❝ 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴 ──── ⚔

[kingstoat]

𝒮𝒸𝑜𝓉𝓉 𝒲𝑜𝑜𝒹

♂ - 29 - gay - sheriff - w/ Archer Greene, open

➳❝"U-huh..." The sheriff slowly nodded along, putting his own hands together behind his back as he walked alongside Archer with a steady stride.
"Well, it's certainly not the kind of evidence I expected, but I can certainly take note of it," Smiling politely Scott continued, "Although I doubt I'll be able to reach Area 51 with it. Don't worry, you can sleep tight now. I doubt aliens are murdering anyone but I'll definitely keep my eye out and letcha know if I see any, okay?" Just as he finishes speaking, they arrive at the entrance to the cafe - only a short walk away from the sheriff's office. Scott stops, putting a hand on Archer's shoulder, "I'll solve this, don't worry. Whether it's monsters, aliens or just humans. I appreciate the info."

In all honesty, Scott wasn't sure what he believed in. He's never been religious, despite his devoted Catholic family. Of course, he believed there could be life on other planets, but mostly just plant or animal life. Not technological creatures in flying spaceships that want to eat our brains or something. It wasn't like he spent much time thinking about it - he had more important things to do.
It seemed more like Archer was describing a comet or meteor, whatever they're called, he didn't know the difference. The case was obviously not caused by aliens - but he had to be polite, he wasn't going to just dismiss Archer's claims or be rude about it. He may well have seen something and mistaken it for aliens, who was he to judge?

❞

[braunkatt]

──x 𝐀𝐔𝐆𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐋

the believer ۰ location: the glorious gray pickup ۰ tagged: jacqueline

xxxaugust nodded profusely, nonverbally letting the alpha that he was listening. jacqueline seemed to grow increasingly more uncomfortable the more she continued talking. running his fingertips along his knuckles, his mahogany gaze widened as he looked over to her as she finished her sentence. "somebody is bound to snap," she confided. the corner of the man's lips began to tug downward, his eyes now meeting with his hands. it saddened him to think about somebody in the pack hurting somebody else potentially...for the life of him, he couldn't think of who would be the first.

in the pit of his stomach, august he wouldn't be the one ─ most likely. unless a particularly cruel individual initiated a confrontation, the man knew he wouldn't be the one. the man grazed the inside of his bottom lip with his teeth, a nervous habit he carried since an infant. he could feel the regret on jacqueline's face, the alpha was obviously going through some kind of tumultuous downward spiral...and that not being now, at least he hoped.

"but we still have those who are alive and suffering. finding a way to help them is all that matters now." the alpha's attempt to navigate the conversation in a more positive light made him want to sink into the abyss of the glorious gray truck. the curse. the man's own voice rang through his eardrums, his attention returning to jacqueline. "that's right," he nodded for what felt like the umpteenth time that conversation, "i really do pray that there's at least something to help. that something....i'm not quite sure." the words felt bitter in his mouth, the back of his throat grew more coarse as more time went by...he probably should have not said that. anything that alluded to the disease ─ well, curse made august want to plug his ears. despite being a somewhat openminded individual, when it came to his own beliefs...he did not bat an eye. the man could feel that he was right about the curse...being what it is... it was truly unfortunate.

august watched the woman as she crossed her arms across her chest as her fingers grabbing her skin. "i'm going to have to call for an assembly soon, figure out where we stand." she bespoke, his lips parting slightly in response. slightly cocking his head, he opened his mouth to speak: "i'm scared that there isn't going to be anything that will help." his mouth grew increasingly dry, the emotions were sucked right out of him trying to think about a possible cure. what could possibly lift a curse?

"someone must have found something useful. if not the solution, then a clue." her words only making him feel more uneasy. taking a deep breath, august's lips formed in a straight line.

"i hope so."

[annie15970]

ＢＥＮＪＡＭＩＮ ⌺ ＫＩＰＬＩＮＧ
▶Age: Twenty Six || Species: Human || Role: The Aware || Location: Alleyway || Tags: Lewis

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"You say lies, I say exaggerated truth. If everything on the internet was utter trash, I wouldn't have figured out werewolves were real. I'll stick to research in the mean time, and you can tell me what's truth from fiction. After all, truth is often stranger than fiction. And don't call me Banjo, its Benjamin, Kipling, or Ben. Just." He gritted his teeth, "Don't call me that." Bile rose up in his throat at the memories that threatened to surface. He wretched them down forcefully. It wasn't worth the trouble to think about those days. Taking a deep breath to calm down. He glanced up at Lewis before turning away. He had put a lot of time and effort into researching thank you very much. It also wasn't like he was born as a supernatural creature, so what else was he supposed to do. What he'd learned about came from childhood fairytales and stuff he'd read growing up cause the Grimm version was an amazing read. Albeit, at times it was all kinds of messed up. He'd bought plenty of books and old artifacts in the weeks he'd been researching. His wallet was suffering the brunt of it, but it'd been pretty fun learning how to translate. Plus he had his rubber ducky Albert, who he could talk to when he didn't get something right. Albert doubled as his assistant for his I.T. work. Helped wonders being able to talk about his process and figure out the bug.

"Well anyways, I knew where to look. Its like living without looking if you don't observe the world around you. If things seem strange, more often than not, they are. The checklist was basically filled out, small town, woods, mysterious happenings. I mean its pretty obvious to anyone who'll bother to look." He'd gotten into contact with a few different sources who supposedly knew about the supernatural, so he'd had almost all his bases covered, except for someone who was actually supernatural. Until now. He scrolled through his questions at, "I have so many questions, but I guess I'll stick with a few questions for now. I can definitely ask more next time."

"Let's see, did one of you guys kill that girl?" His nose scrunched, "Hmm that sounds offensive. You guys. What else do I say though. One of the werewolves? No, that's no right either. I feel so speciest right now. Augh, I'm getting off topic." Huffing, he reached into his pocket and popped another Advil. Probably not the best decision but his head was going to kill him faster than this pill was. It wasn't a far stretch considering the timing of the death and the beginning of suspicious activity by the people on his list. He may or may not have looked into the case and got the files that surrounded her death. Most interesting to note, the attack wasn't consistent with any animals that could have committed it. The closest match was that of a wolf and that spiraled until he was at this point. Not his fault he was curious and connected dots other people thought were impossible.

Maybe he should go with an easier question. It was kinda rude to just suddenly ask him that out of the blue. "Okay, so answer to that one can wait. It's a biggie after all. How about, can you guys transform into wolves. Like animal form, although if you think about it. Humans are animals too. You know what I mean though, cause that'd be amazing. I can't imagine what that would be like, makes me wish I could do it. Oh! Do you keep your human mind while you're transformed if you can? Like are you guys two separate entities living in a single body? Or maybe you guys are one and the same just two sides of the same coin? Augh, sorry sorry. I can't help but ramble." His hands had been flying around the place, gesturing widely around to convey his enthusiasm. Wiggling his hands forward in a 'go on' motion, he grinned pleasantly.

[འབྲོག་ཁྱི]

┌──────────────────────────┐

│
│
⚜ ◦ ⤜──────→ 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 ❞𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐞❞ 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝
──────────────────────────────────────────────────
the alpha ▪ she/her ▪ tagging August (Lewis, Cel) Jen the NPC mom ▪ pickup → lodge ▪ form ▪ wc; 784
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└──────────────────────────┘

August's confession hit her a little too hard. Considering their progress so far, it was more than likely that a meeting would end in disappointment, and she was uncertain how much more disappointment the pack could withstand. Jackie nodded grimly, momentarily considering some kind of comforting gesture, but finally deciding against it. This wasn't exactly her forte. "That's.. understandable," she admitted, feeling like she was obligated to offer a solution to his troubles, but she wasn't really sure what that would be. She was equally as much in need of a solution. "I'll know more after the meeting," she declared, perhaps trying to convince herself more than Auggie.

I hope so. His quiet words held a very important message, whether he himself had realized it or not. If there was nothing else, no solution, then hope was definitely what they needed. It might keep the entire town from crashing and burning alongside the pack. Well, trying to predict what awaited them in the future would be impossible, but her nightmares had painted a rather vivid image of what her subconscious was expecting. To say the least, her hands had been soaked in blood, and there was no telling whether it was from a packmate or a human. Shoving the thought to the back of her mind, she stood up from where she had been leaning against the grey truck. "I have to go find Nelson, but I'll talk to you later, alright?" she proposed, shooting a final confirming glance at August before taking off towards the lodge.

Jennifer and Nelson had been at the lodge when she stormed out, but she had no clue where Lewis and Celeste had ran off to in the morning. Most werewolf fiction - not that she usually bothered herself with it - might've been entirely inaccurate, but they did have reality beat when it came to communication. Sometimes telepathy seemed unexpectedly practical, but when it came down to it, she definitely preferred keeping her thoughts to herself. Jackie pulled her scuffed phone out of her pocket and unlocked it with inexperienced motions. Were it up to her, she wouldn't even own a phone; they were annoying, distracting, and somehow seemed to suck some of the wonder out of the world. But wandering around town to try and find your packmates would have been equally annoying - she wouldn't admit it, but texts were convenient.

She pulled up her chat with Lewis, simultaneously jogging up the steps of the porch. "𝙸'𝚖 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚐𝚎'𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚢. 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚎 𝙽𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚘𝚗, 𝚜𝚘 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐." Anyone else might have interpreted the text wrong, but if anyone, it was Lewis who knew how strained Jac's relationship with her father had been since the beginning of this all, no matter how important the religious old man was to her. And despite her aversion to coffee, she really could've gone for a bordering-on-deadly shot of espresso right now.
Having to text Cel however, that made her hesitate in a surprisingly frustrating way - she wasn't used to uncertainty. Things had been exceedingly strange between them - at least for Jac - and it wouldn't have been entirely false to assume that she had lately been avoiding the woman. Her fingertips hovered above the tiny letters far longer than necessary, before finally typing out a nonchalant "𝙼𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚢, 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜." What she really wanted to say was 'I'm sorry, can we talk about this?' but her hands seemed to freeze at the thought - this wasn't the time or place.

Jackie tugged open the hefty wooden door of the lodge. The hinges groaned slightly, betraying the cabin's old age. Jennifer Chen was standing in the living room-adjacent kitchen, skimming through the town's monthly newspaper. Her brow was slightly furrowed - she was undoubtedly reading the article about the investigation. Jac's gaze softened at the sight of her, and she announced her presence by clearing her throat. The older woman's gaze lifted from the paper, brow quirked in question. "I've called a meeting at the lodge - in the study," she clarified, feeling somewhat uneasy about what she was going to request next. "Could you please find Nelson, bring him along?" she inquired, her tone far softer than usually. A quiet understanding spread across Jennifer's features, and she nodded: "Of course, we'll be there." It was one weight of many lifted off of Jac's shoulders. Her father would've undoubtedly asked questions, and she really wasn't in the mood to explain herself to her father before the meeting even began. After thanking Jen, she slipped into the study to wait for the others.

[braunkatt]

──x 𝐀𝐔𝐆𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐋

the believer ۰ location: the lodge ۰ tagged: magnolia & simitri

xxxhis eyes remained fixated on a blade of grass that stuck out like a sore thumb from the rest. the werewolf raised his eyebrows in compliance and glanced away momentarily after jacqueline excused herself; almost unimpressed. once again, he found himself alone. it wasn't often that the two conversed, but the air that wavered around him left his mouth sour. august wasn't sure how to feel about the entire situation, there wasn't much that he could do for the ill members of his pack. it broke his at the thought of losing his members. the cure for the disease─ curse was not bright at the end of the tunnel. hope was important but simply was not viable for the man at this current point in time, after the conversation the alpha and him shared, his hopes were only sinking.

footsteps could be heard, and soon to be followed by the closing of the back door. reluctantly, the man found himself staggering up the lodge's staircase. tugging open the door, august kept his head low as he walked by the alpha, low chatter growing as he trudged across the room. he could see two familiar faces adjacent to the window, jacqueline's grey truck could be seen. magnolia and simitri could have easily seen the two just minutes prior, a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips at the thought.

"hey," a low yet cool tone slipped out of his mouth, his eyes quickly running over the two women. magnolia looked horrible, needless to say. she oozed of pain and weakness as she held her head in her hands. he could feel his poor heartstrings being pulled at like a harp, august couldn't fathom what the two were going through. simitiri, on the other hand, looked exactly the same. he could recall the two being holed up in their rooms in the orders of the higher-ups...quartine seemed to be a breath of fresh air. august couldn't help it, however, ─ the empath in him leaped out. "how are you two holding up?" august took a seat beside magnolia in an effort to soothe her nerves.

[sneezes]

⸺⸺⸺

ＹＯＵ ＦＡＬＬ
ＩＮ Ｖ Ａ Ｉ Ｎ

█
█

𝚒 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚘 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢,
smriti / the rebel / lodge / magnolia, august
695 words

his death
is the sign
we await!
She knew that Magnolia was ignoring the matter at hand, taking a neutral stance on it from what it seemed. Whereas the very though boiled the tainted blood churning through Rits' veins, the same couldn't be said for her afflicted packmate. Rits' eyes hardened at the obvious attempts to switch topics, lips clamping shut rather than subjecting the poor girl with more words, lest breath be wasted further. It wasn't as though they could change it either way, there was no point.

Still, Rits moved off to one of the windows and yanked it open, perhaps far too forcefully as she sauntered over to one of the couches and threw herself over the side, legs danging over the arm. Draping an arm over her face, she sucked in a sharp breath and closed her eyes, holding it for a moment. There was probably a more level-headed response to this, she knew it. Still── every aching movement she made resounded with brimming anger, always tipping a little, spilling some here and there. ────and yet it never served to diminish anything. It always refilled, darker and darker liquids comprising her thoughts, drowning reason──── rationality escaping at her own inability to do just that.

What she wouldn't have given to just be done with it all.

She let the breath go, resumed her normal cycle. Mute silence followed the exhale and she made no move to cover it with anything as she bitterly laid upon the couch. It was the sound of the door opening that caught her attention, although she didn't move much other than a slight tilt to her head in the direction. No ill-intent sensed, there was hardly a need to do much in the situation anymore. Not like it mattered.

The voice that stemmed from the sudden presence belonged to none other than August, though it garnered a slim response from the werewolf. A brief moment spared her gaze towards him before her arm retook its position and blocked out the light once more. For all she cared at the moment, Magnolia was free to speak her peace to the man.

Smriti bit down on the inner flesh of her lip, gnawing down lightly. August wasn't a bad guy ── well, none of them were, really ── and he was trying to help just like everyone else was probably trying to do. She had to give credit where it was due, of course, even during her miserable fits (for everyone around her and herself ── it spared no one).

Yet still she couldn't hold back the muttered, "Just damn peachy." that slipped past her lips. And again, she felt an inner turmoil ── a brewing of anger ── though she staunched it. Once more she inhales quietly, holds it, counts. Everyone was stressed out, trying to figure this out. Magnolia was probably dying in some form, Smriti somewhere after her, and they were squabbling trying to figure something out and that much was known but was this the solution? Why was it just them?

And perhaps it was truly their ancestors looking down at them, reasoning and picking the ones unsuited for what they were doing at the moment. Maybe Smriti had done something entirely unforgivable and they were trying to rid her of it however they could ──── was this the right way then? But what had Magnolia ever done to deserve it? What made the others of the pack more or less deserving of this?

If it were an illness, what was the immunity and why? What determined it? Again ── always again ── why only the select few? What made them lesser than any of the others, unable to go out or leave ── unable to live? Survival of the fittest always applied, but this couldn't have been it, could it? And for Smriti, who always considered herself strong, did it mean that in itself was nothing true?

I don't know anymore. She mused, rather humored in her own head. Who are we even trying to help at this point anyways? ────and again, anger bled into her thoughts, contained at the moment, ripping at seams barely holding together at this point.

[meadow.]

𝙼𝚊𝚐𝚗𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚊 𝙴𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑
──────────────────────────────────
𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 x𝚜𝚑𝚎/𝚑𝚎𝚛 x𝚜𝚖𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒, 𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚞𝚜𝚝x 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚐𝚎


Maggie planted herself by the open window, leaning her head against her arm and breathing in deeply, cherishing the fresh pine scent of the distant evergreens. She’d spent more time in the woods than among other people. Ever since she was small, she enjoyed the company of the evergreens and the protection of a thick canopy of leaves overhead. Even when she stumbled across corpses of deer or rotting logs full of worms, when it wasn’t so beautiful, Maggie could appreciate the balance in it. Actions followed by consequences, life followed by death.

The disease wasn’t like that. There was no balance to it, it was just death.

She might never see the woods again.

Maggie blinked and shook her head, focusing back in on the conversation in the room around her. She hadn’t seen August come in, but was grateful for his presence. She was able to relax a little bit, some tension visibly dropping from her shoulders, though she was still on edge and growing more restless by the second. She moved over to give him space to sit beside her, and took in a shaky breath. “I’m doing a little bit better today,” she said. “My temperature’s back to normal, at least. I’m not shaking as bad as I was last night.” It wasn’t really an answer. The physical symptoms were one thing, but the mental toll it was taking on her was different.

Maggie traced her fingers over that scar again. By now the trail along her collarbone was red from the traffic of her fingertips against it, and the color stood out starkly against her pale skin. “I just want to get out of here. It’s been a week since I stepped foot outside the lodge, and three days since I’ve been outside my room.”

As much respect as Maggie had for Jackie, it was hard to appreciate quarantine. She felt like a wolf in a cage because, well, that’s exactly what she was. Something was scratching inside of her to get out. She was aching to stretch different legs than the ones she was standing on. Whether that was the quarantine or the illness talking Magnolia had no idea, and she was more than a little afraid to find out. “I want to ask Jackie if she’ll at least stick me in the truck and drive me around, but you know how well that ought to go.” Maggie moved in closer to August and took his hand, holding it gently in both of her own. It was a casually affectionate gesture from the blonde, but the puppy-dog eyes she shone in his direction were laying it on thick. “I don’t suppose,” she began gently, “that you’d be willing to take me for a little while?”

Truth be told, she was getting desperate. Her heart was racing in her chest, and she looked down at her hands around his if only to avoid his gaze. The illness was getting worse, and she was feeling increasingly trapped. She lowered her voice to a hushed whisper and gave August’s hand a gentle squeeze. “If you don’t get me out of here for a little while, it’s highly likely that I’ll have Smriti take me when you and Jaqueline have your backs turned. I think she’d be far less careful than you’d hope at a time like this.” There was a danger in her voice, quickly masked with a playful smile. A stranger might think she was joking around, but those who knew her well could see just how gravely serious she was. “It’s up to you,” she said, with a glowing, sharp-toothed smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

𝙰𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚎
──────────────────────────────────
𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗 x𝚑𝚎/𝚑𝚒𝚖 x𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚏 𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍, 𝚋𝚎𝚗, 𝚕𝚎𝚠𝚒𝚜x 𝚢'𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍,


Archer’s clasped his hands together tightly behind his back and squeezed his fingers together, channeling all his anxiety into the action. The sheriff joked that he didn’t quite have Area 51 clearance, and Archie felt his cheeks go hot with embarrassment. He knew it wasn’t meant to be mocking, but Archer was sensitive about his quirky set of beliefs. His embarrassment dissipated, however, as the sheriff promised to deliver Ginny Reed’s murderer.

Archer Greene had certain advantages when it came to insight. He was one of the only the only people he knew who could tell without a shadow of a doubt when someone was lying. It made him really good at poker, for one thing, that it also meant that when people told him things like “it’s okay,” or “your cooking tastes fine,” they couldn’t spare his feelings. Archer Greene was a walking talking lie detector, and when the sheriff said that he would solve the case, Archer knew that he was telling the truth.

“I believe you,” Archer told him.

The cafe looked as inviting as ever, and truthfully, Archie could’ve used the caffeine. He’d been away from the shop for a while already, though, and he felt his conversation with the sheriff had come to a close. It would only get awkward if he tried to hang around, and he was no stranger to awkward.

“I should get back to the shop,” he said. “Good luck with the case, and everything. I’ll see you around.” He turned to leave, took one or two steps back the way he came, then turned around again. “Extra-terrestrials aside, if there’s anything you need, feel free to let me know. I'm always... y'know, around.”

With a shrug, he turned around again, and headed back to the store. It was a beautiful day, and he enjoyed the fresh air on his walk back, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that the shadows cast were just a shade too dark, the breeze a touch too cold, and the sun a bit too bright. Something just felt… off.

He was on edge by the time he made it back to the store, and he heard voices in the alleyway behind the store. Hearing ominous music in his head, he curled his hands into fists, and made his way around the building cautiously. He was kicking himself for not moving all those old crates. If he had to fight another raccoon today, he would not be happy.

“Hello?” He called. “Anybody back there? It’s me, Archer! Just wanted to make sure you’re okay…”

He rounded the corner, and found himself confronted by…… !!

Ben and Lewis. Nothing too threatening. He relaxed, and let out a relieved sigh. “Phew! Oh, good, it’s only you guys. I thought I was gonna have to hit something.” He took a deep, dramatic breath, and headed back towards the front door. “Don’t let me interrupt your secret rendezvous,” he laughed, “you kids have fun!”

He whistled to himself as he unlocked the door and opened the store back up after his break. “Ah, young love,” he chuckled to himself. His phone screen was illuminated on the counter, where he’d left it. He had twelve unread messages from his mother. The smile now gone from his face, he pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation, then sat down dutifully to answer them.

[braunkatt]

──x 𝐀𝐔𝐆𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐋

the believer ۰ location: the lodge ۰ tagged: magnolia & simitri

xxxaugusts eyes willowed over the furniture in the lodge as the two women shared their pieces. both of their statements did not go unnoticed in the man's mind. encasing a sympathetic expression on his features, he could feel the pure agony radiating off them. his mouth grew drier as he tried to compute a response, he felt a sense of displacement. his beliefs seemed to set himself a distance away from the rest of the pack. empathizing did not seem to amount. was it wrong for a man like him to go against popular belief?

his lips parted with apprehension, increasingly, his hands grew more clammy. "i sympathize with you," august's arms shifted in place, trying to cross his legs. simitri seemed to be damper ─ august could practically see right through her demeanor: she was upset and frustrated and had every single right to be so. jackie's efforts to hopefully protect the sick were made in the name of protecting ─ not with the intention of imprisonment in mind. august found it a little over the top that they were to only stay in the lodge, barely even spending time outdoors. it confused the man that he was not infected like his two friends were. it hurt him thinking about the possibility of him becoming ill. but it was a curse after all, right? august's attention soon shifted onto magnolia, a close friend of his.

the man was relieved to learn that she had been feeling better. he couldn't help but to ponder the possibilities of either one of them dropping dead; they seemed to be so miserable...and there was nothing the pack could do about it. a cure seemed to be fictitious at this point and time. his brown eyes sunk over the woman's silhouette, her fingers tracing over her collarbone, revealing a white streak across her pale skin. "i just want to get out of here. it’s been a week since i stepped foot outside the lodge, and three days since i've been outside my room.” magnolia confided, the red on her skin seemingly blossomed. august's eyebrows furrowed as she continued, unsure of what she was trying to get across.

he watched intently as her hand reached across his lap for his. with a dumbfounded expression, his lips parted: clearly stupified to the core. it slowly clicked in his little brain that she was asking to be taken from the lodge...outside ─ that being out of quarantine. "but maggie─" august's stomach somersaulted, perhaps a bit too nervous for such a simple request. going against jackie's orders and requests would always send august into a downward spiral, the beans would be spilled: eventually.

august felt as if he was being thrown out a treat, like a dog. though her efforts were not only genius yet humorous, august knew in the bottom of his heart that he'd eventually give in. there was no rejecting magnolia, being that he cared so dearly for her. the two shared a beautiful friendship, something that he would not dare trade away. maybe it was too late for magnolia - but then again, smitiri would be in the same boat. august could feel himself biting the inside of his cheeks out of anxiousness. her voice contorted into a low whisper, squeezing his hands ever so slightly. his attention was caught, alright. "if you don’t get me out of here for a little while, it’s highly likely that i’ll have smriti take me when you and jaqueline have your backs turned. i think she’d be far less careful than you’d hope at a time like this.” her tone seemed to come across more as a threat rather than a simple suggestion: perhaps he was reading in on it too much. august licked his lips solemnly, his clasped hand felt like jelly under hers.

"it's up to you," her ultimatum only being pushed forward. the man leaned into the abyss of the seat, silently praying to disappear into thin air. his eyes looked to match with simitri's, a nonverbal what in heavens is she trying to do? gesture. before recollecting himself, his throat rasped a low, "well," he exhaled from his stomach. "i understand that you'd prefer not to be in quarantine...which─which i don't blame you for, at all." august's words were beginning to jumble together, a bad taste pooling in his mouth. "but...jackie wants you to be in quarantine, maggie─ and you too, rits." the corners of the man's lips began to tug downward, he knew they both would gladly take august up on the offer if he actually went through ─ that being. a voice in his head tossed around the idea of actually taking the two out, jackie however, would not be too happy with august if she found out. considering the conversation they shared earlier...his guilt inflaming. august could feel that someone would crack, the identity, however, could not be placed.

with the tensions between pack members and the curse...disease...whatnot surrounding the alpha like an angry swarm of bees....would this be the icing on the cake? the guilt that he would harbor would be close to unbearable, but it was for two friends, after all. swallowing the little ounce of pride he had left, august abruptly leaned back. "i'll do it." his nonchalant tone was not up for debate. there was no turning back.

[kingstoat]

𝒮𝒸𝑜𝓉𝓉 𝒲𝑜𝑜𝒹

♂ - 29 - gay - sheriff - open

➳❝The sheriff smiled and waved a small goodbye, letting out a small sigh of relief when Archer was out of earshot. He was desperate for some caffeine and something to get his mind off of the case for a little while. Scott recconned a little distraction might get his head back in the game, somehow.
It was only a few seconds before he'd walked straight into the cafe, ordered himself a black coffee, and plopped himself down onto a seat in the corner of the cafe where he simply gazed into his coffee cup, taking long sips every so often.
It was almost hard to remember the last time he'd taken time to actually relax. Even now he wasn't exactly relaxed. His mind seemed to constantly go from work to worries and repeat, work doesn't take up much time sure, but it seemed like even when he wasn't working his brain was still turning like some sort of...annoying washing machine. If he didn't have work to focus on, he'd end up in a spiral of worries and self hate yet still feel just as exhausted either way. God he just wanted to feel empty for once, how in the world other people seemed to just relax and enjoy doing nothing he didn't know.
Maybe he'd ask some time.
Then again, maybe it's because they have friends and things other than work. Scott had no doubt that while he held high authority, he was more than likely the biggest loser in town.

❞

(apologies for the shorter posts, I'm trying to focus on quality over quantity, especially since I haven't roleplayed in a while. Feel free to interact with Scott, with more interaction and drama I'm sure my posts will be longer lol!)