Ruby / Red (redridinhood) wrote in thedoorway, @ 2013-01-28 15:02:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log, ruby lucas / red, sam merlotte |
WHO: Red Riding Hood and Sam Merlotte
WHERE: Out camping!
WHEN: January 15th
WHAT: They’re out camping, running as shifters, chat.
RATING: PG
STATUS: log;
There were a lot of things about being a werewolf that still troubled Red, but when she was out running, embracing that part of her and feeling the rush of exhilaration, none of it seemed to matter. It was best during the full moon, with the adrenaline moving through her stronger than ever, but she appreciated any piece of it she could get. And not being terrified of hurting anyone in the process? That was the best kind of relief she could ask for. Luckily Sam took them out far enough that she didn’t have to worry about people seeing a giant wolf and telling tall tales about it. When they got back to the camp ground after a long run, Red slipped behind a tree to get her clothes back on when she shifted back. While Sam might be used to being around other shifters who didn’t have modesty, Red was a different story. She only spent time with werewolves that one other time, so that was new. It was cold out there so she was covered up pretty snugly when she came back. Since it seemed stupid to spend too much time on her appearance out there, she left off the distinct make up style she had usually, feeling more natural and free this way. Her hair was a lot more tangled and loose, and she pulled up the hoodie of her jacket. Always with the hoods. “I’m lucky I came from a cold climate originally, and then there was Maine for the past twenty-eight years. I’m going to swelter in the summer when it comes around.” She smiled over to Sam and stretched her arms over her head. It hadn't taken Sam as long as he'd thought it would to figure out where to go and what gear they'd need for a couple days out in the cold. Just one trip to a sporting goods store had given him everything he needed: a tent, two sleeping bags that were good for extremely low temperatures, a tent heater just in case. They had food and enough wood for a fire, and he'd left their itinerary with Sam Anders in case they got delayed somehow. Sam had his fingers crossed that they wouldn't end up in a blizzard. That would suck the fun out of the entire trip. So far so good, however, he thought as he pulled his own winter coat on. "I'm from Texas. This is the first --" He shivered and zipped up his coat. "First real winter I've ever had. And it's fucking freezing." His temperature might have run a touch higher than the average human's, but it wasn't by any remarkable leaps and bounds as a human. If he'd stayed a wolf… well, then he couldn't talk. "Think I literally freezed my ass off just now." He pulled a hat on and then headed for where they'd cleared enough space for a fire pit. Thank God he had good boots, too, or he would've gone furry again. Red laughed and glanced over to the fire pit. She knew how to make fire out of stones or twigs and a lot of natural wildlife techniques. She was a survivalist, and they were used to living in a world without technology outside of Storybrooke. It was getting easier to blend her sets of memories together, but this felt easy to slip back into. “You have no idea how bad it can get. Try having a foot of snow and nothing but the clothes on your back. That gets old fast. One time I was convinced I’d never have feeling in my feet again.” It was great having someone she could run with and talk about things that her own people wouldn’t understand. She would never find a friend as loyal and pure as Snow White again, but that didn’t mean Snow could really get what it was like. At least she didn’t pretend she could. “So option number one is making a fire, option number two is fleeing to the tent early. Preference?” Red could handle it either way, but he was from Texas. He could get used to hard living from his travels, but this was cold on top of that. Sam gave a low whistle. "Nothing but the clothes on your back? Jesus." He couldn't imagine that; he didn't want to imagine that. As adaptable as he'd tried to be over the years, there was a reason he stuck to the South. It was easier to be who he was without worrying about frostbite on very sensitive areas, and he hated shifting and staying inside all of the time. He liked to be able to run. That, he figured, was probably why he'd felt an affinity with Red from the start. She understood that side of him better than almost anyone. While it was jarring to open himself up so quickly to someone else, shifter or not, he was quickly coming to terms with it. It felt good. It felt right. "Fire, and then we'll see? The wind doesn't seem as strong as it was earlier, so that'll help." That and it just wasn't camping out in the woods without a fire. “Luckily my cloak was very, very warm. And magic. Too bad I don’t have it here. Not much of a little Red Riding Hood without it, huh?” Red went a long time without the hood, and she didn’t need it anymore with her degree of control. But it was a part of her, and she missed it. She smiled at him and grabbed kindling, putting it in the pit and went about the motions getting a fire started. Once it had enough life to put some real wood in, she did that and then sat down cross legged next to it. “Thanks for coming up with this idea. I needed a run, and to be honest, I’m not comfortable in cities.” Red lived in small villages back home, and she preferred to stay outside even when Snow would’ve offered her any room in their castle. Storybrooke was a small town itself. “Ruby, the uh … well the other me.” She wasn’t sure how to explain that Ruby was her but not her, and she tried her best to explain the curse to him before when Regina showed up. It was complicated. Still she continued. “She was a lot more restless. Wanted to see the world and have adventures. I think it was to cause dissatisfaction, leading her, me, to unhappiness.” And that was the point of Regina’s curse. For none of them to be happy with who or where they were. "Not unless we get you a new one, but…" He shrugged and flashed a sympathetic smile her way. "Not sure we can replicate that magic. It still wouldn't be the same." He knew enough to that, at least. He couldn't replace it. None of them could. Thankfully, she didn't need it to keep everyone safe. Sam hated to think about the wolves and shifters who'd have to be locked up because they couldn't stay in control enough. He shuddered, not sure if it was the cold or the thought of being stuck, trapped. Sam sat down beside her once they got the fire going, knowing they'd be warmer near each other. It was amazing how quiet the world was outside of the city. He'd forgotten, in the time he'd been there. "Makes sense," he agreed, glancing over at her. "You're all connected, both of your selves, your lives. You couldn't…" He'd been restless for a different reason -- not because he wanted great adventures or because he wanted to see the world. "Couldn't let go and be yourself. Truth is, I missed being able to run like this too. Going to Central Park and letting someone throw me a stick isn't the same." It worked, but he craved this too. All the time he'd spent as different animals, particularly as a dog, and their wildness had begun to bleed into him more and more. “There’s definitely nothing like it out there. I’m not even sure where Granny got it.” Granny kept a lot of secrets. They reunited since Red found out who she was and started helping Snow fight Regina, but all the same, Granny didn’t talk about anything she didn’t want to. “I don’t need it anyway. That would be more of a security blanket than anything else.” She smiled wryly. “That and it brings out my eyes,” she winked and brushed her hair back over her shoulder. “We spent a long time trying to find ourselves. Trying to find our way. My way. I found it, before the curse. We were all getting on with our lives before the curse. That was probably the point.” Red looked closely at the fire, at the way it moved and let the warmth make her feel grounded. She was here, the curse was no longer in effect. In their world, she struggled over the wolf and her inner beast and came to terms with it, at least in a way. They fought a war and won and things were getting better. Before it got bad instead. She shook herself out of it and glanced over to him. “Were you in Texas all your life? You’ve really never been anywhere this cold before?” Sam leaned forward against his thighs, hunched over slightly as he sought out the warmth of the fire. He'd spent a long time trying to find himself, too. He'd spent a long time running from himself, not accepting the truth, not embracing who he really was. It wasn't until he told Sookie the truth that he started to feel any different, and most of that was because he'd finally found someone who could accept him. If she could, maybe it wasn't such a bad thing after all. "Not all my life. I've -- I never settled down much before Bon Temps. Never put down roots anywhere, never got attached." He conned a few people here, conned a few there, and he disappeared before anyone could get their hands on him. "Mostly stayed in the South. Warmer weather, less of a problem after shifting back." He wrinkled his nose. Now that they'd shifted around each other, she'd understand what he meant by that. Red laughed at that and nodded her head in understanding. “Tell me about it.” Only crazy people or shifters went around naked in the winter. She warmed her hands on the fire and shuffled her booted feet on the ground a little. “The Enchanted Forest is beautiful in the spring. I think because it’s magic, it just always knows what we want it to be. When good is in control, everything just feels right. Down to your bones, it feels like that’s how everything is supposed to be.” It was hard to explain something like that, and she didn’t think she was doing a good job of it. No one could really understand unless they went there in person. “I know that probably sounds crazy,” she said, glancing over to him. “Can I just go magic,” she playfully waved jazz hands at him, “and it all makes sense?” Red smiled and reached forward to brush a little dirt he had on his knee off. It was impossible not to get dirty between running and camping now. “What was it about Bon Temps that made you decide to settle down?” As much as Sam tried to picture the Enchanted Forest, he had a feeling he would never get it quite right. He understood as much as he could, but he knew he'd never understand like she did. He smiled gently at her as she explained. He could tell from her expression that it was something special, and that helped. "Not as crazy as you think," he insisted, his smile widening a touch. "Magic's a pretty powerful thing." Though he tried to avoid witches as much as he could, that wasn't the only kind of magic he'd encountered. Maryann had her own terrible, devastating brand of magic. He might not have seen many examples of any good sort of magic, but where evil was possible, so was good. "Bon Temps was…" His voice trailed off and he squinted at Red for a second as he tried to figure out how to word what he wanted to say. "Normal. I thought it was normal, anyway. It was just this small town in the middle of nowhere. No one knew who I was. It was a fresh start." “It probably doesn’t help that being here was a curse to start out with. I like being myself here for once, but it was colored because of that.” Red had to admit that was a factor of why she missed the Enchanted Forest. She spent more time technically in Storybrooke than she did there, but it was different. Regina intentionally made sure they were never completely comfortable in this world, it was part of the curse. And now they were in another place against their will. She raised an eyebrow at that. “I haven’t watched your show, Sam, but I know it turned out to be anything but normal. Vampires and werewolves came up.” Maybe Red looked into it just a tiny bit. She’d rather hear details from him, but she was curious to check him out after they first met. Her instincts were stellar normally, but they were rusty. “And this place is anything but normal. Are you okay with that more now?” Sam chuckled, though it was more on the dry side than genuinely amused. "Anything but normal. Yeah, that about sums it up." That was the sad thing about his entire plan: his search for a normal life landed him in the middle of a mess. He should've known better than to expect otherwise. What he'd been running from was impossible to avoid. He sat back slightly, turning to face her a little more. "Honestly, I don't have a damn clue. Most of the time… I'm all right. I've gotta be. My whole life's out there for everyone to see. I'm not okay with that, but it's helping me come to terms with what I am in a different way. It was this big damn secret before. Here… no one gives a shit about it. People think it's interesting. No one's scared. It's a damn relief." “That’s mostly the response I’ve gotten too. You’re the Big Bad Wolf? That’s so cool!” Red adopted the tone of a typical teenager, gushy and all, and dropped it after a moment. As Ruby she did have her moments of being ditzy and immature, which was very different from the grounded and down to earth Red. One of those other strange contradictions. She made a face and looked down and turned back toward the fire. “I’m not okay with them knowing personal things either. I had at least one fan come up to me and start talking about … well something I didn’t want to talk about with a stranger. I don’t know if I’ll get used to that.” Red barely came to terms with losing Peter herself, so being addressed about it every day? Not something she was close to comfortable with. Let alone the situation with her mother, which was full of a lot of pain and regret. “I think I’m still relieved I’m not on HBO,” she teased, darting her eyes over to him. “I’ve seen what shows are like on there.” Sam wrinkled his nose, a blush rising to his cheeks despite the cold. "I've heard." He hadn't bothered watching his show, not seeing the point in torturing himself over all that personal information. That and it seemed like it would be damn embarrassing to watch himself like that. God only knew what was being shown; he didn't want to relive every mistake he'd ever made. The flip side was that there could be information about himself that he'd never find out if he avoided his entire life. He'd wanted to learn about his birth family, and then he'd been taken to Asgard. The only way to learn anything now was the show, or the books. That was a decision he was still wrestling with. "I don't know, I think there'd be a lot of people who'd wish your show was on HBO, but I can't say I'm too thrilled. All the sex, violence… As if being on tv wasn't bad enough, they've gotta show us having sex too? Jesus." He looked away, embarrassed. "All I gotta say is at least I'm not the main character." “Oh god,” Ruby said, half embarrassed and half amused. “I bet they would love that. We’d never live it down. They seem to like to cut strategically whenever I shift back. Too Disney for anything like that.” Which she was very, very grateful for. She might not be able to look in the face of anyone who liked the show if she knew they’d seen her naked. Nope. Permanenty scarred by that information. “I’d like to tease you for blushing, but I can’t blame you either.” She smiled wryly and leaned over to bump him with her shoulder playfully. “I don’t plan on peeping. I had a better chance of doing that a few minutes ago.” She was the actual worst at even casually flirting with someone. It probably was due to being zero for two when it came to men. And both were very, very, horrifically dead. Oh boy. Can of worms. She cleared her throat and blushed a little herself. “How long did it take you to get Sam’s up and running?” “Lucky you.” Sam chuckled and shook his head. He’d seen a few images from the show, and they’d left little to the imagination. Better for him to avoid it, because there were plenty of people in Bon Temps he didn’t want to see naked or having sex. Jason, for one. Sookie was another. He nudged her shoulder back in return. “I’d say I’m surprised you didn’t, but I don’t want you thinkin’ I thought you were like that. Just -- don’t feel weird about it. I’m not bashful.” Not about that, anyway. He was so used to it that the embarrassment of running around naked had worn off a long time ago. “Sam’s took a couple months. Got Pepper and Tony to get me a loan so I could afford to get it all set up and be able to pay folks until we started turnin’ a profit. It was my idea to open it up though. Figured... figured we’d want somewhere to call our own, if enough people showed up.” Red was much more against seeing her friends naked or having sex than worrying about herself. It would be awkward, but much much much much more awkward looking at Charming and thinking about that. Yikes, never. He was practically a brother to her, and that was just wrong on so many levels. “A lot of people assume around here people are looking them up. I guess it’s normal to be a little wary. I’ve gotten it enough times here to think that myself. I’m not going to be offended if they do, but I’d rather share my own life at my speed, you know?” Or not at all with strangers. Red hadn’t told anyone but Snow and Charming about the bad parts of her past, and she didn’t want to start that with her Storybrooke friends either. “You did a good job. It’s the place to go for us. Especially that first night.” Most people were sorely in need of a drink! “I’m lucky I jumped on that job offer fast. The only other trade I can offer is tracking. And wilderness training.” Sam wouldn't have been surprised if someone looked him up or even watched the show, nor would he have been offended, but he understood. He'd rather share his story on his own terms too. He'd rather get to know people -- and have them get to know him -- independently of their so-called source material. There had to be more to everyone than what was on their shows or in their books. "I'm with you there," he agreed. "I'd rather it be up to me." Something like this, asking each other questions, spending time together. This was a sliver of something normal in a world that was insanely complicated. "Just glad I can be of service to everyone," Sam continued, grinning as he looked over at her. "And I'm glad you jumped in on it too. You've got seniority over the new staff now. Wield that power carefully." The laughter in his eyes was there, but fleeting, challenging her a little. Red wondered about how they were portrayed too. She read the summaries, but she wondered if everyone thought they were misrepresented in their material. Regina might think she was the hero of her own story, so what would she think when she saw herself as the villain on the show? “Then there’s the people who don’t get any choice because they’re too famous in the pop culture here. You and I can still walk outside without getting mobbed everywhere at least.” She laughed. “Hey, it was only a matter of time before I ended up alpha waitress. But I am a benevolent ruler.” Red rubbed her hands together, not really because she was cold but more to get rid of excess energy. She was still coming down from the high of their run, bit by bit. “No truth is Granny broke me in a long time ago. I have twenty-eight years of experience enforcing her tyrannical restaurant laws. You can count on me.” That, he had to admit, was a plus too. Not everyone was so lucky. From what he could tell, his show wasn’t nearly as popular now as it had been when it’d started. The other thing he had going for him was that he wasn’t the main love interest, or one of those damn vampires. It was strange to think about their lives in terms of a television show like that, but he’d mostly gotten past that now. Then again, it was easier for him to deal with it since he wasn’t so popular. Sam’s laugh echoed hers. “Good, you’ll be able to follow my tyrannical rules too,” he joked, although he wasn’t quite sure how much was actually a joke. He had run a restaurant with a lot of rules back home, and not too much had changed here. He couldn’t keep a handle on his employees’ behavior if everything was chaotic, after all. “Guess you’re likin’ things well enough then? I wasn’t worried, but... I know we’ve been busy. Wouldn’t want to burn you out already.” Her show was starting to get popular enough, but Red herself was a side character. Emma probably had a rougher time with it. Still, Red had such a distinct look that she got notice in general, followed by people connecting it. She was back to liking a red streak here and there, and she wasn’t ready to ditch the red in exchange for more privacy. Maybe when it got tougher she’d change her mind on that. “There’s nothing tyrannical about you. You’re too nice of a guy for that.” He was a good boss. Fair and willing to bend to his employees for the right reasons, but not completely get stepped on by them either. If Red ever owned her own business, that’s more what she’d like to be. “I’ve got endless energy. I think it’s been fun so far. The stories we get to hear are out of this world. Literally. Places I couldn’t dream of seeing myself.” Nor would she want to in a lot of cases. She would resist the space ones, for example. It felt too creepy to her, being stuck out there. The big ships had more space but they were still driving around. Sam looked at her for a moment like he didn't believe it, almost like he thought she was joking even though he knew she wasn't. He tried to be a good boss and a nice guy. It didn't always work. There was a definite line between the two: if he was too nice, people thought they could get away with anything. If he was too hard on them, they'd be miserable working for him. He didn't always believe he was doing a good job. The smile on his face grew warmer as he accepted what she'd said - or at least accepted that she believed it. "Thanks, Red." Then it widened more, his eyes twinkling as she mentioned places that were literally out of this world. "You mean like Asgard?" he asked, the amusement obvious all over his face. "Never dreamed of seeing a place like that either, and then all of a sudden… I wake up with a splitting headache on the floor of the biggest damn room I've ever seen." She tilted her head quizzically at him. “You’re welcome? I’m only saying the truth. I can’t be the first person to say you’re a nice guy and good boss, right?” If so, his other employees were jerks. Red doubted that. Maybe like most truly nice guys he didn’t have much of an ego, so it was something he’d never say of himself. “I might not know a lot of bosses, only the one other, but I do know nice guys. I know Prince Charming, and you could give him a run for his money.” She hesitated and then added with a smile: “In personality that is. I don’t think you’re the sword fighting type.” Her eyes widened and so did her smile, nodding and clapping her hands. “Jeez, just like that. Asgard. The place of the Norse gods, you were there. I bet it was beautiful, was it beautiful?” Red leaned her head against a waiting hand, a little wistful. “You were one of the first person to arrive, right? What was that like?” Laughing, Sam shook his head. “Nah, not the sword fighting type. He’s made a name for himself bein’ charming, so it’s good to know I can compete there. Ain’t much a prince though, that’s for sure.” He was too low bred for something like that, but it didn’t concern him much. There were other things he could offer than knowing how to sword fight. Her excitement was infectious, and he couldn’t help but be amused by it. “Like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” he told her earnestly, his voice still full of awe even after so many months. Asgard had been terrifying and exhilarating at the same time -- and more confusing than anything he’d faced before in his life. “It was one hell of a trip. I never thought I’d get to say I had drinks with Thor and Odin in Asgard of all damn places... or at all. It wasn’t easy being in New York early on, just a few of us. I don’t think they knew what to do with us back then.” Or now, truthfully. Red almost mentioned that neither was he, not really, but that was personal. The show information might be out there for everyone to see, but that didn’t mean she had to actively be throwing around secrets without permission. So she chuckled and shrugged. “The Charming is a nickname, and it was sarcastic at first. But he has charm to him, no doubt about that. I know how to use a sword, and a bow, and mostly weapons that mean very little in modern time.” She could take on a gun too if she needed to. Red’s most dangerous quality was her wolf though, so that would be the first thing she used. His awe rubbed off on her, it was that genuine. “Or now,” Red said with a snort, apparently reading his mind. It was the natural progression from his thought. With the protesters making trouble, it was clear no one knew what to make of them. “Too bad we can just all go to Asgard and have a life there instead.” "Or now," Sam echoed, his voice dry and just a touch defeated. He had a better handle on things than most, since he was one of the few who'd been around longest. He'd gotten used to people coming -- and now he was getting used to people leaving, too. He'd gotten used to the city and to people not knowing what to make of him. It wasn't easy, to say the least, but time was a great healer. If only people let it be. If only he did. It was something he was working on. "Too bad, yeah. New York's not bad for a big city, but it's got nothing on Asgard." He smirked. "I don't know what they'd do with a big wolf like you, though," he nudged her shoulder playfully again, "and I have no idea if they've got any sort of woods like these." The wind might have been biting, but the fire and the company helped. "This, I don't know if I'd trade for much of anything." Red didn’t like the way things were shaping up right now. She was overly cautious by nature when it came to situations that could end up with mobs and pitchforks. That hit way too close to home, especially in recent times. She tried not to overreact and keep a cool head, but that wasn’t always easy when her instincts were growling at her to keep her shackles up. Just in case. Red smiled and bumped him back with her shoulder. “They’re giants, I’m probably a runt to them.” She’d only seen Thor a few times, but he was a big guy. “I am pretty big. Although the line should be,” she met his eyes and playfully widened hers large, “my, what big eyes you have.” She chuckled and relaxed back into her normal expression. She knew her story and she knew the generally acknowledged version of Red Riding Hood in this world. Hers was both better and worse. “You wouldn’t trade it for anything, huh? Sounds like you might’ve found a place that isn’t normal but you’re still happy to stick around.” "Don't feel bad about that, I'm a runt to them too," Sam told her, hoping it'd be at least a little reassuring. It hadn't been a pleasant thing to find out, especially since Sam wasn't the tallest human around to begin with. At least women tended to still be shorter than he was, on average. Asgard was a whole different story. "And isn't there something in there about big teeth?" Red had one of those infectious smiles that lit up the whole room, so that seemed to fit too. As for the rest, Sam couldn't help but look at her fondly. He shrugged. "Guess you've got me pinned. No, this place isn't normal, but…" The people in the tower and the people on the streets were a hell of a lot more accepting of him than he'd expected back in Bon Temps. "Maybe that's not so bad after all." He knew he'd been trying too hard to blend in and be the normal guy everyone thought he was, but it was only just starting to come falling down on top of his head when he'd arrived in Asgard. Red flashed one of those big smiles at him, showing plenty of teeth, and then nipped at the air to go along with his joke. “The better to eat you with, obviously.” She figured most people were runts compared to the Asgardians. She almost asked him more about Loki, the guy who popped up on the network from time to time and was apparently the cause of a lot of misery. He was an Asgardian, and she’d heard the fables of course, the wicked brother of Thor. But what his place was here, she couldn’t quite put her finger on. “It’s not bad at all,” she said softly. She reached out to take his hand. “I get it, you know? I’ve been there. Feeling like a freak. I still do sometimes. It wasn’t that long ago people in my own town were hunting me down and I thought I deserved it.” Red understood how something like that could turn a person to self-loathing and hiding who they were from everyone. She squeezed his hand and tilted her head toward him. “Besides, if you haven’t noticed, a lot of times normal people dream about being different instead. Everyone wants to be special. I bet there are people around here who would give an arm and a leg to be like you instead.” This, Sam thought, was why he'd felt a certain affinity to Red right away -- and why he often found himself drawn to other people like them in some way. He'd searched desperately for a place to belong when he was younger, trying his luck with various packs he ran into with no luck. No one, it seemed, wanted to accept someone who was different than they were. Over time, he'd learned how to deal with it, but the desire for a sense of belonging remained. Now, here, there were so few of them that it seemed incredibly fruitless to Sam to isolate themselves further based upon their differences, when they were already unlike normal humans to begin with. He squeezed her hand in return. "None of us deserve that, least of all you." He meant that from the bottom of his heart. It wasn't right to persecute someone over something they couldn't control, but people did it anyway. "If only all those people who want to be like us knew that it isn't all sunshine and roses all the time. The shit we go through…" While he could acknowledge that being a shifter made him the person he was, he certainly didn't think everyone was cut out for the hardships. "You gotta be a special kind of person to handle that with grace." “To be fair to them, they thought I killed someone. I thought I killed someone. That I lost control and hurt a friend. I’m just lucky I was wrong.” Red was fair about that. She didn’t expect everyone to give her the benefit of the doubt. Red proved herself to Snow and Charming, but strangers didn’t have to do that. She felt a bit sheepish now she panicked and fell into a depressed state that quickly, but she couldn’t help thinking of Peter when it happened. Red sighed and took her hand back from him, folding it with her other one and looking at the fire. “I killed my fiance, the first time I turned.” She didn’t know what was inspiring her to come clean like this, but maybe it was since they were sharing. Or maybe to show Sam she wasn’t all that special of a person, considering what she’d done. The guilt ate away at her even now. “I didn’t know I was a wolf. We thought he might be so ….” She swallowed away the lump in her throat. Years later and it still hurt. Peter. “We tied him up, but it was me.” She ran both her hands through her hair, the raw emotion making her want to cry, but she was holding it together. “I killed my mother. She was going to kill Snow, and it was an accident. So I don’t know, Sam. I probably did deserve it. Karmic retribution.” She smiled weakly. “Sorry. So did not mean to bring the pow wow down.” Sam didn't know what to say in response to Red's confession. He'd killed before, sure, but he'd never killed someone that close to him, so he knew he couldn't relate that well. He just listened and hoped that having someone to lean on (figuratively, at least) would help. "It's all right," he answered, smiling back at her. "Still don't think you deserved it for something like that, but… we all do things we're not proud of. What matters more is what you do with it after." In this case, what mattered more was how her people treated her now, knowing that they'd been wrong. The same applied to her. "Hey, how about… hold on, don't go anywhere." Sam grinned and then stood up, heading for the tent where he'd stashed some of their food. He came back with an arm full of ingredients for s'mores. "Hungry?" Well Red was expecting his reaction to be closer to ‘holy crap you killed your boyfriend and mother,’ so anything less than that was a relief. It showed too, Red wasn’t skilled at hiding her emotions. She had a face as honest as the rest of her. She wiped her eyes when he moved to the tent, and by the time he got back she was smiling again. She wanted to tell him what a good guy he was and how much she appreciated his non-judgmental attitude in the face of some heavy stuff, but it seemed like too much to say at the moment. So instead she pulled the bag of marshmallows from him and opened it up. “Starving.” "Thought you might be." Sam set the rest of the ingredients out and handed her a stick that he'd sharpened earlier. "Cheers. Next time, we're coming back when there isn't snow on the ground." He hoped it wouldn't be too presumptuous to be thinking that far ahead already, but this trip was a welcome respite from taking care of the bar and from city life. Spending time with other shifters of any kind wasn't something he was used to, but if it was going to be anything like this, he knew he wouldn't regret it. "I hope you're in." Red took the stick and reached over to poke him with it in the side, grinning. It was an automatic impulse to tease him. “I’m in for coming up here whenever. Big forests, s’mores, and good company? Who would say no to that?” After a beat though, she added: “Let’s aim for no snow on the ground though.” |