nico castillo

nicolás castillo alders

[nicocastillo]

Nico Castillo ·✥· Basics & Wanted Plots

·✥· BASICS ·✥·

FULL NAME · Nicolás Castillo Alders St. Claire -- goes by Nico Castillo BORN · Sept. 27, 1988 (currently 36) PRONOUNS · he/him GENDER · cis man ORIENTATION · biromantic demisexual SPECIES · werewolf

( parental death, kidnapping, torture, injury tw)

FAMILY · Aurelio Castillo Silva (d. 2002),  Saskia Alders (former Alpha, d. Feb. 2022) PACK POSITION · (born wolf) triggered to Beta May 2002, became Alpha Aug. 2022, stepped down and returned to Beta June 2025 OCCUPATION · Paramedic, out of Shadow Lake Hospital CURRENT RESIDENCE · As of January 2024, a more secluded cottage near the Alders house, with Jas St. Claire in Echo Acres POSITIVE TRAITS · adventurous, compassionate, idealistic, independent, easygoing NEGATIVE TRAITS · stubborn, irresponsible, bitter, indulgent, avoidant

·✥· QUICK NOTES ·✥·

Nico is the son of the former Alpha, Saskia Alders. He grew up in Lunar Cove with a lot of pressure on him to be tough and responsible so he could one day claim the title from his mother. 

Prone to disobedience and wandering as a kid.

His father was killed by a werewolf who was trying to get back at Saskia. She and Nico hunted that wolf down, and when Nico came back his curse had been triggered.

After that, he stopped giving into Saskia’s demands, and eventually moved out and became a paramedic instead, learning to treat various supernatural species around town. 

Had a big fight with her about ten years ago, and left completely. 

Returned in August 2022 to claim the Alpha title—a big surprise to anyone who knew how much he didn’t want it before. 

Kidnapped on Valentine’s Day 2023 by hunters & tortured until he could be rescued by Jas St. Claire.

has a dog named Thunder (x) that he adopted with Jas in October 2023

when Silas Chamberlain came to town, he and Nico fought, leading to Nico biting him and stripping him of his witch abilities. he still won the fight, and left Nico bleeding as he wrote a menacing message in his blood and skipped town, no doubt set to return to settle the score one day

over the past year, moved from his parents house to a nearby cottage with Jasmine. they were married at the town hall in secret, got tattoo rings with Poppy to witness afterwards. Converted his parent’s house to a halfway house for lone wolves (Alder’s House, on the main)

February 2025: was challenged by Damien Blake and his pack outside the aquarium. Nico and Damien fought, with Nico killing the rival alpha, but not before Damien killed Kitty Hensley for attempting to interfere on Nico’s behalf. The other pack scattered and left Lunar Cove, and Nico sustained serious injuries as well as permanent scarring on his face.

June 2025 - stepped down from the Alpha position, passing it on to his second JC, but remained in the pack as a Beta.

·✥· WANTED PLOTS ·✥· childhood friends: lots of potential for this one, as a kid he was truly out here to make friends at the drop of a hat. the teen years were where things got bumpier and traumatic, he was a bit closed off after his dad died. ( poppy, reese, linden, val )

former enemies & rivals: the pettier the disagreement, the better, imo. ( reese, dhruv )

teen cringe phase: his personality definitely became more rebellious from ages 14 onwards, so it’d be lovely to have a few people who remember being along for the ride ( poppy, linden, val, reese  )

omg they were former roommates: nico moved out of his parent’s place right after high school, but still lived in lunar cove until he was 24, so if you want to have co-habitated when he was at his low-maintenance best, i’m all ears! ( OPEN ) met on the road: nico was drifting through the north-eastern states with a friend, and a bit of canada (montreal, toronto) for about ten years, ending up in oregon. if you were around that area, at that time, there’s a possibility you ran into them. ( jasmine )

exes etc.: they’d be few and far between (he’s bi and demi, he figured out gradually) so if you want a former romantic connection, or a failed one? hmu ( OPEN )

current relationship: ( jasmine (married april 2024!) <3 )

other: packmates (jc, rohan, aysun ) neighbours in echo acres  surfing buddies ( jonah ) coworkers at the hospital or fellow ems workers ( rangi, aysun )

[darkest-andy]

"She's more than capable." Astrid agreed absently. If she hadn't heard from the other by that night, the blonde would reach out. But she was used to giving people their own space to figure things out, not overly pushy. A questioning hum when Nico offered to send some people out to the farm if she needed help with any clean up. Head shook. "No, no. My place is okay." Isolated enough that most of what had affected town hadn't made it that far. "Thanks though." She added. She wasn't totally thrilled to hear that it could have been worse, though she supposed that she agreed in some way. It seemed the town itself hadn't suffered that many casualties, and people would heal. "I'd rather not be used to it." The blonde deadpanned.

[nicocastillo]

·✥·

He could read from Astrid's quick acceptance that he'd been right to suspect that Lara'd be fine. They both had a similar air of confidence, which Nico found reassuring. What was the word? Unflippable. "Good, 'cause I'm a pretty awful carpenter. I built a porch once but, better if no one looks at it from underneath." At her comment, he breathed half a laugh, and nodded. "Yeah. I think we're all just hanging on as best as we can, right now..." But right now had been the last three or four years, or just about. He cocked his head at her curiously, trying to remember what he actually knew about Astrid, apart her family, and then just decided to ask. "You grew up here, right? I remember your folks having the farm forever, of course, but I just realized I never really asked how long you've been running things."

[cantfightmoonlight]

"Oh? And why's that? Because we bite?" She attempted to tease, though she was sure the joke fell flat through her grinding teeth as another wave of pain rolled through her. "Something along those lines," She gave him a small nod before she wince again, not sure how much the painkillers would do, but she was hoping it might help. "That's-" Her breath caught in her throat at the mention of JC, but she pushed the growing fear building in the pit of her chest down. "Concerning to say the least... Guess I've got to go find a werewolf then," She let out a soft grunt as she began to pull herself to her feet, pushing past the dizziness as she glanced back toward Nico. "It must be nice... to have- would you call that optimism or faith?" She wished she could say the same, but while he seemed so sure it would all be fine, Meena's brain operated in worst-case scenarios. "Come on. Let's go find a witch and a wolf, shall we?"

[nicocastillo]

·✥·

He chuckled. “Probably. Or the worry that I’d switch sides one day, bad look for the Alpha’s kid,” he said, delivered like a joke even though he was fairly certain it was true. In hindsight, he had more sympathy for Saskia’s overprotectiveness, even forgiveness, but that hadn’t made her mistrust easier to bear at the time. “But, you know. It was an easy thing to disobey. I probably made more friends outside the pack just because I was encouraged not to.” He helped Meena to her feet, giving her a nod. As she looked back towards him, he paused, head dropping as he let out a soft laugh. "Neither. Self-preservation,” he explained, quiet and a little raw. “I can’t think any other way, I’ll completely lose it. In this body, I can't rely on instincts or my senses, I'd just be another panicked target. And that won’t help me find her." He'd trained most of his life to control his emotions, and when he slipped, he got reckless and stupid, without fail. That couldn't happen here, he wouldn't let it. Nico met her determination with his own. “Yeah, let’s do this.”

[aysun-demir]

"No, that's- it's fine. I'm sure you were busy enough with everything else going on." When he went on to explain what he'd experienced that night, Aysun furrowed her brow in confusion. "Wait you...could hear the pack? The connection, I mean, you could still hear everyone? That's...interesting, I couldn't hear anyone. I mean I was shifted, partially, but I still couldn't hear anyone through the pack bond. I thought...well for a while there I had thought the worst..." Her lips pitched into a frown as she thought back to the initial panic she'd felt when she couldn't hear anyone in her head. It had been one of the hardest things for her to get used to, hearing other people in her head when she was shifted, but when she was faced with the sudden absence of the ability, she found herself missing it. Just a little. "Honestly...I am just glad it is over. And that I don't have to spend the rest of my life with claws and mutton chops," she added with a little laugh, shaking her head. "Do you...know anything more? About...what happened...?"

[nicocastillo]

·✥·

"Yeah, pack bond and only pack bond. Couldn't shift, couldn't heal..." Nico winced. "None of you could hear me, but I got it all blasted at me at once, I could barely decipher anything from anyone. I think we all got left with just one aspect of our abilities, somehow." He frowned a little. "It was weird, too. I've seen how poisons work on various species, like what silver and aconite do to us. But whatever that was, blocking all of our powers except one thing turned up to eleven, with no other side effects? No fever or rash or shortness of breath, and the same for all species? I'm not gonna pretend I understand all the science of it, but that's not like anything I know." He shrugged. "So, no, I don't know anything, really. I'm sure JC will let us know if the Council comes up with any theories, though. And I definitely would've traded you if I could've," he said, with a weak grin. "I'm a simple wolf, having claws is like, ninety percent of my personality."

[ezekielxcuizon]

It was a case of mistaken identity that was clear enough, yet Zeke's heart quickened as he watched the other man poised to swing again. Everything about this felt wrong, and with everything so out of the normal he couldn't make heads or tail about this situation. "You need to calm down. I'm not..." Zeke said, taking a few steps back, "...no, I'm not who you think I am. Are you alright?" In this strange town, filled with unfamiliar faces, it was nearly impossible to tell who was magical and who wasn't. And in this moment, that hit him with even greater force but luckily, the man seemed to snap out of whatever held him in that single-minded rage and the relief that washed over him was palpable as the threat of another blow faded.

"That'd be nice. That'd be really fucking nice," he muttered, "I don't want to hurt anyone. I don't even know what's going on." Electricity still hummed beneath his skin, his powers were raw and wild and he couldn't do anything to stop it. But something else chimed off in his mind that he could attempt to control. He fought to curb the rising thoughts that questioned his own judgement in this chaos. But what choice did he have other than trust the other man's word? He hardly knew this town or its people. "My powers are still out of control," he warned softly as he began to follow. "Even if we find a place with no one around, I can't guarantee lightning won't strike something... or someone else. So, you should stay away from me for your own safety."

[nicocastillo]

·✥·

Nico shook his head, trying to clear the spots from his vision as he took off with the stranger behind him. "Well, I'm not dead, it's a pretty low bar but I'm happy to have passed it." He glanced back. "It's not my first time getting electrocuted, you reminded me of my father-in-law, unfortunately. Sorry, again. You okay, physically? I'm a paramedic, my name's Nico."

Hanging a left at the corner, he led them roughly away from Shadow Lake and towards the edge of town, startling at the periodic flashes of lightning that crashed down around them. The combination of light and sound, the voices of wolves in his head and his own pounding heartbeat, made concentration next to impossible, so he almost missed what the man had said. Rubbing at his temple, he slowed. "New to town, I'm guessing? We've been dealing with this kind of thing for a while now, someone's idea of an experiment, but I don't know much more than that. And as for putting me in danger," he shook off the concern, "I'd rather be close enough to help if you hit someone else, even if that someone's me. But just in case, do you have any CPR training?" He scanned for buildings they could potentially find shelter in. "There's Casey's auto shop. What's the thing with cars and lightning?" K Labs was also in running distance, and though he'd be much more comfortable accidentally subjecting the lab to rogue lightning strikes than the innocent garage, he didn't trust them not to sue him for damages or something.

[icexpackxjc]

In that moment, JC seemed to tense as Nico pulled away, if only because some strange part of his mind was urging him to touch, to drain. Logically, of course, the Alpha knew what was happening to him; the bearing of the burden was not an unfamiliar sensation. But the unquenchable thirst for it made no sense, as if every fiber of himself was urging him toward this same dire purpose. He swallowed hard, rallying his will against it.

"I don't know that it is, man. And I know I would have scolded you for saying shit like that because we're wolves and we make it okay for each other, but it fucking hurts. And I break all my bones once a month." He met the other's eye with an almost pleading expression, and while he wanted to be the dauntless leader he had decided to be, he was just as vulnerable without the pack as he feared they were without him. He was grateful for Nico's presence. "You do? I think...I think everyone is...ach. Fuck. I think everyone is different. I don't know. I ran into a non-pack wolf, and she still had her strength. Some might be shifted and stuck. Or half-stuck." He brought up a shaky hand to grasp his temple.

In any case, Júlio César breathed a sigh of relief as the crowd seemed to part ways for them. "You heard him. Back off," he grunted in affirmation, more desperately than he would have liked, in truth. But with others so close, he felt the urge to grab them returning. He was not sure he could physically take it. "Yeah. Yeah," JC agreed, leaning on Nico and fighting his way off the ground. "Thank you." There was a moment of reprieve, and seizing it, the wolf managed a wry half-smile. "Don't trip. It's both our asses, and right now, that means it's just my ass." No laughter came, and the joking did not make anything feel better. But it at least kept the thirst for survival lit. "I think there's...there's outsiders here. I saw portals."

[nicocastillo]

·✥·

Nico could only nod in understanding. "I hear you." He'd felt the internal pressure that JC was talking about, the frustration at helplessness. "And that's not a mark against you, I know we can act like pain's something to push through, but it's not, it's an alarm system. Gotta figure out what's causing it, before we can shut it off, and that's way tougher to do than just ignoring it." He knew the tendency was to view pain as an enemy, to be fought and denied and overcome, and one that was probably even more of a constant struggle for JC given the injury to his ankle that he'd lived with for so long. He ducked his head, breathing through the anger that he felt, that someone would inflict this on his friend, and for what? Magic, chaos, power, what? What was worth causing this? He drew in a breath, and looked up with more determination than rage, and nodded. "I can hear them, yeah. But that's all, no strength, no shifting, my senses are shot. And I don't think anyone else can hear me, so..." With JC's weight against him, he trailed off, then reaffirmed, for both of them, "First things first, we figure you out, then we'll both be in better shape to help everyone else. Your thoughts are loud as fuck, man," he grumbled, returning the Alpha's strained grin. As he found them a sheltered space behind an abandoned snack booth, he helped JC sit down again, carefully. He had to think fast. Bringing all of his attention to just the man in front of him, he tried to block out all the other voices for a moment. "So, listen." He kept his voice level. "We're gonna take this one step at a time, like... control training, right? When you're trying not to shift, you don't try to stop the moon from rising, you start with what's actually in your control. So right now, focus on not touching anyone, not moving. I'm going to give you some morphine, but it'll take a few minutes to kick in. Not a full fix for anything, but hopefully it'll help make it manageable for a little while." Long enough to maybe come up with the next step, or at least narrow down some options. "I've seen them too. Everyone out there wants to be us or kill us, what else is new, right? Love to see someone show up here and just be normal about it, like one time."

[cantfightmoonlight]

"Okay," She whispered softly out as she moved to dip her head so that her forehead could rest lightly against his the moment he finished bandaging her shoulder. "Thanks, Wonderboy," She added as she watched him tear the skeleton's fingers off from around her ankle. "You really are my hero, you know that?" She admitted under her breath as she let him help her up to her feet. Lacing her good arm around his shoulder to keep herself steady, she cocked at brow up at him and the corner of her lips began to itch into a soft smile. "Quick. Let's call up the guinness book of world records," She attempted to tease, only for her to now take the time to rack him up and down for any signs of visible injuries. "You're not hurt, are you?" She asked just to be certain, before her eyes widened as she warned him, "Nico, step to your left."

[nicocastillo]

·✥·

"I'd say we're pretty 50/50 on who does the heroic rescues, wouldn't you? Next time you're up." Nico scanned briefly for where the two wolves he'd come with were tackling some zombies of their own, and felt a wave of paranoia at how exposed they all were. When he glanced back to her, he saw Jas's eyes skirting him for other injuries, and looked a little sheepish. "I, uh, got a little singed by some rogue lightning—nothing serious, but I might've lashed out at the witch who caused it before I knew what was happening. I'm more embarrassed than hurt, promise." As she called the warning, he immediately followed the direction, tugging her close and along with the movement. "What's up—?"

[cantfightmoonlight]

"Do you remember... the old clan?... Back when Theo was in power?" She asked, catching his inquisitive look out of the corner of her eyes as she continued to rub at her pained temples. "He used to torture those who presented ideas that didn't agree with his own fairly frequently... and, or for fun. All behind closed doors, of course... but as the resident advisor, I often had ideas he didn't agree with," She explained away with a small shrug. She found her own ways of getting revenge, though, back when they had been married and, like most of the older vampires within the Clan, she built up quite the tolerance for physical pain. "That and I've lived my fair share of hunter attacks... but yeah? Me either and I'm in a similar boat to you, I'm afraid. Though rather than a pack bond, it seems to be nearly every vampire in the tristate area. Fuck me, right?" She attempted to joke, though her words fell flat as she finally met his gaze. "Who all have you found? And no. I can guess that we were either drugged with something in the air, drinks, food, the misters, the list goes on, but those are only guesses. No concrete ideas... You?... Find your wife yet?"

[nicocastillo]

·✥·

"Mm. I was told I wasn't supposed to talk to vampires," he said, implying that it was a rule he hadn't obeyed very strictly. His grin faded as she continued, though, and he moved from checking her pulse to resting his hand on hers, just for a moment. "Didn't know I could be even more glad he's dead." The contact helped to focus on her and not the crowded thoughts bombarding his mind, and he lifted an eyebrow to look at her. "So that's like, twenty or thirty who are friendly enough to live here, and probably double that who aren't, yeah?" The joke was half-hearted, and taking a pause before answering, he took the opportunity to take a painkiller for himself, and down some water. Toughing it out would only make him less able to help others. "Not many. I can hear Aysun a little, but not Rohan, and JC's... I don't know, honestly. It's barely coherent from him—but he's conscious, just confused I think, I dunno." Panicked, was more accurate. His mouth pulled into a thin line. "He's worrying about everyone else, as usual. And no, I haven't seen her yet." Nico looked out towards the noise and the chaos, his jaw clenched. "We'll find each other, though. Always have, always will."

[aysun-demir]

Closed Starter For: @nicocastillo Location: Kings Cross Hospital

Gathering up the paperwork from the patient she'd just discharged, Aysun set the pile aside neatly. She was working a night shift, and the flow in the ER was slower than usual. Around her her colleagues were lounging in the nurses station, talking and laughing loudly. Aysun, as usual, kept her head down and focused on the familiar motions of the work, enjoying the normalcy after the latest in town chaos.

She was reaching for the next patient's chart when a familiar scent entered the vicinity, followed by the distinct feeling of eyes in her direction. Looking over her shoulder, it didn't take long to spot the source. "The graveyard shift for the both of us tonight, I see," she said with a faint smile as she neared, arms crossed over her hospital issued scrubs, "...how are you?"

[nicocastillo]

·✥·

After things were taken care of—post-storm clean up, rounds of antibiotics and blood tests for those who'd been fighting zombies, and a few therapeutic rounds of shifting just to reassure himself he could—Nico fell back into his work routine pretty seamlessly. He felt the prickling of old habit periodically though, the feeling that he should be doing more. Before now, he'd probably have been locked into Council meetings and preoccupied with investigating the grounds, things that made him feel both uneasy and inadequate in terms of his ability to fix things.

This, though, was better. Here, he knew what he was doing, and what was beyond his control. As he made his way back through the ER, before he caught sight of Aysun and headed her way. "Hey," he said, returning her smile. "Honestly, I kinda prefer nights. Still crazy, but better traffic and there's no line ups for coffee." He leaned against the counter. "I'm good, you? Sorry I didn't manage to find you in the mess, I kinda had like... everyone in my head all at once, had to run mental triage for a bit. Fully couldn't hear Rohan—which was, you know, terrifying, until Jonah texted me and told me he was with him."

[darkest-andy]

A nod as he addressed her, letting the heavy door of the old truck thunk closed. "I haven't seen Lara." She admitted first, still glancing around, before focusing back on Nico. "Things on the farm weren't great." She'd spent a great lot of time getting her animals to trust her, to understand that the wolf that sometimes patrolled the edges of the property was a protector and not a threat. Last night had put that in jeopardy. However, Astrid had managed to smooth things over when everything had reverted to normal. A sigh escaped her, the blonde leaning against her truck. "I wouldn't want to go through that again any time soon. How did you fare?"

[nicocastillo]

·✥·

He frowned a little, hearing that, then lifted a shoulder. "Well, she seems pretty capable of handling herself, I'm sure she'll turn up." A moment's memory of the hours when Meena and Dhruv had first gone missing, certainty waning into worry, threatened to sway his optimism. But panic was rarely his first response, he knew it wasn't usually that helpful. "Do you need a hand with anything? I know there are crews working on repairs all over town, but I'm sure we could get a few people sent out to you if you need it, no problem," he offered, before shrugging. "I mean, is it bad to say I'm kinda used to it? A few bruises, a brush with lightning. Could've been a lot worse. It turns out that wolves without healing aren't actually good at avoiding injury, who would've guessed it," he added, with a half-sarcastic grin.

[cantfightmoonlight]

Jas' eyes widened as someone seemed to swing at the corpses clawing their way toward her. Her body instinctively flinched at the collision only to ease at the sound of her husband's voice. Her shoulders started to slump forward only for pain to shoot up her arm from where the arrow was still lodged within her shoulder. "Hey," She whispered out and when he carefully guided her hand away from her own shoulder so that he could get a better look at it, she moved to brush her thumb across his cheek, recognizing the labored breaths he was breathing. "You hanging in there?" Her eyes searched his. The corner of her lips itched slightly up at his observation before falling once more as she leaned into his touch. Her body practically collapsing, against him as he began to wrap her shoulder. "Tell me about it," She exhaled. "I don't know what's happening, Nic-" She started to say, but she couldn't even get his name out when boney fingers shot out of the ground to clasp onto her ankle. "I-" She let out a hiss, before she tilted her head back toward him to admit, "I might need you to get that."

[nicocastillo]

·✥·

"Yeah, I'm okay." He gave her a weak smile, holding her gaze for a moment even as he worked, and felt a little kick of relief. "Took your advice, about focusing on one voice. Definitely helped." As he carefully bandaged her shoulder, he kept one eye out for whoever had shot her, a chill settling deep in his gut. "I don't know. Best guess is some kind of drug or gas, something like that apple-scented one, but more selective, or I dunno, possibly a spell—mh." He broke off as skeleton fingers wrapped around her ankle, and calmly released her shoulder for a moment so he could use both hands, prying the thumb from beneath and then wrenching the whole hand backwards with his body weight pressing on it. His strength was diminished, but he'd dealt with enough wrist fractures in his time to know exactly how fragile they could be, especially without the muscle and ligaments to hold them together. The hand snapped backwards with a crunch and broke at the joint. He tossed it aside and wiped his hands, before reaching to help Jas gingerly to her feet, using himself as a crutch for her. "I know its probably a mark of where we live, but do you think we set some kind of record, number of corpses per square mile?" he asked lightly, as the skeleton struggled to pull the rest of itself, minus one hand, from the earth. "Gotta be, right?"

[ezekielxcuizon]

Zeke winced as he watched the other man be struck and knocked backward by a rogue bolt. Warnings and shouts of caution only did little against the uncontrolled flashes of lightning that he, unfortunately, was causing. Taking a few hurried steps in that direction, Zeke hesitated before fully reaching out. Given how things were going, he was sure that attempts to help would only do more harm than good.

When a name was uttered, Zeke blinked at the unfamiliarity. "Who?" But before he had a chance to think further, the injured man charged, catching him completely off guard and sent him staggering backward. "What the hell?" Zeke muttered, quickly rising to his feet and backing away. It wasn't entirely unwarranted, not when he had sent a bolt flying earlier, but somehow, he felt that he wasn't the real target of that outburst. "I can't control this, okay? I'm trying, but—" His words were cut short as a sudden bolt struck down behind them, startling him and highlighting his point. "See! I don't know why this is happening." A pang of guilt shot through him all the same. "I'm sorry."

[nicocastillo]

·✥·

His body didn't want to respond, every muscle sore as though he'd just been sprinting too hard for too long. Nico gave his head a shake as he got to his feet, his attacker wasn't far but he still struggled to close the distance as quickly as he wanted. His instincts told him that buying himself a breath to recover might help, but his thoughts were slow to catch up—he craved his other form, itching to charge with his real strength and stop this here and now, use his claws and fangs to make it stop, but all he could manage was to charge him, fists at the ready.

The eyes that met his, though, weren't Silas's at all. There was no time for holding back, but Nico staggered a little as he went sprawling, staring. "You're not—" He drew away. His skin felt hot, his breath ragged. Slowly, he realized, the stranger didn't look like he was trying to kill anyone, he looked frightened. "Sorry, I'm sorry. I-I thought you were somebody else." Another lightning strike hit the ground behind them and he flinched. "Fuck." Adrenaline and shock made him feel sick and jumpy, focus growing harder as the pack's voices tried to overwhelm him. "We gotta get you away from people, right now." Despite the obvious danger, he closed the distance between them and ushered the guy to follow him. "Come on, let's go, before you hit someone else. I know this town like the back of my hand, follow me," he said, mapping a route that would lead them quickly to the nearest low-traffic area, away from the crowd.

[darkest-andy]

starter: open location: town

While it seemed whatever had created the chaos had now dissipated, it had left behind quite the mess. Astrid had spent most of the morning settling things down on the ranch, re-convincing her animals that she was not a threat. About midday she ventured back into town, cussing under her breath at the carnage littering the streets. Pulling over, the blonde stepped out of the old pickup, shaking her head as she surveyed the damage. "What a fucking disaster."

[nicocastillo]

·✥·

As the pickup pulled up, Nico jogged over, concern etched across his features even as the vehicle door opened and its occupant got out. "Astrid, hey." He'd swapped his festival clothes and medic's vest for his actual work uniform, after checking he once again could shift and heal, which was a relief to say the least. "How's the farm? You and Lara okay, and the animals?" It wasn't like he was a regular at Holloway Farm, knowing they liked their solitude. But he'd stopped by with Thunder on his walks more often since Lara helped him with Damien's pack, chatting a little but mostly feeling shy that he liked the quiet there and thought maybe, with practice and luck, he could one day befriend a sheep. "Those rogue powers were no joke." He winced at the blown out windows off a nearby shop, fallen victim to wind or rain—maybe lightning, who knew.

[icexpackxjc]

Overcome by the pain coursing through every inch of his body, JC did not quite have the lucidity to hear Nico's approach, loud and authoritative as his voice was. He blinked, though, as the other almost seemed to manifest before him. And without really thinking the motion through, Júlio César tightened his hand to grasp his friend's.

His head ached with it, briefly, and JC winced, letting out a weak groan. He grit his teeth, however, not finding the drive to let loose his grip. He let out a long, ragged breath, as though finding his own voice required a genuine degree of effort.

"Everything, man. It's everything," he muttered. "It's like when...the Alpha. We can take the pain of other wolves, but this...." Alpha. The word seemed to stir some panic in him. "I can't...I can't shift. I don't know what's happening. The others. I need to find the others. Something's wrong, Nico."

Someone ran by in the commotion, their foot catching JC's leg and sending them sprawling hard onto the ground. The wolf reacted with the contact, his knee twisting as the absorbed collision coursed through his leg.

[nicocastillo]

·✥·

JC took his hand, and Nico felt the headache seep away from him, his mind not clearing of voices but at least the pain was a little more bearable. He immediately was thrown back into recollections of when Saskia would help him—rarely, and not often enough to make him expect the assistance—with the pain of his early changes. He pulled away sharply, eyes wide.

"Shit..." As he clued into what was going on, he realized JC was in worse danger than he'd expected. The Alpha's ability wasn't meant to be used long term, or repeatedly. He shook his head. "Okay, it's gonna be okay," he said, with more determination than he felt. He didn't miss the echo of something sharp and uncomfortable that came along with JC's thoughts, but he pushed it away for the moment. "I can't shift either but I've got the pack bond up, I'll find them for you. Best thing you can do for us is look after yourself, right now—"

He was interrupted by someone running by, their leg catching on JC's, and the pain sent a wave of shock through the bond that only Nico could hear. He let out a snarl and wheeled on the person, now struggling in the dirt. "Back off." Though he didn't have his usual strength or abilities, from the look on their face as they scrambled up and apologized, he still seemed imposing enough to cause the crowd to pull away from the pair of them, but he didn't know how long that would last. "We gotta get you somewhere safer," he muttered, and moved to JC's side to get a shoulder under him. "Healing's off too, so put your weight on me and off that leg."

[cantfightmoonlight]

She gave him a small nod as another pained breath broke from her lips. "They all still sound like they're alive at least," She muttered under her breath, wincing slightly as she counted their thoughts off in her head. "I've been better," She admitted. "But, I've also been worse so..." She took the tylenol from him, turning it around in her hand as though she debated about whether or not to take it before finally giving in and downing them back. "More or less. Can't say I miss this part of humanity. You?"

[nicocastillo]

·✥·

Nico gave her an inquisitive look at that, but stayed focused on checking her vitals. The routine was somewhat familiar from all the times he'd stopped by to help with her pain after she'd been bitten, but he asked before each step all the same, if he could check her pulse and pupillary response, things that used to be easy to hear and see and now took him longer to evaluate. He laughed dryly. "No, I really don't miss it. Feels like I'm in stuck in jello, and I've got the pack bond on blast in my head, but they can't hear me, so it's pretty useless. And loud." He shrugged, but avoided meeting her eyes. "I'm stuck trying to figure out where they are just whatever I can guess from their thoughts." He didn't know what he'd do if she asked after JC. Everything that'd come through from the Alpha made his hackles raise, but he respected Meena and wouldn't lie to her. "Any clue as to what's causing this?"

[cantfightmoonlight]

@nicocastillo

"N... Nico?" Meena slowly lifted her head from where she was resting. Her body was slumped up against the side of a building as she snuck a peek his way before the glare of the street lights and the noise of the vampires thoughts became overwhelming all over again and she squeezed her eyes back shut. Her voice becoming more strained as she said, "Have you... seen any of the other vamps or JC?"

[nicocastillo]

·✥·

Nico knelt down and tried to get a better look at Meena's condition, speaking softly. "A few." He quickly listed off those he'd seen, for her benefit. "They all looked to be holding up okay, from what I could tell. I'm still looking for JC." He left it at that, but he looked grim. "Are—" He had to pause and nearly lost track of what he was saying. "Are you okay?" The voices of wolves were getting worse as time went on, and none of them seemed aware that there was any reason to curb their thoughts, so it was all coming through. He reached for his med kit and handed her some tylenol and a water bottle. "Here. I've been noticing most of us are feeling more or less human at the moment, no healing or abilities except for one, which is out of control."

[cantfightmoonlight]

@nicocastillo

"Nico?" She heard him before she saw him from where she had been hunched up in a ball on the ground, trying to steady her breathing as she applied pressure to the gaping wound across her shoulder that was bleeding out. She'd occasionally peek her eyes open if only to swat the undead's hands away from her as she tried to steady her shaky vision, but the moments she lifted her head were few and far between. By the time she managed to look up again, there he was, standing over her. "Hey... Wonderboy," She attempted a smile, though from the metallic taste in her mouth, she was guessing she likely looked even worse for wear than how she felt. "Don't freak out?"

[nicocastillo]

·✥·

Although he could possibly hold out against a hunter or two, Nico was aware of his own limits now and as he made his was through to find Jas and his packmates, a new strategy had formed. Now, when he found her on the ground with a zombie racing for her, his reaction was immediate. He swung with the broken steel tent pole he'd been using as both weapon and walking stick, connecting with desiccated flesh and bone with a sickening crunch. The zombie fell back onto the ground and Nico called to his companions. "Lee, Mischa! Little help?" Two pack wolves, one half-shifted and the other uncontrollably strong, joined him and began to help dispatching the zombies around them. Nico knelt, quickly replacing Jasmine's hand on her bloody shoulder with his own. "Hey, who's freaking out?" he asked with a soft smile, like they weren't both in terrible shape. For Nico's part, his breathing was laboured and he had to refocus on what he was doing several times, but his touch was careful and precise. "I'm a professional, remember?" He teased and kissed her gently, anxiety knitting his brow as he looked to her injuries, pulling supplies from his pack to wrap her shoulder. "You've been busy," he noted, nodding to where Mischa was currently crushing a skeleton into chalky dust.