(Untitled)

[gamepatch]

Who: Aaron (timid_werewolf), Matt (gamepatch)
Where: Thorn
When: Tonight
Summary: Matt checks up on Aaron. Hey, he can care about people!
Rating: PG-13 for Matt language.

Comments

[timid_werewolf]

To say that the past week had been hard was an understatement. With Sasuke gone...again, it was just harder to cope now. He thought he could deal with it, could be strong for Obito and keep an eye on Namine like Riqis seemed to want, but...he couldn't.

Not right now. His attention was focused on Freki, heavily pregnant and close to labor as she was, and his own direwolf. Work at the eatery passed in a blur and when the work was done he came home and slept. He was friendly when spoken to, but all the same...he was withdrawing into himself. Losing so many people over such a span hadn't hit him, not really. There had always been someone to fall back on. Itachi, or Sasuke, or Pamela or Viral...

But they were all gone.

At the knock he stood up, stretching, making his way to the door, opening it with a forced grin.

"Wouldn't do that to you. Your place, you're welcome in here..." he stepped back, allowing him entrance.

"Don't mind Freki...or Dreizehn." he added with a chuckle as the sibling wolves lay down once more, eyes closed.

[gamepatch]

Matt was pretty sure that Aaron would let him in without protest. If anyone could be counted on to be welcoming, it was him. But that didn't mean he didn't have bad days and Matt knew that. It's why he was there. He paused, looking down at Freki.

"Knocked up and single, huh. Doesn't seem right."

He smiled a bit and crouched down between them, arms draped across his knees. Matt studied him for a long moment before speaking.

"Some days are tougher than others around here."

It wasn't a question, but a statement. Matt didn't have to ask Aaron about how hard the past week had been. He'd seen it for himself, had gone through it himself, and that's really what gave him an understanding.

"Oh yeah. Here."

He reached into the pocket of his vest and pulled out a plastic baggie with strips of something inside.

"Made some jerky for ya. Figured you might get hungry in the middle of the night and you've fed me enough times. It's edible, I swear."

The last part was added with a smirk.

[timid_werewolf]

Freki lifted her head, tilting it slightly, offering him a low whine, her tail thumping back and forth gently against her brother's back. Aaron sat back down on the bed, watching the three of them silently for a short time, prepared to drift back into his own thoughts, when Matt's voice jarred him back to his senses.

"Yeah...some days." he agreed, some of that false smile fading back, allowing Matt to see some of what he was attempting to hide away. Hey, Matt was his friend, he was attempting to save him some grief (in his mind!).

Though, at the motion of pulling that plastic baggie out his eyes fastened on the jerky, stomach rumbling lightly. Embarrased, he rubbed at his belly, reaching out a breath later to accept the bag.

"Hey, you wouldn't poison me." he smirked. "Wouldn't last long." Teasing, of course, but it was nice to fall into a semblance of normalcy again.

"Glad Mello is back?" he asked after a moment, opening the bag, eying the jerky. It...smelled really good...

[gamepatch]

Matt stroked his hand along the direwolf's head, his fingers curling to scratch one large ear. He kept his eyes on Aaron's face though. No matter how noble his effort, Matt wasn't fooled. But he did offer a lazy grin when Aaron's stomach rumbled, forcing him to accept the humble offering.

"And what would the rest of us do until you revived?" He was joking too, but there was something more serious underneath it. "Now that would be a bad day."

Matt fell silent when Aaron asked him that question. His head dropped forward for a few seconds before he lifted it again, took a breath and spoke.

"Fuckin' weird how things work around here, you know? Things change from one day to the next, seems like it's for the worse most of the time." The things that happen to them. The people that disappear. "But it's not always that way. Won't always be that way." Just when it gets to be almost too much, something good happens or someone returns

[timid_werewolf]

"You'd all go hungry...or burn the place down in the process."

Sheepishly, Aaron lifted out a piece of the jerky, deciding (perhaps wisely) not to ask what kind of meat that it was made of. Either way it smelled good, and that was enough for his stomach. For now - he hadn't missed the serious tone just edged into Matt's voice. Gingerly, he began to gnaw on the edge, offering the other a grin from behind the jerky.

"S'good." and then he was silent once more as his question was answered, chewing the edge off, swallowing...and then nodding.

"It works in a cycle around here... you know? They come back, sometimes they remember you. Glad he's here for you though...I never got to really know him before, but he seems cool." and he had to pause at that last comment, blinking.

"...Really?"

[gamepatch]

"No kidding." He doesn't even want to think about it. Death by burning or death by starvation? Which is the worst way to go? Not that it really matters here. Everyone would probably have the chance to experience both

[timid_werewolf]

"I'd like that...seems like a good guy, balanced you out, you know? If that makes any sense at all." And then he was leaning back, watching Freki and Matt in a sedate enough manner for the moment. It was as close to actual calm as he had at the moment, and at least better than the sickly apathy that had been (And was still) building up when he was left alone.

"I know..." He started, and then stopped again. For a moment he was quiet before starting over. "I just....I don't know if I can handle it anymore. He's left me five times now. I mean, this last one, he barely seemed to care what happened to me half the time." And yes, there was a little bitterness there as he looked away, suddenly very interested in the far wall.

"It's kind of said when the better boyfriend is the one who rips your wings off when he's crazy...remember that? " Another weak laugh followed by a sigh. "Man, I sure know how to pick 'em."

[gamepatch]

"Does he?" Matt smirked softly at the way Aaron describes him. That Mello seems that way to him -- nice and good and balanced -- it's just more proof that Mello likes him. He hasn't shown him that side that's decidedly not nice and good and balanced.

"Yeah." He murmured, his own eyes lowering as Aaron looked away. "Just like Mello, the second one. See, it wasn't until Mello got his scars that we made up." Made up? Matt winces. True or not, it still sounded weird. "Talk about fuckin' awkward."

Matt smiled at his last words, sadly, finding no humor in Aaron's situation.

"Want me to kick his ass when he gets back?"