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Post by Briar on Jun 30, 2019 14:57:32 GMT -6
Aubrey had been telling himself that he ought to be trying new things, but in this case he felt as though he might be in a little over his head.
In theory, it shouldn't have been too hard to train a creature. He had grown up in a creature-training household. The thing was, though, he hadn't really been present for a lot of it when it happened, and he hadn't tried enough of it on his own yet that he felt confident doing it for someone else, or for someone else's creatures. And the Lamadidron was so much bigger in person than he had given it credit for, though maybe that was also because Aubrey himself was... pretty small.
At least it wasn't venomous. He wouldn't have felt comfortable at all working with a venomous creature.
Yeo-reum was here too, watching the proceedings from a large fish tank on a little wagon. Aubrey couldn't have said why he had brought Yeo-reum along if anyone had asked, so it was maybe a good thing that there was no one around to ask him any uncomfortable questions. Maybe he just wanted company while he undertook this new, slightly scary task, even if it was the company of a fish.
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Post by Briar on Jun 30, 2019 15:01:23 GMT -6
On the one hand, you could argue that Yeo-reum, as a Tat-lung, was a lot more than just an ordinary fish. But on the other hand, at this stage of his life, he was still bound to the water and had no limbs to speak of that weren't fins. Yeo-reum, clever though he might be, still probably couldn't call a healer if things went south and Aubrey passed out or died or something. But that wasn't very likely. Aubrey hoped so, anyway.
The Lama scratched at a place between its armored plates with a hind foot. Aubrey, watching it do this, smiled a little. Right now it looked remarkably like a Vulticus, and not at all dangerous. He could do this.
"Hey there," he said, approaching it slowly. The Lama's attention focused on him as it became apparent that he meant to approach. Maybe it thought he was trying to sneak up on it, and wasn't doing a very good job. "I'm not going to hurt you," Aubrey said, though looking back on what he had heard about it from its owner, he felt that the opposite problem seemed much more likely to occur. He glanced at Yeo-reum, only to find that the Tat wasn't even paying attention.
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Post by Briar on Jun 30, 2019 15:05:25 GMT -6
Well... He did know, going into this, that Yeo-reum was probably just going to have to be moral support. Right, at least he was in the company of friends. One friend. Maybe.
The Lama continued to watch him, its body posture becoming more tense as Aubrey approached. It had grown up with the care of an owner, but clearly there was a limit to its comfort level around strangers. Aubrey, who understood the sentiment, could hardly blame it for its attitude, but it did pose a bit of an obstacle if they were going to work together.
At first, he tried to stop and wait for the Lama to relax whenever he thought he saw signs of it tensing, but that tension really wasn't going away. There had to be a better way to do this. Aubrey thought for a moment, then lighted upon an idea. "Oh, I know! You want a treat, don't you?" he said.
Digging into his satchel, he pulled out a small, smooth, brightly colored pebble and held it up to the Lama. That got its attention, and Aubrey could see its focus shift from him to the treat in his hand.
A splash from behind him told him someone else had seen it too.
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Post by Briar on Jun 30, 2019 15:09:20 GMT -6
Unfortunately, there was a bit of overlap in the diets of both the creatures present. Yeo-reum liked to eat stones too. Aubrey couldn't really imagine doing it; he never heard any crunching, so he had always wondered if Yeo-reum sucked on it like hard candy, or if he swallowed this stuff whole. On the whole, he felt that he would much rather stick to his own diet of relatively soft and pliable food.
"It's not for you, Yeo-reum," Aubrey said, lest the Tat get any ideas. Not that he felt that this alone would stop the Tat from trying. "I'll give you some when we get home, okay? Right now we're working with this fellow, so please just be patient for a bit."
Unfortunately, he was in the cage with the lion, so to speak, so he couldn't turn back and monitor how Yeo-reum was taking the news. Yeo-reum probably wouldn't crawl out of his tank and gun for Aubrey any time soon, but he felt that if he took his eyes off the Lama for a moment, he might end up really regretting it. That tail looked pretty wicked, and he didn't feel all that confident about teaching the creature to swing it around either.
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Post by Briar on Jun 30, 2019 17:34:58 GMT -6
The Lama was certainly interested in the treat though. Even Aubrey could see that much. And because it was focusing on that, it didn't seem as on edge as it had been when it was staring at him before. "There, that's a good... boy?" Aubrey said. The owner had mentioned that it was male, right? This seemed like the kind of important detail that he ought to have remembered, but he'd had so many other things on his mind that he had forgotten.
At any rate, though, it didn't startle at the sound of his voice, and he was able to close the distance. When he was close enough, the Lama snatched the treat right out of his hand and downed it in one gulp.
Aubrey didn't have the presence of mind to deny him. Aster would sometimes hold a treat in his closed hand once the creature knew he had it, and lead them around a bit before giving in to reward them for doing what he wanted, but Aubrey wasn't brave enough. It felt like the Lama would bite his hand off if he did that. The owner did say something about a biting problem... A chewing problem? They'd have to work on that too.
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Post by Renathan on Jun 30, 2019 19:57:19 GMT -6
You have rolled a success! Your QP will be added to your bank, and you will be sent your prizes shortly. You may continue to play if you wish!
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