The library's ground level is one large room punctuated by even rows of pier columns that confidently hold the weight of the upper floors. The building is old but solid, its lath and plaster walls dark with age. Here and there some of the plaster has worn off to reveal the wooden slats beneath. Heavy, dark grained and decorated mahogany wainscoting runs the length of the walls, complimented by thick, ornate crown molding along the ceiling and each of the columns. It's clear from the dilapidated condition that the building's been abandoned for decades. There is a somber, sepulchral quietness to the place, even when alive with people, that is perhaps a ghostly echo of the rigid, required silence that its wardens demanded when the library was in its heyday.
Compact is the word for him: wiry, maybe 5'6" in his beat-up black combat boots, with a sense of compressed energy and imminence like a coiled spring -- or a cocked gun. Never quite still for long, balance flowing through the balls of his feet. There's a striking intensity to his narrow blue-green eyes, the colour contrasting with his fair skin and spiky copper hair; just below the left is what at first appears to be a faint mole, but closer inspection reveals as a small, long-healed scar. His features are appealing, with high cheekbones and a good jawline, but it's the confident mien and roguish smile that most often seem to draw people in.
He's in a well-worn biker jacket of the traditional sort, all fairly closely fit black leather and silvery zippers and snaps. Beneath it, he's got old black jeans with a rip in one knee and the cuffs half walked off, with a faded black band t-shirt ('Anarchy Burger - Hold the Government', parodying the In-N-Out sign) under an open dark red hawaiian shirt. There's a couple leather-and-bead bracelets on one wrist and a length of ball-chain disappearing beneath his collar; his nails were apparently painted black some time ago, since they're starting to show chips. Late teens, most likely, and when he speaks it's in a mellifluous, southern-accented baritone voice.
Shaggy brown hair and darker brown eyes frames this young boy's face. Justin has a slightly tanned complexion with a hint of Puerto Rican from his mother's side, Caucasian from his father's. He has a fairly lanky build that could use a bit of bulking upas he is built like a high school track runner. He wears loose fitted 'destroyed' blue jeans, simple tank tops, and worn down sneakers that are about five months in need of replacement, and during the cold, a thick green military jacket from his Grandpa. He looks like your average, ordinary American young teen that plays outside and is fairly active. Tall at five foot ten, he is a few inches higher than most his age for now.
Lily is a teenager, but she's the sort to look suspiciously older due to a skillful application of makeup, high end clothing, and hair always done up with style. She's got the look of a full-blooded Asian, though exactly from where is a bit trickier to say, but from flawless skin to raven hair to dark almond-shaped eyes she's got the telltale design. She's not a very tall girl, maybe reaching the low inches of five feet, but she's built on an athlete's frame. She's slender looking, but close inspection shows carefully cultivated muscles and lean sculpting that only a athlete could maintain. She's beautiful, there's no denying that, and could possibly be a model were it not for an aloof, cool air about her that leaves her a bit distant seeming.
This is a woman. Or is it a cat? It's a catwoman that escaped from Dr. Moreau's lab! Taller than all but the outliers of human woman, this individual is lean and supple, hidden power built on a frame of inhuman elegance and grace. Her skin is a dark tone that's just beyond tanned in color with the coat of a peach fuzz that gives it an orange cast marked with darker bands. It even extends to her hair, black and long with bands of faintly gleaming copper. Her face is angular with large, clearly feline eyes of a dark yellow and her mouth is built with the overlay of a muzzle's suggestion, complete with short white whiskers and canines when she opens her mouth. Her hands are even tipped in long, curved ivory nails.
This is a tiger. A tigress, that is, the cat bearing a more svelte and lean appearance than the heavier, bulkier males of the species. To those in the know this looks to be a Sumatran or Indochinese tiger, given it's a rather small specimen. The feline has a dark undercoat of a rich, deep copper orange with short and narrow stripes that are intensely black and crisp white along her undersides and carefully groomed long cheek ruffs. As appropriate for a cat, she has an aloof air. There is the sense of grace and self-assurance that seems more haughty than most animals should have, like she is aware of her presence of being and is quite proud of it.
After a trip to the mall in his ride, Justin and Lily head back to the library for some shifting practice. The tigress also got a new purse it seems, a very expensive one. Yes, he stole it. He has a proud grin on his face as he saunters into the living room, then asks, "Did he dedicate your clothes to you?"
And after repeatedly telling him not to steal it, he does it anyway while she hit the bathroom. No taking it back now! Lily makes her way in and sets her purses on one of the old tables. "A different set but yes, just basic ones so I can fit in wherever I might get caught at. They're boring but functional which I suppose is the point."
"Are they dedicated to you right now?" Justin asks as he peels out of his shirt to reveal his lanky, but tightly muscled frame in his chest and upperbody. The Gnawer has been working out it seems.
Felix wanders down the stairs, stretching as he goes. There's a slight dampness to his hair suggesting perhaps a recent shower, but it hasn't been left so moist as to defeat the mystic power of gel. "Fuck, man, are you developin' an actual allergy to clothes?" he greets his packmate casually, adding a brighter, "...oh, hey," when he spots and recognizes the Bastet, "Mornin', Lily Song Breckenridge. Is he behavin' himself?"
"Yes, but I'll need to take off these clothes," Lily says with a wave of her hand towards what she's wearing, "Because these can't be replaced cheap and I'm not about to ruin them." She looks up at the arrival of Felix and gives the redhead a nod. "Lily's fine, please, and he is not behaving himself the little thief." She remarks with a scolding squint towards Justin. "As much as I do like the purse." She adds as a grudging-sounding afterthought.
"What can I say? I steal four thousand dollar purses for hot girls." Justin says with a grin, then motions to the bathroom stall. "Go ahead and change out then so you won't shred your duds. Hey Felix. Sup?"
"Okay, Lily it is, but the whole thing's fun to say. Got a good rhythm to it," Felix says, and gives Justin a curious look at the thief accusation. Probably not used to hearing it describe someone else. "Four =thousand= dollars?" he asks, brows going up, "For a fuckin' =purse=? What'd they do, carve it outta gold? Takin' that ain't a crime, it's practically a service." A slight pause, and the grin comes back, along with a shrug, "Especially for hot girls."
Those two purses on the counter - black and magenta and light and grey check - are both marked LV. "They do hold up well, lifetime service, and actual leather. Not that fake imitation stuff. So.. golden calf, perhaps. The false idol is dead, I turned him into a purse." Lily says as she turns to head behind one of the bookshelves, only to squeal a second later. "...damnit! ...rats.. move! Last I need is an incident because I stepped on one of you." She huffs out noisily before going quiet.
"See, That is what I was saying! It probably cost twenty bucks to make, so I have no problem stealing it. Fuck those guys." Justin says with a grin to Felix, then watches Lily head off as he looks amused. With a tilt of his head to his packmate he winks.
Felix watches Lily head off also, tilting his head toward Justin once she's disappeared from view and arching a brow at him, also looking somewhat amused now. He steps over to take a better, and more critical, look at the purses. "Well, I guess they're made pretty okay," he decides after several moments of investigation, "but so's an old Camry an' you can get one of those for less'n 4K. Like, legal even. ...wonder how much I could get for somethin' like this? Hm."
After a few minutes Lily comes back out with her other clothes folded and bundled neatly in her arms, save they don't look the same. She appears to be in the Bastet equivalent of Glabro in order for the Dedicated jeans and purple t-shirt to take effect with both seeming to have been purposely sized to make up for the extra height. Her clothing is set next to her purses. "...there's a large market for knock offs." She says towards Felix, her voice deeper and huskier but no less smooth.
"So, looks like you shifted into glabro okay. What's the problem then?" Justin asks as he gives another stretch of his body, then runs his fingers over his chest for a firm scratching with his rough nails. "Is it still hard for you to go into the fuzzy forms or something? Usually that is the easier ones."
Felix seems to atually be checking out the stitching and such, before he puts the purse back down and continues to the fridge, pulling out a soda bottle. "That's an interestin' look," he says, checking out the cat-woman form, "I like the effect on the hair. ...an' yeah, I reckon there would be, prices like that." The items in question get another narrow-eyed, considering look, as he returns to join them. "Shiftin' issues?"
"Sokto is the name." Lily says to Justin and damned if the term isn't spoken with the faintest purr-like accent to it that seems specific to just that word. "And this is not so hard. More familiar and still mostly human. The tiger inside, as you call it, is quiet. It takes a lot of effort to change. Mister Karuvar said I should use my anger and that does make it easier. It seems silly to always have to be angry just to change."
"Only when you are a noob you wanna use the anger to fire her out. For me, I always think of something specific that would get me upset and I would turn it inwards. But the trick is control. To not let it consume you. The more you do it, the easier it will get.". Justin says as he nods his head. "So, besides the stop watch, what else gets you upset? You said you were adopted, right? Got any abandonment issues?"
"Ain't you always angry?" Felix asks, opening the bottle and having a sip, "Somewhere? Maybe it's different for cats. Might not always have to be anger exactly, might work if you can get in touch with some other kinda passion. But like he says, 's a matter of fuel an' control."
"Abandonment?" Lily says with a furrow of her brows. "No, why? My parents are good people who treated me well. I'd be curious as to why I was put in such a position but given they may have been like me that could explain it. Not that it's an answer I'm ever going to get." She shrugs at their further questions. "I get angry when things get out of control but who doesn't? When something annoys me or insults me, sure, or... the basic things that'd make anyone mad."
"Well, as a werecat, maybe ... ah ... passion could be your trigger?" Justin asks as he gives her a wide grin, followed by a wink. "Tigers are known for being sultry, right? Maybe thinking about One Direction can get you to pop off into the fuzzy form easier."
Felix sets the bottle down on the counter and strips off his jacket, then the t-shirt, revealing his tattoos and rather nicely defined musculature -- although probably not with intention of helping with the 'passion' angle. At the moment, anyway. He picks the bottle back up and leans back against the counter, crossing his arms lightly. "Worth a try. Otherwise, what's the last thing that pissed you off enough you had to bite your tongue or leave or somethin' so you didn't blow up at someone?"
"Hmf, racial stereotyping?" Lily says to Justin with a half roll of her eyes, as cat's can't quite express such a thing. "Blow down houses in your spare time?" She closes her eyes momentarily as she thinks and her long nails tap at her arms as they cross in front of her. "Besides that watch... I don't know. I guess just angry I was having such a hard time with this. It also didn't help in my first line there were other witnesses sitting there watching. That's embarrassing, as bad as when I tripped during a floor exhibition during a meet and went face first. I'm better than that."
Smirking, Justin strolls over to her and gives her a grin. "Oh come on. It's not embarrassing. It only is if you end up crying afterwards. Even then, we don't care. Just part of growing up." He starts to circle her slowly, giving her a once over. "You know, I like this new look on you. Got more to hang on to." He rumbles out in a deep growl in his throat, then swats her on the ass with the palm of his hand. WHAP.
"Little pig, little pig, let me in," Felix replies, with a smirk that makes it sound like an innuendo, if only a playful one. "Anyway, that's kinda chicken an' egg or whatever, but if bein' pissed about bein' embarrassed over not bein' able to do it is somethin' you can tap into to do it, hey." He pauses at the circling, lifting a brow slightly, and then there's the swat, and he sets the drink down again, trying not to look amused. And mostly failing. But trying counts for something, right?
Lucky for Justin his swat works. Unlucky for Justin his swat works. What's whirling around to face him isn't the catwoman but a Crinos Bastet. She's small compared next to her own kind but still right up there if not a smidgen bigger than Garou Crinos. Lily utters an angry hissing spit and bares her teeth at the Ahroun, her tail lashing like a striped whip with probably enough force to really smart if hit by it. At least she isn't going all frenzied on him and instead just looks deeply affronted.
"Boom! See how easy that was? Told you. Tap her on the head, yank her out. The fact I am not dead shows how much you've grown. I'm proud of you." Justin says as he takes a few steps back, holding his hands up in front of him with a wide grin.
"There you go!" Felix agrees, tone bright and encouraging, "Just grab =that=. How dare he, right? That's the place. Get it from there." He flashes Justin a grin, and a small, quick chin-lift.
Song gives voice to a brief string of hisses and growls combined with apparent flicks of whiskers, tail, and ears. Whatever language she's speaking though isn't translating to anything the Garou would recognize. There's something about it that has the reflection of the Mother's Tongue but far more body language which appears agitated but less so than before. At the end of it she's just left looking between the two as if expecting an answer.
Justin glances over to Felix, then back to her. "We don't speak your lingo. So, you gotta shift back down and try that again." He says, though he tips a wink to Felix. "
Felix shrugs to the Bastet's vocalizations, agreeing with his packmate, "Yeah, I got no idea what you just asked. An' I'm just assumin' you asked from how you're lookin' at us, for all I know you're actually tellin' us our mothers were hamsters an' our fathers smelled like elderberries. You're gonna hafta come back down to English."
Song groans in clear frustration as her ears splay and her tail smacks against her leg. She sucks in a deep breath and lets it out slowly. She doesn't seem to struggle badly with going back but then breed form comes easy to everyone. "What I said," She says, "Is that one, if he tries making that a habit there's going to be problems. Two, that I'm not killing you because I don't want to explain it. Third, that is it this much of a pain for everyone or just me?"
"...good," Felix says again as she melts back down, nodding. He snorts softly at her remarks, and rests his hands on the counter to either side of him, leaning back against it. "One, yeah, I don't doubt it. Two, you could try, but there's a good chance we'd end up the ones havin' to explain shit, so let's leave the whole threatenin' shit out. An' three... well, prolly not JUST you, nah. But not for everyone. Most of us, far's I know, have more trouble stoppin' between human, animal, an' full on let's kill shit than gettin' to that one. But like I said, maybe it's different for cats."
"Ha, you wish you could kill me." Justin says with a wide grin. "It gets easier, trust me. You just need to find your trigger. Like I said, anger. But, it gets easier as you do it more. It will become a reflex. This is something you are going to have to learn to handle. Same with not shifting under pressure. Know what they do with us? They shoot us, in human form, and take a bullet. The trick is to not shift. To /not/ break the veil."
"First you need to shift, then you shouldn't." Lily says with a sigh. "First get angry, then don't get angry. The contradictions aren't helpful. Suppose I'll just have to go back to more practice. Maybe I'll understand it all better when I see these... monsters everyone keeps talking about. That seems to be the reason why we're doing this. Mister Karuvar spoke of invisible monsters and told me about the Umbra, but it sounds like I can't get to that place on my own."
Felix shrugs. "'s like sayin' first you need to use the toilet, then you shouldn't. I mean, they ain't the same thing, but there's times an' places one's right an' times an' places the other is. Plus you gotta learn to control it. But once you have it's pretty natural to, ain't even hard except rarely in certain situations. Actually that works better'n I thought it would," he muses. "An' yeah, I reckon you'll understand it all more when you actually face somethin' worse'n J bein' a dick."
Justin nods his head. "Yeah, if you can't handle me swatting your ass, wait until someone tries to steal your purse, or steps on your shoes, or knocks your coffee over on a full moon. You will go zero to sixty and you need to know how to turn it off. We are dangerous, Lily."
"So why, if we're all so dangerous," Lily begins, "Does anyone try to pretend to have a normal life besides just wanting to? If people seeing any of us is such a big risk then why take it?"
"Well. Kinda depends what you consider 'a normal life'," Felix says, "If we're talkin' workin' nine to five with a picket fence an' a wife or husband an' kids an' a dog an' shit, ain't many that do. If we're talkin' gettin' a hamburger at Mickey D's or goin' clubbin' now an' then, just wantin' to's a pretty decent reason in my book. Once you got decent control it ain't THAT big a risk most days. But also, if you ask me, which I reckon you just did, we gotta keep a foot in the normal world so we remember what we been an' what we are an' what we're fightin' for, as well as against. Maybe more for us," a slight head gesture which definitely includes Justin and possibly the Library as a whole, "than some, but yeah."
"Yeah, you do not want to go too feral you know what I mean?" Justin says as he gives another stretch of his body. "What Felix said. You gotta have a normal life, sorta, or else you will just go nuts. We are still people under all the muscle and fur. We have real emotions. We have relationships. We can't just let all that go... at least not all of it."
Lily lets out another sigh as she glances about the library. "Maybe it was easier before monster movies and cell phones. I guess these things can't make sense overnight or.. in a month."
Felix has managed to end up looking unreasonably comfortable where he's leaning, and reclaiming his drink now that it's looking less likely to get spilt in some kind of ruckus doesn't harm the effect any. "What do monster movies an' cell phones hafta do with it?" he asks, "...'less you mean it was less likely someone'd take a picture of you if you fucked up an' changed in public? Pretty much any of 'em'll prolly run away screamin' instead. Still wanna avoid it, though. And surveillance cameras, those ain't our friends for sure."
"Yeah, suppose that's not what you want to get caught by." Lily says with a slow nod. "I can't really have the cops finding me even this way, being as I ran away. My adoptive parents really aren't going to get why I left and.. well, that'd just be ugly."
"Cops," Felix says disdainfully, rolling his eyes, and studies Lily for the space of another sip. "...yeah. That'd be awkward. Some folks, if their family's kin, it sorta works out, but everyone else..." He shrugs. "You miss 'em?"
"Yeah." Lily admits as she moves to lean herself against another section of counter. "They're my parents. I love them and they've been nothing but good to me. It's cruel to just leave them without answers but there's nothing I can tell them. Maybe when I'm older so no one can still say I'm a minor then maybe I'll pay them a visit, let them know I'm alive and okay and doing my thing. They deserve that much."
Felix nods. "Give you a while to work out some kinda explanation," he agrees, giving her a wry half-smile. "Shame there ain't somethin' you can tell 'em now, but, yeah." The pair of them are both leaning up against the counter, now, while they talk.
Heading out of the bathroom after flushing and washing his hands off, Justin flops back down into his bean bag. Giving a wide grin to Lily, he says, "So, you wanna continue with lessons? Try and shift again to the big fuzzy."
"Yeah. Well, we'll see." Lily says with half a half-hearted frown. "That's a few years down the line and I have a lot to figure out just yet. ...like that." She murmurs as she gestures towards Justin. "...which is lesson number one right now I suppose. So I guess I can chip away some more at it. Just no more ass slapping. That's more irritating than the stopwatch."
"Well, grab that irritation an' fuel take two with it," Felix says, "'cause otherwise it's my turn to help." The last comes with a teasing grin and a 'preparatory' lifting-and-flexing of his free hand, but no movement to what might be considered a suitable swatting position.
Smirking, Justin rolls his eyes upwards. "If he touches you with his hands, he'll probably just have you naked like every other girl that unfortunately finds her way in here." With a laugh, he hikes one knee up to his chest so he can lean against it and tie his shoe.
"Well that's why clothes are Dedicated, aren't they?" Lily says to Justin with a toothy grin that isn't entirely friendly. She looks towards Felix then and removes herself from the counter to move towards more open space. "So, what's your grand plan?"
"Hey, ain't never touched Bella," Felix 'protests', pointing a finger at Justin and managing to look very serious about it for about three seconds before the grin escapes again and he adds, teasing again, "Yet." He straightens from the counter, starting toward the recreation nook where Justin's flopped, and turns to walk backward, looking at Lily. "Whose grand plan you got in mind? Mine's pretty simple: use the anger you already got to get you shiftin', an' then we won't hafta piss you off more to get it goin'."
Smirking, Justin says, "Go ahead if you want. I'll make sure to treat Lilah out to a nice dinner in return." With a glance over towards Lily now and nods his head. "Yes, use the dark side! Let the hate flow through you."
Lily shakes her head as the two speak but says nothing further as to those thoughts. Instead she just half closes her eyes and murmurs, "Let's see if I can get past that middle part... this'd be easier if I ever had a pet cat. I don't know how cats work." It does take about a minute of her gritting her teeth and stressing the point before she gets up to Crinos. It's not the smoothest transition but she gets to it. There's a moment where she starts to go past but stalls out on Crinos.
"It's funny 'cause he knows I ain't plannin' to an' I know Lilah ain't," Felix informs Lily too-innocently, and he flops down lengthwise on the couch, crossing his ankles on one arm of it and pulling a throw pillow under his head as he watches her try the change again. "Nice! Maybe not where you were aimin' yet, but definitely gettin' better," he says, and curls up onto his elbows, "Ain't cats, but think it'd help any to have a wolf example? Just nod or shake your head."
"Try and imagine yourself as a tiger and then think about the shift into it. Like how you shift into your human form. You gotta throw it in reverse. You know what a tiger looks like. Close your eyes and pull her out of your mind, what she looks like." Justin calls over to the crinos.
Song gives a very clear shrug towards Felix and a waggle of a hand-paw in a so-so sort of gesture. She doesn't wait though for any of the Garou to do their thing though as she goes back to scrunching her nose and trying to move forward past what's even vaguely human into straight animal. It takes longer and the change is awkwardly slow. There's Chatro, that gigantic smilodon that's put a Hispo to shame. That takes her the longest to get to, then in a rapid stuttery burst she shrinks in an almost audible poof and then she's just plain tiger.
Felix rolls up further, hand on the couch cushions to help support the position. "Ha!" he exclaims, looking delighted, "Good goin'! Nice stripes, too. You hit this form before? If not you might wanna wander around the room some before you change back, get more of a feel for it. Actually, might wanna anyhow. That whole how-cats-work thing."
"Don't eat the rats though!" Justin calls out to the tigress with a wide grin as he kippups off the beanbag and lands on his feet. "I don't think they'll be as tasty as one may think. If you get stuck like this, can I sell you to Mike Tyson?"
Song makes one of those low noises that big cats tend to make, the 'ourwr' like when someone's pet cat is walking around the house yowling at random things. She's even looking around as she does it, like she was taking it all in. One ear pricks towards their voices and she glances their way. The words of Felix are responded to after a moment's though with one thump of her paw on the ground. Justin's words just ear him a dour, flat-eared look.
Felix twists on the couch to sit up near-properly -- indian-style with his boots on isn't quite proper, admittedly -- and he just watches her for the moment, sipping his drink. He does, however, aside to Justin, "Siegfried an' Roy."
"That actually fits, seeing how one of them got mauled by a tiger." Justin says as he gives a wide grin to the feline. "Can I sit on your back and ride you? That would be /so/ awesome. Pleeeease?"
Song is walking with slow steps over towards the kitchen as she gets a better feel for four paws instead of two feet and a much different view. She does begin veering her course towards the two right in time for Justin's question and her head jerks up. Lips curl and she snarls, spitting out what is clearly a vehement 'no and go fuck yourself' in any language.
Felix laughs at Justin's request, and more so at the very interpretable reply, shaking his head. "It =would= be pretty awesome, though," he says, and considers a moment. "Never given anyone a ride in Hispo. Maybe I oughta sometime, could be fun."
"That sounds like a yes to me!" Justin says as he pumps his fist. "I'm going to get a saddle and strap it on her. Then, I'm gonna call her Battlecat, you know ... from He-Man." He says with a wider grin. "For the power of grayskuuuuullll!"
Song sucks in a breath and blurts out a roar. It's mostly a roar. There's a bit of a hairball effect thanks to being an amateur but it's enough to send an alarming number of rats to flee bookshelves and cupboards and even one from under the beanbag to scurry for cover. She puffs herself up and that smilodon is back giving Justin a most sour look. How's that for Battlecat?
"Ne--" Felix starts to say to Justin, and then, tiger roar. His brows go up, and then he half-smiles. "I kinda feel like the movie oughta start now. That's the last form, right? You're really gettin' the hang of it. All you need is J hangin' around annoyin' you all day, I guess." He looks to the annoyance in question, remarking, "...was gonna say, never really liked that show. 'By the power of Greyskull, I have the power'? That's your big line? It's stupid. I mean, even 'By the power of Greyskull, I am He-Man!' woulda been way better and that ain't exactly Shakespeare neither."
Grinning back at the tiger, Justin folds his arms over his chest, then shifts down into the hispo form. The large junkyard dog /roars/ right back at her in the sound of a guttural howl, puffing his fur out about his body. This one is Battle-Wolf. He is mighty and heroic!
Song is definitely bigger and heavier than the Hispo. And her teeth are way bigger - so there. She chuffs disdainfully and lifts her head and body proudly, stubby striped tail twitching side to side. Smelly dog, she's clearly the better of the two.
"He says he's Battle-Wolf, and is mighty and heroic," Felix translates for the Bastet, "...but I wouldn't believe a word of it. Make him prove it." He stretches, and upends the bottle into his mouth, finishing off what little remains. The top comes out of his pocket, then, to close it, and he sets it aside. The two quadrupeds get a considering look, but he doesn't immediately shift to join them.
Mouse-Trap snorts at his packmate with a glower upon his wolven face. Hey! You just want to see a tiger try and maul me. Besides, this one is trained, she is not. She can barely walk and stand. I am a /warrior/. He looks back at the tiger, then hunkers himself down, lifting his rump as he flashes his teeth at the bastet.
Song lifts a paw and flexes her toes, showing off hooked dagger claws and regards them in the same way she's looked at her manicures. Clearly she's not impressed. She looks to the Hispo as he hunkers down and flares her whiskers with a low whuffle like noise. Maybe it's a challenge, maybe it's commentary. Cats don't seem to have the same body language as the wolves do, or she just isn't familiar with it.
"I wouldn't've said =maul=," Felix says mildly to the accusation, "but I gotta get my entertainment SOMEwhere." He grins, and reaches out to flick the Hispo's ear lightly with a finger. "Anyway, there's lotsa ways to make you prove it. Send you out to slay a dragon or some shit, that's traditional, right?"
There is an amused smirk from the Gnawer as he pops back up to his normal height, then flops backwards on his haunches. With a yawn, he shifts back into his breed form, sprawled out before her.
Song squints at the Gnawers before she sneezes, the sound rather loud coming from a critter that big. It takes just a little while to return back to her human form and she rubs a hand against her nose, "...far too much dust in here... and rat. You probably don't even notice that small anymore but it's pretty strong."
"Hey, for an abandoned buildin' it's practically the Ritz," Felix says, shrugging, "an' Rat's our tribal totem, so they're welcome. Plus, they =were= here first. They're pretty much everywhere first. If you wanna dust, though, I'll getcha one of those feathery things."
"I'll get you the maid outfit. Rowl." Justin says to the young girl with a wink. "That would be really cute." Pushing upwards to his feet, he heads back for his seat. "But, we do have a working shower and electricity. So there is that."
"No and no." Lily says to the two of them before she covers a wide yawn with her hand. "...alright, I think I should be headed home. I've been up all night and shifting wears me out. I need to get some sleep badly."
The odds Felix wasn't thinking precisely the same thing are probably astronomically low, but he manages to do a damn good job of not showing it, this time. "We do," is all he says in agreement to his packmate, nodding, and then lifts an eyebrow at Lily, looking intrigued. "What were you doin' all night instead of sleepin'?"
"Karu threw a huge party and made a lot of noise. She didn't feel social but it kept her up. I bet it was a sex party." Justin says as he pushes himself up and snags his shirt, tugging it on. I'll drive you home. It's late and you got about ten G's of purses on you. I'm not letting you walk home in this neighborhood."
"I'm not going to argue with that." Lily says to Justin and sounds like she's actually not being sarcastic about it. She looks over towards Felix and gives a dip of her head, "Good to see you again, Felix. Hope you have a good night." Then it's off to collect up her purses.
"...reeeaaally," Felix says, looking if anything even more intrigued, and hops up off the couch, snagging his own shirt and jacket and pulling them on. "I'm comin' too. Extra protection," he says. "And anyway I clearly gotta see exactly where there's huge parties gettin' thrown I don't know about. 'cause this can't stand."
"Duuuude... I was gonna try and mack on her." Justin hisses plafully to Felix before he swings his keys about his fingers. "Hot girl gets shot gun. Rules of my car." He says as he opens up the door and heads through it. "Karu has a mansion and 'help' that cleans his house. The dude is loaded."
"They're kinfolk." Lily says to the two with a frown. "Not that I'm probably suppose to tell you but for your own good don't mess with them. Besides, they're good people. Apparently there's not many of us Khan shifters. As of the last generation, a few handfuls... so... yeah. Don't mess with the kinfolk. There's not many of them either."
"Then she'll prolly appreciate the chaperone," Felix tosses back to Justin, grinning. He doesn't protest the seating, however, following out of the Library. His eyes narrow somewhat at Justin's description, but if he had anything to say about it, it's cut off by Lily's remarks. "I ain't generally inclined to fuck with the folks who do shit jobs for rich folks for a livin'," he says, a touch flatly, "Kinfolk or not."
"Yeah, I got no problem with that either. Most of the time, that is /our/ folk." Justin says as he revs the engine once he climbs into the driver's seat. "He's not going expecting you to hook up with any of them, are you?" He asks Lily curiously as he taps the stereo down from wailing some old Bon Jovi.
"I have no clue." Lily says as she crosses her arms. "I'm only just fourteen. I'm not about to go... doing anything. I have enough else going on. Besides, I doubt he has any such plans. He seems more 'teach me what I need, send me off on my own' sort of deal, but I guess that's what cats do. They aren't social like wolves."
Felix slides in and sprawls himself across the rear seat more or less sideways, without even checking whether there might or might not be seatbelts, singing along with Bon Jovi until Justin turns them down and Lily answers that question. "You're fourteen?" he says, leaning into the space between the front seats to scrutinze her, "'Only just' like, recently?" He doesn't sound bothered, exactly, but clearly his estimate must have been off.
"Well, if he boots you out after your rite, you got a home with us. You can't live on the streets at your age. You can at least .. live ... upstairs with us ... which is not the streets." Justin says as he puts the car into gear and vrooms off through the city with a car full of swagger.
<OOC> Mouse-Trap says "I think it's bedtime."
<OOC> Lily says "Yeah definitely. But to answer Felix, February. XD"