[PRP] Squeak (Horace/Theo)

[Smerdle]

It would have been difficult enough for Theo to ignore a wild animal insistently scratching at his front door on a normal day, but when that animal kept trying to show him a live feed of itself scratching at his front door, it was near impossible.

He eventually stormed outside out of necessity, figuring that the farther he got from the creature the more difficult it would be for it to do... whatever it was doing, but when he realized it was following, it was hard not to feel bad. The thing was just so eager. If it got hit by a car or something trying to keep pace, well, that would be kind of ******** up, especially if it decided to show him that s**t in first person too.

So that was how Theodore Penny ended up walking past The 4th Wall with a curious, shiny-eyed skunk waddling a fair distance behind him. It was a new, bouncy skunk, and it didn't smell at all unless you got really, really close.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

He'd visited the 4th Wall not because he was a lover of comics or D&D (he'd dabbled in both), but because he loved dice. Especially really pretty dice. But Horace limited himself on dice purchases, because otherwise things would get Out of Hand. Reluctantly, he let the door swing shut behind him and stepped out onto the sidewalk.

Horace found himself falling in step behind well behind a young man with longish hair. And, he noticed at he walked. this man had a tail. Not a literal tail, not like Oliver, but unless his eyes were worse than he thought, there was a skunk. And it was following. He frowned, quickening his pace to catch up to the man.

"Hey, this may be really, ridiculously weird, but... I think you're being followed." Nugget shifted from his cozy nest in Horace's jacket pocket.

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[Smerdle]

Theo stopped, and twelve or so feet back, the skunk stopped too, sitting quite demurely in the middle of the sidewalk.

"Yeah. I'm..."

I fed it once and might have thought it was cute a couple of times and I think it heard me because it won't stop coming around and my head hurts.

"I'm aware. Thanks." He took another step, hands already in his pockets, then turned back to face the man. "This town is strange, right? It's not just me?"

Da Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Dude," Horace said. "Half the people in this town are pod people. Yes, the town is weird and some kinda magical hot spot." He stuck his hands in his jacket pockets, accidentally disrupting his passenger.

"Do you know what it wants?"

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[Smerdle]

He knew about the whole hot spot thing, but pod people? What in the hell did that mean? If that was what had happened to his ex, things suddenly made so much more sense.

"I think it just wants to hang out, to be honest. Sit on the couch, I don't know." He shrugged. "But it can't..." He looked at the animal for the first time since he'd left his apartment, his voice going full-scold. "...Because it's a damn skunk!"

As he faced Horace again, he noticed a wiggle of the other's pocket that didn't look like it had been caused by his hand. Theo noticed it, unblinking, and he slowly looked away.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"I mean... skunks aren't bad are they? What's the harm in hanging out with it?" Horace frowned, then slowly pulled out Nugget.

"I have a bat. I mean, he found me and, yeah... It's kinda magical. So... giving animals a chance isn't bad. Magic skunk." Magic skunk.

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[Smerdle]

"There is no harm, I guess." At some point he had swiveled back to watch the skunk as he replied. The skunk watched him too. "I think some people keep them as pets. But I'd argue more people probably get rabies from—"

Oh, crap. Talk about rabies vectors. Or don't. The guy with the bat probably wouldn't appreciate that. Theo thought it was cute, sure, but that was what had gotten him into this mess in the first place.

"Magic skunk." He sighed. "I met a guy with a magic squirrel a while back too." And now a magic bat. "He's a lovely magic bat." Wiggly.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"I checked Nugget for rabies, if that's what you're asking." Horace looked at Theo, one brow raised. "A bat, cool with being in my house, non-aggressive to me - yeah, I'm gonna ask 'what the ********'." He, too, glanced back at the skunk.

"Oh, you mean Nasir? With Trouble? He's a cool guy." Nugget was redeposited in Horace's pocket. "He's a sleepy magic bat. Why don't you give the skunk a chance? If he's magic and into you, he won't spray you.... I hope."

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[Smerdle]

"I didn't mean... Sorry." Of course he would have checked for things like that. This guy didn't look insane, or well, he did a little, but not that sort of insane. Definitely not the 'I want to die rabid' type.

"Nasir's too nice for his own good." Theo laughed through his nose. "I didn't mean that like it sounded either. I'm starting to think he put ideas in my head though." Reluctantly, he bent over a little, waving the skunk forward. It obliged immediately, bouncing over and sitting within kicking distance. Close, but not close close. He wouldn't have admitted it out loud, but Theo was pretty sure his headache was getting better already. Great.

"So. Nugget, huh?" He might have invited the skunk to sit nearby, but he didn't think he was ready for names. "Do you have a bat door or something or does he stay with you all the time?"

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Maybe if you talk about magic, it hears you and tries to attack onto you." He shrugged. It certainly seemed the case. Horace stared as the skunk ventured closer. It was kind of cute, maybe.

"He lives in my house, I'm setting up a closet for him, but he will have a little, uh, window things so he can get out whenever. Nugget's still gotta eat." He paused. "I'm Horace, by the way. I feel like most people with magical animals keep them close, actually."

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[Smerdle]

"Hm."

He didn't know how he felt about that, considering he had been aggressively minding his own business the first time he had dreamed of magic.

"Horace." He nodded. "I'm Theo." The skunk yawned.

"That sounds like a good setup. How many magical animals do you think there are around here?" And did they all have names that were just regular words?

Gross.

Stripes.

Puke.

Roadkill.

He doubted he would ever come up with anything flattering on that front.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Probably a lot." He looked at Theo, debating. "Actually, so do you think this skunk could be [i[your animal? I mean you know Nasir, so I guess you know about warg stuff. Have you sat down and just...tried it? Thought at the skunk dude, and tried to connect?"

He sprawled on a bench. "I can do it with Nugget, some. It's pretty neat."

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[Smerdle]

"No, I um..." He'd actually been trying the exact opposite for a few weeks now, hoping that he'd be allowed to sleep through the night rather than dreaming about having furry arms and hanging out so close to the ground. Theo took a seat, rather gingerly for him.

"I guess I could try. You first."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Oh, okay." He felt unaccountably nervous. He wasn't like an expert; he'd just begun. Don't ******** it up, Horace thought.

"So, like, assuming you have a bond with this creature, you just reach along that bond. Nasir said it's like a door." Horace held Nugget at his eyes level, then lowered the bat to his lap. He closed his eyes. "I think it's like a rope that you reach along and-" And Horace was reaching - it was harder than in that alternate Ashdown; magic never came as easily here. He took a deep breath... and was gone.

Nugget flopped gracelessly off of Horace's hand and began to flap up. He twisted around and flew at Theo's head, pulling up at the last minute. It was dizzying.

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[Smerdle]

Horace was so sincere, with his reaching and sharing and opening doors, that it pulled at Theo's guilt. He looked at the skunk again as it scooted out of the way of foot traffic and closer to their bench, and for once he didn't actively try to deny it might be connected to him somehow. He felt nothing at the moment, however, except a slightly lighter conscience.

He watched. From the outside, the whole process didn't look like much at all. And then a bat flew at his face. Theo's laugh was rusty, more startled than amused, at least at first, though he kept smiling as he held his hands out to catch the bat if it passed out mid-flight.

"Well, don't hurt him or anything."

The Semblance of Unity