[that makes peter actually smile, although it's small and crooked.]
I appreciate it. Roman's more of a danger to himself than anybody else most of the time. He's gonna be real...himself about me having other friends, since that's a brand new development, but he'll learn to cope. He's not an asshole all the time.
[peter doesn't sound like he intends to give him much in the way of other options.]
Kinda vampires? Kinda not. And he doesn't know, so mostly it's not a thing. You seem to smell most of the shit that I can feel, so he probably smells like...something.
[peter pauses. it's a hesitation, pure and simple, and his next words come out slow, in the way that isaac might recognize as peter trying to articulate things he doesn't feel comfortable admitting.]
Roman's complicated. Has been from day one. You and me...you said it before. Not so complicated. I know Scott's back and all, and...
[he shakes his head.]
I'm a simple man at heart, is what I mean. Never gonna tell you that you have to stay, that's not how it goes.
[Isaac glances away for a moment at the words, kicking idly at the dirt. That's not exactly what he was hoping to hear, but he supposes he can understand the sentiment. Whoever Roman is, he's obviously important to Peter- and Isaac realizes that he's important too, somehow, but in a different way.
He thinks about Scott, about how their apartment can't really handle three people- and about this Roman guy, and what the ramifications of that could be. He doesn't know what his relationship with Peter is, not exactly, but it's not a stretch to imagine that Peter would want to be near him too. Anyone from home is better than nobody.]
I... I don't know. [Is what he winds up saying, because he doesn't want to go, but...]
He's- he's my alpha, and Roman is your friend from home, right? It makes everything... complicated, I guess.
[there's that hesitation, and then he forces the words out in a rush, pulling his hat off to tangle his fingers in his hair.]
I don't promise things, not in the way where it means any damn thing, because the only people who stick around are family. The only people who've never fucked me over or made shit harder are Rumanceks.
And you.
It's that simple. We made a deal and we have a deal till you call it quits.
[and that's something that peter's never offered anybody before.]
[Isaac's jaw clenches a little at that, and he can feel his heart thundering in his chest. He doesn't know what to say here- of course he has loyalty to Peter, but Scott is written into the very core of him now and he doesn't know how to reconcile the two of them with one another. And now there's this Roman guy, and Peter is sitting here telling him that this- that their relationship is more than either of them have really been admitting for a long time, and Isaac doesn't know how to deal with any of it.
His first reaction is frustration. Anger. And so he glances around them for a moment, before stepping closer, his fingers curled into firsts. When he speaks, his eyes are narrowed, jaw tense, and the words hiss out between his teeth, like a seething secret.]
This wasn't supposed to be a forever thing, Peter.
[There's a growl in his throat, and they're close enough now that the puff of his breath hits Peter's shoulder.]
None of this is supposed to be a thing at all, Isaac.
[peter's pulse is a rabbit-throb behind his breastbone, and he's far too aware of how close isaac is standing, the warm white puff of his breath and the twitching muscle on one side of his jaw, the rough of the tree against his back. his head is bare now and the cold is already burning his ears, but peter can't seem to move except to lift his head, to look up at isaac staring down at him. for the first time in awhile, he realizes that he has no damn idea what isaac is going to do, that if isaac decides to hurt him nobody's going to see him out here in the dusk. he should be more afraid of that than he is, but what he's actually afraid of is the other boy turning on his heel and stalking away. peter swallows, clenches and relaxes his jaw, and meets isaac's eyes.]
[Peter's reply pisses him off to no end- it's so nonchalant and casual, like he doesn't care at all, but Isaac can hear his heartbeat and the quickening of his breath. He knows that Peter is nervous, that he's scared- of what, though?
Yeah, there's an annoying urge to lash out, to hit him, but- but Isaac isn't nearly so impulsive anymore, and Peter has a point. A frustrating point, but it's true all the same. Neither of them had particularly needed or wanted one another, neither of them intended to become close at all. Isaac was just protecting Peter on the moon so that Peter could continue exerting his influence, keep Isaac calm so he didn't accidentally gut someone.
And then- then Scott left, then Isaac had nobody, then he asked to sleep next to Peter because it was better than being alone in Scott's old room, and somehow they just never really stopped living together, sharing the same space. It's shouldn't have been this easy to grow so close to someone, to get to the part where choosing to stay with Peter over Scott was even an option, but as Peter had so lightly put it, here they are.
You keep me safe, I keep you sane.
He's pissed. He's so irrationally angry that Peter is putting this decision on him, that Roman is here, that Scott is here (that Scott is different), and before now he just had to worry about Jesse taking a potshot at him, but now- it feels almost like it had back home, when Isaac had asked Scott what to do. Except he can't do that here, can he?
He reaches forward then, fisting his hands in the edges of Peter's jacket, feeling the teeth of the zipper bite into his fingers. Coming here, he expected Peter to hit him, to hurt him for fucking up his life so much. Now Isaac is the one who wants to start punching people.
At any rate, Isaac's eyes lift just slightly until he's actually looking at Peter again and makes up his mind. This complicates things even more, he knows, throws a giant wrench into their delicately-balanced social circles, but he doesn't care. He's impulsive, upset, and if he can't hit Peter because he fucking cares too much, then he's going to kiss him.
Which he does. Hard, angry, shoving him back against the tree in the middle of nowhere and just pressing their lips together like he's more likely to bite than he is to give anything remotely resembling a sweet first kiss.]
[peter's head hits the tree and it hurts, but he's busy reeling from the fact that isaac's got him shoved up against the tree and his mouth is pressed up against peter's hard enough that peter can feel his teeth behind his lips. this isn't on his mental list of things that could happen, until the instant it does, at which point it makes all the sense in the world.
his chest hurts, both because isaac's knuckles are digging into it and because he's totally forgotten about breathing. so he does that, all at once, a sudden loud inhale through his nose, and his mouth goes soft under isaac's as his hands come up to cradle the other boy's face. it's not a surrender, not exactly, because when his lips part, they part to try and catch isaac's lip with the flat of his teeth, not to bite but to cajole. it hadn't really occurred to peter that kissing isaac was something he wanted to do until it happened, and now that it's happening he wants to do it properly. isaac seems to be expecting violence but peter's not giving him that, not giving him anger or fear or rolling over and showing his throat, but offering him something different.]
[Isaac is too wild right now to submit and kiss him sweetly, kind as though that urge may be. His lips soften just slightly against Peter's though, lets the other werewolf have this much, before he pulls himself away a few quick moments later.
Peter's hands left his cheeks warm, makes the sudden return of the cold bite into his skin a little harshly, and Isaac takes in a deep breath and steps away, crossing his arms in front of him with a long shiver that he's not sure is entirely from the cold. His cheeks are flushed, lips a little darker, and he can't meet Peter's eyes so he doesn't even try to.
Fuck.]
-I'll talk to Scott.
[His voice is calmer than it was before, but a little hoarse now, breathless. Isaac belatedly realize that his fingers itch, his nails sharpening and pressing against his jacket sleeves where his arms are folded in front of him, so he takes a deep breath and pulls them back, closes the wolf part of him down, tries to find rationality again.]
He's been weird around me anyway- can't say I blame him, but he'll probably want to hang out with Allison. And if you don't want to tolerate Roman, he'll find his own thing too.
[suddenly all the pressure is gone, and peter almost stumbles forward when isaac pulls away and the cold rushes in between them. he feels dazed, confused, like gravity suddenly did a little shimmy to the side. it takes a second before he processes what isaac says.]
Okay. Okay.
[nothing has to change. that's a lie, but it's a nice comfortable sort of lie, the kind of lie that means they don't have to rethink everything. or too much, anyway.]
Roman's...I'm not leaving him alone, he can't deal on his own, but staying with us wouldn't work either. I'll figure something out for him.
[Isaac takes a deep breath and resists the urge to bring a hand up and touch his lips. He can taste him, just a little, and he- he knows that now isn't the time to think about it, now definitely wasn't the time to do it, but it's... calming, somehow.
Nothing has to change.]
I'll help. If you want, I mean. I'll probably be figuring stuff out for Scott too. [A pause, and then he finally looks up with a wry smile.] It's a shame we can't just shove them in an apartment together, right?
[the idea makes peter snort, and he shakes his head side to side a little.]
God, if only it was that simple.
[when he glances down he sees his hat lying on the snow, where he'd dropped it when isaac kissed him.
when isaac kissed him. jesus.
he bends down to pick it up, coincidentally mostly hiding the moment that his tongue flicks out to taste his lower lip. what the hell are they doing? peter can't even remember in the moment how they got from where they started to here, how he didn't really notice where exactly they were going until they arrived. he brushes the snow off of his hat, puts it back on.
nothing has to change. but isaac's calmer now, steadier again, and the clench in peter's chest is easing.]
We'll figure it out, yeah? But we should probably get home before it gets much colder.
[Isaac nods slightly at Peter's suggestion, only just now starting to realize the cold. His feet are sort of going numb, fingers still tingling from where they were tightened around Peter's jacket. He flexes his hands a few times to try and get the bloodflow back into them, waiting for Peter to gather himself up.
He doesn't mention it. He's pretty sure they're not going to talk about it. It's not going to be anything, just something that happened between them, just like Isaac never quite finding his own place, or Peter casually staying with him during the full moons. Isaac doesn't mind that, really- there's enough to think on right now.]
Yeah. I'm- actually pretty hungry. I still have to start cooking for dinner tonight, or else I'll go back to the welcome tent and just steal all of their cookies.
[it takes peter a second before he pushes away from the tree, shoves his hands into his pockets and falls into step beside isaac. this, he's pretty sure, will keep, at least until things settle. so he takes a breath that burns his nose and down his throat, tilts his head and offers isaac a hopeful, puppyish face. peter's not actually hungry, but that doesn't really matter.]
I think I brought some piece of...something...up to defrost. And we have eggs if you didn't eat them this morning, and some bread. That's kinda like a meal.
Oi, my stomach is just fine like 28 days of the month, thanks.
[but he twists his mouth, thinking.]
Baker will always trade for meat. The produce folks do too, but somehow I'm guessing he won't appreciate the rare and special gift of fruit. Alcohol is lost on you two, I don't really want to introduce him to the folks downstairs, too much to explain...
...cheese? Melty sandwiches are the best kind of sandwiches.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
freezerburned) wrote2012-08-21 10:00 pm
[action]
I appreciate it. Roman's more of a danger to himself than anybody else most of the time. He's gonna be real...himself about me having other friends, since that's a brand new development, but he'll learn to cope. He's not an asshole all the time.
[peter doesn't sound like he intends to give him much in the way of other options.]
And he's upir, but he doesn't know it.
[action]
[Because really, there's enough half mages and elves and supergirls running around the streets here, he can't remember everything.]
[action]
[he hesitates for a moment.]
If he's mad, though, don't look him in the eyes.
[action]
[Isaac sighs.]
Anything else?
[action]
Roman's complicated. Has been from day one. You and me...you said it before. Not so complicated. I know Scott's back and all, and...
[he shakes his head.]
I'm a simple man at heart, is what I mean. Never gonna tell you that you have to stay, that's not how it goes.
But it'd be good.
[action]
He thinks about Scott, about how their apartment can't really handle three people- and about this Roman guy, and what the ramifications of that could be. He doesn't know what his relationship with Peter is, not exactly, but it's not a stretch to imagine that Peter would want to be near him too. Anyone from home is better than nobody.]
I... I don't know. [Is what he winds up saying, because he doesn't want to go, but...]
He's- he's my alpha, and Roman is your friend from home, right? It makes everything... complicated, I guess.
[action]
[there's that hesitation, and then he forces the words out in a rush, pulling his hat off to tangle his fingers in his hair.]
I don't promise things, not in the way where it means any damn thing, because the only people who stick around are family. The only people who've never fucked me over or made shit harder are Rumanceks.
And you.
It's that simple. We made a deal and we have a deal till you call it quits.
[and that's something that peter's never offered anybody before.]
[action]
His first reaction is frustration. Anger. And so he glances around them for a moment, before stepping closer, his fingers curled into firsts. When he speaks, his eyes are narrowed, jaw tense, and the words hiss out between his teeth, like a seething secret.]
This wasn't supposed to be a forever thing, Peter.
[There's a growl in his throat, and they're close enough now that the puff of his breath hits Peter's shoulder.]
[action]
[peter's pulse is a rabbit-throb behind his breastbone, and he's far too aware of how close isaac is standing, the warm white puff of his breath and the twitching muscle on one side of his jaw, the rough of the tree against his back. his head is bare now and the cold is already burning his ears, but peter can't seem to move except to lift his head, to look up at isaac staring down at him. for the first time in awhile, he realizes that he has no damn idea what isaac is going to do, that if isaac decides to hurt him nobody's going to see him out here in the dusk. he should be more afraid of that than he is, but what he's actually afraid of is the other boy turning on his heel and stalking away. peter swallows, clenches and relaxes his jaw, and meets isaac's eyes.]
But here we are.
[action]
Yeah, there's an annoying urge to lash out, to hit him, but- but Isaac isn't nearly so impulsive anymore, and Peter has a point. A frustrating point, but it's true all the same. Neither of them had particularly needed or wanted one another, neither of them intended to become close at all. Isaac was just protecting Peter on the moon so that Peter could continue exerting his influence, keep Isaac calm so he didn't accidentally gut someone.
And then- then Scott left, then Isaac had nobody, then he asked to sleep next to Peter because it was better than being alone in Scott's old room, and somehow they just never really stopped living together, sharing the same space. It's shouldn't have been this easy to grow so close to someone, to get to the part where choosing to stay with Peter over Scott was even an option, but as Peter had so lightly put it, here they are.
You keep me safe, I keep you sane.
He's pissed. He's so irrationally angry that Peter is putting this decision on him, that Roman is here, that Scott is here (that Scott is different), and before now he just had to worry about Jesse taking a potshot at him, but now- it feels almost like it had back home, when Isaac had asked Scott what to do. Except he can't do that here, can he?
He reaches forward then, fisting his hands in the edges of Peter's jacket, feeling the teeth of the zipper bite into his fingers. Coming here, he expected Peter to hit him, to hurt him for fucking up his life so much. Now Isaac is the one who wants to start punching people.
At any rate, Isaac's eyes lift just slightly until he's actually looking at Peter again and makes up his mind. This complicates things even more, he knows, throws a giant wrench into their delicately-balanced social circles, but he doesn't care. He's impulsive, upset, and if he can't hit Peter because he fucking cares too much, then he's going to kiss him.
Which he does. Hard, angry, shoving him back against the tree in the middle of nowhere and just pressing their lips together like he's more likely to bite than he is to give anything remotely resembling a sweet first kiss.]
[action]
his chest hurts, both because isaac's knuckles are digging into it and because he's totally forgotten about breathing. so he does that, all at once, a sudden loud inhale through his nose, and his mouth goes soft under isaac's as his hands come up to cradle the other boy's face. it's not a surrender, not exactly, because when his lips part, they part to try and catch isaac's lip with the flat of his teeth, not to bite but to cajole. it hadn't really occurred to peter that kissing isaac was something he wanted to do until it happened, and now that it's happening he wants to do it properly. isaac seems to be expecting violence but peter's not giving him that, not giving him anger or fear or rolling over and showing his throat, but offering him something different.]
[action]
Peter's hands left his cheeks warm, makes the sudden return of the cold bite into his skin a little harshly, and Isaac takes in a deep breath and steps away, crossing his arms in front of him with a long shiver that he's not sure is entirely from the cold. His cheeks are flushed, lips a little darker, and he can't meet Peter's eyes so he doesn't even try to.
Fuck.]
-I'll talk to Scott.
[His voice is calmer than it was before, but a little hoarse now, breathless. Isaac belatedly realize that his fingers itch, his nails sharpening and pressing against his jacket sleeves where his arms are folded in front of him, so he takes a deep breath and pulls them back, closes the wolf part of him down, tries to find rationality again.]
He's been weird around me anyway- can't say I blame him, but he'll probably want to hang out with Allison. And if you don't want to tolerate Roman, he'll find his own thing too.
[There's a pause, and Isaac swallows thickly.]
Nothing has to change.
[action]
Okay. Okay.
[nothing has to change. that's a lie, but it's a nice comfortable sort of lie, the kind of lie that means they don't have to rethink everything. or too much, anyway.]
Roman's...I'm not leaving him alone, he can't deal on his own, but staying with us wouldn't work either. I'll figure something out for him.
[he swallows, leans back against the tree.]
Yeah. Nothing has to change.
[action]
Nothing has to change.]
I'll help. If you want, I mean. I'll probably be figuring stuff out for Scott too. [A pause, and then he finally looks up with a wry smile.] It's a shame we can't just shove them in an apartment together, right?
[action]
God, if only it was that simple.
[when he glances down he sees his hat lying on the snow, where he'd dropped it when isaac kissed him.
when isaac kissed him. jesus.
he bends down to pick it up, coincidentally mostly hiding the moment that his tongue flicks out to taste his lower lip. what the hell are they doing? peter can't even remember in the moment how they got from where they started to here, how he didn't really notice where exactly they were going until they arrived. he brushes the snow off of his hat, puts it back on.
nothing has to change. but isaac's calmer now, steadier again, and the clench in peter's chest is easing.]
We'll figure it out, yeah? But we should probably get home before it gets much colder.
[action]
He doesn't mention it. He's pretty sure they're not going to talk about it. It's not going to be anything, just something that happened between them, just like Isaac never quite finding his own place, or Peter casually staying with him during the full moons. Isaac doesn't mind that, really- there's enough to think on right now.]
Yeah. I'm- actually pretty hungry. I still have to start cooking for dinner tonight, or else I'll go back to the welcome tent and just steal all of their cookies.
[action]
Ooh? What's for dinner?
[action]
Nothing for you unless you help me.
[action]
Yeah, I know.
So what's for dinner?
[action]
I dunno. Jerky? We still have more meat than we know what to do with in the freezer.
[action]
[action]
[He pauses though.]
We should get something for Scott. I mean, it's his first day here.
[action]
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[but he twists his mouth, thinking.]
Baker will always trade for meat. The produce folks do too, but somehow I'm guessing he won't appreciate the rare and special gift of fruit. Alcohol is lost on you two, I don't really want to introduce him to the folks downstairs, too much to explain...
...cheese? Melty sandwiches are the best kind of sandwiches.
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