Phoebe's House: Suburban Garden

[Leda]

The key turned in its corresponding lock, and the door slowly opened inward to reveal Dash's new abode. A small foyer immediately greeted them, a step lower than the rest of the flooring, and a wide entryway beyond there -- surprising considering that the house itself was relatively small. A swinging door to the left hid the kitchen, a few steps to the right led down to the lowered living room, and a table opposite the doorway nestled itself next to a narrow staircase. A slightly wider hallway resided on the stairs' other side, leading to parts unknown.

Phoebe escourted her new companion into the humble home and unclipped his leash. "Well, this is it," she announced, planting her hands on her hips. "Hope you don't find it too cramped."

[DB]

The tenrec took in the surroundings with a bit of a nervous air. It didn't seem like a bad place, kind of cozy, but he wasn't ready to call it home.

"Nice place you have here."

[Leda]

"Thanks. I'm a little surprised I can afford it, but then, it's amazing what you end up with when you cut back on some simple things." After taking a moment to dump her belongings onto the table, the overlander knelt to her beast's level and pointed down toward the sitting area. "Look over there. I wanted to be prepared, so I've already bought a bed and some toys you might like." Phoebe smiled hopefully. "Want to go check them out?"

[DB]

"... toys?", the tenrec repeated, raising a brow.

Toys? How old did she think he was? ... Still, though, the other things were worth investigating. Especially the bed. It'd be good to know where she was planning on having him sleep. Going over to look, his gaze fell on the bed.

"... it's... a petbed."

[Leda]

Cue arched eyebrow. "And?"

[DB]

The tenrec looked up at the overlander with a confused expression.

"... it's a little pillow on the floor."8

[Leda]

Phoebe's expression fell. "I know, I'm sorry... It was all I could afford so far. I'll try and get you a better one later, though."

[DB]

The tenrec frowned, scratching a bit at his stitches.

"... I ... guess I could sleep on that..."8

[Leda]

Taking a seat on the floor nearby, the human said, "Why don't you at least try it out? I'm sure it's comfy. It felt nice and soft when I bought it."

[DB]

"... hrm..."

Well, worth a try. Sitting down on it, the tenrec pondered, shifted his weight a bit, then laid on it.

"... yeah, I can live with this for now..."8

[Leda]

"Great!" Phoebe exclaimed, clapping her hands once with relief. Without warning, the florist leaned forward and stroked along the side of Dash's body, from his ear to his hip. "Why don't you relax for a while, and I'll get us some dinner going. You've had a big day, anyway."

[DB]

The tenrec jumped at the touch, as, well, it was a violation of his personal space.

On the other hand, it did feel nice.

But still, personal space.

"I... uh... yeah... dinner... dinner shounds good."

[Leda]

Phoebe peered down at him and smiled with adoration. Somehow, just in the time it'd taken them to get home, she'd become even more enamored with her new beast. "I'm so glad I found you," she commented before rising, also giving him one more scritch of the ear. Once on her feet, the overlander headed up to the kitchen and disappeared behind the swinging door.

[DB]

The tenrec watched silently as Phoebe left, and only once the door shut did he shift his gaze to the rest of the room.

It really was a pretty nice place. It reminded him, like so many other things around here did, of life before the coup. The difference of course was this obviously wasn't home.

Despite what anyone else said.

Rising to his feet, he wandered over to the nearest windows and peered out.

There had to be a way to get home, his real home, somehow...

Phoebe seemed reasonable. Maybe she could help...

He frowned, his mouth scrunching up as if he'd just tasted something sour.

Of course, maybe she wouldn't. This whole place was so... bizarre and off kilter. How could these people think this was anything -but- slavery?

...

Maybe he'd have to ask Phoebe about that too.

With a sigh, he went over to the couch and with a little struggling (everything was so much bigger around here), took a seat.

[Leda]

In the kitchen, Phoebe scrutinized the shelf in her pantry devoted to the early stock of beast foods. She could've taken the easy route and just opted for kibble, but giving someone the same food day in and day out just seemed... unnecessarily dull. Instead, can after can of various flavoured pureéd meals stared back at her. He said he wasn't okay with dairy, the overlander recalled. I wonder if he has any other allergies -- or hell, he might be a vegetarian.

"Hey, Dash?" she called, leaning out of the kitchen door. "Do you have any--"

She paused, apparently surprised to see him seated on the couch. Letting out an awkward chuckle, Phoebe waved a hand toward the floor. "You... need to get down from there. Beasts aren't allowed on the nice furniture; you know, shedding and all."

[DB]

Dash stared blankly at the overlander, before memories of things he'd heard in... 'training' came back to him.

Wincing at the thoughts, he hopped off of the couch, went over to his 'bed' and basically belly flopped onto it.

And then groaned.

It really hadn't been that great an idea.

[Leda]

Phoebe forced a cough into one hand. "What I was going to ask you was if you had any other food issues. Anything specific you don't eat? I don't want to feed you something that'll make you sick, of course."

[DB]

A muffled reply came in return-

"... no dairy. Thatsh all."

[Leda]

"...Well, is there anything particular you like? I don't mind trying to be specific."

[DB]

"... well I likesh seafood."

It wasn't something he had too much of... what with a war going on and all.

[Leda]

Phoebe let out a chuckle. "Well that's a good thing, because there's sure more than enough of THAT to go around!" The overlander disappeared back into the kitchen, grabbing the first can of fish-flavoured beast food she found. While fumbling for the can opener, she idly decided to go seafood for herself as well. It could be fun sharing the same theme!

[DB]

Lifting his head from the pet bed, Dash idly looked over the living room he was situated in.

It was strange how much bigger everything was- which made sense really, as it was a home made for someone about twice his size, but it made him feel like he'd shrank.

It was set up quite nicely too. If he had a home of his own, after the war, something like this would be nice.

Shifting into a seat, he peered at a small pile of ... well, toys were the best way to describe them. He wrinkled his nose, frowning at the sight. What, did she think he was 5?

No, no she didn't , he thought, but maybe she was planning on having someone younger than me as a 'pet'.

The thought made him feel sick. It was bad enough that someone his age (and mainly him) was being subjected to this, but the idea of little kids, too? This place was twisted.

Shoving the pile off to the side instead of giving it further inspection, his eyes wandered to the rest of the room, pondering his situation.

Finally, with a sigh of resignation, he rose to his feet.

May as well look over the rest of the house, since I don't know how long I'll be here...

Tentatively following the direction Phoebe had gone, Dash found himself exiting the living room, up a few stairs, and into a dining room.

Pacing around the room a bit, he noted one thing in particular: Phoebe wasn't in here. For some reason, this made him nervous. It wasn't that he didn't trust her (well, maybe a little, but her being an Overlander wasn't really her fault), but he'd feel more at ease knowing exactly -where- she was. So he continued, walking, glancing to the right and catching sight of a flight of stairs. Had she gone up there?

A sound caught his ears, causing them to twitch. No, not up there, but through that door over there.

Approaching, he peeked, careful not to make a noise.

Ah, yes. There she was.

[Leda]

Even without making a sound, however, Dash was still found out; Phoebe turned at that moment with a bowl in hand. "Oh, hi," she greeted, depositing the dish on the counter. "I was going to let your food cool down before I served it, but you can have it now if you want it." The overlander rummaged quickly in a drawer for a utensil. "My food's not quite finished yet."

[DB]

Glancing around the kitchen nervously, and than back from where he'd came from, he decided to temporarily suspend his investigation on the count of hunger.

Approaching closer he attempted to peer at the bowl on the counter. Unfortunately, this was another case of everything being far too big for him.

Regardless, he could still smell it.

It was... definitely different.

"... What ish it?"

[Leda]

Reaching for the empty can near the sink, Phoebe read aloud, " 'Seafood platter, with real shrimp and tuna'. It's kind of a pureé that's supposed to specifically supply your nutrition but still taste good." Smiling down at the tenrec, Phoebe placed a spork in the food dish and knelt down to Dash's level. "After all, I think it'd be pretty rotten to have to eat the same boring thing every day. This food's a little more expensive, but I can at least afford that."

[DB]

Awkwardly taking the dish from Phoebe, Dash examined the ... 'food' contained within it.

Real shrimp and tuna, huh?

... Where?

Still, despite the 'meal' looking less like a 'seafood platter' and more like an unappetizing bowl of pinkish gray paste-goo (neither a goo or a paste!), he found his mouth watering. Even if it looked like something he'd never of dreamed of eating before arriving here in Eden, it still seemed worlds better than the kibble he'd been given to eat since he arrived.

Oh Aurora, the kibble.

Giving a mumble of appreciation, he turned and headed to the dining room. And, once there, attempted to take a seat at the table.

[Leda]

Just then the microwave beeped, and the overlander jumped to retreive her own meal. And reacted to it with an expression not so far from Dash's. What with saving so much money to afford a beast, Phoebe had been forced to make several sacrifices in the face of cutting costs -- the quality of her food being one of them. She sighed and peeled the plastic off of her microwave meal. I can't remember the last time I had REAL food.

Upon retreiving the needed utensils, Phoebe pushed past the swinging kitchen door not long after her new beast, and blinked at the sight awaiting her. "Oh, no no, Dash. Your seat's right here." The florist placed her meal on the table, then knelt next to a nearby cushion near the railing and patted it. "Beasts aren't allowed on the furniture, remember?"

[DB]

The tenrec's expression to this was rather pitiful- a mix of 'you want me to do what?' and 'but... but... awww'. With a dejected sigh, he slipped off the seat he'd struggled to get into in the first place (darn legs of the thing were far too tall), and instead wordlessly took his place... at the floor.

Poking at his food with the spork, he frowned.

This place is degrading.

After a bit of poking, he rethought that.

... but at least that blonde overlander isn't here screaming at me.

And with that passing revelry, he took the first bite of his meal.

Followed by a severe facial twitch.

[Leda]

Heart strings officially tugged.

"Awww, c'mon, don't make that face," Phoebe implored, casting her poor beast a sympathetic smile. "The table's too big for you, anyway. And I'm still going to be right here with you; you're not all by yourself or anything." In an attempt to cheer him up, the overlander scratched gently at his left ear. "What do you want to drink? Water, juice, milk...? ... No wait, you said no dairy..."

[DB]

The tenrec's leg twitched slightly on it's own. Those scratches at the ears were unbelievably nice, as much as he was loath to admit it.

Unintentionally, his voice took a slightly dreaming quality as he replied, "Juice is fine~"

Whoops.