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the brutal skin and forgery; tag;; Wolfsbane
Topic Started: Jun 27 2010, 12:39 PM (833 Views)
Jack Russell
Unregistered

May 9th
Evening

It had been two weeks now, since this strange, savage doppelgänger had taken the place of the otherwise friendly and even-tempered Jack Russell. Emil had proved himself every bit as stubborn and disagreeable as a dog that had been chained for all of its life, lurching and snapping at anyone who dared to come too close. Charles Xavier had hoped for a reasonable conclusion, that Emil might prove himself to become docile enough over time to be released, although under watch. The end result was far less than what he could have hoped for.

There was just no reasoning with someone who had every motive to trust no one in his life. He took the pleasantries of visitors and old friends and flung it back in their faces, either out of pure spite or some cruel intention to make this otherworldly him suffer as much as he did--was. People who had once called Jack a friend would find no familiar glimmer in the clear blue eyes that had hardened to keen, piercing ice.

Emil ranged from an unfriendly glower from the corner to a callous inmate, slamming against the bars of his cell to scare away these mutant goody-goodies that treated him like he was the freak. The werewolf's conduct was rewarded with exactly what he wanted--to be left alone.

There had been some hope--just a flicker. For a few moments the rigid muscles had released to a tired slump, the chips of ice softening to tepid pools. Jack had moistened his lips nervously, his mouth forming the words 'Philip' and 'betrayed', snatched back to some dark place before he could formulate a complete thought. The words left a bad taste in Emil's mouth as soon as they were said, and he had sulked and hissed, rolling his tongue inside his mouth to get rid of it.

No one would tell him what had happened in those few seconds, and since then Emil had thought off and on about this 'Jack' person.

He lay coiled against a side of his metal cubicle, one knee drawn up with an elbow resting on it, scowling at his own thoughts and premonitions. Emil's appearance had changed little since he was first captured, still half-clad in the pair of stressed jeans and without shirt or shoes. Sometimes it was hard to take him seriously with the way his hair was still growing out into boyish, blonde locks.
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Wolfsbane
Member Avatar
Wolf Form
Rahne Sinclair had made a promise, and she always tried her best to keep her promises. It was just after she had witnessed Jack flicker for the first time, well, the first time as far as she knew. She promised she'd take care of him if he went to the other side, and she intended to keep that promise, even though the other Jack, calling himself Emil for reasons she didn't know, was highly disagreeable.

And so, with a tray of wolfman-friendly foods in her hands, mainly a large cut of steak with a plastic pitcher of cold water and a plastic drinking glass, she made her way into the holding cell he was being kept in. It was a shame to have to do that, but he had proved himself too ill-tempered, too much a potential danger to everyone around him. It simply had to be done, and that was that.

She had done so a few times before, only to make next to no connection with the man - he clearly didn't want any familiarity with people, so he made sure he didn't get it. But again, she promised.

So this time, the clicking of claws on hard floor was audible as she walked into the room, the lupine features of her half-wolf shape unmistakable, especially to one who had a similar form himself under normal circumstances.

"Good evening, Mister Russoff," Rahne said as she knelt down before the hatch at the floor of the cell, slipped out a key and unlocked it, sliding the tray towards him and quickly locking it back up again.

She stood back up, pulled a nearby chair over to the cell and sat down.
"How're ye feelin' tonight?"
Posted Image

[size0]Say the dog and butterfly,
in the air they like to fly.
Dog and butterfly.
She knew she had to try,
and she float back down to the warm soft ground,
laughing - she don't know why,
but she had to try, she had to try.
Dog and Buttefly.


Avatar by Natalie, signature by Olga. My graphics set is complete again! Thank you so much!
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Jack Russell
Unregistered

He could smell the she-wolf before she appeared, his gaze flicking up with mild disinterest as her claws scratched on the floor. Emil had been disillusioned by her appearance once before, once believing that somehow she was his sister, when he should have realized in his moment of mental abstraction that his sister had a form far more similar to his own. He would like to believe they could be twins in shape, but Lissa had demonic qualities that set her apart, physical features that she still could not come to terms with.

Good evening, Mister Russoff. A grunting chuff was her only reply.

Emil's attention peaked when he saw the food, sitting up into a half-crouch and progressing slightly forward with a sniff. He had eaten enough of their food to know they had no intention of poisoning him; apparently this Jack person meant something to them. That or they had something else in mind for him.

He descended upon the bloody meat like a predator to prey, overlooking the provided utensils and eating with his hands. The meat's juices flecked across his fair complexion as he ate, hardly looking in Rahne's direction. Rahne was one of the mutants he had seen the most, although the presence of her wolfen form was new in her visit. It did not phase him that much--few visual appearances did at his point in life. Emil was perfectly content to eat in silence while she watched him from her chair, but she seemed to wish for otherwise.

How're ye feelin' tonight? The casual question caught him off guard, but Emil feigned no interest as he tore into the cut of meat. He wiped the residue of his meal off of his face with the back of his arm, giving Rahne the once-over, only a little curious as to what connection there was between her and the other him.

"What business is my condition of yours?" he said brusquely, snorting roughly and busying himself with his food again, the rough Romanian brogue to his dialogue complementing her Scottish one.
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Wolfsbane
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Wolf Form
"Ever so pleasant an' agreeable, aren't ye, Mister Russoff?" Rahne asked with a slight sigh. She watched him with intense curiosity in her eyes as he ate, canting her head to the left not unlike a confused dog. No matter how many times she'd seen it in no matter how many people, she still found it utterly bizarre, and wholly surreal, to see people she knew behave in ways she didn't know. It drew attention to the more subtle things she never realized she knew about them, like facial tics, vocal inflections, and overall posture. They were aspects of people that rarely got conscious attention, but were picked up on anyway, and their absence was definitely noticed.

"F'r yuir information, 'tis my business 'cause the man whose body yuir inhabiting happens t' be a good friend of mine," she said, folding her arms at her chest and lifting her left eyebrow. He was pushing fairly hard, that much she could tell. Very much a "lone wolf", probably burned by those he cared about in the past, and as such, refuses to make that connection ever again.

"An' I made a promise t' that man that I'd look out for his well-being if he ever made the switch, which, judging by yuir presence here, is pretty clear that he did," she leaned forward a tiny little bit, and gave off a fairly soft smile that was in decent contrast to the common conceptions about what a creature like her was supposed to be.

"So I'll ask ye once more, how are ye feelin' tonight?"
Posted Image

[size0]Say the dog and butterfly,
in the air they like to fly.
Dog and butterfly.
She knew she had to try,
and she float back down to the warm soft ground,
laughing - she don't know why,
but she had to try, she had to try.
Dog and Buttefly.


Avatar by Natalie, signature by Olga. My graphics set is complete again! Thank you so much!
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Jack Russell
Unregistered

Emil pondered only vaguely as to why the she-wolf was there, as this was not her first visit, although it had been the first in which she had attempted conversation. She remarked on his character, to which he exhaled around the last of his meal and swallowed mostly without chewing. Poise and elegance for manners could be added to that list. F'r yuir information, 'tis my business 'cause the man whose body yuir inhabiting happens t' be a good friend of mine.

"Friend?" Emil scoffed, it had been revealed over time that Mr. Goody Four Legs had lots of 'friends'. He saw little point in many confidantes--blood was thicker. And even though Lissa was lost to him now, he knew he could trust her with his life.

Rahne spoke something of a promise, some pre-determined agreement that Emil knew nothing of. She gave him a smile, although he did not return it. Instead, he chose to forgo the provided glass and drink straight from the pitcher. It was difficult to discern if this was his normal behavior or if he was playing up his animalistic nature to shun visitors away in disgust.

So I'll ask ye once more, how are ye feelin' tonight?

Emil's pent-up aggression had worn down, but the cage around him only brought out the worst of his embittered disposition. "As best as one can live in a cage," he rejoined, as if it were someone else's fault that he was stuck down here when it was really all of his own. He could not be trusted around the children, much less anyone else.

"Only this body concerns you," Emil glowered further. "The body of your 'friend'.. your lubito perhaps.."
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Wolfsbane
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Wolf Form
"Yes - friend," she reiterated, curious as to whether or not he asked because the concept was alien to him, or if there was something else in the word that he wasn't sure about.

Truth was, she missed Jack. She missed all of the people she was close to who had without warning hopped realities and been replaced with total strangers, but with Jack she had a routine, she had that nightly activity that she had been sorely missing in these few weeks that he'd been gone. It may have seemed strange, but to be doing something daily and then to just have it gone was very disorienting to her - she had come to look forward to it and expect it, and now that it wasn't possible, her days felt incomplete.

"Well," she said as he complained of being locked up, "as much as we'd like t' nae have t' keep ye locked up, ye've made it abundantly clear that we cannae trust ye. That yuir violent, erratic, and highly irritable. We have children t' keep safe, and yuir nae givin' us much reason to trust ye with that. Perhaps if there was a way ye could be more agreeable, we could arrange some time outside of the cell, supervised, of course, but ye've got to make that first step."

She didn't know what 'lubito' meant, but she could make an educated guess based on the tone with which he spoke the word. A slight pink blush came to her cheeks, barely visible under the fur, and she turned away in a slight show of embarrassment.

"Well, maybe that's true," she said meekly before returning her attention right to him. "But like I said, I made a promise, an' I aim t' keep it. Question is, are ye gonna accept my help, or keep tryin' to push me away?"
Posted Image

[size0]Say the dog and butterfly,
in the air they like to fly.
Dog and butterfly.
She knew she had to try,
and she float back down to the warm soft ground,
laughing - she don't know why,
but she had to try, she had to try.
Dog and Buttefly.


Avatar by Natalie, signature by Olga. My graphics set is complete again! Thank you so much!
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Jack Russell
Unregistered

It was worth repeating that Emil was not ignorant, though some speculated the thought due to his tendency to spurn himself to violence rather than to logic. But he did pay attention, and the blush did not escape his contemplation. Unlike Jack, he had no social limits or norms he wished to abide to, he had no one he felt worth impressing or to make like him.

He wasn't here to be liked. He didn't want to have to play nice just to get some time out of this cell either, and for what? Supervision.

Well, maybe that's true. His blonde brows arched slightly after finding he'd struck a nerve, or some kind of emotion. Emil used the rest of the water in the pitcher to wet his hands and rub over his face; it was the best he had at the moment, as there was no means to shower nor shave. What he really wanted was to get a pair of scissors and hack off the 'angelic locks' this pup had. They were very unbecoming.

...are ye gonna accept my help, or keep tryin' to push me away? Emil stood up now, crossing his small enclosure and leaning against the bars, his hips pressed back, a stance very unlike Jack. "What help is that, ealup? If I play nice I get to run to the end of my leash?" His tone was not mocking or endearing; Emil tended to snarl instead of sneer. "I'm not enjoying this any more than you are."

It was clear that whatever good was in Jack left no residual trace in his body, Emil seeping in like a parasite. He gestured to himself with one free hand, continuing further. "This body is half of what I am. Skinny with... freckles."

*ealup = she-wolf
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Wolfsbane
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Wolf Form
"Yes, well, seeing as how I'm the only one willing to spend any time with you a' tall, I'd think it'd behoove ye to try some civility - I understand ye want t' get back - that ye've got a sister what needs yuir help - ye cannae do that if yuir sulkin' in a cell feelin' sorry f'r yuirself an' snarlin' at anyone who comes by. The others who've swapped? They're actively workin' t' help figure out how to get the lot o' ye home. I'd think ye'd want that, rather than leave yuir sister in the hands of someone ye think is 'half the man you are'."

The way she emphasized that last phrase indicated how much she disagreed with the description. Jack may have been socially awkward, quiet, and a bit withdrawn, but he had a good heart, he cared about the well-being of others, enough so to lock himself up rather than risk hurting people.

"So, yes, I do care about Jack more than Emil - ye've given me absolutely no reason to like you whatsoever. So helpin' you get home gets the Jack I care about back, plus it gives you the chance to help a girl what needs saving. I'm a part time superhero, after all - saving people is what I do, so if I can help you help her, then tolerating yuir presence is worth it."
Posted Image

[size0]Say the dog and butterfly,
in the air they like to fly.
Dog and butterfly.
She knew she had to try,
and she float back down to the warm soft ground,
laughing - she don't know why,
but she had to try, she had to try.
Dog and Buttefly.


Avatar by Natalie, signature by Olga. My graphics set is complete again! Thank you so much!
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Jack Russell
Unregistered

Emil wasn't the only one who could take a couple of low shots, and his lip curled into glowering frown as the thought of some fervently driven pup attempting to save his sister ate away at him. His back curled and his shoulders stooped as Rahne continued, the ire growing evident in his body language. So helpin' you get home gets the Jack I care about back, plus it gives you the chance to help a girl what needs saving. Emil was a sore loser, especially when he was beaten at his own game.

"Fine," he hissed through clenched teeth, drawing back from the bars and putting his fingers at work to the null collar around his neck. "For Lissa's sake. Not for yours, nor for his." The very notion of even trying to pull it off was useless, as Emil had tried that immediately upon waking in this place. He let the contraption be and brooded himself into a moody crouch on the floor.

"And what are the rulings of this... cooperation?" Emil interrogated, beginning to pull at the tear on the hems of his jeans. The pants caught on his heels as the waist no longer sat in a proper place, and clearly destroying the bottoms of them was the only way to make it more appropriate for him to wear.
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Wolfsbane
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Wolf Form
"Wouldn't ask ye to do anything f'r my sake," Rahne said as she stood up from her chair, peering down at him in curiosity. It was strange, seeing this bizarre display of behavior from Jack... Jack's body at least. He was clearly beaten, and it seemed that he was even... miserable to a degree. A small pang of guilt hit her, as she hadn't intended to make him feel bad. That wasn't something she wanted to do to anyone.

"Prove to us we can trust ye," she said, taking a deep breath in and quickly pushing it out through her nostrils. "I'll talk to the Professor about gettin' ye some time outside, see if we can trust ye, then ye cooperate like the others from yuir side of the pond have - try to give us a good idea of the place - the more we know, the better chance we have of settin' things right."

She sighed lightly, and shook her head.
"An' please, let that be," she said, gesturing to the collar at his neck. "Those things have security measures I'm sure ye'd nae rather have t' deal with. F'r yuir own sake. Now, can we trust ye, Mister Russoff? Honestly, now. Dinnae even bother lying. As I'm sure ye know, us canines are very good at sniffin' out liars."
Posted Image

[size0]Say the dog and butterfly,
in the air they like to fly.
Dog and butterfly.
She knew she had to try,
and she float back down to the warm soft ground,
laughing - she don't know why,
but she had to try, she had to try.
Dog and Buttefly.


Avatar by Natalie, signature by Olga. My graphics set is complete again! Thank you so much!
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Jack Russell
Unregistered

She was fretting over him like a mother to a child; there was at least one similar trait that Emil and Jack shared--neither liked to have a fuss made over them. At her advice, Emil left the collar alone still, frustrated to be constricted to the strength of a human. It was like having a thick blanket wrapped around his head to smother his senses, and circlets of iron around his muscles so they couldn't flex and use the entirety of their strength. Rahne queried the matter of his trust, and Emil stood up slowly, his fingers clenched around the bars. For a few long, charged moments, he stared her down, quite conscious of the fact that ferals could sniff out pretense.

The she-wolf was sincere, that much he could tell. But the rest was so bizzare and foreign to him. It seemed impossible to cross from one cosmos to the next on the same plane. And yet, the more time that went by, the more danger Lissa was in; her life was one he wouldn't risk.

His next words came from between his teeth. "Tell your liderul.. your leader.. that he has my... trust." Another long moment pressed on. "But know this ealup--I pledge allegiance to no one." His brow furrowed before he elaborated. "None shall know harm. But.. should I feel a knife point at my back, all of my words will be undone." Emil's speech was as keen as a bed of rocks, but arranged precisely. It seemed as though Emil was more like the frigid Russoff brother than he would have wished.
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Wolfsbane
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Wolf Form
"Glad t' hear it, then," she said with a genuinely pleased smile and a nod of her head. Though his words were thick with mistrust, paranoia perhaps. Whatever life he lived on the other side had led him to believe that everyone was out to get him, that he couldn't trust anyone. It was a sad fact to Rahne, that one who as she knew him had at the very least cautious optimism and the desire to connect with people despite hardly knowing how to, was replaced with someone who only wanted to push everyone away.

"Nobody's askin' f'r yuir allegiance, Mister Russoff," Rahne said with a light sigh. "Just yuir cooperation. I hardly think that's very much to ask for, considering we all want the same thing."

She raised an eyebrow at his threat.
Yup, she thought, definitely paranoid. So terribly sad.

"Then we've got nothin' t' worry about," she said, placing her pawlike hands on her hips and canting her head to the left. "Remember, yuir in the body of someone we care about, someone we consider a friend. Just because his personality's been replaced by someone as disagreeable as you, does not mean we want t' see ye hurt. Ye play nice with us, we play nice with you. Sound fair?"
Posted Image

[size0]Say the dog and butterfly,
in the air they like to fly.
Dog and butterfly.
She knew she had to try,
and she float back down to the warm soft ground,
laughing - she don't know why,
but she had to try, she had to try.
Dog and Buttefly.


Avatar by Natalie, signature by Olga. My graphics set is complete again! Thank you so much!
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Jack Russell
Unregistered

Nobody's askin' f'r yuir allegiance, Mister Russoff. "Emil," he corrected with a grunt, losing interest in his attempts to irritate and intimidate her now that he had agreed to relinquish his trust to her and the rest of her mutant squad. He knew he would be pressing his luck to ask for the removal of the ring around his neck; they had put it there for a reason--they knew well enough what he was capable of. Remember, yuir in the body of someone we care about, someone we consider a friend. Just because his personality's been replaced by someone as disagreeable as you, does not mean we want t' see ye hurt.

For Emil, the idea of being hurt was laughable. The null collar made the concept more realistic, but he had a hard time believing he could not easily recover in normal circumstances from any injury dealt to him. The possibility that this could occur was disturbing; it was the reason that the dog tags had unsettled him, stamped on one side with a medical symbol and listed with allergens on the back. As if suddenly recalling that he had ripped them off and hurled them across his containment cell, Emil turned away and slunk off to where they were wrapped around the bars.

He didn't like looking at them--they were a sign of weakness.

Ye play nice with us, we play nice with you. Sound fair? "Fine," was his curt reply.

Roughly, he pulled them loose and retreated back to Rahne. "Here," he remarked coldly, pushing the garment between the bars until it dropped to the floor on her side. "I don't need them."
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Wolfsbane
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Wolf Form
"Right, 'Emil'," Rahne said, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly as she observed him. She found herself curious as to why the name distinction, why Jack chose a very anglicanized version of his name whereas Emil here forsook that first name altogether. It was a question for another day, perhaps - or most ideally, it was a question that wouldn't have to come up at all. Hopefully this whole thing would be solved before too much longer and it would be nothing more than an unpleasant memory.

"Good, glad to hear it, Emil," she nodded affirmatively and began to head towards the door. She paused as she heard something slide across the floor, and glanced down at it for a moment in curiosity. She bent down to pick it up and, true to canine nature, sniffed at it before slipping it into her pocket.

"Alright, I'll hang on to 'em for ye," she wasn't sure what that was about - was it really to get rid of something he didn't want? Was it to give her a reminder of him? Or Jack? As he had worn it at least once, it had his scent all over it. She wasn't the type to obsess over objects connected to people, but she would hang on to it at the very least.

"I'll talk to the Professor, tell him about the agreement we've come to. You can jus' sit tight - if all goes well, ye'll be seein' sunlight in no time. Talk to ye later, Emil."

And then she headed out the door, sparing one last glance to him before continuing on her merry way. She felt good about this little meeting, despite how unpleasant Emil himself was. It was progress, and it may just have meant one step closer to getting their people back home.

{Exit}
Posted Image

[size0]Say the dog and butterfly,
in the air they like to fly.
Dog and butterfly.
She knew she had to try,
and she float back down to the warm soft ground,
laughing - she don't know why,
but she had to try, she had to try.
Dog and Buttefly.


Avatar by Natalie, signature by Olga. My graphics set is complete again! Thank you so much!
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