Pending

 The Welkie 

You're on the bus.

It's a long ride from this side of town to your house, so your brain

has helpfully decided to zone out the whole way there.

Thick pine trees and houses you've seen a billion times before

whip past the window - your forehead sticking to the pane.

When the bus picks up more passengers you're so distracted

that the person siding up next to you goes unnoticed, until a chunky

backpack drops into the empty seat.

Your head whips around, hand hesitantly tugging at one earphone

so the music won't distract you from... whoever this is.

A blue-eyed stranger wearing a large jacket clears their throat;

their eyes shyly darting left then right. Clearly they didn't expect

you to look so frazzled.

Their freckled cheeks bundle up as they offer a tight smile.

"I.. scared the shit out of you, didn't I? Sorry."

They laugh a little. It's a laugh nobody could be angry at.

You end up talking so long that you both miss your stops.

INFO:

- Really good at acoustic guitar! But stays up playingso late their fingers get sore...

- Carry bandainds on them for sore guitar fingers- Born from a werewolf and selkie parent! Welkie knows of their heritage, and startedshifting at an early age.

- First confirmed werehybrid to have been ableto shift directly since birth.

- A bit socially clumsy, but means well.

- Big fan of anime, has a lot of posters in their room.

- Gets a whole bunch more freckles in the summer.

- Doesn't know their own strength in were-form.

- Can do a lot of underwater acrobatics!

- New in town and awkward about it.