milliways_bar | (no subject)

Hughie starts to itch again. He feels the impending change coming on. And in just a few moments, he'd be human -- a naked human.

Darting through the door as fast as his stubby little pony legs can carry him, he races up the stairs to his room. The doorknob is horse-mouth-sized, so after a deft turn, the door opens, and Hughie tumbles inside--

PWROM.

--He lands sprawling on the floor, completely starkers. He toes the door shut.

"Buggerall," he mutters, rubbing his knees and elbows as he gets to his feet. But hey, he's bipedal again, which is most excellent.

And luckily he's left his leather trench coat here. He can cover up with that. So he pulls it on and wraps it close around him, and as he goes downstairs in his bare feet, he feels vaguely like a crusty flasher. This is not helping his mood.

"Bar, y'know I love ye, but I'm thinkin' I'm owed one right now. Ye could replace my favorite green hoodie, could ye not, then?"

A green hooded sweatshirt appears on the countertop, neatly folded.

"Thankye, lass."

Tucking it under his arm, he heads straight for the door -- and home.

(Unless someone happens to strike up a conversation with the barefooted flasher in the leather trench coat.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Well. You got de-critterized too? Seems to be going around." YT's got the bathrobe she just changed out of hanging on her arm: she's wearing a pink sleeveless top and a pair of jeans.

It doesn't occur to her that Hughie may not know who the hell she is: he only saw her as a rat, after all, and she sounded rather more squeaky back then.

Hughie glances at the girl's face, then at her robe, then at her face again, trying to place her...

"Er...aye. Sorry, lass, have we met?"

YT sighs. "I was a rat? You gave me a cookie? Well, half a cookie. And then you turned into a horse and went outside and I didn't see you again 'till now."

"Oh! That was you, then! Hi! Um, well, it's nice to put a human face to the name. Guess we made it through the ordeal all right, eh?"

"Except for the part where we ended up naked, yeah," YT says. She tilts her head and peers and Hughie. "Y'know, I remember you being taller," she remarks offhandedly. At the time, of course, she was a whole lot shorter.

He smirks and nods, as he's just a couple of inches taller than her. "Aye, an' I remember you bein' furrier," he retorts with a grin.

Okay, maybe she deserved that. "Yeah, but now I'm prettier," she points out with a smirk. "And I'm standing upright and I've got thumbs and everything."

"Indeed -- an' you haven't got a tail anymore, either."

And he cocks his head briefly to steal a playful glance just to make sure it's gone.

"Yeah, if I still did, I'd have even more reason to beat the crap out of..." YT pauses, remembering something. "Oh yeah. Weren't we gonna have words with whoever did this? I mean, we don't know who yet, but somebody's probably gonna figure it out."

"Oh, that's right... Aye, I'm still all for it. Might've been fun for some people, but it was a bloody annoying inconvenience for many others, y'know. Apparently someone's got to learn to be more responsible with magic 'round here."

"Well, I know a couple of people who might get this figured. Ray's been scanning the folks who got hit, and Dr. D probably knows about this kind of stuff. Or one of us can pick it up on the grapevine somewhere. If Security doesn't put the SOB away for a while, we can do some blunt object plastic surgery," she says.

"Blunt object plastic surgery, eh? Heh! I'll hafta tell that one to me mates. But, uh, surely there's another way to get the point across wi'out messin' 'em up, aye? Even if they did mean to do it..."

"Yeah, you're right. Just beating them up would be lame. Hey, we could..." YT looks around, realizing that they're in a prime position to be overheard. "Listen," she says, quieter this time, "I got an idea, but I need time to iron it out. And we shouldn't talk it over where anyone can hear and tattle on us." YT would normally use the word 'rat,' not tattle, but after this past week she is probably never going to take 'rat' in vain again.

"Aye, ye're a sly one, aren't ye, lass? Sure, whatever ye've got, I'll hear it out." He glances around. "Um, maybe we can meet by the lake some time soon?"

...That so totally did not sound like he was asking her out.

"Next time we're both in the bar, sure. How often does the Door turn up for you?" YT's got one permanently situated in a certain utility closet.

"Pretty often, but I've also got..." He pats his coat pocket down and finds that he still has a coaster from the bar. "This! Kinda works like a key, so I can come back in here whenever I like, most o' the time."

"Hey, awesome! I'll have to get one of those and maybe give it to a friend of mine." Hiro hasn't been able to get in the bar since his first trip: maybe YT can do something about that now.

"Well, I come here almost every day, my time. I'm usually over by the fireplace," she says, jerking a thumb in that direction. "For now, I want to go home and resume what passes for normal life, and I'm guessing you do too."

"I was told that any little thing you pick up an' take wi' you acts like a link back to the Bar, so it makes it easier if y'want to escape for a while. Useful if ye're on the go a lot, I s'pose." He shrugs. "But aye, I ought to be gettin' home -- I miss my hamster. An' my shower. An' my- uh, clothes."

At that, a pair of sneakers appears on the bartop. "Oh, an' when were ye' plannin' on givin' me those back, eh?" he mock-scolds the Bar, giving it a soft pat. He turns to YT. "The only things I was wearin' that weren't ripped apart when I turned into a horse."

Clutching his shoes and new sweatshirt, he starts backing toward the door. "So! Well, I'll be seein' ya, then... Oh! Wait, uh, silly question: what do I call you? I mean, d'ye prefer Yours Truly, or Ms. Truly, or just Yours, or..."

There's a bit of goofy, awkward grinning going on.

"Oh." YT shrugs. "Just call me YT. I couldn't say it for the first couple of days when I was a rat - they don't have letters or something."

"Right, gotcha. YT. An' I'm Hughie, not Hoogie."

And with a smirky chuckle, he ducks out the door.

[[OOC: Recent canonical discovery -- Hughie is actually shorter than YT by a couple of inches. So reverse that. :)]]