The gateway to Courtney's world opens out at the edge of the woods. It's a sunny day, and the temperature is very pleasant, but the breeze has a slightly chilly edge, and the leaves are starting to turn
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Oh, my. The octomobile is a pretty rugged little vehicle, but not a very big one, so even minor inclines and bumps give it a workout. Marginatus has to use nearly all of his arms on the controls.
But the nice thing about being an octopus is that there's always a limb to spare. He types with one tentacle-tip.
temp ctrl yes. temp, 02, salinity, monitored. is dirt paving typical for your world? is this a garden? Moon's garden less wooded.
"That's good, then. No, this is just the woods. The trees and plants and things grow wild here. We'll get up to the paving before too long, but all my gateways open out into the woods so no one sees me coming or going."
There may also be squirrels, songbirds, and insects about, if he's interested in such things.
"Yeah, it's actually pretty old in places, too." Courtney is proud of her woods.
"There are some bobcats; those are the largest animal predators around. But there are wood goblins; they're about the size of a young human, and they'll eat animals when they can. Some insects are edible, but in this country people prefer not to eat them."
have often been curious about locusts, grasshoppers. look a little like shrimp. do you have coconut trees here?
Once they're on the sidewalk, he can spare more attention to the surroundings--and do a better job of keeping a steady pace in front of her, for the sake of illusion.
"If I see any grasshoppers, I'll catch one for you, but I doubt they're as good as shrimp. I don't know, though. It gets too cold for coconut trees. These are mostly oaks." She picks up an acorn and bends to show him.
There aren't many people out and about at lunchtime on a Tuesday, but here and there a power-walker or a retired couple strolls past them on the sidewalk, pausing to smile at the 'baby' in the 'stroller'. My, how alert and interested in everything it looks...
((I have been getting the weirdest phone calls today. -_-))
Courtney is charmed by the octopus-talk. She thinks it sounds a little like goblinspeak but softer and more burbly. Wetter. She hands over the nut obligingly. "Yeah, it's an acorn. There's a couple different kinds. There are black walnuts deeper in the woods, too, but they're not as big as coconuts, either."
"Crrrrrrrn." He doesn't take it into the tank--who knows what pesticides might be around, and plants have their own natural chemicals--but he does hold it for a while and tug the cap off. Then he hands it back to Courtney. "Thhhhnk."
"You're welcome." She tosses the acorn back into the fallen leaves and heads up the sidewalk again, behind the octomobile.
Woods quickly give way to neat little stores and parking lots. It should be a lot easier to roll here. Courtney points out the seafood shop up ahead. There is a large, green fiberglass fish hanging from a pole out front.
Courtney manages to keep up, although she gets a couple disapproving looks for pushing a stroller at that speed.
"Uh...well, actually, yeah, I guess you could say that. It lets people know what the store sells, and it's colorful. I never thought of it that way before."
She tries to look into the shop through the window. There are only one or two customers. "I'm going to have to be a little subtle about talking to you in the store, just to warn you."
She shakes her head. "I've never seen them have octopus there. They do have squid, fairly often, dead. The only live things they sell are the lobsters and sometimes crabs. Unless the clams are still alive, but they're not in water."
Courtney hadn't actually considered the idea that he might want to free his cephalopod brethren, although the thought that octopus corpses on ice might disturb him had crossed her mind. She nods and trails after him, silent for the moment, picturing a massive seafood jailbreak, dozens of little octomobiles zooming down the road to freedom.
Then, thanks to a departing customer holding the door for the nice girl with the baby carriage, they're inside the store.
One wall is mostly taken up with condiments and snacks. There are crab-flavored potato chips, remoulade sauces in bottles, dip mixes, various sized containers of Old Bay, and the like. The lobster tank is toward the back of the store; half a dozen lobsters crawl lethargically over one another in the water there. The rest of the room is a glass case full of chipped ice, upon which the rest of the seafood is neatly arranged.
But the nice thing about being an octopus is that there's always a limb to spare. He types with one tentacle-tip.
temp ctrl yes. temp, 02, salinity, monitored. is dirt paving typical for your world? is this a garden? Moon's garden less wooded.
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There may also be squirrels, songbirds, and insects about, if he's interested in such things.
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Vrrrrrrm, goes the Little Octomobile That Could.
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"There are some bobcats; those are the largest animal predators around. But there are wood goblins; they're about the size of a young human, and they'll eat animals when they can. Some insects are edible, but in this country people prefer not to eat them."
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Once they're on the sidewalk, he can spare more attention to the surroundings--and do a better job of keeping a steady pace in front of her, for the sake of illusion.
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There aren't many people out and about at lunchtime on a Tuesday, but here and there a power-walker or a retired couple strolls past them on the sidewalk, pausing to smile at the 'baby' in the 'stroller'. My, how alert and interested in everything it looks...
((I have been getting the weirdest phone calls today. -_-))
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It's so small. Nothing like the coconut shells he uses to hide in.
((Joy, phone calls! I'm so glad I don't have to deal with much of that.))
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Woods quickly give way to neat little stores and parking lots. It should be a lot easier to roll here. Courtney points out the seafood shop up ahead. There is a large, green fiberglass fish hanging from a pole out front.
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Oho! He pauses to jet over to the front of his tank, eyeing the giant fish for a while before returning to the keyboard.
model fish acts as lure?
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"Uh...well, actually, yeah, I guess you could say that. It lets people know what the store sells, and it's colorful. I never thought of it that way before."
She tries to look into the shop through the window. There are only one or two customers. "I'm going to have to be a little subtle about talking to you in the store, just to warn you."
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He doesn't start up the octomobile just yet, though.
do they sell octopus there? live or dead?
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Good to know. Unsure of own degree of altruism; not sure I'm in the mood to test it. --Shall we?
He gives the octomobile's engine a little nudge. Vrrm?
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Then, thanks to a departing customer holding the door for the nice girl with the baby carriage, they're inside the store.
One wall is mostly taken up with condiments and snacks. There are crab-flavored potato chips, remoulade sauces in bottles, dip mixes, various sized containers of Old Bay, and the like. The lobster tank is toward the back of the store; half a dozen lobsters crawl lethargically over one another in the water there. The rest of the room is a glass case full of chipped ice, upon which the rest of the seafood is neatly arranged.
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