Jurisdiction (open)

[casey]

Missions like this always made Casey nervous. For one thing, it was one thing to shape-shift into someone, to take on their features and make them your own. It was quite another to mimic someone in front of people they knew everyday.

But that's what Casey had to do now. He'd adopted the guise of a local Sergeant: a pot-bellied family man who loved donuts almost as much as he loved his kids. The kind of man who smiled and laughed his way through life, perfectly content to just raise a family.

How Casey envied him.

"Yeah, these forms are such a pain in the kiester to fill out," he chuckled, shaking his head. The officer behind the desk laughed along with him, recognizing the "sarg's" quaint sense of humor. Of course, Casey also made certain to laugh from his stomach, and grin broadly at the officer.

Soon the report had been filed and Casey could leave the department. The shapeshifter turned, heading for the door.

And stopped.

What the...?

[Ϛ Neilen Darkshire]

Rule Number One: Don't Draw Unnecessary Attention To Yourself

A bar brawl may not have been the best way to keep a low profile, but sometimes there are rules more important than number one. Rules like The Golden Rule.

The Golden Rule: Do Unto Others As They Have Done Unto You

Which meant that when someone started something with him in a bar, he was obliged to finish it, regardless of getting kicked out, arrested, and charged with assault for breaking a few of the guys' bones.

But Neilen was smart; he'd been cooperative the whole way to the station, and they'd been lax with watching him, giving him the perfect setup for making his escape. No way he was dealing with the questions that would inevitably come up when they booked him. So when they sat him in a chair and went to get the paperwork, he stepped through the cuffs so his arms were in front of him, looked around to make sure no one was watching him, and assumed the form of a nearby officer. He held his arms more or less naturally in front of him and got up to make his escape.

Unfortunately, the officer he shapeshifted into happened to be the same one Casey was imitating, and Casey turned around just in time to see him about to leave. Not good.

The only solid thought in his mind was that he needed to get away, and that this guy was probably not going to let him just waltz out. So, acting on the surprise the man no doubt felt at seeing another of himself, he roughly grabbed him by the shoulder and quickly exited the building, ducking into the first alley he saw and facing the officer.

Of course, he hadn't really thought past the grabbing and running, so alll he managed was an oh-so-intelligent, "Uh..."

[casey]

Fortunately, Casey could think on his feet much better than Neilen. As soon as he saw the other man step in, he opened his arms wide, grinning.

"Brother! I didn't know you were coming in tod--" he was cut off as Neilen yanked him out of the building. Chuckling, Casey waved over his shoulder, rolling his eyes at his "brother."

As he was dragged into an alley, Casey tried to work over the details. There were two possibilities here. Either he'd encountered the real Sergeant or another shapeshifter. Casey guessed that if it were the former, the Sergeant wouldn't have dragged him out here. It would have been much easier to confront the duplicate in the precinct, surrounded by witnesses and friends. Much easier than dragging him into an alley.

So this was probably another shape-shifter, and possibly a rogue.

"Look, sir," Casey said. He lifted both hands, showing he was unarmed. "I'm not going to do anything to harm you. So why don't you just explain why we're wearing the same face, okay?"

[Ϛ Neilen Darkshire]

Neilen may have had difficulties thinking on his feet at times, but if there was one thing he was good at, it was recovering and regrouping. Which was why instead of following his first instinct to knock out the man and drug him or something so he'd blame the whole incident on hallucinations, he took a moment to think things out.

He greeted me as his brother, which is either an amazing coincidence or a cover-up. But now he's acting like he doesn't know me, or my disguise anyway, though he sounds alot like he knows what I am. That means... he's probably a shape-shifter too. Sh**. What have I gotten into? I probably blew the poor guy's cover...

Yes, Neilen frequently worried about himself before others, even his friends, but that was just a survival instinct. He'd probably have been dead long ago if he didn't act that way. But he had some strange respect for or sense of brotherhood with others who shared his Gift. He knew the life they led because he'd lived it himself, and he didn't like making things difficult for them any more than he liked making things difficult for himself.

So he cooperated.

"My apologies," he said, his tone first automatically mimicking the others, and then settling into to his proper voice. "I didn't mean to cause you any difficulty. I just don't want to end up in a cell, for reasons you don't need to know. So if you're not going to lock me up, I don't have a problem with you, and I'd be glad to help you fix what I broke if you want."

It was an amazingly serious and civil bit of dialogue, especially coming from him. Not that this man knew how he ordinarily acted.

[casey]

Well, Casey had more or less figured that. There were only two reasons for using shape-shifting in a situation like that: Casey's and getting out of trouble. Since Casey highly doubted that his fellow shifter had a mission granted from the Academy, he figured the latter made most sense.

Which also confirmed that this was, in fact, not the real Sergeant. Therefore the act was unnecessary, pointless, and insulting.

Casey's features shifted suddenly, and his true form stood in its place. He glanced down at his suit, then up at Neilen.

"Look, I probably don't have any problem with you either, assuming you're registered with the Academy. Otherwise I'm going to have to escort you there. I'm guessing you're a shifter or some sort, or that's an elaborate glamor," Casey narrowed his eyes, studying the man. A Fae certainly wouldn't want to get arrested for many reasons.

"Nothing should be broke, though the Sergeant's going to have a fun time explaining his 'twin' to the rest of his precinct when he comes in for work," Casey shrugged. "I'll just use a different identity next time I need to check police records. Now, are you registered or what?"

[Ϛ Neilen Darkshire]

Rule Number Two: Never Tell Them Who You Really Are

Rule number two was having a hell of a time with rule number one, duking it out 'battle royale' style. One the one hand, lying would preserve his identity completely, but if the other guy somehow called him on it, then he'd be breaking rule number one big time. But telling the guy who he was, and that he definitely wasn't registered, would cause even more of a problem for him. Getting bagged and tagged by the Academy was even worse than the mundane authorities, because escaping was just that much harder.

In the end he settled for a happy medium.

"Of course I'm registered," he said, shifting first to the form of a random child so he could slip the handcuffs off. He pocketed them after removing them; no sense in wasting a perfectly good pair when he could just cast them a new key later. "It's not optional, is it?"

Then he shifted to the form that would get him out of the mess.

"The name is Flin Ceridwen, former Academy tutor." The records would show him as dead, but Neilen was counting on this guy not having the records in his pocket. And just in case he had some way of checking him out... "And I'm sorry to rush this, but they're likely to notice I'm not in there any minute now, so I should be going. Maybe I'll see you again sometime, Mister...?"

He extended Flin's hand to meet the other man's.

In case you're wondering, Flin looks like this.

[casey]

"Well, registering is optional for, say, Fae or whatnot," Casey said, sighing. He had a hunch that this person was trying to work him over, what with the sudden need to be elsewhere. Not to mention the shape-shifting to get out of trouble. And really, there weren't that many tutors, even former ones. Though a shapeshifter could last nearly an eternity, as far as Casey knew.

He took the hand, "Novak, Peter Novak."

You never told someone your true name until you found out for sure what their intentions were. Besides, this could very well be a Fae or something. Heck, it could be a demon, and the last thing Casey wanted was to be sucked dry.

Come to think of it, he shouldn't have shaken hands with someone knowing that possibility.

"You're in luck too, I happen to be heading for the Academy. If you don't mind an escort," Casey grinned. Now came the fun part.

[Ϛ Neilen Darkshire]

"Novak, right. I'll remember the name," said Neilen. He really would, too, if only to see if he couldn't pull a few strings and see who this guy was. Awfully nosy for a tutor, but he clearly worked at the Academy. And seeing as he was a shape-shifter, it was likely he was involved in something shady. Heck, back when he was a tutor, he'd been approached for some 'special project' they wouldn't go into detail on, and only avoided it by convincing them his shape-shifting wasn't very reliable.

Of course, if this guy was involved in something along those lines, all the more reason for Neilen to take off. In fact, he already had his back to 'Peter' when the offer for an escort came.

"The Academy? I haven't been there since I quit as a tutor. But if I drop by sometime, I'll look you up."

He heard a rumbling then, and changed his clothes until he was wearing a dirty, rugged uniform, complete with an old cap, which he tipped respectfully to Casey. And the next moment, as a garbage truck passed by, he jumped onto the ledge at the back of it and was gone with one last wave.

[casey]

Really, Casey could try and follow the man. Part of him felt like he should, like it was his duty to do so. After all, Casey's job was to find various Gifted and prevent them from hurting themselves. And he certainly could follow someone like this, someone who looked to be a talented rogue. Even if the person had been an ex-agent of some kind, Casey had faith in his ability to follow.

But, you know what?

"Not in my orders," Casey admitted, shrugging. Casey wasn't about to go dragging someone somewhere they didn't want to be. Not when they clearly weren't hurting anyone or causing any trouble. Leave that to the other Agents, Casey had enough on his plate as is.

His features altered again, becoming a chubby middle-aged businessman. Smiling, Casey bobbed down the street, purposefully heading in the opposite direction of the truck.