'Hey, Dad?' Fourteen-year-old Robert Latsky asked, eyes bright as he stood by the door of his large wooden house, 'Is it okay if I go out with the others?'
'Depends, why d'you want to meet them?' The worn voice of his Father asked, and the well-built brunet walked into the hallway before he sighed and crossed his muscled arm across his chest 'Robert, what is that... Thing on your head?'
'It-It's a flower crown' The boy spoke, now realizing why his parent had given him such an odd look once he saw him 'For the love of - Robert, I've told you about this enough times; No flower crowns!' Ein Latsky scolded gently, striding up to the teenager and plucking the flowers from the top of his head. He proceeded to crush it infront of his Son's wide hazel eyes, and rubbed his hands together once he was done 'Anyway Son, today I was thinking we could practice your hunting-'
'Father, I mean no disrespect-' He did actually, a lot, '-But you and I both know that I'm the runt of any pack. I can't hunt for myself - Heck, I can barely even defend myself! Besides, I've got plans for today' The older male narrowed his forest-green eyes, looking his Son up and down before letting out a loud groan 'You're so much like your Mother... Fine, you can go and see your friends, but you and I are gonna have a talk when we get back'
Nodding slowly, Robert began to back out of the hallway before his back hit the closed door. Smiling awkwardly and fiddling with the door handle behind him, the Canadian turned around and struggled with the knob for a few more embarrassing moments before he finally unlocked it, slamming the door shut and beginning to walk.

The Wolf House was situated in the midst of the Dark Forest, one of the more dangerous locations in the Glitched Lands. Getting in was hard enough, but finding your way out? Have fun getting lost and falling victim to the shadows, my friend. Robert sighed, closing his hazel eyes and resting his forehead against a cool tree trunk. He knew that he was a failure to the family name, but didn't understand exactly why the fudge his Father wouldn't admit it himself.
Clenching his fists, Rob's eyes snapped open and he swung his fist into the tree in a blind rage. He repeated the action for a few minutes, blood flowing from his knuckles as the rough bark scraped at his skin, but he didn't care.
Robert needed something to vent.
He eventually stumbled back, hissing in pain as the chilling air hit his bruising fists. Shaking his hands, droplets of blood were flown across the forest floor before he pulled an old rag from the satchel across his shoulders.
"Why the fudge did I do that? Holy Notch that stings - Ack!" Biting back a whimper as he applied the tiniest amount of pressure, the boy could have sworn he heard footsteps. Whipping around, he saw a flash of orange amongst the foliage and groaned "Crap, now I've got to explain why I was just punching a fudging-"
'Preston, I know that was you!' He called, hiding his painful hands in his hoodie pocket while walking towards the bush 'Trying to hide in a forest full of green and brown wasn't your smartest idea, my friend'
'...Gosh dangit,' The shorter hybrid sighed, his glow dulling once he stood up as the blood rushed from his head, 'If it had been Lachlan or Jerome, you wouldn't have seen them!'

'Yeah, sure... Why're you here, anyway? I thought you'd be helping the Birthday Boy blowing up some balloons or something' The - Literally - bright eyed boy merely chuckled, rolling his eyes and gesturing to the charred bush by his side 'Rob, I think you sometimes that I'm literally made of a flammable substance. I can't touch a person without giving them a third-degree burn, let alone try to blow up balloons!'
'Or are you just scared that one's gonna explode, and go... Boom!' Preston let out a small scream, before he pouted at his taller friend who was laughing his head off 'Very funny, Roberto - Hey, what's up with your pocket? It looks kinda red'
"Oh, crap" 'I... I was eating s-some strawberries earl-earlier and-and accidentally spill-illed some juice'
It wasn't exactly a lie, he'd had strawberries for breakfast, but the lava mob saw past his friend's obvious lie and sighed, carefully pulling the fabric of the blue hoodie so that his hand would slip out. Preston's eyes widened when he saw how bad the scrapes were (Well, it did look as if someone had spent the last half-hour running a sharp blade across Robert's knuckles), and a soft "Bullshrimp" escaped his lips as he looked up 'Robbie, what did you do?'
'To be honest, I have no idea' The brunet grinned, though the fluffy grey ears sitting atop his head were low. His tail followed the action, showing that he was upset about something but wasn't going to say what.
'I'm being serious, Rob - Did you do this to yourself?' Instead of answering verbally Rob looked away, observing everywhere except his younger friend's face 'Rob, please answer me. I'm worried about you, we all are, but you keep insisting that you're okay and you're obviously not!' The Texan begged, gaining no response apart from a simple shrug 'Will you at least tell your Dad if I tell-'

'No!' Rob snapped, turning around and pinning Preston against a tree trunk, 'You're not going to tell anybody about this, and you're definitely not gonna tell my Dad!' He growled lowly, a cloudy look in his eyes as the lava-skinned teenager gulped 'R-Rob?' He squeaked, and the fog slowly dissipated. After a few moments, the Canadian took a few steps back and his hands flew to his mouth in shock 'O-Oh my - Preston I'm so sorr-sorry! I didn't - I didn't mean-'
'Hey, hey, it's okay. I'm sure you didn't mean to, so it doesn't matter,' Preston grinned, looking past the foliage above them to see the pale silhouette of the moon. He'd always loved that about the sky; You could see the moon, even if it was daytime, 'Besides, you have a decent excuse - Full moon tomorrow, remember?'

'Is it? Oh, fudge... My Dad's gonna end up brutally murdering me with a spork or something!' Rob groaned quietly, earning an odd look from his younger companion who raised an eyebrow 'Why would he do that? Also, what the heck is a spork?'
'I never go out to hunt with him, so he's getting annoyed. He's already mad at me for something this morning... As for what a spork is, I have no idea' Rolling his obsidian-black eyes, Preston shook his head before looking around 'How're your hands feeling?'
Robert sighed, eyes downcast as the blood began to solidify 'They're okay, I guess' He spoke quietly, stuffing them back in his pocket and gazing into the sky. It was still early in the morning, so it was only just beginning to turn blue 'If you're sure, then. We should probably get going, otherwise Jerome's going to kill us'

'With terrible puns, or...?' The Canadian grinned cheekily, returning to his normal bubbly demeanor as Preston snorted 'And puns, yes' He conceded, taking ahold of his taller friend's arm once more and dragging him through the trees 'Why're you the one dragging me?! I'm the one who can walk through here without getting lost!'
'Eh, I just really felt like dragging my best buddy through some bushes,' Preston smiled, stepping over a few snapped branches as they reached the edge of the treeline, 'Oi J-ree, I got the Canadian!'
The bacca hybrid turned around, waving at the two as they approached. His warm brown eyes were bright, but they seemed to be flickering everywhere 'Oh, hey guys. You haven't seen Lachlan by any chance, have you?'

~

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