04; video --> text

[seabeast]

[ A video feed of a ferret sitting very primly in a pet bed, surrounded by a variety of snacks. There's a scrap of what appears to be silk right on her paws. She stares into the camera down her nose, her head held high, then she snakes forward to turn the feed off.

(She is expecting everyone to be so jealous of her Christmas haul. It has not quite struck her that this gesture might have made ZERO SENSE.

A text message is right below the video window:]

christmas gets a pass this year
praps i judjed it too quick

anyone heard of an island called sampetra
warm sandy lots o green
full to the brim with lizards and other filth

[ ... at least she gets to the point? ]

Comments

[seabeast]

[ Yes, thank you Russel. She rather likes the hat, even though she doesn't remember Romsca having one in the few moments she remembers. She hops down onto the shirt and continues sniffing it, balancing the hat delicately on her head as she moves along.

It's very salty! Her nose is picking up salt, and something sharper, and something greener. Her olfactories are strong, and she's putting names to the scents: brine, sand, seaweed, fish...

At Russel's question, she looks up at Lyall as well, unable to hold in an inquisitive chuckle. She knows this tunic is probably her own, but the idea of being equal in size to the walkers...! Well. ]

[professorwolf]

[The thought is a little bit more disturbing to Lyall, now that he's actually thinking about it. For one, she'd take a lot more feeding, and a much bigger bed... and it'd be impossible to hide her from the police, much less the general populace.]

It's possible. We'll have to cross that particular bridge when we come to it, if so.

[pianistofraielin]

Oh man. [sorry Lyall he's not concerned about logistics, that sounds super cool to him.]

I bet I could even make you a proper swashbuckling outfit too, if you wanted!

[seabeast]

[ she's excited because it'll be easier for her to do normal human things. like using a keyboard and murdering people. you know, the usual stuff.

She looks up at Russel, then gets up on her hind legs as well as she can, clawing at the air between them before losing her balance and dropping back down on her forepaws again. THIS IS ENTHUSIASM. DO THIS FOR HER RUSSEL AND SHE MAY EVEN DEIGN HIM A CUDDLE NO MORE THAN FIVE SECONDS IN DURATION. ]

[professorwolf]

I have a feeling she likes that idea.

[Lyall sounds somewhere between amused and resigned.]

People will think I torment my pets with costumes if you start dressing up, Stella, you know this?

[Not that he really minds. Not really. But he does expect some of his fellow teachers will snicker behind their hands, when he brings her to school for an outing now and then.]

[pianistofraielin]

[SHE'S SO CUTE. IT IS CRIMINAL THAT SHE IS SO CUTE BUT SO PRICKLY ABOUT BEING TOLD SHE'S CUTE]

[it is a good thing Lyall is there to translate though, he definitely would not have figured out what that cuteness was supposed to indicate on his own.]

You can't discourage her like that, Mr. Lyall. She's her own person. She can dress like a pirate if she wants and it doesn't matter what anybody thinks!

[saturday morning cartoon morals might not be the best place to draw from for this. he's lighthearted enough about it that it's hard to tell if he's joking based on the correction he received earlier, or honestly defending her right to dress up. (it's a little of both.)]

[seabeast]

[ Lyall and Stella are getting eerily close to mindreading at this stage of their relationship, and Stella finds that Lyall can guess at her side of the conversation more accurately every day.

She does suspect both motivations for saying that, Russel, but she's going to ignore them both in favor of sneezing the scent of the tunic out of her nose and scampering her way over to his feet, circling him once before facing Lyall, hopping a little on her front paws. She would like to dress up every once in a while! As far as she can tell, clothes aren't an exclusively human thing, and she does rather like the idea of showing off her finery wherever she goes. ]

[professorwolf]

[There are certain pantomimes that simply repeat themselves enough to make sense of, given the context. This one takes a little more thought, but he can at least guess it's a positive reaction to Russel's comment.]

I suppose Stella wouldn't care about the looks we get. I'm the one who has to deal with them, not her. -- And you are you own ferret, Stella, so it's really up to you. Just do have some care for what little of my reputation I have left.

[pianistofraielin]

[how many times can it be reiterated that Stella is adorable? and even moreso in her perfectly sized little pirate hat? and HOW MUCH MORESO in a full-on pirate outfit?!]

Awesome! I'll get started on that right away!

You're going to be the cutest pirate Locke City has ever seen, Stella!

[oh, he said it out loud, whoops...]

[seabeast]

[ She nods at Lyall, but chitters, which promises nothing whatsoever. This is followed by THE DEEPEST FERRET SIGH AT RAIEL. Please don't make her cute. She's dashing at most.

With that done, she starts dragging her new tunic to her bed to join the rest of her loot! It's all in piles - neat piles, at someone's insistence - but piles all the same. How... does she fit something as large as this among the rest of her things? The struggle is real. ]

[professorwolf]

[Lyall can't help but smile. At least Russel is cute, himself. But with Stella heading off to her own space with her new article of very large clothing, he makes a guess:]

I think that's the end of the audience, lad. I'm sure she's very grateful for the hat.