Beautiful Lie

Brock staggered into yet another wall, his focus sliding from one thing to the next, but never focusing, never...

His spine rippled painfully, and almost desperately he pushed it back. He couldn't... couldn't...

His uneven steps were the only sound in the whole ministry, many of the workers having gone home early on the Friday night. They wanted to be with their families for the weekend. He knew of only one person who would still be here, only one...

He fell onto his hands and knees just outside her door, his skin already rippling in anticipation.

With force of will, he shoved himself upward, reaching for her doorhandle. "K-Kal-" His hand did something odd, flinching in the wrong direction, and he was falling again, through her doorway and into her office. He barely caught himself, his spine jerking upward painfully. He tried to repress it, but it was... was...

"Get me... out..." He growled, his hands trying to extend. He could only fight the change for so long. His face began to extend, but he forced it back. "Kal-" He fell onto his back with a groan, his limbs trying to relocate themselves. He'd broken out into a cold sweat, unable to hold in his inner wolf.

Kallie tapped her foot against the floor as her eyes scanned over the papers in front of her. She was sorting over the decisions of every other department had made over the past week, monitoring what was and wasn't done, trying to see which departments may need her guiding hand.

Through the large windows that were behind her desk the moonlight struggled to peak out the clouds, shining down on her. She didn't need to turn to look at it to know that it was a full moon. She always knew when the full moon was.

Always.

Flipping one of the pages over, she sighed and reached up to fix her hair. Only to nearly jump out of her seat as her door flew open and someone fell in.

Not just anybody but-

"Brock!" her eyes widened at the form on the ground, her face paling slightly as she clutched the edge of her table. Suddenly feeling like a child again, she watched for a long moment, trying to keep her composure, trying to remind herself that no matter how much she suddenly longed to rush forward she could... it wouldn't me... "Why... why are you here?"

Why hadn't he left. He should have been - he shouldn't have been.....

"Did you take you're potion. Brock! Did you take it?"

Brock was beyond hearing now, beyond answering. He just couldn't...

The moonlight flared through the windows, the clouds swept away by the wind, and a ripple went through Brock. It started at his nose, the change ripping through him from snout to tail in under two minutes. It was always like this when he tried to force it back, and the pain was intense. He paused there, panting, shaking with the pain as he tried to work through it, his head bowed toward the ground. He had grown exponentially from the time she'd seen him last, his shoulders broader, his fur thicker. His eyes, however, when he inched backward and tried to hide in the corner of her office, were exactly the same. Red and terrified.

A whine flew from his throat as he shrunk back from her, ready to bolt.

She flinched back slightly, as the moonlight came in, clasping her hands over her mouth to keep from making any noise that just wouldn't help. Her eyes softened, as he answered her question by cowering away. He wouldn't do that if he wasn't...

Wasn't himself.

She swallowed hard, as she took a half step towards him, confused why her eyes suddenly felt warm, and her cheeks wet. He had gotten so... big.

She let out a small choking sound that was somewhere lost between a laugh and a sob.

"Hey, hey there Pentu," she let out another laughing sob as she realized the nickname was hardly appropriate anymore. It had barely been appropriate then, but.... she couldn't not say it. Thats what he was - always had been, always would be. Her Pentu. "Been a while since-since we did this, huh?"

She wasn't sure who she was trying to distract more with her small talk. Him, or herself.

Brock shrunk further away from her as she came closer. Didn't she understand he wasn't safe right now? What if- if-?

His red eyes looked up at her, distracted by her tears. Why was she crying? Was she afraid?

He took a small step forward, sniffing at her tears, his nose just brushing her skin. Her scent was familiar, soothing to both him and his inner/outer wolf. Gently, he licked her cheek, a soft bark the only thing he could offer to comfort her.

His ears swiveled forward at his nickname, his tail wagging in recognition. His tongue lulled out, and he gazed at her with wide, red, trusting eyes.

She dropped to her knees, the action almost making her shorter than him when he stood at full height, but she didn't care. She wiped her cheek where he had licked her, using the excuse to get rid of the rest of the tears that were still slowly leaking from her warm brown eyes to linger on the spot.

Her head was getting dizzy with confusion, trying to set herself in the present instead of slipping back into the past.

"I'm fine," she mumbled with a teary smile, in response to his part, a hand reaching out to scratch behind his hears. "Just being..."

She shook her head and wipped away a few more tears with a back of her hand. They seemed to have been more or less slowing down.

She smiled at the wagged, "There, much better - see I'm just your same old friend, same old Kallie. A little older, but hey I'm still a Stick in the Mud." she gave a weak little laugh at her attempt at a joke, and waved to her office, "Look, I'm even queen of the Sticks in the muds now."

Brock sat next to her, his nose sniffing her tears away. He licked her other cheek, before walking in a small circle around her and boxing her in with his body. He rested his snout just below her chin, his tail still wagging. He let out another soft bark, this one reprimanding. She knew how he felt about her calling herself that. He'd never believed it, and she shouldn't either.

Same old Kallie.

The white wolf looked away from her, then was wandering away, not looking at her in favor of sniffing random things, distracting himself. He should not be dwelling on the past. Definitely not on the day she...

Without a sound, he pounced up onto her desk, eying the papers there before taking a single folder in his teeth and rolling onto his back, wiggling to displace all the others. Once there was an appropriately high disorder of things, he hopped off of the desk, placing the one folder back.

It read simply 'Auror Department'. Like he was going to displace his own work. His secretary had worked pretty hard on it. He'd just never gotten around to rewarding her.

He wagged his tail at his Volchonka impishly, his tongue lulling out.

Then he froze, his ears swiveling toward the doorway, and then he was behind her desk, hiding.

"H-Hello?" Came his secretary's voice. "E-Excuse me, Minister? Have you seen Veni?" The young woman pushed through the door, her french accent and delicious perfume causing Brock's tail to wag slightly. She was dressed in an outfit that she believed to be 'Brock-Approved', an off the shoulder royal purple shirt that showed a bit of midriff and a black pencil skirt. He had given a warning for the shirt, but had let it go. She looked nice.

"Oh shush," she muttered as he barked, moving to wrap her arms around him, only to have him wander away. "I'm the Minister of Magic, I'll call myself whatever I wish."

She frowned as she watched him move around the room, her expression turning from one of mild curiousity to one of extreme worry as the wolf got closer to her desk. If he was anything like he use to be...

"Brock," her tone was low a warning, as she took a half step after him. "Brock!" Her eyes darkened as she dived forward to stop him, but the mess was already made. Her nostriles flaired as she picked up the only folder he had left unmessed on the desk and was almost tempted to throw it right back at him.

"These are not my school notes! You could set off the end of the whole damn-"

Her repremending was lost as the wolf bounded behind her desk... hiding from...

The older woman turned towards her office door, her face turning completely blank to keep the grimace from the tone of the voice from appearing of her face. She never could stand a french accent, not really, they all sounded like...

"No I have not seen anyone name "Veni" nor should anyone around my ministry," her tone was clipped, matter of fact, almost short. She had never liked that stupid nickname as a child, and she certainly wasn't amused to be hearing it in her office, espically from some... "If you are looking for Mr. Cox however, he unfortunatly had to leave the office early; he was feeling under the weather. I can't imagine you will see him again this evening."

She looked the girl over for a long moment, her gaze resting on her bare midrift for half a second longer, before she flicked her gaze back up to the girls.

"Now if there is nothing else I can do for you, feel free to excuse yourself. Oh, and Ms..." she trailed off not entirely sure of the womans name, "I would like to remind you, this is the Ministry of Magic, not some night club. I would kindly like you to dress like it from now on."

"B-b-b-but V-Ven... I-I mean Mr C-Cox told me to dress..." The girl paled significantly and turned tail, just missing Brock's scoff and sneeze. He peeked his snout out around the corner of her desk and sniffed, making sure she was gone before peeking up over the desk. He waved his tail and jumped onto her chair, sitting in it and lulling his tongue out at her.

He cocked his head to the side at the mess on her desk before using his nose to nuzzle it into the bare remnants of a pile. Then he was gazing at her again, a wolfish grin tugging at his lips and his tail wagging again.

"I see you've been making friends," she said slowly, looking at the wolf, her face impassive. She was trying to make it look like she didn't care. She shouldn't care. She didn't really have the right to care anymore. "You always did have a thing for the french lutkas huh?"

Sighing, she ran a hand through her hair, which had been hanging down around her shoulders since Brock showed up, having never gotten around to putting it back up. She rolled her eyes and straighted the half pile he had made.

"Thats my chair Pentu," she mumbled softly. "So move it."

Brock barked, before adjusting his footing on the chair, contemplating Kallie for a moment. Then, he grinned.

With a tail wag, he pounced, his inner!Wolf unable to comprehend the fact that this woman in front of him was different than the girl who'd followed him into the forest. He was careful to keep his weight mostly off of her, so her landing was soft and wouldn't do more than knock the breath out of her. Then he was sniffing at her face from above her, his nose brushing against her skin. He licked her, right across her nose, and wrapped his body around her, forcing her to sit up slightly as to slide his body behind hers. His head rested in her lap, and he closed his eyes, yawning.

Considering all the times he'd done it before, the woman really should have seen it coming. But that had been years since she had even really thought about it - she tried not to. She felt like she had been a different person then, like that had been a different life.

She let out a soft sound of shock as she hit the ground, and was then once again, as if there hadn't been more than ten years since she'd done anything of the kind, was squirming away from his nose.

"Make yourself right at home why don't you," she muttered as she looked down at his head in her lap. She really should tell him to move, or-or...

This was hardly appropraite of the minister of magic...

But her head was swirling, and she could barely think of herself as that - the minister of magic, a fully grown woman....

Suddenly she was just a kid again...

And she had missed this. More than she had ever wanted to admit, and more than she probably ever would.

Brock complied to her words by indeed making himself comfortable, adjusting himself slightly and nipping at her hand without actually biting her. He whined slightly, his paws flexing before he moved around her further, bringing himself closer to her. He'd missed her. He'd missed her so much...

He gently licked her forearm, then underneath her chin. He nudged her chin with his snout, with another soft bark, before laying his head down again.

She smiled slightly as he licked her again, only making a minimal effort to squirm away from him. She shook her head, and before she really knew what she was doing, she was relaxing against him, her hand threading through his fur as she had hundreds of time before.

"You know..." she spoke softly, unsure if she should really be admitting this, if she was pulling herself into dangerous territiory, but in the end Kallie was too far lost in her confused mind to stop herself. "I use to think about this on the full moon... I'd look up at the sky and see it, and I just couldn't help but... every single one."

Brock's tail wagged at her words, a whine of agreement flying from his throat before he could even think of stopping it. Gently, he began to lick her arm again, trying to convey his sole thought. The transition from her being there for every change to her not being anywhere at all... it had torn his inner wolf to shreds. He shivered to think of the loss of control he'd had that first full moon...

I missed you.

Kallie shook her head at the irony that she had just realized now - though part of her might have been awknowledging it the whole time - she could always understand him so well when he couldn't speak at all, his actions, every move in his wolf form meant something, and she rarly missed it.

And yet she hadn't been able to accept the actions of the boy as words as well.

She leaned further back into him, closing her eyes, not even bothering to bat away his licking this time. She was putting effort into not starting the irrational crying again.

"I missed you too," she frowned and shook her head. "I was so-so... I never should have-"

She frown and shook away memories, not finish the words, and instead gazing slightly to the photo on her desk she could just barely see from their spot on the floor. Eli had fixed most of it... the lonely...

Though there might have been a part of her that was always broken, always.... not with him.

How did everything get so confusing?

Annoyingly long time spent as a wolf later

Brock woke with a start. When the hell had he fallen asleep? What was-

He blinked around at the office he was in. This wasn't his... Frowning around, his mind stretched back in time, trying to figure out where exactly he...

He growled in frustration. She hadn't listened. He was still in her office. Glancing down at the cloak covering him, he sat up, letting it pool in his lap.

"Volchonka?" He called.

Eli yawned as he dragged himself out of the elevator, a cup of coffee in one hand and a thick manilla folder labeled "Auror Offices - Monthly Report" in the other. He instinctively knew which door led to the minister's office, and as he pushed his way through it, he blinked sleepily, looking around the office with his slightly hazy vision.

It only took him about three seconds to register what was on the floor.

"AH!!!" Eli dropped his coffee, the steaming-hot liquid splattering all across the floor and his shoes with the loud clattering of breaking glass.

"BROCK??" His eyes felt like they were about to pop out of his head, "Wha- What are you- why are- You... you're naked! ... WHAT?!"

Brock winced at the noise, blinking up at his friend before wrinkling his nose. "Hello to you too, Eli." He said, yawning. He scooched away from the hot liquid, even though it was nowhere near enough to burn him. "She won't like that you've gotten coffee all over. Clean it up, would you? I think I left my wand... somewhere..." He frowned, then shrugged, figuring it was in his office.

"Don't be alarmed. This happens once a month. Annually. Clockwork, almost." He yawned again, then eyed Eli's coffee cup, or the remainders of it. "Cripes. I think I'm almost sober." He frowned. "Eli. Can you see if you can find me some pants?"

"Uhh.... okay...." He blinked several times, trying to get his brain to properly function again. Cleaning... yes... cleaning was good. Cleaning would help him think. He took out his wand, "Scourgify" The coffee evaporated from the rug. "Reparo" The cup pieced itself back together, and Eli stooped down to pick it back up.

He looked back up at Brock, trying to process that last thing he said, "So... Once a month.. you show up naked in my girlfriend's office? Yeah... okay..." He frowned, thinking "I'll go see if there are any downstairs."

Kallie had slept... surprisingly well, for the first few hours. But something must have been whispering at her, for she woke up well before the sun, and well before Brock.

The weren't children anymore. And she wasn't his...

Eli. She loved Eli. And whatever this was... it hadn't been romantic, just... familiar.

But either way, it wasn't fair to Eli without being properly explained.

These were all the things she told herself as she made her way through the quieted ministry - after assuring Brock was more or less properly 'covered' for the time being.

She made a stop for food, grabbing some easily carried food, as well as some clothes, she yawned to herself, before making her way back to her office.

"Pentu," she called walking through the door, "Have you gotten your lazy b-"

She froze in the doorway for a moment, blinking at the scene before her. This was not...

Not..

"Eli..." she sighed looking between the two men. She chucked the clothes she was holding at Brock, "Get dressed, Pentu, try and pretend like you actually care about my innocence still while you do it please."

She ran a hand through her hair, and walked around her desk, to sit in her chair.

"I swear, there's more to this than... I wouldn't do anything Eli. I love you. There is just... I do not wish to share secrets that were never mind to share. Brock?" She raise an eyebrow to the man, inviting him to fill in the blanks.

"That's not what I meant at all." Brock frowned up at Eli from his place on the floor, blinking through his confusion. What did this guy think he was, a homewrecker?

"G'mornin', Volchonka." He yawned, catching the clothes that were thrown at him and snorting. "Like I don't respect your innocence or something." He scooted around, putting his back to them and shrugging the cloak on before standing and moving to a corner. He slipped the pants on without showing them anything, turning as he fastened the button.

"I love you too, Eli." He winked at him, his voice remaining light as he shrugged off the robe as he tugged on the shirt. He pointed at Kallie, his eyes staying on Eli. "I wouldn't cross that line." He moved toward the doorway, purposely getting into his personal space, staring the man down. "It kinda hurts that you'd think that about me." Pushing past him, Brock made his way to the door, snagging the breakfast food on the way as he exited.

"I'll be in my office if you need me."

Then he was gone.

Eli shook his head, putting his hand to his temple. He didn't want to have to deal with this. He really hated being confused, but it seemed to be happening more and more often.

He blinked as Kallie entered the room, his eyes wide as he watched her, "Hi Kallie. How are you?" It seemed like pretending everything was normal was the best way to calm himself down, and being around Kallie again helped.

Eli's eyes sort of glazed over for a moment or two as he stared at the patterns in the floor. He still wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but he walked over to Kallie's desk and kissed the girl on the cheek, "I know. Don't worry," he gave a small smile, "I know."

He couldn't help but give a small smirk as Brock left, then turned back to her, "Well, he was naked. What was I supposed to think?"

He looked back at the door then shook his head, "I'm sorry... I know... You would never- I know that." He sighed, "I spilled my coffee. It took me forever to make that coffee."

Kallie couldn't help but give a slight sigh of relief. Once again, she had asked far too much of this man. She did not understand how she had gotten him; she certainly didn't deserve him.

And yet... he was hers.

She smiled as he kissed her cheek, answer his first question with a slight laugh, "I've been worse."

"You could think that his wolf form happened to shred his clothes - as it always does - and my poor brain was too foolish to make him leave my office before that had happened."

She sighed as she looked at the empty door. How the years seemed to have complicated everything. The woman could remember a time when what she had done... hadn't been a rarity, nor had it caused any problems. It had just been... the way of her life. She had thought it would always be the way of her life.

At the time.

Wasn't she wrong?

Eli's words brought her back to the room with a tuckle, "Aw, my poor [i]pikkulapsi[/i. Do you need me to make you another one?"

Eli frowned, "His... wait-" He looked at Kallie in both amusement and surprise, "He's... He's... That makes so much more sense!" He frowned again, and muttered, "How did I not pick that up?" He spent a few moments trying to make sense of the whole thing while at the same time berating himself about how oblivious he was.

Eli laughed as he took out his wand and began cleaning up the drink, "No, that's all right. I'll just go make some tea instead. I like it better anyways." He turned to her and smiled, "I can get you some, too, if you want."