Open | Network + Action

[duelo]

NETWORK

All right, my sister has decided that I have two choices: I can get off my ass and make some new friends or I can find somewhere else to live. Since I'm terrible at the former and not interested in the latter, I guess I'm going to need some help.

What is there to do around here?

[ Because, quite honestly, he's been keeping largely to himself, so as not to third wheel Buffy and Alcide...but he's also been more than a little clingy; he can't help it. Laura's alive. That novelty isn't going to fade any time soon.

This message is going to have to do. Her exact suggestion was that he get off his ass and "get laid" but he's still not ready to move past the unspoken...whatever he had with Katniss back in Alpha Complex. ]

ACTION

Admittedly, this place is a lot more relaxing than Beacon Hills or the Alpha Complex had been and Derek really can't complain. It's nice being able to just be himself and find that no one gives a rat's ass. He doesn't really run around saving the city with his sister, mostly because he's still so conditioned against letting himself be who he really is, but he likes the idea that he could if he could just muster up the energy and confidence to do it without being afraid of being hunted for the sake of being hunted.

Or thrown in jail for being a traitor for literally anything that he might say or do.

Walking through town and just sort of looking at the sights in spite of the fact that he's seen them all a hundred times, Derek allows himself to take things in with a fresh set of eyes. The people are friendly here. The streets smell like the coffee shops and eateries he passes, rather than nothing at all because he hadn't had his sense of smell.

Maybe he could settle here. Maybe once he gets over Katniss and just moves on, then he can actually settle down here. Maybe he'll meet another woman; maybe she'll be The One, if he's especially lucky. Derek is finding more and more that he could get used to it here. He just has to let himself.
He can do that. Right?

Comments

[rouxgaroux]

[ It's been too long since he and Derek have talked. Alcide is glad for the opportunity to do so. ]

I'm betting she wouldn't actually kick you out, man. She's just worried about you. So am I. How have you been?

[duelo]

You don't know my sister, do you?

[ That's rhetorical and mostly joking. Although, he does think she would toss him out for a day just to prove a point. ]

There's nothing to worry about, I'm just..adjusting. That's all. I'm all right, how are you guys? I feel like I haven't seen either of you in forever, which is entirely my fault and I own that, I'm just saying. It's been too long.

[rouxgaroux]

[ He really doesn't know Derek's sister. He just knows how he and his own sister would be with each other and goes off of that. ]

It's been awhile. Adjusting to this place is easier than adjusting to the Complex, that's for sure. Still weird though, so I get it. Buffy's good. She's got her sister here and one of her friends from her home. I'm just... tagging along, like I always do. You know how it is. You and your sister doing alright?

[duelo]

Too long; my fault. We should fix it.

Yeah, I know how it is. We're good. You should come for a run with us sometime. A real run.

[ He's pretty sure Alcide will know what he means by that without him having to come out and say it. The three of them can transition to wolves and have a proper run like he and Laura already do every morning. ]

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[the_dawnster]

There's lots to do! I mean, I've only been here for about a month but it's seriously cool. Coffee shop, book store, park, beach, shopping, recreation center, definitely lots of stuff to do, which is better than the alternative of being in the land of McBoredom.

Also, luckily for you and your living situation, I'm always game for new friends. I'm Dawn.

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[duelo]

It's probably a bad thing that you've been here way less time than I have been and you already know more of the things to do around here than I do. Book store jumps out at me, though. I think I've seen it. Haven't gone inside yet, though. How eclectic is the selection, do you know?

Oh yeah? That easy? I'm Derek. It's nice to meet you.

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[the_dawnster]

I'm a rockstar when it comes to research and eavesdropping, what can I say? The book store is amazing! This girl named Gracie runs it and the store is sentient, almost. The bookshelves shift and change and she says the selection is constantly changing too. Probably to the whims of the people in Itinere. Kind of creepy, but also super awesome. I'm kind of a book nerd.

I'm super easy! I mean, not like that, but you know, in the friend making department, so easy. Nice to meet you too!

[whattingawhat]

Your sister has a point. I was sort of afraid you'd bounced back home.

[duelo]

Buffy, do not encourage her. Anyway, I would've told you if I was going to do that. Give me a little credit.

[whattingawhat]

Why not? I like the way she thinks. I know you would have told me i you had a choice, but maybe you were choiceless.

[protetta]

Not to sound like a Disney movie, but if you can dream it you can do it.

[duelo]

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'm Derek.

[protetta]

I'm Sophie. So you're not new, but you've been keeping to yourself? My brother tends to do that too.

text

[mistyday]

pretty much anything you want to do, really

guess that's not much of an answer though, huh?

[duelo]

Not super helpful, no haha. What do you like to do?

[mistyday]

anything with music! they could have more concerts around here but the record store is nice at least. there's about anything you could ask for from everywhere. guess people bring all their music with them when they come here.

i garden a lot too but idk if that'd be interesting to other people

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[bonnfire]

I'm still trying to figure that out myself, tbh. But I like board games, and going for runs and playing pool sometimes...

Maybe we could start a club? (:

[duelo]

Can't say I've done the former in a very long time and I don't know how to play pool, but runs, that I do on the daily.

No good starting a club if I don't even know your name, but once we establish that, then I could probably be convinced.

[bonnfire]

Oh! Right, I'm Bonnie.

I can show you how to play pool. My friends and I used to play all the time. Not much else to do back home, tbh, so we got really good.

action;

[stillplaying]

She's spent the last three years of her life here but since being bitten, she's had the opportunity to experience Itinere all over again. It's different being here and being something more than a lost, broken human girl. She doesn't shy away from people, although the caution and suspicion are habits that will never fully die. On rare occasions, she'll even greet strangers with a smile. It helps knowing that even without her bow, she's no longer defenseless. The confidence that comes with that is something new to her, especially after being incapable of saving too many she's cared for, and so far, Katniss might actually like it.

Even though her days have become somewhat routine, it's a routine she likes. The morning is spent wandering the forest, often hunting, but by lunchtime she's back in the town proper. She cooks dinner most nights but it's nice to have so many options for lunch. More often than not, she finds herself in the Houndstooth - especially when she doesn't intend to meet Matt for lunch. Other days, she wanders until she finds the exact meal she's looking for.

Katniss is in the middle of reading over a cafe menu when she catches an unexpected scent in the air. It's the scent of another werewolf, a male werewolf that clearly isn't Laura. Quickly, Katniss turns around to look for him. Despite knowing about the presence of other werewolves on the island, she hasn't actually met any of them yet and she's curious - if just to know who else might actually be able to out her for what she is now. As soon as she notices Derek, she hurries over in quiet determination to finally meet a werewolf that isn't Laura, even if she has no idea what she'll actually say. But thinking before acting has never exactly been her forte.

action;

[duelo]

At this point, he's sort of resigned himself to the fact that Katniss is stuck in the Complex and he reminds himself that she'd tell him if she was here. She'd be looking for him just like he's been looking for her. Katniss isn't the type that would go immediately into hiding; he'd be the first person she'd come looking for after Prim.

So running into her is the last thing he expects when he's out and about. ...at least, it's the last thing he expects until he catches the scent of wolf on her.

"Katniss?" he asks, confused. Maybe he's a little hurt that they're meeting accidentally instead of intentionally. Maybe he's thrown off guard by the scent that doesn't belong; she'd seemed to think that werewolves weren't real when she'd told him, at first, at least. He might not have had his wolf sense of smell, but she shouldn't smell like a wolf if she'd been unaware that they were real. "Is that you...?"

Because maybe it isn't. Maybe she just...looks like her. Maybe this isn't actually Katniss. It can't be, not smelling like that and approaching him with curiosity rather than relief and excitement.

action;

[stillplaying]

He's right. He's right about all of that. Katniss is fiercely protective of those she actually lets in to her life. If she had been the Katniss from the Complex, she would have come looking for him. Would have torn down anything to find Prim and Derek and anyone else she remotely cared for.

But she's not that girl. She's older, for one thing. Twenty. The last three years of her life have been spent here, spent mostly with a sister that should have been dead. That sister is gone now. Her life is more complicated now. There's a reason she smells like wolf. Itinere is full of weirdness. And it's easy to make some mistakes along the way.

This isn't the first time a stranger has known her name. She doesn't delude herself in thinking it's because he's from Panem. Not when he smells like that. Does that mean he's like that woman Buffy? Knows another her from somewhere else?

She nods in response to his question, the action slow and deliberate. Katniss stops a couple of feet in front of him and inhales deeply. He's a wolf. He's definitely a wolf like her and Laura. "You're a werewolf."

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[tryit]

Do you always do what your sister says?

[She's teasing. Mostly. Kate's aware that there are people with better sibling relationships than the one she and Susan share, and there's a small part of her that remains jealous of those people. Still, she wouldn't trade her life for anything, even if there's not a whole lot to do in Itinere when the excitement level's low.

There's a pause for a second before she types in a more serious answer:]

There's always the beach. Assuming you're the kind of guy that doesn't exactly mind sand getting everywhere.

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[duelo]

Only when it means losing a perfectly good room in a perfectly good apartment.

[ He appreciates the levity that comes from her question and rolls that levity into his own response. ]

I don't mind that. I think I'd prefer the beach around sunrise or after sunset. I feel like it'd be more peaceful that way. Maybe I'm wrong. I guess there's really only one way for me to find out.

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[tryit]

Those are hard to find.

[Especially when Itinere is playing a never-ending practical joke on you. She's still stuck with Clint's Bed-Stuy place. At least it's been looking better and better the longer she's been living there.]

Personally, I prefer sunrise. Way less people. Not to mentions the excitement of a new day in the air