12394/Feeding Strays

Feeding Strays
Date of Scene:	28 October 2020
Location:	Bear Mountain State Park
Synopsis:	Sarah runs into Victor Creed
Cast of Characters:	Hijack, Sabretooth

---

Hijack has posed:
    No one would be caught dead camping in Upstate New York so late into Autumn. The weather could turn on a dime (and often did), it was cold and unforgiving, worst of all? Bear were more active trying to fill up on fat stores in order to hibernate come the first true snow storms.

    Unless, of course, you knew how to get around these things. Sarah was seated on a log with a fishing pole in hand. Dawn hadn't truly risen yet, though the skies were beginning to brighten to a false dawn. It was cold enough that her breath fogged with each exhale and she kept a steaming cup balanced on the log beside her and the thermos beside it. Her hat pushed down on her head and to many it may seem like she was napping, though the occasional reach for the cup proved otherwise.

    A small little fire was not far off from her. The smell of woodsmoke kept the bears away enough for her to relax a little. That and it made boiling water for coffee all the easier.

Sabretooth has posed:
    The cold tended to bring Victor Creed out into the woods more. While it has been decades since he was a young boy, he is still, at heart, a backwoods Canadian. Cold and the woods are the soothing balm to Victor. He moves through the woods slowly, being careful how he lifts and sets his feet, so as to not make that much noise. He is dressed in a black knit sweater with the turtle neck pulled up his throat and a pair of black jeans and engineer boots. For such a big man and heavy shoes, he shouldn't be able to move as quietly as he does, but years of practice is a good thing. The occasional noise he makes probably does resemble a bear moving rather than a person.

    He pauses and sniffs at the air, catching the smell of fire and coffee. He puts a little more direction to his step soon stepping out of the woods along the lake shore.

Hijack has posed:
    It wasn't bright enough for her to spot the movement of Victor through the woods, or hear the slight sounds. The small creek blubbered over a few rocks to her right and masked most small sounds. Instead, she just continued to enjoy her morning. Lifting the cup to her lips and drinking deeply before shifting the cup back in place.

    It wasn't until he stepped free of the tree line that she realize that someone was there. Victor's hearing picking up the murmured. "Shit." from the woman as she reached up and shifted the hat back on her head to better see. "Mornin', Victor. Fresh out of rabbit." Sarah kept her eyes on him. He was nightvision goggles away from stepping out of a Tom Clancy novel. Maybe if she was her usual surly self, he'd move on.

Sabretooth has posed:
    "Morning," comes the rough voice in return. "No rabbit, but I can smell the coffee through the woods." Victor makes his way to the water's edge and settles down onto his knees. He cups water into his large hands and splashes across his face and back into his hair repeating the move a few times. Finally he shakes his head sending little droplets of water out from his hair before pulling the damp hair back and out of his face. He finally turns to look at Sarah. "See you are still hiding out up here in the woods."

Hijack has posed:
    Sarah glanced down to the cup of coffee like it had betrayed her, though she loved it too much to stay angry for long. Keeping her head turned and him in her line of sight before she lifted the cup back up and drained it, only to refill it with the thermos and set the thermos out enough that it was evident she was offering it to him.

    "Whose hiding? People are welcome to come out here and enjoy the woods." Of course, it would be an inconvenience to them. No Wifi, no reception, no toilets and just uncomfortable enough that no one in this day and age would bother. Well, so she thought.

Sabretooth has posed:
    Victor grunts which could be amusement or indifference. "Sure they are, but you also know not many will. 'sides, we already know that you know what you are doing out here in the woods. You hear someone. You fade into the woods." He moves forward to pick up the thermos and drink some of the hot coffee. "Not like I haven't seen that move many times before. Hell, I do it when I don't want to be bothered by anyone." He takes another drink of coffee before setting the thermos back towards her. He nods with a "thanaks" noise along with it.

Hijack has posed:
    Sarah just gave him a shrug, neither admitting nor denying the soft accusation. Though, that austere expression cracked a little as she chuckled softly. "Have to hear them coming and even then, most folk can sniff out a coffee like a bloodhound." The coffee was without cream or cugar and had a deeply rich flavor to it. Apparently, Sarah had learned the lesson at some point that you don't skimp on the important items in life.

    Shaking her head when he moved to return the thermos and lifted the cup to her lips. Gesturing to her bag to indicate that she had more. "So, since you're not fading into the woods, I'm supposing you are feeling social? Or just jonsing for a cup of joe."

Sabretooth has posed:
    "Can't ever walk away from a good cup of coffee. I may be wild, but I'm not uncivilized," Victor says with that rough laugh of his. He settles down on to the ground, crossing his legs in front of him. "I'll go back into the woods in a bit. This is one of my favorite times of year. Only beaten by the big snow storms coming down." He leans back his head and sniffs at the air. "World just smells better with a bit of cold to it."

Hijack has posed:
    His statement earned him another chuckle and for the first time since she'd been around him, she turned her attention away to the fishing pole. Shifting the line and scowling before reeling it in to reveal that the fish were crafty little bastards and just ate the bait from the hook. Setting about with another few bits of guts from a sealed container near her foot.

    Glancing over to him and nodding her head. "Born and raised in Northern Montana, you learn to love the cold.

Sabretooth has posed:
    "Mmmmmm. I bet," Victor says although he is a bit distracrted now. He moves back towards the water, moving on all fours, looking like a cross between cat and bear as he moves. He wades into the water slowly, ignorning the bitter cold that the water must be. He settles back onto his back legs as he watches the water carefully while remaining still now. "Still could learn a thing or two about fish though," he says quietly so as to not make too much noise.

Hijack has posed:
    Sarah watched him move out into the water and knew exactly what he was doing. She grinned a bit, though he'd never see it. "I'm better with a spear, never used a pole before." Which was the truth. She learned from her grandfather how to fish and he hated fishing poles as a rule. The soft smile touching her features at the memory before she cast out the line.

    "I'm curious, you're out in the woods to get away from the press, but this is twice now you've approached me. Why?" She didn't like internalized questioning and she had been asking herself just that since she'd fed him off her own campire.

Sabretooth has posed:
    "Cooked rabbit and coffee," Victor says almost off handedly as he watches the water without moving himself. He slowly lowers his hands now into the water with his claws facing back up towards the surface. "You seem to know what you are doing," he finally adds. "You aren't some dentist that plays wild twice a year. Not that far from me I suppose." Suddenly his muscles tense, his arm flashes, and a fish is chucked up onto the shore. "Although, I don't know if you are killer like I am. Time will tell I suppose," he says as he follows the fish back to earth.

Hijack has posed:
    "I do have very good coffee." Said without ego, all fact. She watched as his hands slipped in the water and it was a wholly surreal experience. She'd only seen it done a few times, successfully, before. But he swiped a fish right out of the water and it lands not far from her. Grabbing the branch and with a quick strike, she kills the fish.

    "I wouldn't have minded being a feral." She'd briefly told him about her childhood friend. "I'd rather be attached to nature than just able to possess cars." Well, what she did was more than that, but still. "Never killed anyone. Tried to once. Ended up beat near to death as a 'mutie lover'. They'd have killed me if they knew I was one."

Sabretooth has posed:
    "Hope you can defend yourself better now," Victor grunts as he settles down next to the fire to begin to dry off from the cold water. "And I could use a little more coffee." He watches the fire dance with the flicker in his amber eyes. "Better be able to kill first or just going to be the prey your entire life. First person that ever hated me for what I am had his throat torn out by my claws. Either the lion or the gazelle. Can't be both."

Hijack has posed:
    She didn't respond to the comment about being able to defend herself better now. She'd been 16 when it happened and she was mostly just scared. Would she be capable of killing someone to defend herself? Yes. "

Hijack has posed:
    She didn't respond to the comment about being able to defend herself better now. She'd been 16 when it happened and she was mostly just scared. Would she be capable of killing someone to defend herself? Yes. "Just because someone can kill doesn't make them a killer. I'm no killer, I know that much."

    She set the pole to one side and set the kettle of water over the fire and started up a new pot of coffee. "I'm neither lion or gazelle...buzzard?"

Sabretooth has posed:
    "Well, I am," Victor says simply. He turns slightly to warm his side but looks more directly at Sarah now. "Probably should have told you that first thing. I am definitely the lion. I'd rather be doing the hunting than the running." He picks up the fish and runs his claw along the belly to split it and begin to pull the bones out. He watches her to see if she runs from him and what he has to say.

Hijack has posed:
    She gestured to his hands, "I sort of got that. I'm not stupid enough to think that if you wanted to hurt me, you'd have done it and there ain't a damn thing I could do about it. Sure, I could lose people in the woods, but you're not exactly 'people'."

    She simply continues making the coffee. "Maybe it makes me a coward, maybe it doesn't. But why do you think I was so quick to feed you? A predator with food in it's belly is less likely to attack."

Sabretooth has posed:
    Victor chuckles and nods. "See. I knew you were familar enough with the woods. That is why I approach. You are just the hapless frail cracking branches and sounding like a brass band marching through the jungle." He grabs a stick and puts a piece of the fish on the end before holding it out to the fire, turning it slowly as one side begins to cook.

Hijack has posed:
    Sarah snorted softly, "I move better in the woods than that. Brass band..." Shaking her head, there was the hint of a smile tugging at her, but she keeps it from fully forming. Pouring out the now hot coffee into the thermos and topping off her own cup before handing him the thermos straight out.

    "No harm in a friendly bribe to 'stay down'. There are worse things. I could have screamed and ran." She made it sound like that was an absolute affront, and to any woodsman? It was.

Sabretooth has posed:
    "That would have been worse," Victor says as he accepts the thermos. He takes a deep drink from it seemingly ignoring the fact that it just came out of the pot. "Probably would have chased just out of curiousity then," he says with a chuckle. He holds the thermos in one hand and the speared fish bit with the other. As the smell of cooked fish becomes stronger, he offers the stick over towards Sarah. "In return for the rabbit and coffee..."

Hijack has posed:
    It comes out of nowhere. Sarah smiles fully and shakes her head. Reaching up to adjust her hat as she laughed softly. It suited her far better than the stoic expression or scowls she tended to wear. "I can't even imagine how utterly horrifying it would be to be ran down by you. Man...no wonder you'd rather be the lion."

    Why, exactly, was that funny to her? Totally unknown. She looked at the proffered fish and nodded her head, taking the offered stick and treat. "Thank you." No attempts to force him to keep it, no shy deflection. She took a bite out of the fish without hesitation and plucked the hat from her head to look up towards the sky, now that dawn had breached finally.

Sabretooth has posed:
    Victor cocks his head slightly at the laughter, but then proceeds to get another piece of fish on a stick and cook it too. "Not many could tell you differently to be sure," he says with his own slight huff of a chuckle. He glances up at the sky. "Eh, the sunlight. I like the dark better. Probably another reason I like the winter. Less of that glaring sun."

Hijack has posed:
    The laughter slowly faded as she acknowledged that her statement wouldn't be argued. The fillet was quickly eaten and Sarah sat back, lifting the cup into her hands as she took a sip and seemed to relax. Though, Victor would be able to see she never truly was free of the tension. Stil nervous around him.

    "Nights are longer, true. Nothing brighter than sunlight on the snow, though. Seen so many tourists end up snow blind in Montana. We made a drinking game out of it."

Sabretooth has posed:
    Victor chuckles and nods. "Montana is probably not that different than Western Canada where I was born. Less people back then though. Farms were really all that was around us and the nearest one was miles away." He watches the fish begin to let out the thin stream of white into the air as it cooks. He continues to turn it with one hand while he takes another sip of coffee from the thermos. "Still at night, the wild seems more wild. The dark and the woods are truly primal sources of fear for man. I like to remind them why on occasion." He smiles with a predator's smile letting the firelight glint off his fangs.

Hijack has posed:
    "Probably not." Watching him for a moment before she turned her gaze to the fire, watching the caramelizing fat give off a smoke as it cooked. Only glancing when he continued and she considered for a moment if she was crazy. His smile sent a uncontrollable flutter down her spine.

    "It's cause we can't see. Could be anything past the firelight. Hell, half the Blackfoot Nation's stories are based on just that." What was beyond a person's sight was the source for many a tale told by many a people.

Sabretooth has posed:
    "So were the European fairy tales. That is why there are so many Big Bad Wolves." Victor chuckles as he takes his fish out of the fire. He plucks it from the end of his stick and pops it into his mouth. He is quiet while he eats and swallows. "Well, I can see in the dark so I have always liked that advantage over the prey."