you're not exactly a skip through a meadow. [seth]

[PAUL LAHOTE]

Meetings at Sam’s house were completely pointless. They always ended the same—with Paul getting the short end of every damn stick. He may as well have not even gone to any of them because it didn’t matter if he was there to defend himself. He always lost. That’s how he felt about it, anyway. He got the longest shifts at the worst times, but this was worse than it had ever been before. This time, he didn’t get to suffer in peace. This time, he had to be followed around by an energetic.. happy.. Seth. The kid’s like twelve now, he doesn’t need a damn babysitter. Okay, so Paul didn’t think that. Paul actually did view Seth as an immature kid who needed to be supervised during shifts (even though Paul was only two years older and could be just as immature), but he didn’t want that supervision to come from him. I’ll switch with..anyone. He loves Jake.. make Jake do it. He didn’t have the patience for it, nor did he have half the patience needed for it. Paul’s remark didn’t change Sam’s mind, and the instructions were given.

Yea, yea, we got it. Comon, Clearwater. He stood up from the couch in the Uley household and walked without enthusiasm through the door, ducking on his way out. He then approached the edge of the forest, ripped a branch off of a tree (because it was completely necessary for him to make sure everyone knew that he was pissed off) and phased into a massive gray wolf. His hearing became amplified along with his sense of smell.. which was only picking up Emily’s food from Sam’s kitchen. Dammit, Sam. Except it was no use, because the only person who was going to be capable of hearing his thoughts was .. not Sam. There was one person Paul would choose shifting with Seth over, and that was Leah. Paul and Leah.. it was a wonder they hadn’t killed each other yet. They were both too stubborn to be able to deal with each other, so that’s what Paul kept in his mind. He could deal with Seth.. for a little while.. maybe. He just hoped they didn’t run into anything because making sure the kid didn’t get hurt was not going to be helpful if he had to focus on an attack. Still alive living with Leah, eh?

[/b] He asked the question with the intention of lightening the subject, which he was obviously so good at doing.

[/blockquote][/size]

[SETH CLEARWATER]

If you looked in the window really quickly (like, quick enough that nobody saw you and jumped out and had you pinned to the ground begging for your life... because there were people in this room that would do that), it almost would have looked like they were hanging out like normal people. The only thing that might have given it away was the I'd-rather-be-waiting-for-the-bell-to-ring-in-my-least-favorite-class look that past plastered on most of the rooms inhabitants faces while they waited for Sam to get to the point. Seth didn't really mind the meetings. It wasn't like he had anything else to be doing. And now he could hear everything, know what was going on. And besides, it was kind of cool- I mean, the whole thing, was kind of cool. The only thing that could have made it any cooler- and DID- make it cooler- was when Sam said it was his turn.

Finally. He got to go. He never got to go. And with Paul- that was new. Seth didn't usually argue over shifts. He knew that he could do it himself, but he was just happy he got to go. Paul..on the other hand.. felt the need to remind Sam (the very true fact) he didn't need a babysitter. "I'm thirteen." he corrected, like it made all the difference, before remembering what poing they were trying to make and nodding at Sam. "Yeah, he's right. I can do it." He couldn't believe Paul was sticking up for him. Paul didn't like anyone. I’ll switch with..anyone. He loves Jake.. make Jake do it. Oh.. Paul just didn't want to go with him. Ouch. Oh well. (That made a lot more sense.) Sam didn't really seem to care though, no matter what Paul said. Seth wasn't going to get in the middle of it. It was his turn. But.. it was also Paul's turn. And now that he knew there was nothing he could do to change that, Paul was storming out of the house. Comon, Clearwater." "Right, okay, coming." He got up quickly and followed the older guy out of the house, trying not to seem overly eager or anything- especially after Paul broke the tree.

He shifted and the first thing he heard was Paul cursing at Sam. Okay.. he got it.. he wasn't happy."M'sorry Paul.." He was. Really. "It's not going to be that bad." I mean, as much as he wanted to prove that he could do it himself, he definitely didn't mind the company. Paul always had to shift on his own so.. maybe in the end he'd like it... Or not. There was definitely a possibility that Paul wouldn't like it. But Seth really hoped that wasn't the case, because if it was.. this was going to be a long afternoon. And.. there would probably be a lot more damaged trees (which wasn't fair to the trees at all - but he'd prefer Paul take out his anger on trees than people, because the only other person around was him). At least Paul was talking to him. Yeah.That was good. Happy thoughts. Paul brought up his sister and Seth would have laughed out loud. "Yeah... somehow." Probably only because she never let him do anything. She could be so annoying sometimes. But Paul knew that. Everyone knew that.

[PAUL LAHOTE]

I’m thirteen. Oh, it matters, Paul mumbled to himself, barely loud enough for anyone else to catch it. He wasn’t in the mood. He was never in the mood. Yeah, he’s right. I can do it. It was clear that Seth had the wrong idea regarding Paul’s motive for speaking out on Seth’s behalf. However, he was sure the kid had gotten it after his second comment. Good—they were on the same page. Then maybe Seth could like.. be slightly less.. Seth-like. It wasn’t that Seth was a particularly annoying individual because he was trying to be (or maybe he was and he had an underlying evil within him that knew exactly how to act innocent about everything but Paul was pretty sure that wasn’t the case). He was just too sincerely happy all the time and Paul was.. pretty much pissed off at something all the time and when you’re pissed off and you’re around someone who’s that happy, it makes you have violent thoughts toward said source of happiness.

Right, okay, coming. Yup, I’m sure you are. He could have toned it down a tiny bit, but it was worth more self-control than he was willing to exert.. and he was going to need to save that for when Seth got distracted by the first insignificant thing they saw like a butterfly or something. Paul could tell that Seth wasn’t maniacally trying to ruin the rest of the afternoon so he could sort of almost be slightly less of a pessimist. M’sorry Paul.. It’s not going to be that bad. How could he even say that? How could it not be that bad? Of course it was going to be bad. Don’t tell me you like patrols..

[/b][/i] Or maybe he didn’t like patrols. Maybe Seth could just be positive about every damn thing in the universe for no reason. How the hell do you do that? Nevermind.. It sort of made sense that someone had to be the happy one if Leah was walking around sprinkling negativity all over everything. The whole conversation thing wasn’t working out very well. Paul was too awkward for that. She gets you mad, doesn’t she? Something had to get under that skin of his.[/blockquote][/size]

[SETH CLEARWATER]

Okay, so trying to instill positivity in Paul... was harder than he thought it was going to be. But Seth was convinced that by the time they were done there was going to be some improvement. "I don't hate them.."

[/b][/i] I mean, they were protecting the reservation. He wasn't sure how necessarily it all was (really- how often did anything spontaneously happen?) but it made him feel kinda important. Andrunningaroundasawolfwasfun. Besides, Seth didn't really hate anything. Which.. made him very different from Paul. Paul was a lot more like Leah...not that he would ever say or think that around- oh, that was too late. "I didn't mean that!" he thought quickly at Paul. Well...he sort of did..a little..but just to himself! Paul hated everything (it was true!), but he wasn't all depressed all the time so... he was better.. in that way. Just.. there. He wasn't thinking about that anymore. Um.. there were trees! Green trees, with lots of leaves, counting the leaves, he was hungry, they were patrolling, it was gonna be fine, he had to do homework later, now something was flying by, buzz buzz, and we all know Paul's gonna have interrupted by this point so I'm not gonna go on.

'How the hell do you do that? Nevermind..' "Do what?" Yeah, he got the 'never mind'... but he wanted to know! It probably would have been for the best he didn't push Paul at this point but this whole.. thinking communicating thing.. well clearly they were both having some issues. He picked up something else about Leah and negativity and other stuff that he knew increasingly well from having the live with said person. "She thinks she knows everything," he responded, when Paul asked if she made him mad. She, definitely, was one of the few people who could accomplish getting him in a less than amazing mood. "doesn't really care about anyone else any more, so wrapped up in her own stuff. She didn't used to be like that, you know.. But anyway.." The setting didn't exactly make it easy to change the topic. Seth rightly assumed that Paul wouldn't want to talk about anything that had to do with the job he clearly didn't want to be doing right now.
[/size][/blockquote]

[PAUL LAHOTE]

It was starting to become a problem that the two could hear each other’s thoughts. It took an incredible amount of concentration to even attempt to control what thoughts were direct enough to be understood.. let alone keep certain thoughts from coming up. Of course, that was true for Paul—it was no excuse for Seth. Seth shouldn’t have had certain thoughts in the first place. Like.. shifts weren’t horrible? Who the hell—whoa, whoa, whoa. That was not okay. I didn’t mean that! Didn’t mean that my ass. I know you didn’t just suggest that I have a single thing in common with Leah.

[/b] That was it. Any potential for a less-than-horrible afternoon was shattered. It wasn’t even the fact that Seth thought it that bothered him much (though he wouldn’t admit that aloud and it still bothered him to a large degree). What Paul hated most about what had just happened was that it was made evident that Paul could be compared to Leah—that it was a thought that could occur to some people. That was not okay.

The next few moments served as the perfect example that Paul could be wrong sometimes—that Seth really could get more annoying. Seth? Shut up.[/b] And then the kid was somehow still going. Paul was starting to doubt Seth’s ability to understand English. I say never mind.. and he minds. That.. that happy thing you always do! Nobody normal is that optimistic. The older shifter wasn’t going to admit that it made things any better, but it was helpful that the two did have common opinions of Leah, even though they were to a very drastically different extent. She thinks she knows everything. Yea, Paul knew that. He’d seen that come into play while with her. A lot of the time, she was right, but it was the way she always assumed she was that bothered Paul. Then Seth mentioned that she hadn’t always been like that. Always has been as far as I remember. Then again, Paul had a different relationship with her than Seth did, and Leah was a lot more openly idiotic with Paul because he dealt the same to her.[/blockquote][/size]

[SETH CLEARWATER]

'Didn’t mean that my ass. I know you didn’t just suggest that I have a single thing in common with Leah.' Seth had really been hoping Paul hadn't heard that. "I didn't! ButifIsaidthattohershewouldhaverespondedexactlythesameway." He hurried the thought along through his mind, hoping that Paul wouldn't catch it (he really needed to stop thinking that that would work because it obviously wasn't)... Aaand now he had half a mind to take off running in the other direction (because he could totally out run Paul any day, and in form, just saying). Yeah, so, he was basically digging himself a hole.. and not just a shovel and pail at the park hole; a big one, that you'd need one of those dirt lifting trucks to fill. It was hard to "shut up" when he wasn't actually talking, and apparently Paul didn't appreciate his attempt to changing the topic to a more pleasant one. Well at least he tried! 'Seth? Shut up.' "Got it, can do, done."

He wondered if- oh! maybe they could- okay.. so this "not speaking which actually meant not thinking thing".. seriously, harder than it looked. So, of course he jumped on the ability to respond to Paul's question (because Paul had asked him a question which meant that his "quiet time" was over- hallelujah).. even though it kind of confused him. "I don't know.. It's normal.. What's wrong with being happy?" It was pretty normal for him. He would have said it was normal for everyone but then again, look at the people he had around him. (solely for Tilly's benifit:) Had he been someone more obnoxious he would have said 'Its fun, you should try it.' He could understand why Paul didn't think Leah changed that much, cause he just had to deal with her 'i'm right about everything' and other annoying traits. "Okay, yeah.. she's always had her opinions... about everything.. But she used to be less 'I hate the world and everyone in it'.." Seth and her used to actually be able to have a conversation or do things together. Trying to talk to her now was like trying to talk to...a certain person standing next to him of whom he was not going to name (birds, birds, trees, grass, flowers, more trees). "She was more patient and she moped around less." She was his sister, so Seth felt kind of complied to say that she wasn't all that bad (well, she could have been worse)- but that Leah who been nice and fun disappeared off the face of the Earth and she wasn't coming back, so, it was hard not to agree with Paul. Thoughts shifting again quickly, he asked brightly "So you're glad you're here with me instead of her right?"

[PAUL LAHOTE]

Seth knew Leah better than most, if not all of the shifters in the pack. For him to be under the impression that she and Paul were similar was just beyond aggravating. The long and obnoxious ramble that Seth tried to hide? Yea, Paul caught it.. enough to get what Seth was saying, anyway. Shut up. Again.. shutting up didn’t really seem to be working well with Seth (as much as shutting up while not actually saying anything out loud was going to work in the first place). Paul had no other response to the comment because thinking about how obnoxious Leah was, he figured that she would have given him the same kind of attitude that Paul did. The two were similar—that’s why the clashed so much. Although Paul refused to believe it.

The Got it, can do, done, lasted about ten seconds. Now Seth was implying that he was normal which Paul didn’t really get. What’s wrong with being happy? It’s unrealistic. I mean, comon. Being a shifter sucks, and you seem to be ten times more peppy while you are one. The last thing Paul wanted to be doing was psychologically evaluating the kid’s untainted happiness, but there were plenty of topics that could be worse. Now they were back to Leah, which seemed to be an easy conversation for the two (when Seth wasn’t trying to put Paul into a violent mood). Seth admitted that Leah had basically always been a pain in the ass, but that she wasn’t always such a pessimist. Hm.. a Leah that doesn’t hate everything? Sounds like an alien to me.

[/i] The older guy would have rolled his eyes, hearing the connections being made between him and Leah again. We are really not that similar. You’re just crazy. Hah. Then, Seth decided to be clever. So you’re glad you’re here with me instead of her right? Mhm. Don’t push it.[/i][/blockquote][/size]

[SETH CLEARWATER]

He really didn't get how Paul didn't see it. I mean, he figured that Paul knew and just didn't want to admit it- but he wasn't even secretly thinking that Seth was right and he and Leah actually had more in common than he'd given them credit for. (Unless he'd just mastered the whole thinking to himself thing which if he did "Paul, could you show me how to do that?"). 'Shut up' "Okay." He really should have counted all the times Paul said that today. He was pretty sure they were on three... maybe four.. no, it was three. Or was it two. Let's say three. Next time he'd remember to count from the beginning. He hoped this was what Paul meant by 'shutting up' (I mean, at least it wasn't about Leah!)

Apparently happiness was unrealistic. He didn't really understand how that worked, because it felt very real- he would ahve had to put a lot more effort into acting like Paul or Leah (and lets face it, that would have lasted like... a fwe minutes, max)- but he was getting the vibe that saying that to Paul wouldn't do much good. 'Being a shifter sucks, and you seem to be ten times more peppy while you are one.' See, Seth didn't get that. He just didn't get it. "It's really not that bad!" I mean, yeah, the first time kind of sucked, but other than that who wouldn't be ecstatic to find out that they could turn into a wolf? Apparently, Leah...and Paul. Who, yeah, obviously had absolutely nothing in common.

If a Leah who didn't hate everything was an alien, he wondered what a Paul who didn't hate everything was?.. That kind of sounded like the start to a funny joke. (Note to self: Come up with punchline. -- Note note to self: Don't do it in wolf form on consequence of sudden death.) 'We are really not that similar. You’re just crazy.' "Okay, if you say so." He would have shrugged. It didn't bother him if Paul didn't agree. He just.. knew he was ri- WRITING...writing random...words...about...thiswasn'tworkingtimetochangetheoptic. "Well I'd rather be here with you too." Okay, so Paul knew that's where he was going with that... but he'd still said it and that was a start. "Sooo, its not that bad, right?"

[PAUL LAHOTE]

Okay—Seth was up to something. What the hell gave him the idea that Paul was hiding something from him? I mean.. he was.. slightly.. but he wasn’t going to admit that. And he didn’t have to because he had skills that teaching Seth would just be a bad idea because that’d practically be giving him permission to think annoying things without sharing them. Not that Paul wanted to hear that.. but if Seth was thinking it Paul had to know. There was no other way he’d be able to call him out on everything all the time and then they wouldn’t be able to make conversation because normal conversations without things being called out didn’t happen between them. Do what?! Okay, so he knew what Seth was talking about but whatever. I don’t know.. you don’t need to know everything.. so I don’t let you. No need for you to try.. you’re pretty predictable. Life is good and all that. If Seth didn’t want to be told to ‘shut up’ that many times then maybe he should have actually done so when he was told. Sure, Paul continued the conversation with questions for Seth but figuring that out was Seth’s problem.

Happiness wasn’t unrealistic. Infinite happiness was. To be able to take a horrible situation and come up with reasons why it isn’t so bad—that’s not a normal ability to have. Most of the time, it was that bad. But Paul wasn’t going to spend the afternoon trying to convince Seth that he needed to be more depressing because we all know that wouldn’t go over well. It’s really not that bad! Mhm—there aren’t a billion other things you’d rather be doing right now?

[/i] Of course, there were for Paul, so he chose to get himself through each day by taking that out on everyone else. It works out pretty well for him, actually. It just sort of didn’t work out well for the rest of the pack. Then again, if Seth was so good at making everything happy then maybe Paul didn’t have to change his attitude around him because Seth could just do that on his own.

And again, the kid went on about how Paul and Leah were supposedly similar. Paul wasn’t supposed to know that, but Seth had thought control issues and we know this by now. He wasn’t one to drop shit that pissed him off, but he figured this was something he didn’t want to dwell on for the chance that Seth could make him sound more like Leah. I swear, if you were trying to say any of that to me, you’d be dead.[/b] Mhm, Paul was blunt. Didn’t mean Seth was allowed to be. Bluntness was permitted to shifters once they had two whole shifts on their own, so clearly Seth had a long way to go. Well I’d rather be here with you too. Well.. duh. It was him or Leah. Sooo, its not that bad, right? Was he trying to get Paul to admit he loved the world or something? Jeez. Seth, what the hell are you trying to make me say? Sure, sure it’s not absolutely terrible.. but it’s five minutes into the shift. There was plenty of time for things to get worse.[/blockquote][/size]

[SETH CLEARWATER]

Well, if he hadn't been sure Paul could keep his thoughts to himself, he was now. Seth really didn't know why everyone was under the impression that he didn't need to know everything they did, but it kind of got old like.. when he was ten. "What don't I need to know?" he asked. Yeah, like Paul was going to tell him.. He had to try anyway. He didn't even want to know all of Paul's thoughts.. just how to keep some of his to himself. "But it'd be good to know!.. Please. I won't do it to you!" I mean, if nobody told him he'd never know and that would be a serious problem on shifts (especially with people like Paul) "I mean, I thought you'd like it if I kept my happiness to myself"

It definitely sounded like Paul wasn't appreciating Seth's happiness.. or any of his other thoughts. 'Mhm—there aren’t a billion other things you’d rather be doing right now?' "No..not really.." He thought about it for a few seconds. Nothing came to mind. "What would you rather be doing?" Asking Paul personal questions might not have been the best idea but..well, it was making conversation, and I've already explained to you in other posts why Seth feels that making conversation is a completely natural thing. 'I swear, if you were trying to say any of that to me, you’d be dead.' Yeah, it was a good thing that Seth wasn't trying to say any of this, and if it were possible, he wouldn't be saying it at all because he didn't actually want Paul to be mad at him because.. he just didn't want him to be. He was satisfied enough to stop pressing when Paul admitted that it wasn't that bad (he didn't care what word's Paul used, he'd just agreed with Seth and said it wasn't that bad) but he did remind Seth that they had a long time left to go. "Yeah.. so.. what now?"

[PAUL LAHOTE]

Some people had a mechanism in their brain that told them when asking more questions was a bad idea. Seth’s mechanism.. well we’re not sure how he lost it but he was definitely doing something vigorous because his was definitely shattered into a billion pieces and ultimately unusable. What don’t I need to know? It’d have been easier if he’d asked what he did need to know. Everything, Seth. They’re my damn thoughts.

[/b] Paul clearly wasn’t an open book so there was no way Seth was going to get anything out of him. He had to wonder what Seth thought he needed that ability for, but maybe it was as simple as not wanting to get Paul’s disapproval for every single thought he had. I won’t do it to you! Yea right, nice try. Seeing as Paul was probably like seventy-five percent of the reason Seth wanted that in the first place, Paul could be pretty sure he’d be using it on him. I thought you’d like it if I kept my happiness to myself. Even so, he rolled his eyes (or, yanno, he would have if he were human) and gave in. Being free of some of the kid’s mind wouldn’t be such a bad thing. I dunno, you just do it. You’re too distracted, though. Get rid of all that meaningless shit you have floating around in there and concentrate. What you don’t want to let out.. don’t make it as loud.[/b] There really wasn’t a way to explain it very well.. nobody had ever written a book on it.

He had no life. He couldn’t have if this was his ideal afternoon. He was with Paul, so that was about the best part of his situation in Paul’s personal opinion. When Paul was Seth’s age, he was hanging out with some kids from the reservation doing stupid stuff in the woods. It was pretty much the same thing now, but before there weren’t any orders behind it and they weren’t pointlessly looking for vampires. Both situations seemed pretty unappealing to Paul now because he no longer enjoyed hanging out with people very much but either way, a normal kid should have wanted to be doing other things. What would you rather be doing? Well now he was just prying. He couldn’t remember ever being asked that question—people didn’t tend to care to hear the answer. Hanging with Rach, sleeping, eating, carving my eyes out with a fork..[/i] The list was too long to go through completely. It was just so boring.. they never saw anyone anyway. Paul was starting to believe Sam made up the whole leech surplus thing just to make excuses to get rid of the guys for large portions of the day. Yeah.. so.. what now? Now, we do something fun.. but first you hafta get some damn self-control because you’re gonna keep a secret.[/i][/blockquote][/size]

[SETH CLEARWATER]

Everything, Seth. They’re my damn thoughts. Okay, so, he could have seen that coming. Seth really didn't have any right or reason to know Paul's thought, and Paul didn't have any to know his. Exceeeept, they kind of happened to be shifters and while they were in their wolf forms they were kind of able to hear everyone else thoughts. So, Seth just figured that that's how it was, and it wasn't a big deal to him, because he didn't have anything to hide anyway. It didn't bother him that they could hear his thoughts, he just thought Paul would appreciate if he could control his thinking a little bit so that he didn't have to hear it all.

And he did! Seth knew he was kind of pulling a good card there. (Sadly his lack of mastery at keeping his thoughts to himself meant Paul would realize exactly how happy he was that he'd gotten the angrier older shifter to agree to teach him.) I dunno, you just do it. You’re too distracted, though. Get rid of all that meaningless shit you have floating around in there and concentrate. What you don’t want to let out.. don’t make it as loud. "Okay.. so.. now I'm talking to you.. and now I'm...talking to myself" It was still all going on his his head..in the same voice..he was just makign it whispery. "Did it work?!"

Paul had a whole list of 'things he'd rather be doing that walking around the forest' but honestly, none of them sounded that interesting (actually, two of them sounded excruciatingly boring and one of them sounded excruciatingly painful), and he was pretty sure Paul knew that too (and he really hoped the whole 'keeping thoughts to himself' thing was working now because otherwise that hole he was digging..yeah..next stop China!) Now, we do something fun.. but first you hafta get some damn self-control because you’re gonna keep a secret. "We are? What are we going to do? I won't tell anyone! If it wasn't completely clear (I know it's clear, I'm jsut filling up space) he was excited about.. well, whatever it was they were going to do. Paul wasn't the kind of person who like 'invited people to do fun things', especially people like Seth, soo, yeah, he had a good reason to be happy about it.

ooc: i know there's not a lot of actual dialogue here, but i figured you know you can respond to almost everything int he narration so.. its basically the same thing xD

[PAUL LAHOTE]

Obviously Paul wasn’t going to start pouring out his feelings to Seth so he really didn’t understand why he was even trying. It wasn’t even like he had a slight chance in succeeding with getting Paul to be more open so the effort really was absolutely pointless, as was the effort of getting him to be closer to a normal and less angry individual. Luckily for Paul (and more lucky for Seth), Seth didn’t bring up anything that Paul had told him and he dropped the subject as he attempted to practice what Paul had just been explaining badly to him. It actually amused Paul slightly when the kid made an attempt at hiding his thoughts. Not unless I was supposed to hear the part about you talking to yourself. It’s hard at first.

[/b] He’d have smirked if he was in human form. It wasn’t easy to control which thoughts went through to other people when thoughts were generally supposed to be kept private in the first place.

The next moment brought more reason for Paul to be pissed off. He could process all the thoughts Seth was having about his list of much more entertaining activities until suddenly they started to fade out. That hypothetical smirk turned into a glare as the kid figured it out.. probably without even knowing it. Oh, sure, now you do it.[/b] You teach someone how to do something and they use it against you. That’s what Paul got for being nice. Yanno, I’m not really sure I know whose side you’re on. Can I trust you and your big mouth? He figured that Seth wouldn’t intentionally say anything if it meant Seth got a break (even if the kid didn’t need a break since shifts were so amazing and blah) but he couldn’t risk Sam hearing anything. He eventually came to the conclusion that Sam had no reason to question Seth and he probably wouldn’t even try to listen to what the kid was thinking about. They were good. Places. Stuff. Making a stop first.

Seth had been to Paul’s house … probably about twice in the years they’d known each other. Both occasions had involved Paul needing the help of a useful human being and Seth was the closest thing he could find. For this reason, it was a little awkward bringing Seth to his house under the current circumstances but he needed to stop by and grab shorts and food. They were necessities. After turning off course and leading Seth to his small house in the middle of nowhere, Paul walked right in the already-broken-down doorways straight to his room and emerged with an old, torn pair of shorts. Nobody was ever home in his house so he didn’t need to worry about breaking stuff or the general rule that being a giant wolf inside was kind of bad housekeeping. Anyway, he threw a pair of shorts at Seth and proceeded to throw him a small piece of frayed rope. Don’t have any smaller. Tie it if you have to. He then turned straight for his kitchen with plans to raid it.
[/blockquote][/size]

[SETH CLEARWATER]

So, Seth was honestly kind of disappointed that that hadn't worked, but Paul sounded almost...understanding. Yeah, Seth was pretty sure that was what it was. It was hard to tell with Paul, since he wasn't usually an understanding person, and we've already said a bunch of times that Paul showing any emotions that aren't hatred and annoyance and other negative things like that would basically make him an alien, but Seth had always known that deep down, he really was human. Well...not an asshole. Well..not a complete asshole. (Before you go calling him crazy he had seen Paul alone with Rachel.) Anyway, determined as he was to figure it out, it wasn't happening. Well, it wasn't happening until after he got completely distracted and stopped trying to make it happen, anyway. 'Oh, sure, now you do it.' "I did?! Wait, what did I do? How'd I do it?"

[/b] That time, Seth hadn't been putting an active effort into talking to himself, but since Paul hadn't gotten mad at him for a while, he'd calmed down considerably and that was probably helping. Now..yeah..well there went that. Yanno, I’m not really sure I know whose side you’re on. Can I trust you and your big mouth? "You can! I promise! I wont tell anyone!"

Even if the whole thing was completely shady, the idea that Paul was going to do something that they explicitly weren't supposed to be doing hadn't been one that crossed Seth's mind. "Where are we going?" Well, the other question hadn't been getting him anywhere, so he thought this one was worth a try. Once they got closer though, he started to recognize it as the way to Paul's house. "Why are we here?" He wasn't sure if he was supposed to follow Paul inside or not (they kind of had a no shifting indoors rule at his house.. but after he and leah shifted, they'd kind of had to fix part of the house) but eventually he decided to. Just a little.When Paul came out of the room he was back in human form and tossing him a pair of shorts. Kind of vaguely starting to get what was going on, Seth nodded and after Paul left shifted and got dressed. Satisfied once the rope was tied that he wasn't going to loose his pants he went to go find Paul in the kitchen. "Um.. are you going to tell me what's going on now?"

[/size][/blockquote]

[PAUL LAHOTE]

I did?! Yes—I just said you did. Congratulations.

[/i] Big deal. Paul didn’t see Seth able to pull it off while under pressure. The kid seemed to be distracted by everything and controlling your thoughts took a lot of concentration. That was one of the many reasons why Paul didn’t try to hold back. He was an asshole, and everyone knew it so why would he go through the trouble to keep thoughts to himself when everyone knew what they were? Filtering was just empty effort.. a bunch of extra work that wasn’t worth it in the end. Of course, it did come in handy when Paul thought about stuff like Rachel.. but it was clear already that he and Seth weren’t going to use the ability for the same reasons. And on came the questions. Wait, what did I do? How’d I do it? As if Paul knew how he did it.. I dunno—you figured it out. I started hearing some of your annoying rambling.. and then it got quiet.[/b] Paul was actually slightly impressed with how quickly Seth picked it up, but it was expressed more as an annoyance because he’d done so well. You can! I promise! I won’t tell anyone! Okay, okay. Mess up and you won’t get another chance. Paul was more than happy to ditch Seth and just go alone next time if he couldn’t trust Seth to keep quiet about it.

Where are we going? So many questions. The kid really had to learn to live in the moment for crying out loud. He’d figure it out when they got there. Was it really that hard to trust Paul and follow his lead? Heh. Seth started to catch onto where they were going pretty soon and if you asked Paul he should have been really excited to be within five miles of the place where Paul lived. He didn’t exactly invite people over very often. Anyway, Paul walked right in because well nobody cared about the whole wolf-in-the-house thing as far as he was concerned. It wasn’t until Seth returned to his human form and walked into the kitchen that Paul answered his question from before. We’re here because I figured you didn’t want to be naked in public. Okay, so it wasn’t exactly what Seth was looking for.. but the kid needed to cool it with the questions because Paul could only handle so many at a time. Um.. are you going to tell me what’s going on now? Yup. Now we’re eating. Paul grabbed whatever he could find from the refrigerator, stuffing it all into his mouth. When he was satisfied, he walked toward the door. Now we’re having fun. He headed out in the direction of the cliffs, eager to dive in even if he had some company with him. Well, it wouldn’t be that bad. Seth couldn’t ask questions from under water.[/blockquote][/size]