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[Deleted]

Lang Johnson was many things, religious, bisexual, fairly intelligent, stubborn, and for the most part largely human. Though perhaps the last one was using human in an unconventional way, quite possibly the most important thing that he was (at least to him) was that he was back home. It was odd to think of a large T-shaped tower as a place to call home. Let alone one filled with teens possibly as abnormal as him. Yet here he was, home. In a place he felt he belonged and was welcomed.

It felt good.

The scruffy haired and tanned skin kid sighed from under his hood and pulled open the door with a whisper of "Uwelugv" and a small bit of will. The werewolf like creature felt a swell of warmth and energy fill him. Just as it felt like it was about to spill forth a blueish white energy spread from his heart out. It coated his body under his clothes completely before shifting and pushing out into a decidedly more lupine form.

In a sudden burst of energy, the boy was left with the visage of a scruffy blue and white furred wolf man with terrible fangs and razor claws. Though the fearsome visage was somewhat spoiled by the appearance of rectangular rimmed glasses, flannel, and a pair of bags.

"I'm back! I guess." he says in a loud tone hoping someone was home. Nervously in his hand the Titan fiddled with his communicator and pushed down his sleeve over some bandages to hide them. "Anyone here?"

A reminder of his trip to Seattle. It would go away eventually. He hoped at least. it was a wound that his healing just would not work on. It would take time, as time, as we all know heals wounds. Even literal ones.

[Silv]

Someone was in the lobby. The sensors were rarely wrong. The lobby was also, rarely used. Being the team detective, Robin decided he would go and investigate. It wasn't as though he had anything better to do. Especially since they were insisting that he stay in the tower until he'd managed to give his body enough time to heal. One of the things Robin hated most about being human was that he was both the slowest and most fragile member of the core team. At least, spread across the Titans, he had Speedy and Batgirl to be sad sacks of superheroes with. Not that it made it much better. The elevator door opened with a ding and a wooshing noise. The Boy Wonder wandered out into the lobby. That was when he saw Ghostdance. His masked eyes widened in surprise before his face broadened into a smile. “Ghostdance!” he greeted the wolfman, moving forward more quickly, though there was something off about his breathing. “How'd your mission go?” even though it wasn't a Titan's mission the boy was still interested. Then he remembered there was more to life than missions. “How are you? The others will be excited to see you.”

[Deleted]

Ghostdance flickered his white tipped ears at the sound of gears and approaching mechanics. The wolf-like being let a toothpick hang limply from his muzzle. He was ready to pounce or dive for cover at a moments notice. His muscles tensed and readied themselves to uncoil in a show of predator strength and speed. But as the door dinged open he gave a sigh of relief and felt his muscles relax into a slump like a pile of warm laundry straight from the dryer.

"Robin!" he said with a small fanged grin as his nose picked up the familiar scent of quality hair gel, antiseptic, ivory soap, and the smell of a sweat from hard work and applied effort. "Thank God it's you. I was a little worried something went wrong when I was gone. It seems a bit quiet here. Or quieter than I remember I suppose." he mumbles. "Nothin' Bad happened did it?" he quickly and apprehensively inquired of the masked acrobat.

"My mission though?" he said shrugging and shifting his backpack to a more comfortable position. "Yes! that was a success." he said quickly forcing back up a smile as he felt a hole drop out of his stomach. His eyes seemed to echo in hollowness. "Seattle was awesome. I hung out a bit with some other magic types. Went to a punk concert." he said, forcing the words out of a dry throat. "I uh, stopped a guy using the Space Needle like a big magical death cannon. That was cool." he said, maintaining his facade.

"I just wanna relax a bit now that I'm home though. Do you think they'll really be glad to see me?" he asked, his voice taking a hopeful intonation. "I brought presents n' stuff. That's traditional right?" he asked. "Or is it weird. I mean a month is a long time. But is it long enough? Is it there like a time requirement?" he asked. Despite his nervous question his fluffy tail swished low but happily.

[Silv]

Robin shrugged and glanced around the lobby. “It's usually pretty quiet down here, unless the fans barge in,” the boy said. “But most of the others are out on duty,” he made a face, clearly wishing he was with them. He gave no explanation as to why he wasn't. “They should be back soon.” He listened to GD regale his adventure with a frown. Despite what seemed to be an excellent mission, full of excitement, and one that had been successful, it didn't seem like the wolfman wanted to talk about it. That wasn't any of the Boy Wonder's business, though, so long as Ghostdance still filled out the mission brief. Robin nodded. “You've earned some time off, but I'll still need a brief of the mission for our files.” he said. Now that business was over with, the kid smiled, nodding again as GD asked uncertainly if the others would be glad to see him. “They'll be happy to see you, Ghostdance,” the boy repeated firmly. There was no question to his voice. “And everybody loves presents,” there was a mischievous tilt to his smile at that statement but then he was gesturing towards the elevator. “Come on upstairs. We can get your bags back in your room and then hang out in the common room until the others come back.” the boy offered. “You want some help?” he gestured to the bags the wolfman was burdened with.

[Deleted]

Ghostdance gave a bit of an exhausted and tinged annoyed sigh at the mention of tedious paperwork he had to look forward to. "Sure. I'll get to it in a while, probably tonight honestly. Though I am gonna put it on the record I hate but tolerate bureaucracy." The golden eyed wolf grumbled with a pat on Robins back. Casually leaning back in the elevator he raised a fuzzy brow. "I got my bags. Wado for offer though. You coming Robin, or are you about to stretch your wings?"

After receiving a satisfactory answer he sighed and rubbed on his temple tiredly. The long haired wolfman stretched out his foot and gently stomped the button for the floor of his room with the leathery padded heel of his clawed footpaw. Ghostdance slid off the headphones from this ears as he rolled his neck with a loud crack.

Out from one of the black and electric blue earmuffs poured the words;
"Do you wanna go back home?
Your animals are all alone
Oh, there's chicken waiting on the stove
And your cousin left his dvd of swinging in the 70's" In a rebelious and melodious voice.

"Oh, I should probably give you your present, huh?" he mumbled around the wooden toothpick he had been chewing on for most of the day. "Here." the said casually tossing it over to the boy wonder. "I uh...you like martial arts right? I went to see Bruce Lee's grave n' stuff. It's a book on the philosophy of Jeet kune Do by him. I thought you might find it interesting. Oh, it's signed too. That took a bit of string pulling." he said. What was odd about the present was not that it was wrapped in a Wall-mart bag but that it was indeed signed on the inner cover fresh with a marker, given that the cover was still glossy and had that new book smell the wolf man loved so much. "I wanted to thank you for being understanding about the situation. I uh, have a big responsibility outside of the Titans. It's good to know you have my back."

OOC: The song GD's listening to www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix9rAIZU_uE

[Silv]

The Boy Wonder made an amused snorting noise at Ghostdance's proclamation of his hatred toward bureaucracy. Mostly because he shared the sentiment. Their files, however, weren't solely bureaucratic in nature. Robin would often have to revisit them for clues, or to prove that his Titans were where they had said they would be to other superhero leagues paranoid about kids stepping on their toes. “It's a necessary evil,” the boy agreed with a shrug. “But those files come in handy sometimes. You have as much time as you need, but if it's not done in a week I'll start grounding you from patrols to make time for it,” he warned even though this was his standard operating procedure. When the other teen asked if he was going to fly instead of using the elevator, the boy with the bird name grinned. If he could fly, he would totally do it all the time. As it were, however, he simply nodded and followed the wolfman into the elevator. Waiting in elevators was inherently awkward. It was just a fact of life. Robin stared blankly at the door and shifted slightly, hearing the whimpering strains of Ghostdance's music through his lowered headphones. He didn't recognize the song, but then, it wasn't exactly the sort of music Robin opted to listen to. His masked gaze turned towards Ghostdance when the other boy mentioned a present, and Robin tilted his head curiously. “Huh?” he echoed the last sentiment of GD's question with a puzzled expression since he hadn't expected anything. He caught the bag-wrapped package with ease and stared down at it. “Oh, wow. You didn't have to,” he half said, half mumbled, his curiosity peaking as the wolfman reaffirmed Robin's interest in martial arts. Yeah, you could say that, he mentally agreed with a positive visual nod to the other teen. The boy's brow furrowed when Ghostdance started talking about going to Bruce Lee's grave. He peeled back the plastic Walmart bag wrapping and stared down at the brand new book in puzzlement for half a moment before he looked up at the other teen with understanding and curiosity in equal measures across his face. A dead man had signed a brand new book. While Robin was used to bizarre things, this one was pretty out there. Those must have been some strings that the wolfman had pulled. “Thank you,” Robin said genuinely, closing the cover to the book and ducking it back into it's plastic bag. He shot GD a smile. “It's great,” he assured. Then the topic switched to the other teen's responsibilities as Ghostdance. Robin's expression sobered and he nodded. “The Titans will always be there if you need us,” he reminded his friend. “Never hesitate to ask. We'll always have your back.”

[Deleted]

The furred teen gave a small shrug at the Boy Wonders response. "Yeah. I get the value of it and everything. I mean I keep a journal of stuff already. Sometimes it's just nice to have more recent info on the things I run into than the ramblings of a 16th century monk. Knowledge is power and all that. Plus I know you gotta keep the Justice League updated on our stuff, keep us nice and legal." he said with a shrug. "I'll get to the paperwork tonight. And if not, the first thing tomorrow...No need to try and ground me. I said I'll do them. I meant it too." he grumbled

The wolfman zipped up his bag as he watched Robin open his present. His huge club of a tail giving a nervous wag behind him. Like most things in the social, the supernatural being had little to no experience with. When Robin opened the package his ears were up and alert like little soldiers. "You really like it?" he asked cautiously, a flash of a fangy smile popping up.His tail making a much more enthusiastic wag and banging on the elevator walls.

Clearing his throat he grabbed his shaggy furred tail and held it still. "I know I didn't have to. But I suppose that's what makes it a gift and not a tribute." he said in a tweedish tone. "I mean...I felt like I wanted to do it I suppose. To show some appreciation. Or something like that. I don't wanna sound like a Hallmark card or anything, but it's good to know that somewhere out there there are people who worry and care about me. Even if they're not by my side. It's a nice feeling and it really helps."

The Elevator dinged and opened, letting the scruffy canine-like creature walk backwards, rubbing his head as he made his way to his room. "Nope. There was absolutely no way I could have made that sound cool. I tried so hard."

OOC: I think here would a good place for others to join in. Happy Birthday Silv

[Deleted]

Heat radiated all throughout Vincent's room as the boy heated the metals he was working with to make the shield. The core had been finished days ago, but Vincent had encountered some problems with the rest of the shield. The first attempt had simply fallen apart when he had tried to infuse his energy into it. Only the core had survived that experiment, and now Vincent knew he had to work his energy into the entire process. If he wanted the energy to remain constant without him having to charge it up, this would be the only way.

Just as he finished shaping the pieces he was working on, something pulled at the back of his mind. Vincent had spent some time setting up some enchantments on the island to buff up their security and had made adjustments so it would ignore the inhabitants of the Tower. At least the inhabitants that had been present when Vincent had done so. He set down his tools as he concentrated on the sensation of the stranger that had set foot on the island. Closing his eyes, Vincent breathed in deeply as he focused and immediately saw a friendly face flash in his mind. Excitement bubbled inside of Vincent as placed the metals in a temporal stasis so he could continue working on them later and then vanished in a cloud of silver.

Vincent reappeared in the lobby only to find the area was completely empty. He took in a deep breath and could taste that residual energy in the air. It seemed Robin had also been down here. So that meant they had taken the elevator up, and there was only one place Vincent could think of his old friend was heading to after just arriving. Vincent would beat him there and intercept him.

A snap of his fingers and a silver wave of energy washed over the boy to completely clean him up before fading into the energy. The energy rose up and phased through all the floors and manifested in the hallway in front of Ghostdance's path.

"Welcome home!" Vincent shouted as he jumped out of the silver energy towards Ghostdance. The boy aimed to envelop the other in a hug before anything else. The only problem would be if Ghostdance's reflexes kicked in, but Vincent did not care about anything like that. His friend was finally home!

[Bry]

OoC:
Okay, seriously, Sah. GD is amazing, I was laughing out loud in the grocery store. At his tail hitting the elevator, and then that last line. XDXD

BiC:
Meanwhile, back in the common room.

Breaking all of her normal habits in flawless fashion, Raven sat reading a book. Her feet were curled underneath her, and she was settled like a shadow on the couch, waiting for one of three things to happen. The book could end. She could be called away on patrol. Or she--

She could be distracted by the return of old friends.

Raven's eyes sparkled in a friendly way as she looked up from the words to the commotion in the doorway. Ghostdance, in all of his blue fluff glory, was making his way backwards into the room, tail wagging, while Robin followed him, walking as stiff as ever. She rose from her spot on the couch, letting the book stay behind and trusting it to mind its manners, and then she was making her way across the room to greet her friend.

Of course, Vincent got there first.

Raven held up walking, waiting patiently to let Vincent have his moment with the werewolf, and she stood with arms crossed and an amused tilt to her mouth in the meantime.

"Obviously," she said after a moment, low enough not to scare the crud out of anyone who hadn't noticed her, but loud enough for GD's sensitive ears to catch. "You were missed. Welcome home."

OoC:
Sooo, I'm not sure. Is GD technically a werewolf? Eh. Technicalities.

[Kenni]

Amongst his peers, one Titan on-loan from Steel City was hardly busy patrolling the streets of Jump City at the moment.

This was evidenced by the tall ginger's rising and falling breaths. Soft, metred; he had yet to tape himself sleeping and try to sell the recordings off as 'poetry', but the day was coming when the ridiculous notion might just cross his mind.

Speedy was the stuff of narcissism at its finest, conscious or not.

He was soon awake however, the yelling from the hall leading back into the Common Room unmistakable as the voice of none other than the excitable young Vincent. That kid really knew how to celebrate, whatever was going on, and so, stretching in a pair of red and yellow plaid shorts and matching, hooded blanket that served as a cape or sleeping aid (depending on your mental age), he all but flew out the door, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

His patrol shift had ended uneventfully, and he hadn't been expecting to be greeted back into the waking world anytime soon, much less to follow the noise to a welcome sight of several friends, and one he hadn't seen in what felt like forever.

Ghostdance.

As Lang's form loomed loser with each leap and bound from the still-a-bit-out-of-it Speedy, so did Vinny's. At the angle and velocity with which he propelled himself through the air in the forward pounce (like some fashion-challenged Batman descending on prey), the most likely outcome would be that he would sandwich Vin in his attempt to tackle-hug the wolfman, with no second thought for what the momentum would do to the nearby Robin.

"DOGPIIIIILE!"

And that was all she wrote.

Before impact, that is.

[Silv]

"Sorry. Occupational hazard of working with Beast Boy," Robin replied blithely as Ghostdance complained about not needing to be threatened into doing paperwork. "Thanks." Robin couldn't help but grin at the way the wolf-man's tail hit the side of the elevator when Robin reaffirmed that he did, indeed, like the gift. The grin turned into a smirk at the tribute mention. But it was also heartwarming. He knew that having friends that cared so much for him was what separated him from becoming like Slade…or even his own mentor, Batman. The boy made a snorting noise when Ghostdance mentioned not wanting to sound like a Hallmark card. Too late, he thought, his smile turning wry. "It was a good attempt," he replied with a birdlike shrug as he followed GD out of the elevator. And then suddenly there was a Vincent. The Boy Wonder wasn't entirely sure the events that happened following the sudden appearance of Vincent. It did, however, end with him being knocked to the side ungracefully with an undignified yelp as Speedy hollered something about a dogpile that he suddenly found himself caught in.

[Deleted]

OOC: Short answer?

Not technically. I try to avoid the word in my own post for this reason. It does make it challanging though.

There are many reasons I say this. The first being that he is not technically human and never was. Not that the blue furred brawler knows (though he does suspect it glummly). It makes the "were" part of werewolf kinda hard.

The second is that while the idea of shapeshifters is near universal, especially lupine ones due to the fact that they once held the second largest terrestrial territory of any mammal behind humans, he doesn't fit my definition of a werewolf. In most werewolf lore, particularly European lore the werewolf tends to be one of four things. These three things tend to be curses, lotions or potions, belt or girdles, and deals with generally evil powers. Lang lacks all of these.

The best examples of the first one are the story of King Lycaon, the story of St.Patrick transforming the Welsh King Vereticus into a wolf with a human head (p 58. The book of were-wolves, Sabine Baring-gould [1865]), and the werwolf story found in the Satyricon. Generally, people in these stories have spurned or upset someone. A witch, a god, or Satan are commonly to blame. I don't really see GD's situation as a curse as much as a gift that sometimes backfires.

As he doesn't use a potion, lotion, or belt those can be discarded, though unsurprisingly the belt is usually made of gifted by a witch, a god, or Satan. Though there are plenty of stories and theories that are worth a look if you're interested. These stories seem to have a focus in France and Scandinavia. One theory why this is involves mercury poisening in wheat and bread. Another favorite theory of mine involves a hallucinagenic mushroom whose common hallucination often include the belief that you are and hung out with some monsters.

The idea of a pact (Faustian or otherwise) is quite prominant through out. Once again we find ourselves drawn back to the power source of some greater evil or god. Though there is a neat little Russian spell I found praying to the wolf itself while doing backflips over a silver knive in a certain type of try fallen by a river under a full moon. While you could argue that Ghostdance is one of these kinds there is one very important reason I don't include him in this.

His inspiration.

The term werewolf has alway seemed a very European concept to me when there a wealth of lycanthropic or kuanthropic entites such as the okuri-okami of japan, aumakua of Hawaii, or more relevent the numerous and varied dog/wolf/coyote men in Native American folklore. However I grew up hearing many stories about raven mockers, water panthers, and the terrible monster Uktena. However my favorites were when the Wolf People were talked about. Unlike Wolf, who was the proud, wise, and brave warrior and big brother to dog and coyote. The wolf people are talked about in a fluid language not really pinning them as animal or man. This is probably due to he fact they don't show up often. But when they have they were awesome. Not much is known about them other than they were friends to the Great Spirit, unparalelled warriors, and wise workers of medicine. They often acted in role simular to an Abrahamic angel. Delivering messages, slaying a monster, training a hero in a skill.

Honestly I took what VERY little I knew about them and embellished and elaborated. He's blue because that's the color of the spirit road aand often associated with magic. White is more of a symbol of purity and holy stuff. His weakness to fire and bramble comes from a story of wolf people being sent to punish Good Boy and Wild boy (thunder and lightning) for getting into trouble. They were tricked and trapped into a house which they then surrounded with thorny plants and bramble and lit on fire.

GD is a fairy tale creature who happens to be able to change forms.

IC I guess after all of that:

Ghostdance shook his head and offered a weak smile back towards Robin behind him. "I practiced it in my head for what it's worth. It sounded cooler then." he said with a tired sigh that echoed the long trip he had returned from. "But so again did my plans to start my laundry when I came home. Do you know how hard it is to find clothes that work with a tail? The answer is quite to exceedingly."

Mid pace the blue and white furred beastman froze and perked his ears up held up his hand to signal Robin to stop. The fur on his spine raising up into a prickle. The familiar electric tingle of magic ran through him as his eyes scanned for signs or residual or energy energy around him as his hunters instincts kicked in. Time was slowed to a crawl as his laser gaze locked onto a growing white bundle of energy. In a flash the black clawed monster gripped the incoming Vincent by the shirt. His fluffy white fur was pressed into his shirt. Flashing from under his flannel sleeves was a brown leather fingerless glove. Each digit bore a ring made of a silvery metal. and on the back of the gloves hand and his forearm. The plate on the forearm was rimmed by the same silvery metal as the rings and secured by two thick leather straps. His other fist pulled back ready to strike at full superhuman strength.

His warlike snarl faded into a clearing of his throat as he realized what he had caught. His face quickly reddened under his cheeks up to the tips of his white tipped ears as a wave of embarrassment sweeped over him. It only took a split second for him to recognize the face behind the magical aura of bouncing white orbs and a dark symbol that he didn't recognize and made his skin crawl.

In the split second it took him to recognize just who it was he moved to apologize. The wolfman started to try to stammer and apologize. The Waya-yuhi trying to straighten out Vincent's shirt. "S-sorry about that." It was then, preoccupied by Vincent and the idea of a magical attack that he failed to notice a bounding redhead dressed like a goober. That was until it was too late.

Collapsing in a pile the awkward pile of limbs and fluff, he groaned. It was good to be home. He was gone so long and he did many a bad thing. He knew the consequences would come. He would deal with it later. But for now, he would enjoy the feeling of being wanted. "Oi, oi! I'm glad to see all of you guys again. Now get off, you're squishing presents." he huffed grumpily as he looked pleadingly at Raven and Robin.

ooc: Please remember and excuse me as I wrote most of this late at different nights.

[Deleted]

A week or so ago Vincent's teleportation would have been instantaneous with no warning. However, all of that power he held had simply waned as his mental state had been shattered. Vincent had spent day after day locked up inside his room just hammering away at the various weapons. Nothing ever sated the need that had been burning inside of him. So while some weapons had been kept, the majority had been destroyed and used as material for the next project. If it had not been for the residual energy around his body, Vincent would be a showing off a very dark tan after spending all that time in the dark against those bright flames. The only difference in his appearance would be the exhaustion in his eyes if one actually paid close enough attention.

Vincent merely tilted his head as confusion spread out at Ghostdance's sudden grab of his shirt. The boy simply thought the other was as sharp as ever in his reflexes and made nothing else of it. The wolf man had apologized about something, but the apology went by unnoticed as Vincent heard someone yelling something behind him. Before he could even turn to see who or what it was, Vincent found himself between Speedy and Ghostdance in what was known as the dogpile. Speedy had simply managed to accomplish what Vincent had initially attempted to do, and Vincent could not help but laugh. Laughter that loosened up a lot of the tension Vincent had been keeping within him for far too long. He certainly needed all of this.

The universe seemed to freeze as Vincent heard something about squishing present. His energy flared up again as he appeared next to Raven. Silver energy sparkled all around him as the materialization settled in, and Vincent stood there with big puppy eyes. Even his eyes seemed to sparkle as his imagination ran crazy with thoughts of what these presents could be, and of course every one of those thoughts was some kind of food. Food was all Vincent cared about this world in his silly and naive way. Thinking of anything else would simply open the flood gates of his depression once more.

"Ooooooh.... what kind of presents??" Vincent said as he kept himself from vibrating out of excitement. The energy still lingered around him and sparkled though. It would dissipate in a few seconds and hopefully would not cause any problems with the witch standing next to him. Vincent just wanted to know what Ghostdance had brought him.

[Bry]

Raven watched, seemingly disinterested while at the same time expertly holding back a burst of laughter, as Speedy came tearing down the hallway and did what he always did best.

Chaos ensued and was followed by laughter and snorts of mild discomfort.

Taking three silent steps to the side, only once she was quite convinced the wrestling match had already claimed as many victims as it would, Raven came up next to Robin and offered down a hand. Her leader was injured, had been for a day or two, hence his forced stay of rest in the Tower, and thus he was the first she thought to help up. Without bothering to give him a piteous look or making a fuss, Raven reached down and offered to pull him back to his feet.

After that was achieved, she turned her attention back to Ghostdance, who had intrigued her with both the shiny flash of silver she'd caught a glimpse of right before Speedy's endearing onslaught, and the mention of gifts.

"Looks like we're not the only ones to receive gifts," she commented, pointedly glancing at his hands--er, paws before meeting his eyes again, and offering him too a hand up.

[Kenni]

"Well perk my ears up'n call me your cousin, Bluefort; gifts~? Ya shouldn't have~!"
Speedy grinned, rubbing sleep from his eyes and rolling his neck before replacing the hood on his head from his odd, breezy ensemble.

"Next time, send word for what we oughta get youso ya don't up and leave on us without warning, eh?"
He was a firm believer in healing by hyperactivity; although he wasn't aware of Robin's compromised state of health, if he had been, it wouldn't have prevented the dogpile in the slightest.

He was soon looming off to Raven a moment, standing flush with her at her side now, wrapping the flowing plaid cape around him to mimic her iconic observational stance.

"It seems you were destined to receive a warm, cheery gift as well, Ghostdance. It is better to give than to receive, but both ain't half bad." he intoned, in a decidedly Raven-line register (whether or not the word "ain't" would never sneak its way into her vocabulary by her volition).

For his part in the checking up on downed companions front, he had tugged Vince and Lang to their feet by wrapping his underarms over both boys' necks within an instant, looking back and forth from gift-giver Lang to Vinny, fellow gift-receiver-among-many that were no doubt curious about their returned friend's offerings.

"Can mine include deets, man? Where ya been, anyway? I missed you!"