Miles stirred, succinctly aware of the fact everything hurt and he was on top of a car. He brought a paw--correction-hand up, which meant he was naked. Great. Knocked him out so hard he shifted back. He looked around, finding the monster gone, and he wasn’t sure if he should cheer or freak out. How could you fight something that exploded?
When Geoff woke up, he distinctly heard Miles babbling and nothing else. He slipped the helmet of the armour off and looked to Miles. He hoisted himself up, moving wrecked car rubble out from around him, and shook his head, trying to stir the thoughts somehow. But it was quiet and he couldn’t figure out wh--
It hit him like he’d hit the car, probably less than an hour ago. He looked to Miles again and instincts kicked in and he threw himself into a panic. “I can’t hear them. I can’t hear anything. What the fuck is going on?” He thought, bringing a hand to his forehead, adding a small amount of pressure.
Miles pried himself up from the car remains, blood dripping down his face. Geoff was sitting up on a nearby car, also trashed, and he felt bad for the poor schmucks who chose here to park. It was dark, much darker than normal. The explosion must have taken out the power.
He felt off, something important was missing. He looked at his legs, making sure everything was in one piece. While his healing was pretty amazing, growing back a leg was beyond his abilities.
“You in one piece, Grif?” He didn’t get an answer, but he heard one.
“I can’t hear them. I can’t hear anything. What the fuck is going on?”
Okay, that was weird. Why was Geoff projecting into his head?
“Yeah, Lucian, I-- I’m here.” Geoff responded with a shaky voice as he turned to face Miles.
“What the fuck is going on?” He mumbled to himself.
He couldn’t imagine that no one around them wasn’t freaking out about the explosion. He knew somebody had to have called the cops by now.
“Was that a bomb?”
“WHAT...THE...FUCK WAS THAT.”
“Earthquake!”
"I have to get the kids!"
Okay, those were definitely not Geoff, unless the blast had been so bad it knocked Geoff’s powers out of control, which was possible considering what it did to Miles. They didn’t know what they were facing. He looked over, his companion equally stunned.
His head cleared enough, after checking he had all his extremities, he realized what was wrong.
His wolf, was gone. That presence that had been with him nearly his entire life, poof. He felt nothing. No pull of the moon, no overloading scents, nothing. What the fuck did that monster do? He never heard of something like that before, even ignoring the giant monster. No werewolf ever just was...not anymore. It was in his DNA, it didn’t just disappear.
The voices only grew louder in Miles’ head, before he looked over to Geoff, who looked...odd. If he was hearing voices, like Geoff’s power, and his wolf was gone, then, well why not jump to conclusions. If they, somehow, did switch powers and with all the adrenaline...
“Geoff! Get out of the armour!”
Geoff felt it quickly, his skin crawling and a pain growing in his gut. Miles looked really worried, so when he felt his face elongating and his hands shifting he decided it was probably a good idea.
What the fuck. What the fuck. They just switched powers??? That shadow monster could do that?
He had to do something though, if Geoff resisted he might really screw something up.
“Breath, Geoff. Try and relax. Don't fight it.” Wow it was really hard to concentrate with all those voices swirling around in his head. He had helped other wolves through their first Shift before, but this was different. He managed to hobble over to help Geoff throw the armour off. He didn’t want to think about what would happen if Geoff Shifted in such confined clothing. Regular clothes just ripped, this was a whole different story. They were finally off, Geoff falling to his hands and knees.
Geoff screamed, which was totally normal considering he could feel his bones cracking. He could feel things shifting and growing inside him, and the fur growing in fucking itched. There was no pain, but it was still terrifying.
It was only a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity before he found himself much lower to the ground.
Miles shuddered at Geoff’s scream, which he expected. Miles had one of the fastest Shift times in his family, which transferred over, apparently. His shifts weren’t painful, (the nerves turned off, which is why you double check your toes) but he was built differently, and had been doing it his entire life.
He rested a hand on the black wolf’s side, the rise and fall of the chest fast but steady. He rubbed circles into the chest, giving Geoff something to focus on.
“Geoff, you’re okay. Four legged, but okay.” He said, using his calm and relaxed tone. It would take a few seconds before Geoff would be aware, but he didn’t need a angry wolf to deal with. By the fact he was still bleeding, his healing was gone too. He was extremely lucky nothing was broken.
The wind blew, which reminded him shit he was naked on the street with a wolf and an explosion and those are totally sirens.
Geoff came back to reality and holy shit, I’m an overgrown puppy. What the fuck is this? He nudged Miles’ leg.
“Use your words Geoff, I’m having enough trouble focusing on myself.” He had some focusing exercises to use, but they were nothing compared to the overload of voices. “Make sure you can feel all your toes, sometimes they don’t work right unless you stretch them.”
“Grab my armour and let’s get the fuck outta here. I can already hear the sirens and they’re fucking loud.” Geoff grumbled and looked up to Miles, his eyes widened. He patted his feet for a moment and nodded. “I think I feel all of them.”
“Good. Left side, right side. Let’s go find the car and my fucking pants. It’s freaking cold out here.” Wow, walking was harder than he remembered. Was this like being drunk, stumbling everywhere?
Geoff nodded and began to jog towards where they’d parked his car. It was a few miles West, near the pub he went to with others from work and placed next to a streetlamp. He walked up to it and suddenly something came upon him. “Miles, how do I open the car door?” He thought, sitting down and pressing the top of his head against the cool metal.
Miles fished the car keys out, eager to retrieve his pants and get off the street.
“I know I‘m in no shape to drive, but until I get my head,” which was really pounding now, “dealt with I can’t coach you back and you can’t drive.” He opened the car door, throwing the armour pieces in the back seat and motioning for Geoff to jump in as he threw pants on. "So enjoy it."
Geoff jumped in the back and parked himself, looking up at Miles. “I’ve got some cataflam in my dashboard. It’ll help with how loud everything is and how much it hurts.”
Miles took a breath, retreating into his mind. He’d done mediation before to help balance things, but at least he could quiet the voices tinsy bit, enough for him to search through the dash for said medicine. It was easy to find, not a surprise, and he chugged two down.
“Pretty sure the monster did this. I’m not sure what we’re supposed to do. Is it temporary? Permanent? My Pack’s gonna kill me if I come back with telepathy instead.”
He kicked the car into gear, knowing there was only one place they could go until he could help Geoff.
Geoff laughed at the kid. “Just tell your pack you’ve got some business to take care of and you can’t show up. Unless you live with them or something.” He rested his head on the passenger seat.
Miles groaned. “Just me. And I’m sorry I ever complained about having it worse than you. This is way worse. You got the better end of this stupid thing.”
“Oh yeah, everything’s loud and unnecessary and you better hope to god, if we go to work tomorrow that nobody’s in love, just murdered someone else, or had sex because you’re gonna know about it in explicit detail.” Geoff chimed.
He beat his head on the steering wheel, before rising up to make a turn as the light turned green. “You’ll know about that stuff anyway because you’ll smell it. Try working in the animation department when I can hear you guys yelling from across work.”
“That’s mostly the lads. Gents only yell when we win.”
He raised an eyebrow, knowing full and well that was full of shit. “We’re headed to my Running ground. How far away from civilization do you have to be before it gets quiet?”
“Roughly one hundred yards from people. Whether it’s just a little family in their house or a whole fucking apartment building.”
“Good. It’ll be perfect then.”
--------------
Miles pulled the car to a stop, his head finally empty. One stubborn voice refused to let go, for a few miles, but it too finally quieted, leaving just Geoff’s little intrusions. He only had a few close calls on the road, which would really suck because he probably would die and Geoff would heal and what the fuck would happen then.
During the car ride, Geoff made sure to show Miles that Telepathy wasn’t an easy mistress to be tangled with. He made sure that every time they passed a sign, he was sure to think, “ooohhhh, shiny.” Which was the least of what he could have done.
Miles made sure to throw back anything he could, which wasn’t much considering he couldn’t hear himself think. He jumped out of the car, taking a deep breath of the surrounding forest as he opened the door for Geoff. Burnie was probably worried by this point, with the news highly active on the subject. He could see it now, TWO STREAKERS SEEN AT AUSTIN BOMBING.
“This sucks. I can’t smell anything but the air.” Usually the world was alight with smells, but instead it was dull and plain.
“Well, I assure you,” Geoff commented as he jumped out of the car, “I can smell everything and it’s fucking weird.”
It was odd, missing that normal urge to run. It was just a forest now, no pull of safety or home. Just a dark, scary forest.
“Okay, now we have to get the old Geoff back.” He said, turning to the wolf. It was still dark, and Miles couldn’t see fucking anything. How the fuck did humans do this.
"I'm not sure how long this is going to last, or if it will ever revert back. If it doesn't, I'm taking you to home so we can explain what the fuck happened." That would be interesting story to tell. He was supposed to go home this weekend, but that would have to be delayed.
"Good news is, all the damage you've done to your liver is probably gone by now."
Geoff chuckled at that comment. “Hopefully. It just means I can drink my liver back to that state, though.” He shrugged.
Miles was tired and not in the mood to try and coax Geoff back, so he resigned himself to throwing a towel over Geoff before throwing himself onto the ground, clothes bundled up in his hand. He wasn’t sure how long it would take but he wanted to be comfortable.
"You have to be calm. You can't do it stressed, and I'm sure you've got a couple tricks to do that."
There was a continual pressure in his head, Geoff's presence probably the cause of it. It was similar to his instincts, always there but not usually this distracting.
Shifting back was easier though, since Human was the default form.
"Once you're calm, you'll be able to feel the difference between human and wolf. You've got to pull on the human, with the thought of something personal." Most outgrew that need, just a thought could start the Shift, but he didn't feel bad about going back to the roots. "My cousin uses his favorite toy, but he's 10. You might try your favorite beer. Or Michael, whatever works."
If this didn't work, at least he had the pressure point as a last resort.
“Ha, like I’m getting anywhere near Michael. Let’s do this.” He thought, knowing how public those thoughts were. He focus on Jack Daniels. It was warm and it had a nice burn. Adding to Coke increased the burn, but added flavor.
The warmth started off small, deep inside his chest, before spreading. Unlike the shift to, this felt...normal. Not as terrifying the second time.
Miles threw Geoff’s clothes to him, keeping his eyes squarely on the moon. Taken less time than expected, but if there was anyone stubborn enough, it would be Geoff.
He thought about his next move, ie how the fuck do we get our powers back. Calling home to check the records would be smart. If anything, he’d make an addition. Unknown monster could remove werewolf powers. That would be an interesting, if nondescript, thing to report to the Elders. Hopefully Burnie could dig up some more info.
He rose up from the ground, throwing the keys to Geoff. “Your turn.” He did not look forward to the slow return to society, as he sat down in the car with his head in his hands.
“You mind picking me up tomorrow?”
“Nah, dude. It’d be fine. Just be ready when I get there.”
“No problem, I’m an early riser.”
“Good. I’ll be around near eight forty-five.”
Miles sighed, not looking forward to the close proximity of his neighbors. He hadn’t tried to get to know them, and now he had a feeling he was going to know way more than he ever wanted.
“I’ll give you some high grade painkillers tomorrow. Being around everyone in the office is overwhelming as fuck and you’ll need them.”
“Thanks. It’s going to be weird since most stuff didn’t work on me before. I guess I should give you a couple of pointers. Uhh, don’t worry about eating twice as much, you need the calories. Raw meat sounds delicious but unless you’re wolf or wolfling you do not have the stomach for it. And if you wake up Shifted, that’s totally normal.”
Geoff made a face at the last remark Miles said and groaned. Oh wasn’t this thing going to be so much fun.
Geoff drove them to the office, to report ultimately. He and Miles figured out rather quickly that they weren’t the only ones who had trouble with their monster. Geoff was honestly a little relieved by that. Him being one of the founding five, it would be sort of embarrassing to figure out that he and Miles were the only ones who crashed and burned, literally.
Well, minus the burn part. To his knowledge, no one got burned.
We're Fucking Screwed [Geoff/Griff and Miles/Lucian]
Choosing to fight a giant shadow monster at night wasn’t the smartest move, but Miles didn’t want to be seen in the daylight, (a wolf in downtown Austin might scare the locals) and Geoff’s costume was equally flashy. He was just glad he didn’t have to wear one, his clothes tucked safely away in his car. Geoff, on the other hand, wasn’t having all that much fun running in the city in his spartan armour at night. The bulky armour just wasn’t meant to be ran around in.
They didn’t need bystanders getting involved either. That would only lead to possible chaos and who knows what else. They both didn’t want to imagine what kinds of bad situations could happen if they’d chosen to pursue the monster in broad daylight.
The thing was quick, and neither of them had gotten close enough before it slipped away again. He was having an easier time keeping up with it, 4 legs and everything, but it was smart.
The idea of giant shadow monsters appearing in the city was pretty terrifying, so Burnie sent everyone to check it out. They’d been split into pairs, hopefully to discover something interesting. He wasn’t sure why he was paired with Geoff, but at least the man had experience, which was more than Miles had in this particular instance. Not that either of them were prepared for a giant monster that was apparently fucking invisible to normal humans. How did that work? Magic? In a conversation before they decided to go after this beast, Geoff had suggested, although in a joking manner, that it was probably because normal humans didn’t have the complexity that most of the people who worked at Rooster Teeth did.
Miles skidded to a stop, turning a corner down an alleyway where the shadowy beast was trapped. Geoff halted closely behind him, slightly bumping into the younger.
The hulking beast turned around, at least they assumed it turned around because it was really oddly shaped, before staring right at them. There was no form to it, just dark mass. Like it sucked the light out of the surrounding area, it was hard to see at all.
They weren’t sure what to expect after cornering the monster.
Exploding was definitely not what they planned. The buildings beside it went first, and there was no time to move before the shockwave hit them, throwing them out of the alley and into the street. They were lucky their impromptu flight was stopped by cars, flying into the buildings behind them would have been much worse.
"Well, not to brag, but." Michael snickered, sitting when he was invited to. Resting his hands on his leg that was laying on the bed and facing Geoff, he shrugged at the question. "I don't know. Pretty good." That was the truth. Part of the relationship was Michael full on knowing he couldn't lie. "But, I gotta tell you something."
Geoff hummed and nodded. "It's good that it's been good for you." He paused and listened. "Shoot, kiddo." He rested his head in his hand and tried to center most his attention on Michael. Which was both hard and easy. The could hear internalized thoughts from Michael and a faint voice of his neighbor, who was complaining mentally about how she'd somehow burnt dinner again. Which made it the fourth night in a row. He broke concentration from that and looked at Michael.
[ txt: sent ] i wi;l try for you jacl.
[ txt: sent ] and yeah. he toychewd me and i wad angry and i dpn;t know man.
[ txt: sent ] i feel vert drunk. and no don;t send anyone to my hpuse.
[ txt: sent ] i don;t wanna anyone to seer me like thus.
[ txt: unsent ] i;m scarewd of hurtung soneone else.
[ txt: sent ] yess. i am cery drubk.
[ txt: sent ] i know. i dion't kmow.
[ txt: sent ] i .remeber him touchin me and getting so fucjing angry
[ txt: sent ] it was lke i coukdn;t contrpl myshelf.
[ txt: sent ] jack!
[ txt: sent ] i'm habing a loota trouble rememberin half a what happend.
[ txt: sent ] but i do remember gettin mad and hitting the kid.
[ txt: sent ] like a lot.
Burnie sighed, pushing Matt back. “Watch Jon.” He said, looking back at Geoff. He rubbed his lower back for a moment, stretching before leaning back and delivering a swift roundhouse kick to the side of Geoff’s head.
"I said I’d knock that fucking smirk off of your face, Ramsey." Burnie threatened as Geoff reeled from the kick. Burnie’s breathing was labored, his hands balled into fists by his sides.
"Now, are you going to apologize, or am I going to have to knock some sense into you?" He asked, his voice filled with a malice that he hadn’t heard in a long time.
When Geoff received the kick, he doubled over and sputtered. "Fuck you, Burns." He rasped and stood back up, rubbing his head. "Fine, I'll apologize to the brat, but lemme do it on my own time. I swear it'll get done. Just gimme time. We both know I'm not gonna feel sorry in this state." He let his hand drop and he sighed. They both knew what he was talking about. With the experience of being sober with Geoff came unstable anger and unpredictable behavior. Geoff always blamed trauma from being in a war.
"But a little sense never hurt anybody, huh, Burns?" He shrugged and crossed his arms again, trying to ignore the hot, throbbing pain in his head.
Burnie sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose before looking at Hullum, then at Geoff. “Listen, I don’t care who started it, I just want to know what compelled you to swing at Risinger, Geoff. He’s been hurt, and he was in no way, shape, or form able to defend himself.” Burnie said, glaring at Geoff. Something was off about him; Geoff was never this cruel or violent, nor did he ever smirk like that.
"And wipe that fucking smirk off of your face, Ramsey, before I do it myself." Burnie said through his teeth, his anger rising. Relax.
This was no time to relax, though; after everything that had been happening these past few days, Geoff, out of everyone else, should have kept his head. Geoff was as level-headed as Burnie ninety-five percent of the time, and that five percent difference never showed its ugly head when Geoff was sober, and Burnie didn’t smell any alcohol on Geoff.
"Now, do you want to explain why you beat up Risinger and apologize, or do I need to discipline you myself?”
Geoff snickered lightly. "He held himself up kind of decently. But it was more like he was literally struggling to hold himself up." He crossed his arms and cocked an eyebrow at Burnie. "And who's gonna make me, Burns?" He asked coyly.
He leaned forward from his car and got closer to Burnie's face. "The kid put his hands on me and I lost it. And no, I'm not apologizing until I, oh I don't know, actually feel sorry about it." He leaned back and cocked an eyebrow. "You just might, old man."
Burnie was getting ready to leave for the day, a drowsy fog over his eyes from earlier in the day. Traveling to and from the Plane usually tired Burnie, but having to take Matt with him wore Burnie out. All he wanted was a cold beer, and to snuggle up in his bed and sleep for a week.
When he heard Matt’s panicky yell from the other side of the building, Burnie whipped his head around. Something was going on over there…
Burnie walked over, concern on his voice as the situation came into focus. Jon was… was Jon crying? His face looked bruised behind his fingers, and Burnie immediately swooped in, tending to the young man for a minute before standing up next to Matt.
"What’s going on, guys?" He asked, trying to defuse some of the tension. His causal tone didn’t help, and Burnie’s body stiffened, worry on his face. "What the hell happened to Jon?" He asked, looking at Geoff with a creased face.
Geoff furrowed his eyebrown as he watched Burnie walk over. "Wow, way to cry for help, you pansy." He mumbled and leaned against his car. He rolled his shoulders and gestured to Matt.
"Go ahead, Hullum, tell him about how awful I've been. It'll sound better out of your mouth." He used his menacing tone and slight smirk. He didn't care much for the outcome of this situation because he knew he would be the bad guy and get in trouble, but he did want to hear how Matt told the story.
"Jon would never start anything like that." Matt said. When Geoff raised his fist his bruises seemed to hurt as if they had just been made. But there was no way he was going to back out of this now. "You need to calm down. At least come in and apologize."
"He put his hands on me." Geoff sneered at Matt and crossed his arms, fists stilled balled. He huffed and shook his head lightly. "I'm not apologizing to that brat until I feel fucking sorry." He let his hands slither down to his sides and slipped one into his pocket.
Michael yanked his hand back, momentarily turning into a fist before he dropped his hand. "Don't look at me like that! I saw the whole thing, Geoff! Why'd you do that to Jon? He never hurt you! He's the victim in all this!"
Geoff flinched at Michael's sudden movement. "Jon fucking started it Michael. You saw him put his hands on me." His expression soured and he rubbed his face. "Everyone's always the victim, Michael. It's the way it always works." He grumbled and stooped his head low. "What do you want me to say?"
Geoff?! GEOFF?! Geoff had done this? As best as he could, Matt tried to calm Jon down. He pulled in into a hug and held him, whispering “It’s okay.” Into his ear. But in truth, he was seeing red. Geoff, the very person who had beat him up earlier in order to protect Jon, had hurt Jon. The kid was barely out of the hospital! What kind of monster would do this to his own friend.
This would not stand. There was no way in HELL that Matt was going to let Geoff hurt people like this with impunity. Especially not Jon. No one was ever going to hurt Jon ever again. “I have to go take care of this.” He told Jon quietly. “But I promise you, I will be back for you, okay? It’s going to be alright.” He set Jon down and carefully as he could, and stepped out the door.
Geoff wasn’t that hard to find. He was still in his car, sitting in the passenger seat. Matt wrenched open the door and pulled Geoff out. “What the FUCK is your problem?” He said quietly, “Jon JUST got out of the hospital, and you think it’s okay to pull something like this?”
Geoff had just been scolded by Michael when he'd caught a brief break. His whole day he'd spent in a rage. He found himself struggling to remember patches. "What did I say to Hullum?" "What did Jon do to make me hit him?" "What did Michael just yell at me about?"
He rubbed the bridge of his nose and heard someone approaching. He turned and made eye contact. He found himself being pulled out of his car and as soon as he felt Matt's hand on his arm, he felt all the hot, searing rage come over him like a warm blanket.
"Get your hands off me, Hullum." He jerked backwards and balled up his fists again. "He fucking started it. He put his hands on me and I-- I fucking lost it." He grit his teeth and reared his fist back. "Now, get out my face before I kick your ass again."
Michael had seen the fight, eyes watering as he watched what his boyfriend did. A blow to the face, one to the stomach, and God knows what else.
Jon had left, shoulders hunched as Geoff relaxed in his car. Michael stormed up to him, throwing open the car door and staring down at him with anger and sadness written all over his face, but disappointment in his eyes.
Geoff had pulled out his phone in the meantime of Jon cowering away and Michael charged up to him. He looked up to the younger and quirked an eyebrow. "What?" He asked with an underlying attitude. He reached to grab Michael's hand.
There we go with the cars again. His back slammed into the metal, pain shooting up his spine. Tossing his hands out in front of his face, he winced thinking he was gonna punch him in the face again but his fist was instead planted in his stomach. It knocked the wind out of him. Stomach aching and burning as his knees starting giving out on him.
His hand gripped Geoff’s shirt tightly, using it a leverage to keep himself up right. It was hard but he soon stood up, eyes fixating in Geoff’s face. “S-…Stop it Geoff.” He grounded out harshly, giving a light tug on his clothes.. “Y-You’re hurting me asshole and I dont w-want to go back to that damn hospital. Be the bigger man here.”
Geoff pushed him up against the car and stood firmly like a brick wall. "I don't understand why the youth's gotta be so dumb. But whatever, run, little rabbit, run." He grabbed Jon by his arm and shoved him towards the entrance of the building. He snickered to himself and opened the passenger car door, sitting in the seat. He let out a contented sigh and rolled his shoulders.
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