willinglychanged | ☾ MoM Contact

[ Not at the swear in. That's all that matters. If he was at the swear in, he wouldn't be talking like that. ]

good

stay there . people are hurt you cant be one of them .

wait? ppl r hurt?

the fuck?

r u okay?

[Excuse the text speak Grey, he's immediately concerned.]

yes

i didnt go

[ But Thomas did. Thomas is hurt. Thomas is in trouble, and not letting Grey into his mind, and that's terrifying. ]

my friend is hurt

you need to be safe . promise that you wont go

y'sure you don't need me out there growling at some people?

[Because he'd be totally willing to get down there if it meant maybe helping some people out.]

no

i need you to be safe .

[ That's the truth. That's why he sent that message, and Grey only understands it in retrospect. He needs Drew to be safe. One person he cares for is in trouble already. He can't let there be another. ]

i can stay safe AND help people Grey, you know that, right?

[Because the idea of others being in danger while he stayed cozy in bed seemed like a pussy's way out. Not that he'd fight whatever danger was out there.]

[ Oh no, this is not what he wanted. ]

no

you dont know what it is

i dont know what it is

how are you going to stay safe ?

dude I'm a werewolf I'm immune to pretty much everything??

unless there's wolfsbane or silver out there I'm gonna be the last one to bite the bullet.

[ He shouldn't have said anything. He should have kept quiet and said nothing at all. How could he be so foolish?

Never again. ]

you dont know what it is

drew please

fine fine I'm staying put. you can come see for yourself if you want.

[And then there's a picture attached of a messy haired Drew who quite clearly hasn't crawled out of his pit any time recently.]

[ He looks good. He looks safe, but he also looks good. Grey won't let that picture go far.

But there's no doubt it relieves him. ]

you were asleep

im sorry . you should stay there

[ Then a hesitation, a break between messages. He sends the first part and then, chewing at his lip, he sends the second. ]

i want to come . but thomas .

I sleep a lot. I mean I never sleep for a full eight hours but I take like a hundred naps when I can. kinda surprising i'm a wolf and not a cat.
you could wake me up any time I'm not gonna cry bout it.

[When the rest of the message filters through though he feels confused. Who was Thomas again?]

thomas? he a friend of yours? somethin wrong with him?

[ He'll remember that. Drew doesn't mind being woken. He adds it to the list of reasons why he likes Drew, a list to which that photograph has also been added. ]

he's there

[ At the swear-in. Grey's hand closes tightly around the phone. How can he leave when he doesn't know that Thomas is safe?

he went

he wouldnt stay with me

now this happened . hes hurt and i wasnt there .

[ Again. Another one that he should have protected is hurt, and he wasn't there to stop it happening.

And he knows it's not the same. Thomas is alive. He's spoken to him, he's alive. It isn't like what happened before. But still, Grey feels like he's failed him, and that's why he can't leave.

No matter how very, very tempting that offer may be. ]

Edited 2015-08-27 00:19 (UTC)

shit grey, you okay?

[Because the other man seemed pretty worked up about it. Or at least as worked up as one could appear when it was all done via text message. He was worried about Grey mostly because he had no idea what was going on.]

you sure there's nothing i can do to help?

[ He’s not okay. Grey isn’t anything if he can’t keep safe his friends. ]

no

[ Which answers both questions, really. ]

i just needed to know you were safe .

can i see you later ?

no? no isn't exactly what i wanna hear man. you've gotta be okay til I can see you, okay?

you can come round whenever you want. just give me a heads up.

[Except he'd probably now fret until he actually heard good news from the other man.]

ill be ok

[ Which he says mostly because Drew wanted to hear it, and not because Grey believes it. He's afraid for Thomas, but it's more than that. It's the memory of the others. It's Edgar and Tanya and Gilliam, always Gilliam. It's the ones that he failed. It's the fear of another failure. He doesn't know how to articulate that. He's not very good with words.

So he just reacts. It's a while until he answers again. A while, until he can be certain Thomas is home, and troubled, but ultimately not in any more danger. A while until it's safe for him to get away, because there's nothing more that he can do. ]

its over now . are you still there

you better.

[He figures that's the end of their conversation for now and curls up in the bed, but not before turning the phone on loud and putting it close to his head, knowing fine well the chime from a text would wake him thanks to sensitive werewolf ears. When it does he opens his eyes again almost groggily before looking at the phone and smiling.]

never left. your friend okay?

[ 'Okay' is a strong word tonight. Grey is sitting on his windowsill, with his head against the glass. He's too restless to sleep. It's not happening. ]

alive

safe . theres nothing i can do

then don't worry about it, all right? if there's nothing you can do you don't get to beat yourself up about doing nothing.

i know

[ But he will. Until he finds the one responsible for this, and then he'll hurt them instead. ]

but i should protect him . i promised

can i still see you

Heropa 30. Come over.
unless its too far and i can come to you faster

[Because he wasn't about to argue the other stuff over a text, he wanted to see for himself if Grey was okay.]

not too far .

[ April's house, to Heropa Apartment Complex. That's a well worn path for Grey. He lived at the apartments too, for a while. He leaves the house by the window, and follows the road without ever lifting his head. He doesn't want to see anyone, and he definitely doesn't want to be stopped.

At the complex, he instinctively avoids the cameras around the door, and counts windowsills until he finds the ones for number thirty. Scaling the building is easier than he remembers, switching between windows and drainpipes. He searches until he finds Drew's, and then slides up onto the sill. Leaning against the window, he lifts his hand to knock his knuckles against it. ]

Okay I'll be waiting :)

[He'd been waiting for the buzzer to ring. What he hadn't been waiting for however, was the steady scuffle of someone scaling the side of a building. Then, when there's the sharp rap on his window his head turns to the side and he leaves the bed fluidly, dragging the sheets with him to wear as a skirt as he pulls open the curtains to find Grey on the other side. With a grin he unhooks the latch and throws the pane wide.]

Dude, you got a problem with doors?

[ Grey slips inside like a shadow, always silent and never concerned at how strange it might seem. As far as he's concerned, no one needs to know that he's here except Drew - particularly not the people watching the feeds from those cameras.

With his middle and index fingers, he touches his eyes, and then lifts out his phone to tap the camera. Grey tilts his head, an eyebrow raised. Those things are what he has the problem with. Cameras and watching.

Then he takes in Drew. He's dressed in bunched up bedsheets and looks like he's been lying awake for hours. Which he has been, of course, because Grey disturbed him. Grey's shoulders drop. He puts the phone down on Drew's dresser. He doesn't know whether sorry or thank you would be the better sentiment, so he ends up showing Drew both tattoos, and then gently reaching to push the window closed again. Tonight has not been a good night.

He settles on sorry, and shows it to Drew again. They're all static tattoos, for now. It seems even the moving ones have been, somehow, muted. ]

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