Tumblr is being a brat so I'll just resend: Short prompt list: either 5, 6, or 15, for sormik
Happy to oblige :)
#5. “You tried a different hairstyle than the one you usually do, and um shit you’re attractive...”
#6. “I told you I’m a werewolf and you’re being very accepting but I don’t actually work up the courage before the next transformation to tell you that I’m actually a weredog. A small dog at that.”
To his credit, Mikleo takes the news very well.
They have been dating for two months when Sorey finally tells him. They spend an evening together having dinner and bantering back and forth, and Sorey feels as though his heart is going to come bursting out of his chest whenever there is a lull in the conversation. He looks for the right moment for a good two hours of company before he realises that there will probably be no such thing. Eventually, the moment just catches up to him, in the form of Mikleo’s concerned tilt of the head.
“Are you alright?” he asks. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Cold panic zaps through him for an instant. He swallows and clears his throat, if only to buy some time to put the words together.
“I’m fine,” he says, but his voice comes out far too high pitched to be truthful. He stops, does his best to collect himself. Then he looks Mikleo earnestly in the eyes.
“There’s just… something I need you to know.”
Mikleo’s frown is deepening as he sits back in his chair.
“Okay?” He sounds worried.
“It’s not-” Sorey stops, because he was going to say “anything bad”, but the truth is that he is not sure if it will be. “I mean, there’s something about me you should know, if we’re… If we’re going to continue, um,” he gestures uselessly between them, “this.”
Mikleo has gone from relaxed and playful to gravely serious in a matter of seconds. He knits his fingers on his lap and nods, slowly and uncertainly.
“Alright.” He speaks slowly and deliberately as well. “What’s is it?”
Sorey draws in a long breath through his nose. He steels himself and resolves to just push out the words. Unfortunately, they seem to all come to him at once.
“I’m a were-dog-uh-wolf-thing.” He speaks far too quickly to make much sense. “A shifter. Time of the month and all that… stuff.”
Never in his life has he referred to it as anything he just said, and never before has he regretted speaking something out loud so much. He sits wide-eyed in mortified shock and just watches Mikleo’s expression.
Mikleo takes a moment to look confused, and probably to parse the information that was just hurled at him at high speeds. He blinks, then his frown becomes ever deeper, only to lighten again as he realises what the words actually were.
“You’re a werewolf?”
Sorey breathes so deep he thinks he might be getting too much oxygen. A stuttering nod is all he can do as his first reaction.
Mikleo tilts his head again, and now there is faint amusement visible in his eyes. He realises the gravity of the situation, however, and quickly composes himself.
“Sorey,” he says, and his voice is soft, comforting. “That’s not a problem for me.”
Sorey blinks. Relief floods through him at once, and he feels more than controls the relaxing of his tense shoulders. All breath goes out of him as he realises that he has not in fact ruined what might be the best relationship he has ever had.
“It’s not?” he asks, because he has to make sure. He might have heard it wrong somehow. There is always a chance.
Mikleo nods. He smiles slightly.
“It’s perfectly alright. I mean, it’ll take some time to get used to,” he admits, leaning forward and reaching across the table for Sorey’s hand, which he offers. “But it’s not a dealbreaker by any stretch. You might have to be a bit patient with me, but I love you. This won’t change that.”
Sorey stares at him. For a long moment, it is all he can do. Mikleo waits patiently, but when no answer is forthcoming, the concern comes back in full force.
“Sorey?” he asks. “Did I say something wrong?”
Sorey blinks.
“You said ‘I love you’.”
Fear and shock and mortification, it all mixes in with warm reverence of what has happened. They have never said it to each other before.
Mikleo looks then like a deer in headlights. He opens his mouth. Hesitates.
“I said I love you,” he mutters, looking down at their hands on the table. Sorey squeezes his hand, bringing his attention back to him.
“Hey,” he says kindly. “It’s okay. I love you too.”
The way Mikleo looks at him then makes his heart feel five times lighter. As though it is going to float up in the air and take him along with it. He lets it, and stands up.
He makes it around the table in three long steps, and Mikleo comes up to meet him. They kiss, and Sorey gets ever lighter. He holds Mikleo’s face and looks into his eyes.
“I love you too,” he repeats. Mikleo leans his forehead to Sorey’s.
“I love you.”
***
It only occurs to him later on that he did not correct Mikleo’s understanding of his condition. It only serves to make things worse, because he cannot bring himself to do it over text.
After that date, Mikleo goes away for a week with his mother, leaving Sorey to wonder what he will do when he comes back. The full moon will be just a couple of days after it, and their schedules will not be coinciding well enough to meet up before that. That leaves the question of whether he wants to tell Mikleo on the night it actually happens, or leave it for the days that come after.
He has almost made up his mind, but then Mikleo asks him all sweet whether he can be there during the full moon to help. He admits with a shrug over video call that he has no idea what he would be doing, but his conviction in helping Sorey be as comfortable as possible makes for an uncomfortable tug at Sorey’s heart strings.
Sorey almost tells him right there, but some small inkling of doubt still drags him from it. He wonders whether it is even worth the worry. Mikleo is not the type to judge, and the difference between dealing with a wolf and a dog is significant. Mikleo would certainly feel safer if he knew what the situation actually is.
Still, there is some sense within him that perhaps Mikleo thinks it cool to be together with someone who turns into a wolf at full moon. It is well known that wolves are more popular in media and social circles, that they are considered noble and exotically wild. To get to see one up close is an experience, and one he is upset he will have to deprive Mikleo of. It is present in all the good shows and books, that meeting between worlds. The human getting to carefully approach, to fully appreciate the power of this majestic animal.
He thinks about it for too long, and Mikleo begins to yawn on the other side of the call. They wish each other good night and he hangs up, staring at their chat history with unseeing eyes. He is going to have to tell Mikleo. He cannot just let it reveal itself.
Can he?
***
The next full moon is more awkward than any other in Sorey’s life, and that is saying something.
He paces the length of his kitchen and living room all afternoon. He has made up his mind.
The fact that this feels harder to tell him than the condition itself feels ridiculous. He knows that Mikleo would never judge him for such a thing. It does not stop him from judging himself.
Mikleo calls from the road. Traffic is holding him back longer than he would have thought. Sorey regrets not warning him, as this is usually the time when people take their families to local parks and forests. A courtesy to the relatives who will need the space to work off some energy in their alternate forms. If this were not a special occasion, Sorey would be waiting outside in his backyard.
There is no more than half an hour left when Mikleo's car pulls into the driveway. Given how irregular it usually is, Sorey would be surprised if they even have that much. He greets Mikleo in the door, and stops completely when he takes in his appearance.
Mikleo is wearing a long coat and black boots appropriate for the autumn weather. His cheeks are rosy with the chill and his hair is loose and spilling over his shoulders. He is wearing a beanie, settled neatly over his bangs.
Sorey can only stare for a moment, because he has rarely ever seen Mikleo with his hair out of a ponytail. It looks good. Really good. Enough for Sorey to fall just a little bit more in love right then and there.
“Hi,” Mikleo says. He is smiling, which only helps to further short circuit Sorey. He sounds breathless, as though he got to Sorey's house on foot as opposed to the car that stands in the driveway behind him. Sorey wonders if he ran to the door.
“I'm sorry I'm late,” he says, glancing sheepishly sideways, towards where his car stands hastily parked. “Can I come in?”
“Sure,” Sorey says. “Yeah, it's alright. Come in.”
He takes Mikleo's coat and watches him toe out of his shoes. When Mikleo takes off the beanie, it leaves behind a ruffled halo over his head. He is wearing a warm sweater and jeans, matching Sorey quite well.
“So,” he says, drawing out the pause hesitantly. “How does this usually work? Is there somewhere you should be? Anything I can do to help?”
Sorey blinks. “Right. No, I don’t think so. It’s mostly just waiting around for it at this point. There’s no special place or anything.”
“And you’ll…” Mikleo looks worried. “You’ll be aware of things, right? You’re still in there?”
Sorey nods, trying to make his smile as reassuring as possible.
“Yeah. It’ll be all me.”
Mikleo nods. He looks nervous, but determined. It makes Sorey very happy to see it.
Sorey opens his mouth to speak again, but then something tugs inside his chest. His eyes widen and he staggers back a bit. It seems that things are beginning.
Mikleo takes a step back too, his eyes wide.
“Are you alright? Is it starting?”
Sorey can only nod. The transformation is not as painful as it used to be, but there is still enough times in between the occasions that he has time to forget how odd it feels. He backs up another step and leans against the back of the couch, steadying himself.
“What can I do?” Mikleo asks.
“Stay still,” Sorey warns. “It’ll be a second before I get back my bearings when it’s done.”
The transformation in itself is very quick. His muscles contract and stay that way, only to contract again and again. It goes on until he is shorter than the length of the sofa, then shorter than the footstool at the end of it. His clothing pools around him, his shirt falling over his head.
When he sweeps it away, he is shifted enough that his vision has lost most of its colour. Everything looks blurry, slowly coming back into view. Mikleo’s legs appear before him.
He is expecting some sort of a reaction. Confusion. Amusement. Stunned silence.
He is not expecting the way Mikleo yelps and leaps backwards, stumbling and falling over a chair.
***
“In my defense,” Mikleo says, “I entered this experience on false premises.”
“And I am very sorry about that,” Sorey says as he comes to stand by the counter next to him. He draws Mikleo into his embrace and Mikleo leans into him, huffing his displeasure and disrupting his drooping bangs. His hair is a mess. Sorey will have to find him a hairbrush later.
Not for any reason having to do with himself, of course. He is very much enjoying this development in Mikleo’s personal style. He only wishes it came from something other than sitting up all night wringing it in his hands.
“You never told me you were afraid of dogs.” He says it simply, without being accusatory. Most of all he tries to keep the amusement and concern out of his voice. The way Mikleo glares at him tells him that he is failing.
“You didn’t tell me you turn into a Yorkshire Terrier every full moon.”
Sorey has to shrug his agreement. “In my defense, I thought it would be embarrassing. Not…” he gestures vaguely “like this.”
Mikleo sags in his arms. Sorey has offered him a coffee cup shaped like a cat’s head, and it seems to be appeasing him somewhat. He takes a long sip of his drink. Sorey squeezes him lightly.
“Can I ask you a question, though?”
Mikleo shrugs, his cup still put to his lips.
“Did you think it would be easier to be around a wolf than a dog?”
The cup remains in place for a suspiciously long moment. Then Mikleo turns and looks him in the eyes.
“No laughing,” he says. Sorey has no time to make such a promise before he speaks again. “I was thinking that I’ve never met a wolf, and I can get used to one acting in an human way if I’ve never seen one before.”
Sorey tilts his head and attempts to make sense of that. Mikleo barrels on.
“But I’ve met dogs before. Mean ones. And a gut reaction to something familiar is harder to get rid of than a gut reaction to something unknown. If that makes any sort of sense.”
Sorey considers it.
“I’m not sure it does,” he says honestly. “But I do consider it incredibly sweet that you were prepared to be around me for this. I didn’t realise how hard it would be for you.”
Mikleo sighs. He turns around fully, leaving his cup on the counter, and wraps his arms around Sorey.
“It turns out there’s a lot of things I’d do for you,” he says.
Sorey smiles into Mikleo’s hair. “And I love you for it.”
Mikleo nuzzles into his neck. His voice is low and muffled.
“Now I’m going to get some sleep, and next month we’re sorting out some sort of game plan. I’m still not leaving you alone for this.”
Sorey squeezes him again. He smiles.
“If you like we can go shopping for a nice leash.”
Mikleo’s laugh rumbles against his chest.
“Better not tell Zaveid,” he says, “he’d never run out of jokes.”
Sorey grins. “If I’m good, do I get a treat?”
Mikleo only smacks him lightly. His smile is wide against Sorey’s throat.
