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Post by jarahamee on Sept 22, 2022 17:26:04 GMT -6
What a wonderful night to have a curse.
Cassius himself appeared to have boundless energy, day and night. The massive and terrifying form of the dead god he wore seemed to have some inherent strength and endurance to it, among what was likely inherited instincts. Despite being built in a way that seemed unnatural and uncanny, it was able to move swiftly and with precision, looking neither like a canid or a man, but a very uncomfortable mixture of both. Whatever strange magic his transformation used appeared not to transfigure away his scars; the ragged stripes of thickened tissue traveled up and down his limbs and formed a strange tree on his back.
The werewolf capable of standing on two legs, but seemed to be more comfortable on all four, choosing to use this method to dash about the room and navigate its environment. Its eyes had an unnatural glow in the dim light of the building.
This research was valuable. Simon’s werewolf form was both incredible to behold and disappointing in some ways. It lacked human intelligence, but it was more intelligent than a wolf. He could see why Simon was concerned about letting himself out, even if the beast was not a direct danger. Well, to anything it did not consider a threat. All excellent information that he imagined Simon would want to know when he was himself again.
As the morning came near, Cassius settled somewhere nearby, creating a half-moon shape with his body as he rested. He yawned hugely, remembering days when he hunted freely, took whatever he wanted. Was it cruel to want such things again?
After Simon had settled, the old werewolf resumed his human form. The new charms worked well, and he had clothing now when he returned to being a man. Perhaps Agent Groves could use the same sort of magic when necessary.
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Post by beastly on Sept 25, 2022 12:18:00 GMT -6
Simon slept through the last hour until morning, awoken only by the shifting and moving of his bones and flesh. It was an uncomfortable process, not pretty, although not quite painful, and today it was enough to wake him up. Fur shifted away, bones arranged themselves, teeth lost their point, and a small hairy man was all that was left over.
When the wolf was once more a man, Simon sat on the floor feeling about like he'd been hit by a truck. It took the man several moments to come back to himself, and even more time to realize he wasn't home. He blinked, looking around the room, trying to put together the pieces of his situation and identify his location. It all returned, and the man's eyes found Cassius. Pants. He Refused to make eye contact until he was wearing pants. His clothes, unfortunately, were uncharmed.
Once pants were acquired, he awkwardly turned to face the gold agent.
"Um. Mornin'."
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Post by jarahamee on Sept 25, 2022 23:22:58 GMT -6
Cassius did not know very much about etiquette, but he knew enough not to watch Agent Groves look for his pants. Instead, he chewed on a protein-bar he retrieved from his locker, and glanced down at the few nails his left hand still had while he waited. When they did decide to grow back, they often didn’t quite grow right, but at least for now, they weren’t long enough to need trimming yet. “You know, I have a charm that allows my clothes to change with me. I think you might find it useful.”
He offered to Groves off-handedly, looking down at his own briefly. It had taken almost three decades, but finally, Lonan was able to convince him to enchant his clothing. It never bothered him to be naked, he rather liked the feeling of the wind against his skin, and the soil underneath his feet, but rules were rules. Lonan told him that wearing more clothes would help bridge the gap of trust between supers and the public, and that was what they wanted. And now for the news. Good news first, then bad news;
“The good news is, when you become a werewolf, you are not aggressive, and you’re more intelligent than any wolf. The bad news is that you only fell asleep for an hour, so I will have to think about something else to try next time. Like having you take a potion of astral projection instead.”
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Post by beastly on Oct 12, 2022 8:46:45 GMT -6
Simon nodded in response rubbing his face. He knew that charms for shifters existed, he'd just never bothered investing in them. If everything went right, after all, he would be locked in his apartment, in the cage in his room. The only time being nude was an issue was when he wasn't home or had escaped. He was occasionally being 'dog sat' by Jed now days, so the idea was a bit more appealing.
"I'll see about it, thanks."
His face fell a bit when he heard Cassius's notes on the night. It was good he wasn't aggressive, he knew in his heart that he wasn't some bloodthirsty monster when transformed, but it was good to hear Cassius say it. It was disappointing that he had only been out for an hour, he'd really hoped it would be a solution. Simon had known, though, that there was a chance it wouldn't work, and tried not to feel too disappointed. As he was getting less groggy, he realized that he'd been let out of the cage. A spike of anxiety ran through him, but he tried to rationalize that Agent Lucidus knew what he was doing. He trusted the man, and if he'd gotten information about Simon and his curse through letting him out, and hadn't been bit, then it was a good choice.
"Well. It's good to know," Simon crouched, grabbing his shirt and finding his glasses so the agent was more than a blur," Thank you. I, um. Shame the sleep thing didn't pan out, but I'm open to anything you think might work."
The idea of an astral projecting werewolf sounded a bit ridiculous, but he wasn't about to turn up his nose at anything the gold badge suggested. He stifled a yawn, packing the rest of his things back into his bag.
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Post by jarahamee on Oct 12, 2022 19:31:00 GMT -6
Cassius nodded vaguely, looking off into the distance to avoid staring at Simon. While staring came naturally to him, this was not the time or place to show Agent Groves that he was paying attention. He instead focused on smiling, trying to settle on the right size and shape for his mouth. There was never a good shape for it; it was always ugly, but sometimes it looked better than others.
“I’ll get you a charm, and we’ll try the mental clarity potion next. I feel like that might work better for you in your wolf form.”
He looked down at his hands again, fiddling with his backpack and mangled fingers as he awkwardly sat on his stool. For what it is worth, he did betray Grove’s trust. He had promised to keep him in. While Simon was not someone whose authority he trusted, he did owe him some kind of explanation, perhaps.
“I have been a wolf for a long time. I could tell you did not mean me harm, either as a man or as a beast. That is why I chose to let you out. We were able to gather good data that way.”
The scarred man shuffled his coat onto his shoulders, picking up his gloves from the floor.
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Post by beastly on Oct 16, 2022 21:04:55 GMT -6
The small man, now dressed, looked up at Cassius, mustering up a tired grin despite the headache growing behind his eyes.
"Thanks. That sounds good to me, man."
When agent Lucidus explained himself for letting Simon out, the werewolf gave a shrug.
" I trust ya. It was worth it. I just... get nervous. Not eager to share, you know? I have a muzzle I woulda brought," he gave another shrug and shook his head," anyway, uh, thank you. I appreciate you giving up your time for this. Let me know if there's anything I can do to repay you. I know you mentioned something...? A new potion."
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Post by jarahamee on Oct 20, 2022 0:03:04 GMT -6
“You don’t have to worry about muzzles. Besides, you have hands in that form, and are good at using them. Smarter than any ordinary wolf.”
Cassius’ voice was unconcerned, though it carried a gentle note with its usual harshness. This man was going through a traumatic experience, and had suffered by the hand of his curse. He had no doubt it effected more of his life than just the nights that he turned. He looked back at Agent Groves, his dark eyes piercing as he gathered his things, placing his backpack on his back, and shouldering the grocery bags he had brought in.
“Yes. I’ll send you the date, but for now, do not worry about that matter.”
It might be too soon to use him as an observer for the trial. Perhaps after the second test, and some success. While Cassius was far from concerned about getting into trouble for his self-experimentation, he did not want rumors of his activity spreading around the department. What would they think if he became even more of a ravening monster than he was already?
And yet…What power.
It called to him, the first and only clear solution to his dilemma. Outwit the Beast, outwit his end. Become a demigod.
Lose himself.
Was there any other way?
He smiled sadly to himself, only briefly as he turned back to Agent Groves;
“Do you want to get breakfast? I am hungry.”
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Post by beastly on Nov 4, 2022 21:37:27 GMT -6
Knowing that he could at least help Agent Lucidus in return was a relief. It was too kind what the man was doing for him, and he had a hard time accepting help without feeling like he needed to give back. It would be good to feel useful to the agent he respected so much.
"Gotcha." Simon slung his bag over his shoulder, perking up slightly when breakfast was mentioned. Despite whatever he ate over the course of the night, he was still hungry. Simon could always eat. Turning into a large hairy monster took a lot out of a guy.
"I could, uh," Simon cracked a pointy, bashful grin, even as he prepared for the pun," wolf somethin' down. You gotta at least let me buy, though."
Knowing that they were working towards something to make the lycanthropy more bearable enabled the bad joke. It didn't sting so much now that there was hope.
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Post by jarahamee on Nov 6, 2022 0:02:33 GMT -6
Cassius smiled, and lead the way to breakfast. The way he discussed mundane matters over coffee and eggs, as if he had not witnessed Simon turn into a werewolf, and their experiment failing, was admittedly strange. If nothing else, he seemed to be cheerful, and decidedly well-rested considering he hadn’t really rested at all the previous evening.
After paying for breakfast, Cassius made sure that Agent Groves returned home safely, handing him another appointment card;
Next week, 5 PM sharp, same location.
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And same location and time it was. The next week, the room was refitted, cleaned, ready for Simon. The cage was prepared, ready to be triple padlocked, even though they now knew there was no reason to be. The padding and magical reinforcement on the walls was comforting, and the floor was made of some sterile-looking steel. As before, Cassius had carefully inscribed the floor in circles. The air had the sort of clean metallic tang he preferred in facilities like this. It just felt right for this sort of experimentation.
As before, Cassius sat on a stool, waiting for Agent Groves to arrive. He was wearing a different sort of outfit today; high waist-ed leather pants, a cropped jacket and t-shirt with a retro-style cartoon wolf on it. Had he taken a motorcycle here? It certainly looked like it. Or maybe he just liked it look stylish, but Simon hadn’t really gotten that vibe from him any of the times he had seen him outside of work.
He looked up as Simon approached, patting the stool next to him. The set of lockers that he had bolted to the nearby wall stood open, a set of paper bags already sitting within one of them.
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Post by beastly on Nov 9, 2022 0:08:19 GMT -6
"Hey there... Oh, Like the shirt."
Simon entered after knocking, stepping into the room Agent Lucidus had prepared, bag full of clothes clutched tightly, but looking far less nervous than he had on the previous full moon. It was odd enough to see the gold badge out of uniform, but even stranger to see him in what appeared to be leather motorcycle clothing. Not that Simon was judging, he thought it was kind of cool, and he liked the little wolf on his shirt. Self aware wolf clothing was something he sported himself sometimes.
Simon sat on the stool as Agent Lucidus indicated, looking to the man for further instruction. He fidgeted slightly, trying to settle himself.
"What, uh, what's the plan?"
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Post by jarahamee on Nov 9, 2022 1:15:00 GMT -6
Cassius smiled, the expression as unsettlingly lopsided as ever on his sharp face. His dark eyes followed Simon’s trajectory as he pulled two objects out of his jacket pocket. He spent a moment unwrapping the two of them from their cloth, before offering them to his companion. One appeared to be a sort of talisman, hanging from a chord, the other appeared to be a potion in a small vial.
“Two solutions in one; the talisman is one of focus.”
He placed the talisman in Simon’s hand. It felt oddly warm for something made of stone, and the werewolf could swear it had a pulse all its own within it. The design on its surface was etched, geometric with waving lines curling over its surface in wide swirls. A single hole in its center became the point at which its leather cord passed through it.
“It will help amplify your consciousness and will.”
Cassius pressed Simon’s hand over it, then turned his gaze to the second, object, the potion.
“This a Mental Clarity potion. It will help you control the Wolf, at least more than you do now. So it will exist, but be more under your control. As this is a curse, I imagine there will be some side effects, but that is what we are here to explore.”
The scarred man held the vial out between two gloved fingers, waiting for Simon to take it.
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Post by beastly on Nov 9, 2022 17:12:25 GMT -6
Simon took the talisman as prompted, holding it in his hand with no small measure of curiosity. He'd tried charms and other magics before, but never combining them, and never this specific talisman. He had a vague knowledge of such things, like all magic he was intrigued by it. His fingers felt the lines in the stone, the strange warmth. Maybe, maybe it would be part of a solution.
Simon took the potion from the agent, holding it up and looking at it with a nod. Perhaps using the combination would force his lycanthropy to give him a little bit of his mind back. Even just a little would be fine- enough that he could keep himself inside and out of trouble would suffice.
"Thanks... We'll see what happens," Simon nodded again, then added with cautious optimism, " It sounds like it should do something."
He trusted Agent Lucidus. Whatever happened, he was fairly certain the gold badge could handle it, even if it did make him go crazy wolf.
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Post by jarahamee on Nov 11, 2022 1:44:36 GMT -6
“We will see what happens. I can adjust potions based on results.”
Cassius rubbed his gloved hands together eagerly, leaning back against his chair. There was so much to look forward to. Even if he failed, the failure wouldn’t be permanent, and he’d be able to try again later, with something else. Astral projection might be a good next goal. Maybe it would only be a partial failure.
Or perhaps, maybe it would be a success. He could never be sure with magic like curses. Removing them wasn’t really his specialty, and he wasn’t really sure this one could be removed, at least in the traditional sense. Maybe confined to one part of his body? Or perhaps, put in another body? The thought amused him, but he was sure Agent Groves would hate the prospect.
“I am ready when you want to begin.”
He had several food puzzles this time, for the intrepid werewolf in everyone’s lives. He had brought healthier treats. Perhaps he could work on other kinds of enrichment to get Simonwolf comfortable with his time in the cage while they were waiting for the curse to wear off.
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Post by beastly on Nov 11, 2022 17:50:50 GMT -6
"Right."
Simon looked at the potion in his hand a little longer, then took a deep breath in, examining the talisman in his hand. He exhaled, then put on a nervous smile.
"I'm ready. Moonrise is in about a half hour."
Agent Lucidus no doubt knew that, but Simon mentioned it anyway. Time, especially this close to the full moon, was always a weight on his mind. The idea of shifting anywhere but a safe contained place, god forbid somewhere in public, ranked among his worst nightmares.
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Post by jarahamee on Nov 12, 2022 23:34:27 GMT -6
As before, Cassius set up Simon’s cage, integrating several food puzzles into the floor, and a few chew sticks and toys, as if he were setting up enrichment for a small bear. When he was satisfied, he placed Simon’s stool in the center, and offered him one of several books to read, should he feel like doing so, along with a brown lunch bag.
“I thought you might need that, in case you didn’t bring anything.”
He closed the cell door, locking and bolting it, before turning on the television. Cassius had a strange sense of humor, but at least he had the good sense not to put on the three little pigs, or anything tasteless like that. No, it was another collection of Looney Tunes shorts that starred Hazel the witch.
“Now… we can count down. Try to relax. Close your eyes. Think about how it will feel to no longer worry about being a werewolf.”
He himself crossed his legs, closing his eyes and placing his hands on his knees, as if he were to meditate. It might help distract Agent Groves from what was going to happen. The anxiety must be terrible.
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