It was getting on towards dark. The sun was just starting to set over the trees of the forest and the sky shown with shades of red and pink as the last rays of sunlight mingled with the clouds in the distance. Jiaying was outside on the porch, standing against the railing by the steps, arms crossed and brow furrowed. Skye had gone out running several hours ago and still wasn't back yet. She was starting to worry, and Jiaying did not worry easily.
She knew that Jemma was still asleep upstairs and she was resolved to let the girl rest as long as she could before her daughter got back…but the time was quickly approaching and Jiaying knew if Skye didn't return by the time the moon was up then she would be needing to put up a strong defense spell around the house.
She pulled out her wand and pointed it at her throat, "Sonorus." Jiaying knew the loud noise would probably wake Jemma up in Skye's room upstairs, but she needed to send out a reminder to her daughter to hurry home before she needed to take extreme measures.
"SKYE, GET YOUR ASS HOME RIGHT NOW!"
Jiaying waited another couple of minutes before taking the spell off and moving into the house, putting on a pot of tea. There was always tea on. It soothed her nerves and she had made a special kind that would hopefully help Jemma with her soreness and help them both stay up.
Jiaying's call definitely did wake Jemma up, and her eyes flashed open with panic. She hadn't been aware of how long she'd been sleeping, but when she glanced at the alarm clock she insisted Skye keep in the room she began to panic. The moon would rise any minute now, and Jemma was still in bed.
She bounced to her feet, at least as quickly as an injured person could manage, and rushed to the bathroom to change out of her partial, dirty clothing from the previous night. She only stopped for a moment to stare at the purple splashes all over her body before she threw on a pair of jeans and one of her own sweatshirts. Just in case, she wanted to smell like herself tonight. It may comfort Skye, and Jemma would be willing to do anything to make the transition easier for her.
Jemma still vividly remembered the sounds of Skye's bones breaking and reshaping, but she was going to have to get used to it. It would be happening often for the rest of her life, and Jemma was prepared to be there for it.
Stumbling down the stairs, Jemma barely had time to pull on a pair of sneakers and shuffle out onto the porch, despite the way her body was aching and begging her to just go back to sleep. Jemma wouldn't sleep all night, not until Skye was back to normal. Skye needed her.
"Sorry to wake you in such a fashion, dear, but your lady love still has not returned from the woods. I'm going to skin her alive. Tonight is not the night for anymore of her carelessness…" Jiaying sighed, coming out onto the porch with Jemma, two mugs of tea in hand, one of which she handed to the younger girl.
"If she doesn't show before the sun sets over the trees I'm going to need you to help me put up a good spell around the house," The woman advised, taking a sip of the warm and semi-bitter liquid before she sat down in the rocking chair.
"How are you feeling? The tea should help more with the bruising and swelling. I made it special. It will help your nerves too, so drink up," Jiaying nodded towards her, raising her cup just so before she took another sip and kept her eyes fixated on the woods beyond. She knew her daughter had a knack for being late, but this was really something she ought not to be late for.
"I'll live." Jemma told her girlfriend's mother, easing herself down into the rocking chair beside Jiaying and sipping her tea. She was trying not to be worried. Skye would come back in time, Jemma told herself, though she knew punctuality was not Skye's strong suit.
"Thank you for showing up in the nick of time. Really, you saved my life." Jemma said gratefully when the two were surrounded by silence. It had occurred to her that she hadn't yet thanked Jiaying for fixing her, too much had been going on. "We sure learned our lesson, that isn't going to happen again."
"I am well aware," Jiaying nodded, lips pursed now in a thin line as she thought back on the day before. "And I should expect not. You'll be going back to school. I'm not going to be there and I doubt the professors will be as understanding as I am. I've already received a couple letters from Hogwarts about policy changes and precautions Skye will need to take. It has been several years since they've had a werewolf at school, among the students, /as/ a student. They'll be watching her closely. Coulson himself assured me on such matters..." Jiaying turned to look at Jemma then, laying her free hand on her arm, a serious expression on her features.
"You are very smart Jemma, and you are more than welcome for yesterday. I see you as another daughter, I hope you know, /but/ you need to keep my girl in line. She's only barely discovering what she can do and cooped up in a castle sometimes will not be good for her. I need you to take care of her, and watch her and keep her from hurting herself, or you, or anyone else. You're going to have to be the strong one, because as you've seen, when the beast is out," she gave Jemma's arm a gentle squeeze before taking it away and looking back to the woods, "she can't be."
Jiaying fell silent again, staring at the treeline as it got darker before she stood and went into the house, coming out with with a steaming bottle of brown, rancid smelling liquid that she set onto the railing before drawing out her wand. "Well...come now Jemma. I'm not sure we have much time now to wait. Protego Totalum should do it don't you think de- there she is!" Skye's mother suddenly pointed towards the tree line as the last of the red rays of the sun passed over the trees. She was running and soon had entered the field of tall grass.
Jiaying was startled when Archi came flying down from the top of the house, making a terrible racket, soon followed by Jemma's bird. The small pygmy owl seemed to be distressed, but Jiaying waved him away with her hand.
"She's cutting it fairly close...how does she ever make it to her classes I wonder," Jiaying sighed, one hand on the warm bottle and the other on her wand. Skye was making good time across the field and Jiaying was carefully watched the sky, thankful for the few thin clouds about in the afternoon. Archi continued his loud, infernal squawking just as Skye crossed a good two thirds of the field.
She felt like her lungs were on fire. She knew she was late, but she had lost track of time until her mother had yelled for her. She had been running the direction home straight away except she had been stopped every few minutes by-Skye let out a shriek as a simultaneous loud crack shot up her spine and she went tumbling into the grass, face first. The ridges on her spine rose, cracking some more as she shouted, fisting the dirt and grass in her hands. She wanted to stretch out more, but it was like her body wasn't quite there. It wasn't quite time. It still bloody hurt though and as her spine shrank back and popped into place she yelled again, sweating and gasping for air in the dirt, trying to claw herself back up so she could make it the rest of the way to the house, but the tremors were coming quicker now as her body anticipated what was to come...and it scared her.
"Skye!" Jemma snatched the potion out of Jiaying's hands and dashed down the steps, ignoring any and all pain from her bruising. All she could think about was how miserable Skye's transformation had been the first time, and her heart was hammering in her chest as she watched Skye fall down into the grass.
"Hurry, drink this, it'll be okay." Jemma dropped down to her knees when she reached her girlfriend, pulling the stopper off of the potion and holding it up to Skye's lips, cradling her head with her free arm. Jemma didn't have any time to be afraid, she was taking the risk being here right next to her. If the potion didn't work, Jiaying would be here to subdue Skye. Either way, everything would be alright once Skye got through the worst part.
Skye would have spit it out the second the foul tasting liquid hit her tongue, but Jemma was pouring it in in such a way that it was let it go down and swallow or let it go down and choke to death, so Skye swallowed it down as fast as she could. When she finished she flung her arm out and it pushed Jemma's hand with the bottle away and it went and shattered on the ground just as Jiaying was coming up to them.
"The moon is coming out," She warned and placed a hand on Jemma's shoulder to catch her attention, using her other to point up towards the sky as the clouds started to dissipate and the sun finally set below the horizon. "You need to move back. She's going to change," She moved to pull Jemma back, but one of Skye's hands latched onto her arm and pulled her back closer, eyes wide and staring up at the moon as it slid back out of the cloud cover.
"J-Jemma don't—" Skye's eyes darted from the moon to her girlfriend's just before her body went rigid in Jemma's arms. Jemma would feel Skye's spin suddenly snap as more vertebrae grew in from the existing ones, the simultaneous scream echoing out over the grass. She was scared. She didn't want Jemma to leave her alone. The first time had been different. She hadn't been anticipating it. It had caught her by surprise. This time Skye was dreading it and the pain of her body breaking and building itself back up was excruciating.
Once again she was fixated on the moon. Her pupils widened, expanding the chocolate of her iris further out as they stared up at the glowing white orb in the sky.
"She's going to rip her clothes, quick!" Jiaying was down in the grass and grabbed a hold of her daughter's feet and jerked the shoes off, but it was too late for the socks. As soon as her feet were free, Skye's legs started to reshape, feet and claws growing out, ripping the socks till they fell off. The shorts were done for as well, but Skye had managed to claw her own shirt off and kick herself away from the two women into a thicker patch of grass before she fell into the dirt again. This time her screams came out as a howl. Fur was breaking up out of her skin and in the pain and reshaping of it all, her new wolf hands were clawing at whatever was left to rip it off, skin and cloth being slung into the grass.
When she had kicked them away, Jiaying had quickly stood and pulled Jemma back, her wand out and at the ready in case, for some reason, the potion had not worked. She was sure that this time she had made it correctly, but precautions needed to be taken and Jemma was in no shape and without a wand no less. Jiaying held hers firm, pointed at the spot in the grass where the furred figure was moving towards them.
"The eyes are the tell, Jemma. If I say run, you need to run," Jiaying laid out firmly, but when the tall lanky shewolf stumbled from the grass, panting, and turned her head to look at them, pain of the change faded, they were brown.
At the sight of the wand Skye's tail tucked between her sparsely furred hind legs and her head lowered to the ground, ears flattening against her head. A soft whine echoed into the night, followed by more until finally, Jiaying lowered her wand with a heavy sigh.
"It's alright. The potion worked."
"Thank god," Jemma breathed, rushing out from behind Jiaying's arm and towards her furry girlfriend. It was the same wolf that had attacked her the night of the third task, but it was also different. Jemma could see it in her eyes, Skye's eyes. It was her.
"See, it's alright now. It's alright." Jemma whispered comfortingly, cupping Skye's large, fuzzy head in her hands and kissing her repeatedly between the eyes. Her hands drifted back to her neck, scratching up until her hands were behind her ears, rubbing lightly.
A large, flat, wet tongue licked its way up Jemma's face. It flicked in and out, quickly giving Jemma 'kisses' back to tell her not to worry, although she needed to be told to stop because her girlfriend's face was getting covered in saliva. She rubbed her large furry head all over her, nuzzling her this way and then that way, all while her tail began to slowly wag at the affections she was receiving. Her left hand leg was also softly pawing at the ground as Jemma scratched around to the front of her neck and under her chin.
Skye knew that she was Skye and not some raging monster. She could see Jemma and her mother and she knew it was them by sight and smell but it also felt like looking at a fuzzy memory. She knew it was them, but there was a peculiar haze. She wondered briefly if it was because of the change. Her focusses were more simple. There wasn't such a need for complex thought, or at least she ddnt think so. When she tried to think in words it just wasn't there. Pictures and smells and tastes filled her thoughts instead and she could understand all of it, but it was a different thought process from before.
She did recognize one feeling though. She was hungry. Once she realized this, a switch seemed to flip on and she took more notice of the smells around her, removing her head from Jemma's touch to stand. Normally she was taller than Jemma, but shorter than her mother. Now, on her lengthened hind legs, standing upright and letting her lanky arms fall towards the ground, she towered a good foot or so over them both. Her ears were erect, twitching, turning and taking in all of the sounds while her nose sniffed away at the air mouth slightly agape and panting.
"You know, when you're not trying to kill me, you're actually sort of cute." Jemma chuckled, placing her hands on her hips and craning her neck to look up at the big canine's face. It turned out that she couldn't keep her hands off her, though, and she rammed into Skye's chest, wrapping her arms around her great furry torso and hugging her tightly.
Even though she was making jokes, Jemma was still overwhelmed with relief. There had been a small part of her that was worried Skye would be lost to the wolf for another night, and she was glad that her girlfriend was here and that she wasn't attacking any of them.
The large she wolf stumbled back a little bit, wobbly on her new legs as it was only her second time using them, and she had hardly used them much the first time. Ears flattened against her head and Skye whined again at Jemma's joke, which she did not find funny at all. In light of recent events Skye knew more so now than ever, that she was dangerous, even if she was herself.
She stayed upright a while longer though, letting Jemma hug her, before she stepped back out of her grasp and licked her cheeks affectionately before dropping back down to all fours. Her tail wagged and she looked towards the woods. She wanted to go running, since her energy from before had not dissipated. On the contrary, it seemed she had more of it than ever. With her large head, she nuzzled her nose against Jemma's side, pushing her some towards the woods, hoping she would walk with her at least that far. Jiaying was keeping a careful watch and deemed it safe enough for Jemma to venture out, at least to the edge of the woods. She wasn't sure she should be gallivanting through them again in her condition. She could still tell the girl was sore, but she too was relieved that her potion had worked. It was well worth it.
It wasn't difficult for Jemma to understand what Skye meant, even when she wasn't herself Jemma could just tell. Skye had been buzzing with energy for days, and she guessed it was all coming to a peak now.
"Come on, let's go." Jemma began the walk towards the trees, rubbing her hand over Skye's shoulder and giving Jiaying an assuring smile over her shoulder. She was a little disappointed that she couldn't spend the whole night with Skye, but she knew the werewolf needed to go and there was no way she'd be able to keep up. She supposed she should catch up on some sleep while Skye was out, but she also wasn't sure she wanted to.
"You be careful, and try to enjoy yourself." Jemma requested as they neared the treeline and got closer to where they would part.
Skye's tail began to wag more and more the closer they got to the trees, right up until they reached the edge, and it stopped, sinking down between her back legs. Her ears twitched, moving to face the sounds coming from the woods and some back towards the house. She could hear a lot from here, and smell a lot too. All of her senses were the strongest they had ever been and it was exciting…she just hated to have to leave Jemma here. Skye knew she would be too fast for her to keep up.
The she wolf nuzzled her head under Jemma's hands, getting her to scratch behind her ears again before she licked it gently and turned off, dashing into the woods and tail wagging again. Skye didn't have any worries about being safe. Who was going to mess with a werewolf? A few short moments after disappearing into the trees, a long howl echoed up from the forest, sending some birds scattering from the trees nearby. Skye was going to have a nice long run and a fun time gallivanting off in the woods and she could tell Jemma all about it in the morning, especially since she was going to be able to remember it now.
Jemma grinned as she listened to the sounds of her canine girlfriend out in the woods, and after staring out into the darkness for a few more minutes, she finally turned back and headed for the porch. Jiaying gently put an arm around her shoulders and ushered her inside.
"You should get some sleep, dear, I'll wake you in the morning before Skye is back." Jiaying assured her, nudging her towards the stairs. Jemma wanted to be awake in case Skye needed her, but the chances of that were low now. The best thing she could do for Skye was rest and heal. It would be better for her to be wide awake in the morning, when Skye would surely want comfort.
Without too much more thought, Jemma returned to Skye's room. She took a hot shower and stared at all the marks across her body in the mirror before finally slipping into some of Skye's clothes and collapsing on the bed, exhausted.
It was still early and the moon was still visible, even against the sky that was just barely starting to brighten for the morning. She hadn't been able to wait, and she didn't want to be stuck out in the middle of the woods when the sun finally did come back up. She wasn't sure what the change back would feel like. She assumed painful, and she didn't really want to wander about naked in the woods trying to get back home.
She had brought a gift too, one she was rather proud of. Still being early, Skye didn't want to wake everyone up. She hoped that they had gotten some sleep, but when she happily dragged the heavy carcass up to the stairs, her ears twitched, picking up the sound of her mother. She had been sitting out on the porch all night, mug of tea in hand and looking rather strangely at her daughter.
"Was this quite necessary?" Jiaying whispered harshly, staring at her she wolf of a daughter whose muzzle and front paws were dripping and stained with blood.
"Don't you dare come into this house like that," She chuckled though and shook her head, listening to Skye pant heavily, tail swishing back and forth in what excitement remained from the chase.
"Well…I suppose we can use him for dinner…but still, an entire deer seems a little…excessive," Jiaying nodded towards the stag that Skye had dragged by the throat up to the end of the steps. The sky was getting lighter and Jiaying knew it would be time for Skye to change back soon, so she needed to prepare and to wake Jemma.
"You sit and stay, be a good girl," Her mother instructed with a sly smile as she moved away from the railing and walked towards the door to go inside. She got a sneeze or a snort in response, she couldn't tell which, but she knew that her daughter had not appreciated the joke.
She put on some more tea and brought out a towel, some water in a basin, and a blanket and set them down on the porch before going back inside and moving upstairs. It was getting much lighter now and right as Jiaying knocked on Skye's door to tell Jemma she could get up, a shrieking howl echoed up and became Jemma's wakeup call instead.
Jemma's eyes flashed open, and even though the sound had been her wakeup call and she had been asleep for part of it, she still recognized it. /Skye/. Jemma shot out of bed, nearly crashing into Jiaying when she flung open the bedroom door. She apologized profusely, but while she was on the move. Her feet were already thumping down the stairs and she was outside in a moment, dashing across the porch and only stopping once she'd reached her girlfriend.
Skye was on the ground, screaming, and it made Jemma's heart ache to hear it. Bones were cracking again and Skye was beginning to return to a recognizable form.
"I'm right here, I'm right here." Jemma repeated, her hand resting lightly on Skye's paw as it reformed back into a human hand.
Skye's hand was digging into the dirt and the grass, knowing full well even in the pain of it all, that if she grabbed Jemma's hand instead, she would break it. The fur was falling off in clumps and she was writhing on the ground, all the while howling until her vocal cords came back and what she was yelling was even worse.
"—hurts! Jemma, it hurts!"
As the first of the sun's rays finally came up over the tops of the trees, lighting up the sky bright enough for the mood to fade away, the final crack of her spine resounded over the tall grass and across the porch as Jiaying finally came back outside. Blood covered her daughters face below her nose and her neck, and dripped off her chest and hands. The rest of her was equally as covered in dirt and remaining strands of fur.
Skye was breathing heavily, gasping for before her hand finally let go of the soil and moved the inch above to lay on top of Jemma's hands and squeeze it gently…which was about as hard as she could at the moment. "I brought…I brought d-dinner…" When she looked up at her girlfriend, she had a slight grin on her face before it faded and her body dropped back down into the dirt.
"She's exhausted…here," Jiaying handed Jemma the wet cloth after setting the water basin down next to them, "Get that blood off, then we can get her into the shower and let her rest," Jiaying instructed, moving back up to the porch to grab the blanket she had brought out, stepping over the deer carcass in the process.
Tears had welled up in Jemma's eyes while Skye had been screaming, it was almost unbearable to watch Skye suffer like this. It was hard to think that they'd have to do this every month for the rest of Skye's life, but Jemma knew she needed to pull herself together so that she could be there for Skye.
Jemma couldn't even laugh at Skye's joke, she was struck silent after watching what Skye had just gone through. Instead of responding, she began to stroke Skye's hair softly to keep it out of her face while she tried to wipe away most of the blood. She supposed there was a positive, that this time the blood didn't actually belong to her girlfriend.
"It's over now, you'll be okay." Jemma whispered comfortingly, doing everything she could to let Skye know that she was here as Jiaying tucked a blanket around the girl's worn out body. Once Jemma had rid Skye of as much blood as possible with just one rag, she brushed her hand over Skye's forehead once more before gripping her arm lightly, hoping to prompt her into attempting to get up.
"Do you think you can stand? Let's get you cleaned up and then into bed." Jemma said quietly, wondering if Skye's ears were still hypersensitive or if the girl could even hear her at all.
Brown eyes fluttered open before wanting to shut again, but Skye nodded. She had been as close to sleep as she had been in a week and it felt good to be tired again but she knew she couldn't very well just pass out here in the yard naked for the world to see. With Jemma and her mother's help, she managed to stand up, and she managed to get up the steps and to the door before her legs started to wobble and she nearly fell into the floor.
Her mother got a better hold of her this time and hoisted her up the stairs herself, since Jemma was in no condition really either to be doing this much lifting, and got her to her bedroom before she passed her back off to the smaller girl.
"Get her cleaned up. The pain will probably linger so I'll steep some more tea for the both of you," Jiaying gave Jemma's shoulder a gentle squeeze before she moved back down the stairs. Skye was leaning heavily against her, although Jemma would probably be able to tell that Skye was trying not to.
"Don't guess…I can k-kiss you now huh? I've g-got…I've got deer mouth," Skye tried to joke again, but her voice was raspy and just managing words seemed to take more energy than she had. She was in her room now so she was really quite fine with just lying in the floor at this point.
"You'll have to settle with this," Jemma said, pressing a kiss to Skye's cheek where she was sure she had wiped away all of the blood. She wasn't going to risk getting sick, no matter how much she really did want to kiss Skye and make her feel better.
Jemma knew Jiaying said to get Skye into the shower, but the girl could hardly stand and Jemma just didn't see how it was going to work. Instead, she guided her girlfriend over to the bed and sat her down, heading to the bathroom and coming back with a second damp cloth, which she began softly rubbing across Skye's neck, upper chest, and her hands. She supported Skye's weight with a free hand on her shoulder, and she could already tell Skye was dozing off as her head began to bob.
"You can rest now, darling." Jemma sighed, kissing Skye's temple. She was relieved this was over for now and she just wanted to see Skye actually asleep, peaceful for once. She eased Skye down onto her side and Jemma was crawling into the sheets after her with no hesitation. Sure, the full night's sleep had done her good before, but she could still stay here with Skye and comfort her. If she wanted, Skye could tell her about what it had been like, or she could just go to sleep in her arms, either option sounded perfect.
Once they both settled, lying under the sheets facing one another, Jemma kissed her again, this time on her nose, and once more on her forehead. It was the best she could offer at the moment besides wrapping her arms around her and holding her close. She was sure whatever Skye had been through was a lot to take in and she just wanted to comfort her.
Skye was satisfied with the kisses she did receive, but when Jemma finally got her all tucked into bed and held her, the tired girl couldn't hold on any longer. She had a lot to tell Jemma about her run in the woods but she literally couldn't bring her body to do anything but lay there. She was so utterly exhausted all her other options were out of the question, and so she slept.
And boy did she sleep. Thirty-seven straight hours she slept. It didn't worry Jiaying much. She had been doing her own research on her daughter's condition and Jemma seemed to agree that sleeping this long was a common occurrence. It allowed the body to heal and since she had hardly slept the past week, it only made sense for her to be catching up now.
It was midafternoon when Skye finally did wake up, still tired, but not so much so now that she needed to sleep for another twelve hours. Her mother had left for Diagon Ally that morning on a job and with her daughter asleep, she knew Jemma could take care of the house on her own for the day.
Skye rolled over, and when she did, she groaned loudly. Her body was sore, even after all of the sleep and when her blurry sleep vision finally did clear, Jemma wasn't in the bed. She didn't remember everything right away, but she did remember changing, and the taste of blood was rancid in her mouth. Her heart rate spiked.
"Jemma? Jemma?!" She sat up swiftly, causing herself to become dizzy and she grabbed for her head, letting the layers of blankets fall away. She was still naked, and still dirty and she had barely moved at all in her long comatose like sleep. Her head hurt from moving so suddenly. It felt like someone was taking a hammer and repeatedly hitting her with it, so she lay back down and it subsided. She was still tired, and the effort of moving so suddenly left her exhausted again.
Jemma wasn't far away, only in the bathroom, so when she heard Skye's call she came running, only calming down again when she saw that Skye was still laying in bed. She wandered over, sitting on the edge and tentatively taking up one of Skye's hands in her own. It had been hard, not being able to talk to Skye for the last day and a half. She'd been anxious and worried, even though she knew it was normal for Skye to need so much sleep, so now she was very relieved.
"You're awake." Jemma sighed, squeezing Skye's hand and grinning like a fool. She may have been a little too cheerful, but it was good that they were both relatively well again, even if Skye was sore and exhausted. The bruises covering the expanse of Jemma's body were starting to fade, they were more of a yellow color than blue and purple like before. Hopefully the both of them would be back to normal within a few days.
"You seem surprised?" Skye questioned, squeezing Jemma's hand and trying to sit up again, slower this time. She pulled the blanket up with her and frowned at how dirty it and she both looked. She was no keenly aware of her smell as well.
"Wow, I reek. I don't remember everything just yet," She had to clear her throat since it was dry from having not been used in a day and a half, "But I'm glad to see the potion worked…It did work, right?" She questioned, just wanting some clarification since she couldn't remember. She swallowed hard, tongue moving around in her mouth to try and generate some saliva to swallow. She was now also keenly aware of how thirsty and hungry she was too.
"H-how long was I asleep?"
"It worked splendidly. You'll remember soon, but you're quite a sweet pup." Jemma giggled, scooting a little closer to Skye in the bed. Even without an advanced sense of smell, Jemma was acutely aware of Skye's foul odor, but it couldn't be helped and the sheets would just have to be washed.
"You've been asleep for almost two days. I suppose you could say you were dog-tired." Jemma grinned, knowing full well that Skye would probably not appreciate her jokes, but still having fun with them anyway.
"Oh, ha ha, I see you got a sense of humor while I was out," Skye giggled herself though, shaking her head before she cleared her throat again.
"Can I get some water please? Or pumpkin juice? Or any liquid really. My mouth feels like a desert…" She groaned lightly and chewed a little on her bottom lip, which was also dry. "I smell like a skunk…I'm so sorry," A half grin appeared on her face before she shifted a little in the bed, moving closer to the edge.
"I hope my legs work…I need a shower and a clean bed…god I slept so long, how am I still this tired?" Skye yawned and shook her head, still in disbelief.
"That would be the backend of your transformation." Jemma explained, grabbing a glass of water that she'd left on the nightstand just in case Skye woke up. She held it for her, even though her girlfriend was probably plenty capable of the simple task, and held it up to Skye's lips as she took a long drink. Just like Skye had been hyper and full of energy for the days before the moon, she would be drained for the days after. It would almost be strange for Skye to not be jumpy and energetic all the time, at least for a few days. After that she would be normal for about two weeks before it all started again, but Jemma tried not to think about that.
"You can go clean up and I'll replace the sheets." Jemma told her, nudging Skye off the bed and pulling up a corner from the mattress. "Don't forget to brush your teeth." Jemma chided, but with a smile on her face.
"Oh trust me, I wont," Skye moved her tongue around in her mouth again, trying to get rid of the taste of it, even though the water only made it worse. She now acutely remembered the taste of it from before, and she remembered enjoying it, but letting it sit in her mouth for a day and a half hadn't done anything for her at all.
She hobbled out of bed, leaving the sheet behind. It was nothing Jemma hadn't seen before and Skye was still too tired to worry over it as she made her way to the bathroom.
Once the shower started she was in there for close to an hour before coming out, still partially wet and a towel held loosely around her. "I have never felt so good to be clean," Skye grinned, stepping from the bathroom. She showed her teeth, sparkly white again instead of blood stained and dirty, and came and sat down on the bed, which was now clean as well.
"Got any more of those pets for me? Behind my ears could use a nice rub," She winked, having remembered more of her night while in the shower as her brain began to wake up more from sleep.
Jemma let out a short laugh from where she had been sitting on the bed reading, waiting for Skye to come out. She snapped her book shut and tossed it aside, crawling closer to her girlfriend and pressing into her side, barely feeling any pressure at all where her ribs had been broken a few days previous. Seeing that Skye no longer had blood or any other disgusting remnants in her mouth, Jemma finally gave her the kiss she deserved, slipping her fingers up into Skye's hair and scratching lightly at her scalp. Her lips were soft against Skye's, but also firm, and she only parted when she needed to breathe again.
"If you don't mind me asking, how was your night out as a wolf?" Jemma asked. She was partially curious, partially hoping to hear that it hadn't been a completely horrible experience for her girlfriend. She would have to do it every full moon from here on out and she really didn't want to hear that it made Skye completely miserable.
Skye grinned into the kiss, not forgetting to let one of her legs kick out a little bit to continue the joke as Jemma scratched her nails lightly along her scalp. "Well…" She planted another kiss on her lips after starting her answer before sitting back in the bed next to her girlfriend, "From what I can remember, it was pretty good."
She snuggled down, getting back under the blankets again, since she was still tired and her body still somewhat sore. She could care less about clothes. She had just run practically naked through the wilderness and slept that way for two days…what was another half a day? She tossed the towel out and nuzzled her way into Jemma's arms before letting out a contented sigh and continuing her story.
"I could smell a lot of things and I ran around. I found the deer at the lake…" She chuckled, "I scared them all though. I may have pissed off a skunk, so that was fun. Uhm…Oh, I made friends with a bear! Well, not really friends, but I came across him and we walked next to each other for a while, just kind of tolerating each other before I headed back. I went further from the house than I ever have on my normal runs. I also successfully stalked and hunted a deer…that was…" Skye sighed again, mouth slowly shutting as she tried to think of the words. "It was an interesting experience…"
"It sure sounds like it." Jemma commented. It was a little hard to imagine Skye doing all of those things, but she supposed it wasn't any weirder than the fact that her girlfriend was part canine. It actually would have been amusing to watch, except for the deer part.
"Your night was definitely more eventful than mine, I was asleep for most of it. Kind of like how you've been recently. We're finally all caught up on sleep now, aren't we?" Jemma added. It was like they had been in a perpetual state of either overly hyper or exhausted for a while now, so it was nice to be back to a calm, peaceful mindset after all that had happened.
Skye chuckled and shrugged, "I don't really know. I still feel a little tired, but I could probably manage to stay awake for a while now. My body and my bones still hurt…" She trailed off at the end of her sentence, grip around Jemma loosening some as she realized she wasn't the only one whose bones hurt.
"So uhm…speaking of bones...h-how are you feeling?"
Everything had happened so quickly and she had been asleep for almost two days that Skye had nearly forgotten. When she took a closer look now, she could see that all of the purple splotches were yellow and green and fading, but that didn't mean it didn't still hurt. She felt awful for it all over again. Somehow, she couldn't imagine herself being that strong right now…strong enough to accidently break Jemma ribs.
Jemma didn't fail to notice Skye's lightened grip, and she almost sighed. It was going to be hard, she didn't want Skye to treat her like she was something so fragile, but she didn't want to be broken again either. It would be difficult to get right, but Jemma was sure Skye could figure out her strength eventually.
"I'm fine. Really. I'm just glad you're alright." Jemma smiled reassuringly, squeezing Skye close to prove her point and kissing her lightly. "I almost can't feel it anymore." It was true, the painful injuries had dulled to a small ache, and soon they would be gone completely. Their little mishap had just been a mistake, one that wouldn't happen again. Everything would be fine now that they knew to be more careful.