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Maybe we should talk...

But I'd rather pretend everything is okay.

Breakfast that morning had been nothing but awkward for the blonde. She'd been doing her absolute best to avoid Zero at all costs, she'd started waking far earlier than usual and heading out before most of the others stirred or staying hidden in her room and slipping out only when she was certain she was alone. Today though, it hadn't quite worked out like that. When she'd been joined in the dining room by her pack mate, the blonde had done the only thing she could think off; she felt guilty for not even giving him a chance to say 'hello' or anything before just dropped her toast on her plate, taken it into the kitchen and scurried off at (in her opinion) record speed.

Lyra was relieved that it was so warm though, the past week it had been nothing but miserable and she'd hated having to be cooped up. She liked her morning and evening rides alone, it gave her time to just relax and be alone with her thoughts and Smokey. For Lyra though, even though she did enjoy being able to think. Her thoughts had recently led her to things she didn't want to admit, feelings she didn't want to consider. She knew she'd have to admit things to herself sooner rather than later, but right now she just wanted to pretend that everything was normal. Avoiding Zero? She'd always done that, it wasn't because she became a nervous mess around him or that her mind wandered to that one kiss that had happened, it had been like kissing your sibling. That's what they'd agreed and they'd agreed to never talk about it again, to just pretend that it had never happened. So why now was it always on her mind? Zero didn't care, he seemed to be completely okay around her, just quiet; but that was what her pack mate was like sometimes... quiet.

Honey padded through the trees, her hooves hardly making a sound against the grass and leaves, she could hear birds singing in the trees and for a moment the blonde missed when she'd been staying in the little cabin in this woods, back when everything was... not normal, but she was a human at least. Lyra didn't like to admit out loud, but even though she was finally starting to embrace the wolf in her she still had the occasional nightmare and she was still scared of herself. Looking in the mirror and seeing some of the scars she had, it bothered her still but she tried her best to put on a brave face, especially in preparation for going back to university. She knew there'd be questions about her scars or why she became so ill the same time every month. She was going to struggle to make friends, not just because of the fact she was a werewolf, but she still had a long way to go to trust people outside of her pack and a few close friends after everything that had happened to muggleborns. 

As Lyra rode along she could hear the sound of something bouncing off the leaves, and a few seconds later a couple of drops of water splattered on her face. The blonde furrowed her brow, hoping it would remain just a drizzle, she was too far from the house to get back if it started to pour. At least she was near the old cabin she'd stayed in before everything had happened if she needed to take cover.

Sure enough, as she pressed forward with Honey the rain began to fall heavily and Lyra could already feel her clothes starting to get soaked through, "Sorry girl, but we're going to have to wait this out I think." Lyra said to the horse, patting her neck and urging her forward towards the general direction of the cabin as a loud rumble of thunder joined the rain overhead. A flash of lightning lit up the woods for a few seconds and Honey let out a whinny. Lyra rubbed her neck soothingly as she continued forward, keeping an eye out for any large trees she could tie Honey to and shield her from the majority of the downpour.

Drawing closer to the cabin, the storm began to pick up and Lyra could feel her clothes sticking to her as she dismounted the horse and hurriedly fastened her to a particularly thick trunk. She reminded herself once more than she needed to get her wand sorted, if she had enough to buy a new one she could have  cast a charm to keep Honey dry and dull the sound of the storm for her, as it was all she could do was pat her leg apologetically and hurry into the cabin, slamming the door behind her, relieved that it was unlocked. The blonde shivered a little as the door shut behind her and she made her way to the bed, pulling the quilt off it and wrapping it around her as she slipped into one of the chairs and glaring at the empty fireplace, another thing she could have done if she'd had a wand. Lyra bowed her head and sighed tiredly, she'd got her alone time alright, but now she had nothing to distract her from her thoughts. Instead, she just hoped that Smokey was in the house and dry with someone but she didn't think about her fox companion for long until she heard another rumble of thunder and the sound of feet on gravel; the blonde narrowed her eyes and curled her hands into a fist, she knew it would likely be one of her packmates but still, she didn't want to relax too much, instead she just waited to see if whoever it was was about to join her.  

OUTFIT // 967 // Heathwood "Zero" Bailey

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werewolves

[attr="class","reasonsmallzero"]of london. You can hear him howling around your kitchen door...Better not let him in.

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Zero was getting used to life here in London. A part of him, although sad to have left his life behind in America, found that here was…different. Here, he wasn’t just a stablehand. He had a family — a pack.

But it was complicated. He wasn’t sure how it had happened, but the tension between him and Lyra had grown like a storm over the past few months. He was trying to ignore it — ignore the weird feeling he got in the pit of his stomach every time he thought about her — but it was hard when they saw each other nearly every day.

Zero knew how it happened. He’d have to be an idiot to not know.

The kiss.

The kiss. It was silly of him to still be worried about it, he knew. After all, it seemed like Lyra was perfectly fine with what had happened. They’d talked about it a few days after and both agreed that it was just a kiss…a weird happenstance or something and she’d gone about her life like it meant nothing. Which made Zero feel like he should follow suit. But a part of him couldn’t shake the feeling that it was something more than that. That it meant something.

He was probably just being silly, he thought, grabbing another box of supplies from the ground. He needed to move a few things to the cabin for storage before the storm and, judging by the hair on the back of his neck that was beginning to prickle, he didn’t have long before it would be here.

Hoisting the box onto his shoulder, Zero left the stables and began to walk down the path, whistling to himself as he walked. The path was long and winding and would’ve been made better with Jump, but his favorite horse was nursing a bruised ego lately because Zero had let one of his students take her for a ride. He’d never met a more temperamental horse, he thought with a small smile. Jump was a basket case sometimes — a jealous basket case. Sometimes, it was like he had a girlfriend.

Unfortunately, Jump wasn’t the girl that he wanted.

A droplet of water hit Zero’s cheek and he looked up, rolling his eyes. The storm was moving quicker than he thought. Zero picked up the pace, boots hitting the gravel with a distinctive thud as he reached his free hand above his head, trying in vain to shield himself from the torrential downpour that seemed to have arrived out of nowhere. “Jesus…Christ,” he growled, slamming the door behind him. With a shake of his head, Zero’s dark hair moved from side to side, expelling a few droplets of water, but barely alleviating the water that drenched the rest of his body.

With a swift movement, Zero unloaded the box that had been on his shoulder and realized that he was not alone. In fact, the sound of very familiar breathing caught his attention. Movement from the bed – a blonde tucked under a quilt, only her face peeking out. “Ly?” It was the first time in a while that he could remember addressing her directly. Usually, there was a buffer between them…Tess or someone. But now, it was just them.

He paused, looking out the window and catching sight of a cold and scared looking Honey. Zero drew his wand and cast a few incantations to keep the horse safe until they could return her to the stable and then focused his attention back on his packmate, hoping she couldn’t hear his heartbeat accelerating. “What are you doing out here?”

[attr="class","reasontagzero"]@ ly | 601 | OUTFIT

[attr="class","credzero"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + ADOX 2.0

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Maybe We Should Talk

But I'd rather hide. 

Lyra had tried to act like everything was okay, to pretend that kiss hadn’t affected her in ways she’d not felt in a long time, Zero had been rather smitten with the Potter girl and she didn’t want to get in the way. She wanted Zero happy, he was her family, the only family she’d had since coming back to England from France. She’d wanted to keep what she was going through a secret from her parents and that had meant cutting herself off from them and from Aika, it had hurt and it still upset her now. But she wanted to get back on her feet before going back to visit them, get her lycanthropy under control. She knew they’d be opened minded about it, but that didn’t mean she wanted to burden them with the trainwreck that was her life now. No, for now, she only had Tessa and the pack - she had Zero. He’d been one of the first of the pack to take her under their wing. Tessa had become a mother to her and Zero had been a brother, or that was what she’d said at first but now it just felt… weird referring to him in such a way when he made her weak at the knees.

It had been easy to pretend everything was normal when they’d both been distracted by other people. But when Caleb had tried again from Ruby, she’d been hurt and it had been hard. Zero’s kindness had made it impossible to ignore things though when she’d shut down and raised her guard. And that goddamn kiss had started to replay in her mind over and over. She hadn’t told Caleb about that, she hadn’t thought it important. Even after things with Ruby hadn’t gone in her favour, she’d still refused to talk about it. It was their secret - her and Zero - unless he’d told someone, no one else would know.

It had taken Lyra a few moments to realise who the voice belonged to as she tried to get comfortable and dry and a split moment of panic had passed through her. She tried to shrink into the shadows but after she’d observed him shaking himself off in a dog like fashion - much to her amusement - she realised that instead of successfully hiding away, she’d ended up staring. She had the urge to pull the blanket over her head and have the ground swallow her up, she’d been trying to avoid him so much, that was why she had gone out for a ride in the first place, but no, somehow in the middle of the forest in this usually well hidden cabin, he’d turned up. Maybe she just had to accept that some greater being - not that she believed in God or anything - was pushing them together. She knew they needed to talk but it was just so awkward. What if he scoffed at her for overthinking so much? What if he thought she was stupid? Or she pushed him away by having feelings.

Hearing his voice say her name, the blonde dropped her gaze to the floor and remained quiet, shrugging her shoulders slightly, not that he’d likely notice with the quilt wrapped around her. Where was Tessa when they needed her? That was the only time she could be around Zero and not trip over all her words and even then it was a task. She sat up a little when he cast a few charms on Honey looking relieved, “We were out for a ride… and it started to rain and I couldn’t really use magic on either of us. I need a wand for that after all.” She murmured the last part slightly bitterly, but seeing Honey settle relaxed her greatly, she’d be lying if she said she hadn’t contemplated bringing the horse into the cabin with her. “I was going to wait out the storm and get her back as soon as possible, I swear.” She didn’t want Zero or anyone to think she didn’t care about the horse that was waiting right outside. “Why are you here?” She asked after a few moments, cocking her head to the side and looking to what he’d set down before.

OUTFIT // 714 // Heathwood "Zero" Bailey