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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 15:38:07 GMT -6
For now, there was the matter of getting the Orbaru out of his carrier. Aubrey thought it was probably better not to get too ahead of himself, and just focus on things one step at a time. He walked to the front of the carrier and knelt down so he could have a look inside. The male Orbaru, who had been less reticent than his intended partner, was already sniffing around. Aubrey wondered if he had been here before, and was reacquainting himself with the familiar smells, or if this was a new environment for him that he was trying to scope out through scent.
Either way, he didn't seem frightened, which was a good sign. Aubrey prepared himself for a moment, then gently unlocked the door of the carrier and eased it open. The door swung outwards, and the way was clear for the little male to venture out, if that was what he wanted to do.
In the meantime, he spared a glance at the female too. She was already out and about, and in setting down the male's carrier, Aubrey had in fact lost track of her for a moment. Not that there was anywhere for her to escape to in here though.
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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 15:41:36 GMT -6
The room was essentially just as the woman described, a relatively small space with a nice soft carpet floor, filled with a variety of soft beds and pillows and Orbaru toys. There were alcoves and colorful shelters that the creatures could make use of if they wanted some privacy, whether to fee safe or because they wanted to be out of sight, but these were obvious enough that if he was really concerned about finding an Orbaru that had wandered out of sight, it wouldn't be hard to determine where to look.
Fortunately for Aubrey though, she hadn't taken that option. She was hanging around the edge of the room, staring in their direction. Aubrey rather thought it looked as though she wanted to come closer, but didn't quite dare. Did she want to play with her companion? Aubrey was pretty sure he was the one keeping her away, so the male must have been what was drawing her attention.
Maybe she thought he was some kind of monster that had taken him prisoner, and was trying to figure out a way to help him get away. Aubrey had to resist the urge to sigh. It did kind of look like that, didn't it?
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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 15:45:02 GMT -6
He did hope that he might be able to convince her to warm up to him a little before this whole thing was over, but he wasn't getting his hopes up. The woman had mentioned that it was best to sort of give them room to know each other and do their own thing, unless they really looked as though they needed you to intervene--- like if a fight broke out or one of them had gotten themselves stuck on something, for example.
... Maybe he would have better luck when he had some Orbaru of his own, if he decided to get any. They were cute little guys, though he didn't know how well they would get along with Yeo-reum. The Tat-lung had recently gone through a last growth spurt, thanks to the help of a potion, and now he had full run of the house with all the mischief making that entailed. He didn't know if an Orbaru could cope with something like that, even if he didn't think Yeo-reum would try to intentionally menace a small fuzzy creature.
"Okay, okay, I'll get out of the way," Aubrey said, and stepped aside so the male could have a little more room.
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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 15:48:06 GMT -6
He didn't quite dare to use the method that the woman had used to lure the female out of the carrier. He was afraid he might make a botch out of it, and at any rate he didn't actually think the male needed it that much. If he was already curious about his surroundings, then he should come out on his own in due time, now that the way was clear for him to do so.
Aubrey also didn't want the female to misinterpret his actions somehow and launch some sort of desperate assault on him. Or, wait, could they do that? He'd read somewhere that Orbaru were exceptionally bad at fighting, and that the labs had created them exclusively as companion animals, so their instincts for combat and self preservation were underdeveloped...
Well, it was still possible to stress them out, and Aubrey didn't want that either. So, feeling oddly like a parent at a soccer game, he found a nice alcove along a wall with a shelf bench to sit on, and parked himself there. The female's gaze followed him the whole way over, and Aubrey found himself holding up his hands in a placating manner, for all the good that would do.
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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 15:52:32 GMT -6
He didn't really think she would understand the gesture... but it didn't feel right to not do anything either, under that baleful gaze.
She really didn't like him, did she?
He was saved by the appearance of the male. His head popped out in a rather abrupt fashion from the carrier, and from the way the female's attention snapped to him, he might have even startled her with that. But as soon as she recognized him, she leaned forward, placing her forepaws on the ground, head stretched out and nose twitching. She didn't quite move in his direction, but at least she was taking an interest in him, and therefore wasn't staring at Aubrey anymore.
They had noticed each other... That was a good sign, wasn't it? From here, as long as they didn't seem to upset each other, it would all sort of just... take care of itself, right? Aubrey searched his memory, and found that he really couldn't remember much about Orbaru mating rituals. He felt like there was something about the male's orb being involved, but beyond that, he couldn't think of anything.
He supposed he might find out today, having come here with these two. With any luck, anyway.
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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 16:02:51 GMT -6
Aubrey turned his gaze to the male, to see how he would act now that he had the female's attention. But contrary to anything Aubrey would have expected, as soon as the male noticed the female, he ducked back into the carrier again. The female seemed a bit taken aback, and backed up again, apparently at a loss.
A moment later, however, the male peered out again. There was a sort of thumping noise, like something hitting the side of the carrier--- the male's leg, or maybe his foot? Did Orbaru thump their feet? There was so much that Aubrey didn't know about them. He made a mental note to peruse whatever information there was about them at the local library when this whole thing was finished. It might help to explain some of the things he saw today.
For now, he wondered whether the thump was an indication that something was wrong, but he couldn't make out any sign of distress from the male. Remembering the front desk woman's advice to leave well enough alone, he chose to sit back and observe for the moment.
The male ducked back in and came out again a couple more times after that.
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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 16:05:57 GMT -6
By then, Aubrey realized that this was probably just him playing a game, or at least trying to. It seemed like an invitation to the female to play with him, though thus far she had failed to take the bait. Now he wondered which one of them was going to cave first: whether the male would tire himself out from his apparently fruitless efforts and try something else or give up; or whether the female would be coaxed into swatting at him or giving chase or whatever it was the male was trying to incite after all.
He got his answer not too long after. The female crept one step closer, and then another. Her advance was slow, but the male was patient. And then, once she had gotten to a certain distance, she sprang forward all at once, tumbling into the carrier.
The carrier shook for a moment, then the male bolted out, followed by the female in hot pursuit, both of them booping up a storm. Aubrey hoped that this was just a game. It didn't look very violent, but he realized just then that he had neglected to ask the front desk woman what an Orbaru spat would look like.
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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 16:14:27 GMT -6
If things got really hairy, he imagined he couldn't miss it, but the point was probably to stop it before it got to that point, and he wasn't at all sure that he'd be able to spot the warning signs.
Should he ring the buzzer? His eyes darted in that general direction. But he also didn't want to cry wolf and have things turn out totally fine either, if only because he didn't want to waste anyone's time.
Luckily for him, it became clear pretty soon that the two Orbaru were simply at play. When the female managed to catch the male, the two of them tumbled into a small heap of soft toys, wrestling around for a moment before settling down. Once they had settled, the male began the apparently futile task of attempting to groom the female. She didn't raise any protest at this development either, and stayed still so he could do just that. All was well between the two of them after all. It also looked as though they might already have been acquainted. Well, they were kept by the same person, so it wasn't all that unusual... but Aubrey didn't know whether they'd been kept together or not.
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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 16:17:56 GMT -6
Maybe Orbaru just made friends really quickly, especially if they weren't good at fighting and had been created with a lack of aggression in mind. It was entirely possible that, because they didn't have any room in their hearts for fighting, they just got along immediately.
Then again, the female didn't need to bite him to make it abundantly clear to Aubrey that she didn't care for his company, so that theory of his might be wrong too.
In the meantime, the male was certainly having a struggle with the task he had chosen to take up. The female's fur was so long, and already somewhat out of sorts, and despite his best efforts, it didn't seem to get any less unruly with his grooming. In fact, if anything, the places where he groomed appeared to be growing more disheveled than the rest of her, becoming more tangled by the moment.
The female didn't seem to mind though, and didn't make any attempts to stop him or move away. Either she hadn't noticed, or she didn't care too much what became of the state of her fur. She didn't seem to care about it obstructing her vision either, so maybe she really was indifferent.
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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 16:21:33 GMT -6
It might have been like the prevailing sentiment with when people offered each other gifts, that it was the thought that mattered. Maybe what she appreciated was his effort in trying to groom her, rather than the results he got with that effort.
Eventually, however, the male must have felt that he had done enough, and left off from trying to groom her any more. Privately Aubrey felt that it was for the best. The female would certainly have to be brushed out again later, though he didn't think he was very well suited for the job. If he tried to hold her, he didn't know if she would take that kind of thing from him, let alone letting him attempt to come at her with a brush or a comb. Which meant that it was going to be her actual keeper brushing her out, and they certainly had their work cut out for them already.
The two Orbaru switched roles now, with the female taking up the task of trying to groom the male, but this effort was woefully short lived. She wasn't, as far as Aubrey could tell, particularly bad at it--- at least, his fur wasn't getting visibly more unkempt.
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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 16:24:53 GMT -6
And that was more than Aubrey could have said for the male's efforts, though to be fair to him, his fur also looked as though it were easier to groom. But she definitely wasn't as dedicated to her task as he had been, and after only a little grooming, she left off to do something else.
The male shook himself off, seeming a little reluctant to get moving. Maybe he had been hoping that the grooming session would have lasted longer, but now that his hopes had been dashed, he wasn't about to argue about it either. The two of them took what turned out to be the beginning of a slow turn around the room, exploring all the nooks and crannies that they could find.
Aubrey, watching them, wondered if they were just exploring or if they were trying to find anything in particular. Was it possible that they were hungry and looking for food? There was a small bowl laid out with some food on it, tucked into a corner of the room, not terribly hard to find but also fairly out of the way. The location had probably been chosen so it would be harder to get bowled over by creatures at play.
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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 16:29:39 GMT -6
It hadn't actually lasted very long, but Aubrey had been treated to a firsthand look at how excited Orbaru could get while playing with each other. It was probably a good call on the breeding center's part.
The Orbaru were going the wrong way if they were trying to find food, but given the size of the room and the pace they were going at, they would find it eventually. For now, they were busy poking their heads into the latest hiding spot they had come across, one that was shaped to look like a very large mushroom. It was colorful, the same way that everything in the room was colorful, and in fact, the decorating principles used here wouldn't have seemed out of place in a children's bedroom.
There must not have been anything interesting inside though, as the Orbaru took a cursory look and then backed out, wandering along the edge of the room again.
The next thing that stopped them was a large Orbaru doll. The female noticed it first, and froze when she saw it, which brought the male up short too. It took him a little longer to notice it, but he seemed unwilling to advance without his friend.
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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 16:36:31 GMT -6
At most, he was willing to reach out with the front of his body the way the female had done with him when he had been in the carrier, and take a few cursory sniffs at it.
... Or maybe not. Maybe he was a bit braver than Aubrey had given him credit for, as a moment later, he sprinted up to the big Orbaru toy, gave it a sound swat on the nose, then ran away immediately to hide inside the mushroom. His rapid movements startled the female, who followed quickly at his heels, and a moment later, Aubrey couldn't make out head or tails of either of them.
He thought they might come poke their heads out again to see what had become of the big plush toy, which had reacted to the assault by overbalancing and falling flat on its face, but the minutes ticked by and Aubrey didn't see either of them. He began to wonder if they were busy inside doing something or the other, and suddenly wished a little desperately for something to distract himself. Were there magazines in here that he could peruse, or something? There generally were at the doctor's office and the vet's and all.
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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 16:40:28 GMT -6
A cursory look around the room dashed all his hopes for relief on that front, however, and he was forced to content himself with twiddling his thumbs. Maybe he could suggest it to the woman at the front when he was finished. It couldn't hurt, right?
Aubrey waited, but there was really no sign of the Orbaru emerging from their hiding place. Eventually boredom got the best of him, and he got off from where he had been sitting after all. It was plenty comfortable, and he realized that he probably hadn't been there all that long, but the tense way he had been holding himself--- and this despite the front desk woman's warnings--- had made it so that his butt was starting to go numb anyway. He needed to get up and do something, anything.
Straightening the Orbaru plush that had fallen over would do.
What a curious thing to put in a room for breeding Orbaru. The two that he'd come here with had apparently been mildly spooked by it, but he wondered if any particularly dim or misguided Orbaru had ever taken a greater shine to the stuffed one than their intended mating partner. Wouldn't that be a curious thing?
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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 16:45:55 GMT -6
He was started from his thoughts a moment later by a voice, however. ["Sir? Your time's up,"] the voice said. Aubrey jumped, then clutched his hand over his heart. Good thing that there wasn't anyone else around to see him do it besides the Orbaru, and those guys clearly weren't paying attention to him. He tossed another glance at the mushroom, but no, there was no sign of either of them making their way out.
Which left him to address the voice. It came from where his key card was, so he walked over to it. There was a second, smaller button with a speaker sign on it, and after a moment's deliberation, he pressed it and spoke, hoping this would work.
"My time?" he said.
["Yes sir, these rooms have a time limit on them. Did we not tell you that?"] The voice sounded fairly different from the woman that had spoken to him before, so he supposed they must have changed shifts in the time that he had been in here. Maybe more time had passed than he had thought after all.
["Well, if your critters haven't had any luck, I'm sorry to hear it,"] said the voice, ["but if they haven't by now then they're probably not going to today. But we've got more folks coming and we have to sanitize the room between uses, so please make your way out as soon as you can."]
That... made sense. They hadn't told him anything like that, but the way this person put it did have a certain logic to it.
"I'll try," he told it, then went back to the carriers.
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