Work Text:
Max closed the apartment door behind her and heaved a massive sigh. Working engagement shoots were always a trial, but they paid well and the bills had to get paid somehow.
Being a werewolf on the day before the full moon had certainly not helped at all. The familiar prickly skin-crawling feeling had been building all day and it had taken all Max's willpower to keep her irritability from surfacing.
Normally she wouldn't have taken jobs on the days leading up to the full moon, but the studio had overbooked and one of the other photographers had called in sick. And of course, the bride to be was the very definition of bridezilla. She would have been enough to give Max a headache on a normal day and Max was ready to bite her head off by the end of the shoot… figuratively, of course.
It was all over now, thank god. Max's schedule was gloriously clear for the next two days. She could spend the morning sleeping off the full moon hangover and then for the rest of the weekend she would be free to actually focus on her art.
With another sigh, she trudged to her bedroom. After peeling off her work clothes and throwing on an oversized t-shirt and sweatpants, she began digging out the plastic bins of full moon supplies out from under the bed. She supposed the phrase "full moon supplies" would conjure images of restraints or something for non-shifters, but in reality, it was much more mundane: the big plastic bins under her bed were full of dog toys and other pet supplies. Spending a night as a wolf in a small apartment without enrichment led to boredom… which led to destroyed furniture, and Max could not afford another couch or mattress.
She was about halfway through unpacking when her phone chimed.
There was a new text from Kate.
Kate Marsh, the high school friend that Max had reconnected with after moving back west after college. Kate Marsh, who, entirely by coincidence, lived two floors up, who alternately volunteered at the library and the local homeless shelter, who wrote and illustrated children's books about bullying, who shared her love for tea and classic sci-fi, who worked at the tea shop that Max stopped at every morning even though it added fifteen minutes to her commute.
Kate 5:23pm
Hi Max. I'm making some soup and I was wondering if you wanted any. You were looking a little under the weather this morning and my grandma's special chicken soup recipe makes anything feel better :)
Max stared at her phone.
Kate was making soup. She was making soup for Max specifically. Kate wanted to bring Max homemade soup. Tonight. Right now.
Shit.
Max knew she should just ignore it, reply back in the morning with something like "oh sorry I missed this, I fell asleep as soon as I got home". It would have been the sensible thing to do.
But Max wasn't feeling particularly sensible tonight. She liked Kate. She especially liked this grown up version of Kate.
The grown up Kate had clearly flourished in college away from her parents' controlling influence.
Highschool Kate hadn't possessed the calm self assuredness that adult Kate did, like she knew exactly who she was and what she was put on earth to do.
Highschool Kate wouldn't have worn a small rainbow pin on the strap of her messenger bag. Of course, there was always that tiny voice that kept telling Max that maybe Kate was just a really good ally, that she shouldn't get her hopes up.
But… to be perfectly honest, Max was lonely. Chloe was off living her best life in California with Rachel. Max's breakup with the two of them had been amicable and Max had actually managed to do a decent job keeping in touch this time around. And yes, she did have the other friends that she had reconnected with after moving back to Oregon, but lately her love life had been dismally lacking.
Max glanced at the calendar with all of its scribbled notes. There were still about two hours until sunset. Plenty of time for Kate to come and go before the moon came up, right?
Max 5:26pm
Yeah, that sounds great
Kate 5:26pm
Great! I'll be down in 10
xoxo
Eight and a half minutes later, after a frantic effort to tidy the apartment, there was a light knock on Max's door.
Play it cool, Max. You got this.
She opened the door to let in the sunshine that was Kate Marsh.
"Hi Kate," she said, softening her voice in that almost unconscious way she still did around Kate.
"Oh, Max!" Kate gasped. "You look terrible, are you okay?"
Max blinked and glanced at the mirror by the door. She was pale… well, paler than usual, and her hair was a sweaty mess. She really did look terrible, didn't she?
"Uh yeah," Max replied. "Just… um… monthly troubles."
"Well, I have just the thing for that," Kate said, hefting the pot of soup.
Max waved her inside and Kate wandered into the kitchen.
"Oh," Kate said suddenly. "I didn't know you had a dog!"
Max froze. In the frenzy of picking up laundry and moving dirty dishes to the sink, she had completely forgotten to hide any of her supplies: the dog bowls, the ratty comfort blanket, the open bag of treats that she had been meaning to hide around the apartment.
Kate looked at her expectantly for the missing canine. Max could lie. She probably should lie. Maybe she could say she was dog-sitting for someone… except then Kate would want to come back to visit and Max would be back to trying to figure out another lie.
And it was Kate. She couldn't lie to Kate.
"I… don't," Max said slowly.
Kate's face fell slightly before her forehead creased in confusion at the dog toy sitting on the counter that was half filled with peanut butter.
Good job, Super-Max. Now she thinks you're into some super freaky shit.
What was the church's stance on werewolves? Max supposed it depended on the church, and Kate's current church seemed a lot more accepting than the one she had grown up in… but still.
To be perfectly honest, if Max had a shot in hell with Kate, this conversation would have to happen sooner or later. Better to get her heart broken now than after a third or fourth date.
"Kate… um… there's something you should know about me."
She took a breath and closed her eyes.
"I'm a werewolf and all this stuff is mine because the enrichment keeps me from totally trashing my apartment," she said in a rush.
"Oh…" Kate replied.
Then after a moment, "Oh!"
Max cracked one eye open, but instead of terror or revulsion, Kate wore an expression of thoughtful curiosity.
"Oh?" Max prompted.
"That actually explains a lot," Kate explained. She took Max's hands and looked her in the eyes. "Max, I'm so glad you feel comfortable enough to share this with me."
Max's heart began to race, either at the hand holding or relief.
"Y-you're okay… with that?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" Kate asked and her brow furrowed again. "Should I not be? I don't really know how it works."
"No, it's…" Max searched for the right words. "It's something I've lived with my whole life. I'm not broken or anything, it's just part of who I am."
"Then I don't see why I should find anything wrong with it," Kate said tenderly. "It's just another part of Max."
Max felt her face split into a grin.
"There's still time until the sun goes down," Max said. "Do you want to stay for dinner? It looks like you brought enough soup for two."
A pinkish blush crept into Kate's cheeks.
"I may have brought enough for two," she replied.
Max graciously produced bowls for the soup and they sat down together at the table. She still couldn't quite believe what was happening, but whatever it was made her giddy. On top of that, the soup was absolutely delicious, and it wasn't just Max's monthly cravings saying that either. At some point while they were at college, Kate had become an amazing cook.
As Max refilled her bowl for a third time, Kate lightly cleared her throat.
"Max, can I ask… I mean… is it okay if I stay? For a little bit?" Kate asked sheepishly. "If you think it's safe, of course."
"You want to stay for a bit? Here in my apartment? Tonight?"
"I don't want to impose, I'm-"
"No," Max interrupted. "That… that would be awesome. It's just… it's been a long time since I've had company for the… you know. Chloe says I'm kinda shy and a little goofy when I'm in wolf mode, so yeah… It should be totally safe. You can leave any time, just make sure to lock the door behind you… I'd love it if you stayed."
At that, Kate's face brightened in a way that made Max's heart do a little flip.
Kate perched nervously on the couch. The sun had set and the full moon was peaking over the horizon between the buildings that occupied the apartment's view of the city.
Nothing to do now except wait.
This was definitely not how she expected the evening to go. Max had seemed off this morning, but Kate had pinned that on either the onset of a cold or the prospect of dealing with a demanding client, or maybe both. In any case, Kate had concocted a plan to make her soup and see how she was doing. Maybe she would see if Max was up for a Star Trek marathon or something. Then she could ask Max out for a proper date.
Actually, now that she thought about it, other than one certain detail, the evening was shaping up exactly how she had pictured it.
All she wanted was to take care of Max.
After all, Max had been there for her when she needed someone the most. Fall semester of senior year of highschool had been one ordeal after another after all and it seemed like Max was always there to give her a hand. Kate had written off the complicated mess of emotions she felt towards Max as hero worship.
It was an innocent enough explanation at the time, but right when she thought she had her life back on track, Dana had kissed her on prom night and Kate found herself in yet another spiraling crisis of faith and self identity.
But at that point, Max had enough to deal with between the dual prospects of going to art school across the country and Chloe and Rachel moving to LA, so Kate hadn't brought it up to her. Fortunately, over the course of that year, Kate had realized that she shouldn't rely on any one person for emotional support and had been working on building stronger relationships with her other friends. That had carried her though college and a whole series of interesting self-revelations.
Coming out to her parents had gone about as well as she expected. Apparently, drunkenness, promiscuity and even attempted suicide could ultimately be forgiven in the eyes of her mother, but not "homosexual behaviors". She was still on speaking terms with her father and sisters, but family gatherings had been tense affairs. It had been heartbreaking, but her friends had been there to catch her.
As if on cue, Kate's phone chimed with a group text notification.
Alyssa 7:15pm
Kate. Updates. Please.
Lauren G 7:16pm
Yes! We're dying to know!!
Brooke 7:16pm
Kate, please let Alyssa and Lauren know how things are going with Max. They are both driving me insane and not at all focusing on movie night.
Kate 7:17pm
It's going great! She is feeling a little under the weather, but not so bad that she isn't up for a TOS marathon.
(It wasn't technically a lie, Kate had to remind herself. They just didn't need to know all the details.)
Lauren G 7:18pm
Asdkghdallhjs!!!!
Alyssa 7:18pm
Yes!! So excite.
Brooke 7:19pm
Thank you. Now can we please focus on the movie?
Lauren G 7:19pm
Time to go ape!
Brooke 7:20pm
Lauren, we've talked about this. You promised never to say that in my presence.
Lauren G 7:20pm
Babe, I'm sitting right next to you
You don't need to text
Brooke 7:21pm
Yes, but I'm not dignifying it with a verbal response.
Alyssa 7:24pm
Kate, they're being gross again.
Brooke 7:25pm
Kate, I took away everyone's phones so that they'll stop distracting you and actually watch the movie. Good luck from all of us.
Kate 7:26pm
Thanks everyone!
Kate checked the time on her phone. It had been almost half an hour since Max had disappeared into her room. Max had said to wait until at least until 7:30 and she hadn't heard a sound in the last ten minutes.
Kate tapped lightly on the door.
"Max? Are you alright?"
There was a sound of movement from the room and a snuffling sound at the door. This was followed by a light scratching and a tiny whine.
"Max, can I open the door?"
Another whine.
Alright, this was it.
She opened the door slowly and was greeted by a pair of yellow eyes gleaming from the half illuminated room. Max was still vaguely human shaped, not quite fully lupine. She was still wearing the t-shirt and sweatpants from earlier, but they seemed a lot smaller now over Max's increased muscle mass. Max was crouched down on all fours, her now pointed ears were laid back and a fluffy tail was curled under her. Max's eyes flicked away and she lowered her head.
Kate let out a tiny gasp as she realized that Max was scared or nervous. Probably both.
"Oh Max," she said as she crouched down and held out a hand for Max to sniff. "You are absolutely beautiful."
Max's tail made a few tentative wags and she gave a tiny lick to Kate's hand.
Kate smiled and raised her other hand to scratch behind Max's ears.
"Good girl," Kate murmured, earning a grin from Max and some more enthusiastic tail wagging.
"Come on."
Together they made their way back to the living room. Upon their arrival, Max bounded up to the couch and flopped dramatically on it.
"Wait, Max!" Kate exclaimed. "Are you allowed on the couch? We didn't discuss this."
Max gave her a wide grin and rolled onto her back. She wiggled about, spreading fur everywhere.
"Fine," Kate giggled, "but I'm not cleaning that up."
Max grinned again and thumped her tail lazily.
"Do you have a playlist?" Kate asked as she sat down. "Or were you planning to just let it autoplay? My favorite is 'Devil in the Dark' but I always have a soft spot for Tribbles."
Max just shrugged and sprawled out on the couch again, this time laying her head in Kate's lap.
"Oh!"
Kate had not expected this level of physical intimacy tonight. Max nuzzled into Kate's stomach and gave her hand another little lick.
As the first episode started, Kate's hand fell to rest on the fur on Max's back. She marveled at the softness of it and she found herself wondering what it would feel like to bury her face in it… or what it would feel like against other parts of her body.
Spread out on the couch the way she was, Kate could make out surprisingly toned muscles under Max's clothes. The girl had always been skinny, but that obviously didn't carry over to… what had Max called it? "Wolf mode?"
The sight of it was enough to set Kate's pulse racing and bring heat to her cheeks.
If only her mother could see her now. They hadn't spoken in over three years, but Kate could picture the look on her mother's face if she knew her daughter was consorting with "devilspawn".
For that matter, Kate tried to imagine the inward horror the highschool version of herself would have felt if she had experienced these sort of feelings towards a girl, let alone a werewolf.
Kate gave a silent prayer to thank the Lord for granting her the grace to let her feel these feelings.
A stray beam of sunlight fell across Max's eyes and she groaned and rolled to her other side. Her head pounded and she ached all over. The transformation was definitely the worst part of being a werewolf, but the hangover was a close second.
She had briefly gained semi-consciousness just after dawn and discovered an arm thrown around her waist and a warm body pressed into her back. She hadn't thought much of it at the time, she just wriggled closer to the comforting warmth and slipped back into a doze.
Her eyes snapped open at the memory. She hadn't spent the night alone, had she?
Kate was conspicuously absent from her bed now, but the scent of bacon that permeated the apartment provided a hint to her whereabouts.
Max staggered groggily to the kitchen to find Kate busy at the stove.
"Good morning, sleepyhead," Kate said. "Would you like coffee or tea?"
"Coffee please, black," mumbled Max.
"I hope you don't mind," Kate said as she scooped grounds into the French press. "I raided your fridge for some eggs and bacon. I was googling some stuff this morning and the internet says you probably have a pretty strong craving for protein this morning."
"Kate," Max said as she rubbed her forehead to clear some of the cobwebs. "Did you… stay the whole night?"
Kate ducked her head.
"I did," she admitted. "You didn't seem very eager to let me leave. I hope it's alright."
"Oh…" Max replied. "Yeah, no. It's great. I guess I better thank you for breakfast. We should do this again sometime… breakfast I mean."
Kate passed Max a steaming cup of coffee and planted a kiss on Max's cheek.
"I'd like that."