[Open]

[movingon]

The evening after the market, starting just after sundown, a young woman is wandering around the city. She doesn't look like much - jeans, a hoodie against the cold, sneakers, slightly shaggy brown hair - and will try to stay away from the richer parts of town.

Sometimes she can be caught looking around in worry, studying the face of people that looked at her - Malin still can't quite believe that this collar is really working. That she really looks human again.

But she does. Looking down at her own hands, looking at her reflection, watching other people's reaction to her, she clearly does.

With time, she will grow bolder, even approach people - sometimes to just exchange a greeting with someone taking their dog out after work, sometimes to bother a promising looking person for a few dollars, sometimes to ask the way to a soup kitchen or a cheap club. Not that she wants to go to those places or really needs money, but she wants to try out this illusion and also... talk to people.

Comments

[chalicejoker]

You know who has absolutely no idea who she is? This guy! He is out and about, taking photographs of birds that are bickering over the remnants of a muffin dropped outside of a cafe. He glances over at her, dismisses her as just another human, and continues working. Someone somewhere will pay for pictures of birds pecking at crumbs. There is probably a metaphor in there somewhere.

[movingon]

Malin at first doesn't realize who he is either, too excited about her regained ability to just walk down a street and bother people for change to really pay the attention that she should to other people. ...Which, actually. This guy looks like a good target.

"Hey, sorry to bother you, but do you have a bit of change? My wallet and phone got stolen and I need to call my dad to pick me up."

[chalicejoker]

"Hm?" Hajime turns to look at the human, and...the human needs help. Relatively inexpensive help. He doesn't know why he cares what happens to some human or another...just another one of those weird emotion things that's been popping up since he assumed this Cover. (What is compassion? Can you eat it?) Even if it's only a bit of change...

"Oh, yeah, sure." Hajime rummages around in his pocket and produces a few coins.

[movingon]

Okay that's.

Sure that bug guy whose human disguise still worked at the market.

Luckily he looks down to rummage through his pockets when surprise and a hint of panic slide across her features in short order, and she has her expression back under control when he looks up again and hands her the coins.

"Thanks, that'll help a lot." She flashes him a brief grin and backs away quickly, making sure to not quite turn her back on him and look natural at the same time.

...He can't have realized who she is, can he? He didn't recognize her in owl form, either, and didn't even notice her as a fox...

[chalicejoker]

He just nods at the thanks, totally oblivious to the fact that she's recognized him as the bug guy. He's even turning back to his camera and what he was doing, assuming she's gotten what she wanted and is going to leave. He just doesn't realize how limited the scope of his human awareness is in this form without actively using an embed or exploit.

[movingon]

...Okay.

That was a thing. She rounds the next corner and for a long moment just stands there, staring at the money in her hand. She needs to be more careful. She can't let anyone but Corwin associate this form with what she looks like normally. It's much too useful if they stay separate.

She also feels like she needs to spend the money on something... hm. Perhaps... She has to think of the Malkavian whom she worked with a number of times. What would Bodil do?

Two days later, Hajime will come home to find two books, clearly from a clearance (they're marked down to one buck each), sitting on his bed - one is called "First steps with Make-Up", the other "Find your inner beauty through yoga". A little note sitting on them just reads: "Do your best!"

Malin honestly has no idea what Bodil would have done, probably something way more inventive, but the sale she walked by still inspired her.

[chalicejoker]

Well. That is unexpected and a little alarming, and once he's established that the house's resident teenage boy isn't trying to pull some stupid prank, Hajime's not at all a happy demon. Having his Cover threatened like this? Oh, hell no.

...at least he's got a decent idea of who might be behind this, given recent conversations...