If I Followed You Home, Would You Keep Me? (Nick)

[Serena McKenzie]

((This thread is also open... the 'Open' wouldn't fit in the title, though... It was mainly composed as a follow up for "First Day, First Impressions", though I'm a pretty 'go-with-the-flow kinda girl, so if you feel your character can jump in, go ahead.))

As the sun hid itself behind the trees on the horizon, a black cat slowly became mostly invisible to the world. A quiet purring surrounded the air around it as it lounged on a rooftop, tail twitching and flicking in contempt. Its eyes were on the horizon, watching as the sun lowered, and trying to remember what it had to do. In fact, it was rather starting to bug the small black cat. Pushing itself up, it stretched and gave itself a small shake. The purring stopped, and it began to make its way along the edges of the building, making its way to the old and rusty fire escape.

Her eyes gazed upon the city before making her way down the stairs. It was 8:30 in the evening, and the cat had the impending feeling that she really did have to be somewhere. Serena paused, tail twitching in agitation as she looked back on her day through the haziness of well-fed'edness and the urges of sleep. She'd woken up late, and had to prepare for a big day. What had been the big day? Arriving at the second level on the fire escape, the black cat squeezed through the bars and jumped down to a closed garbage bin.

Right. She'd had a job interview. Had she gotten it? Yes, she did believe she did. ... Now where was it...? Pushing away the more feline thoughts that tended to riddle her mind in this form, Serena came to the edge of the sidewalk. Tonight there weren't many creatures awake. The odd person passed by, not once giving the solitary black cat a second glance. Raising her paw, she began gently grooming it, though it was perfectly clean, it was a habit she had when thinking. Riiight. Giving herself a small shake, Serena took off, her small paws lightly touching the cement as she made her way to the King's Garden.

She had to be there for nine o'clock.

Few people noticed as Serena ran her way to the King's Garden. She kept mainly to the shadows of street lamps, and by the time she bounded her way around a corner and came in sight of the restaurant, she was breathing heavily. Pausing to take a moment to groom her back and chest, the cat shook herself and padded over to the side of the entrance doors.

A drunk staggered out of a bar not far down the street and began hobbling his way in her direction. With halfhearted contempt, Serena watched him. Her ears flattened slightly when he took notice of her as he passed. ”Wellsh... hello dere kitty kishy.” His words were horribly slurred, but she continued to fix him with a stare, keeping her expression carefully neutral. ”Are you homelesh?” He cooed to her, bending down to pick her up.

Her lips pulled back, and a terrible hiss escaped her lungs as she puffed up her fur, backing away slightly. ”Well aren't you a little bitsh?” He growled. Ears tucked back against her head, she fixed him in a glare, similar to the one she had given that dog earlier today. He looked around, and picked up a thin branch that must have fallen from a tree not too far away. A low growl escaped her, and Serena's eyes darted to the door of the restaurant.

In the background, she faintly noted that the town clock struck the ninth hour. Her tail twitched in slight agitation. Where was Nick? Her eyes turned too late to the man, who had stumbled back to her and sent the stick cracking down. She gave a yelp, jumping back and hissing and growling at the man, attention turned fully to him. She could feel a slight sting on her back, telling her that one of the smaller sticks along the branch had cut her. A throb echoed through her whole body with every pump from her heart, and she knew that this was definitely going to bruise later. Collecting herself, she managed to jump out of the way of the next swing of his branch, but not his foot as it collided heavily with her shoulder.

Her hisses and growls were cut short as she collided with the brick wall. Wincing, she pushed herself up, now a bundle of fur and claws, and launched herself at his feet. Her sharp claws and teeth dug in, causing deep gauges before she was finally pulled off and thrown into the building again. Her back arched, fur puffing out as the man raised the branch again.

((Wow... can you believe she was seriously just going to sit outside the restaurant all innocent like until he came out....? lol ))

[Annamarie Cooper]

Annamarie,now known as June Cassidy was taking a walk.She loved the sunset,the bright orange sun against the light pink sky surrounded by lavender clouds,but now it had finished setting.She then heard hissing and commotion.She saw a man,obviously drunk,tormenting a cat,which made her feel as if she was on fire.

He would not hurt that cat again,not if she had anything to say about it,she loved animals and hated bullies,and this man reminded her of Jamie.She saw him raise the branch and took it from him and put it back as it was before."Who does you think you is?",he asked,stumbling over his words."Why do you care?" "Oh excuse me, your Highness!" "You are excused."At that the man got angry and attempted to hit her.

However,he was Human and she was a Werewolf,so she grabbed his fist."That would be ill advised,leave the cat alone and stumble off elsewhere."He gave her a look,"I'm not going to ask nicely if that is what you want." He then left the cat alone and left.

Now that she was closer,she could smell that the cat was really a shapeshifter.She looked around and saw the man was gone.She whispered to the cat,"It's alright,he's gone now.Everything will be alright."
She often would refrain from using contractions when she didn't like someone or was being teased,she often put up a wall to protect herself emotionally,by being stoic she could avoid torment and scare away bullies.

However,she was really a compassionate person that could be caring even to strangers,especially to those who were vulnerable.That was a lesson she credited to Nick and Alexis,but most of all,her eternal friend Clara.She lowered her voice,"I know you're a shapeshifter,it's okay you don't have it to hide anymore."

[Serena McKenzie]

Just before the branch came cracking down onto her, a hand reached out and took it from the man. Back still arched, Serena’s eyes darted over to the woman behind the drunken man. She had a look in her eyes, one of pure determination and disgust. A catty smirk crossed Serena’s lips, though she hid it behind a hiss directed once again at the man. It didn’t take much to convince him, in his drunken state, to bugger off and leave them alone. As he waddled away, Serena’s back settled to normal, and she instantly turned and began to lick the cut on her back. Her fur began to settle, and finally she looked like a normal, calm cat once again.

”It’s alright, he’s gone now. Everything will be alright.” Pausing her licking, Serena tossed the girl a look as though to say ’I know, I’m not blind,’ and returned to her grooming. After a couple more licks, she stood and shook herself, then padded up to the girl, gently rubbing against her legs with a soft purr of thanks. ”I know you’re a shapeshifter, it’s okay you don’t have it to hide anymore.” Her ears folded back, and she looked up to give the girl a look of contempt as she flicked her tail side-to-side and returned to her spot beside the door.

There was no way she could know she was a shapeshifter. She couldn’t be a mind reader, and even then, Serena hadn’t been thinking ’Oh, when I get out of my shapeshifted form I am so going to kick your @$$.’ Actually, that had been very far from her thoughts, though now that it crossed her mind, it didn’t seem like a half-bad idea. Her nose twitched in the air, lightly testing it for the foul odour of alcohol. It had faded greatly, though if she were really up to it, she could easily hunt the man down.

Stretching out, she gave a yawn. Perhaps another time; she didn’t exactly feel like dirtying her claws any more than they were. Shaking herself she gave the girl another look of contempt, and if she could, she would have raised an eyebrow. Her eyes slowly turned back to the doors of the restaurant, tail twitching as she patiently waited for Nick to finish his shift.

To her utter horror, when she returned her gaze to the girl, she was still there. She crouched down, shoulder blades prominently protruding, while her tail swished violently, showing her slight displeasure as she fixed the girl in a stare. Perhaps if she just acted more feline, she would believe herself mistaken and continue on her way.

Who was this girl? This girl who believed she knew her secret? It wasn’t as though she had a collar, though she was obviously well-fed, so it was possible that this “cat” had a home. There was nothing about her appearance that even mildly suggested that she was, in fact, human. Having years of practise, Serena had perfected her feline form; she knew that she looked exactly like a cat, there was no way that this girl could have noticed something strange about her appearance. Her ears flattened slightly, something that cats frequently do when people stare at them.

Yawning, she rolled over onto her side, rubbing her back against the cement. It was still slightly warm from the sun, and a loud purr reverberated through her chest. Turning her head, she fixed the girl with one eye, an invitation for the girl to come over and rub her stomach; the only thing, actually, that could make this situation more enjoyable.

[Nick Cooper]

Nick stepped out into the night, relieved to be finally off for the night. He loosened his tie and breathed in the cool night air. He leaned against the concrete wall of the restaurant, people paid little attention to him as they passed by.
He kept looking at his watch, he thought Serena would be there already but as the clock turn 9:10, Nick figured she wasn’t going to show and proceeded to his car.

He put his hands in his pockets and started to walk down the sidewalk to where he had parked his car, he started to pass a bar when he noticed a man, beating a cat with a branch.
Then there was a girl, she took control of the situation. Taking the branch from the man.
Nick breathed in their scents, the man smelled drunk, the girl smelled like a wolf and someone familiar. The cat smelled like… well cat but with several other scents mixed in.
He realized the girl smelled like his family but he couldn’t pick up the complete scent to know which one of his family it was, not in his human form anyway.

The man took a swing at the girl only to have his fist caught by her, Nick stepped forward but the man turned tail and stumbled off. Nick then approached the girl and cat “Are you okay?” he asked the girl. He glanced at the girl and sighed, Annamarie. He hadn’t seen her in a while.

Nick turned his attention to the cat, he wondered how much damage the man had caused to the animal but he noticed it seemed unaffected by the beating. He found that strange but cats seemed to be very strange creatures, he would never quite understand them.

[Serena McKenzie]

Finally Nick came into view, and Serena quickly rolled over onto her stomach with a pleased ”mrrp”. Giving her fur a nice shake-out, she trotted over to him, her feet skimming the pavement as she came up to him. Purring loudly, she began to rub up against his legs, looking up at him with a pleased expression.

Balancing on her hind legs, she reached up with her front paws, gently patting him on the thigh for him to pick her up. A rather loud and obnoxious ”moow” left her, and she rubbed the side of her cheek on the fabric of his pants. She was half-tempted to jump up onto his chest, but thought twice of it when she realized she’d have to use her claws to stay up. Purring softly, she allowed herself to fall back down, slipping into a sitting position with her tail swaying side to side, fixing him with her large blue eyes.

Too bad she’d forgotten her meeting with him, this would have been a lot less awkward on her part had she’d remembered. She sent a quiet pray, hoping he wouldn’t find out any time soon and think her a crazy stalker. Alas, she could potentially have quite a bit of fun in this form, if she played it out right.

[Nick Cooper]

Nick was a little surprised by the cat’s friendliness; he had expected it to be more wary of humans after the man beat it.He knelt down and petted the cat; he wasn’t much of a cat person. He was more of a dog person, ever since he could remember his family had always owned a dog or two.

Nick glanced up the as the door of the bar opened, three men stepped out.
Nick knew these men, the first and biggest was the alpha of one of the local packs.

They started past him, two of them growling as they did and the alpha spat as Nick’s feet and grinned. Nick returned it with a low growl;
the alpha just glared at him and said “You’re lucky I’m in no mood to fight.”
They continued down the sidewalk, if he didn’t think he would have been seen Nick would have shifted right there and chased after them. He sighed, looking back at the cat and continued to pet it.

[Annamarie Cooper]

"June" looked at the cat who seemed unhappy,Yet another to add to the list of people who think I am weird.
She then saw someone who she was sure wasn't on that list."Nick!",she exclaimed happy to see her brother.She then saw a man spit on him,a werewolf she could tell as he got closer.She anxiously waited for what would happen next,she squeezed her eyes tightly together.Nick just growled and they left.
"Thanks for doing the smart thing,they'll be dead from liver failure soon enough anyway",it wasn't a very nice thing to say,but they didn't seem like nice people. Annamarie smiled,she had come here to save the big brother who had always saved her and here he was."Nick,I'm so glad you're okay!",she said, opening her arms to hug him.

[Serena McKenzie]

Flicking her tail side to side, Serena pressed her cheek against his hand as he pet her, purring loudly. She was pleased to be receiving attention; and glad that he hadn’t merely pushed her away. For the moment, she was lost in being the centre of attention, very much enjoying it, and all other thoughts were pushed from her head.

Of course, no one could have a serene moment without some jerk-offs coming to ruin it, could they? A rather loud and boisterous group pushed through the doors of the bar. Three men. Actually, Serena thought them to be quite attractive, particularly the larger one. Her purring paused as she turned her head to inspect them, shivering in delight slightly when she saw his large muscles ripple with the slightest movement. And... her moment of perfect swooning was cut short when the three decided to make a noise that set her nerves on end, and fur spiking. They growled. At first she’d thought it was at her, and her ears folded back, and she returned a catty growl of her own, eyes narrowing to slits.

Then she realized that they were growling at Nick. The boy froze, watching them with measured caution. They spit at Nick’s feet, and she had to dodge to escape the glob of saliva and mucus. A loud snarl escaped her, and she padded closer to Nick’s leg, sitting beside him and glaring at the three. She would not hesitate to attack if they tried anything else. Sure, she was a small cat, but she could give out a beating when she wanted to. It was usually easier if she just changed form to a panther, her favourite “beating” form, but it would look strange if a random panther popped out of nowhere. So she sat, tapping her tail in agitation. Her ears perked in surprise as Nick growled back. ”You’re lucky I’m in no mood to fight.”

’Oh, but I am.’[/i] Serena thought with a glare at the large man. They walked away, and Serena was glad to return to being pet, accepting the situation quite easily. But then he had to be stolen away again when the girl from before, who seemed a rather timid little creature a moment ago, as she hugged him. Backing away to avoid being trampled by feet, Serena gave a displeased ”Mrrmp.”

Sitting back down to watch, the ‘cat’ tilted its head to the side, watching with mild interest before she began grooming herself. She paused, giving another loud ”Mrrr,” as she stood and paced side to side in front of them, in a sort of ‘hey, look at me! Remember the cat down here?!’ fashion. She jumped up onto the window ledge along the bar, leaning forward and reaching out with a paw.[/size]

[Nick Cooper]

Nick hugged Annamarie back “Why are you here?” he asked.
He released her and turned his attention back to the cat, who was trying to get their attention.
He scratched the cat behind the ears and then lifted it into his arms. He was beginning to like this cat more and more, he wondered if it belonged to anyone

He looked back at Annamarie, if she was here, how long would it be until the rest of his siblings showed up or his mother. Nick tensed at the thought; he wished he could be just left alone.

He continued petting the cat, trying to shake free of the thoughts of his old pack.

[Annamarie Cooper]

June was glad to feel her brother's hug her again,but she knew she had to warn him about the black sheep that most of their family consisted of.She saw something her brother was holding something with big,blue orbs for eyes and black fur that the now twilight sky was rushing to match colors with.She remembered who she saw before Nick,the grumpy shapeshifter.
She gave the "cat" a cold look,one that looked a little hurt too.You little ungrateful, bratty and...and....furry diva!, she knew she was taking this a bit too seriously,but she hated rejection.She looked at her brother,"I will tell you,Nicky,but we have to make sure that shapeshifter",she pointed at the cat he was holding,"is not going to repeat our conversation." "I saved you from that drunken idiot,you owe me one!",she said angrily at the feline/shapeshifter in question.

[Serena McKenzie]

As she was lifted to his chest, Serena began purring louder, eyes closing slightly as she gently nudged her head against his shoulder. She liked this Nick guy. He’d seemed pretty good in the restaurant earlier, and he was an amazing petter; she was definitely going to keep him around. Now if only she could get him to cook. Her rough tongue flicked over the tips of his fingers before she nudged him again.

”-but we have to make sure that shapeshifter is not going to repeat our conversation.” Her nudges stopped short, and she turned her head to eye the girl with one eye. Her ears flattened in annoyance. She just wasn’t going to let it go, was she? Couldn’t she see she was a little occupied and enjoying herself at the moment? Noooo, apparently not. It was hardly fair that this girl was allowed to go blurting out to the world what she was when Serena hadn’t a clue what the little whiner was herself. She was probably something stupid, although that would make her “brother” the same thing. Stifling an inner sigh of annoyance, she settled in Nick’s arms, watching the girl with cool blue eyes.

”I saved you from that drunken idiot, you owe me one!” Actually, she technically owed her nothing. She was merely being a model citizen and saving a poor, defenceless kitty from a beating it didn’t deserve. But, if that was how she was going to play, then fine. It wasn’t as though she hadn’t thanked her; she had, and then she pulled the ‘le gasp! You’re a shapeshifter!’ card, when there was no possible way she could have known. Of course, now it was a little difficult to deny it. Most cats wouldn’t simply look over when someone was talking about them.

If cats could roll their eyes, Serena would have, but she settled with a small sneeze and stretched slightly in the boy’s arms, getting comfortable as she began to purr again. Her tail twitched, and the tip ran across her closed mouth in an almost “zipper” motion. ’My lips are sealed, biot^h,’[/b] she internally muttered. She really hated it when someone rained on her parade.[/size]

[Annamarie Cooper]

June looked at the shapeshifter,he/she really wanted to make this a bad,didn't she? Then,she saw her cross her mouth with her tail,indicating silence."Thank you,you do not know what that means too me." "June" then started to pet the cat saying,"Who's a good boy or girl,you are!"
Then June remembered where she was,"Nick,I came to warn you the old pack is looking for you,but I can get the Hunters to help you and Alexis get away",she said. "Alexis is a good person and a good sister,but Jamie and Connor are more animals than people,and I'm not just saying that because they are werewolves."
Despite the seriousness of the situation,she could not help but pet the cat's soft,black fur again. "Seriously,I don't know if you're female or male,but you are pretty cute."
Then she remembered she was talking to an intelligent being."Not that I am hitting on wu! Wait did I just say "wu" instead of "you"?

[Serena McKenzie]

Her fur spiked in slight surprise when the girl just began petting her. Was she really talking to her as though she were a baby? Half of Serena wanted to complain, the other half really didn’t care so long as she was getting what she wanted. Leaning her head into the girl’s hand, Serena closed her eyes, the protective white lid sliding across her eyes in pleasure.

Half of their conversation was lost on her; she just didn’t really care about it. But when the term ‘werewolf’ popped up, her ears shot upwards and she looked to the two in mild shock. Of course they must have been something, but she hadn’t thought it would have been a werewolf.

To be honest, she didn’t understand the appeal of werewolves now-a-days. The idea of some muscle-headed male bursting into a snarling, drooling mongrel being attractive was another thing lost on her. Her eyes looked up to Nick. He definitely didn’t seem like some muscle-headed idiot. In fact, he seemed rather lanky to her, not at all the seven foot body builder with rippling muscles that she usually associated with werewolves. Either way, it would certainly explain the growling. It also changed her plans of keeping him around more often. If she was going to decide to be this kid’s friend, they had to get it straight that she wouldn’t tolerate being chased up trees, having drool all over her house, and heaven forbid he even consider marking his territory in her house. If they can follow these simple rules, she believed that they were going to be good friends.

She settled back down into his arms, flipping onto her back to allow her belly to be scratched. ”Seriously, I don’t know if you’re female or male, but you are pretty cute. Not that I am hitting on wu!” Serena gave a small ”mrp,” of agreement. She didn’t mind flirting with girls as a joke, but she was far from being bisexual. How could the girl not realize she was female? She definitely was not packing balls near her tail, and she wouldn’t have fixed herself if she were. Oh well.

Her ear twitched, and she flipped back onto her stomach, raising up and placing her paws on Nick’s shoulder to look behind him. Two golden eyes stared back at her, gleaming teeth reflecting beneath them. She flattened her ears, and the creature moved back into the shadows, disappearing for the time being. It wasn’t safe here.

Jumping down from Nick’s arms, she took the hem of his pants into her mouth –grimacing past the gross taste- and pulled. Giving a distressed ”mow,” she darted further down the street, then back. ”Mrrrrow,” sometimes she hated not having a workable mouth and tongue. ”Come on,” using exaggerated movement, she began moving her head, directing them away. A bad feeling crept into her gut.

((Just ‘cause I can, I chucked Conner in there in passing. He left to go get Jamie, sooooo...”))

[Nick Cooper]

A shapeshifter? How could Annamarie possibly know that "Smells like a cat to me," he said.

Nick frowned at her next words "I don't need any help and I am not going anywhere, this is my home and I'm staying here"
Nick glared at her, trying to keep his temper under control.
He wasn’t in the mood to deal with this right now.

The cat leapt out of his arm and started tugging at his pants, it ran away from him, it seemed to him the cat wanted them to follow it. This was strange behavior, even for a cat.
He sighed and walked towards it.

[Annamarie Cooper]

June heard Nick,Does he think I am his sorry excuse for a mother?I am just trying to help! Well,no good deed goes unpunished.She sighed and while she didn't want to admit it,his glare hurt her feelings. At least the "cat" seemed to not be mad at her anymore.
At least until she jumped to the ground,as she jumped June could tell she was a she.
The cat seemed scared,she took this with more thought than she would otherwise,first because she really was an intelligent being,two, the air smelled of other werewolves,familiar other werewolves."I think the cat's right,I don't feel safe here either. You do not have to leave the city,just please don't stay in this general area,go where ever you live now.Please,I won't go home if you're going to stay here."