PREP Highschool

[quillpleasant]

Cafeteria

Darko's eyes widen in alarm. "Hey, you never said anything about keeping it secret! Otherwise I wouldn't have said anything." Luckily Asami doesn't seem actually perturbed, so that's a bullet dodged.

"Well the process isn't like Frakenstein, but you're still creating new life." He pauses to think. "I guess that's what my magic does sometimes? Maybe it depends on your definition of life." It's hard to pin down in a place like the Nexus.

As Juibi rearranges her body to a different configuration, Darko looks on with great interest and just a touch of jealousy. If only shapeshifting were that easy for everyone! "Wow, that's really cool! Hi Juibi."

It does beg the question of how the naming convention would extend with further splits. Ideally there'd be seven, each with one letter. That seems aesthetically pleasing.

[[brackets lover]]

[Cafeteria]

"Oh, come on. I didn't think you were a girl, I just didn't know one way or another! Its not like I could tell from your heat signature," Asami admits, squinting her eyes in irritation.

"So, Lex stays Lex, meaning he'll keep the same room and have all the same classes and responsibilities. And sadly, since Juibi is a girl, she can't stay in our room. So, I can't keep either..." says Asami defeatedly, "But! I call dibs on the next Lex. Speaking of, don't you think you should have a fairer system of deciding who gets to keep being Lex? Better to figure out some guidelines now so in case a split happens again by accident, no one's confused."

[Hunting Class]

Landon doubling back to the desk wouldn't be too useful, as if there was anything in the cage before, the smell either didn't rub off on the cage or the cage didn't stay on the desk long enough go linger there.

The pavilion was, of course, where the class took place because Artemis decreed as such and I went with it because having the class take place outside made sense. Retcons, fun! To reiterate, the footprints are facing in the opposite direction as the one Mr. Huntsworth headed in. But then, what Agate's saying makes no sense. Darn Nexus universal translation magic always botching dwarven.

Asami, for her part, seemed more concerned with what was being said about her. She sighs, "You can be so mean sometimes, you know?"

[Rebonack]

[Cafeteria]

"You said you thought I acted feminine like a genkie girl," Juibi definitely mispronounces. "Which, sure! I'm bouncy and positive and energetic!"

She bounces by way of demonstration that she is, in fact, bouncy.

"That's default smart slime behavior, though," Lex points out.
"TRUE but who cares? Maybe you just need to be more-" Juibi puffs out her chest and draws back her neck and spreads her wings a little. "-serious and manly!"
"Ppff. That sure is going to happen. I guess we're KIND OF creating new life, even if it's just more me? Mostly me? We're really similar but not EXACTLY the same," Lex reasons. "If I don't eat enough I start to shrink. If I eat TOO much I get bigger. We'll just have to watch our weight better, haha!"
"And not eat seven watermelons at once to make ourselves smell like water melons instead of swamp muck," Juibi adds, making a gross out face at the mention of swamp muck smell.

They DO smell like slightly caustic watermelons so that's mission success!

"It IS really cool! Hi Darko!" Juibi cheers back. "Like Lex said we aren't EXACTLY the same. I'm a little more polymorphous."
"Don't feel bad, Darko, I can't rearrange my figure at will, either," Lex admits. Interestingly the funny mobile horns on BOTH of the slime dragons had perked forward at that tinge of envy. They're both pretty amazing at picking up emotional states based on scent.

"And so the cunning actions of Juibi have thwarted the formation of Asami's illegal slime dragon fighting ring," Juibi narrates in her best anime narrator voice.
"I don't think you can really call dibs on people, Asami," Lex points out.
"She just did, though."
"Well maybe I won't split again, then?"
"But what if someone feeds you a whole horse!? You can't just NOT put a gift horse in your mouth!"
"That DEFINITELY isn't how that saying goes."
"Is now!"

[Rebonack]

[Cursed Hero Class]

Okay that was actually pretty cool!

Advanced lessons on controlling your terrible curse!

Lex definitely appreciates it, since his curse is arguably pretty terrible! Does he want to be the harbinger of the slimepocolypse? Of course not! If the whole world were gooped that would be pretty boring. With the lesson for the day over, Lex is busy loading his class supplies into his hip packs since a BACK PACK just isn't very practical when you have all sorts of limbs sticking off your back. And also are a quadruped. Thankfully his tentacles are pretty great for that task.

Really, as far as cursed slime bodies go this is about as not-bad as it could get. He can still see (sort of) and he THAT slimey compared to an ooze. And he's got his grabby tentacles. And most importantly he can still think! Sure there are some OTHER problems but those problems are definitely outweighed by how many pretty girls want to pet him or take pictures with him.

He's started carrying a box of baking soda in his pack so people can rub their hands down afterwards to neutralize his caustic slime.

Really!

It's not that bad at all! Could be WAY worse.

[Halae]

[Cursed Hero Class]

"Excuse me?"

Oh boy, Lex is being approached! It's of course by one of the other students from Cursed Hero Class, a girl which the great big slime creature will recognize as either 'Skye' or 'that weirdly chesty girl from class' or 'the girl that had to be told not to bring a spear to school', depending on what stands out to him.

Her school uniform is, of course, the usual girl's top, but with the skirt on her legs replaced by a set of boy's pants. She's also not carrying a spear today, which is progress.

[Rebonack]

[Cursed Hero Class]

Hilariously Lex' uniform is basically just the standard boy's uniform.

Except cut for a wolf-sized dragon.

He never really made that many modifications to it even back when he was human shaped, aside for some pouches and clips for alchemical potions and the like. That sort of thing wasn't really his style so much.

And let's see...

Skye.

Really pretty chesty girl with the dangerous emotional curse and also a spear.

Yeah!

That's pretty easy to remember!

"What's up? Skye, right?" he asks, his tail bouncing around between the back and seat of his chair.

[Halae]

[Cursed Hero Class]

"Indeed, and you are Lex, if I recall correctly," Skye answers with a nod, "I was wondering if it'd be possible for you to tell me how to kill creatures like you."

Well, that's a hell of an introduction.

"I do not wish to harm you, of course, but the duty of my clan is to hunt monsters that prey on humanity. And I understand you are not an isolated example of your kind."

[Rebonack]

[Cursed Hero Class]

Several seconds of silence pass.

Then Lex laughs.

It's honestly a really contagiously bubbly sort of laugh. The kind of laugh that just spreads sunshine everywhere.

"Wow! What a way to greet someone, that's great! I'll have to remember that one. Hah, well, if you're serious that's actually kind of hard to answer! If you mean slimes and gels and oozes generally they're like a goopy puzzle you have to solve before they melt you to death. Usually physical damage will just daze them a little while they put themselves back together at best. At WORST it'll split them and then you're dealing with more than one. The trick is figuring out what they're vulnerable to and using that. Usually it's poison, fire, or intense cold, depending on the sort of slime," Lex rattles off. "Most goopy monsters aren't that smart; just animals oozing around looking for food. Sometimes, though, they're empowered with Abyssal malevolence and will actively hunt people to cause suffering. Those are the really bad ones you want to look out for. Slimes that are people (like me!) are one hundred percent curious and friendly. As in every single one of them."

Seems kind of odd, doesn't it?

[Halae]

[Cursed Hero Class]

"I find generalizations about the nature of intelligent individuals, especially in the context of the Nexus' multiversal structure, to be misguided," Skye states diplomatically, "Still, thank you, that's quite good information," she takes out a little notebook to mark down that you have to find a specific ways of destroying each kind. That's good info!

Once that's written down (in a pictographic language, if Lex is watching), she'll give him a quick bow, "That was all I really wanted to ask. Do let me know if there's anything you'd like in return."

[Rebonack]

[Cursed Hero Class]

"Well OKAY fine most of them then!" Lex quickly amends. How many other intelligent slimes are there, anyway? Not that many. Probably. Lex definitely puts a finger on the scales for sure since obviously he's the coolest one. "And you're welcome! Glad I could help. OH! And if you get snotted by a slime's fruiting bodies you want to get that stuff off you asap or you'll get gooped. And usually getting gooped doesn't turn you into an adorable little slime dragon."

Which is a good consolation prize for being gooped.

Then?

Skye gives Lex a quick bow.

Which, considering her figure and where he's sitting, results in a bit of a view and the little dragon suddenly going ridged as his cheeks turn a MUCH darker shade of green.

"O-oh, ah, haha! Yeah! Don't mind helping out at all! Um... questions... uh..." he stammers, trying to come up with something clever or interesting to ask about. He doesn't even have a brain and pretty girls STILL manage to make his brain stutter! "So you... um... hunt monsters? With the spear, right? Have you ever fought anything goopy before?"

Oh gods above and demons below that was a stupid question.

[Ironsmith]

[Cheer Practice]

"...What are you talking about? What's my chest got to do with anything?" Dandelion demands as she zips off after Mat. "I just said I wanted to be prettier!"

As predicted, the demon twin's gaze seems to be primarily fixated on Mary, as she snaps back up to the demon princess every few seconds to keep tabs on her. The angel twin seems to be of a similar mindset, but then her attention slowly drifts back down the crowd and she seems to notice something amiss. Her hand comes up and she visibly mouths "one, two, three, four...", pointing at Mary and the other runners, before frowning and getting ready to run the count again.

That could be a problem.

[Ecbatana]

"I see. So the intention is to give it to someone you're going to have killed someday, harnessing them to handle the day-to-day minutiae while you handle the big-picture items, simultaneously reducing their scheming potential in the process." Aiko muses, tapping a finger to her lips. "...An interesting concept. One has to wonder exactly how that developed, though. Or how one would go about using it that way, given how much it telegraphs the ruler's intentions."

The schoolgirl shrugs and gives a little giggle. "Sorry! I just get a little wrapped up in history and politics and stuff sometimes. I guess it's in the blood, huh?" Her laughter is, notably, not affected by the corset even as it's tightened and tied off.

"Okay, so... two Commanders, Interior and Exterior. Loremasters, book smart but not street smart, also not very focused. Earl Chamberlain, all business, but likes pretty boys... just boys, right?" She asks offhandedly, of whichever servant was providing the information. "High Priest is a pretty boy, but they don't like each other, except when he's in uniform. And the Royal Treasurer is a sweet old lady. Do I have that right?"

[Halae]

[Cursed Hero Class]

Skye blinks at the sudden shift in Lex's speech, but a knowing smile spreads across her lips when she recognizes why that blush must be coming about. Skye does enjoy being admired, and Lex is very much playing into that preference of hers.

"I do hunt monsters. Usually demons, the undead, and fae, but my clan restricts its hunts to beings that harm humanity. Not every inhuman creature is a devil, not every human is free of the title."

Oh good, she's sticking around and not judging him! That'll give him a chance to stare longer ask more reasonable questions!

[Rebonack]

[Cursed Hero Class]

In spite of his change in appearance Lex' preferences definitely haven't changed at all. One might expect them to, but no. It's really quite tragic for him. To all the girls he pings as 'cute animal' first and foremost.

"O-oh! Yeah that's pretty important! A monster is as a monster does, right, khehehe! But your clan, huh? Are they all as big as- I mean... umm..."

That blush, somehow, grows even deeper. His face has gone from a cheerful watermelon green to a deep forest green. It feels like his face is on fire and he could just curl up in a little ball and die at a moment's notice.

"I mean! Skilled! Yeah. Are they all as skilled as you? You've got some pretty neat magic tricks! I have to rely mostly on alchemy and cleverness. Which is handy! But if I'm not prepared for the right kind of trouble then there's trouble! Not the kind that's good for me, either."

[Halae]

[Cursed Hero Class]

"My techniques and training were fostered by my clan, yes. My magic is... well, we're in this class for a reason; mine comes with physical enhancements as well."

Skye leans down again so that her face is close to Lex's own, and he's able to see down her shirt once more, and she says with a smile, "Not those ones, though. That's something I only share with my sister."

[Rebonack]

[Cursed Hero Class]

"R-right, physical enhance-" Lex begins, only to make a sputtery noise again when Skye leans right down in his face.

So!

Lex, like all slimes, has a core. A sort of giant aggregate nucleus made of lots of nuclei. It has a glittering, almost crystalline look to it covered in innumerable little facets. It's also pretty easy to tell what he's focusing on, too, by watching the core carefully. Since, as it happens, he sees through it as well. The parts that aren't being used visually have an iridescent sheen of yellow, magenta, and cyan. The parts that ARE are instead a shiny metallic black. If black facets are spread evenly across the whole surface? Then the slime is using all around vision without really focusing on any specific thing. If the black facets are concentrated on one part of the core then there's something specific the slime has focused their vision on.

And right now?

It is really, really obvious where Lex' attention is.

He's almost completely ridged, horns perked forward, and his tail lashing back and forth behind him wildly.

Poor Lex.

He isn't use to pretty girls taking advantage of him quite like this.

[Halae]

[Cursed Hero Class]

Skye holds that position for a long moment so that Lex can get a lasting memory seared into his consciousness before straightening up finally. Then she'll just wait, hands folded behind her back, and simply waits for him to become conscious of more than two things again.

[quillpleasant]

Cafeteria

Darko is highly amused by the slime's banter. It makes sense that two of the same person could play off each other in an entertaining way. However, when attention is called to his envy, his face gets a little red. They can read emotions? Well that's embarrassing. He takes a sudden interest in the remains of his souffle.

"Oh no, I guess having one of you as a roommate won't work out! How terrible," he says mildly. It's been enough of an adjustment living with one other person, and he's not nearly so eager as Asami to get another, as fun as the Juibi Lexes are.

"But Asami is right, you should think about how to handle further splits. I mean, you can take precautions not to, but stuff like that always ends up happening again. It's just how it works." Darko has a lot of experience with trying not to use powers, and the Narrative dictates that if an ability is established, it'll end up getting used eventually, usually when it's least expected.

[Rebonack]

[Cursed Hero Class]

Skye is really pretty.

Lex already knew that Skye was really pretty, but Skye is REALLY PRETTY and he's pretty sure she LIKES it when people notice her. Or admire her. Probably both! Maybe it would be better to admire her in a way that's a little less dumb-founded? Maybe? Just a bit?

He's definitely going to be having that close up view of Skye flashing into his mind now and again. He's definitely NEVER going to forget her scent.

Eventually he gives his head a shake.

"Umm... You're really beautiful, Skye. I know people have probably told you that before but... I thought maybe I should tell you, too? Because I think you are. Really beautiful, I mean."

Wow.

Some real poetry right there.

"And I know... um... I know you're probably just being nice. Since I'm just that cute little slime dragon and not... you know... handsome or attractive or anything."

[Halae]

[Cursed Hero Class]

Skye considers that for a long moment as she regards Lex, mulling it over. After some deliberation, she says, "I assume that means you can't take on a human shape? Why don't we see if we can get you one? I'm certain at least one of the strange creatures calling themselves students that I take occult studies with would have ideas in that regard."

Given the tone in her voice, she very much does approve of Lex complimenting her like that.

[Rebonack]

[Cursed Hero Class]

Oh.

She doesn't know.

Of course Skye wouldn't know, right?

Since she doesn't know much about slimes.

Lex rubs one of his forelegs with a tentacle awkwardly. "That's really nice of you to offer! I mean it. But it wouldn't do any good. Slimes are REALLY resistant to anything that changes forms. If something tries to make me something else I'll just melt back into cute little slime dragon me in a couple seconds. The only thing that works is something powerful enough to rearrange reality. Like a Wish. I've been looking into finding a dungeon delve that has a Wish reward at the end but I've been coming up empty so far. But thanks for thinking of me!"

[Halae]

[Cursed Hero Class]

"I doubt we'd need to go that far. We just need to contact the correct god about the subject; I doubt we could change the nature of your being, but a god of masks should at least be able to craft a form for you to wear to at the very least redesign the shape of your body," Skye says, nodding to herself. That's not an incredible ask at all! At least as far as she knows. She's even got just the god in mind, too, though they'd need a long distance contact ritual.

[[brackets lover]]

[Cafeteria]

Asami grins at Juibi, tilting her head. "Woah, you seem even more energetic than you were as Lex. Hah! Your ability to keep your individuality like this is really something."

She crosses her arms, closes her eyes and shoots a jocular smirk. "And there are sanctioned areas for monster battling, you know? I wouldn't have to anything illegal."

Asami once more looks between Juibi and Lex out of sheer amazement. "Man. This is so cool. You better be careful, word gets out about this and before you know it, everyone in the school is gonna wanna make one of you for themselves! In fact, I'm just gonna give you a five minute headstart, myself."

[Artemis]

[Hunting Class]

Landon steps back out of the pavilion. "No luck." He looks at the footprints on the ground that Agate was tracking. "You know, I bet Mr. Huntsworth is the sort to reverse the soles of his shoes." He'd obscured his scent enough that a werewolf's nose couldn't track it. He could be clever that way.

[bc56]

Cheer Practice
Mary notices the angel counting the number of runners, but she can't do anything to hide the fact that Mat and Dandelion are gone, especially not while she's being watched herself.

[Rebonack]

[Cursed Hero Class]

But what if the god isn't willing to pay for the collect call, Skye?

Then what?

Lex shifts back and forth on his feet a little, considering all that. "Well it wouldn't hurt to try, right?" he replies, perking up a little as a bit of his standard level of way too much energy returns. "At worst I just melt the disguise. At best it works and then I can be passingly human again! That definitely wouldn't be bad, especially since having to relearn all my fencing footwork with four feet is a pain. That's TWICE as much footwork as before!"

Can you imagine?

Just way too many feet.

"If we're getting a favor from a god for this would we have to pay them back? Or do they just like disguising cute slime dragons as handsome dashing heroes?"


[Cafeteria]

"Weeeell probably. The Juibi versus Lex thing really isn't sustainable is it?" Lex huffs. "And we're ALL Juiblex still anyway, no matter what nicknames we use."
"Maybe we could go with titles! Juibi the Fantabuliously Sparkly!" Juibi suggests, striking an elegant pose and shifting some cytoskeletal elements just under her skin so they catch the light in a kaleidoscope of yellow, cyan, and magenta sparkles.
"That's a pretty big mouthful, though."

HMMMM!

It's definitely a quandary. Juiblex often times plans things out really well. When your magical ability is basically just alchemy you HAVE to. If you're prepared for the wrong thing then you're out of luck. But deciding on rules for nicknaming themselves just doesn't strike them as THAT important. Even if-

"Yeah!" Juibi bounces again. "Well, a little of it is on purpose. I want to help make it clear which one of us is which. But if there are too many more that'll get harder. I don't think people would be THAT interested in battling me like pokemon, though. The fun with pokemon is that they're all really different. And Lex and I have basically the same powers."
"We're a slime dragon, though. We can assimilate powers from things we eat and gain a slime-version of it. Like if you ate a pink slime then you could swap out your alignment and become a pink slime dragon instead of a green slime dragon," Lex points out.
Juibi gasps. GASP! "OHMYGODS you're right! I could get the cute bunny ears!" she laughs, perking her upper horns upright so they vaguely resemble ears.

[Halae]

[Cursed Hero Class]

"The god I'm thinking of at the moment is someone we can bargain with. She trades in supernatural masks and identities for mortals. If we can provide her one, she'll be more than willing to sell us a human form for you," Skye answers, "And a supernatural mask strikes me as significantly easier to find than a reality-changing wish, yes?"

[Rebonack]

[Cursed Hero Class]

"Probably easier. But sometimes easier doesn't stick as well," Lex points out thoughtfully. "Because easier doesn't have as much Narrative weight as hard does. We should still try it though! I'm not saying it's a bad idea. I just don't want to get my hopes up."

Because Lex would LOVE to be able to be human (or at least pretend to be human) when he feels like it.

Juibi can be human shaped but she's still a slime. She's WAY more flexible and polymorphous than Lex is. But Lex has a better handle on his breath weapon than Juibi does. Which is nice if he really needs to blargh something to death but it's WAY less generally useful. The extent of Lex' ability to shape shift is disassembling his cytoskeleton and doing an impression of a green puddle.

"So what do we have to do?" Lex inquires. "Oh! And... thanks? It's really nice of you to offer to help me."

[Halae]

[Cursed Hero Class]

"Of course. Aiding those that have been affected against their will is another part of the duties of my clan, and that hasn't stopped merely because I'm no longer in Creation," Skye nods. This is just the right thing to do, as far as her moral code is concerned.

"As for what we have to do, just what I've said; once we have the mask in hand, we can construct a shrine to Shalrina, Goddess of Masks, and offer it in exchange. The mask itself will have to be something worth having for a lesser divinity, however, and that may take some hunting. The alternative of course being offering up someone's own identity as a mask instead, but I suspect we both find that a repugnant moral line."

[Rebonack]

[Cursed Hero Class]

"That's really nice of you, duty or not!" Lex says with a big goofy grin.

"Yeah getting someone to give up their identity sounds pretty horrible so let's not do that one," Lex says, looking quite put off by that idea. It's definitely interesting watching his facial expression since he doesn't have any eyes. Those mobile 'horns' of his do most of the talking. "So you mean hunting like monster hunting? We go find a monster and... what? Skin it?"

This is definitely outside his normal realm of expertise.

"Is there a particular sort of thing we would be going after? If we're going on a little quest I'll want some time to brew up some potions and things to help with the mission. The more I know about the objective and the possible threats the more prepared I can be!"

[Halae]

[Cursed Hero Class]

"We're looking for a mask, not a monster. The treasury of a sorcerer might have what we're looking for, or the depths of a dangerous ruin, or even just an invention of one of the students here, should the result be potent enough. Shalrina cares about the fact that it is a mask, not where precisely it comes from or what it does," she's not condescending; she knows a lot of people don't have the same kind of grasp over the supernatural that she does.

"Why don't we take the night to organize ourselves and seek out promising leads? We can discuss which ones are most interesting for our purposes in the morning, as we meet to discuss our options."