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Post by Flare on Sept 2, 2020 10:26:33 GMT -6
Part of having your home so close to the garden, and both home and garden constantly buzzing with activity, is getting the ability to be BY YOURSELF. At least for a little while. The garden creatures were self sufficent, and capable of keeping themselves entertained. The busyness of everything and his latest treks outside (who knew that talking to a chaos elemental could make such a difficult day). The bookkeeper twins were happy to provide him with a 'special edition' book with a bone as a bookmark; a very flattened bone, almost like a dissected slice. The book gave him the willies, it did. So it got 'donated' to the local library, without even opening it. On the way back from the library, Flare chose a less direct route. Not accompanied by anything, and finally convincing the crazy fish to stay HOME, the humanish male appreciated being alone. Alone wasn't bad, not constantly at least. 1 x.20
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Post by Flare on Sept 6, 2020 19:50:20 GMT -6
The board outside the 'kennel' building in the middle of the city had a bustle of dissipating activity, but what everyone seemed to be doing was taking a 'paper' of sorts. Paper and it had some what appeared... he had to squint a bit in the bright southeastern sun, to be common writing. Thankfully easy to read. If the letters were too squashed together, although his language skills were improving, that part remained unreadable for him. People were clustering a bit, discussing the flyer with their fellows, not paying much attention to the rest around them. Now that the crowd had pulled away some, he could see it. The white clad scientist with what appeared to be bottles attached to their face. Spectacles? Why would someone want jars for spectacles? "You're welcome!" the scientist says to the crowd, waving like a small child. "Please consider coming out tonight, once in a lifetime chance!" 2 x.20
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Post by Flare on Sept 6, 2020 19:55:10 GMT -6
Chance? Chance for what? "Hello sir, have you gotten a flyer yet?" It took a moment for Flare to realize he was being spoken to. Looking over, a shorter scientist, with less jarlike eye covers offered him a paper. "The Astronomy Association of New Pethia is looking for some help with viewing the comet tonight." "What is a comet?" he asks, before he could stop himself. "The easiest explanation is that its a flying space rock. Partially made of ice. Very cold, and it travels in a big circle way above our heads. The tail is what makes it viewable for us people; comign near the sun chips off dust and gasses, and this debris makes a tail. This particular comet passes over our planet here every... two hundred years or so. Its a big event, so we want to be able to study it without much distraction." "Distraction?" 3 x.20
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Post by Flare on Sept 6, 2020 19:59:45 GMT -6
"Occasionally there's some rabblerousers that will come trash our viewsites, just for the heck of it. Usually young folk, with a distinct lack of something to do, and a penchant for mischief." the scientist sighs. "We want guards, setup, notetakers, whatever we can get to help while we study our beautiful comet." they look at him closely. Not up and down. "You appear to be a strong young man, how abotu you come assist us?" Really? THey wanted his help? "I'm not terribly strong." Flare admitted, his sandals freely admitting he had a wooden limb. "Its a miracle I'm not a constant klutz." "We can use klutzs. Just plop you down someonplace with a notepad or what not. Just come down. We're meeting on the best hill there is. By a big mansion." By THE mansion? were they crazy? The flyer, as pointed out, showed the location. Oh, so not THAT mansion... 4 x.20
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Post by Flare on Sept 6, 2020 20:08:16 GMT -6
"One more question. What is a r...rabble...rouser?" "Troublemaker. That one kid or teen or even an adult who does mischief to amuse themselves." they shrug a bit. It was just a precaution. Place of location and all. He took a look at the paper now. That location.. wasn't that Fox Mansion? Huh. Weird place to set up for a comet viewing. Wouldn't it be too close to the house? Maybe he'd go ask about the Foxes before coming to the place. It would at least be polite to let them know people were going to camp out on their lawn tonight. Mr. Fox might even want to cover the comet's appearance in his newspaper, right? Never hurt to ask. WIth a thanking and a nod, Flare took the flyer and headed back to his little tent. There was... aha. A star map of the local stars (he thought) that might help with tracking the comet. 5 x.20
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Post by Flare on Sept 6, 2020 21:19:00 GMT -6
So calling it "Fox Mansion" is stretching the truth. It's a majestic old oak that's converted into a home upon the tallest hill around the city. Or at least nearly the tallest hill. The amount of green sprawling grasses there were. It was too neat, too trimmed to be plains. But the home was a beautiful old oak. Tall and majestic over the land as a crown for the hill beneath it. Yes, its that tall and that majestic to be mentioned twice. He'd been here before, in previous time. For the thief of paint brushes and getting this fuzzball thing in return. It was the size of a hamster, he recalled. The thief hadn't even been humanoid, but small; faelike and able to teleport. However, where did Mr. Fox work? He mentioned... Flare had to wrack his brain briefly... he mentioned in the past he was a newspaperman. So a writer of sort, he reasoned. Wasn't that what community paper was for? 6 x.20
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Post by Flare on Sept 6, 2020 21:23:02 GMT -6
The first person he'd consider who would know the fox would be the Warden, who'd stopped coming around nearly as much. Maybe because the 'dragon man with the plan' wasn't a dragon anymore. It certainly would be a place to start. One more thing to tuck into his bag, a little multicolored jar of sand. Like having a rock to manipulate in his hands to keep a bit calmer. To manipulate the sand, and he wanted to eventually learn how to walk on water using sand or dirt or something to keep aloft. Or to teach himself how to swim. It took a few minutes to find the Warden in the maze of gardens, but he gladly told Flare about the well groomed fox who had visited them last year. He was a newspaperman who worked for the Pethian Chronical. Yes, it was pronounced to be a disease vs a memoir. They were near the shopping district. Look for a sign that says "News". 7 x.20
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Post by Flare on Sept 6, 2020 21:55:37 GMT -6
Thankfully he didn't have to look for the sign of the specific paper, because "News" came as a hole in the wall, a very small printing company. The front desk, a beaver mammalian with rather white buck teeth questioned him with the same sort of lisp the beaver from The Lady and the Tramp had. "Letsh shee... Yesh, Mishter Fox ish just in the back. I shrall ring him?" "Please." Small busy hands picked up an old timey telephone, twisting a dial a few times before speaking rapidly into the mouthpiece. A few nods, and the strange mechanical object was set back on its claws. They noticed his staring. "He'll sheee you now, shir." The beaver waved him back and Flare carefully picked his way through the piles of boxes, papers, and the strong smell of fermented paste. A door stood ajar in the back, with the sounds of clacking and clicking. 8 x.20
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Post by Flare on Sept 6, 2020 22:03:23 GMT -6
Mr. Fox sat at a scrubbed wooden desk in the tiny room, his nimble fingers clacking away on the keys of a... typewriter? The kind you type and the words stamp themselves onto the page with fermented paste and when it reaches the end, you push it back, it dings, and continues to type. Fixing mistakes involved a potent smelling paste that would rub out the letter or words in question. It smelled awful. The humanish took in the small room while waiting to be noticed. It was small, with a window high up, unable to reach it, letting in some sun. Think of a hole punched in the ceiling for a skylight, only on a wall. Two walls were stuffed full of books on shelves, pages everywhere. Like someone had killed a book inside, letting pages go everywhere. A few more lines of writing and the fox stops, stretching his arms to the ceiling with audible cracks. 9 x.20
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Post by Flare on Sept 6, 2020 22:12:12 GMT -6
He'd not changed much over the last year, though Flare had. Red fur, black-capped ears, a cream muzzle and dark russet fur on his hands and arms. White dress shirt with turned-down collar and a loosened tie of fabric. His eyes roved Flare, up and down, lingering on his wooden limb, his tail, and the smattering of scales visible on his exposed shoulders. "Bit warm to still be wearing long pants," he remarks. Yes, it was nearing desert heat outside today. "My tribe wears this outfit rather commonly. We are used to the heat." There was no lie in his words. Not right now at least. The fox's ears twitch a bit as he folds his clawed hands in front of him after gesturing to sit down. He's in an older armchair, while the only other chair in here is a refurbished chair that moves with you. "You wanted to see me." Mr Fox gets right to the point. 10 x.20
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Post by Flare on Sept 6, 2020 22:31:44 GMT -6
"Yes. My name is Flare; you may not remember me, but we did business last year." He picked his words carefully, making sure not to slouch and to show himself being confident and upfront. "I'd remember if I did business with a tailed man, I'm sure." he responds, fingers tapping against the other hand. "Your accent is familiar though. How can I help you today." Well, it might be one ear, but he had intention to maybe listen. "I'm not sure if your paper the Pethian Chronical is going to cover it, but there's going to be a comet passing over tonight." he passed the rolled up flyer to him. "But they chose to be watching the comet next to your tree." "I did hear my mate mentioning there were people knocking on the door as I was leaving for work this morning, yes. Must be about this." He gives the flyer back, almost dismissively. 11 x.20
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Post by Flare on Sept 6, 2020 22:37:43 GMT -6
"You must not get the paper, Mr. Flare. It is The City Times. Whoever gave you that rag sheet called the Pethia Chronicle must be holding onto an old issue; our company bought them out about six years ago. We covered the Dragonstones and the Fairgrounds events held in the city some time ago." The blank look on the humanish face told the keen journalist instinct he had no idea about this. "You're a migrant, aren't you. Come from another place. Desert... if your dress sense is to be believed. Red Wall?" A pause of surprise, then a nod. "I thought so. You're very pale for being from there. Most humans are quite dark, like looking at Badger on a good day." Badger? He'd never thought his people were as dark as badgers. "Does getting the paper cost a lot?" Flare asked tentatively. The foxman twisted around in his chair to pull a rolled up copy of the Dragonstones event off his shelf of preserved issues and tossed it before the humanish. 12 x.20
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Post by Flare on Sept 6, 2020 22:47:29 GMT -6
Carefully, Flare took the paper and unrolled it. It described an explosion and an escape from the labs? "Is this from the big building in the middle of the city?" he asks. Mr Fox nods. "Were the creatures recaptured?" "It took the whole city trying to round them up, it was quite an ordeal. However, later issues and information declared two of the three beasts were captured. One probably got stuck in the sewers or something. It was quite a bit of speculation. However I don't cover those main events. My column is about halfway in." he opens the paper for Flare and points out "Fox about Town, with Mr Fox" Its essentially a gossip column. "I occasionally interview people about subjects our chief believes the public wishes to hear about." he nods. "So to answer your question, yes I do remember being told about having someone asking about camping our property tonight." 13 x.20
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Post by Flare on Sept 6, 2020 22:51:50 GMT -6
"I'll ring the missus on my lunch and make sure she's aware. I take it they claim to have lots of people." "Its mostly volunteers working while the association watches the comet." Hmm, he thinks to himself. "He might be interested in seeing the comet too... wouldn't hurt for that... why not." muttering to himself. "Thank you Mr Flare for letting me know about the event. I can't say the paper will be interested in covering space rocks but I'll leave an idea with the chief." "I don't think anyone will offer you an interview tonight though. However, pictures are worth many words." A smirk crawled across the fox's muzzle. The kid did have a point. "I don't think anyone has a strong enough camera to take pictures of something so small in the night sky, but likely something will pop up from the Association and we could secure an interview after the comet's pass." 14 x.20
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Post by Flare on Sept 6, 2020 23:06:33 GMT -6
"Or just come see it for yourself and have something interesting for the next column." His intention wasn't to spoil the event, but to share it with the Fox family who owned the property and the hill the event would take place on. "Thank you for your time Mr Fox." As he was getting up to leave, Flare noticed a planter box, void of plants in it, on the windowsill. "Are you trying to grow flowers?" "I never remember to plant the planter in time; springtime is when we get very busy here at the Times; and are covering several events at once." The fox mentioned as he watched the tailed human come up to his planter box, and stick his fingers in it?! "I would prefer if you didn't do that." "The soil needs more amending." Flare remarked, rubbing some of the dry dirt in his fingers, letting it trail down the rough skin. 15 x.20
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