Free as a Coyote

Who: Olivia and Mac
When: Evening
Where: Lakeshore

It was becoming somewhat of a tradition for Olivia to pop by the lake after her waitressing shift ended. Or rather, after her waitressing shift ended, and she downed a few drinks before wandering in that direction. This night, she passed quite a few of those dead cats - which she found to be completely disgusting, by the way, and wondered when the city was going to maybe clean them up. She'd read about animal control in the papers, and didn't they have city people to clean up roadkill? Or something. In any case, they were going to start stinking soon. She'd also yet to hear from Marcos, but she called everyday, just to make sure his cell phone was still in use. He would show up eventually, or contact her. And she wasn't leaving this place until he did. So other than work, she'd kept to herself, only really speaking the minimum to her customers at the diner, or Babylon. At this point, she didn't have much desire to speak to anyone unless she had too.

She also knew she'd have to find a new place to sleep if she was going to stick around Marquette for a bit longer. Her current hotel room was taking most of her tips. She needed something cheap. Hell, a cot with a roof over her head would be sufficient at this point if it wasn't going to bleed her dry. It was a lot to think about - but she'd worry about it in the morning maybe. Finding her way to the shore, she sat, took off her shoes, and dug her toes into the sand. Buzzing off of the drinks she'd gotten at the bar beforehand, she lit a cigarette and fell back onto her back, watching the sky and feeling rather pleasant for the first time in a long time.

It was late, or later, Mac supposed. It was dark enough out that she'd gone ahead and went for a run. The prerequisite for this run was that she needed a change, or to change rather. So she'd found the darkest most hidden place she could that was sure not to attract attention or succumb to high tide and had ditched her clothes, folded them and set them neatly in the spot.

A few short minutes later and Mac was running along the sand. She stayed just clear of the water's edge, not wanting to get her fur soaked. It was an rich amber color, not too far off from her natural hair color in fact, and her eyes were the same bright blue shade as well. She let out only one howl during her fun little romp only because she didn't want to attract a ton of attention.

It was a short while after that, panting and coming to a slow trot, that Mac caught a human scent and then spotted the person lying on the beach. She picked up her speed at first, thinking the person might be hurt, but then picked up a heartbeat and realized they were not. So she slowed down now, ears and tail bent down as she approached with curiosity and no harm intended. She let out a noise or two that sounded faintly like a whimper just to let her presence be known. She also took a few extra tentative sniffs at the air as she got closer.

Olivia was exhaling a steady stream of smoke when she heard the whimper. Her mind's response was somewhat slow, but she turned her head and spotted the...dog? Wolf? Some furry animal that was staring at her in the dark. Olivia could feel her heartbeat speed up and she sat up slowly, though even that had her head swimming. Keeping her eyes on the thing, Olivia wondered if the thing was about to attack - or maybe it was a rabid dog-wolf-furry animal like the cats had been.

"Are you going to eat me?" Olivia asked, though she knew it was ridiculous to ask an animal anything. Maybe she thought the sound of her own voice would make her feel safe, or at least stronger. It would just fucking figure that she'd go out a mangled corpse on a beach.

Mac stopped moving when the woman sat up. Her ears picked up a bit when the woman's heartbeat did. She stopped moving forward then, just a few feet away. She cocked her head to the side. When the woman spoke, Mac's jaw opened a bit and her tongue hang out lazily, which brought the corners of those coyote lips up in a vague resemblance of a smile.

She took a few more steps forward, slowly, until she was just within arms' reach and then sat down. She ducked her head down to get it closer and sniffed at the air again. Why was this woman on the beach alone at night? Then again...Mac was by herself out here too. But Mac wasn't in her human form. Interesting. She attempted to look as submissive as possible since she wasn't one of those crazy cats that had been attacking people. Luckily as well, she didn't have rabies either. Phew.

"Okay," Olivia said slowly, eying the animal as it sat down next to her. No snarling, or growling - that was a good sign, right? Olivia lowered her hand and put out her cigarette in the sand while keeping an eye on the animal. "You're not eating me yet, so that's good," Olivia continued, smiling just slightly as the thing sniffed the air. "It'd be a total waste of effort and energy, believe me. I don't taste very good." With a quick glance, Olivia noted there was no one else around. She was sort of stuck, if the thing decided to attack, but so far, it seemed fairly docile. Cautiously, Olivia reached her hand out toward the animal slowly. "Plus, I smell completely safe and unthreatening, see?"

Mac tilted her head again, a classic sign of curiosity for for legged creatures...or dog-like creatures at least. If curiosity killed the cat, what did it to do dogs? Or coyotes in this case, she supposed. She was downright pleased when the woman reached out he rhand for inspection. Excellent.

Mac stood to move another step closer. She sat right back down in the sand though and then leaned down until her nose was right in front of her hand and started sniffing it. It took a couple of minutes to get the woman's scent completely but eventually, despite sitting down, Mac's tail wagged a little lazily, kicking up a little sand and she even settled on giving the woman's hand a lick or two. It was just to be reassuring again, that she wasn't going to go attacking unless she was attacked for some reason.

"See?" Olivia asked, her grin growing wider. "Perfectly normal, boring old me. No need to take a bite. I'm full of alcohol and nicotine and, just yuck." Tomorrow she'd blame her one-sided conversation with a possibly feral animal on the alcohol. Tonight it seemed strangely normal. The animal certainly didn't seem rabid at all, and Olivia had a feeling if it was going to attack her, it would have by now. "Don't know exactly what you are," she murmured. "Wolf? Coyote?" Olivia gave a silent giggle. "Maybe a werewolf? Not a full moon, so probably not? Either way, you're not enjoying giant chunks of my flesh so I like you." Olivia scratched her fingernails under the animal's chin.

Mac couldn't laugh in this form but she let her tongue hang out for that vague dog smile again as she kept talking. Was there a way to let the woman know she was a coyote, and definitely not a werewolf. Okay, she was the were part but, so not a wolf. There was a total difference - like Mac was fun.

She lifted her head a little when the chin scratching started because whoooo lordy that felt good. Afterward she lifted her head up and let out a little howl. Okay maybe that wouldn't distinguish her from a wolf, but what the heck. She put her head back down and tilted it at the woman before she moved a little closer and let her tail wag lazily again. Maybe she'd keep talking. It'd be interesting to see what the lady said when she thought she was talking to something that didn't understand her.

Olivia started only slightly when the thing howled, but it didn't seem dangerous. In fact, it only made her smile again. The animal didn't seem bored with her yet, so she scratched it behind it's ears.

"Must be nice to be able to roam around, free as a bird - or coyote?" Olivia murmured. "Not that I'm stuck here, but you probably have no worries, or obligations, right? God, I'm talking to an animal." Olivia shook her head and ran her hand over the animal's head again. "But you know, it's nice to have company that isn't making you feel like you're worthless. You have a pack, right? Isn't that what animals like you do? You all look out for each other and keep each other safe? Supposedly. I don't really know much about wolves. Or coyotes." Whichever one this was. "People like me? We have families. Unfortunately that word doesn't mean much. Okay, so I'm getting self-pitiful again." Olivia paused and smiled at the animal. "But thanks for not judging me."

A pack! HA! Well, Mac supposed that was easily mistakable. She did let out a short snort of air through her nose at that. Mac had her mom, which was good, but they were fairly independent from each other at this point. Mac's train of thought was cut abruptly short by the scratching and she leaned her head down into the woman's hand because that kind of petting was powerful stuff for an animal.

She let her tongue hang out again and wagged her tail a few times before she moved her head forward enough to give the woman's chin and cheek a lick or two in return for that petting and what not. Nope, no judgment here, just curiosity.

The tongue against her cheek had Olivia laughing and instinctively lifting her chin up. "Thanks." It was strange. Most people would run, terrified of an animal like this. But it made Olivia feel more comfortable than anyone she'd met so far. With a small sigh, Olivia ran her hand over the animal's ears once more. "It's nice to know there's something decent in this town, because I gotta say, the people here? Not so much. So don't get yourself, like, hunted or anything, okay?"

Mac leaned into the hand. She was pleasantly surprised at the laughter she'd caused, enough to make her tail do some more wagging. Her ears sunk down at the mention of hunting. She hadn't thought of that when she'd prepared to go on the run that had turned into being a strange form of therapy. Don't get herself hunted, Mac could be on board with this game plan. She brought her wet nose toward the back of the woman's jaw so she could sniff around her neck. Most of the time, a person's scent was stronger back there. After a moment of tail wagging and sniffing, she sat back normally and then moved down enough so she was lying in the sand. Company was company, right?

"Do I smell okay because you keeping sniffing at me," Olivia remarked lightly, though she didn't push the animal away. "I know I smell like smoke, but that's what happens when you serve in a bar. And, well, smoke. But I shower, I promise." Olivia scratched the animal behind it's ears again when it laid down in the sand next to her. Company was company, indeed. And at the moment, Olivia was much preferring this company to anyone else's.

Exactly - Mac had to get through those smells for her real smell. One had to commit these things to memory after all. She kept her tail wagging as she was scratched again. And then she rolled over, toward the woman slightly, so that she was on her back, paws up in the air but legs bent to keep them close to herself. He tongue fell out the corner of her mouth. She tended to act more like a puppy than a coyote when around nice people in this form after all. And if she managed to make someone feel better and lower their blood pressure at the same time then good for her, yeah?

"Wow, you're so not the snarl and bite 'em type, are you?" Olivia asked when the animal rolled onto it's back and let it's tongue hang out happily. She scratched it's belly in return, trying not to laugh at the absurdity of it all. How many people are going to come in contact with a wolf, or whatever, and walk away without a scratch?

And whether she realized it, or not, her blood pressure had probably lowered three fold. It was nice to have a distraction from everything flooding her mind for once.

Mac wagged her tail in response. She wiggled her body a bit with the stomach scratching because...oh yeah...what was she thinking about? Oh! Snarling type. Nope! She only snarled and bit when being attacked. It was a rare occurrence for her, thankfully.

Eventually she rolled back over and moved around so she could lay down and rest her head halfway in Olivia's nap. She was glad to provide distraction and to get free petting in return.

Olivia smiled a bit when the animal put its head in her lap. She ran her fingers over its fur and ears, realizing that it was true what they said about animals lowering their owner's stress levels. Not that Olivia owned this animal by any means, but already she was feeling much, much better.

"I'd take you home with me if I could. If I had a home and you weren't like, a coyote," Olivia remarked, not minding anymore that she was talking aloud to an animal that probably had no idea what she was saying. "I think it's time to get out of the hotel residence and find something else. A cheaper room? Or maybe even an apartment. Temporarily of course, but I think if I can find a roommate content with a short term living arrangement, and someone I won't have to speak to too often, then maybe I can pull it off for a bit. I don't know. Even if I do that, I don't think any landlord would let me keep a coyote as a pet, you know?"

Olivia scratched behind its ears again as her gaze drifted over the lake. "Wow, I'm rambling big time. And you're a really great listener, so thanks."

Don't worry, Mac thought. I've got shelter to return to. She was content just to listen to Olivia talk and ramble on. That scratching helped, and each time she either leaned into the scratch or returned the sentiment with a lick to her hand.

Until, that is, something caught Mac's attention. Her ears jumped straight up and she picked her head up and looked off into the darkness down the beach. A moment later, face trained on that spot in the distance, ears up and turning slightly at various sounds, she stood up and faced that way. She took a few steps that way and let out a low growl at what was seemingly nothing to any normal person or dog even. She hesitated just a moment to stop the growling so she could look back at the woman, the only form of apology for a hasty retreat she could make as she was, and then turned back and started running, and fast, off down the beach.

Olivia watched, only remembering to breathe when the animal took off down the beach. She'd half expected some rabid animal or yes, even a demon, to appear out of nowhere, but thankfully Olivia didn't see anything within her own visual range.

Slightly disappointed to have lost her company, Olivia lit another cigarette and gathered her things. If the animal had seen something, Olivia didn't want to hang around to find out what it was. Standing, she took one last look out at the lake before turning to make the walk back to her hotel room.