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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 10:03:44 GMT -6
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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 10:04:49 GMT -6
Being on his own meant that Aubrey had a lot of occasions for firsts and new experiences as of late, but he didn't think he had ever done anything even remotely like… well, like this. 'This' in this case being taking two creatures to the breeding centre to… well…
Maybe he was being a bit delicate about it. The creatures involved were both adults--- or at least both sexually mature, or so they must have been, if the person who owned them was looking to breed them. He didn't know enough about Orbaru to tell much more than that. He sure hoped they were grown, anyway, or else that person was going to be real disappointed when Aubrey came back empty handed. But if they were in the business of raising these guys, they must have known what they were doing… right?
Now that it was on his mind, he had another peek inside one of the carriers. A pair of doleful eyes stared back out at him. Aubrey observed the Orbaru, curled up as it was at the back of the carrier, and managed to glean absolutely nothing from it except that maybe it didn't care for this particular mode of transport.
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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 10:05:30 GMT -6
Or maybe it was him--- maybe it just didn't care for strangers, or there was something about him specifically that it didn't like. A few of the animals back at the big estate had been that way, not that he had ever been allowed to go near them without heavy supervision. He was a stranger too. Aubrey supposed that he was a stranger to almost every creature he knew, save probably for Yeo-reum right now.
"Let's be friends, huh?" he said cajolingly, but the Orbaru merely turned its back to him. Aubrey laughed a little, then sighed. He knew that a creature who wasn't inherently outgoing was hardly going to warm up to him immediately, but it was still kind of discouraging.
Still, there was the other one. It took two to tango, so to speak, so he had a male and a female with him. the one that had turned away was the female, a spotted looking creature with what looked like miles of fur. No, that was an exaggeration, but it was true that she looked as though she might have benefited from a trim. The hair at the top of her head was very clearly getting into her eyes, which didn't look all that comfortable.
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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 10:06:17 GMT -6
She didn't seem bothered by it though, and he supposed that was something else that was more the business of the person who owned her, rather than someone like him, who was just taking her out for a little excursion.
The male was more simply marked, with dark points being his only real break from his generally light coloration. His fur wasn't short either, but it wasn't so long as the female's, and whether from a quirk of his breed or simply a difference in grooming and upkeep, was much neater. It looked plush and soft to the touch, but Aubrey didn't know whether that was true. They had already been in the carriers when he came to pick them up.
At least he didn't seem to have so much distaste for Aubrey. He wasn't exactly jumping to be friends, but if Aubrey had to put a word to it, it felt like the male was a little more curious. He didn't seem frightened or upset, anyway, which was a better start than Aubrey could have gotten.
Well, they weren't here to get to know him anyway. They were here to get to know each other, so to speak, in a nice comfortable setting.
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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 10:06:58 GMT -6
And with regards to that, at least, he supposed he might as well stop wasting their time by dawdling. "Um, I'm here to make use of the facilities please," he said to the person at the counter.
After the words were out of his mouth, however, he realized what he had said and quickly amended them. "That is--- I don't mean--- not me, personally, I--- I have these Orbaru here, they're the ones who are… going to, um, use the facilities," he finished awkwardly, his voice growing quieter and more subdued as he spoke. The person at the counter gave him a tired look, and Aubrey smiled, though it probably wasn't a very good smile.
"Let's have a look," said the breeding center employee. Obligingly, Aubrey handed over the carriers, and the employee took them, peering into each one. While she did that, Aubrey stood aside and waited, not entirely sure what was going to happen. Were they going to find something wrong at the last minute and kick him out?
Fortunately for him, his nerves proved to be unfounded. After a very cursory inspection, the employee handed the two carriers back to him. "Its your first time here, isn't it?" she said.
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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 10:07:25 GMT -6
"Oh… well, yes. Do I need a membership or something?" he asked.
"No, I'm just going to walk you through how this is going to go. The inspection is just to make sure you've got creatures in good health who are actually capable of breeding with each other. It doesn't happen often that we get someone dumb enough to bring in two males or something, but not often doesn't mean never."
A tired sigh followed her words before she continued. "We're going to give you a room. There will be toys, food, water, everything your creatures need to make themselves comfortable. Of course, the job of keeping an eye on them is yours; make sure they don't fight, and if anyone makes a mess, please clean it up. We sanitize rooms between uses, but it's incredibly bad taste to just leave it all to us, and we reserve the right to refuse you service if you do that."
She rattled off this speech rapid fire, as though she had given it countless times before. Maybe she had. Her general demeanor didn't really invite questions. Aubrey merely nodded until it seemed like she was finished.
She gave him one last look, then handed him a card.
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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 10:14:57 GMT -6
“This is for you. The room is going to be on your…” She glanced down at the card. “On your left,” she finished, upon reading the information on the card. “Look for the number on the door that matches your card, fifteen, got it? And try not to barge into any of the other rooms. If they’re occupied then they probably won’t open, but sometimes people forget to lock the doors, and breeding creatures is a delicate art. You don’t want to upset them and throw them off; that could be someone’s whole month’s work going down the drain on your account.”
Aubrey took the card, nodding as she spoke, again not getting a word in edgewise. The woman gave him a slightly dubious look, but if she was thinking any other unforgiving thoughts, she didn’t act on them. It was only when he tried to pick up the two carriers again that she finally intervened, taking one of them from him and rising out of her chair to step around the counter that she had been sitting behind.
"Here, I'll take one," she said. "It looks like you have your hands full with that one already."
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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 10:19:54 GMT -6
"O-Oh... Um, thank you," Aubrey said. He couldn't hide his relief that she had offered her help either; it really had been kind of difficult to carry both of the carriers by himself. They were nice and big and roomy, which must have been a good thing for the Orbaru inside, but Aubrey was skinny and not terribly tall, and it was hard for him to keep a proper hold on both carriers at the same time. Even if he used the handles at the top, they tended to swing around as he walked, to the protest of the Orbaru inside. Not to mention they'd hit his legs, which didn't make his walk any more even, and at one point nearly sent him sprawling when one carrier hit the back of his knees.
Then again, the woman wasn't so much offering as she was declaring her intent, in the same no-nonsense tone that she had been using all along. Aubrey wasn't sure whether he could have refused even if he wanted to, at this point. And the attempt, if he had been stupid or brazen enough to make one, would probably have gotten him a lecture on proper animal welfare to boot.
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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 10:24:52 GMT -6
Not that she was wrong about that though. It almost certainly wouldn't have been good for the Orbaru if he dropped one of them. It wouldn't just be a lecture from the breeding center front desk that he would be facing if that happened. She might really refuse him service then, and the owner of the Orbaru would likely end up cross with him too.
He could have just taken two trips, but... Well, the matter had been resolved for him, and he wasn't about to argue with a more optimal solution.
The two of them walked down the hall together in silence. It was somewhat uncomfortable for Aubrey, who felt simultaneously compelled to make small talk for the sake of it, and at the same time, didn't dare to in the face of the woman's general atmosphere. She carried the other carrier as if it were nothing, and her walk was smooth as anything. Aubrey could only watch her and try to do the same with his own, though he didn't think he really succeeded.
Maybe that was why the female had been so cross with him earlier, come to think of it. Maybe she knew he was responsible for the bumpy ride she'd had.
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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 10:30:19 GMT -6
How smart were these guys anyway? The question suddenly occurred to him, but it was going to be a question without much recourse for answers. He didn't think he could ask the woman, not because he didn't think she would answer, but because he was afraid of revealing just how ignorant he actually was about the creatures he was bringing into the breeding center. Could she refuse him service on those grounds? He hoped not, but it was better safe than sorry... Yes, he was much better off keeping his mouth shut and not saying anything that could potentially get him in trouble.
After what felt like an age, but was in all likelihood probably only a few minutes, they arrived at the door marked with the number fifteen, as she had specified when she had handed him the card. Now she held her hand out to him as though waiting for something. Aubrey looked at it for a moment before the realization hit him, and he scrambled to place the card in her hand. "Oh," he said. "Um, sorry, I didn't---"
Before he could finish the half formed apology that was tumbling out of his mouth, she had pressed the card to the door.
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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 10:35:19 GMT -6
Aubrey fell silent at that, and the door made a series of beeps before there was a clicking noise, which must have indicated that it had unlocked.
She passed the card back to him. "Put it in the slot on the wall. It's like a hotel key. It won't turn on the power, since we have power running inside at all times for climate control, but it does lock the door, which you're going to want." He thought back to her words about how delicate the breeding process might be, and the importance of keeping the creatures settled, and could only nod.
Besides, the idea of having someone walk in on... No, they might not be concerned about that. Concepts of chastity were more of a human thing, weren't they?
Maybe she saw something in the way his face changed color, but the woman patted his shoulder before carrying the carrier inside. "Don't worry too much," she said. "If you stress out, they'll stress out too."
Of course, her words of encouragement left a little something to be desired; if anything, Aubrey felt more pressured than he had before, having been given that tidbit of information. But he tried to take it in the spirit it was given.
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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 10:41:29 GMT -6
She had meant well by it, he was sure. Surely someone who cared as much about the well being of the creatures being bred wasn't intentionally going to try and make things worse for them, even if it was by unsettling their handler.
But then, it wasn't as though Aubrey wasn't used to that sort of thing, actually. In a way, she reminded him somewhat of Aster. There were plenty of differences, the most relevant one being that Aubrey knew Aster fairly well, and thus was much more comfortable around him, and vice versa. Aster generally didn't intimidate him, and in turn was inclined to be less brusque when speaking with Aubrey. But there was something in their respectively terse manner, and the way they rattled off facts about creature care, that brought Aster to mind when Aubrey listened to the woman speak.
He also got the sense that her words and manner were sharper than she really was. She was helping him out, wasn't she? Even as he was thinking this, she was setting down the carrier that she had been holding down in the room, and opening the door on it to let out the Orbaru inside. "Here we go," she said, presumably to the Orbaru.
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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 10:45:24 GMT -6
"Nice and easy... That wasn't so bad, was it?" As she spoke, she held her hand out to the Orbaru inside, fist closed, presumably for the Orbaru to sniff. It was the female, the one that hadn't liked Aubrey very much. Now he could see that it wasn't a matter of his being a stranger so much as that he hadn't handled her as she would have liked. The Orbaru took a tentative sniff at the hand that the woman had offered, and then, after a moment, made a hop closer to the entrance of the carrier.
In this manner, the woman managed to slowly draw the Orbaru out of the carrier. As she did, she spoke to the Orbaru in a quiet, soft tone that up until a moment ago, Aubrey hadn't even been aware that she'd been capable of.
It was fascinating, if not a little humbling, to see her at it. Once the Orbaru was out, she turned to him. "I'm leaving the carrier here so that if she spooks, she can run back to it. You can set yours next to it," she said. "There's a buzzer next to where you put your card. Use it if something happens."
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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 15:31:36 GMT -6
She pointed at a place on the wall, and Aubrey's gaze followed her indication. There was indeed a small raised portion with a slot for the card, and upon closer inspection, there was a button beneath it with a red bell icon on the surface.
"Breeding usually isn't a dangerous thing for anyone involved, but you seem a little out of your depth," said the woman. "If you need help, ask for it."
"Oh... Um, thank you," Aubrey said. His delivery was awkward, but he meant it. Despite the way she spoke to him, he could sense the concern behind her words.
Rising, she gave a brisk nod to him and passed him on her way out the door. "Just keep an eye on them and they should be fine. They usually don't need too much interference from the likes of us," she said.
With that last bit of reassurance--- and this time a much more genuinely reassuring piece of advice--- she took her leave of the room, drawing the door closed behind her. Aubrey quickly did as he was told and jammed the card into the slot on the wall, remembering her reminder to lock the door in case of unwanted visitors.
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Post by Briar on Jul 27, 2019 15:34:50 GMT -6
Not that he thought anyone would come in here to intentionally sabotage someone else's breeding efforts, but maybe someone would get the door number wrong, like she had cautioned him against. It didn't seem an unlikely scenario, when one put it that way. Human error was a very common thing, after all.
Having done that, he finally set down the carrier he had been carrying. It felt like such a relief to not have to bear the weight of it anymore. It hadn't been so terribly heavy in the beginning, but as time wore on, his lack of physical strength really began to tell. And because of the size of it, as well as the necessity of keeping it stable, he had to carry it in a fairly uncomfortable hold too. By the time he set it down, his arms were feeling nothing short of limp and noodly. He really didn't want to think about getting these guys back to their owner. He doubted the woman at the front desk was going to help him carry one over that kind of distance.
... Maybe he could hire a cart or something. He would deal with that issue once he got there, he supposed.
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