the other side of this mean twilight

[fidior]

Who: Edward Little / Konstantin Veshnyakov / YOU!
What: catchall for shenanigans — let's plot something or hit me with a wildcard, I'm easy!
When: August for now, possibly September
Where: various places: potentially Milton, Lakeside, Silverpoint

Comments

[fidior]

He is hungry. Right now, the issue of the sunlight is the pressing one for the wolf, whose mind is progressively becoming less capable of logical thought and nuance, and tipped more toward single-dose survival thoughts. First is get out of sun; sun hurts and second is stay with this little pack; pack is safe and third is—

Hunger; always the hunger, deep down in a place that Edward, the man, is never quite able to satisfy enough. The wolf will become more aware of that hunger. For now, he follows the girl in, tentative but willing, head still lowered almost submissively as he trails Nova indoors.

When Alicia places down some food, he hesitates only a moment before moving in on it. At first it's slow, a little nervous, unsettled by how ill he feels. But being indoors is slowly helping with that, out of the direct sunlight. Soon enough he's eating faster, more at ease, and when his dish is cleared he licks it, hungry for more. (Hungry for something that corporeal food can't satisfy, though he doesn't understand this.) He lifts his head, turning it to stare at Alicia: expectant but weirdly polite about it, waiting patiently as though to say More, please...

[shewhograspsthesky]

She smiles at him, relieved he's eating and isn't picking on Nova while she eats either. Maybe he was someone else's dog? Maybe he's lost? He's too well trained to be a stray. She picks up the bowl to fill it again before setting it back down.

Staying crouched she offers him a pat on the head, a scratch behind the ears, if he'll accept. "You really must've been hungry, huh? I can't really get you much more than that for now. But maybe for breakfast." She didn't really ration out the idea of two dogs.. it might need some recalculating for what to trade next time she can.

[fidior]

Again with that bright human awareness, really watching and understanding, the wolf stares at the girl as she fills the bowl and places it back down. And this time he's eating faster, more rushed, more.. desperate. He doesn't flinch from the scratch behind his ears — it feels nice, his wolf's brain is happy with this — but then something happens that makes him instantly unhappy.

The girl says there can't be much more than this. And as the wolf gulps down the last of the food, that displeasure ripples in his throat, a low growl as he casts his eyes sideways and up at Alicia. Ordinarily Edward — docile and gentle even in this form — would never growl at someone. But with the Darkwalker's curse within him, he's not the same as he once was.

The growl lifts one corner of his mouth, exposing a sharp fang. No more than this? But he's hungry.

[shewhograspsthesky]

Nova is quick to return the growl, but Alicia looks wholly unimpressed and clearly isn't thinking of this as a real threat. "You can eat what you have, or you can always leave." She gestures between the food bowl and the door, as if to make her point clearer.

She kneels close again, although this time to tug Nova back. It's a protective gesture to put herself between the two of them. She doesn't need them getting into a fight over food. "But if you stay.. you can still have breakfast." She'll dare to look him in the eye this time. Even if he doesn't really grasp her words, surely her demeanor is enough.

[fidior]

The growl from the other animal agitates him more, and the thick fur at the back of the wolf's neck begins to prickle. Fortunately, the girl averts his focus away from Nova, but now Edward's growing aggression is fixed on her. The tone to her voice, her body language — firm and unrelenting, clearly not about to back down and give him what he wants — makes that growl sharpen as the wolf lifts his head to stare at her.

His own bright, sharp eyes lock on to Alicia's, challenging. Maybe he attacks her, then. Maybe he eats her. Maybe that'd be enough to satisfy the hunger.

....But then Edward, or as much of him that's left, comes through again with a wave of sheer horror by the thought. Never before has he ever thought about hurting or eating someone when he's a wolf. He would never... he'd never do that. He wouldn't. (Would he?)

Suddenly, the beast loses his sharpening edges. He gives a keening whine, and moves back, ears and tail lowered. He needs to leave. He was supposed to be... checking on the girl, wasn't he? That's why he came here. To make sure she was all right. But he can't be trusted. He's not safe. He hurt Kate Marsh, and now he'll hurt Alicia.

Edward turns towards the door and whines again, pawing at it, wanting to be let out.

[shewhograspsthesky]

Her head tilts when he goes to the door. Did she scare him? Her best conclusion is simply that he's a strange one, but then, that seems quite obvious. What wolf here or even dog would come and go from a home just for one bowl of food? The wolves are feral, the dogs are seemingly well cared for. So where does this one fit?

She doesn't deny him. "All right, all right," she says as she opens the door again for him to leave. "You can come back in the morning. If you want to. I won't mind." It's more cheerful than her earlier tones. He probably has no idea what she's saying but even if he doesn't return, maybe he'll still be able to find food from someone else. He'll be okay, right?

[fidior]

As soon as the door opens, the wolf takes a breath of fresh, crisp outdoors air. It helps calm some of his anxiety of being trapped inside with the girl and her pet — not because he's afraid of her, but because he's afraid of harming her.

His remaining human side pushes forwards with an insistence he needs to distance himself from her, and he's hurrying out before Alicia's cheerful tone gives him pause. Unable to help himself, the wolf perks his ears, head turning back to look at her. His tail gives a slight jump, almost a wag; an animal happiness surges to the fact that her voice has shifted, that he hasn't made the human mad.

Then he remembers himself and moves on, running off down the road. Time to head home...