willinglychanged | ☾ MoM Contact

[ 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. ]

[He makes the connection between the hand gestures and the camera and gets a confused little expression across his features.] Y'got a problem with the cameras? [Because Drew'd noticed them, of course, but had no problem being watched. Hell sometimes he waved to the damn things when arriving home.

He reaches up then, after the new words, ruffling Grey's hair.] Nothin' to be sorry 'bout. Happen to be kinda a fan of handsome strangers divin' through my window in the middle of the night. [He smiles nice and wide, despite the fact that Grey smells like a lot more negative emotions than he does positive ones and starts walking towards the kitchen area.] Y'want a drink?

[ What problem doesn't Grey have with the cameras? His eyes slide away, and a frown accompanies his look towards the phone. He doesn't tend to film himself even with that. It's rare that he does.

But then Drew ruffles his hair, and his attention snaps back to the other man. Drew couldn't know what that gesture does to him, the memories it invokes. But there is no gesture that could make Grey feel more safe, or at home. Gilliam used to do this. He had done this the very last time they were together. This means intimacy. It used to mean love. Now it means loss, on top of both of those things, and Drew is saying it with such a smile. A beautiful smile.

Grey almost kisses him then and there. He stops himself, and moves to catch his hand instead.

A drink. Drew has already moved on. Grey's mind is still on that hand in his hair. He catches up with Drew, following him and keeping hold of his hand. ]

water ? [ It's all he ever drinks. ] i dont mind

i just want to stay with you .

[He smells a flare up of emotion in the air but shakes his head quickly to relieve the smell. It smelt too raw, too much like invading Grey's thoughts and he didn't want to use his powers to do that. Instead he strokes his thumb over the back of the other man's hand and spins slightly, walking backwards and pulling Grey along so he could still read the words on his skin.]

Just water? Was gonna have a beer myself- [He cocks his head to the side.] Do you drink beer? Or are you crazy healthy?

[He smiles at those next words though, a bright smile full of white teeth.] Y'can stay with me all y'want. I ain't gonna stop you- hell I'd like it. Just like I said last time, I get lonely. Besides, my beds more than big enough for the two of us.

[ Crazy healthy? Grey doesn't know. He doubts it. ]

drugs

they make it cloudy

[ He gestures at his head, and rolls his eyes, because that's his issue with alcohol. With drugs, generally. It's why he hadn't liked it when Drew mentioned drugs to help his lunar symptoms. He's seen what addiction does, and he doesn't want that.

But it's also true that his head doesn't feel good tonight. Even the words on his cheek are faint - barely there, like he doesn't quite believe in them. He's worried. He can't sleep. And he's angry, with the people who hurt Thomas. He's angry because he doesn't know who they are.

He closes his eyes, and the faint words melt away. He sighs, briefly closing his eyes, and focuses on the one thing making him feel better in all this - Drew, and his smile. His hand closes on Drew's and he moves closer, nodding. Stronger words, this time. ]

i'll drink with you

i'm lonely too .

[Drew pulls a little face of confusion and concern, changing his grip on Grey's hand so that he's circling the other man's wrist.]

Then I guess I'll have to try an' keep things clear for you. [Even if he didn't want to push Grey into something, after all Drew couldn't get drunk. He could get high, sure, but after seeing the beautifully skinned boy's reaction and aversion to drugs he couldn't help but realize that'd be a terrible idea.

He breaks their connection only to reach into a fridge and pull out two bottles of beer, tearing off the tops with one hand, knowing fine well that any cuts the metal might make in his skin would heal in seconds before handing one to Grey.]

Then guess its a good damn thing the two of us are here for company, huh?

[ He wishes Thomas would come home. He wishes he knew who hurt him. He wishes everything would be how it was before tonight.

Drew opens a bottle with nothing but skin, and Grey reaches for him at once. He knows those tops are sharp. He knows people use a tool to open them, he's seen Jeff do it. But when he reaches for Drew's hand, he sees no problem.

He healed fast, Drew had said. He hadn't been afraid of going to the swear in because of that. It's not that Grey hadn't believed him; he just hasn't seen anything like this before. He lets out the breath he's been holding, which is the only sound he ever makes. Then he takes the bottle, and takes a sip of liquid he's not used to and tastes like nothing he wants to know.

But it's better than protein bars. Better than Thomas' moonshine, too. He takes another drink, and then looks up at Drew with a nod. ]

i dont want it to be clear tonight

[ His eyes dart briefly around, and then with a fluid movement, he jumps up to sit on the counter beside Drew. His hand lifts to find his shoulder, and his fingers are gentle as they move over it. ]

im glad you're here

im glad you waited .

[He sees Grey's sudden movement and it shocks him a little, his head cocking suddenly, much like a dog going to attention. Except then he realizes the thought process the other man must've been going through.] Hey now, thought I told you I healed fast? [He grins before taking a sip of the drink.] Y'could go ahead and run me through with one of those knives if y'felt like it. [His head swung in the direction of a knife block.] Now how 'bout you stop worryin' 'bout me every five seconds, huh?

[When Grey moves up onto the counter though Drew steps a little closer to him, entering the space between the other man's legs with a grin.] Like I said last time, I'm here for you any time y'want me, Grey. Besides, werewolves don't need a lotta sleep, we've got some pretty good stamina.

[ For the barest moment, Grey thinks Drew means his own knife. Then he understands, and he breaks a tiny smile. He can't stop worrying. Not tonight, especially not tonight.

But Drew is doing a good job of distracting him. Grey responds automatically, legs moving apart to give him space, and empty hand moving up to slide around Drew's shoulders. He slides closer, and his hand rests lightly against Drew's har. ]

no knives for you

none .

[ Werewolf or not. Healer or not. Grey sets the beer bottle down to bring his other hand over. It lifts, and his fingertips brush through the stubble on Drew's neck. It's more intimate than Grey has been with anyone since the Train. His eyelids flicker, and his head tilts, nose nudging against Drew's cheek. He likes this. All his worries could be laid down here.

He wants to ask if Drew wants, but he leans back to search his eyes and ask him with a questioning expression, and not with a tattoo. He's never needed words for this before. ]

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