[network] @crescent; to die historic on the furry road [open]

[lancingintherain]

[usually, the worst thing about waking up is remembering how hungry she is. But this morning, as Day 45 breaks cold and overcast as usual, the worst thing about waking up is remembering that last night, her friend got literally eaten by a monster.

She has to warn people. She couldn't save Mami, but maybe she can help others. So once she's mostly talked herself down from numb grief and fear, she turns on her tablet's video function. At first, it's aiming at a wooden tabletop, but she tilts it to show a drawing. For having been drawn last night in the dark in the hazy, panicky aftermath of mortal peril, it's pretty decent:



She clears her throat and starts to speak, her voice low and breaking despite her efforts to keep it steady.]

Four days ago, I was traveling with Alphonse Elric's group. We were attacked by this monster here. [a gray-furred, four-fingered hand moves into the video to tap at the top left of the picture with one sharp claw.] It was... well, if you've seen Alphonse, you know how tall he is. This one was taller. It had... light, instead of skin. Like what we see on the videos, sometimes. I'm not explaining it quite right, but... we got away.

[she swallows, then takes a shaky breath and points to the drawing on the right.]

Mami Tomoe and I—she's a young human girl; some of you have met her—we were on our own, yesterday. This monster attacked us last night. We—I tried to...

[she breaks off, planting her hand flat on the table to stop it from shaking. When she speaks again, her voice is hard.]

...It swallowed her. It ate her whole. That's what they do. Now we know.

[she points to the bottom drawing.]

It said things to me, before it—before it ate her. Spoke right into my head. "I want it"; "I am here"; I wrote down what I could remember. And there's something else. All of the other monsters I've seen have looked, well, they've looked human, or something like it. But this one... oh, it's easiest to just show it.

[the video swings dizzyingly as she picks up the tablet, and she taps on the screen to turn the camera. At once, the view of the tabletop and wall becomes a view of her very inhuman face, framed by her pale, tangled hair and large ears. Her eyes are tired, and her muzzle is streaked with dark, dried blood.]

...It looked like me. Like one of my people. But it... it ran on all fours, like an animal. ...I don't know what any of it means. But one thing's the same—and if anyone who's just arrived is watching this, you'd better listen. [her voice turns cold, and she looks straight into the camera.] If you see a monster, you run, got it? You run away as fast as you can, and get inside, and block the door. There's no fighting them. No fighting them at all.

[OOC: HOT GOLLY DAMN, there are enough threads here to feed a whole village of cute, thread-starved orphans. I'm capping the number of threads where it is. No more replies please, you beautiful people.]

Comments

[lancingintherain]

[she blinks, taken aback—and then the look in her eyes gets colder, and a little hurt. He seemed so sensible and pulled-together, when she'd spoken to him for the first time, and that he'd wind up being just another yahoo commenting on her appearance instead of Mami's death was something she'd least expected.]

[fresh from House's earlier dumbassery as she is, the nuance in his word choice (and in his tone) flies completely over her head. Her ears flatten in a subtle, nonverbal expression of "u done fucked up".]

...Excuse me? That's all you wanted to ask? Sir, I...

[she takes a deep breath, then swallows her frustration and looks down at the table.]

What I look like isn't important right now. Please understand. [and then, muttered half to herself:] ...Maybe it was a mistake, to make a video.

/2

[clockblock]

It is important...!

[A rare lapse of control, a spike of emotion. His fingers tighten on his tablet. Dammit, he can't....he has to do something before she shuts him out entirely. This is where his priorities are focused, because Mami is gone (maybe dead, maybe not, he can't trust anything in this place) and nothing he says or does can change that.

But he can change this. And maybe, if he does, he can reach her.]

......

[The feed is ended.]

video; private

[clockblock]

[Then it resumes under a new, private connection. And this time it's video — the lighting, his position, is perfect. Alister looks directly into the tablet with an expression that betrays tension, but nothing else. He is not afraid. He will seize victory, and everything else will fall into place.]

I can't do anything for your friend, and I'm sorry. But I thought I could at least prove that you aren't completely alone in looking different from everyone else.

Maybe then anything else I said would have some meaning.

[lancingintherain]

[when the feed ends, she slumps in her seat and shuts her eyes, clenching her jaw and trying to hold back her anger. But then his username pops up again, and the feed starts up, and there he is, fuzzy face and all. When she sees the video, she can't help it: she stares.]

[it occurs to her that the way he's sitting, in that light, couldn't be unintentional. That's kind of weird, but she's more focused on his features than his ego. After a delay of complete wide-eyed, open-mouthed silence, she realizes how rude she must look, and clears her throat. her voice is soft.]

...You—you're... you're not human.

[not one of her people, or any kind of person she recognizes, but that would be too much to hope for. Already, the feeling of not being alone is nearly overwhelming. But under that, there's a new feeling of guilt.]

I—gods, Sir, I'm sorry for... for what I said. I thought you might be someone else, come to... to gawk at me.

[clockblock]

[Being an Elder Councilman isn't the same as being a politician, but it was through that service that he learned the value of dramatics. How to drive his point home through posture and position. That's why there aren't any shadows, no furniture or objects to block the view. He's made sure that there can be no lingering doubts about his appearance.

Alister's expression relaxes a touch, crooking into a small smile. His first in days. It feels odd to wear.]

Don't be. You had every reason to assume that.

[lancingintherain]

[when he smiles, she keeps staring for another moment, then swivels her ears forwards like little satellite dishes: a sort-of smile in return, just not with her face. She's not ready to smile with her face yet.]

I... all right. I'm glad that... that you understand.

[of course, he would, though, wouldn't he, looking just as inhuman as she does in a place like this. Suddenly self-conscious of what she must look like in contrast to his carefully-arranged appearance, she roughly brushes some hair out of her face. It falls right back.]

...Um. You asked about my people. We're called Burmecian, after our kingdom. I'm from a planet called Gaia.

...I don't know what my galaxy is called. Or if it even has a name. ...I'm sorry.

[clockblock]

[He can't smile with his ears like she can. They remain perked up no matter if he's feeling happiness, anxiety, or simple alertness. But his tail swishes against his legs, the movement pleased rather than nervous.]

Again, don't be. I appreciate any answer you can give.

[....]

As for me, I'm a Lombax. From the planet Fastoon.

[He's careful to hide just what that admission is really worth, what he thinks he's gambling by offering the information. Objectively, it's nothing at all — names that no one else knows carrying the oblivious weight of an unknown history. But the what of himself means so much.....still means so much.]

[lancingintherain]

[his tail catches her eyes right away, and the sight sends a thrill of homesickness through her: he's the first person with a tail that she's seen in over a month. It's shocking, how a little thing like that can strike her so deeply, but then again he's also caught her on a very emotional day.]

[she wraps her own tail loosely around one leg of her chair, feeling dim regret that her own video's only showing her from the chest up.]

"Fastoon"—your user-name. Ah, so anyone from your home would recognize you, and... know they weren't alone.

[she knows that loneliness all too well. This other worlds business is rough. ...And rougher for some than for others.]

...I imagine you've found this out by now, but... you and I are the only people here who... [she gestures vaguely to her face: the fur, the ears. The everything.] ...who look like we do. There are others who aren't human, of course, but they've... got a lot more in common with them than either of us do.

[nobody tell her about the talking skeleton.]

[she's not self-aware enough right now to have realized how much she's staring at him. She's taking in everything: his luminous eyes, his bold stripes, his flat nose. Those eyebrows that just won't quit. There's a lot that's different between them, but looking at him, she does feel a little less alone.]

[clockblock]

Right.

[He notices how hard she's been staring at him, but doesn't betray his awareness of the fact. Let her look if she wanted, as much as she wanted. It seems obvious enough that she's been starved for the sight of someone like him. Alister finds himself vaguely considering taking off his hoverboots — under some reasonable pretense or another, but really to display the three, clawed toes on each foot.

Such an urge is more than a little ridiculous. He's a war veteran, a decorated general.....a rebel, an exile in disgrace. There are over twenty years of isolation and regret weighing heavy on his shoulders. Youthful impulses are for the young.]

And right again. Honestly, it's been a trial to get used to. Never seen humans before this place.