Bellis caws harshly at Zota as he circles around overhead. It's hard to tell whether it was meant to be a laugh or an expression of displeasure.
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"Just as long as you don't end up needing protection," Bellis says, serious for once. Then he turns to Martel. "Come along, then. We have some books you could read to keep your mind off of horrible death while you wait," he states blandly as he saunters past the two further into the room.
Just then, Bellis's voice comes through the door. "We seem to be clear, if you'll let me back in."
Bellis nods, shifts into an orangutan to open the door, and slips outside.
Almost immediately Bellis shows up. "Well, that was exciting," he comments, managing to sound bored.
"Hmmmm..." Bellis hums, looking over the scene. "I've just been nosing around, but I can't say I've found anything more interesting than what you have."
Zota notices that Bellis half-winked as he spoke--perhaps he has something to say he doesn't want to be overheard?
"Six," Bellis corrects, sauntering out of a nearby shadow. He sits back on his hind legs next to Kokoro and starts grooming one of his paws.
Zota notes that there seems to have been an odd amount of foot traffic in the alley the two Watch members are standing in, judging by the number of footprints in the dried mud. "Or maybe I just like goading you on," Bellis replies flippantly.
Zota looks around, but doesn't see anyone immediately. Likely the presence of the Watch members nearby chased the usual loiterers off--the Watch is always suspicious of people of no fixed abode. "The trail might be cold, but that doesn't mean there aren't any clues to be found..." Bellis responds.
Bellis nods. "She did. It just seems a bit strange to take the main road here and then a different way back, doesn't it?" He shrugs slightly, which always looks strange on a cat. "But then again, what would I know? I'm just a cat, after all."
"I did notice one thing you didn't comment on," Bellis says, looking up at Zota. "One of them mentioned Andra takes a back way home, which seemed a bit odd to me."
Bellis shrugged and turned back to his book. "I should be done with this by nightfall, anyway," he commented.
Bellis looks over his shoulder at Zota. "I think it's a long shot," he says, with a lackadaisical wave of one paw. "There are a lot of ways to disappear on the docks, and a lot of them don't leave much in the way of evidence. If there's any left after four days, though, it'll be near the tavern, I'd guess."
Ah, one other thing about Bellis--while Zota has seen him take humanoid forms, he's never assumed the form of an actual human. Or dwarf, or elf, or anything normal like that. His humanoid forms always tend to be animal-like, somehow.
Bellis sighs, stretches, and finally gets to his feet. "Just don't blame me if whoever it is screams," he calls back over his shoulder as he saunters towards the door. As he walks, he swells up to jaguar size, though he still looks like a black housecat... a black housecat with hands for its front paws. He is, admittedly, now 'something with hands'.
I've added a few more facts Zota has figured out about Bellis to his alias here. I've updated Pathways, but the next step will have to wait until I'm home again. I think I'm ready to start the first case, though. I have just one question--how easy is Zota to find? Does he have a sign on his front door saying 'Zota Greyblood, Private Investigator', or is he more discreet?
Sounds like a great character outline to me. This is my outline of your... 'partner' in the Private Investigator business, Bellis the shapeshifting cat. Thing. He's possibly more of a mystery than most of the cases you take, and seems to take a certain pleasure in encouraging all kinds of wild theories about himself without giving enough information to confirm or debunk any of them. Still, when the chips are down, he always comes through, and you're pretty sure he's got a good heart underneath all of the snark and sarcasm. Sound like a fun pair?
"Why hello, kittens. Yes, I am a talking cat. For the moment. You may call me Cheshire. No, it's not my name. I should think you should know better than to give out your names so freely, but humans will be humans. Now, then, how can I help you, hm? And more importantly, why would I help you?" I'm starting to put ideas together for my shape-shifting cat. I've got a pretty clear idea in my head for his personality, I just need to write it down. Some other time, when it's not bed time. Mechanics-wise, he'll be a cat with the Fey Animal template. It's going to give him some wacky stats, though. I might propose something a little closer to average, so he doesn't have crazy-high dexterity and abysmal strength. He'll be going straight Shifter class-wise, using the ability to concentrate on his form as a move action to stay in human form when it's necessary. He prefers his housecat form when it's appropriate, though, since it requires less effort. |