The shifter raised an eyebrow not sure how to take the comment, that was a weird thing to have to worry about. ”You can hold on to the guitar?” he asked offering it back a little confused by the situation. ”or sit on ‘em.” he took the offered bottle ”Usually what I do.” he smirked.

”Oh they open late? Must have changed since I was last there.” Carrick replied completely oblivious. ”Sharks? Thought that was dolphins. He looked to the bottle of Rumquila then back to her. Did he hear her correctly? He took a swig not sure if he should follow or go to the fire.

He was already wet and he hadn’t been to the aquarium in a few years. Maybe they took wet money? He did his three point check on his person with the bottle in hand and guitar in the other. He tapped his shirt and looked back to where he was sitting before and spotted his beat-up sneakers. Glad he had enough foresight he grabbed them and then flapped his wings twice before closing the distance to Juniper.

”Already swam once tonight. Guess it could be fun to go fer another.” his wings folded up behind him. ”What’s the rate of admission now anyways?” he asked curiously.

"Open late enough." She responded back, "Do they have dolphins? I've never seen one close up."

She kept walking but turned to grin at him as he joined her. Maybe she'd have company for the night anyway, even if it wasn't what she had been looking for.

That grin widened nefariously when he asked about admission. "Free."

She wondered if that would stop him short, or if he'd still be game.

"I've never been to an aquarium before and since I'm drunk and bored, what better a time than now, right?"

She stole the bottle back from him, phased it right out of his hand, and tipped it back.

"I've read about sharks but never seen one of them up close either."

It was late, was it late enough? He didn’t bother asking when she said free that was good enough for him. Some of the best stuff in the world was free.

His hand carrying the bottle went light when she grabbed it out of his hand, it distracted him more than her responses. ”Hold up, yer bored but could pull a magic trick like that off?” he paused and reached for the bottle, ”Again, got to see how ya did it.” was it a sliegt of hand or was it the Rumquila or an ability.

”Seen three before one here and two just now back there.” he thumbed the direction of the beach. Yeah they had someone who could turn into a shark, he counted that but he did see happen to see another one swimming in the waters where he took off from. He neglected to tell everyone else that. He was such a hero so much so he deserved this.

”I mostly can do card tricks, and flash powder. Everything is wet though otherwise I’d compare notes.” he said always wanting to perfect his passions. Carrick looked at the entrance and frowned. ”Looks like they’re closed.” he said leaning into the door peering through his hands. His catlike eyes only picked up on the things in the tanks moving around.

"Even magicians get bored with their own tricks sometimes." She grinned and held the bottle away from him, trying to instigate a playful scuffle.

Card tricks sounded fun, and she had no idea what flash power was. Like... ninja smoke grenade? She made a mental note to ask later, maybe.

They hit the door and he stated the obvious. She gave him a half lidden look and tilted her head. Was he... was he oblivious to everything?

"Closed for normal folk maybe, but not for me~" Pulling her hands out of her pockets, she shook them out and then wiggled her fingers dramatically at the locked door while mumbling gibberish under her breath. After a moment she stopped and tucked her hands back into her pockets.

"There we go. I've opened a portal just for us."

And then she stepped forward through the door and turned to face him on the other side.

After a beat of grinning and waiting to see what he would do, she reached through the door to grab him, phase him, and pull him into the building with her.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist."

The lobby behind them was empty. She headed for the desk in order to grab herself a map of the place and folded it open.

"So where do you wanna go first? I wanna see sharks, but... like, there's a lot in here." Oooh, they had a cafe?!

"Oh, wow, there's like seals and stuff. Heh... last time I saw a seal it shared the @#$% out of my cat." Poor Clyde. Thought he was brave enough to investigate a wild seal at a harbor.

Carrick smirked, ”Why there are so many tricks then innit?” Carrick asked stopping his reach when she held it off a bit. It was hers to begin with and if she was thirsty more power to her. He could wait.

”Ohhhh,” he said it all coming together when her hand disappeared into a lock. ”The ol’ B&E...” he looked around keeping his head fixed hoping there wasn’t a camera around. The last thing he needed now that he was off of probation was to be caught. If anything Carrick was trying to do less of this.

”If I had me lock set I could have gotten in.” he said off handedly. ”Mind if we snag any security tapes fer the night or just erase them?” he asked as he did a mock bow with his shoes and shirt over one of his shoulders. ”Ladies first.” he looked up and she was gone. Before he could look around for her she reemerged and he was grabbed and dragged... through the door?

She was already heading to the front desk while Carrick was studying the door batting his tail against the window so he didn’t leave any finger prints. ”How?” suddenly the bottle trick made sense. She wasn’t a magician! She was just a mutant.

”Dunno, been a long time since I was here last...” before he went back home and decided to deage himself. ”Manta rays.” he said quickly in response. One of his favorite underwater flying creatures next to sea turtles. ”Heard seal’s are pretty mean.” he said looking around.

...Lock set? It took her a moment too long to comprehend what he was talking about. What, was he a locksmith or something?

But, then he mentioned security tapes and it clicked. Ooooh. A thief? An enthusiast? Eh... didn't matter in the end, she supposed. "Sure. They have to have a security office in here, somewhere."

Juniper giggled impishly at the 'how?' that popped out of him. Surprising people with her mutation was always fun. One of the best ice breakers for parties!

"I've never been to one before..." She stopped by a big mural on a wall of a bunch of different fish. She couldn't really identify any of them. She was used to seeing Channel Catfish and Muskellunge, though she knew there were a lot of other kinds in the waters of her state.

"Manta ray? Are those the ones with the stabby bit?"

She continued on down one hall, and pretty soon there were aquariums on wither wall, built-in. Pockets of different kinds of aquatic life. The first one that caught her eye was a tank filled with what looked like floating bags with tendrils.

"Ooh! Jellyfish?!"

Because she was bad at self-control, she pressed her face up against the glass to get a closer look. "I've never seen one in real life. I wonder what they feel like."

And then she reached on in and snagged one, pulling out a hand that was suspiciously not wet, with a deflated opaque blob in the middle of her palm.

It just sat there. Didn't do anything. Her disappointment was clear on her face. "Aw... I woulda thought it would wiggle around like an octopus or something. Look!" She held it out to him, and only after grabbing it did she think to turn and look at the placard on the wall beside the tank.

"Moon jellyfish?..." She read further, ".... VENOMOUS!?" That jelly ended up back in the tank super fast, and she tried to wipe her hand off on her hoodie.

"Oh... not to humans. Bleh."

”Those are sting rays, Manta’s are the ones with the big mouth and the weird horns.” he said putting his fingers by his mouth trying to act out the Manta ray. ”and don’t like being on camera. Unfortunately there’s not enough guys with wings so I’m pretty easy to point out.” he said deciding he needed to clear the air now that he knew she had abilities like him. ”I’m well... a mutant.” he said redirecting his hands into a over emphasized shrug and a smirk.

Following Juniper was in the shifter’s best interest not only was she the entrance and exit without setting off all the alarms, getting arrested and then having to deal with his moms again but she also was farm more entraining to be around. Carrick almost choked on his words when the phased into one of the exhibits and pulled out a jellyfish. Thankfully the non-poisonous type. He didn’t want to pee on anyone today. Was that still how you were supposed to deal with them? His eyes glanced over to the information sign on the exhibit. It didn’t mention urine so he doubted it was true.

”Imagine like a bubble. One ya can’t pop... or shouldn’t?” he asked watching Juniper hold the think with curiosity. His tail flicked behind him wondering what it would be like bat it. Instead he just poked the top of the head staying away from the tendrils... just in case. ”What about mutants?” he asked smirking and then stepping away from the tank. ”Asking fer a friend.”

The next closest tank was a smaller one. One that read ‘Venomous’ ”Found yer dangerous one.” Carrick said pointing out the ‘lion fish’ ”Bit of a family resemblance no?” Carrick asked flicking his bushy tail towards the thing. ”Digging the mane though.”

Juniper just stared at him. She got the bit about being on camer- she tried hard not to get caught on camera, too. But the part about him being a mutant? The point went right over her head.

"I mean, yeah? Like... kinda hard not to figure out you're a mutant with the wings and all." The human vs mutant thing had never really been a thing she needed to deal with seeing as she came from a very long line of mutants. She also "passed" as human unless she used her powers around someone, so not many people immediately pegged her as some sort of monster or demon... unlike those who couldn't hide. "Now that mention it... I don't think I've ever met a person with wings before. I knew someone once who was totally green, like a frog, but no wings. Must be kinda rare, huh?"

He questioned whether or not the venom affected mutants differently and the joke once again went over her head. "Ohshi-" She turned back to the sign to check.

Nope. No mention of mutants. Was that a good sign!? "I didn't know Jellyfish could be poisonous. Wonder what else is dangerous..."

Like a mind reader, Carrick found one! "Lionfish?" It wasn't the biggest fish she'd ever seen, and it was very pretty. She could see where they got the name from. "So what, it bites you, and you keel over? Or is it like catfish needles?" She focused on the sign to find out.

"I dunno..." Juniper mumbled, before sliding a sly smile the winged mutants way. "I'd say you're the better looking of the two. Much more majestic."

She glanced down the hall at the other tanks, before spotting a sign that said 'reef'.

There were a host of other tanks, with many different kinds of fish in them. She got distracted by a tank that was seemingly empty, though.

"...Sea horses. Where? There's nothing in this one."

”Blessing and a curse.” he said nodding his head and opening his wings a bit to show them off slightly bummed his joke went over her head, clearly he thought himself funnier than he was. ”Even rarer to have wings that work proper.” he said nodding his head more now shifting his mismatched colored eyes to the nearest fish that swam by him. His tail flicked and he was tempted to reach out to it and catch it.

Reading the placcard, ”Says the spins are venomous?” he said scanning the information, ”Oh and the teeth.” he continued to read in the dim light spouting information as he read it putting his own spin on it. ”Not deadly unless ya have a allergic raction, blisters, localized pain and.... edible so long as ya don’t eat the bad bits.” he nodded his head and then added, ”Can charge if feeling aggressive.” he nodded his head, ”Sure, I do the same.”

His eyes shifted over to Juniper and he smirked, ”Aye, just a bit.” he said opening his wings in the same mock bow he offered the Princess often. ”Not even my best face is on.” he chuckled to himself and continued to look around as she wondered to the next area. His eyes focused on the tank Juniper was looking at.

”Dunno.... there’s a few of them.” he said pushing his face close to the tank, ”Little itty bitty ones.” his eyes picked up on the movement but he had to focus. ”And there’s the father. Giving birth ta all the little ones.” he said kinda taken aback by the fact that the males carried and birthed the children. ”Pretty sure mine was in a pub when I was born.” he chuckled trying not to think about the heavy topic of family.

”Don’t look much like horses.”