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Jamal tried to cover his blatant staring by trying to avert his eyes back to the TV, but he couldn't stop the sheepish smile that spread over his mouth, realizing he'd been caught.

"Uh...I ain't dat new," he said, smoothing his flustered countenance by offering her his most charming grin as he peered over the arm of the couch, even if it was somewhat forced. "Been herr 'bout a month o' so, I figger. Keep losin' track..."

He sat up slowly as he spoke, arms crossing over his chest without a real reason to do so. "I know I seen you b'fo...at least, I be thinkin' so."

"s**t...well, dat'd explain...uh..." He sort of made an up-and-down motion with a hand in her direction while trying not to grimace or look sick. "Why you how you is," Jamal finished lamely as a hand rubbed his chin. He wasn't trying to be insensitive, but it was hard to sympathize when he hadn't yet experienced what a good percentage of the island's population had already.

"Prolly saw ya at dat damn hall'ween party, now dat I be thinkin' 'bout it. Ya were wit'...uh...Amaya?" He squinted at the wall above her head, as though it would help him remember everything properly. However, he decided it'd be better to just admit his poor memory. "I ain't so good at 'memberin' names, so dat's prolly wrong."

Jamal looked a little better, finding his stab in the dark was probably correct for once. That was enough to make him grin as genuinely possible as Jamal could ever manage and, even though he was somewhat apprehensive about it, took the offered hand and shook it long enough to not to appear too offset by her 'modifications'; actually, the wingy membrane between her fingers did manage to catch his curiousity. "Da name's Jamal," he responded. "Sorry I didn't run ova ta get da name thing outta da way at da party...distracted 'n all dat. I was wearin' da bedsheet. Ghost, ya know."

"I ain't got no otha ideas at the time, so...figgered a ghost be nice and easy," he said with a shrug, leaning back into the soft cushion of the couch now, watching Hargun part the pages of the book with her extended digit.

"The Italian Job, I think," he said after a pause, glancing at the TV, showing a chase scene of some sort. "It be a'ight...only watchin' it cause there ain't nuthin' else ta do. Tryin' ta distract mahself from s**t goin' on herr. Wond'rin I start this change bullshit. Mostly a sit n' wait game though, ain't it?"

He was sure if if it required the doc's having to come in and give him another shot that he'd be able to fight them off. They weren't going to get him so easily.

The TV was pretty much forgotten as the topic inevitably changed to what he figured it was, and oddly enough he was somewhat relieved. Maybe he could get some information about what was going to happen to him...maybe so he could prepare. Afterall, he'd been stoutly ignoring the fact this was going to happen until the run-in at the cafeteria and since then he'd kept his company limited to 'normal' islanders as much as possible. Plus it seemed that Hargun didn't mind the topic so much, at least to what he saw.

"Well, changin' to a damn animal ain't really gonna be a good experience no matta how ya look at it, unless ya had a bad bad life," he said in a grudging manner, rubbing the sparce moustache above his lip with a pensive look in his eye. Or you did something that'd probably prevent you from living a normal life anyway...

"I figgered dat them bastards get ya'll in ya sleep...dat's what I worry 'bout. Gotta be some way to keep 'em away at night, unless somethin' else ain't gonna let us stay up at night." He vaguely wondered if perhaps he and Awen should just take turns staying up at night...perhaps that'd do some good against preventing them from coming. Maybe...

He looked at Hargun's fuzzy form with a morbid sort of curiousity and found himself speaking before he really thought about what was coming from his mouth. "How bad does it hurt?" he queried in reference to the change, but perhaps she didn't catch what he was talking about.

"Yeah, I figger there be some cameras...ev'rythin' else got 'em, why the duplexes be any diff'rent." His lips pursed some at the thought of privacy invasion and for other reasons that he didn't care to elaborate on, at least right now. "I dunno...gonna work sumthin' out. Tryin' mah damnest ta avoid this bullshit if I can."

His gaze drifted to her webbed fingers, finding them almost too delicate to really be able to do any sort of normal hand manipulation, but obviously she was doing alright with them. Probably adapted...like she had any choice. "So...stuff just kinna pops out then? O' be it slow? I ain't a fan of slow pain, but if I at leas' know it comin', I be a'ight."

The indication of the horns made him blanch a touch. Hargun looked like a bat...and no bat that he knew of had horns. Did the doctors screw up serums sometimes? He didn't want to end up looking like a mix of animals!

Jamal spread his own hands, envisioning webbing like Hargun's between them, then found it to be stupid to do so. There was nothing at all that gave him a hint he'd be a bat.

"I ain't got no idea what I'm 'sposed ta be yet. Chubbs said I could ask...but I ain't sure I wanna know." He grimaced and jammed his hands in his pockets.