username:
Knuckle Bine
kalon's name:
Lance Lorelei Crawford
gender:
transboy
prompt: [750 Words]
The moon is milky white in the sky, almost a perfect circle but still not quite full. It's light floods the town, illuminating alleyways and shedding light on those who would rather stay hidden. The stars seem to be hiding behind clouds that don't dare to try and cover the moon's glare. All around, the gentle hum that fills the street at daytime has died down. The windows of every shop and restaurant are dark every way you look. All except one.
Blue-white fluorescent light pours out of a single diner's windows, spilling over onto the sidewalk. The only thing left willing to make a stand against the moon's cold stare. Inside,
a red-striped kalon wipes down tables, occasionally glancing nervously over his shoulder at a young kalon sitting at the counter. He's eating a slice of cherry pie very slowly, savoring each bite. His eyes are sunken and bloodshot- like he hasn't slept in weeks. Nigel pads almost silently back behind the counter, his clean up routine done.
"So-" He coughs nervously- "What brings you around a this hour?" Nigel chuckles but it falls flat. It's past his bedtime. It's past closing time. The kid's eyes harden a bit against the questioning and he shrugs his shoulders, taking another tiny bite of pie.
"Are you sure you don't want anything else other than pie?" Nigel asked, leaning on the counter to get at eye level. The kid shakes his head a couple times, his eyes watering. Nigel's eyes soften and he tries again, voice quiet this time.
"Do you want anything else to eat? It's on the house." He whispers, scanning the kid's face for a reaction. Some tears spill over his cheeks as he nods. Nigel smiles at him and cooks up dinosaur chicken nuggets and smiley fries- a kid's favorite and his favorite meal.
"Do you have a name?" He asked warmly as the kid dug into the food. The kid hesitated for a minute, and then swallowed to answer.
"Lance. Lance Crawford." Lance seemed unsure as he said the name out loud, but the second time he said it seemed to reassure him. Yes, this was his name. Nigel smiled at him.
"Nice to meet you, Lance! I'm Nigel." He said with a grin. After that, they talked all night about just about everything you could imagine- parents and highschool and the stock market and how good Nigel's pie is- his mother's recipe. Around 2 or 3 in the morning, Nigel was sitting next to Lance, and he became suddenly serious.
"Listen, Lance. I know parents can be hard to get through to. But I'm sure they'll respect the change you're going through eventually. You just have to hold out! Not every kid goes through this, but it's still a normal thing." Nigel said confidently to him, happy to be helping ease Lance's fear about transitioning.
"You really think so?" Lance said, his eyes lighting up. "They just seem so.. terrible about it now, how could they ever change?" He says with a frown, worried about his parents never accepting him because of his werewolf status.
"It just takes time and patience!" Nigel comforts, still talking about transitioning. Lance smiles a bit.
"Yeah.. yeah! I mean, it's not my fault I'm this way. Why should I have to suffer cause of it?!" He says with a confident grin. Nigel pats his back.
"That's the spirit! And before you know it, you'll be out of the house and free to transition as you please!" Nigel lifts a fist as he says it, trying to keep up the good mood.
"Yeah!- wait- wait- what?" Lance says suddenly. Nigel's fist lowers in shame.
"I said you'll be able to transition soon?" He says nervously, raising his fist a bit to recreate the scene. Lance pulls a hand down his face.
"I wasn't talking about that! I was talking about how I got bitten by a WEREWOLF!" He said with a groan. Nigel recovers quickly.
"Ohhh.. I mean- uh, me too! Of course! I just meant you'll be able to transition.. into your new, free life!" He says with a little smile. Lance rolls his eyes with a grin at the bad save.
"Well, it works either way. And in both cases, I'm here to support and help you. Think of me as like.. an older brother." Nigel said with a warm smile. Lance smiled back and punched his arm.
"That sounds good. Big bro."
extra art piece: (optional)