fate unfolding in the palm of your hand °sam uley°

Chapter 14

At long goddamn last, the jeans finally arrived. So now Itoro was very awkwardly trying to strategically throw jeans onto their side to hide in somewhat good spots so that hikers wouldn't notice. It was going as shit as it could, especially with Emmett laughing at her the entire time.

"I'm being considerate," Itoro said, a half-hearted glare thrown his way. "You could at least help," they said, gesturing at the jeans they were still trying to chuck over to the shifters' side.

Emmett snorted but he obliged. "You know, we're supposed to be hunting."

"And we will, once we've done this."

"Won't they think it's charity?" Emmett asked. "People hate asking for help."

Itoro scoffed. "Yeah, but I'm pretty fucking stubborn and their parents won't have to spend shitloads of money for the clothes they do end up tearing," she said, pointing a finger at her coven mate. "Plus, y'know, it could be a way to apologise for intruding on their land and forcing the shifter gene to activate or whatever,"

Emmett made a noise in his throat. "How much do you know? About the shifters?"

Itoro shrugged a shoulder. "Enough for a vamp," they said, not entirely sure what was and wasn't OK to talk about. They were secrets and the shifters had every right to be secretive, so Itoro wasn't going to go spilling their secrets to Emmett of all people. God above love the guy, but his thoughts were pretty clear on his face that Itoro didn't have to be a mind-reader to know what he was thinking at any given moment.

"More than me then," Emmett said, and threw some shorts across the treaty line. It got stuck on a tree branch. "At least it's visible,"

"We were chuckin' 'em over to places where they could find it and not some rando hiker. You are by far the most infuriating tosser I've ever met,"

Emmett cackled. "I love it when you go English with your insults," he said, smiling happily as he threw another pair of jeans up into the trees. "It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside."

Itoro sometimes wondered what the fuck went on in Emmett's head. It was probably better not to ask, and better to not ask Edward. "You need to get help."

"I have you," he said, and then trapped Itoro in a hug before they could try and escape. She shut her eyes and let him squeeze them and shake them until he got his weird hug fix. "My pookie bear,"

"I'mma be like the bear that killed you and tear you to pieces,"

Emmett smiled. "I love you too, Toto." He planted a kiss on Itoro's cheek and let them go. They wiped at their face, grimacing a little. He just continued to smile at them like the big ol' lug he was. At least he wasn't super annoying.

"There's a lot to hate about you, Em. But I guess your hugs are perfectly fine." Itoro frowned. "I'm Alice's pookie bear by the way, she called dibs."

Emmett frowned. "So what's Jasper?"

"Her snuggly bear."

Emmett cackled like a maniac. "C'mon, I'm hungry, we've got food to catch."

They threw the rest of the jeans across the borderline before they both vanished, running off to find an asshole mountain lion to fight.

Emmett ended up getting a bear, which was pretty much standard for him. Itoro took down an old elk; she had a habit of going for the animals that looked like they were on their last legs. It felt more like a mercy kill than going for a younger animal.

Itoro wiped at their mouth, licking the blood off their fingers. Emmett pulled off his vest top that ended up stained with bear blood. He absently wiped it on the back of his neck, like he was trying to get rid of sweat that didn't exist. They both silently cleaned up in a small riverbed, getting the dried blood off their faces.