Xaviers!

It's late but not yet midnight when Wanda hears something collide woodenly with her dorm window. A sharp crack, but not that of glass.

Wanda starts awake, reflexes a little off, but her eyes dart to the window, her legs swinging out of bed as she tries to assess what woke her up.

There's a pause, and then another noise at the window. Silhouetted against the snowy grounds Wanda can see an acorn hit the glass and fall.

"What the..." She mutters to herself as she grabs for a robe and pulls it on, moving to the window to try to find the source of the acorn missiles.

Wanda catches a glint of two golden eyes glinting along the walkway below the window.

Thankfully they're attached to an outline that, while somewhat tall, is both recognizably human and familiar.

Wanda's mouth achieves a set that may not mean good things for Isolde. But she holds up a finger and moves to put something a little warmer on before she slips out of the room and downstairs to the front door of the dorm.

"What, did you have something better to do?" She smirks rakishly as Wanda emerges.

"I had just gotten to sleep," she says a bit tartly, crossing her arms.

"It's a beautiful night. You'll have many more chances to sleep."

"It's cold and my bed was warm," she half-complains. "But since I'm out here..."

"You want warm? I can do warm."

"You can have fur, of course you can do warm," she says, sliding an arm through Isolde's arm

"Is that a request, then? You do always seem... interested in it."

"I wouldn't want to impose. I know it's not exactly... fun for you to change."

"Nnh. I dragged you out into the cold. The least I can do is keep you warm."

"If you don't mind then, I would appreciate it. I don't think warming the air around me would be a great idea."

She steps away from Wanda and, with a practiced air, strips down. Her frame is changing even before the last of her clothes are off, back popping and joints cracking as her vertebrae become visible, deep hackles releasing into the cold air. Her hands tremble as they grow thick and monstrous, but once they steady she quickly gathers her clothes into a surprisingly neat bundle that she passes to Wanda.

There are grimaces and noises as her wolf continues to emerge, but the discomfort seems to have passed by the time she's finished shifting. A great shaggy shape standing over Wanda, plush with winter fur but still humanoid and oddly feminine.

"Shall we?" She asks, her voice deeper but recognizable.

Wanda hugs the clothes to herself and leans into Isolde. "We shall. What inspired this?"

"It's hardly fair if you're always the one initiating our outings, eh?" She says, putting a thick-pelted arm around the girl.

"True, but I also don't mind. I know people aren't exactly your thing."

"People, no. But I'm starting to realize room for 'person.'"

"Well, I'm honored to be that person," Wanda says, attempting to give Isolde a squeeze with one arm, which sort of works. "I was happy to see everyone made it back from fey land more or less intact."

"Mostly. That blonde girl smells... off, now."

"Not my affair, though."

"Mostly Sam's affair by all accounts, depending on which 'blond girl' you're referring to."

"Oh you know, the one that used to reek of the Lady. She's changed, somehow."

"She doesn't feel as... out of place as she used to. I haven't had a chance to talk to her about it though."

"I might've asked Tereza when we were talking, but it seemed... prying."

"I can see how 'your girlfriend smells strange, what's up' would be a subject you might want to avoid."

"Oh of course it sounds strange when you say it that way."

"So how would you have put it?" She raises an eyebrow.

Isolde seems to consider this for a moment and gets a frustrated look.

"...better than that," she hedges.

"I'm sure you would have something like 'something's different about Vivienne, everything okay?'"

"Yes, something like that. Perhaps best to ask directly, though." She concedes.

"Probably best not to guess and neither of us is a mind reader, unless that's a werewolf power you've neglected to mention."

"I can tell you what a wolf is most likely thinking. That's less useful than it sounds."

"I'd hazard it would be some determination between 'food' and 'threat'. Which is only useful in that moment." She lets them walk in silence for a bit, then asks apprehensively, "Have you noticed anything unusual since you agreed to be my guardian?"

"...unusual in what way?" She asks, narrowing her golden eyes for a moment.

"Like... feeling things or sensing things. Things that you can tell aren't really *you*."

"...yes."

"Especially during the illusion. I could feel you were sick."

"I'd... imagine it's more unpleasant from your side."

"I... could tell you were in distress during the full moon. It's sort of strange and phantom, but still there."