."
Torshael shook his head and laughed. "If you must, Tayne." He smiled at his brother, in truth glad to see how protective he was. Torshael couldn't bring himself to be violent, even to defend himself, so it was good that there was someone he could rely on to do so, even if it was wrong. He would deal with how guilty he felt for letting someone else commit violence for him later, when Tayne wasn't here. That was something between God and him. "Thank you."
Giving his brother a quick hug around the shoulders, Tayne said, "Least I can do. Now how about that movie...." Change of subject time, indeed, because they'd worn that one out, and the movie was definitely the subject to change to. It'd be a relaxed rest of the night, he hoped.