A Hard Day's Work [Dylan]

[Iris Elliot]

Iris frowned deeply. "I'm sorry Dylan...I, uh, I didn't mean to pry." She dropped her head slightly and tried to think of the best way to change the subject. She had nothing. What do you say to someone that looks as sad as he did?

She lifted her head again and shook it. "I'm sorry." She touched his arm in a sign of understanding and comfort. His arm was warm and muscular. But just as soon as she touched him, she let her and slip away.

[Dylan Woods]

He didn't want her to feel bad... He just didn't want to talk about it. It wasn't just that it hurt not to remember anything about his past, although it did. Whenever he was feeling lonely, he would find himself trying to think about his family, to remember any little detail. But it was just a long, blank slate. If not for the song, he'd have nothing at all. Sometimes when he was reading, he would feel a flash of familiarity, but he could never really place it. Maybe they were stories or poems that he'd read back then... he didn't know. He wished he had some idea.... a picture or a face or a name. But he had nothing.

With Iris, however, there was a different worry. If he talked at all about his past, she might start to figure out that he was a werewolf. Even if she said she could never hate him, he really didn't believe that she would just be OK with the fact that he was a werewolf. And he liked her too much to want her to turn away from him.

"It's OK," he said, his breath catching in his throat when she touched his arm. "I shouldn't have brought it up. Tell me about your mother instead."

[Iris Elliot]

Iris shrugged lightly and perched herself on the edge of her desk. "She was quite the woman. She raised my brother and me by herself in a house not far from here. I inherited the store from her..." She trailed off trying to shut off the flood of emotions that ran through her. She had thought that she was over this. She should have been able to talk about this. But she couldn't. Dylan was really the first person she had spoken to about it. She had tried to talk to her brother, but he shut down more than Iris did.

"I sold her house after...after she passed. I couldn't stand to be in there. Not without her anyways." Iris blinked back tears and turned away from Dylan and pretended to be busy fiddling with things on her desk. But she was really trying to hide the moisture that was building in her eyes. "Now I live in a small apartment just a couple of minutes from here."

[Dylan Woods]

Dylan felt a strange ache inside as he listened to her talk about her mother. He wondered whether it really was worse to know someone and lose them than it was to never know them at all. It seemed like Iris had lost her mother fairly recently, and maybe that was why it seemed to hurt so much. But as he looked at her, trying to blink back tears, Dylan couldn't imagine that it would ever get easier to lose someone like that. Not for the first time, he found himself wondering if his own family was still out there, still grieving for him.

He felt like he should hold her, to try and comfort her. He reached out and awkwardly put his arms around her. "I'm sorry," he said softly. "Please... don't cry."

Dylan didn't really believe in a higher power or anything like that, and he didn't know what happened to a person after dying. But if there was any kind of afterlife, he was sure that Iris's mother was watching over her somehow.

[Iris Elliot]

Despite the awkwardness of the hug, Iris found herself leaning into it nonetheless. It was nice to have someone care enough to want to comfort her. Iris had plenty of acquaintances, but she didn't have many friends at all. She wrapped her arms around him in response to his and sniffed a little into his shoulder.

"I'm sorry to get all emotional like this. It's not normal for me." She was surprised to find that a little comfort and attention really did help someone feel better. She didn't feel like she had to cry anymore and she found that now she was just enjoying the feeling of being with Dylan. It felt normal and she couldn't help but notice that he had nice arms.

"I really appreciate you being here for me." She said sighing happily before she pulled away. She was still standing close to him and she didn't feel any desire to pull away. This close, she could see that he had beautiful hazel eyes and she had to force herself to look away. A blush crept up into her cheeks and she looked down at her hands. "You're a great person Dylan." She said softly, staring at her hands, afraid that if she looked back up at him she wouldn't ever stop staring at him. Although she wouldnt look him in the eye, she still hadn't moved any farther back from him. She was happy where she was.

[Dylan Woods]

Dylan was rather surprised to find that he rather liked hugging her, and he even unconsciously held her a little closer. Being a loner who lived in the forest, it didn't exactly hug very many people. Or any at all. In fact, he wasn't sure he remembered the last time he had hugged someone or been hugged by anyone else. He'd never realized what he was missing out on. There was a part of him that just wanted to hold her forever. But as always, reality began to sink in even before she pulled away. She was upset, and that was the only reason he was holding her. They barely knew each other... and if she knew what he was....

He forced himself not to think about that for the moment. He wanted to concentrate on her, on trying to make her feel better. "You have a right to be emotional about that. She was your mother."

He didn't bother to ask her how her mother died, because ultimately, it didn't matter. There was no acceptable way to lose one's mother. That was a hole that could never be filled. Dylan knew a little something about that, even if he didn't remember her.

When their eyes connected, Dylan couldn't breathe. Her blue eyes were like the sky and he thought he could get lost in them forever. But she looked away too soon, and he let out his breath in a rush.

I'm not a great person, he thought to himself. I'm not even really a whole person. "You barely know me," he said softly.

[Iris Elliot]

"Does that mean you're not a great person?" Iris said, just as softly as he did. The moment seemed to call for softness and she involuntarily took a step closer to him. "You're comforting me. Something no one else has done yet and you barely know me." She smiled softly and looked back up at this face, letting herself enjoy the color and deepness of his eyes. "I think that alone makes you a good person."

After she said this, on an impulse, she hugged him again. She didn't know why, but she kind of felt that maybe she was trying to comfort him now. He seemed upset, torn, or at the very least troubled by something. She was just trying to return the favor. And she had to admit she secretly enjoyed they way she felt when they were close. "You can try to change my mind, but I still think you're pretty great."

[Dylan Woods]

Dylan wished, in that moment, that he was just like any other man. He liked the way he felt with her arms around him, and he really wished he could just lose himself in her arms. He wasn't even thinking about kissing her or anything like that, but the novelty of personal contact was enough to make him long for that closeness. He had never missed it before. On the rare occasion he had ventured into town in the past, he had always been careful to avoid getting too close to anyone. He always thought he didn't like being touched. But it turned out that wasn't the case at all.

He'd always thought that he was fine with who he was, that he was secure in himself and that he'd even reconciled his wolf side with the rest of him. Apparently, he had been wrong. Now all he could think was that he was not fit to touch this beautiful, kind-hearted, intelligent woman. She was a lady.... he was the tramp.

Slowly, reluctantly, he pulled away from her, his head down and his eyes fixed on the floor. "You say that now.... there are things about me.... you wouldn't say that if you knew..."

[Iris Elliot]

Iris tried not to pout when she felt him pull away, but that didn't stop her. She frowned a little noticing how drafty the room was without the warmth of their hug. He wouldn't look her in the eye and she couldn't figure out why he kept saying that about himself. He hadn't tried to kill her yet or try anything immoral. Was he trying to get out of this? She assumed if he was uncomfortable or didn't like this, he wouldn't have put himself or her in this situation. She was now just confused.

"Dylan, what are you talking about?" She placed her hands on his arms, so it was almost like she was holding him at arms length. "You aren't like...wanted by the Ministry are you? Are you a murderer?" She knew that he wasn't and he would probably be appalled at the idea, but she honestly couldn't imagine something worse. She could not picture this man, this very shy, afraid, extremely rugged, and good-looking man being anything other than kind and good.

[Dylan Woods]

Of all the things she could have thought, why did she say murderer? Did he look like a murderer? Why not say thief or con man or alcoholic?

No, he had never killed anyone... that he remembered. But sometimes, if a transformation was particularly rough or painful, he wouldn't have any memories of the night before. And he couldn't remember anything that had happened to him before he'd been bitten. Anything could have happened, and sometimes he was scared to think of the possibilities. In his human form, he would never harm anyone. In his wolf form... well, that was harder to control.

Still, he couldn't bear to think that she might believe him capable of murder in his own right mind. "I would never murder anyone," he said. "I told you I would never hurt you, and I meant it. But I.... I really should go now. It's getting late."

[Iris Elliot]

"Dylan, I didn't mean anything by that comment..." She trailed off, suddenly noticing how drafty the room was now that he had pulled away. She wanted to bang her head against the desk for saying something like that, especially to someone so serious. Most people didn't get her sense of humor anyway. That was probably the reason for her lack of friends. She settled for sighing softly and following him as he made his way out.

"You'll be coming back right? I mean, only if you want. I do like the company and the extra set of hands." She asked, adding as an after thought that he wasn't too bad on the eyes either. This thought made her smile some to herself as she watched him. "Any day is fine. I'll be here."

[Dylan Woods]

He should have said no. Or at least answer with a vague "I don't know." For some reason, she got to him, and made him want to stay, when he knew it wasn't a good idea. She made him feel... human. And he liked the feeling.

"I'll... I'll come back," he said, surprising even himself.

What could it hurt, really? He needed some money, and he wanted more books. But deep down he knew neither of those things were his real motivation. He wanted to come back for her. She was alone here, and it had to be difficult. She'd already injured herself once. He could help her, although he hadn't really helped her much today. He had been hired for a job that he hadn't actually done yet, but he'd been paid in books.

"Thank you for lunch," he said, reluctantly turning to the door.

[Iris Elliot]

Iris waved as he walked out, but she knew he hadn't seen it. She doubted he would have waved back. She puckered her lips and squinted her eyes. Her mother deemed it her "thinking face" because she always made it when her mind was concentrating really hard on something. And right now, it was the mysterious man that just left her shop.

Iris flipped the sign from "Open" to "Close" and with a flick of her wand, the lights went out in the front of the store. Her mind was on Dylan the whole time she gathered her things, locked up the store, and made her way home.

He seemed harmless, just very quiet and reserved. Almost afraid. He was polite and very gentlemanly, but there was something that made her think that he wasn't used to people or girls. Maybe that was it? He wasn't used to woman giving him attention. She smiled to herself as she pulled the covers over head that night. Well, maybe she should bake him something and show him that not all girls are scary. Yes, that is what she would do. Iris would make Dylan her friend and then maybe he wouldn't be so shy. She liked that idea.

Iris snuggled into the blankets and yawned. She smiled to herself before she drifted off to sleep. Dylan was quite cute...