The slick fix.

[Shen]

The man looked at her in a puzzled manner, then shook his head. He held up the vials in his hands in a jumbled mess, their contents unknown. Each were a different colour, though those colours were not easy to make out in the dark.

"Oh no, I cannot do that! I have so much testing to do! The brown ones are quite strong, but I have to test so many more! You're going to have to wait. Aren't you glad you came?"

He turned his back on her then, mumbling about colours and slimes, not making a great deal of sense.

Shen on the other hand, sighed.

"You blasted idiot, do you know how hard those reagents can be to come by? Months of toil you uneducated nitwit...."

He sounded a little defeated but truly, Shen was at least smart enough to not try and anger their captor. Not just yet. There had to be some way to get out of this, some way to manipulate the man.

[Marlena]

Marlena almost pouted then, a bad habit when she didn't get her way sometimes and it took a lot of self restraint to stop herself. Her eyes went to Shen when he began to rant, tensing slightly at the thought he might agitate their 'host', but she released her breath in relief when he went quiet. Turning back, she watched the man fumble with the vials, biting lightly at her lower lip fore a few moments.

Which ones have you tried so far? Are you sure we can't help? Shen here could tell you all about them with a closer look. You could hurt your... pets... If you use the wrong ones...

It was a long shot, but right now, she had no other ideas, she was left with pretty words. Though with the mental state of this man, she had no idea how well even those would work.

[Shen]

The man studied them both in that manic manner, grinning like a wide toothed idiot. Shen was quite obviously brooding presently.

"I'll not help the blasted fool waste MY possessions."

He sighed and went silent once more, he wasn't wanting to agitate the loon but be damned if he didn't want to tear the man's head off presently. The loon ignored Mr Cranky Pants and addressed Marlena.

"Well then. The brown ones make them strong, the blue ones make them quite quick, the white ones made them almost invisible for a time! Perhaps you can help me choose which ones to mix next! That could be quite exciting!"

He clapped his hands in glee then, staring at Marlena expectantly.

[Marlena]

Marlena lifted an eyebrow and almost glared at Shen as he protested, the look softening when he went quiet. They may dislike the idea of playing nice, but it seemed to be their only option currently. Her eyes returned to the man in front of her, her lower lip caught between her teeth as she thought for a moment. The man's demeanour was somewhat unsettling, someone that should be locked away, if only to stop him from hurting himself, let alone others. How he intended to test these things was another matter. Scanning the room, she looked for evidence of any other 'helpers' before she spoke, her head nodding to the neck of a vial visible from the bag.

What of the red one? Have you tried that?

[Shen]

Shen scowled at the suggestion, those reagents were not easy to acquire and he was entirely tired of being held against his will. He wasn't an angry person, or prone to outburst, but this scenario was testing his patience. Finally, he submitted to Marlena's idea though, he had none of his own. Not yet.

"Yes, you should try the red one. A wonderful suggestion."

His words were indeed half hearted, but he was playing along now. The man considered their joint suggestion and then clapped excitedly. He called to whatever slime was closest and popped the cork from the vial with the red contents.

"Now this won't hurt a bit Mittens."

The red liquid dripped onto the slime, just a tad. It took a moment but it coursed through the translucent creature and then, it changed a rather pale red hue, glowing ever so slightly in the dim light of the room.

"Oh my, would you look at that! Isn't Mittens pretty now? Whatever shall we try next?"

[Marlena]

Lifting an eyebrow and fighting the urge to laugh at the name given to the slime, Marlena nodded in agreement with the man's words. She wondered if he could truly tell them apart or if he was mad enough to think he could. Staring at the bag, her mind raced through various ideas, different variations on those ideas, and none of them seemed as if they would work. But she did get the feeling that Shen wasn't going to be impressed if they sat through a test of every vial, especially considering there seemed to be many. Her eyes travelled to the slime that held her to the wall, never taking them from it as she spoke.

Have you tried putting two different colours in one of your pets? I wonder what would happen if you mixed another one with these lovely, strong slimes?

Her head turned to Shen and she wished he could read her mind. This would test if he was on the same page as her, and if, gods (read that as GM) be willing, he knew enough about his own regents and could assist in this plan.

He said he used the brown vial on these strong ones, Shen... Do you think there is one in the bag that might do something special if added as well?

[Shen]

Shen looked at Marlena and shook his head.

"No, I cannot say I test my most expensive possessions on gutter slime."

Which basically meant the GM isn't giving it away so easily

The nutter looked at her with some confusion, then back to the collection of vials.

"Well no, but they are perfect! Let us test another one though. Tell me, what colour shall we use?"

He seemed quite excietd once past that initial confusion at her words, but it did seem he hadn't seen through her ruse just yet. A good thing too.

[Marlena]

Marlena rolled her eyes at Shen's response and looked back to the man. Nodding to the bag once more, she breathed deep and spoke, the smile taking a little more work to keep in place as she too was losing patience with the situation, but there couldn't be that many more vials, surely. Experimenting was fun, usually. Just not when it involved being trapped against a wall by slimes controlled by a lunatic.

Which colours do you have left? I thought I saw a black vial. Maybe you should try that one?

[Shen]

The man looked at her and turned, then rummaged through a sack that seemed FULL of vials. He was not using an entire one presently it seemed, something he demonstrated when he uncorked the black contents vial and dribbled it on his pet.

"There we are Mittens, such a good little goo."

He watched with baited breath as Mittens then slowly absorbed the black vial... which dulled and then extinguished the dull red glow the prior vial had given it. The man seemed frustrated.

"Oh rats. The brown ones took so many colours to get so strong. I suppose I just need to try more."

He turned to Marlena once more, excited and enthused.

"Tell me. What colour shall we use next?"

[Marlena]

Marlena eyed the bag, thoroughly put out with the sight and sound of so many vials. She sighed, unable to stop herself, though she did manage to bite her tongue to stop from asking Shen why the hell he needed so bloody many.

The clear one... The clear one next. I wonder what that will do to Mittens.

It was yet more effort to seem enthusiastic enough not to upset the man, though the smile had slipped some, disappointed that the black one hadn't caused the slime to dissolve into some corrosive puddle that melted the man's feet to bloody stumps.

[Shen]

The man nodded and grabbed the clear vial and uncorked it, then tipped it up to pour out... nothing. It was clear because it was empty

Melt Mittens indeed, you savage.

[Marlena]

Marlena? Savage? Never... Just a little frustrated.

As it was, she rolled her eyes at her luck (read that as GM) and huffed. She would have pointed, but her arms trapped as they were, she just nodded to the bag.

The green one.

Hopefully it would do something rather than make Mittens some pretty colour.

[Shen]

The crazed man complied and poured the green vial onto mittens. Unusual, but this time Mittens seemed to change a little. In fact, he grew brilliant, green, healthy looking leaves until he looked like a rather small, round bush.

The man clapped.

"OH MY! ISN'T HE PRETTY? WHATEVER WILL HE BECOME NEXT?"

Oh dear. He was entirely all too enthusiastic then, looking to Marlena in desperation for her next suggestion.

[Shen]

(I do suppose this thread is done with at least until Marlena returns. Per the suggestion to close old threads, I am rewarding both Marlena and I the standard 5 acclaim and 25 gold.)