Maggie was positively beaming at all the odd things in this strange city. She was still so pleased with this garment and the way it made her look different. Colours were important to harpies as well as the 'shiny' things that drew their attention. So in a way, she could relate and understand why humans had a similar desire- though she didn't understand why they wore them all the time, unless they were 'always' trying to attract a mate. Perhaps that was how humans mated? It seemed so.. 'chancy' for what was a very important part of any species life cycle at least as far as she was taught. Still, seeing how pretty Jon's feathers were she could imagine why she had to hide them sometimes, if someone unsuitable took a liking to her. Too many suitors could be such a bother... still she was a happy bird and couldn't wait when it was her turn to start calling for a mate! Maybe she would even teach Jon the songs like her mother did... though... all that did take time...
Jon was still looking at that big building in the distance. The two had started to walk- or hop as Jon's gait tried to work with her bird like lower parts along the rough streets. The elder harpy girl was starting to get more tense as time went on. Traffic here was lighter. There was a market place, selling fish.. quite a busy area, but past that there were some raised steps with marble columned buildings and even more strange races.
"I smell water," Maggie instinctively wanted to fly towards It. She needed a drink after all. "Come on let's go see!"
The building itself was not particularly large. More marble steps leading up to what was almost temple-like but inset alcoves in place of columns. "It's a bath," explained Jon. "A- A public path." She cringed a bit. Was she really going to... do this?
"So... we drink and bathe at the same time?" Maggie smiled happily.
"No- urgh- no-" the thought of it made Jon wince. "We use it to clean ourselves. That's all. People in a city try to keep themselves clean.."
"Oh that sounds like fun!" she then started to run towards the building.
"Maggie wait!" Jon called as she ran after her. This- oh for goodness sakes! She was so quick. Jon needed time to compose herself for this. It required a lot of thinking and preparing and-
Maggie was already inside. Jon hurried up the steps not too sure what to expect. There were warm embrasures at each corner of the room encased in glass domes. Somehow the fires inside stayed lit. Where did the air come from? It looked like a form of central heating, though she couldn't see anything being burned. Occasionally exposed piping could be seen laid out in artistic ways that conveyed a sense of warmth, though these 'piped' looked to be cut from some kind of crystal instead of metalwork. What caught her eye most was in the corner of the reception area. There was some kind of shallow pool and a crystal that gave a soft glow of blue. It looked like a little 'play' area for the young... a kids pool? Still that odd glow... what powered this place?
"Hello, can I help you?" smiled the male tiger-man. He was fairly buff, and wore only some pants with his chest in view. His brightly orange fur was certainly eye-catching as were the sharp contours of his stripes and bushy eyebrows.
"Uh- Hi," said Jon as she appraised the.. tigher man, feeling herself feel- awkward at the sight. He looked quite buff, someone who probably went to a gym a lot... she could see a fair bit of muscle... It was hard to... not notice it. Certainly it-
"You want to take your kid in the pool?" He asked trying to prompt Jon to say something after what must have been a long silence.
Jon blinked. "I- yes?" she said quickly.
"Wonderful!" Roared the tiger. "You must be new... I'll just get you registered. Don't worry it's not much, just a signature. You get a free use every three days, paid by taxes. Might I have your names?"
"I'm... well... Jen..." Jon explained as the forms came out. "That's Maggie..."
The tiger nodded. "Wonderful to have you! Just observe the rules of the House and you'll be fine. I know it might be a bit of an adjustment to you wilderness folk, but if you have any questions I'm happy to help."
Jon glanced again at the strange stones that were warming the water. The only thing she could think of was that it was... radioactive. Though they were using it like they were perfectly safe. "What are those stones?"
"The stones? Oh, we call it Solarite" The tiger said as he picked up a small pebble resting on the desk. It looked like it was cut into a sphere of yellowish white. He rolled it before Jon in his paw-like hands. "I'm surprised you don't know of them, they are mined in the mountains. They radiate heat under certain conditions. Mystics can draw heat from them with their spells, though otherwise you simply let them soak in the sun and bring out their heat later." He gestured to a few small stones laid outside a glass window. Carefully picking one out. "Here see?"
Jon felt the stone with her feathered arms. It was a bit cold...
"Just drop it on the ground." gestured the tiger to the stone floor.
Jon did so, and the stone gave a sudden burst of light when it impacted the marble floor. It began to radiate a blue light, which warmed Jon's talons. It seemed to work a bit like... when one used a microwave on perfectly undisturbed water- then gave it a tap. A dangerous experiment in her own world. She instinctively backed away from the blue light. "It's- not dangerous is it?" She hoped it was not radioactive.
"Not at all girl. We've been using this for centuries. The temple of the Sun can tell you how it works if you're interested but the heat is safe. It's the same light absorbed from the sun and radiates back when the surface is impacted." He then took the stone to the small pool which Jon now realised served as a demonstration. The stone joined the others, settling at the bottom warming the water gently. Curiously enough, it didn't give as much steam as she imagined it should... as if the heat was being transferred perfectly into the body of water with no phase change.
Jon whistled. These stones were in effect some kind of.. magical battery. What a wonder... if only she could take some of these back to her world and work out how they worked. It would solve so many problems.
"The pool is this way..." said the tiger-man.
Jon followed... how could she deal with this... she did need to clean herself a bit...
Diana woke up slowly feeling... odd. Her mind had gone through a huge number of odd dreams and strange images. She dreamed she was back home, but was still a cat.. she dreamed she was someone's 'pet' and how 'nice' it was that someone gave her food, took care of her... yet... yet... she was human. She knew she was.. wasn't she?
Then her dreams became lighter.. taking her back to a time filled with nothing but innocent play. She saw old friends from decades ago.. faces she couldn't remember before yet now it was as clear as day. Jason, Stephan, Lois... friends... from school? Grown... grown up...
The cat-girl leaned up, rising her front arms then her back legs in a wide stretch, crawling a little. Her tail slightly curled. She felt.. she wanted to wake up Sarah... but at the same time she felt some strange instinct as she got closer. The robot girl was standing awkwardly, poised for action and slightly tilted with her head down in a standing position.
The cat-girl started to rub against her leg, placing some of her own scent again... the association of her feeling stronger and comforting. Her whiskers were bristled a little lower, as she wanted to eat now. She was hungry...
Again she started to lightly purr, going as best she could towards Sarah's ear. She looked in anticipation hoping for some kind of reaction but besides the ticking of her mainspring she saw nothing. She glanced to Tom.,..
Tom was just lying back when.. he heard a strange sound. Like.. a buzz of bees. He turned slightly, and came face to face with these large green eyes. They stared at him with such intent, the feel of whiskers on his face. "A- A-" he stared back stunned. What did she want! Why was she looking at him like that...
"...hungry." Diana purred jumping onto his bed with little respect to his space. She rubbed her face to him.
"Get off!" Tom shouted pulling the covers back startled.
Diana blinked in confusion as she stumbled off the bed. She saw Tom was holding the covers around him awkwardly. He was naked... naked...
did that matter? It felt like it should...
Diana suddenly blushed as the enormity of what she did struck in her head. "S-sorry-" she quickly ran away.
"...cat girls." Tom sighed. "I'm going to have to get Sarah to teach her about personal space." He awkwardly started to get dressed, but not before making sure he really was alone...
