A Farm Somewhere in Maryland, Monday Afternoon

[firstofitskind]

Liam's days tended to have a certain rhythm to them, especially Mondays, with that weekly therapy appointment off-island, and his and Verity's tradition of doing something sweaty and physical (no, not like that) afterward.

Usually though that just meant going for a run around the island or hitting up a mainland gym for a sparring session. All that flew out the proverbial window when Liam stepped back into the lobby of the therapist's office to find Verity waiting for him (as usual) with a tense expression on her face (not so usual).

Turns out there had been a string of mysterious livestock deaths at a farm in the Maryland countryside, and from the descriptions it sounded a lot like werewolves. So a quick pit stop back to the island to top up the weapons they had on-hand with those that would be most useful against lycanthropes, and then a portal dropping them just outside the farm in question.

"So, if not werewolves, what else could it be?" Liam asked, as they approached the barn, weapons ready.

[ooc: nfb for distance, and for the wife.]

Comments

[firstofitskind]

“I’m still going to have to go to the other end and set up the Portal,” Liam pointed out. “Though I suppose they could blindfold me or something.” He did not, for the record, sound at all thrilled about that idea.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Would you rather be blindfolded for ten minutes or lug carcasses in a wheelbarrow for the better part of an hour?" Verity asked, because that was the real question.

[firstofitskind]

“Ugh,” Liam grumbled, because ‘neither’ unfortunately wasn’t a viable option. “The former, I suppose.” To Verity’s great shock, surely.

[arboreal_priestess]

"That's about what I figured," Verity said. "Let's start looking around for a cart or whatever while I wait to hear back from the dragons."

Which didn't take long at all, not really. Candy was in a snit when she called back, but that wasn't all that surprising. Verity graciously didn't even chalk it up to her being gravid. She also wasn't thrilled about the other dragons coming to fetch the mutton themselves, but couldn't deny it was the safest option if she didn't want Verity and Liam knowing where the Portal was.

"Can they destroy the Portal on their end?" Verity asked Liam. "Or do you have to go back there and do it yourself?"

[firstofitskind]

“I can detonate it remotely,” Liam said, a little reluctantly because Portal darts weren’t cheap- at least, now that the original manufacturers were long dead. “But I can also just deactivate it and have someone leave it at a drop point.”

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity continued to roll her eyes as she negotiated for some of the meat and the deactivated dart to be left with the harpy family that had given her the head's up about the werewolves in the first place. It cost money because of course it did, but not as much as replacing a dart would have.

"Anything I'm forgetting?" she asked Liam before hanging up the call.

[firstofitskind]

Yeah that was... acceptable, Liam supposed. Even if he wasn’t going to point out that both he and Verity had been to the actual new Nest before.

“Think we’re good,” Liam admitted.

[arboreal_priestess]

Sure, but did Liam want to argue with a pregnant Candy? Because Verity didn't. Not at all. She could be busy lugging around bloodied sheep instead, which, of the two, was absolutely a better use of her time.

Verity finished up the call. "Looks like you're off to Baltimore. They'll be sending you information about where to park and meet them in a minute. You wanna set up this end?"

[firstofitskind]

You know? That was an extremely good point.

Liam just nodded, placing one of the darts in the ground and making sure it was firmly planted before using his Global to open it up. It split open into two, and then those two 'arms' split again, creating a sort of square with one end completely open. Another tap on his Global and the double-circles that indicated a viable connection to ID space before he shut it down again. No sense keeping it open when there wasn't an exit point yet.

"I'm gonna send a test object through first, once I get to the other end," he told her, picking up a good sized rock. "There's no reason it shouldn't work, especially with no interference from other Portals around, but," he shrugged. Better safe than sorry.

[arboreal_priestess]

"You know I'm never going to argue against extra precautions," Verity said, glancing up at the farmhouse. "You okay with loading the sheep?"

[firstofitskind]

“I can deal with it,” Liam assured her. He wasn’t going to pretend he was totally fine, not when he’d just admitted how much the sight- and smell- bothered him right now, but there was a job that needed to be done.

[arboreal_priestess]

And it was far better than going through the house and possibly running into the remains of the family that lived there after a werewolf had gotten to them. She'd looked around the grounds already and hadn't seen any, but that didn't mean they hadn't met a grisly end elsewhere.

"I'm gonna do a quick recon in the house," Verity said. "If all goes well, I'll be out soon enough to help."

[firstofitskind]

Yeah, that severed arm had been bad enough, honestly.

"Sure thing," Liam said, something soft and grateful in his voice. He knew exactly what she was doing, and furthermore, knew that it would also be perfectly reasonable of her to expect him to sweep the house. Bodies, be they human, cryptid, or animal (or cryptid animal), were part and parcel of what they did.

[arboreal_priestess]

Reasonable wasn't always the same this as right.

"Start a fire?" Verity asked softly. "We've got to burn the remains of the werewolves."

She doubted that was the only thing they'd be burning today.

[firstofitskind]

... Was it wrong to hope that she'd wait to do the burning until after he'd left? Because yeah, he was gonna hope as much.

A swallow and a solemn nod, in any case.