Dated to June 5th, evening

[reformingfury]

Now that he's heard input from Neil and got some answers from Allison, Dave's confident in running through the city wolfed out, just to get some of the stress and the aggression off. He wasn't going to hurt anyone. Not if he could help it. He just needed to not stress, to not bottle it in, and to find his center.

Fuck him, if he could figure that shit out.

The night runs were at least way cooler than his usual morning runs with Major. He couldn't get all hairy and gold-eyed in the morning, and he definitely couldn't make the route more complex by climbing fire escapes and running on rooftops when he can if he had a dog on a leash to deal with.

Dave doesn't even realize that he's close to Kurt's apartment building until he smells moisturizer, warm cotton, and... burning? Was something at Kurt's burning?

He pulls out his phone and sends the other boy a text.

Went for a late run, saw I'm near your place. Things on my mind. Can I come up?

It was a lame way to check up on him, especially since he doesn't see any smoke... Fire came with smoke, right? But he's still concerned, and nothing he messaged was a lie. Dave jumps down from the low roof he was on and makes his way to the entrance of his building, waiting for a response.

Comments

[likesboys]

"Fuck, fuck, not that one oh my god," Kurt yelps as he bats quickly at his smoldering closet, having lit a couple of his best McQueen-esque scarves on fire. He was woken earlier that morning by Cat's yowl and a traitorous glare as the cat tended to a few singed hairs on her paw — and things have only gotten more chaotic since. Because apparently, Kurt gained the power to spontaneously combust at some point in the evening.

And knowing that he has the threat of fire in his palms apparently does nothing to stop it from erupting. Especially when he's stressed. A vicious cycle that's going to end up with his whole apartment in flames, Kurt's pretty sure.

So when he receives a text in the middle of trying to bat the flames on his sleeve down, Kurt makes a vaguely strangled noise before running to his front door and buzzing open the apartment gate before undoing the chain on his door.

Please tell me you're good at putting out fires.

[reformingfury]

The confirmation that there was fire in Kurt's place had Dave shifting just to get up the stairs faster. As soon as he finds that the door is unlocked, he bursts in.

"Kurt, are you okay?!"

He realizes just a beat later that he really ought to put his fangs and claws away.

[likesboys]

"Yes — kind of — I would be if I stopped spouting fire every five minutes — augh!"

Kurt drops the smoldering scarf in his hands and yelps when he sees Karofsky. Or at least, he's pretty sure it's Karofsky with that bulk and familiar set of shoulders, but the uneven surface of Karofsky's forehead leaves more than a touch of doubt.

"I am way too young for this sort of thing," he murmurs to himself, raising both hands in surrender.

[reformingfury]

"Woah!"

He uses his new reflexes to grab the scarf before it risks setting the carpet on fire. Figuring that the article is done for anyhow, he claps it in on itself to suffocate the flames, hoping it goes out rather than getting worse. Luckily, the only thing that rises is a bit of smoke and the scent of burnt fibers.

Dave shifts back, a little shamefaced, and nods in agreement.

"Sorry. I should have warned you ahead. So I take it whatever voodoo bullshit that's been going around go you too, huh?"

He raises the scarf's remains as emphasis.

[likesboys]

Even though he can feel his pulse thrumming in fear, Kurt watches as Karofsky claps the singed scarf into submission, taking a deep breath once the strange surface of his face returns to normal. Even through his surprise, Kurt can't help but feel slightly jaded by now, the way he's come to expect for anything to be possible.

After all, is shifting into something more primal in appearance really any weirder than being capable of spontaneous combustion?

"No, it's okay," Kurt says, rubbing at his temples and praying that he doesn't set his own hair on fire. "Yeah, I've definitely got a case of... whatever it is going around. I was actually afraid that it was just me, so it's. Kind of comforting to see that I'm not the only one. Though now I'm wondering what started all of this, and if all of us can be switched back."

[reformingfury]

"I think we will," he muses. "At least I hope so. Everyone I've talked to figures it will. I mean, how long does shit like this even normally last? I had a bit of magic amnesia on the island and that..."

He trailes off, remembering what that amnesia entailed. And it brings Dave back to his own worries about this power. Why would Darrow make a guy like him with that kind of a past a werewolf?

"Yeah, uh. It didn't last too long. Thank god.

"So... Fire powers?"

At least that wasn't what he had, with his temper.

[likesboys]

"I get how things usually work, but I guess I always worry... since all it takes is for there to be one exception, right?" Kurt asks, briefly scrubbing his face with a hand. In a city where many patterns hold constant, Kurt ends up noticing the disparities. The outliers. The times when people have died in spite of the fact that the city almost always seems to protect the people it brings in.

"Maybe I'm overthinking it, though. For the sake of my wardrobe, I hope I am. Yeah, all I've noticed so far is fire powers. And by powers, I really just mean things going up in flames whenever I don't have total control over my emotions."

[reformingfury]

"Fuck, that blows. Nothing too expensive, I hope?"

He contemplates the differences in their situation. He at least knows that he's got others that at least know how this whole werewolf thing goes, a pack to fall back on while things get confusing. And at least the power was confined to his actual body. Kurt's emotions literally set shit aflame.

"I'm guessing you don't know who's powers they could be, huh? Maybe we should call up Neil and see if he's got a clue with his power?"

[likesboys]

"Are you kidding me? In a crisis, what clothes do you expect me to go to, exactly?" Kurt asks, almost laughing at the thought, though he refrains in mourning of all of the clothes he's already lost to his newfound power. "I went straight for my McQueen collection, hoping to save them from the mysterious source of the fire. Never crossed my mind that that might be me. Cat probably picked up on it before I did; she's been avoiding me ever since the storm."

He sighs, glancing in the direction of the cat tree in the corner of the room, where Cat is perched imperiously on the top ledge. Her tail carefully swishes back and forth.

"I don't know whose powers these might be, no," Kurt says, quickly shaking his head. "I'm fine asking Neil, if you think he might have a better idea."

[reformingfury]

"Well, I've more or less gotten used to the claw thing, so if you want me to help pack it all away, I can do that." It's small, but he'll take any chance he can to be useful and even a little bit normal right now. Dave looked up at the cat and got a low, groaning meow for his trouble.

"Yeah, it's gotta be the animal senses, man. Major was flipping on me before I actually shifted and realized I wasn't just having some killer headache.

"Okay, so yeah... uh. Yeah."

He does the Sign of the Cross. Recovering Catholic. So sue him.

"In the name of the Father, the Son, and the holy Spirit. Our Neil, who art probably laughing his ass off at this somewhere over head, please get thine hallowed butt over here to help us figure this out. Before Kurt sets another fancy piece of clothing on fire. Amen"

[likeaplanet]

I actually wasn't laughing my ass off overhead.

I was in the yard, watering the garden 'cause Mike hasn't had a chance. I nearly fall on my ass when Dave's voice raises up above all the rest. Snorting out a laugh, I toss the hose aside, turning off the faucet with a flex of angelic grace, and then with a flutter, I land two feet to his left.

"Fuckin' seriously?" I say, giving him a look. Eyes sliding to the other boy in the room, my lips twitch into a smirk and I say, "Hey, Kurt."