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Post by Jamie Lee on May 23, 2009 16:29:16 GMT -5
Okay, it still wasn't the answer he wanted, but it certainly did illicit a strong response. Getting on his hands and knees he loomed over her with an expression that could only be accurately described as bedazzled. "You can read?!"
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Post by Leda on May 23, 2009 16:31:16 GMT -5
The face peering back up at him blinked innocuously. "Of course."
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Post by Jamie Lee on May 23, 2009 16:39:35 GMT -5
Sitting back on his rump the hybrid could only stare at her in dumbstruck awe for a few moments. Then, turning quickly toward the bookshelf, he raised his hand toward one of its higher levels, calling a relatively thin paperback novel to fly toward his hand. Taking the book, whose cover had pictures of various nursery rhyme figures plastered all over it, into both hands he held it over her face and pointed excitedly at the title. "What's this say?"
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Post by Leda on May 23, 2009 16:50:11 GMT -5
"Er..." Leedz's expression became vaguely perplexed, but only with regard to what, exactly, she was looking at. Venice sure didn't SEEM to have an age gap from herself, but... Eh, this place was just plain twisted. "It says Father Duck Stories."
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Post by Jamie Lee on May 23, 2009 16:53:11 GMT -5
Quickly yanking the book back, Venice examined the cover, completely mystified. " Wooowwww..."
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Post by Leda on May 23, 2009 17:01:35 GMT -5
"So... You really can't read?" The pangolin folded her legs and rested her chin on one of her pink fists. "Were you just never taught? You certainly seem competent enough to do it."
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Post by Jamie Lee on May 23, 2009 17:15:35 GMT -5
He shook his head. "Reading is a privilege only overlanders are taught. Most beasts don't have any need for the skill so they don't bother teaching us," he idly opened the cover and began flipping through pages. "I did have this one friend named Dash though who claimed he could read, but whenever I'd try to ask him what something meant he said it was in different writing then he knew."
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Post by Leda on May 23, 2009 17:29:02 GMT -5
"No need??" Leedz echoed incredulously. "How can you not have any need for it? Reading is a really essential part of--" Did... did he just say Dash? Certainly couldn't have been the Dash she knew, of course, since from what she understood he'd been born and raised in her own dimension. ...Then again, he had been missing the majority of the time since he'd joined that mysterious group... It actually could be quite feasible that the reason no one could ever find them was because they'd hopped dimensions to hide from authorities. But even if that were true, why hide in a place where your status would be reduced to less than that of a person? Oh, wait, she'd been in the middle of a sentence. " ...everyday life." There ya go.
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Post by Jamie Lee on May 23, 2009 17:35:09 GMT -5
The pause didn't go unnoticed, which caused a concerned glance from Venice, but he shrugged it off and continued flipping pages, pausing only long enough to look at their pictures. "All servants need to know how to do is cook and clean and know how to run errands and stuff. Pets like me are just companions for our masters though, we don't usually work other then doing tricks occasionally."
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Post by Leda on May 23, 2009 17:41:44 GMT -5
"But... don't you ever want something more out of your life?" Leedz frowned. "Don't you want the right to be in charge of your own destiny? If I'm hearing you correctly, the 'servants' are slaves and the 'pets' are toys. We're not here to serve humans any more than we're here to serve chihuahuas."
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Post by Jamie Lee on May 23, 2009 17:48:29 GMT -5
"Of course we are," he gave her a sideways glance. "I mean if it weren't for the masters we'd all be wild animals struggling to survive out in the wilderness. They give us a safe roof over our heads and food and all sorts of comforts, and all they ask from us is love and a little work around the house. What's so bad about that?"
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Post by Leda on May 23, 2009 17:57:18 GMT -5
"If it were a consensual arrangement, I could respect it. However--" The pink pangolin hopped from the couch, which she suddenly seemed to recognize as being such, and folded her arms. "--from what I gather, this is not optional. You told me that if I so much as go outside the way I am right now, I'll be captured by humans and locked up, for having committed absolutely no crime. I don't need a human to babysit me; I'm an adult and can take care of myself."
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Post by Jamie Lee on May 23, 2009 18:05:29 GMT -5
Venice frowned, setting the book aside and letting him slide head first, partially, off the cushion so that he was hanging over the side. "But you're also a wild feral, right? So of course you don't understand anything and think it's all bad, you don't know any different. And ferals are usually really dangerous... though you seem pretty tame..." He slid a bit further. "You know, you're really beautiful."
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Post by Leda on May 23, 2009 18:15:28 GMT -5
That... was completely and utterly unexpected, and Leedz's face reflected as much. Along with an extra tinge of pink along her cheekbones. "Um.... Er, thank you... I always thought I was kind of chunky." Yet her thoughts began drifting back to the subject of Dash. Even though she'd officially cut ties with him in the hospital... the pangolin couldn't deny she'd have rather heard the compliment from his lips.
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Post by Jamie Lee on May 23, 2009 18:21:30 GMT -5
THUMP.That was the sound of the mink falling on his head. Which... really didn't seem to phase him, as he just rolled over and sat up. "No, really, you're really pretty and exotic looking. I'll bet you'd be really valuable at auction. Especially if you're a purebred."
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Post by Leda on May 23, 2009 18:25:51 GMT -5
Well that snapped her back to reality. Or what appeared to currently be reality. Leedz blinked and assisted the mink to his feet. "Are you oka-- ...wut." The pangolin's face twisted with incredulous horror. "Humans buy and sell thropes here too?! That's... INSANE!!"
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Post by Jamie Lee on May 23, 2009 18:30:18 GMT -5
Venice frowned. "Well how else are you gonna find an owner?"
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Post by Leda on May 23, 2009 18:36:06 GMT -5
"I don't WANT an owner!!" Leedz screeched. Her breathing had escalated, and her eyes had begun to sting, and her muzzle tingled. As Venice's image began to distort, the misplaced pangolin turned away and forced a deep breath, struggling to hold her emotions back from this stranger. "I don't want an owner or a collar or to be a servant or ANY of this crap! I just want to go HOME!!" Leda buried her pained features between her hands. " But if I go out I'll get kidnapped... I'm either trapped here or trapped somewhere else."
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Post by Jamie Lee on May 23, 2009 19:27:21 GMT -5
"SSHH SSHH! Not so loud, you're gonna get us both in trouble if you're caught!" he waved his hands in an almost frantic matter and looked at the door, his overly fluffy tail beginning to puff up. "I... I don't know what to tell you okay? I don't know how to get you back to the wild or anything like that! Besides... Dash never seemed to mind... and he was born feral too... It's really not so bad!"
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Post by Leda on May 23, 2009 19:43:56 GMT -5
By now the pangolin had slumped onto the floor, hugging her knees and coiling her long, scaly tail around her feet. "I have a life back home... I have friends. Would you be very happy if you just woke up one day in a strange place with what looked like no hope of getting back here?"
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Post by Jamie Lee on May 23, 2009 20:03:01 GMT -5
"..." He sat down in a similar fashion beside her with a rather soulful expression. "No, not really..."
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Post by Leda on May 23, 2009 21:52:21 GMT -5
Well, at least he seemed to understand where she was coming from on the issue. Rubbing her palms across her face, Leedz released a disheartened sigh and reached into her malletspace for her trusty stand-by: a notebook with a pen secured in the spiral. Writing had always come naturally, and served as a good outlet when stressed, even if she was just recording the current events. Sniffling and taking a deep breath, the seasoned writer opened to a fresh page and began scrawling down text.
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Post by Jamie Lee on May 23, 2009 22:03:49 GMT -5
She would quickly realized she also had an intense pair of eyes staring over her shoulder as well. "Hey, where'd you get that from?!"
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Post by Leda on May 23, 2009 22:06:38 GMT -5
"Malletspace," she mumbled without taking much further notice of his hovering. "Or hammerspace, as some people say."
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Post by Jamie Lee on May 23, 2009 22:17:51 GMT -5
"Oh," he paused, blinking. "What's that?"
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Post by Leda on May 23, 2009 22:25:03 GMT -5
Okay, that one caused her to pause for a second. "You know, the little pocket behind your back." Reaching into her own a second time, Leedz produced a candy bar and held it up to show the mink. "See?"
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Post by Jamie Lee on May 23, 2009 22:58:21 GMT -5
And the hedgemink stared in amazement. "No, seriously, how are you doing that? Or is that something kinda like..." he waved his hand, and the book that had been left on the couch drifted over and hovered a couple inched above his hand for emphasis.
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Post by Leda on May 23, 2009 23:03:24 GMT -5
The pangolin's brow furrowed. "...Everybody can do it." Or at least, she'd thought so... She could've sworn she'd seen Chase use malletspace before.
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Post by Jamie Lee on May 23, 2009 23:15:11 GMT -5
Venice's head shook slowly. "Unless you were hiding that stuff in your pants I've never seen anyone do something like that before."
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Post by Leda on May 24, 2009 0:53:54 GMT -5
Still devastated, but not without her ever-present sense of humor, Leedz left the treat on the floor and turned back to her notebook while mumbling, " Well I do pull a lot of things out of my ass..."
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