All mimsy were the borogroves...

[wontturntofoam]

Who: Mermaid, Manticore, and YOU!
What: lazing by the gross tar, or roaming the city
Where: Brock Marsh where the gross tar forks, and wherever is convenient to you!
When: Throughout last week
Notes: polyvore set with multiple costume changes!
Warnings: Lovely tooth filled friend.

Shrieky was going to take Manticore back to his own world eventually. He'd been around the temples, and he'd asked people for advice, but in the aftermath of the invasion there was enough displacement of their own people for anyone to be too interested in wanting to help a stray manticore. Additionally, it had not evaded Shrieky's notice that when he tried to explain that Manticore had been as hurt and troubled as the rest of them when the sky opened up, certain people looked at his companion as if he too was part of the problem.

He knows it isn't ideal, and he knows that the Manticore will need to go home eventually, but in some not insignificant way, Shrieky is pleased. It's not that he wants the manticore to be trapped in Baedal forever (although it would be nice if the manticore could willingly choose to stay in Baedal forever), but... over the chaos of the last month, Shrieky's circle of friends has been bisected. The squat which had been crammed with it's illegal inhabitants before, now feels comparatively empty. The survivors come and go at odd times, and some have drifted away already, moving closer to their families, or to the outskirts of the city. Shrieky could sense the day coming when they would all be dispersed, and he'd be left alone again.

But as long as Manticore was there, that day was yet to come! The creature had a way of making the entire house feel full with his tolling voice, and he and Shrieky had scarcely been apart since the world was sewn shut. They ate together, played games together, slept in a large lion-y pile together, and roamed the city together. As long as Shrieky could keep his focus on Manticore, and not on his host of lost and dead friends, all would be well!

On this particular day, Shrieky and Manticore have been out for hours. They've had a little hunt through the goods of the Bazaar, they've visited Queequegs where Shrieky had enjoyed a cup of coffee and manticore had enjoyed a bowl of milk, and now they're flopped out on a small patch of grass beside the Gross Tar.

There are two takeaway trays on the grass beside them, one filled with cooked meat, and the other with raw. Both have been picked at, but neither Shrieky nor Manticore are eating now. Instead, Shrieky is sprawled out comfortably, flat on his back, and Manticore is laying on his side, perpendicular to the mermaid. His body is stretched comfortably across Shrieky's stomach, and Shrieky has one hand buried in the Manticore's fur, stroking him lazily.

They are both purring.


[ooc: Multiples welcome and encouraged! If you'd like to thread but don't have a reason for your character to be around Brock Marsh/The Gross Tar, just tag in with another location, and I'll find a reason for them to be there <3]

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[huntwithoutend]

Wearying himself is a good strategy for getting back to sleeping normally, the owl thinks as he rides the air above the Gross Tar. The owl in question is an odd sight when the sun is still out, pouch around its neck carrying the CiD. There's no portion of the water's surface that doesn't go looked at, nor the bank, as he picks himself up, flapping to ascend higher. His mind is buzzing away, refusing to let him go a minute without one thing or another popping to mind. Most significantly, his brother. He's been thinking a lot about home, about his usual task of chasing and chasing lately.

Keen eyes snap to and zero in on a strange lump further ahead next to the river, however, and the owl's round yellow eyes blink. As though incredulous. Then, its head turns as though it has caught a scent, not even a hoot or trill escaping it. It drifts languidly off and up over the bank toward the buildings further away, dipping down and down further on. For all intents and purposes, the owl is gone as fast as it had appeared, not even a speck of white visible now in the sky.

But it's not very long before Hawa slouches his way toward where he'd spotted the mermaid and something else, ground crunching under booted feet. His nose wrinkles. He can smell it, even from here--he's good at filtering out scents of creatures not human once he gets used to them, but the new ones always hit him like a smack to the face.

Once he's close enough to be heard (though still a fair distance away), he remarks, "Gotten yourself a new friend, mermaid?"

[wontturntofoam]

Shrieky tips his head right back, looking up over his shoulder at the sound of the familiar voice weaving down towards him, "Hawa! It's good to see you again!"

He lifts an arm to give a little, backwards wave, and the manticore rolls off him, rising onto it's huge paws to take a better look at Hawa. Shrieky rubs his legs, working some of the feeling back into them, before rolling over onto his knees, in a motion which seems carelessly alike to the one made by his companion.

"This is Manticore. He came and fought off some giant cats with me when the sky was torn. Manticore? This is Hawa. He's an owl and a soldier, some of the time." The manticore lets his mouth drop open, revealing row after row of shark like teeth, and emits a sound like the ringing of church bells. Deep, and full, and musical.

[huntwithoutend]

"You, too." When the threat of imminent creatures of every kind falling on their heads wasn't there. His eyes fix on the manticore, taking it in with the sceptical airs of someone who knows full well what he's looking at is capable of. He hasn't lived so long by not being cautious, after all. It's why he'd changed into this form out of sight before making his way over.

After a moment, though, he grunts, half-lifts a hand in something like greeting to the manticore and lets his tight posture ease somewhat. "So he helped you out. Good to hear." It makes him relax slightly, at least, as he wanders closer.

"Is he stuck here now, like the rest of us?" Hawa rubbed his hand along his jaw, looking thoughtfully between mermaid and manticore. He hadn't exactly seen a lot of displaced monsters remaining--well, alive at any rate. Much less being friendly.

[wontturntofoam]

The manticore pads lazily towards Hawa, moving to circle around him for a more thorough inspection. Shrieky shifts up onto his feet, he's fairly confident that this encounter won't end with anyone getting bitten, but he wants to be ready to intercede if necessary.

"He is for now. I think once things calm down there are people at the temple of Shada who might be able to send him home, but since he's not killing people or a permanent resident, he doesn't seem to be anyone's priority right now. So he's just been living with me, haven't you?"

The Manticore makes another absent minded little sound, as if in reply.

[huntwithoutend]

Hawa's head turns to watch the manticore as he moves, but otherwise doesn't move or give any indication he's particularly bothered. Inspecting him is fine, but he is very aware of the motions even as he focuses his attentions on Shrieky.

One eyebrow lifts. "They can do that?" He wonders if they can send people back, too, but just don't. He's cautious of being too outright about his investigations. After a moment, he tucks a hand in his pocket, asking, "Others don't mind him, do they?" Referring of course to the people Shrieky had been living in the building with.

[heardmermaids]

Sebastian has been swamped with work organizing the various rebuilding projects that Hellsing has taken on. The Guild Hall and Sobek Croix at large survived the crisis intact and in comparatively good condition, but some of their neighbours weren't so fortunate. After years of experience in the field, he knows the value of putting in the needed labour, but also the necessity of time away from people.

With Velcro keeping a watchful eye on the surroundings (CONSTANT VIGILANCE!!), Sebastian is able to let his mind wander and mull over whatever thoughts had occurred to him over the past couple weeks. Perhaps that's why he doesn't notice Shrieky and Manticore until they're almost upon them?

"Oh, I'm sorry to disturb you."

[wontturntofoam]

Shrieky isn't disturbed, he just flashes Sebastian a little grin, and replies: "Don't concern yourself! It's perfectly fine."

Manticore on the other hand, is all about paying attention to things which are smaller than he is. The weight lifts off from Shrieky's stomach, and Manticore pads around to inspect Sebastian and Velcro. Propping himself up into a sitting position, Shrieky glances across after him. He's fairly certain by now that Manticore has figured out not to eat people or their pets, but... he's quite large, and quite intimidating, and Shrieky is constantly concerned about making enemies.

He clicks his tongue, before tolling out a short, single note after his friend. In response, Manticore rolls his scorpion-like tail in towards his body. It's a peaceful gesture, he's putting his weapon away.

This accomplished, Shrieky glances back up to Sebastian and smiles again, "You're on my cohort, aren't you? You said you were a handyman?"

[heardmermaids]

Velcro takes this all in stride. He is a very well trained dog and nothing short of a charging dragon tends to phase him - sleeping and/or otherwise resting dragons are quite acceptable. Meanwhile, Sebastian crouches down and looks absolutely enchanted by Manticore.

"I am, Sebastian LeMat, formerly of Britain, and this is Velcro." Who's a lovely looking manticore? You are! Yes, you.

[wontturntofoam]

Manticore trots a little closer to Sebastian, inspecting the newcomer with interest. A forked tongue flicks out from between his teeth, as he catches Sebastian's scent. He lowers himself into a comfortable sitting position, and turns his attention back to Velcro, tongue flicking out again to discern dog from man.

"Pleased to meet you both. I'm Mermaid, formerly of Casnewydd, and this is Manticore, who came through the holes in the world." It seems less strange to introduce himself that way when he's not the only one without a proper name. Shrieky sits up and reaches for the tray of cooked food, keeping an eye on Manticore as he makes friends with Sebastian.

[heardmermaids]

"Oh," he sounds legitimately pleased to meet them both, "Would it be terribly rude to ask if you spoke British Mermish? I can manage 'hello', 'good-bye', and a couple of the other stock phrases, but it's more embarrassing than anything useful."

Velcro remains quietly at Sebastian's side while he offers the back of his left hand for Manticore to get a scent off of. He's learned his lessons (somewhat) well and remembers that he must never offer a manticore or any of the leonid magical creatures the back of wand-hand.

[gwynn]

Something has blotted out the sun.

Which would be ominous two or three weeks ago, probably indicating something had eaten the sun, but now it's only because there's a pink-haired girl hovering in the air a good six or seven feet off the ground, directly in its path. Megan's wings make a fluttering-buzzing noise as she flies, quieter than one would expect given how comparatively massive they are to the insects they resemble.

Also she is chewing bubblegum that makes her breath smell like powdered donuts. Her backless t-shirt has a picture of a cupcake on it and her booties are American flag print. She is the least threatening thing present here, basically.

"Hiya," she says eventually, and pauses to blow and pop a bubble. "Whatcha doin'?"

The lion-thingy lying on top of him isn't trying to eat him, so she assumes it's either a xenian citizen or one of Baedal's normal weirdo fauna specimens.

[wontturntofoam]

Shrieky cracks open an eye at the sudden casting of shade across him, and smiles beatifically when he recognizes who it is hovering above them.

"Hiya to you too! We were just enjoying the sunlight." He tilts his head, squinting up at her, "What's that in your mouth?"

The manticore too is looking up at her, but it's not made any move to de-flop from it's position across Shrieky's stomach, and if anything, the additional company has only intensified it's thunderous purr.

[gwynn]

Megan obligingly gets out of the way of the sun, then, although she still stays in the air. It's a nice day, a break from the shit weather they've had lately (and, you know, the monster rain thing), and she's taking full advantage of the opportunity to stretch her wings.

"Gum," she says, and blows another bubble -- this one of fairly epic proportions, barely managing to prevent it from getting all over her face when it pops. "You want some? I got another couple sticks. It was on sale." Probably because nobody but her wanted that much sugar in their system at once.

She's got a flask in her pocket too but it's already half-empty. She nods her head at the manticore. "Who's your friend?"

[wontturntofoam]

Shrieky watches, transfixed by the bubble blowing, but he shakes his head in response to her offer. "No thank you, I have some meat here... it does look strange though. Are you certain that it's food?"

Manticore reaches up to bat a paw at her, in an uncharacteristically delicate motion. The very tip of his paw reaches the toe of her shoe, and he pats it lightly to the side. The claws stay in, making it clear that he's only playing.

"He's Manticore." Shrieky replies lightly, "He's living with me until there's an appropriate time for him to be sent home."

[gwynn]

"It's like food," Megan suggests instead. That's right, isn't it? Candy is technically food. She's a responsible adult, by the way.

Megan flips in mid-air so that she's hanging upside down but bent in half, her legs still dangling under her. It would be extremely uncomfortable on land. In the air, she looks like a puppet with cut strings someone positioned weirdly. Her foot nudges the manticore's paw right back; a predator of that size is naturally going to inspire caution in most people when it comes to "playing," but Megan has a couple shots of Jameson and a major sugar high going on.

"Sent home? I thought, like, people couldn't do that. Or like, the gods won't let them, or whatever. 'Cause they're dicks."

[controlledvariable]

From a distance, the scene of Shrieky with a manticore lying on top of him looks a little worrying, which is why Steph comes closer to investigate. She doesn't even realize she actually knows the person on the ground until she's up close, and by that point she's also noticed the fact that he doesn't seem particularly stressed by the lion... thing that's using him as a pillow. It's also reassuring that Shrieky's petting it.

Still, she doesn't get too close, not wanting to surprise the manticore and end up as dinner.

"Hello," she announces her presence, standing about fifteen fet away from the pair. She's on her way back from TMU, dressed in black jeans and a dark red jacket over a white shirt, with her backpack hanging from one shoulder. She could probably stand to lose the jacket, it's such a nice day.

[wontturntofoam]

Shrieky has to twist slightly, to get a good look at Steph over the top of Manticore's back, but once he spots her he flashes a wide smile and lifts a hand to wave her over.

"Greetings! Are you keeping well?"

He pushes himself up a little more firmly, dislodging the manticore, who makes a sound of complaint.

"I haven't seen you since the world was mended, have I? Did you go after those tall, dark men?"

[controlledvariable]

She smiles back, further reassured by his ease around the manticore, "I am, still a little shaky after everything that happened, but I'm glad it's calmed down. You look like you've been doing well." Which is apparently Steph code for you made friends with a monster???

It's a slight effort for her to come within striking range of the manticore - not that she thinks it would, if it's so calm around Shrieky - but it's... well it's a manticore and she's only human, both in abilities and fears. But she manages it, coming close and standing near Shrieky's feet, so she doesn't have to twist to look at her.

"I did, but I had some friends with me, and we scared off the men," It's a huge simplification of the fight that went down, but Steph does it for Shrieky's sake, he doesn't need to know the specifics.

[wontturntofoam]

The manticore is more afraid of Steph than Steph is of him... or maybe he isn't. He rolls off Shrieky and pads towards her, face graced with his ever-present grin, lined with equally ever present sharp teeth.

"Things have been mixed with me, some good and others bad." Shrieky offers, straightening himself up somewhat now that the weight of the manticore has been lifted from him, "As in all places, time proceeds and things get better."

Shrieky tilts his head a little at the mention of scaring the men off, "Did they turn out not to be dangerous then?"

[controlledvariable]

There's a brief moment where her gaze leaves the manticore in order to look for the quickest possible escape, but she forces herself to stay still as it approaches. Shrieky would tell her if it was inclined towards eating people, right?

"I'm sorry about the bad things," said genuinely, but she's glad at laest some things have been going alright for him, "It's good that you can stay positive." It's a quality Steph can appreciate.

A shrug, "We were more dangerous." She probably shouldn't be able to say that so casually, but the past few weeks were long and it's worn her down a little.

[wingwalker]

Xas is walking alongside the river - not in it, anymore, although he clambered out of the water recently enough that his pants are still wet and clinging to his legs beneath his knees. That's as deep as he got before something large and dark beneath the surface made him reevaluate his plans to swim. Spending so long with his feet on the ground is starting to make him grouchy, but it's not worth being eaten.

The same thought makes him stop a good distance away from the creature and its... companion, Xas decides after a moment of peering. Not prey. That's good.

He doesn't move for a minute, maybe two, while his new skittishness tries to win out over his old nosiness. It's futile: his curiosity has made him ignore his better judgment in the face of much more serious consequences than biting and much less interesting rewards than perhaps getting to pet something he'd consider a mythological creature. Still, Xas only moves close enough to be merely polite, so he doesn't have to shout. "Does it bite?" he asks, smiling and wary. In the space of a pause, he recognizes the companion's face and unruly hair from - somewhere. The network. Xas doesn't have a name to match it to, but he adds, "Oh, hello."

[wontturntofoam]

"He does sometimes." Shrieky replies, automatically, "But not any people, that I know of." Manticore bites other things. Like food, and shoes, and sometimes the edges of Shrieky's clothes. Craning his head so that he gets a good look at the newcomer, Shrieky shoots him a little grin.

"Hello." It takes him a moment to put two and two together and remember that he's seen Xas before, then he frowns, trying to place him more precisely, "Aren't you in my Cohort?"

The question hangs between them for a moment, before Shrieky remembers, and immediately frowns. "You were writing words in your introduction."

Words which Shrieky could not read!

[wingwalker]

"Words is generous," Xas says, taken aback. He does remember that. It was one of several incredibly bewildering encounters during his first few days - but not one he would have thought would make anyone unhappy enough to remember it later.

He moves closer anyway, drawn by the manticore. Xas isn't people, exactly, but hopefully the no-biting rule still applies.

"I was playing with the CiD," he adds, contrite. "Pressing buttons. They weren't real words." It was the beginning of the alphabet, actually, and the fact that this fellow didn't recognize that makes Xas pause. But he doesn't ask, just raises his eyebrows and offers, "So you didn't miss anything important."

[wontturntofoam]

"I didn't think they were words. But they might have been, or you might have been building up to words, and I didn't want to miss out." Shrieky explains a little sulkily.

The Manticore gives a low rumble of contentment, and stretches his long paws out in front of him, towards Xas. Shrieky tilts his head slightly, and lets his sullen expression melt into something less concerned, "Would you like to sit with us for a little while?"

[wingwalker]

Xas nods without needing to think about it and drops onto the grass, bending his legs ahead of him, instead of beneath him, so they'll dry faster. He's going to need to wash his trousers, now, probably. They're drying with a greenish tint. He probably should have thought of that before he took off his boots and waded in.

"Hello," he says quietly to the manticore, then looks back up at Shrieky. "Is it - " But no. Manners first, questions second, especially since he's already offended Shrieky once, and Baedal isn't like home. He can't pack up and disappear whenever people don't like him. He smiles. "Sorry. I'm Xas."