Untamable [BXB]

11: getting somewhere

      "It's all my fault." Silas hears Rune say from between walls, agonized.

      He'd been listening to the conversation all morning, sulking in his nest with his stuffed wolf held tight. With perked ears and thin walls it was easy to hear them discussing him— or more accurately, discussing his quote-unquote 'outburst.' Silas curls in tighter on himself, humiliated, as he remembers it all over again. The fear. The bite.

He kicks the stupid stuffed animal away from him. Then, he glances at it regretfully, and tugs it back to his chest.

He buries his face into it and sighs.

"I feel so stupid." Rune says, muffled and distant from Silas's closetspace. "You couldn't have known what was brewing in his head," Sylvie's voice tells him. "Everything was going so well, he was adjusting fine, I just thought he could handle it." Rune broods, as if he doesn't hear her. Silas huffs as his ears catch it all, his pride bruised.

"But I realized; things haven't been going well," Rune says, "I've really just been pushing him this whole time— and he's just been putting on a brave face." He sighs. The alpha scratches at the side of his neck, a unsatisfied itch. He felt like a failure of an alpha for letting it happen. And now, I've pushed him all the way back to square one, Rune thinks.

Silas hates that he's right. That his facade was discovered so quickly, that his 'progress' broke down and shattered so easily.

The world is nothing like I thought it was in the agencies, He thinks. Why can't I just forget everything before..? Why were memories rearing their ugly heads? Why couldn't he just be normal?

The discussion simmers out, words spoken too quiet for his ears to hear.

Silas hadn't eaten since they got back yesterday afternoon, where he'd woken up and instantly retreated to his nest for what he hoped would be forever. He couldn't bring himself to even open the closet door when Rune came by with dinner; no matter how enticing the smell. He just wanted to retire here for good and never wake up. And yet, the soft, ugly inhabitant in his head was whining and whimpering incessantly to be in the presence of his mate.

A knock at the door startles Silas from his thoughts.

      The door opens when he doesn't respond. Rune, Silas knows, because of the woodsy scent that follows inside. He hears the bed creak as a weight sits down on it.

"You can't sulk up here forever." Rune says. Silas huffs audibly, and rolls his eyes. His brows furrow, throwing a blanket over himself within his nest construct. "Watch me." He mutters back bitterly, and Rune exhales a small laugh beyond the door.

He hums dramatically. "That's really a shame. If that's the case, I guess you won't be able to see the super cool present I got you." Rune lilted, something clattering outside, and Silas's ears perk with intrigue.

      Present? He wondered. The thing within him purrs at this idea: Mates' given us a gift!

Autopilot swiftly made his decision for him, peering open the closet door. Rune glanced his way, waving a silver rectangular item at him. "What's that?" He asks, timid. Rune pats the space on the bed next to him. Come here first.

He obeys, curiosity getting the better of him. Leaving the safety of his den, Silas padded up to the bed and sat down. Rune pawns the unknown item over for Silas to inspect. The shine of the metallic shell entices him, omegas naturally drawn to pretty, shiny things for their nests. Two long threads stick out of the end of it. But he doesn't understand its use. His eyes meet Rune's, seeking an answer.