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 Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 7:12 pm
 Jabril had chosen a gorgeous day to take a stroll around the Mountain. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the grass was green with the first blush of renewal. He had all sorts of notes to take about the means by which new life returned to the land after a long, hard winter, and could not have been happier about the excess of work. It was spring, when a young man's fancy turned to thoughts of... research.
Lots of research.
Of course, Jabril's skills were now at a level where climbing trees and terrorizing badgers no longer held the appeal that they had when he was a kit. He was in search of more exotic game. Which was why he had been wandering the same stretch of pine for the past week, hoping to catch a glimpse of the gorgeous creature with the spectacular physique that he'd glimpsed a week before. Jabril had disguised his scent and kept to the underbrush, so he was certain she hadn't seen him and if she had-
Ah, well, there wasn't anything wrong with that, was there? It wasn't as though he was stalking her. Stalking was a term that Jabril misliked. It didn't properly express the nobility of his intentions. If Jabril should happen to trail a beautiful femme with silky peach tails, then he had a totally rational reason for doing so, unlike those blithering, egg-happy fools that loitered around the HQ. The very thought of x-raying his specimen's exotic wings made his tails curl and his heart skip a beat. His was the kind of passion that only a scientist could understand.
Jabril padded over to a small creek, and checked his orange-green hair in the water. Today he wasn't hiding. His scent was sharp and he was perfectly clean. Following the femme could only take his research so far and- and- he was a biologist! A male of reason! He had nothing to be nervous about.
Surely if he kept nonchalantly circling around, sniffing at strange mushrooms and checking out new lichens, he was bound to run into her some time. And they could... chat. Yes. Chat. Jabril did like a good chat. Perhaps she would like syringes! It would stall her while he, um, studied her physiology.
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 7:26 pm
 The birds were indeed singing. Well... most of them were. The one that Nebilim arced gracefully into the air and trapped between her teeth quickly stopped. With a few flaps of her wings, she landed neatly on the ground, being oh-so-careful to not puncture the warm, wriggling being in her mouth. She lifted it free of her jaws carefully, then pinned it down on the rock and studied it. "How cute." She tilted her head. "What happens if I do... this?" She lowered her head, grabbed one wing in her teeth, and yanked. The bird's shriek as the bones in the wing snapped and the flesh parted sent all the birds around into a stunned and terrified silence. Predator!"Interesting..." Nebilim absently lifted her paw away from the bird and delicately spat out the mangled wing; the stricken creature flailed weakly and flapped the stubby remains of its wing, to no avail. The kitsusagi put her head down near the terrified bird and gave it a sharp look. "Now... sing. Does a part-bird sing as prettily as a whole-bird? Tell me, please." She was most disappointed when it simply flopped off the rock into the grass.
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 7:56 pm
Jabril perked his ears up at the sound of a femme's low, throaty alto. There was a snap, and a squelch, and a beating of pinions. Could- could that be her?
Oh, of course. Of course it was her. She was doing an experiment.
Jabril attempted to commit the timbre of her voice to memory. He was certain that must be what fair Mistress Science sounded like, when she deigned to visit mere mortals in their dreams.
Jabril steadied himself, combed his unruly lock of green hair one last time, and then trotted through the woods to speak to his new project. He was not nervous and his tails most certainly did not snake back and forth to work out his jitters. Jabril was certain that Lock Stock would be very suave when meeting a colleague, and he was determined to behave like his brother and remain objective.
"Hullo!" He cheerfully greeted the femme, not at all bothered by the gruesome scene she made. The scientist knew that he should probably examine the bird she'd killed in order to properly appreciate her dissection technique, but... um... he'd been waiting a long time to get a close look at her unique physical features. So that could wait! It was still thrashing around, and it was bound to take a while for rigor mortis to set in.
"Could'na help but overhearin' yuir experimentin'. I hate t'tell ye, but birds- they do'nae scream, even when ye cheap out an' don' use sedative. I think th'pain takes all their wee brains. Endorphins can do a lot t'such wee bodies, an'-"
Setsu's disapproving face flashed before his eyes. Oh, Lord, he was rambling. He always did this. He had to stop. But if he stopped she might start talking and maybe tell him he was foolish and he wasn't sure if he could handle that just yet, and anyway, who didn't like endorphins? They were fascinating chemicals!
"Ah, m'sorry. Ye may ha' seen me around. I do me work 'ere. Jabril acajou, at yuir service."
He bobbed his head in greeting.
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 8:06 pm
Nebilim's wings - all four - twitched at the sound of another voice intruding on her, but she kept her voice level and did not turn to look, initially. "Only screams? How disappointing. I was hoping they would at least express a different fonon frequency." She ducked her head down and scooped up the bird's corpse, putting it back on the rock before casually tugging off the other wing, this one much more carefully so she could examine the bone structure. "Jabril, is it? Sedative, hmm. Don't you think that such things take all the fun out of it? That everything is better when it's raw? Clean? Unsullied?"
Then she did turn to look at him, a quiet smile on her face. What an interesting boy. He reminded her of someone, vaguely.
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 8:19 pm
Phonons... did she mean photons? What would a bird's cry have to do with photons? He should correct her, and then they-
No! No, he couldn't correct her! She might take it the wrong way. Jabril had to do something suave so that that she might agree to being, uh, examine. He didn't have a lot of experience being suave but he imagined that if he tried to imitate his older brother it would come out alright.
In a situation like this, Lock would probably hang back, say something funny, and maybe show off his goatee. But Jabril didn't have a goatee. Bloody hell.
The biologist loped over to take a look at the wingspan his subject was examining. In truth, he'd dissected most of the species on this Mountain ages ago, when he was snowed in and had nothing better to do. But you never knew when you might find a new and interesting mutation! Besides, it gave him an excuse to get her scent. For tracking purposes. Of course.
"Oh, aye." He enthused. His eyes had taken an unholy gleam that was not unlike the sparkly of test-tubes over a bunsen burner. "Sedatives c'n mess th'body chemistry right up when yuir lookin' fer hormones an' the like. T'is best t'knock 'em out when ye need em t'stop movin'. But ye'd be surprised at how many kitsu willnae put up with a wee bit of pain fer the sake o' progress."
His face took on a genuinely puzzled look, and for a moment, the femme left his thoughts entirely.
"I cannae understand it. Operated on an undead th'other day, she d'manded all kinds o' drugs, even though t'wanae in her physiology t'die like tha'. Lollygaggers, the lot 'm em. S'nae like they're duin' aught else! But nae, I'm th' bad man. I- um."
He cleared his throat. That was his second bout of rambling. He couldn't help it!
"D'ye, er- d'ye like this sort o' thing, then? I confess, esperimentin' like this is a bit o' a callin' fer me. Runs in th'family."
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 8:26 pm
He was babbling. For a moment, she almost turned and flew off, uninterested - but then there was that gleam in his eyes. That lovely sparkle.
Yes, that was familiar. She liked that.
"Pain is also an important factor. I do not wish to remove such vital components from my own studies. Let those with petty morals scream at me all they wish," and she gave him an appraising look to see if he was going to do just that. If he was, then it was back to the flying away plan.
No?
Hm. "Bad. More morality. More shoehorning to try and villainize what they don't understand. Wear it with pride; it is a badge of honor. Like mad scientist and crazy b***h." She fluffed her bottom set of wings and lifted her head high, almost defiant. "And replica."
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 8:42 pm
"Ripl'ca?" Jabril repeated. His accent nearly mangled the unfamiliar term into nonsense syllables.
"Is tha' why ye ha' those wings o' yuirs? I have'nae seen anythin' like 'em. They're-"
Beautifully toned, with a visible structure that only hinted at the muscle strength that must be necessary to fly with such a small wingspan. Delicate enough that they might be hollow. Sinuously curved and sleek with mystery. Fascinating.
"- unique. An' I do'nae say that of'n."
He circled around the femme in order to examine her from every angle. Now that his focus was on what she was, rather than what she said, his nerves banished to the back of his mind. Jabril was only ever truly comfortable when he was researching. The whole rest of the world fell away, and he could be himself without pretensions.
The intensity of his scrutiny might have been unnerving to a lesser femme.
"I do'nae s'pose ye- nae, m'sure ye've checked them out yuirself."
But! If he could keep her under observation, surely he could figure out some of their secrets, and convince her that he could be trusted to carry out invasive procedures! Yes! He couldn't back down now. Not when knowledge was on the line.
"I- hm. Here. A sample o' me work. T'prove m'nae messin' around. If ye like."
He slid a small jar out of his coat. It contained a darkened eyeball preserved in formaldehyde. Jabril considered it one of the best in his collecting! An injection to the base of the ocular nerve had rendered the iris black, and the deer it had come from saw with double the accuracy for a full four hours before it died.
Was he blushing? Surely not! It was getting hot out, that was all. And any such thing would be hidden under his fur, thank Roger Bacon.
"I like ye." He grinned. "Let's do somethin' more fun th'n wee birdies."
Jabril's confidence lasted right up until the end of that sentence, at which point he decided that he would rather crawl into a cave and die that hear the femme's answer.
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 8:50 pm
"Those?" Nebilim flicked her wings at him, amused by his reaction. "No, no. I crafted those myself. It was difficult and required much study, but the results were more than worth the expenditure of time and effort." She stretched out the bottom set to their full extent for him, a rare gesture, before returning them to rest about her waist again.
"A sample, hmm." What did he want, anyway? Tutelage? She could teach, she was sure of that. She'd done so well with the little ones, once. A smile played across her face as she studied the specimen. "Delightful. Odocoileus virginianus, I see..." She arched one eyebrow at his last question. What a delightful young man. Yes, the resemblance was very close, though Jade had a good deal more confidence than this one... but far less country bumpkin charm. "And what would you suggest?" She leaned in until her muzzle was mere inches from his own, though there was nothing remotely sexually suggestive about the movement as she stared clinically into his eyes. For a moment, she wondered what one of them would look like in a jar like the one she still held between her paws.
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:07 pm
Was she, um, staring at him? His Mum had always said that he had freckles in his eyes, on account of the green bits mixed in the the gold. It was a silly genetic fluke, not nearly worthy of the attentions of a great scientist. He was honored that his new specimen would bother to look.
Jabril did not back down.
"Ye made those yuirself?" Jabril said, struck nearly breathless by the thought. None of his experiments on himself had ever been so productive! Oh, there was the caffiene derivative that allowed him to stay awake for days on end, but compared to someone who could make those wings, he was a rank amateur!
He felt self-conscious that he had even dared to bother this angel of learning. (Not that he believed in angels or other such foolishness.)
"But m'sure they're real tissue! Tha's brilliant! Did ye graft 'em on from somethin' else? Connectin' the nerves alone would be a great task fer ye."
He shook his head, to clear his clouded mind and get himself back on track.
"B'fore I start givin' out m'research proposals, I wouldnae mind havin' yuir name, madam."
The dead bird was thrashing with its last desperate struggle for life. Jabril held it down with a heavy green paw.
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:13 pm
"They are indeed real tissue, flesh and bone. It took a very long time," she said, evasively; like hell she was going to spew her secrets for the first kitsusagi who asked.
She glanced down when he shifted to the bird; in one quick movement, she ducked her head and severed the bird's neck. She pondered swallowing it, but instead spit it delicately onto the rock-c**-examination slab. "Professor Gelda Nebilim... but you may call me simply Nebilim."
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:24 pm
"Professor o' where?" Jabril tossed his head. "I do'nae see a degree grantin' institute out 'ere."
And what a shame that was! Jabril's own mother had been a doctor, in her world, but he couldn't exactly say that. Even he knew that it would be a bad idea to prattle on about his Mummy when he had a date with a femme.
A date. With a femme. He had a date!
Um. A date with science. That is. Professor Nebilim was simply accompanying him on his quest for knowledge. Of course.
Jabril sniffed at the bird carcass. It seemed a waste to throw away a perfectly good snack like that, but now it was covered in the other kitsu's spit, and the innards were starting to ooze out.
"There's fox warrens down the 'ill from 'ere. Closest ye'll ever come workin' wit' t'real kitsu physiology, wi'out callin' an angry mod down on yuirself. We could capture a few. T'is a two-kitsu job."
He grinned.
"Then, fun would be 'ad."
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:30 pm
"Keterburg. Auldrant. A different place, a different world. Not so fun as this one. Too many laws and soldiers to enforce them. Petty fools." Nebilim snorted and sniffed at the bird - but Jabril's suggestion was most diverting. "Is that so... I suppose the little kitsusagi prats would raise a fuss if I pinned down one of their own kind. Have you studied the physiology of 'pixie' wings? The dust has a fascinating chemical composition. A fine aphrodisiac that could be milled into a catalyst for mental control with the right skills, unless I miss my analysis... but wringing the dust out, there's the rub. No, your foxes will do for now, unless you have a pixie friend willing to answer the call of Science." She smiled.
Yes, she had Jabril's number now, or thought she did.
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:45 pm
So Nebilim was wanted by the law? Considering who his father and brother were, Jabril was not exactly put off. Laws seemed very strange thing to him. There were scientific laws, of course, but those were created through trial and error, and reflected the truth of the universe. Laws created solely according to the whims of the moral majority made little sense to him. Who were kitsu to dictate what the universe did not?
"Were ye na' 'ere last month? The air was thick with drifts o' th'stuff. A ha' a sample or two back at me hearth an' home- but I've been savin' em for m'personal use."
If Nebilim knew about the dust, then that ruled out creating a cologne and... damn. Well, it had been a stupid idea anyway.
The pair had leaned in close enough to Nebilim's former prey that they almost bumped muzzles. Jabril quickly pulled back. He felt oddly hot again.
"Foxes t'is. I'll lead th'way."
The biologist loped down the slopes of the Mountain with all the energy of a young rabbit buck. Nebilim did, indeed, have his number, but it wasn't that hard of a code to crack. Jabril was a simple kitsu at heart. He liked watching things squirm, thinking in numbers, and severed body parts in jars. He especially liked sorting the world into set rules and orderly categories. It made him feel safe in a way that he never had during his childhood.
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:59 pm
"I prefer to avoid chemical experimentation on myself without my own full, predetermined consent," Nebilim replied, with a snort. "Spewing aphrodisiacs into the air may be interesting, and perhaps I'll stay next time and watch the effects on the local population, but I had other concerns..."
She flapped languidly into the air and glided after him, landing lightly once the overhanging branches got to be more trouble than flying was worth. Her ears pricked forward. Hunting, now... that was nearly as good. Obtaining specimens was the best. "Whichever ones give us best chase, the healthiest... germs are undesirable variables. But I'm sure you know that," she whispered, flattening her wings against her back as she contemplated the den.
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2008 10:09 pm
It was hard for Jabril to steer well when he kept sneaking glances up at Nebilim, trying to figure out how exactly she flew with her mis-matched wings. The top set were boney and looked nearly useless. Were they there for decoration or balance? The possibilities for interlocking bone and musculature were far more fascinating than the cliffside views he'd seen dozens of times before.
Thankfully he managed to avoid making a fool of himself by stepping in an anthill or tripping over his own coat.
"Experimentin' on yuirself is the best kind o'experimentin'!" Jabril exclaimed. "No one bawlin' about yuir methods or breakin' protocol on accident, and ye get a real first-'and view o' the effects o' what yuir doin'. There's nae else like it."
He tripped his way down into a shallow ravine, ignoring the way that the gravel cut into his paws. Such was the reality of life on the Mountain. In order to survive in such a harsh environment, had to be able to take a little pain.
"Pr'aps I'd let th'esteemed profess'r take 'er turn experimentin' on me." Jabril cast Nebilim a side-long glance. "Provided ye ha' the chops to'back up yuir claims."
He was certain that she would, naturally, but oh how he wanted to watch!
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