→ Faris had had just about enough time as a wolf that day. He'd tried his hardest to keep shifting, but his body simply wasn't strong enough and dark circles of exhaustion had started to form under his eyes. The next best kind of escape for him was a long video gaming session. He tried to recall the names of those people who might have materials like that and Austin was the first he remembered. Perhaps he recalled that name the fastest because it had been one to watch out for, but it was worth a shot. Searching through the house, he called his name a few times in the hall before finding his room and knocking on the door.

→ Getting up off of his bed, Austin came over to the door and pulled it open. He was shirtless and a little groggy. He had been reading for the class he was taking over the summer and had fallen asleep because it was the dullest, dryest thing he'd ever had to read and he hated it. When he saw Faris he just gave the kid the once over and gruffly asked "What?" Because he obviously wanted something and what way to better get down to what it was than to just ask.

→ Just as Faris had determined Robin was slightly submissive, he could tell right away that Austin was anything but. That didn't prevent him from squaring his shoulders and standing his ground, however. "Robin mentioned you might have an Xbox or something. I've been dying to play. All I took with me was my DS and some games." It hadn't been enough to keep him occupied.

→ Austin had been actively trying to be a better person, but at the moment he was tired and grouchy and he wasn't feeling very nice at all. "Yeah, well what's in it for me to let you use my xbox?" Austin didn't even really play it all that often anymore. There was plenty else to do around the haven to occupy his time. But that didn't mean he was going to let this new kid just stroll right in and start using his stuff.

→ Living where Faris had lived for the past year, he'd come to understand that nothing was for free. Smirking, he was at least pleased, if not simply vindicated, that this place was proving to be no different, just in different wrapping. "First I'm going to ask you what you want, then you're probably going to come back with something like Oh I wouldn't want anything from you. And then I'll be like There's got to be something. So let's just skip to the part where you tell me what you want and I give it to you, because really--I don't care what it is, I'll do it."

→ There was a plethora of things he could think of that he wanted. For Robin to not exist, for example. That was one of many things that he thought he would really want. But that wasn't reasonable. He gave Faris the once over and he leaned against the door jam. There were a few things, he supposed. "I want more than one thing, kid, so how badly do you want the xbox?"

→ "Kid? We're like the same age." He didn't think Austin could possibly be old enough to be calling him 'kid' legitimately, so he knew it was a power play and he didn't like it. Folding his arms across his chest, he jutted out his bony hip and pursed his lips. "I'm going to have to know the terms before I agree to anything." One of the first rules of negotiating was to not come across as too desperate. He'd pretty much already blown that, but he wasn't about to beg, yet.

→ "The thing I want most is for you to stay away from Sullivan." he knew that it probably wasn't fair, considering he was the one that had broken things off with the other wolf, but that didn't mean he wanted Sullivan running out and nailing every wolf that came his way. Or vampire, for that matter. So he wanted to make sure Faris didn't do anything stupid. "I don't want you to let him fuck you, or toy with you or anything like that, just stay away from him."

→ Faris didn't try to hide his surprise at that request. Robin had mentioned a Sullivan, now Austin was bringing him up. Faris hadn't met the guy. "I don't even know who he is. Is that it?" It seemed like a very small price to pay and maybe he shouldn't let that on, but it was so small, Faris almost felt bad about letting that be the only thing he traded for something he wanted so badly.

→ "Unless you can make something very bad happen to Robin then that's it." Because honestly he really didn't want anything else from the boy at this point and he doubted faris would be willing to hurt Robin for him. He didn't do it himself because he knew it would just make Sullivan mad at him and it would piss Hunter off too.

→ At least Robin he knew. "What's your problem with Robin?" The wolf had been nice to him, despite the fact that Faris had been a dick. He glanced past Austin into his room, curious at the way it was decorated and the way it smelled. "He seemed nice enough to me."

→ "Yeah, well, he's a little shithead who doesn't care about who he hurts as long as he gets what he wants." Austin said, pushing away from the door so he could go back to the bed. He dropped onto it, putting his hands beneath his head as he laid back. "The xbox is hooked up to the tv but if you don't want to play it in here you can haul it to whatever other tv you can find."

→ Faris considered his options. Looking at Austin, then looking at the console, he decided to just leave it where it was. Eagerly, he sat down in front of the tv, fiddling around with the games Austin had, selecting one and popping it in the machine. The controller felt good and smooth in his hands. "And why don't you want me to fuck Sullivan?" Stay away from him entirely would have been sufficient, but Austin had specifically mentioned sex with him. He could guess, but he wanted to know for sure.

→ "Because, he'll fuck anything that moves and I'm not interested in finding out if werewolves can get VD." Austin muttered, not entirely truthful. All he wanted was for Sullivan to take their break and just be celibate, like he planned on being, but he wasn't suer if it would happen. Not with Robin around. And he hadn't asked him to be, so he didnt' expect him to be.

→ "Right." Faris said, obviously not believing the snarky come back as truth. Starting up the game, he felt a calm rush through him. The movement of the character on screen became his reality, rather than dwelling on where he was in the real world. Still, he kept up the conversation. "So Sullivan's a slut, but I can speak from experience that werewolves don't really get sexually transmitted diseases."

→ "What, are you a slut too?" Austin would have offered to play with him but he wasn't really feeling much up for a video game so he just stayed put on his bed, eyes closed as he listened to the sound of the game filling up the small space of his room. He yawned a little and rubbed his eyes, trying to relax.

→ It took Faris awhile to answer that, caught up in an action scene. "No, not a slut. I got paid." He wasn't usually so frank about what he did, but something about Austin's careless attitude made Faris feel like the other boy would judge him harshly no matter what he said, so he spoke the truth. "So I guess that would be a whore."

→ "Bully for you." Austin said, though he was sort of interested. "So let me guess. My brother just riding in and swept you up from your life of being a whore so that he could bring you to the wonderful and frequently dull life of living with the wolf pack at the haven?"

→ Brother. The scents were similar enough that he should have guessed that, but he hadn't paid that much attention. Glancing back at Austin caused him to miss a jump and he cursed before starting again. "Yeah, swept is one word for it. Physically carried out under threat of death would be more accurate though."

→ That didn't really sound like Hunter to him but he knew that his brother was getting a little more agressive and had lately not been so kind as he usually was. He was still very kind, which was probably why no one really noticed, but Austin could see things changing in him. "Well he's probably right, whatever he told you. You are safer here, no matter how much it sucks.'

→ brb

→ Faris took time out to roll his eyes. "Everyone fucking says that." He blasted an enemy with far more firepower than needed; it satisfied him. "For my own good, for everyone else's good. Fuck you guys, none of you know anything about me." He stopped his little tyrade and shook his head. "Sorry. I know I'm better off here--I just wish I could get Pilot out of that place."

→ "Who is Pilot?" Austin asked. "And you mean the whorehouse? Is that what those are called nowadays?" not like he had any idea. He'd never been to one, never seen one. They were kind of out of his range of knowledge.

→ "They call it a brothel. Or a parlor." He shrugged. "But it's really old fashioned." Mainly because the person who ran it was very, very old. The video game wasn't really helping, but at least it gave him some rest time and something for his hands to do. "Pilot is my brother."

→ "And he is still there? Is he not a werewolf?" That was the only reason that he could think that Pilot would have been left behind. "You know, just because you are stuck here, living here, doesn't mean you can't go back and see him sometimes."

→ "Sometimes?" Sometimes wasn't enough. Hunter had promised sometimes, but that didn't do much for the times he wasn't there. "None of you get it." He shook his head. "He's everything." Pilot had been the only thing he'd taken with him from home, his prize possession, his family, his shelter, everything. "Robin said to make the best of it, and I intend to do that." To the best of his ability anyway.

→ "Maybe if you show improvement Hunter will bring Pilot here. But I can't make any promises. We don't have very good luck with humans." He settled back in the pillows a little more and just yawned. "What are you playing?" from this far away he couldn't tell exactly what game it was.

→ "Halo." He mumbled. "And Robin mentioned that, about maybe Hunter would bring Pilot here." But with the pack track record, he wasn't sure he even wanted Pilot at this place. Still, it would make it better. After a few seconds, he ventured. "Are you and Sullivan--" He searched for the word; it had been the one Robin used. "--mates?"

→ For a few minutes Austin was just quiet because he wasn't sure how to answer it. "I thought that we were." He said. "But now I don't think so anymore." he turned over onto his stomach, putting his head at the end of the bed so that he could watch the tv while Faris played. It was weird just talking to someone, he didn't really have anyone to talk to like this. "My brother and Wendell are true mates." Because wolves mated for life and he knew that neither one of them would ever stray.

→ "Because he slept with someone else. Robin." It was easy to deduce from the way Austin talked about the other wolf. Faris didn't have that mentality, though he separated sex from love and didn't know if Sullivan loved Robin or Austin. He didn't suppose it was a good idea to ask. "Wendell talks too much." He offered that little commentary instead.

→ "Wendell never shuts up." Austin said. Then he wasquiet a few beats before saying, "Because he slept with Robin. Because he loves Robin." He brushed his hand along his arm, a little uncomfortable as he tried not to dwell too hard on it. "Robin is something I can't be for Sullivan."

→ "Sounds like he needs too much then." Because Austin seemed like a lot. His presence was big, filled the room. Austin seemed like a lot to handle. Then again, maybe that was the problem. "I don't think you can really love more than one person. It's something else." He didn't know what, but he wouldn't call it love. Still, he hardly knew the situtation well enough to say whether or not it was Robin or Austin whom Sullivan really loved. "Robin said Haben was his mate."

→ "Robin cheats on Haben with Sullivan, I don't think that they are really mates." Even if that was what Robin thought they were, Austin didn't. "But I suppose everything balances out in the end, because after I caught Sullivan, Robin and Haben together, I cheated on him with a human. Some sort of revenge, I guess, I don't know."

→ Slowly but surely, Austin was gaining his attention over the game, and that was a very difficult thing to do. "You feel better about it then?" Because revenge was supposed to make you feel better, right? Faris imagined getting revenge on some of the clients who hurt Pilot would make him feel good.

→ "No." Austin didn't feel better about it. "I broke things off with Sullivan a few days ago." he was thinking it was a mistake but he was trying so hard to just hold out and not do anything stupid like go rushing back to him. "We used to share a room, I just moved back into this one."

→ "Maybe two dominant personalities can't ever be happy together." He ventured, just thinking outloud from what he'd learned in his short time there at Wolf Haven. Maybe Wendell and Hunter were destined to be together because Wendell would never be unhappy being smaller than Hunter in every way.

→ "Maybe." he said, trailing his fingers across the edge of the blanket. "When we are together it's good, it's really fucking good. But then we do something to fuck it up and I just can't take the disappointment." Because he always expected the best and was always disappointed when it didn't go according to his plan.

→ Finally, Faris just set the controller down and turned himself to face Austin, leaning his elbows down on his knees, angling his eyes up at the other wolf. "If it's really good, I'd think it'd be worth the shit that goes along with it." He shrugged. "But I guess everyone has their limits of forgiveness." Now he was curious to meet Sullivan, but he'd already made the promise to steer completely clear of him and he planned to keep it.

→ "I don't know if we are good often enough to balance out all the bad." And lately it had just been bad, it seemed. "I broke things off because he's all I can think about, all I can worry about. and someone said something to me that kind of made me realize I didn't have my priorities in the right place."

→ "What was that?" He dropped his hands into his lap, sitting up a little more. Now he was expecting some wide grace of wisdom to be bestowed upon him.

→ "Someone just told me that I would never make a good alpha. That I would never be like Hunter." And that was the one thing that austin wanted more than anything else in the world Was to be like Hunter. "And you know, they were right. I'm still working it out. I'm too selfish to be alpha."

→ "Being alpha would be fucking heavy." He couldn't imagine having to be responsible enough to make the right decisions all the time. He let the silence in the room well up a little before speaking again. "What would you have done in Hunter's position with me?"

→ "If you had said you didn't want to come, I probably would have just killed you. But I suppose that's because I don't know what it's like to have the weight of someone's life in my hands." And Hunter did. Hunter had killed wolves before and so when he made those threats he knew what the consequences were when he followed through with them.

→ "Just like that?" Faris figured that was fair enough of an answer and he shrugged. "I don't think I'll ever fit in here." For that reason specifically; he just couldn't understand the animalistic nature that had to carry over into their human forms for the sake of security.

→ "Just like that." He said. "But Hunter and I are different." he said. "We don't think the same way as everyone else.' Hunter more so than Austin because Austin had grown up with someone his age, someone to be close to. "We are pure bloods, it... it's just different.' His beast won out more, was more ingrained in him.

→ "I think it's just easier to believe that." Faris said honestly. "Wendell said Pilot and I must not have the same fathers. Is that true?" Austin seemed like a person who would know, especially since he was pure blooded which Faris could only imagine meant both his mother and father were werewolves.

→ "Yes. If Pilot is human and you are a werewolf then you have different dads. Because it's passed down from father to son. The only female werewolves are made and it is really rare because most people die when they are bitten by a werewolf, no matter how small the bite is. Which is one reason Hunter is nervous about PIlot."

→ The fact that two people had told him so made the fact a little more believable. His jaw clenched tightly at the realization that his mother fooled around. Maybe that was why they'd been so eager to just let him go, but they'd lost their real son along with him. He fell very silent and looked angry, his wolf rolling around inside of him, waking up and shaking itself.