He walked up the ramp and entered his room. The ceiling crystals brightened and in the span of a footstep he was back to his human form. It had become automatic for him, and the routine of it did strike him as odd sometimes. He changed from a seven foot tall monster out of fairly tales and horror movies into an average human in seconds and put on clothes like he was going out after a day’s work. Come to think of it that was exactly what he was doing. He had worked out and now he was going to eat. The idea of it was hilarious. He laughed out loud and let the emotion carry itself and him to the bed where all he could do was plop down onto the thick furs, laugh, and hold his aching sides. The mirth of the joke stayed with him for a while as he finished putting his clothes on. Having managed to finish dressing he got up off the bed and walked out into the city.
The city was quiet as usual for this time of day. It was sometime in the afternoon though the exact time he hadn’t known for years so it didn’t really bother him. Following a winding course around the city’s core he made his way to a community bathroom and washed his hands and face. He looked up in the mirror that hung in front of him and he noticed that he wasn’t alone.
His head jerked back from the image in the mirror and he wheeled around and his heel, gripping the sink counter behind him for balance. Sitting on one of toilet seats was a brown werewolf. His body had streaks of blond fur throughout. William had never seen a werewolf in the bathroom before.
The werewolf looked up at him with a questioning look on his face. He cocked his head to the side and said, “What?”
Before William could answer the werewolf melted down into the globulous shadow form they all became before reemerging as Billy Jones, the weapon smith. Billy was laughing out loud and clutching at his sides. He managed to point in William’s direction with one hand, “You should have seen the look on your face!” Billy doubled over as he clutched at his sides rocking on the white porcelain of the toilet seat.
William watched Billy, straight faced, as the weapon smith laughed even harder. William raised his eyes to the ceiling of the bathroom and walked out, followed by Billy’s laughter.
William made his way to the cafeteria. The familiar smells of the place wafted out to meet him as he entered through the doorway. The warm steamy atmosphere was welcoming. It didn’t take too long to spot Katherine and Nicolas sitting in their usual spot almost dead center of the room. It was still pretty early and the dinner rush hadn’t hit yet, so much the better.
William walked up to the counter and halted as he saw the familiar cute face framed by flaming red hair looking back at him. This is not what I need right now. The girl beamed at him as he gathered himself and approached the serving counter. William grabbed a tray and utensils and stood in front of the woman.
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She looked at him with hungry green eyes, something bordering on predatory. William never felt more helpless than he did when facing this woman. “So? How was training, Setford?”
She seemed to enjoy calling him by his last name as if that proved something. William remained as straight faced as possible and answered as amiably as he could, “Training went good today.”
“That’s not what I heard.” The girl said as she slowly spooned him a heaping portion of cubed baked potatoes. “I heard that you fell.”
William shot a look over at Nicolas who was trying hard to look like he was ignoring him, trying very hard. He told himself that he would have a little talk with their pack scout about personal privacy and who should be informed about what went on with their pack. William brought his attention back to the green eyed girl. “Yes, I fell… broke an arm and a leg, nothing serious.”
The girl widened her eyes in faux shock, “Nothing serious!? You might have some left over pain or soreness even from werewolf healing, I’ve heard of it happening before.” She stuck a thick piece of venison with a serving fork and laid it on the tray she was serving for him. “I could come by your room later on if you want.” She handed the tray to William and leaned in closer to speak in a hushed tone, “I used to practice physical therapy.”
William took the tray and backed away from the girl who was smiling slyly at him. He shook his head, “No, I’m sure I’ll be fine, thank you for your offer though.” Before the girl could say anything more, William turned around and stalked towards his pack mates.
William had to slow himself down so he didn’t slam his tray down on the table next to Katherine. He sat down heavily on the bench opposite Nicolas and glared at the light brown-haired boy.
Nicolas was all wide-eyed innocence once he noticed William’s glare. “What did I do?”
William spoke in a hushed tone so as not to be overheard by the few people who were in the cafeteria and especially not the girl behind the counter. “What the hell is wrong with you?” Nicolas didn’t say anything but continued to stare back at William in wide eyed silence. William continued, “Why do you see it necessary to go around telling everyone about everything that happens to us? You know how I feel about that, especially with her.” He said that last with a slight shake of his head toward the food counter.
Nicolas smiled ruefully and shook his head. He heaved a heavy sigh and shook his head silently laughing. It reminded William of an adult laughing at the simple naiveté of a child. Nicolas gathered himself and leaned over the table toward William. “William, I don’t know what your problem is. Keva is obviously into you and I was just trying to help.”
William had to stop his arm from shooting across the table and crushing the other man’s esophagus. Instead, he smiled at the scout and said through stiff lips, “Nicolas, I don’t need your help, not with Keva, not with anything.” He leaned in a little closer and with a mild pleasant tone he said, “The next time you tell her anything about me, no matter how mundane it may seem to you, you and I are going to have ourselves a nice long chat, ok?” William smiled at Nicolas and calmly leaned back down onto the bench.