Wild Dog 3

The next time Blake awoke there was a significant amount of extra weight overtop him, making him jerk his eyes open and quickly sit up. He realized after a few moments of confusion that there had just been a few extra blankets piled on top of the ones he'd already been under, allowing his body to relax as he calmed his panting and looked around. 

Huh, nobodies here?

After hesitating for a few minutes as he listened for any sounds that might give away that someone was actually in the bathroom or possibly outside the door, he carefully slid out from beneath the blankets and looked down at himself. He was still wearing his pajama pants, but he definitely needed a shower... immediately. His fever must have broken while he'd been asleep and he was just covered in sweat. 

Gross. 

Making a face at his own discomfort, Blake headed for the bathroom. He slowed down as he approached, but made himself keep walking because, honestly, it was just a bathroom. It wasn't like someone was going to jump out just to try and mess with or hurt him. 

Shaking his head, he stepped inside, honestly relieved that no one was there. He quickly shut the door, but then looked at the broken lo—eh?

Reaching up, he settled his thumb over the little lock button, then pushed it in until he heard a quiet click sound. 

It... works now? 

Leaning over a little, he looked closer and was surprised to see that the lock had actually been fixed. 

While I was asleep? 

The guy must have used regular tools, too, because he would have definitely woken up if he'd tried to use anything electronic. Straightening back up, Blake struggled to look away from the simple lock but eventually forced himself to turn and tug off his pajama pants, then quickly relieve himself before washing his hands and hoping in the shower. 

He scrubbed himself from head to toe, then turned and stood beneath the water until it began to run cold. When he finally shut it off and began drying himself off with one of the clean hotel towels, he realized something that made him pause abruptly as his heart begin to race. 

I forgot to bring a change of clothes in here. 

He knew that standing in there all day wouldn't help him at all, though, so he quickly wrapped the towel around his waist and ran for the door, but the moment his fingers wrapped around the handle he heard the main door to the hotel room open and familiar footsteps walk inside. 

Shit. 

He heard them walk around the room for a moment before they stopped and Wyatt's voice rang out. 

"Is everything okay? We thought thought that you might want to go get something to eat since the weather has finally cleared."

He was definitely starving, but he was also definitely naked, too. When he didn't respond right away, he heard Wyatt take a few steps closer, but he stopped a few feet away from the door. Instead, another set of familiar, quieter steps made their way all the way over before he heard curious sniffing at the bottom of the door, then a playful sneeze. 

Ah, Ravi is here, too. 

"Do you need me to grab you anything? Or we can leave for a few minutes if you need to get changed?" Wyatt said, beginning to pick up on what was happening. 

He felt bad for even considering his words, but he knew that he wouldn't have been able to walk out with both of them there. 

"Um, yeah... if it wouldn't be too rude of me to ask that of you guys," he said, trying to make his nervous voice loud enough to be heard beyond the door. 

"Of course not. Ravi, let's take a quick walk," Wyatt said as his footsteps headed for the front door. 

The pup gave a quiet whine, but followed anyways, clearly not willing to disobey. Blake waited a full minute after the door had shut to chance opening his own and peeking out. 

They really did leave. 

Right before he'd actually packed up his stuff and left, he'd continuously requested to be allowed to change alone or just have some time where he didn't have eyes on him constantly, but his ex had thought that him wanting a tiny bit of privacy had meant that he had been sneaking around with someone else behind his back... especially after he'd been forcefully kissed by a nineteen year old abuse patient who'd intentionally bitten him on his lip.  

The second it had happened he'd dreaded going back to the place he'd shared with his ex, but it wasn't like he could have hidden away until the mark had disappeared. That night had been rough...

Shaking the memories from his mind, Blake hurried to his suitcase, but immediately realized that it wasn't over by the front door where he'd left it, but had actually been moved to a spot right across from the bathroom door. 

He'd moved it closer? 

Glancing one more time back towards the door, he tipped his suitcase over and unzipped the main compartment. He definitely hadn't packed for blizzard-like weather, but there was at least a light sweatshirt he could put on. 

After tugging on some boxer briefs and a pair of comfortable, worn black jeans, he pulled on a plain tan longer-sleeved shirt, then added the black sweatshirt overtop it. 

He finished off the outfit with mismatched socks, just to spite his ex, who was obsessed with making sure that every single sock, even if it was the exact same color, went to the one it had originally been paired with when bought. 

Well, not anymore. Today is pink and blue sock day. 

When he realized how childish he was being, he considered quickly changing one of them so that they at least matched, but then quickly shook his head and pulled on his black and white tennis shoes before standing up. He then turned and quickly brushed his teeth after retrieving his toiletries, then walked back out into the room right as he heard a gentle knock on the door. He considered walking over and opening it, which would have been the only thing his ex would have accepted in such a situation, but at the same time, he wasn't sure he was ready to be that close to the man on the other side just yet. He wanted a few more minutes at a distance. 

"You can come in," he called instead, feeling a little empowered when no one yelled at him for being rude as the door lock chimed, then the door was slowly pushed open. 

Ravi was the first to squeeze his little self inside. He began running right for him, but slid to a stop on the carpet when Wyatt told him to stop abruptly. He gave a little whine in response, but did as told, then went a step further and lied down as his little nose flared, sniffing eagerly. 

 I know that he's a shifter, but I just can't see anything but a sweet, cute dog. 

Kneeling down, Blake reached out toward the little dog, then looked up at Wyatt. He had intended to ask Ravi if he wanted to come closer, but since the dog clearly followed the other man's orders, he didn't want to accidentally step out of bounds by addressing the wrong person. 

"He can come closer, if that's okay?" he asked. 

He was still a little nervous about being close to other people, and especially a dominant, but as long as Ravi didn't shift abruptly, he felt like he would be okay. 

Wyatt considered his words for a moment before offering a warm smile and nodding. 

"Go ahead and say hi, Ravi... but be calm." 

Does the dog have a calm function? 

Before he could consider his own thought the dog had crawled its way toward him, wiggling the entire way. It stopped a few inches beyond his fingers and hunched closer to the ground, tucking its ears to either side as its tail slowed its thumping to a nervous swish here and there. 

I forgot that you're still healing from your own trauma. 

Instead of trying to move closer, Blake sat down cross-legged, then looked up at Wyatt as he set one hand down, palm up, in front of him. 

"How old is he?" he asked, wanting to start up a calming conversation. 

Wyatt tilted his head, clearly analyzing his words and, evidently, coming to a positive conclusion within moments when he offered him a shockingly-beautiful grin. 

"He's twenty." 

Blake blushed slightly and nodded, then considered asking about Wyatt, but the man seemed to read his mind as he gave a quiet, deep-sounding chuckle and spoke again. 

"I'm twenty-nine." 

Ah...

He'd intended to keep speaking, but when he felt a cold, wet nose nudge at the tips of his fingers, whatever he'd intended to say got stuck on his tongue. When he couldn't find any words to take away the awkwardness in the quiet room, he decided to just sit and let Ravi explore his palm and sniff at his clothed knee as he, himself, allowed his eyes to nervously glance over Wyatt's form. 

Of course, he'd seen him the other day, but his vision had been blurry and he'd felt absolutely terrible. Seeing him clearly now, though, standing against the closed door in a pair of tight black jeans that would have matched his own if they'd had a few more years on them, and a white T-shirt that showed just enough muscle beneath to hold your attention, should you be so inclined to stare, he couldn't help but think that he was absolutely gorgeous. 

His gently-styled dark brown hair and light brown eyes fit perfectly with his style. He was just noticing some sort of silver earring in the man's left ear when he felt Ravi suddenly press down against his palm, finally drawing his attention away from Wyatt to look down at him.

Oh.

He'd set his little chin in the palm of his hand. Blake considered flexing his fingers slightly to try and scratch beneath Ravi's chin, but before he could move them more than an inch, the pup whimpered and darted back to hide behind Wyatt's legs, its tail tucked for just a moment before it peeked out from behind the man, looking a little apologetic. 

"It's alright, Ravi, I understand. It's not easy to trust," Blake said as he finally pushed himself back to his feet, then reached up and brushed his bangs out of his eyes. It was a lost cause, though. He needed a haircut. 

"Would you like to go find somewhere to eat now? Or I could bring you back something?" Wyatt said, making Blake hold back a surprised look. 

He could understand going to eat, but he'd never expect someone to bring him something...at least, if he wasn't sick. 

"I'll come with you guys," he said as he zipped his suitcase back up, then hesitated. 

He glanced back at Wyatt and Ravi, then held up his finger, silently asking for a moment as he looked around the room for his phone. 

Wyatt walked forward, immediately drawing his attention to him as he tensed slightly... but then relaxed when the man stopped at the dresser near the door and picked up a familiar phone. 

"I didn't want it to go dead in case you needed it for your flight information, but I also didn't want to dig through your stuff for a charger, so I bought a cheap one at the gas station when the storm lightened a bit since we don't share the same type of phone," he said as he disconnected it, then hesitated, clearly considering where to set it down so that he could get it without needing to get too close yet. 

Okay, you can do this. He's not a bad guy. 

Even though he told that himself, Blake still felt himself hesitate, but he pushed through the nerves and walked forward. He stopped a little farther than normal from the man, but then awkwardly reached out for his phone. 

"Thank you for doing that. I definitely needed it working," he said as he turned his hand palm-up, preferring that Wyatt hand it to him instead of him trying to take it from his hold. 

The moment it was set in his hand, Blake turned the screen on and read over the notification for his rescheduled flight. 

"Tomorrow..." he mumbled out loud, a bit surprised. 

"That's pretty good considering how bad the storm was. They're going to have to work a bit to clear the runways," Wyatt said as he turned and walked to the door, then held it open and glanced back to him. 

Blake hurried forward as he brushed his hair out of his eyes again. When he stepped out into the hall, he gave himself an extra foot of space between them, then tucked his phone into his back pocket, opposite the one with his wallet in it. 

"I'll pay for breakfast since you guys helped me so much," Blake said as they began walking. 

He maintained his foot or so distance from Wyatt, but he didn't mind as Ravi did little circles around them both once in a while. 

"We will gratefully accept your offer," Wyatt said, surprising him a bit, again. 

His ex had always demanded to pay for everything, and if he didn't want to, then they didn't get it. 

Things are different now. 

They walked in silence until they got to the front doors of the hotel, then he hurried forward to hold it open for them. Wyatt nodded his head in thanks as Ravi darted outside and promptly lifted his leg on a fire hydrant. 

Funny dog. 

He shivered a bit as he watched the dog finish its business, then run back to him and start circling. 

"Good job, you did it," he said with a quiet chuckle before looking back toward Wyatt... only to see that the man had vanished. 

Huh? 

Looking back down at Ravi, he realized that the dog was looking in the same direction he had been, too. 

"Wondering where your person went?" he asked as he began walking in the direction Wyatt had been going. 

He glanced around as he walked slowly forward, noting the insane amount of snow piled up on either side of the sidewalk. Someone must have worked hard to shovel it all earlier that morning. 

Dang it's cold out here. I'm going to have to get new clothes when I finally get to Ohio. 

He was just about to turn back around, thinking that the guy might have run back to their room to grab something he'd forgotten, when he heard familiar footsteps approaching. Turning back around, Blake was surprised to see Wyatt panting quiet as he came to a stop in front of him. When he held out a white plastic bag, he hesitantly took it, then peered inside. 

Oh. 

It felt awkward accepting the gift, but at the same time, he was honestly getting very cold, so it would have been stupid, and slightly rude, to decline it. So, he quickly tugged out the heavy, dark red coat from the bag and pulled it on. It was a tiny bit big, but as soon as he zipped it up he felt his entire body sigh with relief from the cold. 

"Thank you so much. I'll repay you," he said, unable to hide his smile now that his teeth weren't about to start chattering. 

Wyatt returned his smile, then nodded for them to continue following him. 

Blake hurried forward with Ravi close on his heels as a soft, frigid breath of wind rustled his hair and nipped at his cheeks. 

"There's something else in the bag, if you'd like to use it," Wyatt said after a few minutes of walking, making Blake slow down a little to glance back into the bag. 

He was a bit surprised when he pulled out a little two-pack of hair barrettes. 

"They didn't have a whole lot in that store, and most of the others in the area are still closed..." Wyatt said, his voice actually holding a hint of nervousness in it. He also wasn't looking back at him as he spoke, instead choosing to continue focusing on where they were going. 

While he normally wouldn't be caught dead with such a thing in his hair, he couldn't argue that it was getting annoying having to constantly push his bangs aside, only for them to immediately move back to their previous positions in front of his eyes. 

It's fine, just wear them. No one here knows you anyways, and it's not like you're staying. 

With that thought in mind, he took the two barrettes from their little paper packet, then looked between them. One was dark red with a few random black lines squiggled here and there on it while the other was a forest green with some sort of plant's leaves printed on the front. 

Normally, he'd take the basic design when it came to anything he wore, but considering that no one had a say in it now besides himself, his attention focused a little longer on the plant one. 

He was so distracted with his internal debate over which he should wear that he didn't realize that he was about to bump into Wyatt until he felt the man's firm hand gently grasp his shoulder, stopping him just in time. 

"We're here," the man said as he quickly dropped his hand, preventing Blake from beginning to stress over the unwanted touch. 

He quickly managed to return to his smiling self as he quickly apologized for getting lost in thought, then stepped inside the warm restaurant. They were quickly guided back to a booth, and thankfully, Wyatt took the spot opposite him while Ravi hopped up onto the seat beside Blake. 

"Considering what color to use?" Wyatt asked after they were given their menus and gave their drink orders to their waitress. 

Slightly embarrassed that he had been putting so much thought into it, Blake hesitantly nodded, feeling his cheeks warm even as he shrugged off his jacket since it was warm enough inside. 

"I normally only use bland colors and designs," he said after a few moments as he glanced back at the red and black item, before quickly returning his attention to the green one. 

"It seems like you prefer the green one, though?" Wyatt said, easily picking up on his real preference.  

Blake nodded slowly. 

"Then you should wear the green one," Wyatt said simply, drawing Blake's eyes up to him. 

Then I should just wear it...

He wasn't wrong. There was no one else picking his things out for him anymore. No one would get annoyed that he had something a little more interesting on his body. Just the thought of his ex seeing such a thing in his hair was enough to make him grin, too. He would have never allowed the plant one, but he'd also have hated that he was even considering using barrettes in the first place, too.

"Green it is," he finally said as he tucked the other one into his pocket and reached up to slide the pretty green barrette into his hair. 

Once it was settled, he turned toward Ravi and gave a nervous smile. 

"Do I look adorable now?" he asked, a little humor to his quiet words. 

When the strange little dog nodded its head surprisingly fast, repeatedly, Blake couldn't help but laugh out loud for a moment. 

He noticed Wyatt about to say something, too, but the man seemed to think better of it and simple offered him another beautiful smile before their waitress returned for their orders. He thought that there would be some awkward, forced conversations after they ordered, but they simply took turns asking mundane, boring questions or glancing at their phones, which was, evidently, perfectly fine. In fact, he even took the quiet time they had as they waited for their food to look up African wild dogs, and after reading a bit about them, showed Ravi videos just to watch the pup's adorable reactions to them. 

It was actually really nice to just be able to goof off with no judgement or stress. He hadn't realized how much he'd desperately needed something so simple until he was given the opportunity to have it. 

Comment