adventureic | (no subject)

WHO: Asher Simon & Maya Rutkowski
WHEN: February 21st approximately 11:50pm to February 22nd approximately 12:03am.
WHERE: HQ
WHAT: Maya runs off some pre-moon energy, then runs into Asher practicing some illusions. They inadvertently learn more than they expected about one another.
WARNINGS: Descriptions of a painful transformation.

The ‘we’re not anything’ conversation between the wolves had given Maya more restless energy than usual in the lead up to the moon partially from frustration and partially from embarrassment that she hadn’t been able to control her emotions well enough. Since then her week had been a constant cycle of healing shift, then run, looking into curses (because why hadn’t she thought about that before?), then run, eat, then run, have trouble sleeping, time to go for a run.

On Wednesday night she’d rolled around trying to find a more comfortable spot one time too many before she laced up and started running. She pushed herself to go faster, to feel the burn more, so she’d really just fall asleep once she hit the bed again. Maya when sweaty as she got back to HQ, her nostrils picking up the scent of Asher before her eyes even focused on the shine of him.

She ought to head back to bed, ought to avoid talking to anyone more than she had to this close to the moon. But, well, the endorphins put her in a good mood, so she took the risk. “Hey,” Maya greeted him, “Wasn’t expecting to see anyone else out here.”

And Asher hadn't been, either. He often kept late night wanderings to himself, but when you only slept three or maybe four hours a night, eventually your apartment gets boring. So on nights like tonight, he would wander, creating little illusions to amuse himself or distract himself from getting lost in thought. Tonight, he was making mini Hydra monsters and focusing again on his old failures.

"Hey," he greeted. The light was low enough that he emitted a soft, pale blue glow at his edges. The small Hydra looked up at Maya, one of three or four actions Asher had given it to repeat. He studied her for a moment; this was a workout, not a late night healing shift. "It's nice out here this time of night," he said vaguely. "One of the only times it's quiet. Even the nocturnal types are chill."

As with any magic, Maya was intrigued by the illusion. At this scale, the Hydra was far less scary than the real ones she’d seen. She nodded along with his comments about the night being quiet and still. “Is this what you do to relax?” She asked, motioning towards the Hydra. “Make illusions of monsters?”

Asher shrugged, and moved himself and the Hydra over to make room on the bench if Maya wanted to sit. The Hydra padded around in a circle before laying down. When it acted like a dog, it wasn't so bad. "I like to try and recreate things I've seen from memory. It forces me to pay attention to detail. Why are you up so late?" he asked curiously.

She took the seat that was offered. His question caused her to glance up at the moon, still a few days from being full. “Saturday is the full moon,” she explained, unsure that she’d ever directly told him she was werewolf. She went on, rather than making it a big deal, “I get agitated and wired up with energy as it approaches. Running helps tire me out.”

"Shit, that's soon," he said, following her glance at the moon. His coven, growing up, had been wildly mistrustful of any sort of shifter. It took him years to unlearn the prejudices ingrained in him, and if he was honest, a full moon still put a small chill through him. He directed the Hydra over toward Maya. It was weightless, like a projection, but he was proud of the way the dim lighting (and his own unfortunate glow) reflected off the little being. "How's all that … going? Here? I've got to imagine a change of location can … complicate things."

“Yea, it is soon, we’re heading out on Friday.” Her voice betrayed a little trepidation, though not at much as there used to be.

As the Hydra approached Maya put her hand out, palm facing upward, as if the illusion was actually a dog taking a sniff to determine whether she was safe to approach or not. “Here, it’s…” She trailed off, trying to think of the right way to explain it. “It is still complicated but there are wolves here who can keep their minds and we’re trying to figure out if that’s a possibility for us too. I feel safer here,” Maya admitted. “So, I guess, the change of location isn’t so bad. It’s certainly more convenient. We would have been headed out on a four day hike by now when we were in San Francisco to make sure we were remote enough by the full moon.”

The Hydra rested one of its weightless heads on Maya's knee. "But you don't need all that time now," Asher said, willing himself not to look back at the waxing moon. There are wolves here who can keep their minds meant Maya couldn't, probably, or couldn't yet.

But the full moon was two days away, and that wasn't something Asher wanted to dwell on. It wasn't his business. He was hardly in a place to judge how others managed their supernaturally-induced difficulties. "Hopefully this will be a pretty chill one for all of you."

She smiled at the cute action of the Hydra, then up at Asher, who she knew made the choice for the illusion to put its head on her knee. “I hope so too.” She shrugged her shoulders, not knowing how to really control that.

Maya turned the conversation back to Asher, “Your illusions continue to be adorable, how’d you learn how to make them?”

Asher leaned closer, as if he was about to reveal a deep secret. He took a deep breath. "Magic."

She gravitated closer to him in response to his movements, only for her jaw to drop slightly at his facetious answer. Maya moved to smack Asher’s shoulder in return for that.

As it sometimes does when you’re in the midst of a traumatic event, it felt as if time slowed when her hand made contact with his sleeve, the fabric tearing.

Her thoughts came in quick succession, Oh, Asher has some kind of vine tattoo on his arm. Wait, why did his shirt rip that easily? Oh, because of claws. FUCK! Because of CLAWS! Shit, IS that a vine or is it a trail of blood–

Maya didn’t get a chance to answer whether or not she’d only torn his sleeve or actually scratched him fully because the shifting of the rest of her body took precedence. She jumped up even as the pain bloomed in her side as it snapped and cracked, trying to get away from her friend.

“Get inside,” She ordered Asher urgently, fear clear in her tone. Maya howled in pain, falling to her knees as the fur forced its way out. Her bones breaking and reforming all over her body now to the point that she had to squeeze her eyes shut, trying to hold back from the screaming as much as possible. She didn’t want to scare him any more than she was certain he already would be. She just hoped that Asher got away from her, and to safety, before she completely lost her mind.

Asher was on his feet and backing quickly away, though he couldn't take his eyes off Maya. The Hydra illusion fizzled with his concentration completely snapped. He couldn't mask the fear in his eyes and though he managed a small, "Maya…" there was nothing he could do. He looked one more time at the moon, still not full, but it didn't matter because she was there in front of him turning into this monster anyway. Some wolves could keep their minds, she'd said, but Asher couldn't take that chance.

The earth rumbled and trees shot out of the ground like Jack's beanstalk and Asher turned and ran.

CONTINUED IN PART 2