shut up and drive.

river lei 28. alpha security @ vinny's ♫Are you deranged like me? Are you strange like me?♫

[riverlei]

rcsemallow​:​

Luciana rubbed at her temples as she took a seat, muttering under her breath in Spanish. It wasn’t hard to tell it was something about Vincent though, considering she mentioned him. Looking up, she let her eyes go to River before raising a brow. “If I almost start throwing punches at Vinny, are you willing to pull me away so I don’t lose my job?”

“I think I kind of have to in that situation, don’t I? Pretty sure it’s in the job description.” River sighs because he can both feel and smell her frustration in the air. “Honestly, if it were anyone else I’d be disappointed you didn’t punch him out.. but because he signs both of our checks I’ll say thank you for restraining.” Still he gives her a sideways gaze. “Why’d you agree to meet with him anyway? That’s trouble by itself.”

[riverlei]

pcmegranate​:

“ something like that, yes.” more like a bad week, an atrocious week with bad news piled on top of bad news, that just seems to be never-ending. admittedly, it felt satisfying to put the alpha in his place at the festival, but beau realizes now that he shouldn’t have taken it to that level. interesting what kind of insights a late night walk through a quiet town can bring you. “ funny, i’ve been told my resting bitch face is a warning label by itself,” the journalist retorts, dryly, reaching into his pocket for a smoke. a bad habit his boyfriend definitely doesn’t approve of, but beau just can’t help himself when he’s feeling stressed out, like he is right now. “ oh… you don’t happen to carry a lighter with you, do you?” beau frowns upon discovering that he forgot to bring one. “ what, flirting with you?” river truly is incorrigable, but there is also something kind of amusing about the alpha’s level of delusion. “ well, at least now you’ve been made aware of the fact that i’m taken already. surely an upstanding guy like you will respect that, mhm?” 

River doesn’t do much but give a nod, gazing moving away from the beta. Everyone had bad days but it’s still hard to sit there and pretend like Beau’s words hadn’t stung at least a little. Part of him wants to ask if it has something to do with this so called committed boyfriend but the beta’s made it pretty clear that he’s not interested in River and that might be pushing boundaries or some off thing. Still, for someone with a serious boyfriend he swore Beau was in a bad mood more often than not. Relationships always sounded too complicated. “You don’t have a resting bitch face,” River said with a scoff, almost feeling offended for the other wolf. He reaches into the pocket of his jeans to pull out a lighter for Beau, pulling it back at the last minute. “Only if I can have a smoke-- Mine are in the car.” River is quiet for a moment at the beta’s words, a frown on his lips. Sometimes River stretches but surely he wasn’t wrong. He sighs. “Right, sure. So what are you doing out here? You don’t look like you’re working, and I don’t see this so called significant other of yours so you’re not on a date either. Not cuddling by the TV like other boring couples?”

[riverlei]

pcmegranate​:

“ i figured as much, since you were failing my test miserably. no offense, but it seems as if you get confused very easily. not a good trait to possess, alpha,” brown eyes narrowing thoughtfully, raine leans slightly forward, inhaling the stranger’s scent of diesel and wormwood — right, unmistakably alpha. “ you did, mhm? what is it then? what is it that drives you?” 

River frowns, taking a step back with a noise of discomfort. He’s the first to scent another without invitation but it’s an odd feeling when the shoe’s on the other foot-- Especially by an omega. His hair stands on end as his eyebrows furrow. “Don’t scent me.” A hand brushes his own shoulder as if wiping away something that isn’t there. “What do you mean what drives me? Impulse?”

[riverlei]

aquivcr​:

“I - “ He shrugs. Steve’s thoughts go back to Shiloh, she’s the last relationship he’s had. He remembers things were very different when they’d first started off. “It’s belonging, you want someone to share your world and you want to share yours. You’ve never wondered about it?” 

He grumbles something in answer, reaching for his beer with zealous thirst, throat working in big gups. Over the neck of his beer bottle Steve’s eyes go wide, guilty as his gaze flints up to glance at River and then dart away. “Yeah… that - that would be worse.” 

--

River’s quiet for a moment, taking in Steve’s words before shaking his head. He has thought about it, who doesn’t at their age, but the idea is still a startling one. River can hardly stand his own company for an extended period of time-- Adding another person to that cocktail seemed like a headache he wasn’t ready for. He’s the definition of recklessness and it doesn’t seem fair to expect someone else to be okay with that. “I’m a security guard at a strip club and enjoy illegal street racing on the weekends, I don’t know who’s up for sharing that kind of lifestyle.”

There’s a server with food and they catch River’s attention, hoping it’s theirs. It’s not-- He turns back to the table just in time for Steve’s look of guilt and River’s eyes widen. He opens his mouth to say something before struggling and closing it again, looking very much like a fish out of water. Finally he just shakes his head. “No. No, the Goddess isn’t that mean. You’re way too boring for that.”

[riverlei]

inrains​:

“lots of things. a second son with a brain’s one of them.” river makes a fair point. buying for grown adults with a bunch of disposable income’s hard. simon’s grateful he chose to unload this gift-giving occasion on river’s mostly dependable shoulders. “sure,” he sighs as he plops down on a chair. comfortable and cushioned, but almost as old as the cabin itself. “race? you’re still betting money down there?” scoffs, “gonna get caught up in something shitty, riv.” 

“If they had such a great son at first why even tempt fate for a second, you know? Sounds like their own fault really.” River relaxes against the couch he’s sitting on, drinking from the bottle in his hands with a sideways glance towards Simon. He doesn’t say that he won’t because he’s been there before-- Spent a night in jail for it too before Simon came to pick his sorry ass up. “The car’s good,” River says instead with a shrug. “And I can drive it. The money’s nothing to scoff at either. You could always go down there and pitch the odds out of my favor; we’d get a better payout in the end.”

[riverlei]

pcmegranate​:

“ yes, he rarely says anything valid, but even i have to admit he has a point there,” the beta points out, scrunching up his features as if they were chewing on a lemon rind. “ um, gross? what makes you think i wanna see that one in booty shorts? no, mosquito man, if you want to proof us both wrong, you’re going to have to show me and the rest of crystal grove some leg, asap.”

River laughs with a roll of his eyes at the beta’s comment-- The comment at Honey’s expense brings a pleased grin to River’s lips. He’s practically preening. “Is that the endgame here for you?” River asks with a tease, though he’s definitely perked up a bit. “You’ve seen me bare assed and still you want booty shorts?” 

[riverlei]

inrains​:

“get them a decent gift and he won’t have anything to joke about. duh.” they’re in simon’s cabin, dark on the inside but tidy. simon bares his teeth at the beer can on his hand-carved table. “you lost your mind? protect the wood, idiot,” he says and throws a coaster. “— and birthdays aren’t easier. look for something they can do together. food, a puzzle. you know them just as well as i do.” 

River gave both a whine and a scoff at his brother’s bared teeth, running a hand across the area he’d hit the cap on. “You distracted me! I forgot where I was.” Excuses, he’s always had plenty of those. River straightens the coaster on the table but hardly uses it when the beer rarely leaves his hand. “Okay but what do they not already have, you know what I mean? What am I supposed to do-- Buy them a spa day?” River makes a small noise. “There is a pretty decent race going on this weekend. I could get the money for it.”

[riverlei]

aquivcr​:

“Burn your dictionary,” Steve suggests, waiting for River to order, his stomach reminding him that he’s hungry, life impending doom or no. “What’s with the sudden investment in being in a relationship?” He asks, suddenly digging into River’s issues seemed far more interesting than taking a magnifying glass to his own pile of shit. 

“Yeah,” Steve grumbles. In romance - novels things got solved by the end. Somehow he doesn’t think there will be a happy airport chasing scene in his and Orion’s future. “I don’t know, River.” He snaps, a little harder than he means to, his fingers drift to the bite on his neck without thinking about it. With each passing second things feel more and more real. More questions atop of the one River is asking  -  he’s mated. For life. “I don’t love him.” Steve says, looks at River. “I’ve met him three times. I don’t know him.” He gapes, lost for words. “He’s engaged. What is there to do?”

A scoff. “Could you imagine me without it though?” River lets himself laugh as they finish ordering and the server disappears around the corner. “You’re the one asking me that?” The question is asked without thought as River sits back in his seat a bit with a curious look before his head shakes. “I wanna know what the fad is; being with one person for their whole life. What part of that sounds fun to you?”

A heavy exhale leaves the alpha. “Sorry-- Not helping, I know.” Their beer is dropped on their table soon enough and River gratefully takes a sip, happy to have something else to focus on until he could shut his mouth with food. “Could always be worse.” Though honestly he does have to think for a moment about what that could be. “A kid, that’s worse. Or an STD, but really they’re the same thing.”

[riverlei]

pcmegranate​:

“ why would i be asking for directions when no one truly knows where we are headed?” the omega questions, pushing their sunglasses up the bridge of his nose before breathing out a heavy sigh. “ i was merely testing you, is all.” 

A choke of laughter leaves River. “Well save your breath, I’ve never passed a test in my life.” He holds up a finger in second thought quickly enough, however. “Not true-- I passed my drivers exam somehow.”

[riverlei]

Is there someone you'd consider to be a good friend?

"Oh great, it's sentimental hour now. I guess, the closest friend I have in town, aside from my brother of course, would have to be Steve. He listens even when I’m talking just to talk-- Weirdo. Still, he doesn’t steal my keys and I haven’t slept with him so he gets the friend label.”

[riverlei]

you'd look really pretty bruised up

"You could come see that at the races if you really wanted to-- Don't need to fight a losing battle just to see me all bruised up."

[riverlei]

what scares you?

"Spiders, commitment.....being married to a spider and having to commit to it. Normal fears.”

[riverlei]

any wolves you wanna hook up with still?

"Beau. In the meantime however; anyone who hasn’t been with Honey.”

[riverlei]

top 5 hottest wolves in crystal grove? and no, you can't list yourself

"No me?? Well then, sorry to say this will be an incomplete list because my name should be on the top somewhere. Top spot should be me but since I’m not allowed I guess I’ll put Honey cause he’s just a less cool version of me. Then Beau because I can still look even if I can’t touch. Ellis, and no that doesn’t mean I’m going to yoga. Thorn because he’s stunning across a bedsheet. And Luciana of course, can’t forget the girl who showed me how to untie a corset.”

[riverlei]

Who would you let top you?

"Top me?! Why would anyone want to do that when I’ve practically perfected the art of being on top. I wouldn’t even let a Doppelganger top me.”

[riverlei]

fantasy threesome?

"A threesome? Man-- You all are really out here thinking I'm batman. I can hardly keep up with one wolf around here at a time. Fantasy threesome, huh? Hmm.. Beau and Thorn.”

[riverlei]

do you still believe you're the batman of vinny's?

"Sure, laugh it up. I'd look amazing in a suit."