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 Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2015 6:01 pm
"Well, it depends on the dragon. Some are intelligent. You can actually chat with some. It's the animalistic ones you have to watch out for," Toby began to explain. "The one that lives at the base now, we had to wear special suits and gas her. Modern science has made it much easier to 'neutralize the threat.'"
Dari was finished transforming. He experimentally wiggled his toes and then stood. His naked body was without abdominal muscular definition and lacked a belly button, as well as being entirely sexless. The only unnecessary detail it held was proper buttocks. It wasn't nearly so uncomfortable to be in a room with a nude Dari, save the societal pressure of staying clothed. He began to dress again, not out of necessity but for the comfort as others. This was the same reason he retained a human form at all aside from the fact that people didn't generally take anything differently-shaped seriously.
"That sounds incredibly anticlimactic," Dari responded. Toby just shrugged, smiling.
"It's our job. Dragons are pretty rare, though. I've only met a few, and some are smaller than a shepherd. I'm not sure if they were actually mostly slain or extinct or what."
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Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2015 6:21 pm
"Like the ones in books," Maia nodded. She'd heard stories about a dragon named Smaug. Apparently he'd been a really cool dragon in a really cool movie. "You don't hurt her, do you?" she asked, seriously. She wasn't sure she liked the idea of netralizing a dragon. "Many people hurt them, before. Well. That's what I heard, I've never met one."
She was pretty sure she wouldn't like to meet one of the animalistic ones. "And you've met Selkies. How many?" she asked, curious. How many Selkies were out there? "When will the pizza be here?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2015 6:41 pm
"Right," Toby nodded. He had also read a great deal of stories growing up, entirely unaware that he'd be living it by the time he was forty. "No, we didn't hurt her. She went to sleep, and she woke up in a new cave beneath headquarters. She's spoiled now, we feed her more than she ever got outside."
With that, there was a knock at the door. Toby got up and left the conversation, retrieving his wallet as he went.
"I believe that is it," Dari responded, now dressed and hiding further up the bed where he would not be seen from the door. Disguise was often more trouble than it was worth. "Selkies... we know three or four personally, but there have been quieter participants in relocation." He turned to Toby as if for reassurance at the number, but the blonde was currently trading money for pizza at the door and thanking the delivery guy. Dari turned back to his female companion and offered a soft smile. "And you, of course."
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Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2015 7:13 pm
Three or four, and those were the ones they knew. There were probably more, met by other sets of partners. Other teams. And the ones who had adjusted to human life so they wouldn't be found. Better than she ever had. She flashed Dari a smile in thanks for the information.
"You should come swimming with us tomorrow," She invited. "I'll have to pick up my stuff, probably at night. But if you don't want to be seen, we could swim then. Toby can't, I think he'd freeze."
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Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2015 7:19 pm
"Certainly, if you'd like me to," Dari offered with a nod. Human facial expression was an odd thing, but after this long it had become almost second nature. "It's best if I'm not seen as I am. The makeup is supposedly waterproof, but I don't trust it, and the projector makes me glow at night." He looked down to an arm. "At night, I fit in just fine."
The scent of warm pizza heralded Toby's return and he sat on the bed with the other two like an odd adult sleepover. He and Dari shared the bed normally, but tonight he'd give it to the selkie. She deserved to be comfortable at least. Where did she sleep currently? In the ocean?
"Here," Toby said, opening the box and taking a slice for himself. Dari didn't seem tempted. "As for selkies, I know most of a clan and a few singular here and there. The big pod was way-back-when, though. Pre-slimebag."
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Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2015 7:41 pm
"It'd be fun." She understood what he meant: she thought humans would react to the idea that aliens were real worst than how they'd react to finding out fairies were. Fairies were, for the most part, benevolent, after all. Aliens were the unknown.
She took a slice of pizza. "A clan of Selkies?" she asked, curiously. "What were they like?" She wondered if she would have been different if she'd been raised around other Selkies. Probably less friendly towards humans. Her parent's had tried to impress upon her what a danger they were, but she'd never been in fear of them. Not until today.
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Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2015 7:47 pm
"Well they're still around. Joining them will be one of your options for relocation, but we're not going to push you anywhere you don't want to be," Toby replied, then took a bite of pizza, chewed and swallowed before he continued. "They're good people, the ones that will talk with you. I mean, for all intents and purposes I look human, so I understand. There's men and women and kids here and there, and I know a few who live as human with some... precautionary measures." For example, federal agents taking their pelts and locking them away forever. "Niamh is a cool chick. I could introduce you if you'd like." Of course selkies were not the only creatures living as human out there. They weren't even the most common.
Dari shifted and scooted back into a more comfortable position away from the pillows. The shades were drawn so he didn't have to worry about being spotted from the outside and touted some kind of new conspiracy.
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Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2015 8:14 pm
Maia said nothing concerning relocation, and instead took a bite of her pizza. It was almost as good as the burger place on the beach. She took another. "Look human?" she echoed. She'd assumed this entire time that Toby was in fact human. Was he fae? He certainly seemed to be seelie, if that were the case. "Can I ask what you are without being rude?" she wondered aloud.
Obviously not. Even that sounded rude. "I'd like to meet her. Aside from my parents, I've never known another selkie. I don't know if I'd fit in. I grew up around humans. I don't particularly mind them."
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Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2015 8:17 pm
Toby did actually seem offended for a moment, or at least slightly put-off by being asked what he was. He was about to respond, though, when Maia came up with another question to ask.
"She lives across the pond, but we can video chat. I mean, she might fly in given enough time. She's one of our international agents."
"Your parents did not trust humanity, then," Dari reasoned. "Did they ever tell you why?"
"Well, spilling oil, over-fishing, littering? Would you like us?"
"...no. Likely not."
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Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2015 8:35 pm
"That wasn't why, really," Maia said, glancing at Toby, and then Dari. "My parents had never interacted with humans. They refused to learn the language here, they didn't want me too close. Like humans fear sharks and other sea creatures, I guess. Humans were things we didn't dare go near, in case something bad happened. Humans ended up being the reason why a lot of sea life died, though. With their garbage and oil. I talked to them a lot after my family died. I was young enough they always thought I was visiting with another family. So I learned to use that story. I didn't mind the ones who visit here. They always seem so excited to see any kind of sea life."
She took another bite, glancing over at Toby. "I'm sorry if I offended you, by the way."
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Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2015 8:43 pm
The agents listened while Maia explained herself, occasionally nodding in agreement.
"That is not necessarily an incorrect assumption," Dari offered. Did she not understand how dangerous it would be to meet the wrong human? He had listened to humans discuss his 'proper disposal' when he had lacked the facilities to speak for himself. Luckily, Toby was the right kind of... person. Friend. A safe sort.
Nobody mentioned the loss of a family. All three of them had experienced great loss. There was no need to open those particular wounds.
Toby then gave a dismissive hand-wave at her apology while mid-bite. "Do you like it?" he asked. Her first pizza. Not all of human culture was terrible.
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Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2015 9:55 pm
"I suppose not. I never had to worry about them, though. Not till I found out about the video. And you guys showed up to help me. I probably would have gotten caught with my behavior earlier." The way she'd acted at the beach when Toby had come to her and spoken about the video, yes she would have been caught.
She was starting to rethink her plan to escape. They'd been so kind to her. They'd protected her, and they'd given her no reason to worry about her safety. "Its really good," she said. "Thank you."
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Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2015 10:03 pm
Toby smiled and gave the selkie a thumbs-up, not wanting to talk with a mouthful of pizza. He still wasn't sure about her but there was no reason to be nasty. She'd certainly been shifting through different moods all evening.
"Remember, we came looking for you," Dari spoke, "Nobody has approached you as such before, have they? In the last week or so. Have you seen an inordinate amount of teenagers? Juveniles? With cameras, perhaps?" The Loch Ness Monster had gotten a hell of a lot of attention and those initial photos had been a plastic toy glued to a similarly plastic submarine. That didn't stop anyone, and in this age travel and information were simple to achieve.
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Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2015 10:20 pm
It was difficult to act when genuine emotions kept seeping through. Talking about her parents, being concerned whether she'd be seen. Loneliness. Missing the ocean. She'd planned to distract them with the not-as-dangerous-as-she'd-claimed Kelpie. The creature, while moody and impolite, and fairly frightening, was young. Planned to act silly so they'd miss something, forget something that would allow her to escape. But now they had her genuine curiosity and interest: they were becoming less and less the enemies who'd taken her pelt and more the entities she wanted to know more about.
She considered Dari's question, and nodded. There had been plenty of people with cameras. More than usual. "Most people come to film the jetty and the seals, but today was different. A lot of them seemed centered in one area." She hesitated, looking between the agents. She swallowed. "Oh." They were probably still set up there, waiting for her to come and transform. And she'd been about to fall into their trap, trying to escape. "You found me so easily. I was afraid more would. And I was afraid of you. I apologize."
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Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2015 11:00 am
Dari's expression furrowed. So there had been spotters out looking for her already. She was lucky they'd found her so soon! Undoubtedly she wouldn't transform in full view of a camera, but what if she couldn't see it herself?
Once again, Toby raised a dismissive hand. "It's understandable. It's our job to come and find you, but unfortunately there are locals much closer to current events. I know you must be afraid, this whole ordeal is very frightening for anyone in your situation, and I'm sorry for that." His voice had gone soft and sincere. Entities were often intimidated and frightened by the events that followed after the agents' appearance, but it was all for their good, even if it usually took them a good long time to see it.
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