Rubble and Rainstorms
Balamel undergoes a massive transformation whilst caged in the basement of Seethe and Velius' laboratory, and wants out by any means necessary. Getting out of the situation in one piece and gathering information on the cause is unlikely, but Velius is determined to find a way to do both.
Chapter 2: Of Liquids, Crimson and Colorful
Balamel
[Wanderer]
The human didn't have much time to take stock of that situation before the world lurched around him as Balam leaped through the hole left by the collapse and into the rain, setting him on his feet again once they were clear of the rubble. There was a very obvious kink in his tail from the rubble breaking bones, and he definitely seemed agitated -- craning his neck to look behind him with a wing flared out. Unintentional umbrella?
Velius
[Toxicologist]
Velius was not accustomed to flight whatsoever. Seethe might ride around on Iphae's back but Velius was much more terrestrial-locked. He made another yelp of surprise as he was suddenly snatched up effortlessly. When he was placed on the ground he did wobble a bit, sticking one hand out against Balam's side to steady himself. His hand did sink into the fur practically up to his elbow, but that was unsurprising. As Velius did his best to get his head on straight after the ordeal he did take a minute to fully process the sheer size of Balam currently. Fifteen was incredibly large as is. This man was practically a leviathan. The rain continued to pour, soaking Balam's fur and ever so gradually washing the dust out from him. Beneath his wing where he held it to shield Velius from the weather remained dry, however. A few moments passed before Velius decided to try and get his attention once more. "Balamel." He started, patting once against the large boy.
Balamel
[Wanderer]
Long ears flicked upward and after a long moment his neck craned around the other direction to fix one eye on Velius, sidelong. Oh, right, there was another person here. He chuffed quietly by way of acknowledging Velius had his attention, as if the stare wasn't enough indication in itself. He wanted to shake all this dust and rain from his fur, and it had him shifting restlessly.
Velius
[Toxicologist]
Velius' Daemon was canine in physiology, so he could tell when the Urge to Shake was present. "Oh-uh.." Looking down at himself, he slipped his arms out of the blue coat he normally wore, holding it above his head. "Go ahead and shake. I can talk after." Velius just hoped that the onslaught of rain and dust wouldn't knock him over and send him into the ocean. He'd been thrown overboard on a ship once before, and he'd like to avoid the experience happening a second time.
Balamel
[Wanderer]
The go-ahead seemed to spark a bit of confusion in the Ptheran's body language, but it didn't take him long to do exactly that. He seemed at least somewhat aware of his size -- his wings lifted up before he shook himself out, to avoid smacking Velius, and although the water flying off him was forceful enough to feel like physical blows it wasn't enough to send him flying. The ground shuddered beneath them for a few seconds from the rapid shifting of weight, and when he stopped he near immediately moved to stretch with a low sound almost like a purr leaving his half-open jaws. He settled straight from that into a catlike resting pose, front paws tucked under his chest and shoulder fur ruffled up against the storm. Or maybe it was just frizzy, it was hard to say.(edited)
Velius
[Toxicologist]
Velius definitely felt like his entire body would end up as one big bruise the next day. Ah well. Balam starting to Loaf was a bit surprising, considering what had just happened. Was Balam sitting there satisfied that he had just crawled through and collapsed a building? Peering behind himself, he looked up from the dock to the ruins of that side of the lab. Seethe was Not going to be pleased when he returned from his trip with Iphae. Turning his attention back to Balam, and doing his best to wring out the coat before deciding to set it down on the wood, he glanced back at the still mostly-filled blood bag. "Do you... want.. this?" He asked, raising it in view of what he figured Balam's peripheral view could witness. The blood was no good going into storage now, regardless.
Balamel
[Wanderer]
It might have been concerning, how quickly that got his attention. Balam's neck craned around once more, eye fixed on the blood more than Velius himself. There were a few tense, almost expectant moments of silence and then he seemed to realize it might not have been clear what he wanted. He eased his head a bit closer with his jaws parted -- still facing sideways, so it was clear it wasn't an attempt to just eat him. ...why was he being so cautious? Being boxed up Inside was getting to him. Ugh.
Velius
[Toxicologist]
Velius didn't want to just toss the bag in there. He had no doubts that Balam's digestive system would probably make short work of the plastic it was in, but that would defeat the purpose. Standing back a bit, Velius started to squeeze the bag like a cursed Capri sun into Balam's mouth. When that was taking too long and Velius had a feeling that the tiny stream would just piss balam off, he tugged the plastic against one of Balam's... teeth? He supposed? It allowed him to open up the hole better and really dump the blood over Balam's tongue. He had to lean in to do this, and he did particularly hope that Balam didn't decide that he liked Velius' blood enough to just take the whole man and eat him. Velius was of course getting soaked further by this point, unable to sit under the wing with Balam's current position. Oh well. The storm didn't seem to be letting up, but it didn't seem to be getting worse either. The sun had already gone down, so it wasn't like there was much visibility that could be limited by the rain to begin with.
Balamel
[Wanderer]
Balam's jaws were like blades -- almost as soon as the plastic touched metal it was sliced through, blood spilling out as the ptheran angled his head to catch it. This close, the oily iridescence of his mouth was obvious even in the dim light, obstructed occasionally by blood. The Ptheran's forked tongue did make at least one attempt to flick the bag out of Velius's hand, but was thankfully unsuccessful.
Velius
[Toxicologist]
Velius balled the plastic up and slipped it into his pocket. No feeding the plastic to the Ptheran today. Velius took a step back from Balam, pushing his soaked hair backwards out of his face. The problem now was just... what to do with him.