→ Avoiding people at wolf haven was a little harder than Austin had originally imagined. Even if they weren't physically present their scents were there and he could still hear them it seemed like no matter where he went. Today he was sitting outside, his books spread out across the table on the deck. Papers were held down by his cup and his iPod and other various things to keep them from blowing away when the wind kicked up at all. He was listening to music, hoping to drown out everything around him so that he could focus on the work he had for school.

→ Basil's forehead was pressed against the window of Wendell's car. He'd picked the boy up from the airport that evening and was driving him to his new home at Wolf Haven. The boy hadn't packed much, even though his worldly possessions were numerous. His father, Edgar, was a very successful businessman--or rather had been until his death. That's why Basil had been put on a plane to Seattle. When Wendell pulled into the driveway, Basil got out of the car, not understanding that there was no one to come and fetch the bags. Walking, still a little dazed, into the house, he left Wendell to take care of his luggage.

→ It was mid morning and that meant it was nearly time for mid morning meal. Really though any time of the day was good for eating. Packing up all his papers, he tucked everything away and stacked his books neatly before going into the house. Depositing them on the kitchen table once he was inside, he went for the fridge until he smelled a new and unfamiliar scent in the house. Coming to the door, he tugged off his head phones and he watched as Basil came inside. Austin hadn't been keeping up with what was going on in the house because he was so bogged down with work from his first year at college and so his hackles rose and he just kind of got defensive at the sight of this boy. "Who are you?"

→ Wendell knew that Basil was just despondent from the death of his father and perhaps he hadn't meant to treat him like 'the help.' He always gave people the benefit of the doubt. Wendell gathered up the bags, and packed them inside, walking past Austin and Basil as he went. Basil watched Wendell go by, frowning. But he didn't say anything about it. When Austin spoke to him, he looked at him through his thick glasses. "I'm Basil. And you are?"

→ "Austin." The fact that Wendell was carrying luggage didn't sit well with him but it wasn't like it was his decision to make. "This is my house." As in Hunter's house but his house by proxy. Giving Basil a glance over he just sort of glared at him and then turned to go back into the kitchen. What were they running a fucking boarding house now? What the hell was this?

→ When Austin simply left, Basil stood there, staring after him. He exuded a smell of despair and he didn't quite know where to go from there. Wendell had disappeared and the house loomed large before him. He felt small, and he hated feeling small.

→ Once back in the kitchen he rooted around in the fridge until he found some of the chicken and noodles that Wendell had made the night before. How those had escaped uneaten was beyond him but he really didn't care. Instaed of thinking too hard about it he just put them into the microwave and warmed them up so he could finish them off.

→ Shifting his messenger bag from one shoulder to the other, he wandered after Austin since they'd already introduced themselves to each other. "You own this house?" He asked as he approached the kitchen counter. His voice held a polite aire to it, and it was careful.

→ "It's my mother's house." And then it had belonged to his mother and now it was Hunter's and one day it would probably be his. Maybe. If he stuck around long enough for it to become his. "So who are you and why are you here? We have enough people here." He didn't really realize that given Basil's situation that he was kind of being a son of a bitch.

→ "I'm Basil." He repeated, not understanding how that hadn't been a satisfactory answer before. Though in some circles, it only mattered who your parents were, and their parents, so he sighed. "My father is Edgar Rian of the San Francisco Rians. I'm here because Wendell's father was my godfather and I'm left in Wendell's care until I'm and can receive my inheritence. Is there no room here for me? I was under the impression that I had a room."

→ "There's room." And there was about to be another when he packed his things and left. That or moved into Shane's house. The kids were annoying yes but at least they were quiet some of the time. The mainhouse was becomming loud and bothersome and there were too many people there all the time.

→ "Who's your mother?" He tried to get a little closer to Austin so that he could smell him, finding that the smell of other wolves was comforting to him. He and his father lived in a big mansion all by themselves, save for the staff. So the only wolf Basil ever smelled had been his father. Now that the man was gone, he was trying to sift through the numb feeling by taking in the smell of other wolves.

→ "My mother's name was Arabella." Was. Austin got his noodles out of the microwave and pulled himself up onto the counter so he could sit comfortably. Then he just looked at Basil again, studying him a little bit. "My parents are dead." Though his father was very much alive he'd never considered the man to be a father to him.

→ "My dad just died." Nodding at Austin's words. It felt kind of relieving to meet someone young who didn't have parents either. Saying the words out loud made his stomach hurt and he averted his eyes down to the counter, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

→ Well now Austin felt a little bit like a shit head, but not that much like a shit head. Passing the bowl over to him, he offered some of the noodles to Basil as sort of a peace offering. "It gets easier. With time. But it never goes away."

→ He could hardly blame Austin for telling the truth, even if those last few words stung just a bit. At least Austin was being level with him. Wendell had been handling him with kid gloves the whole drive from the city. "You have a very nice house." He complimented quietly instead of saying anymore about his dad.

→ When Basil didn't take the noodles he just shrugged and pulled the bowl back so he could finish off what was left in them. "It is a nice house, it's unfortunately overrun at the moment." It was loud and there were too many smells and he didn't like that the coyotes were never going to leave or that they still had a human and that that damn lion was there. "We're a zoo."

→ He sniffed the air, trying not to be obvious about it. "It smells confusing. I'm sorry that I'm adding to it." He genuinely hated being troublesome, even though sometimes he didn't realize he was being a snob.

→ "It's fine." Austin wanted to say that at least he was a wolf but he didn't want to come off even moer of an asshole than he already was. "One more isn't going to hurt anything. Besides, I'm thinking about moving in with my uncle Shane. It's quiet at his house, people leave him alone down there."

→ Basil still wasn't looking Austin in the eye. "Oh? That's too bad." He exhaled and gave a barely audible laugh at his own unfortunate luck. "The first person I meet and he moves out." Technically, he'd met Wendell, but Wendell wasn't nearly so interesting as Austin was.

→ "You'll meet others. None that are so interesting as I am." Though he was mostly just teasing. Leaning back, he smiled at Basil, though the boy was pointedly not looking at him. "Come on, I'll show you up to your room." He'd just follow Wendell's scent there.

→ He'd spent so much time inside his own head the past week that being aware of another person felt surreal. But as Austin interacted with him more, he felt like he was being led out of the woods. "What others? Who do you like here?" He followed Austin as he walked.

→ "Hunter. That's my brother, he's Wendell's mate. My Uncle Shane. Though honestly you probably won't have to worry much about him, he never comes up this way." He took him up the stairs. "There is Sullivan, he's moody. Robin, annoying. Haben, not a wolf. Warner and Jonas who keep to themselves. Jocelin who is human and Emmett, he's a wolf, you'll probably like Emmett."

→ Basil tipped his head to the side. "But--who do you like? Just Emmett?" Because that's who Austin had said Basil would like. As they walked, Basil followed closer and closer behind Austin. When they reached his room and Austin stopped, Basil ran into his back. "Sorry." He said, clearly embarassed.

→ "It's fine." Austin opened the door and saw the luggage on the bed. "My room is the next over." He said, motioning to it. "Emmett yes. Is the only one I like aside from my brother. Wendell is all right but he can be annoying sometimes. I don't like anyone else."

→ Following Austin's gesture, Basil looked quietly pleased. He wanted to fit in here, knowing his life would be easier if he could just spend the next five years getting along. But Austin didn't seem to get along with anyone and that interested him. "Your room until you move, right?"

→ "Until I move. If I move. I don't know. Shane has little kids. I don't like little kids very much. You'll come to see that anymore there isnt' very much that I do like." He honestly wasn't afraid to say that. He knew he was grumpy and hard to get along with. It was just who he was.

→ "You like noodles," he observed kindly. At least there were noodles. Stepping into his room, he went to run his hand over the blankets. They weren't nearly as soft as the ones in his old room. Next, he went to examine the pillows and looked disappointed in those as well.

→ "What?" Austin caught the look on his face and he wasn't sure what it was about the bed that Basil didn't like. It was just a guest bed, so it had new sheets and pillows. Everything was brand new, nothing really broken in at all.

→ "These are a little scratchy." Even though his words were snotty, his tone was meek and matter-of-fact. "And the pillows are a little flat." He already missed the plushness of his own bed. But he seemed to lose interest in the bedding as he wandered to the window to look out of it.

→ Austin just raised an eyebrow and he looked at the bedding and then back at Basil. "Well, you can go and get your own stuff if you don't like what is there." He watched him for a moment and then turned to go to his own bedroom.

→ "You're leaving?" He asked, even though it was obvious the way Austin was walking out of the room. Deigning the bed good enough to sit on, Basil kicked his shoes off before crawling up and sitting indian style somewhere in the middle.

→ "I was going to get my homework and go back to my room. The house is quiet enough right now that I don't have to worry about beign distracted." Though he knew it would be louder when the coyotes came back or when Emmett and Jocelin returned from whereever they were.

→ Looking very sleepy, Basil had had a long flight--and an even longer week spent tossing and turning and just not getting enough sleep. He chewed in the inside of his cheek and looked everywhere in the room but Austin, though finally he leveled his eyes on the other. "What homework do you have?" A silly question, just bent on making the conversation go on longer.

→ "Chemistry." That was what he was working on currently. "I have a bunch of equations to balance and a couple of chapters to read." He folded his arms over his chest. "If you want to come in my room while I work on my homework?"

→ "Won't I distract you? I can be quiet." He added, looking hopeful as he got up slowly from the bed. Austin's bed was probably the same as this one, but having someone in there would feel better.

→ "All right." He motioned with his head. "I have to go and get my books from down stairs, I will be right back and we can go to my room." His bed was better. More lived in. The sheets were softer and the pillows were perfect. At least to Austin.

→ He stood up, going to the door and watching Austin go down the stairs. While Austin was gone, Haben came out of Robin's room and peered at Basil with curious eyes. They were chatting quietly by the time Austin returned.

→ When Austin came back upstairs he glared at Haben in a fairly unfriendly manner before making his way down to his bedroom. If Basil chose to come with him that was fine but he also wasn't going to pull him away from the lion either.

→ Basil could tell that Haben wasn't a werewolf, even if Austin hadn't mentioned it before. His smell was foreign and he didn't especially like it--never having been the curious sort. Trekking after Austin, he walked closely to his back. "He seems nice." But the way he said it was wary.

→ "nice enough." He shook his head and dropped his books on the desk and then settled on the chair. "You can sit on the bed if you want, it is really the only place to sit in here." He leaned his head against his hand and flipped open the book.

→ "May I lie down?" His words were always carefully put together, certain to have proper grammar and all the knowledge of his polite upbringing. It made him seem a little stiff. He tried not to obviously look around the room because such nosiness was rude, but he was curious to figure out everything he could about this person.

→ "If you'd like." Austin said with a nod. For a moment he watched Basil settle himself and then he tugged down his glasses off the top of his head and looked down at his chem book. Austin didn't care if he laid down, didn't care if he looked around, either.

→ Basil took a good long time getting himself situated, but when he was finally settled, he looked supremely comfortable in the middle of Austin's covers. For a second, he just planted his face in the pillow, breathing in the way Austin smelled when he slept. "You smell like my dad." He said, muffled into the pillow, forgetting he'd promised to be quiet.

→ "I don't know whether that is a good thing or a bad thing." Austin looked up from his book and watched as the other wolf buried his face into his pillow.

→ "Why would it be a bad thing?" He rolled his face to the side so he could see Austin. His father had been his entire world, unless you counted the nannies, and the tutors who were never very fond of him, always sensing in him something different and dangerous.

→ "I don't know." Austin put his hands behind his head. "I would not like it if you smelled like my father." Mostly because he loathed his father

→ Basil struggled to stay awake, voice dozy and thick. "Well, I like it quite a bit. I miss him." And there was some sort of choke behind those words as he turned his face back into Austin's pillow. He was going to cry and he didn't want the new wolf to see him.

→ Getting up from the desk, Austin walked to the bed and laid down beside Basil. He stayed on his side and put his hand gently on the small of his back.

→ Sucking in a deep breath, Basil rolled his body toward Austin. He kept his face buried, now in Austin rather than the pillow. With his eyes shut tight, he just sobbed, feeling stupid for doing so, but unable to prevent it.

→ There was nothing that could console someone who had just lost a parent, even if it wasn't a parent they particularly liked. Austin knew rhere was nothing to make it better but he rubbed his back never the less and just tried to calm him down.

→ When Basil finally stopped crying it was only because he was asleep, wearing his last bit of energy down to nothing. It felt good to finally get that sorrow out of himself, and his body fell still.

→ Austin stayed in bed with him, not sure if he should get up and finish his homework. After a while he just took off his glasses and set them on the nightstand before reaching for the quilt. He pulled it up over them and then settled in to sleep.