growling | ic inbox.

[ Nailed it. ]

Surprisingly? Yes. There are some Lon Chaney Jr types around here, as far as I can tell all they do is grow muttonchops and growl.

[ And, completely weirdly, he both agrees and disagrees with George on the evil creature commentary. He's seen enough things to know that wolves aren't quite that one-dimensional, very nearly even came to terms with his. That's all gotten confused, now, but he's definitely graduated from "kill it" to "it's complicated". ]

Oh, lovely. So all those werewolves, chatting about their genitals that Mitchell mentioned -- they haven't even the condition proper, is it?

Some of them do. There's a kid, and a guy who I'm pretty sure is from your neck of the woods. But there are a few who basically just have superpowers, and then there's the shapeshifters - they have it the easiest, I think.

Would it be extremely rude to ask about the details of the shift? It would probably be extremely rude. Have you ever studied it?

[ It is shockingly an advancement in his social skills that he is bothering to ask first. ]

How many of us ARE there? Bloody hell, sounds like a proper army.

[And yes, Josh, it's extremely rude, but the fact that he asked at all softens George's automatic offense.]

No, I've never studied it. I go out into the woods, I do my preparations, it happens, it's done. Not precisely going to stay around a great lot of scientists so that they can do proper observations. Ends up being rather more vicious than Michael J. Fox playing basketball.

[ Wait hold up. ]

Not other scientists, you. You've seriously never tried to observe it? Not even to figure out a cure?

[Not really an answer, but there's a little bubble of panic that wells up that he can't quite deal with.]

There is no cure.

[ Shit. He knows what that means, mostly because he said those exact words to Nora. Thank god it's easy to lie via text. ]

Not that I've found, but it didn't stop me from trying. Did you not study medicine?

[ It feels like a bigger betrayal than it should, cutting off that chance; but he doesn't know if it's the same for George, and the truth is that it wasn't a cure. Not really, not for the real curse. That's how he justifies the blatant lie, anyway. ]

[Christ. The panic passes, because...Because it is a miserable bloody thought to think that there might have been a cure, all this time, and...

Right. It's a weird question, no doubt about that.]

Is there a reason I ought to have done? It wasn't exactly part of the standard curriculum at university.

What did you study?

[ Feeling a bit Single White and Female again yet, George? ]

I was getting my teaching certificate. I thought you were already to have known that.

[Still - ]

Were you studying medicine, then?

[ This is weirdly refreshing. ]

MIT premed before... camping happened. I seriously thought I would be able to solve it by peeing in a cup after the shift for about 3 years.

[ Not peeing for three years, obviously. Just thought there was a medical cure to a curse for way longer than common sense should dictate. And yes, he's mocking himself - he's aware that's stupid. ]

[sssssorry josh but George might actually be even more pedantic than you and he's relieved enough by this lack of similarity - finally! - to make a joke.]

Well. I hope it was a large cup, then, if you were going for 3 years.

[ WOW thanks but whatever, he set himself up for that one. ]

You're hilarious, really.

Is it a quadruped?

[ BACK TO SCIENCE QUESTIONS. ]

I'll ask it next time, shall I?

[Buuuut...]

When I was attacked, it scratched me. So probably not a quadruped, no.

Not necessarily. Ours are mostly quadruped, but scratching is their MO of choice.

[ Okay but your lack of research actually pains him, how do you not even know this much. ]

You haven't even tried to film it?

[With rising temper:]

Right, yes, because that's a marvelous idea, isn't it. Perhaps after I could review it to watch how it tears everything apart. I could use that to reflect upon what would happen if someone ever came near enough for me to hurt. Brilliant.

That's not what I mean.

[ And separately, a few seconds later: ]

It's safer for others if you know exactly what you're capable of.

[ It doesn't help him sleep at night, but the point stands. ]

[In spite of himself, he feels his throat tightening.]

I know what I'm capable of. I felt what I'm capable of. I saw that poor stupid man with his chest torn out beside me. Sitting and watching Candid Camera of the wolf tearing up everything that comes near it isn't going to teach me anything new.

[ Which is... completely true, and makes Josh feel like an asshole. True enough in the ways that count, anyway; still doesn't make the details less important, but he won't be sharing his stupid werewolf journal with George anytime soon. ]

You're right.

[ Not quite 'I'm sorry', but close. ]

How long has it been?

[ He could probably clarify, but he doubts he has to. He used to be able to count how many days he'd been a wolf. Not anymore, because it's changed - he has - and he's guessing that change is worth paying attention to if he wants to avoid stepping on toes again. ]

[Shit, he doesn't want to be talking about this. Talking about it like this - it's like with Tully; he feels scared, and helpless, like someone's going to ask him questions about the werewolf using you instead of it and force him to think that way. But George is...Well, he's British, and he's talking to an American, and a British person doesn't say piss off when they've been having a civil conversation before because then will come the embarrassment of having to explain exactly what it was, and...Right, no.]

Two years, eight months. How long has it been for you?

[ It's starting to feel a lot more like a massive gaping distance than an occasional difference. ]

Over four. Years.

[ Except that's another lie, because he spent nearly a third of that human, and that's something he's not touching with a ten foot pole. And, for the sake of making amends for running roughshod over basically everything: ]

You'll be fine here. It turns out spaceships are surprisingly werewolf-friendly - way more secure than hospital basements and running naked into the woods.

[He looks at that a moment, then responds:]

No one's been bitten here?

Not that I'm aware of. I've been here nearly a year, so there's that.

[ Well, nine months, but way too close to a year for his liking. ]

[Well, that's good. Especially considering how many Lon Chaney types there are about.]

Right. That's good. Are there many vampires about? I'm guessing not, as no one's jumped me yet.

More than a bushel, actually. They're playing nice, something about a murder ship bringing everyone together. And apparently some of them are from worlds that don't prioritize beating the crap out of werewolves.

[text] rubs on delicately

[text] Can they please get elitist about having the shittiest werewolfism

[text] y e s

[text] "Teen Wolf is so mainstream"

[text] cries also canon differences in 3, 2, 1.....

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