and the stars in their orbits shone pale through the lightof the brighter, colder moon

At first Nadya wasn't sure Tobias understood or would do what she asked but soon enough the glaze entered his eyes which she knew so well. The feline within took over, contorting his body until he was loping away on all fours. She saw to it that Tobias made it to the window before moving over to pick up his pants. Nadya leaned back against the tree, the rough bark pressing harshly into her back through the thin fabric of her dress. Her own urge to change tickled the back of her mind causing Nadya to scratch absently at her arm as she worked to push it down. The rolling feeling in her stomach was much like a hunger pain but she knew it was her organs starting to prepare. Nadya flinched at a single jolt of pain and sharp taste of copper entered her mouth, finding that she had bit her tongue which had halted her body from changing.



Surely Tobias should be getting to the door soon. Nadya's brows furrowed in worry for the young man even though she knew he would be able to handle anything inside. She didn't fully comprehend the animal side of Tobias that became easily distracted and there were probably plenty of shiny objects inside. She left the shade from the tree though it was welcome cover more from any passerby than the sun. Her heightened senses kicked in as she drew to the front stoop of the apartment. The young Were's sensitive hearing caught the light hiss of a distant cicadae, the chirping of hatchling birds, and the scuffle of a squirrel scratching at the ground in the bushes, but she didn't catch anything from inside.



"Tobias?"



Nadya didn't dare raise her voice over a soft whisper since she didn't want to call any attention to what they were doing from the neighbors. She pressed her ear to the warm wooden door briefly but gave up in favor of sitting on the stoop to wait. The light clinking rattle of the metal doorknob caused Nadya to twist about and stare at the door expecting it to simply open like a normal door would. She also had expected Tobias to shift back to his human form to accomplish such a task. There was a pause and Nadya figured Tobias had just gotten confused and was waiting for instructions. She was more than happy to walk him through how to unlock it, her lips parting in anticipation but quickly snapped shut. The door gave a groan of protest as the fiber of the wood splintered and gave way at the hinges. Nadya leapt up for surely she would have been squished if she hadn't as the door came down with a deafening crash on the front stoop. Her chocolate eyes held nothing but surprise at the sight of the large feline atop the damaged wood. It took a moment for her disbelief to dissolve enough order to find her voice again.



"Get up! Get up get up get up!"



Her tone was a controlled hiss of a command to try not to yell and alert the neighbors if they hadn't already heard the commotion already. The last thing they needed were neighbors rushing out, questioning them, or calling the police. Nadya hurried into the apartment, tossing her backpack and his pants down without a care as to where they landed. The only thought she had was to get Tobias off that door and out of sight. Ignoring the possible consequences to her actions the young girl reached out and pushed the feline to get him up off the door and into the apartment. If he didn't recoil from her touch alone then he would hopefully get the hint and at least move. She had to get the door back up and at least propped into position before anyone saw. She wasn't as strong as the male counterpart of her species but she was definitely stronger than a human. The trouble with getting the door back up was the awkwardness of its size as her fingers fumbled trying to get a proper hold on it.



"The door needs to be back up. If anyone sees this then we'll get in trouble. You can't just go breaking things!"