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 Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 9:21 pm
Nathan sluggishly trudged down to the beach, trying to shake off the wholly unpleasant feeling he'd been experiencing since about an hour after he entered his duplex the day before. He was pretty sure it was that fever and such Dr. Duvert had warned him about, but he was hoping a stroll down a beach at sunset and a quick dip in the surf could cure that. Granted, swimming alone was never a bright thing, but his fevered mind and body weren't at their peak of discerning advisable from inadvisable.
He couldn't remember much of the last day and night prior. He remembered going back to the duplex and unpacking his things, then he started to feel really unwell. He took some tylenol and laid down, but had to get up several times during the night to piss. He nearly threw up a couple times, but he figured it was just a reaction to the vaccination.
He wore nothing but a pair of swim trunks and his ankh necklace, on which his duplex key had been clipped. His piercings and tattoos were also ever present, of course. He ran a hand through his hair and grimaced at the heat radiating off his scalp. A cool dip in the ocean would be good for a fever; leech off some of the heat and all. Right?
His feet sank into the sand as he, almost zombie-like, staggered towards the sound of the surf. He stumbled once or twice, but doggedly continued on, thinking of nothing but cooling down.
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Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 9:28 pm
Ambrose had learned after only practicing once or twice on the island that any clothing beyond shorts ended up making him miserably stuffy. Especially after growing fur. So he had discarded his shirt upon his arrival over an hour ago (hung on a convenient branch at the edge of hte beach) and was down to wearing a pair of short khaki-colored pants that blended rather well with his fur.
The arrival of the newcomer on the beach did not go unnoticed by the reclining wolfman. His ears pricked and he silenetly watched as he walked straight from the path to the surf, where he stood facing the sunset. Even in the fading light, his eyes had no problem making out the tattoos on his arms and facial features. His nose confirmedthe fact that this was not someone he had yet encountered, and was still physically human. A newcomer most likely - and probably one of the ones that he had heard mention of. The fact that he didn't look twice at Ambrose only confirmed in Ambrose's optimistic mind that perhaps he had already had the introductory speach.
He had been alone long enough today and could deal with some company (not to mention cooling off a bit more in the seawater), so leaving his epee and waterbottle where they lay, he stood up, brushed himself off, and trotted out towards the surf to join him.
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Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 9:37 pm
Nathan finally managed to make it to the edge of the water, kneeling down to scoop some up in his hands and pour it on top of his burning scalp, trying desperately to cool the feverish feeling. He wiped his eyes with the back of his forearm at the sound of an approach.
Please let it be a stunning blond, he thought to himself. He grinned impishly and turned to look at the approaching person. Well, it was stunning. And technically a blond. It was also massive and FURRY and had FANGS and CLAWS and very WOLFISH features.
Nathan's golden eyes widened, his face went 3 shades paler, and his mouth dropped open. An unholy scream came out of that mouth, as he scrambled backwards and teetered sideways into the water. "JESUS H. CHRIST ON A TRISCUIT!" he hollered, flailing in the surf maniacally, praying to God that it was just the fever, and he wasn't seeing this mythical man-eating beast loping toward him, heralding his DOOOOOM. "Sweet Jesus...Werewolf...not real...wake up...wake up..." he rattled under his breath as he lunged back further and further into the water, confused and dizzy.
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Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 9:47 pm
Ambrose's friendly demeanor quickly faded, as did the endorphines from his workout as he was quickly and violently shaken from his delusions that the person in the surf was in the know.
He backpedaled out of the surf, his ears pressing back flat against his head and eyes bugging almost as widely as Nathan's.
He held up his clawed hands, padded palms facing Nathan, "s**t!" He exclaimed in perfect English.
Part of him almost wanted to go FOR the man, the sharp scent of fear baiting him, sending his own heart racing.
"Whoawhoawhoawhoa! Calm down!" He kept his hands up, taking a venturing step forward after the initial shock. "I'm not going to hurt you." s**t. It had been such a GOOD day, too. It figures. Do I have some sort of strange magnet to the uninformed, or is it just that they've been bringing so many new people?
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Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 9:52 pm
"IT TALKS, IT TALKS! OH JESUS DON'T EAT ME!" Nathan was half drowning, his head slipping under every now and then as the ripcurrent grabbed at his ankles. His skin was flushed, red, clearly feverish. One could almost imagine hearing a sizzle whenever the water touched his flesh. "Has to be the fever...just a bad dream...gonna wake up any minute."
Ambrose's approach panicked him further, but the prevailing thought in his semi-poached mind was that at least the werewolf didn't have a Columbian accent. His teeth began to chatter, the water temperature so much cooler than his enflamed skin.
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Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 9:59 pm
"Christ." Ambrose swore in frustration. The man was terrified of him and whatever he was doing wasn't helping. To make matters worse, he was getting pretty deep - what if he drowned? He wanted to help him, but if he did, he might give the poor man an aneurism.
And with each exclamation, a part of him wanted to shrivel up and run back to his duplex and Angelina.
... It was situations like this, however, that really stuck in Ambrose's side how he could never go home again.
Ambrose whimpered as he approached, ears down and tail tucked. If he didn't do something, he might drown - he had to.
"I'm not going to eat you! Get out of the surf, it's going to pull you under if you keep flailing like that!"
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Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 10:03 pm
"Maybe it's just a dog. A big talking dog. Like that Tim Allen movie..." Nathan mumbled, his eyes closed, burbling water out of his mouth when the waves rolled into him. "That's it, just a dog, just your imagination. Bad reaction to the vaccine, that's all man. Just calm down. " He was shaking badly from the chills and he gave up and decided to return to the sand.
Only one problem. The sand was getting farther away instead of closer. The riptide was drawing him away further and his mind was too foggy to remember to swim across it rather than fight it.
"Can't...get...back..." he mumbled weakly, stroking wearily at the water, trying to push against the current.
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Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 10:08 pm
Ambrose gave another snarling swear under his breath - which to Nathan would likely look nothing more than a savage growl as he sprung towards him. He was being pulled further out to sea, and if he was going to do anyting about it - he needed to now before he further risked being drug out with him.
He bounded out into the waves, spluttering as the salt water drew into his large mouth. Reaching out to the man, Ambrose snagged at his bicep, pulling him towards him and trying to keep as much of his footing as he could along the sandy bottom.
His skin was very warm to the touch despite the coolness of the seawater. His ears pressed back, so he was sick on top of all of this? Great. Ambrose was no doctor. "Right, fine, I'm just a dog" He responded, his sensitive hearing picking up the words. Keep him calm until he got him to shore. "Now come with me, you're going to drown yourself otherwise."
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Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 10:13 pm
Nathan was mostly dead weight in Ambrose's grasp, mumbling incoherently. "Nice doggy...must be a rescue doggy...do you watch Baywatch doggy? The bouncing is nice on Baywatch." He let himself be pulled back into shore, clinging to the creature's fur like Garfield to a lasagna. As his feet once more were on solid sand nearly at the shore, he gurgled, "Don't feel so good.' And promptly retched something that did indeed look like lasagna all over Ambrose's fuzzy majesticness.
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Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 10:19 pm
After Ambrose had grabbed his bicep, he got a better grasp, slinging his arm around his waist and pulling him back onto the beach, slowly as he pulled both of them against the direction of the tide. He frowned at the babble, not sure if he should feel more insulted or worried before finally deciding on the latter, worrying about his injured pride at a later time.
As he was just going to situation him to lay on the beach... up it came. All over his fur. His ears flattened and he smacked his lips in irritation. "Great. Just..... great. What a way to top off my evening. Thank you." With a sneer of disgust, Ambrose quickly backed away from him, holding his arms away from himself and staring down at the partially digested chunks now clinging to his wet fur.
Taking a seat back in the surf he began to scoop handfulls of water over himself with a begrudging sigh.
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Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 10:26 pm
Nathan groaned, his head clearing somewhat now that he'd emptied his stomach. "Wha....where am I? How did I get down here?" He looked at the sand under him in confusion. "What a crazy a** dream that was." He sat up groggily, and looked right at Ambrose washing the vomit off him. "Ok, maybe it wasn't a dream. Have I completely snapped? What...who...are you?" he asked, wide-eyed, greenish of hue, looking somewhat like a drowned rat at the moment.
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Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 10:29 pm
Ambrose sighed as he finally finished (somewhat) cleaning his fur and stood up again, walking back to shore and shaking in a very canine fashion - sending the droplets cascading over Nathan.
"As much as it begrudges me to say it... You're not dreaming." His mouth quircked up. "You did in fact retch all over me."
Shaking his head, he continued. "I'm sorry... I know this is a great deal to take in. But let's start like this... my name is Ambrose.... what is yours?"
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Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 10:34 pm
If Nathan were in his right mind, he'd be running for the duplex screaming bloody murder. But he was absolutely exhausted and feeling wretched. He was having a tough time thinking clearly at all. "Nathan Moriarity," he said shakily. "This is my vacation. They didn't mention werewolves in the pamphlet. That is what you are, isn't it? Though I didn't think they talked, or were lifeguards..." he laughed a little at the absolute absurdity of all this.
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Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 10:39 pm
Ambrose pondered a moment on how to respond to that, eventually taking a seat a few meters away from him to try to remain as nonthreatening as possible. This was the most changed he had ever been encountering someone new... making it all the worse. And it wasn't even the first time he had been called a werewolf.
He really was monsterous...
"Nathan..." Ambrose said slowly with a nod. "It... well, I would like to say that it is a pleasure to meet you, but something tells me that that would not be the most apt description of our meeting."
He gave a small chuckle. "I'm not a werewolf, and lifeguard isn't generally in my job description, although yours is not the first sorry a** I've pulled out of the surf. The riptide can surprise you - it's not as far out as you'd expect." he rested his hands on his knees and swallowed. How to explain this....
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Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 10:44 pm
"If you're not a werewolf, how do you explain the whole...ears and tail and muzzle and fangs and claws deal, bub?" Nathan looked at Ambrose, water dripping off his nose ring into his lap. He wrapped his arms around himself, pulling his knees up, shivering still, though the fever was thankfully breaking now.
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