Aric Rinehart is a boy CONTROLLED by the moon; he is at mercy of its
ever changing magic, pushing the tide this way and that, pushing the
werewolf's mood in various directions. He can't quite tell when it's going
to hit him. For the most part, he can be calm, quiet, introspective ----
confident in a simple way, in a way in which he doesn't draw attention to
himself. There are times when he's playful, when he's more relaxed, more
easy to be around -- and this is the Aric that Melanie has come to know
quite well. This is the Aric that he wishes he could be all the time.
But right now, that's not the Aric that he is. Right now, he's angry, he's
upset, he's feeling nothing but negativity -- he thinks about Rod, about
the rival pack, about his lack of a family, of anything resembling it. His
girlfriend is his one ray of sunshine, but right now, he can't even think
about her -- doesn't want thoughts of her to be anywhere near this version
of himself.
He'd forgotten that she was going to be here, or he'd simply lost track of
time and hadn't realised she would be here so soon. He doesn't even
notice her entry as he's being very much not her Aric. Fists clenched
and bloodied as he hits the wall, as pieces of shattered mirror sit on the
floor around him, already being pushed out of his wounds to heal. He
doesn't want her to see him this way, with his swirling rage and distraught
emptiness -- but it was going to happen eventually.