>>"Oh no you didn't girlfriend!"

The wall came up with amazing speed to meet Maya face first. She recognized the guy a split second before he decided to be the knight in shining armor for... Calley?!

"LET ME GO, dammit!" Maya struggled against the grip, but she didn't seem to have the strength, or the weight, to push the persistent hero off her back "Let me the **** go!"

Twyla didn't seem to react to the yelling, and the punching, and all the confusion. From the corner of her eyes she caught a glimpse of the blnde girl lying on the couch.
Oh, right. She fainted.
Good for the damsel.

Maya took a deep breath.
"It's okay" she relaxed in CJ's grip "It's okay. It's cool. I'm cool. You can let me go."
I'll show you how cool I am.

"All right, so. Calley. Care to, um, explain?... I mean... what the heck?"

The girl struggled; he pressed her further into the wall. Wait, slate? Who was slate? oh, right, the brother, from the wedding... wow, it had been months since that. No, apparently Calley. Hey, was that the same pillow from last time, indeed it looked the same. Things were happening far too fast for Cafas to comprehend fully. There was now one girl fainted, another who apparently knew Calley's twin, one in his custody and Calley with a pillow. Alrighty, nope that seemed fair enough.

'Speak for yourself.'

Alchemist dropped the girl's arms when she stopped struggling and stepped back to allow her to get off the wall, then another, because it brought him closer to Calley, just in case. Calley, who seemed a little angry... CJ tried his hardest to resist the urge to break the one metre barrier he was keeping between himself and the guy who had so recently sent him into a mental state he never wished to revisit.

'Yes the cleaning products can hardly have been good for the lungs and brain.

"The blonde doesn't seem to be too well..."

'Good idea, distract from the pain, that’s the right path to take.'

Twyla fainted. Susan moved out of the way so she had enough space on the couch to faint on.
“Croak!"
Blink.
"I’m Calley. Thanks for asking.”
Calley. His name was Calley. So they kept saying.
Susan's mind did the math on her own.
He... was not Slate. Apart from the name, she could teel that now that she could see him in his human form (actually she could see a lot more than she preferred). He was definitely not Slate. He even tasted different.
Which, in turn, meant a lot of things. One: she just spent three days sharing her room with a complete stranger. Two: said stranger spent most of his time naked. Three: ...
The wich squealed in a very un-witch-like manner, sprang up from the counch and left the scene. The loud bang of a bedroom dor shut echoed down the hall. Then another one, that followed the soft sound of male clothing items being tossed out into the hallway.

Three: she still had a, um, meeting with Slate in three hours and forty-six minutes.

Twyla didn't respond to any of the yelling. When a pillow was removed from the back of her royal cranium she made not a twitch. Nor did she so much as flutter an eyelash when she was described as not being too well. Such worldly things were beyond a mind that was trying to process too much unplanned naked-ness. Generally the blond had no problem with naked--it had its time and place, like in the shower or on a nude beach (or sometimes a regular beach after midnight...but that's something you'd have to ask her sisters about). Sometimes naked was adorable, like how some hairless cats were cute and babies lying on rugs or in the bathtub just made you want to say 'awwww'.

Random toad-turning-into-not-Slate-man-naked was not a form of naked that Twyla Ashby could deal with, hence the fainting.

The faint in and of itself didn't last very long, just enough time for her breathing to slow back to a normal and sustainable pace and the embarrassment to fade just enough to make opening her eyes seem safe. The princess finally did stir from her slumbers when the weight on the couch shifted and her leg was disturbed. Long eyelashes fluttered as eyelids slowly returned to an open position to blearily watch Susan tear out of the living room. Where is she going? Twyla wondered and then she heard the door slam. That's probably a good plan...

The girl carefully propped herself up into a sitting position while keeping her eyes clearly fixed on a bit of ceiling to protect her pupils from another unexpected fleshy surprise. Now that she was propped up and awake things came flooding back to the girl and Twyla blinked a few times, although her hope was dying that the scene would change with any rapid eye movement. My old school had water in the ceiling, the Mansion has a better ceiling...The Mansion isn't a crappy public school either.

Twyla could still here people noises in the rest of the living room so she cleared her throat and then spoke. "Is it safe?" A nice, wonderful, vague, large question.

Going from swearing to “I’m cool” was a dubious transition. Calley’s brain sent an impulse to twitch a tail he didn’t even have in this form. Cafas could keep the Lady Knight up against that wall just a little longer, if he wanted. There would be no complaints from the sometimes-cat sometimes-toad.

>> "All right, so. Calley. Care to, um, explain?... I mean... what the heck?"

“As I was telling you before you slapped me, Ms. Knight, your girlfriend kissed me.” He took spiteful joy in leaving it at that for a second as he rubbed his cheek. Oww.

Alas, elaboration was in order. “She kissed me on my green, toad lips. I’ve been stuck for a few days.” This also served as an explanation to Cafas on where he’d disappeared to. Incidentally. Not that he owed Cafas an explanation, or anything. “Susan got it into her head to try out the Princess and the Frog on me—“

--Said Susan ran off squealing. Huh. Yeah, that about fit the behavior pattern he’d come to expect. He’d say the red cheeks looked cute on her, if Susan were his type. Not that she wasn’t. She was a girl. Girls were his type. He’d dated one already: that was a hundred percent female track record.

Why was Cafas standing between him and Maya, again? What, was he defending him? ‘Cause Calley was not the girl in this non-existent relationship-that-they-did-not-have. He took a step forward to place himself at the other teenager’s side, on officially equal footing.

>> "Is it safe?"

“I am clad in a pillow,” Calley stated stuffily. It was true.

Standing this close to Cafas made him wish for pants.

>>“As I was telling you before you slapped me, Ms. Knight, your girlfriend kissed me.”

Maya, who up to that point had been occupied with rubbing her wrists and glaring daggers at CJ now started towards the steed again.
Turn the other cheek, pal. C'mon. Turn it.

>>“She kissed me on my green, toad lips. I’ve been stuck for a few days. Susan got it into her head to try out the Princess and the Frog on me—“

Stop. Blink. Shake head. Glance. Blink.
Griiiiiin.

"Ya've been stuck as a toad?!" Maya laughed "Man, Calley, ya really gotta practice those shiftin' skills..."

That also explained the PRINCESS on Twyla's top. Talking about Twyla...

>> "Is it safe?"

"For you, yes." Maya smirked, before turning back to CJ "You ever put your hands on me again, I'm gonna kick y're *ass into next week, captain, got it?" glance "For heaven's sake, Calley, put on some clothes."

With that, Maya turned and walked over to Twlya, sitting on the counch between her and the sight of the naked steed.

"I always knew ya had a thing for frogs" she chuckled, touching her cheek "You all right?"

Cafas was lectured... LECTURED! of all things, so unacceptable... Wait... captain? Who? Ms Knight? Who would he know that would fill those criteria? Certainly no-one female... He resolved to think of it later. "Hit my b...est mate again and I'll do more than run ya into a wall." He was vaguely aware of someone next to him. Clearly it was not the crazy girl who just ran from the room, and he could see the others... that meant... and he was... again...

'So much as think about looking and I'll hurt you later.'

He couldn't help himself, slightly back and down, subtly of course. You'd have needed cat like senses to see it, or at least to have been looking at him, otherwise it could be passed off as a stretch. Wait, the girl was awake again. Safe, safe was a matter of opinion, definitely not for the... Wait, he knew where he recognised the blonde from! wait, and the slightly flirty... Eyes shot wide for Alchemist as it sunk in who had just threatened him. "Wait... weren't you like... a guy last time we..."

'This raises so many interesting questions....'

A pillow? Not the most far reaching form of apparel but it would have to suffice--and it would, so long as Twyla could avoid awkward accidental glances. Her safety was also promised by Maya, which was much more comforting. Brown eyes tore themselves from the spackled heavens and refocused on the trio of teens, well two of the teens, the other one was ignored with all the gusto the blond could manage. Maya was threatening Other Angry Guy who did some threatening of his own.

"You ran her into a wall?" Twyla stared at Other Angry Guy with an eyebrow raised and a slightly concerned look on her face. More straightening was done to sit up higher on the pillows, the better to look regal with.

Regality was forgotten when a certain special lady knight was sitting next to Twyla, successfully blocking her view of Not-Slate-or-Toad-Calley(?) and the OAG. A laugh and a hand on her cheek. "Exactly, frogs. Not toads." Twyla chuckled quietly as well. "I'm good, no worries. It was just--everything--and--ah!-and--yeah..." The girl shook her head, sending blond and pink locks twirling in different directions.

But into a wall, seriously? "A wall? Are you okay?" Concern was back and a look was shot over Maya's shoulder at the OAG.

The OAG surprised her when he spoke as she looked at him. There's a good chance of that, actually... Twyla looked at the Other Angry Guy again and then at Maya, her lips were sealed--there was no way she was going to take on that particular issue but she'd roll with wherever that particular subject took them.

>> "Hit my b...est mate again and I'll do more than run ya into a wall."

That hesitance gave Calley another tail-twitching urge. He was rather used to having a tail, minus his unfortunately amphibious days. His body language simply was not complete without one.

>> "Ya've been stuck as a toad?! Man, Calley, ya really gotta practice those shiftin' skills..."

“You.” Calley stated, wishing for ears to lay back. The wish was granted: he shifted, triangular black ears suddenly replacing human ones in an imperious perch atop his head as a black tail covered in kitten fuzz swished down from his scanty clad rear. That tickled. “I do not want to hear shifting advice from you.” The statement was so much more satisfying, with proper ear gestures. He left it at that. Let the Lady Knight explain herself to--

Cafas’ stretch-and-look was about as subtle as a movie theater yawn-and-arm. Calley’s face flushed cola can red.

“Yes. Clothing. Excellent advice. Lady, Princess—I bid you ado.”

Thus did Calley back from the room, his erratically twitching tail clearing the retreat path.

>>“You. I do not want to hear shifting advice from you.”

Calley spurted a tail to go with that statement. Maya snorted as she rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah well at least I shift into a goddess and not a toad."
There is a difference.

>>"A wall? Are you okay?"

Maya chuckled, turning back to the Princess. "You should see the wall." she grinned "Seriously, Twlya. I'm fine."
Is it just me, or is that really the one sentence she hears from me most often?..

>>"Wait... weren't you like... a guy last time we..."

"Yeah yeah." smirk "Gender shiftin'. Get over it."

Cafas had so many questions, and none of them were exactly fit to be asked in any situation, well, maybe some, but those weren't much better than the question. He couldn't get over it though. No amount of blasé attitude could change the fact that this answered SO many questions, or at least made them answerable. The slightly scientific part of Cafas' brain went haywire. He wanted to perform tests. No, that was a lie, conducting tests was what he liked to do with chemicals. What he wanted in this situation was a sit down Q & A no holds barred.

'Given current circumstances I think leaving is the better option.'

Still he hesitated. A pained expression crossed Alchemist's otherwise widely smirking face. It would have been such fun, just to ask. Then again he had narrowly escaped a face full of fist such a short time ago, his luck was likely waning. He turned to leave the same way he had come in, mostly because with his thought patterns for him the situation was becoming awkward. At the door he turned, opened his mouth, then rethought what he was about to ask and left. It wasn't the time for that. Maybe later.

'Wise choice.'

Twyla watched in mild fascination as fuzzy kitty ears sprouted from Calley's head, she then looked back to Maya. I suppose his is a bit more...controlled. A moment later a tail came to match the ears, although Twyla barely spared it a glance. It was much too close to uncomfortable memories for comfort.

Fine, because I haven't heard that before. There was an internal eye roll at the word 'fine'. It had such a broad meaning at this point that she really could be fine in Twyla's definition of the word or bleeding from cuts hidden underneath her shirt. It really could go either way. Some peering was done for any discoloration in the garment department. It didn't look like Maya was hiding any profound wounds but...it was so hard to tell. "Right." She murmured finally, they'd figure out if she was 'fine' or not eventually.

"Um, bye." Everyone was leaving the room so fast, including the Not-Toad-Cat-Boy.

Maya responded to the OAD in the affirmative and he responded with...nothing. It seems the Princess was dangerously close to being alone in the living room once again. Sighing after she watched him walk out, the girl leaned back on the cousins of the couch. "That..." A deep breath. "was the weirdest morning of my life." The blond closed her eyes for a moment and tried to let the images and emotions go with some slow breathing. "Let's clean up that cereal and then I vote we see if there's any coffee left in the kitchen."

Maya grinned as CJ left the room soon after Calley. Whatever those two were up to... she didn't want to know. On the bright side, she was left alone with Twyla.

>>"That... was the weirdest morning of my life. Let's clean up that cereal and then I vote we see if there's any coffee left in the kitchen."

"Aye aye ma'am" Maya grinned, kissing her on the cheek "An' now you know why ya should be careful with animals around the Mansion. Some of them turn out to be Calley, from time to time..."