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monasatlantis · 4 years

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My final Review for Trails of Zero and Trails of Azure and also my thoughts about the Trails-Saga so far as a whole

After finishing the Trails in the Sky games, also known as the Liberl-Arc I knew that if I wanted to be fully prepared for playing Trails of Cold Steel 4 myself (I’ve watched a lot from this game on YouTube with subtitles already…) I would have to play the Crossbell-Arc (Zero and Azure) too and so that is what I did. I have to say I had mixed feelings from the beginning, because many people were Hyping the Crossbell-Games and I tend to be extremely disappointed by hyped games because they almost never met my expectations. However… it was for the greater good. And also for being able to give a overview over how I see the Trails-Games as a whole in the moment, as I have now played almost all the games that have come out so far.

So lets start with my review of Zero and Ao/Azure first…

1. What is your overall opinion of the Crossbell-Saga games?

Personally, I think Trails of Zero is among the two worst most boring games in the Trails-Saga so far. I couldn’t help but dislike it and its so called plot from the very beginning. When it comes to game-mechanics and battle-mechanics it was a trails-game so there was not that much to be bothered about, but when it comes to the plot or the characters or the way they were explored it was awful. The only game that is worse, is Trails in the Sky 3, which had the luxury that we already knew most of the characters so that we only had to be unnerved by Kevins and Ries questionable story while otherwise being at least already attached to the other characters and thus following their story anyway, even if it was not half as good as it could have been… IF you saw their story that is, but I digress.

On the other hand, Trails of Azure/Ao no Kiseki was done very well. The plot was indeed one of the best plots of a sole game. (As I personally thinks the deps of the Erebonia-Saga as a whole is better than the ones from Lilberl and Crossbell.) And since we already went through the phase of trying and failing to get to like the characters, but actually at least knew them and had formed some sort of small attachment to them in the previous game, it was easier to overlook the things certain points, since we just accepted it that it was the way it was and learned to enjoy what we had.

2. Lets get a little deeper into Zero… what was good and what was bad?

Good, huh? Uh… ^^’ The only thing I really like about this game were the cameos of Estelle, Joshua and Renne. And I also adored KeA. That was basically it.

One of the main problems of Zero was how awfully badly the plot was delivered and how badly the characters were shown… or not shown. We start with Lloyd who technically speaking has a really interesting story. He was raised by his older brother and the woman said older brother loved for most of his live and said brother, who had worked by the police has been murdered and his murder became a cold case. Now that Lloyd is finally working for the police too, he… gives a damn about any chance for him to solve his brothers murder-case. Like… he never seemed interested in doing that at all. The first thing he should have done after he started working for the police, was actually to take a look at the file of his brothers murder and ask around the police to find any kind of information or evidence about what could have happened to him. (His name was Guy, by the way. Who calls his child Guy?) He never did that. In chapter 4, when the first game was almost over we suddenly found out that like half the people we had regular contact with actually knew Guy or had worked with him and suddenly I wasn’t so sure anymore about Lloyds and Guys relationship. Did he never mention the names of the people he worked with? And why did Sergei hide the fact that he has been working with Guy for so long? Why didn’t Grace or Arios ever think of mentioning that they also knew Guy or worked with him in all the times we meet them before chapter 4? Then again, if Lloyd had asked about him, he might have found out early. Or if he actually had a decent relationship with his brother, this man might have told him. I mean… isn’t it weird? In Ao/Azure its shown that Guy wanted to invite Arios to his wedding… an brag about his brother and you want to tell me that Lloyd never either heard about that man nor ever meet him in Crossbell together with his brother? Seems very weird. The characters as a whole felt extremely… empty in Zero. I can’t explain it fully, but I just couldn’t start to like them or bond with them, because the games made them focus so much on their job as the SSS that you never felt like they were actually people you could relate to. Like they had those problems in their lifes, but we always just scratched on the surface of their lifes and the problems they had. Also… in both Sky and Cold Steel family was really important to every character, even if the family wasn’t blood related, a huge part of must characters character-arcs were connected to how important their families were for them, no matter how hard the circumstances surrounding those families were. And in Zero it seemed like family was so not important to those characters. I absolutely get Randy here, because his family raised him to be a person who sacrificed a whole village for a job, even tho in this village was a person he liked. BUT everyone else was weird for me. As I said, Lloyd (despite stating otherwise later in Ao/Azure) has never shown much interest in finding out anything about his brother or his murder, despite the fact that he had been so close to all the information he needed the whole time. Elie showed in that talk with Lloyd that she was bothered by the fact that her parents both abandoned her and yet she never (until Cold Steel 4 – funny enough) showed any interest in facing them. Even tho it was shown by the game that she loved her grandfather, the game totally failed to deliver it to look like she was really attached to him. I mean, in Sky Tita was traveling around with Estelle a lot and yet, it was absolutely clear that she loved her grandfather nuts AND also missed her parents. (Until they came back suddenly and gave Agathe a hard time that is XD Were it was yet again shown, that despite being separated for a long time, they had a really close relationship. But once again, I digress…) Tio had been a missing child that has been through hell and when she was return to her parents she actually was different and since that was making it difficult she left her parents again. I never really got if it was really fine for her parents that she left or if she herself decided that it was best that way. Which is already a really bad thing without even mentioning how unsatisfying it was that once again, apparently Tios interest in her family seemed really small.

Now don’t start with the “The whole point of this game was that the SSS became a family” because that didn’t really work either, because the game never really spend that much time giving the characters a real time to bond with each other in Zero. When I reached Elies final bonding event I felt like it came out of nowhere, because I never had the feeling that Lloyd got over his awkward “Elie and me? Never!” – stage or that they gotten close enough for an almost kiss at all. (Never had that problem in Cold Steel, although here the bonding events over the course of the game might have helped a lot… but I also think even without the bonding events the bonds between the characters developed really well, dating aside, because here only Alisa had the advantage, but I will digress again if I don’t stop here… ^^’) But lovestorys aside (since I am really picky with them) I also do not feels that the friendship between the characters was so well develop in the game. Obviously they all being doting parents to KeA helped a lot here with making them look more closer, but a child should not be the only-bonding-point between them. And here we come to an example for why the bonding between those characters worked so bad. In Cold Steel (yes, I am going there now…) we had that canon-event with Rean and Alisa exchanging they problems, hopes and wished in Nord while looking at the nightsky. So we had Lloyd and Elie on the rooftop together and Elie was opening up about her life, her past, her feelings and problems…. and Lloyd? Even when Elie mentioned that he has his own problems, he didn’t open up to her. He didn’t tell her how he was raised by his brother, how he is chasing after becoming like him instead of chasing after his murderer, since it was an unsolved case and so on. So the difference in those scenes were, that while Alisa and Rean were both open and honest to each other Lloyd was a great listener but failed to actually help by opening up himself and show trust with that. And that is how this whole game went. In the end of Zero, the SSS didn’t feel half as close as it should have been and would have been if the game would have spent more time with serious bonding.

Through most of this game, I was desperately searching for the plot. Because I was refusing to believe that besting the bracers was the plot, because damn was that a stupid idea and a huge ass fail too. Most of the chapters (even the final chapter itself – which becomes even more clear after Ao/Azure) ended with us being almost killed if no one had come to help/save us. Starting with the Prolog itself. And despite that, until KeA showed up, Lloyd had been simply too proud to ask the bracers for help. It pissed me off so much! Honestly, we’ve been bracers in Sky, we’ve been friends with bracers in Cold Steel, were we also learned how important and great bracers are and in Zero they tried to make you want to be “better” than the bracers. Which was a huge fail not just because of how incapable the SSS was, but also because they brought Estelle and Joshua back, because if we just had the somehow arrogant bracers of Crossbell, wanting to best them would have become a given at some point, even for a player like me, but after those two joined the bracers, there was no freaking way that I would have been able to want to beat them anyone. So as much as I loved Estelle and Joshua being there… I also think it was a very stupid move. Especially since in the end, the most interesting part of the story (also the only one that really found a conclusion in this game) was Rennes backgroundstory and how she found her way back to Estelle and Joshua. The only other interesting thing was KeA and that was never solved in the first game AND she was also introduced far too late in this game.

A lot of potential was wasted in this game. Like Lloyd should have started to hear KeAs voice long before we actually found her, because that would have been something to make the plot interesting. Make you want to find out what is going on. Then again, it was never fully explained why only Lloyd could hear KeAs voice anyway… such a damn waste.

3. Now to Ao/Azure! What was good, what was bad?

A lot of the things from the first game didn’t really change, but I was already used to them and they were buried under a really interesting plot this time and as the plot was also delivered so much better this time, it changed really a lot for how much I enjoyed playing the game. Much less wasted potential. They were going all out with the plot this time and things like KeA acting weird/bothered/unhappy started much, much earlier and with that gave you a good reason to be interested and stay interested. They handled the return of characters from the other games so much better this time too. Honestly? In Zero all I wanted to do was see Estelle and Joshua again and I think this also blocked any chance for me to start liking the other characters as they were so boring and their storys so… boring and then we got Estelle and Joshua, who we knew and loved and who had such an important mission… of course they were more important and more interesting than Lloyd who didn’t give a damn about the question who killed his brother. In Ao/Azure these characters were kind of coming and going in an extremely powerful but satisfying way. People who know me know very well that I love Olivert and was the happiest player in the world for him showing up in Ao and also having a side-mission and lots of screentime in chapter 2 of Ao. And although I found it a bit sad that we couldn’t say goodbye to him and Kloe, all in all they came for a reason and left after what they had to do was done and it felt really satisfying. Honestly, tho? Osborne totally stole the show in this chapter. Kudos to how they handled him in this chapter. You could feel his enormous aura through the screen and the impression they already wanted to give you in Sky, which was that this man is a real monster, really came across as well as what a genius he was. When Olivert was shocked that Osborn used the Red-Constellation in the name of the Empire, he used the excuse that he wanted to protect Olivert (which was in fact part of the contract as Sigmund mentioned earlier) to justify it and the Emperor would have totally understand that and that was one of the ways to show what a genius he was. I also loved the difference between how Rocksmith had been handling the SSS and how Osborne did. He doesn’t need to get them on his side, because he can crush them and that is exactly what he warned them about in a way that was too friendly to be threatening although it had clearly been a threat. I am not a fan of this man (Reans father or not…) but he was really amazing in this chapter but especially in this whole scene with the SSS.

Also really, the secret star of this game was Lechter XD Showing up in the most unexpected times, doing the weirdest things from the beginning to the end. Even showing off that damn, this man is a fighter and he looks cool when he does fight. And I love how in the end, you never know why the hell he works for Osborne as he never sounded like he really liked to work for him, although it was clear at the end that he was very well aware of how capable this man is with his plans and how well they usually work.

However… this game had a lot of great and amazing plottwist and also the usual traitors, traitors who return to our side, never really were traitors and also of course the bad guys who will be forgiven no matter what bullshit they pulled. A true Trails game.

Honestly, even the side characters were so much easier to fall in love with this time. I was so shocked when Ilya was hurt and I cried when Rixia screamed her name. When the game showed you how guilty the characters felt that were protected and thus not badly or just a little bit hurt, it was really emotional. And really realistic. I liked it a lot.

Also… the intermezzo. Total fanservice, really. And yet it was really amusing and a great chance to spend more time with the side-characters that you didn’t spend much time with during the usual plot. I also loved how those useless Urgent-Missions vanished in the end, because in Zero most of the time, they didn’t have anything to do with the game. Why the hell did I have to find that girls Umbrella again? And how can that be an urgent mission?

But while I am at it, here is still some critic. I hated how a lot of information’s that were important for the plot were revealed in side-missions or even hidden-missions. I played non of them and when I had to watch the final from a lets player because of technical reasons I was constantly like “What?”, when all the things were revealed that he got, do to the fact that he played all Support-Requests and Hidden-Missions and got so much more information’s over certain situations and characters do to that. Don’t get my wrong, I think it is great if those missions are not just boring but also give you valuable information, but there is a difference between valuable information’s and stuff that should have been mentioned in the main-plot because you need them to get things. Lloyd often all of the sudden was like: “WAIT! You did these and that, right?” And I never got how he suddenly reached that conclusion, because I missed some important information that were given by missions I didn’t do, because I didn’t had too. If missions have important information, than for gods sake game, force me to do them!

I found that Wald was a weird plot-device that didn’t really… made much use to the story? It was kind of an motivation for Wazy but a questionable one and one that was somehow unnecessary. It felt like they just needed to do something with this man.

Also… uh… KeA just gave up her powers and that was so anti-climatic? At least I would have wished it would not have been so easy for her to do it. Or if she would have sacrificed them to… I don’t know, do something useful. Don’t get me wrong! It was good and right that her powers are gone now (tho looking at CS4 there are some remnants there…) but I just would have wished the way she gave her powers away would have been a bit more interesting or dramatic.

4. Any thoughts about the music and the game-mechanics or battle-system?

Sadly, I couldn’t hear the music with the game but I listened to the OSTs and they were both good. (Not as good as the one from Trails of Cold Steel 3 tho, but that one is hard to beat…)

I didn’t really like how you had no idea how you gathered bonding points. The final bonding event with Elie in the first game was a lucky draw. I chose her to be Lloyds partner every time because I am a shipper with heart and soul, but I was feeling bad about neglecting Tio and Randy and almost didn’t chose Elie for the last one. The game could have at least told me that some of my decisions would influence the bonding with the other characters – I am so damn spoiled by Cold Steel XD - and in the second game I did relay completely on a walkthrough to get enough bonding points with Elie and yet still thought I fucked it up until I got the invitation to the deck ^^’

I totally loved those Combi-Crafts. They were great and I would have loved to also have them in Cold Steel (but I guess we have the Link-Attacks there as an replacement…)

I wished I could have auto-fight or at least a way to make the fights go faster. Grinding was so not possible the slow way this was going.

Holy shit was it impossible to use the Masters-Quarz from Ao/Azure to their full potential because it was so hard to level them up. Much easier in Cold Steel.

5. The ending of Ao/Azure, what do you think about it?

I found both the ending of Zero and Ao/Azure a tiny bit rushed in a way. Like… we hardly get any explanation or an after-credits scene. And the explanation in Ao/Azure was a fucking huge Spoiler. The game tells you that Osborn is alive and won the fight against the noble fraction in the civil war and that he also took over Crossbell for 2 years. Like… uh… when you play CS… this is like some huge ass things to ponder about and if you had played this game before (which you should) you would have known all this already ^^’ Still… I liked how they had the final picture of them standing under the flag of an now independent Crossbell (probably after CS4) after the whole Epilogue-Information felt like we left Crossbell at a really bad time and that this way, it somehow was a unfinished game. But, as we know now… Lloyd and Co. take care of that problem in CS4, so its fine.

6. Points for both games?

4,5 of 10 points for Trails of Zero, because it was fucking bad!

9 of 10 points for Trails of Azure, because it was really good and had just a few flaws. (CS3, by the way, got the same amount of points…)

A little overview over what I think of the Trails-Saga so far, now that I have played all games currently available to me (aside from CS4 which I have almost completely spoiled for myself anyway at this point XD) follows now. So be aware of SPOILERS!

7. Looking at all 9 games that came out so far, what do you think about the Trails-Saga as a whole?

Something I’ve realized with shock when I’ve been puzzling the pieces of all the games together is how much the Liberl-Arc is actually an outsider here. How it doesn’t feel very important anymore as soon as you move on from the Sky games. Despite the fact that Ouroboros was much more involved in what happened to Liberl than in what happened in Crossbell, it still feels like Liberl is just not half as important as this small town and his two-games. Somehow it feels a bit like the Liberl-Arc was more to introduce certain characters (and Ouroboros) to the player then actually having a huge importance to the actual Trails – Saga as a whole. Of course I know that what Campanella gained from the Liberl-Arc will be important at some point of the Trails-Saga but looking at Cold Steel I think Crossbell is much more prominent and also more important to the Erebonia-Arc (which is huge!) which is not just shown by the connection between those two places, but also by how Rean interacts with Lloyd and how much he seems to honor him for some reason. While Estelle and Joshua, are just some good bracers that helped to solve that one incident in Liberl, Rean seems to have a huge amount of respect for Lloyd and what he did for his hometown.

They of course do have a lot of similarities that connect them somehow, I get that. But in Cold Steel 4, I found the meeting of Rean and Estelle and Joshua so anti-climatic while the one with Lloyd was such a huge deal. I think that we lag a connection between Liberl and Erebonia here. The only thing connecting us to Liberl in the first two Cold Steel games was Olivert, who doesn’t even belong there, but was just traveling through it. Funny enough, what they give us in CS3 is the age-gape-ship – do not get my wrong, I am so not complaining, but I am sure a lot of other western fans are – purely relying on the power of shippings here XD Honestly, it would have been possible to make that work without Tita. By having Shera become a teacher alongside Rean and Randy (instead of hiding her in Erebonia until CS4…) and having Agathe as a Bracer helping out Fie, Sarah and Toval like he usually does. But they had to give us that ship, simply for the reason that shippings always go, if you ask me. But without thinking that a bracer falling for a young girl wasn’t exactly the best representation for Liberl. Once again, do not get me wrong. Both Tita and Agathe are amazing characters. He is a strong bracer and she is an extremely talented and courageous engineer at her very young age. And I personally do treasure their relationship and how it evolved. Okay… I actually love it and supporting the ship with all my might. Yet, looking at how badly ships like that are received in western countries, taking those two as represents for the Liberl arc is questionable at best.

I get it. In CS3 they wanted to form a connection to both the Sky games and Ao/Zero without already giving us the main-characters of those two games because they would have stolen the show XD So they gave us Randy and Tio for Crossbell, with Randy of course being a more prominent person as a colleague of Rean and also a more than capable fighter that also got a connection with Shirley who is working with Ouroboros now. And then they give us Tita and Agathe for Liberl… and you can not help but question the choice. I mean… everyone loved Tita because just like KeA, she was so loveable. And now she turned into a teenager that suddenly is aware that just saying “I love Agathe so much” is not something she should do anymore without giving it a second thought. Agathe suddenly being much more flustered about the teasing from others because obviously its not that unlikely anymore that there are romantic feelings involved here. So… that is our connection to the Liberl-Arc. An Age-Gape-Ship that is not together yet... but too close to thinking about being in love with each other for the likes of most western players. For me as a fan of that ship, it is of course a good choice… but for representing the Liberl-Arc it stays a rather questionable choice if you think about it. Especially since Shera was nearby the whole time and wasn’t shown once and only mentioned close to the end. I feel like that was a choice purely made for evolving Tita and Agathe as a ship somehow and show how those two characters and their relationship has changed in the meantime. Especially with Tita being suddenly self-conscious and also looking at that we go from the Sister-Zone to “For me you are…” in the short span from the beginning of CS3 to the middle of CS4. However… yes… I digress again. I can not help but feel like the Liberl-Arc (despite being a good arc) is less important to the overall plot of the Trails-Saga as a whole. Like… most of the Ouroboros-Guys from this arc are either currently no were to be seen or dead… or on the good-side XD Cassius is showing up for 5 minutes, looking like the powerful guy he became somehow and then he is gone again in Cold Steel 4. Its like he was just introduced to be mentioned every now and then in the other games so you would think: “Ohhhhh!” XD Well… at least he lets Rean become a Swordmaster in the end. He must do something useful at least once in all this games that claim he is a big-shot despite him never being there when actually needed. So he wasn’t really important in the other games either, despite the fuss that was always made about him. So… yeah. Liberl was really just to introduce us to the Trails-Saga and some more or less important characters as well as Ouroboros I think.

Crossbell was used the give Ourobors more people that work for them it seems XD Also, Red-Constellation and Zephir was even mentioned. And then it is in a place that Reans biological father takes over and even uses Rean for that, giving him a feeling of guilt when he thinks of Lloyd who just did what Rean would have done in his stead too, by trying to save Crossbell. Also… in Reans Class was someone from Crossbell (Juna – although we never met her in the Crossbell-saga) but no one from Liberl. Once again, giving that small place called Crossbell a bigger hand. The connection to Erebonia, by the way, and also the way Osborn is mentioned and even shown in both sagas is very huge. As a neightbor of both countries that has the biggest military in the whole Zermuria it was constantly shown in both Liberl and Crossbell as a possible enemies that is threatening them and should be feared. Osborn is mentioned multiple times as a very dangerous and very powerful man and not seldom even as a monster. When he is shown, (which happens in both the Liberl- and the Crossbell-Arc) he fulfills the expectations and shows very well that whatever or whoever stands in his way, will be crushed ultimately. There is no such character in either the Liberl- or Crossbell-Arc that get mentioned or shown so extremely in any of the other games. The Crossbell-Saga, in my eyes, was mostly to show you the people of the City that Osborn uses as a play-toy in his plans so that you feel bad for them, when you reach the part in Cold Steel were Crossbell get annexed and then ruled by someone like Rufus of all people. Also introducing Rean to Lloyd and later having Juna in his class, who adores, fully trusts and supports the SSS makes his feeling of guilt for what Osborn forced him to do in Crossbell even worse. So looking it all that, it seems a little bit like the Crossbell-Saga was a stage that prepared the stage for Osborn and Rean as the major forces of the 4 games long Cold Steel – Saga.

Cold Steel is big and covers a huge span of time (although we had a big time-jump between CS2 and CS3 and also at least one to two months have passed between CS1 and CS2 as well as CS3 and CS4…) and finally deals with the country with the strongest military as well as with the man Osborn himself. With a game as big as this one, we of course get a huge amount of characters as well. Ever single one of them has somehow an important position in Erebonia one way or another. As Rean the main character alone is not just the adoptive-son of a man from the lower-nobility, but also (as it turned out later) the biological son of no other than chancellor Osborn himself (although they were hiding that fact) and became the Ashen Chevalier at the end of the first game. We also have people like Alisa, who is the heir of the Reinford-Company – which is by the way a name that also hear multiple times over the course of the other games, especially in connection with weapons. Jusis, the son of the Duke of one of the four great houses. Emma as being part of the Hexan-Clan and also the “sister” of Vita, who is the second Anguis of Ouroboros. And so on. Even Reans own Class 7 in CS3/CS4 is anything than boring. Although just a commoner, Juna is from Crossbell and was teached at the police academy from no other then our Ironblood Claire Riveld and is also a huge supporter of the SSS. Kurt is the youngest son of the Vanders and with that not just the son and nephew of two huge military-mans, but also the brother of our dearly beloved Mueller Vander, protector and best friend of Prince Olivert and thus of course also known in the royal family of Erebonia. Ash is one of only 3 survivors (technically only two survivors, now that Loewe is dead…) of the nightmare that was the Hamel-incident. And Musse… well… she is… much bigger then she looks like. Besides those main characters we also have guest characters like Princess Alfin the Erebonian-Princess herself. And oh look, Lechter is here too. Even Ouroboros steps up their game in Cold Steel. Adding more and more Enforcers to their Phantasmal Place Plan in the huge state that is called Erebonia. We get our Fool Campanella (the only one who actually shows up in person in all 3 Arcs), we have Phantom Thieve B (who was mentioned in all 3 games, but never showed up in person in Crossbell), the Steel Maiden and her Knights (who were first shown in Crossbell) as well as Vita and McBurn but also Shirley and Mariabell (who both joined Ouroboros around the Crossbell-Saga and were also very present in that arc) which already makes a huge damn amount of Villians or Semi-Villians (as Vita at some point as well as B are at least temporarily joining Team-Rean for a while…) for one Arc. And yet, we get another group of enemies (the Gnomes) added to the list, alongside a few Jeager-Corpses. And although we have plenty of active characters in the Cold Steel-Saga already, yet we also added Randy, Tio, Tita and Agathe as temporary party-members to the game in CS3. Still not enough? You are missing your best friends Estelle, Joshua, Renne, Lloyd, Elie and KeA from the previous installments? Fear not! We add them in Cold Steel 4 were we also have reacurring Guest-Characters like Sully and Grace from the Crossbell-Games. Shera will finally show up as well and did I mention the part in CS4 were Kloe, Cassius and even President Rocksmith joined the game for a short amount of time? And did I tell you that we don’t just travel through Erebonia in this games, but also go to Crossbell? Boy is that game huge! And probably the most important installment of the Series so far.

Now… lets look at this a little closer…

8. The maps of Liberl, Crossbell and Erebonia had different sizes which size was best and which was worst?

I would say the best size had Liberl. It was not too big but not too small either.

Erebonia (especially after also adding Crossbell to the places we visit do to it being part of Erebonia at that point) was far to huge. Crossing the whole of Erebonia by food like we did with Liberl and Crossbell? Absolut impossible! I mean we had 4 games and managed to visit different places almost in every of those 4 games. Erebonia is simply too huge! No wonder that they needed Trains for traveling.

Crossbell was a little bit too small. After playing Cold Steel before, it was sooo boring to run around the same places the whole time for most of those two games. When I started playing this game, I was lost immediately, because Crossbell as a City is huge. But in the first chapter of Ao I would have found my way from Downtown to St.Ursula Hospital blind.

9. As you mentioned yourself, Erebonia has the most characters, but Liberl did have a hand full of characters more then Crossbell. Which is the better amount in the end?

Funny enough I had absolutely no problem to love almost all the Characters from Cold Steel, despite the fact that we were like 9 main characters from the start. But I would say that even for 4 games, we just have a few too many characters in Cold Steel, although the games handled them extremely well all the time. So I can not really criticizes it.

However, while I found it boring with as much as 4 main characters in the first Crossbell-Game and at least 6 in the last Crossbell-Game, but also just too less side-characters to love and enemies to hate, I think that the Liberl-Arc did best with its amount of characters both main- and side-characters. Although they overdid it a bit in Sky 3 with the amount of main characters (but lets not talk about what a huge fail that game was…) with adding characters like Annalace and Richard while we already had people like Kevin and Ries as constant party-Members.

10. Best Soundtrack of all the Trails games so far? (Including CS4)

As I mentioned before it is definitely Trails of Cold Steel 3. The soundtrack is huge and amazing. I listened to it a lot while playing the Crossbell-Games.

11. Best Main Character?

Rean. Rean. Rean… and did I mention that it is Rean? Yes, absolutely and with no doubt Rean. Followed by Estelle as a wonderfully badass female-main-character full of love, cheerfulness and energy. I do not want to put Lloyd in third place, but I do put him in the last place as he was not half as good or interesting or amazing or cool or amusing as Rean or Estelle.

12. Best Character of the whole Trails-Saga?

Prince Olivert Reise Arnor (also known as Oliver Lenheim) without any doubt. Best character ever.

13. Best Side-Kick-Animal?

I can not decide. I love Celine and I also loved Sieg and I also loved Zeit. They were all 3 very amazing and a great addition to their respective games. Tho I love Celines sassiness probably the most XD

14. Top 5 Shippings of all the Trails-Games?

Huh… uh… okay… that one is hard because I have to decide between the best portrait ship, actual canon or harem-choice-ships and somehow they choices are too much and yet too small.

First place is Rean and Alisa because it’s just so damn perfect for being technically-speaking a Harem-Choice-ship. But what makes them perfect is the fact that their shipping is only technically-speaking a choice. Falcom doesn’t make it look like a choice at all XD Starting with the picture perfect meeting, Reans overprotective-instincts leading to this embarrassing closeness a little too early in their relationship, to them exchanging their fears and wishes under the starlit nightsky, to the heart to heart speech in Alisas home, followed by jealousy and apologizes of its finest after Reans “accidental date” with Claire, to the words that are said if you chose Alisa as your dance-partner, directly to the first heartbreaking reunion hug, the fact that they’ve meet once before as Children with Rean being the night in shining armor here who saved a lost Alisa, over to Rean absolutely not complaining about Alisa sitting in his lap in one of their bonding-events, to the fact that Alisa is the only Girl who gets a Kiss in her final bonding event in CS2, moving on with another long desired, very intimate reunion-hug and Rean admitting that he enjoyed the hug later on when confronted by his students, going to their cuddle-moment on the Rooftop of Reans school, over to Alisa being jealous of “fluffy mint” in their team-phone call going to once again being the only one receiving a kiss in her final bonding event in CS3 and even with them basically breaking up because of Alisas guilt do to her parents involvement in Reans situation after a desperate last hug from behind, going over to Rean not giving up on them and finally spending the night with each other before the final fight, with Alisa going down on her knees begging Rean not to leave her when he sacrifices himself and finally with them being close to each other a lot at Oliverts wedding. It could not be more perfect.

Second place just has to be Estelle and Joshua. From the fact that this ship is canon… like really canon, not actually “Falcom wants them to be canon” – Canon, it should be in the first place, but I just love Rean and Alisa so much more. Anyway… Joshua and Estelle were perfect from the beginning to the end. Be it the moment as a child when Joshua decided to stay with Estelle instead of leaving because he realized how much he loved her. Be it the fact that Estelle wasn’t even conscious of his feelings for her for a long time an did things like feeding each other. Over to the moment she finally became jealous of all the woman who really liked Joshua. Not even ending with this awful excuse of a first kiss and the fact that he carried her to his bed after he made her lose consciousness instead of letting her lay on the castle-rooftop until someone finds her. Even with Joshua pretending to be over Estelle, while closely watching her and making sure she was save in secret and then only needing a hug from her to be reminded that right next to her is were he belongs. Of course their amazing second-first-kiss and them almost dying in each other’s arm. With him loosing his temper when Estelle was almost hurt by Wald and with them both going from place to place to find Renne and finally make her part of their family. A wonderfully perfect lovestory.

Third place was taken by Agathe and Tita somehow between Agathe saving Tita in the first Sky game and rescuing her together with Rean and Co. in Cold Steel 4. I loved how he was owned by her in just such a short amount of time. It was hardly a chapter between him telling her she was not allowed to join them because she was a liability and him not being able to tell her joining them was a no-go because she started crying and he just can not stand that. I just love how Tita won Agathes heart by caring for him when he was sick and hurt, even tho she was still a child and he was already a grown man, one of the strongest bracers in Liberl no less. I just loved how she said she loved him when he almost overdid it in his fight with the dragon. I loved how happy and relieved she was when they finally found him in Sky 3 and that her teary hug was all that was needed for Agathe to not doubt for one second that he was just dreaming that weird place up – not to mention the teasing that followed after that. I loved the freaking Trails-Trademark-Headpat at the beginning of CS3, when Agathe told her how grown up and independent she became and still telling her that if something happens she should tell him and he will be there immediately. I loved how he somehow always seemed to be close to wherever the schools field-trips took her so that he could get immediately in action if something was wrong. I loved how EVERYONE is teasing Agathe about his relationship with Tita. I love how Tita became self-conscious but is still aware that revealing her true feelings for Agathe has yet to wait a little longer. I love how she can hug him as long as she wants, despite the teasing he has to live through afterwards. I love how he rushes to her side in the final fight in CS3 and swears to protect her no matter what. I love how he tells Rean that he can not allow Tita to go into mixed bathing with anyone else besides Class 7. (Which is funny, as Rean, by all means, is the most dangerous male character for any girl in this game… XD I mean it) after actually revealing that in the end, he doesn’t feel the same way for Tita as he did for his sister and even saying that she became very pretty. I also love that when he rescues her with Rean and his team, he realizes that he uses the promise he made to Titas family as an excuse and actually really, truly wants to protect her even tho he has yet to finish his “for me, you are…” sentence with the words “the most important person”, but we are getting there. I love how all the things they will do together on the day before the final fight are actually things couples would do. (Riding the farris Wheel together? Having a walk on the beach together? Romantic anyone?) I love how it seems the only reason they were part of CS3 was to show us how their relationship has progressed since that faithful day when Agathe took a bullet for Tita.

These are actually the only ships I really love. If I absolutely have to finish the top 5 then on fourth Place there would be Olivert and Shera… they do fit extremely well but I have no idea when them falling actually in love with each other really happened so it feels a bit weird at times. Fifth place would probably be Millium and Jusis. A ship that I didn’t see coming but I liked it and enjoyed the few small moments we had. If I had to add any ships from the Crossbell-Saga I would give Lloyd and Elie the next position, followed by Randy and Mirellei for some reason that I can not explain.

15. Who from Ouroboros do you like the most?

Vita, obviously. I also kind of gotten used to Campanella at this point and would miss him if he wouldn’t show up in Calvard XD I would maybe somehow like Thieve B but I hate his riddles so I probably won’t XD

16. Which Arc should a new player start with?

Personally I think starting with Cold Steel is not a bad idea, but starting with Sky is possible too, as they spoiler basically nothing for each other. I personally would say to play Cold Steel before Crossbell, because Crossbell spoils a huge part of the plot of CS2. Although I fear that after loving Reans Team and Estelles Team before it is almost impossible to learn to love Lloyds Team… at least that was my experience.

17. Any ideas what might happen next?

No. But I do think that at the end of the Trails-Series we will see the Grahlsritter fighting and propably winning against Ouroboros. Why I think that? We had a Grahlsritter in all of the Trails-Arcs so far. The game got to great lengths even to make sure we do not forget our Kevin from Trails in the Sky. Wazy is our Dominion from the Crossbell-Saga and Gaius is the one from the Erebonia-Saga. We propably get one from Calvard too and honestly? I wouldn’t be surprised if even one is among the Ouroboros guys somehow. I mean, Trails games are Traitor-Games, if you get what I mean. So why not a Traitor among the bad guys too?

#Mona plays Trails of Zero #Mona Plays Trails of Azure #Mona Plays all the Trails games

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duskbeforeyou · 5 years

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Unfoldings

Beyond Orange Dusk Part VII

In many ways, sometimes I think that we quirky loners are the normal ones while the rest of the population are just pretty strange. Sometimes, they are not very good at lying. From the place I am observing, they don’t really enjoy participating this social circumstance game in which they seem so fond of. It’s just an evasion of their hearts that no longer holding the wound of solitude. And finding companies seems like best idea to show that their hearts suffer. That we suffer, for companions.

Maybe our hearts care too much about what others might opine. The anxiety that comes up after, will easily drive ourselves to exist somewhere talking, laughing, and crying in the middle of couple eyes on us. Socializing seems like a tribune for those hearts which full of anxieties. Or maybe it is a mere present for delicacies.

But is it worth to live our lives driven by the society demands? When something seems so right to us while people look at it disapproved. Particular stereotypes nowadays delight that ’strange’ ones who dwell safely in the circle. Meanwhile we the outsiders, troubled to find approbation of the ideas. I don’t want to live in the spectrum which almost everything is black or white. My capability of seeing things is somewhat blurred or unsure. It doesn’t mean that my way of thinking is lack in harmony, but I do believe that everything in this universe deserves to be seen in many two-dimensional perspectives.

07 November

The snow was falling. The sun stopped shimmering. The universe was taking back all the delighted melody and changing it to a soft lullaby. The atmosphere hid back all the orange and green ambiance of the summer and colored the continent with white and plain tones. So did the trees. They left their leaves and flower petals straggled on the ground. Here it was. Welcomed the winter.

It was 7.15 am and finding myself still lying on bed with both eyes closed covered by a flowery vintage blanket was not something surprising. Friday morning used to be felt like a festivity of the joy and tranquility. But at the moment, all days were pretty much the same. Those were gap days when I should be meditating before I decided which university I would choose after graduation. Well, to be honest, I did not mind it hard. Graduation was 6 months ago and I was still enjoying myself spending most of times in my room. Reading novels and writing lame things such poems and poetry. Well, I really loved poetry. There was countless poetry books trapped in the bookshelf inside my room which looked like oxygen to me. Breathing lovely words, melodious rhythm, and orderly stanzas were just magnificent to me. Maybe that was obviously explained the uncontrollable melancholy possessed inside me. Meanwhile, in that early day, the ticking clocks and hustle outside the door had not yet bothered me at all. I was peacefully unwinding on the beautiful land of Eden. It was just awhile before the disturbance coming the moment Adam and Eve reached the forbidden tree.

“Oh my God. Hey, wake up sleepy head!” Yeah. That was Keanu robbing my tranquility.

“Uh, what are you doing? Get out. I want to enjoy my best resting place on Earth.” Sighed me, in a very heavy voice.

“What?! The world outside is on the war and you talk about nonsense thing?!”

“Your fictional drama sounds more nonsense to me. Stop it, Alien.”

“Did you call me Alien? Get ready to pay your fault, sinner. Incoming!!!”

Keanu jumped on my bed, tickling my tummy, and shouting annoying things. Annoying, but it was delightful.

“Here! Here! And here! Feel your punishment, human!”

“Ouch! No. Hey! Stop it! Haha. No!” I could not decide whether I should be annoyed of laughing.

Just a moment after we finished the silly war that Keanu started, we both were found sitting down on a two-seated sofa in my living room. Leaning back and sitting by crossing my legs, I was reading Charlotte Brontë’s Sense & Sensibilitywhich reached on the ninth chapter, while Keanu was holding an open Issue 28 – Kinfolk magazine. He was leaning on the left side of the sofa with his face fully covered by size of the magazine, while his legs against my t-shirt sleeves. I was not so sure, whether he was reading or just daydreaming in a (not-so) classy way. We both remained in silence for almost an hour. People might think that we were bored and that was a boring thing done by two bored people in a boring situation. But trust me, we had been through this so many times yet never been complaining. Silence did not bore us. Sometimes, it comforted us.

(still almost an hour)

“Rae?” said Keanu.

“I am busy” still sticking my face on a page of the novel.

I thought he would curse me at the moment, or worst, throw me with the Kinfolk. But he did not. He closed the magazine and sat properly on the sofa so now his arms were against mine. It was quite long silence till I turned my face on Keanu. What’s wrong with that face? My heart questioned. Keanu was giving an empty sight at front, with dreary face. His eyebrows frowned while his mouth a half-inch open.

“Kea? What is it?” me, started asking.

He seemed startled, closing his mouth and turning his eyes to mine.

“It’s been days that I want to tell you this”. he answered.

“Tell me what?” I closed my novel eventually, thinking it might be something serious.

“I need to go back to downtown.”

“Wait. You mean your downtown?”

“Yes.”

“Well, okay. When will it be?”

“Soon.”

“With your parents?”

“By myself.”

“Yea, It’s a bit doubting that you can take care of yourself but it’s fine after all. So what’s the matter?”

Keanu was quiet for few seconds. He started looking down on his fingers with eyebrows still frowned. He had me worried.

“I might not come back in near time after that.”

“What? Wait, Keanu. I am not getting it.”

“I’ll be out of town for a long time, Rae.”

Okay, it is serious.

“How long? What are you planning to do alone in your downtown? Stop prevaricating! Tell me what the hell is happening entirely.” My heart was pounding so fast.

“Hey, calm down.”

“How am I supposed to calm down?! You’ve been making me uneasy since earlier.”

“Okay, Rae, okay. First of all, I am sorry to not let you know about this. A year ago, I applied a scholarship in a university in my downtown, for engineering major. The university did not respond to my application for three months that I was so desperate for college. That’s why I flew here expecting a better chance. A month ago, they emailed me and got me an online admission interview. Three weeks after, I got an email written that I was accepted.”

I had nothing to say at the moment. I jumped on Keanu and hugged him tightly.

“Oh my god, Keanu. That’s wonderful. Congratulations!” I started releasing myself from Keanu.

“Thanks” he answered with a plain face.

“Why you have to worry about me. I’ll be fine, really. We still can talk through Skype though. Unless, you got new pals that you think they’re much cooler than me. Uh-uh.”

“You miss my point, Rae”

“What else?”

“It’s a four year program, and I might not come back here for that long time. My parents have been in a little but continuous economic crisis for the past few months. My father’s business has been running slow, and so has the company where my mother works. I probably cannot afford the flight ticket until I graduated or got a job.” Keanu’s face still looked much more anxious than it did few minutes ago. I did not know what my heart was saying but all I wanted to do was soothing him, so I grabbed his both hands with mine. Tightly.

“Hey, everything will be okay. Trust me. We can figure it out together. You can do part-time job and also get A in your classes at the same time. Don’t worry. I will be right here, Kea. I always do.”

Keanu’s face was turning tranquil. But I did not know, I still could see anxiety in his eyes. Maybe I was not pretty good in judging people’s expression, but that was Keanu. I knew, whether he was okay or not.

“Thanks, Rae. That means the world to me. But, there is one thing that I need to tell you.”

“What is it?” asked I.

“I might meet someone in the downtown. Someone that helped me trough thick and thin in my old days, someone that’s always been there for me for almost three years till now.”

“An old friend?”

…

“A girlfriend.”

…

#short story #poems #poems on tumblr #poetry #poetry on tumblr #beyondorangedusk #duskbeforeyou

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hawaiianhalfwolf · 6 years

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Back to the Night we Met | Noah & Reza

Flashback to a long overdue talk and a much needed hug

It was still weird, not having a heartbeat to indicate just how nervous he was. Not that Reza needed one now to tell him that he was freaking out as he killed the engine of the motorcycle on the edge of Kalani house lot. Kind of reminiscent of the night he'd come over after the four month absence, hoping Noah would take him back. That time, he'd been somewhat optimistic about his chances. Now, he had now fucking clue. Noah had initiated this meeting himself but that didn't really have to mean anything. Maybe he just wanted to make sure that things were decent between them, or even set in stone just how finished their weird little relationship was. No matter the reason, Reza couldn't ignore the giant rock in his stomach that was the kiss shared with Eddie. As much as he wanted to just pin the whole thing on the drunk medium, he couldn't. He was very aware of the way he'd returned the kiss, and all of the conflicting reasons behind it, and each and everyone weighed heavy as he reached the door and knocked gingerly. With his nerves on high alert, he couldn't refrain from listening to what was going on inside the house, which thankfully gave the impression of being mostly quiet. Well, other than the tell-tale sign of dog claws skittering across the floor along with familiar footsteps, that albeit sounded much slower than Noah's usually fast paced step. Reza honestly and truly thought he'd been prepared for this situation (meaning as prepared as he ever could have been) but the unfamiliar smell that followed the door opening, along with the obvious bandaging on Noah's neck, threw every bit of menial preparation out the window. "Hey," he just managed to breathe out, for once not paying attention to the two dogs staying close to Noah's feet or even Noah himself -- but more so whatever was hiding underneath the bandage and tainting the air with an unfamiliar scent of blood. It definitely smelled like Noah but... different. Reza really should have had a cigarette before knocking, damn Noah's sensitive nose.

Sitting there underneath his nest of blankets and dogs, Noah was well aware of motorcycle as it came up the driveway, engine noise cutting through the sound of his wildly beating heart. And there were a lot of reasons to be nervous, but Noah didn’t have the brain power to go through them all at the moment, his sole focus was trying to get to the door without needing to sit down again. “Hi” Noah breathed out as he opened the door, his heart constricting in his chest. He knew it had only been a month but somehow he expected Reza to look wildly different. To have a weird haircut or another tattoo or just something to mark the change. But he didn’t. In fact Reza look exactly the same as the day the Slayer had interrupted them and set off this entire journey. It was Noah who had changed. “Uh sorry about the” He waved towards the bandage on his neck. Cahill had insisted they put a new one on before Noah forced him to stop fretting and stay locked up in his damn room for the duration of this conversation. But he knew Reza could still smell it, and he knew that could be a huge problem for him. But hopefully Reza had eaten before coming. Damn he should have told him to eat before coming should he. Trying not to fret Noah left the door open for the other boy, head starting to feel a bit fuzzy from all the movement (well that and the lack of blood in his veins) “Um, but I’m going to go sit back down now,” Noah stated quietly, hoping Reza would get the jist and just follow him as he shuffled back to his safe space. “If you need a drink or something before this uh well you know where the kitchen is” He waved out before plopping himself back down into his nest of blankets on the living room couch, both dogs wedinging themselves somewhere within reach of Noah’s body.

Hearing Noah's voice was rough, reminding Reza of their last actual conversation like a ruthless slap to the face. Even more so, reminding him of what the last words spoke by the vampire were. They rattled around in his head now and there was no denying the truth behind them; even after an actual breakup and more than a month apart, Reza couldn't fucking deny it in the slightest. "That's fine. It's just good to see you." By some miracle, Reza managed to find his voice, weak as it was. What the hell had even happened to him? If it was relevant, Noah would most likely reveal it in time but Reza was jittery with the need to know now. To know how bad it was, if only to quell just how much he wanted to dote and worry and wrap his arms around the other boy for comfort; whether for Noah's or his own was debatable. "Of course, yeah. I'll just, uh..." Trailing off, Reza settled for closing the door behind him as Noah shuffled away, and kicked himself for feeling so flustered. Not that he didn't have every reason to, all things considered. It was a relief that the dogs and the mounds of blankets took up most of the couch Noah was on, not giving Reza the choice to even sit there since his desperation most likely would have jumped at the opportunity and dragged him over. Stunts like that didn't seem like the best course of action right now, especially since he had no idea where Noah stood on this whole thing. Sitting crosslegged on one of the smaller sofas opposite Noah, feeling extremely reminiscent of the night Charlie had accidentally outed the vampire as just that, Reza tried - and failed - to bite his tongue. "You already know I'm going to ask so... are you alright? You feel a bit weak and you probably didn't bring me over here to pry but I just... your heartbeat even sounds off. Which is a weird thing to note but here we are." Stop rambling and let him answer the question, dumbass.

Sitting there feeling the worry radiating off of Reza, Noah wasn’t surprised when the other boy spoke first, voicing concerns about his condition. And it was funny how if on cue his heart just melted, the complete and utter joy of actually having him in front of him after so many days without him mixed in with the pain and the longing of having to have gone without. But Noah knew he at least was a better man now because of it, and he wasn’t going to let the fact that he absolutely and utterly missed fucking Reza Burki get in the way of having a healthy conversation about the changes that had happened to him and the relationship dynamic since he left. So taking a deep breath Noah went for it, glad that Reza was sitting opposite him and not beside him. “ Well I’m not going to say I’m fine, because you obviously can tell I’m not in any way shape or form” Noah started softly hand absentmindedly going to the scruff of Kea’s neck, eyes avoiding Reza’s at all costs. “But um I-I wanted to tell you this first, before we even talk about well [i]us[/i] because I think it’s important for our communication. But uh” Noah paused for a second trying to figure out how to even put this into words. “I-I asked my Uncle to bite me,” He practically spat out, knowing he just needed to say it before out before he couldn’t anymore.“So uh yea that’s what this is.” Noah pointed to the bandage on his neck, hoping Reza would be able to put two and two together. “And um I’m sorry if it’s something that you don’t think you can handle going forward, but I just needed to do it for myself, and I wanted to make sure you knew,” He chanced a glance towards Reza, wondering what was going through his head as the words kept spilling out of his own mouth “And like I wanted to give you time to process if you needed to. And just let you know thats whats up with me right now and part of the reason why I think I was just. I was unhappy before. But uh I’m going to stop rambling now” Noah nodded. Waiting for Reza to say something.

Reza couldn't help but think how much of a damn blessing these dogs were, as he tried and failed to come up with a situation where they hadn't helped tremendously. Whether it was in the way they were curling up with Noah now, helping Reza refrain from literally tacking the other boy and ruining everything right away, or every time they had been a focus point in difficult situations, just like now. Even though the vampire's fingers itched to have soft fur to focus on too, he wouldn't have taken either dog from Noah. Not with the timid way he was speaking, like it was definitely a two dog struggle. So Reza settled for fiddling with his rings as the words grew more and more tense until the bomb was finally dropped and his hands stilled. Noah's following ramble got lost in the white noise as Reza wrapped his head around that little tidbit of information. His eyes met Noah's quick but curious glance for a hot second, chest constricting. Not because Noah had taken a huge step, really, but more so because he cared. He cared about Reza's opinion and thoughts on this and- "Holy shit." Not very articulate but a start. "I mean... no, that's exactly what I mean, holy fucking shit, Noah. That's great! I'm, uh... assuming, since you asked him and he actually said yes, I obviously know squat about this werewolf stuff but... damn." Reigning in the little outburst, colored with all sorts of excitement, Reza cleared his throat. "So... yeah. I'm happy for you. Honestly." Fuck, he wanted to be closer to him right now, touch him or even just lean against the comforting warmth. "What happens now, then? You're part of the pack and... can go full wolf whenever you like? Or wait, just on the full moon? Damn, now it makes sense that you smell different. Not that it's a bad thing! I just... am shutting up now and letting you speak." Sinking back into the sofa to keep his eagerness from literally drawing him off it and onto the floor, Reza's eyes never left Noah's. Methodically marking every change he could notice now, even just in the way he carried himself (not including the weakness from being bitten by a giant alpha werewolf, obviously).

"Holy shit."Noah couldn’t help but wince slightly at the phrase because, well yea, that definitely could be taken a multitude of ways. But luckily for the both of them Reza kept talking, his giddy energy making the corners of Noah’s mouth uptick slightly. He didn’t know exactly what he had expected from the other boy, but this, this was definitely good. In fact, it was better than good, it was something that well, made Noah’s heart feel that strange sort of warm fuzzy sensation, coupled with the urge to just throw his arms around the other boy. But as much as he wanted it, Noah was going to resist all of those urges. Because they still were technically broken up, and they still needed to talk about things like adults, and Noah would be damned if he forgot that. Letting himself though drift into a playful smirk. “He almost didn’t say yes at first.” Noah remarked hand still absentmindedly playing with Kea’s ears “But he’d have cut his own arm off before he let anyone else touch me, so he eventually gave in” He glanced up at the ceiling with that one, wondering if his uncle was listening. He probably was, the bastard. Sighing through Noah Leaned back a bit more on the couch, still-ing his hands, much to the dismay of Kea. “I’m still in transition, which is why this thing isn’t already healed.” He tilted his head slightly to emphasize the bandage again. “So it’s like I’m still technically human, and we won’t know if the bite actually took until this next moon. But uh yea, I figured I’d start to smell different. I definitely feel different. Well you know minus the giant gaping wound” Noah chuckled out slightly, trying on another smirk. It didn’t exactly fit over his mouth like it once used to but it seemed to work just as well as any of his other expressions in the moment. Letting it fall slightly Noah found himself gazing at Reza, as if trying to assess everything that could have changed with the boy in the past month through eye contact alone. “How are you doing though?” He asked quietly, but genuinely wanting to hear the answer.

Seeing Noah smile in that lopsided, cheeky way was such a damn relief, especially since their last face to face meeting had ended with an expression from the other man that had burned itself into Reza's retinas. Pure disappointment and hurt. And the two of them weren't just fixed now, Reza knew that but... this felt hopeful. Noah's laugh made him feel hopeful and happy and light. "That's good. I really hope it takes. I mean, I'm sure it will." Trying not to get stuck on the image of what Noah would look like as a wolf, especially since Reza had only ever encountered one fully formed werewolf, he managed to get caught off guard by the soft question. "Hmm? Oh, well..." Raking back his hair as he wondered where to start, Reza pushed away the thought of telling him about Eddie. He would, there couldn't be any secrets, but right now wasn't the time. "Getting by, I guess. Still trying to figure out that whole slayer thing which is... a bummer but while that's a work in progress I actually, uh... took a note from the Noah book of good advice and... started seeing a therapist, I guess. It's really weird but at least it's something to do that's not just... unproductive and sad." Reza's gaze, previously fixed on the dogs still trying to nuzzle even closer to Noah, chanced a glance up at him. "I'm supposed to like... meditate every day which is a really wonky thing to do when you don't normally breathe but, uh... yeah." Rubbing the back of his neck, an awkward chuckle slipped out past the shy smile on his face. Even though he was supposed to be going to these sessions for himself (which he was, after a whole lot of deliberating with himself), Reza still felt happy that he could tell Noah about this.

“Well here’s hoping i’m not like the 1% of bite victims that are immune “ Noah replied with a sarcastic sigh, trying to not even let his mind go there. Because it would be just his fucking luck to be the one person in the history of the Kalani Pack who had ever been immun.. But no. He couldn’t be immune, he had Alpha blood in his veins. From two [i]different[/i] alphas. This was his birthright, and once it happened everything would be as it should be in the world. Pushing the worry out of his mind though Noah focused on Reza and the small little beacon of warmth that started pulsing in his chest once that revealed he had been going to therapy. “Wow. That’s really great Reza. Like honestly, i’m like-” Noah breathed pausing to try to gather his thoughts the flood of emotions hitting him like a brick. Because while everything was outwardly the same with the boy staring back at him, inwardly Reza [i]had[/i] changed. Reza had taken his advice and done something that took courage to do. And even if they never got back together Noah would always be glad that he’d helped Reza with that. That reza even felt comfortable telling him this. “Wow I’m like really fucking proud of you Reza.” Noah continued smiling at Reza “Like really fucking proud. Like you have no idea how proud of you I am right now.” He was smiling ear to ear now, something it seemed like he hadn’t done in a while “And goddamn like therapy? Meditation? It’s like you got body snatched or something while I was away” He teased out sticking his tongue out at the other boy, his body falling back into this playful banter so easily.

The giant smile, now directed at Reza and not just a general thing, was making the vampire lightheaded. Those dimples looked even more amazing than ever, especially coupled with the words of encouragement being repeated again and again and really, if Noah had told him he was proud one more time, Reza just might have imploded. "Thanks," he chuckled shyly, trying to get his body and mind to behave. Something that wasn't really easy to do with Noah's tongue making a playful appearance, Reza's adam's apple bouncing as he swallowed thickly and prayed the other boy was too tired to notice. Because how could Reza's mind not accidentally slide back to that night, as badly as it had ended. That damn smile and the twinkling eyes were bound to draw Reza back to happier memories. "Yeah, I uh... guess I sort of did. Had an awakening or whatever. Even managed to make a friend to practice all that communicating on so my, uh... talking myself down is kinda being held in check. And maybe we can do that whole meditating thing together sometime when you're better." A second spent to wonder if that was assuming too much from their current relationship, before he quickly moved on. "But I definitely owe you like... a lot. It hasn't been that long but I think the therapist might actually be helping so... thank you. Really." The genuine smile turned shy, hands resuming their fiddling as he added the last part. "Anyway, it's just really fucking good to see you."

“You even made a friend too? Wow and all I did was be sad about shit and drink, then decide not to be sad about shit” Noah mused with a playful shrug, before wincing slightly. Ugggh the goddamn bite mark. Fuck he would be so happy when all of this was over. Realizing though he was successfully bringing the mood down he hastily continued speaking. “But I’m not exactly sure i’m your guy for meditation?” Noah left it more as a question, hoping Reza wouldn’t take it the wrong way “My therapist made me try it too and I just can’t sit still long enough for it to be effective. So naturally we settled on running or going for a walk for me. But I definitely want to offer support wherever I can. So like if you need another accountability partner or something, like I’m down for that. I really probably need to start going more myself.” Because it was true, Noah had gotten down to only needing to go to his therapist once a month instead of weekly. But with the kidnapping, and the break up, and now this whole trying to be happy and whole thing involving his werewolf side, he could probably use a bit more therapy right about now, if only to get him all of these heavy feelings out of his mind. “But yea, its good to see you too.” He nodded before looking down at his own hands “Actually I really missed you.” Because it was true, despite their status as broken up, Noah had missed Reza. He had missed talking to him about his problems. He had missed Reza’s small but strong arms holding him close and snuggling him when he was sad about his family. But all of that was neither here nor there right now. And sparked Noah to remember the package on the kitchen counter he’d laid out just for this occasion “Oh shit before I forget I may have gotten you something. Or a couple somethings.”

"Deciding to not be sad about shit is...uh, good" Reza almost trailed off completely at the sight of Noah's face, pain flashing over it for a brief moment. It was enough to have the vampire just about ready to pounce to provide (unnecessary) assistance but it seemed like Noah wanted to brush it off. Fuck. Not that there was anything Reza could really do about a giant bite wound, and the dogs were definitely providing enough emotional support but still. This was a special form of torture right here. "I can settle for accountability partner," Reza quickly agreed, smile playing on his lips. Any continued contact with Noah was a win in his book. Hearing Noah say that he'd missed him, out of the blue, was like a splash of cold water but in the best way. Which made no sense but it did leave Reza speechless, struggling to come up with anything that wouldn't just be an emotional mess. Because they were two adults, talking like mature people and Reza couldn't ruin that. As much as he wanted to cuddle up against Noah and tell him just how fucking bad he'd been missed as well. A possible reality sometime soon, even, if he didn't fuck this up. "You, uh... wow. I feel like saying 'you didn't have to' is kinda redundant so... thanks. Or maybe I should say thanks after I see those somethings?" he added, chuckling awkwardly because Noah had gotten him gifts.

“Good. I think that sounds-” Noah paused not really knowing how to say what he was feeling at the moment And maybe he should have waited to do this meeting until after he changed. Until he had his emotions in check and didn’t want to just the all this growth out the window in favor of comfort cuddles and his own personal vampire butler. But maybe this was good for the both of them in a way, to experience the growth of the other person while it was still happening. If only to prove that they were changing. For each other. “-good. Accountability partners sounds good.” He nodded finishing the thought. Snorting slightly at Reza’s chuckle Noah grinned. “I have a feeling one of the presents you are going to hate on principle. But I bought it anyway because I thought it would look good on you regardless” He said before mentally preparing himself to move again. “Haukea. Caleb. Down” Noah chirped watching as his dogs listened effortlessly to his commands. Or well one of them did at least. “Caleb” Noah said sternly the weight of his glare forcing the other puppy to slowly extricate himself from Noah’s legs “Good dogs” he whispered as he planted his feet and slowly got up, half expecting the vampire to be on him in a second. But the dogs were still circling affording the other no room, something of which Noah counted as a bit of a win. Finally making it to the counter after what seemed like ages (ok it took only a minute but who’s counting) Noah took the neatly wrapped package and placed it gently on the floor next to Caleb “Take” He commanded the younger dog as Caleb dutifully grabbed the present by the handle tail giving a slight wag. “Give” He said again to him with a smile, finger pointing toward where the vampire was sitting. And sure enough seconds later Caleb was bounding over toward the vampire plopping the gift bag right at his feet body practically wiggling with excitement over a job well done.

Reza was starting to physically squirm as Noah made the painfully slow journey to the other side of the room. Aside from the inner battle of wanting to carry Noah back to the safety of the couch while also knowing that the werewolf would hate that and could make his own decisions, Reza was also on the edge of implosion just because of the whole gift ordeal. Agreeing to even meeting him had been a big enough gift in Reza's mind but coming back with memorabilia from Hawaii was so very Noah that it almost wasn't surprising. Almost. Managing to keep his excited ass on the sofa, he was awarded with Caleb trodding over and threatening to make Reza's heart burst. The excited wagging coupled with Noah's proud smile... fuck, not bursting into tears right then and there was becoming really hard. "Good boy," Reza cooed, fingers running through the soft fur and filling his body with warmth - almost as much as the gift bag he raised into his lap. "I'm impressed with your teacher skills," Reza added to Noah, smile lighting up his own face right up until he dug out the first item in the bag. "That is... very red." Holding the flaming red Aloha shirt up, eyes moving from the flower-speckled material to Noah, Reza finally just placed the first gift (most likely the one Reza would hate on principle - man, he hoped this was it) to the side and moved on to the safety of something that was less of a fashion statement. The black beaded bracelet had to be something with an explanation and it filled Reza with an urge to return the favor of getting Noah jewellery (easy, there). "Very neat," he commented honestly, wondering if feedback on everything in the bag was necessary or just awkward while he slipped it on and pulled out the final thing. A hawaiian themed fridge magnet. Huffing out a laugh, Reza fiddled with the bag as words made themselves very hard to find. "See you're still intent on making my apartment look presentable. Even though this might make my fridge look way more appealing than it actually is, considering the contents of it." Heaving out a heavy breath that did nothing to quell the fluttering in his stomach, Reza finally returned his gaze to Noah. "Thanks. I love it." A quick glance over at the shirt. "All of it. I think."

Letting Caleb take some of the focus off of himself Noah shuffled back to the couch, feeling relatively ok for the moment. I mean he was still in pain yes but as long as he moved slowly and kept his heart rate to a minimum everything seemed to work out. Which was nice. Because the last thing he wanted to do was like accidentally pass out in front of his already worried ex boyfriend. Watching Reza open the present as he settled back down on the couch Noah couldn’t help but smile. Reza had had exactly the reaction he thought he would to the Hawaiian shirt. “I thought you needed some more color” He said with a shit eating grin. “Oh and those are kukui nuts.” Noah commented as Reza pulled the next item out of the bag “They’re usually what male leis are made up of in traditional Hawaiian stuff” He explained if only because he knew Reza had no idea. Grinning again though at the next present Noah just basked in the slight glow of having picked both simultaneous bad and good presents, a feat he knew from experience was hard to get just right. “I’m glad you like it. All of it” Noah said gently before the air started to stale in front of them. Because wow did this kinda make things awkward now “Also I’m sorry if all of this makes things weird. I was just.” Noah paused wondering how truthful he wanted to be with Reza but then fucking it and telling him anyway “I was having a rough time thinking about my dad, and well this” He waved toward the bit wound on his neck “ And I just. Needed some retail therapy. And I was… thinking about you. And Just.” Shit. Noah could feel the tangle of emotions start to well up, all of the sadness and the anger welling up in his chest. Pushing it down though Noah took a breath. “I’m really just a mess right now” He whispered out looking down at his hands instead of at Reza.

"Needed some color," Reza parroted back in a mocking mutter that lost all its punch due to the grin on his face, matching the pleased one on Noah's. But as was with all good things, it seemed, they could never just fucking last. Something shifted and Reza's heart wrenched, expecting the worst for a moment, hand tightening around the new bracelet. The sudden spill of emotion was the last thing he'd been prepared for but the familiarity of it was still a welcome relief. If he couldn't do a whole lot of anything else to help Noah, at least he could fucking listen. And break his personal vow about not asking for a hug because how the hell could he not? Noah looked like a kicked puppy and Reza could not deal. "Since things are already weird can I... I mean, would it be really fucking inappropriate if I hugged you right now? I get it if you wanna say no but you just... kinda look like you need one." Please say yes

It was funny how Noah knew in that moment, that his heart was going to win over his head. How he knew in only an instant that he was going to ignore every rational warning sign that he needed to be careful around Reza or he’d fall right back in to those deep brown eyes. But for right now Noah didn’t care. Ok well actually no that was a lie. Noah did care, very much so. But listening to the progress that Reza was making with himself, and knowing that the both of them were suffering, Noah physically, and Reza more mentally…. Who was Noah to say no to comfort? Because friends hugged, and Reza was still his friend. One of his best friends actually, something Noah had come to realize through their month of no contact. So without even another word Noah nodded, before becoming aware that that really wasn’t an answer. “Yea, you can hug me” he said softly hoping that was all the confirmation Reza needed. Scooting over in his nest Noah curled up into as small of a ball as his hulking frame could go, without aggravating his injury or the dogs that has resumed their take over of the couch.

"Thank fuck," Reza found himself sighing, barely audibly, at the confirmation, not really sure how he would have handled a no. Not wasting a second, he made his way over to the much too appealing pile of dogs and person he sort of helplessly loved, somehow managing to make space for himself in between the furballs. His stomach flipped over with nerves and the smell of Noah, absolutely intoxicating and shamefully, even more so with the open wound. But that wasn't the point here now. The point was that Reza could finally get his arms around Noah and even though they were nowhere near as scrawny as during their first weird cuddle sessions, they still felt small around the curled up body. The familiar sound of Noah's heart was another luxury, provided when Reza's head leaned against his shoulder despite every cell in his body begging him to go in for the chest. This was just a friendly hug. Yeah. "I'm sorry things are shit," he mumbled, revelling in every second of this before it would have to end. "But hopefully your mess will get better soon. And if not, I'm, uh... I'm here. For you. Not like this, literally like right here cause that's...weird." Reza chuckled awkwardly at himself as he reluctantly shifted his weight and extracted his arms, yet making no move to actually leave the couch. "Bad joke," he muttered, unable to get the smile off his face.

Like an addict getting that one last hit, Noah could feel himself physically relaxing underneath Reza’s touch. And he knew just how unhealthy this behavior was, but at the moment the heart wanted what it wanted despite his head screaming no. So against all better judgement he let his head snuggle closer in the crook of Reza’s arm snorting at the other’s attempt at joking. snorted at Reza’s attempt at humor “Wow. A month away from me and it’s like you forgot how to even tell one” Because oh sweet lord that was bad. “But thank you.” Noah continued feeling better already with just this little bit of touch from Reza and the dogs. Letting the silence wash over them for a few moments though Noah figured now was as good a time as any to talk about what this meeting was actually for.“Sooooo I hate to do it, but um should we talk about us?” It came out quietly more like a whisper than anything audible, Noah’s heart fluttering widely in his chest. Because he did still did want to be with Reza that much was evident, but communication was a part of the reason why their relationship had crumbled in the first place. So if there was even any hope of this working again they needed to be honest with each other, even if it meant asking the hard questions.

Chuckling quietly along with Noah, never wanting this moment to end, Reza saved every detail of it in case everything went the worst possible way. Which he really hoped it wouldn't but life was tricky that way. "Joke's on you, I've never known how to tell one. Just been bluffing this whole time." And yeah, continuing this easy and safe conversation would have been really nice but it wasn't what they were here for. This much harder path they were heading down was the important thing. "We sort of have to, don't we?" he attempted lightheartedly despite the stone in his stomach. "Guess I'll start off by saying you were right. About us needing a break, I mean. It's, uhm... yeah, it was good. I mean, it was the fucking worst but it was good. And I guess I'm... still sort of kinda hoping that it's still just a break and not..." Reza cleared his throat, forcing down the stupid voice crack, fingers fiddling away at rings. Looking at the dogs right now was much easier than watching Noah. "Not a, uh, break up. So that's where I'm... at."

Noah rolled his eyes at the other before sitting up a bit more. Because this needed his full attention, no matter how much he wanted to just wrap himself in Reza. “Ok.” Noah acknowledged once the other was finished, a hand absentmindedly running through his hair, chewing over his own thoughts “I think.” Noa paused eyes now down at his own hands “I think I want the same things too, but. Logically I think that we still need to work on things. Individually. Like I mean I’m changing into a fucking werewolf or christ sakes” Noah sighed out almost playfully, the absurdity in in words definitely not lost on him at all “So can we just like… can we just like not break up, but take a beat and go back to square one of this relationship maybe?” He asked quietly hoping Reza would understand what he was trying to say. “Like let’s just talk for a while. Get to know the new versions of ourselves. Take it slow you know”

Reza really couldn't have asked for a better consensus. Yeah, the impatient part of him that had clawed its way into making a hug happen was still very much hoping that things could take off from where they'd ended, all hands and touching but thankfully, Reza was managing to stuff that part down with logic. Well, logic and the idea of this maybe becoming a real relationship and not whatever they'd had going on before. "Square one sounds pretty good," Reza agreed softly, trying to keep his cool despite the pure elation shining through the brown eyes. "Like a do-over where I don't have to wonder if you're straight or not and you actually know you're chatting up Edward Cullen." The joke was weak, a slight improvement on the earlier one but really, Reza didn't give a shit. This meant he could talk to Noah again who, even after everything, was sort of still his best friend. Only friend, really, before Eddie and that was... complex. "I'm, uh... excited to get to meet the new better Noah." The statement was accompanied with a genuine smile, Reza's eyes finally daring to look up from the dogs.

“Me too” Noah replied softly letting the moment wash over him “Me too”. if you had told Noah a month ago that he would be sitting on the couch with Reza again talking about how many changes they were making for the better would have said you were lying. But looking at it from this side of things. From the side of healing, Noah knew there was no place he’d rather be.

#touchofchatzy #Chatzy #rezathevamp #storyline: sun and moon #//cheezy ending for a cheesy couple #ALSO HERE TAKE IT #HAVE THE SUN AND MOON FLUFF YOU HAVE BEEN DEPRIVED OF

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ajricci · 7 years

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Activation || Amadeo & Noah

While Noah walks Haukea through the woods, he runs into AJ right before he is attacked. Then things get really weird.

AJ finally had the information he needed, the next step was figuring out what he was going to do with the information. He could try to find the families of the victims or the witnesses that he now had access to, but he couldn’t be sure that any of those people would be interested in talking to the son of the man accused of murdering their daughters. So that was out until he could think of a better plan. He also needed to get medical records from the hospital of the victims, but without access and with Blanche a little busy avoiding death by poltergeist he figured that would have to wait for a while too. Far down his list were revisiting crime scenes looking for anything that the police might have missed from the original murders. It had never been a priority because two years later the chances of finding anything were almost slim to none. But he had nothing better to do today, so that was how he found himself out in the middle of the woods just a few miles from the university wondering just what he thought he was going to find at this long forgotten murder setting.

Hooking Haukea’s leash onto her harness Noah closed his truck door smiling down at his happy puppy. In all his days at the barn this was probably the thing he missed most, Haukea’s little face doing one of those Labrador smiles up at him. Ruffling her fur a bit Noah picked his water up from off the side of his truck bed and they were off walking across the parking lot towards the trail. He didn’t really know which one they were going to take yet, but something was pulling him towards…. The left one. Yea they were going to start on the left one and then work their way back, or around, or whatever. He wasn’t to fussed about where they went as long as he was with his dog. And that’s how he found himself walking through the forest with his pupper on her lead in front him not a care in the world.

Not surprising to AJ in the slightest, there was nothing at this crime scene to find. Besides a short string of crime scene tape weighed down by a fallen branch, AJ would have been unable to tell that the place had once been the scene of a murder at all. There had just been too much time between now and then for anything noteworthy to be left over. There was always the possibility that the police had done their jobs efficiently and found everything that had been noteworthy. He kept his cool and made sure not to lose his temper. This was just the first crime scene after all. The first step in a long investigation and he knew that not turn he took could lead to the end of the rainbow. A twig cracking in the distance made him spin and pull his pocket knife free from his back pocket. Maybe he should start bringing his dad’s gun with him. But the guy walking his dog through the woods barely looked like they intended on hurting Noah. “Hey” AJ said, folding the knife back up and stuffing it away, “How’s it going?”

Looking down at Haukea as she barked a small warning Noah held her leash tighter as the boy approached. Normally Noah wouldn’t have given him a second thought, no normally he would have just given a nod and walked past. But it was late afternoon and the kid was folding up a knife and stuffing it in his pocket, a movement that wasn’t exactly alarming but not exactly something that gave him a happy rainbow feeling. “Hey” Noah replied with a small little wave as Haukea tugged at her leash a little. She wasn’t usually a puller, but she was quite the happy-go-lucky pup, always trying to put her nose in potential danger. “Kea heel” He commanded making his dog swing her body tighter towards him as he slowed his pace down before the boy. “And it’s going good, you know out for a walk and everything, how’s it going for you?” Noah asked hoping his face wasn’t as full of suspicion as his chest was.

AJ knew that he must look crazy roaming through the woods and pulling his knife on the first person that happened to walk by. So he tried to diffuse the situation by letting a smile to slip across his face and laughing nervously. He brought his arm up and scratched at his neck. “Sorry I’m a little jumpy. Never know who you’re going to run into out in the woods after all.” He was making sure to sound extra friendly and extra awkward. Awkward was always the best way to make others less suspicious. “Cute dog.” He pointed out, hoping the dude would welcome the misdirection in conversation.

Looking from him to his hand Noah just let his face do the talking, lips pursed in a small line “Yea” He nodded not knowing exactly what else to say to that. Because if you wanted to set someone at ease that was probably not the way to go about it. But then again if this wasn’t like some sort of ambush the Boy was probably a lot smarter than Noah with his knife. Although Noah guessed having brute werewolf strength could be comparable. Noticing the other boy change the subject to something better Noah though calmed down a little. Ok woodland serial killers didn’t usually call dogs cute after all. Right? “She is,” Noah agreed looking down at his dog and smiling softly “Name’s haukea,” He continued as Haukea’s wagging tail made him feel better about the situation. “It means snow white in Hawaiian” He didn’t exactly know why he was offering that information up to the boy but you know, why not. It was friendly information about a safe subject after all.

“That’s adorable.” AJ wasn’t sure how much longer this small talk was going to go on. He didn’t have a lot of experience talking to random strangers in the woods. He hated small talk, he found it useless and time consuming. But the last thing he needed was some concerned civilian calling the police about some suspicious character in the woods. The police department and the media would have a field day if they got the opportunity to tote a Ricci into the station. “You must be a Disney fan? Or a Grimm’s fairy tales fan.” Maybe quoting those ridiculously dark horror stories wasn’t the lightest of conversation. “Uh AJ” He offered his name up, closing the gap between them to hold out a hand in introduction.

“Yea, I was pretty proud of myself for that one” Noah quipped back with a small smile. He was happy this was going better, but then again how could things not go better when they were on the subject of dogs? It was Noah’s favorite. Standing there shifting his weight from foot to foot, Noah gave Kea a sit command, seeing the ‘I want to jump all over this stranger and lick him to death’ action in her yes. “And it was more of a I wanted a princess name for my little princess, and that was the one that seems to stick” He could feel the blush start to rise in his checks but he fought it hard. Men can want to name their dogs’ sweet things, and know about princesses, and put dogs in sweater when it’s cold too ok. It’s not like. A thing or anything you know. Shaking it off though Noah was grateful when the kid decided to introduce himself “Noah,” he replied to the boy before gesturing to the excited dog struggling to stay still and sitting while there was a new person to greet just inches “Oh and she knows how to shake too if you wanted to be really formal about it”

AJ didn’t want to shake the dog’s hand. He had nothing against dogs or cats or really any pets in general, but he also had no desire for one either. His parents had never had a pet, said that they travelled too much for it to make sense. AJ vaguely remembers asking them for one when he was younger but as the years went on he enjoyed the freedoms no pets allowed him. Plus, he wasn’t an overly sentimental enough guy to really get attached to a pet. “Uh shake” AJ did as was suggested though, because that was how polite small talk went. Surprisingly, the dog listened and soon AJ was holding her paw and shaking before letting go and giving the dog a good pat on the head. “She’s well behaved” AJ complimented, impressed by her skills. Another reason his dad had never wanted a pet, didn’t want to take the time to actually train one. “I never had any pets growing up.”

Watching Kea get to show off her hard work with a lovely shake had Noah practically melting in his tennis shoes. And even more so when AJ remarked on her being well behaved. It had been and still was a lot of work keeping up with her training, but Noah knew in the long run it was all worth it to have the best behaved dog around. “Thanks” Noah nodded at the boy before putting his own hand on his dog’s head to silently praise her for being good. “It was a struggle at first but she’s learning, aren’t you girl” She wagged her tail on up at him. Looking over toward AJ though Noah’s smile fell slightly when he told him he didn’t have any pets “Wow, that sounds rough. I mean my dad was a Vet so we always had animals around.”

AJ shrugged, “It wasn’t too bad I guess. My family and I travelled a lot so we never really had time for one. Wouldn’t be much of a pet if he was locked in his cage all day.” Another bonus of never owning a pet was the lack of fur floating around his home. He still found cat hair on the clothes he had worn to Blanche’s that night. He would have to be careful to make sure to never wear black to her or the Parrish household again. Cats were the devil. He heard the crunching of leaves and glanced behind him but was met with an empty forest. He had been careful to not pull his knife this time around. It had probably just been a deer or an oversized squirrel. This was the forest after all. “You two seem close though.”

“Yea I feel real guilty about putting her in her crate while I go to like an hour class so I can understand that.” Noah commented with a slight wrinkle of his nose, looking down at his puppy for a moment. But then without warning she stood, tail straight out body ridged. It maybe only took a split second before he felt it too, the little prickle on the back of his neck that made him feel uneasy, and the sound of crunching leaves. Looking around Noah squinted into the forest along with the kid, wishing that for once he’d actually had werewolf powers so his low light vision was better. But he didn’t. And if he was being honest it was probably some brave forest animal anyway, coming over to see what all this ruckus was about. Placing a hand on the back of his Neck, Noah gripped Haukea’s leash a little tighter the feeling still lingering on. “Yea, she’s helped me a lot like emotionally with things” He shrugged out hoping that whatever it was would pass quickly so he could stop feeling like he was on edge and ready to rip someone’s throat out with his teeth.

Emotions was a conversation that AJ did not touch. He wasn’t comfortable with people talking about their feelings to him and he definitely wasn’t comfortable talking about his feelings to others. Before he fell down that rabbit hole AJ decided that it was time to cut the conversation off and get out of the woods. He hadn’t learned anything from the crime scene but AJ was pretty sure that he wasn’t going to find anything out either. It was too old, too weathered to hold anything useful. “Well I should start heading back towards the campus I was just looking for some good running trails.” AJ still faced Noah but began taking a few steps backwards and pointed back in the direction of the college. “It was nice meeting you though. And your little dog too.” He laughed politely to try to maintain the friendliness.

Still feeling on a little on edge Noah just nodded at the boy when he said he was going to head back toward campus. Noah should probably head back to the parking lot too, but he’d wait until the teen was at least out of eye shot before doing that. Didn’t want to be a creeper after all. Especially in these creepy woods. Laughing slightly at the wizard of Oz reference though the older boy waved at the teen “Nice to meet you too knife boy, and be careful with that ok, wouldn’t want to scare anymore hikers” He quipped back feeling like an old grandpa, but a you know like a caring old grandpa. Not a weird one.

“Knife boy. Nice” AJ laughed before giving a slight wave and then turning around and starting his hike back towards where his truck was parked on the campus. It wasn’t too long of a walk, though without the path students would usually follow the hike would take a little longer, but AJ had been hiking his entire life so this would present no real challenge to him. He had only just barely crossed over the long forgotten string of caution tape still on the ground when someone crashed into him from the side and slammed him into the dirt. He was rolled onto his back and his throat pinned by a hand that connected to a woman in her mid to late twenties. Her skin was fair but her hair was pitch black and although the face seemed familiar he knew he had never seen this woman before. Thewo man had crawled on top of AJ, pinning both hands above AJ’s head and using her knees to pin AJ’s legs to the ground. “How fucking dare you come here after what your father did?” Great. Another fan of his father. What the hell was she doing out here then? AJ tried to speak, to say anything, but he couldn’t talk with the hand pressing down against his throat. Instead, AJ focused his entire attention on getting free, choosing to squirm against the woman’s weight crushing down on him and trying to get anything, an arm or leg or something free. “Your father kills my sister. I guess I’ll return the favor.” She freed her hand from AJ’s neck and AJ took the opportunity to take a much needed breath. The relief was short lived however, when the woman held the hand up and AJ watched as her nails began elongating to the point that they were longer than the knife currently unreachable in his back pocket. That’s when AJ truly began struggling.

Something was not right, Noah could sense it the second that AJ disappeared along the trail. It was as if the air was charged with uneasiness more so than when he first felt it. Standing there though Noah didn’t know what to, If he was a real werewolf he probably could sniff, or track, or just figure it out himself. But he wasn’t. He was just a man with way above average strength and olfactory senses for his body, a man with doubts. Luckily for everyone though Haukea had no doubts, and while Noah stood motionless his loyal dog used her instincts to charge off after AJ, a sharp growl dissipating in the air after her. “Haukea!!” Noah shouted sprinting after her only able to watch for now as his dog sunk her teeth into some woman holding AJ by the throat.

The dog had been quick and in all honestly had probably saved AJ’s life, but she hadn’t been quick enough. AJ couldn’t begin to describe the pain he felt as the man pressed his elongated nails against the surface of AJ’s stomach and then slowly began forcing them into his skin. The move had been deliberately slow, a show of power. He wanted to take his time with AJ. The pain became only more intense as the nails sunk deeper into his gut. AJ was careful not to scream, he ground his teeth together but forced his mouth to remain closed. He shut his eyes so tight he felt he would pop a blood vessel. Then he heard the man scream. Peaking an eye open he sound the dog- Haukea- biting at the man’s arm and as the man readjusted to get free of the dog’s teeth AJ finally felt his opportunity. In as swift of a motion as he could in the pain that he was in he used one leg to kick one of the man’s knees out then levelled his other against the man’s chest and kicked. AJ was expecting to have enough time to scramble away from the man, instead he watched as the man flew across the air and cracked against a tree at least fifteen feet in the air. The fall from the tree to the ground seemed to move in slow motion and as AJ and the man both looked bewildered from what had just happened, it was short lived as the man found his footing and took back off the way he had come.

Still running towards the situation Noah tried not to let the acrid smell of blood wafting off of the younger boy dissuade him from his goal. Which you know was save his dog and AJ. But apparently the kid had it all covered, as the woman flew backward, Noah’s tennis shoes skidding to a halt near AJ’s head. Ok that was. Well. That was interesting to say the least, this whole unexplained superhuman strength thing. But he couldn’t overthink it now, not when it could just be a fluke of human ability. Listening to Haukea bark the intruder away Noah stood ready above AJ till she came back toward him muzzle covered in blood but tail wagging. Yea she really was a good girl. Crouching over the boy Noah let the adrenaline take him eyes assessing the situation quickly and efficiently “Hey we’ve got you now, just breath alright” Noah ground out as he swiftly pulled his own shirt over his head bunching up the fabric and pressing it into the gash on the boy’s stomach.

The next thing AJ knew another figure loomed over him and then pain shot through his body as he realized pressure was getting put on his stomach. His arms flailed out in defense and caught against skin. His vision was blurry, but he wiped at his eyes and finally focused in enough to see Noah kneeling beside him, shirtless. Why the hell was he shirtless? Further investigation revealed the shirt Noah had been wearing balled up and being shoved against AJ’s still bleeding stomach. He mumbled his protests and knew exactly what a gut wound meant. It meant that he was in deep shit right now, depending on how deep the wound went. It had sure felt deep in the moment. “You’re ruining your shirt” Was the first coherent thing that he got out of his mouth.

Mind running a mile a minute as he tried to go over all of the first aid protocol he knew, Noah looked down at the shirt in his hands the edges already tinged red. His shirt was not going to last long, and he knew time was crucial. But luckily for the pair AJ was coherent and talking so that gave them a little extra time. “It was either this or my pants. So you’re welcome” Noah retorted hoping that would keep the kid talking a little bit as he racked his brain for what he could do, but there was really only one thing they could do right now. “Alright so based on what I know about gut wounds we are going to need to get you to the hospital ASAP ok.” Noah said calmly looking down at the boy and hoping he wasn’t in the mood to complain. I mean Noah could probably keep him contained long enough to get him to his truck…. But then again there was that fluke of strength thing. Yea it was probably best if the kid came along quietly “So if you can hold this close to your stomach, I can carry you to my truck. Sound good?”

As a kid, AJ’s father used to take him hunting. AJ had never been a fan of the sport personally. Found it unnecessary in a world where they could buy meat at a grocery store minutes away. He liked to leave the killing of animals to those that were actually stranded in the wilderness. But he remembered they used to sit up in the trees and talk about his father’s cases. One particular case talked about a wife who shot her cheating husband in the gut and left him in their house alone for hours. It was his father’s final words on the subject that stuck with AJ. “It’s just like a deer if you shoot it in the gut. The best cure is a headshot.” That sentence kept ringing in his ears as Noah was giving him instructions. He definitely didn’t like the idea of being carried though. “Nobody is carrying me anywhere” He grumbled and swatted at his hand still pushing against the wound. AJ put pressure against it himself and then held his hand out to Noah, “I got the wound just help me up.” Maybe refusing help from someone offering was dumb, but his dad had always taught him to put pride first. AJ knew it was bad advice but still had always seemed to follow it.

Frowning slightly as the kid professed his slightly morbid ideology Noah looked for something to tie the shirt onto AJ. But there wasn’t anything really, unless he tied Haukea’s leash around the boy, “Well it’s a good thing that I believe in modern medicine then and neither of us have a gun” He replied back with a wink, un-hooking his amazingly patient dog from her tether. He wouldn’t tie it around the boy yet but he’d keep it handy just in case the kid couldn’t keep it together. Especially when he was insisting on walking himself. “You walking by yourself is not going to help your chances any, trust me on that one” Noah said taking the boys arm with one hand while also scooping his other against the kids back. “On three ok, one, two three” Gently Noah pulled the boy up letting him decide on how upright he really wanted to be.

AJ had to hold back the groan as Noah lifted him up off of the ground. He had been lucky the guy with him had been plenty strong in his own right and could basically lift AJ up with little help from AJ himself. He wasn’t sure how easily he could pull himself up off of the ground at the moment. He had been injured plenty of times throughout his life. Multiple injured ankles plus a broken bone from hiking accidents. Open wounds from self-defense training taken too far. Getting jumped by the kids at school. None of those injuries had hurt this badly. “I can walk.” AJ argued, dragging his feet across the dirt mostly supported by Noah, but still convinced that he needed to do this on his own. The weirdest part was that as he dragged his feet across the dirt worrying that the hike was taking too long and he was going to bleed out, he could tell that walking was starting to become easier. He felt his feet actually catching the surface and soon he was supporting himself. “I bet this isn’t how you planned on spending your day. Certainly not how I planned on spending mine.”

Supporting the kid as they walked Noah looking back to make sure Haukea was following, giving her an easy ‘follow me’ command while he was at it. If he was being honest she probably didn’t really need a command, as never strayed to far from his side normally. But the last thing he wanted was to get AJ to his truck and suddenly have his dog be nowhere to be found. Focusing his attention back on AJ Noah gripped a little tighter as AJ tried to argue “And I can definitely carry you, but I don’t think either of us are going to get our wish.” Noah retorted wishing the kid wasn’t as stubborn, help was a good thing after all, especially if you are at a risk of bleeding out over the carpet. Loosening his grip a little as he felt the kid get the hang of walking like this (although Noah did get a little tingle of strangeness about AJ’s sudden and new found walking abilities) Noah just scoffed playfully at the boy. “Nope. But Thank god you cleared that up for me, because I was getting a little concerned that getting attacked by a strange woman with creepy nails was some sort of kink of yours” He joked hoping that would keep the boy talking.

As AJ continued to walk he could tell that something was not right. Or rather, maybe something was too right. While walking put most of its stressers on leg muscles, the stomach was definitely being exercised too which meant that with a wound like his he should be in searing pain to the point of passing out or at least needing to be carried by Noah. There was no logical explanation as to why he was up walking. The wound still hurt and blood was still leaking from it, but the pain was bearable and red was not pouring from his stomach like it had before. “Well she completely ignored my safe word, so that was fucked.” Chances were she had recognized AJ from the news and saw the opportunity, but what the hell had she been doing there in the first place? And most importantly, what the hell was she? Not human, that was for sure. “Thanks. By the way. Your dog too.”

Snorting slightly at AJ, Noah felt the edges of his lips turn upwards. Yea this kid was going to be just fine. “Hope you used a good one for that,” Noah retorted as they walked “My go to is monkey slut” He grinned at the other boy now, anything to keep him talking and coherent, though it was starting to seem easier as time went on. Though there was the thank you that made Noah have to turn away a little bit. “Well I wasn’t going to stand by and watch you die.” He pointed out trying not to make a big deal out of it. Because It wasn’t like he did it for the thanks or anything, he did it because. Yea. He wasn’t going to watch another person die on him without being able to do anything. He wasn’t going to have that blood on his hands too. “So you know no need to thank me, or her, she already gets enough treats. But um are you ok?” Noah asked changing the subject as he looked down at the rag Aj was still holding to his stomach. He was leaning less on Noah now, which was not some sort of adrenaline fluke that should be happening. If anything Noah should be carrying the boy by now, with him screaming in pain, or like passed out, or something that wasn’t practically walking by himself.

“Monkey Slut? That’s a new one.” AJ sincerely hoped that that was a reference to some modern production that AJ he was unfamiliar with and not just some random thing that Noah had come up with on the spot. Or worse, his actual safe word he used for BDSM. Personally he cared little about what people were into sexually, he just felt bad for anybody that Noah may sleep with that had to actually hear the phrase Monkey Slut used during intercourse. “I’ll make sure to keep that in mind.” The better his stomach was feeling the more he realized that this was not normal just as the strength he used to kick that woman off of him wasn’t normal. The same way that the woman that had attacked him wasn’t normal. The strength could hypothetically be explained by adrenaline; the same way that the woman who lifted the car off of her baby had. The healing didn’t make sense though. It either had to be AJ’s or something that the woman did, and AJ wasn’t guessing healing was not the girl’s endgame. Either way, his wound wasn’t normal which meant that a hospital would be of no use to him. But he had an idea who might be able to help. “I can’t go to the hospital.” AJ said suddenly, happy to be get over the awkward conversation that entailed thanking others. “I need to get back to my truck.”

“Yea, helps as a password too. You know if you think all your friends are clones or something” Noah replied knowing that AJ probably wouldn’t get the reference. But that was ok. Anything to keep him talking, especially since this was starting to get weirder and weirder as they kept walking. Stopping Noah looked straight at AJ as he mentioned not being able to go to the ER. “Like I can’t got to the hospital because my parents will find out, or like I can’t go to the hospital?” Noah questioned with a raised eyebrow the signs all starting to make sense. Weird people after him, super strength that seemed to come from nowhere, high pain tolerance, probably super healing ability. This kid was not a normal kid, and instantly Noah felt himself become even more protective of AJ.

“What friends?” AJ asked, the pain still pulsing at his stomach making him seem more serious than he had actually meant to be. AJ hadn’t kept the company of friendship in almost two years. The closest thing he had to friends now were a few people he had driven home from Prom night when they got wasted off of some mysteriously tasteless spiked punch. Sure, he had learned some pretty crazy things about each of them over the summer, but the fact remained the same that the only times he had seen them had been in situations when one of them needed the other’s help. That sounded more like a partnership than a friendship to AJ and that was exactly the way he preferred it. Friendship was messy and only opened him up to letting his guard down and being stabbed in the back. “You can pick whichever reason you want, but I can’t go to the hospital.” He fidgeted and pushed himself free from Noah’s support. AJ swayed for a second but by some miracle managed to stay upright. “I appreciate your help. But my truck is that way.” He pointed off in a different direction.

“You talking to me on that one punk?” Noah questioned with another raised eyebrow, not knowing if the kid was trying to make a joke orrrrr what? Or maybe this kid didn’t actually have any friends, there was that. Pushing it out of his mind though Noah tried not to hold AJ too tight as he squirmed away from him, but part of him didn’t want to let go, even as he was finally forced to. Standing there as Haukea whined at the both of them Noah didn’t exactly know what to do. Because he wanted to make sure he got to where he needed to go, that he didn’t die or something, that he had, well a Pack if he needed it. But of course admitting that could prove to be the thing that pushwd the kid away, and he knew that, which is why he found himself backing away slightly, holding up his hands in a non threatening way. “Look I don’t know why you don’t want to go but if it’s for the reason I think it is I just want you to know I’m not going to hurt you.” He stated calmly “Like I honestly just want to help. And I know people who can help if you let me” He continued already pulling up Eliza’s possible schedule in his mind.

AJ stared at Noah as if he were insane. “Punk? What are you, forty? You’re like three years older than me.” AJ didn’t have the time to deal with Noah right now. He didn’t seem like a bad dude. He was understandably concerned about letting a boy who had just been stabbed in the gut wander off by himself without going to a hospital. If the situation had been reversed AJ would probably be doing the same thing. As little as AJ cared about the personal lives of others he had less interest in watching them bleed out to death while he did nothing to help. He could be an asshole, but he wasn’t heartless. “I don’t have any friends.” He decided to clarify, not understanding why he would think some random kid in the forest would be making fun of him while still leaning against him for support. “I get that you want to help and that’s real White Knight of you and all, but I don’t fucking know you. And I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.” AJ was began up slowly while still facing Noah. If Noah refused to let him go off on his own AJ couldn’t outrun him, not with his stomach in the shape it was. “I am going to figure it out myself.”

Ignoring AJ’s qualms about calling him a punk (because he didn’t know punk was an old man word now?) Noah stood his ground next to Haukea the dog still whining her displeasure at the both of them fighting. “Friends or no I’m sure as hell not going to just let you go off by yourself” He crossed his arms across his bare chest. Because yea, no sir Noah was not leaving his side until he had to, friends or not. And especially not. Feeling himself get more frustrated by the minute Noah took a breath knowing that time as precious here. But of course that was when Aj decided to make a comment about him “white knighting” the situation and it all went downhill from there. “This isn’t me white knighting, this is me trying to make sure a young man like yourself doesn’t end up dead in the woods.” He snapped wondering if the thought of dying was just absolutely a foreign concept to the boy. And that when Noah felt it in his chest, the sudden realization that no this kid probably didn’t know just how fragile life was at time. He didn’t know that he was being helped by a person who had been through not one but two horrible near death experiences, one of which left him an orphan and a werewolf. Gathering himself though Noah tried not to project these feeling onto AJ, knowing he was growing too invested into this to be of any good assistance. He needed to stay sharp and focused after all, not emotional. “Your strength, your healing. I know where that might come from, and I know people who might be able to help. No hospitals involved.” He said quietly, hoping that would convince the boy. But they just sort of stood there at a stalemate for a few breaths and Noah couldn’t take it anymore. “Please. Please just let me help you to your truck. Or like. Drive you somewhere. I don’t want to wake up next week to your obituary knowing I could have done something” he whispered looking up at AJ a desperate pleading in his eyes.

Jesus, what the fuck had happened to this dude to make him so fucking dead set on helping a random stranger in the woods? One that clearly had no interest in being helped. “Aren’t you White Knighting? I don’t even want your help and you’re still trying to gallop in and sweep me off my feet.” Quite literally, considering he had planned on carrying AJ through the woods less than twenty minutes ago. It was obvious this was becoming personal. Yet AJ had no clue why the hell he seemed to know about strength and healing. AJ was curious about it himself. Almost curious enough to follow along with him. But once again the knowledge that AJ knew next to nothing about Noah, didn’t even know if that was his real name. For all AJ knew Noah could have been working with that freaky chick to get AJ on his side. Noah clearly knew something AJ didn’t about this apparent strength. There was no way that an injured AJ was going to trust him with little to know knowledge on the guy. “I don’t have any fucking clue what you’re talking about. But if you’re so sure about this shit then you shouldn’t need to worry about me dying anyways.” He needed to go, but couldn’t without some sort of head start. The dog wouldn’t be too happy about this, but AJ started forward back towards Noah. He didn’t hate the guy, not from what he knew of him. But that was very little and AJ wasn’t willing to risk it. Once close, AJ tried to summon the same rage and fear that existed in him when that bitch was on top of him and shoved Noah to the ground. The dog went wild, and the sudden strength forced his stomach to sting and his ears to begin ringing. But AJ ignored all of that and turned on his heels and took off into the forest hoping that his adrenaline would kick in quickly and take the pain away.

Opening his mouth to respond, Noah closed it getting the feeling that there was nothing he could do to change the kid’s mind. Though that wouldn’t stop Noah from following him to make sure he was ok. Surely the kid couldn’t object to that right? Right? But before Noah could even say anything more on the subject AJ was launching forward at him, hands coming at him. And if he had been ready he could have withstood most of it, he could have dug his heels in the ground and refused to be budge like he did in football. But the cruel fact of the matter was he hadn’t been ready. He hadn’t been standing his ground like in football so he went over landing on his ass and skidding slightly against the dirt, the force of AJ’s pushing feeling like. Well feeling like exactly the way his uncle would have pushed him, only confirming Noah’s fears. There was something supernatural about that boy and there was nothing he could do about it.

@hawaiianhalfwolf

#c: noah #chatzy: noah #chatzy #touchofchatzy #Activation

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alessariel · 7 years

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Please don't reblog. Replies welcome! A couple of people expressed interest in a state of the me, so here's a bit of a run-down as to what's been going on in my life lately: I've been sick for the last two weeks with a fairly annoying sinusitis. I don't suffer from this often and the symptoms were a little weird so I went and got tested for lyme's disease just in case - had a couple of close encounters with tics after the larp in july and since I've had it before I'm somewhat weary. Looks like it's not that though - its a bit hard to tell because the infection from long ago still skews the markers. Weight-wise, I just had my one-and-a-half-year post surgery check-up. Mostly, everything looks good. I've hit my target weight, but I could stand to loose another ten to twenty pounds. Mostly I'm annoyed because my weight fluctuates wildly every month - around ten pounds in extreme cases, sometimes within one week. Not sure what's up with that. Due to weather and health circumstances I haven't been keeping up as diligently with sport as I should. Stopped doing the sword fighting for reasons - some of the people there were weird and made me very uncomfortable. I miss running - the weather so far this summer has been very miserable. I should really make an effort to run more often nevertheless. I still do pilates once or twice a week and ride the bicycle a lot though. Some of you may remember me posting a bit about my dad and his heart problems last year. Then, after all of the scare he gave us, his docs decided he didn't have to had surgery. Now, a year later, they decide that he suddenly has to have it, because things have gotten way worse. Not sure wether to be angry or relieved. I just hope it goes well. He'll get a bypass and a new cardiac valve, hopefully next month. I really hope that with that his mental state will improve as well - we've been very concerned with what looks like an early onset of dementia or alzheimers lately. On the up side, my relationship with him has notably improved somewhat during the last year. I'm in the process of applying for a program that might help me get back into a job. It's a long and ardous process and the success rates arent thrilling - as someone suffering from longterm disability because of mental problems, it's pretty hard to get back into a real job. it's been years since I've been full-time employed. The whole thing is scary, but if I don't try now I may never manage to get back into it and I'm not done trying to fix my life yet. I've been catless for half a year now. Since Kea died and Teddy left its taken a while to get used to it, but I'm managing. I'm getting to the state where it's hard to remember why keeping Teddy would have been a bad idea (mainly, he needed more activity than my small flat could afford him plus deargod all that fur) but I start to really miss having a floofball around. I firmly believe that the cat finds the human though. Maybe one day one will find me again. I've been pretty productive lately. Finished some crafts and larp projects, worked on the flat a lot too. Did some digital work and am really thinking about getting affinity photo once it comes out for Windows, because my old copy of photoshop is really extremely outdated. I forgot how much I enjoy doing this stuff. Gishwhes sort of reminded me how much fun photoshopping can be. I also had way too much fun doing those little illustrations for @phoenike and her great mass effect andromeda mreyder fic "Unresolved". I enjoy betaing that one so so much too. After the disaster with the Drachenfest where I had to give up and go home because the weather was so bad and there just was too much mud the next larp I'm going to will be at the end of september and it will hopefully see my new charater's debut. I'm really looking forward to it. The antidepressant I've been on for the last three years was just unexpectedly cancelled by the only producer so I was forced to switch meds. That led to a bit of a stint with mania last week. Very productive, but also very exhausting and a little scary because it's not something I experience a lot. I hope it'll even out now. Hm, I feel like this all sounds pretty negative when really, a lot of things have been going pretty ok, too. I'm productive, things are going forward, I'm seeing a lot of social interaction and I'm getting stuff done. There's the occasional setback but overall I feel like I'm dealing fairly well with everything. I've been a little inactive here lately and I kind of want to remedy that and be more present again. I'd like to talk more with people too, so if you feel like it just chat with me. Fandomwise I'm in a bit of a lull since I'm feeling a little less enthusiastic about Supernatural lately. I'm still following along for now and I'll guess I'll see what the next season brings but I'm not very hopeful for it drawing me back in. Yuri on Ice still keeps bringing me joy but there's no new content and I just really finally want to own it on DVD so I can rewatch it whenever I want to. Other than that I really enjoyed watching Supergirl, Voltron, Designated Suvivor and iZombie lately, but none of these shows really draw me in shippingwise. But I have had nascent merthur otp feelings lately, I even thought of a plot and sort of started writing it in my head. Not sure it'll ever progress to the page though. So, uh, that's a lot of rambling, sorry. If you've actually progressed this far, wow. This is where I'm at, this is the state of the me. Would love to hear some feedback, but please no reblogs. Thanks!

#state of the me

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atlaswriting · 5 years

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“You strangled her.” It isn’t a question and he doesn’t flinch at the words. I don’t hold them behind teeth, don’t swallow it down because the sharpness is too much for my throat. Instead he shifts in the chair, unbuttons his three-piece and leans back, elbows over the edge of leather. “It’s not something you’re denying either, is it?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be bias, Doc?” the smirk is lethal—much more deadly than the weapon strapped to his waist. Sergeant Jacobs leans his head to the side, licks his lips and straightens out his face, “I’m not going to deny it—I did. To be fair, she was going to tell my wife that we were sleeping together. She was going to show her the videos we made—the pictures, the gifts from Paris. That whore was going to ruin everything I’ve ever worked for, everything I’ve ever built.”

For the first time since we started our sessions three weeks ago I see a glimpse of the real Tom Jacobs. A man who jumped out of the pages of a fairytale: strong chiseled jaw, blond hair and a honeyed smile that would entrap even the strongest bees. For the first time I see the monster peaking out of his throat, rot-black and sulfuric, just itching to come out. I see a fallen God and the man who tried climbing his way back to Olympus.

“You mean,” I pause, shifting through the papers in my lap, “everything your father has ever handed you?” I wait beat, heart jumping into my throat—the man has at least eight inches on me, half my body weight and refused to leave his gun at home like I’ve asked. His fingers twitch and the lines on his face contort. “Frankie was an escort you met during a sting operation, right? She was—fifteen at the time? And you began your affair roughly six months later, which tells me that you don’t care about your wife or the law, you just don’t want to lose your title. So you thought you would—,”

“Is this an interrogation or is this—,”

“I’m not finished, Mr. Jacobs,” I sharpen my voice on a whetstone—sit up straight, uncross my legs at the ankle and try to appear bigger. I steady the thunder rolling through my veins, will my heart to slow and I continue, “You thought you would try to murder Miss Hargraves because you believe your pride to be more important than her life. Is this correct?”

He doesn’t answer, dark eyes not breaking their grip on me—intimidation of the most intimate kind. Tom unclenches his fist only to curl his fingers—he drops his hands by his waist and my eyes fall to the gun. A dare bubbles up my throat—I wish you would—sitting at the tip of my tongue.

“If you had the choice between your life or someone else’s which would you choose, Miss Keene?” He asks, “Frankie isn’t dead. If I wanted her dead, she would be and I wouldn’t be sitting here right now, I’d be on some Island in the middle of nowhere. I let her live because I wanted to—because I’m gracious. If she thinks she’s going to get a cent out of this lawsuit, she is going to make a lot bigger enemies than just me. That’s the thing about the police academy,” he explains, “us before them.”

My tongue moves wildly behind my teeth, hand gripping my pen so tight that my knuckles ache, “I think that’s all I need to hear, Mr. Jacobs,” I tell him through a clenched jaw, “I will enjoy seeing you in court next week.”

I mimic him standing, spine pulling me painfully straight as I walk him to the door. He stops just short of stepping out and takes my hand, “I really hope you tell our truth, Doc. I’d hate to see anything happen to you.”

♡ ♡ ♡

then.

Smoke sits thick in the air, mixing with the nauseating stench of thrown up whiskey and cheap perfume it takes a fifth shot of tequila to calm the storm in my stomach.

I’ve been coming to Sal’s in southie since my Freshman year. Sal—also known as Sally to her customer’s is a broad, short woman whose multi-colored hair is always pulled up into a bun at the top of her head. She’s been in her fifties for at least thirty years—but I’ve seen her force unruly truckers out of their stools and into the frozen streets of Boston with only one hand.

“You’ve been here since three.” Sal finally says, setting a glass of water down in front of me, “I haven’t seen you eat all day—just stare. I love ya, kid, but you’re kind of creeping me out a little.” When I don’t move, she forces the glass closer to me, “Now I ain’t gonna ask again.”

I pick it up and force down half with her eyes still on me, “I don’t know if I’m made for this, you know? Digging into people’s mind, hell, I don’t even want to go into my own.” She snorts at this, “I’m serious, you know! It’s messy. I’ve had enough mess. Maybe I should become a baker.”

“Can you bake?”

“I can—but it being edible, that’s a different story.”

Sal leans on her elbows, “Darlin’ now I’m not saying this to be an ass—but that’s bullshit. You’re scared and you’re being a little bitch because of it.”

“You’re an awful friend.”

“And an awful bartender—yet you guys keep coming back.”

She stops talking when someone sits next to me, “Sorry sweetie, but I’m not about that underage life. What’re you 15?”

He laughs—something throaty and deep, “Eighteen, but thank you I’m just here for—,”

“He a friend of yours?” Sal turns to me, ready to toss him out like a used toothpick, “brother?”

“Something like that.” I look over at Jude, “How did you even know I was here?” Everything slows—his laugh, my blinking, and the same old Fleetwood Mac songs that play on repeat. I feel the few peanuts that I ate when I first sat down start to climb back up my throat.

Jude doesn’t miss a beat; he leans down and picks up my bags, throws my arm around his shoulder and lifts me up. Tennis shoes offer little to close the height gap between us and as we walk toward the front door, I stumble even more than if I were talking alone, “You texted me, remember? Said you couldn’t drive home. Here I am, to save the day.”

♡ ♡ ♡

now.

I should have said no.

Should have told them that I knew him on a personal level, that it was a conflict on interest—should have told him that my heart was the conflict.

But I didn’t. Put my hand over

my mouth and swallowed the warnings like a shot.

“You’re nervous? You don’t get nervous—should I be nervous?” Kea sits behind her desk in front of my office, “this guy isn’t a serial killer is he? Oh my god—Geo, I told you, stop taking on killers. I don’t have my will drafted up.”

I roll my eyes, unclench my jaw and shake my shoulders, “He isn’t a serial killer, Kea. He isn’t violent.”

“Except on the ice.” She says, “listen those blades are sharp. Maybe he has a few bodies in his closet, you don’t know.”

The door opens and Kea’s mouth falls open with words she no longer wanted to say, “now I can tell why you’re nervous.” She whispers, “Hide the ring—or hell, don’t, he can kill me with his hockey stick any day.”

“Shut it.” I whisper back, nudging my elbow into her side. “Jude,” his name fits in my mouth like a glove—the familiarity of the letters never left my mouth, “Judah—Mr. Shepherd, please come in.”

We don’t say anything—the only noise punctuating the silence is the ticking of the clock on the wall. His stare never falters and I do everything in my power to look anywhere but at him: the papers in my lap, the window overlooking buildings with a straight view to the beach and to his hands which lay on top of his shaking leg.

“You’re feeling angry I see—I—uh,” words die in my throat before I get a chance to say them, lips moving too fast and tongue sitting too heavy. “How are you?” I finally ask, “I meant to call when he told me you were coming to LA. I meant to catch up with you.” We both know I’m lying. I’d never been good at closure, foot always on one side the door, a suitcase always packed. I think of all the dinners I’ve purposely missed, texts that have went unanswered and voicemails that were deleted.

#thread: judette #thread: all

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spuumpkin-blog · 7 years

Text

birdworld - chapter 1 (welcome to bird world)

(theme: https://soundcloud.com/leyawn/welcome-to-bird-world)

Kiwi’s wooden sword clashes against the leather-bound training dummy, as they batter it into submission. Moa looks on at his wonderful chick, and chuckles to himself. The proud glint in his eyes goes unnoticed by Kiwi, as they vehemently beat the dummy with their sword. The sword is little more than a carved club, but Kiwi’s fine slashes and faux-ripostes display their skill at wielding it. After some more of this, as Kiwi’s strikes get clumsier and slower, they eventually collapse to the ground, breathing heavily.

Moa rushes to his chick’s side, “Oh, Kiwi! Are ya’ okay? Ya’ gotta be more careful with overworkin’ ya’self, y’know?” He offers a wing up, but Kiwi stands up themselves.

They brush themselves off, grinning. “Aw, don’t worry dad! Ah’m fine, you know that! If ah ever wanna become a knight, ah can’t rest for even a sec’! You know the knight’s motto,” Kiwi puts their wing over their chest, “‘Vigilant, honourable, always-”

“Aware,” Moa interjects “and never selfish. I know it, Kiwi. You won’t ever get there if ya’ don’t take care of ya’self though! I learnt that the hard way.” Moa motions to his stub of a leg, with a wooden attachment emulating a talon that allows rudimentary movement.

“Ah know, dad! Ah just… really want this. More than anythin’.”

“I know ya’ do, Kiwi. Here, come on inside, I wanna show ya’ someth-” Moa is interrupted by a loud shrill sound, that of a cymbal.

A knight’s company walks down the path leading to the two bird’s humble country farmhouse, with a cymbal-playing knight in the front. They pass by the large field of grain, and head up the path to the small homestead, Moa frowning sternly. One of the front knights proceeds without the rest of the company, and kneels before Moa. Kiwi jumps excitedly at the vibrant plumes on her helmet’s crest, which she places down to the ground. Her armor is the same as the other knights, aside from this plume, and a pair of large metal wings extending out of the back of her chestplate. They move and bend naturally, as though they are her own.

Still at Moa’s feet, she looks up to him, while Kiwi bounces around in the background. “Sir Moa, of the Falcon Legion. I lay myself before you, and request the honor of speaking.”

“Get up, Cormorant. I’m not that bird anymore, and you should know that. My captaining days are done.”

Cormorant stands, and nods at Moa. “Apologies, sir. I simply feel the need to respect such an incredibly veteran. I will get to business. You have been called to Popcorn Castle to be witness to the princess’ coronation. As a guest of honor.”

Moa chuckles at this, “Hehe… Of course. I know Kea would want me there. She’s a sweetheart. Sure thing, me and my chick would be glad to come.”

Cormorant seems surprised, “S-Sir, you knew the Queen? I-I have only heard tales of her exploits, but she’s one of the most legendary figures of our history. She was never known to acknowledge the knights in any way, such activities usually being left to King Raven.”

“Ya’ sure know your stuff, huh? Well, yeah, I knew ‘er. She was… pretty friendly, with me.”

Cormorant looks dumbfounded for a moment, before blushing brightly. “Oh… Oh! Excuse my intrusion s-sir, I should not have pried!”

Moa laughs heartily, patting her on the shoulder. “It’s completely fine, Corm.”

The two catch up as Kiwi remains in awe of these knights. The royal knights, at their house? Inviting them for a seat of honor? What? It was unbelievable. They were gobsmacked. The path to the castle was… fairly uneventful, passing by the other rural fields and homesteads which Kiwi had seen many times before, in their journeys across the wild. Cormorant eventually led them onto a cobble path, signifying the nearby city and the end of Kiwi’s knowledge.

The stones creaked as they passed under an arch, the townsfolk bustling in the market stalls of today’s grand fair. It was fairly early in the morning, so most folks were simply setting up shop, with others talking to each other as they tended to their gardens and gossiped. The knight company made quick passage through the town square, with Kiwi tagging along behind them. They were so caught up in this reverie, that they didn’t notice the Princess walking towards them. They also didn’t notice themselves slipping, until they had flailed directly into the Princess herself.

She laughed. Kiwi was speechless. Her laugh was great. So, so great. They got so caught up in how wonderful her laugh was, they did not notice the two guards standing tall above her, but Moa did. He rushed over to the four of them, as fast as his wooden talon could take him.

“KIWI! What in the blazes are ya’ doin’? I know you’re enthusiastic ‘n’ all, but there’s bein’ enthusiastic and then there’s bein’ downright intrusive! Come on now, we gotta get goin’.” He grabs them by the wing, as they stay awestruck by Kiwi’s presence. “Uh, excuse me, sir? Sir Moa?” A tall, wide white-feathered bird speaks up. One of the guards. Dove. “I know you, sir. The queen invited you to be a guest of honor, yes?”

Moa looks nervous at the gathering crowd. “Uh… y-yes… she did.”

“Oh, wonderful! Come then, we must be introduced! You will be seated directly next to the royal family, including us!” Dove smiles widely, and takes both of them in a crushing embrace, which the other guard, Pigeon, follows up with an even tighter one. They both take the birds by the back as they continue through the markets.

Throughout the day, Kiwi remains silent. They cannot seem to fathom any words in front of the Princess. At one point, Dove takes them aside and talks to them alone.

“Hey. I see you eyein’ up the Princess. I know that feeling. She’s glorious, isn’t she? Someone who you’d want to protect with all that you have, all that you’ve worked for. All that you are. I can tell, don’t worry. With your history, you’re getting into the guard for sure-” Kiwi frowns at this.

“Well, ah don’t mean to seem ungrateful, but ah’d like to earn that myself, thanks! Ah don’t think ah need to be given that sorta leg up, because that just ain’t right. Ah don’t deserve to be in the guard anymore than any other bird who wants to with all o’ their heart. Ah appreciate the sentiment, but ah know what ah’m doin’.” With that, Kiwi moves past Dove, and proceeds to follow the others. Dove sits, grinning.

After a long day of walking around, the group splits, and Kiwi and Moa head to their designated seating. They remain there before the proceedings, as they should begin soon… but something isn’t right. Nobody else has arrived. The Princess isn’t here.

“Wait here, Kiwi.” As Moa runs out of the building, into the courtyard, Kiwi paces frantically. Their father had just left them in the Royal Palace, and they had no idea what to do about anything. Without thinking, they burst into the courtyard, and instantly tears well up in their eyes.

The sky is dark, with a swirling storm cloud centered above the castle. It growls, roaring with thunder and lightning. Directly below it, Princess Tui lies, incapacitated. Holding her, is a bedraggled gull in dark purple wizard attire. He fires green lightning at the earth below, forming a wall of enchanted flames between his position and the townsfolk. Kiwi sees their father, Moa, rushing into the flames. Before they can speak, he is struck down by a bolt of lightning himself, and ends up coughing on the ground. The gull cackles maniacally out his crooked beak, staring down Moa.

“Thisss iss it, isssn’t it? Finally, after all thessse yearsss… Moa, my greatesssst foe… The only true rival to the power that issss, the nefarioussss DOCTOR GULL! SSSSIR MOA, hasss been, sssstruck down. Finally, your luck hass run out. I sssee thiss asss the perfectly fitting end for you, you fool. You ssspent all thesssse yearsss wassting away in that homesssstead of yoursss, ruminating on the fate of your Queen. But now! NOW! Now we sssee the ressssult of that. A tired, old, sssshell of the bird you oncccce were. Go home, old man. You are no longer the hero of thissss sssssstory. I am. Doctor Gull, sssshall be the name they ssssssee on the hissssstory bookssss of the future!” Dr. Gull cackles more, almost rolling over with laughter, despite floating in mid-air. He does not see Kiwi, luckily, as they rush to their father’s side.

“D-Dad, are- are you okay?” Tears roll down their face.

“I’m… I’m just fine, Kiwi…” Moa coughs violently with each word spoken.

‘No, no, no! You need to be taken to a medic! Ah, ah can get you home, we can heal up!”

“It’s okay, Kiwi. I’ll be fine. Ya’ need ta’... get out of here. Get home. Take… my… sword…” Moa passes out, before the end of his sentence. Kiwi quickly rushes him into the castle as a safety measure, before they run back into the courtyard. Dr. Gull still hovers above the ground, zapping the ground and town into flames. Just before Kiwi can attempt a heroic stand, Dove and Pigeon fly down from the castle parapets. Helmets down, lances drawn, they point at Dr. Gull in unison. Dove speaks, but Pigeon simply growls. “You will face the darkest punishment that the halls of popcorn castle have available, if you do not cease this activity. Let go of the Princess this instant, and take your leave, or we will be forced to use violence.”

Dr. Gull simply laughs. “Alright. I’ll let go of her.” Princess Tui disappears into thin air. “And now, to take my leave! Heheheh, hyeahahahahahahahahah!” Yellow lightning shoots out of Dr. Gulls wingtips, and shoot towards Dove and Pigeon, who are simply not lithe enough to move out of the way in time. In an instant, both of them are transformed… into bugs. Two large ants now take the place of the guards, as their armor and weapons fall to the ground, and the insects run around in horror and confusion. “That will teach you to sssstand up to me, your future ruler! I am already amasssssing the power of the Magic Eggplantsssss, and oncccce I have done sssso… You will bow to me, Ssssupreme Ruler Gull!” Dr. Gull laughs once more, teleporting away. The clouds mostly clear, but the fire and panic remains. Kiwi is already out of the city.

They arrive back at home. Walking up the stairs, into their father’s room. They had only been in here with him, never alone. But now, they climb atop his roost, and pull at the sword on the display. It does not remove, but it clicks, and a door opens to the right of the roost. Heading down a spiral staircase, they see dazzling blue glow bugs flicker to life with their approach, and they light up an enchanting room. The room is draped with vines and made of ancient cobble, and stretches far, even further than the base of Kiwi’s house. In the center of the room, the glow bugs are concentrated. They highlight a simple oaken chest, with a small table beside it, residing on a stone pedestal. Stepping up the pedestal, Kiwi reads the note.

“My dear Kiwi,

I love you with all my heart. You are the most important part of my life, and that will never change. I trust you with all that I am, and you are what makes each morning worth waking up to. Each sunrise worth the sunset. Each rose worth the thorn. Each day worth the night. Each good worth the bad.

You deserve this. In this chest are my old sword and shield. There is also a map to a collection of magical artifacts known as the Magic Eggplants. They have been lost to time, and even I could not recover them. With their power, the ruling family could bring everlasting happiness to this realm. You may search them out, if you wish. I just want you to see the hero you’ve always been, to me.

I love you,

Moa.”

The note, now stained with tears, is stored into Kiwi’s satchel. The sword, a simple steel blade affixed to a bejeweled golden hilt, and the shield, a plate of steel with the royal symbol of three feathers of green, blue, and red emblazoned onto the front, both now equipped on Kiwi’s frame.

The map, held up to the midday sun. Lighting the way to the next destination… lychee beach. They would find them. They would save their father. And Princess Tui. And Dove, and Pigeon, and all of birdworld. They would do it. They had to. Who else would?

#birdworld #birds #leon #writing #september2017-project

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hawaiianhalfwolf · 7 years

Text

So what you're saying is, I'm your brand of heroin? | Noah & Reza

About three things Noah was absolutely positive.......

Toweling off his hair a little more Noah looked in the mirror for one last time checking to make sure he was presentable. If this was any normal night he’d be most likely be naked by now, obviously company warranted proper clothes. Or at least a pair of basketball shorts and a muscle tee. Hanging up his towel in his bathroom, Noah padded back across his room human ears pricked for the doorbell. He’d told Reza he could come over like an hour ago though maybe it took more time for the kid to get here than 30 minutes. Shrugging it off Noah went to scoop up the little foster pup from his position snoozing on his bed figuring it was best to just move everyone downstairs to wait. And of course it was only when he was halfway down the stairs did he hear it the faint chime of the doorbell that was only installed for Noah’s benefit, the little pup tucked under his arm starting to stir from all the noise. “Coming!” the boy called out as he ran down the last of the stairs Kea already beating him to the door “Back,” he commanded looking straight at her expecting her to do as she was told. And she did paws moving back a few steps, tail still wagging profusely. “Good girl” He praised before going for the door and opening it wide upon Reza. “Hello hello, long time no see.”

Reza would never admit to it but he'd shown up to Noah's house at the exact time given -- half an hour from their conversation-- and then proceeded to loiter around for another half hour. Mostly to avoid any unbearable situations, like accidentally disrupting Noah's shower early, but also because he didn't want to seem too eager. Which he was. Hanging around in that smelly hole of a basement he called home got lonely. Way lonely and cuddling it up with a dog was without a doubt the perfect solution. Talking to Noah didn't make things worse, either, since the older boy seemed to exist purely to spread positivity and kindness; something Reza really was lacking in his life at the moment. If only his traitorous thoughts would stop making him feel like hanging out with an admittedly handsome friend was in some way betrayal to a dead person. And really, person was a stretch. Jittery hands finally knocked on the door and Reza could immediately smell the mixed scent of dog, fresh shampoo and something his nose told him was Noah. "Hey," he greeted with a touch less enthusiasm, smile getting lost as his gaze quickly turned to the ground. "Thanks for letting me come over." Reza shifted on the doorstep, shrugging off his jacket as soon as he did to avoid it getting covered in dog hairs because no way was he not getting on his knees to pet the gorgeous dog wagging its tail, leaving him in the traditional black, skinny jeans and an even darker T-shirt (a personal favorite decorated with a sleeping cat and the words 'not today'). A sensation he knew by now, but was no less uncomfortable, told him that he couldn't pass the doorstep just yet. Noah hadn't explicitly invited him in which meant... yeah.

Moving away from the entrance so Reza could pass through Noah went to stand next to Kea happy she was waiting patiently. “It’s totally no problem dude.” He brushed off the gratitude smiling at the boy, because it really was no problem. “Plus you caught us on a quiet night, most of the time there’s at least 3 extra people milling about the kitchen eating our food, isn’t that right?” Noah cooed down at the little pup in his arms, his little snout giving a rather large yawn that made Noah’s heart practically melt in his chest. God he love puppies so much. Glancing back over at the kid he noticed he’s gotten rid of his jacket, a funny shirt and his general punk skinny jeans look underneath. And Noah would be lying if he didn’t feel that tingle, that small little wolf inside of him kinda wondering what all those clothes would look like on the floor. But he pushed that down. God. He really needed to get laid sometime soon so that shit stopped happening with his fucking friends. Shaking off the inner turmoil though Noah cocked his head at the boy outside. “So what are you a vampire now?” Noah teased looking at Reza standing stock still on the doorway. Most of his regular friends would have barged in by now, but then again Reza was not a normal friend, and maybe he just was super polite, yea maybe that was it. “Come on get in here before Kea explodes from excitement.” Noah said before turning and walking towards the couch making it plainly clear the Reza should come inside now. Oh and shut the door behind him too.

Reza quickly began to fidget, weighing the option of just turning on his heel and walking the other way because this was just... the worst. The puppy yawned with excitement and Reza decided to stay, if only for the dog. Something shifted in Noah's eyes for a second, pupils darkening and for a moment Reza wondered if it was realization dawning behind his eyes. Did Reza's reluctance -- or inability-- to enter somehow out him as a vampire? Holy... “So what are you a vampire now?” A... a joke? Noah was joking. Obviously. He didn't know, how could he. The offer to step inside was accepted without hesitation, Reza shuffling inside with an awkward laugh. "A vampire. Yeah, for sure. I'm the one creeping outside your window every night." Cringing at himself, Reza simply turned all his attention to the dog instead of trying to fix that mess of a sentence. He was greeted vigorously by the door, a genuine laugh slipping past his lips as paws scrabbled for Reza, tongue slobbering towards his face. "Hey, there, girl How are you? You are absolutely gorgeous," he cooed, the built up tension and nervousness easing slightly as his cold fingers wrapped into the soft fur.

“You know if you wanted to see me naked all you had to do was ask.” Noah quipped playfully over his shoulder as he walked over to the couch the little foster puppy in tow with him while Haukea stayed by the door. Blanching a little though at the realization of what he just said, to Reza, someone who thought he was weird for giving a compliment Noah instantly backtracked “And I swear that was totally a joke” He said turning around so Reza could see the seriousness in his eyes. Holding it for a moment Noah resumed his task, sitting down and making himself comfortable. That and reminding himself that Reza was not one of his bros. He didn’t get the humor and the subtle gay undertones that were a part of Noah’s everyday life with his friends. Looking over at Haukea though (as she totally ignored her training and jumped on Reza, hed had to go over that with her again) Noah realized again where he was failing “Oh my god. You’ve never met Haukea have you.” Noah asked over the side of the couch practically face palming himself “Wow. My total bad dude. So yea that’s Haukea, she loves long walkies and taking up half of whatever you are sitting on. So don’t say you weren’t warned” Noah grinned over at the pair happy that Kea might have have a part in making the poor kid smile.

"That's not what I..." Reza started defensively, cutting himself off short as he remembered that Noah liked his jokes a bit underneath the belt. So this was a joke. Obviously. Noah quickly confirmed that he hadn't been serious but Reza was still rigid as a stick. Man, this was exhausting, wading through weird hoops of compliments and sexual jokes delivered so casually that they made him sort of choke on his own spit. His attention turned back to the dog, a much safer area than pretty much all conversation with Noah, a smile returning to Reza's face. "She can take up all the space she wants." Nuzzling her head with his forehead before the dog bounded back to Noah, Reza stood up and brushed off his jeans. He felt pretty exposed wearing nothing but a T-shirt but putting on his jacket would make it seem like he was itching to leave right away. Hands in his pockets, Reza loitered over to the couch, glancing to the puppy joining Noah on the couch. "And, uh, who's that then?"

Ignoring the slightly awkward atmosphere that came about with his joke Noah focused on making himself more comfortable on the couch.Turning his back toward the armrest Noah spread his legs slightly placing the small pup on the space between his chest and his knees. Yea that was a lot more comfortable, though that still left Reza over by the door while Noah was taking up half the couch.. “You shouldn’t say that.” Noah replied to Reza with a playful shake of his head hoping the kid would get the memo that he could come into the living room. “Because next thing you know she’ll be pushing you out of a queen sized bed. Huh you little bed stealer ” He gave Haukea a nice head scratch as she passed already jumping up into her usual spot at Noah’s feet. But that’s not what Noah wanted. “Down.” Noah commanded with a finger snap the second her paws touched the couch. “Reza gets to chose where he sits first then you can squeeze your ass in whatever space is available” He told her as if she understood, but he guessed that was less for her benefit and more for Reza’s. Because while there were few of fluffy pillows strewn about the floor (from the last pack meeting), and a rather large looking armchair tucked in the corner (Cahill’s chair) Noah kinda wished Reza would sit with him on the couch. You know. Like Friends did. Looking down at the speckled puppy trying to find a good sport on his chest Noah huffed a little, the pups name a sore spot in his eyes “Well technically his name at the barn was Granite, but I’m not sure if I like that for him.” He frowned at the puppy slightly “Though I probably shouldn’t rename him if I’m fostering, don’t want to become too attached you know”

"I don't need..." A bed? Sleep? Not things you can say, Reza, "...that much space, to be honest. Perks of being a skinny, small guy." Usually, he was more comfortable curled up on the edge of a mattress, anyway. As Haukea was commanded to the floor, Reza frowned, her big, sad dog eyes tugging at his sympathy. Noah's following statement made him shift awkwardly as he wondered if Mister Big and Burly wanted Reza to squeeze into the couch with him. That plan had so many flaws, including but not exclusive to Reza's cold skin, Reza being that close to someone with a beating heart (blood bag or no, his gums still itched at the thought) and Reza being mildly terrified of the thought of human contact since... Yeah, Reza on the couch wasn't happening. "Aw, I don't have the heart to leave her on the floor," he excused himself, taking a seat crosslegged on a pillow facing Noah. It felt instantly more comfortable, perhaps in part because this was the similar set up he'd had with Heath while watching TV and no, comparing Noah to him in any way or form was not an option. "What if I rename him?" he blurted out to escape from pit in his head that had slowly cracked open, "that way it's not exactly yours but you get to call it something else?"

Noah couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at Reza chalking up the small pause in between his phrases as just the punk teen being awkward again. “Well the concept of not needing much space that has become completely foreign to me since puberty,” He admitted with a shrug ruffling the fluffy ears of the puppy in his lap. Watching closely as Haukea used her eyes Reza though Noah opened his mouth to say something but instantly shut it, knowing that he probably had fucked on on this one. Because offering couch space to Reza was too forward wasn’t it? It was too intimate and too. It was too much of what Noah liked and what Noah needed, and probably none what Reza needed. So taking the small sense of hurt and rejection and burying it deep down Noah just spread his legs out in front of him the pup in his lap nipping lightly at Noah’s leg as it moved. “Well your loss dude.” He joked out casually “Especially since she’s definitely manipulating you.” Noah looked over towards Haukea the lab smiling between both Noah and Reza almost happy she got her way. But he could never be mad at that face for long “Yea cuz you would have been just fine spread eagle over the top of us on the couch wouldn’t you?” He cooed as he gave her a couple good neck scratches with his outstretched hand. Feeling Granite start to puppy chew on his other hand Noah glanced over to Reza mulling his proposition over in his mind “I mean if you want to? I mean. I guess. I don’t know.” Noah rambled knowing he was making no sense whatsoever, “But I guess what I mean to say is If you feel like you have a good one I’m definitely open to it.

Reza watched the dog for a moment as it made itself comfortable, wondering if he was really that easily manipulated that a canine could overpower his will. No, this had been a decision based purely on not having to plop onto the sofa next to Noah. Reza wasn't the pushover he'd been -- how could he be considering what he'd become? Besides, that big ball of fluff wasn't capable of real manipulation, anyway. Brushing off the cord the statement had struck within him, Reza focused on the name-giving instead. "Hey, woah, I never said I had a good one. Just trying to be a problem solver." Leaning back, palms flat against the floor, he thought it over. A lot of names he'd have given his own pets came to mind but this was Noah. Maybe it didn't need to be too complicated, though... "I think, and don't cite me on this, that in Hebrew, Caleb means like, wolf or dog or something. So it's like naming your cat Cat."

“Well you’re in the Kalani household now kid, we expect perfection” Noah teased out towards Reza a sly grin on his face. It was hopefully taken as the joke it was, mostly because he really did appreciate the help however small. And he was glad reza was starting to get comfortable with him enough to suggest things. Contemplating the suggestion though Noah bit his lip slightly “You know I never thought about Caleb. I mean I usually name my animals funny things in Hawaiian and not funny things in Hebrew.” Noah smiled looking down at Haukea (aka little miss Snow White) fondly. Well that was before Granite puppy chewed at his fingers again bringing the older boy’s attention back to him “But maybe you could be the one that breaks the mold huh buddy.” He cooed moving his hands a bit so the pup had to move some to pin them. “So hebrew huh? Do you actually know the language or are you like a name researcher” He asked glancing over at Reza.

Reza felt immensely relieved that Noah liked the name, feeling pretty happy to have put something nice into this household. Even though it wasn't permanent but maybe the name would stick. Eyeing the dog with envy, knowing that there was no way he could take care of a dog -- not to mention a puppy-- Reza ripped himself out of those thoughts. Yes, having something to cuddle in the damp hole of a basement would make everything tremendously improved but he couldn't do that to the poor thing, bringing it into those living conditions. He didn't want to think about what else could go wrong, having a live animal around him at all times. The blood bags weren't necessarily going to be a plan forever. "Uh, neither? I do know some Arabic and the two are pretty similiar in a lot of ways so... I mean, I have researched names but like... only pet names since that was kinda all I wanted when I was younger. And now, too, I guess." He smiled, eyes flicking back to the puppy trying to devour Noah's hand and failing completely.

Glancing over toward Reza Noah could see his eyes on the pup, the longing almost palpable and Noah knew what he had to do next. Lifting Granite/Caleb off of his chest the older boy placed him on the floor in a small unceremonious gesture scooting the pup toward the boy “Here go terrorize your sister and Uncle Reza for a change.” He mock whispered to the pup as Haukea lifted her head from her spot, tail thumping against the ground in anticipation for puppy play time with her new little foster brother. Settling back into his dog free zone on the couch Noah scooted forward his head now resting on a pillow against the headrest, his long ass legs dangling slightly from the other end. “Thats pretty cool.” He commented though once Reza started talking about his language skills “I mean I’ve never tried Arabic, but I give you mad props for trying, cuz it looks hard as fuck.” Turning he resettled himself so he was facing Reza and not the ceiling “I do get the pet name thing though, cuz my dad was always asking me to name the strays left at his clinic. So I’d go online and take a few days to pick out like what I thought was the perfect name and he’d be like… you know you could have just picked something easy like Bob” Noah recalled with a smile, heart aching slightly at the fact that that was only a memory now.

Reza accepted the pup trotting over with welcoming arms, chuckling as it stumbled over his legs. "Hey," he whispered to Caleb, scratching his head. "Hmm? Oh, it's easier when your parents speak the language. I mean, I'm rusty as fuck these days but..." Shrugging, Reza saved his fingers from the relentless puppy's chewing to pull down the collar of his shirt. "I kid myself that I'm keeping the language alive by getting tattoos in urdu, like my mom's name here. I also have a quote on my ribs but, uhm..." Reza let his shirt fall back over his collarbone, clearing his throat. "Yeah, you can just imagine that one. So, uh, Bob the dog. Doesn't have as good of a ring to it as Caleb the dog." Smooth transition there, big guy. Reza really did like talking about his tattoos but he wasn't going to start... stripping for Noah to show them off.

Looking at Reza Noah smiled a little glad that the Caleb was having a good time with his guest. “Yea i’ll bet” Noah mumbled out into the couch a little sad that his dad didn’t speak more Hawaiian to him, or that his mom completely forgot her Turkish due to being adopted young. Eye tracking Reza though he stared at deft fingers pulling down his shirt collar to show him his urdu tattoo, that was actually quite beautiful. Trying not to stare to hard though Noah focused on the symbolism of the tattoo and not the pale skin underneath especially when Reza started blushing about the quote on his ribs. “Dude don’t kid yourself.” Noah shook his head sitting up on the couch “I mean first thing I’m doing when I get off of football this year is go and get my family’s tribal pattern on my chest and shoulder in honor of my dad. So like I get it.” He grinned at the other boy before the light bulb went off in his head “Which speaking of, do you know any good artists that know about polynesian tattoos?” He asked Reza ears perking up slightly at the sound of the door opening. It was Charlie one of the pack members coming through the door. “Looking for extra poker chips?” Noah called out to him pre-empting the mans questioning. It was poker night for Cahill and his male pack members, and of course the Alpha would send someone else to collect the things Noah told him he should bring in the first place. Typical. Standing there like the lumberjack wonder he was Charlie looked a little confused, hand rubbing in his beard, before he nodded, eyes never straying from Reza “Up the stairs in the hall closet” Noah pointed, as if this was the most casual thing in the world to him. Slowly Charlie climbed the stairs leaving Reza and Noah back to their talking “Don’t mind him, that’s just Charlie, a friend of my Uncles” Noah said waving it off as it if was nothing.

Reza perked up when Noah asked about a tattoo artist, the thought of actually being able to give someone good advice on something he knew and knew well filling him with a euphoric purpose. "Dude, yeah! I've seen so many great tattoos when I've been browsing and--" The door slammed and Reza's newly found energy escaped his body like a deflating balloon. Someone was home? Reza hadn't been prepared for anyone other than Noah and some dogs. The very tall, very burly man that appeared in the door caused every muscle in Reza's body to tense, his fingers wrapping up in Caleb's fur. The fact that this bearded man wasn't moving his eyes off Reza's face despite how uncomfortable the vampire clearly looked wasn't helping the situation. Even when the freezing stare left him, Reza still sat completely still, almost inhumanly so, only snapping back to reality when Caleb started to squirm. "Hmm? Yeah, it's... fine. Just... fine." Caleb starting licking at Reza's hand, clearly sensing the discomfort. With his brain slowly calming down after the disheartening staring contest, Reza became acutely aware of the smell in the room that seemed to have intensified with Charlie's arrival. It was the same smell Reza had subconsciously started connecting to Noah, only much stronger. Was this... were the both of them not... human? Did Reza's nose know more than he did?

Smiling at the boy Noah tried to keep the conversation going, mistaking Reza’s silence for the possibility that he was just uncomfortable. Which Noah thought was fair enough, not everyone lived with such an open door policy as the Kalani Pack did after all, and that could be startling at first. Just all the people coming and going. “That’s good though,” Noah commented after Charlie bounded up the stairs “I mean I want to make sure it’s done, well, respectfully and as authentically as possible though so it’s like.” Noah shrugged “I almost feel like i should fly to Hawai’i and get to done there just to be safe or something”

"Yeah, mhm," Reza replied with disinterest, ears now perked for any sound from the broody Charlie. Something in him was tingling, telling him to run, probably just his paranoia but he was definitely on edge. "Hawaii sounds fun and--" Footsteps thumped back down the stairs and Reza tensed, with Caleb cuddling into his lap, probably expecting something dangerous to happen just because of Reza's reaction. Charlie appeared back downstairs and Reza's eyes locked onto the dogs, in the hopes of avoiding another staring contest. As soon as Charlie left, Reza could politely excuse himself and bolt. Even though he could already imagine Noah's big, sad eyes reacting to that announcement.

Watching Reza tense again as Charlie came back down the stairs Noah couldn’t help but be concerned. He didn’t know much about Charlie only that the 30-something man had swept in from Montana 5 years ago after his wife left him. Apparently she wasn’t a fan of werewolves, which was sad, but luckily Charlie found the right man to bring his car into for repairs. Funnily enough the rest was history. But that didn’t mean Noah felt as at ease around Charlie as he did other members of the pack. Charlie was. Well he was just Charlie. Stoic and obedient. Didn’t talk much. Which was a shame because he always looked like he had something to say under that rugged beard. Like he did right now standing at the bottom of the stairs a troubled look on his face. “Hey before I go,” Charlie paused coming a bit closer “Um did you happen to tell Cahill about this?” He asked swinging a finger in both of their directions. Glancing over the side of the couch to where Charlie was standing Noah gave a confused stare. “Tell Cahill what? About me having someone over?” He asked not really knowing what the big deal was about. He was 22 after all well past the age where he needed to tell Cahill about each and every one of his playdates “No I meant about you being here with” Charlie’s eyes flickered slightly toward Reza, giving Noah the all so subtle hint that it had something to do with the boy on the ground “I dont know what you’re-”” Noah until. Shit. Fuck. Did Charlie mean, no, he couldn’t be. Trying to stop his brain from exploding inside of his skull Noah stood hand in the air the a look of pure panic written all over his face “we’re totally not like dating or fucking if that’s what you mean I swear we’re just friends I mean I’m not even g-” “Stop,” Charlie stopped him with his free hand eyes wide “I totally did not mean that,” He clarified before his face soften “though If you were to be dating men now I would be totally fi-” Noah could feel all of the blood rush out of his body at that exact second. “Do not finish that sentence for the love of all that is holy,” He blurted over the top of Charlie, the look of panic still caught in his eyes. Because nope he was not doing this here, like this, in front of Reza ok. I mean not that he minded coming out to Reza since it seemed like the boy wouldn’t judge but just. Yea no, Nope. Not the time not the place “Just tell me what you meant before and we’ll consider everything good.” Noah continued lips pursed in a line now. But it was Charlie who now looked confused “You mean you can’t feel it?” Looking at Charlie and Noah couldn’t help but shake his head, an eyebrow raised to illustrate his own emotions on the subject “Feel what?” He asked turning to Reza wondering if the boy had any insight.

It was definitely time to freak out now, Reza decided, as Charlie asked his 'before I go' question. Really, it was some sort of miracle that Noah hadn't found him out yet, since Reza felt like he just radiated these awkward vibes of 'I'm not human.' Avoiding Charlie's accusing gaze, mind screaming fire and setting off every alarm, Reza couldn't help but wonder just how this very large man had deducted Reza's secret after being here for literally five minutes. It had to mean that he wasn't human and neither was Noah... Noah, who was now on his feet and Reza realized he hadn't been listening to what was transpiring, instead just preparing for imminent doom, but his friend (?) was blushing like crazy and maybe this wasn't about him being a vampire? Did Charlie think this was a... date? Noah was close to screaming now and Reza's muscles were all tensed for escape, his eyes starting to flit to the door. Charlie had made it clear that he wasn't showing an interest in Noah's love life. He was showing an interest in the vermin Noah had brought into their house. “Feel what?” Noah asked and as soon as his attention turned to Reza, the vampire was on the move, scrambling to his feet around the confused puppy and bolting to the door. He heard Charlie approaching before he saw him, barrelling into the muscular chest now blocking the door. His stance went defensive -- primal-- as Charlie growled deep from his throat. The other dogs whined at the sound and Reza could feel his eyes flashing red. Shit. “You let him invite you into his home. His den-” Charlie paused, taking a deep breath, his hackles coming down slightly. Reza didn't relax one bit. “You owe him an explanation. You owe him that much at least. And if you don’t tell him I will." Shoulders still hunched, eyes red and narrowed, Reza resisted the urge to hiss. He should just let him leave, this was completely unnecessary. "Just let me leave," he half-growled under his breath, for Charlie's ears only, voice almost pleading.

Watching it all unfold like a bad horror film, Reza must have been supernatural with the way he moved Noah’s eyes barely registering he’d left before he was clashing at the door with Charlie. And Noah was up in an instant mind going straight to how he could de escalate the situation instead of anything else. Or rather just get Reza to somewhere safe and not staring down the barrel of 250 pounds of angry werewolf. Wedging himself in between the two men Noah kept his eyes on Charlie, hands reaching out behind him to start pushing Reza’s torso, hoping the other boy would get the hint that he needed to back away and back away now. “Stand Down Charlie” Noah growled out a certain venom to his words. In purer werewolf terms he was outranked for sure. But this was still his house, and Noah was. Well Noah was the punk ass kid who challenged his Alpha all the time, so he wasn’t going to let some lowly pack member try to tell him what was best for his world. Not now, not ever. “Noah” Charlie growled out as if to test his resolve. But noah was not backing down No sir. “Do not fucking Noah me right now. This is my house. I outrank you by default.” He was staring straight at Charlie now as if daring him to challenge his authority in his own fucking house. Luckily for all of them though Charlie had enough sense to know when he was beaten and silently looked away waiting for Noah to clean up the mess he’d just made. Taking a deep breath Noah kept his eyes on Charlie but spoke for the boy behind him. “Reza, if you need to leave the back slider is open. You can go down the porch, and take a right around the struts, there’s a gate to the drive way in that general direction. If you just need somewhere safe my room is at the top of the stairs 2nd door on the left. No one but me is allowed to be in there.” The last part was emphasized not for Reza’s benefit but for Charlie’s, as they all knew the house rules. Noah’s bedroom was off limits unless invited. Even for Cahill the alpha.

Noah's hand on his torso made Reza cringe away, his body still pulled taut like a string waiting to snap. A part of him wanted a fight, convinced he could at least get a few good hits -- or bites-- in, but Noah being in the way stopped him. It took his panicked and anger-run brain a moment to realize that Noah wasn't trying to defend Charlie; he was defending Reza. Deflating like a popped balloon, Reza took a few steps back, eyes fading back to brown. The word 'leave' snapped his attention because yes, yes Reza needed to leave. The primal part of his brain was still lit up like a Christmas tree and that scared whatever logic was left in his brain; no way did he want this situation to escalate. He backtracked a few more steps, feeling Charlie's gaze burning his face. "I'm sorry," he muttered under his breath, turning on his heel and bolting for the back slider. As soon as he burst outside into the fresh air, his head cleared, managing to work through some of what he'd just witnessed. Charlie was an... animal. A werewolf. Which had to mean that Noah was one, too. And Charlie could have killed him. But he didn't. Because of Noah. Noah had protected him, even after most likely realizing that Reza wasn't human either; that Reza had lied. Realizing that he was still sprinting, Reza slowed down, finally slumping down to the ground. He could still see the barnhouse in the distance but he couldn't find the strength to get up, mind still reeling. His secret was out to Noah. And Reza had no idea what would happen now.

#pre finale #touchofchatzy #storyline: sun and moon #rezathevamp #tw: drug mention #for the title?#//ALSO PROPS TO WHOMEVER GETS THE REFERENCES #XD

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