You'll Thank Me Later (open)

[feathers4]

A flutter of wings graced the sky above the two people conversing in an alley. The clatter of graceful claws grasping a metal surface could be heard if one was really listening for such things, but most people would hardly notice the presence of a raven on a dumpster. There was one, of course, not far from David.

Balam Xbalanque, a serial opportunist and rabid wanderer, had smelled blood in his low-flying buzz of the hotel that was drawing a crowd on the street below. There were all sorts of people that were gathering there below the shattered window and half-destroyed wall. He'd surveyed the scene from the air, as was his way, and then, after having an interesting look at the shriveled carcass on the floor of the hotel, moved on. The blood from that scene had been the first to attract him, after all. Ravens were scavengers of carrion, as were jackals, and his sense for finding the dead was unparalleled. But, upon finding the carcass of a very old, dead vampire, his corvid mind had simply said not food! and taken off again to find the next scent.

Which had been, of course, surprisingly close by. It was the dead blood that had caught his attention, the sickly, iron-filled smell that usually meant there was food for someone with a very strong stomach-- someone like him. His first place to alight on was, of course, the lip of the dumpster. He resettled his feathers for a moment, head twitching about as intelligent black beady eyes surveyed the scene. There was a man, he was the one who'd been bleeding-- and he had the strangest pieces of metal coming right out of his back. Balam had wandered the earth for years, searching for it's oddest corners and weirdest people, but never had he seen anything like this. What was that? They looked like snakes. Like something pulled out of an engine, with pinscers and awful red lights and...well, he thought they were grotesque, really.

Balam looked beyond the man, espying a woman. But-- no, he could see that she was like him, another shifter, and he cawed happily, his wings spreading to steady him as he tottered on the thin lip of the trash receptacle. Balam reached out mentally-- he knew he had a sort of telepathic ability with others of his kind. Balam couldn't really talk, more communicate in a sense of expressions and feelings and sensations instead of words. It was a primal type of conversation, more suited to the animal-minded like themselves. He sent an inquisitive sort of message, gently curious, as if to say, 'who are you? do you need help?' Or, perhaps, 'what is this person you're talking to?' They didn't seem to be in any kind of altercation; he flapped closer, pushing off the dumpster. Another flutter of black wings brought him to the pavements, crowing curiously at the blood on the ground and the snake-like things waving around in the air.

[emiko]

There was nothing wrong with her head and she would have been very upset to hear that he was thinking such things. Anari was a smart woman, perhaps a little too caring and innocent, but smart. So, they could understand her? Well, they didn't like company so that meant they had to have some type of intelligence or something. How confusing, She wasn't sure what to think of them. She knew she didn't want them to touch her, though, that was for sure. She frowned at the mention of her parents. Yea, her mother might not like it so much but Anari could handle it. She would be sleeping soon anyway. With all that alcohol in her system it was a wonder she could even stand up. Naturally, Anari didn't keep alcohol in her house. Her mother brought it over from her home which happened to be several hours away. Anari didn't approve of such things in her home but it couldn't be helped for the time being.

Though, she found it quite amusing that he would think she lived with her parents. Their home? No, her house was all hers. Perhaps she was a little young to live on her own but who was going to say anything about it? Anari was quite mature for her age. She would keep this seventeen year old body but her mind would continue to age. She was never die as long as she kept out of situations like this. The angel would protect her, he had said so himself. Would he protect her if she got herself into a bad situation? If it was her fault? Like here? There was no telling. Besides, she didn't know where the angel was. It wasn't like he wasn't busy with others or anything. Still, she wished he was here now to help her and make her feel a bit more comfortable. It was these same streets where she had first met the black angel. Not too long ago, really. She wouldn't lose her new friend, she would make sure of that.

When he declined she let out a small breath she had been holding in. She was a little relieved that he would refuse, but she was also upset. Was she not good enough? Did he think she was below him? Did he really just not want to be around her? She started feeling bad, upset, lost, confused. Many emotions moved through her and the clouds moved across the sky once more to show she was not so happy anymore. Almost sad, but that wasn't going to show. There was more anger anyway. Anari didn't fear the streets like some did. She wasn't afraid of the monsters that lurked there. After all, Daimon protected her. Which meant she had Hiro's wolves wouldn't hurt her, right? The seven sins weren't allowed to lay a hand on her either. The only thing she had to fear was vampires. Then again...they wouldn't have anything to do with her, would they? Who knew?

The next thing he said frightened her quite a bit. He threatened her? Oh, now it was obvious the woman was upset. "How dare you," she hissed. Oh dear, she could feel that anger coming forth. "How dare you," she repeated. "I offer you a place to stay, food to eat and you threaten me?" she growled. Had she been in her eagle form her feathers would have bristled. She stood tall and seemed to be quite calm despite her obvious anger. A small sound of thunder was heard, a sign that she was not too happy. Her anger wasn't overwhelming, though. She was already calming down. Though she honestly couldn't see why he would be angry and want to attack her now. "I can understand if you did not want my company, but to threaten me," she said, seeming to not understand. "You should feel lucky I have not turned you in already, my friend," she said calmly, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Though angry, there was still a bit of fear in her that she would not show. Would he really attack her? She didn't doubt it. She took a few steps back but something moved nearby. A bird. Though, not just a bird. A shapeshifter in the form of a bird. She felt a little bit better having the creature nearby and quite interested in him now. She hadn't seen many shapeshifters around. Her eyes lit up as he cawed. She giggled softly, excited almost. She could feel him at the edge of her mind and she allowed him in. If he could see into her mind he would see her innocence, her pure heart and soul. She didn't belong here with this nasty man or in this disgusting alley. She could almost understand what this bird was wanting to know. She watched him drop to the floor of the alley and she winced noticably, holding her hand out to him. "Pretty bird, my friend. I'm Anari," she said, smiling sweetly and inviting him over.

[david]

David cursed inwardly. Threatening hadn't worked so well, after all. She had seemed so wary of the actuators before, but now he only made her angry. Great, more problems. The top right actuator seemed to almost growl, or a sound similar as the machine caught the readings of the bird.

More, Master. Another one of those things. Are they going to surround us? They sounded anxious now as they all lifted up and went still, as a rattler would do before it would strike. David tried to clear his thoughts, blocking the urge to kill that waved off of the metal tentacles in torrents.

Turn him in? He lifted his head at that, as he had kept it lowered while he concentrated to restrain the mechanical beasts. He began to laugh then, almost uncontrolled. This girl was something, he had to give her that. "Kid, the last time police came hear me, even to ask questions, these things tore them apart in a manner of seconds."

He shook his head and forced himself to his feet, the bottom actuators holding him steady as they gripped the floor now. They sensed most of their "fun" was leaving them, now. The top ones almost seemed to sulk considerably.

"I may have control of their AI at the moment, but don't think they won't try to disobey and snap your pretty little neck. There is no reason for you to even be here. I do not need, nor do I want you idea of help. I do not associate myself with anyone. It will only count as another liability," he growled, turning to walk away.

We caught a reading of a warehouse nearby, Master. Is that sufficient?

David only nodded, trying to keep from losing conscious. He was so tired. The actuators began walking for him again, glad to no longer be under such restraint for now. The upper left actuator glanced back at Anari and her knew bird companion and opened and snapped its claw, as if saying goodbye. The upper right noticed this and made a jerking movement towards it, followed by an angry hissing noise as the upper left went back to its duty of searching for threats on its side.

[feathers4]

What in the world was happening? Balam felt like he was caught in a surreal scene from a comic-book mashup. Animorphs versus Transformers? He wondered if Octopus-man was playing the part of Optimus Prime or some strange new hybrid. Or maybe he was one of the X-Men. He wondered if Spiderman would show up soon...or, wait. Something about Spiderman reminded him of this whole mess, but he couldn't put his finger on quite what it was.

What? He spent a lot of time on a tiny boat floating in the middle of some godforsaken sea. He had to do something to pass the time, and comic books had fascinated him. They reminded the very, very old shapeshifter of the first serial paintings and sculptures that had been so very avant garde in Greece, at the Treasury of the Athenians on little Delphi. They'd been so proud of them, but at the time it had just reminded him of the large painting of Minoan Bull Jumping he'd seen in Crete. The Grecians were a funny sort of people. Very proud-- and then, his mind snapped back to the present as the other shapeshifter responded to him. She had called him 'pretty bird,' an odd appellation for a raven, but he liked it nonetheless. It was fairly obvious from how open she was that he'd stumbled on a sweetheart of a girl, and he was happy for that. Balam was a sucker for nice girls.

Well, he was mostly just a sucker for girls in general, when it came down to it. He glanced up at the Octo-man for a moment more, recognizing the tense-before-the-strike posture as well as any beast would, before hopping obediently towards the lady, his black wings skillful and silent as he flew the short distance. When the raven's claws reached Anari's fingers, he grabbed on with all the delicacy he could muster, not wanting to scratch or pinch her. Being dropped sucked, and on top of that, he naturally wanted to impress the pretty woman with his gentility. It seemed, for a man who was deathly afraid of love and commitment, that he was quite keen to charm, hit on and/or chase after beautiful women. And well, her nature as a shifter was only an added bonus. His next telepathic message was a cheerful, warm feeling, his was of telling her that he was very glad to meet her.

But then, his attention fell back onto the man with the tentacles. Balam wondered how he was controlling them. Technology had been advancing lately at a pace he couldn't follow. Were they like puppets? He didn't think so, they were very lifelike. Maybe some shaman had trapped snake-souls in them, and then a surgeon had stuck them on this poor man's back. Even still, how did the man keep them from eating him? Maybe they knew eating what they were stuck to would kill them off, too. So, they were more than snake spirits, snakes were too stupid to understand such things. This was something quite else. The human was laughing now, rather maniacally. Yes, he imagined those things could really do some damage if he needed them to. Weird, what you could find just wandering the skies of this little city.

The human was talking about his control over the thingies, and how he didn't want to get close to anyone, as they'd be a liability. Balam found himself agreeing with this statement in a rather odd way. It was a more defensive version of how he himself operated, constantly pushing others away and keeping to his own company in an effort to avoid hurting anyone when he eventually left. A gypsy, a pirate and a wanderer, Balam Xbalanque couldn't really be expected to stay in one place for terribly long. He watched as the person moved off on his thingies-- he looked very, very tired. The shapeshifter, in the form of a raven, felt bad for him. He thought perhaps he could empathize with this man-machine. Definitely an odd thing for a man so very attuned to the natural world as Balam was.

[emiko]

She watched them go still and she stopped moving as well, almost as if she had stopped breathing. She knew what that meant just as much as the other shifter. The crocodile side of her felt threatened. Strange how violent that creature could be. The reptile was the least used in public of the three. Anari knew the reptile could get quite violent, though Anari was innocent and pure. The reptile was her most aggressive form. In that form she truly was a predator. Now, it seemed she was staring into the face of another predator. Anari wouldn't attack because that wasn't the way she did things, but she could feel the crocodile longing to defend itself. These animals she formed to still had basic instinct and it took a lot for Anari to control it. She could, though, because she was too kind to let them go wild. At the sound of the hiss she found herself wanting to return the sound in that aggressive way that only a crocodile could pull off.

Anari smiled sweetly at the bird that landed on her long fingers, it's claws far from piercing her skin. She lifted the other hand, stroking the birds feathers. Anari had assumed that no shapeshifter would ever be cruel to her. They were of the same race, why would they be cruel. So her kindness and willingness to be so close to a shapeshifter could have been her downfall. It seemed this raven wasn't going to attack her, though. She was too sweet to assume he would. It took quite a bit to keep herself from pressing her face against him and nuzzle his pretty feathers. Anari loved animals and she had to remind herself that there was a human on the inside of this one. It would be odd for her to start rubbing on the bird and loving on him. She didn't want to scare him off. She continued to pet his feathers, though, and smiling to him. "What are you doing here?" she asked, recieving warm feelings from the bird.

She was so distracted by the fellow shapeshifter that she almost forgot about David. He started laughing though and brought her attention back to him. There was a confused look on her face for a moment and she looked to Balam as if she had no idea why the guy was laughing. But he finally spoke and that made her remember what had been said. 'Oh,' she thought. "Not something you would want to brag about, I assure you," she said, frowning a bit. Her anger was gone and now she was just frustrated. She didn't understand why he was being so cruel. This poor innocent girl. She didn't know what to do. she just wanted to get away from this cruel man. There were no compliments from him even though her beauty was beyond words. How was he being so cruel to such a pretty woman. Her fingers continued to stroke the bird, though, as if seeking comfort.

"You do need help," she whispered, looking at the man with sad eyes. Two of the things seemed to be fighting as he walked away but she ignored it. She took a few steps forward to go after him. She was careful so she didn't drop the bird that was perched on her fingers, though. "I don't know what to do, pretty friend," she said softly to the raven. "He needs help. A place to stay, right? I offered my home," she explained, though it was obvious she didn't really want him there. Perhaps she was too kind for her own good. She really wanted to help. The man could leave when he got some rest if he would only come stay for the night. She wouldn't bother him. She could give him food and something to drink. Anything he needed she would provide for him. "He won't come with me," she said softly, upset that he could continue to refuse her help. "Think you could change his mind?" she asked Balam, though she was sure if she couldn't do it, he couldn't either.

[david]

The top two actuators kept their attention on Anari and her new companion, zooming in as they walked farther away. Their little conversation perked the left one's interest. Master, perhaps we should consider? it asked. David stopped. Had that one just talked to him without the other three? Silence followed as David and the other three actuators stopped to look at the upper left. What is wrong, Master? It seemed to cock its head to the side in confusion.

Why aren't you...uh...talking with them? he asked cautiously. The other actuators seemed to agree with the question with quiet murmuring in David's mind. The single actuator now seemed to ponder this, dipping its pincers downward as it clicked its "mouth" thoughtfully.

Because they didn't think of it first?

That caused an angry disturbance with the other three and David feared it wouldn't end well. All right, all right. Let's deal with this later, okay? Just...ask them about it next time, he told it hurriedly. How long had they been standing here? Dammit, so much for getting away from the girl. She seemed to be following him now. Persistent teenager.

Well, Master?

Stop pressuring him, snapped another actuator. It sounded like it came from the top right. Oh no. David was beginning to wish they had just stuck with talking as one. If four voices started arguing in his head, he knew he would snap.

"Shut UP," he snarled out loud, holding his head. The actuators became silent once more, and the top left sank with its "brothers" near the floor, as if being scolded had hurt its feelings. What the hell was going on? David began to shake his head a bit, to try and clear it from the crowded feeling.

He needed to keep moving. Now. Before something went wrong and he killed the girl in a fit of confusion.

[feathers4]

Balam made a churring sort of sound as Anari petted his feathers, a noise somewhere between a purr and a caw. It was one of those things that the shapeshifter had a habit of, blending his animal sides in subtle ways as a result of prolonged exposure to each. Thus, this little birdlike purring noise that came as a result of his being petted. It was a very nice feeling, with the gentle pressure of Anari's little hand on his glossy black back. When she asked what he was doing here, he gave a little shrug of his wings and cocked his head to one side a tad. The little presence in her mind seemed to be saying something like 'Dunno, I was just wandering around.'

And then both of the shapeshifters turned their attention back to the man with the mechanical tentacles. As a raven, though Balam was facing away from the human he had but to turn his head slightly to the side to get a view of both him and the girl. Monocular vision had been difficult to adjust to, at first, with it's much wider field of vision, poor depth perception, and, well, distinct difference from the binocular vision of all his other forms. Still, it was very useful when he needed to see several things at once. Besides that, his vision here was very, very sharp, made to be able to focus on things very far away. It was not as good as a falcon or eagle's was, but still, it beat a human's by leaps and bounds. This David person was telling the lady how he'd destroyed a batallion of police, and she was not at all impressed or amused by the admission, which made Balam chuckle inwardly. The woman, though firey when upset, as she was now, continued to stroke his feathers with the same gentility as before. Women were and always would be a puzzle to little Balam.

She seemed saddened to see the man go, though she had been very upset with him moments before. The raven wondered how long they'd known each other. The two shifters moved a bit closer to the receding man by virtue of her two legs, Balam seeming to be unaffected by her sudden movements. "Think you could change his mind?"

Well, no, he didn't think he could. This person seemed very determined to go suffer in the silence of his own odd company. It was a legitimate wish, he was sure. If Balam had had such strange things coming out of him, he would've disagreed to stay a night with a sweet lady like Anari as well. But, then again, this woman was absolutely gorgeous, and adorably sweet to boot. He'd always had a gaping gigantic weak spot for women, and there was just no saying no at this point. He couldn't guarantee any results, of course, but he could at least try. He bobbed his head to her, sending the mental impression of the affirmative in his little way. And, with that, he'd push off of the pretty woman's little fingers and into the sky, his ink-black wings perhaps blowing a little breeze into Anari's face as he took flight. Balam flapped shortly towards David's receding figure, taking care to give his appendages a wide berth as he moved over and around the man.

When he was comfortably in front of David, a man seemed to drop out of the air where the bird had been, his feet hopping gingerly onto the asphalt with the grace of someone who had dropped out of a raven-shape thousands of times. He was handsome, long and lean without being intimidatingly tall, with dark-chocolate eyes and brown-black hair that was always a contained mess. An ever-present easy smile graced his face, which seemed like it matched the raven-form very well, with the small eyes and large hooked nose. He was quite good looking, though, for all his oddness of form, and stood calmly confident before this weirdly-tentacled man. Balam was dressed in some tee-shirt or other and a pair of jeans with chucks, and a rather old black leather jacket to go on top. It was a comfortable outfit for wandering urban jungles like this one, and gave him a sort of classic cool look that most anyone in this time could respect. And now-- what was he going to say? "Hey, uh. 'Scuse me." He put up his hands as if to plead for a moment of David's time. "My friend asked me to speak with you...um, I'm sure you don't really want to talk to me, but uh...well, look, I can tell you're tired and annoyed, but I think you should take the girl up on her offer. I doubt she'd bother you, at all, I think she just wants to be sure you stay somewhere that will let you recover." He paused, peering at the snake-like things that had sunk to the ground after he'd scolded them moments ago. "I mean, free room and board, right? Beats the hell out of sleeping on the ground, I can tell ya that." Balam was remarkably jovial given the situation, his hands having sunk to the pockets of his jacket, little half-smile still intact. He'd walk along with David if the man didn't want to stop.

[emiko]

Anari was so very confused at this point. Two of those nasty snake like things seemed to be watching her as they moved away. Why were they doing that? She didn't understand. Why wouldn't he accept her offer? It wasn't like the young girl offered to let everyone stay at her home. In fact, she hadn't even invited her angel over to stay. He should have felt a bit special about being asked to go to her home. She was making a kind gesture towards this man and he was being rude. She wasn't afraid of him, though. Perhaps those things on his back, but not him. She wouldn't stop stroking the soft feathers of the raven on her hand, though. She was glad he was enjoying it becuase it was calming her down a bit. Something different started happening though. Three of them turned to the one on the left and David stopped walking. She took this time to take a few more steps forward. Would it continue to be like this? Forward, then back and repeat? It was quite frustrating.

Anari wasn't usually this persistant, but he was hurt and she only wanted to help him. Why not? She had nothing better to do than deal with her mother that night. She would rather be here trying to help a man then at home demanding that her mother leave her. Her thoughts were interrupted as the man yelled and she flinched a bit. "I did not say anything," she said gently as if she wasn't completely understand what was going on. She realized she could almost tell what the bird was saying to her. Wandering around? "I do that a lot, pretty bird," she said, deciding that this was to be her new name for him. Perhaps to humans she looked pretty crazy talking to the bird. Much like that human looked crazy talking to himself. The bird seemed to agree to try and change the mans mind and lifted from her finger. She watched him curiously, smiling a bit as he flew off towards the man.

She saw him change and fall to the ground as a human now. He looked quite interesting. A handsome man, though not someone that fit her tastes. After all, she didn't find many men attractive. She was glad this shapeshifter was going to help her, though. She really didn't want to be alone with David. So, if Balam could get David to stay at her home that night she would invite the shapeshifter to stay as well. Perhaps even sleep in the same room so that she could have protection should David do anything stupid. She didn't want the shapeshifter to be attacked, though, so she watched carefully in case the nasty things made any sudden movements. She would have to warn Pretty bird ahead of time. She wouldn't be able to protect him herself, though. She would run, if anything, and hope that Balam could take care of it himself or get away with her.

She listened to the man talk and she nodded a bit. "I am only concerned for your well-being," she said gently. "He is correct. I will not bother you. You may leave when you are finished resting and feel better," she promised. There was an innocence there that never went away. Even when she was angry and got an attitude it was almost obvious that she wouldn't back anything she said up. She was polite and kind and couldn't bring herself to harm anyone. If she had to protect herself, though, she would. "Please, accept my offer," she pleaded. Her eyes fell on Balam as if begging him to change David's mind. There was a bit of worry but if that was from trying to bring home a dangerous stranger or for his well-being there was no way of telling. She was so innocent, how could he doubt that she would leave him alone?

[david]

David looked a tad bit more irritable than he had been earlier. These people weren't going to stop, were they? When the man had dropped down in front of him, David had stepped back, his arms (including the metal ones), sprung up in defense to block a possible attack. No matter who or what, he was always threatened. He couldn't trust anyone, no matter how innocent and kind they may appear.

"I already told you," he said firmly, realizing an attack wasn't eminent yet and lowered his guard slightly. "I don't have time for this. And I already have a place to go. I have problems to work out and I don't need a couple of shapeshifters trying to play nice standing in my way right now."

A grim smile fell over his dark, shadowy face. "I can handle myself just fine. I can get rest on my own time, and personally, a bed wouldn't work for me anymore, anyway. It would make hardly any difference, seeing as I'm uncomfortable wherever I sleep."

The actuators swarmed around him, ever watching Balam and Anari. The upper left kept its heart lights placed on her, ever curious to watch what she would do or say. But, Master, you could work so much better in a safer, cleaner environment. There are so many harmful bacteria over at the warehouse. There is a high chance you will get sick.

My twin has a point, came the voice from the top right. If they plan on setting a trap for us, we can simply kill them easily.

David ran his hands down his face, wondering if he should just give up all together. Now the voices in his own head started to disagree with him. Didn't they understand anything he had been saying? He couldn't risk getting to know these people, no matter how short a stay. He'd only get them involved in this huge, horrible mess of what was his life. But what point was it to argue with himself?

Yes... he realized slowly. They are a part of me...so I am technically arguing with myself. I should be in a madhouse.

David lifted his head back, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. The young girl's words seemed to jar him our of his thoughts. "Fine, dammit, if it will get you all to shut up."

[feathers4]

Trying to play nice? Well, okay, that was fine then. Balam would back up after that, his hands held up in an apologetic gesture. If he had a place to go and wanted to be alone, by all means, the shifter would let him go his merry way. He'd been under the impression that the human had no where to go, but he wouldn't stand between a tentacled man and his house...or wherever tentacled men in this city made their homes. And then, to Balam's surprise, Anari spoke up again from behind David. The actuators swarming around David seemed to be watching himself and the other shifter, silent but expressive with their movements. "Art imitates life, or life imitates art?" he muttered, sotto voce.

His eyes followed the proceedings, taking a backseat to the whole thing. Well, he'd only happened upon it by accident, after all. Balam hadn't get made up his mind yet as to whether he'd stick around for long and see it through. The girl was sweet, though, and the first shifter he'd met in town. Besides that, the human was quite fascinating. He'd never seen anything like what the man had emanating from his back, and would really like to ask a few questions of the man. It was unfortunate that he was so standoffish, but Balam was sure he would come around. He'd made friends with more difficult people, anyhow.

And then, with a deep breath, the strange man consented to Anari's wishes. It was sort of sudden to Balam, but, well, he supposed they were just getting to be that annoying. He stood back after that, hands falling back down by his sides. This discussion was really between the other two-- he had just happened by to help a fellow shifter out. There wasn't, as in some other species, much enmity between shifters. There were few of them, and they were for the most part quite a peaceful bunch. "Well, uh. Alright, then."

[emiko]

'Ugh,' she thought to herself as he denied her once more. She got quiet but she wasn't going to give up just yet. He needed help. She wasn't quite sure why he had been vomiting up blood but she knew it couldn't be good. Also, she really did want to find out what was on his back. Was that what was causing him to be sick? He was, after all, human. They still seemed to be watching her and she was to the point where she was almost willing to try and talk to them. the left seemed to have a light on her and she wanted to shy away from it but she held her ground. She wasn't going to show that she was afraid. Perhaps they were like animals and could sense fear. Anari had enough experience with animals to know such things. After all, she pretty much was one. Or three. Anyway, she knew she couldn't show that she feared them. She turned her head to the side at the left one and smile a bit.

David had gotten quiet again and she was wondering what he was thinking while he was so silent. Balam spoke and she realized she had no idea what he was talking about. It seemed she was going to ask him but David spoke to them now. Her eyes moved from Balam back to the human and she narrowed them a bit as if she was having problems seeing. This wasn't the case, though, her eyesight was beyond perfect. "Right," she said, letting out a sight of relief. "I'm Anari," she said to David, though she was sure he already knew her name from when she introduced herself to the bird. Her eyes moved back to Balam and she had a look of gratitude in them. "Thank you," she whispered to him, still frozen in her spot and wondering if David's things would attack her if she moved. It wasn't very far to her home, she knew.

"You are welcome to come as well, bird," she said to Balam. The tone in her voice said she really wanted him to come along so she didn't feel as threatened and alone with David. "Sir, my home is not far. I have plenty of rooms for you to choose from," she said softly, backing out of the alley and waiting for him to follow her. So innocent and kind she was. It was a wonder she hadn't been killed by the cruel intentioned people that infested this world. No, she did not belong here. It seemed she was angelic and belonged in heaven, if anywhere. She was too sweet for this world. But she lived here, holding her place and never letting go. Her angel protected her from the evils and hatred, though he was sin himself.

[david]

David only seemed to be half-listening. Distancing himself from these people was his best choice. They didn't need to know his name either, so he kept silent as the top right actuator slithered in front of his face and appeared to be speaking to him with the mechanical chirps and hisses everyone else heard.

We understand your concern, but these things are not giving off any malevolent forces. If anything, when they act suspicious we can easily dispose of them.

I don't want that, David thought back grimly, narrowing his eyes behind his protective shades before he pushed the metal creature away with his hand dismissively. The upper left still seemed to be watching Anari. Since it was the first to form independence from its "brothers", David wondered what exactly it was thinking about the girl.

Master, it finally spoke up, turning its head towards him. Are you all right? Your readings are changing drastically-

At first, David had no idea what it was talking about until his sight was blurring heavily and he began staggering backwards. What the hell was going on? The bottom actuators kept their claws dug into the ground to keep him from falling backwards and as the confused hunter held his dizzy head, his knees were already buckling underneath him.

The actuators let out a combination of alarmed sounds as they themselves began suffering a black out. The top left reached out towards Anari -a cry for help, before its heart light blinked out and it crashed to the floor with the rest of its brothers.

[feathers4]

Balam inclined his head slightly as Anari's whispered thanks registered in his ears. Being part jackal made his hearing stellar, just as being part jaguar made his sense of smell unparalleled. A little bemused smile decorated his face. This was a motley collection, indeed. His dark eyes fluttered back to David momentarily before returning to Anari when she spoke again. She was offering her home to him as well, a very kind gesture. It had been awhile since he'd slept in a house, and he thought it might be nice. Besides, he wanted to learn more about this little shifter, who she was and what she knew about the town he'd wandered into not two days ago that he hadn't already gleaned from it.

And then, of course, there was that fascinating conundrum of the curmudgeony human. And his tentacles, too, interested him, but honestly Balam was more interested in having a chat with this man, who seemed so helplessly stubbornly resistant to the ministrations of someone as innocently kind as Anari. He wondered if he'd been so standoffish before those things had been put on his back, and he wondered how long he'd had them. Why had he volunteered for such a thing, or had it even been his choice? Oh, yes, Balam was a highly curious man and questions broiled on his tongue. But he didn't have much time to ask any of them at all. Not but a few moments after Balam had sent a little psychic 'thank you, I might. to Anari did the human begin to totter on his feet.

Balam had been tuning out the clatter of mechanical noise coming from the machines, which seemed to be how they communicated with the person they were attached to. The man himself seemed to understand them perfectly, which was a wonder to Balam. The shifter had wandered far and wide and heard many, many languages and even remembered a very few, but he had never heard anything like the way the machine 'spoke.' Was it the length of the hisses that was relevant? The pitch of chirpings? Ah, well. More questions for a man who probably wasn't interested in answering any of them. And then, Balam's attention flew fully back to the tentacled one. He was teeter-tottering on his own feet, and then grasping his head, and then-- down for the count. His tentacles were at once helpful and ridiculous, the bottom two grabbing at the ground and the top two screeching and chirping and carrying on. One, the leftmost, which had been keeping it's 'eye' on Anari, seemed to reach out to her, which Balam thought very, very weird. He wondered what that had been for.

His inner raven-self couldn't help but want to hop over to the limp body of the man to see what was up with him, and so the man-shaped bird did just that, walking sheepishly to the man before squatting down beside him to inspect the thing. He was alive, of course; Balam had excellent senses for dead things, being that he was quite the scavenger. He looked up from where he was, feral eyes finding Anari. "Erm. It looks like we'll have to carry him..." He glanced back again at the man, eyeing his tentacles. It would've been quite hard for Balam to drag just the man across town, but with the addition of the tentacles there was really no doing it. Not, anyway, without giving him unnecessary road rash. "I think we'll have to roll him away on something, though, 'less you've got a horse shift or something."

[emiko]

Silence. Anari watched in concern as he began to stumble. Such a strange sight this was. He began to stumble forward, holding his head and losing his balance. The left one reached out to her and she wondered why. He own hand moved out as if to try and catch him but once he collapsed she pulled it back to her, towards her chest. "Sir?" she called softly, though it was obvious he wouldn't be answering her. A frown appeared on her pretty face and she sighed heavily. Had he just accepted the first time she offered he wouldn't have done this. Now what was she going to do? She really couldn't carry the man back to her home. What if he woke up and those things attacked her? He already threatened her once. It was obvious he wouldn't hesitate to kill her. Then again, he had accepted her invitation to stay at her home. The other shapeshifter had said he might stay as well. She felt a little bit better now.

She had her own little curiousity when it came to the snake things on this mans back. Probably the same questions the bird was wanting answers to. She wouldn't ask him, though, seeing as she had already said she would not bother him while he was in her home. That didn't mean she couldn't listen in on the conversation if bird was going to question him. There was only one problem. Anari's mother. She could just hear what the woman had to say about all this already. She would think Anari such a whore for bringing home not one man, but two. But that wasn't the reason these two men were being taken to her home, of course. Anari was already thinking of ways to get her mother to go to bed. All she had to do was ask, right? Perhaps she was already sleeping and Anari didn't have to worry about it. Although, the thought of her mother waking up and trying to do something to the boys was something that frightened Anari.

Anari watched Balam move forward and she stood still for a few moments before going towards David as well. She knelt down next to him, her heart pounding as she ran her fingers over the left thing that had reached out to her. Carry him? She looked up at Balam, a confused look on her face. He expected her to do what? She laughed nervously. In her mind she went over the three shifts. Chinchilla was out for obvious reasons. The eagle was big and strong..she knew she could probably carry a small deer in that form but not a human. The crocodile would be the strongest but she didn't want to hurt him. She could be gentle but that wouldn't get them anywhere. Also, it would be a very slow walk from here to her home. As for a horse shift, she didn't have one. "No..." she said softly, feeling bad that she couldn't be of any help here. "I suppose that means you do not have one either?" she asked, looking around the nasty alley they were standing in.

[david]

Master?

Nothing. Only silence. And darkness.

Master, are you there? Brothers?

Still nothing. Blind, possibly deaf, and perhaps even mute now at this revelation - the top left actuator struggled for life. The shutdown was an act of error, it was sure. How had it happened? Were even their backup batteries damaged some how? Why wasn't Master showing any signs of life?

It panicked, fighting to wake itself up, if it were somehow impossibly dreaming. Could they get nightmares? They were a part of this human of theirs, so was it possible for them to begin to think and feel as once does?

Breathing. It heard breathing. And voices. Two voices. Familiar voices. Female and male. The girl? Yes, yes, the girl. Their master wasn't dead, he had only malfunctioned and caused them to react as well.

They had only shut themselves off without it realizing it. It could wake up. It only needed to try harder. Struggling to open up its claw, the heart light flickered. The top left actuator gained the sensation of touch, the stroking of the girl showing it how close it was to recovering. Were its other brothers waking up too?

Hello?

Still nothing. It let out a mournful sounding whirring noise at it continued to fight the power failure. The claws twitched, opening slightly to allow it to see. A relieved chirp escaped it as it set its readings on Anari. Awake. I'm awake! Although it knew she couldn't hear it. One slight glance towards its master and its siblings made it jerk. But Master wasn't dead. He still had a pulse.

Chirping again and trying to pull itself up weakly, it opened and shut its pincers bowing slowly towards Anari to show it meant no threat. It wanted her to help its master, if anything.