A Soft Place to land

13

Under the dim light of the overhead Motel sign and with the addition of the pouring rain, Wolf couldn't make out much of Gray's appearance- with the exception of a very obvious bloody mouth and piercing magenta eyes shooting straight at him. Gray stared him down, sharp and almost animalistic, as if he'd wronged him by just existing, a look that he hasn't seen in awhile.

Wolf was almost flattered with how much staring was going down between the two of them- but, not to distract himself from the problem at hand. Because of the fact that he somehow managed to bump into Gray this early, not even a day after their first encounter, he now had to deal with whether or not he wanted to stay or make a run for it.

Taking a closer look at him, using only the flickering motel lights as a guide, Wolf noticed that Gray's thin build underneath his raggedy oversized hoodie was (quite literally) vibrating.

He was shaking.

That seemed pretty bad.

At first, Wolf speculated that it was just the rain obstructing his vision, but after a couple of awkward seconds of trying squinting through his drenched glasses, he concluded that Gray was actually shaking. Which was pretty concerning, considering that Gray felt like bones instead of a human being when he crashed into him earlier.

The chance that Gray just couldn't hold up very well soaked to the bone, was pretty much an undeniable fact at this point. And since Wolf wasn't a monster (or at least wasn't trying to be), he was almost considering helping him out or at least buying him an umbrella that would probably break after one use.

His empathetic side couldn't bear with leaving him on his own like this, prone to sickness and such- as cheesy as it sounded.

Surprise, surprise, the infamous Wolf Keum actually has a heart.

But, don't get it wrong. Wolf didn't care about Gray's existence whatsoever. They meant absolutely nothing to each other- the two of them were complete strangers. Plus, Wolf had no interest in delving into Gray's personal life; already predicting that he'd only get dragged along into whatever mess Gray was in- which would ultimately only be a burden.

He didn't want anything to do with that. But from one human being to another, he had at least enough empathy left in his dried-out brain to acknowledge that Gray was in a tough situation. Just- a tough situation that Wolf didn't want any part of.

Gray, who was staring at him for quite awhile, finally broke eye contact- his head frantically whipping to the side. He looked afraid, and if not afraid, then just extremely agitated; which prompted Wolf to take a look as well. Which was, of course, a mistake.

At this point Wolf believed that everything involving Gray were straight up mistakes, that, and the fact that the gods decided that today would be a good day for him to get lost in the middle of the night- was a definite big mistake.

There was a man not very far from them, he was just about a walking distance away, barely visible, yet visibly angry. The puddles of water in the street splashed as he approached them with heavy feet- yet Wolf simply stood there watching him, unable to react on whether he should escape or not. And so, he remained hesitant and uncertain, unsure of what to do next. He couldn't fight, he wasn't allowed to, he just doesn't do that anymore.

His inner conflict intensified as the man just kept getting closer and closer -

So what should he do? Run? Call for help?

He glanced back at Gray who was still shaking on the ground. He seemed to be contemplating on his next move as well- except in a more frantic manner, still shaking like his life depended on it.

The man, who Wolf could see more clearly now was nearing them at a speed that was deceptively fast, with a belt wrapped around his knuckle. Visibly bloody, bruised, and (for some reason) shirtless.

"You fuckin' bitch!" He yelled, his voice echoing through the street.

That's when Wolf- for the first time in nine years- saw red.