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Post by Morgan on Dec 1, 2021 13:22:35 GMT -6
Morgan was exhausted, but they hadn't really noticed exactly how much the stress of the increased hours at the Lab to make the final push on the newest species had been until they wake up with their face to their desk with their glasses knocked askew and drool on the topmost paper on a pile of extra copies of a few forms they had been working on and had subsequently completed. They woke blearily to the door being knocked upon; and whenever they gave a soft 'come in' half-mumble, one of their aides sticks his head in the door to inform Morgan that there was a breakthrough in one of the Labs on their latest project before ducking out and away before probably even noticing that Morgan had been sleeping.
Upon that, they realized that it was quite late, and that they'd put in somewhere around seventeen hours that day. They bend down beneath their desk to shake Kaodie awake gently. "C-come on, let's go." They murmur to him.
Morgan put in for a couple of days vacation to extend into the weekend the next day at work, after realizing that for now, the project was a waiting game. They weren't needed for such long hours for such a long time. After the first day of catching up on rest, Morgan decided to take Kaodie out to go and find a quest that would hopefully be a distraction from all the stress that came with the annual Feast Season.
[1] - [Occurs after the November Mansion trip, but still during November.]
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Post by Morgan on Dec 7, 2021 15:21:13 GMT -6
Morgan admittedly hadn't had a lot of time to bond with Kaodie since he'd become their familiar. They spent as much time away from him as they could, because something about having him around embarrassed them. Sure, most people's parents gifted them a pet as a child. Usually such beginner-friendly animals as Orbaru, a Domestic Vulticus pup way back in the day (when Morgan was still very young they'd found theirself somewhat jealous of a school friend's domestic puppy), or rarely something a little more strange such as an equillion foal (for people that grew up in the boonies it seemed quite common). Parents normally wouldn't shell out for a custom for theirself, let alone a custom malii based on a funky crayon picture their child had drawn. He had not been a cheap gift, Morgan knew well now as an adult. They felt a little... Shy about him, even now. All these years and tragedy later; and it was time to try to come to terms with it all.
Regardless of whatever 'it all' was. They wanted to feel more connected to their past, and spending time with Kaodie might help that along.
[2]
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Post by Morgan on Dec 7, 2021 15:59:55 GMT -6
They walked down the street in the light of the early morning. Morgan had already woken up and made sure that everyone had eaten, and made sure that all of the kids were safe with their tutor all before daylight; but that was what it was like going towards the Winter. Something about the already quite grey sky (overcast, threatening to snow from what Morgan had checked on their WATT) and the absolutely empty streets had really soured their mood. Perhaps their mood had been off-kilter since their sleeping schedule had been pretty well moot for months.
Kaodie looked up at them periodically at their side, eyes all big and 'empty' and his beloved rainbow rope toy held between his jaws. Morgan frowns at him once, but only once. A shiver goes down their spine from the bitter cold of the early morning, and something about that makes them break the silence as they make their way to the quest board.
"I feel like you know... Something." That's it, they've officially lost their last couple of marbles. What a shame.
[3]
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Post by Morgan on Dec 7, 2021 16:12:18 GMT -6
Kaodie looks up at Morgan with some kind of... Something in his face for a moment. Morgan stands there beneath a still-glowing streetlamp on an abandoned street corner for a moment before breathing out. "I've really lost it now." They sigh, beneath their breath. They look up at the early morning grey, just the tiniest glimpse of lavender peeking through the cloud cover here and there. Their eyes are on the whisp of their breath condensed in the air. It really was very cold. They'd had a long road up to this point, going from learning to think on their feet and survive without parental support, to tirelessly searching for information on their father- and then of course starting WELP up, trying to move on.
They felt very empty. Like they didn't really have much more to give, like they'd barely had anything to give in the first place. Kaodie nudges them in the knee, and it seems to be a comforting gesture. For a moment, Morgan feels quite fond of his company.
[4]
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Post by Morgan on Dec 7, 2021 17:34:40 GMT -6
The rest of the trip was as uneventful as the first part of the trip had been. The streets were absolutely deserted, and none of the shops were open at this early hour. Kaodie is interested in quite a few different things that he finds on the street, and Morgan manages to keep him from picking up anything that could be dangerous to him. They make it to the quest board without anything further; only beginning to see the earliest dregs of people going out to work all bundled up in coats and scarves.
They walked past the Cloud Nine, half hoping against hope that it would be open early enough for them to grab a hot cup of coffee and of course it was not this early.
There was no one out near the quest board; by design. Morgan didn't really feel like having to have small talk with some random folks while waiting to take a look at the quest board theirself.
[5]
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Post by Morgan on Dec 7, 2021 19:48:20 GMT -6
Morgan had always been a bit of a recluse. They learned from a young age what the children of any wealthy family do; that friends are generally out to get something from you. Because of that they were never really inclined to make them, and they generally just did not worry with it. Because of that, they never really enjoyed small talk. Sure, they taught theirself how to do it, but that didn't necessarily mean that they wanted to waste time dealing with people that didn't really matter in the long run. Now that they headed WELP? Being in public was even worse. It was nearly impossible to do anything without being asked questions. It was one of the reasons why they made sure to keep their image so carefully maintained. They tended to only keep their pets as company because of it. They also tended to try to get to the quest board when there were as few people out as possible. They didn't want to have to give up their habit of testing out gadgets on quests just because people wanted to bother them. This was why they had been so intent on going to the quest board with Kaodie so early in the morning.
[6]
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Post by Morgan on Dec 7, 2021 20:41:26 GMT -6
Morgan's idea was to grab a quick Quest, something simple to do on their time off (perhaps even just this morning) and then stop by for coffee before heading back home to do something as restful as possible. They were still not very energetic after all this work, and they needed to get their sleeping schedule back on target again. They figured that it wouldn't take them very long to come up with some tech to help out someone that needed pests removed (yes, even in fall) of some kind, but once they actually got in front of the quest board, they realized that they didn't really feel like making anything; either. They sigh, another puff of visible breath into the cold air in front of their nose. "I guess I'll have to pick up something..." They glance away from the quest board even as they walk the rest of the direction back up to it. Their eyes land on Kaodie's trusting little face. "M-more personable this month."
[7]
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Post by Morgan on Dec 7, 2021 20:52:06 GMT -6
They certainly did not like the idea, but they were running off of limited energy reserves, to put it mildly. Kaodie bwarks, loud enough to slightly startle Morgan, and in the process he opens his mouth wide enough to drop his precious toy. Morgan watches with mild fascination (after jumping about a foot and swearing in response to the loud noise) as the little malii snaps open his jaws and grabs the toy before it even hits the ground (not too far away, since the malii was very small). Still, they had no idea what he was making the noise at; usually it was an alarm noise. They glance up, teeth grit, looking for whoever was around.
...There was no one. At least no one that Morgan could see. Still, they didn't scold Kaodie for it. They figured it might keep him from making the bwark noise in the future, and that wouldn't do.
[8]
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Post by Morgan on Dec 7, 2021 21:02:36 GMT -6
Instead, Morgan gives another quick glance around to make for absolute certain that there wasn't anything out there that could give alarm. Then, after finding nothing at all out of the ordinary (running their eyes carefully over the spidery frosting on glass windows and the cold-slick catty-cornered cobblestones, all devoid of anything of alarm) they turn their hazel gaze to the cork board. There were quite a few requests on it, but none as absolutely horrendous as the largest of the lot; almost a banner in it's absolute bulk. It looked like absolute nonsense from the first moment that the bespectacled human laid their eyes upon it, enough that they looked at Kaodie and remarked something quite uncouth about it. They hoped that it was made by a group of children so that they would have an excuse to turn it down. Morgan didn't really do the best with humanoid children, from what they'd noticed in the past.
[9]
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Post by Morgan on Dec 7, 2021 21:30:33 GMT -6
Upon closer inspection, the 'banner' was a large piece of paper that had most likely been folded up more times than any origami piece Morgan had ever seen before in their entire life. Perhaps the great piece of paper had once been in someone's pocket? It was a sight to behold, and that wasn't necessarily a good thing. Morgan had half a mind to tear it down just because the thing was exceedingly unsightly and they had a bit of a perfectionist tendency. What was worse was that they could not at all make out what exactly the darn thing was requesting. "H-how could they even..." They half groaned and half growled at that. "Ugh." Morgan could not imagine letting someone ask for a quest that was like... This.
Then they had a half a thought that perhaps the individual was illiterate, and something about that made them lean in, despite Kaodie's suddenly strangely clingy attitude (rubbing on their ankles and looking away from Morgan) to look at it more closely.
[10]
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Post by Morgan on Dec 7, 2021 21:44:05 GMT -6
The extra-creased large piece of paper was mostly covered in pictures. Thanks to said creases, they had a difficult time actually figuring out what most of the smudgy drawings actually were. There are some rather plump... Perhaps Birds? They weren't quite like COD, nor Izer, nor even really like Alurook; perhaps they were most like Chiryma? But with fan tails... Morgan could not put their finger on what they were precisely. They also saw a few different animals like Houluh and Enileaf, and something like a Galabex? They had no idea what all of these creatures had in common even in the slightest; other than just that- they were creatures. None of them were a very good representation of Labs Species, though. Below those were various blobs of different color... Was that a horn of plenty? Perhaps those were fruits and vegetables. It was really hard to tell. They sneered, and Kaodie bumps his head into their leg a little bit harder than he perhaps realized that he had.
[11]
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Post by Morgan on Dec 7, 2021 21:53:31 GMT -6
Morgan was fairly well known for losing theirself in their work or anything that caught their attention, but Kaodie certainly knew how to snap Morgan out of it. The bespectacled human was tossed on their rump as Kaodie just lightly bounced off of them, standing there and looking fairly unbothered. "Kaodie, W-what is it?" They managed to exclaim while asking. Kaodie looked at Morgan with that same blank stare, and then glanced pointedly in a specific direction. Morgan had to adjust their glasses, since the bump had managed to nearly knock them clear off of their nose, and whenever they looked, they did see the slightest bit of the bottom of someone's boot going around a nearby corner.
So that was what it was... They hadn't even noticed it. "G-good boyo, Kaodie." They murmured to him, tugging on his rainbow rope tug-of-war toy a bit as their version of praise for him. "You did good, p-protecting me."
[12]
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Post by Morgan on Dec 7, 2021 22:05:04 GMT -6
That was pretty much exactly the sort of thing that Morgan wanted Kaodie to do for them; though hopefully with a little more 'attack the enemy if needed' and a little less 'knock me down on the ground on stand over the top of me despite being teeny-weenie'. Morgan scrambles the rest of the way to their feet and moves across the cobblestones, looking for whoever it was, but there was no one around. Apparently the person had decided to get the heck out of dodge instead of deal with them. "There weren't really even anyone o-out here just a bit ago..." Then again, it was getting well into the early work commute time, so they figured that someone was probably not really wanting to go and choose a quest with someone else there.
They sincerely doubted that anyone was following them. Instead, they moved back to the questing board- and it was there that they noticed the wording on that big ugly quest request.
[13]
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Post by Morgan on Dec 7, 2021 22:17:08 GMT -6
They had assumed just a bit ago that part of the weird drawings on this sheet was that the requestor might not have had the literary skill required to make a written request; which was completely fair (though there were people out there that could help with that by notating verbal requests, something that even Morgan had heard of). However, this writing- small and at the bottom of an atrocity of rather odd drawings of animals that couldn't be even remotely accurate (Millicent, when she was MUCH younger could have drawn better than this- they scoffed mentally), showed them that it couldn't be true. They struggled to get close enough to read it without lifting it up, but finally decided just to lift it up instead. 'Urgent, Please. The feast must go on?' Morgan read that and squinted. This felt suspicious.
They glanced down at Kaodie without really thinking about why, and then looked up again at the... Odd request.
[14]
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Post by Morgan on Dec 7, 2021 22:23:27 GMT -6
Morgan would readily argue against being referred to as judgmental. Whereas they didn't find it insulting, they would rather consider theirself merely particular and astute when it came to selecting company. Something about this particular job was giving them the heebies. However, they also managed to be a little curious to whether or not they should clear this Quest just to keep others from having to do it alone. Best case Scenario, they help a family in need and get some good publicity for WELP (at the cost of their extreme annoyance and a waste of a day off). Worst case Scenario, they might just have to fight. They glanced down at Kaodie, considering their options. Kaodie looked up at them trustingly, but kept an eye out for anyone around (and for good reason, apparently). "Well... I guess at the very least I can fund some k-kuh-catering for them. Let's go."
[15]
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