Private The Family that Time Forgot

Dorian's head was spinning a bit as he looked back over the information he had printed out from his computer. The records he'd seen were indisputable. There was a student named Zare Blakesley who, for all accounts, was a werewolf. That couldn't be a coincidence.

But there was no record of a Zare Blakesley in the family registry. And he knew better than most that the Blakes kept really good records of their people. Especially the Blakesleys, who all had a record of why they were turned and by whom.

But there was nothing. So as much as it couldn't be a coincidence, maybe it was? Either way he had to see for himself. Asking around had eventually gotten him to the right dorm room, where he currently hesitated to knock.

Dorian steeled himself, bristling slightly as he finally got up the courage. He was an Alpha, god dammit. He had an obligation.

@Romi

Oh god fuck damn there was an entire luggage set to unpack here. Zare was definitely a... werewolf? He clearly recognized Dorian and his Alpha. But he was... holy shit he was not at all what Dorian had expected.

He was taller than Dorian by nearly two feet and was just so... inhuman looking. It brought back memories of being young and meeting Robert, seeing those jagged, terrifying teeth. Only he wasn't a little kid now and Zare was somehow less unsettling now.

"A-ah. Sorry I didn't mean to bother you. But I'm Dorian Blake and I think we might be family. Can... can we talk for a bit?"

Dorian shuffled around Zare awkwardly, feeling as small as the other werewolf didn't say he was. Some Alpha he was. He scratched at the back of his head, taking a look around the dorm room and noting just how normal it all seemed. A normal place to have a weird conversation. "Ah, yeah... I'm the new Alpha. I beat out Joseph for leadership - he didn't want to leave the Narrow Reality even though..." Even though magic was dying and their family legacy was going to slowly drain away if they stayed.

None of that was super important though, was it? Probably not. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, rocking awkwardly back and forth. What to do? What to say? "I uh... guess the first thing is to apologize. I didn't even know you were here, or else I would have reached out before we even showed up. We keep pretty good records of family but we didn't have anything on you."

Saying that aloud made him visibly cringe. For all he knew, this was some kind of messed up cover up. Something Joseph had done, maybe?

"Ah, I've heard bits and pieces yeah. So that's what happened..." Dorian frowned, glancing around for something to lean against. But he was too far from the wall or the kitchen counter so he just kind of awkwardly shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "That makes some sense then. People that were there got..." he almost said erased but that seemed rude. Was it rude to say?

Dorian settled on the arguably less awkward, "...wiped from people's memories, right? Guess that explains the records issue."

Shifting again, Dorian felt himself losing the thread really quickly. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do in this situation. He could tell there was some kind of tension between himself and Zare, but he couldn't pin down what it was. Was this a prodigal... cousin... moment? Was he about to be told to fuck off?

"So... what do we do from here? I mean - what do you want?"

"I can," Dorian said almost immediately, his brow furrowing intensely. Joseph had rubbed him the wrong way for a while now, but he'd always just kept his mouth shut because what could he really do? Zare's posturing into a more submissive position wasn't lost on Dorian, but he didn't reinforce it. Instead he also took a seat, giving enough space so that Zare hopefully didn't feel smothered but close enough to try and... do something. Dorian wanted to be a more empathetic Alpha, one who regarded his pack as people as much as wolves. But he had no freakin clue how to do that.

"Regardless of your circumstances, you're still supposed to be family and however you were treated isn't cool. Joseph was like that with everything: typical boomer shit, stuck in the past. Right now we're living a bit scattered. We have a house in the city, but some family are living on campus. I'd like for us to get the money together to get a place out near the farms so we have room for everyone, but that feels like it's a ways off right now."

He was rambling, his own insecurity about whether he had done the right thing making him talk more than necessary. Dorian recognized this and tried to pull back slightly, chewing on his thumb nail absentmindedly.

"I dunno. I mean, of course you're welcome to stay with us if you like. We've got money to take care of most things we need right now and a lot of the older pack members are getting into jobs to help keep us from running out. But like, I also get it if that would be too much for you. It's not like, an order. Just an offer."