Kyle
“Don’t-” I swatted away Florence’s hovering hand, focusing on the metal implements before me. I could do this without assistance.
We were in a roadhouse, as a pit stop on our way back to Banff. The meal served was classic steak and fries, with peas on the side. Eating provided a bit of a challenge for me.
The fork was easy enough to wield, it required stabbing or scooping, though even that I had messed up a few times. When I tried to add a knife to cut into my steak, it felt weird, like I was trying to drive on the wrong side of the road in a foreign country. I could do it; it just required a lot more concentration than I was used to. The spoon was also fine to use, and I rounded up my peas and picked them up with ease.
Both Florence and Steven were biting back remarks about my utensil use, whether I needed to hold the knife differently or cut a certain way. To them it was child’s play to use utensils, to me; it was yet another task I had to re-learn. Spending so long in wolf form had impacted me both physically and mentally. My brain had been so focused on surviving and living as an animal that I’d forgotten the finer skills of being human, and eating was one of them.
After all this time, I was more comfortable than ever in wolf form. I’d made sure to shift regularly since my re-introduction to human life, to make sure that I could still exercise control over that part of my body. Shifting itself was painless and rapid, and my movement as a wolf was perfectly coordinated and second nature, I felt faster than I ever had been before, more powerful. Even partial shifting came naturally to me, instead of something that I expressed when I couldn’t control myself. My teeth could sharpen upon command, my hands morph into paws, my skin ripple with fur, yet I could remain human. All of those perks, yet they came with a price, and that was the loss of human control.
“We should be getting back on the road soon if we want to make it back in time,” Steven, as nervous as ever, was checking his watch and worrying about our arrival timing.
“Let me just finish my drink,” I reached for the glass of water behind my plate and gripped it. I’d over calculated on the strength needed, and the glass gave way beneath my hand with a shattering sound that attracted attention. I could feel the dulled pain on my palms, and see the cut skin that was beginning to bleed. I swore in frustration, a reflex.
“It’s okay, he’s okay,” Florence smiled at the worried waitress, rushing to help, and confusedly backing away.
“Let’s go,” Steven suggested, and we all rose, exiting the diner with eyes curiously watching, though none seemed to note my now clean, healed palm.
Steven drove the rest of the way, leaving Florence in the passenger seat, and me stretched out in the back.
I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her, and I relished in finally seeing the sight that I’d glimpsed in pieces during the past few weeks. She was as beautiful as ever, with her dark hair streaming behind her and those captivating blue eyes curiously watching the road while she spoke to Steven about the weather conditions. How had I been so lucky to find a girl like her? Someone who was willing to give up their life for over two months to search for the man they’d just met, to bring him back to reality, literally. The sacrifice she’d made for me was immense, and I was going to be making it up to her for a lifetime.
Of course they were all surprised when I initially shifted back to human form, without any physical or mental damage apparent. My memory had been foggy, but it was slowly coming back to me, and my physical condition was perfectly fine. Florence had told me that her friend, Erik, had warned her about what prolonged amounts of time in wolf form could do to the person, physically. The fact that his iris colour had changed was proof enough. Amazingly, I’d been relatively unscathed in that sense. It would take time to feel comfortable again in human form, but I was back to my old self.
