[closed]

[amberhearted]

Who: Alex and Lyall
When: Friday, January 3rd
Where: Savarna-Varista apartment
What: A werewolf visits his stir crazy vampire friend. Together, they make little pies for a murderous ferret and a fashionista unicorn.
Warnings: --

Lyall's visit came as a surprise to Alex. It showed on his face even as he opened the door, smile present, but obviously not expecting.

"Hey, Randy," was his greeting as he stood back to let him inside. He closed and locked the door behind him onehandedly, the other holding his place in the novel Ravindra had Echoed back some time before Christmas. "How've your holidays been?"

Comments

[professorwolf]

It was, Lyall hoped, a nice surprise. He smiled, a little sheepishly, as he stepped inside. Vampire smell was positively everywhere, but he managed not to actually wrinkle his nose at it. He didn't want to come here and be rude to a friend, after all.

Pulling his hat off, he said, "Relatively quiet, really. Aside from the occasional foray out to meet superheros in the street or aliens in barns, and all that, I mean. Yours?"

[amberhearted]

"Aliens in barns," he said, smiling wryly at him. "Hah. Mine was fine."

He made for the refrigerator. "What's this about meeting superheroes in the street? You want something to drink?"

[professorwolf]

Lyall set his hat aside, somewhere out of the way (coat rack, counter, the back of a chair... anywhere available), then said dryly, "One of my friends has decided that since he now has a superhero-looking costume and a fancy motorcycle, he ought to ride about the streets looking for trouble."

[amberhearted]

It was years of habit when having guests over that had Alex opening the fridge to give Lyall something to drink, but he realized, upon opening the door, that he didn't have anything to offer.

Because he only drank blood now.

He sheepishly closed the door. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that Lyall hadn't taken him up on the offer.

"Who's that, Bakura?" he asked, turning to face Lyall properly.

[professorwolf]

"Oh, god, no." Lyall looked a little alarmed at the very idea, moving easily past the lack of an offered drink. "I should hope not. No, it was Hajime." Who was entirely old enough (and tough enough) to be out getting into trouble without needing a chaperone, even if Lyall didn't entirely approve of Hajime doing it, either. "Apparently his bug monster guise and his wolf monster guise aren't the only appearance changes he's capable of."

[amberhearted]

Alex stared at Lyall, mouth jaw loosening as he processed the answer. "Hajime?"

One hand lifted to his temple and the other, more slowly, to his waist. "How many costumes is that guy gonna get?" he asked, more a comment on the amount of Hajime's 'forms' than an actual question expecting an answer. "And he's going out in public like that? That's just asking for trouble..."

[professorwolf]

"Better than going out in public as the bug, I suppose," Lyall shrugged, grinning just a little at Alex's amazed expression. "Perhaps that's all his own other fellow is capable of doing: shapeshifting into various ridiculous outfits and faces." That was a joke. Mostly.

[amberhearted]

He dropped his hand on the exhale. "And super strength, can't forget that one. I hope no one pulls a gun on him, cripes..."

He gripped the edge of the island and leaned forward. Alex may not have had any suitable drinks for Lyall in the refrigerator, but looking inside had reminded him of something else that might come into play this visit.

"Actually," he started, lips curving in an almost mischievous, lopsided smile, "your timing's perfect. I was gonna make an apple pie for our equine friend, but how about one for your roommate, too?"

[professorwolf]

"One can only hope," Lyall agreed, and cocked his head at the expression on his friend's face. "An apple pie for Stella? Oh dear." He chuckled. "I imagine she'd like that. She seems to eat just about anything, so far-- she discovered sushi recently, and can't get enough. I will warn you, though, I'm not a particularly fantastic cook, and I've never baked anything before that didn't come out of a box."

[amberhearted]

"Well, I'd say the crust is the hardest part, and I bought those pre-made." He grinned. "So it should be smooth sailing."

He opened the freezer door and removed the box of frozen tart shells to show Lyall. "Cute, huh? Got 'em small to be bite-sized for Cindy, but it'll be like a regular sized pie for Stella. I forgot about the top, though, so I gotta make some for that."

After that, he popped the box back inside the freezer. "You want something to wear over your shirt?"

[professorwolf]

"I'm generally fairly neat," Lyall answered, but he did look like he was considering it. "Though I might as well. The last thing I need is to stain this." He didn't have much spare funds for new clothing, these days. "Those will be perfect sized for Stella, though. At least as she is now."

Because that reminded him: "She did manage to pulse back a shirt she believes is hers, only it's close to human sized."

[amberhearted]

As soon as he got the affirmative, Alex started walking backwards around Lyall to get to his room, though at his leisure, still paying attention to the conversation. Lyall's comment about Stella's alleged shirt earned a skeptical smile out of him.

"What makes her think that?"

[professorwolf]

"I assume it's the same feeling as what makes me think those ridiculous glasses things I got back were mine," Lyall shrugged with a little grin of his wn, stepping casually out of Alex's way. "Besides, it does smell a bit like ferret. In a very odd and distant sort of way."

[amberhearted]

He let out an amused 'huh', pausing the conversation as he disappeared into his room. A few minutes later, he returned with a red flannel shirt, old and dotted with dried paint splotches and small tears here and there, predominantly near the bottom and the ends of the sleeves.

"Here you go," he said, tossing it underhanded at Lyall. "Don't worry about the stains. It's clean."

The shirt would be a little big on him, but fit certainly wasn't significant to its intended purpose.

"I dunno about a human-sized ferret. Or a human-sized Stella, really. What else did it smell like? The sea, a rat?"

[professorwolf]

"Definitely the ocean," Lyall agreed, taking the shirt with a vaguely amused expression. Did he even own any flannel, that wasn't pajamas? He didn't think he did. But he shrugged it on over his shirt easily enough. It was, indeed, quite a bit too large. He rolled up the sleeves a bit, so they wouldn't get into everything.

"And sweat. And a little bit like blood, actually. Which I suppose suits, since Stella does keep talking about killing people. I've started to think she really isn't joking about it."

[amberhearted]

"That girl," he said, shaking his head. It was an expression of endearment (mostly).

"She talked about a rat with a trident," he continued, gathering the necessary utensils for their little culinary adventure, "inducting her into some sort of order for a king. Maybe she was part of a rodent navy or something."

Without warning, he tossed an apple behind his back Lyall's way. "Think fast!"

[professorwolf]

"What-- whoops!" Lyall's hands came up, all right, but too late, and he fumbled the apple and dropped it. He bent to retrieve it with a sigh for his own lack of grace. Was that something werewolves were supposed to have? "Alex, watch where you're throwing things."

[amberhearted]

He chuckled. "I was! I was throwing it at you. Well. It wasn't much of a throw. More of a toss."

He set the chopping board and knife on the space that was henceforth designated as Lyall's Apple Pie Filling Station. A large bowl and a group of Granny Smiths followed with a lone lemon tagging along.

[professorwolf]

"Well, remember that you are tossing to an academic sort, not a sporting sort," Lyall admonished, albeit cheerfully. "I'm liable to drop just about anything you throw at me, without enough of a warning."

He had no qualms about being set to chopping, though. That, he was entirely capable of doing, without even peeling his fingers in the process, so he set to it with a will. "All of these, then?" he asked, taking a moment to pause and pop a slice into his mouth.

[amberhearted]

Meanwhile, Alex gathered the ingredients for the extra pie dough. "Mmhm. Small pieces, yeah? For our little seafaring friend."

Though the image of her gnawing at a regular chunk of diced apple made him exhale humorously.

[professorwolf]

"You would be surprised at how much she can fit into her mouth if she's determined enough," Lyall answered, but wryly, and he did follow the advice to make the bits nice and small, what he knows is a more comfortable size for a ferret. He's had practice, after all.

"So how have things been here? I know you're trapped indoors more often than not," he comments while he cuts.

[amberhearted]

"Boring. Dull. Uneventful." There's a short pause before he adds, "Monotonous," and another pause before he says, "Those're all the different words for 'boring' I know."

He started cutting the butter into the dry mixture, his speech peppered with the sound of two butter knifes slicing parallel in a bowl. "So bless your werewolf soul for coming, Randy, I really appreciate it. How's the back to school rush?"

[professorwolf]

"It hasn't started yet. That's the only reason I've managed to make it here when it isn't after dark," Lyall chuckled, though not without sympathy. "It starts up next week. I am glad I could be of some help, though. I've been a bit at loose ends, myself. I usually spend Christmas with my family, but I spent that money on the trip out when their house flooded, back in September, so here I am."

[amberhearted]

He let out a noise of acknowledgement, a means to stall a real answer as he considered Lyall's response. Christmas with his family...

No, no. Best not to think of it.

"Your first Christmas with a talking ferret, then, huh? That's one for the scrapbook."

[professorwolf]

"I'm just pleased that she didn't take offense at her gifts," Lyall said, glancing over at Alex for the pause. "One never can tell, with her. Did you manage to do anything to celebrate?" He hadn't asked, after all, and Alex had asked him. He didn't remember much about the man's family, if he had any nearby or not.