Wolves and Men

This brought up the thought of Nicholas. The guy needed his ass beat, but Charles had been right too. He needed to ‘bury the hatchet’ with the man so they could actually work together. He looked around but he couldn’t see Keva anymore. He brushed his hands through his long hair and started walking off toward Nicholas’s room.

The Scout didn’t live far from where he was so the walk didn’t take too long. He stood by the door for long moments, looking at the polished obsidian black stone of the building. Well, waiting here isn’t going to make it any easier. He finally knocked on the outer wall.

“What do you want, Aceso?” The voice was irritated but not openly hostile. That might be a good sign.

“It’s not Aceso, it’s me,” replied William.

There was a long pause. After a while William started to think that Nicholas wasn’t going to say anything. And just when he turned around to leave…

“Are you going to stand outside all day or come in? I’m not going to yell at you through a wall and open doorway all morning.” He was definitely irritated, but the fact that he invited him into his room was a very good sign. Maybe the two of them could work out some of their differences.

William stepped into the room hesitantly. Nicholas was sitting at his desk; much the way he had been when they had come to visit him yesterday. The blond haired man wasn’t looking toward the door though. Maybe this wasn’t going to be as easy as he had hoped.

“Nicholas? We need to talk.”

The man didn’t turn or even move. “And what do we need to talk about. If I say something you don’t agree with, you’ll just shift and we’ll fight and I’ll lose. What’s the point in talking with you?” He spat

William didn’t move from his spot a few feet into the room. How could he make this man understand? “Look I’ve apologized for what happened out in the desert. What more do you want from me?”

“You tried to kill me! Setford! You were going to kill me over an argument! What more can you say!” The man finally turned around and stood up from his chair. His bare chest flexed and his cut muscles rippled with even the slightest movement. “I want justice for attempted murder, Setford. That’s what I want!”

“But I didn’t kill you! I stopped myself from beating you within an inch of your life even though you deserved it!”

“Oh, so now I deserved to be killed for disagreeing with you?! Gee, what a great system you have in your head!” He affected a very offensive mentally handicapped accent, “Gee I donnn’t like what you say I kill yu now.” He smiled and shook his head. “What the fuck are you even doing here? What do you want?”

“I want us to stop fighting with each and work together,” William pleaded. “I can’t go back in time and take back what I did in the desert, I can’t. But I can say that what happened there will stay there. I don’t expect you to forgive me anytime soon. But will you at least try to work with me and say that we will at least get along with each other?”

Nicholas looked at the man standing in front of him. “I want nothing more than to beat the shit out of you, Setford.” There was hatred in his eyes and venom in his voice.

“If you want to fight me, I won’t fight back.”

“NO!!” Nicholas yelled. “I want you to fight back. I want you’re absolute best. If we fight there will be no shifting into werewolf form. Only you and I, no weapons, just hand to hand. With everyone there so I can finally prove that you ain’t shit without your werewolf form.”

“I have a better idea,” William said meeting the man in the middle of the room. “Why don’t we do this right now?”

Nichols looked around his room. “I don’t want you breaking any of my stuff as I’m throwing you around,” he retorted.

William glanced up toward the ceiling. “Let’s go up there and see what happens.”

Nicholas looked up as well and a small smile creased his lips. “Ok, I got no problem with that. I’ll meet you there in two minutes.” William’s eyes brows raised in surprise. Nicholas smiled, “I have to get dressed. Besides,” he said as he turned around. “I know you would never trust me enough to turn your back on me. And how could I blame you.” Nicholas waved a hand behind him, “I’ll be there Setford. Now get out.”

William backed out of the room the way he had come. When he was outside, he shifted into werewolf form and scaled the building’s smooth walls. When he was on the roof he shifted back into human form.

He looked out over the city. The building he was on was an average height. There were some that were taller and some, shorter. The buildings spread out in the vast underground cavern. He was able to see two hunting forests from where he was, the dark green needles of the evergreen trees were a stark contrast to the deep black of the buildings that surrounded them. He looked toward the Tower and beyond as the light from the ceiling crystals made everything fade and blend together in a haze of light and dark. He was rarely afforded the opportunity to marvel at the city and just how beautiful it was.

“Hope I didn’t keep you waiting.”

William turned around to see Nicholas also in werewolf form climb onto the roof. He stood up and shifted back to human form. The two squared off equidistant from each other and the sides of the building. The roof held no kind of barrier at the edge. The roof simply dropped off in a smooth angle with the outer walls, it would be a rough fall if either of them were thrown off the roof.