Three

Erik Tomlinson is a man of many attributes. With his brown hair and big brown eyes, how he commands attention immediately he steps into a room. In short, there are a lot of words used to describe Erik but patience isn't a part of it and watching the third youngest in his household peel a boiled egg like it was something precious was starting to get on his nerve. Not wanting to be angry at the table, he scowls and gets up from his seat, ignoring the way people tried to lean away from him, not wanting to be at the receiving end of his explosion.

He makes his way to the kitchen and grabs the pack of Cheerios and turns to make his way out of his kitchen when he sees Michel, his Beta waiting for him, his already practised Erik you've done bad look on his face and Erik hates that face, it almost makes him feel like a seven year old.

"You've got to control your temper." Michel says, his deep voice bouncing around the kitchen and falling off Erik's ears.

"I didn't do anything."

Michel rolls his eyes at his friend and slammed something onto the table. Erik lazily drags his gaze from his friend down to the table where the mangled spoon rests.

"I didn't do nothing."

"You tend to squeeze things when you are angry." Michel berates, almost making a tut tut sound. "Remember when the kids broke the mug yesterday and you squeezed the carton of milk, splattering it everywhere." Michel says, running his hand through his hair, low by the sides but high at the top.

Erik is tempted to punch Michel in the throat but he knows it wasn't going to keep his beta and friend down, not that he knows this from experience. No. he lets out a sigh and slams his box of Cheerios on the table. He knows the other pack members were listening in and he had to pick his words carefully.

"Fine, I'll stop."

"Good." Michel smiles brightly at him and leaned closer to pat Erik's shoulder. They were roughly the same height but Erik was taller with a few more inches and a bit bigger with his muscles unlike Michel lean build.

"Now get the hell out of my way, I've got work to do."

"Aren't you going to welcome the new guy to town?" Michel asks curiously as he followed Erik out of the kitchen and up the stairs, turning towards Erik's wing of the building. Immediately they got into the wing, everywhere became quiet, the only sound heard was the sound of each other's heart beat to the other's heightened senses. Erik rolled his eyes as Michel followed him into the room and sits down on the chair across him.

"He had dinner with Gabriel."

Erik looks at Michel in shock, his eyebrow arched so high they were almost at his hairline. He leans into his swivel chair and runs his fingers though his hair.

"He can look after himself, Michel. Gabe isn't a kid anymore."

"He hates that name and you know it!" Michel growls, a burst of anger flowing through him. He blinks in confusion at himself while Erik smiles for the first time that morning, he leans forward, his hands folded on the table. "He's your brother Erik, you have to know these things. We know nothing about the man he had dinner with, he could be dangerous for all we know."

"Clutch your balls, Michel. He's fine, he came home smiling last night and there was not a hair out of place." Erik teased, laughing at the look of offense on Michel's face.

"There has also been reports, Erik." Michel's head forward as if the weight of the news pushed it down. Sometimes Michel was so dramatic. So instead of interrupting his friend, he waits for him to continue. "He smells just like you."

"What?"

Of all the things Erik was expecting but the stranger having his scent was not even on the list of things. He gets up from his seat and began pacing, one hand reaching up to rub his face. It's never been heard of for two people to share the same scent, it was impossible.

"Are you sure?" he asks.

"A hundred percent, Erik. He has your scent."

--

Cobie is tired, he's face has gone a bit dark with dirt and his eyes were itching him. Everything was set, the cooling units were installed and he's currently sitting on the receptionist's desk, well he's sitting horizontally on it, listening to his stomach growl, each one louder than the last.

"Wish that you could build a time machine, so you could see the things no one can see." Cobie sings softly, waving his foot in tune to the music playing softly though the speaker. His clinic wasn't opened yet and before it does he needs a week to settle down and to find someone to work the front for him. No man is an island.

He hums along with the song, wiggling his body on the desk as he tied to dance. He's got on a black shirt tucked into a pair of black jeans and combat boots. He was so into the song, he didn't hear the door open but immediately the person steps in Cobie feels his presence and sits up immediately. At the door, stood a boy. His dark skin glowing under the rays of sun light bursting through the window, his smile wide and Cobie looks him over carefully. The boy was nervous, he could tell by the way he was biting his lip and rubbing his fingers together.

"Hello. Welcome to Yip." Cobie greets and he tries to make himself sound as enthusiastic as possible. It seemed to work because the boy walked closer and he lets his lips free from between his teeth.

"I l-love the name." the boy says first. "I am Toby, I'm here about the job application?"

Cobie nods and jumps from where he was sitting. He makes his way towards the stack of paper he kept on the chair close to the desk and hands one to Toby.

"I need you to fill this out and ask you some questions, if that's okay with you."

"S-sure." Toby replies. "You c-can ask me while I fill out the form."

"Oh, good." Cobie claps in joy. He jumps back onto the table, too lazy to walk across the room to find a chair. He sits criss-cross and faces Toby, who blushed under his playful gaze. "Let's start then, shall we?"

"O-okay."

"Have you ever worked as a receptionist? Or in a Veterinary Clinic?"

"No but I love animals. I love cats and dogs, horses are a personal favourite of mine. I had a chameleon when I was a kid but it got run over by a neighbour but we had a funeral for it, my friends and I wore black and everything. I have always wanted a turtle, a pet cobra too."

Cobie nods slowly as he let Toby talk.

"But no, I haven't worked at a Vet clinic before but I love animals."

"I gathered from..." Cobie waved his hands around and Toby nods as if he understands.

"So where are you from?"

"I have lived in Astir since I was eight. My parents are Nigerians and to protect me, they relocated to the US. They looked for the safest place and they found Astir."

Cobie hums as in reply as he watched the way Toby's hands flew across the paper as he filled in the application form, he wonders what Toby's parents were protecting him from. As he stared at the man, he could sense something else, something he could put his hands on and he wasn't sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing. He reaches up to scratch the side of his face, resisting to urge to scratch the contact lens out of his eyes. His stomach growls one more time, this time startling Toby who stared at Cobie with a raised brow.

"I was about to get something to eat right before you came in." Cobie explains as he jumps down from the desk. He scratches the back of his neck nervously and pats his pockets for his phone and wallet.

"I am sorry for keeping you from your lunch." Toby apologises as he dots his last I's and crossed his last T's. He slides the paper towards Cobie and pushed his pen into the pocket of his jeans. "All done."

"Alright." Cobie cheers as he grabs the form. He doesn't flip through it but places it in a drawer on the other side of the table and together they walk to the door. Cobie triple checks to see if the door was properly locked and then turns to Toby. "Adieu." He says with a smile.

"Goodbye, sir."

"It's Cobie."

Toby smiles and waves one final time before turning to walk away. Cobie looked down at himself to make sure his clothes wasn't stained. His black shirt was okay, his black slacks were dust free and his combat boots were good. He runs his fingers through his fringes and then begins to walk, trying to find the nearest restaurant to eat. He absentmindedly made his way towards the restaurant he had his dinner at and stood in front of it, the name of the restaurant- DYCE- written in a cursive font and raised almost to the roof of the building. As he walks in he wonders if the boy from yesterday would be there. Now that he was paying attention to the restaurant, he noticed the brightly coloured walls, the small chandelier at the middle that was glinting under the rays of sunlight flitting in through mid-length windows, the tables with glass tops with salt and pepper bottles as well as napkin dispensers on it. It looked really gorgeous.

DYCE wasn't full and this time people weren't staring at him like he was an art exhibit that they don't understand. He takes a seat far into the corner and picks up the menu. He flips through it until he decides he wants a chicken wrap and a tall glass of Tango. Immediately he places his menu down, a waiter appeared by his side to take his order, when the waiter was gone, Cobie pulls out his phone and goes to his contacts, he has only one number stored in. He stared at the number until he began to feel the tiny pricks behind his eyes and he take, one, two, three deep breathes and wills the tears back. He'd rather cry in the privacy of his home than at a restaurant where everyone would stare at him while some would wonder what was going on.

He lets out a sigh and pushed his phone into his pocket and almost jumped out of his seat when he sees he wasn't alone anymore. Sitting right in front of him was Gabriel. Today he just had on a little powder and eyeliner, a black shirt and jean dungarees on.

"You almost gave me a heart attack." Cobie says, his breath heavy and heart pounding from the freight. He briefly wonders how long Gabriel has been sitting there and how much he had seen.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to. You just looked so blue as you were staring at your phone." Gabriel says, pressing his lips together, his cheeks turning a light pink.

"It's okay. A little warning would be nice though."

Gabriel smiles at that and Cobie couldn't help but smile back. They both sit in silence for a few minutes before Gabriel broke it by asking Cobie about his day. Cobie doesn't know what to tell him or what Gabriel wants to hear and he doesn't know why the man was still sitting across him, waiting for his reply but he might as well just reply.

"I set up my clinic and someone filled out an application for a position too." He tells Gabriel who nods and stared at him like he was the most interesting thing in the world.

"That sounds exciting." Gabriel cheers. "So will you take in strays, clean them and help them look for new homes?"

Cobie nods. "I will also treat those that are sick and put down those who are too old."

"That's cool. The latter part was a bit depressing though." Gabriel says and Cobie nods, it's sad but it comes with the job. The conversation paused there as a waiter approaches, he placed Cobie's order of chicken wrap and a glass of Tango on the table and with a smile to the two seated gentlemen he walked away.

"Aren't you gonna order?" Cobie asked as he raises his fork to his mouth.

"I've already eaten, Cobie. If I eat anymore I'm going to burst." Gabriel says and Cobie chuckles as he chews. He pushes his glass of water towards Gabriel, ignoring the fond eye roll he received.

"Fine but you have to excuse me for a minute." Gabriel says and gets up, as he walks away from the table Cobie's eyes fall to his feet, where the black strap on heels added a couple more inches to Gabriel's height. He hums and goes back to eating his food, briefly wondering what Gabriel's shoe size was before he caught himself. He doesn't need friends. People who claim to be friends always end up calling him names when they see what he was hiding and he's received enough insults from his so called 'friends' in the past and he's not sure if he can take it if something like that happens again.

Gabriel comes back with a tall glass of something cold with a lemon sticking by the side of the cup and a long bendy straw. He takes his seat and smiles brightly at Cobie who nods and tries to finish his food.

"So, have you toured the town yet?"

"I haven't had the time yet but I was thinking I'd do it during the weekend."

Gabriel claps his hands in glee and his smile seems to have widened. "I can so show you the town, my favourite spots and the best spa in the country." The man seemed to vibrate in his seat as he spoke and Cobie just nods along. It's not a bad idea really but he hadn't made plans of walking around with someone he's still getting to know.

"Sound great. Should I pick you up or do you want to come over to mine?"

"I think I'd be good for you to come over to mine, so you'll get to see that side of town." Gabriel says and pauses to take a sip of the drink Cobie is starting to think is an iced tea. "My family is a huge one and I hope it doesn't freak you out when you come over."

Cobie takes a huge bite of his wrap and wipes his mouth with a napkin before speaking. "It's fine." A huge family is nothing to freak out over. Okay, some people might freak out about this but throughout his moving from place to place, he has learnt a thing or two, maybe a hundred or two. Plus he has bigger things to worry about.

"So Saturday works?"

"Noon is fine right?"

"It's perfect but just in case, let me give you my number so I can text you my address." Gabriel says and without thinking, Cobie hands over his phone. He watches as Gabriel typed and when he was handed the phone he sees Gabriel had saved his contact under the name Gabriel not Gabe and it makes him laugh, his body shake subtly with it.

"You don't like Gabe?"

Gabriel rolls his eyes and dramatically pressed his palm to his forehead. "I loathe the name. It's Gabriel. Like you're saying Castiel."

Cobie laughs harder at that, his eyes pinching close. He shakes his head fondly at Gabriel who looks so proud of himself for making Cobie laugh that way and in truth he was. Cobie was a closed book to him, only letting out details he wanted Gabriel to know and nothing everly personal and Gabriel is bursting to know a lot of things but he can settle for anything he gets.

"So you watch Supernatural?" Cobie asks.

"Who doesn't? I love Sammy, he's my favourite."

"Nah, Cas is mine. He makes everything awkward." Cobie says and the two laugh in unison.

"Like that Pizza man episode with Meg?"

"I think that has to be my favourite episode." Cobie takes a sip of his water. "He and Jack are practically the same person. Jack has the same pinched expression Castiel has whenever he's confused and they even talk alike."

"That's what even makes it better. He's a mini Castiel. If Castiel and Dean had a love child, Jack would be it."

They talk about Supernatural for a few more minutes before Cobie begins to say his farewell. He gets up from his chair and Gabriel walks him to the door and waves him good bye. Cobie waves back and began walking back to his place, he never looked back once and walked as slowly as he could towards home. His clinic was set up and so was his house, his cable, wifi and everything was set up. He triple checks the doors at the clinic before climbing up the stairs to his apartment. He shrugs out of his clothes and into his sweatpants and a jumper, he settles in front of his tv. He brings up Gabriel's saved contact and stared at it for a few minutes before he flipped his phone to the other side of his couch and focused on his television. He selects the sixth season of The Big Bang Theory and that's where he stays till seven thirty in the evening.

He grabs his phone from where he threw it and taps on his Just Eat App and signs in. He goes through the various restaurants until he settles for pizza. It took forty minutes and when he hears his door bell, Cobie almost flew out of balcony but he takes the stairs instead like a normal human being. He makes sure he was with his wallet and hands the delivery girl the money plus tips but just as he was about to walk back into his building, he hears a small whimper. He looks around and shrugs, maybe he was hearing things.

He was about to walk back it when the flowerpot beside the door moves a little and Cobie's heart starting beating fast. He clutched the pizza box in his hand and watched the flower pot. He wonders if he should look for a stick and poke the pot as he thinks about it, something fluffy rolled out from behind the pot. The ball of fluff whimpered and Cobie moved two steps closer until he sees a brown furred wolf. It was so tiny with it's huge blue eyes.

"Aw, what are you doing here?" Cobie coos as he places his box of pizza on the ground and gently picks the cub. "Did you get lost?" he coos again and the cub whimpers in reply. He shifts the cub to a hand and managed to grab his bag of food before going in, he triple checks to see if he locked the door and then made his way upstairs. He placed his food on the couch and grabs his softest, he gently placed the little cub on it. He checks to see if the little wolf was injured, and goes about the apartment searching for something the little thing could eat when he sees the little thing was okay and at the end, he settles for heating up milk.

While the milk was in the microwave, he quickly makes his way to the bathroom to pull off his contacts, he smiles at his reflection in the mirror, his eyes flashing white with joy. His iris remained white as he pours the milk into a small cup and grabs one of his sweaters from his bed, he makes his way to the little wolf, places him in the sweater to keep him warm and as gently as he could, he fed him the warm milk. His eyes turn orange as he watches the wolf drink up the milk. When he was done, it cuddled into the sweater and with its head settled on its paws, the little thing went to sleep.

Cobie stroked the wolf, wondering how far it had wandered away from home. He smiles as the little thing shifted closer and purred, making Cobie's eyes turn white again. After making sure the cub was asleep, Cobie grabbed his bag of food. Today was eventful for Cobie. He hired someone, got a new contact on his phone and now has a baby wolf sleeping in his sweater on the softest pillow he owns. It wasn't what he was expecting but he's not complaining.