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Post by Noa on May 17, 2020 0:25:59 GMT -6
In the end, it was nothing but a necklace, presumably carved from some sort of semi-precious stone. Actually, before he got a really good look at the shape, he had thought it might have been one of those pendants that people made at the gemstone workshop. From a distance, the shape was a little similar, but upon closer inspection, the this one more closely resembled a spear or arrowhead. Or maybe a tooth or a claw, come to that.
"Strange," Aster said, making to pocket it, but at that moment the Malii gave a distinct whine again. Aster eyed him. "We've been over this. I'm just taking these for safekeeping. What would you even do with them anyway?" But the spirit of finders keepers prevailed in the Malii's mind, at least, and he whined again.
Aster sighed. Well, it wasn't as if the Malii had no way to keep one of these, he supposed.
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Post by Noa on May 17, 2020 0:28:30 GMT -6
The coins, certainly, weren't things the Malii could have carried easily, but something like this was at least possible to wear around his neck if he really wanted it. And Aster did feel a little bad about taking all the things the Malii had found, so... If that would appease him, then it was a small price to pay, wasn't it?
"Alright," he said, giving in. "Come here."
He didn't really expect the Malii to approach when he asked--- which was just as well, since the Malii certainly didn't. But the Malii did hold still as Aster drew closer, to drape the necklace around his neck. "There. Happy now? You look ridiculous," Aster informed him. This was not entirely true; the blue of the gem didn't look too bad against the Malii's predominantly white fur, though in truth, something in a reddish color would have done better to accentuate the Malii's red points.
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Post by Noa on May 17, 2020 0:31:20 GMT -6
Nevertheless, it wasn't as though the Malii was wearing a cone or anything. From a distance, such an accessory was probably too subtle to even be noticed by onlookers.
The Malii seemed happy with it, whatever Aster's words or thoughts on the matter. He ran in a little circle, giving an excited little yip, and kept trying to turn around or look down to inspect it. He reminded Aster in the moment of an excitable child, though he didn't know if that was an altogether accurate assessment of the Malii's character as whole. They hadn't been interacting for very long, so it was too early for Aster to peg him for much, beyond apparently a proprietary streak towards his own finds.
They did almost a full circuit of the mansion grounds, ending back up at the front gates, and nothing very exciting happened. Nothing changed, nothing exploded, and nothing swallowed anyone up.
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Post by Noa on May 17, 2020 0:33:49 GMT -6
It would have been a lie to say that Aster was disappointed, but it did feel somewhat like an anticlimax. The last month had been so incredibly dramatic that he found it hard to believe that the mansion would choose to be so tame this month. But even Aster had just about given up on the possibility of running into anything strange, at least coming from this portion of the property. Maybe the theme of the month was just 'let's pretend to be a regular house'.
Or maybe the weirdness was all trapped inside the building.
Aster gave the building itself a dubious look. He didn't often venture in, since he thought being inside an enclosed space with all the mansion's weirdness was just about the worst decision he could make with regards to his own safety. But he found that he was a little curious, despite the fact that he really ought to know better.
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Post by Jack on May 17, 2020 11:41:43 GMT -6
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Post by Noa on May 18, 2020 20:53:09 GMT -6
Whatever thoughts Aster might have had about the interior of the house would have to be shelved for a moment longer, however, for at that moment the Malii caught sight of something truly interesting, and went dashing off without so much as a by your leave. Aster would have muttered something under his breath, except that this was coming to happen so often with this particular creature now that he wasn't even surprised when it happened anymore, only resigned to his fate. He gave chase, for what else could he have done? Admittedly it seemed harder to lose track of the Malii on the mansion grounds with the way it looked this month, which ought to have been a small blessing, but Aster didn't know if that was merely an illusion or not. Best to play it safe and follow the Malii closely, rather than risk losing a creature to this place.
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Post by Noa on May 18, 2020 20:56:08 GMT -6
Fortunately for Aster, and mercifully for his lungs and legs, the Malii didn't go very far. Aster was in pretty good shape from his work and his lifestyle, but chasing after a creature who was better built for sprinting was still hard, even for him. Humans, and by extension many humanoids, were made for long distance travel, not concentrated bursts of speed like the Malii presumably was, if they had anything in common with cats or foxes.
The Malii accompanying him was, in fact, having a particularly predatory moment right now. When Aster caught up to him, he saw what the Malii was attempting to pin down. It was a little... something. Well, Aster didn't know what it was; he could only see a little bit of the creature, most of it being obscured by the Malii's paws and body, the Malii's many tails swishing wildly about in his excitement at having caught something.
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Post by Noa on May 18, 2020 20:58:48 GMT -6
Moreover, while Aster was pretty sure it was a pocketpet of some sort, he had no idea what kind, since there were so many. He wasn't especially well versed in the many different pocketpets of the region; quite the opposite, in fact. They weren't very useful, apparently serving mostly as collectors' projects and amusing little display animals or low maintenance, low return companions, so Aster had no use for them. And in his case, no use meant vanishingly little interest, though at least he did know where to find buyers for any of the specimen he ran into in his various forays into the mines, the mansion, or occasionally a spot of fishing.
Not that he fished much, not anymore. But still.
He could see that this particular pocketpet was squirming, some long thin thing that whipped around under the Malii's hold. Given enough time, it could even conceivably get away again.
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Post by Noa on May 18, 2020 21:01:12 GMT -6
Though the Malii might also have given it the opportunity to of his own volition too. Aster seriously doubted that the Malii really meant to kill or eat the thing. The Malii, like any creature in Aster's care--- useful or not--- got fed well, and was given good care, if not always quite so much enrichment as the most intelligent ones might have liked. The Malii couldn't have wanted for snacks, surely. So most likely he was just playing, and the game was no fun if it ended too soon.
But unfortunately for the Malii, Aster was ending it. "Okay, party's over, stop tormenting the poor thing." Aster shooed the Malii away with his hand, and when that didn't work, crowded into the Malii's space to make him move off. The Malii subsided, but only very reluctantly; and as soon as he let go, the little thing scrambled out from beneath his paws.
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Post by Noa on May 18, 2020 21:03:55 GMT -6
Aster had only the briefest impression of a little serpentine something before it flew up on surprisingly large wings, darting back into the safety of a manicured bush. The Malii shot him an accusing look, as if to say, 'now look what you've done!' ... Maybe Aster was just imagining that last part. But the Malii certainly didn't look pleased, his ears pinned back, and he was looking at Aster.
Well, if he was sentient, it would be no stretch of the imagination to say that the Malii resented him for this one. Even a less than sentient creature knew when he was being stolen from, after all. No, Aster thought, he probably hadn't been imagining it at all. But he only shrugged. "Live and let live," he said. "How would you feel if someone decided to hold you down for fun when you can't even do anything about it? Not much fun for the victim."
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Post by Jack on May 20, 2020 16:27:19 GMT -6
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Post by Noa on May 29, 2020 16:44:56 GMT -6
With that issue resolved, there was nothing stopping them from going into the house anymore. Aster didn't necessarily want to go, but there was really nothing particularly interesting going on in the yard at present, so...
The only question was whether the Malii would follow him when he went. Aster glanced at him, to find that the Malii was still sulking. Of course it was; that would be his luck, wouldn't it?
Aster jerked his head in the direction of the house. "I'm heading in," he said to the Malii. "You coming with?"
The Malii didn't respond, which was within Aster's expectations, but when Aster took a few steps in the direction of the house, the Malii did follow, slowly. It was the kind of following that came of a creature doing its best to look as though it wasn't actually following someone, in a manner that reminded Aster of a cat.
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Post by Noa on May 29, 2020 16:47:55 GMT -6
Nevertheless, the Malii was following along, and Aster's only real concern was that they didn't get separated. He had no care as to what kind of appearance the Malii seemed determined to keep up, after their little disagreement, if that was the issue that the Malii was having at present. If the Malii wanted to do things this way, then so be it, so long as he was trying to stay together with Aster to some degree.
If the environment had been different, Aster would have been more concerned about staying close to the Malii to make it harder to separate the two of them, but on this occasion he had inevitably let down his guard a little. This place, aside from the occasional pocketpet or coin, seemed so ordinary right now.
He hoped he wouldn't have to regret it later, but then, he always hoped that when he was here.
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Post by Noa on May 29, 2020 16:50:43 GMT -6
The actual mansion itself... Aster couldn't remember the last time he had stepped inside the building proper. Even approaching it made him feel kind of weird. The sense of apprehension that came with it wouldn't go away, no matter how ordinary his experiences had thus far been today. Walking up to the fancy double doors, which really did look like the kind of doors a big expensive house would have, he felt the absurd urge to knock, or at least find a doorbell to ring. Not that it would do anything. The only things that lived here were those pocketpets, or maybe an occasional creature, and definitely not a person, or persons.
Though, come to think of it... Would there even be a doorbell for him to press? Aster cast around for one and was surprised to find that there was, in fact, a doorbell beside the door after all.
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Post by Noa on May 29, 2020 16:53:54 GMT -6
He frowned. Maybe it was a trap. It looked innocuous enough, but with this place, you never knew... "Hey, you're magic," he said to the Malii, whose ears pricked up at the sound of Aster's voice, as though he had startled the Malii with his sudden burst of speech. Never mind the fact that Aster had been talking this entire time. Aster decided to ignore it, especially since there was no real way to address it anyway. "You're magic, so maybe you know. What do you think? Should I press it?"
He didn't really expect an answer, or even some sort of indication one way or another from the Malii. It ought to have felt different, since the Malii presumably was smart enough to speak, but it felt a lot like going out with, say, Nightshade or Cinna instead. He expected it to be more like Summer, who could understand him but couldn't speak, and yet...
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