𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕝𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕥, 𝕥𝕠𝕠 𝕔𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕚𝕕𝕖

[tobeclosetohim]

Who: Jo Harvelle & Various
When: October
Where: Free Cities, Horizon, Libertas
What: Training, Hunting, Mag's, Roadhouse Stuff
Warnings: Swearing, Drinking, Flirting, Violence

Comments

[nadine_he_loves]

"Well, I wouldn't put it like that. 'A shapeshifter' implies I can change whatever, whenever. It's not like that. I can just turn into a wolf. Sometimes we just develop an ability like that. It's the same with these." Nadine gestures to the little pearly points of horns sticking out through her hair.

"They're not decorative, they happened after I first visited the Horizon. I can also touch someone and diagnose whatever's medically wrong with them. I call them gifts from the Singularity."

[tobeclosetohim]

Jo's eyebrows raise on that last one.

The's a short whistle. "Out there or in here?"

That's got to be an incredibly handy skill as a healer.

He's starting to realize there are a lot of shades to this whole thing. Most of which aren't entirely apparent from the outside. The fighting. The politics. The magic. The Summoned. The Horizon. Everything, everywhere. She even has her own now, and that's so weird to think about after the long road of very specific facts leading up to this point in her life.

[nadine_he_loves]

"Out there. That's how I was able to know what was going on so quickly, when we were on search and rescue. I didn't have to see to know what was wrong. It's like any other magic, it tires me out to use it a lot and if I'm worn out it doesn't work well, but it's really useful."

The most useful of the things she's developed in this world, Nadine thinks. Turning into a wolf is fun, especially now that she's been properly exploring the ability, but it's not useful daily. Diagnosing people is.

"Alright...a costume for you. Okay, I think the important question I need to ask here is do you want to do sexy or normal? Julie always veers to sexy, I'd put good money down that I'll be going as a slutty nurse this year."

[tobeclosetohim]

Jo'd thought that they'd just been that good on their feet between the two of them, Nadine and Jayce. It's both impressive and a little wary making. Not about Nadine or her powers, but about herself and not having picked up on anything like that. The idea that powers could be showing up in the world, invisible all the time. Hiding in wait. Until released. No way to prep for them.

Dean's wings and weird little zippo lighter trick.
Even hers. It couldn't be seen until it was happening.

But Nadine shifts them back before Jo can think too hard about that and does so with a question Jo hadn't expected to come straight out of the blue. It makes Jo clear her throat, with a snort at the directness. The only defense against flummox of surprise that zigzags through her stomach. "It couldn't hurt to try some of them, I guess."

Except it's not really I guess, is it?

Except she's avoiding looking back at Nadine for a moment.
(Oh, god. How stupidly fucking stupid might this be?)

"Something more than—" Jo looks down at the cowgirl outfit still on her, leaning on the dresser. There's nothing wrong with the jacket, skirt, and boots other than she doesn't feel like this is here at all, but it's not just that. "...this."

[nadine_he_loves]

"Okay, there's always the classic go-to for a basic sexy costume."

Nadine concentrates a moment, focusing on Jo. She's not as used to this. But after a moment Jo's clothes shift and rearrange themselves into a cheerleader uniform. Bright blue and yellow with a generic H on the front, and matching blue and yellow little sneakers.

Not a bad job, she thinks.

"The cheerleader. Cute, easy to move around in, easily recognizable as a costume but firmly rooted in the normal. And really easy to accessorize."

[tobeclosetohim]

Jo looks down at it, and her hands come up as though not even sure about the idea of touching her own body suddenly in this. Her face probably says it all. This is every bit of the worst dreams she's sure her mother would have cried tears of gold at the idea, average apple pie, anything but a hunter's daughter. Jo's wondering, for the first time, if you light something on fire in the Horizon, does it burn up?

"No." She's shaking her head at it. "Not this one."

Beat. Jo tries to make it some more words.
"Maybe not something from high school times?"

[nadine_he_loves]

"Okay, there's always the other most popular, simple costume option." It's funny, Nadine had never imagined it could be so hard to pick a costume. But she doesn't care what she wears, for the most part. She has no investment in Halloween as a holiday, really. The costume part is just what you do for Halloween parties, it doesn't mean anything to her.

The cheerleader outfit begins shifting, turning into tight black pants, black fuzzy boots, a black sleeveless shirt, black long gloves and a pair of furry black cat ears.

"The sexy cat, always a classic."

[tobeclosetohim]

Interestingly, it's weird to watch her clothes changing on her body but not feel anything other than disconcerted by the strangeness of visually seeing it happen. There's no part of her worried about what Nadine might do to her (even as somewhere in the back of her mind, she's ticking away the knowledge that this is possible outward toward someone).

Jo turned around, looking at herself in the mirror. Considering.

"Not bad, but—" She let it linger. "Not exciting?"

"Not no?" But she wanted something,
something she couldn't name,
something more.

"Maybe we keep it in mind case there's nothing else?"

[nadine_he_loves]

"Okay, we'll put it as a 'maybe'. Uh...if you want to go a little more glittery and girly, the cupcake thing was big for a while."

By which Nadine means a sparkly layered tulle skirt and sequined top with a cupcake hat and tights. It's certainly not something she'd imagine Jo ever wearing, and that's sort of the point of a costume. And it is cute.

But she only has so many ideas, and is pretty much just thinking about things she's seen on TV and in movies. Otherwise her main context for reference is elementary school children.

[tobeclosetohim]

Jo looks at Nadine through the mirror, eyebrows and mouth both tilting,
a little wicked and the only warning for the words that come next.

"Right. And do I spend my night batting my eyelashes and telling people to 'eat me,' too?"

[nadine_he_loves]

"If you want to." Nadine shrugs, not bothered by the look Jo's giving her. She warned her that when it came to creative costume ideas, she's probably not the best.

"I told you I wasn't great at this. I don't even pick my own costume. Maybe if you could give me some boxes to check...anything that would be a 'yes' instead of just all the 'nos'?"

Some parameters would help here.