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]

"I don't know, the magician cloaked me from a good chunk of the camp." Honestly, Derek might be a little impressed by that. He's at the very least amused by it, but also thankful. It's not the most expected friendship, but it's one that he's been enjoying since the first day.

"The praetors, Scott, Stiles, Nico, Norman, and you. Chiron and Mr. D know, too, but I'm not sure where they stand."

[willyouwalk]

"Well, you're not dead so let's assume they're okay with you. I'm assuming your wolf goddess knows and doesn't care, so." Tybalt shrugs, glancing around the trees to see if there were any invaders. So far, so good.

[arracht]

"There's no hiding a werewolf from Lupa," he agrees. Their wolf goddess and Lycaon don't exactly have the most friendly relationship, but Derek has found himself to be an exception to this.

He moves, heading a bit further into the trees as he starts to take his shirt off as well.

[willyouwalk]

"So why do you strip before you shift?" Not that Tybalt cares (or minds, because Derek is very attractive, not that he looks often) but he is curious. He doesn't have to strip, after all.

[arracht]

"I'm guessing yours is more magic-based?" Derek folds his shirt and finds a place to set his clothes, where they hopefully won't be stolen or lost. "So you get to keep your clothes. Me, I ruin half my wardrobe due to shifting because it won't stay with me."

[willyouwalk]

That would make sense. Still, Tybalt's thankful his shifting isn't like that. He doesn't own that many outfits.

"Good thing you're not body shy then," he calls. "Might traumatize a few girls, though."

[arracht]

"You grow up in a pack of werewolves, you get used to nudity. Whether it's your own or someone else's."

He does laugh a bit, though, before starting to undo his belt as he just keeps working on shedding his clothes. "Definitely have before."

[willyouwalk]

"Who should I feel sorry for, you or them?" Honestly, he felt bad for Derek since there was a certain pitch some girls could reach with their voices that would be painful to Derek.

[arracht]

"Them, their delicate sensibilities were greatly offended." The pitch of their shrieks had hurt his ears, but to be fair he'd warned them that it was going to happen. Sometimes the members of your cohort don't really listen.

[willyouwalk]

That gets Tybalt to snort. "I've seen you Romans drilling," he replies. "If there's a single delicate person from your camp, I'm a rabbit."

[arracht]

"Considering you're a magician, would that be ironic or fitting?" Derek starts stacking his clothes on a branch as he sheds them, standing barefoot and shirtless in the faint snow as if it doesn't bother him.

Honestly he hardly notices it, attention more on their banter than anything else.

[willyouwalk]

"Seeing as how I don't turn into a rabbit and don't know anyone who can--both." He chuckles. "I could always turn you into a rabbit." Not that he would. Tybalt's not sure how shapeshifting a natural shapeshifter like Derek would work but he doesn't imagine it would go well. He'd be a wererabbit or something.

[arracht]

Derek turns to look at Tybalt, expression scrunching a little like an affronted dog. He's not quite sure how well that would go down, either, but decides to make a joke about it regardless. It helps ease his nerves more. "That would be cruel and unusual punishment. I'm a carnivore, don't reduce me to that."

[willyouwalk]

"Omnivore, technically, since I've seen you eating vegetables at dinner." Which wasn't the point but Tybalt never really bothers with things like "the point". "You've much more use as a wolf anyway. Very good pillow."

[arracht]

Blatantly rolling his eyes, he drapes his belt over the branch and works on shucking his pants, shaking his head at the magician. "Pillow, noble steed, escort, guard dog."

As he folds his jeans, he sets them on top of the stack. "Far more useful than a rabbit."

[willyouwalk]

Tybalt just snickers. "You forgot tracker." His nose was much better than Tybalt's after all, regardless of shape.

[arracht]

"I have to wonder if your cloaking technique masks your scent." Derek is genuinely curious, but that's for another time, when he's not stripped down completely and about to succumb to the pull of the moon.

[willyouwalk]

"We can test that later." Tybalt's been keeping an eye on the moon during their talk as well. He shifts into a cat before Derek can turn into a wolf and sits in the snow, waiting.

[arracht]

With a brief nod, Derek lets the crack of bone that comes with the physical aspect of the shift follow the pull of the more magical one, the one that's linked with the rise of the moon. He's used to it by now, so it's easy to just settle on all fours once it ends, shaking out his fur and turning towards the cat.

[willyouwalk]

Tybalt just likes his paw before taking a running leap over Derek's head and bounding off into the woods.

He's it.

[arracht]

Hardly surprised by the sudden cat using his head as a springboard, Derek turns on his tail and leaps after him.

This is what he needed-- just a moment to let go of everything again.