<span style="color: #FF0000">Their belongings and she were scooped up into his arms, with more care than one would think a werewolf could manage. For years he has had to watch from the shadows as people belittled his kind and made them seem to be nothing but brutes looking to destroy everything they came in contact with. Yet, there he was with Tempest cradled gently in his arm while he jumped from roof top to roof top, moving as fast as he could to try and minimize the chance of anyone seeing him. A final jump and they landed on the fire escape outside his apartment. The window was pushed open to allow them entrance and the once silent room was filled with the clicking of his claws on the hardwood floor. <br/><br/>Gentle and with great care he laid her down on his bed, before he set the rest of the stuff down and then left to go and shift back. This time it hurt even more as he tried to force it and make it faster. When it finally ended he managed to get dressed, before he went to the bathroom. Back at her side he held a cool rag to her head, with a glass of water ready for when she woke up.</span><br/><br/>It was a while before she fully came to. In fact, the only time she started to, he was carrying her across the rooftop. For a moment, she thought it was a dream as the feeling of almost flying couldn’t possibly have been real, but then she remember what’d happened and went back under. Then, when she finally started coming around again, she was someplace unfamiliar. Blurry eyes began to flutter open, a hand raising to her forehead to touch the cool dampness she felt there.<br/><br/>“Where…?” she started to ask, until she caught sight of Colt and it all came crashing back. Her heart rate spiked, her pupils dilated, and she began to panic… Then another thought came to mind:<span style="font-style: italic">if he’d wanted to hurt me...he could have already.</span>A look at his eyes, the concern that was plain as day, told her she was safe. Her heart rate slowed again, her breathing returned to normal. Sure, being a werewolf was mind-blowing, something she’d thought impossible, but he was still Colt, right? This just took a little...adjusting.<br/><br/>“...I’m sorry I panicked…” was what she said next, eyes looking away for a moment before they cautiously looked back. “I...I should have believed you...but it’s not every day that you…find out someone’s a...a werewolf.”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">He smiled softly and held out the glass of water, “Sorry. It is not something that I just share often either…”</span><br/><br/>She accepted the glass after slowly sitting up, but she didn’t drink it. No, her hands held the glass, still shaky, as one finger traced the lip of it in a repetitive circle. “...Would you have told me if that topic had never come up?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">There was a brief pause as he thought about it before he nodded, “Yeah. Cause I would have to leave eventually, but if I told you what I was…then I guess there would be that honesty between us. And hopefully you would understand why I had to leave.”</span><br/><br/>“You’ll have to leave?” she repeated, only to mentally answer the question for herself. “So that part of the legends is true, then? I’m...going to guess you don’t age very fast…” Then, even though part of her didn’t want to know the answer, she asked, “How old are you really?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">He blushed a bit as he rubbed the back of his neck, “Well…my family came here during that great potato famine…”</span><br/><br/>Her eyes widened exponentially. “So you’re...160ish years old, give or take?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">"Yeah...that is about right," he blushed even more and coughed to clear his throat in a nervous habit.</span><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">A drink. I need a drink.</span>Where water was the only thing available, she took a healthy haul off of it, to give herself something to do. “...How long have you been one?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">He got up and went to his liquor cabinet that was along the wall and got her out a shot of whiskey, “Since I was about twelve,” he said as he walked the shot over to her.</span><br/><br/>As he got up, she allowed her eyes to peruse over his apartment, her mind still processing what he’d just said. But, when he was coming back with a shot, she backed up until her back hit the wall. “How did you know I needed a drink?” Then there was a pause as her eyes widened. “Wait, you can hear my thoughts, too? Not just talk into my head? Oh god...you can hear what I’m thinking??”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">He stood there very confused, eyes going from her to the shot in his hand. “No…I can’t hear your thoughts. I just noticed you seemed tense and thought a shot might help. I had this and vodka, and well a vodka shot is not really the best at least to me anyway,” he said and offered her the shot again.</span><br/><br/>“So...it was just a coincidence that you got the drink I was thinking I needed?” Her face flushed as she grabbed the shot and knocked it back, embarrassment in her features. “Sorry...I just...wasn’t expecting that.” Holding tight to the shot glass, she glanced back up at him. “...Does anyone else know?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">“Only one other,” he said as he walked back to the cabinet to get himself a shot as well. “You already know him…” he said softly as he poured and knocked the shot back.</span><br/><br/>Her face went through a range of emotions then. First, it froze as her mind repeated it over and over. Then confusion. Then slight annoyance. “...So Athan knows? Why would you tell someone you don’t get along with what you are? ...Why wouldn’t you have told me sooner?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">Another shot poured and taken, “He and I have a history with one another. I think what I am, is part of the reason why we don’t get along.” A final shot was poured before he walked over to sit on the bed once more. “And well I was still suffering from this fascination with my own shoe leather, so I figured it would be better to wait before I even attempted to talk to you about this. Don’t you think?”</span><br/><br/>“But why would what you are be the reason you don’t get along? It’s not as though there’s a reason to dislike what you are. An adjustment, yes, but to dislike it? He can be a bit of a jerk, but that still sounds off to me…” she replied, taking a sip of her water as another thought hit her. “...That day you came to my apartment, and said that someone at the dance company told you where I lived...Did you do that...finding me thing? Or did someone actually tell you?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">He blushed terribly, “I found you myself…” he cleared his throat again and looked away for a moment before he looked back to her. “As for the Athan thing,” he shrugged. “It is not as clear cut as that, but that is something that he should tell you and not me. Not that I don’t want to, but it is a matter of honor and such…”he said in an apologetic tone.</span><br/><br/>“You…found me yourself? But, why?” she asked, confused; just a hint excited by this semi-creepy fact, but still confused. What confusion didn’t focus there focused on Athan.<span style="font-style: italic">Yet another thing he likely won’t tell me…</span>she thought wryly. “He and I aren’t exactly on good terms at the moment. He won’t tell me what he does at night, so why would he tell me this?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">“It is related to what he does at night,” he said simply. “Though I helped him with that so it should not be an issue,” he replied. “As for why, well I just wanted to see you and hang out with you, but had yet figured out how to properly ask you. So, I just sniffed you out…god I sound like a stalker…”</span><br/><br/>Her brow furrowed, though it wasn’t at his remark about how stalkerish he sounded. No, it was focused on how he seemed to know so much more about Athan than she did. They had a history, sure, but she was the one dating him...Shouldn’t she know more than what his apartment looks like, how he danced, that he could cook? How is it Colt could know what he did at night when he left their bed? Why could Colt help him with it and she couldn’t?<br/><br/>“...So, he’s not cheating?” she asked. “Why would you help someone you don’t like?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">“No, he is not cheating,” he remarked quickly. “I am helping him, because of you. I don’t want something to happen to you because of him,” he said to her honestly. “Helping him, helps you so that is why I did it, no other reason.”</span><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Well this isn’t helping me...at all,</span>she thought. “...Why would something happen to me?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">Colt sighed, “The dance yesterday was a taste of how you could get hurt. A small one…” he whispered the last part. “I don’t want that, so I helped him.”</span><br/><br/>“I don’t understand why you won’t tell me…” she repeated, voice low, brow furrowed. “If it were a matter of honor...wouldn’t telling me what’s going on be the honorable thing to do? You’re convinced I’ll get hurt if whatever’s going on doesn’t get help, but you won’t tell me what it is. ...Do you know how confusing that is?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">“About as confusing as understanding what you just said is…” he said with a chuckle.</span><br/><br/>The chuckle earned him a look. “You are helping him to help me, but you won’t tell me what you’re trying to keep me unscathed from.” Her brow perked up. “Where’s the honor in that? Should I be kept in the dark?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">He sighed again, “He is going to kill me.” Those words were half mumbled under his breath, “Fair enough…” he cleared his throats and rubbed his along his jeans as they suddenly felt slick with sweat. “The thing with Athan is that he is…a …well…a vampire…”</span><br/><br/>There was a comment on the tip of her tongue at his first mumbling, about how she’d kill him if he didn’t for not telling her. But, that feeling for regretting questions she asked...was coming back in full swing. Her heart was in her throat, the urge to vomit was strong, and the room started spinning. “I’d say you’re pulling my leg...but somehow I don’t think you are…” Breathing became harder, each breath she pulled in more shallow. “So...you’re a werewolf...and he’s a...vampire?”<br/><br/>It suddenly all made sense. The way he spoke so proper, so formal, the way he only worked at night. But he had a reflection, he was warm to the touch…Then again, he had a dislike of Colt, who was a werewolf. Just to be certain, though, “...You’re...sure? This isn’t a guessing thing because of how he feels about you?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">“When we met,” he began his eyes cast down to the glass still in his hands. “I attacked him,” he paused to glance up at her, but then just as quickly looked away as he rushed through the account. “He had been attacking some men and I was…young and thought I could protect them. Which even for how old I was I managed to give him a good scare and we had it out, you know like a fight. He tried to feed from me, but I stopped him. He was the first of his kind I had ever seen.”</span><br/><br/>Her heart skipped several beats as he answered.<span style="font-style: italic">How...did I end up in the middle of...that?</span>she thought, mouth hanging agape as she pulled her legs into herself, wrapping her arms around her knees and resting her head on her knees; The glass still remained carefully in her hold, unwilling to put it down. “...It all makes sense now...the animosity...the weird jibes you two threw back and forth that first rehearsal…”<span style="font-style: italic">He wasn’t kidding when he said they had history…</span>“...What can he do? You have heightened abilities...and he only comes out at night...What holds true with him? Is it like the movies say?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">“Well, daylight can and will kill him. Though not right away, instead it is like a slow burn until he eventually combusts into flames…”<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">I can’t believe I’m doing this! He is going to kill me! He is going to kill me! </span><br/><br/>“Garlic, crosses and all that jazz don’t bother him at all. He is incredibly fast, nearly as strong as me and has reflexes many would kill for. He has to consume blood, mainly human blood as animal blood does not give the same nutrients that human blood does. When he is feeding he is more in control and less…well you saw him…” he said. “He can glamor himself, making him appear more lifelike and vibrant. He can compel humans to do what he wants, though that is stopped by something called ravein, it a plant. Basically, it is the vampire equivalent of wolfsbane…” he paused as he tried to think if he was missing anything. “Ripping out his heart or beheading him are the only ways to kill him outright without sunlight.”</span><br/><br/>The more he spoke, the more incredible it all sounded. She wouldn’t say it was impossible, not after what she’d seen for herself only moments before...however, that didn’t lessen how impossible it all sounded. It all made sense, though, like everything was falling into place. He did things humans couldn’t in his dance, was too perfect all of the time, he sometimes spoke like he was from another time, the glaringly obvious schedule change she went through just to work with him.<br/><br/>When he got to the part about compelling, her mind stuck on that. “...I haven’t had any of...whatever that is…” she mumbled out as her brain painstakingly went over every memory. “...How do I know any of it was real? For all I know, he could have been compelling me this entire time...What if he was feeding on me and I didn’t even know it? I mean, I know he’s been...more secretive lately, and grumpy, but what if that’s because he wasn’t feeding and didn’t have it in him to be able to keep it up? How can someone tell if they’re being compelled?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">“I can tell,” he stated with another slight blush. “There is a change in a person’s scent when it happens, because he is like tampering with their brain chemistry and that makes a slight change in their scent. So, I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that he has not once compelled you or even fed from you. That is part of his issue, actually, he was going out at night to feed, but you were asking why so he stopped a bit. Made him…well you know…”</span><br/><br/>“That didn’t seem to stop him from going out...he just got angrier when I’d bring it up…” she pointed out. “...And he goes out to feed...how does he choose who he feeds from? Do they remember it the next day?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">“He has been going out less and well…from what I remember…he um…usually…kills those he feeds on…” the sentence was halting and almost painful for him to get out but he managed. That did not mean he felt any better about it, but she asked and he was not about to lie to her.</span><br/><br/>Silence. Complete and utter silence was all that she had as her mouth continued to hang open and her heart rate somehow sped up. And for a long, drawn out moment, that silence was all she had. Only after she’d marinated in it did she try to get out the one thought that’d stuck with her. “He...he ki-...” She couldn’t even force herself to get the rest of the sentence out. Colt had known about Athan and what he was, what he did. Athan had known about Colt and what he was. She was the only clueless one about any of it. Getting up, she put the glass on the table and she started walking toward the door. “I’m...going to go home...You won’t mind if I...skip rehearsal today...will you?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">He stood quickly, “Don’t worry about rehearsal…but are you sure you are ok to go home? I can walk you? It is pretty far from where you live…” he said. This was wrong, all wrong and he wished that he had not said anything at all and just…left. The comfort and peace that he had felt since he settled in were not worth this pain he had caused Tempest. “Or, you could stay here and I could leave?” he offered without hesitation. “I just…I don’t know actually…but I know I want you to be safe and not get hurt…or anything….geez I’m so sorry for all of this…” he suddenly blurted out. “Once you asked me I just could not even start to think to lie to you or withhold anything because it was not fair and…fuck…look just you stay here and I will leave and whenever you are ready to talk to me you can call me or whatever…” <br/><br/>Already he had started for the door, intent on going to Athan’s place, breaking down the door and having it out with him. This shit had to end, for good, no more this pretending to be human shit. Both of them needed to get the hell out of there and start acting like what people thought of them to be. <br/><br/>Invisible.</span><br/><br/>She shook her head, and had begun to say that she didn’t need anyone to walk her home, and that she wasn’t going to stay in his apartment while he left. It never made it past her lips, though. No, she instead just listened to him blurting out an apology at her, rambling about the reasoning behind the sudden divulging of information. In fact, she was still trying to process all that he’d said when he was going for the door. He’d nearly made it, too, in the time that it took for her mind to catch up to her.<br/><br/>“You don’t have to go, Colt…” Tempest said, taking one step in his direction, albeit a small one. “This is your apartment...I’m not really sure where I am, but I need to be around something...familiar...I won’t lie and say that I’m...comfortable with all of this, but...my first instinct is to lock myself in my apartment and not leave...Ever…” A pause was given, continuing after her thoughts regrouped. “As...overwhelming as all of this is...it’s not you that I’m...suddenly terrified of…” Her eyes looked at him briefly before dropping. “I’m still trying to...grasp all of this, but you’re not the one who...kills people regularly...who compels people to get what they want...All I’m thinking of now is how things would have ended...and I’d never have seen it coming…<br/><br/>“...Being walked home...would be nice...because, at this moment, I’m wondering i everyone that I’ve met...is who they seem to be…If someone looked at me weird right now, I may panic...”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">Colt frowned only slightly, but it soon turned into a soft smile. “Alright. I’ll carry your bags for you,” he said simply and gathered them up before he met her at the door again. “If you want I will even point out just who is not a monster? Unless you just rather I not say anything at all?” <br/><br/>The guilt that he felt was equivalent to a ton of bricks, the weight heavy as it slumped his shoulders and made it harder to breathe.  Never before had what he was felt more like a curse than this moment. Then again, never before had he allowed himself to so freely connect with someone. For years he had watched people from the sidelines and pretended to get involved with them, but never had there been any true emotion behind it. There was never a point to even try; they were flings, toys for his entertainment before he had to move on to the next place. So, he just distanced himself and never allowed them to get under his fur. <br/><br/>Now, here was Tempest. He was not even sure exactly what it was about her that made him feel like he could lower his guard and be so open with her. But, he had and now he felt like the worst person in the world. Felt like the true monster that myths and legends made them out to be.</span><br/><br/>“...I never called you a monster, you know…” she said quietly, looking up at him with an apologetic expression. “And I don’t see you as one...I’m just...adjusting…” Then after a moment, she added. “...And I think I’d rather you not point out who’s not…<span style="font-style: italic">different</span>. With my luck, we’ll run into every person who is something else and it’ll be overwhelming.” Her tone was an attempt at a joke, but it didn’t quite land.<br/><br/>Getting the door for him, she held it open so that he could get through with no issue, feeling almost bad that he was carrying her things. That he’d had to carry her over there at all. Therein lay her confusion.<br/><br/>Why did she feel so guilty about her reaction? It wasn’t every day someone told you they were a werewolf and that the person you’re dating is a vampire. It’s not every day you watch that person change...and then hear about how the other regularly kills people when he feeds...that he can compel you, but that you didn’t have to worry because you’d have smelled different if he had. Maybe the guilt was because, despite the sudden bomb that was dropped...she felt bad that she freaked when she knew that he wouldn’t hurt her. Shock or not, that look in his eyes was enough to tell her she was safe, and then the concern she saw later only reaffirmed that. It’d stand to reason that she shouldn’t have freaked out about him…<br/><br/>...But Athan? That was another matter entirely. Colt said he’d helped him so that nothing would happen to her, but if he killed every time he fed, it’s not like this would be some romantic vampire movie playing out. There was serious danger. She didn’t know who he was anymore, not in the slightest. The man she’d been dating, who was already a mystery enough...was a complete stranger to her now.<br/><br/>“You know you don’t have to carry my things for me, right?” she asked to fill the void that had settled in. “I bought it all, so I should be the one carrying it.”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">“Aye,” he said as he locked his door and led her to the freight elevator. “And you know that as a gentleman, though lacking in some polish, I can’t have you carrying these things,” he said with a grin. “Besides, they weigh nothing at all. You know, like you,” he teased a bit in hopes of lightening the mood while they rode the elevator down to the first floor.</span><br/><br/>Getting into the elevator was semi-awkward for her. Somehow knowing exactly how...big he was made tight spaces feel tighter. It was like he took up the entirety of the space, without having to shift while giving her ample room. Thankfully, he continued with her train of thought, and it gave her something to momentarily focus on...even if that focus was one that she still needed to wrap her head around. “So, I really weigh nothing? I mean, granted...in comparison to a dumpster, I doubt I weigh much, but...all the dancing we do, you don’t ever feel...fatigued from throwing me around?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">He lifted the metal gate to allow her to exit the elevator first, letting fall down when exited behind her. “Nope,” the reply simple while he used another key to send the elevator back to his floor where it would stay till he called it again with his key. On the first floor it was not hard to see that he lived in what could only have been an abandoned warehouse. The entirety of the first floor was empty, save for a basketball hoop that was screwed into one of the pillars. <br/><br/>“I could carry you all day and night, with nothing but a smile on my face,” he said with a grin in her direction as he led her out of the building and onto the street. The block was essentially deserted and they had to do a bit of walking before they saw people again and for things to start to look familiar to her.</span><br/><br/>The elevator system was one she wasn’t used to, being that it was far more industrial than any other one she’d been in herself, and then to see that it was a warehouse when they got to the first floor had her frowning. This was where he lived? Away from everybody? Why couldn’t he do like Ath-...like he’d been doing this whole time? Get a nice apartment, and enjoy life more comfortably? Why did he have to be out in toward the city limits?<br/><br/>“Almost sounds like you want to test that theory,” she replied with a light laugh and a look thrown his way. “I’m sure you’d get tired eventually...If not of holding me, then of the boring conversation while I tried to keep you from feeling awkward.” And then silence fell, again. In that time, she spent it look over at him and attempting not to be so obvious with it, or looking around to make sure they weren’t being followed, that someone wasn’t going to pop out like they did in the movies.<br/><br/>“So...why do you live way out here?” There, the question that’d been on her mind was finally out. “Why not get an apartment closer that’s a bit more...furnished?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">“I hardly think that there would even be anything close to being awkward with us,” he began. “I could just carry you with one arm and you would just have to wrap your arms about my neck, then we would be off!” voice filled with a sincere excitement. <br/><br/>At her question he shrugged, “I like my space. I like to be able to come and go as I please without people watching me or being nosey. I like to make noise, occasionally break things just because I can and not have to listen to people bitch about that either. So, my apartment has what I need, but gives me the space that I need to do whatever. Like dance, play games, whatever!”</span><br/><br/>“But to carry me constantly? It’d have to get boring, and awkward eventually. You’d be stuck with me,” she pointed out with a wry look. “I’m nowhere interesting enough to keep you entertained and occupied the entire time you’d be holding me.”<br/><br/>After that, she just thought about what he’d said. The lack of people watching your comings and goings, complaining about noise or butting into your business just because you broke a few things; the sound of shattering glass could be cathartic if someone was angry enough, so his point was valid. Then again… “Dancing and playing games by yourself sounds a bit lonely, though. Do you have people over?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">“An occasional date,” he shrugged. “I don’t try and make friends, because that makes it harder to leave them when I have to move. So, it’s easier for everyone if I don’t get attached,” he admitted with a slightly sad smile. “Been on my own since I became this…never had a pack and my family died. So, I’m just a lone wolf I suppose,” another shrug and he looked down at his feet, his mind momentarily focused on the cracks in the concrete as they walked. <br/><br/>He had never thought too much about being alone before. Sure he was not dumb enough, to not notice, but at the same time he knew that he was lonely. That may be why he spent so much time up and going, it helped to fill the void that a friend would have otherwise filled.</span><br/><br/>There wasn’t anything she thought she could say that would properly respond to what he’d said. His life sounded...empty. While he may have had a passion for dancing, if you couldn’t have something else to do while you lived your abnormally long life, or even someone to share it with...it sounded like a depressing prospect. It may not be “forever”, but it was long enough to need someone there to share that life with. A friend, someone who knows the truth and doesn’t judge you for it. Someone who can be there for you as long as you need them and they need you.<br/><br/>“So...you just move from place to place? You don’t have anyone that you connect with and can keep in contact with?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">He gave a bitter laugh and smile, “Athan would be the only one and well you see how well that works out.” <br/><br/>A soft sigh and then he cleared his throat, “Sorry. I did not mean to be such a…<span style="font-style: italic">Debbie…downer</span> Is that right? I still don’t get all these Idioms. You know?”</span><br/><br/>For the first time since they started talking, she really wanted to give him a hug. And, after his comment about the idiom, she felt like the tension was broken enough to allow for that. Though she didn’t make him stop walking, she stepped closer to him and slipped an arm around him, leaning her head onto his shoulder for a brief moment before releasing him; With how large he was and how short she was, walking like that just wasn’t...feasible.<br/><br/>“‘Debbie Downer’ is correct, though I didn’t see it as that…” she replied. “I saw it as a friend...talking to another friend and getting things off of his chest that he doesn’t normally talk about.” Glancing up at him, her brows lifted, eyes curious. “Tell me if I’m wrong. I could be reading further into it, but I’d like to think we’re friends, even if our friendship is...unconventional...and you cheat to get more time with me outside the studio…”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">The hug was nice, welcomed and nice, which he found himself leaning more into her as his arm snaked around to hug her back. <br/><br/>“I cheat?!” his tone similar to the one he did in the diner. “How could ya say such a thing? I have only ever done the very best to spend time with my friend! To think you would call me a cheater! You’ve wounded me this day!” <br/><br/>Drama must be his middle name for how thick he was laying it all on. Maybe he should have looked into acting, rather than dancing?</span><br/><br/>“Of course you cheated!” she replied, thankful no one was around to see his performance yet. “You knew you’d be able to find me with no issue at all, and you bet for a guaranteed win! You knew there wasn’t a chance in hell you wouldn’t be able to find me, just as you’d found me at my apartment the day after we met; That, my friend, is c-h-e-a-t-i-n-g!”<br/><br/>Nudging him and slipping away from him, she narrowed her eyes. “And no amount of dramatics will change that opinion. You’ve wounded me, this day, my friend! That a friend would do such when all he need do was ask is offensive and deplorable!”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">He arched a brow and before she could even blink twice he was on his knees, “TEMPEST! WHY DO YOU FORSAKE ME SO? WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS? ALL I EVER WANTED WAS FOR YOU AND I TO BE FRIENDS! PLEASE DON’T DO THIS TO ME?”<br/><br/>This was all shouted at the top of his lungs while he knelt there before her, his face twisted up into one of despair and heartbreak. She really needed to not say there was no amount of drama that would make this work. He of course had to prove her wrong.</span><br/><br/>“Holy shit!” came a surprised remark, not even thinking as he dropped down to his knees and started shouting at her. Her face flushed, her eyes widened and she took several huge steps back. It took a minute to realize she either had to sit there and take it...or remove herself. And, just like the diner, she wasn’t about to stay there and listen to it.<br/><br/>Picking up pace, she walked ahead. “That’s fine, Colt! Make another spectacle. Your ploy to get me to recant has failed!”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">He grinned and with a bit of enhanced speed he was in front of her now on his knees as he clutched at her pants. “NO!! PLEASE DON’T LEAVE ME! WITHOUT YOU IN MY LIFE I AM NOTHING! TEMPEST! PLEASE!”</span><br/><br/>She stopped dead as he appeared in front of her, clinging to her for dear life as he practically screamed at her. A quick glance around, and a hand over her mouth to stifle the sound of surprise, and she was trying to shake him off.<br/><br/>“Colt! Quit! It! You’re going to make me fall over!”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">“JUST GIVE ME THE CHANCE! PLEASE! LET ME MAKE IT UP TO YOU!”<br/><br/>He shouted while he still clung to her, though in a lower tone he said, “Just admit this is working and I’ll stop.”</span><br/><br/>Had he not said the last bit, she would have given in. Her face was so red, it hurt, and her balance was wavering. But, with that last sentence, she kicked at him harder, willing him to shake free. “No! Not happeni-!”<br/><br/>While jimmying her legs, she started to fall, preparing to hit the ground...and instead hit him. Rather than thank him, though, she looked at him with narrowed eyes. “Are you quite through with your display?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">“How could I ever get done spending time with you?” he asked her with a smirked and stood with her in his arms. “Well, would you look at that….you weight absolutely nothing,” he chuckled and started to walk down the street with her in his arms.</span><br/><br/>She’d expected him to put her down, to allow her to keep walking. However, he was carrying her for the second time that day, easily so. His remark about her weighing nothing would have been scoffed at, but she’d seen him pick up a dumpster; after watching that...there was no way she weighed much in comparison. “That was pretty smooth of you,” she replied, rolling her eyes though there was a small smile that lingered. “Embarrass me, then swoop in and catch me (from your clutching, knelt position of course), and remind me just how chivalrous you can be when you feel so inclined. What should I expect next?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">“Icecream?” he said with a shrug. “I don’t know. Do you plan on going out with me for our brunch date tomorrow?” he asked.</span><br/><br/>“Our brunch<span style="font-style: italic">date</span>huh?” she teased. “Not just brunch...but our brunch date…Now, this wouldn’t be your way of trying to put the moves on, would it?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">He scoffed, “Please if I wanted to put the moves on yah I would just do it. And you wouldn’t be able to resist, not at all.” Complete confidence oozed from his words, along with a smile that did not seem to quit as he held her. “I merely said date ‘cause that is what it is. A prearranged meeting, aka a date. I mean if you want to date me you’re gonna have to carry me around or something. Maybe offer to feed me, you know treat me like a fucking prince!”</span><br/><br/>“Woah woah woah,” she replied to that. “Firstly, some of us aren’t beastly and can pick things up with no issue. I may be able to lift you, an inch off the ground, for a second...and then you’d be back on it; That’s as good as you’re going to get in the carrying thing. Second, ‘treat you like a fucking prince’? That’s an awfully tall order. I could treat you like a pauper, though! Give you table scraps and things. And thirdly, what makes you think I’d not be able to resist? That’s a bit cocky, don’t you think?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">“Nah. I’m just sayin that if you were to get my moves, you would be like putty in me hands,” he remarked in a boldly casual manner, though when he made eye contact with her his grin spoke of his intent to tease. “We should be a part in our dance where yah lift me up! That would be exciting, no?”</span><br/><br/>“I wouldn’t be putty in your hands,” she replied to that with a raised brow, confidence apparent. “Your lines wouldn’t work on me; Have you learned nothing at all since meeting me?” Then with a pause as she pictured the dance, she vehemently shook her head. “If you want to fall on your face and break it...then we can definitely make a part of the dance where I lift you up! Jump at me, and we’ll do the ‘Dirty Dancing’ lift. Whaddya say?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">“Love it!” he exclaimed simply. “Oh! Can I wear a pretty dress while I do it?”</span><br/><br/>“We’ll get one to match the bumps and bruises you’ll have after I drop you!” Tempest declared. “And we’ll do your makeup, to make sure you look your absolute best.”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">“I’m gonna looking fuckin gorgeous!” he exclaimed loudly and proudly, not even caring of the looks they received as they walked down the street.</span><br/><br/>Her nose wrinkled and her cheeks flushed as a hand hid her face. “Bleedin’ christ, you need to work on your subtly in responses. Do you have any other volume that isn’t ‘shoutin’ for teh world ta hear’?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">“NOPE!” he shouts and grins.</span><br/><br/>A hand clapped over his mouth. “Damn it, Colt! Ya makin’ me fuckin’ ears bleed and me face ache!” she chastised beneath her breath. “‘Sbad ‘nough we be stared at, but ya makin’ it worse! Fo’ me sanity, I beg ya, keep teh shoutin’ to a min’mum!”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">To get her hand off his mouth, or at he hoped that it would, he licked her palm.</span><br/><br/>“Ugh! ‘Sfuckin’ nasty, innit?!” Her hand was promptly removed and wiped on the side of his face before returning to cover his mouth. “Let’s try this agin. Keep ya bloody voice down, understood? Nod if we on teh same page.”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">Again without a care he licked her hand, after all he was a werewolf and the whole notion to lick another was not gross, but something that seemed natural.</span><br/><br/>It took everything in her not to take her hand away when he licked it a second time. She forced herself to keep it there for a few moments longer than she’d have liked, before removing it and drying it off on his shirt. “...Thanks for that.”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">“Anytime my dear, anytime,” he said with a laugh. It was about this time that he noticed they were at her building. “Well, here we are. Funny how time flies when you’re havin fun, huh?” he said as he opened the door and entered. “Now, do yah want me to carry yuh up the steps or want to cut me some slack and let me use the lift to take you upstairs?”</span><br/><br/>At his words, she glanced forward.<span style="font-style: italic">Huh...guess we are here…</span>she thought, almost shocked she’d not paid enough attention to notice they were in her neighborhood. But as they entered and he posed the question, she gave him a look. “Oh, no...No slack’ll be givin’ after all o’ tha drama’ics ya put me through today. Up tha stairs with ya!”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">“Yes ma’am!” he said and went to the stairwell, there he took the steps two at time until they reached her floor. Straight to her door they went and it was then that he finally set her down, “Here you are! Hope you enjoyed riddin with me and that you will consider me again for your next trip.” A slight bow was given before he handed over her bags, “I still want to see you in these at some point.”</span><br/><br/>How he managed to take the stairs two at a time while carrying her and her bags was mind-boggling, but he managed, setting her down in front of her door with a bit of a flourish. His remark had her picturing him in a flight attendant’s uniform, causing her to laugh before accepting her bags. “It’s the same things you’ve seen me in, but different colors; Maybe a few different styles.” A shrug. “I’m sure you’ll see me in them eventually during a rehearsal or something.” A glance down the hall and then back at him. “Will you be going back home, then? Or are you off to throw your dramatics at some other poor poor sap?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">“Well, without you at my side I won’t have anyone to dance with. So, I’m going to head home. Probably shoot some hoops before hitting the hay,” he said as he leaned against the wall beside her door. “We still on for tomorrow, or do you want to give it a day or so?”<br/><br/>It went without saying that he wanted to see her tomorrow, but he knew that today was not the best day. There was a lot for her to think about, a lot of her to still wrap her head around, but that did not stop him from wanting to fill that void that he knew was there in his life. That hole from the lack of any true friends or interactions he possessed.</span><br/><br/>That she had to think about. Part of her wanted to take the day or so to process what she’d found out today...but another part of her didn’t really want to be alone while she processed it. She no longer felt safe, secure. With him, despite what she found out...she felt safe. She still trusted him.<br/><br/>“...I think we’re still on for tomorrow, though I may be more lax to get out of bed, depending how I sleep tonight,” she finally responded, her eyes returning to his while she leaned against her door. “Are we going to the same place? Or someplace new so I can plan accordingly?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">“Same place, then maybe a walk through the park? Down to the pond where we can feed the ducks?” he said and then before he even let that idea set in he got another. “We could do a picnic? I could like get some stuff for us to eat and we can just enjoy the outside and all that stuff. What yah say?”</span><br/><br/>A mock groan and a hand covered her eyes. “Even more sun? You really are out ta kill meh!” Laughing, she dug her keys out of her pocket and nodded, the smile lingering. “A picnic sounds nice,” Tempest confirmed, pushing the keys into the lock. “You sure you can get home by yourself? Dangerous world out there, ya know. May need mah lack o’ guns to save ya.”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">“Aye, but you know if you came home with me it would be late. Then I would insist you stayed over, cause it not be safe for you to walk home,” he smiled a hand reaching out to push a strand of hair from her face before he pushed up from the wall. “I only have the one bed and I doubt you want to share it with my hairy arse,” he grinned. “If I get in trouble, I’ll send out the signal flare and then you can swoop in to rescue me, ok? Be my knight in shining leggings.”</span><br/><br/>Her eyes followed the movement until his fingers were too close to focus on, vision going blurry as he pushed the hair from her cheek. Surprisingly soft, the tips of his fingers were; Though they danced together and he was constantly in contact with her, she’d never paid much mind. Now, here was the soft gesture, and her smile turned softer with it, only to be laughed away in the blink of an eye. “Alright, sounds like a deal! You’ve got a flare gun in your back pocket, then? Otherwise, you’ll be shit outta luck, you will...No sayin’ what them group o’ fangirls’ll do ta ya.”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">He patted himself, “Well shit. I’ll just set something on fire and try to signal yah with some smoke. So, keep those curtains open. Even if the sun might burn yah a bit.” He teased and turned to leave, “Rest well, Tempest.”</span><br/><br/>She was almost sad to see him go, resisting the urge to ask him in. But, she needed the space otherwise she’d never get any sleep at all, an already seemingly impossible task. “You too, Colt. Sweet dreams.” Only when he disappeared from sight did she enter her own apartment, locking the door securely behind her and letting out a long, heavy breath. “...Definitely not going to get any sleep tonight.”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">The night came and Athan rose from his bed feeling good for the first time in a while. His new contact at the blood bank meant that he got the sustenance he required. Now, he had a lot of kissing up to do with Tempest so after he showered and dressed he tried to call her. It went straight to voice male as he expected, but he figured he would try anyway. Next plan of action was to just go and see her, which he presumed, would go over better if it was done on neutral ground. <br/><br/>A bouquet of flowers in hand he entered the rehearsal room, expecting to see her and Colt rehearsing. “Claire,” he asked one of the dancers. “Where’s Tempest and Colt?”<br/><br/>“They called out sick today. How are you feeling?” she asked him with a look of concern. “Granted you look better than before, but shouldn’t you still be taking it easy after that accident?” <br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">The both of them called out sick? Why would they…</span> He could not even begin to finish the thought as his anger took hold. <br/><br/>“Oh, yeah. I guess I’ll go home then. Thanks Claire,” he said as he waved at her and headed out the door. Though it was not home where he headed, instead he went straight to her apartment. <br/><br/>“Tempest?” he called out to her when he stood at her front door after he knocked. “You there?” Of course he knew she was there, because he could hear her heart beat, which fluttered as if she were scared. <span style="font-style: italic">What could she be afraid of?</span></span><br/><br/>After Colt had left, she’d done some channel surfing, her heart not feeling any sort of dance to pass the time. So, with her usual distraction means out of commission, she tried to find something to watch on the television, only to give up and sigh, staring at the blank screen. And, as the time ticked by, her mind went blank, eventually pushing up from her spot on the couch and padding her way back to her room to go to bed.<br/><br/>There she lay, watching the time tick by, hoping to feel the tiredness she had before she’d awoken early that day to hang out with Colt. She’d almost managed to nod off, too, her eyes having begun to grow heavy with nothing but the clock’s bright light to watch in her otherwise dark room.<br/><br/>...But the knock at the door had her jolting up in bed, eyes wide at the voice.<span style="font-style: italic">Athan.</span>She didn’t want to see him, didn’t want to be near him. What she’d thought she’d known of the man had gone out the window and in its stead remained a fear and the wall of lies she’d thought had been truth. Now, here he was, knocking on her door as she grabbed her phone and headed for the closet, shutting the door behind her, praying he’d go away.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Please go away, please go away…</span>her mind chanted over and over.<span style="font-style: italic">Go to the dance studio, go look for me elsewhere, anything...just leave...please…</span><br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">“Tempest!” he shouted as he knocked harder. There was brief thought that maybe Colt was in there that he had somehow managed to mask his presence from him. “Open the door!” he continued to knock hard. “Why are you hiding from me?” he pleaded with her through the door.</span><br/><br/>The shouting only got louder, the knocking following suit and she was shaking as the tears began to well up in her eyes. Her body shook, her hand clutched the phone tighter, as she shook his head.<span style="font-style: italic">Go away!</span>she silently screamed.<span style="font-style: italic">Can’t you take a hint?! I don’t want to see you!</span><br/><br/>But, the persistence had her panicking. So, she dialed the phone for the only person she trusted to call, trying to stifle the sound of her tears and sobbing, still stupidly clinging to the hope that Athan would leave.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">Colt had been in the middle of a solitary game of hoops, when his phone went off. A glance at the caller idea had him smiling, his happiness at the call evident in his voice. “Miss me already?”</span><br/><br/>His happiness was apparent, but ignored; completely missed, in fact, as her shaky voice started in. “H-H-H-He’s h-here!” she whispered in hysteric hushed tones. “H-He’s trying t-t-t-to get in! C-C-Colt, what-t do I d-d-do?! H-Help me, p-pl-please!”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">What happiness he had was instantly gone from the fear he heard in her voice, “I’m coming, ok? Just stay put I’m coming.” <br/><br/>The phone was disconnected then as he took off at a dead run for her place. Where it had taken them a good thirty minutes to get to her place, at his speed that time was cut down to a mere ten. <br/><br/>---<br/>Athan was not sure what it was about this that drove him into such a rage, but instead of trying to be cool and calm about this he just felt anger build and build. Just as the thought of breaking down the door came to mind, the keys in his pocket jingled which caused him to pause. “Tempest…” he said while he withdrew the keys from his pocket and slipped the one to her apartment into the lock. “I’m coming in…” the lock was disengaged and he entered. <br/><br/>Now it was time to pretend that he had no idea where she was, while he searched her apartment. “Honey…why are you hiding from me? All I want to do is talk to you…” slowly he made his way through her place. “I know I messed up yesterday and I just wanted to talk to you, to apologize and try to make it up to you…” he continued to slow search. “You missed rehearsal today…you and Colt…” he made his way into her bedroom. “You two spent the day together?”</span><br/><br/>The phone disconnected as she was about to beg him to stay on the line with her, clinging to it as though it were a lifeline. Back pressed against the wall of her closet, she listened to the sounds of the banging on her door suddenly stop, and then her name as the key was slipped into the lock and her heart’s pace picked up double time.<span style="font-style: italic">Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!</span>A quick glance around told her she didn’t have much in the way of protection with her; stilettos being the only thing that’d even remotely do any physical damage...but on a vampire? It’d be near useless.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">At least it’s something,</span>she told herself, grabbing one of them and gripping it hard enough to cause her knuckles to go white. That grip became tighter and tighter as his voice grew closer, as each step echoed through her otherwise quiet apartment. If he’d wanted to try and make anything up, screaming at her and banging on her door, only to stalk her out wasn’t working, nor was lying to her from the getgo! Sure, he didn’t know she knew yet, but she wasn’t about to go out there and tell him, either.<br/><br/>Relinquishing her hold on her phone, her feet braced against the door’s frame while she clutched tight to the door knob, pulling hard on it to make sure it didn’t go anywhere. His search would eventually lead him into her bedroom, and would eventually lead him to her closet unless she was lucky or Colt got there in time.<br/><br/>Somehow, though, she didn’t think she’d be that lucky.