(no subject)

[initiates]

Date: January 1st 8th
Location: The Transporter building.
Characters: Everyone.
Summary: New Transports arrive and are shuffled through their initial briefings. Then... out into the cold?
Warnings: None.

Your arrival here has been very unceremonious. One second you were somewhere else, and now, very suddenly, your feet hit the glowing white of the Transporter pad, and you're here. You aren't alone, either. There's a crowd of others around you, each seeming just as bewildered, angry, or confused as you might feel. At the head of the group is a woman in purple robes, solemn and taciturn. She hurries over a quick overview of your intended purpose here, and gives direct answers when asked for them, but to most things she simply shows you how to access the tablet you've just been given, or tells you that the DITR's greeters will explain everything. On the tablet, you can find the history of this place and a record of what your new cohorts have experienced. You're guided through the armory and given a weapon, and though the armory is now greatly reduced, you should be able to find something to suit you.

You're currently in a large multi-roomed warehouse, graciously granted by the cagey and suspicious remains of the organization known as the Initiative. They don't know you or trust you, but they've given you leave to set up camp in one of the warmer corners of this building until you find a place of your own. And if you want to leave right now, step into the driving winter winds and never look back? Well, friend, you can be their guest.

Outside you'll find the wintery village of Exsilium, with most of its buildings permanently buried in snow and ice. There are tunnels underground to connect neighbor to neighbor to marketplace, and most of the people here use them, but you'll still see people braving the above ground weather here and there for a more direct route. They hardly glance at you, should you venture out among them — unless you don't look human. That hologram emitter the greeter pressed upon anyone non-human on arrival? Yeah, consider that very important to maintain good relations of any kind.

Welcome to the current reality of Exsilium.

Comments

[werewolfing]

Same thing you are, except completely different. I don't have all the extra superpowers, I only change on the full moon. And by change I mean I become a wolf, not just claws and eyes and funky sideburns. But the big difference is this.

[he meets scott's eyes straight on, just for a moment, and the wolf becomes obvious. peter's wolf isn't angry, it isn't anything that needs to be controlled. it's wild, certainly, but it's wise, old, calm. the boy is nervous, but the wolf behind his eyes is implacably calm and in control, independent, not wanting for anything more than freedom. for the moment peter's eyes are staring into scott's, some of that calm fills him too, like a sweet little sip of being truly and firmly anchored. but it doesn't last long, because peter breaks eye contact, blinking and looking away.]

[banded]

[Right before Peter pulls away, a part of Scott acts—involuntarily, really. He tenses up and his eyes flash red and he inhales deeply. The moment Peter does look away, he clenches his hands into fists, aiming to calm himself. For as much as there was a calming reaction, there was more—some part of Scott reacting. He knows that part. But he's still unsettled by how much it's brimming at the surface.]

... Is it easier for you? [It's managed after a moment. He lets out a shaky breath.]

[werewolfing]

[peter only flinches a little, but his heartbeat skitters, pulse spiking sharply and only calming slowly. the anger in scott--the fact that the primary thing he sees and feels in the beacon hills werewolves is rage and destruction--it still scares the hell out of him.]

I was born this way. It's just me, there's nothing to control. Where I come from, werewolves are hunters, not predators. Why would a wolf be born angry? Just not how we are. A wolf that just wants blood and doesn't eat what it kills is sick, here.

[he taps his temple and his chest.]

It's all pretty different for me.

[banded]

[What he says seems to strike a chord with Scott, and not a bad one. So much of what they all do is try to anchor themselves in humanity and fight off the werewolf inside; maybe that's the problem? But without any "senior" wolves around, it's hard to say.]

Sounds like it. The wolves back home who keep it in check ... some of them use anger to their advantage. [His lips quirk into a small smile.] They'd probably say that anger is key to everything. [Or they used to. Derek seems to have changed after everything.]

[werewolfing]

Sounds exhausting. Controlling violence with anger sounds like fighting fire with gasoline, but what the hell do I know?

[peter shrugs. if anything, he's backwards; it's the wolf in him that's grounded, the human who wishes for that serenity when things go nuts. he takes a deep breath, lets it out slowly, trying to calm himself the rest of the way. peter let himself forget how different scott feels than isaac, how it prickles along his awareness.]

You'll see the rest about me on the full moon.

[banded]

[The full moon where Scott has no anchor, no control. He hasn't even figured out half of the alpha business, which is frightening, and it's not like he has Derek on speed dial. His phone doesn't work the way it's supposed to; at least, it doesn't anymore.

He pants out, somewhat interested, but also a little dubious; not because of Peter, but because of everything.

Plus, he's a little worried about him.]

You really are that calm then?

[werewolfing]

[peter's quiet for a moment, just looking at scott, sizing him up and then coming to some conclusion that doesn't show on his face. scott had assumed that it was peter who was the loose cannon when they'd met the first time, and considering how different their lycanthropy is, peter doesn't really blame him. people don't believe some things until they see them, after all.]

Yeah. I really am. Never hunted anything I didn't eat, never killed anybody, and the only person I've ever attacked was trying to kill me. If you let it happen, being around me helps keep you two calm too. Works kind of as a person, much better as a wolf. Spent a week in a cage with the two of you on the moon because me being around was the only way either of you could calm your tits enough to even consider sleep.

[banded]

We'll need you around, then. [It's not admitting his lack of control so much as acknowledging that it would be good. It comes quickly enough, though, and Scott does worry about him. What if the alpha isn't willing to submit to that? Usually he has a stronger handle on himself, and this is the first time in over a year that he's gone without it.

The fact is terrifying.]

And—thanks. For before. [Even if he doesn't remember it. The fact that he's still sticking around means something.]

[werewolfing]

Yeah, I know. I'll be around.

[peter's seen scott in control on the full moon, and out of control on the actual moon, and the admission makes him wonder if it won't be closer to the latter than the former, this time. isaac held his control just fine last month, but now his alpha is here and who the hell knows what that will do? not peter. nobody's ever clarified if 'stronger together' means more or less control.]

I told Isaac I'd keep him from hurting anybody if I could. So I did.

[it's not quite that simple, of course, but it's close enough. he sighs.]

You can thank me once we're all through this next one.

[banded]

[That makes Scott worry that Isaac has almost hurt someone here, but then, that's the implication of the cage, isn't it? Scott has a feeling they were both desperate once. He doesn't know how he'll be in a few days, how any of that will go down, but he has to be ready for it.

Except he doesn't know how he will be, considering the factors involved.]

I'll make sure to say it then.

[werewolfing]

[peter's leaving out the part where scott was completely out of control, where people did get hurt. he doesn't figure it helps anything.]

We shouldn't stay in town. People here aren't exactly friendly toward supernaturals and my transformation's not...subtle. Not that you guys do much better.

[banded]

You mean ... the transports? Or the people here? But I agree—though if there's a ... way we can keep ourselves contained, that'd be good. [Not a cage, but something different, something bigger. Derek's old place where he took the betas wasn't bad, though Scott doesn't exactly endorse trying to chain them up. But if they can't get out, that's generally good.]

[werewolfing]

The locals. Most of the transports are some kind of something themselves.

[he shrugs, although something in him goes a bit edgy at contained. it doesn't bode well.]

There are plenty of abandoned buildings, especially once you get toward the edges of town, if that's what you mean. They don't have any power, so no heat or light.

[banded]

[His fingers flex in the cold. They are cold. No amount of being a werewolf can fix that, but being transformed can help a little with that.]

They might do. Just in case.

[werewolfing]

Guess there's a week still to figure it out.

[which is something peter intends to leave to the beacon hills crew as much as possible, since he isn't the one with the special requirements.]