Tuesday January 13th 2009
Who: Billy and June What: A rescue, kinda Where: Hallway of the Education building When: Midday Rating: PG
Certain things were proving to be troublesome. The human world was full of devices and leverd and buttons that needed to be pushed and turned and fiddled with, and most of them were completely foreign to June. They surprised her with their actions, some made noise and some dispensed things and others just broke. It was impossible to know which would do what until you'd already done it. Very troublesome. At the moment, she was prodding at a metal box that was suspended against the wall in a hallway of the education building. It hummed, alive with electricity, and there was a piece that looked like a mouth sitting on the top. And near the mouth was a button, and buttons needed pushing. Leaning over it, staring curiously, June's hair fell around her face like a curtain. It was just her and the thing, the humming thing with a button. A button that wanted to be pushed. Lifting a careful finger, June tapped it gingerly. Nothing happened. Another tap, slightly firmer, still nothing. So she pushed it hard, very hard, and a strong stream of water shot her hard in the face.
"AIII!" she screeched, a high pitched whine not unlike the sound of a dog being hit by a car. Swiping at her face, she tried getting the water off, but she couldn't. It was in her hair, on her shirt, all over her face and her skin and it was hurting her. Whimpering angrily, she stepped away from the thing, that evil water thing, growling and barking at it. It had hurt her! All she had done was push the button that she was supposed to push, and it had hurt her! And now she was pissed. The only way to dry off was to make herself hotter, but no one back home had told her that human clothes were flammable, so when she engulfed herself in flames, her clothing burnt off and she was left standing naked in the middle of the hallway.
Billy had been walking on his rounds, keeping a keen eye and a sharp ear out in case of problems. Now that classes were in session there were a lot more people milling about, and that meant a lot more potential for trouble. For example, the high-pitched scream he heard echoing through the walls. Taking off at top speed, he raced through the hallways, his body almost a blur as he ran. Someone was hurt, and if someone was hurt then they needed help and that's what Billy was there for!
Skidding to a halt, Billy almost fell on his butt as his sneaker slipped in a puddle of water, and then he almost crashed into a naked girl standing there growling at the water fountain. "Whoa!" he cried out, arms waving until he caught his balance, and then he caught sight of June. "Oh!" he gasped, covering his mouth in shock, and then turning to face away from her. "Oh my goodness, um... you're not... you're not dressed, are you?" She wasn't the first naked person he'd ever run into, nor was she the most unusual. Dalyn had been naked and stuck in a tree. But she was definitely his first while being here, and she was a lady so he was doing his best not to look. "Why aren't you wearing anything?"
"It burned." This male, this human, was behaving very strangely. Why did he turn away from her? Sniffing, June circled around the tiny man, continuing to follow as Billy kept spinning to try not to look at her.
"You're making me dizzy!" he said with a laugh, finally settling on facing June but modestly looking up at the ceiling. "How did you burn your clothing?"
"That thing," she growled, "shot water on me. All I did was press its button!"
Turning his head slightly, Billy looked at the cursed Thing June was talking about. "It's a water fountain," he said gently, trying not to laugh at her. She just seemed so affronted by water coming from the water fountain. That's what it was supposed to do. "You push the button and it dispenses water, for people to drink."
"Is it?" June looked at the thing in question, glaring at it. If she had known that water had been in there she wouldn't have pushed that thing's button! "I did not know that. Thank you for telling me."
"Sure, no problem. Um..." This didn't really solve the her being naked problem. With a small grin, he rubbed the back of his neck, a small flush creeping over his face. "You're still naked, though. We should take care of that." Untucking his shirt, Billy undid all the buttons on it, shrugging it off and holding it out to June. His arm stayed extended for a moment, and then another, and then finally he let himself look down from the ceiling. The girl was standing there, staring at the garment. Then she sniffed it. The human giggled. "You should put it on."
"Why?" It smelled like human, but like something else too. Something not natural but it was not a bad smell. A lot of the males, especially human ones, smelled of it. A musky, spicy, sweet kind of scent. She sniffed the shirt again, then leaned close to Billy and sniffed him as well, around his shoulders and armpits, where the scent was strongest. Intersting.
Billy stayed still as long as he could, both confused and patient, but her breath was tickling him and finally he squirmed, arms drawn close to his body. "Quit it!" he laughed. "That tickles!"
"This smells like you," she informed him.
"I'm sorry, is that bad?" He didn't think he smelled bad, but maybe to this girl, he did.
"No," she told him. "It doesn't smell natural. Do you come from somewhere else?" Where could he come from that wasn't in nature? He still smelled of human, just something else as well.
"I... come from Canada?" The grin was plastered on Billy's face. This girl was so funny, and he could tell she wasn't trying to be. He hoped that he wasn't offending her by smiling, but it was hard not to. She made him feel happy and giddy.
June nodded, taking in the information. Canada. That was a place on the human plane, she had heard of it. "Does Canada smell of this scent?"
"This... what?" He smelled his shirt, one eyebrow raised in confusion, until finally it dawned on him. "Oh! That's just my deoderant."
"Oh. I see. Thank you for instructing me." Deoderant. What was that? Maybe something human males needed because their pheromones were weak. Regardless, it was not a bad thing to smell. June leaned in close to the shirt, smelling it again. The closer she leaned, the more obvious her nudity became, and Billy laughed nervously and shifted his gaze upward.
"Um, can you put this on now? Please?"
"Why?" June asked again.
"Because you can't just wander around the building naked."
"Why?"
"Because it's not decent."
"What does that mean?"
Rubbing a hand on his face, Billy groaned a little. How did you describe social mores to someone who seemed indifferent to them? "It, um... well it... hrm. What is decent." He wished there was a quirky little song to accompany this moment, like when Spongebob had to describe what fun was to Plankton. Oh well. "Decent is what's socially acceptable amongst people. You're not a human, are you?"
June made a face. "No," she said, her tone indicating that it was an insult to even imply it. "I am a servant to Hades, lord and master of the underworld. I am a hellhound."
"Oh..." Well, that was one you didn't hear every day. He'd have to look that one up. "Humans don't like nudity very much, and so we don't really let people just walk around with no clothing on."
"Why?"
"I don't know," he told her honestly, holding out his shirt again in another feeble attempt. "I really wish I could be a better diplomat of my race, but I'm afraid I don't have a lot of answers. Things just are the way they are. And besides that, it's cold in here so you should put something on."
June did not understand anything about the human reasoning behind anything. They were somewhat senseless creatures. But she could understand that it was cold, and she did not like cold. And this human lived on this plane so he would know if it would be cold or not, so she took the shirt from him and slid her arms into it, letting it hang open. "Thank you for this, human," she said. "You have been very kind."
With a grin, Billy looked at June, then blushed again and looked away. She looked really good in his shirt, but he was trying not to think about it. "Sure," he said. "It's Billy, by the way."
"What is Billy?"
He laughed. "That's my name. So you don't have to call me 'human'. You can call me Billy instead."
"Oh. I see. I am told my name is June."
"June! That's really pretty. I like it." He smiled at her, daring another glance (on the hopes she'd buttoned up) before looking away quickly. "You should do the buttons on that."
Looking down at herself, June frowned. "I don't like buttons. They are complicated. These are small." She was still a little new in her human form, so things that required refined motor skills often eluded her. Buttons were the worst. Zippers were hard only at first, but every new button was a new challenge and it made her annoyed.
"Oh... I can help, if you want-"
"I don't need human help," she growled, making Billy jump.
"Okay, okay," he said quietly, holding up his hands. "I'm sorry. I just thought I would offer, if you wanted it." Apparently she was very proud. Well that was okay. If she did decide she needed assistance, he'd be here to help. Staying close, Billy crossed his arms, feeling a little naked in his light gray tank top but at least he wasn't completely shirtless. He hummed a little, letting June work on the buttons herself, not watching her so she didn't feel put on the spot or uncomfortable.
But even without being put on the spot, June felt as though Billy was expectant of her, and she was angry with herself for wanting to prove to this human that she was capable. She shouldn't have had to prove anything to a human. She was fierce, and strong, and he was just a stupid human who should have cowered from her. But he could do the buttons very quickly, and she was only on the fourth and she already knew that they were not lined up right and she would have to do them again. Fingers were tricky and hard to control. Finally, she growled in frustration, her skin getting hotter and threatening to scorch the fabric. "Your buttons are defective!" she snapped. Buttons were not her friend today, not in any form.
Billy knew very well that there was nothing wrong with the shirt. It was June, and she was getting frustrated with herself and she needed something to blame. But when she addressed him, he gave her a gentle, apologetic smile. "I'm sorry," he said softly. "Would you like me to do it? I know their tricks."
"They have tricks?" she asked, eyes narrowed sharply. She did not know that buttons could have tricks. How completely unfair of him to expect her to do them right when they had tricks! What a jerk.
"Mm hm. Men's buttons are different than women's. They button on the opposite side, so it's no wonder that you're-" Billy stopped, biting his bottom lip. If he valued his safety he would not finish that sentence with why you're having trouble with them. Instead, he continued with "Being misled by them." Blame the shirt, blame the buttons, but not June. No sense in frustrating her, she was having a bad enough day as it was. Reaching out slowly, Billy took the shirt in his hands, one side in each, and carefully undid the progress June had done. She was watching him with dark, suspicious eyes, and it took a lot of willpower for his hands not to tremble. It was also taking willpower for his eyes to stay on target, but he was determined to do his best and remain a gentleman. She was a student after all, and she didn't look more than a teenager, and that was just indecent.
With the buttons all undone, Billy redid them all carefully, taking great pains not to let his fingers accidentally brush her skin, but also trying not to look like he was afraid of her. She could smell it on him, but he didn't know that. He didn't want her thinking he was afraid of her because then she might think something was wrong with her, and there wasn't at all. She was just different. Everyone was different. "There," he said finally, when the last button was in its place. "Now you'll be warm." Oh, God she looked cute in his shirt. He could not help the small smile on his face.
Despite what Billy had thought, June very much liked that she could smell fear on him. He knew his place, and he knew that she was more powerful than he, and he respected it. It was about time someone on the surface acted as June expected them to. "I smell human," she said flatly, lifting the sleeve to her nose and breathing in deeply. There were worse things she might smell like, though human was very high on that list.
With a little chuckle, Billy shrugged, rubbing his bare arms. "I'm sorry," he said again. "It's just for a little while, until we get you back to your room. Then you can put on your own clothing, and you can smell like yourself again." Adjusting his utility belt (it was kinda heavy), Billy looked down the empty corridor, glancing up a the camera in the corner. He wondered if anyone was watching, and what they thought of this little scene. "Where is your room?"
Still smelling the shirt, and realizing that she was getting fond of the strange scent of it, June shrugged. "I know how to find my way there," she told him. "But I am not going there."
"But..." Billy paused, shifting his weight to one hip and studying June. "But you're just in a shirt. You need to at least get some pants." June looked over at him, her eyes dubious, and then she scanned him up and down as though he were on some kind of market table. It sent a chill through him, and not in a good way. Her eyes looked fiery, yet somehow cold, as though she were picking him apart piece by piece. It took him a moment to realize that her gaze had stopped on his... Oh God she was staring at his... He blushed a little. No, not that... his pants. She was looking at his pants. He had told her that she needed clothes, and he'd given her his shirt. Now he said she needed pants, and she was looking at him expectantly. "I need to wear these," he explained to her.
"Why?"
"Because. Males require pants more than females."
"Why?"
"Because we have more to cover." Plus, how bad would it be for the students to see a member of security walking around in his underwear? It was hard enough getting people to take him seriously, what with his tiny stature, without this being added to the mix. "So let's go back to your room."
"No." June had not come here to go back to her room, she had come to make herself familiar with every inch of the campus, and now she was hungry and she was going to have food from the feeding area. "I am hungry."
"We can get something from the cafeteria-"
"I am going now!" she told him forcefully.
This was a predicament. On the one hand he could argue with her, possibly fight her, and probably win. but did he really want to wage a war with this girl just because she wasn't wearing pants? As long as she didn't lift her arms over her head, everything would be covered. It might seem a little odd, but it would be a lot less hassle than having to pin her to the ground, possibly tranquilize her and make a huge fuss. Not to mention all the paperwork. "How about a compromise?" he suggested. When June merely glowered, but didn't protest, he continued. "I'll come with you to the cafeteria, we'll get you something to eat, and then we'll bring food back to your room. Then you can have food, and we can get you dressed. Does that sound reasonable?"
It did sound reasonable. The question was, did June wish to be reasonable with a human? She seriously thought it over. Malcoda had told her that she should get to know the people here, and the master Nox had said she should try and wear the human's skin. That was sadly not a literal request, but she (sort of) understood the metaphor. Going with this Billy person and agreeing to his suggestion would satisfy all parties. "Fine," she said, turning on her heels and walking toward the cafeteria, following her nose. "What do you call the scent on your clothing?"
Billy was just grateful not to have to fight this girl, and he quickly fell in step beside her. "Deoderant," he reminded her. "Specifically, Speed Stick."
"I see. Does it make you run faster? Is that why you were moving so quickly?" He had been going very fast for a human.
Shaking his head, Billy chuckled softly. "No," he admitted. "It just makes me stink less."
June scoffed, looking him over in a condescending sideways glance. "You are a human," she informed him as they neared the cafeteria doors. "That is not possible."