This Is a Terrible Time for a Surprise [party]

[jemmadorny]

While Jemma had promised Drew that she would cut back on her extra hours, it was impossible to get her out of her office this Sunday, trying to catch up on any loose-ends she might have missed while investigating the murder pack. It was a silly name but it stuck ever since Sebastian came to visit. With him hunting, she felt she had no choice but to

Comments

[daleysebastian]

After Sebastian had given Sabrina such a hard time for cutting it close to the full moon last month, he should have been paying more attention to the time. He'd felt like he was close to something, though, like it was a birthday miracle tied in with werewolves getting too hyper and anxious around the full moon. While Sebastian had spent the whole day tied up in nervousness, it wasn't the excited way Sabrina got about it. Sebastian's version made him more acutely aware of everything around him.

That carried over as he apparated to the front door of the manor. There was muffled sound from inside, every light on the first floor seemingly shining through the windows. His bones ached and creaked as he pulled the door open, free hand gripping his wand with fingers that would soon be too shaky to grip anything. The sun was low in the sky as the door closed behind him, and he took in the sight of everyone - more or less - who had been at the last party standing there, yet again.

Without a timeturner handy, that meant someone was actually throwing a party in his house. On a full moon night. With Sabrina and Sebastian both planning on being at least on the property when the change hit in the near future. He did not have time for this shit.

His anger always rose closer to the surface on moon days, a combination of the wolf and his own paranoia. He quickly inventoried his day and remembered that he'd taken his potion - as if he ever forgot. At least there was that, but that still meant there were too many people here who didn't know what was about to happen and were damn close to finding out in the worst possible way. His eyes quickly scanned the room, catching sight of Reid and Jemma not too far away and Sabrina beyond them.

"What in fucking hell is going on?" It was probably the loudest he had said anything to most people he'd met since he returned, voice ringing out and competing with the music and conversation for attention.

[jemmadorny]

"And that is the exact reaction I was hoping to avoid-"

Jemma didn't even say it to anyone in particular, the music loud enough to drown out her words. But she still offered Reid a sideways glance before making her way through the crowd, her eyes settled on Sebastian.

In the months that they had become friends, she had steered clear from him on these days. She knew his routine, the potion, the basement, the closed in, hating everyone kind of mood he was in. She sent him chocolate the next day, a teasing bottle of whiskey and called it a day. That was all she could do.

But seeing him like this, the obvious tension tearing through his skin- it worried her.

"This is not a surprise party-" she said, nodding her head, feeling a little tense herself. "And these people are not staying- I swear- we're getting everyone out of here-"

[daleysebastian]

Blinking hard enough to give himself a headache, Sebastian tried to rein himself in and not lash out and literally any and everyone in the general vicinity. A fucking surprise party. Who in the fuck -

He was distracted from a mental rant by Jemma.

"They have ten minute, Jemma. That's on the optimistic guestimate side." Sebastian didn't snap it, but his voice was tense and coiled, matching his stance and the way his entire body seemed even more rigid than usual.

"Who the hell thought this was a good idea? This is so fucking annoying on so many levels." If Reid had been practically fucking traumatized by the change, Sebastian didn't want to know what would happen to everyone else in the room. That wasn't even focusing on how likely he was to get run out of town - which would suck but would be fine except that Sabrina would probably be too and he couldn't let that happen.

[jemmadorny]

"It was a complete misunderstanding-" Jemma began, trying not to let his tone make her any more panicked than she already was. "And we're working on getting everyone out-"

But with the way time was ticking by and with the confusion growing among the rest of the guests, it seemed everyone was frozen in their spots. Though, she wasn't sure Sebastian's loud yell did anything to lessen the tension.

Not that she could blame him.

"Where do you need to get to?"

[daleysebastian]

Sebastian couldn't even focus on the faces of the completely unwelcome guests. To keep his rage under control at all, he had to keep his eyes on Jemma and no where else.

His breath was ragged as he rolled his shoulders, feeling the tension of the change gearing up, his body preparing for what he knew was coming.

"Basement. That's my goal." He looked away then, eyes scanning the room until he could find Sabrina across the room near the stairs. "But we have to get Sabrina outside first. She needs to be out before it starts so she can run."

[jemmadorny]

"We can do that-"

Sabrina was the one Jemma was worried about- the flight risk of the guests catching sight of a bloody werewolf running through the grounds on their way out. She turned to follow his gaze, catching sight of Sabrina with Dean coming down the stairs and she was sure the panic on their faces matched the panic on her own.

She tried to steady herself, sucking in a breath.

"Um- alright- maybe I'll get Reid over here?" she suggested. "He's done this before hasn't he? And I'll work on getting everyone out- He had this great idea about arsenic-"

She was rambling, she knew, but this was beyond her typical area of expertise.

[reidinggg]

Panic, it seemed, was a very contagious thing, and no matter how much he tried to play off the 'no big deal but you all have to get the fuck out' as casually as he could manage considering there was little that was particularly calm or casual about his demeanor even in the best of times, the confusion of the sudden turnaround in the mood of the place wasn't doing much to actually get people moving.

So, plan B. Get Sebastian and Sabrina away from the group before anyone had time to notice that their surprise guest of honor and his crowd-favorite sister had gone missing.

Right. Brilliant plan. Of course.

Especially when Sebastian had made enough of a raging entrance to draw some of that confused attention his way already.

"Yeah, great idea didn't work all that well," he jumped in as he rounded back towards Jemma, practically chewing through his lip as he threw a glance (the fiftieth in less than five minutes) at his watch, then turning his attention toward Sebastian.

"Dean's got Sabrina," he said quickly, having caught a quick glimpse of the two of them (both sporting that matching knowing, panicked look) across the rom. "You. You need to go. Now."

He doubted Sebastian needed to be reminded, but that didn't stop him from grabbing his arm and pulling him through the room towards the kitchen, fully prepared to shut down anything or anyone that tried to get in the way.

[daleysebastian]

Most of the time, Sebastian would resent being dragged around and forced anywhere. Just then, with the way his muscled we bunching, joints starting to pop under his skin, he couldn't complain all that much.

"They have to get the fuck out, Reid." Sebastian couldn't have that many people here. They way his skin shifted under Reid's hand, muscles of his back pulling and rolling unnaturally, legs jerking under him, made it impossible to complain or force the issue.

"They can't - " Sebastian cut himself off to bite back a groan. He mostly succeeded. There wasn't that far to go now. Knowing that Sabrina was with Dean, presumably taken care of and out of harm's way already, took some of the urgency out of the situation, but not enough.

The pull of the moon was getting stronger, too strong for Sebastian to fight it off for long. They'd almost made it. The basement was at the back of the kitchen, and Reid had already gotten them through the dining room. The kitchen entrance was right there, it was only several feet now.

There was a blonde there, though. Kiki Davies standing in the way, and that was when Sebastian knew he wasn't going to make it. His legs buckled, nearly pulling Reid down with him as he hit the floor.

"Take her and fucking go." The words were too strained, though, getting slurred and jumped as his teeth started shifting.

Sebastian's body began to twist and pull, back cracking and bones contorting. He held it back as long as he could, but in the end, all he could do was squeeze his eyes shut, press his hands over his ears until his claws started to come in, and try to block out the shouts he failed to hold back.

[kikiknows]

As the sort of 'host', Kiki was in the kitchen trying to find more ice for the party and see if they had anything else fun to add in there. She had sort of heard the tone of the party change, but wasn't really listening enough to worry until Bash and Reid entered. She just figured that the guests of honor had arrived and were protesting. She'd get out there soon and make them lighten up. Hopefully Reid and Jemma would even have made it so they could help her case.

"Big Daley!" She exclaimed with a grin before the took in the fact neither seemed in the mood for grins. "Are you-"

The blonde stopped, tilting her head as Bash ordered Reid to take her. That was nothing compared to what came next though. The sound of bones cracking, and the sight of them trying to move to where they sooooooo shouldn't be made it clear to Kiki that she was in a really fucking bad situation right now. Instead of moving anywhere near to the two men, her eyes widened and she backed up without thinking really realising what she was doing, towards the door out to the basement.

"What's happening?" She whispered, barely audible to her own ears above the sounds of the older man's body breaking to reform itself anew.

[reidinggg]

Reid did his best to ignore the way he could feel Sebastian's muscles twisting and shifting beneath his grasp, the way his body seemed to lurch within itself as he pushed him ahead of him and through the kitchen doors, because really, as much as he had spent the past month blocking that out, he knew how this worked, knew all to well what was moments away from happening-

He didn't notice the other person in the room until he was half-stumbling to the floor, his attempt at keeping Sebastian up until they had at least made it to the basement door, or really, to any room that wasn't filled with pairs of watching eyes, clearly failing even as his hand grabbed at the fabric of the shirt stretching over the sickeningly shifting muscles and bones of his back-

But then Kiki spoke up, and he looked up with widened eyes at the girl as she back up in the one direction she really shouldn't have.

"Kiki- you have to go-" he said as evenly as he could manage while his stomach twisted up and his mind fogged over with the sounds coming from the warped, shifting version of Sebastian. He half-stood up again, his fingertips still lingering against Sebastian's back, reaching his other hand out to motion for the younger girl to step away.

"Right now-"

[daleysebastian]

How did this keep happening? Years. Sebastian had spent literal years without anyone seeing him shift, without anyone figuring this out when he didn't want them to. Yet, here they were.

The fear on Reid's face, the scent of terrified confusion that had rolled off of him in waves, last month was still strong in Sebastian's mind. He didn't need to add Kiki's to the mix or even Reid's again. Here they were, though.

He was too far into the shift, had been distracted too long with Jemma and the shock of the party, to do anything about it.

His yelling reached a louder pitch before cutting off and going deeper, shifting until it became a whine that wasn't human. The twisting and breaking got worse before it got better. His entire body taken over by the moon and disease.

There was that one disorienting moment where everything stopped before it started again, his vision different, both sharper and weirder. He adjusted quickly, used to this no matter how much he hated it. He could still feel Reid's hand somehow on his back, fingers touching his fur. Kiki was still there, staring and frozen in place.

Then there were other howls, ones he didn't recognize.

Sebastian leapt to his feet. He didn't pause, didn't spare a moment as he moved. His large, solid frame knocking against Kiki. Sebastian didn't want to completely bowl her over, but there was trouble happening and people in the other room. He needed to get downstairs or outside, whichever worked out better. He headbutted Kiki to the side, too worried and new in the wolf's body to be careful.

Sebastian heard her fall but couldn't stop to look back and check on her or what Reid might look like. He had more pressing matters at hand - at paw? - to address.

[kikiknows]

Reid may as well have been in a different room, a different house even, for all the attention the small blonde managed to take of his words. Her mind was fully stuck on just trying to process what was happening infront of her. That was Bash... the guy she was throwing a party for, the guy who may as well be one of her co-workers, and he was... that was...he... wolf. She couldn't even process her own words right now.

Kiki jumped as he leapt, an instinctive fear of being the prey to this predator. She was frozen, her fight or flight broken, doing neither. She just screamed and put up a hand as he ran at her, a completely useless hand and she spun as he hit her and kept going, her head rushing towards the door frame, and then.....

Nothing.