'no' is the saddest experience you'll ever know.

[awooligan]

♥ Who: Cliff Norman and whoever wants to put up with him.
♥ Where: various.
♥ When: Early November.
♥ What: A sad wolf is a bad wolf.
♥ Warnings: Cursing, Hell content in Héctor thread naturally.


[ one - the loneliest number. teen house. ]

[He doesn't know why he hasn't taken Kaito up on his offer before, especially since he's made a point to walk by his house a couple times to check on it or make sure it existed in the first place. The damage done by the worms isn’t enough to take out the place or make it unsafe, thankfully -- and it even leaves the task of quietly getting inside through a window even easier! Not that he couldn't use some difficulty as a good distraction from feelings he's trying very hard to ignore. Before he goes to climb inside, he makes a quick pass to see if the garden is likewise a survivor from October’s big wormy mess.

And then he's in a home that isn't his. It's weirdly soothing for someone that never relished the idea of spending time in his own home growing up, even if it's far from the window he'd really like to be climbing through. Nothing to do about that...and at least here he could feel vaguely welcome. Both Kaito and Shinji had invited him in the past! It's fine. Cliff is several steps across the room and listening for signs of anyone else being around before he calls,]

Hellooo? Anyone home?

[...decidedly not from the front door.]

[ two - just as bad as one. héctor. ]

[hahahahahahaaa fuck everything about this. He honestly hadn't meant to avoid Héctor all month, but with the worm drama on top of his dumb tender feelings, there hasn't been a good time. That's what he's choosing to tell himself so that he doesn't get frustrated all over again thinking about all the thinking he's had to do.

In the end, Héctor is still Héctor, whether he's the one Cliff knew or not. He knew he wasn't the same and had plenty of reason for that. What mattered most right now was that they were both, more or less, doing okay -- something Clifford had been able to be sure of without getting too close, thankfully, because of his nose.

Now he's getting close. So close, in fact, that he's right at the door and scratching at it with his claws, full wolf. He's...fairly confident that Héctor would be the one to answer any call to the door in this household, from what little experience he's had with Nekane, but if not? He's leaning into the anxious hope that one of the things shared in this -- bleh -- marriage is not the fact that Cliff is a big dumb werewolf.]

[ three - dog night. open. ]

[The scariest part of the worm attack, surprisingly, was not the worms. It was that moment he went to become the wolf and felt like there were hooks on the inside holding him together, refusing to let him change without a fight. He'd fallen to the ground in agony that only lightened when he finally stopped trying to shift and let that part of himself go. Cliff didn't flaunt the fact that he was a werewolf -- basically, anyway -- but not being allowed it, even on his own? Terrifying. He'd barely managed to get his head back on straight enough to shuffle citizens and helpers back towards the safety of the town center, and had been grasping at any chance to help defend.

It's still screwing him up a little, but Cliff’s making the most of getting himself back, going around the city as a red, juvenile wolf watching life get back to normal and honing in on interesting sights and smells.

Of course, the boy in the red hoodie with eyes like an animal can be found wandering as well. Usually out running at any odd hour or stuck behind a counter doing his best to act like someone who knew how to be polite.]

Comments

[awooligan]

[hmmmm]

That sounds less fun, but that's good of it to do. Fighting nightmare monsters isn't one I've heard before. Just monsters that could come from one.

[astralera]

I don't remember Deerington quite so clearly anymore, but I believe the Great Sleep was a parallel dimension of sorts. You didn't have a choice in going there when you slept...

[ It was a bit shite— ]

It was a bit shite. Medical training and Naran are the only good things that came of that place.

[ Though the Naran part is sometimes debatable. ]

[awooligan]

Better than -- Hey!

[WAIT A SECOND]

Era, right? Or are there even more people here that say "shite" than I thought?

[astralera]

[ She doesn't know if she's offended or impressed that she can be identified by her favourite swear word. ]

There's a whole handful of us. [ Even if Ardbert would be the only other one inclined to actually use it out loud. ]

[awooligan]

Sure. You're a girl, though, probably. [Which makes her DIFFERENT.] And you have a boyfriend. That's incriminating evidence.

I'm Cliff, by the way. The one that keeps accidentally being an asshole.

[astralera]

[ 'Probably'? ]

Ah, you're a teenager. [ Spoken in a 'well that explains it' tone. ] I'm Era.

[awooligan]

[He doesn't want to assume, but also he's assuming.

...Yeah, it does explain a lot, but he still feels the obligatory affront until he realizes that being an asshole because he's a teenager is better than being an asshole because he's an asshole.]

Thought so. Wouldn't it be more comfortable to lay on your other side?

[astralera]

[ With a broader range of experience with teenagers to work with, Era has concluded that she only really dislikes them when they're being stupid, realize they're being stupid, and then double-down on being stupid. ]

That would involve applying pressure to a severed bone, which I can assure you is very uncomfortable.

[awooligan]

[ah]

Oh.

[He wouldn't know... As hurt as he's been, by person or monster, he's never actually had, like, a real injury. His body was too strong for that, as an Animal Person. Pretty sure if he were fully human, he'd have suffered several concussions and probably some cracked ribs, thanks to a freaky melting dude slamming him repeatedly against walls and floor. He hadn't even been sore for that long after that...]

That from the worm stuff, or...?

[astralera]

[ While far stronger than the average person, Era's body is still that of a mortal woman and subject to the same weaknesses if she isn't careful. Her strength is in her magical prowess, which is what she uses to enhance her physical abilities, but it's hardly infallible.

And, if she's honest, the fact that rock-and-metal eating worms were the only thing to have ever damaged either of her horns... Well, it makes her quite proud of how sturdy her horns are. ]

Mmhm. A worm bit off my horn, but it meant my friend's head was safe. [ So as much as she hates this, she would have hated losing her first and best native friend even more. ]

[awooligan]

[mmmmmm]

See, I feel like that's supposed to make me go, "Oh, that's way better," but I don't know if you've noticed -- your horns are on your head? Which basically means you almost had your head bitten off, too.

[astralera]

So? [ She could tell him of her combat precognition, but doesn't see the point in it, because— ] It didn't bite off my head.

[ Ergo, it doesn't matter. ]

[awooligan]

[Era… Era, please.]

Uh, yeah, and if it did? Your friend would feel like shit about you getting hurt for them.

[He has experience in this but he’s also a hypocrite. Shh.]

[astralera]

But it didn't.

[awooligan]

[There's the briefest fumble of his words that has his looking away before he frowns at himself and continues on in a mutter.]

Just because you're strong enough to take the hit doesn't mean you have to.

[A modified version of advice he'd been given before. He hates that it's not the first time he's repeated it in this place, when he'd done his best to brush it off in the moment.]

Besides, you still wound up with a busted up horn and taking a weird break in the streets that's gotten you stuck with an annoying kid that won't mind his own business.

[astralera]

Of course I had to. [ Her tail flicks irritably on the ground behind her. ] He was going to die if I didn't.

[awooligan]

[It's weird to see someone else with a tail reacting to things... His only other real experience was Tobias with his tailfeathers. That kid was all bird, though -- Era was a weird mix, the way he was on the inside even if his outsides didn't show it much.]

Whatever. Guessing you've had this talk a few times.

[astralera]

I haven't, actually. [ Of her loved ones she can't think of any of them that wouldn't have done the exact same in her position. ] A crippling injury is a pittance to pay to spare a life.

[ She pushes herself back up into a sitting position with some effort. After righting herself she lifts a hand to massage at her sore neck muscles. Given the size of her remaining horn, it should be plenty obvious why she needed to give her neck a small break. ]

If I can help someone in need, I will. It is what I exist for, and I am glad to do it.

[awooligan]

[Any life? Can't relate, though there's a heavy, aching guilt at admitting that to himself. His family, Oscar, or Coco -- absolutely. And oh. Good. So it's just him wringing all the patience out of her again. Well, it's good to practice something even when you're already talented at it -- and this was something Cliff had grown to excel at in the last couple years. He'd always had his moments.]

What if you're in need?

[astralera]

[ What if you're in need?

It isn't the first time she's been asked something similar. She shrugs, because she still doesn't have a concrete answer. ]

It hardly matters. I'm not allowed to die, so it would work out somehow.

[awooligan]

[bruh]

What the fuck? What is that supposed to mean?

[astralera]

It means that if I'm in need and somehow can't handle it myself then my comrades will assist me.

[ She looks at him inquisitive and incredulous. They barely know each other, so why all the questions? ]

Why does it matter?

[awooligan]

That's -- that literally cannot always be true?

[Is she stubborn or stupid... He couldn't answer that question about himself, so how is he supposed to answer it about some weird dragon stranger? Who...raises a good question.]

Why the hell wouldn't it? Dude, I came over here in the first place because I was worried you were dying, or something. I don't know how to deal with that! I don't want it to become a thing that just happens regularly.

[astralera]

Precognition.

[ It's a simple answer, yet she thinks it should explain everything well enough. ]

Well I'm not dying. My neck was just tired from the weight imbalance.

[awooligan]

[ -- well. Okay. Fair.]

I don't know a lot about seers, but I know they screw up their shit, too. And knowing stuff beforehand doesn't mean they actually know anything.

[They couldn't figure out his mark bullshit, even if it had been the thing that got them on their radar. Maybe that's a good thing -- maybe if they uncovered the mystery surrounding it, it would have made it easy for whatever it was supposedly looking for him to track him down, too.]

So if I ever see you on the ground again, do you want me to just ignore you?