“I don’t need to do anything behind anyone’s back,” he declared, rolling his drooping hoodie sleeves up.
“Okay, rebel, I’ll—” She cut herself off. “Did the raccoon you just brought in do that?”
Wren glanced down at his shoddily bandaged arm. “It’s a scratch.”
“He’ll say, even when his arm is hanging from its socket.”
“I treated it. I’m fine.” Wren made his way to the back door. He didn’t want another lecture—he got enough of them at home.
“No one believes you when you say that!” she called to his back.
Wren waved her off over his shoulder before exiting the building and starting down the dirt path.
He felt a sense of peace wash over him as he walked, surrounded on all sides by nature, secure in the knowledge that the animals here were safe and sound under his care.
Despite how much he loved those he had come to see as brothers, as pack, there really was nowhere he wanted to be but here, in a place he had chosen and built himself, with a purpose that wasn’t beholden to Nexus.
He stopped by all the enclosures, paying attention to each and every animal and doing his own checks. He trusted Bianca and Tina implicitly, but there were things he could see that they couldn’t.
Luckily there were zero new curse traces, only those that he had left on animals to ensure their well-being. By the time he reached Sable’s massive enclosure, hours had passed blissfully.
He unlocked the door and slipped inside, happy to see that the foliage had really come together, making a not-quite-perfect, but passable recreation of Sable’s natural habitat. Tina was amazing at creating them, her degree in environmental science invaluable to their work here.
Wren ignored the burst of humidity on his skin, keeping his eyes on the trees for a glimpse of his kitty cat.
“Sable?” he called. “You aren’t going to ignore me, are you? I know you’re mad.”
He heard a distant grumbling and smirked, following the sound. Blu twittered in exasperation. “Tantrum. Tantrum.”
“Quiet, you,” Wren chided. “You throw enough of those yourself.”
Blu’s responding chirp was a gasp of affront.
Shaking his head, Wren continued to pick his way through, stopping by a large rock Sable liked to lounge on.
Wren took a seat there and pulled his legs up, his knees poking through the massive holes in his distressed jeans.
He closed his eyes and waited.
Trees rustled as Sable crept closer above him, but Wren kept his eyes firmly shut.
A few moments passed before Sable made a noise like a cough.
Wren cracked one eye open, catching Sable turning his head quickly, acting as if he had been ignoring Wren all along even though he was begging for attention.
Suppressing a laugh, Wren closed his eyes again, humming to himself.
A thump sounded before a large face pushed into his. Wren giggled, cradling his large skull. “Oh, hello. Didn’t see you there.”
Sable grumbled some more, rubbing their scarred cheeks together.
“Yes, yes, I missed you too, handsome.”
The large animal took that as his cue to just sprawl across Wren’s legs, pinning him to the ground.
“Oof. They’ve been feeding you well, I see.” Wren huffed and Sable threw him an affronted look before closing his eyes and wiggling to get comfortable.
Wren dug his fingers into Sable’s shiny fur and stroked down his back.
