Tested and Tried

[Life.]

Jackie was ready to turn and leave as soon as she heard the inaudible sound that was more than likely 'coming' from the other side of the door. But she stayed put like a soldier, knowing all too well that her mother would never let it up if she didn't see this through. It was tough being a hardass but to have a mother as one as well was worse. Jackie could hear the sound of her heart pounding in her ears as she heard the door swinging open. She instantly became breathless when she saw Valoire.

Jackie wasn't too surprised of Valoire's surprise since this was way out of the ordinary for Jackie. But she could feel the elated dancing of her heart in her chest as she saw her friend once more. Although Jackie would have much preferred a different set of words from the ones that she actually said, "Well shit, did you drink too? Cause you look like absolutely crap."

Way...to...go Jackie.

Those words were definitely ones her friend wanted to hear! She brought up a hand to cover her face once the words did their deed. "No wait...that was the total opposite of what I wanted to say. Way to fucking go me..." she slid her hand down her face before she brought her eyes back to Valoire. It was unusual, she knew that Valoire was a werewolf at this point but it is so easy to talk to her. Well really nothing has changed. This transition may be easier than Jackie originally thought. But this is only one form of Valoire she was talking to. The thought of the other form made Jackie uncomfortable, but she was going to worry about that at a later time.

"What I really wanted to say was...I...I...I...hold on eventually I'll get it out...I'm...s-s-s-sorrryyy..." Jackie slurred the last word since it was one she often did not use.

StoneWolf18

 

[StoneWolf18]

Valoire winced slightly at Jackie's first comment. "Well it isn't every night you turn into a monster for the first time." She'd mutter, but remaining by the door to listen what she had to say. Her being here at all was more than a surprise and not giving her a mouthful of why she was now despised above all living things only increased this factor. When she finally managed to reach her conclusion however, she froze.

Jackie was genuinely apologizing.

To anyone else it might seem like she was being a sarcastic asshole, but for anyone else who had known for her as long as she had... this was her way of doing it. Thinking it through for a moment, she finally looked the woman in eye before moving forward and embracing her around the pot, her action hopefully speaking more than her weak grasp.

Life.

 

[Life.]

Jackie rubbed the back of her head and her eyes averted away from Valoire when she heard her response. She felt guilty for her first comment, but she'd already apologized and she did not know if she could manage another one. Then it was an awkward silence for a few seconds where the bumps on the flowerpot were becoming quite interesting beneath the touch of Jackie's fingertips. But when she looked up to see how Valoire was taking her visit, she had to steady herself when the woman threw her arms around her. Even though it was a light grasp, it was unexpected and Jackie didn't mentally prepare herself for it so she nearly lost balance but managed to catch herself.

Once she fixed herself she stood there her heart nearly bursting out of chest and her eyes pouring out tears of happiness. Jackie was definitely a softie at the moment. Feeling the embrace and warmth of Valoire on her felt right and wonderful. And it was probably because she was already becoming a smoosh but Jackie began mumbling more apologies, "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." If only she didn't have the pot in her hands would she have returned the embrace but even tighter.

StoneWolf18

 

[StoneWolf18]

"I know you are." Valoire would say eventually, stepping back from the embrace with a tired but sure smile. It felt amazing for her have Jackie back, causing her to momentarily forget how awful she still felt.

"Come in... and um..." she paused while taking a step back the doorway. "Why... do you have a plant?" She looked at the pot curiously, clearly at a loss for what it could be for.

Life.

 

[Life.]

Hearing that Valoire accepted her apology caused for more tears to fall. What did Jackie do to deserve her? Probably now she can focus all her crazy, energy emotion into love rather than hate. It certainly felt much better than hating. Compared to the boiling heat and stress, instead this felt warm and comforting. She released a heavy sigh that sent away all her fears and worries about Valoire not accepting her back. And really it was a big thing to worry about because Jackie had no other person besides her mom at the moment. Perhaps now that she decided to start fresh she can gain some more friends now.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt Valoire pulling away. She didn't want her to move away but they couldn't stand there forever. More than likely Valoire was feeling exhausted from turning into...a werewolf.

But then the plant was addressed. And at that moment Jackie felt silly holding it there. "Ah well...hyacinth are often associated with apologies and well...I was thinking if you weren't here or if maybe I needed to a show more earnest apology then I was going to give you this. Well I mean I still want to give you this...although it seems kind of silly now that I stand here holding it..."

StoneWolf18

 

[StoneWolf18]

"Oh..." This was... unexpected. "Well, I can't refuse..." She would gesture for her to set it on her counter, going to make sure to find a place for it later.

As she spoke Jackie... it felt like nothing had changed. Technically nothing had, aside from her learning of her infection of course. But even then she couldn't really tell a noticeable difference.

Whether this was a good or bad thing... she couldn't tell yet.

Regardless, she wasn't about to waste it. Shutting the door behind her as she would enter, Val would place a hand on a nearby wall as discreetly as possible to steady herself, hoping the dizziness she felt would subside. Pushing some of her disheveled hair behind her hair, she also felt somewhat embarrassed for appearing so unpresentable. It wasn't exactly her fault but it still caused her to feel a bit more awkward about the whole situation.

Life.

 

[Life.]

Jackie simply gave her a small smile when she decided to accept the flower. She entered her place then and rested the flowerpot in the spot she gestured to. Once the pot was set Jackie flexed her hands a bit, her fingers still feeling a bit stiff from the position they've been in for almost an hour. And now that her hands were free she wiped away all the tears that lingered and fixed herself a bit.

Her eyes looked over to Valoire then and saw her close to the wall. She may have tried to hide her struggle but Jackie wasn't perceptive for nothing. Over the years she was able to pick up the little things in order to figure out who was human and who was not. But now she could probably use it to help Valoire, although she may come to find Jackie's watchful eyes too much. At the moment though Jackie decided to take advantage.

"Do-do you need help?" she walked over and gingerly wrapped an arm around the woman, still leaving enough room if she declined her help.

StoneWolf18

 

[StoneWolf18]

Valorie would give a thankful nod as Jackie offered some help while putting an arm around her, leaning into her almost a bit more than she intended. Instructing her to take her over to the couch, she'd give a mixture of sigh and groan as she took a seat. Leaning back and lifting her hands to run down her face, she was silent for a moment.

While she was happy Jackie was here with her, the fact that she was still in bad shape didn't change.

"I'm sorry you had to come over right now when I'm like... this..." she'd sigh, gesturing towards herself. "Last night..." she'd trail off, hoping the woman would understand what she meant.

Life.

 

[Life.]

Jackie felt pleased when Valoire accepted her help. She even felt some satisfaction when Valoire leaned on her almost completely. This...this is what she wanted. Jackie heard her instructions and slowly guided her over to her couch. The woman was thoughtful in taking it easy considering she did not know how much pain or discomfort her friend must be experiencing at the moment. Once they reached the couch, Jackie helped her ease herself into it, making sure that there was enough comfort between pillows around.

She could tell that Valoire must be still quite exhausted from the ordeal. Jackie felt a little bad for coming around this time, but not so much since now she wasn't wallowing so much in despair. "That's fine. You don't need to talk about it if you do not want to," Jackie whispered. She reached over and grabbed Valoire's closest hand. "Do you need anything at the moment? If you just want to rest go ahead. I'll...either go or just hang around, whichever you prefer." Now that she was working through on accepting Val for who she is, Jackie could fully support her now. Especially now in how miserable she appeared.

StoneWolf18

 

[StoneWolf18]

As Jackie mentioning leaving, Val opened her eyes and shook her head slightly. "N-no! Please... stay... I just need to rest for a second..."

Squeezing the hand Jackie grabbed, she seemed to have visibly relaxed. Her breathing was a bit more even with a little color returning to her paled skin.

"I'm happy you came..."

Life.

 

[Life.]

The swift response startled Jackie slightly but brought a smile onto her lips as well. Then she felt Valoire's hand responding to her grasp. She watched as Valoire finally began to relax. Jackie's smile widened even more when she heard Valoire's words. "I'm happy I came as well," she whispered reaching over with her free hand to brush away the stray strands of hair from Valorie's face. "But you can still rest. I'll be here when you wake up. Or would you like some water first? Maybe some food?"

From Valorie's state at the moment Jackie assumed that food and water was needed in her system at the moment. Especially knowing the energy that must have been exerted during the change. Still the thoughts of how she may appeared in her other form popped up a few times and caused some unease in her mind, but she quickly brushed those thoughts away in order to focus her attention on Valoire right now. Her friend needed her, and she needed Val.

StoneWolf18

 

[StoneWolf18]

At the mention of food, as if on queue, the door would once again open with Julian entering with a few bags in his pale hands. Looking at the two with a bit of surprise, he took a step back. "Am I... interrupting something? No matter... here." He would pass them to Jackie. "Seeing as you two need some time to yourselves I'll be headed to the cafe... Valoire I don't care what you think of what's in those bags, you need to eat it." And with that he left.

A bit concerned by this she would sit up, taking the one closest to her and removing its contents. Wrapped in paper... the scent wafting off of it was enough to cause her to wrinkle her nose as she revealed what was inside.

A large slab of raw meat.

She didn't know what it was specifically, but it did make her blush a bit in embarrassment. "Well this is demoralizing..."

Life.

 

[Life.]

For the past few minutes Jackie had forgotten that the world existed around them, so when she heard the door opening and the crinkling of bags she looked up suddenly ready to jump on an intruder. But it was Valoire's co-worker, Julian. She calmed herself back down and took a good look at Julian this time, repressing any of her immediate thoughts on how he's a vampire, and tried to see him for who he really was, just another person living on this world. It was a little difficult to push away her judgment and stereotypes, but eventually she truly found herself relaxing. He was also Valoire's friend so she needed to be nice.

Julian returned with what appeared to be food. Although from his words Valorie had an interesting response, quickly reaching out for the bag that he specified. Jackie was already guessing what it was. She, on the other hand, received the rest of the bags from Julian and quickly laid them on the kitchen counter. Jackie looked up though to see what made Valoire react the way she did and eventually laid eyes on the raw meat. She shifted her eyes from the meat to Valoire then noticing the sheer embarrassment the woman was experiencing. And from the way her friend looked embarrassed holding a raw piece of meat caused Jackie to laugh. It was simply a scene she found odd, silly, and something she would have ever imagined.

"Want any ketchup with that?" Jackie teased. Sure it was a raw piece of meat, but it wasn't like she'd never seen it before. There were even some silly humans who ate raw meat in hopes that'd they become werewolves. It was one of the topics that Jackie had researched on for the old blog she ran.

StoneWolf18

 

[StoneWolf18]

Valoire would laugh a little at the comment. "I don't think I'd have enough." With that she'd stand and move towards the kitchen, leaning on the counter after she set the slab of meat on the table. She didn't really want to eat it, especially in front of Jackie but seeing as she hadn't eaten anything for two days and just had a transformation... she was starving. Glancing between her best friend and the supposed meal that sat on the counter before her... she couldn't quite help herself.

She would grab the slab, not bothering with any potential silverware, and take a bite, it not tasting as bad as she would've thought. Quickly she had already began to eat it faster, it soon gone in a matter of a few seconds. Feeling ashamed because of this, the woman would give a small sight and make her way towards her sink, rising off her hands after this, passing Jackie a slightly sheepish and equally embarrassed expression. This wasn't what she had in mind for making things up with the blogger.

This then...caused her to recall something that made her slightly sated stomach churn with guilt.

"Um... Jackie?" She'd ask. "I... uh... want to say sorry for not letting you see me in the hospital... I was... afraid is all..." She wouldn't look towards the woman as she said this, clearly not proud of her actions.

Life.

 

[Life.]

Jackie wanted Valoire to feel comfortable around her, but even that was never going to achieve its perfect state. As much as Jackie wanted to be cool about Valoire and the piece of raw meat once she saw her making her way towards the table and devour it in no time, she had to avert her eyes away from the scene. It still wasn't normal in her eyes. Wanting to occupy herself, and feeling a little hungry, she reached into one of the bags and grabbed an apple slowly eating it as she leaned on the kitchen counter with her back facing Valoire. She would glance back ever so often to check up on her but she couldn't keep her attention on her the whole time she ate. The actions and movements were foreign in Jackie's eyes and finally seeing some physical characteristics of a werewolf was slightly discomforting for Jackie. She may be accepting the concept that Valoire was a werewolf but to see the actions of one being used by Valoire would take a lot more time.

But she did not want to express these thoughts to Valoire in any way. It would hurt her and that was the last thing Jackie wanted to do. She took another bite of the apple she started when Valoire made her way over to the sink. Jackie shuffled a bit to the side to allow her room. From her expression it was clear that she was embarrassed by this. The woman looked over to her friend as she began saying something. Even though she couldn't finish her sentence she could tell what she was referring to.

Jackie sighed, "No it's quite alright. You don't need to apologize. I...can understand why you did what you did. It was probably for the best. At that time I was still quite a bitch about supernaturals. More than likely the consequences would have been much more severe. But now...things are better. Our relationship started at a good time." She took one more bite before throwing the apple away. Jackie wanted Valoire to know that none of this was her fault so she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her, finally glad that there wasn't anything between them.

StoneWolf18

 

[StoneWolf18]

Valoire couldn't help but feel that Jackie still wasn't entirely alright with the situation at hand, but that was mostly expected. She couldn't expect her to just drop everything and change overnight, and ever her being here was enough. Leaning into her embrace she would give a small nod. "But you had a right to be... you can't just throw away your beliefs so readily..." She trailed off as she mulled over what she had said. Their relationship.... Val was more than curious about what she meant by this, but couldn't bring herself to ask. Not yet at least.

Moving away from her for a brief moment, she would begin to put most of the other food away. Once it was finally either put in a cupboard, fridge, or other storage place, she would finally return to the couch, her exhaustion weighting heavily on her. "And I thought a hangover after a night out with you was bad..." She'd joke softly, closing her eyes.

At this point, she would fight to remain awake. But with Jackie's presence and having just eaten something, it was difficult. Eventually she did end up dosing off, lightly but still nome the less noticeable.

Life.

 

[Life.]

"I know it may seem strange that suddenly I'm doing a 180 and not judging supernaturals but like I said before I've already been changing how I feel and see about them. You just so happen to be my catalyst. I'm not saying that I've completely changed how I've seen them before but I'm willing to." I wanted to change...for you. Jackie wanted to add but couldn't bring herself to say it. She loosened her grip around Valoire once she felt her pulling away to put away the rest of the groceries. Jackie would have offered help but Valoire was quick to put away everything plus she was content just watching Valoire.

Then Valoire made her way over to the couch murmuring a comment that made Jackie laugh. "You cannot complain now whenever I invite you to drink," Jackie responded. Before she joined Valoire on the couch she opened the fridge to pull out a water bottle.

As Jackie made her way towards Valoire she could see how comfortable she made herself. "So how do you feel?" Jackie asked thinking that she simply had her eyes closed. But when no response came from Valoire, Jackie looked around and found a blanket. She unfolded the large cloth and gently rested it on Valoire. Not really feeling tired and not really wanting to leave, Jackie took a seat on another piece of furniture close by and pulled out her phone. A message from her mom was the only notification showing on her screen at the moment, at least that was the only thing that Jackie was going to look at. There were some other messages, voicemails, and missed called from her old manager but Jackie decided to face the bull another time.

A small smile was on Jackie's face when she saw the selfie her mom sent her of the rearrangement she did to her place. At the moment Jackie didn't care but if it had been any other time she may not have been pleased. Underneath the picture was a message asking if everything went well. Jackie was quick to respond with everything is alright.

StoneWolf18

 

[StoneWolf18]

Valoire would’ve ended up falling asleep despite how much she wanted to remain awake. This would’ve clearly proven her exhaustion as she wouldn’t respond to anything Jackie would’ve tried to say after this point.

--

Hours later she’d slowly wake feeling somewhat rested, stirring somewhat to see that a blanket had been draped over her. Sitting up a bit, grimacing at how stiff she felt, Val would’ve looked around to see where Jackie would’ve went and if she was still even here.

Life.

 

[Life.]

For the first thirty minutes Jackie was able to relax quietly in the chair she sat in but eventually she grew bored. Her usual thing to occupy her was now terminated, her blog, so she needed to find something else to busy herself with. She decided to see if there happened to be a book lying around. Not having any luck in the living room Jackie tiptoed her way into Valorie's room almost confident that her friend would have at least one book somewhere.

It didn't take long for Jackie to find a book in her room. Once she obtained her new object to occupy her, Jackie returned to the chair and began reading. Hours must've passed unnoticed by the woman since she jumped a little when she heard shuffling nearby. Jackie closed the book and rested it on the stand next to her before saying something to Valoire, "How was your nap sleeping beauty?"

StoneWolf18

 

[StoneWolf18]

At the sight of Jackie in the chair with a book in her hand, she gave a small smile and couldn't help but laugh at her teasing question. "Alright... I still feel like I could sleep for days..." Standing she would make her way into her room, grabbing her phone to check the time. 8:30... she really slept all day without feeling rested? This caused her mood to sour slightly, wondering how long it would truly take to recover from just one night and if it always be like this.

As she was about to turn to leave, another thing caught her eye. Two things rather. The bottle of pills and the slip of paper with Cedric's number. A pit filled in her once again empty stomach, realizing that there was still time for her to transform again...

She really hoped that wasn't going to happen, especially with Jackie in such a fragile state.

But as she took the slip of paper along with her phone and returned to where her friend was sitting... things got interesting.

"Why aren't you working on your blog...?" She'd ask, sitting back down on the couch. Val would've momentarily appeared unfocused after this, her heart rate increasing as her skin flushed ever so slightly.

Life.

 

[Life.]

Jackie felt elated hearing Valoire laugh. She leaned forward, ready to help Valoire when she saw her standing up. But it appeared as though she managed fine without her. As much as Jackie wanted to help her she knew that Valoire needed to stretch out and work her body. Jackie leaned back into her chair and watched as Valoire made her way towards her bedroom. Once Valoire was out of Jackie's sight, her eyes looked over to a nearby window and saw how dark it was. What time was it? She pulled out her phone and saw it was 8:30. Jackie must've been really engrossed into the novel to have skipped out on dinner. Suddenly thinking about food made her stomach grumble.

"I think Valoire can spare something," Jackie murmured the good idea to herself as she stood up and walked to the kitchen. Not really desiring a big meal Jackie settled on making a simple microwave meal. She quickly prepared it but stayed on the kitchen counter to eat it. Her eyes moved up from the food she had begun eating when she saw movement from her peripheral view.

Valoire sat back down asking a question while she did so. A question about Jackie's blog. "Ah....that...well the thing is...I ended it. Ta-da, surprise!" she gave a nervous chuckle before proceeding, "Let's just say a friend of mine named Don Julio helped me to make the wonderful decision to not only delete my whole blog from existence but to also smash up my laptop. I was planning to end my blog but I guess Jackie that night wanted to pull the plug, period. I want to say I regret it, but really I don't. It's such a relief and a burden that has been released. Now I can focus on writing other things...like maybe a novel." She manged to finish the small meal in between her sentences, and once she finished her food she washed and put away the dishes before her eyes looked up to Valoire. Was it just her or did she still appear quite pale? It could also be the lighting in the room.

StoneWolf18

 

[StoneWolf18]

Valoire was more than surprised, looking back towards Jackie once she would regain some sort of focus. “Y-you really shut it down?” Her voice now was a bit unsteady as a bit of pain would begin to creep down her spine. “I… I honestly thought that this, I, was going to be the next big story…” After say this she did regret it. “I’m sorry that… that sounded awfu-” She was cut off as her words turned into a gasp as what she was feeling became much more intense.

Cursing she couldn’t deny it any longer. She was in for a world of shit tonight.

Swallowing she’d begin to break the awkward news. “J-jackie… you um…” Val fell silent again as it began to worsen, was it faster this time? As she continue to try and explain, minor physical changes could already been seen. Standing she would move over to the woman, pressing the slip of paper in her hand. “You… need to get outside… call this number.” Leaning on the counter next to her she would grimace. “Please…”

Life.

 

[Life.]

"Yeah I'm just as surprised as you," Jackie sheepishly smile and suddenly felt the need to stretch. But Valoire's words certainly grabbed her attention, "I would have never been able to bring myself to write anything against you. That would imply that in some form I dislike you...and I don't." She turned ready to interrupt Valoire's apology but she became interrupted by something else. It was more apparent to Jackie that Valoire was paler than she should be. And the gasp that escaped her certainly did not sound pleasant.

Jackie moved around the kitchen counter and met Valoire halfway. She could certainly detect desperation from the way she spoke and moved. What was happening? Jackie could feel her heartbeat accelerating in fear from not knowing how to proceed, and because she also knew what was occurring. Valoire was about to transform. Jackie has never seen it but from what she's read up it wasn't too difficult to notice. Pain was certainly a clear indicator for any were that change was coming. It didn't help that when Valoire approached her, her posture had changed slightly and some limbs were beginning to increase in size compared to others.

Her friend had slipped a piece of paper in her hand. Jackie felt it but she was slightly frozen by the sight of her. Jackie move! She needs your help. It took a moment for the woman to collect herself but she gulped and nodded when she was asked to go outside. She walked away quickly, not really wanting to look back at the person she called a friend that didn't quite appear like the friend she knew. Once Jackie was outside she fumbled for her phone, and tried to enter the number. But she was shaking. Her fingers kept moving making it difficult on the woman to type the number. She didn't realize it until now but her breathing was coming out in shallow breaths and she was slightly sweating, cold sweat that is. Calm down Jackie. Calm down. It's Valoire. This is Valoire. And Valoire needs help.

Her eyes looked down to the paper crumbled in her hand. Finally after calming down for a few seonds Jackie quickly dialed in the number, her shaking continuing once she held the phone up to her ear quickly answering with, "Hello. Is this Cedric? I need your help. It's Valoire. I-I-I think she's...transforming." Even if it wasn't Cedric on the other end Jackie was not going to wait for a hello. She was panicking and simply needed help. Really Valoire needed help, and Jackie needed to calm down. But the former's situation was more dire.

StoneWolf18

 

[StoneWolf18]

Valoire had appeared slightly worried when Jackie froze, but then that changed to relief as she moved for the door. Hoping that she would call for her, she’d end up slowly lowering herself to the floor, eyes wide as the transformation continued to progress.

As soon as the Cedric picked up his phone, hearing the person on the other end, he would’ve been heard moving. “Listen. I recognize your voice, you're that blogger. Seeing as I assume you two fixed things, I need you to keep the door to her place shut tightly and make sure you do not open it before I get there and try to keep her focused on you to delay it. Last thing I need is a roaming werewolf and another newly infected.” With that he would hang up, on his way.

Val at this point would be fighting it as much as possible on her own, but she wasn’t making much progress. It remained almost as painful as the night before if not worse due to how she still hadn't fully recovered. The only thing keeping her from giving in as she had last night was the thought of Jackie right outside the door.

Life.

 

[Life.]

As soon as she heard the ending click of the call, Jackie stood there frozen for a moment. The woman didn't know if she should panic or simply pass out at the moment. Cedric said something about keeping the door closed shut between them yet try to distract Valoire at the same time. Both tasks seemed impossible but then trying to do both at the same time simply sounded insane. She finally turned around and saw how the front door was left a crack open. Out of fear more than anything, Jackie pulled the door shut. If Valoire was much stronger than Jackie imagined her to be then this flimsy door wouldn't do much to protect the woman so at this point she began praying to any god. The only thing standing between Jackie and her transforming friend was a slab of wood.

Even though Jackie felt bad about it, she was partially glad that she was outside and not in the same room as Valoire. It already took much time, thought processing, and emotional review to accept that idea that Valoire is a werewulf. But to actually see her as one was something Jackie was not mentally prepared for.

But Jackie has seen the other form of werewolves before, so why was this one different? It was a stupid question to ask herself because Jackie already knew the answer. Valoire was different. Valoire was her friend, her partner-in-crime, and her love(?). Those truths were the reason why Jackie had stayed at this point and not run away no matter how much she wanted to.

Since she had the door secured she decided to try and see if she could keep Valoire distracted until Cedric arrived. Jackie leaned her body as close as possible on the door, "Valoire? Valoire can you hear me? Well really will you listen to me? I know that you can probably hear me from your...abilities. Anyways stay with me Valoire. You can do this. This is as easy as learning to ride a bike." It was obvious that the woman was horrible at supporting others and trying to comfort her through words. She even released a sigh once she heard the stupidity of her words. Somehow it seemed as though she always said the weirdest things to Valoire.

StoneWolf18