Safe and Sound

Who: Ransom and Charlotte
Where: Charlotte's house
When: early morning

Ransom wasted no time in rushing off to Charlotte's as dawn hit. He made sure his whole family was safe, then grabbed a small bag and took off. Rather than fight for the truck, he went in wolf form, well aware that he'd need to change when he got there. He didn't think Charlotte would mind, though, and carrying his bag in his teeth was only a minor inconvenience. When he got to her house, he circled it once, checking for any unusual scents that might have indicated danger. Finding none, he hurried to the front door, hopped up on his hind legs, and rang the bell. Hopefully Charlotte would answer.

As it turned out, Isadora was walking through the hall when the doorbell rang, so she answered the door. Charlotte's mom stared at blank air, and then looked down to see Ransom. "Oh! You must be Ransom." she said, as if this happened every freaking day. "Honey, there's a wolf at the door!"

Back in the kitchen, Charlotte blinked at the announcement, before heading out to the foyer. She was a little shocked to see that her mom was totally not kidding, and she had to laugh a bit at the situation. "Wow." There was no doubt in Charlotte's mind that it was Ransom, and she was relieved to see he was in one piece.

Ransom cocked his head to the side when Charlotte's mother answered, then wagged his tail as she called for Charlotte. It didn't bother him that Charlotte's mother knew what he was, seeing as he knew the same about her. It seemed like an equal trade and she seemed plenty trustworthy. When Charlotte came into view, his tailed wagged harder, and he attempted to wipe his feet before trotting over to her. She looked okay, and smelled okay, though it was hard to give a proper inspection in wolf form. His eyes caught sight of the bandage on her hand, but asking about it proved difficult.

Charlotte couldn't help but grin as she knelt down to pet Ransom. Her mom watched with an amused expression before grabbing her keys off an end table by the stairs. "Well, I'm off to check on the horses. Valen should be back soon." Charlotte nodded and gave a vague wave to her mom, and Isadora left.

"You look so cute." Charlotte had to say, feeling a little stupid, but not minding it so much. "Um, do you want me to show you a bathroom so you can change?"

Ransom licked her hands as she knelt, the only show of affection he could give in this form. Plus, he always appreciated being petted. He looked back at Charlotte's mother as she grabbed her keys, then to Charlotte again when they were alone. His tail wagged again at the complement, then he nodded in answer, not wanting to scare every animal in the near vicinity with a bark.

Charlotte stood up and headed down the hall, opening the door to the downstairs bathroom for him. She had to wonder what someone would have thought if they saw a wolf carrying a bag ring a doorbell, but after the night the town had last night, she imagined no one would think twice of it. She didn't really care anyway, she was just glad he was here.

Stepping into the bathroom, Ransom waited until the door was closed to shift, calling out to her as soon as he had a human mouth to do so with. "I have to warn you, I smell like dog," he said though the door as he quickly pulled on boxers and jeans. He really did need a shower, and he felt bad for not stopping to take one, but after everything he'd gone through throughout the night, he didn't want to wait to make sure she was okay. Pulling on a shirt, he opened the door, forgetting about shoes for the time being. "I couldn't wait to get here," he said, taking her hand and pulling her into his arms.

Charlotte really couldn't care less about how he smelled right now, having him there was just comforting. She wrapped her arms around him and took a deep breath, letting go of some of the tension she'd been carrying around all night. "I'm glad you're here." she said. "How was your night?"

Nuzzling her hair, he kissed her forehead, so glad to find she was in one piece. It reminded him he needed to ask about her hand, but that didn't seem to take precedence at the moment. Of course, he couldn't tell how bad it was, but she seemed okay. "Drea got into it with a cursed were and ran," he said, not thinking about the name he was dropping. "She finally caught up with Jessalyn and I and we had to take him down. It was awful." There had been no other way for them to approach it, but the fact that he'd killed someone, someone like Cassandra, still shook him to the core.

Charlotte looked up at him with a horrified look on her face. "Are you okay?" He looked okay, but she had to ask anyway. "Are they?" She was assuming now that Drea was his other friend that was a were, which made sense.

"I'm okay. Got a few scratches, but there were three of us. Drea's in the worst shape, but I think she'll be fine," he said. He hadn't seen her in human form, so he was planning on calling her later, once she could get everything taken care of. "I just can't believe how out of control he was. There was no sense to stop fighting, no human mind behind his eyes..." He hugged her again, inhaling her scent. "Sorry... How was your night?"

"Don't be sorry." Charlotte murmured, putting her head on his shoulder again. She was trying not to think about how much worse it could have been and what could have happened, but it wasn't working so well. "Um. Well. Kind of bad." She hadn't been looking forward to telling him. "I cut myself pretty bad and my mom made me go to the hospital. We were there when the sun went down. It was... chaos."

Ransom's eyes widened, well aware of how bad the hospital must have been after sundown. It was probably a good thing that he hadn't been aware of the danger she'd been facing, or he'd have been there himself, attempting to protect her. "You're okay, right?" he asked, eyes frantically checking to make sure she hadn't been bitten, as if he hadn't already checked. She didn't smell like a werewolf; she still smelled like Charlotte.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Charlotte promised. "We got out, it was just... close. Valen killed two of them." They had both been covered in blood when they got home, and Charlotte had probably spent an hour scrubbing it all away in the shower. "He got kind of slashed up, but my mom stitched him up." She could still see him being bitten so clearly in her mind, but she'd managed to convince herself she was mistaken.

A shiver rolled through Ransom at the news, how close she'd been to danger and how many lives had been lost in the night. He couldn't think of it as a killing, but as self defense, a fight for life when running hadn't been an option. Drea had run. Drea was fast. And the werewolf had been faster. He didn't expect Charlotte to try to run. "He's okay then?" Ransom asked, not caring so much about his state so long as he hadn't been bitten. Charlotte didn't seem to care too much for her stepfather, at least from what he'd sensed.

Charlotte nodded. "He's down at the station right now. He doesn't seem to mind injuries too much." He had been angry when they'd returned home, but Charlotte had been too deeply in shock to care or pay any attention to his ranting. "Well. Um. Are you hungry? There's food." The original plan had been to have breakfast together, though Charlotte hadn't really had much of an appetite since last night.

Well... if he was at the station, he must be okay. Ransom figured it was better than the hospital, which had to be a madhouse at this point. "I'm starving," he said with a little smile before leaning down to kiss her. He couldn't put into words how relieved he was that she wasn't hurt-- not by a werewolf at least.

She smiled softly against his lips, and allowed herself a minute to feel okay. She could go back to freaking and paranoia later. After kissing him she took a step back, and took his hand to lead him into the kitchen. "My mom made you bacon." she said, giggling slightly. "I stuck to pancakes."

"You don't know how good that sounds," Ransom smiled. It felt weird to go about their lives after last night, but maybe that was a bit of what they needed. Ransom didn't know what he should be doing after the attacks, except for checking on those he cared about, and Charlotte fit into that picture. Knowing she was safe took a huge weight off his shoulders.

Charlotte was feeling the same way - very weird about acting normally, but there wasn't a heck of a lot else she could do right now. "Yeah, I don't need to be handling anything sharper than a spatula right now." she said, smirking faintly as she held her left hand up. Her index finger was all wrapped up in bandages, but at least it wasn't hurting anymore.

Ransom hissed in sympathy pain, taking her hand in his. If she'd been at the hospital, he could imagine it was pretty bad. "If anything needs cutting, let me know. I like you all in one piece," he teased lightly. He gently kissed the tip of her finger, then let it go, as if he could really kiss it and make it better. "Any other plans today? Or can I hog you all to myself?"

Charlotte really couldn't help but smile like an idiot. It wasn't her fault, all his - he was being ridiculously cute. "You can hog away. Are you sure you wouldn't rather sleep?" The night had to have been exhausting for him, but she'd be ready and available to be hogged for as long as he wanted to.

He loved it when she smiled like that. It really was adorable and, if it wouldn't impede on pancake making, he'd kiss her again. "I might have to sleep," Ransom said, not too thrilled about it, since he'd rather stay with her. "I can always run home, shower, and nap for a bit, then come back. If it's okay with you. I just know I won't last long without resting a bit."

Ah, but the pancakes were already made - which became obvious once they got to the kitchen. As promised, pancakes, bacon, and fruit were waiting on the table. "That's fine," Charlotte said, squeezing his hand. "I haven't really slept much either." Or at all. Small detail.

He was definitely surprised to see that breakfast was waiting for them, though he should have figured that out, having smelled the bacon. It just happened to overpower the scent of pancakes and syrup, which was just fine with him, so long as it didn't bother Charlotte. "We both had a long night," Ransom said, squeezing her hand back, then leaning in to kiss her again... since she didn't need to be cooking pancakes. "This looks amazing," he muttered softly. As good as the food looked and smelled, he was just so relieved to see her there, to be able to hold her. He felt silly for it, but it was like he couldn't stop kissing her.

Charlotte was okay with how that worked out, because all she really wanted to do herself was just cling to Ransom until she got it through her head that he was okay. Possibly longer. Probably longer. She'd never expected to be the clingy type. "Then eat." she said, kissing him one last time. "I take it you didn't find any squirrels to gnaw on what with all the activity." she added, teasingly.

Ransom told himself she'd still be there to kiss after he ate breakfast. He just had to pull himself away long enough to do so. Gently he cupped her face and ran his fingers through her hair as he gave her a smile, as if to say he'd be back, then released her to take a seat at the table. "Jessalyn and I chased a few rabbits, but we weren't intent on catching them," he said, picking up a piece of bacon. They'd been too worried about what might be out there to enjoy the hunt. "I haven't really eaten since lunch yesterday. Anything happen last night other than the hospital adventure?"

Charlotte chuckled softly as she sat next to him, pulling a pancake on to her plate with a fork as she did. Something unexpected had happened yesterday, but she wasn't sure how Ransom would feel about it. "Kavin texted me." she said, watching him as she said it. "To apologize and tell me to stay inside."

That did surprise him, mostly because he thought Kavin was too much of an idiot to take his advice. Ransom snorted softly in amusement, but refrained from rolling his eyes. "He caught me in the library yesterday morning and apologized. I told him he should be apologizing to you," Ransom said, trying not to smile as he munched on a piece of bacon. "He also invited us to his Halloween party tonight. I'm starting to wonder if he's bipolar, or something like that."

Charlotte tried to figure out how she felt about that and decided she had no freaking clue. She shook her head and swallowed a mouth full of pancake. "I don't know how you feel about that, but I'm not up to a party tonight." And a party at the ex's house with her new boyfriend sounded like it might break her brain. "I'm not really convinced that we're safe now just because the full moon is over."

Ransom didn't mind Kavin talking to Charlotte because he was pretty convinced there was nothing to worry about. Charlotte was allowed to have guy friends, and after all that had happened with Kavin, he was certain there was no concern about her hooking back up with him just because he texted her. "I don't think I could handle a party tonight if I wanted to," Ransom said, glad that she was feeling the same way. "And even if I was, I don't know how comfortable I'd be at Kavin's. I don't think we're safe now, but I do think we're safer than we were last night. It's really hard to tell."

Charlotte nodded, having been thinking about it all night. "There were so many of them at the hospital. I think I'm going to be paranoid for a while." She paused. "Well. Moreso than usual, anyway." And that was saying something. "You think things will have calmed down enough by Halloween? When I texted people about the party I said I didn't want anyone walking and I'd pick people up, but still."

"Let's see how the rest of the weekend goes," Ransom said. "I think we'll know by then if it's still a huge problem. The people that were just bitten aren't likely to change unless threatened or pushed to it. My bigger concern is the werewolf that started all this. He or she was changing almost every night leading up to the moon, which is unusual, you know? If they're still alive and in town, it might just keep going." Which was a terrible thought that he hoped wasn't the case. He hoped someone took that particular wolf down, since they had to know what they were doing, at least in part.

"Which means we get to play the wait and see game." Charlotte finished, nodding in agreement. It was going to be another long night. "I think I'm staying in this weekend." she said, smiling faintly. Not that that was very different from what she usually did, anyway. "I just hope everyone else does the same. When I texted people and left notes yesterday I got the impression that a lot more people than I thought know about what's really happening. I need to look into that when things are calmer."

"Wanna watch a movie tonight then? Cause I think staying in would be a good choice," he said, adding a pancake to his plate and smothering it with syrup. "I think more people are becoming aware, due to all the crazy stuff that's happened recently. Or at least they're willing to listen when people tell them it would be a good idea to stay in. What'd you hear?" he asked. Most of those he knew already knew to stay in, or were out like he was, so he was curious about the response she'd gotten instead.

"That sounds good." Charlotte agreed, easily. "Well, Lily and Alexis were both pretty heavy on the 'don't think I'm crazy but for the love of God stay inside tonight' kind of thing. I know Alexis is somewhat aware - I first met her in the library after the shadows came out of mirrors and attacked people. But it's still kind of weird, I never know how much is safe to talk about and if something's going to cross the line. I think I'm just going to flat out ask them both how much they know about what's going on."

"When you get that kind of response, it might not be too dangerous to ask," Ransom agreed with a little smile. "I think it's good that so many people are willing to warn their friends, even when it makes them look a little crazy. It's better than them keeping it to themselves and people getting hurt. But I also know it's hard when someone wants an explanation for how they know something." He ran into that sometimes, being able to tell things about people due to his sense of smell or hearing. He couldn't just say he could hear their heart or he'd really be the crazy one.

"The only real way to answer that is to out yourself." Charlotte replied, nodding. "It's a nerve-wracking situation. But I think it'll be safe enough with the two of them. I only really met Lily once, but I don't think Alexis would freak out, even if I did tell her what I am. No one's actually freaked out on me yet, as long as I clarify that just because I'm a psychic it doesn't mean I can hear their thoughts."

"The fact that they've both shown some kind of awareness helps too," Ransom agreed. "And you're not telling them you're a vampire or a werewolf or something they might think of as scary. At least I can tell my own kind." That was always nice, though he was pretty sure Cassandra would disagree. She seemed pretty freaked out by her sense of smell.

"You're not a scary werewolf." Charlotte felt the need to point out, smirking faintly. "More of a cuddly one." But she could see where it would be harder for him to tell people. "I'm glad I had the mental cheat sheet, at least."

Ransom grinned, glad that she thought of him that way. He never wanted to scare her with what he was, and was always glad that she'd known something about lycanthropes prior to meeting him. "Thanks," he smiled. "It helps that you knew some truth about werewolves to begin with. Most people jump straight to horror movies. The concept freaks them out more than the reality. And then things like last night happen," he sighed. "I think we'll have to make an effort to sniff out the new wolves and help them, if we can."

That sounding like a daunting task. "Where do you even start?" she asked. "There's so many of them." She'd seen that for herself last night. "And I'm sure not all of them even went to the hospital. People are probably scared of what they saw."

It was daunting, and not just because of the work it would take to track them down. Once they found them, they'd have to try and explain without the person freaking out. That part might turn out to be far more difficult than the actual tracking. "I think we've gotta try, though. At least there's a lot of us nearby. If everyone keeps their ears open and their noses alert, then it's worth the effort. We've got a month."

"It's definitely worth it. It just makes my brain hurt to think about." Charlotte said, sighing. And she had nothing to do. "Can I help at all? I don't know how, but... is there anything I can do?" Doubtful, but she had to ask anyway.

Ransom thought about it for a moment, but nothing immediately came to mind. "I don't know. This is kind of new to me, so I'll let you know if I think of anything," he said, giving her a small smile. He appreciated the fact that she wanted to help, even if it didn't surprise him. That was just the sort of person Charlotte was.

Charlotte returned the smile and nodded. "In the meantime... no werewolf movies on Halloween." she promised. "We'll stick to psycho killers and unrealistic things like that." she added, jokingly. At least here it was closer to the truth.

"We can go with something completely unoriginal, like Halloween, where it's just a psycho killer that doesn't die. That's always good, since it seems to be the only thing not running around in Marquette," Ransom grinned. And thank God for that. He couldn't deal with some psychopath on the loose as well.

"Don't jinx us." Charlotte replied, smirking faintly. "If it could happen anywhere it'd happen here." And yet she still preferred this place to downstate. Apparently she was a glutton for punishment. The company made it worth it, at least.

He laughed, very much in agreement. Marquette seemed to draw in the weirdest out there, and he didn't think psychopaths were excluded from the list. Finishing one pancake, Ransom took a couple more and another piece of bacon. "That's true. Sometimes I think we should start a club, but that'd be outing too many of us at once, and there's always a danger to that."

"What kind of club?" Charlotte asked. "Kaysen and I did a sort of support group once, we were supposed to set up a system for when things went wrong. It didn't work out so well though, the idea's been basically abandoned."

"We could always do something like that, even if it's just a phone tree to make sure everyone knows what's going on," Ransom suggested. That was actually better than a club, in that they didn't have to know why the other people were on the list, just that they wanted to be aware. "Looking back on it, I wish there'd been a way to warn everyone."

"I warned who I could." Charlotte said. "For a long time that was what we did - just text other people and make sure they know when something's going on, but nobody else really worked at it. So now I just text everyone I know."

Ransom didn't know what to tell her, since he would have been frustrated with the system himself. To try and set something up in order to keep people safe, only to have everyone else fall through... It pretty much met the definition of 'uncool'. "Well, I'll always keep you in the know. Gotta watch out for my pack," he smiled.

That made Charlotte grin, and because she simply couldn't resist, she leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Absolutely. Especially the squishy human members of your pack." she agreed. "Maybe the next thing to attack town will be something I know about so I can help you out for a change."

Oh, how he loved those little kisses. They made him grin, no longer blush, as he was growing used to them, but he'd always appreciate them. He certainly didn't take them for granted. "You're not squishy," he laughed. "You're soft. And I like you that way. And don't think this isn't helping. A growing werewolf needs his pancakes!"

Soft, squishy... same thing. Charlotte just grinned at him and leaned back in her chair again. "Of course he does. And the psychic elemental needs the sugar to get through the day. Everybody wins."

"They do," he laughed softly, eating one more piece of bacon. He couldn't believe he'd polished off so much food, but that's what he got for not snacking on a rabbit or two when he had the chance. "Now I'm looking forward to that nap," Ransom said, his belly full, therefore making him more aware of how tired he was. "Wish I could stay here with you. I'm sure you're cuddly," he teased lightly.

Unable to help it, Charlotte's face went red, and she bit her bottom lip as she briefly looked down at her hands. The idea of napping with Ransom was immensely appealing, and just the thought made her go shy. "Anna thinks so." she managed to reply. "But dogs aren't really picky cuddlers."

"This one is," Ransom said with a little smirk, pleased with the blush. She was so pretty like that, so long as she wasn't embarrassed or upset about the comment. From what he could tell, he didn't think that was the case. "I really need to shower, though," he said, curling up his nose. "You smell so good and I smell like wet dog."

Charlotte had to giggle at him. "You do not." she said. Or if he did, she either didn't notice or didn't care. Whichever, it didn't matter. "You smell... outdoorsy. Which fits right in in this house. I have an inferior human nose anyway." she added with a grin. "That might have its advantages!"

"Well... if you're really not bothered by it... I'd like to stay," Ransom said, hoping she didn't feel pressured, though now he was the one blushing. Probably because this time he meant it, whereas last time he'd been teasing. Napping with Charlotte sounded like just about the best thing he could imagine.

For a few seconds, Charlotte just had to appreciate being on the other end of the spectrum and Ransom blushing - which was always satisfying. But then what he'd actually said filtered in and her face matched his. She had a mental screaming flailing moment where she didn't know what the heck to say or do, and she tried to imagine just how her mom would react if she came home and found them napping together. The wolf showing up on her door had been nothing.

"I don't actually know what my mom's policy is on a boy in my room." she admitted. "But we've got a big couch in the den." Oh God, her face was never going to go back to its original color...

He hadn't even been thinking about her room because that just seemed way off limits in a big way. The couch, on the other hand, seemed innocent, and public enough that no one could accuse them of doing anything wrong, right? It was just a nap... but if it was so little a thing, why were they both so red in the face about it? He suspected this was just one of those times where he'd have to get over it to get what he wanted. "I vote we go for the couch, then," he said with a shy smile. "Don't wanna test out too many policies at once."

Absolutely, positively, never going to have a normal face again. But she felt nice and fluttery at the idea. "Alright then." she agreed, smiling down at her hands for a minute. "Is the growing werewolf full? I should put things in the dishwasher before we crash." Together.

"The werewolf is very full," Ransom smiled, nabbing one last piece of bacon. It wasn't like Charlotte would eat it, right? "Has the earth elemental had her share of sugar and fruit? If so, I'll help you wash up." He was going to say that he'd wash if she'd dry, but a dishwasher made things that much more simple.

"She has," Charlotte confirmed, smiling back as she got up to put the leftover food in the fridge. Not before tossing half a pancake to Anna, who had been waiting by the back door with an expectant look. "Will your family mind you being here a while?"

"No, they know I'm here. I checked in with them before heading out," Ransom said, rising from the table to take his plate to the sink. That had been one of the only things he'd done before leaving-- make sure that everyone was alive and accounted for. "They'll all be sleeping today anyways."

"Good deal." Charlotte rinsed the dishes off and loaded them in the dishwasher before turning back to Ransom and taking his hand. "The den's downstairs." she said, giving his hand a small tug.

Ransom followed her downstairs, looking around as they went. It was easy to be intimidated by the size of her house, but Charlotte didn't ever come across as someone that flaunted it. She also didn't make him feel like his own house was a piece of junk, even if it might be. His only concern was that he was getting the house dirty with his lack of shower. "I'm not tracking dirt around, am I?" Ransom said, looking back to check.

Charlotte smiled up at Ransom and shook her head. "You're fine. Even if you were, we're earthy people. We don't mind a little dirt here and there." she said, jokingly. And Valen was the sort of guy that just trapsed in with his boots covered in mud and threw his things everywhere.

The den was a very comfy section of the house. The basement had been finished, with half of it serving as the den, with an overstuffed couch and armchairs, TV, and dozens of DVDs - while the other half was covered in plants and flowers. Her mom grew things year-round down here, with the help of plant lights. The air felt a lot heavier down here, earthier, and the scent was comforting.

"My mom and I spend a lot of time down here." she said, with a small smile. "This is probably the most lived-in room of our house."

"This is nice," Ransom said with a little smile. It was more than he was used to, but the smell of earth somehow made it cozy. He could tell why Charlotte and her mother would spend so much time down there, even when it was the dead of winter. His own family's basement tended to be the coldest place in the house, whereas he was willing to bet this was the warmest in Charlotte's. It made him want to curl up and rest even more. "When I'm a little more awake, I'd love to see what you're growing down here. I'm sure it wouldn't grown anywhere else in Marquette, especially now that it's snowing."

Sitting down on the couch, Ransom tugged on Charlotte's hand to pull her down with him. He'd be happiest to stretch out with her against him, but he didn't want to do anything that would make her uncomfortable. At the same time, having her there just felt natural. "Is this okay?" Ransom asked softly as his arm wrapped around her waist.

It did feel natural, and Charlotte didn't shy away from snuggling up next to him. Maybe being in her element helped, or maybe it was just him. She wrapped her arms around him and put her head on his shoulder, folding her legs beneath her. "Mm-hmm. Okay with you?"

"Yeah," Ransom smiled, shutting his eyes as his kissed the top of her head. Now he could finally rest, feeling far better with the knowledge that she was safe. If he hadn't been quite so tired, he might have kissed her again, but exhaustion was a strong deterrent from taking advantage of the situation. He listened to her heart, soothed by the steady beat, and was out within minutes.

Charlotte closed her eyes and turned her face in towards Ransom's neck, allowing herself to take a deep breath. She was struck by the queer desire to watch him sleep, but in the end, she was too tired herself. The night had been horrible, but things felt better now that he was here.