room for one more [seph] [C]

[Soren Forde]

It was definitely not his fault. Soren stalked back to the Nakoma district with a scowl plastered across his face. Blood was running from his left shoulder down his arm and was now dripping from his fingertips. The cut was not too big or deep but for some reason it had decided to bleed with all the ferocity of an axe wound. Of course the rogue that had given him the cut was now a lot worse off than the anthro. Soren was convinced the other man wouldn’t be waking up for hours, but when he did it would be unlikely that he would be walking much. Being thrown against a tree with such force was sure to break a few bones. After a long battle the rogue had gradually become tired; Soren on the other hand still had strength and breath enough to make it back to camp. There were a number of other smaller scratches over his body, but they were not bleeding enough to cause any major strife. Making it to Shantytown in record time, the bulk anthro entered the Hovel without a word to its sentries. He simply gave them a slight nod and walked through the corridors towards the medical wing. He knew that despite the small scale wound that was now leaving a trail of blood, it would still be easy to catch an infection. Viruses were becoming more virulent and Ren was not ready to find out about any new strains first hand. He would definitely have to get the wound checked out by one of the medics in order to prevent disease. He would have preferred to deal with it himself, but he wasn’t stupid enough to think he was capable of doing everything himself; everyone needed help now and then. Soren knew he would be questioned about what had happened and he wondered if telling the truth was really the best option. Running his clean hand through his yellow hair, the anthropomorph silently cursed himself for being so impulsive. Of course, the rogue had been the one to call him ‘freak’ first. He had insulted his strange eyes and hair and the curious stripe that curved down his face. It probably hadn’t helped that he had left the district without his shirt, due to the strange Autumn heat that had struck that day. Because of this the rogue had been able to see his two other markings that were on his back. Ren knew though that he would have been insulted if it was only his face that was marked. He didn’t have to fight back though. He could have just walked away and left the rogue alone. But no. Soren had to turn around and punch the guy. The first punch had hit with great force, thanks to his unusual strength, a gift from the Keepers. Of course the rogue had come back for more and Ren was willing to accommodate him. So they had ended up in a brawl. Soren with only his strength, endurance and perfect vision had no weapon. The rogue pulled a small knife and managed to land a hit too. The anthro was never going to take as a final word. The door to the medical ward lay open and Soren peered in. Seeing no one inside, Ren assumed they were all off on some emergency. Or perhaps they were all on a break, assuming that no one would be hurt during the hot afternoon. Sighing, he stepped inside and went over to one of the makeshift waiting chairs. Sitting down on one, Ren flexed his muscles slightly, testing that they were all still functioning. His bulk was almost too big for the small chair and it made him appear very out of place. Leaning his head on the wall behind him, Soren closed his eyes, preparing to wait until a medic decided to finally show up and help him out.

[Persephone Todd]

It was warm out. Most likely, there wouldn’t be many days like this for a while. One of the last few days in which Mother Nature wouldn’t try to lull Seph to sleep while on duty. Most likely that was because current circumstances could very well do that without any help from the weather. Kearie was…on patrol or something, and worse, it seemed like everyone else was. Maybe there’d been a scheduling error, or maybe someone had ditched her. However it had happened, the sick bay seemed to have been left entirely to Persephone. The splotchy woman soon abandoned it, though she wouldn’t have used that phrasing. After all, she was still within earshot and very easy to find. She just happened to be a few meters outside the building, trying to pass the time better. At first, she lay flopped on the roof of a nearby car. She bared the black skin of her back to better catch the sun’s warmth. Eventually she moved through various muscle-stretching poses, despite having done so twice that day. The occasional tribemate wandered by. Pleasantries were exchanged, then they’d leave, to fulfill duties or escape social interaction. More stretching. More passersby. More boredom. It all took forever, yet the sun barely moved. Still, the antsiness did get down to a tolerable level. Seph pulled on her shirts and dragged herself back to the shade and solitude. Might as well try and find something…healerly to do. Maybe something needed to be scrubbed into a less bloody state. There wasn’t going to be anyone there, though. Patients arrived in a noisy, frantic fashion that announced their arrival quite effectively. Unless, of course, some bloke had decided that would be impolite. If not for the yellow, she might not have seen him. Even then, she wasn’t sure what it was, only that it most likely hadn’t been there before. “Right, if you’re a mop, better tell me or I’m just gonna feel stupid.” Upon walking closer, she could make out that it was indeed a human shape. A big, shirtless man, in fact. Alas, she would have to save the glee for a later chatter with Kearie; there was red on him. “….y’know, mate, you’re more than allowed to come hollerin’ and makin’ a racket when your blood’s a-leakin’.” Add that to the huge list of times she’d had to remind a man that blood was kind of important, and he should keep it. Maybe making a fuss of it put you in danger of having your Man Card revoked. Or something. “Go sit…ummmmmm…’ver there,” she instructed, gesturing to a patch of direct sunlight. That was the most important factor, and the only one she considered; otherwise, she might have chosen somewhere that actually had something comfortable to sit on. Hardly anything was getting past the dominant thought of ‘oh lord stop the bleeding go runrunrun.’ As idle as she’d been earlier, the nudibranch girl should have been fully ready for this. In reality, it took her longer than desired just to find get some water. The first bowl she found smelled old and bloody – that had better not be Marielle again. By scent, she tracked down acceptable liquid and tried not to slosh it as she hurried back to the butterhair guy. “Right, standard info. Get slashed up by a regular old shifter, or was there something questionable involved? Virus, rusty knife, rabid critter…?”

[mo money]

Fuleao Evkav

[Soren Forde]

It was the voice that called Soren out of his dreamlike state. He had been starting to drift off, the loss of blood making him somewhat lightheaded. Eyes flashing open, the anthro took in the figure before him. It was a strange sight to behold quite frankly. Soren was used to being stared at due to his strange appearance, but he had never found himself staring at another anthropomorph. It wasn’t that she was ugly; it was merely that she was different, and that intrigued him. Ren was always curious about anthro mutations. Even when he was in Carna he wanted to know more – of course he was also concerned with wiping anthros from the face of the earth at that point. Now however, he simply wanted to know for the sake of knowing. And this young medic was stunning. The mutation was vivid and so apparent that it caused Soren to stop breathing for the slightest second. Unlike when he was in Carna, there was no fear or disgust in the way he looked at her, there was only amazement. “I just, ah, I didn’t know if anyone was here… And I, um, I didn’t wanna bother ya.” Soren was rarely one to stumble over his words, but upon first meetings his quiet demeanour often took over. His accent was a strange mix of Norwegian and Australian, resulting in the peculiar lilting of some words and accenting of others. He slowly rose and made his way over to the patch of sun the woman had pointed to, gradually becoming aware of the pool of blood that had collected beside his previous seat. He could’ve sworn there was not that much blood falling from the wound when he had first arrived in the sick bay. He found no proper chair in the little sunlit area, so he instead pushed himself onto the table, realising that now he would probably be significantly taller than the medic. As she rushed around, looking for who-knows-what, Soren instead took to studying her physique once more. Silently, he wondered if she could see anything through the hollowed out eye sockets, and whether her antennae worked as such. The patchiness of her skin was also cause for wonder, as was the strange colour of her lips. Did her skin have a different texture from that of a human? All were questions he knew he could never quite bring himself to ask. It was better to stay silent than to risk sounding rude. Besides, he didn’t want anyone to dig up the facts of his past. What happened in CarnaRing would stay in CarnaRing. After his previous trip to the Keeper’s labs, he would never need to speak of his previous life again. As soon as he saw the bowl of water being brought before him, Soren began to feel his stomach churn. “Oh God it’s just water,” he mumbled to himself as he ran his hand through his hair – a nervous habit he couldn’t shake. He tried to focus on the woman’s question, thinking back to earlier that day when the fight had occurred. “It was a rogue with a blade, but I don’t think the thing was rusted. It looked alright ta me.” Frowning, he peered sceptically over at the bowl of water, hoping that he could keep a straight face until the ordeal was over. It seemed as though his fear was beginning to stem away from just the ocean, and more to any form of water that could possibly touch his skin. Irony was a bitch. To distract himself, he turned back to the other anthro, looking her over once more. His advanced eyesight picked up every minor texture of her skin, every tiny speck of dirt. “Name’s Soren by the way. And, uh, thanks for this.” He flashed her a smile and a nod, his head beginning to swim as the red fell across his yellow-tinted skin. Today hadn’t been a complete loss. ooc: the mistletoe will come. i just couldn't get it into this post without it being super far-fetched.

[Persephone Todd]

There were times when people were quiet here because they were tired and beat-up. Judging by all his apologizing, this was just normal for this chap. That’s not to say he hadn’t lost enough blood to dampen his activity; his path across the room was clearly marked in red. Did nobody teach non-medics about basic first aid? Surely he’ seen at least one movie where someone made a makeshift tourniquet? “Might not believe this, but when I became a medic, I had this suspicion there might be some healing involved. Braced for it, so nothing to apologize for, yeah?” Setting the bowl down, Seph paused a moment to consider his altitude. An attempt to shake the table resulted in no ominous sounds, or ever a whole lot of motion. Satisfied, she vaulted onto it and slid over to her patient. Gently she grabbed his chin and leaned in close. Well, his face certainly wasn’t disappointing, but the fog developing in his eyes was. “Right, say so if you think you’re gonna dropnap. And then do something about it, cause no way am I gonna be able to stop you fallin’.” Lord, she hoped he didn’t pass out. Not when she’d just managed to land some company. Whoever this rogue was, Seph had officially deemed them a spitwad. They were too good with their stupid knife, leaving such clean, sheer edges. No point trying to clear the blood away, then. She’d just have to wash it up some and work through the bleeding. “Anyway. Nice to meet you, Soren. Name’s Persephone.” She held his arm out a little and brought her face only inches away from it. Her rhinophores squelched away into her scalp; the hypersensitive sense of smell was distracting, especially in situations like this. It was bad enough when she could catch the faint metallic whiff that clung to her person. Olfactory fatigue always saved her from that, soon enough. When blood was copious and fresh, she couldn’t quite get rid of the panicked undertone that plagued her thoughts. Not without shutting out scents entirely. As usual, the water was little more than a quick formality. There was a good chance it wasn’t helping any, or even adding contaminants that weren’t there before. “So, mate, what critter gives a guy buttercup hair?” In retrospect, the question wasn’t likely to get him to talk as long as she was hoping. It was hard to talk while trying to patch a guy up with your brain, and she didn’t want him to get ansty from the quiet. It was a silly thing for him to worry about currently, but such was the way of social anxieties. She’d seen it before. A long time ago, she’d known what it felt like. o.o.c. - But of course, brofish. And ignore her, she likes all the boys. ALL OF THEM.

[Soren Forde]

Ignoring the little bowl of water, Soren tried to turn his thoughts to things other than that which frightened him. It was strange; he hadn’t had such a reaction to such a small amount of water in a long time. He decided to blame it on the blood loss, which he realised was beginning to take a proper toll. The man could feel his head spinning slightly and his fingers were beginning to tingle. The blood that was meant to travel through arteries to his left hand was now trailing along the exterior of his arm, not quite finding its destination. As a result, his fingers were complaining at the lack of oxygen, and Soren was worried that soon they would give up completely and just drop off. The medic beside him was an intriguing creature to the Norwegian. Her entire body seemed to have been metamorphosed, but to what he couldn’t work out. Ren, though wanting to ask, had learnt that often it was better to simply keep quiet. His time in the Carna had taught him that anthropomorphs couldn’t be trusted, and yet his time in Nakoma had taught him that they could. In all honesty he had given up on trust a long time ago. He barely trusted this girl to stitch up his arm, but alas he had no choice. So he sat still and held his tongue. It was best not to antagonise her. “It’s alrigh’. I, uh, I don’t mind the blood. An’ I can keep ma head,” he murmured, but his eyes betrayed him with a quick, nervous flick towards the water and back. Keeping his eyes on the girl now, he willed himself to keep still and quiet. His heart was beginning to pound in his chest, his breathing increasing in pace. No. No, no, no. This was no time for a panic attack. Soren closed his eyes, took a deep breath and told his mind to shut up. He couldn’t possibly drown in that bowl of water so everything was fine. And besides, it didn’t look like the other anthro was about to throw him in the ocean anytime soon. She wouldn’t even be able to lift him. He felt his arm lift slightly, a small hand bringing it close to the girls face. Could she see? Obviously. But, her eyes seemed to not be external. The antennae perhaps had that kind of capability too. Soren wasn’t really too sure; he’d never been the best at biology in school. He had been the best at gutting fish, but since recent life events Ren felt he would never be doing that again; it simply felt like cannibalism. Simply thinking about fish now made his stomach churn in dread. Her name repeated in his head a few times, and he committed it to memory. Soren prided himself on his good memory, but lately he had wished he could forget certain things. As the thought crossed his mind, he became increasingly conscious of the fact that he wasn’t wearing a t-shirt. Surely she had seen his right arm then? The three sharp marks along his forearm were still slightly visible under the deep gash that he had made to try and erase the past. Generally he wore a t-shirt or jacket to cover up the evidence of his betrayal, but he hoped that for now his attempt to cover it up was enough to keep Persephone from asking questions. “Hmm?” Soren blinked at her, taken aback by the question. He wasn’t used to such a straightforward approach to his mutations. Soren preferred to simply ignore them altogether, since he was still incredibly uncomfortable with them. They were like a tattoo he now regretted, not that he had had any choice in the ink. “Uh, it’s a bluespot butterfly fish. Ya can find ‘em in the Great Barrier Reef. Well, I mean you, uh, could… If you, uh, lived in ‘Stralia.” Coughing awkwardly, the man petered out, not wanting to make things more uncomfortable. He still stumbled over words whenever thoughts of the outside world came back. Looking away, he gritted his teeth, trying to pretend like he hadn’t just been a fool. Here he was, possibly on the verge of making his first friend in the Nakoma, and he’d probably just completely screwed it up. Just his luck. OOC: I don't think he understands social cues anymore... Also sorry for slightly bipolar Soren...

[Persephone Todd]

Seph paused and angled her head as if she were looking at him sidelong. After all, he didn’t know she couldn’t look at things sidelong. “None of that, now, that’s what they all say.” If he wanted to fall on his face after trying to tough it out, then she wasn’t going to be held responsible. He just better not fall on her. Water droplets flew as she plopped the rag in the bowl, then reached over Soren to set it out of her way; the wound was clean by Menagerie medicine standards. It was soon smothered by a layer of blood all over again, which was annoying, but workable. Given that it would be closed off in a few minutes, she’d decided against bothering her patient with a tourniquet. Ignoring the blood she poked about, testing sensitive areas, feeling out her workspace rather than depending on crap vision. The wound was shallow, thankfully, though at first it seemed she’d miscalculated how large it was. “What’s…oh, nah, that’s old, innit? Won’t worry bout it, then.” The irregularity around the cut turned out to be just a jumble of scars, nothing surprising in the dome. Hopefully she wouldn’t leave too much of a new mark by the time she was done. Her fingers went to the top of the cut and gently pushed the edges closer. It took a few seconds of concentration for any energy to start flowing, and several more before she had any mental wiggle room. Which is when she remembered she’d left bashful old Soren hanging, and right after self-conscious thoughts had apparently choked him out. “Anyway, tha…awww.” Only a moment after she started talking, any sort of mending effect had fizzled out. Her mouth twisted for a moment, forgetting that such an action could be read as irritation at him, rather than herself. Fortunately she smiled at him a little, instead of sticking with her usual straight face. “Australia sounds lovely right now. At least it’s just the spiders and stuff that wanna kill you there, yeah? ‘Stead of all the people, too.” Again she reached over him, this time to flick her fingers through the water for a quick cleaning. Might as well, while she got him talking again. Or tried to, at least; Australia and fish was only sparking small talk-questions in her healing-oriented mind. “Ever went there, before they dragged you in here?”

[Soren Forde]

The anthro continued to breathe deeply and calmly as he let the medic poke around. He could tell he was in capable hands and knew it would simply be better just to remain still and make Persephone’s job as easy as possible. Though the water continued to unnerve him slightly, he tried to distract himself from thoughts of the reef and open ocean. Closing his eyes, Soren cast his mind to thoughts of jungles and deserts with no water in sight. Those places were the best, without possibility of drowning. He’d felt his lungs lose oxygen, felt himself go lightheaded and choke in water. That was years ago but he could still remember it. And he remembered waking up again; he remembered the fear that shook him to his core when he went back to the pier. Those were the memories he wished he could forget, among others. His heart skipped slightly as he felt her gaze on another mark. No. No, please no, he thought to himself. Don’t let her work it out. Thankfully she skimmed over it and moved on, realising it was old and worn, not noticing the distinct mark. His Carna mark. That was something he wanted to push as far away as possible. He had cut all ties with the demons from that Ring and Soren was glad to be rid of them. Despite this, he knew there were so many more things that could link him to them. Sure, he looked different now, but surely some of them would still recognise him. As long as Nakoma stayed away from their enemies in the Carna, Soren’s secret would remain locked away. The healing tingled a little, and Soren’s lips turned upward in a small smile. It was a strange sensation and he turned to watch, purely out of curiosity. The wound was closing over as Seph held it together, her fingers transferring her power into his skin. As she spoke, the power cut off momentarily, and Soren imagined it would take certain levels of concentration that he simply didn’t have. His eyes narrowed in on the cut, trying to get a closer look at exactly what was occurring. As the wound began to heal again, under Persephone’s careful magic, Ren saw the beauty behind it all. The cells seemed to repair themselves quickly, each layer of skin mending over itself and joining the wound back together. It was really quite extraordinary. Ren offered a small smile back in response, his posture beginning to relax a little as the stinging subsided. “The spiders aren’t too bad if ya used to ‘em I guess,” he murmured in response. He coughed somewhat awkwardly as she leaned over him, causing him to lean back slightly to avoid maximum contact. Despite this, he still felt her figure brush against his stomach and legs as she reached for the bowl. Soren found himself blush slightly as he looked away, trying to distract himself from the close contact. Seph spoke then, and Soren’s expression fell suddenly. He paused, taking a few breaths before attempting to answer. “Yeah my mum was from there. I lived in Austra’ia for a little while before the Keepers nabbed me. It was… nice.” He hesitated to find the last word. Most people went to Queensland for the reef and beaches. Soren however had been forced there after a breakdown and found no consolation in the ocean. While he had managed to find friends in Australia, thoughts of the country also brought back memories of death and pain and fear. Yes, it was a beautiful place, but it wasn’t always that way to him. Half-smiling, he looked over at Persephone, not entirely sure if his answer had been sufficient. “How about you? Where’re you from?” Whether the question was out of politeness or genuine interest, Soren didn’t know, but he was certain he was enjoying talking with the medic. It wasn’t as though he had anything else important he needed to do. OOC: i'm still determined to fit the mistletoe in here xD also new table just coz i wanted a change

[Persephone Todd]

Persephone nodded, not so much aware of what he was saying as the mere fact that he was speaking. Small talk sometimes brought up some tidbit or other that could further the conversation. More often than not, they were the perfect questions to pose when she needed someone to just talk about something or other. She did catch the cadence of a question. He was taking initiative, then. A trivial thing to note, but Seph had met people shy enough to lack manners. She let the inquiry hang until the wound had closed off completely. Even then she didn’t look at him, instead holding the arm up to inspect. “England. Little town called Woking.” Just as he seemed to have, she couldn’t think of anything in particular to say about her hometown. It was nice. It had its landmarks to brag about in travel guides. The things that made Seph miss it would have no real significance to Soren. To a stranger, Dad’s garden was any old explosion of horticultural overenthusiasm. The parking lot behind the dance studio was like any other out-of-the-way place where teenagers hung out. Heck, most of the places Lizzie had dragged her off to looked like buildings one found around the Dome, though less frightening. Exploring abandoned buildings was always a little dangerous, but that had always seemed impossible while following Lizzy and her gleeful grin. There was scar tissue, but it was still an improvement to her handiwork. “Right, you should be good now,” she said, lightly smacking the back of his shoulder. “But take a rest, okay? Anybody tries to put you to work, you tell them to take it up with me.” Seph wasn’t one to win battles of will, unless her opponent was too creeped out to feel like arguing. It was fun to talk big, though. The slug girl slipped from the table, reached over his legs again, and grabbed the bowl. This was put away, closer to the door, but she had no intention of taking it outside to dump right now. If she did that, the sunshine-mop might get away, and he could be the only person to show up for what, hours? Okay, probably not. Longer than she cared to be alone when bored and gregarious, at least. Besides, having someone to talk to made it harder to get drowsy again. With the liquids out of the way, she strolled back and leaned against the table. “So, mate. Cats or dogs? Or neither?” She was actually paying attention now and thus attempting to be more unexpected with conversation starters. Soren was shy, though, so nothing too crazy. Otherwise he might get confused, feel awkward, and just shut down. Seph knew this from experience. This wasn’t the first time she’d tried to draw some recluse out of their shell.

[Soren Forde]

Allowing his arm to be moved around for better inspection, Soren began to wonder if the medic really knew what she was doing. Then again, he noticed her lack of proper eyes so perhaps it was necessary for her to move his arm in order to see it properly. Curiosity peaked as he watched her work but he held is tongue so as not to offend. There were all manner of creatures within the Menagerie but Persephone seemed to be one of the strangest he had encountered during his time. Long before joining the Nakoma, Soren may have even been disgusted by her very visage, wanting nothing more than to slit her throat and watch her gasp for breath. But not anymore. That was the Carna’s way and he was no longer tied to them. His ties were to his fellow anthropomorphs and he would keep his secret at all costs. Ren was afraid of few things, but he certainly feared what would happen if Zephyr were to find out his past allegiances and his role in the war. Smiling softly as she answered his question, Soren cast his mind to all the things he had learned about England. Whilst he’d never been there personally, it had always sounded like a lovely place. It wasn’t a beach sort of country and that’s what he had liked about it. Unlike in his fishing village, if he had grown up in England perhaps he wouldn’t have been forced out into the ocean so many times. Even the thought of open water made his heart stop, and Soren wished to never experience such a thing again. At least in the Nakoma lands there was no ocean to swim around in; he could remain on dry land where he knew he would be safer. As Seph spoke again, Soren found himself nodding slowly. Of course, the thought of not working made his stomach churn slightly. Work distracted him at least. What was he meant to do instead? He barely knew anyone in the tribe; he certainly couldn’t say he had any friends in Nakoma. If he was off work boredom and agitation would soon take hold and that was when he was most likely to either withdraw completely or explode violently. Hopefully no one would provoke him or things could get incredibly ugly. His school bully had learned that the hard way and would most likely still have the scars to remind him of his mistakes. “Ah, resting. That’s a tough one for me,” he laughed, looking down at her with a grin. It wasn’t exactly a cheerful laugh, it was more low and deep, his awkward nature getting the better of him. “I’m sure I can try though,” he murmured almost as an afterthought. He leaned back slightly as she leaned over him, trying to avoid the contact in an inconspicuous way. He didn’t want Seph to get the wrong idea. At the same time though he rather enjoyed her company; she seemed kind and somewhat reserved. Still intrigued by her figure, Soren was silently thankful that he had met her now and not a few years earlier. Their meeting would have gone in an entirely different direction back then. Soren stayed seated on the counter as the medic moved the bowl of water away. He allowed himself to exhale slowly, glad that there was no more water around him. The fact that such a small amount had made him nervous only further worried the anthro and he began to think something was very wrong with him. Usually it was only large amounts of water that made his heart beat quickly and his breathing shorten. Perhaps it was simply his loss of blood that had escalated the fear; hopefully all would go back to normal once he had fully recovered. The question brought him sharply out of his reverie and he blinked a few times at the girl in surprise. “Um I never really thought about it. Never had pets growin’ up. I guess dogs. I mean, I’m a fish so cats probably wanna eat me or something.” He laughed softly, smiling at Seph as though apologetic for his lousy answer. He ran his fingers through his hair, swinging his legs casually below him. He still towered over the girl and it seemed to amuse him quite a bit. Soren hadn’t spoken to anyone in a while and he was still uncertain about how to approach conversation. After so many years of receding into his shell, conversation practice was lacking and his shy and awkward nature remained. “How ‘bout you then?” Questions were a good way of continuing conversation he thought. Soren wasn’t quite ready to leave just yet and Seph didn’t exactly seem afraid or wary of him. It was a good change of pace; perhaps even a chance to make a friend. Maybe staying to talk for a little while would be a good thing for him, as long as he didn’t screw it all up.

[Persephone Todd]

She wasn’t surprised that he protested, however slightly. “Yeah, you’d best do that, or your body might just decide to rest without you having any say in it,” she said, smacking the heel of one hand across the other in demonstration. There was a box beneath the table containing a riot of unrolled bandages. Most likely someone had rooted through it in an emergency and forgot to fix it up. Seph had noticed it earlier and had gone outside instead. Now, however, it occurred to her that Soren might feel more at ease if his audience wasn’t focused on only him. As he talked she retrieved it and started organizing, nodding occasionally and chuckling at his comment about cats. Soren was the sort where you made sure to laugh any time they attempted to be funny. When he asked her opinion she looked up, mouth twisted thoughtfully. “Didn’t have them either as a kid, weirdly enough. Parents said it was like…animal slavery.” She’d never really been bullied as a child, but the odd opinions of her parents had certainly made interaction awkward at times. Granted, at this point she’d give a weird look to a kindergartener who thought candy was basically poison. “Got a dog now, depending on the day he’s either a really good argument for dogs or against dogs. Dunno about cats…my friend’s cat was nice? Guess I’m supposed to say dogs though, for Ozy’s sake.” Seph didn’t prompt him right away. His joke reminded her of something she’d almost asked earlier, but had been too afraid of where it might lead. Shifting had only ever been traumatizing for Persephone. Plenty of people enjoyed it, and she’d lost any opportunity to ever experience it positively. Soren had been a fish, but that was still pretty close to what it might have been like if she’d ever shifted before mad scientists terrorized her into doing so. It could have been fun, maybe. Relaxing, but also exciting. Surreal. All she’d of had to do was learn not to let her mind get overridden by the simpler one. Having your humanity swallowed up by the primitive instinct of a mollusk was hilarious on paper and terrifying in reality. It was probably safe to question him; Soren wasn’t likely to associate her features with an aquatic animal right off. Lord, she never would have known what on earth it was if not for friends with odd areas of expertise. She didn’t even know what her shift had looked like, other than what she could surmise from her current state. Once again it was just a weird, disparate part of her that should have been a source of pride. “Must have been weird, only being able to shift in water, yeah? Ooh, did you ever try swimming in, like, the ocean or something, or were you too afraid something would eat ya?”

[Soren Forde]

The other anthromorph began tidying up things around the room, and Soren was glad for the distraction. He slipped off the bench top and instead leaned against it, watching the anthro at work. Persephone seemed rather graceful as she moved about the room and Ren felt his eyes following her movements carefully. He still found it rather strange that she appeared to be able to see despite her lack of proper eyeballs. Then again, there were all kinds of peculiar folk around the Nakoma tribe and she certainly wasn’t the strangest. Soren recalled seeing a large rabbit walking around on its hind legs, fully clothed, with horns sprouting out her head. Surely nothing could get any weirder than that creature. As Persephone answered his question, he nodded thoughtfully. He hadn’t had pets growing up, but not because of his parents not wanting them. It was a sort of silent agreement that no pet particularly belonged on a fishing boat; at least not on their fishing boat. Other families in their village had dogs and cats but not the Fordes. They were serious people and they had little time to care for another creature, especially one that required so much work. So Soren and Millie had remained without a pet. One would think only having each other would’ve made the pair closer, but the exact opposite was true. “Strange that people have pets now in this dome that didn’t have ‘em before,” he mused softly, more to himself than to Seph. Surely in the Menagerie it was even harder to care for a pet. There was a constant fight for survival and a pet only meant one more mouth to feed and sometimes it was impossible for one to feed even themselves. Pets were complications, he thought, in a world such as theirs. They had no need for companions; they only needed themselves. Soren’s thoughts were filled with irony but he pushed them back, ignoring the nagging feeling that he shouldn’t be there. Even when he’d joined the Nakoma he felt he was out of place, like he was the enemy infiltrating their camp. But he was both friend and foe to the anthromorphs, a fact he longed to forget. Soren walked closer to the other anthro as she spoke. His figure towered awkwardly over hers but he bent his head so as to lessen the extreme distance. “The ocean?” Ren mumbled, his eyes narrowing and glazing over. All of a sudden he felt his heartbeat increase, bringing with it a slight sweat and more rapid breathing. His mind turned back to thoughts of the ocean, triggered by that one powerful word. It was so smooth at first but then the sky darkened and the waves tumbled in. The boat rocked back and forth, tipping low enough to bring on water. And then they were wet. And then he was soaked through and gasping for air. Every now and then his head popped out of the water but when he opened his mouth for oxygen all he got was salty foam. Then the world went black. Then the water was calm again but he was underneath it and he couldn’t breathe again but there was a face in front of him. It was huge, so much larger than his tiny fish form. Then he could breathe but he didn’t want to and he tried to scream but nothing came out. Then he was back on the boat and the face was above him but it was regular sized and he was regular sized. All of a sudden they were by the docks and the face was still in front of him. He was smiling, beaming up at the blonde haired man. His hair was blonde, not yellow and his face was unmarked. And the face before him was beautiful. Before he understood what was happening, Soren had leaned down and pressed his lips to those of the figure before him. It was a desperate kiss but soft and loving. And then his eyes snapped open – he didn’t remember closing them – and he noticed the face before him was not who he thought. Pulling away, his mouth opened but nothing came out. He blinked a number of times, his heartbeat not returning to normal. “I’m sorry… I just… I,” and then Soren turned away from the other anthro. His breathing rapid, he ran from the room and out into the sunlight. It stung his eyes and his chest was pounding. Running to the outer wall, he placed his hands on it, his head bent down as he rested against its strength. “f***.” OOC | mo money behold the slightly late mistletoe! also omg Fu I can't believe I actually managed to do it

[Persephone Todd]

It was the wrong thing to ask, apparently. In seconds he was staring blankly and didn’t respond when she spoke again. Seph bit the inside of her cheek. After a couple of years as a healer, stuff like this had become…manageable. Seph could keep a cool head if she personally wasn’t scared of whatever a person was panicking about. That was a big step for her, though it still wasn’t fun to deal with breakdowns. She tried to ignore his rapid breathing as she moved closer. Very carefully she touched his shoulder, and when he didn’t react violently, she shook it. “Soren. Hey, Soren, c…oh, lord!” Her hands flew up against his chest as his eyes slipped shut and he started slumping forward. In the last moment, though, she realized he wasn’t going limp; there was intention to his movement. She reared back as his face got close, but he followed. Their lips touched. Their lips pressed together. This certainly wasn’t a scenario she’d ever prepared for, not even in case of panic attacks. Seph could feel the skin over her eyes stretching, her bald brows rising, trying to properly convey her state of shock. The contact lasted for a few seconds, and during that whole time the most intelligent thought the slug girl had was ‘Oh. I’m getting snogged.’ Kissing with your eyes open turned out to be a little weird, but it wasn’t like she had a choice. Instead she just watched him, watched for some sign of what exactly was going on. Suddenly Soren opened his eyes, and it became clear that he didn’t know the answer. Dazed, she stepped back a little as he lurched away. They stared at each other, his face the picture of horror while a small, wicked smile grew on hers. Finally she started laughing. It was possibly the worst thing to do, but she was just so confused and giddy. Most likely her cheeks were flushed right now, which made her feel a little self-conscious. Not that a blue blush was much on top of how strange she already looked. The poor guy couldn’t get any sort of reasoning out, and tucked tail instead. “Wait, Soren, it’s okay…you’re gonna fall, mate!” She burst out laughing again as she spoke, which probably didn’t help. Persephone started after him, but hesitated. If he did wind up unconscious, someone would find him. Maybe it was best to let him alone, even if it meant he'd just stew in embarrassment and make it worse for himself. The junkyard wasn't that big; Seph would run into him again. For now, she’d stay where she was supposed to and give him some space. She might even need some time herself to process. Baffled as she was, she might need some time herself to process. Lord, she couldn’t wait for Kearie to get back. o.o.c. - short again but you know what it's an end of thread post anyway. So yeah. END OF THREAD.