Julien stood in front of the sink, water running as he stared at his tired face in the mirror. He couldn't sleep, and now the sun had risen on a new day.
He had to wonder why he was going through the trouble of going back to school given everything going on, then he sighed as he made an excuse for himself.
I can't have my life derailed over a mere year of… strangeness. Yeah, I have an advisor meeting today, two exams next week, and Cello is still at the apartment.
He had no choice but to go back.
He massaged his stomach.
Though for whatever reason, no matter how much he tried to convince himself to leave, he just wouldn't move. Ever since he got up that morning, he had this sinking feeling in his stomach like someone shoved a thousand rocks into his abdomen and pumped him full of quicksand.
It's just school.
He closed his eyes and splashed his face with cold water.
Just anxiety.
Fussing with his hair a bit, he turned off the faucet and took a paper towel as he walked out of the bathroom.
"An awful long pisser ain'tcha princess?"
Julien whipped his head to the right, and there stood Remus posted against the wall while fiddling with a chain around his neck.
He smiled, an almost innocent curiosity on his otherwise devilish face.
"You a bad sleeper hun?"
Julien calmed his racing heart and peeked into the hall.
They were the only ones there.
Great.
"I manage. You just here to be a bother or what?"
Remus smiled innocently.
"Don't remember ever botherin' ya. Though, I get if my presence can be… distracting."
He pushed himself off the wall and pulled Julien into a headlock.
"I was just thinkin' me an you's can have a lil' heart to heart, how 'bout it sweetheart?"
Julien glared at him.
Him and these fucking pet names.
Shoving Remus's face away—the man releasing him without a fight—he scoffed.
"I have nothing to say to a stalker."
He gave Remus a smile of his own.
"But if you're ready to properly enlighten me like Madam Afenia said you should, be my guest."
Remus looked offended.
"Stalker? I'd say more of a… silent guardian, a secret angel."
Julien ignored him and began walking back to the lounge.
What a waste of time.
"I need to go soon so if you have something better to say—say it."
Remus trailed after him.
"You're not runnin' are ya?"
How nice that'd be.
"I wouldn't dream of it."
Remus laughed lightly, handing him the chain around his neck. There was a key on the end of it.
"It's to get back in through the lounge, don't leave me hangin' dollface."
He patted Julien on the shoulder, an impish smile on his face as he headed towards the club front.
"It's a date."
Julien stopped walking and watched him leave, then he looked at the key, tucked it in his pocket, and continued on his way.
What date you fucking lunatic.
—
Julien packed his bag slowly as students filed out of the room one by one. He was glad to have school to take his mind off things, but at the same time, he'd much rather be doing anything else—like gardening, that was sounding very appealing.
Just the advisor meeting left.
Julien dragged his feet towards the advisors offices, and after signing in, he plopped down on one of the lounge's couches and waited until his name was called.
"Julien?"
Professor Vale poked his head around the corner and waved him over with a smile.
Julien offered him a polite smile of his own as he joined him, and the two of them settled into his office. Spotting the good professor's wedding photo, Julien struck up a conversation by asking him a question.
"How's your wife been? You have a baby on the way don't you?"
The professor perked up, beaming from ear to ear.
"Oh, she gave birth yesterday."
Julien blinked as Professor Vale pulled up a picture of his wife in the hospital with a small, wrinkly bundle in her arms.
"Isn't she gorgeous?"
He chuckled.
"I'm glad our son takes after her more."
Julien just smiled.
I can't tell.
"Shouldn't you be at home then? I could've rescheduled if you needed to take paternity leave?"
Professor Vale's gaze lingered on the picture for a while longer before he met his gaze.
"I wanted to check on you, so I put it off."
Julien awkwardly cleared his throat.
"I see."
How was he supposed to take that?
Professor Vale pulled up his transcript and began going over Julien's post-grad plans.
"Are you going to keep going for your PhD?"
Julien wrung his hands together.
"I haven't decided yet."
—
After wrapping up their meeting, Julien walked out and paused once he was down the hall.
Did the good professor know something he didn't? The last time they met he was 'just checking on him' as well, but this time, it sounded like he went out of his way to do so—so what was it?
If I hadn't met Remus I would've thought he was the stalker.
Julien started walking again.
Maybe I should've just asked.
On his way out the building, Julien incidentally looked in the direction of the records department and paused.
An older woman with greying dark-brown hair and a tired look on her face was coming out of the room.
The two of them locked eyes and Julien felt his blood run cold.
It was 'His' mother.
She stared at him in a daze, her mouth slightly agape.
And he stared at her as well, his heart racing with an influx of panic.
Why?
She took a step towards him.
"…Julien?"
…
He was vomiting.
Kneeling in the bushes on the side of another building, Julien shook as he emptied the contents of his stomach.
Why?
Why?
Julien repeated the question in his mind until the question lost its meaning.
…
Shifting around, he planted his rear on the ground.
He stared at the tree in the middle of the courtyard with blank eyes, the wind rustling his rusted locks and the smell of earth and vomit corroding his senses.
What am I doing out here?
Julien furrowed his brows and wiped the bitter fluid from his lips. He felt sick and disoriented, and for the life of him he couldn't remember why.
…
He continued to stare at the tree, wondering if the old wood could answer his question—but it couldn't, and it did not.
Julien glanced at the moving shadows on the ground and stood up.
I need to get back before the sun goes down.
—
After making sure Nevaeah took Cello for the next few days, only explaining to her the basics—they'd found their werewolf—and getting an enthusiastic 'take pictures' from her, he opened the back door to Oasis and was struck to see that Andrew was actually awake.
The man was leaning forward on the sofa, staring at the table with a contemplative expression on his face—he didn't look up at Julien as he entered.
Shaking off his stupor, Julien quickly approached him before pausing.
He's normal right now right?
"Are you ok now?"
Andrew finally looked his way, his expression more unreadable than usual.
"I'm fine."
He paused.
"What are you still doing here?"
Julien frowned, taking a hesitant step towards him.
That's all you have to say?
Ignoring his question, Julien pressed.
"Are you really?"
Before the man could answer, Remus entered the room and strode up to Julien.
"Great, you're back. A'ye wants to talk to ya."
He threw a look at Andrew as the man tried to stand up.
"Alone."
Julien frowned seeing how unsteady Andrew still was.
So you're not fine.
Julien hesitated before following Remus. Giving Andrew a reassuring look as they walked out the door, he offered him a small consolation.
"I'll be right back."
—
Julien watched Afenia as she sorted through various different tea leaves. After deciding on a black tea as the base, she added it to the spice infused water in her cup and sat down. She set a cup in front of Julien as well.
"I have set aside time to give warnings for the future, if you would humor an old lady like me."
Julien glanced at Remus with a silent question.
What happened to you as an intermediary?
She noticed his gaze and chuckled.
"There are some things he does not know as well, and others I am sure he will overlook. That is why I am supplementing."
Julien nodded.
She mixed the tea in her cup.
"Let us begin with what you know."
Julien thought for a moment.
"You're werewolves, everyone has a distinct scent, I am… Andrew imprinted on me and now he might be dying, Remus doesn't think highly of… shifted."
He looked at her, unsure.
"And you people can do magic?"
He could see a wisp of sadness in her expression before it disappeared. She lifted the teacup to her lips and chuckled.
"Just Rory and I."
She set the tea cup down.
"A decent start. The scent you speak of is phenos. Every being has it and the scent itself is merely one presentation of it, but few species can sense it, and fewer still can use it."
So it's different from magic.
"Your bond with Andrew is a result of unrestrained pheno release."
She hummed and tilted her head as if going over the best way to explain it.
"Think of it as a defense mechanism. A fresh shifted is as vulnerable as a pup, and what is a pup without its mother?"
Julien looked at her incredulously.
"So, I'm his mom?"
She laughed.
"Gods no. It is only a comparison."
She took another sip of her tea, a soft smile on her lips.
"How much did Remus tell you about his role?"
Julien shook his head, sending a pointed look Remus's way. The man was leisurely spinning on a nearby stool, stopping briefly when their eyes met. He offered Julien a toothy grin, canines on full display.
She followed his gaze and sighed.
"Figures. He is there to supplement what you lack. The reason for the imprint is simple: phenos stabilizes a new pup and makes their shift more bearable, more survivable, and less dangerous for others."
She paused, adding on.
"Others besides the imprintee."
If that's the case, aren't I in the most danger here?
"I thought everyone had… phenos?"
"And you do. But unlike a wolf that has strong phenos and is capable of releasing it at will, you as a human do not have enough to sustain a stable shift. Putting both you and Andrew in danger."
Her smile fell and she threw a harsh look at Remus.
"That is why when someone is shifted, the pack takes them in im.me.di.ate.ly and has them bond with their shifter or someone unpaired. But we did not get to him in time, so now he is bound to you."
She locked eyes with Julien, causing him to straighten unconsciously.
"If you had not made it here, come month three, you my dear, would likely be dead."
Julien felt a shiver at the matter-of-fact deliverance of his grim fate.
"…What happens in month three?"
She placed her empty cup back on the table and sighed.
"Shifted tend to truly lose control during their third moon. While a werewolf's phenos is enough to placate them at this stage—which is what Remus will be handling for you—a human's is not. Seeking comfort from the pain, the poor things will tear into their partners without a second thought. Then, suffering from heartache and guilt, they die."
She chuckled at the grim look on Julien's face.
"Worry not, we will ensure you and Andrew do not meet the same fate. After the sixth moon, things start to calm down, and by that point, your phenos will have begun changing as well."
Julien couldn't bring himself to smile at her morbid reassurance, nor to ask what 'changes' she was talking about.
His one-sided outburst was all it took to ruin a life.
He clung to the fabric of his pants.
"Have you talked to Andrew about any of this?"
Afenia smiled, pouring herself another cup of tea.
"He asked me the same question. I told him the same things I just told you. I must say, he is by far the most odd pup I have encountered."
Odd…
"Odd how?"
She mulled over it for a bit.
"He only said one word after my explanation was over: Understood."
She paused, lightly tracing over the rim of her cup.
"You are quite strange as well."
Julien exhaled a hollow chuckle.
Is that so.
Downing his tea in one go, he stood up and bade her farewell.
"Thanks for letting me know."
He left, intent on going back to the lounge and having a conversation with his taciturn guard when Remus popped in beside him and pulled him in the opposite direction.
"You've still a date with me hun."
Julien pulled his arm away.
"Dude, I'm not in the mood."
Remus took hold of him again, his grip firm and gaze steady.
"That's too bad poppet."
—
Not in the mood to argue with Remus or listen to whatever he was talking about, Julien's mind drifted off to the bubble of emptiness nestled in his chest that continued to grow since he left school—the feeling only deepened by the sudden influx of grim revelations.
It felt like he was forgetting something important.
What was it my therapist said again? If it's something I can't remember, count back until I do?
What was it…
He went to class, talked to Professor Vale… then left campus to hand Cello off to Nevaeah, then he came back.
No that's not—
Remus snapped his fingers in his face.
"Pay attention."
Julien looked at him.
"What now?"
Remus leaned back in his seat, one arm hanging over the back as he prattled on.
"Simple, you and I've got a date with the big guy until the sun sets tomorrow. Then you're to wait outside the door til the sun comes up. Don't come in no matter what."
Julien nodded, then downing the bottle of water in front of him, he took a deep breath and reset his mind.
This isn't the time for this.
"Don't come in. Got it."
Looking off to the side, Julien spotted a mousy brown-haired man peeking at them from the other side of the venue and he moved to stand up.
It's Andrew's… friend.
Though why the young man looked frightened every time the two made eye contact was beyond him.
Remus stopped him.
"Where ya goin'?"
"To talk to him."
Remus looked that way as well before letting him go.
"Am I not entertaining enough for ya hun?"
No. You are not.
The young man looked like he realized something and he skittered off. Julien pulled away from the table, and Remus just smiled.
"You're a terrible date. I'm wounded."
Julien sped off in the direction the mousy fellow ran off to.
"Well I'm not on a date with you."
—
Cornering the mousy fellow—Rory, Julien asked him.
"You're Andrew's friend right?"