Upon Silver Devil: Chapter Three

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[I can't say i've ever seen him drunk actually. I haven't seen him in nearly ten years.] Hmm that'd be interesting. [He got tall.] He smiled oddly, trying to make light of what was clearly pretty awkward and difficult.

Oh thank goodness. He looked relieved. I don't think I thought this one through that well. The lack of opposable thumbs is extremely frustrating. He jumped up onto the table so he didn't have to look up so much.

Rigel nodded then looked to the clothing to pick it up "Um...want to borrow my room and change back, or just stay like this for now? I know your kind of shape-changer gets tired doing that."

"You should keep this form," Tala said out loud so both could hear without her accessing Rigel's mind. "You will find that clothes are a waste of time and expense. And as you are four-legged, the silly bipeds won't complain."
She looked at her own pants in frustration. If only the species she worked with could see how ridiculous their cultural norms were, they would all choose nudity.

~~
"So I guess you should talk to Acus about this, see what he has to say?" Asher asked James.

James thought that over, then shrugged. "Nah, let's just get these Laws ripped out without asking. I like Silver Devil, I think I want to stay and keep working here. The only difference will be that I won't have to obey his orders, so he doesn't have to know." He grinned.

Asher opened his mouth to protest, then smiled and shook his head. "You are twenty-one, I guess nobody should be making choices for you any more, should they?"

"Right." James looked pleased. "I'm staying here with my pal Acus, and I'm gonna keep the stinking badge because Acus hates it, and I'm gonna laugh in the face of anyone who tries to make me their bitch." He gestured rudely at one of the books on the shelf, "So screw you, Asimov!"

Asher laughed. It was good to see his brother again.

Kay nodded to Rigel and looked at Tala bemused. Those silly bipeds usually lack fur to keep them warm though. I like my clothes. Shoes not so much, but clothing? clothing was good. Comfy.

Rigel looked to Tala then shook his head "It would be hard for him to be a medic as a cat."

Kay nodded. Opposable thumbs are exceedingly useful. It's easy to forget that till you don't have them.

Tala snorted. "Suit yourself, Shifter. Perhaps you should become a minotaur. We have little use for clothes." Tala liked Kay, and liked the idea of shapeshifters. He could be like her. It would be good.

Kay decided the minotaur was though a little odd, not as much of a threat as he'd first imagined. She seemed amused more than anything, and that was a lot better than pointing a gun at him.

I think I would need to practice a little more to take such a complicated form. He flattered her. I'm not particularly used to doing this on demand. I usually stick to my humanoid form and stay like that. It draws the least attention.

"With your sickness, staying under the radar would be key." Rigel agreed

Tala was pleased by the idea that her form was difficult to imitate; she swished her tail proudly. "Yes, you would draw much attention as a minotaur. There are few red ones, and it would be difficult for you to hide."

Asher and James would return at that point, having concluded that they should see about finding Mourn soon.

"We don't have a cat," James said, confused.

Asher noticed the cat's familiar red eyes and the color of his fur, and after a few moments of surprised staring, smiled. "Kay, is that you?"

The cat nodded to Asher, moving his head in Tala's direction to show it was her fault.

I don't think I have the stature for a minotaur. Kay joked, looking to Rigel.
I think I would like to have thumbs again though. If you don't mind, somewhere private to change would be extremely helpful.

Asher gave Tala a questioning look. "Why is he a cat?"

"I needed to verify that he was in control of his disease," Tala said, unconcerned. "I am satisfied that he is, and we are now friends." She looked at Kay, "You may use my quarters to change, if you desire."

James looked at the cat--Kay, not just any cat, he reminded himself--then at Asher. "Your boyfriend can turn into a cat?!"

Asher kept his face serious, with some difficulty. "It would seem so."

Kay nodded to Tala and looked to his clothing. Yeah, this was going to be awkward. Damn lack of thumbs. He didn't really want to shift more than necessary though, it hurt.
He stared at Asher, gauging his reaction to this.

Asher was honestly doing his best to not show his amusement right now. He knew better than to laugh about cats, or about Kay, but this unexpected situation was pretty absurd, and it was testing his self control quite a bit. Kay would probably be able to see his amusement in his eyes though.
He picked up Kay's clothes and looked at Tala.

Tala considered the clothes, not liking the smell that clung to them. "You shall carry them," she said, leading the way toward her quarters.

Bah, amused. Kay jumped down from the table and padded after Tala, shooting Asher a "don't you dare laugh" look which honestly probably looked more hilarious than threatening on a cat.

Asher made a valiant and moderately successful effort to keep his face straight, and followed Tala and Kay, carrying Kay's clothes.

Tala lead them to her room, and Asher set Kay's clothes on a piece of floor Tala gestured to, before they ducked out to give Kay some privacy.

Kay shook his head and once they were gone shifted back into his humanoid form with the usual painful cracking crunching of bones.
Once he'd recovered from that pain, he got dressed quickly and stretched. Yes, it felt a lot better to be back in this form. Thumbs were amazing, definitely.

Adjusting his collar and brushing his hair out of his eyes, he smiled softly at the amulet Starr had made. Well, that was a good test of the thing. How weird to be able to shift on demand like this without having to go through his true form.

He headed back out, nodding thanks to Tala.

You should consider keeping a form with fur, Tala told Kay as they headed back to Rigel and James.

Asher smiled at the sight of Kay in his usual form. It was nice to see him looking like himself, and was also much less funny. He could not laugh at Kay for turning into a cat. Ever.

I'll take that under consideration next time we're somewhere cold. He told Tala with a smile.

He glanced to Asher. <It was non threatening okay?>

"Of course. I understand completely." He did understand; Kay's true form might have made a very bad impression with Tala. It was still funny.

James looked at the three as they returned. Shapeshifters! He wanted to know sooo much about shapeshifters.

Asher gave James a warning look.

James kept his questions to himself.

(Lol, you could have pp Rigel taking them to his room, he had already offered that.)
Rigel handed Kay hiss tablet that had been on the table when they returned and smiled at them.

(Sorry about that, Starr. I should've left that for Rigel. :hide: )

Kay nodded gratefully to Rigel.

[Next time I pick something with thumbs.] He smiled awkwardly. [He says he can help with Vestia's codes.] Kay told Asher, explaining what Rigel had told him.

(It's fine, lol. Now James gets to clean Tala's room because of 'the smell'. XD )
Rigel dipped his head then looked over to Tala before focusing on James, Kay and Asher again.

(Hahaha poor James, trying to clean things to Tala's nose's standards)

Asher smiled at the comment about thumbs. Poor Kay, always ending up in the most inconvenient forms.
"Oh good," he said, smiling at Rigel. "The sooner we can shake off our bounty, the better."

"Are you guys heading to Vestia now? I wanna go to Vestia!" James said, sounding like a kid who wanted ice cream.

Tala frowned, "Don't whine, Slave."

Asher winced. "Can you not call him that, please?"

"It's okay, Asher, she's a weird minotaur who thinks slavery is pretty great for some reason." James patted Tala's shoulder fondly, "I'm getting my Laws removed so Acus can free me someday," he said diplomatically.

"Or so you can run away," Tala said.

"You can come with us if you want, make sure I'm not going to do that," James shrugged cheerfully.

Asher tried to not look too disgusted. "Yes, would everyone like to head to Vestia now?" he asked.

Kay looked around at the small group. They all seemed friendly enough. He flinched a little at Tala's words, but had to put it down to cultural differences. The Minotaur was... odd.

[I'm certain everyone would be extremely grateful to make a start on getting away from this bounty. A large ship like Vestia is going to be difficult to hide in any event, but we have to try. ]

Swarm gathered, eager to see this cruise ship too.

Rigel nodded "I do want to see her" He said and smiled.