Ordinary Day

[Allie]

((This is to bring Allie back into things))

Allie walked through the door into the Sanctum without really knowing where she was. She'd just been out of things lately. She didn't even remember the last time she morphed and gone on a mission with the others.

Things at the ranch had gotten somewhat out of control. Their riding lessons had just started taking off and then several people had quit because they'd felt the pay wasn't good enough. Allie and the rest had been forced to pick up the slack just when things had been getting to be more than they could ever handle. While the extra pay had been worth it, Allie had been coming home too tired to fight or even notice where she was.

Today they had finally got some new hands and a few more were coming tomorrow. Hopefully with all of them helping Allie would get her hours shortened again and be less wiped out.

However, one good thing had come from all of this. Allie thought about that as she flopped down onto the bed. She'd gotten another morph, and possibly one that could be helpful. A horse. She hadn't yet gotten to try it and couldn't indoors, but would soon. The very thought left her with a smug smile on her face.

[Leroy]

Leroy waddled out of the bathroom where he had just finished splashing around in the tub. Completely naked, he walked out into the main living area without even bothering to dry off. Normally Leroy was much more modest with such things, but he was currently in a duck body so he had an animal's bravery about being without clothes.

He wandered around the apartment for a little bit taking in the bird's perspective. Then he noticed Allie and suddenly realized they hadn't talked in a while. Flapping his wings and landing next to her he said, <<What's up? Long time no see. I was almost starting to wonder if you still lived here.>>

[Allie]

"Hmmm?" Allie's head lifted up off the pillow at Leroy's voice. The only being she saw in the room besides her was a duck, but it didn't even bother her to think of the duck as Leroy. Obviously the whole Animorph business has gone to my head. Not that she really minded that.

Not bothering to do more than prop herself up on one arm she started speaking to the duck. "I'm okay. Tired, but the extra money will help in the end." Realizing Leroy probably didn't know what that meant, she backed up mentally and explained.

"See, the ranch lost several workers right after we got busy, so I was being scheduled not only for more than my usual time, but there was more work than the people available could do. I've been so darn tired I just haven't bothered helping. Hope things haven't been horrible in my absense, which, by the way, is ending as of tomorrow. We're getting some new people in."

Tomorrow maybe she could sneak off during a break and try the new morph. That made her smile a little. "On the upside, I was doing riding lessons and got a horse morph out of all of this," she said, mostly to explain her change in expression from tired to pleased. Things were looking better now, and it wasn't like SPECTER had said they wouldn't still have to deal with life AND with being Animorphs. It was all part of this new path Allie's life had taken, so she'd live with it. She didn't have much choice anymore.

[Leroy]

<<A horse? I bet that would be pretty cool. Although I bet it isn't nearly as cool as my elephant morph.>> Leroy let out a quack and began to demorph. <<You knew I had an elephant morph, right?>> He honestly couldn't remember if she knew.

The feathers sucked into Leroy's body as he got taller and more human-like. Eventually he was human enough to use his mouth and vocal cords. "Anyway, lets see your morph! We could probably move the couch in the living room area if you need some room." Leroy wasn't positive the floor could hold the weight of a horse, but a horse couldn't weigh much more than a couch full of people, right?

[Allie]

Allie smiled at Leroy comparing her horse morph to his elephant. "No, that's true. I'd need a bull to compete with the elephant. It's the best I can get on the farm, and I would have gotten him if I'd been close to him for any amount of time recently." She did vaguely remember Leroy getting an elephant morph during all the chaos.

She watched as he started to demorph from the duck body. When he finally had vocal chords he suggested trying the morph. She'd been too tired to think about morphing the animal indoors. They all did it all the time anyways, so why not.

"I think we want to move the couch," she said as she got up off the bed while he was finishing the demorph. "Horses aren't small animals, though it will fit indoors better than an elephant." She headed out the door of her room and toward the living room. This should work. The only thing I worry about is if the horse decides to poop on the floor, but hopefully that won't happen.

[Nate]

Nate peered over the top of his magazine when Allie wandered back in. "Heeeeeey stranger, long time no see," he joked, sitting up a little straighter and putting the magazine aside.

Allie hadn't exactly been involved in many of their outings, and he'd only pretty much seen her lately in passing in the apartment, so he was surprised to see that she hadn't immediately passed out in her room after arriving home so recently. "Gracing us with your presence, finally?" he grinned.

[Leroy]

Leroy followed Allie out of her room and heard Nate's greeting. It seemed he was just as 'surprised' to see Allie as Leroy himself was. Maybe the whole apartment should go out to eat and catch up or something. Leroy let that thought turn in his mind.

"Get up you slacker," Leroy said jokingly as he neared the couch. "We're temporarily relocating the furniture so that Allie can try out her new morph. She's going to bulk up pretty soon." Leroy grabbed one end on the sofa and waited for someone else to grab the other.

[Allie]

Allie almost laughed at Nate and cracked a smile at Leroy's comment. There was so much fun she was missing by being out of it as much as she had been. Stupid job. Biggest thing it's good for is getting new morphs..... and the money.

"Hey there," she responded finally. "My job was.... a big mess. Several people quit right as we started getting busy and the only way I was getting out of extra hours would have been quitting myself. Not a smart move when you consider that the job is also my way of getting morphs." And, adding to what Leroy had said, "Oh, and my new morph is a horse, so that's why we need some furniture relocation. Just a space issue."

She thought about what she'd need to morph, something she hadn't done in a while. It's probably like riding a bicycle. You never forget. She always wore her morphing outfit under her normal clothes, even though she hadn't used it lately. Also, with this morph she'd want to take the regular clothes off first. She'd destroy them otherwise since she was getting larger, not smaller like with her cat morph. That seems like about it. That, and hope the floor holds me.

She moved over to the couch to start moving it out of her way. "So, you going to help me?" She said with a smile to Nate. She needed to get her game back on as an Animorph, and the new morph would probably help a lot.

[serena]

Nadia had gotten off work a little early and decided that instead of getting a bite to eat by herself, she decided to head on home and just laze around her and Allie's room. She hasn't been able to talk to Allie much since Allie worked for long periods of time and was always exhausted.

Today was quite a pleasant surprise however, as Leroy, Nate, and Allie all stood in the main room moving furniture around. "Hi guys! Are we redecorating?" She asked, tilting her head to the side. She wondered what was going on.

[Nate]

"Okay okay," Nate sighed and got up, moving to the other side of the couch. "I don't remember signing up for manual labour though..."

"Oh hey Nadia," he nodded when the other girl arrived, and then he sized up the couch. "Alllright... on three?"

[Leroy]

"Hey Nadia," Leroy said when she asked about redecorating. "Alright, on three sounds good. Three!" Leroy quickly lifted up his end of the couch, moved it off to the side and set it down again.

"There you go Allie. And yes Nadia, we are redecorating. We thought the living room might look nice with a horse in it, so Allie is giving us a preview of what it would look like." Leroy laughed awkwardly at his own bad joke. One thing was for sure. He was no comedian.

[Allie]

"Nadia, Hey!" Allie said with a smile. Sadly Allie hadn't even seen Nadia much, and the two of them shared a room. On three she lifted the side of the couch she was on and moved it aside. Such a large item was awkward to move, but now they probably had enough space for Allie to try her newest morph.

As Leroy gave a somewhat sarcastic response to Nada's question, Allie rolled her eyes. Then she smiled and said, "In other words, I got a new morph and Leroy suggested I try it out. We're hoping the floor will hold me, but the couch needed to move for space."

With that said, she added, "I'll be right back." Then she ducked out of the room to her's and Nadia's shared one. Once inside she removed her work clothes so she wore only the leotard she morphed in. Yes, she could have done that in the other room, but she wasn't too keen on feeling like she was stripping with Leroy and Nate present.

She returned to the main room, took a breath, and said, "Here goes nothing." With that she focused on the DNA of the horse, putting the image of the animal in her mind. As it was she was right, once you learn how to morph you don't just forget. She was an Animorph now, and that wasn't going to change.

The changes began, somewhat familiar since Allie had morphed before and yet different at the same time. Course hair sprouted along her arms and legs, spreading across her body. The mix of black and white hairs created an almost blue color to the coat. Her own hair shrank down some and spread down her neck, turning a darker, more black color than her coat.

Next the real changed began. She started to expand in size, some parts of her body going more rapidly than others based on the horse's size. Her neck lengthened and thickened as her legs and arms got longer and her torso more than doubled in size. A tail sprouted from behind her, her hands and feet became hooves, and her face expanded forward, her eyes rotating to the sides of her head as it did.

When the transformation was complete the horse freaked at the enclosed space, rearing up. Allie took several moments to gain control and calm it down. <Well..... this is different. Then again, I can't expect a horse and a cat to be very similar.>

[Johnny]

Johnny just stopped in the doorway to the living room. His clothes were very wrinkled from his nap he had just finished taking. Jeez! I must've been more exhausted than I thought! I must still be dreaming! I mean, don't horses usually stand around outside, instead of in peoples' living room?

He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and spoke to everyone in attendence. Which was three people and a horse. "Morning everyone. You guys do see a horse there, right? I'm not going crazy or asleep am I?" He kept rubbing his eyes and blinking but the horse stayed there. And he heard thoughts in his head. Great. A side effect of morphing. You start going insane after a few weeks. Maybe jail wouldn't have been sooo bad.

[Nate]

Nate watched the horse transformation with serious curiosity. It was creepy, gross, and totally awesome at the same time. He remembered back to his junior high school days, there was a girl who used to be made fun of on the playground for her looks. "Horse Face" they used to call at her. He couldn't help but think that girl was nothing compared to watching a real horse face erupt from a girl's face. Actually, he was willing to bet Horse Face grew up to be really pretty now... that was usually how things worked... maybe he should look her up. What was her name again...

Johnny's arrival in the room snapped Nate out of his thoughts and he couldn't help but snicker at his bedhead. "You guys do see a horse there, right? I'm not going crazy or asleep am I?" Johnny asked, and Nate couldn't help but look at Allie in horse form, look back at Johnny, and go "What horse? Dude, are you on crack?"

[Allie]

Allie laughed at Nate's comment to Johnny, laughing in thought speak so everyone heard her. <Very funny, Nate. Yes Johnny, there's a horse standing here. It's me, Allie. Or more correctly it's my newest morph. A blue roan horse.>

She glanced around the room. It was tiny now that she was so big. She didn't really have the space to use the morph and the horse was starting to get restless being in such a cramped space. <I'm going to demorph now. This is definitely a morph to be used in a much more open space.>

With that she focused on her human form again, soon shrinking back to her natural state. The last thing to go was her hair, slowly lightening from the horse's dark black mane to her own dark brown. "That was interesting, but I'm sticking to my cat for indoors stuff."