Take Back The Night

[shifting]

Who: Merlotte's employees & EVERYBODY
When: Wednesday night
Where: Merlotte's
Summary: A night to mingle at Merlotte's~ Good food, good drink, good music and good people await.
Warnings: idk. This is just a MINGLE POST, full o' action tags. Tag around, baby, and thread-hopping is ~highly encouraged~ There will be bouncers at the door checking ages. Characters 17+ can buy drinks; characters 13-16 will be hand-stamped to show they can't purchase or drink alcohol; characters 12 and under will only be let in with a guardian.
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[There are drinks, roving spotlights and an all-girls punk band on stage called the "Rotgut Rockers" (and there are private rooms if any of the above start to irritate). Eat, drink, and enjoy the night, children of Siren's Port -

- Tonight, it's yours.]

Comments

[allucinator]

Yeah. So-- after the blood-- what happens?

[doeswhathewants]

After the blood I will work on the spell. It will take time.

But for tonight's transformation, I'll have to force it upon you, but the pain will lessen if you allow it, accept it. Then in a matter of hours- how many do you need?- you will change back. This spell will be time limited.

[allucinator]

[He sucks on his bottom lip as they walk.]

Let's call it six hours. No point in goin' through all that pain for just an hour or two.

[doeswhathewants]

Six hours it is, then. Now then, what sort of dog do you wish to become?

[Innocuous expression] Or do you prefer for me to choose? [And risk ending up as a teacup poodle]

[allucinator]

[He takes one look at his expression and shakes his head.]

And end up somethin' stupid? Hell no. I'll, uh . . . I don't know, somethin' big. And not idiotic lookin'. Like a retriever or a shepard o' somethin'.

[doeswhathewants]

[A faint smile] A golden retriever. [Those remind him of his brother. Big. Blonde. King of dumb, but loyal.]

[allucinator]

[He wrinkles his nose, the same sort of thought occurring to him.]

Nah. Let's go for a mutt.

[He stops short and murmurs a word. In front of them, a firehouse-- large and tall and red-- slowly expands in the gap between two buildings. Jack grins, pleased, and leads them in. The moment they step into the house, there's a loud, excited barking from upstairs.]

Ahh, there they are. Oye, Sirius, you home!

[He shrugs when no one answers.]

[doeswhathewants]

[At that Loki rolled his eyes. Of course. Americans.]

Mutt it is.

[And is Really Freaking Impressed with that trick, okay?] Wow. Your friend must be an impressive wizard.

[allucinator]

[Proudly:]

Yeah, he is. He's the best-- look, look up--

[He points toward the ceiling-- or where the ceiling ought to be. Instead of white plaster, however, there's simply dark sky, dotted with bright stars and a tiny moon in one corner. The only hint it isn't real is the odd circle cut out in the middle, where a firepole descends.]

[doeswhathewants]

[He looks up and Loki's expression melts into delight] That is... positively amazing. Ah- I'm going to steal this idea. [Because it really is, the entire thing was- ] Is it a self contained bit of the sky? Or is it an illusion?

[allucinator]

Illusion, I think. Though it's clever as hell; it'll mimic whatever the weather is outside. It's a damn weird thin' when it rains, though, cuz it falls down but it's just an illusion, so we don't feel nothin' and it stop about halfway down. Drives our one dog crazy, he don't know what to make of it.

[doeswhathewants]

[He looks at Jack, still smiling broadly] And speaking of dogs, shall I transform you? Or would you prefer to give me a bit of your blood first, I can work a spell to weave into your bracelet for the next few days and for now you can enjoy a time limited shapeshift.

[allucinator]

Necklace.

[He tugs the item of question out of his shirt and over his head, sets it down on the table. He tugs out one of the knives tied to his belt and holds it to his palm.]

Right. What do you need me to do, exactly? Cuz this'll seal up pretty quick, so it'll be good for me to know first.

[A beat. He raises an eyebrow at Loki.]

Are me clothes gonna change with me?

[doeswhathewants]

[A smirk and a roll of his eyes] Whichever.

Ah- your clothes will not change with you. Though don't take them off now, that would be weird.

[He inclines his head] Just a drop. In this- [And a he opens his empty palm, green glowing and a slight pressure in the air as he literally draws from the air around them to carve a small green vial in his open palm.]

[allucinator]

[He pricks his finger and lets a drop or two of his blood fall into the vial. The wound heals instantly, but Jack isn't paying attention to that; he's watching the vial. He shivers a little, but his expression is confident.]

I'm not gonna strip in front o' you, don't be stupid. Ready?

[doeswhathewants]

Just checking. [He says because it's kind of common on Asgard because it's manly or something.]

Yes.

[The vial seems to disappear and Loki raises a hand ever so slightly, eyes closing as he draws the mental picture of a mutt with Jack's coloring in his mind. The tips of his fingers glow with cold, green light.] Accept this. Keep your mind blank and open.

[allucinator]

[His brown eyes widen, and Jack struggles to keep his mind open and clear-- and he trusts Loki, but god, it's hard not to be fearful of this, of this strange foreign magic. But Loki won't hurt him; Loki has no reason to hurt him. So Jack sucks in a deep breath and stares down at the god's face, trying to soothe himself.

He can't help but talk, though.]

Is-- will it-- will it start immediately or--?

[doeswhathewants]

[As Jack speaks, Loki cannot help but smile faintly, a twist of his hand, a subtle gesture of fingers and then the pain as Jack's body twists to reform into the dog shape. It hurts. It hurts a lot. And his human mind is there to experience it and this is with offering oneself up. To think that doing this against one's will is even more suffering is mind bending.

Loki's face twists slightly, with the strain of ensuring each detail of the dog form is perfection, functional. Paws, claws, ears, nose, tail, innards- much harder than most think]

[allucinator]

[When Sirius changes, it's a fluid, easy movement. Three steps and he's done, tail wagging, eyes bright, ready to play. The only difficult part he's ever mentioned is coming out of it, because it's hard to go from the simple pure joy of a dog's mind to the complexity of a human one. But it's never been painful.

This is nothing like that.

Physical pain he can deal with. It's hard, made even more difficult by his body frantically trying to restore itself-- but he can deal with that. It's just a matter of compartemtalizing it and realizing it isn't done maliciously, it isn't going to last. He can do that. It's the psychological bit Jack is terrified of: the part where he glances down and sees a paw instead of a hand; where he yells and hears a low bark instead of his own human voice. He struggles briefly as he shrinks and twists and changes, trying to get away-- and that hurts worse, but the pain means nothing to him now-- and he can feel his muscles reforming, his insides twisting, his eyesight failing--

--and then, all of a sudden, it stops. The little mutt on the floor shivers for a few seconds, his ears flat against his head, his tail tucked between his legs. That-- that had been--

The dog opens his eyes. What? He can't remember. Something bad, yes, but it's gone and there's Loki, Loki Loki Loki, and oh, he likes him. The dog trots forward and leaps up on his leg, trying to lick his hand.]

[doeswhathewants]

[Loki opens his eyes to a squint, looking at Jack to make sure there isn't a mess of fur and paws and blood all over the floor. He's rather pleased to see the dog and oh- oh very friendly. He pet hesitantly, then laughs] Oh Jack, I do hope you are yourself in there.

One bark for yes, two for no? [And grins, petting his ears and allowing the leaning and the licking.]

[allucinator]

[Jack? Jack. Jaaack. The name sounds familiar, and as the dog licks at Loki's hand he struggles to remember why. Jack. Jack's-- Jack's his name. Yes. Jack's his name, and this is him, him as a dog, not actually a dog (but a damn good one) (the best, the very best, no dog could be better than he).

It's weird, to have both minds present, and Jack the dog wrinkles his nose for a moment, confused by the effort. But, eventually, he barks once, loudly and sharply.]

[doeswhathewants]

[Loki let out a breathe he'd not realized he was holding] And ah- are you okay? All accounted for mentally? One bark for yes again, two for now. [Because there was still that niggling worry that a first time shapeshift- oh and of a human. He never thinks these things through.]

[allucinator]

[He pauses again, thinking-- but yes. He's all there. His thinking has a fuzzy edge to it, as well as a certain frantic quality he's never had before-- but he's there. Jack Kelly, he reminds himself, and barks again. He then licks Loki's hand once more, unable to resist.]

[doeswhathewants]

[Loki laughs, delighted and genuine for once.] All right, last question. Are you okay on your own? [He wants to be sure]

[allucinator]

[He cocks his head, considering the question. Yes, of course he is, he's always been all right on his own-- but it's not fun. Jack glances around. Yorick always leaves his toys around, all the ropes and bones and squeaky toys, and-- yes!

Racing over, the dog grabs a length of rope in his mouth and returns to Loki, offering it with a muffled bark.]