Owner	Pose
Lydia Dietrich	Mystique is still fast asleep, needing her rest after a very, very long day that ended with turning her girlfriend into a vampire. Lydia, however, couldn't sleep. Something about the turning just left her wired, and all she could do was lay there and watch the gentle breathing of her beloved. Eventually, she extracted herself from her arms and made her way over to the bathroom to take a good look at herself since her transformation. The floating black ash as that are now her powers gets a frustrated huff. She was so used to glowing green, that this new development was rather disappointing. It's going to take her a while to get used to all the floating particulate in her field of vision. She waves a hand through it all, and condenses it into a ball about a foot in diameter, and then runs through some practice shapes to test her control. Satisfied that her control of it hasn't changed, at least, she relaxes the ectoplasm back into a ball so she could properly see herself. The person looking back in the mirror is somebody she barely recognizes. While she didn't inherit her father's more tanned skin tone, she was never this bone white. She runs a finger across her ivory skin and taps it to see if she could bring some color to it, but it's all for naught. In contrast the only color on her face is her ruby red lips, which easily draws the eyes to her mouth. At least her eyes are the same rich hazel color. Thank God for small favors. It's when she's checking her teeth to see if she can see her fangs does her phone buzz. Checking it she sees that Clarice texted her about paying a visit. She texted back that Mystique is still asleep, but she could use a friend right about now. The boys.... she's not ready to talk to them yet.
Clarice Ferguson	Clarice was likewise finding sleep ellusive, though she'd managed a few short hours of sleep, and had at least gotten some breakfast down. At Lydia's response to her message, she gives her well-intentioned, wolf-shaped companion a nudge. "Let's go check on Lydia. She can't rest either, I guess. I'll try sleep again later - I promise."     Still dressed in the fuzzy and soft sweatpants she'd put on after her shower, and an oversized shirt, she extricates herself from her rumpled bed to make her way to Mystique's quarters. Rather than pressing the chime, which she fears would wake Mystique, she texts Lydia a single emoji - a door.
Rahne Sinclair	Sleep? Elusive? For Rahne? If she found sleep elusive she'd be dead. She wakes from her fifteenth nap of the day when nudged and yawns. She's dressed in short loose pj bottoms and fur, so she's totally covered. Just in fur. She gets off of Clarice, letting her up, and then washes her face a moment. She catches up, of course. However she's still yawning when she heads to visit Lydia. Honestly she spends her entire life either napping or pretending to nap lately. Must be nice.
Lydia Dietrich	Lydia didn't need the text to know that Clarice and Rahne were at the door. She could smell the wolf in Clarice's companion as they approached. This just highlighted another difference in her now. Her breathing has turned into short, shallow breaths. Not because she needed the oxygen, no. It's more akin to a viper's tongue, testing the air for scents. If she wanted she could just stop breathing altogether and she'd be just fine. She opens the door to greet the pair. "Come in," she says quietly, taking a step back to let them in. "Mystique's still asleep but I'm too wired." She's dressed in fuzzy pajama bottoms with cute little hearts all over them and an oversized tee with the words, 'Team Bella' emblazoned on it. She moves over to her chair, and folds herself into it. "How're you holding up?"
Clarice Ferguson	There's a moment of uncharacteristic hesitation, before Clarice wraps Lydia into a brief hug. There remains a part of her - a large part of her - that remains uncertain about just how strong any predatory instincts Lydia may be feeling might become, and the last thing she wants to do is cause something she knows Lydia would not want if she were herself. "Oh, you know how it is. Another arguement with Theo, so business as usual," she remarks with a little false cheer. "...bit worried about you, though. How are you? Are you okay with this? You didn't choose it." It was a question she didn't dare ask in front of Mystique. Stepping, she pulls Mystique's office chair around, slipping into it and holding out a hand towards Rahne.
Rahne Sinclair	Rahne wouldn't even defend herself if Lydia needed blood. She'd defend Clarice, but not herself. watching with her customary quiet, the redhead (bodied?) girl tilts her head right, then left. Hugging hardly fazes her, and her sense of smell rivals anyone's in the world so she knows this isn't a threat. She knows so little though, so when she's offered a hand she takes it. "Ah dinnae really understand," she admits. Which is probably fair.
Lydia Dietrich	Lydia gladly returns Clarice's hug, though she's careful not to squeeze too hard. She doesn't want to test any enhanced strength by crushing her adopted sister. The real disconcerting thing about hugging Lydia is how cool her skin is. Room temperature. "I'm..." how /was/ she, really? "I'm okay with it. Still trying to make my peace with what happened. She shakes her head. I don't blame Mystique for her decision. If the situation had been reversed I would have done the same. I'm just... it's a lot of change that I wasn't prepared for." She turns her gaze to Rahne and lets out a sigh. "There's a lot of backstory," she says. "I can fill you in if you like, but the long and the short of it is I was kidnapped by a rival clan of evil vampires, who then killed me because things didn't go the way they expected. My mentor, Hatshepsut who is an ancient vampire, offered to turn me so that I might continue to live. Mystique told her to do it and..." she spreads her hands apart, and gives a little shrug. "Here I am."
Clarice Ferguson	Clarice gives a little tug at Rahne's hand, trying to coax her into the chair with her. "Well. If you're okay with it..." she replies - a little tension seeping out of her form. She wasn't sure - and she wasn't sure Mystique had considered at all what Lydia would have wanted. A mournful expression crosses her features as she adds, "I'm sorry we didn't get there faster. We tried, but..." It wasn't to be, apparently. "I hate that we weren't there for you."
Rahne Sinclair	Rahne was about to ask how one accidentally becomes a vampire, but Lydia goes on to explain. She nods, as if she understands, and honestly this is one of the easier explanations to grasp she's heard. It actually seems to make sense. Nice for a change really. She sits with Clarice, taking up as much room as a kitten, and lets her heart listen as well. So, she goes the route she knows. "Do ah need tae maul somebody for ye?" She asks this as she's snuggling into Clarice's lap like a cute little slyther-in.
Lydia Dietrich	"I have to be okay with it because the alternatives are to either hate Raven for the decision that she made, which I simply can't do, or be dead." Lydia says simply. She sighs, and pulls her knees up to her chest and wraps her arms around them. "If I'm to be honest, I'd always thought I'd end up this way. Ever since meeting Blake and ... Hattie is what you called her?" This elicits a grin at the thought of calling an ancient vampire queen 'Hattie'. "Ever since meeting them the possibility of becoming a vampire crossed my mind." "I'd thought about this, some nights," she says, resting her chin on her knees. "'What would I do if somebody offered to embrace me?' One would think that due to my choice of my novel's subject matter that I would jump at the chance, but the reality was... no. I'd pass it up. At least for now." She takes in a deep breath so she can let it out in a sigh. "I figured I had too much life left to live as a human, you know? Ask me again in ten... twenty years and see if my opinions had changed but not right now." She shakes her head. "Don't beat yourself up over coming when you did," she says. "You were walking into a trap, and it was a miracle you got to me at all. Besides, she was... the one who captured me... she was planning to turn me all along so if Hattie didn't do it, then /she/ would, and then I would have been lost to them. Really, as far as outcomes go, this was one of the better ones." Rahne's question pings something inside the young vampire. Something vicious and primal and something she doesn't quite understand. Her eyes darken and there's a flash of red in them. "Oh yes. There will be maulings for this."
Clarice Ferguson	"I called her Hattie," Clarice confirms with a wry twist of her lips, her gaze still locked onto Lydia, even as her arm wraps around Rahne and holds her close. This was all confusing to her. Her friend - her sister - was dead, yet still alive. How do you process that? "What do you mean lost?" she asks. "I feel like... maybe you know more about this business than I do."     Her fingers run through some of Rahne's fur as she adds, "We're talking about someone hurting someone close to Raven and I. There will definitely be reprisals."
Rahne Sinclair	Best audience ever. Rahne doesn't interrupt, she watches Lydia quietly as she talks, and nods when she needs to. And she's apparently taking in at least twelve percent of the content, because when Clarice speaks up she takes a second to drag her gaze away from Goth Lydia. Then, without warning, she says, "God ne'er actually spoke against vampires in th' bible. Ah dinnae actually think ye be damned or anything. You know, if et helps at all." The fact that she can say that without batting an eye says a lot for her faith. Also her own father told her that SHE was damned for similar reasons, so..yeah. "If y' still be able tae love, ah say welcome home Lydia." Then she extends a hand to the vamp girl. She's wearing a cross, and faith, and could care less that the undead are rising. It's LYDIA after all. Oh, and the scritches are awesome.
Lydia Dietrich	Lydia struggles to explain, "I would have been part of their clan, one of them. They're evil, Clarice. Pure and simple. I could feel the darkness coming off of her it was..." she shudders. "I don't have words for it. I would have been lost to the Dark, and I've always lived in the Light. The clan that I'm in now serves the Light much like my coven does, as I understand it." She shakes her head. "I don't really know the details. I never got a chance to ask Hattie about it." When Rahne speaks, Lydia looks lost and helpless, and tears of blood start to form in her eyes. "I can't be kosher anymore," she says. "Blood isn't kosher." If anybody can understand how deep this cut goes it would be Rahne. "I'm sure God will understand, but will Rabbi O'Toole? Will I still be welcome at temple?" She rubs her cheek to wipe away the tears with the back of her hand and just /stares/ at it when it comes back bloody. "Of course," she says with a bitter laugh. "Of course. She looks up at Rahne when she offers her hand, and Lydia takes it. She pulls the fuzzy woman in for a hug, cross be damned, and finds that it doesn't burn, which is a relief. "Careful," she says. "I don't want to get blood in your fur."
Clarice Ferguson	"But... you're you, aren't you?" Clarice says with some bafflement. "You're saying if it hadn't been Hattie's blood - you wouldn't even be yourself anymore? I don't understand that." And of course that begs the question once more of how much of Lydia is still Lydia? She seems like herself. Clarice wants to //believe// she's herself. The boys will want to, as well...     And of course the talk of religion doesn't help things. "You didn't choose this," she reminds Lydia. "That has to matter, doesn't it? To your God? To your Rabbi?"
Rahne Sinclair	Rahne has time to kiss Clarice on the cheek before she's pulled into a hug. Her greatest power, that of compassion, and she uses the great hug powers for good. Lydia needs them right now. "Fuck m' fur," she says softly. "You cry all ye need tae." She can shower, and the tears of a friend are a badge of honour. When she can, she says, "Ah found tha' m' own temple," her parish, her home, "wasnae as important as th' faith tha' ah carried wi' me. If y' can, then god bless ye. But if not, then ah'll help." She just offered to help. With Temple. As a Christian. Her father would FLIP. Her God...hopefully, he'd smile. She only knows that she needs to help someone in need. "Nobody knows wha' God believes," she says to both Clarice and to herself. She's just trying.
Lydia Dietrich	"I... think I'm still me," Lydia says hesitantly. "I'm beginning to feel things more sharply. My perceptions of things... people, mostly is starting to change." After the hug with Rahne, she crawls back into her chair and once again hugs her knees to her chest. Rahne's offer to help with her faith causes her to smile at the wolf girl. "Thank you. I think I'm going to need it." "My senses... you have to understand. It was like I was living in one of those sensory deprivation tanks and now I'm out." She shakes her head. "I can hear.. everything, but what I mostly hear is your heartbeats. I can hear /Mystique's/ heartbeat from all the way over here. It's like I'm tuned like a radio to that sound." "And smells... God," she says quietly. "I can tell you had eggs, bacon and hashbrowns for breakfast, as well as coffee. And I can smell your blood. Hell, I could probably tell your blood type if I had other people to compare. And... and..." Right now Lydia sounds very small and afraid, "And you smell /delicious/."
Clarice Ferguson	Clarice doesn't know what to say for a moment, but her concern and pain shows on her features as she watches here friend. After a few moments of silence she admits, "I'll be honest - all of this frightens, and confuses me. I can only imagine how much worse that must be for you. I want to help you though, Lydia, I just don't know how. What do you want from me? How can I help? What can I do? And how do I make sure I stay safe - for your sake? Because the one thing I'm certain of is you would never want to hurt me."
Rahne Sinclair	Rahne crawls back in with Clarice. Quiet. Listening. She looks at Lydia, as if the girl has hit some great secret. She looks at Clarice, and hugs her tight. Both arms. "Ye were never afraid o' me," she says softly. "An everythin' she said, tha's me too." She smiles. She lays her head down, and closes her eyes. She opens one eye, then the other. She looks at Clarice. Then Lydia. "When ah changed tae wolf, th' first time? Ah was you, right now. D'ye think these are for show?" She opens her mouth, shows the jaws inside. Sharp. She says, "Ah have tae fight th' urge tae eat any baby ah see, when ah be in wolf form. M' dreams are about eating meat. Raw, th' blood on my tongue." She shudders, and looks at the wall.
Lydia Dietrich	Lydia looks thoughtful. How /can/ Clarice help? "I think..." she begins. "I think if I get hungry and I can't control myself, I want you to blink me into one of the holding cells until we can get some blood in me." She hugs her legs tighter to her. "I don't know how bad it's going to be when I start getting hungry. I'm not right now. I think I'm still riding high on Hattie's blood." Rahne's admission gets a stare of disbelief, at first, which slowly melts to relief. "Rahne, I never knew. How did you deal with it?"
Clarice Ferguson	Neither did Clarice, it seems, who looks down at the Rahne in her arms with puzzled bafflement - before shooting an almost guilty look towards Lydia for a moment. Is she being unfair to her friend? Too cautious - too fearful? "I can make sure to put you somewhere safe," she promises Lydia. "I wouldn't let you hurt anyone." She's silent for a moment before adding, "Pete seems to think he can use his power to stop you safely - if there's ever a need. I promised him I'd ask if you'd be willing to test out his theory," she suggests. "The boys seems to think I'm overly cautious. Maybe they're right, maybe I am."
Rahne Sinclair	"It be pretty simple, actually," Rahne says. "Everyone else be more important nor I am. How could ah ever hurt them?" And there, she gives away the difference. Lydia may be in a similar situation, but Rahne's never been to the point where she's lost control. She's a mutant, and she has control levels that are higher. Loss of blood won't force her into a frenzy. She can choose, even as a wolf, not to give in. Lydia may not have that option. Rahne is WRONG. And she's never going to understand, because she's never had to learn the difference.
Lydia Dietrich	"I'd be willing to let him give it a try," Lydia tells Clarice. "There's just so much about how this will effect me that I don't know. I just want to make sure that I don't hurt anybody if I get too hungry." She shakes her head. "I don't think you're being too cautious. I don't know how dangerous I could be so we're going to have to prepare for worst case scenario." She gives what Rahne says a good long thought before nodding. "I value life above all else. It's why I won't willingly kill" (except for that damned /bitch/ who kidnapped her a small, newly awakened part of her brain tells her) "But... people will do extreme things in extreme situations. Look at the Donner party. If you had asked any of them if they would have ever resorted to cannibalism, I bet you every single one of them would have told you no. But if you get hungry enough..."
Clarice Ferguson	"That's my logic, too," Clarice agrees. "Not just for my sake, or Theo's, or Pete's... But also for yours. I don't want you carrying that sort of guilt or fear around. I'd rather take things slowly, and figure things out." She offers a tight, sad smile as she adds, "Theo and Pete seem to disagree with me. I told them I'd rather they weren't alone with you until we have a better understanding of things. They didn't take that well.     "As for the hunger," she adds, "I've already spoken to Dr. Hathaway, and informed her of the situation. We're going to get some sort of fridge in here for you - and I've asked her to up to up our blood supplies. Hopefully if we have enough on hand, and you know where to get it - things will stay under control."     Looking down at Rahne, she nuzzles the girl while giving her a worried frown. "You are not less important than me, Rahne Sinclair. You're //as// important. As important as me, as Lydia... maybe not as important as Theo," she quips - one of those jokes that isn't really a joke. "But everyone else, sure."
Rahne Sinclair	Rahne isn't sure what to say. So, she says that. "Ah probably have tae think on et some more," she admits. She's always been good at humility, when it's time to look at assumptions and figure that she might not know everything yet. Thing is, some things she really ...she really really thinks she's got down. Like, for example, smell. "Well, ye smell different these days, Clary. Ah don't want tae eat ye anymore." She leaves that one hanging, the obvious sexond statem...-second- statement, left silent. Then she nuzzles in closer. Silly wulf.
Lydia Dietrich	Lydia nods gratefully at Clarice. "Good, good." Making sure they all have blood on hand is a good thing. "When Hattie comes here next I'll be getting more answers and she'll tell us what we should expect going forward." She senses a slight subtle shift in Rahne's smell as she cuddles in close with Clarice and Lydia chuckles. "Thank you two for stopping by. Being able to just... talk has helped." She gets up and goes over to the couple and wraps her arms around them. "You two should go to bed and be with each other. I'm going to go clean up, and probably take a nice hot bath to get my body temperature up and see if I can't get any rest myself." She chuckles again, giving them each a smooch on the forehead. "I probably look like a frightful mess." Indeed, blood tears have dried down her cheeks, and there's a smear of blood where she tried to wipe it away with her hand.
Clarice Ferguson	"I want to be there for you, Lydia. You and Raven," Clarice murmurs as she hugs Lydia tightly. She can't quite shake the pain and guilt she feels that they hadn't truly been able to protect Lydia. The pain, and the fear she must have endured - and now all this... They failed her. "Anything I can do - you let me know. And if you need anyone to talk to..." she promises, before releasing her grip on the other woman.     Lydia was probably right about what thing, though - rest was in order. She'd only slept a couple hours, and it just wasn't enough. "Com'on, Rahne," she murmurs, as she tries to struggle back to her feet.
Rahne Sinclair	Unfortunately Rahne isn't moving. She's also decided that Clarice isn't moving, because she's shifted further into the dog spectrum. This might be the first time that proof has been offered that there's any difference in her wolf form depending on situation, but this wolf is definitely not double-sized. Uuuunfortunately, it's still plenty big enough to keep Clarice from getting up. And given that the chair fits, she's curled right in and is plenty heavy. So it's either poke her with a stick, yell, or give in to the inevitable.