ASHES ASHES | teen wolf

eight. introducing: a really bad hitman

Nova was reasonably exhausted as she woke up Saturday morning. After they helped Liam through the full moon, she'd insisted on making sure that he got home safe. Cadmus had obliged, driving Liam home and making sure he got inside the house safely before driving back to their house. At some point, Nova must have dozed off, because she dimly remembered Cadmus carefully lifting her from the car and carrying her to her room. He'd tucked her in and everything, not bothering to try and get her into pajamas before leaving her room and going into his own.

The sound of someone clanging around in the kitchen made her swing her feet out of bed, looking down at her day-old outfit with a shrug before descending the stairs. She paused at the sight of her aunt trying to remove something from the toaster, swearing softly as she apparently kept burning her fingers. Sighing softly, Nova entered the room fully and stopped by her aunt's side, pulling the eggos from the toaster with relative ease before dropping them on her aunt's plate.

"Morning," she said quietly, not really sure what else to say at that point.

Veronica smiled gently at her, moving to the kitchen counter with her plate so she could lean against it. "Morning, sweetie. How are you feeling?"

"Tired," Nova admitted, making her aunt laugh a little.

"Yeah, well chasing down a fully shifted werewolf on his first full moon and somehow getting him to regain control over himself at the same time, would probably exhaust anyone." Nova winced a little, and Veronica smirked. "Yeah, Cadmus filled me in before he went to Stiles' house. Apparently, the kid is smarter than most of Beacon Hills put together."

Nova frowned and shrugged. "I'm not sure, but he kinda seemed like a bit of a dick."

She froze the moment she said it, her hand flying to her mouth with a small gasp as her aunt cackled at the statement. "Well, someone certainly found her teeth."

Nova shook a little, hating how easy it'd been to insult the older boy like that. "I am so sorry," she mumbled. "That was inappropriate."

Veronica raised an eyebrow. "You're a fifteen-year-old girl... I'd be more concerned if you didn't swear, to be honest, Nova. You don't always need to be reserved and polite, you know. You can say what you're thinking, even," she flashed a grin, "if the thought is that an upperclassman is a dick."

Nova shrugged, chewing on her lip. "Dad always told me it was better to be calm."

"And you can be calm all you want," her aunt agreed. "But he was probably telling you that out of fear that you would activate your supernatural side. There's nothing wrong with being quiet, but if you never speak up, you're going to drown in those thoughts."

The advice was so natural that it actually pained Nova. She loved her father, and she knew he'd loved her... but she'd never heard him say anything like that.

"Now," her aunt leaned forward. "I'm very proud of you for adjusting so quickly to all of this... but if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask, alright?"

Nova was about to say that she didn't have any questions, but she gnawed on her lip. "Being what I am," she said softly. "It means I'm not human, doesn't it?"

Veronica dropped her eggo onto her plate and moved to stand in front of Nova immediately, softly gripping onto her niece's shoulders as she made Nova look at her. "Nova Thurman," she said firmly. "You are the most human person I have ever met. You are so, so kind and warm and caring. It doesn't matter if your veins are full of fire because I've met people who are less human than you'll ever be. You're not a monster, do you hear me?"