15910/It comes in waves.

It comes in waves.
Date of Scene:	23 December 2023
Location:	Harry Dresden's Office, Kingston Falls
Synopsis:	Vampire bite treatment...worse, Dracula bite treatment.
Cast of Characters:	Harry Dresden, Faith Lehane, Thomas Raith, Willow Rosenberg

---

Harry Dresden has posed:
Harry and Mouse are sitting in the living area. Mister is somewhere in the main office. He goes wherever he wants to. Harry has a homebrew from across the street in his hand and reading a book.
The usual wards are up, but those that know can open and close them on their own. He's told them as much. Mouse's raises his head and looks towards the hallway and cocks his head to one side as if expecting someone.

Faith Lehane has posed:
Faith Lehane had visited Thomas immediately after the 'incident' and after he had helped patch her up and she got some rest, the next important thing to do was of course update the Scoobies and adjacent on the matter.

Naturally Faith is impatient to get this over with and she practically bursts into his office, her neck bandaged up and at least partially visible beneath the worn denim jacket, red crop top and torn jeans she is wearing tonight. "Yo Harry are you home?!" she asks in greeting, peering around with a tone of alarm in her voice.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith is strangle calm all things considered, He at least precedes Faith enough to use his pentacle to take down Harry's wards before Faith gets them blown to Albuquerque. "Harry?" He calls out again after Faith, "We've got a Bolshevik Muppet situation."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Today it is subs. Meat lovers for Harry. Veggie lovers for Willow. And because they were free on the side, lots and lots of pickles!

"Remember I have a shift at the Watchtower tomorrow. I guess I should have bought double. Oh well, you shall have to forage for yourself." As if he doesn't regularly. "The semester is finished. Well, my TA-ship is done. And I have to decide if I graduate in the summer, or should I take another year."

Coming through the wards, Willow carries the subs, books, and some stuff that didn't fit in her satchel.

"You never told me what you wanted for this holiday season?" She places a kiss upon his lips, and only then realizes he has company. "Oh."

Harry Dresden has posed:
If dogs could emit, Mouse would look worried. He stands up and his head turns to one side. The sound of Faith's voice and he chuffs once. It isn't a bad thing, more of a telling Harry to get up and do it now.

Harry frowns, setting the books aside and gets up. The sound of Faith's voice gets a raise of his brow and with the agitation of Mouse he mutters,"This can't be good."

Thomas' comment gets a scowl and a string of curses. Rather than going to meet them he grabs the carpet over the trap door and tosses it. The trap door is opened and he looks past them to Willow and nods,"Peace on Earth. No more bad sorts. Maybe an idea how to wipe out vampires totally." he manages, trtying to have a sense of humor inspite of things.

He motions them to follow him down to the lab, waving his hand,"Fliccum biccus." Candles jump to life.

Faith Lehane has posed:
Faith Lehane peers around as candles spring to life around her. She should be used to weird magic by now but it still catches her off guard. Especially lately.

"Geez why can't you use lamps like normal people.." she mutters, rolling her eyes. She moves a bit more slowly and sluggishly than usual, and given the neck wound there's probably a good story behind this visit.

"Yo Harry, Willow, we got a major problem. Those stories about Count Dracula? I found out the hard way they're all true." she grimaces, "And lived to tell the tale."

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith stands near to Faith, knowing she would never let him "Help" her, but also close enough that if she does stumble or fall he can catch her. His eyes, it should be noted, ate ICe white, his Hunger close to the surface in worry for his Whatever-Faith-is. "Pretty sure getting biten by the sire of the Red and Black Courts both counts as a Bolshivik Muppet situatio, or am I over reacting?" he asks, his hands balled into fists..

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"Hi Thomas. Faith." Of course Willow's brow was furrowed. Faith didn't mean.. no? She couldn't have.

Of course she did.

*sigh*

And yet, she was holding back her own little meeting with Dracula for now. Her hand went to her satchel and fingered the bottom, left corner where she had tucked his coin in. The wolf and bat. Then she let go.

"He bit you?" That makes two of the Slayers he had tasted.

Harry Dresden has posed:
"Do you want light or an explosion." Harry mutters back and pulls the cover off the skull,"Wake up Bob. We have another vampire bite to..." He pauses when what she says sinks in, Dracula. He frowns and looks at her with a raised brow.

From behind him, the eye holes in the skull glow orange and Bob mutters,"Yes yes. Another vampire disinfection..." he starts and then the lights in his eyesockets slim down to pencil lead size,"Vlad Dracul?" he asks with the same confusion as what is on Harry's face.

He looks at Thomas and shakes his head,"No. You have it right." Looking at Faith again he starts hauling things out from under the table. Bob starts rattling things off and the room suddenly starts to look and sound like a hospital...a rather musty and dust hospital.

Holy water. On a rag. Harry moves to Faith's side and tells her,"All right. What is about to happen is going to hurt like hell because I am going to make sure there's no infection from his bite or saliva. Hold Thomas' hands or the table or whatever because I am not in the mood to get hit and Willow can probably manage if I am unconcious, but again I have had enough concussions. Get it?"

"Two vampire bites in as many months." he mutters and looks to Willow,"Grab the potion from the far shelf. The one that I gave you when we were doing this before."

Bob instructs Willow to grab something else next to the potion and tells Thomas and Faith,"If you are sure it was Dracula, than we need to be sure." It's unusual for two beauties to be in his vicinity and Bob not mouthing off something perverse.

Faith Lehane has posed:
Faith Lehane nods to Willow but doesn't seem to be in a very chatty mood. Thomas' comment causes her to grimace, "Come on, you're overreacting, changing someone over is a pretty complicated process, they have to like, kill you and you have to drink their blood.."

She pauses, eyes widen in surprise. "What the hell do you mean another one? So this guy has been lurking around and bit someone else recently and you already knew? I mean, a heads up would have been nice!"

She seems annoyed but he's right, best to make sure she wasn't infected anyway. "Okay.." she sighs, "What do I gotta do? I can take the pain, Slayer remember?"

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Ew yuck. Willow remembers /this/ potion. But the second one she was curious.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith take's Faith's hand by wraping her hand around his thumb and wrapping his own hand over hers. That way she can squeeze without crushing his bones. To Harry he says, "I wasn't there, but I've met the man before. A few times actually. The description fits." He says it calmly, taking a few breaths. To Faith he adds, "Dracula is the progenitor of both the Red and Black Courts. You know what Red Court Saliva is like."

Harry Dresden has posed:
Before Harry can answer, Bob pipes up,"Some vampires carry a virus. It is slow acting and it may die in a healthy system or it might spread and eat you from the inside with an infection that will lead to the worst kind of vampirism."

Harry jerks his thumb towards Bob and mutters,"What he said. We had to do this with Willow after she was bitten that cemetary the last time we all got together." He places the mixture with the holy water and something else against the wound...it burns to say the least.

He nods to Thomas and replies,"I know exactly. Only too well how it works." His words are hollow and there is a curse in them without actually speaking one. He holds the rag of offensive liquid on Faith's neck and takes the first bottle from Willow and pops the cork out with his teeth. Holding the bottle to her he spits the cork away and says,"Open up, it tastes about as good at the other burns."

Faith Lehane has posed:
Faith Lehane shoots an angry glare at Thomas as he holds her hand, tensing instantly. "What the hell?! you think I'm some kinda f***in pansy , like I can't take the pain just because I got bit?! who the hell do you think I am?!" she practically snarls.

But as Bob explains she just laughs nervously, shaking her head. "You kidding?! I'm healthy as a horse, you don't really need..."

She shrieks in sudden pain then at the burning sensation as he presses the mixture against her neck then insist she drinks the rest.

"Are you kidding? That looks gross, it'll kill me faster than this stupid bite.." still her grip tightens on Thomas' hand, eyeing the drink uncertainly.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith Seems unfazed by Faith's Angry outburst at him. He doesn't shy away, nor does he offer that playful smirk that almost always adorns his lips. He simply grips the woman's hand tighter as his brother applies the seering liquid to her skin. When she balks at the potion however he says simply "Faith, I care about you more then you can imagine. So you have a simple choice. Pinch your nose and drink that, or I will summon every ounce of Hunger in my body, Pin you down, and pour it down your throat. That is not a threat from your boyfriend, it is a promise from the Prince of the White Court. We defer to you when it comes to hunting. We defer to Harry when it comes to Magic.." He pauses and adds "No offence Wills."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"He says that he can bite you without ill effect.." Willow stops, and thinks. "Actually,he said, 'I can feed without killing and I can feed you without making you as I am."

Not that Willow speaks loudly. She speaks softly. Very softly. She has guilt for not telling them. But there was nothing to say she can't whisper what she knows. That way it's up to them to ask her for clarification.

What they couldn't hear was no fault of hers.

Harry Dresden has posed:
Harry waits patiently for Faith to open her mouth,"Let me explain it this way. You will become something that will make the starving people in Africa look fat and will have a hunger that never ends until someone kills you. That's a fight nobody wants because you won't have your power, but will still remember all your abilties and a strength a little less potent."

Harry doesn't hear what she says as he is busy trying to convince Faith to drink the stuff. However, if Willow is paying attention she will notice that the lights in the eye sockets of Bob's skull fills with light...almost like shock. He is quiet for now. Rare time.

Harry waits for Faith to open her mouth and tells her,"Make a choice. I don't need that sort of enemy building and you don't want it either."

Faith Lehane has posed:
Faith Lehane totally misses Willow's quiet murmurings, totally focused on Thomas now, more than Harry at the moment. She knows that look too well, and while she doesn't truly trust Harry enough, she certainly does seem to trust Thomas with her life.

But of course Harry's warnings are noted as well and if there is one thing in the world she dies not want to be, it's a vampire.

She clenches her teeth and sighs. "Damn you.." she mutters as she snatches up the potion, downing it in one sip, wrinkling her nose at the taste and coughs a bit it keeps it down, shivering.

"You owe me a drink after this.." she mutters at Thomas.

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith's eyes slip to Willow and narrow slightly at the witch's words, though he doesn't comment on them. At the moment. Still his lips pull into a slight smirk as Faith grabs the potion and drinks it down. "Tell you what, I'll even get that empty bottle of Johnny Walker Blue and fill it with some cheep scotch, so you can pretend you are drinking good stuff when we both know you couldn't tell top shelf from rotgut." He says playfully, bringing her hand up to his lips and kissing it gently.. "Thank you Harry... Bob." he says softly.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Speaking more loudly, Willow nods her head. "Don't worry, Thomas. Nobody thinks I am good at magic." Well, almost nobody. It was simpler to agree.

"I bet it tastes terribly. More than the other one hurts." She rubbed her neck in commiseration. And stayed out of the way.

Bob gets a weird look from Willow. Almost as if she was shaking her head 'No'.

Other than that, she remains quiet.

Harry Dresden has posed:
Harry nods once the potion is down. He takes the rag off and reaches for the other potion he had Willow grab. Once he has it, he pours it on the rag. It stinks...it stinks a lot.

"This one doesn't burn, it just smells. If it starts to burn we have a problem and if it stops stinking we are back to the aforemntioned problem."

Placing the rag on her neck he mutters,"I'll notice it faster if I am touching it. I don't care to invade her personal space." he mutters lastly. It stinks, it doesn't hurt. It just...stinks. That sort of stink might kill Thomas' drive until it is gone it stinks so bad.

Even Bob coughs and he can't smell anything.

Faith Lehane has posed:
Faith Lehane rolls her eyes at Thomas, "Maybe I just ain't as picky about this stuff as you are." she smirks, "As long as I can get drunk I don't give a damn what I'm drinking, and right now I really need to get drunk."

She peers at Willow, arching a brow. "Seriously? I beg to differ, I've seen you kick ass in the battlefield on more than one occasion. Don't sell yourself short, kid." she grins and winks at her.

And then Harry is pulling out another, stinkier potion and she groans, "Seriously?! another one, you kidding me?!"

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith chuckles at Faith's reaction to the potion... then the smell hits him and he turns a little green at the gills. Though he says to willow, "Wills, I love you like a sister... and I actually /like/ you quite a bit more then most of my sisters... So I promise I will massage your ego mightily at a later date, but right now the keeper of my Nookie is in somewhat mortal peril for her immortal soul, so can we please just say 'I didn't mean it that way', and leave it at that for now? ...Empty Night Harry what is in that stuff, dead Cats wrapped in Gym Socks?"

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow remembers that stench, and covers her nose.

"Too bad it doesn't stink for the recipient and no one else." Willow is fast to add. "Though if the others couldn't tell they would not realise if there was a problem.."

She stops, and blushes at Faith's words, not knowing how to take them. Lately too many contradictory words were lain at Willow feet. "I mean.."

But she didn't have the words to finish the sentence.

Except..

Oh Thomas. He said the exact wrong words to her. "Don't. Bother. My ego doesn't want massaging. Especially when it has to be made up. You're right. You should defer to Harry. Just do not think that you have to ~massage~ my ego. I would rather wallow in the puddles of your contempt than that."

And seeing as everyone was otherwise engaged? Willow slipped out with a haughty air about her.

Until she can't be seen by them, and she drops her haughty face, and runs out.

Harry Dresden has posed:
From upstairs, even the mighty Mouse coughs a few times and retreats to the front door to get clean air. The sound of a cat running to the back of the apartment to get away from Mouse, and then returns to the front again a moment after reaching the hall.

Harry sighs softly and says,"All right." He takes the rag away and starts to put things away,"Take her home, get some rest, and if the light is too bright in the morning..." he pauses for ominous effect,"...you drank too much." Oh look who has jokes.

Glancing at Thomas he tells him,"You don't want to know."

His eyes flick to Willow and his brows raise a little in askance. He doesn't push it though as she's not there. He looks up the ladder and sighs. For the moment he goes back to cleaning things up. He reaches for the cover for Bob and for once, Bob doesn't protest. That's weird in its own right.

Faith Lehane has posed:
Faith Lehane groans, glancing around for water or a mint or...Something. "please tell me you have something here to take this taste away. all I taste is carrion!"

She grumbles some more, glancing around but cautious not to set off any weird wizards traps.

When Harry makes that ominous warning she scoffs, "The hell dies that mean, I might go blind?!"

Thomas Raith has posed:
Thomas Raith sighs a bit as Willow's Huff arrive, and she leaves in it. Still he'll worry about upsetting the keeper of his /brother's/ nookie later. He helps Faith down from where she was perched for Harry to work on her and nods, "Anything else we should be keeping an eye out for?"

Harry Dresden has posed:
"It means you drank too much tonight and you're hung over." he tells Faith rolling his eyes,"No respect. I get no respect." Rodney Dangerfield impression. Not a good one, but good enough to be identified at least.

He gets things put on the counter to set about refilling them when he isn't tired and his girlfriend isn't out there somewhere upset in the night where apparently Dracula has appeared in the city again.

Faith Lehane has posed:
Faith Lehane eyes Willow as she skulls off and scoffs again, "Girl needs to grow a thicker skin already.." she mutters before glancing at Harry impatiently. "Sooo are we done here or what?"

Harry Dresden has posed:
Harry waves,"Like I said. Go home, get rest, and try not to drink too much just because you want to." He looks at Thomas and tells him,"She should be fine. She'll be anemic and probably be grumpy in the morning."

No joke made, but would Faith being grumpy in the morning be all that unusual?