Not Really Okay

Who: Herbert and Charlie
Where: The phone
When: Mid-morning, 'round 9:30

When Herbert finally pulled himself out of his not-quite-doze and got around to trying to figure out the voice mail system on his cell phone, he found not one message, but two. He didn't even get to Olivia's message, because the first message was from Charlie. And seeing as he'd already spoken to Olivia, the message from Charlie definitely got dealt with first. Immediately, even.

Snatching up the home phone-- even though he still felt a bit fuzzy in the head and unsteady in his thoughts, he wasn't going to forget and charge Olivia more money by calling her on his emergencies-only cell phone-- he quickly looked up her number in his notebook of such things and dialed. He had to tell her he was okay-- beat up a bit, sure, trying very hard not to think about what vampire blood tasted like, sure, but okay-- and he had to make sure she was okay.

Charlotte's mom had got home about an hour ago, and there had generally been a lot of hugging and crying during that event. Isadora called Valen - who was working late, and found out that the plan? Hadn't changed much. Fortify, be ready to stay in the basement again. Great. So while Isadora went out for a few survival items, Charlotte had been moving blankets and pillows into the basement. Except she hadn't slept at all during the night, and at some point, she'd sat down to cuddle with Anna, and then dozed off entirely.

She was awoken after her phone, still in her pocket from last night, started ringing. She opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling. She was using Anna as a pillow. Amok was sleeping on her shoulder. Reaching for her phone, she tried to move as little as possible so she wouldn't dislodge the kitten, and raised the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

A familiar voice! "Charlie? Charlie, it's Herbert. Is everything-- are you okay?" He tried not to sound too horribly worried or guilty or anything, but he was tired and still a bit out of it. He didn't do too great a job. He felt bad for not getting her message earlier, and afraid that she had run into the same kind of trouble he had and this time he wasn't there to kick it into the street to get run over by a truck, and still just... weary.

Charlotte felt a surge of relief upon hearing Herbert's voice. Not being able to get a hold of him last night had freaked her out a little bit. She forced herself to go with the opinion that a werebear versus a vampire had the advantage, but she had nothing to base that guess on. "I'm okay, Herbert." she confirmed, quickly. "Are you okay? I tried calling you last night when I found out what was going on."

"I'm okay." Mostly. "I'm sorry, I should've called-- I didn't get your message until this morning. I wasn't sure why the phone was beeping until Olivia told me when she-- she got in. So you know? What's going on?" What's in town trying to kill things and destroy things and getting their heads bitten off?

Spirits save us, don't think about that.

"It's okay," Charlotte said quickly. She sounded more relieved than anything else, and she was. "There's vampires attacking the town. My step-dad called last night and told me to lock all the doors and windows and lock myself in the basement... we're going to have to do the same thing tonight. Were you okay? Did anything happen? Do you have some place safe to stay?"

"I know," Herbert said automatically to her mention of vampires. And oh, did he know. "My apartment's safe... Stacey, my friend the witch, she put all these spells on it so that it's safe. No people wanting to hurt anyone can come in, and no vampires, and no demons." It actually seemed like maybe a good idea to invite everyone he knew to spend the night for the next few nights, honestly, but he knew Olivia would never go for that....

"What about fire?" Charlotte asked, quickly. She wasn't trying to scare him, she just needed to know. "These vampires are burning things down. They don't need to get inside to do that. Can the spells protect you against that?"

"Well, the bathroom mirror shows pictures of dangerous things coming, so we'd have a warning," Herbert said, frowning. He hadn't thought of that. "I'll make sure to check it often." Once night fell, anyway. The apartments were probably a good target for burning, too. He'd have to be careful and watch out for trouble. Maybe he'd, like, patrol the grounds or something....

Or maybe not. That might involve biting off more heads. Shuddering a little, he added, "What about you? Is the basement fire-proof?"

"I don't think there is a way to fire-proof things on that kind of scale. We're just leaving all the lights off and staying in the basement and hope it leaves us alone. My mom is a master earth elemental, so there's a lot she could do if we were attacked." Though that in itself was a foreign concept to Charlotte. Her mother, who rarely ever even raised her voice, fending off attacking vampires? Isadora had seemed confident in it when she assured Charlotte that they'd be okay. Charlotte just couldn't imagine her mom doing anything vaguely super-hero-like.

"Kaysen might-" Oops. Well, okay, I'm going to suck all over the place right now. Last night I told Herbert's secret to Kaysen, and if I tell Kaysen's to Herbert... then I'm even with... the sucking. "Kaysen's like me." she said. "A fire elemental. She's across the street, maybe she could redirect fire if she had to, give us time to get out. Or my mom could open up a safe passage. And I told Kaysen what you are so please don't hate me." Wow, that had been quite a ramble.

"I thought she smelled like fire!" For a moment, in that brief flash of revelation, Herbert actually sounded more like himself: happy and excited that he'd finally understood something. "I figured it was just her smell, but she really is? There's a reason for it?" Ha! Smiling again, he said more warmly, "I don't mind you telling, and I could never hate you. I'd really rather be more open about it, anyway, and if she knows about that sort of thing and is okay with it, I'm okay with it."

"She's okay with it." Charlotte replied, and felt her cheeks heating up. Her only concern was that we weren't... oh God. "I think with disappearing into the abyss and crazy cats-that-aren't-cats and death and vampires, the fact that I'm friends with a were-bear was pretty low on the overall shock scale."

"Guess so," Herbert agreed, the moment of happy slipping back into slightly-dazed tension again. "I hope they leave soon. The vampires. I don't want to... to worry. I don't like worrying." And he really didn't like the near-painful mental warring between "go bite off more heads to keep your friends safe!" and "oh spirits no more biting, no more blood, no more death ever!" If the vampires left, that would go away.

Amok had scampered away from her to get some water, so Charlotte carefully sat up and picked lightly at her jeans. At first she just nodded, though she realized Herbert couldn't see that. "Me too." she said. Who did like worrying? "I just want everyone to get through this... I can't... I can't lose anyone again."

"Awwrrrr." It was an apologetic and affectionate sort of rumble that he made at her, wishing he was there to hug her. "You won't lose anyone. Promise. Even if I have to bite off more vampire heads for you, nobody's gonna die on you 'gain."

It was a nice sentiment, though most of it went over her head once she focused on a certain word. "More?" she asked, stilling completely. "...More?"

Why did Herbert never think before he said things? "I... yeah." He swallowed heavily, trying not to taste it again. Maybe he'd brush his teeth again after the conversation? "They were going to hurt Harper, the shy girl from the mine? They were way too fast and strong for me, so I went bear, and they were still way too fast, and... I-- I--" Another swallow. "Killed one."

Charlotte felt bombarded by the noises in her head - none of them from animals, for a change. Herbert killed a vampire. Herbert. And he'd apparently bitten its head off. Sure was sure that was as equally effective as it was traumatizing. "Are you okay?" she asked, now gone very quiet. "Really okay?"

In response to that quiet, serious, and ultimately understanding-sounding question? He had to answer truthfully. He couldn't brush it off as talking about his physical hurts, not then. "Not... really. I keep... keep tasting it. It makes me want to throw up." Again. He scrubbed his face with a hand. "I'm a vegetarian, Charlie, I don't even eat animal meat. It makes me sick."

And that, really, was only the most surface of it all, but he hardly knew how to put into words that oh god someone is dead because of me feeling. He didn't care if they were undead and would have killed him and Harper, he had ended a life. Even an unlife. That just seemed to wrong to him, but how did he describe that?

Now Charlotte really wished moving around Marquette was an option, because she wanted to be there with him, and not having this conversation on the phone. "That's a lot for one person to handle." she said, softly. "Even though it's self-defense... a lot of people have trouble with it. They deserved it though, you did the right thing... I know you know that." she murmured. "Or you should." She didn't even know how to start in response to him still tasting it. It was in his head, but would knowing that make it any better? And was that even true? If weres had stronger senses, did tastes linger longer all the time?

"Olivia said that, too. And I know Harper said it, sort of." He'd saved her life, probably; he knew she would. Though thinking of it like that ought help a little. Shouldn't it? He'd saved Harper's life. He'd done something brave. Then why did he feel so horrible? "I'd do it again, too, if I had to. But I'd hate it even more. It's just-- it's wrong." He rolled over onto his side and curled up a bit, hugging his knees with the non-phone-holding arm. Would he feel like this forever? Or would it go away after a while? Did he want it to, or was it so much safer-- for anyone, for everyone-- if it never did and he shuddered at the thought forever?

Deep thinking was not Herbert's strength, so more than coming up with solutions, he mostly just chased the same thoughts around and around in his head. "Just wrong," he repeated vehemently.

"Herbert..." Charlotte said softly, heart just aching for him. "It's wrong that you had to, but nothing else is. You're not." she had to reassure him. "Would you feel better if we found a way to get the taste away?" No small goal, but in a place like this, there were probably ways. Even if it was just in his head.

At the heart of it all, yes, was that tiny seed of a thought that somehow something was wrong with him, that he'd done that, that he'd not even thought about it but just did it. It wasn't even really acknowledged, but oh, yes, was it there. Herbert shut his eyes a moment, trying to absorb that and believe it. Trying and actually doing were two different things. "I've been brushing my teeth a lot," he admitted after a pause. "It helps for a while. And means I've got really fresh breath, which is good, eh?" It was a weak attempt at humor, but it was an attempt.

Charlotte gave a very soft laugh at the attempt. "Maybe there's a potion? Or someone could donate blood and maybe you could associate the taste with something or someone good." Yes, Charlotte realized that sounded insane, but this was new territory. "Or try something stronger. Or grosser. But that might just present you with a new problem."

"Maybe I just need to eat," he mused. Maybe the idea wouldn't seem quite so bad a little later. "I haven't eaten since dinner last night...." Which was very unlike him, but he just... couldn't. It made his stomach do unhappy, cringing flipflops in his middle. Maybe a little later it'd be better.

Charlotte cringed slightly. "Yes. Yes, if you've neglected to do that, you should probably try." she confirmed. "And take some medicine if you get nauseated. You need to take care of yourself, Herbert."

"Is there medicine for that?" Herbert asked, a little surprised. He hadn't known that. Though if there was, he was sure they didn't have any. "Huh. ... thanks, Charlie." Both for the tip, and for listening, but he wasn't sure how to express that properly. Even if it hadn't really made things better, not a lot, it still was... nice. Sweet. And it did help a little-- maybe he'd just have to have lots of talks like this, and little by little it'd get better?

What a daunting thought. Regardless, he'd have to hug her extra warm next time he saw her. Maybe he'd visit later, or tomorrow, so no teachers could glare at them. "Are you allowed out at all? Or visitors? I could come over, rrmm, tomorrow."

"I don't think I'm going to be allowed out until it's over. Once the sun goes down I'm not even allowed out of the basement." Charlotte answered. "We're not letting the dogs outside, either. I'd like to see you, but I don't want you to risk anything. Daylight is good." she added.

"Daylight is great," Herbert agreed firmly. "Tomorrow during daylight. I'll come over... I'll be careful about it. You can introduce me to all the animals." Since the only time he'd really been over, he'd not exactly made the best impression on them, being much more concerned with Charlie and her poor head than playing nicely.

That actually made Charlotte smile, more genuinely this time. "Okay." she agreed. She wasn't sure if her mom would like it or not, but at this point? She didn't really care. She wanted to be able to see her friends. "So long as you can deal with being sniffed to death. Knowing you, you'll probably just sniff back." she teased lightly.

"Of course I would! How do you get to know anybody without getting their scent?" Which of course Charlie wouldn't entirely understand, but he said it, anyway. He was happily open with her about what he thought and how he thought it-- probably why the whole "head-biting-off" thing had come up. He no longer really thought about censoring much of anything with her. "It'll be good to see you."

"It'll be good to see you, too." Charlotte echoed, and it would. "This is shaping up to be the worst weekend ever. I keep wanting to check in with everyone and make sure they're okay. Maybe I'll believe you're okay if I actually see you."

"Or you might not. I think poor Olivia about had a heart attack when she saw me. Though maybe I'll look a little better by then." He hoped so. He didn't really want to go back to school on Monday looking like he'd taken a beating. Even though he had. Maybe he should just say, You should see the other guy.

Or maybe not. "Feels like we've had a lot of really bad weekends, lately."

Oh dear. That didn't sound good. "Why? What's wrong? Were you hurt?" Charlotte was much louder now, and she'd sat up straight as an arrow. Idiot. Of course he was hurt! He fought a vampire. "What kind of wounds do you have? My mom has earth healing, she may be able to heal you!"

A bit bemused, and a bit touched by her concern, Herbert said, "I'm okay. Everything stopped bleeding last night, and I've got band-aids and things. It's all little stuff-- they couldn't bring me down so they were just... just picking at me, I guess." And they'd enjoyed it. He knew they had. "Until I got too tired and they could get me down. They didn't get that far," he added quickly, to make sure she didn't think he was worse off than he was. "But my face got it kind of bad." And his sides, back, and shoulders, but nobody could see those.

Charlotte tried to tell herself that what she was imagining was much worse than what had actually happened, but that didn't work. Because in the end? He'd been attacked by vampires. Any bad injury she could imagine was probably fully justified. Shaking her head at herself, she sighed and pushed to her feet. "My mom will heal you." she said, confidently. "Any surface stuff... I know she can do that."

"I don't want to be a bother," Herbert protested weakly, trying to imagine Charlotte's mother doing anything to him. From Charlie's descriptions and complaints about her, Isadora made him a little bit uneasy. Yes, he was one of those rare and to-be-coveted "friends", but he wasn't exactly human, either, and would an earth elemental that good be able to tell? Even if she couldn't, would she be unhappy that said friend was a boy? A boy who liked to hug and sniff? And chew, though he'd been so good and not done that to anyone at school. Much.

Really, even, would it even work unless she knew he was a bear, and had been hurt as a bear? "Have you told her about me?" he asked, still kind of hesitantly. Whether about him in general, or about him specifically-- or both.

Charlotte had resumed stacking blankets, holding her phone on her shoulder as she did. The question gave her pause. "That's two questions in one." she pointed out. "She's heard about you some, she knows we have gym together and we hang out a lot at school. She knows you were the one that saved me from the cats-that-weren't-cats." Even now, Charlotte definitely took on a different tone when mentioning the cats-that-weren't-cats. They still haunted her. "She doesn't know that you have a furry side and like to be scratched behind your ears and chew on hands when in said furry side. I've never told anyone but Kaysen."

Herbert could tell he was blushing, and he was really glad she couldn't see it. "I'm sorry about your hand," he said, mumbled really, since he'd never actually apologized for that. "And will that... matter? Will she be able to tell, or need to know if she's going to be doing... whatever?" He didn't know anything about earth elementals except they smelled like Charlie.

Charlotte's cheeks went a little pink, too. "It's okay." she said. "I didn't mind, it didn't hurt or anything, I was just... um... getting used to things." Okay they needed to be not talking about hand-gnawing. "I don't think it'll matter. She can heal surface injuries, and I've seen her do it on animals before. She used to be a vet and now she raises horses. So... it probably won't matter. She doesn't have what I have... the telepathy with animals. So I don't know if she can tell what you are."

Wondering a bit what Charlie'd think if she knew about the chewing in both forms-- probably all, but he'd never really had the opportunity in his middle-scary-form-- Herbert let that topic go. Maybe he'd never let her see his pencils and how scarred up they were. "I guess... if you think it's okay." Olivia would probably appreciate that, him not being hurt anymore. "And she wouldn't mind. What's it feel like?" He'd never been healed before.

Charlotte had to think about how to answer that. As a little girl, ever scraped knee or elbow had been healed by her mother. Anything her mother could possibly take care of herself? She did. And Charlotte had never had all that many injuries. "It's just kind of... a relief?" she thought outloud. "You don't really feel anything, at least you definitely don't feel anything bad. And it's quick."

"Rrm." Herbert pondered that. It wasn't like it would've bothered him much if it had hurt, or felt funny, but it was nice to know ahead of time. "I suppose, if she's there, and wants to... all right." He had a feeling Charlie would react like Olivia had to everything, anyway, and wouldn't let him go until something was done about it. Which, really, he didn't mind, even if it was a bit embarrassing.

"She'll be here." Charlotte confirmed. Once the initial supply-run was over, the plan was to camp out in the basement and wait for it to be over. "It'll be fine. Just don't let anything else happen to you overnight."

"I won't." That was the last thing he wanted to do, get into more trouble. All he wanted to do was make sure everyone else was okay, sleep some more, maybe play video games or do homework, and then sleep again. Though making sure everyone else was okay kind of took precedence. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay? I'm going to call some people...." Make sure everyone else was alive and well, too. Then maybe take that nap.

"See you tomorrow." Charlotte echoed, that thought making her feel a little better about getting through another horrible night. "Be careful, Herbert."

"You, too, Charlie. See you tomorrow." Though he was a little reluctant to, he did drop the phone and turn it off. It had felt good to talk to her. It didn't make everything better, but it did help, at least a little.

And hey, he'd go for "a little".