crucio (crucio) wrote in cwf,
@ 2010-01-20 05:33:00

Open to Basil
Vance was a smart kid, but math was not at all his strong suit. He did all right, but he was anxious about a test that was coming up, and he it was easy for him to figure out that a good person to help him study was Basil. Of course, sometimes he asked Wendell for help, but the older wolf could sometimes have his hands full with the little ones or his work so Vance didn't want to overload him. Plus Basil and Vance were schoolmates, and packmates, and Vance liked the kid. At school, Basil was the only real person he felt comfortable talking to. He liked Joshua, too, so far but Joshua wasn't enrolled just yet though Vance had a feeling the boy would be soon.

At the moment Vance was sitting at the kitchen table in the mainhouse with Basil, both working on their homework quietly. Vance was anxious to get done so that he could spend time with Pirate, and he was sure that Basil was just as anxious so that he could spend time with Emmy. Vance was pretty happy to be back in school, especially since he'd had to miss out on the first semester while he got use to shifting and the ways of being a fully fledged wolf.

After a quiet twenty minutes, he got up to get himself a glass of tea, and he got one for Basil too. He carried both glasses over to the table and set them down before he got settled again.

"Jason Claymore asked me to the Valentine dance," he told Basil after a moment. "And he said Davey Salerno wants to ask you."

Vance, of course, had said no just as he knew Basil would. But it was surprising that two very well known guys at school were interested in them. They were sort of outcasts, but apparently very pretty outcasts.

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impotentwaffle
2010-01-20 06:01 pm UTC (link)

There was always something attractive about a werewolf to certain humans. Basil's father had told him a long time ago that he might get attention from girls and some boys out in the real world. But Basil hadn't ever had to worry about it too much because he spent a huge majority of his time at home. There hadn't been much of a human world to Basil when his father was alive. Public school had been a culture shock, coming from private tutors, and Basil hated it most of the time. His love for learning was great, but his discomfort with humans his age seemed insurmountable. The main problem was that he found himself desperately wanting to be accepted, and that only made the wholesale rejection that much worse.

When Vance set down the tea, he looked up with a polite smile and nod of appreciation. He'd been thinking about the Valentine dance actually. He wanted to go, or rather, he wanted to be popular enough to go. When Vance mentioned it, he looked up with surprise. "Davey Salerno wants to ask me? That's quite unlikely," he said with a shake of his head. "What did you tell Jason?" Basil was actually jealous, assuming that Vance had said the last thing just to make him feel better about not being asked by anyone.

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crucio
2010-01-21 12:47 am UTC (link)

Many girls had been giving them both attention, though Vance found that Basil seemed completely unaware. Vance had no interest at all in girls, and he was very sure that Basil was the same way so it was probably easy for the other wolf to miss. But two of the most popular boys in shool showing an interest? That was hard to ignore.

"I told him it was sweet of him to ask, but I couldn't go with him because I'm seeing someone," Vance replied as he plucked up his pencil again. "He asked me if you were seeing someone for Davey, and I said that you were. I hope that's okay? I mean, you and Emmy seem pretty serious."

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impotentwaffle
2010-01-21 01:04 am UTC (link)

A very vague look of disappointment flickered across his face before he shook it. It wasn't that Basil was interested in Davey by any means. Anyone compared to Emmerson was just not an option. But he'd felt his heart speed up at the possibility that someone popular had taken note of him. "Emmy is the one I want to be with forever." To a human so young that might have seemed ridiculous to say, but Basil was positive that Emmerson was the one. His mate. "But Davey Salerno is interesting." Not all that interesting when it came right down to it--what was interesting about him was his interest in Basil.

"Do you think maybe it was just a joke? We're not--I mean--I'm not really--nobody really likes me at school except you."

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	crucio 2010-01-21 03:14 am UTC (link)
	Vance put his chin in his hand and shook his head to get his hair out of his eyes. He chewed on his lower lip in concentration as his brow knit up some. "I don't think it was a joke, no," he said softly. "I think a lot of people find you interesting, and you're nice to look at. I just think you're so focused on school that you don't really notice is all." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

impotentwaffle
2010-01-21 06:00 am UTC (link)

Focused on getting out of there as soon as humanly possible and getting good enough grades to get into Wharton. Or maybe someplace closer to Wolf Haven, someplace that he could study archiving. "I guess money is interesting." It seemed like Basil had a lot of it, even though he didn't have it at his own disposal just yet.

He glanced down at his math book, scribbling a few more notes before he looked back up. "Are you going to ask Pirate to go with you to the Valentine dance?" From what Basil could tell, Pirate wouldn't be caught dead at a high school function, but it was worth asking Vance about.

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crucio
2010-01-21 06:32 am UTC (link)

"I don't think it's money he'd interested in, I think it's you and ... What he'd like to do with you," Vance said with an amused smirk as he took a sip of his tea.

A part of Vance did want to go to the Valentine dance, but taking Pirate wasn't an option. The pak understood their age difference, the school wouldn't. And going to the dance with anyone else wasn't an option.

"No, I might go stag, though," he said with a shrug.

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impotentwaffle
2010-01-21 06:45 am UTC (link)

Basil looked scandalized by that notion. It made him think of the things he'd done with Emmerson and that only served to fluster him. He tried to twirl his pencil around his fingers to distract himself, to act casual, but the pencil went flying across the kitchen and Basil had to scramble up to get it. When he returned, he pretended to be very busy with straightening out a perfectly flat piece of paper.

Once he was settled again, he thought about what Vance had said. "Well, perhaps you and I should go together. Stag together."

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	crucio 2010-01-21 07:10 am UTC (link)
	Basil had many qualities that reminded Vance of Wendell, which was probably why Vance was so fond of him. When Basil's pencil flew across the room, Vance smiled knowingly. When the boy got settled again, Vance looked up at him in surprise. "Okay," he agreed readily, and his smile grew ten fold. "That'll be really fun." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	impotentwaffle 2010-01-21 07:38 am UTC (link)
	"Do you think Pirate will be all right with that?" Basil couldn't figure out the man very well. Then again, Basil wasn't the best at interacting with people, so he had a hard time figuring out anyone. Basil was sure Emmy would be supportive of whatever he wanted to do, and he wouldn't deny him the experience of going to a high school dance. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	crucio 2010-01-21 07:43 am UTC (link)
	"I don't see why he wouldn't be, I'm not going with a date, I'm just going to go. And I'm going with you," Vance said as he finished up his homework. He honestly wasn't sure if Pirate would be a fan of the idea or not, but he didn't think that Pirate had anything to be jealous of. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	impotentwaffle 2010-01-21 07:18 pm UTC (link)
	"Pirate scares me a little," he said honestly. It may have been a joking, but Basil didn't crack a smile. When Vance had been gone, Basil had made the mistake of running into the wolf and he was less than pleasant. While Basil understood why, it still left a fearful taste in his mouth. "Did he ever scare you?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

crucio
2010-01-21 11:16 pm UTC (link)

Vance chewed on his lower lip a little bit as he closed up his book, and he shook his head. No, Pirate hadn't ever scared him, though he could see why others might find Pirate intimidating.

"No, he never scared me. Frustrated me, yes. Made me angry, yes. Made me want to punch him in the face, yes. I shoved him once," he said with a shrug as he tapped his pencil against the edge of his book. "He can be moody. I don't let that bother me, though. That's just Pirate. Why does he scare you? Has Emmerson ever scared you?"

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impotentwaffle
2010-01-21 11:33 pm UTC (link)

"You shoved him?" he spoke with reverence and surprise. Vance was much braver than he was and he looked up to him for it. Basil was not overly meek, but he certainly wouldn't have the gumption to shove anyone, even if they did make him made, especially not Pirate. "He scares me because he always has this look on his face like he's simply waiting to bite your head off. I think he takes some pleasure in it. And I think he thinks I'm a snob." Which was true, Basil was a snob, but not on purpose and he was getting better.

At the question about Emmy, Basil quirked a little smile and shook his head. "No, never. Unless you count being scared he wouldn't like me as much as I liked him."

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crucio
2010-01-21 11:47 pm UTC (link)

"He was being a jerk," Vance said simply, as if that explained everything. "He just looks that way because he doesn't like to get close to people, that's all. You have to really work for it." How Vance had accomplished it, he still wasn't entirely sure, but he was glad that he had. More than glad. "And he does judge people sometimes, I don't think he really realizes it. He'll come around." He had for Vance, so why not for other people, right?

He grabbed his bag up off of the floor and started to pack his homework away while he listened to Basil, and he couldn't help but offer the other boy a smile.

"I know how that feels," he said honestly. He'd been afraid of the same thing with Pirate at first. "I really thought I was going to be too young for Pirate, you know? Sometimes I'm still surprised he gives me the time of day."

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impotentwaffle
2010-01-22 03:11 am UTC (link)

Basil wasn't quite finished with his work, but he liked to have a little left so he could do it in the morning. It gave him something to do, something to stare at intently when he got to school early. God forbid he talk to anyone. He shut his books and finished his tea as he stood up. "Vance, isn't their pack here temporarily? What will you do if they can ever return to their home?" He'd considered himself leaving because of college, but he didn't want to make Emmerson leave and he knew he couldn't live without him.

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	crucio 2010-01-22 05:23 am UTC (link)
	"I'll probably go with them," Vance said simply as he glanced over at Basil. "Wherever Pirate is, I wanna be. He's home to me. I know that probably sounds a little ridiculous, but it's just the way I feel, you know? I can always come back here and see you guys, and Vaughn, but I belong with Pirate. You know?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

impotentwaffle
2010-01-22 05:27 am UTC (link)

Basil shook his head. "It doesn't sound ridiculous at all." It made a lot of sense to Basil, but he also hadn't been a part of this pack as long as Emmerson had. "Depending on where I go to college, I want Emmy to come with me, but I worry a little about asking." He didn't want to put him in a difficult position. Even though schooling wasn't forever, it could take awhile depending on the level Basil wanted to achieve.

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crucio
2010-01-22 06:22 am UTC (link)

"There's no harm in asking," Vance said simply. He was the type who always spoke his mind and put himself, and his feelings, out there when he felt it was right. "Just try. See what he says. At least then you'll know for sure, yes or no. It's better than wondering, isn't it?"

He went to rinse his glass off in the sink before he tucked it away inside of the dishwasher, and then he turned to face Basil again with a smile.

"What if Davey Salerno asks you to dance?" he asked, all ready thinking ahead. What if they got to the dance and Davey asked Basil to dance? It would be kind of cute, and harmless, at least Vance thought so.

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impotentwaffle
2010-01-22 06:09 pm UTC (link)

Basil considered that scenario and had to think on it awhile. "Well, it is a dance so I suppose it would defeat the purpose of going if I didn't dance." Basil hadn't considered that part until just now. "I'm not very good at dancing," he said with a sigh. He'd attended a few big balls when he was little and he'd hated every minute of it. If people thought he was stuffy, then they hadn't even begun to see the extent of his father's stuffiness and his friends.

"Do you think they waltz and foxtrot and things like that? It's seemi-formal, isn't it. Of course they'll waltz."

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crucio
2010-01-22 08:11 pm UTC (link)

"They won't waltz, or foxtrot," Vance told him with a smile. It was difficult not to find the seriousness with which Basil spoke cute. "They won't do any sort of formal dancing, trust me. It'll all be, you know, spazzy dancing you see in music videos on MTV and VH1. If I were you, I'd stay away from fast songs and only dance to the slow ones. And dancing to the slow ones entail just putting your arms around someone and moving in a slow swaying circle, back and forth."

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impotentwaffle
2010-01-23 12:05 am UTC (link)

"Spazzy?" The word sounded utterly foreign on his lips. He tried to imagine people dancing in spasms. Tes had forced him to sit down and watch MTV for a whole hour once, claiming that he needed to get more in touch with his age. It had been an interesting excursion into modern popular culture. "I'm not sure I can dance like that either, so it's a good idea for me to sit fast ones out." He spoke as if he were making himself a list of do's and don'ts for the dance, which he was.

If anyone asked him to dance, he was going to have a heart attack, but he was going to try. "So we're definitely going? Do you have anything to wear?"

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	crucio 2010-01-23 01:44 am UTC (link)
	Vance leaned against the countertop and watched Basil with an amused smile. He nodded his head at the other wolf's question, and he reached out to tug at Basil's shirt. "I do, probably just some nice shirt and some dress slacks an my converse," he said with a shrug. "What about you?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	impotentwaffle 2010-01-23 07:19 am UTC (link)
	"I think I have a tuxedo in my closet that still fits, but I suspect that will be too formal and I'll end up looking ridiculous by comparison." There was so much to be concerned about. He glanced down at what he was wearing right then, a polo shirt and slacks. Certainly not semi-formal. "I'm sure I can find something," he said with uncertainty. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	crucio 2010-01-23 07:50 am UTC (link)
	"You suspect right," Vance grinned. "I'll help you, don't worry. I think that one of the wolf's in Kingston's pack is a clothing designer, bet you he can help." "Help with what?" Emmy asked as he came in from the cold, and obviously a run. Emmerson had no shoes or shirt on, which Vance found insane due to the cold. He was a wolf, but he was a baby about the cold. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

impotentwaffle
2010-01-23 05:20 pm UTC (link)

When Basil noticed Emmy looking and smelling like that, his head went sort of numb and he stared, still able to be floored by how much he wanted the other wolf. If the possibility that they ever broke up existed, Basil wasn't sure he'd survive it. He couldn't even answer the question right away because he was so busy breathing in that rich scent of lingering wolf and wild.

"Um," he finally said. "Oh. Actually that's something I wished to speak with you about." He quickly fell back into his formal pattern of speech once he regained his mental faculties.