Wandering around Athens

[Adele Holst]

Adele looked up at Geoff with her golden eyes; hurt, frustration, and anger brimming behind her gaze. Why did Geoff have to ruin the family she'd had at the Den? Yes, there were a few Lycans, some of high rank, whose actions and motives seemed dark and increasingly questionable. But not everyone in the Pack was like that. There were those who'd made morals to hold on to in their long lives. Geoff had rebelled though, and part of Adele knew he was right; but because of his decision the Pack had been split apart. Tension and war among her brethren was growing, and it killed the girl. Geoff had been nicer to Adele than even her own Human brother by blood had been; but it didn't matter now cause it was his fault. His fault that her best friend Pablo would be hunting him; even Damien hadn't seemed overly dismayed at losing a pack mate.
At Caroline's greeting, Adele could only smile nervously. It was becoming clear this Lycan was not familiar with the Den in Sweden or the recent conflict that had come from there. No wonder Caroline seemed on edge and confused, Geoff's dramatic intrusion didn't exactly serve to make him seem docile and harmless. He'd driven through the crowds of people, swerving to a halt right in front of the two women, blocking their path so as to trap them, and spewing hostile words. His size wasn't exactly subtle either. Yes he was a Lycan, but on top of that Adele knew he worked out almost everyday. Or at least had back in Sweden; this was not an inconspicuous man.
As the woman stepped back and Geoff moved closer, Adele stepped forward to place herself in between the two Werewolves; his hands might have been open, but stepping up could very well be considered a threat, Adele knew from past experiences. She clenched her fists loosely, standing firm while Geoff talked. When Geoff went to talk with the police, Adele turned slightly to Caroline, trying to find words to say, "I... I only wanted to help. My Sire, taught me to take care of my own. And, well... I can feel what you are." She sighed softly, chewing her lip; she felt like she was probably coming off as pretty crazy too.
When Geoff came back, Adele looked down, "We're not all like that. I didn't come here to hurt you. I didn't even know you were here. Athens is not the place you should settle..."

[Caroline]

It was as if the entire universe had frozen in time when Caroline - feeling somewhat dumb - finally came to realize that those two troublemakers were - just like her - werewolves. Between the police chase and having a random woman drag her around, followed by an insane man chatting with her telepathically, Caroline had no time to see the signs earlier. Having figured it out, however, does not mean that Caroline's trust in the two had increased any. In fact, she trusted them even less, because from where she comes from, animals of the same species often fight for either dominance or food. Wolves, of course, are usually bound to their packs, but Caroline could never forget that they weren't exactly wolves. Humans genes made up half of the equation.

"I don't know what the problem is between the two of you, but I want no part in it." She snapped again, backing farther away from the two. While the woman indeed seemed like a nice and trustworthy individual, the large male made no such impression. Her seemed nothing but a threat, and a problem. Of course, he also seemed much stronger than Caroline, so trying to smack him would be plain stupid, but joining his cause -whatever that may be - didn't sound like a better idea. The best thing to do at that moment was to turn around and walk as far away from the crazy pair as possible, but something - perhaps another inner voice - was telling her that she needed this. No, she absolutely had no need for a big, happy family. What she did need though, is a temporary shelter. She was tired of running away, especially since she had no clear idea of what exactly she was running from. She needed some stability, for once.

Even with that revelation, following the large guy still didn't seem like a sensible thing to do. He was crazy, and he is a freaking psychic. Caroline had faced enough strange things for one day, thank you very much. The woman, on the other hand, was the top banana in this fruity mess. She didn't look like a hard-core leader, but then, Caroline didn't need or want a leader. Only someone to spend a little time with. Hell if she was going to follow anyone's orders. "Thanks for the offer." She spoke lightly, looking past Adele to see the man. "You've invaded my mind, however, and by the sound of it, you betrayed others before. I'd rather go to prison than join the likes of you." She finished her sentence in a dangerously low tone. She didn't want to fight them, or the woman for that matter, but their persistence was becoming increasingly bothersome. The fact that they were in a heavily populated area - where Caroline didn't feel at all safe - didn't help the case any.

[Geoff]

Geoff backed up, not wanting to start a fight, yes he was powerful, but he wasn't stupid enough to take on two lycans at the same time, even though he could probably win, he would walk away severely injured. He got close to his car, turning back to Adele and Caroline. "First, I don't know your name, but I will just say to you that I am sorry for getting you mixed up in all this." Turning to Adele, "Adele, please, I know that even if you are not here to kill me, you must hate me for what I've done. But please understand." His voice low and depressed as if he had given up all hope on them, looking completely defeated. "I did what I did because I believe that Alena is wrong, and even if you don't do what she does, I still believe that it needs changing, for as Albert Einstein said, The most important human endeavor is striving for morality in our actions. Our balance and our very existence depend on it. Only morality in our actions can give us beauty and dignity in our lives. If I could continue that quote, I would say that in order to obtain morality in our lives, we need to do what is right instead of what is easy. So if you know the situation and you still deny what I try to tell you, then there is nothing more I can do. If you ever decide to join me, you can find me in Athens, and I have no where else to go. And last but not least, if you are still listening, I'm sorry to both of you." And with that Geoff entered his car and tried to start it.

[Adele Holst]

Beauty and dignity? Adele cocked her head slightly to the side. She'd seen some beauty in life, but what dignity? Maybe Perrin had had dignity, but Adele sure as hell didn't feel any. Maybe that's what she was trying for with her training though, she'd never really thought about it that way before.
The girl kept her stance solid as Geoff backed up and retreated to his car. That was odd. Subtle confusion played Adele's face as Geoff started up his junker of a car. He'd been so forthcoming and adamant in his actions not two minutes ago, and now it was like he'd curled his tail between his legs as he made to leave. In all her 21 years, Adele had never, ever seen a man do that before. The men in her life would sooner have gone to fists before slinking off so submissively. Adele stood there watching, her stance somewhat loosening, chewing her lip. Why was his departure so hard to just accept?
After a moment or so of just watching, Adele turned slightly toward Caroline to look at her without turning her back to Geoff. Now she felt a bit awkward. Socializing with women had never been much of a strong suit for the blonde girl, or connecting with people in general for that matter. But she couldn't help but feel interested in getting to know Caroline a little more, or at least helping out this fellow Lycan how she could. "Um, are you hungry?" Adele smiled shyly, but met the woman's eyes.

[Caroline]

Caroline would have loved to believe that she scared the man away, but that most likely was not the case. After an incredibly tedious speech, he finally decided to part ways with that blond woman, making the headlines of the day's news. Whatever was up with those two, Caroline didn't feel sorry in the least for not joining in. She couldn't possibly care less if Lycans like herself devoured humans or not, it was all the same to her. Herself, though, she preferred the meat of animals. Not only did it taste a lot better, but it was also a lot more fun to catch, whereas the pathetic humans were practically begging to be eaten. Not to mention all the crying and whining in the process.

With the conflict over at long last, Caroline could once again breathe deeply, until that woman spoke to her again, that is. For some questionable reason, everyone today seemed to want to help Caroline, as if she wrote S.O.S on her own forehead, which she most certainly did not. While the woman was much nicer about it than the large fellow on the junkyard automobile, Caroline suspected that she, too, had a deeper, mischievous plot in mind. From past experience - where people are merely pretending to be kind in order to manipulate her - Caroline had learned not to be so trusting. Of course, this here woman probably didn't want to lure her into a dark alley to rape or into the police station to arrest, but still, something was smelled awfully rotten, and it definitely wasn't coming from Carly's clothing.... well, maybe a little bit of it was. "Tell me what do you want, first. If you're out to persuade me into something, or brainwash me like that lunatic, you best forget about it now." Carly responded, looking straight into that woman's face with no hesitation. That dude was diving a hunk of junk, so there probably was no value behind his offer, but this woman... she wasn't driving shit, and she was dressed too terribly - at least her clothes seemed to belong to her - so she probably is not poor... like a certain someone. In conclusion, there was a sensible reason to hear her out.

[Geoff]

As Geoff was driving around Athens trying to think of what to do next, he needed to stay because his house and base were just outside of Athens, but now that Adele knew that he was here. It was dangerous now to stay, but it was risky to leave. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, almost literally with the rock being the lycans wanting to kill him and the hard place being Athens. Geoff thought of one thing to do, but it was a definite stretch. Adele, if you can still hear me and I'm pretty sure you can, I would like to talk, peacefully, about this situation and the future. Can you meet me, I'll let you pick the time and place because I trust you. Geoff found a cafe and ordered himself a meal to sit and wait to hope for Adele's response, he didn't know what his future would hold for him. But he hoped that he didn't have to move again, he hoped that he wouldn't be driven lower than he already was. If only Alena hadn't killed his parents, then Geoff probably would have been happily arrogant of the current situation. But the killing of his parents brought the situation of killing all humans for food to light. "Why can't we work with the humans, make them aware of the vampires, for their own protection. But we would also need to tell them about lycans. So they could protect themselves from them to if necessary." He went on mumbling to himself about different possible ideas while eating and waiting for Adele.

[Adele Holst]

Adele nodded shortly, looking down at Caroline's question. She probably deserved that; and really what did the girl expect? Adele would probably have trouble trusting herself too in a situation like this. Yet thinking on it, the blonde had probably made some poor judgment calls in the past... That didn't matter now.
Shoving her hands in her hoodie pockets, Adele looked back up to Caroline, trying not to bite her lip. "I don't want anything like that..." Her golden eyes looked through the older woman, and she shrugged slightly. Why were the words coming with such difficulty? "I just want to get some food. If you want, you can join me... I'd buy. But you don't have to." Obviously. She wasn't used to being the one to approach a Lycan, most times others had found her. "Um, there's a really good place on the next block with some great grilled items."
Adele looked off briefly in the direction she'd seen Geoff drive off as she heard his message. He just would not let up; he was going to get her in trouble, she could just feel it. Biting her lip, the blonde contemplated what to do. He just wanted to meet up and talk. So he said. But if anyone from the Pack saw them, Adele could get in deep shit for not bringing Geoff back to Alena. If push came to shove, and the girl really had to defend herself, she felt she could. Or at least hoped so. With Perrin's power she could, theoretically, hold her own against many of the Lycans at the Den and around the world; Perrin had been the second strongest Werewolf and leader just under Alena before his death. Adele's problem was her reluctance to step up and take responsibility for it all. Geoff, however, had been bitten by the Mother of Lycanthropy herself, and Alena had personally trained him under her wing, or paw. He had more control and confidence over his strengths, and had often wielded them expertly. A fight with him would no doubt leave her a little broken. But she didn't want to fight Geoff anyway; he hadn't really given her a reason to hate him. Reluctantly, Adele decided to hear him out, one last time, and sent a mental message to Geoff: Sundown tonight. Meet on the coast of the Eleusis Bay. You know where that is?

[Geoff]

For some reason even though it was mental telepathy, Geoff's ears perked up as Adele responded to his message. I will find someone who can help me out, see you at sundown. And with that he gathered his things and finished his meal. He turned to one of the waitresses, "Excuse me, I'm supposed to meet a friend of mine in a place called Eleusis bay," pulling out a map, "Can you point out where it would be?" After the waitress pointed out where the bay was, he thanked her and got into his clunker and started to make his way out to the bay.

On his drive he tried to think of every way the situation could play out tonight. He knew that he was bitten by the mother of lycanthropy herself, so if a fight broke out, he wouldn't have any trouble at all what so ever. But he also considered the fact that Adele was with Perrin Golden-eyes, and even so that is not a name you mess with at all. He knew he would definitely have his hands full should Adele attack him. But he didn't want a fight, he liked and respected Adele, she was young in a leadership position but Geoff knew how much potential she really had, even if she herself didn't see it. In the midst of his thought he finally reached the bay after what felt like a long drive.

As he sat and watched the sun glisten over the waters as he looked out from the parking lot at the bay, he felt somewhat at peace even though he could very well die tonight should Adele betray his trust, and she had every right too he thought to himself. He somehow wasn't worried, he felt confident, that she wouldn't fight him, that she wanted peace as much as he did, but he was ready for her arrival when she came.

[Caroline]

Since when did a deer begin to charge for a piece of its hide? What Adele was saying made next to no sense, and Caroline became confused for a moment, until she realized that she's one of few uncivilized individuals. Most other Lycan are probably doing a fine job of blending into society, thus eating in restaurants like a normal, respected bunch, as opposed to the barbaric monkey Caroline is. "All right, but keep out of my personal space and my head." She really did not need any voices in her head, she had enough weirdness to deal with on the outside. Those people were creepy without their mind trick. So much for being normal.

"Do you know who lives in that huge villa?" Caroline asked, waving her hand toward the villa she had initially planned to occupy for a time. Table manners and general behavior aside, Carly could use some serious... remodeling. It probably would take an entire day to clear her up and turn into a human, and that Villa over there looked like the perfect place for such a lengthy process. Of course, who the hell would want a stinky animal crawling into their home and making a mess? Probably no one, so it was either taking the fortress by force, or waiting for a good opportunity. With steel nerves and endless patience, Carly could definitely wait, but if she was going to hang around this lady among the public, she needed to lose those trashy clothes and apocalyptic scent.

With a sigh, Caroline finally relaxed somewhat, figuring that the nice lady was no threat. The last living being that presented no threat to Carly - who was a rather sheltered amphibian - became her single best friend. Talking to a turtle, however, was low even by her standards. Now that she had found an actual person who posed no problem, it'll probably take a while before she lives that person alone, especially since that person is also a Lycan.

[Adele Holst]

"No problem. I understand." Adele smiled softly when Caroline told her to mind her own business, and started walking down the block to the restaurant. "It took me a while to get used to the mindspeak too. Still bugs me out sometimes..." I'm rambling... The girl sighed silently, then looked back as Caroline asked about the villa. Adele stopped for a moment and looked at the Lycan with curiosity, before continuing on down the block, "Why do you ask? I live there actually... well for some of the year. I mean, I don't own it... Eh..." She always found it difficult to respond to questions about her stay in Greece with short, easy answers. Taking a hand out of her hoodie, she held it out at about waist high as she spoke to correct her initial response. "The villa belonged to my Sire, Perrin, and I'm... kind of his heir. Um, he died a few years ago. So it's sort of my villa." The young woman looked around briefly to see if anyone else was paying attention to their conversation before continuing, "Werewolves in need are welcome there for short times, but the place isn't really big enough for all the wolves in Greece. If, um, you needed a place to stay for a while, there's a guest room available."
As they approached the restaurant, Adele walked through the entrance, holding the door for Caroline. The host sat the two at a booth and handed them each a menu, spouting off the specials in Greek and then leaving the two women to look over their choices. "I have a pretty good handle on the language if you aren't sure what something on the menu is." Adele offered while flipping through her own menu.