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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2017 5:51:21 GMT
Senri exhaled the breath she had not realized she had been holding as the changes gradually smoothed out. He was overall much calmer, in fact, and she sent up a quick mental prayer of thanks. There was no denying that the whole process was disconcerting, to say the least, and she was on the outside looking in. She could only guess what it must be like for Alistair. He continued to grow beneath her arms, dwarfing her still further, but she did not let go until the sudden onset of the final stage forced her back onto her heels. Even having an idea of what was coming did not fully prepare her for the sight before her. Where once was a man, there now lay the largest lion she had ever seen not three feet in front of her. She stiffened reflexively, and her earlier thanks were joined by a startled entreaty for aid, inarticulate even in her thoughts. But even as her hindbrain shrilled a gibbering warning, she sternly stepped on her fear. Pulling in a deep, cleansing breath, she released it slowly, and between that breath and the next, only her relief and mild bemusement were allowed to touch her expression. With a slight tilt of her head, she mused in a whisper, "Huh. Don't see that every day." Raising her voice only slightly, she called, "Still with me, Alistair? Looks like you're in the clear."
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2017 6:28:24 GMT
[attr="class","ohlove"] [attr="class","lacking"] [attr="class","eyes"] ✎ tag: @skycat ※ wearing: Here.✉ notes: Shifted. both were silent. the air in my lungs, my hands on the keys. Deep, clear, that was how it all sounded. He could hear the family of squirrels burrowing into the knot of a tree from the cold and a rabbit huddling into a bush dozens of yards away in order to get the perfect patch of food. His breathing, his heart, the sound of the bending grass beyond his nose after ever exhale, everything. A mumbling of something brighter and higher in frequency made a single, round and blonde ear twitch awake and alert. His eyes opened away from her - hind legs near her own with his body stretched across the ground - and blinked heavily, tiredly, as if woken from a day's long slumber.
A drowsy grumble in his throat helped him gain a fraction more awareness and consciousness to focus his sight in a contrasted view through the darkness. The colors and depth were all different; brighter, sharper, and more vibrant than they'd ever been. It was like he was seeing a very ordinary park setting for the first time. The heavy tail lifted and flopped back down as his mind tried to make sleepy sense of the sound his ears at least recognized enough to respond to.
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Dec 11, 2017 14:22:30 GMT
Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2017 14:22:30 GMT
Alistair's response was encouraging. Rather than full unconsciousness as she initially expected, he was awake, if just barely. After weighing the options, she decided it would be best to let him sleep. Before that, though, she wanted to know how much of himself he retained. "After all that effort, he'll probably wake up hungry. No, scratch that. He'll wake up ravenous. I don't want to be inadvertently on the menu, thank you very much." And so, much as she hated to disturb his rest further, she tried again. If this was the first time this had happened to him, he was probably still trying to process the many and varied new stimuli. Touch, smell, sight, hearing, taste, proprioception. The brain sorts through a continuous stream of input at any given moment, and the tools with which Alistair's had to work with just underwent a drastic transformation. "If I had to guess, even my normal voice would be roughly like a gunshot..." And so with that thought in mind, she kept it to a soft, "Over here, Alistair." She scooted a bit to the side, about to where she guessed she would just be entering his peripheral vision.
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Dec 13, 2017 14:44:51 GMT
Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2017 14:44:51 GMT
[attr="class","ohlove"] [attr="class","lacking"] [attr="class","eyes"] ✎ tag: @skycat ※ wearing: Here.✉ notes: Shifted. both were silent. the air in my lungs, my hands on the keys.
His single, lifted ear rotated and followed her steps and movements along the cool grass and he shut his eyes again from the oddly overwhelming sensations of sight and sound. One was easier to focus on while he still tried to wake from his groggy state. When the voice spoke out - a frequency he recognized but a sound that seemed too alien to comprehend - he opened his eyes again and slowly slid his tired gaze over to her without a move or tilt of his head.
Familiar blue eyes reflected in the available light and blinked in her direction. His nostrils expanded out, catching her scent in the air; like freshly fallen, crisp leaves in the fall trees around them. Even though the face looked different, more outlined and intense, the smell was one he knew. Friend. "Mnnnnrrrrrr...." the large cat groaned with exhaustion in both body and mind as a response, pulling his chin closer to his chest to see her more directly.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2017 2:30:19 GMT
As Alistair blinked at her and took her scent, she held her breath expectantly. Mentally, she berated herself for her fear, though she knew it was entirely instinctive. "Hopefully he won't smell it on me," she thought worriedly. "Can cats do that?" But the fear and tension that she had been sitting on slid away and unraveled as he simply looked at her more closely, behaving precisely as the exhausted feline he appeared to be would upon being disturbed by something familiar. "And here I was actually afraid he might try to eat me," she thought, relief warred with a resurgence of guilt at the sight. "Good," she said aloud in a gentle tone, "That's very good, Alistair. You can go to sleep now." With a warm smile of approval, she concentrated, and music filled the air once again, but just on the edge of hearing. Her choice? Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, of course.
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Dec 14, 2017 17:48:53 GMT
Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2017 17:48:53 GMT
[attr="class","ohlove"] [attr="class","lacking"] [attr="class","eyes"] ✎ tag: @skycat ※ wearing: Here.✉ notes: Shifted. both were silent. the air in my lungs, my hands on the keys.
The music was strange. Somewhere in the archives of his mind he'd heard this before, he was sure of it, but it still sounded so different. His eyes became heavier under its soothing melody and he shut them for a moment until another smell hit his nose. This one wasn't nearly as nice... It had him wrinkling his face and disturbed enough to lift his head and wake back up. It was sharp, acidicbas it minorly burnt at the insides of his nostrils, and he rolled slowly to his belly to look over at the source; the wet ground a few feet away near the bench where he'd been before the girl had found him.
With an attempt at standing, he fumbled rather pathetically to the ground with an awkward distribution of his weight and eventually found his way to four legs - his groan growing a bit louder at the confusion. Why was his head so heavy? Why was he closer to the ground? It was hard to think, to process the questions or even have them in the first place. Every muscle felt weak and liquid after the drastic change. The large feline head turned to her again and a paw lifted to try to get closer, grumbling at the difficulty of movement.
[newclass=.ohlove]width:480px;padding:15px;border:1px solid #d4d4d4;background: #6c9d73; /* Old breakowsers */ background: -moz-linear-gradient(90deg, #6c9d73 0%, #6c9d73 100%); /* FF3.6-15 */background: -webkit-linear-gradient(-85 deg, #6c9d73 0%, #6c9d73 100%); /* Chrome10-25,Safari5.1-6 */background: linear-gradient(-275deg, #6c9d73 0%, #6c9d73 100%)[/newclass][googlefont=Oswald][googlefont=Open Sans][googlefont=Roboto][newclass=.lacking]width: 400px; height: 0px; background-color: rgba(40,40,40,0.4); overflow: hidden; -moz-transition: 3s all; -webkit-transition: 3s all; -o-transition: 3s all; transition: 1s all;[/newclass][newclass=.ohlove:hover .lacking]width: 400px; height: 240px; padding: 10px;;[/newclass][newclass=.ohlove:hover .eyes]transition:1s;margin-top:0px;[/newclass][newclass=.eyes]background-color:#1f1f1f;opacity:.8;font-family:calibri; font-size: 9px; text-transform: uppercase;color:#ffffff;padding:20px;margin-top:400px;width:360px; height: 140px; transition:1.5s; letter-spacing: 1px; text-align: justify;[/newclass]
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Dec 14, 2017 22:21:01 GMT
Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2017 22:21:01 GMT
Just as before, it seemed as if the music was working its magic on Alistair. That was, of course, until his face suddenly scrunched in a clear show of disgust. She followed his gaze over to the offending patch of ground that was the culprit and winced. "Whoops. I completely forgot about that in the hubbub. Still, I think I can do something about that..." Before she could act on the thought, though, Alistair attempted to stand up. He was eventually successful, but clearly disoriented. She was moved with compassion, and when he made as if to approach, she sat up straight, spread her arms wide and spoke a single coaxing word, "Oidé," meaning simply 'come here' in Japanese. Why Japanese? Well, why not? Even she couldn't have said for sure, but there already seemed to be a language barrier. It probably didn't hurt if its bricks changed color a bit.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2017 1:55:21 GMT
[attr="class","ohlove"] [attr="class","lacking"] [attr="class","eyes"] ✎ tag: @skycat ※ wearing: Here.✉ notes: My friend. both were silent. the air in my lungs, my hands on the keys. When her arms went wide and the welcoming tone was spoken, he grumbled a bit less and did his best to walk over - less frustrated now that there was a sense of patience to wait for him. His wide paws stumbled here and there, still not having quite stood up to full height, and eventually settled for crawling on his belly towards her until he was close enough to smell nothing but the leaf scent on her skin. Arms now lined on either side of her, she was much closer. The shapes on her face seemed more familiar than they had earlier; contrasted lines from the reflections of the night now blending and softening.
With a patiently slow curiosity, the feline's neck stretched forward and his muzzle moved nearer to her before the large, black nose sniffed to memorize the accents and let his warm exhale brush over her face. Was she this small? His mind couldn't pull the memories that he felt she came from - like a dream you tried to remember from only the previous night. Just inches away, he lowered his face - easily three times the size of her own - to look her eye-to-eye. Friend. Regardless of memories, he still had a semblance of trusted recognition.
[newclass=.ohlove]width:480px;padding:15px;border:1px solid #d4d4d4;background: #6c9d73; /* Old breakowsers */ background: -moz-linear-gradient(90deg, #6c9d73 0%, #6c9d73 100%); /* FF3.6-15 */background: -webkit-linear-gradient(-85 deg, #6c9d73 0%, #6c9d73 100%); /* Chrome10-25,Safari5.1-6 */background: linear-gradient(-275deg, #6c9d73 0%, #6c9d73 100%)[/newclass][googlefont=Oswald][googlefont=Open Sans][googlefont=Roboto][newclass=.lacking]width: 400px; height: 0px; background-color: rgba(40,40,40,0.4); overflow: hidden; -moz-transition: 3s all; -webkit-transition: 3s all; -o-transition: 3s all; transition: 1s all;[/newclass][newclass=.ohlove:hover .lacking]width: 400px; height: 240px; padding: 10px;;[/newclass][newclass=.ohlove:hover .eyes]transition:1s;margin-top:0px;[/newclass][newclass=.eyes]background-color:#1f1f1f;opacity:.8;font-family:calibri; font-size: 9px; text-transform: uppercase;color:#ffffff;padding:20px;margin-top:400px;width:360px; height: 140px; transition:1.5s; letter-spacing: 1px; text-align: justify;[/newclass]
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2017 2:13:14 GMT
As Alistair approached, Senri was struck once more by the sheer size of him. She felt as if she was a child again, visiting the zoo to see the big cats. There was that much of a dichotomy between them. Even knowing full well that this was a shifter did little to diminish the sense that a gigantic lion was acting as meek as a housecat toward her. Holding very still, she allowed Alistair to take in her scent and investigate her face. Remembering a bit of trivia she encountered in an article somewhere, she met his gaze for a few moments before blinking slowly. Then, remembering her original intention, she guided the night air into a steady breeze over the patch of fouled grass, literally putting them upwind of it and carrying away the odor in one shot. The music came again: Handel's Aria movement three this time, larghetto e piano.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2017 7:16:50 GMT
[attr="class","ohlove"] [attr="class","lacking"] [attr="class","eyes"] ✎ tag: @skycat ※ wearing: Here.✉ notes: My friend. both were silent. the air in my lungs, my hands on the keys. The breeze hit the lighter ends of his fur but remained simply calming rather than being any kind of movement that spooked him. When the music began, however, his ears tilted in plenty of different directions - head soon following suit - as he tried to locate the source of the sound. It seemed to travel with the air, the wind carrying a tune, and he gave up relatively easily in trying to make sense of something that both made little sense to him and also soothed him. He felt he knew this too... how, he wasn't certain. No theory terms came to mind, no term papers that students had slaved over on this specific piece, not the live performance he once saw... but he knew it. And he knew he liked it.
Alistair's gaze made it back to her and he gave another quick sniff before closing the few-inch distance to press his snout against her cheek with a gentle prod. A thank-you, if anything. Then another prod... and then a further push... and soon he was brushing the side of his face against her shoulder without any knowledge of how hard or how heavily; simply only wanting to show his affection.
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Dec 17, 2017 19:02:02 GMT
Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2017 19:02:02 GMT
Alistair's reaction provoked a soft laugh from Senri as he looked this way and that, but suddenly it was all that she could do not to get bowled over. Her intention, of course, was to lull him to sleep again, but instead found herself first being nosed and then being buffeted by the display of appreciation. Amidst fresh peals of laughter, she said, "Dou itashimashité," which simply meant 'It was nothing. You're welcome'. "I can't bring myself to be against it, but I could really use something to brace against. I'm at the wrong angle to use the bench..." And with that thought shaping her vague desire, her back pressed against a springy yet supportive material of some sort. It felt like... "Oh! I wonder why I didn't think of this sooner! I springboard off of it often enough." She smiled at Alistair, content, for now, to leave him be. "Bujidé yokatta," she said quietly. 'I'm glad you're alright.'
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Dec 22, 2017 20:21:11 GMT
Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2017 20:21:11 GMT
[attr="class","ohlove"] [attr="class","lacking"] [attr="class","eyes"] ✎ tag: @skycat ※ wearing: Here.✉ notes: My friend. both were silent. the air in my lungs, my hands on the keys. Though he hadn't pushed her over or aside, he became conscious after a short time of her size compared to his own and realized a protective sense to keep his small friend safe. That involved being a bit more gentle. When his excitement and need to express love settled, his weight rested on his own chest and forearms again, departing from her reliance with a lick of his rough tongue against the shoulder of her sleeve.
A tail flipped contently behind him and he soon settled for resting his massive head between his forepaws against the front of her folded legs. As if expressing with eyebrows, he looked up from the ground to her with lifted, attentive ears and slow, tired blinks. He was weary, but he would stay here until she seemed comfortable and felt safe. After all, his friend of leaves had taken care of him. Now that she was small, he would take care of her. Alistair grumbled after a bit and nudged his nose forward against the paramedic's shin in encouragement to rest down and feel at peace.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2018 11:34:32 GMT
The smile that Senri bestowed upon Alistair as he settled down held a certain note of proprietary fondness, that which was reserved for a caregiver whose patient she had helped through great difficulty. And it was true. The man had weathered an intense ordeal and come out the other side more or less intact. She was glad that she had been there to help him through it, and gladder still that his nature had prevented all of the many and varied traumas and conditions inflicted by the change from killing him outright. "Thank You for Your providence, Lord," was her fervent prayer as she accepted the invitation she felt being extended by Alistair's prod to her shin. "Thank You for putting me in the position to care for him. Please continue to watch over and guide me." She settled more comfortably against the support her wall offered, and the song she maintained upon the wind wound to its natural conclusion. In its place, the rich notes of a cello ensemble flowed into the brief silence. But in a small departure from her prior selections, the song, while certainly classical in a sense, was a hymn. She let them play through a verse, savoring the sedate and reverent melody, and then began to sing in a soft but strong alto voice. "Be still my soul, the Lord is on thy side. Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain. Leave to thy God to order and provide. In every change, He faithful will remain. Be still my soul, thy best, thy heavenly Friend through thorny ways leads to a joyful end." As the song continued, so too did her singing, neither of which ever quite exceeded the volume of the breeze itself nor reached a tempo any faster than larghetto. At some point, she switched to Japanese once again, but eventually there was nothing more to sing, and she fell silent at last. The cellos continued to play, but the notes seemed to curl in upon themselves, growing ever slower and softer until they too were silent.
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2018 2:57:01 GMT
[attr="class","ohlove"] [attr="class","lacking"] [attr="class","eyes"] ✎ tag: @skycat ※ wearing: Here.✉ notes: The morning after. XD both were silent. the air in my lungs, my hands on the keys. He knew he shouldn't have tried that sausage. It was the only darn thing on the snack table that hadn't been picked over or looked like someone had touched it and set it back down (great way to catch the flu this season). For some reason it always made him sick. Maybe he was allergic to something in it? All he knew was the last time he'd felt this horrible was after he'd gotten the stomach bug going around campus two years ago and spent two nights in a row emptying his stomach even though there wasn't really anything left to empty out.
What little he did remember from the previous night was either constant sweats or horribly violent chills. Both? His hand lifted to his face, wiping the dampness of his forward and pulling the muscles from down from his eyes to his jaw. For some reason a hymn was playing over and over in his head. He hadn't played that since, what, junior college? "Mmm..." he covered his face with his hand again, taking a moment to gather his thoughts about the poor pork decision he'd made that'd given him such a nightmarish night.
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May 30, 2018 17:35:39 GMT
Post by Deleted on May 30, 2018 17:35:39 GMT
Senri's wall had long since dissipated, returning tracelessly to the atmosphere as she slipped off into sleep, Alistair resting at her feet. She had retained enough presence of mind to unpack a few of her stowed shock blankets and drape them over Alistair. As oversized as each of them was individually, he had been entirely too large at the time for just one to be adequate. After adjusting the blankets to their mutual satisfaction, she managed to remember to flip up the hood of her hoodie but then slumped lower and lower against the support that itself took a toll on her energy until she could no longer hold her eyes open. She had kept up a continuous stream of comforting music for as long as she could, but between the lateness of the hour, the exertion of both her run and the exercise of her power, and the nature of the music itself, she had succumbed in relatively short order. She had ended up sprawled gracelessly upon the lawn on which she sat, with the blue of her medical gloves standing out starkly against the grass. Now that morning had arrived, one of those gloved hands had found its way up to shield her eyes from the gathering light without her ever quite reaching wakefulness. A small smile curved her lips; evidently, her dreams were pleasant ones.
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