(no subject)

[capwolf]

Who: Steve and Open.
What: Wolf!Steve goes exploring
When: Current-ish?
Where: City of Nightmare
Warnings: None, yet. Will edit if necessary.


Clark's remarks about having to be careful at home, after flying to the top of one hell of a tower here had opened Steve's mind up a little bit more to the possibility of maybe being less guarded here. Thomas knowing what he was within about five minutes of meeting hadn't hurt, either.

He still felt the need to be cautious, but less so than back home. There wasn't the same risk of fallout here, after all, and there was an opportunity to learn a lot - about himself and maybe about others.

To that end, he was on four feet and wearing fur as he moved through shadows and pools of light in a very different city. He followed his nose and impulse as they led him. He was enormous and moved with an easy, predatory grace, but there was also a kind of calm and confidence in his movements - and if he was threatening it was only in response to a threat.

And he was unusually inclined to approach people. In fact he was pretty inclined to outright nudge at their hands and lean against them, whether they wanted him to or not. Hazards of being a pack animal, benefits of being in one heck of a disguise.

Comments

[justakidfrombrklyn]

One of the people who apparently has decided to continue his attempted Ankh-Morpork suicide mission in the City of Nightmares is...

Well, he's awfully familiar looking. Really, it's almost funny. Especially given his watchful posture and the baseball hat and the faint wafting scent of a burger that had been obtained before leaving the Shadows prepared Just So.

[capwolf]

God Bless Betty for giving him a heads up about the potential for running into himself - sort of himself, anyway.

What's really funny is that while other people are being met with an easy kind of confidence and reasonable amount of gentleness -

Steve?

Steve gets a wolf walking directly up to him a thorough, intense, sniffing, while he pretty well walks into the man. Definitely into his personal space.

Blame the burger (it isn't the burger).

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Hey!" and that's pure Brooklyn as he tries to shuffle back, get away from whoever's dog has decided that his crotch is the place to--

Oh. Oh yeah. Dinner.

"Okay, pup," and he was already reaching into his pocket to pull out the burger to try and feed the poor thing. Though it certainly didn't look skinny or malnourished.

[capwolf]

The good news, such as it is, is that he's not too interested in spending too much time with his nose buried in his own crotch, and there's a sentence he never expected to float through his head.

He backs up and sits down when Steve stops protesting and pulls out the burger. Waits for him to hold it out, takes it with an extreme amount of care not to catch fingers and wolfs -pun intended - it down.

Then immediately leaps up and makes a grab for Steve's hat.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

And he gets it, because that was not what he was expecting the giant wolf to go for. He'd been defending his throat, thank you very much. Though he couldn't help that he reached out to try and get it back. It'd been a gift from Sam, a Dodgers cap in the old design for codgers like himself that couldn't deal with the brave new world where his only options for baseball team were something called the 'Mets' and the damn Yankees.

[capwolf]

Steve has to give the guy credit, even if it's some alternate version of himself: he's not sure he'd handle having a wolf jumping at him as well. Actually, maybe he would since this is some him.

God this is confusing.

Still, the sniffing and even having the cap in his teeth tell him this guy is not any kind of wolf and gives him a faint, barely there hint of Sam.

He stays just out of Steve's reach with the cap, not so much teasing now - though there is totally some of that - as trying to... lure him.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

Steve follows, though he does recall where he is. 'Nightmare' is the name of the town, after all, and while this doesn't happen to match any of his particular nightmares, he did ask around enough to have an idea of what he might expect. The fact that the wolf stole his hat and that the wolf seems to be leading him somewhere?

Well, he goes, because he's still Steve Rogers, but he's glad that he's got his good boots on for the moment.

[capwolf]

He basically leads Steve a ways - somewhere a little better lit and a little safer - but then deliberately slows down so Steve can close the distance between them.

If he's willing to.

He's still definitely holding that cap though.

Also wagging his tail, which is - not wolf like, actually, but hey. He's trying to be clear without the ability to talk.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

Steve's following, because he's hoping that if he goes where the wolf is leading him, the animal will give him his damn hat back. His world's been wider and weirder for some time, after all, up to and including his presence here.

"I'm coming," he said as he trotted behind the animal, "though I'm holding back on the ear scritches if you're leading me into a trap."

He considered his words a moment.

"Or if you dent the brim too much."

[capwolf]

He turns around when they've got some decent lighting and walks back toward Steve, jumps up again holding the hat for him to take.

There's a definite human like snort at mention of denting the brim though. Come on, Steve, he's got teeth. There's only so careful he can be.

[justakidfrombrklyn]

"Don't you snort at me," and he is about to continue when he realizes what he's doing.

"...I'm talking to a wolf. Wow."

i owe tags to a bunch of ppl but My Self-control

[tictacs]

Maybe someone should've said 'don't play with the transport button so much', because Scott did and now he's here.

And he's still not very familiar with the different cities, definitely. Barely acquainted with the City of Tomorrow and the one with the jungle, this one is... really dark. Common sense would tell the regular man to leave, but Scott's no regular man. He's braver now, and better, and exploring is what a hero would do--

"Ah!" Or, well, should do, because something wet pushes against the back of his hand and he actually jumps a little.

There's a dog... no, hold on, too big to be a dog. A wolf? This is a wolf?

"... ha?"

[capwolf]

That is definitely a wolf, but it's a wolf who is acting like an awful lot like a dog - and even more like one when Scott notices him.

He wags his tail - once - to make his friendly intentions known and nudges at his hand again. This time actually flipping it back onto his head and away from his mouth.

[tictacs]

Logic tells him wolves should be dangerous, but this one... looks kind of cute. Cute in the sense that Scott's initial disbelief turns into a kind of happy feeling, most especially when his palm is between the wolf's ears.

"Oh," he mentions, teasing, "you're a smart one."

Fingers ruffling through his fur (what a lovely colour, really), Scott crouches down. Eye contact is good, right? But he finds his earlier statement proven when even the wolf's gaze is smart-looking.

"I think you might be the nicest wolf I've ever met." And also the only wolf he's ever met, but who cares about that?

[capwolf]

Steve leans into the ruffling - not a lot, but enough to feel briefly heavy against Scott's hand and to definitely, definitely have just how warm he is felt. Then he backs off a couple of feet, looks back while Scott is looking at him and just gazes back with a mildly incredulous gaze. Nicest wolf he's met? How many are there, exactly? He can't help but wondering that, but given where he is and things Thomas said - possible He waits a second or two, then leans forward and pushes his nose at Scott's shoulder, not trying to unbalance him, so much as nudge him. Then looks back over his shoulder and whines. He's going to have to work on his Lassie impression.

[clay_and_truth]

(ooc: I'm kind of assuming Diana's animal empathy/communication would still work, if you'd rather it not, I can re-write.)

The woman who smelled of wet earth and ozone didn't flinch at the sight of the wolf, though it was curious to see one in the city- and alone. But a wolf without a pack was by far not the strangest thing she'd seen here.

"Hello there. You're a bit far from the woods, my friend. You're not lost, are you?" The blessing of Artemis wouldn't compel him to respond if he didn't want to, but there was a... sense that she would somehow understand him if he did, even if it were in the impressions of scent, sight and sound that she was used to animals responding in rather than words.

[capwolf]

[ OOC: Absolutely fine, and sorry for delay. ]

He padded to stand directly in front of her, tilted his head and looked up into her face with a calm, steady gaze for a moment, before closing the distance and thoroughly sniffing her. Then he backed up, turned his head to the side and sneezed. It wasn't so much that he needed to, as clearing his nose from the somewhat unpleasant scent of ozone.

Then he did answer, though he was somewhat tentative and cautious - even careful. Not a lack of trust, but a lack of understanding who exactly she was. She reminded him a bit of...Thor in some way. Or maybe that was just the ozone, again.

He wagged his tall exactly once and without knowing how she could understand actively if slightly shook his head. Not lost.

Then nudged her hand.

[clay_and_truth]

"Exploring? We've that in common, then." Her speech patterns were, perhaps, a little Thor-ish as well, though with an accent speaking more of the Mediterranean, something close to Greek, but not quite.

"I'm afraid I don't have any food on me, and I doubt the street vendors here serve anything worthy of a fine hunter like yourself," she said, taking the cue of the nudged hand to scratch behind his ear. "But I can offer company- it may be safer for you in the city if you're mistaken for a companion animal." She consciously avoids using the word "pet." One does not make a pet out of a wolf, in her opinion- one may only hope to join its pack, however temporary that honor may be.

(ooc: I can't not picture Diana in a Mountie uniform now. Dammit. /Cues Due South theme.)

[capwolf]

He didn't really care about the food, but leaned fairly heavily into her hand when she scratched behind the ear and leaned even more heavily.

Wagged his tail at mention of company, yips softly in agreement but mostly has decided that he doesn't care if he's mistaken for a companion for a while or not.

He does, however, back away after a second, and then nudge her again - this time behind the knee - since it's the only way he knows to communicate that he'd like to go that way.
[ Fraser would be so proud! ]

[clay_and_truth]

"Ah," she gets the direction, even before he indicates physically, and follows easily. The ozone-scent is slowly fading from her skin- a side effect of flying, the scents of the skies (and occasionally storms) can linger after a long flight, which she'd recently indulged in over the city.

"Something in particular you want me to see?" she says, more wondering aloud than actually asking him. "Fine then, lead on."

She is getting the distinct impression this wolf has some non-animal-like intelligence to him. There certainly seems to be some definite motivation for his nuzzles and directions, and she's curious to see what they are.

[capwolf]

He's beginning to understand that she's picking up things without being told specifically, which means that he's less frustrated at not being able to say 'not exactly' in response to her question. There is a particular direction, but mostly he's heading for more light and safety and the rough area he stashed his clothes so he doesn't get stuck out in the city with a choice between fur or naked.

He sticks close to her, ears up and pivoting to pick up sounds of potential danger. More overtly protective in this form, too, though there's nothing unsafe, unsteady, or aggressive about him. He's intensely watchful, but that's about the extent of it. He likes this woman. He wants to have a conversation with her.

He's probably going to make that happen.

Which could be awkward, but it's not like he already knows her and it can serve as a test of sorts. For him - not her.

I hope backtags are cool.

[clay_and_truth]

She doesn't show any signs of discomfort walking alongside him. Perhaps because she knows it would take well more than one wolf, seemingly intelligent or not, to take her down. Unsurprisingly, given that she is wearing a small amount of armor, she carries herself like a warrior, though not necessarily as careful as a soldier. There's an ease in her movements suggesting an inherent level of trust to her surroundings, even in a place like this.

She lets the wolf lead her to the stashed clothes. She doesn't see them, but if he begins to change, she will turn her back for the sake of his modesty until he's dressed. Another sign of trust as much as consideration.

I am so behind... and so sorry.

[capwolf]

He doesn't begin to change right away, mostly from a safety perspective. He grabs his clothes and disappears behind something for both their sakes.

It's a few minutes before he comes back out, dressed, and a little confused. "...What's with the ozone?" Also: " Steve."

I am now equally behind so no worries

[clay_and_truth]

"I flew through a small storm system to get here. It can linger," she says, not looking terribly surprised, but at least a little surprised. She knew a few shapeshifters, but it was always something of a novelty for her.

"Diana. Of Themyscira, though I suppose that has less meaning here than it did in my own world. A pleasure, Steve." The smile she gave him was genuine. That he shared a first name with one of her oldest friends had to be a good omen.

[capwolf]

He smiles and gives her a nod in return. "I'm afraid it's not something I recognize, but it's a pleasure to meet you, too, Diana. Care to continue our walk?" He's uneasy, even nervous, but hey. He had to 'come out' to someone eventually, and it seems like she was a good choice.

So far, anyway.