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.

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[thisismybar]

He frowned a little, but only thoughtfully and only trying to put feeling into words. "Because I'm as worried about making sure Damon is okay, as I am about you. "

[littlewolf_girl]

"Ric...he's your best friend." She smiled and gave him a bit of a shrug. "This has been fast and intense and I know you care about me, but...he's your best friend. It's okay. I get it."

In theory. She hadn't really had a lot of close friends but Ty in a while.

[thisismybar]

"I think I'm so busy trying to keep things honest and making sure no one feels like they're being left out that I'm turning it into an issue for myself. Just promise you'll say something, if you need to...."

It looked to Ric like she and Damon might get there. That was a pretty good feeling, actually.

[littlewolf_girl]

She arched an eyebrow at him. "Um, yeah. I really think you are. I mean...he gave me a place to live. He bought food for a kitchen I'm pretty sure hasn't housed it for ages. He's your best friend--I'm fine with that, and...he seems okay with me, now, so the only person stressing is you."

Hayley wasn't certain about the actual friend thing, just because...neither of them were good at that, but. Maybe. Signs seemed positive.

[thisismybar]

"The reason I'm stressing it now," he said, mildly, "is because you nearly ate him last night. Not a bad thing, definitely reenforced that you liked me and wanted to protect me, but still just a little unsettling, Hayley."

[littlewolf_girl]

Hayley stopped abruptly, as her look shuttered, closing down. "That had nothing to do with liking him or not, or any conscious, human desire to hurt him. It was instinct and surprise. It'd be like starving him for a week, then slicing someone's wrist and holding it under his nose. No way he doesn't bite. If I'd known he was coming, been prepared, and he hadn't just appeared, I wouldn't have attacked him."

She still probably wouldn't have liked the whole situation, though, honestly.

[thisismybar]

"I know. I'm not upset with you, and I certainly don't blame you or think it was a calculated response. That doesn't mean it didn't shake me a little, or make me think that both of you are a little rattled, too... Makes me want to go right back to trying to balance and check in with everyone." Or mediate, or something. It was a scary moment, and that's just the long and short of it. Probably had been scary for Damon, too, and obviously bothered her in retrospect.

[littlewolf_girl]

He could say he wasn't upset and didn't blame her, but she still wanted to cry, mostly because, yes. She was rattled. And she didn't want to hurt his friend and she even kind of liked Damon, but really...he was Ric's best friend, and Ric mattered to her. She frowned a little and moved toward the stream silently. Really, she wasn't sure if she was supposed to apologize again or assure him she was fine, but ignoring it had happened was working for her, because if she didn't think about it long she wouldn't freak out.

[thisismybar]

He followed along with her, but he couldn't think of anything to say that he hadn't already said. Did he regret saying it? A little, but at the same time being told he was making himself insane for suddenly no reason wasn't something he could leave alone, either. It wasn't ideal, but it was the flipside of him not walking on eggshells about joking with her, and the fact that honesty was supposedly a good thing and even if it wasn't he didn't much like lying.

So he walked with her, stayed close as she headed for the stream, but kept his mouth shut for the moment. A subject change would occur to him, eventually, or something would come up. In the meanwhile, it was a pretty morning, even if he was feeling a little raw, too.

[littlewolf_girl]

Denial was a really strong coping mechanism for her. Not the healthiest, maybe, but--it was easier to get through life if she didn't examine too closely things that she'd done. That always led back to the dead body of a friend and a wrecked living room, and then she'd spiral into a place she tried really hard to stay out of most of the time, usually by shrugging things off or making light of them. They were the facts. She couldn't change them. Why dwell?

Almost biting Damon was something she had been trying to file away there, so used to the compartmentalizing skill she honestly hadn't realized why he was upset, because it was easier to focus on the part where she and Damon kicked back with bourbon and popcorn and bad B movies about vampires and werewolves to mock on nights Elena or Jeremy needed Ric time. Now guilt was nagging at her, even if there'd been nothing she really could have done differently--she hadn't bitten him and...

She pushed it away, taking a breath and went ahead and just stripped out of her clothes when they got to the stream, figuring there'd be a lot of splashing to get washed up and not wanting to drench them.

[thisismybar]

Ric hung back a little, giving her some time and space. Then he started to take his clothes off, fold them neatly and set them aside. He wasn't doing it with the expectation of sex, just of getting cleaned up a little, himself, and staying with her. He realized he'd upset her, but that didn't mean he was going to dash off.

He got his clothes set aside, and then waded into the cold-ish, moving water.

[littlewolf_girl]

The cold water was invigorating, washing away the last of the fog from the transitions and shifting the residual aches with the slight shock of it. It wasn't that deep, not much higher than her thighs, but it was enough to make it easy enough to scoop up higher in a makeshift bath.

Taking a breath to clear away the mental cobwebs, or push them back, again, she glanced over at him and gave him a little smile. "It's not too cold for you?"

[thisismybar]

Ric followed her in to a similar depth, though a little lower on him. "As long as no one makes jokes about shrinkage...." It wasn't pleasant, his testicles might have to be coaxed back out of his abdomen, but the bracing cold wasn't all that bad. It was a good wake-up, at least. Though he was not eager to crouch in that water, he did it anyway, all at once and then went flat under it. All at once and over with, because it needed doing.

[littlewolf_girl]

She was about to say something about him not having to worry about shrinkage--even if it happened, he'd still be impressive--but then he was ducking under the water and she had to shiver a little. But he had a good idea about getting it over with and she suspected she had dirt in her hair that needed getting out, so she followed his lead, ducking under and coming up sputtering with a tiny yelp, even though she'd done it to herself.

"Oh dear god..."

[thisismybar]

Ric came up, gasped for air and then momentarily stopped breathing entirely, because holy shit cold really could steal your breath and it had. He gave her a sort of wide-eyed look, not shivering because his muscles had temporarily looked up, and since talking was out of the question nodded, instead. He looked ridiculous, he was pretty sure. He was also pretty sure he didn't care.

Talk about commitment to clean. On both their parts.

[littlewolf_girl]

She was really impressed at his commitment--he hadn't been running around with fur all night, didn't have a transformation to shake off. She bit her lip, though, in a kind of giggly amusement at the shock she was feeling and that on his face.

"You don't have to stay in..." She hadn't brought any soap, but she set to work scrubbing off with water and, with another duck down, a little sand. The more she moved the faster her body adapted, both human and with wolf reactions.

[thisismybar]

"I know," he said, voice strained, though he didn't get straight out. Instead he did a decent job of scrubbing his face off, rinsing out his mouth and ducking again to at least work his hands through his hair. Then he got out, and promptly shivered like hell.

[littlewolf_girl]

Hayley adjusted, though the cold still felt sharp. It probably just brought her body temperature down to a more human level. She didn't linger, but she did rinse out her hair one more time and the sand off of her and took a long drink from the water before moving to join him on shore.

She took in his shivering and moved to wrap her arms around his neck, pressing close. "Towels might've been a good idea..." she said with a laugh.

[thisismybar]

He slid both his hands down her back and over her ass and thighs, pushing water away as he went, but also pressing her in even closer and... shivering. "Never even occurred to me," he admitted. "Or clean clothes. Use my shirt, maybe?" For her. He had less hair to soak up water. Assuming he could convince himself to let her go anytime soon. Which was, quite frankly, a bit of a stretch.

[littlewolf_girl]

Hayley hummed a little at the touch, even though he was shivering, and tightened her arms around him, happily sharing the body heat she had left.

"I'd say we should add that to the list for next month...but it's going to just keep getting colder from now on..."

She wasn't sure how she felt about him being out all night as fall set in and winter came on.

[thisismybar]

He held her tightly and unapologetically leeched the body heat she had left right out of her. "We're probably going to need to skip the cleaning up. Or camp closer to the creek and have a good fire going before we start." It never even occurred to him that he should stay home when it was cold. That's what clothes were for. Right?

[littlewolf_girl]

She smiled a little that he immediately went for a solution that meant still coming out with her. "If we desperately need to clean up, we can always go the spongebath route with water heated over the fire, too."

Really, sometimes she came out of the whole thing a bit messier, especially if hunting got involved, though she is so not saying that, not after the negotiation back to okay they seem to have managed.

[thisismybar]

"Might be a better idea in the dead of winter.... Though until then, it was an awfully good way of waking up." Not pleasant, granted, but he was definitely not asleep anymore, and since the air was warming that was getting better. Enough for him to push a lock of wet hair behind her ear, and kiss her temple warmly. Admittedly still mostly emotionally warm, but he was getting there.

[littlewolf_girl]

"I'm certainly not sleepy anymore," she agreed, head tilting for his kiss, her eyes falling closed. She took the opportunity to press a kiss to his collarbone, lick off a droplet or two of water there. Not being completely sure how okay they were, it wasn't so much a move as a touch, but she needed little things like that to connect, so.

[thisismybar]

Ric rubbed her back lightly, head tilted just a bit to the side to make it easier for her, and just held her. He needed the connection, too and more than that- he wanted to offer it to her. "Not going to say it's better than coffee... but it's more effective."