Owner	Pose
Lydia Dietrich	Lydia leads Cael up from her room and into the Mission's main temple room where she has a few boxy items stashed under a black blanket. She has her phone out and is texting Jon as she walks. "I'm asking Jon to meet us here. If you /do/ Jackal out on me, I want him to be here to be able to put you under so I don't have to use more forceful means." She looks up when she sends the text, "Honestly, I don't think that's going to happen but you never know."
Cael Becker	"That's- ... fair," Cael agrees, her tone quiet as she follows Lydia - her hands shoved into her pockets. Being out of her room has her anxious, and it shows, as she glances around at her surroundings.     Lydia can take it, she tries to remind herself. The room isn't fair. If she feels a change she can just... run for it. Maybe she'll even make it in time.     Will she even know what a change feels like with her experience of... once? "No, we don't really know, yet," she agrees.
Jonathan Sims	Jon, as it transpires, is back at the apartment showing Agnes how to repair the damage done to the hallway. When Lydia texts him, he looks over at Agnes, who's literally sweating from the exertion, and sighs. "Let's take a break, alright? This is good progress. We'll work on it more tomorrow."     So he takes a moment to get her back to the Mission, and she assures him she'll be /fine/ and to /go upstairs/, so he does, a little while after the two of them get up there. "Sorry!" he says. "Had to get Agnes settled. Alright. What's going on?"
Lydia Dietrich	Lydia grins when she sees Jon portal in, and walks behind the big statue of Konshu and pulls a lever. Shutters slam down to make the walls able to take a beating and she goes to the mysterious items that she has stashed away.     "I want to test a couple of stressors on Cael, see how she reacts." She flips the blanket over to reveal a cat carry crate and an Igloo cooler. "I expect that all this is going to accomplish is just /annoy/ her, but this will be a good indicator on how fit for the outside she should be."     She opens the lid of the cooler and, to heightened senses, the smell of raw beef washes out from it. She pulls out a paper wrapped package and unwraps it to reveal a very raw, very bloody (and very choice) cut of meat. "Here," she says turning around and approaching Cael with it, her hand outstretched. "See if this pings anything in you."
Cael Becker	Cael smiles at Jon in greeting - a little of her tension relaxing with their arrival. Between the two of them - surely Jon and Lydia both could handle her? Especially now that they know what they're up against?     She reaches out a hand take the package. Her gaze flicks down to it - and there's desire there, but not an insatiable //need.// "This would have disgusted me before," she admits. "But right now... it's making me hungry."
Jonathan Sims	Jon isn't surprised as the shutters slam down; he's seen this before. He stands to one side a bit, raising his eyebrows. "Am I going to have to start serving you blue steak, Cael?" He shakes his head. "At least now I know why you've been eating your meat that way..."     He goes to lean against a wall, crossing his arms over his chest. "What all else do you have in there, Lydia?"
Lydia Dietrich	Lydia nods, and takes the steak back, wrapping it back up. "Good, good," She says putting the steak back into the Igloo. "I'll leave this in the fridge. I don't think the Mission has a grill, but if you give each side a good sear in the frying pan and then bake it to finish it, you'll have a nice dinner for tomorrow." She looks at Jon, "Jackals are scavengers, right? So raw meat just laying around would be perfect for them. Cael's mild reaction is relieving to see."     "Okay, so, this next bit might seem a little cruel." She bends down and opens up the cat carrier and as soon as the door open, a tawny streak flies out of the cage to the opposite wall, where the wild rabbit stops. It looks at all of the humans and *THUMPS* its hind leg in displeasure. Lydia takes a step back and gestures at the animal. "Catch the bunny."
Cael Becker	The looks Cael gives Lydia asks 'Really?' before she looks back to the anxious looking rabbit. "I'm going to look like an idiot doing this," she complains, before she starts slowly moving towards the rabbit, trying to get it into a corner where she can pounce on it. This is easier said than done, though, as it continually breaks into sprints that send it flying past Cael - much to her annoyance. Little by little, her aggrevation at the task starts to grow, any amusement fading away as she pursues the seemingly futile task.     "You know what would make this bunny easier to catch? My pistol," she mutters.
Jonathan Sims	"No shooting the bunny," Jon says, with a faintly amused expression. "Imagine trying to explain that one. 'Ahh, yes, we';re having rabbit today, don't mind the lead, Cael shot the poor thing.'" He smirks. He's helping! Really! Totally helping.     Because, see, trying to piss Cael off actually /is/ helping, with this particular endeavor.     "I think I see where you're going with this," he adds as he watches Cael chase the rabbit. "Trying to activate any kind of... predatory or feral instincts." A pause, and a thoughtful frown. "I... oh, lord, it actually wanted to /eat/ me, didn't it?" His voice shakes juuust a little.
Lydia Dietrich	Lydia shoot Jon a grin as he guesses what she's up to. "Exactly. Most predators have a prey drive. They see something running away from them and their immediate reaction is to give chase." She shrugs, "This is why dogs like playing fetch."     She watches Cael be a terrible predator for another few minutes before shaking her head and chuckling, "Okay. That's enough." She reaches out with a hand and a golden tendril snakes out from it, veeerrrryyy slowly approaches the rabbit and then *STRIKES* with serpentine quickness and snags it around it's middle. It kicks wildly trying to get away, but Lydia is quick and manages to stuff it back into the cat carrier and close the door before it gets a chance to hurt itself. "When we're done here I'll go back out to the field I found it in and release it."     "Alright," she says, walking up to Cael. "So far so good. Okay. Here's the last test I thought of." She looks at Cael and is unable to keep a rather mischievous grin from pulling at her lips. "Ready?" When Cael indicates that she is, Lydia's hand darts out. *POKE* Right in the ribs. Hard enough to hurt but not hard enough to bruise. *POKE* *POKE* Ribs again and abs. *POKE* *POKE* *POKE*
Cael Becker	Cael's gaze remains locked on the rabbit as it's put away - and the hunger directed towards the little creature is more pronounced now - than what had been directed to the steak. She drags her gaze away from the carrier as Lydia asks if she's 'ready' and she gives a brief nod. "I suppo- HEY!" She tries to bat away the hands, and takes a step back, away from Lydia, as the pokes keep coming in. "Stop that. //Stop that!//" she says with risigin irritation - unable to to protect herself from the onslaught.     "Lydia..." she bracticaly growls out in frustration.
Jonathan Sims	"That poor rabbit's had quite the adventure. I hope it won't be /too/ terribly traumatized by all of this." Despite his compassionate tone, Jon smirks as he watches the whole ordeal. He can't help laughing as Lydia starts poking Cael, but after a moment he settles back to watching. Considering. Pondering.     He eyes Lydia thoughtfully, chews on his lip a moment. then quietly conjures a penknife, opens the blade, and takes a deep breath. Then he slashes the blade across the palm, and deliberately squeezes his hand to push more blood out before holding it up.     "This do anything?" He raises a brow.
Lydia Dietrich	Lydia's grin turns a little meaner. "What are you gonna do about it, hunh?" she says tauntingly. *POKE* *POKE* *POKE* "Are you gonna sit there and just take it?" *POKE* *POKE* *POKE*     Jon's blood /immediately/ gets her attention, though. She wasn't quite ready for her and her eyes snap to his wound. Turning back to Cael she continues poking at her. "Look at that," she nearly hisses at her, as she moves to interpose herself between Cael and Jon. "He's so /tasty/ and I'm keeping you away from him." *POKE* *POKE* *POKE* "You going to do something about it?"
Cael Becker	It's unclear if it's the blood - or just the fact that Lydia is keeping her from something she has claimed, but the anger that was already plagueing her spikes abruptly as Lydia interposes herself between herself and Jon. "No," she growls out in frustration. "He's //mine.//"     Cael is not a slouch when it comes to combat - this is something Jon has been on the receiving end many, many times. Now it seems to be Lydia's turn. She steps into Lydia, grabbing her by the arm, and trying to roll Lydia up, and over her back - freeing her path to Jon.     That's her intent, anyways.
Jonathan Sims	There's a brief flicker of relief on Jon's features--his other ideas for provoking Cael would likely have induced trauma, and he /really/ didn't want to. Playing into the game, he slides away a bit even as Cael tries to come at him through Lydia, pulling himself further away. She's going to lose him!     They also squeeze out a /little/ more blood, just in case that's /actually/ helping. Lydia seems to have her Beast under control lately.
Lydia Dietrich	Lydia may be a powerful mutant, strong enough to tear cars apart, but she's rather unskilled when it comes to hand to hand combat, which is why Cael is able to flip her over onto her back quite easily. She lays there dazed for only a few moments before gracefully getting back up to her feet.     She stops talking, now, and considers what to do next. She's pushed Cael pretty hard to get her to this point, and she /should/ stop this, but on the other hand, she's curious if Cael will have the willpower to control herself.     Shields up, tentacles out, she's ready in case Cael goes to shift. "That's the beast talking, telling you that he's yours." she says to her friend. "It wants to take control, but you're stronger than it. /Smarter/ than it. You're on the edge, so I want you to remember this feeling. The most important thing to do when you feel this way is /stop/. Stop thinking. Stop moving. Push the blood and the anger away and center yourself. Don't let it think for you."
Cael Becker	As Lydia is thrown, Cael moves quickly, moving to stand between Lydia and Jon, with her back turned ot her boyfriend, and her hands clenched into fists, held up like she expects to punch the witch out at any moment. "He //is// mine," she insists - before Lydia's words start to sink in. She glances back at Jon, then forward at the woman she was currently judging to be a threat - attempting to breath slowly and deeply to calm herself.     Lydia was right. This was no a rational response, she tells herself, clenching and unclenching her hands as she concentrates on her breathing.     She's not going to punch any of her friends today.
Jonathan Sims	"I mean, yes, but Martin's too," Jon replies with a quirked eyebrow. Is this something they should talk about? Maybe. He summons up warm light to heal the wound on his palm, focusing on the idea that it was superficial enough to /not/ need to leve a scar. No need for scar tissue on his palm. Nope.     That done, he lets out a breath and steps forward to offer Cael a hug. "I think," he says slowly, "that you're unlikely to change out of rage or anything like that. There's one more thing we could test, but it'd be /very/ upsetting. And I don't know that we need to do that, unless you feel the need."
Lydia Dietrich	As soon as it's apparent that Cael isn't going to shift on her, Lydia drops the armor and tentacles. "Good," she says calmly, catching Cael's eyes. She nods along as Cael starts breathing, "Good... Find your center. /Feel/ how the beast had taken control. The more aware of it you are, the easier it will be to control it in the future. You're doing good."     Her eyes flick over to Jon in a kind of 'not now' way. "If her beast is anything like mine," she says, "it's not going to care about the intricacies of a poly relationship. All it's going to know is /mine/."     She relaxes even further as Jon hugs her. "Jon's right. You did /really/ good. I amped you up and then antagonized the shit out of you, and you didn't shift." She lets out a little breathy laugh, "Shit, you didn't even /punch/ me. I was prepared for that."
Cael Becker	As Jon comes up behind her, she leans back into their presence, still breathing slowly - and even closing her eyes now that the 'threat' seems to have passed. It takes her a while to calm herself, though holding Jon's arm across her middle and closely to her does seem to help.     "I still reserve the right to punch you," she finally counters. "If you ever fucking poke me like that again. I don't... like to be touched." Says the woman who's leaning back into Jon.     It's a few brathes longer before she relents enough to add grudgingly, "Martin's too. ...but when he's not here..." Then //mine.//
Jonathan Sims	Jon takes a moment to just wrap his arms around Cael from behind, leaning down to rest his chin on the top of her head. He shrugs to Lydia with an apologetic expression. "I have to wonder if it's surfacing some kind of inner... something, is all. But I hardly blame you, you're not thinking entirely clearly just now."     He sighs, and breathes slowly, the better to help Cael regulate her breathing. "So... we've established Cael can hold herself together in the face of distractions and irritations. Now we make an amulet to keep the change from happening at all, and then we work on finding a cure." He glances to Lydia. "I've got the runes pretty much copied down, if you want to meet up tomorrow and try to make sense of it all."
Lydia Dietrich	"And I deserve it," Lydia says with a nod. Her eyes turn downcast though, and her tone turns apologetic. "I'm sorry. Normally I wouldn't touch you... I'd respect your space. But I needed to push your buttons, to aggravate you as much as I could, and that was the only way I could think of."     "I wanted to prove to you what I had known... that you wouldn't just randomly shift and go on a rampage." Her gaze raises up to meet Cael's again. "I pushed you /hard/ and the only thing you did was throw me on my ass. Jon was bleeding and you didn't see him as a tasty meal. You /protected/ him. I bet, if push came to shove, you'd protect Agnes and Bear, too. They're /yours/ as well."     She purses her lips. "The beast.... it isn't all bad. It's a bundle of fury and instincts, and these can help you stay alive. When you first shifted... it overwhelmed you. It had no direction and so it lashed out at the nearest things. But /given/ direction... it can be powerful."     She nods at Jon. "Cael mentioned that you had, earlier. I'd already started laying down the foundation, so, yeah. We should be able to come up with something tomorrow."
Cael Becker	"I didn't protect them that night," Cael counters in a quiet voice. She turns into Jon abruptly, hiding her face against them, as she wraps her own arms around Jon. The last thing she ever wants to do is harm Jon - in any way. "You're sure I didn't hurt you that night?" she murmur quietly. "I love you. I- wish I could be more help solving this problem." Instead of just 'waiting to be saved.' Did that Layla woman have a point? She hoped not.     "Lydia, uhh, says she and I are friends," she adds in a wry tone.
Jonathan Sims	Jon shifts his jaw. "It doesn't matter," he says quietly. "It was nothing that didn't heal. Some bruises, that's all." He can't lie to her, and he hates that he can't even tell the white lie, but... there it is. He peers at Lydia over Cael's head for a moment, then smiles.     "Told you so, didn't I? You have more friends than you know." He sighs and squeezes her in close. "The trouble with helping is just... you don't know anything about the magic. But maybe you could help... I don't know, go through books or something?" He looks to Lydia again. "Maybe, while we're working on the amulet, you could go through whatever Lydia's got on lycanthropy, see what sticks out. Save some time... and perhaps learn something."
Lydia Dietrich	"Well, no," Lydia says. "But like I said, it was just an explosion of fury and instinct and it caught you off guard so it was just lashing out at whatever was nearest." Her lips press into a thin line as she holds herself. "I want you to be ready for the possibility that we can't prevent you from changing when the next full moon comes or worse, that there may not actually be a cure for this. I'd rather you be ready to take the reigns of an angry bull in full charge and not have to do it than doing nothing and hoping that it'll never show up." She shakes her head and waves away the thought. "Whatever happens, you'll have my help, Cael, you can count on that."     When Jon makes some suggestions she starts nodding along. "Yeah. I've got a lot of books on lycanthropy," she says. "Most of it is crap, but I'll point you to the stuff that I think has some veracity." She lets out a small sigh, "I should probably go through my library one of these days and get rid of all the crap books but... I just /hate/ getting rid of books."
Cael Becker	"As long as we've got me in that warded room... It'll be okay. It'll be fine. I won't be able to get to anyone... we'll all be safe."     Cael's arms tighten around Jon, as her face burrows into them all the tighter. "I'm so sorry Jon..." She wished it wasn't true, and that Jon didn't have to live with those memories, but... what can you do? "I'll read the books, to figure this out. I'll do anything I can.     "How Agnes? She thought I was mad at her... That maybe I hated her. The video games have helped, yeah?"
Jonathan Sims	"You can't stay in there forever," Jon says, but gently. "You should listen to Lydia, and at least think about it. Just in case." He hesitates, then adds, "I always have fallback plans, remember? If you just depend on my wards, what happens if someone finds out and /deliberately/ comes and destroys them? So we have a warded cell for the full moon, we have an amulet, we try to find a cure--and /you/ practice control."     He smiles. "It'll be a useful thing for the future anyway. What Lydia's talking about is part of the core of keeping people out of your head, too. Well. That and annoying pop songs on repeat." He smirks.     Then a sigh. "Agnes is fine. I'm... managing. Worried, but..." He shrugs. "I will manage. I have to."
Lydia Dietrich	Lydia watches the two of them continue to hug and a small smile plays at her lips. "I'm going to go put the steak in the fridge and set the rabbit free," Lydia says, turning around and going to the statue of Konshu to retract the shutters.     "I'll see you two tomorrow night at my apartment." She turns and points at Cael, "/You/ better be there. I'll make sure there are noodles." She turns back and grabs the igloo to take it downstairs to the kitchen. Her parting words echo through the halls, "Agnes is a tough kid. She'll make it through this."
Cael Becker	"And there's the panic button," Cael reminds Jon quietly. "If I'm aware of what's happening."     Still holding Jon tightly she adds, "I'm sorry this is happening. I'm sorry this is hard for you, and for Agnes. We'll... we'll figure it out. This pain is temporary. Yeah?"     She has enough manners, to extricate herself from Jon just long enough to call, "Bye, Lydia! Thank you."     Moments later, though, she's tucked back up against Jon again as she adds, "Let's go downstairs. Can you stay for a while? Maybe... we could bring Bear over for a bit, as well? Agnes, too? We could pick a movie."
Jonathan Sims	"Getting lonely, are you?" Jon murmurs, and sighs. "Alright. I need a break anyway. I've been bashing my head against the wall of my admittedly limited artistic skills versus my memory. My drawings are, naturally, not /precisely/ what I saw. But they're what we need in order to figure this out."     He places a kiss on the top of Cael's head, then disentangles himself. "Come on... I'll get Agnes and Bear over to the warded room, and order pizza or something." A smirk. "I don't know if they have /raw/ but we could get you meat lovers?"