Practise Makes Perfect (open)

[V.K Caborn]

V.K would sigh loudly and fall backwards onto her back, her limbs feeling sore and achy from her recent shift. The teen had taken it upon herself to practise her shape-shifting abilities during her free-time and when she, er, skipped certain lessons. Like physics, she hated physics. Thankfully, this wasn't during a lesson so she wouldn't have to hide when teachers pass by.

Staring at the sky, she squinted as the pure blue hurt her eyes. V.K sprawled out on the grass, feeling drowsy as the warmth seeped into her skin; the sun softly beating down upon her. Rolling onto her belly, she would peacefully inhale; the fresh scent of grass and dirt filling her nose pleasantly. With a groan, V.K sat up again and closed her eyes to concentrate. She had to speed up her transformation, the quicker it was over, the less painful it seemed.

Closing her eyes, V.K furrowed her brow as she concentrated. After a few moments of silence, she felt a strange prickling feeling travelling down her spine and up her limbs; these prickles kept getting stronger until they felt like someone was stabbing at her skin and bones with tiny needles. Her bones cracked and reformed, burning like molten metal as they forced the muscles around them to tear apart and refuse. Biting her tongue to stop from crying out, V.K barely recognized the fur growing across her skin. She felt her spine elongate with a sharp snap; the exposed bone suddenly being smothered by writhing muscle and furred skin.

A few moments later, V.K felt the throbbing after-pains fade and she slowly stumbled to her feet. Well, paws really. From the feel of her new form alone, the girl knew that she had shifted into her serval. It was her most common form and her easiest but she knew that there was a possibility that she could develop more forms. Just a few days ago she had transformed into a carcal. Larger than the serval and since it was a new form, it had been a lot more painful. Staring down at her paws, V.K knew what she looked like. More lean than butch, a tan-furred body with long legs, dotted with ebony spots and stripes. A small face and large rounded ears, almond eyes that glinted hazel and a short striped tail that only reached mid-way down her hind legs.

V.K glanced at her phone, in her cat form she could still do the things she did as a human however she tended to respond more on instinct than actual thought and the fact that her thumbs were not opposable. Knowing this, she had set her phone's settings so that it wouldn't turn off. It seemed that only two minutes had passed during her shift. Quicker than her previous times. V.K purred with satisfaction and curled up on her clothes which she had slipped out of during the transformation. Her newly developed limbs were sore, hurting more than they had previously during the shift, and she was exhausted. The sun steadily warmed up her fur as she slipped into a light doze.

[Kimi Tachibana]

Kimi was forcing herself to take breaks in between studying. If she was studying with someone, such as Rina or Bunny or one of her dormitory mates, then breaks weren't necessary, because she usually spoke to the person occasionally as she studied. However, when she was by herself, Kimi found it was somewhat difficult to give herself such easy breaks. Before coming to study in America, she knew she stressed herself out too much, which was entirely her own fault and no one else's. Her parents urged her to calm down on her revision sometimes, but it had taken some proper research into the effects of stress and over-working on the body for Kimi to actually take any of their concern into account. She trusted her parents, and she loved them, but she also loved good grades and didn't understand why they were so worried, but she understood now.

So, reluctantly, she was forcing herself to have a break. Ten minutes would be more than enough, probably, so that was what she planned on. And then finish studying and run track, then go swimming, then back to studying, then bed. She hadn't planned a time to eat, but it would happen, at some point.

One of her favourite places to go, during these break times she issued herself, was the courtyard. It was lovely and light and had flowers and stuff and it was all very peaceful... unless there were people there. They usually ruined disturbed the peace, but that was alright. Kimi would survive. And right now, there weren't too many people there, but one person in particular did seem to be doing yoga, or something. The way they were stretching and rolling about on the floor. Maybe they were really into the environment...? But then their body began shifting, and Kimi flinched at all the cracks and clicks and... eeekkkk. And then she realised what was in front of her. Oh. My. That cat had weird ears.

Kimi didn't have a problem with cats, but she realised she had been hiding in the shadows during the whole process, and only came forward when the cat began to doze. The meta... seemed fine, but--- Kimi jumped at a sudden noise, probably a broken twig or something, and shot into her invisible form, feeling the Sun burning her delicate, hidden skin already. She squealed and stepped backwards, tripping over the cat before she realised where she was going, landing with a light thud and whining. Oww.... not to mention her skin was still burning. She eyed the shadow of the cat-shaped rock, which wasn't actually a rock, but rather the actual cat, and crawled into it, pushing herself up next to the blocking object, whining quietly as she slowly stopped being invisible.

"Stupid rock." She muttered.

[V.K Caborn]

V.K slowly crept out of the doze, her mind slightly foggy with the thoughts of sleep. One of her ears flicked around as she heard a sharp snap though she dismissed it as a clumsy squirrel or bird and kept her large eyes closed. She was content to lie there without a care in the world, her sore muscles slowly easing into a more comfortable state.

At least, she was until someone kicked her in the ribs. The force budged her a little, her cat's size giving her a large centre of gravity, but V.K still leapt to her paws and glared around. She couldn't see anything besides some flattened grass yet she knew that the thing that had hit her was still around. Her nose and ears told her that it was human. Probably a meta. No animal can be invisible and give such a kick. V.K slowly settled back onto her belly, swivelling her head to keep an eye out for what had kicked her. The girl was certain it was still around, though she did not know if it's intentions were hostile or not. She doubted it; no sane person would just kick someone for the fun of it. She kept her paws tucked up under herself and her head alert. If something hit her again, she would bite it. Brilliant plan!

Not even a few seconds later, V.K felt something push up against her. Glaring down at where she was being pushed, the girl sunk her claws into her clothes; she did not like not being able to see what was touching her. A high-pitched whimpering could be heard. Maybe the human was in pain? That would mean that the kick could've been an accident. V.K let her glare relax into a curious stare as the person in question slowly came back into the visible plane. It was a girl, no doubt, but she was also rather short. Shorter than V.K at least. The teen knew that she had been the one who kicked her and now she was... snuggling? Talk about mixed signals.

V.K tilted her head slightly as she remembered something about invisibility metas. Her sister had told her a few things; such as the soreness that she should expect from her muscles after shifting; which included some need-to-know facts. For example, those that can turn invisible dislike sunlight. She's a vampire. V.K thought, her eyes growing wide with wonder. Dipping her head, she heard the girl mutter something about a rock? Oh, she might have tripped. That wasn't the rock's fault though. Raising her head, V.K looked around but couldn't see any large stones. Am I the rock? I'm not a rock! V.K frowned at the girl, an odd look on her cat face. 

V.K didn't want to shift back, she always dreaded the pain that followed. Since she was a cat, she couldn't speak to tell this human that she was not a rock so she did the next best thing. Dipping her head again, she opened her muzzle and dragged her rough tongue over the other girl's forehead. Take that. She thought smugly.

[Kimi Tachibana]

Kimi wasn't a violent person, she didn't mean to cause any harm, ever, at all! She was just a little freaked out now, didn't really realise what was going on. Despite being at meta schools for a good few years of her life already, she generally avoided contact with most people. One could say she had numerous friends, was part of numerous clubs and knew lots of people, but one could also say she was a loner who hardly spoke to anyone during those club activities and spent the majority of her time between her dormitory, her classrooms, the pool, the library and the courtyard. She didn't leave Hammel much, except to get jewellery making necessities. Basically, she knew Hammel was crawling with metas, she just didn't see a lot of people using their powers, and had not yet come across anyone who could turn into a big cat with weird ears. You learned something knew everyday, she supposed.

As such, she didn't know how to deal with these situations. So she stayed hidden beside the 'rock'. That was, until she could swear she felt it shift. She had to be imagining things, surely, some... early onset heat stroke or something like that, something unfortunate that would, of course, happen to Kimi now, at the worst of times. She had already embarrassed herself enough, she didn't need anything more to meddle with her conscience.

Well, she thought she might be okay, until she saw the rock was actually that big cat from before and it was... licking her forehead... Kimi remained frozen stiff for a few moments, before letting out a soft meep and scuttling away towards a tree for cover, protection, a hiding place, something! Somewhere where she could try to work out what was going on. She got out a handkerchief and wiped her forehead delicately, before putting the cloth away again and, timidly, stepping out again and going towards the feline, eventually petting its head, sheepishly, "Hey, neko-san, good little neko..." She muttered, looking slightly pink from being invisible out in the sun. And maybe also from embarrassment. The majority of the redness on her face was probably embarrassment.

It was then that it occurred to Kimi that this creature was only temporary - meaning there was a girl in that body who would remember what she was doing. The embarrassment hit harder and the pets got weaker as Kimi winced away and curled in on herself a bit. "...sorry." She said quietly, holding the wrist of her left hand, as if it might gain a life of its own and try to pet the feline again. Maybe she should just go...

[V.K Caborn]

V.K would merely watch as the girl scuttled away with a soft... squeak. She's a vampiric squirrel, she thought, the world is coming to an end. Her gaze was harsh as she studied the other teen. She hadn't met a lot of people yet; spoken, yes, but no actual contact was made. Even if this 'meeting' was accidental and a bit sore, it was a pleasant surprise. 

She flicked an ear as she watched the girl wipe her forehead with a piece of cloth. Her saliva wasn't venomous, would be cool if it was though, so there wasn't any real worry. Twitching her tail, V.K tried to reprimand herself. Other people weren't as touchy-feely  as her. A hug would be uncomfortable amongst strangers, a lick would be even more so.

Well, I am completely lost here. V.K thought as the girl came up and... started to pet her. This woman was a whole package of confusion. Still, the head rubs felt nice so V.K started to purr softly and closed her eyes. Most shape shifters, at least the ones in movies and books, always got offended when treated like an animal but she didn't mind. Who would deny a free head rub? Not her. Neko-san? What on earth is a neko-san? Like a cat? V.K was never good at remembering languages, she couldn't even remember some words of her own. However, as quick as the petting started, it slowly stopped. Shifting to her paws, V.K opened her eyes and watched the girl. Her face was a little pink and was gaining colour. Had she become embarrassed? Well, I guess I can understand why. 

V.K was at a dilemma. She could either remain as a cat, which would probably be more comfortable since some people respond better around animals rather than other humans. Plus she could get more head rubs, which would be nice, but it might also be more awkward since she couldn't talk in this form. Or she could turn into a human, she could ask if the other girl was a vampire but she might also scare the girl away. V.K didn't want that.

So V.K steadily rose to her paws, wobbling slightly as she was still adjusting to the all-fours thing, and walked over to the girl. She dipped her narrow head and lightly head-butted the girl's hand, which she had decided to hold for some reason... Anyway, after the head-butt, V.K curled up next to her in a very relaxed manner, as if she wasn't offended by the petting.