singillatim | open | so make mine a pain in the neck

[ There's movement in the snow. It... doesn't sound like a person, and Kieren's freezing, lifting his head a little to listen to the sounds of it. A different kind of gait, more— more like a dog? Something that's not on two legs. He's perfectly still, eyes trying to peer round but he doesn't dare turn his head.

And the beast comes right up to him, pawing at him gently. Kieren trembles, horrified. Oh, shit. He's actually going to die, it's a fucking wolf.

He makes a strange little sound in the back of his throat, half-whine and half-whisper. Jesus, there's a wolf and it's pawing at him and maybe it won't think he's food because he's dead. He probably doesn't smell right to it. Maybe. He won't smell good to eat.

... Christ, he needs to move.

From not moving at all, Kieren dives away from the wolf — scrambling away in the snow with a strangled cry. He clambers backwards, trying to put as much space as he can. Fuck, fuck fuck— ]

[There was definitely something.....off about the way Kieren smelled to Connor's wolf nose. But he couldn't quite piece together what it was. Something like a combination of the scent of a carcass that had sat out for too long and was now rotting, that earthy smell like something had been lying on the forest floor for a long period of time, and something chemical that was sitting on the surface of the skin. Maybe a moisturizer? He couldn't tell.

What he did realize was that Kieren was one of those people who looked at wolves as being apex predators that were going to eat them. He couldn't really blame people for that, not when his father was literally the Big Bad Wolf and had chowed down on Fables without number. That had caused permanent infamy for their species even among the Mundies. So he stopped where he was at and let Kieren scramble away from him.

For his part, he just stood there with his tail wagging slowly and then crouching down low with his rump up in the air like a dog that wanted to play. Look, see, he was harmless! .....Alright, not entirely harmless but he wasn't interested in eating any of the other Interlopers. That would just make him very unpopular.]

[ He scrambles far enough to hit the back of one of the original graves of Milton, a half-buried stone headstone. He can't go any further, staring with wide-eyes. ]

Sh-shoo, just— [ He sounds pathetic as he says it, his voice wobbling and crackling in places. ] Go. Go, get away.

[ But the wolf isn't moving, isn't getting any further forward. It's just— wait, is it's tail wagging?! And the wide-eyed fear in his face melts into open confusion as the wolf crouches down into a play bow instead. Like a dog. He's... not expecting this in the slightest. ]

What the fuck?! [ He whispers it, his voice still cracking. Is this some sort of weird... psychological wolf warfare...? God, he's gonna get messed with before he gets eaten. ] ... If— if you're gonna eat me just do it, okay?!

[ This is just freaky. ]

[Poor guy. He still smelled like fear and Connor would have bet his heart was racing a mile a minute. When he mentioned eating him, Connor looked almost offended. Excuse you, he had better sense than to eat a human being! But he could understand why Kieren might feel that way. So he shook his head no at the question.

Perhaps this dude would understand what was going on if he wrote his name out in the snow. In theory, it was a good idea. He managed to make the C and O quite easily even with limbs that had never been meant to create letters in the first place. The N unfortunately was taking far longer to create, each stroke to create the letter taking a bit of time.]

[ If he had a heartbeat at all, it would definitely be racing. The only thing Kieren has is feelings. Fear, anxiousness, horror— but no, his heart hasn't beat in maybe five years or so, now. But there's also confusion now — did that wolf just shake its head at him?

And is... scratching something in the snow. Kieren doesn't move, but he stares with wide eyes at whatever it is the wolf's trying to do. C.... O.... N... N... O.... R.... Connor. It's writing... Connor.

Kieren blinks. The name rings a bell, wait— ]

Wait, you know Bigby? [ Bigby's spoken of him once, the mention of them being from the same world, along with Snow. ] Connor as in— same world as Bigby? Yeah?

[Connor nodded a bit, letting out a high-pitched yelp that affirmed Kieren was correct. He knew not everyone in the town was aware they were related, which was helped b the fact the two of them didn't look anything alike, but someone would have had to be completely oblivious not to see that the two of them lived together or that both of them had spoken about a connection with the other.

See, he was a good wolf, he wasn't going to hurt anyone! He came up and pawed Kieren again to reassure him with one very large brown paw. Look, he was in complete control of his instincts and wasn't about to chow down on the zombie for dinner.]

Okay, okay this it— that's just— [ It's fine. It's fine. Everything is just fine, and Kieren's still staring like he's not even sure about any of this. But he knows Bigby said Connor's okay. Him and Snow. And he trusts Bigby. He's just— a bit freaked out. ]

Yeah, okay. Personal space, mate. Yeah? It's okay. We're good now. Cut me with them claws by accident and it's going to be a pain in the arse for me to fix.

[ He takes a breath, a long steadying one. He might not breathe, but it helps to calm his rattled nerves. ]

Right, so— what fairytale are you, then? Everyone's heard of the Big Bad Wolf but— [ He doesn't know about any other wolves. Although Bigby had mentioned brothers. ] And... how the fuck are you a wolf right now?

[That was a number of questions that couldn't be answered easily while he was in a wolf form he couldn't talk in. Connor once again started writing in the snow with a stiff leg as he created two words. W-A-I-T H-E-R-E. Then he bounded off out of sight.

He swiftly ran back to the cabin he and Bigby shared, shifting back and changing into some warm clothes. Then back to the graveyard he went, going over to Kieren.]

Sorry for freaking you out there earlier. I sometimes forget how people usually react to wolves. My dad's reputation really didn't any favors for the species as a whole. Kind of stuck us with sounding like we all eat little girls in red hoods and blow down the houses of pigs. [Then as if it wasn't obvious who was talking he added on:] Oh, I'm Connor.

[ God, this is literally the most surreal experience of his life. Like, it probably can't get any weirder than this, either. He's nodding at the words and is just... left alone, in the churchyard. Like nothing ever happened.

He's only just gotten back and he's already tired.

Kieren gets to his feet when he sees the young man draw near, suspicion in his eyes for a long moment until he confirms he's Connor. Connor, who is also— excuse me— ]

... Sorry, Bigby's your dad—?!

Yeah. Guess he forgot to mention it to like.....alright, most people, but I guess he doesn't really want to advertise the fact I'm his son. He's from way in the past before he even met my mom, let alone having a bunch of pups.

[Bigby still seemed to be coming to terms with the fact he was a father in the future at all. Not to mention Connor still hadn't told him his mom was Snow. He figured Bigby might figure it out, oh, about this time next year.]

So for being a wolf, back home, I can turn into just about anything. Human and wolf are just my defaults. I wasn't able to shapeshift at all here but suddenly I got the power back to turn into a wolf! Isn't that awesome?

.. Like how everyone's from different points in time. [ Oh, shit. Yeah. That actually makes sense. ... Holy shit. ] Didn't think that'd be a thing within, like, individual worlds.

[ God, this is so weird. Like he and Bigby were talking about romance a few months back, but like— actual kids? Kieren feels oddly vindicated in a way. ]

... Uh. Pups. You've even got siblings? [ Not just a kid. Bigby has kids. ] And you all... turn into wolves?

[ And then he remembers himself. ]

Sorry. Just. It's a lot of questions. I feel like I've just had my entire world blown with the fact he's got kids in the future. [ A beat. ] ... No offense.

Neither did I. It was a hell of a shock getting here and realizing he didn’t even know who I was at first.

[Fortunately, if there was one good thing about Connor’s personality, it was that nothing rarely kept him down for long. He always bounced back sooner or later.]

Yeah, seven of us. [He failed to specify, however, that they were septuplets.] Six of us can. The seventh, Ghost, he’s a zephyr. Basically that means he’s an invisible wind spirit that can still talk and eat and stuff.

[Then he grinned.]

Nah, it’s all good. I mean if you think this has rocked your world imagine how he is. The person who’s been most shocked about this all has been him. I don’t think he was ever expecting to have kids at all.

open | so make mine a pain in the neck

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