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It was a day off, one that found Lucas without the presence of either of the important men in his life nor his friends - he assumed the latter were still healing, or in Autumn's case, still figuring out how to style her hair around her horns. He took the opportunity to continue his rounds of Ashdown, memorizing the ins and outs of the streets, where certain stores were, where the places of historical significance might be. It wasn't exactly a thrilling way to spend his time, but he was a wolf, and this was his territory. If he found himself in the Otherworld, he had to know where he was.

He found himself meandering downtown that cloudy day, wearing a light jacket over a thin shirt, hair in a ponytail so as to not get snagged on the earbud hanging out of his right lobe. Lucas hummed infrequently under his breath along with whatever tune that came up on his phone's musical library, occasionally pulling said phone out to tap in a few notes before continuing on.

The question made him freeze, pale eyes looking over to the owner of the voice with a vague sense of alarm. Lucas clenched his jaw, guarded, looking at the other with an unfriendly line of his brows. Anyone who had seen him, meant they'd seen him as a werewolf, and there was no easy way to explain that. He didn't like to lie (and he was so bad at it) but he was going to have to go back to the whole 'it was a prosthetic company' cover if the questions were too...on point.

Slowly extending his good hand, his gaze unwavering, he started, "Lucas Reis, I -- "

But their hands touched and it hit him, the warmth of family that filled his lungs and eased the tight line of his brow. Understanding flooded his grey eyes, mingled with a sort of relief of Pack and quickly chased away with a great sense of disquiet. This one was new. s**t. s**t s**t s**t.

"...I'll do what I can to help," he finally settled on, his voice less tense, drawn with a sort of apology. "Ashton from Ashdown, wont forget that anytime soon."

The smile he offered was faint, still apologetic. "No drugs involved, I'm afraid, ah..." Bitten. Great. Just. Phenomenal. "Ashton, I very much need to tell you what's going on, but we might want to go somewhere more -- private, or in the very least, somewhere we can sit down."

Lucas ran his good hand over his stubbled cheek, concern in his pale gaze. "It's not going to be a happy discussion, I'm afraid, but a very necessary one, for your sake and sanity." He shook his head, glancing behind himself. "I don't live far." He wouldn't have ever invited a stranger over, but Ashton was Pack, and that changed all the rules. "We can go to my place or a cafe down the street, it has some decent sized booths we can talk in." Lucas looked back to Ashton, his smile a tight line then, letting the other decide where to go.

"Lucky for you, this isn't a date, or it would officially be the worst." Despite his words, Lucas was grim, shrugging at the decision and turning to head down the street towards the aforementioned cafe. "It's going to be less about understanding and more about accepting," he continued, plucking the earbud out of his ear and tucking it into his pocket, pausing the song on his phone. "Because even if you don't understand, not accepting this could hurt many people. Like Blackfriar's."

It wasn't far to the cafe, the werewolf leading Ashton in and choosing a booth a fair distance from the majority of the patrons. He took off his jacket and tossed it into the corner, rolling his prosthetic arm as he sat down and clasping his fingers together on the table. "Well then." Lucas pursed his lips, an almost-smile dimpling his cheeks. "Ask away, and I'll supplement as we go."

"A doctor?" There was amusement in his tone. "That may come in handy in the future. Can you do stitches?" It was only a half joke, still feeling his chest twinge while it was healing.

Lucas drew in a deep breath, counted backwards from five, and began. "I don't know if he was a werewolf, but he was a were. His name was Michael. That wildness, that shift you saw? That's what happens if you shift in Ashdown. It's a madness, so complete in pain and fear that you just -- lash, you attack, because it's...too much to bear."

A brief pause, and he barreled on. "There's a place, in the shadow of Ashdown. We called in the Otherworld, or Other Ashdown. It's basically a rundown version of our fair town, it always rains, it's always grey." His pale gaze turned over Ashton's face, both open in his honesty and uncertain how the other was going to take it. "It's where the weres have to go to shift, and unfortunately, if you were bitten...it's where you have to go now, too, on the eve of the full moon."

Another pause. "If you saw me at Blackfriar's, then you know I'm not shitting you. There's three others, that I know of, and we were all there." A ghost of a smile passed his lips. "That drug trip you asked about? That feeling, basically marks us as a Pack. It's how we recognize each other. If you ever meet and touch Eve, Jamie or Lily, you'll experience the same feeling."

Ashton was, for all intents and purposes, handling the information like a champ. Lucas raised his brows slowly as the other spoke of such things with comfort (and some razor edge), unfettered and unbothered. He wished he'd been so easy to accept it. "I have spent the entire time of knowing what I am, trying to cope with it. And you just..." He shook his head, slight and subtle. "Not subhuman, Ashton. Not beneath anything. Just...different."

He sighed softly, rubbing his flesh and metal thumbs together. "Eve owns the tea shop not far from here, she's got steel hair, very friendly, and is a werefox. Jamie is a sweet guy, young, has this unruly mop of hair and always looks like he's inconveniencing someone -- he's a wererabbit. Lily is almost as tall as I am, dark hair, challenges your existence with a glance, feisty. She's a, uh -- some form of werecat. Not like 'meow-cat' but almost like a red panda. I tell you all that because Lily and Eve have an easier time of covering their changes. Jamie and I, not so much, so, you may not have to miss anything at all."

Unfolding his hands, he plucked his phone out of his jacket and unlocked it. "The shift is fast. I can get us there if the enigmatic red-headed Lady doesn't, I don't know how fast it is to get back but you shouldn't have to miss studies." He pushed his phone to Ashton. "Add yourself or send yourself a text, if you would? I'll forward you their information and include you in the text I'll send after this meeting.

But in relations to absences, it's really going to have to be a 'we'll see,' I'm afraid. I'm lucky I can work from home, and maybe they can help with advice on how to deal with it otherwise." Especially Jamie and Lily, who he assumed still lived at home. "And, I don't know if you'll meet her, but Lady is a towering creature of red-hair and lackadaisical methods. She's the one who informed us of our fates, in so many words." There was a dryness that suggested it wasn't that easy, but that wasn't the point just then.

A brow raised sharply at Ashton's vitriol, but he dared not press nor ask, not when the seething, unspoken words beneath the other's easy facade had nothing to do with their conversation. He'd already blundered into a situation he couldn't have expected with two other people and be damned if he'd do it with Ashton.

Lucas nodded, and then shook his head. "Eve is more experienced than me, Jamie and Lily I think are closer to the same age. Teenagers." His gaze was briefly questioning -- really? how old do you think I am? - before moving to the more pressing issue that Ashton seemed to be having, namely, appearances in life. "Even if you grow a tail and claws, you can pass it off as something medical. You don't have to hide, you just...can't expect that it's going to be received well."

It was, perhaps, the level tone that was setting off alarms in his head. Lucas took the phone and set it on his jacket, attentive to Ashton's concerns and any questions posed. "It only happens during the full moon, which can last several days." Pale eyes flickered over the dark make up that he wasn't entirely sure he had missed or that he'd just noticed. He was usually more perceptive, but this had caught him entirely off guard.

"Don't apologize, Ashton, it's a metric ******** to take in." Lucas offered a smile, settling more into his skin now that the initial concern of the other bolting out had diminished some. "It's a lot of flying by the seat of our furry asses, because it just happened a handful of weeks ago. We're still learning. I'm an open book to you with everything I do know, and I'll do what I can to help you when the change comes. I promise."

Exhaling through his nose, he tilted his head to the side. "I'm the werewolf, by the way. I don't know what the rogues were, but, I've got you back."