There's the Wild and Then There's the Weird

A Matter of Friction

It felt good to slip out of her human skin and into her wolfen one, the freedom of changing shape something that always brought a burst of joy into Fao's heart. She resisted the urge to jump about like a pup, but only because the distress radiating off of the man in front of her was something she could nearly feel as if it were her own worry. He wasn't drenched in the scent of terror like he had been earlier, and his body wasn't scuttling away in instinctive fear so she decided to proceed with being his irrefutable proof of life beyond human restrictions. A wolf nose to the palm of Conroy's hand made his whole arm jerk away as a rough exhalation of air nearly barked out of his chest, but Fao just stuck her snout into his hand again and waited. 

Fao had been born with inhuman patience and now it served her well because Conroy was frozen in place for several minutes before he seemed to realize that she wasn't going to move again. His fingers hesitantly twitched against the fur and skin of her snout, then grew a little bolder as he quickly stroked the top of her head like she were a dog. It wasn't offensive, Fao knew that the association of 'friendly dog' would allow Conroy to see passed the 'terrifying wolf' exterior and allow his panic to ease. 

He was still staring down at her with wide eyes, breath coming too quickly for Fao to believe that he was adjusted yet. She kept her body language relaxed, projecting the sense of playful curiosity and safety that she'd use around puppies or scared little ones, and it seemed to be working enough because Conroy was still patting her head.

"Panic and visual miscuing are a part of PTSD. I can even expect some phantom limb sensations, and unusual emotional processing. But nowhere, and I mean nowhere, does it say that I would be able to feel fur and body heat radiating off of a woman who just turned into a wolf that is about a hundred pounds too big to be a natural wolf." Conroy's voice was rough sounding as he seemed to force the words out, but Fao was glad to hear him speak nonetheless. 

When he leaned back against the wall and slid down it to sit on the floor, Fao settled herself onto the floor and rested her large head on his lap like a dog would. This wasn't the exact way she expected him to react, but Fao was adaptable and willing to wait out whatever process he needed to accept the truth. Humans were strange in their obstinacy. They will time and again believe a laughable lie over a difficult truth. His hand stroked from just between her eyes, over her skull, down between the ears on top of her head, and back along her neck to stop between her shoulders. A rhythmic, slow petting that allowed his heart rate to steadily decrease from its frantic beating earlier; Fao could have easily dosed off with the calming touch, but she resisted the urge and waited until Conroy spoke again. 

"I'm going to call Maol." Conroy's voice was no longer rough, and Fao rose to her feet so that Conroy could struggle to his. The late afternoon sunlight was calling to her to run outside but she ignored the lure and walked towards the kitchen and the landline located therein. She only stopped to look over her shoulder to make sure Conroy followed. He was staring at her walk away, his body language screaming a question at her that she could not vocalize an answer to just yet. Instead of asking the question Fao knew he wanted to ask, Conroy surprised her by saying, "You move very quietly for such a large... Eldritch whatever you are."