Homecoming and concern...

As Vincent pulled away, John smiled and walked slowly toward the house. It would be good to see Kiara again. He knew it are a lot of explaining to do with the way he left, but couldn’t shake the feeling that something was a little off. It might’ve been a scent in the air or just side effects in the painkillers but something seemed a little off…

John pulled out the extra key that Kiara had given him and quietly let himself into the side door, setting his med kit and a travel bag just inside the door. As he moved to the table he bumped one of the chairs causing a scraping sound that made him wince. He was certain Kiara would be asleep by now and he really didn’t want to wake her if he could help it. Lifting the chair and moving it out of the way, he sat down at the table and began to unwrap the bandage on his arm. Something made him stop…

That uneasiness had returned with a stronger scent this time. It seemed familiar but was too old to be clear. What it was and the fact that it was fairly recent is what set him on edge. The scent was that of a vampire and unless he was wrong, one that reminded him of the Authority. He could not be certain but he would almost swear to it. If only he could lock it down. Tying the bandage back on, he slowly drew a silver dagger from his pack and walked from the kitchen into the main room moving as quietly as he could.

The heady scent of hard work, sweat and incense wafted from the main den. Nothing but a dim light illuminated the room. The tv was off, but there were noises being made. Against the furthest wall from the window that looked to the outside was Kiara.

Upside down, braced against the wall with only one hand on the floor to support her she was doing a sort of push up. Clad in nothing but a sports bra and low hanging shorts, sweat clung to her skin. The only found was the faint one of her navel jewelry making a small ringing sound like a cat's bell. With her eyes closed, an ipod on the floor and earbuds in her ears she was oblivious to the world, and every new push up brought her clothing tighter up against her body.

John carefully scouted the room and set the silver dagger on the table in the center of the room. As slowly and quietly as possible he shifted to Tiger form and used the enhanced senses that gave him to taste the air.

Kiara's scent was strong in the house mixed with sweat and incense. He could smell the direction that was coming from clearly and it was very fresh. Crouching low and slow sneak, just in case, he moved toward the room her sound is coming from. He slowly moved his head around the edge of the doorway taking in the room as he did so…

With the smell of incense she couldn't pick up any other scents so far. Her arm flexed with the effort that it took to raise and lower her body at a slow pace. She wasn't overly muscular, but toned, like a dancer and given the heady scent in the air it was clear she'd been working out for several hours.

With a soft grunt she slowly uncurled her body from the wall and brought herself to a normal, upright position. She already had pillows lined on the floor before her to sit on. She took a second to let all the blood flow down from her head. She rolled her head from side to side as she turned off her ipod and removed the earbuds from her ears. Her hair was messy and a few locks clung to her sweaty brow.

Since he had seen that Kiara was not at risk he pulled back and slowly shifted back, careful to shift his weight away from the injured arm. Moving back to the table in the room, he picked up the bandage off the floor and began to rewrap his arm.

The unknown scent still haunted the back of him mind, but he knew that she was safe, and that is what was important. As he worked on his arm, he bumped the table, knocking the dagger to the floor....

Kiara jumped, turning her head and growling. "Whose there..." she said, her voice low, lethal. She looked around, having to sort through the smell of incense to pick up anything else. It took her a few seconds but she soon picked up a scent she hadn't felt in a while.

"Quinn...?" she asked, setting her ipod down and grabbing a small hand towel she had nearby, heading over to the edge of her den where it lead off to her kitchen.

One he has finished with the bandage, he pulled his clothes back on, and was buttoning his shirt as he heard Kiara whisper his name. He grabbed up the dagger and put it in the back of his belt.

He turned to face the room she was in and said, as lightly toned as he could,
"Yes, it is me....you don't check your voicemail very often do you..."

Looking up to see her, fresh from her workout...his mind went elsewhere for a moment, but he smiled and shook the thought from his mind....

"I left word I would be back in town tonight..."

She chuckled softly. "You know me... I don't answer my phone unless I remember to do so" she said as she wiped her face with the towel. She walked over to him, her nose picking something up other than his scent.

"Is...everything alright? something smells... like antiseptic" she said softly. She shook her head, running her fingers through her messy post work out hair.

It was then that she noticed the bandage that went from his wrist and all the way up to the sleeve of his shirt.

"Quinn...what did you do now?" she asked, pinning him with a hard look.

John gave her a mischievous grin and he drew her scent in deeply...

"Just a bit of this and that...family business...I'll go into it more only if you want the long version...Vincent insisted on the bandage...it is a bit excessive in my opinion."

He looks into her eyes, losing himself for a moment in them, then remembering what he had noticed as he came in....

"Has everything been alright here? Something in the air smells a bit off....and almost familiar...."

She gave him a look. "I'll send Vincent a thank you steak later. The gods know you need someone to take care of you" she said before his words made her take pause.

Something familiar. Well aside from her there wasn't anything that should smell off unless... shit. She recalled she still had the clothes she'd worn when she'd had her little meet up with Bill before. That would probably be it. Damn tigers and their sensitive noses. Well, her business did deal with vampires and well Bill had gone a bit crazy and left so nothing really happened.

Now why would Quinn know Bill's smell. But it didn't take her long to figure that one out. Quinn had dealt with the authority and Bill had been involved with them before he'd gone batshit crazy.

"Everythings been alright Quinn relax... just a little chat with a vampire while I was at work, not here" she said calmly.

"hmmmm......"

John drew in her scent, letting it wash over him like a cool shower....

"when you are ready, you can tell me more about the chat..."

He gingerly sits in one of the chairs, and looks to her...

"It is dangerous to play with your fanged clients right now, Kitten...there has been a major shakeup in the Vampire power base. Be careful...on that note, any work on your sociopathic ex?"

John reached behind him, pulling out the silver dagger and set it back on the table.

She quirked a brow. Sociopatic? not a word she'd used to classify Bill but she'd take it for now.

"He's back in town. Sort of back to his own self, but not really" she said calmly as she took a seat across from him. "As for vampires, they pose no threat to me. With all this talk about no true blood around they treat me like royalty for a chance at one of my donors" she said calmly.

"As for chat? well... not much to tell really. You know vampires. Not very talkative" she said. She wondered if she should tell him the scent he picked up was Bill's. That may not go over well knowing Quinn's current feeling for vampires.

"Do me a favor and grab the small pack from by the door..."

He slowly began to untie the bandage from around his wrist and began to roll the bandage as he slowly worked his way up his arm, wincing once or twice as he went over some of the larger wounds.

~growling under his breath~ "blasted V addicts...had to go for the good arm, didn't you..."

She nodded and went to the door, finding what seemed to be a medical pack. She brought it back just in time to see what the bandages had been hiding.

"Damn Quinn, that is so not family matters right there. What the hell happened?" she asked, setting the pack in front of him.

"Actually, that is exactly what it was."

Setting the bandage aside, John fished in the bag and pulled out an injector and pressed it to his arm, causing a quiet hiss as the vial emptied into his arm.

"One of Edgington's old V packs had located my sister in Cairo and followed her back to the village she and my mother were staying in. I had to go there to deal with the problem. The bastards will not be trying that again, but there were quite a few of them...and two young vampires involved as well..."

John smiled smugly and nodded to the dagger on the table.

"My little friend there has glutted his fill lately...."

Fishing a fresh bandage out of the bag, he pulled his sleeve back and began trying to wind the bandage around his arm...

She rolled her eyes, slapping his hand away so she could properly wrap his arm. "Gods Quinn...when you do something... you do something" she said as she took one last look at his wounds and shuddered before wrapping them in the bandage.

"Is...your family ok?" she asked. He didn't talk much about them, and she knew very little, but he'd always put family first before anything.

"Yes, I trained my sister with daggers before I helped them go into hiding. She was holding her own as long as they were coming in one at a time. It was when the pack decided to come en mass that it became a problem."

He winced as she wrapped the bandage across some of the more sensitive spots.

"The damn fools were so far gone that they did not know that Edgington was dead. They had been tasked with tracking my sister when Russell was still in Africa and never stopped. Well...they have stopped now...and will not be starting again."

Smiling as he looked into Kiara's eyes, he whispered.

"All I could think of was coming back here to you, Kitten. As soon as they were relocated, I came straight back here...."

She chuckled, purposely tightening the bandage in her own way to retaliate for him getting himself in harms way.

"Yes well... hopefully your return was everything you hoped for" she said as she finished bandaging his arm. She put his medical things back into the pack and looked at him.

"Things...haven't been all too safe here either. The Shreveport pack has gone.. well v crazy as well"

"Damn...I knew Alcide was not up to the task...how could he let that happen....it should be a matter of time though. Russell was the heart and soul of the V networks. Pretty soon, stocks are going to get low and they will either be clean or dead."

Looking into her eyes, he leaned closer...

"...and as for the homecoming being all I had hoped for...I'll let you know later..."

Leaning in, never moving his eyes from hers, John pressed a slow gentle kiss to Kiara's lips...

She nodded and shrugged. She was about to say something but suddenly his lips were on hers.

She tensed for a fraction of a second before her mind went "ah fuck it" and she kissed him back. Life was too short to worry about other things right now, not to mention she had missed Quinn. Even if they had their sordid past he was still a loyal friend to her, not to mention he knew the dangers of dealing with vampires.

After a few seconds she pulled back and grinned "Well...I'd ask if you missed me...but that answered my question"

He laughed and kissed her again..

"Of course I missed you, my Kitten. I don't have too long before that injection hits me, but what time I have before then is yours..."

She chuckled. "Then how about I walk you back to your room before you pass out here and I'm stuck carrying your giant ass around" she said with a grin.

Granted carrying Quinn would suck since he was just that big, but having him unconscious? hmm that would be a thought she'd pursue later.

Using his good arm for leverage, he stood up and smiled, as looked down to her...

"Well I wouldn't want you to be burdened, Kitten..."

He held out a hand to her, offering to help her up.

She smiled and took his hand, getting up.

"You're never a burden Quinn. Huge, muscular and possessive? yes.. a burden? no" she said with a grin before she lead him out of her kitchen towards the room she'd given him to use while his house was being remodeled.

Walking a bit slower than he needed to, he enjoyed the sight of her strutting down the hall. Smiling to himself, he followed her to the back rooms.

"Posessive? me? "

He laughed hard, smiling as they headed down the hall...