The Universe's Mixer

Bright lights, strange roaring sounds, a metal object three times the size of a house hurtling at him on a strangely covered street. Wolf stood on the edge of the grass and watched everything. He had never seen so many lights in his life. Or so many magical things. Carriages of all shapes and sizes that moved under their own power. Buildings with all sorts of exotic names. Smells such as he had never encountered before.

"Well, huff puff," he said in admiration. "What a place!"

He wanted to follow all of the smells - he even wanted to roll in some - but he banished that thought quickly. He liked to think of himself as an enhanced human, but sometimes his animal nature got the better of him. Like with that girl. That creamy, dreamy--

No. He wouldn't allow that again. He had a job to do, and he would do it, just as he was supposed to.

He sniffed, separating out all the scents, labeling and identifying the ones he could. Then he caught one that made his stomach growl. "Meat!" The girl had gotten away, and the chicken-legged cottage had kicked him aside, and Wolf was still hungry. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had a good meal, one that didn't consist of slop or beanstalk stew.

Wolf began to follow the scent, looking for the building that held it.

Proginoskes was not a creature naturally prone to panicking, so when he couldn't find Jesse right away, he wasn't overly concerned. He was used to the City's strangeness, and had nearly none of the usual concerns that humanoid residents faced. He didn't need to eat, he didn't need a roof over his head, or to earn (or find) money, so there was no immediate need to search out a familiar face. Besides, he had a feeling Jesse wasn't out looking for him, either - his disappearance may have been a surprise when it happened, but there wasn't much of a point in Jesse waiting around for him to return.

So after his initial search, he'd settled into a rather more sedate routine, methodically exploring a different section of the City each day. He didn't go into any buildings and wasn't even visible most of the time (the City's odd nature he could deal with, but he had no desire to run damage control if his appearance caused a fuss, as it tended to), instead watching people intently and occassionally hovering outside of hotels and apartment buildings, calling Jesse's name a few times before moving on when he got no response.

By now, the time he'd spent floating around the City, observing its newest charges and checking for signs of Jesse's presence, probably seemed like a long time to be searching for a non-essential friend, but it was still nothing compared to the time he'd spent among the stars. And no matter how many days passed, there were always different places to explore, though Proginoskes was starting to suspect some of those places were simply old places rearranged. Still, as he paused in yet another neighborhood of similar-looking buildings, it didn't hurt to try.

He spun gently in the middle of the street, invisible but definitely audible as he kythed, Jesse? Are you here?

[Backdated. Should have been right after this post, but life is complicated. Apologies all around.]

On one hand, Jake could understand the need to have someone else in the tower with him. He wasn’t a teenager yet, and in a city that boasted werewolves, vampires, and the Joker, it was pretty unreasonable to leave someone his age alone. On the other hand, Jake knew he’d been in worse situations, and he was entirely capable of taking care of himself.

He didn’t let Dinah hear him grumbling over the phone, but once she’d hung up, Jake had grumbled and grumbled some more. He didn’t know who this guy was, or why Dinah had been with him, but...

...but Jake was worried about his foster mother, annoyed at being helpless, and frustrated at being left to sit and wait all the time. So while he was waiting, he ate some food, fed Oy, did the dishes, and ( got started on his homework. )