Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?

[prettyredbird]

Strange occurrences were happening all over Gotham's streets. It had all started with Red Robin coming across the body of a child predator with his throat torn out, left in a clearing in the Gotham Woods for anyone to find. He had no sympathy for the guy, but such a horrific scene of the crime certainly left an impact. It wasn't long before rumors of a vicious beast stalking the city began to circulate on the streets. People spoke of viscera and gore dripping from a powerful maw, the moonlight reflecting off of sharp white teeth, and howls powerful enough to make trees tremble. The whole thing sounded completely ridiculous. Tim insisted that it must have been an escaped bear, or some new supervillain trying to freak people out and cause chaos. The more detective work he put into it, however, the less he believed his own theories. Further bodies of the scummiest of criminals, fur, blood, partial canine paw prints that were far too big to belong to any wolf or dog, dead deer that looked as though they had been mauled by something far stronger and more terrifying than any grizzly--it would've taken quite a mind to put together such a convincing fake monster, but it was still possible. When the wildlife cameras he placed failed to pick a single thing up, Tim buried himself in research to find any sort of plausible explanation. Each trail only led to a single outcome.

Werewolf.

In the far corners of the internet, the least reliable sort of people swore the beasts were real. That they could transform into massive killing machines, apex predators unlike any that had ever existed before. They could shake off a substantial level of damage, and without some sort of silver to block their healing ability, they were nearly invincible. The first time Tim had read about them, he rolled his eyes and decided it was time to get some sleep. But as he lay there, staring holes into his ceiling, the idea simply wouldn't leave his mind. His best friend was the clone of an alien, could he really claim a werewolf was more far-fetched than that? Maybe it wouldn't be such an awful idea to look for a pattern, choose the right night, and see for himself who (or what) was leaving remains in the woods. At least then he could be sure.

As Tim stepped into the trees in the middle of the night a week later, Tim decided that yes, it was an awful idea. The hair on the back of his neck rose as goosebumps exploded in chains along his skin. Every sound around him seemed both amplified and completely terrifying. It wasn't like Red Robin to be scared, but he'd never actually tried to hunt a monster before. Turned out being in entirely new territory did in fact make him quite anxious. He hadn't wanted to try to explain his research to the other Bats when they'd nearly thrown him in an asylum that time he insisted Bruce was still alive and lost in the time stream, which meant that he had exactly zero backup. It took all of his training to keep his breathing calm, and his gloved had clutched the silver dagger that he'd brought closer to his chest. Sure, a six inch blade was totally going to protect him from a giant monster. Good thinking, Tim!

Comments

[prettyredbird]

The sulking was noticed but went without comment. He had little interest in actually fighting with Jason, he simply felt the need to defend himself when the wolf had questioned what he was doing. If he had stepped on toes, Tim hadn't really noticed. He was fairly certain Jason couldn't give two shits what anyone thought of him, let alone Tim Drake.

There was a rush that came with doing magic, even as he felt it drain away at his energy. From what he'd learned, it wouldn't always take so much in return for doing so little, but he had a lot of training to do to get there. His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to form shapes with the smoke. They started out as nothing more than amorphous blobs, but when he grit his teeth and focused everything he had on manipulating them, they started to take shape. One even looked vaguely humanoid, not crisp and clean but at least decipherable.

His eyes fluttered open again, and then went wide. As a prodigy, maybe he should have been able to do more from the jump, but Tim was still amazed by what he could do. That it was real. When his fingers reached out to touch the shape, it wasn't as loose as smoke, nor was it completely solid. "Weird." There was some level of resistance when he tried to push his hand through it. How strange.

It was several more moments before he dispersed the smoke. Only once he felt a little light-headed from how much energy it was taking out of him. He let out a slow breath and turned to see Jason there watching him. His eyes softened, just a little, and his head canted. "What are you looking at me like that for?" It wasn't said accusatorily, even if there were maybe better ways he could have asked.

[deadbirdarising]

Do more from the jump? Most people freshly started in the way of magic spent months reading before even thinking of trying what Timothy Drake had just tried. And most people had the added benefits of mentors and teachers and possibly even a whole network of peers to learn with or from. To read a grimoire in a week and then to condense conjured smoke into something with shape and form?

Constantine would be shitting himself.

While Tim lost himself in the magic running through his fingertips, Jason moved further into the room. He was careful to stay quiet and to give Tim his space, but he found a chair and settled into it, leaning a little against the conference table to get a better look at the smoke figures. And they were smoke, Jason could smell the acrid burn of it, recognizing both wood and coal...but there was something else as well. He closed his eyes and parted his lips to run the scent over the roof of his mouth as well and even in this shape, his senses picked up something...else. Something stronger. Almost metallic against the back of his tongue.

It brought a flash of something large and scaled to his mind's eye and his eyes snapped open as, once again, Tim's last name flickering through his thoughts. It was nothing, right? Surely just a coincidence and nothing more. Things like that didn't exist.

Of course, things like him weren't supposed to exist, either.

Tim caught him looking, the humanoid smoke figure no more than wisps in the air and Jason huffed a breath before schooling his features into something more neutral as he shrugged. "Nothing. You're good at that, that's all. Eat a protein bar or something. You smell a little crispy around the edges."

[prettyredbird]

There was a genuine smile at the compliment, but his eyes rolled when Jason bossed him around. "You're so charming." The younger of the two said with a sigh, but he didn't actually look that annoyed. He was willing to chalk it up to the wolf making sure he didn't hurt himself or anyone else.

Tim too could smell that the air around them had changed. He wasn't quite sure what it meant, if anything. Perhaps it was normal with magic, at least the sort he was practicing, and the fact that he had so little exposure to it was why he'd even noticed. It might help him to go through the grimoire again. During his time with it he had studied every page, but maybe something had slipped through the cracks in the wee hours of the morning. Even geniuses could make mistakes.

He grabbed a protein bar from his bag and took a seat at the table Jason was already at. "I brought more if you want one." They were pricey ones that didn't taste like shit, a rarity when it came to having to fuel themselves in their line of work. Tim didn't mind sharing, he had no idea what the metabolism of a wolf would be like, or if Jason had food stored away somewhere in the place he'd brought him to. Then he was quiet again, remaining polite in his manners but downing the whole thing pretty quick. His body was begging for the calories.

"So what's it like to be a wolf?"

[deadbirdarising]

"Charming. Sure, we'll go with that." He rolled his eyes, but he was smirking as he looked back at the younger boy. It wasn't the harsh, toothy thing from the Tower, either. It wasn't something a little closer to his normal, slightly lopsided grin from before. When Tim offered him a protein bar, he accepted it with a muttered 'thanks' before peeling it open and taking a bite.

It wasn't horrible but, to Jason's advanced senses, it was a little artificial. Still, he nodded approvingly at it as he took another bite. "Not bad. What brand are these? Actual whey powder is a nice change up from the usual shit they put in these." He eyed the wrapper as he chewed...only to nearly choke on his half chewed bite at that unexpected question. He thumped his fist against his chest a couple of times to get the lump down past his wind pipe, gasping in a breath as soon as the way was cleared.

"Jesus, kid." He thumped a couple more times against his chest, clearing out the last of the unprepared bite before he left the rest of his bar on the table and slumped back in his seat. "Not 'what's it like to be a criminal' or 'Crime lord, huh'? Just gunna jump straight to the furry questions. Fuck me.."

But that smirk was back, as was the little spark of humor in pale blue eyes.

[prettyredbird]

Tim had to try not to smirk when Jason choked on the protein bar because of his question. He was known for being blunt, so it shouldn't have been too surprising that he didn't beat around the bush. "I'm not a kid." The younger of the two told him, like he hadn't just barely become legal. It bothered him, the idea that Jason would see him that way. Tim didn't really want to examine why, but he knew for sure that he wanted his predecessor to see him as the competent, mature adult that he tried to be.

He at least had enough tact not to say that he didn't really care what it was like to do crime or being a crimelord, and that was why he hadn't asked those questions. Jason looked amused and Tim wanted to keep him in a good mood. "Being a wolf is a lot more interesting. You're the only one I've ever met. Can you really blame me?" The amusement was reflected in his own eyes. It was nice, getting to talk like this.

He set his elbow on the table, and his chin on his palm. "As a kid, you play pretend and act like animals all the time, but it's hard to imagine what it would be like to actually be one. "Do your senses change? I know dogs have a yellow-blue color spectrum, so I would imagine that wolves are the same. Or is it different because you're still human on the inside?" Tim didn't see a reason not to be his usual nerdy, curious self, since Jason seemed amused enough to tolerate it.