Regrouping

Who: Olivia, Judiel and Herbert
When: Morning
Where: Olivia and Herbert's apartment

It had been a difficult night. And an even more difficult morning. Judiel had stayed, remaining in the living room where there was ample light. Which meant Olivia had stayed in her bedroom in the complete darkness, her eyes wide and staring in case those things came back. It worried her more than not only was Herbert in the apartment - but Judiel too. She hadn't slept well to begin with, but once dawn broke, exhaustion had to be put aside to fight those things off again. There'd only been three of them this time, clawing and breaking their way through the door. Olivia probably should have stayed in her room, but frankly, the protector inside of her refuse to let her stay hunched in a corner while Judi and Herbert dealt with those things.

This morning, the shadows had apparently decided to fight back against anyone who attacked them despite their intended target. That had been something she hadn't been prepared for, and it had caused more damage than she anticipated. But they managed to take care of the shadows well enough, though they all had their fair share of scratches and cuts. The first aid kit was on the coffee table, though Olivia had to once again bite the urge to patch both of them up. "No one needs stitches, right?" she asked wearily.

Herbert was still investigating his "battle wounds", but they were nothing compared to what the Acherus had done. He still hadn't shifted back human, wanting to know how badly he'd been gotten first, but he looked over at Olivia and shook his big, bear head at her. No stitches necessary-- and even if there were, he wouldn't have much time with them in before his shift for the full moon tore them out.

Getting used to sharing space with a bear -- even if that bear was actually Herbert -- was something. It was one thing to know that the boy was a shapeshifter, it was quite another to actually be witness to it. Not that Judiel was complaining, because if it wasn't for Herbert the Bear, he would probably be a lot more injured than he was at the moment. Weary himself, he put the kitchen knife down on the coffee table and stretched his back and shoulders a bit, examining his arms. "No," he answered. "They all seem pretty superficial. You, are you okay?" He looked up at her, tired but still concerned.

Olivia nodded, her eyes drifting over his arms as well, looking for any scratches she felt might need more attention. "I'm okay. Tired, but otherwise in one piece." She lifted her own arms. Her shirt was torn up a bit, but most of the cuts she got would heal up quickly. She glanced at Herbert and frowned. She knew it was going to be a full moon, which mean he'd probably be outside tonight, given he had no choice in shifting, and couldn't very well just stay there. "You should go to school today," she advised. "You'll be safer there, I think."

"Rrrm," Herbert said, bobbing his head agreeably. He had been planning on school, yes-- though it'd be fun with the busted hand and the new set of claw marks on his shoulder. Very "fun". Ah, well, he'd make do. He always did.

Skirting around bear-Herbert, Judiel made his way over to Olivia, picking up the first aid kit on his way. This had kind of become routine now, as much as he hated it. "We're running out of antiseptic," he murmured to no one in particular, pulling out the bottle and cotton balls to clean his cuts up. And then her's. At the very least, he hadn't had an asthma attack yet, that was something. He'd been a little raspy the night before, but it hadn't gotten worse.

She had to admit Judiel was taking Herbert in bear form pretty well. It was still a bit unnerving to Olivia, but she had to admit it was convenient when the shadow bastards appeared. She let Judi clean up the cuts on her hands and arms, sighing inwardly. As much as she was thankful he'd been there - at the same time she wished he hadn't been. "I can get more later," Olivia said absently, not really thinking about antiseptic. She looked at Judiel. "It's the full moon, so Herbert won't be here tonight. I think you should probably stay at your place. If they're attacking other people now, I'd rather you not be here and get hurt."

The werebear looked up sharply with a disapproving snort, ignoring the twinge of the cuts as they pulled at the movement. As much as he didn't like the idea of Judiel in trouble, either, he liked the idea of Olivia alone even less. What if she dozed off and they came? What if even more came and overwhelmed her? At least if she had Judiel, she had someone who could run for help, or even just call for help.

He'd been about to answer in the negative when Herbert pretty much answered for him. Judiel glanced over and couldn't help but smile a little bit. "What he said," he told Olivia, taping another bandage into place. "I'm not going to leave you here alone to be overwhelmed. They didn't bother us until we started attacking them, and you need at least one person to keep watch." That sounded reasonable, right? Besides, if she actually thought he could go back down to his apartment and actually sleep knowing this was going on, she was crazy. "You need some rest and a break."

She began to protest, but ended up just huffing lightly. She knew how to kill them now, and the numbers seemed to be dwindling. "It's more distracting to me knowing you or Herbert could get hurt," Olivia said, before she glanced at Herbert. She raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure the administration would really understand the look you're going for if you went to school like that." She really wanted him to just change back so she could assess his damage and get Judiel to help him bandage himself up since she couldn't do it.

Herbert blinked at her, lifted a paw to look at it, then rumbled something completely bear-like and unintelligible and turned to lumber back to his room to shift back and get dressed. He doubted Olivia or Judiel would appreciate a naked boy wandering around.

Okay, weird as it was? There was something fairly comical about it. Judiel smirked tiredly at Olivia as the big bear disappeared back into his room, then went on to address what she'd said. "It would drive me completely mad to have to stay over there knowing you're going through this alone," he told her, his expression sobering up. "I'm staying here, and I'm not arguing with you about it." He leaned in to kiss her cheek.

She wondered if he realized how difficult it would be for her to concentrate on killing those things herself when she knew there was the possibility of Judiel getting injured as well. She was at least thankful Herbert would be gone, even though she knew she'd worry about him being outside all night. Maybe it was safer there. Olivia pouted in response to his comment, but lifted a hand to the side of his face when he kissed her cheek. She gently directed his lips to her own to kiss him the way she wanted to. "Then stay... I just don't want you to get hurt," she murmured once she released him. "I feel bad enough pulling you into this whole thing. If anything happened to you, I couldn't live with that."

Herbert safely in the other room, Judiel didn't mind kissing her properly at all. It was probably an old-fashioned tic, but the kid just seemed so ... innocent. But none of that was really the point at all. "I will do my damndest not to get hurt, I promise," he told her, looking down into her eyes and smiling faintly. "So far they haven't been too hard to kill, so ... unless it gets exponentially worse, I think we'll be okay. But don't feel bad, I'd rather be involved than not know at all what's going on." He gave her a brief nuzzle.

"Let's hope that this is the worst part, and it'll only get easier from here," Olivia said, cupping his face with both hands when he nuzzled her. She wished Herbert weren't home. And she wished the shadows weren't so damn set on interrupting when things got quiet. She wanted to do things to him - which even now, made her feel a bit out of sorts since it was so the wrong place and time. "Do you think you can stick around today, while he's at school? I know I'm keeping you from your work... I promise when this is done, I'll go around town and break a few computers to up your business."

"I didn't plan on going anywhere," Judi murmured to her. He gave her jaw a small kiss before pulling back a bit. It was perhaps ridiculous that part of his brain was looking forward to when all this was over for one specific reason. He pushed that to the side and looked at her. "Sweetheart ... work is the last thing on my mind. This takes complete precedence. Everything else can go to hell." He threw a glance toward Herbert's room. "Can I get you anything? Hungry or thirsty or anything?"

"No, I'm okay," she promised, smiling a bit. It made her feel warm inside to hear him call her 'sweetheart'. A comfortable nickname one would give their significant other. Silly to feel giddy over it at this point, but she did. Her own eyes drifted to Herbert's room and she sighed before shifting attention back to Judiel. "I should probably cook him some breakfast though, before he leaves for school. I think with all the mirrors gone, and the door locked, we should have time. I can make you some eggs too, if you'd like." Olivia needed to keep her hands busy. Sitting around and waiting drove her nuts. She walked over to Herbert's room and knocked. "You okay?" she asked him, not hearing the rumbling of a bear anymore.

Herbert was human again, and mostly dressed, too, though getting his shirt on wasn't happening until he got himself patched up a bit. More importantly, though, he'd been trying not to listen in on their conversation, as that would be rude, but he apparently had a little rudeness in him because he had. He consoled himself with the fact that he'd really wanted to know for sure if they were back together, and apparently they were, so he was satisfied and, after he'd figured that out, actually had a lot less trouble not listening in. Bad bear, he scolded himself as Olivia came up to the door, but not really with much force behind it. He came to open the door when she knocked. "I'm okay," he said with a grin. "Probably need a band-aid or two, but I'm okay."

"We have plenty of those," Olivia said, motioning out toward the first aid kit. "I'm going to make some breakfast before you leave. I figure we have time, and then there should be time for you to get on your bike and go." She glanced at Judi. "Judiel's going to stay with me again today. And tonight, since you'll be gone." Olivia quirked an eyebrow to Herbert. "You won't be alone right?"

Judiel wasn't inclined to argue with breakfast. Though he thought he should probably help, he kind of got the impression that Olivia needed something to do, so he just sort of plunked himself down on the couch and stretched. "I can get your back, if you need help," he told Herbert, just to be helpful in some form or fashion.

"That's probably a good idea," Herbert agreed with Judiel sheepishly, coming out the rest of the way, shirt in one hand and duckling in the other. "Thank you." As he padded over, tossing his shirt over his non-bleeding shoulder to he could pick up the first aid kit en route, he added for Olivia's benefit, "I'm meeting Geo and Sammy." It had been nice that he didn't have to be alone last time, and he found he didn't want to be alone this time, either. Stupid moon.

Olivia chewed her lip, wondering if Geo and Sammy would be okay with Herbert, and vice versa. "They're birds aren't they? Are you guys going to be okay, together? Where are you all going to to go?" It might help to know, just in case. She shot Judiel a grateful smile for helping Herbert. "Can you communicate with them when you're all animals?"

Letting them have their conversation, Judi positioned himself behind Herbert as the kid sat down, and pulled the first aid kit to his lap. He popped it open and started to gently disinfect the wounds on the werebear's back. He didn't mind patching people up; he'd spent some time with some people out in California who always seemed to be getting into bar fights. This was easier.

"Just pantomime and signing and things," Herbert said with a shrug that made him wince and shoot Judiel an apologetic glance for, y'know, moving and all. "Sorry. --But we can't talk or anything, no. They'll probably have beaks, but I've never seen a wereraven's halfway form, so I could be wrong." He'd figure not, though. The halfway form was all about strength and fighting and beating up other people or things or beings, and a raven's beak was definitely a weapon. Ugh. He really, really didn't like full moon nights.

A bear hanging out with two birds. Only in Marquette. "Okay well... " Olivia would have told him to call if he ran into trouble, but she couldn't imagine he could work a phone very well with his paws. A brief giggle escaped her lips and she turned promptly to go into the kitchen. "I'll make you something to eat," she said after the mental image was gone. Hopefully they would all get through the day and night in one piece. She felt better with Judi there, but knowing Herbert would be out, even with two friends, worried her. She would just have to assume they'd be okay. It was the best way to get through.