Bad Boy Meets Ocean Man (Again)

Standing outside and taking pictures. The city was pretty fun, actually. Very interesting to immortalize on the film. All the movements, the lights, the reflections… It was cool. Actually though, there was one uncool thing. Being around so many people, Elias couldn’t do anything but try so hard to keep up that cold, bad boy facade he built to make the passerby’s run away from him. To stay alone. That meant safe.

Being untrue to yourself is an exhausting activity, yet the young werewolf poured his soul into the action to make sure no one would talk to him. It didn’t even work, as a big hand softly poked his shoulder.

The wolf turned around, jumping in surprise and trying to push away whoever was touching him.

“Hey, wah, calm down mon lapin. Not gonna eat you not gonna bite you !!” Tengu smiled widely. “Sorry I startled you, handsome young man. How you doing?!”

Elias blushed and looked around nervously, before he laid his eyes back on the shark boy. He held his camera close from his chest and gestured to the other to follow him. Walking was easier.

“I’m… I’m doing okay.” He was trying hard to keep the straight, cold façade. “How about you?...”

The shark laughed and stretched as he followed him around docilely. “I’m doing good!! For now. I think I’m mostly doing good in general!! Things get better. ANYWAY!! Whatcha doing in here?” Elias looked up at that big boy, confused. Completely lost, actually. “Are… Are you okay Teng?...”

The young man lost his smile and started playing with his long ponytail. “Hmm. Yeah. I don’t know. See, I feel like I can trust you, but I don’t wanna dump my problems on you.”

Elias blushed again. He barely knew Teng, but the dude already trusted him enough to tell him about his problems?... He fluttered his ears softly, looking at his feet. Still trying to look at least a bit cold and menacing…

“Hey, Elias, what’s up? You don’t look like the soft boy I met at Coco’s. Something’s on your mind?” The werewolf took his time to answer, tilted his head to the side, looked away. Avoided the electric blue eyes of the big shark. ” I like to look like a bad boy better. Menacing and stuff.” Tengu pouted, surprised. “You’re not gonna get a lot of people talking to you if you do that, you’re aware of that right?”

Elias began to shake, just a tiny bit. “That’s… That’s the point, yeah.”

Tengu opened his mouth all wide, in a silent “AH !!”. He had big teeth. More regular than Karaci’s ones though. The whiteness of their enamel really clashed with his dark skin, black sclera, and numerous accent of electric blue. He was still pretty cute though.

Elias lowered his ears, nervous. “I… I just… I’d rather not…” Teng lifted up his hand in a calm, moderating gesture. “That’s fine. We can be scary bad boys together.” He laughed, a small laughter. “That and my spooky look, we double the “people don’t wanna mess with us” vibe!! Don’t worry not-so-little friend.”

The young werewolf looked up at the shark, slowly cracking the shyest, softest smile one could imagine. A gentle gesture that lasted a solid few seconds before he went back to a colder expression. The shark noticed the rush of brightness though, and smiled back at him, excited and feeling really blessed in this warm afternoon. This boy was so cute. Pretty mysterious y’know… But mostly the ultimate super cutie.

“So, you take pictures?” Elias looked down at his camera. “Yeah… I think it’s pretty cool.” He got a thumb up from Teng. “And you’re right to think so!! That’s neat. Do I get to take a look at your work, pretty boy?”

Elias cracked a shy smile, huffing out a laugh. “Yeah, when we’re in private.”

They kept walking quietly, until the werewolf talked again. “What were you doing around here?” The shark smiled brightly. “I went to the theater. Doesn’t look like it, but not only do I cook, I also have sharp interest in cinematography. I might or might not be the perfect cultured boyfriend.”

Elias laughed again, very soft. He honestly wasn’t that bad – Pretty neat even. A cool shark. Nice and fun. He wasn’t so scary when Coral wasn’t here… Not that Coral was a bad person, she was just loud and very hyper, and made the young werewolf pretty anxious for now.

“What movie did you watch?” The deep-sea creature buckled up some air. Inhaled sharply. “Oh boy. I’ve been here since early in the morning. I’ve seen quite a few.” He smiled at Elias, shrugging smiling softly as to apologize. “But if you pay me a drink in a nice café or whatnot, I can maybe tell you about ALL of them! ~” The wolf checked his money. “Yeah, I can do that.” Tengu cut him short. “But you won’t, because I was joking. You don’t have to pay me a drink, pretty boy.” Elias gave him a satisfied little smirk. With softer undertone. “Of course, I will. I wanna hear about the movies.” His expression softened, and he looked away, very gentle. “I’m not gonna force you though.”

Tengu smiled oh so wide. He had a bigger mouth than expected actually, oh god this smile went up so far on his face. Probably another part of the shark heritage. Really terrifying. That being said, Elias was starting to get seriously used to unsettling and spooky stuff. The shark stopped smiling/splitting his face in half, to talk calmly. “Well I do know a nice café somewhere around, if you still want to buy me a drink, daddy.”

“Oh god, don’t call me like that. That’s not me.” The shark laughed between his teeth. “You sure?” Elias nodded with energy. “Absolutely sure. You might be daddier than I am, Teng. Beside it’s just weird, please don’t.” The shark smiled still. “You prefer to be called pretty boy.”

The wolf… Blushed softly, stuttering his answer. “I… I do…”

Teng shrugged, laughing softly and ignoring the very noticeable red on Elias’ cheeks. “Fine. Pay me a drink to earn my movie knowledge, pretty boy.”

***

Time flies fast. Despite his shyness, spending the day with Tengu talking about movies and photography was amazing, and really helped the wolf warming up. He didn’t even see the evening coming in.

The text from dad brought him back to reality. “Hey Elias sweetheart, want me to pick you up? It’s getting late.”

Elias sighed softly. “Aaaaaah. Dad’s calling. Sorry Teng, I should probably head back home…” The shark smiled. “No prob, pretty boy. Oooh. Hold on.” He hummed softly. “It’s daaangerous to go alone, taaaaaaaaaake this.”

He handed the young werewolf a piece of paper on which he just scribbled his phone number. Phone hand motion. “Call me. We should hang more.”

The young man smiled softly, taking the paper. “Yup… It’s… It’s really cool to hang with you… Thanks. See you soon.” He smiled a bit wider and waved at the shark man as he picked up his bag and started leaving. “Byyye.”

“Bu-Bye pretty boy!!” Followed by a blown smooch.

Tengu smiled all wide as the werewolf disappeared into an adjacent street. What a cute boy!! What a cute boy. He grabbed his own phone and immediately called Coco. Got much to say got much to share. Movies and friends both in the same day.