A chill of fear ran through Connor. He rubbed his blurry eyes as he double checked what he was seeing. A hundred new messages on his phone, and about ten missed calls. A series of possible disasters rushed through his mind. Maybe someone had died. Maybe someone had been hurt. More and more thoughts crept in, all worse than the last. At least he knew he hadn’t killed anyone. He would remember that. Whatever had happened, it was clear he wasn’t going to have a peaceful Sunday morning.

Connor was an ordinary werewolf, with a normal life. He had a job and a small group of friends and colleagues, a few of whom were also in his werewolf pack. This situation was not normal. He had never had this many messages in his life.

He threw his bed covers aside and sat up to deal with the flood of message alerts. Barely surmounting his sense of dread, Connor opened the most recent one. It was from a high school friend he barely remembered speaking to.

-Yesterday-

[I saw that video! 11:01 pm]

“What video?” he muttered, but there was no further detail. He moved to the next message. This time, it was from a colleague.

-Yesterday-

[You’re famous now! 10:51 pm]

[Link]

[I told my friend this guy was my coworker, and he begged me for an introduction. Interested? 10:53pm]

Connor, anxious, opened the link and watched the video. The video began to play. It was him, wearing a swimsuit, sitting by the seaside, knitting.

Of course, knitting in a swimsuit by the seaside might have looked quite strange. Still, it could hardly be the cause of all of this alarm. He frowned. He felt the beginning pangs of betrayal. Someone had secretly filmed him and uploaded it. He scrolled through the comments.

[I could watch him knit all day.]

[Since when was knitting this hot?]

[He even actually has great skill. Look at that pattern.]

It was hard to know what to make of it all. It didn’t seem like people were judging him in a negative way. There were so many of them though.

Just as relief began to creep in that he wasn’t facing any sort of life or death situation, a call came in. Connor glanced at the name on the screen. He froze. He couldn’t believe it. In his moment of panic he fumbled to answer. It was Apollo. The leader of the pack.

“Hello?”

Conner thought his voice sounded strange. He waited nervously for the other werewolf to speak.

“Hey, Connor. Did you see that video?”

There was no doubt in his mind which video Apollo must have been referring to. Connor swallowed, and gave a small nod, even though no one could see it.

“Yeah. I saw it.”

On the other end, Apollo chuckled softly.

“You’re really popular these days.”

Connor’s face flushed bright red. He stammered, “Ah, yeah. I didn’t know people were so interested in knitting.”

“Huh? Haha, right. Of course, it’s the knitting they’re all interested in.”

Connor was so nervous, he began to stammer a bit. All he managed was to repeat himself.

“Ah, yeah. I didn’t know people were so interested in it.”

Whenever Connor talked with Apollo, he always felt like he turned into a bit of an idiot. Fortunately, or unfortunately, he didn’t get many chances to feel that way. Opportunities to talk with Apollo were rare. There were always people around him, and he had never seemed to show Connor any particular interest. Connor had never known how to catch his attention either. The only reason he had gone to the beach that day was because he had heard Apollo would be there.

It hadn’t even been worth it, he speak more than a few words with Apollo that day, and eventually he’d ended up retreating from the overly lively werewolves and knitting quietly on his own.

Still, somehow that had turned into him getting a one-on-one call with Apollo while he was sitting in his bed in his pyjamas, so maybe the trip had been worth it after all. Or maybe it was the start of another disaster. Apollo might already be regretting the call wondering ‘why did I bother phoning this boring guy?’

Before he could consider what he was doing, Connor had already blurted out, “yeah, it’s great people are into knitting. It’s a really good hobby. Do you… maybe have an interest in it too?”

Even before stammering to a finish, he regretted the question. Why would Apollo be interested in that? If he was interested it would have come up before now. Connor was being an idiot like always.

Unbelievably, before he could sink into a spiral of self-recrimination, Apollo gave the best possible answer.

“Sure. You’ll have to show me sometime. Actually, others are interested in what you’re doing too.”

“What do you mean?” Connor asked, puzzled.

“My friends are putting together a TV show, and they think you’d be perfect.”

“A TV show?”

“Yeah. I know it’s not usually your thing, but the idea’s good. It’s about acceptance of paranormal people like us werewolves. We have the anti-discrimination laws, but people still see us as freaks. Things like this help us look better.”

“Yeah, I completely agree.”

Connor remembered how the principal at his school would howl with laughter every time he took leave to prepare for the full moon.

“Right? And dating’s hard for people like us. That’s why the show’s meant to break down prejudice. To show the audience we can build good relationships. So… interested?”

He wasn’t. The idea of being on TV sounded awful. Then again, it was Apollo asking. Connor hesitated.

“I think someone else would be better suited…”

“No, you’d be perfect. Where else are they going to find a cute, talented, knitting werewolf?”

Cute? Connor’s mind went blank. Had Apollo always thought that of him? Really? His imagination leapt so far that he nearly started planning a Fall wedding before snapping back to reality when Apollo called his name again.

“Connor? You still there?”

“Ah, sorry. So… if I’m really needed… it’s because of the knitting, right?”

“The knitting video is a big part of it, yeah. But even if not, I’d still have recommended you.”

After dragging himself out of his daydream about their happy future together, Connor burned with embarrassment. He forced himself to take Apollo’s words at face value. It was a good sign that Apollo thought highly enough of him to recommend him for the TV show, but this wasn’t a date invitation. What’s more, in truth, he probably was the best fit for it, if it was a show about knitting. After all, most werewolves had no interest in knitting.

Connor was almost convinced. He just wanted to be sure he would be doing something he was good at, and not making a fool of himself. He wasn’t great at every kind of stitch, but if they just let him do his own thing, it could be fun.

“So, I just… knit like I usually do, right?”

“Haha, you’ll have to mingle with people a little too. But it won’t be that hard. Lots of good folks are joining. And it’s not all strangers! I’ll be there as well.”

Apollo too? Suddenly, the whole thing looked far more appealing.

It could only be a good thing that they wanted to make a program about a diverse set of people were interested in these sorts of crafts. The show’s purpose seemed worthwhile. This was all eclipsed by the fact he might actually get to spend time with Apollo. There was still one serious problem.

“Sorry, I’m really not sure. I’m needed at the school.”

“Connor, all the other participants have day jobs too. No employer will refuse if you tell them you need time off for a TV show. Take the leave and join.”

This didn’t sit well with Connor. He liked going to school. He loved his job. He loved it far more than the idea of appearing on some TV show. When he said “Sorry” again, Apollo pressed on, still persistent.

“This isn’t just for you. It’s something good for all of us. Will you think it over again? I’ll have the producers email you some information so you can read it at your own pace. Anyway, I have to go now. Let’s talk again later. See ya Connor.”

A short farewell, then the call ended.

Connor sat blankly, still trying to process what had just happened, before skimming through the flood of messages. Most of them said the same thing, that they had seen that video. He typed out halfhearted replies until, at some point, the email Apollo had mentioned arrived.

‘As Apollo may have explained, we’d like to give you more details…’

The message repeated the show’s purpose, which was much as Apollo had described, and laid out the schedule, payment, and other terms. The pay was tempting, enough to make him hesitate. Still, he wasn’t eager. He just couldn’t quite bring himself to refuse outright. Apollo had asked him to think it over and talk again.

So, Connor decided he would explain to Apollo first why he couldn’t do it, then send an email declining the offer. For now, he sent back a short reply:

‘I’ll review the details and get back to you.’