Beastmaster (Cassius/Simon)

[jarahamee]

Cassius double-checked the form on the table, taking his glasses off a moment to squint at the small print. It was a point of pride that he didn’t ask people to use a larger font for him, but it did present some practical issues. Like sometimes having trouble seeing.

The paperwork felt endless, but there was a sense of completion when he was done. He then double-checked the specifics of the question on the form, compared it with the reference, and carefully filled out the space. And on to the next question. And the next. In the back of his mind, he was reminded that in the past there were scribes for that. Rushed work meant poor casework, and the more cases he took on the more accomplished he felt. Wasn’t investigating as many cases as possible and closing each case the apex of what he was meant to do here?

Here at the WDSA he wasn’t important enough for a secretary. Perhaps he could hire one to save himself the time.

He glanced over his paperwork pile at the photo of Anya on his desk, noting that it had shifted and become crooked somehow. He adjusted it to straightness, moving it flush to the photo of his son, David. He sometimes wondered about what people thought of his photo collection, but most of the time, no one asked any questions. Maybe they thought it was one of those costume photo sets.

Cassius didn’t bother to linger on the thought too long. It was distracting from his work, and he had to keep his focus. Stay focused. Finish this stack and he could go home.

[beastly]

Getting back into the swing of things had been... hard. Simon had seriously considered quitting his job, skipping town, and having a werewolf meltdown in the mountains of Vermont. He had wanted to. He still half wanted to.

He didn't, in the end. No, he had work to do. His mom and siblings. He had people who needed him, he had far too many strings holding him in the city to just leave. Sure, world was ending and he could do absolutely nothing about it, but Otis needed their weekly check in. Kate would take it personally if he disappeared on her. Ed... poor Ed. It had been a lot to work on with his therapist for one session, and he certainly had a boatload of fun and exciting new issues that he definitely wasn't over yet, but he was here.

So, back to work he was. He'd received a note from agent Lucidus, apparently he wanted to see him. He wasn't quite sure why, the note didn't say, which left room for speculation. That was unfortunate.

Simon tried not to worry as he made his way to the man's office, pausing at the door. He knocked after a moment. He wasn't scared of the man, but everything felt off. The whole day did.

[jarahamee]

Cassius thought about getting up, but he would have to vault over his desk to get to the door quickly. Better to act normal. He decided to remain sitting at his desk, waiting for the visitor to enter. He made a mental note of where he was in his paperwork, and then pushed it aside, and looked beyond.

“Come in.”

He waited for Agent Groves to enter. He had mentioned wanting to meet privately, and now, they were here. The scarred werewolf knitted his fingers together and leaned forward, trying his best not to look threatening. He was never sure how good a job he did.

“You had asked about meeting me…for some kind of special interest potion?”

Cassius’ downward-turned brow quirked upwards, and he cocked his head to the side, a gesture to indicate he was listening. Telegraphing intent seemed to work best in these sorts of environments. There were plenty of perfectly reasonable things people might want of him, and some that were either unadvisable or impossible, depending on the type of demand.

“I’m always willing to help those within our department, within reason.”

[beastly]

Simon had entered, and walked over to the gold badges desk to speak. His brain took a few moments to load properly, and then a weak hal smile found his lips. He had mentioned, vaguely, that he wanted to talk to the man about the potential of a potion. He'd forgotten he'd done so, what with everything happening. Agent Lucidus had remembered, though.

"Thank you," He clenched his fingers, sending a strange jolt of numbness through his arm," I, um. It's been busy. Yes. So..."

Simon trailed off, he'd have to explain himself. He didn't want to go into the problem he was having and why he needed a potion, but the man was not a mind reader, and he needed to convey that this wasn't some silly whim like wanting to turn invisible or something. He hated to ask for help and feel like a burden, but Agent Lucidus had never treated Simon like his needing help had been some horrible inconvenience. He had said just now he would help. It made speaking a bit easier.

"I, uh. I've got lycanthropy, I'm a moonshifter. I don't really get to... I'm not in control of my shifts."

He glanced away from the man, looking at something very interesting on the floor to maintain composure. He wasn't scared of the Agent, but voicing what had happened was difficult.

" Would you know of any potions that could help with controlling lycanthropy? I need some help, or something that could knock me out for twelve hours, if you know of it," he bit his lip,"I got out last full moon, I bit a friend. Got shot by some lunatic with silver bullets."

If it hadn't been for Aaron and Fao he'd be very, very dead.

He hoped Agent Lucidus could help, and dared to look back up at him. He was a smart man, experienced. If anyone knew how to help, it'd be him. Charms had little effect on him in the past. His lycanthropy was a curse, and so sometimes it resisted attempts to make living with it more bearable. Loss of control and becoming an animal was the point. He had no illusions that Agent Lucidus had a cure up his sleeve, but maybe he knew somthing.

[jarahamee]

Cassius’ eyes lit up. Lycanthropy, was it. He scoured his brain to think of all the options they might have. Would something like hypnosis work for his wolf form? Sleeping could certainly do the trick, but some enchantments were resistant to effects like that. A potion to allow him to be as a man in his wolf form? Tricky, he could never tell how they might override one another.

“Well, we have options.”

He pressed his fingers together and leaned forward. Thankfully it was no rush, and some options would be better than none. He didn’t waste time asking about feelings, pleasantries or details. The scarred man lay his hands on the table, considering.

“We can try a Sleep potion. If that works, that will be an easy solution. Other solutions would be Deep Hypnosis, taking a Mental Clarity potion, or a transformation potion when you are expecting to become a werewolf.”

Cassius took a deep inward breath, and watched Simon for a response. It was not a cure. Alchemy was simply not capable of such a thing, but it was something they might be able to accomplish.

[beastly]

A look of relief took its place on Simon's face, and he took a breath in, then a breath out. He tried to temper his hope with the knowledge that none of it may work, but he felt like bricks had been lifted from his chest.

"That's- That'd be very helpful, thank you. It, uh. It's been kinda stubborn in the past."

There were options. If the sleeping potion didn't work, they could try something else.

[jarahamee]

Cassius clapped his hands together, and then held them clasped in front of his body. His face split into a grotesque smile from his grimace-like neutral expression, and he leaned forward on the table, resting his weight on his forearms.

“Sleep potion it is!”

The scarred man was genuinely excited. A challenge for once. He rubbed his hands together. The fingers were notably uneven. Some of them seemed to be missing fingertips, others were missing nails. Some of his fingers appeared to have been broken before. The old werewolf paid it no mind.

“Alright. When is the next full moon? I use sleep potions for work purposes. They’re usually pretty rapid onset.”

He looked up at the ceiling. A few days, wasn’t it? Was that why Agent Groves had come to him now? He cocked his head, as if listening for an answer, waiting.

[beastly]

Simon allowed himself a small smile in response to the scarred agent's own grin. His eyes flicked to the man's hands, but he'd noticed before during Agent Lucidus's classes. He stuffed his own hands into his pockets as he spoke.

Mention of the full moon dredged up a cold dread in his belly, and his face reflected it briefly. The full moon was in five days, and in five days he would learn if he'd doomed Fao to share a similar fate. That only made it more important that they find something that made shifts more bearable- he'd owe it to the doctor if he'd transmitted the curse.

"That's good- It's in five days, Thursday. "

Hopefully that would be enough time to create a sleep potion. Or maybe Agent Lucidus would just have one since he used them. He could learn to make one- probably. He'd been getting better.

[jarahamee]

“You’re in luck. I have one on hand. I’ll watch you and see how well it works. If it doesn’t, then I will prepare one of my other potions for next month.”

He shifted his weight a little as he considered all possible solutions. It would be best if they tested this somewhere secure, like one of the magic safe-rooms. He could build a reinforced and sealed cage to contain Simon, and Simon would be bound there both physically and magically, with no hope of escape. Yes, that would be the best way.

“You know, I could set up in one of the testing rooms in the Department. That is part of why they exist; to test equipment, potions and spells. I.. will need to do some testing of my own in the next month. Perhaps you can help me with that when you are more settled. I’ve been working on some new formulas, for the first time in a long time."

Cassius drummed his fingers on his arm. His missing fingertip made an uneven thunk on the material of his sleeve. How much information did he want to give Groves? Just enough, most likely. A trade was fair, and he’d resolve the fellow’s problems, one way or another.

[beastly]

Thankfully agent Lucidus had one of the potions already. Which was a good thing, they wouldn't have to create a new one, it was one less thing to think about.

"Right. To see if it works, yeah," Simon nodded his agreement.

It was perfectly logical. He wasn't excited for the man to watch him transform into a monster, but it was necessary. He didn't exactly have heaps of dignity laying about anyway. So what if he saw? Lucidus was some variety of wolf shifter, if he'd gathered correctly.
He watched the agent consider something, and was relived to hear his thoughts. Using a testing room would be secure, safe- and it would spare him from having to clean his house for company. It was an odd thing to even worry about guests considering the circumstances, but there he was. Not biting the Agent was his biggest concern, of course.

Simon seemed to brighten when Agent Lucidus suggested he could return the favor and help him with some testing too.

"Yes, that sounds like a good plan- and of course I'll help, whatever you need."

After a moment, he spoke up again.

"Thank you. Really."

[jarahamee]

“Do not thank me just yet. Wait until we are successful.”

Cassius’ thoughtful expression shifted back into a grin. While this was a serious matter, he was confident he had the answer to the boy’s problems. One of his solutions had to work. He considered himself something of an expert in breaking down magic into its components. There were other possibilities, but he doubted that Groves had it in him to give his curse to someone else, or would be willing to…consider some of the more convoluted solutions that he could think of.

Maybe someday, they could consider it, if all else failed. The old werewolf had had his fill of human experimentation in his life, and knew well enough the chances there were for all to go poorly. And go poorly in horrifying, indescribable and irreversible ways. Cassius’ heart was hardened, and yet, even he shuddered at the memories. For every one success, there were ten failures, that was the price for working against the laws of nature.

He decided not to share his thought, instead handing Groves a flat business-like card with the floor and room number upon it. How he located it among the many stacks of paper on his desk was a mystery.

“Meet me at 6 PM. I’ll have everything set up.”

And so it was settled.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Five days later, Cassius glanced out of the shielded window, waiting. He had gotten to the room early, ensuring all the seals were airtight, before installing the cage. It was rare that they needed this kind of super restraint, but he wasn’t sure what sort of werewolf Simon would become. He didn’t want to be taken unawares if he became some kind of super-powered god on the full moon.

The room itself was modestly sized: The cage would probably fit most horses comfortably, but nothing more. The padding and magical reinforcement on the walls was comforting, and the floor was made of some sterile-looking steel. He himself had carefully inscribed the floor in circles. He merely needed to add a few lines to some characters in the chalk to close and seal it. The air had the sort of clean metallic tang he preferred in facilities like this. It just felt right for this sort of experimentation.

And in case he needed some kind of visual cue, Cassius had installed a hanging screen to project the moon at the proper time.

[beastly]

To say Simon was nervous would be an understatement. He was always agitated and a bit grumpy in the hours leading up to the full moon, but tonight's events would mean a lot for several reasons. Tonight it would be revealed if Fao was infected. Tonight they would explore an option for making his shifts easier.

He made his way to the room with his bag, a change of clothes for the morning. He stood outside the room for a few moments, just staring at the door. It wasn't as if he could prolong anything or change the course of events already in motion by waiting. He took a deep breath, schooled his face into something more pleasant, and knocked then entered.

"Hey, uh. Evening."

Simon greeted the agent, then started looking around the room. He inspected the cage with a critical eye, putting a hand on the cage and checking the strength of it. He couldn't help but sniff around, trying to be subtle. It felt clean. Safe. A glance at the lines on the floor, and he felt more solidly reassured. He wouldn't be getting out of this room until morning.

He stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Thanks again for setting this up. Don't think I'll be getting out of this, even if the potion doesn't work."

He wouldn't want to bite Agent Lucidus.

[jarahamee]

The old werewolf looked away from his handiwork at the sound of approach. Habit made him move towards cover, and the animal part of his brain watched the door keenly as he finished a few final strokes. That stubborn, instinctual part of him relaxed only a little when he heard the familiar pattern of Simon’s footfalls, and saw his shape appear in the doorway. Habits die hard.

The scarred man rolled a paper bag about in one hand, waving his other briefly at Agent Groves.

“Good Evening. I’m glad you approve of the accommodations. I ensured that we had approval before setting this up. I’ve spent many years working on ways to confine supers; this should be..sufficient, even if you are physically very strong.”

Cassius felt like it would only be patting himself on the back if he spent more time explaining the whys and hows of how exactly all of this worked. If the young man wanted it, then he could give him more specific instructions on how to construct his own secure confinement.

Maybe it was best not to, because it might be so secure he couldn’t undo it. They could find a way to make a circle he’d need to be able to use logic to undo… Perhaps that would be better.

“I prepared some things for you.”

He carefully handed the paper lunch bag to Simon. On inspection, it seemed to be a plain bag with two small potions that were both the size of mini alcohol bottles, a sandwich, a bag filled with roast beef, a bottle of water, and some plain chips. There also appeared to be a rubber dog toy with the center hollowed out, made for a very large dog.

“For later. Except the potions of course. If you wanted to give yourself some enrichment when transformed…you can put some of the beef in there. If things don’t work, anyways. As for arranging this…It is part of my job. Do not thank me for that.”

The Gold Captain did not seem to be particularly perturbed about the possibility of failure. In fact, he somewhat expected it. Often it took many failures to come to a success.”

[beastly]

Simon gave the man a tired grin after he examined the bag.

"Well. I'll just thank you for the sandwich and the beef then, huh?"

It was a pretty good idea. He sometimes forgot to give the wolf- himself- things to do, leading to frustration for the beast and the feeling lingered into the morning. Something to chew on would hopefully keep the creature occupied for a while if he didn't stay knocked out the whole time.

Simon reached into the bag, delicately taking out the little potions.

"I've got about a half hour until I shift. I get set up and then drink these? ...Yeah."

Bit of a stupid question. His wolf form would probably not willingly drink a potion. He squinted at the bottles.

"Do I drink both?"

[jarahamee]

Cassius seemed amused by the question, and tilted his head a little as he watched Agent Groves sort himself out. He had always thought the answer was obvious, but perhaps it was not as evident as he would have liked. Drinking two of these would probably make someone sleep for a week.

He shook his head;

“No. That is an extra in case some of it spills out onto the floor. I have to make potions in batches, and wanted to make sure that I brought enough in case something happened to one of the doses.”

The old soldier rubbed his scarred neck and stretched his shoulders a little, considering. Simon should know by now that potion production was not exactly a fast or easily streamlined process, and that was one of its greatest limiting factors. Along with actual talent of the alchemist him or herself, of course.

“Go ahead and set yourself up, and then drink one of these potions last. If you end up drinking the second while transformed… it would not be the worst, but I will likely have to reverse you.”

One of the few times he was unsure how any of this was going to work. Well, new challenges were just that, challenges, and they kept his mind and body young. Or maybe Vik did more of the second. Did that count as a challenge? He smiled to himself and leaned against the wall.