Ryan Findlay

1x1 blog. holla

[wolfofthepines]

Savior in the Dark

[adorewereble]

Griffin wasn’t sure what to make of a pup that was away from his pack. He had seen the occasional wolf here and there, but their interactions were polite, curt, and short. This was something else as Ryan was healing, and was getting better and staying away from those that would otherwise cause him harm. Griffin didn’t think it would be wise to up and toss the wolf out to the pack, as it would be an easy assumption to make that Griffin was the one that caused him harm. If Ryan stayed with him, not only was he safe but would heal faster than he would staying with the wolves and them licking his wounds. Or whatever wolves did.

When he was able to get his sleep, while the other was asleep, Griffin managed to sleep like a rock. His usual amount of sleep was more than the average person or beast, and with the other in his life and living under his roof his sleep always seemed to be … shortened, and this morning was no different. With a growl as Ryan had jumped on his gut and tried to get him moving, Griffin opened his eyes to see the wolf on top of him and sputtering off about .. rivers and fish?

He wanted to swat Ryan off his gut, but the wolf seemed to be enjoying being on the peak of bear as he looked down to Griffin with a big, big smile.

"River? Today? You know where it is, just don’t get lost…" He grumbled in reply as he pulled a pillow over his head. He felt Ryan still remain, as he didn’t move from his belly but stubbornly stayed, and was most likely plotting something diabolical to do in retaliation.

"Ate too much last night, need sleep. Sleep.."

[wolfofthepines]

Hearing he would be denied escort, Ryan huffed. He laid out on Griffin, resting his chin on the large man's chest. Broad, warm, heart thrumming powerfully underneath the skin and dusting of hair, Ryan could have laid there content. If only he weren't so awake. "You've been sleeping since sunset, Griffin," he mumbled, growling playfully as he tipped his head down and nipped the man's pectoral. "It's still warm enough to even go for a dip. That'd be fun! Catch some trout, or maybe one of those huge fish - group's or whatever it is they're called?"

He snatched the pillow away, tucking it under his chest instead as he continued to eye the other. "I will stay up all night if you don't," he threatened, sitting up somewhat. Straddling Griffin, he used his thighs to rock the other back and forth as much as he could. A slow pace meant to do nothing more than to keep the bear awake. "And I will make sure you stay up, as well." Sleep and food were both a means to the man's good graces and also decent bargaining tools. "We have been in the cabin for days! Let's go experience nature."

[wolfofthepines]

Savior in the Dark

[adorewereble]

Griffin watched the wolf as he look to the counter, as if trying to determine if it was real or not. Or something else that only a wolf could think about in their mind; Griffin thought that, perhaps, he might find Ryan on there at some point in the future. Just relaxing… as he asserts his dominance over the kitchen.

"No cow, no pork, no goat— I have some dried meat, fruit, and some other things I can make up for you." Griffin scratched the back of his head as his brow furrowed in thought. He looked out the window to the forest that surrounded his home. "I wasn’t expecting company, or I’d have something more accommodating. I doubt what I have kicking around my cupboards would really satisfy your hunger."

He looked to Ryan with a smirk as he raised a brow to him and leaned against the counter.

"I could get you that elusive pork you were denied. You’d have to be patient, though, as I get it. Then you can feast on it however you want. Chew on it in your wolf form, or let me cook you up something good and warm to fill your gut.” 

As if expecting Ryan to agree with this train of thought, Griffin’s hands went to the bottom of his shirt as he started to lift it over his stomach revealing a strong core with a layer of insulation, covered by dark blond fur.

"So, pork, yes?" he said, arms crossed just over his face and covering an evil little grin. 

[wolfofthepines]

Ryan's gazed dropped when Griffin disrobed somewhat. Though obviously, the bear had stock to him, it was impressive to see with nothing left to the imagination. The wolf had never seen such a specimen, and had to keep from licking his lips. "Y-yes, pork," he agreed, smiling brightly. He would be patient. Ryan had no shame in that - if one was hurt, or ill, the pack picked up the slack until you were better. He saw this as no different.

Griffin delivered the pig, something Ryan dove into happily even as the rest of it was being cooked, or cured. He'd stubbornly put his foot down about butchering it himself. Partly because he felt the need to cover some of the work, partly because he was finicky about such a task. In the end, it was a good, filling dinner. And as the days passed, his wound healed. Ryan didn't leave though. He enjoyed Griffin's company, grew comfortable with getting to know the man. And he felt that Griffin didn't mind his company.

It entertained Ryan to learn that Griffin's territory ran somewhat into his pack's. That wasn't a problem, wolves only had trouble sharing with other, strange wolves. Thy had begun taking little treks, to keep Ryan's strength up, keep an eye out for more hunters. Mostly, Ryan was just appreciating the lull, being around a new, curious individual. He had taken a moment on several nights to howl back and forth with his pack, touching base, letting them know he was alive. Ryan found it amusing how Griffin would seem annoyed somewhat with all the racket. But Griffin was just that - a source of mirth and calm all at once.

One morning, just as dawn was breaking through the dark, Ryan crept back into the bedroom. He was dressed for the most part, eager to get the day going. "Bear.... pssst... Bear!" He hissed, crawling up onto the large mattress. He hovered over Griffin, giving his shoulder a solid push. "Griffin!" Now he spoke louder, climbing on top of the other, rocking with his entire frame in hopes of getting the man to wake. This was not unlike the task of rolling a stone uphill some mornings. Then again, summer was in its last phase, so this made sense. "Griiiiiiiffiiiiiiiiiiiin," the wolf growled playfully, nipping the bear's ear, "Wake up! I want to go to the river today! Fish, think about the Fish!"

[wolfofthepines]

Savior in the Dark

[adorewereble]

Griffin had known there were wolves nearby, but to him he couldn’t distinguish one beast from another. They were all furry, fighty, and like to howl. They were more like little puppies playing with toys than anything else. Of all the were creatures, they were the most numerous, and the most loud—

"Food, yes." Griffin grumbled as he got to his feet making sure to tug the pants up and over his bum. He pulled the blankets open and stood at the edge of the bed, waiting for the wolf in case he needed a hand off the bed. Falling off was easy, stepping off properly was another story given that the bed was a good four and a half feet from the ground. When Ryan was side by side the bear, Griffin smiled down to him and walked after him toward the kitchen.

Everything, from first glance, would be larger-than-life in order for it to be usable by a man that was larger than average. Chairs were at a taller height, the counter would come up to the bottom of Ryan’s chest with upper cupboards completely beyond reach. Griffin opened a few cupboards, but paused before continuing.

"What are you craving? I could go hunt something for you," he said as he wagged his finger to Ryan preemptively, "And no jokes about bears being unable to hunt anything more than honey and berries. You want beef? I’ll bring you a cow.”

[wolfofthepines]

Carefully, Ryan climbed out of the bed. He grunted again when he landed on the floor, on his feet but it did jar his shoulder. Following Griffin through the home, he took in just how large things were to accommodate the man. He ran a hand over the counter top, feeling his awe slowly start to fade into a tamer curiosity. He wanted to jump on the counter, sit there, test it out. Ryan had a need to be up high, above everything to get a better scope of things. It was often joked he should have been born a hawk.

Griffin speaking had the wolf whipping around, giving him his attention. "Do you have... pork? Or goat?" he asked. The wolf laughed, waving a hand. "No jokes, promise..." he sat down, his eyes bright. He didn't doubt for a second that Griffin would bring him back a whole cow. He didn't feel like being alone in the strange, new house though. Plus there were hunters around, still.

"No, you don't have to go get me a cow," he said, shaking his head. It was rare to find this kind of kindness outside of his pack. People were rough and shy of interaction outside of business - they had to be. It wasn't an easy life, carving a home out of an unruly strip of land.

[wolfofthepines]

Savior in the Dark

[adorewereble]

There wasn’t anything that Griffin could do to help with the pain from silver. Rest, food, and more rest was most likely the only thing that would work for him, as it certainly worked for Griffin on the rare occasion a hunter was careless enough to try to control a were with silver. He pressed his lips together as he reached his hand over from under his head, and gently rubbed at that area just to test how resilient the wolf truly was.

"Food? I can get you food, without having to bother farmers." Griff gave him a little smile as he thumbed over his shoulder to another room beyond the wall. "If it’s enough for me, it’ll be more than enough for you. At least until you can get back to your pack." It was doubtful this wolf was alone, as he had mentioned that they had had plenty to celebrate. A lone wolf was a dead wolf, if Griffin’s memory served him.

"A better question is, my time spent out of them. I’m always here. Have been for a long time, and will continue to be." He gave the wolf a smile; it would be too much to explain to Ryan the interconnected relationship bear spirits shared with the woods. Unlike wolves, they were more … well, they were more a fixture, than a fleeting moment in the woods’ history.

"Shouldn’t your pack have you taken care of? They can’t be that far.”

[wolfofthepines]

Ryan's eyes pinched at their corners, pain flaring but he merely grunted. He had had his fair share of scraps and close calls. His body was riddled with the fine scars of growing up. His interests peeked again at the prospect of food. His stomach growled, causing him to grin and lay his arm across his torso. "I like the sound of that..." he said with a smile.

But what Griffin followed with next had Ryan tipping his head. His brow knit, trying to decipher just what that could mean. Wolves did not live forever. Hundreds of years, though many were not that lucky. Especially not with humans exploring, blossoming so. Ryan wasn't all that old at all - barely in his mid-twenties. His father had only seen ninety, but his mother was still alive at 105. It was a roll of the dice, really.

Making a note to question Griffin about his age later, Ryan sat up again. "Well, half of us went down south, a little further. We were traveling with the Cherokee to help them against the Souix. I had been up north getting a few land deeds. Roaming is just in our nature," he shrugged a shoulder. "Our settlement's about forty miles from here, give or take. I just didn't anticipate the new humans... haven't been around in about a year. A lot can change in that ammount of time..." he shifted to hold his arm against his chest, so his shoulder would stay still, and rose to his feet.

"So, food?" he asked, smiling broadly.

[wolfofthepines]

Savior in the Dark

[adorewereble]

Celebration; bears ate when they celebrated, and wolves made noise. To each their own, Griffin thought, as he pulled the blankets around the stranger again as he got back into the bed properly. Even while sitting Griffin seemed to loom, and knowing this — and seeing that look on the wolf’s face — he lied back in the bed with his head comfortable on that soft pillow as he grinned over to him.

"Griffin. No debt, just— rest and recuperate," he pointed to the spot where the bullet had pierced through his body, that point that wasn’t healing at the regular, rapid pace of shifters. "I think they used silver on you."

As he got himself comfortable in the bed, Griffin propped himself on his side as he looked over to Ryan. He gave him just a little smirk as a massive paw went under his own head like a pillow, arm curled against his body. If Ryan were to stare at that soft-looking bicep for long, he’d swear it was bigger than his own thighs. Maybe.

"What were they chasin’ ya for, anyway? Did you try to bed the farmer’s daughter or somethin’?"

[wolfofthepines]

Ryan's shoulders sagged a little bit, feeling he would still be doing something to repay the other were. He would think of it later. Looking down at his shoulder again, he swore quietly under his breath. "No wonder it hurt so much..." That was something he'd have to file away for later. f there were new settlers with silver bullets... they weren't just trying to be neighbors cutting out their own lives into the soil.

Still sitting up, he tipped his head, before he laughed softly. "Oh... that," he leaned back, propped up on the pillows and furs. He looked over at Griffin, but it almost seemed like he still had to look a bit upward. It had him positively mystified. "I haven't eaten in days. There was a pig. I wasn't thinking, I almost had the sow snatched but there were people around. So then the chasing and the shooting happened..." he shook his head, rubbing his eyes. "About the dumbest thing I've done since I was a pup, let hunger blind me. But to be fair that pig was the perfect size..." He thought to laugh, but cleared his throat instead. "How long have you been out in these woods. Griffin?"

[wolfofthepines]

Savior in the Dark

[adorewereble]

Griffin had managed to sleep peacefully the entire time the wolf was asleep, not budging or moving in the least. Snoring aside, but to the wolf it might have sounded more like rumbles than anything. He didn’t hear the other speak until he fell from the bed, and that caused the bear to roll over on his back as he tugged the shirt that was over his body down over his stomach. His loose pants hugged his hips as he sat up in bed and looked down tot he man on the floor who was peeking under his clothes. 

In response to the obvious, Griffin just raised his brow at the other. His interactions with others were so few for this very reason; the existence of werebears were rare, sightings even more so. To see one in the flesh made those that saw him, well, react in a rather silly way such as the wolf on the floor. He leaned forward off the side of the bed and held his hand out for him to take, a hand that looked as if it could easily wrap around the wolf’s waist without a problem. "Fire’s out, you’ll freeze down there. C’mon up," he said with a low growl of a voice. When the wolf had gotten to his feet, Griffin gave him just the slightest of smiles. "Yes, bear. I’m bear. You wolf. Awrooo—" he chuckled, and gave his head a shake, "You people keep me awake at night."

[wolfofthepines]

Looking at the giant hand, Ryan was in awe of how it dwarfed his. He was no small man himself, especially by omegas standards. He climbed back  onto the bed, his eyes roaming over everything that was offered for his sight. There had been something in his tone, something familiar yet not - making Ryan intrigued and wanting to hear more.

He let out a little laugh, embarrassed as he scratched his scruffy jaw. "Yeah... lately there's been much cause for celebration..." he looked around the dark room, settling into the new strange place. "My name's Ryan Finlay. I owe you a debt, Mister....?"

His tone was soft when he surveyed Grffin again. A werebear, no one would believe him unless they saw for themselves. He had heard german wolves once speak of Griffin's Russian brethren like dangerous myths. Ryan wondered just what kind of bear the man was. A native black bear? Brown? One of the behemoths rumored to live across the  Great Lakes? Probably that one.

[wolfofthepines]

Savior in the Dark

[adorewereble]

A bear in the forest wasn’t something completely out of the ordinary, especially during the fall. It felt natural to remain in that form while he sat his big bum down on the ground and foraged. A bear was a bear, that was nothing surprising, but a werebear something else. Larger than a regular bear, with a certain look in their eyes that denoted a higher intelligence, a werebear stood out from his brethren.  A simple foraging was interrupted when Griffin heard the telltale signs of a chase, complete with guns, hounds, and — a wolf? Well, a wolf that wasn’t shifted yet, so a human. Griff slowly made his way over to the noise and noticed just as the man fell to the ground after saying something with his last breath. Those that chased him, while ignorant of most things that involved the supernatural, knew that when they saw a bear that it was smarter to turn tail then to engage. Hounds pulled back, rifles slung over shoulders, and they left just as fast as they came towards him. The big bear moved a big nose down to the wolf, sniffing him— he was still alive, just a little bloody. A little shot. A bear wasn’t made to move people, so Griffin shifted back to his human form, bare to the world. He slung the man’s body over his shoulder, and slowly, and carefully, made his way back to his home. ——- There was no greater comfort, and warmth, than that of another body beside oneself. The nights grew cold as the sun’s time in the sky grew shorter as nights grew longer. Griffin had cleaned up the man as best as he could, dressed him in clothes that were too small for himself but should have been more than adequate for the wolf. He tucked the man into his own bed, a massive bed that was covered in furs, blankets, pillows— everything a slumbering beast could want.  When the moon rose, parting the clouds and casting her white rays through the bare trees, Griffin climbed into bed with the wolf. He pressed his back right up against the sleeping, resting pup, and as soon as his head was comfortable on the pillow the big bear was asleep.

[wolfofthepines]

Ryan must have been out for hours, not that he cared. Fatigued, his body just resigned to heal. He was slow to stir, groggy at first. Naturally his nose was the first to bring his attention to the front of the fog. Eyes snapping open, the omega forced himself to stay calm. He wasn't dead, he felt clean. He was laying on furs, blankets... safe. At first, he made a move to rise, then stopped. Warmth, so much warm was around him. Especially at his back.

Sitting up slowly, Ryan was shocked to see the size of the man laid out beside him. Now, sharing a bed was nothing new. He shared a bed with his brothers growing up, still did. Cabins were small, it was just what was done when it was too cold to sleep outside. This though, this struck him as odd. Bear was everywhere, but it radiated from the man next to him.

"Bear!" Ryan exclaimed, scrambling out of the bed. Again, his haste had him slipping, taking a fur with him as he spilled out onto the floor. Bears were something to steer clear of... but what on earth was he supposed to do with a giant werebear? "Y-you..." and then it clicked. "You were... you were in the woods. You..." he looked down at himself, opened up his tunic to get a look at his chest, his shoulder. "... You're a bear." he was stating the obvious, even part of him knew that. But things just seemed so surreal.

[wolfofthepines]

Savior in the Dark

Leaves kicked up as he cut through the forest. Boots crashed just as heavily as the booms of rifles pierced the air. His shoulder was hot from blood soaking through his tunic, and Ryan was tired. He had been on his way home, so close now to the settlement his pack called theirs. His stomach had growled, days having passed since his last hunt...

It was just a pig. A sow no more than to years old. But he had been too hungry to think that the pig's owner would be home. With friends.

He hadn't had the chance to shift, forced to keep running on two strong legs. As he'd cut through a clearing, they'd clipped his shoulder. It was enough to have him slowing down, enough to make his head spin. All he could hear besides the guns, the shouts behind him, was his own blood pumping. Ryan leaped over a fallen tree, but failed to notice a branch some feet away. He tripped, hit the ground, and rolled own the hill. What caught him was a tree. He let out a loud groan as his back cracked against it. A normal human would have been done, but he staggered to his feet.

He ducked under a ledge, or rather - fell under it. Scrambling to get his pistol, he laid on his pack. He could hear them, still on his trail. Mind growing hazy, Ryan grunted, thinking he had to have caught two bullets, judging from the pain. He slumped, thinking this might have been it. As his eyelids fluttered, he thought he saw a mountain of a man coming over his way. The shouting had ceased. He fought to prop himself up, but it was no use.

The scent was the last thing he reocgnized. It wasn't human, wasn't a wolf. "B-bear...?"

and then he was out cold.