open to all

[nomnoms]

Who: Nanaue and you!
When: Mid to late July
Where: Solvunn, Horizon
What: Nanaue encounters new friends (or new nom noms?)
Warnings: Usual sharkman-who-eats-everything warnings, blanket one for animal death and gore. If you'd like to play with him but want to avoid any/all mention of gore, add FRIENDSHIP to the subject line!

Comments

[beautifullies]

[ When Claire comes across Nananue covered in needs, she opens her eyes in alarm and makes her way over to him, calling out. ]

What in the world have you gotten yourself into, Nanaue? A...large porcupine?

[ She's never without her basic medical kit, so she has tweezers and bandages if needed, though he may not, and she'll be just fine to offer moral support. ]

[nomnoms]

Uwaghh....

[ He complains with a wordless noise as Claire approaches, looking almost... embarrassed? He pulls in a deep breath and lets it out, a hard snort that has his gills shuddering. Some of the needles are shallow enough that they fall to the ground, but many remain stuck.

He shakes his head with another grunt. ]

Green men bad!

[ Not a porcupine, it seems... ]

[beautifullies]

[ He wouldn't be the first patient she's had that wishes she hadn't approached. Her face contorts a little in even deeper concern at the idea that someone did this to him and she rushes closer after he's done trying to shake off the...quills? ]

I can help, Nanaue, if you'll let me? Are the green men here? Or was it—

[ The rifts. Whatever they are, now someone's hurt, even if it doesn't seem to be life or death. ]

I know that must not feel very good, I have a lotion that will help with any pain.

[ She isn't sure if her salves will work on sharks, but she doesn't see why not. And she can always begin the work of tweaking things specifically for Nanaue. ]

[nomnoms]

[ He's never been rubbed with any lotion before, so might as well find out! He grunts again in agreement to her offer, albeit with some reluctance: ]

Help okay...

[ He will accept Claire's help and lotion.

Whatever green men he's talking about don't seem to be in the vicinity, until his gaze seems to fix on something out in the nearby tall grass. It's hard to spot at first, but there's a bright green shape wiggling out there.

Nanaue gives a low, threatening growl. ]

[beautifullies]

[ The growl is what catches her attention, and she swivels her head to look. Squinting, she finally spots it and her eyes widen in surprise. ]

Alright...something like...cactus needles then. I think. I'm sorry that happened to you, but we'll stay away from it now. There was more than one?

[ Taking her kit off of her shoulder, she assesses Nanaue more closely before slipping gloves onto her hands and pulling tweezers out. She's hoping this will be like giant splinters and go quickly, at least, so she can give him relief sooner. ]

This might hurt, just a little, but I promise to stop if you ask, alright?

[ She won't even start until she knows he's still okay with it. ]

[nomnoms]

[ At first he seems fixated on the thing, like a reactive dog pointed at its trigger. But as she continues to talk the growling stops, and he grumbles both wordlessly and unhappily as he drags his dark gaze from the shuffling green man. ]

More. [ he agrees tersely. More green men. It could be that he scared the rest of them off. The one in the tall grass watches them from a distance with hollow eyes. Nanaue lets out a harsh snort from his nostrils, aggravated but not at Claire.

To the question, he makes another wordless sound of agreement and nods. She can start. ]

[beautifullies]

[ If these things can hurt people, then as soon as she's done helping here, she's going to try and find some others to capture whatever they are. Watching where Nanaue is for a few seconds longer, she turns back at his nod and picks a starting point.

Working as quickly as she can, she drops each offensive object to the ground methodically and moves on. When she thinks she's about half finished, she pauses to look at him. ]

You're a good patient, I'm nearly finished, I think. How are you feeling? Does it burn under your skin or anywhere else?

[ Christ, hopefully there's no delayed toxin in the needles, suddenly worried about a whole new thing. ]

[nomnoms]

[ He is a good patient. Aside from mumbling curses under his breath every so often, he has little reaction to the spines being plucked out one by one. ]

No burn...

[ His scaled skin is so thick that many of the needles can be removed harmlessly, only every third or fourth seems to draw out any blood, and only the thinnest stream. There's no sign of allergic reaction or redness from burns, or anything otherwise toxic.

He's getting a little bored though, and she might be able to tell from the way he fidgets in place, picking up one of the needles and sniffing it, then putting it in his mouth... ]

[beautifullies]

[ She's so close to done, that at first she doesn't notice him reach for the needle. It's only as she gets ready to grab the salve that she sees and gently reaches out to stop him. ]

If it poked your body, imagine what it would feel like in your mouth?

[ She unscrews the salve; it has a honey base and smells like almonds. It will rub in, and he won't need any bandages. As she begins to rub it on, she uses broad strokes so that it goes as quickly as possible. ]

Can you manage to stay out of the water for at least half an hour?

[ She doesn't think anything will get infected, but she'd like a chance for the salve to do its job and soak into the small wounds. ]

[nomnoms]

[ There's a puzzled look when she puts her hand on his, but he obediently drops the needle with only a small grumble of protest.

At the question about the water he gives her a blank look. Thirty minutes... ]

Yes ... ?

[ There is little confidence in this answer.

She might be able to guess that his sense of time is not very good. ]

[beautifullies]

[ Claire can quickly adapt, and while she doesn't want him getting dirty or wet as long as possible, she can find a way to keep him occupied. ]

Do you think you can draw pictures of bees for me on the sides of their houses?

[ It can't hurt anything to want to smile every time she sees the bee houses. And besides, she knows he likes to draw. ]

Maybe bees and flowers if you're feeling adventurous.

[nomnoms]

[ She has spoken the magic words. Art. ]

Bees AND flowers! [ Nanaue repeats enthusiastically, and he starts to pull himself up from the ground. He begins lumbering in the direction of the houses, seemingly no worse for wear despite only recently having recovered from being a manshark-shaped pincushion.

He glances back. ]

Color? [ What color does she want him to paint them.


(what color paint does she have, really, but he's not thinking about that) ]

[beautifullies]

Come on, let's go see, shall we?

[ Claire smiles at him happily, guiding him to the outdoor shed. ]

Let's see, we have yellow, blue, red, and white. But we can mix yellow and blue to get green, and red and blue for purple if we want.

[ The houses are closed, and it's easy to keep them that way while Nanaue paints so that he doesn't get stung—not that she thinks a bee's tiny stinger has much of a chance against his skin. ]

Here are some brushes for you too, and I'll get you a big bowl of water and a towel. I would like bees, flowers, clouds—anything that lives outside. Okay?

[ And if he is indeed alright with that, she'll finish gathering things withhis help and then lead the way to the bee houses. ]

[nomnoms]

Oh-kay.

[ Nanaue is quick to get to work, and sets his full concentration on his art. He finishes one, then moves to another and another, until he has finished four masterpieces of bees houses:

]

[beautifullies]

[ By the time he's done, it's safe enough for him to do as he likes, and she smiles so brightly at him as she looks over them all. ]

It's us, you surprised me! Oh, I love these, Nanaue.

[ She means it too, and Claire leans her head against his arm for a moment, unsure if it's welcome so she doesn't linger. ]

When I'm ready to add more, I hope you'll paint those as well?