I believe the term is WOOT.
Happy Turkey Day tomorrow for those of you celebrating it. For me, the current celebration features 20K and my bro home from college.
Another excerpt, from the shorter post-anime Wolf's Rain piece: (My "novel?" Four stories so far, and two of those have such big time jumps from chapter to chapter that they might as well be collections...)
"Why do you look to the sky?" - Kiba to Hubb, Episode 27
“Lebowski! I thought I’d heard sneezing out here!” The old man lifted a hand in greeting, walking over with his half-grown children in tow.
“Hey, Quent,” Hubb said, wiping his nose with a handkerchief before waving back. “I see you brought your kids. Policemen’s Ball isn’t too boring for you, I hope,” he added to the youngsters.
“No, it’s not too bad. Some of the officers have kids my age. Looks like allergy season is upon us, though,” the boy offered sympathetically.
“I’m afraid every season is allergy season for me,” Hubb said. He felt another sniffle coming on, as if he’d walked face first into a wall full of animal dander. Considering the short black and orange hairs clinging to the old mercenary’s shirt, he might as well have just done the next best thing. “I’m prepared for it, though.” He pulled the handkerchief back out and sneezed again.
“Gesundheit,” the boy said, half a second before his darker elder sister.
“Thanks,” Hubb said, trying to siphon out the cat hair through the cloth. “Didn’t realize you’d be attending, Quent.”
The elder man shrugged. “I put my donation in the hat, same as everyone else. Never hurts to scratch the back of the hand that’s scratchin’ mine every now and then.”
“I’m afraid I don’t have any leads for you right now,” Detective Hubb Lebowski warned him.
“But when you do, you’ll think of us, I’m certain,” Quent’s daughter said firmly. The girl was following her old man into business, at least until they’d saved up enough to get her through the police academy. Hubb had offered to finance her training himself; the girl was too good a tracker to let her get away; but the Yaidens were a proud bunch, and stubborn to boot. About all they’d accept were whatever contracts for running down bail jumpers, known but elusive robbers, and second class gangsters that Hubb could float their way. Back before his girl had joined him in the field, Quent had assisted with some of the higher profile cases, too, but Hubb couldn’t blame the older man for sticking to the safer beats when the rookie mercenary he was training happened to also be Quent’s only daughter. And the two elder Yaidens certainly lightened Hub’s caseload, so Detective Lebowski was happy to continue with their arrangement. Every day she was out there, the dark young woman was learning the practical side of police work, getting cash towards her education, and making Freeze City a little safer place. Hubb had trouble thinking of a better way to earn one’s way through school.
“Hey, the competition has a lot to catch up with when your dad’s got a smart, pretty girl like you to act as public relations,” Hubb said, lowering the handkerchief long enough to tip his hat to her. That was probably a mistake.
“Bless you,” the boy told him.
“Thanks.” Hubb pulled out a second handkerchief, putting away the used one as soon as he had the new one to his mouth. “So, how about you, sport? Planning on following the rest of us into fighting crime?” he asked the boy.
“I don’t know,” the youngster said, running a hand through his longish, coppery brown hair. “I’ve started taking in calls on weekends and arranging appointments and doing the books and so forth for Pops. It’s okay, but I think I’d rather do something with animals when I grow up.”
Hubb smiled behind his handkerchief. “Always good to hear. You know, if Quent will let you take an assignment by yourself, Cher and I could probably use somebody to look after our birds while we’re on vacation.”
“Birds?” the boy repeated, an excited grin widening his eyes and mouth. “Birds are amazing. What kind do you have?”
“Pigeons, mostly, although we get a few wild visitors of all sorts in the spring and fall,” Hubb informed him. “They’re one of the few animals that don’t make these terrible allergies of mine act up, strangely enough.”
“That’s good,” the boy said, glancing at his father and sister to try to gauge their reactions. “I have to admit, though: I don’t know a whole lot about taking care of birds.”
“It’s okay,” Hubb said. “I’m sure Cher would be happy to teach you.” Cher had been the one who convinced him to stand around them long enough to even test his buggy, overactive immune system. When the bird perched and bobbed on his arm without being shaken off by a sudden sneeze, or even disturbed by so much as a sniffle, it had seemed a new miracle to him. Hub had scared the bird off when he threw those same arms around his Cher, earning him a present upon his shoulder for his trouble, but he hadn’t cared, and that day, neither had she.
“How is your wife, Lebowski? Did she make the ball?” Quent asked, nodding slowly in response to the unspoken question in his son’s eyes.
“She’s - she’s doing okay. No; she couldn’t come,” Hubb replied, looking at the ground. “There’s some new big shot project at the laboratory, and my Cher’s in charge of it.”
“Congratulations. You must be very proud of her,” Quent’s daughter said.
“Yeah, we’re both proud of it. It does keep her busy, though,” Hubb said, shrugging.
“Nothing wrong in following what you’re passionate about,” the boy said.
“No,” Hubb agreed. “It’s probably a good thing.” After all, that’s what Hubb was doing… mostly. Compared to Cher, the small thrills of the rainy beat and the paperwork trails that inevitably followed paled in comparison. Hubb Lebowski liked his job, but there were things he would rather be pursuing than desperate criminals. There were other goals on his mind, other people he wanted to find.
Hubb reconsidered the three standing before him and felt a twinge of envy tug at his mouth like a half-prevented sneeze. Quent’s wife and firstborn son were long dead. The two living children were not Yaiden’s by blood. But Blue and Toboe were standing at Quent’s side, as loyal to their adoptive father as to anything else in their lives.
Hubb and Cher still had time for children. Someday, perhaps, they would find some balance between work and home that they could both be at peace with. It wasn’t that Hubb Lebowski was unhappy about his wife’s enthusiasm for her new pet project by any means; it was simply that he was jealous. He was jealous of Quent Yaiden’s tight-knit family. Hubb was jealous of this girl, who knew what she wanted in this world and how to go about getting it on her own terms. He was jealous of the boy, petted and protected by his elders and well aware that the mind-numbing ledgers were mere busywork - a chore done to earn a bit of pocket money, to be set aside at the end of the spring with classes and hay fever and the girl he liked too much to ignore but was too afraid and clumsy to talk to. In summer, the boy knows, Hubb was sure, that there will be birds.
Hubb Lebowski stood in the garden before the civic center in his second-best uniform, breathing through a handkerchief and listening to the susurrus of distant conversations. Within the building, he could hear snippets of music deeply unlike anything that would be blasting by him on a beat. Before him, the Yaiden team offered their good wishes and moved on, Quent directing them in simple, economical movements, his daughter loping at his heel, and the youngest racing about the pair like a puppy let off the short leash, greeting everyone in his path with all the warmth within him. After all, the boy had been promised birds.
Hubb looked up at the sky and wondered if a certain bird shall ever return to him. He knew she was flying free, but he missed her smell. It was sweeter than cat hair.
Another excerpt, from the shorter post-anime Wolf's Rain piece: (My "novel?" Four stories so far, and two of those have such big time jumps from chapter to chapter that they might as well be collections...)
"Why do you look to the sky?" - Kiba to Hubb, Episode 27
“Lebowski! I thought I’d heard sneezing out here!” The old man lifted a hand in greeting, walking over with his half-grown children in tow.
“Hey, Quent,” Hubb said, wiping his nose with a handkerchief before waving back. “I see you brought your kids. Policemen’s Ball isn’t too boring for you, I hope,” he added to the youngsters.
“No, it’s not too bad. Some of the officers have kids my age. Looks like allergy season is upon us, though,” the boy offered sympathetically.
“I’m afraid every season is allergy season for me,” Hubb said. He felt another sniffle coming on, as if he’d walked face first into a wall full of animal dander. Considering the short black and orange hairs clinging to the old mercenary’s shirt, he might as well have just done the next best thing. “I’m prepared for it, though.” He pulled the handkerchief back out and sneezed again.
“Gesundheit,” the boy said, half a second before his darker elder sister.
“Thanks,” Hubb said, trying to siphon out the cat hair through the cloth. “Didn’t realize you’d be attending, Quent.”
The elder man shrugged. “I put my donation in the hat, same as everyone else. Never hurts to scratch the back of the hand that’s scratchin’ mine every now and then.”
“I’m afraid I don’t have any leads for you right now,” Detective Hubb Lebowski warned him.
“But when you do, you’ll think of us, I’m certain,” Quent’s daughter said firmly. The girl was following her old man into business, at least until they’d saved up enough to get her through the police academy. Hubb had offered to finance her training himself; the girl was too good a tracker to let her get away; but the Yaidens were a proud bunch, and stubborn to boot. About all they’d accept were whatever contracts for running down bail jumpers, known but elusive robbers, and second class gangsters that Hubb could float their way. Back before his girl had joined him in the field, Quent had assisted with some of the higher profile cases, too, but Hubb couldn’t blame the older man for sticking to the safer beats when the rookie mercenary he was training happened to also be Quent’s only daughter. And the two elder Yaidens certainly lightened Hub’s caseload, so Detective Lebowski was happy to continue with their arrangement. Every day she was out there, the dark young woman was learning the practical side of police work, getting cash towards her education, and making Freeze City a little safer place. Hubb had trouble thinking of a better way to earn one’s way through school.
“Hey, the competition has a lot to catch up with when your dad’s got a smart, pretty girl like you to act as public relations,” Hubb said, lowering the handkerchief long enough to tip his hat to her. That was probably a mistake.
“Bless you,” the boy told him.
“Thanks.” Hubb pulled out a second handkerchief, putting away the used one as soon as he had the new one to his mouth. “So, how about you, sport? Planning on following the rest of us into fighting crime?” he asked the boy.
“I don’t know,” the youngster said, running a hand through his longish, coppery brown hair. “I’ve started taking in calls on weekends and arranging appointments and doing the books and so forth for Pops. It’s okay, but I think I’d rather do something with animals when I grow up.”
Hubb smiled behind his handkerchief. “Always good to hear. You know, if Quent will let you take an assignment by yourself, Cher and I could probably use somebody to look after our birds while we’re on vacation.”
“Birds?” the boy repeated, an excited grin widening his eyes and mouth. “Birds are amazing. What kind do you have?”
“Pigeons, mostly, although we get a few wild visitors of all sorts in the spring and fall,” Hubb informed him. “They’re one of the few animals that don’t make these terrible allergies of mine act up, strangely enough.”
“That’s good,” the boy said, glancing at his father and sister to try to gauge their reactions. “I have to admit, though: I don’t know a whole lot about taking care of birds.”
“It’s okay,” Hubb said. “I’m sure Cher would be happy to teach you.” Cher had been the one who convinced him to stand around them long enough to even test his buggy, overactive immune system. When the bird perched and bobbed on his arm without being shaken off by a sudden sneeze, or even disturbed by so much as a sniffle, it had seemed a new miracle to him. Hub had scared the bird off when he threw those same arms around his Cher, earning him a present upon his shoulder for his trouble, but he hadn’t cared, and that day, neither had she.
“How is your wife, Lebowski? Did she make the ball?” Quent asked, nodding slowly in response to the unspoken question in his son’s eyes.
“She’s - she’s doing okay. No; she couldn’t come,” Hubb replied, looking at the ground. “There’s some new big shot project at the laboratory, and my Cher’s in charge of it.”
“Congratulations. You must be very proud of her,” Quent’s daughter said.
“Yeah, we’re both proud of it. It does keep her busy, though,” Hubb said, shrugging.
“Nothing wrong in following what you’re passionate about,” the boy said.
“No,” Hubb agreed. “It’s probably a good thing.” After all, that’s what Hubb was doing… mostly. Compared to Cher, the small thrills of the rainy beat and the paperwork trails that inevitably followed paled in comparison. Hubb Lebowski liked his job, but there were things he would rather be pursuing than desperate criminals. There were other goals on his mind, other people he wanted to find.
Hubb reconsidered the three standing before him and felt a twinge of envy tug at his mouth like a half-prevented sneeze. Quent’s wife and firstborn son were long dead. The two living children were not Yaiden’s by blood. But Blue and Toboe were standing at Quent’s side, as loyal to their adoptive father as to anything else in their lives.
Hubb and Cher still had time for children. Someday, perhaps, they would find some balance between work and home that they could both be at peace with. It wasn’t that Hubb Lebowski was unhappy about his wife’s enthusiasm for her new pet project by any means; it was simply that he was jealous. He was jealous of Quent Yaiden’s tight-knit family. Hubb was jealous of this girl, who knew what she wanted in this world and how to go about getting it on her own terms. He was jealous of the boy, petted and protected by his elders and well aware that the mind-numbing ledgers were mere busywork - a chore done to earn a bit of pocket money, to be set aside at the end of the spring with classes and hay fever and the girl he liked too much to ignore but was too afraid and clumsy to talk to. In summer, the boy knows, Hubb was sure, that there will be birds.
Hubb Lebowski stood in the garden before the civic center in his second-best uniform, breathing through a handkerchief and listening to the susurrus of distant conversations. Within the building, he could hear snippets of music deeply unlike anything that would be blasting by him on a beat. Before him, the Yaiden team offered their good wishes and moved on, Quent directing them in simple, economical movements, his daughter loping at his heel, and the youngest racing about the pair like a puppy let off the short leash, greeting everyone in his path with all the warmth within him. After all, the boy had been promised birds.
Hubb looked up at the sky and wondered if a certain bird shall ever return to him. He knew she was flying free, but he missed her smell. It was sweeter than cat hair.