(2018-10-29) Fall by Night

Fall By Night

Summary:	Buddy and Shades go for a walk in the woods during a fall night
Date:	2018-10-29
Related:	None
NPCs:	None
Scene Runner:	None

Players:

......

+ Click for Descs

Descs

Buddy

Standing at just over five feet tall, this boy seems to be a bundle of energy. His short brown hair seems to almost always been in some sort of disarray. A thin, nose points down to full lips that seem to be ready to break into a full smile or a massive pout at any moment. His eyes are the most striking feature on his face. His right eye is a bright blue color while the left eye is a beautiful emerald green.
He is wearing a thin green tshirt that is a bit faded though there are no holes in it. Since the shirt has short sleeves, it is possible to see that his arms are just starting to grow some hair. While his arms do not look overly bulky, there is a look of lithe strength to him. His faded blue jeans are just a bit too short showing his ankles. He is not wearing shoes, and, from the looks of it, he rarely does so.

Kaylee

Soft blonde hair cascades down from this young girls head, curling slightly as it falls past her shoulders. Her eyes are blue, vibrant and deep, and very frequently almost seem to glow more than might seem natural. They rest below thin eyebrows that are just a shade darker than her hair. Her skin is pale and also almost glows with youth and health. She has a small, rounded nose that is set delicately above full, pink lips, the corners of which almost always seem to be hinting at a smile or smirk, as if life were somehow always sharing an inside joke with her.
The girl is tall, just over six feet in height. Her frame is athletic, though she tends to not dress or stand in ways to show off. If one were that interested, though, they could probably tell that she has a modest bust but a backside that is more impressive. Her fashion isn't remarkable, typically consisting of hoodies or long-sleeve tees worn with faded blue jeans. Her shoes are likewise unremarkable, a pair of well-worn Sketchers that have definitely seen their miles.
On Kaylee's left wrist is a band, about two inches wide, made out of black leather. It has silver ornamentation on it, two chains that hang slightly loose, connected at either side of the bracelet. There is also a heart made out of silver with wings. The center of the heart has a jewel in it, an amethyst, shining bright purple.

Shades

Shades is kinda short and kinda slight, pushing a little under five feet tall. His hair is a mix of dark colors; blues, blacks, purples, with a few strands of silver and white. It's worn slicked back, and held in place with enough gel that it basically never moves. His complexion is just the last touch mocha, like someone ordered a cup of cream and a shot of espresso. His face is dominated by a pair of large, and very dark, sunglasses; day or night, rain or shine, Shades is almost never seen without his shades. His cheeks are still roundish, the last bits of baby fat waiting to burn off. His left ear has a simple silver stud.
He is dressed in the Coral Springs school uniform, white shirt and black blazer with the red lines and tie that call him out as one of the Athenian League. The normally bright reds seem muted on him, almost faded. His shoes are clean, black leather oxfords, but they do not shine. It can be hard to keep an eye on Shades; he's the kind of person who can just fade into the background when he's not trying to be the center of attention. Rain or shine, a large black umbrella is always near at hand.

Location

Finder's Keepers

Woody Area
It would be easy for new students to mistake the island for a tropical one. In the summer, the climate is indeed similar. However, if nothing else broke that impression, then surely this small forest of sugar maples, birches, chestnut trees, and white ash would. They stretch high into the sky, providing shade and cool in the summer, shelter from the cold wind in the winter, and lavish reds, golds, and browns in the fall as their leaves change. The ground beneath is soft underfoot in summer, the quiet broken only by the rolling seas, the wind, and the occasional quiet buzz of a security drone overhead.
It is a fall evening. The weather is cool and drizzling.

Scene

"I guess I just don't exactly see the big deal," Shades remarks towards Buddy. "I mean, I've, like, seen fall leaves on TV and stuff, and in some of the parks around the city. Just never really been that big into the whole 'nature' thing, ya'know?" He has his umbrella up, despite the drizzling, and angled more against the last vestiges of fading light. Still, he's out, as requested, to see the trees as the leaves finish changing.

Buddy is actually in human form as he talks to Shades. It makes talking so much easier. "Oh, but it is the best. Nature that is. It is so open, and smells good, normally." He laughs at that thought. "Did you know I spent, well, several full moons in woods sort of like this, living on my own. I should have counted the moons, but I was still really young then. I got to see leaves change, then fall, then no leaves, then," he sounds like he is getting excited, "You know what?" Dramatic pause. "They came back! It was great."

Shades pffts, crunching a particularly cronchy fallen leaf. "Yah, but they always do that." Then wrinkles his nose. "And smells good? That I'm just not getting." Now at the edge of the woods proper, he looks up at the shroud covered leaves, as if evaluating.

Buddy crouches down in a fashion that looks rather weird for a human though it looks comfortable for him. "Oh, there are so many smells out here. It's great." He picks up a pile of wet fallen leaves and tosses them up into the air. "And did you know that there are some great twigs out here. I use them for my nest."

"Your nest? Dude, you… you know that you have a room in the dorms, right? Central heating, tv, internet, beds with like, feathers and pillows and stuff?" He leans down to pick up a small stick, then poke it into a muddy patch.

Buddy nods his head and says, "My nest is in my dorm room." He said that like Shades was the silly one. "I have it on my dresser. I even have a couple of things in my dresser. It still feels kinda odd to actually -own- something." He says the word own like it is a special word. "The bed looks and feels weird. I don't like it."

Shades notices an irregularity in the bark of one of the trees, and starts idly picking at it, until a peel the length of his hand suddenly unravels. "I mean, I guess, but weird has to beat bedding down in the wind and rain and stuff." He inspects the bark for a moment, before crumbling it in a fist.

Buddy shakes his head. "I'd much rather sleep outside. I did all the time before we moved the school back here at the beginning of the semi-easter." He probably meant semester. "Mr. Suity Man told me that because of cur-few that I had to sleep indoors or I would get in trouble. I don't like cur-few, but I like trouble a lot less." Looking at Shades mess with the tree, he asks, "Did you find something cool?"

"Nah, just a piece of bark. It just looked kinda cool crunching." Shades dusts off his hands. "And yeah, they're like, serious about the curfew," he says, shaking his head slightly. "I've got like, another week of cafeteria duty." A squirel dashes across the path, then up a tree, nimbly leaping from branch to branch, at which Shades points at laughs. "Well, I guess that fellow doesn't have to worry about curfews."

Buddy's eyes flick to the movement of the squirrel as it runs up the tree. "Lucky." The mention of cafeteria duty makes Buddy squirm a bit. "That must be horrible. I did realize something weird about me the other day." He has his eyes still locked on the squirrel. "Speaking of food, hmmmm." He is clearly thinking of making that squirrel into dinner.

Shades isn't watching Buddy go into predator-mode, trying to follow the squirrel as it dances through the trees. "Eh, it's not so bad. Kinda like back when Mom had me fill in as a busboy. And you realized something weird *about* you? What's that, a favorite TV show?" he asks, voice teasing.

Buddy very slowly lowers himself to a squating position and starts to move towards the tree. "When I am an animal, I know exactly how to be that animal. I like the food they like. I can act like they act, but when I'm in human form, I don't always know how to act or even like the way the food tastes. Weird huh?" Buddy looks back to Shades and saks, "TV Show?"

Shades looks over towards Buddy, and then backs up a step. "Yeah, I, uh, guess that is kinda weird… Cabron, you alright?" He pauses for a beat. "You a, you about to tiger out again?"

<FS3> Buddy rolls Physical: Success.
The ripple over takes Buddy as he shifts to a tabby cat. The cat looks back to Shades with what appears to be a smile. He slowly starts to climb the same tree that the squirrel went up recently. He moves so silently as he stalks his dinner. As he draws close, he leaps and catches the squirrel just as it tries to take off. Score late dinner for Buddy.

Shades pulls his lips back, sticking out the tip of his tongue in a look of quesy disgust. "Dude- just… dude. That just *cannot* taste good!" he shouts. "You know, people make cat food and dog food! You don't have to always get dinner on the run you know, if you just really don't like the cafeteria food!"

Buddy-kitty holds the squirrel in place with a paw. He looks down at Shades and speaks though with a feline accent. "Yummy. Want for Tummy?" He is at least willing to share his food. He doesn't wait for the answer though and starts to eat on the raw squirrel not being bothered by fur or bone.

Shades goes from mock quesy to *actual* quesy in a big hurry, turning away from the grisly sight. "No- no, Buddy. I, uh. I think I'm good." He trudges a few steps away. "You… you enjoy that."

Buddy chomps and chews the squirrel at a rather rapid pace. It seems that when Buddy eats, he eats quickly in almost every form. Once done, he starts to lick himself clean and calls out in feline tongue, "Shades?"

Shades doesn't respond, possibly cause he doesn't hear. He's crouched near a tree with a gnarled, exposed root, beating out the rythym of a popular song with a pair of thicker sticks.

Buddy-kitty starts to meow from his spot on the tree. He then decides to climb out to the edge of the branch and lean over to another tree and then another one. Finally, reaching the tree nearest Shades, the kitty calls out again. "Shaades."

Shades nearly jumps out of his skin at the cat calling his name, scrambling to his feet. "Holy- Buddy! Dude, a little warning!" He gives a weak smile. "Or at least say something like, we're all mad here."

Another ripple rolls over Buddy-kitty leaving him just as a human sitting up in the tree. He dangles his legs over the tree branch and says, "Mad? Who is mad? Did I make you mad by eating the squirrel. I offered you some and you said you didn't want it." He looks really confused and feels like he somehow offended his friend.

Shades snerks slightly at that. "No, man, it's a- it's from a movie. Well, I guess a book too, but, anyways, it's called Alice in Wonderland. It's about this girl, Alice, that gets kinda pulled into this crazy place where nothing seems to make sense. Anyways, at one point she meets this like, purple cat that tells her that she must be mad- mad like crazy, not mad like, like angry. And when Alice tells the cat that she's not, he tells her that we're all mad here. There was this one waitress that had that tattooed on her arm, cause, I dunno, she thought it was cool or something." After a beat, he adds, "And no, I really don't want squirrel. Especially not raw squirrel." He scrunches his face again. "I'm not sure I'm gonna be able to eat breakfast after seeing you eat dinner Cabron."

Buddy looks a bit lost as he listens to the story of Alice in Wonderland. "Why was she in Wonderland? Do the think the cat was like me since he could talk? Did the cat turn into other things?" When Shades says he didn't want the squirrel, Buddy says, "Probably doesn't taste good to people tongues. Did you want me to catch you something else?"

Shades waves a hand vaugely, dismissing the thought. "Nah, already had dinner. Hamburgers and fries tonight, which we're pretty decent." After a second, he asks, "Hey, you going to town for the whole, Halloween festival thing tomorrow?"

Buddy shrugs his shoulders and says, "I don't know. The candy sounds nice. The costume part sounds weird still though. Not sure why." Buddy leans way forward as he looks down at Shades. He is leaning so much that it looks like he is about to fall off. "Oh, do you want to experience the woods better? I mean, more like an animal would?"

Shades cocks a head to the side at Buddy's question. "What do you mean, more like an animal?" he asks. Then jumps closer. "Wait, dude, can you turn OTHER PEOPLE into animals too?!"

Buddy leans back and laughs. "No. I can't do that. It would be so cool though, wouldn't it?" He looks back down at Shades and says, "But I can try and let you get a similar feeling? If you want. I've not tried it before. Should be fun though. Probably."

Shades nods rapidly. "Yeah! Do it!" He's at full on grin at this point, almost jumping from excitement.

<FS3> Buddy rolls Transform: Failure.
Buddy closes his eyes and focuses and something. The rippling starts to roll of his body but oddly enough there is a human left when the rippling takes place. He didn't change at all. Buddy looks down at his body and laughs. "Hahaha. I guess I missed."

Shades looks at his own hands, and then at Buddy. "Uh. Oh!" he starts to laugh. "I was gonna be like- I don't feel any different. Um. Try again?"

<FS3> Buddy rolls Transform: Good Success.
Buddy looks down at Shades and gives a thumbs up. "Sure. Let's go again." The rippling effect rolls over Buddy again, and when it ends, he has become into a large silverback gorilla. Buddy gorilla pounds on his chest and drops from the branch only to grab it with one arm.
<OOC> Buddy http://coralsprings.wdfiles.com/local--files/buddy/buddy-gorilla.png

Shades's delight transforms into *extremely* cautious respect in a big hurry. I mean- it's Buddy- but it's also a goddamn gorilla. "Uh. Hey- hey Buddy. Was- I mean- is this what you were aiming for?"

The Buddy-gorrila swings down lower and grabs Shades around the waist. He holds Shades tightly to his side and starts to swing over to the next branch. Benefit of being several hundred pounds is that Shades is light comparitively now.

Shades has just been picked up by a big goddamn gorilla, swinging into the trees. Judging by his extreme palor and the absolute deathgrip he's got on said gorilla's arm, he's… well, this is definitely an experience! "OhkayIthinkI'veseentheforestnowlet'sgetbackontheground!" he shouts- definitely doesn't shriek -all in a single rush of breath.

Somebody had seen Buddy heading into the forest with Shades and somebody thought maybe telling Kaylee would be a good idea, since Buddy tended to be far more exciteable in the wilderness than usual. And Shades? Not so much. Definitly not one to trudge through the brush for fun, Kaylee is picking her way through the forest carefully, her Prometheus hoodie gettng a little dirtied from the effort. She's not calling out, yet, but she's definitely got her spatial awarenss on full so she can try and spot the pair amongs the trees. Which definitely won't be easy.

<FS3> Buddy rolls Animal Senses: Good Success.
Buddy-gorilla swings through the trees with the greatest of ease and with the most terrified Shades. He notices Kaylee as she enters nearby. Even in the dark, it was hard to not notice Kaylee. He swings in her direction and lands with a thud nearby making sure to hold Shades firmly under his left arm to keep him from falling.

Shades slumps down, once back near solid earth, eyes fixed on the ground. "Whuhabh?" he asserts. Then turns to look at Buddy, and starts to struggle (probably futilly, unless released) to be let go. "Dude! Not cool! You gotta warn a guy before you just- when you said experience the forest better, I thought you meant, I dunno, like some kind of senses sharing thing! NOT LIKE A FREAKING SILVERBACK ROLLER COASTER!"

Gorillas? In the forest!?!? Kaylee is immediately on alert until she detects Shades there, too. Then, she just rolls her eyes and snickers walking slowly in their direction until Buddy settles down onto the forest floor. As a gorilla. Hearing Shades' protest as she approaches, Kaylee can't help but snicker, hiding her smirk behind her hand. "Good evening, boys," she calls out as she gets close enough.

Buddy-gorilla sets Shades down on the ground. Ever seen a 400lb silverback gorilla pout? Well, now it is possible. He hunkers down and holds his hands up and covers his face. Having just turned into this form, there is no way for him to speak yet. He does give a little wave to Kaylee though. He points to Shades.

Shades fairly collapses to the forest floor when he's released, thumping Buddy's trunk-like leg with a tap somewhere between playful and too much- for a human. It probably registered to Buddy. And then, at Kaylee's snickering, he looks up, and then slightly to the side of the glowing girl. "Oh, hey Kaylee," he says. "What, uh. You know. What brings you out to the woods this evening?" A bit of color is starting to creep back into face, as well as his normal smile.

"Oh, you know. Boys. Unsupervised. With a penchant for going a little overboard," Kaylee responds, smirking at the pair. "At least I know what to expect from you guys," she adds, the smirk turning in to a grin. "Having fun?" she asks, even though she's sure she already knows the answer.

<FS3> Buddy rolls Transform: Failure.
Buddy looks down when Shades pats his leg. Well, at least he doesn't seem angry anymore. He lifts up his arm as though about to pat him playfully too, but then he realizes what form he is and decides to just thump his own chest. He nods to Kaylee and then sits down on the ground in front of her so he doesn't look so oppresive.

Shades looks over at the sitting Buddy, and then at Kaylee, and starts to laugh, the leftover adreneline getting to him now that his body's realized he's not actually about to die. "Fun? I don't know about fun, but I'm freaking wide awake now, that's for sure." He adjusts his sunglasses from where they had started to come askew in the flight. "Kaylee, when Buddy asks if you'd like to see the forest more like an animal? He does *not* mean that he can like, share his senses or turn you into an animal or something." And then he flops back on to the turf, alternating laughing like a lunatic and gasping for breath.

"Oh, yeah, you gotta be careful with Buddy. His human interactions are still a work in progress," Kaylee agrees, offering Buddy a smile and nose-crinkled. "But you shouldn't ever be scared, Buddy definitely wouldn't hurt you. Even when he's pretending to be in the Jungle Book." Kaylee reaches up and brushes hair back out of her eyes, tucking the strands behind either ear. "I really didn't have anything important, though. I just … well … Buddy is excitable. I wanted to make sure nothing got out of hand," she explains.

Trying to communicate as a gorilla is hard. Buddy lifts up a hand and shows that it is empty. He then points to Shades and closes his hand as though indicating that he had Shades in hand. Buddy suddenly stands up on his two back feet and manages to jump in the air. Once in the air and turns into a little golden finch and flies over to Kaylee as though about to land on her shoulder. "Tweet. tweet tweet Tweet!"
<OOC> Buddy http://coralsprings.wdfiles.com/local--files/buddy/buddy-bird.jpg

Shades lifts his head up, and sticks his tongue out at bird-Buddy. "Oh, I see how it is. I get tigers and monster apes, and girls get the Cinderella treatment." Then flumphs hsi head back down, the laughing fit having mostly passed and given way to just deep breathing. After a beat of looking up at the almost completely darkend canopy, he adds, "Alright, I have to admit. The colors are pretty cool."

Kaylee snickers at Buddy again, shaking her head. "No, I didn't mean you'd let Shades get out of your hands. I meant … well … that you'd turn into a gorilla and go swinging around in the trees with him. THAT is a little out of hand," she teases, smiling at the boy again. And then he's a little birdie, flitting over to him. She giggles again, shaking her head some more. "Buddy! I don't speak birdie! You'll have to just turn back to human so we can talk!"
Turning her attention back to Shades, Kaylee smirks again. "Yeah, but I don't think he really thinks of it like that. I mean, it's not like he's trying to FLIRT with me or anything. He just knows better than to go dragging girls through the trees unless they've ASKED him to," she offers him. Then, she looks back at Buddy, quirking an eyebrow as she adds, "… hopefully not from experience."

Birdie-Buddy tweets a few times at Shades though when he says that the colors are cool, the yellow bird does a little dance on Kaylee's shoulder. Buddy bird then starts to tweet, looks up at the moon and then tweets back at them. He hopes a couple times as though trying to tell them something. The bird then waves a wing at them before flying off towards the school. He flies slowly as though wanting to make sure they find their way out.

Shades heufs, sitting then standing up. "If Buddy's headed back to campus, it's probably the right call. I don't wanna get another bout of detention for being out late over nothing," he remarks, tucking his hands into his pockets. He gives Kaylee a quick grin as he starts walking. "You going to the Halloween stuff in town tomorrow?"

"No, I've got basketball tomorrow night in Thunder Bay, so I won't be going to the Halloween stuff. But you should definitely go!" Kaylee encourages, smiling and gesturing towards the path back to the school. "And yes, we should be getting back so we have plenty of time before curfew. How are you liking school so far?" she asks, turning her face towards Shades, even if her eyes have that thousand-yard stare.

Shades looks down as he walks. "Well, the coursework's impossibly hard, I'm probably gonna fail out, there's a pyromaniac homicidal ghost that's tried to burn me to death a few times, serving detention in the cafeteria is like being an unpaid busboy, and in a school full of supers, hardly anyone actually wants to be a super hero." Then he looks up with a huge grin. "So, nothing like I expected- but most of the time, pretty freaking awesome."

Kaylee's face drops at all of the bad things that Shades lists. But, the fact that he takes it with aplomb brings a bemused smile to her face. "Well, I'm really sorry you've been having some struggles. Have you asked for any help, at all? I know there are a bunch of us upper classmen who would be happy to tutor and help with the schoolwork. It can be a lot in the beginning. And, really, I think more people wanna be a hero than you're assuming. We've just got HIGH SCHOOL to deal with, and figuring ourselves out before we go try and stop locomotives and leaping tall buildings and stuff. You'll see!" And Kaylee sounds pretty sure of that.

Shades waves a hand vaugely as he continues the walk back to school. "Nah, it's not as bad as it sounds," he replies off-handedly. "I'm pretty sure I've got a handle on most of it. But, uh," he glances over, "I might end up asking for some help with english. Do you remember anything about the Odyssey?"