Prompt 086

Title: Lycan Tales
Genre: Drama
Characters: Caine, Alana
Prompt: 086~Laughter
Word Count: 1807
Rating: PG-13
Type: Series
Summary: Caine gets playful
Warnings: Language


It was like clockwork. Even though she had the day off her body still woke up at six. Rolling over onto her back Alana stared at the ceiling before heaving a sigh. She winced when that small gesture hurt her throat. Frowning she reached up and gently poked at her throat then groaned when she suddenly remembered why her throat was sore. That crazy man from yesterday. Not the mugger, the other guy. The mugger’s grip had been a caress in comparison to the crushing grip of the escapee. Swallowing, she shoved back the blankets and swung her legs over the bed frame. Her heel hit the edge of the suitcase under the bed and she absently nudged it back before walking into the kitchen.


Realizing that she wouldn't be able to actually eat anything, her throat wouldn’t allow for it, she dumped a can of soup into a bowl and popped it into the microwave. Her stomach rumbled making her realize that she hadn’t eaten since that burger in the mall yesterday. When she had finally made it home she had hopped in the shower and scrubbed herself until she felt raw and then, after dumping her clothes in the garbage, she had crawled into bed and immediately fallen asleep. She glanced over at the garbage to see her the sleeve of her shirt hanging out. She shuddered. She would admit it. That guy from Deal or No Deal wasn’t the only one who was freaked out about germs.
Bending down she stared at the bowl as it circled around and around. God, she was hungry! Suddenly she frowned. And if she was hungry that dog was probably starving. Alana had always wanted a pet and once she’d gotten her own place she’d even stocked up on pet food. She was nothing if not prepared. She even kept some doggie biscuits in her purse just in case she came across a stray. The microwave beeped and she popped open the door, grabbed her bowl and sat down at the table. After she ate maybe she’d go looking for that dog. After all, she did owe it her life.

Caine came awake with a jolt. He had fallen into bed after making sure that the woman had gotten home safely. He had been impressed that she had ran so far. Hell, the woman hadn’t even slowed when she reached her door and it had amused him to watch her bounce against it in her haste to get inside. She had finally succeded in getting the door open then raced inside. He had listened to make sure she locked the door before he headed back to the house. He had wanted to stay awake and think about the information she had given him but exhaustion won out. He winced as the sound that had woken him pierced his ears ago.
“What the hell?” he snapped. He inhaled deeply and then stiffened.
“What the fuck? Tell me she is not here again after I told her to stay away. The woman can not be that stupid.”

He bounded off the bed, and taking the stairs two at a time, raced through the house and into the kitchen. He came to a screeching halt to clamp a hand over his ears when the sound came again. Scowling he walked over to the window and peered out to see her standing in the yard blowing a dog whistle.
“A fucking dog whistle. She has got to be kidding me!” He started to step back but stopped when a ray of sun glinted off her hair. Absently he rubbed a hand over his chest before he tore his gaze away and looked down. He stared in stunned amazement at the bucket of dog food on the porch.
“Dog food?” She had brought dog food and set it on the porch. He shook his head. She was a piece of work. He scrubbed at his ears when she blew that goddamn whistle again.

Alana blew the whistle one more time before she sighed in defeat. Maybe using the dog whistle hadn’t been a good idea but she couldn’t very well go around talking all morning. It hurt to swallow and she didn’t want to look like a complete loon by going around talking to herself. She eyed her surroundings, to make sure that that man hadn’t appeared out of nowhere before chewing on her lip. Slowly she dropped down to her knees and peered into the tower of wood and rumble that was in the yard. For all she knew the dog could have made that an impromptu house.

“Ew, ew, ew,” she muttered under her breath as her hands scrapped against the concrete and the pungent smell of something rotting reached her nose.
“Here doggy, doggy! Come here! Please come here so I can get off the ground,” she said hoarsely. She slowly edged forward to peer in between the slates of an overturned fence. She froze when a throat was cleared.
“Lady, what are you doing?”
She thought about lying but decided against it. “Looking for the dog.”
Caine frowned at her hoarse tones. “What’s wrong with your throat?”
At that Alana whipped around to stare at him in amazement. She opened her mouth to snap at him but paused when she realized he was wearing nothing but his underwear.
“Do you ever put on clothes?”
He shrugged lazily and leaned against a chair that looked as if it had seen better days. Alana could just imagine all the germs that were on that chair. Shuddering she stood and dusted off her pants and then her hands before reaching into her bag and pulling out some sanitizer.
Caine watched in amusement as she dumped a large amount of sanitizer in her palm before she rubbed it into her hands. Shaking his head he crossed his arms.
“Your voice?”
“Are you trying to tell me that you don’t remember choking me yesterday?”
“Fuck, I did that? Look, I’m sorry…I don’t know your name.”
She eyed him. “Yes, we weren’t exactly on friendly terms were we? We still aren’t. I’ll just be getting off your property now. Although technically this isn’t your property is it? You’re just squatting.”

Caine straightened. “This was my father’s house and so it passed onto me when he died. This is my property and I thought I told you to stay the fuck off of it. And don’t blow that damn whistle anymore or I swear to God I’ll ram it down your throat.”
“You really should watch your language. There are more ones to speak than to resort to cursing.”
“What are you? A fucking teacher?” He grinned when she winced.
“As a matter of fact I am,” she said lifting her chin.
“Well princess, I haven’t stepped foot into a classroom since I was eleven. I’m afraid that I’m too old to learn anything new.”
Alana couldn’t help herself. She had always wanted to be a teacher. She took a step forward. “Oh, it’s never too late to learn something new. Why I could-”
“Take your whistle, your bucket of dog food and your cheery mood and get your ass off my lawn,” Caine said as he walked into the house. Caine watched from the shadows as she stared after him for a moment before her shoulders dropped and she headed toward the front. He absently rubbed at his chest again and then with a short curse spun away from the window.

Alana snapped her fingers as she hummed to herself. Well, she had left the dog food. There was nothing else she could do. She hoped that if anyone ran into that dog that they would give him a good home. Maybe she could go to the pound today and…seeing movement out the corner of her eye she turned to see the dog sitting in a chair staring off into the distance. She froze and it turned to her and barked.
“Hey,” she crooned as she edged closer. “That’s a good boy? Girl?”
The dog hopped off the chair and then walked toward her rolled over onto its back.

“Oh! Boy! You are most definitely a boy! Hey fella!” Moving slowly, so as to not startle him, she squatted down and let him sniff her hand before she gently patted his side.
“Well, you’re a big guy huh?” His tongue lolled out and she could swear he was laughing at her. She studied his teeth.
“Wow, look at those suckers! Your canines are huge!” He seemed to roll his eyes before sitting up and barking at her and trotting toward the back of the house. She followed while digging into her bag.

“Look what I have for you! You want a treat, you want a treat?” Alana ignored her sore throat as she spoke to the dog in soothing tones. She waved the biscuit in front of his face. He looked from it, to her and back again. She bent down and he gently took the biscuit from her then he just stood there. They stared at each other for a moment before he turned his head and spit it out. She raised her eyebrows.
“Not hungry huh? You don’t look malnourished. In fact you look well fed. Do you belong to someone?” She bent down to feel around his neck but there was nothing. Maybe he had one of those electrical tracking devices embedded under his skin. Those were way more popular. He barked and bounded away from her and then raced back.

“You want to play catch?” She looked around and finding a good sized stick she picked it up and flung it a short distance away. He darted after it and then brought it back with a trot to his steps. They played catch for awhile and Alana laughed hysterically when she pretended to throw the stick and he ran off only to realize that she hadn’t thrown it. Looking over his shoulder his eyes seemed to narrow at her laughter before he made a huffing sound and for a moment she thought he was laughing with her. Shaking her head at her fanciful thinking they continued to play until she realized that it was getting late and she still had some things to do.

“Hey, I have to go but I just wanted to thank you for helping me out last night. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t came along.” She patted him on the head and he leaned in closer to peer up at her. For a moment she was mesmerized by his eyes but then he blinked and she shook her head.
“Next time I’ll bring you some better treats okay?”
He leaned in and with one gentle swipe licked at barely noticeable marks on her neck before he darted away and ran down the block.