A Rumored Troublemaker And A Control Freak In A Room[CD]

The gashes on his arms still hurt sometimes even though it had been a week since he had gotten them. The bandages were clean, though, the wounds already having scabbed over and closed. He probably didn't even need them anyway, but without them, he knew, he wouldn't be able to leave the wound alone, picking at the dried blood, or whatever the scab actually way, covering the entrance to the wound, until the raw, pink flesh underneath it was exposed. Or, until the wound started bleeding again.

''Be careful with that'', Spirit said as William pulled the box he had just packed in the air, hissing lightly in pain because of the still healing scrapes. ''I know what I'm doing, Spirit'', the boy bit back at the wolf angrily, dropping the box next to the other by the door. Next to the box stood two giant suitcases with which he had arrived on the Island in the first place. Had he bothered to pack properly, he probably wouldn't have needed boxes at all.

''Come on, let's go'', William said, opening the door to the room with more strength that it was actually needed, pulling the suitcases behind him as he left to Warrior to pick up the boxes and follow him to the elevator. He had not said a word on the way to his new room, but from the way his knuckles were white from the pressure he was using to hold onto the handles of the suitcase and the fact that he was biting into his lip so hard he had made it bleed again, Spirit new that the boy was boiling on the inside. And the wolf knew William better than anyone else.

William wanted to his something. To hit something and make it bleed. He wanted it so much he could almost taste the blood...A careful lick of his lips told him that he was actually tasting the blood. Shit. He had made his lip bleed again. The way he kept biting into it and reopening the wound, it would never heal. It was already going to live him with yet another scar anyway.

He couldn't believe that they were making him change rooms. It was not that he particularly cared for the room, or the small-deer-girl with whom he had had to share it with, but still, the fact that he had to move irritated him. And he was going to have a room-mate again, a guy this time, because apparently he was too dangerous to be left alone in a room with a girl. As if he would have ever done anything to her. Besides, if he really was such a threat to society why not stick him in a room alone and solve all of their problems? It didn't work like that here, apparently, he thought as the elevator doors opened and he exited onto his new floor, and he was not desperate enough yet to start calling onto his family name.

Stopping in front of the door with a number of his new room written on it William frowned. ''Great'', he tsked, his frown growing even deeper as he heard the strumming of some kind of the instrument coming from the inside. ''Fucking fantastic'', he muttered under his breath, as he brought his fist against the door, his knocking echoing through out the empty hall, loud enough to wake up the dead, let alone alert his new room-mate to his presence.

Spirit watched as the tension in William's shoulders and the anger in his eyes rose with each second he spent still staring at the plain wooden door, even though he could probably hear the music coming from the room had stopped, the sounds of a person moving around replacing it. The boy, however, was not the only one tense. The wolf let his own muscle tighten, his body getting ready for a jump or a bite as he had truly expected to have to tackle William to the ground before he introduced himself to this new room-mate by punching him in the face. He also watched, however, in quiet amusement, as William found himself thrown off track when the door finally did open.

''He's taller'', was the first thought in William's mind after the damn door he had been staring at for what felt like finally opened, and for somebody who somewhat got used to being the second tallest person in the room (Warrior always being the tallest, no matter what) it was enough to make him forget about the fight he was perfectly ready to start, right there and then.

He probably wouldn't have noticed, however, he thought, immediately snapping out of it as the tension in his bones rose up a few notches, if the damn grey? blue? eyed fool hadn't ended up standing so close to him. ''My apologies'', he said, his voice heavy and bitter, making it immediately clear that he was doing anything but apologizing. ''I wasn't aware that moving two floors up came with a check in requirement around here'', he spoke in a heavy, sarcastic voice, his whole body tensing even more still as he thought about how, considering the reason they were making him move anyway it just might have.

As he pushed his suitcases into the room though, William actually took a moment to actually take in his new room-mate with a somewhat curious eyes, the man having actually addressed Spirit directly as he wolf followed his Summoner into the room. Behind him, Warrior entered the room as well, immediately heading for the empty bed and dumping the two boxes William had had him carry on it.

The young man in question didn't bother commenting on that. He knew Warrior disliked somewhat for his strength, and himself, to be used for things such as these and it was not like there was anything in there that he actually cared about or could break.

The man in front of him had short, dark hair, though not as dark as his own, eyes of mixed colour and was, as he had noticed, taller than him, though William no longer saw it as clearly, the man having sat down immediately after opening the door. He was not afraid of him then, not if he was comfortable enough to sit, yet he knew of him, or at least knew enough of Spirit to actually address him. Not that that was common in itself. People, for some reason, did not tend to talk to his spirits directly, at least not at first.

That, if anything, was the reason William wasn't currently biting his new room (prison cell) mate head off. Instead, he turned his back to him and focused on tearing off the top of both boxes open before staring at their content.

''You'll have to excuse him'', Spirit said in his signature way, having already gotten a whole speech prepared considering how many times he had had to excuse William's behaviour for him by then. ''He hasn't had quite enough sleep lately.'' It was a lie. Somewhat. His back still hurt sometime and he would get nightmares, waking up screaming into Spirit's fur silently, too afraid to fall back asleep easily after them.

...perhaps it was not that much of a lie, really.

Something in the way the other man spoke was setting William's teeth on edge yet again, no matter the fact that he had decided that he might just as well be acceptable as a room (prison cell) mate due to the way he had addressed Spirit directly, as if he had considered him their equal. That feeling, apparently wasn't meant to last, however.

''I wasn't really aware there was someone here waiting to patiently for me'', William said, his voice even heavier with sarcasm than before. ''Had I known I would have taken even longer to pack.'' Not that he really could have done that, considering that he had only that much stuff he could pack and sitting in his room staring at the wall as he waited for the time to pass wasn't really an option.

He could heard the man speaking to Spirit yet again. "It's okay" he had said, and William found himself frowning at the content of the box in front of him, not really sure whether he should stay irritated just in case or let himself relax yet again. The other feeling sort of won out, though not by his choice, when the man addressed Warrior as well.

''They are not guardians'', he said, immediately, however, his tone no longer outwardly angry, yet still quite obviously laced with frustration, irritation and, perhaps, yes, quite a bit of sleep deprivation. He hasn't had a nightmare the night before, but the one haunting him the night before had been strong, leaving him breathlessly and staring at the darkness hiding the celling above his head until early hours of the morning when he had finally decided to give up on going back to sleep and just get up. And it hasn't been the only one. They had been haunting him ever since he came to the island, sometimes weaker, sometimes stronger, sometimes giving him a bit more of a breathing space but never leaving him alone.

Which had, naturally, made that night one of the rare ones during which he had suffered neither from nightmares nor from pain, finally being able to get some rest... until an alarm woke him up too early yet again. The alarm was most probably set by Warrior, for he could not remember setting him himself, and Spirit couldn't really operate phones well considering he had paws and all, and it informed him in giant, black, all-capital letters that he had to get up and start packing right now or else. Despite this he had managed to ignore it for a half an hour more before he was dragged out of bed by a very irritated wolf who had told him to pack days ago only to be ignored then as well. And packing did take time, even when done messily and with not that many things.

''They are spirits'', the young man continued speaking as he thought about all of this, his back still turned to his new room-mate, who had just introduced himself, but William has paid just enough attention to think he didn't really care, but who named their kid that anyway?

''Summoned spirits to be precise'', he finished his explanation as he pulled out a bunch of, now crumpled, shirts out of the box. He had packed mostly by putting stuff wherever there was room for it, not caring about whether that place was inside a suitcase or a box, so he wasn't even sure which of his possessions was where. Not that he had many besides his clothes, really. A few books, a notebook, his wallet, laptop and phone, toothbrushes and such, though he was pretty sure he knew where those were. All in all, most of the room was taken by messily packed clothes, shirts and jeans and pants, and pretty much nothing more as could be seen as he started pulling them out of the box, laying them on the bed just as messily as he had put them into the box.

At his words, Spirit scoffed behind him, and he didn't even have to turn to see a raised eyebrow aimed at him, as if to say the way you act, we might as well be your guardians. He decided to ignore it for now however, the feeling of the wolf's eyes weighting heavily on his back as he continued to speak...and make a mess of his bed.

''I am called Spirit'', the wolf said once it became apparent that William had no intention of speaking again, or introducing them. ''That is Warrior'', he said, using his head to indicate the other spirit. ''And we are indeed, as William had said, his summoned spirits. Manifestations of his power, if you will'', he said, as he flicked his tail to hit the back of William's legs. ''Though we have a will of our own and very much so'', the wolf growled at the boy a bit, getting nothing but an amused scoff in return.

''It is nice to meat you, Tavish'', he said in the end, knowing that there was no way in Heaven, Hell or on Earth that William would do so. And just as he had thought, William had scoffed yet again at that, muttering ''what kind of name is that, anyway'', under his breath.

Spirit watched William's back freeze at Tavish's words and he knew that there was nothing he could do to stop what was to come except tackle the boy to the ground. Even than, it would serve to nothing but to make him even angrier. It was inevitable.

''What is my problem, huh?'', the boy repeated after his new room-mate emotionlessly, his tone going to sarcastic to flat within a tenth of a second, a bitter smile spreading over his face as he gripped onto the sides of the now empty box strong enough to crush it under his hands. There were things, he knew, questions and comments, that would set something inside him, turn the ever boiling anger inside his soul into rage he could barely control, but could never let go unless he wished to see things that had happened all those months ago at his family home. There weren't many, as he had developed a thicker skin than most, despite the anger and the attitude. Threatening to take Spirit and Warrior away from him forever was obviously one. Asking 'what his problem is', however, in a tone which suggested that he had none and was just making a fuss over nothing, was the other.

''My problem, Tavish'', he said, turning slowly towards the other man, lacing the name with more poison than any insult could ever have, ''is that I have been shipped to his fucking school like a dog, without even asking if I wanted to go.'' A million different things flashed through his head as he said so, but those were the things that would never see the light of day if he had any say in that.

''That I have been put in a room with a girl that flinched at every move I made'', he continued to speak, yet another set of memories he would never speak of making itself known as he remembered the pain of those first few days, inability to sleep, the itching of skin. At least that was mostly gone now. ''And that, just as I started to settle in'', he said, lying this time, as there was no settling in fro him, not on this island, ''I had been moved forcefully yet again.'' Compared to his earlier anger, William's voice and face were oddly flat and blank. Something dark could, however, clearly be seen behind his eyes.

''Only this time it was like I was a rabid dog rather than just a dog'', he spoke, quietly, as if he were speaking to himself rather than to somebody else. ''A dangerous one that couldn't be left alone with a poor little deer girl'', he scoffed, obviously disgusted. ''As if I would have ever done anything to her.'' Clenching his fists, he stared at Tavish in a way that clearly spelled he pretty much wanted him dead.

''So they put me instead in a room with somebody older, somebody to keep an eye on me'', he said, scoffing yet again. The very idea of it set him on edge, more so than he was on any given day.

''So for me it is pretty much anything but nice to meet you Tavish'', he finished, his shoulders finally relaxing somewhat as his eyes cleared of their blank, emotionless stare as William finally put a leash on his rage once he had felt that the darkness of it was getting just a bit too thick, too similar to what he had felt before the destruction which had sent him here began, allowing Spirit to breath a little easier when he saw that this time William's outburst wasn't going to end with blows or him running away somewhere he couldn't be found until he wished it so.

A deafening silence fell over the room in the wake of Tavish's reply, as William stood, still frozen in one place, his face and body now mostly relaxed, but with his jaw still slightly clenched, and the muscles of his arms dancing under the slightly tanned skin, clearly still ready to jump up and fight even thought it was obvious that there would be no fight to fight.

William was used to harsh cold truths being thrown in his face, but they were usually followed by bites aimed towards his ankles and a feeling of a tails hitting him on the back as they were always, always delivered by Spirit with Warrior glaring at him from a nearby wall, clearly agreeing but almost never speaking. He was also used to fear coming from his peers, whether of him directly or of his family name he didn't care, or a cold disdain from those a bit closer to his own wealth. A clear hatred in the eyes of the few servants who dared lay them on him after he had passed the age of ten, or of giant sighs and clear signs of 'I give up' in the eyes of the few of the more insistent teachers as he got into yet another fight. Those were the things he was used to. A clear and sharp tone coming from someone so close to his own age was something he had never had to face before.

''I never said they did'', he said, his voice the calmest it had been since he had entered the room. He was still angry, but he was always angry. At this moment however, the anger was at its lowest and buried deeper than it was usual. ''But this isn't about what they asked you'', he said, his face twisting into a sneer as he spoke. ''It is about the fact that you are older. Stronger. Taller. Less likely to be hurt by being in the same room with me than a poor little deer girl'', he said, scoffing yet again. As if he would have ever done anything like that, he thought for the third time that day. He fought, yes, and enjoyed doing so. It gave him relief. But he only fought those who were like him, angry and full of rage, just as likely to throw a fist as he was. He wasn't a bully. He didn't go around beating people weaker than him.

''So don't worry about that'', he said, as he kicked one of the suitcases on the floor and opened it up, pulling more clothes from it. ''Nobody will ask you to babysit a brat.'' Spirit had called him so so many times that he had come to accept that in the eyes of the world, he was a brat without necessarily exploding ever time he was reminded of that. It was not, in the end, as if he didn't have a reason for acting the way he did.

''And I will be always treated as if I were more rabid than Spirit'', he said, laughing, as he finally pulled something other than clothes from the suitcase, his laptop, however, getting only a slightly better treatment than the fabric despite being fragile, new, and hell of expensive. ''Half of the world is more rabid than Spirit. He's the calmest fucking thing in the universe.'' The wolf sneered at that, more so because he was called a thing rather than it not being true.

''The problem is not in that'', William said, thinking how maybe his choice of words wasn't the best. He was like a rabid dog in the end, wasn't he? There was no way he was going to talk himself out of this one, he decided, so he changed the topic. ''Also, on that note, don't ever compare Spirit to a dog if you don't wish to get your head bitten off.'' The wolf growled at him this time, as if William was the one in danger of getting his head bitten off, though he was clearly aware what the boy was doing. ''Also, Warrior is not a ninja.'' He had heard enough of those jokes back in his old school when the wolf and the human-like spirit had first started following him around, one being mistaken, indeed for a dog and other for a new bodyguard, and probably its handler.

Then something that Tavish had said made him tilt his head and think. He had acted violently in front of the girl-he couldn't bother to recall a name-but that was because he was in so much pain he could barely think, his wounds still raw, both physical and not, and there she were, the first damn room-mate he had ever had in his life... if one didn't count Spirit and Warrior and he never did. Having been left to his own devices and empty rooms William simply wasn't used to sharing space with people no matter how much he might have despised his old home. He was territorial, and in pain, and angry. He had right to act in the way he did. In his own head at least. Something else though was what had got him to stop unpacking.

And when you were told to transfer, did you ever think that maybe it would be for you, too and not just for her safety?

''I haven't thought about that'', the boy frowned at the black mass of clothing still taking up space in front of him. ''I guess you are slightly less annoying than her'', he shrugged in the end, before he continued on with what he was doing. ''Also, nobody had asked you either, as far as I know, to wait for me any time or welcome me'', he said the last word with as much sarcasm as he could master at the moment, ignoring to comment about how Tavish didn't know what William had been through, because he didn't, but it wasn't as if William was about to share either, so the topic was better left ignored.

''You could have just as much left me to come to an empty room'', the boy said, standing up again, and grabbing the laptop and his phone from where he had throw them on his bed in order to move them to one of the desks in the room. It was, after all, what he was used to, he thought, coming ''home'' to empty rooms, wasn't it?

''And nobody ask you to care, either'', he added as he plugged the charger into the socket. He hadn't used the damn thing since he had bought it to replace the other one he broke in a fit of pain. It was probably emptier than empty and perhaps even dead. Again.

''Most people don't'', he finished, almost absent mindedly as he searched for the space to store the mess on his bed into, saying the words as if they were nothing, just a passing through thought, something that couldn't hurt him in any way. Spirit, on the other hand, flinched, a frown forming on his wolf face before it disappeared just as soon. It was, in the end, the truth.