Shad loved that play. A bit confusing at first, when someone had said invalid instead of invilad, and he missed half the plot of the falsely sick person. It hadn't made sense to him, but about halfway through, they said Invilad, and Shad understood. Would have been more enjoyable if he knew at the beginning. Oh well. It had been humorus none the less.

Now the boy made his way out into the night, keeping himself very close to the lights lining the streets. Paranoid? You could say. He had a few bad run ins at night, and wasn't wanting to run into something like that again. That was how he got his wing broken, the wing under his cloak. Why he had been in agony for a week. Why he stayed by the lights now. He also avoided the alleys. Who knew what types of perverted men could be lurking in them? But he was looking for a kiosk of some sort. A temporarily deserted one. One that he could morph in and fly home. Home being a tree in Redway Park.

Now he was just walking, a smile of enjoyment on his face. He didn't even seem to notice the rain. The rain that bounced off his cloak, rolling down, and dripping off the hem, soaking the bottoms of his jeans, and nothing else.


((Reserved for Vianne!))

OOC| Okay, so I found it... *sighs* Right after I sent that message.. I'm talking immediately.. |


Tala took a break from tramping down the sidewalk, and leaned her enticing self against a street lamp. She was smiling happily, a devious little smile but still happy none the less, and humming to herself. Some family man had just cheated with his secretary, one of her most favorate forms of adultary.

She had been prowling the streets for hours now, no one destination in mind. But a general stirring in her soul caused her to keep meandering about, and so she did. Her sunglasses were once again pushed to the top of her head, and her eerie snake eyes shone strangely in the light cast by the lamps and passing cars.

Her outfit tonight: Leather and grace. She wore black leather pants which showed just the pointy tip of her stilettos. A loose sleevless black tee covered her torso, and she matched it with fishnets on her arms. Despite her black-on-black ensemble, she lightened up her look with pink lips and cheeks, and looked rather.. intoxicating, if one must say.

Walking walking walking. He, too, had no destination in mind. The nearest kiosk wasn't exactly a destination, leaving the birdboy to wander. All roads lead to nowhere, and two people going nowhere in particular are bound to meet, right? Seems that way.

Uh oh... Shad spotted her, and frowned slightly. And noticed the rain. Two things to dampen ones mood. The girl was dressed in all black, and, though Shad tried not to profile, he normally associated all black with a) goths b) druggies c) suicidal people d) depressed people and e) anyone else that might exploit rude or, in his eyes, wrong behavior. She was pretty too. Maybe a prostitute? He'd best try and avoid her, lest be become a rape victim.

Smiling a restrained and less than friendly smile, the boy walked past her. Keep walking. If she decides to stalk you, run for it. And if she is faster, get into an ally, morph, and fly off. His plan of escape for everything now. Better paranoid than dead, right? He listened for footsteps. Any others than his own.

Tala had noticed him before he noticed her. Had spotted him just as he left the play. Seen him before he went in. And if you wanted to really get creepy, she saw him before he got up that morning, too.

So she had a far reaching gaze. That didn't mean she was a, b, c, d, or e.. Okay, if anything maybe she was a little e. But that just made life more interesting.

"Hello.." She returns him smile, except hers seems genuine and friendly. But then something tells her she could have fun with this one and she pushes herself off the steet lamp, taking one step after him. One step.

"You wouldn't happen to have the time, would you?" She calls after him. "I think I lost my watch." She stops and tilts her head slightly, staring after him with those eyes. Even if they were supposed to be such an amber, honey color, they shouldn't have had vertical slits for pupils. Contacts, maybe?

Shad looked back at her, exposing a bare wrist, then a second bare wrist. He pondered the idea of just walking away after that, but he caught a look at her eyes. Slits. Like cats. Not contacts. Contacts had to leave the center, the pupil, open so people could see. Those slits were too thin to allow for that. Too thin... His question now.

"I have a question for you. Who are you. What are you."

He realized that those COULD be contacts, just making her vision rather narrow. Maybe he should take back the previous question.

"Your are not like... A rapist or a murderer, 's what I mean."

Phew. Fixed. But now he was talking to her. He SHOULD be going home.

"No," Tala replied with a laugh. "And I'm not a prostitute, either." She added for good measure.

"I'm just bored." She sighed, tilting her face upwards and closing her eyes as raindrops fell on her nose. After a second or two, she looked straight once again, and opened her eyes once more.

"You find my eyes interesting?"

Shad nodded.

"Good... I could do without being raped tonight."

As if he had been harassed before? Maybe. Wasn't likely, but then again, it wasn't likely that you got hit by lightning. And people did.

He found her bluntness rather amusing, though a bit awkward as well. Staring. Again. He really shouldn't do that. Then again, how was he supposed to get a good look with quick little glances? Oh well.

"Yes. Contacts? Thin though. The slits, I mean. Must cut off your vision if they are contacts."

If she could be blunt, he could too.

But she could be so many things. And she doubted he could be all, too. She did find the sense of the unusual about him, he had some type of power. Whether he knew it or not. The wheels were already turning over what she could do with him.

"They're not contacts," She replied with a pleased little smile.

"And sweetheart, trust me.. I wouldn't have to rape you."

Now THIS looked familiar. Someone, and yes, it had been a god before, telling him he didn't need to rape anyone... And then they ended up making out like toys on the street controlled by the evil puppeteer. Shudder. So. Gross. Shad avoided looking back at her, and decided he wouldn't chance anything of that nature again. He had had enough of males and kissing, and him getting kissed, and that gross-ness. He didn't need to add onto the list with kisses from females. Or raping, either.

Shad turned, and started walking again. Walking fast. That was the best way to avoid other, slightly more powerful, initiates, right? I mean, walk fast, and then it looks like you are being chased. And THAT would get the attention of people. Or, as Shad negected to notice, the utter lack of human life on the cold, dark street he turned onto.

She giggled at his disgust, at the abruptness with which he turned away. She crossed her arms as if she can barely contain her excitment, and then began to walk after him.

Tala, on the other hand, noticed the no-people on the streets. Still, she slipped her thumbs into the belt hoops of her pants, and stared at the ground infront of her. She was making her own way, on a hurry perhaps.

For a few minutes, anyway. Before she stopped and looked up at him.

"Stop!" She called out, and everything in her voice fully demanded he comply.

Her footsteps pounded after him. Unfortunatly, the boy's hearing was not as acute as it should have been. Focusing all the hearing on one thing made all other sounds silent. Well, except her demand of him stopping. Stopping here? A side street. A cold, dark sidestreet. Street light over there... Should run for it. But no. Stopped in his tracks. He turns, just his head, to get her in his view.

"What!?"

A demand for a demand. His brown eyes held a bit of a glare. A semi-scarred glare.

She smiled once again, choosing to ignore the tone of his voice.

"I'm bored. Amuse me."

Four simple words. Spoken by a complete stranger. A slightly odd stranger. But she didn't have much of a threatening look about her, apart from the snake eyes and the black clothes. She actually seemed bored, and waitied for his reply.

Shad scoffed, and was tempted to do a stupid little jig. Just to amuse her. Then again, she was probally not the type for jigs, nor was he the type to preform them. The thought of leaving didn't cross his mind as he thought over what she might find amusing. He thought of what he found amusing, and applied that.

"Back to my question... WHAT are you. Cat eyes that aren't contacts..."

Yes. He is amused with conversation. No onder he's so alone. Conversation and thinking. Thinking of what she could be, currently. Maybe she was a freak, like him... With an odd morph form. Maybe a cat? No onder they didn't get along. Cat vs. Bird.

"They're not cat eyes, dumbass.. Try more reptilian." She said with patience.

This seemed to occupy her, though she didn't exactly look as if she was having a riot. Whatever, at least she didn't look manic, she had something to do now. Some giant guessing game.

Reptilian. Snake. Was she a Naga? Most likely. But why did she keep the eyes? She could blend fully either way, so there was no point in displaying the eyes. 'd only cause confusion and probally wasn't the best for un-magic folks to see. Or, rather, Uninitiates in general.

"Well, then snake. Naga?"

More questions.

She blinks, and shrugs. After a moment, she speaks again.

"I am the Goddess of Sin and Temptation," She says simply. "My name is Tala."

Shad blinked. Not another Goddess of risky behaviour. He'd had too many of those. And he was normally a fun little puppet to play. Because he had chastity and morals that pertained to what they were all about. And that made him feel uncomfortable. He knew who was in power here. He didn't like it.

"Oh... So... Then... Um... Why are... Why are you following me?"

Get straight to the heart of the matter.

"Because I have nothing else to do," She said simply.

She seemed happy at his reaction, she liked reactions like that. And perhaps she was in the market for a new puppet, someone new to play and have some fun with.

"What are you doing now?" She asked.

Shad answered simplicity with simplicity.

"I am standing here talking to a Goddess. That's what I am doing now..."

He expected to be smited or something every time he spoke with a God/dess. He was also the one to provoke them.

"But... I am going to go home now."

Home... A tree in a park. Great 'home'.

"Really." She said with a wry little smile. "That must be very enjoyable for you. I take it you've had some experiances with my type before?"

That was obvious. A certain sense of caution overtook him. And one of slight annoyance. To her, at least.

"Rather than, why don't you do something with me? Perhaps we started on the wrong foot.. I'm really not such a stalker, you know." She added with a sweet smile.

Shad blinked. Do... Something... With her? Now THAT didn't sound right to him. Sin and Temptation... No, definatly not sounding right. Now, he COULD run. But she could just pop up anywhere. Maybe flat out rejection?

"No. I'd rather go home and sleep."

No lie, but certainly not a nice way to be let down.

She seemed a little let down at this, visibily growing a little smaller in height and a little poutier in lip.

"You mean I'm not as interesting as sleep?" She asks in an injured tone. "You know, if you don't want to hang around with me just because I'm stuck being deity of some bad things, you can just say it to my face. I don't exactly need friends. I'd just like some once in awhile." She added.

Erg. Tug the heartstrings, why doesn't she. Shad needed friends himself, and someone else pointing out that, a, he was not the only loner in the world, and b, that why he was avoiding her was obvious, were just two more reasons he didn't continue home. Instead, he shoved hidden hands into his pockets and sighed.

"I've had a rather bad experience with Ms. Love and Lust and Mr. Drugs and Alcohol. So, sorry I am not jumping up to play with you."

He didn't look at her. Didn't notice the pout or the shrinking height. Just thought he;d probally end up regreting this in all of 10 minutes. But ten minutes was ten minutes away. What if she was a nice deity?

Sorry, Shad. Nice deities don't exist.

Unless they're working an angle. Which Tala was.

"Don't you find it terrifying that someone could create views of you from someone who carried all the negative aspects of your race? Without judging you yourself, just relying on someone who looks like you or acts like you or happens to be a deity like you?" She challenged him, crossing her arms and staring at him through her thick veil of eyelashes.

Shad glanced up at her, and then back to the ground. She had a point. Abbie had been nicer than Grace and Di. And Pan had been nice enough to invite him to an opera. And give him a free pass to the rest of the operas for the year. Yes, very nice. But those gods were of traits you wanted to have. Knowledge and a love of music. Somehow, sin and temptation didn't seem... Well, all that tempting.

"Yea, well, they are similar to you, no? Lust and Temptation go hand and hand. So don't tell my you are some angel, because you couldn't be. Gods ARE what they represent. You have to have some of each of your represented traits. But, hell... I'm a nice guy. You have five minutes to prove to me that you are not what I think you are."

A challenge for a challenge. Shad leaned himself up against the side of a building, and focused his gaze on her. He didn't have a watch, and he was guessing she didn't either. He'd just have to guess when time was up.

Tala dropped the hurt little act, and stared at him coldly for a moment or two.

"I am not the same as Lust," She spit out the words as if they themselves had offended her. "And I wouldn't challenge someone like me, boy. You just may find yourself giving into things a little more than usual.."

The air around Shad's head seemed to get warmer, the same dull heat as on a sticky summer morning. She began to smirk as some new idea began in her head.

Shad blinked, and felt the air warm around him. He jumped off the wall and out of the heat pocket. But it followed him. Shoot. A spell. Some sort of spell, and all he wanted was to go home...

"I want out of this! I want to go home! I wa--"

Hands over his mouth. He didn't say that. He just -thought- it. What made him say that? He stared at Tala, horrified.

"-- and I want to know what the hell you did to me!"

Stopped it at that. Started at her all too coldly. So cold, that the air around him seemed to chill back down to it's usual temperature. The spell was done. The curse was done.

Tala laughed gleefully, like a child who's discovered her new toy works.

"I think you'll figure it out eventually.." She managed to say through her bouts of laughter, her voice sounding breathy as she forced the words out.

Shad wanted to slap her. He wanted to, and, without his consent, he walked over and did. Now he wanted to run. And he did. And cry, because he didn't understand what the hell she did to him. And he did. Promptly, in his running, sat down and cried. And he didn't want this, because that was weak! And he stopped. And looked at her.

"What the HELL did you do to me! I... I can't figure this out! I want to know!"

And that was a want he had actually wanted to voice.

She seemed a startled at the slap, and she stepped backwards. While it stung slightly, she still giggled crazily as she placed her fingertips gently on her cheek.

Tala watched him run off, she heard him cry. He wasn't the big man he though he was. This was going much better than she had expected.

"What do you really think?"

Shad blinked. Temptation. That's what she was the god of. Took a while, but it clicked.

"You... You made it so that whatever I want I have to do? Or say? And I have no power over it...? You... You... You frickin' tricked me! That was UNFAIR! Undo it! I want you to undo it!"

Pleading as well as yelling. An odd combo, but it had to work. Just HAD to.

"Watch what you're saying there, bucko, or I just may make it worse!" Tala said sharply. No one told her what to do. And certainly not some little cursed boy who took forever to figure out simple things.

"Come now, is this really such a bad thing? You'll never be in doubt as to what you want.." She crooned.

Shad didn't want worse, thus, he shut up. He blinked, and scoffed.

"Yeah... I'll always know what I want... But so will everyone else..."

That was what worried him. What this curse would do to people he knew. He would want the oddest things to them. He'd DO the oddest things. He wanted to go see Matti and tell him what happened. Get a cure, perhaps.

Shad stood up and started walking. He didn't control his walking, it just... Went.

"Ok, see? It makes me do odd things like this!"

He looked completely normal. Just a kid going for a walk. Nothing seemed to have pocessed him, but then again, he was stating that he had no control over this. He stopped, and voiced his thought to her.

"So... Whatever I really want, I can always say I don't want so I don't look like a blooming idiot. Then, they are both things I really want: whatever it makes me start doing, then me not wanting to look like an idiot..."

But there was always that moment of indecision that his body would do without his consent, and that could always be trouble, he continued thinking.

Hmm.. a loop hole. Interesting.

"Darling, I don't care if you look like an idiot. Besides, it's not doing what you tell yourself you want, it's doing what you really want to do deep inside underneath all logic and reason you ever possessed."

She trailed along after him, slowly, watching him walk along and desperately look for a way out.

Shad turned a head to look at her, but he also started to walk again. Towards Matti's. He did really want to talk with him.

"I want you to never call me that again... 's just creepy."

Great, now his usual bluntness is aided along with the whole want factor. How nice. He'd probably hurt a few too many people. Oh well. Kept walking, kept moving. His cloak twitched up a bit, and a thought raced through his head and out his mouth.

"I want to streach my wings."

And promptly did so. Now, if the street hadn't been empty, he might have been shot dead. Two wings popped out from under his cloak, streached skyward, out ward, flapped once, and tucked themselves, unseen again, beneath their cover. Covered for obvious reasons. Shad was horrified at this. He could never want to do anything like that again. Never fly, never stretch his wings, never morph in public... And he wanted to do those things a lot. This was bad.

"I'M GONNA GET LOCKED UP IN A FUN HOUSE WITH THIS FRICKIN' CURSE!"

Still walking towards Matti's/ Hadn't used his reverse phycology yet.

"Call you what, dear?" She asked innocently. Or as innocently as she could fake it.

Tala stepped back once more when his wings appeared. She watched with mild interest at his little spaz. She wondered if his way out would work, it wasn't like her to leave such a loop hole. But she hadn't cursed someone in such a long time perhaps she was a little rusty.

"You're going to get locked up if you keep screaming things like that at the top of your lungs." She said plainly.

Shad glared, facing straight ahead and not watching her. She was right. Sneakly little goddess, now wasn't she? He continued down the street, stomping now. Not oviously, but he was definatly angry looking. She tricked him into a curse that was probally gonna get him killed. He could go into hiding... But there was that want for activity and freedom that he really couldn't deny. He'd probally have to suffer this curse... For today? A week? A month? How long?

"How long am I going to have to go on like this? Because I don't like it. I didn't want this."

Added his own little play on words in there.


((OOC: Hmmm... Length... Not a month, that's too short... But nothing over four months, cause that'd suck.))

OOC| Alright, how about three then? But if Tala grows fond of Shad she could revoke it earlier. To mess with him a new way, of course..|

"Well it doesn't matter what you want. I mean, about the duration of it, of course," She said with a laugh, realizing her mistake.

"I didn't try to make it very strong, if it's any comfort to you." She said sweetly. "It shouldn't last more than a month or so.."

((OOC: Three sounds good. And, oh boy. Shad better work the nice juices unless he wants to end up in a nut house...))

Shad sighed. A month of absolute tourture. And she didn't mean to make it strong... Dammit all. He looked up at the overcast night sky and sighed. He should fly to Matti's. He didn't want to walk, and anyway, how many people were out this late? In the cold. In the wind and cold and the drizzle of rain. He wanted to fly.

"I have a feeling I'll be seeing you again... Shikamuu."

The boy was gone, and in it's place, a bird. A little raptor, colored brightly in slate grays and rusty reds, with splashes of black and creme. An american kestrel took flight into the sky, headed on the same path. The wings beat mechanically, making the bird look more like a robot than a actual living thing. It wasn't the bird that beat the wings. It was a curse.

A boy with a sour attitude, denoted in his goodbye. Literally translated, it means, I hold your feet, and is used to someone of superiority. When the boy had said it, he pronounced it off a bit, making use of it in a sarcastic way. Bad manners led to far worse things.


((OOC: I figure we should end it here... Shad needs to have his Matti-post talk, then after that, he's probally gonna go talk to Liz. And Tala would probally LOVE to show up there and humiliate him. ;) ))

"Hmm.." Tala smirked as she watched Shad make his exit. Should couldn't quite decide whether or not she was angry with him, whether she would make things more painful for him. She was, however, amused, so she simply decided to hound him for awhile and make up her mind then.

She pretty little woman looked about her on the empty streets, then kept walking in whatever direction she was facing, her high heels making resounding 'click click click's on the pavement.

OOC| Alrighty then.. Just let me know where.. And when.. Or whatever.. Uh.. You know what I mean. |