badfic_manor | [Voice] [Private to Tom]

Well, I can try. It's worth investigating. We'll have to get a sample from the lab from each of the victims but I'm sure that there's got to be something on it that'll let you sniff it out.

[A pause.]

You're a...werewolf?

......

Ah, think more vampire. Sort-of. Kind-of. Partly. Hence the bat.

Anyway, I should be able to track something - at least figure out where he's been and where he hangs around.

Huh, hey, do you think you can meet me at the second floor hallway on the B wing? Something tells me we're barking up the wrong tree and I need a quiet place to think a little on this. Maybe talking out loud will help us clear it up.

[He noticed the pun.]

Sorry about the bad pun. I didn't mean it like that.

I'll be right there.

[Sure enough, a few minutes later, he's ducking around the corner - keeping pretty alert, but he hasn't lost any confidence.]

What've you got?

You're familiar with everyone's scent, right?

[It was a straight question and maybe one that would help things along.]

[He frowns.] Mostly the people I've been around in wolf form - but it doesn't take long to learn it; I can spend some time playing puppy to get the scents of the people that're out and active... check around stuff belonging to the victims, or ...

Maybe check all the crime scenes and pick out the unfamiliar one in common?

[He does see where this is going - pick out the scents that don't belong...]

We'll start with checking door to door so you can get a good wiff of who's all here and what not, then we'll go to the scenes. I know it's a lot to remember but I think you can do it. At least it's a start.

[he grins.] The point of giving a dog something with the scent is so they're not confused on what they're looking for, right?

I think I can keep track of it all. [He shifts down, to wolf form, and barks, ears forward and tail up.]

[This is the first time that Tom saw the shifting and was impressed but he knows that they've got a job to do so instead, he focuses on getting information in the form of scents. Most likely, they'll start in the gym first, since Shiki's attack was toward the center of the room and trailed out. Which means, if the assailant was barefoot, considering the silence he had to maintain, the scent should still be there.]

A change in plans. I'm thinking we should start at the gym first. I've got a hunch about something.

[The wolf nods, and starts towards the gym, pausing to look back and make sure Tom's following - Soma's not about to leave Tom alone when they're working on something like this.]

[Tom was keeping up in a steady jog. Being small had its advantages. This is a guy that can run 3 minute miles.]

Go on. I'll keep up.

[He's keeping to a normal pace - it almost takes effort to keep the lope to "human running speed", as used as he is to going full-tilt in that form; he doesn't stop until he's at the gym door...]

[at which point he does pause and sneeze a couple times - the scent of blood is still thick around the place.]

Sorry about the smell but I really need that one scent if you can find it. Try under the vent....

[Now that Tom thinks about it, he looks up and tilts his head.]

I can fit through that.

[He lifts off the panel and his heart sank.]

Oh god....

Rrrrr? [Soma is stepping over the bloodstains with a slight whine - the smell is making him hungry again, but he's working on ignoring it - when he's by Tom, he hops up on his hind paws to look inside the grate and see what was going on.]

Soma....is there anyway you can get a scent through the vents?

[Tom doesn't dwell on the encroaching feeling that threatened to strangle his logic.]

I'm going to check the door for prints...oh man this is like a needle in a hay stack here from as many people coming and going out of here. Damn....it's going to take a while to sort out the mess.

[He begins taking fingerprint samples anyway using scotch tape and his note pad.]

[He actually sticks his head partway in the vent, sniffing, while Tom's doing that, then growls.]

[He hits human form after pulling his head out, although his eyes've gone yellow and there's noticeable fangs when he speaks.] Oh yeah. One person, with the smell of blood on them, and ...strawberries and sugar. [He screws his face up a little at the apparent non-sequitor information.]

[Tom shudders visibly. Being allergic to strawberries, he found the thought disgusting.]

Ew.

[The sound coming from any guy sounds almost gay even to himself.]

Okay. He's in the vents. So he's identifiable.

[He takes out his Blackberry and makes a text entry.]

I can find him, and I can hit sixty easy in that form - I have his scent and I can cover the manor fast. The guy smells human - you get people to catch him, and I'll find him for you... give you something to bring up when people start bitching about you all being "useless".

Whoa, seriously? That's impressive.

But yeah, I'll get on it for forming up a plan. I'm taking advantage of every avenue I can get.

It gets a little hard to stop at that speed but ... if I'm gonna have all this, I might as well put it to good use. [He smiles, lopsided, fangs showing.]

[Tom's upper lip curled up to study those teeth.]

Stupid question but....what exactly are you?

[Something about that expression was familiar in a way that had him just barely wilt.]

You want the long form, or the short form?

Short'll do. I don't think I'm ready for the long form just yet.

[After all, he's friends with a Namek. That's just as strange, right? And he talked to a telepath so that's not weird. Oh no, let's not forget Elphaba in there.]

... [Oh this was going to be fun.] I was sorta meant to be used in a resurrection ploy by a very old and very powerful vampire that'd been destroyed. He kinda failed to take over, but I'm sorta halfway there, and have the lion's share of his powers. I don't have to drink blood, but being around it does kinda make me hungry.

...On that note, if I'm ever really, REALLY not acting like myself, avoid a confrontation and go find Tris and let her know, or Remus.

[Well, Tom didn't seem like someone who'd be too fazed...]

[He scratched his head and cleared his throat. He didn't outwardly show his disbelief and objectively, he cleared his thoughts on what he normally would have thought...but this isn't solely his world anymore, so that part of his mentality had to be shoved aside.]

Someone....failed at their hocus pocus and now you're stuck between human and beast, am I right? So with that said, if you start going nutsoid and begin to want to drink my blood, I'm supposed to get Tris or Remus. Okay. I'll keep that in mind.

[Thank god he's got a good memory or this would have been a disaster.]

You're the fourth person I met here that's got some weird physical thing. It's cool but weird, I gotta admit.

...Basically. Thing to remember about Matthias - he was a master tactician when he was human, and he's got an ego. He'd have to pretty starved to just lunge at someone and drink their blood, but it should be pretty obvious if you get the feeling you're talking to a completely different person... like if I'm suddenly being all cranky and formal and old.

[He blinks a little - it's not a reaction he's used to getting, and he's still not entirely sure how to react, but he rubs the back of his head, scruffing his hair up worse.]

I guess with all the different worlds people are from here, it's easier.

That's true. I sometimes have to remember that not everyone's the same. It's not like I had any fair warning when I first arrived. Elphaba was one of the first I met and she's green.

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