My brother, the Wolf Man Who: Lily and Jack Where: Outside O'Reilly's When: Late, late evening
Lily moved down the street, hands in pockets as she walked. She had been looking for Jack since she got out of work and was seeming to lack the apparent luck one needed to find him. He wasn't answering her texts or phone calls and that was enough to make her begin to panic. What if the vampire blood was only a temporary fix? She picked up her pace at the disturbing thought of him on the brink of death somewhere. She cared about her brothers more than anyone else in the world, including herself. At least she could worry about Mannix a little less now, in theory.. maybe they could look into getting Jack on the vampire train.
She was quickly approaching O'Reilly's when her gaze landed on a familiar figure exiting the bar, a wave of relief washing over her followed by extreme irritation. Here she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown and there he was, apparently ignoring her?
Her steps got heavier as she stormed after Jack, anger building in her with every inch she grew closer to him. Once she caught up, she whacked his arm without warning then dropped clenched fists at her sides. "Why the fuck aren't you in the hospital?" Well, she already knew the answer to that. Still, she wished he would have at least waited until the doctor had given him a clean bill of health.
Jack winced, noting immediately it was Lily. Wait. No. He noted it just a second before she hit him, because he recognized her perfume. Right. "Ow," he said, rubbing at the spot she hit. "Why the hell are you hitting someone who should still be in the hospital?" he countered. "What the hell?" he asked. Though, he could answer that without her help. He'd not been answering her. He knew that. It wasn't that he intended to ignore her forever, just until tomorrow, when he was hoping to have a clearer head. Which, obviously that wasn't going to fly.
The thing was, as much as he adored her, up until this forced lockdown? Most of the major events in Jack's life weren't shared with her. She was off someplace safe while he was off doing dangerous shit all over the place. When he saw her, he sure as hell didn't share the awful things with her. He brought her presents and told her things she would want to hear. So, it hadn't actually occurred to him to go talk to her about this. Which was obviously not the brightest move.
Lily narrowed her eyes at Jack, voice sharper than her typical breezy tone. “Because you should be in the hospital.” Her gaze shifted to observe a small group hustling out of the bar, fixating her attention back on Jack. “Care to explain why you couldn’t wait? What was so important you had to get out so soon?” She crossed her arms, impatiently waiting for an answer that probably wouldn’t calm her down.
"I hate hospitals." Jack said. "And I'm okay. It...looked worse than it was." he said, which was a blatant lie, but he wasn't going to tell her anything til they were someplace where he was sure they woudn't be overheard. He'd pretty much regrown a kidney in a few days, and there wasn't any true explaining that. He shouldn't be out walking around, not by a long shot.
Lily rolled her eyes. “Congratulations. You and everyone else hates hospitals, they’re not fun.. you don’t go there for a good time.” Her mind wandered back to all the times she had told Jack bruises she had wore weren’t as bad as they looked. Her own lies made her doubt the words he spoke to her. “Don’t lie to me, I saw you with my own eyes and there’s no way it wasn’t that bad.” Avoiding the truth was just aggravating her further.
"I never said my reasons were original." Jack protested. He also glanced around. "...let's take a walk, Lil. Head someplace private. I'll tell you the whole story." he promised, even if he kind of didn't want to. He didn't know what she would do. Besides possibly freak out, so there was that. He didn't want to scare her.
Lily sighed, wondering why this had to be an explanation that would take place in private; she wasn't sure she even wanted to know what was going on now. "Okay.." She took a step in the original direction he had been heading, assuming that would be a fine place to start walking to. On the plus side, at least her wariness was taking over her previous spout of anger.
Jack opted to start them in the direction of her place, since she was leaving it to him. "How've you been otherwise?" he asked, so they didn't walk in awkward silence the whole time. "Anything new?" he asked.
Lily appreciated the small talk, though she wasn’t sure exactly what she wanted to share with her brother about her day. Mannix came out about being a vampire. “Manny and I beat eachother up for a little bit.” She grinned, electing their kickboxing match to be appropriate conversation. She knew Jack obviously was aware of Mannix’ new state of being, but she didn’t really want to bring it up with others around.. it didn’t seem like the right kind of conversation to have anywhere other than a private setting. “I met some guy you guys know, apparently.. Lance.” The less details of that interaction, the better. “And then I met another really nice guy tonight.. we’re going to get drinks sometime.” She smiled, excited about that one. “So, I’ve been pretty good.” She would ask how he had been, but that seemed to be what they would be getting to eventually.. and she wasn’t sure she was going to like it. Still, she didn’t want to just leave the conversation at that. “Are you sure you really feel better?” She eyed him as best she could in the dark.. at least he looked fine, but she couldn’t tell how he was feeling.
Nodding, Jack listened. "Lance...yeah, I remember that guy." he said, even if they weren't buddies or anything. But he did know that immediately, he wanted to roll his eyes and had to fight not to. Because yeah. Lance? No. He was a trader, and Lily shouldn't be saying he was a nice guy. Or going out for drinks with him. Perhaps he'd have to have a chat with Lance before that happened. "I'm glad to hear you're well." he told her, going for that. "I'm really sure." he told her, voice a little softer than usual, to help pound that point home.
Lily didn’t think much of his answer on Lance, her attention immediately shifting to the other guy she mentioned. “Do you know Mickey?” Even saying his name pepped her up just a little bit, a small smile crossing her lips. Sure, she had only talked to him for a little bit tonight, but he seemed a hell of a lot nicer than most guys she found herself attracted to. Her smile grew a little bigger when Jack reassured her he felt okay. She wasn’t completely done worrying, but she at least felt just a tad bit better seeing him with her own eyes and hearing his genuine tone. She glanced around as they walked, no other bodies being brought to her attention now. “So…” She looked to the ground. She wasn’t sure what question to even ask, so she felt it was better to leave the dialogue mostly up to her brother.
Mickey. Right. Weirdly, even if he thought the guy was a dick, he really didn't think that he would be mean to his sister. So, the second she mentioned that guy's name(and he saw that spark in her), Jack actually smiled. "Yeah, I know him. Nice guy." he said. Fundamentally, he probably was. He'd been willing to feed Mannix his blood even if he didn't particularly like the guy. Just because he was a douchebag didn't mean he wouldn't be good to a lady. "That's a good tone if I ever heard one. You like him?" he asked. He saw her glance around. "Not yet. We're waiting til we're back to your place." he assured her. “Tell me about you and Mickey instead.”
Jack saying Mickey was a nice guy was like a gold seal of approval. She didn’t think she had ever heard a good thing come out of his mouth in regards to a guy she had shown interest in, so she wasn’t even entirely sure what to do with that statement. She was quiet for a minute until his question registered, running a hand through her hair. “I don’t know.. I just met him when I was finishing up at work.” With how bubbly her voice had become, the answer was pretty obvious. She knew they weren’t too far off from her place, so she was confident she could be patient enough to wait until then to have the top secret conversation. “He asked me if I wanted to get a drink.. but I had to come find you.” She reached over and poked Jack. “So thanks for that.” She was only teasing, of course. No guy, no matter how giddy she got thinking about him, would ever come before her brothers. “And he even paid for my food, which I didn’t realize until he left.” Her gaze shifted up towards the sky.. well, the dome’s ceiling, really. “I gave him my number.. do you think he’ll call me? Or text?”
"I'm interrupting a date? Why didn't you say so?" Jack asked. "Let's knock this out quick so you can get to that." he encouraged, picking up his pace. "And I think he will." He'd better, with you looking this starry eyed. went through Jack's mind. Would it just make things sour if he encouraged that? Hm. "He sounds like he was treating you real nice."
Lily did her best to match Jack’s pace, though she had to move a little bit quicker to keep up with his steps. “Oh, there’s no point now. I don’t know where he went and I don’t have his number.” Her eyes focused back on Jack, nodding her head in agreement. “It was really nice for him to do that.” Sometimes, it really was just the little things. “Anything exciting going on in your love life?” She didn’t see a need to change the topic, and she always liked to try and stay on top of this kind of information.
"I can get you his number." Jack said. "And will." he added. Because yes, he was going to fully encourage this. "As for my love life..." he trailed off, not sure what to say. Mostly because he knew his sister wouldn't actually approve of how he conducted it. He wasn't a one woman man, though he never made a secret of that. He wasn't the kind of guy who fooled a girl into thinking she was The One, then fucking off. That was just cruel. But still.
Lily quickly shook her head. “I can’t look desperate.” Normally, she didn’t really care if someone would consider her as looking desperate or not. If she wanted someone, or something, she wasn’t afraid to do what she needed to in order to get their attention.. but again, with the different feelings floating around her at the thought of him, she wanted to try a different approach.
Her previous stupid grin morphed into one of pure amusement, sensing Jack either didn’t know what to say about his current romances or that he didn’t really want her to know. “Come on, baby brother. You can tell me.” She poked at him again, as if the act would just force a secret or two to come flying out of his mouth.
"It's not desperate, it's 'interested'." Jack said. "But whatever, if you want to let a guy slip through your fingers when you live in a closed environment and there's a limited amount of them, two of which you're related to, that's your call..." he teased. "And what's to tell? I've gone out a time or two with Maggie, the hairdresser."
Lily waved her hand at him. "He can't know I was talking about him enough to get his number from you. I have to be elusive." She wiggled her brows. "Well, that's incredibly boring. Is she the only girl you're talking to?" She assumed if he was really interested in her, he'd have a little more to say. She wanted passionate stories, the stuff soap operas and romance novels were made of.
"Sorry I'm not entertaining enough." he said. He started them through her lawn, then got up her porch, holding the door for her. "And yeah, so far she's the only girl I'm talking to. If you want better love life stories, talk to Mannix." he continued. "Anyway, got a drink? You might need one."
That was the second time she'd heard Mannix' name in conjunction with romantic notions today, apparently her older brother was busy being quite the lady killer these days. "I'll let it slide this time. Don't let it happen again." Lily offered Jack a grin, walking through the door as he held it open for her. "Oh.. okay." There was both beer and moonshine available, so she opted for the stronger given the conversation was seeming like she would need it. She wandered towards the kitchen, looking back towards him. "I have some of Zan's moonshine. Do you want any?"
"No, that's okay." he said, considering he couldn't get drunk anymore. Though if anything would do it, Zan's moonshine would. He shut the door, then went and dropped down onto the couch.
Lily nodded firmly, finding it incredibly odd Jack denied a drink from her. This really must have been serious. She nearly scrambled to get a jar of the moonshine, hurrying over to the couch to join him. “Okay, I’m about to have a panic attack. What’s going on?” Her eyes ran over him again, wondering if she missed any cuts or bruises from before.
"I'm a werewolf." Jack said, figuring there wasn't an easy way to drop that kind of news. "Still not sure what that entails, per se, but...yeah. So, that. That's what's been up with me, and why I was out of the hospital faster than I ever should have been."
Lily blinked a few times, silently taking a large sip from the jar in her hand. After a minute of just staring at Jack, she finally spoke. “Come again?” She hadn’t believed Mannix when he shared that he was a vampire until he showed her proof. Now, Jack was saying he was another type of supernatural creature altogether, and one he couldn’t necessarily prove being. “Are you and Manny just fucking with me?” She knew Mannix wasn’t lying after what he’d shown her, but maybe this werewolf thing was an actual joke.
"No." Jack said. "We're really not." He paused, then pulled the bandage off of his hand to show her where the silver had burned him. It was a perfect shape of his pendant. "Silver isn't nice to me anymore." he explained.
Lily took another drink from the jar, and another, then set it on the floor by her feet. She had been able to accept pretty well the idea of her older brother being a vampire.. as long as he got his blood and stayed out of the sunlight, it seemed like he’d be okay. Werewolves, though? That shit was scary. Stories always said people turned into these crazy monster wolves that just went crazy on everyone and everything. She took his hand, turning it over before studying the burn closely. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes as she returned her gaze to her little brother’s face. “We don’t know what this means at all? How do you even know for sure?”
"I don't. It just makes sense. I've got senses a hundred times better than before, I heal faster than I should, silver burns me now when it didn't before, I've been feeling...I don't even know how to describe it, I suppose." he admitted, shrugging. "And I'm not the only one who put two and two together with the whole attacked by rogue wolves thing. We'll know for sure soon though...the full moon is right around the corner." He reached out to rub her shoulder lightly. “Don’t cry.”
Lily listened to every word, each of his points slowly registering with her. He was right with the timing and the strange effects the attacks seemed to leave with him. She wanted to argue that it could be anything, maybe he was suffering from a bought of PTSD or something, but she knew that would be silly. If vampires were real, werewolves could also be very real, and it was seeming like her brother was going to be one pretty damn soon. “Werewolves turn into animals on a full moon. It’s probably going to hurt.” She felt her throat tighten. “What if you can’t turn back?” The shoulder rub wasn’t seeming to help, tears beginning to spill onto her cheeks.
"In theory." Jack said with a shrug. "No one knows yet. We'll find out, though. Don't worry about it hurting, I can hack it." he assured her, even if he had no way of knowing if that was true. When she was crying harder, he pulled her into a hug. "I wouldn't be a werewolf I'd just be a wolf. Which doesn't seem to make sense to me. So don't worry about me not turning back, okay?"
Lily didn't doubt how tough Jack was, she had grown up in the same house with him and had seen him carry his fair share of bruises and wounds. But the idea of his entire body bending and breaking to morph into some type of wolf creature? That was on a whole nother level, and she couldn't completely believe him when he tried reassuring her he would be able to handle it fine. All of this was just so unknown and she didn't like not having answers. "When is the full moon?"
"In two days." Jack said. "I'll contact you afterwards, okay?" he said. "Don't worry. It'll be okay." he assured her again. He wanted her as calm and collected as possible. He wanted her to feel okay.
Lily shifted herself towards Jack, wrapping her arms around his neck to return his hug. "I should've been there to protect you that night." She probably wouldn't have been able to do anything to protect him in all actuality, but it didn't stop her from wishing it had happened to her instead. She would do anything to protect him from this. "Please make sure you really do contact me after. Or. Can I be there?" She knew the answer would probably be a hell no, but she had to try.
He gave a light chuckle. "Lil, the wolf was practically bigger than you. You know I can take care of myself." If she had been there, it probably would have killed her. It had nearly killed him. "I promise I'll contact you. But...I'd rather you weren't there." He had no idea what would actually go down, and her being the fuck elsewhere was a good plan.
Lily hadn’t been surprised by the answer, having been expecting it. She nodded as she released him from the hug she had wrapped him in. “So, Manny is a vampire and you’re a werewolf.” She stared down at her hands. “Way to make me look fucking boring, guys.” Trying to lighten the mood was near impossible for her, her joke only bringing a momentary half grin to her lips.
He laughed. "Yep. That's it." he said. He gave her a grin. "Want to join the club? I could always see if biting you makes you a werewolf too..." he teased.
Lily quickly shook her head, “I think I’ll pass on that. I’m going to find a unicorn and see if it’ll bite me, so I can be one of those.” She ran a hand through her hair, slowly processing the information she was given now that she was beginning to calm down some. “I swear, if you don’t get in touch with me right away, I’m going to die of a heart attack. Or, I’ll kill you. One of the two, maybe both.”
"I swear, I'll call you." Jack assured her, reaching out to give her hand a squeeze, and he was sure to hold eye contact. "It'll be fine." he promised, still having no clue if it would be or not. But still.