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I don't know if there's any sort of mechanic for just voluntarily giving someone a string - but I feel like Taryn should definitely have (at least) one on Kelly. Thoughts?
Kelly shifted her gaze from Taryn to Andrea, the note of defiance in her eyes turning to smug satisfaction. "You'd better step it up while you're keeping my spot on the squad warm. There's more to anchoring the team than taking a few too many shots and looking good in the shorts. If you force Taryn to carry you, it'll show." "I'm gonna grab a shower and get out of this f!%%ing uniform." **sniff** "Andrea, you should too." She let go of Andrea where she'd been supporting her and without a backwards glance started walking back to the dorms, a pleased hum buzzing in her head. "Alex, I'll catch you later."
It didn't take long at all. After all, Andrea was quite good. But she was only good. And I'm f*@#ing amazing. A few zig-zags and shoulder feints were enough to keep Andrea chasing after where the ball wasn't. Kelly didn't even take all of her wide open shots, just reset back to midfield and passed the ball over to her 'rival.' She kept her wolf mostly in check. A barely legal collision when Kelly re-took the ball had sent Andrea sprawling, uniform skirt twisting around her hips, and for a moment, there was a golden opportunity for Kelly to rake the other girl's legs with her cleats. A part of her really wanted it, wanted to take the chance to teach Andrea what trying to pull her down would really mean. Not now. She's already learning. Give her the chance to fall back in line. Kelly ran off and scored instead. 5-0 She walked back over to her fallen teammate and hauled her back to her feet, all but forcing the taller girl to lean on her as she walked her back to the side where Taryn was waiting. Her shining eyes locked onto Taryn's as she stepped just a bit too close to her captain, still breathing a bit heavily, more from the deferred violence than her exertions, [b]"I'll be back for my spot in two weeks, but I'll be at all the practices til then, even if they don't let me on the field. See you in the locker room."
I was thinking a keep your cool, followed by a violent and volatile slide tackle if Kelly was losing.
Kelly grinned, a bit of a manic edge showing as she held it. "Well then, see you outside."
Kelly shrinks from Taryn's rebuke, but when Andrea tries to pile on she simply fixes her with a hard stare. "You really think you're the one to take my spot? You'll have to do more than try to grab your share of the glory to do it."
"Maybe you're right. Maybe coach'll decide to keep your scrawny ass in because you really do have the skills. Field's empty. Want to prove it?"
No worries! I don't expect you to research every hobby or interest that every character has, and I really hope this didn't come off as nitpicky. I only brought it up because I thought it had actual characterization implications :-)
No in-thread retcon's necessary or anything - but Kelly's actually a midfielder, not a forward. I only bring it up because her dynamic with Taryn isn't that they're competing at the same role and Taryn's better, it's that they're both fantastic at their role but Kelly's role is to support and enable Taryn (and to encourage the other team to be Very Polite). It's less competition and more wrestling with the hierarchy of their roles - that's making a biiig difference in how Kelly responds. That said, offensive midfielders are expected to score now and again, and being sent to the bench carries the same emotional weight no matter from what position, so if it's cool I'll just elide past some of the specifics in my next post.
"C'mon Taryn. I know I don't score as many goals as you, but I help. You know that."
She meant to be flatly dismissive, but her voice rose at the end, almost making it a question. Shit! F$@!! Why can't I just- F!+~!
Kelly flinched at Taryn's relatively tame remark, sure that more was coming soon enough, "Sorry... I even tried to take extra punishments instead, but he wasn't having it. Don't worry, I won't slack off or anything, I'll slot right back in, no problems. I promise."
Kelly's eyes flick up to Alex as if she'd entirely forgotten she was there. She takes a quick breath to re-center and replies "Yeah. I could use a reason to get some air." Her food was cooling, mostly untouched on her plate, but once she realized how ravenous she was, she began to devour her way through the meatloaf surprise. Hopefully it would keep her wolf in check. She still had no idea what to make of Mindy. And Carrie was nowhere to be seen yet. If that b~+%% hurt her, I'll make her f!%~ing pay. Carrie's my... Carrie's not hers.
Kelly was more than a little surprised that Yungfeng and Alex came to sit with her. Of course, she was still planning on helping Alex with her creepy magic shit, and she'd been nice and put Yungfeng's arm back in its socket, so maybe it wasn't that strange. But her attention was really with Mindy and Taryn, making sure Mindy was staying the f+%% away, and hoping Taryn wouldn't humiliate her in front of everyone. She knew that two weeks off the field meant that some sort of punishment was coming; she just hoped it wouldn't be too bad. At least Mindy seemed concerned, maybe even a little scared. Good.
Kelly walked into the dining hall, and beelined straight for the table she most wanted to avoid, plopping down heavily at the table with Taryn, Lilly, and Andrea. "Two weeks. Two F!$&ing Weeks"
"Yeah, yeah of course. I just meant like, one of those public, at assembly kind of apologies. You know, to really rub it in my face. That'd be the point, right?"
"Two f$&@ing weeks?! Are you kidding me? Just 'cause when I bumped into some drugged up b#$!$ she lost her balance?! Come on, I'll take the detention, shit, I'll apologize and everything, but not two weeks off the field. Please?"
Kelly sits in the seat, arms crossed, chin tucked to her chest, the picture of someone here even though it Wasn't Her Fault. "Carelessness. I bumped into a labmate and she took a bad spill. "What'd the notes say?"
Kelly pulls her hand out of Yuji's, "I get it. Supposed to get to the Dean's at some point anyway."
So I know Stay's not eternal, has it been long enough?
"I'm not going anywhere right now. I'm just Staying here." Her tone isn't as defiant as her words...
Kelly looked up at Yuji, feeling rather... hurt. Not that there wasn't a beast inside her, but Yuji had attacked her first, Carrie had attacked her first, and Mindy really was some kind of f+!#ing predator! It wasn't like Kelly was the one going around attacking people! "Fine. I know I don't have any proof, but just, if you see something, don't ignore it. She really is bad news."
"...I don't know, but you guys don't feel that about her? The way she looks at people when they're not watching her? She's a predator."
Kelly didn't want to get into it, but right now she couldn't figure out what else she could do from here. "She's not just mopey. She's dangerous."
"Hmmp. She should be worried about it."
Kelly's eyes narrowed. "Careful Yu...ji. There's plenty of other weird shit going on, but that doesn't mean I don't know how to handle it." Her brows knit as Yuji turns their back on her, but it's not time to move yet, so Kelly doesn't do anything about it.
Kelly snorts out a harsh laugh. "If you want me to believe that Mindy's the reason Morgan's not thrilled with you, you should really have worn a clean shirt. But I can't... I can't go after her. Not yet anyways. I've got to stay here first."
What the hell? I know they showered before heading to bed. Did they just put on their f!@#ing sex-clothes without washing them? "So what the f$#~ is up with Mindy? I know she's... I know something's off with her, but knowing what just became real f%&!ing important."
Kelly stayed. What. The. F&*&. Fear and fury wrestled withing her, and for a moment, the thought crossed her mind that this might have been a bad fight to pick. But only for a moment. While she was stuck here though, she wasn't going to make any kind of progress unless **squeak** She turned her head to see Yuji trying to slip past. "Hey, you. Come here a second."
Kelly had expected to see fear in Mindy's eyes, or at least some kind of understanding of her place. Did she have to go further? It wasn't like the b*%#% didn't have it coming, but... She didn't really want to kill her. What's in between setting someone on fire and actually killing them? Either way, the Dean would have to wait. Mindy wasn't nearly cowed enough to be allowed to wander off alone with Carrie. So once they turned the corner, Kelly began to follow.
Kelly rolled her eyes, but grabbed her bag, and stood up to leave nonetheless. Once she was out in the hall though, she waited for Mindy and Carrie to emerge. She needed to give Mindy one more stare, then she'd head to the Dean's.
Fight Her wolf surged, no thoughts of Feeding or Fleeing or anything else came with it, only Fight. This wasn't the place to throw down, but that didn't mean Mindy was getting off the hook. Kelly was well practiced in sending unmistakable messages while still avoiding a red card, and Mindy needed one of those, bad. And if when Kelly 'slipped' and bodychecked her, Mindy's ether-soaked sleeve touched something it shouldn't? Well that would just be an awful shame. Thoughts and Prayers and all that.
Kelly responded quickly, but wordlessly.
Really, the teacher should have warned them that ether was so flammable. Mindy already reeked of the stuff, so all it took was one match and **FWOOOSH** Mindy's uniform was ruined, and the vampire herself picked up a couple of nasty burns, even a little nastier than Kelly wanted. Or thought she wanted.
Kelly gave a lazy smile as Carrie hustled over to wash up, but her eyes hardened as she met Mindy's. "Neither of us wants anything stupid to happen here, right? Just stay nice, enjoy your ether, and lab'll be over before you know it."
Of f#$$ing-course. Carrie walks into a room with two predators and winds up rubbing up against both of us. No wonder she's died at least twice.
Her wolf was awake. It wasn't as bad while Carrie was in her uniform, but being shoulder to shoulder with her made it a lot harder not to think about just going to town on her on top of a pile of stuffed animals, white dresses nowhere to be seen. Mindy wasn't much more calming. Kelly had been slowly piecing together some of the other weirdness on campus, but from the moment she saw Mindy she had known Predator. Well, she'd better not try to make Carrie her prey. She's mine. "Sure, knock yourself out."
Fine, don't answer.
Kelly, tickled by the novelty of Not being the one sent to the dean, abandons Alex to her fate. As she walks along towards next period, she fusses with her phone. Kelly: You're just ducking with me aren't you.
Kelly sniffed, "Sure there are bears. There're more animals than you'd think in woods like these. They thought wolves and cougars were extinct around here, but there are still sightings and tracks every so often. And predators love a good watering hole. See you tonight. "
"No, it's fine for something like this. This is some spooky shit already. You shouldn't go there alone at night though; it's where the wild things are."
She knew it. A cave near a watering hole in the woods was a great place to leave her clothes when she was feeling wolfish. No one asked questions about things that had an obvious story to tell. Once she'd found someone else's pile of clothes, still warm, practically a beacon showing the path to some poor vulnerable bit of flesh. She'd gone home in a cold sweat. Her room hadn't been safe either, so she hit the track, running lap after lap until even her legs were rubber, her blisters had blisters, and the f$&@ing moon finally set. Until she could get that smell out of her nose. "Sure, I know the one you're talking about. Not a good place for an Environment Club visit though. I've seen some gnarly tracks out there."
When Alex grabs the hairbrush, Kelly doesn't let go. "So I was just being coy when I said 'whatever you're doing.' Probably why I shouldn't bother with coy.
Kelly raises her eyebrows at Alex's flushed face, "She really gave it to you, huh? Well," she held out the hairbrush, "I hope this works for... whatever you're doing."
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