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[fourthsaken]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, JADED. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 005.04.008.13 *** CHARACTER NAME/ALIAS has joined 005.04.008.13 <JADED> hey, you've reached Jade. <JADED> leave a message or whatever and i'll get back to you. <JADED> God, I hope this shitty thing actually works.

Comments

<burningpassion>

[girl_at_the_window]

i might do that too
fuck knows hes earnt it

ill be there around sundown if thats alright


[[You wanting to switch to action?]]

<jaded>

[fourthsaken]

sure. just a warning, i'm gonna look different. look for the red panda.

[sounds good to me!]

[girl_at_the_window]

[That's not actually helpful, since Susan wouldn't know a red panda if she fell over one. But it feels awkward to bring that up, and she thinks she'll probably be able to find Jade, anyway.]

[She'll be there at nightfall, just as she said. She's wearing the hoodie Jade gave her, not out of any conscious thought but just because she wears it quite a lot.]

Hile.

[fourthsaken]

[Jade's waiting outside her store, the door helpfully propped open with a brick, a small red panda who should look out of place on a city street. But Jade doesn't seem phased. The store is still open, she's still accepting customers, and she can still hire her first employee. Everyone will just have to deal with the fact that she's currently in the form of an adorable animal.

Thanks to enhanced werebear senses, she smells Susan before she spots her and is waving her over with one small paw when she gets close to the store.]

Hey. Thanks for stopping by.

[girl_at_the_window]

[Susan's not sure what she was expecting, but it... wasn't that. Even aside from her unfamiliarity with red pandas - she can't help thinking it looks more like a billy-bumbler than a bear - she did kind of expect Jade to still look a little more like herself.]

[She recovers from that surprise quickly, though, smiling down at Jade]

Thankee for lettin' me. You're, uh...

You're awful small right now. Should I bend down or somethin'?

[fourthsaken]

[Jade shakes her head at the offer. There's no need for Susan to do anything unusual to accommodate her. Jade has gotten used to running her store even in her less convenient travel form. She'd rather be in this form than her half-human, half-bear form. That one is just terrifying.]

Dude, it's fine. Don't worry about it. If it makes you uncomfortable I could shift to looking sorta human, but I promise, I'm even weirder looking like that.

[girl_at_the_window]

[Susan laughs at that, shrugging.]

I don't know about weird. You look adorable, more'n aught else.

If that ain't too odd to say.

[fourthsaken]

[Jade sighs dramatically. It's nothing she hasn't heard a hundred times since her change.]

It's fine. Everyone says it. You know, I didn't think I'd end up so tiny. Soeki turns into like, an actual bear.

[girl_at_the_window]

[Susan bites her lip. She wants to feel bad about adding to the noise of everyone says, which usually isn't a good place to be, but unfortunately, Jade is small and adorable, so it's not like she can take it back.]

Luck of the draw, I guess. What happened, anyroad? To make you change like that?

[fourthsaken]

[Jade really doesn't think she's lucky. She wanted to be more intimidating and is still annoyed that that's not what she got.]

I asked Mana if I could be a werebear for awhile. Being a shade starts to be really, really hard... I needed a break.

[girl_at_the_window]

Oh. I didn't know you could ask for that kind of thing.

[She takes a moment to consider that, frowning, then nods.]

I guess I can see why.

[fourthsaken]

You can ask for pretty much anything. I know people who asked for their own cities or to change their monster permanently or really cool powers...

[Jade shifts awkwardly under her gaze, unsure if she's being judged for picking such a strange monster change.]

Have, uh, you figured out what you're turning into yet?

[girl_at_the_window]

[Well, there's that question again. Susan's answered it a few times now, though, so it's easier to be casual about.]

Thought wendigo for a while, but sai Korra thought it might be faerie, and I think mayhap she ain't wrong. I'd be alright with that. I mean, flyin' sounds pretty good.

[fourthsaken]

[Jade looks up at her, cocking her head to one side, ears perked. She considers the slight changes so far before nodding.]

Yeah. Yeah, I could see that. Faeries are... [She pauses for just a moment. This is not the time for Jade to say why she's terrified of faeries and their abilities.] My friend Oliver's a faerie. If you want advice or whatever, he'd be happy to help you. And you're lucky. Faerie's are like, the prettiest monster.

[girl_at_the_window]

[Susan smiles, a little thinly.] Guess that's somethin'. [If she's honest, she's starting to think she's had enough of being pretty.]

I don't think I've met Oliver, but I'll keep an eye open.

[fourthsaken]

Dude, it's a lot. I wish I was actually pretty. [Jade never wishes she was a faerie, she's too afraid of them, but being a pretty monster? That definitely has its appeal.]

I can introduce you to him if you want. I live with him and his boyfriend.

[girl_at_the_window]

His b...

[Right. Yes. There's plenty of people here who don't think that's strange. She knows that. It just sometimes still catches her off-guard when people talk about it so casually, is all.]

I'd like that, mayhap. We'll see.

Uh, about the job...?

[fourthsaken]

[Jade gets it, she really would if Susan explained her hesitation. Jade grew up in a small town in Iowa, no one there would causally mention a lot of things Jade openly talks about in Ryslig. It's a very, very different place and not just because of monsters.]

Right. Right, the job. Sorry. I can give you the tour? Or, uh, if you wanna tell me how you'd be interested in helping... I could use help sewing or just stocking stuff and cleaning. Keeping up with orders and deliveries too. Seriously, whatever you'd be interested in doing, we could make it work.

[Jade trails off, slightly embarrassed. She feels like she sounds too desperate, not just for an employee but for a friend her own age.

The truth is, she kind of is.]

[girl_at_the_window]

[Susan nods. She can hear Jade's enthusiasm over the idea, but it doesn't put her off - quite the opposite, in fact. Jade's not the only one here who's been short of friends her own age.]

I can sew a little. I'd be happy to try, anyroad, though I reckon I've got some learnin' to do. And I'll do the rest, too. I ain't shy of workin', and it sounds like you got a lot on your plate.

[fourthsaken]

[Jade can't help but grin, glad that she hasn't scared Susan off, that maybe the other girl is just as excited.]

Awesome. On slow nights I usually do a lot of sewing so I can help you then and teach you some of the basic patterns I always follow, like the hoodies and jeans and shit. Some of the custom stuff, I'll keep doing on my own. And I definitely need help with customers. Some locals have started coming to the store and I'm not exactly the most approachable looking monster...

[girl_at_the_window]

We ain't seen how I'll wind up lookin'. [It's said in the tones of a joke, and with a laugh - but it's serious, at least in part. There's no guarantee she's going to look all that much more approachable.]

I can manage that, I reckon. Don't sound like too much.