Tobias didn't remember falling asleep before dinner.
He must have, though, because he woke up with a whimper of pain and tears springing up in his eyes as his bones melted and shrunk and hollowed out under his skin, leaving him breathless in agony and feeling as fragile as spun glass for the two seconds it took for the rest of his body to catch up with the morph, rapidly shriveling down around his bird-tiny bones with faint meaty noises as scales crept up his legs, lips hardening before bursting out into a beak, feathers sprouting in irregular waves across his body.
It took a minute before he was huddled on his back under his blankets, hawk brain going into alarmed panic at being trapped and human mind relieved that the pain went away with the morph. It still took a few seconds before he was coordinated enough to rip his way free of the blankets with beak and talons, and he struggled up out through the now-shredded cloth, panting a little and peering around the dark room.
Damn, why was it never daylight when he had his hawk eyes? They were useless at night, as bad as human eyes...
But Tobias could hear breathing, and he peered across the room, extending a tentative, < Cross? > when he saw someone huddled in his roomate's bed.
All the movement and tearing of cloth had roused Cross somewhat, and he rolled over slowly, painfully, to see his roommate. Apparently the bird thing was going to be a nightly occurrence. That might get a bit annoying after a time. Or after one time.
"Evening," he greeted with a sleepy smile, the fact that the other boy wasn't human anymore not even bothering him in the slightest. "Are you all right?" He'd been fine before, but he couldn't know if the situation would change from one night to another.
< I'm good. > Which was actually pretty true; now that he knew what the deal was with the pain, it was... well, pretty bad, but he'd had worse. A lot worse. < You, on the other hand... > He hopped over to the edge of his bed, talons rending sheets and mattress alike, then fluttered awkwardly across in the dead inside air to the foot of Cross' bed. < Man. What tore you up, dude? >
Cross chuckled lightly, starting to sit up a bit before realizing he was at a terrible angle for that and falling back with a wince. "It's healing."
The question of the injuries' origin was a bit ironic coming from his roommate, and he smiled again. "There are other birds outside," he said. "Much, much larger than you, and much more willing to shred me apart. You should be careful if you go out there." Granted, with Tobias's size, he'd probably have an easier time avoiding them. He would have gotten away himself if he hadn't been so foolish.
Tobias tilted his head at Cross, and listened to his description of what had attacked him... and winced in a very human way, kind-of-muttering a curse that still probably made it to Cross. Tobias did not like birds bigger than him. They tended to try and eat him, unless they were Rachel in morph. (Well, he'd tried to eat sentient things a couple times, too, but that was because they did things like forget to tell them they'd morphed a squirrel until after he'd had a swoop at them.)
< I've heard about them. Apparently they go after virgins-- though I heard that from someone a little unreliable, so don't quote me on it. Still. > He'd raked out enough Hork-Bajir eyes with his talons, killed enough small fuzzy animals, and seen enough golden and bald eagles take out not-so-small fuzzy animals to know just how deadly birds could be. < You're probably lucky you're still breathing, if they're that big. > His tone was genuinely a little concerned; he and Cross hadn't talked too much, but the other kid seemed decent enough, and he was he only roommate Tobias had. and probably the only roommate he would likely ever get that didn't seem the least bit freaked out by the birdboy thing.
"You're right," he nodded. "I should have moved more quickly at the first sign of them." Cross wasn't going to argue about being fairly nimble, since the truth of the matter was that he was injured. The creatures here were dangerous and he shouldn't take them lightly.
Virgins, though. That would explain it, he supposed. There wasn't any real way to tell from that, as he'd been the only one on the field at the time, but they had seemed drawn to him. It was hard to say. He could have easily just been at the wrong place at the wrong time.
< Well, they definitely don't include going outside. > Tobias' tone was wry, and he absently bent his head to his wing, preening a few pinions as he continued. < I was thinking about going out, seeing about finding something weapon-like for when I'm human. > Maybe find someplace quiet, see if he could morph something bigger, more dangerous... Hork-bajir, maybe. Though he might get mistaken for one of this place's monsters if he was seven feet of razor-bladed snake-faced alien; maybe polar bear instead? No, that was too big. And anyway, he wasn't sure if this crazy place would let him be anything except human or hawk.
< Whatever I end up doing, though, the wings won't be much use inside, > he said regretfully, stretching them and fluttering down to the floor. < What I wouldn't give to fly... > he murmured, thought-speech managing to be low and longing and quiet; then he hunched his feathered shoulders and closed his golden hawk eyes and shivered in pain as he morphed back to human.
It was good that his roommate didn't plan on going outside. Cross just nodded as he explained what he did plan to do. A weapon might be a good idea, especially if he wasn't going to be able to use his O-parts. Then again, he'd never really used any other type of weapon. He supposed he could always swing a bat around?
The angel managed to roll over just enough to watch the bird change back into a boy. He wanted to make sure he was all right, and it seemed that he was, even if the process was obviously painful. Cross might have added that he felt the same way, except that he'd rarely flown just for the sake of flying. It had always been to get a job done.
Tobias straightened up, took a deep, wincing breath, and let it out slowly, the itching burning melting pain leaving his body. Oh, man. He needed to figure out a way to novocaine his whole body for just long enough to morph. Then he formed his best, most sincere human smile for Cross.
"Thanks. You too, man."
With that, he collected his flashlight and took off into the night, with an awkward little wave of farewell to his roomie.
With that, she turned right and went for the next room over, M5. The occupants had left already, thankfully, leaving her free to search it the same way they had the first room. Unfortunately, there was nothing around that matched Edward's description; all she was treated to was the faint smell of some sort of animal, whatever that meant.
Quickly determining that this wasn't the right room, Utena turned to leave for the next over.
He must have, though, because he woke up with a whimper of pain and tears springing up in his eyes as his bones melted and shrunk and hollowed out under his skin, leaving him breathless in agony and feeling as fragile as spun glass for the two seconds it took for the rest of his body to catch up with the morph, rapidly shriveling down around his bird-tiny bones with faint meaty noises as scales crept up his legs, lips hardening before bursting out into a beak, feathers sprouting in irregular waves across his body.
It took a minute before he was huddled on his back under his blankets, hawk brain going into alarmed panic at being trapped and human mind relieved that the pain went away with the morph. It still took a few seconds before he was coordinated enough to rip his way free of the blankets with beak and talons, and he struggled up out through the now-shredded cloth, panting a little and peering around the dark room.
Damn, why was it never daylight when he had his hawk eyes? They were useless at night, as bad as human eyes...
But Tobias could hear breathing, and he peered across the room, extending a tentative, < Cross? > when he saw someone huddled in his roomate's bed.
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"Evening," he greeted with a sleepy smile, the fact that the other boy wasn't human anymore not even bothering him in the slightest. "Are you all right?" He'd been fine before, but he couldn't know if the situation would change from one night to another.
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The question of the injuries' origin was a bit ironic coming from his roommate, and he smiled again. "There are other birds outside," he said. "Much, much larger than you, and much more willing to shred me apart. You should be careful if you go out there." Granted, with Tobias's size, he'd probably have an easier time avoiding them. He would have gotten away himself if he hadn't been so foolish.
"I'm just going to stay here... so I'll be fine."
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< I've heard about them. Apparently they go after virgins-- though I heard that from someone a little unreliable, so don't quote me on it. Still. > He'd raked out enough Hork-Bajir eyes with his talons, killed enough small fuzzy animals, and seen enough golden and bald eagles take out not-so-small fuzzy animals to know just how deadly birds could be. < You're probably lucky you're still breathing, if they're that big. > His tone was genuinely a little concerned; he and Cross hadn't talked too much, but the other kid seemed decent enough, and he was he only roommate Tobias had. and probably the only roommate he would likely ever get that didn't seem the least bit freaked out by the birdboy thing.
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Virgins, though. That would explain it, he supposed. There wasn't any real way to tell from that, as he'd been the only one on the field at the time, but they had seemed drawn to him. It was hard to say. He could have easily just been at the wrong place at the wrong time.
"What are your plans?"
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< Whatever I end up doing, though, the wings won't be much use inside, > he said regretfully, stretching them and fluttering down to the floor. < What I wouldn't give to fly... > he murmured, thought-speech managing to be low and longing and quiet; then he hunched his feathered shoulders and closed his golden hawk eyes and shivered in pain as he morphed back to human.
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The angel managed to roll over just enough to watch the bird change back into a boy. He wanted to make sure he was all right, and it seemed that he was, even if the process was obviously painful. Cross might have added that he felt the same way, except that he'd rarely flown just for the sake of flying. It had always been to get a job done.
"You take care."
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"Thanks. You too, man."
With that, he collected his flashlight and took off into the night, with an awkward little wave of farewell to his roomie.
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With that, she turned right and went for the next room over, M5. The occupants had left already, thankfully, leaving her free to search it the same way they had the first room. Unfortunately, there was nothing around that matched Edward's description; all she was treated to was the faint smell of some sort of animal, whatever that meant.
Quickly determining that this wasn't the right room, Utena turned to leave for the next over.
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