Puzzled {Mel, Aimee, Joshua, Drew}

[Drew Richardson]

Drew was completely unaware of having been dubbed 'Drewbear' in Melisande's thoughts, and he only would have disliked it in front of Josh and Wes.  They'd never let him hear the end of it if THEY heard it, but he didn't mind nicknames from her in private.  What did he mind if she wanted to get all cute on him?  She was a cute girl, and he liked her, so there was no reason to have a problem with it.  As long as it didn't sacrifice any of his badass points with the other guys, he was cool with it.

Personally, Drew was cool with most things.  Not crazy ladies who freaked out and kidnapped him, but other than that?  He was pretty laid-back.  Going to Melisande's, chilling out, that all sounded fine with him.  Not that he would really be 'useless', but he'd appreciate hitting some necessities like food and water, and then figuring out what the hell had happened.  Sleep would probably be good, but he'd been out of commission for two days.  He really didn't think he wanted to sleep anymore.  He might not wake up for a few more days or something (okay, not really, but still).

Aimee giggled at Wes' reaction, finding his indignation even more indicative of the 'housecat' attitude she'd just accused him of having.  Naturally, she had thoughts along the lines of him making a 'horrible pet' and such things, but she already had one at home to worry about.  No need for trouble in that department. 

"She'll need time to fawn over him, but I think once he's settled and Josh lays in on him with questions, we'll be able to talk to her," she assured the lion, certain that it'd work out.  He'd see. 

That was when he got to the difficult question, and she hesitated.  The look she gave him wasn't very amused at all, and she shrugged somewhat.  Really, she wasn't sure.  "She just can.  We watch out for her, but for now, at least she knows who's a threat without being told.  Your friend probably could have used that," she pointed out.  Aimee had been born a leopard, so she didn't really 'get' the people who had problems with supernatural abilities.  It was natural to her, and it was just right.  She would hate to just be a human, with no ability to take care of herself.  Sure, the world could be scary even for shifters, but at least she had a fighting chance.  That scared her about Melisande, but the girl DID have that handy way of telling that people weren't human.  That made her a little more difficult to deal with. 

"This is it," she told him, stepping up to hold the door open for Josh and Melisande, who both seemed intent on making sure Drew made it inside without falling on his face.  Aimee was pretty certain he'd be fine, but she let them go and opted to be the door-lady.  It gave her a use for the time being.

[Melisande Theroux]

As soon as they'd hit the door, Melisande got Drew onto the comfortable couch, and rushed into the kitchen to get food for him. She watched everyone else like a hawk for a few seconds in the kitchen doorway, trying to sort herself out. Vampires - she'd need to talk to Aimee, and probably Wesley too, about this. The food, though, came first. She ran out two glasses of water - one for Drew and one for Josh - and then went back in to start hacking up leftover chicken from the little game hen she'd bought the night before. She spooned out mashed potatos and whatever else she could find to make some semblance of a meal, and then brought it out to Drew. It actually looked like dinner. She'd even nuked it for a few minutes so that it was warm - well, on the outside, at least.

"Here, and don't worry if you can't finish it all, I can throw some Saran wrap on it and save it for later, okay?" She leaned forward and gave him a little kiss on the cheek, and then went back into the kitchen to arrange and re-arrange her silverware drawer as quietly as she could. She needed to think. What could anyone possibly have wanted with Drew? He was human - he was oblivious to everything around him, obviously. He didn't have any ability she could see, and she could even pick up on some latent talents if she tried hard enough - he was cold. He was stone cold human. So what gave? She sighed and threw a fork down, shutting the drawer with a bang.

Wesley lingered in the small 'dining room' area of her apartment, kicking out a chair for Aimee to sit in. He could already hear Josh cracking jokes on Drew and how crippled he looked, and glanced over to Melisande while she tried to fix her... spoon drawer? He glanced down at Aimee, and then nodded to the balcony.

"Mel, c'n you come here a second?" he asked. Instead of going out into the hall, he walked out onto the rather spacious balcony area, waiting for the two women to follow. The doors were double-paned and soundproofed, thank God. You couldn't live in the city without them.

"Okay, I'm going to cut right to the chase - It sounds like Drew came about this," he said, holding his fingers within milimeters of eachother, "close to getting brought into Midnight. Do you know anything that will help us catch whoever did it?" Way to be gentle, Wesley.

Mel's eyes widened. "What? I -- no! Oh, Jesus," she whispered, putting a hand to her face. "I don't even know anyone who... No," she said, shaking her head. She looked at Aimee for support. "Tell him," she whined.

[Drew Richardson]

Oh, he had it MADE, and he knew it!  Actually, he was feeling pretty shitty, so if he'd been left to his own devices, he'd have probably grabbed the easiest thing to eat he could have managed, then guzzled a glass of water or so and then passed out.  He wasn't exactly high-maintenance.  Getting chicken, mashed potatoes, a glass of water and all the fixin's was well more than his brain could have possibly expected, and the look he gave Josh clearly said that anything the man had to say was completely useless in the face of this.  He could tease all he wanted, but the fact of the matter was that Drew had Melisande, and she made the badness of this current situation look much less horrible.  They'd figure out what went on, and he was safe now, wasn't he?

Yep.  Safe, and being fed, and it was all good.

"Thanks," he told her, snagging his own kiss quickly as she withdrew, then went on with his reassurance.  She was upset, and he didn't want her upset on his account.  He was going to be fine.  "I'm sure finishin' won' be a problem at all."

He was just going to take it slow, because he knew how that worked.  He was hungry, and he was thirsty, because he hadn't had anything in days.  That meant that he'd make himself feel shittier if he rushed things, so he wouldn't.  Besides, he had plenty to deal with when Josh finally started in on him.  "I don' wanna hear your shit, man.  I didn' wimp out, that bitch mus' not have been alone," he asserted.  Yeah, he'd gotten jumped by a woman, but he knew better.  She couldn't have just overpowered him, and Josh could joke about that all he wanted, but it was true. 

That was his story, and he was sticking to it.

Watching Melisande and Drew together, Aimee couldn't help smiling, but she was worried.  Melisande wasn't the only one wondering why Drew would have been targeted, and there was one big problem with the situation as it stood: they didn't know if it was over.  Just because he'd been released didn't mean that it wouldn't lead to another incident, and if he didn't remember who he'd been around, he could have met anyone who might come after him now that he'd been seen in that setting.

It didn't take much, in some cases.  Just unlucky chance.

"I already told you, Wes, neither of us know anyone involved in Midnight.  Eden has people who are exotic breeds in his place, so he's careful.  We don't make it a point to entertain Midnight types," she explained.  "Actually, with Melisande around, we're even less inclined to knowingly have anyone like that in the club.  Humans are fair game, and none of us are going to risk that."

She gave Melisande a look, one of concern that really said that she didn't want to even THINK about such things, nevermind mention it out loud, but it was the truth.  "I just wish there was a way to know that he's really safe.  Obviously, nobody truly claimed him, or he wouldn't have just been left in the alley like that, but if it was Midnight, and it certainly sounds like it...anyone who saw him there might make a try at him."

Even worse, anyone who'd seen him might look into his life and see Melisande.  That's what Aimee couldn't stand the idea of.  The girl was officially going to be with a shifter or vampire from this point on.  No risks for awhile.

[Wesley Bishop]

Wesley was only half-listening, his mind already working on gears that turned in a very backwards direction. What he could see was that there was a definite problem with his sudden group of friends and their humanity. Now, he could think of dozens of logical ways to fix the problem - posting details, being more careful, making sure that they were covered from all angles, but really when it boiled down to it, humans versus vampires, especially Midnight vampires... they didn't stand a chance. Freeblood was freeblood, and whoever had declared the law that shapeshifters were in fact, freeblood, was a Godsend.

He only hoped they'd see it his way.

There was something he'd been doing while Aimee spoke, something behind his back. He felt the familiar sting on his palm as he fidgeted quite silently, using the darkness of the balcony fixture to his advantage. He fixed his eyes on Melisande, and nodded a little.

"Hold out your hand for a second?" he asked. His voice was careful, trained - innocent enough.

"...don't see what more we can do, except have Nikki and Marius watch me 'round the clock. But what about Drew?" she stopped short, question hanging in the air like a blade over her neck, and glanced at Wesley.

"What?" she said, puzzled. She held out her hand, because it was such a strange Simon Says sort of request that she did it without thinking. There was a flicker of silver catching on the light from her living room, and she felt a strange burning sensation, warm and wet suddenly in the center of her palm.

"Wesley, what the f-"

Before Aimee or Melisande or anyone else could stop him, he'd firmly clasped his palm to hers.

"I fixed the problem," he said weakly. His voice was dry, as though it pained him to talk for a moment. He'd deal with the guilt of this later, because he knew that the hurricane of what he'd just done would only be a preamble to a massive shitstorm when everyone else found out how underhanded he'd just... handled it.

Melisande tried to yank her hand away, but Wesley's grip was firm enough that she just sort of flailed for a second. "Wes, nn-- NO!" she shouted. She wanted a choice in this matter, damnit!

"Aimee!" she wailed, tugging uselessly against his weight. When he let go, it was sudden, enough that her back hit the cool brick wall of the building, making a surprised gasp pop out of her that she could have kicked herself for had she not suddenly felt so dizzy. She'd wanted a choice, she'd wanted a choice!

Wesley stepped back, hands in front of him. "It was either me or her," he said, as though it explained everything.

[Aimee Forsyth]

So much for discussing this.

Aimee should have been paying attention, and she knew that as soon as Wes made his move.  She should have seen the danger coming well before it ever actually became a danger, but why would she ever expect him to behave like that?  He was a COP, it was his job to protect people, and he'd sounded so completely normal about asking her to hold out her hand that it didn't even occur to her that she might need to worry.

Not until the blade was already flashing, and he was already squeezing his hand against Melisande's.  Not until it was too late.

She yelled, something along the lines of 'Wes!' and 'No!', before grabbing at his arm.  Fortunately, she had the sense because Angie warned the author of this post where the characters are situated not to actually jump AT him, or they may have gone through a window or off the balcony.  Instead, she clamped her arms around his, trying to pry his hand loose without drawing more blood for the instant before he let go.  It took seconds, all of it, and it was over.  There was nothing she could do.

Well.  That wasn't true.  She could beat him senseless, but there was nothing she could do to fix what he'd just done.

"What's wrong with you?!  You have to ASK about something like that!  Are you just going to bleed all over your friends, too?!" she demanded, punching at his chest or arm, whichever he opted to even let her hit, and she intended to hit him HARD.  He deserved it, the ass!  "Will you even tell them what's happening, or are you just going to force them into this mess?!"

Ooooh, this was fucked up!  She swung at him again, not even caring if it hit just because she wanted to lash out, and she turned her focus on Melisande.  She was going to need help getting through this, because the infection was going to feel horrible.  "Come on, honey, let's go wrap that up.  I'm so, so sorry..."

[Wesley Bishop]

Wes took the hits, as he should have, though they didn't really seem to bother him much. Maybe they did hurt, but what really stung was knowing what he'd just done. He was a police officer, yes, and as such, he had to make swift decisions on the fly and hope that the call he'd made was the best one. In this case, he felt he had no other choice. He turned and punched the wall hard enough to knock a clump of it off, the sound a solid impacted noise. Flecks of dust and brick scattered, falling the length of several stories below to land in the alley behind the apartment building.

"Aimee," he said, following her inside. He blatantly ignored Josh and Drew's questioning glances, and even questions, following the girls straight back to Melisande's bathroom. He gingerly picked his way around her trainwreck of a room, and stood, looming in the bathroom doorway as Melisande sobbed while Aimee tried to clean out her hand.

"Aimee," he said again, sighing. "We could talk around in circles about what should have happened, but we'd have come to the same point. It was either you, or it was me, and I chose me, right then, right there, because let's face it - sometimes you just have to act. Now, as for bleeding all over my friends, as you so eloquently phrased it, one of two things can happen: I can go out there with my bleeding fist and punch Josh square in the face, thusly infecting him, too - and I can do just the same to Drew, as I wager he won't be in much shape to move."

He ignored Mel's garbled protest, and pressed on. "But do we really need three male lions? Really, I find it absolutely unnecessary. So, either I can go out there, and make this giant clusterfuck even worse, or we can go into the kitchen, fix them both drinks, and you can just drop some blood into the glasses. We can bend over, kiss our asses goodbye, and hope there's something left when the dust settles, but either way, something, some sort of decision, has to happen here, tonight, right now."

Why did Wesley do this? Why did he deal only in absolutes? It probably was the lion in him, or the man in him, or a combination of both, but really, it didn't matter. The why never mattered, just that it happened, whatever it was. In this case, he was playing roulette with the lives of his best friends. "Whether you think I'm callous or an asshole or whatever you want, at this point, is moot, because you'll never really see where I'm coming from. You could try, but you won't."

He folded his arms uselessly then, looking down at his knuckles. He'd taken a chunk out of the brick corner of that wall, and it would have effectively crippled his hand had he been human. As it stood, the bones were already trying to mend themselves, and the only thing holding them off was his level of stress and fatigue.

[Aimee Forsyth]

It was really for the best that Aimee mostly ignored Josh and Drew as she swept Melisande through the apartment, since anything she'd said about Wes would have sounded like he was psychotic and something horrible had happened.  Despite her opinions on that matter, he really wasn't crazy.  Something horrible may have happened, though.

"Just a little cut, it'll be fine," she explained simply, and then Wes was following, and the two remaining humans in the apartment were left in the dark once more.  Honestly, she didn't think Drew had the brainpower available to worry about it more than the fact that Melisande was crying and upset, and Josh wouldn't know where to start, so they had a few moments to decide what to do.

Of course, Wes was already decided.  Why wouldn't he be, with the way he just made up his mind about everyone else's lives?  "Wes, I see the why, and it makes sense, but these are your friends.  This is MY friend you just infected without any warning!  You really think we should just slip some blood into a drink, or you should go out there and hurt them, without any warning?  What if we explain the situation to them, and at least TELL them what's going on?" she asked.  She wasn't stupid, she knew it could blow up in their faces, but wasn't it going to blow up anyway?  Did they REALLY want three brand new shifters all at once, two of whom had no idea what was happening?

Was she really going to grant the world two new leopards?  Hell, she SURE as hell knew that three male lions in one area was just ASKING for trouble, but this was a big deal to just decide.  That was why she wanted to tell the two of them what was going on.  Melisande hadn't been given a choice, but at least she knew about shapeshifters.  These two had no idea whatsoever. 

Actually, Melisande was a good person to get input from.  "Don't move," she warned Wes, just in case he got antsy and just WENT.  She wanted to hear Melisande get something in there before the infection set in and she couldn't think straight.  "Honey, I know this situation is horrible, but Wes has a point.  I still don't agree with his ridiculously blunt tactics, but if Josh and Drew are going to be infected, it looks like it's going to be leopard or lion.  I'm not going to give your boy a dirty drink if you say not to, but given Wes' alternative, it might be better for him."

Actually, they could give Josh and Drew 'dirty drinks' with either lion or leopard, but leopard DID make the most sense.  That just meant that Aimee had to bleed for it, which she would, but she wasn't going to if Melisande argued it.  That just wasn't fair, and this affected the girl more than Aimee, so she wasn't going to make demands.

[Melisande Theroux]

Melisande was still trying to grit her teeth as Aimee tried as gently as she could to clean out her hand. When the hydrogen peroxide came out, though, she had to look away, and with Wes' infuriating tirade, it made the situation worse. She had nothing comforting to think about, because he was just going on and on about what he was going to do - the choices they were left with, so on, so forth. She responded to his silence by kicking the door from her spot on top of the closed toilet rather violently. It swung back and cracked Wes in the face, and she kicked it again when it bounced back. He'd stepped back in surprise, and that had given it enough room to shut.

There were too. Many. QUESTIONS. "I don't know," she had been saying as Aimee began asking her things, over and over, which eventually exploded into a very shouted, heated, "I DON'T KNOW!" She knew she was going to attract unwanted attention, and she didn't care at this point. She was still reeling with the idea that her humanity had just been stolen from her. As soon as she could, she was going to attempt to kick the shit out of one Wesley Bishop, whether she was game for it or not.

"I can't think about this right now. There's so much to explain, it's too hard to try and line it all up. I can't tell you what I think, because I can't THINK STRAIGHT right now!" she shouted. She didn't mean to yell at Aimee, but really, she wasn't - she was yelling to yell, to try and alleviate herself of some of this sudden rushing anger.

From outside the door, Wesley offered no comfort. "Well, you'd better try," he hissed. "Josh is stalking down the hallway with that look on his face, and -- oh, fuck it."

WHAM.

There was a muffled cry, and the sound of something heavy falling and hitting the ground, and then silence.

Melisande jumped up, scrambling for the door and flinging it open. She saw Wesley standing there, looking incredibly heated and rather sheepish at the same time, and just stared.

"I hit him with the other hand," was all he said. He was bent over Josh's layed-out figure, head tilted to the side slightly. "That's for upper-decking me, if you can hear me." He looked up. "He's out cold. WHAT?" he demanded, to her irrationally psychotic stare. "You wanted time to think, I gave you time to think. He had it coming, anyways. He really did upper-deck me."

Melisande held her hands up in the air. "This is insane. You're insane," she laughed, that nervous, high-pitched giggle threatening to bleed into hysteria at any moment. She paused. "And... do I even WANT to know what 'upper decking' is?"

From down the hall, she could hear Drew saying, "IT'S WHEN YOU SH..." and tuned him out.

[Aimee Forsyth]

This was ALL ridiculous, and what was currently happening was a perfect example of why men were NOT allowed to handle difficult situations.  Wes had already infected Melisande, been hit in the face with a door twice by the time Melisande was done, and then proceeded to knock one of his best friends senseless in a matter of just a few moments.

If Aimee hadn't just had a lot of screaming go on in her face, she might have been more affected by the violence outside.  As it was, she rolled her eyes, took a deep breath, and just let Melisande run out the door to find Wes standing there, Josh splayed out totally unconscious on the floor, and Drew screaming something entirely un-helpful about male idiocy from the living room.

Did she REALLY want to add these morons to the leopard population?

Staring at Josh on the floor, as well as the bruising he was already developing thanks to Wes, she sighed.  Melisande had turned to giggles that bordered on hysteria, and Aimee tried to herd her back into the bathroom before moving to Josh's side and glancing up at Wes.  "Him, I'll do.  Melisande has to have a say in what happens to Drew because she's going to have to deal with it afterwards, but I'll take care of Josh."

She didn't ever want to see him splayed out like this again, and when you took vampires into account, that was all too possible for a human.

[Melisande Theroux]

Melisande shook her head. "I'll do it myself," she whispered. She didn't like the idea of two lions running around, but really, she couldn't put that sort of responsibility on Aimee. She'd just get to Drew later, maybe when she had a chance to explain it to him. She didn't even know how to begin - or where, for that matter. Was it childhood, for her? Further back? As much as she knew about the Nyeusi? Did she tell him about All Hallows specifically? How much could she possibly corrupt his mind? She put her hands on her face and groaned.

Wesley, in the mean time, seemed just dandy with all that was happening - or, at least, he'd regained most of his self control. He looked at Aimee. "You can punch him, too," he offered. He cast his eyes down at Josh and sighed a little. He felt bad on the inside - really, really bad. What choice did he have, though, really? He sighed, crossing his massive arms, and went to go check on Drew. "Don't worry, I won't punch him," he muttered at the two women after their crazed expressions at him when he turned to announce he was going to go check on Drew.

Melisande sat down on her bed, tucking her knees up to her chin as she watched Aimee stand over Josh. "What a mess," she sighed. "Won't Nero be mad to find out you're passing your leopard-ness around? I think I'd be kind of angry if this was reversed and Drew decided to share and share alike. I'm also a very jealous girl, though," she said, attempting at a joke. The laugh that followed was wry, but... an effort.

[Aimee Forsyth]

Aimee glanced at Melisande when she said she'd do it herself, considering the implications of that.  She was going to offer to help, anyway, but after Wes was gone.

"I am NOT going to punch him," she asserted, though there was the 'unless he deserves it' in the back of her mind there.  Knowing these guys, he might yet.  Still, if she was going to have to infect him to keep Wes from going crazy, she was going to be nice about it.  Punching him just wasn't fair, and she could find a painless way, including the drink idea.  She'd think of something, and it would be monumentally better than 'lol you can punch him'.

She almost rushed Wes when he said he was going for Drew, but refrained with the thought that they'd declared that Mel was going to address that and he knew he wasn't supposed to do anything drastic.  She still felt better when he assured them that he wasn't going to punch the guy, though. 

"Oh, my God.  I think that man is going to give me a heart attack yet," she sighed, just sitting down on the floor next to Josh, and looking up at Melisande.  "I don't know if Nero would be mad, but I hope not.  It's not like I'm going to have to get personal with Josh to infect him.  Like Wes said, it could be as impersonal as putting some blood in his drink," she explained.  Really, why would Nero be upset?  She stripped for a living, and this was much less personal.  Of course, she didn't make anything about her job personal, either, but this LOOKED less personal.  She didn't see the problem, though she still wasn't positive she wanted to have more leopards running around.  Pride in her breed.  Even so, a male leopard was less troublesome than a male lion, that much she knew from her father.  She'd never actually met a male leopard she wasn't related to.  Lions, though...she'd heard things, besides what she'd seen from Wes, and it didn't take much to understand that there were similarities to nature.  "Melisande, if you want, I can give you some of my blood to infect him with.  It's up to you, but it doesn't have to be yours, and it doesn't have to be lion.  You're the one who has to deal with him, so if you'd prefer to be the same, I understand, but multiple male lions in the same area CAN get...aggressive.  I wouldn't be surprised if he and Wes had problems after this."

Actually, she could see how that might actually be good for Wes.  Drew might get his ass kicked, because Wes was big and she wasn't so sure that the redhead could have quite enough crazy to combat that size (though, he WAS a Marine...), but it might do Wes some good to have some competition.  Who knew?  They were going to find out one way or the other if Melisande went with lion, though. 

[Drew Richardson]

Seriously, if Drew hadn't been feeling like shit on a stick, he'd have been freaking out about all this.  He'd eaten his food and BS'd with Josh while Wes and the girls were talking, and then suddenly Melisande's crying and Aimee's talking about broken glass or something, and Wes is abusing the building and following them.  What the HELL?!

He and Josh were just completely ignored by the trio, which wasn't at all cool, but really, Drew wasn't going to bitch.  He was feeling like letting Aimee deal with whatever was going on, since he'd pretty much been told to stay put, and he didn't feel up to moving if he didn't have to.  Josh wasn't quite so easy to deal with, though.

"Dude, don'," he said, and he'd tried.  Then, Josh was off after Wes, trying to figure out what the hell was going on, and then, Josh was down.  Oh, and he wasn't just DOWN.  Drew couldn't see it, but he HEARD it, and he flinched upon impact.  He could only imagine what the hell that had felt like, and he winced in appreciation.  He might have even gone to Josh's aid, but then Wes yelled about the upper-decking, and he couldn't argue.  Actually, he was sure to shout an explanation when Melisande asked what it was.

He was just helpful like that.

He stayed put, though.  There wasn't anything he could do about it, and he wasn't really involved in that one.  He couldn't argue that Josh deserved it, and it sounded like Josh was out cold.  Otherwise, he'd be yelling.  That meant that Drew was going to sit his ass down and let Wes cool off without getting punched, because he really, really didn't need more abuse.  His arms were aching, and he'd found marks on his wrists from the chains.  Apparently, after his other needs were cared for, the less obvious ones had decided to show up.  He was fine not running around like a maniac right then.  He was lucky he wasn't sleeping.

"Dude, what the hell is happenin'?  You're all actin' batshit an' not talkin' 'bout it," he pointed out when Wes walked in.  He was feeling like shit, not stupid. 

[Melisande Theroux]

Melisande nodded. "Yeah, I guess I forget how they can be. I don't watch enough Animal Planet, it looks like." She sighed a little, trying to ignore the palm of her hand still tingling from the peroxide and whatever else Aimee had used to clean it with - not that it mattered, now. She could go play in a bin of rusty nails, now, and never worry about tetanus.

"I'll figure something out. Maybe when he's healed up, and the dust settles a little, I can try to ease him into this, and actually give him a choice. I mean, I don't want Wesley to feel like this is his only option and then completely destroy their friendship. Oh, this is so hard!" she exclaimed, punching her pillow a little.

"I guess I'd better go check on him, anyways. You have this?" she asked, nodding to Josh laid out on the floor. With Aimee's return nod, she went out into the living room, coming into the conversation that had already been happening.

"Oh, I wish I could tell you," Wes said, wrapping a towel around his hand before Drew noticed that it was already healing. He plopped down on the smaller sofa Melisande had, and slouched forward a little, appearing to favour the hand he'd hit the wall with. "But Josh never even saw it coming," he said, laughing. "I told 'im I was gonna get him back for that when he least expected it. I figure since we're all in here and as safe as we're gonna get, it couldn't hurt to repay him for... ugh. I had to pay someone else to clean it," he said with a shudder.

And really, it was sort of true. Especially the bit about 'getting him back'. At the appearance of Melisande, though, he leaned back in the chair and fell silent, watching what she was going to do and say.

Melisande sat down on the couch once she'd moved Drew's legs so that they fell over her lap, delicately putting her good hand to rest on one of his knees. "Broken glass on the balcony. Beer bottle from last week - didn't even see it 'til I'd put my hand in it." She held her bandaged hand up. "You sure you don't want in on this? Wes cut himself, too, but he hit the wall and just made it worse. Animal," she said, glaring at him. She meant it.

She turned back to Drew, flashing him that smile that was so cherubic and sweet. "Josh is being taken care of by nurse Aimee, now, though, so don't worry about him. How are you feeling?" She wasn't feigning the fact that she cared, either - she wanted Drew to say he was feeling better, but she knew he wouldn't. He probably felt like hammered shit. "When they go, I'll get the bed set up for you," she offered.

[Drew Richardson]

Aimee nodded, understanding Melisande's thoughts on the matter.  Personally, she was all for waiting and talking things through with Josh and Drew rather than just hitting them with it all before they knew what was coming.  Wes had already rushed things with Melisande and caused a mess, which he still deserved to get his ass kicked for.

She wondered what Drew would say when he found out exactly what had happened. 

In th meantime, she smiled and nodded when Melisande asked if she had the Josh situation.  "Go ahead, I'll deal with Josh.  Hopefully, I can wake him up," she assured the girl, knowing that Drew would be in good hands with Melisande out there.  Wes couldn't possibly be stupid enough to try anything right then.

Though, she'd been wrong about that one before.

Regardless, she could hear what was going on as well as Wes would be able to hear whatever happened in the hall with Josh, so she'd stay up to date.  She ended up going into the bathroom to get a cold, wet washcloth, and squeezed some of the water onto Josh's face before actually dabbing at the area of impact itself.  It really wasn't fair for Wes to nail his human friends like this, she decided, but at least it didn't seem like that would be a problem much longer.  She wished she was at home for this, simply because they had lab equipment, such as syringes, that would be much more professional and less barbaric. 

"Josh?  Wake up," she instructed him as he started to stir, trying to be gentle on his damaged face, and that was reflected in her tone.  She already felt bad about all this, and that wasn't going to go away anytime soon.

What?  Why couldn't Wes telling him what was going on?  He knew that Josh couldn't have possibly seen the blow coming, not from how fast it had all happened.  Drew had heard it all, and Josh had only had time to make some pained noise upon impact, and that had been it.  It didn't take much to know what had meant, that Wes had nailed him without anything to warn him, and Drew knew why it had been done.  That didn't explain the rest. 

He got the feeling that Wes was using it to distract from everything else.  He just didn't know what he was being distracted from, so it was hard to ask.

No, this wasn't making sense.  Melisande came back in, which he was pleased about, but she was saying it was broken glass, and that Wes had cut himself, then hit the wall.  Why?  Because he'd cut himself on a beer bottle?  That made no sense.  He'd never known the guy's temper to be THAT bad, and then hauling off and nailing Josh like that and saying it was for the prank?  Yeah, Josh deserved it for that, which was something even Drew wouldn't do, but this seemed like bad timing.  What the hell.

If he'd had even the slightest idea what was going on, he'd have found the 'you sure you don't want in on this?' and 'josh is being taken care of by nurse Aimee, now' to be uncharacteristically ominous, so it was good that he didn't know.  He had no clue that his humanity, and that of his best friend, were in such danger, or that his girlfriend was now anything but.  Or, that it was Wes' fault that she wasn't human anymore.  That was going to piss him off, later.  Now, he was just confused, and his brain wasn't up to the task of pushing for information.

He groaned, leaning back and closing his eyes for a minute.  "I'm feelin' better, a little, but there's somethang y'all ain't sayin' an' I jus' don' have the energy to figure it out," he complained, perhaps thinking that if he complained about it, they'd tell him instead of accepting that he didn't have the energy and leaving it at that. 

Who knew?  Maybe being kidnapped and not being able to remember important details (when Drew seriously had the best memory of anyone in the damn apartment) just had him feeling paranoid.  He could tell himself that was what it was, and see if he still felt that way after he'd had time to recover.  Right.

[Joshua Silvera]

Josh didn't want to wake up, because his head felt like he'd been hit by a truck. Close enough, Wes had socked him square in the jaw. He didn't know how nothing was broken, but he spit out a little blood when he sat up slowly. Bit the inside of his cheek when he fell over, damnit. Aimee's voice and the cool cloth didn't hurt him any, though, and he lifted a hand, missing the cloth the first time to try and take it from her. He ended up pressing it down on his jaw, hand on top of hers, and then let it go suddenly.

"I think I'm alive," he winced. It took him a minute to place everything in order. "Let me guess. He finally got me back for my last prank? It's either that or I mortally offended him in some way," he muttered, leaning against the wall in the hallway. They were far enough down that if anyone heard them, it'd be Wesley, and that was due to his hearing. He wasn't listening, though, so Josh was relatively safe.

He flashed her that lazy, feline smile that he had, eyes half closed. "Hey beautiful. Why they got you down here taking care of me? They all go out for beers and leave me layin' in the hallway?" he asked, half-ready to believe it. It had happened before. Josh would get him back though, oh yes he would.

Melisande sighed a little. "I'll tell you when you're better," she said. That was all he'd get out of her, but it was the most honest truth she'd ever told. She would tell him. She just... openly hoped that he recovered slowly so she could think of a way to say it without making him run off.