Beginning of a Journey

"I'd say that makes us even for the pillow you first threw at me." he replies, offering a small smile.

"Yeah, I'll uneven those odds again if you test me," Reena warned him playfully. Her tail wagged a bit behind her.

"So you say, but that won't help you win." he replies.

"I don't need to win. Maybe I just need to tire you out," Reena suggested with a grin, "Unless you're ready to just talk it out instead."

"I think you'd be hard pressed to wear me out." Wolf replies, "But what do you think we need to talk out?"

"Why you're avoiding what could easily be the comfiest place you have to sleep in in a long time!" Reena replied, crossing her arms around the pillow that was now more in her lap.

"Oh, that..." he replies.

He lowers the pillows down in front of him, but continues to hold onto them.

"Well... I know that this is all just going to be temporary for me. Convenient food. Comfortable shelter. Good company. I'll have to give it up soon enough, so I'd rather not indulge in all of it and then have to get used to not having it available later on." he replies.

Reena tilted her head as she listened to his reply. Her expression softened and her ears lowered a bit. Once he stopped talking, though, they perked back up.
"But that's why I've been doing all this!" she said, smiling at him. She leaned forward, reaching out to grab onto one of his paws. She was more likely to get a hold of his wrist, really, since he was still holding onto a pillow.
"We didn't talk too much when earlier, but the more you told me, the more I thought it'd be nice to give you an opportunity to travel with me so you can enjoy it for a change," she explained.

There was a little pause and just the sound of the television still going filled the room, along with the air conditioner running.
"You know... you might not have to just get used to not having all this later," she suggested a little more tentatively, "I mean, why not travel with me for a while? It's not non-stop action or anything, but I can claim that I keep you around 'cause you reach high places and carry heavy stuff for me." She smirked a little. "It could be fun!"

Wolf watches Reena as she moves closer and takes hold of his wrist. He continues to look at her as she speaks, but once she finishes, he shakes his head slightly.

"I can't do that..." he replies, "Bad things seem to follow me and those I... grow close to. I already feel like I've spent too much time with you and that I might have put you at risk."

She let go of his arm so she could sit back a bit.
"That sounds a little superstitious, don't you think?" she asked, "I mean, we've been fine!"

"It doesn't happen immediately. We haven't even been together for a day." he replies, "I've been through enough to expect those things to happen to me or those around me, so I try not to tempt fate."

"But what happens?" Reena asked curiously, "Just random stuff? Bad luck?"

"Hostile strangers show up." Wolf replies, "And they seem to have an interest in me."

Reena's eyes widened slightly.
"What?" she asked, "Hostile strangers? What do you mean?"

"People I don't know with apparently violent intentions." he replies.

Reena furrowed her brow. "That's awful," she said, "Have you gone to the police about it yet?"

"And tell them what?" he asks, "That people I don't know are chasing me? What will they be able to do?"

"I don't know, set up police protection?" Reena suggested, "Maybe you should get a bodyguard?"

Wolf's expression grows sadder for several moments, then hardens slightly at Reena's words and his grip tightens on the pillows. He doesn't offer her a reply though.

Reena waited several moments, watching him. She seemed concerned as she watched the change in his face. When he didn't answer, she asked a little more quietly, "...Try that already?"

He nods slowly.

"That's... a reason why I'm on my own. I don't want to put someone else in danger like that." he replies.

"So... you're just gonna keep running away?" she asked, keeping her head tipped to one side, "We should do something about this! Find out who's after you and what they want and then figure out how to stop them."
She reached out for his arm again.
"You can't just keep hiding all your life, after all."

Wolf looks towards Reena.

"But how can I do any of that?" he asks her.

"Uh, Internet! I mean, I don't have much, but I have some connections here and there, too. It shouldn't be hard to do some research, or ask around," Reena replied, "There has to be some way to find out who's after you and why and not get you in trouble in the process."

"Perhaps, but how do you find someone or something without knowing anything about them or it?" he asks.