The Wild Child and Peter Pan ride again (Humanity optional)

”Do you think I should bring something for Matt?” Shael wondered to himself, cross-legged and thoughtful on the small kitchen island. Fera strode through the kitchen, vibrant red hair bound in a bun. Something told him that she wasn’t so interested in what he brought for anyone other than their shared uncle. Not that Silus ever found himself with that title. He was mostly referred to as Silus, or Si when Shael became very excited.

”I’m sure he’d be fine with whatever you brought,” She noted, digging through a fridge in a likely absent fashion. What was she doing? He wondered this to himself while also half musing over what he should bring to Matt while hanging out with Silus like he promised he would. He lately had become aware of how much he didn’t spend time with his family, those people outside the circle of his sister and dad. A part of him just realized he cared enough to rectify the problem.

”I don’t actually know what he likes. Known him for a while but don’t know,” He let out a soft whine, eyes closed and stroking his chin even deeper in thought. The fact that he was stuck so deeply in thought meant that knowing the answer was an important endeavor for him.

”I have a little cake sitting around here somewhere. People like those right?” She posed the question,  settling a modest sized chocolate cake beside the befuddled shifter.  ”wrap it up and you’re golden. Not like you need to impress him...unless that’s exactly what you’re trying to do. ” For a second she sounded skeptical of his intentions, though skepticism fit her like satin on a queen.

Yes, any kind of queen fit this example.

”No, not this time. Otherwise I would bring that weird, breaded squid.” Shael returned, hopping off from the island and smoothing out a few creases in his camo patterned shorts.

”Kalamari?”

”Yeah that, and we both know I can’t cook.” He agreed, hunting around the room until he found a small cloth to wrap around the cake after making sure it was all properly wrapped. Trying to carry something while running about as a dog was more annoying than he cared to admit.

”I can drive you. You do know that right?” He queried, sipping from a bottle of Dr.Pepper with a raised brow.

”Course I do. How could I forget that?” He totally forgot but not like he would want to let his sister know that he somehow managed to forget something so simple.  ”I just like going there as a dog. There’s something freeing about running around on all fours.”

”I can take you. Need to pass by there anyway on my way to a social thing with a friend,” She paused. ”yes, I do have friends.”

”Is it that boy who really wants to kiss you? Because you’re probably way out of his league...because all the red bumps on his face. ”

”Nice to know his acne’s the only thing keeping him out of my league. Put a shirt and we can go.” Her tone gave no room for debate, so he walked off and slipped on a black shirt with a wolf emblem on before following suit. The excuse she had for a vehicle was one of those little fuel efficient affairs, Shael squeezing into the passenger seat and bobbing his head along to the music until they stopped. Could have been hours but all he did was hop out of the car with the cake and a sizable bag of Swedish fish in hand. No, he didn’t need to bring sweets for gifts but he was going through the greatest revelation lately.

People didn’t like being given dead animals for gifts, so here he was. Giving them things they might have actually liked. Approaching the door after giving his sister a wave, he gave a few accurate barks before realizing that didn’t actually help any. That was followed by him realizing no one would answer a dog barking at the door so he went with a few hard knocks.

The ragged old and run-down place was barely enough for anyone to consider safe. The fact Humanity was housing a child here was more than enough to be considered a crime. While it was truly a ragged and rough place on the exterior, Silus understood the reasoning for such deception. If people began to investigate high-tech vigilantes, the last place they are going to look is in the cesspool of the human race. Silus was actually enraptured hearing Matthew explain to him how his ambulatory gait and posture as well as his method of talking were all psychologically engineered to give off certain characteristics from several different places and socio-economic classes. Silus had no idea what that meant, but he knew it means that the personna was really well thought out.

The ragged house that depicted “White trash” as Matthew called it, was very homely and finely kept on the inside, a complete contrast to what one likely expected. It had a kitchen right as you entered the door, with a countertop that doubled as an eating table that overlooked the family room. Two comfortable but worn chairs sat at small television with a polished hardwood table, marker and colorful pen decorated it with an almost chaotic and senseless way, the polish layered above it to preserve the defamation. The entire floor was open, a small desk was present just outside the kitchen, straight ahead form the walk-in door, the new office space his godfather had made so that Silus could have his own room. The hallway stretched back, a series of purple and blue beads were a throwback to the hippy culture as it acted as a pseudo-door to Silus’ room, last room on the left. A bathroom preceding his roo,. Matt slept in the last room to the right, the door preceding him was continually locked, leading to the basement, where Silus was forbidden to go.

It was probably a murder-dungeon. Silus knew that Humanity was a person without restraint. He had no moral limitations, even though Matthew was the nicest person he knew, the most compassionate and caring person who stood up for everyone. Silus grew up hoping he could be like his godfather. But now to see him as Humanity, to see that he struggled with a darkness inside him too. He wondered what he could do in order to help keep his godfather from falling into darkness completely. The scariest part was, for all of his power...Silus never knew that Matthew struggled. He was so busy trying to save others that he missed the signs of someone he knew and loved falling into darkness.

A faint barking rang through his ears as he shifted his head. Suddenly there was a series of much louder barks coming from inside. His eyes widened as the words communicated escaped him, his one eye twitching as he turned to see Matthew making a very realistic barking-like noise as he walked towards the door. Silus stood up from the off-blue chair and began to stretch. He fixed his jean-shorts and a white tee-shirt that said “Smile” on it. Of course that was before Matthew took fabric marker and crossed it out and wrote “Savage” on it during one of his pep-talks about not letting people walk all over you. He let out a little whine as he felt the muscles in his back and arms loosen up, and he walked up to the counter and put his knees on the chair,m leaning over onto the counter, hoping it would be Sean coming to visit, or maybe even Mike. He’d have to get his coat if it were Mike though, for some reason leaving his brother and godfather in the same room made Silus incredibly uncomfortable.

The door opened and Matthew smiled widely stepping back a little and ushering the young man to come in. Silus’ face lit up as he saw Shael, he hadn’t even noticed the bag of his favorite sweet yet, and he was already basically lunging over the counter, biting his lower lip as he wrapped his arms around the small Shael.

"Shael! Glad you made it!" He cheered, a flutter of relief in his heart. He didn’t know who actually had fallen in the mass genocide of that ungodly smoky wolf-dragon creature, but he was glad to see that his friend and relative had not perished. He began to feel short of breath as his chest seized a bit, his fingers pressed into Shael and he seemed to tense up, like a vice. Matthew looked to Shael and gave an almost solemn look before mouthing the letters “PTSD. Survivor’s guilt.”. Then he proceeded to wonder why he mouthed those words, since Shael probably wasn’t even really familiar with these terms and figured he’d had just mouthed “Pete Is Dee. Your Driver’s Gills.” or something about seagulls.

With a little focus he regained his breath and he tried to calm himself, slight, shaking breathes as he smiled and released. The time of the attacks remained short, as long as he caught onto something happy, or good to hold onto. Which in his life, was few and far between.

“No squirrel this time? Neighbor's cat? A cake...hey, you didn’t need to man.” Matt said as he reached over and gave Shael a pat on the shoulder, the a rub on the head before taking the cake and setting it on the counter. Silus smiled as he noticed the bag finally and gave an ear to ear grin.

"Some fishies gonna die..." he said with an uncharacteristically gruff voice and what seemed to be a sinister little smirk, one so much so that Humanity was visibly taken aback by the comment.

His ears twitched in response to the barking sounds that were returned, perking up and smiling even wider. They weren’t absolute replications but he only knew one human that could get so close to doing so. Not that he was surprised to know who it was, considering that the smell was familiar and he knew the sound of his voice. Silus however was the person that he had been hoping to see. Nervously he bounced on his heels, checking his phone when Silus open the door. It was nice to see him, despite the fact that he realized he might have looked older than him now. A steady progression of age creating within him a desire to be more adult. Following the lead of the many humans he had met and how they tended to change over the passing days.

He didn’t expect the hug but that didn’t mean it was unwelcome. If there was one thing the little shifter enjoyed, it was overt displays of affection. When he was younger they manifested as licking someones face like a dog did but now he was able to do more simple things. Hugs and the like with the occasional peck on the cheek for those he was close enough for that. His sister had been trying to work normal human etiquette into him and some actually stuck despite how restrictive they felt to him. ”Course I made it. I’m not too early am I?” He questioned, returning the hug, lifting and spinning the shorter male around with minimal effort. Not like his uncle weighed too much.

There was the flutter in a heartbeat, something that he only took note of for a second before stepping into the home. Taking in all the scents that were available and seeing out Matt before smiling at him too. It was hard not to be happy to see two of the most important people in his life; dad and sister excluded. Fingers pressed into his arm, seizing there for a moment as if something were the matter so he made sure to hug even tighter as if to assure he was still there. Intuition was one thing he could claim if nothing else. Words were mouthed to him, though all he could do was shrug and cock his head to the side to reveal that he didn’t understand. Didn’t sound like an explanation for why someone was feeling tense.

”No squirrel this time. Fera’s been trying to get me to act like normal peoples,” He hefted the cake, showing it off to the only adult looking person in the room. He nuzzled his nose into Silus’ hair before allowing him to release, bringing the large confection over to be dealt with however was seen fit. Shael personally wanted to eat it right now without any time wasted.  The affection towards his head was returned, drawing a smile on his face. ”hey! The cat was only one time and it started it. Don’t scratch unless you want scratched back. ” He nodded resolute, sounding as if it were normal to maim peoples cats.

”Well yeah, that’s why I brought the fishies. Here ya go. ” He offered the large bag, waiting for Silus to accept before shifting into a squirrel, scurrying behind the counter-top and popping back up as himself with a wide smile. ”so what do you guys do for fun around here? Mostly I just like run around the city as a stray dog but Matt can’t turn into a dog so we can’t do that.” He said this as if it were the most normal thing ever.

Shael had turned to a Squirrel, making Silus giggle for a moment as he scurried to the other end of the counter. Silus had enjoyed the affection, even if it was just a little weird for what would constitute as a human interaction. Matthew smiled as he set the cake down and returned to the boys, but once Shael spoke the young man’s face froze as he seemed to glaze over for a moment.

His heart stopped as he skipped a breath and continued to smile slightly. He forced himself to swallow, fighting against the feeling of his throat closing. He then noticed how the smallest of the group looked to him wide-eyed with a look of concern on his face. He forced air through this throat, a cough shaking things up as he shrugged. His mind flashed back to the sight of his son coming over with actual canine ears embedded into his head as Silus had been experimenting with his power’s capacity to influence other beings within the world. He was so mad, he muttered everything but supportive words, worried that his dragon child would be stuck with wolf ears. Shael had turned to a Squirrel, making Silus giggle for a moment as he scurried to the other end of the counter

“Uh-uhm no. No shifting for me.” Humanity said as he cleared his throat half way through, trying to fight the feeling of choking. He turned to Silus and, to the boy’s surprise, he smiled. He looked to Shael as his heart began to slow. Shael wouldn’t really recognize it much, Matthew never truly had to regulate his heartbeat when they were together. It was the same, calming beat that he used as Humanity, when he lied, or wished to pass a detector test. He smiled and cleared his throat. “Besides...I got a hot date.” The terminology seemed to make Silus’ face fall a little as he arched an eyebrow.

"O-oh. Okay… I’ll just hang with Shael then." He said, sounding worried more than anything else. He looked to Shael with a wide smile and putting an arm around his shoulders. Matthew smiled and nodded, though the anxiety in Silus’ shoulders was almost palpable. Matthew reached over and began to rub Shael’s hair.

“Have fun boys. Remind Fera it’s her turn to bail you out.” He said before reminding Shael that his antics were not funded by Humanity this time. Other times he would have been more than willing, but this hot date of his seemed to have a surprising priority. Silus smiled as his god father reached across the table and gave half a hug to the smaller boy, then disappearing down the hallway. Silus cleared his throat and looked back to Shael.

"So roaming around the city-jungle as animals was on the table, right? I could try to live like a Shael for a little while." He said with a small smile and a hint of optimism for the new experience. He began to focus for a moment, trying to collectively coax the universe itself into solving a problem for him. The fact he was human. He attempted to shift himself, but this was not exactly a simple task for him. Unfortunately when he finally did manages to transform, he was not exactly what he had thought he would be….

A body the size of a small dog and planted on it’s back, four legs stuck into the air with a small black nose that twitched like a mouse. In fact the whole thing looked like a hybrid of dog and mouse when you looked to it, a small bit of ferret was able to be observed as well. A coat of off black fur, almost with a blueish tinge could be seen coating the creature. It rolled over and when looking to Shael upright it seemed to look like a small bear even. The sleek furry tail swayed back and forth as the creature then began to sniff the air and look at itself with an inhuman intelligence.

"So I’m a mouse, or a dog? Possibly some kind of tiny bear?" He asked as he looked to Shael, the noise coming out as a series of unfriendly hissing and low growls.

Shael looked over the two with the same innocent expression that always graced his face. Only allowing it to break when he noted the break within consistent heartbeat that came from the only human in the room. Inconsistent for a second before coming back to normal, though he chalked that up to possible annoyance at being unable to change shape like the two of them could. He felt sorry for humans and their limited forms, two legs and being unable to pick the features they had.  Even his father was limited, so he had to wonder at times where it came from.”Got a hot date? Okay, we can hang out later,” At first he looked disappointed but that rebounded rather quickly. If there was something going on he would find out later, though for now he had a day to spend with his uncle he never called an uncle. Because already mentioned reasons.

Another rub on the head and Matt relieved himself of the social situation with a single line. He wouldn’t have anything to do with whatever shenanigans they ended up doing out and about. Not as if he were expecting him to come to their rescue if things went wrong, if such a thing happened anyway.  He wasn’t exactly worried that they would come under fire by random humans with their murder weapons. Also known as guns.

”Definitely a thing we can do. That’s why I offered it I guess,” Though what living like a Shael meant was a little more nebulous for him to grasp. That was when Silus began trying the shifting experience, changing his human form to something a little more animalistic. Even if he didn’t know what he was exactly.  It was many bits of animals mashed together into something that he wasn’t sure could be classified as cute. Even still all he could do was smirk widely sat the newly created creature standing before him. The idea of mixing animal parts didn’t really come to him aside from occasionally taking on part in his  base humanoid form.

”Look like a mix of all of those things,” Shael responded, giving the new abomination against nature a brush across its head before replicating the form as best he could. It took a minute to get things right bu in the end there were two new creatures standing there, though his fur was similar to his hair color in human form with occasional patches of white and brow. It returned the look, tail wagging slightly before scenting the air as well. Scents of Silus and Matt both present despite one of them having left. ”we could walk around like this but I think that would lead to those animal control people chasing us.” He returned, creating a similar procession of sounds that to this species was conversation.  

His rapidly twitching nose sniffed the air, paws raised much like a mouses before he fell back on all fours. ”So...do you wanna learn to turn into a dog or do you wanna go out as we are. Because I don’t care either way,” He questioned, shifting back into a more recognizable human for, rolling backwards into a form of somersault before rising to his feet. ”I know a few places we can go to, and there’s one I wanted to show you anyway.” He continued to look over the strange Silus creature before shrugging. He dragged a finger through the frosting of the cake he brought, plopping the chocolate coated digit into his mouth and sucking on it. ”just not the dog park though. Place always smells like something in heat.”

Silus was comfortable as this newfound little creature. He felt that it rather well depicted him as a person. The mouse-like qualities were his timid nature, even maybe the nerdy part to him. Then there was the dog like aspects which were loyalty and a need for companionship and affection. Finally the bear-like aspects of it were very adaptive, cuddly and a hidden rage that was seeded so deep into his soul he wanted to slowly peel the flesh of the skin of those that hurt his loved ones piece by peace. He blinked for a moment, not truly taking in what Shael had said, though his attention was drawn back when he said about dog parks.

Uh right. No dog park because it smells like warmth. But I don’t think we should go to the park anyway. I’m...not a dog. I’m a marsupial. He commented in his own tongue. This was such a blessing, for them to still communicate despite the difference in race. He wiggled around, finding his pouch before flicking his large tail. In another moment and Matthew stepped back into the kitchen, obviously not seeing the creatures as he stepped down onto a tail. Silus hissed loudly and snapped his jaws on instinct, causing Matthew to jump back. The human looked in horror as he quickly registered what had happened, grit his teeth together and offered a small apology.

“Sorry. Not used to Dogs and Devils in the kitchen….Get it?” Humanity tried to crack the joke before the unamused animal faces caused him to sigh. “C’mon. You’re a Tasmanian Devil. He’s a dog. Dogs’n’Devils. It’s like cops and robbers….okay. Right. I’m going.” He said with a sigh as he reached into the fridge and grabbed a large bottle of CORE water. Silus sneezed as he tried to register his new body, and what it could naturally do.

Alright Shael, well I guess you can lead the way. To whatever it is you wanna show me. I don’t mind doing what animals do. Just need to know if I need to be worried about animal control or not. Hehe Silus giggled with a hint of nervousness to his voice. He didn’t want to try morphing into a new animal quite yet. He knew he wasn’t very good at it, he also knew that if anyone was going to teach him it would probably be Shael. The idea struck him, but he opted to wait. There was always later, if something was a requirement. He shook his body, fluffing out his own fur before he walked out the door. Literally through the door, forgetting that Shael did not phase the same way he did.

“Ooph. Sorry, cuz. So where is this place, and how long will it take to get there? Because I’m kinda….slow... Silus said, realizing that this was going to be a complicated form to do for overly long distances.

”Marsupial?” Shael seemed to play with the word as if rolling it over his tongue like an unknown flavor. Watching his uncle  or whatever play around with the new form was amusing to him, as if seeing someone take intrigue in something he could do commonly was amazing.  He nodded along to the little tasmianian devil and the mentions of heat at the dog park, which sounded like  a pain he didn’t want to deal with. Mostly because he knew enough about dogs to know what heat and the smell led to. His ears stung him from thought when he hard a sharp hiss and turned to see Matt who had likely stepped on a tail.

He looked curiously to the male, wondering silently if that were his intention before shaking away those thoughts. Now way Matt would purposely hurt an animal, not without it having done anything to him anyway. Not as if Silus bit him, unless he did when Shael wasn’t looking. With a small chuckle he resumed the shape of a dog; a golden retriever this time around. Happily wagging his tail while watching the older male leave the room for the two of them  to be able to do whatever they would. Plenty of time to play and enjoy the day.

When it was time to go, Silus walked through the door and Shael ran face first into the door. Letting out an audible yip as he rebounded from it, growling at the door which did not allow him  the same passage. Shaking his head, he shifted back into a human form to step through the door and close it before shifting back. ”Should be like...a  ten minute walk I guess. It’s in a park..sorta. Fera helped me set it up.” He explained with the occasional audible dog sounds, walking along a sidewalk with little care for the humans that might have given them strange looks.  ”it’ll be great, I promise!”

Shael had to transform in order to step through the door. It was an unfortunate event as Silus had forgotten about how mlst people cannot walk through doors. Solid objects are barriers to pretty much everyone, why was that so easy for him to forget? If he had thought of it he would have grabbed Shael and walked through first. Silus walked, soom dropping. ehind and following the dog that he called Shael.

He was told of a place Fera helped him set up. Silus wondered if it was something like the sanctum in his closet. Suddenly he stopped in his tracks and hissed. Hey, not cool! he thought to himself as he remembered bringing his friend from his sanctum and hearing a comment. It took a whole week and a half for him to realize the double meaning to it. He growled as he continued to follow Shael.

I might need your help later. I need to pay a friend back for something... so uh. Where is this place anyway? he asked, though he already knew he should be asking WHAT this place was. He figured he would find out in due time, the important thing now was going to be wandering through the Parks of LA in order to get to this elusive place that Shael enjoyed.

He hadn’t brought anyone outside of his twin to his hidden spot but Silus would be the first person. Someone he could trust not to bring random people here because he knew his dad would just use it to be sad away from people. He did that sometimes. Being sad he meant, not whatever else it was he did. ”I’ll help pay your friend back,” Shael agreed with a wagging tail as they moved through a park and stepped up to what appeared to be a collection of bushes. Sniffing it and looking around before stepping through. Sure no one was watching the strange animals going about and dong their own thing.

They wouldn’t feel the brush of leaves but instead as if they were walking through open air.  Silus would feel the same and they would see what was beyond.  Beyond it looked like a clearing in a jungle with lush trees around the great opening, a waterfall filling a large pond that dominated the center of it.  Thick vines weaving through a few palm trees around the sandy beach ringing the water, creating what could best be described as hammocks. Breaking into a sprint he jumped into the water and began to doggy paddle around,  with the same look of pleasure that came with swimming as a dog. Rapidly shifting to  a Shael but with brown swimming trunks as he rested on the banks stomach down.

”Fera called this a...something. Anyway it’s somewhere I can go where no one I want can come in and just relax. Part of her magic practice she says, though I didn’t know magic could do this,” He shrugged bare shoulders, reaching to a branch bedecked with bananas to pick one, peel and take a bite. ”so, who needs paying back? Sounds like that could be pretty fun.”

Silus was amazed by what he saw. More importantly what he felt. He found his little tasmanian jaw drop as he sniffed the air, taking in the smell of a jungle with a mixture of soft soil and sand. The place was perfect for all practical purposes. He felt the wind brush through his hair-well fur at this point. He found himself shocked as the derpy dog decided to drop into the water and paddle about. Silus himself just went to the sand and hopped forward, crashing into the sand on his side as his tail swayed back and forth, burying beneath the warm earthen fragments.

   He couldn't see them. But he ccould hear them. He could feel them. Whispering and talking. Some giggled and others whispered warnings if the foreign pressence. There were spirits tied to this place, this abode of nature. It was a realm within it's own right. A secret sanctuary space inside, tucked away from all others. It was exactly what Silus had thought it'd be. He allowed the warmth of the sun to hit him as he shifted back to his own self pulling his arms through his hoody and tucking his head down in like a turtle.

   He quickly shed his hoodie, tossing it aside as he laid back in the sand. Shael would eventually join him, though closer to the water. It amazed Silus how his cousin, nephew thing could actively metamorph clothing onto himself. That was a blessing that he DIDN'T inherit from his mother from what Matty had told him. She barely wore furs, let alone actual clothes. He couldn't knock the premise though, in all honesty Silus was either in his hoodie, or his swim suit. There was no middle ground. Except for that one leather jacket he got, he only wore that thing a few times. His mind was drawn in when he saw Shael talking about his friend that needed payback.

 "I don't think you know him yet. He's kinda nice but I uh....uhm. OH! You did. Right before da-" Silus paused for a second, staring at the sky as he searched for something to say
He turned his head and looked to Shael with a cheeky smile and a small shrug. "He's one of my friends. I have a few of them now, not just one. There's Jack and he's pretty cool. He's funny but he acts all broody, but he's super funny. He's like someone took Mike and Jordan and mixed them. The there's Pup, he's kinda...werid, but you can't help but like him. He's bad, but in a good way? Like he's a good person but you can see where he's not...uh. Innocent is the word. Then there's Nihilus. He uh, he's.... Silus' voice trailed off for a moment with a slightly soft tone as he looked at the sky, getting lost in thought again as he seemed to wear a somber expression on his face, a deep reflection of his thoughts.

    "Pup. Pup's the one I gotta pay back..." Silus finally answered, smiling again as he realized he had paused for too long, keeping Shael waiting. He hated when he got lost in his thoughts, but he enjoyed the chance to be out in the world with a friend.

He was pleased by Silus’ seemingly surprised reaction. The expression might have been lost on human eyes, however he was no human. Instead he just watched the Tasmnian Devil walking around and taking everything in. A first reaction being positive always felt good to him, even if he likely expected his uncle or cousin to react well to something like this. It was just looked like something he would like. Now however he was interested in the friend that needed to be got back at, because that sounded like too much fun to pass up. Practical jokes were his favorite, even when it came to pranking Matt who occasionally even took it in great stride.

Explaining this person required more effort on Silus’ part than he expected, though he nodded along and patiently waited for the point. Because he was excited enough but didn’t want to miss all the details. A sort of basic cunning already blooming within the wild child as he tried to think of what he could do to help. Most of those being turning into a kind of animal that would make someone feel uncomfortable. Rats tended to get people jumping around, or trying to smash him with large objects. ”Like someone mixed together dad and Jordan? That sounds...pretty cool actually,” He grinned, imagining the idea that came with it.  Okay, he was mostly imagining the dragon babies.

”So what he do? How we gonna pay him back?” He questioned between bites of banana, realizing he was being pretty rude and offering one to Silus with a free hand, legs kicking in the water.  ”what kind of plans you got? I’ve always wanted to try that pie in the face thing, though that probably wastes a pie. Lets not do that then,” He seemed to jump from thoughts even through his facial features.  ”maybe a pie, just not a good one.”

Silus smirked and took the banana from Shael as he contemplated how to explain everything to him. He peeled the potassium and contemplated the nature of its existence before he found the words to say. As he reflected on this a moment he chewed his food, not talking with his mouth full as he swallowed and took a deep breath in.

   “So Pup is the one. I have no idea how to get him back but literally everything you do seems to make him excited or put him in the mood to get back at you. He’s probably a better trickster than I am. The only difference being that I have the powers for it. I’d be genuinely horrified if he had my powers.” Silus said as he laughed a little, realizing for a moment that he needed to get back on task. The plans that went through his head were all a little too low key for him to imagine his friend reacting to in a way that he felt actually pranked. He looked to Shael a moment and bit into the banana once more, slowly chewing as ideas swam through his mind.

   “So it needs to be something so outrageous that even the most prepared person is taken off guard. It would need to be like pranking Matty, except he’ll be more happy than anything else. O-oh and uhm...the pie could be an option.” He said as he tried to keep everything into context. He was genuinely falling short on concepts for how to get back at pup, and his overall innocence didn’t help things at this point. If he had ever missed Devoid, or rather Eros whispering to his subconscious, it was now.

   Silus looked to the water, now grateful that he used his swimpants to double as underwear. He tossed his surface-dweller shorts to the side and pushed himself into the water, floating for a moment as he shivered. The acclimation to the water taking longer than he’d like with a pained grin. He shook his mop of we hair like a wet dog before letting out a trembling sigh.

He watched his Councle peel the banana and eat it before explaining what they were to be doing. How this Pup person was and what they wanted to do to get him back for whatever he had done to Silus. Didn’t take him any real prompting to want to do that. Close family being the one to ask it didn’t help. ”Sounds pretty tough. Like trying to attack my dads self esteem,” He stated with brows knitted while he worked through the ideas that were brewing within his mind. His dad and sister would likely know better to trick this person and he had a few ideas that couldn’t be translated into words.

”Well I guess putting scorpions in his pockets won’t work because those kill people,” He stated with a pondering thought,  thinking about something outrageous enough that someone who could make anything a joke would not see it coming. ”Matty’s never happy when I prank him or when I call him Matty. He gets really mad when I call him that,” Shael agreed, despite the fact that had nothing to do with his Pup person. There had to be something that they could do to get the result that they wanted. Even if that meant  going to some extremes that he imagined Silus wouldn’t like.

Ripples ran across the waters surface, created when Silus moved in as well. He dipped under and came up with dark hair that was stuck to his forehead, a few strands needs to be pushed aside. He was so used to the cool waters that he forgot some people didn’t like the cool. ”Pies are on the menu, though maybe I could do something to help. Like turn into a dog and surprise him...thats as far as I got.  Know anything he’s scared of? Could try to make the prank a little scary to get at him,” he added crawling onto the small shore and just lounging there with the sand sticking wetly to his shorts, shaking the water from his hair which flailed about.

”Have a Brownie friend who says those always get the hardest to prank humans,”

“That was a good idea though.” Silus said as he began to contemplate the entirety of what Shael hhd said about scorpions. Shael’s initial lack of consideration for the target’s mortality ended up giving Silus a rather interesting idea. He realized that he was thinking way too much along the lines of a human, considering the possible but rather not the IMPOSSIBLE as they should have. He spun around from his back and paddled over to Shael before resting next to him with a smirk. “What if we did a whole thing with this? If you can’t get someone with one prank, you can get when with two! So we initially lure him in, then we change everything around.”

Constructively speaking it would make sense, but if his explanation wasn’t on point he feared he would lose Shael at the point. He sighed a little, knowing that if Shael failed to understand that it was in fact 100% his fault, he got too excited and just spat out a comment or changing everything around. It sounded like he wanted to lure Pup into a room and then change the furniture. Silus let out a nervous chuckle and rubbed the back of his head before elaborating, well rather he tried to lead Shael to his same conclusion. That would be interesting to see if he could finally redeem his horrid explanatory skills.

”Well you can be any animal you want. I can make him see whatever or wherever I want….so what if you were to be something impossible, something scary. But it was in a place I made to look REAL! It could be a good way to get him.” He tried to walk the nature spirit through his mindset, emphasizing in on how the creature would be the terrifying part. He was perfectly okay with setting a cake in Pup’s face, but he needed to think up more to this. He could do more, he felt like he could, and he was absolutely certain that between him and Shael he could do the greatest prank the world has ever seen.

“Also, wait. You have a Brownie friend? Sweet! The Fae are so cool, huh?” Silus enthused for a moment, geeking out over the fact that there were Fae possibly in the lives of his loved ones. Especially since Zell outright punished every Fae he found within a thousand mile radius of him.

”Oh, i’ll keep that in mind then,”’ He was pretty good at taking the form of a scorpion, even if he preferred something large and furry like a wolf. He wondered what kind of ideas they could come up with and Silus tried to explain the idea. Shael nodding along despite not knowing what  he meant exactly.  He chewed on his lower lip, thought a little more and then nodded again. ”That makes sense...sorta,” He said with a tone that suggested he didn’t completely get what he was trying to say but here he was trying. Sounds more like the trick inclined person would  understand.

He thought over the next suggestion, about him taking on the form of something terrifying.  ”I saw something in a movie….an on some youtube videos I could probably turn into.” he stated trying to draw the images from his head as he flopped out of the water and shook his all too human looking body dry as if he were a dog. Allowing his body and clothes to shift into a large, black chitaned creature with a long segmented tail with a sharp looking barb and slavering teeth with long sharp talons which dug into the soft soil. It all lasted a few seconds until he returned to the same shape  with him in the swimming trunks.

”Yeah, I know a few fae. My friend lives in our house and cleans it up because I guess he has an arrangement with my sister, ” He shrugged, with a toothy smile. ”I have a half fae friend too, though he always puts those...glamor things up to cover his pointy ears. He does sing pretty well,” He might have been talking about half elf but then again those two always seemed to get mixed up.  ”So was  I scary enough or do I need a few more oozing sores?”