Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Anya chewed on a nail as she stared at the near mirror, thinking over how in the world her biological timer would determine the seasons in space. Would she have to deal with really bad shedding sometime soon? It would be nearing fall back on earth around now, right? So would her winter coat start coming in soon? Oh goodness, that would be such a mess!

With a huff, the woman wrinkled her snout and placed her hands on her hips, ears twitching back. You see, Anya was, as most would describe it, a ‘werewolf.’

Not the kind seen in the movies though, there was no ‘infection’ or ‘turning someone’ for example. It also really had nothing much to do with the moon. Anya never really knew what was up with that first rumor because it was pretty common knowledge nowadays while that later one was a rumor spread by Hollywood because it had seemed interesting, kind of like how apparently selkies were only women (which was indeed false! One of her professors during her third attempt at medical school had been a selkie man infact).

She just kinda was capable of manipulating her appearance from a nearly human-looking one to a nearly canine-looking one. And, if Anya put more of an effort into it, like she was currently, she could manage a form somewhere inbetween (the bipedal stance and opposable thumbs were very useful). Most any time she desired really, she could look as she pleased, well save for when she slept (when she was essentially at her most wolf-like) or if she got stressed (which could induce shifting one way or another, depending on whether she was in a fight or flight mode). 

Despite that, for the most part, Anya had been able to keep a mostly human front, nothing too bothersome for her crewmates. Not everyone liked animal people afterall, something about it being unnatural or demonic when looking at the Western (mostly Christain) viewpoint. Similar to how changelings or shifters were treated, like they weren’t really people. 

It was a mess truthfully, but despite all that, she had managed this job and so far only Dasiuke really knew about her ‘secret’ (while she didn’t openly talk about it, if one just looked at her ID or her employee file, it quite clearly said she was a canid-class animal person or ‘werewolf.’) Honestly, it had only really slipped because she’d gotten so pissed at him very clearly cheating at a game (and pretending like he wasn’t) that she just had enough and flashed her canines at him with a throaty growl.

Daisuke had actually been more awestruck than scared though, instantly bombarding her with questions. He may have been a bit dense at times, but it was clear how he’d put things together after that. It was kind of cute how he reacted when she finally figured to admit he was correct, and now, when it was just them, he always had some new curiosity or question for her.

Funnily enough, they never really were intrusive questions but rather ones like ‘can you get dry really fast after showering while you’re a wolf or does it just kinda get wet hair everywhere?’ or ‘do your sneezes sound differently in different forms?’

(For those curious, showering as her canid form just got wet dog smell everywhere because of the fur she’d shed and no, her sneezes did not sound different. Her internal organs didn’t change, they just kind of shifted around when she went between forms, including her vocal cords and respiratory system.)

It certainly helped her feel more at ease on the ship, espically when Swansea’s bitter personality and Jimmy’s uncomfortable comments got on her nerves. Curly was a pretty neutral party while Daisuke was a breath of fresh air—

Anya was pulled from her thoughts by an odd noise in the hallway, slipping back a step as she instinctively shifted to be more human appearing. That had been odd— wait, those almost sounded like… footsteps? Footsteps that were… moving towards her room. Who would be up this late? Her ears twitched before she brushed her hair to hide them from view again, brow furrowing.

Whoever was walking around was being oddly quiet about it, Anya fighting the urge to flick on a light. Something felt off, the woman sniffing a moment but not really catching who it was (she never did have the best sense of smell, everything always got muddled for her).

Then there was a creak by her door, the woman’s ears straining to listen as she nervously bared her teeth. Did someone need something or— her heart skipped a beat as her door clicked open. Was someone so sleep deprived that they switched up rooms? Did someone need her help? What was—

With a soft sound, the mystery person slipped inside her room, door closing behind them once more. Wary, Anya padded to her bathroom door, ears pricking as she peeked out. Her breath hitched when she saw a dark figure by her bed, the person looking around with intent.

It made her heart flutter, backing up a couple steps. Then, he turned, and she could make out who it was.

A shiver went up her spine, the hair on her body spiking as her skin twitched. Why was Jimmy up, walking around at night? When they should have both been asleep? More importantly, why was he in her room?

Her ears fell back and she stepped further into the shadows of her bathroom. His eyes glanced to the ajar door and he began to silently move her way, Anya swallowing back a nervous growl.

What was he doing? Why was he here?

Jimmy tore the door open with a flash of teeth, “There you are.” The lights flicked on and she cringed at the sudden brightness, feeling terribly exposed all of a sudden.

He gave a thoughtful hum, looking her up and down. Anya raised a hand to shield her eyes as they adjusted, voice trembling, “W-What in the world?”

He took a step closer and she backed away. Jimmy didn’t hesitate, easing forward with a strange look on his face. Eyes narrowed, lips twitched into a smirk, and something dark lingering in his gaze.

When he grabbed her harshly by the arm to pull her towards him, she did the only thing she could think to do in her growing panic. Anya drew her lips back before, shifting as she went, snapping her jaws around his upper arm. There was a sharp inhale and a choked sound before she sank her teeth in, flinching a moment at the warm taste of blood that filled her mouth.

A deep rumbling growl came up from her throat and then suddenly there was a flash of pain exploding through her face. She yelped, Jimmy tearing away as she stumbled back. Her hands came up to clutch at her eye, blinking rapidly as heat rushed through her face, tears stinging her vision. She could briefly see Jimmy falling hard before there was the sound of the man scrambling back to his feet.

Anya stayed where she was, breathing heavy, lips still drawn back in disgust and panic.

He— he had just punched her! She inhaled sharply and she could smell blood. She swallowed and she could taste it.

There was blood in her mouth. There was fucking blood in her fucking mouth—! She gagged, forcing herself to look to where she’d last glimpsed the copilot. He was gone, though the smear of blood and splatterings told her all she needed to know. He’d bolted.

Anya didn’t go after, rather, she began to dry heave as it got harder to breath. The woman forcing herself away as far back as she could in the corner of the room. She knew she was panicking, of course she was panicking, but she couldn’t help it.

That had just happened! Whatever that had been! Oh god— oh god she’d just bitten a man, ohgodohgodohgod—

She curled in on herself as tears fell down her cheeks, pawed hands desperately trying to wipe the gore from her mouth as she felt her cheek swell. Anya was hyperventilating before she knew it, trembling like a leaf.

~

Daisuke woke up to a commotion and yelling, groggily sitting up in bed with a grimace. Duuuuuuude, what the heck? What was happening?

He sniffed, rubbing at an eye before dragging his legs over the side of the bed. While he’d totally rather stay in his warm blankets, this kinda-sorta seemed important.

The young man yawned widely as he pried his door open, peering out. He saw Jimmy with Swansea standing next to him, the two men going back and forth about something. Daisuke sighed and stepped out his room, “Dude…? What happened—?”

Swansea turned and as his boss did so, Daisuke had a better view at their copilot. The man was clutching tightly to his arm, blood pooling down his skin and dripping onto the floor. Daisuke tensed, eyes widening before Swansea stepped in the way again.

“W-What— what happened?” That looked, like, reaaaaaally bad! “Holy shit dude! We need to get, like, uh— Anya needs to look at that like no—“

Jimmy’s voice was shrill as he interrupted him, “That fucking bitch is the one who fucking did this!”

Daisuke blinked a few times, what? No, seriously— what? That didn’t make any sense, why in the world would she do that! Anya was totally cool and chill and—

“She’s a fucking animal!”

Oh, oh no— no— she wouldn’t just do something like that—wait. Where was Anya!? His head snapped away towards his friend’s room, where he could see the blood trail lead from.

Swansea opened his mouth, a hand raising, though what the man planned to do, Daisuke didn’t know nor care. He bolted to check on Anya, eyes wide.

Was she okay!? He slipped on something wet as he entered her room, quickly ignoring it as he called her name, “Anya!? Anya!”

He could hear voices outside the room, but he didn’t care. He could see that the lights were on in the bathroom, the intern stumbling as he went over, “Anya?”

He pushed the door open, blinking a moment as he saw more blood on the ground. Daisuke cringed, looking up when he heard a hitch of breath. There, eyes locked on him, was Anya shoved back as far as she could be against the farthest corner of the bathroom. 

She was full wolfy mode, her white and black fur contrasting greatly with the soft pastels of her pj’s. Her dark eyes were wide and scared looking, ears pinned back as her lips drew back to show off her teeth.

There was blood on her mouth. There was blood on her teeth. She was crying.

“Anya…?”

Her breathing hitched, a sob hiccuping from her throat. Daisuke could hear someone enter the room behind him, flinching away before standing protectively infront of the woman.

He could see Swansea standing there, looking wary, brow furrowed. “Kid—“

“Get out!” Daisuke snapped, “Out!”

The man raised his brows, blinking a moment before his face set into a heavy frown, “Back up, cmon—“

Anya hiccuped and Swansea’s gaze snapped over. Daisuke followed his gaze, cringing as he saw the state his friend was in worsening. It looked like she was trying to shift between forms too rapidly than what she could stand, her breaths coming in choked gasps.

She’d told him once that it took a good bit of energy to change quickly, that it was kind of tiring to go from one full form to another and back again. Here she was, doing it so quickly, she looked like she might fall apart.

Her mouth hung open as she panted, her hair falling out from the stress of changing, eyes bloodshot as she sobbed and choked on the tears. Daisuke went to go to her side when an irongrip tried to pull him back. The young man swung around to shoot Swansea a look before tearing his arm away.

The older twitched, as though to try and pull him back again, but the increasingly larbored breaths from their nurse made Swansea visibly hesitate. 

Daisuke took the chance, quickly scrambling over. Anya flinched at the sharp motion, teeth baring at him as her face twisted uncomfortably. “Hey, hey— you, y-you gotta like, like breath, Anya!”

Her eyes flicked to him, one ear pricking towards him as the other kept pointed in Swansea’s direction. Daisuke began to take deep, exaggerated breaths as he held his hands out palm-side towards her. He could see how her gaze darted about, tears still falling thickly down her face before she began to mimic him.

He smiled, just slightly, nodding encouragingly. “Yeah, that’s awesome, dude! Epic!”

She laughed, it was a broken sound, but it was something. Daisuke brightened, even more so when she shakily reached out her hands to take ahold of his. He clasped her hands gently, rubbing his thumbs against the backs of her hands.

Oh weeeird, he could feel her skin and bones and stuff shifting under his touch, fur pricking at his hands before falling away and repeating. Dude, she must’ve been getting so tired…

“What…” They both flinched as Swansea spoke, voice hesitating before he spoke on, “What the fuck happened?”

Anya sniffled and Daisuke moved to pull her into a hug, holding her protectively as he shot a glare towards his boss. “Ask Jimmy! Anya’s cool, she wouldn’t do something like that just randomly, dude!”

Swansea looked about ready to argue, though his expression softened just a fraction as he looked at Anya. The mechanic’s expression darkened as he turned away. Daisuke could just barely hear the man growl under his breath, “The hell that idiot do…”

With a sigh of relief, Daisuke looked back to Anya, who was looking to slowly be getting her shifting under control again. He smiled at her before chirping, “You know, I’ve like totally thought about biting Jimmy before!”

His friend gave a sharp snort, “W-what?”

“Yeah, though I bet he tastes like… suuuuuper gross!”

Anya buried her face into his shoulder as she gave a few weak laughs, “I-I— I really w-want to rinse my, my mouth out…”

“Okay! Here, I’ll grab your cup from the counter, okay?”

She nodded, reluctantly letting go as she moved to wipe at her face instead, looking between forms now. Daisuke moved to get her that cup of water.

~

Anya spit into the sink again, baring her teeth as she brushed them again, anything to get that awful taste out of her mouth. Daisuke was stood leaned against her countertop, notably between her and the bathroom door.

She never really thought of her friend as the protective kind, admittedly having thought he was a bit more of a coward because of how much of a people-pleaser he could be. Apparently she’d been quite wrong.

Anya took a swig from the cup of water sat infront of her, rinsing before spitting once more. She exhaled heavily, pinching a hand over her muzzle, “Sorry.”

Her friend glanced to her, “Whuh?”

She cringed, gesturing with her hands, “I-I didn’t— I don’t, he—“

“Anya?”

The woman looked away as she hugged herself, “I… I just d-didn’t know what else to do… h-he had me backed into a, a corner!”

“…why was he in you room?”

Anya shivered, hackles raising, “I… don’t know.”

Daisuke glanced away, chewing on his lip a moment before looking back to her. “That’s scary,” he whispered.

“It was…”

He hugged her, burying his face into her shoulder, he barely seemed to mind her trembling. Anya teared up again, hugging him tightly in turn.

~

Daisuke sat next to Anya with his arms crossed as Curly and Swansea sat across the table, Swansea looking annoyed while the captain just looked tired. 

“So, what happened, excatly?” Curly finally asked, rubbing his knuckles as he didn’t quite look at anyone in particular.

Anya shifted in her seat, holding an ice pack to her face, “Jimmy came into my room. I-I don’t, I don’t know why, I was in the bathroom getting ready to go to bed a-and, and he just—“ Daisuke could see her draw her lips back, baring her teeth a moment— “He… he backed me into, uh, into the corner of the, t-the bathroom?”

“Mhm. And that’s when you, ehm, uh, bit him?”

His friend cringed before nodding, “Yes.”

Daisuke leaned against her, only feeling a bit victorious when she relaxed against him in turn. Curly sighed, placing a hand over his mouth with a furrowed brow, “Bloody hell.”

Swansea spoke up, “He’s claiming it was some kinda misunderstanding, that you attacked him outta the blue.” Anya frowned, Daisuke giving his boss a look. The older man huffed, raising his hands, “Look, I’m just telling you what was said. We don’t excatly got cameras on this tin can so its a damned he-said-she-said.”

Anya shifted in her seat, wringing her hands together before Curly spoke up softly. “I… don’t know what to think about this, but I don’t doubt you were in the mindset that you were in danger… I just, ah, well…”

“You don’t believe me, do you?” She whispered, eyes widening.

Curly winced, “I don’t know what to think, look just… give me some time to figure out what we’re going to do next, yeah?”

The woman frowned, glancing down at her own lap before sighing. She hated this position she’d been forced into, she really did.

“…try to get some sleep, yeah?” Curly sighed, tapping the table with his fingers, “That goes for you, too, Daisuke and Swans.”

Anya looked back up, Curly briefly meeting her eye before looking away to the side.

“And what the fuck do you think you’re doing,” Swansea pressed with a scowl.

“Try to get some fucking answers out of Jimmy,” the captain snapped back, voice raising, “Now do I got to bloody repeat myself?”

Swansea raised his brows before placing his hands up in surrender, “Jesus-fucking-Christ, Curly, alright.”

Curly pinched his brow, moving to push himself to stand, “My apologies. Now if you’ll excuse me…” He left without another word and without giving any of them another glance.

Daisuke spoke up, making the other two jump, “Okay! Night!” He gestured for Anya to follow him, and after a moment to glance warily at Swansea, she did so without question.

The intern walked along as cheerfully as he could manage before looking to her with a smile, “We can have a sleepover in my room, cool right?”

The woman gave a little smile, admittedly not wanting to be alone right now. “That sounds nice…”

The smile he gave her was beaming.

~

Curly chewed on his lip thoughtfully as he walked down to the medbay, giving a stifled sigh as he saw Jimmy sat on the medical table. When he’d been woken up about ‘an incident,’ Curly hadn’t excatly thought that it would be because Anya fucking tore up Jimmy’s arm with her bloody damn teeth.

He thought it’d be something stupid like someone tripped into a wall while on the way to the bathroom. Now, not only did he have to figure what the hell had even happened, but seeing as they were still a couple months out until port, whatever choice he’d have to make would have to stick for that long. Christ, one day! That’s all he wanted, one fucking day without some new bullshit!

Curly gave an absent knock against the medbay door as he walked in, glancing to Jimmy with a sigh. “How’s the arm?”

His copilot glanced up before giving a scowl, “Fucking hurts.”

He snorted, “Alright, I’ll admit, that was a stupid question. Want to tell me what happened again?”

Jimmy’s scowl deepened, “I told you what happened, mixed up the fucking rooms, then that pyscho-bitch tore me up when I went into the bathroom!”

“Wha—“

“That’s all that happened!” The brunet contuined with a snarl, “Now why the hell is one of those fucking things on our fucking ship!?”

“…Anya got on here because she worked to get on here,” he said softly, giving Jimmy a sharp look.

“It nearly took my arm off!”

“We both know that’s not true,” Curly sighed, sitting down next to the brunet, “Sure, it’s a bloody deep bite, but it’s not your arm being torn off.”

“You still didn’t answer my fucking question,” of course Jimmy would pull this back around on him, “Why is there a fucking animal on our ship!”

Curly was tired. Tired and cranky and he really did not care for the other man’s attitude right now.

“Jimmy?”

“What!?”

“Shut the fuck up, yeah?” The brunet tensed before looking at him sharply. Curly spoke on before the man could say something, “I’m getting really fed the hell up with you, I’m trying to listen to both sides here, but you know how this bloody damn looks, you absolute twat!?”

The copilot looked taken aback, blinking as he opened and closed his mouth.

Curly bulldozed along, throwing a hand up as he stood, “You— a full grown fucking man thats worked on this ship for years— just so happens to one day walk into the wrong bloody room, the one room on this fucking ship with a young woman there, who you walked in on while she was in the bathroom getting readied for bed! A woman who you then fucking punched in the face after she panicked!”

He paced sharply, “You aren’t fucking irreplacable, Jimmy! Now toss in this crap, you being disrespectful and demeaning towards another crew member infront of your superior officer!? I’m not going to keep defending your ass if this is the shit you want to try’n’bloody pull! Do you understand!?”

Jimmy leaned away, looking baffled, “The hell you just say—“

“Shut your fucking mouth, Jimmy, so help me, God.” The brunet’s mouth snapped shut with an insulted sniff. “Thank you. Now, you’re going to stay in your room until we reach port, I do not want you anywhere near Anya, your meals will be brought to you, and you will be escorted out if for some reason I need you.”

He could see the way the brunet trembled with rage. 

“If you try and go behind my back, I swear I’ll use that damn rope in the cockpit and throw you into a storage closet. When we reach port, you can tell your story to security there. I am so fucking tired Jimmy. I am tired of your bullshit and I am tired of trying to figure this crap out. Now get the hell out of my sight.”

The bastard moved to stagger to his feet, shock and rage fighting for place on his face before Jimmy stormed out the room. Curly ignored the way the copilot just had to go and shove past him on the way out.

He was going back to bloody bed.

~

Anya woke up to Daisuke using her as a pillow, the woman yawning widely as she stretched out her paws. She settled back, huffing before speaking up softly, “Daisuke?”

The guy mumbled but didn’t really respond so she figured he was mostly still asleep. She chuckled, looking over at her friend. His face was practically shoved into her fur and she mused how he might possibly wake up with some of it in his mouth. The guy had a habit of sleeping with his mouth open sometimes, afterall.

Anya yawned again before relaxing, closing her eyes and deciding that she’d sleep in this morning. 

~

Daisuke woke up with fur in his mouth, groggily coming to before making a face as he sat upright. He stuck his tongue out and made a face, “Wha…?”

It took a moment for him to realize it was Anya’s fur and he made an even bigger face. “Anyyyaaaaaaaaa,” he whined, seeing his friend look over with a tired hum, “Your fur’s in my mouuuuuuttthhhhhhhhhh.”

The woman laughed at him, rolling over to give him a look, “You sleep with your mouth open, what did you expect?”

He pouted, “That’s so grosssssss!”

She gave a chuckle, stretching her paws out and playfully bapping him in the face with her front legs. “Sounds like a you problem.”

Daisuke snorted, pausing to pull out another hair from his mouth, “Is this what cats feel like?”

“…pfff— what?”

He shrugged, rubbing at an eye. Anya yawned and he followed suit, though hers was much more impressive with how wide her jaws could open and all her sharp teeth. “Yeaaaah, man, like. Cause cats lick themselves, so like, they get all that hair in their mouth?”

“That’s why they cough up hairballs,” his friend nodded, “They end up swallowing much of that hair when they groom themselves.”

“…do you think I’ll cough up a hairball?”

Anya burst out into laughter, giving him a big wolfy grin, “Guess we’ll have to find out and see?” Her short tail wagged sharply and he playfully shoved at her.

“ANYAAAAAAAAA!”

“What!?” She laughed.

“Cmon, dude! I can’t have hairballs because of your fuzzbutt!!!!”

“Not my fault!” 

“Uh— yeah it is!”

“Shut up,” she giggled, placing a big paw in his face, Daisuke batting at the limb. “Hush, nerd.”

“Whuh— I’m not!!!”

“Nerd,” Anya grinned toothily, tail wagging harder.

Daisuke couldn’t fight back a smile, just moving to tackle his friend and try to wrestle her wolfy self.

Anya yelped, “Hey! It’s too early for this!”

He didn’t care, trying to get her into a headlock until she began to giggle again, playfully opening her mouth wide with a faux growl. “Daisuke!”

“Anya!” He snickered, laying his head on top of hers before using both hands to mess up her fur.

It was truly a battle of the ages, mhmmm! Very gorey! Very brutal!

~

It would be sometime until the crew was moving up and about, Curly sat alone at the dining table with his face in his hands for at least an hour. The captain was beginning to realize all he’d said last night and he couldn’t fight the feeling he’d either been too harsh, or perhaps, not harsh enough.

It was very much so making it diffcult to enjoy his cup of coffee, that’s for fucking sure. The man jumped when he heard two voices approaching, looking up as he dragged a hand down his face.

As expected, it was Anya and Daisuke. The former was curiously shifted into a midform while the later had his hibiscus overshirt tied around his waist instead of sat over his uniform as usual.

Curly didn’t excatly care to question either, merely placing his face back into his hands with a grumbled morning when one or the other said morning in passing.

He knew he’d eventually have to talk with Anya in depth, have that conversation he really was dreading. Christ, he had to apologize to her as well, and then he’d have to talk to Swansea and he knew for a fact the man would be pissed when he asked him to catch up on some of Jimmy’s duties, but just, Curly couldn’t do that himself, unless—

“Captain?” The man jumped, straightening up with a snort. He looked up and saw Daisuke standing there with his head cocked to the side, the guy fiddling with his rings.

“Uh— sorry, what was it, lad?”

“You want some breakfast? Me and Anya are making a sorta biscuits and gravy kinda thing…?”

He nodded softly, giving a cheap excuse of a smile, “Cheers, yeah, that’d be a right delight. Much appreciated.”

The intern nodded, giving an awkward thumbs up before heading over to where Anya was already getting the ingredients out.

Curly hummed, he’d bother Anya after breakfast, let the lass breath and enjoy her meal before getting into the gritty details. Yeah, yeah that sounded like a plan. For now though… maybe he could catch up on a short nap, folding his arms on the table before burying his face into them.

Chapter Text

Curly approached Anya after breakfast, with a sigh and a quiet voice. “Would you mind if I stole you for a chat real quick?”

She shared a brief glance with Daisuke, who’d been lingering nearby after Swansea had headed off to do what he’d had planned that day. Curly figured he’d track the mechanic down later, possibly right after getting this damned report written up.

The woman looked to him, fidgeting with her fingers a moment before giving a light nod. “Okay.” She turned and gave Daisuke a smile, the intern giving them both an uncertain glance before he weakly returned the gesture. 

“I’ll… uh, go see what Swansea needs me to do!” The guy chirped before heading off, Anya and Curly watching after him before regarding one another.

He attempted a smile, “I… I hope I’m not taking up too much of your time, I—“

“What is it, Captain?” She interrupted with a tired stare.

“…just Curly, okay? I… I’d like to apologize, first off, I…” He cleared his throat, “I’m sorry, I really didn’t know how to react to last night, and— and I’m afraid that probably caused you unneeded stress…”

Anya crossed her arms with a nod, watching him open and close his mouth as he fished about for the words he had planned for this conversation. Curly’s mind came back painfully blank and he had to cover his eyes with a hand, he couldn’t stand meeting her gaze right now.

He took a deep breath in and let it out, “I, I had admittedly wanted to believe that incident had been a misunderstanding or something more innocent than what I’ve realized it actually was.”

Curly gave a strained laugh, looking away as he dragged his hand down his face, “I-I’m going to be, uh, be writing up a report for this mess, and— and I know it’s no doubt unpleasant, b-but I need you to tell everything that happened, every l-little detail, o-okay?”

“Are you… you’re reporting Jimmy…?”

He nodded, cringing as he rubbed at his arm, “I… yes, I— I, I’ve, I…” He waved his other hand, “Christ, s-sorry— I never w-would have thought that, how do-does someone…!?” He made a frustrated noise, clearing his throat.

“…you b-believe me?” Her voice had softened to a whisper.

Curly could only nod as the lump in his throat grew. “…nothing guiltless bout walking in on a lass in her room and cornering her.” He sighed heavily, covering his mouth with a hand, “Just… j-just hell… sorry this happened—“

He jumped a touch when she pulled him into a hug, Curly stiffening before hesitatingly returning the gesture. She was beginning to shake and while he admittedly would’ve liked a heads up first, she clearly needed this.

He let her hug him for as long as she needed.

~

When they finally sat down to write the report, Anya felt disconnected from her own body. Replaying every second, every moment, letting the words flow from her mouth as Curly wrote it all down. She didn’t even shed a tear, voice as level as she could manage it.

It felt strange, but she had to do this, get it out, then she could properly process it as time went on.

The woman nodded softly, “And… and that’s about when Daisuke came in and helped me calm down. Do, ah, you need me to talk about that as well or—“

“No, no, you’re fine.” Curly said quickly, tears pricking his eyes and voice tense. She was a bit suprised about how worked up he was getting about this, though she supposed in a sense she could understand.

It wasn’t excatly a pleasant situation any way you looked at it, that’s for certain. 

“I’ll, I’ll go ahead and send a copy of this to the port,” Curly nodded, the man taking a moment to let out a shaky breath, “Christ. Well, at the very least, he isn’t going to be leaving his room until we get there, if that’s any comfort.”

“What do you mean?” Her ears pricked with interest as she leaned against the table.

“Oh— uh, I thought I mentioned that, bloody hell I’m more all over the place than I thought, ha! Well, ah, I kinda have ordered him to stay in his room for the remainder of the trip, and seeing as he looked like a kicked dog—“ He cut himself off, glancing at her a moment. “…that’s not offensive, is it?”

It took her a moment to process what he meant. When it clicked, Anya gave a startled laugh, waving him off quickly, “No, I’m not even that closely related to canines! Or primates, more so convergent evolution…” He blinked at her blankly a moment and she stumbled on, “Uh, sorry, that’s not important, um. But, heh, not offensive at all.”

The captain gave a snort, opening and closing his mouth a moment. He rubbed at the back of his neck with a nod, “Great, cheers, well then, as I was saying, told him to stay in his room for the rest of the trip unless otherwise instructed.”

Curly leaned back in his chair, looking off to the side as his eyes narrowed. “Though seeing as I also threatened to toss him in a storage closet if he tried anything… eh, he probably won’t test it. But I’ll have to talk with Swansea and…” He trailed off, mumbling lowly to himself.

Anya cocked her head, gently clearing her throat. “Captain?”

He blinked sharply and looked back over, meeting her eye a moment before his gaze slid away, “Sorry, ah… you can just call me Curly, yeah?”

“Force of habit,” she nodded. “…can I do anything to help?”

He glanced at her, “Oh, uh, no, no— you’re fine, I was just gonna split duties with Swansea and figure that—“

“That’s not what I meant,” she said gently.

“What— then, sorry— what do you mean excatly?” Curly asked with a furrowed brow.

“Curly. You just found out some upsetting things about a person who was close to you, if you’re going to listen to me and help me, then you should let me help you, too.”

The captain swallowed thickly, covering his eyes with a bitter laugh, “Anya, you’re too kind, I’ll be fine—“

“But are you fine now?” She leaned back with a sigh, “Curly… I want to trust you’ll actually help out, but I don’t want to keep doing this whole…” She waved a hand a moment before shaking her head. “Just. How can I talk to someone earnestly when I still don’t even know who you are?”

“…course you know me, Captain Curly, heh, yeah?”

“We both know that’s not what I meant.”

The man smiled and it was a tired thing. “Backing me into a corner here?”

“You don’t exactly make talking to you easy,” she reminded.”

Curly tsked, “I suppose you got me there… I don’t know what I’m supposed to do or feel, if I’m being honest.”

She perked up.

“Just. I’m worn out. Drained. And the one last thing I had has burnt to a crisp in my fingers, and I can’t help but wonder… were those burns always there? Did I just have a moment where I finally saw them? I… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry that something like this almost happened on this ship.”

Anya rubbed at a shoulder with a nod, “It isn’t your fault—“

“Standing by doesn’t make you innocent,” he muttered, folding his arms.

She hummed, watching him a moment. When she next spoke, Anya offered him a weak smile, “…you want some tea while we talk?”

“Please.” He dragged a hand down his face as he stared down at the written report. The woman nodded and went to fix them both a cup.

~

The tea was nice, Curly sipping at his cup as he let the heat warm his hands. “Anya?”

She glanced up at him, “Hm?”

“…if you feel like something’s wrong or you’re worried about anyone, just say the word, yeah?”

She hesitated before smiling, “Okay. I appreciate that.” The smile slipped and she glanced away, rubbing the back of her neck. “I do have a question…”

“About what?” He took another small sip from his mug.

“You, well, I couldn’t help but notice you didn’t seem all that surprised to find out I’m not exactly… uhm…”

“Human?” Curly mused, giving a soft chuckle when she nodded. “I read over you and Daisuke’s files before you came aboard.”

 “Ah.” Anya nodded, opening and closing her mouth before shaking her head gently. “And it doesn’t… bother you?”

“Should it?”

“I suppose not.” She brushed her hair back, brow furrowing. “Ca—Curly?”

“Mm?”

“Are you… are you sure Jimmy’s not going to be a problem anymore?”

He looked to her and met her gaze purposefully for the first time. He held her eye before speaking firmly, “If he tries anything, you can very well go for his fuckin’ throat next time. Maybe then it’ll finally get through that thick skull all those years of me trying to get him to realize his bloody damn actions can and do have consequences.”

She stared at him, eyes wide. “Oh.”

Curly looked away, “Was, ah, was that a bit too much? Sorry, I tend to lose my filter when I get worked up like this, just, ah—“

Her hand gently patted his and he barely managed not to flinch. “I… I can understand the anger, Curly.”

He nodded shortly.

“I’d rather not, er, do something extreme about this,” she took her hand back as she began to fiddle with her fingers. “Just, maybe someone to keep an eye on his door?”

“Course,” he replied. He could do that, yeah, he could very well do that. He let out a sigh, “That won’t be all that difficult.”

“Thank you, well. I, well, I suppose I’ve taken up enough of your time, I should get back to work.”

Curly checked the nearest clock with a tired hum, “And I need to go talk to Swans, thank you for your time, Anya.”

With a little nod, the woman got up and headed off, leaving the blond to sit there a moment. The smile he had managed slipped from his lips as he dragged a hand sharply through his hair. A couple months until port, Christ. This was going to be a pain, especially now that he’d be shouldering much of Jimmy’s responsibilities now.

With a heavy sigh, the captain got up to figure out the rest of this shitshow.

~

Daisuke eyed Swansea as they worked, the boss had been pretty quiet today and it was starting to make him nervous. Swansea wasn’t excatly quiet, the man was almost always grumbling about something, clearing his throat here and there, and he carried a hell of a presence with him when he made his way around the ship.

Swansea like really knew his stuff and he was not shy about saying so, but no matter what questions Daisuke had asked or any teasing remarks he made that would have at least gotten the technician to bite back before, Swansea just. Didn’t.

He’d huff, mumble for him to be quiet, and just… go back to being weird. Then Curly showed up, dragged the boss aside for a talk, and he came back with barely even a sigh.

Swansea loved complaining about the captain wasting his time! And he just, didn’t even say a single thing! 

Daisuke huffed, moving to try and balance the screwdriver he had been holding on his nose. He kept the eye next to the part that could stab him closed, speaking up as he messed around.

“Hey, boss?”

“Mm.” Not even an annoyed ‘what!?’ Just ‘mm.’ Jeez, this was like bad, wasn’t it? 

“…Swansea?”

That got his attention. The man looked up with a raised brow, pausing to snap, “Don’t do that with the damn screwdriver, brat, you tryin’ stab an eye out?”

Daisuke rolled his eyes, snatching the awkwardly balanced tool from his face as he took the chance to stare Swansea dead in the eyes, “You okay, dude?”

The older blinked, “What?”

This wasn’t their usual song and dance. Swansea would tell him to do something, Daisuke would get bored and fuck around, Swansea would snap at him, and then they’d do some work while making jabs back and forth or he’d annoy the guy with questions. 

Daisuke was glad that this had finally gotten the boss’ attention. He crossed his arms, giving the mechanic a look. “You’re being super duper weird, like, I’m dumb sometimes, but I’m not stupid, man. What’s bothering you, you’re kinda freaking me out.”

Swansea stared at him like he’d grown a second head, which could be kinda funny now that he thought about it. If he had two heads, would that be good for multitasking or would he just get distracted twice as much? Oh, then he’d have to cut holes into all his shirts for head nombre dos— Daisuke looked quickly back to Swansea.

Don’t get distracted! Focus! Yeah! 

“…you didn’t have a stroke or something, right? I mean, I know you’re totally old but—“

“Oh, fuck off, kid.” The mechanic huffed, grunting as he stood up from his work, pinching his brow. “Let me do my work and shut up—“

“Nope!” He chirped, arms still crossed.

Swansea stared, “The hell you just say to me?”

“Noooooope! Nopetity-nope-nope-nope!”

“…the hell is wrong with you?”

“I asked that question first,” Daisuke said with a smug grin. He totally had good ole hardass Swansea back!

“Bah,” the man waved a hand, “I don’t know what you’re talkin bout—“

“Is it about Anya and Jimmy?” He asked innocently. The way the boss grimaced said everything. “Well…?”

“None of your damned busin—“

“It is when you’re being weird about it. Besides, Anya’s my friend and you’ve known Jimmy for like, a while, so like, that kinda involves both of us. And then we’ve still got a couple months to go and that just,” he blew a raspberry with a shrug. “Me and Anya are sharing a room now, by the way, so there’s that, and like, a pity I don’t have my bat on me, buuuuuuut, I still got a good arm!”

He grinned, raising his brows at the older man as Swansea stared at him. The mechanic sighed and Daisuke knew he’d finally got him. “Jesus Christ, you aren’t gonna shut up bout this, are ya?”

Daisuke hummed with a shurg.

“Annoying dumbass kid,” the boss grumbled, pausing to sigh, “I… won’t deny that Jimbo’s always had a weird vibe bout him, but just. Christ.” He rubbed at his face and Daisuke made a listening hum. “He ain’t… he ain’t bothered you either, has he?”

“Who, Jimmy?”

“Mmphm.”

“Nah, not really, I mean, I thought we were chill, but not anymore. Which… have you seen him at all today? Like, I haven’t seen him and it’s kinda creeping me out like, seriously.”

“Eh, Cap done ordered the bastard to stay in his room til we hit port, says he’s gonna be keepin an eye on him when he can. So, just, there’s that whole new bullcrap.”

Daisuke felt himself relax a bit, looking down at his rings, mumbling softly to himself “And Anya’s got a lock on the medbay and there’s three of us besides her… and Jimmy looked like he was gonna totally piss himself after getting bitten… so… yeah… maybe…”

He perked his head back up and grinned, “Epic.”

Swansea stared at him, brow furrowed still, as if just noticing something. “…so you knew about her whole… thing, huh?”

“What thingy?”

“The hell you think!? The werewolf crap!”

“Ohhhhhhh, yeah totally.” Daisuke tilted his head to the other side, squinting. “You’re not like… specist…? Right?”

Swansea gave him a look like he was stupid, “I don’t give a fuck about what her deal is, I just don’t want your dumbass gettin’ bitten next if she decides to have some meltdown.”

He frowned, “It wasn’t just ‘some meltdown’ Swansea. And you fucking know it.”

The man stared at him and Daisuke stared right back. Sure, it made him totally want to hide under the blankets having a staredown with the boss, but he was not going to let Anya be dishonored like this! Nope-a-rooo!

“…it wasn’t was it,” Swansea sighed, dragging his hands down his face as he leaned back against the wall, suddenly looking all his years. 

“No, it wasn’t.” He echoed, rubbing an arm. “This like, super sucks, right?”

Swansea snorted, shaking his head, “A right shitshow.”

“You can say that again!” Daisuke laughed, shifting from one foot to the other, “Hey… if you don’t need me for much, can I go check on her?”

The boss grunted, waving him off without another word. Daisuke smiled, just a bit. Then he gave a playful salute and said cheerfully, “Don’t miss me too much, boss!”

The mechanic rolled his eyes and turned away back to his work, already starting to grumble under his breath. It made him relax a bit before he went off to the medbay to check on how Anya was doing.

~

Anya was in halfway form when Daisuke knocked on the door and gave a cheerful ‘knock knock!’ She smiled faintly, opening the door for him as she cocked her head to the side, “Hey, I thought you and Swansea had work to do?”

“Pssshhhh, boss totally got it covered, I wanted to like hang out, if that’s cool?” He gave her what she was fairly certain was supposed to be his version of puppy eyes, “Pweaaseeee?”

She snorted, ignoring how her tail wagged just a bit in her growing amusement. “Hmmm, I dunno?” She playfully rubbed her chin, wrinkling her snout at him.

Daisuke half-pouted, “Oh, c’mon! I’ll… I’ll like let you pick the next game for game night?”

Her ears pricked, “Ohhhh?”

“Uh-huh, uh-huh.”

“You drive a hard bargain,” she teased, moving to wave him in, padding back over to her desk so she could set her textbooks back where they belonged. She figured it’d be diffcult to keep studying with her friend around. He could be very distracting even if he didn’t attend to be. 

Funnily enough, he was already wandering around, poking and prodding things. “You can’t sit still, can you?”

“That’s boring,” he mused before looking at her a moment. Then he walked over, squishing her face, “Anya.”

“Hm?” She stuck her tongue out at him.

“Your fur is like, super duper pretty, dude.”

“Thanks,” she mused. “Is that why you’re squishing my face?”

“No. Doin’ it just cause I can.”

“You’re so weird,” Anya giggled, worming out of his hold as she ruffled her pawed hands through her fur and settled it back down.

“That’s why we’re besties, two weirdos in space.”

She looked at him before grabbing him in a headlock and messing up his hair.

~

Jimmy stared at the door, paced around his room, stared at the door, paced, stared, paced— over and over and over until he eventually managed to convince himself to stalk over and press his ear to listen.

He licked at his lips, hearing nothing. Then he turned and began to pace again. His arm burned. His fingers pulling at the bandages wrapping about the limb, around that monster’s bite. The brunet growled under his breath, fingers tightening before he glared at the door again.

Curly didn’t know what he was fucking talking about. Him and ‘poor’ fucking Anya were just going to have a lil chit-chat last night, get some things set straight before she revealed her true face. 

A demon. That’s what she fucking was. He’d seen the way she held herself, like she was worth a single damn, like she was better than them. That damned bitch. 

He dragged his hands through his hair roughly, two months. He could do that just fine. Maybe Curly would get his head sat on straight during that time, the moron.

Jimmy glanced at the door again, shuddering as he remembered those teeth. Its face, the way flesh twisted and changed before his very eyes. He swallowed thickly and kept pacing. 

~

Anya had relaxed a lot by dinner, resting her head on her arms as she listened to Curly and Daisuke bicker about the proper spelling for color (or colour as Curly argued) of all things, she honestly wasn’t sure how in the world they had even gotten into the debate in the first place.

She wouldn’t lie and say she wasn’t invested though, an amused smile tugging at her lips as Swansea grumbled to himself from where he was getting food prepped.

Her eyes trailed to that empty chair and she let out a little huff. So far, so good. The woman still felt tense, still felt her stomach sink at the thought of going back to her own room, but she had a feeling she’d be okay. And hopefully she wouldn’t have to deal with the copilot again and after they got to port, she wouldn’t have to see him for ages to come.

Anya glanced up as Daisuke said her name, looking to her desperately, “Anyaaa, tell him he’s wrong!”

She rolled her eyes, Curly giving an offended tsk as he stared narrowly at their intern before giving her a pleading look of his own.

“You’re both correct,” she snorted, “You know that, right?”

The two turned to stare at one another before they glanced back to her, Anya bursting into laughter as she leaned back in her chair.