OH MY GOD! I gasp in shock as I continue staring at him in awe. Aarav, still a wolf (I still can't believe I'm saying this) continues gripping my hand.
"Take your time. I know that this is nothing like you're used to," he assures me nonchalantly, acting as if this is the most normal thing ever.
How are you so casual about this? You just turned into a mythological animal, and you're talking me through my head. Wait, how are you talking me through my head?
Time to bring my back my archaic werewolf knowledge. Sure, some of it may be very inaccurate and sexist, but it at least covers the basics.
Wait. This must be mindlinking! Of course! In books, werewolves talk to each other through thoughts whenever they're not in human form. I remember thinking it was so cool and wishing humans could have it too. You know how much easier it would be if we could just read each other's minds?
"I'm surprised you know what mindlinking is." That confirms it.
"I read a lot of werewolf books," I clarify as he laughs in my head. "I don't know whether to be impressed or insulted by that. But good for you! Most people think they're going crazy when they hear mindlinking," he applauds me in my head while I roll my eyes at him playfully.
"But, yeah. I'm a lycan. The werewolf you know has evolved. That's all you need to know," he clarifies while I say "HUH?" out loud.
"How? Just, how? You're not supposed to exist. You guys are just pure mythology! How are they suddenly a thing?"
"This is what I was trying to tell you before in my office. The world is not as normal as you think it is. It's pretty wack," he clarifies and I nod my head in response. Just then, I feel a sharp pain in my head.
As much as mindlinking is super cool, I didn't think it would be such a massive headache, though. Literally and figuratively. Great, as if my previous headache wasn't bad before. Now I have double the migraine.
"Shit, did I give you a headache?" he asks in concern while he notices me massaging my forehead.
"A little. It's okay, I kinda expected it. After all, telepathy isn't very common where I'm from."
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. Mindlinking is the only way I can communicate with you in this form, but I forgot that you're not used to it," he apologizes while I swat my hand to say it isn't a big deal.
"Okay, let me shift back and we can go back to my office. I'll explain everything there." SHIT, he's shifting?!
I've been through some things, but I am not seeing anyone naked today.
"Uh, what are you doing?" he questions in a suspicious tone as I turn around and cover my eyes.
"If you're shifting, then I want to turn around. I'm not going to see anything that shouldn't be seen," I justify while Aarav cackles in my head.
"Fine, if you say so."
After about 2 seconds of noises and blitzing, I turn around and see Aarav in front of me, back as a human being.
But wait...
WHY IS HE STILL WEARING CLOTHES?!
I'm gonna act like I didn't just say that.
But even then, how? I thought shifting rips your clothes, so werewolves have to get an extra change of clothes when they change back. How is he still fully clothed as if nothing ever happened?
I knew those books were a lie.
"Um-" I blurt out while he cackles again.
"I went behind a tree," he jokes to me while he buttons up his open shirt, exposing all of his tattoos very clearly. Damn, he's ripped.
HE'S MARRIED, SARVANI. And he's literally in his mid-20s. Gosh, get your shit together.
"YEAH! Why are you not? Was that wolf even you then?"
"Oh, you know it was me. Who else could it possibly be?" he offers as he puts on his slippers and walks towards the door again.
"Um-- uh- A GHOST!" I suddenly spit out as Aarav bursts out laughing. "Nice try. Keep trying to convince yourself as we head back. I'll explain everything there."
"Yeah, sounds like a good idea. That was... not normal," I formulate in the best possible words I can.
He snickers before saying, "Did you enjoy that?"
Surprisingly... that was actually really cool. I thought I'd be mad when I found out, but instead, I don't think I've been this happy since I came here. Werewolves are a thing. They're real! I thought that it would kill me, but it was so calm and kind. And unlike I thought, I didn't even feel scared. That was so cool.
"I did. A lot," I smile involuntarily before he opens the door and we both go inside.
***
5 minutes later...
We head back to Aarav's office, where he closes the door and sits me down. After that, he takes out a black dry-erase marker from his desk and goes towards the whiteboard.
"Okay, here's the deal," he begins before he draws a perfect circle on the whiteboard.
"This is Earth," he describes as he draws some blobs to represent countries. "You have some nice handwriting," I compliment jokingly as he writes "EARTH" on top of the circle.
"Why, thank you. I took third-grade handwriting very seriously," he teases before he faces me again.
"But... this isn't the only Earth that exists," he confesses while he draws an identical circle with blobs next to the first Earth.
"Another Earth?" I question in shock, trying my best to believe him even when it's already off to an insane start.
Aarav told me to trust him though, so I'm gonna try as hard as I can.
"Yes, but no. You know how in the DC Multiverse, there are multiple Earths? Like Earth-2, Earth-3, Earth-395? And people actually live on these Earths?"
"Yeah, I've seen those on the shows. But those are like parallel universes, right?"
"Something like that! There is another Earth that is kind of in its own universe compared to this one. An alternate reality," he draws a dotted circle arrow from the new circle to the old circle.
"This parallel Earth is called the Sempiternal Plane," he adds while he writes the name on top of the new circle.
Huh? What's that word? Sempiternal? Sounds like a medication. Which is definitely what I need right now.
"The what plane?"
"Sempiternal. It means something that exists within time but can last for infinite years to come. So, sempiternal," he clarifies, noticing my scrunched face.
"I know it's a really long and dumb word. But hey, it sounds kinda cool. So they stuck with it. But the common term that we call it is the Netherworld," he jokes, snorting to himself as I get the joke.
"It's pretty cool. Netherworld," I sound out, laughing to myself. "Has a nice ring to it."
He starts laughing at me too. "I'm glad you're loosening up. But yeah, we call it the Netherworld because it's the secret dark side to Earth that no one will ever know except us," he says before he whispers, "The Netherworld is way better though," and chuckles.
