Liam O'Connell

“Fine, Fine, totally fine.” Lucky’s voice was too high pitched, even for her, and every word was coming out in a huff. “I mean, I’m just doing what normal teenagers do, right? Just a regular 19 year old out with her boyfriend and having a drink. Definitely not having any sort of existential crisis and questioning every one of my life decisions up until this point. I’m too young for that sort of thing and I certainly wouldn’t be questioning some of my absolute base beliefs that I’ve had my entire life. That would be crazy, right?”

Her hands gestured wildly while she spoke. Lucky normally talked with her hands, and she normally talked a lot, but this was different. She just didn’t know what to do with herself. She wasn’t sure how to act, how to speak, or even who she really was. 

Originally posted by wheresecretsaresold

It wasn't hard to tell that something was bothering Lucky.  She was usually a lot more calm and put together and the hand waving was all the indication he needed to know something was up.

Anything he was going to say got derailed when he finally processed what it was she had actually said to him.  "Boyfriend huh?  Not that I'm complaining, but you've never called me that before."  Shifting the empty beer bottle to his side of the table he flagged down the waitress to order two more beers.  "OK, well.  So there's some stuff going on.  Do you want to talk about it?  You know you can talk to me about anything right?"

@liamxoconnell​

The only thing that calmed her slightly was that Liam was laying in the bed next to her. Him at least she recognized. The rest, not so much. Instead of waking him, she just started pacing. The bedroom floor where Lucky woke up was going to wear thin with as much as she was going back and forth. She was nervously chewing her thumb nail and running her hands quickly through her hair. 

Mostly she was reconsidering her life choices in staying in this city. There were too many strange things that ended up happening. She could have gone to Italy or the Caribbean. Her mother would have gone with her. She may have even been able to convince Liam to go. After the last round of ridiculousness, she should have come to her senses. But this was her home and she couldn’t just abandon it. Right?

It took her way too long to think of looking at her phone. She knew something was wrong, obviously, but there was no way she could have guessed it was time travel. 

Lucky flopped down on the edge of the bed with a whine. Why did these things keep happening in this town? Was it cursed? Was she cursed? The bed moved behind her and she didn’t even turn around to say, “Shit went down…again. God has a sick sense of humor. On the plus side, we’re still together in five years. Or…now I guess. So there’s that.”

Originally posted by owlonline

Sleeping peacefully was one of Liam's greatest abilities, at least as far as he thought of it.  The ability to completely let go of everything that had happened and start fresh the next day was something he had learned to do growing up in an orphanage.  That was why when everything changed, Liam didn't notice it at all.

It took Lucky flopping on the bed with a whine to pull Liam out of his sleep, completely oblivious to her pacing or anything else that had been going on.  Feeling his bed move woke Liam up and he turned to see what was going on.  Imagine his surprise to see both himself and Lucky in a room that he didn't recognize at all.

Pulling the blanket up, Liam sat up in the bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes as she started to talk.  It took him a minute to process what she was saying.  Shifting over to where she sat, Liam wrapped his arms around Lucky, kissing the back of her neck as he nuzzled against her.  “At least we’re together to get through this stuff this time,” he said quietly as he offered her his strength.  “I suppose we should find out what we’ve been doing the last five years huh?”

It would be a lie to say that Lupe wasn’t nervous for the evening’s planned activities, though like almost all of her other emotions, she refused to show it.  Instead she checked and double checked that all of her usual weapons and gadgets were precisely where they should be, lest they run into unexpected trouble.  She’d never admit it out loud, but if something happened to Liam tonight then she would blame herself.  Once convinced she was as prepared as she could be, she sought out her fellow Runner, watching him work the heavy bag for a few moments before entering the gym proper.  “As ready as I’m going to be.  Ground rules - I’m the lead, and you follow any orders I give you even if they go against everything your brain is telling you in the moment.  I can watch out for myself; but you’re not getting hurt on my watch.  Comprende, perrito?”

Seeing Lupe, Liam left the punching bag and headed over to where he had laid out his gear for this evening's patrol.  Toweling himself off, he slipped on the small bandolier of throwing knives and tucked his pistol into his shoulder holster before pulling on a light jacket to conceal it from view.  His stun gun went on his waist as Lupe started to list her rules and he bristled a little at them.  "We're supposed to look out for each other Lupe, not you sacrificing yourself for me.  I can follow your orders, but I'm not going to let you sacrifice yourself for me."

Liam O’Connell || Future Event Bio

Age:  28

Status:  Alive

Affiliation:  H.A.M.E.R

Thanks to help from his girlfriend, Liam managed to finish his degree in Wildlife Management and Survival, eventually leaving his job as a fisherman to fulfill his dream to become a full time Game Warden

Though he continues working with H.A.M.E.R. as a Runner, Liam had never really been the most committed of recruits to the cause.  The increased attacks on those he would consider “innocent” has led him to rethink his commitment and, with the help of his friends, has started something of an underground railroad for metas.  Using his job as a Game Warden, Liam is able to help smuggle out those metas looking for a safe escape from the city.

Save me from myself// Liam&Lucky

Somehow, even though she had outed herself to Kelli, Lucky still trusted that her own identity would remain secret. She wasn’t sure how she knew that but she did. It was strange trusting someone that she shouldn’t even like. Lucky’s mind had been spinning with conflicting and confusing thoughts ever since the reveal of HAMER to the world and, with Kelli no longer speaking to her, she had no one to really discuss them with. Obviously she couldn’t discuss her hesitation with her father and none of the people she worked with would understand. 

Finally her mind landed on Liam and she wondered why she hadn’t thought of him to begin with. Sweet and trustworthy Liam. Even if he disagreed with her, which was likely, he would understand the struggle and wouldn’t out her to anyone else. She texted him and invited him over to Lupe’s restaurant. It was usually quiet enough to talk but loud enough that they wouldn’t be over heard by anyone else. Plus the food was amazing and she was starving now that she finally came up with a solution to her problem. 

Lucky stormed into the restaurant with her usual excited energy, though the source of it was very different today. It wasn’t hard to spot Liam, she knew he would say it was because his size and he was very self conscience of it. She would argue it was actually because she was kind of always looking for him no matter where she was. She sat down next to him and did something she had never done before, something that even surprised her. She took his beer right out of his hand and drained it. She sat the empty bottle back in front of him and made a disgusted face but the words out of her mouth didn’t match it, “Can I have another one of those?”

Originally posted by katherine-mcnamara

@liamxoconnell​

Liam had been feeling off ever since the big reveal of HAMER during the meta fighting tournament.  Yes, he knew what the group was about when he joined and believed in their mission to make the world a safer place for humans.  That was before he'd been one of the people to inject the captured metas with the serum meant to take away their powers.

Despite his size, Liam had never been a violent person.  In fact, he tried his hardest not to hurt anyone if he could help it, going out of his way to ensure he didn't even hurt anyone by accident.  When David had told him the plan he'd felt a little… off, but he trusted David to know and do what was right.  HAMER was his family after all, and David wouldn't lead him astray.

Getting the text from Lucky had brought a smile to Liam's face.  They'd both been busy since the reveal and he had missed her.  She always seemed to have a way to help him make sense of things, something he desperately needed at the moment.  Sitting in one of the back booths at Lupe's, Liam sipped on a beer as he waited on Lucky to arrive.  A smile lit up his face when he saw her, though it quickly grew confused when she grabbed and drained his beer.  "Hey, are… are you ok?" 

If Mari could laugh in this form, she would have. He was definitely a human changed just like she was but he didn’t seem to have the same reservations. Her mouth opened to match his and she yipped back. Clearly he was not a threat. Animals were much easier to read than humans but she felt pretty confident in her ability to do both. It took a moment for Mari to realize her tail was waging, another dead give away that they weren’t a threat to each other. She lowered her front half and yipped again. If she was going to be stuck like this, she was going to have fun. For the first time in a long time, she felt like herself which was very ironic considering she was very much not herself at the moment. Mari bounced around him as if daring him to catch her.

Originally posted by praewantspie

If Liam’s grin could have stretched any wider it would have once he realized that the other wolf was in the same boat he was.  Even though this made him something like a Meta, it was hard to feel upset about it if this was the result.  That change hurt though.  Yipping back at the woman, he lowered his front half down as she started to bounce around, letting out a playful growl.  If she wanted to play then he had no issues indulging.  Shaking his rear, Liam bounded at the woman, playfully nipping at her leg as he chased her.

"You’re right about that and it’s nice to meet you to.” Zane replied. Wondering if he should’ve left out the part about him being lonely. “So how long have you lived in Pansaw? He asked trying to keep the conservation going.

Liam smiled at the man, his earlier discomfort already forgotten.   It took a lot to make Liam uncomfortable for any real length of time, his rather sunny disposition one of the things that he liked best about himself.  "Oh I've lived in and around Pansaw all my life.  I grew up in one of the suburbs and moved into the city for work and to go to school.  What about you?"

Of all of the random changes Mari had gone through this week, this one she liked. Something about the strength and freedom of the animal form was appealing. Once the pain from the initial transformation wore off, she decided she could really get used to this. Mari was running and feeling each of the foot falls vibrate through her fur but slowed to a trot when she spotted something familiar. It was far too large for a normal wolf and it didn’t smell like any of the dogs she’d ran past to get to the biodome. It smelled more like…her. She approached cautiously with her ears back and head low. It was very likely that others in the city had been changed exactly like she had but were they friend or foe. Did it really matter in this state?

Originally posted by petitloupbete

Liam was a friendly person by nature, though something about being a giant wolf made a lot of his normal reservations fall away.  He wasn't worried about running into someone and hurting them or embarrassing himself by knocking things over.  He felt normal like this surprisingly enough.  That was part of the reason why the presence of the other person like him had him more surprised than worried.  Bounding across the grass toward the other wolf, he drew up just short enough so that he didn't appear like a threat, his tongue lolling out as he grinned and yipped a greeting.

Scar was trying her best to keep her abilities contained, knowing she could have Liam wrapped around her little finger at any point in time, but she wanted whatever attraction was there to be genuine. Liam was sweet and she didn’t want to change that. At the question she smiled softly and glanced down for a moment before sitting back in her seat. “It’s a long story, but I’ll keep it short,” she chuckled. “I live with my brother and he.. has quite the temper. Always getting into trouble. I had to clean up one of his messes this morning,” Scar explained before sighing. “He’s my little brother though, so I’d do anything for him. Do you have any siblings?”

Liam's smile softened when he watched her glance away.  He hadn't wanted to bring up bad memories or anything like that, he was just making conversation.  "I'm sorry, that sounds terrible."  Letting out his own sigh, Liam shook his head.  "No I uh… I don't have a family.  I was raised in an orphanage with all the other wards of the state.  It uh, wasn't a great time for me."

"That’s a good tip now people won’t think of me as the sad and lonely guy. Even if I am one” Zane half joked with a smile. When the man mentioned his go to was rock and country songs. He changed the tune of his guitar to the only country song. He knew it was a love song “I can do a little bit of country, and by that I mean this is the only song I know. Learned it to impress a girl who was into guitars and country music. It got me a date to prom my name is Zane.”

Liam wasn't sure what to say to the man's comment about being sad and lonely.  It felt like anything he might say would seem disingenuous.  He smiled at the new song choice, humming along a bit with the music.  "At least it's a good song," he replied with a grin.  "Hey, if it works, it works.  It's nice to meet you Zane."

"Yeah it’s something I can up with a while back. I never would’ve describe it as soulful more like sad. But soulful sounds a lot better” Zane told him as his fingers went back to strumming the guitar. “I’m pretty sure you’re good maybe we could duet together one day.”

"I think that's the trick," Liam said with a grin as he grabbed a seat across from the other man.  "If you call a song sad, people will only listen to it when they feel sad.  But if it's soulful then people will listen to it all the time cause it's artistic."  His grin grew wider at the man's offer and nodded.  "That could be fun.  I really only know some country and rock songs but I wouldn't mind learning more.  I'm Liam by the way."

Scarlett wasn’t at all shy, not in the slightest, but it was cute that Liam was much quieter and more reserved than her, especially given his size. A gentle giant. She gave him a soft smile and started walking, heading along the beach with Liam in tow. Once they finally reached their little lunch venue, they were quickly seated outside in the shade, but the heat was still lovely. When the waiter came to take their order, Scar opted to go with some daytime drinking and ordered a cocktail and some tacos. Once Liam was done with his order, Scar sat back in her chair and gave him a smile. “What started out as kind of a shitty day, turned into one that’s not so bad.”

Liam was honestly amused at how forward and open Scarlett seemed.  It was very much at odds with what he normally dealt with, both at his job in the fishing boat and his night classes.  Her smile earned her one from him as he playfully bumped her shoulder with his.  Settling into his seat, Liam ordered a beer to go along with his nachos.  Looking up at Scarlett, he returned her smile, running a hand through his hair to push it back out of his face.  "I'm sorry your day started off shitty, but I'm glad it's gotten better.  What happened to give it such a bad start?"

“There is always something to be said for fresh food,” she mused with a soft chuckle.  Competent of a cook as she was, Jude had never quite had the same knack when it came to meat of any kind.  But fresh was fresh, and it gave her a good feeling in her stomach that Pansaw boasted such a market.  “Amazing that you find time for school as well as your job, my darling.  Though I admit I am disappointed to hear that, certainly there are better majors to pursue if they wish to simply be administration?” 

"I feel the same," Liam said with a chuckle and a shrug.  "Though there is something to be said about trail food, at least well made trail food."  Of course, most of Liam's cooking was whatever he could scrounge together in between fishing trips and night classes.  "Lots of napping on the boat and night classes.  Plus my captain supports my plans so he's always willing to help me out when tests and stuff come up as long as I make up the time."  Liam laughed as he worked his fingers through his mane of hair.  "See, normally I would agree with you, but I would hate being stuck in the office instead of out in nature so I'm not really going to complain."

“Go work out your nerves, perrito, with studying and surfing.  I will see you tonight at seven, and we’ll see just how well your training has gone.”  It was a dismissal, but not an upset or angry one for once from Lupe.  More that staff was starting to trickle in for brunch, and she was running a little behind on her mise.  “Go on.”

Liam grinned at Lupe, sliding up beside her and giving her one last hug before he backed away.  “My nerves will be fine thank you.  Nothing some good food and killer waves can’t fix.”  Snagging one last bite of food, he chuckled and picked up the empty carrier he’d brought the fish in.  “Try not to work too hard Lupe,” he called over his shoulder as he headed out, greeting the staff as they entered.

So far, this week had been going terribly for Liam.  First he hadn’t been able to say no to anything anyone asked of him, then he’d been hurt really bad and nothing he’d done had been able to make any of it better.  This morning when he’d woken up he’d felt odd.  He was faster and more agile than ever, he could see and smell a whole lot more than he usually could.  Heck, he’d even healed right up after he crashed and busted his leg trying to get a handle on his new abilities.  The worst however, had been what happened when the sun went down.  It had felt like his entire body was breaking as his bones and muscles twisted and changed, leaving him in his current state.  Of course, his current state was that of a massive shaggy wolf that was running around the Biodome Park.

Out of everything that had happened to him, this was the best.  As he ran through the wooded area, he couldn’t help but let out a howl of joy, bounding over trees and chasing the squirrels and birds that lived in the park.  A new scent hit his nose and he skidded to a stop, sniffing the air when he realized that there was something in the woods that smelled like him.

@mari-zeriah​