i know it's everybody's sin. you got to lose to know how to win.

[tempered_scars]

[ooc: open to everyone for forever. I'm probably crazy for including all my characters but what the heck. Have at 'em. Gimme your tags. I want them. All of them. :D]

Wes Gannon is at a bar. Pick a bar, any bar, and he's there. The events of the past few weeks have finally caught up with him and boy needs to drink... and maybe shoot some pool while

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[swallowmyblood]

Nikolas is out hunting, of a sort. It's more an observational tour, really.

Ever since he met Jo, he's been...checking into things as much as he can.

He's watching her now, in fact, as she fights a four-legged creature. It's impressive. One can learn a lot about a person by the way they fight, and the fact that they do.

When her shift occurs, he nearly steps forward out of the shadows. It's difficult to remain still as she ends the creature's life, though he does. There's blood wetting down the light-colored fur of the dog, and he can hear the whimper from where he stands. The urge to bury his hands in that dark-stained fur and pet makes the corners of his lips curve up.

As it is, he schools his face into a concerned frown, and follows after Jo when she begins to limp forward.

He walks slowly in her direction, crouching down about fifteen feet from her. Injured or not, he's sure she can bite his hand off in her current state, and he thinks that's fascinating.

Just being this close to her is something remarkable, really. "Poor thing," he says softly. He looks over at the corpse, then back at Jo. "How bad is your leg hurt?" He says this as though he's simply talking out loud, thinking and worrying. Niko shakes his head from side to side, tsk softly. His concern is absolute and sincere, Jo. It really is.

[yourwonderings]

Jo would be really pissed off if she knew this guy is popping up out of nowhere these days only because he's determined to one day kill her. Sure, it's his Calling but she doesn't have to like it.

Right now, her concern lies elsewhere.

Like finding her dad's iron knife. Which means she's pretty pissed anyway.

Poor thing.

The dog's instinct is to snarl, bare her pointy teeth, show him she is very much not a poor thing. The dog wasn't as big in size as the monster, but it's still big--and it's a guard dog. It's meant to guard, even itself.

It goes back to why she hates this so damn much, aside from how it was thrust upon her. It's not just the loss of control, it's the fact she may somehow be viewed as defenseless or in need of saving.

Jo's spent her whole life proving she is anything but defenseless.

Looking down at her leg, the dog lets out another sound. The blood isn't all hers. It's actually mostly not hers, but still, the monster got its good hits in.

[swallowmyblood]

Upon seeing those pointy teeth, and Niko thinks they're lovely, he holds his hands up as though in surrender.

Then, those hands slowly move to his legs, just resting there. His fingers curl into the fabric of his pants the longer he looks at her, and he finds it very difficult to keep the calm, worried look on his face.

He manages, of course.

When she looks down at her leg, he looks with her. It's a bad idea to get any nearer. His neck strains slightly, though, when he attempts to get a closer look. "You are hurt," he says quietly. "I wonder what the chances are that you'll allow me to help you." It's almost asked, a spoken curiosity. Allow me.

He sighs and sits down on the ground. Immediately tiny rocks and dirt mar the delicate fabric of his clothing and he ignores it. "I know nothing about dogs," he admits, "but, I'll help you if you'll let me." Let me.

There's a thoughtful, hopeful look on his face. There's the urge within him to reach out. He can see it all in his mind already. It would be so easy. One quick snap... Not like this, though. Simplicity isn't worth it. He wants the expression and he wants to know, whatever the urge is.

As it is, he waits. The picture of patience and helpful intent, he waits. And, he watches the blood. It's shining in what bare light there is. He sighs.

[yourwonderings]

Jo eyes him warily, not really coming to a decision. She backs away defensively when he tries to get a closer look. It backfires on her, because the leg is sort of messed up. She sways to the side, remembering not to put pressure on it.

They've only met that one other time, and while she wasn't very trusting of it or his sudden interest, there's no way this guy could know the dog is actually Jo. There's no reason for him to reach out.

Which doesn't explain why he wants to help, other than the fact maybe he's not so bad after all.

She's a good judge of character, for the most part. She likes to think no one can blindside her. Jo always follows her gut and it's never proven her wrong in the past. Doesn't mean she can't occasionally be wrong, but Jo wouldn't like it. She'd sure as hell have a hard time admitting it, too.

Everyone has their flaws and Jo's got a chock full of them. A prominent flaw would be she is incapable of graciously accepting help.

He also needs to stop talking in that soothing voice.

While Jo-the-human isn't convinced, the dog's instinct is to relax, however slightly. That means a shift is imminent, and Jo would rather anyone no one else know what the damn rift gifted her with.

Gifted, cursed. It's pretty much the same difference at this point.

[swallowmyblood]

When she sways slightly, the concern clearly written on Nikolas' face only grows. He does not attempt to come closer, however, as that clearly makes her wary.

He doesn't want to worry her, after all.

Closer. He wants to be closer. It's how he'll find out the things that matter.

He wants to be closer, but he doesn't move.

Though...he wants to. There's nothing he can imagine he'd like more right now.

He could pick her out of a crowd in any shape or form, and there's nothing he can think of that would feel more right than to step forward and break Jo's neck. The sad smile on his face is testament to that. He doesn't want to rush things, after all.

The soothing voice? Isn't going anywhere, Jo.

In fact, when he sees her relax even that slightest bit, he continues. "Do you live nearby? I could help you get there." He looks around, as though searching for her 'owner'. He keeps talking, slow and soothing. It's simple things; things one would expect a kind person to say when they see an injured animal.

He says them all with calm, easy sincerity. ...It's a gift, truly, particularly when there's nothing calm inside of him now. It's only growing with each passing moment.

[yourwonderings]

Guh, he's not leaving.

Not that Jo really thought he would, but she could hope. There are people that would leave a wounded dog to fend for itself. She'd been hoping he'd be one of them because she does not need help and she can fully take care of herself and see how well that's working out for her right now?

He offers to help her get to where she wants and Jo takes a further step back.

World of do not want here.

Limping or not, when the urge to shift strikes, so comes Jo's urgency to cover herself the hell up.

She's grateful it's late, and there is virtually no one at the park. Certainly no one else hanging around where they're at. She's running for cover when the shift begins, and by the time she's fully back to her human form, she's hiding behind thick bushes.

The limp is now manifested as a pretty big gash in her arm.

"I'm from..." She is so not telling you where she really lives, Nikolas. "Around."

[swallowmyblood]

Nikolas stands up when she takes off, and once she speaks, he turns to hide his grin. "You're a shapeshifter," he says quietly, and she was running away, so of course, he hasn't seen her face yet.

He walks over to the rather messy spot where Jo apparently fought the monster.

He picks up her clothing, though, it would appear some of the fabric has been ripped beyond repair.

Walking over to the bushes where she's hiding, he stops several feet away to allow her her privacy and tosses the clothes over to her. He also unbuttons the first three buttons of his crisp white shirt and tosses that over, as well. Then, he walks a safe distance away, though every step feels wrong.

It's the...gentlemanly thing to do, after all.

'I'm from... Around.'

"Okay," he says, and there might be the slightest bit of amusement in his voice there. After all, it wouldn't register as honest if he came off as a complete gentleman, would it? Most people have flaws. It's natural.

"You're injured. Is there anything I can do?"

[yourwonderings]

When he declares her a shapeshifter, Jo can't quite keep herself from replying with a sarcastic No shit, Sherlock. Snark isn't going to be helping her and she's aware of that.

Sometimes it's inevitable. You know how these things go, Niko. Your nephew has quite the mouth on him, too.

It might also have something to do with the fact Jo likes having the upper hand. Nikolas now knows something about her she'd rather he not know, and it doesn't sit well with her.

"Thanks," she manages to say. It's not easy to accept help and it isn't easy to be grateful, either. She'd rather there be no reason to have to say thank you in the first place.

"Don't worry about it." Stubbornness, thy name is Jo. "I got it covered."

When she emerges from her initial hiding spot, it's in ripped jeans and hs white shirt. "Demidov, right?"

She rarely forgets a name and a face. Comes with the territory of being an experienced bartender.

[swallowmyblood]

Nikolas is very familiar with snark, and is not offended by it.

It's likely there's very little that would offend him...aside from someone else attempting to kill Jo. He would find that very offensive.

When she thanks him, he shrugs. "You're welcome."

When she says she's got it covered, he shrugs at that, too. "You know yourself better than I," he says. He intends for that to change, of course, but there's really no need to mention that. "Though, I've a first aid kit in my car."

He glances over when she moves out of the bushes, and he tilts his head to the side as though he's thinking. A small huff of a breath and then he's nodding. "Or Nikolas. Whichever you prefer." There's the smallest smile, then. "Jo, right?"

Nikolas smiles, charming and a little rueful. "We keep meeting in such interesting ways."

He'd expand, of course, but he's biting down on his tongue. He can swallow the blood in his mouth much more easily than he could explain the black blood on his hands from his nails wanting to dig their way into his palms to get through to her.

[yourwonderings]

See, now that's something she can appreciate.

Him shrugging off the apology so she can shrug off the reply and they can move the hell on from there. Jo would find his face offensive if she knew his true intentions.

... Ahem.

Jo eyes him again. In dog form, it may have seemed wary. On Jo, it's down right meticulous without there being real blatancy.

"You car nearby?"

Proud though she may be, she's not going to walk all the way over to the Kashtta like this if there's a first aid kit nearby. She could, but it could raise so many legitimate questions on her way over.

Questions she does not want to bother with at the moment.

Jo nods in confirmation. That's her name. No one calls her Joanna Beth but her mother. Anyone that tries gets their teeth knocked out. "Interesting is one way of putting it."

She looks around for two reasons. She's not letting that iron knife lose itself. She also wants to be entirely sure no other monster fell through the rift without her knowledge.

[swallowmyblood]

"My car's nearby," he confirms.

He sees her looking around and wonders what she's thinking. It's a curiosity. She is a curiosity.

Turning slightly, he points toward the street, where a black car is parked beneath a street lamp. "I keep an emergency kit in the trunk." He does. The kit is brand-new, of course, as he's never cared enough to offer it to anyone.

Nikolas notices Jo looking around. "I have a flashlight, too." A single brow is arched up, though she likely can't see it now. He can't help but wonder what it is she's looking for.

There are so many things that make him wonder.

The urge to step forward is nearly overwhelming and he takes a deep breath. "I can get go get them."

The walk to the car and back isn't nearly long enough to force back that need, but his strength of will is, perhaps, surprisingly strong. He holds out the kit and the flashlight to her with steady hands.

The smile on his face appears entirely natural as he attempts to find out a bit more about her. "Is Chicago your hometown?" He knows it's not, at least not this Chicago, but...it's a start.

[yourwonderings]

Jo isn't surprised he has an emergency kit. Even those that aren't hunters in Chicago should keep one in their car, considering the way the city likes to toss monster and mayhem at its citizens for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

If anyone doesn't take some sort of precaution, Jo thinks they're a dumbass.

"Gonna need that too, if you don't mind," Jo says, in regards to the flashlight. It'd make her job of looking for the knife easier.

She is not leaving the park until she finds it.

Jo looks up the moment Nikolas returns, taking the kit with a somewhat grateful nod. She's not going to give much away, no matter how many questions he asks. Jo has trust issues the size of Atlanta, and that only multiplies when she's dealing with strangers she doesn't trust.

"No, only been here for about a month." Sometimes, when you're working a cover story, it helps to not lie about certain things to keep all the facts straight. "What about you? You from around?"

Jo figures it's only polite to ask, since he's lending her the kit and all. She's got some manners.

Sometimes.

[swallowmyblood]

Nikolas watches her with the kit, not offering to step forward and help. He's fairly certain such an offer wouldn't be welcome.

He's also fairly certain that, at this point, being too close to her right now would be entirely inappropriate, as he has no plans of killing her yet.

He glances around the area, trying to see what it is she was looking for.

Of course, he's listening all the while.

An entire month. So much time wasted, he can't help but think, and there's the softest sigh.

At the question, he glances over her way. "I recently moved to Chicago. My nephew lives here." There's the smallest smile, then. "Family is so important, isn't it?"

Nikolas will be watching to see what reaction that gets, as well.

[yourwonderings]

She sets the kit down on the bench nearby, sitting down beside it. Jo opens the kit and starts to patch herself up with way too much ease. One can tell she's done this before, countless of times before.

And she has. She'll stitch herself up and it'll scar but of those she has quite a collection now.

All hunters bear battle scars. They tell a story. They toughen you up. They make you learn so next time, you don't make the same mistake.

Jo remembers each and every scar she's been given. She isn't likely to forget.

At the sigh, she glances up, mindful of the fact she's still patching herself up. Family. The word itself stings, and Jo has to school her features into something akin to neutral.

She thinks of Ellen Harvelle. She thinks of every hunter that came to the Roadhouse and became part of that makeshift family. She thinks of the fact she'll probably never see them again. "Pretty damn important," she agrees, softer than she would have liked. "That the only family you've got?"

[swallowmyblood]

It's more than obvious that Jo's done this before.

He watches her closely, though not too closely. He's starting to read her reactions a bit, here and there.

There won't be staring.

There is a mental picture taken when Jo adopts that neutral look on her face.

'Pretty damn important,' she says, in that different voice. It's a softer voice, and it only serves to make him want to know more.

Such a soft voice...

He'll remember that, too.

At the question, he nods. "Yes. He's the only family I have left." If his voice sounds fond, it's because it is.

Nikolas is fondly thinking of slitting Josef's neck. It makes his smile grow slightly warmer, more thoughtful.

He looks away, chuckles slightly, just a quiet sound in the evening air before he turns back to her. "You're doing all right?"

[yourwonderings]

Jo does not appreciate being watched, closely or not. She lifts her gaze quizzically, as if asking, what? Do I got something on my face?

It doesn't last for long. She's trying to behave. Or at least, her version of behaving, which is not getting up in his face even though he's helping. It's not hard to get up in someone's face when you're Jo.

She's suspicious by nature, but this is something...she can't really explain it. It's born at the very pit of her stomach, and that means she's got her guard up all the way.

It'd take one hell of an avalanche to have those walls crumble down.

"Makes sense you'd move," is all she says.

Josef is displeased, Nikolas. He is so displeased but he has no business being all up in this tag so everyone can ignore him.

She glances up at him again, this tie managing to crack a smile. Whether it's sincere or not is anyone's guess. "Oh, I'm just peachy. It's not as bad as the monster parade a few weeks ago. After that anything else doesn't make much of an impression."