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Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

Moon Phase - Last Quarter

Before Alex got far into thinking about the positives of that action, he heard his phone sound the IM tone, and his eyes snapped to it. Despite knowing that if he stalled too long Nathan would start to worry, his nerves kept him from pulling it out of his pocket.

"Answer it if you need to." Shane's mother said. Alex still didn't move until he spotted Shane's hand moving towards his phone; the growl he wanted to sound kept within his lungs, though Shane retracted his hand as soon as the phone was out of his pocket.

The message Nathan had sent was a bit more involved than he expected, but after a second to think, that made him feel safer overall.

Nathan T.: Question: What was that mod you found for DOOM II? That ultra-violent one?

Alex S.: Brutal DOOM

Nathan T.: Thanks

"So I'm not the only one around here who likes that." Shane's statement drew Alex's gaze for a moment.

"Likes what?" his father asked.

"Something Alex's friend mentioned."

As Alex sighed to himself, Shane's mother repeated what she'd said about choosing to leave for a while. Several hours was what he felt he needed, and by that point a later date to meet would be necessary.

"Or I could just stand outside with him for a few minutes." Shane suggested. Alex glanced at him in turn, the silence from Shane's parents an obvious tell. With sweat beading under his hair, he soon broke his board-stiff stance to wipe it away, before taking no more than a seconds' glance at Shane's parents. Though neither of them seemed ready to pressure him on the idea, he started moving a few seconds later, the red around his ears losing its intensity at the same time.

Shane stuck close at first, so close that Alex was left wondering if he was trying to listen to his heartbeat, before rushing ahead and grabbing the door handle. Outside, Shane stood downwind of him, not speaking in favor of leaning against one of the porch's support posts; the removal of worrisome faces and scents allowed much of the tension around Alex's chest to dissolve as the seconds passed. Enough that even though his motorcycle was less than ten yards away, he made no effort to approach it.

"Calmed down yet?" Shane asked after a minute.

Alex only glanced at him.

"That's a 'no', then."

Piss off. Alex thought before wondering if he'd been reeking of fear up to just then.

"The sooner you go back in there, the sooner it'll be over."

"Like I don't know that." Alex at last replied, a slight growl accompanying his words.

"So, what's stopping you? Is it my folks or something else? The scents in the house?"

When Shane said that, Alex slipped his backpack off in favor of speaking. His water bottles were tucked away in the same pocket that the tennis ball was, and with a squeeze of the open backpack, Bailey's scents reached his nostrils. Although they helped, now he couldn't help imagining having him nearby, and how much nicer that would've been.

"Thought so." Shane said as Alex took several drinks from the bottles.

"It's not one thing, alright?"

"It's her too, isn't it?" Shane didn't wait for an answer. "Remember when I said I bit you to make sure you knew what was coming?" He paused. "You still think I was bullshitting you?"

"What I think is you could've been wrong."

"Then, when you go back in there, ask."

Alex didn't respond right away; as long as it had been since the night he'd been bitten, he couldn't see Shane or his father not having talked about what happened, or having decided on what to say if questioned. "Just like that?"

"If it's still bothering you."

"Maybe." Another minute passed with neither him nor Shane speaking; with 3:00 thirty-five minutes out, the idea of waiting until then before going back inside felt more like a giveaway than a good idea; Shane's parents hadn't stopped him the last time he answered the text, but then, Shane had watched him type the response... Like he'll figure it out.

Alex spent another few minutes outside before turning towards the door; Shane led him back inside, into the same scents that had made him nervous before, and continued to stand nearby as Alex adjusted. He soon tapped Alex's backpack, causing him to unzip a pocket and puff some of Bailey's scent from it. It helped, though nowhere near as much as before.

"Ready?" Shane asked.

Despite the increased pace of his heart and shaky breathing, after a few seconds, Alex responded. "I guess."

"Good enough. C'mon." Alex exhaled once before following Shane towards the living room; though the sight of his father froze him in place again, Shane was quick to notice and suggest something. "Maybe we should go somewhere else and talk to him?"

"He's fine, Shane." His father replied.

"Not if he's that easily scared."

"Shane. Be patient." After a few seconds, he stood up from the table he was sitting at. "I'm just moving to the couch." he said to Alex, whose attention never left him as he did so and slipped into the spot he wanted. "That second couch? When you're ready, just sit down."

"Shane," his mother began, "let's get some waters ready."

As Shane and his mother left the room, the tension Alex thought would vanish grew in strength. Now it was just him and Shane's old man. Nothing about his expression or posture was overtly dangerous or threatening, but Alex's throat remained locked up, as though a single wrong word would cause him trouble; with what he'd said to Shane about being patient, the idea of leaving and coming back had suddenly become more appealing.

"On second thought," Shane's father said after a moment, "excuse me. Be right back." Again, Alex watched him get up and then make his way towards the left side of the house. If not for the sounds of water running and ice clinking in the next room, he was now alone. And in turn, he couldn't help feeling like this was something Shane's father was counting on: him relaxing first before they all came back into the room, possibly one by one.

Alex snuck a look at his phone. 2:41. Still a while before Nathan texted him again. The couch he'd been directed towards was a two-seater, facing away from the direction Shane's father would approach from when he returned; whatever had pulled him out of the room, Alex was certain he couldn't stall that long.

Then the sounds from clinking ice and running water stopped, and it was Shane who walked the four glasses into the room and set them down on the table in front of both couches. The seat he then took was as close to the other as he could get. Guess he's not gonna move from there.

Within the next minute, Alex noticed Shane's mother watching him from the kitchen. Despite how quiet she was, how concerned she appeared dug the same feelings of guilt into Alex's head that he'd felt the night his folks found out he was a werewolf. Unlike then however, the feelings were quicker to fade. As they did, enough of his fears were siphoned away that he took a step towards the two-seater, reconsidering for only a moment before continuing.

It was as he sat down that his concern, and his heartrate, spiked again; the loud, leathery squeaking of the cushion came across like a signal that he'd made himself vulnerable.

"Keep it together." Shane said, drawing Alex's gaze. As a door opened elsewhere in the house, Shane kept talking. "Or do you need a few more minutes?"

Alex sighed and said nothing as the footsteps from Shane's father came closer; he kept him in the corner of his eye as he passed, but instead of sitting on the couch again, he joined his wife in the kitchen. After the two of them exchanged a hug, he faced Alex and waited for his gaze to be met. "Like she told you, we just wanted you here for a talk. Nothing one-sided and we're not going to demand you do anything, but at the same time, I'm sure you understand why I can't let myself or my son be put behind bars."

Alex nodded; despite the even tone, his throat gained a knot in response.

"I'm assuming your parents already know, but have you told anyone else?" Alex almost shook his head; as Shane began to speak for him, his father shushed him. "Let him do it."

After a few more seconds, and a swallow, Alex nodded.

"And you trust them, a hundred percent?"

That question briefly sparked doubt in Alex's head, but a nod was given in turn.

"I'm assuming you thought it over for a while, or did something happen that made you say something?"

Shane's glance at his father directed Alex's thoughts to his defensive shift incident. Was he asking that to get him to speak in detail, or did Shane keep the incident to himself? Though leaning towards the latter, and unable to see only a nod working here, Alex did it anyway.

"Which was it?"

Within a second, Alex felt the attention on him burrow under his skin; the only word he said after several more was "Both."

At that, Shane nodded, likely his way of saying 'That's a start'. His father replied, "I see. Unless you want to, you don't need to tell us the details."

Wasn't planning on it.

After a second, Shane's mother chimed in. "From what Shane has told us, you're doing alright. Is that true?"

Alex immediately frowned and locked his gaze on Shane. "What?" he asked after a second, to which Alex huffed before shaking his head. "You seemed like it to me. What, would you rather I said you weren't?"

"Shane," his father began, "he's likely still frustrated that this happened to him."

That's a fucking understatement. Alex felt his throat unclench some, and before Shane retorted, he spoke. "Didn't need to."

"What?" Shane's father said.

"He said 'didn't need to.'" Shane said. "He thinks if I hadn't bitten him, he'd be fine."

Instead of immediately replying, Shane's father looked between both Alex and Shane, his wife laying a hand on his as the seconds went by and he exhaled at length. Meanwhile, Alex was bracing for what Shane's father would say; as confident as Shane had sounded before, his gut still told him he was right.

That was when an IM chime from his phone sounded, and his attention broke. This time, he didn't delay on reaching for it and ignored Shane as best he could.

Nathan T.: I think Marcus might like this more than me.

Alex S.: Probably. He enjoys Duke Nukem a lot.

Nathan T.: Yeah.

Expecting to be asked who he'd texted, Alex refocused on Shane after his phone was put up, but was asked nothing.

"If that's what you think, Alex, then I'll tell you this: I can't agree with either you or my son a hundred percent. I wasn't there. I didn't see anything that happened."

Alex closed his eyes and hung his head in response.

"Dad, I told you..."

"I know, Shane, but you didn't tell us until after you did it."

That figures. Alex thought as he buried his face behind his hands. The familiar scents stuck to his skin provided a bit of calm.

"And I explained myself. To him too."

"How well, though?"

Alex's attention was taken at that. 'How well?' What else was there to mention?

When Shane didn't respond quick enough, his mother took over. "What did Shane tell you?"

After a sigh, and a repositioning of his hands, Alex responded. "That he bit me because she bled on me."

"Nothing else?" After Alex shook his head, his fear growing about what he might hear, Shane's father took over. "Then, it's probably best you hear the rest from me." He paused. "As Shane told us, your scent surfaced after he'd bitten you. That's why he was certain he wasn't doing anything to you beyond warning you."

Right away, Alex noticed the flaw in the logic. Once he could speak, he went after it. "That's still after."

"I know, and that's why I can't fully agree with you or my son. Either of you could be right. That said, your...Shepherd, I believe? He started getting suspicious of you after a few days, didn't he?"

As Alex thought back, he couldn't recall Bailey being anything close to suspicious within the days following him being bitten, or even being in contact with Angela's blood. "No." he said with a shake of his head. He got no response, and continued. "Not until I was a week from changing."

"If you'd waited that long for a clue..." Shane began before his parents shushed him.

"Unexplained anxiety, a more sensitive nose and nightvision aren't clues?"

"By themselves, no." Shane retorted.

"That's stupid. Of course they'd be."

"Then how would you have explained all of that if I'd never bitten you?" Shane gave Alex three seconds, continuing when he didn't reply. "You'd be convinced you were going crazy."

"So it never occurred to you to wait just a bit longer and be a hundred percent sure? Maybe my "scent" proved it because you scared the shit out of me."

"Please, not that 'You could've spoken to me' horseshit again."

"Shane, Alex, both of you knock it off." Shane's father waited longer than Alex was comfortable with before speaking again, though he swore he noticed Shane flinch when the demand was made. "Good. That's enough of that." He paused again. "Now, Alex, there's another reason why we wanted you here."

Alex's pulse shot up, despite what he'd been told.

"My wife and I have been thinking about what you told our son before. About the canine units and increase in police patrols. I didn't expect canine units to be an issue, but since they now are, you've got to stay off the streets."

Easier said than done. Alex echoed that statement when he next spoke, adding, "That hunger will still be an issue."

"I know, and that's why we think you should come here when it surfaces."

At first, Alex's eyes widened, but then he recalled the slab he'd been given; Shane spoke up as he remained silent. "And let him become dependent on us?"

"Shane, for the moment, and the foreseeable future, it's the safest idea." Shane's father paused again. "What I'm saying, Alex, is if you want to get the meat you need from us, I'll be happy to provide. It won't be free, though; you'll have to pay for it and come here for it, but you'll always have enough."

The measure of weight that lifted from Alex's chest at that offer made the suggested cost of 75$ per month sound like a pittance, and a slight smile worked its way onto his face.