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"Things That Go Bump in the Night"Written By: Honor Disclaimers: Oranges are purple, the Wizard of
OZ actually exists, and the boys have signed a contract saying they
legally belong to me. And, no, they weren’t under the influence
of drugs or alcohol when they signed it either…well, okay, not
much. ^_^ Pairings: 3x4, existing 5xM Rating: Velvet says it’s an R Spoilers: Nope Warnings: AU (so, SOOO AU), supernatural, lime,
violence, some language, my twisted sense of humor…need I say
more? Author’s Chaotic Rambling on No Particular
Subject: Yeah. No idea where this came from. Sat down
to work on the 4x6, and wrote thirty pages of this instead. Granted,
I was in the mood for some supernatural kinkiness, but I wasn’t
planning on writing it! Ah well. *emphasized*
" Things That Go Bump in the Night" Chapter 5 If I could just see around the bend…
Cracking open an eye I took a look down my body. Ooookay. About six werecubs were curled up on top of me, or sprawled, or using me like a body pillow. They were really cute, all fuzzy and cuddly with their too big ears and paws. I just had to wonder…why were they sleeping with me? Now, granted, I’ve seen litters of puppies that usually slept in a pile like this. But these cubs were part human…just how far did the instinct of a Wolf run? They really were cute little rascals. Experimentally I ran light fingers over the nearest one’s head. There was a slight wag of a tail in response. Ah. Petting apparently was a good thing. The door cracked open and Heero stuck his head in. When he saw that I was awake he came all the way in, glancing at my sleeping buddies in amusement. I gave him an elaborate look that said ‘why am I being used like a pillow?’ Something like a smirk tugged at his mouth. “You are very soothing to us,” he whispered to avoid waking sleeping cubs. “It feels good to be in close contact with you. They probably don’t understand why, just that you are comfortable to be near.” Ah. Apparently I emitted a calm emotion without even realizing it, and the werewolves picked up on it. Hm. So did that mean that I was going to wake up with lots of company from now on? Not that I’m complaining, per se… As cute as this was, I really did need to get up and do stuff. I started shifting furballs off of me. There were some sleepy yawns, and some shifting until they were back in a warm spot before falling asleep again. When I was mostly clear Heero reached over, grabbing me by the waist and lifting me easily out of the bed. “Thanks,” I whispered to him. He nodded in return, before quietly leaving the room. I was right behind him and didn’t dare be loud until the door was mostly shut behind us. “What time is it?” “Almost five, it’s why I came to wake you. Abdul has brought most of your things here; we left it stacked in the living room.” I had some unpacking to do, apparently. “Before I get to that, where’s the kitchen?” “Trowa is making some dinner for you.” I knew I liked him for a reason. I followed eagerly as we went down the stairs and toward the back of the house. Sure enough, Trowa was standing at the stove, stirring something mouth-wateringly yummy. The smell alone had me salivating. I stepped next to him to get a look-see. “What is that?” “Give it another minute to heat up and it will be a meatball sandwich.” “Good choice,” I approved whole-heartedly. I love meatballs. Over bread or over pasta, I really don’t care which. While I was waiting on the food, I decided to start getting comfortable with the house and started putting my nose into all the counters, trying to remember where plates and cups and other utensils were. I had two weres silently laughing at me, but I’m good at ignoring people when I want to. The meatball sandwich was really good. I was wolfing it down (no pun intended.) A thought wormed its way out of the back of my head and I slowed down enough to ask, “Can I go to school tomorrow or is it too dangerous?” “Demons don’t run in packs,” Trowa answered. “That demon was alone, and there aren’t any more in the immediate vicinity. It should be safe enough to go.” He was still worried, though. I lifted a hand, giving him a reassuring squeeze on his shoulder. “It will be fine, Trowa.” “I hope so,” he whispered without looking up at me. His hand briefly rose to cover mine before falling away again. Another question popped up in my head. “How did that demon know what I was, anyway? I’ve never had trouble with the supernatural before.” “My guess is your powers have finally reached maturity.” Heero shared a troubled glance with Trowa. “It’s your good luck we stumbled across you before something else did.” What might have happened if I hadn’t didn’t bear thinking on. “Is there any way for me to protect myself? I know I can depend on the pack, but is there something I can do besides being a target?” Trowa was thinking hard, a slight crease in between his eyebrows. “How good are you with firearms?” “I’m a marksman.” His eyes crinkled up in a soft smile. “…pretty good, then. Hm.” He thought a moment more, nodding to himself. “We have a few weapons that can take down most predators. If you hit it enough. I’ll show you were the gun locker is.” I couldn’t carry any kind of arms to school of course, but I would definitely carry something the rest of the time. I didn’t like being defenseless. “Thank you. For now…I guess I get to go unpack.” + Trowa was really unhappy separating from me in order to go to classes the next day, but I couldn’t just put my life on hold because some big scary demon *might* show up. I refused to live by fear. After assuring him that I would call at the first hint of danger at least a dozen times, he went to class and I went to Geometry. And then I was ambushed from an area completely unexpected. “Quatre!” Hilde looked beyond herself with curiosity. “He’s walking you to your classes now? Go, blondie!” I went bright red and immediately cursed myself for it. “Hilde, it’s not like that—” “I knew you had the hots for him, I just knew it.” Groaning, I cast a quick glance at the front of the classroom. Mr. White was still scribbling the assignment on the board, but I lowered my voice even more anyways. “Hilde, Trowa is not interested in me. Not like that. He’s a friend, okay?” And my…packmate. That part was weird to think of, but I had to get used to it. “I saw you watch him as he walked off, Quatre Raberba Winner and your eyes were so glued to his ass, so don’t pretend otherwise.” …okay, she had me. But anyone that didn’t find Trowa irresistibly attractive needed medical attention, ASAP. Fortunately for me, Mr. White started to lecture and I didn’t have to formulate a response to Hilde’s gleeful accusations. The day passed quietly enough. I didn’t mention to either Hilde or Sally that I had moved out of the house, just told them that if they wanted to reach me to call me by Iria’s cell phone. I spent all of lunch buying new text books and trying to explain what happened to the old ones. I didn’t think the explanation of “I dumped my backpack when a demon decided I might be a good snack” would quite cut it, so I had to muddle through something a little lame. Ah well. I had tried to find my backpack on the way to school, but to no avail. I didn’t think it grew legs and walked off on its own, so someone has it. I just don’t know who. Trowa followed me during this whole process, only slightly happier that he could keep an eye on me. I think he’d really prefer it if I were back on our territory. His whole protectiveness was rather sweet, really. I was putting the last of the books into my locker when he suddenly tensed and growled. I kid you not, an actual growl. I snapped around to see where he was looking, letting three layers of shields drop as I did so. Oh…uh… Okay, this is probably not going to be good. The teenage girl looking back at us was unusually tall, with dark black hair and blue eyes. She seemed surprised to see us there, and just as upset to see Trowa. The truly interesting part, however, was that she was a were. Not like Trowa or anyone in my pack, though. I sidled in closer to Trowa to whisper, “What is she?” “Werepanther,” he growled back, eyes flat and menacing. As Heero had explained it to me yesterday, no clan was allowed to cross another’s territory. In olden days those territories were huge and spanned whole countries. Now, they’re smaller to avoid major conflicts with other clans. There are more “neutral” areas that can’t be claimed by anyone. Most cities are considered neutral. I knew without being told that the werepanther had every right to be at this school because we were on neutral ground. That didn’t mean Trowa liked it. She gave me an intense study, nose scrunching a little. There was a brief flash of astonishment through her eyes, then she abruptly turned and was lost in the crowded hallways. Crap, I think she realized it was me that just mentally touched her. I closed up my shields again and looked up at Trowa. “Do you know of a werepanther clan nearby?” He shook his head briefly. Ah. Well, maybe they had moved in recently like my clan had. The Hades Clan had only been here for three months or so. They probably didn’t know everything about their surroundings yet. If there were other weres in the vicinity, though, it would probably behoove me to keep my senses alert for them. I didn’t want to get entangled with another clan. Murphy, I am sure, was listening in when I decided that. The black haired werepanther was in my next class. Hilde, Sally and I never had a fourth person join our table, so we had an extra chair. Of course, that’s where the were decided to sit. I couldn’t very well kick up a fuss without explaining why—and I really couldn’t explain why. Nice catch-22, that. I bit my tongue and tried to pretend complete ignorance. The bell rang, everybody started shoving books into backpacks, and scrambling out of the classroom in a mad rush. I paused to let the mob flow out before following and that was when the panther, Noin, caught me. She grabbed me by the elbow, dragging me back. In an intense whisper she demanded, “You are an empath?” Darnit, I’m not good at the no-emitting thing. How do you stop doing something when you’re subconsciously doing it in the first place? It’s hard to hide what I am. “Yes.” Her eyes flashed with triumph. “You must come with me.” “I belong to the Hades Clan,” I corrected her firmly. “I will not go anywhere with you.” “They cannot claim you.” “We can,” Trowa snapped harshly from the doorway. He stalked all the way in, closing the door sharply behind him. Noin glared at him, lip curling back in vexation. I took advantage of her distraction to twist free of her hold and duck behind Trowa. I had very little idea of how things worked in the were world, it would be wiser to let Trowa handle things. “You cannot claim him,” Noin reiterated obstinately. “He has chosen to claim us as his pack.” At that moment it would have been more beneficial to try spinning the earth in a different direction than make Trowa change his stance. When Noin tried to shift to see past him, looking for me, he snarled. I felt like someone hit me in the chest suddenly, stealing my breath. Trowa was brimming over in protective rage and it was only willpower alone that kept him from lashing out at her. I’ve never felt something so strongly in my life. Noin instantly jumped back, and part of Trowa’s rage faded. I gasped in a breath, grateful to have that oppressive weight removed. Okay, I better step in, clan ramifications or no. I’m not sure if I can handle another wave like that last one. I stepped around Trowa, putting a restraining hand on his arm, trying to calm him down a little. He simmered down a little, enough to where he wasn’t going for her throat in the next two seconds. Okay, I can live with that. Noin was really unhappy about all of this and I didn’t like the way she was looking at me. It reminded me of greed, only it was twisted in a way that I didn’t recognize. “Leave,” I commanded with quiet authority. “I will not say this again.” She didn’t like it, but she left, the door slamming shut hard behind her. I breathed out in relief when she was gone. “Dammit,” Trowa hissed between his teeth. “I should have known she’d want you. Quatre, give me your schedule.” Call me slow, but I didn’t see how those two statements correlated. “Why?” “I’m changing my schedule to match yours.” So he can play guard dog all day? “No.” His head snapped around so fast I think a few vertebrae popped. “Why?” “Because it won’t do any good. She can’t very well drag me out of a crowded classroom, Trowa. It will just give you an ulcer if you shared every class with me, you’d spend the entire time worrying.” Trowa never had the chance to respond because Heero showed up at that moment, nose twitching and a dark cast to his face. “I smell werepanther.” “There’s a clan nearby,” Trowa confirmed. “She knows about Quatre.” “K’so.” That pretty much summed up my feelings precisely. “Let’s go home, guys. Duo needs to know about this.” ~*~*~*~ Footnote: Okay, I have no idea how this works everywhere else, but here in the south you know how to handle a gun almost before you hit grammar school. I have friends of mine in California as well that are twelve, and are marksmen. Quatre is completely able to have this ability, since I’m basing his location in the states…somewhere.
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