Who: Dawson Nolan & Cassidy Roka What: Breakfast and ASL When: Early March [backdated like woah] Where: Jack's Diner Rating: PG
Cassidy will admit. Walking into Jack’s when it’s not stupid busy is a hell of a lot different of an experience. He’d gotten to the diner a couple minutes early after the traffic had decided to give him a break on the way up. There were enough people scattered about to give the place some life, but not enough to crowd everything in - just after the lunch rush seemed to be the ideal time then, as far as he was concerned.
It wasn’t too much trouble to get seated at the window, and get a coffee ordered along with a heads up that he’d, hopefully, be joined soon by someone else. As much as the street wasn’t exactly a bad view, he was honestly more trying to keep an eye on his bike. Jack’s may not be busy, but a popular area on a Sunday? The last thing he needed was someone winging the side. Again. And he might be just a touch protective of that thing, but oh well.
He’d been kind of surprised - pleased, for sure though - that Dawson had agreed to lunch. It had been awhile since he’d met someone new that wasn’t through work or attached to the pack, and he’d had a feeling he might’ve been a little wrong footed. Their last meal, as accidental as it had started, had been really nice, and he had just...wanted to try again. Figure out the whole friend-making thing. And hey, it got him out of the house, willingly, and twice in a week in a half, for something other than work, pack business, or ‘moping on his bike,’ or any other number of ways he’d heard that described. Someone should be proud of him, honestly. He had no idea who, but someone.
The coffee was quick, a lot quicker than he’d thought it would be, but he wasn’t going to complain. He’d told Dawson two wasn’t too early, and he’d meant it - he’d been awake for awhile now. But he had to admit, being used to lazing around the apartment until well into the afternoon meant being up and about earlier tended to play haywire with his sense of time. Caffeine helped to some extent. And, honestly, Jack’s really did have fantastic coffee, even if he hadn’t really appreciated it last time.
Dawson had been the tiniest bit waylaid when he was leaving having gotten carried away with preparations for the oncoming full moon so he was a few minutes later leaving than he had wanted, so had ended up getting an Uber over to Jack’s instead of walking like he’d intended. That did mean he arrived pretty much bang on 2pm, well, 2:03, but who was really counting?
Shrugging out of his jacket as soon as he crossed into the warm diner, he was greeted with the familiar and comforting smell of food and milkshake that felt like a warm hug. Anxieties over the upcoming moon had started playing on his mind and though Drew did his best, he couldn’t really ease them, he couldn’t sit down in the basement with Dawson either to prevent him being alone. It just wasn’t safe.
Sliding into the booth opposite Cassidy he offered the other wolf a bright grin and lifted his hand, wiggling his fingers in greeting as he placed his jacket to the side and shifted, tucking one leg underneath himself. “Hey, sorry I’m a bit late,” he said, looking appropriately sheepish.
Cassidy didn’t startle slightly when Dawson slid into the other side. He didn’t. He’d been completely paying attention to his surroundings - not distracted by the flow of traffic, the heat of his coffee mug against his palms, or anything ridiculous like that. Regardless, the second it actually registered that it was Dawson, he grinned just as bright back.
There was a split second of uncertainty before he raised his hands just enough to spell out a simple ‘hey d-a-w-s-o-n’, to go along with the same thing out loud. His movements weren’t the smoothest, clearly not used to the shapes, but he’d been practicing basically since they met last week. He knew it’d take a hell of a long time to have a decent grasp of everything - just looking over the grammar for ASL had been eye-opening - but the alphabet...he’d figured it was as good a place to start as any.
His grin was small, and maybe a touch worried, but he didn’t let it hold him back for too long. Making a big deal out of it wasn’t the way to go. But he had wanted to show Dawson he wanted to learn - wanted to make this work, really. “That’s about...all I managed to get down without messing up. And you’re fine. It’s not like we’re in a rush.”
He glanced around for the waitress that had been helping him, but seeing at another table, he decided to leave her be. She’d be back around when she got the chance. “How’ve you been?” He asked, turning back to Dawson.
Dawson’s reaction to the fingerspelling was immediate. His expression lit up like a tree at Christmas, looking surprised and pleased and so touched at the thoughtful gesture that it took him a minute to even pay attention to what Cassidy was saying and read his lips, so overwhelmed by the fact that Cassidy had gone out on his own and tried to learn how to communicate in even the basics of ASL.
“You’ve done really well, that was pretty smooth for someone who’s not really done it before,” he praised, rubbing his hand along the back of his neck and then tapped his fingers on the table. He nodded. “I’m good, yeah, I mean, prepping for the full moon. You?”
“I’m going to let youtube take all the credit on that.” Cassidy said, shrugging slightly, but unable to hide his pleased grin. It’d be a little bit before he had the alphabet actually memorized beyond the whole string, and beyond Dawson’s name, but, hey. Definitely gave him something to focus on for the next long while.
“I’m okay. Work’s been a mess, but, then, it always is.” He shook his head, huffing softly. Sure, most people understood how to behave in a place like Midnight. But for some reason, the ones that didn’t? Had to be obnoxious about it. Kitty’s bracelet hadn’t had a reason to go off yet, but Cassidy was willing to bet that was more luck on his side than anything. He paused for a second at the mention of the moon - it was at the back of his head, like always, but beyond planning on taking the long way home after what was sure to be a rough one, he hadn’t put a whole lot of thought into it. But he remembered what it was like, on his own. Hard not to. But how to phrase… “You going to be okay?” He asked, trying to keep his expression one of genuine interest rather than any sort of out-of-step worry.
Dawson nodded, nose wrinlking a little and he rubbed at the side of his head, trying to work out how best to answer the question of ‘are you going ot be okay’ without just dropping in the causal ‘I change in the basement of my house’ because that was kind of heavy for anyone to hear the second time they’d met someone, let alone for another werewolf who was, quite clearly, part of a pack.
He huffed out a breath and shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve been changing on my own for almost six years now,” he shared, fingers moving gently so that it didn’t look like Cassidy was responding to questions that weren’t actually asked. “I’m- getting used to it?”
He wasn’t, but that was a story for another time. He rubbed his face again. “Shit, here’s me bringing the mood down, sorry, man.”
Cassidy nodded slightly, looking thoughtful for a long moment. “I don’t think it’s something you get used to easily. I barely managed five years of it. At six? That’s impressive.” He said, honestly. Sure, he’d been able to run a couple times with a pack during a moon, but he was being completely honest about barely lasting five years turning on his own. Not that he’d really thought it at the time, but still. Hindsight tended to make him shudder.
“And hardly. Pretty sure I’m the one that brought it up in the first place, so that’s on me.” He said, with a small, crooked smile. “And still. It’s something a lot of wolves deal with. You wanna talk about it, I’m down with it. If not,” he shrugged, leaning back in his seat, “We’ve still got a helluva lot we can talk about. Like…” he paused, tilting his head slightly, “You mentioned your brother in your texts. Older, younger?” He started, trying to give an out to the moment if it needed it, as well as being genuinely curious. He wanted to learn more about Dawson, not just bring him down.
“Even when I was part of a pack I changed alone,” Dawson shared, as though that was something that he just accepted. And, to some extent, it was. He’d always been made to feel like he’d have been a liability, but at least in the morning when they’d come to let him out there was that little bit of reassurance at being with others, even if he’d never been able to run with them. “I used to change in a bunker, now it’s a basement, it’s just… compact.”
He shifted in his seat again and looked brighter at the mention of his brother. “Older, if you ask him. Twenty minutes isn’t really much in it, though,” Dawson’s expression said it all about that convesation. “We’re twins.”
“Even when you were…” Cassidy paused, kind of just blinking for a moment at Dawson, trying to wrap his head around that. He knew he didn’t have a right to be mad about it - it wasn’t him, and he wasn’t nearly close enough with Dawson yet for that, but still. And it wasn’t too hard to guess a that if he wasn’t with his pack during the moon, he probably hadn’t had the chance to run with them much, if at all. Getting packs out to the forests during the moon was a hassle enough as it was, especially for those packs closer to the cities. Okay. “So, if I’m overstepping, just...ignore me, alright? And I’ll drop it. But would you uh… want to go running? With me? Sometime. I’d need to double check with Marshall and all that, and it’d have to be after the moon and all that but. Still.” Well, that was the most awkward way he could ask that, but at least it was out there.
Shaking his head slightly, he let the question lie. If Dawson wanted to acknowledge it, that was up to him. He had to smile over Dawson’s expression though as he mentioned his brother. He knew that conversation very well, if from the other side. “I dunno. Just long enough to hold over someone’s head forever it sounds like. Identical or fraternal, if you don’t mind me asking? And you said he was a photographer?”
Dawson looked a little confused and it took him a moment to gather his thoughts on the invitation to run with Cassidy. He wasn’t sure if it meant what he thought it did, and he didn’t want to assume anything so he let it drop for a moment, sipping at his drink and looking pensive before he just nodded. “If you- if you think it’d be safe,” he said finally, trying to squash down the way his chest tightened with excitement at finally being allowed to be near another wolf. He tried to tamper it down, stomp on it a little bit. He tipped his head, two fingers tapping his left ear. “I’m still deaf in wolf form, too,” he advised, because that had always been the problem before. They’d viewed him as a bit of a liability because he was vulnerable. It didn’t matter that his other senses were better because of it.
He swallowed, shifting on his seat and pulled out his cell phone, finding a picture of his brother - who looked older, now, considering he was still human and aging at a human rate rather than Dawson who had sort of stopped for now - “Fraternal, and yeah, he’s a photographer. Really good, too, he does a lot of promotional work. I’m really proud of him.”
“Green pack lands - we'd be the only ones out there, unless someone else decided to go at the same time. About as safe as we can get.” Cassidy promised quickly. First thing to do when he got home then was ask Marshall if they even could, but he was pretty sure it wouldn't be a problem. He had to raise an eyebrow slightly at the warning, “It'd be a little odd if you weren't, wouldn't it? Again, we should be safe, but the point is to look out for each other. I'd guess you can pick up things I can't, and vice versa. We can make it work.” He grinned, “Whenever you want to go alright? Including if you change your mind.” He really hoped Dawson wouldn't though. It was normally either him by himself or the whole pack out there. Running with just one other wolf wasn't something he'd been able to do in a long time. Of course if he just asked, that probably wouldn't be a problem. But, details.
He leaned closer to get a better look at the phone, glancing between the picture and Dawson for a moment. He could see the resemblance, but there was definitely enough of a difference too. If he'd seen the picture first, he would've guessed his brother was a bit older than twenty minutes. But that was the mess of it wasn't it? “Yeah, saw his work at Midnight. He's good. He live around here with you or just work?”
Dawson smiled, nodding his head. “I’d like that a lot, as long as your… Alpha? As long as your Alpha’s okay with this.” He rubbed behind his ear and shifted, tucking his leg underneath himself again and rested his elbow on the table, resting his chin in his palm. “I don’t think I’ve ever run with another wolf, so just… fair warning I’m probably a mess” His other pack had always left him with toys to keep him busy, things that barely lasted the night. Sometimes, for every snippet of full moon that he remembered, he missed having the flashy toys that lit up.
He rubbed the side of his head and tugged on his ear, twisting his phone back after Cassidy had looked at it. “We live together, yeah. We have a house, with a basement.”
“Ah, yeah, the Alpha of the Green pack. His name’s Marshall, and he shouldn't have a problem with it, but I'll ask and let you know, alright?” Cassidy said, grinning. And even if he did, there was plenty of the park he knew that they could use. They'd just have to keep more of an eye out, depending on when they went. But, one problem at a time. “That's fair. Though I hope that doesn't mean you're expecting me to be much better. I've fallen into enough creeks and run into enough trees that it's ridiculous.” Sure, half the time he had been shoved. But plenty of those were because he missed a root in the underbrush too, so there was no higher ground to be taken.
He didn't miss the description of the house, and making a leap of a guess why he'd bring it up wasn't too far out of left field. But that wasn't his business. The run was butting in enough, even if he would’ve probably asked at some point anyway. “You said you just came back to the area right? What brought you back?”
Dawson just nodded again, chuckling as Cassidy said something about falling, though he would admit it was getting difficult to follow the conversation. Relying solely on lip reading was difficult and tiring. He was dragging Drew out next time so he could interpret or maybe he’d have to think about hiring someone. He tugged on his ear and lifted his eyes, watching Cassidy’s mouth as he spoke.
“LA’s nicer than where my brother grew up,” he answered, “plus our- he didn’t wanna stay in a place that reminded him of our mom since she died a few years ago. If she hadn’t died we’d have been back a lot sooner. He’s got a lot of friends here.” Dawson not so much, even though he’d been here a lot longer. “Work’s better, too.”
“I'm sorry to hear that,” Cassidy offered, picking over all of that and coming up with a handful of things he probably shouldn't ask about. The more Dawson told him though, the more complicated the story got. Which, fair. Not like his own story was clean-cut either. “I'd imagine so though, with his skill. What about you? Anything interesting popping up, work wise?” He asked, curious.
He might've startled slightly when their waitress finally made her way back over - the place had gotten just busy enough without him noticing to put a bit of a delay on everything apparently, but, not like they were in a rush. He offered a smile, a helluva lot more genuine than the last time they were here, and ordered a simple plate of pancakes again. May be two in the afternoon, but as far as he was concerned, it was breakfast dangit.
“No, nothing yet, I’m waiting to see if the library will get back to me.” Dawson shrugged his shoulder, glancing up when the waitress appeared and smiling at her. Carefully, he pointed out what he wanted on the menu and smiled, rubbing the side of his ear as she took the order down, repeated it back to them both and then went to put it into the kitchen.
He waved a hand, “But enough about me, we always seem to end up back here. What about you? What’s your pack like?”
“From what you’ve mentioned, I hope it does then.” Cassidy said, tilting his head slightly as he watched Dawson with the waitress. He kind of wanted to ask after how Dawson was moving his hands, curious as to whether it was just a fidget or meant something more. But the last thing he wanted to do was make him stop either. So, quiet for now. He’d figure it out eventually. Maybe.
He blinked slightly when Dawson turned the conversation back on him, and again at the mention of his pack. Well, that was fair. He shrugged slightly, glancing out the window for a moment, trying to figure out what to say. He turned back to Dawson before he started talking, a lopsided smile in place, “I mean. Anything I say is going to be biased as hell. They took my sorry ass in, you know? But...they’re good. Really good. We’re a little spread out, but it works.” And works well. He wouldn’t have done well with a too-close knit pack, not again. What the Green pack gave him was room for himself while still allowing him to be pack. “And that...probably didn’t actually answer the question, huh?”
Dawson chuckled and shook his head. “No, you didn’t answer the question.” Which was a fair assessment because he hadn’t said much other than that they’d taken him in. “But if you don’t wanna talk about them we don’t have to. I was just curious. I’ve not… had good experiences with packs, or other wolves in general so I’m always curious.” It was honest, after all, Dawson wasn’t a very good liar. His face gave him away more often than not, expressive and open as it was.
“It’s not that I don’t want to talk about them!” Cassidy assured quickly, “Hell, I’ve asked you plenty, only fair I return the favor. I just…” he shook his head slightly, “I’m just bad with words sometimes. But they’re good people. Like I said, we’re spread out. Outside of the moon, I only see a handful every week, but that’s more on me. The pack house is always...well, packed, when I do visit. Marshall’s fair, and a good alpha. It’s...a different dynamic than what I grew up with, but they’ve made it work. More kids running around than I’m used to, too, but they’ve all more or less got good heads on their shoulders, and the pack’s strong enough that they don’t have to worry about much. Even have a handful of humans running around close by, more than one that I’d consider pack, though I’m not sure about how the others feel.”
Cassidy shrugged slightly, with a sheepish ‘that’s it’ look to his face, leaning back against the booth. He’s still not entirely sure that would give Dawson much to work with, but, hell, if he wanted to know more about packs, Cassidy could at least try. Whether or not he’d be successful was an entirely different matter.
Dawson nodded again, it was a lot of information to process and honestly he was struggling a little just with catching everything Cassidy was saying. Lip reading might have been his primary form of communication when Drew wasn’t around to translate but it was difficult and exhausting and he struggled to keep up after a while. But from what Cassidy was saying, his pack sounded like a good bunch of people and he was glad to have at least met this one.
He managed about three quarters of what Cassidy was saying, and he figured that was enough of a win for now. He rubbed at the side of his head, then scrubbed a hand through his hair, turning his head to see if their food was coming. Honestly, even though they’d only just ordered it, he was starving and the smell of food around them didn’t help any.
He’d be able to focus better after having eaten something, he was sure.