[PRP] Good Evening, Noodle (Lily/Kaleb)

[Grey Dragon]

With all the time Kaleb had spent in the other Ashdown he had lost a lot of his fear of the place. He had a good reason to spend time there now, and without all the rain and gloomy darkness, it was almost a pleasant place to be. Most of the time it was quiet and devoid of human presence, the perfect solitude for him to work on whatever he wanted to.

However, at the right time of day, when the sun was low on the horizon and the sky was thick with clouds, the long shadows cast by old trees and dilapidated ruins were still just a bit creepy.

On this visit to the other side, Kaleb was reminded of how unnerving his earliest encounters with the place had been. As he wandered through the streets looking for a way out, he reminded himself over and over again that now he had tools to deal with scary things... Even if he'd rather not run into scary things at all...

AMItotic

I hope this start is okay!

 

[AMItotic]

The unsettling thing about Other Ashdown was oftentimes the noise, or lack thereof: no cars to pass by, no white noise from lamps or heaters, no ambient sounds of life. It felt like being in a public place long after everything had closed.

And then something rustled in a nearby tree, causing the branches to shudder.

The creature shimmied down from its perch slowly, watchful of the boy with dark, beady eyes. It's fur was mottled brown and black, rounded ears flickered forward, and it snaked its way to the ground with a torso far longer than a cat's, a long tail following behind. At first glance, it looked to be a mundane fisher, but as it waddled forward from under cover it was easier to distinguish a pair of small nubbed horns jutting up from above its brow like a tiny crown.

The fisher looked to Kaleb, sat on it's haunches, and with one paw drew a circle in the air, miming a wave.

Grey Dragon

looks great!

 

[Grey Dragon]

At the first sound of something solid passing nearby, the soft whisper of leaves in the absence of wind, Kaleb felt his heart leap up into his chest. He froze, hardly daring to breathe as he pinpointed the source of the noise, and then watched as a long, dark shape wound it's way down a tree nearby. All his magical practice was forgotten in that simple moment of fright.

The creature wasn't moving fast though, not like a predator homing in on it's prey. It reminded him of Gloom in many ways, but it was larger, and he had never seen a weasel-like creature with horns before on either side. It waved. Whatever it was, it was intelligent, and friendly.

"Ah... Hello," Kaleb greeted it, still looking a bit nervous. By now he was quite accustomed to animals that understood people, and every moment the fisher didn't show aggression was another moment for him to relax.

AMItotic

 

[AMItotic]

The fisher chirped, its ears swiveling forward as it sniffed the air, padding just a little bit closer. It stopped just a few feet away from Kaleb and began pawing at the ground, slowly scratching shaky-looking letters into the dirt:

Quote:

S U P

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

It must not have been a creature like Gloom, the shadowy othercreature had been able, and quite willing, to speak in human words. Still, it seemed to know the language.

Kaleb crouched down, peering at what it was writing in the dirt. Sup... Supper? Was it hungry? He didn't have any food on him, being a light eater who made it by just fine on a couple small meals a day, and for a second he felt quite bad for the creature. Until he realized that it had stopped writing there. Sup. It was a greeting. His cheeks turned a slight pink at his own misunderstanding, and was glad he hadn't acted on it.

"Hello," he said again in an even more sheepish tone. "I don't often meet other living things around here, I'm sorry if I was intruding on anything.

AMItotic

 

[AMItotic]

When Kaleb responded to its greeting in kind, the fisher let out a soft trill, tail swishing as it nodded. It jogged forward and then once around Kaleb, settling to a seated position by his feet. When he asked if he'd been intruding, the creature made a dramatic gesture of shaking its head. It squeaked in approval of the boy's presence, booping its nose against his leg, and then set to writing in the dirt once again.

Quote:

U N E W ?

It struggled to round the curve of the question mark, growling lowly in exertion. It might have been easier to try sign language, Lily supposed, but there were only so many words she knew how to sign, and there were even fewer words she could mime with a fisher's paws. No, this would have to do for now.

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

It was so friendly! Kaleb was always more comfortable around animals than people, and the clever ones were no exception. The smile as it nudged his leg came easily, and without the usual worries.

"I... have a phone on me, somewhere, can you type?" He asked quickly, noticing the difficulty the fisher was having with the more curvy characters. The teen rummaged around in his messenger bag for a minute. "I guess you could say I'm new here... Sort of... I end up visiting every now and again, since I moved here for college."

Finally he pulled out his phone. There was no reception, as he had expected, but all he was looking for was some sort of notepad program. He accidentally opened up an app for what looked like making shopping lists.

"Oops..."

It would probably do in a pinch though...

AMItotic

 

[AMItotic]

The fisher made an interested chirp at the idea of using a cellphone, but was patient enough not to climb up Kaleb's leg to get a view for herself. Instead, she occupied herself by weaving in between his legs in a slow figure-eight pattern, stopping once his phone was in view to look up at the device. She huffed and lifted herself to standing on her hind legs, sniffing at the phone curiously before reaching up with short forelimbs to take it gingerly from his hands.

It took some wobbling, but the fisher managed to get it to the ground without too much trouble. Typing was a bit of a nightmare with the pads of her paws, and half of the letters didn't even register, so with a frustrated squeak she just began nudging at the screen with her nose. When she felt satisfied, she scooted the phone back towards Kaleb, the screen only the slightest bit smudged from the wet of her nose.

Quote:

I'mn Liily
rtype s bad loool

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

It looked like any mode of human communication would be somewhat more difficult for the fisher, but Kaleb was both surprised and pleased to infer that it had used a phone before. He leaned over to read the response and smiled.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Kaleb," he replied, and then once he was sure it wasn't going to make another weave between his legs, he sat down in a more comfortable posture.

"It's okay, you should see my typing. It takes me forever to send a text message," he admitted sheepishly. "If it works better than writing though, I don't mind if you use it."

AMItotic

 

[AMItotic]

When Kaleb went to sit on the ground, Lily moved to the side to give him plenty of space, settling down into a loaf opposite him. She nodded at his reply, then shuffled her way closer to him and the phone, squinting as she began to type with careful nose boops.

Quote:

GHi Calrb
qwelcome 2 spokooville
do yiu like iut here

Typing faster meant that her letters were less accurate, but with a quick scan of the words she deemed it readable enough, nudging the phone back over to the boy for easier reading. She shuffled just a little bit closer, because now she was both in sniffing range and petting range. The fisher idly sniffled at the air, then rested her head on the ground before rolling slowly to expose the fur on her stomach. With a yawn, she stretched out her paws, then looked up at Kaleb expectantly.

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb wasn't incredibly familiar with text slang, or texting in general, so it took a bit longer to pull the message away from the nose-boop errors. Still, the fisher seemed to be familiar enough with phones and of good humour and intelligence. It was almost like talking with a person, but easier.

"It's easier now that it's not raining all the time, I really did get pretty spooked back then," he replied with a lopsided smile. It felt nice to talk about these things without having to worry so much.

When the creature began to slowly roll over on the ground, it reminded Kaleb of a pointy nosed otter. He had seen them once at the zoo, back in the city, and had secretly admired their worry-free attitude. It must be nice to not have to be people.

"Oh, do you want scratches or something?" He asked, not one to take a fluffy soft belly for granted even if it was so obviously offered up for petting. It would have been rude not to ask first.

AMItotic

 

[AMItotic]

Lily blinked, turned her head to sneeze, then stretched her paws as far out as she could, exposing as much torso possible. It had been less obvious initially, but in the full light it was easier to see a jagged crescent shape scar across her midsection, mostly given away by the thin bald spots where the scar tissue met healed skin.

If it was too subtle a permission given, she also nodded, looking up at Kaleb expectantly. She'd supposed if she was in human form this would be weird, but she wasn't in human form and she couldn't talk so she had to take advantage of silver linings where she found them.

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

With the nod confirming it was what the creature wanted, Kaleb gently reached down and pet it's midsection. His hesitant actions were probably somewhat ticklish to begin with, but as with anything, he gained more confidence as nothing bad happened.

"Your fur is so soft," he commented happily, sinking his fingers into the fluff for scratches. When he noticed the scarring he winced in sympathy. "Ouch, that looks like it was painful though."

AMItotic

 

[AMItotic]

The fisher shuffled on her back, making happy little chirps as the boy dispensed pets. She paused when he referenced the scar, tilting her head, then rolled to standing so she could start tapping away at his phone.

Quote:

wasnt so bad
you should habve seen the other guy haha

She made a point to bare her needle teeth and growl, puffing her fur up as she mimed swiping at something that wasn't there. And then all at once she rolled onto her back again, melting into a more agreeable fur noodle.

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

At first Kaleb was afraid he had offended the creature by mentioning the blemish in what was otherwise a most luxurious pelt. But when he read the message he let out a little laugh.

"I'm glad to hear that, it's much safer when you can defend yourself. And I'm glad you are okay now." He smiled lopsidedly, and resumed the scratches when the fisher returned to noodle mode. Were most magical creatures so comfortable with people?

The moment it occurred to him that Lily was indeed a magical creature, Kaleb began to detect it. It wasn't a physical sensation, or something he could see, but he got the impression that magic was circling the creature. Tightly. It was like a shell of magic all around... Was this how animals on this side felt?

Kaleb's hand paused in it's scratching for a brief second, and then he smiled again. "Do you live in this area?"

AMItotic