Hunter & Prey-Artemis

[talbot]

Lawrence was hungry.

What he craved was fresh meat. What he desired was the hunt. He cherished the thought of ripping through the forest after terrified prey, cornering and slowly closing in, a shadow of death that was inescapable and nightmarishly gruesome.

It was the little things.

Before he could get on with the drudgery of talking to the administration and getting settled in, Lawrence had to stop somewhere and get something to fill the void in his stomach. The thought of chasing terrified teenagers down the hallway crossed his mind briefly and brought a sardonic sort of dark grin to his lips.

“One burger,” he said to the cook. “Rare.” He looked both ways and then leaned in. “Bloody rare, give it to me still mooing.” He grinned darkly and the cook stopped in his tracks. There was something in that grin that sent a shiver down the back of his spine. He nodded thickly and grabbed a raw patty. Lawrence held up three fingers and the man piled two more patties on, holding them out with aversion and timidity. “Thanks piggy,” he said softly, and carried the tray to a table with a soft whistle.

One booted foot kicked the chair out and he sat in it before it could topple back. He looked down at his tray with a mixture of hunger and repulsion. This would do, but it was like a druggie trying to get a fix off of a photo of his drug.

Still…blood was blood.

He put the top bun on and brought it to his lips.

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One might expect that, given how much of her time Artemis spent hunting, she wouldn't need to venture into the mess hall all that often, especially when she was a goddess and didn't even technically need to eat, but even though she wasn't all that fond of socialising lately, she still did the rounds in the various locations - she was here for new experiences after all, and you never knew where those experiences would come from.

Besides, she'd been walking past when she caught the most delicious smell, and she'd followed it inside. She had almost headed straight for the counter to find out what had been cooking that smelt so good, when she realised somebody was already eating it. Well, maybe 'devouring' would be a better word, it wasn't the way he was eating it necessarily, but there was something about him that made the word a better fit.

Taking a step or two towards him, she watched him carefully. There was something interesting about him, something... wild... Artemis knew wild, she liked wild.

Never one to beat around the bush, no matter what mood she was in, she plonked herself down in a chair opposite him and smirked slightly.

"Looks good."

[talbot]

There was definitely something about this place. Lawrence had heard plenty of rumors in his travels over the years. Something about this place drew in every kind of rumor, some of them bordering on the brink of legend. He stopped chewing long enough to consider the possibility that he had been ‘drawn’ here, the image of a fish stupidly swimming into a net flashing through his minds’ eye. No. He knew why he was here. It had nothing to do with a higher education.

Blood, thin and cold, ran down his chin. He stopped long enough to dab at it with a triangular folded napkin and looked up just in time to see a blonde vision headed his way. There was something in the way she was looking at him that almost made him feel like prey.

Almost.

She sat across from him, her gaze going from his meal and back and she fearlessly and shamelessly held his gaze. Her comment was vague, seeming to leave him to take whatever interpretation he desired.

“Thanks,” he said between bites. “I’ve been working out.”

And she didn’t look too bad either. But she seemed to crackle with power. It wasn’t something he could put his finger on exactly, but for the first time in as long as he could remember, Big Bad felt a very real sense of danger. He studied her while he chewed, making a few assessments and a number of assumptions. She didn’t seem put off by him at all. It seemed to give him a lot of leeway. Maybe he should test that theory.

“They’re always better if they squirm first,” he said as he finished his last bite. “Just a little.”

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"Really?" She tilted her head slightly and narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. Yes, there it was, that thing that she'd seen in him, that wildness. There was a time, long ago, when she would have claimed him as one of hers, or assumed he was already, but here at Tintagel it seemed somehow that things were different, she couldn't just assume these things because everybody came from different places.
Besides, she might like the wild, but she was a hunter first and foremost and prided herself on her proficiency.

"I find it better when they don't squirm at all, it's a mark of skill." Running was one thing, but if they squirmed after you struck, you weren't doing it right. She didn't play with her prey, that was... undignified. She respected it, even if she was killing it.
She didn't even stop to consider it as a personal preference, gods just didn't think like that, as far as she was concerned she was right. If he wanted to play, he wasn't taking the hunt seriously enough.

[talbot]

Lawrence finished off his meal and pushed the plate slightly away from him. The taste of blood made his senses feel sharper, and in general made him feel all the more animal. Maybe that had something to do with the blonde vision sitting across from him…an entirely different piece of meat. His eyes ran down her as she gave her opinion of hunting, but he was only half listening to her words. His eyes were enjoying a different sort of feast, but he didn’t linger long in any one place.

“Skill,” he snorted a little as he fished a toothpick out and used it to find hidden pieces of raw meat in his teeth. He kicked back a little, propping one booted foot up on the chair next to her. The implication was clear enough. She was trying to lecture him about the skill of hunting?

But still…there was a very strong sense of danger…

Opting not to heed his instinct, Lawrence pressed on. “You do a lot of hunting, do you?”

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That was enough to put her on edge. When she was last here, there was quite a lot she could take before her cheerful nature started to fade, but along with her more serious disposition this time was a much, much shorter temper.
She had killed for something as simple as a boast about a man's hunting skills, so the fact that he appeared dismissive of hers did not sit well with her at all. Never mind that she had to constantly remind herself that, here at Tintagel, not everybody knew who she was, that was still no excuse for the automatic assumption that she might not know what she was talking about.

A good hunter had to be alert, even when relaxed, and it wasn't like she was trying to hide her nature, surely he should be able to sense something about her? But then perhaps he just wasn't that good...an irritated goddess is nobody's friend, and despite her previous thought about not letting your prey squirm, sometimes they deserved it, just a little bit...

"A lot?" She said quietly, thoughtfully "You could say that..."

[talbot]

And there it was again…that sense of indomitable threat and menace that seemed to crackle invisibly in the air like the air after a summer storm. A voice in the back of his head told him to stand down..to not push this. But she was just a pretty young thing, and the idea of the Big Bad Wolf being frightened by a shapely blonde was unfathomable. And even if he did acknowledge it to himself, he would never be able to let her in on it, no matter how much his inner voice was screaming at him.

He was the Big. Bad. Wolf. Nuff said.

But he let her words sink in while keeping his eyes on her. The toothpick found its way to the corner of his mouth and he smiled a little. Somehow he thought her carefully understated comment was laden with truthfulness, but he couldn’t seem to help himself nonetheless.

“Now that,” he said, “I have to see.”

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He really should be listening to that little inner voice, because it would save him a lot of trouble. Unfortunately, while hindsight is generally quoted as 20/20, you had to wait until everything was over to enjoy it.

His words caused a slow smile to spread across her face, because they suited her perfectly. Not only would showing him up punish him for his assumption, but a hunt would be a very good way to work out the frustration that said assumption had caused, and perhaps get him to realise just who it was that he was dealing with.

"Let's go then." She said bluntly, standing up and watching him expectantly "Right now. The school forest is an excellent hunting ground."

Holding out her hand, she allowed her silver bow to materialise. Whether or not he would actually be impressed by the weapon or its sudden appearance, she didn't know, but she still couldn't resist the opportunity to show off.

[talbot]

Lawrence hadn’t known exactly how his words were going to be taken by the blonde who at this point still didn’t even have a name. The last thing he had expected was a grimly satisfied smile and an overly confident challenge. While she got to her feet he couldn’t stop the stunned expression on his face if he tried. His mouth hung open and the toothpick toppled out, falling to the floor noiselessly as she held out her hand and a silver bow materialized into it.

Great. More magic. At least it explained his inner voice.

But the shock was short-lived. Magic or not, she still had no idea who she was dealing with. Maybe a romp in the woods would do her some good. A little mussing of her hair, maybe a couple of claw marks. He wouldn’t kill her. Probably. But he had to show her who he was.

And he might bite her just a little.

Licking his lips, he nodded. “Lead the way milady,” he intoned with a slight bit of amusement.

This was going to be good.