My Stubborn Will is Learning to Bend.

"Lani." Reid said, as if he was trying it out. "Alright, I'll go with Lani then." He looked at the village, trying to understand whatever she saw when she looked at the village. For him, it was home, small and sometimes annoying. "That's one way of looking at it, I guess." He shrugged a bit. "Cozy works." As they entered, a few looked curiously at Iolani. Seth wanted to roll his eyes but held back. For the moment, he'd have to behave. "Well, we'll have to figure out who you can borrow clothing from. ...Have you eaten?"
 
"I can tell you don't like it. Take it from me...cherish what you have now because you might not have it later," Iolani told him quietly as she scooted close to him, seeing the eyes of the curious ones on her and her long, bare legs. She looked down at the ground as she walked, feeling like a complete outsider. As if she was pray, and they were the predator, waiting to attack her at any wrong movement.

"Eaten? What day is it?" she asked him. Once he answered she counted the days on her fingers, and thought about it. Her nose scrunched in an adorable way, as she confused herself as she thought. "I haven't eaten in three or four days, Reid," she told him nonchalantly, as if it was an everyday thing..

It was.
 
Reid sighed a little. "It's not so much that as much as it is... well, it gets dull quickly." He felt a touch bad considering her past. He looked over at her, the previously firey personality now shy and seemingly unguarded. It seemed she felt uncomfortable. He then remembered that she was wearing his clothing, and then that others could see it and they could... gulp. Possibly get the wrong idea. He closed his eyes for a moment and then smiled in attempt to make her feel slightly more secure. "Don't worry. No one will harm you here. I think Erik made it clear that you're one of us now."

He raised an eyebrow at her response, she acted like eating was an alien concept. A slight laugh breathed out from his nose, showing amusement in her expression. "It's Thursday." And then, she finally answered his question. He stopped, confused even further by her tone. "Y...yeah, lets get you food first. Damn. You... don't eat every day?" He wondered if somehow, fully elemental werewolves needed less food. But by his logic, one needs more fuel if one has more to power...

He led her over to his dwellings. It was a one room house, containing his kitchen and bed all in one space. It wasn't crowded, but it left little room for much besides a book shelf and a dining table. "I'll make you something I guess." His stomach churned a little, feeling uncomfortable with how quickly he was accepting her.

He couldn't help but feel a slight fear of interaction with others. After so many terrible conflicts, he began to shut people off, leaving himself to his own thoughts. But then she showed up, completely changing everything. And here he was, taking care of her. Part of him wanted to pull back and retreat. The other found her interesting and actually did want to take care of her. Internal conflict.
 
"It's hard to believe that with all of these stares, I'm sorry," she apologized for no reason at all, really. She walked with him, her hands behind her back in a an intertwined fist as she followed him silently until he spoke to her about the food. She didn't know what was wrong with her, all of her guard and rude shield completely crumbled in Reid's presence.

It annoyed and intrigued Iolani in the most fascinating ways.

"When you're on the run, you tend to forget to feed yourself," Iolani said with a shrug as she walked with him over to his home she later found out once she noticed how he simply walked in, suddenly more comforted. But not enough. Perhaps because he felt the same way as she did about her?

"You don't have to make me anything, really. I don't want you to go out of your way to go and cook me something. After I treated you...it's not right," she muttered quietly as she walked with him over to the dining table, as she only stood by it. Not wanting to upset him in someway by getting comfortable in his domain.
 
"The past is the past." Ignoring her protest, Reid began to prepare something for Iolani. "On the run, huh." He said, wiping away a bead of sweat from his forehead as he leaned over a warm stove. "So, if I dare ask, what are you running from? That fire douche-bag?" Reid wasn't really the most polite person around.

After a moment or so, he brought over a forest-green plate with eggs and a few strips of beef. He set it down in front of her and then fished out some utensils. His kitchen, no, his house, was not very organized. "Here ya go."

Now done with that, he quickly retrieved a new shirt from the chest that laid at the foot of his bed. He sat down on the bed, watching her as he rested his head on his knuckles. "Go ahead then, eh?" He leaned back slightly, growing a bit more comfortable. "As long as you're here, you'll eat at least twice a day." He pondered a moment, then began to think aloud. "I wonder how Erik would react to your eating pattern... it might not seem it with his appearances, but he's really big on food."
 
Iolani nodded as he said the past was the past. He could repeat that again, for sure. She felt a bit rigid, as he asked what she was running from. What was she running from? Herself? As she thought about it, she said it aloud on accident.

"Me. People I've sadly stolen from, me, and it's not necessarily what I'm running from...but from what I'm running too, which I wish I knew. Once I find it, however...I'll stop running," she said quietly as she sat down finally, looking over at Reid with a sad smile.

"Well, I was never able to find food in enough time while I've been running," she murmured lightly.
 
Reid frowned a bit, feeling a touch guilty about bringing the topic up. With such a sad situation she found herself in, he wondered if there was much that wouldn't have a sad response. "Well," He said. "You'll be well fed here." He stood up, shelving the book he had with him before and exchanging it for another. "That is, if you decide to stay."
 
Iolani shook her head in a deny as her response. "I don't want to freak out others around here or out-stay my welcome. Already have a few enemies, why add more?" Iolani attempted a joke. But knew she shouldn't have even tried. "What books do you have up there?" She asked him in pure curiousity. As she bunched on a beef strip, she hopped on over.

It was cute and seductive how she walked. Almostt like a feline of some sort. Agile, lean, gracefully with each step as she walked toward you. You weren't sure to smile, or to shake in fear. She stood on her tip-toes, as she tried to read the title of the book.
 
Iolani walked with an interesting pace, her movement giving exceptional attention to her legs as she walked. He paused a moment from looking at book spines to look at her, then returned when she began to speak. "You like books?" He raised an eyebrow, not realizing how rude that might've seemed.

"I have all sorts. Boring things about the environment so that I don't end up poisoning myself, medical texts and best of all, fiction." He made an odd wriggle of his fingers to add emphasis. "You never know what you'll find." At this, he couldn't help but roll his eyes at himself.

"This is a pretty interesting one." He plucked a gray book with blue accenting on it from the book shelf. "About an oppressive government." He fished out another title, this time a red book with silver writing on the spine. "Perhaps this would suit your fancy. It's a romance novel, some woman in the village gave it to me. One of the weirder gifts I've received."
 
Iolani nodded as she listened to him list the genres of books he had. She looked around some more in his bookshelf as he spoke. She then looked at him when he issued her a romance novel. She couldn't help but laugh, and took it from his hands as she flipped through the pages swiftly, reading only some words from a couple pages.

"Question. Is it because I'm a woman that you think I'd like a romance novel?" she asked him with a quirked eyebrow. Before he could respond she shook her head. "I'm kidding, it's fine. As long as it's nothing over the top or extremely overrated. Who wouldn't like romance? Especially a novel based on it? You get to live someone's love life in their eyes. And..if it's a good ending, you can relive it as many times as you want," she murmured with a half-smile.
 
Reid smiled at her response. He couldn't help but love it when someone actually fought back against his harsh and barely thought out words. "No. Though I guess I could've gone with that. Damn." He crossed his arms as he pretended to be irritated with himself. He released the facade and then gave a playful grin. "Nah. Romance novels just tend to go well with most people for whatever reason. Probably the reason you listed." He leaned against the wall next to the book shelf, watching her for a reaction.
 
OIolani gave a soft shrug, and a short nod as she tried her best to fight a sweet smile. She failed. "I like you Reid...you're different," she said with a soft nibble of her own bottom lip as she gave him the look over. She couldn't help herself scan his whole body so...openly. she then blushed as she noticed how she might have seemed with her little burst of confidence.
 
He raised an eyebrow at this response, laughing it off. "Different? Yeah, I guess." He opened the gray book in hand and began to look through the pages a bit in attempt to fill a response to her words. "Well." He said, not looking up from the book. "Thanks. You're pretty alright yourself." He peeked up at her for a moment and then retreated back to his book. "Ah,..." He nervously wandered over to a seat, sitting down.

He felt shy all of the sudden. Shy and nervous. "How's it feel to eat?"
 
She shrugged off his comment about her being pretty different as well. Of course she was. She had something close to a preminition of her tribe's death, manipulates all elements whenever, and is now apart of this clan. She looked around his place some more, trying to find the right word to explain herself.

"It feels sickening, really. Used to be on an empty stomach. If I eat a bit more later on...maybe I'll be okay," she uttered quietly. "So, tell me your story," she murmured lightly as she hugged her one arm close to her side.
 
"Yeah." He said, fiddling with the book in hand. "I figured you might." He shrugged his shoulders at her. "My story? Hardly interesting." He smiled at this. "Me? There's little known about my parents. They might be alive, they might not. I was found in the forest." He laced his fingers together, stretching them behind his neck.

"Kinda makes me feel like a outsider, honestly. They all have their last names and extended family, and..." He looked down at the book he had in hand, then made a slight sweeping motion. "I have only this." He gave a slight sad laugh, setting the book down next to him on the bed. "They've tried to make me feel a part of them though, so don't worry about anyone bullying you. Or something like that."
 
Iolani listened intently to Reid as he talked about his 'hardly interesting' life. She felt a tad stupid for asking, seeing how he barely knew of his own story. "Well, if it makes you feel any better--or worse--I'm here now," she gave him a sad half-smile. "I heard I'm great company," she added, trying to lighten the mood she darkened.

"Thanks," she murmured quietly as he told her not to worry. Surprisingly it did help her calm a bit, knowing that she had nothing to worry about because Reid told her so.

"And you say your life isn't interesting," she said with another smile and attempt, "if anything your's is better than mine. Technically you do know, if you tried. I mean...what element do you bend?" She asked him. "The same one as these people?" She asked him, when he nodded she thought about it. "See? That narrows it down at least," she told him. "Who knows, what if you're from royalty or something?" She teased him.
 
His smile lightened slightly at her comment. "Yeah, so far you seem to be." He looked at her, somewhat defenselessly. He had opened himself in a way he really wasn't comfortable in doing so. "Better than yours?" He said. "I don't know. I'd say yours is a bit more unfortunate."

He stood up, walking towards the table to take the plate with scraps over to the sink. It was then that she began to talk about the element he bends, and what that must mean. He peered back at her, stopping what he was doing. To her question, he could only nod. And then she mentioned royalty, he couldn't help but loudly laugh. "Yeah? Have I impressed you with my princely behavior? Ah yes, my royal blood." He dropped the plate into the sink, and then leaned against it with his arms crossed as he listened to her further.

"Don't worry about it. I'm not that beat up over it, it's just... like I said before." He paused for dramatic effect. "The past is the past."
 
"Eh, it's a little rusty but you can work on it," she giggled, playing along with him being royalty. Iolani nodded, repeating the mantra in her head. The past is the past. Damn right. She was starting to think about living up to that motto, as she gave Reid a soft smile.

"So, don't want to know about my story?" she teased, crossing her arms across her chest as she looked at him from across the room. "There's more to me than just a feisty attitude, wild curls, and a vanished family," she told him.
 
Reid brought his hand to his chin in a quizzical notion, returning her sweet smile. "Ah? Is that so? That's all I see so far." He took a seat at the table, preparing for a long story. "Go on then." He nodded. "I'll listen."

He felt tempted to tease her about disclosing so much personal information to him. Considering she had said multiple times she planned on leaving as soon as possible, he kinda had to laugh as her words seemed to condemn and lean towards otherwise. One doesn't get involved personally unless they're treating it as an investment. A touch of glee came from this, a very small touch, that someone let alone a female might stay around. And she seemed to take some interest, be it some weird obsession with his family history or... him personally.
 
Iolani shuffled her bare feet over to his table, taking a seat across from Reid with a smile waving off her lips. She cross her leg over her knee, her hands and elbows ontop of the table. "Ready?" she asked him with a quirked eyebrow.


For emphasis and laughs, she even cleared her throat. "Once, there was a woman named Vivah. Crazy name, right? Her father was the alpha of the entire clan--from where I'm from--and she was out in the woods, wandering when out of nowhere she accidentally stepped on Earth Clan territory," Iolani trailed off, making sure he was actually listening.


Her weak pleasure was telling stories, and entertaining people.
 
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