Finally Clean

“You’ve grown a lot since we’ve started talking, Gracey.”         “I don’t feel like it somedays”  “Let me tell you what I see” 

Marcella: want yo meet up for lunch?

Marcella: my treat.

he blinks at the sudden tint on her cheeks now, then a slight smile curves the corners of his mouth upwards. without another word, he lifts his own book and turns it slightly so she can see the cover. it reads the highly sensitive person by elaine aron. he sets it back down. ¨therapists are pretty silly like that,¨ he begins. ¨they get a book to do their job for them.¨

“Oh wait I love that book!” Gracey hummed, “That’s actually the reason I’ve started thinking about joining the pack and stuff here. That book taught me alot about myself.” With a nod, she couldn’t help the laugh. “They do really rely on books, don’t they.”  It was refreshing- hearing him talk about therapy too. Where as her relationship would’ve made her feel like she was the problem, she was crazy, she was broken for needing someone like that- this stranger hushed all those thoughts with a line that made her giggle. “Are you at least enjoying it? The book I mean.” 

~

It was just Grace, and yet Sage tensed when there were arms around him. He leaned away from her until she let go, quick to smile reassuringly, as if he hadn’t just fought the urge to shove her away from him when she’d hugged him. It was reflex, instinct, he didn’t like being touched usually. “Sage,” he said aloud, correcting the nickname, his cheeks going pink as he used his voice for the first time in a while. It wasn’t often that he did these days. 

“Right. Sorry, Sage.” It was moments like this that made her cringe, nodding a little at the correction. Sometimes she forgot that her siblings still dealt with a lot from their childhood. Grace felt guilty when he leaned away, stepping back a bit and nodding. She gets excited too easy, and she’s learning that touch is her way of showing and sharing that excitement and sentiment. With a second to recollect herself, Grace turned to the shelves, eyes wandering the books for a second. “You know, I have been looking for a new book to read... do you have any recommendations?”

~

Sage listened but didn’t offer input at first. Just listened, tried to see things from her point of view at all. She wanted a birthday party. He himself had never had one, had never really wanted one. The concept of a party, with a bunch of people surrounding him, made him almost nervous. It would be even worse if he was supposed to be the center of attention at something like that. Birthday parties definitely weren’t for him, but he could respect Grace having a different opinion. So he finally looked at her and smiled, nodding. I’d go, he signed to her, before moving to shelf some more books he’d been taking inventory of prior.

. 

Sage was always a point of good advice in her mind. He was wise, for an older brother. It was likely all the books he read after all. It was something that she admired about him. When he said he’d come, the girls face lit up, she couldn’t help the arms that wrapped his middle as a response. “Perfect, okay, thanks Sagey.” 

Gracey: Hey you!

“Sitting in a freezing van all day being rejected by strangers is very hard work, thank you very much.” And it was mostly strangers out, he had noticed. The locals weren’t much for wandering the streets these days…

Ezra rolls his eyes at Gracey’s confession, lobbing his most recent glove balloon at her face in retaliation. “You know if you want cookies you just have to ask, there’s no need to steal the ones I’m using to bribe people! Just for that, I’m gonna use the jumbo needle.” There is no such thing as a jumbo needle. He gestures theatrically to the deeply aged chair that the clinic had dug out of some storage room, 

“Your throne, oh Charitable One.” 

The wolf couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her, smacking the balloon away from her face. “You would’ve made me donate a kidney or something if I asked. C’mon now.” She laughed, moving to settle into the chair, pocketing a cookie as she walked past the tray. “You make a mean cookie, anyway. If this whole doctor thing doesn’t work out for you...” 

Open Starter | Ezra.

The annual blood drive was usually more successful then it had been this year so far, but then in previous years there weren’t ritual murders taking place in the woods, and it was a lot easier to pretend Salem was just some plain jane small town. The bucket of thank you cookies he had slaved over was largely untouched, and he hadn’t even had to dip into the second box of ‘i donated’ stickers. At present he was just sitting in the van, making balloons out of latex gloves and bored out of his mind, when a familiar face walked up.

“Oh I’m so glad you’re here- look, let me steal your blood okay? Maybe if people see you being a good samaritan they’ll follow suit! I’ll even give you two thanks for donating cookies, deal?”

“that must make you a saint.” he shakes his head at her offer. “i’m okay here, thank you.” without missing a beat, he glances at the book in her hands, his gaze igniting with curiosity. “what are you reading, if you don’t mind my asking?”

his body language mimics hers, relaxing as she does, shifting as she does. he doesn´t mean to do it, and they only move a few times so it´s not enough to notice. his nose twitches as she mentions his curse, not generally being one to discern what other people are for himself. he can, he´s just never seen a need for it. now that he focuses on his sense of smell he realizes that she, too, carries the curse. still, he should have known. someone as prominent as a mayor´s daughter shouldn´t have slipped past his radar, no matter how sheltered a childhood he might´ve had. ¨i´ve been here awhile, but i never really got out much until recently.  which you can probably tell. i´m b.¨ he offers, now setting his book down, not bothering to save the page. he´d memorized it already. ¨b. fishbach.¨

he fidgets with the corner of his own book´s page, his eyes darting from her face to his hands and back again. it´s a nervous tick he hasn´t grown out of. he´s never been the very best, socially speaking. it seems to be the only thing his transformation couldn´t mend all those years ago. it takes him a split-second too long to respond, and he notices it. ¨i don´t know,¨ he begins again, his subtle fidgeting continuing. ¨i think everyone´s entitled to a bad day every now and then, don´t you think? i swear i´m not hurt.¨

“Still- bad day or not, it doesn’t make it right. You could be having a day too and now I just yelled at you.” Grace hummed, moving now to let her feet dangle off the window sill. “Can we start over? You’re a wolf I can’t say I know. I thought I was finally getting to a place where I knew most in the city.” Without joining the pack that is. She was at least aware- and he seemed just as timid as she was. “I’m Gracey. Well- Grace, but most people call me Gracey. Either works on my end.”

@graceyaustere​

“I have two midterms this week, and a paper due on Monday, and a presentation on Wednesday, and my brain is fried, Grace!” Leo whines, pacing back and forth. “How was I supposed to know that going to school would involve, like, work??” He hadn’t even declared a major yet, just taking gen curses until he figured out just what he was going to do with his life, as if he had any inkling. 

“So my plan is: make one of those ransom notes, the ones with the letters all cut from magazines? Leave that in my dorm and then go into hiding in the woods for like three weeks. While I’m ‘kidnapped’, you set up a GoFundMe so people will donate to fund like, those sniffing dogs and candles for the vigil, whatever else people use to find kidnapped people. Like a month later I unkidnap myself and we split the donation money and wait for Netflix to ask about a 10 episode docuseries, and we’ll never have to work again. It’s foolproof!”

“You wouldn’t have any access to the internet the entire time.” The woman started, eyes rolling as she looked up from her book with a teasing smile. “No phone, no internet... We’d have to find a way to cover up your scent, Leo. And besides, I’m a terrible actor. My dad would see right through us.” With a pause, her book was closed, the wolf grinning now at her friend. “Who knew?” She teased, “Quit whining and work on your presentation. I’m here for you to bounce ideas off of, I’ll even let you practice.” 

he balks, not having realized his ¨quick glance¨ had turned into a stare. lips press together before easing into an embarrassed smile. ¨she did, i´m just not much of a learner,¨ he responds, hoping she´s too concentrated on her book to notice the red-hot flush crawling from his cheekbones to the tops of his ears. ¨sorry.¨

Her attention was now on him. He was new, not someone she would’ve seen before after all. She’d remember. He was funny too? A dangerous package. WIth a soft sigh at his apology, the guilt washed over her. “I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have snapped. Seems...hypocritical to preach manners.”