Stalking the Wasteland (Open)

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[atrb=border,0,true][cs=7][bg=000000] _____________________ Deacon had heard Emma speak but chose not to respond straight away, instead strumming a few more chords before stopping suddenly. He looked over at the woman as she seemed to be disturbed by the fact that he hadn't told her where he was going, a raised eyebrow signaling his questioning of her statement. "You told me to do as I pleased. If you wanted to know where I was going why didn't you just ask?" There was an innocent quality to his response, the long years spent away from civilization causing him to lose sight of the smaller courtesies of everyday life. He clutched a handful of his hair in his hand as he grabbed the back of his head, wondering how he got from the wilds of the territory to this small town motel with Emma. As he replayed the events of the day back in his mind, Isaac couldn't help but question the random set of circumstances that led him to where he stood. After a short time the knock at the door came, and Isaac responded quickly to the matter before slamming the door. He was caught off guard by the response of Emma however, she seemed quite angry with the way he handled the situation. He slowly cocked his head to the side, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly as the response formulated in his mind. With the same puzzled and childlike look on his face, Isaac responded calmly. "But he threatened me..." He paused for a moment. Isaac had never been particularly good at conflict resolution, and his time roaming the earth in solitude only compounded this character flaw. He was slow to anger but quick to wrath, and someone threatening him usually tipped the scale towards wrath. At this momemt in time, Isaac was far more wolf than man. He lived his life almost solely on instinct and memories caused him to take great offense to being threatened. Although he stood firm in his ways, he didn't particularly want Emma to think poorly of him. He would not however explain the reasoning behind his strong response to being threatened, for he didn't know his companion well enough to trust her with information so close to his heart and mind. Isaac attempted to brush off the subject as he continued to speak, changing to a topic that he hadn't fully addressed but would do so now. "...But I guess that would have worked as well. As for your pack.." His words trailed off as he emphasized the "your pack", realizing that life would be much more difficult on his own than in a pack. He would swallow his pride for a time and ask the Alpha's permission. "..I realize I may have overstepped my bounds. Will you permit me to join your Havren? Life would be far more difficult on my own" _____________________ 0:words.

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[atrb=background,http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b9/AshleesAlterEgo/Emmamiddle.jpg] Emma really didn’t want to be so easily annoyed by Isaac. But the more time she spent with him, the more irritated she became. The young woman had been trying her best to be patient with the young man but his antics were beginning to grate on her nerves. At first she had pinned him as a caring individual for he had continued walking alongside her despite her rather slow pace and poor attitude. But as time wore on she began to believe that her initial impression had been incorrect and that he wasn’t nearly as caring as she had first believed. Despite the fact that he had accompanied her on her trip, she was now under the impression that he had done it simply because he had been bored and lonely. She realized then that he didn’t give a lick about her, but was concerned only with entertaining himself. He had been loud, rude, and generally uncaring and as far as she could tell, the man didn’t have a compassionate bone in his body. He hadn’t treated her poorly of course, but then again, he hadn’t really treated her like anything at all. He showed no concern for her well-being and no concern for his. He flew by the seat of his pants and did what he wanted when he wanted; and not only did he not show an ounce of trepidation, but he offered the alpha only a minimal amount of respect. He had attempted to join her pack without permission and wasn’t in the least bit courteous or apologetic about it. Clearly he was content to be permitted to join the pack without the consent of the founder. The young woman wanted to reach out and wring his neck. Emma wasn’t generally prone to violent outbursts, but the day had been trying, and Isaac was only adding fuel to the fire. When she finally scolded him (rather harshly), his response only aggravated her further. He threatened him…Emma snorted in disgust and placed a hand dramatically upon her forehead. Was she really going to be forced to have this type of conversation with Isaac? It was like negotiating with a three-year-old child. The woman was momentarily speechless and stood with her hand on her head for a few seconds before answering, “I can’t believe we are having this discussion. How old are you Isaac? Three? Look, the last thing I need to do right now is babysit a grown adult. First of all, you should have known better than to whip out a guitar in the middle of the night, and second of all, you should have had enough sense to know that arguing like that with a perfect stranger, who had the right to be upset, is ridiculous. I can’t honestly believe that we are even having this conversation. Fuck.” Emma hardly finished her little rant before Isaac worked up the nerve to ask the nerviest question he could have possibly asked. Could he be a member of her pack? For a moment she thought he was joking, and she stood in an awkward silence, waiting for the punch line. But when one didn’t come, she allowed her jaw to drop in complete and utter shock. Shaking her head in dismay she answered, “look, I sympathize with your not wanting to spend the rest of your life alone. I get that. But I’m going to be completely honest with you here, because I prefer getting straight to the point. So far you haven’t given me any indication that you would be an asset to Havren. You are impulsive and I have to be honest, you aren’t very compassionate either. I can’t have selfish pack members who don’t know how to put others above themselves every once in a while. I understand the self-preservation issue, but give it a rest for a little while. When I talk to you I feel like I’m talking to a child, and it’s driving me crazy because I don’t feel well and to add insult to injury, I have to keep monitoring you.” Emma never really answered Isaac’s question and after shaking her head dejectedly, she walked back over to her bed and carefully lowered herself onto her uninjured side. She didn’t bother pulling the covers around her body and simply lay atop the comforter with her head on one of the pillows. Despite the fact that she was in the company of another, she hadn’t felt so terribly alone in a very long time.

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[atrb=border,0,true][cs=7][bg=000000] _____________________ Isaac stared blankly at Emma as she scolded him, reverting to a cold gaze that showed his displeasure. He had up until this point been as kind as possible, even though he had little to no experience in recent years socializing with others. The tone of Emma's voice was something that annoyed him, she would not accept him as a member of her pack yet she talked to him as if he was a subordinate, and one that was inferior at that. Although he still spoke calmly, the childlike demeanor was no longer present. He would not apologize for what he had done, he would simply apologize for the circumstance in which it happened. "I apologize for any inconvenience I may have caused you. I only wanted to make sure you safely reached your destination." Issac reached up and scratched the side of his head, wondering if he should have spoken at all as Emma seemed displeased with his mere presence. In any other situation he would have left silently but there was something about this female that compelled him to stay with her. It was partially that she reminded him of his sister, but her strong personality intrigued him. This however was irrelevant, as the woman had clearly spoken her mind. He reached up ran his large hand down the length of his face, the hand moving more slowly as he reached the stubble on his chin. He contemplated what he would say next as he stared at the back of the woman laying in front of him. The words seemed to form themselves as he began walking towards the door, stopping just as he turned the handle to look back at Emma as he spoke. "It wasn't for self preservation that I asked, but fear of losing my humanity completely. I understand your perspective however and won't push the matter further." He paused for a moment, pointing to the guitar and overcoat lying on the other bed as he continued his statement. "I'm going to go for a run to clear my mind, try not to break the guitar while i'm gone." The faintest trace of a smile could be seen on his face as he jokingly asked Emma to refrain from breaking his guitar. He would not respond with any maliciousness to the scolding he recieved because that simply wasn't the way he functioned. Then again, he hadn't had much conversation to compare it with lately so getting away was the best way to remedy the situation. Perhaps this was the best thing, as Isaac didn't truly believe others would accept his lack of civility anyways. Although at times he wished nothing more than to regain the etiquette taught to him in his youth, he simply wasn't able to do so alone. So he turned and closed the door behind him as bare feet slapped across the cold earth, taking in the night as he sorted out this whirlwind of a day. _____________________ 0:words.

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[atrb=background,http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b9/AshleesAlterEgo/Emmamiddle.jpg] Generally speaking, Emma wasn’t normally so harsh with those she interacted with. But to her credit, she seldom spent any stretch of time with them, and her time with Isaac was quite extensive. She knew she had crossed a line with him and that though he was grating on her nerves, she could have used more tact when dealing with him. But she was tired and cranky and her shoulder was hurting like a bitch. And along with everything else, Emma felt no need to beat around the bush. She felt that he was uncaring and rude, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to behave as though she felt otherwise. If he wanted to be around her, he was going to have to either deal with her disdain for him, or get his act together. She knew he wanted to join the pack, but she couldn’t allow him to do so unless her gave her some indication that he would be a useful pack member. So far she saw Isaac only as a man who was bored and lonely, not one who would be a valuable asset to a blooming pack. And Emma wasn’t providing a shelter for every sorry soul that passed her by. She ran a tight ship and expected each member of her pack to fill a specific and important role. If one of the members couldn’t live up to her expectations, then out they went. So far Isaac wasn’t impressing Emma, and no amount of apologizing was going to change that. If he didn’t show her that he would be of some use to her, he was going to wind up bored and alone as he had been before. She wouldn’t bring that to his attention of course; he needed to figure that out for himself. She listened to him apologize, but offered him nothing in response, she simply lay on her side, listening quietly as he spoke. His apology was followed by an explanation and she politely listened to that as well, letting him take the floor as he tried to explain his thoughts and behavior. When he was through, she remained where she was, still laying silently, digesting what he had said. She gave him credit for at least trying to undo the damage that had already been done, but it just wasn’t enough to please Emma who was even on a good day, very difficult to impress. When he explained that he was going to leave the motel room and go for a run, she nodded in understanding, knowing it would be good for the both of them if they had some time apart. Emma needed to digest everything that had gone on, and Isaac needed to blow off some steam. She listened as he cracked a joke about the guitar then opened and closed the front door, his feet tapping lightly on the ground as he moved. For about fifteen minutes, the girl tossed and turned on the bed, trying to find a position that was at least moderately comfortable. The scent of blood filled her nostrils, and she quickly grew disgusted by the pungent odor. Wanting the blood from her shoulder and feline off of her body and clothing, she pulled herself upright and stood up on both feet. Slowly, she made her way toward the bathroom, letting herself in and leaving the door slightly ajar. After fiddling with the faucet in the shower for a few moments, she finally got it to the perfect temperature. Gently, she opened the foggy shower door and stepped inside. She kept her clothing on, wanting it as well as her body washed of the blood and grime that had accumulated during the course of the day. She watched as her form grew saturated with water and gradually began releasing pools of brown and red liquid. The blood and dirt swirled down the drain, vanishing right before the alpha’s eyes. Unfortunately, the girl didn’t have the energy to wash her hair or body and simply lowered herself onto the cream colored tiles and leaned her back carefully against the far shower wall. Closing her eyes, she allowed the water to drizzle over her body, the warmth lulling her into a light slumber.

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