Behind the Façade

[SkySong278]

Ziva squashed down the panic that she was feeling as Tioga freed her from the cage. It wasn't panic that she was feeling for herself but for Tioga. She had no idea that he turned into a wold on hind legs during the full moon but that was only because she had never seen him on the full moon before. She walked out of the cage before feeling her wolf side take over and, as she shifted to her wolf form, she fought to be more controlled than she usually was and won. When she was done shifting, she didn't feel the familiar feeling of rage and knew that whatever she had done had worked.

 

Looking over at Tioga she said to him in their language hoping that it reached his human side, "Fight the feelings of wanting to kill other werewolves. I know that you can do it but I don't know if you didn't have anyone with you on the night of your first full moon. I'm here now; listen to what I say." She hoped that this would work and if it didn't, she was dead.

[Packgoater]

Tess quickly walked over and helped him sit up. She spoke to him in hushed tones, trying to get him to settle down.

 

"It's okay. You'll be fine. Just sit tight and you'll be okay. You'll be okay...." she said, more to herself than him. She noticed that the moon was up, but wasn't surprised when she didn't shift. Most werewolves didn't shift if they were dangerously injured or had something very human on their minds. Though the Ochi... they shifted no matter what.

Tioga heard Ziva... his Ziva. He couldn't kill her, he couldn't hurt her.

 

"We need to get out of here," he said gruffly, his legs already working. He ran on all fours almost ape-like, propelling himself onward toward the town. He needed out. Now.

Adelbrecht felt himself turning invoulentarily into wolf-form. He was a handsome wolf, with a proud regality about him. His hair was glittering blue-white like the crystals around him, as if he was chisiled right of them. His worried eyes gazed at Kirin as he waited her to turn into a wolf or go to the depths, from which he would have to call her out. He easily stood at her height as a wolf, without rearing on his hind legs. His head was level with hers and wore a worried expression, his ears slightly tilted back.

[LeopardDragon]

Suddenly, Kirin felt herself begin to change without her willing it, almost like the first time she had ever changed, only worse... much worse. This was much more painful, and the change was much less smooth. She struggled bravely to attempt to stem the rising tide of feral wolf instinct that was threatening to overwhelm her. She attempted to bite back a cry of pain as the change took over, which escaped anyway and morphed itself into a true, foolblooded wolf's howl. But something was wrong... she could still feel that instinct threatening to overwhelm her mind. And her shape.. not right... she thought between spasms of pain... half wolf, half human. She could hear the Alpha telling her to fight it and she could sence his concern for her; there was no way she was going to let this win, no way she was going to be stuck like this .... With one final mighty effort she forced the moon-pull back out of her mind and she could feel her shape finish shifting into the proper wolf shape she normally took on when she shifted. Edited May 22, 2011 by LeopardDragon

[SkySong278]

Des shifted to her wolf form due to the moon-pull but didn't feel the usual feeling of going on a rampage and killing her fellow werewolves. Okay this is extremely weird, she thought to herself as she sat there in her cage and not wanting to get out just in case. I wonder what's different from this time than all the other times I accidentally killed our neighbors. Maybe it's because I'm more in control of my wolf-self during the full moon now.

 

Ziva let out a mental sigh of relief as she heard all that he said and then ran after him. As they ran, she wondered if they were going back to the woods where her house was. Wherever we're going I hope it's far from the pack, she thought to herself. I don't want me or Tioga to accidentally kill any of the werewolves here while the moon's still high in the sky. She let out a low sigh and hoped that none of the villagers saw them as they made their escape.

[Packgoater]

Adelbrecht felt his heart drop as he sensed Kirin going into the depths. He barked at her to fight it, to be stronger than the moon was. You can only imagine his relief as she shifted to a normal wolf shape. He brushed up against her and sat back on his haunches, not a fur out of place.

 

"Congratulations. You're officially one of us," he said, smiling wolf-ishly. He started to jog towards his house, his muscles rippling through his haunches and sides. His claws clacked on the cold ground and he looked back to check if she was following. The moon was right in the center of the sky now. He let out a howl, not a blood-curdling howl, but a beautiful one, almost a song, that floated across the sky, more pure than any human song, more heart-felt, for it was emotion that rippled across the sky, it was his annoyance at his duty, his struggle to be the Alpha, the losses and the lives he had taken and his hurt at the girl he liked wouldn't like him back. And couldn't. And he could never like her more than he did now. Never. For the Betas would kill him. Or her. Or both. He couldn't expect her to take that risk. It was wrong. But right. It was confusing.

Edited May 22, 2011 by Packgoater

[LeopardDragon]

As the Alpha began to sing, Kirin began to sing,too Not a raw throated, pain wracked howl like had escaped her lips just a few minutes before..but a song,a song of lonliness for her human family; a song of confusion for all she had been and had become, of all she felt and did not feel, of what she believed about her self and the humans; a song of hope and of hurt, a song of the hunt, and ... hints of something else, though Kirin couldn't begin to guess what that might be. The night was truely beautiful, as the moon caught the crystals where it shown into the cave and made them sparkle. No wonder the wolves sang on nights such as this... she could wolf-songs begining to rise from all over the city... each telling the story and feelings of the wolf that made it. She smiled as her song joined the others dancing with the moon across the sky, and she continued to sing. The city shining in the moonlight filled with wolf-song... the picture was almost unreally bautiful, Kirin thought. Would humans really view them as such monsters if they could see and hear this? True, an Ochi was dangerous from what she had heard, but if a wolf was taught to control the moon-pull, they need not be condemned to that; as bad a fate for the werewolf, themself, as for anyone with the misfortune to cross their path.

 

She smiled at the Alpha as he turned to go, and then poured her whole heart and soul into her song... maybe she loved him and maybe she did not, she truely wans't sure yet... but she knew that she would need to find out, as it did pain her to see his dissapointment when she did not follow.

Edited May 22, 2011 by LeopardDragon

[earwig]

((I'm sorry, but I am still confused. Can someone give me a rundown on what is going on?))

[Packgoater]

((So, Skry got knocked out with mustard gas. Tess ordered everybody around and got some people to tie Nyko up. Tess got everybody to take Skry and Nyko to the city of Crystal, the Alpha's base and put him in a holding cell. It was the full moon, Tioga is Ochi (you'll have to read about that one sorry) he got himself and Ziva out of their holding cell (they were considered to have associated with Nyko) and the Alpha, Adelbrecht, who I am now RPing as, likes Kirin but Kirin doesn't like him and so he's a bit annoyed cuz he usually gets everything he wants. Oh yeah, and now all the werewolves have changed to well, wolves. So, yeah for Nyko, this must be really frightening. Kind of like a shark cage. With a lot of great whites swarming around him. Nyko needs to persuade a character to let him out. That would be Tess, Skry, Adelbrecht and Kirin. I'd try Tess or Kirin if I were you.))

[LeopardDragon]

((And I am kinda thinking that maybe Kirin might be pewrsuaded to take pity on him, because although she IS a werwolf, she was a huiman not that long ago... and as to her relationship with the ALpha, I was sorta thinking that she DOES like him... she just hasn't realized/ admitted it yet.))

 

Once the Alpha was out of sight, Kirin happened to think of the two rogues that were being held in the holding cells. She wondered if maybe she could slip down there without anyone noticing her... That would be a dangerous game to be playing... she mused On the other hand, though, they had been accused of collaborating with the enemy... she wondered if this were true, and if it was, WHY? If nothing else at least she could talk with them and make sure they were not being mistreated... she didn't trust Skry any farther than she could throw him, and she wasn't sure what had become of him. She would need to be careful... She trotted towards the holding cells to find out what she could do.

Edited May 23, 2011 by LeopardDragon

[SkySong278]

Ziva continued to run after Tioga toward the town as she asked, "Are we going anywhere in particular?" She thought that maybe they were going to head towards her house but she wasn't sure. She wanted to make sure of the location that they were going in before telling directions on how to get to her house from where they were. She could probably find her way to her house from their current position but it might take awhile. As she continued to run after Tioga, she looked around their surroundings and tried to get a good picture of where they were in order to familiarize herself with the area a bit more.

[LeopardDragon]

Kirin eventually made her way to the holding cells. Odd..., she thought, observing that the first two cells were empty... AND she could smell the two rogues' scent leading towards the exit... at first she thought of following them, but something... she didn't know whether it was instinct for sensing trouble born of many chess games or the odd smell that the male rogue's scent had to it, but Kirin descided it would would be wisest NOT to follow them. It was then that she remembered what the Alpha had told her, about some wolves going wild on full-moon... she would need to be careful. May good luck follow them, werever they go, she thought to herself.

 

Then Kirin noticed the third cell... the one with the soldier. He seemed to still be here, at least. Maybe he could tell her what had happened in here. As she walked over to his cell she could smell already that he positively reaked of fear. What in the name of full-moon could have happened to have scared him so badly? She wondered, then realizing that in her wolf form there was no way he could understand her, she forced her self to shift back to her human shape, and hoped that she would have enough time to find out what had happened before the moon forced her to change back.

Edited May 23, 2011 by LeopardDragon

[Packgoater]

Tioga faintly heard Ziva at the bacl of his mind. He struggled against the moon and faced her. What a monster he was... Ziva deserved much better than him.....

 

"I suppose your house, 'long as they don't know where that is," he said, his fur ruffling in the crisp wind that tried to burrow through his thick coat. He pulled against the moon, pulling sense back into his mind. He wished his eyes were always blue though. These eyes didn't show his emotions like his gold eyes.

 

Adelbrecht looked back and saw she was not going to follow. She walked the other way. He had never hurt like this, or this much. He lifted his head to the moon and howled, a low mournful howl, that rose and gained strength as he howled. He stopped and sat up, walking forward once more up to his house. What use was a large house like this if you had noone to share it with? What use was a king-sized bed if you had no one to sleep with? What use was an Alpha without an Alphess? He grimaced at the thought of the only one the betas would accept as his mate. The only female who was currently close to his position. Tessa. He had attemted delaying moving her up close to beta, but then one of the betas made a comment.

 

Maybe she would fall for Skry. That would get her out of my way. Or, if Kirin does something amazing, I can move her up several levels. I will not take Tessa. Much too young. And full of herself.

[SkySong278]

((he's (Adelbrecht) not attracted to Destiny? just curious))

 

"I don't think they do," Ziva said in reply as she continued to follow him. She then broke off to the left as she recognized the area as being really close to the woods where her house was. "I recognize this area now," she said over her shoulder to him as she ran. "Follow me." She continued to run until she reached her house and the cellar. She went through the dog door that she had made in case she was caught out in the moonlight and needed to get to the cellar; she figured that Tioga could go through the regular cellar doors since he was bigger than the dog door.

[Packgoater]

((Well, he likes Kirin, but mayhap... I'm not sure yet... Decisions, decisions, Right? ))

 

Tioga opened the cellar doors and climbed inside. The clock that was down there read 3:00 AM. Tioga saw an old couch and immediately lay down on it, his blue eyes shadowed underneath from several days’ worth of no sleep. His fur was starting to recede into his skin as the moon slowly went farther and farther to the horizon. His dreams were once again of his mother and father, but this time of old memories. He dreamed of France, of the trouble. He dreamed of his father, possibly still out there. But he also dreamed of Ziva, of her elegant face and long black hair.

[SkySong278]

((that is true about the last part ; he doesn't have to like her...i was just curious if he was attracted to her as well; i asked/made the suggestion to leopard if she wanted to make a char for Des to like but it doesn't matter))

 

Des got out of her cage after she took on her human form once again after the moon was gone and then dressed into some clothes that she had in the basement for herself and friends. After she was dressed, she made her way back upstairs and then went straight to her room. She was exhausted and needed to get some sleep so she unmade her bed, got under the covers, pulled them up to her neck, and then fell fast asleep soon afterward. As she slept, she wondered if there was anyone in the pack or outside of the pack that liked her as more than just a friend. Even if no one did like her that way but still liked her as a friend, that was fine too but she was starting to think that she would like someone to care for like the two rogues obviously did.

 

Ziva got out some clothes that she had stocked up for herself and others if she or a friend or both was in the cellar during and after the full moon. She also got out some clothes for Tioga as well but they were for a boy instead of a girl. She set them down beside him just as she started to take on her human shape again. She kissed Tioga's forehead before getting dressed into the clothes that she got out for her and then laid down on another couch that was adjacent to the one that Tioga was on. As soon as her head hit the pillow against the armrest, she fell fast asleep.

[earwig]

Skry panted in the corner. Dry blood caked his chin and mouth, while he felt sick to his stomach with the fluid in his lungs. He felt as though he was going to die. He glanced at Tessa. He reached out for her hand, needing something to hold on to. He felt scared and alone, and just needed someone there for him. He moaned as his stomach lurched and he felt a jolt of pain through him. He had to make it through this. He had to.

 

Nyko's eyes widened as the girl he saw before-the one he shot at-neared his cell. He crawled to the opposite corner, scared stiff about what she would do to him. His plan was a complete failure, and he was now the prisoner. Instead of getting information from the Alpha pack, they could now get information from him. Dark thoughts ran through his mind as he began to think about how they could torture him, or kill him, or--or--

"No! Please...I--Don't kill me!" he managed to say. Sweat ran down his back as he started to tense up.

[LeopardDragon]

Kirin could see as well as smell that the man in the cell was absolutely terrified and probably about to scream. "Shhhh..." she told him gently, " I am not going to kill you, or torture you or any such thing.""OK,look," she continued," When the soldier gave her a skeptical look, " I'd guess that you have probably been taught since you were a small boy that we werewolves are monsters to be feared; just know that we are not all the monsters you believe us to be... we're not all that different from you humans really, we fight, we can create art and we can even fall in love. Some of us become dangerous at he full-moon, but those wolves are a danger to all of us, and ... from what I have heard it isn't any nicer for them."

 

She watched the soldier and hoped that her words were making sense to him. "All I really wanted was to talk to you"she continued, "Something strange happened in here tonight and I wanted to know what."

Edited May 24, 2011 by LeopardDragon

[earwig]

Nyko gave a quiet startled cry at the girl's question.

"What happened..." he mumbled, avoiding eye contact. "I--I was not awake at the time...but..." he stuttered, staring at the bent bars of the cells to his side. He started to shake his head. "I don't know exactly, but it looks like they got out." he said, rising to his feet. He wanted to get out of his cell, to have his rifle back. It was the only thing that made his fell powerful. He could not come close to matching the werewolves' raw, physical strength, and the only thing that could give him an advantage were the bullets he could fire. He also wanted his silver knife back, too. He never had to use it, but he enjoyed the fear it injected into werewolves. He tried not to give a sly smile on it as he thought of it. He cleared his throat before turning his attention back to the girl outside his cell. She did not look too threatening, like the others. She looked...innocent. Like she hed not been a werewolf for as long as the others. Maybe he could play on that to his advantage. "Please..." he began "You must let me capture them. They will cause havok-they could hurt themselves. They could hurt others. It's not safe." He tried to lie to her through his teeth, but he found his words to be much more true than what he meant. Maybe he did care about the safety of the boy and girl he tried to capture. Maybe he did want to save them. Maybe he was going crazy. He wanted to get out of his cell, and that is what he had to focus on. He put a desperate, innocent look in his eyes as he stared at the girl. "Please..."

[LeopardDragon]

Kirin sighed... as much as that they had escaped she already knew... but how, that was the real question. She reflected on what the soldier was telling her...and then she realized. The only way that they COULD have escaped is if one, or both, of them was an ochi tonight, she groaned at the thought. If it were true, then the soldier was right that they were a threat to themselves and to others, and they would indeed, create havoc. It made sense, unfortunately, and she didn't have the strength to take on an Ochi... though this soldier might, after a moments thought, she had a plan; and maybe, just maybe, this soldier could be a useful ally for her...

 

She narrowed her eyes at the man in the cage, she didn't entirely trust him, but he DID seem to be an honorable man. "Listen to me," she said at last, "If I rlease you, I want two things in return." She watched to see how he would respond. She had a plan, but it was a dangerous one... could she trust this human?

Edited May 24, 2011 by LeopardDragon

[Packgoater]

((My ideas: 1. Des could like Adelbrecht, but he like Kirin 2. I could be a hoarder and create a HUMAN who likes Des. (Extra twist there...) 3. Love quadrilateral: Des likes Adelbrecht, Adelbrecht likes Kirin, Kirin likes Human and human likes Des. Ta-Da! Flip the names if you don't like who-likes-who but I think this way might make the most sense. ))

Tessa let him hold her hand. She put her hand on his shoulder, looked him hard in the eyes and said, "You're stronger than this, Skry. I can't count how many missions we've been on that you've saved my life. Now you need to save yourself. I know that you are stronger than this. You will overcome this, Skry. You have to." She ran a hand through his hair, desperately trying to calm him down. She tried to be the strong one and forced herself to try to stop her hand's eccentric shaking and the fear that was clearly written in her voice as it shook and wavered.

 

When Tioga awoke from his slumber it was 12:00. He yawned and quickly got dressed. He wondered where Ziva was. Tioga figured he would have to go back to Italy to retrieve his stuff. Mayhap Ziva would come with him. It would make the trip much more enjoyable. He sighed, his thoughts on Italy and the things left there.

 

Adelbrecht forced himself to stay a wolf even after the moon had gone. No sooner had he entered his house, lonely and depressed, than he sensed another wolf. His beta, Haren. Adelbrecht's hackles went up.

 

"So..... Adelbrecht..... got a little to fond of an Omega, eh? You're not fit for Alpha any more. How about a duel, Adel?"

 

Adelbrecht leaped at the other wolf, ramming head-on into it's chest. He sunk his teeth into Haren's shoulder blade, Haren crunched his tail. The pain they both created turned them to humans once more. Adelbrecht swung his fist at Haren, Haren dodged and kicked Adelbrecht "where it hurts" Adelbrecht bent over, but retaliated by grabbing Haren's neck and throwing his head into the crystal wall. The wall fell in pieces around them, stained a brilliant crimson red. Adelbrecht ordered someone to take out the body.

[SkySong278]

((alrighty then let's go with three ; are you going to make the human or is the human Nyko?))

 

Des woke up feeling refreshed and rejuvenated before sitting up and stretching. She then got out of bed, got into the shower after undressing, got out again after she had washed her hair and body, went downstairs, ate breakfast after fixing herself a bowl of cereal, and then went outside when she was done. She sat underneath a nearby tree and watched the clouds go by through the tree branches. As she let her imagination get the best of her, she started to think of Adelbrecht. I do like him but I'm probably too far down on the rank chain that I probably can't even be considered a mate for him, she thought to herself sadly. I don't even know what rank I am but for all I know, I could not even have a rank.

 

Ziva had woken up before Tioga and after he woke up she said, "Good afternoon sleepyhead." She was still on the second couch but she was sitting up now and not laying down. As she looked at him, she saw that he was thinking about something but she didn't know what and she wasn't going to ask. If it was something private or something close to those lines, it wasn't her business and she wouldn't push him to tell her. For all she knew, he could be thinking about his last home or something else entirely but she still wasn't going to ask and was going to let him tell her what he was thinking or whatever.

[Packgoater]

((I don't think Nyko would really work out there... but if earwig wants him to be, I'll delete this))

 

Forum Username: Packgoater

Character Name: Beck

Using a Color?: Yes, teal

Gender: male

Age: 23

Category: Human

Word of Claw: Halcyon

Pack (if applicable): NA

Background and Reason for Category: He was born in Canada, but had some issues with the government and decided to move here. He currently is in college, earning a degree in law. (He's gonna be a lawyer!)

Appearance (as human [and wolf, if applicable]): Tall and slim, but not bony. He's fairly muscular and has had several girlfriends already. He's got slightly-wavy hair that is medium length (for a guy, you know, not buzz-cut and no further down than his chin, the popular haircut for guys in the US. That's where I live, BTW.). He has bright teal eyes (why I chose the color) that look just like the ocean. He's attractive and is from the US, but moved here because he had some disagreements with the government. He's fairly liberal, and has not opinion on the werewolves what so ever.

Introduction: [[a paragraph or two to set the scene of what your character is doing]]

Beck walked down the road by the park. God, he had so much f***ing work to do. He yawned and looked over at a cafe. One of the girls there smiled and flashed a white piece of paper. Beck walked over and took the card, flashing a smile back at the girl. Once he had walked far enough away from the cafe, he tossed the card into a random dumpster. She was like every other girl. He wanted to date a girl one would remember, not some old schmo. He continued walking along, until he noticed a pretty girl with long black hair that had purple and red highlights all through it. She had shocking green-blue eyes that seemed to be made right out of some crystal or another. That was some girl. Some memorable girl. He walked over and leaned against the tree opposite her. She was good-looking. For sure.

 

"Hey. It's Beck. And you?" he said, his voice that of a person from Canada. Like some, he could speak French in addition to English. He repeated it in French, just in case. "Hé. Mon nom est Beck. Et vous?" (That's not word for word translation, this means 'Hey. My name is Beck. And you?')

 

Tioga walked over to Ziva and kissed her. He stopped shortly and held her at arm's length apart. With his right hand he pushed a strand of hair out of her face.

 

"How would you like to go to Italy? I've got some stuff that needs to be here. I'd like you to come." ((Sorry that was a bit short))

[LeopardDragon]

(( I am thinking about RPing Kirn's second, any ideas?))

 

Forum Username: LeopardDragon

Character Name: Jeremiah

Using a Color?: purple

Gender: male

Age: 26

Category: Human, Doesn't know about werewolves, packs, ect.

Word of Claw: Halcyon

Pack (if applicable): NA

Background and Reason for Category: Kirin Ashwood's second and training partner. He is unaware of the fact that she recently became a werewolf, but he has noticed some of the changes in her behaviour. He is also ignorant overall of the werewolves and the packs.

Appearance: A handsome young man of russian descent, he has dark brown eyes and brown hair.

Introduction: Jeremiah sat in his room back at the Hotel Foxwood where he was staying for the course of the tournament. He was concerned about Kirn, as , indeeed, he had been for the several weeks that had passed since the "incident". What had Kirin been thinking, he had often wondered since then... disappearing for several days without even so much as a warning. What was more the disturbing,though, was the fact that there was something noticeably different about her now... not that it made any difference in how he felt about her or that he had the slightest idea as to what was different.

 

He had found her to be an attractive, captivating and infuriating woman since the day he had met her... yes, she admitted it to himself but never to her. Not ever to her, he had meant to tell her, many times and had not. Jeremiah dearly wished that he had the guts to tll her how he felt about her... but fortunately theri busy scheduals kept them much to busy to think much about eachother. Good greif, were was she... had she dissappeared again he thought slightly agreivated.. he fiddled with his cell phone thinking of calling her and making sure she was OK.

Edited May 25, 2011 by LeopardDragon

[SkySong278]

((okay and like the character pack ; it's okay if your post as Tioga was short ...we all have short posts sometimes))

 

Des heard someone talking to her and looked over to her right, seeing the person who had been talking to her. "My name is Destiny," she said in reply to his question about what her name was as he introduced himself to her with a small smile on her face. "It's nice to meet you Beck." He's certainly attractive, she thought to herself as she looked him over a bit. He looks to be my type but I can't sense that he's a werewolf; if I choose to date him, that might be a problem with the pack.

 

Ziva kissed him back before he pulled away shortly afterward and then held her at arm's length. She looked into his eyes as she heard his question and said in reply to it, "I'd love to go with you to Italy. Just let me get my passport." A few minutes after saying that, she kissed him softly on the lips before walking over to the extra clothes that she had, went to a dresser, opened the top drawer, got out the passport her parents had gotten for her before they disappeared, and then walked back over to Tioga. "Do I need to pack anything or are we coming straight back after you get your stuff?" she asked him as she was standing in front of him again.

 

((accepted leopard ))

Edited May 25, 2011 by Dragonpelt

[earwig]

((Finally, the human is not outnumbered! Any yeah, the other human is fine. Maybe it would be a little exciting if Skry was thrown in there somewhere...I dunno really. Just an idea.))

 

Skry moaned again as Tessa spoke. He felt worse. His world was getting dark again...his vision blurred...his stomach twisted and lurched...

He jolted up. His eyes snapped open and he yelled out in pain. He gurgled as he tried to grab Tessa, to tell her something. No matter how hard he tried to talk, the words could not penetrate through the blood in his throat. He wanted to yell out to her, yell something that he would say only if he were about to die. He found himself choking and gurgling. He squeezed her hand before falling back to the floor, his world dark and faded...

 

Nyko looked into the girls eyes. Maybe his plan had worked...maybe it wasn't a plan. Either way, he wanted to get out and have his weapons back. He cleared his throat and answered with a little dignity, not like before, where he had begged--faked--for the girl to not kill him.

"What are they? You know, I can't capture a werewolf without a weapon." he desperately hoped that he could have something back. He could not stand a chance against the itallian boy and the other girl if he was to go knuckle to knuckle. Not to mention that if he tried to do something else--another plan he had formed--could go horribly wrong if he was seperated from his only advantage. But right now, he had to get out, and this girl looked like she was going to let him.