undergrounds | The June Detective [Open]

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The June Detective [Open]

A: Everyone's a critic

The only negative thing about his promotion was that Heiji really only had a select few people he could even tell about it -- mention you weren't really a human in casual conversation, see how long till you ended up under psychiatric evaluation. Still, Heiji could hardly conceal his good mood. Thus he had rewarded himself with the latest moderately detective-themed airplane novel by a decent writer that he could find, and was rapidly making his way through it on the train, in the park, wherever.

"I dunno. I can understand likin' a writer a lot. I don't see why anyone would commit murder because of it, though. Ain't that goin' a little too far?"

B: I've just had a little fae experience

Provided they slipped through just the right set of trees, someone might just find the rest of London fade away -- the noise of traffic, the noise of the crowd. Dense forest would press in from all sides, but a stone walkway would lead up below a long row of brightly-painted red wooden gates of some ceremonial significance.

At the top of the stone steps: a small shrine, with two guardian fox statues on either side. How curious...

C Other! Open to suggestions and such; Heiji will also just be outright barging into the personal space of whoever he's friendly with and starting up conversations during the month, so that's a thing, too.

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And Stiles hardly needs encouragement to talk.

“Okay, so like. There was this kid we grew up with, right? Total douchebag. Couldn’t stand his guts. Feeling was mutual.”

The flower is placed on Heiji’s head, between his ears, while Stiles goes to pick more.

“Turns out? He could shapeshift into this nasty, lizard…snake thing. Except none of us knew it was him at first. We even went to a gay club to try and suss him out—oh! Not like, suss him out of the closet or anything. He’s not gay. I don’t think. …Huh.”

Now he’s considering a homosexual Jackson. It would certainly increase Stiles’ chances of ever getting with Lydia.

Heiji closed his eyes reflexively when Stiles reached up to put the flower on his head. He didn't protest, but only listened, and did not shake it out of his fur.

"Can't tell by appearances," he agreed, nodding sagely. The little flower looked adorable. "So ya found him out?"

"Yep. Lots of people got hurt before we did, though. Some died."

Grimacing, he tries not to recall the terrified screams for help from the car mechanic who was slowly crushed to death. Stiles had visited Ms. Morrell for psychological guidance quite a few times after that.

"My friend..." A pause, while he decides if he wants to tell Heiji this much. "My best friend and I were wandering the woods last year. We shouldn't have been. It was my fault for dragging him along." Suddenly, the words are rushing out of him, like a confession. "He got bitten. By a werewolf. Neither of us had known about...stuff before then, and we had to figure it all out on our own. It kinda sucked."

Jesus, how was Teen Wolf a comedy.

Heiji listened carefully to Stiles's story, scooting a little closer and resting his head on his paws in the way a dog might when listening to a similar confession. So that was Stiles's story. Why he seemed so practiced at poking around in an underworld that probably should have terrified him.

"Is your friend okay? The one who got bitten?"

"Scott? Yeah! He's okay."

Stiles looks like he's about to say something, only to abruptly shake his head. He's not going to sit here and waste a day in the Other Realm whining about his insecurities where Scott is concerned. So, after dumping a handful of flowers along Heiji's spine, he makes a great show of taking a huge breath and studying the lake.

"Is there a fae Loch Ness monster?"

Heiji flopped a tail around Stile's shoulders like an oversized fur stole.

"Well, there're plenty of water fae, but I ain't so sure about that plesiosaur thing. Usually the 'monsters' that pull in the big tourist dollars are... well, designed to bring in tourist dollars. Ran into more than one case where people were blaming a vampire or a kamaitachi or whatever else for their problems, and it turned out to be a hoax."

But just so he wasn't crushing Stiles's dreams: "...Though I've never been to Loch Ness, so I can't say for sure. You into that kinda stuff? UFOs and power crystals and things?"

Fox tails are so bushy and fluffy. Unthinking, he begins to weave the flower stems into the thick strands of fur. As he does so, he’s struck by a sudden and inane regret for the squirrel he ran over a few months ago in his jeep. RIP little critter. You’re in a better place now. Maybe.

“Yeah, man!” But then he pauses, reconsidering. His enthusiasm had felt derived, somehow. “Actually…I used to be? I still am! It’s just…y’know, after watching your best bud transform into a bloodthirsty wolf, aliens kinda lose their charm. They’re still so cool, don’t get me wrong!”

Yes, like a giant squirrel farm in the sky. Full of white oaks and acorns, and definitely no barking dogs.

"I think I know whatcha mean. I mostly like readin' about it in case it might come in useful someday. Of course, it kinda loses a bit of mystery if you run into supernatural things all the time..."

Or if you are supernatural. Stiles, what are you doing to his tail... "Werewolves have that problem, huh? I never thought too much about it, 'cause there were never a bunch of them around. But they do have that specialty jewelry, yeah? Helps them control it."

Once the human is through with him, Heiji is undoubtedly going to be the prettiest fox in both the Other Realm and real world combined. The braids are clumsily done, since the fur is rather short and Stiles can only vaguely remember how to do this—the last time he braided anything, it was Heather’s hair when they were children. But it keeps his hands busy while they chat.

Nodding in agreement to the first observation, Stiles tilts his head in interest to the following detail. Jewelry?

“I’ve been told there’s a potion to help with the shifts.” At least, that’s what Derek informed him at the party. “The jewelry thing is news to me, though. Sounds kind of tacky…werewolf bling.”

I mean that was like saying Heiji wasn't already the prettiest fox, though. He did his best to stay still while Stiles braided, though the temptation to shake himself like a dog was fairly strong.

"Yeah, It's called Moonlight Jewelry. 'Course, I only know about it through rumor. But supposedly it lets a werewolf access their powers whenever they want." He curled a couple of his tails thoughtfully. "I wonder if I could help with that..."

Good point. Heiji is definitely already the prettiest fox.

"Moonlight Jewelry." Snorting, he rolls his eyes skyward. "Wow, creative much? What bozo named that? Next you'll tell me there's Daylight Jewelry for vamps."

But because that's silly, he doesn't even wait for an answer before moving along.

"How could you help?"

Hahaha, yeah, about that...

Heiji settled back on his haunches, crossing one front paw over the other. "I'm pretty good at illusion magic -- most foxes are. Actually, some of us are so good at it, you can hardly tell from the real thing. And things like trees or the moon, they're some of the first subjects we practice! So I wonder..."

Gaze narrowing, Stiles squints at Heiji before turning in a wide circle. Illusions…right, he does remember seeing something like that in his online research. But that begs the question…

“Are you doing anything illusiony now? Is the way you look on the other side fake?”

Probably not the most sensitive wording, but it’s Stiles; when he’s fascinated, he hardly thinks about what he’s saying.

"Fake? You hopin' I'm a hot chick or somethin'?" Heiji had to think the question over for a moment, because people rarely asked him how shapeshifting worked and he did it instinctively.

"When I change shape, I turn into whatever it is."

Was that. Helpful?

A pause, Stiles' face shifting as if he's about to say, "Well..." in response to the question. Great. Now he's imagining Heiji as a hot chick. Or, rather, trying to; the other boy isn't exactly effeminate. Distracted by his imagination, he doesn't quite understand what Heiji means initially.

"So...the shapeshifting is real then. But if you wanted to, you could make an illusion to look like a hot chick? Or, just shift into one?"

"I guess so, yeah. But I don't usually do it. It's kinda like... you could put on a dress and makeup, right? Dress up like a girl? But that wouldn't really be you, and you'd probably be more comfortable after you put your normal clothes back on."

He paused. "...Wait, are you imagining me as a hot chick?"

This conversation is giving Stiles way too much food for thought. Expression blank, he stares out at the lake and pictures himself in a dress with makeup. Yeah, that definitely wouldn’t really be him. He totally doesn’t have the figure for it.

“Um.”

Technically, he’s imagining himself as a hot chick at the moment, but a few seconds ago…

“May…be? Can you blame me?!”

You never know, Stiles. With the right makeup and a good cincher...

Heiji crossed one paw over the other, suddenly interested in this topic of conversation. "Oh, oh! Can I be Beyonce? I wanna be Beyonce!"

Well I mean... if he was going to be a girl.

"Dude, you are too narrow and flat to be Beyonce. Dream on!"

Sorry, Heiji... It is an unobtainable dream...

"What?" Now he just sounded affronted, like how dare you Stiles. How dare you question his Beyoncetude. "I am not! You take that back!"

Heiji shifted then into human form -- but not his usual appearance. Instead, he was a girl who did indeed look like Beyonce. But not entirely. Maybe a Beyonce impersonator? He looked at his reflection in the water and frowned a little. His hair still had the flowers in it.

"Okay, I need a little practice. But I could get it!"

“Yes,” Stiles says faintly, eyes huge and nearly popping out of his skull, “yes, you could get it.”

If you’re under the impression that he isn’t talking about mastery over the illusion, you are correct. Damn! Lady Heiji can totally get it. Stiles is a little confused over whether or not it’s weird to not-so-objectively think your guy friend makes a hot girl. Ultimately, he decides it’s not weird. It’s just a testament to how good Heiji is! Clearly.

“Okay dude, shift back, this is bizarre.”

And back to fox form, clearly proud of himself because it was a compliment if you made a hot girl, right? Right...?

"Yeah, so I don't do that too often. Oh, check it out!" As the sun disappeared over the horizon, small glowing lights emerged from the grasses, flitting above the surface of the lake.

"Pixies," Heiji said quietly.

Startled from his thoughts by the observation, Stiles turns his attention to those tiny, luminescent lights. He’s about to ask if they’re fireflies when Heiji supplies him with the correct word.

“Pixies?” he echoes, just as quietly, in case the pixies were sensitive to disruptions or something. “I’m guessing not like the straw candy you suck…”

"Yeah, you know. Those little fairies. Not all that dangerous unless you rile up a bunch of them." Then it was kind of like sticking your hand into a swarm of angry bees.

Since they were being quiet, one of them ventured over to the two, flitting this way and that. Once she got close enough, it was possible to see that she was not actually a light, but a tiny winged humanoid. She gave Stiles a brief curtsy.

“Oh my god!” he whispers frantically, his excitement bleeding through the hushed tones. “She…she totally just curtsied to me! Am I supposed to curtsy back or something!?”

Traditionally, the male equivalent is to bow, but this is Stiles so he doesn’t even think of that. Reaching over, he plucks out one of the flowers he braided in Heiji’s tails to offer it to the pixie. Sorry, bro. Ladies first.

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