[M] She Ran

((It wouldnt leave my head until I wrote it down.))

Frantic footsteps sounded as a scared woman ran. Tears marred her vision as much as the blood pulsing from a cute on her forehead.

She sobbed.

She could still hear him yelling. Screaming at her. Calling her a whore. Useless. Pathetic.

She ran.

The woman felt so small. As pathetic as he had called her. Maybe he was right. Maybe she was pathetic.

Her feet didn't take her home. There was nothing there for her. Nothing but the loneliness that forced her to think. She couldn't deal with that. Not now.

She ran.

Her feet created loud thudding noises as she ran through an apartment complex, searching for one particular door through the blood and tears that blurred everything.

She found it and, without any hesitation, she knocked.

She waited.

Blood and tears dripped off her chin; arms wrapped around herself. She waited. Waited for him to answer. Hoped he would answer.

It was a late hour, but Tom wasn't sleeping.

He was sitting in his office, sipping on as cup of coffee and studying up on lycans. He wanted to learn more about himself, and what he truly was now.

Reading the books now was different. It wasn't myth anymore. He was studying his own species, the culture and science behind it.

He was wearing his shirt, but had taken off his trousers. He still wore his boxers, but now it was easier to tend to his frequent... needs.

He learned that now was mating season, which helped explained why his libido had surged ever since the transformation.

The man was not expecting to hear a knock on his door. He stood up, taking his coffee mug with him without really thinking about it.

He peeked through the peephole on is apartment door, and his eyes widened when he saw Fawzi.

He quickly unlocked the door and opened it wide, not even caring that he wasn't wearing trousers.

She was bleeding, and crying.

"Fawzi! What happened?!" He asked, his voice filled with worry.

Fawzi gave a relieved sob when the door cracked open.

Thank the Gods, he was in. She would have felt so stupid walking away from a closed door.

The woman launched herself at him, arms wrapping firmly around him as she buried her face in his shirt. His shirt would soon be stained with blood. She'd have to apologise later and buy him a new one.

She didn't like to make it a habit to destroy people's shirt. Not like this, at least.

She clung to him, her body shaking as she tried to calm herself down.

Fawzi didn't trust herself to speak. Just stayed quiet, nuzzling against Tomaso.

Tom stumbled back, having not been expecting her embrace. The coffee nearly spilled out of the mug.

He held her tight, rubbing her back.

"Hey hey... just try and breathe okay?" He said, though on the inside he was wrecked with worry. Fawzi was a strong woman... what had happened?!

He guided her back to his couch and sat them both down. Finally he got that stupid coffee mug out of his hands so he could hold her properly.

He welcomed her back into his embrace, holding her close. He was so protective of her in this moment, even though he'd always thought of her as the more capable and strong one in their friendship.

He'd wait for her to tell him what happened when she was ready. For now he'd simply hold her and try to comfort her by just being there for her.

Fawzi gave a soft sniffle and nodded softly as he spoke, showing that she had heard what he said.

She clung to him as he walked them backwards. She wasn't willing to let go of him. Not yet.

The woman wanted someone to cuddle her and tell her everything would be all right. Tell her she was safe. Just cuddle her and be gentle. That was what she really needed right now.

Everyone had their moments of weakness. Even the strong cracked and broke down at times. This was one of Fawzi's moments of weakness.

In the strong armed embrace of someone she trusted, it didn't take too long for the woman's crying to subside. But for a long time afterwards she lay in Tom's arms quietly, nuzzling closer to him every now and again.

Just because Fawzi's crying died down didn't make Tom any less concerned for her and what had happened.

He rubbed her back gently and after they were like that a while, shifted so that they were laying on the couch rather than sitting on it.

He hoped that wasn't inappropriate... He'd never told her about his asexuality before, and he didn't want her thinking he was trying to start anything at a time like this. The fact that he wasn't wearing trousers probably didn't help much, but laying down was more comfortable, and it allowed him to hold her better.

He breathed steadily, his heartbeat thumping softly in his chest, against her ear. He waited for her to talk, wondering if she even would.

"Do you need me to get my first aid kit?" He asked after several more moments of silence rolled by.

Fawzi trusted Tom not to cop a feel when she was in this state.

Tom was a nice person. He wouldn't take advantage of a woman in this state. Fawzi very firmly believed that.

She cuddled closer to the man when he laid out and pulled her closer.

Her fingers began running idly over his neck and chest as they lay together.

Her eyes flickered up, lashes still wet with tears though no more threatened to fall. "No, it's fine. Necromancer, 'member? I can close cuts. Just wasn't on my mind." She found healing things difficult. She could close cuts enough to get them to stop bleeding if she really needed to, but anything past that was lost on her. She'd patch herself up in a bit.

But right now she just wanted to lie here comfortably.

He liked laying here with her like this. Even if he was extremely worried for her. It felt right to hold her. The way they breathed together, touched each other. All platonic and yet very loving all at once.

"I'm still learning to separate the facts from fiction.." He admitted, adjusting and then snuggling her in close again.

"Fawzi I... I'm really worried about you..." He said truthfully.

"It'll get easier with time," she assured him.

He'd learn everything he had to learn with time. It wasn't a necessity to know everything. Hell, she was learning new things about different species every day.

Her tongue laved over her lips and her nose curled a little at the taste of blood on her lips. Not very pleasant.

"I'm okay. Just a barfight I got caught up in walking home. It shook me up quite a bit. I'm sorry I bothered you."

Lies came so naturally to her now.

She hated that.

At least there was one truth there. She was sorry that she had bothered him with this.

Something wasn't adding up to Tom.

"Are you... sure that's what happened?" He asked after a short while.

He didn't want to think that Fawzi was lying to him, but she had twisted the truth in the past. It wasn't out of the question.

She hesitated.

No one had called her out on her lies about why she was in the state she was before. She hadn't been faced with this situation before.

"...Yeah," she murmured softly, her head bobbing in a little nod.

Fawzi cleared her throat.

"Yes, I'm sure that's what happened."

She desperately wanted him to let sleeping dogs lie.

How did a strong and powerful necromancer allow herself to be beaten by normal human beings? It didn't make sense to the man.

Fawzi was brave and capable, not someone who could get pushed around so easily.

And yet kids at a schoolyard... blokes at a bar... they all got the best of her like this somehow.

"Just know that you can tell me as much or as little as you want. I'm here to listen. I care about you." He said. The last sentence in a near whisper. He'd never admitted something like that to anyone outside of his family.

She had powers beyond the natural, yes, but she was still very much human in body. She was about as strong as a human woman of her build.

Not very strong. Getting caught in fights and beaten like that would make her suffer. Her brother and Raisa knew that; they never questioned her when she told them she was caught in a fight.

The man's last few words had guilt pushing through her like a cold knife.

She didn't want to lie to him. She really, really didn't.

"Thank you," she breathed.

"You don't need to thank me." He said, giving her a gentle squeeze.

"Do... do you want to talk about something else? Maybe get your mind off of what happened? I have drinks in the frigorifero if you're thirsty. And I can warm up some food if you're hungry too." He said, letting his fingers trace circles in the woman's back.

She was shocked, is all. She had friends. But none close enough to her to say they cared about her with such sincerity.

It was a shock for her.

The woman smiled softly, nuzzling closer to the man. He was so sweet. Unlike anyone else she had known. How did someone so sweet actually exist?

"How are you settling in? It's been, what, two weeks? How's life as a big bad Werewolf treating you?" It was a safer subject change.

Tom let out a soft chuckle at her question. She probably didn't want to know all the little details of being a lycan pup during mating season.

"I'm.... adjusting. I've had to call Raisa a few times with questions or help during the times I'm a wolf." He said, happy to change the subject for Fawzi.

"She's offered to show me the coven but... I'm not sure I'm ready. When I was searching for it before I was only expecting to find artifacts from ancient believers, not anything living."

"It'll take time," she repeated for she didn't know how many times.

Becoming a supernatural creature was difficult for everyone. Especially those that didn't know anything about it beforehand. He hadn't wanted to suddenly adjust, but he was doing so well.

The woman gave a little nod, her fingers still trailing over his chest gently.

"That's okay. Liq and I don't want to join the coven. Liq's been up there before, but I haven't." The two of them preferred having their own place.

Fawzi gave a soft giggle. "I'm sure there are some living ancient artefacts there."

"Heh... I didn't think of it like that. A living artifact. You know that sounds somewhat poetic." He said with a grin.

"So how about that drink Fawzi?" He asked. "I have coffee, amaretto, brandy... We can mix them if you want."

He wasn't trying to get her drunk. Instead just be hospitable. He rarely drank, because he rarely had anyone to drink with.

"I'd be careful about using that term around them, though. Some people get touchy when you talk about their age like that."

The woman hummed softly in thought as her fingers continued to stroke over his clothes chest and stomach idly.

She wanted to feel his skin beneath her fingertips. The fabric was rough. Not the soft skin she wanted to feel. So, her hands slid under the hem of his shirt, tracing the waistband of his boxers gently.

"An Irish coffee would be nice," she decided after a few long moments of just enjoying teasing his skin with her fingertips. It was rare she allowed herself to drink coffee. Usually she stayed far away from it.

"How do necromancers age?  If you don't mind my asking of course." He was curious if Fawzi was as young as she looked.  

When he felt her fingers sneak up under the fabric of his shirt, his cheeks instantly went red.  

He kind of froze up, trying to hide how flustered she was making him.  

His toes curled when he felt her fingers tracing the lining of his boxers.

"That depends on whether they use magic or not. For someone who doesn't use magic, maybe their thirties? Like Liq. He aged naturally until he got to his thirties then stopped ageing."

The woman's fingers continued stroking his skin, tracing up over his stomach slowly before trailing down to his boxers again, toying with the hem, slipping under it for a moment to stroke the sensitive skin beneath.

She was hardly aware of her actions. She just wanted to feel his skin. Feel someone's body to know she wasn't alone. It was a comfort to her.

"I did use magic. I suspended by age when I was in... my mid twenties?" It was a long time ago. "Since then I've always looked this age. Pretty good for someone three hundred years old, right?"

"Mmmhmm." He said, only half paying attention to her words. Every time her hands got near his boxers he felt himself tense up.

She may have had innocent intentions but her touches told a different story.

Tom had never been in a situation like this before. Being asexual he honestly didn't have any desire to sleep with Fawzi. It wasn't any fault on her part. He thought she was lovely and he did have feelings of her. But the idea of actually sleeping with her made him more nervous than anything else.

"Oh..wha...wait what?! Three hundred!?" He flung himself so that they were sitting up, Fawzi now on his lap.

He looked at the woman with shock.

The woman blinked in shock when Tom sat up and she was dragged up with him.

It took her a moment to gather what had happened.

"Uh-huh, three hundred." Her lips curled into a little grin. The blood that had dried on her face cracked and flaked a little when her face moved.

"Look good for my age, don't I?" she chuckled softly.

Tom blinked a few times, then swallowed.

"Y-yeah... you do... you really do." Normally he wouldn't believe it, but lately life had showed him there was little that was impossible.

"Fawzi you... you must have seen so much..." He breathed out in an awe-stricken sigh.

Fawzi giggled softly, leaning forwards to press a kiss to his cheek.

Tomaso was adorable.

The woman hummed softly. "I suppose I've seen a lot." She'd seen many things, both good and bad.

"If we're sat up, shall we get a drink?" She didn't make to move from Tom's lap. She was quite comfortable sat in his lap like this. Almost as comfortable as she was laying down pressed against him a moment before.