mood rings { andrew

[andrew lacetti]

Andrew bit his bottom lip in thought after Fletcher asked if he knew which way he'd come in from. He took a moment to look around the cave they were in right now. "Uh..." he said thoughtfully, still looking around. Damn. "I have no idea," Andrew finally answered, unable to recognize the way he'd come from apart from any of the other ways out. He glanced at Fletcher for a second before he started to gaze around again. Great, so now he was lost in the Underground with Fletcher. It wouldn't be so bad-- but Fletcher just changed everything. Things were incredibly awkward with the Werewolf; not that Andrew had just helped that by fucking kissing him.

Andrew looked to the other when he heard Fletcher speaking; again saying that he didn't hate him. Quietly, he watched the pebbles Fletcher had tossed into one of pools hit the water and sink to the bottom. The DCs on his feet scuffled absent-mindedly back and forth on the stone floor beneath him, still seated on the large rock. Andrew got lost in a reverie, watching as the ripples from where the beautifully colored water had been disturbed. Snapping back, he heard Fletcher speaking again. "Can you say the same?" Well, if the Werewolf had had the guts to admit he didn't hate him, Andrew could do the same, right? Of course. "Yeah, of course," Andrew admitted quietly, looking up at Fletcher, trying to avoid eye contact. But he accidently locked eyes with Fletcher anyway, noticing him looking back.

Moving black hair from his eyes once more, Andrew finally stood back up. He had the feeling that Fletcher was just as lost as he was. Well... this should be fun, Andrew thought. He took another quick glance around. How were they going to get out of here? "Alright, let's go," Andrew said, his voice taking on its normal chipperness again.

[fletcher cross]

His stomach growled, but not for hunger. He’d have to watch his emotions—they way they had been and were now raging about, he’d transform out of stress, and heaven knew that would be the last thing he wanted. Yeah, naked, helpless, stuck in the Underground—all with Andrew. Fletcher had always thought he had the best of luck up until this point in time. Then again, he was also pretty sure that Andrew hated the very thought of his existence. He was wrong there, so there was still hope for him to magically pull a solution out of the mess that they were in. Solution the first: get up and fucking move. Sitting around on a rock, tossing pebbles mindlessly all day wasn’t going to get them out of there. Unless, of course, there was a genie or something in the pool, and they granted them three wishes...

Which he highly doubted, so.

So, Andrew didn’t hate Fletcher and Fletcher didn’t hate Andrew. It was almost as if it was a planned-out episode of a soap opera. So now they’d have hot sex because they were at a loss in their lives (well, in his soap opera). Unfortunately, this wasn’t a reality TV show either, so his fantasies were basically screwed. Alright, let’s go. The words woke him from his thoughts. For the second time, he pushed himself to a standing position and nodded. He barely took two steps toward one tunnel when he paused and turned around to look at the small pool of water again. Bending down, he touched his slender fingers to the surface and watched as it froze over. He didn’t want to have to go back through caves they’d already been in.

Fletcher started off into the tunnel across from him, gesturing for Andrew to follow. His stomach lurched again, but with a vicious kick this time; he hunched over for a moment, gripping his stomach with his hand. Just like that, he was back up again, as if nothing had happened. However, the violent churning inside him had just begun...

[andrew lacetti]

Alright, so now all they had to do was find their way out of this place. Andrew paused in his moving towards Fletcher as the other leaned down and touched his fingers to one of the pools; watching as the water froze over. So Fletcher could do things with ice, Andrew could do thigns with fire; Fletcher was a Werewolf, Andrew was a Vampire. Oh yeah, they definitely had so much going for them. But Fletcher didn't hate him like he'd thought. It all just seemed too perfect. "That was a good idea," Andrew muttered; the words slipped out more involuntarily. Andrew continued to move forward. He looked up at the walls; the odd green lights. Everything looked so similar, he couldn't help but feel discouraged about ever finding their way out of here. That sounded great, getting to live his whole immortal life in the Underground. Oh yeah, definitely.

Suddenly he heard something going on with Fletcher and looked back down towards the Werewolf to see him hunched over. Oh fuck, he thought. Andrew didn't know much about Werewolves, but he'd heard something about how they transformed like that. That was the last thing they needed; for Fletcher to turn into his Werewolf form. Andrew stepped a bit closer, feeling cautious. "Are you okay?" he asked Fletcher for the second time today.

[fletcher cross]

A low groan escaped his lips when he tried to say a mere ‘thank you’. He hated this feeling. It was worse than the sensation of ripping someone’s heart out, chopping it up, and wrapping it around someone’s neck. He felt as if something was trying to break out of the inner-lining of his stomach. He had stopped walking by this time and was currently leaning against a large rock formation, the small green fireflies swarming around the two of them like it was some sort of sick show (which it kind of was). Still clutching his stomach, he looked down at his hands and gawked in fear. Shit. Small hairs had already begun to spring up. He cursed any form of werewolf God, if there was one, for doing this to him. “I—” Hairs were rapidly appearing. More cursing occurred in his mind.

Fletcher doubled over again, eyes shutting tight and then flashing open again widely. “I’m—just—peachy...” he spat through gritted teeth. His voice gave way. Stupid vampires and their stupid questions full of stupid CARE AND COMFORT. Might’ve just been him, but he thought it was pretty obvious that he was not o-fucking-kay. Again he was hit with a jab of pain so intense that he, in one swift motion, fell to the ground. Rocks... he thought numbly, and complete with the shock of his body going straight into transformation, he realized that the throbbing in his head was due to the fact that he had hit it on a jagged rock.

It took approximately 2.08 seconds for him to change, and another twelve to wake up again. His eyelids fluttered, and when he tried to call out to Andrew, a whine came out. Whine? He lifted his head off the cold stone for a moment and instantly disheartened at what he saw: the outline of cream-colored fur. No—this wasn’t supposed to happen! How—and—naked?! Wait, he had a bag, right? A bag of clothes? His rush of excitement was soon quieted; he had forgotten it at the entrance. Terrific. The only way he could go back to being semi-human was to get out of the Underground.

Screw the CYP teacher. He never told him how to deal with this.

[andrew lacetti]

Green pools widened as Andrew backed up slightly. This was not good. At all. He watched as more and more hairs sprouted up on Fletcher's skin as the Werewolf transformed into just that. Andrew noticed the lights changing and looked up for just a second-- why were the lightning bugs swarming around the two; maybe they were watching what was happening. He felt increasingly worried for Fletcher as he watched the tranformation, eyes still widened with mix of slight fear and surprise. Andrew wanted to move closer to Fletcher, to help him, not that he probably could though. But something held him back either way. Something wouldn't allow his feet to make a move; his body felt almost paralyzed as he watched Fletcher fall to the floor and hit his head on a rock.

In a matter of seconds, Andrew found himself with a transformed Werewolf. What were they going to do now? He was a Vampire, he had no fucking idea what to do with a damn Werewolf! Andrew drew a hand through his black hair exaperatedly. So now he was lost, in the Underground, with a Werewolf-- who was Fletcher none the less. Well, this was definitely not how he had imagined his trip down here...

[fletcher cross]

First it started as a low growl, then it got increasingly louder, and finally erupted into a series of deafening, angry barking. Fletcher was on all fours, throwing himself at something invisible to the eye which seemed to be located near the other side of the cave. GODDAMN WEREWOLVES AND THEIR STUPID TRANSFORMATIONS AND THEIR STUPID STRESS-SIGNALS AND— A green firefly rested on his nose. He growled viciously and snapped at it with his teeth. The poor thing flew off into the darkness, and soon came back with friends. He swatted at them with his paws and tail. Nothing seemed to be working. AND THESE FUCKING FIREFLIES.

He gave up, panting. Throwing a last look over his shoulder at the green lights, he padded over to Andrew and sat down before him, his eyes clearly giving a look that said “find us a way out of here now”. He looked around, and spotting a pool of water, grunted. He forgot about that. The whole freezing-water-from-his-fingertips didn’t exactly go as a wolf. That took them another step back from getting out. He shook his head, got up, and slammed his side into Andrew, hopefully motioning to the right. He couldn’t talk, but that wasn’t going to stop him from directing the younger boy where to go...

[andrew lacetti]

Andrew flinched slightly at the loud barking coming from Fletcher, the sound reverberating off the walls and seemingly coming from all directions. Andrew had been raised to hate Werewolves and be cautious of them; so he was a bit scared of being alone with Fletcher while he was in his wolf form. But he didn't think the other would do anything to him. Andrew still hadn't moved an inch since Fletcher had begun his transformation. His green gaze stared at Fletcher as he came over and sat in front of him. He looked into the other's eyes, the meaning in them clear to him.

"Alright then... Wher- woah!" Andrew started to say, interrupted by a sudden slam into his side. He struggled for balance for a second or two before standing straight and awkwardly tugging at the bottom of his navy blue T-shirt; embarrassed about almost falling over. So I guess we'll go right, Andrew though sarcastically to himself. "Okay. You don't have to push me so hard though," Andrew said, looking down at the brown and white wolf by his side. It felt odd to be talking to a Werewolf in this form--very odd. Brushing away hair from his green orbs again, Andrew began to lead the way out of the cave towards the right. He was going to guess that Fletcher couldn't use his ice powers while he was a wolf. Too bad he couldn't do anything like that. Even if there was anything to set to fire here, that wouldn't be a good idea anyway. Andrew felt a bit useless.

[fletcher cross]

A low, crackling growl sounded from Fletcher’s throat in what could only be described as a chuckle as Andrew swayed dangerously. Maybe the whole not being able to talk thing was working out for him. He had no obligation to say anything, given that he couldn’t, and he was left to his thoughts—and taking in every possible detail of Andrew and memorizing it, but hey, who’s paying attention to the details? Not to mention the fact that the fur that now encased him was definitely loads warmer than the hoodie he had worn in the minutes prior to this time. The small amount of things going right were all that he had, and he clung to them.

“Okay. You don't have to push me so hard though.”

He rolled his eyes. Guess I don’t know my own strength. Okay, he took the voice thing back. It was somewhat lonely having to talk to himself. Fletcher noticed, though, as he looked back up, that Andrew was a lot farther ahead of him. He must have fallen behind while he was thinking things over; he padded over hurriedly. Without thinking, he soon found himself pressed against Andrew’s leg, matching his stride. The icy blue eyes seemed fixated straight ahead, and he wanted to keep it that way. Anything Andrew said he couldn’t counter out loud, which was a bad thing...

[andrew lacetti]

Andrew looked down at Fletcher as some weird cackling sound came from the wolf's jaws. It sounded like a chuckle maybe. Stupid wolf... he thought to himself, taking his embarrassment out silently on the Werewolf. There was no point in saying that outloud. It would be too boring not to have Fletcher able to argue back. And being able to get along--well, techinically they were right now--was nice. Andrew was still walking along, unnoticing of Fletcher falling behind him. His DCs moved along the stone floor as he continued down the tunnel.

Suddenly, something furry brushed against Andrew's leg and made him jump slightly. His head whipped down to look and see what it was. Just Fletcher, he realized, calming down before the Werewolf could laugh at him again. Hey, who knew what sort of weird things might be hiding down here? Andrew stepped around a small pool of water and paused. The tunnel they'd been following split off into two directions. "So which way Mr. Wolf?" Andrew asked, looking down to the furry Fletcher.

[fletcher cross]

As Andrew moved around the water, Fletcher just sloshed right through it. There was no point in caring about it; he had no clothes to get wet, and he was warm as could be. Besides, it was shallow water—the only things he’d really have to worry about when it came to going through these caves were the deeper pools of water. Embarrassing enough, he couldn’t swim very well as a wolf. In fact, he couldn’t swim at all. He had never mastered it, and though everyone had always told him to “doggie paddle”, it hadn’t worked out at all. He ended up sinking every time; he needed something to push off of to keep him afloat, so swimming in large areas or areas with slippery walls—in this case, the pools—was not the smartest move.

He gave a low growl. Mr. Wolf? Was that supposed to be funny? Andrew sure as hell wouldn’t think so when he sunk his teeth int—nice thoughts, nice thoughts! Fletcher wondered why he always had to ruin things. For once, Andrew didn’t completely dislike him, and he was free to walk with him (at the least). Back to reality. Which way? Ah...right. No, left. No, right. Left! Yeah, left. Might as well have fun while directing him. He grabbed the edge of his shirt with his teeth and expectantly tugged at it, gesturing to the left passageway. He didn’t want to lead them in circles, but that seemed that was all he was doing as he glanced over at the other cave. As expected, it looked like all the others—but hey! This one had...a tree? How could a tree grow down here...?

[andrew lacetti]

Andrew heard a growl deep in Fletcher's throat after he'd called him Mr. Wolf. Woops, he really hadn't meant it to be insulting. He'd have to watch what he said more carefully. Have you seen the jaws of a wolf? Andrew didn't want to experience their strength first-hand. "Sorry," he replied, not looking over to the wolf, but instead to the two tunnels ahead. He didn't want to argue with Fletcher right now. Be nice Andrew, he told himself.

A tug on the bottom hem of his shirt. Andrew looked down to see Fletcher grabbing it with his teeth, directing them to go left. Silently, Andrew gave a nod in reply and started moving his feet in the left-hand direction. As they entered another cave, Andrew noticed discouragingly that it look just like the last cave they'd been in. Hopefully they weren't going in circles... Looking around, Andrew could notice one difference. A tree. Now, what the hell was a tree doing growing down here. There must be a way out or something; trees needed some way to get oxygen, right? Andrew moved closer to the tree, touching it curiously and then looking around to see if he could find any sort of rays of light or and exit.

[fletcher cross]

...Yeah, me too, he thought angrily. He was regretting coming to the Underground in the first place, and he’d be damned if he ever went back again without some sort of extremely long rope to keep him from getting lost. Or a person who actually knew where they were going—not saying that Andrew was doing a bad job or anything, but he’d much prefer to be stuck with him in the Underground with a tour guide. Though he doubted that any student really knew their way through the caves. You’d have to spend years of mapping the tunnels, and even then you’d have to memorize them by heart. That was a task that pretty much no one wanted to do.

He blinked as Andrew went to the tree and started to look around. As long as he was busying himself, Fletcher could relax. He plopped down at the edge of one of the pools, rolling onto his stomach for a moment and stretching out before flipping over again. He laid his head on his front paws, blue eyes scanning Andrew’s movements like they were glued to him. He barked once for the hell of it, as the freshman couldn’t understand him anyway (it was fun to mess with him like that), though it had a weary tone to it.

Ah, he liked it better on his back. He rolled around again and pawed the air for a few seconds. Ugh. A disgusting smell filled his nose. It was like a mixture of grass and sweat. Disgus—grass? What? He lifted his head and unleashed a series of loud howls. Andrew! Andrew! Look over here, damnit!

[andrew lacetti]

Where is a damn exit to this place? Andrew wondered impatiently as he stood by the tree. He was beginning to regret ever coming down here; it was just leading to one catastrophe after the other. Andrew heard Fletcher give a tired bark and looked over towards the sound, hoping that he was trying to tell him something. But when saw the wolf, he was just lying by one of the pools. He highly doubted he needed to tell him something then. Andrew released a sigh and walked a few feet away from the strange tree, exploring the cave. There had to be something close by that was letting this tree grow. "You could help..." Andrew muttered with another glance towards Fletcher, "Like use your nose or something."

Andrew had begun to walk in the opposite direction as Fletcher rolled around on the rock floor. Good for nothing fleabag, he thought angirily, easily losing his patience at not being able to discover any sort of exit. So he directed the anger to Fletcher, being used to arguing and fighting with the Werewolf Junior. But he really needed to stop that; he wanted to be nice. Suddenly more noises filled the cave; long, loud howls coming from Fletcher again. Andrew gave another sigh and looked over. Half of him thought the other boy was just trying to screw with him again, but he walked over anyway. "What?" he asked Fletcher, forgetting momentarily that the wolf couldn't answer him with words.

[fletcher cross]

He was helping—he used his nose! Not that he could tell Andrew that, but he’d like to have the satisfaction of knowing that he wasn’t completely worthless, even if the other didn’t. His whines grew louder. What did it take to get that boy’s attention, honestly? Fletcher waited patiently, keeping at the howling. If it was possible to notice that he grinned, it would have been wider than you’d ever imagine. Must’ve been pretty annoying on Andrew’s side. Not only was he keeping at the howling pretty well, but the younger boy had magnified hearing. He quietly reminded himself that he was supposed to be nice, and that picking on Andrew wasn’t going to help him at all.

The brilliant green eyes came into view above him. He flipped over and, as enthusiastically as he could, lept up on his hind legs and placed his paws on Andrew’s chest. We’re going to make it out alive!—well, as alive as you can get, he yelled in his thoughts, as if somehow the other could hear him. He watched him for a moment, blue eyes blazing, then fell to the ground and headed toward the western side of the cave. He stood at the edge of the tunnel, barking and wagging his tail, and glanced through the dimly lit depths of it. Rays of light were flecked amongst the green lights. My bag’s there...clothes...

Again Fletcher twisted his head to look at the other. Come. on.

[andrew lacetti]

"Woah," Andrew said, as big furry paws landed on his chest and knocked him back slightly. He hadn't been ready for the sudden weight. At least he'd stopped barking for right now. The noises reverberating around the stone walls of the cave were really starting to hurt his sensitive ears. Unfortunately though, Andrew couldn't understand what Fletcher was trying to tell him. Just show me, he thought impatiently. The weight left his chest as Fletcher hopped back down and ran off towards the tunnel on the left. Andrew watched him for a moment quietly. Guess he wants me to follow him. Andrew resisted the temptation to cover his ears as the loud barking started up once again.

In a quick and swift movement, Andrew was at Fletcher's side in no more than a second. "Okay, lead the way," Andrew said, looking down the tunnel. He wondered--or more hoped, that Fletcher had found the exit to the Underground all together.