I realized it as I talked out the relationship between characters with Tim yesterday: Ramona has to hurt Ciarán. Badly. That will not be fun to write. Not sure of the when or how yet. Ro just doesn’t have the life experience or maturity that Ciarán has, especially in the romantic relationship department.
I’m trying to ignore the love interest for the moment and focus on what Ro will be going through physically and psychologically. Will Ro be willing to entertain a relationship when she is spending so much of her energy focusing on not turning into a giant black jackal and eating* half the town? She isolates herself to protect those around her from the monster that she feels she is.
Also, Ro has to relearn her body. She looks taller (she’s already about 5’9) when in fact she has grown more wiry, even though she’s eating like crazy. Her senses are altered, her hormones and cycle get out of normal sync. She’s restless and she is often disoriented by sudden, unpredictable flashes of the veil. Romance isn’t the first thing on her mind and Ciarán is fully aware of this and gives her space- but Eamon may not…
Still working on really reasoning out the practicals of being a human/jackal/quasi-mythical creature. Not sure about a lot of the laws of this universe yet.
*Ro’s imagination gets away with her- Jackals don’t eat people!
Playing in Puddles 