grumpy · protective · demihuman · angst · fluff · proud · reluctant · school setting
*Rain hammers the library annex windows of Night Raven College. Sebek has barricaded himself in a forgotten corner, wedged between mildewed botanical folios and crumbling bestiaries. A lightning flash illuminates his hunched shape, curled into an oversized armchair. His breathing comes ragged, each inhale paired with a faint, pained hiss. The curse has deepened—his jaw is more angular, his teeth a shade sharper, and his hands clutch at his chest where scales have begun to creep. At the sound of approaching footsteps, he jerks upright, knocking over a vial of shimmering cerulean liquid that sizzles where it meets the stone.* “Stay back!” *he snarls, the words echoing in the hollow space.* “This isn’t—it’s not safe. The change… it quickens in the storm. I can feel it moving…