15778/Is it infectious

Is it infectious
Date of Scene:	07 November 2023
Location:	Harry Dresden's Office, Kingston Falls
Synopsis:	Willow got bit by a vampire, Harry and Bob had to make sure she wasn't exposed to the threat of infection.
Cast of Characters:	Harry Dresden, Willow Rosenberg

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Harry Dresden has posed:
Harry walks to the door, a moment is taken to lower the wards and then he walks inside. Once the three of them are in, the wards raise again and Mouse wanders over by the desk rather than stay at the door. Usually he makes it obvious he is guarding, this behavior implies the dog is thinking strategically.

Harry walks down the hall and removes the carpet to open the trap door to the lab,"Are you still feel ok? I don't think it had time to really draw from you, but still likely doesn't feel great."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"He.. licked it. As though he thought he had triumphed over me. Good thing he didn't know what I could do! He wouldn't have played with me then. As it is.. it feels strange. Like everything is moving in slow motion."

The longer Willow is under the spell of the bite without the holy water, the more she dissociates with the real world.

She giggles. "I wonder, do I taste good?" She follows him to where the stairs are. "Two visits in less than a week. Bob will think I have a crush on him."

Harry Dresden has posed:
Harry helps her down the stairs and takes the bottle of holy water Faith gave him. Once they are on the ground floor Harry mutters,"It will certainly feed hi ego." Harry agrees. He pulls a chair for Willow to sit in and pulls the rag from the skull,"Wake up Bob, we have a situtation."

Bob mumbles to life, eyes lighting up,"It's always a situation for you Harry." he drolls, notices Willow and almost becomes Bob, but the eyes shrink,"She's been bitten. Holy water now and you need to touch her with a holy symbol." Bob is all business for a change.

Harry nods and starts to pour the water on Willow's neck, turning her head slightly, brushing noses, and barely not locking gazes. It's still awkward enough,"He seemed to think so." Harry finally mutters and shakes things off to pour water on the wound.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"Do you find your ego is bolstered when I'm around - Hi Bob. I got pierced. See?"

Willow turned around and around trying to show Bob where she had been bit. To no avail. "Well, somewhere. I blew him up for it. He licked me! Oh!"

Poor Harry trying to help. He went left; she went right. They both tried to get out of each other's roads while Harry still tried to get the holy water on her. Finally she managed to stay in place. She still tried to look at her bite. "Is it infected? We should have asked him if.. if.. no. Just dogs and cats have rabies. So I'm good."

Letting her hair down again, she *bumped* nose to nose with Harry. She giggled again. "You like my nose. I think it's like a pug nose. See?" She put her face back to show him her nose. "Pug nose. Oh.. that was wrong."

Her hands went out to stabilise her.

Harry Dresden has posed:
Harry is quiet for a minute and starts to clean the wound,"I like your nose yes." he replies finally and the water is rinsed over the punctures. If might burn a little. Harry uses one hand to rest on Willow's shoulder and tells her,"You need to stay still. This will probably burn a little and I want to see how it is reacting."

He pushes his will through the pentagram and makes it glow so he can see better. Since he doesn't have any other holy symbol, he removes it and puts it around Willow's neck for the moment to see if she burns. The light still glows while he cleans the wound.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"Keep still. Keep still. You like me.. OUCH!"

The holy water, does indeed, burn. And how.

The bite doesn't show anything untowards.. until the holy water is placed on the piercing. Already there is streams of infection going out like a glass shattered, digging deeper into the flesh. Apparently the Vampire was thinking of turning into a feeder. Eeew!!

The bite was only 2 inches long. But under Harry's spell, and the holy water, he could see it was much larger than that. By now almost a handspan wide, and several inches under the skin.

Harry Dresden has posed:
Harry sighs and shakes his head,"Yes I like you. If I didn't like you you wouldn't have access to my home." he replies and frowns at the wound. Moving the pentacle to look closer he tells Bob,"It's not likely to spread, but I remember a balm you mentioned in the past."

Bob finally answers,"Yes Harry. The balm. You will need a list of things, most is in the room and I think you have the last ingredient upstairs." Bob puts out a list of ingredients and Harry nods, turning to the table and focusing on a burner,"Flicu biccus." he mutters and the flame comes to life.

Harry turns around again, taking a rag from the shelf and dousing it with holy water. Turning back to Willow, he yet again comes nose to nose with her because he is trying to work four steps ahead,"Press this on..." he pauses as he is in her space again. He looks down because it is impossible for either of them to miss that the soul gaze tries to grab them.

"Hold it on there until it dries, re-wet, and press again." he instructs, taking one of her hands in his and raising it to her neck to hold the rag.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"You like me." Willow smiles smugly. Until he puts the cloth on her neck. It doesn't sting so much as the first time, but it stings nonetheless. "Ouch. You don't like me, or you wouldn't ask me to keep this on me."

Willow takes the cloth away. "Water shouldn't sting so much! I have used holy water and it never stung like this!" As he reaches out to put her hand back into place, she grumbles. "You're mean. See if I ever bring you a solstice present anymore."

Obviously, she is fighting the bite.

Harry Dresden has posed:
Harry shakes his head,"Vampire venom." he growls. Bob agrees,"Yes. Not the run of the mill Courted vampire or the ones Buffy and Faith deal with." he agrees,"These are not common, but are dispatched the same way." he comments.

Harry goes uptstairs to fetch the ingredient and comes back to start the potion,"If I didn't like you, you would know it." he tells her with a shake of his head. He knows she is suffering so he is doing his best. His bedside manner isn't the best so a doctor he'll never be.

The ingredients go into the flask over the fire and one thing is for sure, they stink. Willow is going to smell bad for a little while to.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow does as she is asked. And for the most part, the longer she holds the cloth to the bite, the more she comes around to her own self. The bite has other ideas, though. The sting becomes more prevalent - just for several moments.

And then..

..it lessens..

..and..

..lessens. Until it was a dull throb. And Willow had a migraine. The cloth was divided between the bite and her headache. "Ooooh.. ouch."

Harry Dresden has posed:
Harry gets the poultice created and wraps it in another rag. Stink is an understatement. He turns his head away from it and walks to Willow. He moves the water rag and leans in to place the poultice instead,"Your room mate is going to want you to sleep in the patio." he tells her, forcing humor in a bad situation.

Bob finally finds himself and says,"She can sleep here with me. I can't smell her. Maybe we can play a game of 'where is my pajamas?' before she goes to sleep."

Harry rolls his eyes and sighs,"I swear his mind is like a contrant porno stream. This bite was the first thing to shut him up for a while, but I don't want you making a habit of getting them."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"He.. shut up?"

Willow cannot get away from the stench. Now she has a throbbing mark on her neck; a growing pain in her temples that threatens to over power her usual happy demeanour; and to top it off the stench of the poultice was so bad she almost had to retch..

"Is this supposed to snap me out from whatever it was I was doing? What was I doing anyways?" The giggling was close enough to her usual demeanour. She remembered things coming out of her mouth that were very close to temptation.

Only Willow would have seen her nose as allurement.

Then again she could feel something burbling up beneath that that was deeper. She shoved that down.

"I guess I have you to thank. Thanks Harry."

Harry Dresden has posed:
Harry snorts softly and Bob makes a derisive sound that is less that nice to listen to. Harry goes over to start cleaning things up. That smell is so bad Mouse chuffs upstairs and across the apartment.

Harry listens to her talk, not giving her any trouble for what happened. He isn't a hundred percent sure what was going on. Vampire venom is some wretched stuff,"The smell is good for sobering alcoholics, so I think it will help." Harry tells her.

Bob ahems and adds,"It will absolutely help you Miss Rosenberg. By the time the rag is dry a third time the venom should be gone." Harry puts the left overs away and cleans up best he can.

Harry shakes his head and replies,"You're welcome Willow. You handled yourself well under the stress. Most people would have ran as soon as Mouse took the vampire off of you."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow is still making 'ew yuck' face. "This would be good for any number of things that you wanted to give up! Oh gross."

Three times!?!

siiiiigh

"I'm used to it. Really." Looking over at Harry, she asks, "Do you really not know what I have been doing? I mean, you seem so amazed at the vampires. I mean, sure, when I started doing stuff with Buffy, sure I was scared. But now, I'm used to it. Maybe a little less in your face - but that is my fault too. I should have told Buffy what I have been feeling. I liked, I guess, being coddled even though I have been capable of doing so much more."

"I don't expect the Justice League or the Titans to care for me. I'm a team member. Sometimes a big part of the team. It's like I am a double sided coin where the Scoobies are on one side, and the rest of my hero work is on the other."

Harry Dresden has posed:
"It would definately hold off any unwanted suitors." Harry agrees and lights a few candles. Various scents fill the air, but not enough to over power the other, just mask it.

"I don't know honestly. I know you have been working with Buffy, but I don't know how much field work you get. Even the toughest tend to lose their minds when fed on. The last one that tried to bite me..." he remembers that as he takes his pentagram back from Willow,'...it ended very bad for her."

There is a shrug and he replies,"You are technically apprenticed to me. That means I need to watch out for you somewhat. Granted you are a lot more powerful than the average apprentice, but still." He shrugs. He does have that whole take care of everyone mentality.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"I've been doing this for..10 years now? We've been attacked by more more powerful enemies as we have gotten more powerful. Well, Buffy has. My speciality seems to be research. Scrying. Working out the way we should attack them."

Willow shrugs. Still making a face.

"You should see my apartment. All the exits have been wandered with.. oh.. I don't even know how many sigils and wards I have got there." In this, Willow is fairly certain she could match ward for ward, sigil for sigil with Harry. Easily.

Harry Dresden has posed:
"That's a long time you have been in the middle of." he tells Willow with a nod,"I might have to keep you around incase Bob ever drops the ball." From the shelf Bob makes an indignant sound and he mutters,"She's beautiful Harry. Don't let that confuse your mind."

Harry smirks at Willow, mission accomplished, Bob's ego challenged. He nods as he listens to Willow talk about her warded apartment,"I think you probably have the place well warded if you have been doing it that long." He looks at Bob and then back to Willow,"Maybe some night I will bring someone by to look that's been doing it longer than the both of us combined and squared."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"Oh?" Willow perks up at the mention of this person. "Is it someone who is good or bad? Mind you, my sigils are all, well mostly, paranormal entities. Unfortunately nothing keeps out angels. At least, not from my spellbooks. I guess they assume if you are good, you shouldn't mind angels. Though the fallen ones are a bit tricky."

She feels her neck and puts the bandage back on. "There are fallen and Fallen. Like Lucifer is Fallen. He hasn't any Grace, which as far as I know means whether or not Yahweh will see you. Then there is Castiel, who is fallen. but he says he has has just enough Grace that he could be in Yahweh's presence if he apologised. It sounds like politics if you ask me."

Harry Dresden has posed:
He nods towards Bob and replies,"Someone that is good at being bad." he offers in regards to the skull on the shelf,"If there is any way to make yours better, he'll find it."

"You know you could just let Miss Ronseberg take me home with her. I could teach her things..." Bob starts out, but the lights in his eyes dim a little and he settles down.

Raising a brow, Harry asks,"You've met Lucifer? Thomas told me he met someone claiming to be Lucifer in the past. I have heard the name of Castiel, but I haven't met him. I can't help you on the grace part or Yahweh for that matter." he admits,"The jury is still out for me on that one."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow hands Harry her bandage, on second thought, to rewet it.

"I have met a Lucifer? But I really don't know if he is the Lucifer of the Bible. Then again, I have met Dracula an he didn't strike me as so terrible a person as the stories put him as."

Of course, Willow always looked of the bright side of people first. At with reason her friends tried to keep her away from some of the worst ones.

"I like you! Even if Yahweh didn't. Besides, as a pagan most people would say I am going to hell. Which I can unequivocally say they are wrong. As a Jewish person I don't believe in hell when you die. And there are worse things to be than a pagan."

Harry Dresden has posed:
"Thomas tried to get me to meet him once, but I never had the time to do it." he admits,"I have heard some say that he isn't the real one and others say that he is. I ended up on something else and never got around to it."

"You need to be mindful. Not everyone is as they seem. I never met Lucifer or Dracula, but I haven't ever met a person with a nice thing to say about them except you."

"I don't know that the higher being dislikes me so much as he doesn't particularly like me." he admits,"Assuming he's up there. Michael Carpenter could get rather insistent about that. As for the other, most people consider magic work evil and against the higher power because he is all about you doing his will, people like us use ours to change his world as it were."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"Castiel thought that Yaweh didn't care about us. That he left his angels in charge. And the one who was in charge of heaven didn't like him very much. Castiel swore and drank, so he may not be quite truthful."

Willow asked, "Who is Michael Carpenter?"

Harry Dresden has posed:
"Michael is one of the Knights of the Cross. Each one weilds a powerful sword. In the hilt of each is a nail said to be used to crucify Jesus." he explains,"Very religious to say the least."

"Whether or not he cares is open for debate. If he cared too much we'd all be meat puppets. Just along for the ride. At least this way we have a choice."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"Not if Michael has his way.: Willow may not be Christien, or terribly religious in the usual way, but apparently she has opinions about ?Michael. And they are very good. Not in the least.

"He, according to Castiel, wants to bring about the Apocalypse. And not all demons want to have it either."

Harry Dresden has posed:
"Micheal the Archangel? The last warrior of God? Sounds like he's a little self important and wants to be center stage." Harry muses and shakes his head,"Angels are pricks. Well what people I have met claiming to be anyway."

"Some demons are just happy having a life. Just want to be left alone. Evil? Sure. Rotten? To the core. Most non courted vampires just want to be left to eat, drink, and be rotten."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"That's the one. Which makes me wonder, how can a being be so good and yet so.. evil at the same time? How could they? How could that goodness turn to evil so fast?"

Willow is trying to figure out something fundamental. And so far is not even close to understanding it.

"Some of our friends were vampires. Oz is a werewolf. Sometimes you just have you believe in them."

Harry Dresden has posed:
"It might not have been fast. If you believe the stories these beings have been waiting for thousands of years or this era to come to an end." he replies with a shrug,"Maybe it just wears down over time."

"Not all good guys are fully good and the worst of men can still rise to protect someone they care about."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"Our time, yes. But for them? It is a blink of an eye. And they are supposed to be all good. They're angels. If the myth of the Christianity is true, Lucifer was the most beloved and beautiful angel who decided that he did not have to bow before the Lord. And he was cast out of heaven by him for pride." Willow recites it as if reading a book.

Harry Dresden has posed:
"A third of the host of Heaven fell with Lucifer when he decided he wanted to take the agency from man, make them all come to God so long as God gave him the glory." Harry agrees with a nod,"Some stories claim that they are still beautiful, while others say there isn't anything that says they all still are."

He may not necessarily believe, but he knows. He knows a lot,"Gets to those that talk about going to Heaven only because they believe. Lucifer and the other fallen believe so there's that."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"Some say the Lord was infuriated because Lucifer was so beautiful - almost to the point of jealousy. The other angels revered Lucifer's beauty. And that fact that he refused to bow down. They believed Lucifer - I guess."

Willow pauses. "I wonder how they changed too."

Harry Dresden has posed:
"The idea God was mad for Lucifer being beatiful seems weird if God created him." Harry muses and shrugs,"I only know what I have read. The ones that fell with him stood with him so they probably believed him. I agree with you there."

Considering he finally admits,"I wonder sometimes if fallen angels exist, the ones that really fell are no longer beautiful, like maybe they are amonst the things like we found in Mexico, but again it's a theory."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"Lucifer was beautiful. He was the MorningStar. His name, I mean. Only some of the myths said his beauty burned away when I fell. Many of the Christian myths look at things as good and evil. Clean and unclean. Beautiful and ugly. They are dichotomous to make them easy to follow. There are no grays.

Willow, by now, is either noseblind to the stench, or plain is ignoring it. "Some people say that many books, called the Apocrypha, were thrown out for various reasons, including some written by women."

She was about to say more, when she stopped. "The dogmen?"

Harry Dresden has posed:
"He was written in several texts as such yes." Harry agrees,"As I undertand it he can appear as beautiful at least initially, but tends to tip his hand with time. Again, this is all theory for me."

He checks the rag on her neck and makes sure the wounds are not infected or showing any signs of mystical infections,"There are a lot of those writings yes. I know when the King James version was written a bunch of men decided what was worth keeping. Like you said, some didn't pass because they were written by women."

He shrugs and admits,"We make fire fly from our hands with our will. What is to say that those things or other things equally unknown aren't amongst the fallen. Most believe the dogman is a werewolf that can't remember how to shift back."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"Interesting!" Willow cants her head to let Harry see. "Forgotten how to change back.. I could see it happening. Oz had to learn to control the changes. Knowing that, there must be some people who need some help or are forced to.. He went to India, I think, to something like an ashram to learn how to be a werewolf, instead of being at the mercy of his blood."

Harry Dresden has posed:
He raises his hand and lightly strokes the wounds on her neck. He might have a surprsingly gentler bedside manner than most would think in regards to medical things.

"No infection, no heat." Harry mutters softly and looks at Bob,"Give me your final assessment." he tells the skull. Bob looks at her for a long time, then tells him,"There is no sign of the infection in her blood or at the wound. She will be fine."

Shaking his head Harry admits,"I have seen some that have learned to control their shifting, some that use magic fetish to become a wolf, and some are just born what they are." He leans forward to look at the wound a little closer.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow's hands put her hair out of the way. "It doesn't feel infected. Though, imagine if I was infected by a vampire! Would I even be allowed in my own apartment? And if not, then that would be the ultimate way of telling. Don't you think?"

She seems pleased with herself.

"Though, something I dream about being a vampire. All that power. All that confidence. Turning eyes wherever you are. And laughing at others thinking that they had just a fraction of my power.."

Harry Dresden has posed:
"If you were terribly infected you wouldn't have gotten past the threshold here or Mouse for that matter." he replies,"So I think it is under control." He sits back again, cheek brushing hers because he was a little too close. The guy needs a shave.

He settles into a chair nearby and he admits,"Oh I have thought about it. Power the likes Thomas or the Red Court weild would ne awesome, but I am reasonably sure that power would over write what we can do now and we would lose that."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
For a brief moment she smiles with an almost grin, fingers up to her cheek until the tickling stops.

"I never thought of it that way before. Then again, it goes to my supposition that if I /were/ infected I wouldn't be allowed in my own apartment. But I bet you Bob would have let me in to try and stop it from getting worse." A pause. "Probably that, or to kill me. I mean, if I weren't able to be fixed."

Her hair was straightened. "Thanks Harry. Thanks Bob. But what do you mean the power would overwrite what we can do now?"

Harry Dresden has posed:
Harry turns to Bob, moving a book against the skull and covering him,"Thank you Bob." he mutters to the skull. The lights go out and Bob effectively sleeps after says,"You're welcome Willow. Do be careful where this guy takes you."

Harry starts to blow out the candles and motions Willow up the ladder to the main level,"When one becomes a vampire via infection, they cease to be human. They cease to have a proper soul according to some legends, and lacking both, the magics we understand wouldn't be understood by what we would be then. Our wills would not be our own if that makes sense."

Lastly as he follows her up the ladder he tells her,"You're welcome. Be ca reful graveyard hopping with crazy wizards next time." The last a tease.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
That makes sense to Willow. In fact she knew that. But somewhere it becomes different when it becomes yourself. And, of course, that little tidbit of her having daydreams about being a vampire that she never told anyone.

Until today.

"Really? You think that was the craziest experience wandering through a graveyard I have been on?" She giggles. "You have so much to learn about me."

Harry Dresden has posed:
Harry laughs softly and shakes his head. He doesn't comment on the embrace power switch, but he does tell her,"Well, this time it happened on my watch and I intend to make sure the first time is the last time."

He follows her up the ladder and back into the apartment. He goes to get them each a Mac's special and they go back into the living area to sit and talk a little bit in the waning hours of the night, dawn only two hours away when he finally tells her to go lay on his bed and sleep. Mouse will come back to the main living area after Harry gets everything locked down for the night to get some sleep as well.