Welcome to Gaia! ::

He was preparing to head to classes when he got the text. Surprised, but pleased he grinned, no reason at all for him to think that there would be anything odd from the request after all. Lucas had never been to ‘Other’ ash down yet, so maybe he just had questions he wanted answered.

He slid his bag over his shoulder and texted back.



After all, skipping class wasn't something he -did- unless you counted the days where he'd been given a pass because he'd been 'lost' in the 'woods'

there was a pause while he read the texts, the first one confused him till he read the second,w which made him laugh for a moment, then curiosity took over.





He went...full nerd when he replied. Stared at the reply for a second and sent it anyhow. He really needed to learn to abbreviate in case people had text limits.

Zac thought about that for a moment, and then perused his options mentally.

Zac set right to work. He dug out books from the Library on Werewolves and other shapeshifter, historic and modern mythology. 3 books were really the only ones that ‘felt’ right, but DANG he was glad he had a flash drive.
He saved web pages, screen shots, references to everything from madness, cursed towns, wolf-skin belts, he even did a small if… begrudging nod to ‘Twilight’ and thanked god that the were-wolves didn’t sparkle too.

He then went back and printed out a handful of the ones that rose to the top most often and then he was off to the Waffle Wonderland.

Which was good because… waffles, and Waffle Wonderland served -real- maple syrup if you asked.

He dropped the books onto the table with a grin at Lucas as the other man sat down, then, he added the papers on top of the books, and finally, like adding a cherry on top of a sundae, he dropped a…

A Tiny Red Panda.

He hesitated then and then added. “….flash drive.” He felt his cheeks heat and he cleared his throat. ‘I …yeah it has links to web pages in a word document, um, screen shots of ones that seemed good but I printed the ones that looked best and put them …here…and these were a little more historic so this one has like, wood block prints and um… um. I’m going full nerd on you.” Too much?”

Lucas' expression fell into one of shock, wide pale eyes taking in the books and print outs, as well as the crowning red panda. "You did this -- all of this in twenty minutes?" He was equally as impressed as he was surprised, eyes flickering between the goods and Zac, who seemed very pleased with himself. Unable to repress a smile, he lifted his prosthetic hand to reach for the flash drive --

-- and froze, staring at his hand as if perhaps he had grown another in its place. Awkward, a little jerky, he drew his hand back to his lap, trying to keep his face neutral but showing just slightly too much white in his eyes to really pass it off.

"I thought," his voice was distant, absent, "it looked like a...what's it called..." His good hand trembled, fingers shaking as they ghosted over his prosthetic hand, trying to see if he could feel it...on the hand that wasn't there. Roaring red flags filled his mind, fear lacing through his attempt at coherent thoughts, wildly thinking he wouldn't be entirely surprised it he felt fur rather than metal.

He realized he hadn't finished his sentence. "...Pokemon," he murmured, half apologetic, half tense.

s**t. He didn't mean to worry Zac, but it was hard to think past the fact he was feeling with a limb that wasn't there. Lucas distractedly looked towards his hand, then back to Zac, apologetic and lost. "I'm -- I'm sorry Zac, I uh -- I've been having phantom pains lately. It just -- catches me off guard sometimes."

It was still metal. He was fine. He was going to be okay. Drawing in a deep breath, he managed to summon another smile, honest and tentative. This was not the time to say he was afraid he was a monster. He didn't even have proof that it was real -- that's what all the research was for. Part of him was hoping there was nothing to find and maybe he was just hallucinating or having some sort of bad reaction to what had gone on with Autumn.

"I, um -- I mean, you guys haven't -- run into anything were-like, other than -- other than Pax, maybe?" he asked, unsure how to even pose the questions. It all sounded so absurd out loud on his ears.

“… are they..new?” He asked hesitantly. Was ash down already starting to mis with this poor man’s life?

And then the rest of the question, he tipped his head to one side, gaze pale but studious.

“… H…have you had odd dreams recently? Do… do they have to do with…” he put his hand on the books and papers lightly.

It was like nothing he’d experienced so far, but my god… didn’t he know already that you could only expect that it would surprise you?

“I’m not sure Pax qualifies as a were but, it… it seems like, I don’t know. I mean… Pax reminded me of slender man when we first saw…it? So… I don’t know if Other Ashdown influences our world and mythology or … if we influence It. So I mean…anything could…be?”