[PRP] A Favor (Lily & Preacher)

[The Semblance of Unity]

She stepped out from work, cracking her neck. It had been a long day and her eyes hurt from looking at so many reports. Of course, her little adventure in bullshit land hadn't helped. The words spoken by the creature weighed heavily on her. While it was true she didn't want to be a were, not really, was she supposed to believe him? Maybe she could just... learn to live with it.

Her feet almost stumbled over themselves and she looked up. Oh, if that wasn't perfect! If there was one were Preacher liked, it was Lily.

"'Ey, Lily, whatcha doin' here?"

amitotic

 

[AMItotic]

Lily didn't normally make a habit of visiting the Ashdown Police Department, but these were strange times and circumstances, and Ashton being missing had her stomach all in knots. For once, she was dressed in a shirt that covered her midriff and pants with no holes, with what looked to be a jacket slung over one of her arms. She blinked when Preacher stumbled out of the building, then smiled wanly, lifting a hand in greeting.

"Well if it isn't the Apocalypse," she laughed, shuffling the jacket up on her arm. "I, uh..." She paused, looking down at Preacher. "Dude, you're a cop? That's awesome."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Me a cop? s**t nah." She huffed out a laugh, dragging her fingers through her thich ponytail. "I'mma secretary for Mercer. I gets tha papers done." Despite her penchant for an unidentifiable accent, Preacher could both spell and speak impeccably. She just never did unless she had to. It was part of the charm.

"Ya visitin' someone on that force?" She thought for a moment. "Mercer's already headed out n' Shun ain't here for a bit." Another pause. "Wait are ya datin' Aition? That ******** said 'e'd snagged a new girl..."

amitotic

 

[AMItotic]

"Oh, okay, that's still pretty cool," Lily replied, nodding along as she listened to Preacher talk. When she mentioned dating someone on the force, Lily's lips flattened to make a perturbed expression, shaking her head.

"Nah, dude, nothing like that," she said, her nose crinkling like she'd smelled something bad. "I, um...wasn't really sure who I was going to talk to, actually, I just figured I'd stop by and, uh..."

She tucked the jacket she was carrying under the crook of her arm. "...you know what, it's probably a s**t idea anyway, don't want to bother anyone."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Nah, none 'o that. Now ya gotta tell me." She put her hand on her hips and leveled a hard stare at Lily. "There's a bench right tha ******** there-" Pracher jerked her thumb at it.

"N' you're gonna level with me. Somethin' is up."

amitotic

 

[AMItotic]

"Okay, ********," Lily sighed, fidgeting under Preacher's gaze Biting her lip, she sat down slowly on the nearby bench, staring down hard at the jacket she carried in tow.

"I, uhh...okay, this is going to sound really stupid, haha," Lily began, rubbing at her nose. "But, uhh, Ashton Carver? They're pack, they're one of the wolverines. I got a text from their mom the other night because they're just gone. Like, no one knows where they went, and it's really sketchy because there's all sorts of s**t going on right now and I don't know what to do about it, but I thought..."

She took a deep breath, and she rubbed her nose again. Were her eyes watering? "I thought if they had one of Ashton's jackets that maybe they could sniff them out," she said lowly, her head bowed. "But I forgot that the cops don't have super sniffing powers and that's just a moonwalker thing, so...yeah. Bad idea."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Ain't they ya ex?" Look, Preacher heard s**t. "Well, have ya tried doin' tha sniff test over in bullshit land yerself? I can't 'magine bossman sniffin' a coat, but he ain't were." She jiggled her leg.

"If it ain't goin' quick enough, do y'own investigation, too."

amitotic

 

[AMItotic]

"Okay yeah, but like, it's not like that," Lily grumbled, crossing her arms. "I didn't think I was going to get anywhere and I didn't want to make it weird, so I thought I would just...drop it off, you know? Let the professionals deal with it." She snorted at the mental image of Jeremiah Mercer sniffing a coat--even if it highlighted the pretty obvious flaw in her plan, it was still funny.

Was it too weird to go looking in the woods for your missing ex if you weren't totally estranged anymore? Lily hadn't really considered it beyond her personal distress. Her stare grew distant as she thought about the possibility of going out on her own. "Where do you even start with that kind of thing? Like, their house...?"

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Yeah, house over in bullshit land is a good 'dea. Unless ya know were they like ta hang out over there. Get a big ol' whiff of 'em n' let your sniffer take over." She paused. "Assumin' yer a animal what has a good nose."

amitotic

 

[AMItotic]

"House, possible hangouts, done," Lily nodded slowly, considering her options. Ashton's parents hadn't moved as far as she knew, and there was campus to check out, but Lily couldn't really be sure of what Ashton did with their spare time. Even with their mutual status as moonwalkers dragging them back into conversations, she still kept them at arms-length.

"I...haven't really tried?" Lily shrugged. "Colors are weird, but everything else is...more, so I guess maybe? I've only ever been one animal, so it's hard to compare."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Y'want me ta come with, then? I ain't sniffin' no ********' underpants, but m'were nose is pretty good." She pursed her lips. "We the same genus or some s**t, too, so mebbe yours is good, too." Preacher knew her eyesight was loads better as a mink. It was kind of annoying.

amitotic

 

[AMItotic]

Lily blanched, her gaze moving down towards the jacket in her hands. "I mean, that's probably really out of your way, I can probably figure it out..." She knew Preacher was less than thrilled about being included in the pack, and honestly, Lily couldn't blame her. It was a rough place to be, and while the perks were pretty sweet, it did come with some heavy baggage that Lily would have never wished on the unwilling. She didn't want to be the one to drag Preacher full on into moonwalker business when she'd done a pretty good job of just skimming the surface.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Wow, 'kay, fine. Do ya own thing, then." Preacher was used to being thought of as less than useful, but it still always stung. She crossed her arms. "Y'can still give tha jacket to tha PD, if ya want. Mercer's left for tha day,. n' Kuroda ain't in, but find Blisskiss n' she'll make sure it gets ta Mercer. If ya want." She was silent for a moment.

"Peace out, then, I guess." And made to move around Lily. It was clear she wasn't wanted.

amitotic

 

[AMItotic]

At first, Lily nodded along with Preacher's words, despite the low nagging feeling that something was wrong, that she'd made the wrong choice. It rumbled around in her chest, like something jumping from branch to branch with only danger below. "Okay then," she murmured lowly, but when Preacher moved past her to leave her whole body kicked to her feet, like she was falling in a dream.

"I mean, do you want to help?" Lily nearly choked on the dryness of her voice. She was losing major cool points for this, she just knew it, but she had to say something or she was going to fall into whatever numbness she'd encountered at Darlene's. "I just figured you weren't into the whole moonwalker thing, I know it sucks for some people and I didn't want you to have to use it or whatever."

Her pulse was ringing in her ears, but the static in her mind wasn't turning to silence yet.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

She turned around, frowning.

"Not anymore." She jabbed her finger at Lily, but didn't touch her. "I was thinkin' this was a friend thing, a me helpin' you 'cause I could an' not a pack thing. But nah, ya gotta make it about ya stupid ********' pack." Preacher spat the word like it was a curse.

"I love bein' a mink. I love runnin' 'round. But I ain't ever a part of tha pack, ain't never be. N' this is apparently a pack matter, only. Have fun, bye."

amitotic