ataraxion | 01. video

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01. video

[He's clearly about to start talking, when the fat little bloodwing chick on his shoulder eyes the screen of the communicator and makes a clumsy leap for it, underdeveloped wings flapping futilely. The video swings wildly as the device is pulled out of the way. Offscreen, a grunted "Basta," and some fumbling, and then the feed centers back on his face, with the hatchling back on his shoulder, staring intently at the screen.]

Sorry about that. So, Robb Stark? Or any of the Starks, apparently - well, except that Tony guy, who I hear is missing. Anyway, I've been told one of you can help me sort out my pet food problem. Gotta growing bird here that's about to run out of skag meat, and I guess your wolves eat something similar.

Also, anyone know where a guy can get a drink on this ship?

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Cute.

[ ... she has a weird definition of "cute". ]

Oh -- there's alcohol in the kitchens. Or there's the club some people put together, if you don't mind flashing lights and trashy music.

[He laughs, both at the comment toward his bird and her description of the club.]

Guess I better look 'round the kitchens, then, though it sounds like I'd better stop by the club one of these days and see who's in there. You know which lift goes there?

It's on one of the passenger floors, so just the regular lift.

[ But let's talk about that bird. ]

What kind of bird is that?

He's a bloodwing. Not sure which planet they're native to, they tend to stow away in cargo holds when nobody notices, so they're kinda spread around the six galaxies now in a few places. I just got him a few days before I showed up here, actually. Don't have a name for him yet.

[He moves the device over to give her a better view of the little bat-winged alien creature, mostly covered in downy fluff, with red eyes and a sharp-looking beak, and some awfully long legs he has yet to grow into.]

You're another space person then, huh? Most of us aren't.

[ And Jaye is just going to lean into her comm to look at the critter, grinning. ]

How large do they get?

Oh, I'm hardly a "space person", I've just had to deal with it on the way to some jobs I've had. I'd rather be planetside.

These guys, they don't get too big. About up to here, if he was full grown.

[He holds a hand about a foot and a quarter above his shoulder, over the bird's head, and the little bloodwing looks up awkwardly at it. Realizing said hand contains no food for him, the bird loses interest and pecks at the screen of the communicator.]

But you've been in space.

[ Jaye just can't stop looking delighted at the little bird. ]

And they're carnivores, right? I've got some chicken eggs, if he'd eat them.

Can't argue with that.

[The bloodwing's fixation with the shiny shiny screen causes Mordecai to move the device away from it again, though he tries to keep it still in the frame, given how fascinated Jaye seems to be.]

Yeah, I'm sure he'd eat those, if you wanna make a donation. Might be funny to watch him figure out how to eat one anyway, since he's never had the opportunity.

Sure. I sure can't eat them all by myself -- I've just been stashing the extras in the kitchens on each occupied level, but if he wants a fresh one, I'll be in the oxygen gardens for a few hours.

[ Also she wants to pet the spacebird. And maybe shapeshift into it later. ]

Yeah? I'll come by, then. I've been meaning to see what that place is like, though it sounds like it's a popular destination for lots of people.

[Spacebird loves petting. All the petting. Hooray!]

I can meet you by the doors, if you want. My livestock is on the upper levels and it's a jungle up there. ... Like literally, it's a jungle.

[ Plus spacebird. ]

Sounds like a nice change from all this metal and plastic. We'll meet you at the entrance.

Cool. See you then.

[ and action? ]

[It took a few moments of trial and error to find the right lift - whoever thought to color-code the things clearly hadn't had accessibility in mind, but at least it was obvious where a lift wanted to go once he'd stepped into one, which resulted him backing out of the orange lift before finding the green, and then promptly marking which was which on his ECHO. A moment later, he stepped out into the oxygen gardens and looked around to see if he'd beaten Jaye to the entrance or not.]

[ She was already in the gardens -- she usually is these days, especially now that she's actually working there -- so Jaye's leaning against a wall, absently toying with her comm. Footsteps have her look up though, and-- spacebird. ]

Didn't get lost?

Nah. Though I hear this place gets pretty confusing if you wander too far.

[And yet he totally wants to try that sometime, just to see how big the place really is.

The bloodwing chick is being remarkably well-behaved at the moment, mostly because it has so much to look at. It eyes Jaye's comm, then stands and pumps its little under-developed wings a few times.]

Not yours, mijo.

[Though it's good to see the bird taking an interest in other people's possessions. That can be utilized once it can fly.]

It does. Smells fucking terrible, too, if you've got a sensitive nose.

[ She may or may not have done that already until the telepath she was with freaked out and made them go back. ]

I've got perverted looking puppets from someone that it can chew on, if it wants. Not shiny, though, sorry little guy.

[ Stop spoiling other people's animals, Jaye. ]

And if he goes after my earrings he's gonna regret it.

[ Of course, they're just blue feathers today -- but that's today. ]

He doesn't really chew on anything, but I'm sure he'd appreciate the thought. As for your earrings, just don't let him climb up on your shoulder. Though I dunno that he'd go for feathers. He knows those aren't very tasty. Not sure why he likes the comms so much, though. Saw his reflection in mine at first, I guess, and now he thinks he always needs to bite at the thing.

[He shakes his head, then folds his arms.]

So, chickens, huh? Were they just on board or did you have to track them down at a station somehow?

I've got others. Shouldn't wear the dangly ones, I know, but they're just so shiny. I actually had one ripped out by some asshole in a fight once -- my boss was pissed.

[ Shame about not letting the bird on her shoulder, though. Jaye starts walking, beckoning for him to follow. ]

We stopped at a creepyass station that tried to mind-wipe everyone a while back and I stole my chickens and a cow, plus a bunch of feed and all sorts of other crap.

Ouch.

[He follows, more or less uninterested in the agricultural aspects of the garden. The jungle sounds far more interesting.]

Hm. So much for shore leave, huh? At least you got something worthwhile outta it. I've never actually seen a chicken. It's amazing how many planets I've been to, and how much I still haven't seen. Lotta stuff never made it off Earth. It's easier to just find native wildlife that's already at the place you want to settle, I guess.

The gardens are probably the closest you'll get to being off the ship. Which sucks, it's boring as hell here when nothing weird is going down.

[ There are more lifts within the gardens themselves, and she heads on in, making sure he's in with her before hitting the button for the floor her livestock is on. ]

Well, if you want to see Earth animals, I can definitely help with that -- past the chickens and the cow, I mean. I'm Jaye, by the way. [ Since she never did actually get around to introducing herself. ] We've also got a shitton of insects in here, so make sure the little guy doesn't fall into a bees nest or something.

Heh, yeah, name's Mordecai. And hopefully I'll come up with a name for this little brat soon, too.

[Yeah, the jungle is way better, he immediately decides once they're at the right floor. At least it somewhat resembles something natural. He eyes the bird as it awkwardly lunges at a passing butterfly and then flaps frantically to regain its balance on his shoulder.]

So what's on board here, then, besides your animals, and those wolves the Starks apparently have?

"Little Brat" is probably fitting enough.

[ Of course, she tried to name her cow Punk Rock, so don't listen to her. She laughs a little at the bird trying to grab a butterfly, leading the way through the jungle. There's something resembling a path for now, worn through the foliage by Jaye walking back and forth. ]

There's a horse who shares the pen with my cow, some dogs, cats, a rabbit, a big ugly fish down in the first level of the gardens, a bunch of birds, a few different types of hellhounds, and a pteranodon. You might see her flying around in here, since she's... kind of hard to miss.

But, [ and she pauses, looks up at the ceiling ] I'm a shapeshifter so really, there could be more depending on my mood.

A shapeshifter?

[He's seen some weird stuff before, things that were alien enough to look like magic at first glance, but shape shifting falls into an entirely different category.]

Now, that, you're going to have to prove.

[ Jaye just laughs, delighted. She likes to show off. ]

Can do.

[ And he's quite suddenly no longer walking with a woman, but with a tiger. At first glance there doesn't seem to be anything to give away that she's more than just a tiger -- but if he looks close enough, he may notice that there's a broken up sort of stripe on her left foreleg where her nanites would be as a human. ]

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