Housewarming

[Melodia]

He finally broke his grip when they came in sight of his house. It was placed particulary in a field of golden wheat-like plants, backed up against more trees from the wood. The house was square and white, a few swirling back wrought iron steps to the black door. There were a few windows and a modern piano-style sloping roof. Now seeing it in the eyes of a guest it was a grand little bitty thing, and his chest almost swelled with pride. It was his home, after all. He'd never had guests over except his brothers and parents (ha. when they came to visit). So this was like...a housewarming event.

Spade chuckled slightly as they walked up to it. This reminded him of some contest that they'd have, like, a girl getting to see his house. They went crazy over that stuff. Once for fun his brother had dared him to call the radio station himself, and he tired for an hour and couldn't get through. [ hahaha...me. ]

"Home sweet home," Spade said as he pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the door. It opened onto a raised wooden platform with steps down into the living room or you could keep walking to the kitchen which was connected and had a counter with barstools that overlooked the living room. That room had a black-and-white checkered couch and loveseat and a flat screen TV mounted to the wall, his ever-constant companion late nights. Quickly his eyes darted from place-to-place, and he was slightly shamed at how messy it was. He'd left a piece of cake on the counter and the milk out too, and one of his hoodies was draped over the couch. There were papers with scribbled out lyrics messily piling up on the floor, and his guitar lay on the loveseat instead of in its case.

"Sorry for the mess," He said, leaving the door open for her but not bothering to tidy up before she got a full view of his house. Instead he walked to the kitchen and opened the fridge. "Want something to eat?" Spade asked, flipping on the light switch because it was past noon and the sunlight had turned to a orangey-glow.

["Parker!"]

Rane actually hadn't minded being pulled along the way to this place Spade was taking her. She supposed he thought it was okay to take her hand again, even if was kinda weird that they just met. But whatever, she delt with it and soon enough she began to realise where they were. This is where they were in the forest awhile ago. She remebered the scratch marks on the tree's and how mysterious they looked. But this is where he had said to go to the town. Oh so he didn't want her going to his house...oh hahah nice. She smiled widely giving a plesant grin as they reached his house. Oh how pretty! It was like a little country side home! If only she had a house...heh...maybe she could get a job as a DJ... she'd be kinda good at that.

His hand left hers and she followed in as he apologized for the mess. Of course she didn't mind, she was just as messy. Back at home she'd always leave her dirty sports jerserys laying around and da' would get mad at her, but she'd always do it. Oh well, some things never change. She shook her head,

"It's okay, you have a wicked home."

She grinned as she wandered over to the living room, taking a nice glance around but being polite at the same time. Her eyes glanced at the chickenscratch covered paper and the gutiar. He must not get out much...She smiled and turned around swiftly as he asked her if she wanted something to eat.

"Nah, I'm good? But maybe some water?"

She asked natually as she didn't drink soda. Sport players didn't waste there time with soft drinks as she kept herself properly hydrated with good ol' water. She hesitaed looking out the window seeing a tree with those weird marks on them. She rmembered how she thought they were bear marks...


"Aren't you lonely out here all by yourself? I'd be kind scared, it looks like you got bears or something around here-- just look at those trees!"

She pointed out the window cautiously but still keeping a flawless smile.

[Melodia]

Spade took out a bottle of water and a Coke for himself, then closed it and walked back around the counter to the living room. “Catch,” He said, tossing her the water bottle, obviously more comfortable in his home than outside. Because here he didn’t have to be continuously on his guard or always looking over his shoulder. His glasses had long been abandon as soon as he’d walked in the door. He popped open his soda, loving the small hiss of the fizzy drink and taking a swallow. He moved the guitar to sit upright and then shared the loveseat with it. He took a few more sips, his eyes narrowed as he watched her looking out the window.

“Trust me, bears aren’t the problem,” Spade laughed darkly, knowing that she had no idea what he was talking about. He then looked down at the papers around him, as if not wanting to meet her glance if she questioned his last comment. He picked up a stack of papers and looked over the scratched out and re-written words, wondering which song this was. His manager had asked him to throw out a few for their next CD, those fakey-romantic pop rock songs they did. Spade had piles of them now, all of which he knew would be on the Myspace profiles of girls across the world once they were recorded. His shadowy brown eyes skimmed over the lyrics and he almost choked on his soda when he read them.

The transformation—how swift it comes
To take life awa--- isn’t that what ----
-------------------------------
The sickling feeli-- of failure once more,
Wolven dis---------------------

There were more like this, he realized, even though this one was dreadfully scratched out. Others more detailed about what he was, about how painful his ordeal had been for him. He quickly bunched up the paper and stuffed it into the cushion, hopefully before Rane had seen anything. His heart rate quickened and he suddenly felt vulnerable again, his eyes frantically searching the papers scattered literally everywhere for traces of those dreadful song lyrics about being a...we-rr-wol-f (he hated the word), but he could pick none out of the crowd. They all looked alike.

“Soo uh…let’s hear more about you. Do you like your gift? It’s pretty awesome,” Spade said, trying to distract her more to the conversation and less about him and what was in his house.

[ So I found a pic of what he looks like as a werewolf =] Pretty sweet if you ask me: ximonr.deviantart.com/art/WEREWOLF-35813128 ]

["Parker!"]

Rane caught the bottle barely even looking at it. Her hand-eye corrdintation was above mastery for all those years of catching and throwing of any sort of ball. Her hand tingled at the coolness of the H2O the water sloshing around a the little air room it had. She swiftly uncapped the drink and took a swift sip moving her way to the living room where he led her. She took her nice little time looking at all the stuff even if it was messy. When she entered the nicely spaced room Spade looked a little frazzled and quickly asked her a question. Rane blinked at the paper stuffed couch but politely she responded not wanting to be rude at a house she didn't know.

"Eh, my power? Really, it's not that great..."

Rane took a nice seat on the love seat. She heard a wrinckling sound under her button and gave a small 'oh' gasp. She frowned and got up pulling the paper from under her. She noticed the words were upside down so carefully she turned it around trying to read the chickensctratch. Though she continued to speak absentmindedly,

"Yeah so I'm still learning about it all and stuff...nothing big... Say this is pretty deep...Kinda hard to read these lyrics...I think they're lyrics..."

Rane was only on the second line or so which was talking about how it was so hard to deal with this lonleyness and how he couldn't control this thing. What thing? She tried to read the next line as she put down her water bottle and squinted her eyes to read the wrinckled paper.

[oh noes!]

[Melodia]

He was impressed. Spade had figured her out as the sporty type from the beginning, but she caught the water bottle without even glancing at it, almost. That made him smile, really smile, not those fakey nervous one he'd been pulling all day. It was nice to smile (and nice for others, too. He was gorgeous, after all) and he hadn't done so in quite some time. Maybe occasionally, when he found a new show on TV or any of those not-so-signifcant things he dealt with nowadays. Or, like when he wrote a new song that was sure to do well. And speaking of songs...

She sat down on the loveseat next to him, and while there was plenty of space between them he still tensed slightly. Holding her hand was one thing, but having their bodies so close was another. His head spun slightly, and not because he was particulary attracted to her. No, it was more of a feeling of...wondering what she'd taste like. Her blood, that was. How difficult it would be to catch her after she started running, how much of a chase she'd put on before he caught his prey...He shifted over as far as he could, using the excuse that he had to set his empty Coke can down on the sidetable.

The slight "clink" that the can made and the wrinkling sound of paper snapped him out of the phase and his desire to kill Rane and silently he gave a quick thankyou to whoever created annoying noises like those. He let out a small breath and then turned to Rane—Rane, who held up a tattered piece of paper holding lyrics that she was struggling to read, lyrics that revealed way too much than he wanted her, or anyone for that matter, to know.

"Don't," Spade growled. His tone was dark and serious and he reached forward and ripped the paper from her hands, leaving her with a little piece and him with the majority of the sheet. His eyes flashed a lighter, deadlier hue of golden-brown for all but a moment, so quickly that one could've missed it all together. His heart thumped in his chest, not nervous at all but more aggressive now. His teeth were clenched together, his eyes dead locked on her telling her that she'd made a big misake.

[ Sooo...he can change now =) Cause she provoked him, or not if you don't want. It's quite a...scene the way I imagined it. He struggles maintaing control. Haha kinda like Edward. ]

["Parker!"]

"Hey!"

Rane gave a frown as the boy ripped the paper out of her hands. She was left with nothing but a scribbled out part. She couldn't read it and she tossed it giving a playful snarl. Agh, how rude! The girl reached foward swiftly catching hold of the paper but not ripping it. She still wanted to read that!

"Comon, don't be like that! I bet it's good!"

She laughed playfully not noticing his eyes and his body starting to tense. She knew songwirters were cautious of letting people in on thir songs but it's not like it was going to hurt them. He certinally couldn't be pissed off to let her take a little peek. She tugged on the paper teasingly giving a playful smirk without noticeing his aggressive attitude. It was just a little song! Surely he had many others she could read but he'd just taken that from her! No way was she going down without a fight! She tried to take it one more time, her hands so swift she acually got a good peice of the paper. She laughed and started to jog playfully away.

"Just for a sec! Anyways, I did save your life remember?"

She laughed playfully teasing him more however, she didn't know her life was about to be at stake.

[Melodia]

There was no fear in this situation. Rane already knew one of his secrets, the one that drove him here in the first place. The fact that he was Spade Deviant was big enough. But his second secret…his heart-wretchingly dark second secret was too important for her to figure out. It was shameful and frightening and something he didn’t wish to share with her or the world. And though Rane had no knowledge of this, she was thoroughly pissing him off. He held the remains of paper his had, noticing that she’d tore off a good amount of very private lyrics and then run off with them, laughing.

He was not amused.

His lips set in a thin line and his teeth ground together, completely ignoring how expensive his teeth whitening and celebrity dental work had been. His chest rose and fell and his breathing quivered as he sat on the loveseat. The paper fell from his hand and then he gripped the arm, his nails digging into the fabric. The first wave of nausea and dread coursed through him, starting at his spine and then spreading quickly through his system as a way to warn him of what was coming. He gasped and closed his eyes tight, doubling over on the loveseat, his knuckles turning white from gripping the cushion so hard. The room was spinning as his body pulsed and his temperature rose to an unhealthy level. His limbs went numb and his eyes rolled back and he fell onto the floor, mumbling incoherent words and silently praying for the transformation to stop and go hide back inside him.

Spade knew what would happen. At the end of transforming he was someone…something else entirely. Just like during those phases he’d been having all day, Rane wouldn’t be a friend. She’d be lunch. While he caught glimpses of his were-self during the day, he’d catch them when he was a werewolf too, though more human. But his human urges were weak against his abnormality, and he knew, he knew that Rane would be officially screwed if she stayed here.

Another shudder passed through his body and he could feel sweat breaking out on his forehead. His nails dug into the floor and his heart thumped heavily in his chest. He could feel his hair growing longer, his back arching and his feet and hands curving into the shape of paws. “Run...” Spade gasped quietly, his vision switching back and forth between human and predator until it settled, his eyes golden slits. His nails grew and blackened into claws and he braced himself against the bottom of the loveseat, wishing he could die right about now. But the shifting continued, as it did every night and every time his temper flared—until the loveseat tipped over and his shirt and skinny jeans ripped off in tatters, and he stood up.

He had grown at least two feet or so, just barely reaching the ceiling. His ears were long, pointed out of his head and his limbs were toned and muscled, his fur thick and soft and chocolate-brown. His back was slightly hunched over as if he wasn’t used to being on two legs and he dropped down. Spade’s long, sweeping tail flew back and forth and he sniffed and carefully crept forward, his upper lip pulled into a snarl, exposing his long, white fangs.

A low growl emitted from his throat as he stared at Rane. Everything about her enhanced; her smell, the rush of her blood. Breath heavily escaped from his mouth and nose. This was his house, he knew that somewhere in the back of his head. This was his floor, his loveseat that had been tipped over, his guitar that lay a few feet away. But that was all he could understand, because Rane taunted him unfairly, beckoning him for just a little taste of her sweet flesh.

No. No, no NO! The scream of humanity was lost somewhere inside him, little and demeaning and unchanging in the ways of his mind as he crept forward, slowly, not wanting to scare his prey off when she was so close.

[ Long post, crappy ending. xD ]

["Parker!"]

Rane spun around wondering what he was doing. Her eyes traced his face as she saw the fustration and acual anger that started to sear though him. She could hear his growling breath his body started to quiver. Her playful face dropped her lips quivering. He felt to the floor and she quietly gasped scared. What? What happened? Was he okay? She stepped foward dropping the papper. Her face looked scared, her eyes wide.

"S-spade? Are you okay? Whats-whats the matter?!"

Her voice grew from soft and calm to cried and quivering. What was wrong? She could hear whispers. Something about transformation. Her pupils dialiated to small black circles as she saw it. His skin. It was stretching. The skin and bone of his leg started to stretch, his arms as well. Basically his whole body was... was changing. She stepped back grasping the chair behind her. Oh my. Her knees quivered as she started to breath heavily. This...this wasn't happening. This only happened in the movies. He..he was a...

Werewolf. The wolven creature she thought to be Spade was infront of her- if only a meter away. She couldn't make a sound, her eyes staring up at the black orbs of the beast. This... this is what he was hiding from her? He was a beast. The fur on his back ripped as her skin crawled at the sight. She was only a newbie at this seeing other gifted people. She'd never met another gifted person--besides him. This wasn't the greatest first impression.

The beast advanced slowly at her. She stood erect and stiff right infront of him. Her body allowed no movement. Though with one more step she changed. Her eyes flashed dangerously her shoulders going back her eyes glowering. She could see it in his eyes. She was lunch. Well to him she was. She tightened her fists her stance defensive. Her fists went to her sides the acual fist acually shaking. One more step..

Rane moved quickly her fist punched out towards the window. In a matter of momments after the window acually shattered. Rane let he sound of the window breaking enhance the loud high pitched sound lasting for what seemed like forever. The sound was so high however Rane got no harm. The only harm that was to come was to this wolf boy. Of course this werewolf probably had enhanced hearing so surely...his ears would be bleeding by now. The super high frequenced sound lasted as Rane kept the sound going her fist shaking but still staying strong. She could still make the sound louder but she was sure this would send the wolf to it's knees.

[hopefully... <3]

[Melodia]

Never before had he dared to attack a human—and suddenly, Spade remembered why. They were dangerous, overwhelming when crowded together and especially threatening on the island of Lordight. And yet he knew that but still he went after Rane, knowing how she would taste and knowing it would be worth his while…he hadn’t taken a second to think again, just went for it. And now he extremely regretted that choice.

The moment of tension before the kill broke completely, shattered into a million pieces just like the window. That sound alone practically split his ears in half and he shrank back, flattening them to his head. But then the sound held, heightened, and the pain that resounded in his head was so excruciating that it wasn’t in the capacity to be handled. The dark slits of his eyes widened and his lips pulled back and his head titled up in the air. The sound he made was inhuman altogether, a guttural howl that crept up the spine and chilled the heart. “Ah Ahwooooo,” He cried, his whole body shuddering. His sense of hearing was lost completely in the high-pitched ringing and that drove him crazy. He crouched down and leapt for Rane in a frenzy, but in his madness missed completely and smashed into the fridge, which against his strength pushed back into the wall. The werewolf lost his footing then, his claws scrambling against the slick tile floor. Everything was lost to him because of the obscene noise—he couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, couldn’t think of anything but to run and bite and tear and howl until the pain stopped. His shoulder banged up against the counter and he jumped up, tearing great claw marks in the walls as he headed straight for the source of the sound, straight for Rane.

But he missed again, his lanky, muscular body flying through the broken panes. His large, round eyes shut tightly as he soared, broken glass edges scraping along through his fur to his skin and drawing blood. He hit the ground and tumbled over onto the grass, unmoving as he pressed his head into the ground, trying to make the noise go away.

["Parker!"]

For now everything in her quickly thought up plan was working perfectly. The beast had shrunk back at the force of the shattering scream. His ears flatted against his large fur chiseled head. Rane stepped back finding it might be safe to stop. However as the beast snarled loudly she backed against the table her eyes wide. And the beast. Well, he lunged right at her face.

Rane almost died from a heart attack as she screamed her eyes closing. The scream got drowned with the screeching of the everlasting window shatter. The wolf slammed himself against the fridge the wall breaking under pressure of the blow. Rane peeled her eyes as the sound was still droned of the high ringing. The animal was obviously hurting though mad about the sound. He lunged again aiming for Rane but failing, again. He broke the frames of the window tumbling into the grass. Rane trembled slightly her hands cradled against her body in fists which still held the ringing sound. Slowly she exhaled raising to see the beast lay against the ground in obvious defeat of the sound. He had given up. Should she run? But he could sniff her out. She'd have to find a lake or something to take her sent of the ground. But now he looked submissive..and if he tried to attack again. She'd just pull the same move. The inescapable sound. Slowly Rane let her white knuckled fist unclasp her palm still shaking. She rose showing herself to the beast, her eyes still lost in fright. Shallowly she breathed out and in her eyes pinpointed on the Spade wolf as the sound dwindled down to the nothing.

[Melodia]

However hard he pressed his head into the ground or however much he flattened his ears with his paws, the noise remained as high and shrilling as ever. Everything scrambled in his mind and he felt like his head was splitting down the center. Catching prey didn't matter anymore, for he had somewhere in the catastrophe lost his sense of hunger and smell and hearing and direction in this painful, numbing state of being. The creature had one thing at hand and one thing only--pain. Afer writhing around on the field and slashing anything in his path he collapsed onto his side, his chest heaving up and down. Spade reasoned...there was nothing to do but give in. He could not destroy the noise; the noise destroyed him.

And at this peak moment, drained of all his raw energy and stamina, the noise began to recceed. His large, golden eyes opened and he tilted his head up to look at the broken window, where his prey stood still, watching him. With what he had left he growled, low and threatening but obviously the werewolf didn't have left what it took to give chase.

The growling stopped, then. Transformation had happened, run its course and failed miserably at its main objective--the hunt. Spade's storage of energy had diminished in his frenzied madness from the noise Rane created so that all that was left was a tired, worn-out werewolf whose fur was matted with blood and who had been shamefully defeated by his prey.

Slowly and rather gracefully the warm, heavy sound of the creature's breathing faded. His back streched, changed, claws shrinking back into fingernails, ears folding over to human flesh once more, hair shortening into silk-soft brunette layers. And so the werewolf was no more but a young man again, laying in the imprint of a beast much bigger than he who had flattened down the golden grass of the field. He was normal again as far as one could tell, and yes, naked with tan-fair skin and nicely, human toned muscles. He lay on his side, his body shuddering as the pain withdrew in waves; sweat covered his forehead, and small cuts from the glass panes lined his sides.

His chest heaved up and down and his eyes were closed shut tightly. Spade's head rested on his hand and it felt warm and hot, and when he pulled it away it was covered with blood from a deep cut running down the right side of his face. He moaned, his head turning to the side, his mind in a momentary fog until he saw Rane standing above him at the broken window.

"Ahhh...shit."

[ how pleasant =) ]

["Parker!"]

Rane shutered as the wolf started to form back to human. The fur receded back into the body as the large bulk of the animal mysterious returned back to the small body of the guy. It was so weird how you could fit such a big dog inside a human like that. Rane heaved a breath and cracked her knuckles. As she was sure it was safe to move she noticed the light skin of the naked Spade. She silently moved into the house and into the living room out of sight. She returned with a nice feeling blanket from the living room. She heard the boy speak and she snorted almost sarcastically,

"Ah shit is right!"

Rane had re-appeared from nowhere jumping out of the frame of the window. She dropped two or three feet but landed gracefully on her feet. She threw at blanket that had been on the couch at the naked pop-star as her arms folded across her chest. The blanket had fallen upon the boy covering him as she moved closer. She was sure everything was alright and she could move closer. She stepped closer to him if only a foot away from his face. She squatted down her hands inbetween her legs playing with the grass lightly. He was human now and he looked weak. She was fine...for now. She looked down at him with hard eyes knowing he could feel her there.

"Say, warn me next time you turn into a dog. Thanks."

Her words dripped sarcasm her eyes staring hard at him.

[Melodia]

He closed his eyes. He took a few breaths. In. Out. In. Out. This happened every time, and he took long moments to pull himself back together after transforming again. Though usually it was night and he was usually alone to wait it out, and so this pretty much sucked as it was. The breeze tickled the cut alongside his face and the tips of his ears were hot from the slight embarrassment of, well, exposing himself.

He groaned as he turned over, coming within inches of Rane’s foot. His eyebrows raised and he looked up at her, and then his eyelids fell as he spoke. “Sorry, I don’t have an alarm system,” Spade said flatly, still a little groggy and ticked off at her for well…still being there. He thought for sure she’d run off or something. She wasn’t what he expected, apparently. He let the silence settle, soaking in the warm sunlight and the grassy golden field.

Finally he sat up, staring at her. The blanket covered just below his waist. His skin was warm and inviting in the sunlight and he was nicely chiseled out. The imperfections? His hair was a mess, flying everywhere like he’d had a rough night in bed and a few cuts ran down his sides and the one on his face was bleeding badly, shining when the light caught on the blood. They were so close but he felt like that alone was weighing down upon him, like any sudden movement would make her skiddish and run away. His brown eyes looked her square in the face. All his energy was gone, drained fully so that he wanted to go to sleep right then and there, if only.

“Sorry.” He said, his nostrils quivering a little. He shouldn’t be apologizing. He remembered. He remembered everything afterwards, like a hangover but nothing was forgotten. She had practically tortured him to death with that hellish noise…No. You can’t blame her, Spade reminded himself sullenly, a small twinge annoying him in his spine. What if he had…had..well…eaten her? He didn't think he could bare the sight of her corpse, ripped apart in his living room...she had only been protecting herself, after all.

Those chocolate eyes of his trailed down to her hands as she played with the grass, not wanting to look her in the eye anymore. His hair shadowed his face as he said, “I don’t know why you’re staying.” The tone of his voice was rather dead and depressing, some invisible force weighing down upon his chest as he realized it. "Money, right? That's why you're still here," He stated quietly, his eyebrows drawing into a small frown. This wasn't what he wanted. He wanted her as a friend, to put his trust into someone other than his guitar and the TV. But things would never work out the way he wanted them to. "How much do you want to keep quiet?" Spade asked, a little bit of him dying inside as he did so.

["Parker!"]

Rane stared down at him crittically her eyes turning amused as he spoke about not having a alarm system. So, wolf boy could be funny in a serious time. Of course this could be a serious time- she'd almost gotten attacked. Even worse. Eaten. Her hair blew behind her, the breeze seperating some of the brown hairs making them lighter in the summertime shine. She eye'd him carefully as he sat up and she still squatted her stance looking comfortable. She gave a slight smirk as he apologized. She nodded and gave a amused looking face,

"True, but then again you could have told me you were a werewolf."

Stupid, I wouldn't have tried to read your damn lyrics if you told me they were about you being a werewolf. Stupid wolf-star. Rane hissed her in mind. This couldn't have been her fault...had it? She only tried to read those lyrics...but then again she could have just let the situation drop. But that wasn't her. She didn't just let things 'drop'. She was stubborn and had an attitude and she liked it! Agressiveness was something people needed to survive. She stared fixed upon his messy like hair giving a tiny laughable smile. She blinked as he mentioned why she was still staying. She hesitated and gave a shrug. Why was she here?

"Where else can I go?"

She asked mellowly, her eyes glanceing away. Was he trying to scoot her off again? She frowned but glanced back as he spoke again. Money? She snapped her eyes at him, the pupil turning big. Was he trying to say that...? He mouth parted slightly figureing out that he thought she wanted money and if not then...she would blackmail. As he asked how much she wanted. Her face grew blank from the light dwindling smirk. She hesitated then shot him a very, very dirty look her nose scrunching cutely in the process. She snapped her up knees locking as she turned on her heels,

"I don't want your money."

Rane spat dangerously at him her back turned to him. How dare him! Just because she was staying with him...How..how..

"You pop-stars really are shallow, aren't you? You always think everyone's after your money or your fame or... or whatever!"

She turned her head her eyes narrowing as she caught his eyes again. How pathetic! Rane showed aggression her outward signs hard and feirce while on the inside... She was hurt. To think this guy thought all she wanted was his money. When all she really wanted was a friend.

[aww! D:]

[Melodia]

A thousand? Couple thousand? Maybe ten grand or so? Spade thought wryly, calculating how high he could go in order to protect his secret. And he could go high, too, with cash burning a whole in his pocket and nothing to spend it on. But her next words caught him completely by surprise. His face was blank, his left eyebrow bent slightly in confusion as he hurriedly sorted through his possessions on what else she might want to compensate.

And then her next words hit him like a brick wall to the face and he stuttered as she turned away, her back to him. Spade didn't understand. His words were all choked up in his throat and he tried to make sense of what she'd said. Shallow? He was not sha--...he was shallow, wasn't he? He loved posing for magazines, teasing girls onto the edge with his smile, having them go nuts when they won radio contests, being paid millions just to show off a shoe brand...

That wasn't him anymore, at least not in Lordight. He was not shallow. "Excuse me?" He asked, his tone a bit sour though not harsh or demanding; he had no energy left to be aggressive today. Spade could feel new drops of hot, sticky blood fall down his face from the cut, but he kept quiet through the pain. He felt like someone had shut a door on his heart at Rane's words--they stung. "I'm sorry if I'm used to being bought off, but that's what you're supposed to do when people know your secrets!" Spade shouted to her almost pitifully, his teeth grinding together. He looked down at the blanket, wondering how he was supposed to get to the house and get his clothes while in this difficult position. "Only friends keep stuff like that to themselves...and I've only known you for a day..."

It dawned on him, then. He brushed hair from his eyes, right into his cut so that it stuck together from the liquid and he winced. But his eyes were bright and clear and he was sort of almost...happy. "You wouldn't tell, would you?" He asked, implying the obvious, that they were, in fact, friends. A friend. Wow. He hadn't had one of those in what seemed like ages.

[ cute =) ]