Recovery [Open]

[tarnishedbadge]

After two days spent at the family's house Levi announced that they either stop trying to prevent him from going home or he would injure himself further so he could get sent back to the hospital. They must have thought he was stupid or stubborn enough to do it because Thursday night they dropped him off back at his place. His sister had insisted on staying the night and Levi had been too tired to argue with her beyond making her promise to leave first thing in the morning.

Fortunately some booze and pain killers sent Levi off to sleep in a hurry and by Friday morning he had barely remembered that his sister had been there. Only a note promising to drop some groceries by and an omelette were any indication that she had been there. He had tossed the omelette, knowing all too well how poorly his sister could cook, and instead settled for some toast and dry cereal.

He had a dozen message on his answering machine, most of them work colleagues congratulating him on graduating from the "James Thornton Academy of Avoiding Work" by getting injured. That made him smile, not just for the dig at James but for the harassment. If the other cops hadn't cared about him they wouldn't have called. None would have showed genuine sympathy, giving each other shit was how they showed they cared.

Once he listened through the messages again and wrote a few notes to remember who said something he decided to go about trying to cure himself of feeling stir crazy. Normally he would have gone for a swim or tried some surfing but the cut on his hip wasn't supposed to get wet for several more weeks.

Instead he settled on a short walk down the beach with a cane the hospital had given him to use for the next week or so. With how easily the thing continued to sink in the sand though it was probably more of a pain in the ass to use it than not. Out of sheer stubbornness and the relief of two more pain killers he was able to go for a decent walk down the beach, at least enough to make him feel like he had gone out and done something.

By the time he made it back home though he was exhausted and just collapsed at his kitchen table. For the last few days he'd been thinking about the investigation, unable to focus on saving Corry, Emily and Wulfric but instead on the frustration he felt at being kept in the dark by different sides of the community. How much pain and anguish could he have saved the captives from if people would have just talked to him? His own girlfriend had been a siren and not only had he not known, she hadn't trusted him with the information he was looking for.

As far as detectives went, he wasn't much of one. He had become a police officer to protect the people of Siren Cove but he wasn't even sure if the people needed or wanted his protection. Grabbing a legal pad and a pen Levi wrote out his resignation letter from the force. Rereading it he crumpled it into a ball and drafted another. And another. And another. By the time he gave up over an hour later the table was littered with abandoned attempts.

Forcing himself away from the table he wandered aimlessly for a bit before deciding to kill his brain a bit with whatever was on TV. When it seemed like all that was on were police procedural he gave a growl of frustration and turned it off, instead settling for the stack of comics that had been delivered while he was in the hospital.

ooc: If you're a friend or colleague, come by and check on him. Anyone else can just find him wandering along the beach and say hi.

Comments

[tarnishedbadge]

The change was strange to see just because he had no reference for it. Levi had never seen a person change like that, their entire body rearrange itself to replace skin with scales. It was fascinating and for a moment, when she winced, he wondered if it hurt for her to change. He should have thought of that before he asked her.

"You're beautiful," he said, admiring the way the light caught her scales, how they felt under his skin, smooth and slick. She was beautiful like this, although in a way that was completely different than her human form.

"This... this wasn't what you were like that night though, not exactly."

[asharpertongue]

She laughed. Of course he wanted to see it all. Of course he did. Detective through and through.

"That's my other side." She rocked back on her heels and stood. "Don't touch me until it's done. And be careful. There's a reason I only change this far when I fight."

She stripped out of her top and jeans, stepping out of her underwear and she wouldn't have done this for anyone else, but if he wanted to see it all then she could do that for him. She just didn't have to ruin her clothes in the meantime.

Halfway there already, the change spread more quickly. Her scales lifted and became ridged and razor sharp, darkening to inky blues and purples, fading to blood red on the edges. She let her teeth change this time as the scales on her face thickened and her hair twisted together before changing into the long flowing tentacles that drifted around her shoulders like they were always in water. The talons came last, nails thickening and lengthening into vicious points.

Standing tall she turned in a slow circle for him. "Well?" She asked, voice changed, hissing slightly and with the fraction of her true voice coming through.

[tarnishedbadge]

While she stripped off to change Levi couldn't help but notice that all of her curves were still there and that the basic anatomy remained the same. Interesting to note.

As she changed the part of Levi's mind that had evolved solely to deal with things like this was screaming at him to run, telling him that what he was seeing was far, far more deadly than anything he had seen before. But it was still Lara and this is the form he had watched her save his life in and he knew she'd never hurt him, not in this form or any other.

"I think I have not read nearly enough of those weird Japanese comics with the tentacles and stuff to be properly prepared for this new development in our relationship."

[asharpertongue]

She laughed and covered her face with her taloned hands, tentacles coming forward to wrap around before she lifted her face again, smiling toothily at him.

"We can educate you." She teased, pleased that he wasn't freaking out too badly.

She held an arm out. "You can touch if you want. Carefully. Not the edges."

[tarnishedbadge]

"I look forward to learning."

It was amazing to watch her move, scalres rippling as her arms came up, the tentacles in her hair whipping about. It was clear that she could control them, which was pretty incredible. He had no idea what sirens were like but he wouldn't have guessed this.

"So this form is special?" he asked, reaching out to carefully touch her scales. If they were as sharp as her claws he definitely didn't want to get cut.

[asharpertongue]

She nodded, watching his hands as they ran over her scales just in case. "I'm the Matriarch here. All the other sirens in town are under my authority. The buck stops with me." She smiles. "The power comes with the extra scales on the side. The first form is the most regular sirens can do."

Letting the matriarch form fall away back to the regular siren shape and she hisses again and sees the bandage on her arm starting to stain red. The extra step must have irritated the wounds. She carefully peels the bandage off and looks at her arm. There were two dozen semi-circular wounds there, half a dozen bleeding sluggishly around the newly forming scales. "Crap." She mumbles.

[tarnishedbadge]

Levi leaned back and laughed when he heard that she was the matriarch. Of course she was. Of course the entire time he was looking for a siren to talk to he was dating the head of all the sirens.

"So not only are you a siren, but you're the leader of all the sirens. I am the worst detective ever. All this time I was asking people to come forward with information about sirens, they all knew I was dating the matriarch. Fuck, no wonder they didn't think I could help."

He joked about it but there was a definite wounding to his pride there. No wonder the people of this town didn't want to help him. Looking up he noticed the wound on her arm and frowned as it started to bleed again.

"You should have told me it would hurt you. Let's get that bandaged again."

[asharpertongue]

"It doesn't normally hurt to change. It's more like a full body shiver. But that bastard ripped out my scales so the new ones growing in make changing a bit painful as they break the skin for the first time. They'll be fine once I can phase them properly like the rest of them. But yeah...bandages." She nodded and grabbed her clothes, slipping them on over her scales and changing back as she went until she was her regular self again.

Following him and watching him limp she couldn't help herself and gave in to the urge to help, slipping under his arm and easing the pressure on his hip a little.

His comments about the sirens weren't unfounded but he was looking at it a little crooked.

"It's not that they didn't think you could help. They didn't think you could help them. Traditionally speaking we're not the most liked supernatural group and we normally deal with rogue sirens 'in house' so to speak. They were leaving it to me to manage the situation and I didn't realise for sure that this was a siren we were dealing with until I walked in and saw him." She frowned. "I should have noticed sooner."

[tarnishedbadge]

Levi would have protested that he didn't need help but feeling her pressed up against him felt too good. He missed her being close and leaned into her maybe a bit more than he needed just to feel her presence next to him.

"You didn't think I could help you," he said, trying to keep the hurt out of his voice. Another time he might have been angry but he'd burned all his anger out earlier. It was frustrating though, to think that if they had just been open and talked, they might have saved everyone sooner.

He led her into the bathroom where he had a first aid kit. This far out from everyone and with the risk of injury that came with surfing he kept a well stocked kit.

"I wrote a letter of resignation," he told her as he worked at her arm. "Well, about fifteen of them actually. But if this town doesn't want my protection, I figured... what's the point?"

[asharpertongue]

His tone wasn't angry - it was pained. That was somehow so much worse. She reached for him with her free hand, reassuring herself that he wasn't actually going to leave her.

"Levi...you have to understand. I liked you. A lot. We were together and it was going great. But I hadn't known you that long. I didn't know if I could trust you not to freak out. We're used to keeping ourselves out of human business and sirens rarely commit the sort of crimes you'd be investigating. We deal with our own because humans could get hurt if we went through proper channels." She hissed a little when he got to a sore part but she kept going. "You're asking a whole group of people who've been secretive their entire existence going back thousands of years to change. The last time an enclave tried to integrate properly into human society, it was disastrous. And bloody. Don't get me wrong, I regret the lives that were lost and they'll be on my conscience for a long, long time but I can't ask my people to expose themselves, not when the cost could be that high. If you have questions about sirens, official or otherwise, I'll answer them. For all of us"

She'd bristled when he mentioned the resignation. "Don't you dare. You worked so hard to get those people back alive and you did. You found them before we even knew what we were dealing with. You are a brilliant detective and the people of this town need you."

[tarnishedbadge]

"Believe me, I understand," he told her as he carefully rebandaged her wound, doing is best to make it as painless as possible. The fact that she was hurt trying to defend him made him ache even more at the sight of her injuries. "I'm not saying that I blame you for what you did or even that you were in the wrong. I know it's not an easy situation and there's no real right answer. That just doesn't change how it makes me feel."

The fact that she was so upset about the idea of him resinging made him smile and care for her even more. He knows that she means what she says too, which he can't help but feel proud about. No one was ever really proud of him like this and it was a nice feeling.

"I'm not going to resign. As I wrote that letter over and over I realized that if people don't want my protection, that's too bad," he said, finishing the bandage and looking her in the eyes. "All my life I've been going against what people think I should do. I do this job because it's the right thing to do. Human, witch, siren... I don't care, they all deserve protection and justice whether they want it or not. If you need to keep secrets to protect the sirens, I understand. But I'll never stop helping them or any other species that comes here."

[asharpertongue]

She can't help herself. Reaching out to him, she tugs him close and kisses him. It's a long slow kiss, full of meaning. How much she cared for him, how proud she was of him, how humbled by his commitment to people he's only just learning about - sirens and wit-.

Witch? She replayed the words again. Human, witch, siren... I don't care. He knew about witches? How the hell did he know about witches if he didn't know about sirens?

She pulled back and looked at him. "I didn't mention witches."

[tarnishedbadge]

Levi loved kissing her. It had seemed like forever since he had done it instead of just barely a week. He needed it though, the reassurance and affection he felt in the kiss and everything else she was giving him until she pulled away.

"Well, they're right up there with witches when it comes to being less than helpful to the police," he said, raising up a hand to stop any objections she might start. "I know, I know, we don't treat them the best either, which makes it even more frustrating. No one believes me when I tell them I want to help them."

[asharpertongue]

"Levi." She said, shaking him lightly. "How do you know about witches? I never mentioned them but you clearly know about them. And don't tell me you mean wiccans because we both know that's not what you meant."

[tarnishedbadge]

"Lara, I've lived here almost my entire life. My family on both sides has been here for generations," he said, frowning at her. He didn't understand why she was so confused by this. He'd known about witches as far back as he could remember.

"I've always known about witches. I see and talk to them all the time. I'd know sirens existed too, I just didn't know anything about them."

[asharpertongue]

"Sorry. Of course. It's just...you're human. Not many humans know about the supernatural unless they're connected to it by blood." She smiled sheepishly. "I guess I've just gotten used to not talking to vanilla humans about this kind of thing." Leaning forward, she kissed him again. "Our secrecy is necessary but it makes us a bit paranoid when we open up to people that mean something to us."

[tarnishedbadge]

Her words stung, a stark reminder that he wasn't just a plain human. He should tell her, he knew that he should, but he'd never told anyone before and he was terrified of what it would mean. There were all kinds of complications that might come up, mostly because he didn't know anything about the rules of the supernatural community.

"Oh, oh, so I'm vanilla now, huh?" he asked, arching an eyebrow as he tugged her toward the bedroom after their kiss. He would be able to think better if he was laying down. "I hope that's going to be good enough for your rainbow gelato self, or whatever your frozen dessert classification is."

[asharpertongue]

If she'd said she wasn't a little relieved that he was joking and teasing her again would be a lie. She was hugely relieved. It'd only been a few days but she'd begun to realise that the idea of losing this was unbearable.

She laughed and followed him to the bedroom. "Mint choc chip. Matches the scales." She joked, waiting for him to get settled before joining him and gently settling in next to him, a little distance between them in case she jostled him. "And vanilla is absolutely the wrong word for you. You've got layers." She eyed him speculatively. "Something with a little bite to it. Chilli chocolate?"

[tarnishedbadge]

"Now you're just flattering me because you haven't been laid in over a week," he said, pulling her close to his good side. As calm as he might have seemed, his heart was pounding. He needed to tell her, he was going to have to tell her eventually and the longer he waited the hard it would be. That and part of him wanted to tell her.

"How about I tell you a secret about me though, to even out the siren thing?" he asked, surprised at how casual his voice sounded, like he wasn't about to risk everything in a few moments.

[asharpertongue]

"Well there's that too, but I don't think you're any good to me at the moment so I can wait." He tucked her in close and she revelled in it, pressing close, mindful of her own still healing side but so, so happy just to be close again.

She cocked her head at him when he mentioned a secret. "Intriguing. Are you gonna tell me you're a vampire? Because I'm pretty sure I'm the one that likes to bite in this relationship." She nips at his shoulder to make her point.

[tarnishedbadge]

"Ouch, one little scratch to the hip and suddenly I'm worthless to you in terms of carnal pleasure," he said. He almost continued talking about the sex, maybe try and get her to fool around a bit to distract her from his promise. He could tell her another time, right? Maybe in the morning, so they could have one night in case this made a mess of everything?

The bite changed his mind though, reminding him of how she liked to mark him. Of how possessive she was, considering him hers. How much he loved that.

"Just close your eyes," he said. "And think of something random. A person, a number significant to you. The sex position you're wondering if you can do without hurting me, doesn't matter."

[asharpertongue]

She smiled, confused but feeling immensely indulgent. Of him and anything he wanted to show her.

Concentrating she tried a few things out before settling on her Aunt. At sixty she was still an impressively beautiful woman. A powerhouse in siren society. Lara imagined her as she'd been at her as she'd been at Lara's ceremony to become matriarch. Tall and strong, proud and beautiful as she passed the matriarch powers and form to Lara, long silver hair flowing out behind her as she helped Lara under the weight of her first change.

It was a good memory.

"Okay. Got it. Now what?"

[tarnishedbadge]

Levi had learned that with familiarity it was easier to read the mind of someone without pain. Unfortunately he and Lara hadn't spent nearly enough time together for that to happen and there was a dull thud of pain from reaching out to her mind.

The memory must have been an important one, it was so clear and full of detail. Every image, thought, and word about the ceremony was clear and easy to pick up. It was a great thought to be a part of.

"She looked so proud of you, your aunt did," he told her, almost scared to look at her for fear of what her reaction would be. This must have been what she was feeling when she first came to him earlier.

"She's also totally hot. Now think of something else," he said, reaching out to take her hand in a desperate attempt to keep her from fleeing.

[asharpertongue]

Lara blinked at him, eyes wide in shock.

"How the fu-..." She said, bemused. If it was a trick it was a damn good one.

She focused again. This time going way back and bringing to mind the first time Lou and Lara had gotten drunk together, Lara helping an insanely intoxicating Lou into the bedroom of the fiat house they were partying at and putting her to bed. She'd stayed up the entire night to make sure Lou was going to be alright..

[tarnishedbadge]

"That is a completely boring 'drunk Lou', you couldn't give me something I could blackmail her with?" Levi asked, squeezing her hand a bit tighter. He hoped she didn't run, hope she didn't freak out or get angry at him. Hoped that she didn't have to leave because he was a security risk to the sirens or couldn't be with a witch. He just hoped she didn't leave him.

"You're a good friend to stay the entire night with her though."