A Nose to the Wind Chapter 6: Your Words Like Butterflies, a being human fanfic

A/N: Chapter title credit to "Little Bird", by Infant Sorrow.

Chapter 6 – Your Words Like Butterflies

Sunrise came and went. 5:46 a.m. turned into 7:30 a.m., which quickly became 9:45 a.m., with not so much as a twitch or flick of an ear from the wolf. Aidan remained on the floor, his mind racing to devise a plan of action, when Sally materialized suddenly by the stove and thoroughly startled him. "Where have you been?" he managed to ask.

"Me?" answered a distraught Sally. "You! Both of you!" She clamped her hand over her mouth when she saw the huge, dirty wolf snoring on the floor. "Oh my god. Aidan – are you guys…okay? I've been so worried! And why is Josh…furry?"

"We're fine. I'm a few quarts low, he needs a few solid meals. To the last question…I have no clue."

"Well – did something happen? Where the hell were you guys? I've been looking everywhere I could think of, and I swear to GOD if you tell me you went on a romantic man-vacation to Florida or something…"

"No," said Aidan, exasperated and amused at the same time. "We did not take a leisurely drive to stare at palm trees, Sally."

"Well give me something then! The suspense is killing me!"

Aidan sighed. "I was late getting to Josh after his change. I went to pick him up, from the basement room he uses under the hospital, and there was a confrontation."

"…And?"

"One of Bishop's deranged spawn showed up, one of the new ones. After a few 'kind' words, he closed the door and we were stuck. But he led Bishop to us last night. Long story short…said evil spawn tried to bite Josh, but it must have triggered the transformation, somehow…I don't know, Sally."

"But Josh changed, like, five days ago!"

"I know."

Sally looked thoughtful for a minute, then exclaimed, "It's a survival thing! Like – like an instinct! His body somehow knew there was a vamp's jaws on him, so it changed to protect itself." She rocked back and forth on her heels in excitement. "Did I nail it?"

"Sounds reasonable."

"Because, you know…plain old Josh could never…"

"I know."

Sally picked at the end of her sleeve. "We just have to figure out why he hasn't changed back. He can't be seen, and he can't…but he seems pretty…"

"Pretty what?" Aidan prodded.

"…Tame."

"You are lucky he's asleep, because if he heard that…"

"Don't care. What I mean is, is he…manageable?"

"So far."

"Does he understand, like, words?"

Aidan shrugged. "Seems that way."

"Do you think he'll let you stick him in the bathtub?"

"What? Come on."

"No, really. I can't smell or anything, but I can tell by looking at him that it's pretty bad."

Aidan sniffed the air above the slumbering beast, humoring her, but didn't notice anything. He shook his head at her.

"You're just used to it. I bet he smells like a sewer rat. Just saying." Sally perched on an available chair right beside wolf-Josh. "So its good that he understands what we say – "

"I said I think he can. I don't know for sure."

Sally rambled on as if he hadn't spoken. "We won't have a problem containing him. Why couldn't he have known this from the beginning? He wouldn't have had to isolate himself every full moon."

"It's not like he had someone to teach him, Sally."

"And if anyone asked questions," she said, waving him off, "you could say you're dogsitting for your friend. Which isn't a total lie. And if someone is really nosy, he's a Saint Bernard/Irish Wolfhound mix. With a bit of Great Dane for lankiness." She grinned at the dumbfounded stare she received. "I know my dog breeds. And his name can be Radcliffe."

"Jesus, Sally. Aren't you getting a little carried away?"

"No, I'm just happy for him…he won't have to be alone."

Absently, Aidan realized he was fingering the sandy brown hairs of the wolf's side. "I don't know," he said. "It's too big of a risk to allow him the opportunity to be among us, and everyone out there. One wrong move, if I turn my back for a nanosecond…"

"But it's not him."

"Of course it's him. It's not Lassie."

"Aidan, please. You're not even trying to – nevermind."

"Sal – "

"Nope."

"Come on – "

"Forget it. So." She crossed her arms over her chest. "How's your back. I hope it hurts."

"What?"

"Your back. Sitting on the floor like that. Or have you lost enough of your human-ness to not feel pain?"

Aidan clenched his jaw when he realized that he had unintentionally made Sally angry. "I just don't think it is a good idea. I can't take the chance. If he hurts someone, he will never forgive himself. Or me."

"But he won't. He'll listen to you."

"We don't know that. I told you. A part of him appears to understand. But the monster part of him, the untamed part, is essentially a feral wolf," he reminded her, emphasizing each word. "Feral. Do you see where I'm coming from?"

"You're wrong. I know you are. Josh is in there, we just need to help him get complete control. Simple. Mr. Raincloud."

"It's not that simple."

"You are being EXTREMELY negative and I wish I could hit you."

Aidan didn't say anything else. Deep down, he knew it would mean disaster to put Sally's plan into action. Nobody would benefit from the arrangement, especially if Lucas caught wind of it. He would try his best to protect Josh from the storm that would come, but Lucas would probably be backed by an army of conservative, old-school, vindictive vampires.

Sally audibly inhaled. "No way…"

"What now," he grumbled.

"You are threatened. By him."

"What! No, come on – "

"No, you are. Why else are you so adamant that he can't stick around? The wolf scares you."

He decided he didn't like the sarcastic gleam in her eye. "Does this," he said, motioning to the seating arrangement on the floor, "give you any indication of fear? I wouldn't be letting him sleep next to me if I was 'afraid'."

"Whatever," Sally said, drumming her fingers inaudibly on the tabletop. "You may be unaware of it…like an inborn fear, you can't control it. A vampire-werewolf-unresolved-conflict-of-the-races type of thing. Like when the psycho's teeth touched him." She let out her breath in a whoosh. "Boy, am I on such a roll today!"

Mulling over her words, Aidan felt the truth in them. Nothing was too far-fetched or ridiculous at this point, so he resigned himself to it. "When did you get so smart?"

"It's a ghost thing."

The wolf began to stir in the middle of her declaration, stretching. Aidan felt the strong spine arching against his leg. Sally's excitement caused the table and dishes to vibrate as a shaggy head lifted and a pair of brown-black eyes gazed sleepily at her. She giggled at the ear that flopped at half-mast.

"Hey Josh!"

The wolf stared at her, then Aidan, and stood to stretch again. Claws clicked on the tile as it dragged its sleepy body to the back door.

"Omigod!" Sally squealed. "Just like a dog!"

Wolf-Josh growled at her in response.

"Sorry," she said, still grinning ear-to-ear. "He knew what I said, Aidan!"

"Sally," said an annoyed Aidan. He brushed by her and ignored her protest. He led the wolf outside to a small sliver of grass and pointed to it.

"Here."

He turned his back and hummed so the sounds did not reach his ears. An elderly woman shuffled by and stared with wide eyes at the giant dog urinating by a dumpster. Aidan tried to offer her a friendly smile but she quickened her step and disappeared around the corner, muttering to herself. Then a woman with a kind face and black-rimmed glasses stopped to stare.

"Good morning," he greeted. Stay calm, stay calm, his mind chanted.

"Morning," the woman answered. "I'm sorry to bother you, really…"

"No bother at all, ma'am."

"But…my great-grandmother had a dog just like that. She had pictures of her Daisy-Belle all over the house."

Aidan smiled, affecting a front of idle interest, when he suddenly felt a warm nose lightly nudge his hand.

"Oh my," the woman nervously laughed when she noticed the dog's size. "He's huge!"

"Yeah, he's um, Saint Bernard and Wolfhound. And something else.

"Something big, probably Great Dane. Yeah, that's it. Wow. He 's so much like Daisy-Belle. My great-grandma always told me how calm and well-behaved she was when she was with my great-grandfather. They had an unspoken connection, she always told me about the way that Daisy listened to him…I'm sorry, you don't want my life story."

"It's quite alright."

"Beautiful eyes…" the woman commented. "He's a handsome dog, no doubting that. Well…I should get going. It was great talking to you, thank you so much."

He smiled and waved as she continued on her way, his hand aching from clenching nervously throughout the encounter. He looked down at the wolf and praised him. "Sally might be on to something," he mused. Once back in the safe confines of the house, Sally immediately began an animated "I told you so" speech that Aidan half-listened to. While she ranted, he treated himself to another mug of warm blood and fed wolf-Josh again.

"Sooo, what's next?" she finally asked. He shrugged, listening to the dripping of the sink.

"Play house…?"

"Ooh, yay! Can I be the Mommy? You can be the – "

"No. Absolutely not. Don't you have a murderer to haunt?"

A/N: Thanks to everyone for all the reviews! More soon.