Archive of Our Own ^beta

"How are you not more freaked out about this?" Graham demanded.

"I've known about werewolves for a while now," Brie said. "I didn't know Lucy was one specifically, but it does make sense."

Lucy wagged her tail. It wasn't clear if she understood any of their conversation or was just excited to hear her own name.

It did make sense, Graham had to admit. Her freaky strength, her sense of smell... His hand drifted unconsciously towards Lucy's fur. He pulled it back. He couldn't go petting his coworker, no matter how cute she might be. "How long is 'a while'?"

Brie shrugged. "Not too long, I guess. Heath told me he was a wereleopard a few months ago."

"Were... leopard?" Graham frowned. "Okay, he definitely had shifts on the full moon when we were at Dimanche. Is it different by species or something?"

"I think it's a new development. Madeleine got bit on one of her field trips and then she bit him."

Graham took a step back. Lucy whined, which he would feel bad about if he wasn't more concerned that she might flip out. "Wait, she bit him? Is Lucy going to try and bite us?"

"I don't think so? I'm pretty sure Madeleine was human at the time." Brie rolled her eyes. "Siblings, am I right?"

"Not in my experience, no." Graham looked back at Lucy. "So she's safe to be around?"

"I'm no expert, but that's my understanding. She's still herself, she's just acting on instinct." Brie smirked. "And I mean, this is Lucy. Her instincts are 'never give up' and 'overapologize'. She's not exactly dangerous."

"Tell that to my door," Graham muttered, but his shoulders dropped. Right. This was just Lucy. He had to remember that, no matter how small and fluffy she currently was.

He jumped when Brie groaned abruptly. "What now?"

"I just realized." Brie gestured out at the store. "She doesn't have opposable thumbs, so we get to do all the clean up ourselves."

Lucy whined again.

Brie narrowed her eyes. "Fine, but only because you never ask for anything and we owe you like a million." She looked up at Graham. "Actually, I think it's a good idea to get her home before she turns back. You know where she lives, right? Great. See you tomorrow."

Graham didn't understand what had happened, but she had a point about getting Lucy home. He had no idea how clothes worked for werewolves, and ideally he wouldn't find out. He could feel himself flush just thinking about it.

"Right!" He turned to Lucy. He hoped she wouldn't remember any of this in the morning; he was sure he was making a fool of himself. "Well. Let's get you home. Hopefully your roommates know how to deal with this..."

Lucy boofed in what Graham hoped was agreement. He had to hand it to her, she made a very fluffy wolf.

He shook his head. For once in his life, he couldn't be distracted by dogs.