This Beast Bites

[Charity Croft]

"I didn't mean it like that!" Charity insisted, waving her arms. "I meant your training issues, the issues that we're working on," Charity flushed, mentally cursing herself for the slip of the tongue. She'd been doing so good up till that point. Though it didn't seem as though the flub really bothered Devyn all that much. The girl even seemed to be willing to try yoga.

"Great!" said Charity, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically. "There's a local studio that should be just great for this sort of thing. It's a lot better that you learn from someone who's an instructor and stuff, instead of the bits I could teach you," Charity nodded, glad to have to set that up. "And, uh, I think it's just located downtown? So I'm not sure about the views."

Charity paused for a moment, chewing her inner cheek again. Then she nodded; "Right, so, uh, is your shifting," she gestured at Devyn. "Painful, at all? Either physically or emotionally," Because both would matter equally in this case, obviously.

[Devyn Solway]

"Heh, it's alright. It's the truth soo..." Devyn said, half chuckling and then shrugging near the end of all she had to say on the matter. It was cute how Charity got worked up over that statement and waving her arms around. It reminded her of someone, but that was probably because she was still stuck on that whole thought involving fighting and what came after it. Everything that had gone on...for nothing. Devyn had felt like she was moving ahead in life, getting better, and now it felt like she was going backwards. Losing control more often, thinking about those dark thoughts, and just feeling more lost then she had in a long time.

"I'm not sure if I can handle having such a cute trainer." Devyn said, not looking directly at Charity but it was possible she would have been heard. She didn't mean handle in a bad way, it was just odd to go from Guy who was all tough to Charity who was all...cute. Charity was a little too excited for Devyn agreeing to try out yoga, but her words after had Devyn stopping and giving her a confused look. "Wait, you want me to go there alone? You are not going to go with me?" Devyn asked, now less interested in trying. If she was not going to have her trainer there or anyone she knew then she didn't want to do it. She preferred to do such a thing by herself if that was going to be the case.

"By views I meant seeing the various woman and possibly men bent over in various positions. Seeing how flexible and how their clothing hugs their body." Devyn explained, feeling that it was important that Charity understood that. She hoped her trainer was not some innocent girl; she had better not been a virgin. That Devyn would not have been able to stand for when Charity was attractive as she was. There was then the question on Devyn shifting that was easy enough to answer. "It does not hurt so long as I don't fight it and if I'm not moving around when I'm trying to shift. Fighting it tends to cause some tearing of my clothing and strain on my limbs since that shadows taken almost like a tar like behavior when I first pull them off the ground." Devyn said, but had more to say.

"As for moving, well I can do it, but again it hurts because of how the shadows are when I pull them off the ground and from the carious sources that have casted them." Devyn explained. She then made a face; feeling like she had talked a lot and it was just slightly weird to talk about her power in such a detailed manner. In truth she did know a lot about her power considering how much she used it.

[Charity Croft]

Cute? Charity chuckled at that, half expecting it, what with her being fairly young and obviously adorable and all. "Well, you probably don't want to tag along with your teacher or something. I'll probably be sending a few of my students along and stuff and--" and of course it was a sex thing. Charity let out a laugh, waving it off. "yeah, of course, totally. A sex thing. Yeah, I get all the sex thing," she nodded, her lips pursed. "Totally.... getting the sex..."

And thank God they'd moved onto the actual power. Charity's slight embarrassment continued for a few more beats as Devyn began discussing. Didn't hurt, as Charity had expected, though she had to wonder if there wasn't some kind of mental thing going on that Devyn wasn't quite understanding. The only way to really figure that out would be to drag a mind reader or telepath in here... and the main one that Charity could think of was her super-boss.

Wait... Charity's brow crinkled. "It shouldn't hurt you to move while you pull the shadows," she gestured, "even if your power sharpens or hardens them or whatever, it still shouldn't be any different from just, like, putting on armor while you move or something..." Charity frowned, wiggling her fingers. She studied Devyn and realized that the easiest way for her to understand would be to watch. "Could you transform for me? Please?" she asked, lowering her hands. She moved to grab her phone, pulling it up to record it. "The video will be for me to study later. The more I watch the better I can do my thing," she tapped the side of her head and nodded, before setting the camera option up on her phone." Right, whenever you're ready."

[Devyn Solway]

Devyn was about to open her mouth and point out that she did in fact want her teacher/trainer showing up with her. She didn't want to go alone and going with students didn't sound very exciting, unless said students were older then her and attractive. It would still be weird to do yoga as a training method and have to do it with other people. It was not one on one and it was working with a group when Devyn preferred to work by herself or with one another person. She figured that it would help with her whole 'team work issue' that she had on the Security Squad team. Yet, in all honestly it was not that big of a concern to her in the end.

Her mind quickly stopped what it was thinking about and latched onto Charity's words. Words that were about sex and how apparently she was getting all of the sex. Why did Devyn have a hard time believing that even if she half expected or perhaps wanted it to be true? It made her smirk all the wider on her face as she tucked those words away for the moment. "Are you..." Devyn went to ask something, but stopped. She would ask about it later because for now they were talking about her power and she needed to focus. Yet, they were going to talk about it later because this was Devyn and all subjects would be touched upon a little more once they were brought up and they held a particular interest to her.

"Well like it’s not like it hurts completely...I guess I mean like it’s harder and thus a pain to do...if that makes sense." Devyn tried to clear up and gave a small shrug. It should not have hurt to use her power when moving but it put some kind of strain on her body when she did it. The kind of strain that came from effort so Devyn just equated it to pain. Charity was right that it liked putting armor on, since that was basically what her beast form was for her body. Still, putting armor on while you were moving was not all that easy. "That’s fine...just don't run from me or like toss a ball and record me going after it. Your dad already has that kind of blackmail on me." Devyn said with a slight chuckle.

She then took a deep breath and started to pull the shadows in the room to her, changing their form as they started to make their way up Devyn's body. The process happened a lot faster than it used to, but she knew it was because she had given her other side so much control that becoming the beast was practically welcomed now. The darkens covered her, consuming her, and hiding away her real form as the shadows started to morph. Legs, two tails, and fur started to take shape, just as what Devyn called her 'shadow smoke' started to appear around her. Soon a dire wolf sized beast would be standing in front of Charity, its white eyes without pupils looking in her direction.

[Charity Croft]

"So, more like it's tough and puts a strain on you?" Charity reiterated. That still struck her as being a little odd. Sometimes it did prove somewhat difficult for some shifter and all, but as near as Charity could tell, Devyn's power mostly involved forming a sort of animal shell around herself. Well, she supposed she'd definitely see in a bit, and she was definitely willing to go along with Devyn's terms, nodding her agreement and gesturing for the girl to do what it took.

The shadows moved, and Charity watched, her eyes alert, her phone up and ready. The process didn't' take very long, the shadows moving about. Yes, definitely shadows hardening and forming an exoskeleton. It was clearly more a form of shadow manipulation than strictly the whole transformation thing. Charity couldn't help but wonder why this particular form would have been selected. The shapeshifting thing was one thing: genetics. This...

Charity watched as the beast looked to her, and she nodded, looking more curious than anything. "Can you manipulate any shadows while you're in that form?" she asked, looking around. "You should be able to do some, right? At least the tails and forming the letters and all...' Charity nodded as though she already knew the answer the the questions she was asking.

[Devyn Solway]

"Yeah, cause like..." Devyn paused for a moment, trying to think of how to best explain it. "Like I'm a shadow manipulator but I’m manipulating them into taking a certain form and basically creating like an outer body and..." Devyn tried to explain but then dropped off towards the end. She didn't really know what else to say on it. It was just harder for her to try and transform when she was moving, and thus was a 'pain'. Sure if she was shifter or not yet shifted, she could easily fool around with the shadows around her without any real strain.

Perhaps it was just a mental thing or something, she didn't really know for sure. Devyn did recall her father pointing out the question that Charity was likely asking herself. That question being, why appear like a beast such as this? Devyn again was not really sure of the answer to that one and her response to her father were because a beast should be scary or something. She did have a feeling that it was due to her mother why her form ended up looking like something out of a nightmare that was going to catch you no matter how fast you ran. There was a question then, one that Charity was basically answering herself as she talked further.

Devyn figured that her trainer did know, but was basically implying that she wanted to see a demonstration. Devyn had her tails wag in different directions, flicked her ears, and even took a step forward to show that she could indeed control every aspect of her shadow form. She even made her fur stand up like she was about to get into a fight, but she had her fur settle back down as she started to move that shadow smoke that lingered and swirled around her. The area around her was already starting to get a little cold as the smoke formed out the letters Devyn desired to show.

Y. E. S.

The words formed in front of Devyn, and then started to appear around her, each letter fading away after a moment. The shadow smoke then returned to its swirling nature around Devyn who then moved to a sitting position, tilting her head a little to the side. Oh how she wished she could spell out more letters in order to communicate more. Yet, it had only been a few months ago when she had been able to form a forth letter.

[Charity Croft]

Yes, the transformation certainly looked interesting, and what Devyn could do after the fact was all the more interesting. Charity kept her attention focused, studying the wolf/girl closely. It looked to mostly be shadow manipulation, but something in Devyn focused it so that it worked only in this specific form. Though now it seemed like Devyn could effectively manipulate shadows...

"It's... probably linked to your primal brain?" Charity ventured, squinting to look at Devyn. "You can only form about three letters or something, right? But you can manipulate shadows and stuff. Pluuuuus you totally have the whole whispers and canine thing. So most likely you're tapping into some kind of primal brain which takes your shadow manipulation and works it like this. We should be able to train you to at least manipulate shadows however you want like this. The form seems to be your manifestation's way of handling stuff. Like, this is how your brain accesses the whole shadow thing."

Charity paused, this time walking around and approaching Devyn, studying her closely. "Have you talked or interacted with other, uh, doggies?" she said, tilting her head. "oh, and am I allowed to pet you? Not that I wanna pet you or anything: it's just, ah, more data and all."

Charity so wanted to pet her.

[Devyn Solway]

At the heart of Devyn’s ability it was basically a very focused form of shadow manipulation that allowed herself to be protected by them and to use them as a weapon. In the shape of a large beast wolf, but still a dangerous weapon all the same. She even knew that she could make her shadows cover someone else, if they were standing close enough to her. In actually she never tried to hide someone within her large exoskeleton with her, but she knew it was possible. There was that one time where she swallowed a bunny whole and how it was within her shadow form with her.

Sure the little bunny was cold but Devyn shifted back and was holding the bunny, still alive in her arms before she let it go. So she knew it was possibly on some level but she had not actually tested it out with a person because how many people would be willing to just climb into her mouth or let her try to cover them in shadows with her? Devyn could not answer the whole ‘linked to her primal brain part, since her ability to talk was impossible and she had to form out the letters and shapes in order to communicate with someone. There was a question that she could answer, about how many letter she could form, and she moved the shadows smoke in the air.

4

The number lingered there for a moment, Devyn able to form out letter, numbers, and shapes but it was only up to form of them. She tried to do more but it would always fade away just like back when she was working on forming the fourth letter. It just took another level of focus for her, but ideally one day she would be able to fully communicate by manipulating the shadow smoke around her. She had a rough idea of what the shadow smoke was, shadows that she pulled that she was not able to make dense and a mix of how she was giving off coldness, if that made sense. Devyn listened, looking at Charity as she remained seated. There was two questions, one Devyn had to think how to answer in this form.

N. W.R.K.

Devyn formed the letters out, nodding her head yes at first before shaking her head no. She was trying to say that yes she had tried to talk to other dog like animals, but it didn’t work. She was not able to read the minds of actual animals or mutants and thus went off of body language when she was around those who could not speak to her. As for Charity’s other question, Devyn leaned her head forward planning on nuzzling Charity’s body. She was at her max size and Charity had moved closer so she didn’t have to move much to reach Charity. Devyn enjoined being petted, but she understood that she was cold to the touch.

[Charity Croft]

Four... four... four... letters? Yes, that made sense, especially given that Devyn immediately began communicating using that precise number moments later. Charity read the letters, frowning for a bit, trying to work out what it meant. Oh, not work! As in she couldn't talk to animals and yes, she was bobbing her head now. The head bobbing turned into a nuzzle.

"Alright then," Charity said. She lifted her hand, moving to place it along Devyn. "It's cold, but that makes sense..." Charity trailed off, studying Devyn again, processing. It took a lot of focus to do this, but she could feel the shadows, how they layered, how Devyn kept them attached. Charity's blue eyes seemed almost to glaze over as she studied and absently petted the wolf as she went. Yes, shadow manipulation, forming layers of near armor, hardened shadow reworked into a form with all the details. The core of it should... should be able to be reworked slightly. Not enough to break free from a wolf form: this was how Devyn's body processed its manifestation. But...

"You should be able to control your characteristics," she said, studying Devyn, "color and tail amount and others. We also should be able to get it so that you can control shadows around you... but first, you need to work with a shifter," Charity nodded. "Yep, that's definitely a good idea. Work with a shifter to figure out how to control that part of it." She rubbed at Devyn again, wanting to feel more of the texture, see how far Devyn's creation felt and, well, how often did you get to pet a massive shadow wolf anyway?

[Devyn Solway]

Devyn could almost do five letters, but she didn't see the point in sharing that. The fifth letter would always fade away so someone would have to always read it pretty quick. The same was true back when she could only form three letters, the fourth would always fade away until she got a better hand on controlling it. She did her best to try and communicate what she wanted to Charity and it seemed like the woman was catching on to what Devyn was saying. It made things a lot easier when someone just got it, that and Devyn was currently distracted in nuzzling into her trainer.

Charity smelled so good, and Devyn could just feel how soft she was. Plus in this form she could so nuzzle her head against Charity's chest and it would be okay, right? Right. She was half paying attention to what Charity was saying, taking full advantage of this opportunity to nuzzle and snuggle with someone. Ah, she missed it more then she would like to admit and it was okay because while she didn't know this woman, she knew her by the aspect of Guy. Devyn's tails were both wagging as she enjoyed the nuzzling and the fingers running through her cold fur.

It would feel like normal fur, a bit more on the course side in certain spots. If she pulled at it hard enough it would cause that part of the form to change for a moment, revealing that it was not in fact actual fur. Her ears twitch at the words about how Devyn should have been able to change things like color and tail amount? Could she? She figured that she could in fact change how many tails she had, perhaps even how many legs or ears she had too, but how could she change the color of shadows. Shadows themselves took on the color of what casted those depending on the reflection, so it did make sense that she might be able to on some level.

B. L. U. E.

The shadow smoke spelled out, Devyn tilting her head to show that she was trying to ask a question with that word. She wanted to know if she could make herself turn blue, because that would be cool. Even if she was fine being in all black. She didn't know how she felt about the whole having another trainer but she would give it go. For now she moved to lie down, rolling onto her side as a hint for Charity to go ahead and pet her more. She understood if the woman would not since her hands were likely getting cold, but again Devyn was trying to suck up all this physical contact while she could

[Charity Croft]

Strange how it felt so normal. Charity hadn't thought that something made of shadows and darkness would feel almost identical to the real thing. Should it? It really didn't feel like it should. Well, obviously it felt like it should, but in broader meaning, it didn't feel like it should.

Words formed, distracting Charity from her thoughts. She read them, mouthing the letters. Her brow furrowed as she finished, and she turned to Devyn. The cocked head clued Charity in and she nodded. "Oh, you want to know if you can turn blue?" she waited a moment for the bob, then backed up slightly, wanting a better view of Devyn while she thought about it. "possibly? it seems more likely than you being, say, yellow or something," she looked Devyn over. "Blue's fairly close and all. It might depend on the type of shadow you use and how you bend it. I'll definitely make sure to contact a shifter and all: like I said, they'll be able to give you a much better reading."

Charity bobbed her head again, then paused. She studied Devyn for a while longer, letting her power work. Too long, too long would be bad. Devyn had admitted enough, but Charity could almost feel her gut pointing that out too. "it's probably a good idea for you to change back. We're almost out of time anyway."

[Devyn Solway]

Charity seemed to get it and soon was asking the question that Devyn was trying to ask. She gave a head nod and Charity provided her with an answer. At the start of this she had been worried that she was not going to get along with her new trainer. Sure she could call her like one of her trainers since she was going to be tossed around between a few others going off of what Charity was saying. She was still iffy about it, she was going to remain iffy about it until she met the other trainer or trainers that Charity had in mind for her to go to help with her shifting ability.

Devyn was not completely sure if she would ever try to go blue but perhaps just to see if she could do it. It might add to the ways she could communicate to people which was always a bonus, so long as people stuck around long enough to actually try and communicate with her. The petting was still oh so very nice and Devyn did like hearing that there was still more she could do to improve in her ability besides just regaining control over it. She did end up tilting her head a little when Charity pointed out that she should change back and how they were almost out of time. Well, that sucked.

Devyn felt fine and knew that the wonderful pets were most certainty enough to keep her distracted for a bit and thus not losing control. Still...she did understand if that was what Charity was worried about and this was supposed to be a short training session just for the sake of introduction. Dev then moved back a little, her form starting to look as if it was collapsing under some weight as the shadows started to break down and take on the similar appearance that they did when Devyn would pull them to her. Then they made their way down her body, revealing her standing there as if nothing really happened as the shadows returned to their place.

"Is...is that hug still up for grabs?" Devyn asked after rolling her shoulder a little. She didn't look at Charity as she asked it, but she asked it. She still wanted to be held so bad and Charity had pet her and made her feel like she could trust the woman already. It would probably be alright to hug and be hugged by her.

[Charity Croft]

It was interesting to see the shadows going away from Devyn. They nearly appeared to be going in reverse, as if someone hit rewind on the power. Yes, it definitely appeared to be like shifting, except that it involved shadow manipulation. A shifter was going to have to work with Devyn to figure out the nuances: Charity could only do so much with her own ability. It did seem as though Devyn was at least interested though, which was certainly promising.

"of course!" she chirped happily as Devyn ended. Charity stretched her arms and took a few steps closer. She didn't initiate the hug: after all, that was most assuredly a "no-no" on the standard teaching manual. But she definitely opened her arms and her smile to make sure that Devyn understood the hug was possible. "Emotional response is probably great for you right now. Oh, did you want some chocolate too? I think I have some," mostly because Charity usually had some on hand for... emergency reasons.

Girl reasons.
Obviously.

[Devyn Solway]

Charity practically chirped out that the hug she had offered earlier was up for grabs still. Devyn's trainer even opened up her arms and stepped a little closer, but she didn't actually move to hug Devyn. Was it odd that now Devyn was really nervous? Normally she would not have a problem going in and taking the opportunity to be hugged, but now she was actually scared. Devyn was not uncertain since she was going to have to be the one to move forward to be taken into those arms in order to get a hug. She did take a step forward but then hesitated and backed off.

"Uh...never mind. It's fine." Devyn said as she took another step back. She did trust Charity but at the same time it made it all the more harder to actually trust on to the level that if Devyn did hug her that she was unsure what she would do in return. She was being overly paranoid, she understood that but it still didn't help her feel any different on the matter. "No thanks on the chocolate, but thank you for the offer." Devyn said as she gave a small smile. She then took another step back, her hands going into her pockets as per usual.

"Thanks again for the training session. I'm cleared to go then?" Devyn asked. She figured she was, but she wanted to be sure before she went off to do whatever it was she planned to do next. Likely get something to eat since she was always hungry after a shift.

[Charity Croft]

Devyn backed off, and Charity tried not to look hurt. There was probably an excellent reason why Devyn did that, a reason that didn't really have anything to do with Charity herself. So she just nodded. "That's okay, it's available whenever you want it. I'll just store it in my pocket!" and she literally pulled her hug back and made a motion as if she were putting it into her pocket, a gesture and sentence that she regretted almost as soon as she'd finished them. But, well, it wasn't as though she could take it back now.

Charity nodded. "Sure thing. Oh, wait," she moved over and grabbed a slip. "We actually want you to go by the nurse's office and get a physical. We want to get some really solid information on how your body reacts to your powers and stuff," Charity nodded as she wrote on the slip, humming the herself. Then, with another nod and flourish, she pulled it off and brandished it for Devyn.

"So just take this and head on up, and you'll be good to go!"