They don't say much until Jade goes through the drive-through to get coffee. Tori pays for a cup for each of them, and Jade pulls over into the mostly-empty parking lot so they can sit and drink the coffee for a bit.
"So, you're a werewolf," Jade finally says.
Tori nods, "Yep."
"I don't believe you," Jade immediately responds.
Tori rolls her eyes, "You don't have to believe me, it's true."
"You probably actually have some kind of really interesting delusional disorder," Jade muses, glancing over at her. "Maybe you're more interesting than I originally thought."
Tori folds her arms. "I never pegged you for a skeptic."
"Please, I'm skeptical about everything, even the things that fascinate me," Jade retorts.
Tori nods to concede the point. "Well, if you need to see it to believe it, drive me out there tonight, and I'll show you."
Jade raises her eyebrow, "You'll show me? Tonight?"
"Yes," Tori answers patiently, "There are three nights to every full moon, and I have to change for all of them, so take me out there, and you can see."
"What will your date say?" Jade asks, abruptly wondering if Tori has some sort of weird animal sex in the park.
Tori laughs, "Jade, there is no date."
Jade feels a little foolish, so she retorts, "Oh, I see, so your date is a big, beautiful woman, la luna! You know, the m—"
"I know what it means!" Tori interrupts sharply.
"Why are you telling me this anyway?" Jade asks, trying to move past the awkward moment.
Tori looks thoughtful, "Well, you have helped me out by giving me a ride. And you were getting pretty suspicious, especially since Trina couldn't come get me this morning. But mostly, I guess, because out of all our friends, I thought you'd be the least freaked out by it."
She refuses to let the comment make her smile. "You have friends?" she asks, but it lacks the venom of her usual insults, so Tori just sighs a little. "Fine," Jade agrees, "I'll give you another ride out to Shadow Creek Park tonight. But this had better be good."
"I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed," Tori smiles.
.
Jade wishes that there was any other time of day that she could drive Tori out to Shadow Creek Park. She's beginning to really resent the sun.
Tori gets in the car, again, dressed comfortably, though this time she is carrying her enormous purse. "Thanks again," she says casually.
"You know, maybe you should get your driver's license if you need to go run around the park so often."
"I'm trying!"
"Try harder!" Tori sighs, and lets Jade fume at the sun for awhile. Her leg is bouncing again. Jade tries to ignore it, but after awhile, she can't. "Control your leg!"
"I'm sorry!" Tori shoots back, "But I'm nervous," she admits.
"Why?"
"Well," Tori answers awkwardly, "I've never really done this with another person. I mean, another person who can't also change."
Jade doesn't have a good answer for that, so she just keeps driving. There's a gorgeous sunset on the horizon when they make it to Shadow Creek Park, and Tori's nerves don't seem to abate for the whole drive.
"Okay," Jade says as she parks, "What now?"
Tori looks at the sky, and there's a slight waver to her voice. "Well. It's going to happen pretty soon. But there's a little time." She glances at Jade. "Did you have any questions before we go out there? Because I won't be able to answer them after I'm changed."
Jade snorts. "No, not really, because I'm not expecting anything to happen."
Tori sighs exasperatedly, "Guess you're in for a surprise."
"What's it like? Changing?" Jade asks. Though she's still skeptical, a part of her wants to play along. A part of her thinks, if this is real, she will want to know everything about it.
Tori shrugs. "I mean, it's weird? I'm pretty used to it now, but I remember the first few times it happened, it was…kind of uncomfortable. But didn't really hurt. It's like when you have Novocain or whatever at the dentist and you can feel that something is happening in your mouth, but it doesn't hurt. That's what it's like when my bones and muscles and everything restructure themselves."
Jade nods thoughtfully. "Okay. I can get that."
Tori glances outside again, and says uncertainly, "Maybe we should get out of the car."
"Sure," Jade says easily, as they step out, Tori carrying her bag. They begin walking toward the grove of trees, and Jade asks, "So, what happens when you change? Are you a violent maniac? Because I brought a silver pair of scissors, just in case this is an elaborate plot to kill me."
Tori shoots her an irritated look, "If that were the case, you'd have been dead last night."
"So you were watching me?"
"Yes," Tori says simply.
"So when you change…" Jade prompts, wanting a real answer this time.
"I'm still me," Tori replies, "I don't become some kind of mindless killing machine. I'm me, just…a little wilder."
"Uh huh," Jade says skeptically.
They're at the grove of trees now, and Jade eyes Tori's bag as she stops. "What's in there, your werewolf costume?"
Tori folds her arms, "No. It's for my clothes."
"You didn't have your bag last time," Jade points out.
"I'm not sure how you'll react. So I figured I'd keep everything contained." Tori looks at Jade. "I'm going to go in alone," she says.
Jade folds her arms, "I thought the point was that I would watch you change."
Tori shakes her head, "Well, um, no. Because…It's kind of private. Even when I've changed with my family, we do the changing part alone. Mostly because we don't want to see each other naked. And I'm not about to get naked in front of you."
Jade gives her an appraising look, then shrugs, "Suits me."
"Good." Tori glances skyward again. The sun is almost completely gone. "I'm going to go in now."
"Have fun," Jade answers sardonically. Tori looks at her for a moment with eyes that seem more luminous than normal, but then she turns. Jade watches Tori walk deep enough into the trees that she can conceal herself.
Then there's not much to do but wait.
At first, Jade keeps her eyes on the trees, wondering when Tori will emerge. There are occasional sounds of someone moving around. Rustling, sticks snapping, that sort of thing, but eventually, those sounds become quiet. But still no Tori emerges.
After five minutes, in which Jade has found her attention wandering to the night sky many times, she calls, "If this is a prank, just give up. I've already lost interest."
It's then that she sees movement. She squints, and gradually makes out a low, lupine shape moving toward her slowly. She folds her arms and says, "Okay, but you have to actually show yourself."
The creature moves cautiously to the tree line, lifts its head, and sniffs. Then it moves out into the open and stands in front of Jade, staring right at her.
Jade stares for a moment, then laughs once. "Okay, how on earth did you train this dog?" She looks beyond the creature into the forest, expecting to see Tori hiding behind a tree, waiting for her reaction. When she doesn't see her, she looks back at the creature. Its eyes are narrowed.
Jade begins to circle it, studying it. She calls back into the woods, "Props on finding such a wolf-like one, too! What is it, a husky-wolf mix?" But as she says it, she knows it can't be right. It's wolf-like, kind of, but definitely not dog-like. A little chill runs through her as she starts to really see the things about the creature that feel…wrong. The legs are too long, and look almost weirdly gangly on the creature. The head is too big, the muzzle is too short. And the paws…are not canine paws. Not quite. They have one too many digits, they're a little too big, and they don't seem quite flat. She can see that they're almost knuckle-like in the way the bones form.
There's also the fact that it doesn't seem to act like a dog or a wolf at all. It watches her as she circles, moving its head with her, maintaining eye contact. But not threateningly, like a frightened animal might. The eyes are wide now, as if needing to see her reaction.
She stops in front of the creature…Tori…and finally says, "Okay, holy chiz."
Tori sits, and her head tilts to one side, almost satisfied.
Jade shakes her head for a moment, looking at her. "This is real?" she asks.
Tori tilts her head back and then down again in what looks like a very awkward nod.
"Whoa," is all Jade can say for awhile. Tori continues to stare at her for a few minutes, then just gets up and begins to walk away. "Hey, wait, come back!" Jade calls.
Tori looks back at her, and then takes off running. Jade begins to follow at first, then stops. Running through the dark after her doesn't exactly seem like the best idea, even though she can basically see. After a moment, Tori seems to realize she's not being followed and stops abruptly, spinning back toward Jade on stiff legs, her ears pointed straight up.
Jade stands there and folds her arms, "I'm not going to chase you!" she says. Tori's entire body seems to droop, and she slinks back toward Jade. "You're ridiculous," Jade tells her as she gets close, but then she has an idea. She looks around until she finds a decent sized stick on the ground and holds it up.
In response, Tori growls a little, but her eyes follow the stick as Jade holds it. Jade waves it around a little, watching as Tori's head twitches. She smirks, then tosses it.
Tori takes off like a shot, and Jade doubles over in laughter. She's still laughing when Tori slinks back, holding the stick in her mouth, and drops it at Jade's feet. Jade controls herself, then throws it again. After a few repetitions, she stops laughing, and Tori stops slinking in embarrassment, and they're both sort of having fun.
And then, Jade gives in to her crueler side. She has to. She wiggles the stick, then pulls back, arcs her arm, but doesn't let go. Tori takes off, then stops almost immediately, spinning back to Jade and letting out a frustrated whine.
Jade is laughing again, and Tori runs toward her and leaps up on her, knocking her over. Tori is growling and nosing at her shoulder and neck, but she's not hurting her, and Jade finds herself laughing and rolling around, trying to escape her. After a few moments, Tori backs off, and Jade gets back to her feet.
"Sorry," Jade says then, "That was probably really degrading." Tori growls briefly. "But you clearly have excess energy, so…"
As if in answer, Tori jumps up at her again, and Jade has a chance to see her paws a little better. They look like they could grip things, a little, but not like a person. Maybe like a polydactyl cat can sort of grasp things better than a dog.
"Whoa," Jade backs up so that Tori can't jump up on her. "If you need to run around, go ahead," she says, and Tori takes off, running straight into the grove of trees. "Okay!" Jade calls, "I'll just…stay here."
For what feels like almost twenty minutes, Jade stands, huddled in her jacket and playing a game on her phone, wondering idly if Tori expects her to leave now. She's just about to head to her car when Tori comes sprinting back out of the woods, panting, with sticks and leaves in her fur. She stops in front of Jade and looks up at her.
Jade sighs, "Come here," she says, and picks some of the larger sticks and leaves out of Tori's fur. "Okay, so…" Jade is thinking out loud now, "You said your family changes, too. So is it genetic?" Tori makes a kind of low bark that Jade takes for a yes. "So…is Trina a werewolf, too?" A growl this time, but Jade thinks it's still a yes. "Interesting."
Tori's watching her, sitting now, and Jade is still thinking aloud. "But I've seen you on nights of the full moon before…" she says thoughtfully. "I feel like you've been to every Full Moon Jam. And performed in some." She thinks about it. She's pretty sure Full Moon Jams actually take place on the full moon. "And other than this weekend, I don't think I've ever seen you duck out of events suspiciously. You or Trina." Tori growls and tosses her head, and it's clear that she wishes she could speak. Jade smirks a little. "It really doesn't add up…" she muses.
Tori exhales. It sounds just like a sigh.
"But on the other hand," Jade continues musing, "This does explain a few things. Like when you could smell the squid and no one else could." Tori almost yips this time, as though excited. "Okay," Jade nods, "So you have good senses?" Another yip, then a thought, "But you wear glasses." Tori growls. Jade stares at her. "Do you need glasses as a wolf? I'm guessing no, but…that still seems weird." Tori huffs.
Jade can accept Tori as a werewolf, because she's right in front of her, and even though she chases sticks and can't talk, she definitely has Tori's personality. It's a lot harder to imagine Tori's sister and parents as werewolves. "Okay, so your family are werewolves and you are one because of genetics. Can it be spread?" Tori grunts. "I mean, there are legends." Another growl. "I mean, I guess you shouldn't bite me. Have you bitten me?" Jade tries to think. They've had weird tussles, and have had to do strange performances in Sikowitz's class. She doesn't think so, though. "It seems like, if it could spread, it would have to be something in your blood, or saliva, or something, that could fundamentally change human tissue…" her eyes widen, "Oh my god. We gave Robbie your blood!" Tori growls and tosses her head. Jade subsides. "Of course. We'd know if Robbie had been changed. He wouldn't have been able to function if he'd become a werewolf." She studies Tori again, "But then how would you have a human blood type?" Tori just stares back. Jade shrugs. "Maybe you are like Rhesus monkeys or something. Maybe they should have done that blood type research on werewolves instead."
Tori growls at this, and Jade laughs. She pulls her coat tighter around her, suppressing a shiver. Tori noses at her leg, and Jade looks at her uncertainly. Tori begins walking toward Jade's car. "Wait, where are we going?" Tori turns and gives her a narrow-eyed look. She follows Tori to the car. "Are we going somewhere?" A growl. "Then why are we getting in the car?" Tori presses her nose against the back door, and Jade opens it. Tori jumps in, and curls up in the backseat. Bemused, Jade gets in the driver's seat.
Tori sits up in the backseat, staring at Jade in the rearview mirror. She sniffs around in the backseat, then sits up again, holding the blanket Jade keeps in her backseat in her mouth. "Oh! No, I'm okay now that we're in the car," Jade answers the question she's pretty sure she's being asked. Tori turns around in the backseat a few times, and kind of ends up mostly under the blanket.
Jade hadn't really planned to spend another night in her car, but now that she and Tori are both in it, she realizes she can't really leave. She's sure that Tori would be fine in the park all evening—she's apparently spent enough nights doing just that—but Jade decides she can't really kick her out of the car. "Are there werewolf poachers?" she asks. Tori just huffs in response. Jade doesn't know exactly what they means, but it strikes her that even as a wolf, Tori might not be safe. And as they can't really go anywhere…Jade realizes she's a little stuck.
She idly wonders if Tori wants to run around some more, but a glance in her rearview mirror shows her that Tori appears quite relaxed. "Here's to another night in my car," Jade mutters. Tori whines slightly, so Jade says, "Shut up. It's fine. I'd rather you be in here than in the woods."
Tori exhales audibly in response. Jade tips her head back and closes her eyes. She slept so poorly last night that she's pretty sure she'll fall asleep soon.
.
She wakes up to the sound of her car door slamming shut. It startles her, because she's almost never woken up by loud noises, but she keeps from crying out. She watches as, wrapped in the blanket from Jade's car, a clearly nude Tori starts walking quickly toward the grove of trees. Jade looks at her bare shoulders and calves, then looks away, rubbing her face. At least it's not dawn this time, but it's still early. Her caffeine headache is already setting in.
She stays with her eyes closed until Tori gets back in the car, in the back seat. For some reason, she doesn't want Tori to know she saw her walking away, so she feigns sleep. Tori clears her throat, and whispers, "Jade." Jade doesn't move. Then she feels a hand on her shoulder, and out of instinct, she slaps it away. "Ow!" Tori says, pulling her hand back.
"Why are you touching me?" she asks, blinking open her eyes. She turns to look at her. She has disheveled hair and wrinkled clothes, but she is human and clothed.
Tori shrugs awkwardly, "I figured since it's morning, you might want to get home to your bed."
Jade stares hard at her for a few moments, then says, "Actually, yes." She turns around and starts her car, then glances at Tori in her mirror. "Why are you in the backseat?"
"Oh. I, uh…"
"Get in the front seat," Jade orders, "I'm not your chauffer."
Tori slides out and then gets in the front, "I wasn't thinking," she explains.
"No, you were thinking like a dog," Jade smirks a little. Tori shoots her a glare, but doesn't respond.
They're about halfway home when Tori says, "So. You had a lot of questions last night."
"Yeah," Jade agrees, "And you really didn't give me any answers."
"I couldn't!" Tori punches her leg emphatically.
"I know. It was hilarious."
Tori shoots her a dirty look, "Well, I was going to invite you over so maybe I can answer some of your questions before nightfall, but if you're just going to be a gank about it…"
"Invite me over?"
"Well, I was."
"You're not going to Shadow Creek Park tonight?"
"I thought I'd stay in."
"Okay…" Jade answers thoughtfully. They're silent for awhile, and then Jade says, "Suppose I did show up."
"That would be rude, as I haven't invited you."
"What time would be safe?"
Tori presses her lips together. Jade can't quite see, but she swears it's a smile. "I'll text you."
"Fine," Jade answers.
She drops Tori off at home and stares at the house for a moment. A werewolf family lives there, she reminds herself. She shakes her head and drives home, ready to curl up in her bed to get a few hours of sleep while actually lying down.
.
Tori goes home and falls into bed for the next several hours. She slept pretty well in Jade's car, actually, but her previous night of running around has left her sleep schedule a little bit screwed up. In the late morning, she gets up and sleepily trudges downstairs.
Her mom is on the computer at the kitchen table, while Trina is lounging on the couch. Holly glances up as she comes down the stairs, "Hi, sweetie," she greets, "You want some breakfast?"
"Yes," Tori groans. She's starving.
"Well, you know how to use the stove," Holly says cheerfully.
Tori sighs, "I know," she whines. During the full moon, it's usually good to eat a lot of protein, so she starts fixing some eggs and bacon for herself, thinking wistfully of when her mom used to make her breakfast. Ever since she and Trina started changing, her parents started to regard them as basically adults, and pushed for them to be self-sufficient. Which was fairly okay for Tori, but with Trina, they constantly had trouble leaving her unmonitored.
Tori manages not to burn her breakfast and sits at the table next to her mom. "Where's Dad?" she asks.
"Oh, he's just putting in a few hours of work before it gets too late, and then he and I are going to go up to the canyons for the night."
"Oh. Okay."
"What are your plans?"
Tori swallows and says, "I'm going to have Jade over."
"Oh, okay. Wolfsbane is where it always is, we should have plenty."
Tori shakes her head, "No, I mean…She's going to be here and I'm not going to take wolfsbane."
Holly looks confused and a little alarmed. Trina lifts her head from the couch and yells, "Is this a murder plot? Should I call Dad?"
"No!" Tori scowls at her, then turns her attention back to her mom. "She was with me last night in the park." Holly looks even more alarmed, "But she didn't see me change! It wasn't like that. She just saw me as a wolf."
"I see," Her mom responds, a little more calm, "Well, it's a big step. This is a very personal part of yourself. Are you sure you're ready to share it?"
Tori thinks about it, really for the first time. Since she was little, she knew to keep this secret, not because of any kind of terrible consequences, but mostly because no one "normal" would believe her. When she realized that Jade would believe in this, it seemed natural to tell her. Tori had barely considered how personal this was. "I mean, I already have shared it, so it seems a little moot," she responds awkwardly.
"Okay," Holly shrugs, "But you do have the right to withdraw it if you ever feel uncomfortable, you know. It's still up to you. Work with what you are both comfortable with, and communicate about it, okay?"
Tori nods, "She's coming over early so that we can talk about it."
Trina stands up, "Personally, I don't see why any of you would choose to deal with any of this," she announces, and reaches into the top cupboard to pull down the wolfsbane. They have a few different forms of it that they get from behind the counter of a werewolf-run holistic shop in downtown LA, so they can take it in a variety of ways, but Trina prefers the capsules.
Tori looks to the middle of the table, where Trina has a days-of-the-week vitamin container for the capsules. She picks it up. "Didn't you already take your wolfsbane today?" she asks.
"So?" Trina asks challengingly, after swallowing the capsule.
Tori looks to her mom, "Shouldn't you, I don't know, try to stop her?" One capsule a day during the full moon was considered sufficient to stop the change, but Trina always tended to go overboard with the wolfsbane. Which, while it wasn't dangerous, per se, it sometimes made werewolves a little…unstable.
Holly goes back to her computer, "Oh, believe me. I'm not interested in ever trying to tell Trina what to do during the full moon."
Tori scowls, remembering that there were times when she was forced to take care of Trina during the full moon. Trina's wisdom teeth stands out as a shining example of this. The wolfsbane had not mixed well with her painkillers, and she had been nearly impossible to deal with. Closer to impossible than normal, anyway.
She thinks about her mother's insinuation that this is private, intimate. It's weird that it was almost instinctual to share something like that with Jade.
.
Jade comes over in the late afternoon. When she gets there, Tori's parents are just leaving. She waves to them awkwardly as they drive away, and knocks on the door.
Tori answers, dressed in jeans, a plaid shirt and her glasses. She smiles a little. "You came."
"You state the obvious," Jade scowls.
"Come on in."
"No parents tonight, huh?" Jade asks.
"Yeah," Tori shrugs, "It's their night to go running around."
Jade nods. It's still really hard to imagine Tori's parents turning into werewolves. She notices Trina sitting on the couch. "Oh, great. She's here tonight?"
"No," Trina says irritably, "I'm going to meet a guy tonight."
Jade lifts an eyebrow, glancing at Tori uncertainly, "I'm sure he'll be…impressed by your new look."
"Ew. No," Trina says sharply, "I don't do that."
Jade blinks in confusion, as Tori looks at Trina with distaste. "So, um, Jade," Tori prompts, "Shall we go upstairs?"
"Sure," Jade answers, shooting one last concerned look at Trina before following Tori up to her room.
"Sorry about that," Tori smiles awkwardly as she sits on her bed, "She's a bit…weird about the whole werewolf thing."
"Ya think?" Jade asks.
"Yeah. So, this is my room," Tori gestures.
"Oh, I know," Jade says, "I'm very familiar with your room."
Tori looks at her sharply for a moment, then subsides. "Right. I forgot you were a total creeper who snooped around in here for a half an hour one time."
"Mmmhmm," Jade hums, "Looks like you still have a lot of things in here…"
Tori folds her arm, "You know, I was so freaked out that day. Especially when you snapped your teeth. I thought for sure you had found something that gave me away as a werewolf…"
Jade chuckles, "Nah. That's not what I found."
Tori buries her face in her hands, "Oh my god."
Jade sits down at the foot of Tori's bed, pleased at the reaction, but she has mercy on her. "So, what's up with your batshit sister?"
Tori lifts her head, "Well, the answer to that is related to a question you asked me last night. Remember how you were wondering how I ever appeared at the Full Moon Jam?"
"Yeah, how'd you manage that?" Jade asks.
"Well, there's a plant called wolfsbane. It's super toxic to humans, but if we take it, it suppresses the effects of the full moon. Well, mostly. We don't change, but we might still be kind of…off. Especially if we take a lot. Which Trina does."
Jade stares, "So the reason your sister is a freak is because she's on this stuff?"
Tori nods, "Partly. She's always been kind of crazy. But the wolfsbane doesn't help. She never really liked changing when she was younger, and one day, she swore she started changing in the middle of school because her arm looked 'hairier,' so now she takes it all the time because she's paranoid."
"Can you change when it's not the full moon?" Jade asks with great interest.
"It's not unheard of," Tori answers, "It takes either a ton of concentration, or there are some stories where someone has changed in a situation of life-threatening danger. Personally, I haven't learned."
"Hmm," Jade digests this. "Okay, so, you've taken it to appear at the Full Moon Jam and things. You've never seemed all that off."
Tori shrugs, "I try not to take it if I don't have to. Strangely enough, that seems to help. Sometimes it can be a good thing to take it, though. I mean, my senses tend to be a bit better than a human's normally, though not all the time. During the full moon, when I'm on wolfsbane, they are almost always better. I can hear myself singing better, so it gives me an edge while performing."
"You didn't perform in the last Full Moon Jam," Jade realizes abruptly, "You said you had a throat thing."
Tori chuckles a little, "Yeah, well, I was hoping to skip out on that one. I didn't want to take my wolfsbane. I admit I felt a little weird that night. But I'm glad I went. You really killed it with your song that time."
Jade tries not to smile. "Thanks," she offers begrudgingly, because she doesn't want Tori to know she liked the compliment. She tries to think more. "So, when did you know?"
"That I was a werewolf? I mean, since I could understand."
"Okay, I guess I mean like…your first experience. I mean, are there like, werewolf puppies or something?"
Tori laughs, "No, and it's a good thing, too, because they'd probably be nearly impossible to keep in line. The first change tends to happen around the onset of puberty. So for me, I was twelve." She tilts her head thoughtfully, "It's weird. Sometimes there's mild amnesia because it's such a shock for the body to experience, but I remember most of it."
Jade nods thoughtfully, "Okay. So, can it spread?"
In response, Tori shrugs. "There are only legends. Biting does not appear to work. And I think we'd know if a blood transfusion did," Tori glares, "I was a little nervous about that, by the way, because I couldn't remember for sure if it was dangerous. I was pretty sure it wasn't, but…"
"You gambled with Robbie's life like that?"
"Actually, I think you gambled with it," she shoots back.
Jade shakes her head a little. "Why is everything so up in the air with you guys? Don't you talk to one another?"
"A little," Tori answers, "But there's not like a big subculture or anything. We mostly keep to ourselves. We don't even have like an internet presence because we don't want people to find out anything. So most of us just live a mostly human life and don't know much more than they do." Tori frowns, "Unless there's some kind of werewolf initiation my parents are going to spring on me when I turn 18…"
"Wouldn't put it past them," Jade smirks, "But do you really think Trina would be able to keep her mouth shut about it if there were?"
"True," Tori acknowledges.
Jade leans back, "How are we doing on time?"
Tori checks her clock, "We still have some."
"What are we going to do after you change? I can't exactly throw you a stick in here."
Tori seems to deflate, "Okay, did you really have to do that?"
"What? You liked it."
Tori shakes her head, but she's smiling a little. "We'll do what I usually do when I stay home on a wolf night. Marathon something on TV. Listen to music. These are nights I tend to be able to get to sleep."
"You…watch TV?"
"Sure," Tori nods. She stands up. "We can start now, if you want. Come downstairs, maybe Trina left."
Jade glances at the TV in Tori's room, but decides not to question it. The downstairs TV is better, after all, and they can each have their own couch.
Unfortunately, when they go downstairs, Trina has not yet left. She's doing what looks like a sugar scrub on her face while standing at the counter. Jade raises an eyebrow and stage whispers to Tori, "Is excess facial hair a werewolf side effect?"
"Excuse me," Trina snaps, "But I'm doing this to give myself naturally soft skin."
"Okay. Whatever you say," Jade holds her hands up. Tori rolls her eyes and sits on the couch, changing the channel.
"Hey, I was watching that!" Trina calls.
"Too bad!" Tori answers. "We're watching something else now."
And they get sucked into a Law and Order: SVU marathon, while Trina curses at the mess she's making and at them. Before they know it, the sun is setting.
"Oh, chiz," Tori mutters when she notices the time. She stands up. "Okay, I'm going to go upstairs and…get changed," she finishes awkwardly.
"Yeah. Me, too," Trina says. She seems to have gotten most of the sugar scrub off of her face and out of her hair. The sisters head upstairs, leaving Jade downstairs with the TV.
About ten minutes pass. Jade allows herself to get sucked back into the episode, but when Trina comes downstairs, looking ready to go out, she starts to wonder. "Where's Tori?"
Trina shrugs, "Changing?"
"Yeah, but," she glances outside, "It's dark. Shouldn't she be done?"
"How should I know?"
"You're the only werewolf in the room!"
"Shhh!" Trina hisses.
Jade rolls her eyes and starts heading up the stairs. "Tori? Are you okay?"
She hears a whine, then a low, soft bark. Frowning, she heads to Tori's room and opens the door. Tori bounds out, nosing Jade's palm in gratitude.
"You locked yourself in your room?" Jade asks incredulously, trying not to laugh.
Tori shakes her head rapidly, which turns into a full-body shake. Then she stares toward the stairs.
Jade gets it. "Oooh. Trina shut the door on you." A growl. "That's not cool."
They begin to head downstairs together, where Tori stares at Trina, stiff-legged, and growls deep in her chest. Trina just huffs, "Oh, stop being so dramatic, I thought you might want some privacy."
Tori stares at her for a little longer, then relaxes and trots over to one couch, hopping up and facing the TV. Jade takes the other one.
After a few minutes, Jade picks up the remote and changes the channel. Tori stands up and snarls in protest. "Good luck changing it back," Jade laughs.
Tori bounds off of her couch and onto Jade's, basically tackling her. Jade sits up and holds the remote above her head and instinctively finds herself scolding Tori, "No!" she says. Tori's ears droop and she hunches next to Jade. Feeling bad, Jade reaches out and begins to pet her, "Sorry," she says, meaning it, as she scratches behind Tori's ears. Tori closes her eyes and sighs, and her tail thumps the couch. A few moments later, Tori has rolled onto her back, her head in Jade's lap, and Jade is rubbing her tummy. "I guess everybody does like this, huh?" she asks, tickling.
"What are you doing?" Trina asks, coming back into the living room and looking at them askance.
Tori jumps down and immediately moves back to her own couch. "Nothing," Jade snaps, feeling embarrassed and not really knowing why. It had felt right to pet Tori like that, but now that she thinks about it…it probably is very odd. Jade glances at Tori and reminds herself that she's Tori, not a dog. But Jade has always liked dogs, and was never allowed to have one. It was hard not to enjoy the moment.
Trina tosses her hands up, "Whatever, I won't judge."
Tori puts her paws over her face. Jade folds her arms. But a thought occurs to her and she looks at Tori, "Is this why you're so weird with dogs?"
Tori lifts a paw and blinks at Jade.
"You know. You made that vicious Rottweiler I tried to give to Beck love you. And that big dog was so in love with you he dragged you all around while you were trying to sing the National Anthem."
Tori whines and covers her face again. Jade smirks. "I'll just take it as a yes."
They get to enjoy the episode together for a little bit before Tori abruptly sits up, her ears perked, then jumps off the couch and sniffs the air. She looks at Jade, her eyes wide, then begins running toward the stairs.
"Tori!" Jade calls in confusion, but then there's a loud knock at the door.
"I'll get it!" Trina sings, trotting toward the door. She opens it, and steps back in shock. "Beck!"
"Hey," he says uncertainly, "Is Tori here?"
Jade stands up as he strides in, "She's not here."
His eyebrows rise, "Jade?"
"Obviously."
"What are you doing here?"
"Oh, just watching TV with…um, Trina." She winces.
"With Trina? You hate Trina."
"Standing right here," Trina waves, looking highly offended.
"So?" Jade challenges.
"So…Tori isn't here?" Beck asks.
"Nope," Jade answers, and Trina, to her credit, shakes her own head to corroborate.
Beck looks around, confused, as if certain someone is playing a practical joke, and then there's another knock on the door.
"That must be my date. See ya!" Trina struts out without a backwards glance.
Beck watches her leave, looking even more perplexed, then looks back at Jade, "Shouldn't we…leave too?"
"Nah. It's okay," Jade assures him, hoping she can make him leave.
"Well, since Tori's not here, maybe I can talk to you," Beck says, folding his arms and regarding her. "Did you tell Tori I'm gay?" he asks.
"I…implied it," Jade admits.
Beck grits his teeth and sighs, "You shouldn't have," he admonishes.
Jade throws up her hands, "I'm sorry. I was just…trying to get information out of her."
"About her sexuality, you mean," Beck states.
"Well…yeah." Jade had nearly forgotten about her previous theory, since she's seen Tori as a werewolf.
"That's the thing. She tried to talk to me about it, but she said some really weird stuff," Beck states. "I mean, she said being gay explains my hair, which…sure, I get that. But then she implied that her whole family is gay, and then I was just confused. What on earth was she talking about?"
"How should I know?" Jade asks.
Beck studies her. "Did sharing my secret actually get you some information?"
Jade looks away. "Not really."
Beck is still staring at her, clearly realizing the conversation doesn't add up somehow, but not knowing what to do about it. Finally, he shrugs. "Okay."
"Okay then," Jade prompts, hoping he'll leave.
"Want to come watch a movie?" Beck asks.
"I…" Jade isn't sure how to reject this.
"Come on. Trina just abandoned you. And it's weird to just stay here when no one's home." Beck looks around, clearly uncomfortable.
"…Yeah, okay," Jade agrees, but only because she can't come up with a good reason why she should be left alone in Tori's ostensibly empty house.
As they're leaving, Jade shuts the door behind her. Beck reaches back and jiggles the knob. "You didn't lock it," he accuses.
"Oh. Yeah. Better do that," Jade agrees and watches helplessly as Beck reaches inside to lock the door as they leave.
Now she can't get back in.
.
Tori hides upstairs in her bedroom, and listens to everything. She's disappointed to discover that Beck is not, in fact, a werewolf and cringes at the fact that she may have accidentally outed her entire family as gay. She's not sure how she'll play that one off.
She thinks again about how Jade thought that she was gay, and squirms a little. This had fascinated Jade, and Tori isn't sure how to feel about it.
But mostly, there might be damage control with Beck. And she's going to have to figure out how to address that.
She trots back downstairs despondently, and plops on one of the couches to watch TV. It's not the same without Jade there, but she figures she can wait for a bit at least. Maybe Jade will come back.
Tori dozes for a bit, until she hears a knock, and someone trying to open the front door. She dashes over and listens, and a low voice says forcefully, "Tori?"
Tori whines in response, then barks once, softly.
"Can you let me in?" Jade asks.
Tori rears up on her hind legs and tries to maneuver her claws on the lock, but can't. She barks again, and hears Jade curse in response. Tori sits, not really knowing what to do and hearing that Jade is moving away from the door. She's feeling despondent until she hears a knock at her back porch door. She runs across the house to the glass door and stares at Jade through it.
Jade stands folding her arms, "Can you open this one?" she asks.
Tori fumbles with the latches, but she can't quite seem to get it to unlock. Jade stands, looking a bit crestfallen.
"Are you okay in there?" she asks, "Do you need to go outside? I don't really know…" Tori glares at her, or at least she hopes it reads as a glare, because she's perfectly capable of using the toilet. Jade holds up her hands, "Okay, well, that's good at least…"
Tori stands and looks at Jade for a long moment, then barks. Jade stands and stares back inscrutably. Tori begins to move away, then turns back and barks at Jade again, hoping that Jade will know to just stay there for a second, because Tori has an idea. Her claws can't quite maneuver the latch locks on the glass door, but she's pretty sure she has a stuffed animal in her room with a looped tag that she should be able to use to unlatch the door. So she bounds up the stairs to go get it.
By the time Tori finds it and gets back downstairs, Jade is gone.
She can't help it; Tori howls at the ceiling.
She wishes she didn't feel so…heartbroken.