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There was a pleasant calmness hanging around the room, as all the Losers, except Richie were all sprawled around the barn, absently watching the movie play out. Mike’s grandparents were out of town for a week, after Mike had continuously told them he was more than okay to be alone for a few days.
And the Losers had of course taken the opportunity host a weekend long sleepover.
They had helped with all the chores Mike was supposed to do, so he was done way before he expected to be done. But they were all happy to help him, and not just because Mike was giving them a place to hang out away from everyone else. Or that helping him out benefitted them necessarily.
Over the last 3 years they had grown so much closer together, and whilst Mike, Bev and Ben had been new to the group at first, right now they were all as close as the core four were, as Bev often called them. A name that the rest of them often quickly dismissed because they weren’t about to debate over who was here the longest.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it’s too quiet,” Bev huffs, stuffing her face with another mouthful of popcorn.
“Don’t tell Richie when h-he comes back, he’ll never let y-y-you live it down.” Bill teases, and Bev grins at him, throwing a handful of popcorn at him. The full moon was clear outside, the door to the barn open since it was way too warm to close them right now, the soft breeze was a welcoming cold.
Mike’s grandpa had set up a beamer so they could watch the movie outside, and the sleeping bags were all out there as well. The only thing missing still; Richie.
“Yeah what was so important anyways that he couldn’t make it?” Ben asks, and Eddie can see his eyes go towards him, including the rest of them.
“How should I know?” Eddie gapes, and Stan deadpans at him.
“Maybe because he’s your boyfriend?” He says and Eddie sighs, shrugging.
“That’s fair,” He says. “He just had something to do, he’ll be here tomorrow.” Eddie tries to brush off, not really wanting them to push further. He hated lying to the Losers, but he had also promised to keep Richie’s secret, and he would rather lie to the Losers than betray Richie’s trust like that.
So he just hopes the Losers take the hint and leave it alone.
“Well his loss anyways,” Bev shrugs, turning back to the plain wall where the beamer was pointed at. Eddie relaxes slightly, settling into the stack of hay and following Bev’s advice. He could see Stan looking at him, but he ignored it. Of course Stan would be the one to be suspicious of all people.
He had called Richie and Eddie out multiple times about their odd behaviour. And announcing that they were a couple sure did get Stan off their backs for a few months, but it of course wasn’t enough. So Eddie just ignored his gaze, knowing that it would probably only make his suspicion worse.
Several losers were already dozing off slightly, as it was already way past midnight probably, and the day spending doing several physically heavy chores and having fun in the overbearing sun was also helping a lot. Eddie was about to dose as well, curled up on his side when he heard it.
Mike was immediately up, eyes looking at the outside with wide eyes.
“Did you guys hear that?” He asks, not even looking if the other Losers heard it as well. But before they could answer, the unmistakable sound of the sheep crying out in distress sounded, a sound Mike had heard often enough to know what it sounded like, but a sound he never wanted to hear.
Mike was immediately up, running outside and grabbing the gun stacked against the barn. The automatic light jumped on, illuminating the area slightly, but not nearly enough. The rest of the Losers quickly followed him, knowing what the sound meant. They had all gotten that lecture from Mike’s grandpa.
They had all learned to operate a gun for this reason, with everyone hoping they would never have to use it.
Mike was fast, and when the Losers got to their friend, he was cocking his gun, putting it on his shoulder, a look of fear on his face. They all knew Mike hated the idea of shooting any animal, but they could all see the enormous black wolf sort of kneeling near the sheep.
“Holy shit-” Bev gasps, eyes widening with fear at the beast in front of them. It was standing close to the sheep, too close, and they were crying out in distress, a mess of sheep running around the cage, trying to get on the other side as much as possible. And while the sheep couldn’t go over the fence, the wolf definitely could if he wanted to.
Mike pointed the gun, narrowing his eyes and ready to shoot when-
“No wait Mike! Stop!” Eddie screams, running in front of Mike without thinking about it.
“Eddie, what are you doing?” Mike asks, eyes going even wider as he tried to look past Eddie to not lose sight of the wolf.
“Don’t shoot, just please-” Eddie tries to get out, fear coursing through his body. Mike stares for two more seconds, thinking, before he hesitantly lowers his gun. Eddie takes that as his cue, turning around and looking at the wolf. His heart clenches at the form, the way the wolf seemed to be on edge.
“Eddie what are you doing?” Mike asks again, panic in his voice as Eddie steps towards the wolf, which would look like an absolute suicide mission, Eddie could see that, but he didn’t care.
“Eddie don’t!” Bill yells, but Eddie ignores him, taking a step forwards but he kept a distance, a little hesitant. There was a reason he was here, and it had to be an incredibly good reason for him to show up here, in front of all the Losers.
“Richie?” Eddie asks softly, and Richie whines softly in his wolf form, body tense. It was a sound of pain, and Eddie’s heart clenches. “Are you hurt?” He asks, and suddenly it seemed all too clear why Richie dared to come here, knowing full well that he was at risk of getting shot and the Losers finding out.
“Holy shit Eddie get away!” Bev tries again but Eddie ignores her, closing the distance and almost hesitantly bringing his hand up to Richie’s head, pausing for a moment to see if it was okay. Richie was injured and while Eddie knew Richie was fully conscious in his wolf form, he was also injured right now.
But Richie just whined, lowering his head to allow Eddie to pet him. Eddie carted through Richie’s thick fur, scratching slightly. He could hear murmurs behind him, concerned for his safety, but all Eddie could think about was finding out what was wrong with Richie.
“Richie what’s wrong?” Eddie tries, feeling desperation fill him. Richie whines low in his throat again, stumbling slightly and that’s when Eddie saw it. Blood was coating the black fur, even dripping onto the grass. “Shit you’re bleeding! What the fuck happened?” Eddie gasps, trying to get a better look at what happened.
But it was already difficult to even see the blood in the dark and with Richie’s dark fur.
“Eddie what the fuck?” Bev exclaims, and it’s only then that Eddie notices the girl standing incredibly close. Richie whines, glancing up at Bev with an almost fearful expression.
“It’s Richie, I swear to God it’s Richie,” Eddie breathes out, panic rising. “He’s hurt, we need to help him.” Eddie desperately tries, and it seemed like hours before Bev reacts.
“Is that really you Trashmouth?” Bev asks, a look of disbelief on her face. Richie whines again, nodding pitifully. Bev’s face hardens. “What do we need to do?” Bev asks and Eddie can feel a small ounce of relief at that, but it quickly made way for more panic at the thought that they somehow had to get Richie to the barn.
How the fuck were they going to get Richie back there?
“Richie can you stand?” Eddie asks, and Richie lets out a shuddering huff, letting out another pained howl as he tried to get his leg under him. He furiously shook his head, letting out a sound that had to be a cry of pain, and he crashed to the ground, partially on his side, his wounded leg above.
“How do we get him back?” Eddie asks with tears in his eyes, looking up at the Losers, who were slowly joining them. They all still seemed reluctant, not daring to come too close and still doubtful.
“We have to carry him-”
“He weighs like 250 pounds!” Eddie snaps back, feeling one of the tears slide down his face.
“E-Eddie calm down,” Bill steps up, slowly coming to terms with what he was seeing. “Mike d-do you have a t-tarpaulin or s-something, and a med kit?” Bill asks, and Mike nods.
“We have a tarpaulin in the basement, and a big med kit in the upstairs bathroom.” He says, already taking a step back.
“Bev g-go with him, we h-have to get him on the t-table and get something to remove his f-fur with.” Bill orders, and Mike nods again. Bev scrambles up, running after Mike. “E-Eddie what do y-you know?” Bill asks, walking up to Eddie and crouching down. Richie was watching him almost warily, tears in his big brown eyes.
“Ehm… I-I don’t know, I don't know what happened to him,” Eddie stammers, taking a couple of breaths and reaching out for Richie’s paw. “You can’t change back right?” Eddie asks, and Richie squeezes twice, no. It was a system they set up when Eddie realised what Richie was, and when he realised he couldn’t talk in this form.
Yes was one squeeze, no was two squeezes.
“W-Why can’t he?” Bill asks, and Richie lets out another sound, and for some reason it was so obvious that Richie meant that as a ‘does it look like I can tell?’.
“I-I’m not sure but he told me it was a defence mechanism, that his ancestors shifted as a way to defend themselves, with him being injured-” Eddie stops as Richie squeezes once, yes. He whines softly, squirming on the spot. “Does anyone have their phone?” Eddie asks, still feeling a little panicky.
Ben nods, digging the phone out of his pocket and handing it to Eddie. He clicks it open, turning on the flashlight and shining it onto Richie’s injured back paw. Eddie chokes on a sob at the sight, in the light it seemed so much more gruesome, blood coating the thick curly fur, a clear bullet wound present.
“Holy shit-” Eddie exclaims, running a hand through his hair. Richie whines softly, but stays still, muscles taught. Giant and strong muscle, that could crush them if he wanted to probably.
“Shit that’s bad,” Stan murmurs besides him, crouching down almost hesitantly and putting a hand on the thick fur, just above the wound, Richie twitches slightly at that, still breathing heavily. “It’s a bullet wound, he was shot.” Stan gasps, causing Richie to wine loudly.
Eddie nods numbly, running a hand through his hair.
“Did this happen on your run?” Eddie asks, almost more of a way to distract himself than actually knowing. Richie clenches his paw once, confirming his suspicion. It was a monthly ritual almost, during the full moon the desire to shift became almost so strong for it to be uncomfortable.
So Richie usually went out on a run during the full moon, satisfying his wolf side, and tiring himself out as a way to end the night and get through the full moon. He didn’t get to dwell on it too long though as Mike immediately came running back, dragging a bright blue tarpaulin with him.
“What’s the plan?” Mike asks, and Bill reluctantly gets up.
“We h-have to get him o-on there.” Bill says. Which proved to be much more difficult than it sounded. Eddie was right, Richie weighed a lot in this form, and it was difficult. Richie was whining, yelping in pain, growling and trying to keep himself from lashing out at the pain, instinct threatening to take over.
They managed to get Richie inside, dragging him on the table Bev had already cleared and cleaned as much as she could.
“What do we do?” Stan gasps out, and Ben gags slightly at the blood, taking a hesitant step back. Mike frowns, almost hesitantly lifting Richie’s back leg up but he was strangely relieved to see a similar wound on the other side, meaning the bullet had gone straight through, and wasn’t inside him.
“We have to stop the bleeding,” Mike says softly as he realises the bullet wasn’t in there anymore, putting a lamp on the wound to illuminate it. He winces at the sight, reaching for the kit and taking out whatever he needed to stitch him up. He had the most experience of patching up animals, but it was different.
This was Richie, this wasn’t an animal, this was his friend, and it made it a little harder to rationalise.
“Is that going to hurt?” Eddie asks softly, and Mike looks up at him.
“Like a bitch,” Bev murmurs, cleaning the supplies. Eddie swallows thickly, hand resting in Richie’s fur on his chest, feeling it rise and fall drastically, erratically beneath him.
“Do we have to .. hold him down?” Bev asks, twisting uneasily. Eddie swallows again, glancing at Richie. The wolf whined, glancing at Eddie with desperately eyes and squeezing his paw twice.
“No.” Eddie croaks, keeping eye contact with Richie to make sure he wouldn’t miss anything that he wanted to communicate. But Richie didn't have to talk for Eddie to understand, he didn’t want to accidentally hurt his friends. There was a tense atmosphere in the room, so thick it could be cut with a knife.
Nobody wanted to even think about the fact that they would have to suture a wound close on Richie’s werewolf form.
“Do it Mike,” Eddie whispers, glancing at the rest of the Losers. ”Stay back while he does, we don’t know how he’s going to react, and no, I’m not leaving you.” Eddie says, glaring down at Richie before walking around the table so Richie’s back was turned towards him. and he reaches out, putting a hand between his ears again.
Just a heavy hand, carted through his fur as a way to remind Richie he was there.
“Just hold on Rich.” Bev whispers, feeling her stomach twist as Mike pressed a cloth against the wound to try and stop the bleeding. Richie howled in pain, almost bolting off the table before he sunk his claws into the table beneath him, baring his teeth as he stayed down. Eddie presses down slightly.
He never doubted if Richie would hurt him, knew he wouldn’t, but he also knew that apart from the pain, Richie was most worried about hurting him, or their friends.
Richie was whimpering continuously, crying out, whining in an high pitched voice as he clawed at the table to prevent himself from either bolting or hurting his friends and Mike stared at Richie’s form with desperate eyes, lifting the gauze to check the wound but the bleeding seemed to be slowing down.
He reached for a bottle of lubricant, applying it to the wound before getting a buzzer, quickly and neatly shaving off a good portion of the thick fur to expose the wound. He then lifted the leg a bit to expose the other side, shaving that leg as well. Richie makes a low sound from where he was lying, sounding tired.
“I swear if that was a dirty remark I’m throwing you out.” Eddie deadpans, and Richie huffs, a slight grin on his face, or as much as that was possible in this form.
“I’m going to flush the wound with saline, okay Rich?” Mike says, voice steady and strong, but soft all the same. Richie whines low in his throat as confirmation. Eddie could feel Richie tensing as Mike flushed the wounds with the saline solutions to clean it out, holding a big needle expertly.
But of course, he had one this probably way too many times before, Mike knew what he was doing.
For the next 10 minutes all the Losers had to painstakingly listen to Richie’s soft cries of pain as Mike stitched the areas shut, wrapping it up in gauze. Until all that was left were 6 very distraught Losers and an exhausted Richie.
“Hey Richie,” Eddie murmurs, walking around and crouching down so Richie could see him, scratching him behind his ears again the way he liked it. “Do you think you can shift back now?” Eddie asks, but Richie whines, shaking his head. He was still trembling a bit but he seemed to be calming down.
His breathing was easing, and he seemed to relax more on the table, occasionally shifting in a more comfortable position. As much as that was possible on the table.
“We can sleep here in the living room if you want, we can get the sleeping bags and camp out here.” Mike suggests, and Richie lets out a soft sound, which has to be a confirmation. Mike chuckles, lingering for a moment before Bev stepped forwards.
“I’ll get them, you get him somewhere comfortable.” Bev says, dragging Stan with her. Mike nods, understanding why she went. Nobody liked thinking of her as any different just because she was a girl, but it was no secret that she wasn’t the strongest Loser out of all of them, probably still stronger than Richie but still.
Mike and Ben especially were the strongest, so it made sense for them to stay behind.
Getting Richie off the table was much easier than getting him on the table, and the 4 remaining Losers quickly managed to get him off, laying him on the ground but not dragging him to the living room. Richie huffs, rolling onto his belly and putting his paws beneath him, pulling himself up.
Everyone but Eddie seems shocked for a moment, not because he was standing but of how tall he was. They hadn’t truly grasped it when he was laying down both outside and on the table, but he was almost as tall as they were when standing on four paws, probably around 65 inches
He lets out a soft yelp as he jostles his leg but he seemed to be able to slowly make his way over to the living room, almost immediately collapsing onto the carpet.
“Do you need anything Rich?” Eddie asks, crouching down low next to Richie. The black wolf huffs, looking up at Eddie and reaching out, licking softly at Eddie’s chin. The shorter boy laughs, scrunching his eyes shut and holding Richie’s face with a smile. “Gross.” He laughs, but Richie seemed satisfied with himself.
He looks behind Eddie, seeing the Losers still a bit hesitant. He yips again, wagging his tail encouragingly, which seemed to ease them a bit, and they walked closer just as Bev and Stan came back carrying most of their supplies and dumping it on the ground.
“Of course even you couldn’t stay out of trouble even when you’re a freaking werewolf.” Bev snorts as she picks up one of the sleeping bags and situates herself next to him. Richie whines in protest, nudging her with his snout. Bev smiles, looking at Eddie for a second before reaching out and scratching him behind his ears.
Immediately Richie plopped to the ground again, eyes closing in pure bliss.
“Well that’s one way of shutting him up.” Bev laughs, and the rest of the group burst out laughing as well, Richie was far too comfortable to protest, revelling in the scratches. Her long nails scratched wonderfully against his scalp, and he couldn’t stop his tail from wagging excitedly even if he tried.
Eventually they settled in for the night, Stan and Bill helping Richie cover his form with a big blanket in case he shifted during the night, and a stack of clean clothes just in case. Eddie nestled on the sleeping back on his stomach, and Richie nuzzled against him, laying his snout in Eddie’s neck.
It was clear that this wasn’t the first time they had done this, at the way Eddie wasn’t even fazed at a 250 pound werewolf laying half on top of him, and Eddie just closed his eyes, and soon so did the rest of the Losers.
They all woke up with a very human Richie still cuddled close to Eddie, bandage still wrapped around his leg and the blanket luckily still in place. Neither Loser had the heart to wake either of them.
*
*
*
“I see how it is-” Richie whines, looking at Bev with the best puppy eyes he could muster. “You only want me for my body, you’re using me.” He continues, wrapping his arms over each other and pouting.
“Come on Trashmouth, we wanna see it.” Bev laughs, nudging Richie. She could see Richie wasn’t actually offended, they had known each other for three years now, they were all an open book to each other.
“I can show you it.” Richie teases, wiggling his eyebrows and Stan rolled his eyes.
“Nu-uh, absolutely not.” Eddie cuts in, and Richie only grins brighter.
“Aaaahh are you jealous?” Richie coes, pinching Eddie’s cheek. “Don’t worry Eds Spagetheads, I’m only showing my dong to you… and your mom.” Eddie groans at that, shoving Richie away. Richie just grins sheepishly, until he turns back to the rest of the Losers, still looking at him.
They were currently in the barn again, the last day before Mike’s grandparents would come back, and they had one last sleepover when they still could. It had been 3 days since the incident, and the wound on Richie’s leg, while still leaving a vague scar, was mostly healed already.
Apparently his wolf form healed a lot quicker, which is why Richie couldn’t shift back when he was still healing, instinct taking over and overriding his own commands. It was kind of scary in the moment, to not have control over it when he usually had perfect control, after having these powers for 16 years technically.
But his mom had assured him it wasn’t something to worry about, that it made sense for his wolf side to take over.
“At least in his wolf form he can’t make those comments.” Stan deadpans, sitting on a heap of hay, watching them with an amused expression. At least, they knew he was amused, Stan often tried to hide it. But just like Richie was an open book to them, so was Stan, and any of them.
“But I can absolutely show you my werewolf dong to you if you’re that interested,” Richie giggles and Bev fake gags, shaking her head.
“Have you no shame Trashmouth?” She asks.
“Nope.” Richie grins, popping the ‘p’ int he word. “Me and Eddie’s mom had wonderful werewolf sex under the full moon, and we’re going to have little we-”
“Beep beep Richie.” Eddie grinds out, to which Richie just grins again, darting over to Eddie to plant a kiss to his cheek.
“I can show you when we’re alone,” Richie whispers in Eddie’s ear, and while Eddie knew he was 100% joking, he couldn’t prevent his body from flushing. Richie laughs again, darting away again. “Anyone who wants to see my dong, keep watching, if not, turn around.” Richie laughs, already pulling his shirt off.
All Losers turned around immediately, except Eddie. It was nothing new, and there was something so fascinating about seeing Richie shift into his wolf form. When everything was removed he crouched low, closing his eyes for a moment before starting to shift. The Losers wince as the sound of bones breaking echoes through the barn.
There were soft yelps but within seconds there was a full grown wolf standing in Richie’s place, and Richie barks softly to let them know he was done, shaking out his fur a bit.
“Shit, that’s still so weird,” Bev murmurs, slowly walking up to Richie to pet him again. Richie immediately starts wagging his tail again, ducking his head to give her more access to the spot between his ears. She was the shortest out of the group after all, and he was as tall as she was right now.
“D-Does it hurt?” Bill asks, walking up to Richie as well, and carting a hand through his thick curly fur. Honestly, without looking at the enormous teeth and claws, there seemed to be nothing threatening about Richie, just a big oversized dog that wanted to be pet, and craved attention like Richie normally did.
Eddie shook his head. “Richie said it doesn’t, but it’s difficult to explain what it feels like. It’s like cracking a finger that doesn’t want to be cracked. It doesn’t really hurt, but it also kinda does, but at the same time the relief feels amazing.” Eddie says, and Richie ruffs in confirmation, grinning at them.
It seemed so weird, his teeth were bared, but there was nothing threatening about it.
“Hey Richie-” Stan says, a satisfied smirk on his face as he pulls something out of his pocket. Richie looks up just fast enough to notice Stan throwing a tennis ball, watching it bounce off the wall. Richie never wanted to speak more in his wolf form than now, but a stare told Stan enough.
Seriously? Richie deadpans, but he could see the ball rolling around still, and his tail sprung up, wagging slightly before- oh screw it. He leaped forwards, bouncing onto the tennis ball to stop it. Bev throws her head back to let out a loud laugh but Richie didn’t care, grabbing the ball with his mouth and walking back to Stan.
Payback time. He grins to himself, jumping onto the pile of hay and dropping the now saliva covered ball onto Stan’s lap.
“Richie!” Stan cries out, disgust spreading across his face as he hastily shrugs the ball off, sending it down the pile and causing it to roll again. Richie makes an excited noise in the back of his throat, tail happily wagging before pouncing after the ball again. He grabbed it again, turning back to Stan.
“Fuck no!” Stan cries out, leaping up as well as Richie advanced towards him. The Losers were snickering behind him as Richie ran over to Stan, and the boy had no way to escaping, Richie was too fast in this form. He pounced on Stan, being careful to keep his claws in and sending Stan to the ground.
Richie yips above him, grinning down before reaching down and licking Stan’s face.
“RICHIE!” Stan screeches again, and Richie lets out a sound that sounded like a laugh, grinning with a satisfied smirk before taking a step back.
“I don’t say that often but you deserved that Stan,” Bev snickers, crossing her arms, and Richie barks in agreement. But he quickly focuses on the ball again, picking it up and bringing it to Mike instead.
“You like this?” Mike asks amused, picking up the ball without much hesitance. Richie just looks at him, tail wagging to encourage him. And Mike lets up, throwing the ball further away to the other side of the barn. Richie enthusiastically jumped after the ball, yelping as it bounced off the wall, changing directions.
All the Losers snort at the gigantic form crashing into the wall, scrambling away to chase after the ball, which he luckily caught without damaging anything.
He picks it up, bringing it over to Ben and dropping the ball in his willing hand. The boy smiles, taunting Richie for a few seconds by holding out the ball for him before throwing it towards the entrance of the barn, a little more speed behind the ball, and Richie sped after it, into the night.
It was long dark outside, with absolutely no one around for miles so they would be okay with letting Richie outside, the other day when he got shot had been a series of unfortunate events really. Richie had been running through the woods, albeit a bit too close to Mike’s farm for comfort.
But he had stopped a little too long, in the middle of the field where a hunter was unfortunately just getting out of the bushes where was taking a leak. Richie hadn’t been fast enough to get away before the guy could raise his gun and shoot Richie in the leg, but he was fast enough to get away.
It was only because of the adrenaline coursing through his system that made him reach Mike’s farm, not able to get anywhere else.
So the Losers just laughed as Richie pounced into the darkness, and it wasn’t long before he came storming back into the house, skipping to an abrupt stop right in front of Bill and dropping the ball, with a bright grin on his face. Bill gives him an amused smile, reaching down to pick up the ball and throwing it again.
The wolf sprinted out of the barn, tail wagging behind him. The rest of the Losers threw the ball a couple of more times before Richie came running back again, dropping the ball in front of Bev and plopping onto the ground, rolling around in the loose strands of hay that were lying around on the ground.
“Okay that’s adorable,” Bev smiles, kneeling onto the ground and putting her hands on his exposed belly. She lingered for just a second, to gauge Richie’s reaction but Richie just yips, wriggling happily and Bev grins at that, attacking his belly relentlessly. Richie wiggles, tail wagging excitedly.
Bev was grinning wildly as he nails scratching along his belly, She continued for a few minutes, cooing encouraging words in her high voice, which Richie responded to with pleased whining, rolling around on the ground before Bev leaned back with a smile, resting on her own legs.
Richie ruffs, rolling onto his stomach and shaking his fur out for a moment before standing up. He looks around for a moment before a bright grin appears on his face and he runs over to Bill, dropping low and nudging him from behind.
“What?” Bill asks, laughing and turning around to pet Richie but he shook his head, nudging at Bill’s legs again. Bill looks up at Eddie with confused eyes.
“Oh, he wants you to get on his back.” Eddie supplies, and Bill’s face twists, staring at Richie with a raised eyebrow.
“Is that s-safe?” Bill asks, and Richie whines, nodding.
“I’ve done it before.” Eddie says, shrugging, and that seemed to convince Bill enough, and he nods. Richie sits down, allowing Bill to sit on his back. Eddie walks up to him, looking for a moment.
“Sit behind his shoulder blades, and wrap your arms around his neck, you won’t hurt him there.” Eddie says, and Bill nods almost hesitantly, scooting backwards and leaning forwards to wrap his arms around Richie’s neck.
“S-Sure?” Bill asks, and Richie ruffs again, slowly getting up. Bill squeaks loudly, tightening his grip. “Shit s-sorry.” Bill apologises, loosening his grip the moment Richie was fully standing, but Richie just shook his head.
“Don’t be Bill, you can’t hurt him there, promise-” Eddie chuckles, running his hand through the fur. “He talks so much he’s like a bodybuilder over here.” Eddie pets Richie’s neck and Richie whines disapprovingly, pushing Eddie away. Richie huffs again, turning around to face the entrance.
Bill sucks in a hesitant breath, tightening his arms again. Richie yips, a quick warning before Richie started walking, slowly before speeding up until he was running. Bill yells in surprise, tightening his legs around Richie’s form and Richie sped up even more, until Bill could do nothing but hold on for dear life.
Holy shit. Bill laughs to himself, and he couldn’t help the smile that broke out on his face. They were going faster and faster and even faster. Bill tightened his arms again, and he slowly dared to lift his head, looking at the blurry scene in front of him. The moon wasn’t full anymore, but it was still big.
And it illuminated the ground enough for him to see, even if there wasn’t much to see.
Richie was running fast, too fast to really see, and yet he never felt unsafe on his back, never felt the fear of falling off or going too fast and falling. It was liberating, he felt absolutely free, weightless almost. He laughed again, and Richie yips in agreement, before slowly coming to a stop.
“Holy s-shit Richie-” Bill laughs, releasing a shuddering breath. Richie ruffs again, a sort of laugh escaping him. “Go b-back?” Bill asks, and Richie nods, yipping again. He slowly started walking, giving Bill time to prepare before he slowly started accelerating again, until he was running.
Bill laughs, holding on tight until they eventually get back to the barn.
“Damn-” Bill laughs, sliding off Richie’s back with a dopey grin on his face.
“Me next!” Bev cheers, laughing as Richie walks over to her, plopping onto the ground. Bev eagerly gets on Richie’s back, and the wolf yips, sounding more like a laugh.
“I’m going to neuter you if that was a sexual remark-” Bev laughs, and Richie barks out a laugh along with her. They all knew it was something along the lines of finally in between a girl’s legs. Bev just wrapped her arms around Richie’s neck, laughing in the same way Bill did as Richie started running.
Richie managed to run with Bev and Mike before he was too tired to continue, promising to go another time with the other Losers. Richie plopped onto the ground, everyone crowding around him and using his body as a pillow and blanket simultaneously. And they all fell asleep with each other.