| Subject: Flash,Bang, Eureka. |
Author:
Polly
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Date Posted: 10/18/13 5:40:05pm
In reply to:
Ruger Moss
's message, "/|Kick It In the Sticks|\" on 10/17/13 4:01:13pm
She saw a sour note cross his expression and assumed he hadn't liked her sense of humor much, it wasn't like she was known for being a particularly funny girl. "Don't worry, I only sucker-punch a gentleman if he ain't."
Polly listened to Ruger's bemused advice about Terrance and winced a bit at the end as she recalled the incident. A tinge of color rose to her cheeks that she hoped the shadows concealed. "Well, he got swatted alright; and he certainly learned to knock on a lady's door before just barging in." She understood lust, but being affected by it was a rare occurrence in her life. She could count on one hand the number of times the mood had struck her like that so it was hard for her to empathize with the volatile hormones of a teenage boy. Especially when she couldn't remember living through the ups and downs of puberty as a baseline. "And since we had our little discussion, where I may have called him a kid, he's been doing nothing but try to prove he's a man." The tone of her voice conveyed that she was aware of her mistake. Polly frowned, "One with a really bad sense of game," she liked the way Ruger had laughed, even if it was over her frustration. It encouraged her to add some examples of the cheesier things that had popped out of the poor kid's mouth when his affections for Polly had clearly overwhelmed rationality, "If I told you you had a beautiful body would you hold it against me," with a chuckle she went on, "And how could I forget 'Look at you with all those curves, and me with no breaks...or," Polly licked the pad of her right finger and reached across the dark cab to poke him gently in the shoulder, "Here, let me help you out of those wet clothes...." She returned her hand to the wheel and shook out her hair with a somewhat bemused smile, and when she laughed it was as if the tension had released and she was able to share in the humor of Ruger's fresh perspective, "Couldn't really say what works on me, but it really ain't that." The little smirk she finished with held a sister's fondness as she wrapped up her feeling on the subject, "We'll get along fine as long as he comes to realize the same thing everyone needs to realize about me and that's that I will always be as free as I please."
There was an affection in Ruger's tone, when he spoke about Blue, that had a little smile curling her lips. Terrance could be as pissy and suspicious as he wanted; he hadn't developed the kind of Sense about things Polly had. There were too many silent whispers in the howl and push of the wind to ignore Ruger's importance. She didn't know if the demon had been in the building all along or not, but the fact was Ruger's presence had given Polly options she wouldn't have had otherwise. It was very possible that Ruger walking through the door with her saved her life. He'd made it out okay. That alone merited some trust on her part. Too add in that...spark when he drew her gaze up... That had been a fixating moment in her mind, as if Ruger had built himself a little box in there and settled in deep. She wasn't going to forget that vow any time soon.
But it was Blue's argument for Ruger's character that made this chemistry, if that's what it was, a little more palatable to her. She'd been bitten in the ass by chemistry, but Blue was a good dog and you could tell a lot about a person just by watching them interact with their animal companions. Blue's faith in Ruger was obvious to Polly and it said enough for the man's character than she felt like she was able to relax enough and enjoy his presence.
That being so...it didn't lessen the over all feeling of danger that was building in her chest like bile. That anxiety, at least, she was able to control. But Polly did forget it for just a moment when the gentleness and the wisdom of his advice about Jewels wrapped around her like a warm blanket. She was at a loss for words as he spoke, but it was obvious his perspective had soothed some raw bit of her that would take some effort and confidence to overcome.
She didn't know him well enough, didn't feel the need to touch him and express her gratitude for his mercy or honesty, but her expression was pretty open. The quiet smile that curved her lips was just for him.
After making another turn they were now clear of any place in town that would make sense. Unless the vampires ditched there car and took off through the woods there were very few places it would make sense for them to go. This information nettled Polly fiercely and she subconsciously picked up the speed. The thunder, normally so exhilarating, was making her heart race.
"My beck n' call, huh? Tiger, I have a hard time believing you jump when anyone snaps their fingers," she smirked. "It does sound like you know what you're talking about though," she admitted, "but in the world I'm used to surviving in, most people don't offer up so much of their free time for free." She tilted her head his way, "I know you said you'd keep an eye on me and I'm not really sure what exactly that's supposed to entail in the first place." Now that he was involved she was too tactically minded to feel at ease without really knowing how he fit into the bigger picture. "I don't want you to think I'm ungrateful when I ask what you'll be requiring in return?" Polly sent him a teasing look, "Assuming, of course, you survive the night and I survive the theoretical fishing trip that we've discussed. I don't think I've ever had it offered that fresh and I'm too curious to pass it up." She felt it was a fair enough question. Teaching her was going to require a lot of time and energy, so would helping her fix the place up, and Polly knew nothing came for free and everyone needed to eat.
"Maybe," came her noncommittal reply about Washington. She highly doubted they had been hunting the same area; there weren't too many people who could say they'd been that deeply embedded in werewolf politics, but Polly had to make contact with an old mentor after the incident with the kid. That pack in particular was especially wary of humans and there had been several times over the course of the month that Polly had to tranq a bitch to keep from getting mauled by someone's volatile temper. At least it had been fruitful. She'd gotten the information and the assurances she needed for something she hoped never came to pass, and crossed her fingers hoping she'd never have to go back to those noisy, predatory, forests ever again.
Polly watched Ruger light the cigarette out of the corner of her eye. The weather was pretty extreme and as Polly's anxiety slowly mounted she found herself paying more attention to driving. They were hauling ass at this point, and so she didn't take it as soon as he offered, but waited til the curve of the road straitened out and she could see what was coming. "Thanks," she cracked open her own window just enough to keep the air pressure in the cab from going all choppy.
She had picked up smoking almost immediately after waking from her coma. At first, it had only been a way to sneak extra time outside the concrete walls of the hospital. The nurses who took smoke breaks where willing to wheel her out and let the sun touch her face and the wind pull through her hair. She didn't think, even now, that it was the nicotine she craved, but those stolen peaceful moments of freedom, of defiance, that she sought. "Keep an eye on them around Terrance," her tone was of a woman enjoying a forbidden fruit, "I doubt he'd actually have the stones to lift any from you, but he isn't handling cold turkey with a lot of rationality so far." When Polly exhaled, it was obvious she could feel a bit of sympathy for him in this particular plight. "He stopped pilfering alcohol pretty quick when he figured out we were serious, but we seem to have reached an impasse with these." Terrance, in some aspects, was like a forty year old man in a sixteen year old body; in others his age showed through so fiercely that his immaturity was practically a cape. Polly figured it was the product of the unstable environment he grew up in and being thrust into the situation with them so violently. "His excuse sounds pretty similar to yours and I just can't really find much in me that argues with logic like that. But Leroy has better sense then me when it comes to vices, so he's welcome to take the lead on this one, and fight the good fight while I find time to indulge elsewhere."
"Stick mostly to vampires?" After taking a long, slow pull on the cigg, her hand reached out to fiddle with the phone. She started pressing through options absentmindedly as she drove in order to see a larger view of the map. "Most of the female hunters I know prefer methods a hell of a lot more subtle than a stake to the chest and if you can spot 'em, the vamp would too." When Polly spoke again her words were less careful than usual, her mind caught between the map and driving into the increasingly rural territory, "Me, I never had an option to be much else, everything I've been forced to put down has wanted a bite. Makes one reluctant to-" She paused momentarily as the sky lit up again, illuminating the world around them in a ghostly flash of light.
The thunder cracked like a sonic boom, making Polly's ears ache and her skin come alive with anticipation. The little screen on her phone lagged slightly and as the map updated the glitchy image Polly felt all the little pieces of the puzzle sliding together. When the image was clear, she knew her hunch was right. The trap had bigger than she thought.
When Polly got mad, really mad, it wasn't fiery or hot. Fury spread through her veins like the icy rain that battered the truck as they hurtled through the violent storm. It frosted through her jittery nerves, killing her anxiety and taking her directly into work mode. She did swear pretty fiercely, give up any pretense of driving the truck politely, and put petal to the metal. Between the volatile weather, and her extreme need to get from where they were to where they needed to be, her driving skills and Ruger's truck were about to get put through their paces.
Her mind was already whirling with all that chaotic energy that life and death brought on as she flashed through useful information that would keep everyone safe. She didn't have time to explain everything to Ruger and there was a lot she needed to get done very quickly. "They're gonna be pulling into my fucking driveway in about twenty minutes."
And that, she hoped, was enough to pacify him until she had time to deal with questions. First, the phone connected to a "Mr. Smith" and the only thing she said before disconnecting was, "That rat bastard Connely, asap, all debts cleared." Polly drove well, sliding into a turns and avoiding storm debris that would have been stupid to smash through.
The second call was connected before she'd barely had the chance to take a breath, and the voice of a little girl on the other end of the line chirped out, "I'm getting hungry. Are you on you way home now, Polly-wolly?"
"Sure am, Sunshine," Polly didn't miss a beat and then tension in her body never reached her voice, "So I've been giving some thought to that conversation we had and-"
"OH MY GAWD ARE YOU GETTING ME A PUPPY!?" There was much squealing and happiness.
Polly cleared her throat and tried to finish her sentence as if uninterrupted, "And if you can prove to me-"
"JUST TELL ME WHAT TO DO POLLY!"
Polly couldn't muster up a true smile in this situation, but there was a wry little quirk in her eyebrows at the girl's obvious enthusiasm. "Remember that game of lazer tag we played?" At the girl's affirmative Polly went on in steady tones, "It's gonna be just like that. Grab your kit, wake the raptor, call me back immediately. You have four minutes."
There was a soft chant of 'puppypuppypuppy' before Jewels disconnected the call and ran off to do as Polly asked. Both calls had taken about a minute and a half.
When she spoke, Polly sounded a bit more tired than she had intended to, "Well, Tiger, it looks like you're gonna get the privileged of reaching into the cookie jar. We're not gonna have time to spare and I need you to get a few things ready for me on the way..." She finished her cigarette in one long, reluctant drag before putting it out in the ashtray and focusing on the road. "There's only one way I'm gonna get to her before they do at this point and that's if she meets us. We're gonna take the rough path, it doesn't go all the way to the house, but there are some caves. She'll meet us there. We're gonna get there first and I think between you and me we can set up a real nice welcoming party for anything dumb enough to follow."
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