Roman kept strange hours. Usually the last one to bed and one of the first to rise, others often wondered when it was he actually slept. His answer to that question, when it was posed, was simply ‘Sunday.’ But today wasn’t Sunday, and he had things to do. If he’d ever gone to bed last night, he was already back in the server room before the first light of dawn, monitoring a security situation to ensure an especially determined hacker didn’t bypass the firewall. Troublingly, Roman was almost certain he’d locked out this particular threat before. Apparently they’d decided to give it another shot. Whether that persistence was morbid curiosity or something more sinister the wolf couldn’t say, but a deep frown had furrowed his brow by the time he finally deemed it safe to shut the lid of his own laptop.
Leaning back in his chair as the overclocked fans powered down, he exhaled a deep sigh and wiped the sheen of sweat from his brow. This room was always so hot, even before the summer sun started beating down properly - and now, in addition to being too warm, Roman was hungry. It was time to get some food, finalize his to-do list, and go into town. Half standing, half rolling from his seat, he stretched, then hit the lightswitch on his way out the door. Mercifully the hall was a full ten degrees cooler and his mood was fast improving. He padded down the hall on bare feet, navigating around the known squeaky boards to avoid waking anyone that might still be sleeping. However, it was nearly eight o’clock and from the kitchen, he could smell food and hear signs of life.
Roman wasn’t a big talker in the mornings. In fact, he wasn’t a big talker in general, but he acknowledged those that happened to make eye contact with a nod as he went about getting coffee, piling food on his plate, and ultimately taking his whole breakfast with him back to his room. He needed to get cleaned up and only had about half an hour left to do it, hence the need to eat on the go. He told himself he’d take the dirty dishes back to the kitchen later as he added them to the collection on the corner of his desk, pulled on his shoes and left the house. Squinting against the bright morning sun as he headed to the eastern edge of the compound, he approached the tiny cottage Nico and Phaedra called home. He know the beta would be at the gym already, so after knocking he announced himself, “Hey Phae, you still up to comin’ with me today? I’m gonna be leaving soon…”
A couple days ago he’d spotted the girl sitting by herself. That in and of itself wasn’t unusual, but she’d seemed lonely and at the time he hadn’t known what to say. Truthfully, he didn’t have any better idea now, but he’d invited her to help him run errands (even when they both knew it was just an excuse to get her out of the bayou for a while). It was unfortunate that even after all this time some of the older wolves refused to accept her as pack, particularly since they were merely following the Alpha’s example. But thanks to Nico, practically half the pack had grown up alongside Phae. Roman, like most the other young wolves, was well aware she was a witch yet saw her as the exception to the rule. It was a sentiment he found difficult to put into words. At the end of the day, he just hoped his efforts to include her said it for him and were somehow enough.
There wasn’t a particular reason for her melancholy of late. Which was to say, there wasn’t a new reason. Things were as they’d always been—most of the pack accepted her, but she always managed to worry about the ones who didn’t. She knew there was still a contingent who didn’t want her here, didn’t trust her, thought she was an interloper. It might be easier to ignore it if it was just a few people on the fringes, but it wasn’t. She knew the Alpha had never liked her, and as much as she was told it wasn’t personal, it was her worrying about the pack and having her own issues with witches, it was hard to remember that.
Though it probably did impact the other thing that was bothering her as of late. It wasn’t something she’d talked to anyone about. Mostly because she didn’t even want to admit that it was happening. The nightmares and the weird thoughts sometimes were one thing, but it was becoming harder to deny that her powers went beyond just healing, no matter how much she didn’t want them to. She hadn’t been using them, exactly, but more and more they started slipping out. And she didn’t know what to do about it.
Healing was useful, and it was good in a way that other freaky mind powers weren’t. She was so desperate to prove that the pack hadn’t made a mistake in taking her in, that she wasn’t bad or dangerous like other witches were, that she hadn’t even admitted what was going on, not to anyone. She knew she could tell her father, and he’d try to help her, but... well. What could he do? He had years of life experience, but he didn’t understand her magic any better than she did. He’d just worry about her, and she didn’t want to put anything more on his plate.
But Roman had noticed how down she was, though she didn’t think he’d quite guessed the cause. Maybe it would be good, to get out of the compound for a bit. Being around humans always made her anxiety spike, but it was easier knowing that Romy was with her. She knew he’d never let anything happen to her. He was perhaps a tad overprotective, but she appreciated it, especially as she knew that it came from a place of love.
The knock on the door wasn’t unexpected. She hadn’t been sleeping that great lately, so she’d been getting up earlier and earlier. She was already dressed, even. “Just let me grab my bag,” she said. scooping up her purse and sliding her phone inside. It would be good to get out, she reminded herself. And Roman was there. Nothing bad could happen if Romy was with her.
