cinnamon in my teeth

Matteo Elio, 28 year old bitten lycan. waffle house employee.

[matteoelio]

[matteoelio]

Person: @alekgray Location: Amongst the Fesitivities, hyping Kayce "He's suspiciously good at that." Matteo took a sip from his soda as his eyes narrow as he watches Adamo manage to actually keep hold of Kayce. Was it grease? Was it motor oil? Who was to say what Kayce was covered in? He thought it impolite to ask on top of the fact that perhaps he just didn't want to know. "I take it you're team Kayce for Alpha?" He can't say he's not feeling a bit protective over the ex alpha as they all seem to scramble to find a new one.

[authormax]

I like being occasionally poetic

@matteoelio

[matteoelio]

Person: @authormax Location: Lupercal He still kind of thinks Max is crazy for wanting to throw his hat into the ring for alpha. It brings about all sorts of conflicting feelings in his gut and he frankly already has enough of those when it comes to the author. Especially because while he's gone on dates, while he's had significant other's and he thinks he dresses alright, he's never quite felt this self conscious. It's not even like what he's wearing is revealing, last year he'd worn shorts and a hoodie to run around. This year it's a bit sharper, there's tight pants involved, there's a few shirt buttons left undone. They meet without any of the fanfare, without all the bustle of the other lycans that were getting things ready at the fairgrounds. Going for a walk is neutral grounds, right? Just to kind of take a lap around to get the idea of the final layout. "Hi." Matteo says as they approach one another on the central path, his hands in his pockets because he needs to fidget with something.

[napoleonriot]

"As if I'd let you have all the fun." Whatever flimsy material was passing as a shirt was quickly discarded, the rest was dropped with ease. There was nothing more degrading than a lycan in pants or, worse, a stretched-out pair of underwear that was still clinging around their waist. Napoleon let it all hang free, bare as the morning after he'd been born. All flushed skin that tingled at the sudden wash of the cool, winter air, he kicked his clothes towards Matteo as Napoleon's neck craned back. A noise between a sigh and a growl fluttered from the base of his neck as the lycan's neck elongated unnaturally. With it came the audible pop of a bone, his throat bulged, and a grin spread to unnatural lengths over the candor of his wolfish lips as his cheeks split to accommodate. The pink flesh of Napoleon's lips pulled back to reveal rows of mortal teeth that suddenly grew as they sharpened into points.

Newly turned wolves had to suffer through painful transitions, Napoleon had heard how difficult it was for the freshly bitten because for a human man to turn into a lycan, just about every natural law had to be defied. That was what it meant to be cursed by a God and any lycan worth a damn knew that story. The fabled King who'd dined on his son's own flesh was doomed to spread this affliction across the world. A fate that trickled down to the illustrious Valter line. Eventually, lycans could turn on a dime; they gave in to the curse and let it rip through them quickly and violently.

Pampered, devoted, and conceited, Napoleon lavished in the sensations, and while it was easy to shift without much thought, he took great pleasure in embracing every single moment. Fluidity and languidity, especially in something so violent.

There was no audible snap of bones, that which characterized the shift of so many other lycans, instead the sound that came from Napoleon's body was more of a grind. Bone upon bone as Napoleon's shins grew into his haunches, a jaw that broke smoothly and pushed forward as beneath the pale glint of glowing, gray eyes. Gums and nails as black as obsidian, the latter sharp enough to tear through steel. A volatile's strength, and a Valter-born lycan's boundless control. He stood before Matteo now under the glow of the partial moon, strong and empowered with a coat of fur like a pale sheen of pressed ash.

Napoleon got close again, then barked before something guttural bellowed from his chest: laughter. It was all as if to say, be strong, be wild, be free.

[matteoelio]

There is something about standing there, watching someone else shift. It always takes him a second for his brain to seem to process that he himself can do that, that someone could watch him do the same thing. What had once been bizarre and horrifying had at some point become something kind of beautiful. There's even maybe the tiniest, teeniest bit of envy for those that were born this way, who had grown with this kind of wildness inside them already. Napoleon once stood a man, now he barks there at him, a wolf and Matteo's eyes narrow playfully as a means to cope with getting naked in the woods. Matteo loves and hates this part all at the same time. Shoulders rolling back, he lets out a slow breath and just lets it happen. He has to visualize the change in his mind's eye every time, closes his eyes and thinks about it starting at hands and feet. Nails going to claws, bones breaking and reforming at forearms and calves. It's easier from there, if he thinks about it slowly it takes the focus off of the pain and every damn time, he hears Alek's voice in his head. The sun, the moon, the truth. Three things that were certain. It all hurts and then he's shaking and he's stretching a bit, everything seemingly snapping into place and jaws opening and there's so many pointy teeth in his mouth and he actually loves that part. Napoleon dwarfs him as a wolf, most people do, he's toned but he's wiry, fur a soft brown. He barks at the other wolf, gives a slight nod towards the empty fairgrounds, the forest. They've got room to run. And for the first time since he'd resigned himself to really committing to officially making this place home, he grins and it's wolfish because that's what he is. A wolf.

[matteoelio]

Valentine's Day Scrapbook: Max & Matteo

"Catch light in summer like leaves A sparkle tells me who I am and where my moon begins" - Moon Begins, Florist @authormax

[matteoelio]

Matteo, Lupercalia

"I'm a little worried about being a slut." - Bobby Hill, King of the Hill

[l3rmans]

Logan in new photos shared by Ana.

[cassanderx]

"Matty, what would we say? Shift in front of them? It's fine to let it be. They can continue on thinking we're great. We're fine. The perfect kids, whatever the hell they want to tell their friends." Cassander had no intent on ever being truthful with them. He'd lived his life for them, to be a good kid, a good son, a good student – he was happy being selfish. Things done for himself had taken on a whole new meaning as of late, despite the fact that the man that turned him was a fucking wreck. Another thing he had to deal with. "Feel the same about what?"

[matteoelio]

"I had a plan. One I kind of thought I was close to actually achieving before all this." Get good grades in high school, get into a good university somewhere his parents couldn't have direct access to him, get a good job. "I wasn't drinking, I wasn't partying, I was keeping my head down and just...." Hearing it all out loud and Matteo's brow furrowed and he looks to his brother and the wheels are slowly turning. Because as wild as all of this had been, the last year or so, he can't say it hasn't been without it's perks. "I was close a dream office job." He shakes his head and the exasperated sigh he lets out is at his own expense. "Now I'm occasionally smoking, partying responsibly, handing people chairs to brawl at the Waffle House." Each thing is reflected on fondly, it's not really something he's expecting. There is a sense of belonging here, wolves that have welcomed him despite not quite going all in on the pack thing. "I feel like that person I was isn't quite there anymore and maybe that's okay."

[danteragnulf]

"I've never been on Wattpad, but you seem like someone who spends much of their time there." Dante ribbed, "There's probably much you should watch out for. Careful around demons, some of them will suck the soul right out of you." Dante made a lewd gesture with his hand to his mouth as he poked the corner of his cheek with his tongue. This poor baby lycan had no idea what he was doing around here, and it'd be adorable if it wasn't so terrifying. "There's also all kinds of supernatural STDs, I knew this one guy who's butthole closed up and he had to get a permanent colostomy bag."

[matteoelio]

There's a protest about how he had to research all of this somehow combined with the fact that whole "A/B/O" thing was ridiculously popular thanks to....Was it Supernatural? Some show like that. But he instead sighs and shakes his head. It hadn't been an entirely fruitless endeavor, Dante had helped in his own kind of way. Raised a lot more questions than gave answers, but at the mention of supernatural STDs, Matteo thought this was a nice stopper to the conversation. "You know what, thanks for the pep talk." Clapping the musician on the shoulder, he just hoped he forgot about this by the time Thursday rolled around and he got to see his All Four's set without being reminded of the pop bottle suggestion.

[napoleonriot]

Napoleon liked to have fun with people; he was insatiable and always had been. He did what he wanted, and when other people said no, he had no problem tapping his foot and egging them on until they finally relented. It was all part of his spoiled charm. "C'mon, do it." Napoleon had too much lycan in him to let anything go. In games of tug-o-war he always won. Matteo might have stepped back, but Napoleon just stepped forward; he grinned and showed his canines. Gray eyes glinted just below pink hair as his chest bumped against Matteo's scrawnier one. "I just wanna see, what, are you scared? This is a city of lycans; we all shift, just show me."

[matteoelio]

"You too then." It's the only defense he really has in the moment. Matteo hadn't necessarily been bullied as a kid, he'd avoided peer pressure for the most part and now it was coming back to bite him in the ass. "Waffle House bonding moment." It's with a bit of sarcasm and exasperation that he steps back again and pulls his shirt off over his head. What was a quick run through the woods anyways? It's not like he doesn't like it and Napoleon has his teeth sank into the subject and was going to shake him until he tired himself out, surely.

[authormax]

"It is, yes." Fondness curls in his chest as he looks down at his drink and thinks of his family. It is a sort of coming of age tradition for them, to go off into the world and explore if fully before they decide to settle anywhere. Most of his family returns home to join his mother's pack, but he had been happy enough to be with Andrew. And now? Now he has changed far too much, and doesn't think home is a place he can return to. "That explains a great deal," he admits, mind flickering back to their first encounter, a little amusement showing on his face. "My family's pack is back in Canada, yes, but I am not part of it. Once we reach adulthood, we get to go the chance to go out into the world and decide if we want to return, and after the last few years— Well, let's just say that I am not thinking on returning anytime soon. Specially with the possibility of a new Lupo alpha right around the corner."

[matteoelio]

Matteo doesn't quite know how he would describe the Lupo, but for all the brawling at the Waffle House and All Fours they seemed to do, there is a sense of family. There has to be things that are similar pack to pack, but he's curious what else is out there. And yet Max had said he wasn't going back so maybe it's a bit of a sore spot. They don't need to get that deep for this, that's like fifth date material, familial trauma. Taking a sip from his glass, he tries to dismiss the thought. He'd sus out if it was alright to be asking about what pack life in Canada was like. "Why? Do I have to dissuade you from becoming Alpha?" He thinks about Alek as he'd been sitting around playing video games and recovering from surgery. It was the most relaxed he thinks he's ever seen the guy.

[riversharpe]

"My family doesn't really, uh... know about all of this," which wasn't exactly a full lie, given that his family hadn't known he'd been bitten. Or that he wasn't human anymore. Though, the months of pushing off going home would eventually come to a standstill, in which River would need to figure out what the hell to do. His mom would only accept that he was on some supernatural's tail so many times. "Kind of feels like shit, not being able to tell them. You know?"

[matteoelio]

"Yeah. I haven't told mine. I don't really think-" He stops himself because he doesn't want to make this about him and he doesn't really want to talk about it. It's not even that it's hard to process, he just doesn't want to deal with the guilt that winds up sitting in his gut every time. Matteo didn't think talking to his parents mattered all that much anymore, not after everything he'd dealt with the last year in Rome. "It's kind of depends, I guess. Are you guys close?"

[cassanderx]

Cassander watched Matteo for a minute, knowing his parental issues were loud and clear to his brother. Perhaps he'd gotten the easy part, but then again, Cass was far from perfect. He was good at what he wanted to be good at, easy to pretend and enjoy what it was he had gotten in life. Though while he was all to human once, Valamir's mistake had allowed him to really be free. That's clearly what his brother needed. "Do you care enough to be what they want you to be? We're not going home for Christmas, we can't tell them what happened – so why are you still using them as an excuse?"

[matteoelio]

"You haven't thought about telling them?" He wants to pump the brakes on the whole thing because that's an entirely new thing that they should probably get at, too. It really sinks in there with Cass on his couch how much there really isn't any reason to go back. As distant as he'd gotten over the years, he'd been decently compliant. Showed up at Christmas, some events, did at least a phone call a month. "I told them I was moving before I headed here. Mom asked why I'd go back to somewhere where something attacked me." Clara had been there for him that night at the hospital the night Alek bit him. Matteo remembered her asking if he had anyone to call, he'd called his roommate, not their parents. "I don't know, Cass. It's easier than admitting I don't think your stick in the mud little brother doesn't feel the same anymore." It's not petulant or finger pointing, Matteo's more tired than anything. There wasn't any going back, there was only going forward.

[napoleonriot]

"Alone?" What a weird little guy, the bitten ones were always so nervous, as if this was something that they should be ashamed of. "No way my guy," Napoleon got closer, at over six feet tall he looked down at most people and Matteo was no different as he grinned and kept pressing forward even as he bumped into the other lycan. "show me." Once again antagonizing the other just a bit, he pushed lightly against Matteo's shoulder, "C'mon, show me." Napoleon was always relentless when it came to getting the things that he wanted, Carmine and Jonas could attest that the spoiled brat always got his way. "I wanna see."

[matteoelio]

Matteo had always been one of those people who'd been made very aware of peer pressure at a young age. It wasn't even that he was some kind of prude or anything, he usually declined shenanigans because he wasn't interested. The thing is, being a lycan seemed to guarantee shenanigans to a degree. Except he thinks he'd rather be being goaded into smoking weed like at university instead of being pressured to shift. "You're not gonna let it go, are you?" He takes half a step back when Napoleon pushes at him, more exasperated than nervous. It's a rhetorical question, they both know the answer.

[danteragnulf]

"You were that bad, huh?" Dante couldn't imagine someone wanting to actively forget that the two of them had ever had sex, but seeing as how Matteo hadn't known what a knot was going into it... That had to be kind of shocking. Probably for both of them. "Maybe practice with a pop bottle or something then blow his mind next time." People had been through it, like actually to hell and back, Dante didn't remember much of what happened either and he was grateful. It more or less just sounded like Matteo's first time doggie style was a causality in all of that.

[matteoelio]

A pop bottle. A pop bottle? Matteo couldn't think on that one too hard because he was afraid he was going to start thinking of logistics. "There any other weird supernatural sex stuff I should be watching out for?" The sigh of that leaves him is the sound of defeat, it's acceptance that things could always get weirder. "Like you're not gonna tell me Wattpad had it right the whole time, right?" There's the tiniest tinge of hope to his voice because surely things couldn't get that weird.

[authormax]

"It's a shame that you didn't see me with even less," Max sighs out, adding a dreamy quality to his words as he makes a point to meet Matteo's eyes and wink to drive his point across. There is no way the new lycan can misinterpret that innuendo, but he is already attempting to come up with more as he leans back and takes the drink to his lips as he savors both it's taste and Matteo's face as he keeps looking at him. "I am one of Lycaon's descendants, yes. My family line is more recent than the Tana pack, and has moved around more. You can find us in Canada now, but the short story long. I first shifted as a teen but I had expected it to happen since I could remember."

[matteoelio]

Matteo likes everyone's origin stories, as someone who grew up just some regular kid, it was great. He knows they're not always nice, but the whole supernatural aspect, where it'd all started, he wanted to know about it. "Must have been nice to know what was going on." He powers right on past the overt flirting, but he is smirking just a little. Just a tiny bit to let Max know he knows what he's doing. "It's only been a little over a year for me." The last Lupercalia he'd been wandering around by himself trying to meet other wolves, people who weren't part of the pack. He'd been looking for Alek then and when he'd found him, he hadn't known what to make of him. "D'you have a pack up that way then?" Just visiting or was he here to stay? That also was important, he'd kind of, sort of, committed to Rome now, to Lupercal.