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]

He reached down to take the ball out of her mouth, without missing more than a step or two, stroked his hand along her back and then threw it again. At least this way she was getting far more exercise than him. Which was at least part of the purpose in having a werewolf play fetch, after all.

[littlewolf_girl]

She went racing off after it and was gone a bit longer this time as she got distracted chasing after a rabbit. She didn't catch it--wasn't really trying that hard--and went back for the ball, taking it back to him finally, panting just a little bit.

[thisismybar]

When she came back breathing hard, Ric smiled to himself. "That's better," he said, picking the ball up and just holding it, but continuing to walk.

[littlewolf_girl]

She looked up at him with a tilt of her head, then bumped into him again, before setting into an easy pace, catching her breath.

It was a few minutes later when she froze, ears flicking, and growled softly, teeth bared and every muscle in her body tensed.

[thisismybar]

Ric froze in place when she did, but not for long. He very slowly started to move forward, thinking that anything out here was more dangerous to her than him, even if that didn't quite make sense beyond being scared shitless of Klaus and hybrids.

[littlewolf_girl]

There was a rustling in the trees and Hayley's fur bristled. Then Damon stepped out of the shadows, hands up a little.

"I didn't mean to startle..."

Hayley snarled and lunged, past Ric and toward the vampire, teeth bared as she knocked him to the ground.

[thisismybar]

Ric had just enough time to recognize that Damon was there, and then Hayley was in motion. "Hayley! No!." Got all but shouted. Ric carried on forward, put both hands on her and, after a moment, more or less deliberately shoved his arm in front of her face.

[littlewolf_girl]

Damon had not expected to get jumped, and it showed in his face. Only Ric's being there probably kept him from fully engaging, trying to throw her off of him, but she froze at Ric's voice, froze more at his touch and though it was a near thing did not actually clamp her teeth down on his arm.

Which probably said a lot about how fond she was of him.

She was still snarling softly, though, tense in his arms and gazing at Damon like she'd very, very much like to rip his throat out.

"...I thought she liked me!" Damon said, watching her teeth warily. He really didn't need to have to go make another bargain with Klaus, even if he liked to think Elijah would get him the hybrid's blood without too much fuss. There had to be some advantage in having an Original with a crush on you, right?

[thisismybar]

"Yeah, but Hayley's not really completely in there." He tugged lightly at Hayley with the hand he wasn't using to keep between her teeth and Damon. "She'll probably be embarrassed in the morning. Sweetheart, he's a friend, not food. Back up for me." He was talking mostly just to talk, and trying to be calm.

But it had scared the shit out of him.

[littlewolf_girl]

Shockingly, she listened, or responded to the tug, moving back off of Damon who scrambled to his feet and backed away. Hayley growled low in her throat and shifted a little to turn Ric so she was between him and Damon. She never took her eyes off the vampire, though.

Damon swallowed and didn't take his eyes off of her, either. "I probably should have asked before thinking I'd see what a playful werewolf looked like..." And, okay, he'd been a little worried about Ric.

From the way Hayley was shielding him, he, at least, felt better that she wasn't actually a threat to Ric.

[thisismybar]

"She's fantastic at fetch...." He was trying to figure out what the odds were of getting around her, and thinking that the odds were probably not high. "Are you okay? She didn't get you anywhere, did she?" Then considered it was Damon. "Take off your shirt."

[littlewolf_girl]

Considering she was trying to back him up, farther away from Damon, her fur still bristled--he was probably right about that.

"I'm fine," Damon said, not taking his eyes off her. "Not a scratch, definitely not a bite, and I'm thinking that if you want to get me naked, Ric, now is really not the right time."

Hayley growled, seeming to agree with that sentiment, though, really, just warning the dead thing away from her human.

[thisismybar]

"Okay, but if I find out later that you're hiding something from me, I will kick your ass into next year." Or, you know, be really upset and disappointed. "I hate to say it, but... you might want to get out of here. Maybe come back early tomorrow morning."

He didn't want Damon to go, so much as he didn't want his girlfriend to eat his bestfriend.

[littlewolf_girl]

"I'm not," Damon promises. "You stopped her..." He trailed off and gave Ric a look. "Did you really give the wolf the vegetarian 'friend not food' line?"

He was tempted to crack up, but when he moved at all in Ric's direction, Hayley snarled. "Um, yeah...I'll come back later. With coffee or other piece offerings."

Like maybe he should've gotten Stefan to catch her a bunny first to bring tonight.

[thisismybar]

He put his hand on Hayley again, when she snarled. "I'll see you in the morning. We'll all bond some more and you can mock me about reciting Finding Nemo to a werewolf." Because seriously, he couldn't believe he'd said that, himself. If he'd ever done anything truly mock worthy, that was probably it.

[littlewolf_girl]

"You'd better believe that's coming," Damon said with an arch of an eyebrow. He gave Hayley a wary look, because running seemed a bad idea. Instead he backs away slowly, back into the shadows. "Good wolf, nice wolf...See you in the morning..."

Hayley didn't go after him--Ric had said no--but she was still trembling with tension.

[thisismybar]

Ric held onto her until Damon was out of sight, then slowly dropped down to kneel with one hand still on her neck. "You're protective. It's very sweet, but that really wasn't necessary."

[littlewolf_girl]

Hayley stayed tense until she couldn't hear Damon anymore, though his scent was still bothersome. She whined a little at Ric's comment and finally leaned into him.

It was totally necessary. The vampire could have hurt him.

[thisismybar]

Ric crouched down so he could massage her neck and stay close to her, trying to comfort and reassure her. He was temporarily out of the words, but since those were mostly for him figured it didn't much matter. Touch and petting seemed more likely to work for the wolf, as reassurance, than words anyway.

[littlewolf_girl]

Hayley leaned into him and the petting, letting the feel of his hands on her start to calm the shivering upset. Eventually she butted her head into his shoulder and nudged him so she could snuggle into him like she had back at the campsite.

[thisismybar]

He wrapped both arms around her, but kept petting. This time he did murmur, "Good girl" before he caught himself. He could pay for it tomorrow morning. For now, his goal was reassurance and... it seemed the thing to say.

[littlewolf_girl]

Hayley the girl might give him a look for the murmuring, if she remembered, but the wolf didn't mind. She snuggled for a few more moments, then shifted away, just to urge him up as she started pushing him in the opposite direction from which Damon had come and left.

[thisismybar]

Ric stumbled along the first few steps, before he got in gear and started walking, properly. "I'm going, I'm going."

[littlewolf_girl]

Hayley stayed close, guarding him, until she couldn't smell the dead thing anymore, then looked up at him with an inquiring little whine, finally relaxing again.

[thisismybar]

Ric didn't get the message, though he did smile when she recognized. "Timmy's in the well?"

He was. Going to hell.