→ It had been a miserable few days at the haven. Faris had been given a room and Wendell had taken him shopping in town for a few things. He'd deftly avoided questions about how to get back to Seattle from Cold Water Flats, or what his beliefs on kidnapping were. Wendell knew Faris was bitter about his situation at the moment, but he also believed whole heartedly in Hunter's decisions. Refusing to come down for meals, Faris hadn't met very many of the other wolves, but his presence was uniquely felt among the pack. When he walked the land, he did so with his arms folded and his face twisted into a permanent scowl. That was how he was now, exploring the paths of the outskirts of the wooded areas.

→ The more time that Robin spent with Haben, the more comfortable he was with his own body. That coupled with the heat of the summer saw him wearing less and less layers. Today he had on a t-shirt, his ever present vest on but left open, and a pair of jeans. He hadn't bothered with shoes because he was just walking int he woods and he had even thought briefly about going swimming. When he came back towards the house he could smell someone else on the path and it wasn't long before Faris came into sight. Not sure what to say to him, he kept walking, getting slowly closer to him.

→ If Faris was better at following his nose, he would have been able to avoid running into Robin. As it was, the deed was done and instead of averting his trajectory, Faris kept steadily upon it, just daring Robin to speak to him at all. When the distance between them had finally closed and there was no other option aside from acknowledgment, Faris pursed his lips. "And you are?" Begrudgingly accepting the fact that he would have to learn their names eventually.

→ "I'm Robin." It had been a while since another wolf made him nervous and Robin found himself letting his hand slide up to the ring that went through his bottom lip. Giving it a spin, he tugged on it a little before letting his hand fall away to tuck into the pocket of his jeans instead. "And you're Faris." Since he was the only one that he didn't know.

→ There was something domitable about this one, and Faris straightened his back, sharpening his gaze on the other wolf. "Yeah, I am. I take it you're the pack genius then." Faris dominated with words, not with his body, not yet. "Or the outcast." He looked pointedly at Robin's dress and his lip ring. None of the other wolves had things like that.

→ "The pack genius is Wendell. The pack smart ass is Felix so you need to find a new hook." Robin wasn't really amused by the whole genius comment. "I'm the pack outcast, yeah, so you can't be that either." If Faris was going to be a dick then Robin was going to be a dick right back becaues it wasn't his job to put up with the other boy being an asshole.

→ "I'm not going to be the pack anything." He snapped, still not admitting to even being a part of this thing. He didn't want to be a mutt, because mutts got the axe, but he wasn't going to be a family with any of these people. "Why would you do that to yourself?" He was still talking about the ring. "Or that." He reached forward and tugged at the vest.

→ Robin lifted his hand and he smoothed hsi vest down carefully. "I like it. Both of them." The ring and the vest. Robin knew that some of the pack poked fun at him over both but really he didn't care. Because he liked it when Haben or Sullivan nipped at the ring and tugged it when they kissed him and he liked it when Haben grabbed a hold of his vest to pull him in close.

→ "Do you do everything you like? Anything you want?" Now Faris was curious, moving from entirely hostile to only semi-hostile. He wondered how much Hunter really did lord over all of the wolves, and maybe Robin would be able to tell him.

→ "For the most part." Robin said. "I'm a simple kind of guy though, so it's not like it's completely out of the ordinary for me to do what I like." He studied the line of Faris' jaw and the way his face looked. "Do you ever model?" Because the kid was gorgeous in that model sort of way and Robin had been dying to take some new pictures lately but he'd taken about every shot of Haben he could manage.

→ That question struck Faris as if Robin had looked right through him and his face turned splotchy with red. "Um--" He didn't know how to answer that question, except with a yes, but he was afraid Robin would ask under what circumstances. "Not really." That was sort of the truth, because modeling wasn't just standing in front of a camera and letting someone take pictures of you. He didn't have an agent or anything, but one of his regulars had used him for drawing, and photos.

→ "Would you like to? There has been a roll of film sitting in my camera for like three days just itching to be used but I haven't found my inspiration yet. Usually I take pictures of Haben but i'm more interested in drawing Haben right now, so I need someone new to take pictures of."

→ After being so blatantly mean to Robin, Faris felt rather stupid now that Robin was being civil to him. Trying not to let his embarassment show, he tried to choose between continuing his game and giving in to Robin's amiable request. "Is this you trying to make friends, by flattering me?" He decided upon the middle ground, cautious, prickly, but obviously somewhat nervous.

→ "No, I don't make friends." Robin said, and that much was true. Haben was probably his only friend, really. Sullivan he would probably never count as a friend because they didn't hang out or talk, they just occasionally fucked. Haben was his lover too but he would consider him his friend, his best friend and maybe his only friend. "I just take pictures."

→ Faris hardly believed it, not with Robin's kind demeanor and pretty face. "Right, right, I forgot, you're the outcast." That he didn't believe either, assuming Robin just liked to think of himself as a rebel. He had no idea how honest Robin was being. Chewing at the inside of his cheek thoughtfully, Faris shook his head. "There have got to be a ton of people you could shoot instead of me. I'm not going to be your novelty. I won't be here long."

→ "There's nothing novel about what I do. And I think you'll probably be here longer than you think." he wasn't going to argue with him. "The longer you put off finding at least one person here to talk to the more miserable youa re going to be. See you around." There was no point in prolonging the inevitable, which was that one of them would walk away, so Robin was going to do it first. Faris didn't want to be around him so he wasn't going to push it.

→ He'd fit in far better as a wolf than he had as a human. His wolf form, while leary, had been joyous to find the forest to run in and someone to scritch behind his ears. Instead of letting him go, he followed him, catching up to him easily with long strides. "Because of Hunter? You think I'll stay because I'm afraid of him?"

→ "No, I think you'll stay because when you stop being so put off by being here you will come to like it." And becaues of Hunter. Because he was scary and at the same time he was someone you could rely on and feel safe with and there weren't many people in the world capable of being that person. "This place has a lot to offer."

→ "You all keep telling me that. And maybe it's true--but Pilot is still back there and it's my fault." Because Faris had been the one taken in by Langston, and Faris had been the one who thought staying and working there would be a good idea. Pilot only ended up there because Faris had brought them there. He didn't know how much everyone knew about him, if Hunter had briefed everyone about his life. He didn't know much of anything, so he didn't say anymore on the subject.

→ "Who is Pilot?" Robin asked him as they walked. "If he's human it is probably for the best. Every human we've had out here has ended up turned on accident or on purpose and it's really too dangerous." Winnie and Campbell. Winnie had been an accident. Sullivan hadn't been trying to turn her, he'd been trying to kill her and Campbell... well he was just lucky he wasn't dead.

→ Faris looked dejected. He didn't want Pilot dead, but all he could think about was how his brother had looked the last time he saw him. "He's my brother. Wendell said he must have a different father than me because it's passed down that way, but I don't believe him. I think he's wrong. Pilot just--he just--maybe he just hasn't shown it yet." Though Faris had never smelled wolf on Pilot, and deep down he knew that wasn't the case.

→ "How old is he? I had my first shift this year, I'm sixteen. And I'm a late bloomer. Sullivan had his first shift when he was thirteen." Most wolves had there around the time they were fourteen or fifteen, so he knew that if Pilot was older than that, then he was probably past the age where he would have shifted if he could. "I think he probably would know, or you would know."

→ Talking about it made Faris feel like crying. It was a pathetic sort of need and he bit his tongue hard enough to distract him and stop the tears. "He's sixteen." And there had been no sign whatsoever. It seemed they were destined to be separate. "Where are you going?" He asked finally, wanting to continue to follow him. Robin had been right, it was just easier with someone else around.

→ "Back to my house. It's not that far from here." He told him. "I have this painting that I am working on and I thought I might take a little time with it. Or maybe just make something to eat because i'm sort of starved." By make something he of course meant that he would warm up something that Wendell had made for him because he never cooked for himself if he could help it.

→ "Who is Haben?" He plucked out the name from their conversation. He'd done his best not to learn about any member of the pack while he was there as a sort of protest, but his defenses were weakening and he was growing lonlier and lonlier by the moment.

→ "Haben is... my mate." That seemed to sum up everything in one small, compact little word. Lover, friend, confidant, roommate. It all fit into Mate. "He's a lion though, not a wolf. We have a few shifters here that aren't wolves. Two coyotes and a lion."

→ In the small amount of time he'd been talking to Robin, Faris was learning more than the entirety of his experience with Wendell. Mainly because as soon as Wen had begun talking, Faris had stopped listening. "Oh. And what would you do if Haben was taken away from you? What if lions were in danger here and you had to stay here while Haben was someplace else?"

→ "I would leave." Robin said. "but I'm not the one keeping you here, so that doesn't meant much." He patted Faris on the arm and he started up the steps to the back porch and he went to the door. Pushing it opened he turned to look over his shoulder at Faris. "Are you hungry?"

→ Faris shook his head, staring down at his feet. "No--thank you." He wanted to shift again, escape into his wolf form because that form was happier here. He was set on spending more time as a wolf than as a human. "I'll see you around." It was his turn to walk away, but at least it was on a better note than before.

→ Walking back to the end of the porch, Robin leaned his arms against the railing and he watched Faris for a second. "It sucks here, I get that. Believe me. But we can offer you a lot of things you wouldn't get somewhere else. And if you make the best of it, there's no telling what might happen. Who knows, Hunter may even let Pilot come here. but if you walk around, pouting all the time, he'll never consider it."

→ It wasn't like he could really tell anyone that he considered Pilot his mate more than his brother. He didn't think any of these people would understand something that he himself didn't. But it came down to the fact that Pilot was blood and more his pack than this one. After a second of looking at Robin, considering his words, he sighed. "Do you know anyone here with a Playstation? Xbox? Anything?"

→ "Austin has an xbox and I think that Emmett might have one but I'm not sure, you'd have to ask. They both live at the main house. Everett might, he lives two houses over in that direction." He pointed in the direction away from the main house. "He's got a very big dog though, so don't let Duke startle you."

→ "Thanks." He logged those names away in his head, but instead of going back towards the way of the houses, he went back into the forest. Just for a little while, at least, he would indulge the shift and pretend everything was all right.