daybreakacademy | better to beg forgiveness, bad dog.

Entry tags:

better to beg forgiveness, bad dog.

Who: Cliff and open, outside of one prompt.
What: Secret werewolf newbie getting ready for secret times and secret crimes.
When: The days around the full moon (Sept 2nd), night of Sept 5th for closed prompt.
Warnings: Profanity, mentions of underage smoking and drinking, inexpertly devised heists.

[ W A X I N G . ]
[The full moon’s coming, and while there’s the mounting anxiety of not being sure what he’s all going to do even under the care of people that knew how to deal with this shit, it’s also always a time where Cliff could feel his heart race with the need to go, do, see. He’s taken to walking briskly or jogging about campus during the day when he wasn't in class, barely holding back from a run, so that he can get a better idea of where things were or what different smells meant. It would be important to have these things in mind when he was able to meet up with Coco for their secret mission. Excited as he is for it, it would have to wait a few more days…

In the meantime, he can practice sneaking out through his window rather than risking alerting someone down the hall as he went by, or scaling the walls of the dorms. Definitely tougher than the siding back home, and his fingertips were going to get calloused, but it was infinitely more fun. Especially with this restlessness.

Clifford sits at the edge of the roof a lot, too, eyes scanning the night sky and lighting up as the moon -- almost full, almost dangerous -- hit them. Almost literally! His usual golden light brown eyes reflect back with an eerie glow like the beast he would be forced to turn into soon. Times like these, it was hard to mind too much or to keep to his human form.

Being a wolf racing through the forest, energized and unburdened, is something on his mind more and more. Schoolwork was increasingly hard to focus on, even as he slouched elaborately in chairs around the dorm, library, and cafeteria, curled around his studies. Same sentences over and over until he gives up and drapes open books -- usually about the Outlands, curses, or various once-mythic races -- over his face with a loud groan.]

This shit is impossible. Man, I need a smoke…

[Missing them wasn't exactly helping with how much tension he had. He thinks about asking any adult that wanders too close, but in the end if a faculty member approaches, Cliff will sit up again with a nervous,] Uh.

[Maybe it's about his underage smoking, but...whatever he was reluctant to bring up seems to be a bit more pressing.]

[ W A N I N G . ]
[Comparatively, the days following the full moon have Cliff in a stupor. He falls asleep more often than not for brief periods during his earlier classes, and when he rubs the weariness from his eyes he's scrambling to ask for notes to figure out what the hell he missed. It wasn't just for his sake that he picked the classes he did, after all, so even if he didn't have his stepdad peering at his grades as an excuse to get on his case, he wanted to try. Unfortunately, this meant bringing some attention to himself by hurrying to catch classmates before they disappeared into the sea of students.]

Oh, hey. Listen, I didn't get what that was about, can I see what you wrote?

[ W I N D O W P A N I N G - closed to relevant parties. ]
[Finally, it feels like it's time to act. He doesn't have to worry about getting too worked up and transforming, he’s not exhausted as fuck, and he’s itching to help Coco get to the bottom of things so he can see more of her smiles and make it so she doesn't have to cry anymore. The office visits he'd made as part of getting settled into a new school were used as wisely as he could. It wasn't going to be easy by any means with how much he still didn't know, but he's as ready as he can be without making her wait on him -- and she should have the information on the infirmary that they’d need for that part of it.

His explorations have given him another perk: he knows where to find her. Thanks to her talking about her hawk not-roommate, Cliff’s been able to keep an eye on the bird that comes and goes by window from the Aube dorms. Convenient that it was open, even if it wasn't convenient that it was a third floor room. He grunts softly as he pulls himself up to the ledge, grateful for the practice he'd decided to do. He peeks first, light glaring off his eyes and making it easy to inspect the room even if it’s dark. It would be real bad if some rando were in here, or if he came at a...uh, bad time.]

Hey! [His voice is a harsh whisper, but there's an excited current underneath it, too. Crimes! Crimes! Crimes!!] Coco?

[or rather, the bird dude that could direct him to Coco, for the time being, but he hasn't realized that yet. He comes in before he can get an answer though, it isn't good for his hands to just be hanging on for long like this.]

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[wow don't guess, that's rude. and scary for him.

He slows a little to look over at Coco, raises a hand to cover above her eyes from his view, and grins. It's terrible, but he sort of wants to see that.]

Oh, definitely can't read good enough in the dark. [And definitely didn't have a phone he could set to dim or a lighter in his pocket, nope. Coco was his only hope. Mhm.

Being honest, though, it would depend on if the office was in total darkness or not, but that would be telling. He'd rather tease.]

[Sorry, Cliff. She sympathizes for cowards, but she's not going to slow her roll for them. All will be swept up in her current unless they've got a stronger one.

When he slows and looks at her like that, she flushes again.]

Ay, Déjalo. [She waves his hands away.] I'd like to see you try and do better.

[But, really, he probably would do better than her. It would just figure. If she weren't so happy and relieved to see him, so worried for the fact that he was a withered thing, she might have been jealous of Papá for managing it. The memory hurts and she fights the instinct to push it away, instead holding it fast to herself to preserve him longer in her mind.]

[Well, since she's asking... Cliff digs into his pocket to produce the lighter, neglected the past week or so with Cliff not having any cigarettes on hand.]

Abracadabra. [He flicks the wheel and ta-da! A little flame that leaves both his eyebrows intact.] You're so lucky you have me around. Don't make shit too complicated with this magic stuff all the time. Thought a half-magic like you would know better than the underestimate the normal way.

You're the one who said we couldn't use the lights...

[It's a muttered grumble, not meant to be heard. She's being sullen, for he's won and she knows it. Now she feels twice as foolish.]

Come on, lets go.

[Sorry girl, but keen werewolf hearing doesn't exactly do you a solid. He opens his mouth to say something, but decides better of it and instead puts out the little flame and sticks it back in his pocket. Kind of striking out with his attitude tonight... Well, it was something to take seriously. Maybe she thought he wasn't.

He'll just nod and make his way with her over to the right building, keeping to the shadows as best he can and pausing now and again to close his eyes and listen for any signs of something coming towards them. So far, so good. Down the halls and over to the office he'd seen too much of when he'd arrived, stuck with the responsibility of getting his information in order and figuring out his schedule. At least his promise to Coco had given him something interesting to do during that time, and it gets him to move confidently down the hall.

Then he stops and frowns.]

Oh. Night staff. [Of course there'd be night staff? Some people were nocturnal, taking classes right now, and they'd need someone to take care of any administrative problems they ran into. Well...] Do you think you can get them away from here for a while?

[When he falls silently, she quickly starts to feel guilty for being so put out. She could have probably handled... everything better. Now it feels to weird to break the silence, especially when they really should try for quiet.

When he stops suddenly in the middle of the hall, she nearly runs into him. It's quick feet and a close save that keep that from happening. She looks at him confused but the explanation comes quick. And it has her pale.

Oh no. How was she supposed to lure the staff away? More importantly, how could she do so without drawing suspicion back? She glances a few rooms back, at one of the empty ones. She goes to it and bends to her shoe, untying a small little pocket pouch from her sandal laces. She unleashes it into the classroom and runs like she's thrown a grenade. There's no boom, but there is a strange light that flashes. Then she goes for the room of night staff.]

¡Perdóname! Something's wrong! Class 5b is all flipped!

[Leading the staff out and along, she hopes that Cliff has the good sense to hide.]

[Maybe later he'll get to ask her about what the hell she did and how she came up with such an excuse immediately, but for now he should really focus on the task at hand. He waits for the adult to pass before he comes out of the hiding place he was indeed smart enough to duck into, does a quick scan of the area for any other obstacles, then sprints to the cabinet he'd seen his papers disappear into after meetings.

First he checks if they did the bare minimum with regards to security, flinging arms along the sides of the cabinet to check for keys held by a hook. No such luck, which he might have been relieved about if he wasn't crunched for time, here. Cliff turns to look at the desk area next, looking not just for keys but to see if the computer had been left up and ready to use. It is -- looks like someone was going through their email -- but he still hesitates to go over to it. There was sure to be a number of programs the information could be stored in, and he had no way of knowing which one...

No. Better to stick with the physical copies, especially since he'd be able to take them along with him. He rests his strength against the sturdiness of the cabinet by giving the handle a hard yank, but all that does is make a metal clunking sound. Given enough effort he could maybe force it, but it would be even more obvious that someone had been messing around in here if he left it busted and bent. Instead, he curses under his breath and reaches into his pocket again.

Carl had confiscated his set of lockpicks during a routine search of his things, but he has another, faster way of dealing with it, even if it was less elegant. He pulls out the little pocket knife he'd managed to get by his stepdad's scrutiny and starts gently stabbing into the lock of the drawer beneath the one he'd seen his own files disappear into -- N and R weren't that far apart, but there were a lot of students around here and "Norman" had been pretty far in. One last glance over his shoulder as he gets the blade to finally fit into the little space, and then he turns it like it may as well have been a regular key.]

Rivera, Rivera... [Her dad, first. That mattered more. He sees a few possibilities with that surname, and maybe he should have asked what her dad's first name was so he didn't have to waste precious seconds like an idiot, but that just would have been the smart thing to do, huh? None of that for this boy! Out of his options, narrowed further by sex and birth year, "Héctor" seems the most promising.

Okay. Now for the other one... Despite his better judgement, he flips through a series of other names in search for the S's, holding Héctor's file in his teeth so he can use both hands properly. He doesn't even know if he's hoping to find "Schaeffer" or not, or what he'd do with that information, but he's just so close to where it would be... Already the search has eaten up his attention completely. Come on, fucker. Don't waste his time, come on.]

[ Ekkehardt doesn't usually leave the infirmary until late at night. When he does, it's for errands or emergencies - or because he's actually at rest, once every two days.

This is not one of those two days. He's sensitive enough to sound that he can hear discrepancies where they shouldn't be, and he steps quietly in case it's some kind of new invasion.

It isn't, as it turns out. Just a student looking for something, with a file already held between his teeth. ]

Did you want a photocopy of those, or do I have to make more printouts? [ His tone is lightly amused. Frankly, he's not surprised this isn't more common, students trying to sneak their own medical files.

He tilts his head a little, watching him. He's holding a mug of what seems to be coffee, judging by the smell, but he doesn't seem to be in any rush. ]

Either way, I'll be using paper, but I suppose I have no other choice.

[It's an invasion. An invasion of rudeness, as evidence by Cliff's muffled expletive that causes the folder to slip. He scrambles to catch it again, hugging to to him as he tries to figure a way out. The calm demeanor makes him freeze up, more tense than that should elicit even with the surprise of getting caught in the act, and his eyes go darting to the exit, up to Ekkehardt, and to the exit again.

If...he became a wolf, then he wouldn't have to worry about the file being taken away from him -- he had no idea where things like that went, but the only thing he'd noticed staying between forms was, bizarrely, his tongue piercing. But solving that problem comes with two other, bigger ones: Coco might see what he is, and...this person doesn't smell like how he looks. More reason to believe that I suppose I have no other choice was a warning more than anything, as per usual.

The papers crumple a little as he tightens his hold around himself, trying to work it out. He needed to get these to Coco, but she couldn't be seen or she'd be sent back home and it would all be for nothing. She'd never get to do anything ever again... Cliff might get punished, but it wasn't like they could send him away, with what he is.]

I just --

[But with no one else around, did it matter what he said? His eyes glint as he brings them up to the man again, guilty, wide, and catching light.]

At least tell me which records you're taking, so I can replace them. [ He doesn't seem angry, even if he does smell wrong. He meets Cliff's panicked look with a calm one of his own, his glowing eyes steady. ]

[There is a lot of commotion down the hall. Shouts, voices, the sound of footsteps getting closer. Those footsteps skid to a stop as Coco comes into view through the doorframe, her eyes landing solidly upon Ekkehardt, then darting to Cliff, then back.

What does she do? What can she do? If she's caught it's all over, but she can't just leave him there.

She plasters on a supremely fake smile.]

Cliff! There you are! I looked everywhere.

[She squeezes past Ekkehardt.]

C-come on we have that thing we were gonna go see, remember?

[Nailed it.]

[Gentle as he's being, Clifford isn't able to let himself trust in it. There's been too many times he'd been lulled into feeling safe and okay before that was snatched away from him again like he'd done something wrong. Here he was, actually doing something wrong, so this guy has to be pissed, right?

He spares a glance over his shoulder, lips pressed into a tight line as he debates going back for the second file. Might as well really earn whatever it is he's got coming to him! Except...he knows he's going to feel like shit whether he found it there or not, and he doesn't get more time to debate it because suddenly Coco is back and coming over to him with the most frantic, obvious lie in the world, which makes him jump before he can really process it. No teacher was going to let them get going because of "that thing". Frowning at her -- or rather, frowning while looking at her -- he presses the folder into her arms and tries to gently push her away back towards the door.]

What are you doing? [It was like she couldn't even read his mind about how only he should be getting caught, here. Gosh. Maybe he'll be able to telepathically ask if he'd grabbed the right one... Probably not. He manages a step towards Ekkehardt instead of continuing to try.]

This was my idea, so don't -- [It's like he hasn't absorbed the doctor's tone at all, he's still convinced of how fucked they are. With Coco potentially involved, though, the urge to defend dials back up from the numb acceptance. Sorry about what an absolute dingus he is, being a teenager is hard.] You just said you can make more, you don't even need it!

Well, if you don't tell me which ones you're taking, I can't replace them, can I? [ He glances over to the open drawer; for a moment, something in his mind struggles to make a connection, some half-remembered song...no, it's gone again. ]

I'd have to go through them to find out, and that would take some time. [ His tone is level. ] Though I have to say, you could have just asked.

[Trying to get you out of here, what does it look like, she wants to say, but she's not so foolish she'll say that out loud.

It's a moot effort. Cliff's going to dump the cat out of the bag himself. She bares her teeth in a wince. She grips the folder and thinks again about making a run for it but- but she can't. She can't abandon him.]

Cliff...!

[But a moment later, she's blinking.]

Wait. What do you mean? You just let people take things?

[That question is for Ekkehardt.]

[Sweetie, no one was going to believe you. Besides, he'd already been caught, but stop saying his name!!]

No, he's --

[Finally his expression shifts to something more uncertain, but he doesn't get to fret over it for too long, with his attention dragged outside the room by the steady beat of more footsteps headed their way. They were caught red handed already, but they didn't need someone else getting back to find them resisting and make even more trouble for them.]

R-Rivera. Héctor Rivera. [Though he says it in the instinctual American way. Since Coco is here now, he can look over at her with a mumbled,] That's the one, right?

It depends on what they take, and why they're taking it. [ Ekkehardt shrugs a little. ] Some things I can't let you do. Others, I'm more lenient on.

[ Héctor Riviera. That name is familiar, and then it isn't, like something he's failing to grasp...The sensation is frustrating. There's outward recognition at the name for a brief moment, and then brief confusion as it slips away from him, like it's being yanked away. ]

And what do you want with those records?

[Héctor. She hadn't been sure until now but the moment Cliff says it, she's sure that's it. She nods, feeling breathless.]

Sí...

[Her focus returns back to Ekkehardt, the man who could very well be jury and executioner on all her plans here. There's much to fear there but for a moment all she can see is that recognition, appearing and then vanishing.]

I need to know where he went. I'm-- I have concerns. As... as a family member. If I'm family, I'd be allowed to look then, wouldn't I?

Well, as long as it's not medical... [ He hums, thoughtfully. ] I suppose I can let you look. [ His next words have a strange tone, absentminded, like they're automatic instead of anything he had to think about. ] It's certainly odd that he would have just vanished.

[Oh, good. Even if he was going to get suspended or worse, it would be worth it because he'd gotten her what she needed, and...for some reason, she was being allowed to look through it? Like they hadn't been something they needed to try to steal in the first place... Cliff's stare is uncomprehending as he tries to search Ekkehardt's face for an answer to the many questions he now has.

Then his punishment is pushed to the back of his mind again, because what?]

You know him! But -- [He looks to Coco for a second since it isn't his story to tell, but his nerves are pretty fried by this point and he can't stop the words from tumbling out, probably a little bit louder than is necessary.] We know he was sick! What if that has something to do with this shit somehow? Why can't we have the medical ones, too?

[Her eyes dart back to Cliff, meeting for a moment before Cliff is rolling on. She feels unsteady, afraid, but she's been feeling that since she realized something was wrong with her memory.]

It's true. I'm worried for his health. I'm worried he might need my help. He's- he's vanished before.

[ He shakes his head. ] I can let you have general files, but the medical ones are my jurisdiction. He was my patient, and privacy is important. [ Patient feels so impersonal, for some reason. But that frustrating slipping-away feeling has happened again, and after his conversation with Avery, it's beginning to add up. ]

However, I can give you this. [ He crosses his arms, frowning as he tries to assemble the jigsaw puzzle of his thoughts. ]

The fact that nobody remembers him well is a clue by itself. There's some kind of magical interference going on - whether it's the fault of a daemon's contract or a fae's interference, or something else, I don't know. But someone must want him to be forgotten, which means he has an enemy. If there's anyone you can think of who might have a strong reason to get rid of him, you'd do well to find out who that might be.

[ There's something niggling at him, with that, but it's slipping away too...He doesn't quite remember who it might have been that had an issue with the man. ] Find out being the key word. If they're desperate enough to use this kind of magic, they're likely desperate enough that adding a few children to a missing persons list isn't going to matter to them.

[His heart sinks fast, like he really expected two teens asking more than once to get the doctor to change his mind and surrender the files with a wink and a smile. He should just be grateful he's not getting his metaphorical ass handed to him right this second, and not feel the urge to argue more rising up in place of that sinking heart, but here he is. Cliff swallows and hugs his right arm close to his side with the other. He can't see it and had never been able to, but supposedly the magic singling him out for some reason was on his right hand... Having it be the same sort of thing would be way too much of a coincidence to be possible. He's stupid for even thinking about it in this moment.

With a grimace, he looks over to Coco again. He's pretty sure that wasn't going to stop her, with the way she was fighting for the smallest reminders and risking everything for it. Were he a better or stronger person, this might be where he reached over to take her hand in reassurance. Oh well. Instead, Cliff exhales unsteadily through his nose and gives her a small nod. Okay.]

We -- should go. That other guy will be back soon. [Like, he can hear him.] Even if this guy lets us off the hook, we kinda screwed him with that distraction.

[He doesn't move yet though, determined to stay as long as Coco was. It's her mission, after all.]

[Her face falls. She had thought it was too much to hope for permission. There was a reason she never asked for it.

But, just as she's thought that Ekkehardt gives her something else, something that makes her breath halt. He knows. He knows something's wrong, even if her father remains unrecalled. Fear settles into her heart, a new kind that doesn't ease any of the other fears.]

An enemy...?

[She doesn't know. How could she? He'd been gone nearly all her life. It could be anyone. For a brief second she wonders if Mamá would, but no, even for all she had wanted to forget him once, she would never do something like this. She would never be cruel.

Someone wanted her father forgotten. Someone might hurt her to keep it that way.

All the more reason that she had to do this alone.

She bows her head just slightly.]

Thank you, Señor Ekkehardt.

[She nods to Cliff. Then she flushes with the reminder of the distraction.]

Oh. Right.

[She lifts a foot, untying another little pocket bag from the straps of her sandals.]

This should fix the gravity in that room. My Tíos worked on it for months to fix the living room back home. Sorry.

[It was something they could discuss more when they were in the clear, even if he doesn't like leaving her looking so downtrodden. At least she makes it easier to switch gears and move on, when reminded...]

Fix the gra -- [Never mind, he can wonder why she's holding onto a trick like that and laugh about it later. Right now he just has to knock the filing cabinet shut again, secondary file forgotten, and make for the doorway. He turns to Ekkehardt once more.]

So she was never here, and if I could have not been here either, that'd be really great for me. [Coco was the really important part, though.] Come on!

[ Ekkehardt might laugh, and applaud the boy's courage, if he hadn't seen how nervous he was previously. A laugh would almost certainly just make him more nervous.

He accepts the bag. ] I'll let it slide. And since you're both on such an important mission, I'll conveniently forget I saw anything and forget the identity of the miscreant who's inconvenienced one of our classrooms so.

But. In exchange, at the very least, I'd ask that you tell me before you go haring off on your own. [ He frowns, faintly, as something flashes through his head - no, it's gone again.

(Coco is Héctor's daughter, more precious than his own life, someone who he was willing to risk everything for. He should endeavor to keep her safe; that much of the bond remains.) ] In the worst of cases - which I hope will not come to pass - I will be able to arrange for your rescue. And in the best case, I can give you a convenient excuse. Does that sound fair?

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