"Maybe. What caused the catatonia?"

"There was a fire. He survived, but never fully recovered. He was in a coma first, and even now that he woke up, he doesn't react."

"I'm so sorry... Do you have any idea what is causing that?"

"No idea. He's a werewolf, he should just be able to shrug it off, if he made it out at all."

"Okay, just to be sure, have you done all the relevant physical exams? I mean, I don't know if you can't because being a werewolf is visible in X-rays somehow."

"They say they've done all the tests. I wasn't here for any of it, but I wasn't going to ask them to run them again. He hasn't reacted to anything." 

Fenris thinks for a moment. "It might be psychological, and I'm unsure how to help with that... if it is physical..."

"Can you take a look, at least? Help me find out what's causing it?"

"Absolutely." Fenris says earnestly. "I will look into our resources." Sigh. "There was supposed to be a doctor with us, but he is stuck on our home universe due to dimensional weirdness. I don't supposed you are aware of summoning magic? That would solve so many of our problems."

"Nothing I've heard of could do this. I'm sorry. If you are willing to take a look...should I contact you tomorrow?"

"Yes, of course. Also, about Scott-" Fenris starts saying than stops, tilts his head and says, "if you're only willing to cooperate with us because we want to help Scott and you want help your uncle, please understand that it isn't necessary. We would help your uncle either way. Helping us with Scott is optimal, but we won't hold your uncle's recovery to get that from you. We would rather have unambiguously positives incentives for your cooperation, even if they are just money. With that all said, could you explain why Scott's choice of anchor is dangerous?"

"Anchors should be something you can rely on, something you can generate from within. Unless he can guarantee that his feelings for that girl will never change, no matter what she does, he should find something else. He could try a mantra, but they usually don't work as well for turned wolves."

"I see the problem." Fenris frowns. "Can you have... multiple anchors? Or that only means cumulative negative effects?"

"You can have two. I have two and I use a mantra. It gives you a fallback if one fails, but...if something disturbs one of them enough, then the negative effect is cumulative, yeah. Too risky to start off with." 

Nod. "I will see what we can do about Scott's, but it sounds like something very intimate and ultimately something that really only Scott himself can pick. Would you recommend Scott to try... a transition period with two anchors or let go off his previous one and then pick another?"

"A transition could work. I don't know." 

"Well, thank you for your help. We will see what we can do about your uncle."

"Do you need my number?" 

"Yes, please. Also, this reminds me, if you happen to know ways for us to acquire a legal identities here, you would have our gratitude and your weight in gold if that is what you desire."

"I don't have anything if you're looking not to break the law. If you don't care, I can help."

"I don't care about breaking the law for this. Do you think it would go well if we, myself and my friends, come forth open to the public?"

"I don't think so, but you don't have to trust my judgment."

"Well, since you can't untell a secret there is no reason for us to rush into it. Why are werewolves a secret?"

"Werewolves like living among humans quietly, without being noticed. Hunters prefer to be able to kill werewolves without punishment." 

"Yes. Scott mentioned something to the effect that the hunters keep dangerous werewolves in check, which would make sense except that that stated goal would be much easier if the hunters went public about werewolves, so the government would invest its resources to deal with them in a more humane way than killing. Not to say that I think it would be a flawless system or even a fair one, but I doubt it wouldn't improve from unaccountability of complete secrecy."

"Hunters aren't generals or politicians, they're not going to be satisfied with containment- not that any of us want to be contained. They want blood for honor, vengeance, they want their communities safe from invaders."

"Yes... that is pretty much the mindset of thaumatophobes - people who dislike magic and magic people. Can't say I'm surprised to find it here as well."

"This is my stop. Have a good night." 

"Good night, Derek. And thank you."

When Derek leaves Fenris takes flight and return to the others.

The others are laughing and arguing over Star Wars.

"He's back, guys."

Scott pauses the movie. 

"How did it go?" 

"Good, actually. The exact details can wait until after the movie, but he is willing to cooperate with us without your direct involvement."

So they watch the movie.

Scott is predictably charmed by Leia, and seems to enjoy her ceaseless bickering with her 'rescuers'.

Stiles fails to hide his obvious crush on Luke. It's really obvious. 

Hey, he is not the only one. Young Mark Hamill was hot. Felix is enjoying the movie a lot.

Vera is enjoying the movie too, if more because of the androids antics than the forced Leia and Han possible romance.

It is hard to guess what Fenris thinks of specific details of the movie. For one thing instead of sitting on the couch he just floats behind it.

On occasion he will grab some popcorn from Stiles' bowl, and he is smiling when he does that.

They can totally fight over popcorn.

Well, Fenris is not interested in fighting, he is also not interested in giving up the popcorn.

Hence the fighting.

Scott doesn't object to android antics!

He thinks Star Wars is fun.

Popcorn fighting is amusing Fenris.

Or maybe he is smiling like that because he thinks Stiles is cute. Who knows?

Star Wars is very fun.

"So Fenris, are you a Han or Leia guy?"

"Why 'or'? Why not both?"

"Leia, I think, if I have to pick one."

"Felix, Luke or Leia?"

"Luke if I had to pick. Luke, Leia and Han if I was lucky."

"This guy knows what's up." 

And eventually, the space battles are over.

"Thanks, guys. I had a good time." 

"You're welcome. This was fun."

"Is Stiles going to stay with you overnight?"

"No, I'm going back home. Thanks for the movie, you guys aren't the worst."

"I feel tremendously appreciated, thanks."

"Well, Scott do you want us to Kato and Vii over to put you in your detention? We can wait some more."

"That's fine. I don't mind starting early." 

Well, they summon Kato and Vii.

Kato is shirtless.

Felix raises an eyebrow.

"Wings are hard to put through shirts, shut up." Kato tells Felix, "Hello again, Scott."

"Hey! How are you? Should we get started?" 

"Well, I made your own house while Derek was being retrieved. But you can still stay here overnight. Is a bit of a walk."

"Well, yes a walk unless, you want me to fly you there."

"That would be nice. Thanks."

Kato didn't expect that answer... he is not going to say no about carrying the cute boy in his arms.

Vii says that she will come over later, since there is no reason they both need to stay there the entire time. Kato makes a mental note of thanking her later.

They go outside and Kato offers to carry him, he is not a creep about it, but he is obviously pleased with the situation.

Scott is not displeased!

He likes flying, and Kato is comfy.

Kato surely is comfy! The air around him is warmer than expected. And since his arms don't tire, Kato can fly a bit at leisure, circling their destination. The cottage is small, but made as per Stiles' specifications so very pleasing for Scott's tastes, like the extra-dimensional visitor's house the insides are overly decorated but that can be easily solved by removing the excess objects. Kato teaches Scott how to open the portal to his home.

"This is a nice place," Kato says, "if Stiles was right about your tastes, you have good taste."

"Pretty much, but I would have had less TVs."

There are really an absurd number of TVs.

"Am I staying here alone? It still might not be safe, just because one night was okay."

"I assumed the TVs are Stiles' directions and Felix's limitations combined. I guess we're supposed to sell them." Kato comments on the TVs.

"An the plan was keeping watch, yes. At least until you're stable enough. And I don't mind staying overnight." Kato reassures. "I think Felix made you a nice wardrobe, but since this place coexists with your home..." pause, "I mean the place is near your home because of the four-dimensional overlap," pause, "you can just go through the portal and get your clothes if you don't want to use the ones Felix made."

"He can make stuff pretty easily, so I guess he won't be offended if I don't use it all?"

He looks through the wardrobe.

"Nah, Felix is pretty chill and I think," Kato waves vaguely, "it is easier for him to create an wardrobe with clothes than one that is empty, so he just makes it with clothes. A lot of the details are automatically handled by his magic. He doesn't like to overdecorate things, his power does. It's weird."

The wardrobe is filled with clothes that are not exactly Scott's taste, but not far off, like what somene would've guessed if they could take a look inside Scott's wardrobe instead of Scott's head. Everything is high-quality and his size. There are a couple of fancy-looking tuxedos and a few cashmere sweaters to the left.

"It's good to have options. Thank him for me."

Scott decides now is the time to try out the bed. He flops onto it. 

The bed is nice and comfy maybe a bit larger than necessary. The bedsheets are very soft.

"Comfortable?" Kato says sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Tell Felix he does good work." 

Scott sits, scooting over to Kato. 

"If nothing happens tonight, what's the plan going forward?" 

"I think the twins will want to drill Derek on werewolf knowledge and maybe try to capture the alpha alive. They are some kind of alien that doesn't experience revengeful desire, so if they find a solution where everyone is safe and happy, even the alpha, they will try to go for that."

"I think I might be the same kind of alien, sorry. You and Stiles can probably bond over that."

"Ah," Kato says with a smile, "I may not be one of you aliens, but I admire you guys for this kind of thinking."

"So tell me about yourself. I feel like we haven't talked enough."

He leans back in the bed, patting the spot next to him for Kato to join him.

Kato leans as well, being mindful of his wings he does that on his side, supporting his head with his hand.

"Not sure what to say? I'm Kato, moved around a lot while growing up and was raised by my uncle - it's complicated," he has delivered this speech enough that it sounds practiced and casual, "until we finally settled on Florida, honestly dreamed of being an astronaut and-slash-or professional sorcerer. Like, reading, hiking and exploring nature. Spent so long in a car listening to music that I can no longer form tastes in bands," he shrugs, "how about you?"

"I lived in Beacon Hills with my mom ever since my parents divorced. I've never really left California, not even on trips or anything. Always wanted to be a teacher, or a nurse, like my mom. I like lacrosse and wandering the woods- or, I used to. I like all kinds of music, since Stiles is so picky. One of us has to."

"Teacher or nurse, I should've guessed. I bet you we will take you on a trip anywhere you want to once this entire thing blows over. Anywhere you would wish to go?"

"I've never really thought about it. Is there somewhere you've never seen? Maybe somewhere you can't go to on your world that you can here." 

"I don't think there is anywhere I couldn't go and still exists here. But I always wanted to visit the pyramids, both the Egyptians pyramids and the Mesoamerican ones."

"I guess I'll have to think of something else I can give you. You guys have all been really nice to me, me and Stiles really appreciate it." 

"It's no trouble. We are honestly glad that you let us help."

Impulsively, a wing briefly pats Scott's shoulder in a reassuring gesture, the feathers are very soft. "Sorry, these things have a mind of their own sometimes."

"Thanks." 

He leans into the touch, closing his eyes. 

Well, that is just too adorable for words. Kato presses the wing gently in a sort of soft feathery half-hug.

"I hate feeling helpless. I worked so hard every day so I wouldn't feel like that, and I still did. I still do." 

Well, that is heartbreaking and Kato offers Scott a proper hug (with his arms, plus wings).

"I know that feeling, it's terrible," Kato says after a moment, "but we'll help you the best way we can and we can help a lot."

Hugs are nice, but after a few minutes, Scott has to point out:

"It's getting late. I should probably turn in." 

Squeeze and disentangle. "I will be in the living room if you need me for anything. Are you a light sleeper? I can just read something if you are."

"Not that light. You can stay." 

"If you don't mind."

"Um, there's only one bed. Can Felix make another one, or would it be rude to ask?"

"Felix won't find that rude at all. Also, I don't sleep. I don't even like... need a cushioned surface to sit, because my muscles don't get tired. It is a minor magical power."

"That sounds useful. I guess it's not worth everything you guys went through."

He leans back in his bed, resting his head.

"I know," Kato says thoughtfully.

"You're okay now, right? You have each other, and you're safe here."

"I am now, but... until recently I wasn't speaking with the twins and it was terrible. And that was preventing me from getting better. I'm not sure I am okay, but I can be. Does that make sense?"

"You're safe, now. I'll be here for you, for when they can't be..."

He trails off, eyes fluttering shut.

Okay, Scott. Stop being so disgustingly adorable. Except don't, you are perfect.

Kato will spend the night looking at his life and looking at his choices. Vii comes along for her shift and Kato flies around tirelessly, but then he is back in the morning.

And Scott is still there, of course. 

"Good morning. Anything exciting happen while I was out?" 

"Nah, just another peaceful night. Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, I did. The bed was comfier than mine at home."

"Mine too! I mean, the bed I have here is better than the one from my original universe. Man, I still not used to think like that. Anyway, the only reason Felix didn't make smart houses for us was that he tries to keep it to low maintenance stuff. But he likes makes everyone else as nice as comfortable possible."

"How did you meet Felix?"

"Oh, it was in a museum. There was this special event about miscellaneous magic and the two were working there showing off their skymagery. It was very cool, and they were twins, which made it cooler and I approached Felix while he was a break and started talking with him. I was enough of a dork to ask if they were from a circus and Felix asked if I didn't watch the news which I didn't - there was this weird family situation going on between them and their grandparents, it has been solved - eventually we got in the topic of what we would want to do with the future and I gave him a more elaborate version of "astronaut and sorcerer" because I honestly would like to use magic to raise the world to the standards of Star Trek and he looked at me like he wanted to kiss me right there in the middle of the museum."

"Wow. I don't think I've ever had anyone like that. You two must be grateful to have each other."

He stands.

"I should get to school, the werewolf stuff has been kind of affecting my grades."

"We actually broke up." Kato debates and decides not to mention just yet that he and Fenris also... "But at least we are speaking again, which in fact great."

Kato gives a reassuring smile. "Good luck with school."

So Scott attends school.

Stiles attends school slightly less. 

Instead of being at school, he is in fact trying to go back to the dream dimension. 

Well, Scott presumably told him all about his new place, so if Stiles goes to Scott's house, open the portal there, go to Scott's house other house (So many televisions!) he will have access to the dream dimension and other stuff (like all this many televisions!).

All of which Stiles does.

He's in!

Can he find the twins' house from there?

Well, there is a nice stone path to their house, with signs, torches, benches and everything. Nice place for a stroll even. Stones on the ground are probably not precious gemstones just pretty and picturing elaborate mosaics.

He follows the elaborate stone road.

Then he will eventually find the twins' house again, the doors are unlocked and it's pretty quiet.

He explores, quietly. 

Can he check out their bedrooms? 

He can, Fenris' door is ajar and he can see there is no one inside, even in the balcony.

Time to take a look.

The place is still neatly organized, but there are a few medical books on a table. One of the books is open on a neurobiology page. Next to them there are a couple of notebooks. One with notes about brain damage and psychological damage. The other has a page with the tittle "Immortality" and then there are two columns one is "Share" and the other is "Not Share". The first column contains items such: Improve his current quality of life; Improve relationship with Derek; His uncle might give us more information; Reverse engineering werewolf transformation? and so on. The second column items are: Permanent; Unknown interactions with lycanthropy; Unknown interactions with brain damage/trauma; Inability to get prior consent; Unknown personality.

While reading this, Stiles feels a presence behind him.

"It's pretty rude to hover like that." 

"It's pretty rude to tell people to not use their magic when it isn't affecting you." Fenris says, literally hovering.

He is also: completely naked.

"Snooping around in people's homes is ruder, though. To what I owe the pleasure to have your presence?"

"You're a pretty interesting guy, thought I should have a look at your..."

He coughs, averting his gaze.

"At your lair."

Fenris smirks when Stiles averts his gaze and makes no movement to cover himself. "Of course, my lair. Found anything interesting? I'm happy to answer any questions but... I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

"I definitely think you should consider that Derek's uncle was probably a werewolf and they're all kind of rage machines. He might only be under control now because his body is still frail."

"That falls under 'unknown personality'. I suppose it might also fall under 'unknown interaction with lycanthropy'. Do you know anything about his uncle?"

"No, it just seems good to be prepared."

"Well, obviously. Or people could do all kind of things like sneak around and uncover your secrets. Of course, we are going to talk about the immortality being shareable with you and Scott today, because we wanted your opinion on sharing it with Derek's uncle and we've been considering handing it to you for emergencies."

"Sharing immortality sounds good all around. Could I get you to give it to my dad first?"

"Well, first, I should elaborate how my immortality works. The most relevant feature is that it comes with skymagery, which means that whoever becomes my kind of immortal also get wings and randomly selected weather powers."

"Sure. Explains the everything. Never mind, then. I probably won't take it either, not until we can reveal you to everyone."

"Well, it comes in the form of magical spring water, that you could carry around and drink during emergencies or give to others during emergencies. Then you would be connected to the respective fountain and every time your body dies the fountain would make you one after a week. I'm trying to improve upon it, but I can only make about one spring per month."

"Right, and Scot and my dad should get it first, and Scott won't take it before his mom gets it...so I'll wait."

"We have five immortalities to share - brought some from our home universe. So there is enough for the four of you plus Derek's uncle, but we would rather not to use them all at once."

"Just our parents, then, and Derek's uncle. We're still young, not as risky for us."

Fenris nods. "It would be a good idea to talk with your parents before we suddenly give them wings. I suppose Derek's uncle - should've asked his name - can wait for a bit if his condition is stable and non-painful, but if it isn't either of those two things then he would be priority."

"I think it's stable? Seems like it's been a few years. But it could be painful." 

"Yeah. There might be some medical solution, but... have we explained the time distortion?"

"I don't think so...something to do with how you got here?" 

"Not really, time is asynchronous between the different universes and that is why there is five of us and not the ten that were supposed to come. Our home universe is stuck fractions of seconds after we left and the other five simply haven't exited it yet. Among the group that was coming it included an extreme medical genius and someone that could provide magical healing. But for all we know they can arrive anywhere between the next minute or in the next millenium. I was wondering how Derek would react to the proposal we could hold out a bit longer instead of just turning his uncle into an immortal. Oh, and Felix can summon information from the other universes so if any develop a miracle of medicine we could use that too."

"How long could it be stuck like that from our perspective? Summoning information might be our best bet."

Fenris gives him a helplessly shrug. "So far the progress between all three observed universes looks pretty much random with our original one being consistently slower but at a rate that fluctuates between one to six million times slower than here, maybe it is be stuck like that, maybe next time we check it will a thousand years."

"You said you have five immortality springs?" 

"Yes and I can make one more per month, a bit longer if I spend time developing new aspects to improve it, like the ability to shift away the wings, which I might not be able to do."

"So you can get a lot of people, if they're willing to hide?"

"For certain definitions of 'a lot', yes. Only twelve to thirteen people per year, more if I spend a lot of time sleeping. I do have reason to believe the immortality is hereditary so at least their future children can be immortal."

"I'll make a list. Derek will want his uncle near the top if it helps with whatever's going on in his head. Is there a way to test that without doing it?"

"The hereditarity? I'm not aware of anyway that we could test it that doesn't involve conception one or the other, there had been two births plus a pregnancy among the group that knows, but none of the people involved wanted to risk something weird happening. One of the couples that gave birth actually decided to become immortal after the pregnancy."

"Not the heritability, which I think I'm going to have to look into if no one has. I meant, the effects it could or could not have on Derek's uncle, his like, coma or whatever." 

"Skymages are not typically immortal, the immortality thing is new. And I misunderstood because of the ambiguous use of 'him'. Well, my power can't recover old memories, only restore the ones you had or formed after becoming immortal. It can restore any physical damage. So it all comes down to the uncle's exact problem. If there is enough information there and it all just needs a healed structure to run it, then he can make a recovery after spending a week growing a new body. But it gets more complicated if it is something more delicate."

Stiles nods, and then blushes, averting his gaze again.

"So! Tell me about skymages."

Fenris cracks up. "One thing I can tell about Skymages is that every single one of us has this short range effect that makes the air around us comfortable for us. Culturally, many of us are comfortable with nudity and I'm shameless about it. But what do you want to know exactly? The powers? Or our rich history and culture? Do you mind if we move the conversation to the balcony?"

"Balcony it is.Tell me about your rich history, sounds fun."

Fenris will do exactly that if a history lesson is what he wants. Fenris has recently investigated the topic because the histories between the two universes don't diverge a lot even despite all the magic. He'll remain doing so while naked and will remain amused by Stiles' blushing.

And here is Felix with a tray of snacks and juice. He raises an eyebrow when he notices the scene.

This does not make Stiles blush less, though he does look intolerably smug about it.

He asks many questions about every other sentence.

This smugness might or might not be the reason why Felix leaves (the tray did have two cups and is unlikely he knew about Stiles).

"You're adorable when you ask all these questions."

"Adorable? Puppies are adorable. Kittens are adorable. Snails are adorable. I am not adorable." 

"Really? Then what are you?"

"Interesting? Oozing with charm? Moderately attractive?" 

"Haven't met you well enough to have an opinion on how interesting you're, but I would say you can be enganging in a charming way. And I do find the parts that I can see to be attractive. And none of that is mutually exclusive with adorable."

"Okay, we can find a middle ground. Is Scott adorable, charming, attractive..."

"Let me think," Fenris says thoughtfully, he floats closer to Stiles, "not sure about charming, my interactions with Scott didn't really reveal his charm, but maybe that is just the situation. Yes to the other two traits. But why are we talking about Scott?"

"Me and Scott are kind of a package deal."

"In the sense that you two are close friends or something else?"

"Uh. We're friends, anyone who likes me has to deal with him."

"Ah, I was confused because you asked if I think Scott is attractive, which isn't relevant to simple friendship. And Scott is perfectly likeable either way. Felix and I have a similar situation, except the prospect of dating the same people appeals to us."

Stiles partakes of the snacks quietly.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No, I just think we should be professional. And wear clothes, probably. Both of us."

"Well, I can accept a professional relationship if that is what you prefer. I don't think that has anything to do with how much clothes we wear."

Is he blushing again? Yup.

"So. Immortality, we should come up with a strategy."

Fenris snorts. "We probably should. Are you sure you don't want to get more comfortable?"

"Maybe later. We've got plotting!"

Plotting happens. Back home only a few hundred people are aware that this kind of immortality exists, a group comprised of mostly dreamshaping created people, relatives of dreamshapers and the dreamshapers themselves, in descending order of magnitude. The twins held discretion to who would get immortality and sometimes they would trade it for favors. And most people who knew would be disadvantaged if the secret came out or if they antagonized the twins too much. Things have been peaceful enough lately that a couple of times they randomly selected who would get the immortality. Anyone with a public identity would need a new one afterwards since wings are a significant cosmetic change, but are ultimately something known to be possible for humans.

Here, Fenris guesses that they can adopt a similar strategy with the caveat that the immortals would be more noticeable in public so they would inevitably need to hide unless Fenris can add the ability to shift away the wings by doing the magical equivalent of reverse-engineering werewolves. The possibility to make the immortality transmissable like the lycanthrope did cross Fenris' mind but he is skeptical that this is a) possible b) wise until he has a much deeper understanding of werewolves and how they fit in the world.

"Playing with how werewolves work seems like the hardest way to do this, better to use dreamshaping. How does dreamshaping work, anyway, how do you come up with new things?" 

"I would still use dreamshaping. I can 'look' at the immortals and see their magic and how it interacts with the immortality magic and there is some room to improve from there. I'm pretty certain that adding new powers is possible. I just never had the opportunity to dedicate myself to the project."

"And not sure what you mean with 'work', but when we sleep we feel we are in this sort of disembodied and floating in a sea of energy and that energy causes the dimension to expand. Each dimension has it's limitations, Felix can create vast ridiculously luxurious spaces, but no magic objects. I can create the immortality springs, vast frozen wastelands and sea-serpent monsters that guard the former, but basically nothing else. Other dreamshapers back home had similar limits."

"So it's not really about inventing, you just have to discover what you can already do?"

"Well, standard inventing is discovering what you can already do. But in a lot of senses yes, there is a matter of being creative, and coming up with narratives that justify what you want to do. Felix can do a lot of stuff by convincing himself that his dimension is owned is the home of an eccentric billionaire that can buy anything. I'm stuck with what I got because my dimension is a mockery of the Stormlords' afterlife and it will be like that until I can resurrect my parents and make them immortal."

"Could you convince it that frozen wastelands are a good source of immortality, too?"

Fenris shakes his head. "Wouldn't fit the theme and my immortality is very strong, it could easily get the same effects for maybe a tenth of the power, but I have high standards for so it has a lot of redundancy and fail safes."

"Can anyone become a dreamshaper? We should just find someone who likes immortality to do it." 

"Yes, but there is a risk the person might never wake up and they only control the power if they wake up. There is also no way to stop being a dreamshaper and not expanding the dimension can be hard on the short term and is impossible on the long term. Worth looking into it, but finding volunteers that fit 'likes immortality' and 'will accept death if they dimension is dangerous' will make things hard."

"Scott would do it, if he found out before I did. Now he has me to stop that." 

"I can appreciate dreamshaping potential, but I'll not jump at the first opportunity to risk someone's life like that, don't worry. And the relationship between personality and dimension might not be straightforward either way."

"How risky is it? Should I try it?"

"For the dreamshaper? With two dreamshapers and five immortals around it is pretty safe, we can just open a portal to your dimension find you and then lead you out of the portal, which will wake you up just fine and give you control over dreamshaping. And I'm not exactly offering it, dreamshaping can be quite dangerous on itself."

"Is it really easy to mess up? I can probably handle weird magic, that sounds like exactly my sort of thing." 

"Not exactly mess up. But your pocket dimension might be dangerous in a way that you can't contain or change, I'm talking stuff of literal nightmares. Not to mention that we are not yet on the share-great-power stage yet. And while we are pretty certain the dimensions are somehow personality based, the data on what traits are relevant and how they manifest is rather lacking."

"Okay, fine, great power, great responsibility. I get it. I should probably get out of your room, huh." 

"If you think there isn't anything else to do. I must say this was a fun break of my privacy. Let's make it unique so we can treasure it forever."

"Maybe later. Nice meeting you again, Fenris."

"I meant that as you're welcome to visit, but do not snoop around again. But nice meeting you too."

And he'll be left alone, for a time.

Fenris messages to the others what happened and tells them that he is going to check on the shard and meditate on it.

Their current security set up is simpler than back home, but suitable enough for a world with only two dreamshapers.

He goes to the basement and goes through a portal that opens to a large pocket of air beneath the ice. Originally it was just big enough that they could construct the supporting structure and then melt the ice, rinse, repeat, until it got tall enough that the portal opens to a sudden drop in air, which Fenris easily can float through.

He goes through a second portal at the bottom of that pocket of air, one that opens to a large underground bunker that almost looks like a luxurious suite it has it's own hydroponic garden which Vii is currently tending. Fenris nods at her and she nods back. Fenris goes through a third portal, another pocket of air, then another bunker. There are in fact ten of these bunkers, each impossible to access without the aid of portals, they just haven't got around making the intervening air bubbles.

Fenris goes to a vault that scans his retina. He finds the dreamshard safe and sound inside.

He picks it up and meditates on it.

He could use the dreamshard to do so much, there is just so much potential and in this universe no one would be able to stop him-

He perishes the thought and keeps meditating, to unravel how this thing works.

And hours after that, will Derek come by again?

Derek can indeed be found loitering outside the portal.

Felix invites him inside, looking a bit self-conscious he takes Derek to an outdoor area where the others are waiting.

"Okay, we have a few options on how to help your uncle, but some require a bit of more detail. We know of at least three universes, this universe, our original one, and one that is similar enough that has a werewolf Scott in it and where a copy of me landed starting this whole mess. We've noticed that time doesn't flow at same rate in each universe. Our original universe moved fraction of seconds during all the time we have been here. The thing is that if it moves just a few seconds forward then our entire team we meant to send will come and that includes an extreme medical genius and someone that can produce a cure to all physical injuries."

"There is also witchcraft, that is known to heal, but takes years to learn. But we already might have a solution available. Our kind of immortality is produced by me and is very efficient, if the problem with your uncle is entirely physical we can make him immortal, kill his current body and then wait a week until he grows a new body which might be fully recovered. The downside is that it might not work with more delicate mental problems and is a very, very permament and might interact badly with future solutions. Also, he will have wings and some weather-related powers on top of the immortality.

"Would he still be a werewolf?" 

"He should be, the magic is pretty adaptable and can reconstruct magical powers from our own universe. Of course this isn't something that has been tested."

"If you think he still would be, then it's worth it. What do we have to do?"

Okay, vaguely prejudiced against non-werewolves.

"Well, we still would prefer to wait for a couple of days in case the others show up and we still should discuss this further so you can make an informed choice. It is important to understand that my immortality is a very permament thing and if it doesn't solve the problem or interact badly with future solutions it isn't something we can revoke by any means we know of. One of its failsafes against mind tampering is forking, duplicating the two versions of the person, this might lead us to have multiple copies of your uncle and they might be any combination of catatonic or recovered. And we might need to try mind tampering to help him if immortality doesn't. Would he be okay with multiple versions of himself walking around? Some of which catatonic?"

"Yeah. I can't ask him, but he wouldn't care." 

"Well, it might be a good idea if you talked to him, just in case he can hear. Just so he won't be scared when it happens." Vera finally speaks.

"Thank you, Vera. Another alternative is if we tested the effects on another werewolf. But Scott is not up to it yet, and I'll fully understand if you don't want to be a guinea pig. Even more so when one of the tests would involve handing you a means to kill your current body so we can be sure it preserves lycanthropy."

"I would if there was an alpha here, to turn me afterward. Sorry. Scott would probably take a 'cure', though." 

"We'll offer, but he might deny it on the grounds of having to hide his wings for the rest of his life. We would still need to wait a week until we got confirmation. That is how long it takes to grow a new body."

"Never mind, then. I'll do it, I can't wait for Scott. A week, and then we do it."

"Okay, anything else you want to wrap it up before that?"

"No. Hit me." 

"Okay, take off your shirt and drink this it will hurt briefly." He offers a vial of water.

It tastes like regular water, but as soon it passes his throat there is a sensation that spreads from the center of his body, it is soon eclipsed by a brief burst of pain and then the confusing sensation of new feathery limbs in his back and something else... Derek can feel the water in the air around him and can sense it in the flower vases around the room, it is obvious that he can just reach out and move it, there is another sense that he could make the air chilling cold if so desire.

"Greater gift of humidity, you can control water." Fenris announces. "Anything else?"

"No, I think that's everything." 

"Do you want to die now or do you wanna learn how to fly first? And... preferences on what to do with your body?"

"Ask Scott to bury it, he knows how." 

His wings twitch.

"Kill me now."

Well, that totally didn't sound concerning. Except it did.

Before anyone can say anything Vii takes a couple steps forward, produces a syringe from a pocket and swiftly stabs Derek in the neck.

"I was going to ask about his personal belongings..." Felix says but Derek is already unconscious before he can hear anything else.

They remove Derek's belongings from the body and store it in Fenris' cold dimension.

When is time Fenris informs Scott and Stiles of what happened and Derek's request.

"A whole week without Derek Hale. We should throw a party."

"He had to die, right? For it to work?" 

"He had to die so we could be sure it does work normally with werewolves. I have to sleep to check and see if he will remain one, but it is likely."

"Okay. Did he- I hope it worked." 

"Did he what? There is a body growing in his fountain, so at least he is going to come back."

"I don't think I could do it." 

"Killing your current body or let it die?"

"Yeah, that. It sounds awful, to put everyone through that. I guess if no one would know." 

"I didn't pick the details of how my immortality magic works, but it is better than the currently available alternative. Does it mean you wouldn't be interested?"

"No, I don't think so. It's not subtle, either, so I don't think my mom will want it."

"Reasonably, I'm hoping to find a way for the wings to shift so we all can go back walking on public again. If you change your mind let me know."

"Tell me when you figure it out."

"Of course."

"I think you should tell your mom about the entire thing."

"How can I tell her what's going on?"

"That was a suggestion and not an order. And you should know her better than I do? One of us could be there to answer her questions if you'd like."

"Do you think that would help? I don't know if she could accept this." 

"Well, do you think she would react negatively? Plus, if she knows we could give her a vial of immortality water for her to drink during an emergency."

"If you're okay with it, I'll explain you guys to her. I don't think I can explain me."

"Okay. What are you going to say if she asks why we are so interested in talking to you?"

"I can explain about the other Felix, say that the other me is more interesting. Probably true anyway." 

"Why do you assume that?"

"I don't know. He's probably doing more with his life."

"He is less than an year ahead of you. Anything he can possible do that is more 'interesting' you can do it too, except with more resources because we are here to help."

"All I want to do is be normal. Date, study, and help people."

"Help people in what ways?"

"I don't know. I've always wanted to be a nurse like mom, or a vet like Dr. Deaton."

Fenris eyes him for a moment. "Should I get Felix so he can like reassure you, maybe hug you or something? I am not good at this sort of reassurance."

"I'll be fine. I should get back to studying."

"Oh, we never decided on the issue with Derek's old body. What are we supposed to do with it?"

"Did he not tell you what to do?"

"He said that you would know how to bury it."

"Oh. I'll handle it."

"Do you want help? It isn't a pleasant task even if Derek is going to be alive and well."

"I think I'm supposed to do it. Thanks anyway. Where is he?" 

"I will show you where his old body is." Fenris takes him to the cold storage they created for this task (One does not mix corpses and food).

Assuming Scott is okay with seeing it. Here is Derek body, shirtless and with a pair of blue wings on his back.

"We didn't get the opportunity to ask if he wanted to bury the wings. We decided to compromise by damaging the base so it looks like a clever hoax."

"Okay. Did you want to watch? I think I'm supposed to do it myself, but you can probably be there."

"I could help, but I'm not sure."

"I think he wants a werewolf to do it."

"If it is the custom and you're willing to accommodate him..." Fenris shrugs.

"He'll want to be buried at the old house."

Nod. No comment on how unsanitary that is. "The old place where we met him? Is there where his uncle was burned then?"

"Yeah. It's where he buried his sister."

"She died in the fire too?"

"No. She was murdered."

"Ah, by hunters?"

"Yeah. Derek is trying to figure out who it was." 

Nod. Head tilt. "So it was recent? Where is the rest of his family?"

"Less than a month ago. Most of his family died in a fire, a few years ago." 

"Ah. He didn't mention, but I can see why. It explains a lot."

They get the body to the house. 

Scott heads into the forest. 

Unless instructed otherwise Fenris will follow and help.

Scott looks around, stopping when he finds a certain flower.

He takes his shirt off, wraps it around the flower, and pulls the plant out of the ground.

It takes some time, but he gets there eventually.

He grimaces every time the flower comes near his skin.

"Should I hold it or is this part of the ritual?"

"I don't know...if you can...werewolves bury each other this way. Using wolfsbane."

"Okay... if you decide it is too much I will carry it for you."

Scott carries the plant back to the house.

He keeps his breathing very steady, and says nothing.

Does it help if Fenris discreetly manipulates wind so Scott doesn't have to breath wolfsbane?

A little bit, yes. It's still too close to his skin. 

He places it next to Derek's body, and begins digging the grave with his claws. 

Fenris will be supervising. He takes the opportunity to micromanage the town's weather, still keeping an eye out in case something happens.

The body is placed in the grave. The grave is filled.

The wolfsbane is re-planted, surrounding the body. It glows a dim purple.

"I don't know if I'm supposed to do anything else, he's not really dead..."

"Not really, it is not impossible he thinks the immortality won't work or that it doesn't count as himself somehow." Fenris shrugs.

"Maybe. He's wrong to think that, right? It will still be Derek?" 

"Still Derek. There is more discontinuity in the average night of sleep than when people get reembodied."

"So now we just wait?" 

"Pretty much, there is the conversation with your mom. And I guess we should be more proactive about the alpha, but nothing in our calendar until Derek wakes up."

"Can I talk to Kato?"

"Sure. He likes your presence."

"Okay. Thanks, Fenris."

He awkwardly waves at the grave. 

To Kato.

Kato is in his bedroom, he smiles when Scott shows up.

the place has a decoration style best described as "Adult that really likes space but is mature about it." There are spaceship models behind glass cases and pictures of various space phenomena.

"Hey. Derek just had me bury him. He'll be back, but it was still kind of awful." 

"Yikes. Sorry about that, I didn't expect we would let you go through it, but I guess I overestimated Fenris' ability to act normal. But this is the guy that... wait, did Stiles told you about the bedroom incident?"

"What bedroom incident?" 

"Stiles decided that invading our privacy was a smart idea. Fenris caught him snooping around in his bedroom, stopped that, they have a long and amicable conversation. Which would be all fine and dandy, if it wasn't for the fact that Fenris likes to hang out naked in his bedroom and he was naked the entire time he and Stiles talked."

"Sorry, Stiles can be a bit paranoid. He probably thought he was investigating." 

"Well, tell him to not go through the girls' underwear drawer and that is half of my complaints there. Also, sorry for Fenris being so himself."

"All of you have been nice so far, I don't really have any complaints." 

"Personally, I think we can do better than allowing improvised burials, but let's change the subject. How was your day? Is everything alright?"

"Besides that, it was normal. I'm starting to get anxious, having all of you here but not knowing what might be happening to your friends. Should we be doing something? I guess you might have the whole thing handled." 

"Our friends back home? There is some time weirdness between universes and they are stuck in the moment after we left. And then there the original Felix in the other universe with the other you. I think the twins are quietly despairing over that Felix, but not showing because there isn't much we can do."

"But if that Felix has a you to provide good company."

"I hope he's okay. I guess we just focus on things here. Is there anything me and Stiles can help with? Research, do you guys need anything?" 

"You're too kind. I think what we actually need is people that can go outside freely or at least have legal identities so we can set up charities. We have magical items that allows us to make the wings invisible but only two and they tire anyone that isn't me or Vii. Derek was going to arrange the identities for us, but we got distracted with the entire immortality test thing and we don't know how that is turning out. I wouldn't oppose going out and doing something for fun."

"Is Derek any good at making false identities? He's using his real one here, but I guess I don't know what he did before he came back."

"I think he knew someone? I don't know anything about the guy besides 'that one werewolf that looks like the grumpy cat'."

"Yeah, that's Derek. I guess I'll have to trust him. Anyway, that's not urgent, right? Let's talk about something else. What do you want to fix here?"

"Oh, the twins won't stop until this is an utopia where everyone can live happy and fulfilling lives. Then, I don't know what they will do. Maybe find aliens and improve their planet. They should start by doing a lot of charity donations, then maybe sell magically created things and give the proceedings to good causes. Maybe take a look at the werewolves and how to improve their situation, you'll notice the theme 'improve the situation' being very constant."

"That's really nice of them. I'm not sure how they can help werewolves yet, but something to control us would help."

"If there is something that can be done, they'll do it. Speaking of control, how yours is doing? I was told about anchors."

"It's kind of hard to find something good, that really keeps me calm. There's a girl at school, she helps."

"She must really be something." Kato says inviting him to continue.

"She's sweet, and funny, and she likes me."

"Well, liking you is pretty easy."

"I think she likes me. I guess we don't know each other that well. It helps a little, but Derek says an anchor can't be a person." 

"Yeah, the twins mentioned the concern. Did you try to anchor yourself to other things and only she worked?"

"I didn't really try to anchor to anything, it just happened."

"How romantic, an inconvenient magic feature, but at least is romantic."

"She doesn't know. About any of this."

Kato looks at Scott and gives him a hug. "It must be tough."

"I'm glad you're here." 

Hug. 

"I'm glad that I can provide emotional support in the shape of winged hugs. Assuming you're okay with the wings, they're new and I'm not sure how to be careful yet."

"Wings are okay. It's kind of nice. Cuddly."

Kato wing-cuddles. "Oh, definitely. I remember not quite believing the twins when they said the wings are great, but they are. I mean, I totally get why you don't want to get them, but I totally recommend."

"...Yeah. Maybe someday soon. Things are going to change around here, aren't they."

"What do you mean?"

"The twins want to change the world, I'm just trying to get used to it." 

Squeeze. "Its not like they're bad changes. And it isn't going to happen overnight."

"It's not bad to give to charities or to help people live longer and better lives. I'm just afraid of what happens when everyone finds out. It'll be a mess if they're not careful, and I don't know if they are careful. Fenris doesn't seem like he is."

Kato pulls away from the hug. "Fenris? Really?"

"He scares me. I know he means well."

"I won't deny that he is terrible at people skills."

"I don't think he's a bad person, but I'm afraid he won't think ahead. Felix seems sensible."

"I think they're both sensible. Not sure what you mean with not thinking ahead?"

"He seems like he'll push when he shouldn't. Like he's too stubborn."

"Oh, he is definitely too stubborn and a half. There is totally a Freudian family thing going on, but I am hardly one to complain about bad family dynamics."

"Should I ask?"

"If you want to know about mine, you can ask. I think the twins don't mind if you know theirs, it is kind of public knowledge back in our universe."

"You don't have to tell me." 

"Better if you do...

He breaks away from the hug, despite looking like he really needs it. "I'm like Vera and Vii. I was created by a boy called Arthur Jameson and I was sort of created as his twin. So we were identical. His uncle used this to kidnap and use him for his power while I was sent back to his father. But I knew who I was and kept trying to assert that... One day his dad hanged himself because of me and I... assumed Arthur's identity."

...

Hug.

Hug.

"Thank you." Kato says, he is not actually crying, but he is obviously emotional.

"I'm sorry I brought it up. I didn't want to hurt you."

"It... is okay, given how much you have to trust us you have to know."

"I'm glad you're here. I don't know anything about Arthur, but I know you, and I'm glad you're here." 

Hug.

Kato looks at Scott for a moment...

He growls, and pulls back, jumping under the bed.

"Oh, no. Sorry, sorry. I should've asked."

He crawls back out after a minute.

"I'm sorry. It wasn't- it was nice. I just wasn't expecting it, and when I get...excited...and I don't know what to say now, because what about Allison..."

Kato hugs himself, with his arms and wings. "I'm sorry. I should've asked. I should've known, you already love Allison and most people don't do multiple love, most don't know what it is."

"What do you mean, multiple love?" 

"I mean... Okay, I'm being presumptuous just for suggesting that you would like me like that but, there is a thing called polyamory and its, like, having multiple relationships at same time, but not to be lewd, it is honest affection, but without jealousy or monogamy.

I dated the twins at same time."

"Oh. There's nothing wrong with that. I'm just not sure it's for me." 

Kato fidges. "Yeah... sorry."

"I've never thought about it before. Give me some time?" 

"Of course...

Should I leave?"

"Maybe? I don't want you to go...I don't think you should stay." 

"I... understand."

Kato leaves.

Scott takes the opportunity to think.

Assuming he doesn't take multiple hours of thinking, no one interrupts him.