It was with no small amount of nerves that Jordan pulled on the familiar (for now) costume he always adopted as Stylo, taking reassurance in the little ridges and marks that'd been acquired over time, little memories linked to how they'd got there that for the moment at least he could still remember with perfect clarity.
He took a moment to press his fingers to a mark Burnie had left against his collarbone before he pulled the costume into place over it, relishing in the memories that brought, savoring them while he still could, while he wouldn't have to fight tooth and nail to remember them.
Because soon he and Jack would be out there again, fighting this creature, and chances were he wouldn't remember a goddamn thing... and honestly that terrified him far more than he'd like to admit.
But Burnie had given them some advice, advice he intended to follow. Hold onto something, focus on it, remember it, fight for it... he could do that. He could... god he hoped he could.
We’re Gonna Fucking Kick It’s Ass, That’s What [Geoff/Grif and Miles/Lucian]
Burnie was just as much a troll as anyone else at the office, don’t let him convince you otherwise. He was a really nice guy, protective of his employees and always willing to give a hand. But just as good at trolling as anyone else.
Okay, so it wasn’t Burnie’s fault they got the fucking annoying monster.
That apparently all it had in defensive way was explosions, and Burnie had no info on it. Nothing more than ‘sorry, good luck!’. Miles still had uncontrollable telepathy, while Geoff had adapted quickly to (and was enjoying) his new situation. Trying to find the monster proved most difficult, and they were running out of time. A monster than exploded was dangerous. Normal people couldn't even see the monster, how would they protect themselves?
Geoff had let himself worry about shit like that. After hearing Burnie’s advice, he scouted out Miles and told him they needed a bar visit so he could not worry about this for a while.
Miles snickered to himself, seeing the joy on Geoff's face at the prospect of a bar visit, deciding to let Geoff discover his inability to get drunk later. He agreed with the idea. It’s what Geoff did to make the voices shut up, so he couldn’t argue with something known to work. “Not that I know a good bar, but if you’re driving, lead the way.”
Geoff nodded and lead Miles out to his car. He drove them to his favorite bar in Austin, which happened to be an old speakeasy. He told Miles that he’d pay for their drinks and they’d get hammered and crash at his place, if Miles got that drunk.
He found a decent table for them to sit at in the quieter part of the bar. It wasn’t that populated tonight, which was great for Miles. “The telepathy took me years to figure out and keep quiet, so I didn’t even come close to expecting you to master it in a week or two.”
“Does mastering count since I can turn it off enough to get some sleep? Because that’s the best I got, man.” Not that he wasn’t trying, but the constant talking was becoming more like background noise by this point. He was used to tuning out outside conversations, so adapting to inside conversations was more difficult but do-able when needed.
“Nah. Mastering includes, downloading people’s brains and not being able to hear that shit when you’re drunk.”
“That sounds terrifying. Why would you want--Never mind. I’m sure there’s a use for it sometimes.” Did it include downloading everything? There was some deep, messed up shit in people’s heads. “Also, I’ve never ordered anything but the cheap beer, so I’ll try anything.” Heck, Miles hadn’t been in a bar since he came to Austin. What was the point? If he went out it was for food,
Geoff snickered and waved the waiter over. “I’ll order you some good shit.” He talked to the waiter for a moment before they walked away and returned a few beats later with a Gin and Tonic and a something bright pink and bubbly. He slid the neon pink drink towards Miles and grinned. “It’s good, I promise.” He nodded and brought his drink to his lips, taking a large swallow and hissing directly afterwards.
Brightest colored drink Miles had ever seen. Not that he had seen a lot, but still. Would it glow under a blacklight? He started with a small sip, before going for a bigger sip. “Okay, that’s interesting.”
“Yeah, they’re meant to be easy on the throat, but just a easy way to get drunk. I took that image with you when you said cheap beers.” Geoff mentally tutted the kid. Cheap beers suck. Just saying.
“Cheap beers suck because they're cheap. I spent my time gaming, not getting drunk. I had to drive an hour out of my town just to find a bar with working lights.” Geoff was probably going to figure it soon by the amount of experience he had getting drunk.
Geoff took another few large sips and when he didn’t even feel the initial light headedness, he knew something was up. Maybe the drink’s watered down? He took another sip and looked to Miles. “Is your drink watered down?”
Miles snorted, the confusion evident from Geoff, taking another sip. “I don’t think so?” He said, trying to stifle a grin. This was probably the only downside to Geoff’s new powers, and boy was Geoff going to hate it.
Geoff glared daggers at Miles, knowing that look anywhere. “Wolves can’t get drunk, can they?” Oh boy, he was going to murder this kid for not telling him earlier.
Miles laughed, a little surprised at how quickly the gig was up. “Nope. Our healing is great, but it means drugs don’t work on us. No coffee or medicine, or beer. Sorry Geoff. Only reason I ordered the cheap stuff.” He shrugged, finishing off his drink. Woah, that was a funny feeling.
Geoff groaned very loudly and finished off his tonic. “I ordered the strongest Gin I could and I can’t even get drunk. I’m so upset.” He rubbed his face and pouted.
“Hey, it’s got it’s upsides. You're always the DD in the office.”
“Miles, being the DD isn’t any fun. Unless you’re getting laid.”
“I take offense at that. It’s lots of fun. Except when they puke in my car.”
“That’s one reason why it’s no fun. Another reason is angry drunks and the occasional upset drunk.”
“I’m strong enough to get most of them in the car. You get lots of good gossip from drunks. Also, can I get another one?”
Geoff sighed and raised his hand in the air, making some weird hand motion. The waiter came over and he very distinctly muttered, “Get this asshole more lady drinks.” And with that, the waiter left and came back with another bright pink bright, but in a taller glass. Geoff slid it to Miles and ordered another Gin and Tonic for himself.
“You got the wayyyyy better end of this deal anyway. This,” he said, pointing to his head even though Geoff knew what he was talking about anyway, “sucks dicks.”
“I don’t think you understand the equation Miles. Sober Geoff equals very ill, angry Geoff. It’s a lot of pent up post-war stress and shit that I haven’t been sober enough to deal with.” He grumbled and drank some of his Tonic.
Miles slid down slightly in his chair, swirling the bright pink around, sullen at Geoff’s words. Last time Geoff had been sober for long periods of time it wasn’t pretty. “You’re going to have to deal with it, if they don’t switch back. I miss my stuff, man. I’ve lived my entire life with it. Feels like I’m missing half of myself.”
“We are gonna switch back, Miles. I’m not keeping the hobo beard forever.” Geoff paused and sighed. “I miss being able to hear my normal shit, too. I’ve dealt with it since I was twenty and I don’t like not being able to hear about how much Ray likes Ryan. Or the dumb ideas Gavin comes up with before he announces them to everyone else. Nothing’s the same and it’s fuckin’ with me.”
“I can...drink to that.” Miles lifted his glass before taking another swig.
Geoff raised his glass slightly and took a large swallow. “Get shit faced, kid. It’s on me.”
Even though Geoff hadn’t gotten drunk, his memory was still a bit shoddy. He remembers Miles asking a few dumb questions. Then his next memory jump cutted to them walking in Geoff’s house, Miles clinging to Geoff’s shoulder with one arm, his other mindless flailing for something to grab as support.
He remembers making Miles sit on the couch and telling him to stay. He walked to the kitchen and tried to fix up something for the kid to eat, so he wouldn’t puke all of his living room floor.
When he hears Miles bump against his doorway to the kitchen, he rolls his eyes. He hands Miles a sandwich and groans when he kisses it instead of eating it. He directs him back to the couch and sits down with him, making him eat.
His memory skips out a little bit and it cuts back in and Geoff is leaning back into the couch and talking to Miles. The kids legs are kicked over Geoff and he’s wiggling his feet.
He remembers throwing a blanket over Miles a little while later and walking to his bed. Laying there for about twenty minutes before the door opened and Miles’ silhouette stood next to the bed. Geoff groaned and sat up, asking him what he needed. Miles simply shrugged and asked if he could crash in the bed because the couch had lumpy monsters that growled like Grimm.
He remembers laughing at that remark and scooting over for the younger. He waited until Miles was absolutely asleep before he ruffled the kid’s hair and slid out of his bedroom. He crashed on the couch last night.
He woke with a very loud groan and in the distance, he could hear Miles getting up too. He rubbed his face and got up.
He made breakfast for the two and when Miles stumbled up to the doorway, he directed him to go take a hot shower. “It’ll help with the hangover, kiddo.” He told him where to find towels and washcloths. He made their plates and set the table.
Getting drunk was fun once, Miles decided. He had no memory of anything other than leaving the bar, and was only now starting to realize where he was and why. Doing it for fun was insane. He understood why people did it, or needed to in Geoff’s case but christ the afterwards was not worth it, no way in hell. It was like having his old hearing back but painful, everything was too bright and it fucking sucked.
“There’s no way I’m going to work today. You enjoy drinking even when you have to deal with this?”
“I don’t blame you, dude. You were gone before we left the bar. And yeah, I’m a lot more fun when I’m drunk and it makes me not feel bad about shit I’ve done.” Geoff shrugged.
“What, I’m a lightweight? Like that was a surprise.” He said, resting his face on his hands as he wondered why this was a good idea. Why did he think it would be fun?
“Now, you can say you got crazy drunk and had super deep conversations that you’ll probably never remember.” The elder laughed and started eating his food. “I cooked that food from the heart, so eat up. Once you don’t feel like such a piece of shit, we’ll discuss how to defeat this shitty monster we’re dealing with.”
“It explodes. What do you do with that? What do we do with that? Last time, you survived because my healing transferred over and I survived because I healed enough before it did.” Miles said, before digging in. What would Sonic do.
“I don’t know. I’ve only ever dealt with half the crime in Austin for the past nine years. Let me think.” He grumbled and popped his neck. “What if we used the way it explodes against it? Like, deflect the attacks and maybe redirect it back at that thing?”
“If it explodes, why not make it explode something to hurt itself? We don’t know how smart it is.”
“Yeah. We also don’t know how adaptable it is, what it’s learned moves are, or what it’s mother looks like. See where I’m going here? You gotta think fast and adaptable. When it changes what it’s doing, change your method. Kick it in the face. Call it’s mother a whore. I don’t care, but we gotta get rid of this thing, Luna.”
“...We don’t even know if it has a mom, but at least it’s a plan.” He nodded, a sense of unease coming over him. He tuned back into the voices, but there was nothing unusual as far as he could tell.
Geoff nodded and his brows furrowed when he heard faint screams in the distance. He looked to Miles and gestured to the window, as he got up and walked to it. “Uhm, Miles, I think we have company and it happens to be a monstrous bomb thing.”
Miles groaned. Of course. Just fanfuckingtastic. “Why did we get the shitty luck? I’m not wearing a costume.”
“I don’t expect you to, just get out there and work with me.” Geoff made his way to the door quickly and walked outside. “Go for cover. It can’t follow the both of us. Gang on whoever it follows.”
“Ay ay, Lucian.” Miles snorted, before taking off the other direction.
“Call me Grif, please.” He shouted as he ducked behind a car.
Miles took it back. It wasn’t their shitty luck. It was his shitty luck, as proven by the fact the monster decided he looked like the best prey. Running for your life did little to help the hangover, but without his healing he had to be really careful as he scooted past buildings, clueless pedestrians and cars. He was waiting on it to blow any second. Maybe it was like a creeper, and as long as he stayed far enough away he was safe. Or maybe it exploded when it felt threatened. There was another crash behind him, and he decided to focus more on running.
Geoff jumped to the cut and quickly followed behind the monster, keeping a good twenty feet back as he scouted out for cars or dumpsters he could lure the thing to. He found a double set of dumpsters that blocked off an alleyway. “Loop around the block and lure it back to the alleyway I’m near, Lucian.” He yelled and hoped the kid heard him.
I am seriously out of shape. He didn't realize how much of his stamina was related to his powers, and regretted it as another crash followed him. His lungs were burning and his legs screaming but slowing down was not an option. He was lucky he hadn’t taken any bad routes.
It was leaving car carnage everywhere, and he risked doubling back by it once. Not that he wanted to try again, but he heard Geoff yelling. While he couldn’t make out the words (damn he missed that) he heard it, Geoff’s voice louder than the rest, and that was good enough for him. He bounced back and forth on his feet, catching his breath as he waited for an opening to bring it back around to Geoff.
When Geoff saw Miles turn around the corner, he slipped between the two dumpsters and started making an excess amount of noises, to attract the monster. And much to his dismay, it worked relatively well. The monster turned to the alleyway and went to pursue Geoff when it hit the dumpsters almost harshly. It knocked them forward slightly and Geoff saw flaws in his plan almost immediately. He felt relief when the monster fumbled a bit more and let out a weird screechy noise. Right before it exploded, knocking Geoff back against the wall harshly.
The monster decided he wasn’t any fun anymore, instead going after Geoff. Trapped in a dead-end alley with it seemed like a bad idea, but that’s all they had right now. Miles trailed behind it, not enough to switch its attention. It was focusing on the two of them for some reason. Better than taking out innocents, but it didn’t explain why. Or how it even knew how to find them.
This monster stuff left a lot of important unanswered questions. He recognized the large rearing up thing it did right before it exploded last time they encountered it. The ear-splitting screech was new though. He didn’t have time to let out a curse before it exploded, sending up smoke and by the sounds, completely destroying stuff.
Miles was farther away this time, so it only threw him back a little bit, falling into the wreckage of a car. Geoff was even closer this time and without armour, but with the added bonus of healing. He sat there panting, not sure what to expect.
“Grif!” He yelled into the smoke, waiting for the monster to appear, or something to happen.
Miles hissed, clenching his fists as his spine tingled and the overwhelming voices faded away. He was worried for a moment, when he felt it. The pull of the moon. The sounds of the city, the scent of the area. He hadn’t even seen if Geoff was okay when he felt the familiar and sorely missed other half return. It was a senses overload at the moment, but god at least he was back.
Geoff struggled to pick himself up from the brick wall and the asphalt. He groaned all the screams and hectic thought hit him hard and fast. He steadied himself and leveled his breathing before slipping out of the alleyway. He stumbled to find Miles.
“I’m here, Lucian.”
Geoff appeared from the smoke stumbling, and Miles went to assist him, his healing kicking in enough to get him back on his feet. He felt good, the first time this week, hangover quickly clearing up and wasted no time offering a shoulder for Geoff.
“That explosion got me a little. We gotta take it out, if it didn’t take itself out with that explosion.” The two stumbled away from the scene.
“With my luck it’s still around. Everything good with you?”
“Everything is fine. Let’s just get moving.”
“It likes us, it’s going to come back.” Miles said with certainty. It was around somewhere, he knew it.
Geoff led them off, trailing through the dissolving cloud of smoke.
Miles thought back to their original plan. “We need somewhere for it to blow up.”
“There’s a park two blocks from here. What with the chaos, nobody should still be there.”
Miles picked up the pace, footsteps audible but untraceable. “I can hear it. I could Shift and attract it away from here. It likes me, god knows why.”
“Yeah, get it either close to the park, or near a sewer gate. Either one has a good chance of hurting it.”
“You going to be okay without me? I don’t want to leave you alone if you can’t walk.”
“I’m gonna be fine, now get your ass going!” Geoff snapped, shoving Miles off.
“Alright, don’t have to tell me twice!” Miles broke into a run, much quicker than before.
The stench of the sewer was light but there, and if anything had to blow, that sounded like a better idea than some poor park. He ducked into a cleaner alley, throwing off his clothes and Shifting in record time, before taking off again with a spring in his step.
The monster didn’t have a scent, which was disturbing. Everything had some kind of scent. Humans all smelled the same as a base, but perfumes, jobs, and superpowers affected it. For something not to have a scent suggested something unnatural.
He skittered to a stop, the monster fading into view in front of him. Huh, that made sense. It threw an arm down, aiming for him. He narrowly avoided it, and It cracked the concrete where it hit, stronger than before. Or it’s getting angry.
Miles took off again, the monster following behind like before. He turned a corner and hoped it was right, as the sewers came into view. He slipped through a gape in the gate. The monster’s arms followed, reaching in for anything it could grab but Miles took off deeper into the sewers. It really stunk, but as long as he stayed dry, he was okay with it.
The monster let out another screech, echoing throughout the tunnels. He thought it hurt before, this was a whole nother level. He hoped his ears weren’t bleeding. It was going to blow any second if they were right.
The whole system shook when it blew, and he hunkered down, listening for any serious warning signs.
When Geoff felt almost the whole city shake, he started heading towards Miles. As he progressed, he realized more that that thing fucked him up pretty badly. He made it to the sewers with a heavy limp. “Is it dead?” He called out probably a little too loudly.
Miles surveyed the damage when he reached the entrance to the system. The gate was gone, as were most of the bricks around it. The surrounding materials were covered in black goo which was quickly dissipating into thin air. There wouldn't be anything left in a few minutes at this rate.
Geoff was there, limping but alive. Score one for Team D&D. “It’s dead. I think.” He checked over the damage from the outside of the sewer, shaking himself off of what little sewer and monster gunk he could. He needed a river bath, and then a shower. And shower again for good measure.
“Fucking finally.” Geoff gave a heavy sigh of relief.
The two stared in silence, a week's worth of pain and suffering in each other's shoes finally over. “How do you think the city workers are gonna explain this to their boss?”
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.
Aaron was cool. Ever since the whole thing at his house on New Years, Michael trusted him. So for Michael to be happy about being teamed up with him, it made sense. "Aaron, you ready for this shit?" Michael said, cracking his neck as he saw something big come crashing through the streets. Michael clenched his fists, trying to rage up, but to no avail. With a startled gasp he realized he was fucked, no power meant no control. He nearly backed out then, but as a girls scream filled the air and she thrashed in the hand of the monster, Michael knew they couldn't give up.
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.
Blaine had been teamed up with Matt, which he didn’t mind. The other hadn’t offended him in anyway, and he figured now would be a good chance to get to know the guy. They’d been assigned a monster that couldn’t be physically hit, and while it was a challenge, Blaine was optimistic.
He stood near a door to a shop with Matt, fiddling with his hands as he waited. What they were waiting for, he didn’t know, but as a loud roar came from down the road and the street people fled, he was sure the waiting was over.
They hadn't gone over a plan yet, which started worrying Blaine more and more as the monster, big and black and nearly the hulk himself came running down the street, roaring as it flipped cars. "Matt," Blaine said quietly, cracking his knuckles. "Let's get down to business."
It's Time To Try Defying Gravity || Chris and Kdin
Kdin tugged a little on the drawstrings of his hoodie as he wandered over to the area he and Chris had agreed to meet, just a couple of blocks away from where their monster had last been spotted...
Actual monsters.
It seemed more than a little surreal, even to a person who worked for a company who happened to moonlight as superheroes. The kind of monsters that were usually found in children's stories, or under the bed or in the closet. The kind of monsters a young Kdin, carefully buried under his covers, had flashed in and out of visibility because of, back in his youth when he'd had little understanding of how his powers worked or even that they were in fact powers.
Thankfully he'd gotten a better grasp of them since then, though he could already feel the overwhelming urge to disappear threatening to take hold. He'd always felt safer when people couldn't see him after all, needless to say the same more than applied to the kind of things that went bump in the night.
But he pushed the urge down. There'd be time for that later on, when he and Chris actually confronted the beast. In the meantime he simply entertained himself with vanishing one of his hands in and out of visibility, finding that if he really focused he could just about differentiate each finger as a separate entity to vanish and reappear. Again, when he'd actually find a use for this ability he didn't know, but all the same it couldn't hurt to practice like this. It was like stretching out different muscles, it'd probably make his powers stronger... or at the very least it'd give him a cool trick to pull at parties.
