Content Warning: Body Horror

Conri felt sick as he showered, avoiding his reflection in any reflective surface while preparing for the day. He felt self conscious while his emotions shuffled between wanting to scream and cry over the past and wanting to shout in frustration as it continued to affect his present. If he was crying, he couldn't tell as hot water spilled over him, a small part of him hoping it would erase whatever markings had been left from the hellish dream. Every movement and task from choosing his clothing to packing his bag was done aggressively. He yanked clothing off hangers and ripped them out of his dresser, his backpack was packed haphazardly without care, the bed was left unmade and the pillow he had tore through was lying half out of his trash can. 

Conri wasn't thinking if any of this was helping, but the fleeting moments of relief was fulfilling enough as his system released its pent up aggression. The last thing he did before leaving was put on his glasses. The first thing he saw clearly was the mess he had made. The second thing he saw was the textbook on his kitchen table, laying in a pool of scrap paper, his chicken-scratch handwriting filling each page. Approaching the table, he stared at the open book, its neat lines of text fluidly altering the longer he stared at the key to his potential. Conri gathered his notes that were beginning to make clearer sense, together in a pile, aligning corners, then set it next to the edge of the book before departing.

He passed Mrs. Kast on his way out, she wore a plaid pea coat and had her hair resting on her shoulder, at her feet was a briefcase. She must be off to town hall. Her gentle eyes turned away from her keys to him and Conri nodded towards her as he passed. 

"Conri,"

He had one foot out the door before he paused then looked towards her. 

"It's a new day," her words felt warm." so let's remember to punch it in its shit grinning face, ok?" her reassuring, yet infectious smile already pulling at his cheek muscles.

"You got it Eugenia." 

She cleared her throat pointedly at him. 

"Have a good day Mrs. Kast."

Taking a moment to collect himself outside, he called Dr. Bromley's office, leaving a message to schedule an earlier appointment. The sunlight weakly greeted him and a morning breeze laced itself between his fingers, through his hair and down his neck. It was a struggle to ignore how exposed this made him feel. Gritting his teeth as his body defensively recoiled, choosing flight over fight, within seconds he had shifted and was bounding down the street on all fours. Shielded inside this armor as his lungs reacted to the rush of adrenaline. It was scary, running as if something was after him in this moment, but with each stride, the tips of his claws rhythmically scratching the asphalt below him, almost like music. As he did, he joined the rhythm and added lyrics that he repeated to himself for the rest of his commute. 

"I am not who they imagine I am."

_

The rest of the city seemed to be awake as Landis was stationed behind cones and in front of pair made of a government doll and an officer.

“That's all you saw?” 

“Yes. I saw someone in a uniform, looked like a kid, run out the alley. That's when I saw those things attacking those civilians.” 

“The dolls were disarming any potential threats." The green eyes of the officer shot up at Landis. "Their job is to protect the city and take suspects into custody. What were you doing out this early?”

Landis’ eyebrow twitched. “My job.” He tapped the postal office logo on his chest. “Delivering mail, I don’t wear this uniform for a morning jog.” 

“You were alone? You saw no other witnesses?”

“Not many are up as early as me.” Landis shot a look towards the doll next to the officer. “It was just me as far as I can tell.” 

The officer's pen continued to scratch his notepad as he wrote. 

“Do you know what the motive was?” 

The doll’s head shifted eerily as Landis awaited an answer, the blank porcelain eyes looming over him like they wanted to invade his thoughts. The officer pocketed his pen and notepad then adjusted his cap.

“Looks like a mugging gone wrong. The victim probably put up more of a fight than expected, scared whoever you saw off then things turned murderous." The officer's words sounded irritated at Landis' questioning.

“A mugging?” Landis blinked. Around them, he saw a small crowd of rubbernecking pedestrians, he did his best to watch his tone. “Something took a bite out of the victim, seems extreme for a mugging.”

The doll stepped forward defensively in front of the officer making Landis flinch backwards. Though his body had reverted back to their original state, he didn't need enhanced features to confirm his suspicions. He had to choose his battles. The officer could've been right as shifters weren't uncommon. Not wanting to admit it out right, but maybe he was making something out of nothing. He hesitantly backed down. For now. 

"If that's all, I'll be going now. I'm behind on my deliveries." 

The officer nodded. "We have your contact information, so you'll hear from us if we have any additional questions." The doll's tensed torso relaxed as the officer spoke, like a marionette obeying a puppet master, taking its place next to the officer again. "Thank you for your time."

Landis headed for his truck, only mildly annoyed by the dismissive interaction, and wanted to get out as quickly as possible. He drove around the sectioned off part of the street, taking a detour to his next stop, in the same direction he saw the kid run.

__

When Conri arrived at work, he did himself a favor and entered through the back near the kitchen. Emotionally he still felt his frustrations linger like excess heat through his body. He didn't think he would bite someone's head off if a tough customer decided to start anything, but he wanted to settle himself beforehand just in case. It took him several minutes before entering the doors as he mentally argued with himself about reverting forms. This wild creature's shape was comforting, he physically looked like a personification of power, but eventually he had to shed the hound-like form. 

Gwendolyn was already stationed in front of two active stove top ovens and had lines of full baking sheets on the prep station behind her. Some already prepped, awaiting their finishing touches, and others awaiting their turn to be taken to the flame. Vanilla was the dominant scent this morning with an underlining scent of honey ham. 

"Glad to see yea still in one piece!" She called over her shoulder. "Thompson started getting concerned when you called off again."

A ping of guilt smacked his face since he been asking so much of his friends.

"I'm sorry for the sudden call outs," he replied from the lockers. "I think it was just a passing stomach bug."  

Gwendolyn grunted. "I know that feeling." 

He continued tucking in his button up into his black pants. "I can cover some shifts if anyone wants to leave early. Doubles are the least of my worry honestly."

Conri could see her shoulders shrug as she was rarely worried about employees taking accountability for hours. That was more of a self appointed Marcus responsibility. 

"You need a hand before I start my rounds?" He had finished buttoning his vest and combing his hair out his face.

"Nope," she said confidently. "Eli and Amelia can fill you in on the specials. Thank you though!" Conri could see her hands expertly orchestrate her production line with ease and he desperately wanted to try whatever was being made with the honey ham. 

He had arrived just before the doors opened which was cutting it pretty close considering how many people, human and inhuman, seemed to require some form of caffeine before starting their day. Amelia was stationed behind the host stand for those who wanted to dine in, her crease free uniform matched her perfectly styled ginger hair. It made Conri give himself another once over to flatten any  possible creases in his uniform. Eli was already working the counter and the register, so Conri took his place at the bar to start preparing drinks. 

Eli and Conri work smoothly together and don't usually have any immediate issues. Deep down he was somewhat relieved that Eli took the client facing part of their process as Conri's social battery wasn't ready yet. As the morning progressed, the more curious Conri became regarding Eli's school situation. He never followed up to see if Dalton was giving Eli any more problems. On top of that, Conri hadn't encountered any cases of hearing himself speaking in incantations. He learned from the textbook that it wasn't uncommon to hear them since a user requires intention in order to handle arcane. Word choice was also crucial. 

The more he studied, the more prominent the clarification that his talent lied within the transmutation classification of magic. Conri often replayed how he made the stars fall and reversing that wind binding. He wanted to embrace it, but what happened that night with Elaine still stuck with him.

His body was on autopilot completing orders, doing his best to keep his other senses aware of surroundings. On alert for anything that would cause alarm. The day progressed and even when he switched to waiting tables, Conri found nothing. The only thing noticeable was how his surroundings were slowly growing duller like moss overtaking trees and rocks.  

By the time Val and Marcus arrived for closing, Conri couldn't find Eli. 

"Hey Amelia, did Eli take his break?" he asked.

"No," she was tidying up her section. "A customer came in asking for him. I think they went somewhere to talk." 

Conri gave the first floor a quick scan. No Eli. 

"Did they go upstairs?"

Amelia shook her head and pointed out the front doors. Following her finger, Conri located the two people across the street. Eli was one of them. The other wore what looked like a uniform and had white hair. The more Conri strained his eyes for further details, the more noticeable black specks began to crawl into his vision. 

"I'll be right back." He called as he ran out. 

Conri didn't bother with his grounding technique, his attention was solely on getting to Eli. Choosing to save time and jaywalk, hearing the sounds of vehicles blaring horns toward him. 

"Eli." Clasping a hand on his friend's shoulder, who jerked out of surprised. "Everything ok?" His friend wasn't as rigid like before, but he could feel how tense his shoulder was. Conri watched an annoying amount of black streaks begin to bleed the color out of his friend as if Eli's complexion was doused in paint thinner. 

"Yes," Eli replied. "I wanted to handle this privately."

"What a loyal dog you have Eli." The words reached the pair, but the tone sounded wrong.  

Conri found who he expected, Dalton. The insult fell flat as he didn't look physically well. Their pale skin a deathly shade of grey, sweat dripped down his face, disheveled hair and reddish crescents formed under his eyes. 

"I'd tell you to bite me, but I don't want to catch whatever the hell you have Dalton." 

"From what I hear you already caught everything in the books, dumb dog." Dalton was heaving as he spoke. "My friend and I were just catching up, I owe them an apology."

Conri turned back to Eli who nodded firmly. "He said he wanted to apologize, and I wanted to hear him out."

"You couldn't do that inside?" Conri's words sounded judgmental as he addressed Eli. "You just went with this racist asshole thinking an apology could change all he's put you through? From what I saw, my guess is that it wasn't the first time either."

"What a way to assume and coming from someone like you." Dalton sneered. "You know you're not a saint either, look at you trying to take control of something that doesn't involve you."

Finally Conri let go of Eli and got in-between the two, completely ignoring the swarm of blackened ashes falling off Dalton's body. 

"Don't you fucking compare me to-" Conri's mouth hung half open losing his train of thought spying a earring in Dalton's left ear. Its glossy copper color already rusting into a similar shade of red as the one under his eyes. "Where did you get that?" His mouth receding into a thin line. 

As if waiting for the question, Dalton's mouth twitched into a smirk. 

"A friend gave it to me." 

"That man isn't your god damn friend!" Conri shot back. "Take it out, you don't know what the hell you're doing getting involved with him."

"Sounds more like jealously," Dalton straighten his posture, but his sickly appearance lingered. "Rovin figured you were still thinking about him and knew this would get your attention." 

Pressure built behind Conri's eyes and his fingernails dug into his palm, he didn't know if the world was shaking or if it was just him. His saliva burned as he swallowed trying to get his words out.

"You don't know a god damn thing-"

Dalton continued ignoring Conri. "He went into great detail about how inseparable you two were. You loved it so much you went out of your way to do anything for him and how you loved all his attention." His smirk now widening into a full smile, his once white teeth stained a muddy yellow tint. "Even when you two argued, you were so eager to fall right back into line. The way you helped him with his dream... only to stabbed him in the back by running off with that thick headed devil. "

"Dalton, thats enough." Eli started to interject. 

"Don't speak unless spoken to!" Dalton spat as he ran his hand through his hair, his dark eyes fixated on Eli. "You and your kind are just parasites, living off the wealth that we are being forced to share! You're lower than the lowest form of scum!" He craned his head back and laughed, guttural and animalistic. "Meanwhile this whore is trying to protect you even though he's a bigger coward than you are human! Rovin said you were nothing without him Conri, but I can't wait to tell him that you are even worse! Weak and Feeble-minded; you're all talk and no god damn bite!"

Conri lunged and the world around him fell silent as his eardrums popped. If there was any color left in his surroundings, Conri would still only be able to see red. Commanding his outstretched arm to shift and bear its claws, aiming for the copper hood in Dalton's ear, missing by centimeters. His aim was thrown off as Eli had a hold of him, arms looped under and hands clasping the back of Conri's neck. Dalton hadn't moved, only watching the two struggle.

Blood pumped haphazardly through Conri before he heard it. His own voice spoke in his mind. A thick wet shredding sound followed as Dalton's head twisted unnaturally, his neck fully exposed, to meet Conri's eyes. His stained teeth holding a crooked smile. 

Dalton's exposed neck stood in clear view as a fresh second set of larger jagged teeth ripped through the flesh. A second unhooked mouth now smiled hungrily under Dalton's face.