blood of life in this town is gone
#1
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omg this is so rambly. >__>; +343



His life had not been without some chaos, but it had been worldly and quickly-passed. The elements had seen fit to batter him, as had fellow predators here and there, or a wild horse, but the chaos of the heart was unfamiliar to him -- other than in green-eyed fury smothered quickly behind clenched dog's teeth. In short, the only turmoil he knew was that of thunder and rain pounding into mud, hooves stamping around him as he fell, or the agony in his shoulder when the club struck.

Wayne had not been wholly blind to the drama playing out within the pack, although most of the goings-on was beyond him. All he knew was that many had left, and Selene had never returned. He remembered the woman as crumpled on the steps, lost without the man she loved, lost as a child and lost like he might have been months ago. Perhaps it was for the best she was gone; Casa needed strong individuals, not those who couldn't exist without the perfect conditions.

He was being unfair. His thoughts flickered to Dixie-May, warmth seeping through his body at the memory of her soft fur and gentle smile. Maybe he'd be strong enough to go on if Dixie left, but he prayed he'd never know the answer to that question.

Sighing, the mongrel focused on the path ahead. The streets were crooked in places, sometimes so narrow that two horses couldn't walk abreast, but in others the houses were spaced nicely and only slightly decayed. He'd thought once about moving out, but it seemed like too much work for now, when he and Dixie only needed a little space. Perhaps if they had a family, he'd require more rooms, but he didn't think about that now.

Coming in front of one of the rattier houses, he leaned against a wooden post and looked over the broken swung-in door and the peeled paint of the place. Whoever did want to fix up one of these things would have their work cut out for them.


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#2
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OOC here. /+000


With summer coming Hadley was busy. He had moved past the fort, into the summer town as it had been dubbed. Under the impression that the entire pack would be moving there as soon as it got warm Hadley had brought along various tools that he'd collected and was working on taking the houses that were in bad shape and fixing them up. He thought he had everything he'd need, nails and a hammer, a hatchet for cutting stuff. He wasn't exactly a delicate carpenter, lacking a saw and using the hatchet for that.


Stepping up he looked over to where Wayne was. Hadley had just returned to the pack, and realized that he still hadn't given his gift to Wayne. If Wayne still liked him and wasn't mad about all the trouble he'd caused. Reaching into the bag he was still carrying, a habit from the time spent traveling, Hadley pulled out the carving with a rough copy of the hat the dog wore. Hey. Got you something while I was gone. Hesitantly he held it out, eyes moving to scan the house. It looked like he'd have his work cut out just removing the rotten wood.


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#3
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huuggssss!


The man continued to regard the dilapidated houses in silence, his teeth occasionally grinding together until he caught himself. Drama or not, he was stressed out; it was always there under the surface even though he was adapting to his new responsibilities well. Stress made him weary and much older than he was. He’d only just seen his second birthday, after all, and was now a man grown, but—he felt like he’d seen a dog’s age already.

A scent made him turn his head, and his brown eyes grew round and curious at the sight of the wolfdog approaching. There was something good changed about Hadley, although he lacked the skills to put his finger on what. All he knew was that it’d been far too long with his pack mate gone.

Callused hands reached out to accept the carving, and the cowboy couldn’t help but smile as he turned it over. There weren’t a lot of intricate details in the wood, but he’d always been a simplistic kind of guy, and it was the perfect gift. He closed his fist gently around the miniature hat and snorted at Hadley.

“Welcome back,” Wayne said, and reached out to grab his arm and draw him into a strong embrace. It was brief in case the former slave panicked, but he smiled faintly nonetheless as he stepped back to give him some space. He slipped the carving into his jeans pocket and gave his head a shake. “Where’ve you been?”



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#4
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OOC here. /+000


Wayne took the carving, accepting Hadley back into the pack with that simple gesture. He smiled, watching the cowboy enjoy the rough copy. Told that he was welcome back Hadley smiled, eyes widening as he was suddenly tugged into a hug. His own arm wrapped around Wayne briefly before they pulled apart, much to his relief. Hadley just couldn't shake the image of the rage and pure strength Wayne had displayed when killing that intruder. It still scared him to an extent, knowing it was resting underneath.


Went out, traveled around. Needed to figure some stuff out. I'm back now, and won't be leaving again for a long time. Hadley grinned at Wayne, glad that he could give such a simple explanation. There was nothing too deep about what had happened, just him being himself. Turning back to the house Hadley shook his head. It was quite a mess. Hadley wasn't too sure if the stairs would even be good in this one, or if they'd be fixing it up into a one floor building. Was gonna work on this. Help me out?


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#5
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Hadley was brief on why and where he had gone, but seeing the grin brighten his features, the Sinistra didn’t care. So long as he came back like Selene still hadn’t, he didn’t mind anyone needing a break from everything. He still wanted to vacation for a few days himself to relieve stress and spend time with Dixie-May, although he wasn’t unhappy with the current situation in Casa di Cavalieri by any means.

“Good,” Wayne said firmly when the wolfdog was finished, and grinned at him. He had a feeling that Hadley would be more useful to the pack than ever now, and the general state of Casa heartened him, all drama and high work load aside. They had many members, old and new, many couples, many horses, and much to accomplish in the warm months. There were the rings, the barn… He realized he was thinking about work again and shook his head, looking back up to see Hadley regarding the house.

“You mean this one?” The cowboy blinked. “I think you’ve got your work cut out for ya.” He smirked, shrugged. “Sure, I’ll help. I guess you could call me a handyman.” He had helped make basic repairs to the wagon and could do minor fixer-uppers on other things, so maybe a house wouldn’t be too bad—although this one was terrible.





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#6
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OOC here. /+000


Wayne seemed a bit surprised as Hadley asked if the cowboy wanted to help him with the house. It wasn't so much that Hadley thought it would ever be used, but they needed to start somewhere, and if Hadley didn't do well with this one, he could certainly try again on another. If he did manage to make it livable, with the worst kind of project out of the way Hadley was sure to be tackling the rest with a much lighter heart, knowing that he had managed something so much more difficult.


He grinned at Wayne's agreement and stepped forward. He clutched the tools that he'd brought along, hoping that he could look like he actually knew what he was doing. The first challenge came with the porch, Hadley not quite paying enough attention and already thinking about the kind of repairs he expected to need to do, stuck his foot right through the wood. Surprised he looked down, face flaming with embarrassment. He looked over to Wayne, struggling to word the situation. Stairs...not good.


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#7
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Brown eyes fell idly over the tools that the man had brought with them; Hadley certainly was serious about this, and prepared. He knew it had been a long time since he himself had wielded a hammer and nails, and somehow even the threat of splinters and sore muscles didn’t keep the Sinistra from grinning. He’d rather be overworked than plump and bored any day; not doing things drove him crazy, although he drove himself crazy in turn by piling responsibility after responsibility on himself to keep that from coming true.

Following Hadley, he looked at the upper portion of the house thoughtfully before the loud sound of cracked wood made him jump. The porch had eaten the wolfdog’s foot, it seemed, and despite himself Wayne chuckled. It wasn’t an unkind mirth, though, and he offered a hand to pull Hadley onto solid ground.

“Rotten,” he guessed, glancing suspiciously at the porch. “No good, since we got a lot of big guys in the pack.” He frowned. “Could put somethin’ under it to support it, but it’d be better to remove the porch altogether or just choose a different house.” He knew that Hadley was determined to try with this one first, but Wayne knew a lost cause when he saw one. Or maybe he was getting lazier than he thought.






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#8
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OOC here. /+000


He stared at the ground, ears pasted to his skull. That was horrible. He'd wanted to work on fixing up a house, and had chosen one that was far too gone to repair, revealing how new he was at this. There had to be something the house could be used for though. They couldn't just leave it the way it was. He accepted Wayne's hand to pull him out of the wooden trap his foot had been swallowed by. He examined the house, nodding his head at the wiser male's words. The house was a waste.


Perhaps...can get some wood from it...then tear down... Hadley didn't notice himself slipping into the more hesitant manner of speaking that he had used all the time. It was easy to step back from his initial confidence, not even realizing. Hadley gathered himself up and tore at the wood, testing the pieces to see if any were good. If not, he wasn't too sure how they would get rid of the bad wood. Burn it perhaps? They'd have to be careful to make sure it didn't spread to other houses.


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#9
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The other seemed somewhat embarrassed at the condition of the house, but Wayne would pretend to ignore that as long as it persisted. After helping the man onto solid ground, he listened to his suggestion and nodded. “It ain’t pretty, but you’re right—probably some salvageable wood.” He spoke clearly, having missed the hesitance in the other’s tone, since that was what he had been used to.

He stepped around the brown wolfdog, putting his weight on some planks and withdrawing at their creak of protest. Whenever he found something stronger, he grabbed it and yanked; nails bent or flew, and he grunted at the effort. Throwing the good wood down in a pile, he managed to open the door, which dangled on a rusty hinge. “Door itself looks good,” he thought out loud. “Could make a table out of it or somethin’.” He glanced back at Hadley. “Should we go inside? Might get swallowed, but there could be somethin’ useful in there.”


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#10
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OOC here. /+000


Some pieces were quickly and easily torn up. Others were completely rotted, sinking soft to the touch. What had he been thinking? Ears flat he looked over at the retrieved door, wondering exactly how large a project this was going to turn into. Use as door in new house. That was the logical answer for him. Refit it, and use it in one of the new buildings that was being built. It was already designed for the job after all.


Nodding his head, confidence slowly rebuilding Hadley stepped into the house. It was difficult to move around, his foot occasionally striking through rotted wood. He didn't need Wayne's help again luckily. The stairs were a complete waste, leaving all the wood upstairs out of reach of the canines. They wouldn't be able to retrieve it. A shame. Other parts were rescued though, the legs of a table still good, as was a back of a chair.


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