The Lost Girl, part twelve

Eventually, there was a campfire. Chris was none too sure how it happened, who had gathered the wood, or how late it was in the night; he had let his body slide into a full-wolf configuration, and was enjoying the heat as he rested and healed. 

He cheated, of course. When he was certain that Peter and Antoinette were asleep, he shaped the words and phrases and healed himself. Here in the Grey, that was easy. But wolves were tough and they healed quickly, and likely nobody would notice. 

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Antoinette had asked again, and Chris had sighed. 

"No," he said. "If I wanted to die, I'd take care of it myself."

"But you... flirt with it. Tempt it. You like to see how close you can come."

Chris had closed his eyes. "Yes," he admitted. "But this wasn't close."

"She nearly took your head off, and this wasn't close?"

Chris shrugged. "Morri has her needs. I have mine. This wasn't close. Charleston was close. The bonetaker was close. This was... Morri wasn't ever going to kill me, or maim me."

Antoinette had swallowed. "That wasn't how it looked from over here."

"I should have warned you," Chris had said. "I thought you understood. Morri will be calmer, now. And I'll be fine by morning." He let his eyes close. 

Antoinette made a noise that was surprisingly close to a growl. Then she'd moved off to her own small tent and the sleeping bag inside. 

Later, and well after Chris had finished healing himself, Elyssa came and sat down beside him and Clarissa spilled out of the amulet and sat down beside her. Out here in the Grey, she was far more solid: dark-haired, honey-skinned, and studying him closely with grey-green eyes.

Chris twisted around, and put his snout over Elyssa's knee, looking up at her. The contact was a comfort.

"Who are you?" asked Elyssa, quietly and after a moment. "I saw how hard she hit you. She'd have killed me. How did you survive that?"

Chris pulled away and shifted back to human form. "I've always been strong," he said, which was true but admitted nothing.

"Chris," said Clarissa, reaching towards -- but not quite touching -- the amulet that hung around Elyssa's neck. Then she stopped and looked around, but Antoinette and Peter were in their tents. She lowered her voice to a breath of cold night air and said, "You keep doing things the rest of us can't. Even the Ministry is starting to notice."

Damn it. She was probably right. He was still angry, and he wasn't being careful enough. He'd need to keep himself under tighter control. "I've just been lucky," he said stubbornly.

Elyssa laid a hand on Clarissa's shoulder, then leaned down and brushed a hand across the top of Chris' head. "That's what we keep telling people."

He met her eyes for a brief moment, nodded, and then rolled over to go to sleep.