Welcome to Rift, a post-apocalyptic werewolf roleplay set in Point Grey, on the University of British Columbia's campus. We play by liquid time and we're R-rated for the possibility of violence and language. Please have a look through the navigation links to learn more!
"Well, if you want. I could set up the room while you take a bath, if you promise not to fall asleep and drown," he joked lightly. "The water's still mostly hot."
Taking a shower would be quicker, but much less comfortable, especially at this hour.
Jordan nodded. "I think for both of our sakes I should wash up," she said softly, a hint of a smile on her face, as she forced some humor into her voice. Perhaps if she continued trying to focus on normal interactions, she could allow herself to not think about everything that had happened.
"Arright then. I'll just pour this for you, and you can set the water where you want. Let me know if you need more hot water, okay?"
Steam wafted up as the water crashed down into the tub, splashing against the drain cover that had been placed inside.
Scott closed the door behind him with a soft click, and if Jordan listened past the sound of water filling the tub, she could hear his footsteps going down the hall, the muffled sounds of closet doors opening and closing.
Jordan watched Scott pour the water into the tub and she turned on the cold water. She watched as he left the room, and listened as she shut off the valve. Putting her left hand into the water, she found the temperature very warm, but very nice. Slowly she pulled off her clothes and saw how soiled they truly were. She sighed softly as she tiredly tried to fold them. Giving up after a while, Jordan climbed into the tub relaxing with the warm water. A couple of times she had to stop herself from falling asleep.
After a while she began scrubbing herself until she was clean, dunking her head under the water to wash her hair. She opened the drain and let the now dirty water drain out. Looking up, she found a very fluffy white towel hanging. It was soft, she found as she wrapped it around her and dried herself off. The towel was big, and easily covered her. When she was no longer dripping she opened the door a little and peeked out, curious as to where Scott went.
Light spilled into the hallway from the middle bedroom, the one second from the bathroom. Some sounds were coming from inside, the standard sounds of someone preparing a room, and looking for things.
The light moved, the sounds quieted, and Scott came into the hallway, holding a soft bundle.
"Oh hey, look at you, all squeaky-clean. You want some pjs?"
Obviously oversized, soft, light blue flannel. One size fits all?
Jordan looked curiously at the room that Scott was most likely in, considering the sounds coming from it. Suddenly he came out with a bundle of what turned out to be flannel pjs. She smiled a bit at his cheerful like demeanor. Muttering a thank you, she took the pjs and disappeared into the bathroom again. A few minutes later, she came out in the flannel pjs.
Jordan found that the flannel pjs were warm and soft, much like the towel had been. Though the pjs were too big on her, Jordan rolled the cuffs of the sleeves and pant legs, as well as tightened the strings around the pant waist. It fit well enough and it felt so nice to be in clean clothes, especially pjs. Looking in the mirror, Jordan saw a few scratches on her face, but the mud and blood were both gone. She looked less wild now, more like a weary girl. Jordan opened the door and came out of the bathroom, creeping to the room that Scott was in.
Cautiously, she went in, still a little nervous despite everything.
Nothing more than what one might expect. A bed with covers, some dressers and shelves and an armoire. It wasn't a particularly lived-in room, although it had been at one point. But not for some years now.
Jordan didn't care if others thought the room was plain. Slowly she moved into the room, letting her hand trail over the armoire. She looked slowly up and down, stretching her right arm across her body, letting the hand rest on her left shoulder. Her eyes went across the room, taking it all in. An actual bedroom.
Jordan went to the bed and fingered the blanket on it, deep in memory. She hadn't been in a bedroom for a long time. A real bedroom. One that belonged to a home. She looked at Scott as he spoke.
"Y-...yes I do," Jordan said softly. She hugged herself. So many questions raced through her mind. Rubbing her eyes she continued standing there. Jordan looked up, not meeting Scott's eyes, and then ducked her head.
"Why did I attack him?" Jordan asked softly. "Is that what you feel like too whenever you are around a human?" Her voice sounded hollow, as if she were lost.
Scott stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame.
Somewhere, stirring in the recesses of his subconscious, seeing Jordan in the room made him a little happier.
He watched her walk around, with the lamp in his hand.
When she asked him, his face dropped. Explaining Callings was always hard. He'd learned to get over the deep-seated discomfort, but it was still an oddly unnerving discussion, especially when it was unfortunate enough to happen to someone with one of the two violent Callings.
"No," Scott shook his head. "I don't."
His forearm came up to rest against the doorframe.
"You felt like you had to, right? Like there would be no way to not do it. As if all that mattered was..." he winced, slightly, but didn't let it affect his voice, "attacking him."
Jordan saw his face change when she asked the question. Her stomach clenched and began to hurt. She saw something in his face that told her that she was treading sensitive areas, but Jordan had to know. She had to understand what was happening to her.
"No," Scott shook his head. "I don't."
His forearm came up to rest against the doorframe.
"You felt like you had to, right? Like there would be no way to not do it. As if all that mattered was..." he winced, slightly, but didn't let it affect his voice, "attacking him."
Jordan hugged herself as she remembered what had happened. The utter lonliness she had felt so suddenly, striking through her. A sense that she could not survive being so very alone. The powerful force that she had to make others to make a pack.
"...I.." Jordan began, trying to get together her thoughts, pushing to be a little more open despite not knowing this man very well at all. Her eyes became a little damp, and she worried over her confusion like a dog over a bone. The words refused to come. How could she explain it... but not let it sound like a justification... because there was no justification for what she did. There was no excuse.
"...I didn't... want to kill him," Jordan said slowly. "But... I wanted to attack him... I wanted him to... to become like me..." This knowledge surprised her a bit. No, she hadn't wanted to kill him, but there had been overwhelming desire to bite, claw, make him bleed.
A mental weight lifted, a niggling concern disappeared, Scott's face lightened a bit, almost imperceptibly.
She wasn't a Slayer.
Thank God.
She wasn't a Slayer.
"That's your Calling. You don't have to talk about it any more, if you don't want. Most people don't like to. It's something you... inherited, of a sort, from the were that Turned you."
"Just so you know, you've got what's called Infection's Calling. It makes you want to create new werewolves."
He shifted, slightly.
"But they can be worked around. You can find ways to circumvent them, sort of. Knowing which one you inherited helps a lot with figuring out how to deal with it."
Jordan was tense, very tense. What was Scott going to say? Even to herself, now that she said the words out loud they sound horrifying. But instead of replusion, Jordan felt almost as if the tension in the air had decreased just a smidge.
"Why don't... people want to talk about their callings?" Jordan blurted. She flinched a bit at her bluntness. "...nevermind." She murmured. Honestly she wanted to understand but she felt Scott's discomfort.
"The one who did this...." Jordan said softly, sitting down, almost falling down onto the bed, "he or she... wanted to turn me?" Jordan looked at Scott, pale. "So... I inherited this "calling" from the one who killed my... my dad."
He was so used to everyone who flinched even at the mention of a Calling. But if she wanted to know, he could tell her. Just as long as she didn't ask to know what anybody else's was. It was not his place to tell, even if he suspected for some of them.
"It's deeply personal information. Your Calling... it makes you do things that sometimes have no explanation. That can contradict your very nature in general. They don't like others knowing that much about them."
Scott shifted again, leaning comfortably against the wooden doorframe.
His voice was soft, but steady.
"Yes. It's passed along with the lycanthropy. The one who attacked you probably didn't mean to kill your father, but he was too weak to live through the process." Maybe it would help if she knew that the were who attacked them wasn't trying to kill him. It was a shot.
Jordan listened to his words. They didn't even seem real. To have a Calling... to have something inside of you that went against your very nature... it sounded almost like she had three minds inside of her as opposed to two: herself and the wolf. Yes, she continued to think of the wolf part of her as seperate. That would be something that Scott might want to address. Jordan didn't want any connection to the one who had bitten her, the one who had killed her father. She shuddered.
"Yes. It's passed along with the lycanthropy. The one who attacked you probably didn't mean to kill your father, but he was too weak to live through the process."
Jordan swallowed hard. Maybe.. maybe that was possible... but as Jordan remembered that day, she felt fear. The wolf had seemed so very savage with her father. Jordan paled filling ill. She sat hard on the bed. Quickly she tried to block the memory... having succeeded for a while. Clenching her jaw, Jordan felt like she was going to throw up. She took a few deep slow breaths. She struggled quickly to try and think of something else.
"Isn't it enough to deal with the wolf mind?" Jordan asked softly.
