of wolf and men
Muses: Cade Lu (vibrantdecay), Byun Baekhyun (whitespectrums), Oh Sehun (anakims)
Status: Closed, ongoing
Date / Time: 08/23, night
Rating: PG
Type: Thread
Summary: A demigod, a mutant and a vampire walk into a bar the forest.
( His night out was far from being over. )
Status: Closed, ongoing
Date / Time: 08/23, night
Rating: PG
Type: Thread
Summary: A demigod, a mutant and a vampire walk into a bar the forest.
( His night out was far from being over. )
When he shifted his gaze towards Sehun, however, the first thing he noticed wasn't the boy's wariness and apprehension but rather the slash of white showing above his collar. His smile faltered, and he tried not to stare a little too long. "... did you break something again, trouble?" He paused, remembering bits and pieces of their first conversation in which Sehun revealed he was a student at HKU. Had he been involved in the attacks there? How badly was he hurt? Was he supposed to be walking around already? Cade pursed his lips, noting now the protective, supportive way they were holding each other. Would he be intruding if he lingered? He hadn't gotten the chance to speak to them both at the same time, after all, but now, perhaps was not it.
"Are you taking King out for a walk?" He asked instead.
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“Oh… you mean this?” he raised his wounded shoulder a little when he noticed Cade was looking at it. “You probably heard about what happened at HKU, right?” He said as he pulled the hem of his collar up to hide the bandages from view. “Yeah, I was there. Got blown away during the blast and was hit by shrapnel on my shoulder. But it’s not as bad as it looked like though.” Not anymore. Baekbom did a good job in patching him up this time.
“And yeah, we're kind of walking him.” He threw his boyfriend a glance to let him do the explaining. He thought it would be kind of weird to say ‘we’re actually heading to the woods to pet some wolves’ out loud. And he doesn’t really know if Baekhyun wants the other to know where they were going in the middle of the night.
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Baekhyun had considered it before. King liked Cade enough to nudge his leg and wag his tail in his presence, something he would never do around people he distrusted - the Samoyed's instincts were sharp, and Baekhyun believed his dog's judgement. He was contemplating whether to tell Cade about what he could do, but seeing Sehun and Cade's exchange was the deciding factor he needed.
He would just have to trust Sehun and King.
"Actually," he started, smiling, "do you have time? Some extra help would be nice, especially with Sehunnie not in his best form." Giving Cade another bright smile, Baekhyun cocked his head towards his boyfriend's direction. "Just as a precaution. Who knows what might happen, right? Considering what happened yesterday, it'd be great if you could come along with us." And, as if on cue, King nuzzled Cade's knee, looking up at him with the most pitiful eyes he could muster.
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"Is that right?" He asked mildly, open-ended question directed to them both, although when he lifted his eyes from Baekhyun's pet towards Sehun again, there was visible concern, however slight and subtle, in his gaze. How much of Sehun's story was embellished? How much was was being kept from him? The specifics didn't matter, Cade supposed. Sehun was injured, that was the long and short of it. "I don't have anything else planned, anyway," he nodded, accepting Baekhyun's offer without really knowing what he was getting himself into, and turned to retrace his steps back out of the lobby.
"But shouldn't you be resting, trouble?" Cade asked as they walked, him allowing the pair to lead, of course, slipping hands casually into his pockets. He sensed Sehun's discomfort still, and not knowing if the younger male had informed his boyfriend of their encounter and all the secrets displayed, he kept a respectful distance away on Baekhyun's other side, watching the dog gambol and prance and whatever else it was that dogs did.
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He chose the last. He figured the vampire might not want Baekhyun to know about his true identity yet.
“Yeah, I should be resting.” Sehun answered when Cade expressed his concern on his state as they stepped out of the apartment building and followed the road leading towards the forest. “But then a certain someone-“ He placed a hand over Baekhyun’s head and ruffled his hair to point out who he was referring to. “--- insisted to go on a late night stroll so I had no choice but to go with them.” he said with a small grin etched on his face. “I can’t just let him go wandering around at night all alone. Who knows what sort of trouble he could get himself into?”
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Voicing out his agreement to Cade's question with a grunt, Baekhyun nodded his head as he let his feet walk, falling into step with Sehun's. He bristled when Sehun ruffled his hair, free arm flailing before the arm around Sehun's waist pinched his side, hard. There was a tint of pink on his cheeks as he protested, "all the troubles seem to fancy you, though. Just look at yourself! You can barely get up without my help!" And perhaps that was quite an exaggeration, but he was only trying to get his point across.
As they neared the edges of the forest, a small red bird flew towards Baekhyun's direction, landing on his finger when he reached out his left hand. "Eden's already waiting at the clearing. And it seems you have a rather unexpected company, so I'll let him know," the bird chirped to him. It made Baekhyun smile, and as a grateful gesture, he placed a kiss on the bird's head, letting it fly away into the woods after. Seeing King contemplating on whether he should go first or not, Baekhyun patted the Samoyed's head, saying, "it's okay, you can go." But King shook his head, reasoning that "you'll need me to lead you there."
And it was true. The trees, although were not very thick at this side of the forest, did not really help with his vision. King's guidance really helped, and not even five minutes later, they arrived at the clearing. A red wolf was sitting on a rock by the river, sharp, expecting eyes turned towards their direction. The small bird from earlier was perching on the wolf's head, looking as chirpy as ever. "Eden," Baekhyun called with a wide smile, and even if all he wanted to do was run to wrap his friend in a hug, he could not suddenly leave Sehun's side just like that. King did it for him instead, running and jumping onto the rock until he could greet the wolf with a nuzzle against his neck.
"Baekhyun," Eden replied the greeting and King's with a lick to the dog's head. "I see you've brought someone new," he stated, turning to give Cade a calculating look. "Yeah, this is Cade. Cade, this is Eden. He's a friend." To other people, wolves would never be the first choice for a friend, but to Baekhyun, Eden was special, and his bright smile indicated so.
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But for all his wild thoughts, Cade kept them to himself, and silently followed the couple. If anything insidious were indeed planned for him, he had only just fed, and presumably would have more than enough strength to fend for himself. Deeper into the forest they went, and Cade frowned for the briefest moment, realising how unsuited his shoes were for dirt and undergrowth. If anything scratched them beyond repair, it would be a little more than upsetting. It didn't matter, for that split second, that his shoe closet was rather full with a variety of footwear, half of which were of similarly expensive leather.
Perils of the rich.
But that superficial thought erased itself when they finally encountered the wolf, the monster waiting in the dark. Cade knew, of course, that animals couldn't always sense what he was despite the aversion of his kind towards shapeshifters. And they weren't part humans but simply beasts, from the very annoying (Jinri's cat, for instance) to the very friendly (King, of course). For all he knew, they didn't care what he was as long as he stayed out of their way just as much as they stayed out of his. His days of opening random creatures up in the name of twisted science were long, long gone.
Cade stopped, a few feet behind the couple, upon sight of the wolf - Eden, as Baekhyun called it - and did not step any closer. It had taken him long enough to get comfortable with his neighbours' pets, it would take hell freezing over, likely, if he were to ever let himself get close to a feral beast. There was nothing heavenly about that, he thought privately to himself, and merely stared at Baekhyun in a mixture of confusion and disbelief.
"... friend? You're kidding -- he's kidding, right?" he directed his question to Sehun instead, looking at the demigod now.
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Once they reached the clearing, the first thing he saw was Eden. Sehun couldn’t help but tense up at the sight of the animal. Even though he had seen and interacted with the wolf a few times before, and that his boyfriend had reassured him countless of times that Eden wouldn’t hurt him, Sehun couldn’t really bring himself to not fear the beast. Who wouldn’t be scared of it when the said beast has a habit of chasing him around? Baekhyun would always tell him that Eden was just ‘playing around’. But the demigod would always disagree. Eden’s ‘playing around’ was so different from King’s way of ‘playing around’. The wolf was like hunting him, sharp canine teeth bared, claws out, and a very predatory look on its face whenever he’s trying to ‘play’ with him. He knew the wolf was set to eat him up from the moment he first saw him. He was sure of it. And the only one who’s stopping the beast from using his bones as a toothpick was his boyfriend.
“I wish he was kidding.” Sehun turned his head around, nose scrunching up, as he answered Cade. “But no. He’s not kidding at all. He’s really friends with that wolf.” He turned his gaze back at Eden and King. The Samoyed was now on its back, looking really happy as the wolf laid its head on top of its belly. The wolf’s calculating eyes were still trained on Cade. He doesn’t speak animal but he could tell that Eden was still debating if Cade was a friend or a foe.
He removed his arm around his boyfriend. “Go ahead. Go play with Eden. I’ll be fine by myself.” He knew the shorter male would have bounced immediately at the first sight of the wolf if it wasn’t for him and his injured state. “Just tell him not to play his hunting games on me tonight because I’m injured.” He said that a little bit too loud so the wild animal could hear it too. The wolf just sneered back at him (or grinned. He couldn’t really tell). He gave Baekhyun a slight push towards Eden’s direction before moving to sit against a large tree beside Cade’s position.
“Okay, go on.” He said once he found a comfortable position and looked up at the vampire. “I know you’ve got a lot of questions in your mind right now. So go ahead and shoot them all.”
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One of his feet scuffed the ground at Cade's disbelief, his head hung low, dejected. Maybe this whole thing was a bad idea after all, but he was never the type to hide what he was from his friends. And since Cade let him call the older guy Lu-ge, that must mean they were friends, right? He hoped so, at least.
Baekhyun bit his lower lip in hesitation when Sehun told him to play with the wolf, because he was actually contemplating if they should just go home now, seeing how Cade reacted. He was just about to throw the idea out there when Sehun encouraged him with a push towards his wolf friend. Giving a last unsure glance at Cade and Sehun, he pressed his lips into a thin line, making up his mind. He did decide to trust his boyfriend, no? So he quickly crossed the distance between himself and Eden, wrapping the wolf in a big hug.
"I've missed you," was the first thing he said, as if they had not met in a long time. "You're being like this again," Eden replied in amusement, nuzzling his snout in Baekhyun's neck. It was slightly ticklish, but it felt comforting. Familiar. Baekhyun pulled away, only to put his forehead against the wolf's, and smiled. "Thanks for yesterday. You really helped us back there." If it was not for Eden and his pack's help, Baekhyun would not have been able to clean up the mess that was three dozens of stray dogs and wild wolves. Eden's only answer was a lick to his cheek, which made him giggle.
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Eden's words, rather than a suggestion, served as a reminder of why he had invited Cade here in the first place. He did not know how Cade would react upon realizing what his ability was, but it was his choice to do it in the first place. King snapped him out of his thoughts by nudging his chin affectionately. "If he starts freaking out, I'll bite his toes," he reassured. It made Baekhyun chuckle. Turning to look at both Cade and Sehun, Baekhyun gave them a grin and a cheerful wave before taking a deep breath. He closed his eyes, feeling the warmth of his power coursing through his body.
The sound of wings flapping could be heard from a distance, yet it did not even take a minute for them to come closer. The small red bird from earlier had taken its place on Baekhyun's head - soon after, five, six other birds of various sizes flew out of the woods to perch on Baekhyun's fingers. When he opened his eyes again, he smiled at the sight of rabbits and deers--one of which he remembered had seen a few months ago--as well as more wolves from Eden's pack. "Good evening everyone, I--" He was interrupted by hootings from the trees, though he chuckled as soon as the monkeys (also from a few months ago) made an appearance. One was soon making itself comfortable on his shoulders. "Hey you guys! I was wondering where you troublemakers were," he laughed. One of the monkeys beside him raised its pinky finger at him, another pointing at Sehun's general direction, and another made smooching sounds with its mouth. The monkey on his shoulder was cackling in delight, teasing "I thought your relationship wasn't 'like that,' hmm, Baekhyun?" as Baekhyun's cheeks turned a deep shade of red. "Shut up," he whined, defeated.
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The demigod was right, and for a moment, Cade was struck by how easily the halfling could read him so effortlessly. They weren't exactly close, and there were several things they still did not know about each other despite their hidden identities not being that much of a secret between them now. Yet there Sehun was, injured and subdued and cajoling questions out of him. Questions he had held back for reasons he wasn't quite so certain of now. He watched Baekhyun for a moment, a man playing between canines as naturally as could be, silently mulling over which thoughts he could safely pick out from the rest.
"Is this normal?" He had noticed, of course, how Baekhyun had a habit of talking to King as though the dog was human too, capable of sustaining conversations and sharing opinions. It was only a quirk, he had told himself, and brushed it off as unimportant. What did he know about pets and animals, anyway, besides the fact that they did not speak? "Coming out here at this time for this, I mean. Is he some sort of animal whisperer, is that why he thinks that wolf is a friend?"
Cade would have been all right, he supposed, if it was just one lone wolf, even if the forest was already feeling one wolf too many. There was no real fear in his eyes, in his movements, only increasing curiosity and bewilderment. Was Baekhyun a shapeshifter to be that comfortable around a creature of the wild? He hadn't picked up on anything of the sort if he was, and Cade believed himself to be more hit than miss when it came to pinpointing shifters. No, no that wasn't it. And as though on cue, Baekhyun waved in his and Sehun's direction, when he was already frowning at the sight of another wolf joining the little group, never mind that it was only a baby. It was still feral! A creature of the forest!
Cade licked his lips, head tilting slightly in response, and he turned to Sehun again. "He's not waving at me to go join him, is he? King probably wouldn't but that wolf is probably going to eat me." He paused, then added with the subtlest of frowns. "And then probably spit me out when it realises I'm not human anymore."
It was then that the trees and shadows began moving.
Or so, Cade thought for a confused moment. And then, inexplicably, the forest came alive. The vampire stood rooted, eyes wide in both alarm and befuddlement, as more animals converged, Baekhyun a human-sized magnet in the midst of it all. It took a lot to render the naturally inquisitive creature Cade was silent, and this, it seemed, was one shining example.
"Um...?"
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“I heard Eden’s pack likes to eat vampires for dinner.” Sehun said with utmost seriousness that it was hard to tell if he was lying or not. He was just trying to mess with the man, of course. Scare him a little for fun. However, the question whether the beast eats vampires (or demigods!) still remained debatable. He’s seventy percent sure the animal does though. He flicked his gaze back at his boyfriend when a small pup came out of the bush. “Especially those little ones. Baekhyun said… those things like to chew and play on your kind’s bones. They say it’s chewy.”
He continued to stare at his boyfriend trying to coax the scared pup to play with him. He noticed him close his eyes, an indication that Baekhyun was going to channel out his powers and call forth every animals near their vicinity. And indeed moments later, the sound of fluttering wings could be heard, birds of different shape and sizes flocked towards his boyfriend. It was like seeing a scene from a Disney film. Then the bushes around them started rustling and out came the different faunas that lived in the forest. He frowned when he saw the monkeys. He knew they were saying funny stuff at his boyfriend again from the way they were laughing and pointing at his direction.
Then he threw his gaze back at Cade who by now looked alarmed at the turn of the events. He was going to poke fun at the vampires face when a female deer suddenly came out from behind them and stood in between the two of them, stopping for a moment to look up towards Cade with curiosity. The demigod instantly broke out into a fit of laughter at the sight. How funny it was that out of all the animals that appeared, the one that took interest of the curator was a deer. “Hey, Cade, it looks like you just found one of your long lost relatives!”
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