[Guns--?! But, if Ryou's confident he can handle it, then Atem will let him handle that part. Atem doesn't have vampire-speed, and even if he did, he's never tried racing a bullet with it. He's slower, and he's blinded, and he's not the best person to stay and deal with armed humans.
Atem can smell the man's fear in the air, his scent like a hovering ribbon left behind him. He can hear where the man is running, still running, broke the rules, tried to cheat.
He hears prey.
He turns, and he finally, finally gives chase. His feet, digitigrade and clawed, propel him off the asphalt with a jump and a burst of speed, and he's gone, down the street.
Atem never felt like this as a vampire -- not even at his hungriest. That was like an addict's craving, a more human need, despite the monstrous and inhuman nature of it. There was envy to it, a thirst for the closest thing to life again that he could have.
This isn't envy.
This is instinct.
This is animal, the way his feet pound, the way his mouth opens to pant out his body heat, the way he knows what to do when he gets closer and closer and closer, skidding around a corner and leaning into the turn, hearing when the man makes the mistake of looking over his shoulder. Atem doesn't want to drink this man's blood, as he takes one last leap, the distance perfectly judged, and sinks his jaw into the joint between the man's shoulder and neck, brings him down to the ground, his breath hot, his lungs burning with the prey smell. He doesn't want to feel this man's heart beating in his own chest. He doesn't want this man's life. Atem wants nothing from this man but meat.
Hot blood spills over his mouth, and a scream rings in his ears. It's not the blood that matters. Atem pulls a mouthful of flesh out of the man's shoulder, shirt and jacket and all, and starts to chew. It's a horrible wound, but not a fatal one.
When Ryou joins Atem, he'll find Atem seated on the moaning and sobbing man's back, pulling bits of bloody fabric out of his mouth.
But what Ryou has to deal with before he can join Atem is a spray of bullets. The men in the cafe see the werewolf and its teeth, and in their terror, they empty their clips right at the window. The other patrons in the dive bar dive for cover, glass shatters, there's screams.]
cw werewolf hunting/feeding!!
Atem can smell the man's fear in the air, his scent like a hovering ribbon left behind him. He can hear where the man is running, still running, broke the rules, tried to cheat.
He hears prey.
He turns, and he finally, finally gives chase. His feet, digitigrade and clawed, propel him off the asphalt with a jump and a burst of speed, and he's gone, down the street.
Atem never felt like this as a vampire -- not even at his hungriest. That was like an addict's craving, a more human need, despite the monstrous and inhuman nature of it. There was envy to it, a thirst for the closest thing to life again that he could have.
This isn't envy.
This is instinct.
This is animal, the way his feet pound, the way his mouth opens to pant out his body heat, the way he knows what to do when he gets closer and closer and closer, skidding around a corner and leaning into the turn, hearing when the man makes the mistake of looking over his shoulder. Atem doesn't want to drink this man's blood, as he takes one last leap, the distance perfectly judged, and sinks his jaw into the joint between the man's shoulder and neck, brings him down to the ground, his breath hot, his lungs burning with the prey smell. He doesn't want to feel this man's heart beating in his own chest. He doesn't want this man's life. Atem wants nothing from this man but meat.
Hot blood spills over his mouth, and a scream rings in his ears. It's not the blood that matters. Atem pulls a mouthful of flesh out of the man's shoulder, shirt and jacket and all, and starts to chew. It's a horrible wound, but not a fatal one.
When Ryou joins Atem, he'll find Atem seated on the moaning and sobbing man's back, pulling bits of bloody fabric out of his mouth.
But what Ryou has to deal with before he can join Atem is a spray of bullets. The men in the cafe see the werewolf and its teeth, and in their terror, they empty their clips right at the window. The other patrons in the dive bar dive for cover, glass shatters, there's screams.]