[Ruz]

Most would not consider sitting in a semi-crowded subway station very fun or exciting. This was a correct consideration, for it was not very fun to just sit around and wait for the underground train to arrive. However, it could be informative. Everyone tried to ignore everyone else, and this simple fact left Ruz able to openly watch everyone. Each individual was something special, providing some sort of insight into the hearts and minds of their race as a whole. Ruz found humans both fascinating and disturbing at the same time. They had the capacity to be vastly intelligent, yet they were mostly also petty. The two didn’t go together very well.

Pushing itself off of the pillar, Ruz moved slowly past those doing the same thing he was. But unlike them, it remained a silent spectator, watching the subtle nuances of the people it pretended to be like. Being a Changeling required a vast amount of knowledge about those you were looking like. For example, Ruz had learned long ago that most humans did not wear simple robes and hoods, similar to what it may have worn when in the comfort of its own residence. Instead they wore much more complicated clothing. Ruz didn’t mind though, the clothing was easy to figure out, though it depended on the gender it was copying how easy or difficult the clothing was to wear.

Today Ruz appeared to be a young man, roughly mid twenties with a clean shaven face. The hair was a dark brown, nearly black, cut short though not buzzed. Simple brown eyes watched the rest of the world from a face that was neither ugly nor handsome, but somewhere in between. The features of the face were not strong, but neither were they soft. Add in the average height, and the body itself was hardly worth more than a passing glance before being cast aside and forgotten. The clothing was rather unassuming as well. Brown dress shoes with black rubber soles, khaki pants with a brown belt, metal buckle, blue button up shirt tucked in, buttoned to the next to the top button no tie. A gray raincoat that fell just below the waist, hood down, completed the ensemble. All in all, nothing to cause it to stand out in the crowd.

The form was taken from someone Ruz had passed on the way down into the station. Looking away from the crowd for a moment, Ruz glanced down at the folded envelope, then tucked it away into the inside pocket of the raincoat. The contents were that of a safe-deposit box, stolen of course, that Ruz’s latest employee had a desire to obtain. The job itself had been easy enough. Given the address of the owner of the safe deposit box, it was a simple task for Ruz to appear there, steal the man’s looks after a brief meeting, and empty the contents of the box into the envelope after going to the bank the box was located.

“Another day, another payment.” Ruz mused to itself, looking back and forth among the people one more time as the tunnel started getting lighter. The train was arriving.

[Midir]

The cool London air drew a shudder from Midir as he moved swiftly through the streets. The excitement of the past couple of hours had faded away and he felt drained and fatigued. Though, being trapped in a padded room for over a hundred years and bound by a straitjacket would probably have that affect on a person; that is if they could live through that amount of time without dying. Thankfully for Midir he was not an ordinary person at all. He was not even mortal. A god of old, he still existed even to this day and after the previous century it was a miracle that he was alive at all.

Even gods had enemies and it was not due to a lack of faith either.

Midir had been trapped by a new breed of gods that had claimed the modern world as their own. Some of them did not care about the older deities, but there were also those that felt threatened by them. Unfortunately Midir he had run into the latter. Held captive and forgotten in a mental institution, it had nearly killed him and no doubt he had left behind a bit of his sanity in that padded room as well. He wondered how long he would have lasted in the end. A few more weeks? Months? Another hundred years? He shuddered to think of it.

He needed to return to the Below and regain his strength. But a lot of had changed over the years and Midir would have to relocate the passageways to get him there. His urgency was high as he had no idea if he was being persued or not. The old god had left quite a mess back the institution after all. It had taken what strength he had managed to sum up to break free, feeding off the chaos that he had created from the lies and paranoia he had planted in the staff to cause them to riot. While he could have easily slipped out in the confusion, Midir felt the need to take out his frustrations on nurses, guards and even fellow prisoners. It had felt good, but in the end had left him more weaker than he would have liked.

A nearby staircase drew Midir's attention just then. He could sense a source of magic from there and possibly a way to London Below. Midir took a moment to look around himself before he descended the stairs, his boots thudding on the concrete once he had reached the bottom. With the clothing that he had stolen from one of the staff lockers, a simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt, he easily blended into the crowd. Aside from the fact that he lacked a coat to protect against the bitter London cold.

It would appear that Midir had arrived just in time though as he noticed that a train was coming from within one of the nearby tunnels.

[Ruz]

Eyes narrowed as Ruz scanned the crowd once more. Something...different...had arrived. It could feel a shimmer of something in the air, but it couldn't place its finger on it. Nothing hunting it, it hoped. But then what could find Ruz when Ruz didn't want to be found? Nothing. Ruz turned from the crowd, entering the last car of the subway train. Scooting to a back corner seat, the Changeling sat down with its back to the corner, and watched as other passengers boarded the subway car.

One of the strongest desires Ruz currently had was to shift again into something else. It was almost like an addiction, but without the consequences most hazardous addictions tended to carry. Ruz could not die from shifting, and it wasn't a physical need to shift, nor was it mental. There was no actual need at all, Ruz just liked being other people. It gave the Changeling no small amount of amusement to change into someone and confound that persons friends and family. At least in Ruz's spare time it was enjoyable. The job was almost complete, and then the Changeling could carry on with its own enjoyment.

Ruz touched the outside of its raincoat to feel the rectangular bulge that was the envelope it had come to collect. The odd feeling continued, and was beginning to annoy the Changeling to no end. Something! Something was here...different and not of the land Above. But what? Everything seemed like another normal day thus far, and Ruz didn't see any hints that anyone else was bothered by anything 'different'. Closing its eyes, the brown faded, changing to an intermingled mix of a multitude of colors more commonly known as hazel, and then opened its eyes again.

Such a subtle change, but it made the Changelings lips twitch in a small amused smile. Things would be better son, it knew, once the oddness of the subway went away. That must be what it is, just the subway.

[Midir]

A place to warm himself was most definitely one of Midir's top priorities. He rubbed the palms of his hands against his forearms in an attempt to warm them while he watched the train come to a slow and gradual halt. He regretted not procuring a coat or at least a long-sleeved shirt, but both of those items had been forgotten in his haste to escape the mental institution that had been his prison.

The ancient creature hoped that not too much had changed in the last hundred years or else he would waste valuable time on a human transport that went nowhere. But the call of magic here told him that he was on the right track and simply moved in the direction that it originated from; the last car of the train.

There seemed to be something more than just the draw of magic though. Midir's eyes narrowed as rusty senses attempted to discern the disturbance. His hooded gaze led him toward the rear of the car - in particular the corner where a plain looking man sat. A hint of a smile appeared on Midir's face as he opted to stand next to one of the railings in the center of the car rather than take a seat. He observed the 'ordinary' man out of the corner of his eye in order to confirm if his suspicions were correct or if a century of imprisonment had made him rusty.

'There it is...'

The change was subtle and would no doubt go unnoticed by everyone else. But for Midir, this 'simple' man was like a beacon. What this person was... this thing was... it was like the essence of what had kept Midir in existance for so long. Plain and simple deceit.

Midir pushed himself away from the railing and made his way toward the back of the cart where the individual sat. He plopped down in the seat across from the 'ordinary' man, threw either arm out to the side to rest on the back of his seat and simply grinned.

"Well aren't you fascinating." He tilted his head to one side, "Eye color change... subtle yes, but not really enough to throw anyone off is it? I mean, a sex change... now that would definitely do it."

He straightened his head, "But maybe I'm just assuming that you're trying to throw someone off with that small change you did."