"Change them into violet! Can you change them to violet?"
Scott walks into the house seeing Blaine sitting on the couch beside Lydia. Allison is sitting behind her with a look of wonder on her face. Cooper is on the arm of the couch behind Lydia with an amused expression on his face.
Blaine rolls his eyes and then stares at Lydia who then shrieks, actually shrieks, with glee. "Oh this is the best! Why don't you have cool powers like this Scott?" She asks without turning to face him, instead keeping her eyes on Blaine's face with a sort of hungry expression that makes Scott want to pull Blaine away from her.
"Am I missing something?"
"Blaine can change his eye color," Allison fills him in. "Pretty much in any shade."
"Which is not as great as it sounds because in moonlight they will still flash red," Blaine adds in.
"Details," Lydia waves his objection aside. "What about hair color?"
"Can't," Blaine says with a wistful grin, "clan tell, remember? My coloring stays dark, and that includes hair color. In fact, I used to have brownish tints in my hair but now it's just this solid black."
"What about Sam?" Lydia demands.
"What about Sam?" Scott asks a little sharply, wondering if that guy can also shapeshift.
"Blaine changed his hair to blond!" Lydia says excitedly.
As Scott looks at Blaine with surprise, Blaine hurriedly explains, "My bond with Sam allows me to use my abilities on him to a degree. I can't make any drastic changes; mostly light stuff, nothing major but useful if we want to confuse people looking for a specific description. And since Sam isn't an aswang, he has no tells, I can change his hair color to whatever we want." Blaine shrugs with embarrassment. "Sam likes being blond. I might lose this ability after the ritual so I just changed his hair back to its natural color while I still could."
Scott couldn't help but tense when Sam's name was mentioned and he didn't like being reminded of Blaine's bond to him. He didn't realize how much he was projecting these feeling until he realized that an awkward silence had filled the room.
"Blaine can also lighten his skin tone a bit but not by much but he can darken his skin to almost completely black," Cooper offers, breaking the tension.
"Mostly I use it to look like I have a tan even if I don't see the sun in weeks," Blaine says, grateful for the change in subject. "And I've been playing around and have learned to do this."
Blaine looks at his arm with a determined look on his face, his now violet eyes catching the light and makes them glow, and black lines start appearing on his arm. A few seconds later he has what looks like a tribal tattoo on his forearm.
"You can have any tattoo you want and make it go away when you're tired of it?" Lydia asks with wide eyes.
"Yep," Blaine says proudly, "except only in human skin tones and black. I can't do other colors."
"How long does it last?" Allison asks as she reaches out and touches the "tattoo".
"Until I erase it," Blaine says. "Once I create it, it's part of my skin until I change it."
"Definitely the coolest power," Lydia says looking off into the distance, "think about the fashion-coordinating possibilities!"
She pulls herself together with a shake and then stands up, practically yanking Blaine to his feet. "We have to go shopping. This t-shirt and jeans thing you've got going isn't really doing you any favors."
"I know," Blaine says mournfully and shoots Cooper a nasty look when he starts to snicker.
"Blainey was quite upset that we had to leave his bow ties and hair gel behind," Cooper says unrepentantly. "I promise you, there were tears."
"Cooper," Blaine says through gritted teeth. "I can hurt you in ways you wouldn't begin to understand."
Cooper snaps his mouth shut and his right hand does a locking motion but his smirk is still full of mischief. Blaine however takes all the victories he can get.
"Bow ties, huh?" Lydia murmurs. "I can work with that although I don't know why you want to gel these curls..."
"Lydia, before we turn you guys loose in the mall we need to discuss one thing first."
"What?"
"Where they're going to stay," Scott says. "As much as I would want to, we don't really have room here. Even if Isaac bunks with me, I don't think his room will be all that comfortable for all three of them."
Cooper looks at Scott gratefully, appreciating the alpha's silent intention of not splitting the three of them up.
"Blaine can stay with me," Lydia says with an unholy glint in her eye.
"I don't think they'll be comfortable being apart until we are sure the clans are no longer after them," Scott says. "I don't blame them. Besides, I doubt they'll be able to rest easy sleeping apart after looking out for each other all this time."
Cooper nods, signifying his agreement with Scott. Blaine adds, "Sam won't want to be too far away from me. And with the two of us together, we're going to worry about Cooper."
"I could have convinced my parents to let Blaine stay over but not with Sam and Cooper in tow," Lydia says with a huff.
"We aren't exactly hurting for cash," Cooper says with a cheeky smile. "Just point us to a comfortable bed & breakfast and we're good. I think I've had enough of motels to last me a lifetime."
"Rose Hill?" Allison asks Lydia.
"Winkle Inn is nearer the town center," Lydia offers. "And it has rooms with private doors to the outside. They can go in and out without anyone taking notice."
"Rose Hill is a bit more remote, its backyard practically extends to the woods so it's easier for us to come in unseen," Allison counters. "And besides, Scott and Isaac are experts in going into locked houses without being seen," she adds with a sardonic look at Scott who manages to blush.
"I vote for Rose Hill," Cooper says. "As much as being in the center of civilization is going to be great, I doubt it will help us sleep. We've gotten used to quiet meaning safe, if you know what I mean."
"And if something happens," Blaine adds, "we want to take it into the woods and out of sight as quickly as possible."
"Rose Hill it is then."
"Well since that is all settled," Lydia says pulling Blaine with her out the front door so quickly Scott swears they leave an after-image behind. "Allison! Come on!"
Allison shakes her head and with a quiet laugh as she quickly follows her friend.
"So," Scott says looking at Cooper, "when you guys said that Blaine is a shapeshifter, I thought you just meant animals."
"Primarily," Cooper says, "but we found that once he gained his first animal form, he can do minor changes to his human form. Nothing drastic: a couple of inches shorter or taller, burn off or add about ten to fifteen pounds, increase or decrease muscle mass...mostly cosmetic."
"What kind of animals can he turn into?"
"Cats, squirrels, birds...I think the biggest thing he caught was a deer," Cooper says. "And seeing a black deer? Creepy as fuck." He says with a shudder. "Blaine doesn't like it though, he says it feels off. He prefers turning into a dog," Cooper had a strange twist to his mouth. "Blaine loves animals, and for him, to hunt them like this really gets to him. He only killed a dog once before swearing never to do it again, but Sam and I kinda forced him to keep feeding on dogs though."
"Why?"
"We were on the run," Cooper says shrugging his shoulders sadly. "Sometimes dogs were the easiest animal we could find. He takes on the abilities of the animals he takes, remember? Having him take on the strength of a Rottweiler or a pit bull is pretty useful. Also, by sticking to an animal diet, Blaine has one of the sharpest senses around. He can detect the others way before they can lock on to us."
"So he can turn into a bird?"
"He can leave anytime he wants to, but he stays for us," Cooper says. "Once he got it into his head to leave us so he can draw the clan away, but we managed to convince him that if he did that, we'll just be unable to protect ourselves from them. And they'll still hunt us down to use as bait to catch him."
"He loves to fly," Cooper continues with smile. "It took him a long time to learn how but once he got the hang of it, every chance he gets he goes off flying."
"Nightbird..." Scott whispers.
Cooper gives him a look and Scott can't help but feel guilty, although he doesn't know why. Okay he knows why but he hopes that he's been discreet.
"It's not a good idea Scott," Cooper says.
"What's not a good idea?" Scott asks, hoping to bluff his way out. His innocent look is really good...not that it works on his mom...or Stiles or Allison or Isaac or Chris or the Sheriff or Deaton (not that anything gets by Deaton) or Lydia (but that's cos Lydia's heartless and doesn't care about innocence or guilt)...okay he's screwed.
"He's taken, Scott," Cooper says calmly and not unkindly. "If Blaine and Sam were just normal boys I wouldn't have said anything and I would have sat back and watched you guys act like idiots with a bowl of popcorn and a video camera. But you three aren't normal boys and even if our safety isn't at stake, I would tell you to bury whatever feelings you have for my brother that isn't platonic and let him go. He's bound to Sam and it's not just magic that's keeping him there. He loves Sam, don't ever doubt that. Even if by some miracle you get him to consider you, he and Sam are a package deal and Sam will never share him. Let it go Scott, if not for your sake, then for ours?"
Scott watches Cooper walk out of the room. He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. Cooper's right. He should get a grip and forget about Blaine before he gets in too deep. Too much was at stake. He'll wonder what might have been but won't give in to that luxury at least until after the ritual. Hopefully things won't be as dangerous then.
Scott turns to go up to his room when he sees Sam standing in the hallway looking at him. Scott is pulled up short and he wonders how long Sam has been standing there, if he heard Cooper...? He also can't help but feel a little jealous that with blond hair Sam looks less like a psychopathic redneck and more like a model for Abercrombie & Fitch.
Sam continues to look at him in silence and Scott can't feel anything, Sam's heart-rate is normal, his breathing is steady and he's not getting a hostile vibe off of him. In fact, he's like a blank slate. His face shows no emotions whatsoever. Sam's eyes are a brilliant shade of green but are otherwise as lifeless as a corpse.
"I'm insane Scott," Scott remembers Sam telling him last night. "Functional, true, but in many ways, I'm more of a monster than Blaine, even at his worst. Even as the Beast, someone he cares for, like Cooper, can still reach him and argue with him because there's still something human inside him. Not me. There isn't anything like that inside me. Chris is right, I'm not entirely human anymore."
As Scott's hackles begin to rise because the alpha can't help but feel like he's being challenged, Sam quietly turns away and walks to the kitchen. Scott can't wait until they finish the ritual. Although he can't help but wonder if they are performing it for the right person.
