⯭ — ( ❝ 𝖳𝖧𝖨𝖲 𝖨𝖲 𝖭𝖮𝖳 𝖠𝖡𝖮𝖴𝖳 𝖴𝖲 !! ❞ ) started

[lush]

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⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯❀⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
( 𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗥𝗘𝗪 𝗬𝗔𝗡𝗚 )

( he/him ; bisex. ; the deliquent
loc; pack house yard ; tags; N/A )
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯❀⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯







change wasn't great. and it definitely wasn't drew's favorite thing in the world. if anything, drew would do anything to avoid changing something dramatically- especially if it was something like being exiled from the pack. drew knew what he did was something that was generally frowned upon- and the alpha, so obviously threatened, was going to hate his actions, but drew was still convinced what he did was right. what he did wasn't that bad- he was just trying to change the way the pack was working. the alpha was a toxic ass, and was constantly causing problems. whether drew had to fib a little, add a few innocent white lies or not, he was the better alpha and he knew it. he still knew it.

and he held a grudge against them all for turning on him.

even the ones who had agreed with him and sided with him, he still had a grudge against. he knew they believed him and were behind him, but apparently wanting to leave those behind that didn't believe him was a wrong choice. it wasn't his fault the pack split in half, right? it wasn't his fault! they just chose the wrong side, and it wasn't andrew's responsibility to save them for being idiots.

it took a lot of convincing to get drew into the same car as one of the packmates- the beta, peter fiztjerald. it was someone drew has always shown a liking to, someone who he was close to. drew was only willing to get into the car with peter after he was practically thrown into solitary as the pack decided what to do with him. solitary was the worst feeling in the world- sitting in the cold cage, only getting offered few pieces of meat after everyone had finished eating, and sometimes there wasn't even enough food for drew to get dinner that night.

the car right was long and slow- his head feeling like it was spinning the whole time peter lectured him and told him off about his stupid actions. like drew was in the wrong somehow. like lying to get your way was some kind of bad behavior. sucking in a deep, shaky breath, drew only glared at the upcoming house. the place he'd be staying at. "you know, drew, this is for your own good." peter muttered, licking his lips as he kept his eyes on the road. like he was avoiding drew's gaze somehow. "how is this for my own good? you idiots are sacrificing yourselves to a corrupt leader. the moment you see how he was, you'll come running back," drew spat, glaring at the male.

"and i won't come and save your sorry asses."

"we won't need saving, drew," peter said nonchalantly. pulling the car into park, peter only stared forward for a few seconds before finally turning to drew. running his hand through his dark hair, andrew only growled at the male's hand in his hair. "you will," he said quietly, before pulling himself out of the car, and grabbing his two backpacks from the back seat.

"you- you know, drew, i will miss you. i... i'm willing to stay in contact with you," he said quietly, offering a gentle smile towards andrew. "i don't want to talk to you anymore. it's best you leave," drew huffed, before throwing his backpack onto his shoulders, and walked towards the house. it looked bigger than he expected- he wasn't expecting such a nice house, as well. but the size of the house also meant there were going to be more people than drew expected. great. he wasn't ready for this at all, whether he tried to convince himself or others of it or not.

all he knew, was he didn't believe this pack was going to work out. at all.

wc; 637

[འབྲོག་ཁྱི]

☽. ──── 𝑳𝒀𝑹𝑨 𝑶𝑺𝑷𝑹𝑬𝒀
they/she. location; pack house second floor. tagging; Paris. mentioned; Lotte.

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Lyra was about to drown their embarrassment out by grabbing the other earbud that had still been left dangling against the lapels of their jacket, but the moment they saw a familiar face appear through the front door, it seemed rude to do any such thing. Whatever urge remained to block out everyone and everything and brush past the gathering crowd in the yard and into the shelter of the house wasn't Paris' fault in the slightest. In fact, knowing that there was at least someone they could talk to just might have alleviated it, somewhat — at the very least, maybe Paris would be feeling just as miserable as they were. But what took Lyra by surprise was that the dark cloud they'd expected to see hanging over Paris' head didn't seem to be there today. Although, upon closer inspection, his smile might have been a little strained, but that's when Lyra glanced down at their feet, always so reluctant to stare for too long.

They adjusted the backpack hanging from their shoulder again, eager to have something to occupy their restless hands and distract from the scene they'd caused now that others were beginning to arrive and gather on the yard.
"Yeah," in comparison to the unexpected warmth from Paris, the word sounded much more quiet and defeated than they'd intended. Lyra dug at the dirt underfoot with the side of their sneaker before finally looking up again. "Yeah, I guess I did." With the growing amount of eyes and ears around, they found themself anxious to head inside and find someplace to leave their backpack — not that staying inside the house sounded all that tempting, either. But their reluctance to try and explain why they had been sent here tipped the scales in favor of staying outside, and so, with an incline of their head toward the front door, Lyra set up the steps. Someone had appeared there, and Lyra gave them a rather awkward nod of acknowledgement as she walked past.

"Have you claimed a place to sleep yet?" they asked Paris as they nudged open the front door. Considering the amount of time the pack house had been standing in the forests outside of Wolf Bay, it wasn't the most modern on the inside, but it was spacious, sort of like a lodge, intended to house more than one family. The porch led almost immediately into a living room, full of natural light from the tall windows at the very back of the space, and dominated by natural materials and earthy tones — wood, the grey stones of the fireplace, the lamp adorned by antler and driftwood. Someone had left some roughly hewn animal figurines on one of the side tables, likely a pastime long forgotten by a pack member. How long had it been since they'd been here? Ten, fifteen years? Lyra could remember having liked the area by the windows, with the bookshelves and the armchair. Back then, they hadn't been reading, though, but playing on the carpet. They couldn't have been very old.

Before Paris would have a chance to get concerned over the amount of staring and spacing out Lyra was doing, they gave him a glance to make sure he was still up for tagging along. They were glad for the company, because wandering around the house alone for the first time in forever would have felt too weird. And maybe a little creepy. The packs really had left all of the tidying for their young exiles, because every surface was covered in a coat of dust, and with the exception of a few fresh scents — Paris' among them — the house was permeated with a stale jumble of faded smells. "I need to find somewhere to put this," they shrugged the shoulder bearing the weight of their meager belongings. Everything Lyra was saying seemed to be coming out all blunt and stilted. They'd never considered themself the most natural at small talk, and as much as it could have been a relief to open up to Paris, they didn't feel quite ready yet to get into the heavy stuff. At least not here.

Lyra made their way past the couch and the kitchen island, and up the creaky steps to the second floor. The first floor must have had some bedrooms on it, too, but their intuition told them that the second floor might provide a quieter room. Not that they were under any illusions about how loud the house would get with however many of them would end up stuck there. They started peering through the cracked doors into each room they passed, only to end up grimacing at most of them, because they had more than one bed, and Lyra had no intention of gaining a roommate. "Which one of these is yours?" they asked Paris, right before ending up at the bend in the hallway. The last door before a turn to the left revealed a room more cramped than the others had been, but it also meant that there was only a single bed, jammed into the corner beneath a solitary window. Lyra didn't linger, only stepping in long enough to leave their backpack atop the comforter as a sign that the room had been claimed, and to peel off their jacket in favour of wearing only the rusty, oversized long-sleeve they'd had underneath.

They shut the door and returned to the hallway, suddenly as eager to get out as they'd been to go in back outside. They weren't really in the mood to be haunted by all of their ghosts, past or present. Lyra finally pulled out the lone earbud and stuffed them into their pocket before restlessly rubbing the back of their neck and turning to Paris. "I don't know how you see this whole thing playing out, but I've got a bad feeling. Maybe we should stick together, be neutral. Like Switzerland. I don't want to end up having to duke it out with someone," they confessed, uncomfortably lingering by the door. "It feels so weird to be here, anyway." Their eyes wandered to the window at the end of the hallway, which showed the woods outside. "Do you wanna like... go for a walk or something? Get a chance to talk without everyone overhearing." Lyra looked up at Paris again, and attempted some manner of a smile, although it wasn't much more than a thin-lipped quirk in the corner of their mouth. "And hey, it's uh, it's good to see you. Really."

[strawbs.]

𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐒 !
⯭ — ( he/him, twenty years, birom asex, the excitable
location, pack house; tags, open ) — ⯭


nobody really noticed when it became a clear issue.

they supposed it was, you know, the biggest reason there could be for his behavior, which was his upbringing. the moment that was brought up, it clicked, and everything fell into place. of course, what else could it be? how could they have missed such a significant part of the puzzle? but it was so subtle, so small, a problem grew too large to control before they even knew there was a problem to begin with. it was so gradual, the change, the difference; the issue was easily missed. it slipped past their radar until all at once, it came crashing down on them. but he was so sweet and bright, wide-eyed and curious, worried and careful. he was so easy. they didn't see it, how could they not have seen it?

helios, the oh so excitable and vivacious, was not the flower that he used to be.

they tried to pull apart everything, decipher what it meant and why it was this way. they thought it was their fault, actually, that they didn't pay enough attention to him or didn't care for him enough. that he felt alone and distressed because of it. they were so blind, how could they have been so blind? they figured it out all too quickly, just exactly why helios grew into the way he is. it was then, that everyone had completely understood, that they all felt so aware of what was going on.

he's just like his mother.

this wasn't realized even after she was banished, even after all the times that she tried to weave her way back in. they didn't hear his comments to the kids or sense the underlying tone within his words through that sweet smile. they didn't understand. when the children had come by to say that he had hurt their feelings, they thought it was a mistake, or ruse. they were kids after all. but it had been such a recurring issue, time and time again. it was too often, too much of the same words again and again. then, he opened up; helios, the bright flower, was overwatered with too much sunlight. he stopped acting like he cared, because it was so exhausting when he just, didn't. he doesn't care about rules or manners or respect. he doesn't want to do anything, and to be fair, he didn't really know why.

it was a hushed discussion. they didn't know what to do. they couldn't just leave him to fend for himself out in the wilds, but they couldn't let this go on any longer, and definitely didn't want it to escalate to worse things. luckily, there was a chance.

"you're joking, right?" it slipped from his lips before his thoughts caught up, before he remembered the fact that he wasn't actually supposed to be there, listening in on a conversation that didn't invite his opinion. though in a way, it did. it was his life they were talking about. there was a laugh there, it was of disbelief, hiding away the worry that he felt ripple below the tide. they were joking right? this was just a play to get him to listen.

there was a gasp. "helios! we thought you were with everett."

the boy sneers, walking further into the room. "everett's busy." he says, and then in an instant, he's smiling again, oh so sweetly. "i was looking for─ ah, luka, there you are." he walks over to his brother's side, the second oldest, and loops an arm around his shoulders in a manner that deems menacing. a silent threat. "what are you doing here? you're not actually agreeing with this nonsense, are you?" although the tone is soft and gentle, he gives luka's shoulder a squeeze. 'answer correctly, now.'

(he did. he did agree. but all he said was sorry.)

helios looks ahead, watches the birds in the sky. it's quiet, it's peaceful, it's away from his pack's judgmental gaze. from the words he hears all so much, even though they think he doesn't. always, always, hears it. it haunts him in the dead of night or in the mid of day. 'you know, you're beginning to sound just like mother.' that was the youngest, the frightful, the traumatized. it felt so distant, though. like it had never been said, yet it was, and it was quinn saying it, of all people. it was the first time it was directly said to him. he looked up to helios, followed what he did, and wanted to be like him. now, the idea sounds distasteful. at least he has more of a conscience. helios doesn't think he actually responded to the low, concerned remark, but he also doesn't remember if he said anything at all.

(no. no, he didn't say anything. the room had went still, with only the shuffling of quinn's departure. and the words had burrowed deep within helios' mind to make a home there.)

this feels like a vacation, almost, and he'll treat it as such. aside from the commotion, and the other "problem children," this feels like just a different day in a different place. his eyes wander downwards, towards the apparent pack house that he was meant to stay in, with others of the same fate. he wonders what their like, what they did to end up here. while his gaze travels, his feet move on their own, towards the building. he curiously watches the other people here, listening to the vile words and rude insults. nobody's happy, it seems. but that's okay. helios is sure that if he looked deep within himself (like he never does), he'd probably be unhappy too.

helios travels into the house, slowly stepping around to find peace with the place. to be honest, it was incredibly difficult. it felt suffocating in there. he imagined what it would be like with everyone huddled in there and felt himself grow sour for a moment. he found himself in the living room with a heavy sigh escaping his chest. he was tired, and by now, incredibly uncomfortable with the odd, unfamiliar surroundings. he drops his bag onto the ground, uncaring about how it landed, then moved on to sit himself on the sofa. he had to make himself at home, but there was nothing about this place that felt like home. he wanted to go back to his real home, and forget this ever existed. he wanted to run away.

wc; 1,083

[stranger danger]

───x☩ 𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐄𝐘 ❝ 𝐄𝐈𝐃 ❞ 𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐑 ☩x───
WHERE? pack house ☩ WITH? open ☩ WHAT? open

they half expected to wake up with a pillow in their face, all the trouble they had caused the night before. it was really the worst night of them all, ruining a pack dinner because someone took their spot at the table. it was surprisingly easy, whisper a little to the girlfriend here, murmur a little to the significant other over there - start a petty little fight, over nothing, stoke the fire. it took everyone thirty minutes to realize how the entire argument had been fabricated, eyes sweeping over the tossed food and mussed plates, to see delaney, snickering in their favorite chair.

"well, i hope it was worth it, delaney miller," her leader snarls at her over the long, oak table. they place their fork down, toss their hair, and shrug.

"it definitely was." del smiles. they were immediately sent up to their room with a half-full belly. by dessert, they'd been banished to the old house. one of their pack members silently left a slice of the cake on their dresser as they fumed in bed, they could feel the distaste of their packmates seeping through the door, it settles in their bones and nearly made them crackle in bitterness, but, the thought of what their siblings might say soothed them. delaney imagined drew nearly crushing them as he barreled onto their bed, full speed, squeezed them tight and told them it'd all be okay. they could imagine their older sister's scent wafting over them as her soft hand caressed the tears from their face and whispered lovingly. it gave them solace, strength, to fight to see them another day.

delaney muses this as they lay awake in their bed the next morning, staring at the ceiling. they were a bit worried, what if destiny and drew came home looking for them? and they were at this stupid pack house in the middle of no where? it wasn't like this place was a hot destination, or close to civilization. it made them a bit nervous to think, but they knew their siblings were unyielding in their goals, so, if they did come home, finding del would be the first thing they'd do.

with those thoughts delaney bouncily left the home that night, ignoring the icy stares and the sighs of relief as they shuffle into the back seat of a car. they even wave goodbye as they roll out of the driveway, giggling all the way.

upon their arrival del flounces into the house as if nothing were amiss, despite the growing anxiety within their gut. they didn't think what they were doing was all that bad, so, they began to imagine how much worse these strangers may be. they choose their room and flop down on their bed, but only for a moment. there were so many new smells, so much to explore! they leave their room in a giddy gust of dust, taking off to explore their new domain.

wc: 493

[mtuan,]

.. 𝐁𝐀𝐄 𝐓𝐀𝐄-𝐇𝐎. 𝙔𝙊𝙐'𝙍𝙀 𝙎𝙊 𝘿𝘼𝙉𝙂𝙀𝙍𝙊𝙐𝙎 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝘼𝙇𝙇𝙐𝙍𝙄𝙉𝙂 !!
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(tags) lotte
(misc.) quietly @'s
drew as well
not mav throwing
a whole baby tant
rum rn LOL
1,018 words
mtuan, kim mtuan

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𝐀
𝐊
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𝐌
𝐀
𝐕
𝐄
𝐑
𝐈
𝐂
𝐊

Trudging along the unpaved path, Maverick has every right to be mad at his pack, he reminds himself. With a sack hanging off his shoulder and another bag on the other, the young man finds himself practically walking towards the stupid old pack house; his pack having very nearly simply abandoned him in the woods, telling him to figure it out on his own for being so stupidly selfish even just the night before. Something about needing to take his own route and solving the problem without using someone else's brain to do so. Something vaguely yelled about how he needed to learn his lesson being stuck on his own, how Maverick was either going to find the pack house himself or die trying. Survival of the fittest? Or some crap like that because apparently his pack just didn't value the life or blood pumping through his veins (-the way they should have- people should have been worshipping him, really). Stupid pack and it's stupid rules and it's stupid decisions to send me to this stupid pack house with other stupid people and not even caring about how I feel about this stupid plan. Why do I even bother with these stupid idiots or even listen to the stupid alpha and--

The young man's internal yelling within his own mind is immediately cut off when Maverick very nearly slips across a small, particularly muddy hill (it was more like a mound going uphill towards the house, but Maverick would soon rather die than admit that he tripped by not paying attention-), thoughts derailed as immediate panic sets in for the briefest of moments-- ... stupid pack making me take this stupid walk, I could have almost died just now if something else didn't eat me first. They couldn't even give me the stupid luxury of dropping me off like I'm sure everyone else has probably already been and now I'm muddy and disgusting and-.

So to say Maverick had found himself starting off with the most sour mood was an understatement to say the least. Especially with the way his clothing no doubt was grimy with dirt and sweat even before the muddy slip that caused his pants to cake at the knees with the said wet soil. Ugh, I swear to god, when I see the lot of them, they're all getting a broken nose for this- I swear if I see anyone I recognize at this stupid pack house gathering or anyone steps outta line, I'll deck them.

Now, with mud caking his body weighing him down, his personal belongings a little bit muddier than when he first started, the young wolf finds himself huffing in deep annoyance, yet continuing onwards. Somewhere into his "travels", he very nearly wipes mud into his freshly dyed red hair when the man reaches to push his sweaty fringes out of his face; thank the heavens he caught his dirty palm in time- Maverick wasn't sure exactly how much longer his patience would last. Or perhaps the dirtied hair would've been his last straw before snapping in pure, unhinged rage-- the reason for his feral mood. But he catches himself in time. And stops by a massively aging tree to clean his hand with water from his bottle. Disregarding the residue dampness on his hands, Maverick still runs the now-cleaned hand through his red locks and exhales harshly through his nose. So damn annoying.

Still, it doesn't take much longer than that to make it into the clearing with the old pack house in sight. How Maverick happened to make sure he survived and arrived at his destination? He wasn't even quite sure himself. Perhaps the wolfish instincts within him kept him alive purely through innate skill. If I was so good, maybe I should just be the alpha of his house for the time being then, see where that gets me.

It doesn't take long after that to have the young wolf trudging across, making his way towards the pack house with almost hurried footsteps. If I hurry maybe I'll still call dibs on the best room- or maybe just kick some loser out of theirs, whichever one works I gu-

Of course, leave it to Maverick Bae to trip two times in one day with little expectation he wouldn't trip many more throughout. However, rather than tripping over mud this time, the man finds himself shouldering right into a short, petite figure- blonde-ish hair right off the first glance. There's an audible grunt of displeasure, but as soon as the wolf regains his composure, he could practically smell the anxiety rolling off in waves from the latter. Needless to say, it doesn't deter Maverick in the slightest and again-- the young man is forced to exhale angrily through his nose. He's far too angry for comfort now, the ire practically bursting from the seams when nothing seemed to go Maverick's way; not since he'd been abandoned in the woods, anyway.

"Watch where you're standing will you? You're in the way and it's so damn annoying. You should be lucky I didn't straight up trample your ass."

Without recognizing the poor wolf standing in his way, Maverick doesn't hesitate to give them a good shove in the shoulder- the intention to throw them into the ground clear. He merely watches as poor Lotte stumbles and falls, a lopsided snicker slowly breaking onto Maverick's face in the process. "If you're gonna be a waste of space, might as well do it on the ground- it looks like it's calling for you."

Maverick pauses, as if to contemplate whether or not he should continue pushing. The other was easy prey, really. With the uncomfortable energy crashes like waves around Lotte and unfortunately timing on their side, they just happened to be the perfect vent for Maverick to blow off some of his steam. All the pent up anger and frustration clearly seeping through with unreasonable judgement.

Not to mention they were all sent to the pack house for a specific reason, after all.

"Hows the dirt? Comfortable?" The young man sneers sarcastically.

[enby]

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𝐋𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐔𝐃 ━━━━━━━━━━━━
they/them | location; pack house yard | tagging; maverick | mentions; tag

Lotte had been wandering around the yard a bit as they wanted to just explore their surroundings, standing aimlessly as their eyes scanned over the forest around the house, a finger placed gently on their chin as they thought a bit- at least the place was quiet and relaxing and some of the people looked friendly after more arrived, they would stay positive despite how anxious and nervous they were of everyone and how nervous they'd be when it finally came down to working as a team, which, it wasn't that they weren't good at cooperating, they were just so nervous they had a hard time focusing and doing things.

They sighed a bit gently and shook their head, rubbing their fingers through their hair from the base of their skull, rubbing their neck gently in the process as they looked forward- noticing someone coming, a new arrival, although he didn't look happy at all their face grimaced, a dropping feeling forming in their stomach immediately as they tried to move out of the way of the raging force but were generally too slow, cursing themself for not paying enough attention, panic filling up their brain to extremely quick rates. ''Oh...Um I'm sorry..'' They mumbled out timidly, averting their eyes to avoid any form of eye contact that could be created between the two, cowering a bit with their shoulder tensed and raised, and their hands balled up in front of their chest.

Lotte let out a gasp as they were pushed, unable to catch themself they fell hard into the dirt below them, a small huff escaping from their chest as they fell onto their bottom. '''I..'' They stopped trying to collect their words, feeling as give the act of speaking was becoming impossible, their throat feeling closed up and their words trapping within it. ''I tried to move, I'm sorry I wasn't really paying attention..'' They frowned and look down at the ground under them, rubbing their muddy hands on their jeans and just pressing the still slightly dirty hands to their face to cover up their tears that formed quickly at the angry words that left Maverick's mouth, their lip trembling as tears pooled into the palms of their hands. ''I don't..I don't even know you, you you...just got here and you're taking whatever rage out on me...it's not really fair...I'm sorry for getting in your way..'' They frowned, still keeping their face cupped into their hands.

[stranger danger]

───x✯ 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐒 ❝ 𝐉𝐎𝐘 ❞ 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐃 ✯x───
WHERE? pack house yard ✯ WITH? lyra ✯ WHAT? open

he smiles as they fumble, chuckling at their reaction fondly. he too, was surprised by his warmth but this situation was so terrible, any joy, (no pun intended) was welcome. seeing someone who had helped him was especially appreciated. wandering over, paris stood at an amicable distance, trying not to appear as excited as he was. his tail would certainly be wagging right now, if he shifted. paris followed after dutifully, sensing his friend's nervousness and glowering at anyone whose gaze might wander over. until anyone else proved trustworthy, or worthwhile, lyra would be his closest friend - he could only hope she felt the same. "don't worry," he says, "your family won't want to be without you for long. you'll be home sooner than most."

as they enter the house, paris is increasingly reminded how much he resented being here - and the people who sent him here. being reminded of his misery, his shoulders slouch as he scoffs to himself. so much for 'joy', but, hey, having lyra around made it a bit better. he hears a thud from outside and decidedly ignores it - wasn't really his business, nor did he want to be involved in a fight. as they walk up the stairs, paris blatantly knocks a photo frame out of place, tugs a bit on a curtain to miss align it, muss up a rug as he walked. pieces of his misery, scattered across the house behind him. "yeah. s'around here, somewhere," he murmurs, fighting the urge to shove a lamp over. his eyes flicker back over to lyra as she shuffles through the halls, following her around the corner and past his bedroom. "ah. here," paris pauses, watching lyra putter onwards to claim a room one door down. "good choice," he says, not sure if she heard him or but not really caring nonetheless. he follows into lyra's room, sniffing the air, and crinkling his nose at the old, dusty smell. man, paris doesn't think he'd ever get used to that enhanced smell. "this place...sucks, doesn't it?" he chuckles, wiping dust from a bookshelf and blowing it into the air. it was stale in here, suddenly oppressively so, and he wished to head back outside. paris looks towards lyra and notes a similar restlessness and begins to move towards the stairs back downstairs.

at lyra's requests, paris nods his head, lips quivering up into a bit of a smile. "switzerland, huh?" he meanders over, still trying to misplace things as he went. paris sneers at the thought of the others staying with them, and he nods once more, seemingly affirming himself. "i don't like this people much anyway. a lot of them seem...up their own, you know?" he shrugs, halfheartedly, and leans on the window next to lyra. "it'd be hard to want to take sides in a place like this. but yeah, i hear you. neutral party," he taps his fingers on the windowsill, and adds, "we'll stick together, don't worry." looking out into the woods, paris breathes in the deep, petrichor scent of the woods outside and murmurs in agreement. outside would be best.

turning away from the window, he begins to pad leisurely down the hallway, turning over his shoulder to attempt a smile in return. "it's good to see you too, lyra. let's get out, i wanna run."


wc: 555

[འབྲོག་ཁྱི]

✦. ──── 𝑬𝑻𝑯𝑨𝑵 𝑩𝑨𝑹𝑵𝑬𝑺
he/him. location; pack house yard. tagging; Maggie, Maverick. mentioned; Lotte.

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Ethan chuckled, then turned an assessing eye to their surroundings. "Let's see... Could it be because of my love of fresh air? My fondness for sprucing up old rundown houses?" His grin became a teasing quirk of his lip as he glanced back at Maggie. "The invigorating company?" He quieted down when she launched into an explanation, intently watching the expressions on her face to gauge whether her having ended up in the woods with the rest of them was a painful matter or something that a sunny smile could solve. Slowly, that smile faded the further she got into her story, and as she reached the part about having been exiled over a lost piece of jewelry — regardless of any sentimental value — a familiar burning began to rise across his shoulders and neck. Maggie Rose frowned and had her alpha been nearby, Ethan likely would have knocked his teeth into his throat without a second thought.

Her question kept him from finding some other stupid thing on which to let out his sudden fit of vengeance, and how she could see right through him just might have brought a bit of blush to the tips of his ears. He brushed his anger aside and fixed an uncharacteristically sheepish smile on his face. He continued to have no regrets over his actions, so why did he abruptly feel the need to lie about what he had done to end up here? "What brought me right here? Now?" His face gained a strange mix of faux-innocence and something resembling pride at the clever way he had deviced to dodge his own question. "Well, I just got back from hauling some lumber. I was thinking of fixing the back porch, since it's in pretty miserable shape." He tilted his head just slightly toward the house. "Then I heard someone — you — out here and thought I should be, uh, courteous."

Ethan let a beat or two of silence pass, and then he decided that she mustn't have been buying into his act in the slightest. And she'd been straightforward with him, after all, and his sense of honour was keen on repaying that. Some part of him suspected that she already knew the exact nature of his crimes either way, beyond any vague fight picked — because there were fights and then there were fights. Suppose it wouldn't have been all that challenging to deduce from his track record alone. The blush shading his ears returned, and his expression became something between an apologetic smile and a grimace, because regret or not, it didn't seem like the most polite thing to recount. Especially not to someone as sweet as Maggie. "Looks like we both have a bad streak with the sons of prominent people..." he started, glancing at the woods so he wouldn't have to look her in the eye right then. He absently brushed a thumb over his own knuckles.

"Maybe this will make you feel a little less bad about losing your alpha's son, because I had a dispute with the son of mine," he confessed, his voice more serious than it had been all day. Maybe his pack should have left it to Maggie to school him into controlling his temper. "Listen, he's not a good guy, but a—" He mulled over the words he could have used, reluctant to unfairly paint him in an even worse light just to justify his own reaction. He didn't need lies for that, the truth was clearly on his side in this. "He's a jerk. Mean, just because he can be. He said something really nasty to my friend and... I didn't like that." Ethan's brow furrowed and his mouth twisted into a silent snarl. "I left him in kinda rough shape, but I'm not lying when I say that he had it coming." He let out a breath, managing to send the anger ebbing a little, and tugged the corner of his mouth up again. "But what's done is done, right?"

Ethan was about to reroute the conversation from the unpleasant topic — which he had, admittedly, brought up himself — and ask her whether she might have been bored enough to help him out with the porch, but his train of thought was jarringly derailed by a thud and a grunt. He didn't even need to turn around to feel the waves of hot anger rolling from this presence, but his head jerked instinctively in the direction when he caught the spiteful words. The wolf in him perked its ears and raised its hackles, recognizing the exact same tone that had set him off mere days ago, and a new burst of fury sparked under Ethan's skin. He wheeled around, but he wasn't fast enough to stop the man before he had a chance to shove the person he'd attacked into the dirt.

With a rumbling growl tearing from deep in his throat, Ethan launched himself at Maverick. He didn't hesitate when he rumpled up the front of his shirt into his fists and tugged him harshly by his tight hold. He brought his snarling face close to Maverick's and grit out from between his teeth: "We're about to find out how you like it when someone decides to toss you around." He pushed Maverick further from himself, only to clench a fist meant for his face.

[lush]

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⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯❀⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
( 𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗥𝗘𝗪 𝗬𝗔𝗡𝗚 )

( he/him ; bisex. ; the deliquent
loc;yard ; tags; lottie, mav, ethan )
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯❀⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯







andrew had no hope for the new pack. absolutely none. if they thought putting a ton of bad people together was somehow going to make them get better, they were dead wrong. drew had absolutely no intention of getting better, nor did he ever want to go back to the old pack he was in. even if they said he was welcome back once he showed proper change, he didn't want back in. he didn't want to go back to that place. he didn't want to be the lowest in the pecking order- he didn't want to be some stupid scrapgoat or an example of what not to do. he wanted to be powerful.

and he wasn't going to get any power going back there.

kicking the dirt under him, drew only let out a long sigh. he wasn't excited, not only because of the anger he had pent up in his body, but he was also so anxious. what if the people here didn't like him? or something ended up going wrong? he knew not everyone was going to like him, but a part of him was just scared no one was going to end up liking him, or thinking that he was just some stupid annoying kid. he wasn't that young- but he definitely wasn't one of the older ones. which only made him more and more anxious that he was going to just be seen as immature.

he knew most of those problems weren't likely- he knew it was just him being anxious, but he just was so scared. he already felt like he had lost everything, he couldn't lose anything more. maybe if he kept to himself he wouldn't have to worry about everything, and could just confine in his own comforts and deal with it there.

sucking in another deep breath, drew only let his eyes fall on the people around him. so far he knew no one. he saw a lot of pretty faces, that's for sure- but no one that he recognized. usually drew didn't have a problem meeting new people- he didn't mind it, but knowing the situation he knew no one was bound to be happy. at least, no one sane. drew himself only felt dread as he looked at the big house in front of him. it did look nice- it was a big and spacious place, and it definitely looked very comfortable. maybe drew would just be able to hide out in the bedroom he claimed and get away with it. hoping the bedrooms didn't end up looking like the closets straight out of harry potter. if it was anything like that, maybe drew would just try and run away.

what were they going to do? stop him? lmao

chewing on his bottom lip, after hearing a grunt over on the left- drew's eyes immediately flicked over towards the sound. all he saw was a person on the ground- and the first familiar face out of everyone. thank god maverick bae was going to be stuck with him- now that drew knew someone that he could comfortably confine in was there, a bit of him relaxed. his shoulders dropped a bit, and his lungs felt lighter. like a brick or two got taken off of his chest. relieving just a bit of stress. maverick was drew's best friend- and all he could hope was drew was his. he didn't know, they never talked about it. but drew just knew he considered maverick his longest and best friend. and only fingers crossed on his end maverick felt the same way. drew felt a lot of emotions towards maverick- a lot.

though finally processing what was going on, drew only furrowed his eyebrows. why was the person on the ground? did maverick push them? but what was going on in his thought process to push them down? drew didn't care too much- if maverick pushed the person down, then he must have had a good reason, right? he wouldn't just push someone to push someone. he probably had a good reason. no matter what the reason was- drew knew he was about to defend him like his life depended on it. like he was his lawyer in court.

drew wanted to talk to him- he wanted to talk to maverick. walking over towards the two, not even caring about the person on the ground, drew only bounced on his feet as he made his way towards the group. though someone ended up beating him there- a taller and muscular man. drew paused for a second- just to process what was going on, before he dropped his bags and stepped forward. if anyone was going to grab maverick's shirt and pull him like that- it was only drew. he was the only one allowed to do that, right?

taking a few more steps forward, drew quickly pushing the taller male away from maverick with all his force, drew sucked in a shaky breath. licking his dry lips slightly, drew only raised his fist and slammed it straight into the male's jaw as hard as he could- the adrenaline running through his veins. his knuckles stung- the punch definitely wasn't the smartest thing he had done in a while. shaking his hand slightly, drew only took in a few deep breaths before he stared at the male in front of him. turning to face maverick, drew only flashed him a quick smile.

"okay, remember what i look like. if i come out of this missing a tooth, you need to remember how handsome i was before."

wc; 934