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Shephard's never entirely happy when the Milliways door grabs him by surprise, but at least this time it grabbed him after he'd picked up his bow. Just his luck it locked behind him, too... well, these things happen. There's no point to getting into a froth about it.

He'll be back in later for his beer. Right now he's headed out back, bow in hand and three-legged alien dog full of eyeballs at his side. Mrs. Wilson hasn't had room to properly run lately, and he could do with some fresh meat to take the pressure off the supplies on board the Borealis.

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There is a noise above him, a flapping of wings and a happy whoop from the Na'vi male riding....what looks like a giant technicolor pterodactyl, tiny braids whipping around his face.

When the ikran lands, kicking up dust and loose pieces of grass before its wings fold in, Tsu'tey shakes his head and dimounts, not breaking the bond yet as he raises his arm in a sort of wave to Adrian.

"...great googly moogly."

That's all you're gonna get from Shephard just at the moment. His dog, however, is hiding behind him and blinking its entire front end frantically.

Tsu'tey is just laughing at the dog's antics, petting his ikran's head gently.

"She is impressive, is she not?" he asks. "This is Atanvi."

"Fuckin' right she is," agrees Shephard fervently. "Mrs. Wilson, you come out'n say hi to the gentleman, would you? Don't you go gettin' too close to Atanvi now."

The houndeye doesn't particularly need that warning; she only barely edges out around Shephard's leg to peer at the tall stranger and his unfamiliar beast.

"She ain't but half-grown yet, so she's a mite shy."

"These are the ikran I told you about," he says, detaching his queue with a sweep of his hand.

"What is your Mrs. Wilson?"

"She's a houndeye," says Shephard as the creature pulls back behind his leg again. "Her kind ain't from Earth. The world that dumped a shitload of critters on us before the Combine showed up was a place called Xen. Reckon she was born on Earth, though. Wasn't no more'n this big-" He indicates something smaller than a football. "-when I got her from the wild. Thought I'd see if her kind'd make good companions, y'know? Might make hunting a fuck of a lot easier, havin' help like that."

"I could see this," he says, nodding. "She is always this shy?"

"Not back home she ain't," says Shephard. "Earth folk, Xen critters, she's good with all that. She just ain't used to nothin' from Pandora, that's all."

He crouches, holding out a long four-fingered hand towards the animal as he glances up at his ikran, seeing she's still calm.

Mrs. Wilson looks up at Shephard. "Go on, girl," he urges.

Very, very carefully the little creature steps out from behind his leg and picks her way towards Tsu'tey. An Earth dog, or possibly one of the creatures of Pandora, might sniiff; she just makes a curious little 'muuuurrr?' noise and blinks at the stranger.

"Don't think she's got much of a sense of smell," Shephard explains. "She just sees you."

Tsu'tey holds onto the bony crest under Atanvi's chin, stroking it gently as she noses his shoulder for a treat he doesn't have with him.

Once she's had a chance to peruse his hand and his face, he carefully reaches up and pats her back.

The houndeye wiggles her rear end gleefully; Shephard grins. "Looks like she likes you," he says. "Least a little bit, anyways. Takes her a while to warm up proper to a new person- try scratchin' along that first stripe, right behind the ridge, she likes that."

It takes him a minute to get the right spot, but when he does Mrs. Wilson wiggles harder, much to the Na'vi's amusement. "She is an interesting little beast," he chuckles, still in his comfortable crouch, looking up at Shephard.

"And will she get much bigger?"

"'Bout a hand's more growin' to do, I think," says Shephard. "Least if she gits to be big as her mama, anyways. Mind you don't git your hand under her, that's where she keeps her mouth. I got her trained not to bark but she might bite if she thinks she's got somethin' to bite down on."

He nods, keeping his hand on her back. "Ikran do not react well to most humans," he says. "They are...territorial."

"And that'd be why I'm way the fuck over here," says Shephard. "She'd bite my whole fuckin' arm off if I looked at her wrong, wouldn't she."

Tsu'tey glances at the ikran, and then back at Shephard. Ever the soul of tact, he says:

"Yes."

"Figured as much," says Shephard. "How fast's she get?"

Hey, he can respect something capable of ripping him apart and still be curious about it.

"As fast as your..." he searches for the word he wants, thinking for a moment. "Samson? The machine Trudy flies," Tu'tey explains.

Shephard lets out a whistle at that. "Fuckin' balls," he mutters. "Don't think there's anything that fast on Earth that ain't a machine."

Well, maybe if there's still some of those Xen manta ray things. Those looked alive.

"Maybe a peregrine, but hell, I ain't seen falcons in I don't know how long. Might not be any more of 'em for all I know."

"Would you like to see her fly?" Tsu'tey asks, remembering that Shephard isn't likely to want to fly her himself, but thinking that perhaps watching wouldn't be so bad.

"Long as I git to stay here'n watch, sure," says Shephard. "I'mma just park myself here, mm'kay?"

He chuckles, distinctly amused. "All right," he says, nodding and re-mounting the creature, heels planted in the stirrups of what passes for a saddle on a flying reptilian bird.

As they gain height, Tsu'tey grins wider, leaning to one side or the the other to demonstrate how they fly, and showing off a little just because he can.

Shephard's just gonna stare for a while. And maybe kind of wish he was Catholic, because Methodists don't generally cross themselves much but damn he kind of wants to at the thought.

... look, he's impressed and trying not to wig out, okay? That's the important thing here.

They come back in to land a little ways off, and Tsu'tey jumps down to praise his ikran with a gentle stroke between her eyes and under her jaw.

"She is a good mount."