bakerstreet | (no subject)

(no subject)

the ROAD TRIP meme
You know who likes a good road trip? Everyone likes a good road trip! So aren't you glad you get to go on one now? Of course you are.

How it works:
1. Post with your character, with their name | canon and any preferences in the subject line
2. Someone else tags you. Congratulations, those characters are now on a road trip together! To where? Who cares! We only care about the journey here
3. Go to the RNG and get a random number between 1 and 15 to pick your scenario, or combine numbers or make up your own
4. ???
5. ROAD TRIP STYLED PROFIT!

Scenarios:
1: LOST You should have made a left toin at Albuquerque, or maybe you've been holding the map upside down this whole time! Whatever it is, you're hopelessly LOST. Will you make it back on the path to your destination, or will you find a new adventure? ~~Try not to open any hatches.~~

2: Tourist Trap Okay, you're all for seeing the sights, but World's Biggest Doorstopper? World's Smallest Chicken? World's Noisiest Whistle? Do we really have to stophere, too?

3: Car Trouble Maybe you got a flat tire. Maybe your engine's stalled. Or maybe you just overestimated how far you could get on a half tank of gas. Either way, you're broke down on the side of the road and the nearest station is miles away; better get behind it and push!

4: Bad Weather Driving in the rain? No problem. Driving in torrential downpours or a blinding blizzard? Big problem! Better find a way to get out of the storm fast!

5: When Ya Gotta Go... Didn't I tell you to go before we left? Well, even if you did, maybe you shouldn't have had that 44 ounce Super Big Gulp, because there's not another rest stop for miles. Maybe you can find an empty bottle in the back...

6: Road Delays Stuck in traffic? Stuck at road construction? Stuck in a funeral procession? Bridge out? Whatever it is, it's blocking your way. Do you wait patiently, or maybe find your own way around it.

7: Smokey and the Bandit Oh no, those blue lights behind you can't be good. Maybe you should just pull over and accept your speeding ticket like a decent citizen. Or, maybe you should floor it. High speed chase anyone?

8: Night Driving You decided to drive through the night, and now it's one AM and you're all out of coffee. Wake up a friend and make them help you stay awake; falling asleep at the wheel is dangerous!

9: Ghost Town Boy, this town sure is quiet. And... kind of creepy. Oh God, did something in those corn rows just move? I hear banjo music; DRIVE FASTER!

10: Roadkill Good going, you hit an animal. I sure hope you feel good about yourself. Now you've killed the poor- oh, it's still moving? What do we do now!?
10a: The I Know What You Did Last Summer Edition That animal you hit was a little more human than you care for... oh dear...

11: ROAD RAGE That jerk cut me off! How dare he!? I'll make him pay! Or maybe you cut off a less-than-friendly driver of your own, and now he's after you...

12: Carjacked Awww, that was a good lunch. ...Wait, I know this is where we parked... Dude, where's the car!?!?

13: Hitchhiking Who said you needed a car for a road trip? Stick that thumb out and catch a ride where you're going. Maybe you and a buddy are chillin' with the pigs in a trailer, or maybe that nice looking hitchhiker you picked up down the road is not as nice as you thought...

14: Fantasy Car Roads? Where you're going, you don't need roads. If you're in Doc's DeLorean, anyway. Or maybe the car is really Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Or a spy car. Or the Batmobile. Or a Transformer! Whatever it is, this car is NOT normal.

15: Are We There Yet? Roller's choice! Pick your favorite option, or two, or three, or just roll with whatever feels right!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

[He flinches the tiniest bit when she touches him; even after five years in the company of close friends he is still rather uncomfortable with physical contact. Her hands feel warm, and they do not look as scarred and calloused as his hands. Her fingers are thin as well, as if they haven't been broken and healed over a hundred times like his. He wonders how she manages to be so very calm. Is it really possible for someone to be born like this? To control it so well that the inner wolf cannot harm her? It's hard to wrap his mind around it.]

I... thank you, Brigid.

[He manages this around a little lump that's forming in his throat. He watches, mesmerized, as her hands change and reshape themselves. It looks somehow beautiful, graceful. Not like the grotesque transformation his body goes through. And it doesn't look at all painful.]

Won't you be lonely without your pack?

[Her father had been bitten. However, by the time she came along, he had full control. She's not used to those without that training. The time she'd made a mistake - almost clawing one of the younger children - had been the last time she'd ignored having to train.

She settles onto a stool.]

I'm always lonely without the pack. Not having one of them around is like a physical hole in my stomach. It aches. Having friends around, having a lot of things to do, it all helps. But it doesn't stop the bone-deep loneliness.

[Brigid gives him a weak, small smile.]

Being able to run with you, to feel the pull of the moon, to hear another wolf? It'll be nice. I won't be as lonely as I normally would be with you.

[He knows, deeply, how she feels. His mind as a wolf is not the same as his mind as a human, but he can understand the wolf's simple emotions well enough. When he is not at Hogwarts, running and playing and exploring with his strange, multi-species pack, the werewolf is... extremely lonely. Lonely and angry and frightened. It's somehow comforting to know that he isn't the only one who feels this way. He gives a weak smile.]

Then I guess we'll both be able to make each other happier.

[They don't have much of a choice, if Remus isn't going to hurt anyone.]

But, you know, I should tell you... I don't really transform the way you do. I mean, well. I think it's a bit... scary, you know, to watch.

[In fact, he made his friends swear not to watch him transform before the first night they came to see him as a werewolf. They completely disobeyed the order, though, when they got a look at exactly how painful the transformation was.]

Maybe you should, er. Transform in another spot, close by. Or something.

[She cocks her head to the side, the wolf watching something particularly interesting. Even twenty-four hours out, she can feel it tug at her, since she acknowledged that it existed.

She listens to him talk about it. She reaches for her bag and for the bestiary she's been translating as a special project for class and the pack. The Alpha agreed to her coming to Ireland if she agreed to do the translations.

She flips through the pages for a moment, then turns the book around and shows him a drawn picture.]

Remus, this is what an Alpha can look like. I've seen my Alpha look like that. I was twelve, and going through my first full moon. Two years later, I got out of hand and this is what put me on the ground.

[She takes a moment, to let herself gather her thoughts.]

If you don't want me there, I'll respect your decision. You don't scare me, Remus.

[He gets a brief glimpse of several pages of what looks like medieval Latin text before he's gazing at a picture of a large, black beast. It is very clearly a werewolf in the literal sense: part man, part wild canine. Feral eyes and impossibly strong jaws, a body so muscular that it must never tire. The image makes his blood run cold.]

I've. Er. Never seen a werewolf like that.

[He's not sure that his actual transformation will look nice to Brigid, but he's certain that at least his wolf form is not as dangerous as that. From the sound of it, an Alpha like that has to be not only ferocious, but very smart. And at least his wolf form is not overly possessed of brainpower.]

I've only seen it twice. He does it once a year to show the new ones, so they know.

[She takes the book and closes it, tucking it back into her bag. She doesn't look back at him.]

I'll respect your decision, but on my word, I won't let you hurt anyone.

[A small smile as she glances at him.]

Not even me, if I can help it.

[He stares, for a moment, into his own lap. It's frightening, to think that he is in danger of hurting people. This is not normally a problem for him: his accommodations both at Hogwarts and at home are well-calculated and tested, always very safe. This... this will mean that all of their fates lie in Brigid's hands. He takes a breath.]

If you think you can't handle me, please try to get away. I really, really don't want to hurt you...

[She sighs.]

Two years of Krav Maga - it's an Israeli form of self-defense. I was born a werewolf, into a pack and spent most of my life defending myself from rambunctious packmates.

If I can't, at least, keep you from the humans, Remus, we'll be in bigger trouble than I want to think about. I heal Remus. We'll be okay.

[Brigid studies him.]

My Da told me, that back when he was turned, the first lesson he had to learn was to not be afraid of the wolf.

[He frowns at this, wondering how on Earth a young child was expected to defend herself from other werewolves, all the while enduring lycanthropy herself. He certainly couldn't have done it. Perhaps people who were born like this are simply... better equipped to handle it. His eyes are on the ground as he speaks.]

And... how did he learn that?

[Brigid looks out the window at the falling rain.]

By learning how to listen to it. He had to learn how to differentiate the wolf from the human, and then, how to make them work together.

[Remus doesn't see how difficult it could be to differentiate between himself and his wolf side. After all, one is a mindless killer and the other is a quiet human being. Unless... there's something he's missing?]

How can you work together with your wolf side, then? I mean, usually when the wolf bit of me is in control, the human bit isn't even aware of anything.

[She wraps her arms around her upraised knees.]

Honestly? To control the shift... Being able to shift at will -

[She breaks off frustrated. Brigid takes a moment.]

The Alpha taught us to find an anchor. Find something that the human will cling to and would never destroy, or is so essential that they can't lose it. For me, it was fear. Fear that I'd hurt one of the little ones, or my father, because I was just too arrogant to control the wolf. But it was also love. Love for my Da, and for the pack. It doesn't have to be just one thing.

[He sits in silent thought for some moments, watching the floor and only glancing up at Brigid briefly.]

When you say, "was" - does that mean you don't need any sort of anchor anymore?

[She sighs. It's frustratingly hard to explain.]

Anchors change. First, it was fear and love. Now, for me? Now it's knowledge.

[Her fingers drum on her pack.]

I was sent here to study Gaelic so that I can translate the pack chronicles. Then, I'll go home and get my teacher certification so I can teach history. Maybe I'll do something else. But I'll never stop learning.

[He nods silently, but does not speak any more. He's worried that he's bothering her with questions that to her must sound terribly stupid. But he's so curious; he understands so little about the world of werewolves, a world he has never known. He continues to stare at the ground, a bit shyly.]

My pack would welcome you.

[She makes the offer softly. She knows her Alpha wouldn't turn him away.]

If you wanted to go to Boston.

[This does make him look up, surprised.]

Even if I'm not, you know, in control?

[She nods. Her fingers pick at the bag.]

You forget, Remus, we're all werewolves. The Alpha would make sure you weren't around the younger ones that are just starting. There would be rules that you'd have to follow, and he'd probably take you up to his cabin in the Catskills every full moon until you got control.

[She knows he'd done that before.]

But, he's a werewolf. I'm a werewolf. The pack would be there for you. You wouldn't be alone. I know you have friends here. I can talk to the Alpha about having them visit? He might say no, but he's generally reasonable.

[He doesn't actually know what the Catskills are, but such questions are not at the forefront of his mind right now. He knows beyond a doubt that he will never, ever leave his friends; he will stay at Hogwarts with the rest of them. But... he can't help but entertain the strange idea, for a bit. What would it be like, to be around other werewolves? He's always shunned the idea of other werewolves, for he's always thought them to be monsters, more animal than human. But Brigid... seems to think differently.]

And, the Alpha - he's sort of like the leader of the whole family, yes? What if he thinks a new werewolf can't be controlled, even with teaching?

[She smiles a bit.]

Think of him as the clan patriarch. He's in charge, and while most things don't need his approval, some things do.

[She purses her lips together.]

I don't think he's ever thought that. But, I don't know what he would do.

[He wonders what it would be like to have to live by the rules of an Alpha. Probably not unlike being governed by the professors. But... if there are some werewolves that can't be controlled, the Alpha could probably send them away to live alone.

He still can't believe how lucky he is to have his friends. They'll never be able to control him fully, but they don't seem to mind.]

Will you tell me about the rest of your pack, then?

[Despite it all, he really is curious about this peculiar idea of a werewolf pack.]

[She smiles.]

The Alpha and his wife are in charge. When the Alpha's wife speaks, it carries the weight of the Alpha. Mr. and Mrs. Hannigan are the Alpha and his wife.

[Her ears perk and the smell of hot stew reaches her. As well as the warm yeast aroma of rolls.]

Food is done.

I can tell you more while we eat, though it won't be with certain words since, these guys are human.

[Remus smells it a few moments after Brigid, but he smiles as he follows her. Though he's still very nervous about tomorrow, he's also quite hungry. He's still growing and it seems as if he's almost always hungry.

He thanks the hosts several times as they sit down, and is pleased to notice that the stew is a Scottish recipe that he sometimes eats at home. He fills his bowl and eats happily. But he's still stealing glances at Brigid. He hasn't seen her eat anything with meat in it yet, and he can't help but wonder if she'll eat like a wolf rather than a human.]

[Brigid smiles and digs in. She's starving. She regales their hosts with tales of Boston - tales of the pack, though she doesn't call it that. She laughs, after telling of the last family trip to Disney.]

No, really. Mr. Hannigan thought he could handle all fifteen of the little kids, by himself. Keep in mind, five of them were under the age of four. The other ten were between five and twelve.

[The older woman laughs, shaking her head. Brigid continues.]

At the end of the day? Mr. Hannigan had to have a haircut - gum in his hair; three of the children had eaten themselves sick, one of them was riding on another's shoulders, park security was hauling one set of twins, and Mrs. Hannigan sent several of us out on a clothing run because several of the kids had been nibbled on by the goats.

[Remus is listening to the stories too, though he is taking a very different view of them from their hosts. He realizes that all of the people about whom she is speaking are her pack mates. As he listens he tries to leap along in the wake of her story, grasping at hints about the relationship between different werewolves and allusions to how they live their lives. He finds it difficult to imagine living in such an atmosphere, but he's also quite charmed by the love and camaraderie evident in the telling.]

Did Mr. Hannigan have to pay for the damages to the goat paddock?