This Life (Open)

[bobbiwinchester]

He eyes fell to the weapon. Honestly, it wasn't that strange of a 'gift' in so many words because it was pretty standard from her dad. Her instinct however had to be kept in check because she immediately wanted to try it, not exactly suitable to do in a hotel room. As she closed her fingers around it she heard him talk about it.

It was his brothers. That fact alone made her hesitate taking it, even though her hand fit so beautifully around it she may as well have been glued to it. " I can't take this..." she said. " I mean you barely know me, and... what if I break it or something" she didn't know how sentimental he was about his brother and his things but she knew that if it were the other way around she would be hesitant giving him anything that belonged to Joey. God it felt really good to hold a bow, it wasn't exactly the most stealth weapon but there was just something about using it that made her feel more... powerful, more skilled. Anyone could pull the trigger and hit someone, in theory at least she'd actually seen some pretty bad shots in her lifetime.

It was just a weapon... but she knew from the things she'd found that her Dad had of her grandfathers that even the most random things suddenly became important when they belonged to someone you cared about, it was sort of like keeping a boyfriends shirt, not that she would know anything about that. He was already almost out the door and she couldn't exactly walk out of the room holding it so with a sigh she packed it into her bag carefully before grabbing her own things. "ready as I'll ever be I guess" she admitted. "You need to catch me up to speed on this thing though" she was being pulled in mid-hunt, usually she was on her toes about the research.

[kaleb]

Kaleb smiled at her as he saw the desire to try his brother's bow. The gift worked two ways. One way was merely to give her something she liked, the other was a way to protect herself better. When he mentioned his brother she hesitated slightly in taking the weapon, he almost laughed. It was sweet of her to deny the gift.

Kaleb leaned forward to where he was mere inches away before saying "No take backs, sorry". With that he finished his packing and exited the building alongside her. When she asked him to bring her up to speed he faltered. What was his current position in the hunt? Well technically he didn't have one. He was kind of lost. But he had a few leads.

Kaleb turned slightly to her as they walked to her car and said "Well this territory belongs to werewolves, that's why I had assumed the killers were werewolves. Now that I know they are Skinwalkers the situation is more dangerous. The last thing we need is a skinwalker werewolf blood feud in the streets". He let that sink in before continuing on with "I have no idea where the Skinwalkers are but Jean Jacque Monde might, so we have to find him and get some answers from him. Sound good my little Rock N' Roll Queen?". He had to admit to it, he liked Bobbi. It was true, how deep those feelings went though was impossible to tell at the time. Who knew where their relationship might lead.

[bobbiwinchester]

One they reached her car she opened the back and threw her bags in closing the drunk door behind her. To the naked eye it just looked like a normal car, hopefully it stayed convincing if she ever got herself pulled over and inspected. Turning her attention now back to Kaleb she listened and nodded at what he was saying. So essentially he didn't know, which was fine she liked being able to start from scratch anyway, it made her feel like way less of an outsider and more involved in the actual hunt.

Though she was good at following orders, after being Daddy's soldier for so long, she didn't exactly like it. "How do you even know I like rock...maybe I'm a closet boyband fan" she joked which actually wasn't a joke, she was to an extent all girls were even if they pretended not to be, that song from your childhood came on and before you knew it you were singing the words along even though she could swear you didn't know the lyrics. One of those things of life she guessed, they did say that songs were the last thing to leave your memory, she had sort of always hoped it would be people.

Leaning back against her car she thought over what they already did know in her head she ran her hand through her still damp curls as she watched people passing by at a distance, blissfully ignorant to the truths, weren't they lucky. "So where are we headed then I guess is the only question" She knew where he had been headed yesterday, before she'd interrupted but that didn't mean it was the end game, could have just been a pass through on the way to something bigger.

[kaleb]

Kaleb listened quietly as she talked about music. That was one thing he could definitely talk about any time. He had grown up with music just like he had grown up with Hunters, each with their own varying personalities and traits. They all had musical preferences. Kaleb's grandparents for one were fans of Classical music where as his father and Damian were both into Jazz when they lived. Kaleb had always been a bigger Rock fan and apparently so had his mother.

When Bobbi brought up the possibility of being into Boy Bands, Kaleb had to stifle a laugh and force the smiled out of his face as he said "Well fair enough, just don't expect me to start serenading you with the Back Street Boys biggest hits". He smiled and winked at her before mounting his bike.

When she asked where they were headed he took a spare map from his bag and marked the location including the more convenient route she had shown him yesterday before handing it back to her. He smiled as he said "We get to go see the Frenchman today. See what he knows". It was their only real lead to follow. Hopefully it wouldn't be a dead end.

[bobbiwinchester]

"Wouldn't dream of it" she said but the more she thought about it the more that idea freaked her out. "Yeah please don't... serenade me with anything...ever" she clarified. Just putting it out there that was not happening.

Bobbi could handle a lot of things but attention was not usually one of them, which was sort of strange but she had grown used to it. Attention or recognition was not something she really wanted, at least not from strangers, or the public. From her parents maybe to a degree but still if she was given recognition she hated for it to be in front of others, a pat on the back and a good job kiddo had always been enough. Even on her birthday or Christmas she hated when people asked her what she wanted, she felt awkward telling them, what if they got it for her? Then what? It just... it was weird. Besides people were supposed to know you well enough if they're buying you a present at all.

Though she supposed the idea of a list was the get what she wanted, but honestly she was usually pretty happy with the basics, saved her money anyway and it was stuff she needed.

She watching him take out the map and she took a couple steps forward to meet him just to see the location he was marking. Her dark eyes glanced at it and took a few seconds to memorize the location. She nodded and folded it up sticking it into her bag backing toward the car again. "Meet you there" she said grabbing her keys she got in the car and started the engine. Maybe the drive would be good for her, give her some time to consider just exactly how insane she truly was.

[kaleb]

Kaleb was caught off guard by her insistence that he not serenade her ever. It wasn't as though he would seriously start singing to her, unless he thought it would be worth a laugh of course. But her seeming discomfort with it confused him slightly. They had definitely had a binding period last night, he was sure he hadn't dreamt that. However she still seemed so guarded against him.

As she hopped into her car and drove off, Kaleb started his bike and pulled out behind her following at a safe distance behind. As he drove he tried to make sense of their situation, not the hunt, the night before. Things had definitely moved a bit faster than normal between them, but Kaleb found it didn't bother him at all. He wondered to himself how she felt about it. Ignoring the fact that they knew nothing about each other they seemed comfortable with each other mainly.

He made a mental note to try and squeeze more info out of her later. He found he really sod want to get to know her. He shook himself irritably as he realized that he was thinking more of him and Bobbi than he was the mission, he knew he needed to focus on the hunt. The drive didn't take more than an hour or two. Before long Kaleb was pulling his bike up to an old Victorian era home that seemed out of place among the suburbia neighborhood. He read the adress and sure enough they were in the right place. He slowly dismounted his bike and waited for Bobbi to join him.

[bobbiwinchester]

Bobbi was barely even paying attention to the road, it probably wasn't exactly safe but driving was second nature and she had way too much else on her mind to really concentrate all her attention on the road. She was thinking about the case sure a little but but her mind was wandering back to the same thing over and over again.

Kaleb. There had only been one other guy who had ever been in her head like this and he'd never really given her a second glance, just when she had thought that maybe finally this were coming her way she'd found out he was in love with her mysterious cousin. Perfect. From there she'd just kind of accepted things weren't going to go her way and yet now she was guarding herself still against the possibility of letting herself like someone again.

It was really too late for her to stop herself, if she hadn't already damned herself by kissing him, waking up that morning had assured her that she really had fallen fast. She blinked suddenly breaking her concentration when she realized she was in town. Turning her eyes to the map she turned and kept driving until she pulled up outside the house that had been marked.

Pulling a little ways away she parked the car and waited a moment gathering her thoughts before grabbing her bag she stepped out of the car making her way over to Kaleb her eyes though instead focused on the house that seemed to stick out like a sore thumb though it was admittedly amazing to look at. " nice digs" she commented though more to herself. She turned her eyes then to Kaleb and offered a slight smile.

[kaleb]

Kaleb watched as she slowly moved towards him from her car. She was beautiful in the morning light. The bright day seemed to contrast completely with her dark clothes and hair. Kaleb smiled when she commented on the house. Not realizing it he draped one arm around her shoulders as he said "Indeed, the prize of the creepiest house goes to the creepy Frenchman, hooray".

He smiled at her before leanig over and gently brushing his lips across her cheek as he said "Time for work". With that he lead the way up the dozen steps to the front door. The door frame was old, Kaleb guessed maybe Italian from the design. This man enjoyed luxury for sure. He glanced back to Bobbi as if for good luck and then proceeded to knock several times.

After a moment of waiting an older man who appeared to be in his late fifties answered the door. At first glance Kaleb could tell the man was once a hunter, he carried himself the same way his grandfather always did. Kaleb held out his hand as he said "Hello sir, my name is Kaleb Riordan, this is my wife Bobbi. We are new to the neighborhood and we wanted to come introduce ourselves to you". He turned slightly and winked at Bobbi. Part of the cover was out of cover and the rest was a joke for Bobbi's sake.

[bobbiwinchester]

Bobbi did her very best not to outwardly panic at the word wife. She had played many a character before to gain information, sister, daughter, cousin, university student, but wife... never and she wasn't even sure she could pull it off. He was just lucky she was so used to having to roll with the punches her face didn't even show a hint of surprise.

She could have killed him. She might have were she not now forced to play the part. She was just glad at least he'd used her real first name otherwise he would have completely caught her off guard. Instead she offered a convincing smile to the stranger.

They were hardly the suburban looking type even though, in actuality she was the suburban type, she just didn't look it at least not out on the road. Placing her hands behind her back she slipped off the ring her grandfather had given her for her 16th birthday and switched it to the other hand just incase he was looking for the obvious to disprove the story instantly. After all if he was hunter he was going to be hard to fool. If that was even what they were trying to do here since he'd just sort of thrown her in sink or swim.

"Beautiful home" she commented and her semi-trained eye started going straight to the details. What her mother wouldn't give to get her hands on some of these things, she imagined some of them would go for quite a pretty penny at the auction house. "If you're ever looking to get rid of anything I know some people who would love to auctions items on your behalf" she was being quite serious but also just trying to make conversation.

Her eyes were taking in other things as well, trying to see if maybe there were traps anywhere, both supernatural and otherwise. If there were skin walkers in the area he certainly had to be aware of it.

[kaleb]

Kaleb was caught off guard to say the least by Bobbi's ease at pretending to be his wife. He had caught a glimmer of her shock but she had been very successful at hiding it. When he noticed her switch a ring to her marriage finger he did the same with his father's old engagement ring he kept in his back pocket. The Frenchman, Jean Jacque Monde seemed surprise at the visit but none the less smiled as he said "Well it is very nice to meet you both, by all means come in. I just made a pot of tea". Kaleb had to refrain from grinning in excitement. It had been a long time since he had enjoyed a good cup of tea.

He allowed Jean to lead him into the house and took the loveseat in the foyer, leaving room for Bobbi to sit beside him. He observed the room as Jean went to set up the cups. Through observation Kaleb noticed several pictures of Jean and an elder woman who appeared to be his wife. Kaleb motioned to the pictures for Bobbi though he was sure she had probably already noticed it.

After a while Jean reentered the room with three cups of tea and served two to Kaleb and Bobbi. Kaleb accepted the cup thankfully as he said "Thank you". The man nodded before taking his seat across from them and saying "You two seem pretty young to be married and you appeared to be from England or maybe Ireland? Mind if I ask how you two met?". Kaleb flashed a brilliant smile before saying "Well I worked as an Oil Rig worker and my job had me move up here for a time. We met and it was like love at first site, I'm sure you and your wife understand. Will she be joining us?". Jean reacted with a somewhat pained expression as he said "She passed recently, its okay. Not many people know".

[bobbiwinchester]

She walked inside the home and her eyes quickly began to take in more details, the house itself was no longer of any real importance, but rather the things inside, photos, paintings, artifacts could tell you eons about someones life story. She nodded as Kaleb motioned to the photos and took a seat beside him. She was about to say something when the man reappeared before them.

"Thank you" she said quietly taking the cup but she didn't dare to drink from it. She inspected the liquid first for any signs of oil on the surface or bits of powder stuck to the edge of the cup. She wasn't sure why this man would poison them, or if he would but she wasn't just willing to accept a drink from a stranger. She lifted the cup to her lips as if to drink but she was really just taking a closer look while pretending to sip as not to be rude.

This was one scenario where Bobbi was quite willing to let someone else have control of the story because as skilled a liar as she could be, there were just certain situations where she knew that she could, and probably would panic, this was one of them. She was happy to just smile and agree with whatever story Kaleb was spewing about the two of them. She took his hand as he spoke, partly to continue her act partly to curb her nerves, it always helped to have something to hold onto.

Love at first sight, hah. She didn't believe in such delusions, never even as a kid. She'd never really had the whole Prince, or White Knight complex most girls her age seemed to have beat into their minds, which was probably for the best, it prepared her for all the disappointment well.

Her dark eyes settled on the older man as she wanted his expression as he explained that his wife had died. "I'm sorry" she said instinctively. Sorry...really Bobbi? She hated when people said they were sorry and he she was once again saying it. She wasn't responsible for his wife's passing what did she have to be sorry for. She felt bad for him, empathy, not that she had any idea what it felt like to lose your spouse, or anyone for that matter, not quite in the same way, at least she knew her Dad was alive.

[kaleb]

As Kaleb relayed the story of his and Bobbi's fake love life he tensed slightly when she took his hand. He looked to her quickly to see if anything was wrong only to find her looking slightly nervous but all the same calm. He squeezed her hand gently and offered her his sweetest smile before turning back to the Frenchman.

When the man said his wife was dead Kaleb really strove to pay attention to detail. The shift of his body, the aversion of eyes, the quick intake of breath. All signs of a lie or perhaps just signs of grief. It was difficult to discern the difference. His attention was broke when Bobbi offered her condolences.

Kaleb nodded before saying "I am acquainted with loss of loved ones so I can understand your grief". The Frenchman nodded slightly as he cleared his throat and said "Well what is done is done. Hopefully the lord will bless her". Kaleb narrowed his eyes slightly and tried to pay as close attention to detail as he could, then again Kaleb was never the best as such things. He knew something was off about the man. Something to do with the wife.

Kaleb quickly offered his most convincing smile before rising up and saying "Well it was very nice to meet you Monsieur. However I'm afraid my lovely wife and I must be going". He motioned for Bobbi to follow him as he headed for the door. As he walked he could feel the Frenchman's eyes on him. Kaleb feared the man would guess who he really was. That would throw a kink in their little masquerade. However the man said nothing, only watched.

[bobbiwinchester]

Everything had her guard up and truth be told she couldn't tell if it was just her general protective instinct or if there was something more specific that had her paying particular attention to certain details. The cup had been minor though on the safe side she'd avoided it. She watched Kaleb then and her gaze fell between him and the man casually. Something had changed, a behaviour perhaps but it felt more like an air in the room a slight shift in the tension and it wasn't coming from them.

He had changed suddenly with the comments about his wife. She didn't know what the change was specifically but Kaleb seemed to have a good idea, or at least a theory because it only took a matter of seconds before he announced without cause that they had to be going on their own way.

As Kaleb suddenly stood she blinked but followed standing from her place. "we still have loads of settling in to do" she said calmly offering the man a bit of a half smile as she watched Kaleb turn for the door. "I was lovely to meet you: she could have said something about not hesitating to borrow a cup of sugar but well, they didn't actually live in this neighbourhood and she didn't want to hae to get any further into this story than she already was, too far to remember.

She didn't dare to turn her back on a former hunter, especially not one who so clearly had a secret. So she took a few side steps in the direction from which they're entered the home keeping her shoulders and head still watching the man. She'd almost made it to the door before she made the move to fully turn her body away.

[kaleb]

Kaleb walked outside to his Bobbi's car and waited until she made her way to him. He was glad he had parked his bike a ways away from the house to where the Frenchman wouldn't see it. Once Bobbi was close enough for him to speak to her without anyone listening he turned to her and said "He's lying. His wife isn't dead. Something happened to her but not something as normal as a car accident. He's hiding something about her".

He sighed as he tried to put the pieces together himself but failed to find the link. It wasn't until he noticed a small shimmer of the window drapes did he notice that he was brig watched from inside the house. The Frenchman must've picked up a little deceit from Kaleb as well.

Kaleb played as though he didn't notice, normal people wouldn't have. Without warning he leaned close and softly planted his lips to Bobbi's. The kiss was short and sweet, just enough to exude the illusion of a happy couple. When he finally broke the kiss Kaleb smiled as he said "I'be wanted to do that all day". He winked at her before hopping into the passenger seat of her car. He would ask her to drive him over to his bike soon enough. They needed to take a trip to the cemetary soon. It was time to check out the grave of Mrs. Monde.

[bobbiwinchester]

Once she was out of the house she slowly made her way down the walk to where Kaleb was standing by her car. She moved to stand close to him and nodded in agreement as he said the man was lying about his wife. She'd gathered the vibe but hearing the verbal confirmation from another hunter just solidified it. "I know" She said quietly. "five bucks says she is, or has something to do with what you're after" she mused wondering if perhaps, the answers had been sitting right before them and they had missed something, or maybe...they hadn't been alone in the house at all. Be it the case she was glad they made it out.

She lifted her hand to push it out of her face just as he leaned in and kissed her which had slightly caught her off guard but she figured they were being watched, though part of her hoped it wasn't. As he stated he'd been wanting to do it all day she wasn't sure she bought it, her mind was still lost in the facade. "You're way too good of an actor" she told him as she watched him turn and get into the passenger side of her car.

Digging into her bag she pulled out her keys and made her way back to the car getting in and starting the engine. She took a moment and leaned her head back on the seat waiting for a minute before turning her eyes to face him. "So where to? I think we need to check our her grave make sure there is... or isn't a body in there for certain" course they couldn't exactly do that in the middle of the day either, they would need to wait until the sun went down for any sort of grave digging.