Welcome to Gaia! ::

Pyroth thought for a moment before replying. "Surprisingly, yes. I've not truly freaked out yet, still feel as if I'm sort of in denial of the fact that I look any different than I used to. You know that feeling you get when something major happens, that it hasn't really? That you just keep moving? That's how I feel."

He grimaced a little "Though I'm dreading the moment, probably not too long from now, when it /does/ sink in. Till then I'm avoiding mirrors."

It was unusual of Pyroth to take such a positive track towards something, but he lived on a whim and today the whim said casual.

"Still, forgive me if I growl or make stupid noises or anything at any point in the near future, I'm still trying to get the apparent instinct party in my head to leave."

He shook his head vaguely and added.

"Bleh, thanks for the concern though. How have you been doing? I haven't had a chance to talk to you since you first went 50 percent. Please say you get used to it eventually or I'll go crazy."

He smiled somewhat wrily and wondered why he had the horrible urge to pant in the heat. No way. He was having none of that.

Pyroth's expression became somewhat more sombre as Cassidy spoke. She was right, it was probably a lot like getting used to being flayed alive, an adjustment but not nessisarily something that should be essential. Part of him still felt guilty that what he was going through seemed so petty in the face of what the rather strong woman before him was going through. Made him feel childish for ever complaining actually. At least he could walk, run, regulate his own body temperature and all those other things he took for granted.

"Sorry, I was rather inconsiderate there, just trying to give myself reassurance blind to the fact that you are tolerating much worse than I have to. I hadn't realised the changes were so deep set already, the air conditioning bothers you? That's terrible."

For a moment, he narrowed his eyes at the horizon and his hackles, now pretty evident, bristled.

"And to think not one whit of this is nessisary to anyone. I hate being a guinea pig....a creature no doubt someone will end up being mutilated into."

He shook off the anger quickly however in response to Cassidy's last statement. He refused to pity her, pity was for the weak and she wasn't weak at all from what he could see, but he was sympathetic.

"I don't blame you on that count, I wouldn't even have thought. I guess sometimes you get so used to a thing that you don't notice how much you miss it till it's gone. I don't want to get used to a lot of things that come with this bizzare shape either. I can't see colour well anymore, just shades and faint hues, my nose seems to do the seeing...or something like that. I just try to breathe through my mouth so that I don't have to get used to it, it gives me headaches. "

Shrugging faintly he added "Bah, you never know, one day we might all just wake up."

Pyroth shook his head. "I'd say it is a bit worse in a few ways, at least mammals are similar to humans, we aren't that far off from a canine evolution-wise. Cold-blooded reptiles are pretty differently made. It's certainly different, I can agree on that." Pyroth himself would have freaked out totally under that situation, he didn't doubt it.

He nodded "Indeed, were it reversible, they coudl probably make a market out of it, cruel and unusual holidays for the sadists among us." he chuckled "Nah, I jest. But you probably would get people who would like the experience, to fly, to smell what colour shoes someone is wearing or, as you say, to sense heat sources."

"I just worry that the reasearch that's being done here doesn't carry any further. The last thing we need is armies of modified soldiers or worse." He shook his head "I used to know some people who would /love/ to have me back now, armed with fangs, claws and the ability to smell where people have been."

"I worry about it all the time, but that's probably because I sort of came from that scene. I didn't live traditionally all my life, in actuality I wear these." he gestured to his feathers "To remind me where I came from. I'm not trying to be a stereotypical native despite obvious appearances. I knew people out there who would pay millions for a project like this to give them leverage over their competitors. For a while I was part of that leverage."

He shook his head. "Sorry, I'm being unneccisarily cryptic. Still, you know what would happen if the injections made it to the body modification market, something would go wrong, those cancerous side effects or something and people would be screwed."

He narrowed his eyes "The doctor could have quite the little empire, and what would happen to us? Probably terminated at the project end."

Pyroth nodded "Either way, I intend not to let them win, if I get the slightest inkling they are ending the project, I am going up there to give them a taste of the things that they created, I can go out like that. But, as you say, heres hoping that we will be seen as money makers rather than a liability at the project's completion."

It was almost midday, Pyroth noted, and his fur was not providing the best shade out here in the searing heat, in fact, he was too warm and would have to move very soon.

"Anyway, it's getting really warm out here and I'm still not used to this whole fur thing yet, I'd better head out of it before I get heat stroke or worse. It's been good talking to you, let me not worry about this for a bit anyway." He gave her a broad grin before picking himself up off the sand.

"Speak to you later."

And with that, he made his way back across the sands, into the blissful shade of the duplexes where air conditioning would most likely await him. As soon as he was out of sight of anyone, he let himself pant, just a bit.

Horrifyingly, it worked rather well.

((*hopes this RP is over*))

Evening had fallen on the island by the time Jamal sauntered down to the beach, arriving later than planned because he had stopped to get something to eat. The black man was feeling somewhat mopey and ill-spirited throughout the day and figured the beach would be a nice private place to rant and b***h; his duplex obviously didn't hold sound that great because Emelyn heard him moving things about in those first few days and surely he was going to be loud and obnoxious as he complained...and probably the topics of choice weren't really ones he was up to ******** dis place," he snarled bitterly as he trudged through the sand and stopped just at the edge of the water, feeling a horrible backlash of homesickness washing over his being as he stared out over the calm waters. He glared at the faintly speckled sky as he stood there, his hands jammed in his pockets. The quiet nature of the island made him long for the traffic noise of home...the yells on the street...hell, even gunshots and the sounds of sirens. This place was nothing...it was almost unreal in how primal it looked here.

But his being on the island was HIS fault and he knew it. Still, he didn't care to think about it.

"Might as well jus' let the ********' cops take me in...dis place ain't nuthin'. 'least I gets ta see ma fam'ly...get peeps who know who I be. Ain't no one know me herr. NO one. They ain't gotta clue. Ain't no one herr that undastands. ******** they figger out I killed a guy...s**t. Ain't no one gonna want to deal wit' me." He balled his fists in his pockets briefly before relaxing them and crossing his arms over his chest as he turned on a heel and tromped back up the beach a few paces, then turned back to face the water and flopped down in the sand.

He tried to deny the fact that he was homesick...Jamal did NOT get homesick (at least in his mind). It wasn't cool...it wasn't gangsta to miss your family, friends, and hometown. s**t. He was from the streets of Detroit, stared down more gunbarrels than he could remember, and peddled more dope than 75% of the drug culture there.

But was this how he wanted to spend a great deal of his life? Trapped in a ******** jungle with people he couldn't seem to connect with under the threat of some psycho white b*****d who was supposedly ******** with people's appearance? He wasn't sure if he believed any of the doctor business...but something had been nagging him since Awen's last visit. Some of those costumes at the party were pretty damn realistic...

"It all bullshit," he grunted into the silence, not paying attention to his surroundings for the most part. He was too lost in his musing.

Jamal cursed under his breath and slumped forward so his chest rested against the flat of his thighs, arms crossed and propped on the knees. He needed to get over this bullshit. Give it a day and he'd be alright. Maybe smoke a few blunts...drink a couple beers...

An abrupt scream shattered his 'peace' and made him jump due to how loud and close by it seemily came from. He did swear out loud this time, irritation heavy in his facial expression as he got to his feet and sprayed sand all over, some of which went into his shoes and down the back of his pants. He growled and shook it out of his jeans as best he could and tried to ignore the sand dunes in his sneakers.

"God dammit, jus' leave me da ******** alone," snapped the black man to no one...or rather, to the sand. He was ready to just go home, say ******** the world, and get so buzzed and/or drunk that he'd pass out and wake up in the morning with a new day ahead of him. However, he did hear now the sounds of crying and that made him pause in his temper tantrum.

So, being the curious b*****d he was, he slunk over towards the sound and saw a darkened figure down the beach not far away. As he approached, he thought he saw a sheen of blue in the faint moonlight.

"Awen?" he called cautiously, lingering a distance away in case he was wrong and he could run off before they made him look like an idiot.

"Bitchin'," he said as calmly as he could muster, floating uneasily at the distance at which he stood from her. "'bout the same thing you be doin'...well, minusin' the cryin' part....I kin leave, if ya want. Beach is good fo' yellin' unless there be people 'round."

He absently dusted sand from his palms, feeling distinctly uncomfortable for some reason.