D. Gray-man Fan Fiction ❯ Canis Luna ❯ Blue Wolf ( Chapter 2 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Bookkbaby84 
Anime/Manga: D. Gray-man Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Fantasy / Action / Supernatural | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 12.12.2009 | Pages: 4 | Words: 4.7K | Visits: 645 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: D. Gray-man Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Fantasy / Action / Supernatural | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 12.12.2009 | Pages: 4 | Words: 4.7K | Visits: 645 | Status: Work In Progress
Warnings: YAOI, which means BOYS LOVING BOYS. If you dislike that, then the back button is easy enough to find. Please click that and leave. Possible OOC. Alternate Universe.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Wish they were, but Katsura Hoshino owns all.
Notes: Well, this fic started as a oneshot based off of Little Red Riding Hood. About two pages in, I figured out that this no longer had anything whatsoever to do with Little Red Riding Hood. >_< I hope you all enjoy!
Dedicated to SisterWicked, Niamh (both of AssHat Productions, a group I’m a proud member of), and Cackles for reading this over before I posted and giving me tips and the confidence boost I needed so I could make this fic available to the general public. All remaining mistakes are mine.
Super special awesome thanks to Niamh for coming up with the title of this fic!
Last Time:
He looked down at the basket he held and was tempted to throw it against the wall. Instead, he sighed and set it on the table before heading towards his room with steps that were more like stomps.
He'd show that bastard. Tomorrow night, he planned to sleep peacefully until dawn with no interruptions from strange men who could apparently turn into wolves.
And Now, The Continuation:
Chapter 2
Blue Wolf
Lavi lay awake, watching the shadows shifting on the wall.
He had planned on being asleep long before now, but for some reason sleep just wouldn't come. He had tossed and turned for at least an hour before simply giving up and lying on his side, staring at the wall and various other inanimate objects.
He had been jumpy all day, eyes constantly scanning the trees for any sign of a large, gray wolf when he was outside and constantly looking towards the door to the house whenever he was inside. He was sure his grandfather had noticed - very little made it past that man - but he hadn't commented, probably believing Lavi's behavior could be attributed to his run-in with the wolf the previous afternoon. Bookman was half-right; it had everything to do with the wolf, but the daylight incident had been almost completely blown out of his mind.
It was just about midnight when he heard a quiet knock on the door to the house. He didn't move, staying frozen on his pallet. After a minute, the knock came again.
He didn't move. Five minutes passed.
Again, the knock came, but slightly louder than before. Before two minutes had passed, there was another, louder knock.
Lavi didn't move. Perhaps if Tyki thought he was sleeping, he'd leave.
Again, louder. Then louder.
Lavi winced at the noise, curling in on himself and covering his ears. The knocking continued, getting louder and more frequent.
Across the room, Bookman began to stir in his sleep. Lavi heard the blankets rustling and looked, seeing the old man's eyes flutter.
"Lavi...?" Bookman said, moving to sit up. With a mental sigh, Lavi got up and walked over to his grandfather. As he stood, he grabbed his eyepatch from where it rested on the floor next to his bed and tied it on with the ease of long practice.
"It's OK, Gramps," he said, gently pushing on the old man's shoulder. "Go back to sleep. I'll go see who it is."
His grandfather didn't need to know about Tyki and the wolf-man would probably just ask for Lavi anyway.
Bookman rested back against the pillow, closing his eyes and scowling faintly. Lavi's face mirrored the expression as he turned towards the door and began stalking towards it. The knocking was now ceaseless and loud, almost echoing through the house.
He stomped through the small living space and the kitchen, his steps drowned out by the knocking. He reached the door and yanked it open, in his anger forgetting the kiss the previous night.
As expected, Tyki stood outside, his hand raised to knock. The man slowly lowered it, smiling at the redhead.
"I was beginning to think that you weren't going to answer, Red," he said, smile morphing into a smirk. He had known that Lavi hadn't been planning to answer and was pleased he had forced the redhead into answering anyway. He stepped forward and Lavi suddenly regretted opening the door so wide. He tried to backtrack, stepping backwards and moving to shut the door, but Tyki was too quick. The wolf-man stepped into the doorway before the door could shut, blocking it with his body. Lavi shoved against the door anyway, trying to force Tyki out, but the man's stance held firm.
"Now, now..." Tyki said, smirking widely. Lavi glared in response. "Won't you let me in?"
"No," Lavi hissed, trying to force the door shut. A hand snaked in and grabbed his wrist, yanking him to the side. Lavi nearly fell from the unexpected pull, tripping towards the wall at the side of the door and allowing Tyki all the room he needed to shove the door wide open. The wood banged against the wall as Tyki forced his way in, grabbing Lavi's other wrist with his free hand. The redhead stared at the wolf-man in shock and a tiny bit of honest fear, body stilling.
Tyki's expression went soft, his smirk fading.
"I don't mean to make you afraid," he said, loosening his grip. Lavi quickly tore his wrists free, backing away so he was out of reach of the other man. Tyki watched him, a hint of regret entering his expression. For a second, Lavi almost felt guilty, but he steeled himself, reminding himself that not only was Tyki an intruder in his home, but was also supposedly a murderer.
Kanda's words came back to him. Lavi's eyes narrowed. If the rumor were true, then the man standing in front of him was responsible for at least eight deaths.
"Get out," he said. Tyki's eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to protest, but Lavi shook his head vehemently. "Get out!"
Silence, then...
"Fine." Tyki's voice was cool and the redhead watched the man turn towards the still-open door and begin walking out. Tyki paused at the threshold, looking back at Lavi over his shoulder. "I shall see you tomorrow night."
Tyki shut the door behind him. Lavi didn't move for several minutes, holding one of his wrists with his other hand. His gaze softened just a bit as he looked at the floor.
He hadn't hurt the wolf, had he? He had barely known the man for two days, yet...
He locked the door and headed out of the kitchen, touching one hand to his chest as he headed back to bed. He really needed some sleep.
Line Break
An hour later, he was still tossing and turning and just as sleepless as ever. He had tiptoed back into the room to find Bookman deeply asleep, but that same oblivion had eluded him. His thoughts kept traveling back to Tyki.
The man had stolen a kiss and had forced his way into the house earlier, but...
Why did he feel so guilty about turning the man away?
With a quiet growl he sat up and slipped out of bed. He would just go for a walk to clear his head. Maybe just across the street and a few feet into the woods and if he happened to run into Tyki-
He cut that thought off, heading towards the door. His boots were sitting peacefully next to the door and he slipped them on, opening up the door quietly and heading out. He ignored the red cloak hanging on its peg by the door. He wouldn't be gone long.
The night air was cold and he shivered slightly, almost turning around to grab his cloak but deciding against it.
Fixing his face determinedly, he looked towards the woods. They were dark and foreboding and he shivered again, though this time not from cold. He began heading across the grass, listening to the quiet 'clomp clomp' his shoes made on the dirt road as he walked across it towards the trees.
He hesitated at the forest's edge. It was rather dark. He couldn't see a foot in.
He glanced back towards his home, then looked back into the dense foliage.
"Tyki?" he called uncertainly, then waited. He heard the wind rustle the leaves, but there was no other sound and definitely no response.
When ten minutes had passed he sighed and slowly stepped forward, glancing one last time towards his home before turning his gaze forward and moving deeper into the trees.
The night was mostly silent around him, though he could faintly hear the chirping of a few crickets. Some part of his brain was telling him that he was being incredibly stupid, but he ignored that part of his brain and trudged forward. Progress was slow because he couldn't see very well - the night was dark and it was even darker under the trees, meaning that half the time he couldn't see the trees until his nose was almost pressed to the bark. He held his hands out in front of himself, doing his best to keep walking in a straight line so that he wouldn't get lost. He wouldn't be able to find his way out until morning if he lost his way.
Leaves and twigs crunched underfoot and he stumbled more than once over dips and lifts in the ground he couldn't see in the dark. He kept moving doggedly forward, blindly trying to find the wolf that might be miles away by now.
"Tyki?" he called again, louder. Something crunched behind him and he turned, squinting through the gloom to try and make out what had made the noise. Absently, he noticed that the crickets had fallen silent some time ago.
A wolf stood there, tall and proud on all four paws. Lavi took a step towards it, trying to make out the color of its fur.
"Tyki?" he said, questioning. His steps halted.
The wolf, though bigger than most wolves, was not as large as Tyki and nor was its fur the same color. This smaller wolf had gray fur, but it was blue-tinged and much wilder than Tyki's fur.
The creature growled at him, slowly advancing. Lavi scrambled backwards, mentally cursing himself as the blue wolf stalked towards him. Its eyes glowed amber, just like Tyki's, and Lavi was struck by sudden inspiration.
He held up his hands, showing that he carried no weapon.
"Please - I'm just looking for someone," he said weakly, hoping that this smaller wolf could understand him. Could they understand human speech in wolf form? Lavi had read stories about wolf-men before he had ever met Tyki, but he had half-assumed that they were all fiction until he had seen Tyki transform before his eyes. Now he wished he had paid more attention. "His name is Tyki-"
The blue wolf growled and leapt, jaws opening and aiming for his neck. Lavi yelped and turned, slipping on the leaves covering the forest floor and hitting the ground hard. He cried out, struggling to his feet when a weight slammed into him. He was shoved on to his back, head pillowed by the carpet of leaves and a heavy weight on his chest.
He stared in horror at the snarling blue wolf on his chest, hands coming up to instinctively defend himself as it snapped at his nose. He pushed at the beast's muzzle - avoiding its sharp teeth- and at its neck, trying to shove it off his body so he could break free.
He barely noticed the sound of another wolf rapidly approaching, though he did notice when a slightly larger, definitely gray wolf leapt at the blue beast's side and tackled it off of the redhead's body. The pair of wolves rolled several feet as Lavi scrambled up and backed up against a nearby tree. He watched, wide-eyed, as the two wolves briefly fought and then the gray one he recognized as Tyki pinned the smaller one beneath him, growling dangerously at it. The two held the pose for several seconds, then the blue wolf shifted.
Lavi watched as the creature's hind legs changed to human legs, covered by a pair of cloth pants that were rolled three or four times at the bottom. Short boots, likely made of animal hide, as were Lavi's own shoes, were on the human's feet. The forelegs turned into arms and the torso changed, revealing a white, poofy shirt that hung loosely on the child's frame. The wolf's head was the last thing to change, the hair and snout shrinking in to form a small nose and spiky, wild hair the same color as the wolf's fur had been. The child's - judging from the clothes and haircut, a boy - skin was the same shade of gray as Tyki's skin, making Lavi briefly wonder if that was one of the identifying marks of a wolf-person. The transformation, from start to finish, took maybe thirty seconds and Lavi stared, dumbfounded, as the boy laughed loudly and threw his arms around the gray wolf's neck.
"Uncle Tyki!" he said happily, nuzzling into the thick fur around Tyki's neck. "I knew I'd find you!"
The boy's voice was oddly high and feminine, Lavi noted with some puzzlement. He had to be in his teens, so either his voice hadn't deepened yet or 'he' was a she in boys' clothes.
The gray wolf seemed to sigh and then shifted as well. The legs thickened and darkened, forming legs Lavi recognized as Tyki's as the torso and arms changed from wolfish and covered with gray fur to human and covered by a white shirt. The fur on Tyki's head slid to the back of the man's human head, darkening slowly until it was the color of ink. It was pinched at the base of his skull by some sort of cord, a few locks hanging around his face while the rest spilled halfway down his back in a ponytail.
Tyki, now fully transformed, hugged the child to him, then pulled back, resting both of his hands on the younger wolf's shoulders and looking the kid in the eye. The other werewolf stared back innocently, amber eyes wide.
"Road," Tyki said, voice fond but slightly exasperated. "How many times have I told you now not to scare the humans?"
Road folded his - her? - arms, lips pursed into a pout that fought to keep from being a smile.
"But it's funny! It wasn't like I was going to hurt him," Road said. Tyki sighed and stood up, offering his hand to Road. The younger werewolf took it happily, springing up to stand and then wrapping both arms around the older man's waist. Road nestled into Tyki's side and he sighed again, though this time the sound was fond rather than exasperated. He laid one hand in Road's hair, scratching the younger wolf's scalp lightly, and Road hummed in contentment, smiling up at him. Tyki smiled back.
Lavi just stared, still dumbfounded.
Watching the wolf-man now, it was hard to believe that he might have been responsible for the deaths of eight people. Lavi swallowed heavily, suddenly recalling Kanda's warning. Had Tyki really murdered people? Killed them with the same hands he used to embrace the little child he now held?
Had Road helped?
A little voice spoke up in the back of his head. No one had ever proven that the wolf (wolves, he corrected himself) had done anything other than exist in the same woods the bodies were found in. It might not be their fault, even if they had appeared about the same time that the bodies had.
Still, looking at Tyki now, it was hard to think of him as a killer.
Lavi bit his tongue and put the thought out of his mind. Unless he found out otherwise, he would assume that Tyki was innocent. The thought sat a lot better with him than his earlier assumption of the man's guilt and it felt like a weight had suddenly lifted from the redhead's shoulders.
The wolf-man's gaze turned from Road to Lavi, his smile fading. The redhead looked away guiltily, then swallowed heavily and looked back up, stepping away from the safety of the tree. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't find the words.
"He said he was looking for you," Road commented, looking at Lavi with interest and answering Lavi's unasked question about whether or not the wolves could understand human speech.
"Did he now..." Tyki said slowly, keeping his eyes on the redhead. Lavi met his eyes, staring into the amber depths. Road looked back at Tyki, curious.
"Who is he?"
Tyki tore his gaze away from Lavi and looked back at the small child. He smiled gently.
"Someone I need to talk to. Run along - I'll be with you in a few minutes," he said. Road eyed him suspiciously for a moment, then nodded and let go of his waist.
"All right, but I'll come back and get you if you don't come find me soon," the younger wolf promised, turning away and changing shape in the same motion. Lavi watched as the wolf trotted off, soon disappearing into the dark woods surrounding them. Lavi stared at the spot for several seconds longer, only looking up when he heard quiet steps approaching him.
Tyki was standing in front of him, perhaps an arms length away, his amber eyes puzzled as he stared at Lavi's face. Lavi tried to smile, but it faltered and failed.
"Why are you here, Red?" Tyki asked him softly. "These woods aren't safe at night. Be glad you ran into my niece. She's playful, but I have yet to see her harm anyone."
Niece? So Road was female. Lavi filed the information away and then shivered, remembering being pinned down by the blue wolf before Tyki had come to his rescue. It had certainly been scary at the time, but in hindsight it was obvious that she hadn't really been attacking in earnest. Her claws hadn't scratched him at all and she hadn't bitten into his hand or his arm, simply snapped her jaws and kept him pinned.
"I..." Lavi started, then stopped. He shrugged. He really didn't know why. "I wanted to see you."
He could practically hear the man's disbelief as he watched Tyki raise one perfectly shaped eyebrow.
"Oh? Did you now..." Tyki said, sarcasm dripping from every word. "The way you told me to 'get out' earlier, I was a bit confused."
Lavi winced, only the faintest stir of anger rising within him. He had deserved that.
"I'm sor-" he started, then stopped. Why on earth was he apologizing? Tyki had been the one to steal a kiss and practically break in to Lavi's home, so why...?
The man's regretful look from an hour ago flashed back in to Lavi's mind.
"I'm sorry," the redhead said, meeting Tyki's eyes steadily and not flinching when the wolf-man's eyes widened with surprise.
"On the contrary, shouldn't I apologize to you?" Tyki asked, stepping closer. Lavi could feel the other man's body heat and he hesitantly stepped closer, shivering slightly at the other's warmth.
"For what?" Lavi asked, only half-serious. "Kissing me or shoving your way through the door?"
Tyki shifted closer, perhaps noticing Lavi's chilled state.
"I won't apologize for kissing you," Tyki said, lifting his arms and slowly wrapping them around the redhead, watching for any sign of rejection. Lavi tensed slightly and Tyki stopped, holding his arms in midair several inches from the young man's body. The redhead forced himself to relax, hesitantly lifting his own arms to wrap around the wolf-man's waist. Tyki's arms settled around him seconds later and pulled him closer to the dark-skinned man's body, pressing them together. "But I could apologize for forcing my way into your home."
Lavi's arms tightened around Tyki.
"It's OK," he said, frowning slightly. It really was ok, though he didn't quite understand why. It felt strangely natural to hold and be held by Tyki, though that was just as confusing as the first feeling.
He didn't believe in love at first sight. He really didn't, but...
What was this then? He hadn't known the man two full days and he already knew what Tyki's kiss tasted like. If he was being honest with himself, he wanted to taste it again. It would be easy to write off the emotion as lust but for the fact that his heart seemed to be just involved. It was his heart that had driven him out here tonight, after all, not any other part of his anatomy.
"What is this?" he asked, burying his face in the other's neck. "What are you?"
Tyki paused and seemed to consider his words before he spoke.
"Your kind refer to mine as 'werewolves'," Tyki began. Lavi nodded, keeping his face buried in Tyki's skin. He inhaled deeply, smelling the mingled scents of damp earth and pine. "Wolves mate for life, Red."
Lavi swallowed heavily, stomach sinking heavily even as his heart began to flutter. He shivered again, though he was no longer cold thanks to the wolf-man's body heat. Tyki, not knowing the reason, held him tighter and Lavi didn't object.
"Werewolves are no different." Tyki paused. "Well, not very different. When we come of age and we change for the first time, it is a painful and long process. It lasts exactly one lunar cycle, beginning when the full moon is high in the sky and ending only when the full moon rises to its peak again. During that time, each wolf sees a vision. That vision repeats over and over again until each wolf remembers the scent, taste, and sight of their Intended."
Lavi stilled in the man's hold, eye widening. Tyki continued, voice growing soft.
"That person I saw, Red-"
"-was me," Lavi finished, lifting his head. He didn't look at the other man's face, lifting his hands to push slightly at Tyki's shoulders. The wolf-man held on to him for a moment longer, then reluctantly let him go. Lavi backed up a step, just far enough to pass out of the heat radiating from Tyki's body. He breathed in, the sound strangled even to his own ears.
"Red-"
"I just met you yesterday," Lavi said dumbly, disbelievingly. "I just met you, a man, yesterday, you kissed me last night, and now you're telling me I'm your 'intended'?!"
He knew his voice was hysterical but he couldn't help it. He felt Tyki's hands grip his elbows but he yanked his arms free, backing up until his back hit the tree. He hugged his arms to himself, hands wrapped around the elbow of the opposite arm. He refused to look at Tyki.
"Red..." Tyki's voice trailed off into a quiet sigh. "It was too early to tell you this."
It wasn't a question so Lavi didn't respond.
"You don't even know my name," Lavi said quietly. He heard the wolf-man step forward again and shrunk back against the tree trunk. Tyki stopped moving.
"Shall I walk you back home? I doubt very much that you can see in this dark," Tyki asked softly. Lavi nodded, hesitantly moving away from the tree though he still refused to look at the other man for longer than a few seconds.
He missed the regretful look that crossed the werewolf's face as Tyki turned and began leading the human unerringly back to his home. Lavi followed silently, looking at the surroundings woods more often than the man in front of him.
A minute into their walk, a wolf with blue-tinged fur slipped out from between the trees and began strolling next to Tyki. Lavi recognized it as Road, the girl Tyki had called his niece.
Road lifted her head up under one of Tyki's hands, nudging him and then looking up at him, as though trying to cheer him up. Lavi saw the man smile sadly down at her and run his hand over his head, scratching behind one of her ears.
The three continued to walk in silence, Road padding quietly beside her uncle and Lavi trailing behind the both of them. At the edge of the woods Tyki stopped and stood to the side. Road did the same, turning her keen eyes to Lavi as both waited for the redhead to pass.
Lavi looked at them uncertainly, taking a few steps forward until he, too, was standing at the edge. He looked across the road, seeing his home sitting there.
"Go on," Tyki said quietly, touching the small of Lavi's back and lightly pressing to urge him forward. "Just remember; do not enter these woods at night again. You were fortunate tonight that you ran into Road instead of some of my other relatives, but I doubt you'll be so lucky again."
Lavi didn't move, staring at his house for a long moment before turning his gaze to Tyki.
"My name is Lavi," he offered, biting his lip after he said it. Tyki looked surprised, but then the man smiled. He moved closer and leaned over to whisper in the redhead's ear.
"Go on then, Lavi," Tyki said in his ear, the redhead's name said slowly and savored like it was a particularly fine, particularly rare chocolate. The hand at the small of his back pushed him lightly again. "I will come for you again tonight."
Lavi smiled hesitantly, turning away from the man and walking towards his house. It wasn't quite predawn yet, but close enough.
As he entered his house he glanced back, able to see the eyes of two wolves watching him from the tree-line. He gave a small wave and opened up the door, letting himself in.
When he shut the door and looked back, the wolves were gone.
TBC…
A/N: And so, the introduction of Road. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! The next chapter will be posted in two weeks.
PLEASE remember to review if you Favorite.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Wish they were, but Katsura Hoshino owns all.
Notes: Well, this fic started as a oneshot based off of Little Red Riding Hood. About two pages in, I figured out that this no longer had anything whatsoever to do with Little Red Riding Hood. >_< I hope you all enjoy!
Dedicated to SisterWicked, Niamh (both of AssHat Productions, a group I’m a proud member of), and Cackles for reading this over before I posted and giving me tips and the confidence boost I needed so I could make this fic available to the general public. All remaining mistakes are mine.
Super special awesome thanks to Niamh for coming up with the title of this fic!
Last Time:
He looked down at the basket he held and was tempted to throw it against the wall. Instead, he sighed and set it on the table before heading towards his room with steps that were more like stomps.
He'd show that bastard. Tomorrow night, he planned to sleep peacefully until dawn with no interruptions from strange men who could apparently turn into wolves.
And Now, The Continuation:
Chapter 2
Blue Wolf
Lavi lay awake, watching the shadows shifting on the wall.
He had planned on being asleep long before now, but for some reason sleep just wouldn't come. He had tossed and turned for at least an hour before simply giving up and lying on his side, staring at the wall and various other inanimate objects.
He had been jumpy all day, eyes constantly scanning the trees for any sign of a large, gray wolf when he was outside and constantly looking towards the door to the house whenever he was inside. He was sure his grandfather had noticed - very little made it past that man - but he hadn't commented, probably believing Lavi's behavior could be attributed to his run-in with the wolf the previous afternoon. Bookman was half-right; it had everything to do with the wolf, but the daylight incident had been almost completely blown out of his mind.
It was just about midnight when he heard a quiet knock on the door to the house. He didn't move, staying frozen on his pallet. After a minute, the knock came again.
He didn't move. Five minutes passed.
Again, the knock came, but slightly louder than before. Before two minutes had passed, there was another, louder knock.
Lavi didn't move. Perhaps if Tyki thought he was sleeping, he'd leave.
Again, louder. Then louder.
Lavi winced at the noise, curling in on himself and covering his ears. The knocking continued, getting louder and more frequent.
Across the room, Bookman began to stir in his sleep. Lavi heard the blankets rustling and looked, seeing the old man's eyes flutter.
"Lavi...?" Bookman said, moving to sit up. With a mental sigh, Lavi got up and walked over to his grandfather. As he stood, he grabbed his eyepatch from where it rested on the floor next to his bed and tied it on with the ease of long practice.
"It's OK, Gramps," he said, gently pushing on the old man's shoulder. "Go back to sleep. I'll go see who it is."
His grandfather didn't need to know about Tyki and the wolf-man would probably just ask for Lavi anyway.
Bookman rested back against the pillow, closing his eyes and scowling faintly. Lavi's face mirrored the expression as he turned towards the door and began stalking towards it. The knocking was now ceaseless and loud, almost echoing through the house.
He stomped through the small living space and the kitchen, his steps drowned out by the knocking. He reached the door and yanked it open, in his anger forgetting the kiss the previous night.
As expected, Tyki stood outside, his hand raised to knock. The man slowly lowered it, smiling at the redhead.
"I was beginning to think that you weren't going to answer, Red," he said, smile morphing into a smirk. He had known that Lavi hadn't been planning to answer and was pleased he had forced the redhead into answering anyway. He stepped forward and Lavi suddenly regretted opening the door so wide. He tried to backtrack, stepping backwards and moving to shut the door, but Tyki was too quick. The wolf-man stepped into the doorway before the door could shut, blocking it with his body. Lavi shoved against the door anyway, trying to force Tyki out, but the man's stance held firm.
"Now, now..." Tyki said, smirking widely. Lavi glared in response. "Won't you let me in?"
"No," Lavi hissed, trying to force the door shut. A hand snaked in and grabbed his wrist, yanking him to the side. Lavi nearly fell from the unexpected pull, tripping towards the wall at the side of the door and allowing Tyki all the room he needed to shove the door wide open. The wood banged against the wall as Tyki forced his way in, grabbing Lavi's other wrist with his free hand. The redhead stared at the wolf-man in shock and a tiny bit of honest fear, body stilling.
Tyki's expression went soft, his smirk fading.
"I don't mean to make you afraid," he said, loosening his grip. Lavi quickly tore his wrists free, backing away so he was out of reach of the other man. Tyki watched him, a hint of regret entering his expression. For a second, Lavi almost felt guilty, but he steeled himself, reminding himself that not only was Tyki an intruder in his home, but was also supposedly a murderer.
Kanda's words came back to him. Lavi's eyes narrowed. If the rumor were true, then the man standing in front of him was responsible for at least eight deaths.
"Get out," he said. Tyki's eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to protest, but Lavi shook his head vehemently. "Get out!"
Silence, then...
"Fine." Tyki's voice was cool and the redhead watched the man turn towards the still-open door and begin walking out. Tyki paused at the threshold, looking back at Lavi over his shoulder. "I shall see you tomorrow night."
Tyki shut the door behind him. Lavi didn't move for several minutes, holding one of his wrists with his other hand. His gaze softened just a bit as he looked at the floor.
He hadn't hurt the wolf, had he? He had barely known the man for two days, yet...
He locked the door and headed out of the kitchen, touching one hand to his chest as he headed back to bed. He really needed some sleep.
Line Break
An hour later, he was still tossing and turning and just as sleepless as ever. He had tiptoed back into the room to find Bookman deeply asleep, but that same oblivion had eluded him. His thoughts kept traveling back to Tyki.
The man had stolen a kiss and had forced his way into the house earlier, but...
Why did he feel so guilty about turning the man away?
With a quiet growl he sat up and slipped out of bed. He would just go for a walk to clear his head. Maybe just across the street and a few feet into the woods and if he happened to run into Tyki-
He cut that thought off, heading towards the door. His boots were sitting peacefully next to the door and he slipped them on, opening up the door quietly and heading out. He ignored the red cloak hanging on its peg by the door. He wouldn't be gone long.
The night air was cold and he shivered slightly, almost turning around to grab his cloak but deciding against it.
Fixing his face determinedly, he looked towards the woods. They were dark and foreboding and he shivered again, though this time not from cold. He began heading across the grass, listening to the quiet 'clomp clomp' his shoes made on the dirt road as he walked across it towards the trees.
He hesitated at the forest's edge. It was rather dark. He couldn't see a foot in.
He glanced back towards his home, then looked back into the dense foliage.
"Tyki?" he called uncertainly, then waited. He heard the wind rustle the leaves, but there was no other sound and definitely no response.
When ten minutes had passed he sighed and slowly stepped forward, glancing one last time towards his home before turning his gaze forward and moving deeper into the trees.
The night was mostly silent around him, though he could faintly hear the chirping of a few crickets. Some part of his brain was telling him that he was being incredibly stupid, but he ignored that part of his brain and trudged forward. Progress was slow because he couldn't see very well - the night was dark and it was even darker under the trees, meaning that half the time he couldn't see the trees until his nose was almost pressed to the bark. He held his hands out in front of himself, doing his best to keep walking in a straight line so that he wouldn't get lost. He wouldn't be able to find his way out until morning if he lost his way.
Leaves and twigs crunched underfoot and he stumbled more than once over dips and lifts in the ground he couldn't see in the dark. He kept moving doggedly forward, blindly trying to find the wolf that might be miles away by now.
"Tyki?" he called again, louder. Something crunched behind him and he turned, squinting through the gloom to try and make out what had made the noise. Absently, he noticed that the crickets had fallen silent some time ago.
A wolf stood there, tall and proud on all four paws. Lavi took a step towards it, trying to make out the color of its fur.
"Tyki?" he said, questioning. His steps halted.
The wolf, though bigger than most wolves, was not as large as Tyki and nor was its fur the same color. This smaller wolf had gray fur, but it was blue-tinged and much wilder than Tyki's fur.
The creature growled at him, slowly advancing. Lavi scrambled backwards, mentally cursing himself as the blue wolf stalked towards him. Its eyes glowed amber, just like Tyki's, and Lavi was struck by sudden inspiration.
He held up his hands, showing that he carried no weapon.
"Please - I'm just looking for someone," he said weakly, hoping that this smaller wolf could understand him. Could they understand human speech in wolf form? Lavi had read stories about wolf-men before he had ever met Tyki, but he had half-assumed that they were all fiction until he had seen Tyki transform before his eyes. Now he wished he had paid more attention. "His name is Tyki-"
The blue wolf growled and leapt, jaws opening and aiming for his neck. Lavi yelped and turned, slipping on the leaves covering the forest floor and hitting the ground hard. He cried out, struggling to his feet when a weight slammed into him. He was shoved on to his back, head pillowed by the carpet of leaves and a heavy weight on his chest.
He stared in horror at the snarling blue wolf on his chest, hands coming up to instinctively defend himself as it snapped at his nose. He pushed at the beast's muzzle - avoiding its sharp teeth- and at its neck, trying to shove it off his body so he could break free.
He barely noticed the sound of another wolf rapidly approaching, though he did notice when a slightly larger, definitely gray wolf leapt at the blue beast's side and tackled it off of the redhead's body. The pair of wolves rolled several feet as Lavi scrambled up and backed up against a nearby tree. He watched, wide-eyed, as the two wolves briefly fought and then the gray one he recognized as Tyki pinned the smaller one beneath him, growling dangerously at it. The two held the pose for several seconds, then the blue wolf shifted.
Lavi watched as the creature's hind legs changed to human legs, covered by a pair of cloth pants that were rolled three or four times at the bottom. Short boots, likely made of animal hide, as were Lavi's own shoes, were on the human's feet. The forelegs turned into arms and the torso changed, revealing a white, poofy shirt that hung loosely on the child's frame. The wolf's head was the last thing to change, the hair and snout shrinking in to form a small nose and spiky, wild hair the same color as the wolf's fur had been. The child's - judging from the clothes and haircut, a boy - skin was the same shade of gray as Tyki's skin, making Lavi briefly wonder if that was one of the identifying marks of a wolf-person. The transformation, from start to finish, took maybe thirty seconds and Lavi stared, dumbfounded, as the boy laughed loudly and threw his arms around the gray wolf's neck.
"Uncle Tyki!" he said happily, nuzzling into the thick fur around Tyki's neck. "I knew I'd find you!"
The boy's voice was oddly high and feminine, Lavi noted with some puzzlement. He had to be in his teens, so either his voice hadn't deepened yet or 'he' was a she in boys' clothes.
The gray wolf seemed to sigh and then shifted as well. The legs thickened and darkened, forming legs Lavi recognized as Tyki's as the torso and arms changed from wolfish and covered with gray fur to human and covered by a white shirt. The fur on Tyki's head slid to the back of the man's human head, darkening slowly until it was the color of ink. It was pinched at the base of his skull by some sort of cord, a few locks hanging around his face while the rest spilled halfway down his back in a ponytail.
Tyki, now fully transformed, hugged the child to him, then pulled back, resting both of his hands on the younger wolf's shoulders and looking the kid in the eye. The other werewolf stared back innocently, amber eyes wide.
"Road," Tyki said, voice fond but slightly exasperated. "How many times have I told you now not to scare the humans?"
Road folded his - her? - arms, lips pursed into a pout that fought to keep from being a smile.
"But it's funny! It wasn't like I was going to hurt him," Road said. Tyki sighed and stood up, offering his hand to Road. The younger werewolf took it happily, springing up to stand and then wrapping both arms around the older man's waist. Road nestled into Tyki's side and he sighed again, though this time the sound was fond rather than exasperated. He laid one hand in Road's hair, scratching the younger wolf's scalp lightly, and Road hummed in contentment, smiling up at him. Tyki smiled back.
Lavi just stared, still dumbfounded.
Watching the wolf-man now, it was hard to believe that he might have been responsible for the deaths of eight people. Lavi swallowed heavily, suddenly recalling Kanda's warning. Had Tyki really murdered people? Killed them with the same hands he used to embrace the little child he now held?
Had Road helped?
A little voice spoke up in the back of his head. No one had ever proven that the wolf (wolves, he corrected himself) had done anything other than exist in the same woods the bodies were found in. It might not be their fault, even if they had appeared about the same time that the bodies had.
Still, looking at Tyki now, it was hard to think of him as a killer.
Lavi bit his tongue and put the thought out of his mind. Unless he found out otherwise, he would assume that Tyki was innocent. The thought sat a lot better with him than his earlier assumption of the man's guilt and it felt like a weight had suddenly lifted from the redhead's shoulders.
The wolf-man's gaze turned from Road to Lavi, his smile fading. The redhead looked away guiltily, then swallowed heavily and looked back up, stepping away from the safety of the tree. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't find the words.
"He said he was looking for you," Road commented, looking at Lavi with interest and answering Lavi's unasked question about whether or not the wolves could understand human speech.
"Did he now..." Tyki said slowly, keeping his eyes on the redhead. Lavi met his eyes, staring into the amber depths. Road looked back at Tyki, curious.
"Who is he?"
Tyki tore his gaze away from Lavi and looked back at the small child. He smiled gently.
"Someone I need to talk to. Run along - I'll be with you in a few minutes," he said. Road eyed him suspiciously for a moment, then nodded and let go of his waist.
"All right, but I'll come back and get you if you don't come find me soon," the younger wolf promised, turning away and changing shape in the same motion. Lavi watched as the wolf trotted off, soon disappearing into the dark woods surrounding them. Lavi stared at the spot for several seconds longer, only looking up when he heard quiet steps approaching him.
Tyki was standing in front of him, perhaps an arms length away, his amber eyes puzzled as he stared at Lavi's face. Lavi tried to smile, but it faltered and failed.
"Why are you here, Red?" Tyki asked him softly. "These woods aren't safe at night. Be glad you ran into my niece. She's playful, but I have yet to see her harm anyone."
Niece? So Road was female. Lavi filed the information away and then shivered, remembering being pinned down by the blue wolf before Tyki had come to his rescue. It had certainly been scary at the time, but in hindsight it was obvious that she hadn't really been attacking in earnest. Her claws hadn't scratched him at all and she hadn't bitten into his hand or his arm, simply snapped her jaws and kept him pinned.
"I..." Lavi started, then stopped. He shrugged. He really didn't know why. "I wanted to see you."
He could practically hear the man's disbelief as he watched Tyki raise one perfectly shaped eyebrow.
"Oh? Did you now..." Tyki said, sarcasm dripping from every word. "The way you told me to 'get out' earlier, I was a bit confused."
Lavi winced, only the faintest stir of anger rising within him. He had deserved that.
"I'm sor-" he started, then stopped. Why on earth was he apologizing? Tyki had been the one to steal a kiss and practically break in to Lavi's home, so why...?
The man's regretful look from an hour ago flashed back in to Lavi's mind.
"I'm sorry," the redhead said, meeting Tyki's eyes steadily and not flinching when the wolf-man's eyes widened with surprise.
"On the contrary, shouldn't I apologize to you?" Tyki asked, stepping closer. Lavi could feel the other man's body heat and he hesitantly stepped closer, shivering slightly at the other's warmth.
"For what?" Lavi asked, only half-serious. "Kissing me or shoving your way through the door?"
Tyki shifted closer, perhaps noticing Lavi's chilled state.
"I won't apologize for kissing you," Tyki said, lifting his arms and slowly wrapping them around the redhead, watching for any sign of rejection. Lavi tensed slightly and Tyki stopped, holding his arms in midair several inches from the young man's body. The redhead forced himself to relax, hesitantly lifting his own arms to wrap around the wolf-man's waist. Tyki's arms settled around him seconds later and pulled him closer to the dark-skinned man's body, pressing them together. "But I could apologize for forcing my way into your home."
Lavi's arms tightened around Tyki.
"It's OK," he said, frowning slightly. It really was ok, though he didn't quite understand why. It felt strangely natural to hold and be held by Tyki, though that was just as confusing as the first feeling.
He didn't believe in love at first sight. He really didn't, but...
What was this then? He hadn't known the man two full days and he already knew what Tyki's kiss tasted like. If he was being honest with himself, he wanted to taste it again. It would be easy to write off the emotion as lust but for the fact that his heart seemed to be just involved. It was his heart that had driven him out here tonight, after all, not any other part of his anatomy.
"What is this?" he asked, burying his face in the other's neck. "What are you?"
Tyki paused and seemed to consider his words before he spoke.
"Your kind refer to mine as 'werewolves'," Tyki began. Lavi nodded, keeping his face buried in Tyki's skin. He inhaled deeply, smelling the mingled scents of damp earth and pine. "Wolves mate for life, Red."
Lavi swallowed heavily, stomach sinking heavily even as his heart began to flutter. He shivered again, though he was no longer cold thanks to the wolf-man's body heat. Tyki, not knowing the reason, held him tighter and Lavi didn't object.
"Werewolves are no different." Tyki paused. "Well, not very different. When we come of age and we change for the first time, it is a painful and long process. It lasts exactly one lunar cycle, beginning when the full moon is high in the sky and ending only when the full moon rises to its peak again. During that time, each wolf sees a vision. That vision repeats over and over again until each wolf remembers the scent, taste, and sight of their Intended."
Lavi stilled in the man's hold, eye widening. Tyki continued, voice growing soft.
"That person I saw, Red-"
"-was me," Lavi finished, lifting his head. He didn't look at the other man's face, lifting his hands to push slightly at Tyki's shoulders. The wolf-man held on to him for a moment longer, then reluctantly let him go. Lavi backed up a step, just far enough to pass out of the heat radiating from Tyki's body. He breathed in, the sound strangled even to his own ears.
"Red-"
"I just met you yesterday," Lavi said dumbly, disbelievingly. "I just met you, a man, yesterday, you kissed me last night, and now you're telling me I'm your 'intended'?!"
He knew his voice was hysterical but he couldn't help it. He felt Tyki's hands grip his elbows but he yanked his arms free, backing up until his back hit the tree. He hugged his arms to himself, hands wrapped around the elbow of the opposite arm. He refused to look at Tyki.
"Red..." Tyki's voice trailed off into a quiet sigh. "It was too early to tell you this."
It wasn't a question so Lavi didn't respond.
"You don't even know my name," Lavi said quietly. He heard the wolf-man step forward again and shrunk back against the tree trunk. Tyki stopped moving.
"Shall I walk you back home? I doubt very much that you can see in this dark," Tyki asked softly. Lavi nodded, hesitantly moving away from the tree though he still refused to look at the other man for longer than a few seconds.
He missed the regretful look that crossed the werewolf's face as Tyki turned and began leading the human unerringly back to his home. Lavi followed silently, looking at the surroundings woods more often than the man in front of him.
A minute into their walk, a wolf with blue-tinged fur slipped out from between the trees and began strolling next to Tyki. Lavi recognized it as Road, the girl Tyki had called his niece.
Road lifted her head up under one of Tyki's hands, nudging him and then looking up at him, as though trying to cheer him up. Lavi saw the man smile sadly down at her and run his hand over his head, scratching behind one of her ears.
The three continued to walk in silence, Road padding quietly beside her uncle and Lavi trailing behind the both of them. At the edge of the woods Tyki stopped and stood to the side. Road did the same, turning her keen eyes to Lavi as both waited for the redhead to pass.
Lavi looked at them uncertainly, taking a few steps forward until he, too, was standing at the edge. He looked across the road, seeing his home sitting there.
"Go on," Tyki said quietly, touching the small of Lavi's back and lightly pressing to urge him forward. "Just remember; do not enter these woods at night again. You were fortunate tonight that you ran into Road instead of some of my other relatives, but I doubt you'll be so lucky again."
Lavi didn't move, staring at his house for a long moment before turning his gaze to Tyki.
"My name is Lavi," he offered, biting his lip after he said it. Tyki looked surprised, but then the man smiled. He moved closer and leaned over to whisper in the redhead's ear.
"Go on then, Lavi," Tyki said in his ear, the redhead's name said slowly and savored like it was a particularly fine, particularly rare chocolate. The hand at the small of his back pushed him lightly again. "I will come for you again tonight."
Lavi smiled hesitantly, turning away from the man and walking towards his house. It wasn't quite predawn yet, but close enough.
As he entered his house he glanced back, able to see the eyes of two wolves watching him from the tree-line. He gave a small wave and opened up the door, letting himself in.
When he shut the door and looked back, the wolves were gone.
TBC…
A/N: And so, the introduction of Road. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! The next chapter will be posted in two weeks.
PLEASE remember to review if you Favorite.