Oh- that’s totally okay, please don’t worry!! I just wasn’t sure where we stood with this lol. I’m absolutely still down to do this with you, but if it’s something that’s just going to stress you out or make you feel bad please don’t hesitate to say so. 😅
To say Oliver was woken up by the loud snap from outside was an understatement. He was not woken up. He was jolted awake so suddenly that he got tangled in his sheets and ended up faceplanting on the cold floor. Which, honestly, was not totally out of the ordinary for his luck. But that sound was definitely enough to wake him and definitely close enough that he had to check it out.
So after he managed to disentangle himself from his bed, turn on the light and grab his shoes and his shovel since he felt weird about owning a shotgun and knowing his luck he'd end up shooting himself in the foot, he headed out the back door to see what happened. Oliver had only set up that bear trap after hearing rumors of something out in the woods stealing small livestock. Plus, this certainly wouldn't be the first time his farm was terrorized by whatever was out there. And after five years in the business world, he knew how to take precautions.
But heavens above whatever was making that terrible scraping noise in that trap couldn't be anything good. He almost considered just hightailing it back inside and checking this out in the morning when the thing would either be dead or escaped. But no, Oliver had to be strong. So he crept closer until he could see what exactly had gotten caught.
It was…not what he expected. At least not in the way he was thinking. "A…wolf?" The words were as confused as they were hesitant. In general terms, it was a wolf. But it was certainly different than any wolf Oliver had ever seen. It looked…strangely human. In a way that made Oliver do a double take. He dared to take a step closer to get a better look. The thing looked starved, like it hadn't eaten in days. Hell, maybe it hadn't. Maybe that was why he was going after his animals.
(Sorry for the delay on my part!! I’m fully back on notebook now. Knock on wood/pinky promise, lmao.)
The sound of sharp teeth scraping against metal filled the cold air, howls and whines accompanying the grating noise. Baz didn’t let the sound deter him. Footsteps were slowly but steadily approaching, and his choices were to either rip his leg out of the trap or place himself, currently looking absolutely monstrous, in the hands of the farmer whose animals he’d been eating for weeks now. Neither of which seemed like good options.
In the form he was in, it was incredibly difficult to find any other option. It was always particularly difficult to form intelligent thoughts like this, which prompted a spur of the moment decision. It was dark. Maybe the man approaching hadn’t seem the creature just yet, hidden among the shadows and hunkered down to the ground to gnaw at the trap. Maybe, though he knew the chances were slim. And a human man caught in his trap would surely be treated more kindly than a monster, wouldn’t he? And as soon as he’d thought of that idea, he was forcing himself through the transformation. It wasn’t exactly good for him- usually it took a few minutes at least, putting strain on his body if he forced it into a few seconds. But with the metal biting through his skin he was sure that this one time wouldn’t be too bad for him.
Within a few seconds, instead of the large creature sitting in the field there was now a scrawny, white-haired man curled in on himself, sharp yellow eyes reflecting the light from the kitchen. His tan skin was covered in dirt, blood dripping down his bare leg. He seemed almost human, if one didn’t know any better. He grimaced. The pain was worse in this form, searing hurt entirely distracting him from the fact that he was now bared to the cold, night air.
(Okay so I am actually the worst and I'm so sorry, I must've clicked off before I answered and forgotten, I swear I'll have an answer up!)
Oliver blinked a couple of times, just to be sure that he was seeing this correctly as he came fully into view of the trap. It wasn't an animal, it was a person. A very strange-looking person but a person nonetheless. He looked so thin, it made Oliver's heart hurt. He'd seen people like this back in the city. Hadn't eaten in days, all skin and bones, looking like they were on the edge of death. He always tried to help where he could and wasn't about to let this be the exception.
Oliver set his shovel down and kneeled to get a closer look at how this person was caught in the trap. "How on earth did you get yourself into this situation? Doesn't seem like something that would happen all that easily." He hummed in concern, gently tugging at the trap to see how deeply it was wedged into the man's leg. "Yeah, bit onto ya pretty good. It'll hurt more to pull it out than it did to dig in."
He sat back on his heels, sighing heavily. This wasn't going to be easy. But of course it wasn't. Because nothing in his life could ever just be simple. "I'll have to get something to open it. It's new so it shouldn't take all that much but that also means that the teeth are nice and sharp so it'll hurt like hell." He looked up at the person with a concerned expression. "You doing okay?"