[End] Things She Do [Thalia x Jak]

[Bee]

Thalia padded as quietly as possible down the dingy streets of the Outer Bazaar, tentacles clutching her small tote bag close. She didn't actually have any money because she didn't intend to buy anything (...which was not to say that she intended to leave empty-handed), but she was carrying her beloved mask in case she encountered Crazy Spooky Weirdness (or perhaps your run of the mill murderers, rapists, muggers and the unwashed) and needed a little bit of Sneaky-Sneaky Action to extricate herself from the situation.

Personal reasons had turned her primarily into a nocturnal creature, and while parading about by moonlight gave life a certain mystique, it also meant that her fun options were slightly restricted as most people apparently preferred the sun.

So she wasn't quite sure what she was looking for, except something shiny to play with or perhaps a dirty-faced little orphan to experiment upon, but she was sure that if she skulked through the grimy alleys long enough, she would happen upon some entertainment.

[The Jenn]

The evening's entertainment slunk along the faces of the buildings in the Outer Bazaar, his shape that of a bipedal Corvie ferret, his current flavor-of-the-year. He used to favor other shapes. At fifteen and sixteen, he preferred the dark fur of a Corvie and conveniently long limbs of a ferret during his nighttime wanderings. Usually they resulting in doing things that would make honest people lock their doors. He found locks less of a problem than he had several years ago.

A flash of bright yellow caught his eye and he raised his head, the mechanical angler-dangler hanging from his head swaying from side to side and flaring slightly in brightness before going back to its subdued glow. His red eyes narrowed and he crouched. What was someone doing on this street at this time of night? Hurrying along like a scared little townperson?

No, he didn't hear any hurry. He heard a casual walk. How interesting. And what were those things waving off of its back, the pink and purple striping acting like beacons for his curious gaze. Wow, that was a lot of hair.

It looked like fun, maybe.

[Bee]

No sign of any orphans, which was disappointing. She had expected the dumpsters to be crawling with hungry little urchins in search of a crust of bread or something, but there was precious little aside from the rats and the trash and the filth, and her prospects at experimentation tonight were looking quite dim. Which was a shame, because Mama had to sleep sometime, and in an hour or two her lab would be vacant and ripe for the taking. Perhaps she should retreat to the dirty streets that surrounded her own home, but she had always thought it risky and rather bad form to pull subjects from one's own neighborhood.

She thought she saw a small flash of light from the corner of her eye. Orphan? Shiny?

She squinted in the darkness. Littered ground. Vacant buildings. Nothing.

Tricky, tricky little orphans.

Hmm. She kept creeping forward; the Hair curled about itself thoughtfully. Maybe she had been trying the wrong approach and instead of hunting orphans down, she needed to be patient and wait for the orphans to come to her.

[The Jenn]

Still no scurrying, which was a good sign. Was this the kind of person who was so confident in their abilities that they didn't need to hurry, or who just didn't know any better and was a prime target for a mugging? Jak wasn't really one to mug people. He preferred to keep violence out of the picture when stealing things. People got so unhappy when he took their stuff, unless they weren't there and didn't see him. Then they got over it faster.

He hated unhappy people. Like his sister, there was only one way to make them happy. He pet the wing-claw of his new cloak, receiving some comfort from the feel of the fur. You're happy, aren't you?

Of course, dearest brother. I'm always happy now, thanks to you.

The response made him grin, a beaming flash of ferret teeth illuminated by the very dim glow of his mechanical feeler. Around his neck, the eyeball scarf twitched a little bit and then sat still, letting him see bits of behind-and-ground that he wouldn't have otherwise been privy to. Taking 'normal' bodies always made him miss his giant floating eyeball and its fiery 360-degree vision. Such a convenience.

Pressing himself closer to the side of the nearest building, he followed the dark and bright form of the body walking along. There wasn't any other amusement at this time of night, and he still had about an hour before the house he planned to burgle would be safe for entry. He hated being bored. Following the stranger seemed like a lot more fun.

[Bee]

She thought that maybe she heard footsteps creep-creep-creeping along, and her ears twitched with need to pinpoint the sound. Orphans flocking to her like drowning passengers to a lifeboat, she liked. Creepers flocking to her like piranhas to the first coppery tinge of blood was something she liked quite a bit less.

Eh, get a hold of yourself, it's not like you can't take down a creeper.

Nevertheless.

Perhaps she could get her little orphan to slither on by and jump out to grab it. She probably would have preferred a little negotiation or coercion--orphan gets experimented upon, orphan gets food and blankie--but she was getting a little anxious to nab herself a subject.

She ducked into the dark space between two shambling buildings. With any luck, the little orphan would creep on over out of curiosity and she could surprise it. And it was a creeper--well, it could meet tentacles and Hair.

[The Jenn]

If Jak had been younger, he might have just wandered on over when the interesting-looking person ducked into an alley. He was still as curious as he'd always been, but living on the streets for ten years had taught him a lot more caution. Whether he chose to follow those lessons was something else entirely.

He weighed his options. On the one hand, he didn't know who or what this person was beyond interesting-looking. Maybe they could have a chat? People skulking around at this time of night didn't usually like to chat, more's the pity. It was probably just somebody selling more of the white powder. He ran into a lot of those in this part of town at night. The stuff was weird and it tasted like crap, and they tended to get really angry and violent, so he didn't usually get too close to them. But how could he tell?

The cracked green goggle lens covering one of his eyes didn't exactly cover his vision, especially with the dried, gunky buildup on the inside of the lens. Still...

He slunk over to the opposite side of the street and hunkered down in an alley that was almost but not quite exactly opposite the interesting-looking person's hiding place. Maybe they'd be up for a game? He crouched in the darkness and turned his face towards their alley, then let the feeler's light get brighter until it glowed like a small beacon. His face would still be mostly obscured with the dark fur, but the reflective surface of the goggle would gleam brightly.

[Bee]

Then, suddenly, there was light, a tiny beacon in the darkness, and a flashing reflection like sunlight glinting off glass. She narrowed her eyes. Her orphan-creeper was...taunting her? Shining some kind of light. Beckoning her to come out of her hiding place?

Nice try, orphan.

The little seedlings of creeper-paranoia remained, but she was more intrigued than anything at the moment; her feline senses were being set quite aflutter by the possibility of playing with a subject before reeling it in. She could play. Maybe she could scare the little creeper-orphan out.

Her free tentacle groped along in the darkness, searching for a small object. It hit upon a rock, a small bit of concrete crumbled from the rest. She scooped it up and hurled it at the light.

When she thought it must have been close enough to its target--before the little thud of contact, a few couple seconds after being chucked--she let it explode into a burst of fluttery color.

Amazing Ability: She now has the rather bizarre and outlandish ability to change objects into butterflies at will. Doing this more than five times a day is possible, but after five objects, she will begin to feel incredibly tired and after twenty, might faint. If she faints, people had better run as things will randomly change into butterflies, but only under this circumstance.
While this ability does not work on living objects, it does work on corpses and, to a small extent, magical abilities. Any Card attacks from Jacks or lower can be changed to butterflies if Thalia reacts quickly enough, or sees it coming. If she is surprised, tough. This spell lasts for a full five minutes before the butterfly will change back into whatever it was before, but owners beware. While a butterfly, the object does in fact, fly, so they will have to chase and recover their lost item.
This ability also works on summoned weapons, not counting them as living beings. However, the spell only lasts for thirty seconds on them.

[The Jenn]

Jak held the persistent glow of his feeler, shifting from one foot to the other impatiently in his crouch and silently willing something to happen. When it finally did, he almost sprung up with glee. Something was being hurled at his face!

And then he DID spring up with glee, because the whatever-it-was projectile suddenly exploded into a butterfly. A butterfly. He had seen a few of those things before during the trip to the mountain when he was six! They didn't live in the city, but they'd been all over the fields of the Sorgaire foothills. He jumped at it with a strangled noise in the back of his throat, arms extended, and tried to grab onto it. If he managed, the grip would have been tight enough to squish its little insect body into gooey smoosh.

His glowy dangler bobbed erratically along with his leap, reflecting this way and that off of the goggle lens, and his sixteen-year-old bipedal body flew through the air. He could barely even think, he reacted so instantaneously. "HAH!"

[Bee]

Thalia watched in surprise as the dark shape with the bright light burst into movement. The bouncing light illuminated quick glimpses of the figure, cast flickering shadows on the walls around him--some kind of Corvie! Dancing excitedly as it tried to catch the butterfly! She nearly bounced with glee herself. This was not quite the reaction she had hoped for, but really it was even better. The creeper had revealed itself!

And she was going to meet it. And catch it. And play with it.

Then she stopped, suddenly wary, and a brief queasy sensation tightened her chest; the hair writhed in agitation before she forcibly willed it to be calm--it fluttered unhappily still. Something about her little orphan was...off, and she couldn't quite pinpoint why. It was a Corvie thing bounding after a butterfly. How was that not cute? How was that not the most adorable and harmless and kidnappable thing she had ever seen?

She crept forward, more carefully. Then stopped again. She could sneak up and bag it. She half-wanted to. To see what made it feel so...strange. But at the same time...Mom had always told her that evil was not a toy.

Perhaps, she thought, she would find herself another orphan.

Her paws, almost of their own accord, turned her away from...whatever that thing really was, and down the dark street. Hopefully it would be occupied enough by the butterfly not to see her; she was too distracted to slip on her mask.

[The Jenn]

Ironically, not a second after Thalia turned to leave the scene with the odd-feeling ferret, that ferret became a butterfly himself in order to fly up and catch the flitting burst of color. Then it went smoosh in his hand and he stared at the pretty, gooey mess in fascination.

And then he stared at himself. He'd never even thought to turn into a butterfly before. Could butterfly-people exist? He didn't think so, which meant he couldn't use this body every day. That was a real shame. The Corvie markings looked really great on the big, fluttery wings. So where was the person who'd inspired this awesome body?

He looked around and couldn't see it. His eyes widened for a moment in surprise and almost-panic. But he wanted to play more! It threw something at him and it exploded into a butterfly! How neat a game was that? He flapped the flimsy wings and started flying, an entirely different experience than his usually feathered or leather-winged practice flights. His sister's cloak weighed heavily on his back, but it tucked around enough between his wings to stay out of their way, if only just.

Sweeping in over the alley where he'd last seen the other person, it didn't take too much effort to find their incredibly bright hair and tentacles slinking along. After that, it was only a matter of following them down the alley and not losing sight of them. What were they even doing? They didn't act at all normal for someone walking around at night.