Food, glorious food! Hot sausage and mustard |

Vera was particularly annoyed with everything right now. Never, ever, had she been kicked out of a class. Yet here she was, kicked out of class thirty minutes early for only mere talking. It seemed teachers here were very uptight and against everything. This just wasn't fair.
Stomping down the hall in frustration, Verona found herself unsure of what to do. Half of her just wanted to skip class for the rest of the day, while the other half told her that she shouldn't. It was confusing and frustrating and just downright wrong. Needing time to clear her head and actually process what had happened, Vera trotted to the Cafeteria and pulled out one of the plastic chairs. Trying to make herself comfortable, she plopped down on the chair and let out a frustrated sigh. Luckily lunch break was next, so she wouldn't have to wait too long for company. She quickly changed her mind, thinking about it made it worse, and so Verona looked around desprately for something to take her mind off of what had just happened.

There was thirty minutes of class left, but that didn't stop Alastair from 'going to the restroom.' His stomach had been growling all morning since he'd skipped breakfast. His wolfly appetite was always begging for something to eat and this was no exception. He hoped the mexican bar was open, a taco sounded like heaven right about now. Turning a corner, he walked into the Cafeteria and made direct eye contact with some girl he'd never seen before in his life. He slowly lowered his eyes and sped walked over to the mexican buffet, a trail of drool in his wake. Flicking the hair out of his eyes, he grabbed a plate and piled it high with mexican goodness. Quickly paying, he eagerly sat down and forked a pile of meat and lettuce into his mouth, looking up cautiously and meeting eyes with that girl again. His face burned, making his tattoo stick out even more. He quickly swallowed, then got up to buy a bottle of water, leaving his food unattended.

Distraught and frustrated, Verona found her eyes thirsting for something different and new. Luckily, her eyes quickly met with that something different and new in the shape of a boy, not much older than she was. She had to force her now curious eyes away, already feeling slightly awkward due to their awkward eye contact only seconds before. But she had to wonder who he was, although Verona was new herself, her social demeanour had allowed herself to meet nearly everyone around her the past week. Actually the possibility of him being new seemed extremely high and the possibility was exciting. That meant she wasn't the only new kid, which she found somewhat comforting.
Allowing herself to sneak another glance, she found herself making eye contact with him again and her cheeks flustered with a small blush, much like her father. Verona knew she had to think of a plan to introduce herself, but with this boy across the lunchroom it seemed almost impossible. It wasn't like she really knew him either, other than his exceptional taste in food and the possibility of him being a new kid. Deciding she was wasting her time, Vera slid out of the chair and made her way up to the counter to get herself a juice. Only, it seemed this boy was getting something too and Vera saw her chance. After paying for the small jug of grape juice, she looked over at him. "Hey," the brunette directed to him, asking the next thing with a small laugh. "You get kicked out too?"

Alastair jumped inwardly at the sound of the girls voice, but on the outside kept his smooth demeanor. He was like a pond, still, quiet, only moving ever so often, always smooth and warm looking on the outside. After paying for his water, he turned to the unfamiliar girl, which he towered over. It made him feel just a little too... Awkward. With a smile he said:
"No, I'm on a bathroom break." His eyes gleamed with mischief and he put air quotations around bathroom. Motioning to his table not too far away, he walked over hoping the curious girl would follow. Maybe she would be friendlier than the boy he'd met earlier this week. She'd smelt friendly enough, maybe just a little too friendly...

Verona sensed the awkward tension and tried not to dwell much on it. Looking around the deserted cafeteria, only to shoot him glances occasionally. She found something refreshing in his height, shaggy hair, and what she assumed was a tattoo on his face. It reminded her of home- not the preppy, boating lifestyle her parents and siblings lived cluelessly, but the life she lived when her parents weren't breathing down her neck. It was more of a relaxed life, where there was no pressure to only wear this season's Burberry skirts. Where she could spend late nights on the beach and listen to the newest band perform. It wasn't in a creepy way either, but it was different than the pretty boys that floated around the grounds.
Before she could catch herself, she let out an impressed laugh. "Clever." She mused, turning her attention back to the drink and trying to open the plastic carton with seldom luck. Only as he headed toward his table, Verona tried to decide if she was going to follow him. Lingering at the juice bar for a second, the brunette reluctantly followed him, keeping her distance to avoid looking like a lost puppy. Clearing her throat, the girl pulled out a chair and slid into the chair in one smooth movement. "So are you new here too?" Vera said, looking up from the juice carton in attempt to meet his eye.

He sat, his movements not making any noise. There was something very predator-like and animalistic in his walk and his eyes. Something graceful. He smiled, but it was fake, curling halfway across his face right under his tattoo.
"Effortless." He remarked, laughing to himself. It was something he did a lot, making jokes to himself. It was weird yet a little sad at the same time. He'd pick up the trait from watching the wolf that had patrolled the edge of the woods sometimes in his uncle's home in Colorado. It seemed to laugh at him when it saw him, making jokes to itself. Not but a month after waiting countless nights in the backyard for the loner, he found himself running through the woods, sniffing him out, his arms not longer arms but paws.
"Yeah I'm new here, you too huh?" He said, propping on of his lanky legs on the other and popping the lid off his water bottle and taking a long swig. A drop missed his mouth and ran from the corner of his mouth to his chin. With his thumb he caught it whipping it on a stray napkin. Animal instinct taking over again, his table manners weren't perfect.

Verona picked up on the forced smile; but for once didn't comment on it, not wanting to dwell on a possibly awkward conversation. Only, she did decide to dwell on his animal characteristics- studying it, suddenly back to her curious nature. "I bet." She practically purred, the words effortlessly rolling off her tongue. A half-grin still dancing on her lips, she attempted to open it again and when it finally opened, brought it up to her lips. The purple juice, stained her lips slightly and she wiped the access purple liquid away with a napkin. Not caring much about his manner, honestly not expecting super gentlemen-like behavior from him in the first place.
"Yep." She said, bringing her carton up to her mouth for another swing. "I'm Verona by the way." And with that she held out a polite hand for him to shake, taking a chance and looking back up into his eye and his tattoo, which only brought her to say- "That's a nice tat you got there, by the way."

Her eyes studied him, calculating him. Something... some scent he couldn't put his finger on rolled off her, swirling around his head like a thick cloud of perfume. She smelled alluring, like sweet cotton candy and crisp autumn leaves all at once. What kind of girl was she? Alastair took in a deep breath, her scent filling his nostrils again, so sweet he almost sneezed. Something about the smell made him want to scoot his chair closer to the girl. But he kept his distance. Verona huh? Interesting name.
"That's a very urm... unique name. Very appealing. My name's Alastair. I don't really have any nicknames." He didn't appreciate nick names. His full name gave him a sense of power, and in someone so predator-like, power that was so easy to obtain by the simple sound of his name, gave him a sense of... Authority one could say. Just saying his own name brought an especially, wolfy gleam to his eyes. Any more excitement and he might sprout a pelt and take off towards the nearest woods. 
Verona was different. It was in everything she did from the way she whipped her mouth to the way she spoke. Everything tried to lure him in, and in the animal kingdom that was a big no no. A warning sign that said There's something fishy here. But what could be so bad about Verona? She seemed so innocent and trusty. He shook her hand, his own warm in her freezing fingers. He pulled away fastly, hoping she wouldn't think him rude. He was kept at a toasty 99.4 year round and he likely to keep it that way. Suddenly, out of the blue, she referred to his tattoo. 
"Oh this?" He touched the risen black scar under his eye remembering all over how he got it. "If you're unlucky enough to get to know me well, I'll tell you all about it." He winked, jokingly of course. Alastair was a little blind on the topic of girls, or socializing for that matter. When you spend most of your free time running around the woods in a different pelt, you pick up a lot more of animal's social skills.

Ah, yes. It seemed Alastair had come into close contact with her gift. Or actually, if you asked Vera, her curse in a blessing. While she almost always got what she wanted, she sometimes wondered if her friends actually liked her for who she was. It was the same thing with boys, from what she could tell, they only dated her because she wanted them too- not because they wanted to. It was hard always wondering who was your real friend and it left the girl with major trust issues. Actually, as sad as it was, Vera had never learned to love, she only ended up getting hurt and kept her guard up constantly.
The brunette let out another laugh and nodded her head. "My mom never was one for subtle things. I mean even her name was Wisteria." She said, flashing him a playful grin. "I have to say, Alastair is a pretty unique name as well; but it's great to meet you." She did pick up a strange change in his eyes and she felt her own green eyes grow slightly. It was a little strange to see someone so excited by his own name, but Verona guessed it had to have more meaning behind it and let it slide. Opting to take another sip from her grape juice instead.
It was his touch that made Vera jump slightly. His hand was so warm, compared to her icy fingers that had been grasping her grape drink only seconds before. She blinked a few times, slightly taken aback after him suddenly dropping her hand but also found herself not bluntly pointing it out like she normally did (she didn't think he'd appreciate it very much and after watching him look all wolfy only seconds before, she wasn't going to test him).
"Yes, why? Do you have another tattoo?" Verona asked, raising her eyebrow with admiration. She had always wanted to get a tattoo, but alas! She was too young. Actually, he didn't look much older than her at all, which left the question of how he got it freshly turning in her mind. "Pffft. You're being ridiculous," She stated bluntly, a smile dancing on her lips. "I've met a lot of people so far and you don't seem too bad." And with that she took another sip of her juice and flashed him a flirty smile- her mouth slightly stained from the juice.

That voice, it was almost like every word curled around his head, playing with his hair, whispering in his ear, tickling his neck. He nonchalantly ran a hand around his neck, actually making sure nothing was touching him. Was this girl doing this on purpose? He was a tad confused about the whole thing, and his instincts told him to keep a sharp eye on the girl. So he did, watching her every movement. Verona was whimsical, to be cliche. Almost as cat like as he was. He dropped his eyes to his hand, condensation from her drink that had just been passed being absorbed by his overly warm skin. It was awkward always being so hot if ya know what I mean ;D. Figuring that was the reason she'd also let go so soon, he continued on his friendly way.
"Wisteria is a graceful name." His voice came out a little husky, from his chest. He coughed, hoping he wasn't about to shift. Something about this girl set off his... Wild side ;D. "That must be something our parent's have in common. I mean, my fullname is Alastair Wolfgang Anderson. A little odd wouldn't you say?" He laughed, cracking out his real smile this time. It dimpled his left cheek, right under his tattoo. But it faded as soon as it appeared, his stone off a face reappearing.
"I mean it's almost mocking my powers." Alastair's eyes fell down to his now cold food on the table. He'd almost lost his appetite, his bodies way of telling him a shift was coming. Shift on a full stomach, throw up in your next form unless its something like raw meat. Lets just say taco salad didn't go well with dogs, wolves, or hawks. Especially not deer, which was his next target animal to master.
"But unless your power is the power of beauty, I don't think your name completely mocks you." He said, a small, fake smile spreading his face again. He blink, and nodded at her question about his tattoo.
"I have two more actually." And with that, he rolled up the sleeve of his white v-neck, all the way up to his shoulder. A detailed tattoo of a full moon took up most of his right shoulder, with the words LA LUNA written in thick black text above it.
"This is the second one I got. This is the last one." He said, pulling up his shirt to show a tattoo that curved around his left side. It was a celtic knot tattoo that resembled that of a tree.
"This is the Tree of Life. I simply got this one to represent my place in the world and where I come from. Never forget your roots when you begin to grow away from them. You see how it all connects in a circle? It represents that all things lead back to your roots, to the beginning. It's kind of emotional." Alastair pulled his shirt back down quickly, a little embarrassed that he'd got to into his tattoo in front of this almost perfect stranger. He drank some water, maybe the its cool tastelessness would take away the sweetless that rolled away from her and into his mouth as he breathed. "You don't know the half of how bad I am for anyone in general." He remarked, frowning a tad.
"I'm almost like a ticking time bomb." As he said it, his muscles tensed then relaxed again. He needed to calm himself down before he shifted right here and tore the girl he scarcely knew into bite sized chunks.

dem tattoos doe:

Verona sensed a change in his attetude and found herself confused. He had seemed fine before and suddenly he was tensing up. It was really weird and the girl found herself wondering if she had something to upset him. She had never witnessed someone look so animal like before- and Verona had seen some pretty weird stuff. The brunette felt as though she should stay away from him, but her curiosity kept her there- and besides he was pretty cute /shot. Her green eyes scanned his face again and she felt her stomach drop; she knew that look, in fact she saw that look often. He was being sucked in by her power and for once Verona had no control over it. Strange and yet angering, the stupid "gift" throughing out any chance of her trying to start a normal friendship or whatever this was to become.
His comment snapped her back into reality, her thoughts suddenly growing dimmer and dimmer in her eyes. "If you told her that she'd love you forever." She joked, trying to contain her smile, in attempt to muffle out the Siren-like affect. "Odd, but... Fitting." Verona continued, choosing her words carefully in an indirect way of letting him know she was getting the "wolfy" vibes. Yet as his own smile snuck out, though only for a second, she found herself quickly returning the smile and returning normal.
AHAH! So she had been right on picking up on the animalistic traits, his gift must've been something animal related. Something much more dangerous and less heartbreakig than her own gift. Which, even the thought of made her frown slightly and shake her head to rid the thought, returning his fake smile with a blush creeping on her cheeks as well. "You're too kind, I wish it was actually that simple." Still not offering any idea on to what exactly her power was, but letting him know he was off.
Her mouth dropped slightly and she had to force her hand away from reaching up and touching his tattoo. They both seemed so magical and grown up. The black ink etched onto his skin with delicate precision, each detail unfolding into one of the coolest things the teenager had ever seen. Definitely inspiration for her future tat, if she ever got around to getting one that is... "They're really sharp. Makes perfect sense too, I like them." She bluntly stated, blinking and looking up at him, a slightly mischievous gleam in her eye. The juice now rested to her left, suddenly totally forgotten amungst the excitement of seeing his tattoos.
"I'll have to take your word for it, because I'm not getting that from you at all." Vera stated, no flirty tone in her voice, only a strong truethness. Only, the brunette started to rethink her words as he looked strangely different and she felt her heart racing. Yet she did know one thing, Vera had a power that resembled that of a siren and if worse came to worse- there was no way he was ever going to hurt her like that.

At this point Alastair was concentrating all his might into keeping himself in check. His sleeve still rolled up he ground his teeth, gripping one arm of the chair, the veins in his arms popping out. Her voice sounded so far away, and a small bead of sweat dripped from the back of his head and down his neck. He really didn't want to shift in front of Verona, or anyone for that matter. It was against school rules to use your powers outside of training, but what if you couldn't help yourself? He absently rubbed his temples, and looked straight through her.
"Thanks." He muttered about his tattoos, the side of his shirt having fallen in place but the tattoo still a little visible underneath the light fabric. A door to the courtyard loomed in the distance, and Alastair's skin crawled, begging him to get on his feet and run straight to the door and outside where he could discard his clothing and run feet first into the woods.
"You um, wouldn't want to take a walk with me would you?" His pupils looked tiny, and his body nervous and twitchy. The boy was already on his feet anxiously shuffling towards the door. "I just really don't want to be inside, too stuffy." Weakly lying, Alastair nodded towards the doors and the courtyard, shuffling a little closer towards them.

Vera was frightened to say the least and her eyes grew wide with anxiety as he started to sweat and twitch and stuff. It was weird and freaky, like one of those things you see in those scary movies. Was he possessed or was he like sone reverse werewolf? Oh my gosh, was he going to hurt her? The fact she had been kicked out of class seemed silly now, this was potentially a life or death experience. Not that she was scared or anything, Verona normally kept calm in situations such as these- but in reality she did feel her stomach churning and her heart beating a little faster.. How did this even happen? One minute they were having a cute little conversation and then all of a sudden, he looks as though he's going to explode. Must've been those damn tacos...
But in all seriousness, as he asked her to go outside with him she blinked a few times. Verona felt something strange about to happen, yet got up anyway forgetting about her juice and leaving it in it's spot. "Yeah... I mean I guess..." She said, slightly confused as she followed him outside. "Seriously, what the hell is going on right now?"
The girl remained a safe five feet away from him, startled by the sudden dash from the cafeteria. Besides class was almost over by now and he had, had a pretty long bathroom break. People would start to wonder and at least if he went crazy they would find her. That was just the thing... What really was happening? Other than this boy was having some weird panic attack thingy and Verona had idiotically just followed him outside like nothing would happen. If only she had her mother's gift, she could use a little luck right now.

Quickly, the boy weaved through the lunch tables and chairs, abandoning his food and water. With one final step he threw open the door, and much to his usual polite attitude, didn't wait and hold the door for his new friend. He couldn't wait those six or so seconds for her to follow him.Finally outside, Alastair found his way down wind from Vera and took in a deep breath of the clean air. He found the sudden urge to run dissipate and sighed with relief. His muscles relaxed, his sweating stopped and he found his heart slowing to a normal pace. Everything seemed better. When he was finally under control, he took a seat on a wooden bench, pushing his face towards the sun like a happy kitten.
"I'm really sorry about that. Something about you pharamones drive me crazy. Literally." He smiled a bit before it faded away. Whatever had happened back there had been a close call to a disaster. Looking at Vera with one eye, her frowned sensing the girls displeasure.
"I guess this is the time to tell you about my gift?" Assuming it would make things better, the shifter started with:
"Im a dog. And a wolf, and a hawk and I'm trying to be a deer too but that's a little complicated because I've never really tried to force myself to shift into a certain animal you know? It's always just randomly happened. But like I was saying, I'm a shifter and I dont know what was with me back there but something about the way you smell was driving me crazy almost like it was pulling out my wolfy sound I thought I was gonna shift right then and there in the cafeteria, and by the way things were going, I thought I might go primal."
Breath.
"Which is where I turn complete animal and have no conscious mind in my animal body. I'm sure you can see why that would be bad, you know?"
Alastair frowned, realized he was ranting, but it didn't really bother him that much, it was easier to just explain things really quick instead of just, leaving the person with a cliff hanger. That was a big douche mover, and Alastair wasn't about to be a douche to someone he'd almost just demolished.
So he smiled, poured out his everything, then sat back again, the sun warming his face, giving him just a rosy bit of color across the bridge of his nose and under his eyes. His light brown hair was gold in the sun, and his golden eyes were almost the color of light themselves. The only thing that seemed to get darker were his tattoos, which stuck out like sore thumbs under his white v-neck. He was tempted to kick off his vans and dig his toes into the grass, but he was scared it might make Verona think he was a freak, as if she already didn't.
The thing was, Alastair was just really connected to his friend, Earth. Everything about it he loved, the snow in the winter, the heat of the summer sun, the crisp air in the fall, the thawing rains in the spring. He especially love running around in the cream of the crop weather. It was almost like he was connected to the Earth by a thin thread, always pulling him outside of near to the closest thing he could find that was Earthy.
Back home his room was filled with windows and plants, waking him at dawn to start the day at first light. Truthfully, it was weird how little sleep Alastair needed to function properly. Roughly 4 hours of sleep. It must of have something to do with his animalistic side.

Vera watched him, amused but still shaken up by his little freak out inside. He really did look like a kitten and Verona couldn't tell if she thought it was cute or slightly annoying. He had literally been twitchy and breathing funny only seconds before. It was strange and her eyes kept lingering back to him, as if he was some mystery she could solve with only her eyes. "Okay, it's fine. I just-" She said, but stopped and pursed her lips.
It was her. Well actually, not her but her gift. And after he explained his power and what happened, Verona only felt worse. Which was weird, normally she was a carefree girl, but this made her feel bad. "Right... terrible." Now, she seemed far away as she processed the situation. Part of her wasn't willing to give up any information about her power, because as soon as she did it could possible turn into a fiasco. Yet the other part, the stronger part, knew she had to because he literally just poured his heart out to her.
After fighting with herself inwardly, the girl let out a defeated sigh and pursed her lips again. "I think you'd have a better understanding if you knew my gift." Verona said taking another deep breath. "It's called Enchanted Allure. It's much like that of a Siren. I attract the person by any means. Be it a smile, my voice, or I guess in your case my scent. Once under the spell, they are like my puppet, they do whatever I want them too. The only issue is, sometimes I can't control it. I guess this must be one of those cases." Much like he had done, she stopped to take a deep breath before starting again. "It's my dangerous curse. One that I'd rather not have." But she stopped there, not daring to go onto the more touchy subjects, which would risk waterworks and she wasn't I the mood for all of that.
Vera stopped to look over at him, studying his face for any reaction she could get. It was weird talking about this kind of stuff, especially to a guy she had met 20 minutes earlier. Yet, Verona didn't like how heavy this conversation was getting, and leaning down to pick up a blade of grass, she rolled it between her pointer finger and thumb. "You know, normally people don't have a 20 minute bathroom break." She playfully joked, flashing him a small half-grin. Only, she didn't hint about wanting him to go back, because she didn't. I'm fact, she was finding herself enjoying his company. Even if it almost got her mauled, but hey! What was life without a little risk anyway?