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Since...when?

[He might notice that the teenager piping up to ask that question smelled uncannily like a rat. Not like he'd been handling rats, though there was that, too, but more like he was a rat.]

Maybe you should. Authority is hot. You`d attract all the kittens.

[Kurt smells most strongly of soap and the incense one of the nearby churches uses. Lingering under that is the smell of sulfur and a dozen other little tiny smells that speak of a place where the air burns.]

Ah. Fell away from the faith, or simply out of the habit?

Both, again.

I was eighteen and had a rather nasty accident that put me in the hospital for several weeks. My family stopped really interacting with me over it, given it got my cousin and my uncle killed. It didn't seem much like church was a great place to be, and after that I just never got back into it.

[ Snort. ] No, no. I'm good without any more kittens, thanks.

But I appreciate the compliment.

Just about nine years ago.

What happened nine years ago?

Well, just something to consider. [She laughs.] So how does the pard work? Do you all live together or just have like team meetings?

[Kurt grimaces in sympathy, a motion mostly visible in the slight drawing together of his shoulders and the movement of his jaw in shadow.] I'm sorry that your family tried to lay the guilt of that tragedy on you.

Edited 2014-12-23 16:05 (UTC)

I can't really blame them. I went from human to subject to being shot on sight in some states. [ Behind the sunglasses Micah's face is serene, almost feminine with the way his lips rest. His nose speaks to having been broken at least once, and it's to that his fingers go when he presses them to one side of his nose and a cheekbone, lifting the sunglasses enough to see that his eyes are a dead giveaway to what he is. ]

I'm sorry, I haven't even given you my name. It's Micah.

Most of us live together, yes. A few out of their own, but mostly one big furry family.

Personal accident. I met a serial killer.

[ He neglects to mention said man nearly killed him trying to eat him alive, and did kill two of his family members. ]

[The man in front of him straightens when Micah moves his sunglasses, the fabric of his hood shifting as he tilts his head.] That.. I believe we have in common, though I was never what most people think of as human.

I'm Kurt Wagner. [He offers a hand to shake, the sleeve pulling back to reveal two thick fingers and a thumb covered in dark blue skin.]

You don't smell like a human, I will grant you that. But you seem as much like a man as I am.

[ Micah takes his hand with little or no hesitation; his grip is strong but not forceful, at odds with the leanness of his body and the near delicacy of his face. ]

Sounds cozy. So how do things work when you aren't furry? Is it for the most part normal? I mean do you have jobs?

Oh yeah, we have normal lives for the most part. Cherry's a nurse, Nathaniel and Gregory are dancers. Merle's a mechanic. Short of the leopard parts, we're entirely normal.

You didn't mention yourself. What do you do?

Take care of everyone else, usually.

It's cool. I don't have a steady job either. Not anymore.

Oh. Yeah, I'd consider that a pretty serious...thing.

[He wasn't sure if 'personal accident' was the word choice he'd use.]

I mean, it looks like you got away and all, but it must've gone pretty badly to keep you from celebrating Christmas.

[And maybe it happened on Christmas? Or something. He wasn't really sure what else it could be to have it even be linked to the holiday in any way.]

[ She shrugs at his question. ] I really don't remember. May have been. But was so long ago. Master knows, but won't tell me. Neither will his brother who is his guardian.

[Kurt's grip is more loose, though the muscles in his callused hand are tight as though having to make a conscious effort to keep it that way. Under the hood, his head lifts enough to bring into light a jaw covered in blue skin and thin, intricate scars. Chuckling, he shakes his head.]

I can't say I've heard that one before.

Hazard of being part animal. We scent things. [ Micah laughs gently, and his mouth relaxes, then perks up into a small smile when he sees the blue skin. ]

I'm a wereleopard. Even at the new moon we do have some animal traits.

That must make life very interesting to go through. I can't imagine how perfumes must smell to you.

[The other question to come to mind, that being whether catnip has anything near the effect it does on household cats, is amusing enough that Kurt has to literally bite the side of his tongue to keep from laughing.]

Usually quite strong, if I'm honest.