when i run through the deep dark forest

[arracht]

Who: Derek and you
What: Monthly full moon log
Where: The North Woods
When: January 15
Why: This is going to get repetitive really fast. Full moon, Derek, camp full of nosy people. Added bonus of SHIT THERE'S WEREWOLVES RED ALERT.

The fact that Derek has to be smuggled into the woods doesn't sit well with him in the least, but it's better than someone catching him in the act of heading out there by himself. Between campers being on high alert, the camp heads watching everything like hawks (at least they know about him, but still), and the general problem of harpies on top of Lycaon's wolves outside of the camp, he can't exactly put up too much of a fight over it.

He has literally no other choice.

Maybe he could just lock himself away in Cabin 13, but his nerves are so frayed that he doesn't think it's exactly the best idea. Resisting the shift isn't difficult, exactly, but it puts strain on him when he does it and he's not exactly fit to deal with that.

But once he's in the woods, away from the rest of camp and surrounded by the trees and the silence of the night in the January air, he feels a little bit better. Now, it's just a matter of finding the people that will inevitably be out tonight-- and finding out whether they're the ones he needs to avoid, or the ones he needs to talk to before he succumbs to the pull of the moon.

( As always, prose/bracket and I'll reply to match. uwu* )

Comments

[arracht]

"Right now? Tensions are too high, I don't think anyone would like the end result of that." Worst would be him snapping and going feral. Best would be him becoming the king of assholes. His anchor is too loosely secured for him to trust himself right now.

His eyebrows raise again, but in a more amusedly interested way. "Was that the dick you were talking about?"

[willyouwalk]

"Dean? Yes, probably. He thinks your brother's pet is a danger." As if on cue, Small Nico jumps up on the table to inspect Tybalt's work. He just calmly puts him on the ground. "Wouldn't surprise me if he was the one who put the sign on Mrs. O'Leary's kennel. He thinks he knows monsters but I'd love to see him go face to face with a proper Egyptian demon."

[arracht]

Leaning forward to pick up Small Nico to keep him from jumping up again, he scratches beneath the skeleton's jaw absently, as if it's the most normal thing in the world. To be fair, he's a werewolf watching a magician put together a wax figure of himself in preparation for masking his presence somehow, so.

"If it weren't for the fact he sounds trigger happy, I'd be more than thrilled to scare the shit out of him."

[willyouwalk]

Tybalt snorts as he tosses the linen over the wax model of Derek and starts sketching out the spell with his ink and stylus. "Trigger happy's a word for it," he mutters. "Why is he even here? He's not a godling or a magician. What purpose can he possible serve except for maybe bait?"

Not that Tybalt would suggest that in earnest but. Well, he doesn't really like mortals in general.

[arracht]

"I don't know. I'm not exactly keen on meeting him if he's terrorizing Mrs. O'Leary and thinks bones here is an abomination of some kind." Derek watches Tybalt work, keeping said bones occupied while he does. When he first met the actual hellhound, she was nothing if not sweet. If someone's going around bothering her, he's pretty sure he'd sooner punch them than talk to them.

"He'd make a good chewtoy for Lycaon's wolves."

[willyouwalk]

"Or at least a convenient distraction--right." He stops mid stroke, glancing at Derek. "Put the cat down. You're about to be cloaked, and I only made a shabti for one. They'd see Small Nico and then your cover would be shot."

[arracht]

"I don't think Chiron would be enthused by us throwing a mortal at them, though."

Looking down at the cat in his hands, he moves to set the bundle of sentient bones down on a bed so that it hopefully stays out of the way. They don't need a tagalong.

[willyouwalk]

Wordlessly, Tybalt finishes the hieroglyph. When he turns around, Derek is completely shrouded, invisible to all but the strongest magicians.

"You know, I didn't quite think this through," he comments. "I can't see you."

[arracht]

Unseen as he is, Derek still raises his eyebrows.

And then he reaches out to poke at Tybalt in the shoulder.

[willyouwalk]

Tybalt recoils from the poke, trying not to snicker. "Well, you're still there, so try not to run into anyone before we get out there, please?" He gets the door before shifting into his cat form, waiting for Derek to follow. At least he can smell him like this.

[arracht]

Derek thinks this is probably the most amusing thing ever, despite the situation. If he were inclined to, he would get up to all kinds of mayhem. "Well, I'll put forth my best effort not to."

He moves to take care of the door, closing it behind them and looking down at the cat. "After you."

[willyouwalk]

Tybalt is going to regret this. He just knows it.

Still, he takes off at a run, stopping every so often to wait for Derek to catch up. Thankfully, the woods aren't too far away.

[arracht]

Tybalt may regret it, but Derek is going to enjoy it. And the fact that he doesn't need to actually sneak along.

But he follows after the magician easily, keeping his pace steady but careful so that he doesn't kick up too much attention.

[willyouwalk]

Once they get to the edge of the forest, Tybalt shifts back into human. "Derek?"

[arracht]

Rather than answer verbally, Derek slips silently through the foliage, and--

Promptly prods Tybalt in the ribs.

[willyouwalk]

Tybalt lets out the most undignified yelp, dancing out of the way.

"Derek? Really?"

[arracht]

Unfortunately, Derek completely blows his cover by laughing at the yelp, the first time he really has all week.

"Like you wouldn't take advantage of being invisible to most people."

[willyouwalk]

No response from Tybalt except to break the spell and lineface at the werewolf.

That would be a "of course I have".

[arracht]

Yeah, that's what he thought.

The fact that Tybalt is making that face at him tells Derek that he's no longer hidden, but that doesn't mean he's going to stop laughing about it. It's just a low chuff, his shoulders twitching, but it's obvious he's amused. A little less tense.

[willyouwalk]

"I see that this is a power I need to offer and use sparingly," Tybalt mutters. "Gods forbid I let Percy know about the shrouding. Can you imagine the damage?"

[arracht]

"The camp would be razed to the ground in a matter of hours," Derek offers, snorting as he starts to shrug out of his jacket. "I, at least, wouldn't abuse it."

A pause of consideration. "Too much, anyways."

[willyouwalk]

"Flooded, not razed." Tybalt leans against a tree. "How much is 'too much'?" he asks. "Spying on your little brother?"

[arracht]

"Both. I've heard about his exploits." If anyone could simultaneously flood and raze the camp, it would be Percy Jackson.

He folds his jacket over his arm as he thinks. "Spying on Nico. Haunting that Dean dick. Getting Stiles back for his dog jokes."

[willyouwalk]

That gets Tybalt to snort. "Stiles, the hyperactive Hecate boy?" he asks. "He knows, then?" Actually, come to think of it, it would probably be a good idea to learn who all knew about Derek's furry little problem.

[arracht]

"Stiles, the hyperactive Hecate boy." While there could be disdain there, Derek just sounds exasperated more than anything else. It's an emotion that Stiles instills in him frequently. "He followed Scott the first full moon I was here, because he doesn't understand the meaning of the word 'no' or the concept of 'stay put.'"