Valencia creating mischief & 'moon'ories

Foxlin relished in the warmth of Sirius beside him, the steady rise and fall of his friend's breathing a comforting rhythm in the night. The moon hung high, casting its silvery glow over the forest, bathing everything in an ethereal light. In this form, he felt no pressure to be anything other than himself. It was just him and Sirius, two foxes sharing a quiet moment beneath the watchful gaze of the moon. Eventually, exhaustion caught up with him, and his eyelids grew heavy.

With a contented sigh, he drifted into a deep slumber, the sounds of the forest lulling him into dreams.

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A few hours later, Waylin woke up with the creeping edges of sunlight filtering through the leaves and across his face. He groaned, rubbing at his face, grimacing at the drool on his face as his brain tried to play catch up on the switch in his mind. With a huff, he rolled away, finding himself in a bush, and wondered if there was a point the fox had decided to go into the comfort of the shrubs.

The pieces of his mind hadn't entirely connected when he haphazardly dressed; he was pretty sure his shirt was on backward, but he didn't care. The fox had run himself ragged, and remnants carried over into his human form, which meant he slept the best he had in months. There were no nightmares, no bouts of middle-of-the-night insomnia, and fuck, it was lovely! He ran a hand through his hair, messing it up further when he recalled he hadn't been alone.

Right. Matthias.

"Hey, you awake?" He called out, feeling that if the other had wanted privacy to shift, he wouldn't want Waylin stumbling out onto his naked form sprawled in the dirt.

Matti always slept well ever since he moved to Colorado. Not long, but deep enough. What was unusual was having a dirt pillow. And mattress. Ohhh. This was outside.

Duh.

He sat up and stretched, wondering why he wasn't panicking at the idea of waking up in the forest. Then he heard Waylin's call and smile, the memories of the night flooding back.

"Thirty seconds!" He replied, locating his clothes in the tree and, priorities, putting his pants on. Then the shirt. "You decent?"

Not that many shifters seemed to mind, but hey, no need for awkward moments!

"Always,"Waylin responded with a chuckle.

He required a shower, which wasn't unheard of after a full moon. He stretched his limbs, reaching for the sky, a pop of bone, before shaking off the rest of the sleep. The small clearing hadn't changed much compared to before the shift; there was a bit of upturned grass, but no dead animals were strewn about.

Good.

"Pretty sure that was the best sleep I've had in quite a while,"He moved further into the open area and waited for Matti to appear. When he did, he grinned as he relaxed, knowing everything was okay. "I don't think the fox's been that worn out in a long time either. It was nice to have someone capable of keeping up with his antics." This was a mild full moon, but perhaps his fox knew not to be extravagant this early into a friendship.

"I doubt that!" Matti retorted with a laugh.

Nevertheless he followed the sound of his friend's voice and joined him in the clearing.

"I'm glad." He added, before frowning a little, remembering a detail. "Speaking of antics... sorry about the scream. That was... strategy? We're learning to play."

Awkward chuckle.

tw: mental health

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Waylin could shrug it off and ignore the apology because it wasn't a big deal.

But, it had been a big deal.

It was a big enough issue that his animal instinct was to flee rather than stick around, and only his butting in had been enough to keep the both of them staying with Sirius.

"Yeah, the scream was startling." A beat, an awkward scratch at the back of his neck. "You know what it's like firsthand not to have someone like you around, and the scream felt as if he overstepped. Well, not exactly...it's...it's complicated.

Traumatic.

Anxiety.

Fear of Abandonment.

Fucking things up.

Waylin didn't want to discuss his flaws with someone who looked up to him as confident and capable of sharing that confidence. He was afraid it would shatter whatever image Matti was building in his head, and he liked not to disappoint someone who had faith in him. If they had injured Sirius, that would have sent his fox reeling two steps back, which would have made the animal more reserved. More prone to lashing out, and while he was grateful it had all been for fun, there was that hesitation looming in the back of his mind, waiting to sink its gnarled claws into his flesh and tug him back into something he was desperately trying to bury.

"It seems both foxes have something they could learn together,"he decided on with a smile that he tried to make reach his gaze. This had been a fun experience, one that he wouldn't trade for the world, and he partially wished Matti hadn't mentioned the mishap. The joys of a mind that overthought every little thing.

It was hard to prevent himself from dissolving into more apologies. Sirius kinda did it for him with a whine, his little ears down.

"Won't happen again." Matti promised, giving Waylin a little bump on the shoulder.

Despite the awkwardness and the clear fact that there was something more to it, he didn't regret mentioning it. Lack of communcation could so easily end up painting them in a corner, were beasts were more inclined to bite.

He wished he knew what was behind his friend's smile. Maybe he would gain his trust and one day be told of the complicated things. He just wanted to help, and if being a good play buddy was what he could do right now, he would become the best one.

"Breakfast's on me." He offered with a smile.

Waylin’s gaze flickered to Sirius when he heard the whine, tilting his head and offering a small smile to show it was okay. Matti bumping his shoulder against his own had him laughing and nodded, accepting the words. He didn't fault either of them; his insecurities were his own and not someone else to cater to them, but it mattered not in moving forward.

He let himself get lulled back into relaxing at the mention of food. This was an opening he'd take, glad that Matti seemed not to be someone to press the issue. The same couldn't be said about Waylin, his curious mind often running over the feelings of another without realizing it.

”Oh? Buying or cooking?”

They could head back to his place, order in if he wanted to just crash for a bit in comfort. But, he wouldn't be opposed to cleaning up and going out to eat either.

Matti considered himself pretty good at smoothing awkward situations and the mood lifting right up after his mishap was a proof of that.

Food was always a good option, especially for their kind.

"Cooking will have to be next time. Hungry like that, I'll just raid the grocery store." He replied with a laugh. "Please tell me this town has a breakfast buffet or something like that."

"Of course! They have all sorts of restaurants from an iHop to some fancy-named cuisine that is expensive even for my taste," Waylin chuckled. "I lead the way to whatever strikes your fancy, but it's probably smart to swing by the condo and clean up a bit beforehand."

"I think I'd go for quantity over quality right now." Matti and his stingy side commented.

He nodded at the idea of getting cleaned up but still grinned.

"Oh, so dirt chic is not an okay style? Is the Valencia fashion police that intense?"

Would he go in any kind of restaurant right now? No. But could he joke about it? Certainly.

"Dude..." Waylin shook his head, laughing. "Have you seen my wardrobe??"

If Valencia were the fashion police, he'd have been kicked out long ago. Then again, he saw nothing wrong with his layers, especially when they were plaid, and he was comfortable in them.

"Also, pretty sure Valencia has seen more of my nakedness than they care to admit,"he went on to lead them back down the path they took to get here. "The fox used to be prone to dropping me off away from my clothes...stole any item I could from the backyards of unsuspecting families."

"Whatever you wear suits you." Matti said with a shrug, not really into fashion.

Also, wow.

"Glad Sirius seems to always take a path and walk back to the initial spot." He commented with a laugh.

Maybe he could keep a bin of second hand clothes at the store in case someone had a little unplanned shift in town. It was the kind of thing that would get handy if he was to offer the small were playground he was designing.

"If you're ever wearing fur in Lauderhill, I'll make sure to have something for you. Maybe not plaid though, no guarantees."

But that was likely something he'd find in a thrift store, right?

Waylin was positive that the fox did it for shits and giggles. While it hadn't happened in a while, he knew that if he did something that the fox disagreed with, it was a surefire way to the middle of nowhere post-shift.

At this point, he accepted his fate.

”I’ll be sure to keep an eye out. Although, if we’re wandering Lauderhill - his first stop would probably be to seek you out.” They didn't tend to wander far from Valencia unless they were scouting the Outskirts, but it's been known to happen.

He recalled one particular instant, winced, and decided to ignore it in favor of good vibes. They had attachment issues and if the fox wanted to see someone they liked being in the presence of, then it'll happen. ”Any plans after breakfast?”

Waylin had zilch per usual after the full moon.

Matti grinned at that. It was nice, being high on someone's visit list.

"Well, I should be going to work, but I'm also the boss, so I guess I could be convinced to give myself the morning off." He replied with a chuckle.

The previous store owner really liked to be called in to cover a few hours. Matti wondered if the man regretted selling his shop sometimes.

"Hey, it's niiiiiice being you're own boss,"Waylin nodded. "Making your own hours is great, especially for people like us. You don't have to worry about running late or calling out because of a furry little problem."

While he still would have liked to work as a detective in the field, he knew his limits for the time being, and he was still young! Life liked to throw many curveballs, but he was content in his career and knew if he ever reached the point of trying law enforcement, he'd have the degrees and experience to back it up. He just had to work on having better control because the last thing he'd want is to shift due to something like gunfire.

"I can be biased cause I like your company, but take the day off. Recuperate and enjoy post-full moon shenanigans. Your shop will still be there come 'morrow."

"Oh yeah, that's part of the reason why I chose this." Matti replied. "The other is that I like building stuff."

Like the second floor. Waylin had earned the right to be told the secret of the second floor, but talk was cheap. Matti would rather show his friend once the project would be a bit more solid.

"Sounds like a reasonable course of action." He added.

After all, he was working every other day. One day off per month wasn't too crazy. Although he wouldn't say that part out loud as it seemed like everybody in his life found it was crazy.

"Building is nice." Waylin agreed, bypassing a random set of roots that threatened to snag his shoe. "I still need to swing some ideas your way later regarding the house. It stalled 'cause I'm going to visit someone out of Colorado, but the good thing about planning it myself - I don't have to rush it."

"Of course, whenever you're ready." Matti replied with a grin. "Building a whole house is such a bigger deal than renovations."

Maybe he'd build one of his own one day.

"Nice that you get to travel a little too." He added.

He had zero desire of leaving even the state right now, but why would he? Every single person he cared about lived in Colorado.

"Dude, ain't that the truth!"

The renovations to the condo took ages, with little changes here and there. He did most of it himself and detailed YouTube videos, but a house was way over his head. In due time, when he felt his plans were good to work with, he'd reach out and ask for Mattias' thoughts, but until then, he'd enjoy the general company of the fox.

"I haven't been out of Colorado in years, but I have a friend in California who wanted to show me parts of Northern California. She said it should fit my alley in what the fox likes, and we haven't seen her in some time." He was referring to Ren, someone he knew that Mattias hadn't met. There was that slim chance they could in the future, but Ren seemed happy in California with her person, and he was happy that she found peace after all the shit she's been through.

He went quiet for a moment, a small smile on his lips as he looked up at Matti," By the way, thanks for coming to Colorado. It's been nice."

"Oh, that's nice."

His idea of California was Hollywood. And Santa Monica, because Yujin was from there. Although he had no idea where in California it was.

He grinned at being thanked.

"Heh, I got no credit. Just followed my sis. She has great taste... sometimes."

Because even if Dove wasn't here to hear him, he had to say stuff like that. It was the brother contract.

"I've enjoyed every day here." He added.

"Good. I'll have to thank you one day for convincing you to move out here,"Waylin nodded as if mentally scheduling a task to keep an eye out for the tattooed wolf.

He stopped as they exited the woods, stretching his arms upwards and hearing his shoulder pop.

Then, as if on cue, his stomach growled, and he laughed.

"Looks like we better pick up the pace; I'd hate to have such a great adventure only to die of starvation."

Dramatic, but it's who he was around his friends.

"Heh, sure, even if I'll never head the end of it." Matti joked with another chuckle.

His own hunger was silent for now, but no less present.

"In an emergency we could always try to get these fish for real." He added, amused.

But a real breakfast more suited his currently human preferences, and Sirius was happy to follow along, bouncing on the path ahead.

”I don’t see you being the sort to eat raw fish,He observed with a grin. He's done it as a human, just a poor person’s sushi.

But, he wouldn't subject Matti to his nonsense tales of homelessness.

”Plus, you didn't seem all that agile, you sure you wouldn't fall in?” A tease as he picked up the pace in preparation to run if Matti decided to try and hit him for the jab.

"Maybe not that raw." Matti admitted. "And, well..."

Wait, did he mean him, or Sirius, or both?

"I'm a good swimmer." He replied with a shrug.

Noticing Waylin walking faster, he matched his pace.

"What, you want to race?" He asked, laughing.

Waylin laughed clearly observing that neither party were on the same page, and that was okay.

"It's already been proven I'm more agile on land," he taunted. "But, sure, let's race."

He'd wink, tip backwards once as if he were going to fall before turning on his heel and took off.

Yeah, this full moon was awesome.