Costa Del Drunk

[Dust]

Dust leaned his head back over the edge and all of his hair fell away from his face so that the moon illuminated his much lighter skin. He sat low in the seat, his already large form taking up a large portion of the space given to him but even more so when he stretched out his long legs. His arms were draped over the side railings, allowing the spray of the water fell on him like a fine mist unhindered. His eyes were closed and the man with seemingly endless energy looked as beat as the rest of them felt, even like he was getting a quick nap in. Having been the one to explain what auto-pilot was he clearly wasn’t worried at all. He did notice Gildart’s grasp on technology was a step, maybe even a few, over Takezo’s.

Volk had just closed his eyes for a moment when the shadow of his inner wolf appeared before him in his mind and Rosie’s words are spoken by it: ‘Everything requires a price..’

Startled by it, his eyes sprung up and Dust jumped. From the outside, it appeared he had a nightmare. But it was far worse than that… It was the truth.

He glanced over beside him at Gildarts, only to look away from embarrassment. His heart still heavy.

When they talked about young guys looking up to older men for inspiration Dust imagined someone twice his age or slightly older, not centuries. Yet, here he was admiring the two old fashioned men he was in the current presence of.

Hokori naturally reverted to the teachings of his father, always obey and respect your elders, help them however you can. The younger Hoshi had more than enough patience to explain things the other two didn’t understand, and honestly, it was the least he could do after everything they did to help him. Takezo had awoken the sleeping beast inside from its lazy slumber, Tamsin and that nameless man had opened his senses, and Gildarts was the perfect candidate to rein him back in and mold the young man into something great.

When the mage that sat beside him had offered to teach him, Dust was ecstatic. It was no different than being a stray on the cold streets before someone kind comes along and offers you their hand. Bringing you in from the dark, making you feel less alone.

Across from them sat the Tamsin look alike. Gildarts himself had been a little fooled by the similarities, which made Dust feel a bit better about doing it. Lycan’s been dodging the questions with large amounts of guilt to shield himself from the shame of what the kid was. Dust’s storm-cloud colored eyes settle heavily on the summoned Doll.

The guy sat with sloppy posture, head down to stare at nothing in particular, and with his hands on his knees. His hood still up, but the brisk wind of a boat’s speed threatened to rip it off him to reveal his silver hair like a dramatic unmasking. The single braid on his left side was decorated with the silver bead that was about 2 inches long. The bead swung gently against his chest in the wind.

The youngest man’s eyes look like polished gems when the light found them as the guy lifted his head to stare straight into the contractor's eyes. Like just looking at him made him aware. Dust’s eyes widen before he looked away. The Doll just lowers his head and goes back to doing nothing.

Well.. He finally had a name. Hoseki(Jewel).

Wolf had a lot of questions for Jewel himself, but he knew the Doll would answer him in only silence. So he turned to other things.

Takezo sat near Hoseki but hasn’t moved much at this point. Tired of censoring himself for the young ones, he was relieved to be done with that and be alone with the men. He eyed Gildarts with a little caution left over from the competition and looked upon Dust with some pity. The kid’s been uncharacteristically quiet since the winner was named of the story contest. Even as a man who enjoyed silence at points in his life, it left a knot in his stomach to think Dust had been affected by mere stories.

In the corner of the boat was their cargo, crates full of booze. Dust himself had sought the stuff out and paid for it. He was actually pretty proud to be able to say that. He used the money he’d gotten from the kissing booth. It seemed fair, as a Prime, he could just summon any essentials he’d need so spending the spare change of strangers on their celebration only felt right.

Hopefully, the creeping truth about everything wouldn’t ruin that celebration. Either way, a drink right about now sounded great.

He looked back at the bow, over the nose of the boat, ignoring the twisting distraction that was the moving steering wheel to look in the direction of their destination. He had told Gildarts just to enter the location he wanted but hadn’t been nosey enough to look at it. He thought he saw a shape coming up through the spray of the ocean.