#notallshapeshifters

[protagonized]

Dates: October 6 and 8.
What: Simon tries to keep his head down.
[ooc: This is a completely open post! Come torment him.]

Covent Garden - Late Evening

Starbucks closed at ten most evenings, and given Simon's class schedule he tended to work closing shifts. That suited him just fine. During peak tourist season it tended to be crowded late at night, but weeknights were almost pleasant now that they were well into October. Tonight, the shop was almost deserted, save for a table of Korean tourists off in a corner, and they'd been nursing their drinks and chatting for over an hour now. Simon was thoroughly bored. He snuck a peek at the phone he'd secreted away in his apron pocket: 21:22. Only forty more minutes until he could kick them out and start closing up shop. Only an hour and a half until he could go home and start drafting that Craigslist ad for a new flatmate.

Only eight hours until he had to wake up and be back in the lab.

He sighed and went back to watching the door, hoping no one else came in.


Redbright Institute - Mid-morning

Simon could have been doing any number of things right now--first and foremost among them being sleeping--but for some reason he found himself drawn to Redbright Institute. His feelings about the place were ambivalent at best; sure, they'd helped him through a particularly tough time in his life, but he still found the place intensely weird and a bit uncomfortable. All logic said that magic shouldn't exist outside of fantasy novels and Disney films, and yet here it was. In London.

He strolled through the library, looking for volumes on shapeshifting. He knew there was plenty of lore about people with his particular condition going back centuries, but what he wanted was something that treated the subject a little more objectively. He needed a history.

Simon paused at a likely volume. Maybe this one, finally, contained the answers he was looking for.

Comments

[wolfmarked]

"Promised t' bring somethin' by for the school," she admits with a small shrug. It seemed appropriate to make them something for their loss, and she'd promised the dean that a little while ago. Time to deliver on that.

"You a student here?"

[protagonized]

"I was," Simon shrugged. "I took evening classes here when I was younger. After..." Well, it was a common story here. If Skip was here, he was sure he knew it. "Mum and Dad thought I was in a support group. GCSE stress."

He smiled sheepishly. "You too?"

[wolfmarked]

"Born an' raised in Munster. Me da taught me what I needed to know."

And, of course, there was the whole 'went to school in England for awhile.' But that was just complicated and not the kind of thing to chat with a one-night stand about. So, she just gave an easy smile.

"So," she's been lucking out, apparently, with hitting up the supernaturals on her last few hook-ups, "what're you? Witch? Meta?"

[protagonized]

It was a common enough question, one that Simon had been expecting, but... "Shifter," he finally admitted. "It was a bit of a shock, the first time it happened." Which was a complete understatement. What fourteen year old wants to turn into a fuzzy white puppy when stressed? Who wants that in their lives? "You? Are you a witch or something?"

[wolfmarked]

A shock. So he wasn't raised in the community of the supernatural. That wasn't a surprise. She'd heard that story often enough. When he asked her, she flashed a grin.

"Werewolf. Born, not turned." Which mattered a good deal in the werewolf culture. "Got told by me da when I was thirteen or so."

[protagonized]

...

Simon lost his virginity to a werewolf.

Fucking hell.

"I...right. Well, you're the first werewolf I've ever met. I don't mean to be rude, but may I ask a question?"

[wolfmarked]

"Unless you call me a bitch and use it like you're actually referring to a dog?" Skip grinned. "Hard to be rude."

Still possible. But he was cute and seemed like a pretty decent guy. So, questions? Questions she could handle.

[protagonized]

"What? No, I wouldn't do that." He looked a bit scandalized by the suggestion. "I want to know what it's like. The werewolf transformation." Simon wasn't making eye contact; instead, he seemed fascinated by a book on a low shelf.

"I've only got mine to compare it to, you see, and I've always wondered if the mechanics are similar."

[wolfmarked]

Skip actually laughed a little before she shook her head. "You'd have to ask someone else in the East End Pack."

But it was a good question. Just one with a very odd explanation where she was concerned. Still, it was a good thing to get out of the way.

"Whether you're born a werewolf or turned into one, you have to activate the curse. It's still in you, but you don't transform. It gets activated by killing someone. So, me? Never transformed. Never will, probably."

[protagonized]

Simon had heard something about that--rumors, really--but hearing it confirmed was something else.

"Huh."

Well, at least he hadn't gone to bed with a murderer. There was that.

[wolfmarked]

"Most female werewolves, especially those who are born with it or intentionally turned, are really encouraged t' not activate it."

To her, it's a fact of life. Easy to talk about and not embarrassing in the slightest.

[protagonized]

Simon wondered why that was, but he decided not to press. This conversation was already awkward enough as it was.

Maybe a new topic was in order.

"So," he said, trying to sound smooth and failing utterly, "How long are you going to be here today? I was thinking about getting a bite of lunch on my way out. Would you...?"

[wolfmarked]

"Maybe an hour," Skip said, unable to help but smile at his question. "I have to meet with Missus Redbright, but I'm free after that."

After all, she'd never turn down a free lunch. Which, at the very least, it sounded like he was offering.

[protagonized]

Simon couldn't help himself. He was grinning like an idiot. Sure, they'd met under slightly unorthodox circumstances, but she was gorgeous--he really had a thing for red hair--and seemed nice enough. At the very least, she was humoring him.

"Great! I'll be here. There's a lovely Thai place down the road, if you like Thai."

[wolfmarked]

"Sounds great," she offered with a smile. "I'll meet you back here, then."

[protagonized]

An hour later, Simon was still pacing the library. He'd found another book that had caught his interest, but it didn't do a very good job of distracting him from the feeling of butterflies in his belly.

This was stupid. He wasn't some lovesick teenager, so why was he so nervous about asking a pretty girl to lunch? It wasn't as if he were unfamiliar with the prospect. He didn't date often, but he did know how to invite girls out and even did so from time to time.

But he hadn't had a drunken one night stand with any of those girls. This one, he had.

When she finally reemerged, he gave her a bright smile.

"Ready to go?"

[wolfmarked]

For Skip, on the other hand, drunken one-night stands were standard operating procedure. If they ended in exchanged numbers, further hook-ups, or even a few actual dates? Even better.

So, seeing him still waiting? Made her flash a grin.

"More than," she replied. "Lead the way."

[protagonized]

Simon had picked the Thai restaurant because they had a decent vegetarian menu and were reasonably priced. He assumed the meat dishes were equally good. He hadn't had any meat since he learned where bacon came from as a small boy and had nightmares for weeks about having his belly cut off.

His childhood had been an odd one.

"Here we are. Want to order a bottle of wine, too?"

[wolfmarked]

"Pinot gris," she suggested (or, perhaps, stated) as she slid into her seat and accepted the offered menu. The smell was already delightful.

"Thanks for the invite, too."

[protagonized]

"What the lady said," Simon told the waiter, who went scurrying off to find what Simon hoped was a moderately priced bottle. He couldn't afford much else. A surreptitious look at the wine list assuaged his fears, somewhat.

Well, he kept (vegan) dog food in his flat for a reason. He'd just eat a few meals in furry form to save on food costs. And it didn't taste all that terrible...to a dog.

"You're welcome. Thanks for agreeing to come. Would you like to order appetizers as well or just entrees?"

[wolfmarked]

"We can get just a few appetizers to split," Skip suggested. After all, food wasn't her main concern here. Have a few bites and get some wine. This guy wanted to get to know each other, she was happy to oblige. After all, it wasn't a bad way to spend an afternoon.

He said he hadn't been raised in the community. Which meant at least one parent was out of the picture. No shifter would let their kid not know what they were. When she spoke, she kept her voice low. So it was just the two of them talking about it, no one else listening.

"Shifter, huh? Kinda the lottery winner there, if y' ask me."

[protagonized]

"I hope you don't mind tofu," Simon warned. "I...don't eat meat. Which I guess is a bit odd, considering..." He waved vaguely to himself. "...considering that I turn into a dog, but oh well." His vegetarianism would probably make more sense if he turned into a deer or a gazelle, honestly.

He gave her an odd look and shook his head. "I sure didn't think so. I was adopted; I didn't have any frame of reference for it. The change started happening when I was fourteen and I thought I was going insane. It wasn't until I found Redbright that the world started making sense again."

[wolfmarked]

"I can live with tofu."

Not her first choice, but it was something she could handle for a couple of meals. Not like she had to abide by that when she wasn't with him. Listening to him, she leaned forward. Her elbow was against the table, and her chin rested in that hand.

"Shifters are immune to a bite. They transform but without a loss of control in their changed form."

[protagonized]

"Of course, you're welcome to get something with meat, if you want. I'm not going to force you to eat what I eat. And I'm not vegan. Cheese is one of my favorite foods."

He should have taken her out for pizza.

Simon frowned. "I've...never be thought about it that way," he admitted. "I was so focused on how I felt like the world is ending that I never considered what it was like for others. Werewolves...you really can't control it?"

[wolfmarked]

Skip smiled a little as she leaned forward just a bit. She'd dressed professionally for the school, so there was no low shirt to let him sneak a peek down. Still, that didn't prevent her from assuming the same pose.

"They can't. Some really powerful ones maintain some of their control in wolf form, but others... They don't know anyone. If they're not chained in, they will attack anything in their paths."