growling | ic inbox.

[ oh good, more shape-shifters. it's petty, but he can't hide the edge of sarcasm in his tone. ]

My guess is more than a bit. Full moon do anything for you, or... ?

No, no full moons included. But we do have to, uhm. Indulge the wolf. If that makes sense.

... only vaguely. I wouldn't hate it being less vague, frankly.

[ he knows what it means to feel wolfy. he's not entirely sure how much crossover they're talking, here. ]

Well, uhm. We can't be human all the time, and we have these - instincts. Like hunting for food. It makes you a little weird if you don't listen to them. You know?

Right, obviously. That makes sense.

[ it super does not make sense, though josh should really be more sympathetic. he's just always been more of the 'repress issues until they destroy your life' kind of guy, so the idea of letting the wolf have any say sounds like an awful plan. ]

Were you born with it?

[ ... wow that sounds very maybelline. ]

I - yeah! [He actually forgot how werewolves are made for a moment, there. Yikes. He suddenly wonders if he should feel sorry for Josh.] Both my parents are wolves, too. Just like the rest of my family.

[Except for a few who ran off to fall in love with humans, he supposes. They aren't... exactly considered family anymore, though. Not his rules.]

[ Please don't feel sorry for him, he is the most effective one-man pity party already. ]

Sounds lovely. Do you all get together and eat deer?

[ That's a joke, but he realizes after he says it that it might... not be...... ]

[Have the world's smallest voice.]

Sometimes.

[ Oh god that is painfully small. ]

Sorry, that was... rude.

[ He says rude as if it's just filler for a word he can't quite place, because is it really rude if it's true? But wait, is that small as in embarrassed, or- ]

What do you mean sometimes? Do you eat other things?

We just - well - I used to eat whatever we caught. I don't really live with my family anymore. Haven't for a while. But yeah, it's something they do.

... Do you? Hunt?

No.

[ It's a knee-jerk reaction, and it's totally a lie, so he corrects himself with some chagrin a second later. ]

I mean - yes, sometimes, but not on purpose. I usually try to trick the wolf out of killing anything.

[ Because a) it's traumatizing to wake up covered in deer corpse and b) it's awful to digest the next day. ]

You - [First instinct is to ask why, because the alternative is always so much worse. But Andy has to remember not every kind of wolf is the same. His family made a point of not being mistaken for werewolves. They were an entirely different myth. And just a myth, for that matter.]

Can you do that?

Yeah, usually. It's not like it has a PhD.

[ WOLVES ARE DUMB txt it. ]

If you string up some meat in an abandoned area, it'll usually get preoccupied with that. Sometimes deer still wander through, but-

[ Deer and other things. No humans, luckily, but he may have had to deal with the taste of vampire in his mouth the next morning once or twice. ]

So you can completely control it? It doesn't hurt, does it?

[ The question's nearly rhetorical. He's asked the same of other shifters, and it's been a pretty universal 'no'. ]

It - well, it hurts if I try to control it too much. Like I said, we kinda... have to indulge. From time to time. But it's usually all right.

Sounds nice.

[ He's gotten over being jealous of the other shifters, really, but he still reserves the right to be petty. ]

And your wife? Is she... ?

Yep. Both our families are. [a beat. He sounds a little smaller when he continues,] And our son.

Your son?

[ he sounds surprised, but it's more disbelief than anything. ]

Is that - that's normal for you guys, right? Is it a normal term, or- [ wow that's really gross and personal. ] Sorry, that's hideously inappropriate. Congratulations? [ good save?? ]

I'm not sure what you mean, but - thanks. [that. Sounded a bit like a question more than gratitude.]

It means - something hideously inappropriate.

[ seriously, he was about to ask if your wife's pregnancy was human-length or dog-length. ]

But don't worry. Your secret's safe with me. [ which is the subtle implication that he's hoping his is safe with andy, too. ] Is it - it is a secret, right? What you guys can do?

It is. Or - was. Supposed to be. I'm not sure there's a point in keeping it here, since... wolf people are a thing. Apparently.

They are, but they aren't all out either. I think it's mostly personal preference and old habits dying hard.

[ well, mostly that. ]

Some think there are still threats out there. Hunters.

Really? [That's. Inconvenient. We don't want that.] I don't think I've met anyone who was... anti-us.

I've run into a couple, but they were mostly just talking trash on the network. Pretty sure the ship's "no murdering people" rules apply to wolf people, too.

[Pause. He becomes a little quieter.]

I don't think that's every stopped anyone before.

[ he should probably be polite and not pry, but it's already been established that he only manages that in extreme circumstances. ]

Do you have them where you're from?

[ he's used to threats - from vampires and other wolves, mostly - but hunters aren't something he ever encountered back home. ]

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