ukan | IC CONTACT

…is it normal to hate being human again at this point?

Also.

How’re you doing?

I loathed every second of it.

[God it's good to hear Warren's voice, and to hear someone who gets it.]

I'm all right. Keeping the kitchen moving and the infirmary stocked, but the moment people are on their feet again you and I are going to spend a few days as wolves.

And I was in Zero the week before that. You’re lucky I’m not howling into this thing.

[ It. Sucked. He. Hated it. ]

I’m… all right at this point. So. If you need any assistance.

If you think that’s wise.

[ He’s deferring to Lark’s wisdom on this given some of the factors, though he hasn’t explained all of them. Like the spear that he took to the side shortly before everything went back to what passes for normal. ]

[Well there sure is a protective pack leader in him because a glower slips through and he has to rein himself back in.]

First tell me why you were in Zero.

Because Jacobi was in Zero. Because I put both of us there after he blew off Thomas’s arm.

My choice. I even made sure Iris couldn’t get me out.

[Since it was Warren's choice Lark immediately relaxes.]

Did you see Jacobi in the port?

He got into camp a day after we all woke up there.

He knows what he’s doing. I trained him well.

[ They spent a lot of it curled up in a sleeping bag together. ]

I don't doubt it.

...Are you two doing better now?

He’ll be stable for a while.

We’re fine. We’re…

You told me about packs. About the balance. About what’s needed.

Ours is still dead.

But we’re as good as we can be. And he still needs to work through things.

But we’re as good as we can be.

[The pack life here is so different from at home. Lark likes what he has here; it's flexible, it's more about companionship.]

Does he get along with Iris?

He can’t not. He even promised not to kill her.

I believe him for the moment. Whether that will remain true, I think, will depend.

Not on her. Not even on me.

He’s a professional, Lark. And his profession is destruction. He’s very very good at it.

[Softly] As wolves, it's part of our nature, too. And since he is yours, he's ours, too.

It’s never been a part of mine.

I did what I did. But. I did my best not to waste… resources. Violence is a tool. Not my inclination.

Breaking things is Jacobi’s talent.

I can feel it in me now. But even then. It’s. Practical. In a way that I am. That destruction. Teeth and claw. Hunt and kill. That fits.

He’s something else. It’s beautiful, in a way. He’s… brilliant.

He doesn’t want to be yours. Because he sees it as a betrayal. That he wouldn’t, also, still, be hers. You and Iris are intruders. Thomas. Was an intruder.

He’ll need time.

That's the reason I agreed to turn you. Wolves were created to fight wars, but your violence is rare. It means something when you use it.

I'm sure he has more than one reason not to like me. [And Lark is fine with it. Most people out in the world dislike him. He'd wager a fair number here do, too, though they seem to be outnumbered by those who care about him, and who he cares about in turn.] What do you mean, he wouldn't still be hers?

And that’s how violence should be used, in my opinion.

More often than not, the shadow is more effective than the form.

[ But the question is… complicated. ]

Our third, Maxwell.

I can compartmentalize. Adapt.

He can’t. Or. He’s having trouble with it. He always has.

[Not for the first time, Lark wishes he could take Warren back home with him. He has had to train that mentality into his pups and it doesn't always take, but it is always true: The shadow is more effective than the form.]

That is the one thing this place teaches us all. But I understand there are some things he may never adapt to.

I’m sure he will. This place makes it impossible not to.

But it won’t be… smooth.

Or painless.

We should never trust anything that is painless.

You're not wrong.

But somethings could be less painful.

[He's saying this and he means it, he believes it and has lived by it, but the port was painful in ways he's still not sure how to brace himself against. But pack is a safe, instinctive place.]

I need a break from running myself to the bone. Where are you?

Where you need me.

[ Jacobi is sleeping off the drink in his room. Kepler will find out tomorrow about his hand injury (possibly) but right now? Free as a bird. ]

I need somewhere with a door between us and the ship.

[Desperately.]

I'm in my cabin. Or I'm sure the Enclosure's free.

I'll be by yours in a few minutes.

Gravity on or off?

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