back - words: 2,711 - publish date: 10 Dec 2025
The next morning had been nothing but an unpleasant one. Utterson had barely managed to get even the most minuscule amount of sleep, after his strange night out as Oliver Seek. He didn't even have that much time to sleep before he had to begin his day, leaving him exhausted, dragging himself through the long hours.
Though, he was fortunate that he had nothing of too much importance planned, which did assist in making the day more bearable in his tired state. Eventually, the sun set once again, leaving Utterson to his night.
While it would have been reasonable for him to retire for the night, get some rest that he had failed to get previously, he was kept awake with the thoughts of before, thoughts of Mr. Hyde, and that strange but oddly euphoric experience of being someone else for a time.
He tossed around under his covers, thoughts racing through his mind, impossible to quell. This whole situation, with that strange potion (which he could only assume was the source of the transformations) and his new second identity was starting to weigh down on him. He had tried to avoid thinking about it since last night, though it all started to invade his mind as soon as he had a moment of peace.
What was he even doing? Was any of this a good idea, trying to use this unexplained force to his advantage, for his own benefit? Even if it was, ultimately, to secure the safety of his good friend, was it truly the best way to go about this? Surely there was some other method, but whatever had made that second form present itself seemed to prove itself quite effective.
What if something went wrong, and his identity was revealed? Or he was unable to resume his original form? What could he even do then?
In all of this spiraling, Utterson had made his way out of his bed, pacing around the room, face held in a grimace. He could feel the heavy exhaustion in his bones, trying to drag him to sleep, but his mind kept running despite his best efforts.
Trying to calm himself, he sat on the edge of his bed, his fingers digging into the mattress. He was almost at his boiling point from the stress, even as he tried his best to hold himself together.
He started to feel a sickness rising in his stomach, and it wasn't too long before the (nearly familiar) wracks of pain coursed through his body, overtaking him once again.
Eventually he was laying on the bed, legs falling of the side, hands clutching the sheets. Now in the form of Oliver Seek, breathing heavily in the aftermath of the transformation.
Sitting up, he sighed through his teeth, mostly calmed down from before, as if his emotions had been watered down, though still as exhausted (if not more so). Rubbing his eyes, he reacquainted himself with his surroundings. Now, after all that, his mind had finally laid to rest, allowing him some peace.
What now? Really, the best solution just seemed to be trying to head off to sleep, now that his thoughts permissed it. Dragging himself back onto his mattress, he sunk in, the exhaustion quickly taking over.
Curling up under his covers, he quickly drifted off to sleep, with strange dreams of that Hyde and his second form filling his night.
When he awoke, he was faced with the sight of his strange hands that seemed to have persisted since the previous night. For a few moments, he laid in his bed, staring at his hands (talons?). The last two times sleep had seemed to wear the effects of the transformation off, but this night seemed to be different. Odd.
Gabriel (or, well, Oliver) pushed himself up to his feet, limbs still heavy with sleep. There was light peeking through his closed curtains. Must be morning by now. At least he got a full nights rest. Dragging his feet to the window, he peered out for a second, the sudden change in light piercing his eyes as he hissed quietly, quickly pulling it shut. He was fine without the light.
With a stretch, he ignored his current predicament and began on his regular morning duties, as usual. He managed to get by without acknowledging his state until he had to change into proper clothes, which clearly did not fit his smaller frame.
Grumbling in annoyance as the pants he pulled on fell over his feet, onto the floor, as did his long shirt, Oliver decided that he needed to remedy this problem. If he were to continue like this, there was no possibility that he would always wear these oversized clothes. But for now, he just put up with it, rolling up what he could. Not much he could do right now, he supposed.
Once he had ended up in his study, windows shut away from any leaking light, his eyes eventually landed on the clock that stood on the wall. It was… ah. Nearly one in the afternoon. He had overslept much more than he thought he had. It’s not like he had anything he was eager to do, though, so he was fairly relaxed.
Despite this, he found it hard to sit around for the remainder of the day, itching to get out and do something, though he wasn’t certain why. Might as well, then. Stepping out of his study, and towards the door, he remembered his current state. What would people think, seeing someone unknown man leave the house of Gabriel Utterson? It could raise suspicion, make someone question him, and he wanted to avoid that the best he could.
He could try to slip out from the front door, if no one were observing him, though that was a bit risky. Approaching the door, light glowing from underneath, he crack it open just the slightest. The sunlight beamed into his eyes, squinting as they adjusted. From was he could tell, eyes unfocused, there didn’t seem to be all to many people wandering nearby at this time. Just quickly…
He was out through the door before he knew it, strolling down the street. Nobody saw him, right? From what he could tell, it was all clear, but there could be someone hiding outside of his view, just around the corner, about to catch him and interrogate him. This fear brought him to step faster, trying to get out of the area quickly.
Only once he made it down the street, around the corner, and into another part of town, he felt like he was safe from any prying eyes. No one could recognize him, know who he was from his face, shrouded in anonymity.
It was then that he realized that he didn't go out with a plan, with any idea what to do from there. With very little interest in heading back to his home, he began to wander the streets, taking in the sights through new eyes, though staying in areas that he found familiar. Best to avoid a case like last time.
In this, he passed by the shop of some tailor, glancing inside at the displays. Stopping in his tracks, he recalled how his current clothes were just a bit too large for his smaller form. Maybe he could drop by for a moment, get something more fitting…
Pushing through the door, he heard the bell ring, and a voice yelling from somewhere out of view. "I'll be right there!" They must not get much business at this hour, the shop starkly empty. Better for him, he supposed.
As he browsed around at the displays, his eyes caught on one extravagant blouse, complete with all of its ruffles and frills, shirt puffing out at the sleeves. He had always admired those who wore those kinds of clothes, the dramatic nature of them. They were the kinds he had seen in the theater, in all of the shows he once enjoyed, though he never had dared to try himself, in fear of the judgment of others. It wasn't the outfit of someone who was trying to present himself as a man of profession, to get clients to trust his services.
The stepping of light feet from somewhere behind him dragged him out of his thoughts, bringing his attention to them. "How can I help you?" asked what Oliver could only assume was the tailor, before she caught a glimpse of his face. She stared at him with a slight of disgust, though quickly covered it up with a smile.
Staring back without a word, the tailor quickly made conversation. "Were you looking at this here?" She said, gesturing towards the shirt he was admiring. Without waiting for a response, she added "This is a very fine blouse, I would say," not surprising she would say that, as she was most likely trying to get some money out of him. "You do seem in need of a new wardrobe," she ran her eyes over him, taking note of his oversized attire.
Quickly becoming self conscious of his appearance, he shuffled back a step, arms over his chest. By now he was quite eager to make his way out through the door and to anywhere else, but he had come here to get something done, and he didn't want to make another trip.
Clearing his throat, he stuttered, "Yes, that, ehrm. I was looking for something new and this had caught my eye." Hand tangled together, he continued, "If- if it's available, I would like to purchase it from you." He glanced away, not adept at these kinds of situations, as always. It didn't help that he didn't know this person, and wasn't familiar with how they were. He should have just sent orders in to his regular tailor. What had even convinced him to do this, now of all times?
The tailor tilted her head. "That could be arranged." She turned her back, making her way out of the room with haste. "I'll be back in a moment!"
Oliver was left alone for a few moments at this, to ponder his thoughts. It was all very strange, wasn't it? Going out with a different face, as someone else, temporarily shedding the identity he had his entire life. Sure, he had done this the previous night, but he had exclusively talked to Hyde, which felt a bit different than this, interacting with some civilian who would only know him by a face and name that didn't fully belong to him, not yet.
Being dragged out of his thoughts by the clicking of the tailors heels from behind him, he turned his head to find her shoving a shirt into his hands. "Changing rooms are over there," she said, jabbing her thumb to the right, and promptly leaving his area when he looked away. Did he say something wrong? Or was she usually this aggressive with customers?
Not finding it in him to care enough to stand there longer, he made his way into the changing rooms. It had been a long time since he found himself in this situation, unable to just make orders for his clothes, but have to go and make sure everything was fitting before purchase. That must be what comes with your whole form being reshaped in an instant. Not something he had ever expected to happen.
Once he pulled the blouse over his head and adjusted the sleeves, he turned to the mirror to get a better look. He was once again face to face with his unfamiliar form staring back at him, still not entirely accustomed to it. Trying to put that to the back of his mind for now, he got a good look at himself in the mirror.
It was much better fitting than his discarded outfit, sleeves falling to the correct place on his arms, shirt not too long. It wasn't a perfect fit, but it was an improvement. The white cloth of the fabric was lightweight, flowing quite nicely around him. It was… nice. He hadn't ventured out of his usual style of clothing in a very long time, preferring to stick with what he found comfortable, though it was a good change of pace, just to go along with every new thing that had hit his life recently.
Spinning around for a moment, he briefly reveled in the enjoyment while it lasted. There may have been a quiet chirp from him, but he barely noticed. He soon recalled his intentions, and was soon reminded that he would need to talk to that tailor once again. Not something he was keen to do, but was necessary.
Changing back to his usual outfit, he made his way to the counter, where the tailor had resumed. Digging out some cash (of which he was relieved to have left in his pocket, as it could have been very awkward if he hadn't), he was able to escape back to the outdoors.
The sky had darkened somewhat in the time it had taken. Or maybe that was just the dark clouds that had rolled over the sky. It was still a fine day out, and he had no intention of heading home, once again filled with excitement. Heading off in some direction, he began to make his way to nowhere in particular.
Walking down the street at a leisurely pace, Oliver was quite relaxed for his situation. Now that he thought about it, whatever was going on in his head when the transformations occurred had always seemed to relax him a bit. It did make everything more tolerable, though he was probably forgetting something important. He could worry about it later.
The wind blew past his ears as he strolled, blotting out much other sound. Looking up into the sky, the sun was almost setting, and what looked like rain clouds were quickly covering the sky. Hm. Best to avoid that as much as he could.
Lost in thought as he wandered aimlessly, heels clacking against the cobbled ground, he once again mulled over the whole Mr. Hyde thing. Truly, it was just stressing him out, and he would have just decided to ignore it (as he usually did with problems like this) if he wasn't in so deep now. It was all because of that potion he stole from Henry's lab, and his damned impulsiveness.
Now that he thought of it, why did Jekyll have a potion that reconfigured your very face as it was? Was it some untested drought? Was he using its effects for something? Testing it on others? On himself? No, no, that was absurd. Surely if Jekyll had invented something of the sort, he would have been informed by now, he would be the first to know of the sort. Yet the curiosity still lingered in the back of his mind, and he wondered if he could solve that mystery, though for now he was occupied with something else.
He let himself relax for the remainder of the night, trying to ignore the lurking thoughts of this whole mystery. There was plenty of time to sort it out later, for now he could have this time to himself. In this, he managed to make his way to one of the local theaters that night, catching whatever was ongoing then.
It was pleasant, to once again enjoy what he had held from himself. There wasn't much time for an lawyer of his standing to indulge in trivial events of the such, though he wondered if staying away from such things was any good, starting to regret all the years he could have been indulging this side of himself.
Shoving that to the back of his mind, he finally arrived at his home, just a bit past midnight by then, and collapsed into his chair. He considered it a productive day, despite not getting any proper work done. Now feeling a bit more comfortable in his second form, he might actually be able to enact on some of his plans. There may be a few more things he would need to set up for his new identity, but for now, he let himself rest. He needed to catch up on sleep anyways.