MY FUR IS FALLING OUT! (Seiji)

[Sevastien Debrosse]

Sevastien was not having a good morning. It had been good for a bit, true, but as soon as he lurched into the shower and noticed clumps of grey and black and white hair clogging the drain he started to panic a bit.

Just a bit, mind. He didn't quite scream and flee the scene. He squeaked instead, and his flight was more of a hopping scramble over to the mirror while trying to not get water all over the floor, work out where the hair was coming from, and then squeaking more because he tore a bloody line across his ribs with a claw that hadn't been unsheathed when he started. He finally stood before the sink and mirror, half-wet and half-fluffed chest heaving, and stared at himself.

His wet patches looked worse. They often did; water made him look kind of mangy and bedraggled. Now, though, it kind of revealed the soft under layer where clumps of hair sat half-stuck in the rest of his fur. The longer hair on his shoulders, chest, and belly was the worst off, while running a hand over his face only pulled a few individual hair out. The hair-hair on his head seemed to be attached still.

Sev could see no logic to it. He hadn't eaten anything unusual, he didn't feel sick, and it made absolutely no sense for him to grow all this hair only to lose it a few weeks later. The only thing he could think of was some disease he didn't know about (which was probably a lot) and just didn't give him a running nose or cough or anything.

WAIT! There were supposed to be some sort of medical type people here, weren't there? Maybe they could help! They could probably help even if they didn't know what was going on. They were professionals. Medical professionals.

So... Sevastien maaaay have looked a little crazy (and desperate and pitiful and possibly abused) when he burst into the nurse's office, wrapped in a jacket that didn't help one bit with the little bits of fluff drifting in the air behind him. There was lots of air movement. He kind of ran the entire way. And then some extra, because he took a wrong turn two or three times and had to backtrack and make up for lost time.

[Seiji Lockard]

Other than his battle with Ghost, his four foot white boa that wanted to hang on him as Seiji went out; it was a pretty good morning. He understood the snakes want to be carried around but Ghost was not little snake as he had been years ago, he was big, and heavy, but Seiji could hold him by himself, it was just hard to hide a snake that big on him. Still, Seiji was going to be staying on the Academy grounds today since he didn’t have any classes, which meant he could head over to the nurse office and get some work done. Ghost was busy shedding and wanted to get out of the room so Seiji had to pick him up, having him over his shoulders and part of his body around Seiji's waist and they were off. Good thing Seiji seemed to be really unaffected by the snakes weight, must have been his whole snake bond, since he had carried even larger snakes that tended to take two people, but it was just him.

Seiji managed easy enough to make it to the nurse office area, a few people quickly avoiding him and his snake that was clearly in view. He was used to it however, so not hurt or anything by it. Grabbing a seat in the office and letting Ghost still cling to him even if the snake was moving around a lot, trying to use Seiji to help loosen the skin that he was trying to shed. Seiji didn’t really mind too much, but the constant moving was getting in the way of him trying to go through files and actually move around. "Ghost. Floor." Seiji ordered and Ghost obeyed, moving to the ground and rubbing past the desk and pretty much anything that he could and thought would help with the itch and trying to shed his skin.

"Hmm?" Seiji looked towards the door when Ghost said that someone was approaching, very fast. Sure enough some kid or something came bursting into the door. Seiji was not sure if he was looking at some mangled animal that walked on two legs or what at first. Of course his mind quickly worked out that the...boy was a mutant. Boy right? Yes. Seiji's looked over the kid for a moment before a friendly smiled appeared on his face, despite the kids panicked look. "Hello there, looking for a nurse?" Seiji asked, not being a nurse or anything, but he could still help to a certain point in the medical field however. Seiji was curious however, this was a mutation he was not use to. Yes he seen animalistic mutants before, but most of them were reptilian, which he was really good with.

He noticed the clumps of fluff coming off the kid and immediately was thinking of the different causes to it. he could be sick or some sort of shedding, he could have even been in a fight and loss some of his fur. Stress could even be a factor. Seiji's mind whirled with the different possibilities of what could be the cause of the fur loss. At least Seiji was assuming it was fur loss that could possibly be what was not even wrong with the child. "Anything I can do to help you?" Seiji then offered, remembering that no nurses were in at the moment and that it was just him. Might have been because of the snake that was now under one of the beds, rubbing up against the post, or that they were out getting something to eat.

[Sevastien Debrosse]

A voice oh good someone who worked here. Sevastien turned towards the stranger a little too quickly, slipped on some of the hair and his own clumsiness, and caught himself with toe-claws and a furiously waving tail. Except then his claws got stuck and that was annoying but he should talk first. Right. Talk.

He cleared his throat and stared at the guy pitifully. "Can you - erm - I-" He'd run over here way too fast to think of just how to put this. "I just woke up. And - well..." He scratched the side of his neck and came away with a bunch of fluff. He glanced at it for a moment and tried to shake it free, then turned his hopelessly hopeful gaze back to the totally-medical-professional (please let him be a professional and medically inclined). "I have no idea what's going on," he said meekly. "This's never happened before. I mean, having it in the first place is kind of new but even so!"

Sev totally wasn't flailing inside. And a little bit on the outside.

Nope. Not at at all.

[Seiji Lockard]

Seiji blinked a little bit at seeing how fast the student turned around and then basically almost slipped. Being saved by his claws, ooo claws. Seiji was getting a bit distracted with figuring out what specific genes were mutated to cause such a change in a human boy. Fur, claws, and a leopard look to all of him. Yes humans had nails which were like claws, and hair that was like fur, but not on the same level as the 'animals' in the world had. Nowhere like what this kid had going on with his body and it fascinated Seiji as his mind was basically having like a genetic map floating in his head and trying to work out which chromosomes had been mutated. Wait, the kid was talking, he had to focus. No, not really, he was good at multitasking in such manners.

Seiji watched as the kid seemed to try and gather his thoughts, trying to explain what was wrong with him. It always helped if Seiji had something to go off of, as it did for pretty much anyone who was trying to help someone else. Someone could say something hurt, but if they didn’t say what specifically hurt and the type of hurt it was, it made those trying to figure out what was wrong and how to make the hurt go away have a difficult job. Sevastien scratched at his neck and then showed the clump of fur that ended up on his hand and then made it known that this had never happened before and that he was basically new to his mutation. Seiji pretty much knew what was up, or at least had a strong idea, since Ghost was also shedding, but he had to be sure.

"I see. Can you grab a seat right there?" Seiji asked as he pointed to the examination table, wanting Sevastien to sit up there so he could get a good look at the kid. Having to go into something of a doctor mode or at least analytical mode as he looked closely at the kid’s fur. "Can you tell me your name, age, and what your specific mutation has been labeled here?" Seiji asked since Sevastien should have known that were. Seiji did not, he was still new so did not have access to all the files, nor did he get a chance to look at the ones he did. "Are you feeling sick at all? Eat anything different than normal?" Seiji asked the basic; wanting to cross off any other possible causes to be sure what he as thinking was right.

[Sevastien Debrosse]

Aha! Professional indeed! It took Sev a second to unhook his misbehaving claws and then hobble over without putting his toes back down enough to get them caught again before he could retract them. Not walking on his toes was kind of hard when he, you know, walked on his toes. He made it, though.

"Sevastien Debrosse, seventeen," he said as he arranged himself and his tail. "I don't think it has any special name or anything. I think they just called me a snow leopard." He shrugged and tried not to fiddle with his tail. "I don't feel weird or anything," he said. "Well. Maybe itchy. I thought maybe I'd eaten something weird, but I can't think of anything. It's not like I have a lot of options for food as it is. Meat's really all I've been able to eat lately and I can't exactly wander into town to change things up." He shrugged, not particularly concerned with not being able to leave the school grounds at the moment.

[Seiji Lockard]

He waited until Sevastien managed to make his way over to the seat, Seiji half tempted to pick the kid up and help him out. Also a small part of him wanted to pet and snuggle him, since Seiji was more so use to smooth scales and didn’t really get to feel soft things that were living. He gave a friendly smile to Sevastien as he introduced him, full name and everything. "Nice to meet you Sevastien. I'm Seiji Lockard." Seiji said offering out his hand to the student, not worried about the claws or anything. It would help him experience the whole fur lose for himself so he could get a sample and look at it under a microscope later. That and again he still had that small want to pet the kid.

Ah, snow leopard. Seiji thought as he gave a small nod, noting everything Sevastien was saying and gave a small chuckle. "Well I have some good news and bad news. Well the bad news is not really bad as it is going to be annoying and troublesome." Seiji said looking away for a moment as his thought went somewhere before looking back to the student. "Good news is you are not sick, at least from what you are telling me and the condition of your fur reveals that you are not sick. A very healthy boy in fact." Seiji pointed out, yes he knew about other animals besides snakes. "Good slash bad news is you are shedding, which happens to creatures with fur or scales during certain seasons or when they are growing. In your case I'm pretty sure it’s because the winter season is at its end so you are getting rid of your winter coat." Seiji said trying to make sure he was being clear about it all and not using too big of a words.

He could be a very smart boy, just because he did not get that he was shedding does not mean he does not get big words. Seiji did a little self-scolding, but still he knew that certain use of vocabulary worked better on others. "Bad news is you are going to be getting fur all over the place so be ready to place in a work order to get your drains unclogged and expect to be doing a lot of itching, rubbing up on things, and having to vacuum." Seiji concluded, glancing over to Ghost who was now visible and he moved over to Seiji to get a look at this shedding student.

[Sevastien Debrosse]

Seiji. That was a cool name. He shook Seiji's hand carefully, keeping his claws out of the way as best he could. He listened attentively, so focused that even his tail lay quite still. Troublesome? Troublesome isn't too bad," he said hesitantly. The declaration of his health was a huge relief, and he grinned with the sudden absence of worry. Just shedding? Well, now he felt downright silly!

He scratched the back of his neck, and the action was at least half sheepish. "I guess that makes sense. Does that mean I won't be quite so fluffy, then?" He did have a lot of hair. Maybe being less fluffy for a while wouldn't be so bad. He'd probably dry off faster after showering and maybe wouldn't get too warm in the summer. He wasn't entirely sure how warm this place got in the summer, though.

Oh hey a snake. Sevastien blinked. And blinked again. Then he blinked at Seiji. Seiji wasn't at all concerned that there was a big snake wandering over.

All right, then! "Is that yours?" he asked curiously. "I've never met a big snake before. I have a ferret. Chiclet's white too!"

[Seiji Lockard]

Seiji made a note of how Sevastien hand felt when he shook it, making sure to give it a firm shake before pulling back and looking at his hand. Had to be interesting to have such a mutation. He began to wonder if Sevastien was at all able to take on a less snow leopard appearance. It would be a little sad if he could not, that meant that he would have to remain at the academy all his life. Mutants who could not hide their abilities had to remain here. Their secrete had to be kept, even if the world was slowly finding out about them. Seiji hoped things settled soon, but with how some kids and possibly some staff were stubborn and would probably end up making foolish choices. Seiji mainly expected the students to be the ones to risk things, even more so the angry ones who didn’t care about anything and were selfish. Seiji just hoped Sevastien was not like that. That this boy would use his head and do what he could to stay safe and advise possibly any of his friends to do the same.

"Nope, your entire winter coat is going away, which is good because you won’t overheat with the warmer weather. Sure we are up in the mountains, but it still can get pretty warm up here." Seiji pointed out with a friendly smile still, moving away from the kid to wipe his hand off with a napkin, and putting said napkin in a bag so he could look at the hairs that had ended up on his hand later. Not planning anything harmful, just taking a look. He would not do any big research on the matter since Sevastien had not asked for anything like that. Say the boy wanted to appear more human; there could have easily been something Seiji could be able to do. Something temporary, possibly...he was not sure unless he tried.

Seiji was starting to get distracted with his thoughts until Sevastien spoke up about his snake. "Oh, yes. That is Ghost. He says hi." Seiji said with a smile as Ghost lifted up the end of his tail and made it move like it was waving at Sevastien, moving closer to the kid at hearing about a rat creature. Ghost was now thinking about having that tasty rat like creature as something to eat, which was why he was moving closer to Sevastien. Seiji however could hear his snake’s thoughts and moved to be in front of him, picking up the snake and holding onto it. Ghost's mouth opened as if he was going to say something, but he was a snake so that could not happen. "Ghost wants you to pet him, give him a nice scratch. He is shedding too." Seiji said to which Ghost started to nod his head.

[Sevastien Debrosse]

Sevastien sighed, letting all the air he could out of his lungs at once. "All right," he said. "I'm from the coast, near Seattle, and Canada before that. I have a feeling that any help in not being hot will be welcome." He watched Seiji curiously as the medical guy wiped his hand off, but neither asked about it nor took offence.

Sev was about to drop off the table to say hello to the snake when Seiji intercepted it. He blinked in surprise, but when Seiji invited him to scratch the snake he grinned. It was pretty cool how the snake seemed to be nodding. "How old is he?" he asked once he was on the floor, crouching down to the snake's level while his tail waved around behind him. Snakes felt so cool! Even if he had to keep a close eye on his hand to make sure his claws didn't pop out. He doubted Ghost would appreciate being mauled, even accidentally. At least his toe-claws had popped back in at some point!

[Seiji Lockard]

Seiji chuckled at Sevastien words about where he was from and how anything that kept him from being hot was good. He was not worried about what Sevastien was going to think about his whole collecting his fur. He was not planning anything bad and it was not like he was going to tamper it. He just wanted to look at it and see how fine the hairs were and if they were actually like that of a real snow leopard or not. So many questions, most having to be studied since the kid only knew what his ability was called. Meaning he would not be all that much help, still Seiji could ask him a few questions about other things, once his mind got off the idea about the boys fur.

Seiji kept a good hold on Ghost who could smell that there had been a rodent of some nature on this boy. He also took into account the boys smell and how he appeared different then what the snake was used to seeing. Then a question that Seiji had to think about for a moment. He got Ghost when he was first coming to the school that was back when he was eleven, and he was twenty-four now. So that meant that Ghost was around thirteen years old more or less. "Thirteen. Still a teenager in human year, but an adult in snake years, and pretty old in fact." Seiji said with a chuckle which made Ghost look up at his master and tilted his head just a little. He was not old, he was a very youthful snake if he thought so himself. "He is pretty much more of a dog then a snake." Seiji added, which was pretty true and Ghost would have barked but he could not so he just snapped his jaws as if that was his form of barking.

"Not scared of him at all?" Seiji asked with a raised eyebrow since Ghost had to be a little scary right? He was a pretty large snake and all white at that so Seiji was more so surprised that Sevastien seemed fine with it all. Ghost was four feet, and a constrictor, he could do some damage, not that he would.

[Sevastien Debrosse]

Thirteen? The snake was only a few years younger than he was! "How long do snakes live?" he asked curiously. If thirteen was an adult but Ghost didn't seem to be a doddering old lump of arthritis, the answer was clearly bigger than he expected to see Chiclet to, sad as the rare thought was, but less than a human lifespan. "I don't have much experience with dogs either," he admitted.

Sev angled his head and blinked at Seiji. "Should I be?" he asked innocently. "He's yours. You have control of him, if he were inclined to do anything. You'd tell me if he were dangerous, and he wouldn't get to wander around unsupervised if he were. Why would I need to be afraid?"

[Seiji Lockard]

"It all depends on the type of snake. Large snakes; like Ghost here, can live up to 35 or 40 years. Smaller snakes 3 or 4 years. With most stakes between those sizes living between 10-25 years on average." Seiji explained, knowing a lot about snakes since he was basically connected with them. He practically knew all there was about snakes, and then some. If he did not know, he would find out as soon as he could and make sure he understood it before he would share the information with others. Seiji shifted his grip and Ghost moved to start to climb up his master now. Seiji having to shift how he was standing in order to support the weight of the snake without pulling anything or hurting himself. Ghost was four feet after all and Seiji was about five ten...maybe taller, he forgot his own height for the moment, but it was not all that important. Seiji’s head tiled at Sev saying that he didn’t really experience dogs either, this kid needed to get out more. Well with his power not so much, but he had to meet some other kids then. Had to be a few that shifted or took on the appearance of dog like creatures at this school.

“I’m sure you will at some point. There are a lot of kids with different abilities at this school. Could easily meet one that turns into a dog and sort of have an experience with them. Either way, Ghost tis a lot like a dog. In the way that he thinks, obviously.” Seiji said with a small chuckle as Ghost gave another sort of wag with his tail end of his body. Sev asked the question back to Seiji when Seiji asked if why he was not scared. Sev made a good point, but he was also missing the fact that everyone did not think that way, which was why Seiji had asked the question. He gave the boy a warm friendly smile. “Well I’m happy to hear that you at least think things through and do not live just on fear. Many people allow their fear to cloud their judgment and see Ghost or any of my snakes and freak out, but don’t take time to think that because they are with me that they would not hurt someone. However, people are getting better at it.” Seiji added still keeping his smiling, scratching Ghost under his jaw.

“So Sevastien, care to tell me a little more about yourself? Or now that you know what your body is going through you are all good?” Seiji asked as he moved over to grab a seat at a computer, pulling up a few files to make a note down that Sev had come down to the nurse office and Seiji had helped him out by providing just verbal information. He could help out more if the boy needed or wanted it, but it was not really what Seiji’s job was, but he was in the field so happy to help. “Your ability is very interesting by the way. Can you change your appearance at all?” Seiji then asked after a moment of taking down some really quick notes, Ghost still wrapped around his master, but in such a way that Seiji was still able to type.