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]

"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.

[littlewolf_girl]

Her head tilted a little, studying him, not understanding, then reached up and nosed at his pocket.

Where the ball was.

[thisismybar]

Oh. Well. He pulled a face, but a sheepish one, and got the ball back out. "Sorry. Your attention span's better than mine...." Which said nothing good for him. But he tossed the ball up, caught it again, and then threw it away from himself and into the woods. Also away from the direction Damon had gone.

[littlewolf_girl]

They'd been having fun. She wanted to have more of it. She was, admittedly, a little loath to actually go after the ball once he threw it, though, since it meant leaving him alone. So, she ran fast, really a blur, to get it and bring it back, pressing close once she was, and looking around warily.

[thisismybar]

Ric rubbed her behind one ear, and took the ball gently from her. "Sweetheart, I promise, he's not coming back. It's okay."

[littlewolf_girl]

Hayley looked less than convinced and huffed a little, staying close. Reaching up, she delicately grabbed his shirt in her mouth and tugged a little, then loped off, before coming back and doing it again. He should chase her, obviously.

Away from the vampire.

[thisismybar]

That Ric was bright enough to figure out. The second time she loped off, he did chase after her. Less wariness than when they'd done this, last. He'd gotten confident that doing something like making a grab for her wouldn't get him bitten, or worse. She'd developed some trust in him, and the reverse that he'd developed trust in her.

[littlewolf_girl]

She didn't run as fast as she could, of course, but she stayed just out of his reach, slowing until he almost caught her, then darting off again until she'd led him on a loop back around to the camp site where she proceeded to use the chairs as obstacles, tail wagging as she gave him a legitimate chance to catch her, finally.

[thisismybar]

He was laughing by the time they made it back to camp, and laughing hard enough to be out of breath (at least when combined with running). He laughed even harder when she started dancing around the chairs and wagging her tail, but didn't stop. Just made one final lunge for her that was, regardless of success, going to plant him in the dirt.

[littlewolf_girl]

She let him grab her, though when he landed on the ground she wriggled away and then danced back to him, nosing at his cheek.

Possibly she was laughing a wolfy laugh, too.

[thisismybar]

He turned his head toward the nose, and made another loose grab for her, really more to get his hand on the back of her neck and scratch again. "I like you happy...."