Feathers and Glue [Midori]

[Midori Hawkins]

Midori really hadn’t used her power to her advantage often. Unless it was turning into a dog and growling at her brother until he moved away. It was too much fun to do, even if she was sore afterwards. She hadn’t ever tried using it to her advantage with men, because, well, between men and women, women were more likely to get excited about a cuddly mammal than men were. Oh well.

“I’d like that,” she said with a little grin. “I bet they’re cute noises.” She was having a hard time even imagining an otter’s voice, but no matter. If nothing else, she could attempt turning into one herself and testing the voice. That was always the hard part of a new shifting form. The voices were so foreign and sounded odd to her newly sharpened hearing. ... Odd as it sounded, maybe it was one of those things that she’d almost be safest doing with a veteran of that form. Maybe she’d ask. Later. Much, much later. ‘Oh hey can I shift with you?’ sounded... yeah. She wasn’t going to go down that road. Not at all. “Oh, Zero’s very tolerant. You can do just about anything to her. Before Tory was born, we made sure that light tail and ear pulls weren’t going to bother her. She just lays there and wags.” Thankfully, her roommate’s dog had adjusted well to having the toddler around, even more so now that he was more mobile.

There it was again. Devon was making the otter form sound unfairly tempting. Glancing down at her hands for a moment, she shrugged her shoulders. “It sounds like fun, but new shifts are always a little...” She wavered her hand slightly. “Iffy. I haven’t tried a new form for a long time.” She couldn’t remember the last time she’d tried something more exotic than a cat or dog for ages. “With my luck, I’d lose coordination mid-swim and drown.” Yes, that was a nice thing to say. Not. “I might need a spotter,” she admitted with a shy expression, something akin to shame on her face. “I remember trying new forms as a student and being completely turned around as to where my feet where.” There had often been a slightly off-looking animal prowling the training room in those days, walking as if it were a little drunk. Yeah. That had been her. “Tayras sound... like something you’d want as a pet, actually.” She’d have to look them up at home, because a ferret-cat sounded... impossible to picture, but cute all the same.

“It’s an older brother thing, I think. Corbin still tries to babysit me, too, but it’s less for being trouble and more for just being the baby of the family. Zach I just ignore. He never liked babysitting duty anyway.” Which made it all the more fun to drop Tory in his lap and watch his expression. Zach was an okay uncle, but she didn’t think he’d ever make it to fatherhood. Ever. “But I’m sure Cade and Corbin could swap stories and embarrass both you and Zach. ... And probably me, too.” God only knew what kinds of stories Corbin could dredge up from the past.

Tory happily streaked the paint onto the wooden feathers, not caring that he was getting his hands and fingers finely coated in it as well. The look on his face said it all. He was thrilled to be allowed to paint. Grinning at Devon, he dropped the brush back in the paint and kept blotting it onto the bird. “Blue!” While he wasn’t much for conversation yet, Tory knew what he liked. Today, it was blue birds.

Watching the boys, Midori smiled and abandoned her pitiful sketch to approach the bird instead. Her son was... well, making a mess, but Devon really didn’t seem to mind. Wow. She crouched down beside them and grinned. “I see we’ve abandoned realism. Sorry.”

[Devon Wentsworth]

Unlike Midori Devon was a seasoned veteran of using his ability to his advantage, but also unlike her he'd never used it to try to intimidate his brother. Not that he hadn't occasionally had the urge of course, but there had simply been no point. Cade knew for a fact that Devon would never cause him any actual harm, so it would be completely pointless trying to use a wolverine or honey badger form to try to scare him or make him do something he didn't want to. It would have been as effective as Devon trying to intimidate his big brother with a gun. A very small pink one. That was drawn on a piece of paper.

“Zero, like the dog from Nightmare Before Christmas.” Devon listened intently as Midori spoke, smiling as she explained about how they'd desensitised the dog to gentle pulling before the baby had been born. “She sounds great. I think it's awesome that you worked with her like that. Y'hear horror stories all the time about people who have a dog and then have a kid, and wonder why all of a sudden the kid is crying and Fluffy's gone all demonic.”

When Midori spoke about her slight worry about trying an otter form Devon noticed her unease and mentally backed up a few paces. His own range of animal forms was fairly limited and they all had roughly the same characteristics so he never really had to worry over the difficulties of trying out a completely new shape. He supposed that was another small benefit of his range. He spoke with a hopefully reassuring tone. “I can understand that, I didn't mean to pressure ya. The first time I shifted into a badger I lost my bearings and fell off the table, so I know where you're coming from.”

“If you do need a spotter I cou-” Devon caught himself not quickly enough and faltered mid-sentence, waving a hand vaguely and hiding the sudden discomfort behind a breath of a laugh. “Sorry, never mind. That'd be silly.” The art teacher mentally scolded himself, putting it down to just the homesickness talking. Stop trying to help everyone! Just get a cat like a normal lonely weirdo!

“Don't get me wrong, I love my brother. I'm certain I wouldn't be here if it weren't for him.” Devon meant that with all his heart. Had it not been for Cade's constant guidance and willingness to cope with his baby brother's bullshit, Devon would quite likely be flipping burgers in McDonald's. Or in hospital getting yet another broken bone patched up. Or quite possibly in jail. “That doesn't stop me worrying about all the gossip he has about me, though.”

Sat by the owl, Devon's smile was completely genuine as the previously carefully woodland-coloured bird started to look rather disco. He laughed softly, adding more colour to the totem that was starting to look straight out of an 80's disco-pop music video. “That's right. And this is purple.” Grey eyes watched the momma bear approach, and Devon shuffled to the side so she could very easily get to her cub if she wanted to. He gave a soft laugh. “We've just been talking about turning into otters, I think the definition of real is pliable at best.” Offering a spare paint brush to Midori, he simply smiled and shrugged. “Besides, surrealism is my speciality anyway.”

[Midori Hawkins]

Beyond childish, pathetic, more playful smacks than anything else, Midori had never dreamed of hitting of her brothers. ... Well, never acted on it. Zach had said things that had made her want to smack him harder than she was able to, which were usually inappropriate things about her relationship with her best friend. Beyond the occasional nip in animal form, she’d never done much damage to Zach, and he clearly wasn’t intimidated by her. Ever. ... At all.

“I guess so? She was a rescue dog, so we’re not sure where her name came from.” It was her theory was well, though Eli had never been as sure. “I’ve always liked thinking of it like that, though. She’s as loyal as Zero in the movie, that’s for sure.” They couldn’t have asked for a better furry family member for Tory to grow up around. “She’s always been laid back and gentle, so it didn’t take much. We couldn’t take any chances, and I wasn’t worried, but Eli wanted to make sure she would be safe around Tory.” That was her best friend, though. Always covered all his bases, and truthfully she was grateful that he did.

She didn’t mean to, but Devon’s badger story made her laugh. Not hard, but laugh nonetheless. “Sorry, sorry. It’s just the mental image of a badger falling off a table.” Not that she was any better. “If it helps any, I tried getting a little exotic once and tested out being an arctic fox. My logic was that it couldn’t be that different from a dog. I ended up going down the hall doing that really dizzy run, where you can’t really stop yourself from moving? Ran into a door and nearly knocked myself out.” At least she’d been awfully cute when she’d done it.

The recruiter had been watching Tory paid when Devon’s half-offer came out of his mouth. Glancing at him, she smiled and waved her hand in slight dismissal. It was easy to figure out what he’d almost said. “You really don’t have to do that. Maybe one day, if I’m really curious as to what it’s like to swim like an otter, I’ll ask you to spot. Deal?” There. She hadn’t outright said no, so he had no reason to feel silly about it.

“Older brothers gather up and save gossip for inopportune moments. It’s what they do. My oldest isn’t usually that bad, but our middle brother has told enough embarrassing stories about me to my best friend to fill a book.” A lot of it were things she did not need Eli knowing, either.

As she settled in beside Tory, she smiled at him identifying colors. Maybe all that work Eli had put in when Tory was just a baby had really paid off. Or maybe she was just biased. Either way, it was amazing to see him interacting with an adult like he was. “Okay, you’ve got me there,” she admitted with a little grin at Devon. Taking the brush, she dipped it into the yellow and began to dry brush some of the feathers on the belly of the bird. “Why do I get the feeling that no matter what we do to this poor thing, you’ll make sure he comes out amazing in the end?”

[Devon Wentsworth]

Giving a small nod, Devon smiled easily as Midori explained about the dog and its name. While he was growing up in England there had always been one pet or another milling around, but since Devon had gone to university he had been completely pet-less, save for one attempt at keeping a goldfish that had ended rather badly. He had never really missed having animals around despite the fact he did like them, but since heading State-side he'd began to miss having some form of companionship. He had a slowly increasing group of people he could supposedly call friends, but his house was still too big and too empty. That had been a blessing at first, but now he wasn't so sure.

“If she's half as loyal as the Zero in the film you've got yourself a winner.” Midori mentioned Eli again and Devon gave a small smile. He was aware enough to take the very subtle hint, and it was good. It meant he had no choice but to stop his mind wandering down roads it really shouldn't be going near anyway. “It's good you made sure to be so thorough. Y'hear horror stories all the time of family pets going mad. Sounds like you did right by both of them, Tory and the dog.”

The recruiter's laugh at the badger story caused a soft one to leave Devon's lips, and he shrugged good-naturedly. “It's fine, I laughed too. Not at the time, obviously. My mate who was there nearly fell off his chair though.” He knew it was silly and he laughed about it now, which was why he felt okay sharing it. People suffering minor injuries while they were trying to master their powers was always saddening, but for some reason it was always funny later when said person was in an animal shape at the time. Midori's story brought a bolder laugh out of the art teacher, and he enthusiastically shared another story. “That's so brilliant. I mean, not knocking yourself out, but I totally get it. Once I was a tayra in a tree, and I tried to run down the trunk the way I'd seen 'em do on TV. Couldn't stop the momentum and landed on the head of the new psychiatrist. Poor lass didn't know what hit her, literally!” Gods, it had been far too long since he'd been able to swap stories like this without feeling like a complete nutcase.

Midori's little idea proposal was a welcome one, and it helped knock some of the slightly awkward feeling away. He'd always had a deep love of helping other people as much as he could but he'd spent most of his life being told to just calm the hell down with it. There was a fine line between helpful and irritating, and sometimes Devon had trouble spotting it until it was too late and the other person was telling him to 'please, please just go away and leave me alone for five minutes'. Thankfully the woman hadn't seemed to have reached that point (yet), and her offer was a very welcome one. “Sounds like a plan to me. Definitely, deal.”

A quiet, understanding breath of a laugh left Devon's lips as Midori spoke of her brothers, and he nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it does seem to be what they're best at. Mind, I have my fair share of stories about him too. Not quite as many or as potentially damning, admittedly.” Narrow shoulders gave a soft shrug. “I'm just glad there's an ocean in the way of him and everyone here. I know what it's like, though. Having them there all the time talking to your mates. I don't envy you on that.”

As Midori settled down to paint with the boys, Devon shrugged again. “I wont make it look amazing, that'll be all Tory's hard work.” He gave a nod of his head, mixing a little red with the purple to change the tone of it slightly. “It was boring before, but now it's all bright and happy. Ain't that right, Tory?”

[Midori Hawkins]

Midori had been used to having animals around. Of course, like any little girl, she’d wanted a pony, but had made do with other things. Various cats and dogs had graced the Hawkins household, though she’d never really had a specific pet to call her own. Even Zero was still more Eli’s than hers, and she was okay with that fact. Eventually she’d look into getting something herself, something that would get along with Zero and Tory. Maybe once Tory was older, and would be able to interact better with someone smaller than himself.

She had to smile at Devon’s comment, though. “She’s a little like her owner in that regard. Best friend you could ever have.” In a way, the dog and Eli were quite similar. Both were loyal, amazing friends. “I don’t think she’d have done anything to Tory anyway, but being prepared is better than the unexpected.” Especially when it came to babies and dogs.

It really was true. Almost every stupid thing you could do was somehow amplified in hilarity when it happened in animal form. She shook her head and grinned. “It’s hard enough to control two legs as a teenager, let alone four.” At least she hadn’t done too much in the way of experimenting in animal form. She’d never gotten drunk, for example, while in feline form. Or any other form, for that matter. It just seemed dangerous, in her mind. That wasn’t to say she hadn’t done other things. Like actually scale a curtain in kitten form, or solicited attention from friends simply by being something cute. “I can only hope your tayra control has improved since then?” Her fox control certainly had.

The idea of trying out a new form now was a little intimidating, she’d admit. But having someone experienced in the form sounded... well, safer. She had no doubts that she could do it. It would just... take time. And practice. And a reassuring hand (paw?) from someone like Devon. “I’ll have to think of a way to thank you, then. After I actually get brave enough to try.” Maybe it would be fun to add a new mammal to her repertoire. At the very least, maybe Tory would get a kick out of an otter.

A slightly wicked grin crossed her face then, an expression only a younger sibling could truly appreciate. “That’s true. For every awful story Zach makes up, I have at least two about him to counter it with.” Sometimes it paid off to be observant over your older brother and all that he did. Especially behind parents’ backs. “My oldest brother’s easy to be around. It’s the middle one that likes to visit and cause trouble.” Naturally.

Paintbrush in hand, Tory beamed up at Devon and did what he deemed was logical. Dipping the brush in some yellow, he dabbed it on Devon’s paint covered leg before returning to the totem. While he looked thrilled with himself, Midori just looked... well, not thrilled. “Oh my gosh Devon, I’m sorry!” Tory just continued to smile and slap paint on the base of the bird. “That might have to be our cue to stop bothering you. I don’t want to overstay our welcome.” She’d reverted back to being more shy and reserved, mostly because she didn’t know the proper protocol socially for ‘my toddler just painted your leg.’

[Devon Wentsworth]

“As fun as the unexpected can be at times, as a general rule it’s always better to be prepared if ya can be, yeah. Especially if there’s kids involved, no matter how young or old they are.” As a general rule Devon actually preferred to fly by the seat of his pants, taking life and all its many adventures as they came and living as much in the moment as humanly possible. However, as far as he was concerned regarding the kids that he taught, you could never be too prepared for what could be thrown at you. Especially when you have a really difficult student and sometimes things could be literally thrown at you.

At Midori’s comment about having control issues as a teenager, Devon nodded in agreement. “Definitely. You hit a growth spurt and suddenly you’re all limbs with minds of their own.” That was how it had been for him, anyway. It had seemed like his arms and legs had grown far quicker than his torso, leaving him lanky and uncoordinated. He supposed he’d never really gotten out of that; he was still often described as lanky despite the fact he wasn’t particularly tall. “Yeah, the tayra thing has gotten easier but I still mess up sometimes. Usually when I forget there’s a tail attached.” He chuckled and gave a soft shrug. “How about you? You finally get the hang of trotting around as a fox?”

Devon could kind of appreciate Midori’s hesitance in trying a new form out. It was always a worrying feeling not knowing how it would go (plus sometimes it was actually painful), but he’d always been bold, confident and curious and had spent many months trying to work through as many of the forms he had access to as he could. There were still some shapes that he had issues with, particularly grisons and hog badgers for some reason, but that never stopped him trying. “Eh, there’s no need for thanks for it. I never normally get ta help anyone out like that; it’d be fun!” There was a genuine enthusiasm in his voice and a smile on his lips. He was already looking forward to it maybe sometime happening.

“They always say it’s the middle kid that creates the drama. Maybe my parents were considering another, and that’s what caused me to come out like this.” He laughed easily, using the slightly deeper purple to add some dimension to the feathers he was working on. “Maybe some day I’ll work out a way to use all my dirt on Cade to get my own back for all his blackmail.” Cade had never done anything drastic with the seemingly limitless info and picture he had against Devon, but just the weight of the knowledge that they were there had often been enough to make the younger Wentsworth cave in any argument or stalemate that they had.

Devon had to fight the urge to laugh as the toddler decided his jeans needed to be a little more colourful. He honestly didn’t mind, the denim was spattered in paint anyway, but he knew that laughing would encourage it and, whilst he was okay with it, other people down the line might not be. With a dismissive wave he motioned to Midori that it was fine, then he gently spoke to Tory. “Hey mate. Can we keep the paint on the birdy and not on our clothes?” He knew it wasn’t his place to tell off or explain why it was bad to the toddler, but Tory had seemed to like him and be listening to him so hopefully he would listen to that request.

[Midori Hawkins]

Being prepared was something both Midori and her eldest brother believed firmly in. Corbin was the sensible one of her two brothers. Zach... definitely did not. He was the more or less ‘grey’ sheep of the family. He’d been the college drop out who had spent more time messing around with friends and fratboys than actual work, and now he just worked things like retail. He had a mind for business, just not the focus to study it academically. Sadly, things always seemed to work out for him, so he never learned any better. He was graced with a charming nature that seemed to let him get away with a number of things. “Well said, Devon,” she replied with a little smile.

Everyone seemed to lose some kind of motor control during teenage years. Midori hadn’t been too terribly bad off, but poor Eli had shot right up and been gangly for a while. She’d pitied her best friend for that for as long as it lasted. “I think the boys have it worse than the girls, but I know what you mean.” Thankfully, she’d still participated in dance classes at that point in her life. It helped with the transition from pre-teen to fully fledged, awkward teenager. “Tails are tough,” she admitted with a little laugh. “Once you get the hang of them, they’re great, though.” She loved being able to express feelings without words through a simple wag or flick of a tail. “I did, actually. It’s actually really fun to shift into an arctic fox in winter. Snow’s a lot more fun when you have a fur coat and four feet.”

... Yeah, it was amazing to have another shifter to share this with. Much as she tried with Eli and Corbin, it wasn’t quite the same.

“Yeah, it will be fun.” While she was nervous about it, she was also looking forward to it. It would be an experience, if nothing else, and if she couldn’t figure it out, well, she could always just shift into something familiar.

Devon’s theory was definitely accurate, at least in her family. “I’d say that’s right, at least in my family. You don’t really seem that bad.” At least in the short time they’d talked. By this point in any conversation with Zach, the other person was usually very, very aware of the kind of person he was. If Devon was claiming to be bad, he was either hiding it, or significantly more subtle than her brother. “Trust me, keep gathering dirt, though. It’s worth it.” She’d used things against Zach many times, and it was always worth it to see the look on his face.

Tory seemed oblivious to his wrong doing, simply beaming proudly at Devon. Midori was only a little surprised at his reaction, but relaxed a little at the fact he wasn’t angry about it. Her son just stared up adoringly at Devon, listening to the request. Nodding in understanding, he brushed the remaining paint back on the bird. Midori smiled at Devon’s rather gentle nature with her son before wrapping her arms around the toddler, pulling him into her lap. “We probably should get out of your hair, get some work done. But thank you so much for letting him paint. You probably made his week.” She slipped the apron that had been draped on Tory off and offered it out to Devon with a little smile. “Really. Thank you.”

[Devon Wentsworth]

For the animals that were in Devon's roster tails were not really used for very much beyond balance. Many of them were climbers and therefore the tail could be used as a pretty effective counter-balance, but some of the others barely had any form of tail at all. Devon's main issue had been forgetting it was there and getting it trapped in something, usually resulting in a few days of aching pain and embarrassment. Still, he wouldn't have had it any other way.

“Yeah, I completely get that. I suck in winter, the cold really gets to me, but it's so much easier when there's a fur coat in the way. Otters and wolverines are kinda built to handle it, y'know?” It was the reason Devon tended to be in his animal form more throughout winter than during the summer. As much as the situation allowed, of course. This would be his first winter in the states and he knew it would get bitterly cold, more so than back home, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't a little afraid about it. The winters back home would sometimes cripple him for days if he couldn't keep warm. What was the cold here going to do?

Devon gave a soft smile. “I'll try and make it fun. But even if it goes bad, swimming's still great anyway.” Swimming had always been one of Devon's favourite physical activities, even before he could do it as an otter. He loved being in the water, and that had been increased dramatically when the pain has begun because it didn't put any overt stresses or impact on his admittedly shoddy body.

As Midori said she didn't think he was that bad Devon let out a quiet chuckle, his lips curling into a boyish grin. “I'm so glad I can give off that impression.” He didn't push it though, but the thought amused him greatly. Of course he wouldn't have been able to become a teacher if he wasn't at least a bit reliable and sane, but he knew he was impulsive and would much rather be playing than being serious, and there were oh so many memories of pranks and ridiculousness that he treasured.

For as loud and brash as he could be, Devon knew when to take the quiet and gentle route and the absolute last thing he wanted to do was risk scaring the boy. He seemed to be an intelligent kid so hopefully the mellow guidance would work, and the art teacher smiled as the toddler resumed applying the paint to the owl instead of to his jeans. When Midori scooped up Tory to leave Devon awkwardly battled to his feet, spending a moment shaking the pins and needles out of his foot before smiling at the pair. “Hey, it was no problem, I enjoyed it too. You're welcome here any time.” Devon took the proffered apron, glad it had done its job of keeping the paint off the toddler, and he held out his hand for Tory. “Great job, mate. High-five!”