She was, in fact, a child of the moon ¦ Rhys

[Lyra Horváth]

How Lyra recovered after the full moons wildly varied from month to month. This month she had been able to avail of Wolfsbane services from St Mungos and it had certainly made the days leading up to it a lot more tolerable. However the variety of recovery potions that had also been supplied lay untouched in her shitty little bed sit. Really she should have taken them, but she saw it as a form of cheating, simultaneously cursing herself for being a Mungos charity case. She was allowing herself no time to recover, just forcing herself to work. Other times she would have allowed herself to sleep it off. Though, when she wasn't in work, she was sleeping. And thinking of EPKE ROBERTUS OPPEDYK or when she might see him again.

She wasn't feeling as bad a she was last night, but she wasn't fully at a functioning level just yet.

Thankfully she had had sense to pick up an earlier shift today and would be finished by ten pm and then could go and collapse into dreamless sleep again. Maybe even pick up something to eat on the walk home if her nausea had settled by then. The battle between being utterly sick to the stomach and ravenously hungry was her most hated part of her change every month. The aches, pains and spasms she could deal with, but the hunger was mental torture she would rather do without.

Sighing quietly she tried to ignore the pit growing in her stomach and looked around the bar. It was quiet enough this early in the evening. The bar was practically empty and there wasn't a whole lot to do. For now she busied herself by wiping down some tables out on the floor.

rhys alexander greyback

[rhys alexander greyback]

you people are mistaken

if you think i'm awake
and celebrating

February 2, 2026
Lyra Horváth

Rhys hesitated, just as he had kept doing ever since that conversation with Sienna. However, the strange feeling in his stomach was driving his actions for now. The full moon had done its job of taking away most of his energy, patience, and possibly another tiny bit of his sanity once more. The Aware Wolf potion did help some, especially with the changes that had been over the past year, to help hinder some of the side effects. With the sun beginning to wane over the horizon, Rhys squinted his eyes as he walked toward the familiar pub as he hoped, for for the first time, that Vasilia was not there. It wasn’t that Rhys didn’t want to see her—the opposite in fact, but he didn’t trust what he would say or how he would act and especially in this weakened state. Besides, Vasilia would take one look at his pale and sullen face, note the day of the month, and try to help him.

Walking in, the pub was empty though it was early in the evening on a Monday night. Out of habit, Rhys took his usual seat at the bar and nodded at the waitress, who recognized him with a quick and friendly smile. Ever since he’d befriend Vas, they had begun to recognize him. However, in hindsight, he realized that he had been spending quite a bit of time here when he wasn’t working or busy elsewhere versus his previous habits of stopping by different pubs throughout the week. Rhys didn’t see a bartender right away, and he glanced around, but it gave him time to decide what he wanted. Whiskey was his habit, but his stomach told him that he needed calories that weren’t in liquid form, though he tried to fight it for now. There was a woman he didn’t recognize near his seat, but she was wiping down the smaller tables next to him, so another employee. ”New here?” He wondered out loud. Maybe if he hadn’t been so distant, Vas might have mentioned a new employee.

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[Lyra Horváth]

Lost in her thoughts, she hadn't exactly been expecting anyone to ask anything of her, or address her at all really. Too lost in her own aches and pains, paired with that niggling feeling that still sat in her chest over the guy she had met the night before, it took her a moment to actually react to Rhys' comment.

Almost lazily she raised an eyebrow and a quirk of a smile started on her lips.

"Oh, yeah I only started last night." As she surveyed Rhys, she began to pull out of her daze and realised where she'd seen him before. He'd been here with Rob, the first night she sat in a corner drinking alone, it was a few nights before the full moon. Stupidly she's drank away what little money she did have, before she'd come running back with her tail between her legs days later looking for a job. With a small nod she continued "I'm Lyra."

With a pause, she realised he was actually a customer, and she remembered she probably should actually do her job. "Fuck, sorry.." She mumbled, beginning to move behind the bar. She had never said she was particularly good at her job. She suppose Vasilia had simply taken pity on her when she gave her the job. "Can I get you something then?" She wasn't very enthused, but really it was no surprise. Yes, she was feeling better, but she still felt like she had been run over by a truck, maybe just a slightly smaller truck that was going a little slower than previously. It was a fight to shake it off, but she forced herself to concentrate and just get through the shift. Six more hours. That was it.

rhys alexander greyback

[rhys alexander greyback]

you people are mistaken

if you think i'm awake
and celebrating

February 2, 2026
Lyra Horváth

The woman answered him, indicating that she had only started working there the previous day. Vas had mentioned looking for more staff, and he hoped it helped her work less, though Rhys doubted that she would ever take the opportunity. She introduced herself as ‘Lyra’, and Rhys nodded in response. ”Rhys.” His gaze lingered on her for an extra moment—there was something about her. A familiarity? Something Rhys couldn’t quite pinpoint right away, but the word familiar came to mind. Not in the same way as running into someone you picked up in a bar before, but still. Before he could comment, she suddenly began moving behind the bar. It was clear she was new, but he didn’t make a fuss over it. As long as she got him whiskey, it was fine—one must not bite the hand that feeds.

”Double whiskey.” Rhys responded simply. The exhaustion was a fight he almost felt like he was losing. While he waited, he looked around at the pretty empty bar. The quiet was nice, though he didn’t mind the buzz of the crowds when in the right company. Well her company, if he was being specific. But for now, he shook the thought of Vasilia from his mind. ”You from around here?” The feeling he couldn’t shake was pushing him to a conversation, despite it being the last thing he wanted to do the day after a full moon. Rhys shifted in his seat a bit. His body was still immensely sore. It didn’t matter what potion he took. It was still a side effect and one that he never got used to.

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[Lyra Horváth]

As he gave his name, Lyra nodded. A penny dropped. She didn't only recognise him from being in with Rob; he had been ahead of her a few years in school. Rhys Greyback. She hadn't known him well. Or even actually spoken to him, but she had known of him as one of the older students that was moving around the school. There wasn't a massive gap between them, by the time she turned he had already graduated, but for the year she was stuck in Hogwarts hating her life she sometimes thought about the known Werewolves moving through the school and if it had been any easier for them. His surname had lent him to being quite memorable in her mind, even if she didn't know much about him.

With a dry smile she surveyed him for a moment. "Nice to meet you Rhys." He didn't need to know that she already knew him of course, it was easier this way. Nodding in acknowledgement of his order she reached for one of the heavy bottomed tumblers. It hit the counter with a bit louder a clunk than she would have liked, causing her to cringe for a moment while the noise reverberated in her ears. It wasn't even that loud, she was just still hypersensitive to these things after the full moon. "Ugh, sorry." Great now he would think she was an idiot too. Trying to force some calm, she ignored how much her head was throbbing from the hunger and exhaustion. Just a few more hours and she could go collapse in her filthy little bedsit. Concentrating on her pouring for a moment, she poured him a double and probably a little extra before pushing it forward to him.

Wait he was asking her something, making conversation. Wow it had been a while since anyone had actually actively entertained her in conversation without ulterior motives. This was strange.

"Me? No." Shaking her head, her accent a strange mix of Scottish and a heavy Slavic tone. Difficult to place. It made her a little harder to suss out and in that way she liked it, but it also made her more distinct "I'm from up North. But I haven't been in the UK in a few years really. New to the area I suppose, needed some cash so Vasilia took me on for some shifts here and there" He didn't need to know by 'up north' she actually just meant Hogsmeade, right?


rhys alexander greyback

[rhys alexander greyback]

you people are mistaken

if you think i'm awake
and celebrating

February 2, 2026
Lyra Horváth

Now that they were properly introduced, Rhys considered her just another new friend that happened to be a bartender. Perhaps she could occupy his mind while he tried his best to push the thought of a certain redhead out of his mind. It was easier than he thought it would be. Even though he didn’t know Lyra by name or recognized her face, he felt a strange sense of déjà vu. Maybe he’d met her before? It was hard to describe what he was feeling exactly. Perhaps he’d mention it to Rob. It was easy to talk to someone who was a lot like him in many ways alongside being a werewolf. Still, it was evident to Rhys that she was as new to the job as she said she was. The tumbler hit the counter, and he winced slightly at the loud sound it made. But, if Vas had given her a chance, then so would he.

Her accent was not something he could pinpoint. Even with all the traveling he had done around the world, he couldn’t place it. However, Rhys had to admit it intrigued him a bit that he wasn’t familiar with it. He nodded as she spoke, still trying to place the accent. ”Where you from?” He asked instinctively before following up. ”I travel a lot for my work with the bank. I haven’t heard an accent like yours before.” Rhys drank his whiskey. His body had been trained to feel calmer as soon as the burning liquid touch his throat—it was the only way he knew to get through this time of the month.

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[Lyra Horváth]

Watching Rhys for a moment, she mulled over how odd it was. She knew of him, his name, the fact he was a Werewolf, the fact he was friends with Rob, the fact he was in denial about Vasilia (if any of the rumours were to be believed). And yet he knew nothing about her.

Well, he knew her name now. That was something she supposed.

As he sipped his Whiskey, she pondered it. Now he had even told her he worked at the bank, she supposed they were on fairly uneven ground. It was difficult though. If she answered his enquiries, she was sure it would probably make more questions than she was really ready to answer. On the other hand, she wasn't really one for lying. She had never been very good at it. No matter how much she didn't like actually giving answers.

"Originally Hogsmeade." Looking down for a moment, she played it coolly in hopes he wouldn't pick up on that. Eventually she looked down and shrugged. "I'm Half Magyar though. I speak Hungarian more than English a lot, so the accent sort of sticks I suppose. I haven't been back home in...." trailing off she searched for the words, in the end she looked up to him and shrugged again. "Years. I don't even know what the place looks like anymore."

rhys alexander greyback

[rhys alexander greyback]

you people are mistaken

if you think i'm awake
and celebrating

February 2, 2026
Lyra Horváth

She caught his attention again, Hogsmeade. He’d loved to visit the village during his school years when he wasn’t stuck in detention again or the Hospital Wing for fighting. The number of times Rhys had broken his nose or some other bone was something he had stopped counting. But, at least during his seventh year, there had been some peace and quiet on that front, even if he’d been in other forms of pain. ”Hogsmeade?” Rhys asked, putting his glass back on the bar. ”Did you go to Hogwarts then?” Rhys hardly remembered half the people he attended school with, especially if they weren’t in his classes or his group of friends or if they were some kind of enemy. So, for all, he knew she’d been passing face, which would explain the strange sense he got from her. Like he’d seen her before, but he couldn’t confirm.

It was a feeling he’d felt before, but he was racking his brain to try and remember where and when. Lyra stated that she’d been gone for some time, and that was a feeling he could almost relate to. From the age of eighteen until the previous year, he’d only come home for short stretches of time. And if he was honest, if it wasn’t for his siblings in the area or still at Hogwarts, he might have come back even less. The recent lockdown had thrown a wrench into his plans of constantly working until he was numb enough to forget all the pain in his life. Working until he had no energy and could have a dreamless sleep for once. And then Rob’s Aware Wolf potion had happened, which had quite literally done the opposite at first. ”Hasn’t changed much.” Rhys confirmed, it still looked the same as it did the first time he stepped foot on that path at the age of eleven.

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[Lyra Horváth]

Watching Rhys here and there she watched him put the pieces together. She didn't dare directly look at him, fearful that he might in fact recognise her. When he directly asked her about Hogwarts her eyes darted to his, biting on her lip. "Yeah I did.." The glint of recognition continued though. But maybe he hadn't known her in school, he had been slightly older than her after all. With a bit of luck he wouldn't know her. She could continue to just float around in the shadows like she enjoyed to do. For now anyway.

With a quiet laugh she nodded to agree. "I can't imagine so. Sleepy little village." With a shrug she tried to ignore the mounting migraine. "My parents still live there. Apparently. I don't see the draw myself" With a small smirk, she moved to refill his glass, wishing she could have one of her own. But for now it'd have to wait. Feeling a little bolder, she decided to turn the tables and do more asking for a moment.

"So do you come in here much?" Of course she already knew that he did. She had seen him here, but still, hearing about it from him may be different.

rhys alexander greyback

[rhys alexander greyback]

you people are mistaken

if you think i'm awake
and celebrating

February 2, 2026
Lyra Horváth

Rhys continued to look curiousily. Lyra seemed reluctant to admit that she’d attended Hogwarts, not that Rhys would have recognized her. There were only a few names he remembered among the faces as it was hard to remember those faces when he had typically walked around staring at the floor. In the present day, he had been able to shake that habit. Mentors had taught him to grasp what someone might use against him, his name, and hold it close. Walk tall, and people were less likely to knock you over. As she spoke, she quickly refilled his glass—a good sign they were going to get along well enough and that she could do the basics.

”I don’t visit the village often unless I’m dropping by to visit my sister.” Rhys admitted, though it wasn’t as often as one might think. Max still had her own social life and her own friends, and he wasn’t going to take up all her time in the village paying a visit. Though, sometimes he’d visit friends who taught there or even others like Lily if he happened to bump into them. Rhys wondered what Lyra might have heard about him—obviously, he was a regular. The thought made him shift a bit uncomfortably in his chair, but he wasn’t uncomfortable. Even though he’d just met this woman, there was something about her that, while it seemed familiar, was also calming. As one might feel with a kindred spirit, but he couldn’t place it. It wasn’t like the pull he felt for Vasilia, that attraction and connection—this was different, but he pushed it aside for now as he continued to drink his whiskey. ”Now and then.” His response was short. ”You should try the pie if you have a chance.” Surely that was an employee perk.

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[Lyra Horváth]

As her eyes flashed between him and the glass once again she gave a small shrug. "I haven't been back in years" It wasn't her home anymore. She wasn't quite sure whether her parents would recognise her if she did ever darken their door. It was unlikely her Papa would ever look her in the eye anyway, he never had even before she left. She wasn't quite sure it would be any different now.



With a small, more wolfish smile, she gave him a nod. "Yeah I had the apple pie the other day. It was good" and it had been. Even if the idea of it churning away in her stomach now made her want to run into the back alley, or the small bathrooms and puke it all up. Of course she had already done that last night, but the feeling remained anyway. Even the way he was slugging the whiskey so easily was rattling her stomach. If she had taken better care of herself in the run up to the full moon in the way of more well rounded meals, or better sleep patterns, or even proper doses of Wolfsbane, then she might not be so weak. She might not suffer the side-effects quite so much. She hated this feeling, Rhys was likely feeling it in some ways, but not this bad. Cursing herself she made herself move to wipe down the counter the next stool down from him. Otherwise she'd just stand there looking at him awkwardly, and that had sort of become embarrassing enough already.



She had only moved the cloth over the counter in two vicious swipes before the stabbing in her head reached a crescendo and she allowed her face to quash into a grimace for a split second, before stepping back and attempting to shake it off.



"Sorry I don't feel great tonight.." She mumbled lamely to Rhys, just in case she had drawn too much attention to herself and needed to cover her tracks. He likely wouldn't care, but still, she rather pointedly avoided his gaze for another moment as she forced herself to continue her task.

rhys alexander greyback

[rhys alexander greyback]

you people are mistaken

if you think i'm awake
and celebrating

February 2, 2026
Lyra Horváth

Rhys nodded. The apple pie was indeed good. He could still remember when he’d first tried it the previous summer. When he’d first met Vasilia, she’d spoken to him as if Greyback was just a typical last name. But he shook that thought. It wasn’t why he was here. All he wanted was some whiskey to tide him over until the moon passed. Still, he didn’t mind Lyra’s company, it wasn’t that it was comfortable, but it wasn’t unsettling to him as any other bartenders might have been. All he could hope for at this point was that Sienna would one day make Aware Wolf the type of potion that he could take with whiskey. Maybe drink himself under a table on purpose to just sleep through everything instead of feeling that metaphorical tearing from the inside out along with the nightmares.

His eyebrows furrowed for a moment in concern. Lyra seemed in pain but was poorly pushing through it. ”Hungover?” Rhys asked, though not in a way that suggested judgment and especially with how fast he was drinking his calories today. To him, recovering felt like the worst hangover, except he could remember most of it. ”The other bartenders will probably tell you I don’t normally come in a day like this.” Rhys drank more whiskey, placing the glass back on the bar. ”Day after the full moon and all.” It was easier to talk about such things so casually. Rhys had outgrown some of that chip on his shoulder he’d left Hogwarts with. He was a werewolf, and that was that. If someone didn’t like that then they were behind on the times.

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[Lyra Horváth]

Lyra's recovery after the full moon was always slow. It was likely secondary to the poor self care and general neglect in the week prior to it, sometimes not even taking the full weeks worth of Wolfsbane when she couldn't afford it. Her malnutrition probably didn't help with the healing needed after her muscles had been ripped apart and reformed twice in a 24 hour period. This month was a little better thanks to the free Wolfsbane she had been able to avail of from St Mungos Lycanthropy program, but still, she hadn't really afforded herself the rest she needed.

When Rhys asked if it was a hangover, all she could do was give him a enigmatic smile and nod slightly. "Something like that I guess"

Watching his glass and how he so effortlessly was drinking, for a moment Lyra was jealous. If this was any other bar ay any previous time in her life she would have reached out and simply taken Rhys' glass, but she knew she had to keep some level of professionalism. She needed to keep this job and not piss anyone off if she was going to hang around for the foreseeable future. When Rhys spoke so freely about the full moon, she felt a small pang in her chest. Unsure what it was, she forced herself to listen anyway. It was almost jealousy, some sort of longing to have the acceptance he seemed to. To be able to speak so freely, without resentment Lyra still felt herself. Sure, her mindset wasn't that different to his, there was no changing what she was now. No turning back, but there was still so much hurt and anger to unpack over it all. Not that Rhys seemed entirely at peace with how he was, but then, he didn't seem to bare the same grudge Lyra did. Eventually she realised she'd been staring at him, not answering, and then forced herself to respond. "They hadn't but..." She began with a nod, not really knowing where she was going with her statement. Slowly she simply nodded, giving him a small knowing smile, and moved forward to refill his glass instead.

Concentrating, her gaze dropped away from his again. Feeling her cheeks tint pink, she silently cursed herself, had she given herself away? Perhaps. She didn't exactly hide her malady, if people asked she would be upfront. But she didn't like to advertise it either. Especially in such a new environment. "Makes sense." mumbling she bit down on her lip lightly, giving a small shrug. 

rhys alexander greyback

[rhys alexander greyback]

you people are mistaken

if you think i'm awake
and celebrating

February 2, 2026
Lyra Horváth

Rhys became more curious as the conversation progressed. That familiar feeling didn’t leave him, it reminded him of being on the Island but with less anxiety tied to it. Really he only felt this way when he’d been to that werewolf hotel, but he didn’t want to assume things if only because Rhys hoped Lyra didn’t have to suffer as he did. Plus, he didn’t make a habit of asking many people he’d just met if they were a werewolf as he was. She was on top of refilling his glass, which he appreciated. And really, only Vasilia ever had that kind of speed when it came to his drinking. The last time he’d gotten absolutely tanked, she’d let him drink as much as his broken heart had desired and until he was sloshed enough that he was actually easy to manage.

There was that floaty feeling in his chest again as he remembered that night and the following day. That kindness and warm expression and smile. Plus the way she had woken up suddenly from her nap at her table with a paper stuck to her face. Clenching his jaw, he drank half the whiskey in his glass at once. The burn distracting him sufficiently as he reminded himself how horrible he actually felt that day. The whiskey doing enough to keep his pain at bay. ”A lot of werewolves frequent this bar…you’d think they’d stock Wolfsbane next to the whiskey.” He commented off-handedly. It was an interesting trend, and he hadn’t really noticed until it was pointed out to him.

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