set after the pack celebration?
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It was dark in her window filled room. The moon giving her nothing more then a slight glow to brighten her large space. Each were cracked, ever so slightly, to let the air of fall in. She liked the chill, her coat fighting the cold. Mati entered slowly, quietly as if she would disturb someone. Her little hedgehog slept on the bed, curled by her pillow as he always was. But Mati was sure she would not wake him, he slept through the worst of storms and long into the day. It was something else, something fragile and unseen that she hoped not to break or disturb. The lanterns that she held were placed gently on the table, away from any paper that was usually strewn around her desk. They had been on the tree her mother had decorated. But they belonged to her now. Mati lit the match, and brought the flame to the black wick. Instantly it took the light from the match and burned its own. Mati repeated the process, and then blew the match out. Carefully she placed the used stick in an old can, and watched the flame flicker and eat away at the wick and the candle’s wax.

Though the day had been long, the evening longer she could find no comfort in sleep and even less in potential dreams. Mati had always dreamed, vivid and skewed pictures. Many focused on the things that her mind would not give up on, and it was not surprising when she met Ares in her sleep more then once. Mati could not help but think of him, just as she could not help but dream of him. He wasn’t the only one featured in her nighttime thoughts, her family frequented them, as did those she had never met and were likely figments of her imagination. But, Ares came back again and again. The woman moved to the small bookcase, the light less faint and the glow of the candles giving her all she needed. Violet eyes looked at the titles, and yet could not find anything that could satisfy her taste. Unsettled, Mati looked to the door that was left ajar. Maybe she would sleep on the couch in the common area. Perhaps there the dreams would be less vivid and she would meet no one. At the thought of it her eyes lids drooped, and she took on of the lanterns and walked towards the door, her mind thinking of sleep.

kk! tiny bit of pp saying she entered, tell me if i should change it! 349 words


Ares dozed fitfully on the couch in the common area. He had returned his poetry book back to his bedroom, and tried to figure out how he wanted to spend the night. The pack celebration had been pleasant, but he hadn't spoken at all with the person he wanted to talk to most. He didn't quite have the nerve to approach her directly, but he thought maybe if she entered the common room while he was there they'd be forced into talking, or something. It was so awkward between them, now! How had that even happened? It was so damn easy to talk to her that first night, watching the stars on the front lawn. But now it seemed to be an action of incredible difficulty. He had brought a book to the couch, the new one that Princess had given him for his birthday - The Universe, the Gods, and Men. The first few pages were interesting, but he rapidly found out he was more tired than he thought. The book lay open on his chest, the title visible along the spine, pages rustling gently when he breathed deeply.

He kept waking up, terrified or nervous or frustrated, but he could never remember what he had been dreaming. Ares vaguely acknowledged the fact that he should probably move back to his room, but he never woke up fully and the half-asleep part of his brain rebelled greatly at the idea of moving. The creak of a door startled him right awake, though. He was always a light sleeper. His head groggy, he tried to focus his golden eyes on the figure in the darkness, momentarily blinded by the lantern in her hands. His head swam with the scent of Mati, imagining that she was there. Confusing her appearance with his dream, he panicked, remembering parts of the nightmare - cold, hateful comments from his chocolate crush. Ares blinked until the world before him settled into reality. He fought to find words, his mouth felt dry and his head stuffed with cotton. "What.. um." He coughed. "I mean, uh, hi."

tis fine
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The flame flickered in the enclosed glass. Protected from the dark cool air that Mati walked through, and guiding her into the living area. The manor was so large, but she had grow accustom to the vast building, and her room was just off the common area. A few steps took her to the shadow claimed room. Its darkness parted and slinked shyly away from the candle. Violet eyes drooped, and there was a chill that surrounded her as she walked into the empty room. Her own room held a sort of warmth, but it was missing here. Paws stepped lightly, though she could not miss each of the creaking floorboards that relieved her entrance into the room. The scents filtered to her keen nose and she noticed that one was dominant over the rest, but her mind was eager to ignore it. Her heart was not, but the strength of distracting thoughts could overpower it.

The room was not empty. And no thought could distract her from the figure that was settled on the room’s couch. He spoke, shaken words that sounded heavy with sleep. Sleep that she has been looking for. It seemed that he had sought the couch as a place for a restful night as well. Mati figured it was for reasons unlike her own. "I’m sorry.” She said, part of her wanting to turn around and seek the comfort of her bed. But there was no way she would be able to find rest. They had ignored each other, just hours before and Mati was embarrassed of that, though she wanted to speak with him. She feared what he would say and the words that might come from her own mouth, her thoughts so confused. The other held her in place, not really sorry that she stood where she did and that they were both alone in the dark. She felt the silence filter between them, violet eyes watching him and light of the lone candle.

Again her voice broke the dimly lit air, “I didn’t think anyone would be in here.” She looked away then, eyes looking down with a lack of courage. It only lasted a moment, violet gaze returned to him and matched the gold that danced in the dark.

<3. 334 words


Mati spoke, but her words said nothing. Theoretically each of them had a meaning, and strung together they conveyed a message, but they said nothing. It was polite, automatic, obvious. I'm sorry - a reflexive response to breaking something, to doing something wrong. She hadn't really done anything besides stop the nightmare. Or was she apologizing for anything else? The whole blame for the existence of.. whatever it was.. that seemed wedged between them could hardly be accounted for with such weightless words. And why would she even be apologizing for that at all? It wasn't like she had done anything wrong. God, he was thinking too much, reading too much into things that didn't even exist. She had walked in, she had woken him up, she hadn't meant to. Simple enough, basic enough, why did he always act like things were so complicated?

Ares was too sleep-addled, too hurt from his just-escaped nightmare to even know how to respond with social niceties. Oh, he knew very well that he should, but he couldn't think of anything to speak but the thoughts on his mind. He couldn't find the filter that everyone imposed, the pre-set words and phrases that you employ when the situation is just so. "I didn't mean to say that, Mati. I was an idiot, I wasn't thinking of you when I said that to Haven, I was just mad and trying to hurt him, to make him understand how I felt.." And now he was rambling. Would she even know what he was talking about? He had pushed himself upright on the couch before speaking, leaning heavily on the armrest he had been using as a pillow, now clinging to it for support. Ares dropped his gold gaze, to his lap, feeling sick to his stomach. He didn't want to watch her leave, or to see the hurt on her face that had been present that day so long ago. One or the other (or maybe even both!) seemed inevitable.

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She didn’t like this feeling. To be alone in the dark with him. He thought something of her, something that she didn’t truly understand and something that she did not believe she was capable of. The words spoke so loudly in her mind, and though at the time they had hurt, Mati had felt plenty of anger towards them, and towards him. But once more she felt sadness, insecure in her large body and as she stood before his sitting form. Both in the dark. Had he know her thoughts as he spoke? Had he been obsessing over them as she had? Mati’s face grew still, hard as she thought them over once more. At least he thought something of them, and her emotions were worth feeling. “I’m not like that.” She spoke, softly. She suddenly felt the urge to cry, and held the tears back. Why did it matter? She wondered. But he would know that she was not something that could be taken, and then tossed to the side.

To hurt Haven was a mistake. No one was allowed to hurt her brother, and if he ever wished to, he would see the true rage that the large wolfess was capable of. But that wasn’t the sort of hurt he spoke of. It was the sort of hurt she had wanted Princess to feel when the two had run into each other. How was that any different? Mati would not mention it, and let him have those words.

Violet eyes looked at him, and she took a step forward. She placed the lantern on the table, and the light no longer danced with her movement. Her mouth felt dry, and the words that she wished to speak, the feelings she was scared to share were hard to come by. She was not the thing the black coated male had wanted, she would not suffer as her mother had before she was born. No one would take anything from her without her consent, and even if she allowed it no one would toss her aside afterwards. Then she questioned him, for as he had she spoke the thoughts that came into her mind;

“Would you do that?” To me, to anyone?

342 words


Ares wondered if any of this had been on her mind, too. Had he hurt her so badly she still fretted on it? He couldn't know, all he knew was that the guilt of it was chewing on a not-insignificant corner of his heart. "I know you aren't, Mati. That's why I like... being your friend. I wouldn't have it any other way." Softly too, of course. The dream-like fuzziness of this meeting, the sleepy brain and dim-flickering flame-light seemed fragile, somehow. As if he spoke too loudly, this precarious structure would shatter in some sort of disaster. She set the lantern down on the table, and he shifted slightly, swinging his legs down to the floor and leaning against the back of the couch in a normal seated position. He sort of wanted to stand up and comfort her, but he didn't know if it was the right thing to do. Well, he had made room on the couch, now; he felt the conversation was too serious to break it with an invitation for a seat, but it was open if she wanted to take it.

"I wouldn't.." be like your brother. Ares thought it so loudly he was half-frantic he had spoken it, but his ears caught up to his brain and thankfully he hadn't. He believed it with all his might, but he wasn't going to say it, he was trying to forge forgiveness across the chasm of their siblings encounter, and that would not help circumstances at all. "Not ever, Mati." Despite his convictions not to go into the subject, he found the rest of the words just tumbling out regardless. "And I don't care what Princess and Haven say, I don't think what they did was right - for either of them." At least he was trying to be diplomatic? Princess and him had made up, but it was a sort of "well, I guess I don't really have any grounds to stop you" sort of concession on his part. He still didn't like her relationship one bit.

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She stood in the darkness, it swallowed her earthen tone, and only the soft slow of the lantern gave light to her stature and form. His lighter color stood against the dark of the couch, gold eyes the brightest accent in the room, brighter then the candles flame. She watched him, waiting for the answer of her question in the silence of the dark. None were awake, it seemed, besides the two. The night had been long, energized by the celebration and now most would seek the comfort of their beds after such festivity. Except them. The incident weighed so heavily on their minds that each could not find satisfaction in sleep. She couldn’t after seeing him among the pack. She had avoided the mere sight of him, and yet now the conflict needed resolution or she would never be able to sleep. It seemed to haunt him as well.

His words were received with mixed feelings. Mati could not deny that she enjoyed his company, and the feeling of some as simply as his eyes on hers made her want to merely be in his presence. Even now, with the tension that stood between them Mati would rather have that then the emptiness of her cold room. His voice was quiet, whispering through the fragility of the dim light. But then, she didn’t understand. Would he never have her any other way? Or their friendship? The questions were ones she had never asked before, and she was too scared to ask them. Instead silence ensued until he spoke again.

It was a relief to know that he felt as she did. Such a thing was not something to be given away, and never ever taken. Mati held it close, having been so close to loosing it against her will. Her mother’s rape, and her father’s insanity made her susceptible to such tragedies. She would protect herself at all costs. “I agree.” She spoke, whispering as well but with a stone-like tone. It wasn’t right, and she feared that both would suffer as a consequence, though she didn’t wish such a thing upon her brother. “Neither were thinking clearly.” She commented, moving the subject away from them. Mati was unsure what to tell him. Tell him that she thought of him often and even when she thought he found her something toss-able she still cared to know how he was? It was out of the question.

“I wouldn’t have believed it,” She spoke, not really knowing why she would be so honest. She had hated him, for saying those things, and yet every time she wondered if he would throw her away she knew he wouldn’t. “if you said you would.” She thought better of him, if he cared to know it.

346 words~



Mati's words honestly surprised him. It was one thing to believe the words he spoke. It was another thing entirely to have such strong faith in another wolf that you felt you knew them better than they knew themselves. It was unsettlingly personal, and it took him a moment to realize why. "I think you're the only person who would ever say something like that."

A wry smile showed his pearly teeth in the dim glow of the lamp. It was true, though. Tokyo would believe anything about her son if she thought it was negative in any way. Savina would probably believe it; Ares was the kid that hit her daughter, after all. Princess was really the only one who might fit into that category, but her morality was so.. flexible. Ares sort of felt like if he was able to justify any action as rational, as good, that she'd believe he'd have done it. And that was even taking this out of the specific situation. If Ares ever told her he'd done, or intended to do, basically what Haven had, he was sure he'd get giggles and an "I told you this was fun" sort of attitude.

His resolution to let Mati seat herself if she wanted to wavered and vanished in his itch to be closer to her. Ares gestured at the seat beside him. "You should sit down." Ugh, that was a stupid way to put it. "I mean, if you want to, or anything." He followed up, awake enough now for his voice to sound as flustered as he was feeling. Some of the tension seemed to have leaked out through some crack or another, or maybe it had all just been in his head in the first place. It really did help, to know that she thought him a good person. He didn't know why, because he wasn't always sure of that himself, but.. it was nice, none-the-less. To have someone believe in you. Princess didn't count; she was his sister, and she cared way less about being good and proper.

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Evil was something that he was so far from. Miles and miles. No, worlds and worlds. Evil was painted black and white, clear as day to those that knew what to look for. They smelled of it, and breathed it with every breath. It was spoken in their eyes, written by their claws on the flesh of those too innocent to seen the signs. Her arms were scriptures, and if one looked hard enough they could see so very clearly that she was far from perfect. It could be worse, she had often thought. She still had something to offer. And yet her fear was what she trusted most, it would keep her safe. Unlike her courage that would only bring her pain. But he was so far from it, and she didn’t know how the world couldn’t see it. Even in the dim light she saw that he was more then what some thought of him.

Mati didn’t know what to say to his words, surprised that he was surprised. Shocked that no one thought of him as she did. It wasn’t the nicest thing to say, it was deeper then a compliment and Mati suddenly realized her honesty. Still she didn’t say anything that would make a fool out of herself. No, she couldn’t say that she knew him that well, she could say that she had seen what evil truly was and that he was so far from it. He spoke again, and she saw that there was indeed a spot made for her on the couch. She smiled softly, and moved to sit beside him. He was handsome so close in the light of her lantern, dark in color and yet his eyes danced as if lit with their own candle flames.

“I wouldn’t call you names either.” She commented with the slightest bit of sarcasm in her tone, though she still whispered. Princess seemed to be the name caller. It amused Mati to think that she wasn’t more creative then, Buttface.