Ryan & Zachary || Red Solo Cup
At the slurring of Zachary’s words Ryan couldn’t help but smirk a little. Wes hadn’t been completely wrong in calling him a lightweight, though so far he seemed to be holding his liquor alright. Being one of the first times the boy had been drinking at a bar like this Ryan wasn’t surprised the alcohol was already beginning to take hold of him. It was still rather funny though, for Zach had claimed he would be competition for Ryan and the elder was hardly feeling the effects of the beverages yet, if not only for a vague sense of it in the back of his mind. He tipped back another gulp of the substance as Zach outlined his history in Houlton, having arrived when he was only eighteen. From what Ryan knew of him the boy lived on his own, meaning that since he was eighteen he’d been on his own. That had to say something of responsibility and such, not everyone was capable of taking care of themselves at that tender age. “The future will always be unknown until you live in it, and at that point it’s not the future anymore – it’s the present,” Ryan asserted philosophically. “We may desire to make changes to what has happened in our past or what may happen in the future but there is no possible way to do so. Best to live for the present and worry about the rest when it comes down to it.” Zach hopefully would never fully understand the truth that came from the statements he made. Maybe one day they would all be something they didn’t want to be – or maybe that day had already passed long ago. Ryan heard the pitched voice long before Zachary paused mid-drink, both of their heads turning towards the wail that originated a short distance from the front bar entrance. Ryan glanced back at Zach briefly before sliding down from his seat. “Well I get the sense that wasn’t an entertained scream,” Ryan commented, “so unless you want to find out the results later on, I say we step in. Let’s see what your training has done for you, champ.” Clapping the boy on the back briefly Ryan led the way out the front doors of the bar, twisting to the left upon instinct and heading for the nearby alleyway. It didn’t take much investigation before the source of the scream was discovered – a young woman was balled into herself in the corner of the alley, in fear of the creature that lurked not five feet in front of her. Walking on all fours and covered in matted brown fur the creature could conceivably be mistaken for a dog or wolf of sorts, except for the fact that this particular wolf was at least three times the size of a normal animal. A werewolf. Ryan hardly hesitated in his reaction, yelling out in order to bring the werewolf’s attention upon him rather than the defenseless girl in the corner. The concept worked; the animal twisting around to face Ryan with teeth barred and snarling, however beyond that Ryan didn’t have much of a plan. It seemed like they’d need to be thinking on their feet as the mutt slowly began approaching the pair. This was one of those many moments Ryan wished he had a gun on him in such a time of need.
Zach looked up to Ryan's smirk, and taking another sip sucked down a deep breath grinning back in response. He was partly laughing at himself, so determined to prove Ryan wrong about him being a lightweight but the plan somehow falling flat. He knew no matter how hard he stood his ground the alcohol would eventually catch up and Zach would be on the ground or passing out or stripping or something, anything stupid.
"Maybe, maybe I'm not as good as I thought I was." Zach mumbled quietly, putting the bottle down as he laid his head against his arms. He closed his eyes for a bit and laughed before looking back to Ryan with curious eyes.
Most the history of the people in the Militia was far from being out there. Most people kept to themselves anyways, which included Ryan, sort of. He knew nothing about him other than how well he fought and the fact he was a pretty cool person to talk to. Zach didn't know whether or not he had a family, or why he had moved to Houlton or why he hated the supernatural or if he did hate them anyways or he was just in it for survival or because someone had convinced him otherwise.
"That was pretty poetic." he mumbled, before looking back to Ryan, "I mean, but waiting for the future and knowing then is hard and maybe it's preferred to know ahead of time rather than waiting for the future to be the present I don't know, I feel funny." he laughed again and leaned in towards the table, "What do you prefer Ryan? Waiting for the present or knowing ahead of time?" The question was mostly for conversation, but he was curious too for Ryan's response.
The scream definitely wasn't at random, nor was it for a good reason and following Ryan Zach ran outside to see the sigh of the poor girl ready to get attacked. He looked at the creature with wide eyes, a wolf of the sorts as it soon started to walk their direction.
"Holy shit." Zach mumbled, and despite training with the Militia the boy barely knew how to handle situations like the one in front of them, especially with no weapons in their hands or hidden in their pockets. He looked back to Ryan to see if he had a plan or anything hidden, like a knife or a gun but like him he brought nothing either.
Wait.
Zach froze, fumbled into his pockets for a small pocket knife he had kept in case of any bottles that were too hard to open. Reaching into he had grabbed it quickly ready hold it out and prove himself at least being able to do something decently.
But the knife fell to the ground quickly more towards the wolf as it gnarled, "Dammit." he muttered smacking his head.
