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Zach was just returning from the clinic, having just added a small bottle of painkillers to his medicine pouch. The clinking of coins that were still in the bag diminished slightly with the weight of the painkillers on top of them. He'd finally removed the bandages from his neck while he was there, at least. It seemed there was nothing further to be done about the bite but to let it heal on its own, and right now it was at the very least no longer bleeding at the slightest provocation.

The heat wasn't a bad thing for him. Though he wasn't aware of it, he was definitely a bit cold-blooded. That fraction of heat his body couldn't readily supply was instead leeched from the sunlight that hit his scales. If he'd been more reptilian the basking would have been enough of a distraction to make him slow down and stop to give it his full attention. The heat only managed to keep his mind distracted as he continued on his way back to his duplex. His tail, usually manifesting an odd variety of animal habits that he either couldn't or didn't attempt to control, was this time dragging along the ground behind him.

He rounded the corner of the building sharply, not noticing there was someone right there on the other side of it until he'd stepped forward and nearly crashed into them.

He didn't hiss, but unconsciously his jaw was clenched in a way that sent his frill spreading. His head swung back and his feet dug into the ground to slow down his bulky figure. Lizard instinct did nothing to calm his nerves after nearly barreling into - Gaius!?

His wings snapped open defensively. At first he had nothing to say, as he definitely didn't enjoy Gaius's company for any length of time. Their conversation in the cafeteria hadn't exactly been friendly, and he was still wary about how long the apology was going to be remembered. To Zach's dismay, there weren't any islanders he could find who weren't deceived by their inability to let go of what they had. Suspicion immediately blossomed in his mind at Gaius's strangely insult-free statement. He wasn't stupid enough that he couldn't notice the sudden change in demeanor. But... why? What was the pegasus planning?

"Gaius," he greeted flatly, having spared no attention to the dog. The lack of expression on Gaius's face was unnerving as well, not lending him any help in deciphering the motive behind the obviously facade. The edges of his mouth curled distastefully. "Yeah, yeah, great. You might want to take your own advice while you're at it."

"Oh, any time." Oh, damn. He'd nearly forgotten about the nails. Really, he had been planning to return them as he'd found them. There was just something about the way their conversation went that infuriated him. He'd sworn off most violence, not wanting to resort to such a human response to a situation. He didn't want to be on Gaius's level. So instead he'd just kicked over the buckets, letting the contents scatter, then righted them and tossed a nail into each. The nails were returned, and his growing aggressiveness was satisfied for a time. That time was quickly coming to an end, though, and already he was feeling restless and unusually annoyed. "But next time, lose your temper somewhere else. It's not my job to listen to you howl about how human you are, on the inside."

As he spoke the last few words he gave a snort that may have been amusement. With how inhuman his face was, it was difficult for him to project anything outside of extreme emotion onto it.

"And now... you're allergic to my presence?" he asked acidly, not bothering to disguise his sarcasm. This wasn't even insulting any more, just awkward. Idly he wondered whether he could still drink coffee without his digestive system having a fit. It would definitely help right now. His mind was on a nocturnal schedule and it felt way too early to have to watch Gaius say and do all sorts of odd things.

"Hm. I can see you're busy, so I'll leave you to your... scratching," Zach began, ready to spit out some sort of parting statement. He didn't get that far. Gaius's actions had at first seemed like some sort of spiteful gesture or otherwise not worth paying attention to, but the swearing caught his attention. The pegasus definitely looked hairier already, having sprouted a bit of a beard in addition to hair on the arms and legs he'd been clawing at previously. Another change, it seemed. Initially Zach was caught between fascination at the unreal look of the process and something bordering on guilt for bearing witness to it. He took a step backward. What was worse, staying here or leaving? "Uh..."

He tried tuning out the shouts. Of course hair wasn't going to remind him of his changes. The only hair involved in his own was the hair he lost. But seeing the wings growing, it crossed the border between an amusing sight and something that struck him on a more personal level. It was pain he was watching, and true pain was one of very few things he couldn't bring himself to laugh at. He knew it too well to even try to seek distance from it. It was a repeat of the things he'd been desperate to rid from his mind. He could cloud the memories of his own changes with thoughts of how much better he'd become after them, but the fact of the matter was, changes hurt and Gaius's was apparently no exception. Combined with the noises Gaius was making as they grew and seeing those feathers unfurling from bare skin, it was quickly growing nightmarish to watch. And feathers, they reminded him of Kaveri-

"Kaveri," he hissed fearfully, momentarily caught up in a rather terrifying memory of her change. When he realized he spoke her name out loud he felt the blood drain from under his scales. Instantly he re-realized himself, and the situation, and his wings spread out farther still. This was a bad situation. Very bad. He didn't want to keep gawking but running was just not an option. He tried covering his eyes and turning his head to the side instead, working desperately to get a grasp on his anxiety.

"No one!" he shot back quickly, flustered by how he could hardly rid the memories from his mind. They were too vivid, too horribly vivid, when all he wanted was to forget. At least Gaius had stopped whimpering, it was one less thing to grate on his nerves. He didn't uncover his eyes until he heard the thump of Gaius falling toward the ground, propped up on his legs. It was hard to tell what was going on, but the pegasus was giving a lot of attention to his hands and feet. There was almost a fluid motion of skin crawling on them, something that required him to recover his eyes once again. Deep down he was struggling with the sight. When the change was over, Gaius would be fine, better than fine, something better than the human he was so desperate to be. But until then he was stuck waiting for a microscopic torturer to finish its job.

"What can I do, Gaius?" he murmured. "Just wait..."

Zach kept both hands over his eyes, leaning his head back so that his snout pointed upward. Do what? It was asking a hell of a lot from him just to keep standing there. He shouldn't have to do anything at all; It should have felt great to shrug his shoulders and walk away. He could leave Gaius to despair, since the man always seemed so masochistic in that regard. The pegasus wanted the island to be a hell, and Zach should have let it be. But this was different than the many other times they'd encountered one another. Gaius was defenseless now, pleading for help rather than shouting insults. Zach certainly delighted in revenge, but this wasn't what he had in mind. It took another's handiwork, someone else had to dirty their hands. He felt no regret for the revenge he'd been involved in, the ones Sabin carried out, or even the few times when he'd attacked others after being verbally attacked himself. But in the end he was weak. Weak when the moment called for strength of will. When it came down to it... he couldn't leave Gaius to suffer out the change like he so desperately wanted to. That would make him no better than those who had tried to hurt and kill him before. And the changes were not a punishment. He shouldn't twist them into such a thing. It would be validating everything Gaius wanted to think about the island. He thought hard. Was there anything he could do? Comfort the guy, perhaps, but there was nothing to say except that Gaius needed to tough it out. Zach had never changed with anyone around to help him, so he wasn't sure what needed to be done. Except... painkillers? Oh, those would come in handy.

"Wait a second... I've got something..." His own face was screwed up with disgust at the entire situation and his own weakness. He should have run off at the sight of the body hair and saved himself stooping to this. Gaius was his enemy, or so he thought. He reached for the medicine bag at his side, digging with not-so-nimble claws for the painkillers he'd dropped into it earlier. In his haste he accidentally dropped two gold coins, but he could go back and get them in a minute. It was only when he had the small bottle pinched between two claws that he looked back over at Gaius again. The question was whether his changes were over yet.

"You'll get used to it." Kind words were not his specialty He'd noticed Gaius clutching at his face and didn't need to guess what was going on there. He'd been there and done that already, twice. The cap on the bottle was finally popped open and he dropped one pill into his hand. It wasn't any sort of mild headache medicine. With all the injuries Zach tended to receive, he just started taking more powerful doses to temporarily rid himself of the pain. It wasn't an addiction, but in time it could get there. He didn't consider how the dose would affect Gaius, figuring the man probably needed whatever he could get his hands on at this moment.

He took a couple steps forward, just in time to hear Gaius sob. After a moment staring down in confusion, he averted his eyes. Was he crying? Oh, not this again. His tail whipped along the ground in annoyance. Zach hadn't come all the way over here to help out this psychopath with one little change. It wasn't even that much. Some hair, a bit of a muzzle, and two less fingers on each hand, and he was crying? It was somewhat distressing to watch a change, but now that it was over... he'd give him the pill and leave. And the next day the pegasus would be at it again with the idiotic anti-lab speeches, and even this small gesture of sympathy would be forgotten. Better get it over with, then.

"Gaius..." Zach crouched down across from Gaius, letting himself be balanced out precariously by his tail. The pill was sitting in his open right hand. The pegasus didn't even have his eyes open, so Zach gave him a tentative tap on the shoulder. He made sure that his expression and tone accurately reflected how much he didn't want to be saying and doing what he was. "Here. The sooner you take this, the less you'll hate yourself the rest of the day. No guarantees about tomorrow or the rest of your life, though, knowing you."

Sitting on the bed cross legged, Liamh tried to get his planty vine fingers to behave long enough to type something. It was getting more than a little annoying when they started randomly twisting around, but he was trying to practice anyway. He was getting better.

He heard a scrabbling at the front door. Prancer, most likely, coming back from another adventure to who knows where, with some kind of smelly souvenir for him. Of late, he seemed to be bringing strange leafy... even viney... specimens for Liamh's approval. Liamh shook his head. He'd never understand what went through that mutt's mind, but he appreciated the gesture.

"Hey Prancer, I'm comin', just one sec..... Lemme finish this..."

There was a click at the door as it swung open and he heard padding feet. That dog! He was a freakin' escape artist.... Not that Liamh minded if he came and went as he..

Liamh jumped at the intrusion of a cold, demanding nose under his knee. He flinched and looked down. "OKAY Prancer, i said-" He stopped short, looking at the brindled face of.... somebody else's dog. He recognized this one, it was Gaius'... what was her name....

"Vixen?" He said, staring confused at the dog.