Chapter 10 - You Got Some S'plaining To Do!

"First, Soothing told me you'd arrived. He suggested I talk to you about what happened and get the full story." says Wyrmripper, leaning back against the door frame.

I wince, I'm too tired for this shit. My ass hits the bed and I let out a soft sigh. I really can't do anything other than tell him the truth. So, barely managing to keep my eyes open I tell him what happened since I got here. Leaving out only my encounter with the naga, but including the flashbacks and the part where I kissed Soothing thinking he was my long ago lover Ryan.

"Just to be clear, you're telling the truth here right?" he says.

That draws a groan from me. Just 'asking' that wouldn't work unless you had some gift or something that would tell you otherwise. Wait a moment. I grab my bag and rummage around inside it, then pull out the stone compass, grinning I toss it to Wyrmripper.

"Here, lie detector fetish. Ready?" I say.

Wyrmripper looks down at the compass and frowns for a moment, before nodding and looking at me.

"I swear I have told you the truth with what happened with Soothing, with the flashbacks and with the facts that I want to help you lot and Alex. Oh as well as to undo some of the damage done by the other me." I say.

He frowns then nods as the compass finally seems to have made it's choice.

"Sweet, now I know what's caused the upset between the two lovebirds. You need to actually come clean to them at some point you realise?" he says.

I nod and sigh.

"I know, I will. Though right now, what I need most is sleep. I'm exhausted and unless you're gonna curl up and cuddle me, I should probably lay down and shut up before my mouth gets me into more trouble."

He smirks at me and shakes his head.

"Do you guys come from a dimension where everyone is gay or something? It takes more than just a passing comment like that to get me in bed." he snorts.

I raise my eyebrows, that wasn't supposed to get that kind of reaction, mayhap there's a little more to this big guy than I suspected.

"Oh really? Well I must say that I *YAWN*!"

GODDAMMIT! Why then body?! Seriously! I was working my mojo and you have to go and throw that spanner RIGHT in the works. Wyrmripper looks ready to fall out of the door laughing.

"Smooth mate, real smooth." he laughs.

"... Bollocks." is pretty much all I can manage to say right then.

"Got a nice pair thanks mate. I'll let you get some shut eye, but word of advice, I'll take the odd flirt but I don't come across, you do it in front of my pack and I'll bounce your ass off a wall." he grins, this time the look on his face suggests he might enjoy that too.

I gulp. This guy is like a nicer version of Colt. That pulls a bit of a twinge in the back of my mind. I miss being back home and even to some small degree, the barked orders that keep my ass in line.

"Noted. Since you're not going to come across, I'll thank you for your hospitality by making that fetish a gift to you. Though a night between the sheets is on offer if you ever change your mind." I grin at him.

He laughs and rolls his eyes.

"Thank you for the gift. That's quite generous you know? Especially since you obviously haven't been a shifter for too long, you don't know all of the rules either. Fetishes are extremely valuable and one like this shouldn't be so freely given." he says.

"I did think so, but my pack follows Uktena and I'm supposed to find items like that. I think it would be better in your hands as it will be put to wherever is most useful. You've already shown that you're kind and generous, just by Alex being alive. I know he will someday actually repay you but you've also taken in a Khan and her dad. You didn't have to do that. So I'm putting my faith into you too, that way perhaps we can make a bigger repair to the damage of the war of rage." I say to him earnestly.

His eyes widen a little then a soft smirk appears on his face as he shakes his head.

"Well, aren't we in for a world of surprises. Thanks again, I'll look after this and see to it that it's used well. You can consider this payment for tonight and for taking in Rin and Riyada. I'll look out for them best we can. However if you want to stay longer, you're gonna need to do a few jobs for us. I can't take payment from your ass I'm afraid." he grins.

I mock pout at him then grin. "Thanks Wyrmripper."

"Night Lawrence." he grins and starts to close the door.

"Night." I smile and turn to the bed.

I strip out of my jeans and hang them over a chair that's perched under the window. My shirt is thrown besides it on the floor as that doesn't need to dry from spilled coffee. A quick glance around the room and I spot a second door in the room, which reveals itself to be a small en-suite. After a brief visit to it, I collapse on the bed. The duvet is lovely and comfortable against my skin as I curl up and just pass out.

I remember walking through the door to my hotel room after tipping the lovely bellboy. I should really behave a little better, but I only took a small nip from him. Much as I'd like to give up feeding on mortals, I can't really do so without killing myself or going batshit and killing a load of people. Neither are options I'm particularly caring for. At least I'm just tiding myself over instead of going nuts on my feeding. Tyr already isn't entirely happy with what I am, even less so since that time in the bathroom.

That was a night I fondly remember. All that noble behaviour had finally paid off and I got what I wanted. Yet, now I found it a hard habit to break. I 'liked' being the nice guy and what's worse, I found it made Tyr like me a little more. That isn't really a bad thing, the problem is that I started to crave that appreciation almost as much as I did blood. Not a good thing for a vampire to have urges to please a were creature. I get away with it mostly because he's such a good bodyguard and I'm an elder vampire, we're allowed certain... Indulgences.

The room is empty when I walk in. Checking in the bathroom and other areas, I realise that Tyr isn't around. That's strange. He's usually nearby unless something bigger goes off. I hope he's alright. My eyes fall on the metal chest in my room, complete with inside and outside padlocks. I hate that thing, but it make Tyr better to know I'm in it when I'm dead to the world. Sigh, the things I do for an overgrown house cat.

The thought brings a smirk to my face, much as I'd like to consider him as a pussycat, he's a majestic beast that could tear my face off. It's the exciting thrill that he could do that, that pushes me even further. That's what I keep telling myself as I find myself whimsically thinking of ways I could make his job easier or more so how I can make him happier. That's when the smell catches my nose and I freeze.

The room, it's got a strange scent, one I was struggling to recognise but the second scent roiled through me and I knew it instantly. Tyr, but it was Tyr aroused. That's when the second scent made sense. The room smelt of sex, faintly, someone had tried to cover it up with air freshener and changing the sheets, but this was sex and more importantly, it was Tyr's arousal I could smell. I'd spent years waiting for that scent, I'd never forget it.

Another deep inhale and something clicks inside my head as I realise what the other scent is. It's female. Of course I didn't recognise it straight away, I'm not exactly involved with women greatly and it's been some time since I was forced to pretend. I rifled through my memories and felt my lips twitch at the corners. This was a bad case of goldilocks. Who'd been sleeping in my bed?

That being said. Tyr does have a responsibility to keep the tiger line going. I can't hold that against him, he doesn't belong to me and I don't belong to him. So why is that aggravating me? It's not quite an emotion, but it's definitely a part of me asking if I should let him get away with this. Though I should really let him just get on with it, we need more tigers in this world. They're beautiful creatures.

Oh damn it, I am going to be childish about this aren't I? It's vexed me no end to know that he's fucked some girl in my bed and all I got was the bathroom. Granted, it was very good in the bathroom, the water temperature helped to keep my body warm enough to pretend. Grrrr... That's all I am, pretending. I'm sick of this farce! I can't keep pretending forever can I?

Well, yes, technically I could. I mean, I would live forever, I don't age. But do I really feel I could do this for much longer? I know how much I'd miss Tyr being around. Even now I'm not sure where all this justification and arguments are coming from. I've never been this conflicted about things. Then again, I guess I've never loved someone either. All the signs are pointing towards that. I'm definitely falling for him. This is going to be a problem.

I hear the front door open and I turn around, checking the scent in the air and my hand straying down to the bed sheets in case I needed a distraction. I relax somewhat when I recognise Tyr's scent and he walks into the room.

"Oh, you're already up." he says.

I nod, not trusting my voice to say anything just yet. Tyr suddenly yawns and I blink, realising he's got darkness under his eyes. He's not been sleeping well, that much I can tell. I'd fed for the night and he won't let me go out anywhere without him. Whilst I'm here, he won't be able to sleep either.

My eyes stray to the box. Maybe I need some time to think alone. I hate the damn thing, but I can just stop being awake for the night for once and let him get some rest. I mean, fucking girls all day in the bed and then body guarding me all night, no wonder I wasn't going to get any more fun time with him. That wasn't fair of me and I knew it. I didn't care though. I'm just glad I didn't say it out loud because he'll be pissed big time.

"Something wrong?" he frowns at me, then I can see his body shift a little, his tongue starting to roll in and out of his mouth as he tastes the air.

"No. I don't have any plans tonight and you told me that you should really be asleep at night. So I'll get back in the box tonight and go to sleep myself." I say.

He's fully scowling at me, knowing that normally I would not be willing to get in the damn thing. I move across and start to get in when I catch sight of his nose twitching and his eyes widen. I bet he just caught the scent I had a bit earlier.

"Lawrence, I have to...." he starts to say and I cut him off.

"You have to do yourself and your line honour by keeping both alive. I am aware. You cannot do that if you burn yourself out. It will do me no harm to lay here tonight and let you rest." I chastise him, hoping to avoid him realising just how much I was sulking.

"Thank you Lawrence." he says.

I give him a brief smile and slide into the box, clipping the padlock on the inside. I hear a click outside as well before another click of the lights going off and a soft thud of his clothing hitting the floor. I bite my lip and close my eyes. I hated doing the right thing sometimes.

I woke up again the next night, only to find I couldn't move, my body was pinned down, like I was tied up. But that was impossible, I'd locked the box from the inside, no one should have been able to get in!

Wait a moment, I don't remember waking up like this before. This isn't a memory.

The thought causes me to open my eyes and I realise I'm actually being held to the bed by dark green coils. I widen them in surprise as I see a large snake's head peering at me and two more figures stood at the foot of the bed. I recognise one of them as the naga that I met at the station, the other one is a woman of definitely eastern ethnicity. She looks like a porcelain doll, if it was made out of carved sandstone. Which means that the thing wrapping me up is either their pet or a colleague. Well, this is far from the good night's sleep I intended.

"Ummm. Hi again." I say.

The snake wrapping me against the bed gives me a slight squeeze and I wince. That hurts!

"Hello again Lawrence Blake." rumbles the naga I met earlier.

"You know, when you said you wanted to talk, a phone call would have sufficed." I mutter.

"You are aware of why we are here are you not?" he says.

"You said you wanted to talk. What did you want to talk about?" I reply.

The naga exchanges a glance with the lady and the both then turn back to me.

"You understand that, that is not the only reason we are here to see you?" he says.

I frown at him. "Errr, no. I thought you just wanted to talk to me?"

There's no glance this time, just him starting to get the slightest part of a frown in there. I sincerely hope I'm not pissing him off.

"You are not lying, so you're either naive or you believe we cannot justify our judgement upon you for your crimes." he says.

My eyebrows must have vanished into my hairline in sheer astonishment as my jaw drops.

"Crimes?! I haven't been in this world more than two days and all I've done is killed a few fomori! I haven't done anything else that goes against either garou or nuwisha rules, as far as I'm aware anyway." I splutter.

That gets one hell of a look between the pair of them and now the lady has the slightest crease of a frown on her head. It's amazing the details you can sometimes see when you're scared.

"You are Lawrence Blake, nuwisha of the fourth rank?" he says.

I blink. "Fourth rank? I don't think so, I only just got out of being a cub! I've only been a nuwisha for two weeks!"

The woman leans forward and a wispy voice slides from her lips that makes me shudder.

"You are either able to fool our gifts or you need to give a good explanation."

Well, I've got fuck all to lose at this point.

"I'll tell you, but you'll probably not believe some of it. Especially since it doesn't exactly paint me in a good light." I say.

They look at each other and the male naga motions for me to begin. With that I sigh and tell them the entire story of what happened, how I was a vampire from another world, how I became a nuwisha, as well as how I'd ended up here. Most especially I explained how I was currently trying to undo some of the damage done previously by the nuwisha who's body I now inhabited and that I still needed to go through the file to start pulling pieces of it apart.

They're looking at each other when I finish before the male reaches over to my file sticking out my back and pulls it out, starting to read through it. It'll take him a while though, that damn thing is full of stuff I just don't understand yet.

Another sigh escapes my mouth as I lay my head back, no use struggling with the grip I'm in, plus I don't want to piss off the snake holding me if it's a naga. I'd seen what naga venom can do, I didn't like the idea of getting that stuck in me. I turn my head a little to see the snake looking at me, it was probably waiting for me to make a move. Fat chance. I liked breathing.

Then the snake loosens its grip and slides off me. I blink and sit up slowly, the serpent sliding from me and across the floor before forming into another male, this one has long black hair but I can't place what his ethnicity is. He's so plain looking it makes me shiver.

"We'll give you the benefit of the doubt for now. From what we see, you are not the Lawrence we are looking for, but you are still in his body. If you obey the rules and right the wrongs that the other Lawrence has done, then we will consider this proof enough." says the first male naga I met.

Whew, that means they're not going to kill me. However judging by the fact they managed to get in here totally un-detected, it would be safe to assume they were capable of getting almost anywhere and I could really use that help for trying to get that ritual.

"Great. Now here's the not so fun part. I need to ask for your help." I say.

The male raises an eyebrow at me.

"Sorry to ask, but as I've learned tonight, there is in the possession of certain individuals a ritual. This a rare ritual as it is performed by kinfolk, enabling them to become full shifters. There of course, is a catch to this ritual. To become one, they must skin alive five of their shifter kin and use their skins to complete the it."

That gets some glances between them all. I do wish they'd show some emotion, it's like talking to sodding Assamites.

"I have a possible location of the ritual, but after this afternoon's little fiasco at the police station, it won't be long before they figure out I'm not who they think I am. So I could do with some stealthier help to retrieve this ritual and destroy it." I say

"That's a lot to ask of someone you just met." says the first male naga.

"Yes it is, but I've already seen the results of it in my world. There isn't time for me to pussyfoot around or risk it on some pride kick. I've got to get hold of it and get it destroyed."

They look at each other again. A few moments later the first male looks at me again.

"Since you set me free and this appears to be of great importance to all changers. I will lend you my aid in this."

"Sweet. So what's your name if I may?"

"You can call me Snake." he says.

I just look at him. Really? He's really going to go with such a crappy name? Urgh. I'll keep my mouth shut for now.

"Alright. Well, I need a bit more sleep if that's." movement catches my eye and my head turns to spot a spider in the corner of the room.

That wouldn't normally bother me, but I've learnt since then. A look around the room and I see other ones in the corners. Well fuck. The naga are all just watching me as I sigh gently.

"Let me guess, the Lawrence of this world did something to upset the Ananasi?" I say.

"What makes you say that?" says Snake.

I look around at the walls and then sigh again.

"Okay, you heard the story, you probably don't care and I'm not stupid enough to think that you're just going to go away. Please come talk to me and I'll do my best to give you any information I have." I say, looking at the spiders.

"Who are you talking to?" says Snake.

"The Ananasi. One of them has been listening to everything I've said and will probably have questions of their own. I'm currently working with three of them back in my world, so I know they don't have friends, but they'll use someone who's useful to them. So come on out, I've already fed one of you guys, I don't want to do it again."

As if on cue, more spiders crawl out from the corners and other parts of the room, mounding together until they form another lady, who looks suspiciously familiar to me.

"The fuck, Charlotte?"

Now, she's scowling at me. "How the hell do you know my name?"

Oh this is getting off to a great start.