001 ][ close call stand tall

[ananticlimax]

[ audio post ]

I'm not sure I'm entirely comfortable with this.

Guys?

Will?

[ooc: so, Oz has just arrived in the city. He happens to be very much naked right now, so this post is also good for action in Xanadu for anyone who wants to happen upon him. ]

Comments

action;

[wolfspecialist]

[This running into new people in wolf form thing is getting to be a bad habit. A very, very bad habit. This is, however, the first time Will's run into someone new who also happens to be naked in public. He drops to his haunches a good ten yards away and tilts his head as if to say, "You too, huh?"]

action;

[ananticlimax]

[He hasn't encountered anyone out in Xanadu yet, and he certainly isn't expecting a not-person person, but he squints his eyes at the large brown wolf sitting in front of him in the daylight. The flare of his nostrils is the only thing that betrays Oz as not completely normal (in the physical sense, anyway.) After a few moments of staring the other man down, Oz points to his own naked...Oz-ness.]

Hey, buddy. What's your name? Sorry about this, by the way. Next time I plan for the possibility of not being in bed when I wake up. Apparently, it exists.

action;

[wolfspecialist]

[Will smells like a normal wolf in his current form, though he certainly doesn't look like one. It's the heavy interlacing of human smell with wolf smell that gives him away. He'd have to roll in dirty laundry for hours at a time to mingle the two scents so thoroughly if he were one hundred percent Canis lupus.

He can't laugh as a wolf--the vocal cords aren't right for it--but by now he's worked out how to grin with a wolf's long muzzle. The expression's still there when he changes shapes so he can talk. No reason to worry, right? This guy seems like he'll understand.]

Be glad you're hanging around a garden instead of the square. You'd never hear the end of it. I haven't.

The name's Will. You?

action;

[ananticlimax]

[Oz is prepared to second-guess himself; he'd figured the canine in front of him wasn't normal, but he didn't actually have any concrete reasons he could understand to back it up. As per usual, it was a feeling. It turns out to be an accurate one. The only outward reaction he gives to Will's shifting is a nod of his head, as if to confirm the fact of what he's just seen to himself.]

Oz.

Does this sort of thing happen around here a lot or am I the exception that proves the rule that this doesn't happen around here a lot? The naked thing.

action;

[wolfspecialist]

[The question takes a second for Will to work through. He shrugs once he's navigated the linguistic maze.]

Not a clue. It could be a disturbing monthly trend. All I know is that the City has a twisted sense of humor

action;

[ananticlimax]

[Oz blinks ponderously at Will, before shrugging and continuing on.]

I'm starting to get that feeling, yeah. So hey. This is pretty awkward. Think someone will call the cops? Do they have cops in this place? There's a guy I know here, but I'm not exactly sure this doesn't break our manliness rules.

Re: action;

[wolfspecialist]

Right. Sorry. Guess I'm too used to this. Uh ...

[Will rubs the back of his neck and points over his shoulder with his thumb.]

I've got some clothes stashed back there if you want to borrow them. I can wear my other suit home. The police probably won't bother you. They don't seem to do much unless you kill somebody, and then only if somebody else complains or you turn yourself in.

action;

[ananticlimax]

[Oz points over to the clothes and then to himself before getting the point and staring at Will for a second-- thankfully, he's not Xander-tall himself --and moving over to the clothes with a grateful bow of his head. As he slides them on, he speaks up again.]

I'll be honest. This isn't the first time this has happened to me, either. It's just the first time I've woken up in what appears to be another dimension.

[He's about to ask what Will's other suit is, his mouth working before he realizes what the guy means with an understanding but curious expression. Because that was a neat trick.]

action;

[wolfspecialist]

[Will carries more muscle than Oz but not much height, so the sweatpants and T-shirt should serve temporarily.

By now, the older man's embraced the joys of strategic positioning behind a bush to preserve the butch standard. He wouldn't much care if he were with the rest of his pack, but he's not, so all hail the metaphorical fig leaf.]

It wasn't the first time I'd been caught without pants in another dimension when I showed up here, but it was the first time I couldn't get back to where I'd left them.

action;

[ananticlimax]

[Oz gives what passes as an approving look on a taciturn face down at the sweatpants and ties them tightly. It's a good choice for emergency clothing. After he's covered up, he turns back to Will, eyes up top, and holds out his hand for a shake.]

Really? That have anything to do with the...you know. [His free hand makes an exceptionally vague gesture.] What you just did there.

action;

[wolfspecialist]

[Will's grip is firm but polite and soon released.]

Running around without clothes in Faerie, yes. Running around without clothes when I got here, that had more to do with having just rolled out of bed.

action;

[ananticlimax]

[He folds his arms over his chest, moving back away from Will slightly. It's obvious from the quality of his silence that he's currently going through some active internal monologue. Finally, he comes to his conclusions.]

Where's Faerie? Where you're from? 'Cause I'm from California.

action;

[wolfspecialist]

[Georgia does that sort of thing, so Will waits patiently while Oz processes whatever it is that needs to be processed.]

Chicago, actually. Faerie's where the faeries live. The Nevernever. Not a nice place.

Where in California?

action;

[ananticlimax]

[He accepts what Will has to say with a straight face and a nod.]

I've always wanted to go to Chicago. Not nice places not on Earth somewhat less so. Ours usually have giant monsters with tentacles in them.

[Then, suddenly, as if the thought has just caught up with Oz:]

So are you a wolf that turns into a dude or a dude who turns into a wolf? Because as it stands in this situation it could go either way.

action;

[wolfspecialist]

[That catches him off guard. Will blinks, blinks again, opens his mouth to answer, can't decide which sentence to answer, and closes his mouth in favor of taking a moment to think.

Okay, the wolf thing first. Tentacles are disturbing, extremely so under the circumstances.]

Would you believe I'm a dude who turns into a wolf because wolf who turns into a woman taught him how?

action;

[ananticlimax]

[He blinks once, followed by another of the habitual nods.]

I would believe that.