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Who: Akko + You!
When: August
Where: Aefenglom
What: Akko turns into a rabbit. Send help?? She's also digging more holes than Stanley Yelnats and experimenting with alchemy!
Warnings: None!

i. silly rabbit

[Although still not quite up to her previous ability with transformation magic, Akko's gotten a much better handle on things. Or so she thought until this happened. Because as it turns out, Akko has a bit of a problem on her hands. (Or, well, paws.) She has no idea how exactly she ended up like this and she doesn't know how to make herself go back. She just seems... stuck for the moment. And she doesn't really have the time to think it through because nobody walking the street is necessarily thinking to look down for potentially small creatures hanging out on the sidewalk.]

[Thankfully, she hasn't panicked yet. She's very intentionally tried to keep herself very calm because she knows if she lets instinct take over and she ends up freezing? She needs to just focus on getting off the street and worry about being like this later. Get off the street, get off the street, get off the street... Don't get stepped on.]

[It's not particularly easy because this, of course, had to happen to her on one of the busier streets in the city. Those nearby when it happened seem to assume she intended to do it as they merely step around her without so much as a passing glance. After that, it's anyone's guess as to whether or not they're aware of her. Akko ends up staring down what she feels to be certain squashing beneath heavy boots several times as she cuts and weaves through small groupings of foot traffic until she can find a patch of grass or somewhere underneath a bench or the like to duck under and catch her breath. Looking around... The city suddenly seems much bigger when you're so much smaller. But she... She cannot focus on being stuck like this right now. She should get home. The safest place for her to be is home. She can worry about it then.]

[Of course, that begs the question of where is home? No, Akko has not forgotten where she lives. She knows exactly which building it is and how to get there from this street. But instincts pull at her and she feels compelled to begin digging into the ground. It's only a moment or two of that stray thought, that urge, before she starts digging into the earth and trying to create her own little space to hide in until whatever this is passes. Or maybe it won't'? No, cannot think like that. Must dig. Dig. Dig. Dig.]

[Eventually, she'll snap out of that compulsion on her own and manages to make the dangerous trek back to her apartment. It just doesn't occur to her literally until she's on her own doorstep that she has no idea how exactly she's going to get inside like this. As it turns out, she doesn't have opposable thumbs and the doorknob is a good several feet taller than her. But that isn't going to stop Akko from launching herself at her own door. Over and over, trying to get a handle on the doorknob to give it a twist and hopefully gravity will pull the door open.]

ii. mud on your face

[For the most part, Akko's gotten a pretty good handle on her Puca instincts. Most of them, anyway. The binkying thing seems to sometimes catch her off-guard if she's not too careful or in another form, but that's minor. It just seems that this full moon has brought about an entirely different sort of instinct.]

[Which is precisely how you end up with dirt flung in your face. Or close to it if you were paying close enough attention to get out of the way. Akko is, at this point, managed to dig a hole deep enough that the very tips of her ears are able to peek out over the edge if she were to stand upright. She just doesn't happen to be because she is digging furiously right now with bare hands and extended claws.]

[Of course, that's probably the nicer way to come across one of Akko's attempts at a burrow. The arguably worse way to do that is falling straight into one. Which could happen if you're not watching where you're going or you're a bit clumsy. In which case, maybe Akko will break your fall. Or she might peer sheepishly down at you from above. Either way, she wants to know:]

I'm so sorry! Are you okay?

iii. drinks on me

[Although other areas of magic that don't pertain to her Puca abilities are generally still hopeless (mind you, Akko still refuses to give up!), she has been working quite hard at alchemy. Or as hard as she can stand to work before she gets distracted or bored. She not the most attentive when it comes to classes and reading books is a fast track to a nap. But despite this, this hasn't stopped Akko from trying outside of class at all!]

[Which means it could be your lucky day to be her guinea pig! Er, assistant? Whatever! Point is, she isn't shy about stopping someone while they're walking past her where she's been totally not experimenting and absolutely following recipes perfectly (scout's honor) out in the courtyard where Witches are busy practicing other spells. She holds out her vial of mysterious liquid.]

Hey, would you mind trying this?

((ooc: it's entirely up to you if the potion works or not. but if you choose for it to work, it should have a positive, desirable effect. you know like making you real strong, giving you a cool temporary power, immunity to something, the ability to remember 60+ digits of pi, remembering where you put your keys, or otherwise just something real helpful! if not, a goofy/relatively harmless side effect is more the name of the game here. so it could be anything from excessive sneezing to the urge to try to make friends with everyone, to growing a sick mustache to making hair color into a temporary mood ring. or idk maybe you wanna be a vampire that sparkles in the moonlight. you get the gist!))

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[Being as short and as small as she is, Akko has to once again get back on her hindlegs to see where he's pointing as a safe space to sit and talk. Or, well, he can talk. Akko is probably going to be more stuck on attempting to talk for most of it.]

[But Akko is in agreement with the plan in any case. She would much rather not keep hanging out here in danger of being stepped on even if Mettaton has caused a lot of the foot traffic to step around and give even her some wide berth. It will be much easier to concentrate and figure out this talking while in this form. And maybe even how to get out of it?? Akko can only hope!]

[The indication that Akko is agreeable to this suggestion comes when she begins making her way over there, expecting that he will walk with her. Even if he needs to move at a somewhat awkward pace since although quick, she doesn't want to lose cover and it's a lot of ground for such a small rabbit to cover so carefully!]

[Awkward a pace though it may be, Mettaton doesn't let it show, putting one foot steadily in front of the other as he crosses along the street, a tiny rabbit hopping along his stride. At some point he pushes somebody in the face for being obtuse and nearly shoving into him, Mettaton immediately chiding him with something along the lines of "No no no, use your eyes!! Can't you see I'm practicing my saunter??" The guy doesn't notice Akko, but it was a clumsy slight rather than an antagonistic one, so he meekly slinks away instead of getting testy. It all works out.

If anyone else were unwise enough to run into him, they'd end up running into very pointy metal shoulders... Passersby have an incentive to keep clear.

But they make it safe and sound. There, Mettaton leans down again.]

You're giving me the look as though you recognize me... Which doesn't surprise me. [he's so famous.] Are you freshly harnessing your Puca shapeshifting, darling?

[Akko manages to...! Well, she doesn't manage to talk. But she gets a squeak out! Which could probably mean just about anything and yet probably doesn't convey the nuanced response that she's been transforming a lot with her Puca magic and that this is just entirely new to her because she definitely didn't try to be a rabbit. Usually, if she tries to be something, she can still talk or mimic the sound of the animal, but it seems like this is what she's stuck with right now. Little squeaks. ]

[Akko's ears pin back in mild frustration.]

Oh... You really can't talk.

[What a predicament Akko's found herself in. Mettaton had no trouble figuring out speech, having gone from a ghost, to a big metal box, to an android; he's not only had to figure out many ways of walking, but many ways of talking. But he has the wherewithal to imagine that most don't possess the experience of possessing a body the way he does. It's clear to him that her squeaks are an attempt at language, but it's true: her nuance is lost on him.

Her frustration isn't, though. Mettaton appears at ease, ears pulled at a neutral high.]

I wonder how much practice you've had... But if you found yourself like this, it's no surprise. Even without study, I found myself intuitively managing this form, too!

[And to demonstrate, now that they're safely out of the walkway, Mettaton transforms into a silvery hare. He stands much taller still, but far closer to her size than before — and much less metal.]

It must have taken you by surprise. But talking... Is that your problem, darling?

[When you're as small as Akko is right now, everything seems much bigger than you. Even when shrunk down to a size a lot closer to her own. And so, there is a moment of gawking up at him and maybe a little jealousy that he gets to be so big and she is so decidedly not. (Come on, think of the ground she could cover at that size compared to this!) But Puca instincts suggest that they should officially start sticking together and so she hops over beside him and leans against him. She breathes a little sigh of relief she didn't know she was holding.]

[Oh, but he was saying something! Something important and relevant, so she squeaks again. It's a lot less ambiguous that yes! yes! she can't talk right now. She can't quite figure it out.]

[It's true, he's still so agile and leggy like this. But Mettaton would sympathize with the desire to stick together, and he allows this sort of affectionate lean by righting his posture into something sturdy.

He only gets a squeak out of her, which must be an affirmative. Mettaton glances out toward the passing feet again, realizing just how small the two of them are compared to all of these passersby with a jolt of his ears. He hasn't shifted into this body in public yet, and he's far more used to being one of the tallest things in a room...]

Well then. Let's see... The way I do it. Focus less on the action of forming of words. You're probably so used to that. Think more about what you have to say that's so important! The rest will iron itself out when you stop overthinking the mechanical aspects of speech.

[He doesn't want to have to emulate a situation where she's in high stress, but he's sure that'd get her to talk in a snap... The robotic idol hopes that just focusing on saying words rather than muscular and skeletal movement will work for her.]

[It's not so much that the advice and instructions are bad, but Akko has no idea how to apply them right away. There's a questioning look in her eyes as she looks at Mettaton before looking down at the ground to think on this some more. Don't think about trying to form the sounds?]

[This leads to a lot of... Well, they're very strange mouth movements. It's somewhat like asking someone not to think about pink elephants. They are inevitably going to end up thinking about pink elephants. And so, for the first little while, Akko is working her jaw in strange ways and her little tongue sometimes sticks out, and she may be trying to unsuccessfully "see" her mouth by going a little bit cross-eyed. And-- Wait. He told her not to think about this stuff.]

[She sits up a little better. She stomps a foot down. Don't overthink it!]

[She has so much character that Mettaton's surprised that he doesn't recognize her! What other Puca does he know, anyway? There are two Puca he's spoken to over the network, a Puca he recalls Vanitas referencing, and Mikasa's housemate... Of course Mettaton recalls Puca he's met in dreams, but he has no idea if they're present or not. Nonetheless, Mettaton's charmed. He lets it show by lifting a paw to his cheek as one of his ears leans ever forward.]

That's right. Don't give up! You're putting on an amusing show, at least. Ahaha...

[She's trying so hard... Good luck, Akko.]

Oh. Why don't you tell me where I know you from? I feel like I should know you... Since you recognize me.

Ah.

[It's a single sound. It doesn't really formulate itself into any sort of word that could lead to a sentence that is answering his question. It's just a sound. But even though it's still small and still sounds a bit similar to her earlier squeaks, there is something distinctly more speech-like to the sound.]

[And it completely manages to startle Akko. She pauses then, opening her mouth tentatively. There is no sound that comes that time, so her ears pin back and she tries again.]

Ah. Ah? Ah! Ah! Ah!

[Akko does a little hop! She's making sounds! Sounds that aren't squeaks!]

[Even Mettaton's ears rise, and he drops his paw back to the ground, canting his head.]

Ah. Yes. I wonder what that could be. Where I met you? The beginnings of your name?? An exclamatory sentiment? [Still, he rears up somewhat to "clap" his paws together.] You're getting somewhere, darling! You have a handle on linguistic acrobatics yet.

[He spitballs another question on the fly, trying to jar her from her fixation on this victory, and back onto the process of speech:] Oooh, that reminds me! Did you spend Lùnasa with anyone special???

[A topic that usually brings people to fluster, since it's about Bonds, about marriage, and about the intersection of the two. He hopes it works.]

Eeeh?

[It manages to stop her from celebrating too much and gets her to produce another speech-sound, but she's not made to be off-kilter by the question. Not enough to start vehemently denying anything like he was potentially expecting her to do. The festival was mostly just weird to her, like the one before it.]

Hmm. Not your thing...

[Oh well. Mettaton drops his paws back onto the pavement, not disheartened by the disconnect. He wonders who this is... If it were one of the Puca he met recently, he's sure he would have had something to say on the matter. And if it were Vanitas' Puca-Bonded, he has a hunch he might have a totally different reaction... but Mettaton's making a lot of assumptions here. One of his ears remains leaning tall, but the other is pulls back in his contemplation.]

Well. Since you're shapeshifted before me like this, tell me. What's your range of shapeshifting experience like? Have you exercised your talents in manners other than mistakes and rabbits?

[Surprisingly, this isn't intended to belittle her... He doesn't know who she is, but he's basing it off of his own struggles. Turns out shapeshifting is very difficult for an inorganic being. Getting this automatic instinct toward shifting into a jackrabbit is actually quite helpful: Mettaton has a greater understanding of, say, how a stomach works, even if it's limited to lagomorph anatomy.]

[Akko's ears pin back a little at the question. It's difficult to tell if that's out of irritation or embarrassment. It may be a little bit of both because as much as Akko may attempt to pretend otherwise, she is still fairly sensitive to feedback on her use of magic. Even if it is Puca magic and not the magic she's used to back home.]

[So, to demonstrate, she does a perfect impression of a sheep bleating followed by a dog's bark and a mouse's particular squeak. See? She can do stuff!]

[...]

[...]

[Wait a second! Akko's ears shoot up straight and she does a hop or two. If she can impersonality other animals that good, maybe she can mimic her own voice. Maybe that's the solution until she can learn to talk like this. Oh, but how does she community that idea to him? There's no way!]

[She does a little circle before plopping down. Think, Akko! How do you sound?]

[Mettaton's ears rise. Perfect! His eyes are bright and challenging, as if she's played into his hand.]

Listen to you! Already getting the hang of it. All of these voice sounds within our reach... Yet, how about human speech?

[The answer is that it's a similar principle... But it's a rabbit imitating human speech, making it a bit of a strange translation. Mettaton relaxes quite suddenly, sprawling out on his side while crossing his front paws and letting his long legs pose behind him in his wait, content with the future that yes, Akko would get this right.]

Well??? Don't keep me waiting! I'm your rapt audience, and I think you've got this, beautiful.

[It's probably a good thing that Mettaton decides to make himself comfortable while he waits. It ends up taking a few minutes of Akko trying to get her voice just right, testing with meaningless little words. First, it's too thin. Then it's pitched too deep. Then there's an accent?? If she just gets rid of that...]

My name is Atsuko Kagari, but most people call me Akko. [Akko perks up immediately and uh-oh, we're binkying again. All around Mettaton laying cool as a cucumber.] I did it! That's my voice!

[Relaxed for a good show of her odd attempts that end up being like vocal acrobatics, something Mettaton never realized was so difficult... But, as he observed before, Akko was probably not an incorporeal being prior to being given all these forms at her disposal. Voicing Things ends up being a different experience for a robot turning into a rabbit.

As soon as Akko gets it right, Mettaton's ears perk up, but he stays put, letting her have her shining moment.]

Flawless! I don't know what you normally sound like, but... Hmm. HAVE I met you in person?

[He only vaguely remembers Akko's voice, but he never got a chance to introduce! Then again, the last name, Kagari... That was a network name somewhere. All of it's stringing together ever so slightly.]

We've spoken in both avenues, haven't we?? [Here, Mettaton hops to his feet.] Kagari... Yes! You're the one who isn't jealous of her Bonded!

[Yes! That's the one!]

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