Cat's out of the bag

[blackestwitch]

Who: Maddie/Zel, with one prompt to Jail/Hope and the rest open
What: New powers, new forms, shenanigans afoot
When: Present day-ish: September 6 - September 12
Where: Around the Rise and Station (and bonus library)
Warnings: N/A


[ On the morning of 9/6, in the shared bedroom of Maddie, Jail, and Hope, things seemed perfectly normal. Everybody sleeping, Maddie in her bed, Hope in hers, Jail on the couch, and Zel curled up in a chair. However, the cat's form shines for a moment, and then there's a resounding CRASH as the chair tips over, an awkwardly-positioned human man now taking the cat's spot. ] What on--!?


[ During the rest of the day (9/6) following that, Maddie can be found mostly in the Station common room, without her usual cat, but WITH a strange adult guy hanging around her, almost fretting over things. Getting things for her, taking her arm to guide her to an empty chair, or even just hovering around her. Maddie looks... a little bothered, but mostly accepting of this recent development. Notably, this guy has never been seen before, almost as if he were brand-new... even though nobody's exploring any Fissures.

For the rest of the week, (9/7-9/12) Maddie can be found around the station common room or the Rise kitchen, sometimes alone, sometimes with her cat once more. While Maddie is in the commons area, mostly relaxing in a lounge chair, she's blinking small items into and out of her hand with a small flash of light that should be familiar to those who've seen an armiger in action. And while in the kitchen, she's mostly just. Vanishing things - small food items, sodas, a couple hot bowls of oatmeal - also using the armiger.

During the same time, that weird new guy might be seen around, without Maddie at all. In the Rise kitchens, he seems to be trying to... learn how to cook? And he is entirely new to this, by the look of how he's handling it - no skill, awkward knife usage, unsure exactly how to operate the equipment, sometimes even unsure what the various ingredients are. And he doesn't even have a cookbook with him. Conversely, he might also be found in the library, reading quietly at a table. However, the reading selections he has are very.... basic. Children's books, the kind that a small elementary schooler might be reading while still learning how to read. Come bother a cat-turned-person? ]

Comments

9/6 afternoon

[founderinglight]

[So. Izunia is a smart human being.

Izunia is also one of the only people on the station who is aware that Zel is not, and never was, a cat, and thus even in public spaces he consistently takes note of his presence. Perhaps not acknowledging it, if there's a chance he might be seen or overheard, but always keeping an eye out.

So in that context, an unknown man suddenly accompanying Maddie, in a generally similar position... it's not that hard to put it together with the lack of cat and figure out what happened.

So he wanders into the common room looking only a little confused, bringing with him the faint scent of cinnamon and also the smell of something recently cooked, and drops into the couch nearest Maddie with an amused expression and a nod at Zel.]

Congratulations on the hands.

[blackestwitch]

[ Maddie waves to gramps as Zel glances over to him. ]

Thanks. I'm still getting used to them, though.

[ Maddie chimes in with- ] And how to turn back into a cat.



.....

I'll get there.

[founderinglight]

[Izunia just nods in sympathy.]

I still can't turn back from my armor form without passing through the aquatic one in the middle.

[Form changes... are extremely difficult.]

Though I admittedly haven't practiced often.

[ohwhenyouloveit]

[Hope sits up in bed, looking shocked at the crash. She blinks a few times.] Zel? You got a new form?

[blackestwitch]

I- What!?


[ From her bed, Maddie grumbles "keep it down zel" ]

[ohwhenyouloveit]

[She walks over to take a better look at his new form.] I think you just transformed? And I don't remember you having a human form before.

9/10 - kitchens

[dralchemist]

Hey. New guy. Careful with how you're handling that knife, you're liable to cut your fingertips off if you're not careful.

[Izzy has 0 idea who this guy is, but considering that everybody here is basically a stranger to her, she just assumes he's another recent dropoff, a straggler from the mines incident. And even then, that's not her priority as she quickly moves over to Zel's side, grabbing a similar knife from the butcher's block and demonstrating.]

Look. You pinch the top of the knife with your pointer and thumb, then curl the rest of your fingers around the handle. Allows you to keep better control of your cuts without the blade going all over the place, and into something that isn't food.

[blackestwitch]

My name is Zelnothoglys. [ A TOTALLY NORMAL NAME FOR A TOTALLY NORMAL DUDE.

He follows her advice, though, and her example. And honestly? He looks like he has the motions right, but he seems to be having trouble gripping right. Almost like he's not used to using. Hands. ]

...Hm. Well, I think this is a little better. [ He can tell it's not exactly like this woman's example, though, and frowns. ]

[dralchemist]

"Zelnothoglys". Zelnothoglys. Ok. That's a mouthful.

[Literally nothing about this is pinging Izzy as "not used to having hands" rather than "complete amateur in the kitchen".] It takes a pit of practice, I know that the grip seems a little weird. But if you practice bad habits, you're gonna lose a finger.

[nor_iron_bars]

[So Jail, for her sins, has woken up to the combination of a sudden crashing noise and a strange man in the room more than once in her life, and it rarely resulted in anything pleasant. This is why, when the chair goes over, Jail goes from dead to the world to sitting bolt upright with the Flare Gun in one hand.]

[Mercifully, the safety is still on, and a moment later the combination of "familiar magic" and "voice is his" registers. She lowers the gun.]

Shit, furball, you couldn't wait to figure out opposable thumbs 'til after noon? The sun isn't even up yet.

[blackestwitch]

[ PLEASE JAIL. PLEASE DON'T SHOOT HIM. WITH FIRE. ]

I didn't mean to!

I don't even know how this happened!

[nor_iron_bars]

[YOU SCARED HER, ZEL. SHE THOUGHT YOU WERE THE LAW OR SOMEONE SHE OWED MONEY TO.]

I'm gonna bet "Fissure bullshit", that's usually why this place has extra magic out the ass.

[Accepting that she isn't going to get to go back to sleep anytime soon, Jail gets up and walks over to help poor Zel up off the floor. Fortunately for everyone involved, she puts the Flare Gun down first.]

9/6, day

[zweihandler]

[ So now that Erina is officially a Homeless Goblin, rather than do something practical like post to the network to see if she can scoot herself in with someone, she's decided to do the logical thing and live in the common room. This is a good plan with no drawbacks.

Until she immediately runs into a drawback when she finds Maddie and some... dude... palling around in the common room. This would be less weird if it was that particular time of the month but now Erina finds it dubious. ]

... huh. Uh, hi? Am I just a total dipshit who has been walking past you for months or something?

1/3

[blackestwitch]

[ Maddie glaaaances over. She doesn't need to, her eyes don't fixate on anything, but it's a gesture she's learned. ]

......Yes.

2/3

[blackestwitch]

Ah... I'm Zelnothoglys. I.... hm.

Maddie?

[blackestwitch]

He's my pet.

[ DON'T SAY IT LIKE THAT MADDIE. ]

1/3

[zweihandler]

[zweihandler]

9/6

[ax_iom]

[...



Lily has to take a moment, rubbing her eyes, then staring back at Zel. There's only one person she can think of that Maddie would let fuss over her like this, so...]

... Zel...?

1/2

[blackestwitch]

Ah, Miss Lily. Good afternoon.

[blackestwitch]

Check out Zel! [ Maddie helpfully calls this out from her position on the couch. ] He's human! [ Yes, Maddie, Lily can see that with her eyes. ]

Rise kitchens

[bloodyashes]

[So Asch isn't super social, so at least for the moment, he's willing to believe that this is just someone he's missed - there are plenty of people he's seen but not talked to at this point.

Still, there are some crimes against cooking that can't go un-commented-on.]

If you put that much sauce on bread that thin, it's going to fall apart.

[He's helping?]

[blackestwitch]

Ah... is that so? [ He looks down at the soggy-ass bread. Hm. ] I thought having more would make it more.... what's the word? Flavorful?

Common Room 09/11

[bastilashan]

[Bastila walks into the common room to see Maddie and a cat. Maddie is taking things out of the armiger and putting them back. Bastila has seen this, but no one has explained it yet.]

Wow. You can do that, too? How does it work? How many people can do that? No one has explained it to me yet, and it is beyond anything I have seen before.

[She is so excited that she forgot to introduce herself or ask Maddie her name.]

[blackestwitch]

[ Instead of answering, the girl seems surprised by the voice, and a handful of dice clatter onto the ground as she fumbles and drops them.

She reaches down for the floor, seeming to feel around for the dice, but they've all rolled either outside of her reach or under the couch. She gives up. ] Well, those are gone forever.

Hi, I didn't see you there. Could you repeat the question?