savetheearth | 36th Howl | backdated to April 17th, evening [Audio]

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36th Howl | backdated to April 17th, evening [Audio]

[A polite and somewhat embarrassed British voice comes onto the network. Someone still doesn't have a camera for his laptop. Someday, someday....]

Randall here. Ah, I meant to do this last month around this time, but I got a bit distracted....

I went away last month for spring break, which, lucky for me, happened to coincide with my changes for the full moon. Ah-- to newcomers, as I know we have many, I'm a werewolf. And a biology teacher at Locke high school. Pleasure to meet you.

[The embarrassment fades into something more professional, as he gets back on point.]

Anyhow. I went away with a couple of friends to test the changes to Locke's pulse boundary, and how that would affect my own changes and memories. Nick and I went away again this month. I'll admit, we didn't remember much the first time, but enough to at least keep us going. I didn't change for the nights around the moon, like I do while I'm here in the city, but I did change on the full moon... just not all the way. Teeth, eyes, a little fur, and certain aggressive impulses that are otherwise out of character for me-- enough that I definitely needed those friends to keep me in one place, and definitely enough to make us all believe that something worse would have happened if I'd stayed here. So leaving the city... really isn't entirely enough to keep uncomfortable abilities at bay, for those interested in such things, but it does help, if you take precautions.

[He pauses to sigh and gather his thoughts, after that, then finishes with:]

Interestingly enough, when we left again this month, we remembered the entirety of last month's trip on top of what vague memories we retained from the city. That did make everything a bit easier, this time. I know some of you will probably find that useful to know.

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Huh. I was wondering what'd happened! Hopefully the rest of the trip, both trips, were more fun than that.

I've been leaving the city to like bathe and watch movies. Prosaic, I know!

That seems like a perfectly good reason to leave town. I take it the bird-changes haven't been working well with the feathers and watching television?

[He can imagine the feathers being difficult to dry... and a bit with the television, remembering what Julien's said about his eyesight changing.]

Yyyyyeah, they get annoying. Especially with the molt going. If I don't take athelas I get irritable, too.

How long does the, er, molting last?

[Because that does sound pretty uncomfortable. And gives him mental pictures of poor Julien only half-covered in feathers, with big bare patches... like the chickens from the farms he visited in college.]

Months. The worst part is just a few weeks and I think that's finishing up. Thank God. You have any idea what it's like to comb your hair and start bleeding?

Months? Really? That's terrible.

[Including the bleeding part! He hadn't realized molting came with bleeding.]

Regular birds don't molt for that long, do they? Or do you think it's part of your changes, and it won't be that bad going forward?

Yeah, I just got these, it's stupid to replace them already.

[He lets out a breath loudly enough to hear.]

No, actual birds take weeks to months. The shorter the period is, the more severe it is, the more likely there'd be bald patches and stuff.

[Like those chickens with their bald patches.]

Are they coming in differently? Or is there no... visible change, to the new growth feathers?

[Because the molt, he supposes, could be part of a pulse change, couldn't it? Sorry, Julien, he's a scientist, and that's intriguing him despite his worry for his friend.]

[With the chickens it's the pecking order, actually. Given more space and things to do they're less inclined to pull out the feathers of low-status birds. /fun fact]

They're a little different. Tiny color shift, I don't think other people notice... And the flight ones aren't as soft.

[A fledgeling's feathers all came in at once, which is stressful and difficult. Normal molts are more gradual and more resources can be safely devoted to it.]

[Except when it's the dominant bird with the most bald spots... mun's mother has chickens, heh :) ]

Perhaps it's preparing you for being able to actually fly. The way my healing started off with taking all night, when the full moon changes began, and now it's only an hour or two.

[true, chickens are weird!]

I can sort of fly already. Not all that well... More skimming or gliding. I can't flap that hard, and I'm so big.

Can you really. I suppose that's how you managed falling off the roof, during the Wise Snake business.

[He sounds a bit amazed, though he hadn't put that together like this until now.]

Have you tried a lot of it?

Yeah - I landed badly, but nothing broke.

[Julien sounds weirdly dispassionate about that.]

Here and there. I prefer not to have a bunch of people staring, so, options are limited.

I imagine you'd have to get outside the city a bit, to manage it... since you don't see well at night, right?

[He can completely understand not wanting to be stared at. Even if there's a little silly part of him who wants to ask if he can watch, sometime.]

Not in the least. I can see stars and the little marks people's hands make when they touch things, in the day, but at night I might as well be blind.

Anyway, some parks work. Fields. It's better if I have something to jump off, though.

I imagine getting yourself off the ground to begin with would be the problem. Does a running start help, like with airplanes, or is your body simply not bird-like enough yet to get proper lift?

Hnn.

['Yet'.]

It helps, especially if there's wind. I can jump pretty well too.

[Yeah, he's kind of assuming the end result here is "bird". Or at least "harpy", which still would suggest further changes. Sorry, Julien.]

Do you enjoy it? Flying, I mean. Or gliding, as the case may be.

[Julien can't entirely be in denial here, but that doesn't mean he likes to hear about it.]

A bit.

-Yes. [He decides to keep it prosaic.] It's better, of course, if there aren't a lot of people around to stare. I've gotten better at landings and steering.

So you did all right this past time, then? Didn't need any extra muscle?

We did fine. I even, er, managed not to be quite so hostile this time.

[Is that a bit of embarrassment in Lyall's voice? It might be.]

That's good. Maybe it'll get easier each time now, if you're away from the city?

[He's just...not going to comment on that embarrassment. This sort of thing is sensitive, and besides, if Lyall went with Nick, Hajime can only imagine how that went without ~~a chaperone~~ his tagging along.]

[Thanks, Hajime. Your politeness is one the reasons Lyall likes you so much.]

I think the more I'm away, the easier it will be to keep control. It was worst that first time since I was taken so much by surprise, I think.

[Politeness? Or supreme awkwardness concerning any sort of romantic endeavors causing him to avoid the issue entirely? It is a mystery.]

Yeah, even with the notes, it was just too crazy to believe that first time.

[Either one means Lyall doesn't have to talk about it.]

Well, we believed it the second time, that's for certain. And probably even more, the next few months. I'm not sure how I'm going to explain being gone so often, but I'll think of something....

You could always make up some relative or another, say they're sick or need you that often. I did that a couple times in...uh...

[There's an embarrassed cough.]

...high school...

[And an awkward silence.]

Is that so.

[Now he's safe to be amused, since Hajime isn't in high school anymore, so there's no point to being annoyed after the fact. It isn't like he can put Hajime in detention, or anything.]

No.... As easy as that would be otherwise, I'm afraid the entire staff knows my only family lives in Iowa.

I didn't do it often...

[There's still a note of guilt there.]

You could always make up some friend or something to try it with, too. Or you could try to find a doctor on the network who'd write you some medical excuse.

Edited (Got to close them brackets) 2014-06-01 16:11 (UTC)

I did have that thought. And I may still, if I decide actually telling the principal is a bad idea. I need to feel her out for what she thinks about those of us on the network.

Yeah, if she thinks we're unfriendly monsters, I see how that might be a problem...let me know if you need the Lord of the Bugmen for anything.

You know, Nick offered to meet her, too.

[He sounds amused that his friends are making these kinds of comments.]

Or, well, threaten her. Politely.

Well, there's not that much difference between the two sometimes.

What, meeting and threatening politely? Well, I suppose meeting her as the Lord of the Bugmen would certainly seem threatening.

It's not my fault I've got a way with people when I'm in that form.

That's one way to put it. All the same, while I appreciate the offer, I think I'll try and handle it on my own, if it comes up-- it might not. I still might come up with a good excuse that she'll believe.

[He's just kind of doubting it.]

Good luck. And hey, you know where to come if she needs a little more persuasion.

[There's - a familiar voice he's been half-listening for, in fact. Voice is a tad stilted, but opens after gathering a breath with a mild and polite:] Hi, sir.

How -- much did you remember -- ...? [Particular inflection lost itself wondering whether to add an excusing or qualifier for the question - he just barely feels as if it can't be faux pas to go on ahead and ask, and it might be partly because of a bit of additional close-to-homeness regarding those two trials out of the city so far.]

Hello, Anthony.

[He's smiling, if you can tell in his tone. Albeit with a hint of embarrassment.]

Of what it was like here in Locke? Not a lot. Enough to remember important events-- Wise Snake, for example. And a bit about being a wolf, though it felt a bit like a dream. And Nick, which was helpful. The enhanced senses were quite a bit more muted, as well.

[Which is probably closer to something Anthony might be curious about.]

[Au contraire, in fact, but what he was mainly wondering was still skirted!

On that note.

Swallows. Let this be in the most docile, undistracted tone possible, as he does not in fact mean anything by it apart from what he's saying!]

-- Uh, how - much - did you know Nick, um. Before...? If -- I may ask.

[For purposes of what sort of acquaintanceship with someone means remembering them outside of the city, and so forth.]

[Can't blame the werewolf for thinking the undead kid would want to get away for a weekend, really. He pauses at the question, though, briefly stymied on how to answer.

Quite honestly, he's not sure just how much Anthony even knows, and the boy is his student. Well, former student, but still the right age, if he hadn't dropped out of school!

He finally settles for:]

We remembered enough that nothing much changed. Thankfully, or else things might have been-- er, confusing all over again.

[He's blushing on the other end, Anthony, can you tell?]

I wonder if the barrier will weaken even more over time.

[It's not something that particularly affects him at the moment, but still seems like a useful thing to know.]

[Oh, hi, Toushirou. Long time no chat. ... which is something Lyall should probably have done something about, but what do you say to a child who has rescued you in the past?

Thankfully, they have a subject handy.]

I don't know if it's a function of time or a function of the death of Wise Snake or the alien. It changed that very day, or at least very close to it, from what I've been able to gather, and hasn't changed again since. But with new people out in Las Vegas, it may be related to that, instead.

[Can you tell he's thought about this a bit? He has theories.]

[They've traveled different paths over the past several months, Toushirou more and more putting himself onto the front lines while Lyall understandably is better suited for other tasks. Well, that and the fact that Toushirou isn't in highschool yet and the "After School Numbers Club" became a thing of the past after the drug bust . . .]

Yeah, we didn't really start testing out if there were new boundaries until the light went off in Vegas, did we?

Actually, a friend of mine left the very night Wise Snake died, and I spoke to him the next day. He still had a few of his memories and physical changes, even then. It wasn't a test, exactly, but it did tell us that the boundary changed, or started changing, even that early.

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36th Howl | backdated to April 17th, evening [Audio]

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