"The Grim Reaper is someone you don't want to meet. At least, not until you're old and gray, unless you'd rather die sooner than that."

The words were less than dire, but they were offhanded and almost meant to tell Alexis that tonight could have been very dangerous if she had stayed alone. Why had she been running alone? It had been my impression that many were-creatures as residents of this city were involved in either a large pack, or running the streets together. Solidarity in its ... furriest form? They took care of eachother like they did in the wild. But why was Alexis alone? I was hesitant to ask, especially because I had come to understand that often, packs had troubled histories that troubled the members for long after they changed packs. The image of a large, fantastical she-wolf came to mind, but I put Raven's image to rest very quickly as I was offered inside to be cleaned up by my charge.

Her home was somehow cold, inanimate, and lonely. With a soft sigh, I resigned myself to stop looking around as if it would cease making her uncomfortable in my presence. Although clean, tidy, and generally looked as if it was lived in, Alexis' home was silent. The silence was more than welcomed, and I watched her walk off to get whatever supplies necessary to clean my less than wounded knuckles. It was always endearing when a woman decided it was their job to fix you after you had valiantly defended their honor one way or another. Be it at a bar when a man stepped out of line, or in an entirely different realm. I don't know what the reason that I felt oblige-... Oh, I knew. My middle name had become White Knight, constantly attempting to serve justice and whatever else it was that white knights did. Save damsels in distress? I had done my fair share of that as of late. Contemplating just what I was going to let her do to think she had fixed me up, I set the logs of wood into her fireplace before using the lighter that had permanent residence in any one of my pockets to spark a flame to life.

I was happy to watch the fire, following each dancing spark with a serene gaze. The silence, the solitude, and the warmth of the now blazing fire complimented each other nicely, and made me relaxed enough that I could oblige the woman and park myself beside her.

"How much experience do you have with fatal wounds such as these?"

I asked her about the brutalized knuckles on both of my hands, curious whether or not she would think it a bad injury. Of course, I had obtained injuries that held the capacity to be fatal. This? Far from it, but I had hoped the humor in my voice would ease her mind and remove all doubt that I didn't mind being here, and I didn't mind the defense I'd portrayed in her honor.