locked in tight, i'm out of range [ open ]

[polarisation]

WHO polarisation and OPEN
WHAT A week in the life of a caged-up runaway.
WHERE The Animal Shelter.
WHEN Starting on the night of Sunday, the 11th (the full moon) and going through to Sunday, the 18th. Please specify the day. (Yes, it intentionally goes through the end of the bodyswap; placeholder tags for that are more than welcome.)
NOTES This is open to

Comments

[rpondicus]

"Mister Blackthorn said someone would have to let us in."

Rory stood on the front steps, looking up at the wall. That was one heck of a fortification for an animal shelter. What was it supposed to be keeping in? Dinosaurs?

[polarisation]

Sefton turned to give the Doctor an unhappy look. That was one event he would rather not get spread around, thanks. Its timing made it especially crucial, as many of the people with hatchling dragons had received them when it had really been Sefton helping to hand them out.

In a completely unobvious change of subject, Sefton asked, "Amnesiac angel?"

[rpondicus]

Rory shrugged, making a face. "I had wings. Really, really big wings." He could almost feel them, and shrugged again, settling his shoulders.

[fallsoutofbox]

"Shame circumstances didn't allow us to cross paths." Successful subject change there, Lowell. "I would have been interested to see what sort of powers an 'angel' has around here." There were actually less quotation marks around the word than there would have been otherwise. Given the nature of this place...

Although he was speaking to Rory, the Doctor's eyes had been caught by the ball bouncing on Lowell's knee. One corner of his mouth ticked up into a smirky smile.

[polarisation]

Sefton shrugged in response to the wondering. "'Least they didn't stick 'round," he said. Automatically, he rolled one of his wrists, the one with the bracelet that hid his own wings. He glanced to the Doctor. "Prob'ly something bad." He still remembered the Angel of Death that had been going around trying to fix things after Noah's death

[rpondicus]

"Right, next time I turn into an angel, I'll let you- hey!" Rory was close enough that it was simple reflex to take one step forward and catch the boy before he could fall. It was a solid impact, but he had no wind to be knocked out of him, and just staggered back a step, pulling Sefton out of the range of the squabbling heads, one arm wrapped around him, the other raised. His hand folded open in the blink of an eye, the twin barrels aimed for the nearest head, but he didn't fire.

[fallsoutofbox]

"Rory!" It wasn't a sharp warning, but a word of caution. What had happened was clearly an accident.

The Doctor stepped forward toward the hydra, holding up a hand toward the head holding the ball and whistling as one would at a dog.

"Drop it," he said encouragingly. "C'mon. Drop. There's a good girl."

[polarisation]

Sefton grimaced at being pulled up against Rory, an immediate reaction of no! leading him to try and pull away before it really sunk in. His instinct was to pull away, yet also to keep Kelp from getting hurt because of him. "No, no, she does this-"

Then it hit him. He stopped, staring up at Rory. The sensation of falling against him was exactly the same as before, like running into a wall or a desk, not a person. There was no way Sefton had imagined it. The exchange rate of force, his power's reaction, just didn't match up. Whatever Rory was (and there was definitely a question of his species now that the man's hand had opened up to reveal gun barrels), he apparently was immutable in the eyes of Sefton's power.

"You moved," he breathed, stunned by this new development. "I knew it. You movedKelp, ignorant to the life-changing discovery she had just inspired, gave the Doctor a very blank look with three of her heads. The two had stopped squabbling long enough to cast a jealous eye on the one with the ball, but not a single one of them

[rpondicus]

The gun was gone as quickly as it had appeared, caution overriding programming reflex, and he rather sheepishly let go of Sefton, taking a step back. "I wasn't going to shoot her, I was just startled. It... does that." He gestured dismissively to his hand, now perfectly normal-looking again.

"Of course I moved. You're not as lightweight as you look."

[fallsoutofbox]

Without turning to look, the Doctor's eyes flickered toward the other two. Curious. After months of wondering, he might finally find something out about Lowell's abilities.

Meanwhile, he continued to establish himself as Not A Part of This Conversation. He gave another whistle and reached up again an attempt to brush his fingers against Kelp's hide, enough contact to send a tiny psychic message: Drop the ball, please. There's a girl.

[polarisation]

"No, no, you moved," Sefton murmured. (Part of him took in the revelation that the man had a gun, but apparently didn't use it-self-defense mechanism to pull it out? Whatever, that didn't matter so much right now.) He swallowed compulsively, tried to resist the urge to start nibbling on his lip, shoved a hand into his pocket instead. His other hand reached out to press against Rory's chest while intentionally lacking some gentleness to feel that slight push that indicated his power, the ripple of energy draining from him. Quieter still, he said, "You're not-changing."

The hydra remained unimpressed. However, one of the heads (farthest away, the other watcher) snorted in confusion and made an indignant sound in response to the Doctor's message. She wasn't the one with the ball, ask the other her!

[rpondicus]

"No... changing was last week." He took another step back before Lowell's push could overbalance him, giving the boy a concerned look. He remembered the last time he'd run into him, the same sort of stunned preoccupation.

"Listen, is everything okay?" he asked in a quieter voice, putting a hand - not the one with the gun - on his shoulder. "What's going on?"

[fallsoutofbox]

"Oh," the Doctor muttered to himself. "Multiple brains. That's clever." He wondered if Kelp would understand the same hand gestures he used with his dragon. He tried the signal for 'Drop.'

His hearts weren't totally in it, though. His head turned just a touch, angling one ear toward Rory and Lowell.

[polarisation]

Sefton twitched, turning to stare at the hand on his shoulder. Rory's hand, which wasn't being affected by his power in the way he feared more than anything else. The tone of voice registered almost more than the questions did, and he only barely managed to pull his attention back to Rory himself.

"You're not getting hurt," he replied around the sudden lump in his throat, eyes already beginning to sting from the tears welling up. Here was a man who could touch Sefton with impunity, a possibility Sefton had never accounted for (although he dreamed of it, sometimes, even when he couldn't remember his dreams), and now he had no idea what to do. His emotional response was near overwhelming. Someone was immune. Voice low, though not yet fallen into whisper, he tried to explain, "I... I touch people and they get hurt, but you're-you're not getting hurt

[rpondicus]

Rory smiled awkwardly, trying to be reassuring. No wonder Blackthorn had been worried. "No, that's me, sturdy. But what do you mean?" He glanced briefly past Sefton, over at the Doctor. Did he know anything about this? "Hurt how? You only knocked into me a little bit."

[fallsoutofbox]

The Doctor caught that glance and gave a little eyebrow raise. Lowell had always been just as cagey with him as with everybody else. Right at this moment, there wasn't anything much he could do to help the situation. You've got this one, plastic man.