Carter and Cass' Apartment

[Carter]

CONTINUED FROM: Cole Stanton's Territory; Alleys and Streets; Main Streets with Cass.

The bus ride was quiet, at least for the pair of wolves. They rode side by side in a pair of seats with their hands joined between them. About halfway home, Cass laid her head against Carter's shoulder. Carter passed the time listening to the inane chatter going on around them, from the teenage girls in the very back talking about some guy called Ronnie and whether he would call and just what would mean, to the old couple sitting down in front talking about the flowers in their garden and how well they were doing this year. It was the old couple that put a smile on Carter's face.

When they got off, the teenagers and the old couple stayed on, and the bus was soon on its way and they were gone with it. Carter's hand was still in Cass' when they headed to their building and rode the elevator all the way up to their floor. It was only when Cass needed to dig out her keys and open the door that her hand left his. It felt colder and emptier without it, and so he pushed it into his pocket, waiting until the door was open and she was inside to step over the threshold. Out of habit he locked the door behind him, and then followed her through into the modest living room. His bag was shrugged off his shoulder and set down by where they stored their shoes, and he made sure to take his headphones from around his neck at the same time. It was so much easier to feel relaxed when they were in their own home. It was nothing special, their apartment, but it was theirs. It was just the two of them, and that was how Carter liked it.

[Cass]

As soon as the door was shut and locked, Cass felt the tension drain out of her. She hadn't even realized how keyed up she was, but given everything that she and her mate had been through in getting to this point, it wasn't exactly a surprise. If she could have her way, they'd probably never leave the apartment, save for the necessary things like groceries. People could work from their homes nowadays, right?

The she-wolf toed off her boots, leaving them by the door with her mate's, and immediately moved to embrace him. With her fingers in his hair, Cass pulled Carter down for a kiss, unable to help the way she smiled against him.

"I need a shower," she rumbled after a moment, "I smell like hippie."

[Carter]

In this day and age they wouldn't even need to leave for groceries, if they really didn't want to, and there were times when that was the case, for Carter at least. The fears and the doubts that had wormed their way into his psyche over the years reared their ugly heads with such ferocity at times that the idea of going outside filled him with sickening dread and anxiety and it was all he could do to even consider the prospect of facing the world beyond their apartment. It wasn't as bad as it had once been, it no longer crippled him quite so terribly as it once had, but he still had moments, and he fully suspected he would continue to have those moments for years to come yet.

He responded to the kiss with quiet but sincere enthusiasm that matched Cass' own, and he felt her smile, granting her one of his own when they parted. "Well, now that you mention it..." He trailed off with a soft teasing smile. The sad truth was that hippies, such as they were, actually did have a smell, or at least a general scent that could be used to identify them as individuals, even when they weren't obvious on sight. Carter had come to recognise it for himself in his time working at the store, though he didn't have to deal with them nearly as much -- or as personally -- as his mate did.

[Cass]

Cass' mouth dropped open in feigned shock. She was trying to look offended, truly she was, but the smile that pulled up at her lips made it terribly difficult. "Oh, that's nice."

Carter was granted a light smack to the middle of his chest before the she-wolf turned with a huff. She padded through the main space of their home, through the bedroom and into the bathroom, tossing her well-worn shirt on the bed as she went. The door hit its mark with a thud and, mostly out of earshot, Cass let herself snort with laughter as she stripped down. Carter's sense of humor was a subtle one but, to be perfectly honest, she was just glad that he was still able to smile.

Towel wrapped around her, Cass opened the bathroom door to poke her head out. "And I was gonna make you dinner, too, wiseass!" she called. "How'dya like me now?"

[Carter]

Cass was the only person with whom Carter would make such jokes. Around others it was all but impossible for him to relax enough for his sense of humour to come into play. Carter didn't particularly mind, honestly, and it had been so long now that he barely even noticed it as an oddity. What he did notice was that others noticed, and at times it could make him self-conscious. Carter was well aware of the fact that he probably came across as socially awkward or downright inept some of the time, what with all his insecurities and fears, but all he could do was try, and for Cass' sake more than his own, that was exactly what he did.

"Same as I liked you before," he quipped almost lazily, managing to catch a glimpse of her head poking out from the bathroom door before he stepped into the kitchen. Out of habit he filled the kettle and set it on the stove, but didn't turn on the heat; he would wait until he heard the Cass turn off the shower before he did that. "Besides," he went on, knowing there was no need to raise his voice so he would be heard, "the toaster works just fine."

[Cass]

The she-wolf gave a pointed snarl. To anyone else it might've sounded like a serious threat - a dangerous display of her animal nature - even though it was anything but, mostly due to the fact that it didn't quite cover her laughter. Carter had always been a quick learner, even when he had still been a human. Cards, languages, and driving her up the wall seemed to be his specialties, and it was the latter of the three that he'd focused on in recent years.

Smart-alecky son of a bitch.

It was a quick shower, just long enough to make her feel like a real person again. She shuffled into the kitchen in one of her mate's shirts, damp hair beginning to curl as it dried. Drawn almost like a magnet, she settled herself at Carter's back with her arms draped loosely around his waist. The tip of her nose drew little zigzags against the back of his neck.

"I meant it," she rumbled. "Go sit, you've been on your feet all day. I'll bring you some tea and get dinner started."

[Carter]

Carter could have argued that Cass had been at work all day long, but her job didn't require her to be on the move for hours on end, and as she had already pointed out, he was on his feet for the entirety of his shift, whereas she could sit if she wished; he had seen where she worked, there were stools and cushions and armchairs, and no rules against the staff relaxing as much as the customers. He envied her for that if nothing else. It wasn't that he got tired, werewolves didn't have to worry about that so much as humans did, but he still would have liked the chance to just sit and breathe for a few minutes every now and then. He didn't mind running around, when he was busy the hours tended to fly by, but wolves liked to sit and take in their surroundings just as much as they liked to explore them and wander freely.

The kettle was already heating, but it wouldn't start to whistle for a few minutes yet, the water was still a ways off boiling. Turning in her arms, he brought himself face to face with his mate and offered her a smile. "Some people might say I'm spoiled," he said. He wasn't, of course, given that he did a fair amount of the chores and work around the apartment himself, just as much as Cass in recent years, but there were times when she liked to do everything for him, much like she had in the beginning. Carter tried to keep her from going to those lengths, but she was a strong-willed woman and there wasn't much that would derail her when she had her mind set on something.

[Cass]

"You're only spoiled if you don't deserve it," Cass countered. Her fingers locked together loosely at the small of her mate's back; the smile she offered him was full of blind affection. "And I say you deserve it."

Carter had been through a lot. The damage done to his body and mind by that pack - Cass' old pack - had left their mark. He no longer needed to be watched every moment of every day, she didn't really need to check on him at work as often as she did, but there was a part of her that still worried. When his gaze clouded over, or when it took longer than usual to call his attention to her, she couldn't push back the awful thrill of panic that rattled through her.

As much as Carter was bogged down by the past, Cass was, too. She tightened her grip on him for a moment, taking comfort in the warm press of his body and his familiar scent.

"I just like making you happy. That's all."

[Carter]

The wolf inside of Carter shifted happily, almost like a stretch and a yawn of contentment; that was how it always was with Cass, and Carter had come to realise that very soon after he had been turned. Her very presence calmed and placated him, and the animal inside of him was put at ease by her touch and the sound of her voice. It was comforting, and even now after years of being together, the effect was still just as strong as it had been in the beginning. Knowing that it would always be that way helped in those times when his walls came up -- usually without warning -- and he withdrew into himself; he would always have that anchor to keep him from sinking all the way to the bottom.

His smile was soft and warm, and he buried his nose in Cass' hair, drawing in a deep breath thick with her unique scent, shampoo and soap and incense, his eyes closing as he let it fill him. He didn't need to commit it to memory, not when he already had it so well memorised; there was no one's scent he knew better than that of his mate. "That makes two of us," he said, lifting his head and looking down at her with the same smile on his face. "I like making me happy too."

Cass was the only one who could hear him joke, and encourage him to do so. Before she could swat or gasp in feigned shock and indignation, he went on to say, "Not as much as making you happy though. I like that better."

[Cass]

She couldn't help but laugh. Carter still managed to catch her off-guard with his humor from time to time. He was still a smartass deep down in there, somewhere -- it just took a little more time to coax it out of him.

Still chuckling to herself, Cass pulled her mate in again. The wolf gave a low, pleased rumble beneath her mirth, making her chest rattle lowly as laid kisses down his neck. He was solid and warm; the proximity was enough to make her giddy -- the temptation to forgo dinner entirely was a strong one. "Go on, you," she growled when she finally released him. He was given a swat on the backside for good measure.

"You're under foot."

The kettle started to whistle just then, shrill and unyielding. Two mugs of tea were quickly poured and left to cool while Cass went for the fridge in search of leftovers.

[Carter]

Carter's nose buried briefly in Cass' thick mane of hair as she lined his neck with those kisses, but he pulled back when she released, and actually managed to look affronted when she swatted his rear, setting a hand over the stricken area as he mouthed an indignant 'ow' before making his way towards the door leading out of the kitchen and into the living room. Crossing the threshold, he set his eyes on the bag he had placed down by their shoes, and moved to put it away properly while Cass rooted around in the refrigerator.

He could still hear her moving about in the kitchen as he carried his bag into the bedroom and opened up the closet to set it inside. It hadn't been in the way where he'd set it down, but he liked things having their places, and sticking to that little layout he'd made in his mind. It was reassuring when he slipped into one of his insecure states, that familiarity and a loose sense of routine, how things had a place and they rarely left it. Pulling a t-shirt from a drawer in the dresser along with a pair of jeans, he changed out of his uniform, which was bundled up into the laundry basket. Changed and even more relaxed now that he was in his own clothing, Carter returned to the living room.

[Cass]

Well, the Chinese food didn't smell off. By her recollection, it was only a day or two old, so there was nothing to worry about. The she-wolf gave a shrug and both containers went into the microwave to heat. Even as she focused on her task, she had an ear out for Carter. It didn't matter where they were or what they were doing; part of her awareness was honed in on him. There was no telling when he might begin to feel anxious, or when something might send him sliding back into that mental fog she'd worked so hard to pull him from.

She glanced to the microwave, briefly checking the time on the food before she picked up the two mugs of tea and joined Carter in the living room. Her mate received a kiss on the cheek before she handed him his tea. Cass let herself perch on the arm of their second-hand couch, smiling to herself as she blew a breath over her mug to cool the liquid inside.

"You know," she murmured. "This might be the longest we've ever managed to settle in one city before."

[Carter]

Carter had fought long and hard to defeat that mental fog, to disband it altogether, but even now, years after it had come rolling in, he still had not succeeded. Cass helped, of course she did, without her he would have been lost to it decades ago and there would have been nothing at all left to salvage, but there was only so much that could be done. Try as he might, Carter had only been able to resist so much of what had been done, and the damage, it seemed, was permanent, at least in part. All he could do now was live with it. It wasn't easy, it filled him with shame and guilt and regret and so many other horrible thoughts and feelings, but there was no other choice. There was no undoing the past, as much as he might want to.

Tea wrapped firmly in both hands, the warmth from the mug welcome against his palms -- despite the fact that it was far from cold outside, and as a werewolf he had a high tolerance to cooler temperatures anyway -- he offered his mate a small smile, trying in vain to think of something to say that wouldn't betray how much he felt their inability to settle was his doing. An easy out presented itself when he picked up on the scent in the air. "Chinese food?" he queried, even as his stomach growled quietly. It was usually only when food was right there in front of him, where he could see or smell it, that he realised how hungry he was.

[Cass]

She gave a quiet laugh and nodded. "Mm-hm. Maybe one of these days I'll have the strength to wrangle up a home-cooked meal." The she-wolf narrowed her dark eyes - it would have been a foreboding expression, had it not been for the smile that she couldn't quite hide. "But it is not this day."

Cass took a mouthful of tea before she shifted, sliding her rear down the arm of the couch and onto the actual cushions. Her bare legs found their rightful place sprawled across Carter's lap; she stretched, mug in one hand, with a low and nondescript rumble. If only she could find a way that would keep them from having to leave the house, find some kind of employment that she could do from the living room. They could lounge around the apartment, order their groceries, and neither of them would have to deal with people unless absolutely necessary.

Was there really anything wrong with wanting to live the hermit lifestyle?

[Carter]

Carter smiled back. He had never been overly fussy with his food, and besides, Cass had been working today too. He liked leftovers as much as any man living in a big city, and besides, they were good leftovers. So long as it was food and it hadn't gone bad, then he was set.

Out of habit he laid one arm over her legs, his hand coming to wrap gently and lightly around one of her ankles, a quietly possessive touch that was much for comfort on his part as anything else. Contact with his mate was always a sure thing when it came to putting him at ease, and even though he felt calm and relaxed right now, far from the edge, there was no telling what might set him off. There was never much warning.

"How about tomorrow?" he asked, aiming to strike up another one of those harmless conversations between the two of them that usually ended with Cass laughing. Carter had always liked the sound of her laugh, even before he had come to really know her. "Is tomorrow that day?"