abraxaslogs | [ september / open ] shattered windows and the sound of drums

Oh, maybe you weren't here for it. There was a migration of these animals called moth hares, which are pretty much exactly what they sound like. They ain't harmful, just kinda obnoxious -- they eat a lot, they'd fly in through windows and stuff and get into pantries. But after they passed through, some people started breedin' a domesticated version. Smaller, tame. Not destructive. They're basically just lil' bunnies with wings, they go out on leashes like dogs and everythin'.

[ Julie and Nadine's were an impulse purchase, but in their defense, they are incredibly precious. It was impossible to say no. ]

Yeah, I think I missed that.

( and probably for the better since he wasn't a very good pet dad. he had no plants in his apartment, no rocks, nothing like that because he wasn't very good at paying attention to things like that.

his friends back home could attest to that. )

Bunnies with wings. They take a lot of care?

[ Caring for animals is one of the few things Julie is actually very good at. Part and parcel of growing up in farm country, where animals were just daily chores to most people. If not farm animals, then other random pets, because there's never a shortage of stray dogs and cats to care for.

She can't grow plants for shit, though. Kills them all almost instantly. ]

Not really. They live in this big hutch that's almost like an aviary, in my livin' room. They're pretty chill little guys. They like to go for walks and with me on errands, they have these little harnesses and leashes. So just walks, feedin' 'em, cleanin' the hutch out. Nothin' crazy.

Huh.

( he tries to find some kind of familiar comparison in his head but those really do sound unique. maybe some kind birds. )

You named them?

Well, one of 'em is Nadine's, I just look after him 'cause I'm home more. Hers is named Pianko, means snowball in some other language. Mine is Kajal, 'cause he has black rings around his eyes like kohl.

[ She does not expect Matt to have a large cosmetic vocabulary. She also assumes that, with the name Snowball, the general image is implied. ]

Sorry, never had a pet before so it's all kind of interesting to me.

( a small apartment in hell's kitchen wasn't really the place for a dog or even a cat. especially not after his accident. )

I don't even know if we had plants. If we did, I sure as heck didn't water them so they probably died.

Think you'd be first in line for dog. Ooh, or one'a those helper monkeys. That would be super badass, rockin' up to the courthouse with your helper monkey on your shoulder. He can wear his own lil' suit, screech all your objections for you.

[ This is all said as a single, fluid thought. It's maybe 60% a joke. The other 40% is deathly serious. ]

You wanna come meet 'em? They're just upstairs, can't take 'em to Libertas 'cause of the dogs.

Helper monkeys. That would be fun, wouldn't it? Train it to be a menace to all my enemies and glare at them in court.

( just the thought of it makes him laugh and he has to shake his head. it would certainly add to the experience. )

You wouldn't mind? Probably won't get the chance if I don't do it here.

Or worse, for the really sleazy lawyers. Tough on the janitor, but sometimes people just deserve it.

[ She polishes off the last of her drink and then stands, her chair squeaking as it moves across the floor. ] Oh sure, no problem. They'll be happy for the attention. They're used to spendin' most days gettin' fussed over when I take 'em out.

I live on the top floor. That okay? [ But she says it as she starts to head for the staircase and ascend, her heels clicking on the wood. ]

Yeah, it's fine. All good.

( matt gets to his feet, extending his walking stick even if he doesn't really need it. it does help with stairs though so he'll use it, pushing his chair in and nodding.

as she starts moving, he moves with her walking stick clicking as they go up the stairs. )

Top floor, penthouse?

[ She scoffs. ] Pfft, don't I wish it was a penthouse. Back in my world, I lived in the second-biggest suite of the hotel. Penthouse was taken.

[ There's no elaboration. She used to dream that he would notice her, ask her to live in the penthouse with him, but things have changed. So much. She'd still like a penthouse, though.

Julie takes the stairs with the speed and ease of someone who ascends and descends the staircase several times a day. She does pause at the landings, waiting for him; she doesn't want to be rude. When they reach the top floor, she heads to the first door and takes a key from her coin purse, opens the door.

Inside, the smell is heavily plant-based, leftover from Nadine's endless brewing of various potions and cures. Herbs and flowers, the faint smell of blown out candles. There's an aquarium in one corner, where magic keeps water circulating and clean with a soft, constant burble. The rabbit hutch smells like fresh hay. ]

Welcome. Nadine ain't home yet, so don't worry about botherin' anyone. [ She goes to the rabbit cage, though there's a clinking from some cabinets behind them, where her invisible third hand is rummaging for drinks. The cage opens with a click, and both moth kits dart out excitedly. They head immediately for Matt, busy themselves snuffling at his face and hair, sticking their wiggly little noses into his ears. Julie grabs Pianko from the air and pulls him back. ] Hey, rude! Be polite!

Oh wow, these guys are...friendly.

( matt doesn't react though, doesn't flinch around or try and knock them away. it tickles but his control means he's able to stand there and let them check him out, make sure he's not an intruder or anything.

he laughs when one hits a ticklish spot and turns in the direction of the little guy. )

Probably making sure that you haven't let some terrible person into their home. That or they're just very...friendly.

Kajal! [ She says it admonishingly even as Pianko wriggles in her hands, trying to go back to Matt. They are animals that have been handled by humans since birth, and though Kajal is the more calm of the two (ironic, given the owners), they're both extremely excitable when it comes to meeting new people.

All she can do is sigh and let go. As Pianko takes his turn sniffing, Kajal lands atop Matt's head and looks down at him. Julie rolls her eyes. ]

They're spoiled and nosy, is what they are. And they'd make friends with a serial killer if one broke in. [ She says it with fondness. Most of it is her own doing, and she knows it, but they are also incredibly cute and get fawned over by strangers regularly. They've become accustomed to being continuously indulged. ] Can I get you anythin'? I have wine, vodka, more ale. Better ale than downstairs.

Well, I think I can safely say that I'm not a serial killer.

( matt was a lot of things but a serial killer? he could safely cross that one out because he was not one to kill at all.

though, he stepped on bugs before so maybe that makes him some kind of killer. )

Wine, why not? It's not my usual thing unless I'm at a party but let's go for it tonight.

That is what a serial killer would say. [ She can't help that he set up the joke so perfectly. Pouring wine into glasses, she brings one to Matt while her third hand audibly moves around the kitchen, opening cabinets and the icebox, roughly chopping carrots and peppers. ] The wine is better in Thorne, honestly. Most food and drinks are better in Thorne. The desert is pretty bullshit for growin' anythin' good, and the farmland over the border is real good. If everyone would just get their shit together and stop fightin', we might be able to import decent stuff to eat 'round here.

[ Although that seems more and more unlikely by the day. The peace summit had been a fucking farce, clearly, but at least they'd had the chance to buy plenty of foreign goods -- she keeps a handful of the Thornean bottles (that she mostly stole) in the back of the cupboard for times that warrant it.

As she takes a seat, a plate of vegetable pieces floats from the kitchen and sets itself on the table. Both rabbits immediately swoop on it, eating like they don't get fed regularly. Like any pets, they are bottomless pits. ]

I will never understand the people that wandered into the fuckin' desert and decided this was the best place to build their answer to Thorne.

Yeah, not a fan of the desert. Not that I've been in one anytime soon but from what I know?

( yeah, it's definitely not going to be a place he takes up residence in for too long. too hot, too sandy, and he doesn't want to fall in some quicksand because he can't see it.

even if quicksand isn't really a desert thing. )

Wanda's told me that the farming is pretty good where she is. Don't know if I'd really be helpful there though. Not a farmer.

I've only been out there a couple times. It ain't anythin' to write home about.

[ She can, in fact, count the number of times she's been out of the city walls on one hand, but when she left Thorne, she was dropped out in the desert. It was not an experience that impressed her. ]

Yeah, but those people are full-on Heaven's Gate nutballs. Real nice, but super weird vibes. And they're super obsessed with the old gods, whatever that even means. They do make a hell of a goat cheese out there, though.

Yeah, Wanda's told me about sacrifices and old gods and all. That's —

( definitely not something that's up his alley but to each his own. )

Guessing they probably say similar things about us when it comes to super weird vibes and all. The fact that people here don't revere the old gods and all.

They can think we're weird all they want, but we ain't the ones raisin' the dead on accident. Maybe they ain't as good at worshippin' as they think they are.

[ It would be one thing if they were out in the woods just cutting the heads off chickens and calling it a day. No harm, no foul (pun intended). But Eifstide is looming near, and the fact remains that angry zombies aren't exactly a fun annual tradition.

The moth kits, done stuffing their tiny faces, flit back to Matt, both apparently deciding that his head and shoulders are the optimal sitting place. He is taller than Julie -- they like heights. She does not correct their behavior this time. ]

If you ask me, Thorne has the best of everythin', 'cept they're all under the thumb of a psycho. So, y'know. Pros and cons.

Pros and cons.

( that is certainly a pretty big con when it comes to thorne, yeah. )

Guess that makes Nocwich kind of middle ground. Even if that place has some quirks of its own. Werewolves and vampires and all.

That's right, you're probably the only regular person who ain't bothered by the dark. Nocwich is always night. It kinda fucks with you, if you're just a plain ol' person tryin' to live. Gets real hard to tell when you should sleep.

[ Having stayed there for a week, Julie had become increasingly uncomfortable with the constant dark. It was hard to see, sleep was interrupted, and she had just started feeling unwell after a few days without sunlight. She thinks it probably would be fine for a weekend trip, but an entire week had been too much. ]

I think there's other places. I know the faeries have their own kingdom, it's between the Cities and Nocwich, past the mountains. Saw it on a map. They stay closed off, though.

Faeries?

( it sometimes staggers him to think that he's been here awhile but he's still learning new things about this place. it's not like he can really read a map and know these things so —

he's glad people share things like this. )

Like people with wings?

Uhh, I guess? I only ever saw 'em mentioned in one book, and it said they eat humans. Like, that's their whole thing, they hate outsiders and no one gets out. Enough that it's just legends of survivors. There's a buncha plants and animals they got in the Feywilds that're supposed to be way different from anywhere else, but they can't go in and find 'em.

[ Honestly, the only confirmation that Julie's ever seen to suggest it's more than fairytales is the fact that the Feywilds are on maps. But it's not something she's studied extensively. ]

They don't sound much like anyone should mess around with 'em.

I...hadn't heard of them eating humans. But, I also don't know a ton about them. I'll put them on my list of things to stay away from.

( he would rather not get eaten. by anything let alone a fairy. )

I'm sure I can co exist with them and not bother them so I remain uneaten.

No, I think it's more like they don't wanna co-exist with you. Or anyone. Like, you know that island tribe in India? Who killed anyone that ever showed up and tried to talk to 'em? Pretty sure that's more of the faerie vibe. You set foot in their territory, you lose the foot.

[ Actually, she wonders how that tribe is doing. Surely they survived Captain Trips, but what that means is a complete mystery. They can't salvage the world from their island. Oh well. ]

But from what I read, faeries don't come out of the Feywilds anyway. They ain't a threat so long as they get left on their own.

[ september / open ] shattered windows and the sound of drums

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)