(Untitled)

[the_dungbeetle]

The recreation room had become his most requented haunt of sorts, next to the mouth of the caves. There was still something in him, something he couldn't shake despite his efforts to, that longed for the welcoming solitude of the dark. He pushed it away, denied the urge when he could, trying to stay in the Compound or on the main paths, but somehow

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[stillinservice]

Stormy stops in the doorway with Terrible Chester hissing between her ankles. Terrible Chester is a big cat, and it throws her off balance a little.

And she stares.

"...Hello, Gregor."

Stormy Llewellyn is a difficult woman to rattle. Cochroaches. Cochroaches might do the job.

[the_dungbeetle]

Gregor turns and smiles upon hearing Stormy's voice, his good mood not dampened by the irritable feline by her feet or the blanched look she was giving him. One of his new friends made to move backwards, a slow and clumsy process he remembered it being. At firsy anyways, with great alarm it was easy to scuttle away quick as a dart, but for the moment his new pets seemed lazy and content.

"Hello, Stormy. I have recieved a gift, and I think I like it very much." He held up the two better to her view, but with the large cat he still kept his hands near his body protectively.

[stillinservice]

"Well, that's good," says Stormy, eyeing the cockroaches dubiously. When Chester acts like he's about to pounce forward, Stormy blocks him with her ankle. If it had been Odd, he'd probably have lost a foot, Stormy being privileged in Chester's affections as she is, all she earns is a couple of slightly bloody scratches.

[the_dungbeetle]

With an expression that was quite similar to the one Stormy was offering the cockroaches, Gregor surveyed the feline with growing suspicion and made a point of placing his new friends back within the safety of the tank and fastened the wire mesh lid carefully.

"Your cat is ill tempered," he remarked, eyeing the large mammal warily.

[alex_kerner]

"Hey, man, umm.... what's with the bugs?" Alex didn't really look grossed out or anything, he had definitely been one of those bug and spider obsessed little boys when he was younger, and the feeling never quite left. In the least, it left him all right and not in danger of fainting or anything when confronted with some really big cockroaches.

"They just show up, or are they yours?" He leaned in a bit to get a closer look. Maybe they were Gregor's version of the dog that kept following Alex around.

[the_dungbeetle]

"Alex!" He greeted, a smile stretching his mouth as he held up the two roaches lazily snuttling over his fingers and knuckles. "Aren't they wonderful? I was reading a book and all of a sudden here was the tank, complete with a tag addressed to me. Funny isn't it?" Gregor was less preoccupied by the oddity of it and more interested in the fact he had them. Perhaps brutish at first glance, but now that he had time to examine the armour of their backs and their rich earthy colour, he realised they were lovely in the most natural of ways.

"I've never seen this kind before." He admitted, leaning to peer at the two still in the tank. "They must be exotic. Certainly not the kind you find hiding behind the rubbish bins."

[alex_kerner]

Alex shook his head, tapping one of them on the back. "Definitely not. Our apartment was always crawling with the things." He gave a sarcastic smile. "I like to think that I've become something of a cockroach expert after twenty-two years of living in the finest soviet apartments money can't buy. I think they just bring them in with the furniture. Or in little vents around the flat, like for heating."

[the_dungbeetle]

The tapping did not go undetected, and quick as you please a low quick hiss erupted from the insect, so surprising that Gregor had to control his reflexes and resist accidently dropping the creatures. He'd wondered what the sound had been when he'd first reached into the tank, but in his curiosity and wonder he had forgotten about the alien sound.

"My family was always well off," he admitted, "Even after my father's business failed, my working kept us in our apartment, and kept us able to afford a proper cleaning woman. But even the nicest of home, you can rely on a cockroach hiding in the kitchen."

[the_real_ray]

Ray, it had to be said, was not a friend to small creatures, furry or otherwise. Dogs, sure, maybe kittens, and a certain lurking lizard had won himself a very small piece of Ray's charity, but when it came to bugs Ray was not a fan.

"So those are staying in the tank, right?"

[the_dungbeetle]

Gregor turned and eyed the man curiously, the roaches lazily scuttling over his fingers and knuckles before clinging to the palm of his hand. "Usually, I suppose." He admitted, peering curiously into the tnk to see how the neglected two were fairing.

"But I'll naturally take them out for attention and excersise. They have eachother for company, but surely they'll want some affection."

[the_real_ray]

Affection? For cockroaches?

"Yeah, but you're not going to let them loose are you?"

He didn't think they'd last very long if he did, particularly if any of the more vigorous cleaning staff caught a glimpse.

[the_dungbeetle]

"Of course not," he scoffed, running a finger down one's armoured back as the other clung to the palm of his hand.

"They're clearly not typical cockroaches, but I wouldn't risk somone stepping on them or they getting lost. No, perhaps as they mate I'll release some of the offspring into the jungle as to keep the tank uncrowded, but for now they will stay with me or in their tank where it's safe."