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Post by beastly on Nov 14, 2022 20:57:13 GMT -6
Simon inspected the set up, trying to look less worried than he was. Compared to last month, he was much less jittery, but that by no means meant he was relaxed. He couldn't identify the emotions he felt looking at it all. It was for an animal, but also him. Animal him.
When offered a book, he took one with a thank you, but didn't read it. He just held it in one slightly sweaty hand. It was, silly enough, a comfort just to have it in his hand.
After another deep breath, he joined Agent Lucidus on the floor, mimicking him. He closed his eyes, and, tentatively, dared to hope. No longer worryingly about being a werewolf... God... if he got it under control, he could make plans the day of the full moon. Not at night, but he wouldn't need to leave work extra early to sort out his set up. He wouldn't have to worry about getting out and being shot. Biting a loved one. Eating a pet. If he got it under control, maybe he could have a cat.
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Post by jarahamee on Nov 15, 2022 2:21:46 GMT -6
Cassius closed his eyes. His other senses stretched out, the hyperawareness of the Beast in the background. It lurked, listening, ears pricked, nose at the ready. It could sense the tension, the danger in the air that the full moon provided. And yet, it was not afraid. It was waiting. Waiting for a friend.
Were all of his friends also Beast’s friends? He wondered, idly. Beast had none of his patience for ordinary people, those he tolerated as necessary cogs in the machine of society. Those he had no connection with.
It was fierce and territorial, and it had no tolerance for nonsense.
“Breathe in. Deep breath. Concentrate on that breath. Take three seconds to time each one. In, and out. Your full chest. Slow, easy. Empty your mind. Focus on breathing. Keep your eyes closed. Let’s do that until I tell you to stop… Now… In, and out, got it?”
The scarred man spoke, almost in automation, as his mind traveled. Who had he learned this from? His beloved Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram? Undoubtedly one of his many servants. And since then many times. He could never remember because it held little value to him.
His own mind was always clearest in the heat of battle. Hyperfocused, alive at the moment when he should worry about death. Modern people had called it a battle-trace, but he simply referred to it as bloodlust. The simple desire to perform tasks and dismantle their enemies before them. How much simpler life was when those were the only rules he had to obey.
“And relax. If it did not feel right, we can hum instead.”
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Post by beastly on Nov 23, 2022 9:56:40 GMT -6
Simon followed the older werewolf's instructions, trying to keep his focus on his breathing. In... and out. Unhelpful thoughts popped up from the sidelines, but Simon stubbornly refused to acknowledge them. Just breathe. He'd tried sitting quietly before, briefly tried meditation after he'd been bitten, but rarely did it now. He preferred to keep himself busy, keeping his mind so occupied with things that he had no time to dwell on the wolf. This, with Agent Lucidus, wasn't bad.
When instructed to relax, Simon cracked open an eye.
"No, uh. That was good."
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Post by jarahamee on Nov 24, 2022 1:14:06 GMT -6
“Then, let’s continue. We’ll work on making you feel as relaxed as you can. Focus on just feeling peaceful. Releasing tension. Feeling the universe. Just existing. The sound of the universe is in your breath. The air is always vibrating and when you breath, you are also vibrating it. Breathe in, and then breathe out. Breathe in, then breathe out. Focus.”
This continued for as long as Simon’s humanity lasted. Make him feel good. Relaxed, feeling at peace. Maybe it would help him keep his human mind when he transformed. Only the Gods would know what was going to happen, and he was all there for it.
Cassius closed his eyes, drifting on the warm sea of his memories. Oh, the men he had admired. They were all dead and gone now, except for one. He sometimes wondered, if he had given them immortality, would they have remained good? Some part of him, deep in his heart, doubted it. The one he had gifted had immediately soured. It was such a shame. His heart twinged thinking of it. Their loss would never be less painful, and in some cases, less senseless the more he thought of it.
What would this world have been like if they were with him now? He’d never know. What a loss, but a necessary one.
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Post by beastly on Nov 29, 2022 22:42:29 GMT -6
"Right. Okay."
Simon sat quietly, trying to keep his attention on his breathing, and not the impending transformation at the full moon. Maybe the potion and talisman were helping with that. Who could know. In... Out. Easy.
When the shift began, Simon took a deep, shaking breath. He didn't open his eyes. A small voice was anxious that Agent Lucidus was here for this. The other man had seen this before, though. Last month. Simon could feel fur growing in, pushing up through his skin, covering his arms and face. More uncomfortably, his bones started to creak and rearrange themselves, muscles traveling along with them, causing him to jerk and twitch.
It wasn't a very pleasant process, but, eventually there was no longer a man in the cage, just a wolf. Except... something was different.
The werewolf shook as if coming in from the rain, and stood, a bit dazed, in the cage.
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Post by jarahamee on Nov 30, 2022 2:13:29 GMT -6
Cassius smiled. The expression was unpleasant on his face, exaggerated by the scar on his cheek. The charm may not have worked perfectly, but it had done /something/ and that was a good first step getting to where they were going. He had met Simon as an unaltered werewolf, Now, it was time to find out how extensive this change had been.
“Simon, can you hear me? Agent Groves?”
He stayed seated in his chair. If Agent Groves was still full werewolf, it might be startling to see him rise. If he was a man, it probably wouldn’t matter. Or maybe he just wouldn’t care, but ultimately it was better if he didn’t move for now.
“Are you there?”
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Post by beastly on Nov 30, 2022 8:48:34 GMT -6
Simon was internally trying to sort himself out. The man's mind was not where it should be, buried under layers and layers of wolf to the point he wasn't there, but now it was only gently blanketed in canine. The result was... something. Simon felt sluggish in the mind, like he was thinking through a straw. It reminded him a little of how he'd felt on painkillers. He shook his head as if to clear it.
Still disoriented, Simon looked up at the sound of his name. Agent Lucidus was here! That's right. His tail wagged without him telling it to, and Simon remembered why he was here, what they were doing.
He opened his mouth, but no words came, just canine noises. Of course, came the thought a second later, he had no lips, no human vocal cords. Instead, the werewolf slowly nodded his head, a few times so Agent Lucidus would know it was deliberate.
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Post by jarahamee on Nov 30, 2022 23:27:52 GMT -6
Cassius smiled, and held up his hand to wave it in return. So Simon was here. But would he remain this way? Was he going to keep his consciousness, or was it going to fade with time he spent transformed? So far things looked like a success, but last time, his victory was only temporary. Only time would tell.
The scarred man scooted closer, bringing out a picture book, and brought it up to the bars as he considered how best to test SimonWolf’s intelligence. He could not respond with words, but he could at least respond non-verbally.
“Can you read this book?”
He brought the book close to the bars, showing the images within the picture book to Simon.
The puzzles came out again.
He gave him a coloring book to use and waited.
A number of tests were performed throughout the night, to ensure that his results were true and lasting. How far did his intelligence extend, and would it extend until his return to human form? Only time would tell.
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Post by beastly on Dec 15, 2022 23:43:58 GMT -6
Simon brought his nose up to the book, tail wagging still. He stared at the book for a while, brain foggy and distant, but letters eventually became words. The werewolf nodded again.
Puzzles took Simon significantly longer than they should have, getting completed, but only after lots of contemplative staring. Bit by bit, he worked at them until done.
Simon's dexterity was worse than it was when he was human, but far beyond how it'd been just wolf brained. He colored in the lines fairly well, but again, it took him longer than it would have as a man.
Overall, Simon seemed a bit distant. He was prone to responding to things upon instinct first, but there was human restraint applied, intelligent there. He was less sharp than he was during the week, but it was a huge improvement. Things stayed fairly consistent through the night, and into the morning. And then further into the morning. Hours after the man should have returned, hours after the sun was up. He was still a werewolf when the clock struck ten.
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Post by jarahamee on Dec 16, 2022 3:32:39 GMT -6
How delightful. The set of wards allowed Simon to retain control of his wolf form. Perhaps not all of his ordinary mental capacity, but enough that he wasn’t going to have to worry about how he behaved in his beast form. And it was constant. Beautiful, perfect. Exactly what he wanted to see.
The night wore on, and the evening bled into morning. Ah, so there was a drawback. And now Simon was going to be late for work.
Cassius took out his phone and sent a message to the office, letting them know Simon was ill and would have to sleep in a little. Hopefully they’d understand. After all, he had been injured in the line of duty, metaphorically anyways.
He checked his watch, and pulled his breakfast out of the bag. A cold egg and cheese sandwich. Wolf-Simon would probably appreciate it, and hopefully it’d sit in his stomach better than garbage might.
If Simon did well warded, did this mean he’d be able to help investigate crime scenes in wolf form? Cassius wouldn’t know, but he’d be able to ask soon. What a joy having another werewolf agent was.
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Post by beastly on Dec 23, 2022 22:12:21 GMT -6
Simon wolfed down the egg sandwich, tired at this point after being up so long but, of course, always open to eating. His tail wagged, independent of his brain. He didn't have it in him to be too insecure about some of his more wolfish instincts right now.
It occurred to him shortly after eating the sandwich that it did feel like he had been a wolf for a long while. He had seen the agent check his watch, and he reasoned that it had been a while. A pang of anxiety pierced the fog, and he brought a paw-hand to the talisman. The werewolf looked up to Agent Lucidus with a questioning noise. Should he worry? Agent Lucidus did not seem worried.
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Post by jarahamee on Jan 1, 2023 1:32:42 GMT -6
Cassius shook his head, seeming unperturbed by the wolf’s continued presence. He pushed a wooden block puzzle out to Simon for him to work on, paying no mind to the creature’s concern. Time would pass, and the curse would wear off, just like it always did. They would just have to be patient.
“Don’t worry, I told work that you’d be a little late. They’re aware it’s extraneous circumstances. You know, that sort of thing.”
He gestured in the direction of the office. It was in the same building, so any time that Simon was available to return to work, he could simply walk there. Now, it was time to wait for his transformation to wear off.
The hours passed, and then finally at noon, the transformation wore off.
Cassius reminded himself to buy the boy some transforming clothes. He was going to need them if he didn’t find a way to break his curse.
“How do you feel? Do you remember anything?”
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Post by beastly on Jan 4, 2023 13:22:19 GMT -6
"I'm pretty wiped out, but I think I remember all of it?"
Simon shuffled tiredly into his clothing after his transformation, avoiding eye contact until, again, he was wearing pants. He really did need to get enchanted clothing. He looked up at Agent Lucidus, rubbing at his cheek. He stifled a yawn.
"It felt... sort of like a dream? When you're aware you're in a dream and it's kind of hard to sort yourself out. Confusing, but that's the most control I've ever had of it beyond, uh," he stopped himself from saying 'that Halloween thing where Aaron and the other fellas had to fight an undead version of you', "One other time."
He grabbed his shirt.
"What, um, do you think...?"
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Post by jarahamee on Jan 7, 2023 1:51:28 GMT -6
Cassius smiled absently, while his mind wandered over what that other time could have been. Was it something he could replicate? He supposed he had replicated it now, so it did not matter. While his expressions never looked particularly pleasant, they looked distinctly unpleasant when he smiled, especially when it was a tight smile.
“I think I would consider this a success, though it will make you late for work. Having some control over your body will also help quell your fear of what may happen while you are in your other form. You will just have to plan in advance for the days when you are transforming.”
He half-closed his eyes, reflecting. There were many different ways they could approach ‘curing’ Simon, but this was probably the only acceptable, and legal, one available to the both of them right now. A shame really. He wondered if the curse could still take root in Simon, if say he became a vampire, or perhaps, became another supernatural wolf-like creature. All of this would require testing, but it did pose an interesting question none the less.
“Are you satisfied with this solution, or do you want to keep trying things out?”
Cassius pulled his calfskin gloves back on before picking up his coat and shuffling it on his shoulders, readying himself to leave the room. They had not made much of a mess, and he could deal with clean-up later.
“I think another breakfast is warranted. What do /you/ think?”
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Post by beastly on Jan 25, 2023 20:29:43 GMT -6
Really, it was a success, like Agent Lucidus said. His shifts lasting longer wasn't ideal, but it was worlds beyond where he'd started off. He wouldn't run into traffic or destroy his apartment. He already tried to plan for full moons. It could be done. It wasn't perfect, but nothing would ever be. It was a curse.
Simon nodded, pulling on his shirt and grabbing his bag. He gave a tired smile.
"I'd say I agree it's a success. I have control of myself, mostly, and work'll get by without me if I gotta start coming in after noon once a month. I think, uh. This is better than I hoped for."
Simon gave a big stretch, and looked at Agent Lucidus with a sharp grin, and pointed a finger at him.
"I'd be more than happy to join you for breakfast, but you really gotta let me buy this time."
He'd been foiled in his previous attempts to repay the agent, and he would insist this time around.
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