You know what kinda sucks? People always see the same two things when they first look at me. The scars, and the wolves.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that it's pretty hard to miss the scars if you look at my face, or my arms, or my chest, or... my face. They're right there, thick as they were when I got them a quarter of a century ago. That's what happens when you get burned. Not just sunburned or "Ow, I touched the stove" burned, but the burned where you're being eaten alive by the fires that dance their angry dance all around you, taking away everything you ever knew or loved. So, yeah, I can understand why people would notice those first.

And the wolves aren't much better. It's easy to mistake them for big dogs, but not for very long. They don't really walk like dogs do, or look like dogs do, or much of anything like dogs do, honestly. Yeah, they're still on all fours and they have the fur and stuff, but there's a wildness to them that dogs just don't have anymore. It's not a madness like rabid dogs, or a manginess like stray dogs. It's a beauty and a power that you just can't find in domestic breeds. So I guess that that's understandable too, especially since there's two of them and they follow me everywhere.

But just because it's understandable doesn't mean it sucks any less. No one looks at me and thinks "Gee, there's an action hero" or "He seems like he'd be good at math." And no one thinks "That's the love of my life" either. I mean, I can look at people and I can see those things, but when people see me they see the scars and the wolves. And I guess I was more okay with that before it all happened. I was okay with them just seeing the surface and calling it a day, but I'm not now and I really don't know how to change it. Because, yeah, I'm one of those idiots who believes in love at first sight, but I'm afraid I'm gonna miss it if all she sees are the scars and the wolves...

I'm not getting rid of the wolves though. That would be stupid.