A/N: This is more of a touchy-feely chapter. I just felt like I needed to expand more on Wolf's personalilty toward Nari. Next chapter you'll start noticing some landmarks from the original book! Yojne!

Nari Streeter

Chapter Six: The Sunny Day Inn

Wolf tugged a fleece jacket over his shoulder, his wings hidden perfectly in the thick fabric. He ran a hand through his hair to work out some of the knots from the wind and flashed Nari a grin, "How do I look?"

"Normal," Nari mused, crouching down behind a thick tree trunk, "how long are you going to be?"

Wolf shrugged, thumbing through a wad of bills he'd pulled from his pocket, "It shouldn't take too long. What size shoe do you wear?"

Nari chewed at her lip, "I don't know. Just get what you think fits."

"Right," Wolf hesitated, a smile tugging at his lips, "do you need, like…a, uh, bra? Or something?"

Nari ducked her head to hide the blush creeping up her neck, "I'm fine," she said curtly. Wolf laughed and leaped down from the knoll they had landed at. Despite Nari's nervousness about being around people, Wolf had insisted they pick up new clothes. A low security mega-chain store with a thousand screaming kids seemed to be a good place to start.

"What?" Nari asked, noticing Nickoli glancing in her direction.

"Nothing," he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck.

Nari sighed, "No really. What?"

He didn't respond for several seconds, and then shrugged, not making eye contact with her. "Wolf…" Nickoli started, his fingers fluttering nervously, "…he seems very…never mind."

The long flight from the mountains to New York's suburbs had left Nari feeling slightly lightheaded. The bubbly adrenaline in her chest still hadn't faded completely.

She laughed and sat down next to him, "Just say it."

Nickoli smiled shyly, "Well, he's very…intimate, you know? Comfortable. With you…I mean."

Nari gnawed at her fingernails, "I don't want to give him the wrong idea," she sighed, "I don't think of him…that way. I guess he kind of saved my life. I'm grateful…but not that grateful."

Nickoli stared at her, his dark blue eyes warm around the edges, "How did you meet him anyway?"

Nari leaned back to look at the stars above her, watching them wink and shine. She shrugged, folding her wings out just to prove herself that she could. No more tight crates. No more cages, or bars, or needles. Just…space.

"I just kind of…bumped into him," she twisted the edge of her shirt between her fingers, "he dropped out of the sky, literally, and saved me and Pan…" she trailed off, wondering why she was bothering talking to Nickoli. Half of the reason she had wanted him to come was so she wouldn't be completely alone with Wolf.

Nickoli was just the shy tagalong. He had hardly said a word throughout the entire day as they flew over the Great Plains, riding the airwaves like origami jets. He was just…silent. Whenever he did speak it was hardly more than a quip. An apology. Or an agreement. A slight nod here and there.

"What about you?" Nari asked, curiosity winning over her embarrassment in asking a complete stranger a personal question, "Where did you come from?"

Nickoli shook his head, promptly sticking a finger between his teeth to chew at the nail nervously, "Same story as you. Just…a freak from the School."

"Come on," Nari pushed, knowing that if she wanted her and Nickoli to get along, she would have to be more open with him, "there's got to be more than…"

Their talk was cut short as Wolf bounded up the hill, a bulging plastic bag tucked under each arm. "They had a sale," he grinned, handing one of the bags to Nari, "got you a jacket too." He tossed the other bag at Nickoli's feet, the cheeriness disappearing from his voice, "jackets didn't come in your size. Hope you don't mind."

Nickoli shook his head silently, carefully pulling a black T-shirt over his head from the open bag.

Nari dumped the bags contents onto the ground, picking through the clothes curiously. All her life she'd dressed in what seemed like drab leftover hospital scrubs. The once-white cloth stained with sickening patches of dried blood and bleach.

She pulled out pair of factory faded jeans looped through with a studded belt and a pair of quality black boots, the buckles sparkling in the light cast off from the store's windows. She glanced around behind her shoulder, spotting a group of oaks spotted with bushes against their trunks.

"I'm getting dressed behind those trees," she warned, shoving the clothes back into the sack, "be back in a second."

"You sure?" Wolf called after her, "you can get dressed here if you want! I won't look, I promise!"

Nari ignored him, slipping behind the trees and tossing her old shirt to the ground. She tugged on the red V-cut tank-top Wolf had bought her and shrugged the jacket on over it. The boots felt stiff compared to her old shoes that had been molded to the shape of her feet. She frowned, tugging at the collar of the V-neck self-consciously, wondering if Wolf had bought a tank-top with such a low neck on purpose.

She bounced back to where the other two were standing, glad to be rid of her old clothes. "Let's go," she chirped, trying to look as grateful as possible for the wardrobe Wolf had chosen.

Grinning, Wolf caught her wrist as she spread her wings, tugging her back to the ground, "We've gone far enough for today. There's a hotel just down the street, we'll stay there for the night."

Nari froze, goosebumps springing out across her arms, "A hotel? You mean…with people?"

"Yeah," Wolf shrugged.

Nari eyed him suspiciously, "Lots of people?"

"Come on, Streeter," Wolf sighed, faking impatience with a smile on his face, "let's unwind for one night, okay? The world isn't going to end any time soon, Max will still need help in the morning."

Nari glanced at the sidewalk on the other side of the trees; a couple was waltzing toward them, their fingers looped together in a loose sign of affection. They were normal. They were human. She glanced down at the tops of her new boots. What was she? A freak? An oddity?

"Hey," Wolf whispered, his face suddenly inches from hers, "just one night, okay? A soft bed, a warm shower, some hot food…I know you can't say 'no' to that."

Nari hesitated, glancing over at Nickoli who looked equally frozen. She bit her lip, feeling a faint tint of blood on her tongue, "Um…okay. Just one night though."

Wolf spun around on his heels, stepping securely onto the sidewalk, "Right. One night. We'll sleep in condemned buildings and sewer holes after this if it makes you feel any better."

Wolf dropped the hotel room key on the dresser next to the door when they walked in. He wrapped his arm around Nari's shoulder, which was still shaking from the encounter with the Land Lord's daughter. She had strolled casually by them on their way to the room, flashed Nari a perfectly human smile and said she liked her shoes.

Nari, being a mutant hybrid isolated from human contact for the better part of her life, only managed a wiry smile before practically running through the hotel door.

"Ah!" Wolf sighed, steering Nari to the side of the bed, "the sweet smell of cheap bed sheets and mini shampoo bottles. Makes you feel all warm inside doesn't it?"

Nari groaned and flopped down on the bed, holding her fingers up to the light to examine how much they were shaking.

Wolf hitched his hands on his hips and turned around to sweep the room, his eyes bright and playful. "We got a T.V., a mini bar, microwave, toilet, shower…oh," he frowned, turning to face Nickoli who was still standing in the doorway, "only one bed. You don't mind sleeping on the couch, right?"

Nickoli shook his head, shuffling over to the couch and shaking his wings out from under his shirt. Nari folded her legs under her and leaned back against the headboard of the bed, noticing how out-of-place Nickoli looked on the couch. His dark wings hanging over the side as he spread his arms along the backrest.

A thought suddenly dawned on her.

"One bed?" Nari asked, scanning the room for any sign of another type of mattress. She glanced at Wolf, swinging her legs off the bed, "You can have it, I'll sleep on the floor…"

Wolf pushed her gently back down on the bed, a smile playing across his lips, "Wouldn't dream of it. What kind of gentleman would I be? Letting the lady sleep on the floor, the very thought of it make me itch!"

Nari twisted the bed sheet in her finger, suspicion rising in her throat, "…but, there's no other mattresses…where will you sleep?"

Wolf rubbed his chin in mock ponder, "Hmm. You're right. There isn't another mattress. I could sleep on the floor…but it's so cold and dusty down there." Grinning, Wolf sprawled himself across the bed next to Nari, "We'll just have to sleep together."

Nari gritted her teeth, the hairs on the back of her neck rising at the thought, "Um…okaaay? I guess that works…too."

Wolf sat back up, stretching his arm out and rubbing his thumb across her jaw line, "Just for tonight, kay? Tomorrow, we head for the Big Apple. Max will be so happy to see us."

"Yeah," Nari mumbled, letting him slid his arm around her shoulder. From across the room, Nickoli watched with his dark eyes. The question written across his quiet face was clear:

Don't you think…that's a little too comfortable?