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Faces - Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Oz/Willow - Words: 800
Written for Hurt/Comfort Bingo; Prompt: Werewolves: Fresh Bite/First Transformation
Summary: Oz and Willow connect after Oz turns into a werewolf. Episode tag to Phases (Season 2, Episode 15)
Content Notes: None. G
Link on AO3: Faces
Waking up naked in the woods was something Oz had only experienced three times before, which was probably more times than most people experienced, but made the latest time no less disturbing. Camping with his cousins and uncles had lead to the first three times, all of whom were very laid back and causal, and sleeping nude in the wilderness had been a normal thing to do. But waking up naked, alone, aching, and with a slowly forming suspicion that he knew what he'd done last night was brand new.
He had snuck home, somewhat surprised at how easy it was to slip through the suburbs in the nude at the break of dawn without being spotted. After a shower he had picked up the phone and called his aunt, trying to decide if it could possibly be what he was thinking. But, the fact that his cousin Jordy was a werewolf, even though Jordy was barely older than a toddler, apparently couldn't be denied. There was something about living in Sunnydale, Oz figured, that either left you calm in the face of relatives who were werewolves, and girls who fought demons, and girlfriends who did magic, or left you insane. Oz had always been the kind of person to just accept things as they came; think about them, make an informed decision, but ultimately accept what was there. He wasn't sure he could just accept this though, couldn't just sit back and believe that he was some kind of monster without a conscious. What if he hurt someone?
In a way, the memory loss was the hardest part, not knowing what he'd done, what he was responsible for. The aching joints and muscles and suddenly overpowering sense of smell weren't even concerning when balanced with the worry that he could have hurt Willow the night before.
And yet, Willow was sitting here with her hand tucked in his, her head resting on his shoulder, and the tips of her hair brushing against his arm in the breeze. He could smell the shampoo and conditioner that she'd used that morning, the faintest hint of soap, and oatmeal, but under all of that was just the scent of pure Willow, something he was only just beginning to understand.
"Maybe you should commune with your wolfie side," she suggested, tracing patterns in the grass with the toe of her sneaker.
Oz smiled a little, thinking that only Willow could offer that suggestion, when all everyone else had wanted to do was kill him. Hearing Buffy say that she should have killed him, even though she hadn't known it was Oz she was talking about, had chilled him. Buffy killed monsters, not people, and suddenly Oz didn't quite fit into the people category anymore.
Willow nudged him with her elbow. "I could teach you some of the mediation stuff I've been learning to work on my magic. Oh, then you could be a magical werewolf!"
Despite himself, Oz let out a huff of laughter and pressed his arm back against Willow's and squeezed her hand gently. "I think one taste of the supernatural is enough for me right now," he said. But it made him think for a minute and he turned his head so that he was looking down at Willow. "How do you handle being a witch; knowing that you can do things that aren't quite, normal?"
She turned her head up so that she was looking into Oz's eyes. "I don't 'handle' it, Oz. It just is, it's part of me. It doesn't make me not normal, and it doesn't mean anything else. It scares me a little, sometimes, knowing what I could do by accident, if I'm not careful."
Oz smiled a little, understanding what she was saying. Even though their situations were a little different, with Willow having some level of control over her powers and Oz turning when it was the full moon without any say on his part. But he did have control over where he was when he changed, and he could keep himself from hurting anyone, with some help from the rest of the Scoobies.
"I think you're right," he said, and showed Willow his best 'strong Oz who wasn't phased by anything' face.
Willow smiled back, bumping her knee against his, and Oz recognized her 'being brave because there's no other option' face. What Willow hadn't yet realized, and Oz hadn't yet to explain to her in a way that she understood, was that there was always the choice of being afraid and hiding away. But that was just Willow and knowing that he had her by his side, even though he was a werewolf, helped Oz have the strength to stay brave for himself.
Written for Hurt/Comfort Bingo; Prompt: Werewolves: Fresh Bite/First Transformation
Summary: Oz and Willow connect after Oz turns into a werewolf. Episode tag to Phases (Season 2, Episode 15)
Content Notes: None. G
Link on AO3: Faces
Waking up naked in the woods was something Oz had only experienced three times before, which was probably more times than most people experienced, but made the latest time no less disturbing. Camping with his cousins and uncles had lead to the first three times, all of whom were very laid back and causal, and sleeping nude in the wilderness had been a normal thing to do. But waking up naked, alone, aching, and with a slowly forming suspicion that he knew what he'd done last night was brand new.
He had snuck home, somewhat surprised at how easy it was to slip through the suburbs in the nude at the break of dawn without being spotted. After a shower he had picked up the phone and called his aunt, trying to decide if it could possibly be what he was thinking. But, the fact that his cousin Jordy was a werewolf, even though Jordy was barely older than a toddler, apparently couldn't be denied. There was something about living in Sunnydale, Oz figured, that either left you calm in the face of relatives who were werewolves, and girls who fought demons, and girlfriends who did magic, or left you insane. Oz had always been the kind of person to just accept things as they came; think about them, make an informed decision, but ultimately accept what was there. He wasn't sure he could just accept this though, couldn't just sit back and believe that he was some kind of monster without a conscious. What if he hurt someone?
In a way, the memory loss was the hardest part, not knowing what he'd done, what he was responsible for. The aching joints and muscles and suddenly overpowering sense of smell weren't even concerning when balanced with the worry that he could have hurt Willow the night before.
And yet, Willow was sitting here with her hand tucked in his, her head resting on his shoulder, and the tips of her hair brushing against his arm in the breeze. He could smell the shampoo and conditioner that she'd used that morning, the faintest hint of soap, and oatmeal, but under all of that was just the scent of pure Willow, something he was only just beginning to understand.
"Maybe you should commune with your wolfie side," she suggested, tracing patterns in the grass with the toe of her sneaker.
Oz smiled a little, thinking that only Willow could offer that suggestion, when all everyone else had wanted to do was kill him. Hearing Buffy say that she should have killed him, even though she hadn't known it was Oz she was talking about, had chilled him. Buffy killed monsters, not people, and suddenly Oz didn't quite fit into the people category anymore.
Willow nudged him with her elbow. "I could teach you some of the mediation stuff I've been learning to work on my magic. Oh, then you could be a magical werewolf!"
Despite himself, Oz let out a huff of laughter and pressed his arm back against Willow's and squeezed her hand gently. "I think one taste of the supernatural is enough for me right now," he said. But it made him think for a minute and he turned his head so that he was looking down at Willow. "How do you handle being a witch; knowing that you can do things that aren't quite, normal?"
She turned her head up so that she was looking into Oz's eyes. "I don't 'handle' it, Oz. It just is, it's part of me. It doesn't make me not normal, and it doesn't mean anything else. It scares me a little, sometimes, knowing what I could do by accident, if I'm not careful."
Oz smiled a little, understanding what she was saying. Even though their situations were a little different, with Willow having some level of control over her powers and Oz turning when it was the full moon without any say on his part. But he did have control over where he was when he changed, and he could keep himself from hurting anyone, with some help from the rest of the Scoobies.
"I think you're right," he said, and showed Willow his best 'strong Oz who wasn't phased by anything' face.
Willow smiled back, bumping her knee against his, and Oz recognized her 'being brave because there's no other option' face. What Willow hadn't yet realized, and Oz hadn't yet to explain to her in a way that she understood, was that there was always the choice of being afraid and hiding away. But that was just Willow and knowing that he had her by his side, even though he was a werewolf, helped Oz have the strength to stay brave for himself.
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