Welcome to Gaia! ::

(( For WyvernScale and Windlion ONRY. All other trespassers will be shot. Survivors will be shot again. Maybe. XD ))

Sheila once again found herself waiting. It was a situation she seemed to find herself in more and more often these days. In that, she supposed, she had no one to blame but herself. However, it was better to be early than late and that unfortunately was the source of her current predicament. At least this room was not designed for waiting and as such was a very different room from the last one she did much waiting in. The similarities between this Handler's room and the hospital room where she'd recieved those words that were forever burned into her mind...

Abruptly, she switched her attention back to her trusty laptop seated along side her as she lounged on one of the couches. The whole point of her being involved in the project was to stay away from such thoughts. "I have better things to think about," she told herself, filing the room with sounds other than the click of 28's claws as the layhr languidly circled the room, snuffing and sniffing at random intervales.

Like this whole "Interaction Experiment." Sheila had been way-laid as she brought her subject in for a routine check-in and had recieved the request from a rather confident man in a labcoat with a far higher clearance than hers. "Take the specimen to the Handler's room on level one. Another handler will join you with his specimen. Allow them into interact and interfere only if the situation turns violent. We'll expect a detailed recounting within the week."

Calling it a request was merely a formality, she could tell. They said jump, and she did. It was the coin paid to be a part of an exclusive experiment. Still, such a puzzle. She had never really mingled with any of the others in the project. It was bound to be a learning experience.

XXVIII, for her part, had no intricate thoughts or worries chasing themselves through her mind. This room was just a room like so many others. Although, she was considering seeing how well the fake plants in the corner would burn. The techies probably would be less upset with the loss of some ugly leaf-shaped plastic, than say, the couches or the chairs. However, this was the labs and any retribution would probably far worse than a blast from a fire-extinguisher as Sheila was wont to do when the layhr's pyromaniacal tendancies tried to work themselves out.

Maybe she could leave scortch marks on the floors. That thought held merit. The black and blue beast continued her stroll, flame-tail a twitching.

"Ah, yes. I believe so." Sheila hadn't really been expecting a kid - that hair! - but then again, so much of the project was shrouded in mystery it shouldn't have come as much of a surprise. These layhr were the failed specimens, whatever that might entail. And it did make a strange kind of sense, kids do tend to like dangerous pets.

Of course, she was making a snap judgment entirely on appearance. What did he think of her? Drab bluish hair to his vibrant red style, and a subdued manor to his questioning looks. The time they would be spending together participating in this experiment had the potential to prove her initial assumptions wrong. Anyways, they were more or less assigned to each other for the duration of this little stunt. A final judgment would have to be reserved until there was some actual substance to base it on. In the meantime...

She stood up, setting aside her jacket and closing her laptop. "I'm Sheila. It's nice to meet you." Having introduced herself, she extended a hand in greeting. "That over there, is 28." She paused a moment and then hesitantly, "I don't suppose your instructions for this endeavor were any more detailed than mine?" There was a faint questioning hope in her inquiry. Interaction could have so many different meanings.

XXVIII turned to regard the intruders with a sinfully slow motion. Scrutinizing this new layhr for only a fraction of a moment, she snorted and continued along her chosen route. The most important feature was lacking. He just wouldn't do.

And then she noticed his scars patchworking across his hide. The female's interest noticeably perked at that and she gave him a cautious sniff. She didn't stop, but continued to walk, only now she altered her path to walk circles around XXXVI. Nor did she return his greeting. Instead, with as much nonchalance as she could muster, she asked, "That hurt?"

Enthusiasm was infectious, it seemed, as Sheila found herself smiling back at the younger handler. She laughed a bit at his answer to her query, a slight wry noise. "No, that's pretty much what they told me. I guess we've been tossed over-board, to sink or swim at our own discretion." Privately, she had wondered if this whole thing was a set-up to test the abilities of the handlers as much as the subjects. The piper was piping, the only real option left was to dance as if no one was watching.

Moving the conversation along, she added. "As for how common the flame-tail trait is, I've seen a few others with it, although they don't seem to have the, ah, infatuation with fire that 28 seems to have." And then she was forced to tilt her head to the side as she considered Lion's last question. "You know, I've forgotten. It's been a while. At least," she paused, doing some mental calculations, "three couches and a coffee table since I've been taking care of her."

If her behavior had made XXXVI uncomfortable, she gave no sign of noticing it, merely continued on her journey, making two complete circles before coming to a stop on his "good side." She leered at him for a moment longer, then seated herself well within his personal space, close but not actually in contact with him.

"I should hope so," XXVIII said with a touch of smugness and admiration in her voice. This one had merit, even if he did lack the wonderful spark of a tail-flame. "Did you get the b*****d back?" Her eyes were entirely focused on him now, with an eager tone and a hungry expression spreading across her face.

All throughout her exchange with Lion, Sheila maintained a steady regimen of periodic glances over at 28. Not that the pyro had ever shown any real signs of aggression towards living things, but still... unknown scenario, unknown factors, who could really tell what would happen? As she noticed the ward finally seat herself, the woman relaxed marginally. If 28 was seated, she probably wouldn't be moving anytime soon.

"Something else is probably the most polite way of putting it. It's an experience, to say the least." She found the words were comming easier now, so perhaps she wasn't as out of touch with her conversation skills as she'd thought. How long had it been since she'd had a chat with someone that didn't revolve around work or the basic courtesy shown to others? She couldn't recall. Certainly longer than 'three couches and a coffee table ago.'

"The microwave? Oh my," she said covering her mouth as she stifled a giggle. She didn't want to offend the poor kid, afterall. But she couldn't help herself at his next comment, as true laughter bubbled up from deep inside. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she gasped, hoping he hadn't taken offense. "It's just the mental image of that, oh, I'm sorry." Laughter was good for the soul. She also couldn't recall the last time she'd done that either. Perhaps becoming involved in this project was a step in a postive direction afterall.

"Mmm," she continued, not quite sure how to move on from that point. Perhaps blunt would be best. "She managed to light one of the lab rooms on fire." Sheila paused a moment to let this sink in. "This was before I was her handler, so I don't have all the details, but I'm under the impression she's the only one who's demonstrated this ability. So perhaps, some of the incidents were accidents, but I am certain some were on purpose."

XXVIII bared her teeth in a feral smile of approval as if he had passed some test she had set for him- and passed with flying colors. "You are fuel or you are fire. Very fitting," was all she said, seeming to be content to sit there beside him. Gradually, she lay down, head resting on her forepaws, her tail swirling about on the linoleum floor.

Her next observation came abruptly out of nowhere. "I didn't realize they had rooms like this," The black and blue layhr said, sounding almost wistful, as she tilted her head slightly to gaze about the area without actually lifting her head from it's comfortable position.

Her gaze also drifted toward 36. "Looks like accidents are just a fact of life around here, unfortunately." That was the sad truth of the situation. Layhr were experiments and in all experiments there are failures. It was unfair and that bothered her. She frowned slightly. "At least with the handler aspect, they can get some affection and honest care."

"I had thought of that," she began hesitantly. "I'm just not sure of where exactly I could take her that would be safe and yet still have enough, ah, cannon fodder for her to vent on." The GeNtech forest and other wooded areas was right out, in the drier seasons, it was quite possible she could set the whole forest ablaze. An undesirable outcome.

The female layhr grunted. "Nnh. I guess. It's just," she fumbled for an appropriate word and came up short. Now she snorted, frustrated and flopped over onto her side, curling into a vaguely cresent shape, leaving her belly open to XXXVI. She tried again. "It doesn't really smell like of the others. Y'know, like us. The rooms with the cages always had it."

Now XXVIII's voice had accquired the tone of a young child sulking. "The humans don't need rooms like this. They can leave, when ever they want." Granted, now she too was able to leave. Just not of her own volition. Not that her handler was the bad sort, kinda bland though. She wasn't even sure why she was pursuing this line of conversation. Speak first, ask questions later. But she had started it, so here she was following it to the end. Her tail beat the ground in agitation, ever-so-faint scortch marks dusting the impact points.

The only sign of her amusement at the kid's list of places to check out was a slight twist of the lips. She nodded at Lion's suggestions for ammunition. "Indeed. Or, in a worst-case scenario, I can just raid my apartment complex's dumpster. Public domain, after all." Trash and treasure, as the saying went. And her budget was tight enough as it was. Free was infinitely better than cheap, especially since anything she accquired was only going to end up as cinders anyways.

Sheila was beginning to feel it was time to steer the conversation away from 28 and her destructive tendancies. She was certain that given the opportunity, Lion would ramble happily on about the exploits of 36. "I noticed when you came in..." the young woman trailed off, figuring that was a bit too abrupt. She tried again. "36, he doesn't seem to object your being affectionate with him." Not exactly a question, but she hope the intent behind her observation was apparent.

"Hnn." The pyromaniac had never really given much thought to ambiguities in the whole US vs. THEM argument. Black or white, in or out, yes or no, us or them. That's just how she saw it. "I guess. Yes." Her tail slowed, but didn't cease it's twitching motions. However, now the gesture was a mild flip and not the agitated beating of before.

"Yes," XXVIII repeated, with more force. "It's not my place though, not really. It's hers. She just lets me go there." She sighed, and rolled over to reverse her position - now her back was to XXXVI, but she still kept the same cresent shape, her tail and neck stretched to their fullest. Her fins flared, and then settled snug along her back. "And there's nothing to keep them from taking her away. They swapped us between cages and labrooms, it's only a matter of time before they're switching us between handlers as well."

"Aloof is a very good word to describe her." Sheila pursed her lips, as she thought about how best to phrase what she was going to say. "I'm must confess unbridled curiosity at the methods used to handle her prior to her being entrusted to my care. I guess a 'Do no touch' policy was instigated after the, ah, incident in the labs. It seems as if she was never socialized after that, with either the lab techs or other layhr. I don't even think she knows how to play."

In the begining, she had made a few hesitant attempts to befriend the layhr, toys, treats, a variety of bedding. At first Sheila had believed that 28's lack of interest had been an error on her part, but really, it wasn't as if they sold toys made with layhr in mind so she'd attempted dog toys of the 'Large Breed' and 'Heavy Chewer' variety.

28 had nosed and clawed at them a few times, but beyond that, no response. Until, one day she'd come home to discover burnt and twisted masses of plastic lining the inside of they layhr's cage. At least they had been of some use.

"Save for her love of fire, she doesn't seem to show much interest in anything. I did have some luck holding her attention with one of those overly-large three wick candles." Oh, what a mess it had been. Wax wax everywhere. Getting it out of fur had proved quite the challenge- and also gave birth to the discovery of 28's skittish response at physical contact.

XXVIII rolled over again so that she was once more "belly-up" towards her companion. This time, she tilted her head so that she was actually looking at XXXVI when she spoke to him. "Share," she ecchoed faintly, as if she didn't quite know what to make of that. Her expression was unreadable.

Her eyes widened at the sudden switch of placid calm to nervous anxiousness that XXXVIII exhibited. From the corner of her eye, she noted that the sudden clatter had caught her handler's attention. Puzzlement, however, rather than tension was her reaction. "I had so many, I can't even recall their faces." Not that she was good with faces. Human faces all looked the same anyways. No outsanding markings like she and her brethren had and no muzzle to speak of! No wonder they never seemed to realize how badly some of the labs stank.

"I heard that someone was brought back to the labs, but only because his handler went missing." Her intent hadn't been to alarm him. For her the idea was old hat and not one worth fretting over. Others came and they went. She was the only constant in her world. Only herself, and the comforting glow of flames that no matter how they were extinguished were always able to be lit again.

She continued in an attempt to relax the distressed layhr. "So obviously if your handler takes good care of you, they'd have no reason to do that."

At Lion's departure towards the couch, Sheila found herself trailing after him. She did not approach either layhr closely however, but merely attempted to blend into the background and observe. "I wonder what changed?" asked softly, the question aimed more to herself than at Lion.

"My human?" It was a day for new ideas on both sides of this exchange, it seemed. "I think you're mistaken. I'm hers, not the other way round." Right? After all, who kept who on a leash? Leashes were definitely a sign of ownership. Like the cage. But then, the cage hadn't really been an issue until XXVIII had incinerated the first of many couches while Sheila had been at work. And those things, the squeaky things and the chewy things. Had those been for her? Having never been in a human's home before, she had assumed they were just part of the setting, like the carpets or the furniture.

"Hnn." Was he saying that ownership was a two-way street? She wrestled with the concept of this as a mutualistic relationship. From the look of concentration on her face, it was clear that the concept was wrestling right back. She fidgeted slightly, as she thought. She was able, if not exactly allowed, to burn things while under Sheila's care. Allowed to eat as much or as little as she chose and taken outside regularly to run or simply bask about in the daylight.

In one fluid motion, the flame-tailed layhr slid to her feet and shuffled over closer to XXXVI, looking only slightly contrite, which she considered a major concession on her part. "Compared to the parade of faceless white-coats, I'd choose her time and time again." It was true. While her current situation was far from what she'd consider ideal, it was without a doubt better than what it had been before."

"Besides," she added, again seating herself in XXXVI's personal space. "I guess if you make it obvious that you didn't want another handler (if in the unlikely case that you were taken away for whatever reason) they'd probably give you back to his care. I mean, they are doing this for our well being." That was logical to her mind and hopefully it would be to his as well. The sudden change in atmosphere she found stifling. Mostly because she knew she was the cause of it.