Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Jul 26, 2019 2:56:38 GMT -6
Valeri (female) Level: 9 (0/5) / Loyalty: 11 (0/5)
Stamina: 3 Strength: 4 Resistance: 2 Dexterity: 3 Mentality: 3 Special Abilities: Swim, Danger Sense, Chlorophyll Moves: Constrict, Deceptive Lure
10 / 10
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Jul 26, 2019 4:26:57 GMT -6
If the feeling of entering the Breeding Center had been weird to begin with, the fact it had to be done in so late an evening as to be the middle of the night was even more so. Admittedly the Breeding Center was aware some of their prospective clients would be creatures with nocturnal habits, hence the late opening hours, but still it felt almost like keeping the desk clerks at their jobs longer than was needed. The sphinx entered alone, a bracelet in one hand and a sealed bucket in the other. A strange sight right up until the appropriate paperwork had been filed and the form's type cleared up any questions people might have had.
She headed down the hallway, eyes searching for the room number on the paper form, found it, and entered. It was a miniature garden, clean, perhaps way more clean that it should have been, but still. In the middle was a pond and she stood next to it, holding the bracelet over it before whispering a command word and the world shifted, warping a lotine into the waters with a splash. Judgemental blue eyes stared back at her from the depths of the water, before suddenly darting off into the further parts of the pond, leaving her to look both sheepish and apologetic.
It would be.. a somewhat long night.
(1) Valeri: 7 (1/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Jul 26, 2019 4:32:17 GMT -6
Admittedly there was only herself to blame for it as well. Once upon a time she had tried to connect with the lotine, who seemed so shy and elusive. Back then it had kinda-sorta even worked. At least, if nothing else, some common ground had been won. But since then the events and general life of the Labs had been one excitable adventure after another and she.. didn't exactly have as much time to wander the gardens as before, much less in the late evening hours when the twilight one was actually awake. The common ground had remained where it was, not moving back an inch, but neither moving forward. Still, Valeri was her own mind, with her own thoughts and her own intents. And she hadn't quite forgotten the abandonment.
It was one thing to deal with creatures who had the basic understanding of life as most animals do. But creatures with thoughts like humanoids were a whole other matter entirely. An insult that would roll off the back of an animalistic creature, forgotten in a few days, would be Remembered by the human-thinking ones. Valeri could not speak like one, but she could certainly feel like it.
Darky sat down on the edge of the pond with a sigh, rubbing her face. Making amends was always a tough job.
(2) Valeri: 7 (2/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Jul 26, 2019 4:43:20 GMT -6
Making amends to someone who thought like you but couldn't otherwise understand you, was worse. How would one even begin? Talking? Certainly that would have made the sphinx feel better, but the lotine could hardly make out what she was saying so far underwater where she was portraying her justified sense of sulking. For a time, it was, perhaps, better to give her the peace she needed, but above all, the space she needed in order to get used to the mammalian's presence again.
Carefully, Darky adjusted her sitting as to let her feet dangle in the water of the pond. If anything, it would at least let the lotine know she was still there and give her an indication of where exactly. When one knew they were watched, it helped to be rather obvious about it, as to avoid spooking them unintentionally. Once Valeri adjusted - to the place, to the time, to her - perhaps they could take steps from there. Until then, they would just have to deal with the quiet, serene silence between them, the dim soothing lighting of the breeding room and the dull, photo-projected stars on the ceiling above. That last one had been a specific request.
(3) Valeri: 7 (3/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Jul 26, 2019 4:49:12 GMT -6
Valeri, as all twilights were want to, like the stars. Unfortunately due to the closed nature of the breeding rooms, that wasn't exactly something that could be given to her in a true fashion. The projection was a photo of stars, good enough to look real, but otherwise still none the less as fake as it got. The mammalian could but hope the lotine was able to distinguish her attempt as something in line to trying her best and not in trying to make a mockery of something she liked. This breeding room also didn't happen to have a bridge like their home garden did. Everything was different and new and clean.
In terms of water, that last part Valeri could respect, but the pond itself, artificial as it was, and the garden, equally artificial, was too open and too wide. She liked corners, she liked little islands in the middle of the pond so the water would have to go around them in little rivers and streams that she could follow the currents of. This was like being in a bowl, and it was not enjoyable. The lotine sank deeper in the water, all the way to the bottom of the pond, until she could curl up on it and attempt to wait it out. Sooner or later she would be home again, back to things she Knew.
(4) Valeri: 7 (4/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Jul 26, 2019 4:54:41 GMT -6
But, time edged onwards, even if the rippling sight of the moon outside the pond never seemed to move an inch and it began to dawn on her that things would not be quite so simple. Everything here was Strange and Different. Well.. almost everything. Blue eyes shifted, stopping a pair of feet idly moving in the water at the edge of the pond and the lotine's form slumped a little. Eventually, it uncoiled and slowly she began to drift upwards, breaking the surface of the pond to catch a breath and have piercing blue eyes look over the Offending One.
Darky didn't see her surface, but her ears moved when she heard the soft splosh of water being broken, turning towards it. The eyes seemed no less judgemental than when the lotine had been summoned with the collar (admittedly, that whole process didn't exactly come with a heads up when it was being performed). The sphinx attempted an amiable smile and a brief wave. The lotine continued to stare, judgement no less abiding but now being mixed in with a look of appraisal.
(5) Valeri: 8 (0/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Jul 26, 2019 5:01:23 GMT -6
That was progress, Darky supposed. Not much, but any small opening in a doorway was worth it at this point, especially if there was ever hope of having the door be fully open in the long run. "I'm.. sorry for not having been around as much," she began, now more sure of the lotine's attention, "Things have been.. going rather fast. There's the kennel to hold in line, the farm to build, the others to train.." There was a pause, realizing that perhaps the use of 'others' could just as well have included Valeri. Admittedly the sphinx didn't quite know what the lotine could be taught, but the more concerning factor was she had never quite assumed it to be possible in the first place. How was that for divided attentions..
Valeri continued to stare at her, only half of her head out of the water, to look and breather, perhaps even to hear, but the rest remained below.
"Well.. I suppose what I'm trying to say is I've.. learned my lesson?" the mammalian wagered, a questioning look shot towards the lotine. She didn't understand human speech, least, not in the conventional sense, which was why the mammalian was trying to be all the more emotive to compensate. What words could fail, expression and gestures could perhaps succeed in.
(6) Valeri: 8 (1/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Jul 26, 2019 5:06:29 GMT -6
And she was truly sorry. The lotine swam in place for a few more moments, before slowly, tentatively almost, dipping back below the water. In some ways, Darky's heart sank, but in others the faintest look given just before seemed almost softer, the judgement fading. Things would be so much easier if they had a simpler means of communicating, she thought with a sigh and leaned back on her hands. But then, using simple means to solve a complicated situation - a situation one caused themselves no less - wouldn't have done it justice, really.
A small splosh of water brought the mammalian attention to the opposite side of the pond, the lotine's head visible again and staring again. The previous suspicions, however, had seemed to come true - it was softer. The judgement wasn't quite out of her expression just yet, but neither was it quite as piercing as before. Darky gave her a nod and a wave, to acknowledge her presence there, but otherwise remained silent this time around. The lotine had her own decisions to make in this situation and she would need time, so time she gave.
(7) Valeri: 8 (2/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Jul 26, 2019 5:19:15 GMT -6
Time slowly passed, the evening dragging on, until finally a faint birdsong and cricket chirping began to sound around them. Perhaps the breeding center keepers had been a little busy on the draw or perhaps whoever was in charge of monitoring couldn't take the awkward silence any more than the two attending did, but either way, Darky discovered the room apparently also had speakers and music with nature sounds. Oh thank the spirits, she felt a sense of relief wash over. Time and space she could give, but to sit still with only silence and nothingness around them would have eventually driven her into fidgeting something fierce.
The lotine had dipped and resurfaced a couple of times since then, but now came up again at these new sounds. Unlike her inspection of the mammalian, the sounds made her head pop out of the water fully, almost craning upwards like a seal to hear this new weird sensation. She knew the sounds, of course, they were quite common in the garden at night as well. But here they were somehow.. different. Weirder. Nevermind the place of fake pond and fake garden would have fake sounds coming off of invisible creatures. Perhaps that was not so surprising, when she considered it a moment, slightly slinking back down again.
(8) Valeri: 8 (3/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Jul 26, 2019 5:24:24 GMT -6
The sphinxes head tilted slightly as she considered the reaction. Admittedly she hadn't exactly expected the lotine to jump in delight at the sounds, but this seemed a little less relaxed and more concerned. Valeri wasn't.. feeling too comfortable. True, this was only their first time here, anything new was initially uncomfortable right up until you got used to things more by being around it more. But still, despite accommodations she still seemed out of place.
Her eyes fell on the bucket beside her, thoughts and ideas forming. Well.. that was one thing more familiar, and more real than the room itself. Perhaps it could be enough.
She uncovered the bucket and dipped it near the pond's edge, upending the water - and a single silvery fish - into the pond in the process. The sounds and movements immediately caught the lotine's attentions, Valeri at first staring, then cautiously swimming closer to see what it was all about. Something flashed past her underwater and the lotine's head turned to follow it. It flashed again the other way, and Valeri did a small spin in place, trying to keep it in sights.
(9) Valeri: 8 (4/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Jul 26, 2019 5:30:29 GMT -6
Finally, she dove underwater and Darky had to stand up on the pond edge to get a better view. The dim light, mimicking that of evening/late night hues didn't exactly provide with a lot of ability to see the commotion, but the small flashes of silver and glimpses of azure blue eyes eventually hinted enough to her that the lotine had taking to chasing the fish. She tended to do so often in the pond, at least in the old days. It was a form of play and exercise in one, considering none of the other garden denizens were exactly water-able. Even the lola, some of whom had been her own berries, would at best hover over the top of the water, but never really dipping in beneath. The fish were as close to playing as she usually got with them. Darky smiled, settling back down. It wasn't much, but even small things, the right small things, could make a world of difference to someone. For Valeri, it was a sense of normalcy, in an otherwise alien place. Or rather, a place that only felt alien because someone had tried to make it as close to normal as possible without it actually being true. The fish, darting fast and quick through the water, was almost enough to make her forget the pond wasn't a real pond, the garden was mostly good-smelling plastic, the stars and moon shone bright but never moved and that songs of creatures and bugs was somehow close and far away at the same time.
But at least she had the freedom to still move and swim and chase and that was enough for now.
(10) Valeri: 9 (0/5)
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Post by Renathan on Jul 26, 2019 5:39:34 GMT -6
It looks like your expert skill of gardening has paid off! Two beautiful lola babies were produced!
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