Welcome Back to Black Rock [Private]

[FaithWynters]

This is a private roleplay including

@FaithWynters and @MidnightSpade.


Welcome Back to Black Rock
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1. The Apartments: Introduction—Oscar and Jack have finally decided to take the next step in their relationship. What is that next step? Apartment hunting!~Can be found on Page 1.
   
2. The Alley: Jack has never been one for company, but with the chance meeting of Oscar, he has no choice but to save him as he stumbles unknowingly into danger. The result: an unconscious Oscar and Jack left with a choice: leave him or take him home?~Can be found on Page 2.
   

This will be edited as needed to include additions to the directory of the separate sections of the roleplay.

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[FaithWynters]

1. The Apartments

He had every opportunity to change homes whenever he wished. As long as they were in the correct budget, the Order would send him a check to pay for any apartment he wanted. It worked out well for him because that meant he could move around as much as his heart desired. He had kept himself in the same apartment for quite a long time. It wasn’t in the best part town, but Jack was very capable of protecting himself from anyone that tried to mug him. He enjoyed the very small and cramped little apartment like one might force themselves to enjoy to company of a crazy aunt or uncle. It was livable, and he was there only often enough that it was tolerable as well. What he hadn’t expected, was that Oscar would be the reason that he changed homes.


It had been for multiple reasons that the change had to be made. Firstly, they were trying to take the next step in their relationship, and move in together. Jack’s apartment was nowhere near large enough to house two people; the two could hardly fit in the kitchen together for dinner the nights they had dates at home. It was also sometimes dangerous late at night when Oz would go to leave. They were trying to protect themselves with the move, but they had been looking at apartments all over town, and it seemed one of them could always find something that made them turn down the living space.


“You know, if we don’t find an apartment we like soon, we’ll have no more apartments to look at.” Jack pulled himself out of the car and into the warm breeze. These types of days during the summer he loved. The days where the sun shone down and warmed the earth, but a breeze rustled the trees and made it cool enough for a light t-shirt were the days that he loved to be outside. He hummed quietly to himself as the wind rustled his hair.


Pushing the door of the car closed, he walked around the front end of the car. He stopped on the curb and looked at the space outside. It was one of the better apartments they had looked at, but that meant that it was also more expensive. It was a good thing that he had someone to help him pay for it, because his paycheck couldn’t handle this place.


He stood there a few moments, just admiring the exterior. It was one of the newer apartment buildings in Black Rock. There had been an influx of people coming to the town; some thought it was because of the new shopping mall they had built. The building had a modern look to it; they had parked in the parking lot on the backside of the complex. From there, Jack could see that some of the apartments had balconies—that had been promised by the advertisement he had found. It was a good thing too, because he liked having a place where he could step outside, be alone, and not have to worry about having any sort of interaction with others. There was even a swimming pool situated in the back. There were children running around it haphazardly and jumping in on a whim unknowing to the man that watched them, or any troubles they might face in the future.

 

[DigitalPopsicle]

Oscar turned off the engine and went through the small ritual of sorting his hair out in the car's rear view mirror before stepping out, taking in the scenery around him. So far it seemed like a decent neighbourhood; friendly families, children, barely anything broken or out of place like where Jack lived now.


Not that his own apartment was any better. It was a studio apartment where the bed was in the living room and the shower never worked properly. They couldn't share his place let alone Jack's. But this place looked good. So far anyway. He gave the area a mental tick in the list of things he was looking out for in their new abode.


"I just wanna find somewhere perfect, y'know?" Oscar shrugged, shutting and locking the car once the both of them were out. "The last place was too far from work for me, even with a car."


The breeze was indeed pleasant, to the point where he could actually go around without a jacket on, showing off a sleeve of poker and luck related tattoos that was still to be finished off. He had an appointment the next week to get some of it finished at the studio he was being trained at.


"C'mon, we're already running late to meet that housing lady." The man said, gesturing for his boyfriend to follow as he walked up the elaborately paved pathway leading up to what could only be called a reception area.

 

[FaithWynters]

“Perfect is going to be impossible; perfect for the both of us doesn’t exist.” Jack shoved his hands in his pockets. He turned and started toward the building. Oscar had already made his way ahead of him, and he admired his partner as he walked. No matter what apartment they had looked at, it seemed like Oz could be positive about everything. He did know what he liked though, and wasn’t above telling Jack what was wrong with the places they had chosen.


“I’m sure that she’ll be fine with us being a few minutes late.” He broke in the slightest of jogs to catch up with Oscar. He was smiling, and he slowed down to match his pace as he caught up. The apartment was nice, and they walked down the small sidewalk around to the front. He threaded his arm through his partner’s. There were bright orange accents on the front of the building too. It was a nice enough place from the outside, he just wondered if the inside would look as good.


Slowly, they made their way up the front sidewalk and to the front door. Jack pulled his arm away from Oscar. He leaned forward and pulled on the front door. He was met with the magnetic force of the door being closed. He let out a quiet grunt, and looked in through the smallest window on the door.


“Looks like it’s safer too. Locks to keep the unwanted out.” He smiled and took a step back. A short woman was just on the other side of the door. The sound of the magnet catching drew her from the book she had been reading. She walked across the small public space and stopped at the door. She pushed it open just enough for Jack to grab it.


“Hey! You must be Oscar and Jack” She was grinning. She was quite a bit shorter than the two of the men, but she wore heels that added a good three inches to her figure. Her skin was dark and her hair was highlighted with silver; she was older than the both of them—probably combined—but it was sometimes hard to tell by the way she held herself. Jack held his hand out to signal Oscar to go in first; he was so much better at dealing with people—it would probably be better if he did most of the talking anyway.

 

[DigitalPopsicle]

Oscar greeted the shorter woman with a warm smile, or as warm as he could muster at the least. He had to admit it was draining looking from place to place and being unable to find a home that suited the two of them. He had all his fingers crossed that this place would be 'The One'. The decent amount of security added another mental tick to the list.


The man had to roll his eyes at Jack however, knowing why he'd been let in first. Jack wasn't much of a people person, whereas Oscar had to be in order to get any work done. He was this close to being able to graduate from an apprentice to a fully fledged tattoo artist and half of it was down to being able to deal with people.


Quickly gesturing for them to follow her, the woman led the two men through the building, down a door-lined corridor and to a very shiny and obviously well-cleaned elevator. She pressed the button to call it down, taking the moment's pause as a chance to speak with them.


"My name's Linda, I'm one of the landlords of the building here. We've taken a lot of pride into making sure this is one of the best places to live on this side of town." She smiled at them, fixing her hair and flashing a variety of rings that adorned her finger, one of them being a plain and simple wedding band. "My husband is the other landlord, but he mainly takes charge of all the maintenance work here. If anyone ever experiences any issues like that, we make sure to deal with them within the first 24 hours of them being reported, that's our promise."


Oscar nodded along, briefly stroking his hand against Jack's as they stood waiting for the elevator. He looked up to see what floor it was currently on, and was intrigued by the vintage floor dial at the top of the frame which showed an arrow pointing to the numbers instead of a digital screen.


"You'll find the building has a very Art Nouveau kind of feel to it." Linda continued, stepping into the elevator when it beeped open, gesturing for them to follow again. "The apartment I'm going to show you is on the thirteenth floor. I know some people say it's unlucky but I personally made sure it was the best looking one to try and avoid that stereotype." She winked at them, chuckling softly.


Oscar wasn't quite sure if that put him more at ease.

 

[FaithWynters]

They each had a list of what they wanted out of the apartment they shared. While they had never blatantly discussed what they wanted out of the place, many of the same topics seemed to come up over and over again as they had made their way through apartment after apartment. One thing that was of great importance to him was the security of the building. They had already seen that there were magnets on the doors. That was a good first step for him. Oscar needed to be protected when he wasn’t here. There would be many nights that Jack already knew he wouldn’t be home for. Safety was the number one priority.


Jack caught the roll of Oscar’s eyes and smirked at him as he passed. No words passed between them, just the looks and glances that told the two what they needed to know about what the other was thinking. That was something Jack loved about Oscar; they seemed to click really well together. They understood each other even when they said nothing.


He followed in silently behind Oscar, watching him as he walked. The woman was talking, but for the most part, he only listened to the details he needed to know about. They had stopped in front of an elevator and the woman turned to speak to the two of them. She was just talking to talk so Jack let his mind wander to other things. Absently, as they waited, he checked the time.


He felt the soft brush of skin against his and he looked over to Oscar. He let a small smile spread across his lips. He still had time before he would have to leave. Of course, he wasn’t the one with the car, so if he had to leave early then he would be walking. It was still pretty early in the day. He was sure that he wouldn’t have to leave until later. Maybe he could slip out while Oscar slept. He was in charge of patrolling a nearby park in the early morning hours this week. There had been some very strange deaths in the area and he was in charge of killing the thing that was harming the population. The Order couldn’t keep slaughterings quiet when they got too large in number.


He followed absently into the elevator. It was probably an Orc or something. A large creature couldn’t keep hidden for long and if it were an outcast from one of the nearby forests, then it would kill anyone it came in contact to in order to try and keep itself safe.


“It’s very modern compared to some of the places that we’ve seen” It was natural for Jack to shove his hands in his pockets when they came to a stop inside the elevator. He was very aware of what type of situation they were in. The two of them understood their partnership together. When Jack was younger, he would have been more tempted to wrap an arm around his partner’s waist, or held their hand, but some people just weren’t okay with that. It was an awful idea that people couldn’t accept one another for who they were, but it was one that they had to accept. So now, the two could remain apart, Jack with his hands in his pockets, and Oscar in his silence. Small amounts of affection would be fine. He liked that and smiled at the two of them as they neared the floor.


“We saw some children playing outside as we came in.” The elevator rang out as is came to a stop. They were on their floor. He was pretty sure they were looking at a one bedroom apartment today, but he wasn’t particularly sure because he hadn’t been the one to make the arrangements. “Would you say the families with children are spread out throughout the apartment? I mean, we usually enjoy our calm nights relaxing.” He waited for Oscar before stepping out. “So loud children might be a deal breaker for us.” That wasn’t particularly true. He didn’t want children nearby for his own reasons; it was easier to walk into an apartment covered in blood and dirt if you didn’t have to worry about children seeing you and running to their parents. That was the fastest way to get complaints. The two hadn’t discussed it, but it was very clear that Jack didn’t like kids, so he had been asking about kids at almost every single apartment they had checked out.

 

[DigitalPopsicle]

Oscar rolled his eyes again at his boyfriend. He personally didn't mind about having children around, and what was that about calm nights in? Jack was out at night working more often than not so they barely spent many evenings together.


"We do have a lot of families, but no one so far has complained about the noise of their neighbours, except maybe for a few loud parties here and there." Linda explained, leading them further down the hallway.


The thirteenth floor wasn't anything extravagant, not like what she seemed to boast about at least. Not that it wasn't nice, but it looked the same as everywhere else so far. Either way, it wasn't anything to complain about.


One of the neighbours was stepping out of their door with dog in her arms as they waited for Linda to open the door of 1305. She smiled at them politely before moving passed them. Oscar watched her leave for a moment as he glanced around.


"Pets are allowed then?" He questioned, smiling to himself. He'd always wanted a dog.


"The only rule we have about pets is that if they cause any damage to the property it has to be paid for. Other than that, we welcome anything." Linda answered, keys jangling as they were pocketed, the door swinging open. "Come inside and let me show you around."


With a subtle squeeze to Jack's hand, Oscar walked in first, met with a cozy but bright living room.

 

[FaithWynters]

A small smirk spread across Jack’s lips; Oscar was rolling his eyes again. Of course he was the only one that had a problem with the children, but it would be fine. He was sure that it would be brought up later when they talked about all the places that they saw and finally decided on one of the apartments. He was fine with that.


He wasn’t sure if he liked the fact that there was a dense population of children. It was for the better that they chose someplace with none because he didn’t want to have to move out because of a stupid kid letting their imagination spin tales in their heads. Jack told himself that he wouldn't let that turn him off from the place. It had something to offer, and Jack was always willing to make a compromise if Oscar wanted it bad enough.


He still hadn’t found anything particularly bad that turned this place off for him. Instead, he looked at the paints and the carpets. They were clean. It wasn’t simple, but it wasn’t a castle either. Jack was pretty sure that this is almost what they were looking for.


Then he heard it, and a soft groan escaped his lips. They allowed pets. Oscar wanted to get a dog. Jack had been using the excuse that the last apartment didn’t allow pets to keep the subject at bay. Now it would be brought right back and fresh.


“It sounds like you take care of the place at least.” He smiled to the woman as he felt the squeeze of his hand. It was comforting. Jack followed in behind Oscar, and he was met with a well—furnished living room. There were accents of color, and the place looked nice. It was a lot better than his old place. It was spacious.


“The apartment is fifteen hundred square feet in total. One bedroom, one bath.” Jack walked through the living room slowly, and made note of the doors that were spread out across the apartment. Some were open, and he could see inside, and others were still closed.

 

[DigitalPopsicle]

Linda stood off center in the living room area, smiling at them in the way a business woman would; not overly-friendly, but not wanting to stand there looking miserable because she wanted a sale. "It comes semi-furnished. The bedroom furniture and tables are just for show, but the couches would be included, as would the white goods in the kitchen. It's a cozy place so I'll let you wander yourselves, just ask me any questions you may have."


Oscar nodded in response, already wandering over to a closed door leading to the bedroom. Opening it, he found a room big enough to hold a double bed, two cabinets, and a decent sized wardrobe, and still have a fair amount of room. There would be plenty of space for their clothes, neither of them owned a lot of them. If none of the bedroom furniture was included he could easily swap out some of it for bookshelves.


"Don't you think that huge bag of yours would fit nicely in the corner in here?" Oscar turned to his boyfriend and snickered softly, referring to the bag that Jack carried nearly everywhere with him, often full to the brim with stuff he was fairly sure the man didn't even need to carry around. It was even in the car at this very moment.


He continued his wandering, peering into a door that was a small storage closet, and another open one that led into the kitchen. Most things were decorated white or off-white with gold and brown coloured accents. Oscar knew enough about decorating from his sister that it was painted such a way to be neutral to everyone and not decorated to a specific taste. Still, he liked it. He'd have to make sure Jack cleaned his boots when he came home every day though.


"I'm gonna have to make you take your boots off when you come home. Mud would be hell to get out of this carpet." The man chuckled, gesturing to the cream coloured carpet they were currently walking on. He was already putting himself in the apartment, living there, walking around with Jack and maybe getting a German Shepherd or Husky to go with it.

 

[FaithWynters]

The woman really did not want to be bothered with showing them around. She was probably very aware that the way to really make people fall in love with an apartment was to let them check it out themselves. She definitely had a business—oriented mind; Jack could give her that. She smiled in a simple way, and Jack just let her stand there. They had very few questions, and the only thing that they might have asked, she answered before anyone could pose the question.


Jack followed behind Oscar toward the closed door. They could check out the apartment, and the woman would be there when they were finished to make sure they stole nothing. She would let the place sell itself. It was good to know that they would need to bring some of their own furniture. The two would very much be arguing with whose furniture they brought with them. In the end, it would probably become a hodge-podge from both of their apartments. Jack was fine with that because he knew that at least his mattress would be making it to their new place. Both men had enjoyed nights on both beds, and Jack was certain that his bed was more comfortable—it was also larger.


As Jack stepped into the room behind Oscar, he shut the door; he wanted to really get a good feel of the bedroom. Soon after, he reopened it; he had gotten his perspective. It was really spacious; he was really beginning to feel like they had hit the jackpot with this place. Besides the children that would be roaming around, Jack hadn’t found anything he didn’t like.


He crossed his arms as Oscar spoke. That was something that Oscar always seemed to poke fun at Jack for. His bad was filled with necessities for his job. While to an untrained eye the contents only looked like simple things: knives, bottles of water, a bible, pill bottles that were (assumingly) filled with medications, and other assorted items that would seem like silly objects of hoarding, but were really important items to keep Jack safe.


“Actually, it would, Ozzy” A small smirk pulled across his lips. He turned so that he could look back out into the living room. “It would just be perfect for my hoarding pack.” He rolled his eyes; Jack had told him many times that one day they would need something in the bag. Oscar was just unaware of how many times they had stumbled drunkenly back to one of their apartments on a night that Jack had been off and something inside had kept them from getting mugged or slaughtered. Those nights were probably just little broken figments of Jack having a drunken brawl in the street to Oscar—He wasn’t particularly sure.


Soon after, Oscar had walked out of the room and Jack obediently followed behind. They still had the rest of the apartment to check out, and they wanted to take no more of Linda’s time then they needed. By the way Oscar spoke, Jack had already assumed that he was picturing himself living here.


“The carpet would be prone to stains…” He looked down at the off-white color. It was a good neutral color, but there was nothing easier to stain than something as light as this. “Looks like that means no dog, huh?” Jack gave a quiet chuckle as he rounded the island in the center of the kitchen; he had made it there before Oscar had. “Might be hard to keep a puppy from staining the carpet.” He leaned against the cool stone of the island. Linda was nowhere to be seen. Dancing his fingers across the dark stone.


“It’s going to be fun breaking this place in, huh?” He ran a hand through his soft blonde hair before picking himself up and walking across the tile. It was a nice sized kitchen too; that was something they were looking forward finding in a place. He walked to another door and opened it. A set of shelves stared at him; it was a pantry. He closed the door and grinned.


“So. What are you thinking?” He gestured to the room around them, and to the apartment as a whole. This is what mattered to Jack: Could Oscar be happy and safe in this apartment whether Jack was there or not? Their decision hinged on how Oscar really felt about the place. He walked across the room and wrapped his hands around Oz’s waist. “I mean, could you see us standing here, in this kitchen, enjoying each other’s company?” Jack let himself relax into the curve of Oscar's neck as he waited quietly for a response.

 

[DigitalPopsicle]

The place was quiet for a moment as Oscar simply lent back against his boyfriend, lost for a moment in thought. Could he see them living there together? Going about their day to day lives with each other's company, sporadic work shifts and everything.


He smiled to himself. He really could. He could imagine himself making breakfast in a morning and Jack sleepily stumbling into the room, either just getting back from work or just waking up and being coaxed in by the smell of bacon or pancakes and coffee. He could see them lounging on the sofa watching Netflix and trashy horror movies while Jack criticized everything about them.


Though the blonde was adamant about them not getting a dog it seemed, which upset him slightly but he wasn't too bothered. Jack was just worried about it making a mess or a noise, but if they got one from a puppy and trained it right, or got a quiet older dog, it wouldn't be too bad.


The rent wasn't too bad on the place, they allowed pets, there was security on the door to the entire building itself, the kids didn't seem to run rampant, the neighbours seemed friendly enough, and the landlady didn't seem as nosey or annoying as some of the others they'd met while house-hunting.


He really liked the place.


Oscar nestled into Jack's neck, sighing contently and giving him a gentle squeeze. "Yeah, I really like this place. It's everything we're after, right?" He asked, pulling back after a moment with a slight grin. "Think we should get it?"

 

[FaithWynters]

Even if he tried to hide it—which he knew he wasn’t—Jack could see the outcome of this whole visit. Oscar’s face danced lightly with the pleasure he got from the place. Jack could see it in the way his arms weren’t folded in disapproval; he loved it. A soft smile appeared on his features and he just stood there enjoying the feeling of his partner so close. When Oz finally spoke, it was no surprise what the outcome was.


Jack was never as openly optimistic. He could tear the place apart if he wanted and find so many more things wrong with their living space. For some reason, he didn’t want to do that here. They had set out to find the right apartment for the two of them. It was safe, in a centralized location, and had everything Oscar was looking for.


“Well…” Jack was trying to find the right words so that he didn’t say something wrong. “Besides the kids and the pets I think this place is great for us.” Absently, he leaned in and placed a soft kiss on Oscar’s forehead. He couldn’t hear the sound of Linda in the other room and for a moment the idea crossed his mind that she might be listening.


“This is the best place we’ve seen yet.” He looked over Oscar’s head as he nuzzled it sweetly into the warm skin of his neck. There was a window that looked out across the street. From where he stood, Jack could see very little besides the blue sky and the sun that had begun descending toward the horizon. It would still be quite a few more hours before twilight cut through the city. “I think that we should get it.” His voice was definite. Jack wanted this place for the both of them. It was the next step in their relationship, and it would be a place where Oscar could be safe; that was a growing worry in the city for Jack. There had been too much activity and too many close calls. Instinctively, his arms tightened around his partner’s waist and he let out a quiet groan as he stretched his back. “I really think this place is perfect.” He didn’t, but that didn’t matter. He had been accused of ‘over-analyzing’ everything. Jack was trying to fix that. He wasn’t sure that he was very successful.

 

[DigitalPopsicle]

He doubted that Jack truly thought the apartment was perfect, but it was the best reaction he'd gotten out of every single apartment they'd viewed, and they'd been searching for a few months now. Oscar smiled wider, kissing him on the cheek before walking out of the kitchen, a happier spring in his step as the realisation they'd finally found a new home together dawned on him.


Linda looked up at him as he returned to the room with an expectant glance. The dark haired man figured she'd been quietly listening in and had already heard their decision but wasn't going to say anything about it. He smiled at her as well, far perkier than when he first arrived. "We're definitely interested in this apartment. We're just going to have to wait until our leases are up on our last apartments before we can move in." He explained, silently hoping it wasn't going to be an issue.


The woman just beamed at him. "Wonderful to hear! That shouldn't be a problem, we just ask for you to pay the deposit as soon as you can, otherwise we can lease it out to someone who can move in sooner just because they paid quicker."


Oscar nodded, biting his lip a little. The deposit was a month's worth of rent, and he'd have to actually pay the rent when he moved in on top of that. He turned his head back to the kitchen, watching Jack slowly follow him out into the living room.


"When do you next get paid? 'Cause my payday isn't for two weeks..." He let his words trail off, hinting to his boyfriend that he wanted to put the deposit down as quickly as they could, but wouldn't be able to afford it for a while. He was nervous. The apartment was wonderful, it'd no doubt get snapped up quick if they procrastinated.

 

[FaithWynters]

The decision had been made. They would be moving into the apartment as soon as they could. Oscar didn’t say another word to Jack, and he took that as his partner being pleased. A kiss was placed lightly on his skin; only now did Jack smile a pleasant smile and enjoy the feeling of their decision. Then his partner slipped out of the grasp he had around his waist. Jack turned to watch him go and enjoyed the feeling. For once in his life, it seemed like he wasn’t lost in the same rotation of days. It wasn’t all about work. He had found someone to take care of and enjoy the company of. It was a simple relationship, but they were trying to make it more. Jack knew that he no longer only needed to worry about himself; that is what he had been looking forward to. He was sure he had finally found it.


He appeared once again in the living space. His hands had returned to their natural place in his pockets, and he watched in on the scene in silence. The only thing he had caught was that they needed the deposit as soon as possible. It was expected, and Jack kept a straight face. He thought he was very aware of their situation here, and part of him had kind of expected it.


When did he get paid? That was a hard question to answer. Technically, his check for the work he did came much more often than other jobs might pay a worker; he did work an incredible amount though. He pulled his right hand out of his pocket and checked the date on his watch. A week. He would get his check in a week. That was probably still not a short enough time period. That was okay though. Jack was quite the planner. Little by little, he had been putting money back for a rainy day. Well, nine years of rainless days had given him quite the stable savings environment. It wasn’t enough to pay for a car and still live comfortably, but the money was there. He could easily pay for the deposit. All it would take would be going to the bank and getting the money. Cash. That would be the smartest way to get the place for sure.


There was only one problem. This was nowhere near the agreement the two had come to when they sat down and first talked about getting an apartment, and, honestly, Jack didn’t know how Oscar might take the change in their plans. Would he be angry that Jack didn’t let him do his part? Would he have preferred Jack just let it slide and act like he didn’t have the money for a week? But what if they post the place? Oscar would be heartbroken. No—Jack knew that he couldn’t let that happen.


He straightened himself, and smiled to the two. They could talk about this later; they could discuss this again and come to the agreement that Oscar could just pay Jack his half when he got the money or something. His hands had returned, naturally, to his pockets. He gave a long look at Oz and the way he looked. The worry was there, but there was also a knowing that the two wouldn’t let this place slip away.


“I can have the money day after tomorrow.”

 

[DigitalPopsicle]

"Wonderful." Linda said happily, the older woman casting a glance between the two as if trying to deduce their relationship, not that it wasn't obvious. "I can't guarantee that you'll still have the place for legal reasons, but the next viewing isn't for another week so I'm fairly sure that you'll still have the apartment."


She talked as she began walking towards the door, shuffling a few papers in her hands. "Is there anything else you want to ask or look at before we leave?" She asked, brushing her greying hair behind her ear.


Oscar wanted to roll his eyes and make a comment about the fact she could've mentioned that there wasn't another apartment viewing for a week, it would've settled his nerves a little more. But landlords and estate agents were prone to do that in order to get a sale, they'd had it before, so he wouldn't comment. He'd just let his annoyance bubble before settling down.


He cast a quick look at Jack, who didn't seem to have any more questions about the apartment or the building. For once his checklist of things their new home had to have had been fully ticked off, and this place had gotten his full approval. That thought alone made Oscar giddy, to the point he openly reached out and grabbed the other man's hand to squeeze before turning back to their soon-to-be landlady.


"No, everything's fine." The dark-haired man replied, squeezing his partner's hand again as if for emphasis, then turning to speak to him. "I'll give you half of the deposit when I get paid. Thanks." He smiled warmly, fully relieved.


Making no comment on their actions, Linda just opened the door with her usual polite and chipper smile to let them out, closing the door behind them as they left.

 

[FaithWynters]

2. The Alley

Darkness shrouded the city in a thick danger. A soft breath rushed past the buildings and cooled the warm streets. The sun was gone, and even though the sky had turned from orange, to pink, to purple, and through indigo, the heat of the day still radiated off of the sidewalks. There was a calm that spread out across the quiet of the streets, but that meant nothing. At any moment, danger could bloom from the shadows and take you in a moment. The split between life and death—that line—was very thin. One wrong step down the wrong alleyway and a human would be lost to the evils of the real world. A world that most didn’t even know existed.


Jack was very aware. That is why he looked silently down the darkness of an alleyway in wanting. The night would be long. Normally, he was fine with his thoughts; he could worry himself with ideas and imagination. He was used to being alone. Alone was walking mindlessly around the city, trying to save the lives of people who would never know he even existed. Alone was walking into a tiny apartment every day and enjoying the silence. Alone was worry-free. Alone was peaceful.


His feet steadily marched him onward. He hadn't been on patrol for long, but he also didn’t stop unless he had to. Today would be a simple day—like most days. Instead of going to look for the orcs that had taken territories in the western woods on the edge of the city, he simply had to walk around the downtown area to make sure there were no night crawlers looking for an easy meal. The orcs had to wait anyway. The organization had to know that they intended on making the woods their home and they weren't simply going through. The orcs wouldn't speak to a human, and any sight of one would send them in a frenzied rage. That would cause more death than needed, but two orcs were easier to deal with than two adults and a few children. They had to be careful with them; skin and bone was paper against an orc’s club.


So there he was, walking through the darkness. His hands were shoved naturally in his pockets and he jerked slightly to readjust the weight of his pack on his back. This would be the time spent working tonight and tomorrow he could sleep. Wake up, eat, work, shower, sleep, and wake up again. Over and over the cycle continued. It was an endless cycle he could never escape.

 

[DigitalPopsicle]

"See you Monday, Ozzy!" A girl with bright red hair swayed as she boarded the bus, a leather jacket clutched tightly around her shoulders.


Her grin was bright and happy, a drunken flush across her cheeks. Still standing on the sidewalk was a man in a sleeveless shirt, tattoos etched into his arms, chuckling with his own mildly intoxicated sway. He shook his head at her, but he returned her smile, waving back at her.


"Go home, ya drunk!" Oscar called to her, still waving even though his arm grew tired. She continued her own movements through the window even as the bus pulled away, where the man finally sighed and turned to walk down the street.


It had been an evening of drinking and good company, crawling from bar to nightclub to pub to wherever would have them, having one drink per place they went. What started off as him inviting a couple of his work friends out for a drink became a big night out for all of his colleagues. They'd had a laugh, danced like idiots, drunk more than he could remember drinking since before he was legal to even drink. He was swaying on his feet, not completely wasted but enough that his vision was a little blurry around the edges.


Janice had ended up getting her own jacket stolen, so being the gentleman he was he'd seen her off at the bus stop, his jacket around her shoulders, with her copiously flirting with him the entire way despite him saying he wasn't straight. She was joking, he knew that.


And now he was without a jacket, a little chilled but not too cold. The tattooed male didn't live too far from their final drinking point, so while he'd seen his friends into taxis and onto buses, he himself was walking back to his small and frankly shitty apartment, where his run-down car sat thanks to him being responsible and not actually driving it.


Beginning to walk the long trek, he pushed one hand in his pocket, the other finishing the rest of the beer bottle he'd brought out with him. With money being as tight as it was he refused to leave a half-finished drink, so the remains had come with him. He sipped it, tipping the bottle back against his lips every few steps.


Oscar passed alleyways, darkened where the streetlights were too dim to illuminate them. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw movement, but thought nothing of it. It was probably some homeless person, or maybe a stray cat. It was common in the area. He thought maybe he heard growling, or grumbling, but didn't pay much attention to it at all. He drained his beer, and threw the bottle in the direction of the trash cans that he passed, hearing it clatter and smash on the brickwork instead.

 

[FaithWynters]

Jack sat silently on a bench, looking out into the darkness. Shadows spread out across the street. There hadn’t been a car for quite some time. It was quiet on the street, and the lamp he was underneath provided little light. He was enjoying and silence and was carefree for the moment. Anything that might want to attack him would be faced with a battle. It was a battle that they would only have the slightest chance of winning. He had enough tricks up his sleeve to keep himself safe. So, Jack looked out across the dull street. There was very little movement and what movement there was only amounted to trash being picked up by the breeze that still passed through city.


It took him a moment, but before too long, he saw a figure walking down the sidewalk and toward him. Jack didn’t move, but he could see enough of the person as he passed by—the male was seemingly ignorant of the person that sat comfortably on the bench. The sway in his walk and the tipped back bottle told Jack everything, and soon, his attention was lost to the man. Obviously he was tipsy from a night at the bar. That wasn’t anything spectacular; there were thousands of people that packed in bars all over the city. If anything, his attention was drawn to the man only for a few more moments to get the shortest glimpse of the tattoos that covered the bare arms. Then, he looked back toward the street.


The harsh sound of glass breaking sliced through the silence of the night. It made Jack flinch. The disregard made Jack turn his head silently and look back toward the figure. He was a little farther down the sidewalk, but Jack could easily discern his shape against the shadows, which meant he hadn’t gone far. A frown of disapproval graced the blonde’s face, and he shook his head, returning his eyes to the forward. Soon the drunk would be gone in search of his home or another bar and the silence would be left in peace to no longer be tormented by the breaking of bottles or the sounds that seemed to become more and more apparent in the darkness.

 

[DigitalPopsicle]

The streetlights were dim but too bright at the same time. Oscars groaned, rubbing his eyes and then his arms, swaying all too sharply and leaning against the wall of the next alleyway for support.


"Maybe I drank more than I thought... " The man muttered to himself, sighing in discomfort as his head swished between pleasantly fuzzy and a dull throb of pain. He'd need a moment or two before he could walk again.


Patting his pocket he silently cheered as he remembered to put his cell phone in his jeans, having had it in his leather jacket all night. Should he call a taxi? It wasn't too far to walk and he couldn't quite afford it, but Oscar was unsteady on his feet, and while he could actually walk he didn't trust the neighbourhood fully enough to not take advantage of a drunk.


His question was answered for him when he pulled his phone out to see there was no battery left. He cursed violently under his breath, wishing he hadn't taken so many 'selfies' with his colleagues.


While the tattooed male grumbled to himself, a sound almost responded down the alley he rested near. It snarled, a deep wet sound like teeth and drool. Oscar only just caught it, raising an eyebrow to the noise and turning his head to peer into the dark corners.


"Hello?" He called out, eyes squinting to adjust to the dimmer light, unable to see anything beyond a large moving form behind a dumpster. "You alright back there?"


The growl grew louder, the shadow growing taller as it seemed to stand, lurching towards him.

 

[FaithWynters]

It still surprised him how oblivious the drunken man was as he walked down the street. He had shown no indication of seeing Jack. Maybe it was because of what he wore: Black. Everything besides his socks was black. That couldn’t have been it. In the dim light, his hair and skin stuck out like a sore thumb; practically luminescent in the partial light. Maybe he had been seen, and the man was much too worried about downing the last ounce of alcohol he had to poison his body. Maybe the figure was too worried about trying to get home; tomorrow would come early for someone with anything to do—especially if they were hungover.


Any other time, he wouldn’t have been aware of something so far away. If it had been any other night though, Jack wouldn’t have even sat down. It may have been fate that sat him down here, and made him want to rest. Maybe it was some sort of higher power that sat him down on the cool and beautiful night to watch the young man pass him by on the street. It didn’t matter what the cause was; now Jack curiously watched the form that had stopped about fifty feet down the sidewalk. At first, it seemed to be nothing more than a drunken man’s stupor, and Jack was curious as to what silly things a man with an inebriated mind could do as he stopped to make the world stop spinning.


Then something changed. Before his mind could consciously put together the pieces, his subconscious had taken everything it could from the scene and thrown his stomach into a whirlwind of dread. Then, it came to his mind, but he had already gotten himself off of the bench and squared up with the sidewalk. Something was trying to lure the man into the darkness of the alleyway. Of course, Jack could not determine the species of the creature that lured him. For all he knew, it could have been a mugger just trying to get an easy wad of cash. Normally, such an uncertainty would have kept Jack still. He would have let the man just succumb to the loss of his wallet, but there had been an increasing number of attacks. When, normally, one or two victims would be found a night by the order—their death having been determined to be a single or multiple species, and now there could been five, six or up to ten bodies found by two specific groups of species, it was dangerous. That’s why Jack was here patrolling. The lycans were particularly territorial right now, and they weren’t sure if it was because it was their mating season or if several groups had attempted to converge on the city at once and make it their own. There were too many uncertainties. And vampires hadn’t even begun being included—which were always a huge pain in the ass. He had to make sure that the threat wasn’t one that he was in charge of taking care of.


It was a simple choice, and he walked quietly down the sidewalk at a normal pace. He could hear nothing from the alleyway yet, but he continued to walk, his hands shoved lazily in his pockets. He had many options of what he could do, but when it came to other people, Jack never knew which option was the best one. He could just nonchalantly walk past him, to see if there was anything that could be seen and derived from the scene, or he could call the man away. A shout would be enough to draw his attention, and he might be able to pull the human unknowingly away from anything that might be waiting for him if he stepped foot in the hallway. His voice might frighten whatever it was, and make it attack sooner; they were getting more and more confident in their attacks, and knew that even a group of five or six humans were no match for one of their own brute strength. One wrong move, and the tattoo-ed man would be dead; Jack couldn’t let that happen.


Instead, he decided on the first choice, and walked slowly down the sidewalk. He stopped when he heard the noises—about ten feet away from the mouth of the alleyway and behind the human. He didn’t want to get too close yet—for fear of scaring the drunkard that seemed to be curiously staring into the darkness as if in worry of someone.


Jack rolled his eyes at the questions that bounced off the stone of the buildings and back out of the darkness. Did this man seriously have no sense of danger? The fool would get himself killed; Jack knew he had to act.


“Hey man!” The natural response would have been to take a more enduring approach. Natural would have been to wrap a protective arm around the man’s waist and pull him away from the alley and to safety. He knew that would be a mistake. Straight men weren’t really one to be touched by other men; it seemed to hurt their manhood or something—Jack never understood that. “I didn’t see you leave that last bar.” He gave a quiet chuckle and walked up to the dark haired man. He hoped that since they seemed to be dressed in the same style the guy would be a little more accepting of what he had to say. He might listen and follow if his head was fuzzy enough “Suzanna thought you were going to take her home before you-“ The snarls seemed to stop—only momentarily as the beast used the energy to throw itself out of the alleyway and toward the boy. Jack cursed, and instinctively rolled backwards and out of the line of attack. He hadn’t been fast enough, and now he had to fight the beast and try to keep the damn kid safe. Great.

 

[DigitalPopsicle]

The voice behind him called out to him and he didn't recognise the speaker by words alone. He turned his head, oblivious to the threat looming closer towards him from the darkness of the alleyway. Oscar's face twisted into one of the confusion. The man walking towards him, clad in black and blending in with the night, with bright blonde hair and pale skin, was not a face he knew and was fairly sure he wouldn't know him even while sober. What was he doing calling out to him?


He barely had a moment to think when something thick and heavy wrapped itself around his neck. His vision blurred, his hands shot up to grasp hold of whatever had ensnared him and found what he thought was thick rope with a leather feel. His feet swung in the hair madly as he was lifted clean off the floor, trying to connect with something, anything, to get the thing to release its grip on him. A throaty snarl with the wet sound of drool and a loud thud on the wall was the only thing he could hear behind him, unable to see what had captured him, what was holding him in the air like food.


Oscar choked, spluttering for air, coughing as he tried to gasp for oxygen and scream out for help. Only the sound wouldn't come, having it strangled out of him.


"H-Help-" He gasped, barely a sound above the growl of whatever what behind him. His vision was too bright and too dark all at once, but what he did see was a dark figure with a bright halo running towards him.

 

[FaithWynters]

Shit. The plan had done nothing near helping the man, and, if it had done anything, it would have been to harm him further. He hand easily landed the roll, but the creature already had its victim ensnared within its grasp. Jack was lucky that it hadn’t been a stronger beast. One of this caliber could easily be taken down alone. He first had to worry about getting the civilian out of the death grip of the monster.


It was an easy movement—mainly because the monster had completely forgotten about Jack’s pretense as it fought against the force of the writhing arms and legs. He ran, full on at the being, its wide body, thickly covered in fur, and it was a very easy target. The moon that cast down from above shaded the scene in a white glow. Before it could realize that he was running at it, Jack had made contact with the open space of the monster’s torso.


It yelped at the hit landed and the two went flying backwards. Jack heard the sound of something dully hitting the ground, and he knew that he no longer had to worry about the live being choked out of the drunk man. Whether he was conscious or not was another matter, but Jack knew he would deal with that once the creature was dead.


He pulled the blade from his waist. By the time he was able to bring it down into his chest, the monster, with its ugly, drooling face had regained its thoughts and landed a hard hit to Jack’s flank. It was enough force to throw him off the creature and onto the ground. Before he could stop it, a thick hand wrapped itself around Jack’s throat. He couldn’t breathe. A harsh pressure pressed against his cheeks and he knew that there was very little time. Jack gripped the arm around his neck so that it couldn’t move. He wasn’t trying to force it away; he simply needed it to sit still. He brought the blade up to its arm, and pressed it to its skin. The sound of burning flesh made the monster shriek in agony. It tried to press harder into Jack’s throat, hoping to crush his windpipe and end him quickly. His face was turning a nasty color of purple.


Once. Twice. Three times. The monster brought his head up and slammed it heavily back on the ground as the knife cut through the appendage like it were butter. It continued to scream, bringing up it’s other hand to rake across his left side. He felt the sting and flinched. Warm blood began to slide down his side; he could feel it and the breeze through his ripped shirt.


A final pathetic scream and the pressure was gone. The arm fell limply off of his throat, and Jack brought his feet up to kick the monster in the chest. By the time he could catch his breath, make his head stop spinning, and pick himself up, the monster was gone.

 

[DigitalPopsicle]

Oscar yelped loudly as he was suddenly dropped, only managing to see the dark figure tackle whatever had gotten hold of him. His thoughts weren't much more than that as his head cracked painfully on the concrete sidewalk. Pain erupted through his skull, making him groan and whine in pain. He'd move to clutch his head if he could actually find the energy too. A mixture of drunk and suddenly having a blow to the head was not a good place to be in.


He stayed where he'd fallen, only just managing to roll over to see the action happening besides him. A large shape, huge even, with... fur? It growled and grunted, but he couldn't see what it was doing at all besides perhaps... grappling with the dark figure with the light halo? No wait, that wasn't a halo, it was blonde hair.


Consciousness was hard to keep, the man kept fluttering in and out of it, barely aware of what was going on besides a scream, then silence. He fought to keep his grip on consciousness, very painfully attempting to sit up, groaning as loud as the mound of... whatever had done.


"Oy... you..." He grumbled, staring at what he thought was the man in dark clothes. " 'the fuck... is you..."


Of course in his head he'd said 'What the fuck is happening and who are you?', but his speech was slurred, his brain very fuzzy.

 

[FaithWynters]

The spinning in his head finally stopped, and he looked silently up at the sky for a moment. It was silent, and he reached his hand up to try to feel the warm blood of his side. It wasn’t as bad has it could have been, and he knew that if he applied pressure for long enough, the bleeding would stop and he could continue his rounds.


He was about to pick himself up when he heard the groan nearby. So the man wasn’t unconscious. That would have made things too easy. So he was going to start asking questions. Before Jack could even pick himself up, words slurred out of his lips. They were hardly recognizable, and Jack only assumed what words fit in-between those he could make out.


He said nothing. He just pulled himself up from the ground and walked toward the entrance of the alleyway. Now, he had two options of what could happen. He could either leave the man in the alleyway—seeing as he wasn’t unconscious—or he could help him. Jack stopped as his face was cast in the moonlight. He turned back, and looked at the man. His eyes were half closed and he swayed lightly on the ground. His speech wasn’t completely there.


He couldn’t leave him. Not in the state he was in. He walked quietly up to the man and kneeled silently in front of him. He grabbed his chin and tilted his head up. He fished for a flashlight out of his backpack and turned on the light. For a second, he flashed the light in his eyes. His eyes took a moment to dilate.He let out a soft hum and returned the flashlight to his pack. He couldn’t leave him here. Something was wrong with his head.


“I’m Jack.” Damn it. He should have lied. Oh well. It was too late for that now. “Are you okay?” He knew that he wasn’t, hut niceties might get him to trust him more. He reached for the back of the kid’s head. The warm feel of blood told him everything. Nope. A small sigh escaped his lips. He could call someone from the order to pick him up, but that wouldn’t end well. The guy would probably end up dead. He swallowed hard, and picked himself up, grabbing the guy underneath the armpits and hoisting him up so he could lean on Jack’s shoulders.He let out a quiet grunt; he could feel the weight in his side.


“We’ve got to get you some help. Can you walk, or do I need to carry you?”

 

[DigitalPopsicle]

The figure approached and next thing he was aware of was a light being shined into his eyes which he almost pulled violently away from as it flared up the pain of his headache even more. But the hand on his face holding him there was oddly gentle, if not firm. Being this close and without the light in his eyes he could see the man's face finally, as blurred as it was with his current state. Oscar really just wanted to sleep.


"'m... Oz..." The man managed to reply, the words spoken to him only barely registering in his head, but then the words 'you need help' filtered through the haze and he shook his head, which he instantly regretted with a harsh wince. "No... hospital..." His words trailed off again.


Despite that, Oscar was aware he'd been asked if he could stand as well, so in an effort to show he was indeed fine and just needed to walk things off, he grabbed the nearby lamp post as a support and attempted to hoist himself up onto his feet. It was a heavy struggle. While his legs appeared strong enough, the pain in his head as throbbing, and he was finally registering something warm and wet dripping down the back of his neck. He was barely coherent, and his attempts to stand were foiled by his dizziness and agony. Slumping back onto the floor Oscar had to shake his head again. He needed the stranger's help. Jake, or Jack... Words were hard to process. He was glad for the silence around them.


"F-fuck..." He cursed, voice slurred. Shock was setting in, and he was shaking. Looking up at the stranger near him he was the image of helplessness.