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Post by Zenjesi on Jan 23, 2024 23:20:27 GMT -6
It was a good thing Ramal had moved when did, as now Zenjesi was once again forming a barrier between him and the vicious Bulldozer. "Yes, like necklace. Of sorts." Eager to answer his question, they began to forget themselves again. The satyr trotted over, crouched down beside Marian, and reached under her neck to pull the amulet into sight. "You see? It is magical. For protection," they began to explain, failing to notice that Marian was twisting to bite the air around their arm. It was only as she growled and yanked the amulet from their grasp that they discovered her efforts.
"Ah, like this." Zenjesi smiled pleasantly over to Ramal, while Marian snapped unsuccessfully in their direction. It was not so nerve-wracking when it was done for demonstrative purposes. "But you are not safe. Not like this. Do not touch her," they implored him, standing to follow their friend for the door. At least this had irritated Marian enough that she was now following them willingly. Though, that did mean she was biting at their ankles on the way.
Zenjesi: 0.3 Marian: 2.6, 1.3
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Ramal
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Post by Ramal on Jan 24, 2024 2:21:58 GMT -6
Zenjesi's explanation was sparse at best, which gave Ramal the feeling that he was missing something. The necklace was for protection, but Marian was still trying her best to chomp any part of them she could get her teeth on. Though the fact that she seemed completely incapable of making contact was pretty impressive. Were it not for the warning, Ramal would be eager to try it out for himself. He always was more curious than clever.
"Ya, right," he said, "so she not bite you because the amulet? ... but only you?" That didn't really make him feel better, but his friend did seem to have a handle on it. He decided he would trust Zenjesi, though he would definitely be glancing at the little predator more often now.
Ramal headed for the door, taking a wide step around Marian and consciously keeping his large tail out of reach. He pushed the door open, then looked up at the ceiling for Pashmina. "Pash," he said sweetly, "are you coming with us?" Pashmina craned her neck to look out the door. She was conflicted between her desire to nibble on fresh air and having to lower herself to fit through the door.
[7.5, 2.2]
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Post by Zenjesi on Jan 24, 2024 22:29:23 GMT -6
Zenjesi lagged behind Ramal, such that Marian would remain focused on them while they walked. It quickly became apparent, however, that Ramal did not fully understand how the amulet worked, and that seemed an important topic to clarify. This was reasonable, as they were not sure they properly knew its parameters either. "Ah... yes, only me. Because of the amulet I am safe. She would have consumed me." They paused for a moment to collect their thoughts. "There is a word - a command word. She stops if I speak it. So you are safe. I know the word. And I am watching." They hoped this was reassuring to him.
But the procession came to a halt at the door, as Ramal's companion seemed reluctant to risk proximity to Marian. "We can leave first?" Zenjesi offered, holding their Bulldozer on a tight leash. They knew that, should she contest them with strength, she would win. Still, it gave them an illusion of additional safety.
At the moment, Marian had instead become interested in a stray screw on the ground, and was sniffing it thoroughly.
Zenjesi: 0.4 Marian: 2.8, 1.4
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Ramal
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Post by Ramal on Jan 27, 2024 2:11:20 GMT -6
Ramal was quite relieved to hear the words 'you are safe', though it did take Zenjesi a long time to get there. He was generally a very easy going guy, but something about the untamed predator staring him down made him feel especially uneasy. That was the thing about this city, right? Just about everyone had an unruly monster of some kind or another. Sometimes dozens of them. He was slowly but surely getting used to it.
"That's good," he said with a nod. His genuine relief could be heard in his tone. "I will trust you to protect me," he said in a way that was partly true and partly teasing.
"Oi, Pash, I will leave the door open, you can follow if you like," he said, stepping outside and out of the way so Zenjesi could follow. Once the pair had made it the first few steps toward the garden, she darted out the door, desperate not to be left alone.
"This way," he said, pointing toward the shabby greenhouse which could be seen from where they were.
[7.6, 2.4]
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Post by Zenjesi on Jan 28, 2024 19:46:44 GMT -6
Something unusual happened then: Zenjesi's posture improved. They had known that they were responsible for Ramal's wellbeing all along (hence much of their preoccupation and nerves), yet hearing him acknowledge it aloud changed something. They drew a head-clearing deep breath, their shoulders straightening slightly out of their usual hunched form as they nodded their agreement. They would protect him.
As they exited, the satyr spared one more curious glance up at the 'Foof' on the ceiling. Marian was never passive or agreeable, but she seemed to be enticed by returning to the outdoors, so they did not linger. They, too, felt more comfortable on the grounds than confined to the building. Their Bulldozer followed a couple of feet behind, her tail dragging a slightly snake-like pattern into any patches of dirt.
The impression of a greenhouse across the way was easy enough to locate, but so was a flapping piece of tarp that seemed to be poorly patching one side. There were no splashes of floral color, or green backdrop of other foliage. It looked quite brown. Zenjesi frowned. "Do you garden?" they asked Ramal as they walked.
Zenjesi: 0.5 Marian: 3.0, 1.5
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Ramal
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Post by Ramal on Jan 29, 2024 5:42:18 GMT -6
A slight breeze ruffled Pashmina's fur, so she closed her eyes to savor the moment. The wind brought with it the faint smell of food in the air, causing her to bounce around merrily while vaguely following the path Ramal and the others were making.
The sight of the decrepit old greenhouse didn't usually bother him, but it felt a little strange to show it to Zenjesi. He hoped that they wouldn't think fixing the whole thing was their responsibility or anything like that. This was the kind of problem that would take a whole community to solve. While the two of them might have been the extent of community at that moment, he was confident that others would follow.
"Ya, no," he said, shaking his head. "I don't know first things about it."
"I was hoping you could show me," he said with his classic enthusiastic grin. It was so genuine that it was hard to deny him whatever he was asking for. "I am good for learning, I promise."
[7.7, 2.6]
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Post by Zenjesi on Jan 29, 2024 14:30:15 GMT -6
Indeed, the grin had that very effect on Zenjesi. They subconsciously mirrored it back at him, although it looked significantly less confident and toothy and a bit more like they were in pain or possibly confused. "Yes, I will show you," they agreed immediately, almost speaking over him in their excitement. Finally, something they could share with someone else! For so long they had only plants for friends and now they could make their friend via plants!
In the back of their mind, they had noticed Ramal slightly stumbling over the Common tongue, but any questions they had about that or his native language were long gone from their thoughts now, as they were spinning with possibilities and the future of the greenhouse. Even Zenjesi's pace had begun to quicken a little. In that regard, it was good they had Marian to temper them. If anything, she slowed down as they moved faster, perhaps out of spite.
"Do you know there are plants that eat living things?" The question was asked with an unusual degree of intensity, as they stared into Ramal's face.
Zenjesi: 0.6 Marian: 3.2, 1.6
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Ramal
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Post by Ramal on Jan 29, 2024 18:43:00 GMT -6
The wilted garden bed came into view, and Ramal stopped abruptly near the edge of the path. He looked over at the tangle of weeds and frowned slightly. He really did not know the first thing about how to fix it. There were plenty of plants there, but they were ugly, gnarled, and pointy. Not the right kind of plants, apparently, though he thought they were charming in their own sort of way.
Upon hearing Zenjesi's passionate declaration, Ramal's gills shot up with surprise. He nervously glanced over at one of the thorny plants tumbling over the edge of the garden bed. "N-no, I do not know that." Another thought immediately followed, "What do plants usually eat?"
As Pashmina's winding path took her directly over Marian, she felt a bad vibe and paused for a moment before floating even higher into the air. The Bulldozer couldn't possibly have reached her where she was, but she felt like she couldn't be too cautious around such a dangerous creature. If only her beloved owner had the same amount of sense.
[7.8, 2.8]
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Post by Zenjesi on Jan 29, 2024 19:25:18 GMT -6
The satyr nodded fervently. "Yes. Living things. Usually it is dead things in the dirt. Water. Sunlight." They nodded a second time, though it seemed that Ramal's question had refocused and calmed them somewhat. "And... air. Parts of the air." This gave them momentary pause, as they craned their neck to search for Pashmina in the sky. "They are not unlike like the Foof in this way."
With the placement of the Bulldozer's eyes, her physical inflexibility, and her lack of understanding of object permanence, Pashmina was at present quite safe with regards to Marian. The same could not be said of Zenjesi. At the moment, this was limited to verbal prodding, but had the real potential to become more involved if the opportunity arose. As their mother always said, they lacked some boundaries. "Does she absorb the sunlight?" Her markings were... blue? Or were they green? Did she photosynthesize? That seemed unlikely, but so did the existence of the creature at all.
Marian, meanwhile, finally caught up to Zenjesi but did not stop. Perhaps still attempting to defy the satyr, she continued to trundle on.
Zenjesi: 0.65 Marian: 3.4, 1.7
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Ramal
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Post by Ramal on Jan 29, 2024 20:17:06 GMT -6
Ramal tried to imagine what it might look like for a plant to eat a person. Zenjesi's mention of 'living things' was rather vague, so his mind immediately jumped to people. As far as he knew, plants didn't have teeth, or a mouth at all really, so he wondered where the food went in. He had never really thought about it before. He continued to squint at the brambles before him as he tried to puzzle it out.
"You are right," he said, turning back to the satyr. "Oi, Pash, are you a plant?" he asked loudly into the air.
Pashmina tilted her head at him, as if she was trying to understand the question. She didn't speak common (or any other language, for that matter), so she had no idea what was being asked. She did sort of get the sense that it was directed at her, though, so she continued to watch Ramal in case he did something she could understand.
"They did not say," he said. "Do you not know? If Foofs are plants. Can plants... fly?"
[7.9, 3]
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Post by Zenjesi on Jan 30, 2024 18:11:42 GMT -6
Their pensive look turned to Ramal, and they gave a small shrug with only one shoulder. "I do not know about Foofs. I do not think so," they mumbled. But their gaze lingered on her, hovering in the air above them easily like a dandelion tuft, and Ramal's next question prompted a second shrug. It was accidentally exaggerated as Marian reached the end of the leash and jerked the satyr along with her. They stumbled a step or two before attempting to dig their hooves in. "I do not... think so..." they gave the same and equally unhelpful answer. What defined a plant? They had thought it a simple question before arriving at the Labs. Now, nothing was so clear.
Marian was pulling them. The harness allowed her to channel all of her strength into the effort, and Zenjesi was losing. "Marian, stop," they implored her, but were not sure she could hear them the scraping of her claws. They attempted to tug the leash in return; this seemed to encourage her to pull harder. "Marian, no," they finally resorted to whispering, and, with that, her limbs stiffened in place, one still outstretched. Zenjesi smiled at Ramal. "Amulet." Stepping over, they grabbed her around the midsection and dragged her closer to them. "We may garden now. What would you like?"
Zenjesi: 0.8 Marian: 3.6, 1.8
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 31, 2024 7:54:16 GMT -6
[Closed] Fiera walked along, a flier clutched in her hand, her green eyes scanning it idly even though she had read it dozens of times already- mostly so she could get away with shoving past people on the sidewalk by ‘pretending’ it was an accident she had run into them. It brought her a lot of satisfaction. “Welcome to the new community park!” it read, with some cute cartoons of various Labs and WELP creatures frolicking beneath. Apparently it was a place for people to enjoy a garden area or perhaps participate in various games, classes, and events indoors. You know, usual community center stuff. But notes on the flier made it seem like this was some sort of grand reopening, implying to her that that meant it had been closed for some time. As a result her hopes for this place weren’t too high, but she needed something to do today. Fiera 1 Mango 0.1/2.1
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 31, 2024 7:54:35 GMT -6
After all, she had acquired a new pet. Repointe weren’t unfamiliar to her- she had a great fondness for Margarite, a custom repointe she owned. But Mango was new to her and new to the world for that matter. He was a small, trembling beast fresh off the factory floor, or whatever it was WELP Corp used to make these creatures. It was to the point where he had barely even been outside before, and every new thing he saw around him was enough to send him clinging to the floor, quivering as he stared at it in terror. Of course, everything was new to him so this walk was taking them quite some time as Fiera tried to kindly encourage him along. She knew she couldn’t force the issue, but hopefully he would perk up soon as it was starting to get a little annoying. She was going to have to carry him at this rate.
Fiera 2 Mango 0.2/2.2
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 31, 2024 7:54:48 GMT -6
The pair were walking alongside a rather ramshackle fence, with a sickly, dilapidated mess of plants on the other side. Fiera flattened her ears back with disapproval. What an eyesore, existing right in the middle of the city. She made a mental note- someone should clear this place out and put something that people would ACTUALLY care about here, like a shoe shop or perhaps a hat shop or perhaps… oh no. She passed by a gap in the fence and even out of the corner of her eye, she could read the paint haphazardly slapped on it. “Welcome to the community park!” It read. Great. She turned on her heel sharply, and Mango stumbled into her legs at the sudden stop before staring up at her with his big, wet eyes. She reached down to give him a hopefully comforting pat on the head as she weighed her options.
Fiera 3 Mango 0.3/2.3
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Jan 31, 2024 7:55:02 GMT -6
Well, crap. This was definitely the place she was looking for as printed on the poster, but it was so… ugh. She could feel herself getting tetanus just by looking at it. There were a few token efforts here and there, but it looked mostly abandoned- certainly not the shiny new and recently refurbished place she was expecting from the poster. She didn’t really want to take Mango in there, but… she looked around. He was clearly scared of everything else in the city, but perhaps plants would be less terrifying. In addition, there were barely any other people in there (no small wonder), so they would probably have the place to themselves, so Mango wouldn’t have to deal with any other people and pets either. Fiera rubbed the back of her neck and closed her eyes, the lower corners of her lips quirking down. Man. She was actually considering this, wasn’t she.
Fiera 4 Mango 0.4/2.4
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