[PRP] Solstice (Oliver & Eve) [FIN]

[cibarium]

Since they'd already been accustomed to each other as Pack, Eve felt clear pride at a job well done on Oliver's part. The running of his fingers up and down the menu, seemingly full of wonder at the sensation, was strangely familiar, though, and it took her a second to parse why: the act mirrored Ezra with his fingers testing the pages of his book when they found him at the library. It was one among a handful of reminders of her newly-reacquainted son she was already seeing everywhere.

"Of course, I'll start that right up," she nodded.

A minute later an employee presented Oliver with a tray stocked up with a teapot filled with steeping Grey, a sturdy looking cup, and some cream and sugar in case he needed any. Eve wasn't far behind, having made herself a steaming cup of something different. She wasn't a fan of Earl Grey.

"I know some people have a more difficult time adjusting to being a moonwalker than others," she admitted. "You just missed the onset of the full moon by only a couple of days, too... so you might be in for a rough month, I'm afraid." Her grin at that was sharp, but softened quickly into something apologetic. "Sleep disturbances, food cravings... it's all a bit much like puberty."

melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

By the time Eve came back, Oliver had done a good job of shredding the tape off of his other hand, and now had a weirdly misshapen lump of the stuff smashed together in his lap (he didn't want to leave any all over the couches, anyway, that would be tacky). He thanked the employee and took to his tea, adding a little bit of cream but nothing more.

Even if Eve's news was somewhat concerning, he was placated by the gentle warmth that soothed his hands as he held the cup, "Well that's nice." He was being sarcastic, but it wasn't directed at his conversation partner by any means. He had no idea what any of this would entail in the long run, but he also had no reason to doubt Eve's words as truth either.

"So I'm what? Still slowly turning...?" He took a slow sip from his tea and sighed, "And then I gotta start doing the whole full moon Otherworld thing, right?" He knew all of this through Jamie, if only because he had given him a brief cursory explanation on his condition, "And then I'll be stuck lookin' like a furry for a week out of the month?" It all seemed very inconvenient. "That kinda sucks..."

A sigh; "I guess I'll have to get used to it." So long as it was something he could control, maybe it wouldn't be so bad...

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

"The spontaneous parts switching around doesn't happen more than once or twice, as far as I know," Eve pondered. Come to think of it, it had only come by once for every other were she knew personally. "Maybe it's a little notice from your new animal side. Also lets us know if we need to take a new were to the other side on the next full moon... you'll have our help for that, of course." She gave an assuring nod as she took a long sip of her Russian Caravan, which was still steaming like it had just done boiling.

"There's benefits that make up for the inconveniences, I think, especially when you start becoming more powerful."

melancolies

 

[Melancholies]

"Oh," He seemed relieved by that, at least. "So there's... obviously more of you, right?" He only knew about Jamie, by this point, and now Eve. And now him.

"I just wanted to go through college without all this weird magic stuff." He admitted, "But I guess if there's benefits..." should he try to be open minded about this? He supposed he could try, "I don't wanna just... denounce it. I just wish I had more of a say in it."

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

Eve nodded in quiet confirmation: yes, there were others, and if Oliver were already a friend of Jamie, it was a matter of time until he was acquainted with them.

"I think I can understand that," she continued in response to Oliver's latest complaint. "People tend not to like it when they have big changes forced on them. You don't even have to care about the benefits, if it's something you'd rather manage more discreetly, but..." The smile returned. It was clear discretion wasn't one of Eve's priorities for her own abilities. "Pay attention to that new inner you, and you can learn to borrow some of its abilities without transforming at all. I've developed an easier way with some animals, and my senses have never been better. There's more past that, too."

melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

"Really?" He looked back to his hands again, "That's... sort of neat, I guess?" He wasn't sure if he had liked what happened with his hands, but if there were other senses he could sharpen, it might be useful... "And I guess I'd learn all of that in time, huh..."

He worked the glass over with his fingers, still mesmerized it seemed by the fact he could feel things without it being a mental slap in the face. He took another sip. "The tea is really good, by the way. And I, uh—thank you. For all of this."

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

"There will always be at least one moonwalker here if you ever need to talk about it." Eve reached forward and gave Ollie a small pat on the back of his hand. "It's good you know Jamie, too. You can practice Sign with him if you want to learn. That's one bit that caught us off guard... speaking just doesn't work when transformed."

melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Oliver nodded along, "Sign? That might be kind of neat, actually..." He took French for his foreign language in high school, but sign language had always seemed vastly more useful—and interesting—to him.

"So anyway, what was it like when you started experiencing this? You seem pretty cool with it now, I guess you took it a lot better..." He sipped his tea again, content to keep talking the hours past in a long period of respite that he had been desperately needing.

Besides, the tea was good. He'd definitely be coming back.

cibarium

FIN