Welcome to Gaia! ::

The rain had begun to subside but had never been much more than a brief downpour. As such, it had effectively washed much of the fresh blood and saliva from Oz's face and his hand. There was still dark encrusted blood about his new nose and in the corners of his mouth. He certainly looked a poor creature.

A creature. Nothing human. Nothing more, and nothing less. He could have thought the same about Nita. She wasn't human anymore. At least physically. But there was just something in her eyes that said something different. She still had the fire of humanity in her somewhere, affirmed by that single gesture.

She had come over to hold his hand.

The same couldn't be said for Oz. Nothing about his face was remotely human anymore, not even his eyes which had become a deep amber colour.

He gave an affectionate grumble at Nita and squeezed her hand with an amazing gentleness, looking up at her as if to say thanks.

"S...ssss...orrry..." he forced the words through numb lips and saliva.

Further physical touch was greatly appreciated by the fallen simian, another affectionate grumble echoing around his chest - an automatic response to her touch. Oz still felt incredibly guilty...and ashamed. He had a lot less to be embarrassed about this time since, last time, he lost all his bladder control.

"They...ww-w-on't...help," he gasped with a half-smile.

He knew she was looking at the camera. Sobered, he realised that is what she had seeked any kind of help from before and during his change. And who could blame her? He dread to think how he must have acted.

He withdrew his hand from hers and painfully forced himself to sit up.

"N-nnn...eeed sa-fe...rest..." he stammered, his speech surprisingly disjointed. Even at the height of being drunk, Oz was never this bad with his speech.

He looked about and was maybe mildly reassured to see he wasn't too far from the main buildings in the village. Maybe he could take shelter in the medical centre, or in the entertainment room. Anywhere that was close and inside.

"H-elp...?"

"D-dupl-ex....seve-four...l-l-long way, I think..." he said weakly, still wincing now and then as muscles spasmed in his arms. Still, he lifted one gigantic arm to point towards the village centre building.

Pretty much torturing himself, he groaned to a semi-standing position, resting only briefly on his hands. He wanted to spend as little time like this as possible, he didn't want to dwell on anything related to his 'animal.' Unfortunately, considering these new changes, Oz looked more natural to be standing on all fours. And it would later pain him to admit that it was easier for him to walk like that too.

But for now, he forced his already battered and bruised muscles to hoist him up to his bulky two-legged stance, where he wobbled for a bit and seriously feared squashing poor Nita. Maybe he could just follow her or hold onto her tail or something.

Oz sounded like an old man as he walked (more like shuffled) beside Nita, wheezing terribly. He had to resist the need to hold her hand again but knew, with her small frame, she'd never be able to lead him anywhere. So, he struggled on, faltering every now and then, and expressed his sheer relief upon reaching the inner sanctum of the town hall with a deep rumble.

The entertainment room was the first he could see but was now faced with a different problem.

He was too wide to fit through the door.

He just stood and stared at it pathetically, like he'd lost the common sense portion of his brain in the nosebleed. Then, oddly, he began to whine.

Oz's nostrils flared slightly as he took one last look at the doorway, its frames, and so forth. He knew he'd had no previous trouble getting into that room, and he could at least link his new weight and width to the reason why he couldn't get in.

So why did he just forget to turn sideways?

Following Nita's example, he turned sideways and walked through the doorway, proud to have made it in, but then smacked his head on the frame. He groaned and glared at the offending piece of the room's architecture. But all ill-feeling was gone when he saw the large couches.

Without another guiding gesture from Nita, Oz made his way as quickly as was possible to the couch and it seemed like all the air just left him in a huge sigh as he gently sat down. The couch creeked in protest but he was being careful.

The only sign of life from Oz now was the audible sigh of breathing. Aside from that, his body had give way to fatigue and he'd effectively blacked out on the couch. He sort of opened his eyes blearily to acknowledge Nita, but said or did nothing else.