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There had always been a constant drip in the room, deemed "The Keep" by it's hidden treasure, and the day that drip stopped, was when the treasure was positive today something different was about to happen. His constant companion, even if it was only a grouping of sound waves, was the constant in an ocean of change. Literally and figuratively. And the creature was right.
As its constant swell from life, to death, life, death, stopped its metronomic life, his ears perked, the points of them quivering as the swaying of the ship increased, throwing his cage from port to starboard faster and faster. A grinding with a low scream came, and yelling from above The Keep could be heard. Too easily.
Sure, his ears picked up more than most others could, with their half-cone shape and swiveling nature, but these weren't the ordinary shouts of orders from one end of the ship to the other, like, "More power!" or "Left you idiot, there's a reef!" These shouts were more animalistic, closer to the ones he himself had issued in the factory and in The Keep. Something split below the treasure, the metal groaning, and finally giving in.
His cage slid, downwards towards the spire of rock protruding from the floor, tearing along it slowly. Water seeped in. His eyes widened taking a sharp breath to hold, his cage sliding into the jagged apparition, being split at one of the seams as it plunges into the ocean. The other treasures around him also cascade in, like a slow invasion of the watery depths. But the treasure that we're focusing on braces his hands against either side of the long crack, seperating it as one may a pistachio.
He holds his breath still, surging upwards as fast as he can, the wetness of his tail weighing him down a bit, but he breaks the surface nevertheless. Gasping for breath, he looks around, eyes wide, hair plastered against his face, eyes finally finding the shoreline the boat was headed for. Instincts kicking in, he begins rapidly to swim to the shore, anything to get away from his previous captors.
It took many hours for him to reach shallow waters, and by then he was breathing hard, stomach pelting him with an onslaught of grumbles. The tongue in his mouth feels almost like fabric in the way it sits, begging for some drop of hydration. Climbing the shoreline, he coughs, shivering, suddenly aware of how freezing it was. Teeth chattering, he sighs and makes his way to the road, and down the road to the state highway.
It was the early hours in the morning, by now, and a car only swung by once every few minutes, headlights catching the broken, sodden humanoid being on the side of the road, but choosing to ignore it and the reaised thumb it presented as it walked. That was until the grey Camry came down and slowed, stopping beside him. He walks over to the passenger's side, looking in as the driver lowered the window.
The driver smiles, a man in his mid thirties with brown hair and a scraggly beard, but a thicker mustache to make up for it. Kind blue eyes meet the traveler's own green ones, one hand connected to a tattooed arm still holding the wheel. "Hey. Where to?" He asks, pushing the door open. "A-anywhere, just far away from th-the beach..." the hitch hiker mumbles in a British accent, ears flat against his head, hidden in his hair and tail tucked behind his leg.
The driver frowns a bit, letting him sit and shut the door before asking,"Why, if you don't mind?" The passenger sighs and takes a deep breath. "It's a long story. You wouldn't believe it." The driver shuts the car off and looks at his passenger. "Okay, then let's start with what's your name." "Gavin. You?" "Geoff. Why were you on the beach at-" He glances at the car's clock on the dashboard. "-two thirty in the morning?" "Why are you out driving at two thirty in the morning?" "Left my keys to the house at work, didn't want to wake anyone up so I went back. Why were you on the beach, and why are you soaking wet?"
Gavin takes a deep breath, hands rested on his knees. "The boat I was on crashed, I swam to shore." The driver's eyes widen. "Crashed?! Are you hurt?!" He shakes his head. "No, no, I'm fine. I'm just glad to be off that hellhole." Geoff blinks and faces the road. He, at that moment, did have some gut feeling of what he was getting into, but he truly had no idea how much trouble it was going to really be. He lets a long breath out, blinking slowly. "Okay. Why were you on the ship?" "I... it's a long story." "Well, it's two thirty in the morning, I don't think anything could be considered long now."
"So, I was born in England, I don't really know where or when, but in England. But, I was raised in this place known to people like me as The Factory. I don't remember any of this happening, and for a while I thought it was normal, but the man we called The Deft told me that we were experiments and a lower class in standards than everyone else. Very specifically failed experiments..." He takes a deep breath and sighs. "Hybrids. That's what we are." He flicks his ears up from their hiding spot in his haywire hair, tail flicking out.
Geoff blinks and nods, listening intently, saving the numerous quesrions buzzing in his head for later. "Go on." The speaker sighs. "We were treated badly, to say the least. Little food, little water, regularly scheduled beatings. So, we were being shipped somewhere, probably here, and the boat crashed into a rock, and I didn't stay long enough to see what happened afterwards. I just swam away."
The drives takes a deep breath, putting his face in his hands. "Well... damn..." He sits up after a minute of thought and looks at Gavin. "I'm taking tomorrow off of work. I can help work everything out for you-" "No, you don't have to, really. I'm fine I'll just..." "Just what? No, you can stay at my place, then we can go to a doctor I know who can keep his mouth shut about things. We can call the police tonight." Gavin shook his head. "No, don't. It's useless. I don't know the location or anything." "He could be charged with human trafficking, for Christ's sake!" Gavin blinks, frowning at the man. "Not really." "Well..."
Geoff sighs. "Well, let me at least help you out a bit, yeah?" Gavin nods and sighs. "Okay." "Oh yeah, just to warn you, I have a wife so... there will most likely be questions." The passenger nods a bit and smiles. "Okay." The driver starts the car, and drives home, headlights glowing merrily.
Geoff knew it was an insane idea, even if the bedraggled man in his mid-twenties that called himself Gavin was as hopeless as his looks displayed, letting him into his home, trying to make sence of his story. He had proof, he had the tail and the ears, but did he have the instincts? Would that have even been a part of the "experiment"? As he drove, the questions buzzed in his head, until finally he broke the awkward silence with a laugh of his own.
The traveler glances over at him, sleepy British accent flaring up more than ever as he asks,"Wot?" Geoff shakes his head a bit. "The only reason I went back was because I didn't want to wake anyone up. I'll have to wake Griffon to explain, sorry. " Weary, Gavin smiles a bit. "Will she mind me being here?" Geoff shakes and smiles. "Once I explain, probably not. We'll figure something out in the morning." Gavin nods a bit and sighs.
The rest of the ride was silent, until Geoff pulled into his driveway, stopping the car. "Okay... When we get inside, can you wait in the kitchen Gavin? I'll be back down in a minute, I just need to get Griffon and explain." Gavin nods, unbuckling the seat belt. "You really don't have to do this you know-" "Yes I do." Geoff unbuckles his own seat belt, opening the door and stepping out, putting his car keys in his pocket and removing the house key. The Brit follows, yawning quietly and rubbing one of his eyes as he stands beside the older.
Geoff unlocks the door, entering the kitchen and turning a light on. "Stay here. Okay?" Gavin nods and stands still, looking at the house with a small smile. "Okay." Geoff walks up the short flight of stairs to the room he shared with his wife, walking in quietly. Griffon is sitting up in bed book in her lap, reading. Geoff sighs softly and smiles. "Hey Griff." She looks up and smiles back. "Hey, where you been?" Geoff smiles a bit. "Left the keys at the office and didn't want to wake anyone." She nods and turns back to her book.
"I also need you to meet someone." At this, she doesn't move for a moment, then looking up and eyeing her husband with a half questioning, half irate look. "Whom?" "I'll let him explain." Carefully marking her page and putting the book aside, Griffon swings her legs out from under tthe covers, standing and walking to Geoff. "Okay then..." He nods a bit, heading downstairs quickly, gesturing to the hybrid, who was leaning down a bit, tail wagging happily as he looks at a wall filled with photos.
Griffon blinks and walks into the kitchen. "What the hell...?" Geoff quickly follows, glancing at Gavin who looks over and straightens. "Ello." He says with a small smile, a bit shy. "Griffon, Gavin, Gavin, Griffon," Geoff introduces. "Gavin, this is my wife, Griffon this is... Gavin." After a short lapse of scilence, Griffon sighs. "Sorry to be rude, but, what, exactly, are you?" A sigh escapes the hybrid's lips as he recounts his tale to her, when finally finished looking at Geoff.
Geoff clears his throat. "Yeah, so I told him he should stay with us for a bit, just get cleaned up, call the police and... figure stuff out. That okay?" She nods after a noiseless moment again. "Yeah. Maybe he, you, can get a job with the Hunters? You guys, I mean." Gavin, completely muddled by the term normally associated with blood and gore, used so lightly towards the other. "Yeah! He could!" "Wait... hunters?"
Geoff smiles. "Rooster Teeth, Achievement Hunter. It's a long story." Gavin blinks, even more confused than before. "But... never mind." Geoff laughs softly and shakes his head. "Don't worry. You hungry?" A small smile crosses the hybrid's face, nodding. "Yes please." Geoff nods back and glances at Griffon. "Get some sleep. You look exhausted." A small smile crosses the latter's face, as she rolls her eyes. "Says you." She quickly kisses his cheek and walks back to their room.
Geoff smiles, walking to the fridge and opening it, grabbing some sliced ham and cheese, along with some mayonnaise. "This okay? Sandwich?" Gavin smiles, fluffy tan tail wagging feverishly, as he quickly replies,"Yes please, please." He had, in all honesty, forgotten the last time he had been presented with actual food, not some moldy, decaying piece of crap the size of a juice pouch.
He watches as the American quickly puts together the sandwich, humming softly to himself as he does so, watched by the wide-eyed husky-human hybrid. Putting away the condiments, he takes out a soda, sliding it over to the plate. "Eat up. You look like you need it." Gavin beams, snatching up the sandwich as if he had caught and killed the wild beast himself, taking quick bites, smiling at each one. Once finished, in a matter if less than five minutes, he slowly sips the soda, startled at first by the bubbles. "This is more than I could have asked for, really, thank you so much," Gavin says, each word etched with true amazement directed towards Geoff.
Geoff waves a hand nonchalantly, smiling. "Nah, just trying to make the world slightly better. I'll lend you some old clothes of mine and you can take a shower. Tomorrow we'll go visit that Doc I know, Rezonal. Great guy. Okay?" Gavin nods and smiles. "Thank you. So much. Thank you." Geoff nods again, beginning to head back upstairs. "Bathroom's the first door on the left, guest room the second door on your right. Okay?" "Okay."
After showering (the water was clear and cool, unlike the grime he had swum in earlier) and borrowing some clothes if Geoff's (which were inordinately enormous on the hybrid's light frame), Gavin finally lay down, cocooned in the fluff of the guest bed's comforter. Laying on his side and staring at the lightening sky (around three thirty five in the morning by now), he gave a long sigh, finally feeling safe for the first time in forever.