In an encyclopeda, the axolotl is defined as a Mexican neotenic mole salamanders belonging to the Tiger Salamander complex. In practice, it is something like a cross between Kirby and a Wooper
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Steve, who has beaten a swift and automatic retreat into the water, pokes his head up again and stares at his still-bipedal sister. There's an overexcited little amphibian splashing around in the shallows, Val. Feel free to boggle.
Steve's attempts to speak are just coming out as quiet little chirrups, more like a sucking-in of breath than a traditional vocalisation.
But so long as Steve keeps freaking out in the water, Val will stick around out of a determination to find out what the fuck, right? Long as she doesn't go away from the pond (because Steve has discovered that his ability to leave it is limited), he can keep trying to communicate.
Hmm. There are pebbles along the shoreline, right? Steve makes a beeline for the land again, because he has an idea.
Steve's little gecko instincts kick in as the huge enormous land monster kneels down over him. And the gecko says RUN.
Of course, they also have the human mind to deal with, and it's a human mind which would cheerfully stick its arm into a mysterious hole in a tomb if it thought something interesting and sciencey might happen.
Robbed of its initial flight reaction, the little red axolotl freezes in place like a terrified rabbit.
One wonders whether that would work with a real life 100% genuine axolotl. But axolotls which happen to be Steve recognise the gesture as a friendly one, and relax, just fractionally.
What the fuck now apparently involves a bucket with a big rock in it. There is also water in the bucket. Steve can crawl onto the rock or swim around in the water, as he likes. Once in a while she brings him over to the pond and lets him out of the bucket so he can eat bugs, which is gross, but not as gross as catching the bugs herself and feeding them to him.
Val has taken to complaining out loud to her brother the not-a-gecko. It's not like he answers, but since when does Val Bell need people to answer when she bitches at them?
"Seriously, what the fuck, man. Only you could manage to get turned into a fucking newt while minding your own business around the farm. And I thought I was the trouble magnet in this fucking family."
Hey, it's not like he asked for it. Steve really enjoyed having teeth and opposable thumbs. Or at least he would have done, had any small event happened to draw his attention to them.
Turning into an axolotl might count as such an event, but he can't enjoy thumbs now, only miss them.
But this narration digresses.
whumph, goes Steve, very quietly. It's the only vocalisation he's been able to make for a while.
Whether he's responding to his sister's complaints, or just eating that delicious spider, is all a matter of guesswork.
Neil is sitting on the edge of the bunker roof, leaning back on his hands, looking up at the battered hulk of Dynames that only looks more damaged in the moonlight.
There's a bucket beside him, and inside the bucket is Steve, possibly sleeping or possibly just thinking whatever thoughts you think when you're a newt.
Neil has some idea how he's come to this point in his life, but he's still not quite reconciled to it.
He's not a newt, he's a salamander. And he's not quite asleep - not in the human way of sleeping where you're conked right out - but he is on the prey edge of it, where one eye rests and the other looks out for things with nasty big pointy teeth.
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Not that she expects an answer, but it's a bit of a mystery. There's a good reason this pond has no fish.
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no
no, wait
...Oh holy crap, that's Val!
Steve, who has beaten a swift and automatic retreat into the water, pokes his head up again and stares at his still-bipedal sister. There's an overexcited little amphibian splashing around in the shallows, Val. Feel free to boggle.
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She crouches down by the shore to get on its level.
...Something about the way it moves... No, c'mon, it couldn't be.
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But so long as Steve keeps freaking out in the water, Val will stick around out of a determination to find out what the fuck, right? Long as she doesn't go away from the pond (because Steve has discovered that his ability to leave it is limited), he can keep trying to communicate.
Hmm. There are pebbles along the shoreline, right? Steve makes a beeline for the land again, because he has an idea.
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And taking new interest in the strange but cute creature there.
Alessa kneels to peer at this thing she has never seen before.
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Of course, they also have the human mind to deal with, and it's a human mind which would cheerfully stick its arm into a mysterious hole in a tomb if it thought something interesting and sciencey might happen.
Robbed of its initial flight reaction, the little red axolotl freezes in place like a terrified rabbit.
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What does one do to make friends with a little salamandery thing?
Hmm.
She holds out a hand. Hey, it works for cats!
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whump, goes Steve, vaccuming the air nervously.
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"Meep?"
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AUGH AUGH AUGH
Steve hauls tail out of the water, turning around to face the enormous -
- oh, it's Spots!
- oh, he realises as his little gecko eyes slowly adjust to the immensity of the creature, it's... Spots' eye. That's kind of quietly terrifying.
Whup whup, goes Steve, nervously. It might translate as something like "hello Spots, please don't eat me."
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"Seeeeeeev sim?"
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With an effort of will in defiance of his axolotl instincts, Steve doesn't run away. Thank god Spots has remembered that Daddy is friend, not food.
He can't keep from trembling in the axolotl's "oh god a predator" panic, though. Sorry, Spots. He doesn't want to offend.
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Val has taken to complaining out loud to her brother the not-a-gecko. It's not like he answers, but since when does Val Bell need people to answer when she bitches at them?
"Seriously, what the fuck, man. Only you could manage to get turned into a fucking newt while minding your own business around the farm. And I thought I was the trouble magnet in this fucking family."
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Turning into an axolotl might count as such an event, but he can't enjoy thumbs now, only miss them.
But this narration digresses.
whumph, goes Steve, very quietly. It's the only vocalisation he's been able to make for a while.
Whether he's responding to his sister's complaints, or just eating that delicious spider, is all a matter of guesswork.
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She has. Many, many times.
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...
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Neil is sitting on the edge of the bunker roof, leaning back on his hands, looking up at the battered hulk of Dynames that only looks more damaged in the moonlight.
There's a bucket beside him, and inside the bucket is Steve, possibly sleeping or possibly just thinking whatever thoughts you think when you're a newt.
Neil has some idea how he's come to this point in his life, but he's still not quite reconciled to it.
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Well, Steve can whumph and blow bubbles. That's communicative... kinda.
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"So how's my brother the wonder shrimp?"
Apparently Val deals with bizarre shit happening to her family by means of... increasingly inaccurate descriptions!
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