The talk went…worse than she’d expected. Far worse.<br/><br/>Apparently drawing attention to the fact that he’d lied about Eidhin and their relationship was wrong in and of itself. Add that she’d been seeing him, that he’d come to see her in the hospital, and he was furious. Then, add that she brought up his knowledge of werewolves and why he’d not talked to her about it, and things went downhill in a hurry.<br/><br/>It was the worst fight they’d ever had, their mother silent off to the side while they went at it, both verbally and physically.<br/><br/>That night, she slept terribly. She ached, her entire appearance was just as disheveled as it had been the night before, only this time, a few remnants of the fight lingered on her skin. Tiredly grabbing her phone, she set off a quick text.<br/><br/>*Talked to him last night. I’m fine. Going to stay home today, so I’ll see you tomorrow?*<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">When they parted he felt better that there were no longer any secrets between them, but in the same breath when she left he knew she was pissed. Angry and pissed off E had never been a good thing when they grew up and add into the new werewolf blood that was pumping through her veins, Eidhin regretted his promise to her even more. There was nothing that he could do or say to the matter, instead he ran through the woods in his wolf form. It was a poor effort to try and drain away some of the tension.<br/><br/>It didn’t work. <br/><br/>Not a single ounce of sleep did he get, nor could he focus the next day. When she finally texted him he nearly broke the phone in his eagerness to answer her. <br/><br/>*Want me to come over? I can slip into your room like before. I think we could both use that kind of comfort… *</span><br/><br/>She wanted him to come over. More than anything, she wanted a famous Eidhin hug and to just joke around with him like they had been before this latest revelation. But…if he came over, things wouldn’t go over well, she knew that much for certain.<br/><br/>*I don’t know if that’s a good idea. They’re here, on house arrest. I don’t want you getting caught up in this.*<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">*I don’t want you doing this on your own. I can sneak in and no one would have to know I was there…* <br/><br/>It was a danger for sure, but he was not about to just lie down and leave her alone. Not when he could almost feel her pain. She needed him and he wanted to be there for her.</span><br/><br/>*You really shouldn’t be here, Eidhin…*<br/><br/>Part of her wanted him there, but she knew better than to ask it of him, to allow him to see her like this. It wouldn’t end well for either of them, she having to hold him back, and he for doing what he did best: protecting her. If he saw her in her current state, she wasn’t sure how bad things could get, but her mind had played through several options and none of them seemed to be worth it. Not yet.<br/><br/>*I haven’t gotten any good answers yet…but I’ll try again later.*<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">A sigh though he did not press the issue. * Alright. Meet me in my cabin tomorrow night. Bring an overnight bag and we can have a sleep over. How does that sound? *</span><br/><br/>*I’ll try…Where do you live now?*<br/><br/>Another night went by, another fight though this one didn’t last nearly as long; She couldn’t take another physical altercation like the last and the blows he gave were harder. Less and less her father, he was becoming a man she was slowly fearing, hating, but the need for answers was still there.<br/><br/>Telling herself it’d have to wait another night, she packed a bag and left for the night. Eilidh wasn’t running as fast as she normally would have, and wasn’t as graceful as she’d have moved, but she was fine by other standards. Everything she packed was long sleeved, pants, layers, and makeup to try and keep things from looking as bad as they were, as bad as they felt.<br/><br/>Finally, seeing his form, she gave him a smile and picked up the pace a bit. “Told you, I’d make it,” Eilidh greeted him, shouldering her bag a bit more and holding in a wince. “Please tell me you have…some semblance of a bed.”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">As a game he made her track him to his home, it should be easy with her new sense of smell, coupled with her already exceptional skills as a guide. So, when he finally heard and smelled her approach he was not surprised, more proud than anything. <br/><br/>Even if something did not…<span style="font-style: italic">Feel</span> right. <br/><br/>“I never doubted you,” he remarked and stepped forward to give her the hug she had not initiated. “And as for a bed, I did manage to get something together for us. After that moment to lay in your bed I missed the whole bed thing, so I did some hunting and pieced together what I think is a pretty decent bed,” he spoke while he leaned back to look down at her. “Everything ok?” he asked, his head cocked slightly to the side. “Not to sound weird, but you smell…off….”</span><br/><br/>The hug was excruciating. Sure, she’d craved a hug, wanting that comfort that he could always seem to impart through such a simple touch, but this one hurt. It took all she had not to cringe and beg out of the hug. Her eyes held the pain her face refused to show, as well as the rest of her, shrugging off his remark of her scent.<br/><br/>“Are you saying I smell now?” Eilidh joked instead, snaking out of his hug to head into the cabin. “So, now that I’m here, what do you want to do? Tell scary stories around the…floor? Reminisce about the old days?”<br/><br/>Her arms were held about herself, the only real hug she could bear. His arms hurt around her, hitting where their father had gripped her too tightly. Her entire body ached, having been hit more times than she could count in the last few days. Now, here she was, lying through her teeth and evading the truth for her brot-…Eidhin’s sake. “I brought some snacks, though I’m not sure how many of them you still like.”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">A sigh and he reached for her wrist to stall her entrance to the cabin, “E…you know we can’t lie to one another. Lie for one another sure, but we could never lie to one another.” Eyes on her own, he saw the pain there and knew that she had been hurt and hurt bad, by their father. “Please…talk to me…” he pressed.</span><br/><br/>Her wrist was caught and she froze. It was true, they’d never been able to lie to one another. That never stopped them from trying, though, no matter the situation, they’d initially try…and then come clean.<br/><br/>Now was no different.<br/><br/>A light shrug moved through her shoulders. “You know how Dad is…” she started. “It wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle…We fought…that night I left….and we fought last night…I tried to get answers, and he didn’t want to answer, is all…” Another shrug as she tried to play it off. “It’s not the first time since you left, so I expected it, braced for it…Just tired now is all.<br/><br/>“…Now can we go inside…?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">A slight growl came from his lips and he nodded his head, “Of course.” He stepped past her and opened the door to his cabin for her. It was small, at least in terms of the house that they both grew up in. It had been a bit more run down when he found it initially. Holes, broken windows and loose floorboards had plagued the place. It took a couple of months, but in the end he managed to make himself a rather decent home. <br/><br/>To the left when they entered was the wood stove, already stocked with fresh wood and a fire going within. Before the stove was a simple table that had four chairs place about it, all looked handmade and rather rough but functional. To the right was a door with a small ladder beside it. The ladder would lead up to a loft where he slept and the door would lead to the one luxury he allowed himself to have; A small shower with a hot water heater that he salvaged and outfitted to run via a smaller woodstove. The tank sat atop the woodstove that was then filled with wood to heat over time. <br/><br/>It was not the best place, but it was his and it suited him just fine. <br/><br/>“Well, here we are,” he said with a gesture. “There is a small shower in there, but the bathroom you have to use outside….sorry…” his tone apologetic, cheeks bright with a slight blush. “Up the ladder is our sleeping area and such…um…”  his hands raked through his hair as he tried to think about what else he should do or say. Never before had he been in charge of the entertainment of a houseguest, so he was a bit at a lost. <br/><br/>“Um…want something to drink or eat?”</span><br/><br/>Wandering inside, she rubbed her arm and looked about. She was surprised that she’d never seen the cabin before, given her extensive knowledge of the area. But, she wasn’t about to complain; This meant she and Eidhin could have alone time, without worry of further angering their father (at least, until she got back).<br/><br/>Catching up with him, though, would be nice. Not having to worry about the rest of the world for a night was just what the doctor ordered. At the mention of food, she put her bag down on the small table and opened it up, taking a few things out. “I brought a few of the snacks you used to love; Not sure if you still do, but thought it couldn’t hurt, right?” A small grin pulled at her features. “Worst case scenario, I go against your orders to lose a few pounds and eat it all myself.”<br/><br/>Then, she started walking around a bit more, already getting hot with how many layers she had on and the warmth of the fire filling the small space. “So, no one knows about this place? No one’s come back to claim it?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">The snacks made his mouth water and his stomach growl a bit, it had been so long since he had any of them that the reaction was beyond his control. <br/><br/>“Like hell you are going to eat those on your own!” A snack cake was snatched up and he pretended it to horde it in the corner. “My precious…my precious…” he whispered in hopes to get her to laugh.</span><br/><br/>A laugh was given, though a quiet one as the action itself hurt. But, not to be outdone, wanting to keep up the appearance that things were normal, she followed him to the corner, trying to get the snack cake back. “It’s mine, I tell you! Mine!”<br/><br/>Then, as though a light clicked on, she bolted for the rest of the snacks, hording them in her hold while making a break for the ladder. “Fine! Have your one! I’ll have them all!”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000"> “Hey!” he full on pouted and tried to get the snacks from her. “I am starving over here; you can’t treat me like that! It’s cruel!” his longer arms were practically shoved between her own; as he attempted to force his way to the snacks. <br/><br/>For the moment talk of how he came to live in this place was placed on hold, the game that they now took part in far more entertaining and relaxing given all that happened.</span><br/><br/>She’d been all about playing the game, going with what was happening with no issue. And then his arm tried to snake in and steal the snacks and the pain came back, causing her to drop them all without thought, breaking up the ladder and allowing herself to collapse on the pelts and just breathe.<br/><br/>Her midsection hurt. Her arms hurt. Her face hurt, but through the power of makeup, she was fine.<br/><br/>“You should bring those snacks up here,” she commented down below. “So we can just…lounge and talk.”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">A slight frown came to his lips but he gathered up the snacks and threw them up at her, with the hope and idea to pelt her in the head with a few. When the last of them made it up to the loft, he grabbed his canteen and then headed up himself. <br/><br/>“Already hogging the bed?” he teased and plotted himself down on the furs beside her. “Want some water?” he asked and offered her the canteen.</span><br/><br/>Dodging the snacks (minus the last; it hit her square in the face), she narrowed her eyes and threw one back at him as he made it to the top of the ladder. Then, because of his remark, she spread out on the bed and refused to give any inch.<br/><br/>Accepting the canteen, she took several sips of the water, handing it back with a light smile. “So, what snack do you want to gorge yourself on first?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000"> “The cupcakes of course,” he grinned and snatched one up to open and shove completely into his mouth without hesitation.<br/><br/>“Mmmmm!” he moaned, eyes closed as he remembered and enjoyed a flavor he had missed the past few years. “This…es…so…gud!” he managed to get out with a mouthful of cupcake. He started to slightly dance/bounce in his seat while he ate. He looked for all the world like a big kid, especially with the crumbs and cream that had found their home on his face.</span><br/><br/>His enjoyment of the cupcake was like watching a child try a sweet treat for the first time. The way that it fell apart all over his face, left creamy smudges on his cheeks and lips, all she could think of was a child’s first birthday, the way they generally shoved their face into a cake without regard for the mess that followed.<br/><br/>A good-natured laugh left her as she handed him another. “Not sure you tasted that first one. Want another to actually savor this time around?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">He took the other cake with an eyeroll but proceeded to open it anyway, “I am going to have to work out some kind of monetary income. I miss food things.”  This time a single bite was taken, though the bounce and dance that he had done continued just as before, “Aren’t you having anything?”</span><br/><br/>“Oh I will,” she replied with a smile. “I’m currently having more fun watching you eat than actually eating it myself. I mean, you make it look like quite the production…” Instead, she reached for one of the other snacks she’d brought: roasted chick peas. Munching on one thoughtfully, she regarded him thoughtfully. “You know…I have a job…I can support your cake habit fairly well.”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000"> “Yeah, but I should you know…support myself…” he said with a shrug while he dug a bit of the cream out with his finger to eat. “How are chick peas a snack?” he asked before he shoved the rest of his cupcake into his mouth.</span><br/><br/>“Chickpeas are a snack like tofu is a protein,” she replied. “In fact, chickpeas<span style="font-style: italic">have</span>protein, so it’s a healthy snack that doesn’t leave me full of crumbs and cream.”<br/><br/>Laying back, she tried to get comfortable, struggling to find a good position, a comfortable position. Giving up, she sat back up and sighed, grabbing a cupcake while slowly picking at it. “So, any jealous, angry wereladies I should know about? No one’s going to come busting in and maul me, right?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">The eyeroll was cut short by the question of some jealous werelady, as he nearly choked on his cupcake. “Wh…what?! Um…no…no…no…” he stammered and blushed a bright pink. “There is…just me..and…um that is it…” he took a long drink to clear his throat of the foreign objects.</span><br/><br/>She had to stifle a laugh at his sudden choking fit. Given his prior “activities” before this all happened, she’d have thought he’d have found someone, at least; possibly even one like he. The blush was poked, and she gently (barely managing) a nudge at his arm. “I didn’t mean to cause you a choking fit, you know…But after how you reacted on instinct at the hospital, I figured it’d be safer to ask than be surprised later.”<br/><br/>A pause as curiosity took hold. “If that’s the case…what do you do for fun? What do you do to occupy your time?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">Just a glare was given to her as he shrugged his shoulders, “Nothing much. I mean it is lonely sometimes, especially at night. I end up usually running, a lot. It helps to at least wear me out to some degree so that when I finally call it a night I am not laying up here awake for long.” <br/><br/>Another shrug was given while he picked at the pile of furs, “Geez, you make it sound like video games and stuff was all that I know how to do.”</span><br/><br/>“Well, video games and dating were all you really did…Had I not known better, I’d have said you were a vampire, the way you avoided the sun like the plague,” she teased. “I half-expected to see you MacGyver a gaming system and power supply. Can you blame me?”<br/><br/>Though, at the remark of being lonely, she looked down. “…Well, you’re not lonely anymore…You have me to harp on you and get you to eat chickpeas…and eat tofu…and, when you have a nightmare, I’m here to splash you in the face to wake you up!”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000"> “I tried to rig something that powered the system via a lightening, but that did not pan out so well,” he chuckled. “Not sure if having you do all that is something I should look forward to. Perhaps I should just take you out into the woods and leave you there for the wolves to find you?”  he grinned the joke plain and obvious.</span><br/><br/>“Yes…that’d work…” Eilidh replied back with a roll of her eyes. “Leave the guide…in the middle of the woods and leave me there…All your stalking would have been for naught!” Throwing another cake at him, she took the canteen of water and took a sip. “You, on the other hand…I could leave you in the middle of the mountains and see how you fair…beware of rabbits, though; They’ll kill you on sight.”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000"> “Hey! I never said it was a good idea, just an idea,” he stuck his tongue out at her. “You been watching my movies while I was gone? Watching the whole Monty Python and stuff?” he questioned and continued to snack on a few things. “What do you want for dinner? Got to figure out what to feed the weirdo who only eats potatoes and grass,” he snickered and threw a bag of chips at her.</span><br/><br/>She shook her head. “No, can’t say I did…your movies and most of your possessions were boxed up and packed away since Mom wouldn’t let Dad get rid of them…I’ve got a few of your things hidden away in my room, but the movies weren’t part of them…”<br/><br/>Then, getting more comfortable, she decided to take off her sweatshirt. It was a delicate process, one that required her to carefully pull her arm into her sweatshirt, hold down the other shirt so nothing would show, and take it up and over her head. The long sleeves remained where they should have been and only a brief glimpse of her midriff was visible, the outer fringe of a bruise there, but quickly covered again as she got sorted. Catching the bag of chips, Eilidh nibbled thoughtfully. “What do you have? I brought a few things, including something you’ll want…A couple filet mignons with your name on them…But what to actually make for me? I’ll likely have a salad.”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">The mention of the quality meat made him drool just a bit, though he managed to cover it up without her noticing. “It has been a while since I had anything that was not lean game meat. Cows are bred to be fat and juicy, deer run for their lives so they hardly have any fat,” his stomach chimed in with a loud growl and he blushed a bit. <br/><br/>At least with the focus on food he could “ignore” the bruise he had noticed on her stomach. Later, he would try to bring it up, but for now he was happy to not get into it with her. Instead, it was better for them to just enjoy the fun and ignore the pain. <br/><br/>“A salad? Really? Did you bring that too?”</span><br/><br/>“I brought some things for a salad…and brought potatoes to cook over a fire, and things like that,” she answered with a smile. “I wasn’t…quite sure what you had to work with so I brought things I thought would be simpler…” A sort of grin took hold then. “I mean, if you don’t want what I brought, then…I can just…throw it out?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000"> "You throw it away and I eat you instead," he laughed before he half heartly tackled her only to make himself comfy on the furs beside her. "This is nice....not being a lone anymore....having you back...." he raised his head to smile down at her. "I missed you...a lot...."</span><br/><br/>The half-hearted tackle was met with a laugh, shifting just a bit more so that she could cuddle up to him, just like the old days. They weren’t twenty-three in her mind, in that moment; They were kids again, cuddled in a pillow fort after fun day, falling asleep and sharing stories. “I missed you, too, Eidhin…” A sad sort of smile pulled at her lips. “If me searching for you for five years wasn’t enough proof of that…I don’t know what is…”<br/><br/>Nudging him lightly, she relaxed into the furs. “So, what do you want to do now? Make your filets, play a game like we used to, just relax and…talk?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000"> He smirked, “Can’t ever mention food around me anymore.” <br/><br/>Careful to not jostle her too much, he pushed himself up on his elbow to look down at her, “I am always hungry it seems. Apparently, my new body demands a lot more fuel than I am used to, so I will always pick food over any activity.” He reached forward and flicked her nose, “But, since we have missed so much time, I want to talk. Tell me, how was college? I did plan on going someday. Even if I was less than enthusiastic about school sometime.”</span><br/><br/>A laugh as she reached behind her and grabbed another bag of potato chips, she shoved it playfully in his face in response to his flick. “Asking me about college is like asking you about the outdoors in your teen years: useless. I went to an internet college, never saw anyone else in my classes and any attempts to talk to me were often brushed off with a ‘I have to go finish this, so I’ll talk to you later’, of which I never did. So…for me, college was a drill sergeant behind me, making sure I finished my assignments before running out to play detective.”<br/><br/>Shrugging, she nestled in a bit more. “But, if ever I can manage it at some point, I do have a degree in business…and learned more about climate, weather and the like so I can eventually have my own guiding business? That’s what I was planning on, anyway.”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000"> The way she described college made him feel sad for even regret that he asked in the first place. “Well, maybe, we could go back to school together? Like an actually college and stuff. You can get a Masters or whatever kind of degree and I can get some kind of a degree that lets me be a nerd all day. What do you think?” he asked while he opened the bag of chips to munch loudly.</span><br/><br/>“Ah yes…being a nerd all day,” she replied with a roll of her eyes and a flick to his nose. “So, going to go back to your usual? Not even branch out just a little bit? What are you going to be, then?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000"> "Gaming design, duh. And hey, being a werewolf is branching out darnit! I could you know join one of the sport team things...." though he lacked any real confidence as to just what kind of sport teams there could be.</span><br/><br/>“Not like you chose to be one! Branching out would be like…I don’t know, agriculture! Or Law school! None of this…game design where you’d…what? Sit on your ass all day, dunking waffles into a bowl of syrup while swearing at your computer because the fake women you were creating for these sexualized games aren’t coming out proportionally right,” she argued. “And sports…rugby. Maybe football?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000"> “If you weren’t my sister I would punch you….really hard…” he quipped before he pinched her arm. “Besides, as you have seen I am pretty damn outdoorsy now. I like have to heat my water with fire and take a crap out in the woods. How much more woodsy does it get?” he stuck his tongue out at her. “I really don’t know what I want to do, but I had the thought to find others like me…well….like us now…” the last part said in a hushed tone, his eyes cast now to the ceiling above.</span><br/><br/>“Like us…” she repeated, frowning as it settled in.<br/><br/>“…Are you…sure I’m like you now?” It wasn’t a question asked out of anger, or resentment, but more out of fear that things would change; Fear that it was a true possibility. “…I know today I…ran faster…and punched you over a rail…but I’m still just as broken as I was a week ago…kind of…And, sure…the necklace itches…that I’m…currently wearing…” The last was added as a realization to herself, having forgotten it was there after her fight with her father yet again. “…But, that doesn’t mean I’m…I’m a…” She looked up at him, worry in her eyes. “…Does it?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000"> The smallest of frowns was given and he looked back to her, “You jumped from a height that should have injured you, your body is changing slowly but surely and the only reason you are hurt and not our father is because you have not come fully into your new gifts, plus you are still weak from my attack…” <br/><br/>“It does not change anything between us, if anything it will bring us closer together. We will be like our own pack now and I will be able to protect you better and well you can protect me as usual but better,” he lightly joked before he hugged her close. “Whatever happens we will have one another and that is all that matters, right?”</span><br/><br/>“Well…it did injure me…” she offered pathetically, her ankle having hurt that day but obviously not nearly as it should have.  “And I’m not too hurt…just a little bruised is all…and sore. You know how father is…” This, too, didn’t come out much better than the first comment, but she didn’t want things to change. Change wasn’t something she dealt well with, and to become something new, something like this…she wasn’t sure she could handle it.<br/><br/>“I want to protect you, just like we did, but…I can’t give everything up. I don’t want to have to hide in the woods…Yes, it’d be with you, but what about the rest of our family?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000"> That was something he had often thought about when he was alone, which had been often. What it would be like to live back among everyone else, to live normally. It crossed his mind more than once in any given hour and now with her here and knowing all she had accomplished the thought weighed even more on himself.  How could he ask her to give that all up? How could he ask her to stop her life for him and just live in the woods like some savage? <br/><br/>“Then we won’t,” he stated with a sudden burst of confidence. “It was hard while I was alone, but together I can teach you and we can work to be one another control and balance,” he explained further along with his train of thought. “I know more about this and can help you, whereas before I was alone without another like myself and therefore I would feel comfortable in being around people. We could live…you know…normal.” <br/><br/>The smile that plastered his face mimicked the excitement in his voice as the idea and the implications began to take hold in his mind. With what he learned he could teach her and each of them could then be the safety net needed to function in the human world. It would be hard, but it was not impossible, not when they were together.</span><br/><br/>Her eyes widened at his sudden change of proposition. He’d been in the wilderness, alone, for<span style="font-style: italic">five years</span>, and he’d suddenly live back in the city with her?<br/><br/>“You’d come back with me?” she asked, the hope in her voice replacing the worry, the fear, almost instantaneously. “You’d try to live a normal life with me? Out of the woods? With people? We could get jobs! You could come back and we could live like we once did! It’d be just like the old days, right?”<br/><br/>Eilidh was sitting up, the pain in her face evident, but happy that he’d consider moving back to Rathdrum with her. “Mother would be so pleased to know you’re safe and alright!”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000"> The notion that he would have to be around their parents scared him, at least when it came to their father. <br/><br/>“We could get our own apartment? Or maybe keep this place but you know fix it up a bit more? I don’t know. Anything we wanted!” he could barely contain his excitement as he began to think about it. “Think you could help me find a job? Maybe I could help you? Or something! Anything! We can have our lives back!” <br/><br/>And without much thought he pushed up from the floor as if to jump for joy and promptly banged himself on the head. <br/><br/>“OW!” he exclaimed whilst he crumpled to the bed of furs, head clutched in his hands.</span><br/><br/>It’d been such a serious conversation, even with the excitement he suddenly exuded. And then he got too excited…and hit his head. She laughed, as she always did when he hurt himself, quickly hovering over him with a hand on his head, as she tried to stifle her laughter with the other hand.<br/><br/>“Are you okay??” Eilidh managed to get out in between near snorts of laughter.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000"> He hissed in pain and glared at his sister with a look that could almost kill.<br/><br/>“You enjoying yourself over there, chuckles?”  Then she was ignored as he checked his hand for blood he knew was not there, but it was a habit none the less. “Anyway….yes. I would very much like to try the whole normal thing with you. I mean both of us lost out on about five years of our lives, I say it is about time for us to make up for that, no?” <br/><br/>A groan left his lips while he sat up and looked over at her, “So, maybe after this outing in the woods I can go back with you to the house and we can let them both know we are leaving to live together. What do you think?”</span><br/><br/>Hastily moving out of the way of his disgruntled back shoulder, so as not to add a nose bleed to the list of things that were ailing her at that moment, she took his glower with a look of mock innocence. It wasn’t as though she’d tried to help him or anything…just that laughter came with the job when a sibling was hurt; That’s how it always went.<br/><br/>But, he was right. They’d lost five years of their lives that they couldn’t get back. All they could do now was make up for it.<br/><br/>“I can’t just…up and leave our parents’ house, though…” she remarked quietly. “After tonight, I’m not sure how much…leaving I’ll be able to do at all…I want to be able to pick up where we left off, but how are we going to do that with our fath-…” She stopped herself and reworded. “…My father being the way he is?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000"> The rewording was caught and for some reason he felt sad and yet elated at the same time. Those weren’t his parents, he was not to go back to his family. More like the people who were kind enough to take in a stray when his own family bailed on him. The thought and knowledge depressed him a bit, to think that he was without a true home to return too. <br/><br/>“Why couldn’t you? It is not like we won’t visit them. Why can’t you leave so that we can live together?” he asked, unable to keep the sense of lost from his voice.</span><br/><br/>“After asking questions about you, about the family, about all of…this, he went ballistic…” she started hesitantly. “He didn’t want me leaving to see you, and I ended up having to sneak out after a fight…so when I go back, I’m not sure how much leaving I’ll be able to do. The moment he thinks I’m packing to leave, to move out, do you really think he’ll allow that?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000"> A sigh accompanied by a frown had him begin to scratch his head, only to stop when his hand grazed the new bump as he winced in pain. “I suppose….but I will be there and I will make sure he does not hurt you. I can even…sleep there if you want? I mean I am scared of him, but I really doubt that he could keep me even if he really tried,” he grinned with a confidence in the fact that now he was not just some scrawny boy that could be picked on and scared. <br/><br/>Not anymore.</span><br/><br/>“He doesn’t hurt me…not really,” she replied with a tired sort of smile. “Give it time…What I’ll do is I’ll help you get a job, we’ll go in on an apartment together…and I’ll slowly move out of out the house…it’ll give him time to cool off, to stop looking at me like I’ll change at any moment and…this…silver fascination of his…” A shrug followed, and then a more enthusiastic smile ensued. “We’ll get our apartment, we’ll get jobs, and we’ll lead normal lives. No more jungle man for you! You’ll be civilized and everything!”<br/><br/>Another playful nudge. “You’ll be like Tarzan…and I’ll be your weird…notmentionedinthemovie sister that keeps you in line.”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000"> The enthusiasm she felt he only could return halfway, his mind already a torrent of what to do and how to make it so that she would be safe. She could brush it off over and over again, but he knew the truth and had felt the wraith of the man more than once. The last time had been especially painful and he could just not think that his si…his friend would have to go through that alone. <br/><br/>“If you cover the necklace in clear nail polish that should help with the itching and stuff,” he offered with a somewhat disappointed smile. <br/><br/>From there he just sat there and looked at her for a long moment, until a small smile quirked at the corners of his mouth. “So, then you are like the chimpanzee who hung about with Tarzan? That makes sense because you are totally a hairy itchy ape!” <br/><br/>Tongue stuck out for good measure, his body already on high alert whilst he waited to see what she would do or say in retaliation.</span><br/><br/>There wasn’t even time to react in her mind; Her body had already tackled him, full force, into the fur, complete disregard for her own body, the bruising, the scarring. Instead, she pummeled him with one of the furs.<br/><br/>“How am I even remotely hairy?!” she shouted at him, laughing amid the pelt beatings. “You’re the hairy one!”<br/><br/>She even continued, laughing and beating him mercilessly until he’d finally had enough and rolled her over…pausing. A look of embarrassment crossed her features as he hesitated to tickle her. “…I’m not broken, you know…”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000"> The tackle had been fast and impressive with the strength behind it, but he was more than able to turn the tables on her. <br/><br/>Now with her pinned beneath him he went to tickle her, only to stop when he recalled the bruising she suffered on her stomach, so he restrained himself and his actions. “Yes, but before you were never pre-bruised.” <br/><br/>Instead of tickling her, he flicked her nose. “Funny now, huh?” he said though he pressed on before he allowed her a chance to answer the posed question. “How I am so much bigger than you and you are now so small and tiny. And you used to beat me up,” he taunted her with another flick on the nose.</span><br/><br/>Her nose wrinkled at the first flick, prepared to retaliate when he threw more at her. This time, though, she batted away his next flick and flicked his nose instead. “I’m not tiny; You’re just freakishly tall,” she retorted, trying to roll him off, stopping her own actions as another bruise was pressed and a sharp inhale was taken.<br/><br/>“…You know…his anger has gotten worse since you left…” she remarked quietly. “Mom still just…watches or goes to another room…and he…” Eilidh had missed being able to talk to him, to have him there to talk with. “I can see why he…scares you, now…” It was the first bit of honesty she felt she could give, knowing that he wouldn’t tell her to just ignore it. “…He’s…not the same anymore…or maybe he is and I was just blind to it…”<br/><br/>A pause then as she turned away from him completely to ask her next question. “Pain…does it…does it get any better when you’re…you know…completely changed?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000"> He carefully adjusted so that he laid beside her on the bed, his arm draped across her form to cuddle her close to him. <br/><br/>Their father had always had a temper, but when he was home he would take the brunt of it and in a way protect her from him. Now, that he was gone and she was there to contest his will, she caught all the anger and the pain…<br/><br/>“Yes,” he admitted honestly while he placed a soft kiss on her shoulder. “When you change the pain is so much easier to handle. Bruises and cuts barely even register anymore because they heal so fast and you feel like nothing in the world could ever hurt you.” <br/><br/>In the growing darkness of his home he held his sister and sought to comfort her for not just the hurt of today, but the hurt she has suffered for the past five years.</span><br/><br/>She cuddled into him, into the familiar crook of her brother’s arm like she always had whenever there was an issue. Even now, more muscularly defined than it was before, it felt familiar, it felt like the old times. This time, instead of comforting him, he was comforting her, and she drew more comfort from it than he’d have realized.<br/><br/>All those nights where she’d cuddled his pillow, when she’d sneak into his room before it was packed up, when she’d steal things from it so that it couldn’t be packed up and gotten rid of…this made up for it. It felt like he hadn’t even left, that their synchronicity was still there. And, in the darkness of his home, Eilidh felt the truth to his words, and, for the first time, felt like there might be an upside to changing.<br/><br/>“…Maybe becoming like you…won’t be so bad…” she whispered, looking down at him briefly, his visage dimmed considerably than it’d been when she first arrived. “Feeling invincible…doesn’t sound like it’d be so bad, right? And, we’ll be together again…so there’s no downside…not really. I’ll have you to help me through it all…right?”<br/><br/>A thought crossed her mind then, eyes dropping as her head lay back, getting comfortable again. Her next question would hold more weight than the others she’d asked prior. “…When…is the next full moon?”