If there was a cure for troubling times, it appeared alcohol was one of the solutions. Since The Pit Stop opened their doors back up to the public after the hurricane, the residents of Asteria have been packing it nearly every night. Apparently a few drinks helped take their minds off things, something many people needed right now. Spencer was only grateful the new hire returned after the storm, he was nervous he would be manning it by himself.
Tonight had been like every other night, busy. Spencer had been popping pain medication left and right as if it were candy as he worked the bar. When the bar closed, Spencer and Murphy sent the last patron home with a family member before they went on their merry way of cleaning the place up. As Spencer mopped, he groaned feeling the sharp pains on his side and finally ceased. “Do you mind finishing up for me?” He questioned as he set the mop against the wall and went over to grab a bottle of whiskey and two glasses for the two of them. “What made you decide to move to Asteria?” He questioned as he took a seat on one of the stools and poured the two of them a drink for when Murphy finished with the last chore.
“Hey buddy,” Dan said with a soft smile as he pulled up in front of the curb Murphy was currently sitting on, or half laying down on depending on how you’d looked at it. He hopped out of the car and bent down to offer his hands. “You’re like twice my size but I went to the gym this week so we totally got this.” He laughed as he managed to get the younger man to his feet, sliding an arm around his midsection as he led him to the passenger side. “Let’s get you home.”
hearing the door of his office close, adam let out a sigh and squeezed the bridge of his nose. perhaps he should look up, come across as personable, friendly but his world was in a topsy turvy due to a highly persistent blonde. he pointed to his chair, signaling for her to sit if she wanted to. " what do you want smurf? "
closed starter for @murphyaltman at swindelbrook st apartments
"Sorry but this was such a good idea on my part," Fiona tells Murphy, as she finishes lining the mailbox for room number 223 with super glue and, for good measure, fills the keyhole as well. Capping it and admiring her handiwork, she says, "That freak needed to be humbled so badly. Next time he tells me to call him 'Doctor' Klein I'm gonna put a pipe through his head like Paris Hilton in House of Wax." She mimes the movement, complete with a squelching sound effect. "He's literally so demented, like, babe, nobody is remotely impressed by your 'PsyD'" she puts this in air quotes, "you obviously do nothing with since you live in this dilapidated shithole building. God, I hope he's so offended he moves out."
Description: Jared runs into a situation and there are many misunderstandings to be had with Murphy.
Triggers: Blood tw, Gore tw, Choking tw?
The national park had always been a soothing place for Jared to be, he might have been gone those last six months, but the life of the forest was ever present and ever alive with the creatures he loved. The paths he trekked were not the same as those traversed by the human population of the town as well, so it was curious when he could see steps veering into the brush in the wrong direction. Moving with significant speed.
The nymph reached out tentatively to any charge of his nearby and the returning feedback bloomed in him, lighting up in a sort of cold aching fear. Jared found himself quickly following the footsteps of another at a rapid pace, registering disturbance to the peace almost belatedly, and eventually wrapping his head around the emotion and having the headspace to hope that what he’d find at the end of this makeshift path was something he could combat without any equipment. He hadn’t brought his shotgun and he regretted it more and more as the remnants of a chase showed one of the participants to be shedding blood. The splatters on the foliage gave way to chunks of flesh the faster and further he moved. Guttural sounds starting to echo around the trees as he finally found the source of the discontent. The scene was...gruesome to say the least and he was standing on the outskirts frozen in place. A wolf. Of course. He could only look on the scene as silently as he could, she wasn’t finished just yet.
Murphy had not intended to come to the national forest to hunt the prey which she was currently stalking. A deer would have been enough to sate her appetite, perhaps a large elk. That was until she noticed the park ranger, eyes watching as they had swaggered through the forest. Instinctively she shifted down, despite having intended to do so further into the hunt. This was her hunt now, the wolf within howled its pleasure as she crouched low to the ground, the fur of her belly scraping the surface of the leaves. Lupine senses advised her of the ranger’s path, no doubt looking for some poor lost soul who had wandered too deep into these woods, never to be seen again. Initially Murphy’s intention had only been to stalk, to watch them blunder through the woods, killing a ranger would have been too risky, drawn too much attention to her hunting grounds. Her mind changed in an instant as she watched the ranger shoot at a deer for sport.
Without warning the wolf took over, powerful jaws locked around the neck of the ranger, the bones crushed in a satisfying way as blood flowed into her mouth. They were dead before they hit the ground, but Murphy was far from finished. With a vicious snarl she tore an arm from their body and shook it between her jaws until it had flown into the expanse of trees. It would need to be cleaned up later, but all that mattered now was her kill. Gutteral growls emenated from her chest, unable to control the sounds as she fed, which drowned out the tearing of flesh from bone as she feasted. It was not until she was almost done with her kill, when the haze of blood had receeded, that she noticed another presence.
She acted on pure instinct, lips pulled back from glistening canines, body crouched low over her meal. The warning could not have been clearer: stay back. With a wary eye kept on the stranger, Murphy finished her meal. By the time she was done there was little more left than carrion for the various scavangers who romed the forest. With her stomach full and mind cleared, she shifted back to her second skin, unabashed by her bareness. Her eyes studied the man’s intently, and she instantly knew he was different, but what exactly he was she could not quite place. “Why were you following me?”
He watched her devour her meal, completely entranced. Jared didn’t move a single muscle as he did so, not wanting to provoke an attack and hoping that she would have eaten enough to spare an altercation with him. He stayed silent as the squelch of tearing flesh died down with only scraps left behind on bone. Arms at his sides he finally moved only to hunch his back a little to appear smaller, a response born of living with viscous animals all his life. If he looked smaller perhaps he would be a far less appetizing meal. Although he had encountered werewolves before, and knew even natural instinct sometimes could be overshadowed by the need to remove dangerous outside onlookers from a situation such as this.
Fur smoothed out into skin and he averted his eyes respectfully from the shifter, his body half turning in what he hoped was a submissive enough stance that this conversation wouldn’t instantly take a violent turn.
“The commotion startled the creatures in the trees, they were unsettled.” Jared responded simply, eyes focused to the right of the top of her head. “I wanted to see if there was any danger to them.” He admits. With this comment he finally makes eye contact with her. “Is there…? Are you a danger to them, or have you caught what you were looking for?”
Her stance relaxed as she took in his submissive posture, Murphy’s dominant side appreciated the obvious display. Still, she knew it was easy to play tricks and merely moving one's body a certain way did not remove the threat entirely. Rather, it just made it less obvious. Her head tilted to the side as she pondered his question. “Only if I’m hungry,” a smirk twirled up blood stained lips, “Or they pose a threat.”
She shrugged, an indication that the creatures in the trees were of little concern to her. “Now this one here,” a foot digs into what’s left of the skeletal remains, a few ribs knocked aside in the process. “They weren’t my intended target, but they were unintelligent enough to kill a deer in my presence.” There was a bark of laughter. “A pity. Now that poor unfortunate soul wandering these woods will forever be lost.”
No sorrow was detected in her voice, if anything, Murphy was glad. They might still be wandering around a night from now, an easy meal, one that would not be missed. That thought brought her attention back to the skeleton at her feet. “You’re so concerned with the creatures of this forest.., Nymph?” The tail of her words rose in a question, a lone eyebrow lifted. “Tell me where I might find someplace to dispose of this creaton,” an angry venom seeped into the word, “And I might decide I don’t want a snack.” Not that he would be aware, but she didn’t truly intend him harm, not when he appeared to be no threat. But Murphy figured she might as well use the situation to her advantage.
He eyed the remnants of the obviously human body at her feet and then artificially blue eyes flickered up to meet hers once again. “A ranger… getting into things they shouldn’t as always.” Jared surmised. If he were who he’d been before he’d left town months previously he might have picked up where the ranger had left off and attempted to find the misguided traveller. But he couldn’t quite muster the care he’d had back then for humans who’d foolishly bitten off more than they could chew. His expression stayed stable as he simply nodded along with the information she was giving him. Making no moves to do anything about it.
“Nymph.” Jared echoed back to her in confirmation. “Of vicious creatures.” He allowed his hair to shift and show the 4 curled goat horns on his head as proof before covering them over once again in glamour.
He raised placating hands into the air as her tone shifted abruptly from conversational to more aggravated. He lowered his gaze from hers as one might to for an angered bies in order to avoid it’s third eye. “It depends, are you talking about the bones at your feet or the hiker in the woods. Both have pretty different demands. Bones versus flesh you know.” He offered to her in response. “Might I ha- Might I know your name as well?” Maybe it was a dumb move to ask things of a stranger when they were so clearly threatening to maim you and/or something you cared for, but not many would call Jared a smart man. His eyes lose focus on the bones at her feet as he sends soft signals down the connection he had to the nearby Bonedoggle pack, signalling them to move just in case she took a turn.
Her head nodded as she watched the appearance of his horns. “If the woods and the natural creatures are your element, why are you hiding,” a smirk, “scared of things that go bump in the dark?” This was one of the few times Murphy had seen any part of a nymph without their glamour, and despite the situation she felt a strange urge to reach out and touch them. She quickly tamped it down, focused more on the situation at hand than any wandering fantasy.
Murphy’s lip curled up in a sneer at the ridiculous or the question. “What do you think?” Despite the roll of her eyes that followed, she kicked the head of the skeleton and sent it rolling to come to a rest at his feet. “I have a long day tomorrow. I’ll take care of the human myself when it’s over.” There was no effort made to hide her intentions. Why should she? It was what she was, and in these woods at least, she had no intention of hiding. “Unless of course you’re one of those fun little beings who likes to pretend they care for the foul creatures?” Green tinted hues narrowed to alert him that the question was a challenge. Let him find out what would happen if he stood in the way of her next meal.
“You can call me Crimson. At least until I decide what I want to do about you.” Her senses, though dulled enough the early lunar phase that she couldn’t tell what was moving, picked up on a faint rustling. “I’ll kill them if you make me. You’ve been warned.”
“I’m more likely to be shot at if I look anything like myself.” Jared responded quickly. Shifting uncomfortably for the first time since this conversation had begun, thinking about the reactions he’d gotten in the past. “Wouldn’t get very far being scared of the dark either, not in a town like this one. There’s far too much going on once the sun goes down.” There was no hesitation however as his hand reached down to scoop the skull of the ranger into his grasp. “Well I can just take the bones out of your sight.” The nymph admits freely.
Spinning the skull slowly in his fingers he wipes a thumb over the surface. “I only care about the humans I know well. I tend to just not get involved in anything that doesn’t concern me.” He’d learnt the hard way that it was best to only hold onto those that mattered. Especially when it comes to humans that may have put themselves in harm's way. “If you don’t get to them, something else will. It’s the natural order.” An order he supports wholeheartedly.
He was a mild man, chipper and kind when spoken to. He liked to class himself as friendly even. But threats were difficult to take, especially such direct threats. It was not the threat to himself that raised his head, but the threat to the pack had his spine uncurling. No longer was he in a submissive stance. He towered as he looked at her. “And I supposed you think you’re the biggest baddest thing in the national park right now?” She may be able to take the doggles, but there were FAR nastier creatures in the depths. “Do you threaten people often?”
Murphy snorted with derision. “And you expect me to believe you wouldn’t be able to sense someone with a shotgun? No. You’re hiding something.” She called how quickly he had hidden away his horns. “Even if it is from yourself.” There was nothing that bothered her more than a creature unable to express their natural being. Though he wasn’t a wolf, the simple thought that the man was hiding from his nature was painful for her. It was one of many reasons she utterly detested humans, and the bone’s beneath her feet bore witness to a surge of ill-suppressed anger.
“I could do that. I want them gone.” Irritation was begging to crawl against her skin. “Why bother? Caring about the humans? If they knew what you truly were they would be the first to attack. Or maybe that’s why you choose to surround yourself with them? To give yourself an excuse to cower from what you were born to be?” Her nostrils flared. She might have felt something akin to pity for him, but she was not about to take a threat from someone so cowardly. In a few brusk steps she had crossed the distance between them and one hand reached up to wrap around his throat.
“I might not be the biggest bad in these woods, but I’m bad enough to end you.” Murphy allowed her sharp human nails to dig into the skin of his neck, quite literally pressing the point into him. “Only when challenged.” She let go and rocked back onto her heels, green orbs bored into his in a refusal to drop his gaze. “But I’ll point out; that wasn’t a threat, it was a fact. If you make me I will kill them. So I suggest you don’t make me.”
“You jump to a lot of conclusions, we met all but ten minutes ago you know.” She could decide his character based on anything she liked, Jared was fairly certain nothing he could say would change whatever image she was already forming in her mind after all. Not that he would try very hard even if he did tell her more. Given her not so subtle negative stance on humans he wouldn’t be sharing anything more about his human family, lest it set a worse tone than this conversation was already taking.
“You want them unfound. There’s a difference. If I take them, they won’t be found and they’ll have a use. But whatever you’d like,” Jared paused and shrugged, becoming increasingly uncomfortable with how this encounter was going. He should have thought it through more clearly before running into the area, but he’d been concerned for his doggles. “You’re ignoring the humans who do know what I am and are fine with it. You might have not encountered any but that doesn’t mean you can rule them out completely.” He doesn’t move, lest she interpret his movement as inciting a fight and instead placidly allows her hand to wrap around his throat, it wasn’t like he’d never been choked before. He speaks again anyway, gasping on the limited air he can gasp for to add “You seem to know more about what I’m born to be doing than I do, the way you talk.”
“Okay.” Jared said mildly in a low tone, fighting the pressure on his windpipe. “I wasn’t talking about myself anyway.” When she let go, he does take a solid step backwards and away from her, a hand coming up to smooth over the imprints of her nails in his skin. “I wasn’t making you do anything. I was asking if you were threatening my kids. You are. You are threatening them, but only if I do something you don’t like will you actually do it. So… what exactly am I not to do in order to safeguard them? Secrets in this town are already a given among the more interesting people. So what is it I'm trying to avoid exactly?”
“And why should I trust you?” One sculpted brow rose, a clear challenge to his statement. Murphy knew nothing about him other than that he was a nymph who chose to hide. Which begged the question, what else could he be hiding? “Oh, my mistake.” Her voice took on a mocking cruelty. “I hadn’t realized you’d shared with them what you look like outside of a glamour.” A cruel laugh parted from her lips. “In that case I take back what I said. They must truly accept you.” The sarcasm was apparent as it dripped from each and every word. “I’ve spent enough time around humans to know that what they don’t understand, they kill. How many of your creatures will have to die before you realize that?” It was a simple truth. Murphy had heard many a tale of humans stumbling upon some unsuspecting beastie, and, terrified of the unknown, they had slaughtered something that would have posed no threat, like the ranger tonight with the deer. Everytime she watched it it sickened her and ignited and anger that was only sated by blood.
Murphy’s eyes widened incredulously. Had they really not understood? “Since you seem to be confused, allow me to spell it out for you.” Her arms folded across her chest. “It’s hardly a secret. As long as you don’t have them attack me, as I had a funny suspicion you were calling them to do, they’ll be fine.” She huffed. “I’ve no desire to harm those creatures that pose me no threat.” It was true, she embraced the forest and everything within as her natural habitat, and other, non magic creatures would more than suffice when the need for a snack arose. A tooth grin was flashed in his direction, half sinister, half benign. “But at least you think I’m interesting.”
“You were the one to ask me where to put them…” This conversation was getting a little bit confusing to Jared. He was a little bit lost and trying his best not to show it. “I mean you don’t have to trust me, trust comes with time that I’m not sure we have tonight… but I could really use these bones for something good...although I guess that does depend on what you consider ‘good’.” Her changes in tone and general mocking demeanour drew out a disgruntled expression from the nymph. He didn’t understand her. He couldn’t understand her. They came from such different states of mind that her pure anger and hatred for humans was unrivalled in any other single person he’d met before. And he’d known Lydia. “I won’t hate a species simply because a few are dangerous and cruel. That is the real danger to my creatures. That is what kills them most.”
This is when their disconnect reached its peak. He blinked at her, his face falling into understanding and then he frowned. “I wasn’t calling anything to attack you. I was asking them to move further away in case you wanted to attack them. The pack has moved east from us now, in the opposite direction.” Jared clarified quickly. “I have no reason for them to attack you. I have no reason to involve them at all. If you were to kill me at least they’d be unharmed. The smell of death scared them because they currently have pups. So I came to check on it. That's the only reason I’m here.” His eyes meet hers once again and he shrugs. “Everyone in this place is interesting, Crimson. In one way or another.”
Murphy felt her teeth grind in frustration, her mind having wandered back. Had all the nymph’s she’d come across been so scattered? Or was he merely an exception? She shook her head. “It matters, because if they were to reappear somewhere, questions would be asked. Hunters might start poking around where they don’t belong. And no one wants that.” A sigh parted as her tongue darted out to clean some of the dried blood from her lips. “If you show me what you’re doing with them, you can have them.” It was the closest to a compromise that the two were likely to come to. “No, you misunderstand.” There was a pause as she sought the words to explain what she needed to say. “I don’t hate them. I don’t care enough to hate them. They’re a food source, a natural part of life. As natural as the tree that grows from the acorn. Most of them are tolerable, just like those doggles of yours are tolerable. I kill to feed, or when they offend.” She supposed it would be difficult to understand her view of humans, when so many others thought of them as worth getting to know. “Some of them can be useful, if they’re disposed to magic. Those are the only ones worth getting to know, of keeping around.” Of course to be truthful she did hate some humans. “I only outrightly hate the ones who seek us harm. And those who take needlessly from nature. The rest are free to maneuver through their lives like the cattle that they are.”
“You have my word that I wish them no harm. Your creatures, I mean.” Murphy gestured to the bones at her feet. “So can you help me or not?”
“They won’t reappear. Not in any way that could link back to you.” He assured her mildly, his own face scrunching up at the mere mention of hunters seconds later. Jared considered her compromise and studied her face for more malice. As much as she couldn’t trust him, he was in the same boat with her. She hadn’t given him her real name, never mind the fact she’d had her fingers wrapped around his throat moments before. But it was like a secret password had been spoken. Her sentiments about doing what she did for sustenance, that she was acting on her nature. Reservations dimmed as he looked upon her in a newer light. Of course she could be telling him what he wanted to hear, but she spoke without hesitation that made the nymph want to believe.
He tried his luck then. “Promise me. That you mean no harm to my doggles… it’s to them that the bones would be going. If I call them back you won’t touch them. I want a promise.” It was the first time he’d ever done this on purpose. Fae promises were not broken. It was not done. And if she could do this for him in this instance perhaps he could trust her further. “Bonedoggle pups get their first set of bones usually through carcusses their mother hunts. But the mother has been injured. I’ve been collecting bones, but it’s a litter of eleven, there’s only so much I can do.” He entrusts this information to her knowing that the pack was far enough that he’d be able to send them to safety should this woman decide she was more bloodthirsty than she was assuring him.
Murphy contemplated, one head cocked to the side as she thought over the potential consequences that might come from the choice to make a promise with a fae. This one seemed to be a straightforward enough request. With a solemn grace she bowed her head in acquiescence. “I promise.” The words seemed to echo almost all eerily through the forest with their weight. She shifted on her feet, a small swell of concern creasing her brow. “Can you not heal her?”
Despite her promise, Murphy could still sense the hesitation that emanated from him. It was understandable, he had just watched her consume the flesh of a person down to their very marrow. “I assure you I’m quite full.” Her ears were now trained to listen for the approach of the creatures. She knew of them and had stumbled upon one on occasion but had yet to see a full pack of them up close, and it intrigued her. Murphy found fascination from anything to do with nature and this was no exception. “Perhaps I might be able to take a look at the mother? I have training when it comes to healing, human healing to be sure, from my studies at college. Would you allow me to take a look?”
A shiver passed down his spine as the promise took effect. It was such an odd sensation to Jared that he took a moment to recover. He’d only ever really trapped himself in promises to others before now, but he supposed turning over a new leaf after coming back to town had changed more than a few things.
Full or not. He was pleased that she was bound to her promise. The nymph reached out through his connection to the pack and beckoned them back in their direction once again. “None of my animals are tamed. It’s not up to me if she allows you near her.” He shrugged lightly. “I did the most I could for her I could manage. I might not be much of a healer, but I have done my best for a long while now. Thank you for your concern, showing care like that for creatures like mine is rare.” A small smile finds its way onto his face as the sounds of many bodies moving through the brush become clearer. One by one, skeletal faces emerge partially into the area, 3 adult doggles with sharp eyes looking at both Jared and Murphy calculatingly. Jared sank to his knees in the next moment and a mass of small pups tumble into view marching to him in greeting. “Doggle pups gets their first bones at two months old.” He informs the werewolf woman. A hand gently smoothing over the formed skull of the mother.
Murphy nods, she can understand the reluctance of the creatures to be touched by human hands. Especially since she herself was not so fond of the two-legged meatsacs. Still, she watched as Jared interacted with them. She felt secure enough in her surroundings to lower herself to the ground to sit cross-legged and an unbidden smile stretched up the corners of her mouth. Nature had a way of soothing her in a way that little else could. Tentatively, she stretched out her hand toward the matriarch of the small group. When it was close enough for the doggle to take a sniff, her body froze in place with an unnatural stillness, careful to not upset the creature. Only when she saw the doggle shift did her hand stretch the rest of the way as it came to rest atop the creature's head. The texture of the bone was smooth under her hand, worn down from its constant exposure to the elements. With a careful motion the hand atop the head began to move further down as it felt for any indescrepencies. Halfway through it’s path of exploration it reached a chink in the bone armor. A small space of skin was exposed that oozed slightly. Murphy took all the care she could not to frighten the animal as she probed the wound. Luckily it only appeared to be a small, healing scab, simply secreating the oils it needed to heal.
In her focus she had almost completely forgotten the nymph’s presence, as by that point she had adjusted to his smell in the air. It was only his movement that snapped her back into reality. Murphy looked up at him, posture still slightly stiff from the slight shock. “She should be fine.The wound isn’t deep and it’s healing nicely. Hopefully soon she will be able to replace the destroyed section of armor.”
The mother doggle left his side and meandered wearily over to the werewolf, and the nymph was pleased when the woman expressed that the wound was nothing to be concerned over. It definitely had not been, not so many days before then either. So he took the words as a compliment to his efforts. Quietly smiling to himself he smoothed his hands over the pups as they spotted the bones sitting around the small clearing and started to fight over them. Jared watched the mother growl in warning at her probing fingers for a moment longer before making her way to break up a fight amongst her pups.
The nymph stood then, hesitating a moment before extending his hand towards Murphy to help her to her feet. “I should escort them back to their den.” He eyed the werewolf for a moment longer before finally providing his own name. “I’m Jared. I appreciate you accepting the promise so easily...I’ll see you around.” And with that, and with the doggle pups each with a few bones in their mouths, the nymph and the creatures vanished quickly into the gloom of the setting sun.
The gift is left leaning in a black velvet gift box next to the door of Metzli's apartment. A brief knock echoes down the quiet hall but by the time the door is answered there is no one to be seen. Inside the gift is wrapped, a simple engraved card reads, 'The diluted blood of a slayer, forcefully taken.' It is signed with a simple letter, ~M
Metzli picked up the box delicately, still laden with Murphy's scent before the intoxicating smell of slayer blood engulfed their senses. They couldn't help but smile, feeling Yuca rub against their legs as they walked back into their apartment to unbox their gift.
The bottle was gorgeous and intricate, and they couldn't help but let out a breathy chuckle of disbelief. Taking one of their crystal glasses, they poured themselves a helping. Tears wanted to fall, but Metzli blinked them away. In the midst of everything, they felt okay, at least for now.
