|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 9:49 pm
Prom was closing in fast, and suddenly Needle was swept up in the planning, so to speak. She wasn't directly involved in the planning itself, that was entirely on Muka, but there was a lot of focus on her, and it was something she was completely and utterly unused to. The day after she agreed to be his date there was someone at her door to take her measurements, which on it's own was a little odd for her. A lot of moving, nudging, poking, prodding, muttering and the scratch of pen on paper. All in all it was an interesting experience, and she did learn a lot about sewing and alterations from merely talking to the poor sap that was sent to measure her.
Aside from that, letters came every few days in the Strix's scrawl, making inquiries, usual comments, the promises of fun and excitement...something about a trip to his Father's for pictures. It was a good thing he had told her early, giving her a chance to warn him about her little, ah. hesitations when it came to that sort of thing.
To anyone else it wouldn't seem like much; but to the Engraver, who spent her days in careful routine at home or quiet reflections at her dorm, this was the equivalent of shopping at Giftmas the day before. Hectic and unusual. When it seemed that nothing would come today, Needle took the time to escape from her room, to take a careful walk on the campus grounds for some musty air.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 10:14 pm
Ulmuka had an interesting night. He'd talked for hours and learned some... things. He was invigorated, restless, and slightly confused. He'd flown to school from home in his natural form. He enjoyed the forest, the animals, and every once in a while he would watch people he knew from the trees unseen.
In this form he didn't always think much. It was easier to be a bird and think simply thoughts. As his school break had worn on he'd grown in a beard, he'd gorged, and now his natural form was changing. No longer a simple owl he was a truly a monster. A man-beast hybrid with a muscular body beneath the feathers, a long neck, and vicious looking claws.
He stalked and hopped and shuffled through the trees. He may have found himself, without planning, on the eaves of the ghost dorm. He was a dark shadow against the pumpkin moon and simply watched the ghosts drfiting out. Many were more active late at night when it was quiet. It was then he spotted Needle.
He didn't approach for a while but he did circle down to a tree near the path. After watching her quiet walk from a safe distance he called to her in a reverberating hoot. In this form his voice was much more unearthly, the words simply reverberating from his body.
"Needle!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 11:37 pm
The Engraver had been enjoying the sounds of the night when a certain hoot caught her attention. It made her pause on her walk, her head tilting this way and that to try and determine where the sound was coming from. The word sounded an awful lot like her name, but with a certain...bird-like quality to it. It was familiar, and yet not; she was torn between answering and continuing on as if she had heard nothing.
Sadly, the latter was a little too rude for her.
"...Yes?" She said simply, her head craned to wait and listen for the telling sounds of someone approaching; clothing, footsteps, the way the ground crumbled or the leaves rustled. It was just a waiting game now, as she mulled over the voices she knew, trying to place it's familiarity.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 11:40 pm
"It's Ulmuka.." He hooted, hopping down from the tree to approach her. His outline was much wider, though only a few inches taller. He moved awkwardly on the ground in this form.
"I was restless tonight so I went flying." He giggled, extending the tip of a wing toward her as if it were a hand.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 11:51 pm
...Ulmuka?
No, that didn't sound like Ulmuka. This couldn't---ah, no, there it was. That giggle, that tell; the way whatever he said seemed to give a faint echo once the distance between them grew smaller.
"...Muka? You sound so...different." She sounded surprised, even moreso when her head tilted, observing the different shape he seemed to have taken since their last little meeting. As she mulled it over though, as she started to put the pieces together, the picture came into better focus. "Ah! Is this your natural form, my friend?" The light from a nearby lamp bathed the extended wing in just enough light for her to make it out, reaching out to brush her ghostly fingers against the offered tip.
Hee.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 11:57 pm
"Mmm hmmm.." He thrummed an acknowledgement and approached closer. "Be careful with the feathers.." He giggled but his warning was a real one, she didn't want to go against the grain. "I'm a bit of an owl-man." His voice indeed was different, it echoed a bit and had a feral growl in the many layers of sound.
"What brings you out?" Of course ghosts didnt really need to sleep, did they? He wasn't sure! He'd never known any ghosts before as close friends.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 6:59 pm
Needle, whose fingers had only briefly touched the soft feathers, paused. Her fingers retracted, curling in towards her hand. That warning was crystal clear to her, and it meant more coming from the usually agreeable voice. Even if this voice was different in the best of ways; that feral undertone was always a welcome noise. "Why?" Would it hurt him? Would it hurt her? Curious!
"You had said that, yes. Oh I wish I could see you as you are!" It was tempting, so tempting, to take off her mask to actually see him, but there was a deep, conditioned fear that prevented her from doing so. She really did want to see what a bit of an owl-man looked like, and not just with her fingers.
"I suppose my answer is the same as yours; restless." That seemed the proper term for what she was, and so she used it with a smile. "I do enjoy walks, regardless of the time---Ah, are you not on break, Muka?" Why fly back to school, when you were on break? Granted he did tell her that his home was boring, but it still seemed odd to her to make the trip back to campus on a whim.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 7:16 pm
"Ohh it would just hurt a bit." He giggled a bit, head twisting curiously. "Those feathers are much stiffer than the ones on my body." He cooed informatively. His wings pulled back, settling on his sides. The were proportioned strange and seemed jointed doubly like arms.
"I'm still on break." He giggled again and nodded. "But I just wanted to fly and sometimes when I don't think I just end up places." Muka shrugged visibly with his backlighting. "I did end up on top of the ghost dorms though!"
He seemed to think it was particularly funny and emitted another fierce chuckle, this one a little more enthusiastic than his usual giggles.
"Is something keeping you up?" There definitely had been something keeping him awake. He was also pretty positive that he wasn't supposed to discuss it with ghouls, but many things he'd thought were taboo were apparently not as much as he'd previously believed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 8:23 pm
"I understand! Well, thank you for the warning, I will be careful in the future." But, she still wanted to pet him. She would one day; today seemed like a good one to try for it, though! She imagined it wouldn't be the last time today that she could touch him as he was. "Ah-hah, what a place to end up! Though I have to say, that is certainly in my favour." She giggled as well at the idea; she really did enjoy his company, and it helped on a restless night like this one.
"Nothing in particular; I am restless from having nothing to do." It was almost sad, really. "Been so busy these past few days, today just seemed...empty." Inky hands made a useless motion, almost a shrug but not quite, but she used it in the end to gesture towards him. "What about you, my friend? Are you also bored?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 8:51 pm
"I ah.." Bored wasn't the word. The strix was ennervated, confused, reeling? But he didn't know any of those feelings. To him it was just a restlessness accompanied by spotty contemplation. His solution was always to dumb things down, take a flight and forget thinking. "Just restless?" He didn't have words to really describe it for Needle.
"Perhaps we can walk together? Maybe if you'd like to try flying?" He'd put a level of forethought into it since their last conversation. He didn't have a foolproof plan but he had at least one idea to save himself from her needles.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 9:06 pm
"Ah, one of those nights...that is unfortunate." Needle had no reason to believe there was more to Muka's restlessness than that. She had no reason to doubt him, and she was always willing to take what he said for the truth; he was too honest to be otherwise, at least in her small interactions with him.
"I would love to try, but...I have not..." She raised her arms in front of herself, bending them for him to get the full extent of what she meant; thinking he was going to be at home for the next while stopped her from going out to get something to cover her spikes. "I would rather not hurt you tonight, Muka." There was something of a tease to her voice, but she was nonetheless serious; especially since he was going to great lengths for her for Prom! "Perhaps just walking would be nice...though if I may ask...could I touch you first? I would like to, ah, see you like this!" The formalities were out of the way, leaving her feeling comfortable enough to ask. He was huge, he sounded odd, and his shape proved to be somewhat fluffy; she wanted to pet him, so bad.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 9:21 pm
"I may have thought of something." He thrummed but then giggled. "But it will ruin my coat!" He seemed amused by it. it wasn't often that he willfully destroyed his clothing but tonight he was feeling a little more daring and energized.
"No problem!" He shuffled forward when Needle asked to touch him. Of course, had no problem with it. His body was like a almost like man's but muscled and feathered in the way animals were. The collected weight on his human form seemed only to spread out as bulk when he shifted. His legs were still much like a bird's and so he was forced into a bit of a crouch, but even then the strix was easily 6 and a half feet.
Muka extended his wing-arms a bit as if inviting a hug. His body's feathers were fluffy, ruffled and soft. They were very short and thick. His neck seemed even more fluffy and was able to slightly extend. His body seemed to vibrate when he breathed, coos shaking his form unconsciously and almost unheard until you were close.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 9:43 pm
"...Oh?" While she was hesitant to ruin his clothing, he didn't seem to mind too terribly, especially since he brought it up; and then she became curious. How would it ruin his coat? Did he wear clothing as an owl-man? Well, it seemed she would get her chance to find out!
Needle took her time once she had his permission, her fingers trailing along his form carefully, especially when she brushed through his wings to start off; as mentally promised, she took his warning to heart and even made her hands intangible if she felt the slightest roughness, just in case. Pain anywhere else was dandy, but she needed her hands! But when she trailed her hands down from his downy features and felt his fluffy neck for the first time, she giggled like the schoolghoul she was supposed to be. Her hands trailed down to his softly feathered chest, but went no further down than that. He was so soft! Soft and large and dangerous; that beak of his certainly didn't promise gentle nips.
"Forgive me, but I would like to..." The Engraver trailed off without realizing it, sliding onto her toes to give herself the height she needed to try and nuzzle her head - and hopefully, her face - into the fluff on his neck.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 9:49 pm
"Well I can always shift, give you my coat, and then shift back? My clothes shift with me. I am not sure how it works, I don't think about it, but it does." His shoulders once more shrugged.
Muka stood very still but when he felt the brushes of cool invisible hands he giggled uncontrollably. It sort of tickled! "I have never had a ghost pass through me even a little.. So funny!" More giggled shook his body.
When Needle began to tip toe, he wasn't quite sure what she wanted so he stepped a little clores and tried to hunker down a bit. This of course made his neck fluff more as it compressed. His beak did clack curiously but he kept it safely away from any of her digits.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 10:04 pm
"And then put the coat between my arms and your feathers?" Needle guessed, trying to figure out how well that would work; she wasn't sure really, considering that they were sharp, and that she might get too scared to keep tabs on her strength.
Ticklish, huh? Interesting! The thought was put on the backburner for now though, as she nuzzled into his neck fluff (which was suddenly fluffier, eee!) and just enjoyed how fluffy he was; that was another thing she and her sister had been denied as children. Anything remotely comfortable was removed early on. She didn't want to let go of him, now that she knew how fluffy he was. His neck was so soft, his chest was a close second, and he was warm to boot. Warm and noisy. But she had to, and besides, he'd given her a remarkably fun idea. Even though she was still nuzzled into him, she grinned almost wickedly.
Focusing on her hands, she made them as intangible as she could before pressing them against - and somewhat into - his sides, wiggling her fingers just under his feathers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
