A bathroom in the school building, Friday after Monsters and Humans class

[tigerundercover]

So. Class hadn't exactly gone well. Raven should have been able to just lie and call herself human and keep her cover, but her classmates were talking mutants and ghosts, and the vampire teacher was being so proud of calling himself a "monster" and she wanted so badly to just go with it and be herself for once -- but years of hiding and terror weren't easy to get over.

And then she'd had to start singing.

So she was hiding, her back against the door to try to make sure no one walked in on her as she tried to get her focus back and keep hold of her blonde disguise, even as her natural blue skin and red hair kept trying to break through.

And she was still singing.

"If happy times are too few and far between
It's a pity dear, we can't erase the things we've seen
So disappear, vanish if you wish
Just go before you're swallowed up by bitterness

And the truth is you can't hide from the truth
And the truth hurts because the truth is all there is
I realized some time ago that I would have to let you go

May not be true to see that you would return one day
But in your present state you may as well not be here at all
You wear a thin disguise, it's from yourself you hide
Just take a look at us, we are heading for a fall."

[ooc: delayed posting thanks to work being dumb. Expecting one.]

Comments

[tigerundercover]

She really probably shouldn't be surprised that the vampire didn't get scared off by her changing colors in the middle of his class about monsters -- and yet. Raven swallowed, wiping at her face and checking her hands. The left one was still blue.

Dammit.

"I'm fine," she said, though her voice gave away the lie. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to run out of class."

Maybe he wanted to give her detention.

[bluhblahbluh.livejournal.com]

He had a teenage daughter of his own. He knew better than to expect anything but a lie in a situation like this.

Not that he understood the situation.

"Little one. Come out and talk to me. What's wrong? Let me help."

[tigerundercover]

Raven cracked the door just enough to peer through. The part of her face visible through the crack she managed to keep human looking, though there was a faint rustling, like scales over tile floor, as the rest of her kept shifting back and forth. "I can't."

[bluhblahbluh.livejournal.com]

"Of course you can, child. See?" He offered a hand to her. "You've already come this far. Just a few more steps."

[tigerundercover]

And then Raven got taller. As tall as Dracula was, in fact. And her voice changed timber. And developed an accent. And her face became longer (holy shit that was one hell of a chin) and her hair went black.

Because shifting into the person she was talking to was currently easier than maintaining another shape. Yeah.

"I can't," she said again. "Someone will see me."

[bluhblahbluh.livejournal.com]

Drac had to stand up again to look at her. His face showed concern still, but a bit of shock leaked through. No fear, just shock. He hadn't expected to find a shape-shifting monster on the island. "Such a good likeness! You're very skilled."

And rare. He actually couldn't remember hearing about more than one or two monsters ever who were able to do that. Most only could master one or two forms, if they even had a choice.

"But why do you worry that someone will see you?"

[tigerundercover]

Shifting to a new shape was like hitting a reset button on her psyche. The relief of relaxing the "human-Raven" muscles was so much it almost hurt. Raven shifted back, this time to her natural blue form, no more flickering in and out.

"Because I haven't told anyone here," she said. "And I know they're not as bad as people back home but I've been lying to them for weeks now and they're going to be mad and I don't know how to handle that!"

She was almost thinking she should have stayed home in Westchester. At least there, she KNEW how people reacted to her powers.

[bluhblahbluh.livejournal.com]

And Drac was expecting it, this time, so his shock was duller. He reached out to pat Raven's shoulder. "Who would be mad at you for something like that? Certainly not your friends; they care about you for who you are."

[tigerundercover]

"How are they supposed to know who that is," Raven asked, shifting back to her standard disguise. "When I don't even know half the time?"

[bluhblahbluh.livejournal.com]

"It's not what you look like, little one." He took a second to transform into a bat. A smiling bat. "When you change shape, you're not changing you."

[tigerundercover]

"I can do a bat," Raven said thoughtfully. "But I can't fly." She'd tried, before. It'd make for great escapes if it ever worked. "Almost everyone who's seen me -- this me --" she shifted back to her blue form, this time skipping mimicking any clothing. Letting all her shifting muscles totally relax for the first time in what felt like ages. "They freak out. And usually try to kill me."

[bluhblahbluh.livejournal.com]

A bat that couldn't fly? That had Drac flapping silently a moment before shaking his head. "Perhaps you simply need more instruction on being a bat?"

The rest of her explanation... Well, it hit home. "That does happen, child. I can't tell you otherwise. I wish I could. But there are safe places and it is possible to make friends who accept you no matter how you look."

[tigerundercover]

"Maybe? I'm pretty sure I can't, though. My brother says that since I'm just making myself look like a bat, the physics are all wrong."

Never mind that she was actually altering her mass, which was supposedly physically impossible. It was best to just roll with these things in Raven's universe.

"I guess. I mean, that's what we -- my brother and I -- have been hoping to find. It's easy for him, he looks like everyone else all the time." Stupid telepaths. "I'm just . . . scared."

[bluhblahbluh.livejournal.com]

You were talking to a man almost two centuries old who had just changed into a talking bat. Physics Schmysics.

"Your brother is probably just as scared as you." Drac changed back to his vampire form, again reaching out to pat Raven's shoulder. "And it's okay to be scared, little one. But you can also be brave, if you want to be. There is nothing wrong with who you are."

[tigerundercover]

Raven squeezed her eyes shut and nodded, leaning into his touch a little. It was weird, people didn't usually touch her in her natural form. "That why you decided to teach about monsters in a school at least half full of normal humans? Bravery?"

[bluhblahbluh.livejournal.com]

Uhm.

"This isn't a school for monsters???"

[tigerundercover]

Raven actually huffed a laugh at the look on his face. "Not that I've heard. As far as I can tell, it's a school for anybody."

[bluhblahbluh.livejournal.com]

"Why didn't somebody tell me? So there really are humans here, too?" ZOMG Draaaaaaaama! "I have to change my whole class! All my slides!"

[tigerundercover]

It was like his face was made of rubber. "Just what were you going to say about them? It can't be worse than what the Winchester brothers are teaching about monsters in their class."

Lies. All lies.

[bluhblahbluh.livejournal.com]

"Uhm... Human monster relations, you know. Nothing specific."

Just how they were evil and were plotting to hunt down and destroy every monster out of ignorance and paranoia.

So, yeah. Pretty much he could just point to the Winchesters, if he knew about them.

"There is another class about monsters?"

[tigerundercover]

Raven sensed that mentioning it was called "Hunting" probably wasn't the best for Drac's blood pressure (did vampires have blood pressure) at the moment. "Yeah. It's pretty inaccurate for any world that isn't the Winchesters', near as I can tell. Alec and I spent most of last session making fun of how wrong they were."

[bluhblahbluh.livejournal.com]

Yes. Please avoid telling him there were classes on monster hunting. He was likely to just grab his daughter and leave, teaching agreement or no.

"So I will have to make my class even more different." Drac sighed and shook his head. "Alec? Is this a friend of yours?"

[tigerundercover]

"Yeah," Raven said. She hadn't really thought about it like that, before. "Yeah, he is. He's in this class, too. He, uh, works with the monsters of his world professionally."

[bluhblahbluh.livejournal.com]

"Alec... Alec..." Drac cast his mind back over the students in his class. "Ah! The scowling young man?"

[tigerundercover]

"That's him," Raven said. "I think that's just his neutral expression."

Well, no, Alec was just surly.

[bluhblahbluh.livejournal.com]

"He's too young for that. And you say he has a job?"

[tigerundercover]

"He seems grown up enough to me." At Raven's worldly age of fifteen. "Some of us had to grow up pretty fast."

[bluhblahbluh.livejournal.com]

That got her a very paternal smile and another shoulder pat.

"Yes. The world can be a dangerous place for us. But that's why it's important to have friends you can be yourself with. Who you can relax around."

[tigerundercover]

Raven groaned softly. "Yeah." She ran her hand over her hair, then looked up. "I'm sorry I ran out of your class. I kind of . . . have trouble controlling things when I get stressed, and the singing surprised me."

[bluhblahbluh.livejournal.com]

"You worried me, and probably your fellow classmates as well." He smiled at her. "And as long as you are in my classroom, you may relax and look however you want to look."

Well.

"Except for as me, of course." O-rig-in-al article, here. just ask Universal Studios

[tigerundercover]

Raven winced. "Sorry about that. It's just easier to demonstrate that way, sometimes."

[bluhblahbluh.livejournal.com]

"It was!" He nodded eagerly, sloooowly trying to increase the distance between Raven and the bathroom door now that she seemed calmer. "You have a wonderful ability; using it responsibly will go a long way to others accepting you when they learn."

Though Drac was definitely keeping Raven in mind for any practical jokes he may need to pull, later. For extra credit, of course.

"Are you able to only partially change your shape?"

[tigerundercover]

Raven would be all over practical jokes, especially once she became more comfortable being out as a shapeshifter.

"What do you mean, exactly?" she asked.

[bluhblahbluh.livejournal.com]

Oh this would be trouble a friendship indeed.

"Oh, you know. suddenly have a furry hand, or a fishtail. Change only your face to look like someone, while the rest of you stays the same?" He waved a hand. "Something like that might be more socially acceptable than, say, a full body double?"

[tigerundercover]

Raven tilted her head a little. "Sure. Though usually that happens because I'm not focussing hard enough." She was only fifteen. She hadn't gotten complete control over her gift, just yet.

She held up her hand, considering it for a moment, then shifted so it was covered in purple fur with pointy fingernails, then shifted it back.

"Mostly, I'm used to just making sure I blend in."