(Untitled)

[river_meimei]

It's a common occurrence: River Tam wandered in some time ago, and spent some time drifting through the room. She followed an apparently aimless path according to some internal logic, letting her fingertips drift over the edges of tables and the backs of chairs.

Over, perhaps, one particular chair

Comments

[smallestopener]

Ingress thinks mongooses - mongeese??? - are adorable.

"Hi, little furry guy," she says, crouching down to pat it.

[river_meimei]

The mongoose startles at the movement, skittering backwards with wide dark eyes fixed on her descending hand.

[smallestopener]

"It's okay. I won't hurt you."

She takes her hand away and smiles at the creature.

"Can you talk?"

[river_meimei]

The mongoose's mouth drops open, but nothing comes out but a low sound halfway between growl and purr.

The small dark eyes go even wider, and the ruddy tail flattens to the ground, curling around the mongoose's hindquarters.

[will_scarlett]

Will knows that look quite well and since he doesn't know what mongooses eat, kneels down with a piece of bread in an open palm,

"Eve, tis just the newest bout o'Milliways' magic, my friend."

[river_meimei]

The mongoose's head snaps up; it blinks, as if refocusing or resettling itself, and jerks backwards from his hand. The movement starts out liquid and goes clumsy halfway through; River has, perhaps, just thought too hard about what precisely her mongoose muscles are doing.

[will_scarlett]

He just stays utterly still, not wishing to frighten the creature any more.

[river_meimei]

That's a good move, or at least it seems to be; River is unsettled enough simply by the fact of being abruptly in a mongoose's body.

Slowly, slowly, her ruffled fur begins to smooth down, though she's still breathing very fast indeed, and almost trembling with the tension in her small body.

[wolflord_andain]

A short time later, by all accounts, Galadan enters the bar by way of the back door, and makes his way toward a table.

It is entirely possible that said table is reasonably near the mongoose.

The Wolflord, however, does not seem to notice the tiny creature. He rarely does.

They are, for the most part, someone else's concern.

[river_meimei]

Milliways makes many things one's concern unexpectedly.

This mongoose may or may not be; at any rate, she's just skittered below Galadan's table, belly low to the ground and breath fast even by the standards of small furry creatures.

[wolflord_andain]

Galadan's nostrils flare. There is something--

Hmm.

Does River have a pet?

It is entirely possible that, at this moment, he nudges the mongoose with his foot.

He does not intend it to bruise.

[river_meimei]

The mongoose whips around, tail bristling, with a low growl that cuts off abruptly as she stiffens -- not so much a stagger as a sudden freezing of every muscle. (The hard part isn't moving like a mongoose; it's when she realizes she is, and her brain tries to take over conscious control.)

[sanguimmuno]

Because Mongoose + Snake = Fun for the Whole Family, there is an equally frozen (with TERROR BECAUSE OMG MONGOOSE) coiled on a table very close by.

[river_meimei]

This mun ENTIRELY AGREES with that initial sentiment!

The mongoose and snake may not, of course.

River's still occupied for the moment with being stiff with terrified disorientation; there's a whiff of reptile on the air, though, and that may not last for long.

[sanguimmuno]

Tis as scared as I am. Maybe. If...

"Excuse me, my Lady?" Salazar will go with My Lady for now, even though he didn't actually witness the initial changing from human to animal.

"If I may be of service?"

That rule about "no killing other patrons" really works in Salazar's favour when he's not the one doing the killing, doesn't it?

[river_meimei]

A low growl emerges from the mongoose, as her head whips around and that long tail sticks straight back with fur bristling --

and there's almost a word in there, something like snaaaaaaaake--

and then she freezes again, and the sound shuts off abruptly as her dark eyes squeeze shut and snap back open.

[_wonder_girl_]

There seem to be an awful lot of animals in the bar tonight, but not all of them seem to be frozen in shock.

Alice crouches down, trying not to move too quickly, and holds out one hand.

"Hello," she says, gently.

[river_meimei]

The mongoose startles, head snapping up and belly and tail pressing flat to the ground, but she doesn't quite back away.

[_wonder_girl_]

"It's all right," Alice says, soothingly. "I shan't hurt you. I don't quite know if you're an animal that talks or one that doesn't or a person turned into an animal, but I shan't hurt you whatever you are."

[river_meimei]

The mongoose's mouth drops open, but no sound emerges.

If Alice can read mongoose body language -- and, really, even if she can't -- she may very well guess that this is one terrified little critter.