#foxchat

At least Fox can look at her now without vanishing. That's one good thing but he has to really concentrate, and not stare into Jasmine's eyes for too long otherwise he goes poof and it's just embarrassing for everyone involved. Luckily, with his focus on the shelves in the library, the risk of Fox disappearing into nothing is at a steady five out of ten. "I was kinda thinking how it's...sort of funny. A fucked up sorta funny that...out of everything for me to become, I had to become something that's...not got a lot of info floating around." Fox mumbles, cautious to keep his voice low as he searches along the rows of books. None of which pop out at him as any use. He thinks he's seen more things about trapping shades than anything else, but he's not been one long enough to be offended by it. "And then I was kinda thinking what if there's been people like me that didn't meet someone like you. Where are they at right now? Stuck somewhere?" he frowns, eyes still locked on the books as one appears useful. "Shadow Stepping: What we know. Huh." he makes a thoughtful noise. "Also kinda funny that I two step at shows and now shadow step without even wanting to." he grins to himself, flicking through the pages quickly. "Actually, that wasn't that funny." Fox bounces his head up from the page to give Jas a smile before his gaze flicks to the book again. "Myth: A shade can shadow step to a different country." he reads and immediately sighs. "Aw man, that'd be cool." Fox mutters, shoulders dropping with defeat momentarily. "This isn't looking too hopeful, Jazzy. Do you wanna get some food or something?"

It happens again mid chew. He hears someone approach before he even looks up and hears the usual: Hey, you're Fox, right? Tilly told me to talk to you. Except this time, it ends with... I'm Yas. And when he lifts his gaze, it's game over. There's absolutely no warning just a blink and suddenly his brain hits pause. Like his soul just took a screenshot. She's standing there like a memory he hasn't made yet. But wants to. Will. Big, beautiful eyes. Soft hair cascading over her shoulders, cheekbones a little dangerous despite how angelic her face is.

Fox forgets to finish chewing. He forgets literally everything. For several seconds, he just stares, mentally documenting her like he's been assigned a pop quiz on her entire existence. And then it hits him that he hasn't said anything. He launches into action a little too literally, standing up so quickly it looks like his seat is on fire. "Oh, sure, hey. Yeah, I mean, that's me." he manages, voice halfway to normal as he clears his throat. He gestures to the seat he just abandoned like it's the last lifeboat on the Titanic. "Here, sit. You can sit. There. Yeah."

He circles the table, taking the spot opposite her. The one she could've sat in all along. "Tilly told me about you, too." he adds with a too fast nod like he's trying to shake clarity back into his skull. He slides his tray back in front of him, his hands hovering just above it like he's not quite sure what to do with them. "Michigan." Fox says, and his tone suggests that it was supposed to be the start of a much longer sentence. It doesn't arrive. "She said you're from Michigan." he adds with a more final nod.

Still, Fox manages to claw his way back to casualness and offers Yas a genuine smile. "If you're into activities, I'm your man." he leans back slightly, lets the teasing confidence carry him for exactly half a second before it collapses in on itself. "Man for activities, I mean. I am the activity man. Or...you know. The person. You come for." Jesus. "To! Come to. Come to for activities." Fox looks at her like it's her fault his entire language center just imploded, but the only thing to blame is her face. And body, obviously. Fox keep your eyes on her eyes!

"Oh good! You're home!" Fox practically explodes through the front door, voice already halfway to a shout before his boots even cross the threshold. He catches sight of his sister curled up in the corner of the couch and beams like he just found buried treasure. "Okay, Listen. Okay. Best idea ever. I'm serious." he's juggling his backpack, a guitar case, and some vaguely cube shaped thing that might be a lunchbox or a speaker or maybe both. He doesn't even know anymore. All of it gets flung onto the other couch in a glorious heap, because his mouth is moving faster than his coordination and there are more important things than gravity.

"You remember that bookcase Mom ordered...the one she hated immediately because it's flatpack and she muttered something about furniture capitalism and then left it in the corner?" Fox is already halfway across the room, marching toward the box with purpose, like a man on a mission. "We have to put it together. Today. Right now. And then, then, we should organize the books. All of them. Alphabetically? By genre? Mood? Size? Size makes sense. Looks better."

-

"Oh my God!" it's practically a course shriek that leaves Fox's lungs, surprising himself at the velocity and a hint of a vibrato. But, he can't help it. One moment, Yasemin is hopping around as a flighty hare that won't come near him and the next. Well, it takes him a while to realize she's shifting back into her usual form. The break of bones is horrifying, but then he realizes, once her form takes hold...she's naked. So, he screams. Like any sane person does. He doesn't even want to think what he might have seen. Definitely has seen. He throws himself around like an expert solider darting away from a blast zone, facing the opposite direction as his eyes squeeze shut. "I'm not looking! I didn't look! I didn't see anything!" Fox yells, thankful he hasn't disappeared into a shadow from the sudden realization. "Where are...Yas, where are your clothes?" he's too scared to open his eyes and find them, his hand patting around blindly on the bed where he's certain she left them. "I'll just...throw them at you." but his fingers hook around something lace and he squeaks, flinging the rather dainty seeming underwear through the air in what he hopes is her direction. "Panties!" Fox shouts, coughing then. "I mean...those were your panties. Wh...where's...where's everything else?"

-

For obvious reasons, Fox can't wander too far from the institute. Also for obvious reasons, he does. Only for him to disappear into nothing and prove to himself why staying at Asphodel is for his own good after all. The problem is, it means he's restless. Like a penned in animal. When Fox isn't trying to figure out how to exist as a half somebody, half nobody, he's pacing around the institute. Mostly in circles. He winds back on himself for the third time, seeing the same person sat in the same seat as when he started. The beat he drums away with on his legs starts falling into a particular pattern when around the other and absently, Fox starts humming. Half way through the melody, he realizes he's singing a certain song and bursts out in a sudden gasp.

"Holy shit. Obsidian!" he clicks his fingers and points to the other, laughing then. "I was thinking that dude looks familiar...you look familiar, I mean. But not familiar enough for me to have met you. Man, I loved that band. Your band. For a while anyways, not that...I mean, not because of anything you guys did. I just sort of ventured off into alt rock for a while. Like...Microwave or Trophy Eyes? Still love metal, obviously. More kinda...old school vibes though." he takes the last breath from his ramble, laughing again. "This is cool, though. I'm Fox." his hand jolts out ready to introduce himself before he retracts it as another gasp escapes. "Waaaait a second, are you like...a vampire!? Like...always been one? Or...no wait, don't tell me. I'm learning like everything there is. Wolf? Shifter? Witch? That weird B word thing? Bassy-lisk."

-

He likes patrol. He can do it very easily, and it helps work away at some of that never endless Fox energy. Even if, every so often, he catches his quickened steps that lead him a little too far ahead from Kenzie and he winds back on himself to reach her side again. Like just now, Fox emerging from the trees where he finds her on the...correct path. "Oh...shit. You're...Where was I going?" he laughs as he glances to Kenzie, and then the way he's just arrived from. "I thought it looked weird." he adds. "Anyways, I was...is Viking a slur?" it's a very pressing question, since the town seems overrun with them. "I like never said the word when I was with Roan. I was kinda...I never heard them say it, you know?" he shrugs, returning to Kenzie's side so they can continue the way they're supposed to. "Did I find a shortcut?" Fox does another double take. "But while I was...wherever I was, I was just thinking that maybe we're all calling them something that's kinda offensive to them."