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Jeremiah's flippant response and Chris' personal injury at the correction were winding his nature tight and angry inside of his chest. He'd hope the detective would take authority to calm the masses but it seemed they were all content to be cattle, a herd, not a unit, not a pack. This is not the time or place, he wanted to reason with them, there is a magical killer on the loose and this is NOT THE TIME OR PLACE --

The sound of his name and the touch to his neck broke the wound up thoughts, startled red eyes turning to Thorne with surprise. He stared in mute attention as the man spoke and made a short introduction, and when the hand fell away, Lucas automatically extended one of his clawed one to grab it. His fingers laced with the other's and he lifted the held hand, kissing his knuckles, returning the unspoken dialog in the way his posture relaxed, the way his gaze wasn't so wild.

"Lily," he nodded towards the young woman, still holding on to her. "Jamie," he nodded towards the rabbit teen that was talking to the blond man. He held onto his two worlds - Pack by circumstance, Pack by choice - and turned towards the bathroom. "Let's find this guy."

Red eyes turned towards the rabbit once again. "Buttercup, we're heading to the bathrooms." He didn't want to leave Jamie wondering where the'd gone, an invitation to join extended to Chris too if he chose. "The sooner we end this, the better for all of us." Lucas looked to Lily and gently squeezed her shoulder, the hand holding Thorne's tightening briefly. He'd have to let them go once they were actually checking things out, but he needed this -- this reassurance. The safety of their presence. He didn't know how long it would last.

When the younger detective spoke to him, Lucas turned his bright eyes to the other, tilting his head. "We don't know anything about him. There's no time for a full story, but suffice to say, he should not have been here and is probably half crazed with pain." There'd be no reasoning, no negotiations. Lucas finally let the two he'd been holding onto go, and waited.

"So uh. Thorne? Lucas? Each one of y'all can take one bathroom, with Jeremiah and... that guy," Autumn gestured to Shun, "and we'll have a pretty solid team in each bathroom. What do you guys think?"

It wasn't that Jamie thought Chris was old, but he definitely hadn't realized he was still a student, too. Had that been announced in class? Jamie liked to think he was pretty good at paying attention, but maybe not.

"I..." There was a short pause as he looked down at his feet, shoulders drooping a little. The feelings he harbored over his condition were turning out to be a major roller coaster. There were good thing, but bad ones, too.

"Being a fish would've been, um, really neat," he ventured, not sounding wholly convinced, but trying for both his and Chris's sakes. This was a serious situation, but being lighthearted occasionally was okay, right?

"O-Oh-" Looking back at Lucas, Jamie nodded. "O-Okay, the bathrooms, then. I'll, um, join you..." His eyes lingered on Thorne before he moved on, too, and even managed an awkward whispery, "T-Thank you... I will, um, Thorne."

Then he looked back to Chris. "Are you... coming with us, Mr. Watts? I-I think we're splitting into groups." At least, that's what it sounded like. "I-I can go in, too, I want to help."

He tried to speak up, to remember as a were it was part of his duty to take a stand here, but it sure was hard.

--

Jamie Delaxroix
HP: 20/20

That did give him pause. One side of his mouth was pulled in with some uncertainty.

"I'm going to be useless as a medic," Jack said eventually. "Here, at least I can document this s**t. Get people informed about what really went down. Connor stayed behind, he's got some EMT training so he'll thrive. Diane I think stayed back as well."

He paused, listening to the explanation one of them gave, however brief it had to be.

"You could go now, before things get dangerous," he continued. "I still have my phone if you need to talk to me."

He found the answer to his prior question pretty quickly.

What did he have to lose? Not much, yeah. Not that he'd be without regrets if he vanished today; he'd be torn to shreds knowing it'd leave Ollie alone, and it stabbed him in the heart to imagine Thorne and Chris too. For adults, they were a pretty alright bunch, even if Shiloh didn't understand why exactly they liked him so much. Of course, there was still a half that whispered intrusive thoughts into his head; things about how the world would be better without him, or hardly changed at all, or that he was a waste of space.

When he felt panicked like this, he always fell back on those feelings. It was hard to feel fear when you gave yourself up to reckless abandonment. It was hard to feel stress when you didn't feel like a person. It was easy to let go, feel like a shell.

Then he saw Jamie, and his heart sort of stopped.

Maybe it was the ears, or the awkward legs that gave way to the new furry feet, or the tail that donned the base of his spine. Maybe it was the sheer shock of actually seeing him here—all those messages on his phone felt like weights in his pocket now. Why was he here? What was he? What was—

"DELACROIX." for as silent and shellshocked as he had been earlier, Shiloh's voice shredded through the pandemonium as everyone tried to decide on an action plan. Forget the ******** renegade monster s**t for two seconds; Shiloh had a ******** priority here.

In fact, he didn't give a ******** who was in his way, and he made it apparent as he shoved his way over to his friend. "Jamie, oh my ******** god Jamie— I— what happened to you? Who did this? Did anyone hurt you? Who ******** hurt you?" he wasn't leaving any room for answers, questions spilling out as he ignored the group that had formed around him. "Y-You're not... hurt? But— how— "

Wait, actually, do mind the group that was around him. His eyes snapped wildly around to Thorne and Chris, briefly recognizing them before turning his focus on Lily and Lucas, posture turning immediately aggressive when he noticed their... features.

"Who the <********> are you guys?! Did you do this?!" his head was swiveling wildly around again, even hostile towards the twosome he knew (though honestly, it was more from panic and being left out of the loop), "I'll cut any ******** one of you if you ******** touch him! I'll ******** FIGHT YOU."

Cut them with what, he'd have to figure out, not to mention he was making enemies with the wrong people.

Shiloh Beaumont – HP: 20/20

Thorne smiled at the return favor. The ache in his chest grew when the time for splitting up came, but he wanted to make sure Lucas understood - there was something for them at the end of this. There was a place beyond here that he was clawing his way towards. And he wasn't giving up on that.

He tilted his hands and ghosted them against Lucas's jaw, his chin. He wanted to kiss him, but now wasn't the time. He thumbed the pulse of the other mans neck and let his hand drop, restless and aching, to his side.

He glanced back at Autumn when she spoke and said, "Sure. My wish is your command, or something like that." His eyes flicked to Jeremiah. "Let me know where you want me."

He grinned at Lily when she spoke to him and bowed his head and shoulders into a greeting. His cheeks were flushed from being called husbando, but he forced himself not to reply to that. "Welcome to the team," he teased lightly, and straightened up. Pausing, he added, "Yeah. He's - something." And then he laughed and shook his head. "Cautiously, and together." He glanced at Lily. "To be honest, I don't know exactly what or who we're dealing with yet, and I don't want us walking into something that can end in a repeat of the first floor. So let's gather a team and head out, yeah?" He paused and added, "Stay close to me. I've been told I'm shaped like an inverted dorito, so if anything comes at us, I can probably shield you."

After all, she was Lucas's pack. He wouldn't let her get injured if he could help it.

He threw a glance back at Maeve and said to Lucas, "Careful. This one knows how to use tranquilizers and it's a damn shame she decided to open a wine shop. She'll do you good... maybe. I hope."

And then he offered his elbow to Lily. "Ready?"

And then Shiloh.

Oh god. Shiloh.

Thorne blinked at the outburst, his eyes wild and wide. But then again, he was probably jaded by now to every supernatural thing crawling around here. And Shiloh wasn't. "One second," he murmured, touching Lily's shoulder.

"Shiloh," he said, his voice as soothing as it could possibly be. "They're not hurting anyone. They're a - pack. They're all together in this. And they're on our side." He paused and added, "Please, kid. Everyone here? They're here to stop what happened on the first floor from happening again."