I10DT: Dogs Love Laying in the Sun

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

Stephanie stretched out in her wolf form in the middle of the grounds, basking in the sun contently. Her shoulder had healed up remarkably well, and she now only had a simple bandage on it. A small gym bag sat next to to the wolf, partially underneath her where she lay. Thus far, no one had really approached her, so she almost dozed, just enjoying a relatively mild mid-morning in late summer.

((open!))

[Ryan Gabriel]

Ryan was pretty sure she could hear him coming. He was coming up downwind of her, so she couldn't smell him, but... hey, there was always a chance. He slowly drifted down across the grounds, making sure not to let his feet touch the ground, making sure his shadow was behind him so it wouldn't cast over her... finally drifting down close to her head...

"Boo."

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

Steph merely opened her eyes, her head still on her paws, and started wagging her tail happily for a moment.

[Ryan Gabriel]

"Y'know, keep acting like that and I'm going to have to start petting you, and your reputation'll never recover from that," Ryan joked.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

Stephanie panted exitedly...almost sarcastically? At least as close as she could approximate currently. She sat up and shifted before Ryan, pulling a wrap out of the simple bag near her once she had hands that could easily grab, slipping it over her hulking hybrid form, and tightening it at the waist as she shifted to her human form.

"Mr. Gabriel," she smirked, "you wouldn't be the first. At least you actually knew it was me before you started petting."

She adjusted the bandage on her shoulder, which had moved slightly off-center during her shift, and winced slightly.

"How are you holding up?"

[Ryan Gabriel]

He winced when he saw her wince. Then he sat down on the grass by her, considering the question. "I'm all right, I guess," he said. "Feeling... Eh, I don't know what to feel about anything right now. And... I guess that's an improvement from blaming myself for everything."

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"It...it's definitely been a hell of a summer," she sighed in agreement. "I'm glad to hear that at least. I've...well I've been worried about you all summer, but I just haven't known how to talk to you...really talk to you for a long time."

[Ryan Gabriel]

"Yeah, well..." He sighed. "You know me. Self-destructive behavior, obsessive blame issues..." He leaned back against his arms. "I'm not going to pretend I'm coping well, but I'm coping. Stopped returning my mom's calls yesterday, that's helping a lot."

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"I adore your mother, but sometimes she does you more harm than good," she agreed. "She worries because she loves you. She can't help it."

Stephanie stared down at the grass in between them as she sat stretched out on the ground in a pose not unlike Ryan's, silent for quite a while.

"I've missed you, Ryan."

[Ryan Gabriel]

He smiled back a little. "Yeah, well, her methods do suck. Keeps coming back with 'if you want to be an Avenger some day,' so I finally just told her that I didn't. Shut her right up." He sighed, shaking his head. "I've missed you too."

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"I...kept my distance for a long time because of Rachel," she said hesitantly. "I didn't want to cause more trouble...and after all that happened this summer then... I...well I just didn't know how to approach you after that."

[Ryan Gabriel]

He nodded his smile losing some of its usual cheer. "Something like 'Hi, Ryan, don't kill me,' right?"

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"Would you believe I wasnt even talking about that?" she smiled wearily. "I more meant...just how to even approach you after Rachel..." she sighed.

"I guess I just spent such a long time trying to stay out of your way because of how clear she'd made it that I wasnt welcome near you, that even though I wanted to still be friends, I just didn't even know what to say to you. Or when."

Steph shook her head and finally looked up at Ryan from the ground.

"I sound like an idiot. I. I've just missed you, and let's leave it at that."

[Ryan Gabriel]

"Yeah, well, I haven't made approaching easy," he said. "Even before the whole 'lease my soul to Apocalypse' thing," he admitted.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"well, we're here now," she smiled.

"Doesn't seem all that long ago that we were laying out here at night staring at the stars, thinking about what came after high school does it?"

[Ryan Gabriel]

Ryan sighed and nodded. "Lately it kind of seems like it's a good thing we didn't know."

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"Yeah," she sighed.

"Back then all you had to worry about was whether or not your girlfriend was going to maul you," she smirked.

[Ryan Gabriel]

He smirked. "And luckily for me, usually she did," he teased.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

"You should be impressed. I managed to meet my current boy without nearly killing him first," she smirked, trying hard to hide her blush.

[Ryan Gabriel]

"Please, what fun's that?" he teased.

[Melody Martens]

Stephanie smirked. "You just like getting beat up, don't you?"

[Ryan Gabriel]

"If I'm remembering, I wasn't always the one who would end up jumped and pinned to the ground," he teased.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

Stephanie turned several shades of red at that comment, laughing despite herself.

"You're still exceptionally good at making a girl blush, Mr. Gabriel.

[Ryan Gabriel]

He grinned back. "And you're still exceptionally cute when I make you blush, so who can blame me," he teased. Yes, it was his normal flirting tone, but there was something about it that was more comfortably familiar than suggestive.

[Stephanie Kaltiera]

Stephanie smiled warmly at Ryan. "Maybe some night while we're all here we can do a double date in Salem. We'd be close enough to still all be on call for emergencies, but could unwind a little bit away from the kids."