[PRP] Let's start a zoo [Al+Jordan]

[Saliru]

Al somehow managed to get himself asleep long enough to become decently rested, but the moment he could...


It was 9:00 AM and he was already in the dinning halls again. Well rested and dressed... cleanly, a rarity in itself. He found himself checking his cellphone for the umpteenth time before looking around the room expectantly. No Jordan yet. Then again he was early... he eyed the buffet uncertainly. What if he showed up early and Al had a mouthful of bacon? He'd have to wait even longer! Al made a noise and decided bacon was portable enough that the fear seems unwarranted.

He grabbed a small breakfast of nothing but crispy bacon strips.

Prolixity

 

[prolixity]

Jordan arrived about 9:45, hair still damp from his shower and pulled back into a short ponytail; he headed for the coffee machines first, then retrieved a plate of eggs and bacon. He'd had coffee and a bagel earlier, but actual breakfast generally was reserved for after the morning workout. Breakfast acquired, he scanned the dining room and looked mildly surprised to see Al.

He deposited his tray on Al's table and took a seat, raising one eyebrow at the younger man. "I was sure I'd said ten," he said, his tone inquiring, and started in on the eggs.

Saliru

 

[Saliru]

Al crunched down on a piece of bacon hungrily before noticing Jordan showed up. He was early! Al watched as he shuffled over to find his own breakfast and his fluttery excitement was crushed back down as he was questioned.

"You did," he kept all hurt out of his tone as he returned to crunching on more bacon strips.

Prolixity

 

[prolixity]

"I hope you haven't been waiting too long," Jordan said mildly. "I figured ten would give both of us enough time to finish our morning routines before heading out, so I was a little surprised to see you early." He picked up a piece of bacon and smiled a little. "You didn't strike me as a morning person. I could be wrong, though."

Sali

 

[Saliru]

"I'm no," he corrected in hopes the thought would quickly deteriorate before it even really started. "This is just important to me." He smiled at Jordan while snapping a piece of bacon between his fingers. "Everyone seems to have one... or have had one," he eyed the broken bacon pieces. "I feel like I'm behind on everything," and ended that statement by sticking both halves in his mouth.

Prolixity

Ahhhh sorry, I never got your quote!

 

[prolixity]

Jordan studied Al's face for a moment, then nodded, thoughtful. "Catching your own isn't a requirement, but it's a decent start," he said. "Have you used a golem yet?" He turned his attention to the rest of his breakfast, eating quickly, less interested in the food itself than in not being hungry.

Saliru

 

[Saliru]

"It's not about being a requirement really," Al gave Jordan a distant and sad look. But the look had been fleeting. Replaced with smiles and excitement, "golems? Not since I got here."

Prolixity

 

[prolixity]

"Well, that's something to look forward to then," Jordan said dryly. He poked the last sad-looking piece of toast on his plate with his fork, decided that it did not look much like food and he wasn't hungry enough to dispute the concept, and finished his coffee instead. "All right. Pod room it is."

Once there, he spoke briefly to the tech at the controls, then returned to choose an empty pod and tap his ID number into the screen. "Pick one," he told Al. "She's getting it set up so we'll come in near the gate."

Saliru

 

[Saliru]

Al followed Jordan to the location and stared at the rows upon rows of pods as if they were some strange mythical daunting task. He instinctively shuffled to the pod directly beside the one Jordan chose. He was somewhat afraid of being alone for something like this.

"Okay."
 

[prolixity]

"Put your ID number in, and then climb in. You'll still be able to hear Nuru, but he'll be here with your body. Don't try to summon him while you're in the golem. Don't try to fight anything or anyone, either. The golem only has enough Fear to hold itself together, and it'll automatically pull that Fear trying to make a shield if you fight, and then it'll fall apart. But we shouldn't have to worry about that. The scarefari is pretty safe. Return key is the same as the pendants." He stepped up into the pod and nodded to Al, then pulled the door closed on himself.

When he opened his eyes again, he found that he was a good foot taller than he was used to, and he took a moment to adjust to the height. He wasn't a short guy, but he wasn't on the giant end of the scale either, so the taller golems always gave him half a moment of disorientation. Then he looked down to check what kind of body he'd ended up in this time. " ... Oh, for ******** sake."

Do you think someone put a note on your file or something? Ferros sounded amused.

As far as I know, it's random, Jordan said sourly. He tugged at the lacy black fabric covering the golem's chest, though "covering" was a little generous. Good thing I don't seem to be breathing. I don't think I could breathe in this. The golem wore a long, slinky, artfully tattered black velvet and lace dress and a tightly laced corset, and its hair was long enough to sweep the ground. It also wore impractically high-heeled boots and a great deal of heavy, ornate silvery jewelry with blood-red crystals. Who ******** thought this was a great golem to send out for a scarefari mission?

You did say you thought it was random, the dragon reminded him with stifled hilarity. Good thing you can walk in heels.

Not you too, Jordan groaned. He crossed his arms, recrossed them as the golem's chest got in the way, and waited for Al to show up.

Saliru

 

[Saliru]

Al had to check his wallet for the numbers to punch in and tried to do so without looking like he was doing it. "Gotcha," he climbed in the pod and made himself comfortable before closing the door behind.


After a few moments, he found himself waking up elsewhere. Waking up and stumbling about like a newborn fawn. He was shorter, that much was immediately apparent. He was somewhere he'd never been before was another interesting observation. Finally, he discovered with apparent amusement, he was something he'd never been before. He looked down at his new boobs and gave one a curious poke. Welp. He sure felt that.

His clothes were more sequined and scaled looking than anything else and long black hair encircled two large horns. On the back of him now resided two scaly and leathery wings and a muscular almost serpentine tail tipped with hair. He seems a bit too amused by the addition of boobs to notice any of this yet. "This is new," he chuckled.

Prolixity

 

[prolixity]

"I see you've discovered one of the interesting things about golems," Jordan said dryly. The voice coming from the tall female vampire was familiar, even if the appearance wasn't; luckily for him, the proportions of the golem meant that the voice wasn't a jarring mismatch, only a little deeper than one might expect from "her." "The golems are selected randomly, unless you're doing a long-term project that requires you to stay in a single identity, but I'm starting to wonder if some joker in Life division has me flagged for female ones."

It was a little unusual to be looking so far down at Al. Jordan unfolded his arms and straightened up from where he had been leaning against a twisting black tree with eyes growing here and there in its bark. They blinked and swiveled to watch him. "Your balance will be a little different, but the tail might help offset that. You have wings, but I wouldn't suggest trying to fly. I think that might also require more Fear than the golems have."

He started toward the path visible a little way away through the trees. "The scarefari is this way. I'll need to pick up my trapping kit from the lodge. Did the techs leave you one?" He glanced back over his shoulder.

Saliru

 

[Saliru]

Al nearly leapt back out of his s...scales. At the voice and the complete stranger. He stared and blinked a few times before it dawned on him that Booberella was - in fact - Jordan. He flashed a bit of teeth, a grin he could not resist. Or rather she could not resist. The grin died as attention was drawn back on himself. "Tail? Wings?" He started to turn in a circle to see. Seeing there was no exaggeration, he moved to grab his own tail and pet the scaly surface. "That's freaky! I can feel that!" The tail twitched a little and curled loosely around his own arm. "Dragon's are ******** awesome!" At least that was the only conclusion he could think of.
 

[prolixity]

"They come with a little bit of creature instinct attached too," Jordan said, stopping to wait for Al to catch up. "You'll find you have a sense of how to move around, along with assorted other minor weird s**t, like maybe a new interest in raw meat. Don't worry, that'll go away when you get back to your own body."

Saliru

 

[Saliru]

Al finally released his tail long enough to prowl up to Jordan's side, clearly pulling some sort of Jurassic Park Velociraptor impersonation in the way he decided to try walking. "Raw meat? Are we able to eat like this?" He kept to Jordan's side while eyeballing one of the trees they passed. The tree eyeballed him back.