Fic: Lean On Me.
May. 22nd, 2022 12:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
silbernefuchsTitle: Lean On Me
Fandom[s]: Masters of the Universe; World of Darkness [for inspiration]
Character[s]: Keldor, Randor [mentioned], Miro [mentioned], Amelia [mentioned] Odiphus|Stinkor
Rating: Mature
Warnings: References to violence; murder
Length: 1,261 words
Summary: Ah, yes; the inevitable angst. Or, Keldor finally opens up about his parents.
"Look, I know I'm in trouble, okay?" Keldor finally managed to get out, while Odi stared at him. It wasn't a look of disgust on the other man's face, nor was it admiration.
It was pure surprise.
He started muttering to himself.
"No. No, I'd know if she was one..," Odi said, as if no one else was in the room. "Amelia's not one of us. And Miro's certainly not... No... Definitely not."
"What? Are you talking about?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry."
Odi rubbed the back of his neck, looking somewhat embarrassed.
"I'm just... Trying to figure out which of your parents is a werewolf."
"What? Do you mean?"
"Well, see, being a werewolf's in the blood. So to speak. Well, actually it's more in the spirit, but blood is something people get easier."
Once again Odi was yapping about something with the assumption that the listener already understood what he was talking about. Which was earning him a glare.
"Okay. Okay, okay, okay. Looks like I'm the one who's giving you the crash course, so I hope you were smart enough to pack a helmet or something."
Keldor blinked.
"A joke. A lame one."
He paused, then went on.
"See, when I told you that the stuff you get coming out of Hollywood was mostly pure shit... That most of it's wrong... Well. One of the things they get wrong is how you become a werewolf. They got the people thinking that you become one when you're bitten or cursed or something. That ain't true. Being a werewolf is something you're born to become. You start out life looking like any other ordinary human. Thinking that you're an ordinary human. Until you get to your teens, at the earliest. That's around the time when werewolves start having their First Changes. Which is what happened to you last night. Something must'a set you off, and the next thing you know you're some big, hulking monster."
Keldor had a rather befuddled look on his face, but he let Odi keep going.
"Now, here's the thing. See, as I said, being a werewolf is something you're born to become. You just don't know it yet, until you change for the first time. That means you have a werewolf parent. Just one, though. There's reasons why it ain't two."
Odi looked rather ... afraid ... for a moment, but kept going.
"So what's got me scratching my head—apart from maybe fleas—is who your werewolf parent is. Miro ain't no werewolf—every one of us knows that. And Amelia ain't one either. So I'm perplexed as to how you ended up one."
This was bringing up something Keldor didn't like to think much about. Thinking about it made him upset, and when he got upset his usual solution was to hit things or break things to get himself to stop.
"She... She's not my real mom..," he said quietly. "Dad married her, and she raised me, but she's not my actual mom."
"Ahhh...," Odi said, as if he'd just had a glass of something particularly delicious. "That makes sense. Yes. It makes sense now."
"Maybe to you but it's not making sense to me!" Keldor suddenly shouted. "Would you mind telling me what you're getting at here?"
"If Miro's no wolf and neither is Amelia, then mystery werewolf has to be your mom. Your real mom."
"I don't get it."
"You will. Now. If you're comfortable telling me, I'd like to know about how you came to be."
Odi crouched down in front of Keldor so that they could be eye to eye.
Suddenly Keldor looked like he was on the verge of tears. He really did not want to talk about his family, but after everything he'd just been through, talking about it was the only way he might finally start making sense of everything.
It would also help get it out of his system if he did.
With a deep inhale, he began.
"I remember, when I was little, I heard mom—stepmom, I mean—arguing with dad one night about something he'd done a long time ago. Something about not being true to her."
"Go on."
"Something about how she was willing to look past it because she cared about me, but that she didn't like how he was... How he was..."
He swallowed heavily.
"I think she was accusing him of not being true again."
Odi nodded in sympathy.
"She was happy to take me in after my real mom had given me over to dad and her to raise, but she wouldn't accept any others. And if he did what she thought he was gonna do, she'd leave him and take me with her."
He swallowed again, and went quiet.
"Yeah. See, that's one thing about werewolves: we don't make good parents the way humans do. We're just too angry—too prone to breaking things—to be a good mom or dad. Let alone be a good husband or wife. And humans—especially little babies—are fragile."
Keldor had a haunted look in his eyes. Doubtless he was thinking about his real mother. His werewolf mother.
"Trust me when I say this: giving up our cubs is one of the hardest things a werewolf can do," Odi said softly. "Even if it's for their own safety, it can really affect us. Werewolf women stop bothering to have cubs after a time because giving them up is so hard on them."
Now Keldor was crying. And trying not to get angry.
Unsuccessfully. As usual.
"But she could've at least tried!" he screamed, his emotions now raw and bleeding, and his words echoed throughout the inside of the factory like a crowd of people had suddenly materialised out of thin air and were now all willing to take his side.
"She could. But you'd more likely end up dead than okay if she did."
Dead.
Just like how his parents—both biological and step—had ended up.
Thinking about Amelia's tragic end made him want to cry. She was probably one of the kindest people he'd ever had in his life growing up, even though he clearly had problems that would test many people's patience.
But thinking about his father's death made him feel strangely apathetic. Miro was never kind to his own son the way his wife was—preferring instead to favour his half-brother Randor, who was clearly better-behaved and of better temper, and Keldor just couldn't bring himself to feel the same level of grief for him that he felt for his stepmother.
Mostly it just felt like it was something that was long overdue. Not justified, no; just something that was bound to happen eventually.
Something cold and metallic was pressed into Keldor's hand. A can of beer.
"It'll help. Maybe. At least you won't be thirsty."
Odi paused.
"And I suspect that some of our kind will be coming over later. To help explain things to you. But for now, I'm going back out. If you're hungry there's food in the fridge that's hopefully not expired yet. And there's some blankets over on that couch you can use to make yourself comfortable enough to sleep."
He gave a paternal smile.
"As bad as it's been, at least you're among people who 'get it'. And you can stay as long as you wish to, here. This here's neutral ground for this city's packs, so don't worry about one of 'em coming to chase you off."
He got up. Patted Keldor on the shoulder in a kindly fashion.
"See you around."
Fandom[s]: Masters of the Universe; World of Darkness [for inspiration]
Character[s]: Keldor, Randor [mentioned], Miro [mentioned], Amelia [mentioned] Odiphus|Stinkor
Rating: Mature
Warnings: References to violence; murder
Length: 1,261 words
Summary: Ah, yes; the inevitable angst. Or, Keldor finally opens up about his parents.
"Look, I know I'm in trouble, okay?" Keldor finally managed to get out, while Odi stared at him. It wasn't a look of disgust on the other man's face, nor was it admiration.
It was pure surprise.
He started muttering to himself.
"No. No, I'd know if she was one..," Odi said, as if no one else was in the room. "Amelia's not one of us. And Miro's certainly not... No... Definitely not."
"What? Are you talking about?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry."
Odi rubbed the back of his neck, looking somewhat embarrassed.
"I'm just... Trying to figure out which of your parents is a werewolf."
"What? Do you mean?"
"Well, see, being a werewolf's in the blood. So to speak. Well, actually it's more in the spirit, but blood is something people get easier."
Once again Odi was yapping about something with the assumption that the listener already understood what he was talking about. Which was earning him a glare.
"Okay. Okay, okay, okay. Looks like I'm the one who's giving you the crash course, so I hope you were smart enough to pack a helmet or something."
Keldor blinked.
"A joke. A lame one."
He paused, then went on.
"See, when I told you that the stuff you get coming out of Hollywood was mostly pure shit... That most of it's wrong... Well. One of the things they get wrong is how you become a werewolf. They got the people thinking that you become one when you're bitten or cursed or something. That ain't true. Being a werewolf is something you're born to become. You start out life looking like any other ordinary human. Thinking that you're an ordinary human. Until you get to your teens, at the earliest. That's around the time when werewolves start having their First Changes. Which is what happened to you last night. Something must'a set you off, and the next thing you know you're some big, hulking monster."
Keldor had a rather befuddled look on his face, but he let Odi keep going.
"Now, here's the thing. See, as I said, being a werewolf is something you're born to become. You just don't know it yet, until you change for the first time. That means you have a werewolf parent. Just one, though. There's reasons why it ain't two."
Odi looked rather ... afraid ... for a moment, but kept going.
"So what's got me scratching my head—apart from maybe fleas—is who your werewolf parent is. Miro ain't no werewolf—every one of us knows that. And Amelia ain't one either. So I'm perplexed as to how you ended up one."
This was bringing up something Keldor didn't like to think much about. Thinking about it made him upset, and when he got upset his usual solution was to hit things or break things to get himself to stop.
"She... She's not my real mom..," he said quietly. "Dad married her, and she raised me, but she's not my actual mom."
"Ahhh...," Odi said, as if he'd just had a glass of something particularly delicious. "That makes sense. Yes. It makes sense now."
"Maybe to you but it's not making sense to me!" Keldor suddenly shouted. "Would you mind telling me what you're getting at here?"
"If Miro's no wolf and neither is Amelia, then mystery werewolf has to be your mom. Your real mom."
"I don't get it."
"You will. Now. If you're comfortable telling me, I'd like to know about how you came to be."
Odi crouched down in front of Keldor so that they could be eye to eye.
Suddenly Keldor looked like he was on the verge of tears. He really did not want to talk about his family, but after everything he'd just been through, talking about it was the only way he might finally start making sense of everything.
It would also help get it out of his system if he did.
With a deep inhale, he began.
"I remember, when I was little, I heard mom—stepmom, I mean—arguing with dad one night about something he'd done a long time ago. Something about not being true to her."
"Go on."
"Something about how she was willing to look past it because she cared about me, but that she didn't like how he was... How he was..."
He swallowed heavily.
"I think she was accusing him of not being true again."
Odi nodded in sympathy.
"She was happy to take me in after my real mom had given me over to dad and her to raise, but she wouldn't accept any others. And if he did what she thought he was gonna do, she'd leave him and take me with her."
He swallowed again, and went quiet.
"Yeah. See, that's one thing about werewolves: we don't make good parents the way humans do. We're just too angry—too prone to breaking things—to be a good mom or dad. Let alone be a good husband or wife. And humans—especially little babies—are fragile."
Keldor had a haunted look in his eyes. Doubtless he was thinking about his real mother. His werewolf mother.
"Trust me when I say this: giving up our cubs is one of the hardest things a werewolf can do," Odi said softly. "Even if it's for their own safety, it can really affect us. Werewolf women stop bothering to have cubs after a time because giving them up is so hard on them."
Now Keldor was crying. And trying not to get angry.
Unsuccessfully. As usual.
"But she could've at least tried!" he screamed, his emotions now raw and bleeding, and his words echoed throughout the inside of the factory like a crowd of people had suddenly materialised out of thin air and were now all willing to take his side.
"She could. But you'd more likely end up dead than okay if she did."
Dead.
Just like how his parents—both biological and step—had ended up.
Thinking about Amelia's tragic end made him want to cry. She was probably one of the kindest people he'd ever had in his life growing up, even though he clearly had problems that would test many people's patience.
But thinking about his father's death made him feel strangely apathetic. Miro was never kind to his own son the way his wife was—preferring instead to favour his half-brother Randor, who was clearly better-behaved and of better temper, and Keldor just couldn't bring himself to feel the same level of grief for him that he felt for his stepmother.
Mostly it just felt like it was something that was long overdue. Not justified, no; just something that was bound to happen eventually.
Something cold and metallic was pressed into Keldor's hand. A can of beer.
"It'll help. Maybe. At least you won't be thirsty."
Odi paused.
"And I suspect that some of our kind will be coming over later. To help explain things to you. But for now, I'm going back out. If you're hungry there's food in the fridge that's hopefully not expired yet. And there's some blankets over on that couch you can use to make yourself comfortable enough to sleep."
He gave a paternal smile.
"As bad as it's been, at least you're among people who 'get it'. And you can stay as long as you wish to, here. This here's neutral ground for this city's packs, so don't worry about one of 'em coming to chase you off."
He got up. Patted Keldor on the shoulder in a kindly fashion.
"See you around."
