The Wereling

[Cyraus]

Jasmine smirked at Tom's visible teenage sexual angst. She found it quite cute, though, how innocent he acted. "Uhh," she said at his suggestion. "First error with that sentence, it's three in the afternoon and the second is that Chironine provides the food. If you want to get a snack between meals, you have to buy the food with money. You earn money by participating in missions or doing chores."
"Very well said, my dear," said V, coming up behind the two. "Couldn't have said it better myself." Circling around them, he faced Tom and said, "You see, Thomas, Chironine is not a charity. Food, clothing, and other things such as television are privileges. Most of the chores are done by newcomers or lodgers like Jasmine. You can help with cooking, washing dishes, cleaning halls, organizing files, doing laundry, cleaning the pool, washing windows, and et cetera. You will be paid every two weeks regarding on your performance and consistency." Just then, a dog walked up to V from behind Tom and Jasmine. He was a boxer mix with with a large under bite that made him look menacing. "Hello, Tiny," said V, crouching down and scratching the dog behind the ears with both hands. The dog wagged his little stub tail. Jasmine grinned and petted the dog on the back.
"This is Tiny," said Jasmine looking up at Tom with beaming eyes. "The ugliest dog I've ever seen, but also one of the cutest." Tiny snorted as if on cue.

Once the four got home, Megan and Cora begged Alan for ice cream. Their pouts were too enticing to resist, so they all scarfed down a carton of Rocky Road. After games of Monopoly, Uno, and Apples to Apples, they sat down to watch television. The channel was turned to Powerpuff Girls, and the two girls watched the show intently. After the first show, Kate looked over at Alan by her side and saw him with his eyes closed, smiling.
"What are you smiling about?" she asked, after seeing no other reaction from him. His hand jerked and he seemed to reply, "I'll be keeping this for luck." She realized that he was fast asleep. When Rescue leaped up on his lap he woke up with a jolt. He looked around the room with a rather agitated face. "What were you dreaming?" murmured Kate. With his eyebrows furrowed, Alan scoffed and muttered, "I can't remember." She nodded and turned back to the T.V. She wondered throughout the night whether or not that was a lie.
(('TIS LIES!))

[Ichigo Kulric]

"Oh..." Was all Tom said to Jasmine's explaining on the food. He jumped at V's voice and turned to see him coming up from behind. He listened to his words, raising an eyebrow with interest, making mental notes. "Jeez!" He suddenly exclaimed as he saw the dog and took a giant jump backwards. He blinked to remind himself it was just a dog, so he looked curiously at it before giving it a tap on it's big head. "Um... what's up, Tiny?" he said quietly.

[Cyraus]

Tiny snorted once again and licked Tom's hand with a long and wide tongue. Jasmine grimaced and said, "Icky. I'm okay with dogs around as long as they don't lick me." V laughed cheerily and replied, "Well, good luck finding a dog that suits you!" He turned to Thomas and said, "We have several other pets roaming around the hallways. A Chesapeake Bay Retriever named Espen, a standard poodle named Welles, a Newfoundland and Labrador mix named Bear, a Japanese Bobtail named Sienna, and a Savanah cat named.. he's named Sh... Shrooms-" V's sentence was cut off by his muffled laughter. Jasmine giggled a bit and tried to speak, but was giggling too much to. V went out in full fledged laughter along with Jasmine right behind them. As V was trying to choke out an apology, Jasmine was leaning against the wall, trying to control her laughter but failing to.
A young woman in a nurse's outfit came rushing over and smiled at the two of them throwing a laughter tantrum. "What's so funny?" she asked snickering a bit herself. She had big brown doe eyes with thick rimmed glasses and long blond-streaked light brown hair.
"We were-" gasped V, balancing himself by placing his hand against a bench nearby, "we were... just t-telling Thomas.... about... the pets." The young woman got the subtle joke immediately and joined the group laughter. After a few more minutes of this, the young woman was able to calm herself and explain the joke.
"You see," said the young woman, "the name of the cat is Shrooms, as in an abbreviation of mushrooms. His meow is so low that it sounds like he's on mushrooms. It is the absolute funniest thing!"
"If there was a choir of cats in Chironine," chuckled V, "he'd be the tenor." The woman laughed and said, "Most definitely." V looked at Thomas and grabbed the young woman by the shoulders, saying, "My apologies, Thomas, this is Autumn Liddell, Chironine's cute and eccentric nursing sweetheart. Say hello, Autumn."
"Hello, Autumn," she repeated with a smile and a wave.

[Ichigo Kulric]

Tom's lip curled at the slobber on his hand and he wiped it on his jeans. "Well... we sure have a lot of pets..." He chuckled a bit at the name, but then just watched with amusment at both V's and Jaz's humor. "Heh... Shrooms. That's brilliant." He grinned, anxious to hear the cat himself. When Autumn approached, he perked up and then nodded his head in greeting and grinned. "Hey, what's up?" He waved back and then sniffed the air. "I smell cat. Maybe one's approaching." He announced. Sure enough, Shrooms rounded the corner and let out his signature low meow. It was like the cat was speaking in slow-mo, and Tom burst out laughing. "You-you're so right... that's really frickin' hilarious!" He doubled over, holding his gut, while scratching Shrooms under his chin.

[Cyraus]

Everyone else laughed along with Tom when Shrooms let out the epic meow. When Tom scratched him under the chin, the cat made a hiss that became a low growl afterward. Autumn smiled and said, "Don't be intimidated. He's an F1 Savannah so he has a lot of wild cat sounds."
"So beautiful," cooed Jasmine, stroking the spotted and striped fur of the cat.
"V," said Damion, coming up behind them. "I have some more information regarding this Wednesday." V nodded and said, "Of course." He turned back to the other three and said, "It was nice chatting with you but I have some business that needs attending. Goodbye." He followed Damion out of their sight. Autumn nudged Tom and said, "I thought your reason for joining Chironine was very thoughtful." She lifted her finger and, with a babyish stern voice, said, "But you must take care of yourself first. It is really frustrating when first years always play the hero. You're going to have to settle for being a side-kick for the next few years or you'll end up being dead!" Autumn said 'dead' in a singsong voice.
"Wise words," sighed Jasmine with a little chuckle following after. She had a sheepishly grim face on when she said, "I've only been here for several months, but I've seen that newer members are actually a lot more likely to be killed than any others." She wrapped her arm around Tom's neck and growled, "So don't do anything stupid, wolf boy!"

[Ichigo Kulric]

Tom blinked several times at the oddness of Autumn. "Um.. yes, ma'dam." He spluttered, and then blushed when Jazmine wrapped her arm around his neck. "Yes ma'dam." He repeated, smiling and letting out a shy laugh. "So... this Wednesday. What's supposed to be really going on?" He looked to Autumn. "I heard only from Damien about an ambush or something going on at the school?" He was very worried about this now, since he could think straight. He thought of all his friends and probably even Joey being endangered by the 'wolves.

[Cyraus]

Autumn's face turned into a serious expression as she explained, "Well, the 'wolves were able to find out which town you lived in. Fortunately, they didn't know which house you lived in. So the clan is going to use the basketball game on Wednesday as a lure to get you there." She laughed, saying, "Well, joke's on them. You're not going to be there! Hahaha!"
"Unless he helps them out with the mission," said Jasmine. Autumn nodded and said, "But V doesn't usually throw first years on the front line. You'll probably do something different than battle, like help out the citizens."

[Ichigo Kulric]

Tom's jaw dropped. "B-but... what about all those people? I could help! If it's me they want, I could just lure them outside and then V and the rest could attack... it can't be that simple, can it?" He looked devistated. He backed up against the wall, feeling a headache coming on. And his bruises from yesterday's fight with V were no help either. "They didn't touch Mom, Dad, or Joey, did they? They didn't find the house at all?"

[Cyraus]

Autumn shook her head and replied, "Battle never is simple. It's spontaneous and unexpected. We'll not know who in the school that night will actually be an offender. Since we cannot suspend the game, all we can do is hope for little casualties." Jasmine furrowed her browns and asked, "Why can't Chironine prevent it? Have they tried?" Autumn gave them a wry smile and nodded. She looked off into the side as if in deep thought. She sighed along with saying, "We have tried But if the 'wolves won't find it that way, we're afraid they'll go massacring the town for Tom." She turned to Tom. "I doubt that they have found your family. They wouldn't go through with their plan if they knew that you weren't there." Looking upon both Tom and Jasmine's faces, Autumn smiled and said, "Well, it is still Monday. Let's not worry about that right now. Supper is almost ready. I'll see you later." She waved the two away and leisurely walked down the corridor toward another destination with Tiny and Shrooms following after her.
After turning to face Tom, Jasmine wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned her cheek against his cheek. She let out a slow exhale and whispered, "Please, always know that I'm always here for you when times get hard." She made a dry laugh. "It's too bad that's all I can do. I'm sorry, Tom..."

[Ichigo Kulric]

Tom savored every word Autumn spoke. He hung his head, and then smiled to her as she left. Now that he thought about it, he was starving. He really did want to help out with the attack though. Maybe he'd talk to V about possibly calling his parents and seeing if they're okay.
All these thoughts ceased as Tom froze from Jaz's arms around him. He felt her warm cheek on his, and smiled at her words. He put his hands on her hips and pulled her a little closer, loving the comfort and company. "Thanks, Jaz. And that's all I need right now is you." He pulled a little away and looked at her with a look of thankfulness. "Really... thank you." He whispered, touching his forhead to hers and not breaking the eye contact.

[Cyraus]

It delighted Jasmine to hear those words come out of Tom's mouth. She stared down at the floor behind Tom's feet with a whimsical expression. It was all she wanted right at that moment; to soothe his worries and to sweep all his hidrances out of his way. The cloud nine feeling receded when the both of their foreheads were against each other. Jasmine wanted to move in, but her mind wasn't fully willing to do that. She didn't want to risk Tom's possible reluctance to start a relationship, placing even more pressure on him. Nevertheless, a part of her was convinced that intimate love was what Tom needed the most.
After several agonizing moments, Jasmine finally connected lips with Tom, but only for a second. She quickly recoiled to see his reaction of the kiss she stole.

[Ichigo Kulric]

As Jazmine pulled back from the kiss, Tom was smirking, hardly shocked. However, his inner lonely hormones activated slightly, but he shooed them back down.
"Heh. I'm not afraid this time... or holding a gun," He playfully pressed her body closer to his, seeming to almost be hugging her. "However... what I'm holding right now might just be a little more dangerous." He grinned and touched her nose with his, rocking their bodies from side to side for no reason. He finally got his courage up and returned her kiss with a longer, passionate one, craddling her jaw upwards so he could have better access.

[Cyraus]

Tom's reminiscence of the first time they kissed made Jasmine's heart flutter. After all he's been through, she expected that that moment wasn't even present in his head anymore. She snickered at Tom's flirtatious comment and replied, "Careful, Thomas, I don't have my safety on..." She accepted his kiss, no longer any modesty in her. Knowing that he felt the same, she wouldn't hold back. Fully embracing him, Jasmine broke away only coming back for more at another angle. She intimately caressed Tom's cheek with her fingers as did her tongue with his mouth. Some saliva escaped from their mouths when she opened hers to deepen the kiss. Several people passed by, but hardly noticing the two snogging. She assumed that it was due to the respect rule of Chironine. Either way, she didn't give a damn whether they watched or not. Might as well give them a show.
Jasmine broke away from the kiss, but didn't come back for more another time. She smiled at Tom, murmuring, "We should get to supper before we miss it."

[Ichigo Kulric]

His heart beat more rapidly, the sound making his ears feel as if they were bleeding. His face was warmer than usual, and a single sweat bead ran down his face. Tom felt the wolf slamming against his insides, and it took everything not to want to bite Jaz to pieces or take her right there in the hallway. So it was a relief, yet full disappointment when Jazmine pulled away for the last time, leaving Tom to lick away some of the stray saliva away from his lips.
"Um.. yeah, okay." He said, smiling only a little. He was about to turn and look for it. "Ah... yeah, I don't know where it is." He chuckled and gave a very innocent grin.

[Cyraus]

Shaking her head, Jasmine took Tom's hand and escorted him through the hallways. After twisting around the corridors, the low, twitching hum of many people speaking at a time manifested. Another few turns and the image of dozens of circular tables filled with people upon a vastly-sized room. The floor had the spread of dark red tainted with black, brown, and eggplant. The tables had the capacity of twelve people with a dark violet silk tablecloth and a centrepiece of wraught iron candleholders supporting two lit white candles.
Four brilliant, crystal chandeliers hung overhead separated into the shape of a diamond against the square dimensions of the room. There was a single pillar in the middle of the room, adjacent to the chandeliers, that had wraught iron snaking up smooth, ivory cylinder with gaping metal roses welded on in several random places. Across from where Jasmine and Tom were was a stage clothed in a rippling, scarlet curtain.
"Jasmine!" called a voice amongst the buzzing of converstaion. "Tom!" Autumn scuttled over to them with a beaming face. Her long hair was now piled on top of her head in messy yet sassy ruffling buns. Jasmine greeted her with a "Hey Autumn."
"I was beginning to think that you guys weren't going to show up," she said cupping her hand against her cheek. Eyeing Tom, she giggled and said, "It's something, huh? Jasmine had the exact same expression when she first set her eyes upon this room. There's a few spots over near the upper left; I'll take you there." After twisting through the dozens of tables they arrived and seated themselves. Autumn greeted the members already present there as Jasmine took up the serving dish of chicken stir fry beside the centrepiece.
"The food here is magnificent," she said, handing him the plate.