Wolfman's Doll

[Shade]

When Shade came through the door, huffing and puffing with a book under his arm Lucy became more then a little suspicious. Especially seeing how said book was a book of magic and enchantings. Realizing he was in a jam Shade bowed his head and glanced advertingly at the window.

"Uhm, y....your not going to like it...." Shade started slowly as he kept his eyes on said window. Lucy glared and grabbed his ear, causing him to yelp out the answer. "I-I brought home a doll, right?! Well, the dolls- owowowowowo-"

"Don't make up silly stories!" Lucy snorted twisting his ear. The pinching sensation burned but problem bein he was too tall. No matter how far he bent, she was lower. It hurt a LOT. "Now, what's gotten into you? Did you finally find a woman you'd like to marry?"

"W-what?! NO!"

Twist. Then release. Shade groaned as he straightened, rubbing the burning ear with a pout. Lucy rolled her eyes and simply walked away leaving a Shade whose tongue was sticking out. Snorting defiantly he turned on his heel and walked up the stairs.

Alright, back to research and keeping her company. Drayel thought as he reached his door. He let out a sigh. This was going to be a long night....

[Tanya]

Something made Tanya come to and after a moment she realised what it was. Lucy and Shade were talking near the stairs again. It sounded muffled though. In fact, everything was sounding a bit muffled. Like she was hearing it under a pillow or something. Then she felt Shade's footsteps as he came nearer.

The antique doll tried to push herself to her feet but her porcelain body felt too heavy. She had been starving her soul for too long of life force. Now she was paying the price for her morals of never taking blood without it being offered first. Tanya should have told Shade about it sooner but her fear of him rejecting her kept her from it.

[Shade]

"Damn nosy women." Shade complained as he pushed through the door and looked down at the doll with a huff. "It's a good thing you can't talk, no offense. Two women drive me crazy as is, I don't need a third chatter box."

He spotted the little doll with her head turned towards him. He snorted as he came to her and sat down, grunting as he landed crosslegged on his rump. "Honestly, I don't understand you creatures at all!"

He snorted, rolling his eyes as he peered down at the doll. He blinked, waiting for a moment then frowning when he realized something was wrong. Leaning towards her he peered into her eyes, making sure to keep level with her face as he tried to see the same glimmer he'd seen from the shop. He frowned.

"What's wrong? You're not as... lively."

[Tanya]

She laughed weakly inside at his comments on females and tried to sit up again but couldn't do it. Dragging her arm up towards herself, she tapped her hand on her lips with a clinking sound. The doll was trying to pantomime 'eat' as best she could. Tanya then reached her hand out to touch his nose, trying to convey her emotions.

The porcelain doll concentrated on the feeling of her soul waning inside and how little energy she had. It felt like the same as a heart being squeezed when a loved one was lost but far more intense. Tanya thought of the first time blood had been freely given to her after she had been sold by her father. It had chased away the chill of death, gave her soul more substance, and filled her with energy.

[Shade]

Seeing images, flashes of something before his eyes. He saw a woodsman...? No, not quite. He saw blood drip onto the porcolin doll and felt the energy it gave her. Felt the weakness of her soul and the exhaustion from her. He grimaced.

"You need my blood?" Shade asked slowly. Hesitantly he glanced at his hand then at her. "Is that what ya need?"

[Tanya]

Tanya nodded jerkily and let her hand fall, a lock of her hair slipping over her shoulder and hiding part of her face from view. She was still human inside the doll and she felt shame and disgust in herself for having to live on someone else's blood. That was something that insects and leeches did. Not a farmer's daughter. Not a real human. It was her own stupidity that caused all of this. Tanya never should have trusted that old crone and her magics.

[Shade]

Honestly, Shade wasn't sure what to do. In all the books he read, he never heard of anything remotely like this. What if she was lying? Would he unleash a monster? If she was telling the truth, would it be right to give her blood? If he didn't, would she die? Would it be nicer if she died?

"You're... not going to survive without it, are you?" Shade said softly as he stared at her with a sad look. So many questions, so much confusion. He stared at her for a moment longer before sighing, rubbing his temple as he ground his teeth. No, he doubted her a monster. She didn't have that look in her eye. As for dying, that wasn't his choice to make. If she wanted to live, he was in no position to stop it. He stared at her for a moment before glancing at his wrists.

"Oh well." Shade sighed as he rolled back his sleeve with a determined grimace. Flexing his hand he glanced down at her and gave her a forced smile. "Good thing I'm a shifter, or this would leave a mark."

With that dug his own fangs deep into the fatty part of his palm. Tasting his own blood, feeling pain, he grimaced but held on to be sure it bled through. Letting go with a whine he hesitated before holding it over her, unsure really if this was what he was suppose to do. Blood dripped from him onto her, touching her glass cheek and streaking a bloody tear. He held like that until she let him know it was enough.

He was just that kind of gentleman.

[Tanya]

Tanya watched as Shade bit into his own hand, seen the wince, and heard the pained sound. The first drop hit her cheek and fell like a tear without leaving a stain behind. All of the drop went into the ball joint that connected her head to her neck. It hit her soul and made a shudder run through the doll's body.

Sitting up slowly, she raises her hands palm up to catch a couple more drops as they fell. Her eyes shone with more life and clarity after the blood seeped into her wrist joints, down the inside of her arms, and splash onto her human soul. When one more fell onto her hand, Tanya raised the other to tell Shade that it was enough.

Relief and gratitude flooded through her as the pain faded, her soul feeling heavier and more solid inside the doll. She lifted her face to Shade as his life force's energy brought her to herself again. Never had she had more than a drop before until then and it made her feel almost human albeit very short and fragile

Then all that he had said clicked in her mind and Tanya felt surprised. Shade was a shifter? How come he never said until now? She had never met one before so was that why he had stood out to her in the crowd? Did his family know or were they shifters too? The questions swirled around her mind and though she didn't know it, the half formed questions also hung around her like a perfumed cloud along with her emotions.

[Shade]

Shade mouthed his hand with a grunt, trying to keep the blood from hitting the floor by suckling on the wound. He felt the little flashes of emotion coming from her, felt he presence strengthen and sighed a muffled sigh of relief. She'd be okay then. He glanced up at her and gave her a grin around his palm.

"Fweel Bedder?" Shade chuckled as he gave her a smile. "Yaw shudda towd me buffir nawh 'bout duh bwud."

He knew half of his words probably didn't make sense but he didn't really care. He gave her a sharp scolding look to make up for it. He was making it quite clear he didn't like secrets and next time she'd better share with the party. He stared at her hard.

"Undertood?"

[Tanya]

Tanya nodded, understanding his words but she was still a bit mad that she told Shade so much about herself while he had said so little. Resting one hand on her hip, the doll pointed her other one in a scolding manner at his nose. Why should he be so mad at her when he also had been hiding part of his nature? The memory of him talking about his shifter blood flitted through her mind to dart across his if his mind was opened to it.

[Shade]

Shade felt himself stiffen a little as he narrowed his eyes. Did she hate shifters? He didn't understand why she was so tiffed at him and the flash of her thoughts made him feel a bit hurt. He snorted at her roughly, his eyes narrowing as he remained rigid.

"Didn't realize you were picky on blood." Shade growled before turning his nose away. "Pah, well like it or not you were saved by a shifter. Best not hear about any more complaints about it either."

Shade huffed as he moved to stand.

[Tanya]

A stab of hurt and panic ran through the doll to taint the air as she went on tiptoe to cup his face in her tiny delicate hands before he was out of reach. That wasn't what she thought at all about Shade or those of his kind. Tanya slowly touched her cool China painted lips to the tip of his nose.

Images of him holding her in the dingy ally and rocking her as she sobbed drifted through her mind. Another from her sitting next to him on the bed as she wrote out what made her into what she was came to her mind. An image of Shade sitting down and showing her what he had bought for her and then the two of them napping together.

The antique porcelain doll cared about the man who had saved her and whom she trusted to not break her. She had thought that they truly could be friends even if she was trapped using a doll for a body. What she was a bit hurt about was that he hadn't trusted her enough to tell Tanya that he was a shifter sooner than this. Were her feelings towards him one sided?

[Shade]

"..." Shade was quiet now, remaining still as the little doll held his face gently. He himself was confused now, still a bit tiffed and didn't quiet get it at all. She was hurt? Why? The images made no sense to him and neither did her emotions. He let out a low huff before narrowing his eyes a bit.

"I went to the library." he stated solemnly as he gently pulled his face from her. "I've been lookin' up spells and what not, trying to figure out what exactly the woman did. So far no luck, but I'm not through yet. I figured it's something though."

[Tanya]

The doll let her hands fall to her sides as he pulls away and sits on the book that she had been laying on when Shade had walked in. He was still mad at her but there was nothing she could really do at the moment to fix it. Tanya nodded her lowered head at the mention of his researching her ailment. It was nice of him to go to all of that trouble for her sake but she was feeling like she was doing him more trouble than good. If she wasn't making him flip out, she was scaring him, making him go out of his way, or offending him without even meaning to.

Thinking a moment, she rose to her feet and almost glided to the bed. The doll hadn't noticed yet, but when she had received Shade's blood, she had taken enough that her movements were now as if she were in her human body. All of the life force gave her enough power to have more total control of the doll Tanya's soul harbored. Turing to face him, she raises her hand to point at the top of the bed. She was hoping to use the pencil and paper up there to write to him. Hopefully she would be able to better explain herself in words than emitting random feelings for Shade to guess the meaning of.

[Shade]

Shade was silent as he watched the doll, wordlessly reaching past her and grabbing the paper and pencil before handing them to her. He watched her with a dull exhaustion that began to pulse at his head. After a moment or two he twisted around, cracking his spine in the process, to grab a book from the pile he'd tossed on the floor.

He started back on page one.