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(no subject)

Who: Tekhetsio
Broadcast: Network | Open
Action: SS Pathstone
When: November 15

[he doesn't turn the video feed on because he looks like shit. he can't even keep his mask properly in place, so the rest of the Fleet does not need to see him looking so inhuman and a little cadaverous. the fact that he can't even hide from his crew is bad enough.]

...This is getting absurd.

[his voice is sharp and quite stressed. he has completely run out of patience.]

Has no one come up with an answer for this thing yet? Honestly? ...Isn't anyone the least bit concerned with how... ugh...

[and his voice then trails off as he backs a step away from the receiver.

the entire fleet is then treated to the distinct sound of sickened retching... followed by a few clatters... and something small, wet, and heavy hitting the floor.

anyone aboard the SS Pathstone and happening by the network station that Tek is using will have it a little worse, however. he has puked up a little bit of a mess--mostly consisting of oily black liquid, a couple of half-digested coins... and a shiny red gem.

oops.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[he isn't trying to be impressive. he just doesn't want to get anything on these clothes, because he's trying to go as long as absolutely possible before he has to wash them. he'd pretty much rather die than be seen wearing the outfits provided by the fleet.]

I've never needed one.

...And that sort of thing is a terrible idea if you're trying to keep up some sort of cover.

[how long will vanity outweigh the clothes starting to smell Tek]

So... it would turn up some significant physical differences... [Her eyes gleam but... shhhh... she just smiles.] Mind letting me take a look? [Anyway before he says anything she's leaning back towards him a bit to stare... at his eyes. Not staring into them, just at them.]

[ha joke's on you his clothes would just smell like a dusty old tomb before they smelled gross. who needs nasty mammal oils and sweatglands when temperature regulation isn't an issue.

and he leans back a bit, but doesn't retreat too far. she isn't reaching for his face or anything. yet.

even masked he leaves the appearance of his eyes almost entirely untouched, which means they're still a rosy sort of lavender pink, with pinpoint pupils. and of course lined with little curled lines that are almost definitely some sort of tattoo, upon such close inspection.]

...Is this in the name of medical progress, or morbid curiosity?

[What if Crowley throws up on them what then]

I wouldn't call it morbid! It's just curiosity. Don't tell me you're shy? [More like a wary, hunted kind of creature. Paranoid guy. She wonders if anyone hunted him.] It looks like somebody drew in your eyes. Do all your friends look like that?

Yes, well... you creatures do a lot in the name of curiosity. It's an impulse that is far from harmless.

[and he lifts a hand to tap the corner of one eye, right where the line curls. there's a bit of pride when it comes to this.]

And, no. This one is all me.

Oh, don't worry. I wouldn't go hacking apart a sentient creature for no good reason. Anyway, what's that for? [Whether he responds or no, she's then switching her attention to stare at his teeth.] What's your vision like? Perfect twenty-twenty? Better than that? Or are you nearsighted? Do you see in full color?

"Good reason" is another one of those treacherous clauses, I hope you realize.

[and then he'll just tick through the questions, lagging behind them being asked]

This is to help identify a shapechanger. ...And yes I have excellent eyesight. Really, I'm fairly certain that I'm better at most things than you are.

...But I don't particularly like bright light. [--and bringing that up is mostly because he doesn't want a penlight aimed in his eyes. that's something that doctors do, right?]

[She just chuckles a little. :) And she doesn't reach to pull his mouth open, but she does lean... even... closer...

Mentioning his dislike of bright light was smart. :T]

What's you eat, by the way? Your schtick about being unbothered by mortal ailments notwithstanding, if you vomited, I'd expect you needed to expel something that was upsetting your stomach. So, munched up anything unusual lately?

[just eyeing her as she gets... closer...

now he's curious to see just how far she'll go before she stops. he imagines this would look hilarious if someone happened by.]

I haven't eaten a substantial meal in a while.

[...which is totally not an answer, of course.]

Are you telling me you usually vomit when you get hungry? That doesn't seem efficient, and you seem like you'd be less unsettled by the entire thing if that were the case. [She's like literally breathing on him and just not caring. Personal bubble? What do u mean??? Itching to pull back his lips and evaluate those teeth more.

They would look hilarious EMBLICA, DON'T GET THE WRONG IDEA OR ANYTHING.]

[yeah, he's beginning to regret his own curiosity, there. it's probably what prompts him to answer in the way that he does.]

The network station down the hall can verify if you're really so curious.

[which he means AS A JOKE. even though it's true--the mess is still there if she really wants to go look.]

I will! [So brightly that it's obvious that it's really going to happen.]

Mind opening your mouth? Are you a pure carnivore or do you eat plant foods too?

[well, that didn't go precisely as planned. so, he'll just... gently push back on her shoulder until she's in her own space again. and then he'll oblige by making a face at her--lolling his forked tongue out for her to see.

his tongue is as black as his blood, and his gums are nearly-so. his teeth had simply been sharp before, when his mask was failing but he was still speaking. neat and uniform little edges, maybe something like a piranha. but now that he's got no mask to speak of at all and has apparently resigned himself to showing it all off, his teeth are longer, thinner, like horrible and uneven needles. this counts three different forms his teeth have been in by now.]

I can eat anything. But, meat is my favorite.

[Her eyes fasten on his tongue... if Moblit were here, she'd be screaming at him to sketch this. If she had a sketchbook, she'd be scribbling it down furiously herself. As it is she just commits it to memory as much as she possibly can, to draw on whatever papers turn up later.]

My, my... [She let him push her out but leans closer again, not as much as before but still... close. Then the corners of her mouth turn up and she laughs deep in her throat.]

I hope you're not stuffing humans in there.

[okay, so he's slowly warming to the attention. and by warming, it's more like not being hideously paranoid every single second.

it's maybe that laugh that does it.]

Ah... no. I swore off that habit long ago.

[He'd have gone on to the "must kill / ok to vivisect list" if he'd said yes, so for everyone's peace of mind, no is the good answer. She leans back and smiles shinily. There was just an edge of that edgy enthusiasm that put him off so much earlier, but it's quickly tucked back under again since it's not necessary now.]

Glad to hear it! Mind saying ahh, though? [She is fishing out a handy-dandy penlight... not for his eyes, but for the throat.]

[lucky for him it's one of the few sins he has strict feelings about.]

It's something that a few of my associates indulge in, but... I very much disagree with their philosophy.

[just to make sure that she knows it's no longer a temptation for him. he'd like to avoid the vivisect list, thank you.

and he obliges by opening his mouth. it's only human in basic structure in there--all black and deep, bruised purple. he's got more jaw and throat room in there without the glands and complicated bits humans have hanging around that help regulate immunity and breathing and other things he doesn't need so much. there is, however, something different going on with the back of his throat and roof of his mouth along his teeth, where a thin slick of something darker and more substantial than saliva is being secreted.]

[She flashes the light into it and peers with one eye, leaning in close again. The fingers of the hand not holding the light land on his jaw, but that's mostly absentminded coincidence. How nice to not have the subject of this trying to bite her face off as she works.]

That's very interesting... [Her voice just drops when she talks about this, just a bit, a little musical but with some grating edges. It's not her world, or her problem, buuut... she hopes those humans have come up with some ways to totally fuck those people up.

Ha, that forked tongue. She's totally not tabling the reptile idea. Who cares what he says.

More neutrally:] What have you got secreting here?

[the light still makes him squint and blink, his pinprick pupils somehow contracting even more in reaction.

and he leans back and turns his head away when he answers, to try and preserve some space of his own to speak in.]

...I suppose the best way to describe it is... a vehicle for venom?

[monster drool.]

Fascinating... [Man she wants a sample. Damping the penlight a little, turning it away from him to let him be more comfortable] Is it venomous now? To others, I mean.

[ha, okay. he smiles. because even he finds his own powers pretty cool.]

It can be.

[wanna see?]

[Kind of. Maybe not on her. She is kind of moving to stick a finger in his mouth though.]

Do you mind if I...

[yes. he does mind.]

--Ah. [he goes to politely catch her hand before it gets too close.] You don't want to do that.

[he's not keen on her sticking anything in his mouth, so he instead leans a little to the side... and spits on the metal floor near the both of them.

just a little splatter of black that looks much like his blood, but inkier and more viscous. and after a second or two, there's a tiny hiss of steam where the acid is beginning to sizzle. if she wants a sample, there it is. at least she won't have to worry about many contaminants with how caustic it seems.]

[WHEEZES and now she's pulling away from him and scrambling a little MUST PRESERVE THAT SAMPLE SOMEHOW oWo TODAY IS A GOOD DAY]

[haaaahaha... he shouldn't be getting this much petty glee out of this. since when did this turn kind of fun?

watching her scramble makes him giggle a little bit.

and if she's got a little glass vial or something, she can totally scoop that shit into there. it won't hurt glass or plastic at all.]