Indomitable Ferity

Brian x Tim [How to Drive]

For context, Brian has shaved his beard and mustache, cut his hair, and started using his voice regularly by this point.

🎉🎉🎉

"Are you ready?" Tim asked as he parked the car.

"As ready as I can be," Brian replied, flashing Tim a nervous smile that revealed his fangs.

"We'll take it slow," Tim promised as he unbuckled his seatbelt, Brian following. The two exchanged seats; with Brian in the driver's seat, he began to feel even more overwhelmed.

"Take your time," Tim reassured him, noticing the man's reluctance. "The car's not on. You can push the pedals, turn the wheel, get comfortable." As Brian slid his hands gently over the steering wheel, Tim realized how much his friend had changed.

It had been difficult but somehow Tim and Jay had managed to get Brian back. In time, the dark presence pulling at Brian's mind had relented and his happy personality had returned, but he was different. The Operator's influence had been strong, changing him physically and psychologically. Though he had gained his personality back, he was less confident and more dependent. Tim didn't mind the dependence but it was obvious that Brian did.

Brian also had a different feeling to him; Tim was hesitant to label the feeling as "feral" because Brian was most definitely not feral, but still. More than once Jay had found him crouched down in the backyard, staring off into the trees with a distraught look on his face. When asked what was wrong, Brian could never say. In his rare moments of anger, Brian would growl low in his throat, the sound more than threatening. And then there were times when Tim and Brian would simply be doing something such as watching television or making dinner and Brian would stare off into space. When Tim asked what he was doing, Brian would mumble, "Listening," then shush him. Of course, Tim couldn't hear anything, but Brian could.

Physically, not much had changed, but the changes were obvious nonetheless. Brian's canine's had fully turned into sharp fangs, smothering what little confidence he still had. The other change was his fingernails. The nails had turned pitch black and were long, filed into sharp points at the end. Brian had tried several times to cut them but within an hour, they were back to their points. Eventually, Brian had relented and settled for painting them black to hide the ugly discolouration.

"Okay, I think I'm ready," Brian finally said.

"You remember the list?" Tim asked and Brian nodded, going over the list out loud as he made the proper adjustments.

"Mirrors. Seat. Seatbelt..." Glancing up at the overcast sky, he added, "Headlights." Drawing in a deep breath, Brian slowly turned the key in the ignition. As the engine came alive, he turned off the radio. His long fingers wrapped around the wheel, nails digging into his palms, making his hands ache.

"Relax," Tim gently reminded, setting a hand over Brian's right one. His hands released their death grip and instead tentatively gripped the wheel.

Nearly three quarters of the large parking lot was empty, providing Brian with the adequate room to practice without fear of hitting someone. Several small stores stretched in a right angle to the right, a few cars parked at the end of the lot. The main shopping center had gone out of business years earlier, leaving plenty of space to drive.

Putting the car in drive, Brian slowly applied pressure to the gas pedal. When nothing happened, he pressed a little harder and the car shot forward. A look of panic appeared on Brian's face as his foot left the pedal and his hands left the wheel. The car rolled forward before Brian stomped on the brake, both men being pitched forward and Tim hitting his head on the lowered visor.

"I can't do this. This was a bad idea." Brian reached for his seatbelt and Tim grabbed his hand with both of his own.

"Hey. You're doing fine. It's just a rocky start. Take a deep breath." Brian did as instructed. "Good. Ya know, I was nineteen when I learned how to drive."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I spent most of my childhood in the hospital and that doesn't leave much time for learning to drive. The first time I ever drove, I ran over a possum."

Brian chuckled, gracing Tim with another brief look at his sharp teeth. Tim couldn't help but smile too.

"I promise you're doing alright. If you wanna stop, we can. But you're doing fine. Just keep your hands on the wheel, alright?"

Brian nodded and returned his hands to the steering wheel. With a deep inhale, he slowly applied pressure to the gas pedal, waiting until the car slowly reacted before adding anymore pressure. This time, the vehicle slowly rolled forward at a comfortable pace. Directing the car, Brian drove down the abandoned aisles between empty parking spaces, slowly picking up speed. When he appeared to be comfortable with driving around the parking lot, Tim suggested something.

"You can drive around back of the building if you'd like. It might be a narrower space but there'll still be room if you wanna try it." Brian absentmindedly nodded and slowly eased the car to the edge of the lot, turning right and driving past the broken gate of what was once the store's garden center. Around back, the building appeared to be just as abandoned. An old green dumpster sat against the back wall and farther down, a car was parked behind one of the stores that was still in business. The space was smaller but Brian experienced no difficulty making his way around the building and back to the front.

"Alright, how about parking?" Tim suggested.

At the empty section of the lot, Brian slowly pulled into one of the spaces, hitting the brakes a little harder than necessary. Shifting the car into park, Brian got out and walked around the car. The vehicle was perfectly parked inside the three white lines of the parking space.

As Tim got out of the car, Brian was practically bouncing in place. "I drove! I did it!" He reminded Tim of a child who had accomplished something they never thought they'd be able to.

Turning to Tim, Brian wrapped him in a tight hug. Without restraint, his nails sliced through Tim's jacket, creating ten long gashes in the fabric. Brian immediately tore away from the embrace and began apologizing but Tim was quick to shush him.

"It's just a jacket, don't worry about it."

A shy smile appeared on Brian's face. "Thank you." The two leaned in and shared a gentle kiss, Tim's hands holding Brian's hips.

When the two pulled back, Tim said, "Let's go home. I'm sure Jay would like to know that you didn't crash and kill us both." Brian rolled his eyes before climbing into the passenger's seat, a smile plastered to his face.