002 - feeling a little down in the ducks-- i mean dumps. down in the dumps.

[toheirishuman]

Who: John Egbert, Casey the salamander, and you
Where: The park
When: Early afternoon to evening, whenever you feel like chatting
Style: Starting action but I'll match
Status: Open!

[Anyone who just so happens to be taking a stroll through the park today just may catch sight of a boy dressed in blue sitting on the edge of the pond. Next to him sits a yellow salamander dressed in a black cowl with a purple-striped scarf, though it's quite a bit bigger than your average salamander and it is...quite literally seated next to the boy. Clearly this is not your typical salamander, but the boy doesn't seem at all perturbed by this. In the boy's lap rests a bag with at least half of a loaf of sandwich bread inside. Occasionally, he takes a slice out and rips it up into tiny pieces, tossing them into the water.]

[Just skipping work to feed the ducks, apparently. Real productive use of his time here.]

[At one point, he holds out a handful of bread chunks to the salamander.]

Here, you can throw a few too.

[The salamander looks at the bread, "glubs," picks up a few of the piece, and........attempts to eat them herself.]

Ack! No, Casey don't eat it! Throw it! Fuck you'd better not get sick from this...

[And isn't it just a little bit sad that this is the high point of John's day at the park?]

Comments

[darkasnight]

[He was just taking a walk around the lake, his black overcoat unbuttoned and his red sword case slung over one shoulder with his hands pocketed. For everything being underwater this wasn't so bad.

That salamander though.]

Yeah, I think you've probably fed him enough to last three lifetimes by now.

[toheirishuman]

Huh? [He looks up from his half-tussle with the amphibian.] What no! No, this was all went to the ducks. I don't think salamanders are supposed to eat bread. They eat like...you know, bugs and stuff.

[rainbowarch]

[Cutting through the park was a great way to go back to the base and after a day at work, Cielo was in the mood to see a little more greenery on his way home.

Passing by the pond, he's just in time to hear John scolding his...lizard...thing.]

Hey uh...you need help, bro?

[darkasnight]

Do all salamanders get that big where you're from?

[toheirishuman]

[It's about this time that John realizes how uncannily this guy looks like one of his housemates. Well...save for his eyes, really. John hesitates before answering, trying to decide if he should address this first or answer the question.]

No and yes. On Earth? No, they don't even get this big normally. On the Land of Wind and Shade? Yes, in fact they get a little bigger even. Casey here is only a baby.

[A beat.]

...You wouldn't happen to be Rin's twin brother, would you?

[toheirishuman]

Nah, I got i-- [Wait...that voice sounds familiar. Kind of hard not to forget something that distinct, even if John didn't actually have much of a conversation with the owner of it last time. He looks up, fairly confident that Casey is done trying to eat the bread crumbs.]

Ah! It is you! Cielo, right?

[bethehugejerk]

[John skipped work? Wow, really? No! Can't be! There's certainly no coworker-slash-friend who might have been called about it, who promptly told them that no, he's not coming in to cover for his truant ass. It's his day off, and he has things to do! (He's a model employee, really.)]

[And as it so happens, things to do encompass going to find this missing friend and figure out what's up. He was totally planning this the whole day. No, really. Time shenanigans are why the effect precedes the cause, honest!]

[But dropping pretenses, Karkat has heard that Rose is missing, courtesy of the recently returned Jade (whose absence he didn't quite pick up on either). End result: he's going to check his SFC regularly from now on. He dropped the habit back when absences got too frequent and depressing to keep up with; now, while still unpleasant, repetition has taken much of their sting. But to lose someone you love to an unexpected disappearance... That never gets easy to handle.]

[He makes the guess that John won't be at home, figuring someone would bother him about ditching work, but it isn't until he finds him that he's sure. And it was a search. By the time he hits the park he's wandered through different areas of town, checked any local theater he can find for spottings of a dumb-looking kid with buckteeth and glasses (movies are his own go-to for bad moods), and peered through the windows of a few shops along the way. The park is not the quickest search either, but when he spots that weird salamander, he knows it has to be him.]

[Karkat strolls up behind the seated pair, looking out at the pond instead of down at them.]

Nice job skipping work on me, asshole.

[But if John listens, he may hear that his tone is not half as sharp as it could be.]

[rainbowarch]

[Oh? This guy knows his name? But Cielo has never seen, much less introduced to himself before. Unless...yes! Then this must be the batbro!]

Ja! And you're John.

[toheirishuman]

Hehe, yup! That's me! What gave me away?

[toheirishuman]

Huh? [He tilts his head back a little to get a look at the owner of the voice. Sure, he's heard Karkat enough to recognize his voice without problem but it never hurts to be sure. Seeing the troll's face really makes the comment sink in though.]

Oh shit! It's Monday, isn't it?! [Okay, so maybe playing hooky wasn't ENTIRELY intentional. Though he probably would have skipped even if he had actually remembered.] Fuck...I'm sorry, Karkat.

[rainbowarch]

Because I didn't recognize you! The only way that would be possible would be if you were the little bat I met.

[Recognition via no recognition. Go figure.]

So this is what you normally look like?

[darkasnight]

Land of Wind and Shade, huh... Pretty cool name for a planet. So it's an alien? [He grins down at Casey. At least it was a cute alien?]

[The grin drops. Oh boy.]

Nah. He's just blessed to look anywhere near cool as me. [Shrug!]

[toheirishuman]

Correct again!

[Behold: John in all his 5'2", windsock-hooded nerdery glory!]

So the ears really weren't yours then, huh? Hehe.

[rainbowarch]

[He didn't know John was a kid when they first met. Your hoodie is pretty cool, bro.]

Nah. They were cute though. I never did find out what kind of animal they belonged to.

[echigo_wargod]

[ the samurai visited the park often. It was peaceful.

But someone feeding ducks and a salamander certainly would make things interesting today. ]

Are lizards fond of bread?

[ because honestly Kenshin never really paid much attention to lizards before. ]

[heartandsoul]

[Maka's kiiiind of been needing to get out more after that whole debacle with her scythe. Sure it's been days since that happened but fresh air and sunshine never hurt anybody.

At least she thinks it's never hurt anybody.

--Hey look, is that baby brother?]

Hi, John! Hi Casey!

[toheirishuman]

...you know, technically I guess she is! I never really thought of her that way before. [He pushes the hood of the cowl back off her head and gives her a few scratches, looking up towards Night once more.]

Oh. So you're not related at all then? It's kind of an uncanny resemblance.

[toheirishuman]

They kinda looked like uh...what is it called... oh a llama! Or an alpaca. [What is even the difference between those two animals.] One of the two, anyway.

[toheirishuman]

Well Casey is a salamander, not a lizard so technically I don't know! I've never had a lizard before, hehe. [Smartass kids.] But this is the first time she has tried to eat it so I don't know if she is. I think she's just hungry.

[It's really kind of hard to tell with consorts sometimes.]

[toheirishuman]

[Casey is the first to turn her head, blowing an affectionate(?), happy(?) bubble in Maka's general direction. John, on the other hand, needs a few seconds to come back to the bubble since he went space case for a few minutes after getting the bread away from Casey. But he too, turns in the direction of the voice, smiling when he sees who it is.]

Hey, Maka!

[rainbowarch]

[Llama? Alpaca? What strange names for animals.]

I'll just look for a picture of those somewhere.

[echigo_wargod]

[ not that salamanders were common in Echigo... ]

Interesting. [ smartass. ] What would she normally eat?

[bethehugejerk]

[Did he just... Really...]

[Karkat looks down, but it only lasts a moment before his palm hits his face.]

You ditched and it wasn't even on purpose? Once again, it is proven that even I can overestimate your competence. And I spent this whole time looking for you, too!

[toheirishuman]

Bugs, I think. But Casey isn't an Earth salamander so she eats some other things that might be atypical in addition to that. Like mushrooms and onions.

[toheirishuman]

Sorry, I just...I don't know.

[He'd say he has a lot on his mind, but he doesn't. It's really just one thing. Maybe one and a half things.]

If you want to, you can still yell at me for ditching though. Purposefully or not, I still didn't show. That way your search won't have been a waste.