Hayes and Hastings (Private to ML)

"No," Jackson said, for maybe the fiftieth time. Oliver wore an indignant look, but he knew better than to talk back to his uncle. All he wanted anyway was a pet. He had never been able to have a pet. It wasn't even about having something living that he could just own and toy with- it was about having an animal, a dog perhaps, that wouldn't judge him like humans. Someone that he could be in the company of without worrying about his introverted attitudes. But, his pleas were to no avail with his uncle, and he never obtained any sort of pet.

The pup bounded energetically on its sets of fore and hind paws, frolicking without care in the grass. It seemed somewhat uncoordinated, but there was no blame to it; it was only a week or so old. Well, a week at least since Oliver discovered it. Despite this, it was remarkable how quickly it had grown. It no longer fit in the palm of the hand, but rather had to be cradled between two hands.

The puppy's ears poked up above the blades of moderately tall grass that outlined the lake. It was a safe distance from the waters edge, and seemed to enjoy the air outside, as it was getting crisp and the orange and red leaves made enjoyable sounds as they crunched beneath it's paws. This sound seemed to frighten the dog when he first heard it, but by and by he began to revel in it.

Oliver sat not far from this curious creature, who's energy resources were seemingly endless. The boy's eyes watched the pup carefully, never removing them for more than a few seconds, in order to ensure the dog did not wander to far or too near the water's edge.

It was a new experience to have ownership and responsibility of the living creature. He had had no idea at first what to feed it, but found that the bacon from the morning's breakfast did just fine. The pup slept just below Oliver's bunk, in the shadow, but it never failed to make itself known with the occasional growl while socked-feet slid by.

This brought up another notable feature of this wolf. So young, it had already shown signs of a distinct attitude forming. Like Oliver, the pup seemed feisty and alert, but at the same time withdrawn and analytic. It's eyes were hard to read, and it always was interested in something. When it first entered Oliver's room, it immediately sniffed out the perimeter, exploring every inch of the space. However, before it finished it's goal, Oliver's siblings, in a bustle of adoration, crowded the pup. It was quick to defend itself, snapping at fingers that came near, and letting out a high-picthed growl, though nothing near a bark or yip.

After some time, a noise caught Oliver's attention. The pup was still crunching up leaves before him, but he saw something new to his left. Turning his head, his light heart sank.

His eyes met Xavier's for a moment. A fleeting moment that gripped Oliver's heart and tossed it into the lake, where it froze and sank to the bottom and buried itself in the sand. He was frightened, for that moment, that Xavier was going to erupt in his typical fit of rage, or throw some kind of snide comments at him. An even bigger shock occurred when Xavier turned away, and did something odd with his face, where the corners of his mouth turned upwards toward the sky. Was he... smiling?

Oliver had never seen him smile before. It was as if he was looking at a whole new face. His loathing brown eyes, turned away from Oliver, seemed to glint with a light of happiness, and his eyebrows slanted the opposite way that they would usually furrow, giving his face an inviting look. To perfect the look was an imperfection of a slightly slanted, thin lipped smile that made the face asymmetrical. It was startling, and Oliver could have sworn that it was not Xavier Hastings that was near him.

When Oliver tore his eyes from the utterly shocking sight, he noticed that his wolf pup had been joined with another. There was no doubt that it was Xavier's, since he had been in the forest at the time of the litter's discovery. The two wolf pups were playing. Oliver's was distinguishable as opposed to the other by his larger size, and the coloration of his coat. His fur was a pure white underbelly with a glossy grey patch on his head, as well as a line of grey traveling down his spine and scooping around his sides, hugging his rib cage.

As the two pups played, Oliver's pup's personality got the better of him. As feisty and rambunctious as ever, he began to roughhouse with the smaller pup. Xavier's gave a pathetically weak yelp, and Oliver sat straighter.

Whht! Oliver whistled between two fingers. Immediately, the wolf's ears pricked up, and he bounded over to Oliver, who immediately snatched him up and stood, ready to bolt when Xavier attempted to turn him into burnt meat.

Oliver stood with his wolf clutched firmly to his chest, awaiting Xavier's approach. However, he was pretty surprised when it didn't come. The boy simply stayed laying down in the grass. Shrugging, Oliver decided that he and his pet were safe, and turned around, beginning to walk back to his cabin. It was almost dinnertime, anyway. He was starving, and he was sure that the pup was too, after having a day of play.

Stopping abruptly, Oliver heard frantic yelps. Whirling around, he saw splashing in the lake and could only just discern a small wolf in the water through the splashing. He saw Xavier run up to the edge of the water, frantically, but made no sort of action. Nova, as Xavier called, seemed not to be able to swim. And, Oliver deduced, neither could Xavier. Oliver's heart began to pump in his chest, debating in his head the choices before him. He could let the dog drown, and let Xavier suffer, or he could safe his pup's sibling. He grit his teeth as his conscience got the better of him, and he set down his pet. Then, he took off at a run.

As he ran, the wind whipped in his ears, and his heart was accelerating. He forced his body to go into overdrive in order to get to the water before Nova ceased to tread water for it's dear life. As he reached the water's edge, he didn't make any hesitation to jump in, not even taking time to take his shirt off. He simply ran into the water. The water resisted his legs as it got higher and higher, until it was up to his waist. He had no idea how the dog had gotten so far out, and guessed that it must have drifted as it tread. Oliver began to swim with long and fast strokes, arms slicing through the water. Once he reached the pup, he grabbed it under it's stomach, and lifted it above the water, using his three free limbs to slowly bring himself back until his feet could reach the ground beneath him. The dog was twisting violently, obviously still terrified of even being this close to the water, and Oliver had to be careful not to drop her.

When his feet touched the bottom, he stood and held the wolf to his chest as he walked out of the water. He handed it to Xavier, who immediately seized it from him and clutched it to his chest. Oliver dropped his arms, and took a couple steps up the grass, before sitting down. Not the most athletic person, his heart felt like it was growing three sizes with every beat, and was pumping excesses of blood through him every second. Things around him got very bright, and he closed his eyes. He felt a small nudge, and the wet touch of a nose, and picked up his own wolf, setting him in his lap and giving him a secure embrace.

After a couple moments that flew by for Oliver, he heard a voice above him. He slowly looked up, squinting. His breath had become somewhat more controlled, but far from normal. He saw Xavier's face looking down at him. He couldn't really read his expression, but whenever Oliver pictured the boy, he always saw an angered appearance with furrowed eyebrows. It was just his default, because he rarely was around to observe if Xavier was ever making any other face.

"A thank you would be nice," Oliver growled out. He was a little bit insulted that he had just saved his dumb dog's life and the only thing he was astonished about was that Oliver could be a good person. It wasn't like he had done it for Xavier, he did it for Nova, and for his own wolf, Fenrir.

Oliver stared at Xavier when the boy spoke to him. Half of the words that came out of his mouth were hard to even comprehend, they were so shocking. It was as if this weren't Xavier at all. It would be like replacing Oliver with Finnegan. A different facial expression, a different tone, demeanor, stature, everything. Oliver wasn't looking at Hastings, he was looking at someone completely different. Or, perhaps this was indeed Xavier. Perhaps the person that Oliver had known so long was Xavier's, to put it in Oliver's words, shadow-self. The kind of thing seen in comic books, or video games. A person with almost identical appearances but polar opposite personalities. Oliver experienced this now, meeting Xavier for what seemed like the first time.

Oliver faced a multitude of options, two sticking out most prominently: forgiveness and refusal. Oliver could put everything that Xavier has done to him behind him and look towards the future. Every lightning bolt, every fist to the face, every push, and every shove could just be tossed behind him. Or, he could hold it all against him, and discount everything that had just taken place. He could look Hastings in the face and tell him that nothing is different. That he still has a passionate hate for him.

Oliver set Fenrir on the ground, and stood. Fenrir circled Oliver's feet a couple of times before sitting down. The son of Athena faced Hastings, expecting to look straight into the boy's eyes. But, his eyes were pointed at the ground, making eye contact impossible. And, what's more, the face that he saw was not Hastings'. It was impossible to have that same fiery rage that he had every time he looked at the boy. He only saw a look of gratitude, and sorrow at the same time. The expression melted Oliver's raging attitude, and his stone-heart softened. He couldn't possibly push this boy around. Not this Xavier.

"Look, i- it's fine," Oliver said to Xavier's turned-away face. He felt kind of awkward and silly, unsure of how he could possibly throw away all the abuse Xavier's caused him. When Xavier looked up at Oliver, he felt his chest squeeze a little bit, and he shifted his weight uncomfortably from his left foot to his right. "Look, I don't want your money. You don't have to give me anything. I'm sure anyone would have done the same thing, I just happened to be here," he admitted. He looked down at his wolf pup, and almost dared to imagine what could have happened if he were in Xavier's place, and nobody else was there. But, he instantly shoved the thought away with a shake of his head.

"You don't owe me anything," he said, maybe the firmest thing he's said the whole time. "I'll see you around, Xavier," he said in a very rapid sentence, before turning and walking away as quickly as his legs could take him, Fenrir trotting along at his heels.