Derek emerged from the diner into the late-afternoon sun and blew out his breath.<\/p>\n
What a day. At times like this, all he wanted to do was sleep for a week.<\/p>\n
Oh, well. Someone<\/em> needed to step up to the plate.<\/p>\n A braid of red hair caught his eye. White button-up blouse, blue jeans, that walk… he knew it was her well before he got close enough to see her face. \u201cHey, Leslie,\u201d he called out, smiling and waving when she turned to look his way. He hustled across the gap between them, falling into step beside her. \u201cOn your way home?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHey, Derek. Yeah, I just had a study session, now it’s homework time.\u201d She made a face.<\/p>\n \u201cEw. I feel you there.\u201d Just a year ago, he’d been cramming hard for some of the same exams Leslie was. Of course, his condition hadn’t made that any easier.<\/em> \u201cDid it go all right?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, yeah, I think so. I mean, it’s tough, but I think I’ve got a good handle on it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI’m sure you’ll do fine,\u201d Derek soothed, and grinned. \u201cIf I weren’t dead tired, I’d offer to come along. Give you a hand if you need it, get it done that much faster, hang out for a little…\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, Derek.\u201d She laughed, giving him a playful swat on the shoulder. \u201cYour place is kind of on the way, isn’t it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPretty much.\u201d He nodded. \u201cNo secret that I like you, Leslie, but I’d hope I’m not turning into a creepy stalker!\u201d<\/p>\n Again she laughed. \u201cStalker? You?<\/em> I’ve got a hard time seeing it, Derek.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThanks. I think.\u201d<\/p>\n A few steps later, she asked, \u201cDid you see the news today yet?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNah, they had a football game on at Duke’s. What’s up?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnother sighting of the White Wolf,\u201d Leslie explained.<\/p>\n Derek tried not to let his sudden apprehension show. Fortunately, Leslie was watching the crossing signal. \u201cYeah?\u201d he prompted.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, apparently he’s been busy the past few days. The anchor wondered if he’s a robot or something, because he can’t be getting much sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n If only you knew,<\/em> Derek carefully didn’t say. \u201cSome metas don’t seem to need<\/em> sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, but he… I don’t know. Feels closer to human, I guess? Even if he looks<\/em> more different than most.\u201d She covered a cough as she started across the street. \u201cApparently not that<\/em> different, though. The cameras at the Dalton plant got a good look at him. Good enough to settle the ‘him or her’ question, anyway \u2013 no woman ever filled shorts like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Derek felt a blush rising to his cheeks, and hoped to high heaven that she’d misinterpret it. \u201cGoodness.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSorry, Derek.\u201d She paused on the curb and gave a pat to his shoulder. \u201cProbably not your thing, I know. Hell, I’m<\/em> not the type to stare at a guy that way.\u201d As she started off again, she went on, \u201cBut it kinda got me thinking…\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah…?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, what kind of guy is<\/em> he?\u201d she asked. \u201cObviously one of the good guys \u2013 God, even if the thugs he’s left for the police were exaggerating, he takes a pounding in the name of good deeds, and he’s not<\/em> the kind of meta that just doesn’t take damage…\u201d<\/p>\n Certainly not that; Derek kept a wince off his face.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd yet he’s not one of those who’s waving to all the cameras and revelling in fame. He feels more… more natural.<\/em> I mean, sure, he’s more than human, but… he’s not so much outside<\/em> humanity, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think I follow,\u201d he said slowly.<\/p>\n A few steps more. \u201cI had a dream about him last night,\u201d she confessed.<\/p>\n And if he hadn’t been blushing before…<\/em> \u201cOh, yeah?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah.\u201d Perhaps fortunately, she was distracted by whatever memory had her<\/em> blushing. \u201cHe slipped in through my window at night, and… God.\u201d Biting her lip, she added, \u201cDidn’t have a chance to go far before I woke up, but God<\/em> it left me wondering.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWondering what?\u201d Oh, for God’s sake, was he actually having this conversation? It felt so unreal, hearing the girl he’d had a crush on for three years crushing on his own alter ego. Explicitly, apparently.<\/p>\n Or damn close. Her next remark was, \u201cWell, the first thing I wondered was… how much like a wolf is he? You know…\u201d She chewed on her lip a bit more. \u201cBut it doesn’t matter. After that, I wondered… what’s he interested in, when he’s not sniffing out bombs or hostages?\u201d<\/p>\n Derek very carefully bit back an offer to let her see for herself. That is not how romance is done, boy.<\/em> \u201cYou make him sound like a police dog,\u201d he observed, and couldn’t help but chuckle at the absurdity.<\/p>\n \u201cFunny you should say that. The Chief actually said that three like him could replace their entire canine division. I mean, you’ve got a nose that can catch bombs, drugs, and follow a person’s scent and who knows what else, but you’ve also got the smarts not to get led astray. And obviously the skills to defuse<\/em> bombs. And a lot of nerve. Said she wants to shake his hand sometime \u2013 and boy, she was not<\/em> happy when the reporter made a dog joke.\u201d<\/p>\n Police, huh? If only he weren’t so limited… \u201cSo, she… approves<\/em> of him?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah. I think the lack of grandstanding impresses her, actually. She’s always been critical about how much attention most metas get.\u201d<\/p>\n They’d come to his building, and thus Derek stopped, and she paused with him; but he was morbidly curious, now. \u201cWhat do you <\/em>think?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think he must be a great guy,\u201d she said. \u201cI just… wonder if he’d… y’know, notice<\/em> me. If we have something in common.<\/p>\n Oh, Leslie…<\/em> oh, hell, the sun was almost down. He had<\/em> to wrap this up. \u201cHey, any<\/em> guy in his right mind would be happy with you.\u201d<\/p>\n She smiled, touching his cheek. \u201cOh, Derek, you’re sweet.\u201d She started to turn back to the street, then paused. \u201cDo you think he’s really<\/em> a werewolf? I mean, he does<\/em> only appear the week around the full moon. But he’s been out during the day…\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere’s lots of werewolf tales.\u201d He shrugged. \u201cCould be.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI guess. Well, I should get my homework done. Rest up, okay?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGood luck,\u201d he said, and slipped inside.<\/p>\n As soon as the door was closed, he dashed through the halls and up the stairs. His skin was crawling by the time he fumbled his key into the lock. It was all he could do to lock it behind him and get his clothes off before the Change dropped him to his knees.<\/p>\n Way<\/em> too close, this time.<\/p>\n He slipped into the bathroom, turned the water on full cold, and huddled under the shower. Bed would have to wait a bit yet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After a tiring couple of days, a young man seizes the chance to catch up with a woman of his acquaintance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[84,73],"class_list":["post-351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-one-shot","tag-flash","tag-transformation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/furry-tales.net\/shurhaian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}