primrose & rain

“It doesn’t count if it’s not under my name, right?” Sev tries to be as pliant as possible as she pulls and tugs on fabric and limbs, not exactly the easiest thing to do but he manages for her sake. At least she seems placated as she finally steps away from him. He’s hardly spared a moment to look at himself before she’s tugging him along again and his legs are moving to keep up. “I’d rather not put on a show,” he comments but still follows along with an unfamiliar posture to his shoulders. “What even is a silk fan booth?” He’s never heard of such a thing but has a feeling he’ll soon find out anyway. “I hope there’s alcohol for both of us at the end of this.”

“Well I for one can say I’m relieved you came back,” Sev replies with a small nod and chuckle. “Can’t imagine where else I’d hide out when I forget my keys.” Still he glances around them and it’s not hard to tell the bustle of people gets him out of his comfort zone. “Always been more of a lone wolf myself, still dipping my toes back in.”

There’s a cold chill that spreads over him at the sound of Sebastian’s name spoken to him-- Very few people know the connection between them. The one smart thing he had done as a parent was make sure his son didn’t share his last name. Looking up he’s only slightly relived to see one of the middle school teachers he only barely recognized. “It’s Sev,” he comments offhandedly, finding himself more busy kicking sand from his shoe before he’d meet her gaze again. “We met at a teachers conference once right?” Thank goodness politeness was nearly second nurture by now. “Look, he doesn’t live with me so--” He trails off with a shrug. “Keep wandering the festival and maybe you’ll get to ask him yourself.”

“You’re not serious are you?” Sev asks incredulously with a laugh, the noise slowly dying out as he realizes she’s very serious. “You’ve never been in a truck before?” He gives a shake of his head before reaching over to pop open the passenger side door. “No seat belts but it’s either up here or in the bed and if you haven’t been in a truck before you’re not ready for a ride in the back.”

The tall omega is quiet for a moment before he shakes his head with a laugh. "You have me there, I’m at a loss for when I would ever wear this.” There’s an awkward shuffle as Sev makes a first attempt at ‘straightening up’. Recently between his occupation and just relative laying-low attitude he’s been working hard at making himself smaller-- Invisible almost. Clearly an impossible task. “You know looking amazing kind of also comes off as pretentious on me so let’s be careful with what we’re all going for here.”

“Hmm-- Oh, no it’s alright, thank you. Trust me, it’s lighter than it looks.” Sev brushes off the other wolf as they offer him assistance while be begins to load it into his truck. “Just a gift for an upcoming birthday. Figured I’d leave it here rather than carry it around.” Stuffing the box into the bed of his truck he closes it up before offering a hand. “Sev, by the way.”

The water was warm, having heated up under the sun throughout the day and it had been far too long since Sev had indulged himself in a leisurely swim. Turning back towards the shore he drew his hands through the water as he called out to the other wolf. “Well? Are you going to stand there all day or are you coming in?”

“Sorry-- Was that question directed towards me?” Looking around for the first time after being so enamored with the book in his hands, Sev realized they must be since they was hardly anyone else around. A quick outstretch of his hand and a glance towards the watch at his wrist he glances back to the other wolf. “About twenty past noon. You’re not on a time schedule during the festival are you?”

Sev couldn’t help the chuckle that left him as the other wolf stopped him just before he left, inquiring as to where he was going. “I dunno why you’re so worried about me.” He gave a small shrug with a gesture behind them towards the beachside festival. “Surely there’s plenty of fun out there even without me.” He breaks with an authentic laugh. “Joking-- I’m parking the truck closer to the beach. Wanna ride?”

“Well, I can tell you with absolute certainty that you’re downright terrible at poker.” Reaching out for the deck on the table, Sev shuffled once more with deftness-- A tell for how long he’d worked at it. He paused before dealing out another hand, reaching for the glass of cool beer on the outdoor table they were seated at. “Aren’t you grateful now that I said no to playing with cash?”

“Surely there’s a better time and place for all this don’t you think?” Sev’s practically begging at this point, pride be damned as he trailed behind Iris like a lost dog. “I mean that color? You can’t be serious.” Here he was thinking he’d done himself a fine job cleaning up for the festival only to earn himself an immediate eyeroll from the beta as soon as she saw him.

“At some point I’m going to just assume this town will take any excuse to have an event.” Sev holds a hand up for a moment before the other wolf can jump in. “I get it-- The changing of the seasons and what have you. It’s hot and the music’s loud.”

Another chuckle leaves him at the beta’s comment, head shaking slightly as he sips from his drink. “I’ll consider the old fashioned quip a compliment and politely thank you.” Sev makes it pretty clear that he’s humored and not at all offended by the probably very-accurate statement. “But no, not close enough to draw a sweat. I try and be a little more creative than stashing money away in a mattress-- First place people look these days, isn’t it?” A smile reaches his lips at her comment and he feels happy for her, perhaps a little envious too but it’s nothing more than a passing notion in his thought process. “Something tells me we would have gotten along just great ten years ago.” Not to say they weren’t getting on well currently but his spark had certainly simmered. Sev can’t stop the laugh that leaves him at the idea of being compared to Capote. “I may not look like it but I have a wild streak in me-- Now I just keep it locked within the pages of a book. Besides, it’s the grim and dirty that sells better I’ve realized.” He can’t help the chuckle either as her attention is captured suddenly by the conversation of his books. “Of course I use a pen name. Can’t have just anyone learning all my secrets now can I?”