Spending time alone [Aella]

[Wolverine]

Nighttime was the perfect time. Most people were afraid of the dark as they obviously couldn't see, but Wolverine loved the night and it was his favorite time. He loved it so much mostly because he could walk around, claws out, and even naked if he wanted to. But he preferred to have clothes on. It was also a time where there were very little people out. Wolverine didn't like people much, and he hated large crowds. He hated going into any type of building with more than 10 people or so in it, especially one that sold items like clothes, food, etc. But he wasn't thinking of any of that at the moment as he walked around looking like he owned the place.

He wore his usual jeans, a t-shirt and his brown leather jacket. He also wore a pair of boots that looked like they were trash, but he really didn't care. It wasn't a beauty pageant. His hair was messy as it usually was, and he had an angry expression as always. As he walked he listened around him. He had very good hearing, which was useful when he was walking at nighttime. He was able to hear everything that happened around him clearly. Mostly he just heard silence, and he liked it.

Every now and then Wolverine would disappear from the school to go out and be alone. At times like this he was usually gone for a few days. He wasn’t the type to stick with a team for very long, and he had been with the Xmen for a while, so he often had to take a break from being on a team. He had always liked being alone, so it had been hard for him to get used to being with the Xmen. But he loved the times he was able to get out and be alone for a few days. Wolverine had parked his bike a little ways away, and he had planned on just living in the streets for a couple days. He carried a bag that had a few things for him to use. Mostly it was food (He ate often), and there was some utensils for cooking if needed. As Wolverine walked into an alleyway, he breathed in deeply, liking the fresh air. Well, it wasn’t exactly ‘fresh’ air, but at least it didn’t smell like the Manor did.

There were a lot of homeless people around, Wolverine could smell that, but he had been there before so the people knew to stay away from him. There was a big barrel with a fire going, and a fancy, but poor setup on top of it for cooking. Wolverine shook his head at it, and then took out a frying pan and a piece of steak. He then began setting it up so he could begin cooking the steak, and a few minutes later the steak was beginning to cook.

Wolverine loved times like that where he could be alone, cooking his own food and not worrying about a bunch of people bugging him. He especially didn’t have to worry about anyone eyeballing his steak. The homeless people would have been staring at it if they didn’t know him, but they did so they stayed right away. Wolverine even smiled a little as he relaxed on the ground, watching his food cook.

[raptor]

Aella was practically bent in half with hunger. Her arm was curled across her stomach and her lips were curled in a semi-defiant grimace, determined not to let any of her hunger show though it. She only had a bit of money left – enough for maybe two cups of coffee, like from the coffee shop in which she’d met Will. But, that coffee shop was behind her. She had moved a bit since then, and had come maybe thirty miles from there. She would have to look for one in the morning, or whenever she needed something like coffee or hot chocolate. Then again, if she wanted to spend all that she had in one sitting, she could technically buy a muffin and something to drink.

She turned the corner down an alley. There was a fire-barrel at the far end from where she’d entered, and the silhouettes of all the homeless in the alley were brought to life by the light it provided. She frowned slightly. She fit in with them currently. She had no home…not anymore. She’d run away because of how she’d failed to please her parents when she started to change, and how they practically rejected her, as well as distancing themselves from her. She had nowhere to belong how she was. Nobody to stay with that she knew would accept her. She was only chasing a rumor at this point, but the possibility that the rumor was true was what gave her hope for better days.

She scarcely paid attention to everybody that was moving in the alley, she only focused on walking slowly, and cautiously through it, sticking to the shadows. If she could draw as little attention to herself as possible, that would be good. However…there was something that had become a more pressing matter. She could smell something…absolutely delicious. Her stomach growled loudly, turning a few heads in her direction. She clenched her jaw and stopped moving, leaning against a stack of wooden crates in the alley, searching for the source of the scent. She swallowed, attempting to suppress her hunger as she curved her hand into her stomach.

She watched the man that apparently owned the steak and was cooking it. He was taller and stronger-built than her. He could probably break her in half if he wanted. Heck, even use her as a toothpick. She chewed the inside of her lip. She was so hungry…she wasn’t used to this sort of hunger. Despite the fact she’d encountered this same feeling numerous times and was growing more familiar with it, it still didn’t feel right to her. Her eyes stayed glued to him and the pan in which the steak was cooking. He had put the steak on to cook a few minutes ago, so it probably needed more cooking.

Oh…what should I do…. she asked herself, a bit dismayed. I’m hungry…but if he’s like anybody else here he wont give up anything… Aella looked to the ground, thinking. I…don’t want to steal anything….from anybody… she reminded herself, chewing her lip more with her plight. …but…I don’t have the money for anything else… She looked up again at it. He had settled on the ground to watch the meat cook. An open chance… she thought.

I….I should at least try… she told herself, hating the fact that she’d ultimately decided to try to steal it. She looked down at her hand clenched against her trench coat. Her nails – now resembling more of talons – had grown, puncturing the pre-made hole in the tips that had come from her nails growing through them and curving into the cruel weapons used by birds of prey.

Why now..?! she mentally shouted. For some reason they had decided to grow at that very second. Just on her right hand, though. Her left remained normal. She couldn’t control her nail’s growth half the time. The only time she knew she could was when she wanted them to grow. Otherwise, if they were left untrimmed they grew, or sometimes they grew for no reason at all – like now.

Sighing silently, she looked back at the steak. It had been cooking for long enough now, it was most likely edible. Well… she thought. Here goes nothing…. Squeezing her eyes closed for a moment she opened them and shrugged a bit, sinking into her large trench coat before darting forward quickly at a sprint. She ran quietly, but quickly. She angled herself as though she were only running past the cooking set. As she came parallel to it, she reached her hand down to the pan and scooped up the steak in the talons, essentially folding the steak in half, keeping her thumb nail curved into the back of it, and holding it securely in her strong grip with her other four fingers. The steak wasn’t going anywhere, it wasn’t even touching her hand, and it most certainly wasn’t going to fall.

”I’m sorry…!” she said quietly, apologizing out of guilt for her actions. However, she didn’t stop to see if he heard, or even worse what his reaction was. Turning the corner into a darker, abandoned alley branching off of the main one she was just on. Her keen vision allowed her to see so she didn’t run into anything. Once she ran about twenty feet down the alley, she ducked in a small hole she had found earlier that led inside an old church that was currently closed. She hoped that if he gave chase, she was faster than him.

She just kept running, and she didn’t look back, ducking behind the alter, and out of the line of sight of the hole from which she'd entered. She glanced around urgently, trying to find a way up to the rafters. That's where she'd stay. Now just how to get there was the problem.