More Than Human

Chapter 14: A Walk in the Woods

Both men changed their clothes and showered. Soap was very excited about that, because he felt extremely grimy and disgusting. He supposed nearly dying had that effect on a person. He was feeling extremely energetic when he got out of the shower. His hair was sticking up at odd angles, but he couldn't find it in himself to care.

He exited the bathroom to find Ghost folding up an extra set of clothes.

"These are some of Alejandro's. Figured Rudy might like the smell." He wasn't sure if sirens could as well as he and Soap could, but he figured the man's clothes would be a comfort all the same.

Soap nodded eagerly and bounced up and down.

Ghost squinted at him, "What's got you all riled?"

"Dunno! Bit of excess energy after sleepin' I suppose." Soap grinned.

Ghost snorted, "What? You got zoomies, puppy?"

Soap stuck out his bottom lip, still rocking back and forth on his heels, "Haud yer wheesht! I do not!"

"Oh." Ghost replied, "Then you're fine if I go bring these to Rudy myself? I was gonna ask if you wanted to come along and stretch your legs, but if you're sure..."

He was walking away and Soap kept himself glued to the floor for all of five seconds once he was gone before he was stumbling along after him.

"Oi! Ghost wait up!"

They made their way outside, the sun was already past its peak in the sky. They walked to the edge of the property before it turned into forest. Well, Ghost walked. Soap had clearly lied about the zoomies thing. He would sprint a good distance before sprinting back.

"Should have brought you a ball." Ghost teased, "Could have played fetch."

"That's so demeaning." Soap huffed. Even though the idea did sound a little appealing to him. Based on the look Ghost gave him, he knew it too.

The woods had a small dirt path that led downward. Ghost followed it, entertained by the sergeant's meandering course. Running his hands along trees as he moved on and off the trail. This was how Johnny was supposed to be. Not the sickly thing from last night. It made him eager to put Graves in one.

He dared try to snuff out his Johnny's light.

"Hey Ghost."

"Yes, Johnny."

"Can you, like, be in the sun?"

Ghost hummed, "Sometimes. Depends on how well I've been eating. Either way, can't be out in it too long."
"What happens to ya?" Soap was kicking at a rock as he walked.

"I get burns."

"Ah. Is that why you keep covered?" He asked.

"Partly."

"What's the other part?" Soap turned around, walking backwards so he could face him, "Or are you just that ugly?"

"Quite the opposite."

Soap snorted and rolled his eyes, "I doubt that."

He spun back around and continued walking, "Have you always been a vampire?"

"Lots of questions today, sergeant." Ghost commented.

"Well, I'm curious. I've never met a vampire before you. Besides, after this mornin' I'm feeling more comfortable asking you this shit. You don't hafta answer."

"No. No, I wasn't always a vampire." Ghost wouldn't elaborate on that unless Soap specifically asked. "What about you? You get turned?"

"Nah. At least not that I can remember. Didn't know my parents, but I've always assumed I was born this way." Soap explained, "Besides, turnin' someone is complicated and is a long process. That would have had to happen when I was a wee bairn. Waste of another wolf's time. Particularly to just ditch me after."

"Makes sense." Ghost replied, stepping over a log, "Any other big weaknesses I should know about? Silver obviously."

"Aye." Soap shuddered, "Silver's a no go. Let's see, wolfsbane, but I probably didn't need to tell ya that. Certain poisons are more potent, but everyone avoids poison in general, so that's not super noteworthy. I've got allergies. Chocolate makes my guts churn, and grapes make me sick."

Ghost chuckled, "I will try and avoid feeding you any of those."
"What about you, Simon? A stake through the heart and all that?"

"A stake through the heart'll kill anyone, Johnny. I never understood how that got attributed to vampires. I already mentioned the sun. Not the biggest fan of silver either, not as bad as you though. Just burns a bit. Other than that..." He paused thinking it over, "Pretty much anything that could kill someone can kill me. Knives, guns. The trick is catching me."

"It's hard to catch a Ghost." Soap grinned, joining him at his side.

"That it is."

"What about mirrors? Can you see yerself?"

"I mean, I'm definitely there. I'm just blurry." Ghost had never explained himself in such detail to anyone before. But Soap was so easy to talk to. He just kept asking questions. And Ghost just kept answering.

They eventually made it to the end of the path. There, the trees opened up onto the river bank.

"Rodolfo!" Ghost called, "Brought you some clothes!"

For a moment nothing happened, just the sound of the river flowing. Ghost wondered if maybe he had already gone back to the safe house. But then there was a little splash from upstream, and the sun caught on something iridescent in the water. A bit of a fin poked out before disappearing again. After a coupled more heartbeats, they watched a head pop out of the water in front of them. Yellow eyes blinked at them from just above the surface before he began approaching the shore. As soon he was within wading distance, Soap got excited.

"Rudy!" He ran into the water, tackling the man back down in a hug.

"Soap! You're all wet again!" Ghost called, only a little frustrated.

Rudy managed to push his way into a sitting position. Top half beginning to become more human in appearance. His chittering slowly morphing into human laughter as his gills released extra water and sealed back up. Soap was still hugging him.

"It's good to see you up, hermano." Rudy smiled, teeth still a bit sharp.

Ghost noticed the dark circles still on his slightly too pale face. His cheeks looked slightly sunken. Like he hadn't eaten in a long time. He was clearly still worn. From how Ghost understood it, he had literally traded some of his own essence and energy for Soap's life.

"Are you alright? Ghost told me what you did! Thank you so much! I don't know how to say it enough! You need to eat! Oh look at ya! Yer lookin' all peaky!" Soap was rambling, accent slowly thickening as he pulled away long enough to look Rodolfo over.

Rudy chuckled. Ghost thought he looked just the tiniest bit brighter after Soap's hug and concern.

"I'll be alright, perrito. I'll be even better once we have mi Alejandro."