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It seemed if Jay wasn't in a bar, he was roaming in a park. However, today was different; while he was usually in the park as a golden retriever or other big dog to blow off steam, today, he was a brown and white corgi. He roamed the park on his short little legs while his cute little tail wagged and his fuzzy bottom shook as he walked. Every now and then, he'd give some stranger the traditional 'lost puppy' look.

Today wasn't about blowing off steam or having fun. Today, he was all business, looking to run his most effective--if overused--con. But, when you shift into canines, that sort of limits the amount of unique maneuvers you can add to your playbook. And in a place like New York, small to medium sized dogs were the best way to go since apartments couldn't hold his usual golden retriever. 

However, this sort of thing was more like a fishing trip. You couldn't just find your mark then pick them off. For this kind of game, Jay had to sell that he really was a lost dog, And on top of that, he had to be lovable enough for some unsuspecting sucker to want to take him home. And then, once home, you had to pray that they had something worth picking through.  

But...that didn't matter if you couldn't get someone to want to take you home. Jay let out a small whine, rolling over on his belly, and again getting ignored as someone walked by as if he wasn't there. So he kept walking, and suddenly--

KICK!

His stubby legs flew out from under him as he rolled across the grass, letting out a startled yelp. He looked back, mentally giving the evil spawn of Satan who kicked him the middle finger, since dogs didn't have hands. Tail tucked between his legs, he walked on. Maybe he could use that to get someone to feel sorry for him.


Selling it, he began to fake a limp.

He was starting to loosen up as the wind blew through his fur, his paws padding against the cool grass. But he still couldn't shake the odd feeling that he wasn't alone. His nostrils picked up an unusual scent; one he wasn't familiar with in the slightest. On the one hand, it smelled like some sort of rotting bird, but at the same time, it was alien; foreign. It gave him this eerie feeling, like the guy that's about to die in a horror movie.

He stopped, sniffing the air, his ears perked up to listen. His keen hearing didn't pick up much, but it smelled like whatever it was was getting closer. He couldn't shift back, because a dog was much more apt to defend itself than a naked human who can't see in the dark. While his human senses were keener than most, they were still somewhere between human and dog. So...if this thing were to kill him...he'd die a dog. Not that anything was necessarily wrong with that.

He looked around, sniffing the air, using his dog senses to his advantage, but his actions didn't look remotely dog-like. Instead of sniffing the ground or running to get away from the danger, he stood, ready to face it head on if need be. This wasn't playtime, and at the same time...going on his stress-relieving run seemed to make it worse.

"Played," Jay said cooly, not seeming to notice that the guy talking to him was green and had red eyes. He'd learned a long time ago that some mutants got dealt a better hand than others; not everyone got something like shapeshifting, after all. "Though playing would be a kind term...considering the lousy lot I played with. Bunch of punk kids who spent more on their hair and outfits than their music," he grumbled, taking another sip of his 'beer.'

He snorted as the bartender gave his new acquaintance a beer, despite ordering Guinness. "I think that's all they have here," he whispered once he was sure the bartender wouldn't hear. "That'd be the only way to rightfully sell this ****." He gave a slight chuckle, shaking his head before finishing his drink and waving his hand for another one. "But as long as I'm here...I may as well drink awhile. Even if it is...whatever this is," he said with a slight cringe. Besides, as it stood, he was lucky he could afford to go out and drink at all.

So many things were running through Jay's mind, and before he knew it, he was faced with even more problems as some other kid walked into the room and started talking to his adolescent dog-napper. He had to get home, but to do that, he'd need to shift back, which wasn't an option since if he did that, he'd be naked on a campus full of minors--not to mention the mutant adults who were more than capable of kicking his ass. But he wasn't about to stay here and become someone's new pet(especially since the payoff was nothing like he expected, but that's what he got for assuming she lived in a mansion...). Well, technically she did live in a mansion, but it wasn't what he thought. And now...he was potentially in deep sh--

"Can I pet it?"
BINGO.
There was his chance, right there. Jay watched the hand approach him, drawing closer and closer. And finally, when it was in range, he bit down on the hand then leaped off of the bed, out of the room, and then he scurried down the hall aimlessly. He ran as fast as he could, looking for some semblance of a male's room, or a laundry room, or somewhere he could steal some clothes.

But...seeing as how he never even gave this place a second glance...he didn't have a clue.

He let her scoop him up, his mind ever working on a game plan; after all, it was foolish to rush into a situation like this blindly. Even if 'blindly' is exactly how he got into this situation in the first place. But if he could get out of this unscathed and make a little money in the process, then no harm done, right? Those other dogs were likely going to be a nuisance, though. He knew they only disliked him because they knew he wasn't a "real" dog.

When the girl started talking to her driver, his blood ran cold when they used his name. Either these people were really lucky(though Jay didn't necessarily believe in coincidences) or, more than likely, they were onto him already. But...how? Why?

Well, it was too late for him to turn back now. Not that he could, because he definitely wanted to, but he didn't really have a choice now. He had to ride this out.

When she gave him the champagne glass of dog food, he sort of turned his nose up at it, playing up to more of a spoiled dog type of persona. And then...they pulled up to Xavier's School...

Crap. Now he was even farther from home than before, he had no clothes, and he was still a freaking three-pound chihuahua. He hopped out onto the grass, and just froze, thinking. However, to anyone not inside his head, he looked like he was frozen in fear.

Jay was momentarily snapped out of his panic by the sound of barking, but he quickly noted that the source of the sound wasn't too much bigger than he was, and he wished he'd chosen one of his larger forms today. He knew the pups were likely barking because they realized something was different about him. He may have looked like a dog, but he still smelled mostly human. Scents were always a dead giveaway when it came to shifters. And his seemed to have just betrayed him. Just as if today couldn't get any worse...

It was then that he noticed the girl who hadn't seemed to have gotten the memo about New York's weather. Yeah, it seemed nice one minute, but then the wind would bite you right in the--oh great she was talking to him now. Obviously he couldn't talk back, but he kept his nose to the ground, trying to pick up his own scent. Chihuahuas, while their sense of smell was still rather keen, were not exactly built for tracking like a bloodhound, a retriever, or other hunting dogs. So, the little black chihuahua looked up at the girl, ears pinned back to show defensiveness, and barked.

Like all three pound rat-dogs, he couldn't help but bounce as he did so, shaking in the cool wind that was starting to pick up. However he wasn't sure if the shaking was the dog or if it was from the realization that this probably wasn't going to end well.