Foundations of Stone {Nick}

[Vanessa Miller]

Vanessa had a little spring to her step that she hadn't felt in a while. It was summer, it was evening, and she was having a good week in school - so far, anyways. Work was mind-numbingly bad, but that had more to do with the fact that Jason and Andrew had both been gone, leaving her to sit at her desk by herself and take phone calls from people who couldn't figure out how to turn their computers on, let alone anything else. It was sad that the calls were coming from other people who ran servers on which their company worked, because Vanessa couldn't see how someone could be in that sort of business without having at least a base working knowledge of skills.

She smiled to herself, refusing to let it bother her. She was thoughtful enough to have brought Jason's jacket to work, only to find that he had the day off, and now she carried it over her shoulder like some sort of wrap - really, she was so petite that even his clothing looked big near her. Her nose crinkled a little as the scent of hyena flooded it from the soft navy cotton of the zip-up jacket that displayed an Autobot symbol proudly on the back, and she felt a little more geek for having it with her at all. She'd always been partial to Thundercats, anyways.

She stopped suddenly, her nose finding a much more invasive scent. She couldn't help but sniff a little, head bobbing like a squirrel who'd suddenly found something interesting. Luckily for her, nobody was paying attention enough to notice, but the strange musky scent of... she couldn't even describe it. She could swear she smelled another hyena, but, no, the scent was distinctly different, overpowering her so much that she buried her nose into her shoulder, chin tucked away as she dug her face into Jason's jacket to try and establish things.

The jacket was hyena.

She turned and sniffed again.

Whatever she was smelling was not. It had traces of it, but it was so faint that it almost didn't pick up at all, and the only reason it did was because she knew what Pakana smelled like. That was about the time that the pupils inside her green and gold eyes dilated almost so fully that there was hardly any iris left, and the iris, well, was all liquid gold anyways. Whatever it was, it was so close.

[Nick LeCroix]

'Invasive' was a good word for what Vanessa was smelling.  A very good word.  That was a scent that, if you had the senses that most shifters did, you just didn't NOT notice.  It was commanding and it was strong. 

Nick liked it that way.  Lions, particularly males, had a scent to them that other animals instinctively seemed to find to be rather impressive, whether in a good or a bad way.  Being the 'dominant' male in the area, Nick's was especially noticeable and impossible to miss.  Finding hyena scent on him should have been an absolutely ridiculous thing, but only to people who didn't know him.  Actually, it was only the facts about lion scents that kept him from positively reeking of hyena.

He definitely noticed the mix of lion and hyena where Vanessa was concerned, however, and he approached her slightly slower than he had been before she had his interest, very obviously looking her over.  Female lion, that much was obvious.  The hyena smell, though....

Oh.  He saw the geek stamp on it when she moved.  He could guess whose that was.

"Hey, I don't think we've met, but we should have," he told her, rather boldly but with his most dazzling 'you know you like me already' smile, offering her his hand to shake. 

[Vanessa Miller]

She took a step back as the man advanced on her, and then another and another, until she realized she couldn't go any further. Her back was up against a wall, literally, and she leaned off of it instantly, wondering if she'd just gotten gum stuck to the back of her very light pink button-down shirt. She didn't steal a glance to check, though, instead all of her attention focused on the man in front of her.

Her mouth fell open as he held out his hand, and she hesitated before slowly, slowly reaching up to take it, never once breaking his eye contact. "Do... what?" she breathed. She held Jason's jacket more tightly to herself, knuckles turning white as she gripped it particularly hard when her palm made contact with Nick's own. He was so big! But what was he? She could see something in his eyes that was so familiar, but she had never really seen it before, so why would it have been familiar, she wondered?

The scent of Pakana was stronger now, but it was still muted by the other - plains, tall grass, dusty earth, power - it tingled in her nose, but it made her suddenly want to pace back and forth; it made her want to shift and jump about and roll around on her back on the still-warm concrete. But why?

"I'm sorry, I don't... think I understand," she said, voice very soft - Nick wouldn't have had to have made an effort to hear her, just as in a reverse sort of situation she would not have. She and Jason often communicated in sub-volumes that nobody in the office could see, and normally it was quite funny, but now it was obvious that it was her nerves affecting her speech patterns, and she cleared her throat, trying to sound more assertive.

"I really don't think I have time for random encounters," she said, cheeks warming. Still, she could feel her tail that was not there just twitching. She hadn't been a feline for that long, but she could still feel it, like a phantom limb, swishing back and forth, excited and anticipating something.

[Nick LeCroix]

He watched her, paying close attention to her eyes, movements and voice.  She was nervous, but she was excited.  She was right when she said that she didn't understand, but there was a part of her that did, and his smile turned into more of a grin as he leaned in a little more, taking a sniff of her.

Oh yeah, that was definitely Jason's.  That was ironic.  The little shit hadn't told him that there was a female lion around.  He was going to kick that kid's ass.

"You're absolutely right, you don't understand, but that's not a bad thing.  I found you, so everything will be just fine.  You're a lion, just like I am," he explained, and as he made eye contact, taking in her already golden eyes, and his brightened from the dark brown they usually were to a gold that nearly matched hers.  "Sweetheart, there is nothing random about this encounter.  My name is Nick LeCroix, and the lions in this city fall under my protection."

He wasn't going to freak her out if he could help it, but he knew what this was.  She'd finally come 'home'.  Every lion deserved a pride, and he was of the opinion that none could be happy without it.  His was slowly growing, and he sure as hell knew that it pleased him to no end.  "I was on my way home.  Why don't I call my wife to warn her, and you can come for dinner?  I'll have her call Jason if it'd make you feel better to have him around."

He'd get his chance to scare the hell out of the guy for not letting him know about this girl, too.

[Vanessa Miller]

Vanessa felt a surge of warmth start in her chest and work its way outward - suddenly, something he'd said, or maybe how he'd said it -- or, no. No, it was him; nothing to do with what he was saying, it was something about the man himself that was making her feel so... accepted. She couldn't put it into words, like Chinese characters, there was no English translation for her the beast inside her was reacting. She was so happy, and so Vanessa was happy, and she nodded, accepting his invitation enthusiastically before she could stop and rationalize.

"Wait, no, I can't!" she burst suddenly. What was she doing? She couldn't just go home with some strange man, even if he -- well, he was a lion, but still! And then he was mentioning Jason, and her eyes lit up again, her voice lifting. "Really?" she exclaimed, bordering on shrill with her tone. She was young, and she showed it, but that was fine - the world was in need of more people like Vanessa who were easily placated with small joys.

"How do you know Jason?" she asked, leaning forward to take a sniff off of the sleeve of his shirt. "That's not Jason on you, but it is Pakana. Are you friends with some of his friends? He's been holding out on me; he never told me there were other lions here," she muttered. "I'd never thought I'd find another one. I don't even know how I got this way - I thought I was pregnant when I started getting sick, which, wow, thank God for this, because, yeah, I wasn't about to make that phone call. Wesley would have moved to Tibet or something," she laughed, more talking to herself than anything.

Vanessa had a habit of babbling when she got excited, like right now, and so she poured out a ton of information to Nick that she didn't really realize she was pouring. "I mean, I've been in this city not too long - in Pyrige, not far - you know it? Anyways, going to school here, and even in Nevada I knew shapeshifters, but none of them were lions, and so I thought I was the only one, and I didn't mean to be conceited about it, I just didn't know that there could have been more, but now I've found you - or you've found me, and..." she trailed off, laughing and smiling so much her cheeks began to hurt.

"Wow," she breathed finally. "I feel like... whole," she said.

[Nick LeCroix]

He thought she was really going to refuse and stick with it for a second there, but his mention of Jason had obviously been a good thing.  Even if he disliked the kid, it had been useful to know him this time.  He was still going to kick his ass, and probably introduce him to Wes. 

Who would probably kick his ass.  Much fun to be had by all.

He wasn't going to tell SKYE that, though.  No, if he asked her to call Jason and invite him to dinner, he was going to play it like he actually thought it was a good idea, not that he wanted to traumatize the kid.  "Actually, I'm married to the hyena matriarch.  I probably know all the hyenas in the area just because of that, but I'm kind of annoyed that Jason didn't tell me he was friends with another lion."

Wait.  What'd she just say?  Wesley?  "Wesley?  As in, Wesley Bishop?" he asked, and the rest of what she said sunk in.  Nevada, she'd thought she was pregnant.  Wes had made another lion, and he hadn't even realized it.  Damn.  Nick was going to have to keep an eye on that guy, or he might actually have a claim in fighting him for head honcho, just because he was the one populating them with lions.  "Wes is here, in the city.  So is my brother and a few other lionesses.  You're absolutely not alone."

He told her that happily, pleased with the thought, instead of like he was informing her that she wasn't special or shouldn't be conceited about it.  He definitely thought that lion was the best way to be, even if hyena had grown on him.  He'd have never wanted to be one himself, but that was personal preference.  "I'll have to get in touch with them all so that you can meet them.  Would you like to do dinner tonight with my wife, Jason and I?  I promise, you're safe.  The last thing I'll allow is for anyone to hurt you," he promised, and he meant it.  He wouldn't let anyone fuck with Wes or Jaime, but they were males and able to defend themselves.  Even if lionesses were big and dangerous, he wasn't letting anyone touch one of them.  Ever.

[Vanessa Miller]

"Oh, really? Wow, I bet that's a story you guys have to tell to everyone, and you will have to include me, because I want to know, too," Vanessa said, surprised that he was married to a hyena. She could sort of understand, because female hyenas were quite dominant. She couldn't see herself with Jason, as shy as she was - especially not after meeting someone like Nick. If all male lions were so... comforting and warm to be around, and made her feel so safe, than she didn't want anyone else.

Her eyes nearly popped out of her head when he said that Wesley was in town. "WHAT?" she exclaimed. Her face turned red almost instantly, and she pressed her cheeks to her hands to try and cool them. Her heart began to beat twice as fast, and the let out a nervous sort of laugh. "I haven't seen him in ages, I mean," she said smoothly, trying to correct her yelping. Nick, however, was implying that Wesley was a lion, too, and, well... "He's... like you?" Her head was swimming.

"Did.. he do this to me?" she asked slowly, softly, like she was daring herself to ask the question at all. Nick's offer of dinner blew right passed her ears for a moment, and then she looked up at him, furrowing her brow. "Yes, yes. I'll come, of course," she said, shaking her head, expression now stern. "I'm excited to meet your wife," she added hopefully - Vanessa hoped that Skye liked her. It was important to her, suddenly - very important.

[Nick LeCroix]

He grinned when she said that it had to be a story they had to tell everyone, which was something of the truth.  They could only tell so many people the truth, but they had a 'cover story' that told the basics without letting on that they were both trying to kill someone when they first met.  In some crowds, that just didn't go over well.  "I'm sure you'll hear it at some point," he told her simply, just in time to look startled when she reacted to the news of Wes. 

"What?  Oh, he's not really like me, but yes, he's a lion, too.  My fault, actually, but that's another story.  He'll have to tell you that one, I think.  I don't like to brag," he told her, winking and smiling over it.  He wasn't being entirely honest on that one, but it was true that he didn't brag nearly as much as he could have in a lot of cases.  He had a healthy level of pride to him (no pun intended), but his brother was the one with the lion-sized ego.  "My guess is that he did, honestly.  I'm sorry, I'm sure it was an accident.  I'm not sure if that makes it better or worse, but he's not the sort to do something like that to be cruel."

He meant it, even if it didn't make her feel any better.  She agreed to dinner, however, and that was the best course of action to take her on right then.  No sense in letting her brood over Wesley.  "Just give me one second, so I can call Skye up and warn her."

This conversation was guaranteed to be interesting, if only because of what he was suggesting.  He wanted a female lion to be allowed to join himself and his wife for dinner.  That alone was strange, but he was also offering to have Jason there.  Skye was going to wonder if he was insane after this one.

"Skye?  Hey, baby, I'm on my way home, and I actually ran into an old friend of Wes'.  Seems he infected her some time ago, and she's new to the area.  I invited her to dinner," he explained, then jumped right into the rest before Skye could get irritated or suspicious.  "Do you want to invite Jason, too?"

[Vanessa Miller]

Vanessa nodded as Nick pulled his phone out of his pocket, and leaned (not backed into) the brick of the building behind her, hand cupping her chin as her fingers drummed along her jawline. Wesley had done this to her? But how? She couldn't really fathom a point in time where he'd have had an opportunity to infect her, it wasn't like they'd ever gotten into a physical confrontation that would .. have.. Oh. OH. Vanessa turned beet red and was thankful that Nick had his back turned, because she covered her face for a few seconds, shaking her head - she couldn't decide whether she'd wanted to laugh or cry, or to just be very embarrassed. She went ahead with the laughter, though it was more of a dry sort of chuckle, but it was better than the alternatives.

Nick, meanwhile...

"What is it with you and wanting to bring people over for dinner?" Skye demanded, trying to balance holding Nicole and her glass of lemonade at the same time. She was having marginal difficulty with the phone because the baby kept trying to grab at her hair. Finally, there was a firm, "Stop." and the sound of a baby starting to whine on the other end of the phone. She groaned, and then sighed a little. She knew how important more lions was to Nick.

When he suggested bringing Jason, she brightened a little, and then instantly frowned. "You want to invite Jason? Okay, what've you done?" she demanded. Skye knew that Nick didn't like Jason much, and she felt bad for him, but she did her best to try and keep them apart; Nick willingly trying to invite him made Skye think he'd done something wrong. She glanced at the calendar as she set her glass down and shifted the baby to her other arm. No, no, their anniversary was still a little way away... what could he have forgotten about/broken/done?

[Nick LeCroix]

Fortunately, Nick was paying more attention to Skye on the phone than Vanessa realizing how Wes had infected her, so he didn't notice her turning red.  Otherwise, he'd have asked what was wrong, and probably laughed.  He was probably going to end up laughing when Wes told him, since there was little doubt that the guy WOULD.

Hah.

"I'm being hospitable and showing you and Nicole off at the same time," he answered, though she knew why else he was inviting people over for dinner lately.  Wes had been to introduce his old friend to Skye, and Vanessa was to get her more comfortable with him and his family.  He'd be bringing her to meet Jaime at some point, as well as Melisande and a reunion with Wes.  She had a pride available now, and it was best that she meet them all.  A pride was supposed to be there to take care of each other, and she couldn't enjoy that if she didn't know them all.

Jason was to make Vanessa and Skye both feel better about the situation.  He didn't want Skye upset about female lions, since he definitely wasn't reconsidering marrying a hyena, and he didn't want Vanessa thinking she was going to get kidnapped and killed or something crazy like that.  Besides, it'd scare the living hell out of Jason to hear that Nick had invited him, and he liked the idea that the kid would be pissing himself until he found out why Nick wanted him there.  It was an all around win for Nick, except that he'd have to tolerate the kid, and he could handle that.  He'd done it before.

"You have so little faith in me!  I'm bringing a female lion to dinner, I thought you'd be happy with the compromise!" he told her, not quite indignant, since he had other reasons.  "To answer your question, I haven't done anything, but Vanessa is friends with Jason and you're friends with him, so I was trying to be cool about it and make you both happy.  I promise I won't try to eat him this time."

He grinned, despite it all.  He thought it was funny that the little male hyena was afraid of him.  That was the way it should be.

[Vanessa Miller]

Skye grunted at the notion of being shown off - it was a good thing that she always maintained a fairly presentable image. She certainly wasn't going to rush around the house to try and make it pretty for people to come over unexpectedly. "Ah. Now I see," she said slowly. Really, she knew that there'd be a pride she'd have to tolerate some time, but so long as Nick was going to be a bastard to Jason, she'd be the sort of wife that made a man's blood run cold when the idea of having to tell her anything involving another female.

Skye was the jealous type, but not insanely so. She'd warmed up to the Pakana just fine. She smiled a little smugly to herself, and cradled the phone into her shoulder as Nicole flailed around, trying to reach for her little swing that made rainforest noises.

"Fine," she sighed, knowing that Nick knew she wouldn't have said no anyways. "You can go ahead and pick something out for dinner then, and you can bring it back and I'll cook it while you show off Nico."

That seemed to be that. It was an easy fight won, evidently.

Vanessa brightened as he got off the phone, looking both nervous and excited. "Did she say it would be okay?" she asked. Vanessa had a feeling that it was very important for permission - she couldn't fathom why she suddenly felt the things she had. If she knew that there were so many other lions around, she might have done a backflip, really. She was so happy she could pop.

[Nick LeCroix]

Great, they were decided!  He'd promised he wouldn't try to eat Jason, but that naturally didn't mean he wouldn't make the hyena THINK he was going to eat him.  He just wouldn't actually try it.

Unless Jason was all over Skye, even just in that weird hyena cuddle-way.  Then, all bets were off.  Nick WAS the jealous type, and he wouldn't deny it.  That was another pride issue, and he wasn't going to have some guy all over his Skye.  HIS Skye.  He was also twitchy about Jason being around Nicole, but he was gritting his teeth and backing off because Skye wanted him to. 

Only because he loved her.

"Of course she said it would be okay.  I offered to have Jason over, so I'm sure she's going to make me regret it.  We have to pick out dinner before we head over there, though," he explained, in pretty high spirits about the whole thing.  Jason was the only bad part about it, and he was pretty sure he was getting the kid to the point that he knew what was and wasn't allowed.  He was pretty sure his 'rules' were broken was he wasn't around, but that was hyena business and he'd pretend it didn't happen if he didn't see it.  He understood that Skye had matriarchal things to tend to, so he wouldn't say anything.  He figured she'd be in the same boat with him and the lions, so he wasn't going to be a total hypocrite about it.  He just really, really didn't want to see it.  As long as that was how it went, he was okay.

"Any ideas?" he asked, and that was probably for the best.  Asking him to pick out dinner could be interesting sometimes.

[Vanessa Miller]

Vanessa held her hands up in a shrugging sort of gesture. Really, food hadn't even been a thought until just then, but she didn't know what to suggest. "Steak?" she said finally after a moment of hesitation. In the world of carnivores, Vanessa knew that steak was one of her larger preferences, and she could only assume that others would feel the same way. It certainly wouldn't beat any sort of real large game, but in the city, the only hunting thrill she could find was prowling the supermarket aisle for the most fresh, juicy cut of meat available.

And they were off! Vanessa kept up with Nick's long strides easily, all the while talking a mile a minute. "So, you know Wesley? How do you know him? How long has he been in the city? How many other lions are there?" This was something to the variety she focused on, but really, it was hard for her to focus on any one thing, because she wanted to know so much, and she wanted to know it right then.

"I'm kind of surprised Jason never mentioned you before," she said suddenly, frowning. "I'm sure I'll corner him later about it, but I wonder why he didn't. Does you two not get along?" she asked. She couldn't imagine someone not liking Jason, honestly. He was so neutral and easygoing that it sort of boggled her that someone would not warm up to him, but men of any species were tricky to understand.

[Nick LeCroix]

"Steak sounds great," he agreed, not about to argue with a perfectly good suggestion when he didn't have a better one.  Besides, he liked steak.  A lot, actually.  Nick had problems in restaurants that were aimed towards a vegetarian crowd, and generally wasn't fond of Mediterranean food.  There was a Mediterranean place, a little one, that served precious few dishes with meat in them.  Nick got bored fast.

Steak was one thing that didn't bore him, and that made it good.  Grab some potatoes and some kind of vegetable to please everyone, and they'd be all set. 

Damn, he was a good husband!  How many remembered veggies?  Ha!  Very few.

"Whoa, easy!  By the time I start answering those questions, I'll have forgotten half of them!" he warned her, though he was exaggerating.  He had a decent memory. 

"Yes, I know Wes, we were in the military together, I don't know how long he's been around here, and there are at least three other lions in this area," he answered quickly, then thought back to see if he'd forgotten anything.  Oh.  Jason.  "Eh, hyenas are funny.  I'm not a huge fan of them getting all cuddly when it's Jason on my wife, so when I see it, I give him threatening looks, and, well, he's a pansy so he gets scared." 

He grinned and shrugged like it wasn't much of a big deal and was easily understood, and to him, it was.  Jason was a wimp as far as the lion was concerned, so he didn't get much credit from Nick. 

[Vanessa Miller]

"Oh," she said in response to Jason being a wuss. Well, she couldn't necessarily argue there, but then again, she wasn't the most imposing of figures, either. "I'm not much of an aggressor, either," she offered in his defense, though she knew that it would fall on deaf ears. Nick obviously had a different line of thought between lions and everything else. "I didn't know they went all 'cuddly', though," she said, using the word he had to describe it. She'd never seen them in groups. She'd never seen anything in groups except Avians, actually, and they weren't super touchy-feely.

"I knew him when he was stationed at Nellis, but that was a while ago. I saw him after he got out, and that was right before, well, the whole lion thing. I guess between then and before is when he was infected," she said, trying to put a sort of mental timeline together. "I don't remember you, though, and I don't remember him mentioning you. He didn't talk about what he did a lot, either, though, so I guess that could explain it." He'd also never mentioned being a lion to her, either.

"Three other lions. So, Wesley and who else?" she asked. She wanted to find them, too.