II

[notzubats]

Who: Sora Niniji
Broadcast: Text, Fleetwide!
Action: guess
When: Today

Hpyothe-

Hypothetickca-

Hyptoomedical

Question!

if ur in a tree & theres a bear at the bottom. a mad bear.

what do u do?

[a beat before the next part is added]

just curious.

Comments

[sylphystia]

[It's true that this kid is way too light. He's small, yeah, but even Rose weighed more than this. It's like carrying a pillow.

The exploding treetops get his attention, however, and he stops before too long. He's still holding onto the boy and keeping him from falling. There's a pause as he considers getting his communicator out, but he's afraid Sora will wriggle out of his grip and fall unceremoniously to his death.

Dezel hops down the tree, slower this time, and gently sets Sora down. Now he goes for his communicator.]

I told you not to freak out.

[notzubats]

[Fortunately by the time that Dezel starts hopping down, Sora has stopped screaming. Though he won't breath until he's safely set on the ground because holy crap that was freaky. maybe kinda cool?! but mostly just freaky]

[He's catching his breath when he hears his communicator goes off. Hey he knows that gruff voice]

Dezel?! That was you??

[That's right, that must've been dezel. It makes sense now]

S-Sorry! It just caught me by surprise!

[sylphystia]

Yep. [Forever a man of few words. Unless it's about animals.] Any injuries?

[He tries his best not to sound concerned, and nearly succeeds. His crew is his crew and he's obligated to them even though he barely knows them. They're his, and no one else's.]

[notzubats]

[So tsundere]

[Sora glances at himself at the question. there's scratches on him- especially from holding onto that branch for so long. But eh]

Just scratches. Nothing really.

[sylphystia]

[There's something about the boy that reminds Dezel of a lost time. Scraped knees, scratches, bruises in weird places, the sound of leaves crunching and twigs snapping during a game of tag. A girl laughing, and her adoptive father laughing too.

The wind picks through Sora's hair, light and gentle and surprisingly fresh (considering the smog). There's a tingle of magic and the scratches are gone.]

[notzubats]

[Whoa. Sora's heard of healing skills before. But they were supposed to be pretty rare gifts. To see it first hand- to watch the scratches close up and fade away...well, he can't help but stare in awe a little]

Whoa...

[When it's done, he looks up and around, as if he's trying to look at Dezel. He doesn't of course, he still can't see a single thing]

Thanks! That's really cool!

[sylphystia]

[He can tell Sora's trying to see him. He figures he might as well help. He reaches up and concentrates on his hat... which is now visible as a result.]

There's no mirrors around, but maybe this'll help.

[notzubats]

[!!]

[Well hey, that sure is a floating hat! He grins, even if it's hard to see through his gas-mask.]

Hey! That helps!

Nice hat!

[sylphystia]

[Sora can't see it, but that gets a fangish grin out of Dezel. Normally people start screaming. He can deal.]

Thanks.

[See, he's really not that bad. Just likes his privacy.]

Ready to go back to the ship? I'm not sure I trust you around the local wildlife.

[notzubats]

[Yeah well when you already know about the invisible crewmate and the invisible crewmate just flew you off trees- the hat is kinda not at all freaky.]

For the record, I'm not usually this bad with animals. [But yeah he's moving to stand] Though yeah, I think I'm ready to go back now.

[sylphystia]

[True. Sascha was just an idiot.]

Sure you still want a pet?

[notzubats]

Well....


Maybe not a bear. [Ha ha]

[sylphystia]

Try to keep it shorter than your knee.

[He shoves his hands into his pockets as they go. It looks like Sora being escorted by a floating top hat. No big deal.]

[notzubats]

[The knee? But come on with how short he is, that's nothing more than a house cat]

What about the waist?

[sylphystia]

We're talking about a pet, not a mount. How do you expect to control something as big as you are?

[o u c h. Dezel is six feet so he can say that but it's still mean!]

[notzubats]

[Ruuuude but honestly he's pretty used to short remarks, so he don't even react]

You don't control them, you befriend them! It's not difficult when you can talk to them.

[a beat] Recent bear incident aside.

[sylphystia]

[Hold on a second.]

You can talk to animals?

[That's rare and very interesting.]

[notzubats]

Sure can.

The ship's rats really like you.

[sylphystia]

[Dezel halts for a moment. NO ONE ELSE WAS SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT HE WAS FEEDING THEM AND NAMING THEM AND PETTING THEM? WHAT THE FUCK.

After a moment he gathers himself.]

Rats are social animals, and they need companionship to be content. Their eyesight is poor so they use their whiskers to navigate and they never forget a path.

... My augment is tactical. We both know the ins and outs of the ship.

[notzubats]

[TOO BAD DEZEL. Marked for tsundere.]

Really? I guess you have a lot in common then!

[...wait.]

Uh, I mean that in a good way!

[sylphystia]

[Luckily, Dezel doesn't really take offense to that.]

Yeah. We do.

[He clears his throat.] Rats have their own societies right beneath human civilization. People can learn a lot from the animals they live with.

[notzubats]

Well sounds like you've sure learned a lot from them. [Since man you're like a walking nature guide]

I'm still learning stuff. The whole talking thing only started about a year ago, along with some other powers.

[sylphystia]

I like animals.

[He says this coolly and unironically. Just try to make fun of him. JUST TRY.]

You weren't born with the ability? What changed?

[notzubats]

[Lucky for Dezel, it doesn't even occur to Sora to make fun of him. Animals are cool!!]

No, I wasn't. They came after...[He hesitates, biting his lower lip] Well, it's a bit of a long story, really.

[sylphystia]

[10 points to Gryffindor.]

I don't have to know. [He doesn't say he doesn't want to, because part of him is curious. But he knows how humans are about their secrets.

He could just not say anything, and he's okay with that, but he thinks of Sorey and Rose and... he owes it to them to try a little.]

... I couldn't always read the wind.