Adventures of an Awkward Wolf Boi

Chapter 2: This is.... not what Alaric expected.

[I am so sorry I haven't updated this lately!! I know barely anyone has read it, {probably no-one likes it either...} but I still feel really bad! School's been terrible and I've been dealing with a lot of... personal issues too... But here's the next part! I don't know how long it'll be, but I'll try and get plenty done. Okay, enough blabbering, let's move on to the story, shall we?]

Alaric finally put the last thing, his leather-bound journal, into his suitcase. He sighed in relief, and looked around at what had been his home for the past three years. He thought he was almost going to miss the sound of the creaking abandoned building, the "drip... drip..." of the old, long-busted pipes, and the roaring of motorcycles out front.

Then he realized... He had no idea how he was going to get to this new place! "Why didn't I ask Criss-Cross?" he thought as he paced the floor, fiddling with his jacket strings and panicking.

He heard a car pull up. One of it's door opened and slammed. He was frozen to the spot, unable to run. Then...

...a small, female deertaur came clipping neatly into the room. She had soft, brown hair that matched her pelt twisted up into a pretty hair-do decorated with a pretty hairstick. Her upper, human half was draped in light, pink floral fabric that contrasted nicely with her large, blue, lash rimmed eyes. She smiled brightly at Alaric and queried in a polite tone, "Would you happen to be Mr. Alaric Lionheart?"

Alaric shifted nervously, and replied, stuttering, "U-um, yes. W-why?"

The girl skipped over cheerfully on her little cloven hooves and picked up his smaller rugbag, chittering, "I've been sent to bring you to your new home! The Von Teufel Schloss!"

Alaric was startled. He had learned German from his grandmother when he was a child, and was alarmed when he translated what she had just said to "The Royal Devil Family Castle". "C-castle?!" The flyer said nothing about this!

But then Alaric realized that the deertaur had just flitted out of the room with his bag."H-hey! Wait up!" And grabbed his suitcase and guitar to run after her.

He found her outside putting his bag in the trunk of a fancy black 2018 Porsche 911. Who are these people? He thought. Then he noticed that she was talking to a black and blue haired neko who was leaning on the side of the car, dressed in a leather jacket, black jeans, and a t-shirt with the name of band on it.

The neko noticed him first. He pushed himself up and walked over to Alaric. "Hello. My name's Caspian Sawdowcla. I'm another one of the people you'll be living with." As Caspian said this, he stuck his hand out for a hand-shake, and grinned, revealing sharp cat's teeth.

"H-hello." Alaric stuttered. "M-my name's Alaric." He took the neko's hand firmly, and shook it.

The neko seemed pleased. "Give that handshake to Damon, and you should be just fine. Damon likes people with a firm handshake. Says it's the sign of a fine, determined person. And you have good manners as well. I think you'll fit in pretty well!"

The girl had come over at this point and said, "And my name's Fawn Cloverpuf! Sorry for leaving you in the dust earlier. I just can't wait to show you around the castle!" Then she turned towards Caspian and tugged on his sleeve. "Come on! Let's go! But I want to stop at Starbucks on the way!"

Caspian chuckled, and replied, "Hold your kelpies, Fawn! We still need to put the rest of his stuff in the trunk!" Then he took Alaric's luggage, and put it away quickly, while Fawn bounced all over the sidewalk.

How old is Fawn? She acts a little young. Alaric wondered. Then decided to ask them both. "How old are you guys?"

Caspian straightened and shut the trunk before replying. "I'm 22, and Fawn here is 21."

Fawn looked at Alaric and said, out of context, "I think you'll fit right into the family!"

Alaric was startled by the repeated term. "F-family?"

Caspian chuckled. "Get in the car. I'll explain on the way home." Then Caspian strode to the front of the car and got in the driver's seat.

"You have to sit in the front, Alaric." Fawn said. "I take up the entire back seat."

"Ok." Alaric still went over and opened the door for Fawn.

"Ooh!" She giggled, getting in. "You do have nice manners!"

Alaric blushed as he got into the front seat. The interior of the car was leather and smelled like the cologne he whiffed on Caspian.

Caspian pulled smoothly away from what had been Alaric's home, and drove towards downtown.

Alaric was silent for a bit then asked nervously, "What exactly do you mean by "family"?"

Caspian and Fawn laughed. "It's a bit of a joke really. But also kinda true in a way." Fawn explained while Caspian took a sharp turn to head for a Starbucks. "Everyone who lives in castle kinda feels like family. We tease each other, relax together, eat together. (I can't wait until you taste Rhett's maultaschen. It's amazing!) We shop together, work together, and even when we're fighting over something of relative importance, we pick sides and have a house debate. " 

Caspian pulled into a Starbucks parking lot. "Come on." he said, unbuckling and getting out. "We'll grab some coffee for the rest of the crew too." 

Alaric got out and looked up at the sky, surprised that it was still just barely morning. 'These are definitely going to be an interesting few weeks' he thought, following Fawn and Caspian into the shop.