[Wingardia] No. 921

[Stephen Pact]

Rachel led Graymalk to her dormroom door and let them in, which was a good thing since he hadn't seen which door was hers the last time. She seemed far more lighthearted and less concerned about being seen with him this time, which Graymalk hoped meant that she would be open to his proposition.

Upon bounding into the room, Graymalk remembered the significant lack of food to be found there. Still, at least it was private; that would be important soon. Still, how best to broach the subject? Humans were skittish things, easily spooked by the unexpected; this would take some tact.

Graymalk explored the room a bit, purring in his most soothing way, before finally coming to the bookshelf. Fantasy and sci-fi books; that could be useful for explaining magic, but might not lend itself to the notion that Graymalk was especially intellegent. Let's see... Introduction to Quantum Theory: it's History and Manifestations by a Dr. Mazrim. That had possibilities, at least if this was the quantum theory he had heard about; besides, it looked like Rachel had a particular interest in the subject. Graymalk carefully pulled the large book off the shelf, opened it, checked for and then flipped to the part about Schrodinger, and began to read. Yes, this could work out nicely.  

[Misao]

Rachel watched Graymalk curiously as he padded around her room, arching an eyebrow when he made for the bookcase. She was about to stop him from knocking over the books when she noticed that he seemed to be consciously intent on pursuing the particular one he'd chosen. Watching in amazement as he flipped through the pages, she craned her neck to see what he was reading.

"Quantum theory, huh?" she asked, by this point kneeling down next to the cat and looking over it. "Schrodinger?" She laughed a little to herself, stroking the end of Graymalk's tail. "Looks like you've got a bit of a sense of humor on you too. That's one of my favorite books."  

[Stephen Pact]

There it was! The opening! Perfect!

"He was a brilliant man, of course, but he was wrong you know." said Graymalk nonchalantly. "He really shouldn't have used a cat to make his point. A cat KNOWS whether he's living or dead, and thus counts as an observer. I should know," he added, looking up at Rachel, "having been dead a few times myself. Still, the idea of manipulating universal uncertainty is sound."

That should get her attention. It was a terrible risk; if she paniced or, worse, decided to sell him for research or something he'd have a heck of a time getting away. Still, Graymalk's instincts were usually good with these things. He looked up at her expectantly, but got ready to jump clear just in case.  

[Misao]

Rachel was understandably surprised by the talking cat, but under the circumstances, quite a bit less so than would be expected of many other humans. After all, she'd grown up as the daughter of a shapeshifter and a woman who could talk to plants and animals. Eventually she'd just gotten to the point where she halfway expected trees and cats and things to be able to talk back.

"Well, well, looks like reading books isn't the only trick you have up your sleeve," Rachel said, smiling approvingly. "I'd never thought of it that way, but what you say makes a lot of sense." She laughed a little to herself. "I wonder what old Dr. Schrodinger would have said to that."  

[Stephen Pact]

Graymalk shrugged, or at least made his best cat equivalent. Privately he was releved that the girl was reacting so well, but he wasn't about to let her know that.

"I've never met the man myself, of course, but if I ever do I'll ask him. Of course, by now he may have a rather different perspective on what death is like anyway. My name's Graymalk, by the way. It's very nice to meet you." Graymalk offered a paw. He didn't really like doing it - it was just such a DOG thing to do - but it made a good impression, which was important.  

[Misao]

Rachel smiled at this, taking Graymalk's paw in her hand and shaking it lightly. "Well then, pleased to make your acquaintance, Graymalk." She glanced at her bookcase, eyes moving across the many science textbooks that were lined up on the shelf. "So, are you a student of the sciences as well?"

She seemed much less concerned about why or how he could talk than she was about his academic interests. Smiling, she pushed up her glasses on her nose as she waited for his answer.  

[Ko Miyabi]

Amorella burst through the door, slamming it behind her. When she turned around her eyes widened. "Oh! Sorry, wrong room! I was running from some pervert and meant to hide in my best friends room. Sorry! But since I'm here, can I hide? Please?" Amorella said rather quickly.  

[Misao]

Rachel wheeled around to face the door in surprise as the girl burst through unannounced. She had a rather irritated look on her face as she stood up, folding her arms in front of her.

"Um... listen, I'm actually sort of busy in here right now," she said, trying to hurry the girl away so she could continue talking with Graymalk. "I'm sorry, but I kinda need you to go. There's a storage closet down the hall you can hole up in if you need to that badly..."

As she spoke, she walked closer to the girl, opening the door behind her and continuing to walk forward, hoping to force her back out.  

[Ko Miyabi]

"Erm...sure." Amorella said quietly. She left the room, only to burst back in a second later. "He's right outside the door!" she managed to squeak out, "Please let me hide in here! I beg of you!"  

[Stephen Pact]

"I dabble" replied Graymalk, only slightly mysteriously. "I've spent a fair bit of time trying to learn what I can about the world, but most of my actual field of interest is a bit too... esoteric for most traditional scientists. Don't get me wrong, some of the more open-minded of your scientists - Schroedinger, Tesla,, this Masrim guy, and especially the old guard like Newton - were really onto something, and the sorts of tech you people come up with are really amazing, but I've met all too many scientists who have so much academic pride that they won't even look at things which don't fit their systems - or else try to vivisect them. The world's full of forces and relationships which aren't immediately apparent; if you're into quantum then you know that. Still, I think the Bard said it best: "There are more things in heaven and on Earth..." well, you get the idea. Right now, of course, all of that's taking a backseat. I've got a friend in trouble... well, we can get into that later. Right now" at this point Graymalk had the grace to look sheepish "I was rather hoping you could pick up a letter for me. For fairly obvious reasons I can't really pick it up myself..."

Now to wait. Graymalk had only so much to offer this girl, and a cat might demand payment of a stranger. He hoped he was reading her right; her smell was so hard to read, and he didn't really know her all that well yet, but in some ways... well, he would just have to see.  

[Misao]

Rachel sighed deeply, leaning over to lock the door. The expression on her face was clearly not one of amusement at this point - this girl was sorely testing her patience. She gestured over to the bed as a place she could sit down while she waited for her pursuer to leave.

"Fine, you can stay here for a while," she said, somewhat curtly. "But don't mess anything up. Also, I'm having a conversation with my friend the cat here. Nothing you hear leaves this room, and tell no one about any of this."

As if to punctuate this statement, the light coming through Rachel's window glinted dramatically off of her glasses. She folded her arms, sitting down in her desk chair and continuing to listen to Graymalk as he talked, mostly ignoring the new girl.

"Interesting... we can talk later about all of that, then, I suppose. So, pick up a letter, huh?" she asked. "That seems simple enough. So you just need me to take you to the post office, right?"  

[Ko Miyabi]

"Yeah, whatever. As long as I don't get raped, I'm all good." Amorella said, ignoring the girls icy tone, "I'm Amorella. What are you guys' names?"  

[Stephen Pact]

Graymalk was deeply preturbed that the winged girl had seen him speak, but the damage was done. Most likely no one would believe her, even if she did tell, but he'd take precautions just in case.

"yeah, pretty much. Well, that and actually pick up the letter, I mean. I'll sign a piece of paper for you to present for it; they don't really like to give cats letters, if you see what I mean. Oh, and if you could get a couple of feathers or maybe a lock of hair from our new winged friend there, that might help a bit too." Graymalk added. "I like to have some insurance, just in case."

Graymalk paused. He wasn't really used to this particular aspect of human interaction, but he knew something more was required of him. "I really do appreciate this, Rachel. Jill and I will make your trouble up to you when the time comes." he added.  

[Misao]

Rachel nodded to Graymalk and then looked back over to the girl sitting on her bed, jerking a thumb toward the cat. "Well, you heard him. Pony up. Think of it as payment for letting you hide here." She opened her desk drawer, taking out a pair of scissors and tossing them onto the bed next to the girl. "Anyway... yeah. I'm Rachel, and this is Graymalk."

She sighed again.  

[Ko Miyabi]

"No cutting! I'll pull one out!" Amorella exclaimed, throwing the scissors back. She pulled out a few strands of hair and a feather,, squinting her eyes in pain as she did. Before hand them over she asked, "Why do I have to give you this? If this is to curse me, you're getting nothing!"