Dr. Simon O'Neill ([personal profile] protagonized) wrote in [community profile] undergrounds2015-10-09 10:41 am

#notallshapeshifters

Dates: October 6 and 8.
What: Simon tries to keep his head down.
[ooc: This is a completely open post! Come torment him.]

Covent Garden - Late Evening

Starbucks closed at ten most evenings, and given Simon's class schedule he tended to work closing shifts. That suited him just fine. During peak tourist season it tended to be crowded late at night, but weeknights were almost pleasant now that they were well into October. Tonight, the shop was almost deserted, save for a table of Korean tourists off in a corner, and they'd been nursing their drinks and chatting for over an hour now. Simon was thoroughly bored. He snuck a peek at the phone he'd secreted away in his apron pocket: 21:22. Only forty more minutes until he could kick them out and start closing up shop. Only an hour and a half until he could go home and start drafting that Craigslist ad for a new flatmate.

Only eight hours until he had to wake up and be back in the lab.

He sighed and went back to watching the door, hoping no one else came in.


Redbright Institute - Mid-morning

Simon could have been doing any number of things right now--first and foremost among them being sleeping--but for some reason he found himself drawn to Redbright Institute. His feelings about the place were ambivalent at best; sure, they'd helped him through a particularly tough time in his life, but he still found the place intensely weird and a bit uncomfortable. All logic said that magic shouldn't exist outside of fantasy novels and Disney films, and yet here it was. In London.

He strolled through the library, looking for volumes on shapeshifting. He knew there was plenty of lore about people with his particular condition going back centuries, but what he wanted was something that treated the subject a little more objectively. He needed a history.

Simon paused at a likely volume. Maybe this one, finally, contained the answers he was looking for.
wolfmarked: (Default)

[personal profile] wolfmarked 2015-10-18 07:01 pm (UTC)(link)
"Sounds great," she offered with a smile. "I'll meet you back here, then."
wolfmarked: (Calm and listening)

[personal profile] wolfmarked 2015-10-23 06:07 pm (UTC)(link)
For Skip, on the other hand, drunken one-night stands were standard operating procedure. If they ended in exchanged numbers, further hook-ups, or even a few actual dates? Even better.

So, seeing him still waiting? Made her flash a grin.

"More than," she replied. "Lead the way."
wolfmarked: (What?)

[personal profile] wolfmarked 2015-10-23 07:12 pm (UTC)(link)
"Pinot gris," she suggested (or, perhaps, stated) as she slid into her seat and accepted the offered menu. The smell was already delightful.

"Thanks for the invite, too."
wolfmarked: (What?)

[personal profile] wolfmarked 2015-10-24 03:18 am (UTC)(link)
"We can get just a few appetizers to split," Skip suggested. After all, food wasn't her main concern here. Have a few bites and get some wine. This guy wanted to get to know each other, she was happy to oblige. After all, it wasn't a bad way to spend an afternoon.

He said he hadn't been raised in the community. Which meant at least one parent was out of the picture. No shifter would let their kid not know what they were. When she spoke, she kept her voice low. So it was just the two of them talking about it, no one else listening.

"Shifter, huh? Kinda the lottery winner there, if y' ask me."
wolfmarked: (Smile)

[personal profile] wolfmarked 2015-10-24 04:19 am (UTC)(link)
"I can live with tofu."

Not her first choice, but it was something she could handle for a couple of meals. Not like she had to abide by that when she wasn't with him. Listening to him, she leaned forward. Her elbow was against the table, and her chin rested in that hand.

"Shifters are immune to a bite. They transform but without a loss of control in their changed form."
wolfmarked: (What?)

[personal profile] wolfmarked 2015-10-24 05:53 am (UTC)(link)
Skip smiled a little as she leaned forward just a bit. She'd dressed professionally for the school, so there was no low shirt to let him sneak a peek down. Still, that didn't prevent her from assuming the same pose.

"They can't. Some really powerful ones maintain some of their control in wolf form, but others... They don't know anyone. If they're not chained in, they will attack anything in their paths."
wolfmarked: (What?)

[personal profile] wolfmarked 2015-10-26 05:24 am (UTC)(link)
"I was fifteen." It's not something she usually talks about. 'Backstory' just makes things complicated. Still, she can tell him a bit. "Got stupid one night. Curious, y'know."

She still hadn't gotten used to the noises below her. Hearing those screams of transformation and the snapping and howling of the wolves that were kept there. And there was always blood.

Whether it was animal or human... she never asked. She just always helped clean it up while her brothers and father recovered.

"Saw 'em. As wolves. An' they lunged. Didn' know who I was. Not their fault. Jus' th' way it is."
wolfmarked: (Calm and listening)

[personal profile] wolfmarked 2015-10-26 05:45 am (UTC)(link)
"Didn' get hurt, an' it taught me."

She'd learned a lot that night. Seen her brothers and fathers as less than perfect, realised that they were as dangerous as anything else in the world. Of course, after seeing that... Well. Nothing had happened then.

So, she hadn't had much cause to fear anything else in the world.

"That's my sob story," she said with a laugh, shrugging her shoulders. "Everybody's got at least one, y'know?"
wolfmarked: (Default)

[personal profile] wolfmarked 2015-10-27 04:41 am (UTC)(link)
"At which point I promise I ain' holdin' it against you if y' don' have the good sense t' support Cork," Skip says with an easy laugh.

Far better to shrug it all off. Let none of it matter in the slightest.
wolfmarked: (Smile)

[personal profile] wolfmarked 2015-10-31 12:15 am (UTC)(link)
It was always cute, Skip thought, watching someone else struggle with what to say. To her, that was exactly why talking was overrated. Who really wanted to bore themselves with the exchange of 'what I did today' and all that bullshit? Still, a lot of people seemed to think it was expected. So she'd play nice. For now.

"Went pretty good. Promised her a painting an' had t' deliver it."
wolfmarked: (Calm and listening)

[personal profile] wolfmarked 2015-10-31 12:32 am (UTC)(link)
"Not on me since I don' have my portfolio."

It wasn't something she talked too much about, but things like it came up. Still... this might be a good way to get at least one more body in the door. He might have friends to invite too.

"Y'know, a place nearby is havin' a bit of a show. Local artists an' all, y'know. Got a few pieces gonna be there."
wolfmarked: (Playful)

[personal profile] wolfmarked 2015-10-31 12:44 am (UTC)(link)
"I'll text, yeah? Date, time, address. All that good stuff."

It was a chance to get her name and work known a bit better. Plus he wasn't bad to spend time with. This would be boring with anyone. She'd done it before and still had no idea what people saw in all of it.

When he topped off her glass, she gave a grin and took it up, holding it just a little.

"To new friends."