undergrounds | Kissing Frogs; Curse Catch-All

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Kissing Frogs; Curse Catch-All

September 7th

Girl has a lot on her plate, with the full moon passing and Katherine's plans on the horizon. She's not sure what she thinks about Katherine's big idea; she doesn't want to rock the boat, especially after hiding what she'd done for Jo, but the thought of biting anyone makes her squirm. Her doubts about it are buzzing around her head as she walks from the school toward the den, eyes on her scuffed shoes instead of on her surroundings.

Bumping into someone isn't be a big deal, she's done it dozens of times since moving to the city. She stumbles to the left, flattening herself against a building and turns to apologize. "Sorry! Really, I'm sorry. Wasn't watchin' where I-"

There's no one standing there, even though she knew she'd just hit someone. There is, however, a frog sitting on the sidewalk. As well as what's she's pretty sure was the stranger's clothes.

"What the hell."

Late September

Frogs. For once she isn't worried about wolf problems but about frogs.But all she's got to do is just avoid touching anyone until this was over. Pretend to have a cold at school so the other students would avoid her. Warn off all her less than human friends from touching her. Spend more time at the warehouse than the den and at home. Just avoid setting off the curse at all. It's a simple solution. And it's getting very old, very fast.

Girl would have never called herself touch starved before, but having to keep her hands to herself is making her irritable. Going out makes her nervous of hitting someone again, but she can't just stay in all day in the vain hopes of this thing blowing over. So Girl runs out to the only supernaturally inclined book store she knows of trying to find a cure. She takes it to the park after midnight, to an abandoned parking lot where she can set up candles, to river side with a crudely carved wooden frog-anything that she can try to break the curse. So what if jumping on one leg and saying stuff backwards doesn't work and earns her some strange looks? At least she's trying.

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She gets no answer, at least not a verbal one. She could have guessed, but it's still a disappointment. The look he shoots her makes her wince. "Well it's not my fault," she grumbles, crossing her arms over her chest defensively.

But Girl visibly deflates just seconds later. For all she knows, it could be. The wolves had been causing some trouble lately, fighting with the vampires over land. She knows at least one witch is working for the blood suckers, who's to say they didn't have more on the payroll to pass out a little misery for the wolves?

Girl holds up a finger, pulling out her phone. First instinct is to call Laura. She has to know something about curses, being a former witch. The line's busy and Girl groans in frustration. To Dodger, she tries to give an assuring smile. "Someone will come by here soon, so we'll have help. In the meantime, I'll figure out somethin'. All curves can be broken, I just gotta remember how in a way that ain't from a kid's bedtime story."

Kid's bedtime story about breaking curses? He ain't never heard one like that. Plenty about breaking into places, and breaking out, but never breaking curses. Then again, life in the den was a bit atypical compared to... everywhere else.

He still stares up at her, wondering if she'll just somehow think something up to make it better.

She chews on her lip, running her hand over her short hair. If it was longer, she'd be pulling on it out of frustration. "Those only ever broke the curse with a kiss."

She collapses onto the table near Dodger, blowing out a harsh breath. She eyes him, a little embarrassed and a lot frazzled. "Don't take that as me lookin' for some excuse to kiss ya. I mean, I'm gonna do whatever I can to make you go back person sized. I just ain't some weirdo."

The look that passes over froggy Dodger could be clearly read as "ain't looking for an excuse to kiss you either." Of course, frogs cannot give expressions like that, but he was a human bespelled into a frog.

... This was a weird day.

She makes a face at him, nose scrunching up and lips curling. She's not happy about the idea either; Girl doesn't particularly care for amphibians on a good day let alone when faced with the idea of kissing one. But she also doesn't like the idea of facing her friend being frog shaped for the foreseeable future. Girl leans toward him, frowning.

"Just to see if it works, okay? Don't run away." She's already flushed, embarrassed that it won't work and that he'll have something to tease her about once they find a real cure. But if it could help...

Girl leans over and delivers a quick peck atop of Dodger's head, pulling back just as quickly to rub her hand over her lips with a revolted look.

He kind of wanted to laugh because there wasn't any way that kissing was going to break... whatever this was. After all, by the way she put it, it was just kids' stuff, and 'kids stuff' had never been his life. Also part of him really wanted to laugh at the look on Girl's face at having to kiss him - even if he was also insisting that he was a good kisser and there weren't no need for that look.

Of course, then the kiss turned him back to himself.

"... Ribbit?"

Girl's busy for a moment, scrubbing the feel of frog skin from her mouth. It preoccupies her enough that she doesn't immediately notice the change happening beside her. The change in tone between the frog noises and Dodger's imitation makes her look up. And seeing him sudden back again makes her fall from her seat on the table.

"Ow, shit. That-" Girl sits up, rubbing her back. The annoyed look on her face quickly turns excited. "Wait? That worked? You're okay!"

"Feel like I've crawled through a sewer, but I'm alright," he confirms, brushing at his arms to get rid of dust. "What the hell happened that I went all frog? Ain't thinkin' you could do that."

"Are you sure? Everything's back in place?" Her nose is wrinkled as she looks him over, half expecting to see green spots or missing toes. She stands up slowly, making an aborted move toward him like she wants to sweep him into a relieved hug. "I don't know! I've never seen that happen before. Couldn't have been me. Only thing I can do is turn furry once a month."

"Feels like it is," he said, giving himself a little shake as if to confirm it. He frowned. "Pissed off any witches?"

She grabs his hat from the table, holding it out to him with a flourish. A grimace crosses Girl's face. "Pretty sure wolves and witches are always pissin' each other off in this city. But I didn't think I did anything to 'em especially."

Ah, hat! He takes it, wiping any dust or debris off of it.

"So this came outta nowhere?"

"I wouldn't have been freakin' out if I knew it would happen." She probably wouldn't, at least. "Figured if something were to happen crazy 'round here it'd be 'cause of the vampires. Not frogs."

He wasn't really sure what to say to that because... well, she had a point. He was also feeling - for some weird reason - almost guilty that he had been at the root of a freak out for her. It was odd, to say the least, for the Dodger to feel guilt about something like that, but there it was. So he did what he did best, and grinned.

"As for how to fix that... if you were looking for an excuse to kiss me, you coulda just asked."

A flush crawls up the back of her neck, eyes going wide. For a moment she thinks he's being serious and she stutters awkwardly, unsure how to talk her way out if he's going to get upset with her. Then she laughs, startled and embarrassed.

"Sure. 'cause I'd so rather kiss ya when you're all gross and froggy than kiss a person."

The Dodger laughs, brightly, and grins at her.

"Well, we can sort that 'a person' bit out now."

The flush darkens, but Girl smiles and puts her hands on her hips. "I'll believe that when I see you do something 'bout it."

The Dodger grins and steps closer to her. "Reckon I could do something now."

She still half believes he's just teasing her, so Girl levels him with a challenging look. "Then get to it. Less talk, more doin'."

He laughs, and then leans in as if to kiss her.

She holds her breath -and her ground. It's tempting to dart away and let him laugh about it, but she stubbornly stays still, waiting to see how far he plans to take it.

It's light, a brief pressing of his own lips against hers. But it can't be mistaken for anything other than a kiss.

She almost starts; Girl honestly hadn't expected him to do that. She blinks at him in clear surprise, before her lips slowly curl into a small smile. Unexpected or not, she can't pretend she's upset about it. After all, he is the most interesting person her own age she knows.

"You're always keepin' me on my toes, ain't you?" She's just going to ignore the heat still in her cheeks. "Suppose that was only fair, after I had to do it to you and all."

"If I'm not keepin' ya on yer toes, where's the fun." It's a cheeky grin he responds with, and a laugh.

She rubs her cheeks, laughs at him. "Well, guess it wouldn't be right for me to deny you any fun. Not like I'm really complainin' about it anyway. It's not just fun for you."

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