exsiliumlogs | found you [OPEN]

Date & Time: Sept 30 - Oct 6
Location: all over the danged moonbase
Characters: Martin, all sorts of folks
Summary: He's not a lion he can talk to people now
Warnings: BUH...

Martin had barely found his footing on solid ground before it was settled on stranger tiles. Yet stranger things had, and would happen, wouldn't they? He stressed little on his own behalf, only wincing and worrying on behalf of others. His friends...the old and new. He couldn't have warned them, could he? Not with the deal he had made. Simply being around others turned out to not be enough.

And those others...He couldn't wait to see them. To speak to them! To understand, better than what a cat's ears and nose could spell out, how they've endured. The scale and scope of their stay in this place still hadn't wholly formed in his mind, still so used to working step by step, piece by piece.

He wandered, often too brisk, at times distracted by the sights outside, and sought those familiar things out. The nature of the base only frightened him for moments, easily forgotten in the face of what he was really after.

Where are they?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

She didn't know what to say. Not only was Spooky alive, but...

"You're... you're a human," she stammered awkwardly, as if her tongue had gone numb. "Right? Or... or are you, uh... like, a shapeshifter critter, maybe...?"

She was pretty sure humans couldn't transform into anything. So maybe he wasn't not human after all? There were plenty of critters who looked a lot like them...

The awkwardness of the moment hit Martin a little late, and he shifted in place, smiling through it.

"Uh, well...I'm human now," he said, sounding dubious of it himself. "Right now, I mean. But I was different like you saw. But I don't...think it's what you're thinking." Not that he particularly knew what she meant by shapeshifter critter. It didn't sound on the mark, in any case.

"It's a little strange..."

She frowned and blinked with hopeless confusion. Humans can't turn into lions! Can they? No, no, she was sure they can't. They definitely can't.

"W-Well... I guess... it's nice to meet you, then."

Joy looked away, still too shocked to be anything but awkward.

"What's your name? Your real name."

It certainly wasn't the most joyous of reunions, was it? It felt strange, watching her reactions, realizing he didn't know if that were a right or wrong reaction at all. He wondered what he ought to have done different, if he ought to have at all.

It was almost like watching some semblance of his old self. If his old self were covered and fur and had long ears and paw-hands.

So...not really like his old self.

"Martin," he replied, nodding. "I didn't figure out how to say it when I was like that..."

"Mm... it's okay. I mean, ya were a lion."

She folded her hands behind her back and rocked on her heels, thinking of what to say.

"W-Well, like I said, the pleasure's mine, Martin. I'm Joy."

Were they friends now? Did this make them friends?

"I'm glad you didn't, um... die. I was pretty worried, about Spooky."

There was a small wince in his smile. Her wariness troubled him, if only because he felt none at all in her regard. Rather, he was terribly happy to see her, to have the chance to say what he got to say. It was just strange, finding feelings not reflected back as one would think – another part of life he needed to be better acquainted with. One would think trying to get one's feelings across as a voiceless quadruped would've been lesson enough, but all bets were off now that he was human again.

He felt a sting of guilt, too, at her remark. To have worried her...it was both saddening and comforting, in the way being thought of was. He thought nothing of her separation of him from the name – from Spooky.

"Thank you," he said softly. "For worrying about me. And for taking care of me when you did. You're a very good..." Uh... "Person."

Her nervous rocking stopped as she glanced at him again. He wasn't scary... that wasn't it. She just wasn't expecting this. It's been a pretty emotional last few days for everyone, but especially for Joy.

"I'm a jackalope," she said with a bit of her usual energy. That's right. She must have looked pretty weird to him, but he was nice enough to call her a person - the humans here were so much nicer than at home.

"Ya don't have to thank me. That's just hospitality. Ummm... and I got kinda excited about seein' somebody a little more like me, I guess."

Jackalope. It was a whimsical-sounding word, certainly. It fit her. Martin smiled.

The smile took a shade of confusion as she explained. More like her? He blinked.

"Oh...you mean," he trailed off, scratching at his cheek. Fur-less cheek. That's it. "You mean with fur, right?"

The question made her feel a bit awkward again. "W-Well, not necessarily furred," she said. Joy wasn't trying to be a speciesist... but... well, it was hard! She couldn't deny that humans terrify her. And now she'd met a new friend. The last thing she wants to do is be rude. Her parents taught her better than that!

"Ohkay --" she sighed out, raising her hands. "I'm gonna go clean with you. I gotta! I'm kinda. Super scared of... of folks like you, you know? Humans..."

He was slow to catch on, that was for sure. His expression was clouded with a confusion that blanked out by the effort to think it through.

Yet it didn't wholly click. He needed more.

He frowned.

"Did someone hurt you?"

Despite the awkward topic, Joy is slowly loosening up as she talks to him. His seemingly genuine concern about her helps a lot.

"Well, not really, not me, and not hurting me, anyway," she mutters, trying to think of a way to phrase it. Confessing her fear is one thing, but the why and how is sort of a long story that will probably just bum out her new friend. And it's not much of a story she really wants to tell to someone just barely a friend.

"Let's just say... humans aren't always so nice, where I'm from," she continues with a forced smile.

Perhaps they were like the soldiers the United Earth sent to antagonize everyone, Martin thought. Them, and those folks he knew in Exsilium were as close an understanding of human as he knew while he was in the flesh. Everything else was...veiled, quiet and still just beyond his reach of thought.

Instead, he thought as a Darkov would. Seeing something like Joy? It would've gone poorly for her. In that context, he understood better her apprehension.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, head dipping down for a beat. "I hope they've been nice to you here. I know I want to."

She gave him a little nod and the tension in her smile faded.

"...Everybody's been real nice so far, actually," she said. "I mean... I guess it's still humans doin' all the bad stuff too, here, just a different group of 'em. But I'm glad I'm on our side if I gotta be here."

Martin is real nice, too. Joy stared at him as if she had something to say, and then blurted, "Can I call you Marty, then?"

"Marty?" he echoed, blinking. The way she said it, it sounded brighter. A strange ring.

He smiled crooked. Someone called me that before, didn't they?

"Yes...yes, you can." The smile became a grin. "It sounds good when you say it."

found you [OPEN]

yes perfect joy is like 4'10" at the horns

aw leedle

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