Vivian sighed contently, slipping her sweatshirt up and over her head. It messed up her hair, but she couldn't care less at the moment, snatching the camera from the pockets of her cargo pants. In it held the twelve, new, precious pictures she had taken earlier that day, all of the White Forest's wilderness. Vivian had hoped to spot one - or two.. or the whole pack - of the wolves her friend Mako had spoken about just two days earlier, but to her disappointment, none of them showed. She was glad, though, that she got to see the red and golden leaves, and smell the crispness in the air. It was worth the lack of wolves.
Her phone buzzed on the side table, right where she had left it before leaving for the forest, distracting her from her marveling. Viv reached for it, chuckling as the vibrations tickles the tips of her fingers, before she answered the call. The camera bounced onto her bed as she dropped it, burrowing deep within the covers upon impact.
"Hello?"
There was a quiet noise - a tune, something I knew very well from my sleep-overs at Mako's house. Futurama.
"Viv Beb! How was your camera-ing today?"
Vivian laughed, seating herself on the edge of her bed. Mako's voice echoed smoothly through the speaker, unknowingly soothing Vivian's loneliness as she wondered breifly where her mother was.
"It was good. I got a lot of nice shots," She chuckled, leaning back so she could lay fully horizontal, her feet lazily dangling above her hardwood floor. All thoughts of her absent mom softly receeded to the back of her mind.
"You sound excited. Anything happen today that I, being your best friend, should know about?:"
Mako snorted into the phone, breath huffing through the phone as her version of a mini-laugh, before replying, "Noah left this morning."
Vivian smiled at this. Noah, Mako's older brother, was always annoying her in some way, although he tried his hardest not to. She wished her friend would go easier on him, because he really was a sweet guy - Vivian was glad the death of the siblings' parents had not damaged him beyond repair.
"Is that so? Makes sense, then." She blinked up at the ceiling, trying to think up where the black-haired boy had gone to. Vivian was sure that Mako had told her sometime earlier in the week. "Another swim competition?"
"Yep," Mako chirped, and Vivian breathed a silent sigh of relief. "The whole team was charted off to Miami for a week, maybe longer. Free at last, baby! Free at last!"
Vivian snickered at her friend's dramatics. She switched the phone to her other ear, feeling the burn of her skin against the screen, and closed her eyes.
"This calls for a movie marathon at your place, Mako. I'll be over in thirty minutes. Get the popcorn and candy ready - I got the movies covered."
She was glad Mako didn't ask about her mom. Vivian wouldn't have known what to say - she couldn't even remember if her mom came home early today, tomorrow, or Friday.
...
Viv was feeling content as the ending credits for The Avengers rolled down Mako's Tv. Popcorn was scattered over her lap, crunched under Mako ( the girl had sprawled across her lap sometime during the middle ) and chips were dashed across the floor, but at least she didn't have M&M's stuck in her bra. They had had a food battle during Saw, to try and lighten the mood.
It only succeeded in making a mess, unfortunately. Mako still had to shove her face into Viv's shoulder for more than half of the movie, and Viv was no better.
"This was good," Mako said, yawning. "This was very good."
Viv nodded, letting her head loll back against the couch. The Dark Knight, Tangled, Saw, and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone lay in a sorry excuse for a stack, with the open case of their latest movie laying near Viv's feet. She smiled at the ceiling.
"We should do this more often. Break is only a month - every other day I'm coming over, until Noah gets back."
Mako grunted her agreement.
"I'm going to sleep. Right here, right now, on your lap."
"Go ahead," Viv responded, closing her eyes. Still, she smiled. "I won't stop you. But, I warn you, we'll both be sore in the morning."
There was a pause, before Mako slapped her shin with the back of her hand and complained, "That sounded too sexual."
They slept after that. Viv dreamed of wolves, their golden eyes staring back at her from the dark expanse of woods that loomed from behind both her own house and Mako's.
It was unsettling, even in dreams.
YOU ARE READING
Feral
Lupi mannari"He could not hold her hands, as he had ached to do for so long, because while his paws had become fingers, her fingers had become paws. He could not kiss her soft, pink lips, like he had dreamed, because when he traded his muzzle for human, she tr...
