Shapeshifter, meet Invisible Girl (Rina)

[Anonymous]

She dinna like the ATC much.  Been three years but hey ya never know and what on all.  Bunch of stap dillers in her opine but hey what can, sai.  Fero was not so ken on keepup but she think he was playing a dill with her.  She bawl at him proper telepathically.  

"Besuk Cand-ates, deh be all with the eh ho see whattah mean."  Just a bitta whine everyun gotta sometimes with em Dragons.

"You needn't take one, but the Pilots are thin, you know how many are under suspicion.  Some of the new stage ones might be worth a look," Fero said.

"I just paz cause that er greenie was on about de vox.  Een tho this here be what I tink in, ya know how it be go in the stricks.  We bin talk about dis an talk about dis sai?  Nothin wrong with me."

"You need to stop hitting people.  Just bawl him out in prelinguistic speech next time."

"What good at eh."  But she spar a smile at him and go sit in a corner with a cuppa between her hands, but she put down quick when it burnt.  Some o paint bin off and she took out a bitta powder and opened the compact and gin putting on some of her cheek where it had worna.  You could see through her botch too but that was allas a problem with the tongue and so on proper.  Sometime she put some dye in the mouth but it allas look seethrough so why cae.

Someone inna corner staring, lettem.

"Eh dai, chickie, what you gawin at?"  



[[ask for translations as needed, she speaks a pidgin lower-city language most natively]]

[Anonymous]

It was starting to feel like there were more weirdo Pilots and candidates then normal ones. Poor Rhys had some retard cat boy for a mentor, there was some hermaphrodite freak, the Imperial was a spiny alien thing, some fish kid, foxes and cats and she had heard a rumor of some vampire chick. And she knew there were others.

But...this. This was like the weirdest one yet. Finaa hadn't meant to be staring, really she hadn't. This was a Pilot and she was just a candidate. And while Finaa wasn't the top of her class, but she was more then smart enough to know Pilots were supposed to be shown respect.

But there were limits. Really. She was black. Like the paint color. As she seemed to be painted. It was peeling in a few places and Finaa could see right threw her. That wasn't right.

She wasn't even aware he mouth had been hanging open until the woman...man....thin g had spoken. Finaa snapped it shut, startled at the utter gibberish that came out of the Pilot.

Shocked enough that she forgot to activate her brain to mouth filter, "What....the fuck was that gibberish?"

[Anonymous]

Jae be roll her yawks at the chickie and stor for a minute until she be good and sick.

"The fuck," she said, enunciating carefully, then spoke more quickly.

 "Da fuck, sai, be don be no masky Candates gawing up me arse, kay."   She stand up and go to the chickie and be pick her up ziftlike by under her chin and scrap her straight cross the neb.  Whack.

"Shutcha botch and listen cool nae."  She kip one hand on the chickie's neck and stare down.  Was good to have only chalky eyes today, good for perilick gaws.  She'd good scare the stap all right.  She glare and put back her dexterhand to hit again.  "I be Pilot Cardinal Jaleh Omar and you listen cool tae me onthority.  Cannae kitch what I jaw, gotta kink up'em ears or I cut em of, sai?"  

Grin, grin, she knew  you could tip a gaw straight through botch and to the back of her headpaint.

[Anonymous]

The blow caught Finaa by surprise, still slightly stunned by the strange woman's appearance. She seemed to be female, but it was hard to assume anything about some jibberish spewing, painted creature.

Stumbling back, Finaa saw stars for a moment and could feel something warm and sticky trickling down her face. Blood. That was blood. She started to raise a hand to her nose when her felt her throat grabbed and she gave a squeal of terror.

It wasn't helping that Finaa couldn't really understand what was being said to her. But she got the idea, gasping for air, she glared back at the woman, blood still dripping down her face, "I apologize Pilot." She thought she caught a name in that mess, but Finaa really wasn't sure.

And her nose fucking hurt! Already too late to not bleed on her uniform. And she was having a hard time concentrating with those eyes on her. Whatever the hell the painted freak was, she was scary.

[Anonymous]

Jaleh kip her yawks on the Candate and then keel back, taking her hand off the chickie's neck.  

"Pilot Omar."  She pause long enough for it to kitch.  "Ya horen to that an, and strick it in yar mind good.  Rem-mem-ber it, sai?"  When she loke she can speak ober Common but it in no way eh ever the headspeak she need to use with Fero and agenways she wouldn't miss no speck just cause she from the Stricks and that what fairsaid, dai.

"Here."  She tipple a handkerchief from her pocket and gav it over.  "Take a stiff off, wipe it away." She step back, arms going frake cross in front of her.  "And what's ya numbah then chickie, ya nomen?"  Pause.  She dinnae grap it.  "Ya name, chickie."

"Finaa al Jarn, Pilot Macario's new Candidate."

"Eh fatasty that an, eh, biggest diller ounder, that an."

"Oh, and you're no 'diller' at all?"

"Shav it ya nabbie, chickie's just a stap."

[Anonymous]

"Pilot Omar. Yes." Okay. That she understood. Everything else....was like some strange and confusing nightmare. And Finaa had no idea what the rules were. There was just some...crazy Pilot lady that had punched her, choked her and yelled in some weird pidgin that she could only half understand.

Heart pounding, Finaa took the handkerchief and pressed it tightly to her nose. She just needed to concentrate and she could fix her nose bleeding everywhere. And she was still having problems wrapping her mind around what was going on. But she was slowly getting her wits back.

Standing straight, Finaa glared at Jae, the affect only mostly ruined by the bloody nose and the handkerchief smashed to her face, "Finaa al Jarn.....Ma'am." She gave enough pause on the ma'am to be a little insulting.

With the crazy Pilot ladies attention off her for a moment, Finaa concentrated on her nose, shifting the tissue and flush. Might as well give herself a little bit of a nose job while she was at it.

[Anonymous]

"Eh be 'ma'am' me, chickie," Jaleh snar and shake her head and pull back, hand coming away.  "Ya betta learn and don' spect I'm not gonna ramp to ya--oy!"

She skap back and gaw at the Candidate.  

"P'jaw, what kinda eh madfang that'un, changeup like so?"

"Accessing Candidate data."

"What you be doin' with ya veez, ya--ya face, chickie?"  Jaleh kip no willing for waiting on her Dragon.  She pose one hand on her hip and gaw some more.  Movin her flute aroun like that.  

"She's a shapeshifter."

"Be nutzin' that good!"

"Ya can setrig ya flute with that er?  Fix yaself?"

[Anonymous]

Finaa glanced nervously to the side, as if there was something there that would help her understand what the hell was going on. She could only sort of understand the.....creatures intention and not always then. The words just....made almost no sense to her, and her accent was thick enough to cut.

Her face. She wanted to know about her face. What about h-oh! Finaa felt the light bulb went on in her head. Loosing most of irritation at getting punched as things started to make sense to her, Finaa gave the woman a huge smile, handing her back the bloody cloth, "Oh! My face! I'm a shapeshifter!"

Finaa was proud of her ability and was more then happy to get some bragging rights in. It was pretty fucking cool in her opinion, "Fix myself? Somethings. I can't figure out how to make bruises go away. Or really deep gashes I can't fix that well. Or like...loosing a limb is bad. But, yeah. Broken noses are easy to fix!"

It seemed like Finaa should ask her something about herself. That seemed polite. But....she really couldn't think of anything to ask that wouldn't come out totally rude. So she just kept smiling a little awkwardly, really unsure what to do next.

[Anonymous]

"I'll be dill sideways," Jae said, shaking her head.  She gaw some more at Finaa.  Had a good setup about her, did this chickie.  Prettier than Jae.  Cor and eh who cor.  But it was so good to kip a gaw on her.  "Dai, then."  She stray in close and tip her cheek with one finger.  "You--"

The other Pilots be always with the hup and so on, why not.

"Ya pretty one, eh, chickie, an anykind."  

--

Alesku was displeased.  It seemed to be a constant state these days.  He rounded the corner to the break room quickly and efficiently, heels landing with just enough force to displace his displeasure.  As if dealing with his brother weren't enough, and dealing with the blog hackings weren't enough, and dealing with the other Seekers weren't enough--and dealing with the damned Gospels weren't enough--his Candidate was five minutes late to her lesson.  He had wanted to work on her shifting, and--

He rounded the corner into the break room and stopped dead.  Pilot Omar was leaning over his Candidate, a bloody handkerchief in one hand and the other pressed to the girls' cheek.  

"What is going on here?"

The painted woman jerked back, started, and settled into a salute.  "I just be--"

"I don't want to hear it.  I never want to hear it.  I particularly do not want to hear it in that tone, Pilot."  He had settled for 'tone' rather than the more controversial 'language' or 'pattern of speech,' because that, at least, would not prompt a tirade based upon the inherent equality of Aedolian subcultures.  "Candidate al Jarn, you're late for a lesson, please come with me."  She appeared somewhat shellshocked.  Reaching delicately into her mind, Alesku examined--nothing intrusive--but recent physical memory, and found injury.

"Pilot, that is not acceptable.  This is my Candidate."  

"She tar good botch on her, Pilot, you best watch at er ober.  Ha, or ya stack me to it, I keen watchin at er, sai?"  

Alesku ran a hand through his hair and shut his eyes.  He counted to three.  "Don't assault my Candidate, Omar.  Don't be mouthy, al Jarn.  Come on.  Training."

[Anonymous]

Oh...no. This was getting weird. Finaa shrank back slightly, not liking how things suddenly seemed to take on a rather different feel. Omar was no longer annoyed with her, or impressed with her power. Even with her painted face and strange contacts, Finaa could tell that look.

Plus, she understood the word pretty just fine. Not good. This was not good. She was going to get raped by some invisible black lady with freaky eyes, "I-er...thank yo-"

"What is going on here?"

Finaa had never been so happy to see her mentor before. As soon as the frightening looking Pilot had moved away, Finaa darted away, rushing to Alesku's side, hugging him tightly, "Sir! I am so sorry I'm late! Wont happen again!" It was kind of impressive that he seemed to have any idea what the woman was saying.

She had no idea what the words were, but she understood the tone and the look the Pilot gave her and she flushed, dropping her gaze. Oh gods. That was just weird. Finaa generally liked the attention her looks got her, but in this case she was more then a little creeped out. Never had training looked so good to her before.

[Anonymous]

Alesku froze at the unexpected hug, and then--for the first time in several months--indulged in a short, sharp burst of plain electrical energy.  It would feel like no more than a shock, but it would at least get the clinging Candidate off him.  That conduct was entirely improper.  

The painted Pilot stared at him with opaque eyes.  He couldn't tell if she were jealous or something else; who knew.  He was more used to reading jealousy in Dragons than people, but that was--

"Another matter entirely," Calliope said, mental voice quite wry.

"Do not," Alesku said aloud, leaving her comment aside, "do that.  It is not proper.  All of this is absurdly irregular.  Omar, go and attend to your duties or I'll have Calliope chase down that Fero of yours, and you'll be under surveillance like you've never seen.  Al Jarn, don't touch me again.  Come on."  He rubbed a hand over his beard and sighed, then turned smartly and started out of the room.  One of Pilot Omar's incomprehensible curses followed him out.  

Behind his back, she winked at Finaa and waved goodbye.

[Anonymous]

The electrical shock got Finaa to release Alesku, giving a startled high pitched squeal. She really hadn't been expecting that, though she knew she should have. Shaking her hands, feeling rather tingly and her normally curly hair had poofed up from the shock.

Finaa quickly hurried after Alesku, not caring that he was his usual grumpy self. She would probably delight in her new found way to ruffle his feathers. Right now she was just glad to be getting away from Jae.

And she really wished she hadn't looked over shoulder in time to see the wink. She shivered and picked up her pace, sticking as close to Alesku as she could without risking another shock.