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He awoke with a start. That alone wasn’t normal; usually the process of waking up after a shift was gradual, like unburying oneself from a pile of blankets. Lou stirred on the bed beside him, muttering something almost intelligible. Due to their pack responsibilities, they both had gotten used to waking up in a hurry. If there was a threat, she could be fully conscious in a heartbeat.
It wasn't a threat he was feeling exactly. Just something out of sorts.
Such as the fact that there was someone else in his room.
"Geoff?" Laurell's voice was fuzzy, sleep addled, but somehow still thick with some kind of strong emotion. Was it fear?
Almost instinctively he sent a curl of lycan energy to coil around her, a soothing comfort and assurance that had its intended effect. The nervous energy he sensed from her settled down markedly.
"Yeah, what's up?" He spoke softly, knowing that no matter what Lou was likely to wake up anyway. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, keeping the sheets over his lap.
Laurell bit her lip. She was wearing a dark green nightgown with a delicate floral pattern, no doubt from the Lycan Thrift Shop fashion collection. She must have put it on before coming over. Geoff thought it was something a grandmother might wear, but somehow it seemed appropriate on the girl's slight form. Maybe it was because she was such an old soul.
Geoff waited patiently for Laurell to work up the nerve to say what had brought her into the room. It was a particularly bold thing for her, and she wouldn't have done it without cause. She would get around to telling him in her own time. Behind him, he heard the change in Lou's breathing patterns and knew this was now a three-person conversation, whether Laurell realized it or not.
Finally, Laurell spoke. "I had a bad dream." She said it like it was admitting to some great shame.
He cocked his head, waiting for her to continue with whatever was the real problem, but nothing else came. That, it seemed, was the extent of her issue.
"A... bad dream?" He spoke in a bland tone, trying to mask any irritation he might have felt at this intrusion, and thought he did a respectable job. Lou would certainly let him know later if that wasn't the case.
"Yeah." Laurell toed at the ground, looking down and avoiding his gaze. For a moment she reminded him of Mark. Usually, he was the one with the nervous tics.
"Tell me about it," Geoff said, for lack of anything else to say. He wasn't a psychologist by any stretch, but he assumed Laurell came in here to talk it out. He couldn't promise any breakthrough dream interpretations, but he could promise an attentive ear.
"I don't remember," the girl said. "Not... really?" She made a face as if unsatisfied with her own response. "I just remember being afraid. And the red."
"The red?"
"Yeah." Pause. "Everything in it was red. It was... scary."
Geoff considered this for a moment. "Do you keep your memories from when you're in wolf form yet?" He was hoping that eventually she'd start to show some of the signs of growth in her wolf self, even if she'd never likely attain Fullr.
She shook her head. "No. Not yet."
"Hmm. It could be that's starting to develop, then."
"Oh." She sounded disheartened by this. "Is that how it started for you?"
"To be honest with you, it's been so long for me I don't remember what it was like when it happened. I don't even remember if it was a gradual thing or if it just suddenly happened."
"It was gradual for me," a drowsy-sounding Lou interjected from over his shoulder. So, she wasn't faking sleep anymore. Good. Maybe she had some idea on how to handle this. She rested her chin on Geoff's shoulder, using his form to conceal her own nakedness from the young wolf. "It started out as just vague feeling, more emotions than images. Then it was like fragments, single frames or just a few seconds here and there. It took a couple of moons for me to remember the whole night."
Laurell raised her face to meet Lou's eyes for a moment. She and Lou got along just fine, but there was no question that the young girl preferred to seek counsel from Geoff. She seemed unsure about continuing the conversation now that his mate was awake. Finally, she spoke again. "Was it ever... bad?"
Lou thought for a while before responding. "I don't remember it ever being 'bad,' but it's not always going to progress the exact same way for all of us. I think Geoff is right, it could be the beginnings of your wolf memories persisting after the shift." She smiled. "That's a good thing. It means you're getting stronger."
The young wolf gave a small, diffident smile. She was clearly unconvinced, and just as clearly unwilling to argue with her pack leaders. "Okay. I'm sorry I woke you up."
"It's fine," Geoff said. And in truth, it was. Despite the irritation he initially felt, he had no qualms about anyone in the pack coming to him or Lou for anything. "I was probably going to be getting up soon anyway." This wasn't far from the truth; there was an unwritten tradition that the morning after a full moon, Geoff (and anyone who wanted to help) would prepare a massive breakfast for the pack. The act of changing forms – both to their wolf and back to human – was incredibly draining, and no matter how successful the hunt was, everyone woke up starving. "Why don't you help me with breakfast? Start getting things ready and I'll get dressed and be right down."
This time Laurell's smile was genuine. "Okay!" She turned to leave, her mood noticeably brighter at the prospect of working alongside him in the kitchen.
He meant what he said about breakfast, but didn't get up after she left, staring at the closed door in silence. Lou nuzzled his neck briefly. It was more an act of comfort than a prelude to anything sexual. "What is it?" she asked. He didn't have to say a word for her to intuit that something was bothering him.
"Hell if I know." It was at least partially true. He turned to face Lou. "Do you really think it was just the start of her memories forming?"
Lou cocked an eyebrow at him. "It was your idea; I just agreed with it. Do you really think that's what it was?"
"I've never heard of anyone finding the experience scary before, but it's the closest thing I could think of. And it kind of makes sense. We hunted last night, and she did bag a deer. Maybe she was feeling guilty about it?" He rose and began getting dressed so he could join Laurell in the kitchen.
"Yeah, maybe." Lou seemed satisfied with that answer, but Geoff was still troubled.
"Did you have any bad dreams last night?" he asked her, pulling a shirt over his head.
Lou looked at him quizzically. "No. Why? Did you?"
Geoff paused for a moment, casting his mind back to that indescribable feeling he had when he first woke up. There may have been something there, but it wasn't definitive enough for him to say for sure one way or another. He didn't feel particularly well-rested, which was unusual for the night after a hunt. Usually that was some of the best sleep he got. They had enough real-life problems to worry about without getting worked up over a bad night of sleep.
"No," he finally said, not caring if she found the delay suspicious. He finished dressing and left the room before she could think of any follow-up questions.