Head still hurts from the poison you spit
Even life's stink gotta do your bit

@matilda - outfit

Date: July 8th, 2017, just before midnight
Location: Muggle London 

Cass' work kept him away from home for days sometimes. Well, home, his apartment. He didn't think he'd considered any place to be home properly since he'd left his parents' place, or maybe even before that. It was a long and complicated story that he would rather not be reminded of. The point was that he was out of the house for about three days whenever he got long jobs, mostly staying away completely and sometimes only dropping in for an hour or two of sleep. He was used to it by now, so he wasn't much bothered. Niles minded it more, but since he was only two years into this kind of life Cassian figured that it was more a lack of being used to it than actually being bothered. The days that he and Niles spent apart went the slowest, he thought, because the pup's never ceasing chatter did wonders to keep him out of his own thoughts. As things were, the jobs on which he didn't let Niles come with him usually were the more dangerous jobs. It wasn't unheard of for Cass to drop back home with a gash in his side deep enough to fashion as a pencil case. His body was used to the abuse, however, so it was never anything major. Better him than the pup, and Niles had a habit of making situations awkward or breaking much needed silences. Taking him with him would make everything end up worse.

Tonight was one of the nights in which he was fine. Somehow. No physical wounds, head quiet, air fresh around him as he walked back to his apartment in Knockturn Alley. While mostly he was paranoid enough to just aparate wherever he needed to go, not wanting to be noticed or followed by anyone, tonight had been one of the rare instances in which he actually wanted to take his time. The day had been very hot, the night was still too humid but it had cooled down a bit, and the breeze made the air feel fresher than it had in a long while. Deep down in his body he could feel a slight twinge of discomfort, a strain on his muscles, an ache in his bones. The full moon was tomorrow night so it was only natural that he would already feel it. Even his senses were somewhat sharper. Then again, his temper was a bit more volatile too. That was to say, he could get angrier easier, but his self control had always been iron clad so the probabilities of him actually lashing out at anyone were next to nonexistent. He was too used to the pain and the discomfort and the anger to pay it much mind, to let it control him or dictate his actions. Cassian was, as ever, cool in the head.

Walking down a familiar street, he was considering stopping somewhere to get take out for himself and Niles -assuming the brat would be home at all and hadn't left for one of the rare visits he paid his parents without telling Cassian- when he came to a standstill. With his senses being sharper at the moment, he would admit he was constantly being bombarded by smells. Most he subconsciously discarded, not finding them interesting or important enough to notice them, but through the vetting process a single scent had stood out. Another werewolf, somewhere nearby. Now, he was not a nosy person, his policy when it came to others was to leave them be and let them keep their secrets. Werewolves in this particular calendar date, however, could be in trouble. Not all of them had as much control over themselves as he and his pack did, and not all of them had anywhere to go. It was only prudent, in his eyes, to see if any help was needed. So, turning on his heel, he followed his nose.

Matilda was miserable. They had just been released from Hogwarts, just in time for the bloody full moon. They didn’t know when they would be released, so the administration had been anticipating having Matilda there during the full moon. She had gotten all of her doses of Wolfsbane Potion...all except the last. They didn’t care now that she was out of their care, and now Matilda’s transformation was going to be just as bad as ever. It had been a long time since she had been without Wolfsbane… She had forgotten just how much the potion helped her, and now anxiety and terror were taking over her mind knowing that she would soon no longer have it. It felt as if it was making the pain and sickness worse. She felt as if she was spiralling out of control…

She needed to get out of the city. She had spent most of the afternoon at the train station on platform 9 ¾, but she realized through her sick and hurt state that she needed to get out of the city. She couldn’t risk it; if she left herself transform in the city, she would certainly hurt someone, and she couldn’t let that happen. It would be better if she was out and running. Perhaps she would hurt herself, and in the morning, she would certainly be lost, but it was better than hurting someone here. There was no better option, even if all of them would result in Matilda losing. At least everyone else would be safe from her. She would just never be safe with herself…

Matilda was nearly out of the city, but she had collapsed in an alley. The moon was up, but it wasn’t quite full yet, though she had no idea how much longer it would take for it to be up… She didn’t want to risk it, but she was exhausted. She needed to rest, at least for a moment… Her breathing was heavy, tears were in her eyes, and the pain of the incoming transformation were overwhelming her. She didn’t know what to do… She fell to the ground heavily, shaking as she pulled herself up to a sitting position against the wall. She would be fine… She just needed a moment… Her heightened sense picked something up, though...footsteps. They were footsteps with purpose, and they were heading towards her. No, no… Who was coming for her? Matilda curled up tightly in a ball, willing herself away and shaking.

Cassian had been bitten for over a decade, and though Benton had been flighty enough to not want to stay in one place -or with one group of people- for too long, after escaping from the Unit he had found his way into a pack. That was five years ago, and since then he had met a lot of werewolves. Some were just passing through, others kept their distance, some joined the pack. A lot of them died. The stories weren't that unusual to him now. They got bitten, mostly by accident, then they either were kicked out of their families or they left for their own or others' safety. The fact of the matter was that they were alone, and unlike Benton and Cassian, most sires didn't stick around to teach the bitten any control. Mostly, the sires themselves didn't have any control, which was even worse. Finding werewolves in need of help was not something new, and Cass always did his best to help them. He might have wanted to help humans too, on occasion, but he knew what getting too close to humans had gotten him. So he focussed on his own kind.

The sight he found in an alley was not an unfamiliar one, but it was extremely unpleasant. A girl, young, almost or barely of age, curled up on the ground. He could smell her pain from here, and her fear. It was a sharp and pungent smell, something that made his hackles rise. Instinctively, knowing that she was like him, he felt the need to help her. So young, fragile, a pup, barely. The moon was close, it must have been hurting her. If she was on the streets it meant that she had nowhere to go. A trunk lay to the side, so she was from Hogwarts, which was confusing. Maybe they were letting lycanthropes attend? It would be strange, but the Death Eaters had deactivated the Capture Unit and they had fought together in the last war. They may have a somewhat less terrible opinion on werewolves than Durant. He didn't know. What he knew was that the girl needed help, and that was something he could provide.

"Hey, hey there. I'm not going to hurt you." He knelt close to her and reached out, putting one hand on her back to help her sit up a bit. With his other hand he pushed some of her hair away from her face. Gently, slowly. He didn't want to frighten her, even though he was practically a foot taller than her. Could she smell him? Probably not, she had sounded frightened when she heard him. "It's okay. I could smell you from outside the alley. I'm like you. I want to help you. Want me to prove it?"

He pulled away the sleeve of his jacket to reveal the skin of his arm. Now not charmed to seem smooth, there were long gashes, silver after years of healing, and shaped like claws.

"My name is Cassian, but you can call me Cass. What's yours?" He tried to keep his voice as low and gentle as possible. Young werewolves were always easily spooked, especially by strangers, especially so close to the moon. Never mind the fact that he was a grown man and she was still a teenage girl.

Matilda was afraid. She thought that once she went back to Hogwarts, her fear would cease, but in some ways, it had only increased it more. Headmistress Wentzell said she would protect her and let her learn... Matilda somehow thought that would solve it, but it hadn’t. Headmistress Wentzell died, she was known by the entire staff, and she had no one to turn to. She was at least under a roof, cared for, and learning. She supposed that fixed...something. But being around so many people, hiding from them, trying to seem normal, was a new problem in and of itself. Living on the streets, it had been easier to hide to an extent. People paid her less mind, especially as she got older.

She had forgotten she would have to come back to the streets. Matilda didn’t have anywhere to go. She had gotten a job from Nick, which she appreciated; at least she could do something with herself. She knew she could stay with him...he had told her that. She just couldn’t convince herself of it. She felt the same way about him that she did about her siblings; having a werewolf under their roof was a burden, and she couldn’t let herself be a burden to anyone. It was better for her to live on the streets; she wouldn’t be hurting anyone but herself.

That obviously had its risks as well, as she had clearly been found. She couldn’t escape everyone’s notice, but now she was terrified as this man approached her in the alley. She barely registered him kneeling beside her, too terrified by his approach. “That’s what they all say,” she said weakly. How was she to believe him? She tried to kick him away from her, but to no avail; she was far too weak. Before she knew it, he had his hand on her back pushing her up and was brushing hair from her face. It was the first time she saw him clearly. He didn’t look threatening or intimidating; in fact, he looked at her rather gently, but that meant nothing. She had half a mind to fight him, but she couldn’t. He said he smelled her...smelled her? He was like her. She didn’t know if she believed him; he looked too well. Her eyes darted around his face, searching for signs of lying or truth. She had no idea. But then he rolled up his sleeve and she saw the scars, the scars she knew all too well. Her labored breathing relaxed a little bit knowing she was in company like her. His name was Cass… “I...I’m Matilda…” She didn’t know if she trusted this stranger, but he was like her… She needed someone like her right now.

Cassian was a gentle person, but far from harmless. When he was seventeen Benton had started making him take part in the more harmful criminal activities around. He learned quickly, having always had a strong body. It helped that his metabolism tended to build up muscle easily, and he was quite taller than average. Added to the fact that he did his best to keep his body as strong as possible -his condition took its toll on him constantly, he needed to be strong in order to stay stable- he wasn't the most innocent looking person around, least of all at midnight in an alley, crouching over a teenage girl. At least he'd shaved, so he didn't look as menacing as he could be. Appearances tended to be deceiving, because while he looked like he could cause a lot of harm -and he really could- he hated doing it. He wanted to help. So here, if Matilda would let him, he would. Beyond the fact that he couldn't in good conscience leave a teenage werewolf alone and uncontrolled on the streets of London right before the full moon, this was just a kid that needed help.

"Hi, Matilda. I know you're in a lot of pain, right now, and I want to help you. Have you got anywhere to go? Have you had anything to eat?" It was possible that she did have somewhere to go but wasn't of age yet, so she couldn't aparate, and the pain was too much to make the trip walking. In that case, he would give her a side along. If she didn't then he wouldn't hesitate to give her a place in his own apartment, Niles could adapt to it without issue. The important part was helping the kid. She looked really weak, something to eat would do her good. Also, find out wether she was taking the potion, to make sure she wasn't uncontrolled. She probably was, because his approach -Benton's approach- was a rare one, and someone this young would likely not have mastered it yet. "I have an apartment, there's another one of us -another werewolf- there too but I don't think he'll be around tonight. If you don't mind side along aparition, we can go there."

It would be somewhat painful to her, because aparating was always hard on the body. When one got used to it then it wasn't that bad, but with the strain the moon was putting she would likely feel it. The only other option, however, was walking through half of London, through Diagon Alley, and into Knockturn Alley with a suffering teenage girl in his arms. Not doable, and quite dangerous. It'd be enough of a challenge to pick her up without jostling her and hurting her further. He thought he had some calming draughts left at home, though, so they would likely help. Thankfully, it was summer so she was in no danger of exposure.

Matilda was scared. She lived in a perpetual state of fear, but this was more than that. She was actually scared, scared for her life, scared if she would make it until tomorrow. She figured she would; she always had, even when fear as crippling as this gripped her. The transformation always felt awful and never seemed to get any better, even all these years later. Sometimes she tried to talk herself into thinking it would be fine, that it wouldn’t be torturous, and that she would get through it, but it never made any impact. She didn’t know how some werewolves controlled it so well...as if they had mastered the pain, mastered the affliction. She had no idea how one even went about that. She just tried to survive.

She would get through the night. She had to. It was just a matter of the next day, and then the day after that. As this person approached her, all of that seemed up in the air momentarily - would he hurt her? Who was he? But it didn’t look like it would go poorly for her after all...he wanted to help her. Could it really be true? Matilda figured she was just desperate enough to believe him, because she did. He was like her, and that instilled more trust immediately. Unless he was elaborately lying, which was possible, but it was a risk she was willing to take at this point. “I...no, I don’t have anywhere to go. And I haven’t had anything to eat…” Not that she could probably keep it down anyway. When he suggested leaving, Matilda panicked for a second. What if he hurt her? What if he was lying? She didn’t know… “I...I can’t… How do I know you’re not lying?” she said, her voice shaky and defensive. “Just...just leave me alone if you want to hurt me. I’ll do it myself. I don’t...I can’t…” She lost her words, too overwhelmed and afraid suddenly.

Werewolves were always the panicking type, especially teenagers on the street a few days from the full moon. It was only natural that she would be terrified, but the instinctual part of him didn't tell him to back off or stay away. Despite the fact that as the moon grew closer, uncontrolled werewolves grew more dangerous -especially when in pain, the fight or flight reaction leaned more towards fight- and it was risky to be seen around one, Cassian's instinct told him to help her. She was just a kid, after all, and a lycanthrope. She was suffering and he could help, and if he could then he should. He just had to be patient and slow and try to calm her down, because as terrified as she was, things could get out of hand very quickly.

"Matilda, I need you to look at me, all right? Take a deep breath and listen to me." Cass kept his voice as soft and soothing as possible. While he did need her to calm down, the fact remained that they were out in the open. They were two werewolves close to the full moon, and he was a grown man leaning over a semi-unconscious teenage girl. Nothing about this was safe or inconspicuous. They needed to get out of here as soon as possible. "I swear to you that I'm not trying to hurt you. I want to help. The moon is very close, I know you're suffering, but you can't stay here. Let me take you to my place, you can rest there, I can give you something for the pain. I understand that you're terrified and you don't know me. I need you to trust me, okay?"

He was still helping her sit up, and the sleeve of his jacket was still rolled up and showing his scars. The kid looked sick and pale and exhausted, which was probably no better than how she actually felt. If she was taking the potion, he could get her more and he knew which painkillers wouldn't counteract it or react badly. Trust was a lot to ask for when it came to werewolves, it was true, but he really needed her to trust him. There was nothing worse than leaving behind a suffering fellow lycanthrope, knowing that he could've helped. Another possibility was to aparate home, get the painkiller, aparate back and give it to her, but in the time that took she could leave or someone else could find her. It would've been a good choice, but the wolf side of him whined in refusal at the idea of leaving a child in such a state even for a second. "Please, Matilda. I'm trying to help you. Please, believe me."

Matilda’s heart was nearly beating out of her chest, but she wasn’t sure if it was her body reacting to the sickness and nearness of the full moon or her reaction to being approached and found by this man. She knew she could get through this… Every time the full moon came around, she felt this awful or worse, and she always made it through. She would this time too…she had to. But every time it happened, Matilda wasn’t sure. Just because she had made it each time before didn’t mean she would always make it. She would have bled out and died had she not gone to the orphanage over a year ago. And she was only getting bigger and stronger...she was becoming more dangerous. It scared her to think about it, but she wasn’t sure if it scared her more to have this stranger try to take her...to help her.

She was insanely conscious of the beat of her heart, and she stacked on the worry of it giving out to her already overwhelmed mind. Her breathing was starting to get more and more labored as she got worked up. She pressed her back harder against the wall, as if putting even a few more centimeters of ditance between herself and the stranger would help clear her mind, and she felt the stone scraping into her shoulder. She felt a trickle of warm blood follow, soaking her shirt. She had to calm down...it would certainly get worse if she didn’t…

Matilda looked up at Cass when he said he needed her to. It was the first time she had a good look at him as she tried to focus on his face. His features were shadowy in the dark alley, and it was hard to make out much detail about him. That set her on edge, but she tried to ignore it. His figure towered over hers even as he was crouched, and Matilda imagined it didn’t look good from an outsider’s perspective. She could read his expression, even in the darkness; he looked desperate. He looked almost as desperate as Matilda felt, desperate for her to trust him. She searched his eyes as he tried to search hers, and Matilda felt tears burning her eyes. He swore he wanted to help her… How could she believe him? Her eyes travelled from his face to his arm, where his scars were revealed. Matilda reached out a shaking hand, now cut and bleeding from pressing into the gravel so hard, and she touched his arm where the scars were. They were real...not just a glamour. She had the same ones. He was like her. She wanted to trust him...she had to trust him… “O-Okay...I believe you…” she said, her voice strained and shaking. “Please help me…” It had become a whisper.

Relief washed over him and it was as if he could finally breathe. Thanking her in whispers, he kneeled better and slipped his arms under her. Then he stood, holding her to his chest, this tiny girl, frail with pain. Ah, hell. All right, all right, calm down. He looked around to see a trunk, that must have been Matilda's. No good in leaving that behind, so he held her up with one arm for a second while he shrunk it and put it in his pocket. Then he held her properly, looking down at her gently. "All right, Matilda. We're going to be aparating a few times. It's just a safety measure, okay? But with your condition right now it might make you feel bad. I'll get you painkillers as soon as we arrive so try to bear with it." He took a few breaths to steady himself, clearing his mind, and then turned on his heel.

Spot one, five blocks away, corner hidden in the shadows. Then spot two, middle of the park, spot three, behind a warehouse. Spot four, three blocks away from home. Spot five, the terrace. Then he goes down the stairs, just a couple of floors. "That's so we can't be followed. If someone grabs on to you, there's plenty of chances to get them off. So we don't lead them to any other werewolves that might be staying with us. Safety is paramount." With one hand, he drew out his keys and opened the apartment, carrying her swiftly to the couch and setting her down in a sitting position. "No one else is home, just hold on right here, okay?"

In a hurry, he went to the bathroom and rummaged through the cupboards. Since he and Niles both had a rather high pain threshold, they never used the painkillers. Should be here, though, should- ah, good. He took the small bottle and went back, grabbing a spoon from the kitchen on his way to the couch. It was a rather potent thing, really, so just a bit should work. Any more and it'd either knock her out or it'd counteract the wolfsbane and both were not results he was looking forwards to. So he kneeled in front of Matilda once more and poured a spoonful. "Here. It'll not put you to sleep, but you can have my room anyway. I'll crash in the other. Open up, now."

Matilda was painfully aware of everything going on within her and around her. The burning of her skin, the sound of the world drowning to her ears, the pain that resonated deep in her bones, and Cass’s voice. She could feel every heartbeat, practically feel the adrenaline coursing through her veins with every second that passed. It felt horrible, treacherous, like the balance of it all could collapse within a second. She had been in situations like this before and survived, but she knew how torturous they were every time, and every single time, she wanted nothing more than someone to take the pain away. Usually she didn’t bother with such wishful thinking, but help was upon her. She couldn’t pass it up.
She had to keep reminding herself with every moment that he was like her. He understood. If this was a trap, then so be it. Perhaps she had suffered enough and it was time to meet her end. But no, he could be trying to help her. She saw the scars. She believed him. Matilda tensed up when he picked her up, sending pain through her already aching muscles. She tried to grip onto him with shaky hands, but her strength was pretty much zapped. “Okay,” she said, her voice coming out in a whisper. Apparition...that would be hard on her. But she would rather more suffering for some relief than to continue in this agony all night long.

She was so disoriented by the time that they apparated that Cass’s voice seemed far away when he explained why. Something about safety...she could buy into safety. What little strength she had left had left her as her shaky hands fell from his person. She blinked and found herself on the couch. She tried to take in her surroundings. The room seemed dark, warmer than outside. Cass disappeared. His voice seemed far away, so she just stayed still. Within a few seconds or a few minutes, she wasn’t sure which, Cass returned, kneeling in front of her and holding something to her lips on a spoon. She tried to focus on it but couldn’t. What was he giving her. “I...alright,” she said, her voice hoarse. She opened her mouth and the spoon came in holding a thick sickly sweet syrup. Matilda made a face as she swallowed it down. “What is it?” Perhaps she should have asked that before taking it, but that was no matter at this point.