What The Night Holds (caleb!!!)

[ayden]

For two years she had been roaming without knowing anything about herself. All she knew was what fairytales and folk lore told her. But she wanted to know more. Ayden Marie Grey wanted to find the man who originally changed her and put her under this curse. No, this was no curse, this was a gift. A gift from the moon. She had the amazing ability to change into a wolf. To shirt into a creature with such power and grace. When she changed, it was almost as if she would fly through the air as she took to the landscape. The night was her playground as she was a majestic animal roaming the world. She missed her home of Paris, the wide country sides, but America was being good to her, so far.

Ayden had found solace in the woods of a place completely unfamiliar to her. But it made it so that she could connect with her new self, the wolf self. Ayden ran free and alone….or so she thought. Stopping in her tracks, her paws sinking into the wet ground, Ayden listened to the world around her. It had rained the night before and Ayden had waited for the sky to clear up to change and run. But now, she felt a presence with her. And she couldn’t tell if it was animal or human. How strange, her mind asked the open world. Something in the back of her mind said she should change but her clothes were…right over by that tree. Well, guess she ran in a circle then.

Ayden changed back into her human for, her naked skin glowing in the moonlight. She gracefully put on the white tank she had stripped off before she changed and slid into the miniskirt she was wearing before. Looking into the darkness of the trees, Ayden’s brow scrunched together as she tried to see the shape of whoever was with her. “Hello!?” She called out to the darkness, hoping that her instincts were right, that whoever out there was safe. But her instincts had been wrong before…

[caleb]

Stretched out over the front of his cab, the driver yawned and stretched languidly, seemingly without a care in the world as he finished the last swig of coke, keeping in mind that he was still trying to cut down his level of alcohol intake. See? He could too be a good boy.

"Oh I get no kick from champagne..."
He sang into the can before crushing it in his hand and getting a good kick out of it, to be lost somewhere in the grass below. Global warming and pollution be damned ,they were all going to die anyway.

Running a hand through half-shaved dirty blond spikes, he heaved a sigh and looked up into sky, absently wondering if there really was such a thing as a so-called heaven at all. It was all they ever talked about when he had lived in the church, and it was what so many men tried to reach for so that they'd have it good in the after-life. All shite in Caleb's opinion of course; people too busy trying to reach Nirvana while everyone else rotted away.

“Hello!?”

Oh hark, he hears a voice!
And a scent.
All signs pointed to a female of the non-human category and wasn't that just a fine kettle of fish for the lone wolf and his cab. Turning onto his front he crawled his way to the hood of the vehicle, elbows resting on the top and hands cupping his stubbled chin.

"The God of the Wood ain't here right now, but if you like, I could take a message for you." He grinned at the pair of eyes that watching him ,winking playfully.

[ayden]

Ayden heard a sarcastic reply to her question and couldn’t help but laugh. She ran towards the sound, only to see the body of a man on the top of a…taxi cab? Popping out her hip, Ayden crossed her arms over her body and scrunched her eyebrows together as she took in the sight. Well, this man’s smell told her he was one of her kind, a werewolf, but something was familiar about it. That’s when it hit her. He was in the pack she was in, Patrick’s pack. But what was his name…

”Nah that’s ok, but something about you…” Ayden tapped her finger on her chin a few times, taking the boy in up and down. He was handsome, that was for sure, but he seemed to have an air about him that said arrogance, but not in a bad way.

”You’re…Caleb, right? From Patrick’s pack?” Ayden asked, walking closer to where he was on the hood of the cab. ”My name is Ayden, from that pack as well, though it’s hard to remember so many faces and so many new members coming in. Though I think I would have remembered you…” Ayden walked over to the cab and rubbed her hand on the hood. ”Ming if I sit?” She asked coyly.

[caleb]

”Nah that’s ok, but something about you…”

Caleb laughed softly, waggling his eyebrows.
"What is it, my dashing looks? My charm? My fancy ride?"
He was teasing of course, hamming it all up for the young lady's benefit just to get a giggle out of her. She seemed tense before, and she looked like she could use a little relaxing. And what better way to lighten up than with a chuckle?

”You’re…Caleb, right? From Patrick’s pack?”

Said werewolf tipped an imaginary hat and grinned broadly.
"Get the lady a kewpie doll folks, she got it in one," he winked, " I'd offer you something more but I be a poor boy."
She was pretty, with long hair and smelling of the forest, Caleb remembered having seen her around the pack before. But what with him being a busy guy he just never had much time to hand out name cards... If he had any to give.

”My name is Ayden, from that pack as well, though it’s hard to remember so many faces and so many new members coming in. Though I think I would have remembered you… Mind if I sit?”

Sitting up a little from his current position he nodded and patted the hood.
"Hop on up on ol'Bessie here lass, and I don't suppose you need assistance too?"
Being a werewolf meant lightning sharp reflexes and stronger limbs, so as not to look like he was patronising her, he didn't grab her hand right away to hoist her up. But neither did he want her thinking that he didn't give a shite, so he offered a helping hand.

[ayden]

”ol’Bessie, huh? Did you really name your car that?” Ayden said, a laugh in her voice as she pushed herself up onto the hood. She saw him offer some help but she didn’t need it. She was a werewolf and had strength that made hopping on a car hood like sitting on a bed. Ayden leaned back on her elbows once she was comfortable and looked up at the open sky.

Ayden remember what they were talking about before her getting onto the car and smiled. ”Don’t worry, I don’t need anything.” She said laughing. Ayden looked over at the werewolf next to her and smiled genuinely. ”So tell me about you, Caleb. What brings you here with your…cab” She motioned to the car the were currently sitting on.

Sighing, Ayden shifted so she was leaning on only one elbow and facing Caleb a bit better. ”I mean, it’s an interesting sight to see a cab out here at this time of night. And to have a werewolf being the driver,” She laughed a bit, to lighten the air.

[caleb]

”ol’Bessie, huh? Did you really name your car that?”

A shrug and a grin was his immediate answer, shifting over to the side to give her some room.
"Well I woulda named her Jemima but she'd end up sounding a bit like a duck now aye?" he laughed and rolled on to his side, leaning on an elbow, "She's more ,sturdy than a Kimberly, faster than a plain Jane... But she sure ain't no Roxanne hmn?"

Yup, big, sturdy and steadfast; Bessie.
Caleb may have been flippant about many things, but when it came to his cars, it was true love. While he wouldn't make a fuss about trekking muddy shoes in, he made darn well sure that he was familiarized with every single part before he got behind the wheel. Almost becoming so intuned with the vehicle that it was like running down the road on his own two feet.

”So tell me about you, Caleb. What brings you here with your…cab”

"Hmn?"
Tugging a crumpled packet from his shirt pocket, the young lycan rolled onto his front and flicked out his lighter. A few clicks later and the glowing ember burned bright, bringing a glow to his face as he took the first drag with a contented murmur.
"Y'mean what business do I have bein here?"

”I mean, it’s an interesting sight to see a cab out here at this time of night. And to have a werewolf being the driver,”

Smoke exhaled from his lips, Caleb grinned at Ayden through the light curtain of haze, head hanging slightly in between his shoulders in typically lazy manner.
"Y'got half of your answer in your question right there darling."
He creates patterns in the air with the cigarette smoke trail, gesturing to himself and the surroundings.
"Me Werewolf, this be woods... Werewolf likes woods. That old bag y'know."

As simple and mundane as that had sounded, it was the truth.
No matter how much Caleb loved the smell of burning rubber and car oil, the scent of the woods was the most soothing. The sounds of nature in movement, life and death and rebirth in a constant undisturbed cycle, one of the best melodies to his ever sensitive ears.

"As for why I'm driving her, I do need something legal to keep me in ciggies yeh?"

Another long drag and he cocked his head at her, brow raised slightly.

"Could ask ya the same thing lovely. What's Red riding hood doing out here all by her lonesome eh? Doubt it's t'visit grandma."

[ayden]

Ayden watched as Caleb took a cigarette from a pack and lit it. She watched the smoke trail from his lips and rolled her eyes. Holding out her hand, she raised an eyebrow to him, hoping he would get the picture. ”Are you going to offer me one? Or do I have to beg like a little puppy?” Ayden asked, looking to Caleb. Yeah, she smoked, it was mostly because of her mother. She began to smoke and Ayden got used to the smell so much, well, she decided to try it herself.

Ayden listened to Caleb describe why he was out it. His reason was simple but she got it. Why she was out here? Well, that wasn’t such a simple answer. She had been running…in wolf form in the forest. It was something she did when she was stressed or just need to go. She didn’t need to travel far, it just relaxed her. She didn’t need to think, or any of that stupid stuff, she just ran.

”It’s nice here. And I ain’t no little red riding hood. At least, tonight I was the big bad wolf.” Ayden said, her voice laced with another meaning. ”I was running, as myself, my true form, wolf. It’s relaxing, my escape. It’s what I normally do in Paris, especially before I was taken into the pack. You see, I had to get away from my newly screwed-up mom, so I would run to do so. I thought it would help me now, and it did. I am…very relaxed now.”

[caleb]

”Are you going to offer me one? Or do I have to beg like a little puppy?”

"You gonna do it if I asked ya to lass?" he teased with a leer, but handed her the packet and lighter none the less, "Nah, I ain't the kind who likes t'make a chit beg... for the wrong reasons of course."
Trademark wink and he continued to puff.

Caleb chanced another glance at her, noting her almost flawless features and fit body (what kind of man wouldn't notice these things?). Really now, such a pretty young thing like her shouldn't be smoking. But he wasn't going to deny her a nicotine stick, not when he himself was going at it like a steam engine.

”It’s nice here. And I ain’t no little red riding hood. At least, tonight I was the big bad wolf.”

Quirk of an eyebrow and he tapped the end of the cigarette off the side of the car, "Y'don't say? Never quite figured ya for the huffin'n'puffin and blowing down houses type."
The wolf was teasing of course, but she looked more like the ferocious Tiger-lily, just waiting for the right moment to strike while others underestimated her with her sweet smile and long lashes.

"I was running, as myself, my true form, wolf. It’s relaxing, my escape. It’s what I normally do in Paris, especially before I was taken into the pack. You see, I had to get away from my newly screwed-up mom, so I would run to do so. I thought it would help me now, and it did. I am…very relaxed now.”

"Ah."
A nod and another long drag ,then he rolled onto his back to blow smoke skywards, letting his hand dangle off the cab hood.
"So, y'like to run eh? Can't blame ya, works of the steam and all that shite... But for you, ya sound more like you're runnin away from something rather than just, runnin."
Truth be told, Caleb didn't think himself the most compassionate critter on the block, and preferred to stay out of the business of others when it suited him. But Ayden was pack, and out here in the middle of nowhere while sharing cigarettes, it seemed the appropriate thing to do.

[ayden]

Ayden took the package of cigarettes from Caleb and took out one of the cancer sticks and stuck it in her mouth. While lighting, Ayden inhaled deep. When her and her old friends used to smoke, they always told her how strong she inhaled, though she only did what seemed to come naturally.

When Caleb spoke of her huffing and puffing, Ayden blew out a long stream of smoke from her mouth before she tried to speak. ”I have trick up my sleeves. See these eyes? The better to watch you with…” Ayden winked but then took another rlong drag of the cigarette.

” But for you, ya sound more like you're runnin away from something rather than just, runnin."

Yeah, she was running away, from her past. It seemed as if since her old life was still alive, it was chasing her away from this new life. This better one. Full of people who cared for her and loved her. She had a pack, a family, not a broken home anymore. And Ayden couldn’t be anymore grateful.

”I wouldn’t say running away, more like being chased. My past isn’t dead yet and until I can be free of it, it’s going to chase me to every corner it can find.” Ayden breathed out a long puff of smoke and leaned her head back. Tilting, Ayden looked to Caleb and smiled sweetly. ”So what are you up to tonight other than mosy-ing around here?”

[caleb]

”I have trick up my sleeves. See these eyes? The better to watch you with…”

Caleb tilted his head back to laugh and blow more smoke in the air, streams of it just flowing from two pairs of lips to put clouds in the sky.
"Bet I don't wanna know what the teeth are for then eh?"
Another chuckle and he lets his head loll back to just rest against the cool, reassuring metal of his cab. There was just something so steadfast about a well driven cab, and she could get him out of jams just as quickly as he could get into one... The perfect relationship.

”I wouldn’t say running away, more like being chased. My past isn’t dead yet and until I can be free of it, it’s going to chase me to every corner it can find.”

"Aye, can sympathise with that I can," he half-murmured, staring up into infinite dark with an aimless gaze, "M'sure it'll all work out for ya in the end, never known a she-wolf who didn't fight to the death."
And he didn't need to make any references either, just by looking at the women in his pack was enough to get anyone scrambling for the exit with their tails tucked between their legs.

”So what are you up to tonight other than mosy-ing around here?”

Turning his head to look over at that smile, he narrowed his eyes playfully and stuck his cigarette in the corner of his lips. Shoving himself up on an elbow and leaning close to Ayden, he looked left and right and gave a conspiratorial grin.
"Well," he said softly, "If ya really must know Red..."

He pulled back and spread his arms wide.
"Absolutely nothin!"