Hercules and Aaron make great friends.

Word Count: 1,410

going through the unimaginable

Hercules was afraid. After the conversation with his friends the spy had reluctantly decided to tell his wife about the fact that he had been a werewolf for a couple of months now. He made that decision, yes, but that didn't mean he was happy with it.

He was terrified of the reaction of his Elizabeth and he would like to think that he had a valid reason for that. He'd like to meet someone who wouldn't be afraid of telling someone as wonderful as his wife that they had been turning into a bloodthirsty animal once a month for the past half year, if only to see what kind of person wasn't afraid of it.

He'd be lying if he claimed he wasn't silently panicking in his tent, tensely walking in circles, and almost pulling his hair out when Aaron showed up out of nowhere.

"Hercules," the vampire greeted already he having opened the side of Hercules's tent and bent down a bit to lead into it. Aaron was the only one as good as Hercules himself at moving silently.

Perhaps even better, it wasn't like they had tested that. Though maybe they should...

Either way, it was odd that Hercules hadn't smelled his arrival, though. He had the best senses out of all of them and he was able to recognize most people around the full moon—luckily, he still had two weeks until that happened again—but their group of friends all had very distinctive smells. Lafayette always had the trance of the woods around him, just like John never lost all of the waves. Aaron was stuck with an odor of decay to a certain point, while Hercules himself probably smelt like a dog, even if he tried not to think about it.

Alex's scent was an interesting matter. Hercules had only met the young man after he had been turned and he had been really confused when he had smelt his wife's perfume on Alexander. The incubus, while introducing him to the mystical world in general, had explained that the scent of incubi generally reminded one of something or someone they were attracted to. For humans, it often was way too weak to pinpoint and consciously recognize, but the senses of mystical beings were strong enough to realize that whatever they were smelling came from an incubi's direction. The same was true concerning succubi, of course.

Hercules shook his head to clear his thoughts. As good as it was to be distracted, now really wasn't the time to think about that.

"Aaron, hello," he greeted the vampire, stopping dead in his tracks—bad choice of words there, luckily he hadn't said it out loud. "What brings you here?"

"I'm here to offer support." Aaron fully entered the tent and stepped closer to him. "I imagine you're very nervous."

Both of them knew what Aaron was talking about and both of them were still reluctant in admitting it out loud. It was just too weird, even after months of getting used to no longer being human. These months were nothing compared to the decades they had lived before, even if these very decades may eventually become mere drops in an ocean.

"Of course I'm nervous!" Hercules exclaimed instead, throwing his hands into the air. "I'm terribly scared of my wife's reaction. Why on earth wouldn't I be?!"

There were just so many different ways that this could go wrong. Despite trying his best not to think about it, the werewolf's mind ran wild with the numerous possible reactions of his wife and almost all of them ended with his Elizabeth either running away or hiding in horror.

Or both, in a couple versions that were, of course, among the most vivid ones. None of them painted a pleasant mental image in any sense of the phrase, that much was sure.

"Calm down, my friend," Aaron spoke with a small smile, holding his hands in front of him. His tone was so calming that Hercules couldn't help but relax slightly. "There is no need to get angry. I understand you completely."

"I thought you would." Hercules sighed as he sank onto the cold, hard ground. He offered Aaron a place next to him, which the other man accepted. "It's just so weird. I don't think the others really get it, since, for them, it has always been this way. They never knew what it was like to be human."

"Not true in the case of Alexander," Aaron pointed out. "Not technically, at least."

While the specifics of which had never been spoken of by the incubus, he had assured them that he had been a child with different needs once. Not completely human ones, yes, nevertheless different from what he was experiencing now.

Though all of this was true, Hercules still shook his head. "Maybe not for him directly, but he had the chance to watch his Mom and older brother before he was affected to prepare and almost a decade to get used to it," he argued, turning slightly around to face Aaron and pointing at him. "You had what, a year?" Aaron nodded, "to get used to it and I had even less."

The vampire nodded again. "You do have a point there," he recognized.

Hercules sighed and threw his head backwards, also lowering himself in a way that his upper body was only propped up by his elbows.. "I know I do." He then let himself sink on the ground completely. The ceiling of the tent was not as bad of a view as one would expect.

Hercules could see the stars through them.

"The others have a point as well, though," Aaron tentatively commented.

"I am aware of that, yes," he acknowledged, putting his hand through his hair. It was easily noticeable that Lafayette had been in there the day before, as it had little to no tangles. And that only ever happened thanks to some of Lafayette's leftover magic. "That doesn't mean it stops me from being terrified."

"I wasn't claiming that," Aaron raised one of his hands. "I'm just saying that if you don't try it, you'll never figure it out and just keep worrying."

Hercules nodded slowly, rising to prop himself up at his elbows again. "I honestly did not expect you to give me this advice." And it's true. This seemed more likely to come from any of his other friends, not Aaron, how kept himself in the shadows more than anything.

"Well, all of this," he gestures at the two of them, "kind of gave me a new perspective on a few things. I don't want to spend an eternity from the sidelines only to ponder the 'what if's in retrospect."

"That's really wise,"Hercules commented.

"Thank you. I gave it a lot of thought," Aaron replied. "Just like you and your wife, to get back to the topic at hand."

"You're probably right," the werewolf sighed yet again. "If I don't tell her, I'll always wonder if she would perhaps react less horribly than I am imagining. Plus, there is Nancy to consider. She deserves to see her father. I can't just abandon her."

"That's good of you," Aaron complimented. "If only we could get John to visit Frances."

Hercules chuckled. "Once issue at the time. Two, if you count the war."

"Which we probably should. Alex might skin us otherwise," Aaron theorized.

"That certainly is a valid possibility," Hercules agreed.

"I know. So, when are you gonna do it?" Aaron asked, slowly standing up.

"I'll be heading back to my shop tomorrow either way," Hercules said, following the other man's actions, only that he felt the need to stretch. "I'll tell her then. Now I'm getting some food." He was really craving some meat. And it was barely halfway between two moons, how bad would this get as the month progressed? So far, it had been different each month, so there was no real way for Hercules to anticipate it.

"Speaking of, I'll be off now. I have to visit Jonathan," Aaron fidgeted with his hands as he informed the werewolf. "My supply's emptying and I'd rather like to avoid cutting it close."

Hercules winces unintentionally as he imagined the results. "Probably a good idea. Greet him from me, will you?" Hercules requested. He had always liked Bellamy, even if the two of them rarely if ever met.

"I will." Aaron smiled and disappeared into the night.

WizardingWhovian: Thank you!