ilvw reader v1.0
Any Time, Any Place
written by asclepius
It must've been around 10? Maybe 11? Whatever time it was, Freddy Howl couldn't have cared less. He was hauling ass through sheets and sheets of pouring rain, headlights barely able to see what was right in front of him. Someone needed him in that moment, someone incredibly important to him. His jaw was clenched hard, foot pressed hard on the accelerator. Radio was off, he couldn't focus with that on right now. It was him and the night and rain and the boiling anger and spite towards nothing and no one in particular. He turned the corner fast, black water from the street flourishing as a dancer, the roar of his engine the orchestra and the speed of his wheels the libretto. His hands gripped the wheel with curiosity, knuckles as the pale rider mentioned in the biblical end. His headlights bisected the shadows of the night, each droplet of rain dust in the sunbeam. The occasional street lamp was a beacon in an otherwise lightless domain, curtains of gold and amber revealing a small stage of concrete or dirt or some other substance that didn't matter to the big man. He turned at the entrance to the school, driving far too fast along the pseudo-road that made up the drop off and pick up roundabout.
A single figure stood, shoulder length blue hair, grey and deep, almost navy blue skin, and glasses that reflected the light the of his car. A sweater soaked through, revealing a small body underneath. A leather satchel clutched, buttons on it, describing interests.
"Fallon! Get in!" Freddy shouted. He grabbed the knob in his truck to start blasting heat in the car.
"Y-you got here fast," Fallon said, teeth chattering.
"You called me, bro. I said I'd be here." Freddy peeled out of the parking lot.
"Shit, it's cold. I know, but the drive from your house to here is like, 20 minutes. Maybe 15 on a good day. That was 10. What's up with that?" Despite being a water spirit, fae, nymph, Fallon was still susceptible to being absolutely sopping wet, as he was now.
Freddy grunted. "I didn't want you to be alone in the cold," A dash of red splattered across the flesh of his face, maybe pink.
Fallon softly smiled. "O-oh. Thanks. That's really nice," He said. "If you want to crash at my place, you, uh, can. I don't see you getting home in this weather. Seems like it's only getting worse, and I don't want you getting caught in a flood,"
"A flood? I was fine on the way over, bro."
"Call it...nymph intuition. It's gonna flood."
Freddy chuckled, giving the smaller man a big grin. "Alright then, ya fairy." Fallon reciprocated that with a laugh.
"Thanks for picking me up. I would've been fine walking-"
"Nope. No. You wouldn't have. It's cold, and rainy."
"I'm like, almost entirely water."
"You were practically shaking when I picked you up. You're not immune to the cold, lil' dude." Freddy yawned.
Fallon's turn to blush. He felt the purple splash on his face, and creep into his ears. "I, uh, guess not."
The pair exchanged small talk, as friends do, for the remainder of the short drive. Their conversation meandered as a river does to what Fallon had interrupted (Freddy playing a video game with his brother and cousin), why Fallon was even at school this late (Research Project on argyropoeia), and finally to what they were going to do at Fallon's.
The car pulled into the guest spot at his complex, and Freddy shut off the truck. The two made their way up the stairs to Fallon's third floor corner unit. He liked it because of the views it gave, overlooking some of the rest of town.
It was a Thursday, but the two decided on watching a movie as their activity of choice for the night. A shitty horror flick. Fallon watched the majority of it through his fingers, yelping at each low budget jumpscare. Towards the end, the night's long fingers wrapped around the two men as it threatened to drag them under it's sliken sheet of serene sleep. Freddy had put an arm around Fallon, who was now snoozing on his shoulder. The werewolf followed suit, and laid his head on top of Fallon's, slipping into the vaulted marbled halls of the promised slumber. The two would sleep together, again, a gap crossed, but still miles away in some regards. They were happy with this for now, feelings still nascent enough to not be fully ontalogically distinct from other Judean emotions. The two slept, until the dawn crept in through the back door from a long night out, awakening the two men on the couch to a brief awkward conversation as the two got ready for the next day ahead of them.