Dive Straight In // Jason [RF]

[Lukan Christopher Oliver]

Lukan's claws struck the tree bark, shattering the ice coating its surface. "Damn w-winter..." He wiped flecks of ice off his cheek and started scrambling up the tree. Twice. He fell almost twice. Lukan never fell off trees! Well, not unless some annoying person decided to see if werewolves could fly. His capabilities were never at their best during the winter; it was too cold, too icy, too... wintery! The boy growled at the bitter realization that tree climbing would remain difficult until spring broke through the ice. But still, he was probably having more fun than most kids his age. The rest of the Converse kids were crammed inside classrooms, shivering from the teacher's reluctance to turn on the precious heater. Luk snorted and shook his head. Poor kids...

The teen finally managed to reach a low hanging branch, pulled himself onto it, and scraped away remaining ice. His breath clouded the air in front of him as he shivered. Yes, those poor kids... He shook his head again, harder, and tried to remain optimistic about his own situation. Luk readjusted the jacket he wore, pulling it back over his shoulders again. It was far too big for the boy, and it should have been, considering it was J's jacket. Luk didn't own a winter jacket, and there was no way he planned on hunting one down in the freezing weather. He managed to snatch one from Jason's dresser this morning. The guy probably wouldn't mind.

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No, Jason definitely didn't mind. It was more than obvious that Luk had been in J's room that morning. The boy's scent lingered long after he had left. It had taken a moment for Jason to puzzle out why Luk would be in his room without him though, but once J saw the open space where last year's winter jacket once had been, a bit of a smile touched the alpha's face. He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something about the fact that the kid had come looking through J's room for such an item that was kind of flattering. Clearly, that jacket would be a couple of sizes too big for the boy and still he had gone through J's stuff anyway. Hopefully, it was just another sign of the growing bond between the two.

Now it was later in the day and the big guy was just finishing up his afternoon patrol when Luk's scent hit his nose. A frown graced his face as he looked down at his watch. Just as he thought, school shouldn't be out yet. So then why was Luk not where he should be? With a heavy sigh, J shook his head as he wandered in the direction of the boy's scent. He should be used to this crap by now. Luk was never one to follow any sort of rules willingly. Still, education was important and Luk certainly deserved all the benefits of an education. Stopping to rest against the trunk of the tree that Luk had managed to finally climb, J looked up and smiled just a bit. "How'd you manage to climb up there with all that ice in the way?" The kid was clever, he'd give him that.

[Lukan Christopher Oliver]

Luk was still scraping away layers of ice off the branch when Jason showed up. He raised an eyebrow and looked down at the alpha, clinging tight to the branch so to not take a painful tumble. "Claws." He glanced down at his hands, but refused to raise one up to show J. Tree climbing in the winter.. scary business. Luk wouldn't admit it, but he almost wanted to climb down rather than face the ice any longer. That's why he hated the winter. It took away his sanctuary. Reluctantly, Luk jumped down from the tree, the jacket parachuting behind him, and landed a few feet away from Jason.

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J couldn't help watching the boy's every move. It was instinct, really, that made the man worry that Luk might fall. Even though werewolves healed a lot faster than humans, a fall like that would such, nonetheless. A light chuckle escaped as Jason saw how his jacket billowed out behind Luk like a parachute. It just reminded the man how much bigger he seemed to be than everyone else.

He straightened himself again when the kid landed on his feet. "So, did school let out early today, for some reason?" J never was one to beat around the bush when he had something to say.

[Lukan Christopher Oliver]

Lukan cocked his head to the side at Jason's question. "Ugh... school?" The word almost sounded foreign on Luk's tongue... and it tasted bad too. Just saying it left a scowl on the boy's face. There wasn't any aspect about school that he remembered liking; crowded hallways, homework, bossy teachers, and obnoxious students. Not to mention that a strange... prickly feeling ran through his body whenever he was around humans. Luk couldn't place his finger on the reason why, but humans always left him feeling agitated and generally uncomfortable. Why would he want to be crammed into a room with them? "I haven't attended since Am left.... so like, a year or so." He shrugged, clearly resigned... and even happy with this fate. "I'm not enrolled."

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Just the idea that Luk hasn't attended school for over a year made J want to cringe. "And why is that?" He was deliberately keeping his voice level and calm but to someone that knew him and was paying attention, they would notice a small muscle in the alpha's jaw twitch. Jason was very old fashioned. Kids belonged in school, getting an education and bettering themselves. Of course, knowing Luk as he did, he knew this boy had issues and that he probably had a good reason for not liking that kind of environment but Jason believed in solving problems like that and pressing forward. This situation was no different.

[Lukan Christopher Oliver]

Lukan shrugged again. "I dunno... just 'cause." He stared at the alpha for a long moment, obviously hesitating to elaborate... nothing too out of the ordinary for Luk. He was always a little cautious about sharing too much about himself, least when he was in the right state of mind. Come passionate emotions and he couldn't help but spill a little. But even in his somewhat mellow state of mind, Luk figured it wouldn't hurt to tell J just a little. So far, very few people had tried to pressure him into school anyway. Luk didn't think this time would be any different once Jason heard his reasoning. "Dad took me out of school when I was twelve, Am put me back in... but I can't do it, and I don't need to either. The teacher was a complete dumbass anyway. She acted like letters belonged in math." Oh yes, he was completely serious. Luk happened to get pulled out of school just before they started learning algebra. Even two plus x equals four was confusing to the kid. "I don't need it though." He nodded, obviously looking decisive in the matter.

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"Everyone needs an education but I don't think you'll fully realize how much you need it until you're older." Still, Jason's voice remained that same conversational tone. He didn't want to fight with Luk. The two of them did way too much of that crap already. "But when you don't like the environment and the people in that environment, well, that just makes things so much harder, huh?" J could certainly understand that. And he was more than familiar with Luk's extreme aversion to humans. The more the alpha thought about it, the more it made sense that the boy wouldn't want to be in school at all. Still, J would never endorse the kid skipping school all together. "There are other ways of getting an education, though. I could teach you." Again, he was deliberately keeping his tone as off-handed as possible. He didn't want Luk to think he was upset.

[Lukan Christopher Oliver]

Lukan rolled his eyes and let out a sigh, fogging up the cold air with his breath. Well if that wasn't the look of teenage pride, then I don't know what is. "Yeah yeah, because adults know best and whatever." Sarcasm was practically dripping from his tongue as he spoke. Luk folded his arms over his chest, looking ready to start an argument at any minute. Jason, however, was walking on the tight rope of passiveness. One wrong step and Luk would go off... but so far he hadn't fallen. Luk didn't have a strong enough reason to launch into a rage, not yet anyway. "Well... yeah." The teen blinked, somewhat surprised that Jason didn't give him something to argue about. He continued to eye the other with suspicion, practically looking for a topic to act pissed off about, but not even J's suggestion could start a fire. Rather, he was curious about the concept. Luk, whether he let others know it or not, wanted to learn. Okay maybe he didn't care about algebra... but he liked knowing things. He liked not feeling stupid, and he certainly liked having the upper hand. "You teach me?" He laughed a little, but really Luk was trying to get the other to elaborate... without sounding too interested of course.

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In trying to keep things amicable, Jason chose to ignore the kid's attitude. He knew where it was coming from anyway and J was the adult. It was on him to keep things from going south. "No, nothing like that. What I mean is, you'll go through experiences when you're older and you'll have a moment where you'll think 'I wish I understood that better.' Or 'I wish I knew more about that.'" And then he shrugged. It happened to him sometimes but then J would just go educate himself and solve his own problem. He was hoping Luk might someday adopt the same habit.

A smile broke out on the man's face when Luk got what he was trying to say about people and places. Being on the same page was always a good thing, especially with kids. "Luk, I'm one-hundred and fifty years old. All that time and experience has to be good for something." He had been hoping that, by now, he would have had his own child to impart his wisdom on..but then, this was the same thing, as far as J was concerned. "And you're a bright kid. I really don't think it'll be all that hard to teach you what you need to know."

[Lukan Christopher Oliver]

Lukan looked off to the side, trying to come across as either indifferent or clueless about what Jason was trying to say. "Ugh yeah... sure." But he did understand. He did have those moments where he wished to know more about something, whether it be hunting, fighting, or even himself. He liked learning, but he just couldn't bring himself to admit that yet. Far as he knew, admitting to having a thirst for knowledge would get him dragged back to school... and he couldn't risk that happening.

A compliment though, well he couldn't say no to that. Luk grinned a little while still staring off at one of the countless trees around them. "Yeah I'm... smart, sorta." Once more, he couldn't buy into the compliment too much, right? School was a scary threat. But he still wanted to know more about Jason's proposition. "What, ugh, do you think I need to know?"

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Luk really wasn't fooling the big guy. Jason's paid a lot of attention to this kid and he had him pretty well figured out...mostly. The boy still had moments where he surprised J but this wasn't one of them. "You truly don't give yourself enough credit, Lukan. You really don't." And it drove J nuts sometimes. Luk was so much more than he realized but J would get through...it was just going to take time.

Now J had to contemplate that last question. "There's so much to learn. No one could teach you everything but...well...you do need to know some math and geography. Then there's history...especially of Converse, since we live here, after all" He grinned lightly for a moment. What else would he absolutely need to know? "I could teach you about the pack, if you like? The history and such." That was probably most important of all. Knowing the pack would help strengthen loyalty and trust. "What would you want to learn about?" That might be the better question.

[Lukan Christopher Oliver]

Lukan shrugged off Jason's comment. He gave himself plenty of credit... right? Okay maybe Luk had a bad habit of focusing only on the negative things, whether it concerned himself or others. But as far as Luk cared, he was a realist not a pessimist. An optimist though... oh not in a million years. "But math sucks!" See? So not going to look on the lighter side of things. "I can do geography maybe but... math? I can add, divide, and multiply. I don't need anything else... oh! I can minus things too." No, that wasn't right. "Subtract! I meant subtract." A real math whiz over here! Then history... well Luk just had to shake his head at it. When he was in school, history class was nap time. Besides, who really cared what happened to a bunch of dead people anyway? The pack, however, that perked his interest just a tad. "Pack history?" He raised an eyebrow, but refused to pursue much further. Luk didn't want to act like he cared too much. "I dunno... none of that book stuff. That won't help me in life."

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Jason had to laugh. "Yeah, math isn't my favorite either but its a necessary evil." J was more of an English person. Reading had always been his thing. And Luk's little slip made him chuckle, too. "Knowing the basics is good. We'll see where you are and if you need to know anything else."

So pack history seemed to pique the boy's interest, if only a bit...which for Luk, was a lot. Jason has obviously noticed that the kid liked to hide how much he cared or was interested in things just because he thought he wasn't supposed to feel a certain way or didn't want a certain result. J didn't mind him when he did stuff like that. "The pack's been around a long time. There's plenty of stories to tell." And that was the truth. Knowing more about the pack would help him understand the bonds between the wolves more, as well. That wouldn't be a bad thing. "As for that book stuff..well, we'll see where you are there, too. Unfortunately, some of that stuff is necessary, too. But I'll try to make it more interesting somehow."

[Lukan Christopher Oliver]

Lukan raised an eyebrow at the older man. "We... will?" A look of confusion passed over his face, one bordering on offense. He didn't remember actually agreeing to this... education thingamajig. Yes he'd shown some interest, but consented to participate? Nope. The sixteen year old shot Jason a glare, but moment after moment ticked by and Luk's annoyance was fading away with it. Well he... sorta did want to learn a little. Math could go fuck itself, but he wouldn't mind learning other things. About a minute had passed by and Luk was no longer glaring at J. He'd resolved to stare at his shoes with a thoughtful expression; not completely ready to admit his willingness for fear that Jason push him towards public school.

But when J started talking a little more about incorporating pack stories into Luk's education, the boy relaxed further. Obviously, the alpha couldn't talk about the pack so openly in a school setting, not without drawing the attention of hunters. But Luk had to be sure about the alpha's intentions before he even considered agreeing to anything. "No umm... public school, right? Or any real school?"