riot

“puppies?” marley arched a brow and smiled, shaking her head lightly. “what is it this time of year and everyone wanting puppies?” she says in jest, because shane didn’t know that she’d just talked with ryder and nyx about this obviously. “right, so that’s why keeping you out here for too long threatens all of the snow just freshly made. you’ll melt the city.” she tells him, before she’s looking back to the snowflakes she formed to grow a little bigger so the details could be seen more easily in them. being around shane wasn’t walking on eggshells, she knew they went too far back for that shit, no bullshit, she wouldn’t sugar-coat what he already knew wasn’t right or pat him on the back for things they knew were, but she also knew shane in a way that let her see him even when she wasn’t looking with her eyes. “think you know you don’t owe me an apology and we both know corey can handle her own business without me being in it.” marley tells him, shaking her head a bit because she preferred, like nyx, to stay out of corey’s matters, especially trivial ones. “you could have though, you realize that? died, i mean, not simply but that’s something that worse case could have happened.” it was, but thankfully it hadn’t. “i dunno, shane, this place….it’s not boston, it’s not….even new york really, i mean geographically sure, same place, a bit lower, but it’s not…’up there’ and you….your head is ‘up there’. it’s been a long time since i’ve see the ‘up there’ in you.” her blue eyes redirected back to the snowflakes and she held them up higher, a smile on her lips. “find one you like…and we’ll make sure it doesn’t melt.”

his eyes were watching the snow fall, before his head turned to look at marley, a soft shrug of his shoulders given, a smile upon his face.”lucy jackson gave me her stuffed bear, told me she hoped i was havin’ a good day. so shiloh and i thought it would be sweet to give her a puppy for christmas as a thank you, and ‘cause you know, christmas spirit.” he tells her, before raising his eyebrow at her.”who else has been talkin’ ‘bout puppies, eh?” he asks her the smile still upon his face. he was always comfortable talking to marley, never felt like she was trying to get at him, or talk down to him. even when he did something like this, she never treated him like a child, or someone who needed to be fixed. she just talked to him, like he was a normal person. it relaxed him, didn’t make him feel like he should be walking around with his tail tucked between his legs all the time.”yeah i know. just wanted you to know though, eh? ‘cause...” he shakes his head, eyes still looking over the snow, before he’s hearing her next words, a deep breath leaving his lips, one that you could see in the air.”i know that. i was afraid of that, didn’t want shy seein’ me dyin’. i couldn’t do that to her.” he tells her, shaking his head at himself for even risking his life like he had, for a possibility of leaving shiloh here without him. hands were shoved in his pockets, his eyes looking over the snowflakes, as he listens to marley’s words.”don’t get me wron’. i ain’t livin’ in the past, really i’m not. not like i was b’fore shy you know? it’s just...i don’t know. i don’t want to put it down on the holiday’s, don’t want shy to feel like..i don’t want her feelin’ like i’m still missin’ somethin’. ‘cause i ain’t. it’s just hard. seein’ children, runnin’ ‘round ‘ere you know?” he knew he didn’t have to explain, because he knew marley knew him well enough to know where his thought process was going. he felt bad though, clinging onto the life that had passed when he had a great life here with shiloh. it was nothing against what they had or what they could possibly have in the future. it was hard for him around this time of year, with all the holidays that were around. he was hoping if shiloh and himself ever had children, that she wouldn’t go through losing one, he’d make sure she was well looked after, and well rested.”got to me more than i probably knew at the time.” he tells her, eyes looking to the snowflakes she was creating, a soft smile playing on his lips, pointing to the one in the middle, the one that seemed to sparkle so much more than the others, vibrant colors could be shown, and he just knew.”that one.” he says without hesitation, before looking back at marley. he wasn’t surprised that she could get one of these things not to melt. she was gifted, and not just by the power that she had. marley was just a gifted person.”don’t know what i’d do without you, mare.”

“Hydraulic press, welder, 3-D printer… just to name a few.” Sidney pulled out a a cigarette from his front pocket, pulled out his scuffed zippo from the same pocket and quickly lit the end. “I’m trying to weld together a baby grand piano.”

“pretty sure they had those thing’s up top, eh?” shane asks, shaking his head at the redhead, before his blue eyes were looking over the supply of screwdrivers. someone had locked him out of his place, and he really only needed one guess to know who it was. not that he blamed her or anything. she definitely made each day a fun one.”well don’t think you’d need a hydraulic press, or a 3-d printer, bro.” shane mumbles, fingers moving over screwdrivers, trying to remember the screws in the door, because if they ain’t a flat headed screw then he didn’t need a flat headed screwdriver.

“I mean, that’s a start.” Rolling his shoulders a bit, trying to push out an ache that had settled there. “I’m a lot older than I look. I choose not to dye my grey hair, because I’ve found that women and men find it attractive. Yes, I am curious, only because there are so many different people in the world, why wouldn’t you want to get to know who you can.” Lifting his gaze to the sky, he took in a deep breath. “We are only on this earth for so long, why not meet people and be part of new experience.” 

shane wasn’t the type to get to know anyone. if people wanted to open up to him then they could, but he wasn’t the type to put his nose in other people’s business that just wasn’t him at all. sure he had plenty of things in his closet, but he wasn’t about to share them with anyone. his answers could be as vague as he wanted them to be while still giving them enough of whatever the fuck they wanted out of him. he hadn’t met much wolves in his time, shane preferred being on his own, he had his pack with shiloh, that’s all he needed her and the nolan family were his pack. he didn’t need to go running around with other wolves or any of that. he preferred to stay where he was. he wasn’t a pack person, but at the end of the day to shane a pack was a family, and he already had that family. didn’t mean he thought roman was here to try to start a pack, in truth he didn’t know what the older male wanted, and that’s what put shane on edge, that’s what made him uncomfortable.”consider yourself a player, eh? goin’ ‘round bein’ charmin’ to everyone, possibly gettin’ laid ‘ere and there?” he asks not judging him but just curious as to why that information was shared to shane really.”’cause sometimes people odn’t want other people getitn’ to know ‘em. they prefer stayin’ in their own world’s, ‘cause it’s safer there. stranger danger and all that fun stuff.” he says shrugging his shoulder’s lightly before he was shaking his head.”we’re surrounded by vampires, we ain’t dyin’ any time soon. as lon’ as vampires are around that ‘ave us shiftin’ then yeah we’re stayin’ as youn’ as possible.” that was the case with shane though, he wasn’t particularly well versed in the werewolf spectrum of things, and why would he be? that wasn’t his species at all.”and with the sprin’ water ‘ere, once again we ain’t goin’ to be dyin’ off any time soon. you can understand why your sudden interest in me has got me a little uncomfortable, eh?”

“I believe so. I have the rest is at my dwelling.” That sounded stupid. She drew out the last word like it was almost a question. Ronnie had been so used to the Fae Realm of speaking and society that she forgot that normal–humans– just call it home. She walked up to the clerk and traded her items for a few pieces of copper she managed to get from her roommate. “I’m just ‘round the corner. You are more then welcome to join me in my second attempt at brownies.”

he just nods his head at her words, before shaking it at her.”nah i’m good. got to head back and get the place decorated for christmas.” he tells her. clearly she hadn’t heard him, and shane wasn’t going to be around someone who didn’t listen to others, but preferred to listen to themselves talk. she can talk to herself in front of a mirror for all he fucking cared. after all. it was his fucking idea to do another batch of brownies with her, it was why he was here with her in the first fucking place. but his excuse wasn’t a lie. he wanted to decorate the place with shiloh, put up lights, and a christmas tree with her. so that’s what he was doing, because he’d rather be around someone who heard him, than someone who just heard themselves.

seeing shane put marley at a deeper level of peace, even knowing there were topics she’d breach with him eventually; she wasn’t in a hurry to. she heard her sister’s name and smiled over to shane hearing what he was up to out here at this hour. “might be able to help with you that. how is little bird?” marley ran into her from time to time, or shiloh into her, and through the years she found herself always looking to know she was alright. marley knew she was always that with shane around and she knew the extent of that bond enough to trust in it and take it for gospel because it was. “keep melting? you run a bit higher in degree than most, mr. wolf.” she smiles, turning her fingertip in a gentle rotation to make the snowflakes dance and coil around her cooler skin. “want to work on something with me?” she asks, bringing the collection of snowflakes up and guiding the ice crystals to expand and grow a little more so that their details could be seen more clearly. winter-blue eyes looked to shane and she figured he knew, but on a topic that was nothing as lighthearted, she wanted to talk to him. “how are you feeling? any better?” she hoped so.

there was nowhere to begin when it came to marley. his longest friendship was with her. she knew everything, saw every dark thing in his life, knew every dark piece. she stood beside him, helped him. saved him. he was grateful for his friend who he considered family the moment they started talking, growing that friendship, building that foundation. she was the constant in his life before shiloh. always someone there when he needed her. just like he was there for her. though she didn’t need him as much, he wasn’t the one she needed to turn to. he wasn’t bitter about that, in more ways than one would think, he was happy, because she found her person, or persons to turn to. and then shane had found shiloh, and the minute their eyes had connected he felt that imprint happen, and he couldn’t be without her. no matter what she chose, him being her friend, or more, he would always turn to shiloh.”yeah? she’s good. been helpin’ me get better. her shops doin’ well. went to look at puppies the other day for a little girl.” he says, smiling softly at marley. it was strange. before shiloh, shane considered marley his family, and with shiloh? they were becoming family. one day they would be family through marriage. but that was still just a thought in his mind.”yeah it does. damn wolf. can’t i just be a normal temperature?” he asks with a light chuckle. though he wasn’t complaining, he just wanted to bring it back to shiloh. he watches the snow around her fingers, always loving how her element worked, how they seemed to be one, and then his blue eyes look at winter-blue and he nods his head as he shoves his hands into his pockets.”would love to work on somethin’ with you. what you got in mind?” he asks her, before he’s nodding his head.”yeah. ribs healed up all nicely, just the venom that sucked, but thankfully that’s out of my system now. felt like i was goin’ to die.” he tells her, before shaking his head.”i am sorry, you know? i didn’t mean to lose my temper with her. didn’t mean to push her to that point.”

Sidney stepped aside as him and Shane came to the miscellaneous parts shelves. “Er– yeah.” He ran his hand through his hair and leaned on the the shop wall, his arms crossed over his chest. “A few repairs from have the ‘quake keeps my hands busy. I also like some of the toys they got here.”

shane stepped into the garage, blue eyes looking around him. he had tools of course he did, but sadly, the door they’re behind, so he needed another screwdriver to get to his own.”toys?” he asks, turning around to look at sidney, a raised eyebrow given to him.”what toys?” 

snow flakes dance still danced around her fingertips as she stared up at the flurries drifting in the air. elementals were just starting to bring the sun up over lackluster, tinting the city in a rising gold light that was bleeding into the black above her and taking over. the snow kept a smile on the hybrid’s lips, soft like it was falling, marley would pause her quiet steps to study a storefront window of a shop just to add crystalline frost across the glass. “someone’s up early.” she says, after hearing steps in the snow behind her. marley was marveling at the unique shape of each snowflake that danced and coiled around her fingertips so it was a moment before her eyes moved up to find the person. 

he was out in the snow, trying to catch the perfect snow flake to bring back to shiloh. though the sad part about this was, every time he caught one, it melted. a defeated breath left his lips, as he stuffs his hands into his pockets, boots kicking at the snow as he walked. it wasn’t the first christmas he had with shiloh. that christmas had been a long time ago, but it felt like yesterday to him. he was smiling at the thought. shiloh surprising him with christmas decorations around the house. how she managed to do that, was beyond him, but it proved that shiloh was a special someone, his special someone. he could smell her scent, before he heard her, blue eyes looking up to marley, seeing what she was doing, and a soft smile played on his lips as he approaches her, eyes looking to the window, watching what she was creating.”uh yeah. tryin’ to catch a snowflake to give back to shiloh.” he says shrugging his shoulders lightly.”ain’t goin’ to well, i’m afraid.” he tells her, his hue looking at her through the window.”you always make this place look stunnin’. you know that?”

the history between her and shane, it spanned and it hadn’t been shadowed a single day since the beginning. “pretty sure you don’t have to worry about that stopping. if i feel it is i’ll let you know so you’re not surprised by it.” she teases, a soft stroke of her tongue pulling her bottom lip into her mouth before they were moving from the shop and she was locking it up behind them and stowing her keys back into her pocket to wrap her arm around the small of his back instead as they walked. past was behind her, but not shane, he was past, present, he was future clearly because he still stood right beside her through years and here she was too. shiloh couldn’t imagine days when he wasn’t here, part of her knew there would be days when he wasn’t and call it intuition now, but an inkling had her staying close to his side, her had blue eyes looking up to him like she might be able to see why she felt that way. she was only met with his smile and a press of his lips to her temple. “always plenty of that, it’s just better for you when you’re feeling good.” clearly, him being sick wasn’t something she liked but he looked so much better than he had so it was warmth spreading under her skin now as they walked. “i dunno, are you? i bet so.” she smiles, turning her head to kiss his shoulder, making way with him towards the shelter in eridanus. she hated breaking it to him that santa wasn’t real and she could see the disappointment in his eyes that she’d kept that from him for so long, but all she could do was smile and purse her lips guiltily. “i did my best, i did what i thought was best for you, but you’re too old shane, you’re getting up there.” she chuckles, scrunching up her nose while watching their steps pressing into snow. she loved it, the snow, the cold, the white of it and the way it looked blue in the shadows; she just wished she could run her fingers through it without feeling it melt on her warmer skin. “seems to me you and this santa who doesn’t exist are in league together making plans about me and i don’t know what to think now.” her smile spread wider, her arm around his waist hugging herself closer to him, while her boots dug for a little traction on the snow like she could actually use human strength to pull him down to the ground. pretty positive she wasn’t capable of it but she tried by jumping on his back. 

he didn’t regret anything when it came to shiloh. not their past, not their present, and he knew that he wouldn’t regret their future. she was always there when he needed her. they were inseparable right from the word go. they started out as strangers, that just hung out a lot, to friends, to best friends to girlfriend and boyfriend. he really couldn’t have it any other way. she was the best thing to come into his life, and he didn’t take that for granted. he never took her for granted.”as much as i do like surprises, i’m glad you ain’t goin’ to give me that one.” he says with a chuckle, his arm still around her shoulders as they continue to walk. he smiles at her, and her words, before kissing her head once more.”i definitely prefer doin’ that when i’m feelin’ better. ain’t much good to you bein’ sick, eh?” he says to her. it was the truth though. he didn’t want them doing anything while he was sick, because he couldn’t do much, he couldn’t move with her. though she couldn’t get sick from him, he just didn’t want it to be a one way street.”just know that i’ve missed you this past week, shy. bein’ sick is horrible.” he tells her, smiling at her still. he couldn’t stop smiling, she had that effect on him. as she kisses his shoulder, he kisses the top of her head once more, before he’s pouting softly at her.”i’m a grown man, i could of taken it, you know?” he asks her, before he’s giving her shoulder a soft squeeze. it was a strange thing to joke about, considering shane never believed in santa claus on the account that he never got any presents around christmas. one year he made sure he helped out a lot, with donations and helping the homeless, just to make sure he wasn’t on the naughty list. but still, nothing came for him. it was then he convinced himself that santa wasn’t real.”santa and i are best pals. we’ve got so much lined up for you.” he whispers to her, feeling the snow under his boots, his blue eyes look down at it. he loved snow, mainly because it was colder, so he didn’t have to feel like he was overheating to anyone else. though down here it didn’t matter, because everyone knew what he was, and he didn’t have to hide it. he felt shiloh jump on his back, surprised by this, shane hadn’t even gotten his footing right, and they both landed in the snow, a chuckle leaving his lips, before he’s grabbing snow just to dump on her hair lightly.”you want to roll ‘round in snow, shiloh?” he asks her, before he’s dumping more on her chest this time.

The words spilled out of Ronnie’s mouth in a babble, before she realized what she said. “Oh, um–” Her eyes flicked from Shane’s face to her belly. “Yes.” Her voiced wavered like she as unsure of her answer. “He didn’t make it full term.” She exhaled. As the walked to the end of the aisle, the blonde bent down and reached for a metal wire basket. She dropped the items in. Her mind flashed back to day of her son’s death. She can still hear the clucking tongues of the midwives as they held the lifeless human half-ling. The poor human that did not belong in their realm. She cleared her thought before she spoke again. “As much rest as I can stand…or sit.” A light laugh was her feeble attempt the lighten the mood. “I was never one for staying idle for long.”

he couldn’t stand here while they were on this subject. it was a hard topic for him, even now, even after all this time, and the only person he felt comfortable speaking about it to was shiloh. of course marley knew, but that was because she was around the time it had happened, when mother and child were murdered in front of his eyes, in an act of vengeance. though some might be comfortable talking about it, okay with talking about it, shane couldn’t. and he could tell by her lack of eye contact, and how her voice was low, that she wasn’t okay with it either. so he didn’t say anything on the subject, didn’t offer up condolences, because they did nothing for no one. it didn’t make the pain easier, didn’t make the nightmares go away, didn’t make the child come back to life. it did nothing, and so he wasn’t going to offer her anything.”best make sure you get rest though. need that baby to come out alive.” he wasn’t being harsh, it was the truth. mother’s needed rest, as much as they didn’t want that, it was tough for them. the child can’t speak to them, can’t tell them anything. they needed the rest for the child to come out. it wasn’t his, so he didn’t have a say in the matter, but after losing one, he thought she’d do everything she could to make sure that didn’t happen again. though he knew she was trying to lighten the mood, it was too late for shane, to late to smile and laugh it off. just didn’t seem right at this point.”got all the ingredients you need then, eh?” he asks her, blue eyes going to her.

“No, that’s not the case at all. I’ll talk to anyone.” It was true. The wolf was a pretty social person, to an extent. And he liked to meet various people, though he liked to make connections with other wolves more than anything. “Not in particular. Just wanting to get to know other people.” He said with a bit of a smile. “Just tell me about yourself.” 

“and what happens when people just ain’t up for talkin’?” it wasn’t like shane to talk about himself. it was different with shiloh, because he loved her, knew her for a long while, and even then when he talked about himself he was very hesitant to do so. it took him a long while to really tell her about himself, about his home life, though he gathered roman didn’t need to know about that, or wanted to know in any case. shane didn’t do well with men older than him, or just men in general. especially when they just wanted to get to know him for no apparent reason. though roman seemed friendly, with the life shane had, it just wasn’t something he was comfortable with.”was born in boston, used to be a cop.” he starts, a soft frown appearing on his face, because he really didn’t know what the guy wanted to know about him. usually there was something specific, here there didn’t seem to be.”i seem to be more comfortable ‘round women than i am with men.” he says honestly, shrugging his shoulders as he does.”is that what you wanted to know?” he asks, his blue eyes curious on the older male.”and what ‘bout you, eh? what should i know ‘bout you? aside from you bein’ a very curious wolf?”

“Ah.” Sidney said with a dreaminess in his voice. “A present, for your bird.”He laughed at his own pun. The merman learned his English swimming around the docks of British Kingdom and the from the sailors on the ships that he would “crash into jagged rocks.” You know merdude stuff.

“for my girl, yeah. she ain’t no bird man.” fucking english people and their weird fucking accents.”also for my door.” he adds, wanting to get off the topic of shiloh. he wasn’t one to talk about her, preferred keeping her safe from people, and honestly, shane pissed a lot of people off, that he didn’t want her to be a target or anything. not that she would be down here, but you never know, do you?” been busy lately?” he’d assumed he would be, what with the quake and all of that, people coming in here needing a few things.

“Is it wrong to take interest in the life of another werewolf?” He questioned with a bit of a shrug. “I don’t see anything wrong with just talking. We all co-exist in the same area, so why not talk?” 

“so if i weren’t a wolf, you wouldn’t be taken that much interest in me then?” he asks, shaking his head, hands began to fidget as he looks to the other male.”but what exactly do you want to talk ‘bout? must be somethin’ you want to know, or ask.”

“Egg shells are not toxic.” She smiled sweetly resting her arms on the swell of her belly. “You would have lived.” 

Ronnie walked along with Shane grabbing the ingredients for brownies (and swiping a bag of pistachios as she passed by. “These cravings will be the death of me. Lately it’s been honey in milk, and pickles ‘n cheese. I was pregnant before. Then, all I ate was bread, treacle and marzipan.” Now in her hands she had a half pound of flower, six eggs, coco powder. All she needed was some more butter (she used the last of it on her toast and eggs this morning). “I’m at the end of my first trimester.” She stopped and asked for him to grab the butter.

“’ave you ever had one stuck in the roof of your mouth? they’re fuckin’ sharp.” he tells her, watching as she rests her arms on her stomach, and he turns to continue tidying up a bit, so they could start from scratch.”never know. i might of died from havin’ egg shells lodged in my throat.” he says chuckling softly at her.”ain’t nothin’ wron’ with honey and milk, eh? my ex wife used to ‘ave that all the time when she couldn’t sleep. tell you; she went right to sleep after it. oh so you already got yourself a child then?” he asks her, before he’s grabbing some butter when she asked, nodding his head at her words as he came back and handed the butter over.”make sure you’re gettin’ plenty of rest then, eh?”

“Oh yes, don’t you know it’s my favorite pastime?” the hybrid winked, taking a seat next to Shane as he continued to hold onto the bear. it wasn’t as though Sloane was really trying to kick him while he was down since the while incident, this was just her way and that sometimes got her into trouble. She eyed the bear lovingly, noticing all the wear and tear on the fur that showed it was loved. “Do you really think the mom will come back for it?” She asked, logically thinking that the woman might think it’s a lost cause on where the bear could have ended up and not try searching for it, “What if you are here for days?” 

“i’m not in the mood, sloane really.” the shifter huffs out, rolling the teddy bear around in his palms, before he’s watching her take a seat next to him, making him groan inwardly. he really wasn’t in the mood. after the shit that went down, how crappy he was still feeling because of the venom. the fact he has no idea yet on the consequences of his actions. yeah, he really wasn’t in the fucking mood for her.”yes. ‘cause she loves the shit out of this teddy, and she’s goin’ to be draggin’ her ma back ‘ere to come and get it.” he tells her, blue eyes looking around him.”if i’m ‘ere for days, means she’s fine with me havin’ it. but it won’t last days. why the interrogation, sloane?”

“I do believe I’ll be going on about ten years in this place. I think.” Roman tried to recall the exact date he’d shown up at the gates of Lackluster, the times not quite coming back like he’d like them to. “What sector are you part of? I’m certain I haven’t seen you around Perseus before.” 

“you seem to be enjoyin’ it, eh? call it home?” he asks the older male, before he’s shaking his head.”orion. just came ‘ere on business.” he mutters. though it wasn’t a complete lie, he had things to take care of here, but still. he wasn’t about to get into that.”why so interested?”