Snippet #2212446

Izzie'd expected everyone to be totally impressed and awed by her incredible animagus skills-- well, her incredible half-animagus skills, at least until she figured out how to get back to bein' a good 'ol human bein'. In the meantime, though, shock, awe, general praise and worship, that sorta thing, y'know?

Apparently, however, a huge tiger bounding towards you roarin' to the heavens was cause for a little less shock/awe/general praise and worship and a little more terror, judging by Niles' reaction, which was to scream out "HOLY FUCK" (Did Niles just swear? I think I totally just made Niles swear. Why am I suddenly very proud of this?) and then go tumblin' on down to the ground. His cry alerted the others, who turned in short order to face Izzie, who had by now stopped and was looking at everyone with an odd mixture of confusion, remnant elation, and perhaps a bit of concern that they were all gonna turn around and go all 'AVADA KEDAVRA' on her tiger ass. Which, y'know, that tended to put a damper on anybody's day. Plus, knowin' her luck, after death she'd turn back into a human and end up all naked. And that woulda been pretty awkward. All 'OH HEY TIGER KILL IT DEAD oh wait that's Izzie and now she's dead and well then would you look at that she's naked well this is one of the more awkward situations to have come about this past year'.

Fortunately, they did not go all 'AVADA KEDAVRA' on her tiger ass. Niles did get on up off'a his ass and walked up towards her, and Izzie, figuring it was best to look calm and confident at this point, sat on down on her haunches and took to returning the weird eye-to-eye stare Niles fixed her with. Couple seconds passed before he clambered on up to his feet, turned to the others, and said, "It's Izzie. The stupid girl has turned herself into a tiger."

Whoa whoa whoa, stupid? Girl? "I can understand you, asshole," she grunted, though out of the tiger's maws came only an angry growl as she fixed Niles with a death glare. He was gonna suffer for that one soon's Izzie had fists to hit things with again. And anyway, the fuck, man? Stupid? She'd just turned herself into a motherfuckin' tiger, for fuck sake. Had Niles ever so much as turned into a goddamn squirrel? If I could do transfiguration worth a shit, that could be arranged, she couldn't help but muse, before her irritation at Niles and the mental image of turning him into a squirrel (a most delightful mental image, one may add) was shoved aside by the unusual outburst of one Celine Marie Du'Frost, who went off on Izzie like Argus Filch on a dungbomb. "WHAT THE HELL IZ." She shoved Monty aside and stamped over to Izzie and got right up in her face as though she'd never seen a tiger before in her life. Izzie raised an eyebrow (or tried. She really wasn't sure how that expression carried over for tigers). "Monty has a secret hide out and you can turn yourself into a freakin' tiger?!" she exclaimed right into Izzie's face.

"I just learnt how to do it," Izzie replied evenly, which... still came out as a less than friendly growl. Oh yeah. Tiger. Guess I'm gonna have to get used to that.

Anyway, Celine was backing off now, and she seemed to chill the fuck out before saying, "Okay Izzie, you got us good. Go ahead and turn back now."

Ah, but therein lies the crux of the issue! Izzie wanted to proclaim grandiosely, except that probably woulda come out as a roar and she didn't really need that happenin' right now. What she did need happenin' was a transformation back into a human, but that wasn't workin' out neither. Well, by now, she was pretty sure she was gonna have to go back and run into that tree, since apparently that'd been key to the whole thing.

Of course, right about now, Monty was startin' to get into it as well. With, of course, the all-too-Monty responce of "Well, damn." He approached Izzie much like the other two, and she prepared herself to get stared at in the eye again like the others had done, figurin' this was gettin' a bit old and she had to get on with runnin' into that tree again. However, he didn't kneel down to look her in the eye. Instead, he reached down and started pokin' at her.

Now, Izzie'd read it in all too many books that Animaguses (Animagi? Some plural shit like that.) were slightly more prone to their instincts whilst in their animal form than usual. Now, needless to say, Izzie was not someone who particularly appreciated being touched in her human form, and she woulda had a few choice words (and probably a few choice punches) in store for whatever fool had decided to go off proddin' at her like some sorta mildly interesting specimen. And had she been of her fully human mental faculties, perhaps she would have reacted by batting Monty's hand away gently with a paw, maybe stepping away and growling a bit. You know, calm, chill shit like that. Except, before Izzie realised it, soon's she realised Monty was touching her, a not-entirely-human rage boiled up inside her, and she sprang viciously to her hind legs with a less than pleased bellow.

"...oops," she murmured as her paws hit the ground once again and she stepped back a bit, looking almost abashed. Hell, even in the growl of a tiger it came out sounding just a bit apologetic as she glanced back at Monty. He was, as ever, unshaken, though she figured she'd come a bit too close to accidentally attacking him for comfort. Guess that's another thing that's gonna take some work, she noted to herself. That was makin' kind of a long list now. Turning back into a human, everything she said soundin' like she wanted to rip a fucker's throat out, and, of course, self control. That single most loathsome of virtues Izzie had managed to avoid having anything to do with until now. Figures. In order to be a badass tiger, I gotta learn how to be a fuckin' pussy.

Monty, however, unflappable as ever, merely turned back to advise her. "Just chill out." Izzie raised an eyebrow. "It’s really easy. All you have to do is remember what it was like to have hands and feet and such. Call up a memory of using your limbs, and focus on that feeling."

...huh. He was advisin' her on how to turn back into a human? Fuck, had Monty ever even met an Animagus? Why--how...what would he'a known about it? Hell if she knew. But to hell with it, wasn't like she had much better on her list of options, and she figured it was worth a go before she went and had at that tree again in desperation.

So she, as suggested, chilled out, and tried to remember what it was like to have hands with opposable thumbs. Then she thought of something that involved the use of those hands-- specifically, she thought of punching Niles, really hard, for that 'stupid girl' comment, because hell knew he deserved it. Stupid girl, my ass, she ranted bitterly. She didn't see his ass turnin' into a fuckin' tiger, did she? That shit took fuckin' skill, man. And, apparently, a good sense of trees to run into was similarly instrumental. Now the question was, how was she gonna turn back into a tiger when she oh hey look she was a human now.

Izzie realised she was still sitting all crouched on the ground-- and, much to the good fortune of pretty much everyone involved, her clothes had transfigurated along with her to once again clothe her newly human body. She almost felt a bit disappointed to be human again, she had to admit--there'd been somethin' about bein' a tiger that was just... fuckin' awesome in and of itself. Wait, what am I saying, why wouldn't it be awesome in and of itself? Man, sometimes Izzie surprised herself with how irrational she could be. That kind of thing was just common sense, after all.

"Anywaaaaaaay..." she spoke, and this time what emerged was her good 'ol rough-hewn voice, like someone had shoved a pile of razors down her throat. She glanced from Niles to Celine, before recollection struck her. "Oh yeah!" She reached over, and pounded Niles once on the arm with her fist. "s'for the 'stupid girl' thing. I probably oughta hit you harder and more for that, but fuck it, I totally just turned into a tiger. Nothin' can down my spirits right now!" She grinned from ear to ear, and gone now were the rows of pointed predator teeth, replaced by plan 'ol Izzie teeth, and gone was the confusion and animalistic anger in her eyes, replaced by a genuine happiness. 'cause, you know, tiger. What wasn't to be happy about?

"Right. Rocks? No rocks?" Monty asked, re-emerging from his private little stock. "I was thinking just whiskey…but I’ve got soda out here, and just about anything else you can think of. I’m a man of variety, and I have the working knowledge of a bartender, so if any of you have a particular drink in mind, let me know.”

"Naw, I'm cool dude," Izzie replied in the negative to the offer for alcohol (which, if she'd realised it, would probably have freaked her the fuck out, but by god, she had no time for her usual alcoholism right now, because she was a damn tiger now and whatnot). "Hell, I reckons I owe you a drink. Y'know, fer nearly tryin'a kill ya back there." She shrugged. "Let bygones be bygones?" she ventured as though, y'know, people turning into tigers and attacking their friends was just one of those things-- it happened, you laughed it off, joked about it every now and then, and everything was totally chill after that.