The Deck | Sunday Afternoon

[kirked]

There was a ferret following Jim around. At first, he'd just thought the island was giving out pets again and he'd rolled his eyes. Then, the ferret had started talking. At that point, Jim thought maybe he'd gone on a bender he didn't remember and was still drunk

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[hasadestiny]

A small red vixen bounded up onto the deck, followed closely by Lex. "Are you absolutely sure my dad didn't pick your name? Because it seems like the kind of thing he'd..." Lex trailed off when he saw Jim. "Hey."

[kirked]

"Hey," Jim greeted, nodding at Lex before his eyes fell on the fox. "Well, glad to see it's not just me with some weird...animal friend."

"You're gonna give me a complex if you keep calling me weird," Aesina said. "It's not nice."

Jim shook his head again. Stupid ferret.

[hasadestiny]

"According to the radio, most of us got them," Lex said, finding a chair to sit in. If he seemed unfazed by all this, he'd gotten used to the island by this, plus it turned out his daemon was just as interested in trying to figure out the science behind all this as he was. "I'm Lex, the fox is Roshanak."

[kirked]

"Jim. And this is a ferret."

If Aesina could have rolled his eyes, he would have. "I have a name. And it's Aesina."

"Whatever," he said. "Good to meet you, Lex. And Roshanak. That's a mouthful."

[hasadestiny]

"Likewise," Lex said, directing his answer to both man and ferret. "Persian. I think it suits her, it's queenly." Yeah, Lex kind of liked the idea of having a chunk of his soul around to talk to, weirdo.

For her part, Roshanak rolled her eyes before settling at Lex's feet. "Flatterer."

[kirked]

Jim might have been a little more okay with this whole thing if his daemon hadn't been a frigging ferret. He couldn't have had a cooler daemon? Sheesh.

"I've been hearing that strange crap like this happens a lot," said Jim, glancing over at Aesina. "A weaker person might be driven insane by living on this island. Surprised there isn't a psychologist on call."

[hasadestiny]

It wasn't that bad, sure a fox was cooler, but that didn't mean ferrets were uncool. He could have had some kind of beetle or something.

"There's guidance counsellor," Lex said. "Though I don't know how useful she'd be."

[kirked]

Or a manatee though how that would have worked, Jim didn't know.

"There's a guidance counselor?" He'd missed that staff announcement. "You a regular visitor of hers? Or just word of mouth?"

[hasadestiny]

Or a Centaurian slug! Not that Lex knew about them.

"She just started that this semester," Lex told him. "Before that she taught classes."

[kirked]

"Huh." Yeah, Jim would not be going for a visit with the guidance counselor. He'd heard his mom talk about ship board counselors before. He didn't need someone picking his brain.

"We don't need that," Aesina piped up, curling up on the lounger. "Therapy's stupid."

"It is." He'd just agreed with a ferret. Jim sighed. "I think I liked being a girl better than this. That was more fun."

[hasadestiny]

Lex grinned. "Can't say I minded having breasts and red hair."

"Since I'm you, technically you do this time as well," Roshanak added dryly.

[kirked]

"Did your fox just imply it had red hair and breasts?" Jim asked, tilting his head and furrowing his brow.

[hasadestiny]

"...I think she just did."

"Well, I'm a red fox aren't I? It's right there in the name," Roshanak said with a vulpine sigh. "And what do you think breasts are except overdeveloped mammary glands?"

[kirked]

"I just don't know if I ever expected a fox to be so...open about it?" Or maybe he hadn't expected a talking fox at all. That was probably closer to the truth.

"There are girl animals and boy animals, you know," Aesina interjected. "I thought we were smarter than that, Jim."

"We are!" Jim protested, frowning. "Shut up."

[hasadestiny]

"Because animals are so modest on the whole," Roshanak added. "It's why we run around with no clothes on."

"Well, she's got a point," Lex said.

[kirked]

"She does," Aesina agreed, turning around and preening a bit. He liked his fur, thank you very much.

"Are these animals really showing us up right now?" Jim marveled. "I'm not stupider than a ferret."

"No, you're not," Aesina agreed. "I'm a part of you and I'm not stupid."