🌖~ Moonlit Obsidian ~ 🌔 [with M-jow]

[mik3la]

The other didn't had to tell what he was thinking as he could see the look in his eyes when he realized what had happened exactly. He had been the target all along. He was supposed to be attacked in the library and most likely he was supposed to die tonight instead of Noah. His friend was dead because of him. 

Guild and grief was building in his chest again, feeling his heart squeeze like hell, like thorns where pinned in it. It was all his fault. He was the cursed one.

He was about to break apart when the other asked where he lived and that he shouldn't go alone given the circumstances. That made him rethink everything and trying to understand why would someone want him dead. 

His line of thoughts was interrupted when he the other mentioned that he was not safe and that he should know how magic works. 

"Yeah I know ... they leave a scent that can be found by hounds ..." he said unconsciously, responding out of reflex. Of course he knew about magic. He was a magic being, but the only person that knew that was Noah. And now Asher. 

He took a deep breath and turned his eyes towards the guy, locking his eyes with the honey colour that shined now in the dark of the room. 

[M-jow]

Asher stiffened.

The answer had slipped out so fast the other hadn't noticed. And Asher hadn’t missed the way Kaito caught himself, that sharp little intake of air when the man realizing he’d just stepped off the edge of no return.

 

He didn’t need to ask futher to understand. Kaito had already outed himself. Magic-born. No matter how he’d tried to keep quiet about it, the scent clung to him.

But that wasn’t what was weighing the most on the other's mind. It didn't take much for Kaito to put the puzzle pieces together in the same way Asher suspected Noah’s death to have happened. The way he held himself and the change in his expression. He recognise the clues.

Asher’s jaw flexed. He turned away slightly, letting his eyes scan the sterile lines of the hospital room instead of lingering.

Magic.

Of course it had to be magic.

His pulse thudded in his ears, and for a second he had to breathe deliberately to keep his voice level. There was a long, bitter history between wolves and magic users. Centuries-old blood feuds, broken treaties, and a hundred reasons not to trust someone like Kaito.

Both Asher and Logan had been taught this while growing up. Their father had described magic as an sickening feeling, that smelled like roses and rotten meat.. and it was true. Magic did smell like that normally. But.. well Kaito didn’t really smell like that to him. Which was why he was unsure. His nose did tickle so that was his only give away.

 

He folded his arms, eyes turnimg back to Kaito, who was being quiet now. The IV line still in his arm, the bandage near his temple made him look more human, and less like the threat Asher’s mind wanted him to be. But instincts didn’t care. Magic was magic.

"Well that is that," Asher said, voice low, not accusing him, cause pick their own birth, “Whatever this is… whoever you are, it got nothing to do with our situation.”

He ran a hand through his hair, restless, scanning the hallway just beyond the door. Two uniformed officers were still stationed outside. Not their people. Just humans. Useless if the attackers came back with spellwork or scent-blockers.

“You’re can't go anywhere, yet” he said, mostly to himself. “Not until a doctor signs you off. And I can’t just let you walk out of here alone even then. If anyone is after you it would be too easy to just put a bullet in you”

He stepped closer to the window, arms still crossed. The city outside was coated in the night. Streetlights glowing and headlights flashing along the roads like a river of fireflies. There was a faint sound of sirens in the distance outsidethe window. Somewhere out there, someone was cleaning up the mess. Or waiting to finish what they started. But what for what?? 

Asher didn’t look at Kaito when he spoke again.

“You’ve got magic in you. I can smell it. But it’s a driffrent kind of scent coming off from you. So I wasn’t sure.”

 

“I don’t know how well you’ve hidden it before. But you need to hid yourself much better for now one.” His voice dropped, sharp as a blade. “Because someone is properly hunting you.”

He finally turned, locking eyes with Kaito. The fluorescent lights cast shadows under his eyes, making them look darker than they were.

“I can offer you a safe place to stay temporarily, while I try to find the people behind this. Of course it’s your choice to take the offer or not. I'm not forcing you... however it would be foolish to reject a werewolves protection” he added.

[mik3la]

"What do you mean it has nothing to do with the situation?" he said standing up facing him. "It has everything to do with it. Because of me Noah is …" he caught his cry in his throat biting his lip and brush his hand through his hair in frustration.

 

Because of his magic. Was then the accident in the library not an accident then? was it because of him as well? But why would they want him out of the picture? He didn't do anything.

 

Unless …, he thought of the book in the library that he found and that when he was trying to escape he had took the book and put it in his bag.

 

My bag … my bag... where the fuck is my bag... , he started to say in his mind looking around the room trying to find his things and clothes as he was in a hospital garment.

 

Kaito was looking for his bag in the room when the other turned and said he could offer him a safe place temporarily and it would be foolish to reject the protection of a werewolf.

 

his protection? …. no one is safe around me … so why would I want to put others in danger … he seems good in what he's doing an all, but I already have blood of my hands with Noahs death being my fault, I don't need the death of a werewolf.

 

"Thanks for the offer but ...uhm... fuck! Have you seen my bag?" he asked frustrated that he couldn't find his bag. "A grey with green stripes rucksack. I had it at Noahs place. Have you seen it? Do you know where they put my stuff?" he asked turning to look at him feeling a little dizzy from the agitation that he looked around but he managed to keep himself steady on his legs.

[M-jow]

Asher watched him unravel, the calm mask Kaito had been wearing now cracked at the edges. His movements were too sharp, too desperate, and Asher didn’t need a healer’s training to see the way the strain tugged at his limbs or the way his knees wavered under the thin fabric of the hospital gown.

He held his arm out catching the man by the waist to help from falling.

“I didn’t see any bag,” he said, voice level. “Not when the medics loaded you into the van. If it was at Noah’s place, it probably didn’t make it far.”

He didn’t need to ask what was in the bag. The panic told him it was sometime to be considered important enough. Maybe even something that could be dangerous. But was that something anyone would kill over?.

Asher exhaled slowly through his nose, jaw tightening. The scent radiating off Kaito made the back of his throat itch. He wanted to snap at him to sit the hell down before he almost fell over again, but of course the other was on edge. He couldn’t act like that.

Sit,” he said, tone brooking with no room for argument. “Before you fall over.”

Once Kaito was stady on his own, Asher moved to the door, cracked it open, and signaled to one of the officers.

“I need you to find out where the patient's belongings were taken. He had a rucksack on him. Grey, green stripes. Find it.”

The officer hesitated a second, but Asher’s look was enough to send him moving. Human or not, authority still held weight if you wore it like you meant it.

He shut the door again and turned back to the room.

"What is in the bag?" He asked with his arms crossed as he stood better Kaito's bed and the door.

[mik3la]

When the other caught him by the waist he calmed for a second but his skin was tingling with sparks where his hand was touching him. He looked up at him and the closeness they were in and took a deep breath, sensing a sweet smell of leafs, leather and cinnamon. An odd combination and he found it strange that he hadn't noticed it before. 

He sat when asked and tried to remember where he had placed his bag when he got to Noahs place. Was it on the couch up in the studio, or on the counter. Where the fuck did i put it?! 

Quote

"What is in the bag?" 

At first he didn't want to answer as he wasn't sure if he could trust the other but he remembered what Noah was saying about him. That he was one of the great men that he knew in his life and loyal and fighting for what was right. 

"It was a book ... " he paused as he looked at the ground and then liftend his eyes to the other. "A bood that i've found by accident or maybe i was supposed to find at the library and thats why the attack this morning" he continued brushing his hair in frustration. 

"A book called 'Moonlit Obsidian" 

[M-jow]

Asher stood still, his gaze lingering on Kaito as the words “Moonlit Obsidian” echoed in his mind. He hadn’t heard of the book before. And that alone made it dangerous. He’d worked enough cases, seen enough shadows, to know when something had all the hallmarks of a cover-up or a bad omen. This felt like it could be both.

His lips tightened, jaw clenched. He watched Kaito for a moment longer, still trying to figure out the man’s state of mind—tired, but holding on. Still, that gnawing doubt gnawed at him. A book. If Kaito had been telling the truth, someone had gone to extraordinary lengths to get their hands on it.

“Moonlit Obsidian,” Asher repeated, rolling the name around in his mind like a foreign object, trying to find its place. Nothing. "Never heard of it. But if it's a reason for someone to try and kill you, then it’s not just some random collection of pages.”

He crossed the room, moving with a slow, deliberate pace. His voice softened, just a little, as he spoke again. “You said you found it. Did you have a change to read it?”

There was a weight in the room, an almost tangible pressure that hung between them. Whoever or whatever had come after Kaito properly wasn’t done, and Asher guested the danger wasn’t over yet. 

 

 

After a while they heard a knock at the door. Asher went to open it, finding the officer standing there with the grey and green-striped rucksack in hand. The officer’s face was tight, expression strained, as he handed the bag over with barely a word.

Asher took it without a second glance, inspecting the rucksack with a practiced eye.

It gave nothing away not even a scent. Properly magic blocking his abilities.

He set it down on the table beside Kaito’s bed.

“Here,” Asher said, his voice flat, emotionless. “Let’s see what you were carrying.”

He unzipped the bag, careful, slow, every movement deliberate. Inside, he found a stack of loss papers and an old bound book, its edges yellowed with age, though the cover was pristine, unmarred by time.

Asher’s eyes narrowed.

'Moonlit Obsidian.'

It was exactly what Kaito had said. A book. But it felt didn’t feel lile anything special. Asher picked it up and turned his attention to the symbols on the cover. He recognised a few but not all of them. Something about it all felt like it was being pieced together, like a puzzle of things long forgotten.

His mind raced, piecing together the few fragments of information he had. Whatever this was, it wasn’t a coincidence. It was a trigger, pulling strings that were likely connected to a much bigger web.

The word Obsidian itself was an old word for werewolf born. This involved wolves.

Asher took a deep breath, the weight of it settling on him. "So, this is what they were willing to kill for. Now we just need to figure out why."

He turned to Kaito, his voice low but firm. "Why was you looking for thus to begin with?"

[mik3la]

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“You said you found it. Did you have a change to read it?”

 

"Only a few things before the explosion happened" he said sitting on the edge of the bed thinking about the text inside the book.

 

As they sat in silence for a few minutes now his mind was swirling around all the information that he got until now. His body was exhausted but he still managed to stay awake, waiting for the guard to get back with his rucksack.

 

The knock woke him from his dreaming faze with his eyes open and looked up at Asher as he took his rucksack and pored everything inside on the bed.

Kaito sighed in relief seeing that the book was still there and looked at the other as he took it and started reading.

 

"I wasn't looking for it specifically..." he took a deep breath feeling tired as hell. "I was looking for books about Moonlits, and the title caught my attention. It was just … there" he said shrugging.

 

"From what I managed to read further and you can look a few pages further, is like the history of Obsidians and Moonlits, but there is also like a prophecy" he said keeping his eyes on Asher, noticing his tense of muscles.

 

"I found out, not long ago that ... i'm a moonlit but hadn't found anything about it until now" he said pointing to the book. "Don't know yet what that means but ... whoever is after me, I think they know I have the book and they want it not carrying for the cost" he concluded.

His eyes were feeling heavy and he felt sleepy  but he was trying very hard to keep himself awake and sane. He was too worried to sleep. Even with the guards outside. Nothing felt safe anymore. 

[M-jow]

His eyes remained locked on the book, the name Moonlit Obsidian. Something about it tugged at the back of his mind. Maybe from old stories he once had heard, things he hadn’t thought about in years... Moonlits and Obsidians — two words that rarely had been spoken together in the same breath for decades, or maybe longer.

But his attention shifted quickly when he glanced back at Kaito.

The younger man was struggling to stay awake. Shoulders slumped and eyes glassy. He was worn down to the wire and barely holding it together. Asher stepped away from the table, tapping the small call button on the wall near the bed. A nurse would come — then a doctor.

It wasn’t a goid idea to stsy here, ans Asher wasn’t gonna take anh chances, not with this kind of weight hanging around them.

He wouldn't let another young man die tonight even if he had gotten himself involved in som big mess.

 

While he waited for the nurseto arrive, he pulled his phone from his coat and scrolled through his contacts until he found the one he needed.

He hit call.

“Hey. It’s me,” Asher said, voice quiet but clipped. “Yeah. Bring the car around to the front. I'll need it soon.”

He didn’t wait for a reply rromnthe other end before he ended the call and slipped the phone back into his pocket.

Turning back toward the bed, Asher stood silent for a moment a looked at Kaito in those hospitale scrubs. The hospital room felt like a glass box, and the entire floor felt too exposed. The wards on the windows weren’t enough. The guards outside weren’t enough. Whoever wanted that book wasn’t going to let a locked door stop them.

The door opened behind him a few minutes later and the doctor came in. Asher stepped aside but stayed close. 

The examination didn’t take long. A few questions. Some checks. Then a quiet nod and a form left on the tray by the bed to be filled out. Kaito had been cleared, technically. Not because he was fully healed. But because Asher had made it clear he wasn’t gonna be staying here if it wasn’t necessary. 

 

 

Once the room was clear again and the nurseleft with the form, Asher spoke.

“You’ve got five minutes, get changed” he said, not unkindly, but with a tone that brooked no argument.

Then he turned toward the table, eyes scanning the bag again, then the book, still lying where he left it. He picked it up with a kind of careful reverence, thumbing through a few pages. Symbols and words swirled together. Some of the text were written in a language he hadn’t seen in years.

He didn’t have time to dig in. Not here.

Asher closed the book and slipped it carefully back into the rucksack. Then he looked up as Kaito emerged, dressed, moving quiet slow but it was as expected.

Asher nodded once and slung the rucksack over one shoulder.

“There’s a place,” he said, stepping toward the other voice low. “Magic can’t trace your its location and you’ll be safe there. Long enough for us to figure out something else.”

He didn’t wait for a reply. He just opened the door and signaled gor the other to step out. He walking beside Kaito and lead him outside.

 

 

As they stepped out into the crisp night air, the pavement cool beneath Asher,s boots as the city lights cast long shadows across the parking lot.

His gaze drifted ahead, locking onto the sleek silhouette parked just meters away.

There she is.

The car stood like a predator at rest. A sexy black Aston Martin DB11, low and powerful, its curves sharp enough to draw blood. Streetlights slid across the hood like oil, catching on the fine lines and carbon fiber detailing. The tinted windows reflected the city like obsidian glass, giving nothing away. It was the kind of car that didn’t just scream money, it wa power, control, danger all wrapped up in elegance. Everything about it whispered that the man behind the wheel wasn’t afraid of speed, risk, or consequences.

Asher took pride in the machine. Not just for its performance, which was viciously good, but for what it symbolized. This car, was like his tailored coat and the low hum of the engine what's dominating when he turned it on. Untouchable.

He pressed a button on his key fob. The doors unlocked with a soft click, the interior lights blooming like eyes opening in the dark.

“Get in,” he said, glancing sideways, his voice low and calm, but with that unmistakable undercurrent of command. “We’re sitting ducks by staying here.”

And with that, he moved with such fluided confidents toward the passenger side of the car to help the other in. 

[mik3la]

Kaito was a little confused when Asher called someone , not understanding what was all that about. But he didn't thought much about it as he was in a hospital and he wasn't going anywhere too soon. Plus he had to give a declaration to the police and only that thought was making him even more tired.

 

His eyes jumped up at the other and the doctor that came into the room and was surprised when Asher ask the doctor to discharge him in that very instant.

 

~ just how much authority does he have? ~ he thought frowning at how the doctor executed the order and when out to finish up the papers.

 

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“You’ve got five minutes, get changed”

 

Kaito blinked a few times before he got up, still wobbling on his legs as he started to get dressed but it was not that fast. He was just closing his shirt when Asher stepped closer and spoke to him in a low voice, making him lift his eyes, understanding what the other was saying.

 

Nodding he followed the other outside the hospital where a car was waiting for them. It was a really nice car making his eyes widen at the model. He never sat in one of those.

 

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“Get in,” “We’re sitting ducks by staying here.”

 

Snapped out of his thoughts he got in the car, buckling up and hopping that he was doing the right choice to trust him right now. But if he wanted him dead he would have been long ago. Plus, he had no one who he could trust or talk to. So basically Asher was his only hope.

 

Since the drive was long and the chair was very cosy and warm, Kaito fell asleep in an instance as he was tired from everything that he had been through.

[M-jow]

Asher slid behind the wheel and started the engine. The motor gave a gentle, purring roar, like a puma prowling through the night. Inside the cabin, though, the sound was barely noticeable. Quiet and calm. Sealed off from the world.

He pulled out, steering the car away from the hospital and heading through the central district. The ride was mostly silent, broken only by the soft hum of the engine and the occasional sigh of tires against the road.

What surprised Asher most was that the man beside him hadn’t asked where they were going. No fear, no suspicion. Just trust—trust that Asher wouldn’t drive him into some forest and bury his body so no one would evergind him.

...

Asher wasn’t a gangster. He had killed, yes—but only to defend and protect his people. He'd taken on other werewolves, shifters, warlocks, and witches. He had fought enemies that had pushed him to the edge. His claws and fangs had torn through flesh more than once, and some days he still saw the faces the people who hadn’t made it.

Magic was especially dangerous. It didn’t have to be close to kill you. One spell from the distance and it could be over.

All Asher had were his claws, his teeth... and his training. A few years back, he’d taken up firearms. Not all-out assault rifles, but practical guns.

He’d made sure every patrol had at least one guard who knew how to handle one. Bullets rarely killed werewolves unless they were laced with magic, but against spellcasters, bullets worked just fine. They were still human, after all.

 

He glanced over at the passenger seat. Kaito was fast asleep, leaned back peacefully against the leather seat, lips slightly parted. Asher’s gaze lingered just a moment before he turned his attention back to the road.

The drive was about forty minutes from the hospital, and traffic around midtown was heavy at this hour. But the farther he drove from the city center, the quieter it became. Fewer cars. Fewer people. Just the road stretching ahead of them, winding into the outskirts.

He didn’t turn on the radio, even though he usually did. Music used to be his way of pushing thoughts aside, of creating noise to drown out the chaos in his head. But tonight, he needed clarity. He had to stay ahead—focused. Besides, he figured Kaito deserved some peace too.

 

Eventually, the car slowed as they reached a private gate. It slid open silently, revealing an underground parking lot beneath an impressive, high-end apartment complex. They were just outside the city center—far enough to be quiet, close enough to remain connected. The neighborhood was lined with trees and overlooked a massive park. The kind of place that oozed wealth and quiet privilege.

And why not? Asher could afford it.

In fact, he owned the entire building. The penthouse on the top floor was his. While he rented out the rest of the lower floors to those who could afford it, human and paranormal alike. The place had been built years ago with Asher’s own money. Not inherited but earned throughhis own efforts. It served as a steady source of income outside the pack. Most of what he made went directly into pack funds, helping improve facilities, expand their territory, and support the community.

It was common for werewolves with means to contribute back to the pack. A kind of self-imposed tax. It helped cover everything—from children's education to medical bills. Everyone took care of everyone. That was the way of it.

Asher and his brother Ian had always lived within the pack’s territory. But sometimes, Asher just needed space. A place to decompress. A place to crash between jobs. Or occasionally, a place for... more private company. Say if he needed sex with someone outside the pack, no strings attached.

The apartment building was heavily warded. Anti-magic runes were etched into the stones, invisible to the untrained eye. No spell could be cast on the structure or within its walls. It was a fortress against the magic-born.

 

Asher parked in his usual space and shut off the engine. The lights in the underground garage were dim, built into the concrete beams, casting a soft glow that left most of the space in gentle shadow. Still, it was safe. Secure.

He turned to look at Kaito again. The man hadn’t stirred. His chest rose and fell in an even rhythm, face soft in sleep.

Asher hesitated. He would have to wake him. But something in him didn’t want to. Not just yet.

He leaned back slightly, taking in a slow breath. Kaito's scent was strange and unexpected. He didn’t reek of death and rot like most magic-users. No, Kaito smelled sweet—like honey and pine, with the faintest undertone of rich, damp earth. Asher’s nose still tingled from the faint magical trace in the scent, but it wasn’t overpowering anymore. Not like before.

The silence lingered another moment before Asher finally reached out, placing a hand gently on Kaito’s shoulder. He gave it a light shake.

“Hey,” he said softly, his voice low in the dark. “We’re here. Time to wake up. You can sleep more upstairs.”

 

Kaito stirred and Asher stepped out of the car, letting the chill of the underground parking garage wash over him, then circled around to open the passenger side door for Kaito. He waited for the other to get out before locking the car and walked toward the elevator door.

It opened once it registered movements and Asta signaler for Kaito to get on, and walked in after him.

The elevator didn’t have floor buttons, just a single keycard scanner. Asher pulled a black card from his jacket and tapped it. A muted chime followed, and the interior panel, prompting a smooth ascent with no fanfare. The elevator was silent aside from the faint hum of motion.

When the doors opened, they revealed the foyer of Asher’s penthouse was dimly lit, polished, and quiet. Natural stone floors and wood-paneled walls stretched into a wide hallway. Asher led the way, his boots quiet against the stone.

The main living space unfolded in front of them: tall ceilings, exposed beams, and glass walls that opened up to the city skyline beyond. Warm, ambient light spilled from recessed fixtures overhead, and a low fire burned in the hearth along the far wall. The smell of cedar smoke lingered in the air, mingling with the faint trace of old leather and steel.

Asher shrugged off his jacket and dropped it over the back of a chair. 

 

"You can use the room, down that hallway first door to the left. It has a conecting bathroom too." Asher point toward the guests room.

[mik3la]

The warmness of the car and the comfort the leather chair was giving his tired body, carried him in soft gentle sleep that he not had in a very long time. For once in his life he felt safe. He felt protected. 

Kaito dreamed of light , soft, endless light, like dawn seen through water.
He was standing in a meadow bathed in silver mist, the air cool and fragrant with night-blooming flowers. The sky above shimmered between shades of deep blue and violet, scattered with two moons , one pale and luminous, the other dark and glassy like obsidian.

Yet, instead of clashing, they danced. Their lights weaved together across the clouds, forming ripples of silver and shadow that touched the earth in perfect harmony.

He looked around and the meadow was alive. Wolves ran through the tall grass, silent and graceful, their coats reflecting moonlight. Among them walked figures of glowing light ; the Moonlit ,moving as though they were part of the same rhythm, the same breath.

There was no fear between them. Only recognition.

A wolf approached him , massive, eyes gold as dawn. But when Kaito met its gaze, he saw gentleness there, not hunger. It bowed its head slightly, as if in greeting, and when he reached out, its fur felt warm, almost human.

The air shimmered and suddenly, where the wolf stood, there was a tall dark-hair man with his face blurred, but somehow familiar. 

“You see it too,” he said softly. “How it once was.”

Kaito nodded, though he didn’t understand how he knew. Somewhere in his chest, a deep calm settled , the same kind he felt as a child watching the rain, before the world grew heavy.

In the distance, music began , not with instruments, but with the world itself. The grass hummed. The air trembled like a heartbeat. The two moons drew closer until their light became one , a single, radiant sphere that painted everything in silver-gold.

The guy turned to him, the light washing over both their faces.

“This is what they forgot,” he whispered. “The world was never meant to be divided.”

The flowers began to glow ,thousands of them , releasing motes of light that drifted upward like stars being born. They filled the sky until it looked like an ocean of silver rain.

Kaito felt warmth spread through him, reaching deep , deeper than fear, deeper than memory. For the first time, he didn’t feel lost. He felt found.

The voice of the book rose faintly from somewhere unseen, not as warning this time, but as a lullaby:

“When the two moons breathe as one, the world will heal.
Until then, let those who dream remember.”

The world dissolved into gentle brightness, and Kaito felt himself weightless ,held, safe, belonging.

And when he woke in the car, the night outside was calm.
The moon hung whole and steady in the sky, and for the briefest moment, he could still hear that music in the distance , soft, patient, waiting for the world to remember.

For a moment, he didn’t move. His eyes stayed half-closed, his mind still floating in that silver meadow , the scent of flowers, the glow of twin moons. It lingered in him like the echo of a song, too soft to remember, too beautiful to forget.

He drew a slow breath. The air in the car was cool and smelled faintly of pine and wet earth. The world outside was dark again, but somehow, it didn’t feel as heavy as before. Something inside him had eased , a tension he hadn’t realized he was carrying.

His heart wasn’t pounding this time. It was steady. Calm. But the moment he tried to hold on to that feeling and remember what he just dreamt, it slipped away, like water through his fingers.

Nodding he got out the car and followed the other through the silence of the garrage and up the elevator to his penthouse. 

Kaito hesitated by the doorway, taking in the room’s quiet luxury , the faint glow of the fire, the way the city lights pressed against the glass like stars trying to get in. It was… calm. Too calm, after everything. It was the kind of place that didn’t just look safe, it felt safe, though he couldn’t explain why.

“You live here?” he asked softly, more out of wonder than conversation.

“I mean ... Thank you,” he said softly, his voice still rough from sleep. “I… appreciate it.”

He glanced toward the hallway Asher had indicated, then back at him.
There was something reassuring about the werewolf’s presence , solid, wordless, like the weight of the earth itself — and for a second, that warmth from the dream flickered through him again.

Kaito’s fingers brushed the strap of his bag. The day—no, the entire week—had hollowed him out. But standing there, he realized how heavy his limbs really were, how desperately his body wanted rest.

“I didn’t think I’d… be anywhere safe,” he admitted, his tone quieter now, almost embarrassed by the honesty.

His gaze shifted toward the window, the skyline stretching endlessly into the night.

“It’s strange,” he murmured after a pause. “Everything’s quiet, but it doesn’t feel empty.”He wasn’t sure if he was talking to Asher or himself.

Then, catching himself, he gave a small, awkward smile — a flicker of normalcy amid the chaos.

“I’ll try not to make a mess or disturb you,” he added lightly, stepping past him toward the hallway.

As he walked away, the warmth of the fire followed him, and for a brief, unguarded moment, he felt something familiar in the scent of cedar and smoke — something that reminded him of that golden-eyed wolf from his dream.

 

Edited Tuesday at 03:48 PM by mik3la

[M-jow]

["You live here?” (...) I mean ... Thank you, (...) I… appreciate it.”]

Asher shrugged his shoulders. "It more a place between home. I live in the pack house to stay close to everyone. But.. this place is always quiet when I need to focus on something or just relaxe for a few days." He explained to Kaito. You are free to use everything here, well except for the stuff in my room and I have a cleaner stopping when I stay over. I'll just give them a call tomorrow. So don’t worry about making a mess."

"The building is secure and I should properly tell you that you can't cast any magic while inside. I made sure no magic could effect or enter the building when it was built.. just a safety measure."

After saying his peace Kaito went to properly go rest.

He watched Kaito disappear down the hallway, the quiet sound of his footsteps fading into the guest room. When the door clicked softly shut, silence folded back over the living-room again.

He exhaled, slow and rolled his shoulders as if to shake off the tension that clung there. The scent of cedar and smoke was calming, but now there was the smell of the other in the apartment with him, and it lingered where Kaito had just stood.

 

Asher moved to the floor-to-ceiling windows, gaze sweeping over the sprawl of the city below. From this height, the world looked distant, almost harmless. The hum of traffic and neon lights didn’t reach this far up.

Asher’s reflection in the glass looked back at him tired with a faint edge of a shadow beneath his eyes. The wolf beneath his skin stirred, restless but calm, its instincts was satisfied for now. It semed curious of Kaito, something about the human intrigued the wolf, and for reasons Asher couldn’t help but also be curious himself.

He drew a long breath and crossed over to the bar by the window. The glassware gleamed faintly in the low light as he reached for the bottle, pouring a measure of whiskey that caught the glow of the flams like molten amber. He didn’t bother with ice. He wanted the burn.

The first swallow went down hard. The second steadied his breathing.

Noah’s face came to him. In fact it had been there since earlier. He remembered Noah'fs face vividly, even back from school, the way his hands always smelled faintly of turpentine and oil paint. Noah had been a bright soul and his art had always been his dream. But tonight, that dream had shattered and a innocent, good person had lost his life.

 

He could still smell it, the iron sting beneath the sharp tang of paint thinner, the metallic undercurrent of death clinging to the air between broken canvases and overturned brushes. Noah had always joked about how he’d die surrounded by his art someday. The memory twisted cruelly now.

He took another drink, slower this time, his throat tight. The whiskey didn’t dull the image: Noah sprawled on the floor surrounded by his painting in a pool of his own blood, eyes open and glassy, cold and emty like a death fish.

A muscle in Asher’s jaw flexed.

Whoever had done it had been smart, clean. No obvious motive, nothing left behind except for a faint trace of. That was where Kaito came in.

Asher was sure Kaito was somehow connected to the truth. He was the last link, the only thread that hadn’t been cut.

Asher turned toward the window, the city stretching out beneath him like a field of cold fire. It looked peaceful from here. Deceptively so.

He lifted the glass again, staring into the whiskey’s golden shimmer.

“For what they did to you,” he said softly, the words barely audible, “I’ll find them. I promise.”

The wolf beneath his skin stirred properly sensing Asher emotions and became a bit restless, Asher was grieving in the only way he knew how. Inside.

The fire crackled behind him, the only sound in the vast, immaculate space. He let it fill the silence for a long while, then set the empty glass down and looked once more toward the hallway where Kaito had left to.

He still didn’t know about that human, but he wanted to keep him safe. He convince himself it was for Noah, but Asher had never gone out of his way fir an outsider like this.