Not All Men Are Wolves (Chapter 3)
Chapter 3: Home Away from Home
It was a 40 minute drive to Souhou, a place I've never even dreamed of traversing. If I could see that old fashioned town from my apartment, it would probably emit a black, ominous fog. The bright lights of Gaia would fear of being overshadowed by the depressing aura Souhou could exude. The raves would dim, the smiles would drop and the streets would be as bland as Holden, Massachusetts.
It was 2 o'clock in the afternoon and the preparations for the field trip were finally being initiated today. I was going to be stuck mailing envelopes and hanging posters all around Souhou with Tristan, raising awareness for the trip to Gaia. I wondered from my car to the front door if Tristan lived with anyone or how big the ranch-style house was on the inside. I knocked on the front door and a topless dragon was there to greet me with wet scales. Not the first time I've seen a male half naked within a month, but shocking nonetheless.
"D-did you just get out of the shower now?"
"Yeah," He said, rubbing a towel over his body. "I'm sorry, I overslept."
"Tristan, you look barely any better than when I saw you on Monday." The bags under his eyes were gone but he looked exhausted still. His shoulders were slouched, his posture unhealthy.
He cracked a smile and tried to tell me a joke. "Are you trying to tell me that I'm ugly?"
"Uh, no. I actually think quite the opposite." I'd usually restrain myself from saying something like that but I feel a compliment with some honesty would lift his spirits. He chuckled and showed some warmth in his face, not of a blush but maybe something representing relief. Then again, I don't even know if dragons blush. I don't know a damn thing about dragons and the only one I've ever met is right in front of me with some impressive features on his upper body. My scaly accomplice then went off to fetch a tank top and for a few minutes I was just taken aback by how different he looked today compared to our encounters prior. No suit, no collared shirt, no tie, just a guy relaxing like I would on a weekend. It was galling but kind of funny to see him so simple and humble.
After a cup of coffee and laying stacks of paper on the table, Tristan and I began our arduous task of copying addresses, licking stamps and pushing forms into envelopes. Souhou High had around 1,000 students and Tristan was allowed to invite any grade, so we had a lot of work cut out for us.
"Hey Tristan."
He peered up his head from the list, putting on his reading glasses. "Yes Leon?"
"Are you sure we won't get any crazy parents threatening to burn the house down for inviting to kids to a pride parade?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "No use being worried now."
"One more question."
"Shoot."
"Do you live alone here?"
"Yep." He sipped his coffee before throwing his arms into the air. "This is all mine. Though I used to have a roommate."
"Why not anymore?"
"She found herself a husband and moved out. Did you assume that I lived with my girlfriend or something? I don't have one so."
"I-I was just asking. No boyfriend either?"
Then Tristan just stared at me with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, so since I'm an advocator for gay rights, I'm automatically gay."
"No, no! That's not what I meant! I-I just didn't want to rule out the possibility that-"
"That what?" A smirk came upon his face. He was toying with me, regardless a surge of heat shot through my face. Hopefully black fur can cover that.
"Well you shouldn't assume someone's sexuality until you get to know them, that's all..." Here's a fun fact: I have a bad habit of scratching my neck when I'm nervous. Now I'm just piercing the back of my neck with my claws.
After glaring at me for what felt like minutes, Tristan laughed and patted me on the shoulder. "Come on wolfy, get back to the letters."
After hitting the 700 letter mark, Tristan declared break time and proceeded to the kitchen.
"What do you want for dinner?" He asked, shuffling through his partially empty shelves. "How does spaghetti sound?"
"Sounds great, let me help you." I was about to grab a strainer before Tristan seized my hand and shook his head back and forth.
"No, no. You're the guest, I'll make dinner. Plus you've made me dinner several times by now."
"But that was at a diner." It's not like I did it out of pure kindness, he was a customer.
"You're saying that like you don't like serving me." That snarky smile was back on his face again.
"I was doing my job. I just happened to enjoy serving a nice customer."
Tristan smiled and took the strainer out of my hand. "Well I'm glad that I wasn't a pain. Just sit on the couch, watch some T.V. I'll call you when it's ready."
I reluctantly nodded and walked into the living room. A large TV stood on an old wooden stand, surrounded by two bookcases: one full of books and the other was filled with music CDs. My mind wandered to the CDs and to my surprise, this dragon sure does like bouncing all over the musical spectrum. Everything from synthpop to death metal, eclectic doesn't even define how varied his tastes are. On one shelf you have fun dance music and the next you have depressing and morbid metal music that would scare the hell out of most Souhou residents. Hell, this stuff would scare my ex-boyfriends because most of them just liked the pretty stuff all the time. With my dark attire and lack of iridescent colors, I guess I can understand why dating was so infrequent for me. Apparently I need to put a sign saying "I like dicks" to get anyone to notice, even in a town that kind of has the rainbow all over its townsfolk.
To surprise Tristan, I decided to put in one of the death metal CDs. Considering his surroundings, maybe he doesn't even get to bring these out very often. Today's choice for what I would like to consider a date is Quicksand Symmetry by Disarmonia Mundi. Turned the volume up to 30/100 and waited 10 seconds before Tristan peaked his head around the kitchen door. Another smile came upon his face; he raised his thumb up into the air before returning to the spaghetti. I felt a warm sensation come over face and an expansion in my chest, that smile seemed so comforting and genuine. This was the first time I've seen Tristan act so calm and collected.
We got a lot of work done today and he looked like he was going to collapse when we were only half way done but he never complained and patiently went through every single meticulous step. 700 letters done with 300 more to go and we haven't even mailed these invitations yet. Looking back at the work table, it was truly a mess. Half of the finished letters were on the table while the other half was on the floor, divided into many little piles. Coffee rings and white paper with Excel spredsheets littered the open areas, leaving barely enough room for a certain pair of rectangular glasses. I imagined the two of us sitting at that table, both wearing our glasses and grading homework, sipping coffee and listening to music. My thoughts trailed off to different lands when my projection of myself said something to the imaginary Tristan, resulting in a kiss. That warm feeling was pulsing through me again at the thought.
"Leon?" Tristan waved his hand in front of my face. I almost jumped at his presence, not realizing how deep I was in my daydreaming. "Are you not hungry? Are you sick?" He grasped my shoulder and looked in my eyes. My body tensed up and my hand almost gripped onto his shirt for some kind of stability. I shook my head violently and feigned having a headache. He offered to give me medicine but I just said I was dehydrated and let dinner proceed without further incident. Tristan's dinner was delicious and I let him know, but perhaps I was heavy with the compliments because he seemed to grow tired of them, either that or he was red in the face from all of my praise. I choose to believe the second because it's not like he was rude in saying I should stop flattering him.
300 letters later and the clock read 9:30 p.m. Tristan's glasses were falling off of his face and he was supporting his head with his elbow on the table, his palm on his cheek.
"Let's call it a night." I said. "You need to rest"
"I know, I know." He replied, rubbing his eyes. "I just need to..."
"Mr. Amana." I stood up from the table and crossed my arms at him. He doesn't need to do anything else, he needs his mattress.
"Leon, I'm fine."
"Tristan, you're a corpse."
"Well aren't you lively with the snarky comments." He chuckled. "Alright, fine."
"Sleep well." I said. "I suppose I'll see you tomorrow."
A strange look came upon his face before he said. "You don't want to sleep over?"
I struggled to find my words after that suggestion. Is this really ok? It'll be hard to control my daydreaming with this. But is turning him down going to hurt his feelings?
"You don't mind having me around for the night?"
"Of course not." He beckoned me over to his bedroom: a small room with a bookcase with even more CDs and books and a computer desk. He pulled out a cot from under his bed and laid it on the other side of the room. I nodded and laid on the makeshift bed and bid goodnight to Tristan. He closed his eyes with a smile on his face.
When I finally decided to close my own, his seemed to open because his next words were "Well something seems to have made you happier than I am."
Thankful for the darkness of the room, I hoped to whatever may roam the clouds and above to let my stupid expression be concealed. "There's enough room for two up here. Only if you want to though."
I am not hearing this. This is not happening. I am not hearing this. This is not happening.
Pretend to be asleep. Pretend to be asleep.
The dragon gave a small laugh before turning over on his side. My hand almost wanted to reach over but all I gave was a sigh, to which he rolled over back to facing me. "So you are awake. You didn't answer my question." I swear, if I could see him, he would probably have a smile on his face, wanting to toy with me. Was he being serious or was he just joking around since I brought up the possibility of him being gay?
I made a yawning noise and tried to ignore my embarrassment. "What are you going on about? Can't a wolf catch some zs?"
"Is Big Bad Wolf too good to share a bed with a dragon?" A slight tone of aggression covered that statement but it still sounded playful overall.
"Oh, so you're basically inviting me into your bed? How impulsive."
He sat up from his bed and pulled me up by the wrist. Surprised, I made a strange noise as he stood me up in front of him. His charming laugh came again as he pet the fur on top of my head. "Guess you were just acting tough. Sorry if it I was teasing you too much."
"So that offer was false, like I thought it was." I sounded more depressed than I needed to be but Tristan held my chin up with his calloused fingers.
"No, I was actually serious. I don't mind having someone to cuddle with after a long day."
I nodded my head and he pulled me into his arms as we laid on top of his bed. My head rested on his chest while he combed his fingers through the fur on my head. I tried to regulate my breathing with his but he seemed to be doing the same and we ended up out of sync many times.
"I...wasn't expecting this..." I softly said as I spoke into his chest.
"For me to return your feelings?" He replied, stopping his fingers in my fur.
"You knew?"
"I could tell, and Germaine was trying to set me up with you. Apparently I set off her gaydar."
"Hehe, you weren't that obvious for me." Damnit, Germaine. Thank you though.
He chuckled. "Well I couldn't get your hopes up before I decided to make you mine."
"Make me yours?"
His voice lowered. Maybe he's the one blushing for once. "Is it ok if call you mine?"
"Yes, please do."