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Since his final transformation, Oz had started to exhibit some peculiar behaviour. Some to his knowledge, and some that wasn't. As such, he had fitful visions of becoming so animal that he could attack his friends, and then fled his Duplex in panic. He'd hidden himself well in the jungle for days now, actually using his natural foraging instincts to eat only what he knew to be safe. But an 8ft fluffy blob was still likely to be noticed...

Wearing nothing but the fur on his back and a troubled expression on his face, the sentient gorilla emerged from the sticky jungle in order to indulge on some of the wild fruits that grew more in the open. For all intents and purposes, Oz was an oversized gorilla stuffing his face with berries on the side of an Island path.

The dexterity with which Oz could now manoeuvre his lips and mouth was certainly an assest when plucking berries straight from the branch, and then stripping it of bark to get to the more tender parts inside. As most of his brain was now fine-tuned to gorilla, eating plants didn't seem un-natural. A few days ago, he had baulked at the thought of even licking a leaf that hadn't first been washed and processed into some sort of sandwich filling.

With an un-nerving calmness, Oz looked over his bulky shoulder at the human who had just stepped out from the jungle like some kind of nymph, stunned in the sunlight. He surveyed her shapely form with large, amber eyes, his maw still chewing on berries and bark. The occasional large canine flashed as he moved his lips to pluck another berry. With a mild gutteral purring noise, he shuffled slightly to better see her. Face to face.

Oz stopped chewing rather suddenly, his eyes focusing more on Alexa now. Was she...frightened? He leaned forward in his analysis of his human visitor, emitting a gruff cough-bark, which would have meant something along the lines of 'Whats the matter?'. If Alexa could understand gorilla.

He emptied his hands of branches and berries, shifting them to the ground now and getting ready to support his weight. A second glance might reveal a piercing in his left n****e and ear, but that tiny glint of gold against such a great black thing might be hard to notice.

By the time Alexa had curled into a ball, Oz had realised what was wrong with the poor girl. His animal senses weren't too keen yet, but screaming 'Please don't eat me!' couldn't be more obvious. Now, the question at hand was...should he have a little fun and terrorise the girl, or take in his stride and prove her wrong?

Oz stood in the classic 'strut' pose of the silverback male, supporting his weight on his knuckles, his back gently curved and the thick muscles emphasised around his shoulders and neck. He loomed over poor Alexa. With the utmost care and gentle-touch, he lightly grasped Alexa's arm and wanted to pry it away slightly, so that he might get a better look at this dainty human.

"Y'know, I don't actually eat meat," he said quite calmly, in a very human and very British manner, with just a slight hint of gruff that came with new vocal chords.

"Well of course I talk. What did you expect? I wasn't gonna keep grunting at you when you didn't have a clue what I was saying," he explained rationally, as if a talking gorilla was a normal occurence in life.

With arms that could have easily torn her in two, he gently lifted her to a standing position, hoping to wayleigh some of her fears of his brutish form. He still loomed over her, but not the same degree. Now standing in his personal space, it gave Oz an opportunity to look at Alexa properly. Nice, slender figure...but with a good degree of woman-ness, if you get my drift. Odd hair, but he'd seen weirder. Pretty face, that changed quickly as Alexa turned cold.

"Hmmm? Have you not met the other Islanders yet?" he asked, his expressive face spelling all kinds of apprehension.

Alexa's panicked stream of questions flustered poor Oz's simple mind, making his face twist into a confused and slightly aggitated grimace. He was far more upset about having to explain to yet another new person what the Island really was. Rather than expend energy on both staying upright and trying to think, he shuffled his great bulk back into a sitting position, his slightly podgy tummy making him look like a sitting Buddha. He reached a great muscular arm to his neck and scratched idly at his fur, taking a deep breath and thinking about his approach.

"Okay...you must be new here. If you think a talking gorilla is strange, you had better prepare yourself for a lot worse," he began. "The thing is...I'm not a gorilla...well, I am now but I didn't used to be. I was human."

Oz's thick eyebrow ridge curved upwards, his lower jaw and lip hanging slightly loose, a blank expression washing over his black features. Was she serious? It had never occurred to Oz that a new Islander would question his authenticity. So how would he prove he was real?

The big floof-ball blushed ever so slightly as Alexa leaned in, not quite anticipating such a close examination. He thought that just by seeing that podgy belly and that barrel chest heaving with his every breath would be enough. But Alexa wasn't looking for the subtle, she wanted the obvious.

"Okay, so what do I have to do to prove I'm real?" he asked her bluntly, wondering if fulfilling a request, not matter how demeaning, would even satisfy her.