(Untitled)

[gone_byebye]

No slime today! Ray's been busy with other things, most of which have to do with his nephews. You can't neglect an apprenticeship just because you've been off tootling around South Dakota looking for invisible bureaucrat jailbirds

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[redsnout]

Raptor Red remembers quite a bit about Milliways, ranging from how to get food to what the layout of the outside area is like. But what she remembers best are the humans, and one human in particular.

And nowshe's spotted that particular stupid-brave human/walking source of handouts. This calls for a greeting.

Hopefully, Ray won't mind the sight of a raptor lunging out from between the tables, jaws spread wide as she calls "KHOH!"

[redsnout]

Scribble phhrs at the scritching, bouncing a bit again. Ray's better at the itchy spots thing than the tickbirds-they might remove bugs, but they don't scratch.

Red makes another amused snort at the mention of the octopi, motioning with her head towards the right. Apparently, Scribble has a cache of toys hidden somewhere.

[gone_byebye]

"Aaah, okay," says Ray. "Good- you wanna play with something, Scribble? I'm good for it if you are."

Somewhere, somewhen, a palaeontologist develops a facial tic and has no idea why.

[redsnout]

In the future of Raptor Red and Scribble's world, there's a collection of items from a dig hidden in a backroom that no one talks about. Ever.

"Yeep!" While Scribble lacks the true understanding of English that Red has, she still knows certain words, and 'play' is one of them. She goes darting off, charging off to go fetch something.

Red just shakes her head.

[gone_byebye]

Ray looks up at Red. "I'd play with her more appropriately if I were bigger or stronger," he says apologetically. "Wrestling or play-fighting or something. As it is, she'd gut me like a fish. Best I can do, really."

[redsnout]

Red nods at that-she can't argue it. Humans are built to be far more squishy than raptors, as far she can tell. But the mention of gutting gets her on the lookout again, sniffing the air carefully and watching the horizon. Even if her pack doesn't show up, there's a chance another predator might.

A few moments later, Scribble reappears, a well-worn toy octopus clenched in her jaws. She lets out a muffled chirp, bounding over to Ray.

[gone_byebye]

Ray has a fractionally better chance of defending himself against another predator than most humans do, since he never, ever, ever goes anywhere other than the shower without his lightsaber, but he's more than happy to make use of the Raptor Early Warning System.

At least when he's not playing. He beams. "Okay! Bring it here- good girl, Scribble, good girl-"

This is going to be an interesting tug of war, assuming it doesn't turn into Put Ray Through The Red Devil Paint Mixer.

[redsnout]

"Yeepyeepyeep!" The yeeping is muffled as Scribble lets Ray grab onto part of the octopus, then begins tugging-gently. She's learned through trial and error how much force the toys can take, and she doesn't wnat to send Ray sprawling from a sudden yank. Not yet anyway.

Red ventures out further, still sniffing the air and watching carefully. Old pack scent here, old deinonych scent here-that earns a hiss-and some dinosaur scent over there she doens't recognize. Hm.

[gone_byebye]

Sprawling is fun, but it's best if Ray gets an idea of just what he's up against first. Scribble is, after all, phenomenally strong compared to Ray. Still, he's got a good grip, so he holds on for a few good tugs before letting go. He'll grab hold again in a minute, no problem.

Gosh, he's missed this.

[redsnout]

"Eep!" She wasn't expecting him to let go, but recovers quickly, and is soon waving the toy in his direction again.

Red's attention is still elsewhere, though. She continues sniffing the air, hopping onto a rock to give her a better view of the area. The raptor sniffs, pauses, and then sniffs again, growling quietly to herself.

[gone_byebye]

In some ways Ray can be a lot like one of the younger raptors himself. If Red's keeping watch, he's not going to pay that much attention to his surroundings, at least not until he hears an alarm call. He's just gonna grab the toy and hang on a lot tighter this time, even if he gets shaken around in the process.

[redsnout]

Scribble is quite happy to keep up the game, this time tugging with a bit more force. She's aware that she has the advantage here, and so she's playing like she would with a chick-carefully.

Growling again, Red hops off the rock and begins to move forward, her head and neck arched as she scans the horizon. She's on alert-and very interested in something in the distance. If only she wasn't upwind...

[gone_byebye]

Ray's good with that- with what Scribble's doing, that is. He's content to be on the reverse end, after all the times he was the bigger and stronger of the two playing in the Bar.

He really wishes he could fill in the guys at the Museum of Natural History about this, but wow would that be bad temporal mojo.

[redsnout]

Red continues on her way, trotting down a hill to investigate the scent. Scribble continues to play, not paying much attention to her mother's disappearance-until she hears a faint, sudden "Khoh!"

The younger raptor releases the toy, and takes on the same stance her mother had-her head and neck held high and alert.

The call repeats itself. "Khoh! Khoh! Khoh!"

[gone_byebye]

Ray freezes.

There's no possible way that can mean anything good.

[redsnout]

"Khoh! Khoh! Khoh!" The call gets louder, and Red suddenly appears again, doing her best to dodge the various rocks and stumps in the way of her running.

Scribble hisses and begins back up, then looks towards Ray and squawks at him. Being frozen in this situation isn't a good idea.

The roar that suddenly sounds explains why it's not a good idea.