Damian's Wolf - 3. Damian

Jordan opened his eyes with a yawn, stretching out on his bed. His arm hit the bone off the bed, and the loud clatter of the bone landing on the floor startled the werewolf.

He sat up in his bed, a little disoriented. Reaching for his phone, he realized he had taken it with him yesterday.

“Fuck…”

Thinking for a moment, the man stood up, grabbing a relatively clean set of clothes. He dressed, grabbing his laundry basket. Checking to make sure the straps he had tied to the basket were still good, Jordan slung the laundry onto his back. The nearest laundromat was next to the bookstore. He could grab his clothes from yesterday and get them washed before work.

Maybe he could get a burger too.

Checking his wallet, the werewolf sighed. Okay, no burger, just laundry. But speaking of food…

Jordan grabbed a clean bowl, filling it with milk. Setting it in front of his door, the werewolf set off, thinking about the cat that may or may not have moved into the alley next to his apartment.

He stood in the laundromat, texting Arisa as he waited for his clothes to wash.

“Thanks for the juice. I owe you one. Oh, and my wolf says he owes you one too.”

Jordan glanced up from his phone as the door to the laundromat opened.

“Miss Reyla,” he said in surprise.

“Good morning Jordan,” the woman smiled, her wrinkled eyes shining warmly. “I was hoping to catch you here today.”

“Is everything okay?” the werewolf asked nervously.

His mind spun with possibilities. She was going to fire him. She had found out about his wolf and didn’t want him around the store.

“Oh yes, everything is fine. I just need to talk to you about the store. It isn’t doing so well.”

Shit. He couldn’t survive without the job. If he was lucky, maybe she’d give him a few weeks to find a new job.

“I understand,” he sighed.

“No, I don’t think you do. I want to make you a manager. You’re a part of the younger generations. I think you would have a few ideas to bring in more customers.”

“Really?”

Reyla smiled again.

“Of course. What else would I do with my best employee? Unfortunately, this will mean your hours will increase.”

“That’s wonderful!” Jordan grinned. “Oh, um, someone came into the shop yesterday looking for a job.”

“Well, Halor is slacking in the mornings, not keeping the shop as neat as I’d like. If this person piques your interest, you can bring them in for the afternoons and see how they do. If they work out, you can put them on mornings, but you have to fire Halor.”

Jordan’s smile soured. He never had liked Halor, but to fire the elf…

“Only if the new guy works out, right?” he asked.

“Yes. Unless you’re planning on working mornings and afternoons.”

The werewolf shook his head. He certainly did not intend to do that.

“Wonderful. I will see you tomorrow then,” Reyla beamed, before walking out of the laundromat.

Jordan’s phone buzzed in his pocket and he took it out, grateful for the distraction.

“Tell your wolf that I’m not scared of someone who’s always licking their balls.”

He snorted even as the wolf inside him growled.

“Really,” he muttered in response to the wolf.

“The bitch should learn her place in the pack.”

“More like you need to learn your place.”

The door opened again and the wolf looked up. He smiled at the sight of a figure in a grey hoodie walking stiffly through the door.

Hurrying to the man, Jordan held the door open.

“Thanks,” the man muttered, dropping a basket of clothes next to a machine with a pant.

“No problem,” Jordan said. “You were in the book store yesterday, right? Looking for a job?”

The hooded man looked at him for a moment.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t recognise you,” he said finally. “Yeah, that was me.”

“Great. I just talked with the owner and if you’re still looking, we could use some help around the store.”

“Really? Thanks!”

Jordan smiled as he began moving his clothes from the washer to the dryer.

“No problem. Why don’t you come by the store tomorrow afternoon, say around two, and we’ll get you started.”

The bowl was empty again. It made Jordan happy that the cat was still around, even if he hadn’t seen the animal since that first glimpse of the calico tail.

Stepping into the alley next to his apartment, Jordan clucked quietly, scanning the garbage cans and empty boxes laying around.

“Here kitty kitty…” he called.

“Yes, here kitty, let me chase you out of my territory,” his wolf growled.

If he could, he would give his wolf a swat on the nose right now. But as it was, Jordan just gritted his teeth and continued his search.

There was no cat to be found, and finally, the werewolf gave up, collecting the milk bowl and carrying it back inside. He refreshed the liquid, hoping the animal would return that night.

Grabbing a bag of chips, Jordan settled in on his bed, ready to snack until work. He had about an hour to kill, and he intended to make good use of it.

There was a sudden crash outside his apartment, and the wolf bolted to the door, throwing it open.

A neko lay on the ground in front of his door, spilt milk running down his face.

“What the fuck are you doing?!” Jordan demanded, taking in the sight of his bowl shattered on the ground.

The cat’s calico ears flattened as he sat up.

“I’m so sorry,” he said, holding his arm. “I tripped on the step.”

“Wait… Have you been drinking the milk?”

The neko nodded, his head down. Jordan took in the baggy clothes, the hoodie the cat had used to hide his ears.

“You’ve been hiding that you’re a neko? And you live around here? No one’s going to care if you’re a cat.”

The neko’s eyes flashed to the alley, and Jordan frowned.

“Don’t even think about running dude. I can catch you easily.”

He held his door open.

“Get inside. We need to get you cleaned up. And I still don’t know your name.”

“Damian,” the neko said. “My name is Damian.”

“I’m Jordan. And you look like you’ve been living on the streets.”

Damian’s ears flattened, and the neko refused to raise his head.

“Come on,” Jordan said, beckoning the cat inside. “Your arm is bleeding.”

The neko sat shirtless on his bed, a wet rag on his elbow. Jordan was trying not to stare as he warmed up a bowl of noodles, but it was hard to keep his eyes off the cat’s muscled frame.

“So, Damian, how long have you been creeping around my apartment?”

“Three days. I hope I didn’t disturb you.”

Jordan shook his head.

“I thought you were a cat. You’ve been the one drinking the milk then?”

The neko nodded.

“Thanks for that,” he added. “Some days it was all I had.”

The microwave beeped and Jordan took the bowl of noodles out, thrusting it into Damian’s hands.

“Well we’ll get some food in you now,” he said. “And we can have you start work this afternoon if you are interested. You won’t be paid for another six days though.”

“At this point, I’ll take what I can get.”

“You and me both,” Jordan muttered. “How’s your elbow?”

Damian peeled the rag away from his elbow.

“It’s stopped bleeding,” he said. “It’ll be fine.”

A sudden knock at his door made Jordan freeze, the beat of the tapping reminding him of a song.

Sighing, the werewolf walked to the door, opening it despite his misgivings.

“Hey Arisa,” he said.

“Hey, I’m here about a loudmouthed wolf- oh…”

The elf stared at the shirtless neko on the couch, drinking in the sight.

“You dog! How long have you been seeing this treat?”

“Oh, about thirty minutes,” Jordan said.

Aris pushed past him, walking up to the neko.

“Hmm, not bad,” she said, looking Damian up and down.

“Um… hello,” the neko said, his ears displaying his discomfort.

“I’m a little surprised you’re playing with a neko,” Arisa grinned at Jordan.

“I’m not. He just tripped in front of the apartment. Look, I have work in an hour, do you think I could get ready?”

“And leave your guest alone? Where are your manners Jordan?”

“I don’t mind. I really should get going anyway,” Damian said, standing up. “Thanks for your help Jordan.”

“No problem. Why don’t you stop by the bookstore in an hour or so?”

The neko smiled, pulling his hoodie back over his torso.

“I’ll do that.”

He glanced at Arisa warily before hurrying through the door, his hood up to hide his ears.

“Tripped in front of the apartment, huh?” Arisa snorted.

“Yep.”

Jordan grabbed his broom, stepping outside. He began sweeping the broken remnants of the bowl, berating himself for using his best bowl.

“So what’s the bowl for?”

“I thought there was a cat.”

Arisa laughed.

“There was. He just left.”

“Very funny. What do you want?” Jordan asked, carrying the bowl to his garbage can.

“Just making sure you were awake.”

“You couldn’t do that by phone?”

“But then I wouldn’t be able to see my favourite four-legged friend.”

Jordan dodged Arisa’s hand reaching for his ear.

“You know I don’t sleep during the full moon.”

Heading to the kitchen, the man began washing a bowl, trying to get a little more housework done before he had to get ready for work.

“So, a neko? Bet your wolf is ecstatic about that.”

“For once he’s actually quiet. Probably trying to figure out how best to eat him,” Jordan shrugged.

“He looks homeless.”

“Yeah, Wolfie picked up on that too.”

The wolf growled at Jordan’s words, but as usual, Jordan ignored him. He glanced at his phone, noting the time.

“Well, if that’s all, I need to get ready for work,” he said.

“Fine. Don’t forget your juice,” the elf replied, turning for the door.

“I won’t. Thanks again.”

Jordan closed the door behind Arisa with a sigh. Could she have picked a worse time to visit?

Grumbling quietly, the werewolf stripped, heading to the bathroom to shower.