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Who: Nanaue and friends!
When: June
Where: Solvunn (Primary and Tertiary Settlement), Nocwich
What: Nanaue has a new friend! Prompts beneath the cut.
Warnings: Opt-out here! Blanket warnings for gore and animal death because of Nanaue's diet, will put specific warnings in comment headers!

PRIMARY SETTLEMENT; NANAUE'S HOME

[ Generally, if you're looking for the manshark you can find him on the outskirts of the primary settlement. He may have told you he is a 'home owner', and that home appears to be a large shed next to a tiny pond. The outside of the shed has been painted bright red, and decorated with depictions of everything from flowers to suns to vague four-legged beasts to happy people holding hands. Much of the art appears to have been painted by people no more than four or five feet tall.

Lately, jumping in and out of the pond are a half dozen fish with legs. Nanaue sits cross legged in the grass and reeds watching them, while his pet varren named 'Dog' chases them. ]

FISH FRIEND, DUMB DOG!

[ Nanaue scolds Dog whenever it gets too close to catching one of the poor feety fish... ]

TERTIARY SETTLEMENT; ZEEMER'S SHRINE

[ With a basket full of freshly caught fish, Nanaue can be found toddling off toward Xeimer's Plunge. One lone fish, some kind of trout with legs, can be seen scrambling after him.

Strangely, a little white seal with legs is also following Nanaue. It holds onto the hem of his kilt as they walk together toward the cliff where a certain shrine is located. ]

NOCWICH; POP-UP SHOP

[ Now that Nocwich is open again, Nanaue is back with his monthly pop-up shop, the term used very loosely...

He sits on a small blanket with a crate full of his 'wares', most of which would be considered fairly worthless: plain rocks, sea glass, broken pieces of shells, small crabs that were unfortunately caught up in his haul. Sometimes locals will take something and place something equally useless into the smaller box labeled 'PAY MENT'.

Unlike the last time, Nanaue now has little minders of his wares in the form of two feety fish, and a fuzzy little white seal with legs. The latter sits next to him silently watching with its own pair of flat black eyes, while the fish scamper around.

If you approach, Nanaue will smile wide. ]

TRAAAADE?

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

[Look.

It's impossible to be in Solvunn and not know about the manshark.

Travis had maybe spent a good long while with his head between his legs breathing heavily for awhile because What The Fuck What Was That Why Was There a Manshark Why Was This His Life.

But it was cool.

He was cool.

He focused on the work and then he was a god and then he went back to the work and he was fine.

Travis Jr. the goat kid skids behind Travis' legs and Travis just stares and stares at stares when he passes by Nanaue's home because.] What the fuck? [HE'S BEEN DOING REALLY GOOD, SHARK FRIEND. WHY ARE THERE FISH WITH LEGS.

Oh God. Don't eat him for his reaction, please.]

[ Nanaue blinks at Travis and his goat, then puts a fat finger in front of his mouth to shhhh him. ]

QUI-ET, WAKE BAAAAABY...

[ Nevermind that he was just yelling at Dog, who - speaking of...

The varren lifts its head, abandoning its feety fish chase and begins bounding toward Travis with a throaty, growling sound. ]

[ jerry all but cannonballs his butt onto the customer side of the wares blankie, crossing his legs under him. ]

Trade? You bet your sexy cartilaginous ass, you ferocious sea king.

[ as if it’s a treasured relic, jerry glances side to side, squints at a feety fish suspiciously, then tugs out a stone statue precisely resembling the hand drawn art Nanaue provided the Summoned of Zeemer. It comes from somewhere underneath his shirt, no idea what bra or bra-adjacent holster he’d been storing it in, but here it is. He slides it across the trade blankie smoothly. ]

What’ll this get me?

[WHAT BABY?

But you're welcome, he swallows down his yelp but does back away from the definitely-not-a-dog.

He tries to hiss-whisper because hey. Wait. No.] Hey. [He holds out a hand in warning. Tempted to brandish the knife he earned through labor but he doesn't need to antagonize the shark.] Don't even think about it. Travis Jr. isn't food. [He's not, either, but he thinks the not-a-dog might have eyes for his goat.]

( she's looking for a weapons shop, probably, when she notices a familiar shape across the courtyard and immediately makes a beeline for nanaue's little setup. she gives his wares a cursory once-over — the feety fish are new, or, at least, they're real now, which is weird and also something clarisse doesn't want to think too hard about right now, because that stirs up too many questions about fate and whether or not that future reality was more than just a dream — then plops down in front of him and decides matter-of-factly: )

You still owe me a hat.

( are his feety fish qualified haberdashers, too? she'll wait. )

[The part of him that's all archangel wants to breeze by without acknowledging the invitation to trade. Nanaue would shrug off the snub and forget about it fast enough, he's sure, and Michael definitely doesn't need any more trinkets to clutter up the shelves of Josie's home or his not-home in the Tertiary Settlement. The items on offer are, unfortunately, more beach trash than decoration.

He's been here long enough that he feels a proper connection to his Summoned friends, though, so he stops and approaches. Nanaue's always supportive of his work, even if he doesn't necessarily understand what he's doing or why. Michael repays the efforts he receives in kind.]

Nanaue. [He gives a bob of his head, the usual greeting.] What do you have that you suppose I'd most like to own?

[In other words, show him your best wares.

As he speaks, Michael's gaze is drawn towards the quiet ball of a seal at the sharkman's side. He's used to the walking fish by now but the seal is new.]

HEHEHE, KING ME...

[ Nanaue seems delighted by this approach, and gives Jerry a wide grin - along with a slow wink before accepting the little statue. He holds it between two large hands, examining it happily. ]

NICE ZEEMER! [ He sets the statue down in front of the baby seal. Maybe they can bring it to Xeimer's shrine this week. With more fish, of course.

He touches a finger to his mouth, looking at his crate of things for trade. ]

WANT TAKE...? [ he lifts out a handful of broken shells, a gnarled stick, and a crab. The latter immediately tries to escape after he sets it down. ]

[ The varren stops in front of Travis, hissing back at him. It lowers its body as if to pounce when Nanaue shouts again: ]

BAD DOG - GOAT FRIEND!

[ Nanaue, who does not particularly like goats and would love to eat them himself, reluctantly begins getting to his feet. This seems like enough of a deterrent for the fishdog creatures to take a few steps back from Travis and his goat-son, though it continues to eye them both.

Meanwhile, the feety fish take this opportunity to run in circles between Travis' legs, now believing him to be their savior from Dog. ]

[ Nanaue is patting his seal baby on the head when Clarisse arrives. He seems confused for a long, drawn out moment when she mentions a hat. ]

NO HAT HERE, SORRY...

[ It's unclear whether he remembered or not that he was supposed to bring her a hat to begin with. Maybe she would like something else, though...? He starts digging through his crate of useless things, setting down: a red piece of sea glass, a large grey rock, what appears to be a fish spine, and some dirty looking pearls. ]

WANT FREE... ?

[ Since he forgot hat. ]

[Due to recent events, Henry feels unsettled, and he hates it. Hates feeling out of control. It manifests in restless energy, which in turn manifests into walking the same route along the Primary Settlement, as though he might banish all of it with enough physical activity -- as though he might find something fun to break and take out all his frustrations on it, instead.

But no. Today feels as quietly mundane as ever, and that alone is sandpaper beneath his skin. He's come this way at least twice before, spotting Nanaue and his strange little leggy fish friends as many times. The third time, and he pauses just enough to readjust his path and track his way over to where the shark-man sits amid the reeds.]

...Gain some new friends, Nanaue?

Exactly! Goat! FRIEND. [Travis you are likely not helping any more than the shark.

He yelps undignified as the feety fish swarm him, scooping up Travis Jr. in alarm but a bit weary to move back from his new fans.] I uh. I gotta say. This is one of the weirder farms I've seen in my life. [All of this is very distracting and at least keeping him from being leery of Nanaue as a whole.] You got any other critters I should be on the lookout for???

[ Nanaue takes Michael's question very, very seriously. He begins picking through his crate of beach trash, while his seal-child companion stares up at Michael with large black eyes. After placing a large piece of blue sea glass, a dead snail, and a gnarled piece of driftwood in front of Michael, Nanaue notices the two of them staring at each other. ]

YOU WANT HUG BABY? [ he asks, like this is a perfectly normal thing to offer. ]

[ Nanaue spots Henry's approach, waving at him happily. One of the feety fish stares at Nanaue, then Henry, and waggles its short fin as if to imitate the greeting. Its face is entirely blank and emotionless as any normal fish. ]

FISH FRIENDS! [ he announces happily. He picks up the waving fish and gently chucks it into the pond. Its legs flail in the air and it lands with a gentle splash!, its head bobbing up a moment later.

Behind them, the other fish are still being terrorized by Dog, though the beast pauses to lift its head and watch Henry approach. The fish take their chance to scramble toward Henry, as though he might provide protection. ]

[ Nanaue lumbers over to Dog, wrapping his arms around it an lifting its body in his arrms... like a giant baby. Dog does not seem particularly thrilled with this and bites Nanaue a few times in the shoulder - either the shark's skin is very thick or the monstrous fishdog doesn't actually bite too hard, because no blood is drawn from the wounds. ]

UHHH... [ Nanaue looks to his left, then to his right. He stares at Travis and Travis Jr. ]

NO?

[ He sounds very convincing. ]

[That he gives every request, even the relatively unimportant ones, his absolute focus is one of Nanaue's best traits.

Michael doesn't immediately acknowledge the selections, however. He's glancing between the seal and the shark's matching dark eyes, at their similar forms, at a pair of two-legged creatures of the sea. He's rolling the word baby around in his head and trying to figure out what kind of expression that's supposed to prompt.

He's not going to jump to any wild conclusions, but he's seen stranger things here.]

Is this your child?

[ Saints teeth… is that a…?

Since meeting the likes of Juris and Grigori on that alternate plane in the Unsea (one a dragon, the other a… well, grotesque thing made of many mouths), Zoya shouldn't question the strange things she sees. A talking shark at a pop-up shop in Nocwich really shouldn't give her pause.

But it does. She might be grateful for this one day.

Zoya's drawn to his little store, stopping near the edge of his blanket. She doesn't lower to be on his eye level. She stares at him. Stares. And then - ]

What do you want for this junk?

[ ??? What could he possibly want for a… rock? ]

[ he'll never tire of those goofy winks from this majestic megafauna. it's a bummer he's apparently still looking for his seal husband, but sharkman's clearly pleased enough with jerry's contribution (even if it was constructed 2 minutes ago, behind that shack over there). ah yes, all in a day's work. ]

Check out these dope shells, that's some premium, grade A foraging, dude.

[ maybe they're premium shells, maybe they're totally common shells, jerry doesn't know the difference, but that doesn't mean he can't make nanaue feel good about his wares. he selects a few of the shiniest, least-broken ones. ]

Are you sure? This feels like a steal.

[ Since Michael gives no response to his wares, Nanaue assumes he doesn't like anything yet and continues pulling out items: more broken shells, some rocks that look suspiciously like semi-valuable opals, a worm that wriggles in his hand...

Holding the last one, he looks from Baby to Michael. ]

BABY MINE. FROM ZEEEEEMER.

[ Nanaue happily stares at his newest customer while she looks at his wares. Next to him, Baby - the white baby seal with legs, sits in the exact same position, unmoving except for when he blinks every so often.

The feety fish, meanwhile, scramble toward Zoya's feet, running in circles around her in either excitement or confusion - their faces have no expression so it's impossible to tell. ]

UHHHH.... [ Nanaue points at the 'PAY MENT' box, which Zoya will see has inside: scraps of colorful cloth, dead flowers, more rocks, a dead bee - no, wait, it flies away...

Payment seems to be... whatever you happen to have on you. Truly, Nanaue enjoys the act of trading more than the stuff he receives. Sometimes he even forgets to take his box home! ]

WHAT WANT?

[ Careful not to lift her feet lest she stomp on the feety fish scrambling toward her, Zoya regards everything he has on display with a brand new light. So she could literally give him a rock from the ground and he'd happily take it. Despite quickly understanding that, it doesn't feel right to short-change him. He's seated here, with his box of… things, with his strange… creatures. ]

Do you like anything?

[ Is this man shark so easy to please? ]

[That's probably not what it sounds like. He assumes the seal was left bundled in a basket at a shrine, or came knocking at the side of Nanaue's barn, or was pulled to shore on an oversized shell by a pair of otters. Michael looks at Nanaue.]

Congratulations. [Then, to the seal.] Nice to meet you.

[The worm draws his attention. Why is he bringing live invertebrates to trade? The shark's going to get himself in trouble with customs agents, doing things like that.]

I think your fish would like that one.

[He reaches over and picks up the piece of blue sea glass from a moment ago, then roots around in a small drawstring bag at his belt. Michael produces a wooden charm shaped like a shark, its mouth open wide.]

Fair trade?

[ Nanaue reaches for the crab before it gets too far, setting it back where it started. The little creature freezes in place, claws held high above its head while Nanaue bobs his head a few times. ]

NO STEAL! FRIEND DISCOUNT. [ he declares at Jerry. Flattery discount! ]

[ Oh, he is quick to answer that question. ]

NOM NOMS!

[ Nom noms are generally his favorite thing. Reminded that he hasn't consumed anything in the past five minutes, he sifts through his crate of wares for a dead fish and tosses that into his maw, then gives the new friend an expectant stare.

Does she have nom noms? ]

[ The seal continues to blink its massive(ly cute) eyes at Michael while Nanaue ponders the worm briefly before offering it one of the feety fish. It catches the meal in its mouth and is immediately chased around the blanket by its companion.

Nanaue eyes the sea glass Michael has chosen and gives a solemn nod. This is a good choice for him! He's even more pleased by the wooden shark charm, carefully taking it in his hands to examine it. ]

GOOD TRADE!

[ Baby, still watching them, holds out both flippers. Nanaue looks from Baby to Michael. ]

WANT HUG BABY? NICE FEEL...

[It’s possible that Teddy should be more startled by a shark man grinning with, well, a mouth full of shark teeth at her. But, for one thing, Teddy’s what the fuck meter is kind of broken, these days, and even if it wasn’t: she knows Nanuae. Sort of in an obscure, by-reputation, friend-of-friend and/or alternate-life-occasional-jam-session-buddy way. But enough at least to have offered a hastily written ode to add to the offerings to get his god-crush back, anyway.

(Which may or may not be roughly to the tune of The Great Selkie, only up about 50 bpm. Jokes with yourself are still funny.)]

Hey! Wow, you’ve got —

[Teddy blinks. They’d been startled by both seeing someone they recognized, and that someone being a shark-man with a blanket of random trinkets and accompanying belegged fish that look straight out of a medieval manuscript. In the chaos they’ve completely failed to register the obviously most important thing here.]

You’ve got a baby!

[Baby is said in nearly exactly the intonation it would be if Teddy was seeing a puppy for the first time: baaaby. Only maybe a little more, because baby seal. Teddy’s never seen a real, in-person seal pup (much less one with legs). She’s momentarily frozen, unsure what to even do with the cuteness. Then crouches; should have anyway, it’s just rude to hover.]

Hey there, little guy.
[to Nanuae:] When did this happen?

[They're a lot like chickens, Michael thinks, as the second fish catches up to the first and an aggressive reenactment of the spaghetti dinner from Lady and the Tramp ensues. They don't have teeth so he expects they'll be stuck that way for a while, slurping back and forth.

Once Nanaue approves the exchange, he pockets the sea glass.

Michael is not one to fall for cute—with the exception being his own vessels, perhaps—but he's more willing to bend to social pressure now that he has true friends. He assumes Nanaue means his seal-child is very sleek and soft. It certainly looks as though it wants to be held, like the young children from the Primary Settlement waiting for their parents with arms raised. All that's missing is the demand for up!

Fine, then.]

Sure.

[He takes a step onto the blanket and reaches for the seal, lifting it up and giving it the suggested hug. Michael's only planning to hold it long enough to qualify as a polite squeeze, but wrapping his arms around it is—strange. Calming. His mind is clear, the way it always is after he's evened out after a fit of temper. There's a muted but growing suspicion, too. Part of him doesn't want to put the seal down. Part of him thinks it might not be all seal.

After a moment, Michael sets Baby back down in their place, his expression pointedly level.]

Your child has... an interesting ability.

[Henry, out of nothing more than polite habit, raises his hand to give a wave at the little fish friend before it careens back into the pond with a splash.]

They seem...

[He turns when he hears little pattering footfalls to find an array of more fish scrambling his way, and he debates on what to do, really.

Testingly... lifts as many as he can up with his telekinesis, to about shoulder-height, away from Dog's reach.]

...energetic.

[ Nanaue stares back at Teddy, taking in the excitement coming off the friend. It has him giving another wide, sharky smile as Teddy crouches in front of Baby. The feety fish scramble around Teddy where they hunch, either equally excited by their presence or just simply bored. Their lack of eyebrows or any other indicators of human expression make it difficult to tell. ]

THIS BABY FROM ZEEEEEMER! [ Nanaue proudly announces, gently patting Baby's fuzzy head. Baby blinks its giant, adorable eyes at Teddy, it's expression equally unreadable as the feety fish. ]

LIKED GIFTS!

[ Including the song!

Well. Nanaue dropped off the song at the shrine. He assumes Xeimer must have liked it! ]

[ taking pity on the desperate crab, jerry scoops it up into his handful of broken shells, making a mental note to stealthy release it back into the ocean once nanaue isn't looking. the shells are plenty enough for him. ]

You're a benevolent business man and a scholar of a shark, Nanaue. My soul is well with this sweet shell score.

[ plus, crab. ]

[ The fish flail their little leggies as they rise up into the air, with Dog snapping in frustration beneath them. ]

BAD DOG! [ Nanaue shouts again, grumbling as he finds a bone Dog had been playing with earlier and tosses it far, far from the feety fish. The stick flying above its head catches Dog's eye while it's snapping, and its attention is successfully diverted - it turns to bound after a new prize.

Nanaue turns to observe the floating feeshes, chuckling to himself at their flailing. ]

SCARED.

[ They do seem scared. ]

[ Nanaue (presumably) watches on like a proud parent as Michael lifts Baby and give him a gentle squeeze, waiting in anticipation for his reaction to the nice feel.

All too soon Michael sets Baby back down, and since Michael isn't exactly the most... expressive creature, Nanaue is disappointed that he didn't get a visible reaction! He reaches for Baby where it's been set on the blanket, setting the smaller creature in his lap. ]

NICE FEEL! [ He repeats, very gently petting Baby's fuzzy head. He pulls some dried fish from his pocket and hands it to the baby seal. ]

GOOD?

[ He is very obviously seeking Michael's approval about Baby. ]

[Sorry, Nanaue. That he can emote at all is probably an oversight on his creator's part. A lukewarm reaction is the best he'll be getting.

Michael watches the shark pick up his seal-child and pet him. Despite its ability to pacify its holder, there doesn't look to be anything terribly threatening about it. Knowing what Nanaue looks like when he's angry it's probably a good thing he has the little comfort creature. Still, Michael maintains a healthy degree of skepticism about anything sent by the gods.]

Yes, nice. Good.

[It's not particularly enthusiastic, but it doesn't sound too different from his usual tone either. It was fine.]

Good luck with your sales.

[Unless the manshark has any further offers to make, he'll be off.]

From -- [Teddy blinks, grinning right away even as that processes. It does conjure a little bit of seal god mpreg imagery in their head, but hey. Who knows how gods work or what Xeimer's gender is actually like? But also, more likely a little like. Winning your boyfriend a plushie at a carnival, only if you could create life.] Wow! That's awesome, my friend.
I'm gonna have to add a verse. [They grin.]

So, what do you recommend? For a first time trader.

[Teddy inspects some of the merchandise, touching and turning over the pieces of sea glass and shells as if they were each incredibly precious artifacts.]

Edited 2024-06-17 08:55 (UTC)

[ Jerry wants a little snack! That's nice! ]

ME GREAT SCHOLAR! [ This is, by far, the best compliment he's had all day. He is EXTREMELY pleased, and very happy to let Jerry keep his crab snack for free. ] GOOD BUSINESS.

HAVE NICE DAY!

BABY SONG!

[ Song for Baby! He looks down at Baby to see if it likes that too. Baby simply blinks its large, adorable black eyes at him.

Nanaue turns his attention back to Teddy, watching them touch the wares on display while lost in thought. First time... ]

AHHH... [ He reaches for: a cork stamped with a butterfly - possibly from a wine bottle, a spiky sea urchin - very dried and dead, and a dried piece of fish skin - no, nevermind, he eats that. The third object he places down in front of Teddy is a little black rock, which, if inspected, will turn out to be a pearl. ]

O.... kay... very convincing. Definitely believe you, big guy. [He Does Not Believe Him.

But he doesn't back up despite fearing for his life.] Hey. Look. Okay. You're a sea guy, right? I'll be out of your hair [??????????] ... skin? I'll be out of your way and not bother you I'm just wondering--do you have anything shiny I could uh... have? I mean I don't really got anything I could trade right now other then labor. I could fish for you but I think you probably can do that just fine on your own. [Travis you're babbling to the manshark just breathe.] Just... shells. Or something else you might have. A lot of 'em.

[ WOW!! HE IS VERY CONVINCING!!

But rather than try to argue, he just stares at Travis again for a long moment before seeming to retreat into his little 'house' - Dog in tow.

If Travis waits ten to fifteen minutes, Nanaue will emerge with a small box - at least it looks small in his large hands. Inside are: many broken shells, some non-broken shells, sea glass of various colors, and the odd (and also suspiciously) rough but brightly colored stone - which Travis may or may not recognize as natural opals. ]

SHINY STUFF!

[He probably shouldn't wait, but with the shark gone he can take a better look over the area. It's not bad.

He wonders if the shark has a storm cellar in that barn.

Maybe he can start setting up his survival bunker there... he doubts Nanaue would even notice, but maybe he can do/offer something for him in return. What does a shark need for rent?

There's also the problem of the footed-fish kids that he'd kind of afraid if he wanders off they will follow and maybe Nanaue would prefer to not loose them, what does he know.

So when Nanaue actually comes back he just blinks wildly in surprise and then looks down at the offerings.] Wow. [That doesn't sound convincing enough.] Wow! This is great [he has no idea if he can make any of this work] you've got all this? That's amazing.

[ Nanaue probably wouldn't notice, and even if he did he might not mind. Travis would have Dog to contend with, though.

Travis' reaction is very convincing, but he seems confused when he doesn't immediately take anything from the box, or even the whole box. ]

WANT?

[ His flat black eyes bore into Travis' soul. ]

[ Does she have nom noms? Zoya wonders if the sweets she has in her pocket would be something he'd enjoy, considering he just consumed a… dead fish. Raw? Come on, Nanaue. We could've cooked that.

Sliding her hand into her pocket, she pulls out a couple of sweets wrapped in paper. She holds it out for him. ]

Do you like this? It's not raw, or… dead.

Yeah! Maybe Goat Destroyer can play it.

[Seriously, this seal baby is too cute to handle.

Teddy watches as Nanaue picks out several items -- well, eats one, but hey, why not -- all of which, honestly, are pretty and intriguing to them; they've never grown out of collecting shiny things they find.

They pick up the pearl, realizing slowly what it is as it catches the light and blinking at it in surprise. Although honestly the dried sea urchin is just as cool in a totally different way, and they lean to look at its tiny spikes.]

These are so cool. What kinds of things do you trade for them? I don't think I have much...

[ Nanaue puts his large hands out, palm up to accept the tiny treats for her to deposit. Once she does, he will inspect them, holding them up close to one flat, black eye for a few seconds before -

tossing them all into his mouth

he does not remove the papers

The manshark looks at her expectantly. ]

MORE?

[So bribe Dog with tablescraps and maybe start setting up his own space within sharkspace.

Yeah! He could make it work.

Except Holy Hannah those eyes are terrifying. He stares into them a long, silent moment, swept up in the void of perhaps his imminent death, redux version.

Man he doesn't want to die again.

The shark asked him a question. He blinks away, and starts to sift through the box of goodies. He doesn't really know what he could do with them, doesn't think they could help too much, but he holds up the glass to catch the sun as if testing it for some mysterious factors before scooping up the rest of the sea glass.

And the rock. Because maybe he could trade it with someone else. He looks back at the shark.] If it's really okay, I'll take this.

[ He… did that. Yep. What did she expect when he didn't have thumbs?

With a smile (Saints, she's smiling, greatly amused by this manshark), she shakes her head. ] I'll bring you more sweets if you can get me some sand. Nice sand. [ Just so he doesn't give her shit! ] A trade needs to remain fair.

[ Suddenly she has an idea??? ]

GOOD TRADES!

[ To answer their question, he points to his 'PAY MENT' box, which they will notice is filled with similar types of discarded items: a ball of hair, some brightly colored string, so many rocks, two brightly colored feathers, a flower that looks like it was pulled up from between the cobbled path just a few feet away. Someone even left him a fairly nice ink pen.

It seems as though he will take just about anything Teddy offers. ]

Scared?

[He says, only after watching Dog bound off with its interest now plied elsewhere. He shouldn't take satisfaction in that, his powers used to scare someone or something, but...

Well, it's been a while. It is satisfying in its own way, and maybe Henry leaves the fish dangling for just a second or two too long before he lowers them back down to the ground.]

What's there to be scared of? It's either float or be Dog food, apparently.

NICE... SAND...

[ He ponders this for a moment, looking in his crate. Unfortunately, the openings between the wooden boards means no sand can accumulate at the bottom. Grudgingly, he lifts himself up and wanders off toward, presumably, the direction of Nocwich's shoreline.

The very still baby seal with legs also suddenly picks itself up and follows him.

The feety fish remain, staring with their flat fish eyes at Zoya. ]

[Good trades. That's...entirely fair. Teddy leans to look at the box and their grin widens, softens just a little in real fondness.

And you know what: one man's trash, and all that. All of these are, in fact, good (well, the ball of hair is questionable: for a bird, though!); it just requires a little perspective. ]

I got you. Okay, I can get behind that.
Let me see...

[She rummages through the leather pouch she has buckled onto their belt, which holds some necessities and near-necessities -- a few gold coin; an emergency vial of herbs that are, they're pretty sure, mostly the same as the tea they take daily for their seizures and possibly something a little more psychoactive; a very small bound notebook and a pen with a well-sealed ink bottle.

But there are things they've collected, too. They gather the best of them: A slightly curved piece of aluminum or, maybe, tin? It has little rows of holes punched through it, almost like a grater, but not especially sharp: if Teddy had to guess they'd say a bit of a lantern or other lighting fixture that broke off.

A broken mandolin string they'd had no place to put when they changed it, with the colored thread still at the top, just not quite usable in the traditional sense.

And, in the notebook, a dried flower they'd found early on here that looks a little like forget-me-not, but not quite. On the same page, Teddy had drawn a little rough line drawing version of it. They carefully tear the page out at the binding and offer him the small page with the flower and drawing, the string and the tin. ]

For these two? Is that a good trade?

Edited 2024-08-12 01:03 (UTC)

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HE HAS THUMBS TYVM HE JUST LIKES EATING PAPER...AND METAL.. AND EVERYTHING

a tagback bomb! don't feel obliged to return it