Log:A Tale of Two Kitties

2020/06/26 Radical Grimm Grimm|Gabby Porter|Porter? 1

Grimm mutters, "What the hell is going on?" She pets Porkitten. "Somehow he's been...I dunno, stretched across two dimensions? He's connected to a dimension with another me, and a grown cat version of this kitten, with a collar that says Porter?"

Radical takes a closer look with his Dimensional Sight, to see if he can corroborate what Grimm is seeing.

Grimm shares the dimensional location over their mindlink to help guide him where to look. She's still watching as well. "So clearly that Grimm doesn't have a pop up lab in her basement," she says enviously as Slinger is busy checking out the equipment systems. Her whole basement looks like a high tech lab.

Porkitten may not be the most talkative, or even ..thoughtative right now, but he still likes pets! He purrs at Grimm's affections. Don't worry, if she should stop, he'll be sure to let her know.

Radical's sight into that particular dimension confirms what Grimm mentions. It's a different dimension, but same equivalent location. In the basement, that's one Gabrielle Grimm doing laundry, with a suspiciously similar purple-with-pink-stripes cat watching her from the top of the dryer. Not a kitten, but an adult, and the tag on the collar does read PORTER.

Radical confirms it, letting Grimm know what he sees. "That's odd. I'm not sure what to make of that."

Grimm sighs. "I don't know why that cat and this kitten...Porter...have the same signature. But I guess we should go there and find out?" She's wreaths herself in dark protective energy.

Radical nods. "I...suppose so?"

The kitten startles at the sudden flux of energy. With a yelp, he hops down to flee under something.

Grimm holds on to Porkitten and pets him in a way that almost looks like a bond supervillainess. "Okay. Time to say hello." Then the kitten leaps out of her arms and hides under a lab console. "What? Porter...oh...man. His mind is completely that of a kitten's," she says worriedly as she gets down on all fours to try and see the kitten. "Come on out. It's okay. Who's a sweet boy? You are!" she coos in sweet baby talk.

Radical tilts his head, watching Grimm deal with the kitten. "This will get old pretty quickly. We might need a carrier."

Nope. It's not a cardboard box, but he seems to like where he is, for now. Maybe the older version over... 'there' is better behaved?

Grimm cries to crawl closer to get the kitten out. "Good idea," she says, but the kitten is out of reach and she doesn't want to use her powers to startle him more. "Maybe we should just leave him for now," she sighs as she sits up and back onto her heels a moment. She glances to the top of the basement stairs and waves her hand, the door shutting. At least now the kitten won't be able to run around the house and cause too much trouble. Except with all the lab equipment Daemon had shipped here. She gets up to her feet and walks over to Radical, moving to place a hand on his shoulder so one of them can take them over to the other dimension. "Let's go? I mean, if you want to come help, that is," she smiles. "I'm sure you have important things to do."

Radical nods. "If you think he'll be okay here, we can give it a go."

"I'm sure he'll be fine for a little bit," Gabrielle says, not realizing how damning those words could be. Darkness swallows Radical and her before they appear...still in her basement. Only cleaner, and with others. "Uh, hey there. Before you freak out, I'm not one of the evil uses," she says to...herself. << Man, I hope this isn't an evil me.>>

First, Gabrielle (for differentiation), is not evil. Second, having people suddenly appear in her basement while she is trying launder her clothes, mentionable and not, is... unexpected, to say the least. Third, it surprises the cat, too.

Both jump with a yelp, one higher than the other, who also gets very ...floofy.

"Ahh! What are you-Who are y-Ahh!" The last one is when she recognizes one of them. The now-floofed cat turns to hiss at the sudden uninvited guests.

Radical gives a wave as well. "Hi. My friend here is you, from another dimension."

Grimm smiles innocently (as much as she can manage). "Yeah, sorry. We mean you no harm."

Gabby grabs the cat around the middle and clutches him to her. It's more a defensive action for the cat, than, say, trying to wield him in a Flurkinesque manner. She eyes the two warily as she steps back. "Ooookay... Why are you here? What are you doing in my house?!"

Radical rubs his chin. "A friend of ours, a man named Porter, was recently visited by a man who transformed him into a kitten. A kitten that looks like a younger versino of your cat. And your cat and the new kitten...seem to be linked to each other across the dimensions. We were hoping to find out....why?"

Grimm doesn't say anything to add to Radical's succinct question. She's busy feeling odd at being confronted with powerless, blonde self. It's left Grimm feeling weird seeing a version of herself that wasn't corrupted by Qliphothic energies. And leaves her wondering what life would've been like if it was never turned upside down by Price.

Gabby blinks and clutches the cat to her in a more cuddling fashion. Not really so different than Grimm was with the kitten a few moments ago, just that the cat is larger. " Again?! But... it was someone else? I don't understand..."

There's a new voice that calls down from the main floor above, a woman's voice. "Gabby? you Ok down there?"

Gabby looks a bit panicked a moment, shaking her head at the visitors and putting a finger to her lips. She then calls back up, "I'm fine, Gwen. Porter... just knocked stuff down again..."

"Big surprise. Oh, don't forget, it's your turn to clean the litter box!" comes the reply. There is silence a few moments before Gabby releases a held breath and looks to you both again. "Look, I don't know anything about other dimensions, or other people, or any of that stuff."

Radical waits until the person upstairs moves on. "Is there...anything odd about your cat? Something different from a normal cat?"

Grimm freezes for a moment at the mention of Gwen. She forgets all about Porter and the cats and looks up towards the top of the basement stairs. Her expression is one of shock and grief.

Radical looks upstairs...and then the name rings a bell with him. He places a hand on Grimm's shoulder for comfort, and then looks at the cat again with his magic sight.

Gabby pets the cat and sniffs, looking down at the pettee a moment before back to Radical. "Odd? That's an understatement... but he's also one of the sweetest guys I know... or he was, until ..this. Now he's a sweet cat."

There is a bit of lingering magic on the cat. Weak, residual, faded.

It takes a moment to register Radical's hand on her shoulder, but it helps Grimm hold herself together. She slowly tears her gaze away from the door, but keeps her shadow sight on that area to search out Gwen. "Guys...? Wait...really? What happened?"

Radical blinks. "So, he was a person previously?"

Gabby sighs and nods, scritching the cat and sparking purrs. Sounds that don't especially comfort her, or are bittersweet. "Yeah. He was a guy, and my friend. I had a rough week at work... I'm a vet tech. We lost a few, and had to put some down. It happens, but..."

She pauses to sniff, now petting more and eyeing the purple cat rather than those she's talking to. "He'd just found some sort of ... giant book. Magic hocus pocus something or other. So he used it on himself, to try and cheer me up. It just ... I guess it worked too well. He's been this way since. That was over a year ago? Maybe two?"

"But you're still my bestest little buddy, aren't you?" she assures the purple purring petee, in cooing babytalk, before nuzzling him.

Grimm is trying to focus on the story, finding herself focused on Gwen instea. Until she hears Vet tech. Gabrielle finally keeps her attention on the task. Mostly. Her eyes widen at the story. "Holy shick. That hits close to home." She looks down at the cat. "Does he show any sign of still being intelligent? We, uh...have a similar issue with the Porter from my world. Only he's still a kitten." She tries to reach out her mind to the cat's to see if there's a Porter still in there. "I don't understand how these two are connected though. Not yet..."

Radical furrows his brow, "But there wasn't any magic in our Porter's transformation."

 Grimm says, "Crap. His mind is...gone. It's just a cat now. He's just..."

"Right. And magic isn't working on ours. But maybe it'll work on this one at least?" Gabrielle sighs, still unsure how to fix either Porter.

Gabby shakes her head at the question. "I took him to some people. I don't know if they're really experts, but they said they were. They said it was ...permanent. Whatever he did... he did it really, really right... or really, really wrong."

Radical nods slowly. "I don't know if it'll work, but I can try to return him to normal. I'm afraid I can't promise it would work, since it didnt' work on our Porter."

Grimm nods slowly. "May as well try?" She looks to her blonde self, still feeling odd about it. "Did those experts look through the book he used? Do you have it?"

"They did," Gabby nods slightly, "and I don't know where it is, now. They took it," now her expression contorts, "and i hope they burned it or locked it up somewhere. It's obviously dangerous."

Radical steps forward...to pet the cat, assuming Gabby doesn't stop him. He'll try to heal the magical transformation.

"Who are 'they', exactly?" Gabrielle asks as Radical tries his spell.

Gabby's brow wrinkles as she tries to recall. it has been some time, and she isn't in magical circles. "I'm sorry, but I don't remember. When they told me they couldn't do anything, I... didn't really need to stay in touch."

As for Radical's restorative magic, he finds that, stubbornly, while this effect was likely magic, it seems it actually altered Porter's own nature. Permanently. The results are exactly the same as the previous attempt... save that this one still had his fur.

Radical shakes his head, "It's not working. So, if there's a cure for the transformation, it's something specific."

Grimm sighs, still semi-distracted. "If that's the case...how do we find out how to fix it? Track down the person who changed our Porter? And what about this one?" she motions to the grown cat.

Radical shrugs, "They're linked? So...my guess is...solve one, that likely solves the other."

That gives Gabrielle some encouragement. One might almost suspect there's a bit of hope in her eyes.

Gabby also sighs, though hers is less distracted and more ...resigned. "I'm sorry I can't be more help. I thought the book might have the answers, but if the magic men couldn't figure it out..." She shrugs and pets the PorterCat, maybe having come to terms with the situation quite some time ago.

Radical nods. "Knowing something about hte book would help." He looks to Gabby, "You said the book was gone? I might be able to look back into the past and see it. Maybe we can find the clue without looking at hte book itself."

Grimm looks to Radical. "Maybe you can trace it by tracing Porter--uhh, the cat's past? You can see what he saw in the book if we can't get the real thing?"

Radical touches his nose and points to Grimm, "That's waht I was thinking."

Grimm smiles at that and looks to Gabby. "It won't hurt Porter," she promises.

Maybe it's what she sees in Grimm's eyes that makes Gabby frown. "I'm sorry. It was fun and all, having you both just appear in my basement, but I think you should go, now. We're missing the movie." The cat is included in that, obviously.

Radical says to Gabby. "It would only take...thirty seconds. And then we'll leave."

Grimm nods. "Yeah, back to your movie after. And this may give us a chance to restore both our Porters."

Gabby doesn't look enthused, but nods. "Alright." Whether tired or thinking that the thirty seconds is a gross underestimation, she turns so she can lean back against the drier.

Radical goes to pet the cat...and quickly concentrates to look into the cat's past...focusing on the time of hte transformation.

Grimm also decides to steal a peek at adult Gwen while Radical is looking into Porter's past. She sees through the shadows upstairs to see adult Gwen.

One seeks the past; the other, an alternate present.

As for the Catted Porter (as opposed to Portered Cat), Radical rapidly flips back the years, months, days, and hours. It's not hard to see the transition point, even in rapid rewind. Backing up a bit further and hitting PLAY>, he sees Porter in his apartment with a book on the coffee table. A book that's nearly the size of the coffee table. It's opened to the first couple of pages, and appears to be written in Latin, and Porter's reading from it. Badly. Radical can tell this even if he doesn't speak it, himself. It's honestly close to Pig Latin in most cases. With that context, the results of the transformation might not be terribly surprising.

In the present, upstairs, sits Gabby's little sister. Well, younger, as she isn't a child, but rather a college freshman. With not-quite shoulder-length blonde hair, and dressed in lounging/sleep shorts and a tank, she's curled up comfily on the couch and munching some popcorn while watching one of last year's biggest romcoms. Probably for the 7th or 8th time, since she's talking along with some of the dialogue.

Radical tries using his magic sight as well...to evaluate and analyze the magic that was used back then.

Reading over Porter's shoulder, so to speak, Radical can note the, well, note at the end of the open pages of incantations. It is a reference to the counterspell, to follow. Which would mean on the page or pages following. Which, after watching Porter read and be transformed... he never made it to or bothered to look at.

They really should put the warnings BEFORE the spells...

Grimm, meanwhile, is trying not to start crying as she gets a glimpse of how her sister may have looked all grown up.

Judging from the age, the penmanship, and even what little you can see of the cover and binding, this thing is ancient. The aura of the book, itself, radiates magic. Old, powerful magic. It is very much an ancient artifact, and definitely not the sort that should be laying on anyone's coffee table, much less Porter's. It's a wonder he even had it... well, except that it's Porter. There is no way that anyone gifted in magic wouldn't have some idea of the power and significance of it. It's likely whoever "helped" Gabby lied and kept it. DEMON, splinter groups, and even the White Circle would probably go to great lengths to obtain something like that. It would be on the short list of 'things to be locked up and kept secured'

Radical breaks off the spell. "I have a lead." He nods to Gabby, "Thank you for your time. If we find the solution, we'll return to help restore your friend."

 Radical says, "Grimm, Porter botched the spell. Because he can't speak Latin worth . The counterspell was on the next page."

Grimm is a bit distracted and sniffs once. "Huh? Oh. Great," she says, her voice wavering a bit. "I knew you cold do it," she smiles.

 Grimm says, "Hah, not a surprise that he can't speak Latin. This whole time he could've been fixed if someone knew how to read it. Which means...these smart magic types were idiots, or lied about not being able to help."

 Radical says, "They likely lied and kept the book. That's my theory."

 Grimm says, "Hrm. Do you need some sample of this Porter in case you need to see into the past again? I feel like we should pay those liars a visit if we can find them."

Gabby just nods. "Ok. Just try the front door next time? And knock."

Radical nods. "Will do. Again...I'm sorry that we surprised you."

"Er, yeah. Sorry about that. Have, uh...fun watching your movie with your sister," Gabrielle says, a bit out of sorts.

Radical places a hand on Grimm's shoulder, waves to Gabby...and he shifts them back to their own world.

Radical looks to Gabrielle, "There's a very real chance that Porter has a copy of that book on his coffee table. The other world version did."

Grimm gets shifted before she can get one last look at Gwen. She blinks several times, her eyes wet as she tries not to cry. "Uh. Right. He, uh. He used to need the book to use magic at first. It...it should be at his house still," she says as she turns away and rubs at her eyes. "Here, kitty kitty," she calls as she tries to find Porkitten with her shadowsight. "If that....sniff...counter spell doesn't work on him, maybe it'll at least work on that other Porter."

Yes, there is a PorKitten hiding under a shelf. Well, now he's napping. Naphiding?

Radical nods...but he doesn't let Grimm get away from him yet. He gives her a hug. "It's okay."

Grimm stops trying to focus on something else as he pulls her into a hug. She can't hold it together now and leans in, a few tears escaping as she closes her eyes. "I got to see her. I used my powers and I got to see her all grown up..." she murmurs hoarsely as her throat constricts.

Radical holds her for a moment, "We'll see what happened to your sister. I promise."

Radical takes a deep breath, "Okay...let's see if we can find that book. Maybe we can undo what he did. Or the other world version did."

Grimm nods weakly and sniffles. "I know. Thank you," she whispers. She finally straightens up and wipes at her wet cheeks. "Alright. Let's grab the kitten and go. It's probably still at their house in Bayside."

Grimm walks over to the shelf quietly, then crouches down and spies the sleeping kitten with her own eyes. She gently reaches and grasps him, trying not to wake him, and pulls him out from hiding. She rises up with kitten held carefully this time so he can't jump away. "I've babysat for him in the past. Getting there is pretty easy. I can teleport us over now."

Radical nods. "Sounds good. Thanks."

Grimm puts a hand gently on Radical's shoulder. Darkness descends around them as foreboding whispers surround them before light returns and they're standing in the former home of the Guardians. Now the home of Mr. and Mrs. Porter.

Colonial Bay. Bayside. 834 Bayside Dr. Living room.

The two appear in the Porters' home. One that is empty and quiet for the moment. One could be surprised at how often a family of three must buy groceries and sundries. Especially when said groceries and/or sundries have a higher change than normal to spoil, burn, and/or detonate.

The room is mostly tidy and clean, with a few stuffed animals or toys scattered here and there. To note, there are no books on the coffee table.

Though there is an abnormally large tome sitting on a shelf on the wall near it. It looks somewhat familiar, and rather ancient... except for the coffee cup coffee ring on the cover (it would take up the whole table, so where is one supposed to put a coaster?!) and the meticulous pre-K rendering of a kitten in neon pink marker (the 'magic experts' may have claimed not to know what The Book does, but someone certainly does).

Radical points to the book, "I'm guessing that's it?" He heads over to the book, and starts to leaf through it, looking for the spell that he saw back in the past. Hopefully it's the same.

Grimm nods as she holds the kitten carefully yet firmly. "Yeah, that's...that's it," she sighs as she notices the coffee stains. "He wasn't very careful with hit."

Radical shakes his head, "Where the heck did he get this? This is like him owning a loaded gun."

Grimm scritches the kitten between the ears as her brow furrows. "I don't exactly know. I think he said he found it at an odd bookshop? If this is that book." She thinks a moment. "Man, I hope he doesn't own a gun..."

The writing within looks very, very similar. Quite possibly the same. It only takes flipping through a dozen pages to find the spell. It's even bookmarked by the top corner of the page being dog-eared. There are a few scribbles in margins... though they aren't in latin. English... probably? They're less legible than the original writing. At the bottom of the right-most page is a yellow sticky-note declaring 'READ NEXT PART FIRST!'

See? Some Porters are actually meticulous and organized... when compared to other Porters?

Radical reads the following sections to see what was missed by the other Porter.

The following page is, as noted both by original author, and indirectly by sticky note, a specific counterspell to the transformational spell preceding it. It isn't terribly complicated, far less than the one it's made to unravel. Anyone literate in Latin and possessing reasonable knowledge of magic could readily make use of it, as the power is actually within The Book.

Which may well explain why the other Porter has been a cat for some time.

Radical studies the spell very closely. This is not the kind of thing to mess up. And pronunciation is important. "Alright. I think I have it. Do we try it on our local Porter?"

Grimm nods. "Well, yes, if you don't think it will hurt if it's not effective?"

Radical thinks about it. "I don't think it will be a problem. It certainly won't make things worse. It just might not work. Assuming I don't make a mistake."

Grimm nods and sets down the kitten. "I trust you. Give it a try." She steps back from the kitten so Radical can try his spell.

Radical nods. "Tahnks for the vote of confidence." He then goes ahead and tries the spell. His Latin is quite precise. This is the reason her learning it in the first place.

Grimm smiles and nods at Radical. He's definitely earned her trust. She stays quiet and doesn't interrupt.

The writing of The Book glows faintly as Radical enunciates the incantion. Both can also see the highlighting flares of magical energy, which then flows over the kitten. It lingers there briefly, as if .. confused? Like dropping a bunch of fleas on, say, a hariless sphynx cat. Grimm can then see, as the energies fade, some of it 'running off' to ... elsewhere in the realities, like liquid finding a low spot and a drain. Physically... yep. Still a kitten.

Radical furrows his brow. "Not sure what happened there. I'm pretty sure I got the spell right."

Grimm blinks and looks about at the ground. "No, you did it right. That's...weird. Some of that spell dispersed into other realities and drained away." She tries to peer across dimension to see where it went. "It's like the magic slipped out of our dimension."

Grimm frowns as she tracks the magic. "It...it went back into the dimension we just left."

Radical nods. "That kind of makes sense, I guess. Porter didn't cast the original spell. His other dimensioanl version did...and someone strange came along and linked him to the original mistake."

Radical says, "Maybe we need to cast the spell on the original?"

Grimm picks up the kitten. "I think you're right. Let's take this Porter and the book with us this time?"

Radical nods. "Sounds good. And let's go to their front door this time?"

Grimm chuckles and nods, tucking the kitten carefully against her chest. "Yeah, we did say we would," she says as she steps over to Radical.

SCHLORMP..?

Whatever qliphothic noise that is, the two are now back at Gabby's place. The front door, this time, as promised. They can hear both Gabby and Gwen ...wailing? There are certainly raised voices coming from within that are dfinitely excited, though it's hard to tell whether it's good or bad through the door.

Grimm gets oriented in the dimension, then gasps at the wailing. "Well, I...hope that's a good thing?" she comments to Radical worriedly.

Radical nods, and knocks on the door. "Maybe Porter already changed back?"

Grimm nods hopefully and holds her breath.

The voices quiet at the knock and the door opens. It isn't Gabby, but a slightly younger blonde woman with shorter hair (whom Grimm would recognize). She looks between you both expectantly and with unfamiliarity... though also with a smile. "Hi... can I help you?"

Gabby is only a few steps behind looking a bit bewlidered. Once she sees and recognizes you both she immediately asks, "What did you do?!"

She's holding a cat in her arms, though this one isn't purple. He's more pink... due to the fact that he has no hair whatsoever. A larger version of the briefly sphynx-like kitten. Possibly less cute as this one has been rather well fed, and has a few rolls and wrinkles. Maybe he is part sharpei?

Grimm cups a hand over her mouth at the sign of the naked cat. "Ohh no," comes muffled around her hand.

Radical furrows his brow and waves to Gwen. He looks to Gabby. "We were in our own dimension and cast the spell to try to cure our Porter. But..some of the magic leaked to here for some reason. Only part of the magic made it here though. We'd like to try to cure your Porter entirely." He holds the book up.

Grimm swallows hard as she finds herself staring at Gwen and cuddling the kitten in her arms closer.

Gabby gasps at the sight of the book and reflexively clutches her cat tighter. There's no small amount of worry contorting her features... but, also, something else. She looks between them both. "Do you really think so?"

Gwen, on the other hand, is mostly looking between kitten and cat, more than a little confused. She does offer, "Can you at least put his fur back on? He looks so ...ewww... nas-ty."

Radical nods. "I think there's a very real chance we can cure your friend."

"Well, we could put a sweater on him," Gabrielle offers not so helpfully. "But I think Radical here can give it a try to cure him."

The something else in Gabby's eyes grows more, though it's apparent she's trying to remain reserved. She's been down this road before, some time ago, or so she thought. She's quiet for a time in thought."

Gwen looks at Grimm at the suggestion.. and then the ideas can almost be seen scrolling behind her eyeballs. Just think of all the outfits should could shop for...

"Alright," Gabby gives a small nod to Radical, though doesn't make any move to release the cat.

Radical nods, "May we come inside? It's probably better to do this in an closed environment." He says to Gwen, "I go by 'Radical', by the way and this is...Grimm." Though he's sure that Gwen likely already noticed Grimm's resemblance to Gabby.

Grimm nods, but keeps her head down a bit so her long layered hair sweeps a bit across her face to conceal some of her features.

Gwen, for better or worse (maybe better in this case), isn't really interested in... whatever's going one. After her quip, she leaves Gabby's friends to Gabby and heads back for the couch. Her movie's still one! Or it could be a different one.

"Let's go to the kitchen, " Gabby invites them in and leads them there. Why there? Well, there is a table and chairs. Also, it might be ...messy, and the kitchen floor is easier to clean up.

Radical nods. "Sounds good. Thank you." He follows Gabby into the kitchen.

Grimm follows along, stealing glances at Gwen as she holds onto the strange colored kitten formerly known as Porter.

Radical waits until they're in tthe kitchen before opening up the book to the appropriate page. "I suggest setting hte cat on the table and not holding onto him while I cast the spell."

Grimm adds, "And if this works, we may want a blanket to cover him up." She says that so readily, you'd think this isn't her first rodeo.

Make that two felines formerly known as Porter... but that is why they are here, is it now? Both are still held by their respective Gabrielles. The purple one is still dozing. He's comfy, and a kitten. The other just looks... annoyed. He's trying to groom himself in Gabby's arms... and he can't make himself look any better! It isn't fair.

"So..." Gabby starts, looking between Radical and Grimm. She's still skeptical, and concerned, but also hopeful... while at the same time trying not to be. "What do you need me to do?" At Grimm's point, she nods. It's valid, even if she's not expecting much. She grabs a dish towel from the counter next to the sink.

Radical goes ahead...and casts the spell while focusing on the furless Porter. That's the one who stumbled with his own spell, after all. Again, he tries to make his Latin as precise as possible.

Grimm stays quiet and lets Radical work his magic. She doesn't want to risk messing up anything.

Magic flows (to the ones who can see it), from Radical (or, rather, The Book), to the hairless, semi-wrinkled cat. It settles there and lingers a moment, then seems to be absorbed. Nothing happens.

Not for a moment, at least. First, there is a plaintive meowl of annoyance as the naked cat still hans't groomed his fur back into place. He rolls over in Gabby's arms out of frustation or to get better situated. It's not easy to ready everywhere on one's self with one's own tongue, afterall!

Then, there's a brief sound. It's somewhere between that wet pop you can make by hooking a finger in your cheek... and the last deflated wails of a whoopee cushion.

So, with a PLOPTHHHPFF, Gabby suddenly finds herself holding Porter. The Porter. Well, A Porter. He's either nuzzling into her chest or still trying to clean himself; it's hard to tell.

For Grimm, though, it's at least clear that the Porter she's holding isn't cleaning himself. Just nuzzling into her, and snoring. That may not make it look any less odd that she's suddenly holding Porter. At least he's light?

Gabby screams in surprise and drops her Porter, and the towel she grabbed. -Luckily- the former falls on the latter in just the right way to make him not totally indecent.

"Mrrr-OW!" exclaims the blinking one on the floor.

This startles the snoring one awake. At least a little. He still seems to think he's comfortable.

"That's why he suggested you put, ah, him down," Gabrielle smiles faintly, though politely averts her eyes as she brings up a hand to shield her vision. It doesn't really help, since her odd qliphothic omniscience still makes her aware of what's there. "Umm. Man, I hope his mind was restored, too, or else this is going to be even weirder," she comments aside as she looks to Radical.

Radical nods. "It should be a complete counterspell."

No sooner did Grimm finish her comments after reprimanding to put the naked cat down that her own kitten suddenly grows full sized and human. Not that Porter weighs much, but Gabrielle isn't strong when she's not using her powers. She suddenly collapses under the sudden weight with a yelp, flattening on the floor. That's what she gets for being a smart @$$!

Radical chuckles. "Well, then...they WERE linked. Just like we thought."

Much blinking ensues. "Oh my! Gabrielle?! Are you Ok?!" This is delivered in stereo, possibly helping to further prove Radical's hypothesis and evaluation of the same. The "ACK!"s and scrambling to cover themselves are not quite synchronized, though. One already has a dish towel, while the other manages to grab... a large skillet from the stove. Plenty big enough to make him decent. Of course... it still had leftovers in it... but at least they weren't sizzling hot? Hopefully they were done with that spicy teriyaki chicken...

"Uh... what happened?" one of them asks. Maybe both.

"EEE!" squeals Gwen as she got up from the couch to see what all the ruckus was about. "-Sure- I can't have guys in my room, but you can have a bunch in the kitchen?? And they're practically naked! And... don't even have any muscles or abs or anything...

Between the apparent ire at double-standards and otherwise lack of interest, Gwen stalks off for her room.

Radical tilts his head, watching Gwen leave. The lack of interest...is interesting in and of itself. "Huh.

"Yuuuup," Gabrielle wheezes out to Radical. She's both happy and not that they were right at the moment. She turns her head to look towards Gwen's squealing, concerned something happened to her. But then she berates her blonde-self and Gabrielle chuckles a little. With Porter no longer pinning her down, she climbs to her feet. There's still a bit of sadness on her eyes despite the laughter. "Okay, Porter....Porters. Hold still," she says as she brushes her hand in Porter's direction, trying to materialize clothing about their Porter first.

Radical closes the book back up and picks it up. "Well, there are still some questions, but it seems like the immediate problem is solved. That's good, at least."

Grimm thinks. o O (Hah, Gwen's reaction is too relatable. I haven't gotten to see a guy naked in ages, and the first one I get to see is Porter? I'd storm off, too, if I could.)

Grimm waves a hand towards the other Porter to dress him as well. Simple shirt and jeans. She looks over to Radical after the deed's done and sighs in relief, then musters up a smile. "Yeah. One problem solved. Thanks again for all your help, Radical."

And, just like that, dishtowels and frying pans are rendered obsolete in favor of comfortable denim and black band tees! "Er... sorry..." The pan and towel are placed on the counter politely. Grimm is already up, so Porter just looks awkward.

The other gives Gabby a helping hand up... which turns into an embrace as Gabby hugs him. "James! I missed you!" The hug is returned, though 'James' still looks confused. Not that this should be surprising.

Radical smiles, though it's barely visible under the mask. "We should go, I guess?" He looks over to Gabby. "We can take our leave, if everything is okay?"

Grimm raises a brow at the use of the name James. "You've, ah, been gone for about a year or something, 'James'," she explains to him.

"At least his version of the book is gone so that won't happen again. Though whoever lied to keep it has me a bit worried," she says aside to Radical. "And yeah, probably time to go home." She turns to their Porter and moves to give him a hug. For all the shick she gives him, she's smiling and looks relieved. "Glad to have you back, buddy." She lets go, then glances once in the direction Gwen stormed off to, getting once last 'look' at what her sister would be like all grown up. She's avoided it in all her dimensional travels until now. She takes a breath, then turns to Radical. "Ready when you are."

Ok, dual Gabrielle hugs isn't a bad thing at all. Gabby doesn't let go of James, just yet. It's only a friendly hug, but its earnest and firm. She does turn her head to Radical, though, and mouths a very delighted "Thank you."

Porter (the kitten one) returns Grimm's hug. He looks like he has a question or twelve... like where are they and why does it look vaguely familiar? Then again, they're talking of going home, so it's not such a big deal to ask it now.

Radical waves to Gabby. "I'll check in after like a week, just to make sure everything's okay." He then places a hand on Grimm's shoulder and shifts her and their Porter back to Grimm's house on their world.

The layout of Grimm's home is not that different from the one they were just in, but the decor certainly is. She's relieved things are currently back to relative normal. "You weren't changed for a year, Porter. Just that other you was," she explains. "I was worried for a while that we wouldn't get you back, but Radical here helped figure out the spell to make you both normal again," she says, turning a smile Radical's way. "I seriously owe you now."

Radical nods. "It was in the book of magic that you...left a coffee ring on." He shows the cover. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, and I owe you... er... both of you," Porter offers. "Thanks..." And then he winces some as Radical points out The Book. He rubs the back of his head. "Well... I mean... it wasn't on purpose. I don't even use it anymore, now. Keep it up safe on-wait." He blinks. "Is that -mine-?! Where'd you get it?"

Radical nods. "It was on your coffee table."

Grimm smiles at Porter. "We needed the counter spell that was in your book. Since that other world's Porter had his book taken by mystery people."

Radical nods. "So, there are some unanswered questions. That mystery person who showed up and transformed you...apparently linked the spell to the other dimension. The other version of Porter transformed himself with...really poor spellcasting. Never achieved the counterspell on the next page. Whoever offered to help took the book, and must have refused to change him back, lying about there not being a way to restore him."

"Oh. Ok. Right." Porter nods. It does make perfect sense to him, possibly because it's a bit weird. "Well, hopefully the mystery people don't just read it for fun. The Book is pretty powerful. And big. Took me forever to, you know, memorize all of it."

"I mean, it let me do magic, and I didn't know anything about magic before that, really. So it's probably worth a lot to some people. I don't know what Mr. CreepyShadowPants did, how he found me, or what his deal is, but that was kind of annoying."

Grimm frowns a bit and rubs her chin. "I still don't understand how that connected those two Porters. Especially when I didn't sense any magic involved in our Porter's transformation." She frowns even deeper. "I really didn't ever want to go back to that evil Porter's dimension again. It was dangerous enough the first time. But maybe I have to just to find out what they're up to and try and track down that being who changed you." It takes her a moment to realize something. "You -memorized- that book? Holy shick, why does that scare me?"

Grimm gives Radical a look and gestures to Porter with both hands and an exasperated look. Somehow she's trying to wordlessly communicate, 'And this is why I think magic is dangerous.'

Radical nods to Porter. "Do you mind if I hold onto the book for a bit? I'd like to read it, and see what's in it. I can return it to you after that."

Porter shrugs at Grimm. "Well, yeah. Mostly. Wasn't easy." He looks to Radical and gives another shrug, but also a nod. "Yeah, sure. I mean, if you can lock it up better than I can you're welcome to it. I've been worried Kyssie might get ahold of it or something. That's why we put it up on a shelf." So it might also be safe from really, really short magical villains, too!

Radical chuckles. "Fair enough. I can probably find a safe place to put it."

Grimm looks privately relieved that Radical will keep the book safe. "Yeah, Kyssie finding that would be bad luck," she agrees. She leans against the back of her couch, thinking on grown up Gwen quietly to herself. "May be good to keep the book on hand in case whoever did this tries it again."