The Jaguar And The Snake

[Seiji Lockard]

Seiji thought someone was pulling a mean joke on him when he had heard that Sorcha Adams was back after going off to who knew where. Seiji honestly thought she had died, because how else was he to explain why she had suddenly left? She didn't even say good-bye to him and that normally happened when someone died or they were not really his friend deep down. He knew he and Sorcha had not spent a lot of time together, but he thought it was enough that they were friends. He tried to not think about it too much as he headed towards the teacher lounge where he had been informed Sorcha was taking a break at the moment.

He felt like he was about to have an anxiety attack, and that was mostly because he didn't have one of this snakes on him. He had promised himself that he was going to try harder with the whole 'not going around and doing everything with one of his snakes on him' but it was a lot harder then he thought. It was odd to walk around in just silence and not feel a snake somewhere on his person. He kept just trying to think of it as if he had gotten a new snake, one that was really small and super shy and that was why he didn't hear anything or could not feel anything because it was a new snake that he had yet to bond with.

Now he suddenly wanted to get another snake really bad, but that thought quickly slipped away when he entered the teacher's lounge and spotted Sorcha. He didn't understand what had come over him but in the instant he was quickly moving to hug the woman that he had not seen in so long. He knew deep down this hug was to help calm himself down from the fact that he didn't have a snake on him but he also wanted to hug and make sure it was really Sorcha right there. "I thought you were dead." Seiji blurted out, since it was the first thing on his mind and nothing else would come to him in that moment.

((Tag:Sorcha Adams))

[Sorcha Adams]

Once she had gotten things all smoothed out concerning her continued employment at the school and her housing situation it was exceedingly easy for Sorcha to settle back into the swing of things. Like any feline she had a tendency to occasionally disappear for an undetermined amount of time and then pop back in and pick up where she left off as if she'd never been gone.

Settling back into her job was easy enough, since it mainly consisted of patrolling the grounds and busting any kids that were out sneaking around, and lounging around on the grounds was no challenge at all. She was seeing a lot of new faces, however, and missing about as many old ones. Aside from the students that regularly arrived and departed, there had apparently been an ample amount of losses and replacements in the staff roster. She figured the easiest way to start making a list of the new faces and maybe getting to know some of them would be to camp out in he Lounge for a while.

Sorcha had chosen to relax on the couch and zone out with the TV on while taking note of the people that milled in and out between classes. She was largely zoning out as some commercials ran when she was suddenly assaulted by the full weight of the latest person to come through the door and make a beeline for her.

She certainly hadn't expected to see Seiji hanging around the Teachers' Lounge, nor had she quite expected to receive such a greeting from him. It was easy to forget that just because she could pop in and out of her own life like it was nothing it didn't mean that everyone else she knew could do the same. She felt a little guilty that the poor guy had come to such a conclusion about her disappearance, but not guilty enough to rethink her habits. Maybe next time she'd pause long enough to tack a note to someone's door or something during her escape.

"Hello to you too," she offered as a greeting, shifting to return the young man's embrace once the surprise had worn of and she'd registered what was going on. "Not dead, just deeply irresponsible," she added with a bit of a sheepish grin.

[Seiji Lockard]

Seiji had not meant to hurt her or anything or really to basically tackle her the way he did but he could not help it. He had not seen the woman in months and there she was just sitting on the couch and zoning out while she watched TV like she had been there the whole time. Seiji was pleased that he generally was not an emotionally wrecked guy and that he was often happy, or else he would have been a blubbering mess at this point. Instead he squeezed her a little in the hug, happy that she even returned it, and let her go after a moment.

"Sorry, my manner slipped away there when I was so relieved to see you again." Seiji admitted as he started to blush a little at her first comment. He gave a small smile as he looked at her and she admitted that she was just being irresponsible. He understood that because of her power that she was likely to have some traits to her much like a cat as he had seen in person a few times. He just didn't think it would go as far as her just leaving without a word. Seiji was now a teacher along with his other job as Side-Effect Specialist. So while he was allowed in here before, he was fully cleared do to being done with his college degree.

"How have you been? What have you been up too? Have all your wounds healed up?" Seiji could not help but ask a few questions in basically rapid fire mode. It had just been so long and he had been so worried about Sorcha. Eventually he just wrote it off as she died or left for good like so many other people that he had gotten closed to. Yet, here she was and even seeming to be in a relatively good mood.

[Sorcha Adams]

Socha had to grin a bit as Seiji apologized and composed himself with a blush. He'd always been fairly friendly with her and that blush was a familiar sight whenever he started to get a little nervous. And of course she was more than guilty of pushing her limits to tease him into blushing for her own amusement. She'd need to remind herself to play nice especially for the time being as there may be some hurt feelings between them that weren't quite making it to the surface just yet.

"Fine, fine, everything's totally fine," she replied, giving a dismissive wave of her hand. It took more than a little scuffle with some heavily armed goons to wipe out all nine of her lives. She was a sturdy individual and like any feline she always landed on her feet.

"I may have wandered off to play in the wilderness," she replied, shifting over on the couch to allow him some more room to take a seat if he wanted to. "I get restless sometimes and like to get away from everything and run around in my fur for a good long while every now and again. I'm just not so good at stopping long enough to let people know what I'm up to before I'm out the door."

[Seiji Lockard]

"Oh that is wonderful to hear. No issues with your power? Nothing you need me to look over?" Seiji asked, just wanting to be sure. He didn't want to be too pushy but he wanted to make sure she was okay and understood that he was there to help if she needed it. Sorcha was still her usual self it seemed, which made Seiji even happier. She was back! Sorcha was back and she was still the same woman that he had met at the bar who had not punched him in the face when his snake touched her. He was just so happy to see her again but he did his best to not go back to trying to hug her too much and cling to her like she was a life line.

He really needed one of his snakes around, he felt so off without one of them but he did his best to just focus on Sorcha. He listened to her explanation and gave a small nod of his head to show that he understood. Yes, that made sense. Her power did turn her into a huge Werejaguar after all, so it made sense she would have certain urges that just had to be met. He wished they had not ruled over her to the point that she just vanished but he understood. He could not get rid of the huge grin on his face as he looked at her. "It's okay, I understand. Used to people leaving without a word. I'm just happy that you came back alive and that I got to see you again." Seiji said, as he ruffled his hair and looked away for a moment.

Yes, being left behind was nothing new for him. People dying on him was nothing new either. So he was just happy that someone he cared for was back and seemed healthy and happy. "I'm just so happy you are back. Anything new with you?" Seiji asked. There was a lot new with him but he was more of the kind of person who wanted someone to talk about themselves then the other way around. She was the one who had been one for a while; he had to catch up with what she had been up to.

[Sorcha Adams]

"Look over? Are you playing doctor around here now?" Sorcha replied, with a quirk of her brow and a tone that wasn't entirely innocent. For all she knew he could have become a part of the healthcare staff while she had been gone, but she couldn't keep herself from poking a little bit of fun during their conversations. He didn't exactly strike her as the kind of person that could take to medical care very easily since he turned red as a tomato every time he caught her in any state of undress when they hung out. "You know I'm always open to giving demonstrations, medical or otherwise. You can drop by my room for one anytime."

Teasing aside, she did appreciate his obvious concern for her. It would have been very easy for him to be bitter over her disappearance as well as angry with her for essentially abandoning him just when they were starting to cement their tentative friendship. Hell, he may still be angry with her and it was just being pushed down under his relief and concern for the time being. She wouldn't blame him in the least if he wound up shouting at her before too long. Either way, the fact that he was being as nice and understanding as he was said a lot about what kind of person he was.

"It's pretty nice to be back. Playing wild child off in the woods is great, but after a while you do start to miss modern marvels like TV and indoor plumbing," she said, giving a lazy wave toward the television across from where they sat. It was just a couple of things on a long list of items the wilderness was lacking in, but there was no need to ramble and bore the kid.

Sorcha gave a small shrug at his last question. "Can't say here's too much new in my life. I pretty much just tried to pick back up where I left off. Got myself settled back into the dorms and back on the Security roster." She hadn't been back very long so there hadn't been too much trouble for her to get into yet, but she could always change that once things got properly settled with her back on campus. "I should be asking you what's new, since you're the one that's stuck around the school."

[Seiji Lockard]

"Yes, to make sure you are alright or if you have any marks on you that you got from your time in the wild that could be of concern. Plus I'm sort of like a doctor, not officially but my first job is being the side-effect specialist." Seiji informed her, totally missing the other hinted thing she was talking about at first. When it dawned on him what else she was hinting at he could not help but to start to blush a little. Leave it to Sorcha to get him blushing over hinted things in their conversation when he was taking everything in the most innocent of ways. Still, he could not deny that he missed it but that was mostly because he missed her.

Her next words left him completely speechless and turning bright red. She meant in terms of showing off her power and how she was doing, right? Nothing sexual like she had kind of hinted to before, right? Seiji was uncertain and that was why he was so red right now as he just cleared his throat and thought of the best way to respond. "I would like very much to be able to exam you to make sure everything is okay but if you would a true medical profession to do that, I would understand." Seiji assured her, going with the pure of mind through just to be safe. Not like he would know what to say to the not so pure thought.

He really was concern for her and could not help but not to be at feeling like they were friends and wanting to make sure she was okay. He smiled at hearing that she was happy to be back and even chuckled a little as she spoke of how she missed TV and indoor plumbing. Part of him wondered if she had missed him at all, but he would dare not ask. That seemed to needy and he didn't want to see needy when he had to understand that people needed their space to do as they liked from time to time, especially grown adults. He gave a small nod when she revealed not much had been going on and ruffled his hair a little when the question was turned on him.

"Oh uh, well I'm still the Side-Effect Specialist but I will also soon be starting up a job as a teacher for a Mutant 101 class once summer break is over. Other than helping out a few people with their side-effects; nothing really new, for me." Seiji informed her, giving a small nod. Then it dawned on him something that was kind of new and important, which was why he was still sitting so very close to her. "I'm working on going places without my snakes so...it's just you and me." Seiji added, giving a small nod as he ruffled his hair again.

[Sorcha Adams]

And there was the blush, just as bright as it was before and paired with the characteristic refusal to acknowledge that she was teasing him in a rather raunchy manner. He always tried so hard to keep the conversation on track. It was a rather endearing quality of his, though unfortunately for him it was also just amusing enough that Sorcha was tempted to bring out that particular trait probably a little more often than was polite.

"You're not gonna find anything more serious than a couple of bumps and bruises, but if it would make you feel better to give me a physical then I can probably behave long enough for you to do your job," she replied with only the bare minimum of mischievousness in her smirk. She could play nice if she really wanted to and if it was something that would put the young man's mind at ease then she could keep herself in check until she got the all clear from Doctor Lockard.

She thought she remembered him mentioning the Side-Effect thing in a past conversation of theirs, but like he said the teacher thing was definitely new. She didn't think she'd known he was aspiring to be on the teachers' roster but she didn't doubt he'd make a fairly good educator. "Mutant 101, huh? Sounds like it could be an interesting enough class if you're getting all the newbie students in your classroom. If you ever want a temporary TA for a demonstration, gimmie a call. I never pass up the opportunity to show off."

When he brought up his missing snakes, something in her mind sort of clicked. Their reunion had been fairly normal, but not entirely. Something had been off about it, but she couldn't figure out exactly what it was. But once he mentioned his scaly little friends everything fell into place. "So that's what's different about you. I was wondering why there wasn't anything trying to crawl up the back of my shirt for so long. Is this a new thing for you? Something you're doing for personal reasons, or is it some kind of a no-pets in the classroom kind of deal?"

[Seiji Lockard]

Yes, it was true that Sorcha often made Seiji blush with the things she said but he didn't think she was a bad person because of it. In fact, part of him liked that she was playing with him in such a way because it made him feel like they were actually friends and not that she used him because of his job or anything like that. Even if she honestly didn't use him for his job and he was the main one that was always using his job to make sure she was okay. He relaxed a little when she said that he could check her out and she would do her best to be good.

"Thank you, I could check you now if you want. Just mainly want to look at your joints to see the level of stress on them from you possibly staying in your form too long. Also want to get a good look and feel of your skin to see if growing fur is doing any damage to it recently. As you said, there is probably nothing wrong but does not hurt to be sure." Seiji said as he was already giving her a look over and reaching out to touch her arm. He didn't need to do anything invasive, just a quick look to make sure she was alright and not dealing with any side-effects that could come to bite her in the butt later on.

He was not an actual doctor; probably never would be, he didn't want to stay in school that long when he could be working. He just had the skills to be a doctor but he always understood if someone wanted someone else to give them a look over since he was mainly all about power related issues for the body. "Yes, I think it will be very beneficial to students and staff. I don't start the class until the start of the school year but I hope I'm able to help even more people with understanding their powers and what it does to their bodies so they have to be careful." Seiji said with a small nod and taking a pause.

"You would be willing to do that? That would be great!" Seiji said as he sounded super excited, because he so was. He blinked a few times when she spoke about what was different about him. He started to blush again as he looked down at the ground, ruffling his hair a few times. "Sorry about that, Leevi and Akiko just seem to be really fascinated by the human body and you do have nice one so I can understand but they should still respect your personal space." Seiji muttered out before clearing his throat and refocusing. "It more of a personal decision...because I don't want to keep making people who don't like snakes freak out around me." Seiji admitted.

((Tag:Sorcha Adams))

[Sorcha Adams]

Sorcha gave a nod and surrendered one of her arms over to Seiji's ministrations once she noticed he was starting to reach for her. She hadn't quite expected that he'd jump into it so quickly, but it didn't particularly bother her that he was so eager to be sure of her well being. She had been prepared to invite him back to her room in order to extend to him the courtesy of having some privacy if he wanted it. Not that she had any problem stripping down to her skin in the middle of the teacher's lounge. But considering he wasn't asking for them to relocate themselves she figured it wouldn't be quite that thorough of an exam.

Even if he wasn't a licensed physician she trusted that he knew more about his chosen field of study than she did. Of course she knew her own limitations, but even just listening to the few examples he gave of what he might be looking for proved that he would think to look for something she hadn't. Side-effects like exhaustion and stiff muscles were exceptionally easy to recognize and deal with accordingly after living with with her mutation for as long as she had. But something like fur growth potentially affecting her skin somehow would never have occurred to her. She considered herself to be very fortunate in that moment, to have a friend that she could learn such intricacies from, and one that was wiling to explore those intricacies in her best interest to boot.

She nodded along in agreement as he spoke, making a mental note to drop by a few of his classes to see what he had to offer as an educator. It seemed like it could be a good learning experience for her as well as the students whenever he had time in his schedule to use her as a teaching aid. She truly loved showing herself off, but she wasn't going to pass up the chance to soak in the lesson he would present on her. It was always interesting to hear an outsider's perspective on her abilities and it provided a valuable opportunity for her to broaden her horizons when it came to thinking about her own mutation.

"It definitely sounds like a good way to balance out the curriculum. A lot of mutation-related classes are going to deal with developing and training the kids' abilities, so having a class for them to explore their vulnerabilities and whatever setbacks come along with the mutant baggage is a really good idea to be implementing." The kids might not be super enthusiastic about a less action-packed lesson concerning their abilities but eventually they'd be grateful for the information and figure out that mutations were more than just flashes and bangs. "And I will totally let you pencil me in for show and tell."

And there he went acting all bashful again. She certainly didn't miss his comment about having a nice body, but she decided to bank that one for the time being, rather than bringing it up right away. She'd let him have a bit of a breather between her teasing comments. Besides, she was sure a perfect opportunity would come around and allow her to pull the comment back out in the future. "Oh, I wasn't complaining, just making an observation. If I really didn't like them wiggling around on me then they'd have only done it once, believe me," she replied. Other animals really didn't bother her unless they woke her up from a nap or encroached on her alone time and even then they were usually just a mild annoyance.

"That seems like a perfectly reasonable excuse to leave the scales behind," she continued. "Though it's a shame more people don't like snakes. Aside from a little personal space invasion they seem relatively harmless. But you know they don't bother me, so if you wanna let them out of your room or whatever you can always come spend some time with me."

[Seiji Lockard]

Seiji was pleased that Sorcha had no problem with him giving her a quick check, just to make sure everything was okay. It would likely be best if they did go someplace private if he wanted to check out all of the locations on her body that were at risk of any issue, but he could not find it in himself to be able to ask her. It would be a decent enough checkup if he checked the skin and the condition of her bones in her arm. His main concern was actually her back since that had to deal with a lot of strain when her body literally would be stretching out and altering to change into her other form.

He had a small internal debate on if he was going to ask to see her back or not while he focused on her arm. His fingers lightly trailing over her skin, trying to see if he felt or saw anything that was off. Everything looked fine, the skin was still soft, and there was no discoloration or signs of rash anywhere. Thankfully he was more so wrapped up in making sure that she was okay instead of the fact that he was basically caressing her, so he was not blushing just yet over that particular matter. He then worked on squeezing her arm a little, trying to get a feel of the muscle and bones in her arms before moving her wrist back and forth a little as he listened closely.

This would be so much easier with one of his snakes, but he had to make do with his own skills without their extra assistance. "That was what I was thinking, but it makes me feel that much better that someone else agrees." Seiji responded, still paying attention to what she was saying as he worked. He could not help but to smile at seeing that overall Sorcha looked and felt pretty healthy in what he was worried about. Everyone had side-effect, but that didn't mean they could not change, epically the longer you had a power. "Really? That would be a great help, Sorcha. I would really, really appreciate it." Seiji quickly said when she spoke of being up for show and tell.

She really was an amazing friend and he was so happy that she was back. He relaxed a little when she assured him that she was not bothered by his snakes and if she had been she would have made sure they never did it again. The latter brought back some of his nervousness but he just made a note to talk to his snakes about being a bit more careful when they felt the need to violate someone’s person space. "I'm happy that you were alright with it, would have been unfortunate if you had to teach any of them a lesson." Seiji said, letting out a nervous chuckle. He nodded his head in agreement about her statement about it being a shame that people didn't like snakes, but there was not much he could do about it.

"Thank Sorcha, that means a lot and I'm sure they will be happy to hear it. You just might want to set some rules down or else they will start showing up there without me." Seiji pointed out, chuckle a little. He then scratched the back of his neck as he tried to think of the proper way to ask this. "I did want to take a quick look at your back, but we probably would not want to do it here and you probably want a woman looking at your back...so I can ask my colleague for help if that would make you comfortable." Seiji then informed her. There, that was professional.

((Tag:Sorcha Adams))