You'll Thank Me Later (open)

[feathers4]

Balam watched curiously as Anari knelt to stroke the strange metal thing that had reached out to her moments ago. When he suggested carrying the man, she looked up rather confused and gave a little chuckle that contained little humor. He laughed back at her when she guessed that he didn't have a good way to carry a tentacled man around town either. "Eh, I could drag him rather easily, but I doubt he'd like that very much once he wakes up." Yes, and wouldn't that be a sight? A jaguar prancing through the streets of Noctum, dragging an unconscious man with one of his tentacles in the feline's deadly jaws. No, that probably wouldn't work. He looked around them, eyes scanning the place for some way to trasport Anari's charge.

And then, the shifter heard a familiar whirring noise and looked immediately towards the metal things, his body automatically tensing for a strike. No attack came, however, and Balam relaxed, feeling a little sheepish. It was the same claw that had reached out to Anari, the one that had waved. It seemed to be trying to open, it's little light flickering weakly. Balam, who had little experience with machines, studied the metal thing's movements as though it were living, an animal, the only thing he truly understood. Humans might've been the Sons of Adam and the Daughters of Eve, but his kind were the children of the Earth, of Gaia, and it was her creatures he could interface with and comprehend best. Not, of course, that he didn't have a sort of fascination bordering on obsession with mankind. And so, through Balam's eyes, this actuator looked like a baby snake.

It started when it caught sight of it's unconscious brethren and the man he was attached to. It chirped again, struggling upwards, and then sank to Anari. It was the subordinate, then, the little one, the omega in that pack of metal snakes and man. The actuator was a tenacious one, though, to have woken before all the others. It actually made Balam chuckle breathily, the pitch of his laughter low. "I think the little snake likes you, Anari." His gaze as the dark-eyed man stared at the tentacle was wryly bemused, but still not wholly trustful. These things were fast and strong, and though he analyzed them as animal he knew instinctively that they were something else altogether. He would laugh at them, but keep his distance and stay on his guard. Balam Xbalanque hadn't lived so long by chance.

But the task at hand was to return David to a safe place where he could recover, and to do that the two shifters would need wheels. Balam turned towards the entrance of the alleyway, where people and cars could still be seen passing by, oblivious to what was happening in this little paved offshoot. Cars. Without looking back to the shifter and the unconscious man, Balam spoke lowly with a fairly jaunty, mischevious tone. "Looks like we're going to need wheels to get him outta here, huh? I'll be right back with something, you just sit tight 'n try to make friends with the snakes." His last words blew back to them in the breeze of Balam's quick stride as he moved away down the street, a glint in his eye and a toothy grin on his face.

Balam often called himself a pirate and a gypsy, but it wasn't just because he traveled a lot. Living like he did, as a man who didn't own much of anything of any use and was always on the road, you got good at taking what you needed from people who weren't paying enough attention to hold onto what they had. As in, Balam Xbalanque, the tricksy devil, was a damned theif. And a good one, too, as he'd been lifting things for several thousand years. Now, a car was what was on the shifter's radar.

He'd only stolen-- or rather, as he liked to say, borrowed, because he never kept them for long-- a car a few times before, since in his eyes they were fairly new. Still, they were damned useful when he needed to take other people to places far away, which he very occasionally liked to do. When Balam emerged onto the sidewalk of the main thoroughfare, he did so as a raven, perhaps a little noticable in the sea of pidgeons, but not totally out of place. His little black eyes scanned the sidewalks as he zoomed over them for someone just parking their car...and in such a busy place, that didn't take him very long at all. He'd circle the area from above, watching, waiting patiently as the woman exited her car-- it was nothing particularly nice, but large enough to fit his party and suit his purpose.

For a long time, Balam had been able to communicate mentally, in his way, with any sort of beast. And now, in a city full of pidgeons, he put the word out. It was easy to convince them to help the shifter, and on his loud caw a flock of pidgeons flew into the unsuspecting woman's face, cooing and fluttering around her in a surprising whirlwind of feathers that would cause the poor woman to drop her keys. And as soon as the little pieces of metal dropped from her hand, the raven-Balam would zoom in to catch them in a deft claw, silent as a whisper on a stream. When the pidgeons dispersed and the woman had gone, Balam dropped back by the car, quite casually walking up, unlocking it and sliding into the driver's seat with a sly smile. The pirate turned the woman's key in the ignition and calmly pulled the car away from the curb, navigating his way to the alleyway he'd left not five minutes before. Was he feeling pleased with himself as he eased the car to a stop in front of the unconscious man?

From the cat-like smile on his pretty face when he slipped out of the driver's seat, it would be hard to think otherwise.

[emiko]

She continued to run her fingers over the small metal thing, her face holding a thoughtful look. She heard her new friend speak and she nodded her head. She had to agree. Dragging him wouldn't be very nice. Of course, seeing one of Balam's shifts had to be better than seeing a crocodile dragging a man through the streets. A noise came from the small thing she was stroking and she jumped back a bit, a small gasp escaping her mouth. She was back away from it now as it chirped and opened it's..claws? It seemed to be watching her and she only stared back at it. Her heart was beating fast and she was tense, waiting for an attack that she knew could happen quite easily. She didn't want anymore scars on her pretty body. No more than the one she had. Almost flawless, she was. Almost. She would stay that way for a long time if she just played her cards right.

She, too, saw it jerk at the sight of the body that held it and the triples that lay around that body. There was almost no doubt in her mind now that these things were capable of thought. It seemed to be bowing to her and she giggled that same nervous giggle as before. At Balam's words she looked up, glaring a bit at him like she didn't believe it. She didn't really want to take any chances but the thing seemed to be saying it wasn't going to hurt her. She wasn't going to get any closer just yet. But now that one of them was awake, how would they get the man back to her home? "I wonder if the others are going to come back as well," she said, more to herself than anyone else. She watched the left one cautiously, not letting her eyes move off of it for a moment. She had a feeling that the first time she looked away, it would attack. Lions were kind of the same. They liked to attack from behind so you could usually hold them off by looking them directly in the eyes and not moving. But as soon as you turned around they would attack.

She could see Balam turning out of the corner of her eyes. She heard him speak and she whined softly after him. 'He is leaving me here?' she asked herself, moving away from the body and looking after Balam. Make friends? What was he, crazy? Could she make friends with these things? Well, if anyone could do it, it was Anari. She watched Balam leave, finally out of the alley. She was alone with the man and his things now. She was silent. A few moments passed and she stared down at the thing. Finally, she decided she could try and make friends. Perhaps it could understand what she was saying. "Um," she began, feeling a bit crazy now. She was talking to a machine, how crazy could you get? "If the others come back, will they attack me? I just want to help, I am sure you understand that," she said, voice soft and words coming out faster as she went along.

Yup, she was insane. Did she really believe this thing was going to understand her? Well, it was worth a try anyway. She wondered how long it would be until Balam came back. She wasn't quite sure what he was going to bring back for them. Help? Who would help them? Well, he had said wheels and she assumed he meant a car. Did he have a car around here? No, he had flown, right? He was in bird form when he arrived. Was he going to steal one? Oh, no, that wouldn't do at all. "Oh my," she said out loud as she thought about him stealing something to take the man home. She couldn't get in a stolen car. How could he steal something anyway? This poor innocent girl. She didn't know what she was going to do. Things were turning out so bad, now it was getting illegal. "Oh god, I am going to jail," she whispered, her breath catching in her throat.

It was only moments later Balam came back with a car. She stood, moving over to him. "Did you steal that?" she asked, a bit of panic in her voice. She was already looking for police or something that would come an arrest them for stealing a car. Not only that, this would look like kidnapping. Did it really matter, though? She had to help David. She couldn't leave him laying in the alley. She turned back over to the man and sighed. "I have to take you to the car," she said to the left thing. She moved a bit closer, intending to grab the mans arm and pulling towards the car. What other choice did she have? It wasn't like she wasn't strong enough to do it anyway. With two predators that were powerful, she wasn't a weak woman. Thank god for being a shapeshifter.

[david]

The working actuator watched Anari curiously, then turned tits attention toward Balam when he had spoken and then left. It understood his words; as it also understood the girl's wariness of it. It wished it had some way of letting her hear it, but such a program was not built inside it. The scientists had felt no need for a voice synthesizer. At first it nodded at the young shifter, then realizing the question that followed, paused, then shook its head, then nodded again.

Humans talked a lot, it concluded. And if it didn't know any better, all the head shaking would have made it dizzy. Opening and closing its pincers, the actuator glanced back at its siblings before nudging its twin. Wake up. Master needs us, it thought irritably.

Still nothing. The eerie quietness made it nervous. How could humans live with silence in their heads? The actuator went back towards Anari and jerked back when the loud engine of the car came towards them. A defensive stance, untrusting of such a large creature. It held a reading of it, and came to the conclusion that it was a mindless, human controlled machine. That nearly upset it. A slave? No, the car did not have any AI. It truly was lifeless.

This is frightening, it thought to itself, chirping and hissing worriedly at it. I shall ask Master what this means when he wakes up... However, it knew that somehow the two shifters were going to place it and its master in the car. It would help if it could, wondering if it could push its master up far enough to pull him into the mindless machine. When Anari came to take its master's arm, it tried to stay calm. A strong urge to protect the human it was attached to was strong, but it knew she meant no harm.

The actuator then placed its claws against the ground and pushed, lifting part of David up to have an easier, and faster way to carry him towards the car. It used all its strength, which was a huge amount, to drag him further with her. It could only see the ground now, as its heart light glared at the bottom, so its direction was solely led by Anari.

[feathers4]

When Balam slid out of the car, which he left idling quietly on the pavement, the first thing to accost his attention was the half-panicked Anari. She was very worried about how he'd acquired the car, and the man gave her a bemused, chiding sort of look. "Oh, please, miss Anari. I borrowed it." The pirate chuckled good-naturedly, his long slender body leaning back onto the side of the car. He was only half-lying. He did have every intention to return the vehicle-- after all, he certainly didn't want to keep it. But he hadn't quite borrowed it either, just...hoped the woman he'd stolen it from didn't have to be anywhere very soon. Later, he would drive the car back to the same spot he'd found it and lock the keys inside. He might even leave a few bills in the console, if he had any American currency on him.

But then, the female shifter seemed to decide that, regardless of the legality of Balam's actions, they needed to get David to her house. Had she spoken to the little left claw that was awake? And then-- good lord, had it understood her? He followed the girl as she went to grab David's arm and pull him along the asphalt. Balam had been about to take the opposite arm and pull the unconscious human up over his shoulders when that same left actuator went to the ground and lifted it's human up all by itself. The old shapeshifter paused at that. So, this thing was friendly, then? Or at least perhaps recognized that he and Anari were trying to help it's master. Well, that was fine by him, so long as it didn't slither up behind him and grab his neck while he was driving.

Generally, it was a bad idea to provoke Balam Xbalanque while he was driving. In the first place, he drove a lot like he flew, which was quick, dangerous and with little regard to traffic laws. But the whole act of conducting a car made him tense and uncomfortable, so touching or upsetting the usually relaxed shapeshifter would have him in his jaguar shape in an instant...and jaguars didn't drive cars very efficiently. But, hopefully, none of that would happen on this particular car ride. He mused on the subject as he helped lift and shove the man into the backseat of the car. Their little unconscious friend was no lightweight in the first place, but it was ever more difficult to tote him around with those giant metal snakes on his back. He was glad, at least, that one of them was awake and helpful. Hopefully, the rest wouldn't wake up in a panic on the way to Anari's place.

When David was finally packed into the car, the back door shut behind him, Balam would let out a sigh of relief and slip himself into the driver's seat. He'd wait until Anari was in as well and then pull the car around, heading off back toward the main road. "I think I forgot to introduce myself. My name's Balam Xbalanque." He was stopped at the entrace to the alleyway, turned to face the pretty woman momentarily. There was a kind smile on his face, different from the sly one he'd had just after stealing the car. "Which way...?"

[emiko]

The shaking and nodding of the little actuator was slightly confusing to her but she accepted it and hoped everything would be ok. Her eyes turned to Balam once more. Borrowed? Right, so he had a friend nearby. Well, she wasn't sure she believed that but she was forcing herself to believe it for now. She wouldn't think anything of it for the time being. Whether or not he stole the car was his own business. As long as she didn't know anything about it she couldn't go to jail. It wasn't like she couldn't escape from jail anyway. What a nasty thought for someone as innocent as Anari. Then again, she couldn't last very long in a place like that. Besides, the cops had a lot more to worry about then someone stealing a car. If they knew the things that roamed their cities they would leave and never return. How funny the thought was. A vampire getting arrested, that is. She could only imagine what would happen to the poor police officer who was in charge of bringing the creature in. They probably wouldn't live long enough to get him or her in the car. Not just vampires, either, seeing as shapeshifters could be hard to handle depending on their other forms. Anari, for one, couldn't be taken anywhere against her will by a human if she could bring herself to attack them. Unfortunately, she wouldn't, so she probably could be kidnapped. But what would Daimon think about that? She almost laughed at the thought. The angel would protect her so she knew she would never really be in any real trouble.

Balam came to help her with David and she noticed the little snake thing trying to help as well. So, now she knew it was willing to help her. She just hoped the others wouldn't wake up and decide that they were going to attack her. Surely the little thing could tell them that she was trying to help. If he could talk to them. He was a machine, he shouldn't even be able to understand her. Still, she wouldn't think much on this. She would find out later, she was sure. Her fingers wrapped around the mans arm and she tugged lightly, leading the little snake thing towards the car. With the help of the little thingy she eventually made her way to the car. She figured it would be Balam who drove the car, seeing as she sure as hell wasn't going to be driving around in a "borrowed" car. What if his friend saw her driving and thought she kidnapped Balam and stole his car? Of course, her paranoia told her that Balam stole it and if anyone was going to get in trouble it would be him. She wasn't that stupid. Then again, what if David woke up and the other little snake things decided to attack? It would have been better to have Balam in the passenger seat so he could protect her from the things while she was driving. She couldn't protect him, what if they attacked her? Perhaps if he woke up he would remember and tell them not to hurt her.

Finally, the two got David into the car. It seemed Balam had made the decision himself. He would be the one driving. Fine by her. She climbed into the passenger seat and buckled her seatbelt, turning slightly to look at the man in the back seat. She smiled briefly at Balam when he introduced himself. "Pleasure," she whispered, eyes on David once more. "Pretty bird, you do not think he will wake up on the way there, do you?" she asked, concern in her voice. She didn't use his name, just a small nickname she seemed to give him when she first saw himin his bird form. Daimon had his own nickname as well. She called him Angel. When asked which way, Anari looked around as if she had forgotten where she was. "That way," she answered, giving him directions to her home. The car ride would be a short one, seeing as she lived nearby.

[david]

The top left actuator kept its mechanical noises silent as it lay across David's chest protectively, wondering if in fact that the woman would ever wake up. Yes, David was still alive, but that sudden crash - what did it mean? They had made it nearly impossible for him to die...but could he never wake up again? This worried the slim, metal creature very much. Its heart light flickered a bit, tired from working by itself the entire time. If its siblings would wake up soon, maybe that would wake up David as well.

The lone actuator tried to send a message again, clicking and whirring as its voice echoed through the silent, out cold human's mind. Brothers? Can you here me? Please wake up. I am very lonely.

Still, there was only silence that answered. If the top left actuator could cry, it would have been doing so. Wake up....please... Its pincers closed tightly then, sulking as it continued to rest on the unresponsive hunter.

( I am so sorry this is so short! It's hard to only be able to write an actuator's view...XD)