Shelter from the storm (open)

[Raiden Tobias Grey]

Well damn, the weather really had taken a turn for the worse.

Raiden stared out at the rain with a mild glare, an annoyed frown playing at the corners of his mouth. He’d been walking through the park when the rain had hit, taking a detour for Fenrirs sake. Stupid mistake. Stupid rain.

Not that he hated the rain. In fact he quite liked the rain, when he was looking out at it from behind a pane of glass that is. Right now he wasn’t looking out from behind a window, he was staring at it from beneath large oak tree, a shelter he’d been forced to find when a light drizzle had suddenly become a heavy downpour.

How annoying.

A soft whine rose from his right and Raiden glanced down to the large and very wet husky sat quivering at his side.

“It’s your own fault..” Raiden muttered in response to another of Fenrirs whines. “..Shouldn’t have jumped in the lake.” As if he could understand his masters unsympathetic words, Fenrir growled something that sounded a lot like an old mans grumble and shifted his weight so that his was laying across the only patch of dry grass, his head rested on his large paws.

Raiden looked from his dog to the gray sheet of rain and sighed. He might as well get comfortable too, the rain didn’t look like it would subside any time soon…

For a moment Raiden considered making a run for it, he did have incredible speed on his side, he’d be home in no time. Or at least in side of a warm building. Except he had a large husky and four bags of groceries to take with him. Which meant his speedy run would have to slow dramatically to a fast walk. Which was no good at all. Raiden didn’t particularly feel like getting drenched. There was nothing worse than being fully dressed and soaked to the bone.

So, with a resigned sigh, Raiden took a few steps back so that he was stood at the base of the oak tree and sat. Fenrir joined him a minute later, curling up besides his legs.

[Casper McCormick]

It seemed that unlike him, everyone else didn’t much like the rain. They scurried away under umbrellas, or in big coats with heavy hoods. They loitered in door ways, under bus shelters, under anything that could give them some form of shelter from the falling water. And gave him the oddest of odd looks as he jogged past. His hair sticking to his scalp, forehead and the nape of his neck. As his clothes, soak, stuck to his skin.

Casper didn’t mind the rain. He never had. In fact he enjoyed running in it, because it kept him cool. It was a constant water source and he didn’t have to worry about people jogging in his way, or walking out in front of him because they were all cowering inside. The rain was like a constant whip on his heels, only work to push him further. So far he had circled the park three times, which was about 12 kilometres run. He wanted to push himself to four more kilometres.

Only, as so often with Casper he was distracted for a moment, enough of a moment for his steady pace to slow. He was out of breath and confused, but he breathed slowly, trying to make sure his eyes were not deceiving him.

“... Raiden?!” He yelled. He was sure it was Raiden. No one else had hair like that, or ears. Ears he was jealous of. Though there was a husky. Did Raiden own a dog? ... Yes he seemed to recall a conversation. Or had he imagined it? Anything was possible. But as he neared the other man, sitting under the boughs of a tree, a husky beside him a four grocery bags Casper appeared correct.

Ducking under the tree branches, Casper sat down.

“What’re you doing? You don’t like the rain? Why don’t you like the rain. The rain is good. I was running, done twelve kilometres so far today, but then I saw you and I lost my stride. Not your fault though. SO how come you’re sitting here with your groceries? Can’t you drive? If you have frozen stuff it’ll defrost you know. Hey is this your dog?” Casper stopped and grinned, waiting for a reply.

[Raiden Tobias Grey]

Raiden found that he didn’t quite mind being held prisoner to the rain, trapped beneath the old oak tree. With his back rested against the dry bark and his maroon eyes closed to the world, he felt oddly at peace. The only sound that reached his ears was the rain beating at the ground around him. It was nice. Relaxing. And heaven knew he needed to relax after the chaotic week he had, had at work. A small kink rested between his brows. No, Raiden wouldn’t think of work right now, he was relaxing.

A quiet sigh passed his lips as he went about pushing thoughts of his job and it’s complications from his mind. This of course left plenty of room from the only other major factor in Raiden’s life at the moment; Anemone.

His forehead returned to it’s previously smooth state when Anemone danced into his thoughts, happy and smiling and beautiful. He wondered what she was up to right now. Maybe she was out and about in the rain? Did Anemone like the rain? She was a water deity after all. Did that mean she did love it? He mulled over this for a few moments, as his mind went about creating the image of his girlfriend jumping from one large puddle to another, a silly smile on her face.

The fact that he hadn’t seen Anemone in over a week dawned on him then and the imaginary moment dissolved from his mind, washed away by his previous thoughts; Work. It was the reason he’d not been able to see her. Work was also the reason he felt something like a zombie right now. He’d eaten and slept little all week. The only people he’d had any contact with had been his work ‘comrades’ and Ella. He’d sent Anemone a text of course, though it was brief and somewhat vague, (he couldn’t fill her in on details) explaining that he’d be busy with work all week. He’d not even paid a visit to his sister.

Tch. As soon as this rain stopped he was going to have to pay his sister a visit and then call Anemone. Maybe he could invite around for dinner since he planned to eat a feast tonight anyway. Which was the reason he had four grocery bags packed to the brim with food.

Blinking open his maroon eyes, Raiden dug around in his jacket pocket until he found the object he was looking for and pulled out his phone. He’d had it switched off all week too, not wanting distractions. Not that anyone texted him… because, well, he didn’t text anybody anyway. Not unless he had to.

‘Hi. U ok? dinner at mine 2nite?’

Raiden stared down at the simple message, he really was no good at texting. Ella said that he was too brief and vague which Raiden dismissed. It was only texting after all. What did she expect from him? Emoticons and kisses? (he only knew what they were because she’d shown him)

Shaking that memory from his mind, Raiden clicked on Anemone’s name and clicked ‘send’.

It was then that he appeared, soaked to the bone, his curls clinging to his head and out of breath.

‘Great.’ Raiden winced briefly when the other male called out his name as if he were stood on the other side of a football field. Casper probably couldn’t hear his own voice being stood out in the rain, but Raiden heard it loud and painfully clear. The ring in his ears didn’t last long and it had only hurt because he’d been so attuned to his sense of hearing at that moment.

So much for enjoying the peaceful rain. Now he was trapped under a tree with Casper, who had began his usual mini monologue filled with questions. Raiden wondered if Caspers power was the ability to speak without breathing because he was sure the other male had spoken all of that without taking a breath.

The urge to make a run for it hit Raiden in the gut like a ton of his bricks and his eyes did a slow, casual glance to the left to check the weather. Still raining, but, had it lessened? Or was that just wishful thinking?

With a reluctant and annoyed sigh he turned his attention back to Casper, mentally debating over whether or not he should just sit here and glare and hope he got the hint; that he should just go right on back the way he’d come or whether he should answer his tirade of questions. Yeah right, Raiden hadn’t even picked up on half of what the other male had said.

“What are you doing out here?” He decided he should make some communication, Casper didn’t often pick up on the glares Raiden sent him. Or he did and he just chose to ignore them. Raiden didn’t know or care.

[Casper McCormick]

Raiden took his time replying, Casper was used to this. Raiden didn’t seem to rush to do anything; at least not when it came to talking. He was always speaking at his own pace, doing his own thing. He rarely seemed to interact with the other teachers at the school, or the students for that matter. In fact it seemed he interacted with only one or two, and that was it.

But that was just Raiden, Casper supposed. No point in dwelling on it. Raiden was who he was, and that was what kept Raiden happy. And he did seemed fairly happy in himself, and not a nervous jittery person, who always wanted to be someone else to please others. That was good.

Casper stroked the big husky on the ground while Raiden took his time to answer.

“What am I doing?” Casper repeated. Hadn’t Raiden listening? Or was he maybe hard of hearing. He couldn’t have been, not with those ears. Well... maybe he was. Maybe they didn’t enchance hearing at all. That would have been annoying. Dog ears and the same normal human hearing. Boring.

“I was running. I run, y’know, its a hobby. I like running in the rain. Its good, it adds resistance!” He nodded and quickly folded his arms. His clothes were soaked, and now he was standing still, he noticed it more. “Did you want some help taking your groceries home?”