6. what is your character reluctant to tell people?
Nothing, really? Noah’s a pretty damn open person overall.
13. what does your character pretend or try to care about?
Again, he’s a very open person. He doesn’t see the point in pretending. Though, he will occasionally pretend something someone made food wise is good, even if he doesn’t like it, just to make them happy.
“Thanks,” he nodded gratefully, his hunched shoulders lowering slightly.
That seemed to help him relax a bit, but not by much. Ark had been one of the few pack members Kelly had gotten to know well enough over the years to be almost as comfortable around as he was with his own family, so he considered it to be pretty much the same as staying with any of them.
“I can lend you some shirts to sleep in if you would like as well to increase the scent of pack. It might not help much or it might help a lot, it’s hard to tell sometimes.”
Arkos was still mentally going through the list of pack members that he might click with, but there were only a couple he could really think of and one of them hardly bothered to stay on pack grounds. It wouldn’t be much use that way either.
Maybe annoying her enough to make her leave might work to his advantage, but Gideon wasn’t going to place all his bets on it just yet, since there was always the risk he could come off as enough of an asshole to earn a slap, and even that kind of physical contact was something he was trying to avoid.
“Well then perhaps it’s best we avoid that altogether, you see because I’m fae and we’re prone to doing that,” he answered, seeing no reason to dance around the most direct answer given that she was just as non-human as he was.
“Okay? So? I’m a phoenix. Pretty sure total regeneration works in my favor no matter what you can do,” she answered, stuffing her hands into her jacket pockets. Not that she really wanted to set herself on fire, she rather liked this coat.
It made sense, he supposed, and it might be good for him to actually stick around long enough to get comfortable and fit in so he didn’t feel so much like he didn’t belong whenever he came there. Arkos’s suggestion didn’t really help in the immediate short term, however, but Kelly was reluctant to reveal just how much the restlessness was affecting him overall, not just making sleep difficult, but leaving him agitated and short-tempered, especially whenever his control got a little thin.
“For now, though, you are welcome to stay at my place. I have a spare room and it should smell enough like pack to help take the edge off.”
It was Bradan’s old room, but his son had his own den now and he was happy for him. Still, it left his own feeling more than a little empty and he honestly felt it might be a touch easier for Kelly this way, at least until he adjusted.
Kelly nodded slowly. Sure, it was a given that the pack was always there if he needed it. His mom and Jayce had drilled that into his head since he was a kid, but that didn’t stop him feeling like an outsider a lot of the time just because he tended to prefer living where the majority of his blood family were.
“Who should I ask? I haven’t been around here for a while, so I don’t know who all else would be okay with that.”
He was quiet for a moment, considering. He knew of a handful that were completely unattached, but none of them lived alone. It was very rare for anyone in the pack to actually live alone.
“Spend some time here, get to know everyone over and choose someone you’re more comfortable around to ask. That is the best advice I can give you.”
Most of the other wolves Kelly was even remotely close to were already in pretty monogamous relationships that wouldn’t exactly allow room for him to be able to even bring up the subject of sharing a bed with him, let alone do it, so he wasn’t entirely sure how he’d go about finding someone who would agree.
“That’s not really an easy thing to do back home. I’m a little short on options.”
“You know you are always welcome here,” he answered softly, not wanting him to feel like he had absolutely no options.
Ark understood that most, if not all, of the wolves in his family were mated. But there were plenty of pack members that were far from it that would not mind have someone to snuggle up with, even in the most purely platonic sense.
For a moment, Kelly looked startled at the question, but relaxed once Arkos clarified what he meant, although it hadn’t been quite quick enough to stop the younger male from blushing slightly.
“No,” he answered, shaking his head. It wasn’t something that had ever really occurred to him as being necessary, but perhaps his wolfs pull was a little stronger than he thought.
He was old enough to know pretending not to see the blush was the best course of action. It would do no good to further embarrass Kelly.
“It is something I would recommend. Preferably someone connected to the pack in some manner. It helps to keep the part of you that is beast calmer, more at ease inside your skin.”
Kelly nodded, faintly relieved that Arkos seemed to understand exactly what he meant without him having to try to describe it.
“It’s like I can’t get comfortable in my own skin.” he frowned, pursing his lips. “Like getting pins and needles, but all over, and it’s constant and I don’t know how to get rid of it, even at night when I try to sleep. I tried shifting, but that didn’t help. It sort of made it worse.”
“Are you sleeping with anyone?” Arkos paused and held a hand up, silencing anything he might say for a moment. “I do not mean purely for sex. Wolves do not do well with sleeping, just sleeping, alone.”
It was harder on younger ones, especially those with other pent up needs. He had seen it more times than he could count.
ofviolentdeath 