Earth

Aconite flushed again and raised his hands to try and cover his reddening cheeks. He hated it when Dami was fresh back from a mission. The incubus was a walking turn-on after all. Even without his power wafting off of him like the hottest new cologne Dami could turn heads. It was just his nature and Aconite always felt flustered. He knew that his reactions to him him only made it worse since then he was sure that Damien was focusing on it and trying to tease him and get a bigger rise out of him. Figuratively and literally. The dryad realized that covering his face wouldn't do him any good but he found he didn't know what else to do with his hands in that moment. And as if that wasn't bad enough, Damien had to go on about knowing people who would love to take him to bed in this dress. "Thanks... but I think I am fine for now." He had to focus on something else! At least there was someone else in the room to.

The little fairy turned to Madison and gave a nod about the heels. "Yeah.. I think heels would have to be another time. I think today is a barefoot kind of day," he chuckled. He quickly took the heels off to stand on the ground and smiled. Better. He didn't much care for the heels. He loved the dress though. He turned back to look at himself the mirror. He looked so different. Madison was truly a genius when it came to these sort of things. At the mention that the dress he was wearing was Madison's favorite, his eyes widened in surprise. Why did Madison give him his favorite dress? He had simply wanted to try on a simple little thing to see if this was something he'd want to do. He didn't want to rip the dress. He was a dryad of nature after all! He loved going outside and getting into the dirt. He'd ruin it!

"Madi! Why didn't you tell me that this was your favorite? I'll change right away! I don't want ruin it!" he said even as the vampire had continued on with the conversation. He reached for the zipper in the back and with a little maneuvering managed to slide it down. In his rush, he did eventually topple over himself before handing the dress back to his friend. "Here. Thank you for letting me try it on but I don't want to leave the room with it if it is your favorite. I'll just wear my clothes," he smiled.

The wolf was eyeing Stride, seeming to see her current situation more as an advantage to make the most of, and was ripping its clandestine goods open a little way out of the gorgon's reach.

That was, until something caught the thing's attention. The thing's wolfish head lifted, ears shooting up to attention and nose twitching. Instinct was a large part of the werewolf. Some things overrode any kind of will impose upon the animal side. Territory, pack, food, prey. Prey.

Within a moment it turned and shot off along the hallway, toward the stairs.

"Well thanks for leaving me still completely unsure of why we pay wages to any of you." Oren remarked, rolling her eyes as she moved to follow.
"No the researcher will just go deal with the escaped werewolf. You all sit on your backsides and eat breakfast."


----

It had been a fine morning for Dinah Fox.

The sun was shining, the birds were singing in the trees, and she was dragging a dead stag up the back steps by its hind legs.

She'd managed to catch the quarry after a prolonged chase through the trees and undergrowth, before tackling it to the floor with her own hands.

Dinah was good with a bow, but had always felt it was a bit unsporting for large, ground-dwelling creatures, and with something the size of a deer she'd been worried about only wounding one and subjecting it to pointless suffering. Instead, by Di's reasoning, it was a lot better to instead tackle a fully grown stag to the floor and snap its neck with your arms.

Not shockingly, the girl was looking a little scuffed and bruised, with the green smears of grass on her knees and shorts, the sleeve of the faded khaki green tee she was wearing ripped open all across one side, and dirt coating her hands and feet.

"What the hell is that?"

A familiar voice caused the young woman's gaze to snap up from her progress. She looked toward the source to where a weathered-looking wall marked the edge of the gardens, on which sat a slightly scruffy young man, and three or four archaic looking books sat next to him.

Cyrus. Anyone else she did have some sort of responsibility to be nice. Her brother however, was free game. Especially when he started the baiting.
"The mail. Someone sent us a thank-you deer. What do you think it is, dumbass? I went hunting."

Cyrus slid a marker into whatever he was reading and pulled the tome closed, though he made no move to aid his younger sister's attempts to haul the animal up the steps.
"What are you even going to do with it?"

"There's some chest freezers out back somewhere." Dinah responded as she managed to drag her cargo to the top, with some effort.
"Gonna skin it and take the antlers for knife hilts, then can butcher it. Keep some of the offal to make some werewolf lures. It's gonna be awesome. I can't wait to show everyone the size of it."

"Something tells me you might be the one who is most excited about it. No-one is into decimating the local wildlife quite so much as you." her brother replied, prompting Dinah to fling a handful of mud in his direction. He ducked with the deft ease of someone who'd done this a lot.

"Shut up Cyrus. What have you done with your morning? Sacrificed a goat to Asmodeus and surfed the internet for -"

Dinah was cut off mid insult as the sudden thundering noise of paws and the ragged snarling breaths of a charging werewolf became incredibly obvious. The girl had just about time enough to brace herself before the hurtling blur of red fur tore into her and the stag, sending both tumbling down the steps.

With a fall and a roll she found herself back at the bottom again, cursing under her breath. A couple of feet in front of her the rusty-hued beast was hunched over the stag, its snout buried deep into its stomach sending rivulets of red out across the gravel.
She sighed.

"Cyrus. One word and I'm hiding roadkill in your sock drawer."

Isaac frowned a bit at Victor. And you've still not learned work place Etiquette or how to follow ranking officers orders?He thought sullenly. Well not exactly ranking officer, but a 'team lead' should probably carry some weight across staff lines, even if it was just a simple show of respect.No point in dealing with something that really didn't matter at the moment. He'd chat with him about that if it kept coming up tho. He let out a heavy sigh, turning back to the cold soup. What a great way to start the day.

"Well thanks for leaving me still completely unsure of why we pay wages to any of you."


And it just got better, Isaac set his jaw so he wouldn't say anything to the queen in a lab coat. Isaac didn't exactly hate the Researcher, but he did despise how she operated, and the air of superiority irked him.

" Well come on then, you heard the lady. Lets go collect Kora for Dr. Kovalenko." Issac said to the group, sounding about as enthusiastic as he had been about doing paper work. He personally didn't think they should have to clean up Oren's mess, but hell why not.

He wondered what exactly Oren wanted an un-equipped group of people to do for her. I mean sure, he had his pistol, and Victor had his magic, and there were the other wolves, but would they make things worse or not? Whole pack mentality and what not.

" Any insight as to how to deal with this Kreious?"



( OOC: edited slightly)

"Well thanks for leaving me still completely unsure of why we pay wages to any of you." Oren remarked, rolling her eyes as she moved to follow.
"No the researcher will just go deal with the escaped werewolf. You all sit on your backsides and eat breakfast."

Kreios shook his head. As much as he couldn't stand her, she was right. Even though she created the problem, it was their job to deal with it.

"I got it."

He jogged down the hallway after Kora, hoping to god she didn't run into anyone else.

Dinah was cut off mid insult as the sudden thundering noise of paws and the ragged snarling breaths of a charging werewolf became incredibly obvious. The girl had just about time enough to brace herself before the hurtling blur of red fur tore into her and the stag, sending both tumbling down the steps.

With a fall and a roll she found herself back at the bottom again, cursing under her breath. A couple of feet in front of her the rusty-hued beast was hunched over the stag, its snout buried deep into its stomach sending rivulets of red out across the gravel.
She sighed.

"Great." Kreios made his way over to Dinah, and helped her to her feet. "You alright?" He asked calmly, wondering whether he should just let Kora eat for a bit, or just incapacitate her while she wasn't looking. He decided on the latter, that way Dinah could maybe have some of the stag, if there was anything left. Kreios walked up behind her, and locked in a rear scissor choke. "Don't fight it." He whispered lightly into her ear, hoping she'd heed his words. He didn't want to have to fight her full on.

Madison ignored Dami in favour of making sure Aconite didn’t smash his face against the floor (and the incubus approved. Honestly) before finally addressing the incubus again, complimenting his team leader. “I think there might have been a possibility of our timing coinciding with an event,” he mused, “but luckily, that wasn’t the case. So we did end up overstaffed.” He chuckled, and watched the dryad watch himself in the mirror.

“And I told you,” he continued, not taking his eyes off the green haired male, “that I wasn’t worried, I just felt bad. And no, there’s nothing I want at this moment. Really, Madison, you should know me better by now,” for all his posturing, Madison knowing his nature was probably why the vampire had asked, “I’m a selfish thing, if there was something I wanted, I’d have gotten it first. But no, considering our previous topic, I’ll just buy a pair next time I’m allowed out. They only need to last one night, and I can’t guarantee they’ll survive that.” His eyes sparkled, as if he were imagining the many interesting ways an incubus could accidentally cause a pair of tights to be destroyed.

The sparkle faded into a pout as Madison quite deliberately evaded Dami’s innuendo, leaving the incubus to either drop it or be blunt. And as this was a game to him, not an actual hunt, bluntness was out of the question, as he couldn’t do more than give the words a teasing tone. So he dropped it reluctantly, and said, “I don’t think that’s an actual worry. He’s too chaste.”

And then looked back at the dryad, who was currently stripping.
Well, that threw his comments into question quite effectively.

Still, his eyes roamed over the form as he pushed off from the bed, crossing the room in a few steps and placing his hands on Aconite’s upper arms. Now taller than the dryad by half a head, he leaned in, cooing his name. “Oh, Aconite~” he breathed. “I know how badly you want it, but Madison’s room isn’t the right place…” his hands slipped down the arms, then found a new hold on slim hips, “Nor is now a good time.” His head was angled so every word sent puffs of air against the other’s skin, and he stood close enough that his body heat had no trouble crossing the distance. “You know where my room is, if you want to visit tonight~” he finished, and his lips curved into a smirk as he waited for Aconite’s reaction.

“Well.” In a smooth motion, Madison had dropped himself into a nearby loveseat, one leg crossed over the other as he rested his hands neatly in his lap. “I’m glad that things went well, at any rate- better to be over prepared than not, after all!” There was no trace of anything in his voice besides sincerity as he spoke, eyes bright as he watched both of his company- although his gaze lingered on Aconite for a tad longer, ascertaining that the dryad wasn’t stumbling too badly. It moved on soon enough, however, as the other gave in, stepped out of his heels, and went to admire himself once again without the hinderance of trying to balance.

Dami’s persistence towards the skirt topic did not go unnoticed by the vampire, and it was with a soft laugh that Madison seemed to relent. “You really should give yourself more credit,” he remarked. “You’re trying to make it up to me, after all. More selfish people would just keep the money for themselves, and not tell a soul that they had it.”

Still, even with the researcher’s apparent acceptance of his friend’s offer, it was with no small amount of hesitance that the details of the skirt were fully voiced- as if speaking the words aloud would only serve to spark more concern regarding the damage dealt to it somehow. “Considering you knew how much it cost,” he began, toying with a button on his sleeve, “I have a feeling you looked up what brand it was beforehand, but…” Madison paused, and, lifting his fingers away from his wrist, rose from his chair and moved to get a notepad from his desk. With a few quick motions of pen against paper, the vampire returned to where he had previously been sitting, and passed the sheet onto Dami. In neat print, the paper stated the skirt’s status as a Burberry (a pleated, lace wrap-over mini, it mentioned), as well as a few other basic details regarding purchasing a fresh article.

“Don’t feel like you need to get it to me immediately, or anything like that.” Madison added. “It’s enough that you’re going to buy a new one for me, after all.” Even if it wasn’t with Dami’s own money, Madison felt, it was still the thought that counted.

Notably, the man still wasn’t at all bothered by the fact that his friend was committing a theft against someone involved in a mission, but the trouble that went into buying a fresh piece of clothing.

His mood seemed to brighten at Dami’s mention of simply going out to get himself a pair of tights, as the laugh that was brought by the statement was ever-so louder than before. “I suppose you’re right about wanting a pair exclusively for that,” he said. “If you’d like, I can go with you to pick one out- even if you plan on getting them ruined the first night you wear them, the material really makes a difference in the end.” Madison quite enjoyed going out shopping, after all- although with how chances stood, he would most likely leave a prospective session with far more than he had set out to find.

Dami’s next comment on his other company being “chaste” was swiftly disproven by Aconite stripping, although Madison appeared...quite unfazed through the event. It was with the same casualness that he had kept throughout the exchanges that he accepted his dress from the now-bared greenhead, folded the fabric, and neatly placed it on a seat until it could be properly stashed away. “I said one of my favorites,” Madison corrected gently. “I appreciate the thought, though; if you’d like, I could always get you something else to wear if you’re worried about damaging my outfits.” A compliment on how the gown had looked on the other had been hanging on the tip of his tongue when Dami had suddenly approached Aconite, purring sweet nothings and caressing the dryad in a way one might a lover.

Throughout it, Madison waited patiently some feet away, with the smile of one who had long grown used to such an occurrence. Once Dami had finished his cooing, the brunette took the moment to chime in, his own hands again left to rest at his sides.

“Well, thank you for being considerate, Dami.” And, yet again, there was no trace of sarcasm or the like within Madison’s voice- there was a steady cheerfulness, a steady light air that the researcher always seemed to maintain, but nothing else. Turning to better face Aconite, he waited a few moments for his guest to recover before speaking again. “Would you like for me to get your clothes for you? I wouldn’t want you to catch a cold or anything like that.”

Courtesy was an essential part of being a good host, really.

“You asshat!”

It was...humorous, really. In the span of just a few minutes, Stride had gone from charging at full-speed at a rogue werewolf, to floating mid-air, cursing, stretching her limbs as far as they could go in an attempt to reach the ground. There was a few times where the hybrid had- in vain- still attempted to launch a few swings at both Kora-wolf and Victor alike, but she had soon given up the venture in hopes of actually getting back on stable footing. A very colorful choice of words had filled the room throughout Stride’s struggle, followed by a variety of threats and insults aimed in Victor’s direction- including, but not limited to, “You asshole, when I get down there I’m gonna beat the everlivin’ shit outta ya” and “What the fuck d’ya think you’re doin', you dick, she knows ‘xactly what she’s doin’ here”.

Her agitation seemed to grow as Kora deliberately tore open her Hot Pocket, only to abandon the precious foodstuff in favor of charging off to god-knew-where. Scowling, Stride reached forth once again in an attempt to grab at a table, all the while using a free hand to make one of the two most well-known signs to anyone above the age of seven towards a certain Mr. Valentine- and not exactly what one would consider a “peace symbol”.

“Now she’s off n’ runnin’ again,” she grumbled, although, much to her satisfaction, the hybrid had finally managed to hook her fingertips beneath the surface of a nearby desk. As she attempted to pull herself closer to her makeshift anchor, Stride noted Oren’s complaint about the uselessness of the teams, and found herself scowling at the researcher as she attempted to get down.

“Hey, don’t go lookin’ at me on this,” Stride barked. “I was gonna try and get Kora under control here, but Mr. Pantytalk here,” a brief gesture in Victor’s general direction before the hand returned to the desk, “went all Exorcist on me n’ won’t let me get back down. If ya wanna get pissy at someone, blame him.” As if the prove her point of being unable to do much in regards to containing Kora, Stride had found her grip slipping, and, spewing a few more curses at no one in particular, clawed wildly once more to try and find purchase on anything within arm’s reach.

She had seen both Kreios and Issac go off in pursuit of a certain wolf, and only one thought could really come to mind at that moment;

Fuckers better not be havin’ a fight without me.

After snapping at Isaac, Victor turned his attention fully to Stride. Despite just snapping at the Thunder Moon team leader, Vic managed to shake the annoyance from his mind. When he was maintaining spells like this, he tended to get a little unnecessarily... snippy. So, he forced himself to ignore Oren's comment and find the humor in the situation in front of him - the floating hybrid Gorgon. A small grin pulled at the corners of Valentine's mouth as he watched Stride struggle to grab the edge of the nearby table for leverage, but fail completely following Korra's departure and Kreios' chase after her.

"Alright, alright, Phoebe. I'll put you down. I was just trying to stop a fight, is all. Now, I know SOME fights may need to happen for both sides to blow off steam, but that's what they have the sparring area in the exercise rooms for, right? Brace yourself." Victor walked up to stride and gave a small laugh. "Honestum finem," said the Sorcerer, his voice taking on a slight echo as he spoke the words. The spell immediately dissipated, no longer affecting the floating Gorgon.

Victor walked over to the fridge to see if there was anything to snack on. Using spells made him hungry. "Don't worry, I would have never let her make you into a Pinata. That's no bueno."

Aconite's thoughts had been purely innocent when he had been stripping. Honest! He had just wanted to return the dress to Madison and then put his own clothes back on, but his mind didn't stay innocent for very much longer. Damion prowled over to him and within moments, the incubus had his long and elegant fingers caressing his arms and resting on his hips. He could feel the man's body heat and the puffs of his breath against his neck. It all sent goosebumps cascading down his body and his eyes widened in surprise. There would be no hiding the blush on his pale skin. It was like a bright red flowering signaling a bee in the distance and his mind went blank for a moment.

Now, Aconite didn't love Damion. Not in a romantic way anyway. He didn't mind the man and he did want to be closer. He wasn't shy by any means. He knew that nature was nature and shouldn't be suppressed but he also wasn't a very intimate being. He had other things to worry about and no one had really ever made a pass at him. All of this was a bit flustering and he just wasn't sure how he wanted to react to the overload of information and...touch. Damion had certainly never been quite this forward with him either. He was usually forward with others like Madison. Maybe this was because of the dress.. or the stripping now that he thought about it. He should have known better though he couldn't say he didn't like the attention. He just couldn't imagine himself in that position. Maybe that was the most starting for Aconite. Maybe deep down he did want a little fun but he didn't want to recognize it.

"D-Dami!" he gasped exasperated and started waving his arms as he took a moment to express his flustered state before he quite literally went 'poof'. The dryad began to shrink until he was just a little bigger than Dami's hand. His wings fluttered behind him, doing their best to imitate a hummingbird. The dryad often reverted back to his more comfortable natural form when he was feeling out of place or overwhelmed. Aconite gave an exasperated sigh and slowed his wing beats as he tried to stabilize his own heart rate. Damion was probably just teasing him anyway. ""T-thanks for t-the offer. I think you'll have to.. to um... find... someone else though. I am not ready for something like that," he explained, hoping he wouldn't offend him for declining. He didn't think he would, but still. "M-maybe we should... go see what is going on in the hall. I think I heard Kora earlier. They might need some help," he suggested to get the topic off of nightly invitations.

---

Satoru sighed at all the commotion and set down the eggs that he had been about to crack. It seemed that no one was really interested in breakfast this morning. His team leader was still eating that left over goop, Phoebe and Kora were fighting over a nasty hot pocket, Victor went to the fridge and no one else seemed to have heard him. He didn't really want to waste food if no one was going to actually eat it. He wasn't all that hungry now that he thought about it. Maybe he'd make something later when the issue with Kora in wolf form had been resolved. And of course the very 'nice' doctor had to go grumbling that none of them were doing their jobs since they were letting Kora run about. Honestly, this was her mess, not theirs. If she didn't have the sense to deal with Kora properly, she wouldn't smash through everything and cause a ruckus. No, instead, she had to go and blame them for not immediately stabilizing the werewolf.

The werecat put away all the food as Kora zoomed away towards something else. Satoru put everything else away and was actually going to walk away when he scented something in the air. He sniffed again and turned his head in the direction where Kora had raced off towards. He smelled blood and if he wasn't mistaken, that was deer blood. He followed behind Kreios. And there was their new member staring at the kill she had brought home only to have Kora rip into it. Now that was a pity. They could use deer meat to make some really good food like stew. He loved deer meat. Of course Kora had to be selfish and try and eat it all. At least Kreios seemed to be handling that situation pretty well. "Hey Dinah. Good catch you've got here," he complimented. [color=#80A50]"Need help bringing what's left cleaned out and prepared? Was there something particular you wanted to make out of this morsel?"[/color]

"Is it too late to point out how gay it is to put Stride, panties, and g strings in the same sentence." The voice of these words was a self assured one, with all the subtle tones of an aloof nature that interlocked hands with some greater arrogance. The owner of this voice peeked into the room, all chocolate brown eyes and wide smile. He had a clove cigarette in his mouth, unlit with rolled black paper. Using his tongue he ran it across his top lip, and onto the other side of his mouth. "Also, I'm just going to springboard off of what." Makorai's eyes widened and he threw his hand to his forhead in a hasty, mock salute to Isaac. "Our leader said, I feel like I've heard you say 'Pondera et Motus Negatio' after having female company into your room so I'm going to mention sexual harassment in report just because correlation."



"But I mean." Makorai sighed, and ran his left hand through his, as he thought, impressively coiffed hair. "Let's be real I can't be bothered to write anything."

"Now, moving on from the men in the room." "Oren."

'Oren' was said like Makorai was speaking to a lover, along with the head movement and eye squint of a teen drama protagonist. "You know the lengths I'd go to impress you." Makorai closed the gap between them, but kept at arms length, as he didn't want to be on the receiving end of Oren's retribution for violating her personal space.

"I would apprehend Kora for you, single-handed, if shooting women wasn't against my mantra...perhaps if you were to blow me a kiss I'd find the strength needed to shoot Kora with a tranquilizer"

The vampire turned his cheek sideways to better facilitate the blown kiss he was 90% certain wasn't coming. His eyes moved back over to Valentine as his face turned.

"Also, Valentine, putting Stride and panties in the same sentence is as gay as Dami oiling Kreios's muscles."

The werewolf, its snout buried in the ribs of the stag, did not take very kindly to being seized on from behind. The beast let out and angered snarl at the intrusion and responded by flinging itself backwards onto the floor, landing its full, quite considerable weight onto its attacker.

"You don't wanna start trying to fight wild animals for their food." Dinah remarked casually as she sat up, dusting off her shirt.
"They don't like it."

The young woman hopped to her feet in order to address Satoru more easily.
"Oh only really wanted the antlers for something. I can live without the meat to be honest.Can get what's left for butchering after those two are done squabbling." she indicated Kora and Kreios with a toss of her head.

What with DInah's...requirements, the hnt was altogether more important than what eventually became of whatever she hunted.
Which was just as well, considering the number of werewolves that were lurking about.

Oren meanwhile, not exactly impressed at the attitude she had received, turned to give a disapproving, sideways glance towards Makorai.
"I'd trust you;d find the strength somewhere to do the job you're hired for Saika, even without my help." she responded.
"Even if others appear to have forgotten that researching the physiology of cryptids is part of my duty here, not something that I just happen to do for fun. I suppose in that vein next time the field teams need some information to help with a deployment it'll be fully understood if I answer by being petulant about it and try to pass it off as being a failing on their part."

Kreios took the blow well, but not well enough to keep his grip tight enough to hold her. He stood quickly, ready to lock up with her, and praying he wouldn't have to shift to keep up with her. Wouldn't be good for Scion to have two werewolves running through the building.

"Don't do something we're both going to regret, Kora. You've proven your' point. I'm sure Oren's not going to come knocking for you anytime soon. Matter of fact, if you'd like, I'll take the morning torture routines. "

Kreios had hope that she was in control enough to heed his words. They'd both end up hurting each other in a fight, and that wasn't what Scion needed, especially not now. Their team was leaderless, and Kreios was frustrated. It felt as though they needed babysitting, that werewolves couldn't govern themselves. It was necessary for the time being, however. There were no other options, nobody had proven themselves an adequate leader for the squad.

And as for Dinah, she was right, but what else was he to do.

Evidently, it seemed that the warning hadn’t been left with enough time for it to register within Stride’s mind. While whatever insult that she had been about to let fly had been silenced, it had taken her a moment or two of pause before the gorgon cursed sharply, attempting to swing her arms away from whatever surface she had been grappling towards before. She had just managed to extend her hands out before her (as well as let out a rapid-fire of “shits) before Victor had removed the curse, although the grunt that she gave upon impact made it clear that it hadn’t done all that much to break the fall.

“Fuckin’ hell, Victor.” Grumbling her words under her breath, Stride pushed herself from the ground through use of her elbows, all the while listing the most creative terms she could come up within such a short time. She contemplated implying that he performed obscene acts upon his mother. She debated bestowing him the title of a child born out of wedlock, or that he was a sack filled with some of the more intimate regions of a woman’s body. Eventually, however, she went with the classic “ya asshole”, attempting to bring herself into a standing position as she went on.

“Tried doin’ the whole,” an aimless gesture with a gloved hand, “ya know, ‘go after ‘em only when they’re in trainin’ thing’ ya suggested there a few times, and ya know what happened? The pussy knew I’d end up beatin’ the shit outta ‘em, so he just went n’ stayed outta the hall when I tried to catch ‘em. Had to go n’ get ‘em when he wasn’t lookin’.” As if to emphasize her point, once she had fully risen, Stride gave her palms a hearty smack.

While a part of her wanted to continue to regale her fighting tales, there was still another one that wanted to add the Kora incident onto that pile, so it was with a checking of her belt (yep, gear still there, nice and tight) that she moved to leave the room. However, as the rubbery heel of her boot whined against the tile, she caught sight of a certain all-vampiric sniper.

“Speak of the devil.” Grinning, Stride proceeded to jerk a thumb towards Makorai, turned towards Victor yet again. “And see? Even the guy makin’ a livin’ in the closet thinks that was pretty much one of the gayest things that could’a come outta your mouth, there.” She took a moment to crack her neck, relishing in the pop that followed, before eyeing the mage almost skeptically. “Ya still sure you’re not hidin’ somethin’ from us, Vic? I mean, if ya ever...ya know, wanna tell us somethin’, we won’t go ‘round judgin’.” Bit by bit, her inflection took on a more “sincere” tone, to the point where one might think she was serious if they did not know her properly.

More of these comments had been about to spill forth- what dam had been put in place leaking its vitals into the open- before Makorai’s comments towards one Dr. K had reminded her of her main objective. Grinning yet again like the fiend she was, Stride gave the tranq at her gun a soft pat before swivelling to face the exitway.

“Lucky for you, Mako, I don’t got anythin’ against shootin’ chicks. Equality n’ all that shit.” Just before she left the room, she made sure to add, “And if I get this taken care of and you don’t, ya owe me a drink.” An unstated rule that she had made up right here, right now. The entire government branch of this new law- and a law that she left dangling in the air as Stride jogged through the halls, following the sounds of a scuffle more than anything.

Just as she turned the corner to the back-entrance of the SCION base, she managed to catch sight of Kreios attempting to choke WereKora out...and, as expected, getting flipped back in retaliation. Further, silent scanning of the tiling revealed a horribly marred stag, Dinah, her brother (who seemed to be fresh from his latest trip to Hot Topic), and Satoru. It was fairly simple to guess what had taken place- although instead of doing the more mature thing and immediately moving to tranquilize a werewolf who appeared to have gone feral…

Stride did the fun thing, first.

She laughed.

“Did you really just try n’ go all MMA on a fuckin’ werewolf? The fuck, dude?” In the midst of her chortling, it seemed that she had conveniently forgotten her attempt at doing the same thing- even if it was when Kora hadn’t had her maw buried in a carcass. She wiped at tears that weren’t there, snickered a bit more, and, finally, when she had her fill of the sight, lifted the tranq and aimed it at the soft belly of one of her furrier friends.

“Heads up.” Hopefully, the dart would meet its target. It was from a good, well-made, filled with enough chemicals to put a racing horse to sleep. Or potentially a few, depending on who you asked. Stride didn’t exactly had her mind set on the most accurate comparisons at the moment, really- only putting a stop to the whole “runaway wolf” crisis.

After firing off the dart, it was in an almost conversational manner that she suddenly addressed Dinah, although her eyes never left Kora with the action.

“How long did it take ya to kill that thing?” A slight nod towards the stag’s corpse. A nod, and that was all that seemed necessary for the moment.

Isaac marched quietly behind the group, this was all just a big joke to most of the people here.
The position he held had no weight authoritative wise, there wasn't much to say for cross ranks discipline, safety precautions or really any sort of organization. Sure they had one hell of an Intel-network, top notch talent when it came to field work, and hell even he had to give credit to the R&D Unit.

And here he was, just a normal human being, who had stumbled into this whole ball of wax by mistake
Watching the werewolf brawl for a moment and Stride tossing something, probably a Dart or somethin, he scanned the rest of the group.

They were bored...

"Seems like we need an outlet for all this energy." Issac's voice carried well, over some of the other conversations easily.

" After we finish here, We can do some combat practice. Something fast and hard that requires some team work." Issac said it almost as a question. " I'm thinking, Team capture the flag?" This exercise had always done well for him and his team back when he was in the army, for thunder Moon's team members, they all would have more than likely known what Isaac was suggesting actually. It was going to be a capture the flag game in a few acres of woods using Sim-u-nition, a non lethal Chalk based bullet used in S.C.I.O.N's standard field rifle. While non-leathal it still required full protective gear, and eye protection. The rounds had more than enough punch to keep everyone, even Isaac, on their toes when in the game.

He turned to Oren.
" Might do Kora some good before you prod at her again, well if you're gonna prod at her again." He said, almost as if asking permission to invite the other teams to the game. While not exactly out ranking or how ever S.C.I.O.N did their authoritative tree, Isaac viewed Oren as a leader among the Supernaturals at least.

Good or bad, at least it was an attempt to channel this ball of energy into something productive.

Even in her highest stiletto heels, Lulu Botrelle managed to pass through the garage entrance and move across SCION’s hardwood floors in complete silence. Not that such quiet grace was a surprise, really— Nothing about her file, stating “vampire; espionage agent” would indicate a heavy footfall.

Despite being returned from the exact same mission as her teammate Dami (who had entered the house the moment Montana had parked the car,) she looked nothing short of put together: Her hair was twisted into a loose up-do, with a few carefully selected blonde curls framing her face. Her dress, a black, long-sleeved number which fell just above her knees, hugged her curves enough to imply a shape well worth further inspection, but not so much that anyone could dare to call her anything less than a proper lady. The shade of rouge lining her lips was a hue too bright to be bloody, but the effect of a femme fatale could not be missed.

She moved with a quiet sway that demanded attention, and though her steps were silent, anyone around with heightened senses would note her approach.



There were not many others on base willing to invest in a perfume as fine as Chanel No. 5.



So, it was doubtful that anyone but perhaps the humans on staff were alarmed when she stepped around the corner to the kitchen just in time to catch the wrong end of a conversation. 



“After we finish here, We can do some combat practice. Something fast and hard that requires some team work.”



She skimmed over the scene of destruction and blood, resisting the urge to make a face at the stench of an animal, and raised one perfectly groomed brow. 

“You best watch your tongue, Schofield,” she said, leaning her weight against the doorframe and placing a hand on her hip, “Agent Moore is likely to make an ill-timed appearance, if you insist on ‘fast, hard’ team builders.” 



And then, with an easy smile, “Hello Valentine, Saika, everyone.”

Kreios looked towards Stride.

"Well, I didn't want to punch her, or transform, and I'm unarmed, So I went with something soft." He spoke plainly, trying his best to defend his rather dumb choice. He shook his head and smiled to himself, but perked right up when Issac mentioned CTF.

"This should be fun." Kreios smiled, making his way to his rooms to prepare, but mainly to change into his favorite Superman T-shirt.

He began stretching, preparing his body for Issac's classic combat exercises. Of everyone who held seiniority in Scion, Issac had to be his favorite. The man held no judgement for those who didn't deserve it, and for those who did, it was fair, and he made his opinions known. He turned on his Ipod shuffle, which played 'Run With the Pack- Auracale Music It was one of his favorite songs, very motivational, gave him a certain focus, almost set him to "Do or Die"

He left his room, and began mixing himself a small bottle of Taurine, to give himself some extra mental focus when it mattered. 3gs of taurine, dissolved in water, the simplest of any of his shakes. He sat on the couch, awaiting the rest of his team members.

The wolf, fired up by the heavy scent of stag blood, was in no position to listen, let along co-operate, and was bag on the deer carcass within moments, crouched over it defensively with its teeth bared. The defence of her meal was enough of a distraction that the beast didn't noticed that it was being aimed at. Well not until a dart thudded into the fur below its ribs.

The Kora-werewolf snarled aloud in outrage and tore in Stride's direction, jaws slung wide and foamy drool spattering the flagstones. Feet from the gorgon though, the beast's limbs abruptly gave way beneath it, and it was thrown violently to the floor by its own velocity. The creature snapped and rasped out more enraged snarling from the position before its head flopped forwards onto the ground tongue lolling out and mouth hung still wide open.

Oren stood and watched, distinctly unimpressed.
"I'd take this point to dissect you Norrevinter, but my research depends too much on your family's funding."

The vampress' grey gaze flickered over to Issac.
"You can try if you feel like taking that on. Honestly I think she only does it to antagonize the nasty vampire bitch here." she remarked flattly.
" It's going to be for her own benefit anyway, but if princess is going to be a brat about it I'll move down the test list, come back to her and hope she doesn't expire from the genetic diseases of her ancestors marrying their cousins for generations in the interim. I still get my money at the end of the month either way."

On the path meanwhile the hulking form of the wolf had begun to snap and twitch, limbs shortening down and wiry hair falling out in large clumps before seeming to dissolve away into nothing, leaving pale skin behind. Soon the unconscious form of a woman was lying on the flags in the place of the enormous animal, wavy red hair half splayed out across her face.

Oren eyed the werewolf with general disdain in her eyes, before turning to go back inside. The sunlight was not really her friend.
"Don't start slacking off all of you. We've got a meeting soon. Hope you have all got your reports up to now. Hope you're not planning anything this morning either because I have lots of findings to present. I'm sure Wolf Moon is going to be overjoyed at a morning of in-depth research analysis."

Miss Kovalenko had quite a keen, and sometimes creative sense of justice.

The process of extracting information hadn't taken any special effort. Not when the ever blooming rose Lulu had snared their target with her hooked thorns, their generally hassle free getaway, courtesy of Dami's charismatic charms, or now, when he was copying the information onto his personal database. Once he had finished this painless process, Montana placed the chip into a small cover, one he closed with an audible click, then into the bigger plastic back. Blackout material. Label? Classified. Naturally.

Their cover to obtain this small but important piece of a larger puzzle was the kind that would bring such a trio together at night. Drinking. Mid Ballers with a little angst to work out underneath crystal chandeliers. A cover that required next to no prep, where the explanations could be lies because lies flow plenty when liquor hits the system.

Truthfully, their night at the Roxemburg had involved less drinking and more espionage. Less Alcohol, more Sodium Pentothal. With an end game that could put something a little deadlier then a hangover in ones head, but, they were professionals. Their seamless fabric of teamwork was strong when taunt, and they had gotten back to SCION in time for breakfast.

Speaking of breakfast, one of the three he wished to speak to had feeding habits that could leave him unavailable for the next hour or so. Miss Botrelle and the Young Valentine could be contact later.

Montana ran his thumb across the screen of his phone, contacting one,

"Mr Moore, I'll need you in for debriefing at your earliest convenience."

"Maybe I've given up on charming you and now hope to buy your affections with favours like these~" Dami suggested, his eyes shimmering into a striking leafy green. From his position fondling Aconite, he could see Madison write out the details of skirt upside-down. It had been a very nice skirt, one that had suited the leggy redhead he'd played very well. It hadn't been so nice a skirt after things had escalated, not that he'd noticed until after he'd fed. "And your expertise would be well appreciated," he cooed. "We haven't gone out for quite some time, have we?" And Madison never minded if the incubus flounced off for a quick snack mid shopping spree, especially if his meal happened to end up more inclined to do him favours in the form of discounts after the fact.

Then, between his hands, Aconite vanished, fluttering about in his eight inch form. Dami eyed the tiny thing hungrily, licking his lips. Did the dryad not realize that he could now stimulate his entire body with one stroke of a finger? But he'd have to catch him first... He'd been about to try when his cellphone rang.

Mr Moore, I'll need you in for debriefing at your earliest convenience said his boss's voice, and Dami's lips quirked up. "Right away, sir~" he said smoothly, then dropped the call, turning to grab the paper with Madison's skirt order on it. "Have to go, Roderic is calling~" he explained. "See you later? And Aconite?" he stopped by the door, turning his head to glance back into the room. "The offer still stands, you know where my rooms are."

Finished with his teasing, he sashayed down the hall, drawing more admiring looks and unwilling stares. The base was already becoming familiar, and he was at Montana's door, slipping in and wandering over to press his body as close to his leader's as possible.

"I'll be glad to remove your briefs, sir~" he purred, sliding one hand into a back pocket, the other onto a hip to dip just into the hemline of neatly pressed suit pants.

Because really, that opening was too obvious, and Montana should have known not to make it so easy if he didn't want to hear it.

The phonecall ended, and Montana's fingers left the smooth back of the device so he could plug it in to his now booting computer. Wait times were a thing of the past in large part due to the skill of their IT department, and a few further keystrokes brought up their mission report. Casualties, wounds sustained, possible witnesses, civilians spoken to, active operatives, and methods used were all contained in the report. Short-form, which was very unlike his typical flow of speech. At least, in this stage. On special request he'd add his personal touch to make an event seem more amorphous then it was.

Montana's coal black eyes left the orange tinted screen, night sensitive, to focus on Dami as he entered the office. The incubus's self assured stroll was a trademark he often recognized before seeing his face. Subtle movements that indicated a persons personality was essential to their line of work, as that was harder to hide then it was for a face to change. Dami's close proximity for instance, indicated more then Mr. Moore's flirtatious nature. It showed the deep level of trust both of them shared, as the air Montana exuded seemed to say he kept most people at arms length. True or not.

"It would be a misuse of SCION resources to use your expertise on something I'm capable of doing myself Mr.Moore." His mouth stayed in its usual line, it relaxed into it's downturn rather then any special line

"Now," Montana stood up from his chair, and placed his hand on the small of Dami's back, and pointed toward the screen with his free hand.

"This is my after mission report, everything's been compiled from my perspective and what the Hunter-Agents involved have mentioned."

He turned his head away from the screen, and regarded evenly.

"Would you like anything added, or expunged Mr. Moore?"

Isaac's eyes glided over to Ms. Botrelle, the faintest twinge of irritation at her jest showed in his eyes but was quickly banished.
No doubt she saw it however, it was her job to see things like that.

" True true, all jokes aside it might be a good thing for him to join us. "
Isaac watched the male wolf rush off without hearing out what the group had chosen to do, and by the sounds of it there wasn't going to be time to do anything as time the team builder Isaac had in mind. Impatient. He added that to what he thought of the male.

As if on que to Isaac dismissive head shake , Kora shifted back into her human form. Isaac did the polite thing and averted his eyes. " Ms. Botrelle, do you have a jacket or something we could cover Kora with, If it were me I'd rather be covered if I was passed out on the out skirts of base. "

This wasn't the first time this sort of thing happened around here, what with Incubus' and Were-creatures about, nudity was a thing, and probably wouldn't be the last, He might have to start keeping one of those emergency blankets in his pocket if it kept happening so often tho..

He turned to Oren, " Any clues to what sort of business will be in our meeting today? I missed that memo going over Inventory and someone's medical history..." He glanced at Thunder Moons' new recruit then back at the good doctor before rubbing a bit of sleep out of his sunken eyes.

“I wouldn’t recommend doing that.” By this point, Madison’s eyes had begun to sparkle with the same mirth one would see in a child’s- a trait that the vampire kept through seasons, wars, the sprawling hunger of time itself. “You know how my tastes are, after all. If you tried doing that, you’d probably sink all of your targets below the poverty line.” Almost as to emphasize his point, Madison fingers had begun to trace the imprints left on the paper, feeling them out and inadvertently smudging his fingers.

He had made himself by the time Dami had spoken again, and, at his friend’s words, Madison shrugged, then perked up further. “I suppose not. We’ll just have to change that when we can. I’ll go ahead and look into my schedule and see when my next days off are- we can set a date.” The fingers had lifted away from the page at this point, and were now fluttering in the air like pale moths.

However, before any real arrangements could be made, there was a sharp gasp from the other member of their company, and, shortly after, said company reappeared in a much smaller form. In his field of vision, Madison could also see that Dami wasn’t at all deterred by Aconite’s transformation- even appearing to be more spurred on than before. Deciding to extend sympathy to the pixie, Madison rose, and, gathering up Aconite’s outfit, went to place it neatly on the towel rack in his bathroom.

“I suppose you’re right,” he said upon returning. “The others can be quite rowdy after all.” “Rowdy” being the understatement of the year. “Seeing if they need any help would be a good idea.”

Madison gestured towards the open door of the restroom, smiling benignly. “If you’d like to get dressed before we head out, I left your clothes in there.” His focus did not linger for long enough to see if Aconite had taken the offer, instead switching back to a certain incubus still on his bed. “I’ll talk to you soon,” he confirmed cheerfully. "Tell Montana I said hello!"

He did look forward to going out with his friend again. For all of the breaks that Dami tended to take on their ventures, Madison truly enjoyed his company. Hands clasped, he turned back towards Aconite, waiting patiently for the dryad to compose himself after Dami's last pass at him.

Although Korawolf hadn’t managed to get close enough to deal any real damage, Stride didn’t resist the urge to skip back when it came, putting a nice wedge of distance between her and the less-than-rational creature. Might have been considered a pussy move to some, but the hybrid had no clue how her body would treat wolf spit clogging up the works, and she was in no real mood to find out anytime soon.

It was only when she had seen that Kora was truly and rightly down that Stride made to step forward again, but stopped at Kreios’ attempt at defending himself- or, well, his decision to throttle a god-damn 400-something pound werewolf, at least.

“Look, I don’t wanna know what kinda kinky shit you’re into,” Stride drawled, “but I don’t think ya should go ‘round tryin’ it on gals who’re more into clawin’ your face off than anythin’.” Stride, whose words were the epitome of good advice. Unfortunately, Kreios appeared to have left before he heard her wisdom, leaving the room with 80% less health nut.

Her attention didn’t linger on that for long, however, instead switching over two of the party she had earlier neglected- and quickly snorting at the exchange between both. “Couldn’t’ve said it better myself,” she noted. Stride enjoyed Lulu, much like she enjoyed some of the other members of Hunter’s Moon. Typically not the types you would consider sitting around playing Mortal Kombat with, but they had a sense of humor she could appreciate. Real dry-like.

At any rate, given the circumstances of their little “morning awakening”, Stride didn’t sit around with her thumb up her ass for long. By the time Issac had looked to the local femme fatale for help in covering up Kora, the gorgon had stepped out from the base’s exit, having disappeared inside after a brief, muttered dismissal.

In her hands was a tablecloth retrieved from the kitchen- still with a bit of orange juice stains from some clumsy newcomer. With little more than an “got it”, Stride stepped forward, moving to toss the fabric over a certain ginger. “No offense to anyone here,” she said, “but, ah, I don’t really think Lulu’s got anythin’ that’d be fittin’ Kora anytime soon.” As if to prove her point, she flung the rest of the tablecloth- recently stained with the orange juice of some clumsy recruit- over the werewolf. It barely managed to cover her.

“There. Now nobody’s gotta start strippin’ or any of that shit.”

Makorai blinked, eyes opening in unison with his double eyebrow raise. Fast...and hard. Something that require team work. "Mm." Really Isaac? The vampire thought. Those were the words you went with? This wasn't a voice of complaint it was the thoughts of appreciation. He appreciated how easy his team leader had just made his banter.

"If we're doing some fast and hard team building exercises, may I suggest we do a bit of cross department swapping?" His chocolate brown eyes moved over to Lulu's familiar frame. Fresh off of a mission her scent had told his nose. "I believe, and hello Agent, I believe we as a whole would benefit from being thrown out of our element." Makorai accompanied his words with a wide sweeping gesture, ending with a small rotation and flick of his hands.

"I'm interested in seeing how Hunter's Moon operates under this. Fast and Hard training regiment." Mock surprise crossed his face, but it was too subtle in it's use to be a truly comical face.

"Seems we have a member of Hunters moon here! Lulu, would you be willing to show me, Makorai, how fast and hard teamwork is accomplished in your department." Makorai turned his body back towards Isaac, palm on the desk, and leaned a little on his side. His shoe was toe down on the ground, and behind his forward leg.

"Being naked, sir." Solemn nod. "Might help with the trust building between departments. Our wolves often end up naked post transformation, I think..all of us being naked. Is a definite show of solidarity."

There was little wonder as to why Schofield was not in espionage— His appreciation for subtle details was nonexistent, as far as Lulu was concerned: She wasn’t sure what jacket he would have liked her to cover the bloody werewolf with, nor by what magic she was supposed to stretch something made for her tiny frame over the hulking mass that was Norrevinter. On top of that, the pissy little face that Issac had pulled at Lulu’s joke had not gone unnoticed.



All of those things being accounted for, she decided to save the sour expression she was harboring in response to his absurd request for someone who could appreciate the nuances of body language.



Thankfully, Stride swept in with a tablecloth that proved Lulu’s point better than any lowly cattiness could have. “Thank you, Ms. Stride,” she chirped, and she cast a soft, charming smile in Issac’s direction, adding, “I suppose the size difference would pose a problem, now that I come to think of it.”



As Makorai spoke from inside the doorway behind her, Lulu stepped back into the shadows and watched him, a coy mock-innocence flitting at the corners of her lips. Her weight shifted as she moved toward him and gave a girlish swing of her dress, smiling with a vulpine hunger at his proposition. 

“I don’t know, Mr. Saika,” she cooed, hips swaying as she closed the distance between them so that she could feel his slowed pulse and rest her hand against his chest. With an easy, lazy motion, she pressed one of her legs against his and entwined her foot behind him. “I’m not sure if I could demonstrate that kind of work without my teammates,” she said, looking up at him through thick, dark lashes, “But I can certainly show you a hard, fast maneuver, if that’s what you’d like?”



And then, quick as a fox, she swept her foot back and pulled his leg out from under him while shoving hard where her hand had rested against his chest so that he fell to the ground.

Then, with a teasing grin at her work and a sly tone, she said, “You can take that one with you when they transfer you to Wolf Moon for being a dog, Saika.”