Hayley

[thisismybar]

Ric was... happy. Being able to sleep with Hayley -and really just sleep, god knew the sex wasn't lacking- even with Damon acting as a guard dog, had been good for him. No new bodies turning up, not missing chunks of time, those were pretty good, too. They weren't quite enough for him to let his guard completely down, but he didn't think there was going to be a whole lot of sleeping going on tonight, anyway.

And if there was, well, tonight Hayley would be even more equipped to play guard dog and take care of him. Elijah's reassurance helped keep that one metaphorical and mildly amusing.

He dumped the last load of camping gear onto the ground, and looked up at the sky to check the weather. "I don't think we're going to have to worry about being rained on tonight, but we should probably set up the tent." Who knew what tomorrow would bring,and it would be easier to relax somewhere enclosed. And limit bugs.

Comments

[thisismybar]

"That movie made me terrified of monkeys for... years. The other aspects didn't, so much. Of course, I thought it ended when they got to the Emerald City the first time until I was about... nine." So years of monkey fear were much later in his life.

The talking animal thing didn't even occur to him as ironic. She didn't talk when she was an animal.

[littlewolf_girl]

She gave him a look, arching her eyebrow as she did that math and laughed. "...Did you just fall asleep before the end, or did your parents refuse to let you see it?"

Still looking amused, she bit into her s'more with a happy sound.

[thisismybar]

"I think I may have fallen asleep once or twice when I was young, and then decided that there was nothing else after that point. My parents probably encouraged that, though. Wouldn't want me to be traumatized by the big bad witch and her flying army." He rolled his eyes, fondly.

His life had gotten scarier, since then.

[littlewolf_girl]

"Dude, those flying monkeys were terrifying," she agreed with a mock-serious nod. They really had been. And if real...probably matched werewolves, at least.

Speaking of which--dusk was falling and she was starting to feel that coiling mix of anticipation and dread.

[thisismybar]

"Enough to have me still kind of creeped out by monkeys...." He glanced up at the slightly cooler breeze, and paid attention to the light around the fire. "You want to stay here, or hike out?"

[littlewolf_girl]

"I doubt you're the only one." Hayley reached for a third marshmallow, shrugged and gave him a wry smile. "The fire's nice. Might as well stay here."

There was still a little while.

[thisismybar]

"All right...," Ric agreed, soft and easy, and returned to eating his first s'more. "Is there where I fess up to having brought balls? Just in case rabbits don't show themselves?" He may or may not have been, very gently, teasing her. He did tease about that, but he was always a little careful. Maybe someday that would ease off, but for now. He liked her and wanted her to be okay.

[littlewolf_girl]

Hayley stared at him for a moment, and then burst out laughing. "Oh my god...you didn't, did you?"

She wasn't sure if she was absolutely delighted or horrified or some combination of both.

[thisismybar]

Ric grinned, broadly, and gave her just a tiny bit of a look with it. "We can't have you being bored...."

[littlewolf_girl]

"Well, no. I might try to chew on the tent poles," she returned, deadpan.

[thisismybar]

"Or play tug of war with the blankets...." He could think of some chaos that a wolf could bring about, but in all honesty he wasn't worried about it. She'd just seemed... really restless, last time, and he was limited by humanity in his ability to keep up with her.

[littlewolf_girl]

She gave him a smirk. "I really shouldn't think that sounds fun..."

A wolf in the tent would probably cause all sorts of havoc.

[thisismybar]

"Why not? Everyone likes to play, and if I remember right... you've got some energy to spare at the start. Lack of opposable thumbs doesn't mean you can't have a good time. We'd probably regret it in the morning, if we didn't have our bedding intact...." So, you know, balls. Sturdy rubber ones, admittedly, and they'd still get trashed, but they were still something to play with.

[littlewolf_girl]

She gave him a bemused look and shook her head a little. "I have no doubt you're right. And it's really kind of awesome you thought of it."

[thisismybar]

"I was hoping you'd see it that way, instead of as me taking a joke way too far," he admitted, with not a little relief. "But there's no need for you to have to slow down, just because I've reached my physical limits."

[littlewolf_girl]

She reached out and touched his hand. "I don't think it's taking it too far," she said quietly. "No one who wasn't a wolf has ever even...tried to think about how I might enjoy it, or have some fun, or...hell. Looked at me like I wasn't some kind of monster for it. You have no idea what it means to me."

[thisismybar]

"There are a lot of things I'm not proud of, but I like to think I have grown out of being a totally prejudiced dick...." Which was kind of what it came down to, for him. Actually, that was what it came down to, over all. The people he hated, he hated for a reason, what they had done, not who they were. Hell, he'd even managed to claw himself into a place of being overall pretty forgiving. He wasn't going to be volunteering to die, rather than fight back and defend himself against anyone, vampire or werewolf or not, but he wasn't... blindly hating, anymore.

Just... more specifically hating, and even that was fading a little as he was around Hayley.

[littlewolf_girl]

"There's a big gap between prejudiced dick and doing this much," she said quietly. "Most people wouldn't even think of that kind of stuff."

[thisismybar]

"Obviously, most people didn't want a dog as much as I did, when they were kids." He doesn't actually mean that, but he doesn't quite know how to handle the compliment, verbally. He reaches out for her hand and squeezes it, firmly, as he makes a slightly depreciating remark, though.

[littlewolf_girl]

Hayley stared at him for a moment, then laughed, shaking her head. "Well, I'm glad I can help you heal some residual childhood neglect."

[thisismybar]

That got to him, and he smiled. "You're healing a lot of things."

[littlewolf_girl]

She gave him a slightly surprised look, a little uncertain, though in a good way--just not sure what to do with that anymore than he'd been with her compliment.

"Good."

[thisismybar]

"And on that note-" He smiled, warm and relaxed again. Or trying to be, but maybe a little sheepish. "I want things to stay fun. For you, and for me. So far, so good. Mostly, anyway." He still hated that she had to be in pain to transform, though he really tried not to play that up. Just... grit his teeth through it.

[littlewolf_girl]

Her smile was a little wry, especially as the shivers were starting under her skin. She hated turning--loved being a wolf--but she'd give it up, if she could. To be normal. To not have to break every bone in her body twice a month. The few hours as a wolf were hardly a balanced payoff.

But being able to really enjoy those few hours was, at least, making the best of a bad deal.

Leaning in, she pressed a kiss to his lips, tasting chocolate and marshmallow, and trying to focus on the fun. "It's about time."

[thisismybar]

Even just being able to give her something, he supposed. Without that sire bond, he might not have even objected if she'd wanted to turn to avoid this, but since she couldn't, he was going to just... make the most of what it was, and do what he could.


"All right. Where do you want me?"