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Alanna Faulman ([info]flighty_munk) wrote in [info]light_of_may,
@ 2010-01-19 22:13:00

Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Entry tags:2009-06-30, kiley

A bit surreal
Who: Alanna and Kiley
When: Somewhere around 6:00 p.m.
Where: Starbucks

Alanna was totally going to blame the fact that she had forgotten to study for her exam the next morning on the fact that she had gone out with Aaron. It had distracted her from starting to study when she had meant to... and then she had needed to go and get her iPod replaced because of the ghost and now, well, now it looked like she was going to be up all night trying to get all the information she needed to crammed into her head. Sitting on her couch and staring at her books and notes made it look like a lot more than she was capable of that night. She had forgotten to go shopping again which meant that there was no source of caffeine anywhere...

Starbucks it is! Grabbing the notebook filled with the best notes - she could study when she was there, relax a little in the air conditioning - the redhead sighed and ended up grabbing a few books to shove into her backpack. She might as well take it all just in case she got distracted or way too comfortable. But not her laptop, oh no, that was not coming or she would never get anything done. Satisfied that she was set, Alanna locked her apartment as she left and hopped in her car to drive to Starbucks.

It was not exactly busy inside, thankfully, but it was not empty either and she had to wait behind a few people before she got to the register. Her eyes were on the menu, still trying to decide, when she caught a scent that almost seemed familiar - one of those she had known before she was bitten, so it was blurry if a scent could be called that - but there was something there, a predatory smell, that caused her entire body to tense, eyes darting towards the door automatically. And then they came back to settle on the person behind the counter that unsettling scent was coming from...

"Kiley?" Alanna's eyes were huge from a mixture of scenting a predator and seeing someone she had known in college. "Hey! It's been forever, you sm... seem different." Surely Kiley was not going to jump at her or anything like that, no matter that she smelled like a predator. Like Liza. "Uhh... wow, this is awesome. You doing okay?" Her gloved hands were dancing along beneath the counter top, heart racing uncomfortably fast because no matter what her head said about knowing Kiley her senses were disagreeing.


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[info]kileyanne
2010-01-20 04:36 am UTC (link)
Getting back to something of a "normal" routine was something to be grateful for, in Kiley's opinion. With everything that had happened to her in the last few days - the demon attack on Darcy, Vol's funeral, and then trying to go for a run with Morgan, only to find another demon. When did all of this absolute insanity become part of her everyday life?

Right - everything changed when she'd been bitten and she became a wolf. Yeah, that had be the only explanation for it.

Kiley decided that the best course of action wasn't to withdraw back into herself again, but rather to suck it up and go to work and try to pretend like it didn't bother her. She wasn't a good liar, but everyone knew she was going to Vol's funeral a few days before, so perhaps they were giving her some space because of that. So long as no one asked a ton of questions, she'd be fine.

She caught the scent first before she saw Alanna walk in. Since becoming a wolf she'd learned to identify the people she knew by scent, it was instinct more than anything, but there was something off now, and she couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. "Hey!" Kiley finished making a latte and handed it off to the customer waiting at the other end. Of course she wasn't going to jump over the counter at the girl, why would she? Alanna was her friend, right? "You're right, it has been forever. Give me just a sec, I'll come over and see you."

Different. Oh god, it was Alanna - she could smell Kiley, too. Had she been turned into a were too? She could hear Alanna's heart racing, so her guess couldn't be that far off the mark. "I'm - well, I'm okay. A lot's changed since I last saw you." Understatement of the year, right there.

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[info]flighty_munk
2010-01-20 05:26 am UTC (link)
"Yeah... a lot's changed for everyone," Alanna remarked, whatever she had been planning to get completely forgotten in light of the fact that she was facing someone she had known before this whole mess. Only that whole mess had left her with the senses to know that Kiley was not exactly what she had thought she was. But that's true about a lot of people, think about that. It did not mean Kiley was a bad person... just that Alanna's chipmunk side was going to be freaking out like it had been when she chatted with Liza. Only way different because this was not some random person, it was Kiley. "I'll just get my drink and find a place to sit, then you can come over? Steal a break or something?" Studying could definitely be put off in favor of talking with someone she had not seen in way too long.

After glancing at the menu, Alanna went with a large green tea frappucino. She motioned at Kiley before pointing over to a corner by the window where two chairs were drawn up, dropping into one. A book jabbed into her back, reminding her that she was still wearing her backpack. With a muttered sigh, the redhead wiggled around until she could pull it off and put it on the floor. Her books and notes were calling out to her but there was no way she would be able to focus now. Not with her mind racing over the new information that had been thrust onto her. Damn nose, Alanna thought, rubbing at it with one hand before taking a big whiff of her drink. That was better for a moment, but then it clear and her nose picked up the scent of predator over everything else.

Sighing again, Alanna let her head loll back against the seat, though she had measured out the distance to the door and how best to get her. That was just automatic and she would have done it even had she just gotten her drink and sat down. She would calm down way more once Kiley came over. Once she started talking she was always that much calmer, just in her nature, especially since it was a friend.

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[info]kileyanne
2010-01-21 04:46 pm UTC (link)
"That sounds good, I'm supposed to go to lunch in like... ten minutes? Maybe less than that, so I'll head over as soon as I can." It took a few minutes and a few more drinks, including Alanna's green tea frappucino, before Kiley was free. Her brain was certainly racing now, trying to consider the possibilities. When had Alanna been bitten? Had she always been a were, like Morgan was, and Kiley just didn't know it? And above all, what was she? The wolf in her couldn't place the scent, only that she was something smaller than she was, and not something the wolf was particularly scared of.

Thinking too much was only going to make her head hurt, and at this rate it wasn't like either of them could avoid the coming conversation. Kiley grabbed her lunch from the back room, nothing fancy - a turkey sandwich and chips - and her drink, a grande iced mocha, before heading out to where Alanna was sitting. Normally Kiley didn't drink coffee while at work, but she would be fine so long as she had some food in her system and she was hoping the caffeine would bring her energy level up enough to finish out her shift.

"Sorry, didn't mean to keep you waiting," she said, smiling at Alanna as she took a seat across from her, setting down her food. Her cell phone was also out so she could keep track of the time. "So, first things first, how are you?"

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[info]flighty_munk
2010-01-21 07:12 pm UTC (link)
Alanna's nose twitched slightly - why are there so many wolves? - but she returned Kiley's smile easily when she joined her. Wolf or not, and the chittering chipmunk side of her was definitely declaring a wolf like Liza, this was still Kiley and she was her friend. Alanna had not made enough of those in college to even think about shrugging one off just because that part of her that had been changed declared her a predator. "Oh it's alright, gave me more time to think," Alanna replied.

"Currently I'm a little confused and wanting to ask a question that's either insanely rude or makes a ton of sense and I think you're confused too, but that makes sense because I'm different from the last time you saw me and that means that you seem different to me... or you've changed too, I don't really know," Alanna stopped to draw in a breath. Sometimes that chatty thing really took over when she was nervous. "Overall?" Alanna thought about the last few days. "A ghost possessed my iPod - no I'm not crazy, it really happened - I stopped to help an old man who happened to be a demon that wanted to eat me... met a vampire praying in a church who gave me a prayer card for lost souls... oh!" Alanna's face lit up. "I went on my first date! How about you?"

Overwhelming flood of information; Alanna-style.

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[info]kileyanne
2010-01-22 04:28 am UTC (link)
It wasn't like Kiley had asked to become what she was, a wolf - at the time, she remembered being told she was lucky to be alive, that she and Corwin made it out of the woods intact. "Intact" was a state of mind. If something had happened to Alanna, Kiley hoped like hell her story was better than her own.

Grabbing her tupperware from her bag - it was a paper Starbucks bag of course, wrinkled, clearly used on a daily basis - Kiley popped open the top to get to her sandwich. "Confused is a good way to put it," she said, "since I know what I'm sensing and what you must be sensing and I really wish I could put all the pieces together but at the moment I just can't." She took another sip of her mocha, the caffeine hitting her system already. A hyper Kiley could be amusing to watch, or so she'd been told. "So maybe it's better to just ask the question and get it over with? Maybe?" Like ripping off a band-aid, it would be better to have it all out in the open. She didn't want another awkward moment like she and Morgan had, running into each other at the video store.

"Wait, wait, a ghost? Demons and vampires?" First a guy she went to high school with gets murdered by vampires and then Alanna meets ghosts? And a demon - Kiley shuddered at her own memories of the attacks - and another vampire on top of that? "You've been busy," she said, shaking her head, ponytail moving back and forth. "I've been - okay, I guess. Aside from the demons... because I saw some too." And killed one in her wolf form, but that wasn't common knowledge and she wasn't going to go spreading that around.

And then she perked up at the last thing Alanna said. "A date! Oh my god, with who?"

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[info]flighty_munk
2010-01-22 05:39 am UTC (link)
Just ask the question and get it over with. Right. Alanna was usually so good at that sort of thing... except for when it involved any sort of courage. The poor girl had a backbone made out of rubber when it came to saying something, anything, that might offend someone else. Luckily she did not have to dwell on the question she wanted to ask for long because the conversation had shifted enough for her to push it aside. For now. It was going to come back up.

"Yeah, the world's going crazy... you didn't get hurt by anything did you?" Her brown eyes scanned over Kiley looking for any visible damage... nope, nothing. "And yep! A date. With Aaron Drake, Jamie Drake's big brother whose working as a youth pastor at the supernatural-friendly church up on 7 Springs." It felt a little weird to say it, but Alanna still grinned like an idea as she took a long drink of her frappucino. He had been such a gentleman that it was impossible to not be impressed, not even bothered by... and there it was, her mind had circled right back to the whole thing that was different with Kiley.

Fiddling with her cup, Alanna leaned in, her voice quiet. Not that they had to be quiet, but she did not know if Kiley was big on telling and it would be so wrong to blab her secret. "I know what you are," she nodded, eyes on the floor, hands dancing across her legs and the arm of her chair, refusing to be still. "I don't know if it's that you've changed in the last year or not... but I have, and that's how I can tell. I think you've changed too because the scent I remember having of you, which is really weak, isn't the same." She shook her head, eyes darting up to see Kiley's face, apologetic.

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[info]kileyanne
2010-01-22 10:02 pm UTC (link)
Normally Kiley wasn't the courageous type either, and that was a question she would have gladly liked to sweep under the rug and forget about it, as the saying went. But the fact of the matter was that her were senses, and Alanna's too, would not let the subject go without talking about it indefinitely. But Alanna was her friend, had been for a while, surely the other woman would understand what happened... right?

Most of her wounds from each attack had healed up by now, and the ones that were still there were covered by the long-sleeved shirt and pants she was wearing, so there wasn't anything for Alanna to find. "I'm okay - a few cuts and bruises, nothing that won't heal. I was lucky, I guess." Darcy hadn't been, but Kiley had done what she could to defend her and the demon was dead and Darcy would be healed up in a few days. "And Aaron Drake, have you mentioned him to me before? You'll have to tell me all about it." Because that's what girls did after a date, share the important details, like where they went and if it was a good time. Not that Kiley had any details like that to share in her own life at the moment, but that was besides the point.

No, quiet worked, especially as they were in her Starbucks and her were abilities wasn't something she planned on telling her co-workers about. "It's because I changed too, about a year ago," Kiley murmured, leaning in a little so that way there was less of a chance of anyone overhearing them. "I didn't know anything about - about what we are, until that. And you smell different too, but I can't for the life of me pinpoint what you are."

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[info]flighty_munk
2010-01-22 11:20 pm UTC (link)
And you'll heal really fast just like me, Alanna could not help but think. Of course she had healed way faster than she should have. She thought that she might know what the reason for that was but it was unpleasant to think of. "I'm glad that you're okay," she said sincerely. How was she okay? There was another question the redhead did not really want to ask. If Kiley was like her then the answer was probably nothing pleasant to share, just like her own experience.

"And I probably haven't really talked about Aaron anymore than I do about any boy. He was pretty popular in school and all the girls liked him." It was still a little hard for her to accept that Aaron liked her and wanted to go out with her. Her, the weird one who had pretty much had one friend throughout all of high school. "We just went to dinner and a movie... he was a real gentleman about the whole thing, didn't even try to kiss me." Most girls might have viewed that as a bad thing but to Alanna it was the sweetest thing.

Then it did not really matter whether Aaron was sweet or not because this conversation was, to her, way more important. Her throat clenched and her heart went out to Kiley. She had hoped that maybe she had been born this way but no, her friend was bitten. Just like me. But Alanna forced those sad thoughts away or she was going to start crying because it was not fair that anyone else had to be bitten too. "Oh I'm nothing impressive at all," Alanna said with a weak smile. "I'm a chipmunk. Little tiny thing with big front teeth and a tail. No one's scared of a fluffy little rodent. But you... you're a predator. Huge teeth." Her eyes widened at remarking on that. "When you're a... you know, wolf."

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[info]kileyanne
2010-01-24 02:51 am UTC (link)
Okay was a frame of mind, and it looked like Alanna could understand that. The only reason she'd been able to do what she did was because of the wolf, and Kiley was painfully aware of that fact. "Thanks," she said, "and you look okay too - you did say you met a demon, right? It didn't try to hurt you?" Well, now that she said that out loud it sounded pretty ridiculous - what was a demon going to do, ask if you wanted to have tea?

"Ooooh," Kiley said, leaning back in her seat and taking a bite of her sandwich. Some girls were into the "bad boys" as it were, but the sweetheart, the gentleman, that was a dream of Kiley's too. What was so wrong about a guy who - gasp! - treated you right on a first date? Who waited until you were ready to make the next move? There weren't enough guys like him out there, but she was glad Alanna seemed to have found one. "That sounds adorable, Alanna, I'm jealous! You are going to go out with him again, right?"

The next part of the conversation was a little harder to be so nonchalant about, and Kiley fidgeted in her seat a little. "A chipmunk," she repeated. "That kind of makes sense in a way." Kiley still had no idea how she'd become a wolf, aside from the fact that the were that bit her had a canine form. "No one's ever scared of me either," she said softly, "until you. I don't mean to be, you know that. I don't see myself as a predator." The only thing she'd ever killed in her wolf form was a demon and she liked to think that it was just a one-time thing.

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[info]flighty_munk
2010-01-24 03:47 am UTC (link)
Alanna blinked and shook her head. "Oh no, it tried to rip me into tiny little pieces. Bet you can guess how well that went." She had always been easy to frighten and spook, but ever since she had been bitten it was like it was that much more evident. And, of course, when she got scared... bad things happen. The monster happened. Not something that she was very keen on talking about. Though it looks like Kiley understands... she knows what happens when we get too cared. Angry was not so much of a concern for someone like her.

"Don't be jealous, you'll get one," Alanna assured Kiley with a smile. If she could get someone to ask her out then surely Kiley wouldn't have that much of a problem. "And I think so, yeah..." Her cheeks were heating up in a blush at the thought. Aaron wanted to go out with her again, she was sure of it. Eventually he would even call or text and ask her out. He would have to do it, Alanna didn't have the backbone for that.

Alanna nodded. "That's what my aunt say when I first changed, that of course I'd be a chipmunk." The animal form really was not that bad, it was the other part. The monster part. If she just turned into a cute little chipmunk life would have been awesome. "And I don't mean to be afraid anymore than you mean to be what you area. It's just... you've seen chipmunks, right? They get scared and they bolt. If I didn't trust you then I'd be gone already. You're my friend no matter what you are... besides, I don't really know any other... uhh... bittens."

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[info]kileyanne
2010-01-25 01:12 am UTC (link)
Kiley flinched. "I'm so sorry," she said, and she meant every word. At the very least, when Kiley had shifted, it was the wolf that came out, and not the monster. She was terrified of what she turned into every full moon, and to think she could take that form outside of that... it wasn't something she wanted to talk about either. If it was just turning into a wolf, then being a bitten were wouldn't be so bad. The rest of it, however, Kiley would much rather be without.

"Someday," she said, "if I'm really lucky." Her luck with guys wasn't much better than Alanna's. Either they ignored Kiley completely, or they wanted to come over to use her video game systems or something like that. They didn't come over to hang out with her. And now, being a wolf meant she didn't get to make mistakes either, she could only choose one. "Then of course you'll go out with him again! It's obvious you like him and you had a good time together." The way Alanna was blushing was really quite cute, and Kiley was happy things were working out for her friend in that area.

"At least your form makes sense. I don't know why I'm a wolf. Maybe it's the red hair." Her form was a small red wolf, after all, and they weren't all that common in nature, so Kiley had no idea. Most of the time she was just lucky she hadn't ended up as some form of dog. Spending the rest of your life as a monster chihuahua mix didn't really appeal to her. "Well, I'm glad you're still here," she said, giving her a soft smile. "And you're the first bitten I've known, too." There was Vol, but Kiley didn't know he'd been bitten until he had been killed, what kind of a friend was she?

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[info]flighty_munk
2010-01-25 04:29 am UTC (link)
Alanna shrugged, not wanting to talk about it even if Kiley would understand. And that was a rare thing right there, Alanna finding something that she was unwilling to talk about. Being a monster was just that high on the list of things she hated about herself. Actively. Hopefully Kiley would never be forced into her hybrid form outside of the full moon. That made it even worse for some reason, because it was unexpected and there was no cage or anything involved.

"I think you definitely will," Alanna said with a degree of confidence that she usually reserved for things like her skills at track or in dentistry. She could be confident for Kiley, who really was pretty and deserved someone to see that. "And as soon as he calls or texts... I don't want to seem all desperate and text him and be like 'hey!' and have him remember that I really am that odd girl from school." Kiley could understand that, Alanna knew that she had those odd qualities too.

Alanna rolled her eyes at the suggestion that Kiley was a wolf because of her hair. "Seriously doubt that, Kiley. Bet it's something that you haven't even realized that you've got in common with it. I'm a chipmunk because, well, that's the rodent I'm the most like - god I hate calling myself a rodent. So clearly you're more like a wolf than a fox or a coyote or a... uhh... dachshund. Wouldn't that just be the cutest thing ever? Running around as a little hot dog." Alanna could not keep from giggling at the mental image, immensely relieved that she was able to. This was not a subject she really laughed a lot about. "Wolves have those family instincts and all, maybe that's it. Do you have a big shiny tail and everything?"

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[info]kileyanne
2010-01-25 04:56 pm UTC (link)
Kiley more than understood where Alanna was coming from, and she didn't want to talk about it either. Who would? They were monsters, where they wanted to admit or not. She couldn't imagine taking her hybrid form outside of the full moon, what would happen if she were allowed to rage like that. Perhaps that was what happened to the were who attacked her family, something outside of their control, but Kiley would never know.

Alanna's confidence was reassuring, and Kiley allowed herself a chuckle as she took another sip of her mocha. "I'll be sure to keep you posted," she said, raising her drink to the woman as if in a toast. "When was the date? A day or two ago? There is nothing wrong with sending a 'Hey how are you' text. Especially if the date went well." Kiley too was an odd one, but that seemed perfectly reasonable in her book, not odd at all.

What she had in common with the wolf? Kiley couldn't even begin to think of what that might be. She did know the wolf had been pretty determined to survive, during the demon attacks, so maybe that was it? It was too much to think about now. "Then don't call yourself a rodent," she said. "Chipmunk is cute and adorable and I would stick with that." She snorted, "Okay, I could agree with dachshund more so than some other breeds of dogs. I had the image of a chihuahua for a second, it wasn't pretty." Kiley giggled too, because it really was a funny subject to be discussing, only to quiet a moment later. "You know, that might be it, the family thing," she murmured. "All I've got left now is Corwin, and I'm protective as hell over him. He's pack, to me. And yes, I have a big shiny tail. And I'm not kidding, my fur is as red as my hair."

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[info]flighty_munk
2010-01-25 07:21 pm UTC (link)
"Good! I totally expect to be the first - or third since you and him will be first and second - to know when it happens," Alanna said with a bright smile as she took another drink. "And I dunno... I kind of like the idea of him texting me first." Maybe that was way out of the time or something but really, was there anything that wrong with it? No, and she was going to be a little unreasonable even when it came to waiting for said call or text. It was her first time doing this and it definitely showed. Though if she thought about it then she would realize that a lot of her friends still acted that way even when they had dated waaay more.

Alanna shrugged. "But I am a rodent just like, when it all comes down, you're a dog." A pretty big, wild dog yeah, but still a dog. Which would open a whole world of dog-related jokes if Alanna took time to think about it. Or if Kiley was okay with her joking about it. Alanna knew that she could handle chipmunk-jokes from the ones who knew. Monster jokes... those were so far off-limits her mind did not even touch on them. "Yeah, that right there... the pack thing. Though it's absolutely crazy you're as red as your hair! I'm not red at all when I change, just look like every other chipmunk out there. If my hair had been a factor then I'm pretty sure I would've ended up a squirrel with a big bushy tail." Maybe there was nothing wrong with that, but she rejected the idea now. Chipmunks and squirrels did not always get along that well.

Then something that Kiley had said clicked and Alanna frowned. "What d'you mean, Corwin's all you've got left? Did your family not like finding out what you were or something?" She had heard stories about families disowning children who ended up being supernatural but had never met any. It was unimaginable to her that anyone could do that and she did not even have a pack mentality.

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[info]kileyanne
2010-01-26 05:11 pm UTC (link)
"Absolutely! I really don't think I'd be able to keep something like that to myself. Expect an onslaught of text messages and possibly a phone call of nothing but squeeing as well." Because really? Kiley getting a date would be kind of a miracle. She could understand why Alanna would want to wait until Aaron texted her first, but she knew her own emotions, she'd get too nervous and anxious waiting for whenever that would be. "Just so long as you don't let too much time pass. If you don't hear from him in a couple days, then you have to say something." After all, if he was so good to her, why would she let him get away?

"I know, but still. I don't really think of myself as a dog." Sure, there were a lot of jokes there, but no one had ever really thought to tease her about it, and most of her friends had no idea what she was. Darcy only found out after the demon attack and only because Kiley shifted in front of her. And Morgan knew, of course, but Morgan was also a wolf and it wasn't like she could hide her form from him. "We didn't even realize we'd turn into wolves, Corwin and I, when it happened. I'm a red wolf, and he's a big grey one. Alpha male, to his core. And I think chipmunk suits you far better than a squirrel does, to be honest."

Kiley fell silent for a second, twirling her straw around in her cup. This was always the hardest part, for her, admitting how she became the way she was. She liked to think her parents could never disown her for being what she was, because if they were still here likely they'd be wolves, too. "I was camping with my family, when we were attacked," she said, very softly. "The only explanation we've been able to come up with is that a hybrid were broke into our campsite. My parents..." She wasn't going to cry. Not at work. Not now. So Kiley drew a few breaths, "They didn't make it."

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[info]flighty_munk
2010-01-26 08:02 pm UTC (link)
"Those are my favorite kind!" Alanna giggled, completely meaning it. Calls that were full of squee and delight over something like that were the absolute best. So much better than the ones that possibly came later when the guy needed to be killed - by someone else, Alanna lacked the backbone or anything that confrontational - and comforting girl times needed to happen. She would rather avoid that sort of call altogether. "If a couple of days go by I'll just swing up by the church and remind him in person." For some reason that seemed better than texting. Because she would be able to see him and Alanna really just wanted to see him again. Even if she would just be in jeans and a t-shirt she thought it would go better than a text.

So her brother Corwin was the alpha. Made sense, wolves did that whole thing where the alpha was male and Alanna highly doubted that Kiley was going to be his alpha female. Okay, I've been studying too much, need to think of something else. And then something else took her attention right away. Her warm eyes actually got wet as Kiley talked and she reached out to touch Kiley's hand, a really big deal for someone like her to actually touch someone when she was not properly gloved. But this was one of those things that just seemed like that big of a deal. "I'm sorry, Kiley," she said sincerely. Why would someone ever... oh. A bitten would, if it was a wild shift and not secured. I could do that. The taste of bile licked at the back of her throat just at the thought that she had a form that could do something like that to someone like Kiley. In that moment she hated Jamie all over again for what had been done to her. "Don't know what else to say, that's just... god, really, really sorry." Kiley seemed to be dealing with it well. Now.

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[info]kileyanne
2010-01-27 05:22 am UTC (link)
"Mine too! The kind when you can't really tell what everyone's saying, just that everyone's really, really excited." Kiley hadn't been getting enough of those phone calls lately - or any at all, if she was being honest. But that had more to do with the self-imposed exile she'd put herself through after the attack and she had to believe things would get better from here on out. They had to. The other end of the spectrum, the "omg this guy needs to die" calls, Kiley could handle those too. She'd always been a good listener even when she didn't have the advice to offer. "That's a good idea as well. In person always seems to have more meaning than a text." And it did, but in Kiley's mind, it took more bravery to stop by for a visit than to type a few words into a phone.

Personality wise, Kiley just didn't have it in her to be an alpha female, and she was okay with that. Anything else just wouldn't be who she was. Feeling Alanna's hand over hers was unexpected - Kiley couldn't remember a time in recent history when Alanna had touched her, always wearing gloves, but Kiley welcomed it, giving Alanna's hand a squeeze. "It's okay," she said. "Well, it's not, not really, but you know what I mean." To this day, she didn't know if the other were had meant to do what he (or she) did. It was a full moon, so maybe they'd just gotten free of their cage, or thought they wouldn't meet anyone in the woods. She wanted, needed to believe it was an accident. Knowing what monster she became on the full moon didn't make it any easier - Kiley would never, ever take that sort of risk. "You don't need to say anything, it's okay," she reassured Alanna, trying to smile for her. "I've spent the last year getting things back on track, figuring a lot of things out. I'm sure you had to do something similiar."

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[info]flighty_munk
2010-01-27 08:00 am UTC (link)
"Exactly! I'll have to make sure to call you the next time I have news like that so you can be all excited with me." Nothing like sharing the happiness. It was also nice to be agreed with that stopping by was a good idea. Alanna should have been aware of the fact that a text was easier but she had always been a little... different when it came to things like that. The easier way out was not one that she was going to be taking because really, in her mind it wasn't easier. Not that that would make sense to anyone other than her. Which was why it was good she did not know any telepaths, they would probably go crazy trying to listen in on her thoughts.

Drawing in deep breaths, Alanna was able to remain clam enough to keep her hand where it was, because Kiley still looked upset. And comforting her friend in something like this was more important than something that had been dead for a year now. "I'm glad that you're getting better, though I just wish I could say something to help..." But no, she had gone through nothing similar. No one had died on her. "Well, I wasn't attacked so much as... bitten in a fit of PMS." Nope, sounded just as ridiculous as it had the first time she said it. She had been bitten by a PMSing chipmunk. "Did lose something pretty important... you know how I never liked touching people. I used to be a psychic. Knew things, way too many things, just by touching stuff. But when I got bitten that was all gone, pretty big thing to just vanish in the span of a few minutes." She tapped her and shrugged. "Lost it for awhile, that's why I didn't go back to school until January. Not as bad as what happened to you."

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[info]kileyanne
2010-01-28 03:52 pm UTC (link)
"Sounds like a plan. I await anxiously for said phone call." Kiley almost managed to get the words out with a straight face, breaking out into giggles a second later. She didn't think Alanna was weird for wanting to stop by and see Aaron - she wished she could just do that with a boy she liked. Maybe if she found one, someday, she could, and it wouldn't be scary because he would be The One. Stupid wolf mating for life rules. Getting to talk to Alanna again was really refreshing for her, truth be told - it was something she'd missed when she'd been busy doing nothing in her house, afraid to go back to living her life. Morgan had been right - she couldn't just lock herself away forever.

"Bitten because of... PMS?" Her head tilted to the side a little, processing that. It had been an accident? The idea of it kind of blew her mind a little, thinking something like that could just happen. She needed to believe the were who attacked her family had no control over it, otherwise the rest of it was too overwhelming to think about. The way Kiley saw it, they both lost something precious in their lives. She'd lost her parents, but Alanna had lost a gift, even if it was unwanted, it had been a part of who she was. "I'm sorry," she said softly, "I didn't even know. About the psychic thing. I still haven't met any psychics, either." An elemental, yes, in Sloane, and other weres, but not a psychic. "But that explains a lot, why you never touched things. And I completely understand about losing it, I've just gone back to work myself, a few months ago." She gave Alanna a small smile, "So perhaps the wolf and the chipmunk have more in common than either of us ever realized?"

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[info]flighty_munk
2010-01-28 08:32 pm UTC (link)
Alanna giggled along with Kiley. This was definitely way better than studying, even with the less pleasant parts of the conversation. Later she was going to be insanely impressed with herself for settling down so easily with someone who smelled like a predator. But why wouldn't she? Kiley's Kiley, wolf or not and she so totally needs reasons to be happy so I'll make sure she goes on the list for mass texting. Because Alanna had a habit of sending those when she had good news. Or what everyone else thought was good news and she was just busy freaking out over. Same thing.

"Yeah... ummm... I was camping with the track team last summer and my best friend Jamie - she'd be Aaron's sister, by the way - was apparently having a really bad time and got away in chipmunk form... only I bothered her, not knowing it was her, got a little too close and she took a nip." Alanna held up her hand, pointing to a relatively small scar on her hand. "I like to think it was a total accident, she's never forgiven herself so I guess maybe she didn't know? And the psychic thing... better without it really." She would never have been able to hold Aaron's hand or let him hold her if she had still been a clairsentinent, she knew that. Just sort of like losing a limb with how long it took to adjust. And she returned Kiley's smile brightly. "Way more in common, like it wasn't enough that we both have awesome red hair, right?" She gave hers a flip before laughing again. "You all done with school then? I can't keep straight what happened with everyone after I left." Kiley was around her age but that didn't mean much, seeing as how Alanna was still in school and knew other people younger than her who were done.

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[info]kileyanne
2010-01-30 04:29 am UTC (link)
At this rate her sandwich was barely finished and it didn't look like she had a whole lot of time left on her break, but to be honest, Kiley didn't really care. Getting a chance to reconnect with a friend was more important to her, especially with the changes both of them had gone through. A year ago, they'd just been two college kids - well, Alanna had been a clairsentient too, but that was normal for her - and none the wiser. Any good news in this day in age was something worth celebrating with the people who mattered.

Alanna's scar was so tiny in comparison to the ones Kiley carried. "Oh, gotcha," she murmured. A mistake - an accident. "I don't think she could have meant it, not if she's your best friend. Probably just scared her in chipmunk form?" Kiley didn't know if that made it better or worse, changing because of another person's slip up, something that would have been minor if not for the fact that the chipmunk who bit her happened to be a were. "Because seriously, everyone else is jealous of the hair," she said, touching her fingers to the end of her ponytail, tied back for work of course. "And not yet. I took all of last year off, and I'm going back in the fall. Just one year left until I can teach." Someday, she hoped, she wouldn't be a barista forever. "How much time do you have left? At school, I mean."

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[info]flighty_munk
2010-01-30 07:52 am UTC (link)
Tiny scar but nothing could have been more significant in meaning because seriously, that scar from when she fell out of the tree and scraped up her entire left leg? Had not gone and changed her into anything. But that little bite had made her entire life different... and okay, honestly? At this point she did not know if she would or would not change what had happened. If Alanna had still been a clairsentinent there was no way she would have found out Aaron liked her, no chance in hell she would have gone to the drive-in and just held her hand. You and me, little scar, might be friends yet.

"We've talked about it and she helps me every full moon so you know, I'm not mad at her." Anymore. There had been a time when she wanted nothing more than to push Jamie off a cliff, but she had gotten over that. At least she had not lost anyone, not like Kiley. Though grinning over the shared red hair was way too fun. "Oh that's awesome! You'll be a great teacher, Kiley, totally good at it." Alanna nodded, smiling brightly. Right until she thought about how long she was going to be in school. "For-freaking-ever... being a dentist is a lot of work and they're going to be offering new classes specializing in different types of teeth for the different races so you know. Maybe I'll specialize in something supernatural since I am. Like vampires." Along with a special designed room for her to freak out in.

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[info]kileyanne
2010-01-30 05:08 pm UTC (link)
In comparison, the scars that changed Kiley had marked her up for everyone to see. Like Alanna wearing gloves because of her clairsentience, Kiley now lived in jeans and long-sleeved shirts. The bite mark on her thigh wasn't terrible, but her left forearm was covered in bites and clawmarks - enough to make people stare. Kiley wasn't open about what she was and she didn't need to explain to everyone how they came to be, even if she left the were part out of the equation. For everyone, each scar, each mark, carried its own meaning.

"Which is good, I think. That at least she's there for you and you don't have to go through it alone." Kiley had Corwin, and so far he was the only person she'd allowed to be with her. Maybe someday Morgan would help her out too, but that was likely something she wouldn't ask of him. Blushing a little, she said, "That's what I'm hoping, anyway. I'd planned to teach high school English, hopefully the kids will be better than what I remember from high school." She winced a little at the thought of never-ending schooling, "That sucks to go for so long, but it'll totally be worth it, right? Would you specialize in just one supernatural type, or have a working knowledge of all of them?" She didn't know if she could work on a vampire's teeth, to be honest. Not after how Vol had been killed. She was still trying to work up the courage to go see Ian DJ at Heme after the whole thing.

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[info]flighty_munk
2010-01-30 11:13 pm UTC (link)
Part of Alanna was sure that Jamie came every month out of some sort of moral obligation, which she was fine with because it was her fault, but she had the advantage of knowing it was because she was her friend too. There were advantages to being good friends with your telepathic aunt after all. Even if most people did not really know Felicia was a telepath because, well, people got a little offended when they knew that you were able to rifle through their thoughts so easily. Alanna, of course, was long since used to it and thought it extremely convenient to not even have to talk.

"High school English... yeah good luck with that." Alanna would never be able to handle it, not with how quickly language seemed to be declining. "With all the abbreviations and that because of texting..." She shook her head. Much easier to deal with teeth and all the things that the world's new supply of caffeine and sugar did to them. At least she could fix it. "And I think I could have a knowledge of all of them; though I bet vampires have the teeth most different from humans. I mean, were's teeth don't change." She flashed her own as proof. Still perfect. "Though it'd be nice to see if I was wrong." She sipped at her drink thoughtfully. "Wouldn't it be cool to be a vampire dentist, though? People ask what I am and I tell them that... bet they'd do double-takes all over the place."

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[info]kileyanne
2010-02-01 05:33 am UTC (link)
At the very least, Alanna had someone else there with her for the full moons. Kiley spent hers locked in a cage, Corwin in his own cage not far from hers. There had never been anyone else there, no one else to know her secret. For a year, she'd stuck to that rule. And now there were people who knew - Morgan, Darcy, Alanna. Maybe this really was something she couldn't keep inside, that she needed to get off her chest.

"Well, I'd be the teacher. And I'd like to think I'd be stern enough to hand out a failing grade to a student who gives me a paper with 'lol' or 'brb' written in it." Honestly? Kiley's own texts were completely readable, and she never used shorthand, only a smiley here and there. If they wanted to write like that, they could save it for their personal emails, not schoolwork. "I'd imagine so, yes, what with the fangs and all." Fangs she didn't like thinking about, though she knew her jaws in wolf form would be at least as deadly. Though she hadn't seen Vol's body herself, thank god for closed casket funerals, she knew how her friend had died and what those fangs had been used for. Had she been in Alanna's place, she wasn't sure she could do it. "You'd make a name for yourself, that's for sure," she said instead, "first vampire dentist in Scarlet Oak?"

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[info]flighty_munk
2010-02-03 08:55 pm UTC (link)
"Oh I hope so," Alanna nodded. She could see Kiley doing that, actually hoped to see it happen because kids getting away with that was just crazy. Words existed for a reason and needed to be used when you were actually doing something like writing a paper. One of her professors as an undergrad had given a stern lecture on exactly that subject because someone had thought it would be okay... yeah, that had not been fun for anyone. "And fangs are scary, but... I don't know, they're just scary. I'm totally allowed to think that because my teeth are never anything frightening. What's a chipmunk going to do?" In her animal form the scariest thing she could do was charge through a pile of dead leafs or something.

"Eh, maybe. Someone else could beat me to it." She was not a dentist yet after all, supernatural or otherwise. "I've gotta say, this is so not the conversation I imagined having next time I saw you. Way weird, right?" Kind of like them.

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[info]kileyanne
2010-02-04 01:16 am UTC (link)
Kiley had been an English major all through college, and always had a healthy fascination with words and stories. Though she wasn't so good at writing her own bestseller, she wouldn't let any of her students butcher the language like that. She recalled a speech one of her professors had made, discussing author Tim O'Brien's grammar rant about all they had was "26 letters and a handful of punctuation," and it had always stuck with her.

"I agree, fangs are totally terrifying. And I have, you know, wolf teeth. I'd be scared as well." That was for Kiley's own reasons, just like how she was afraid of hybrid weres. "You never know until it happens right?" She went to take another sip of her drink, only to find the cup empty. Kiley still shook it a little, as if she could force the ice cubes to provide her with more caffeine. "I never expected this either, but it's good - I missed talking to you." So what if the two women were a little left of center? Alanna was a friend, and Kiley missed her friends a lot in the last year. Maybe there was something to that pack mentality wolves had after all.

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[info]flighty_munk
2010-02-04 05:53 am UTC (link)
Until it happened... yeah. That was true for way too many things these days. "That just means we'll have to get together again!" Alanna pointed out happily. It was weird of her to let any of her friends disconnect like had happened with Kiley, but then it had been a hard time with both of them so really, special situation as far as the redhead was concerned. And one that did not need to be repeated because what was the worst that could happen to either of them now? Becoming vampires... ooooh, no, don't think about that one. That's a really bad one to think about.

Her eyes caught a glimpse of the clock as she did her routine check of the surrounding area and the path to the door, and she sighed. "Worst part about summer classes? Studying for exams when you know most everyone else doesn't have to worry about it. I've loved talking with you but I bet you've got to get back to work... and I've get to memorize some nerve-endings." Alanna rolled her eyes and nudged her backpack with her foot. "Best distraction from studying of the summer, that I've got to give you, Kiley." Even if she still felt bad about the fact that her friend had gone through something so similar to what she did. With the addition of a lost family. Yeah, she was definitely going to have to remember that keeping Kiley cheered up was tops of her list when she had the time.

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[info]kileyanne
2010-02-04 05:08 pm UTC (link)
"Agreed. Even if it's just for movie night or something, we are totally getting together." Kiley needed some happy moments in her life, and getting to hang out with a friend she hadn't seen in a while was definitely one of them. This was what she'd hoped for, when she said she was going to go back to living her life, the way she had before she was turned.

She glanced down at her phone, making a face. "And my break's over, too, so I've got to head back to work. But it was great to catch up, even if it wasn't the news either of us expected." Both turned into weres on camping trips, around the same time? Who would have thought? "And you know me, I'm all for distractions. Best of luck with the nerve endings, I guess, and definitely call me, okay?" Grabbing her lunch stuff, Kiley turned to throw her now-empty cup in the trash behind her. "I guess I'll see you around?"

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[info]flighty_munk
2010-02-04 07:33 pm UTC (link)
"Movie night! We are so having a movie night," Alanna seized on the idea, already listing out movies that would be fun to watch. She was going to have to put some actual planning into this... when she did not have to study. No more distractions. Kiley had definitely taken up all slots as the distraction of the day. "And you'll definitely be seeing me around, promise." Alanna held one hand up, doing the Girl Scout thing, before grinning and dropping it back down. "Have fun at work, Kiley!" Alanna made a mental note to scan her planner - or the excuse of one that she tried keeping up and always forgot about after a few days of being good about it - and figure out when would be good for watching movies.

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