tucky | IC contact for lastvoyages

'Course. I will tell you both I've got my staser now. Just in case you 'aven't calmed down yet, me laddo.

[But she doesn't hesitate to open the door.]

[He slinks out of the cell, still managing to look sulky despite the fact that he's an eldritch horror. His spindly fingers and swimmerets twitch, but he doesn't lunge at anyone and he isn't looking at either of their necks.]

You want me to go out in the hallway and check if anybody's there?

[If Iris is right, his filter will stop glitching once he's out of Zero, but leaving Zero means putting himself out in public while in his secret form.]

[He scuttle stomps past her to the door in lieu of an answer. Too many people have seen him now; they'll never keep their blunt-toothed mouths shut. His masquerade is utterly ruined.

There isn't anyone out there anyway, which is both pleased and disappointed about. He still would not mind snarling at someone at the moment.]

[Tiffany follows close behind, hoping that Iris wasn't wrong.]

[In the hallway he begins to fiddle with the device attached to what might be called his hip. It's not clear how it is attached, but it's certainly not a natural part of his body. It hums and chirps reluctantly several times before finally making its metallic science fiction-y noise, and Francesco stands there looking human and grimacing like humanity hurts.]

There you are!

Why's it so important to look like summat you aren't, sweetheart?

[Once they're outside and Francesco changes back, Tiffany breathes a sigh of relief. His space lobster form doesn't bother her, but it clearly bothers him.

She hangs back, waiting to see how he'll answer Iris's question.]

[He answers with a withering glare.]

Are you entirely serious?

[Having seen what he is, that sort of question answers itself.]

'Ardly ever, lovey, but I'd still like to know. Be like Tiffany being embarrassed 'cause she doesn't walk on all fours and moo, Francesco - what gives?

But we won't tell anyone about it. Right, Iris?

Not if 'e'd rather we didn't, no. I'm just curious, is all.

I am not embarrassed. I do not wish to be treated like an animal.

[It's also a strategy for conquering the native people by lulling them into a false sense of security but he's less aware of that than his mother was.]

'Ave you seen people treating Axel or Mewtwo like an animal, lovey?

Axel ain't a good example.

[Mostly because people - Tiffany included - treat him like a child.]

[He raises an eyebrow triumphantly.]

And I know neither of them.

If you only show people what they expect to see 'ow will they ever learn?

But I s'pose it's 'ardly your job to teach 'em. Just makes me sad to see anyone not liking what they are, is all.

But you're, like, a shapeshifter, right?

[She's still a bit confused on the mechanics of this.]

Both forms are you?

[He folds his human arms, which take to the motion much better, and stares at her with a vaguely nasty defiance.]

No.

[He's prepared for her to turn on him for this admission.]

[She doesn't, but she does look a little confused.]

Can you say what you are, or...?

[She won't demand that he does; to her, whether he tells or not tells is his choice.]

You have seen what I am. And I would never say I did not like it.

[The issue is other people.]

My perception filter simply allows you to experience me in a way you can accept.

I accept you. I can't, like, speak for anybody else, but I do.

[He rolls his eyes.]

In a way you can recognize. I am to you now as others of my species see me.

[A young man, fair, tall, and still slightly gangly. Prone to moodiness, and with a face that is neither plain, nor ugly, but which has just a bit too much character to be classically handsome. A deep, smooth voice. Thick and glossy in the places where he should be. Good teeth.]

Nah, I mean I accept you the other way too.

[He eyes her suspiciously, unsure how to take such a declaration. On the one hand: of course she should accept him. Nothing about him is unacceptable. On the other: it is not something he has previously experienced. He sounds vaguely annoyed as he explains:]

Yes, that is the point of the perception filter. You can claim to do so because we can speak; because you know me. You would not have otherwise. Things would be quite different had I come upon you as I truly am, while you sat alone in the dark and leaked.

IC contact for lastvoyages

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