"…So yeah. That about sums it up."
Julien peeked at the blue haired girl seated across from him.
"Any questions?"
He knew he was dumping a lot on her, and while he didn't tell her everything—hell, he hardly knew anything himself—he was sure it was more interesting to focus on the fantastical aspects of the situation anyway.
If that were all, it'd be a walk in the park…
Nevaeah indicated for him to give her a moment while finishing up the notes she was jotting onto the mini-noteboard attached to her Tith. The board was set to private at the moment, but he likely wouldn't need to wait long for her to enthusiastically show off her hard work.
While she was doing that, Julien's gaze drifted to the far wall of the room they were in. They'd moved over to the staff area in the meantime, and he—coincidentally, of course—took them to the secondary lounge, which, again, just so happened to be right next to his bodyguard-turned-werewolf.
He wasn't trying to eavesdrop on whatever he was up to or anything, he just…
Julien rubbed at his neck.
There were just a few things he had to check with him still.
"Ahem."
Julien turned away from the wall and met his friend's probing gaze.
"Did you think of something?"
Nevaeah rested a pen on her top lip, stroking her chin as she injected gravel into her voice.
"After a careful analysis of the data, I have come to a rather perplexing conclusion."
She pointed an accusatory finger at him with the end of her gold and blue press-on nail, dropping the impression.
"You're hiding something from me right?"
He somehow managed to control his expression, though his face did twitch for a second.
"…What makes you say that?"
She un-privated her board and pointed to several empty spots, going over the pieces he'd left out and that she concluded didn't make much sense.
"Remus is the person—werewolf that bit Andrew. You guys met him here and I figured you'd be back pretty quickly, but one way or the other, you ended up staying here."
Julien furrowed his brows.
"But that's because the full moon was yesterday?"
She crossed her arms.
"I'd believe that was all if you didn't come here on Wednesday before ditching your dog with me on Friday."
She raised her fingers.
"That's two days unaccounted for."
Julien opened his mouth to speak but she continued.
"That also doesn't explain why you had to be here for the full moon as well."
"You saw what happened last time, I didn't want my apartment to be destroyed again."
Not a lie.
She shook her head.
"It's because I saw the aftermath from last time that I'm confused. Why are you still here? I don't blame Andrew for getting bit—I actually find it pretty cool knowing we have werewolves afoot—but if he goes crazy every full moon, and crowds you right after it too, then leaving him here for the weekend and having him return on his own later would've been better, no?"
Julien pushed his hair back. She wasn't wrong, and normally that's exactly what he would've done.
So why didn't he?
With the most pitiful look he could muster, Julien clasped his hands together.
"…Can I rain check on the interrogation?"
Nevaeah patted him on the shoulder.
"Vetoed."
She pulled her hand away and gave him a once over.
"Even if I ignore that and the stuff you said you weren't sure about—which I'm trusting you about for now—you're a mess."
Julien looked himself over as well.
He didn't look that bad did he?
Nevaeah didn't seem to agree as she raised one finger after the other.
"Your hair is uneven at the back, your eyebags are worse than usual, your clothes stand out because—compared to the rest of you—they're fresh."
She glanced at his phone on the coffee table—while still usable, it'd undeniably seen better days. Then she looked back up at him as if to say: how could I not know?
Julien quickly slid his phone out of view—even knowing it was futile.
"So what's your verdict doctor?"
Nevaeah looked towards the far wall.
"Since you tried to hide it, I'm gonna guess you didn't get dirty tending to the plants around this building."
Julien picked at his hands.
"…You're not wrong, but I was only helping out. I wasn't…"
Saying he wasn't doing anything dangerous would be a lie.
Julien looked away from his hands, meeting Nevaeah's gaze.
"…I was just making sure everyone was safe."
He couldn't be sure what sort of face he was making, but whatever the case, Nevaeah uncrossed her arms and pushed the board towards him, connecting their Tith's in the process.
"Then Mr. Liar."
She leaned forward.
"Do you mind telling me the rest? You can leave out what makes you uncomfortable… just don't leave out what you think would make me uncomfortable."
Julien held her gaze for a second longer before taking her board in hand.
Just enough that she knows, but not enough that she'll stop me…
After filling in the empty spaces one by one, he turned the board back over to Nevaeah for review. She in turn wrote three new questions at the corner of the screen.
Q1: "Why did it take four days to resolve a one day issue?"
He enlarged the question and wrote the answer right below it.
A: "Andrew reacted Wednesday night and was knocked out until Friday morning. Yesterday was the full moon, and you caught up while we were recovering this morning."
Nevaeah raised her brow.
"Recovering from what?"
Julien pushed his hair out of the way, his eyes remaining fixed on the remaining questions on the board.
"I thought you wanted me to use the board?"
Nevaeah harrumphed, manually sealing her lips while pressing him to go faster.
Q2: "Why are you still here?"
She just won't let this one go.
Julien glanced at his friend—even though her head was turned away, she continued to glance at the board as she waited for him to write.
If he was entirely honest… he had no idea.
That's not it.
He was the reason Andrew was bitten, so he should also be the reason he lives if he can do it right?
He glanced at the wall blocking them from the adjacent room before looking back at the question.
Though it could've also just been him trying to feel better about himself—maybe… it was just a nice distraction.
But if he had to choose a reason…
He wrote a few words before erasing them, then he tried again—but it still wasn't quite right.
Finally, he landed on three simple words.
A: "He needs me."
Staring at the words, he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.
Nevaeah took hold of the board before he could move on to question three, hurriedly scribbling a new question.
Q2a: "You said that. But what does it mean?"
Julien glanced at her face, a short laugh escaping his lips at the strained face she held while resisting the urge to speak. Spinning the board back towards himself, he scribbled a new answer.
A:
Me = Andrew's mom.
Andrew = big baby.
Mom + big baby + the stray = big healthy wolf.
He even included a few doodles—as abysmal as they were.
Nevaeah spurted out a laugh.
"He's hardly a baby."
Julien smirked, lowering his voice.
"Really? I think he can be kind of—cough."
Blocking out the intrusive answer that crossed his mind, Julien hurriedly covered his mouth with his sleeve.
That's definitely not right. Worrying. He's worrying.
Rubbing his neck, Julien looked off to the side.
"It's not wrong. I need to feed him my phenos, the scent thing I told you about, until Remus can do it instead. If I don't, he'll die."
He paused, realizing he may've been a little blunter than intended.
Cautiously peeking at her face, he was relieved to see confusion was the main thing she got out of that.
"Why would he die?"
Julien was about to answer her when he paused.
"I… actually don't know?"
I don't think Remus or even Afenia ever said why or how.
Other than the scenario where he died first.
Nevaeah leveled him with an 'are you serious?' look and Julien faked a cough.
"…I'll ask when those two get back."
It wasn't the only thing he wanted to ask anyway. Grabbing the board once more, he looked over the final question instead.
Q3: "If things—"
Before he could get through the question, Nevaeah shut off the screen.
He furrowed his brows.
"What was that for?"
Nevaeah abruptly stood up, brushing non-existent dust off her skirt as she indicated for Julien to do the same.
"I'll save that one for next time."
She nodded towards the door and Julien turned around.
"…There's nothing there?"
But regardless of his confusion, she hurried him into the hall anyway before dramatically shouting.
"Oh darn! I left the stove on!"
Julien blinked.
"You don't–"
She grabbed hold of his hands, placing a steel whistle within before backing away.
"I need to go but please come back soon or I'm gonna tell your sister you're neglecting your dog."
She paused.
"Also, uh, have you taken your…"
Shaking her head she ran off.
"Nevermind, you probably have, see ya later! Don't die!"
Julien stared after his friend, a heavy frown growing on his face.
"You don't have a stove."
But she couldn't hear him because she was already gone.
He glanced back to the room before looking down at the whistle in his hands. Flipping the long steel cylinder attached to a leather cord with his thumb, he frowned.
What is this supposed to do?
He turned to the door—not the door he'd just come out of, but the one leading to Andrew.
A dog whistle… if he wanted a diversion it could be useful—but when would he even get the chance to use it?
Hanging the whistle around his neck—the metal clinking against the lounge key also dangling over his breast bone—he strode towards the door and stopped outside of it.
I'm sure I'll think of something.
Glancing down the hall one more time, he took a deep breath and turned the knob.
Even if he didn't, it was still a nice gesture.
—
Andrew was seated at the edge of the cross sofa in the middle of the room, his hands clutched tightly around the phone in his hands.
Brrrrr brrrrr
The phone rang and rang before cutting to voicemail—a woman's voice came through on the other line.
「I am currently unavailable, please leave a short message after the tone.」
Beep
Andrew cut the call and closed his eyes, tapping the phone against his nose. He finally managed to hit the call button after debating it for an hour. But in the end, Theia didn't even pick up.
And he didn't have the courage to leave a message either.
He exhaled.
This isn't sustainable.
His nose twitched as Julien approached the door, the scent a bewitching curse to his senses. He immediately felt a pull.
Andrew forced himself to remain rooted in his seat, refusing to look up as the redhead entered the room.
"… Andrew."
Andrew's shoulder twitched, but again he held strong. Julien came closer, caution in his every step as he moved to sit at the other end of the sofa. He didn't say anything, and after a few minutes of tense silence, Andrew looked over and spoke up himself.
"You should leave."
With the two main wolves gone and the others merely lingering in the background, it was a good time for the younger man to make his escape… from him as well. Even if they knew where he lived, they couldn't drag an unwilling person back in.
Not if he had anything to say about it.
He turned away. Besides—
"I'm not your friend, Julien."
So there was no reason for him to try to keep him safe.
Julien silently listened from the side, the sound of his heartbeat and the wringing of his hands into the fabric of his clothes clear to Andrew's ears. Then, he spoke—barely a whisper bridging the space between them.
"…I know that."
Rustling sounded from the other end of the couch—presumably the tousling of hair—before he spoke again.
"I don't get it either. I should leave, I have way too much going on in my life to babysit you, and I don't even like you that much to begin with."
Andrew nodded.
"Then—"
"But I don't want to watch you die right in front of me either."
Andrew lifted his head, finally taking in the fragile sparks burning in Julien's lilac eyes. He couldn't help but feel like he'd made a mistake talking to him directly.
"I can't die."
"You will."
Andrew shook his head.
I won't.
Julien put his hand on his chest, the sounds of his heartbeat growing stronger.
"But what if it's true? Do you expect me to just sit back and watch?"
Andrew fell silent.
You wouldn't have to if you left.
Even if the fever overtook him, he could endure.
Even if he tore into his own flesh, he would heal.
But Julien was the target of his ferality, not himself. And he didn't seem to grasp that reality even after experiencing two moons with him.
He paused.
He just needs to realize it.
Andrew locked his faded amber eyes with Julien's lilac ones.
"…Am I supposed to kill you in my place?"