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Post by Flare on Mar 19, 2020 12:57:16 GMT -6
The young rakai lifted his head up off his paws, to see Petunia of all creatures peering over his home's fence, right at him. Wait. Why are you here? Where is your humans? Waiting. Petunia whuffs at him. Chew through your lead, your lizard needs you. Bring the rabbit thing. Puzzled, the pup tilts his head sideways, ears flopping in the same direction. Don't question, just do it. Well, he did like chewing on things. Getting up, the rakai started to chew through his lead. Just this once. His lizard didn't like the chewing on ropes. The ropes didn't stand up to his teeth for very long. Snap! Shaking himself made his bony wings clatter a bit. Exhaling in a bit of a snort, Shabh padded over to the orbaru's sleeping nest. Squinting through the nest were blurred pink eyes. Come rabbit. Our lizard needs us. The orbaru's gaze sharpens, narrows. They generally ignored each other...But came. She didn't run when she saw Petunia, waiting impatiently. She would be leading Shabh and the rabbit back. She almost bolted too, when the black rakai growled to go with. But Shabh grabbed on first, and gently nomming her scruff, carried the orbaru with him. They made it to Petunia's home. The garden would be self sufficient, right? 89 - x.20
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Post by Flare on Mar 19, 2020 13:43:09 GMT -6
To avoid having the city guard or whomever actually kept track of strays, Petunia insisted on being accompanied. She'd talked her partner into letting her nephew accompany them. Bixby the blonde twintail human? leaning on a rock wall nearby, his gaze enraptured with the various comings and goings of the plant creatures. How interesting. Petunia got his attention, and he led them home. Against her own desire, city law dictated having your animal on some sort of leash, so a simple collar and leash ran from the black rakai's neck to his hands, as well as the chewed in half rope attached to Shabh. Back to Petunia's home, and she tells him to release the orbaru. She bounds into the yard someplace, but likely won't escape? Maybe? Nobody knew. Come. The black rakai angles her head so the twintail can remove her collar and allow her full and free reign of her house. The pup, nervous at Petunia's presence still on her own turf, follows. She leads him not to Poppy's smell, but to another room. Its small, very small. A cot is set up in the corner, and Petunia's partner is there, a bowl of water in her grip and a tug rag in another? 90 - x.20
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Post by Flare on Mar 19, 2020 13:56:46 GMT -6
"Good girl Petunia." The black rakai wags her long tail a bit, allowing her partner's free hand to caress her ears. She glances over at Shabh, who is looking back and forth in confusion. "I'm so sorry little ghost. But I didn't wish to learn later on that you starved from waiting for when your master would return to your garden home. I'm afraid... he needs help, and won't be home for a while." Every word the silver scored on black human female said he could understand, just as if she were barking. "Come closer, it may bring him comfort that you are close." She scoots away, and through the smells of other things, he can smell a sort of familiar scent. A nearly scaleless hand is hanging limply down from above, practically brushing the floor. Curious, his posture wide, ears up and forward, and his tail somewhat raised, the young rakai pads over, and sniffs the hand. it barely twitches. Its a familiar smell. 91 x.20
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Post by Renathan on Mar 19, 2020 14:05:11 GMT -6
That's a mighty bright beanpod... and a twin? [To 90]
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Post by Flare on Mar 19, 2020 14:14:54 GMT -6
"Do you want up?" she asks him when the rakai pup gives a subtle whine of confusion and 'why'. Woof! Yes, he wants up. The silver scored female gently lifts him from the belly and the chest and gradually up to sit in her lap. Mostly huddled in blankets, the source of the smell the hand was attached to is there. Very pale, the dry strands of red brushed aside for a damp tug rag to lay on his flat face place. The above the eyes place. There's a smell of dirt, a familiar smell. But there is no lizard? Did lizard eat this human male? the barest crack of gray peeks between mostly closed lids. Shabh puts his front paws on the bedside, yipping softly. The eyes squint briefly then the figure's gaunt expression seems to brighten. "Rest now my friend. We'll help you take care of Shabh and your other creatures. For now, you need rest-" he must've phased out on the rest because the eyes fluttered shut again. Cortana sighs, but gives a slight gasp as the rakai steps off her lap into the bed, finding a soft cranny beside the ill one's arm. Snuggling deeper into the cranny, he sighed. Lizard, no. Friend, yes. 92 - 19/27 Shabh x.20
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Post by Flare on Mar 19, 2020 14:21:12 GMT -6
-one month later- "Just lean your head back a bit further... there we go." hard to crane his neck back any further, Flare had to think, as he tried his hardest to just relax backwards into the bowl. Cortana's working woman hands were giving him a hairdresser style washing of his hair. He could smell whatever she squirted from behind and below his head to be a bit mossy smelling, how unusual. Didn't women usually like florals for themselves? Didn't fancy the smell entirely himself. Her fingers massaging into his scalp felt like heaven. From a month ago, the Tumaian youth's physical recovery made leaps and bounds. He found himself awakening in the spare room of the kind human woman Cortana and her family. She explained to him that he'd been found at the edge of the city while taking a long walk with Petunia, and that he was in no condition to return home. That she'd had Petunia gather Shabh and the rabbit (who had a very good hidingness) and bring them to her home. That the plant creatures were self sufficent. right? He agreed on this. Just a bit. That except for 'out' breaks and eating/drinking, Shabh hadn't left his side. 93 1.20
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Post by Flare on Mar 19, 2020 14:28:35 GMT -6
"I will be honest with you, I still have a hard time believing you're the same ssashirk who turned up on my doorstep last year. Petunia was the one who could tell the difference. She's got such a good nose." Cortana told him, carefully soaping up every strand of his vibrant, but still very dry hair. Think saffron threads. he sighs... resting deeply into the chair. The head massage could easily put him back to sleep, but once it was finished, he'd have to walk back to his bed. That, and this chair wasn't accomodating for tails. Imagine his panic about having a tail when he first was able to sit up and put his feet on the ground normally. The local human? doctor had taken a strange picture of his back when called. Mentioning it was a natural part of his spine. No, he insisted. Humans don't have tails. This is not my tail. until he put his cane-staff down on it and it knocked him senseless with nerve pains. He could hear multiple sets of paws from the other side of the small kitchen's wall, of child's laughter and barking. Siri was keeping the pups entertained while he got clean. 94 2.20
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Post by Flare on Mar 19, 2020 14:39:58 GMT -6
Apart from the tail, when he'd seen his back, there were twin scars around where wings would've grown out of a human's back, the scarring looking very reminiscent of a tree's knot. Occasional dottings of red scales across his collarbone and upper arms, like multicolored freckles. A few under the eyes too. That and the scales that splattered his right hip and waist to form a solid scaled tail. His wooden limb had no 'scales' to speak of, but a few multicolored discolorations in the wood around where the socket grew into his pelvis. And... yeah. The thing about ssashirk not being able to be discerned as male or female on sight... that. yes. Pants. He loved pants. "Alright, you're finished. Sit up slowly, stop if you get dizzy." Much as he wanted to tell the very kind woman that he was fine, they both knew his recovery to being 'normal' wouldn't be done for a long time. Carefully, Flare sat up, and once he made sure the initial movement didn't make him too dizzy, slowly eased to his feet with both Cortana's help and his cane-staff. A loud bark of glee as he heard Shabh's wings rattle with his running around. 95 3.20
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Post by Renathan on Mar 19, 2020 14:49:21 GMT -6
You found something!! It's! It's.... a weed...
[to 95]
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Post by Flare on Mar 19, 2020 15:18:02 GMT -6
The hot water used to wash his hair dripped down his bare chest and back as Flare made his way not back to his bed, but to the sunny porch out in Cortana's garden. He initially made it clear that he wasn't a 'stay in bed' kind of person, and that lying constantly on his back ached. Carefully, with heavy footfalls, the Tumaian youth let himself be guided out to his sitting chair. The fresh air felt much better then lying around in that stuffy cot. At one point, he hated being mothered like this. But now... he really welcomed it. Months on end of hermit living, surviving on grown produce and the daily portion of magical meat. Here, he got three square meals a day, strongly spiced, with rice and yogurt sauces. Sheepishly, she'd asked Bixby to look up Tumaian recipes in the local library, and did her best to emulate the choices. Bixby, in particular, seemed to enjoy the spiced chai he'd discovered. Having a mug to share with Flare when he did show himself out of his own sheltered area of the small house. Siri waved merrily at him as she fled the two rakai puppies, charging forth for the ball on a stick she held high over her head. BALL! 96 4.20
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Post by Flare on Mar 19, 2020 15:25:32 GMT -6
Ah, this felt wonderful. His hair allowed to dry normally, the chilly dribblets of water slowly evaporating into his skin or into the air. Flare relaxed into his chair, shifting so his tail wasn't in a kink. That hurt, and he'd learned it early. He leaned his head back, allowing his wet hair to fall back and away from his face. Thankfully the outside yard was pebbled, so water dribblets weren't a concern. He felt rather then heard the twintail coming towards him. There was a sort of... he couldn't explain it properly to himself... presence that the teenager gave off that he could just sense. The slight slopping of thicker liquid came to his ear as he opened one gray eye, looking up at Bixby, holding two mugs of hot spiced chai. He took his own, thanked the boy, and sipped. It smelled like the richness of the earth, and tasted so complex. He loved this stuff. [You look better.] the twintail murmured, leaning in the half shadows on a support pillar. His tails dusted his ankles while he drank his chai. [Less corpsey.] A small peep inside him wanted to be just as condescending back to the boy, but he was helping keep an eye on Shabh, and that was more then he'd ever dreamed of. 97 5.20 20/28 Shabh
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Post by Flare on Mar 19, 2020 15:33:33 GMT -6
Flare liked that he could use mugs and straws now. The learning curve for those simple human pleasures was steep though; and young children (or humans in recovery?) needed what was jokingly called a 'sippy cup'. A covered cup with a spout for you to clamp your mouth on and suck on like you were a tiny child feeding. Lots of practice and chewed on sippy cup lids later (shabh more then once found the empty cup while he slept and ate the lid), the elementalized youth found himself graduated to straws and mugs. Thank... well the gods. [ I am grateful to your aunt. She saved my life.] he spoke into his mug, rolling the object in his hands. Slowly rotating the tide of liquid inside. [You were in no condition to be recovering alone.] Bixby responded, watching his cousin run the other direction from the two playful rakai puppies. Who were rapidly gaining in size. When full grown, Siri told her mother she'd be riding Poppy around like he was a big horsey. Earning a chuckle sounding wuffle from Petunia nearby. [We are grateful for your help with healing Poppy. He is recovering well.] 98 6.20 x.20
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Post by Flare on Mar 19, 2020 16:32:21 GMT -6
[What do you intend to do once you are recovered.] Trust the twintail boy to have what gnawed at the back of his mind right and forefront to say. Flare didn't say anything at first, swirling his chai, taking an occasional sip of the cooling liquid. Watching Siri make a spectacular dive into the grass before both pups pounced on her, playfully licking her face and hands and coaxing her to release the stick with the ball, so Shabh could run wiht it, and Poppy could catch him. What did he intend to do. [ Put my life back together, first off.] he finally decided, his voice rough from lack of usage, and the unused accent made his words feel thick. He looks at his hands more then the mug. [ I am not nearly as resistant to the elements outside then how I was... not long ago. Perhaps... see if someone could create a small shelter.] Bixby nods, gesturing him to go on. [ I want to thrive. Being near my garden... is peaceful. It helps me relax, to forget my trouble.] An exhale that briefly tickles his bare chest when Flare dips his head briefly. [ A selfish thought... to thrive.] The clever green eyes watch him through shadowed golden bangs as the twintail drinks his chai. That wasn't a selfish thought at all. 99 7.20
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Post by Flare on Mar 19, 2020 16:40:19 GMT -6
-one month later- The Cortana family gathered at the door to bear Flare their final goodbye. From a physician Cortana knew locally, he'd been deemed well enough to return to his home. Two months away... it was a good thing that they'd recovered Shabh and the orbaru. She had been located hiding out in the rosemary, eating sprouts and doing rabbity things. Like chew on roots and such, dig holes, and hop about. A total fluffy mess. He'd have his work cut out for getting her all cleaned up back at the garden. Flare held her in his arms, supporting her rear just under the knees, her paws hanging over his thin forearm. "Now remember. Three square meals a day. Plenty of protein and carbs to get your muscle back in normal order. It'll help you figure out your natural balances with filling out all that atrophy. No skiving on your self care young man." Cortana lectured, hugging a thick woolen scarf around herself. She wasn't made for the cold either. "Try to wash your hair and yourself at least three times a week, and wash your hands frequently. Your immunities are still building up-" Flare felt a bit overwhelmed at the abundance of motherly advice. Bixby mentioned something in the Layan language he mentioned the last time they'd met, and she blushed a bit. "Oh dear, there I go again. Mother hen, thats me. Do take care of yourself Flare. Bring your adorable little Shabh around anytime." "T..thank you. G..gudbye." And with that, Flare, what little belongings he'd had on him after his peril, Shabh and the orbaru went back to his tent. He had a lot to get back together. 100 8.20
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Post by Flare on Mar 19, 2020 16:54:57 GMT -6
It felt weird to wear some sort of covering over his shoulders now; Flare had gone half to fully naked as a ssashirk almost constantly; only gaining his toga when deciding to go out to the Cache. But like a mother hen, Cortana fussed into having him wear a half poncho that covered from the edge of his ribs up to around his neck. Cold midriff, but he'd manage. He had a pair of loose puffy pants that would not be uncommon in Tumai, with a space for his tail. The feeling of fabric brushing against his left ankle as he walked felt so offputting. It had been FOREVER since he'd worn pants. In two months of very lovable care and lots of good food, Shabh had gained nearly four inches at the shoulder. His head nearly came up to Flare's waist now. The wings seemed to grow as he grew, rattling a bit as he walked proudly beside his master. They were going back home. 101 9.20
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