de-paz

[de-paz]

Xander nods his acknowledgement of the thanks. Doesn’t bother him that it’s delivered through a mouthful of food. He himself has always had the awful habit of talking with his mouth full, too. For a second he thinks it’s weird that nobody has ever asked this doglike man if he liked chin scritches, and then Xander wonders if he’s the weird one for offering. Still, Ed seems unbothered by it, so Xander sits forward a little, reaching under Ed’s chin to scratch at it with broad fingers; fingers that have scratched under the chin of a million dogs with great gusto.

ed does, at least, pick up his half of the sandwich with his hands. for all his wild behavior, there are things that are just easier when thumbs are involved. meatball can wolf it all down without chewing, but unless he unhinges his jaw, ed is stuck with the range of motion he has. "thanks," he says between a mouthful of roast beef, almost an understanding of manners. after a big swallow and an arch of his brow—would he like that?—ed tips his head up for a try. "i don't know." someone who's offering food must be okay, though. "try it."

[de-paz]

“Meatball.” Xander grunts in reply, watching with faint amusement as this stranger gets all snuggly with her, despite what many have called her off putting or terrifying visage. Sweet girl certainly isn't the first way anyone has ever chosen to describe Meatball before, but he does like when people compliment her.

Xander scrutinises the walkie talkie device -- he's not seen something like that before, apart from in pictures from history books (not that Xander has read many of those). Clearly it's a useful aid, though, if Monty can't hear. Xander certainly doesn't have any experience with sign language or morse code. The robotic voice is a little strange, but nothing he won't get used to quickly enough. "Handy. There's lots of useful stuff in the city." This is a major confession for Xander, since he's not terribly excited about being here. "Much easier than living out there, in the sand." Much more restrictive, as well, unfortunately. It feels like paying for three square meals a day with his own liberty, sometimes.

Monty knew he couldn't forget his manners, but it was doubtful his 'thank you' would have been registered if his walkie talkie hadn't picked it up. See, the second Monty received permission to pet the dog, he all but fell to his knees to get level with her! The stranger's advice came through the device and he immediately moved his hand from behind her ears to under her chin. "She's a very sweet girl!" Gee, Monty had missed dogs! "What's her name?"

He look up to the man when his question was received. One hand scratching beneath the sweet doggy's chin, the other held the walkie-talkie the man was referring to up. "I can't hear you, so I use this to make communication easier. That way I don't have to worry about you knowing sign language or morse, and I don't have to try to read lips." It was also of great benefit for those he came in contact with -- he was sure his voice was fairly weak from years of literally not using it!

[de-paz]

“Beat him up?” Xander shrugs. He hadn’t really thought that far ahead. It was just the predator drive in him that got him this far. “Unless that’ll make you not give him to me. In which case. Stern talk.” Victor looks, to Xander, like a goody-goody (which goes to show just what a (not) fine judge of character Xander is). He just assumes that anyone who would help out like this must be a bit of a goody-goody. It's why he's being a bit standoffish right now - that type of person rarely likes Xander.

Some things, you simply don't expect to see. Like some sparkly prettyboy tying up your mark with his magic ropes. It takes him a moment to process this turn of events, so his initial response is to-the-point. "Didn't pay his bill." He grunts, watching with a near-hypnotised expression in his eyes as the guy spins slowly where he is held hovering. "Thought vigilantes and superheroes were meant to have lycra costumes." he adds, critically. Having always been a straightforward sort of a fellow, a lean pretty guy with spangly ropes seems a bit extravagant to him. Like, whatever happened to a good old fashioned punch in the jaw?

[de-paz]

“Then you should let it rot in peace,” he roars, wheeling around to drive his fist into a nearby building. “You think that makes it fine? That it’s not her body? Her face is worse, her face is her identity!” Xander is seeing red; he has never been this disgusted, this purely irate towards one of his siblings. It makes him sick to see mama staring back at him like this, spouting Xio’s lies and bullshit. It makes him feel claustrophobic. He can’t breathe with mama yelling at him, warbling in his face with a rageful voice that had never belonged to her. It’s like Xio had slit open her carcass and slipped it on like a coat.

"It's not her fucking body Xander! It's mine," Xio hisses into his face, tipping her head back in her best attempt to make direct eye contact. He's not going to intimidate her out of this, he's not going to ruin things for her. "And she's not using her fucking face! It's busy rotting!" She begins to shout, forget her voice and her vocal chords loosen more into La Cucaracha's theremin style warble. It's not anger when she yells, but grief. At least their mother's face isn't rotting up here!

[de-paz]

Xander’s never been a stickler for manners. He neither notices nor cares that Ed doesn’t say please. He does feel a fleeting sort of guilt at this scene: Ed sitting semi-patiently at his feet, waiting to get fed. Like a dog. The man is doglike, but Xander doesn’t like disrespecting mutants. “Go on, then,” he tears his sandwich in two, and tosses one half to Meatball, the other to Ed. It’s a big brother thing: he’ll go without food for the sake of keeping others happy. Watching Ed curiously, he asks: “You like scratches under your chin?” It seems an insulting thing to ask, but he also has a sneaking suspicion that he’s right.

the tussling continues for another minute or so, but just as quickly as meatball is distracted... so is ed. normally, he would be at the front of the pack, shoving the dog aside for his place at the dinner table... but training has changed things, somewhat. his own conditioning has come back. he sits patiently, unhappily, waiting to be acknowledged before tearing off right toward the food. "yeah," he says, looking at xander and meatball out of the corner of his eye. he doesn't like eye contact, much. "can i have some?" he's at least slightly more polite than the dog herself...

[de-paz]

“It wasn’t hard. I just don’t like it.” Xander protests, still looking more pouty than is really becoming of a man his age. She is teasing, so it probably should be easy for him to tease back. Only, Xander has generally been a bit too gruff to effectively tease anyone. It tends to come off more as grump. “If you’re bad enough that you’d worry about getting sued, maybe you shouldn’t even be doing blood tests.” He says, and this is intended teasingly even if his tone doesn’t totally convey it. “You even qualified to hold hands?”

"That wasn't the case a few minutes ago with you," she retorted with a playful grin, not at all fazed by bringing up the other's annoyance with her for just taking a few vials of blood. "Technically, yes, but I don't need to hospital getting sued if I make a mistake so I'll let the doctor handle it. If you want I can stay here while he's here and hold your hand?" she joked

[de-paz]

Some things, you simply don't expect to see. Like some sparkly prettyboy tying up your mark with his magic ropes. It takes him a moment to process this turn of events, so his initial response is to-the-point. "Didn't pay his bill." He grunts, watching with a near-hypnotised expression in his eyes as the guy spins slowly where he is held hovering. "Thought vigilantes and superheroes were meant to have lycra costumes." he adds, critically. Having always been a straightforward sort of a fellow, a lean pretty guy with spangly ropes seems a bit extravagant to him. Like, whatever happened to a good old fashioned punch in the jaw?

Victor carouses—or at least, allows carousing to happen while he's in the area. A beautiful vector for drink prices and the occasional drug, Victor only shallowly wades into the waters of debauchery when the company he keeps felt less worthy of his time and energy, sucking him dry like leeches attached to skin. So, he pays for the drinks, pays off the bouncer and smelling like booze and mistakes, walks down an alley as he sees someone sprint into the night. Instinct comes first and ropes, bright and hardy snap onto the man's legs, winding up. He flies over and looks at the man's pursuer, hovering with a languidly pleased look on his face as he dangles a whole man in the air at the person pursuing him. "Lost someone?" Maybe this'll be more fun than what went on earlier. "Or is this just, you know, a friendly game of tag?"

[de-paz]

Meatball takes a lot of walking -- which is fine by Xander, as he's used to a fairly nomadic lifestyle. She gets a lot of attention, both negative and positive, so it's not totally unusual to be approached. The voice is... weird, though. Xander frowns in confusion, but he's pretty sure he's identified the speaker. At least, there's only one guy looking at him so expectantly.

"Carefully." he grunts. She behaves as long as Xander is watching but that doesn't mean people can do any old thing to her. "She likes being scritched under her chin best. Why's your voice in that box?" he points, ever eloquent and tactful. He never judges unusual people, because his parents always valued individuality. But his blunt curiosity can often come off as abrasive or rude, despite his best intentions.

@de-paz

If there had ever been one constant in Monty's life, it was his affinity for dogs. There'd been his family's old hound dog ( a good ol' hunter who helped out a lot with all that borderline famine going on ! ), Mary's dachshund who may as well have been a joint emotional support animal before emotional support animals were a thing, all the shepherds used in every single war his wife had thrown him into... But Sol City seemed pretty void of them. Whatever had happened to the city... gee, it had left some cockeyed-looking animals! Not that he didn't still think they were killer diller, but they were definitely different! Oh, but imagine his excitement when he saw a doggy and his owner just walking down the road! Oh man, oh man! Whipping out his walkie-talkie with absolute laser speed, he pushed down on the transmitter. "Hi, sir. May I please pet your dog?" If the extremely standard American accent was able to convey emotion, it would have been absolutely giddy!

[de-paz]

"Blood tests aren't hard." Xander protests immediately, even though he had been extremely huffy about it not five minutes ago. His ego is at stake, though! "How come you can't do the tests, Mavi?" Better the devil you know, yadda yadda; Xander would rather stick to the one medical professional at a time. Some of them are assholes. Mavi clearly isn't going to take any unnecessary shit from him, but she's not actively unpleasant.

It normally didn't take much for people to calm down when given something, especially when it's food. "Well you did the hard stuff, the doctor should be in in a moment but I'll keep you company before he gets here to go over the results," she smiled. "I'm Mavi, by the way"

[de-paz]

Meatball is as quick to dive back into the ruckus as Ed is, and Xander sits back, relaxing again now that it's clear he won't have to intervene. Meatball bats at Ed, gallumphing around in a fit of the utterly graceless zoomies. They playfight continues, and Xander settles in -- seems like it might be a while.

Fortunately, he is never to be found without snacks on his person, and he brings out a chunky, meaty sandwich. His hope had been that Meatball was distracted enough by her new buddy to not beg, but her nose is too good, and the second she notices the sandwich, Ed is abandoned and she's bounded back to Xander's feet, whining to be fed. He sighs, beginning to tear off a handful of sandwich for her (she's spoiled rotten, really). Glancing at Ed, he says, "S'pose you'll be wanting some too?" Though Ed is ostensibly a person, he acts so canine that Xander's default is to treat him more like a dog.

he and the dog tussle around, snapping and growling and sneezing, just to make sure they're both on the same page. even when meatball gets a little too rough with his skin, he only pulls back because she stops to acknowledge it. in response, ed is happy to lick at her muzzle and ears. it's fine. who cares? stub of a tail still wagging, he's quick to try and get her back into a playing mood, jumping and barking and shoving.

[de-paz]

He takes her hand -- far, far small and more delicate than his own -- and offers a big, orc-y smile. Xander's smiles have two settings: a feral display of fangs designed to intimidate, and the gormless expression often displayed by dogs looking dopily up at their owners. It is the latter that Lenore receives.

"Beautiful." he nods, releasing her hand after a shake that he tries to be gentle with (this means that it is still fairly crushing, but less so than it could be). And, even though she didn't ask: "Xander. And this is Meatball." he gestures to the mutated warg-y thing, who wags her tail beside him. As long as Xander is happy, Meatball is happy too. "Was I too forward?" He's not totally stupid, after all, and he can pick up on Lenore's unimpressed response. And he might be pretty beastly, but he really doesn't want to make anyone uncomfortable! Especially not a beautiful woman!

On average, Lenore's reaction to a man paying a cheesy and very forward 'compliment' would be closer to the 'go home, the grown-ups are talking' ilk than anything else, but the knee-jerk reaction was stopped before it could even begin. He was abnormal. Simplest way to put it, this tower of a man with sharp ears and sharp teeth was abnormal. And for that, he would not get a slap on the wrist. "Should I let you be the judge of that?" Did his abnormal appearance make her actually enjoy the remark? No, it was still cheesy and very forward -- and he was still a man. But did it change things up? Encourage a little more niceties? Of course! She offered her hand -- because she was civilized! "Lenore."

[de-paz]

Xander notes the tail with a wry smile pulling at one side of his mouth. Cute. This guy seems more beast than man, and consequently a perfect play companion for Meatball. It'll be nice for her to have someone else to tussle with, and work out her energy. Xander wrestles with her a lot, but a new playmate is always nice.

And she gets right into it, bashing Ed about (and probably getting bashed about in return), the two bounding around with great gusto. Xander sits back watching, until Meatball accidentally gets too rough and manages to draw blood -- she clearly feels bad, head lowered she immediately licks at the wound she gave Ed, but Xander sits up sharply in case he's going to have to intervene.

rolling back onto his stomach, ed springs up into a similar pose. it's even visible now with his low-riding pants that his tail is stuck up and wagging. charging forward, he's eager to get right into the tussling with meatball. he even keeps his claws away, something his untrained self would never have done—but he's not trying to draw blood with his blows, just play. it's been a long time since he's played with anyone but himself, and never like this. even so, it's the most natural thing in the world.

[de-paz]

"I bumped into you," he explains, still frowning in confusion. After a moment he realises he's still gripping this woman, and releases her. "I don't do that. You were here the whole time?" There's a sort of reproach in his voice, as though he is blaming her for his accident. And he sort of is! Surely she teleported there or something, and that's why he hadn't realised! It doesn't help that he's embarrassed, too. She's very beautiful, and now she's going to think he's some clumsy bumbling brainless beast.

It is as if a wall decided to become animate. Some muscled, overly tall thing of bricks and stone, and cement or the hardest things that Odie can think of. Or, she might think, if not for every bit of her being jostled with the force of something moving (him) against something stationary (her). She's been tailing a mark, a simple thing and they've been chatting with someone across the way for the better part of a few minutes when the cybernetics specialist blinks into existence unexpectedly. Thankfully, no one else seems the wiser...thankfully, she's within a crowded enough space that she may be able to play it off, but she's too caught off guard to mind anything else.

She is addled, stars swimming above her head in circular motion, time till ground fall? Imminent. Then, she is caught, two firm hands grabbing her as she reaches instinctively out to latch onto anything to stop her inevitable backwards motion. Even that hurts, grips vicelike and linked to an unknown strength and she has the sense of a rabbit caught in a snare. Blinking up owlishly at him, apparent in her surprise, Odie cocks her head, not quite understanding, not quite with her wits back. "What?"

[de-paz]

"Thank you." He gives a toothy grin, accepting the bag of chips with evident pleasure. His parents had often remarked fondly that he was like a guard dog: vicious at times, but also easily distracted with treats. Now that he is suitably distracted, he asks far less combatively: "What other tests?"

The amount of angry and downright nasty people she dealt with on a daily basis taking vitals and all that was something she had gotten used to so having a grumpy ogre bitching about whatever he was bitching about wasn't surprising for her. "Yup, food," she said as she took a few bags of named brand chips out and tossed it to him. "Best I could find"

[de-paz]

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ The happiest Orc in Middle-earth

[de-paz]

Xander listens, nodding, brow furrowed. He’s listening because it’s polite, but he’s clearly a little bewildered. “The sky can’t envy anything. It’s the sky. And I can’t be sky or ocean. I’m… a man?” He isn’t going to be scathing because this girl seems sweet and harmless, but he sincerely has no idea what she’s talking about. Meatball, his faithful mutated companion, cocks her head in matching canine confusion.

open starter !

The sky was painted in deep strokes of indigo and amber as the sun dipped below the jagged horizon. Lyric leaned lightly against the rooftop railing, her gaze turned upward. The faint hum of the city buzzing beneath them, a dull reminder of the ever-present danger beyond its borders. But here, for just a moment, it felt far away. “ Do you ever think the sky envies the ocean ? ” she mused softly, breaking the silence as footsteps approached behind here. “ The ocean holds so many secrets — deep, endless, untouchable. But the sky . . . it just lays everything bare, exposed for the whole world to see. ” Her lips curved into a faint smile as she tilted her head to glance at the other. “ I think I’d rather be the ocean. Quiet, mysterious . . . but powerful. ” She paused, a faint giggle escaping her lips. “ But maybe that’s just me. What about you ? Sky or ocean ? ”

[de-paz]

The guys seems happy enough to be sniffed at and manhandled (manpawed?) by Meatball. People that don't appreciate Meatball's attention rarely hesitate to give Xander a disapproving or a desperate look, but Ed's clearly not even noticed his presence. So like any dog owner at the park when his dog makes a new friend, Xander simply helps himself to a seat on a nearby bench.

Meatball lowers her head between her paws, ass in the air, and she lets out another growl, this one more playful. Letting out a gruff yip, she bounds a few steps backwards, inviting Ed to play now that he's acknowledged who's boss.

even just a few weeks earlier, that snapping would have sent him into a frenzy. he still feels it inside of him like a coiled spring. ed tenses hearing the clack of strong jaws, but shock-training does him good. instead, he lets himself be rolled over, unseen nub of his tail wagging submissively. xander himself still goes ignored, uninteresting in the presence of something he sees as more like him.