#knifcdge

fuck,  fuck,  fuuuuuck.  this  was  bad.

god  surely  had  it  out  for  him,  or  why  else  would  he  be  punished  like  this  on  a  sunday  night?  when  the  only  store  open  was  ....  way  too  many  blocks  away  to  be  counted  as  safe  distance.  but  he  had  no  choice.  if  he  wanted  to  get  through  his  heat,  then  he  had  no  other  choice.  face  flushed  -  it  was  still  early  stage,  but  he  was  crashing  fast,  he  found  himself  a  sweater  jacket  to  tug  on,  did  a  quick  shirt-check  to  make  sure  he  wasn't  wearing  a  shirt  with  too  many  stains  when  he  left  home,  because  ...  well,  he  could  always  run  into  someone  &  while  charlie  didn't  really  speak  with  anyone  who  wasn't  the  cashier  ...  ever,  he..  didn't  want  to  look  like  the  next-best  hobo.  didn't  he  anyway?  hair  an  unruly  mess,  fingers  shaking  as  it  fiddles  with  his  wallet.  money  stuffed  into  the  pocket  of  his  jeans,  shoes  were  pulled  on  with  trembling  fingers  taking  way  too  long  to  tie  the  laces,  which  was  exactly  why  he  preferred  velcro,  but  ...  he'd  have  to  go  out  to  pick  new  shoes  up.  going  out.

he  ..held  in  front  of  the  door,  hand  on  the  knob  &  waited.  deep  breaths  to  try  &  calm  himself  down  at  least  some  before  he  pushed  out  through  the  front  door.  the  sun  was  setting  already,  though  charlie  didn't  mind  the  darkness  ...per  se.  who  was  he  kidding?  it  did.  charles  was  afraid  of  everything,  including  the  darkness  &  the  dangers  of  the  night.  but  the  urge  drove  him  through  the  dim-lit  streets.  one  foot  in  front  of  the  other.  "you  got  this.  y-you...  you  got  this."  did  he  speak  to  himself  often?  well,  he  wouldn't  say  often,  but  ...  sometimes.

the  journey  to  the  store  was  ...  quite  the  adventure.  he  almost  pissed  himself  when  a  wolf-boy  suddenly  leapt  out  from  a  bush  right  as  he  walked  past  it.  glowing  eyes,  fangs  &  claws,  thinking  he  was  funny.  he'd  jumped  so  hard  his  slender  tail  popped  out,  though  thank  god  for  the  darkness,  so  that  nobody  had  to  see  the  embarrassing  display.  one  foot  in  the  store,  he  thought  he  was  safe  -  at  least  for  a  little  while.  the  bright  artificial  light  was  blinding,  but  he  knew  where  he  had  to  go  &  usually  he  would've  been  fine  too.  but  ...  as  fate  would  have  it,  someone  had  spilled  soda  on  the  floor  just  recently  &  the  cheetah  didn't  notice  until  his  feet  were  gliding,  balance  long  gone  &  sending  him  tumbling  into  a  shelf,  bounce  off  it  &  into  someone  standing  right  by  it, fingers dug into ....a shoulder(?), desperate not to fall.

Tyler was waddling around the shore when he saw another kid coming in with their parents. He got excited, looked at Sebastian who nodded at him, and ran to the kid as best as the 12-year-old could. He was always excited when other kids came to the lake so he could play with them. Most parents, despite their looks, didn't mind and let the kids play together as long as Sebastian stayed away so he tried to give Tyler space to create friends and stayed away just keeping an eye on things.

Not today though.

The parents of the new kid immediately intercepted Tyler. The omega, judging by his golden eyes, was blocking Tyler's way with his arms crossed over his chest. Sebastian became defensive and began making his way towards his kid. However, the omega began berating Tyler before Sebastian could get to him. "What do you think you are doing? Your kind has to stay away from the rest of us!"

"My kind?" Tyler was confused, at first, but then it clicked. "My papa is a kind person!" He immediately jumped to defend his dame while the one standing in front of him didn't seem to care.

"He's a shark! He has ki-" the omega began but Sebastian was there and roared.

"Who do you think you are to be talking to Tyler that way?! He just wanted to play. He's a selkie, like everyone else!" Tyler quickly hugged his dame trying not to sob.

"He's filth because he came from you! Keep him away from the rest of the kids before he decides to kill someone!" The omega said huffing and Sebastian wanted to teach him a lesson so badly! But no, he took a deep breath and tried to use his big man words instead. He couldn't let pass to the shark rage within him.

"My sins are my own, not my kid's," Sebastian said instead, caressing Tyler's hair. "And you can't seem to see the difference. Tyler is just a kid wanting to do kid things."

"Or so you say, shark. He's just shark bait." Sebastian growled and it took all of his energy and self-control to keep himself in place.