Different (3)

Max's parents were both felid shifters - both turned into cats, both had claws. Unfortunately for Max, they weren't the same species of felid. Blake Waters was a lion shifter with questionable heritage and Kasumi Waters was a jaguar from a small city near the Amazon forest.

Surprisingly, Max didn't pick up any physical features from his father. When he shifted, he had a coat so dark, the brown between distinctive rosettes that marked him a jaguar shifter were just barely visible.

For a few minutes, Max did nothing more than stretch and shake his fur out, pausing a moment to lick his fur clean and sharpen his claws on one of the trees immediately behind his house.

Nothing, absolutely nothing, felt better than shifting. Not in Max's opinion. He could go maybe a week without shifting before his body began to rebel and push his bones into the shape it wanted to be.

Even while he was in Afghanistan he always managed to find time to shift. His team knew, used it to their advantage as a scout or for spying. Though, he couldn't really shift for the first few weeks after coming home without getting flashbacks. Now, well now, it was heaven.

The trees here were surprisingly close packed with thick branches that barely even shook as Max bounded up and across them. Occasionally, he'd stop to drag his claws across the bark, both sharpening the weapons and marking his territory.

Max wasn't worried in the slightest about falling. Of course, there was always the possibility, but heights actually brought him a strange sort of comfort.

It was a shame, though, he found himself thinking, that he didn't have any company. Being half lion-shifter made him, well not sociable, but want company. It wasn't that he needed to talk to people every second of the day - or even want to talk to people. But it would've been nice if he could share moments like these with someone.

In spite of being gay and fairly young, Max already knew that he wanted a mate, to get married, and have children. Just one or two. Not just yet, but the knowledge that it was a strong possibility would've been enough. Right now, it didn't look possible in the slightest.

And that was why Max shifted back into his human form and allowed himself to sit and wallow on the front porch - the warmest spot of the house when the sun was shining. Not having any actual chairs, he was content to bring out a fluffy blanket and stretch out across it. Being shirtless, he hummed as the sun shone on his back, eyes shut and face turned to the driveway.

He blinked himself awake on hearing another car roll up the driveway, not even having realised he'd fallen asleep. Hmm. River's truck. Max sat up, blinking a few times to adjust himself to the light. The sun had begun to set. As he did so, River got out of the truck and came to a stop in front of the porch.

Max avoided the bottomless brown eyes, instead noticing how River slid his fingers through his thick dark hair once again, with an inscrutable expression upon his face.

"Waters." He said, probably meaning it to be a greeting.

Max nodded. "River." Well, that wasn't at all awkward.

River cleared his throat and nodded. It was a muffled snicker that made Max notice the presence of another person in River's truck. River turned a glare on the person in the truck, but didn't move. His defeated sigh was audible, at least to Max, and his shoulders dropped just the slightest bit.

"There's a festival going on right about now. 27th of June, founding of the town. Figured you've been here a couple weeks and this would be a good chance to get to know a few people." River spoke with a sort of hesitation that coloured him as nervous, even though Max noticed his other nervous tick earlier, and in spite of that blank expression he seemed to perpetually wear.

Max watched him for a moment, mostly wanting to know what it was that made River so nervous around him. Normally, Max wouldn't be surprised that he made someone nervous, mostly because even humans could feel when they were being stalked, and Max's yellowish-green eyes appeared predatory when turned on someone. But River's eyes were worse, it seemed, considering Max didn't even want to chance getting sucked into those black holes.

"Let me go get dressed." Max murmured.

River's face relaxed as Max strode into the house, unconsciously dragging his nails across the front door as he'd done many times before. A moment of panic shot through him, but glancing over his shoulder to check if River had seen what he did, Max found that the other man was leant again the window of his truck conversing with the stranger.

When he came back out from the house, Max was dressed in a pair of jeans that probably hugged his ass a little too much, but Marie-Anne had always said that his ass was his best feature, a black shirt, and his army boots, still shiny and done up to standard. Canvas jacket in hand, he hopped in the back of the truck.

"I'm Carter, Kyle's younger brother." The guy in the passenger seat turned to give Max a disarming grin.

Max nodded slowly, finding that Carter's eyes were easier to look at than the older River brother's. They weren't very interesting, though. He shook Carter's offered hand, but found his gaze wandering, and accidentally catching on the reflection of River's eyes in the mirror. Max stared at his lap for the rest of the ride, even while Carter managed to talk himself a storm.

It was only when the car finally came to a stop that Max looked out of the window. It really was pretty here. River had driven them to an open field next to a lake surrounded by trees. Fairy lights had been strung up around the perimeter and tables laden with food were also set up near the outer edge. All of it was so inviting that Max was torn between being compelled to go and running back home.

When River got out of the car, Max hastily followed, not wanting to be left alone in the strange environment. Oddly enough, the taller man didn't complain at being used as a shield for his new companion, instead warmly smiling down at Max. That caused Max to falter, definitely not accustomed to seeing him smile.

Minutes later, Max hadn't been ditched by River, so to speak. More like he'd lost him to the crowd of people that seemed to idolise the man. So Max strolled over to the snack table, taking note of all the boxes of extra food stashed under the table. How many people had they expected to turn up?

"We have big appetites around here." A familiar voice said over his shoulder. Max turned to see Amelia grinning at him, Fin nowhere in sight. "Fin's playing with the other kids by the lake, hopefully not going in, but that's probably what's going to happen." She answered on seeing the question in his eyes.

Max was about to ask another question when he caught sight of River striding over to where the pair were standing with a gentle smile on his face, mimicking the one he had earlier, once again causing Max's mind to stall. River was definitely easier to deal with when he was being brash and unfriendly.

"I see you've met my mom." He chuckled.

Max nodded, feeling a little embarrassed that he hadn't made the connection between the two. He could see it now that the two were stood side by side. It wasn't really their colouring, despite sharing the same dark hair, but it was more their eyes. Both the same lovely, narrow almond shape, surrounded by thick lashes.

Amelia grinned at her son. "Dear Max managed to stop Fin running around the grocery store the other day."

Max made a vague sound of agreement softly. "All I did was stand there."

"You still stopped him." Amelia's smile was cut short with a glance at River. "I could've used your help with this one. He was such a little escape artist." She sighed, somehow seeming both exasperated and loving. "He turned out well though didn't he, Max?"

Max didn't know how to respond, and instead found his cheeks heating as his face turned to the floor. "I... I think so."

Luckily for Max, Carter barrelled into his sibling before anyone could respond.

Eventually, the family drifted off, having other people to greet and mingle with, leaving Max to his own devices. Mostly, that meant wandering around looking like a loner.

Not for long, though.

"Hey Mr. Soldier."

Behind Max was the girl from the supermarket. What was with people and approaching him from behind lately?

"I'm not a soldier." Was Max's immediate response.

"No?" She smirked. "Then what are ya?"

There were so many answers to that question that Max actually had to pause to think of which answer to give her. "Royal Marine."

The girl lowered her chin slightly, locking her hands together behind her back. "Hmm? Gotta love a man in uniform. What's your name?"

Max blinked. Was she... was she flirting? "Max Waters. You?"

"Lara Darrows." She cooed. "Listen, Cutie, what do you say we go play hide and seek in the woods?"

Again, Max blinked. And then he gave her a smile. "Sorry, Lara, but I don't swing that way."

Lara laughed, and then shrugged. "Whatever, that's cool. But I really do need someone ta keep me company. I don't really have a whole lotta friends around here."

Max sniggered. "Is that because you slept with them?"

"Rude." She grunted. "But no, it's because I went to school in the next town over."

"Why's that?"

Lara tilted her head in what looked like disdain. "Because that's where my dad lives. He's a bit of a douche, but my mom wanted me to have a chance to get to know him."

Max watched from the corner of his eye, mildly surprised by the honesty. "Fair enough."

"So what's your story?" Lara met his gaze.

For a moment, Max almost wanted to walk away from the curious female, but knew she'd just run after him. So he answered. "Born and raised in England, Royal Marine since finishing college, moved to New York for boyfriend, boyfriend cheated, moved here."

"Wow, you're sure concise."

"Mm."

Lara answered with a grin and then, "Cheating boyfriend?"

"Can rot in a hole." Max replied immediately, usually soft voice becoming surprisingly firm.

"Wow, okay, some serious anger right there. What happened?"

"Came home from a tour, found them getting jiggy on the sofa." He sighed, tilted his chin up. "You know what? I don't care anymore."

A slight curve pulled at Lara's lips. "Good for you. Move on with your life. Maybe find a new man." She lowered her voice. "I saw you with Kyle River earlier."

"Mm."

The noncommittal answer left Lara looking a bit lost. Max lifted a shoulder, unsure what he was supposed to say. Max had known River all of two weeks, and though he was incredibly attractive, Max wasn't entirely sure what to make of him and his strange scent. Not to mention the fact that the pair hadn't had a longer conversation than the one they'd had that first day they'd met.

Lara snorted. "You serious? You're not interested? Like at all?"

"I barely know him."

"But he's like, the friendliest person on earth!"

Max found himself looking for the man in the crowd. "He is?"

Lara rolled her eyes. "'He is?' Yes, he is!"

"Oh."

Clearly, she was a little fed up with Max. "No offence, but are you slow?"

Max paused for a moment, wondering why she was asking, and then chuckled at the realisation that he wasn't giving her proper answers anymore.

"No, I'm not slow."

And in that instant, her face brightened excitedly. "You're looking for him!"

"Looking for who?" The voice had Max cringing internally. River had snuck up on the both of them.

"No one." Max muttered.

"Just a certain hottie." Lara sung, making Max wish he could just run.

River laughed. "Is that so?"

Max didn't hear Lara's answer. The sight of River grinning like that was somewhat distracting. His teeth were somehow perfectly in line, with just two pairs of pointed canines to mark them just the slightest bit odd. Something about how he was behaving though seemed... off. Like his face made the expression often but wasn't comfortable wearing it.

River didn't seem to particularly not like being here, but... Max was here. He seemed anxious at the porch, too. It was because Max was here that River was uncomfortable. The realisation had Max making up a vague excuse to leave the festivities and go home.

River caught his arm before Max could leave. "Well, I drove you here, I should at least take you home."

Pushed off his guard by the warm hand claiming his arm, Max nodded dumbly.

Lara giggled. "Well, I'll see ya Friday, Max."

"Friday?" Both men questioned, though River's tone was certainly harsher than Max - whether that was because Max's tone rarely went above the softness of a whisper, or because of River's surprise was unknown.

"Yup," Lara sung. "Max and I are goin' cherry picking. You should come Kyle. It'll be fun."

With that, she strode away, and left Max to be driven home by River.