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Post by Jack on Feb 1, 2023 19:42:51 GMT -6
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Post by Ashe on Jul 30, 2023 20:53:23 GMT -6
Another month, another trip to the Mansion. This time, Ashe had taken another pet out for a stroll that he hadn't gotten to spend that much time with at all. He was kicking himself for that, because she was more child than pet, and because of her sentience... This was almost abuse, wasn't it? Ashe wasn't cut out to be a dad, truthfully, and there was a big reason he made sure he didn't have kids with any of his lovers. He would be terrible at it. And it didn't sit right with him, the idea of just up and leaving the woman to deal with it herself. But this creature was almost like a child, and he'd left it with some of his sentients for company. Guilt had him carrying the squirming mass of young Pliathor cross to the Mansion, knowing there would be tide pools for the child to explore. "A few more minutes and I'll be there, I promise. I can only go so fast! Hold on. Stop squirming, I'll fall over!" He chuckled to himself. He'd asked Inyala to give them some time together to bond, almost parent to child, so the Imp had dipped her head and disappeared. Ashe spoke the spell he used often, to ensure she could wander at will. [Ashe: 0 16/20 Lorelei: 0 1/5 *Ashe is using Sever Bond at the cost of 4 MP July 1]
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Post by Ashe on Jul 30, 2023 20:59:59 GMT -6
Ashe made it through the gates, the squirming bundle in his arms growing more and more restless. He saw the first pool and hurried toward it, familiar with the layout of the mansion during this month. He made it to the edge and knelt, letting Lorelei basically roll out of his arms and into the water with a splash! The offspring looked startled at first as she went under, instinct driving her back to the surface. Her head broke through and she looked around, took stock of where exactly she was, and promptly dove back down into the water. Ashe chuckled to himself, having expected this exact reaction, and settled himself in a seated position so he could watch and interact. He knew she would feel the most comfortable in the water, and then basically contain herself there. It was almost like a playpen at this point! And Ashe could reach her, while also doing some minor exploring himself. He didn't think there would be any danger here.
[Ashe: 0 17/20 Lorelei: 0 2/5
July 2]
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Post by Ashe on Jul 30, 2023 21:08:57 GMT -6
Underneath the surface, Lorelei swam around, exploring the deep pool that had filled with salt water. She had never been out someplace like this, just to Ashe's multiple properties. She wanted to see everything, explore every nook and cranny. She poked and prodded with her nimble fingers, and swam away quickly with mighty pumps of her tail when something dislodged and fell to the bottom. Sometimes there were shells she found, sometimes it was a clump of sand or a rock. She didn't know what these individual things were, of course, though she figured out they were harmless. Down, down she went, until she found the bottom. Part of the sandy bottom was lit up from the sun at the surface, but most of it was in shadow. That was where she hid.
Ashe gazed into the water, hoping for a sign of her, and knowing that he wouldn't see her for some time. He sighed softly, basking in the sunlight. It was a hot day, and he was in a tank and shorts, thankfully.
[Ashe: 0 18/20 Lorelei: 0 3/5
July 3]
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Post by Ashe on Jul 30, 2023 21:16:42 GMT -6
Lorelei hid there for a full twenty minutes before Ashe decided to move around a bit. He got to his feet, kicking off his boots and socks so he could feel the sand beneath them. Ouch - almost too hot for that! But he gritted his teeth and bore it until he was used to the heat. He walked around, kicking at small mounds of sand, looking for anything that might resemble buried treasure. He had found some trinkets and treasures before that were out in the open, no reason there shouldn't be anything here, huh? He made the rounds in ever increasing circles around his pet's swimming hole, keeping an eye in case she tried to climb out and make a run for it. He doubted she would, that tail of hers was not made for land travel. But nothing stirred in the depths. Eyes weren't even peering for the surface, as Lorelei huddled. She was pretty shy, and this was a lot of exposure really fast.
[Ashe: 0 19/20 Lorelei: 0 4/5
July 4]
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Post by Ashe on Jul 30, 2023 21:32:45 GMT -6
Ashe stumbled suddenly, his foot catching on something. It was a piece of driftwood, it turned out, and hitting it with his bare foot caused a decent amount of pain. He gave an audible yelp, hopping around as his throbbing foot made it too awkward to stand on it. He groaned, the other foot taking all the heat from the sand, and he ended up falling on his butt with a thud. Thankfully, the sand was a rather soft landing, and he was able to grab his injured foot and look it over to see if any true damage had been done. He didn't see anything besides a red mark where the impact happened. He flexed his toes, making sure there wasn't a fracture lurking, then he just sighed and set his foot down, waiting out the throbbing.
Lorelei was finally starting to relax. Having been left totally alone, she was recharging and starting to get curious once again.
[Ashe: 1 0/20 Lorelei: 1 0/5 *Ashe is using Sever Bond at the cost of 4 MP
July 5]
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Post by Ashe on Jul 30, 2023 21:44:17 GMT -6
Ashe made his way back to 'his' tide pool, deciding it was time to check on Lorelei and see if she was okay. She'd been down there for quite some time, and though he knew she came from a Pliathor, it still worried him. Once he set his eyes on her he knew he would feel better. He arrived at the tide pool in a matter of moments, and he knelt down to look into the water. To his surprise, he saw two eyes almost glowing as they gazed back at him from the depths. As he watched, they blinked, then the creature darted down into the depths even further and back out of sight. He winced, having not intended to scare her. She'd almost scared him, in fact! But now he wanted to get her to come back to the surface, maybe all the way to the top.. He'd brought some treats with him, but what would she like? Meat? Or fruit?
[Ashe: 1 1/20 Lorelei: 1 1/5 *Ashe is using Sever Bond at the cost of 4 MP
July 6]
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Post by Ashe on Jul 30, 2023 21:47:13 GMT -6
Ashe had to get her back to the surface first, before he could even offer her a treat. But how to do that, when she was nervous around him? They needed to spend more time together, he knew. More time, bond, gain some trust... He felt like that was hard to do while she was in the water and able to move away, though. If he couldn't entice her to come to him, how could they spend time? He thought on it, trying to ignore the obvious; he could get in the water with her, but would that help his case? Cornering her, in an element that she had once thought of as safe.
So, no, he would try to wait at the surface until she was happy enough with his presence to share the water with him. Not yet.
He tapped on the water's surface, creating ripples and surely soft splashing sounds even she could hear. Maybe she would get curious.
[Ashe: 1 2/20 Lorelei: 1 2/5 *Ashe is using Sever Bond at the cost of 4 MP
July 7]
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Post by Ashe on Jul 30, 2023 21:52:09 GMT -6
Lorelei could indeed hear the noises Ashe was making, and at first, they were loud in the silence enough to startle her. But she peered up around a rock, and saw it was just Ashe playing with the water. What was he doing? And why? She crept forward a few feet, using her hands to cling to the rocky surface, slowly making her way up. Her hair floated around her, sometimes obscuring her vision. When that happened, she would pause to swipe it out of the way, only to continue on her way up.
Ashe, up above, saw that she was approaching. She was dark colored and blended in with the shadows, but her white markings stood out starkly, catching the sun and almost glowing. He watched her approach, pretending he didn't as his fingers continued to play their melody across the surface. He plucked at the water like strings of an instrument - not that he could play an instrument...
[Ashe: 1 3/20 Lorelei: 1 3/5 *Ashe is using Sever Bond at the cost of 4 MP
July 8]
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Post by Ashe on Jul 30, 2023 21:55:54 GMT -6
But he could play the water just fine, it seemed. He was succeeding in enticing her toward him, and soon she would be close enough for him to offer some food. He hoped she would take it from him, and maybe see him as a source of treats if nothing more. He had, unfortunately, left the task of feeding to his robot servants, just like the other pets in his care. Creatures like Equillion didn't care so much, but something sentient... He imagined she was more affected by it.
She was a couple feet from the surface, still out of arm's reach if he tried to grab her and he suspected this was on purpose, when he decided to try it. "I don't know which of these you would like better..." He started. "But here, try this one?" He opted for the fruit at first, dropping a piece down into the water. He watched it drift down toward her.
[Ashe: 1 4/20 Lorelei: 1 4/5 *Ashe is using Sever Bond at the cost of 4 MP
July 9]
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Post by Ashe on Jul 30, 2023 22:02:07 GMT -6
And he watched her arm dart out and grab the treat that floated. She held it for a second, not sure what it was exactly. She had been playing in a world of non-foods, but now something different had approached her. She had an inkling that this was, in fact, food. She put it to her mouth to taste it and sure enough there was a burst of sweetness on her tongue! She licked it, wanting more, then just popped the whole thing into her mouth. She chewed, enjoying the sweetness, then looked up to the sky to see if more would fall.
It only took a few moments, long enough for Ashe to open to treat tube and grab a piece, but another one soon followed the first. This one smelled and tasted different, a more smokey tang to it. She sniffed it, licked it, and thought it over. Then she popped it into her mouth, too.
[Ashe: 1 5/20 Lorelei: 2 0/5 *Ashe is using Sever Bond at the cost of 4 MP
July 10]
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Post by Nadia on Jul 30, 2023 22:22:29 GMT -6
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Post by Ashe on Jul 30, 2023 22:31:02 GMT -6
As she ate the second one, too, Ashe tried to tell if she liked it more or less than the last one. It was hard to tell, too, since there were two heads and between them, that was a lot of hair. And, only one mouth had gotten fed, he realized. But how to feed the other one? Would it fight, or was one more dominant than the other? He tossed down another fruit snack to see if the other head would get it this time. To his dismay, the other head seemed to be more dominant for sure and it tried to take that treat as well. To his utter surprise, the other hand lashed out, quick as a whip, and snatched the treat for the other head. It gobbled the treat before the first one could do anything.
He half expected a squabble to break out, like amongst siblings. Instead, once the treat was gone, the whole being became docile again.
[Ashe: 1 6/20 Lorelei: 2 1/5 *Ashe is using Sever Bond at the cost of 4 MP
July 11]
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Post by Ashe on Jul 30, 2023 22:42:20 GMT -6
It was like they were one being. Interesting. They shared the satisfaction of one stomach being full, but most other creatures with two heads would want to fight over things. So far these two didn't. He had no reason to suspect that they shared a single brain somewhere other than their skulls, so it must just be a 'what's done is done' mentality maybe? Or the creature itself wasn't vicious. But that was also unlikely since she was the offspring of a Pliathor. Those were violent creatures by nature!
Ashe dropped two treats down, both fruity, at the same time. Just as planned, both hands reached out and grabbed one and they ate together in silence. He wondered if they would develop different enough personalities to warrant being called two different names. But for now, they didn't even respond to a single name let alone two - that would have to come down the road, much further down the road.
[Ashe: 1 7/20 Lorelei: 2 2/5 *Ashe is using Sever Bond at the cost of 4 MP
July 12]
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Post by Ashe on Jul 30, 2023 22:56:18 GMT -6
Once the two headed offspring were done eating, their attention seemed to be snagged by something further down below in the depths. Ashe couldn't see anything from where he was sitting on the sand above, but it seemed to him like there was something else down there that made them nervous. They slowly sank back down into the darkness, where he lost sight completely. He frowned, but waited, letting them decide if they wanted to interact with him.
Down below, Lorelei had something creeping up on her. It was a streak of black with bright fangs, and that was all she'd seen before it had darted back into the darkness. Was it a threat? Was it friendly, like the human seemed to be? She wasn't sure. She wanted to investigate but also wasn't sure where it had gone. She swam around the bottom, looking for it. Suddenly, movement - fangs were lurching for her! She flinched backward, out of the way.
[Ashe: 1 8/20 Lorelei: 2 3/5 *Ashe is using Sever Bond at the cost of 4 MP
July 13]
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