Antonina
Arriving in Briar Ridge had been nothing but exciting for Asher: he was actually making friends, doing decent at his job (not to mention *Keeping* A job), and he was slowly growing accustomed to the ways of the small little town! 

Or... So he thought.

Very occasionally, Asher would hear... Noises, and while he thought nothing of it at first, one night, those noises were much, *Much* Louder. The young man had been abruptly awoken by his father that night, and while he was too tired to understand exactly what went on, at this point, Asher knew something strange was up. 

And that was further reinforced by the fact that most of the folks in Briar Ridge seemed to be... Extremely on edge. His father was not spared from this tension, as he had grown far more irritable at the situation... And sometimes AT Asher, but that was beside the point.

For now, he had a job to keep, and he was dedicated to it. Asher was starting to memorize the way around the village, and the letter currently in his hands was addressed to the Barca residence. With haste, Asher made his way there. 

Maybe then, he might understand what all the hullabaloo was about.

 ||
Stephanie
The book Florian had been reading was put down, the man sighed. Why on earth would the author make that decision? It was stupid and didn't make any sense. He put the book back on the shelf, he had hoped the story would get better but it just seemed to steadily go downhill. As he was scanning the other titles for something that sounded good, there was a knock on the door. He wheeled himself to the front door, pushing it open to see who had knocked. He hoped it might be Freddie, even though he knew that he was supposed to be in the mines at this hour.

"Oh, hello!" 

The man outside was someone he hadn't seen before, they were tall, something amplified by the fact that he was seated and thus lower to the ground than most other Briar Ridge inhabitants were. An exception was his friend Aki, who was only a little bit taller than him, which was something he found very funny. Asher was holding a letter. 

"If you're lookin' for the Barca estate, you've found the place." He said, his tone friendly. "If not, I'd be happy to point you in the right direction."
Antonina
As the door opened, Asher's gaze trailed down to meet Florian's, not really expecting someone in a wheelchair to answer him. Not wanting to keep gawking and appear rude, Asher handed Florian the letter. "N-no, I do have a letter for Barca! Here you go!"

Tipping his flat cap at the other man, Asher was about to bid him farewell, but something extremely out of the ordinary caught his eye.

...A giant hole in the wall.

"U-um..??" The sound escaped his throat without him realizing. When it processed that it was out loud, Asher quickly tried to save face. "I-I um... Y-yeah I mean, uh... Wuh-what happened to your **Wall**...?!" 

But the curiosity was reaching an all-time high with this one as he fumbled with his words.

||
Stephanie
There it was: that oh so familiar stare. Florian had grown used to it, most people didn't stare out of malice but simply out of curiosity. People were drawn to new things, he didn't blame them for not having seen someone independently moving about in a wheelchair. So far he was the only one in town, and even then his wheelchair was top of the line (and came with a top of the line price tag as well). 

He took the letter from Asher. He recognized the handwriting and cringed. _Dorothea Barca._ He tucked it into the pouch hanging from one of his armrests, it would be a problem for later. "Thank you. Oh, I'm Florian by the way. Florian Barca, you may have guessed that last part already." He held out his hand to shake Asher's. 

**The wall.** Yes, there was still the hole, a glaring reminder of Briar Ridge's darkest secret; covered with a tarp, but still very much there. The man before him had to be new to town. _Very_ new. Had nobody informed the poor guy of the goings-on every full moon?

"If I may ask, how long exactly have you been in town for?" 

Maybe he did know, but just lacked the information on the particular attack that had caused such destruction to the Estate.

"Just so I can, uh, see how much explainin' I have to be doin'."

He'd never had to explain the existence of werewolves to anyone. He'd never planned to have this conversation. How does one tell a stranger that each month some of the town's inhabitants turned into bloodthirsty monsters? That one such monster had ripped that hole into the wall, that those monsters had killed two men on the floors of Florian's ancestral home. You couldn't. But he'd find a way, maybe there was still time for the postal employee to find another place to deliver letters. At the very least he deserved to know what was coming.
Antonina
Staring at the wall with a dumbfounded expression, it took Asher a few seconds to process that Florian had introduced himself and offered a handshake. When it clicked in his head, he did a double take. "O-OH! I'm Asher Laurens. I uh..."

Staring between the wall and Florian, he bashfully added. "I've been here for... I think a few weeks already."

Asher took a moment to repeat the words Florian spoke in his head. Sure enough, there WAS something odd going on with this town, but what exactly? Apparently, depending on his answer, there would be some fair amount of explaining. Now the next question was... What was there that *Needed *Explaining? Asher didn't know what exactly to expect, and he didn't know what exactly to prepare for.

"....I would appreciate that, actually..." The postman finally spoke. "So... What all's goin' on? I heard some strange noises the other night, and everyone don't seem to be... I dunno." Awkwardly, he gestured with his hands. "People ain't happy, that's all I know..."
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Stephanie
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Asher." A few weeks, he'd been here for a full moon then, and survived without even knowing of the dangers that lurked outside. "Folks aren't happy, you've got that right."

He hadn't thought ahead this far. How _did_ one explain the concept of werewolves to a stranger? "It's uh... A long story, sort of. One best told inside where it isn't cold." It may not be cold to Asher, but to Florian, whose body had trouble regulating its temperature, it sure was. "Do you want to come inside?" To his relief, Asher agreed. The two made their way into the living room of the estate, the tarp-covered hole a glaring reminder that things weren't quite how they were supposed to be. Florian gestured at the couch. "Please sit if you wish. Can I get you anythin' to drink, coffee, tea, plain water?" ~~'Shine.~~

"So _uh_." Asher had heard strange sounds and knew people were _unhappy_. That was putting it lightly. "What I'm about to tell you might sound like I'm lyin' but trust me when I say I am not." He took a deep breath, _here goes nothing._ "Those sounds you heard, I'm assumin' they happened on the night of a full moon?" If they hadn't been, this conversation would be that much more awkward for Florian.
Antonina
Having to agreed to coming inside, Asher tried his best to follow Florian, though he couldn't help but look around the estate, his gaze eventually settling back on the tarp-covered hole. The young man's attention snapped right back to Florian when he asked him about a drink. Asher took a moment to think; now that he thought about it, he WAS thirsty. "Um, water would be great, please!" He had to stay hydrated after all.

Listening intently to Florian, Asher gave him a confused look but ultimately nodded, unsure what to expect. Then the question dropped about a full moon, and the postman paused, taking a moment to think. 

Bashfully, he spoke. "Uhhh... I, uh... I don't often pay attention much to the moon... But I THINK it was bright that night, yeah."
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Stephanie
Getting Asher a glass of water involved Florian sheepishly asking the postman to grab it from the kitchen table as Florian himself couldn't transport it without it spilling. (He could, but offering a stranger a glass that had been clamped between his thighs just didn't feel right.) So much for hospitality. He took a deep breath, the worst thing that could happen was Asher not believing him. The best thing? Maybe him leaving while he still could, or at least taking precautions for the next full moon.

"There's really no proper way to explain this to you. It's goin' to sound crazy, but bear with me. The things you heard out there, I'm assumin' they were _howls_?" He knew those howls all too well. He took a deep breath. "_Werewolves_, Asher. It's werewolves. Honest to God, real-life monsters. They come out durin' the full moon, hungry and cravin' violence, the moon turns them from man to beast. It's them who ripped that hole in our walls, it's them who cause the hospital to fill up the mornin' after, and we're damn near helpless to stop them." He rubbed the callus on his palm with the opposing thumb, something he often did when he was nervous. "They are huge beasts with large claws and teeth made for killin' people like you and me, they smell of death. They're terrifyin', no other way of describin' them. And before you go thinkin' that there might be a man somewhere inside those wolves, there is not a trace of humanity left in them, don't let the fact that they may look like people durin' the day fool you. When that moon is out, they want us dead." Florian's voice had gained an edge of anger, of hatred towards the wolves and towards those who would dare defend their humanity. He was terrified of the werewolves. 
_ _

"Their eyes, they have this horrible look of bloodlust in them, like a predator spottin' its prey. I pray you never have to see it." He saw those eyes in his nightmares. He squeezed his hand tighter, trying to force those memories away. _Focus on the now, you're safe, you're safe, you're safe._

His voice was softer now as he opened up about his own experience. "One of them nearly killed my brother last month, and then attacked me. I thought I was goin' to die, I'm lucky I had silver on me that night. Ask anyone in town, they'll know someone who got hurt, or worse. These wolves have been terrorizin' us for months." _Nearly_, he'd started describing what happened to Valerian Barca as near-death instead of what it had been: a resurrection. "One of them killed a man in this house, and they spill blood every month. If you have any sense you'll leave this town while you still can, or find a way to protect yourself before the next moon." If Asher didn't believe him, he'd roll up his pant leg and show the still-healing claw marks that ran all along his right leg. "There's safehouses you can go to." Not that those places were truly safe, people still got attacked, people still got killed while in a safehouse. "People open their houses to shelter together for the full moon nights. We try to protect our own as best we can, but I won't lie and tell you that there's a way to be sure of your safety, how I wish there was. Regular bullets don't faze them, you'll need silver. Rhett Sterling can set you up if you have the means." He'd been talking for a while, trying to get the important parts out there for Asher. "I know it's a lot to take in." He gave Asher a soft apologetic smile. "I'm sure you have many questions, I'll try my best to answer them."

|| This is somewhat all over the place but it truly is what it is. Asher I am sorry you got an incredibly biased source of information oopsie daisy.