Completed Friendsgiving 3.0

[Zaire]

Zaire, slowly continuing to delve deeper and deeper into his thoughts, was pulled out by someone mentioning his name. He hadn’t even noticed the look that Lumen had thrown his way, despite him staring at his half-eaten plate and glancing around everyone else. Perking right up, the young man looked at Maseno and Houri, although he could only spare her a brief glance unless he wanted to make his ears feel hot.

“Oh, uh,” he shrugged and then decided to sit up straight, spearing a elbow noodle smothered in cheese with his fork. His cheeks felt hot, thinking about how Houri was probably going to find his antics childish. “Well, yeah, I thought everyone would need to chill out a little, cause, yanno… some people tend to be pretty high-strung.” Another shrug to prove that he was still fronting his indifferent attitude.

It was then that he felt the need to take one of Houri’s honey cakes and cut it half to make a Mac and cheese honey cake sandwich. Yeah, that sounded really good right now. Oh and if he added in some mashed potatoes, too? Maybe some of that green bean casserole? Wait, what if he layered all three—

Oh shit, he was high. Really high if he was thinking that green beans sounded good. He hated green beans.

“SO!” Zaire cleared his throat, suddenly aware of how awkward he must be acting. He needed to make conversation, and fast. “Uh, yeah. Missions should get more interesting since we’ll be the senior class. Really am, uh, looking forward to not… yanno, spending a lot of time in the… like… classrooms and stuff.” Not bad for someone who was just about to reach the peak of their ascent.

Houri Silas Maseno Luana

 

[Zinnia]

A few last bites had been quietly devoured before Zinnia stood and was guided off by Lumen and...Vasha...apparently stuck in her current form, apparently.

Why'd it have to be her?...

--Is what she would have thought had the world not imploded the moment Zinnia's feet hit the ground. Her pupils dilated to rival dinner plates, and she was suddenly very content with what was going on around her. She accepted the roll from Lumen without protest, rubbed it against her cheek, and walked along in silence with the other two as they waved their hands around in the air for some reason. Were they casting spells or something?

She looked towards the weird...damn...lizard thing that was on one of her flanks. Vasha. Vvvvvaaaa...shah. Vsha. Vuh-SHAH. Zinnia giggled. Why WAS this lizard walking with her and flailing her hands around. Was that get-up even real?

Zinnia decided to test that out for herself.
"Boop." She poked the side of Vorshum's face. Cold and smooth and kinda hard. Didn't have any give to it though. Felt funny on her finger. Zinnia knew what the best course of action now was. She slid the tip of her finger back and forth across the scales of her...cheek? Sure. Did lizards have cheeks? Whatever. The texture was fun.

"I don't...get you..." She whisper-screamed at the girl, waving the dinner roll Lumen had given her around with the hand not presently touching Veeshoo's cheek-thing.

 

[Ysobel]

“Really?” Ysobel whispered, eyes wide as saucers as Larkin continued to shower her with compliments. Tears formed at the edge of her eyes- not because she’d never been hit on before or anything. She was sure she had…probably…not to her face…but still…maybe? She was crying because whatever Zaire had put in the macaroni had hit her like a battering ram.

She sighed loudly.

A very nice, very gentle, very loving battering ram. With two beautiful mismatched eyes. The body of a dancer. The voice of an angel. Was he an angel sent here just for me? Ysobel giggled, oblivious to the drool dripping from her mouth as she stared at him.

“Ohmygosh.” She slammed her hands down onto the table, never breaking eye contact. “I have a really good idea. You’re going to love it. I promise!” She stood from the table, pulling Larkin out of his own chair by the collar of his shirt (and letting whatever pasta was not caked in her hair go flying off the plate). “Come on, come ON! COME ON!” She was shouting at him as if he weren’t less than a foot away as she dragged him from the table.

Somewhere between the table and the school, their other classmates would be able to witness the little blonde mount him like a horse and point in the direction he was to continue walking in.

Larkin

 

[Lumen]

Fair brows nearly disappeared into her golden hairline. Two things happened at once. She heard Ysobel shriek with laughter behind her and she was riding...Larkin. Zinnia was suddenly acting not-like-Zinnia. IN fact, she was bold, not stuttering, and very brave.

What in the nine levels of hell was going on?!

A baffled look up to Vasha. Another munch of her own dinner roll as she shrugged, finishing off those beautiful carbs. And then she heard Calvin Calhoun's sneer behind her as he sauntered up with his posse in tow. He was a boy that rivaled Kalix in height and muscle-mass. Spiky hair that was often dyed purple. And his fellow classmates Thrash and Dash. Shorter in height though not lacking in the muscle department. A scar down the eye of one. A gaze like a shark in the other.

"Oh hey Calvs," Lu turned, forcing a smile to her lips. "Glad you three could make it. Dash. Thrash."

"Yeah, I'm sure you're real glad Lu," he intoned, a cocky-smirk all over his face. Lumen refused to let Ysobel include his poster on her wall of males. No asshats allowed. "Still hanging out with the losers, I see." He harumphed, gaze on Zinnia like a predator sniffing out prey.

 

[Vasha Drurcius]

Vasha blinked, startled as she felt something touch her face. However, she didn't flinch, and upon looking down she noticed Zinnia's eyes had dilated immensely and she was dragging her finger back and forth over the spot she'd poked on Vasha's cheek. An amused puff escaped her nostrils to tickle Zinnia's face with steam. Drurcius didn't quite "get" the other girl either, to be fair.

Lumen, however, had diverted her attention to something else. Letting her gaze rise for a moment, Vasha quickly sized up the three boys approaching them, her own slitted pupils dilating and then narrowing. Ah. Those three. She'd had some fun scuffling with Calvin and his cronies a few times before.

When Calvin's gaze roamed over to Zinnia, however, a prickly sensation skated over her skin. It was one thing to pick on someone that was all there, but Vasha could practically smell the incapacitation on the smaller girl.

Blurred, rippling figures. Words passed between one to the next. A warm hand pressing against her cheek. Cold stone against her bare back. She struggled to breathe- a numbness creeping over her fingers. The ring of metal on metal shot through her skull like an ice pick as Vasha wrenched herself to one side- then collapsed on her back again, chest heaving.

Weak. Helpless.

The memory caused a very light growl to vibrate through her frame. One arm moved idly to wrap around Zinnia's shoulder protectively; clawed fingertips gleaming slightly in the festival lights. Her shoulders set, and while Vasha didn't shrug off Zinnia's idle distraction with her cheek, her gaze remained locked on the largest of the trio.

 

[Houri]

A mission?

A strange mix of butterflies and dread filled her as she took the piece of parchment. She had only been on one other since returning and that had been... interesting. Then there had been what had happened with Ollie on her way back to the city in the first place. She might have been a little naive, far younger than someone her age should have been, but Houri was not dumb. She knew she was broken in a dangerous way that could - and had - hurt people. If Maz was going to be on that mission that could very well mean him.

She quietly slid the parchment up her sleeve to read later. Tonight was not for missions it was for... friendship. Or the first few strides towards it.

Silas was a promising start but Zaire couldn't even look at her. Perhaps it would take more to win over her brothers friend.

"You made something?" she asked, interest piqued as she looked over at the dishes. When his was pointed out she leaned over the table to spoon some out for herself and her brother, completely unaware of what it contained all the while listening to what he said.

"Have you three been on many missions?" her eyes flickered towards each boy in turn.

* * *

Zaire Silas Artesto Maseno Luana​

 

[Rowley Stone]

Corvus down his own glass quickly before refilling it back up to the top with a satisfied smile. If there was one thing he could do in social circles, it was picking out the good wine. People were starting to break off into groups, but Corvus was set on getting as many in his class as drunk as possible.

"Agreed, Caes, but you know what else they say? A drink untouched will quickly become watered down, and we can't have that."

He offered him more of the wine before calling down the table.

"Zaire, Silas, Maseno, Houri, come drink. I brought plenty enough for everyone!"

 

[Caeso Diemut]

Caeso graciously accepted another filling of his glass with wine from Corvus. It was a rare occasion to actually have a drink worthy of his palate (that swill most often served in the taverns dotting the countryside was best reserved for desperate times only).

And, as it so happened, being a little tipsy was naught but a boon for what he intended on doing next here at this celebration. The dance stage over by the live band was presently empty, but convincing a partner to join him would be easier than convincing himself to practice (and that step was already done). Such practice he seldom had the chance to engage in, for his magical gifts were suited more to the battlefield than to espionage, and thus the Academy did not prescribe dance lessons to him as they did to certain other Initiates.

Still, he needed to be forward thinking. Once he was graduated from the Academy and had the open world of the nobility available to him, he would need to have those skills—despite what the Academy thought. Galas, gatherings, balls and socials and festivals and weddings, the occasions were numerous, and it was better to be seen as a stumbling fool among but a few of his Initiate peers rather than be seen as such by more established personages.

Caeso spared a glance over toward the brewing tension between Lumen, Vasha, Zinnia, Calvin, Dash and Thrash (their mothers ought to be publicly flogged for those names). Unrefined brutes, those last three.

If things escalated, dance practice might have to be postponed.

Corvus Azura Lumen Vasha Drurcius Zinnia

 

[Soleil Verdane]

Soleil marched right up to the lute player in the band. Smiling broadly.

"Why here?"

"I'm sorry?"

She pointed to his lute. "Music. Why here?"

Baffled, the lute player glanced to his fellows (who were still playing their tunes, happy enough to distance themselves from the interaction) and then said to Soleil, "Well..." he summed it up with immense and simple brevity, "we were told to."

"Feel safe?"

"...I'm sorry?"

"You. Feel safe?"

The lute player paled slightly. "I...the Guard assured us that the Academy is dif—"

"BOO!"

The entire band stopped playing because all of its members flinched. The lute player had dropped his instrument, and with wide eyes was staring like a hapless deer at Soleil.

And Soleil threw her head back and laughed. Not cruel or biting, this laughter. Just amused, blissful like jingling windchimes, and the notes of her laughter filled in where the band's tune had dropped off.

 

[Silas Artesto]

A job, huh? Maseno was speaking Silas' language. The blonde Initiate was content to eat his meal and let the brother and sister entertain one another once Mas slid in between he and Houri, but the idea of going out on a mission with the two of them was far from unpleasant.

Granted he'd never worked with Houri, but Maseno had already proven himself a reliable partner on more than one occasion.

"Anything particularly thrilling?" Artesto asked towards the brother of the two in between bites of meat, unrolling the little scrap of parchment with one hand and letting his eyes scan over it. "Last mission I got was an escort job. So fuckin' boring." Silas droned, knowing he shouldn't really complain when he'd asked for a bigger job load. Unknowingly, he'd just been spared a very unfortunate evening, as Houri scooped some of Zaire's... 'special' meal onto herself and Maseno's plates.

Only bothering to skim the parchment, he too tucked his away and turned to face Houri at her question. "Not as many as I'd like, but a fair deal. I don't like being stuck in the Academy too long at once, I start getting restless." Just thinking about it made his legs twitch a bit. Silas had energy in spades, and when he didn't have something to channel it into... it got a little unbearable.

"Even been on one or two with your brother there. He's a good one to have watching your back."

 

[Maseno Luana]

“Well, yeah, I thought everyone would need to chill out a little, cause, yanno… some people tend to be pretty high-strung.”

Maz gave his friend an easy, knowing smile around the back of his sister and winked, "Just a little."

“SO!” Zaire cleared his throat, suddenly aware of how awkward he must be acting. He needed to make conversation, and fast. “Uh, yeah. Missions should get more interesting since we’ll be the senior class. Really am, uh, looking forward to not… yanno, spending a lot of time in the… like… classrooms and stuff.”

"Yes," Maseno agreed with a nod as he leaned to begin filling his plate, "there is so much more to see and learn beyond the Academy. Beyond Vel Anir."

Zaire, Silas, Maseno, Houri, come drink. I brought plenty enough for everyone!

Maz leaned forward to the call, craning to look down the table for Corvus with a rueful smirk, "After what happened last time? I will pass, thank you."

Anything particularly thrilling? Artesto asked towards the brother of the two in between bites of meat, unrolling the little scrap of parchment with one hand and letting his eyes scan over it. Last mission I got was an escort job. So fuckin boring.

He didn't notice Houri spooning Zaire's mac & cheese onto his plate...or her own, which was probably for the best. Maybe. Maz glance aside to Silas after his first bite and thought back to the mission brief he'd had with Proctor Marx, "North," he said after a swallow, "we are transporting something to a contact in the north in hostile territory. We will find out more in the morning, but Proctor Marx did say to pack for cold weather."

His attention then shifted back to his sister's question about missions, and he nodded, "Yes. Usually at least one mission a month. They have all been local to Vel Anir territories though, this mission will be the first that goes beyond-" and at Silas' words he smiled, "we make a good team, it's true, but I'll never beat Silas in a footrace."

 

[Zinnia]

Under ordinary circumstances Zinnia likely would have hidden in shame and fear at Calvin's verbal lashings. That boy and his cronies resisted her every attempt at gaining acceptance on the simple basis that she had not done so earlier, that she had not slid naturally into the role of a proper, model initiate. She did not hate Calvin; no, after all, she couldn't bring herself to hate any of her brothers or sisters. She did not like him very much, however. For that reason she tended to just try to avoid him and the awkwardly named Dash and Thrash.

Of course, these were no ordinary circumstances. Zinnia was blitzed, which meant this was a rare occasion indeed. It must have been. After all, the lizard she'd just been poking was now guarding her. Or possibly hugging her. She wasn't sure which, but it was kind of nice, so obviously nestling in was the correct course of action. She stopped poking the scaly cheek at this point. Instead she scowled at the rude boys that were trying so hard to ruin everything.

"Leeeave Lulu alone, she's the nicest person...ever." Annoyance was very plain on Zinnia's face and in her meandering voice. She cast an accusatory finger at Calvin, a brilliant realization having dawned on her. "Oh. Oh! And if I were a loser, then why would I have a big lizard friend, huh? Why didnnnn't y-ooooou think o' that?"

 

[Zaire]

Zaire gulped, his Adam’s apple bobbing as Houri took a serving of Mac and cheese. His bi-colored gaze went to the wine that Corvus brought and while Maz spoke to Silas, Zaire felt as if he needed a stiff drink before he went to hide under the table.

He was faintly aware of everything going on: Sol harassing the musicians, Zinnia being high off her ass, Caeso brooding on his high horse, Lumen probably resisting the urge to punch Calvin, and Ysobel was probably going to sit on Larkin’s face while he played his fancy little songs. He took a deep breath, getting himself a glass of the wine. He eagerly took a sip, trying to figure out if he should talk to Houri or keep quiet and let Silas and Maseno speak.

She probably cared more about what they said than whatever he could say. Not like he was a number one on missions. Just support, always support.

Before Zaire knew it, his glass was empty and he wasn’t sure if he had said anything or not. Was he just thinking really loud or was he actually talking? Had he been talking all this time and hogging the conversation? He scrunched down lower in his chair, still resisting the need to go hide under the table and take a nap.

“I put those mushrooms from Chas’ garden in the Mac and cheese.” Did he think that or did he whisper it? A thinking whisper? Thought whisper? Man, someone really needed to make a word up for a thought that was a whisper amongst all the other thoughts in his head.

 

[Houri]

Transportation? Houri's brows furrowed. Missions, she had come to learn in the few months she had been back, were a far different breed to the types she had been used for whilst in the asylum. Back then, she had been used as nothing more than a weapon. Delivered to battlefields where the tide was going in the enemies favour and unleashed as a sudden, nasty surprise. For five years she had thought that that was what missions were, but since returning and having gone on a few now, she had learnt that they were far more complicated. Sure, the task appeared as straightforward on paper as before, but they never ended up that way. Missions were not as simple as genocide.

Houri was worried it was the latter she was only good at.

Her nerves resulted in her shovelling several mouthfuls of the mac and cheese into her mouth as the others talked over shared missions. It was as she was reaching for another helping when she heard Zaire's words.

"What... do you mean you put mushrooms in this?"

 

[Lumen]

Calvin sneered at Vasha's gesture. "Relax, Lizard. Just wanna have a word with Lumen. Alone." He smiled, a smile as sharp as an axe.

Lumen cast her eyes back to Vasha. A fleeting, grateful look on her face at her gesture with Zinnia. Unspoken, it was clear Lumen and Vasha were on the same page. Watch the drugged-up girl's back tonight.

His shaggy-haired head tipped back toward the rink. Thrash and Dash took a step closer as if to encourage Lumen along. The blonde plastered a self-confident smile on her face as she looked between Zinnia and Vasha. "I'll be right back. You two know I can handle myself, yeah? And Calvs, let's keep this quick."

This time she held an underlying tone of danger to her voice as she took a step forward.

Meanwhile, Proctor Celestia stepped forward toward the band and encouraged them to keep playing. It was hard to say whether she offered Soliel a look of approval or of apathy.

 

[Caeso Diemut]

Caeso stood from the table, having partaken of just the prerequisite amount of wine to lower his inhibitions. Corvus would likely drink more and offer more than that to their peers, and Lumen appeared to be just fine in her dealings with Calvin. So that left Caeso open for dance practice.

The problem, as he approached the stage, was that there was but one other Initiate present there.

Soleil Verdane. Of course it would be her. Out of every possible Initiate here at this Friendsgiving, she was the last person he would have picked (placing her even beneath the block of other gentlemen whom Caeso merely had no interest in as dance partners, rather than an active revulsion against).

Yet, here he was, his mind tickled by the tiny caress of inebriation. Hardly was it enough to even color his cheeks, but...it was enough for him to look past Soleil's repulsive attributes.

He came up behind her. The unfortunate lute player she was harassing had just picked up his lute, and joined in with the band at resuming a tune at Proctor Celestia's prompting.

"You," he said.

 

[Soleil Verdane]

"You," came a familiar voice from behind her.

Soleil turned around without actually turning around. The back of her head became her face, her face the back of her head; her toes became her heels and her heels her toes; her stomach and her back switched, and so on for the rest of her body until she had reformed facing about.

"Me," she said, and then as if abruptly remembering to do so, she smiled widely.

Caeso looked a little appalled by the way in which she "turned" around, and Soleil cocked her head, studying. The small crease of his brow, the tiny and ephemeral flaring of his nostrils, the subtle and brief shift in the firmness of his stare down at her.

Nevertheless, Caeso said, "Onto the stage. We are going to dance."

Soleil trilled her tongue. "Dance. Funny word."

"And why is that?"

"Many meanings." Then, with a level enthusiasm akin to a learned specialist sharing knowledge of their area of expertise with someone unlearned, she began to list them, "Dance? Mean violence. Fighting. Elegant way of saying. Need partner! Dance? Also mean rhythm. Movement to music. Again, need partner! Dance? Also mean sex. Less common. Partner also requir—"

"That's," Caeso interrupted then, "enough."

 

[Vasha Drurcius]

Vasha eyed Lumen for a moment, then simply nodded and took her arm off of Zinnia to properly sign to her. "Want to head to the changing rooms so you can get some skates on for ice skating?" she suggested, hoping to divert the drugged girl's attention and lead her away. Vasha didn't like the idea of leaving Lumen to deal with those three alone, but she was rather notorious in her capabilities in a fight in her own right, so Vasha decided to trust that. Besides- maybe the numbskulls would realize that the Proctors wouldn't let them get away with much now.

Zinnia Lumen

 

[Zinnia]

Probably for the best that Lumen was dealing with Calvo---Cahver--Calvin? Yeah, that one. Her impulse control was not with her at the moment, and the warbling outlines that were starting to appear around everyone really made her want to see what someone's clothes might do when imbued with elemental energy. Caldaver was probably a good test subject for that, but Lulu was probably about to ruin his weekend, so that was fun.

Zinnia's eyes began to wander, eventually landing on Caeso and Soleil. Her eyes narrowed, then she took on a scowling squint.
"Ttttthat...jerk." The deeply inebriated girl hissed, then proceeded to mumble a rambling, half-sick series of complaints to no one in particular. "Double standards having...stuck up...too-good-for-my-food...jerk'll dance with the girrrrll who can't...bleh...keep her limbs on straight, but he'll make a scene over my pote--pome--pahtatoes. I oughta...uhhh..."

She was handily--heh--interrupted by the signing of Vasha. Signing which she did not speak nor recognize. What was she doing? This required Zinnia's utmost focus now, and whatever was going on two seconds ago was obviously peanuts by comparison. She reached up and placed both her hands on the girl's shoulders.
"Lllizard, please, I don' understann your interrrrpretive dancemoves. Pleeeez just drag me somewherrr or somethin', I'unno."

 

[Lumen]

Lumen walked with Calvin to the edge of the rink. Thrash and Dash behind and on either side, like pathetic bouncers. Tawny-eyes stared at him dangerously as he leaned in.

"Y'know. We would make the best power couple for this school. Your connections. My magic." His raised his fist and for a moment, a dark-like substance like a smoky-shadow leaked out before being sucked back into his skin.

He must've read the 'you're a dumbass look' across her face because he spoke again as her lips parted.

"Just think about it. Because your little friends won't always be together. Accidents happen. It would be so easy."

She wanted to punch him and tell him to stay the ef away from them. Instead, she laughed and crossed her arms. "Oh Calvs. They can take care of themselves. Do you have to threaten to get girlfriends these days," she brought her hand up to study her nails, looking bored.

"Accidents can happen to you too, you know," he gritted his teeth.

With that, she spun on her heels and blew him a kiss over her shoulder, doing an excellent hair-flip. A danger in her eyes that were at odds with her actions. As she passed by Zinnia and Vasha, she'd whisper moreso to Vasha because Zinnia was two-strings higher than a kite.

"Watch out for those dicks."

But Lumen didn't stop. A powerwalk in a lowcut powersuit. She'd march right up to Soliel and tap her sandy shoulder, looking Caeso straight in the eyes. "Excuse me, may I have this dance?"

 

[Caeso Diemut]

"It is the second meaning we will pursue," Caeso said, feeling a touch silly for even having to mention that, but this was what he got for turning to Soleil of all people for dance practice. A venerable old saying, that beggars could not be choosers, came to mind. "Give me your hand."

Soleil detached her hand from her arm, a haze of loose sand at its termination, and it floated over to grasp Caeso's own.

"Attached to the rest of your body," Caeso said in a patient growl, feeling even more silly for even having to mention that.

Soleil laughed, three laughs like identical musical notes, and she stepped forward and fixed herself so that she was normal again. He led her onto the stage and called to the band to play something slow and they obliged. "Now, your other hand on my shoulder, and your feet—"

 

[Soleil Verdane]

"Like this," Soleil said, and she matched her to Caeso's own.

He looked momentarily shocked. And what he said confirmed it, "I would not have expected you to know even the basics." He blinked, and his other hand found her back, nestled beneath her shoulderblades. "Next you will tell me that the Academy has trained you in this and sent you out on missions were dance was pertinent."

Soleil grinned, fissures of flesh radiating down from her nostrils and sealing back up at her jawline. "First Annual Ball. I watch. Many interesting things."

Caeso looked ready to ask another question, but then his eyes glanced beyond her, and Soleil felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked back. Her eyebrows climbed high and she whistled as she saw that it was Lumen there.

Excuse me, may I have this dance?

Soleil glanced sidelong to Caeso and said, "I watch again."

 

[Caeso Diemut]

Thank Kress for Lumen. Soleil parted with only a characteristically odd response, walking off the stage and ceding the dance to her without any fuss. Maybe the band members could keep her entertained.

"Lumen, it is a pleasure," Caeso said, greeting her with a nobleman's bow before offering his hand. "I would be happy to share this dance with you. Seldom are the occasions in which I may practice."

Lumen

 

[Vasha Drurcius]

Zinnia being annoyed was one thing, but her being borderline angry was another. And it was hilarious. Unfortunately for her, Vasha's facial features were not exactly able to express human emotions, so she had to settle for an odd trilling noise warbling in the back of her throat. She was just debating trying to figure out what to do with the girl to keep her occupied when she spotted Lumen turn around and head back toward them out of the corner of her eye.

Watch out for those dicks.

The higher pitched warble slowly deepened into a purr, and Vasha made a show of yawning in that moment- her jaws opening wide to reveal a mouth as black as coal and long, serrated teeth. It did not matter what powers someone had- the distinctly human reaction to a predator was the same. And if they wanted to go and pick a fight, well, they picked just the right person to do it with... loath as she was of her lineage, a Drurcius was a Drurcius, and Vasha held true to the nature of a bodyguard well, even if reluctantly.

Deciding to keep things simple and take Zinnia up on her offer a little literally, the draconic figure suddenly kneeled and moved to try and pull the smaller girl up and help her sit across her shoulders, Vasha's skeleton and musculature shifting further and causing her dress to strain just on the verge of tearing. Clawed feet slipped out of too-small shoes, and a bladed tail flickered out behind her now. Her horns lengthened a bit further- able to easilly be grabbed for balance if Zinnia did allow her to reposition her as such.

 

[Zinnia]

Watch out for those dicks.

High or not, Zinnia still caught that.
"YAHP they're alllll over tonight, huh Vashums?" She confirmed, volume not particularly a consideration.

Now Lulu was trying to dance with Sayso instead of Sandycheeks. What was that all about? Dance hussy, that guy, he'll just dance with anybody. Pfft. Whatever. Woah, what's happening now?

Before Zinnia really knew it, she was being lifted up into a piggyback--lizardback?--ride by Voooosh. The lizard lady seemed to be getting bigger, changing more and more before Zinnia's very (fucked up) eyes. She grabbed hold of the handlebar horns that had presented themselves as such and leaned loopily down next to Vassshhh's head.
"Ooooh, you change toooo. Huh." High Zinnia realized aloud what sober Zinnia already knew. Zinnia blinked once, then twice. Oh, she'd said something she shouldn't have. "Oh, wait-wait. Not, um, 'too.' Forget that. You change! But noooobody tries to...hurt you or anythinggg. Luckyluckylucky."

Zinnia gave Vasha a smile and softly, rhythmically patted the back of her head like a delicate bongo drum. This was neat, she decided.