Leo rubbed a hand across his eyes. “That kid– he takes too much on himself. Always has,” he sighed, a distant frown crossing his features. Melissa, he knew, would know all too well the feeling of pride-wrapped-frustration in regards to Scott and his insistence on loading the worlds’ problems onto his shoulders.
Her question drew him out of his reverie and he gave a stifled, awkward laugh. Hell, if she didn’t know then he wasn’t sure it was his place to fill her in. Still – it wouldn’t hurt for the kid’s mom to know what was going on with him. She was a nurse, for crying out loud, and from what Leo knew a damn good one. She could handle such information. “Birthdays an’ half-birthdays, Scott. . well, all werewolves actually, they go through a heat,” he said as evenly as he could manage. “And yes, that means exactly what it sounds like. Hyperactive reproductive drive, extra sensitivity to touch and smell. It…makes things uncomfortable,” he finished, his voice petering out lamely before he could add anything else too humiliating.
She shrugged helplessly, the action accompanied with a nod. It used to hurt Melissa everyday, but she’d long since accepted that her son lived for a purpose much larger than himself. “Yeah.. he does. But I can’t fault him for caring, either. It’s amazing to me, that he can see the good in everything. And I mean everything — he once gave me a half hour lecture on the purpose of the beetle, and he was only eight. I personally draw the line at bugs, but.. that’s just it.” Realising they’d be talking for a while, she gestured to one of the nearby tables, settling herself in one of the chairs. Then Melissa sighed again, a weak smile lifting her lips as she spoke of her son. “He doesn’t say it aloud, but Scott gives everyone a chance, no matter what. I think that’s what crushes him, you know? When things aren’t what he hoped, and somebody gets hurt. That’s when he starts blaming himself, because he was the one who gave them the chance in the first place.” She looked up at Leo. “I don’t think he realises that he can’t help that. It’s just.. who he is. All I can do his help him carry that burden, because despite whatever the Capitol tried to do, he isn’t going to change. Not really.”
She raised her eyebrows at the laugh, tilting her head in amusement. Sure, she’d been joking about the biting, but now she was a little nervous. “A.. heat,” she repeated, her face contorting into a frown. Frankly enough, her expertise lied with humans; Scott had been the vet assistant in the family. But the term was familiar, and though she instantly thought of dogs, wolves obviously weren’t that far off. “.. Wow. What the - hell?” Well, what else was she supposed to say?! “That’s uh.. that’s a little disturbing. I mean, to think of Scott - okay, no. I’m not going there.” She held up her hands in surrender, “we’ve had the safe-sex talk, and as far as I’m concerned, I’ve done my duty.” It took her a few moments to shake the thoughts off completely, but technically, Scott was twenty now. .. Her twenty year old baby. Nope, still weird. Melissa couldn’t help but notice he’d avoided her question completely. So she pressed it. “— Leo? You're going to tell me if you’re not alright, right? Because I need you to be alright.”