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Reiterations [Closed] - Printable Version

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RE: Reiterations [Closed] - megs - 07-21-2018

Aphrodite stood a little ways away from Holland's car as he tucked Rose inside. She tried to look pleasant while feeling wholly embarrassed and somewhat as if she had worn out her welcome. When Holland turned to her with arms crossed it made her skin prickle, like a million ants were crawling across her arms. She resisted the urge to cross her own. "It's fine," she interjected, not quite interrupting him. Sunglasses made it difficult to tell she wasn't looking at him.

"I've been told I can be over-enthusiastic, so I suppose I learned my lesson today." She smiled, much in the same manner as he. She doubted that Holland had enjoyed any of their time together, despite him telling her otherwise. Dite pushed a lock of hair behind her ear for something to do with her hands, she risked a glance at him, noticing him once again begin to worry at his piercing.

She forced a cordial laugh, nodding her head slowly. "Sans ducks," she echoed in agreement before the conversation settled into an brief awkward silence. Aphrodite was almost sure that she would not hear from Holland again after this less than stellar outing. He'd not eaten, had seemed nervous during their conversation, and she'd certainly brought this whole event to a quick end with the mere addition of ducks.

"I'll let you get her home," she said, as a means of farewell. She smiled again, waving to Rose through the window of Holland's Jeep, almost certain she had failed. "She's a good kid."

RE: Reiterations [Closed] - saronym - 10-17-2018

Holland turned to glance at his daughter who was waving back at Aphrodite. “She is.” He agreed, turning back to the blonde. “We’re just still getting used to each other. We’ll figure it out.” It was obvious that he was forcing himself to sound positive. “Hopefully without us traumatizing one another.” He laughed nervously.

“So, I’ll call you later maybe?” He scratched the back of his head to avoid looking like he was trying to sink into himself. Which he kind of was. “Unless you don’t want that, which I would understand. I feel like I ruined today.”

Holland pulled a tidy looking key fob - just his car key and his house key - from his pocket and started rounding to the driver’s side. "You know what, don't respond to that. I'm just going to call you and either you answer or you don't."

RE: Reiterations [Closed] - megs - 03-09-2019

Aphrodite only smiled warmly as Holland sort of said goodbye to her. Apparently, they both felt as if they had messed up the afternoon in some way. Comforting wasn't quite the right word for the way she felt about that mutuality. Encouraged, maybe? She wanted to see him again. It sounded like she had a chance. "I look forward to your call."

She stood in the parking lot until they drove away, waving at Rose until they couldn't see each other any longer. She retreated to her own car, and checked her phone. A few messages. Julianna and Sanders. She called Julianna to tell her about her outing, but ultimately ended up forgetting to reply to Sanders. She could tell by his message that he was in a shitty mood at her, and didn't want to deal with that anyway.

Holland did call her later that evening. She had just settled in on the couch with a cup of tea to catch up on some TV drama that she was a few years behind on. They talked for a few hours and made plans to meet up. Just the two of them. An actual date. Aphrodite made sure to carefully plan it for after the full moon, which was oncoming in a few days.

She fell asleep on the phone with him and sent him an apology text in the morning and from there they were sending messages back and forth almost nonstop. It seemed easier for Holland to talk to her through the phone. She didn't hold that against him. She liked getting to know him, anyway she could.

The night of the full moon she said good night to him earlier than usual. Claiming that she had to be up for a morning appointment. It didn't feel like a lie. Her life as a wereleopard seemed pointed enough to be considered a schedule. She was exhausted from the effort of trying to be pleasant when the oncoming change made her feel anything but. Like an exacerbated PMS. One where sometimes you kind of felt like you wanted to eat someone who cut you off in traffic.

Aphrodite met with her pard in the middle of the night. As an alpha she could fight the change longer than some of her companions. When she reached the clearing in the private woods where they usually met, some members had already shifted. They lounged around like over-large and lazy house cats. Waiting for their alpha to lead them in the hunt. Cats and those still human perked to attention when they saw her. Moving to surround her in a picture to akin to a messiah. They all wanted to touch her, talk to her, be seen by her. She smiled and acknowledged them all and when the moon was at the highest point in the sky, she couldn't resist the change any longer. She dropped to all fours with a growl, still surrounded by her followers. Her body felt as if it was being torn apart and reshaped in to the figure of a leopard. Larger than the others, with piercing yellow eyes and massive teeth. A rumbled resonated in her chest, a signal: the hunt was about to begin. The other leopards joined the noise in a cacophony of yips and growls.

The leopard and Aphrodite were one in the same, but somehow...different. She sometimes felt as if she was a passenger in her own leopard form. Releasing herself from the responsibility of consciousness. It was relaxing and terrifying in the same way. To be capable of rational thought, but also able to ignore it.

There was something different about that night. Aphrodite would remember it in pieces later. A new smell, a new noise. Something strange and unfamiliar that didn't belong in the forest. Something...dangerous. She smelled leather shoe polish, and gun oil.

She took off towards it.

What happened next?

She couldn't remember.

Aphrodite woke up on the floor of a concrete cell. Bright lights cascaded down on her, blinding her when she opened her eyes. She groaned, and rolled over. She vomited onto the floor. Typical reaction post transformation. Her throat burned with bile.

She wiped the back of her hand over her mouth. She was naked, and she was alone. There was a single door and an overlarge window in the room. A two-way mirror, she figured, because she was more than aware that this was some type of holding cell. Every hair on her body stood on end. Her mind raced, trying to hard to find her blacked out memories from the previous night and to figure out where she was at the same time.

Where was she? Who had taken her? Had she killed that man? What man? Where was her pard? Too many thoughts, too many questions. Aphrodite growled and pressed her hands to her temples. She sat up and pulled her knees against her chest to hid as much of her nakedness as she could. There was still too much of the leopard in her to process what was happening. The lights were too bright, and she knew that her irises were still a dull yellow, pupils a thin slit like a cat's. She wasn't even sure she could talk again yet, another growl rumbled in her chest. She was cold and her skin felt clammy.

What sort of shit had she gotten into.

RE: Reiterations [Closed] - saronym - 03-10-2019

Inspector Shrader Jehorem was enjoying his promotion.

A recent spotlight on him brought on by an incident with the hotheaded Lieutenant Colonel had been just the windfall Shrader’s career needed. As it turned out that adage that ‘any press was good press’ was absolutely true. There were parties at CAF HQ that ranked higher than the Lieutenant Colonel who were interested in preserving and advancing the careers of those who were fiercely loyal to the organization and willing to straddle ethical lines.

And here he was straddling an ethical line once again. There had been a thwarted operation that ended in a murder. And now he had cells full of rankled wereleopards in varying states of lucidity coming down from the recently set full moon.

“Sir.” A warrant officer addressed him. “Our interrogations lead us to believe that the one in 1805 is the leader.”

“The woman?” Shrader was incredulous.

“Yes sir. Goes by Aphrodite.”

The Inspector scoffed.

New information spurred Shrader into action. He unlocked cell 1805 and entered. “Good, you're awake.” His nose wrinkled at the sight of her vomit on the floor. He gave no sign that he cared or noticed she was naked. He gave no indication that he thought of her as anything more than furniture that was out of place.

With only that introduction he turned and left the room only to return a few moments later with what they jokingly called 'detainee dress blues.' A grey jumpsuit issued to detainees. Shrader dropped them on the floor at his feet. “Make yourself presentable.”

He glanced at the info sheet in his hand as if he didn't have her name already in his mind. “Aphrodite. Your mother give you that name?”

He carried under his arm a clear plastic bag with her personal effects in them. They had searched vehicles parked near the shifter sight and began pairing any found photo identification and other personal items with each detainee. Her cell phone lit up with activity, vibrating from inside the bag. Shrader lifted the bag up level with his eyes so that he could examine her screen through the plastic. A person called Holly sent a message but the message was hidden from view on the lock screen. A second message from Holly lit the phone.

“Your friend Holly is looking for you this morning. Let's not have her worrying for too long, alright. If we all cooperate this will go smoothly.”

*****

Aphrodite was the first thing on his mind when Holland woke up in the morning. They had a routine. Texting in the morning. Texting throughout the day at work. And often calls in the evening.

Even before he got out of bed, he checked his phone for any messages from her. Unlikely. He was usually up first. He didn't mind initiating.

>good morning
>I had a dream about the world ending before we had a chance to go on a date
>so I guess that's me being excited/nervous lol

It was odd that Holland hadn't heard anything back from her by the time he was loading Rose into the car for daycare.

His text messages were a steady radio silence that left him with a sinking feeling by the time he arrived on the sprawling HQ campus. Did she want to cancel their date? She was thinking up the best way to cancel. How would she cushion the blow?

He was lost in worries as he headed for the elevators that would take him to the laboratory suites. His reverie was interrupted by a young cadet in military police uniform who issued a stiff salute. “Sergeant Major Rivers. Inspector Jehorem has subjects for forensic processing today down in holding.”

“I - why would - we don't typically do in-house forensic collection from holding.” He paused as he ran over the typical process in his mind. “Coordinate with scheduling to have them brought to the lab for sample collection.”

“Sir, the detainees are aggressive and dangerous.”

“Then they need to see Behavioral first.”

“Sir, I'm not authorized to argue on behalf of the Inspector. I'm only delivering his instructions for you.”

“His instructions for me” Holland, so far as he understood the chain-of-command, took no instructions from Military Police. “I would like to have a word with him.”

“Holding, sir.”

RE: Reiterations [Closed] - megs - 03-10-2019

The door opened and Aphrodite didn't lift her head to inspect her company. She wasn't interested. Her head was pounding and her mouth felt like it was full of sand. All of her skin itched. Bones ached. The symptoms felt more like a hangover than having your body torn apart and reshaped into something new, twice in less that 24 hours. She continued to rub at her temples, forehead resting against her knees.

The spoke but her auditory processing felt all out of whack. Like he was too close and too loud, but talking with a mouthful of marshmallows.

So she ignored him.

When he came back and tossed something at her feet, she sighed. it sounded more like an exasperated growl. Still, she didn't move or really acknowledge his continued presence.

Holly.

That got her attention. She lifted her head and looked up at the man that towered over her. Amber eyes scanned his features and his form. He looked like a man that was more muscles than brains. She recognized his uniform, she realized.

Fuck. Me.

She was being detained by the fucking CAF. Her eyes darted to his badge. Shrader, Jehorem. Why did that sound familiar?

Dite stood, pulling the head of fabric from the ground with her. "It's a nickname,"she said, finally as she dressed.

RE: Reiterations [Closed] - saronym - 03-10-2019


The implications of the only three words the woman said did not click in his mind. He was only interested in the fact that she spoke. He dismissed the information as irrelevant. A sidebar.

“I appreciate the cooperation. Keep that up and this will go very smoothly.” His voice was a syrupy and condescending tone as if she were a child. Or someone to be spoken down to.

“A tragedy has brought us together but I know if we work together we can solve this and begin to move on. Now, last night there was a murder. Why don’t we start there?"

He took a few steps into the room so that he was standing an arms length from the woman. He kept his face neutral.

*****

The warrant officer excused himself.

Holland found was left standing alone in the crowded HQ ingress area. A sea of military personnel parted around him after they passed through the metal detectors and turnstiles that ensured that only those who were authorized entered the HQ building. They parted around him and filed into the elevators or stepped onto the escalators or took the stairs.

He worried at the spot where his lip ring would have been had he not been on base. What were the MPs up to today? He would find out soon enough. Holland finally moved, making a detour to the lab to restructure the staff responsibilities and put together a team to help him with whatever was going on in holding.

He checked his phone again as his stomach floated up towards his heart when the elevator carried him upward to the labs. He started to type out a series of messages. He started with ‘8:05 and work is already weird. Cool.’ and tried a series on that variation. Ultimately, he ended up deleting each variation and sending nothing. Aphrodite didn't seem to want to text anyway. Though he stashed his phone away into the pocket of his white coat, his mind kept turning to back to it.

The elevator doors opened and Holland stepped out. He put his mind on work.

RE: Reiterations [Closed] - megs - 03-10-2019

Aphrodite watched him lazily. Eyes barely lingering on him long enough to appear like she was paying attention. She'd absorbed all the useful details of him. His size and his stance and how quickly he could get to his gun when she decided to shift and tear him to shreds.

There was a twinge in her head at the thought. Not quite back to human, but human enough to feel like the less animalistic part was trying to scold her for having such a vicious idea. A ringing in her ears.

He had her phone. She wanted it, because she wanted to talk to Holland. She pulled at the jumpsuit she now wore. It was unflattering and the leopard didn't care for it either. Preferred being unhindered by clothing. She rolled the sleeves up to her elbows as if that would somehow make her look cuter.

She turned small circles to survey the small space as she pushed her hair, dirty and limp, away from her face. As she made a full revolution she caught sight of herself in the reflective side of the two-way mirror. She looked an absolute mess. She brushed at her face where dirt and something a bit more sinister had caked to her cheek. As she stared past the man into her own reflection she realized who else worked at the CAF (besides almost everyone else that she knew).

Holland.

Would he find out she was here? Would he see her like this? Would he learn her secret this way? Her gaze darted back to the imposing figure. Aphrodite realized she had not said anything for quite awhile.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

RE: Reiterations [Closed] - saronym - 03-11-2019


The Inspector was fully aware that he was sharing a small space with essentially a deadly animal in the form of an attractive blonde. Though she was disheveled beyond the point of looking cute, he could appreciate the pretty features under the grime on her face. She was pacing like a caged animal and he watched her carefully for any change in her movements that would alert him to any danger.

He wasn't interested in playing out a long interrogation either. That was why forensics were called in. It wouldn't matter what she or any of them said. They would be connected to the death of a CAF agent and they would be locked away and forgotten.

“The murder of Special Agent Raum Pierson. He was out for a hike on the preserve and never came home.” Shrader slipped some photographs from his back pocket and started throwing them one by one at her. Some fluttered down at her feet. Others caught a good angle and soared to collide with her arms or torso or legs.

“Here's some pictures of him.”

They were all pictures of the shredded human remains the CAF had recovered on the preserve. Grisly pictures that featured a theme of red and brown.

*****

Holland left the laboratory with techs scrambling to make the adjustments necessary to alter course for the day. With only his thermos of coffee in hand, Holland made his way alone to the below-ground detention center.

He was entirely unprepared for what he saw when he stepped off the elevators. He processed the dizzying chaos of the floor in snapshots. MPs clutching semi-automatic rifles guarding the elevator and stairwell exits. A man half stripped from his uniform, clutching bloodied gauze to his arm while a medic crouched nearby. A wereleopard cub dashed by chased by two scrambling MPs while a warrant officer yelled from down the hall. Holland flattened himself against the nearest wall to allow the group to run by. Something slammed into the wall behind him, making him jump away from it and spin around. The wall was actually a door. A feral looking man with yellowed eyes pressed against the two-way glass trying with futility to see outside.

Holland stood for a moment surveying the scene in shock before he stopped a passing cadet. “Inspector Jehorem?”

“Ah, yes sir. One sec.” The cadet radioed for the information and passed it along to Holland.

Holland scanned the numbered doors until he found the one supposedly containing the Inspector. He raised his fist and knocked lightly.

RE: Reiterations [Closed] - megs - 03-11-2019

“Name doesn’t ring a bell.” Eyes slid back to the Inspector as she finished rearranging herself. It wasn’t like there was anything she could do to improve upon her appearance without a shower. Aphrodite stopped her hands to the side, before she crossed them. She shifted back and forth on her feet. Agitated and restless. Skin still pricking with irritation.

She had shifted back too early as a defense mechanism when she’d been picked up. Whatever the had done to knock her out, ended the transformation. She could just barely make out the baleful cries of her other pard members who remained as leopards. And the shouts of those who didn’t.

Shrader had lost her attention again until something bounced off her leg. Another photo hit her arm and she caught it before it fluttered to the ground. She held it up to eye-level to study the gruesome image. Perhaps she should have pretended like the scene affected her, but she didn’t bother. She was a scientist and a leopard. A body was a body.

“Does Special Agent Pierson always hike on private property with an assault rifle?” She held the picture between two fingers, waving it back and forth.

A knock on the door before her question was answered. Her head snapped to the sound of it, nostrils twitching as she tried to sniff out who could be on the other side. She knew that scent. Memorized it.

Why was he here? Did he know about her?

RE: Reiterations [Closed] - saronym - 03-11-2019


The Inspector watched his detainee carefully as she studied the picture. He fancied himself an expert on the psychology of the guilty. He had, afterall, taken all the training courses on interrogation, the behavioral tells of deception and lying, and the like. Her non-reaction told him everything he had already concluded: She was to blame. She was familiar with the scene and what had been done to Pierson.

He ignored the knocking for a moment to counter her point. “Pierson was a hunter. There's nothing against carrying an AR out here. This isn't the streets of New York.”

He turned only halfway to the door, keeping himself oriented mostly towards her in case she tried something funny.

The man on the other side of the door was frowning over his shoulder at a commotion going on down the hallway. He seemed about to step away to intervene when Shrader greeted him. “Dr. Rivers.” He said, ignoring any recognition of rank.

A man who cared about his rank may have exhibited more offense at the slight, but to Holland it barely registered. “Inspector - I - um -” Hazel eyes had just barely glanced into the room when they registered a familiar face. He would have known her anywhere even in this state. His brows knit first in confusion and then concern. He lost what he was going to say altogether.

“Close the door!” A man shouted from down the hall. He was failing to restrain a man who seemed intent on causing as much havoc as possible.

Holland peaked over his shoulder and slipped into the room, the door closing behind him as a man in a grey jumpsuit ran by followed by the blur of two CAF uniforms.

Holland glanced around the room to quickly assess the situation. He stepped further into the space essentially positioning himself at the point of a triangle. Aphrodite and Shrader were the other points. “This is - it’s - this is highly irregular, Inspector.” Holland’s words were faltering but his tone was clear. He could feel his heart thumping loudly in his ears and he tried not to look too much at Aphrodite. Tried to look like he didn't know her. Like this wasn’t the woman he was completely infatuated with at the moment.

“I know this is upsetting to see but this is enforcement. There was a -”

“I am not upset.” Holland said with less control than he would have liked. “This - what's going on here. This is -” He didn't have the words. “What is going on?”

“If you'd let me explain, doctor.”

“It's Sergeant Major." Holland blurted out suddenly demanding the respect he knew he wouldn't get otherwise.

“Yes, Sergeant Major." Shrader corrected himself. "There was a murder on the preserve last night and these weres were involved.” Shrader's boots scraped as he moved to retrieve one of the pictures from the floor. “See?” He offered it to Holland who gave it a passing glance but refused to take the picture for closer examination.

Holland stuck his pinky out and let it hover over the picture to gesture to features on it without touching it. Somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered how noticeable the fine tremor of his hand was. “These gashes are consistent with animal attack.”

“Precisely.” Shrader agreed thinking he had the scientist on his side.

“The preserve has higher per capita mountain lion population than the rest of the United States. That photograph is hardly dispositive of a murder and hardly justifies detaining what two dozen were leopards? How many of which are minors?”

It dawned on Shrader that he wouldn't find an ally in the doctor. He drew himself up and fixed Holland with a stare. “You're not here to float your little hypotheses. You're here to collect DNA.”

Holland understood that Shrader didn't know even the first thing about weres of any kind. He spared a glance at Aphrodite and mostly to her he said, “The literature on were DNA analysis indicates that individual weres do not exhibit static alleles."

That commentary only enraged Shrader, who didn't quite understand the scientific implications but did know when he was being called stupid. “If you don’t cooperate, doctor, I'll put you under arrest for obstruction of a military police enforcement operation. You're not here to advocate for these weres. They're suspects.”

Holland was taken aback by the threat. His brow furrowed with genuine concern. “You have no authority-”

“Military Police may arrest or otherwise detain military personnel who interfere with or actively sabotage military police operations. Military Police Charter.”

“My team is bringing the kits.” Holland responded stiffly, effectively conceding the ground.

“I knew a smart man like you would make the right decision.” Shrader couldn't help but rub it in. “You'll start with this one. She's wanted for interrogation before the others.” Shrader gestured to Aphrodite.

Shrader was now pointing Aphrodite out to Holland giving him clear license to look her over more fully. It wasn't lost on him that she was highly exposed and vulnerable in the situation. On more than one level. She was completely exposed to him. Her secret was out. And in the worst possible way. He’d never suspected but now it the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. Why she sought to delay their date. The full moon. Why she had been silent all day.

From where he stood he could see her golden irises. He was aware of the darting movements of his own gaze to take in as much detail as he could. The grey jumpsuit was cinched at the waist giving her some semblance of figure but otherwise unflattering, and wildly uncharacteristic of anything he'd ever seen her in. The state she was in was even more alarming. Disheveled hair and layer of sweat making the grime on her fair skin almost shiny. He had a thousand questions. And he had the urge to apologize. Not that she looked like she needed it. The look in her eyes was like nothing he had seen. Wild and feral.

The threat of interrogation concerned him. He would delay it of he could. And completely prevent it if he had any say in the matter.

“Not here.” Holland said, turning back to Shrader. “This room is contaminated and could compromise the samples.” A lie, not that the Inspector would know. “This mess needs to be cleaned up.” He pointed to the vomit on the floor, something he had carefully noted upon entering and made sure he stayed away from. The presence of the mess had been scratching at the back of his mind since he saw it. Might as well use it to delay.

“She’s in distress following the shift. I will complete a medical examination and collect the samples you require. She’ll require rehydration and an examination. I want to see her in one of the medical suites.” He glanced back at her hoping that he had given her some reassurance that he would help her as best he could if she would just play along.

RE: Reiterations [Closed] - megs - 03-12-2019

Aphrodite sighed and dropped the picture she had been holding on the ground with the rest of them. "Hunting is banned on the preserve," she said, but sounded bored about it. She knew it didn't matter what she had to say to defend herself. This whole process was a wash, hardly even a formality. The CAF had a reputation of discrimination against weres. Her words were mostly lost to the door being opened, anyway.

When Holland stepped into the holding cell, it felt like everything else around her just stopped. There was a ringing in her ears like alarm bells and for a moment she had forgotten how to breathe. Somehow she felt calmer, and more frenzied at the same time. Both happy and terrified to see him. Holland didn't look at too much, but she didn't take her eyes off him. Which was not unusual, she had been just as enchanted with him when they had gone for ice cream. The intensity of her attention was intensified by her yellowed eyes.

As the men went back and forth they appeared as if they had lost her interest again, but she growled when Shrader threatened to arrest Holland which prompted him to snap a warning at her. She backed down only insofar as she stopped baring her teeth at him. Holland was looking at her, she stared back at him. It was difficult to tell what her expression was trying to communicate. Fearful, but not for herself. Apologetic, exhausted. So many things that she wished she could just talk to him about.

Aphrodite lost track of what happened next. It was probably sparked by the way she had unabashedly giggled at Shrader's obvious ignorance.

She couldn't remember what Shrader had done to piss the leopard off, but when he deposited her none too gently at the medical suite he was sporting a bloody nose.. He held her tightly by one arm, half-dragging her to the room indicated by other members of the forensic team. Aphrodite looked quite smug when they entered despite having a split lip and bruised knuckles.

He released her with a push hard enough for her to stumble into the room. She caught herself on the exam table. Growling, she whipped around as if she might go after him again, but he was pulling the door shut on her. Her hands slammed against the barrier and she hissed at him through the glass.

RE: Reiterations [Closed] - saronym - 03-12-2019

Holland had only succeeded in convincing Shrader to relocate Aphrodite to a medical suite where he could have an excuse to speak with her alone. They were far from solving the problem of her unlawful detention. Although, in the back of his mind Holland wondered what her explanation would be.

Did she kill that man?

He pushed the thought from his mind comforting himself with the knowledge that if she did, she certainly had a sound reason for it. That much he was sure about her.

Holland had been completely consumed from the moment he left the cell to the moment when the exam room door opened and Aphrodite stumbled inside. He planned to ask Julianna and Owen for help, but had been held up by the arrival of his forensic team and a variety of questions from Warrant Officers. Holland had his phone out to make the call to Julianna when Aphrodite was deposited into essentially his custody.

Holland didn't precisely feel like he had custody of her but more like he was locked in a room with an extremely agitated wereleopard. Though they had a loose romantic connection - an unexplored romantic interest, really - the danger of her present state was not lost on him.

“Aphrodite?” He said her name gently as he slipped his phone back into his lab coat pocket. Holland crossed the room. She was essentially splayed on the door like a trapped animal hissing at her antagonist outside. He reached out and gingerly touched her arm letting his hand close over her shoulder.

“Are you okay?” He coaxed her with his hand to turn around and immediately the attention of his gaze was brought to the newly split lip she sported. Putting his index finger under her chin, he lifted her head and angled it some to give him a closer look at the cut. An ugly mark swelling on her perfect pink cupid's bow.

He still hadn't fully comprehended that she was a wereleopard. When his gaze traveled upwards to they met a stranger's eyes. Golden and with black pupils bloated out in a vertical almond shape. So feline still. But somehow they suited her in the moment.

“What happened? What's going on, Aphrodite?” Where the first question was referring to specifically her new injury. The despair in his voice mounted to a more generalized question.

RE: Reiterations [Closed] - megs - 03-13-2019

She didn't seem to hear Holland when he said her name. She was still clawing at the door with blunted fingernails and baring her teeth to the retreating back of Agent Shrader. No doubt he thought he had won. She loathed the self-satisfied swagger of his departure. He may have overwhelmed her physically, but the fight was far from over. Aphrodite had no intention of rolling over and playing whatever game the CAF had going.

Aphrodite didn't react adversely to Holland touching her arm. It was quite a gamble in his part given how riled up she was, but clearly she was still human enough for a small bit of rational thinking. She turned at his insistence, somewhat reluctantly her. Her body turning before her head, eyes still tracking Shrader until he was out of sight. Her gaze snapped to him when his finger slid beneath her chin. She stared up at him now. The tip of her tongue probed the wound. She had no noticed it before.

"I'm fine," she insisted, but didn't remove her chin from his hand. "Didn't you see what I did to the other guy." She was trying to make a joke, but her expression was humorless. "I don't know what happened. They're saying I killed someone."

RE: Reiterations [Closed] - saronym - 03-13-2019

Her dark humor brought the slightest smile to his face. It was less an amused expression and more a compassionately concerned smile. “I didn't see the other guy.” He admitted and dropped his hand from her face to take her hand instead. Sure enough there were signs along her knuckles that she had put up a decent fight.

“What do you remember of last night?” His question was dispassionate, more clinical, as if he were probing more at the effects of the shift on her mind and memory. He seemed to care less at solving whodunit.

Holland’s knowledge of weres was certainly greater than the average layperson's understanding. However, he didn't know enough to consider himself a leading expert on the subject. A leading expert shared the room with him, but she was distracted and frazzled.

He was still holding her hand and his fingers inched up towards her wrist where he pressed his index and and middle fingers on the underside of her wrist and glanced at his watch for a few seconds. The heart rhythm he could feel there was on rapid side. But that was not out of line with the circumstances. “Did they give you any water?”

Though he was, of course, extremely curious as to piecing together the events from the rise of the full moon last night to 8:49 A.M. when he entered that detention cell...he was equally concerned with making her comfortable and putting her at ease.

RE: Reiterations [Closed] - megs - 03-13-2019

Aphrodite could tell the examination had already begun, even though he was trying to be casual about it. Questions were gentle, but pointed and there was obvious intention to the way he touched her now. She conceded to his touch. She was gazing off into the distance, as if searching some expansive horizon outside of the decently sized examination room.

Her brow furrowed, but her attention didn't stray from being slightly dazed and far away. "Sunset was at 7:11. I left to go to the preserve at 9:00. I got to the preserve. I met with the pard. I shifted, and then..." Die paused, frowning now. "Everything is in pieces. I don't know if they did something to me or if it's the stress. I don't remember."

She looked at Holland again. Eyes still yellow, but more human now, somehow. As the day went on she came more and more into her senses.

Aphrodite made a noise in her throat between a scoff and a growl. "They haven't given me anything but this," she gestured to her injured lip. "And this very cute jumpsuit." She spread her arms wide and dipped slightly in a cute, but mocking curtsey. She was trying to keep it light, but she was tinged slightly red beneath the layer of dirt she wore. She was embarrassed to be seen this way. Not only halfway-imprisoned, but dirty and disheveled.

"What do I have to do to protect my pardmates?" she changed the subject quickly. She had concerns other than herself. "How many of us did hey take. I am responsible for children."