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[conning]

"It's Caffrey. Remember the value of plausible deniability. I'll get back to you."

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[abrightboy]

“Apparently she doesn’t want anything to do with me because it’s my fault Kikimora messed up her face,” Malcolm shrugs.

[conning]

Another little smirk, which he definitely doesn’t hide fast enough.

“If she doesn’t want violent consequences she shouldn’t take violent actions.”

[abrightboy]

“That’s my point! She started it! What does she get to cry?” Malcolm points out.

[conning]

“Honestly, she sounds like—well, no, she clearly is the kind of manipulator who starts fights she can get other people to finish for her. All it takes is a sympathetic ear attached to a thick head that didn’t see it happen and a little bit of spin. I’ve known the type.”

He clinks his mug gently against Malcolm’s. “Drink. It’ll help your stomach if you’re tense.”

[abrightboy]

He takes a sip.

Dammit, it does help. He takes another sip.

“I’m tired of… I don’t even know what I’m tired of. I’ve always been… apart from other people. This place isn’t different.” He pauses. “Lark… offered me a way to be… less apart.”

[conning]

Neal tenses a little. Just a little. Not enough that anyone who isn't Malcolm would notice.

"Less apart from who?"

[abrightboy]

“He wants me to be part of his pack,” Malcolm tells him. He looks up from his cup to Neal’s face.

[conning]

He presses his lips into a thin line, the tension showing between his eyebrows.

“Which means what, exactly?”

[abrightboy]

“He wants me to be a werewolf. Like him. And be part of their group. He chose me. Just me. Out of everyone. Can you believe that?” Malcolm rambles.

[conning]

Neal’s stomach dips and clenches as Malcolm speaks, immediately going to Dorian’s words about Lark taking advantage of Jon in a moment of personal uncertainty.

“Is that the only reason you want to say yes?”

[abrightboy]

Malcolm’s expression creases.

“…What do you mean?”

[conning]

He pauses. “Let me rephrase. What makes you want to say yes?”

[abrightboy]

He studies Neal for a second.

“There’s a wrong answer. An answer you’re afraid of. What is it?”

[conning]

God Neal hates it when Malcolm does this to him, and not because he’s wrong.

“There’s an answer that makes me more or less in support of the choice, yes.”

Not by much, but by something.

[abrightboy]

“What is it?” Malcolm asks.

[conning]

“The question is, why do you want this?” Neal doesn’t know what the answer he’s afraid of is. He just knows that there’s fear. A small, crushing loneliness, a self-disappointment he’s trying to ignore.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm’s expression falls a little and he retreats. He was doing the thing he’s not supposed to do.

“Lark wants me to counsel his pack. Plus he says I’ll have sharper senses and be stronger and faster in ways that will make me better at my job. And he says the pack has an unbreakable bond with each other.”

[conning]

Malcolm retreats and Neal does the same, not knowing what he’s done to cause it. Just knowing that somehow he’s given a wrong answer of his own.

“He doesn’t think you can counsel them without being one of them? Do you want that? Is that… where you want to go when you leave?”

[abrightboy]

“I don’t mind helping them out. I’d probably visit, like Lark does. Will and I already have plans for after after,” Malcolm muses.

[conning]

Neal looks away, frowning.

“But what about any of that makes this necessary? Why do you want it? So there are assumptive perks that Lark has shared. Has he said anything about risks or losses?”

[abrightboy]

“Like what?” Malcolm asks.

[conning]

“Like… what will it do to you, physically? In ways that aren’t strength and speed? Mentally? What does he mean when he says ‘unbreakable bond’? How does that play out on a practical, personal autonomy level? Will you change unwillingly once a month? Will you suffer if you’re separated on a permanent basis?”

Neal could keep going, but he’s posed enough questions for one round. His expression pulls into another little frown and he sips his tea. “And how did he ask you about it? What did he say when he brought it up?”

Okay, maybe he had a couple more.

[abrightboy]

“He didn’t say ‘unbreakable bond’, that’s just how I described it. You change when you want to. Will and I are going to travel after this place. We’ll always be able to visit them. And you. And anyone else we want; that’s the appeal of that technology.”

He watches Neal warily.

“Are you mad at me?”

[conning]

“I don’t know how I’m feeling, to be honest.” He owes Malcolm that much truth. “I don’t… like it. I don’t like the idea of what it could mean. I don’t like the unknowns. How was it proposed?”

[abrightboy]

“He asked me a while ago. Told me a bit about it. I told him I wanted to think about it. He said he understood,” Malcolm explains.