Hound + Skunk = Bad Night for a Vampire

Synopsis

March 9, 2005 - Orion decides to shift in the presence of Theodore since the Vampire offered to keep him company in shifted form. Unfortunately for the vamp, Orion comes across a skunk and decides that it is a marvelous new toy to be shared with everyone.



Setting

McCree Cemetery:
For the most part, the cemetery seems to be a quiet and serene spot for both the souls that rest below and those that come to pay respect to their loved ones. A packed dirt pathway continues through the grounds boxing off expanses of green lawns that have gravestones of different shapes and ages.

Off in the southeast corner is an area of the grounds that seems to have gone forgotten. Overgrown with weeds, vines and various other plants, a cluster of old and broken gravemarkers clutter the area. Even on the sunniest of days, this section has an extreme sense of foreboding to it.


Cast

Orion:
You see a man in his mid thirties who stands a little over six feet and weighs approximately 180 pounds. One can tell by looking at him that he works out regularly. His face is rugged but attractive, usually with a couple of days worth of stubble on his cheek. His hair is brownish red and cropped short, spiking up a bit on top. His eyes are deep gold and appear to be almost an unnatural shade. He bears a tattoo of a paw print on his left upper arm. When the man speaks, he has a very distinct Irish accent. It is strong, but not to the point that he is difficult to understand.

___

The Black Hound:
Standing before you is a great black hound with red eyes. The beast appears to be all or mostly wolf and is slightly over six feet in length and about 180 pounds. The Black Hound is associated with and often blamed for bad luck and misfortune. In truth it has no ability to change luck for better or worse, though the appearance of the creature often strikes terror into those who see it.

___

Theodore:
This young man is a slim, fine figure of thoroughly unimpressive height or musculature. His physique is more graceful than powerful, with somewhat narrow, rounded shoulders and an equally thin torso that leads into trim hips. Despite the seeming frailness of him, there is a certain elegance to his long, deft fingers and the way he fits together, including the long line of his throat and the curve of his jaw. His features are well proportioned, if toying with hints of femininity, from his long, pale eyelashes to the way his lips appear lush, soft, and dark, often relaxed into the mildest of pouts when he isn't offering some other expression. His eyes are notable, large and rounded with a vague almond shape to them, the irises a soft, smoky violet-grey that can sometimes darken to indigo laced charcoal. His hair is a mussed crop of ear-length platinum blonde locks, so light that it may as well be white, the texture of it wavy and silken so that it rarely appears to be cultivated into any semblance of a style, rebellious to the very idea. His skin is the perfect pallid ivory of someone who was never made for outdoor sports, only the bare touch of random freckles on his complexion suggesting he's even seen the sun; it's smooth and often has the faintest of blushes around the cheeks.



Scene

The night is dark, with a few clouds obscuring what is left of the moon above. Despite the clouds however, the night is still warm with a balmy breeze blowing through the branches of the trees. There is a man standing in the older section of the cemetery looking around nervously. Orion is wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a tank top with flip-flops. Not his usual outdoor clothing, but he plans to be covered in fur shortly.

Orion sighs and looks around once more, trying to decide if this is a good idea. He had contacted Theodore after their encounter at the theater to see if he was really willing to give him company in a shifted state. While not terribly keen on the idea of being the hound around other people, Orion decided that a vampire was probably the safest bet. If the hound became unfriendly the vampire would be strong enough to subdue it…Probably. If not it’s not like he could kill a vampire.

___

Teddy makes it his business to wander around when he's not working, so it should be no great surprise that he isn't exactly dressed purely for being outside. He has on a strange, decidedly androgynous halter top that ties around his neck with a short bow, made of a soft, silvery silk-satin that is tied at his hips, with drooping, pleated frills along the bottom. He has on a pair of denim chino pants to go with it and a pair of slipper flats that match the shirt, his hair feathery and wispy around his face as he runs lightly away from the street and into the cemetary. While Orion likely notices him beforehand, he nonetheless hops a grave, flips neatly over another, and lands with his feet together, arms out, "Ta da!" He looks terribly cheerful - then realizes he's lost a shoe and hobbles back over to gingerly toe his foot back into it, "Mmf." Once he has it, he turns rather deflatedly back to Orion, arms hanging at his sides and expression sulky, "Hi… how are you?"

___

Orion does notice Teddy’s approach, but the leaping and flipping is a bit unexpected. He chuckles softly when the vampire loses a shoe, but tries not to make it too noticeable. “Er, I’m fine. How’re you?” He offers a half smile before shaking his head, not really waiting for a reply from the other man. “Are you sure you don’t mind this? I mean, I’ve never shifted around a vampire before…That I know of. I’m not sure how the hound will react. Also there’s the fact that the hound’s an ill omen. I know you don’t believe it, but I could cause you a titch of bad luck. I don’t want you to regret it…Or blame me when you fall through the floor or something.”

___

"I'm a vampire. I've got all kinds of time to turn my luck around," Teddy says with a warm smile, perching carefully on top of a gravestone. He rests the heels of his palms on the edge of the stone, tucking his feet against the front of it and tilting his head with that same light smile, "I'm fine. I'm excited, really. I know you say it's terrible, but I bet you'll be a cool looking dog. I wonder if you'll like me. I'll pet you if you do. Is that okay?" He drums his fingers lightly on the stone, his nose twitching and his odd position giving him a strange angelic look, if only because the moon is reflecting off the pallor of his skin and hair as well as the silver of his shirt.

___

Orion looks slightly unconvinced about the luck situation, but he decides he might as well go through with it since they're both here. "You can try petting me if I don't seem too aggressive. I'll try to control the hound's mind as best I can, but sometimes something will set off the feral aspect of my mind." He shakes his head, "And since I'm not familiar with how he'll respond to a vampire…Just be weary of him." He speaks of the hound almost as though it's another entity entirely. He pulls a tennis ball out of his pocket and tosses it to Theo. "Here, in case I get too aggressive, you can try distracting me with that." He hesitates for a moment and shrugs, "Well, be right back I suppose."

Orion wanders back behind a stand of foliage and disrobes before transforming into the black hound. His senses are immediately flooded with a torrent of information his human senses could not detect. There is a strange scent of a non-living man coming from the other side of the bushes, this causes the hound to go and investigate. He steps out into the open, a large black wolf with red eyes. His tail curls very slightly and his ears appear bigger than those of a normal wolf. This along with his larger than usual size seem to indicate there is some domestic dog mixed in there as well. The creature sits in the clearing and stares at the vampire, it's eyes reflecting the light and giving the animal a very eerie appearance.

___

Naturally, Teddy cranes his head to try and get a peek at Orion's naked bum as well as the shift into a hound, but once the creature comes back out, he just props his jaw on his fist and smiles at the dog, "Hello, puppy." His voice is warm and inviting, Teddy holding out a hand with the palm upturned while he clucks his tongue softly and makes a beckoning gesture with his fingers and wrist. He keeps the tennis ball tucked behind his back with the other hand, waiting for an opportune moment to use it - preferably to see whether or not he can make friends first or not.

___

The hound sits there for a moment, its ears swiveling around to pick up minute sounds in the distance. When Teddy begins making noise the ears both point to the vampire. He raises his muzzle slightly and sniffs the air, curious about this new moving dead thing. When Teddy holds out his hand the dog flattens its ears slightly, trying to look a bit threatening. But it appears that the vampire isn’t trying to hurt him, so after a few seconds he just cocks his head and stares at Teddy again. He leans in a little closer to try and sniff the upturned hand from a distance, but he does not approach closer for now.

___

Teddy tries to speak in a low, soothing voice, sliding off the gravestone so that he can kneel on the ground, making himself shorter and less threatening, "Come on, boy. It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you…" He changes to light kissing sounds rather than just clucking, smiling still without showing his teeth. He wiggles his fingers at the hound, murmuring, "Come on now. Come here… I want to be friends." There's not much he can do, but at least he doesn't smell like blood, which likely wouldn't help at all. He leaves the ball behind him still, intent on making friends - he can't help his basic personality.

___

The dog stands from his sitting position when Teddy slides off the stone and gets a little closer. He raises his tail, flattens his ears, and lets out a low growl while bearing his teeth. He backs up slightly and continues his threat display for a few moments before faltering slightly. The other male is just kneeling there making odd noises. Orion lowers his tail and cocks his head slightly, pointing one ear forward. This creature is confusing. He moves forward very slowly and sniffs the outstretched hand, confused as to why the dead thing is holding it out to him.

___

Careful to avoid sudden movements, Teddy sits still while the hound sniffs his hand, then lowers it in order to try and gently scratch under the hound's chin with his slim fingertips. He continues to make low crooning noises while he does it, settled comfortably on his knees while the soft dirt sinks chill through the denim of his pants. If the hound doesn't seem to mind it, he'll finally ease back on his heels and bring the ball out from behind his back, wiggling it lightly and giving it a small toss across the cemetary.

___

The hound flattens his ears again as the hand moves. He eyes it carefully and flinches slightly when his chin gets scratched. The hound wags his tail slightly and kicks his hind leg as his chin is scratched, but he keeps his ears flattened and lets out a half-hearted growl. When the ball is produced he stops all movement and just stares at the object, following it with his eyes as Teddy moves it across his field of vision. When the ball is tossed Orion takes off after it immediately, leaping over the tombstone behind him and sending up a small shower of grass and dirt as he pushes off. He sniffles around for a moment before finding the ball and snatching it up in his maw. The dog happily trots back to Theo with the ball in his mouth, wagging his tail high above him. Upon seeing Theodore he remembers that he does not entirely trust the vampire and decides to lay down just out of reach and chew on the ball for a moment, eyeing the vampire suspiciously.

___

Theodore giggles slightly in response to that, then clears his throat simply because it's not very masculine. He spreads his knees so that he's set more flat on the ground, holding his hand out and curling his fingers, "Aww, come on, Orion… let me throw it again? Drop it, boy. Goood boy…" He speaks in that soft, crooning voice, bending his free arm against the gravestone and setting his knuckles against his cheek. He doesn't move towards the hound, only sits there patiently waiting for the man-turned-dog to come a bit closer, his eyebrows lifted expectantly. His entire attitude is that same calm expectance, just giving the hound a chance to either sit and chew or get the ball thrown again.

___

The hound chews on the ball a little longer and eyes the vampire, trying to decide what to do. After a few minutes it seems that he has decided to let the man throw the ball again. It’s not quite as fun to play with when it’s stationary. Orion stands up and carries the ball over to Theodore before dropping it and staring at the man expectantly. He drops into a sitting position and scratches his ear with a hind limb, still not taking his eyes off the vampire. Never trust something dead that moves around. Teddy’s breaking the rules.

___

The vampire simply picks up the ball and tosses it once into the air, catches it, and throws it farther across the cemetery, really giving it a hard wing, "Go get it!" He grins brightly, waiting to see how good the hound is at running and catching. He'll wait rather happily for him to return, the balmy night feeling good and warm on his cold skin. He can smell the dog in a strange way, but it's not like Orion originally thought. Teddy has no desire to eat him. He just remembers things about dogs, both from mortal life and after, and what the scent of slightly damp fur means. Companionship, freedom, everything dogs present hypothetically to humanity. In short, he thinks dogs are snuggly and lovable, and thus is more than easily amused by being in the company of one-who-isn't-quite-one.

___

Orion watches the ball and drools slightly, tensing up and twitching when the ball is tossed up and recaught. When the ball is chucked out into the night he darts in the general direction it was thrown, looking up at the ball rather than in front of him. The hound slams face first into one of the tombstones and falls down with a yelp. He gets up a moment later, shakes himself off, and charges off toward where he thinks the ball was tossed. Unfortunately the direction he chooses is a little off from where the ball actually is. Orion is gone for a while this time, after some time a bit of growling, scuffling, and whining can be heard in the distance. After several minutes the hound returns to Theodore, reeking of skunk and proudly carrying a dead black and white creature in his muzzle. He drops the animal at Theodore’s feet and shakes his head, sniffling hard out his nose and making a rather unpleasant hacking noise. Orion wags his tail and tries to look proud of his kill, but his one ear is slightly drooped and his eyes are watering a little.

___

Creatures with sensitive noses never have an easy time with strong smells. Fortunately, Teddy's had a long time to acclimate to having such delicate senses, and while he wrinkles his nose, he clears his throat and reaches out to try and pet the top of Orion's head, "Awww, who's a good boy? You are. Yes, you are. Good puppy." He picks up the skunk gingerly and shifts to his feet, frowning slightly at the dead creature and murmuring, softly, "Poor guy…" He carries it off towards the underbrush near the edge of the cemetary, kneeling back down and smiling at Orion easily, "Now we need to bury him. Dogs like to bury stuff, right? …where's your ball, though? Don't lose it." He wants to check on the poor hound's face in case he hurt himself too, of course, but for now he just starts digging into the soft earth, trying to create enough of a cavity that he can bury the dead creature, "Yooou, mister, are going to need a good scrub."

___

Orion pants happily when Theodore accepts his gift. He wags his tail a bit more and sneezes a couple times before looking quizzically at the vampire. Why would he put the gift in the bush? It is a fun new toy to play with. While the vampire is distracted digging the hole he trots over to the bush and drags the dead creature out again, dropping it on the ground and rolling around on it for a little while making happy snuffling noises. After this gets old he lays down with his paws on the skunk and looks over at Theodore, wagging his tail. He bites the skunk and tugs at it, getting into scuffle position. Chewing on the animal further appears to be a bad idea as it causes the hound to gag and wretch some. This doesn’t stop him from continuing to mangle his new toy, however. He apparently does not understand exactly what Theodore is saying, otherwise he would be running away at the mention of a bath.

___

Hm. That's… not good. It actually bothers Teddy to see the animal torn at so, but he doesn't want to make the hound mad at him. He shakes his head and rests his hands on his hips, "Orion. Drop it." He tries to sound stern but not mean, then reconsiders and adds, leaning forward with his hands on his knees, "Want a treat? I have lots of tasty stuff to eat at my place. Huh? You hungry?" He knows most of human-to-dog communication is a matter of tone more than anything else, so tries to apply that to what he says. He shifts to his feet and pats his thigh lightly as he turns to walk towards the road, pausing only to pick up Orion's discarded clothing. He keeps the clothes tucked under one arm, patting his thigh again and whistling shortly, "Come on! Let's go get something to eat! Come on, boy! Leave your toy here…"
___

Orion cocks his head as the vampire starts talking to him again. He sits there wagging his tail and wondering what the man is saying to him exactly. He is unfamiliar with the term treat, but the voice sounds friendly enough. When Theodore begins to walk away he stands up to follow him, looking back momentarily at his destroyed prey. He stops and cocks his head once more before running over to catch up to the vampire. He stops a few feet away and peers at the man quizzically and then proceeds to follow at a short distance. Keeping just out of arms reach of the vampire.

___

Rather than just walk along, Teddy glances back at Orion with a small grin before he starts to jog lightly down the street, just enough to let Orion know he's starting to run and isn't leaving him behind. Once he has, he picks up the pace a bit, just running along at a comfortable loping speed for the hound, laughing a bit in the process. He'll lead Orion into a rather nice part of the city, albeit more upper middle than actually rich. The house they arrive at is a cute little thing painted in blue with lots of plants on the front lawn. He doesn't seem bothered by the idea that Orion might bring the skunkness into the house, unlocking the door and lingering with it open for the dog, giving him ample time to enter if he'd like to.

___

Orion follows the vampire slowly at first, but has to trot and then run as Theodore picks up his speed. The hound stops frequently to sniff various things along the way and causes a small scene when he darts between an older couple out for a late night stroll. When Theodore stops at the house and opens his door the hound also stops. He sits down and pants heavily for a few minutes, glancing at the building wearily. He sniffs the air a few times to try and decide if the house that the dead thing lives in is a safe place to go. His senses are currently overpowered by the skunk smell it seems, and he has a difficult time making up his mind. The hound paces back and forth in the lawn a few times and sits down to paw at his muzzle. It seems that he is extremely hesitant to enter the house. He lets out a low whining sound and begins pacing again, moving slightly further away from the door with each pass.

___

After watching the hound for a few seconds, Teddy frowns slightly before he turns to walk into the house; he returns a minute or two later with something that smells strongly of meat. It's a steak, though God knows why the vampire has real food in his house. He holds it out and wiggles it invitingly at Orion for a few seconds, smiling and crooning out at him, "Come on, puppy. It's okay." The house smells odd for other reasons. There's a lot of life in there, but not of the human sort. Animals. The skunk is likely making it impossible to identify them all, but there's definitely birds somewhere in there. He wiggles the steak a bit more, stepping back into the house and kissing at the dog once more, "Good boy… come on. It's good, I promise."

___

Orion stops pacing when Theodore enters the house. He moves slightly closer out of curiosity. When the steak is produced he sits down and stares expectantly at the vampire for a few minutes, not getting up to go deeper into the house just yet. He eventually gets to his feet and moves tentatively closer to the doorway, drawn forward by the meat. He stops at the stairs and stretches out his neck, trying to sniff the house again but being unable to do so. The hound sits and makes a soft whining noise before deciding that the risks of entering the mysterious house are not worth the meat the vampire is offering to him. He stands and walks down the front path again, looking back toward Theodore one last time before running off toward the outskirts of town. He’ll wander home eventually and wake up unhappy and reeking of skunk tomorrow. Once he realizes what has happened he will call Theodore to apologize.

___

"No, wait!" Theodore calls out unhappily, sighing and frowning slightly. He could definitely track Orion on his own, but picking up a giant hound and carting it home likely isn't the best idea. Instead, he carries the steak out to the side of the road and sets it down, in case the hound decides to come back or maybe another dog is hungry in the night. Absentmindedly, he licks a rivulet of blood from his forearm, wrinkles his nose at that unpleasant, cold taste of it and just sighs, drooping, "Oriiioooonnn…" He wanted to play with the puppy. He heads back into the house to wash his hands for now; maybe he'll track Orion later just to make sure the hound doesn't wind up somewhere unpleasant.

~ Fin ~

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