(no subject)

[hate_gettin_older]

The front door opens, and in stumbles Edgar, looking exhausted and covered with red dust from the knees down. At his side ambles a baby thoat, which looks around at the noisy crowd and immediately tries to hide behind Edgar's legs.

"Oh thank Christ," Edgar breathes, as Tars Tarkas steps into the room behind him.


[Edgar is taggable! Tars is heading home pretty immediately.]

Comments

[2goodarms]

From his seat next to Dejah, Curtis looks up. His eyes widen. Tars, the thoatling, the dust -- he notices all of it, but it's very much secondary to --

"Edgar!"

It's...not exactly a joyous shout of greeting. There's a very particular, thunderous look some parents get when their child comes back from danger, right after the relief fades and right before the lecturing starts. And that's exactly the look on Curtis' face as he tears himself away from Dejah and storms over.

"Where the fuck have you been?"

(Barsoom. Obviously. He can see that. He means it more like how the fuck did you get there and who do I need to murder and what the fuck is wrong with you do you know how scared I was.)

[hate_gettin_older]

Overlapping the second words, though, is Edgar's own voice: "Curtis!"

And while joyous is not quite the word for it, it's definitely a shout of greeting, underscored by Edgar more or less dive-glomping Curtis from a standing start.

[2goodarms]

-- okay, he was not expecting that. And it's definitely one way to get Curtis' anger to back off for a bit.

After the half-second it takes for Curtis to regain his bearings, he grabs Edgar in an equally fierce -- if more lopsided -- embrace. Muffled: "You fucking idiot."

[hate_gettin_older]

"Look this was completely not my fault," he mumbles into Curtis's shoulder.

Nitwit nudges Edgar in the knees with her forehead, which is big enough that Curtis's knees get about half of the nudge.

[2goodarms]

He could demand an explanation about how, exactly, this isn't Edgar's fault, but that gets superseded by wanting an explanation about just what the fuck this thing is that Edgar brought home with him.

Curtis pulls back a little, shoots a look at Nitwit, then shoots another one at Edgar. Very dry: "You gonna introduce us?"

[hate_gettin_older]

"Oh, uh --"

He crouches a little and pats the creature's leathery back. "This is Nitwit. I sort of adopted her by accident? Nitwit, this is Curtis. He's a friend."

[dejah_thoris]

"She's a thoat," Dejah interjects, approaching Tars. He extends his right hand, and they touch each other's shoulders, heads dipped in a gesture of affection and respect.

"Edgar managed to follow her back to Barsoom. They spent the night in the Warhoon together." Tars leaned back, all four arms crossed over his chest in a gesture of supreme satisfaction.

"And they survived?" Dejah approached the thoatling and Edgar, a soft smile on her face. "Impressive."

[2goodarms]

So that's what a thoat looks like. A baby thoat, Curtis guesses, considering the way Dejah described their size.

"Survived and made a friend." Completely deadpan. "I'm so proud."

[we_dont_fly]

Tars's lips slide into a crooked grin. "He defended the thoatling against an iljat. And killed it with his bare hands."

Dejah's eyebrows soar. "A formidable warrior indeed. You did not gift him with metal?"

"I thought I would leave that to you, Dejah Thoris."

"I see. Well, I shall see he is outfitted accordingly, next time he walks among the clans. Thank you, old friend, for seeing him home safely."

[andinfluencepeople]

Chuck's eating meatloaf at a table near the center of the room, conferring between a written list and a handbook.

He glances up, like he has been every time someone enters, and blinks.

"Edgar?"

Isn't he dead? Where's he come in from? And who's that huge green guy?

(He'll notice Nitwit in a moment.)

[hate_gettin_older]

Edgar's clearly occupied for at least a couple of moments; he doesn't seem to have noticed yet that anyone else is looking at him.

Neither has the large eight-legged animal following him.

[andinfluencepeople]

--This is clearly bigger than just a random trip.

Okay.

Chuck actively pretends he hasn't noticed Edgar, or the green guy, or the animal following him -- he has enough practice at it, growing up in the Shatterdome, that after a minute or two he's back to his work and more entrenched than before.

[hate_gettin_older]

It isn't very long, though, before Edgar notices him.

And wanders over. "Hey."

[andinfluencepeople]

Chuck actually jerks visibly.

"-- Hey," he replies, and grins, a little startled Edgar came over. "You go on a field trip or something?"

[hate_gettin_older]

"Or something," he agrees. "Got dragged off to Mars. Wasn't my idea."

[andinfluencepeople]

"-- You did not," Chuck says, automatic.

"Really?"

[hate_gettin_older]

"No bullshit," he says, "for real. It's this ugly beast's fault."

His tone is completely at odds with the words, fond and amused, as he reaches to pat the four-foot-tall creature following him.

[not_his_pa]

(OOC: Glad to help with stabling Nitwit and been meaning these two to meet. *handwaves to be after first thread. I can always edit.)

William's never seen a creature like that before but its behaving like something between a dog and a colt. On his way to find a seat he stops and nods to the man, boy maybe who clearly belongs to it and asks, "What is he or she?"

[hate_gettin_older]

[ooc: oh man Edgar will be VERY glad for help stabling Nitwit. He has no idea what to do with her.]

"What? Oh -- she's, uh, she's a thoat. A baby one."

[not_his_pa]

"And you're hers? I've known horses like that,"

He leans down and offers his hands which smell of horse, leather, rope and hay with a mix of horse and cow shit.

[hate_gettin_older]

Nitwit sniffs, twitches back a little with widening eyes, and sniffs again. She is NOT SURE AT ALL about this weird combination of smells, but at least none of it smells dangerous exactly?

"I think she decided I was hers the other day, yeah." That's a bit rueful.

[not_his_pa]

"Ain't never smelled somethin' like me, have you? I won't bite and if I do somethin' wrong then your human will probably punch me out, don't you worry. I'm William,"

A thoat is an odd looking creature but he knows animals and grins at the snuffling. Edgar reminds him of himself, if you look younger then you learn to fight fast and are dangerous, no matter the world.

[hate_gettin_older]

He's both amused and subtly reassured by the way William talks to the thoatling.

"I'm Edgar," he says. "And this is Nitwit."

[not_his_pa]

"Good to meet you. Are you goin' to ride her when she's bigger? How big will she get?"

[hate_gettin_older]

He gives a rueful snort of laughter. "Pretty fuckin big. I dunno if I'm going to ride her, but that's what they do where she comes from, so maybe."