Guiding Light

No one was anywhere within sight of the hallway, but voices could be heard from the direction of the kitchen. It sounded like Flame's mother, along with another male voice, likely the last hedgehog to have appeared earlier as Wolf was lead off to the shower.

"...no idea why some dude was just tryin' to, like, get his paws on one guy?"

"Maybe he's a criminal or something."

Someone attentive might have noticed that both of these male voices were alike, but the first had a slightly different dialect than the second. The purple hedgehog soon replied.

"I doubt that was a cop I was fightin' so I don't think he's a criminal. There're a lotta reasons for people to hunt each other down. We'll deal with it one step at a time."

"So is he just gonna stay here until whenever?" asked the second male.

"We'll see."

Wolf moves out into the hallway, carrying his pack along with him, and he walks out towards the living room. He glances around looking for the source of the voices while continuing to listen to what is said.

The conversation in the kitchen continued, its participants unaware that their houseguest was approaching.

"So you just gonna, like, put him on the couch in the meantime?" asked one of teens.

"Why, you wanna offer your bed instead?" their mother replied.

"Pfft, no. I dunno, just kinda weird to have some guy sleepin' on the couch now."

"Well, it'll have to work for now unless we get a better idea."

"Attic's technically empty," the second hedgehog pointed out.

"Whoa, dude, we have an attic," the other hedgehog seemed to realize after a pause, "...I forget it's there a lotta the time."

"'Cause it's dusty and just got junk sittin' up there," the purple hedgehog pointed out, "We'll see what comes up as a good idea as we go along."

Wolf listens quietly as he makes his way to the living room. He doesn't announce his presence as he walks and once he gets to the living room doorway, he slowly peers out into the room to see if anyone is there, or if he can see anyone who is speaking in the kitchen from where he is.

Wolf would likely have been able to see the quill-covered back of another hedgehog standing in the kitchen doorway. There was another hedgehog past him, but neither of them spotted Wolf on the far side of the living room.

There was a lull in the conversation for now, only the sounds of dishes being washed continuing to be audible from the kitchen.

Wolf starts to walk across the living room towards the kitchen after seeing that the room was clear.

"Well... if you think this is odd for you, it's probably at least that odd for me." he says as he approaches, "I don't have that good of a history with strangers and now I'm surrounded by them."

Several pairs of ears perked up and the two hedgehogs visible from the living room turned to look towards the source of the voice. They appeared to be two teenagers, both maybe a couple of years older than Wolf. Aiden could be seen peering that way as well from the table in the kitchen. The one who'd greeted Flame earlier blinked a couple of times as he seemed more surprised by Wolf's appearance.

He relaxed quickly afterward and replied, "Even better, you're surrounded by some extra strange strangers."

One might note that the two hedgehogs appeared nearly identical aside from different colorings. That and the one who spoke to Wolf now had his ears pierced.

Wolf stops about an arm's length from the kitchen doorway. He then lowers his bag to the floor beside him.

"Well, none of you are attacking me, so I'll take extra strange stranger behaviour." he says.

Glancing past the pair of hedgehogs before him, Wolf notes the younger hedgehog from earlier sitting there.

"I dunno, give us time. Maybe we can find an excuse," the yellow-eyed hedgehog said.

"Strike, please, I can barely get you to come out of your room, much less lift a finger to fight strangers," the purple hedgehog pointed out, drawing a glance from both teens.

The first hedgehog, with his blue eyes and earrings snickered softly, but offered no response himself.

"Well, if you need to think about it, that's still an improvement. Usually, I'm just attacked without any sort of warning." he replies.

He glances at the two hedgehog he was just meeting now, and then to the older hedgehog he'd been rescued by.

"Sounds like you were discussing what to keep me." he adds, "You don't have to put yourselves out on my account. I'm used to making due with whatever is available at the time. On a couch. On the floor. Outside. It's all pretty much the same to me."

"Well, outside won't do any good if I'm tryin' to hide ya," the hedgehog replied, only briefly glancing over from the dishes she was washing. "Couch should be good in the meantime, though. I'll find pillows and blankets later tonight."

"To be honest, it hasn't seemed to matter whether I was indoors or not when trouble has found me." Wolf replies, "But if you'd prefer me to stay inside, you won't get any argument from me."

He glances back into the living room.

"So... should I just leave my things out here for the time being?" he then asks.

"Yeah, wherever you want, really. Nobody here's gonna search through it," the hedgehog replied.

"Speakin' of searching, though," one of her sons piped up, "What's for dinner?"

Strike eyed his brother for a moment, then turned back to their mother as she shrugged. "Dunno yet. I might go pick somethin' up if I don't feel like cookin' in the next while." Another glance towards where she'd last seen Wolf. "You still need first aid anywhere, Wolf?" she asked.

Wolf looks back towards the older hedgehog and shakes his head slightly.

"I don't think so. I didn't seem to be bleeding out much earlier when I was getting cleaned up." he replies, "Now I still hurt a lot... but I guess that'll pass eventually once I've had a chance to rest."

"Sounds good, then. You'll have plenty o' rest time here," the hedgehog assured him.

"Sounds like a good change. At least for a while anyway." Wolf replies, "I guess I should go and see about getting comfortable then."

He nods to the hedgehogs and makes his way back through the living room and over to the couch. He sets his backpack down at one end of it, then moves out in front of it. He sits and then lies down across it. He sighs softly.

*Well... I guess some peace and quiet might do me well. So long as nothing else bad happens. Then maybe in a few days, I can be back on my way again.* he thinks, *Things seem to have changed so much recently... I have that urge to go somewhere and now I seem to be developing strange powers as well... I have no idea what it all means... I wonder if I ever will?*

With nothing other than his musing to hold his attention, Wolf closes his eyes and waits for sleep to overtake him.