Xaviers!

"Predator instincts."Emilie explained away.

"Do you not wanna fight because you don't wanna fight, or 'cause people have told you fighting is bad?"

"I don't want to fight because the last time I got angry, I turned into a monster and nearly disemboweled my ex in a crowded bar," she snapped.

"...I'm sorry." she added with a sigh after a beat.

"... Well, did he deserve it?" She asked in an amused tone.

"Yes," she replied quickly.

"No!" she replied, suddenly looking horrified. "No one deserves that. He..."

"...it's good he's an ex. He wasn't a good person when he drank....and when he didn't drink."

"If he hurt you, then he probably deserved something. Maybe something less extreme but neh." Emilie shrugged.

"Suffice it to say anyone foolish enough to start shit on our turf deserves what they get, in my opinion."

Her wild side seemed to need no convincing on either matter. Her human side seemed a bit more conflicted.

"He...yeah. He said a lot of things that hurt, and he shoved me to the floor the last time I saw him. And then I saw red, and screamed, and my whole body hurt, and then it was like watching a movie and being able to do nothing to stop what it...What she did."

She finally seemed finished with her enormous tray of food, and really, almost looked sick.

"I'm lucky I didn't actually rip his intestines out."

Emilie smiled sympathetically, in the way moms do before they go for the hug.

"It's gonna be okay Steph. The people here will help you get things under control."

Tosh overheard Emilie while passing by and changed course to join them.

"That is what they're here for," he assured. "Hey Em, mind if I sit here?" he asked. He was toting his usual meaty fit-for-a-werewolf meal tray.

"...hi...uh. No...go ahead." Steph replied a bit startled.

"Food toll. " Emilie proclaims, picking a pepperoni off Tosh's pizza and eating it.

"Brigand," he smirked before sitting.

"Yeah, you're in the best place possible to figure all this out. Be it wolf, shark, teep, or screamer," he smiled.

"Screamer?" she asked, turning towards Tosh inquisitively.

" people like Trev." Em explained.

"Yeah. That," he said.

"He... umm... told me about you," he admitted to Steph.

"You...both know him?" she asked. "Oh...you. You're in the pictures in our room."

She paused awkwardly.

"He...still talks about me?"

"Yea... Kinda.." Em admitted.

"He talked about you to Samantha at least. After she read his mind and turned into you to fuck with him."

"I met him when he came to the Institute about the same time I did. We've been best friends ever since. So, naturally, he told me you were coming."

"And how much you hurt him," he said, sighing afterward, "Sorry. I'm not here to judge you for ancient history. That's between you and him. But for what it's worth I think he forgave you a long time ago."

"She...what?!"

Before she could process that further Tosh replied and warmed her heart before just as quickly throwing the cold water of history on it. She looked like a sad puppy.

"I...I said terrible things. And did terrible things. It's probably why I'm trapped like this. God punishing me for being so...so wrong about everything."

"The universe isn't that planned. Trust me on this one." Emilie replied to Steph's observations about a supernatural being punishing her. "Though I highly suspect kharma is a thing. Which means no time like the present to start making some good, right?"

"Exactly. The X-Gene expressing itself isn't a punishment; it's an opportunity to change, to be something new, to explore and experience aspects of our reality you never imagined actually existed. It can be amazing or terrifying or anything in between but that's mostly up to you."

"You'll have to forgive Tosh. He's a goddamn nerd." Emilie adds smirking, and then stealing another pepperoni.

"I'm kind of one too," she replied, what passed for a weak smile crossing her muzzle.

"Maybe you're both right. I....thank you. I never thought people here would be so kind to someone like me. Well. Like...the me up until a month ago."

"I know how scary it is to suddenly be something with teeth and claws and a fighting spirit. And I'm hardly the same weak and frightened person I was before that."

"You...you're like me? Or. Well. Like maybe I can be? You can turn back and forth?"

"Yeah. I made peace with my other self and the rest fell into place. Every shifter is different but that's usually the key."

"...so I'm not going crazy. I might just be talking to my... other half?"

"It's perfectly normal for shifters like us to process their altered states by anthropomorphizing them that way. Hell, I named mine."

"You....named him?" she asked, curious.

"Bruce. Because he's a shark-thing and I'm a nerd. And he talks like a big dorky surfer because my cousin and honorary big brother does and that's what I needed at the time."

"Most shifters don't actually take it that far," he chuckled.

"You turn into a shark? Do you have to be in water after you turn?"

"It's more of an amphibious hybrid sea man-monster... thing... that most resembles a shark. Calling him a shark man is just easier and more fun."

"....can I see?"

"That's probably rude. I'm sorry. I just...really not used to this."

"It's not rude. My dudely side loves to show off... but maybe later? I have some shifting duds on under my clothes but I'd rather not... well, partially strip right here."

"Oh...right. I forgot about the whole...changing part since I've been stuck like this for so long."

"Dude. I got stuck for, like, over a month once. But unlike you, my other pretty much takes over because of an intelligence drop. So it was a brotastic month."

"I'm a vegetarian...or was..." she nodded at the remains of several burgers. "So...definitely not fully in control."

"Ahh, the dietary changes," he chuckled. "It's hard enough maintaining non-vegetarian healthy veggie intake when all that voice in your head wants is meat and lots of it."

"I used to love them...but...well at least I know I'm not alone."

"But hey, I used to be a human twig so the muscle increase is nice. I don't have the healing factor though. Instead, my beast mode spits lightning."

"Your human side changed too?"