Clifford Norman (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
awooligan) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
daybreakacademy2020-08-31 07:20 pm
awooligan) wrote in daybreakacademy2020-08-31 07:20 pm
Entry tags:
better to beg forgiveness, bad dog.
Who: Cliff and open, outside of one prompt.
What: Secret werewolf newbie getting ready for secret times and secret crimes.
When: The days around the full moon (Sept 2nd), night of Sept 5th for closed prompt.
Warnings: Profanity, mentions of underage smoking and drinking, inexpertly devised heists.
[ W A X I N G . ]
[The full moon’s coming, and while there’s the mounting anxiety of not being sure what he’s all going to do even under the care of people that knew how to deal with this shit, it’s also always a time where Cliff could feel his heart race with the need to go, do, see. He’s taken to walking briskly or jogging about campus during the day when he wasn't in class, barely holding back from a run, so that he can get a better idea of where things were or what different smells meant. It would be important to have these things in mind when he was able to meet up with Coco for their secret mission. Excited as he is for it, it would have to wait a few more days…
In the meantime, he can practice sneaking out through his window rather than risking alerting someone down the hall as he went by, or scaling the walls of the dorms. Definitely tougher than the siding back home, and his fingertips were going to get calloused, but it was infinitely more fun. Especially with this restlessness.
Clifford sits at the edge of the roof a lot, too, eyes scanning the night sky and lighting up as the moon -- almost full, almost dangerous -- hit them. Almost literally! His usual golden light brown eyes reflect back with an eerie glow like the beast he would be forced to turn into soon. Times like these, it was hard to mind too much or to keep to his human form.
Being a wolf racing through the forest, energized and unburdened, is something on his mind more and more. Schoolwork was increasingly hard to focus on, even as he slouched elaborately in chairs around the dorm, library, and cafeteria, curled around his studies. Same sentences over and over until he gives up and drapes open books -- usually about the Outlands, curses, or various once-mythic races -- over his face with a loud groan.]
This shit is impossible. Man, I need a smoke…
[Missing them wasn't exactly helping with how much tension he had. He thinks about asking any adult that wanders too close, but in the end if a faculty member approaches, Cliff will sit up again with a nervous,] Uh.
[Maybe it's about his underage smoking, but...whatever he was reluctant to bring up seems to be a bit more pressing.]
[ W A N I N G . ]
[Comparatively, the days following the full moon have Cliff in a stupor. He falls asleep more often than not for brief periods during his earlier classes, and when he rubs the weariness from his eyes he's scrambling to ask for notes to figure out what the hell he missed. It wasn't just for his sake that he picked the classes he did, after all, so even if he didn't have his stepdad peering at his grades as an excuse to get on his case, he wanted to try. Unfortunately, this meant bringing some attention to himself by hurrying to catch classmates before they disappeared into the sea of students.]
Oh, hey. Listen, I didn't get what that was about, can I see what you wrote?
[ W I N D O W P A N I N G - closed to relevant parties. ]
[Finally, it feels like it's time to act. He doesn't have to worry about getting too worked up and transforming, he’s not exhausted as fuck, and he’s itching to help Coco get to the bottom of things so he can see more of her smiles and make it so she doesn't have to cry anymore. The office visits he'd made as part of getting settled into a new school were used as wisely as he could. It wasn't going to be easy by any means with how much he still didn't know, but he's as ready as he can be without making her wait on him -- and she should have the information on the infirmary that they’d need for that part of it.
His explorations have given him another perk: he knows where to find her. Thanks to her talking about her hawk not-roommate, Cliff’s been able to keep an eye on the bird that comes and goes by window from the Aube dorms. Convenient that it was open, even if it wasn't convenient that it was a third floor room. He grunts softly as he pulls himself up to the ledge, grateful for the practice he'd decided to do. He peeks first, light glaring off his eyes and making it easy to inspect the room even if it’s dark. It would be real bad if some rando were in here, or if he came at a...uh, bad time.]
Hey! [His voice is a harsh whisper, but there's an excited current underneath it, too. Crimes! Crimes! Crimes!!] Coco?
[or rather, the bird dude that could direct him to Coco, for the time being, but he hasn't realized that yet. He comes in before he can get an answer though, it isn't good for his hands to just be hanging on for long like this.]
What: Secret werewolf newbie getting ready for secret times and secret crimes.
When: The days around the full moon (Sept 2nd), night of Sept 5th for closed prompt.
Warnings: Profanity, mentions of underage smoking and drinking, inexpertly devised heists.
[ W A X I N G . ]
[The full moon’s coming, and while there’s the mounting anxiety of not being sure what he’s all going to do even under the care of people that knew how to deal with this shit, it’s also always a time where Cliff could feel his heart race with the need to go, do, see. He’s taken to walking briskly or jogging about campus during the day when he wasn't in class, barely holding back from a run, so that he can get a better idea of where things were or what different smells meant. It would be important to have these things in mind when he was able to meet up with Coco for their secret mission. Excited as he is for it, it would have to wait a few more days…
In the meantime, he can practice sneaking out through his window rather than risking alerting someone down the hall as he went by, or scaling the walls of the dorms. Definitely tougher than the siding back home, and his fingertips were going to get calloused, but it was infinitely more fun. Especially with this restlessness.
Clifford sits at the edge of the roof a lot, too, eyes scanning the night sky and lighting up as the moon -- almost full, almost dangerous -- hit them. Almost literally! His usual golden light brown eyes reflect back with an eerie glow like the beast he would be forced to turn into soon. Times like these, it was hard to mind too much or to keep to his human form.
Being a wolf racing through the forest, energized and unburdened, is something on his mind more and more. Schoolwork was increasingly hard to focus on, even as he slouched elaborately in chairs around the dorm, library, and cafeteria, curled around his studies. Same sentences over and over until he gives up and drapes open books -- usually about the Outlands, curses, or various once-mythic races -- over his face with a loud groan.]
This shit is impossible. Man, I need a smoke…
[Missing them wasn't exactly helping with how much tension he had. He thinks about asking any adult that wanders too close, but in the end if a faculty member approaches, Cliff will sit up again with a nervous,] Uh.
[Maybe it's about his underage smoking, but...whatever he was reluctant to bring up seems to be a bit more pressing.]
[ W A N I N G . ]
[Comparatively, the days following the full moon have Cliff in a stupor. He falls asleep more often than not for brief periods during his earlier classes, and when he rubs the weariness from his eyes he's scrambling to ask for notes to figure out what the hell he missed. It wasn't just for his sake that he picked the classes he did, after all, so even if he didn't have his stepdad peering at his grades as an excuse to get on his case, he wanted to try. Unfortunately, this meant bringing some attention to himself by hurrying to catch classmates before they disappeared into the sea of students.]
Oh, hey. Listen, I didn't get what that was about, can I see what you wrote?
[ W I N D O W P A N I N G - closed to relevant parties. ]
[Finally, it feels like it's time to act. He doesn't have to worry about getting too worked up and transforming, he’s not exhausted as fuck, and he’s itching to help Coco get to the bottom of things so he can see more of her smiles and make it so she doesn't have to cry anymore. The office visits he'd made as part of getting settled into a new school were used as wisely as he could. It wasn't going to be easy by any means with how much he still didn't know, but he's as ready as he can be without making her wait on him -- and she should have the information on the infirmary that they’d need for that part of it.
His explorations have given him another perk: he knows where to find her. Thanks to her talking about her hawk not-roommate, Cliff’s been able to keep an eye on the bird that comes and goes by window from the Aube dorms. Convenient that it was open, even if it wasn't convenient that it was a third floor room. He grunts softly as he pulls himself up to the ledge, grateful for the practice he'd decided to do. He peeks first, light glaring off his eyes and making it easy to inspect the room even if it’s dark. It would be real bad if some rando were in here, or if he came at a...uh, bad time.]
Hey! [His voice is a harsh whisper, but there's an excited current underneath it, too. Crimes! Crimes! Crimes!!] Coco?
[or rather, the bird dude that could direct him to Coco, for the time being, but he hasn't realized that yet. He comes in before he can get an answer though, it isn't good for his hands to just be hanging on for long like this.]
no subject
I didn't even know he had blight. He just... looked...
[Why hadn't she made him stay? Why hadn't she suggested they just figure everything out at home? And then there's Cliff's theory, hitting her like a slam in the chest, making it hard to breathe.]
But it doesn't make sense...! He's not dangerous! He... he came home for my Quinceñera. He stayed up almost all day for it and he was so weak I could see him shake but he just looked happy anyway and he danced with me...
[Stupid her, she feels the tears spilling and she knows she's going to make everything worse like this.]
What could he be that was so bad? I wouldn't care if he was a vampire! I wouldn't care if he was a lycan! I wouldn't care. I just... wanted him to come home...!
[Her knees pull up. She buries her face, trying to hide. The paper crumples.]
no subject
Hey -- there's a lot on there we can't read! If it gets messed up, we won't be able to see if it explains any of this. [There's still hope!!! Just ignore what he said, he's a stupid idiot that doesn't know anything! And give him the paper...]
Maybe it wasn't like that. He just might've -- if he was that tired after a day, he was probably getting, like, treatment, but he had to be there because he loved -- loves! -- you. [Because he wanted to dance with her, because she loved dancing. It had been the one class she'd desperately wanted to take...] The fines probably aren't related, that was fucking stupid to say. He just had a disease from the blight and was getting it treated.
no subject
No. I'm being stupid. I'm sorry.
[She keeps trying to fix herself up. Her skirt is suffering for it with damp marks.]
I can't be doing this. I have to find him. If he's been causing problems then I have to consider that because it might be the reason he's gone again. He might have made someone mad enough to... I don't know.
I'm sorry. I shouldn't have freaked out on you.
no subject
I don't think you're being stupid.
[No matter what the truth was, it was something upsetting. There weren't really any uplifting explanations for why someone's dad would just drop off not only the radar, but from people's memories as well.]
Um. I think I have...kleenex somewhere. [In the bathroom off his room. He returns with the box as soon as he can, lamely offering it out to her.] We are going to figure this out, okay? We'll find out what the rest of this says and if it helps us at all, and then... I don't know. But if you're not giving up, I'm not going to, either. Especially if it's going to get dangerous for you.
oops, forgot to put small text there...
Thanks.
[Tidy up, take a breath. She tries to pull herself together the way Mamá always could. Sometimes she really wishes she were as strong as Mamá. She nods her head with what he says up until the end.]
...Are you sure? That you still want to help I mean? If it's going to be dangerous...
perfect html is overrated
Hey, isn't that what you told me this school's all about? Besides...who could quit this mystery?
no subject
Training to be a hero? I hope that doesn't mean I'm the damsel.
no subject
Pff. You saved my ass back there, remember?
no subject
So... sidekick?
no subject
It's your mission. If anybody's the sidekick, it's me.
no subject
[Take that!]
no subject
[He shrugs elaborately, then leans back with his hands propping him up behind him. It still doesn't feel quite right, but he settles and something more fitting settles along with him.]
They call 'em partners in crime for a reason.
no subject
Partners in crime. I like that.
[Her eyes go back down to the files. Wherever he was, she'd find him...]