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RP Log - Jungle

After the incident with the mohawk boy at the beach, it would be an understandment to say that Amaya was in the dumps. She had cried herself to sleep a few hours ago, then afterwards... for some unknown reason she had wandered into the jungle. Something told her it was safe there.

The iguana had climbed a tree and lay on her stomach on one of the branches. Green eyes stared out at the area below and ahead of her, bloodshot and tired. The frown on her scaley features said a lot about her mood at the moment.

Amaya closed her eyes, tail giving a twitch. The pendent she wore slid off the branch and hang loosly below it, though never saw anywhere else but around her neck.

Cass had her nose deep within the pages of a book as she slithered along, her tongue flickering occassionally to just touch the paper. The weather wasn't bad at all, she was just getting to a really good part, and really, things were as good as they could be expected to.

A faint, oddly familiar scent caught her attention, her tongue hesitating half-extended. It had been a little while since she'd smelled that properly, but...

Curious, Cassidy looked around, trying to spy something. She saw nothing at first, then the flash of something bright in the sun, somewhere up above.

A pendant! And there above....

"Amaya? Is that you?"

Green eyes opened once more, the lizard's tail giving a flick. That voice sounded familar...

Leaning up a little, she turned to look down at Cassidy... and there was a lot of her to look at.

Amaya couldn't help but be taken aback... and she had thought she had it bad. She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, it's me. Hey Cassidy."

She got to her hands and feet on the branch (which wrapped around them with long, clawed toes), and began to head down head-first.

Even if the reptile didn't have a branch to grab onto, her claws tended to latch onto the bark and give her enough strenght to keep her from falling.

Cass tucked her bookmark between the pages and the book under her arm. Amaya was looking... rather more extremely reptilian, since the last time she'd seen her, but the same went for her.

She was secretly quite thankful that she hadn't lost all her hair yet, but her hopes of keeping what she had seemed dashed.

"I think you manage trees better than me," Cassidy said. "How're you doing? Feeling all right?"

Amaya crawled off the tree and then sat down at the base, her long tail curling as much as it could to stay out of the way.

"I'm doing alright, I guess." She shrugged, not wanting to seem so down about what had happened earlier in the day. "What about you?" Her eyes looked back up at Cassidy, almost blending in with the rest of her body now that their didn't seem to be much white in her eyes left.

"As well as can be expected." Cassidy coiled herself nearby, and set her book on what might be reasonably considered her lap. "My boyfriend's gone fuzzy, but the weather's nice... thought I'd climb a tree and do some reading."

She peered at Amaya a little more closely. "I didn't know you'd changed so far," she said, and punctuated this with a tongue flick. "You're looking all right."

She smiled as kindly as she could.

The girl smirked. "Vasile changed again?" The her expression became more serious. "Is he doing alright?"

Amaya gave her a head-bob. "Yeah, I changed the night before the duplexes opened up again... I didn't know you did either. Bobby mentioned you though, so I kind of guessed." She paused and smiled back at her. "You too. I guess some of your hair stayed?" She inquired.

"He's doing all right. Still adjusting. Like most of us, I guess." Cass shrugged easily, as though to dismiss the worry she felt for him. "He feels really soft, though. Like a big teddy bear." She giggled a bit.

"I changed... I don't know. Two or three weeks ago, I guess." She plucked at a bit of her scraggly hair. "Just the short stuff is left. I'm not terribly hopeful that this stuff's going to stay, either, as neither snakes nor birds usually have hair." She sighed a bit. "I suppose... I'll get used to it. I guess I have to."

The teen couldn't help but laugh a little. "So is he a... dog, then? Or a fox?" By the tail he had last she'd seen him, it would probably be like one of the two.

"Yeah... The thought I wouldn't keep mine didn't even occure to me until it fell off." Amaya frowned and ran one of her large hands over her head, the spikes folding back and the springing back up like some sort of mohawk.

"So I guess your getting around okay?" She asked, having noticed that Cassidy seemed to be able to slither around now.

Cass considered. "We think he's a fox. We don't exactly know. I hope so, because that'd be nice for him."

She tugged idly on her feathers, her new habit after no longer being able to twist her braid. "Losing my hair hadn't occurred to me, either. I haven't had hair this short in years. I think," she said, "I just took it for granted that it'd always be there." And yet, she had it safely tucked away in a drawer, every last strand she'd been able to find.

"And I am. Much better than I was before my last injection, anyway." She wiggled the end of her tail. "As long as I don't think about it too much. It's sort of weird." Her feathers fluffed. "You seem to be doing okay, for the most part. I hope that's true."

"Yeah, that'd be nice." The iguana gave another headbob and listened to Cassidy.

"I fainted when I first lost it and for a long time I was really self-conscious about it... wouldn't leave my duplex. I don't even look like a girl anymore..." She paused, thinking if saying the next thing allowed would be too much. Though both of them were reptiles, so... probably not. "I don't really have... boobs anymore. They're smaller and... yeah. Just kind of like lumps, I guess." Amaya fidgetted with her fingers, her own nervous habit.

"I know this grief well," Cassidy said, with a faint laugh. "I'm not sure where my nipples got to." And a few other things, honestly, but that was just embarrassing.

"Amaya, you look perfectly girlish. It's.... it's in your clothing, the way you carry yourself. I'm sure even girl lizards have their ways of attracting the boy lizards." She grinned. "Same for snakes. If I can figure out what it is, I'll have every boy snake on the island eating out of my hand. Wing. Whatever."

...oh, yuck. What an awful thing to imagine.

"Guess your right." The lizard smirked.

"So how did you fair through the rain? I didn't see you much." She asked, looking up at Cassidy again. From what she remembered, the snake woman was cold-blooded as well.

It had been a long night for a certain Nita MacNeal. After talking to Lauren and Angharad, she had found bottled water and a couple of candy bars in the minifridge. She'd ventured out again around false dawn, located the cafeteria, grabbed some toast, and scurried back to her duplex.

By now she was restless, and reading in bed wasn't quite enough. She thought maybe she'd settle down in a quiet spot on the beach for a bit. Of course, she didn't know exactly where the beach was... In any case, she ended a little way into the lush jungle, following a faintly marked path.

Nita wasn't really lost. It was more that she didn't know where she was, but then she didn't really have any specific destination in mind, so it hardly mattered. The hum of insects and the raucus calls of wild birds filled her ears, until she heard something a bit more familiar. Human voices. She angled slightly, still keeping the path in sight, sort of half-heartedly seeking the company that must be somewhere nearby.

Cassidy shook her head. "I was miserable. Curled up somewhere with this girl, Kim, and slept through most of it. Couldn't really stay awake." She shrugged. "She's cold-blooded too, but I have no clue what she might be turning into." Something very strange, that was for certain. "What did you do? You're here, and in one piece, so you must have managed okay."

Unfortunatly for Nita, Amaya didn't notice the ever-approaching footsteps... the last thing she had on her mind was someone she didn't know, whom was completely human, would trapple upon the two reptiles.

"Ohhh, Kim. Yeah, I dunno either... I led her to camp. Nice to know she was alright." The girl smiled. "I... survived." Her tongue flickered. "I was away from camp when the rain started. I wouldn't have made it back if it weren't for Chubbs and a woman named... Lily, I believe." She paused. "They carried me back to camp."

The voices grew clearer and eventually the speakers came into view. Nita stopped dead in her tracks. "Holy Mother of God," she whispered, crossing herself reflexively, a gesture she hadn't made in years.

Right there in front of her were two women who had changed far more drastically than Lauren. They seemed to be some sort of lizard and a snake, although Nita had never seen any snake with feathers like that. A vague memory from a Comparative Studies class she'd taken tugged at the back of her mind.

Confused, surprised, but not especially frightened, Nita took one step back-- and snapped a stick underfoot. She froze again, trying not to feel like she was guilty of spying. "Um," she said eloquently. "Hi."

"I haven't met any Lily yet," Cassidy began, then turned in surprise. For a moment, she simply stared, her mouth slightly agape, before she closed it and her tongue flickered.

Someone new, very likely. Good lord.

"Er, hi there." Cass waved awkwardly. She glanced at Amaya, and plunged ahead, hoping it was all right, "We were just talking. Did you want to come join us?"

Better that she see that there were still people under the scales, Cass supposed.

Amaya's head snapped around too look at the new girl, her body tensing and tongue flickering. She could taste her anxiety.

Run. Just run now.

And she agreed with herself this time.

"... Hi." The teen looked down at the ground, then between the two of them.

"... But... I... better be going. I havn't eaten anything today." It was only a partial lie. She was hungry.

"I'll see you around Cassidy. Come by to talk whenever you want." She gave her an appologetic look, knowing that she was leaving the snake woman with someone new to the island.

But right now... she just couldn't handle it. Not twice in the same day.

With a nod and sad smile to both of them, she stood and headed back towards civilization.

Nita flinched as the lizard-girl dashed off, giving her a fleeting glimpse of a long tail and a back full of spines. She frowned, irrationally thinking she'd somehow scared the girl off. The other woman had stuck around, and had seemed friendly enough.

Nita bit her lip then nodded, making her way over to-- "Quetzalcoatl!" she burst out. "Sorry!" She covered her mouth with hands and peered at Cass, intrigued. "That was his name, the feathered serpent." The ghost of a smile flickered across her face.

Cassidy stared for a moment, and burst out laughing. "You know, you're the first person who's actually got that. I was beginning to think Dr. Duvert had made him up."

Forcing down the last few giggles, she continued, "I'm told that's who I'm supposed to end up looking like. I wouldn't really know, I'd never heard of Quetzalcoatl before I started sprouting feathers. My name's Cassidy. You can call me Cass."

Nita turned bright pink and started laughing herself. "Really? I guess it is kind of obscure, but I was always a mythology buff, and a couple of quarters ago I took a class on Mesoamerican religion... And there you were, and it just flew out!"

She grinned and cleared her throat before her giggles could become a bit hysterical. "Hi, Cass. I'm Nita, and new to this particular madness." She pushed her bangs out of her face and leaned against the tree. "It's been a long couple of days."

"I can sort of guess you're new." Cass tilted her head. There was a certain shell-shocked way of looking at you that new people tended to have, and she'd seen that a lot, lately.

"I hope you're doing okay." She tightened her fingers around the book resting on her lap. "It's... it can pretty weird, here. You've just been here a few days? That's all?"

"Just since yesterday." Goodness, was it really only a day? "I was supposed to be studying abroad, but..." Nita trailed off and sighed quietly.

"I keep thinking I'm going to wake up, you know? It's all a dream, and I'll write it down, and look at it later like, 'what the heck was I thinking that night?' But I've slept, and I don't think you're supposed to be able to sleep in a dream." She shrugged, glad that she had that tree at her back. At least something around here was solid.

"I'm sorry I stared like that." She cocked her head to the side, unconsciously mimicking Cass' posture. "It's not really scary, just.. weird, like you said."

Cass shrugged. The staring perhaps bothered her a little, but not as much as some people's reactions did. "It's nothing. I stare, myself, sometimes. Don't worry about it, really."

She leaned her head back and stared up into the branches. "I wish I could tell you it was a dream. I wish you could tell that to me." Not finding whatever it was she was looking for in the leaves, she looked back at Nita with a slight shake of her head. "But... you find ways to stay sane."

Most of them did, anyway. But there was no point in scaring Nita.

Nita made a half-amused sort of noise and chewed on the insides of her cheeks for a moment. "I suppose you'd have to. Too easy to retreat into your own mind, convincing yourself everything is fine, is normal."

She shifted her weight uneasily. That sounded far too much like what she had done a few years before, and not for any good reason like being stranded on a tropical island surrounded by animal-people.

"I don't know where I am, really," she continued, only partially aware she was still speaking aloud. "Maybe call it a willing suspension of disbelief. Everything is so bizarre it has to become normal, but.. Oh, I don't know." Nita looked down at her shoes. "I'm rambling..."

"Don't worry about it," Cass said gently. "Give it time. You haven't been here very long, and it's hard to cope."

Ugh. It sounded to her like she was urging Nita to give up all hope, and that wasn't what she meant at all.

"Once the shock wears off, you can try dealing with it properly," she suggested.

Cassidy began to carefully uncoil herself, awkwardly, since she still wasn't entirely sure how all that tail worked. "You know your way back from here? I really do have to get back."

Nita nodded. What Cass said made sense, and she knew she wasn't thinking properly.

"Actually, no," she admitted, watching the uncoiling with interest. "I was kind of lost to begin with."

"Ah, this place isn't really so big. You head that way," Cass pointed, "and just keep walking more-or-less straight and you come right out into the village."

Ah, there. She was what might reasonably be called standing, were her legs actually involved in the process. "Do you want to tag along with me, or are you going to hang around here a little longer?"

"That's not too hard. I'd found a bit of a path, earlier" she explained. "And I may as well go back. I meant to go to the beach, but that obviously didn't happen." Nita smiled again, in spite of herself.

"Well then." Cassidy shifted her book to under one feathered arm, and smiled faintly. She was in a much better mood than she normally was, immediately after meeting new people.

Quetzalcoatl, indeed.

"I'll escort you back, and I can show you which way the beach is, too."

She beckoned to Nita, and started her slow slither back towards the village.

Nita followed Cass through the jungle, taking care not to step on her tail or anything. "Thanks a bunch," she said, and meant it. For the first time all day, Nita felt a curious form of optimism. Maybe it was out of place, but like Cass had said, people found ways to cope.

RP Log - Jungle



Cassidy had finally come down out of her tree, but she was certainly not really willing to head back to her room, yet. The other option left to her was to wander a little bit.

That was precisely what she was doing. Her book was tucked under her arm, her tongue was flickering quickly, and she was staring up as she slithered along.

She hesitated. That smell... was very familiar. She knew that smell. She should, anyway; she had certainly lived in close quarters with it during the lockdown.

She craned her head around, trying to track it down... there! Some ways off.

"Emelyn!" Cass called. She waved an arm, and started forward as fast as she was able, which wasn't very. "Oh, god, Emelyn, is that you?"



"I guess not," Cass said breathlessly. "I have your shirt. Not with me. It's... back at my room. I cleaned it. Where have you been?"

There was something about Emelyn's smile, and it was not entirely reassuring. Cassidy could have hit herself; of course, Emelyn hadn't seen her like this! Any normal person would have been just a little unnerved by a snake-bird-monster-thing coming at them, no matter how friendly the greeting was. Stupid, girl. Stupid.



"You lent it to me during the lockdown," Cass said, surprised. That had just been eating at her all this time, too. "And you should have it back.

She sank back onto her coils a little. "I tried your duplex... you were never there."



Not a lot of emotion came through in Cass's lidless eyes, but her mouth did drop open a bit in surprise. "You-you have?" she said in wonder. "But... why? Camping's one thing but... what have you been eating?" She'd be the first to admit she had no idea what hedgehogs ate.



Cassidy's tongue flickered as she took this in.

"What do you mean," she said at last, "about Moreau... taking away our comfort at his whim? Didn't... didn't something happen? I mean, I'm not inclined to defend him at all, but... there had to have been more in his mind other than just screwing around with us. The... the helicopter crash, after all." She shook her head.



"... what?" Cassidy sagged. If her knees had been taking any of her weight, they would have likely buckled. "Aubrey... said...?" She shook her head furiously. "Nobody had said anything like that to me. At all. I mean. I guess it makes sense, but..."

She inhaled, slowly. "That's... that's sick. Sicker than I thought they were, I mean. They're all concerned about... about how happy we are, and give us good food and movies and... god, the books they gave me. Books and more books and then they go and dump us in the woods with nothing and I didn't even have my legs. Two months. Something like that, and no legs. Just on my goddamn..."

Cass broke off, aware that she was babbling. She put a hand over her mouth.



"I..."

Cassidy was turning her book over and over in her hands, her fingers tight around it. "I don't want to believe it," she said. A bit of a whimper caught in her throat, and she hesitated to allow it to clear away a bit before she went on. "But... I think I have to. Oh, it's sick. Thank... thank you for telling me that. I'm glad I know. I think I am."



Cassidy nodded. She seemed to realise, suddenly, what she was doing to her book, and made herself stop at once. If it had been one of the books she'd been given, she might not have been so eager to, but this one... was one of hers. "They could at least be honest. With everything else... they could be honest. I'd still hate them, but... I don't know. It's the... the principle."

Uneasily, she sank down onto the ground against a nearby tree, coiling around herself.



Cassidy exhaled slowly. "I'm sorry," she said. "It's a lot to take in. Do you know what they told me? They told me that it was more than likely that I'd keep something resembling hands. They thought I would. And then I saw Greer today, and she doesn't... have you seen her? She doesn't have anything, hardly. If I change again... I don't know what I'm going to do. I'll have to come out here with you because I won't be able to open my own door."

She put her hand over Emelyn's, and squeezed. "I don't mean to babble. I'm sorry. My problems... aren't any worse than anyone else's."



"It does," Cass admitted softly. "It's so crazy, to stick wings on a. On a snake." She breathed slowly for a moment, trying to calm herself. "They can't possibly think I'm going to be able to fly. They're scientists. They can't be that stupid, no matter how crazy they are. Maybe Greer will be able to."

And yet, she had that urge. Somewhere, in her strange mix of DNA, was the faint instinct of flight.



"I would like that," Cass said softly. "It would be almost worth it all. Maybe not worth losing my hands, but. Well. Maybe I won't change anymore. I could deal with that." She smiled in her small way, slightly cheered.

"I'm dumping on you," she said suddenly, and laughed. "You probably need to be out here just to get away from this sort of woe-is-me thing."



"It's no good to me, either," Cass said, a bit wryly. "I'm thinking I may gather up all my jeans and shirts I can't get on anymore and leave them for public picking-over in the cafeteria or something. Not doing me any good. But thanks."



Cass nodded enthusiastically. "That's not a problem at all. I've... I've mostly gotten the hang of this slithering thing, I think. And I come out here all the time anyway. I'm not sure what I can find... but I can do my best."

Ah, a purpose, a goal. It was just what she needed.



"If I can't ever stand a hug, that will be a very sad day," Cass said. She struggled briefly to get herself up from her half-sitting position against the tree.

"Please, hug me," she laughed, and spread out her arms and feathers.



Cass squeezed tightly, what faint smile she could manage lingering on her face.

"You are an incredibly reassuring person to talk to," she said. "Good luck with your wild life; I will come back and find you when I have things for you."

She let go and backed up, her arms still out for balance as she performed this slightly difficult maneouvre. "And I can't find anything, I'll probably come back anyway."

Her heart was going in great leaps and bounds from happiness. It was really more the people that made it all worth it, not any vague hope of flight. Cassidy waved and started off for the village.

"You take care of yourself!"

http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?t=2844316

Metaplot Post

During the following day, this is (loosely) where Cass will be.

12am-10am: Duplex, either sleeping or reading.
10am: Cafeteria, to pick up something to eat (a couple rare steaks, which will keep her going for the day. Ectotherms don't eat a whole lot, after all). Won't stay longer than a few minutes.
10am-3pm: The jungle, with a book. She'll wander quite a bit, and probably spend at least an hour in a tree somewhere.
3pm-3:30pm: The river, swimming a bit.
3:30pm-4:30pm: The edge of the main beach, resting on the warm sand.
4:30pm-5:30pm: The beach bar, nursing a beer or two.
5:30pm-9pm: The entertainment room, watching movies if she's alone, reading through the library if people are watching some movie she's not interested in.
9pm-12am: Duplex, either sleeping or reading.

http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?t=2892527

RP Log

Vasile had debated. for almost an hour, if it would be better for him to look really nice, or kind of dumpy, when he went to have the dreaded talk with Cass. Finally he decided on some combination of the two... making sure hir fur and hair was impecably clean and brushed, but laid off any styling products whatsoever. He pulled his hair back into a ponytail and wore a pair of black slacks and a oversized shirt. No need to show off his physique... not that he had nearly as nice of one than when he first came. It seemed no matter how much he excercised his six pack and softned up on his stoamch and little pudges of fat kept appearing on his thighs and hips - which he woul dhave to excessively run off to keep them under control.

But that was neither here nor there. There were more pressed matters at hand. With a deep breath and cold drink of water to calm his nerves, Vasile trotted down to Cass's duplex and knocked lightly on the door. "Its Vasile," he said, just loud enough for her to hear.

There was a bit of a pause before the door opened. Cassidy was looking just this side of sleep, her hair a little more unruly that was usual. She yawned, and ran her fingers through her hair. "Hi. I was napping," she said unnecessarily.

The bulge of her recent meal, though a bit smaller than it had been and the skin less strained, was still very noticeable, despite anything she might try to do. There was, she had decided, nothing to do but wait for it to go away, and wonder about just what it had been. Hopefully nothing she should have been eating. Like someone's pet, for example.

"C'mon in."

"Oh, I'm sorry I woke y-" Vasile's apology was cut off suddenly as his eyes settled on her stomach. "Oh my gawd please tell me that's not mine!" Vasile shook his head and seemed to realize how rude that exclaimation probably seemed, or that the timing didn't really click right - but for someone as playboy as Vasile used to be, this was like a scene out of his worst nightmares.

Cass stared at him a moment, and down at her swollen abdomen. "What? Oh! Oh!" She let a small laugh, mostly at herself; she hadn't even thought of that possibility, not seriously. "No, no, it's nothing like that. I'm pretty sure that I just ate something. I think. I don't actually... remember." She waved a hand vaguely. "It's going away, anyway, not getting bigger, so it's... um. Probably not anything like that?"

"Oh.. ohkay...wow, I'm sorry, Cass, that was really rude of me..." He stepped him, giving her arm and warm touch with his paw-like hands.

"You..don't remember eating anything? THAT big?" Vasile looked a bit surprised. "Thats..strange."

"I lost about two days, Vasile." She shook her head, but touched his hand, thankful for the gesture. "I have no idea what I did during that time, and I woke up... well. Up a tree. Again." Cass snorted slightly. "Which makes me a bit worried about this whole thing about Aubrey. I mean. I have to assume I was all snake that whole time, because I was doing something, but I don't know what the snake would do."

With a faint, rueful smile, Cass tore her gaze away from the spot in the floor she'd been staring at. "But I don't suppose I can really obsess over it. Just hope I didn't eat anything I don't want to know about. But how're you doing? Okay, right?" Her expression brightened a little.

Vasile narrowed his eyes. "I can't imagine you hurting anybody, Cass. I just assumed it was Jamal..since, well, he doesn't really make it a secret or anything."

He said down gently on the bed, playing with his tail again as it curled into a lap, a figit he had recently developed when he was nervous about something. "Well, uhm, I've been...uh.." he stalled for a minute. "Oh! I have Brutus back!...kind of, at least."

"I hope you're right about that," Cassidy said with a shrug. "I'm not sure whatever-it-is," she pointed downwards, "would agree with you, but the sentiment is appreciated. You have no idea."

Well, it was certainly a relief to hear that she hadn't eaten Brutus, at least. That had been one possibility on her mind. "That's wonderful! But what do you mean, kind of?" Cass settled herself down on the bed next to him, her tongue flickering curiously. "How can you kind of have him back? Isn't he okay?"

"Well apparantly Dr. Duvert found him in the lockout...and experimented with him." He frowned, but shrugged. "He has, well... three heads." He chuckled a bit to himself. "Seriously. I mean, he's fine. But its almost like I got two new dogs with the package."

"Three heads?" Cass repeated, astonished. "They can do that? But... how.... ?! That's... crazy. Wow. But it's good he's in one piece, so to speak." She shook her head in disbelief, trying to figure out how on Earth such a thing was even possible. "Maybe it was a good thing I decided to leave my cat with my parents. These people are nuts."

"Yeah... yeah they are." Vasile was happy to have his little friends back and healthy, but as much as he wanted to talk bout Brutus right now, he had other things he needed to bring up before he talked himself out of it.

"Speaking of changes...." Vasile kept combing hsi clwas through his furry tail, not looking Cass directly in the eyes, "I have to talk to you about something kind of important. And I don't think you'll like it."

Cassidy just looked at him, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach growing steadily. Her tongue flicked in and out. She could think of several things this could be, off the top of her head, and none of them were any good. "Oh?" she said.

"yeah...." Vasile tried to give her an ecouraging smile, but it kind of fell flat. "Well...since I've come here, I've changed. More than just physically. I...think about things more...and I'm more in touch with myself and what I 'm feeling. I know that sounds ... I don't know, hippie or something but its true. And at first I thought it was because I was given a bit reality check or something, and maybe that's still the case. Or maybe the serums are changing how I think. I don't know. But I've been thinking, things, recently, that I just can't ignore, anymore..." Vasile tooked at her with pleading eyes, judging her expression so far.

This was going a slightly different direction than what she had expected, unless he was just being nice about it. Cassidy tilted her head, still watching him carefully. There was a slight twitch in the muscles of her face, around her eyes, something that might have been a squint had she eyelids anymore. "What do you mean?"

Underneath the cover of her plumage, her fingers tugged fiercely and nervously at her feathers.

"Well, uhm... I'm sure you've noticed that we haven't... you know... " Vasile gesticulated with his paws, "done anything... recently.." Vasile blushed and frowned. "And I don't want you thinking its because of... your changes! Because its not! Really - its not! I mean, I thought that at first... I really did and I was torn up about it, but I .. I really don't think thats why..."

Cass's fingers stopped tugging. "I'd been wondering about that," she said. She wouldn't have blamed him at all if it had been because of her. Things down in that general area were not the way they had been, and while it probably would have made sense to another snake, she was still rather mystified by the whole deal. "Look, if it is because of me, you can say so. You can. Really. I won't--" Her voice cracked a little; she paused to clear her throat, irriated at herself. "Just say so, if that's it."

"Thats NOT it though, Cass... I, uh..." He winced and screwed his eyes shut. "IthinkI'mgay," he sputtered out.

Cass's mouth opened slightly. She raised a hand, lowered it again, and shut her mouth. Of all the things she had expected to hear, that was not one of them, not nearly. "What do you mean, gay?!"

Vasile's ears dropped suddenly and drastically against the back of his head and the poor guy actually have a canine-like whimper. "You know... like... liking guys..." His face was so red, the white on his face had a pink tint to it.

"I know what it means," Cassidy said, a touch of exasperation to her voice. She pressed her hand to her face for a moment, and drew a deep breath. "How can you be gay? After everything... my god. My god, Vasile. What the hell."

She had been staring off into space, but she focused on him again with a shake of her head. "You seriously are only figuring this out now?!"

Vasile had a sudden desire to bolt. Just to run away and run into the jungle and bury himself under a rock and not come out for a while. But he knew that wouldn't solve anything.

"I'm sorry!!!" he pleaded. "Really.. trust me...do you think this was easy for me to admit to myself?? I mean.. me of all people!? I got sent to this damn rock because of my... taste for women! Really! But... I mean.. ever since my last change... everytime I see... Ambrose.. or Jamal... I .. I... " he looeked away, ebarassed. "I just KNOW, okay!"

Since his last change? Some distant part of Cass's brain grabbed upon that, and clung. Dr. Moreau turned my boyfriend gay. Oh, but that was stupid. Even if that could possibly be true, she could hardly blame him for that. She sighed heavily, her face buried in her hands for a moment, before looking at him again. "I don't... I don't doubt that you know. But what am I supposed to say here? How the hell do I react to this? Dammit, Vasile."

Vasile whimpered. "I don't know. I mean... I was so frightened that.. that it was because of how you looked. I didn't want to be that shallow. I really really didn't want to be. I was almost.. kind of releived when this came to light. I know, that probably sounds horrible..."

Vasile ran a nervous hand through his hair. "I know I'm probably really hurting you, Cass. But you.. I... I had to tell you. And I still really care for you. I don't want to hurt you, I really don't..."

"It's a little late to worry about not hurting me," Cass said, her voice quiet. "Jesus Christ. I guess I'm relieved that it's not because I'm horrid and scaly, but because I'm a chick, which is fair enough, but..." She flailed a minute, gesturing wildly. She had all these sentences and no way to end them. "You certainly had me convinced. Gay."

She may be a small-town girl, but she was certainly no redneck. With an effort, Cass smiled, very slightly. "Fine. You told me. I'm glad you told me because it would have been very awkward if this had all come out..." Bad choice of words. She couldn't think of any better. "... Later. But right now, Vasile?" Her voice cracked. She stared down at the floor again; that seemed safest. Her hands were tightly clenched.

"Cass, please...its not like I could help it. Trust me.. I wish I wasn't! But it would be stupid for me to try and hide it. It wouldn't be fair - to you or me."

He stood up quickly, pacing a bit and waving his tail behind him like an annoyed cat. "I swear this has all happened... relatively recently. When we first got together - I promise you I wasn't! I mean...damn..." He looked to her. "Really. It was great. Its just been since.. si nce... " he motioned to his body. "Since all this bullshit. I don't know.. how or why.. but I swear this is all pretty recent, Cass!"

"How can you be--" Cass cut herself off. Now was not the time for hasty words, however tempting they were. "Know what? Never mind all that. You're gay. Fine. This is possibly the most... unique excuse I've heard from a guy who didn't want to date me anymore, but.... it's not in your control, it's..." She sounded more like she was trying to convince herself. "It's... just..."

"Its not an excuse!!" he pleaded. "Look, trust me. I wouldn't have told you if I wasn't completely sure! This is a hard time for me, too, you know! My ... whole identity is changing. And not just physically! Okay, if I could be ugly and still be straight I would be, just for you! I didn't want to do this to you! " He suddenly found himself on the verge of tears. "I hate myself for having to do this..."

"It's not your fault," Cass said. "I'm just... I'm not really sure what the hell I'm supposed to do, now. Or say. Or anything. Christ." She took a deep, shaky breath, trying to release some anger. It didn't exactly work. "********." That was a word she didn't use much, but now was a time for it, if any. "The sentiment is appreciated, but... don't hate yourself. Not healthy." Another deep breath. "Really... I think I need to be alone, right now, Vasile. I don't want to say anything I'll regret."

Vasile swatted at his eyes, the tears started to come. "I'm sorry, Cass. I really am. But I couldn't go on lying to you." He sighed and headed towards the door. "I hope we can still be friends. You don't mean any less to me." He gave her the most fornlorn puppy-dog expression he could muster, then headed out.

"Yeah. Friends. Sure." Cass watched him go, the tip of her tail twitching slightly. Her first really serious relationship, and... this. Well, fine. She would be all right. She was an independant sort. She'd managed for long enough with a man in her life.

It really wasn't fair.

http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?t=3084235

RP Log

Thom was terribly bored. And, with the knowledge that he had a game shortly--providing he got off the island as planned--he had begun practicing earlier in the day and kept at it for much of the afternoon, using whatever landmarks were available to accomplish various drills. Eventually his sporting had led him away from the village and, after hovering near the edge of the jungle for ten minutes or so, he had abandoned all inhibitions and taken his game to the loam.

The trees were players of the rival team. Avoid them all, make it to the goal...wherever happened to be. With the ease of long practice, he manuvered the ball around and through the closely spaced trees, weaving here, looping there, generally finding every way he could to add to the challenge. The unfamiliar and unlevel jungle floor did add to the difficulty, but that only made the drill all the more enjoyable. Kicking a ball across flat, open ground was terribly dull when you were alone. Jungles were much more interesting.

Cass had been coiled over a low branch for perhaps a half an hour, half-dozing and bored and thinking. She needed something to do with herself, really. She was going to go crazy this way.

What was that sound?

She could make out some sort of heat source, human in shape, coming through the trees; whoever it was, they smelled unfamiliar. Cassidy began to uncoil herself and slither down the tree trunk. Maybe she could slip away without being seen. There was no need to scare people, after all.

It quickly occurred to her, however, that she was not equipped for speed, at the moment, and she probably should have stayed high. What if it was someone changed, someone who wasn't taking it well? Cass was certainly not equipped with claws with which to defend herself.

Well, sometimes you had to bite the bullet. She coiled herself up near the base of the tree. "Hey!" she called out. "Who's there?"

Spin, dodge, duck under a tree branch--and then a shout, and Thom lost focus, scowling as the ball spun away and bumped a nearby tree. In retaliation, he quickly 'stole' it back, darting around the offending tree and punting the soccer ball off between two others--a goal. Satisfied, he slowed to a walk and, breathing heavily after the drill, scanned the area for the source of the voice.

From his position he couldn't see anyone, and he briefly debated simply retrieving his ball and escaping back to the safety of the village. However, he quickly reconsidered. The voice hadn't sounded like a bloody thirsty tiger man and, after his run...he wasn't exactly sure where the village was. Oh well.

"Thom," he shouted in response, not that it would prove very helpful. He hadn't recognized the voice, so he obviously hadn't met whoever was speaking. "Arrived a few days back. 'Oo's there?"

A few days back? Cass's heart sank. Sure, on the one hand, she probably didn't have to worry about being mauled to death, but did the guy know? It wasn't too late to escape entirely, was it?

Yes. Yes, it was. Be brave.

"Name's Cassidy. Um." Cass hugged herself tightly and uncoiled herself to slither, as slowly as she could bear to, in the direction of Thom's voice. "Don't freak out. Please." This last was said rather softer, her tone worried and faintly hopeful.

She leaned around the trunk of a tree and peered at him curiously from some distance off.

Chuckling dryly, he doubled back to gather his soccer ball, then started after the voice once more. "Trust me, Cassidy, I doubt anythin' could--" He abruptly fell silent as he caught sight of the woman, lip curling in a mix of absolute disbelief and astonishment. This...this thing was once a girl? A human? Like him!? ...Well, now he understood the 'don't freak' request.

He cleared his throat, pulling his gaze away until he regained his composure. At some point following the shock, his grip on the soccer ball had tightened, and now he relaxed it, passing the ball nervously from hand to hand. When he again looked up, his smile was apologetic..and perhaps a tad fearful. "Well... You were right, then. Ah, sorry."

After a nervous feather-fluff, Cass came out the rest of the way. It seemed that he at least knew what was happening--thank goodness--but that didn't make that moment of shock any less painful. "Don't worry about it," she said, as dismissively as she could bring herself to. "I'm... a bit of a sight. I know I am."

Still, she didn't come any closer; she'd leave it to him to make that move. "Just a few days, eh? I guess you know already?"

"No, no, I apologize," he insisted, shaking his head, though his hands abruptly fell still as she approached, the ball held tightly between them. "I 'ave met a few...ah, islanders, an', to be frank, snakes never crossed m' mind. Ambrose was the farthest change yet." And while Ambrose was furry and had the face of a wolf, he was a mammal, had legs, and looked more like some high school mascot than anything. Cass....didn't.

"Yes, I know," Thom replied with a faint grimace. "I didn't b'lieve at first, I'll admit, but after a few...things, y' can't really deny it any longer." He shrugged. "I doubt I'll be 'ere long enough t' change, 'owever."

"As far as I know, I'm the only snake," Cass said. Despite herself, her tongue flicked out; it was nearly as reflexive as blinking, sometimes. "Probably a good thing. It's definitely not what I would have picked, had I a choice."

Soccer. While she'd never been particularly inclined to athletics, the ball gave her all sorts of ideas she couldn't follow up on.

"I guess there's only so long you can deny it, the way some of us look," Cass admitted. "Though I've known some people hold out stubbornly for quite a while. What do you mean, though, you won't be here long enough?"

He grimaced despite himself as her tongue darted out, finding the trait far too animalistic for his tastes. He had never been much of a reptile fan, and seeing someone nearly transformed into one was more than a tad unnerving. He wasn't scared of the scaley things, persay, but he preferred not to come in contact with them. "That's understandable. Losin' y' legs..."

He gave a sad shake of his head, for the first time noticing the stumps that remained of Cassidy's legs. Eck, he couldn't begin to imagine how horrible that must be. Mind, she seemed to get around alright, from what he could tell, but all the same... It couldn't be comfortable.

"Oh--I 'ave a game on Friday," he replied with a shrug, as if there were nothing more obvious in the world. "And th' team knows I'm 'ere. Now that I'm past th' concussion, they'll be callin' for me t' play."

"I suppose," Cass said, "it could always be worse." Admittedly, she wasn't entirely sure how. The feathers were nice, true. And at least she wasn't venomous. And at least she still had bones and wasn't growing extra limbs, which probably hurt more than losing them.

"A game? Soccer, I assume?" Oh, dear. Denial. She hated to crush his illusions, but she couldn't very well let him continue to entertain them. Of course... Friday would be soon enough. "Um. Are you sure they know you're here? Have you talked to them?"

"I'll take your word for it," he drawled, giving her a once over...purely to see how it could be any worse, of course. But there were possibilities, now that he thought about it. She wasn't oozing slime, and she still had arms, even if they were covered in feathers. ...Imagine being turned into a worm. Poor worm-person.

"Ah, yes... 'soccer'." He rolled his eyes at the word. Those were Americans for you. Rather than accept the name the rest of the world had granted the game, the superiority complex demanded that they grant it a title of their own and replace 'football' with a less interesting version of rugby. "...No, I 'aven't spoken with them," he grudgingly admitted, then laughed. "But, what, y' think they kidnapped me? Would be extremely difficult, I assure you."

She winced slightly at his eye-rolling. "Or football, whatever. Gimme a break. If I went around calling it football where I'm from, no one'd know what I was talking about." Cassidy hunched her shoulders a little.

"Why would it be so difficult to kidnap you? They got the rest of us, one way or another. Hell, we got Vasile Di-freaking-Rossi here." The jerk. No, no. That wasn't fair of her. She was better than that. "Besides. You think they're going to let you leave, after what you've seen?"

She did have a point, and he said so, waving away her words. "Yes, yes, not your fault. Personal bias, I'm afraid. My apologies."

"I'm a recognized figure across Europe," he countered dryly, raising a brow. "Th' teams knows I was sent to a hospital... They won't accept that I up an' diappeared from it." Though, once again, she did have a point. Frowning, he settled for a shrug in reply. The thought hadn't occurred to him previous, and he wasn't sure of an excuse around it just yet. Perhaps later.

Cass shrugged. "Maybe you are. I can't say that there's any likelihood I know who you are, Thom... No offence. I don't follow any sports. Not really, although I usually cheer when the Canucks are doing well. But sure, okay. There are people who'd miss you. More than would miss me, definitely. If they've come up with excuses for the rest of us... I'm not sure what they told my family, or what they might've told yours. I'm just saying... maybe you shouldn't be too hopeful about getting to that game."

Her gaze was fixed to the ground as she spoke. "For your sake, I hope I'm wrong. Really."

"I 'adn't expected anyone who refers t' it as 'soccer' t' know me," he assured her, his grin returning, however faintly. "An' I can honestly say I 'aven't th' faintest idea who th' Canucks are."

Following that, he didn't have much of a reply. So what if the mad doctor had managed to sneak away some fourty other people? He, Thomas Brinley, had been in a bus wreck. Other members of the team had been injured. There was sure to be a big to-do from the press. And when they found out a team member had vanished from whatever hospital they had sent him? Search efforst were sure to redouble.

Though... Perhaps the game was out of the question. "Well... It may take a bit longer than I anticipated," he admitted, tucking the soccer ball under one arm. "I'll 'ave to see about gettin' Duvert t' tape it for me."

"Hockey team. Vancouver." The corners of her mouth turned up in a faint smile. "Shoot me, I'm Canadian. It's impossible to not get caught up in hockey just a little. Too much peer pressure."

Cassidy waved a hand vaguely. "I hope he does that for you, anyway." Could you even get satellite out here, in the middle of the ocean? Cable was out of the question, anyway. "Even if you can't be there, it'd be nice to watch it."

"Ahhh, there we go." That explained it. Hockey was fun on occasion, a nice break from the norm, but Thom had never really followed it. At that, he wasn't sure he had ever sat down to watch a hockey match on TV. Most televised sports bored him. Football was different in that he understood the game, knew when players made fools of themselves, and often had the chance to mock said players during future games. "To each 'is own," he chuckled, shrugging.

"I don't see why 'e wouldn't." Shrugging, Thom dropped his ball to the ground, holding it in place with one foot. "Though, I think I'm goin' t'go ask now, just t'be safe. Th' sooner I ask, th' better my chances. It was nice meetin' you, Cassidy." And, with a grin of goodbye, he turned and started back for the village, lazily kicking the ball ahead of him.