Edges of Insanity [OPEN]

[ryn]

The words that came from the girls mouth were confusing to say the least. Ryn had a slight idea what she was trying to say, but wasn't confident in his interpretation. She too had a familiar feel to him, but he was one hundred percent certain that he had never seen this girl before in his very long life time. It was true that after a while you start to forget people no matter how amazing your memory is, but Ryn was typically good at remembering immortals if not by face, then by scent. This girls scent was definitely familiar, but he didn't have an exact mental match for it. It seemed like it was familiar yet brand new all at the same time. Ryn's thoughts were interrupted by her referring to him as a playmate in the making. What did that even mean? Ryn almost scoffed. This girl she looked old enough, but for some reason she acted like a child. What was worse is he was feeling those familiar, and very annoying protective instincts that his mind was trying so desperately to rid himself of.

His name was what she asked for next. He considered giving her an alias, but considering his age, and the way he lived his real name may have well been just that. After considering it he decided it didn't matter. "Ryn....Ryn Estacado" he responded. A nagging pain in the back of his skull told the story that his other self while jostling for control; did not approve of the move he just made. Ryn ran his fingers through his hair. Yeah it may have been a stupid move, it could cause an unwanted connection with this girl. However he could tell, not matter how playful she was, how innocent she tried to be. In her eyes he saw pain not unlike his own. It was too late to deny a connection. From the moment he recognized her anguish. It had been to late. Ryn was about to say something, but he was interrupted by the waitress returning with a large tray containing their steaks, and sides. She set them in front of there respective owners. Ryn nodded gratefully. She told them to enjoy their meal and hurried off to help a new couple that had entered. Ryn cut into his stake and smiled at the fact that it bled profusely "great just the way I wanted it" he stated with a grin.

[Reli Kain]

Amazing, he gave his name. Ryn Estacado... It sounded plesant, to her. She heard a patter of heels as who must've been the waitress returned, gave them their meals, requested that they enjoy it and scurried off to attend to some other task. Reli raised her eyes to she his satisfaction of the steak.

Not being able to help the smile on her face, she rasied her head and surveyed her own meal. It wasn't too shabby, for a no name diner. She had leaned her mouth right up to the cut before remembering that she was in public and, thus, should probably use the cutlery. She fumbled them, the metal feeling dewy, but got a grip and cut ito the meat. Her hesitant grin grew as juices poured out. With a slight feeling of relief, she felt the water around her growing to that heavy stage it always got to before it started backing off. Her thoughts sufficiently removed from her family, she had started to calm down.

Still a bit clumsy with her cutlery, she ripped off chunks of steak, chewing happily. She looked over at the man - Ryn - about to comment to him on the meal, before chickening out and just giving him a glancing look, before intently returning to her steak.

[ryn]

Ryn ate silently savoring the taste of the meat. By the pool of blood or rather "juices" on his plate you could tell that the steak may have well have been raw for how rare he had ordered it. Hers too her steak may have been closer to raw meat than his was. However unlike the humans that ordered their steaks cooked as such. Reli and Ryn were in no danger of getting sick from it. After all it was in there nature to eat raw meat. Cutting into the thick steak with his knife Ryn impaled the pieces of meat with his fork and popped them into his waiting mouth. He smirked at the taste and texture. He would have to remember this place for the next time he was in the area.

After a few minutes only the steak bone was left on his plate. He stretched and sighed contentedly. Taking his glass of lemonade in his hand. Ryn took a deep sip, and and relaxed a bit. He looked at Reli who was still in the process of eating her steak. "Good huh? I didn't expect the steak here to be this decent" he stated as he took a bite of his broccoli. He wasn't sure why he was trying to initiate a conversation with this girl. After all he was planning on ditching her as soon as he payed the bill after all. Nothing good could come of getting to friendly with her.

[Reli Kain]

She was only about halfway through her steak by the time Ryn had finished, making content little moves to signify this. To Reli, the tension seemed to melt out of him, just before he commented on the quality of the steaks. She looked over at him, now eating some vegetable. Hurridly finishing her mouth full (and so intent that she went slightly crosseyed) as a fat drop of juices ran down her chin. She grinned at him, "Surprisingly so. They cook it just right, or you know, they don't cook it- um, no. They uncook it?" A frustrated frown curved onto her lips as she failed to communicate how she appriciated the lack of cooking.

After taking a large slurp of her milkshake, she cut off a piece of meat that was probably too large but which she shoved into her mouth anyway. Intent on chewing, she stared absently in front of her. The water had gone, she was under control again and the watery feeling had gone. The fog on the windows had swiftly retreated and the diner's humidity was back to what Reli could only guess was normal. She had seemingly disarmed him, he was becoming more relaxed so much easier now. It seemed like a good sign. Just try not to end up dead, little fox...

[ryn]

Ryn couldn't help but smile at the girls rant. After a few minutes he had finally finished his his sides, and leaned back in his chair. He was feeling pretty stuffed. A nice nap would be in order shortly. However that meant he'd have to go home. He didn't wanna risk this girl finding out where he resided. He still didn't know anything about her other than her name. He had searched his memory for any information he had on people with that last name, and as it turned out in his century and a half of contract killing there was never a contract out for anyone with the last name Kain. Not that he was afraid of the girl at all. He just hated surprises. It was probably the only thing that had kept him from just evading the girl from the start. She was going through so much trouble to be close to him. So there must be a reason, and he wanted to know what it was. "Do you always follow dangerous people around the city?" he asked curiously.

[Reli Kain]

Reli glanced over at his question, a long chip dangling slightly from her mouth as she chewed. She considered it, she didn't think his question represented what he was really asking. Giving a seemingly evasive (but a very accruate) answer she replied "No. I'm not always in the city after all. I just visit." A customary grin, now chip free. "Do you always treat strangers to a, um... dinner? Supper? Whatever - a meal if they show intrest in you?" Not that she cared much for the answer, she was barely even curious about what he'd say. It was just a retort she felt was needed. She swirled chips around in the juices on her plate - the only tangible evidence of her steak left. She pouted at her milkshake which she thought was being rebelliously near-empty. A thought clicked into place in her mind. He's finished, I'm almost finished. So we'll leave here soon. But what then? He won't ditch me, he's to relaxed for that. If I could just figure out what he reminds me of...

[ryn]

The girls retort was quite decent. Ryn actually cracked a smile when she asked if he did this normally. Ryn took another sip of his drink and shrugged. "Who knows? I've never been stalked before to my knowledge" he responded as he stole one of her fries, and popped it into his mouth. His his green eyes didn't share the same warmth and care that his voice did. They looked at her coldly, as though they belonged to someone else. Ryn yawned a bit, and dug his wallet out of his jacket pocket. He pulled a hundred dollar bill from between the flaps of leather, and set it in the center of the table. The bill had not arrived yet, but that didn't really matter They had ate about 40 or 50 dollars worth of food. Ryn usually payed a hundred dollars for his meals regardless of the actual cost of the meal. It covered the cost of the food, and the rest of course except on very rare occasions; was a very generous tip. "Why are you interested in a lone wolf like me? What is there for you to gain?" He asked getting directly to the point. rather than beating around the bush he decided to try the straight forward approach. He called himself a lone wolf in the terms that he was a natural loner. Though that statement reflected his true nature more so than one could ever truly realize.

[Reli Kain]

Reli gasped, offended (or atleast mock-offended), as one of her chips was stolen. Turning to pout, she didn't see his expression, just heard his warm, playful voice. As she scoffed the last of her chips - They will be safe from robbers in the stomach! - her companion payed the bill, with what seemed to be a substantial tip. As she sucked up the last of her milkshake, he questioned her. He asked why she was interested in him, what she'd get out of it.

"Lone wolf - bah. What a stupid cliche. Where did 'lone wolf' even come from? Who ever heard of a wolf not running with its pack, I mean- Oh!" His sentence registered in her mind. Reli's head quickly flicked to look at the full moon to his face. "Estacado..." she whispered. She gaved at him for a while longer, drinking in his features, subconciously noting how his face juxtaposed itself. Remembering how to speak, she continued (her voice still soft) "I was just interested. I saw you and sensed you, and you were horribly familar. But I couldn't for the life of me figure out why. I get it now. You remind me of them, that's why the familiarity, and why it felt horrible. Ah... and it all makes sense."

She stared for a moment more, but her concentration was broken as she heard a thud, crash and smash. She turned to see that one of the waitresses had slipped over, smashing the plates and cups on her tray, on the strangely slippery floor. Reli saw an older looking waitress look at the floor, confused, and mutter something like 'It should've dried by now'. The fork Reli had been absently holding slipped out of her hand, when she knew she'd had a perfect grip on it a minute, if not seconds, before. She knew what was going on and she knew that she'd reacted this time (probably both times) because of Ryn. He was dangerous, just not for the reasons he thought. Shit.

[ryn]

The sound of crashing dishes caught Ryn's attention for a moment and he turned to look. The waitress was talking about the floor being wet, but Ryn couldn't remember hearing anything being spilled, and it wasn't raining outside either. It was rather curious but he didn't think much of it. What he was really interested in was the words that had just come out of this girl's mouth. "Them?" he asked curiously "What do you mean them?" He was intent on finding out more. If it was this girls intention to find a way to keep him from ditching her right away; she had succeeded. Ryn leaned forward a bit anxious to here more. Though the statement made no sense. Perhaps if she was saying that he reminded her of a single person He would understand after all so people look alike, or act alike even though they've never met and no nothing of each other. Most of the time they aren't even related.

Reli however had specifically said them, meaning more than one. Did he remind her of some group of people? It made no sense everyone he had ever been close to was already dead. His pack? Killed so many years ago. There was no one that had any connections to him, but even knowing all of this; Ryn was still extremely curious about her meaning. He waved the waitress over "another lemonade please...and a refill on her.....shake...thing...too" he requested. The waitress nodded in response and scurried off to get the requested drinks. Ryn twiddled his thumbs patiently. If she had wanted his attention she definitely had it now.

[Reli Kain]

Of course he didn't understand what she was saying - it was so vauge. And he was probably one of those ones that secluded themselves from everyone, he probably didn't know another like him. Jeez, I thought I was alone. She zoned back in and looked at him, taken aback (and probably looked it) at the attention she was receiving. Compared to the laidback, casual attitude he'd been sowing her before, he now seemed quite intent. What was different now then before? Her words. Them. He's interested, very interested. Which makes sense, if he doesn't know other like him.

He motioned a waitress over, ordered them both a refill. Strange, since he'd just paid the bill (not that anyone had picked it up yet). He wants to keep me here, she decided. He is that interested that he is bribing me to stay. She laughed at as he stumbled over the name of her drink (he was usually so controlled) and decided to wait. If he was so keen, so intent, on keeping her here, then she could turn that right back on him. He would just have to wait until the waitress returned. She was thirsty after all. Ryn twiddled his thumbs for the three or so minutes it took for the waitress to return. Reli took a long sip of her shake before talking.

She looked at his green eyes for a moment before continuing. "You know what you are. That's why you kept going on about being dangerous." She leaned over to take another drink. "But I'd bet you don't know even a few like you, if any at all, do you?" She stated it mainly as fact, though she ending with a tint of a questioning tone. She opened her mouth to continue, but decided against it, curiosity swelling inside her her his response. she leaned for a smaller sip, watching his face the whole time. Come on... A crueler part of her hissed Live up to that lone wolf cliche.

[ryn]

Disappointment.

That was what her words brought him. Ryn was expecting something more interesting than that. So what if he didn't know any other wolves? He caught whiffs of others all the time on the wind. He just wasn't interested in meeting any of them. If he ever did meet one it would be because they sought him out or simply because they were too close by to completely ignore. Ryn shrugged at her statement/question. "There no need for me to know any like me. Especially not if they are exactly like me....." he responded casually before sipping from his straw. He kinda regretted ordering another drink. It was just prolonging the time until he left this girl behind. Unfortunately a thought dawned on him. Her scent was that of a canine, assuming her sense of smell was half as good as his....He wouldn't be able to lose her now that she had his scent.

Ryn didn't like the idea. She would be able to find where he lived, that was dangerous to him. He considered killing her in the alley behind this place, but it wasn't something that the current incarnation of Ryn could possibly do; he was too soft. Old Ryn of course could do it easily, and that part of him was urging its way to the surface ever so slowly breaking through his defenses. The part of him that was more wolf than man. Ryn finished his drink and sighed. "I don't care about others like me, nor do I care about humans, or vampires...or anything else that may be living out there....when we leave here I'm going to go one way...you'll go the other, and I'll never see you again....that's the way it should be" he stated as he stood up and stretched;His joints gave loud pops that drew gazes from the other patrons of the diner before they reset comfortable in place.

[Reli Kain]

As he stood, Reli took her drink, holding it protectively in front of her, sipping sadly. He was ending the game. She never like it when games finished, she lived for games, jumping from one to another. A slurping sund reached her ears. She stopped, dazed, and stared at the now empty glass in her hands. She put it down quickly, as she felt it slipping from her hands. She'd dissappear, she knew it, she could feel it. She should never have followed Ryn, he'd brought her more anguish than fun. She moped in her seat, before reluctantly standing.

She shuffled about, pretending to brush herself off and just generally stalling. She looked about her, wiping her forehead, noting the distinctly unsalty vapour clinging there. She looked around herself (lost for just a moment) before looking back at Ryn. Her melancholy mood wiping away most of her childish behaviour, leaving behind a less endearing persistent attitude. "You don't want to me to follow, you've grown bored. That's fine. But I'm bored. And you were my cure for that. So how about this: I'll leave you alone, I won't follow your now distinctive scent, if you you come with me for a run." She let that hang for a few seconds before considering something. With a shrug she then added "Or a hunt, if you want." She kept her eyes locked to his. She was bored, and he was leaving her in a terrible mood. So she'd be damned (Oh, the irony.) if he wasn't going to help make it better.

[ryn]

Ryn eyed her curiously, unsure of what the point of running would be, and what would they hunt here in a city? He felt something deep inside himself, at the idea that he had just seconds before considered pointless. It felt an awful lot like excitement. A part of him really liked this idea, and not even because she said that she'd leave him alone. Ryn looked at the palm of his hand for a moment, flexing his fingers a bit before shifting his eyes back to her. They seemed to be a lighter shade of green than they had been moments before "A run ...or a hunt huh.......Like this? Or perhaps your wanting to use our real forms?" he asked curiously. He was always very reluctant to shift into his true form, because he felt that when he did so he lost even more of himself to the beast even if he was still in complete control.

Though recently control had been, but a fleeting dream, snatched away by the beast that lived within him. He had never been able to accept the fact that the wolf was really truly him. He never felt more alive than when he was shifted into that form. It felt that the human form that he wore simply just a costume. Honestly he could barely remember any of his life before becoming what he was, and those memories were filled with, fear, loss, and despair. In an instant it became clear. Perhaps by suppressing his true self; he allowed the misfortune that had plagued him in the past to catch up with him once again. After all things were fine when he didn't deny himself. Ryn smirked at her "Fine I'll run with you, hunting might be hard unless you want to take a person... just hope your fast enough to keep up." he stated

[Reli Kain]

Adrenaline can fill every nerve in your body in seconds. It took less than one to fill Reli. A cocktail of emotions; excitement, joy, anticipation, hunger, power. The mixture surged through her body, setting every nerve alight and drumming the blood through her veins double time. In the back of her mind, somewhere, she knew she wouldn't change back after this. Not for a few weeks anyway. But he had agreed, and for the moment that's what mattered. Her smile was broad, painted in all shades of glad, but her jaw suggested something feral. Now bouncing (energy already building up) she took a few steps towards the door.

"Well come on then - let's go change and run. Come on, come on." She bounced her way over to the door, hopped out of it (stumbling in her haste) and hovered outside the door. She had heard his words, that he thought the only hunting would be humans, but at this point she cared little. She meant what she'd said before - taking a humans life should be no different than taking anyother animals life. She wasn't born human, the only thing she shared with them was one of her shapes. So what did she care?

She waited outside, trusting him to lead them somewhere. She patted her pockets, hoping that there was nothing she couldn't leave behind. Luckily, there wasn't. She had a few dollars, but she had little on her at the moment. Her smile would've grown broader had ther been room on her face. Tonight would be fun, she was about to make sure of it.

[ryn]

Following her intently until they were outside; Ryn glanced around a bit before walking down the side walk to the left. After about forty yards he turned down a dark alleyway. It was about a block long but once he got out the other end he was looking at the park entrance. Obviously they weren't gonna be able run around in their natural form in the city. The park was large, and dark; thus perfectly suitable for the task at hand. That had a few changes of clothing hidden through the place for those nights when he ended up shifting unexpectedly. Ryn Never once glanced back to make sure that she was following him. He could feel her there after all. Even if he couldn't he could hear her footsteps.

Ryn crossed the street, and entered the park. Immediately he veered off of the path towards the more wooded area. As he walked he unbuttoned his shirt removing it with his jacket. He folded then neatly and rested them on the ground when they were far enough from the main path to not be seen. He didn't like to tear up his clothing when he shifted so he always just removed them unless there was no time too. He made sure his back was facing the girl before he removed his boots, socks, pants, and boxers. Now completely naked he glanced over his shoulder and waited "You first" he stated plainly. He needed to see her shifted form so that he could shift appropriately. He could become a wolf no different from any wolf you would run into in the wild, though a bit larger. Or he could become a Hybrid a cross between man and wolf akin to what was portrayed in the movies. It was this form that was truly dangerous. Once she shifted he would shift into the appropriate form.