When her eyes fluttered open, Sierra found herself staring into still somewhat dark and unfamiliar surrounds. It took her a moment to remember where she was. Feeling strangely refreshed, she turned over to remove the alarm from her phone. Then she hopped out of bed and drew back the heavy drapes over her window, letting the soft morning light stream in.
Whoa, those are really effective drapes!
The view from her window was beautiful and the soft colours of the morning sky gave everything a romantic tint. It made her feel surprisingly optimistic and she determined that the arrival of the new day would also be a changing point for her. She ran a brush through her hair and decided to head to the bathrooms to clean up a bit before changing for breakfast.
Sierra was about halfway down the landing when she noticed that the door to the Sauveterre's part of the castle was ajar. At first she was going to respect their wish for privacy and ignore it, but as she turned towards the bathrooms voices floated up to her causing her to hesitate and then stop.
"...if what you suspect is true and she is battling some sort of overpowering desire to touch her team mates, maybe we should just let her get it over with," Geoffrey was saying.
A little tingle of excitement transformed Sierra's entire body to goose flesh and her heart skipped a thrilled beat.
I knew I liked the look of that guy!
"Maybe - it would certainly help her to focus. But what happens when she meets another creature in the field and the craving comes back?" Kalko replied.
Sierra scowled at him, even though he couldn't see her.
"I see your point," Geoffrey replied. "We were hoping to ask her if she'd mind touching one of the others in her focus session tomorrow so we could observe the process properly. It needs to happen at some point. The blow-up with Adam was too unexpected to really gain understanding from it."
That sounds like an excellent idea to me! In fact, we could move that up to today, if you like?
"I don't think it's a good idea," Kalko replied.
Don't listen to him!
"Kal, she's going to have to touch her team mates at some point. She can't work with them if she can't touch them. You know better than most that bonds need to be formed for a team to be effective. They can't trust her if they're nervous to be around her. They can't help each other or comfort each other."
That's pretty sound logic. Beat that, Kalko!
"I know that Geoff. I'm not saying never. I'm just saying that maybe we should hold back a while - try draw her out a little and test her before she ends up putting everyone at risk in a field assignment or something. If we force her to get control now, then we'll ultimately be helping her to stay in control in the long run. We don't know anything about her kind, but some of the legends aren't pretty. If this is something that can't be controlled, we need to find out now."
Crap. That's pretty sound logic too...
Geoffrey sighed with resignation.
No buddy, don't listen to him. Stay on my side...
"I'll talk to Jocelyn about it. You have a valid point, but I worry about the coherence of the team," Geoffrey replied.
"I'm worried about the team, full stop. You know how seriously I take my job, Geoff. I wouldn't have brought this up if I didn't think it was something we needed to look into."
Sierra bit her lip then slowly let her hands curl into tight fists of annoyance. It didn't matter that what Kalko was saying was making sense. He was trying to stop her from doing the one thing she wanted to do most.
"What if we let her transition into the team slowly - like one new creature every week or every two weeks?" Geoff suggested.
I can totally work with that! Go Geoff!
"No. I'm sorry, but if the craving is that strong, then just pacifying it isn't going to help her get control over it. She'd have to go cold turkey until she's shown she can control herself."
"Rrrgggmmmppphhhh!!!!"
She hadn't meant to let that noise - whatever it was - slip out. She hadn't even opened her mouth but apparently clenched teeth weren't enough to stop noises emanating from her throat. She'd just been so angry!
The voices stopped in response and Sierra's heart froze. When they didn't pick up again, she knew that they'd heard her.
Crap! Crap! Crap...
The bathrooms were the nearest destination, so she shot off in that direction as noiselessly as she could - wondering as she went just how good a nanaue's hearing was in human form. After all, most water creatures were adapted to their watery environments and so had no need to hear well above ground. She shut herself into a toilet cubicle and butted her head softly against the wooden door before slumping to the floor.
So much for my new day, new start philosophy...
When nothing seemed to happen after about five minutes, Sierra decided there wasn't much point to hiding out in a toilet. She picked herself up off the floor and got on with it, emerging a little while later ready to face the day - at least, as far as appearances went.
As she left, Senka sauntered into the bathroom still half in a daze. Her hair was still ruffled, she had a pillow mark down her one cheek and her sleepwear looked as though it had been through a war zone. If she was afraid of Sierra, she didn't show it. Instead she had a sort of 'bug me and you die' aura floating around her.
Sierra's hand instinctively twitched towards her but she fought it back down, realising that if she touched her, she'd just be proving Kalko right. Besides, Senka still looked half asleep and she very much doubted the were-cat was in the mood to get slapped upside the head by an involuntary, energy-draining transformation. Senka didn't look like the kind of person who made friends easily, but if Sierra was going to manage to get along with her on any level, forcing an exchange of body chemistry now was not going to be the way to do it. She forced herself to walk past Senka and found that as the distance between them increased, the craving decreased. She smiled to herself.
That's one point to me, zero to Kalko.
She mentally flipped him off and made her way back to her room, feeling strangely pleased with herself.
Maybe I really can do this. Maybe Jason was right - it can be controlled.
She walked into her bedroom with a bright bud of optimism blooming in her chest, and froze only feet from the door. Kalko was leaning against her dresser, waiting for her.
Shit! They know it was me...
She noticed that his eyes kept dancing from hers, like he was trying to avoid eye contact even as he forced something resembling a reassuring smile to pass over his lips.
Okay, Kalko smiling - that's just... weird... and a little creepy!
"What?" Sierra shot at him.
She realised belatedly that she was coming off a little too hostile for someone who supposedly hadn't just overheard him put the brakes on her aspirations. She tried to calm down.
"I just came to drop off some clothes for you," he remarked casually.
She could tell he wasn't saying everything. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion and she crossed her arms over her chest defensively.
He help up a flimsy looking little twist of navy blue cloth that looked like it was maybe one leg of a pantyhose in a former life. Her eyebrow quirked in response.
"Most of the team members wear these for transition training," Kalko informed her. "It's a specially designed fabric that can accommodate almost any shape. The fibres are woven in such a way that hairs and stuff just filter right through it. It's like a second skin I guess."
As he talked, he pulled at it and it grew magically in his hands then slapped back into its previous withered form.
"I thought were-creatures were used to nudity," Sierra inquired.
Kalko smiled.
"Funny, Devon argued the same thing last night. We are, but not everyone we work with is. We consider it a common courtesy to our team mates to cover up when we can," he informed her. "The other clothes are... well, we'd like you to wear them for everything else - for now," he remarked as he picked up a pair of gloves off the pile and let his fingers play with them.
Gloves! Seriously?
Sierra felt her agitation growing.
"Think you can manage to do that?" Kalko asked, his eyes flicking up to hers for a second in challenge.
She clenched her jaw in animosity, realising he was throwing her attempt to challenge him the previous day back in her face.
"Yeah, I can do that," She growled with reluctance, recognising that giving in to the juvenile urge to throw a tantrum wasn't going to win her any points.
"Great. See you at breakfast then," he smiled gloatingly as he started towards the door.
Sierra's fist curled where they were folded under her arms and her muscles danced as she fought the urge to sock him on the jaw. She didn't care that he was twice as big as her - at that point, she hated him.
When he was gone, she shut the door behind him and got to work figuring out how the heck to put the stocking-thing on. It was woven to shape and completely devoid of fastenings of any kind. However, it turned out to be easier to don than she'd have imagined, and it was also surprisingly supportive.
Well that should help me save on underwear...
After that, the long-length gym clothes were a breeze. She zipped up the top, pulled on the gloves then slipped downstairs for breakfast, meeting up with Devon along the way.
"Is your-suit thing riding up your butt-crack too?" he asked while he fidgeted as though pulling something out his nether cheeks.
Sierra smiled.
"Nope. I actually think it's pretty comfortable," she replied.
"Argh, how can you say that. You're supposed to be on my side!" he grumbled.
"What side is that?" Sierra asked, mildly amused.
"Total nudity of course!" Devon shot back in an undertone with a sly grin.
His eyes wondered over to Senka dreamily as they entered the great hall.
Sure - all creatures are completely fine with the nudity thing. It means nothing to them... Yeah right! I knew the guys were being full of shit!
Sierra huffed quietly to herself before letting a little knowing grin escape and seating herself between Luc and Devon once more.
"Nice outfit," Devon joked as she started fighting her gloves off, "But don't you think it's a little early for high tea?"
She scowled at him as she laid them on the bench next to her. She figured she was more or less safe where she was seated and it would be easier to eat without them, but that didn't make the idea of having to wear them any less annoying.
She kept her focus on her plate or on them at first, trying to avoid a repeat of the previous night's inner torment. But it was hard to try and decide what to eat without looking up. Once she let her gaze travel to the food, it was hard not to notice the hands stretching out to take from the platters and plates. That was when she realised that, if she was attentive enough, she'd be able figure some things out for herself without needing heightened smell.
For example, she noticed that Anthony never had any of the bacon. She remembered that he hadn't touched any of the meat the previous night either. Maybe he was just an eco-conscious vegetarian, but she couldn't imagine a carnivorous were-creature being so disciplined. She tried to imagine what sort of herbivore he could be, but came up blank. Whatever it was, it had to be pretty powerful - judging by the way he was built.
She remembered that Kalko had eaten pretty much everything, but he seemed to like fish the most. Alyssa was also partial to fish, but she seemed to prefer the smaller varieties - and she ate salad too. In contrast, Kalko had looked like he'd had to force the salad down simply because his human form demanded it. She was still pretty sure that he was some sort of water creature. She sighed at the thought that she wouldn't get much more use out of her phone for the time being - so much for the Google threat she'd tossed after him on day-one!
She turned her focus to Karina and thought about her long and hard. The gorgeous woman had eaten heavily from the red meat and even now was diving into the bacon and eggs, but she was happy to devour the cream cheese and pastries too. That was when Sierra realised that Karina didn't seem to be giving off a charge like the others. She couldn't be sure from so far away, but if that was true, she either already knew what Karina was, or Karina was human. Sierra was pretty sure she wasn't human. Did that make her feline or canine? She was quite a bit older than Devon, but surely he'd have mentioned something if she was a cat? She watched her quietly, taking careful note of her gestures and body movements. Her movement was more regulated and steady than Devon's, with his quick cat-reflexes - it was more like Jason's. Sierra's eyes sparkled at the thought of that discovery.
She knew that Senka was some sort of cat - and she'd seen and exposed herself to Adam - so that left Ken. She let her eyes wonder over to him as she ate, trying to fathom what he might be as the table conversation floated by unheard. His movements were quick and jerky - but more a nervous sort of defensive jerky than a quick purposeful one like the cats had. He was muscular, but smaller than most of the other guys and shorter too - he was probably close to her own height. He didn't seem as noisy as the wolves she'd met from Jason's pack - though wolves could be pretty stealthy when they wanted to be. He ate from everything with equal relish, so that gave her very little clue as to his true identity. Actually pretty much everything about him left her clueless, and the more she tried to figure him out, the more frustrated she was and the bigger her curiosity got. In an effort to curtail it before it claimed dominance over her powers of reason, she leaned over to Devon for some insight.
"Have you been able to get a read on Ken's scent? I've been trying to figure out what he is, but I just can't," she remarked. "Not without knowing what he smells like."
Devon shrugged his shoulders with complete apathy.
"He's just another mangy dog," he remarked.
"He can't be a wolf. I wouldn't be getting a charge off of him if he was," Sierra remarked.
Devon sat a little straighter with that information.
"Well he does smell a little different from Karina and Jason, but I figured that was just because he wasn't local," he mused. "I guess he might be some other kind of canine then."
Luc leaned over to Sierra then.
"So you really can't smell them then?" he inquired, his eyes pleading to know the truth.
Sierra let her gaze dance to her plate as she toyed with her fork over a pastry. Surely he was going to find out sooner or later anyway? She nodded in confession and he smiled with pure delight.
"Can you smell like them when you're in animal form?" he asked next.
Sierra suddenly felt the weight of the room lean her way and she became conscious of the fact that she was surrounded by people who could hear her from across a crowded space if they wanted to. Heck - most of them could probably hear her over that distance if she was whispering! As if that wasn't bad enough, everyone slowly stopped speaking as they waited to hear her response with complete interest. She was pretty sure there was a cricket chirping somewhere in the background, its annoying screeching cutting through the uncomfortable silence that suddenly pervaded the air.
No pressure....