Finding my way around this new place

[Ronan Engel]

"Do I seem shy to you?" he asked, side-eyeing Stefjan now that he was sitting beside him, slinking an arm around his shoulders like he thought Ronan was about to go wriggling away. He didn't. He also didn't lean away from him the way Kode was earlier on the couch. He remained where he was with an amused expression crossing his face. Then he looked up, watching Kode get up. Poor fella. They obviously made him uncomfortable. Maybe he didn't like dudes being close to dudes. Maybe he just didn't like all the affection. Or whatever this was. It wasn't like they had hands down their pants or they were undressing. Heavens, they didn't even kiss. But maybe in Kode's world, all of this was taboo.

"Technically, it's safe right now," he said as Kode disappeared but his new roommate was gone after that, seemingly content to leave the pair to their own devices. Honestly, Ronan hadn't expected this meeting so soon. Or even, really, at all. If he was honest, playing around and flirting online was one thing. It was another thing when they were together like this.

"So you just want a mouse, is that it? Should I be worried you have some kind of fetish?" said the guy with a fetish of his own that certainly wasn't on the Common list.

[Stefjan Auer]

"...not as such, no..." Stef admitted, about to ask Kode what his opinion on the matter was--when Kode got up and sidled out of the room. "No dude--wait! You don't have to..." He trailed off. Well now Stef felt like a jerk. He didn't mean to chase the poor guy off; it wasn't like Stef minded if he was there to witness the great mouse...ening. Or whatever it was that Ronan was going to show him.

"Technically... yes..." He heard the gentle click of a door being shut and turned back fully to Ronan with a tiny shrug. Ah, well. Maybe he was making Kode uncomfortable. (Maybe there was no maybe about it, and he actually did make Kode feel uncomfortable.) Stef came on a bit strong now and then, but he was mostly harmless. At least he had no malicious intentions.

Mind returning to the oh-so-intriguing mouse thing, he studied Ronan for a little bit. "If I do have a weird mouse fetish, then you gotta admit it's like... fate or something that I ran into you. Since you just happen to be able to turn into a mouse." He grinned and leaned in closer, slightly tightening his hold on Ronan. Maybe Ronan wouldn't escape but by his own admission he liked being chased and that made him a slippery fella.

Well, Stef had him right now and he wasn't letting go!

"C'mon. Show me your mouse thing. And then I'll show you something really good."

[Ronan Engel]

"Hm... like what?" Ronan asked in a vague tone. "Are you going to become a cat and chase me...?"

Because he was totally fine with that. They were sitting deceptively close to one another, for a pair of people that had passed each other in the halls many times but never had a real conversation in person until now. Strange, how life could be that way. With hooded eyes, he watched Stefjan for a long moment, then lightly clapped his hands together.

"All right. I'll do it. But you're not allowed to be disappointed when I do."

Because if he heard a that's it, he was going to might disappointed in Stefjan, too. But that was a story for another time.

Shifting didn't hurt for Ronan and it sort of came and went exactly like magic. One moment he was sitting there as a proper, prim man with a deceptively innocent smile and the next there was a gentle puff of magic~ and in his place was an impossibly tiny mouse figure with markings that were clearly not normal for any real mouse. His fur was white in the face, with red around the eyes. The white faded into a pale blue over his back and it curled slightly around the back of his ears and around the tiny pink feet. The tail was covered in fine fur that deepened into a darker blue.

He looked up at Stefjan, now a giant before him. He lifted his two front paws as if to say, voila.

[Stefjan Auer]

Stef smiled his most mysterious of smiles and shook his head. No cats. That was too obvious. Waaay too obvious. Games of cat and mouse were fun and all but if he had to be honest, he was kind of shit at them. Too eager, people said of him. Too honest. He was an open book to any who cared to look, which was probably how Ronan could run circles around him.

"I withhold the right to be disappointed. Quit stalling already man!" He finally let go of Ronan so that he could make with the mouse-shifting and after a brief moment, something happened. Something magical. Not in the Disney way but in a real and tangible way that he felt with every cell of his body. He, too, was a magical being after all--something he ascribed to as the reason that he was oh-so-special (even if only on his own mind). When magic happened around him, he felt it.

"Whoa..."

Stef scrutinized the tiny mouse keenly, with all the focus he was capable of. Obviously this was no ordinary mouse; the coloration was all different and it was barely big enough for him to make out with his naked eyes. (Or er... with the naked eye.) He studied it from top to bottom, side-to-side and even front to back. Then, lifting up his shirt to expose his navel, he measured the height of the teeny mouse with his fingers and then brought it down to his belly button to see if the size was right. Just about, he thought. Just about enough room for a mouse of that size to squeeze in there.

"Huh. Yeah," he mused, with a serious and scholarly nod, as if coming to a great conclusion. "It could work..."

[Ronan Engel]

It could work, he said! Of course it could work! Ronan was a magical little mouse. He wasn't just some ordinary house mouse, thank you very much. But of course, in this form, he couldn't say as much. All he could do was make a small, indignant squeak, as if to say you didn't believe me? Sitting back, he watched Stef for a long moment, trying hard not to look at the exposed navel. It was just... it was just such a strong desire. He couldn't hope to explain it to a random human who had never felt that desire before.

His curiosity was probably satiated though. Probably. Ronan lifted his little mouse face, tiny black eyes on Stef. Then turning his head, he concentrated and POOF! In a burst of magical energy, Ronan the human was there again. Unlike shifters from this plane of existence, Ronan could shift between forms with clothing and accessories. Lucky him, although he didn't actually care one way or another whether Stef saw him in the nude. That was a human thing, being prude and shy with their naked bodies.

"So?" he said, leaning slightly forward. "Believe me now?"

[Stefjan Auer]

POOF

Just like that, Ronan was back and the littlest mouse Stef ever saw was gone. That was pretty impressive, too; Stef usually took forever to shift in and out of his doggy form and it hurt like hell! He wanted to shift like this! It looked effortless and painless. Envious of Ronan's abilities, which were a distinct class above his own, Stef nodded. He leaned forward too, until the tips of their noses just about booped. "Yep," he said simply; kinda hard to deny that he didn't believe Ronan when it just happened before his eyes!

His text message alarm went off, though, and he veered off to look at it. "Shit, my sister's out of her class early," he sighed, texting her back to let her know that he was on his way. She wasn't allowed to walk home by herself, so one of her big brothers had to fetch her from dance class and escort her home. Usually that was Emil, but today Emil was 'busy' volunteering at the library so Stef it was.

"Sorry babe, I gotta jet." Stef stuffed his phone back into his pocket. "But pre-party tomorrow, right?" He grinned as he eased forward again, taking liberties with a light peck to the side of Ronan's jaw; that was something he was looking forward to even more than the party itself!