middaeg | (open) i paced around for hours on empty, i jumped at the slightest of sounds

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(open) i paced around for hours on empty, i jumped at the slightest of sounds

Who: Stiles Stilinski and YOU
When: Night of Aereuer 8 (full moon)
Where: Various spots in Aefenglom
What: Semi-feral Arachne party games on a very special 18th birthday
Warnings: Language, animal death

[ After escaping from Sheva in the Wildes and absconding to Aefenglom, Stiles begins his hunt. Honestly, he’s not quite sure what he’s exactly on the hunt for – only that there’s a voracious hunger rising within him, an appetite that won’t be whetted by just any meal. And so, humming the happy birthday tune to himself loudly and offkey, he prowls from district to district from the city skyline. Those eight spider legs carry him vertically up edifices with no apparent effort, even make impressive leaps across significant distances between buildings. The sense of fear that usually holds Stiles back is gone; uninhibited, he experiments with his superhuman abilities in boyish delight, that joy tempered only by the unkind, savage grin stretching his mouth too wide. ]

It’s my party and I can cry if I want to, [ comes one such inspired ballad, interrupted by his sniggering as he swings upside down from where he’s currently perched. ] Cry if I want to, cry if I want to!

[ That’s if you’re lucky. Sometimes it’s – ]

It’s yo birthday, so I know you wanna ri-i-i-ide out. [ There’s a dog howling somewhere nearby in sympathy. ] Even if we only go to my-y-y-y house.

[ During the night, Stiles will make a nuisance of himself. Expect to find him cavorting through the streets doing eight-legged cartwheels, singing obnoxiously despite the hour, spinning webs in inconvenient locations, dropping by homes to pay friends unexpected house calls, etc. ]

( ooc | Full Moon Shift appearance details, CR & plotting comment, and info & permissions page. Stiles will not be hurting anyone. If threatened with violence, his Arachne instincts will force him to flee the scene. If you want to figure out a specific prompt for your character, hit me up! )

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[ When the Merrow lifts himself out of the pool, there’s a moment where Stiles stiffens in suspicious tension. But Connor makes no attempt to attack him – as hilarious as that mental image would be, of a grounded mermaid – and Stiles gradually relaxes. Curiosity, as always, wins out and he’s drawing reluctantly closer. ]

Wow. [ A long whistle. ] I don’t know why I expected you to bleed red where the fin is. Fish bleed red, right? But your transformation is working off of your existing physiology, I guess.

[ Stiles is suddenly struck by a thought. ]

Hey! Has a Vampire ever tasted your blood? Would it work as sustenance for them?

A Vampire? No. I highly doubt it would satisfy them. My blood is made to keep biocomponents functional, and the only thing it really has in common with blood in the first place is that they're both pumped throughout the body by a "heart". Think of it as similar to a human trying to drink window cleaner. You could do it, but it probably wouldn't do you any good.

…Uh, if I drank window cleaner, I’m pretty sure I’d die.

[ Stiles just needs to…put that out there. ]

Good to know, though. [ He claps his hands together, moving on. ] So, what’re you up to tonight, Connor? You can call me Stiles, by the way.

...Yes.

[Connor supposes that didn't get across in what he was trying to say. Either way, Stiles is moving on.]

I'm confined to the water on the full moons. So... I'll just be here, hoping someone comes to talk to me.

[He smiles slightly.]

I hope you stay for a while. It gets lonely here sometimes.

[Connor is a social creature, and although he gets that people have their own problems on the full moons... he'd still like to have company.]

…Seriously?

[ Wow, and he thought his Monster species sucked. The idea of being confined to a body of water for the duration of the full moon sounds godawful. ]

What if we, like, designed a little wagon for you or something? A scooter to get you around. That way you can get up to no-good nasty hijinks like the rest of us bipedal and quadrupedal freaks.

[ That said, Stiles is now making himself comfortable on the grass nearby – beyond the reach of the pool, but clearly with the intention of lingering to keep Connor some company. ]

A wagon? Hm... how would I move it? With my hands?

[Not very dignified, honestly.]

It would have to be quite large to fit my tail inside, too.

[He sighs, looking up at the sky as if he could see anything more than the vague shapes of the moons.]

I suppose we are in a world of magic, so we could use it to power the wagon somehow.

It would be magitech, duh.

[ Absently tearing up fistfuls of grass, Stiles envisions the contraption. ]

Even if it’s only for emergencies, you should have something. What if there was a localized earthquake here? Or a tornado? Or a rampaging Shade? Or a very bad spider?

[ The spider limbs fan out around him as Stiles does his best werewolf impression and growls at Connor, hands curled as if into claws. He holds the position for a few seconds, then laughs. ]

[The show is lost on Connor, who just gives an absent smile towards Stiles' left side. He at least can pick up the hints and put them together.]

Are you an Arachne?

[That explains how he got over the fence so quickly.]

I've never met one before. Can I feel your legs?

[That is an odd request, Connor. But he reaches out, looking earnest.]

What kind of spider are you?

[ Conflicting desires war. On one hand, Stiles has always been a handsy sort of guy. On the other hand, Connor is pretty much a stranger. On the other other hand (he has ten of them, after all), this is the first time anyone has expressed any interest in his spider parts. Usually, everyone is making judgmental “don’t touch me with those” comments. ]

…If you pull me into the water, I’m going to be extremely unhappy with you, [ he warns before stretching an Arachne limb over to the android and tapping his hand with it. ] Watch out for the claws, dude. I can’t retract them.

[ Watching Connor a little warily, he continues. ]

I don’t really know what kind of spider I am. I’ve mostly avoided thinking about my transformation.

[ Suddenly, emboldened by the full moon, he’s not sure why anymore. Stiles is powerful like this. Why was he so ashamed? ]

[Connor moves a hand over the limb, and when he gets to the claws he's careful not to get his scales caught on them. He's honestly fascinated, and despite not being able to see he can sort of build a picture in his mind of what he's touching.]

I have a Bond... it hasn't completely gotten rid of all my Merrow urges, but I can promise I won't pull you into the water.

[He tilts his head slightly, blind eyes still focused on the paw in his hand as though he could see it if he hoped enough.]

Why have you avoided thinking about it?

[ Preening a bit under the sightless attention, Stiles extends the leg further so that Connor has access to more than just the tarsus. ]

Dude, everyone hates spiders. “Ew, they’re so gross! Kill it!” That kind of thing, you know?

[ The answer is much more complicated than that. Back home, he’s the one human who turned down a chance to become a werewolf to keep his humanity intact; being an Arachne, a creature that’s so much more monstrous than his were-friends ever were, is highly disconcerting. ]

So, who're you Bonded to? Let's hear the juicy details, Connor.

[Connor pats his hand up the leg further, feeling the little bristles that cover it.]

Do you like spiders?

[Gesturing with one hand in the vague direction of the cottage, Connor smiles a little.]

His name is Hank. He's from my world, we both arrived here eleven months ago. He was my first friend. We live together.

[ Eleven months ago? That’s a significant amount of time. When Stiles has a clearer head, he might return to Connor with questions about the android’s prolonged stay in Aefenglom. ]

Your first friend? Did he create you? [ Wait, he was asked a question. ] Spiders are cool, so long as they aren’t crawling in my mouth while I’m asleep.

[ That doesn’t actually happen, Stiles. ]

No, I was created by a company called CyberLife. Hank was my assigned partner, and we grew close. Most humans don't see androids as friendship material, back home.

And I think as long as you're happy to be a spider, it shouldn't matter what other people think.

[He pats the leg.]

But for the record, I think it's very cool. What kinds of things can you do?

[ It sounds like there’s a divide between what androids are capable of emotionally and what humankind is willing to accept from them. Ultimately unsurprising to hear, given the expectations that fiction in his world have already built up for the future. The relationship between robots and humans was always destined to be messy. ]

It’s super cool, [ he agrees smugly, proud of his Arachne transformation now in a way that he certainly won’t be in the morning. ] And I can do all sorts of things. Climb walls, hang upside down, spin silk. I have these fangs too –

[ The rest of the sentence is unintelligible as he sticks a finger in his mouth, poking and prodding the elongated canines. ]

[Connor can't tell entirely what Stiles is saying, but he hears "fangs" and smiles slightly.]

Oh, fangs. I have those, too.

[And he opens his mouth to reveal the needle sharp teeth there, the inside of his mouth a solid blue.]

Though mine don't contain any venom. They probably would hurt if I bit someone, though.

[Especially with the increased jaw strength of a Merrow.]

[ Abandoning exploration of his own mouth, Stiles leans forward on a hand to peer into Connor’s. The sight of the Merrow’s exposed row of fangs is like a bucket of cold ice down the back of his nonexistent shirt – he’s reminded too vividly of Donovan’s wendigo chimerism, of blade-like teeth that sank into the tender meat of his right shoulder, which even now bleeds sluggishly from the old injury. ]

…Neat, [ he says unenthusiastically, averting his eyes. ] Is it always like that, or just on the full moons?

Whenever I'm in the water.

[Connor doesn't quite catch on to the lack of enthusiasm.]

Though they're longer on the full moons.

[Not long enough to impair his speech, but long enough to look kind of creepy when he smiles.]

Which Monster would you have picked if you were given a choice? Or would you have preferred to be a Witch?

[ Good to know. Stiles makes a mental note to avoid Connor when the android is in the water – those teeth really make him uncomfortable. ]

Witch. [ Which isn’t to say he doesn’t have issues with magic, because he does. It’s a love-hate relationship. ] If I had to be a Monster? Dragon. Definitely a Dragon.

[ They’re so badass! ]

I've known a couple of Dragons. The changes seem inconvenient, especially the wings.

[But he can at least agree that they're kind of cool.]

I'd probably have chosen Witch too, though. My magic is limited as a Merrow, and it seems like so much fun...

[He says it wistfully, smiling slightly. The things he could do with magic...]

[ Meanwhile, the wings seem far more preferable to Stiles, who has to deal with the unwieldy and cumbersome addition of eight long Arachne legs. At least then he could fly. Or wrap himself up in a wing-cloak the way they used to do in Gargoyles. He reiterates, so badass. ]

Right… Merrow can do some magic. [ That’s something that came up in his research on Monsters. ] Ha, a robot mermaid that can do actual magic. What a world. So! What can you do?

It's limited. Things like hardening water for light attacks, if you're talking about water magic. But my songs, while I'm wet, can lure people in against their will. And I can give underwater breathing to another with a kiss... but only my Bonded.

[He uses some of that magic now to wet himself down again with the pool water while he sits on the edge of it. Drying out in this form is very uncomfortable.]

[ Stiles nods; most of this he knew, though he’s never seen (or heard) any of the abilities in action. The underwater breathing sounds useful, if sadly situational. Still, all of this remains vastly superior to what he’s able to do with magic as an Arachne: nothing. Too bad about the mobility, though. ]

Have you tried the kiss thing? [ he asks teasingly. ] With your very first friend?

Yes, I have. With previous Bonded, too. I can confirm it works.

[His tail swishes playfully in the water, and he smirks slightly.]

I do wish it worked with everyone, though.

[ Stiles deflates a bit – teasing is less fun when the other person doesn’t get embarrassed. Oh well. He’ll simply need to find a better topic to needle Connor on…for next time. ]

Yeah, drowning totally sucks. [ Real poignant, Stiles. ] Alright. Time for me to scoot.

[ From where he’s still seated on the lawn, he lets the Arachne limbs push him off the ground and into the air. Stiles makes a show of stretching his limbs, momentarily forgetting that Connor can’t see him. ]

Glad I finally got to meet you, dude. I’ll catch you around.

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