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[talkback_stein]

Sooo... how many'a you guys got pets at home?

[There's a soft ribbiting in the background. Yes, Chase has still got his frog - the golden little thing. Can't really bring himself to set it loose on one of the wilderness decks to roam free and... do it's little frog thing, or whatever frogs do in their spare time

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[shenghuanzhe]

You wanna try out the racin' deck, kital?

[talkback_stein]

Do you even have to ask, man?

[shenghuanzhe]

Then where the fuck are you, kiddo?

[talkback_stein]

Chillin' like an amphibian, dude. 'M at the bar.

Gotta' wait a bit before I hit the track though, man; you know - don't drink and drive.

[shenghuanzhe]

[Kage considers this.]

Yeah. Might spill your drink. On my way.

[Kage hikes on up to the bar, and as he passes the blonde to sit down he gives Chase an affectionate hair ruffle before pulling him in to give him a brotherly kiss on the top of the head.

Kage plops down on his own barstool and reaches for some of whatever Chase is having.]

You have any pets back on Earth, kiddo?

[talkback_stein]

[Chase has a good laugh at that, and waits for Kage to show up.]

Yeah man, had one - real chill thing, too. What about you?

[And hey - if Kage's having a drink? Chase figures that he'll stop when the First Mate stops, but then remembers that he's got a head start on the guy. Plus? Kage just took his drink, so it's all good.]

[shenghuanzhe]

Yeah. One captain I worked for back on the Beautiful World had this clever as shit parrot. Thing could fuckin' count, man. It'd say good morning, good afternoon, good night--it could even imitate the Captain's voice. Sometimes we'd hear "Battle stations!" from his quarters and scramble like Zeshat's hounds were after us...

[Kage tilts his head back and takes another swallow from Chase's drink, then sets it down and pushes it back over to the kid.]

Then find out later it was just th'fuckin' birdy. Clever thing, naam?

[talkback_stein]

Not yours though, dude - you said so yourself, it was the captain's.

[Chase finds this whole confused-ownership thing a little concerning, wondering briefly if Kage ended up stealing the parrot for himself or something. There's probably more to this story than he's letting on.]

[He takes a sip of his newly returned drink before pouring some more and sliding it back over to Kage.]

He give it to you?

[shenghuanzhe]

Nah. Just that it's as close as I ever came t'havin' a pet. Usually I am th'pet, know what I mean?

[Kage laughs good naturedly about the fact that he's been bought and sold more in his life than most people would believe.]

That captain was an awright kinda guy. Dunno what happened to th'birdy. We called it Il-Habbi Sed. Means 'Lord Beak'.

[talkback_stein]

...Pet Kage...

[He mumbles, entertaining the thought. In his head the phrase abstracts to something far more ridiculous than slavery - but slavery's pretty ridiculous in and of itself. Chase laughs at that next bit, though;]

Lord Beak! That is a wicked name for a parrot, dude.

[shenghuanzhe]

[Kage grins.]

Yeah, Il-Habbi Sed would go 'gimme food!' and we'd go 'Oh yes m'lord.' and give him some fuckin' millet or a piece'a apple. Then some asshole made taught Sed th'holy sign and he'd use his foot to 'bless' us after we gave him shit to eat.

[Kage laughs again.]

Blasphemy, man. Fuckin' blasphemy. Funny shit.

[talkback_stein]

[Chase tries to connect hilarious blasphemy to Old Lace, and all he gets is Raptor Jesus - which makes him smirk, so mission accomplished on that one.]

I had a - I had this big pet, right, not so much a pet as like... a close friend, ya'know? It was part of the gang; smart as hell, too.

[He remembers Lace fondly, to be frank.]

[shenghuanzhe]

[Sounds like a slave to Kage.]

Yeah? Male, female, neuter?

[talkback_stein]

Girl named Old Lace. Called 'er Lace, or Oh-el for short - wasn't my idea to name 'er that, still doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, but whatever, you know?

[It probably sounds that way. She was intelligent as all get out for a dinosaur, but didn't have free will much of the time - so really, Kage's not too far off despite how much Chase would (ironically) object to the notion.]

[Pet was such a... nicer sounding word, than slave.]

[shenghuanzhe]

Who'd she belong to? You?

[Kage looks at Chase. He'd never thought that Chase would have been a slave-owner before. His world seemed so soft, so nice... it was hard to imagine Chase happily skipping along with a personal slave tripping after him and his buddies.]

[talkback_stein]

[Make that slave a dinosaur comissioned in the something-odd century in the future, it doesn't seem so bad.]

[This is when things got awkward for Chase, because being on the ship meant that he wasn't taking care of Lace - and not taking care of Lace meant that he's a horrible, horrible widowed boyfriend.]

Well, she sorta' got... handed off to me.

[He scratches the back of his neck, and lets the awkward silence lie for a few moments.]

Hey, Kage - can I ask you a question...?