Now we can talk about it

[Xin Boa]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

"Think yuh could leave da place intact?" he asked as her back collided with his right leg. It would probably be for the best if they didn't do anything to exacerbate the situation like leaving his room looking like they had torn it apart. Then again the sleeze had apparently pulled a fast one on Kinsey and taken her properly. Xin stepped around the space and picked the drawer up from the floor. With a grin he flipped it upside down and slid it half into the unit. Then he pushed all of the contents back inside before closing it fully. Next time he opened the door all of his belongings would fall out.

The tips of his headtails twitched with amusement as he tried the closet. It was a plastic door built into the bulkhead. He slid it open and appraised a tightly pack rail of clothing. First he could try the pockets on all the garments and then try the shelf above. There might even be a hidden compartment up there, he mused.

"What happens if I touch it?" he asked.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Xin Boa"]

Hand went up to push auburn feathered strands away from their resting position across her face. That was slightly embarrassing. Hand certainly did not go to rub at her smarting bum. "I'm trying," she hissed then smirked. Blues caught the twitch in his headtails.

"How often do you prank your fellow fleet members? Something tells me you do it a lot."

Yeah something.

Staying low on the ground, she crawled on her hands and knees and flattened herself to look under the bed. Blunt self decided to be straight with Xin about his question. "It'll turn you into a nexu where control is debatable." She scooched and wiggled further beneath the bed, the lower half of her body the only thing visible.

 

[Xin Boa]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

"Very funny!" He retorted. Xin returned to the cupboard. Half he attention went to rifling through clothes, the other to watching the visible half of Kinsey wriggling around on the floor.

"And it's not like I've had a chance to get up to no good recently. No matter how funny the prank is dey do not appreciate it in prison. Not a bit. One guy put something on a door and the one who got pranked didn't find it amusing. Droped over two hundred kilos of weight on his neck in the gym.

"Seriously though what will happen if it gets touched. Cos I've got a whole collection of necklaces hung up in here." It seemed he should have brought some hazmat gloves for this."

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Xin Boa"]

"Yeah, didn't seem to appreciate stuff like that in the labor camps either," muffled voice faded in and out from beneath the guy's mattress. Fingers pressed down on something sticky. Ew gross. Was that? Oh sick.

"Feth," she swore. "Ugh."

Shoulders tensed as she sensed something - a familiar something. Like an electric undercurrent. She certainly wasn't good at sensing anything in the force, except when it came to spacial awareness and star and space travel. That's how she knew this something was very bad. Very, very bad. It meant the amulet was close and it wasn't in its casing.

"I'm being serious," she growled. Necklaces? Head jerked up too soon, back of her noggin banging against the bed frame. "CHIT GORRAM IT. XIN. Wait! Don't touch anything!" Palms pushed against the floor as her stomach and legs wiggled a bit more to pull herself free.

 

[Xin Boa]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"] Roll:4

Why did he always end up in over his head? And why did that particular saying some to mind. It probably had connotations of drowning. Much the same as 'out of your depth'. Xin couldn't drown. Perhaps the last phrase could be used to describe the depth at which the pressure became insufferable.

It could be said that Xin wasn't paying full attention.

He'd been through a few very strange days that had involved executions and magic. Now he was considering the history of common phrases. Xin was distracted from his idle thought by Kinsey encountering something horrid under the bed. He chuckled and slid several coats further down the rail. He hadn't quite worked Kinsey out yet. This necklace was clearly her focus at the moment. She seemed to have gone through more than someone her age ought to have, but that was something Xin was accustomed to by now.

Xin was attracted towards a dark grey jacket, making enough room to isolate it on the rail. Her sudden cry made him jump. The jacket he'd been rifling through was given a jerk and something shiny was jerked out of a pocket. It came to drape over his exposed forearm. Like an electric jolt he felt some kind of energy course from the amulet through his body.

Xin gave a yelp and stumbled away but the amulet came with him. He groaned, eyes snapping shut. The nautolan clutched his midriff and curled up into a tight ball on the floor.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Xin Boa"]

Funny thing was Kinsey was all good about spatial awareness when it counted. When she was under a bed? A running into nautolans? Not so much.

The young Starchaser finally pulled herself free and popped to her feet in time to see Xin stumble. "Xin," she took a staggering step forward then froze as he dropped to a fetal position faster than oxygen leaving a breach into space. Blues caught the flash of the amulet tangled over his forearm. Only...the green forearm of the nautolan was quickly disappearing and turning into something much more furry.

Hairy.

"Aw feth," she swore and backed away slowly toward the sealed door. Eyes darted around the room, looking for something. Anything. Because she was about to come face-to-face with an angry beast. One that would probably have a different kind of barbed tongue. She'd have to get that amulet away from him. Lunging forward, her hands ripped the blanket from the bed.

"Hey Xin. Um. You still there? Buddy?"

That's right. Buddy. They were friends, right?

What else did she have?

One working wrist shield. Lightsaber. Hopefully it wouldn't come to the lightsaber.

 

[Xin Boa]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

Xin wasn't concerned about anything outside his own body right now. He knew that separating himself from the amulet was what he should be doing. The pain was almost unbearable. Nothing shielded him from the raw agony of his bones starting to reshape themselves. His mind was affected as his higher thoughts were dulled and buried under primal instinct.

Curling up and then suddenly stretching out almost dislodged it from his arm, which would have brought blessed relief. It felt like a monumental weight that kept one forearm pinned to the ground. The other hand raked at the ground. Nails shifting to claws that grew from the root elicited a screech from the metal deck.

"Help..." He whispered. There was no hatred, anger or hunger in the eyes that turned towards her. Just pain.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Xin Boa"]

Heart slammed against her rib cage as adrenaline pumped through her system as Xin began to take up a bulk of the small room. Her back was forced against the door. Wince ran across her face as those claws found purchase within the hull-flooring. But surprise flickered across blues the color of hyperspace lines.

"Okay," she whispered. "Hang in there."

Was that for her or him?

Gotta move Kinsey.

At least he hadn't gone into ferocious beast-mode. Yet.

The explorer and salvager moved slowly, and knelt by Xin's side. Paw? One hand dropped the blanket she'd been gripping and maneuvered it so her hands could grip the amulet with the separation of fabric and skin. The chain was tangled in his fur. A frown worked its way on her pair of tight-clenched lips. Blues flickered from her maneuvering to Xin's razor-tooth filled mouth.

"Can you lift your paw so I can pull the chain free?"

 

[Xin Boa]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

Several sickening crunches resounded around the small chamber as the last of his new bone structures snapped into place. Having made contact with the amulet in this way the process had been drawn out, every moment a new agony for him. Right now he didn't want to listen to instruction. He just wanted not to move. To take in some air and lie still.

His head turned to regard here with very different eyes. What clothes he had been wearing were in tatters. His belt and gunbelt were still in tact, wrapped tightly around the middle of the feline hunter. His fur was jet black with bright green stripes. His eyes were much smaller gold saucers.

One law lifted up. Then came a throaty growl that shook the room as claws snapped free. Kinsey wasn't afforded much time.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Xin Boa"]

She felt like she was shrinking as Xin grew in size, his furry form quickly dwarfing hers. If someone said she'd make some sort of alliance or friendship with a nautolan and then later come face-to-face with him as a hungry nexu, she would've assumed said person was on some serious spice. Definitely could use some drugs right now. Xin's bone crunching and growl made her move faster when that paw lifted.

Weight tipped to her toes as she lunged forward, fighting against her body's natural instincts to survive. Go away from the feline with sharp teeth. And sharp claws. Gloved hands cradled the blanket as she went to leap by his extended paw, using the blanket as an extra layer to swipe that amulet free from his fur while also avoiding his teeth and mouth if he suddenly decided to go wild on her.

Seemed like any second now.

Claws she couldn't avoid punctured through her jacket sleeve, finding flesh beneath. A small cry escaped her lips as she ducked her head and completed a roll on the ground, ending up on her back. Fingers felt around the blanket she gripped to see if she could feel the weight of the amulet within the folds.

 

[Xin Boa]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

The transition back was no less painful. Throaty feline growls became human snarling and groaning. The popping sound was the worst. Each series came with nausea inducing waves of pane that seemed to wash over ever inch of his body. If this was what he could think of as his own body.

Claws became fingers that futilely scraped across the elephant-tread deck. Xin just wanted to try and keep a hold of anything. Even the floor seemed to be tipping him off as his world span.

Slowly those groans became whimpers. Xin found he could barely move or even raise his head from the ground. It had taken almost everything out of him. His skin had lost its usual colour, his eyes a dull, cloudy grey. Kinsey was left wounded with an almost entirely naked Xin on the floor. His breathing was shallow.

Then came a knock on the door.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Xin Boa"]

Chest rose in quick, quiet gasps as her palm enclosed around the weight of the amulet. Head tilted, looking back and behind her as Xin's furry form quickly reverted. The sounds that filled the room made her toes curl and belly boil. Those were familiar sounds and ones her muscle memory twitched at. Rolling over, she sat up, ripping off a corner of the blanket, she carefully wrapped it around the amulet and tucked it carefully inside her pocket.

It would have to do until she could find the protective case - if she found it.

Heart still raced beneath her chest as her mind caught up with the consequences of the events that just happened with that knock on the door, the door she'd locked as Xin turned. Did Sage feel that? Had he been able to sense it since sticky-fingers Captain took it out of the casing? Had the captain already turned then?

She should run.

Xin's whimpering tore her wild, blue-eyed gaze away from the sealed door and to his form.

She gulped.

Lips pressed thin as she fought against her instincts to run for a second time within the past few minutes. "Just a minute!" She called and crawled over to Xin, pulling the torn blanket with her. Kinsey was no healer or a very good comforter. But she had worn the amulet before and been through what he'd just gone through. Though, she'd lost her mind. At least, he hadn't.

"Here," the explorer tucked the blanket around his green form, trying not to linger on or get too close to the really exposed bits.

Did he work out?

Head shook and she reached over, opening up a small cabinet flush against the wall and by the bed. "Stay with me. If Larry was any captain worth his salt he'll have...wow," auburn-brows lifted on her alabaster skin. "Some lum - high end stuff." Plucking the bottle out, she ignored the blood running down her arm and offered it to Xin, half hovering over him. Fingerless-gloved hand reached out, unsure of where to put it. Arm - shoulder?

Did he even want to be touched now?

Flying, fighting, exploring - she could do those things. This? Might as well throw her into water to try and swim.

 

[Xin Boa]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

He did work out, but it was anyone's guess how long that would last. In prison there had been very little else to do. Back out in the real world Xin was as lazy as his life would allow him. He would have taken a lot of punishment not to be like this.

As his faculties slowly returned to him, as well as control over his own body he felt a lot of things. A dull, throbbing pain through his limbs. He still felt the burning embers of the primal rage that had taken him. Mostly of all, curled and whimpering on the floor, covered only by a ragged blanket she had thrown over him, he felt shame.

He saw the bottle. His head turned and eyes blinked as he focussed on it. Xin didn't quite understand what was being offered, or why. It would take a few seconds more to rouse his mind fully.

"What are you two up to in there?" Came a call. It was half way between annoyance and amusement.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Xin Boa"]

Bottle was put down on the floor next to them. "C'mon Xin," voice urged, darting blues going between his mostly unresponsive form and the door. She knew what he was going through, those nine levels of hell. They just didn't have time.

Making a hasty decision, fingers went to curl beneath his shoulders as she tried to heave him up. One arm trying to loop his over her shoulder and another snaking around his waist. Had to get his blood pumping again and get him moving. Or sitting up. It would help to flush his system.

Only, she didn't think about the blanket dropping. Or, how much bulk he actually had. Or that those outside had a way to get around the captain's lock.

With a click and a whir, Larry's chamber door swished open. Auburn locks of hair were mightily messed up and tangled from the earlier go with the nexu. Xin's nearly naked form hid her injured arm as he would drape all over her and she hadn't realized the top button on her shirt had been popped off.

A certain pink color also tinged a pair of alabaster cheeks.

"Oh." There was a long moment of silence for Dillion as his eyes took in the frazzled human girl and the mostly naked nautolan. "I'll uh...come back in a few minutes. We just. Yeah." Voice trailed off and he muttered something to someone else behind the door frame. Head turned back to the pair and gave Xin a way-to-go-bro nod. He'd move to close the door unless something else stopped him.

 

[Xin Boa]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

"Karking?"

"Yup."

"Larry won't..."

Whatever followed was cut off by the door sliding shut. There was a slap as he placed one hand on the deck and took some of his weight off her. His chest heaved, but when he turned to look at her his eyes were more clear and closer to their typical inky black.

"I wish...we had been karking..." He mumbled. There was an almost pleasant sensation to the last vestiges of pain becoming little electric shocks up and down his form. He silently chastised himself for not taking her warnings more seriously. That had hurt. He couldn't find words to describe the pain.

"You realize that...in a few minutes I'm going to have to...walk out that door in their captains clothes?" That wasn't going to be easy to explain. Not at all.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Xin Boa"]

Karking?

More heat crept up to her cheeks. Lips parted as a stupid look crossed her frozen face. Took a second too long for a smug grin to weave its way on her mouth as she tore her gaze from the sealed door and to Xin's inky depths. Wide-blue eyes blinked, arm still around his waist, fingers pressing against his green skin.

"Yeah, bet you do," she was trying to lighten the mood, though heat still rushed to her pale cheeks as her limbs were still entangled in his. Curves of her chest peaked out far more than was normal due to that top missing button. Good thing she hadn't really noticed it.

"Going through that change is fething hell," she continued. Couldn't shake the feeling Sith Lord Sage was on his way right now. "Good thing Larry had a gut on him. Doubt the clothes will be too small." Blues finally tore away from his very close face and looked over her shoulder at the captain's closet.

Hand pulled along his skin as she went to untangle herself from him, pausing halfway. "You're not going to fall over if I let go, right?"

 

[Xin Boa]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

"Maybe," he replied. As she slipped free he got one hand on the bed and dragged himself onto it. Xin wasn't really feeling shameful about the state of the ragged scraps that still clung to him. At least the crew members were gone for now. He slowly lowered himself down to the mattress with her help. It was more comfortable than the floor. Either it was the soft quilt or the time since the change but the pain seemed to slowly change to a more acceptable ache. He still didn't feel like moving.

This was an interesting mess. Couldn't go and refute her story now, but did he really want to go before the Fleet Council and tell them that he'd been turned into a nexu by a magic amulet that proved her story? That he would have to work out later. He rolled his shoulders back, feeling his spine click. His own spine now. Not one that ended in a tail. Having multiple eyes had just been weird.

"Yuh had dat to change on purpose?" he asked. "Or is that just a form of torture?"

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Xin Boa"]

Fingers tucked auburn strands of hair behind ears as an anxious glance was cast toward the door. Turning away from Xin, she moved toward the closet. "I changed by accident the first time. Kind of like you." A shiver ran through her form. Fingers pushed through Larry's clothes. "After that Sage wanted to use it on me so I could be his weapon. Almost killed him the first time. Kinda wish I had," voice was quiet.

She didn't want sympathy. She was just sharing how it was - what her reality had been.

"Then again, if I'd kill him I would've probably been lost as a nexu forever, tearing meat off bones," smile wavered as she shrugged, turning back to Xin. "Don't see any sleeveless shirts. Here's a black one and some pants," she tossed them on the bed next to Xin. "Once rumors spread to your leader that we were karking, you gonna lose your job or something?"

A slightly amused expression flickered across her face.

"Feth. I wonder if they'll trade with me now."

 

[Xin Boa]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

Xin took a handful of the clothes but his arm stayed on the bed. His knuckles were still slightly pale. His breathing seemed more natural now.

"Nah, even if they did we'll be fine. Probably. I'm hoping they'll take my word. I'm just nuh sure how to explain dis. Everyone knows about da Force. Just don't see it round here. We need to see Wesseq before da Fleet Council."

He finally showed signs of moving. Slowly and with just a little shaking he got up off the bed. His undergarments were in ruins too so absolutely everything got stripped off. The only thing he did to hide his shame was turn his back on Kinsey.

The pants were a little loose around the waist. The top was tight around the shoulders. At least he had some decency back. Xin was starting to feel himself again. They needed to with minimal fuss, but first he needed to find a belt.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Xin Boa"]

And suddenly the closet was interesting again. Her back turned to Xin's backside, giving him some privacy. Her own rush of adrenaline was quickly fading and with that, a dull throbbing echoed through her left arm. Face winced as she moved it too quickly, a hiss of pain escaping clenched teeth.

She'd almost forgotten about it but the blood had definitely pooled around the cuff of her ripped shirt sleeve.

"Feth," she muttered, gingerly pulling at the tattered sleeve to see how deep the markings ran. Felt like fire on her skin now. She spun around, keeping wide-blues trained upwards in case Xin hadn't finished changing yet. Luckily, he had. "Please don't tell them. About the force. Any of it." She didn't want anyone to know. Probably wasn't fair to ask that but she didn't care. In her mind, the less they knew about her the better in case some sith lord did come knocking.

"Can we just tell...Wesseq...that we didn't find anything?" A part of her was terrified she'd get kicked out without any trade at all and she'd be stuck. Another part of her was scared this Wesseq guy would try to take the amulet or use her in some way. Eyes drifted down, toward the oozing claw marks down her arm.