Who: Riddick riddickr & Rebekah Mikaelson crazyauntbex What: Do alien creatures need shots? When: Friday, April 10, approximately closing time for the Animal Shelter Where: Animal Shelter Rating: Audience Discretion is Advised Warnings: Riddick which means language stuff and possibly violence and oh yeah, Bex Mikaelson is a vampire. Status: Closed/Completed GDdoc
~*~
Nothing phased the mutt out in the forest. Riddick and his wild woman had found their rhythm in the place. They were working hard to establish a space all their own which blended in with the natural flora of the park. It was off the paths, far away from the public's meddling eyes, and it suited them fine. Riddick worried he was smothering the woman with his presence. She hadn't gotten much of a break from him beyond their working during the days.
It struck him he might need to see if the mongrel was a danger to any of them. He wasn't venomous. Riddick knew that from personal experience. His bite could be lethal. That was instinct rather than anything sinister. He didn't have any fangs so much as very sharp teeth all the way around. There was an obvious method to its creation's madness. It had been designed to be vicious enough to survive on the surface of its harsh homeworld.
Mutt wasn't anything more than a product of his environment, same as Riddick, still, seemed right to get a second opinion.
He waited until the sun was downing before heading back into the main heart of Test City. The Animal Shelter wasn't downtown, but it was close enough to civilization for Riddick not to want to face it during the heaviest of its operating hours. The door said he had time to slide in. They wanted to take more than a quick look at the mutt? That was their problem. Riddick had shown up before they closed. That was all he owed them.
Whistling loudly to gain the attention of whoever was left minding the place, Riddick called out, "Got a question for the local animal doctor!"
He waited until he heard movement, saw someone coming, smelled them. They were different. Interesting. Riddick smirked slightly as he realized this wasn't any animal doctor he was barging in on. Nice to keep things interesting. He couldn't stand boring. Life was too short to fuck around with pleasantries and normalcy.
"Brought in my mutt. Comes from a place not my home world. He's not venomous, not particularly vicious at this stage, but he gets bigger. Meaner. He's a predator in his natural habitat. So. What you think, doc? Do alien creatures need shots?"
The pup slid along the slick surface of the tile in the place as it raced toward the newcomer only to try to halt itself mid-motion. Something spooked it about the doc. Definitely interesting. Riddick hadn't seen it get spooked by another predator before. Usually the thing was spiking its wildly colored coat, curling back its lips to expose its sharp juvenile teeth, growling a warning, a threat of violence to match violence, but this time? It seemed to think twice about it. He almost picked the damn thing up when it looked back at him with its bright eyes as if seeking reassurance no one would hurt it.
"I'm not saying I'm going to allow for shots. I'm only asking if you think there's a need."
Riddick let his voice be his warning as he stepped closer to the pup. Letting it know there was someone here for it. He wasn't going to let anyone hurt the mongrel. Not again. Not ever again.
~*~
Rebekah did not want to be living in Hope Springs for longer than strictly necessary. Moving out, however, seemed to require finances she didn’t have and this Test City decided she would be best utilized as an Adoption Coordinator for the animal shelter. It was a bullshit job, but it was less likely to annoy the shit out of her than some of the other options out there. Besides, after spending time with the animals all day, Bex kind of liked them. Taking care of Hope had left a pretty big gap in her responsibilities, which was sort of filled by the dogs and cats who just needed some love. There were a couple of rabbits, too, but the dogs and cats far outnumbered the four rabbits. There wasn’t nearly enough room for the animals, in her opinion, so she spent most of her day taking them out one by one and letting them roam a bit in the room designed to ‘test prospective adopters’ or something like that.
Animals could judge a person after only a few moments, which had made it a little difficult for her to play nice with the ones who didn’t like her simply because they could tell she wasn’t quite right. Rebekah made note of those, so that she could warn any potential adopters who’d been brought here by the city. She was just finishing up for the night, filing away the last bit of paperwork in the back office, when she heard the door open and someone whistle at an obnoxious volume. “Bloody inconsiderate…” she grumbled to herself, already annoyed with whoever decided to come in just before close. Bex rounded the corner to the front, only to find an imposing man and a mongrel of an animal that only the kindest might consider a dog. She was not kind to strangers.
“Just missed her,” she replied, smirking slightly. She’d compelled the woman to leave early and allow Bex to close, though really all she’d wanted was to spend more time with a rather adorable kitten. The mongrel seemed to think twice about how excited he was, which suited her just fine. There’d been enough slobbering today, thank you very much. Still, she wasn’t about to let the weird creature go without asking a few questions. Being good at her job had to mean something. “You can fill out a form, but I’m guessing one look at that mongrel and the vet won’t know what to do with him.” Rebekah crouched down, so that she was more level with the animal.
“There’ll be no slobbering of any sort,” she informed Mutt sternly as she held out her hand. The creature seemed to need reassurance from his owner before carefully stepping forward. Bex appreciated the sedateness and rewarded him with a scratch behind his ears. She flicked her gaze to the large man. “Is he doing anything abnormal or indicating he’s in pain?” The mongrel looked fine, but who was she to say. It wasn’t as if she’d ever met any alien creatures before.
~*~
Woman didn't need to tell Riddick outright she'd helped the doc along in some form or fashion. He could tell by the way her mouth moved, the tone of her voice, the way she seemed to size him up when she told him as if daring him to question why the woman doctor had left early knowing they were meant to still be open. Riddick was no particular kind of genius, but he knew smug when he saw it. People were easy to read if someone was willing to look at them close enough.
Riddick had a feeling plenty had looked close enough at the woman in her life. She held herself the way royals did or the wives of necromonger warlords. Those women had been vipers, but worth fucking. They'd all been used to fighting for every scrap of respect they got which gave them a certain dignity he refused to ignore. This one seemed to feel she was something.
From the smell of her?
She was.
"No."
Riddick had never been a man of many words. He figured if she wanted to ask yes or no questions? He'd give her a yes or no in response. Didn't mean he wasn't going to get a chance to check her out for himself while he was in the neighborhood. He closed the distance between them in order to get a good sense of her smell. Strange. He couldn't place it. Her heartbeat made his seem as if it were racing too which was more than a little concerning.
Furyans all had low resting heart rates. They had low exertion-level heart rates come to that. Their species was meant to wage war. Hearty stock. There weren't weak Furyans. Those were killed off at birth. Or they had been. Before the necros had wiped them out with the exception of Riddick. What about this woman? Was she alone? Was she working in this place because she had no choice? Had the Test City runners put her in place here the way they'd told him to start on at the park?
So many questions. Still no reason for too many words.
"You want to look him over yourself? You don't smell like some pretty, pretty princess. Got a feeling you're plenty more than meets the eye."
What she was? He wouldn't put a guess out about. That was for her to tell him. Riddick wasn't interested in playing children's games with a grown adult woman unless he was fucking her for the fun which came with playing.
~*~
Bex raised an eyebrow at the man, appreciating his short answer. Not often were people so direct, which was at times fun and others trying. At the moment, Rebekah much prefered to the point answers because it was nearly time for her to return to her empty two bedroom apartment. For a large majority of her life, she had always lived with one of her brothers, if not sharing a home with all of them. Being alone was both a blessed relief and far too quiet. She at least had the sense to be grateful Klaus was nowhere to be found. That would be a nightmare waiting to unfold.
The man moved closer, but Bex wasn’t afraid. She was the thing that went bump in the night, and unless he had a white oak stake hidden behind his back, he would not be able to permanently kill her. As such, she was typically a bit reckless when it came to facing dangers she didn’t know much about. “Oh, I like you,” Rebekah mused, lifting herself up to a standing position. “Come along,” she said, turning on her heel to lead the man and his mutt into an exam room. Bex bent down and picked Mutt up, arching an eyebrow when his tongue poked out of his mouth. “Good boy,” she affirmed as he put his tongue away, before setting him on the table. The good doctor had, at least, run Rebekah through the preliminary information to gather, so she could put something together for Mutt.
“Here, fill this out as best you can,” she said to the man, handing over a clipboard and pen so that he could fill out whatever information he knew regarding the species and history of the mutt on the table. “I’m not going to do anything to hurt you,” Bex assured Mutt in a warm, soothing tone. “Come now, stand for me.” She ran her hand along his back, feeling his coat while observing his stance. She moved to stand in front of him, bending slightly to get a good look at his face. “Open,” she instructed, tapping the side of his jaw. He did so, and she could see his teeth were perfectly fine. His eyes, ears, nose and face all seemed fairly normal. She smiled and tapped her cheek. “One lick,” was all Bex said before Mutt yipped and lapped at her cheek. A small chuckle escaped her, pleased at how well behaved the animal was. She rubbed his ears affectionately.
“Your mutt’s just fine. Very well behaved. I’ll keep a file for him, and I can check him over every couple months. Just give me a heads up and I’ll make sure the Doc heads out early again.”
~*~
All of the questions on the form were for Terran animals. Riddick did the best he could with them, crossing out things to replace them with what made more sense to him. He didn't give anything more than Riddick as the owner's name and nothing more than Mutt for the mongrel's while its species was listed simply as "Not Furyan." It was enough to satisfy him. He kept a close watch on the creature toying with his friend. She wasn't much to look at as far as a potential fight could be, but that didn't mean anything.
Looks were often deceiving.
Riddick did not fight an opponent based on looks.
"Thank you. I'll be able to tell when you're alone. No head's up needed unless you want the warning?"
Would she be afraid to be alone with him again? He was the kind of animal most were afraid to be cornered by so it wouldn't hurt his feelings any if she said yes. Riddick had grown up knowing what he was capable of in terms of others, hurting them, helping them, hating them. He was still working on the other things: love versus lust, family versus friendship, kindness versus bartering for favors. It was more complicated being around others than he'd imagined.
There were so many rules where civilization was concerned; Riddick had never done well with rules nor had he any desire to become civilized. The creature had an untamed scent to her similar to the one he related to his wild woman though hers was tainted somehow in a way the wild woman's was not. She was damned perhaps. Cursed. Both those things were real in the world of convicts. Riddick had seen both destroy lives. He'd himself experienced the beauty of being a part of a prophecy.
It came and went. The good with the bad. Riddick didn't mind so much as it was he didn't care one way or the other. He didn't need others. Being alone didn't hurt him. He truly was more comfortable with animals than people of any species or race or gender. Whatever this female creature was? Riddick wasn't afraid of her, but he was curious to see why she wasn't afraid of him.
He was something worthy of being feared.
"I'd hate to make you uncomfortable."
Riddick didn't care about it in truth, but he'd become more attuned to people than he liked to think about. It wasn't about being civilized in his eyes. It was about becoming more---alive. There was a difference between living and existing. He'd existed for a long time. It was nice to think he could learn how to live instead. Funny to think he'd started learning how to live after meeting a race who worshipped death. The Necros had taken---Kyra from him. They hadn't taken enough from him to make him feel weaker or hopeless though. They'd taught him how to savor his life which he still had, they hadn't taken from him, and he ruled them alive in their city of death.
He was proud to stand before this female creature amused at whatever threat she posed to him.
~*~
She took the clipboard from him and skimmed it over. He’d changed things as needed - Riddick - which she appreciated. Bex gave Mutt another scratch behind the ears before taking a larger manilla folder and setting up his file. “Best to give the warning, all the same,” she insisted firmly, giving him a cold look. Rebekah was not going to get caught unawares, no matter that she could defend herself quite well against whatever the hell a Furyan was.
“Rebekah,” she introduced, holding her hand out for him, as was the appropriate thing to do. Riddick was at least interesting, and Mutt was cute, she decided. If she was going to do good with this damn job, she was grateful it was for someone who was also an ‘other’. Being an Original Vampire was a blessing and a curse in many ways, and often she wondered if the only solace she’d ever find would be with her brothers. Perhaps it was a good thing she’d been sent to a mortal’s body in Elijah’s time. Maybe she finally had a bloody chance to be happy.
“Oh, I daresay it would take more than an unannounced visit to make me uncomfortable. After the first few hundred years, the shock wears off. If you were to find a way to make me uncomfortable? You’ll have accomplished something no one has been able to in a very, very long time.” Bex smirked slightly. “Bring your mutt back in six to eight weeks, if we’re here that long. Something tells me we’re stuck here for the foreseeable future, disappointing though that seems.” Bex handed Mutt a treat before allowing him off the table. She put a few more in a paper bag and held them out to Riddick.
~*~
Shaking hands? Riddick could barely contain his eyeroll behind his goggles. It was easy enough to do it though. Making a pretense at civility was something he'd had to do from time to time to keep from starving or winding up back in some slam. Hell was a maximum security no-daylight slam for most people; for Riddick, it was pretending to be civilized to avoid going back to one. He was careful not to squeeze the female's hand too tight before letting it go.
"Cold," he remarked, "Slow pulse. Must be the result of those hundreds of years you been kicking around."
He didn't care what she was so much as it interested him. Riddick was rarely interested. He'd seen so much---there was little mystery left in his world. That was what made all of this worth it to him, wild woman aside. It was giving him a chance to remember why living was important, why living was interesting, why living was worth it for more than just saying he survived against all their wishes.
Riddick was tired of fighting to survive in spite of the odds for no other reason than he refused to let them put him down for the animal he was, take his life, make him dead. He was tired of living only to keep living. The desert before this? It'd taught him how to keep up with the random shit what could be thrown at him. This place was teaching him he could survive even inside the realm of somewhat civilization. His skin burned from it, galled, but he was surviving as he always did. This would be good for him, he decided.
There were few things which could hurt the animal to the best of Riddick's knowledge. Whatever she gave him to eat? He seemed to like it and it didn't smell like shit. Riddick appreciated that. People who could show kindness to animals? Be unafraid in the face of something as alien as his mongrel? They were worth being respected which Riddick could do. He knew all about respect. He demanded it for himself and he'd be damned if he wouldn't show it to someone who deserved it in return.
"I was somewhere else before here, Rebekah. Lot longer than a few weeks. It's hit or miss on how long anyone stays. I say: get comfortable. Me? I'll be nice and knock the next time I come around. I'm not interested in testing out whether or not I can be a once-in-a-lifetime thrill for you. Scared enough people in my life. Got nothing left to prove. See you around, Rebekah. Most likely later rather than sooner. I hate civilization."
Riddick would rather stay in the shadows of the park with his little group than wander into the city limits anytime. Every time. He left without looking back, the mongrel following at his heels without even a call to order. They were wanderers who traveled together, the pair of them. Riddick didn't need to ask the creature to walk the same road with him; he'd already earned its trust enough to ensure as long as it was living, he'd never walk alone again.