wise_lil_wolf | Musebox: 6 1/2 Verse: A Trip to the Zoo

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Musebox: 6 1/2 Verse: A Trip to the Zoo

Rafe pressed his fingers against the glass of the window overlooking The Zoo, a massive indoor research lab inside Providence where live EVOS were kept and studied. Most of them were of plant and animal origin, but some were a little harder to tell.

To Rafe, it looked like someone had dropped a chunk of Abysus down in the middle of Providence. He could feel a buzz of emotions through the glass and he was lookiting forward to to the EVOs that Dr. Holiday worked with. Truth be told, he was more used to their company than humans'. A month or so at Providence wasn't about to change that. He fidgeted a little as he waited and chewed on one of his hoodie ties anxiously.

WHO: Rafe and Dr. Holiday
When: Seven Weeks Post Lift
Where:The Zoo
Warnings:Possible mention of Mpreg

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Holiday walks into the tower, instantly chuckling at the sight of Rafe with his nose against the glass with all kinds of excitement.

"I'm here now," she said, announcing her arrival.

Rafe senses her before he hears her and the tie drops from his mouth as she enters. He turns around as she announces her arrival.

"Hi, Dr. Holiday. What are you going to do today?"

"Well..." She thinks acts like she's thinking on it for a second. "I was thinking about going down into the Petting Zoo to get a sample from Mell."

"Can I come with you?"

He's trying to contain his excitement. He hasn't been down there yet and he'd really like to see what is going on there. He would like to get a feel for things, as it were.

"Will you be careful, like you were in Abysus? Some of them are used to people, but most of them are still very wild."

She knows he probably will be, though. For a boy his age, Rafe has a good head on his shoulders.

He had two excellent teachers in that respect. He knows how to keep his distance and avoid bared teeth and eye contact so as not to be perceived as a threat.

Rafe nods.

"Yes. I promise, Dr. Holiday. Mum and Dad taught me all about that kind of thing. Dad, especially."

He had gone on many explorations with his father into the wilds of Abysus and he'd learned which of the local wildlife would tolerate his presence.

"Alright. Then you can come." He's bound to enjoy it, but she knows it can get dangerous in there. She remembers when Rex and Noah were locked in.

She pockets the syringe and still takes a tranquilizer gun. Just in case, of course. "If something goes wrong and I tell you to run back here, you do that. Alright?" A flash of seriousness there for a second, but she just wants this to be a safe trip.

Rafe nods.

He can tell she is experienced and is being serious. His father took that tone with him when they went out and gave him more or less similar advice. He knew how to be a good pup and to do as he was told by an elder he respected and knew to be knowledgeable.

"Okay. I will. I promise."

He is serious, too.

She smiles a little softer at him, before heading towards the gates where Rex always slammed through.

"Alright. Let's go, then."

Rafe followed Holiday closely, being careful and "listening" to the feelings around him.

She entered the code to the Zoo and the doors opened up. The Zoo had always been a nice escape for her, but it mostly just brought back unwanted memories.

Still, she had a job to do and a kid to show around, so it wasn't going to be all that bad.

She slowly walked in.

The air smelled different in here. While it still had the recycled, clean air smell all of Providence had, it was a lot more humid and smelled more green and lived in.

Rage breathed in deeply.

It smelled nice.

A little more homey than the air everywhere else.

He picked up a dark cloud in the back of Holiday's mind and canted his head.

"You okay? There's something there that is kind of dark."

He motioned to the back of his own head, trying to convey what he meant.

Hmm? Oh, right. She smiles at him. "I'm fine. It's nothing that bad."

Holiday forces those feelings down and focuses on right now. Spending time with him was always a welcome distraction from everything else.

"How you like the place so far?"

Mum said to let people have their privacy, so he does. Rafe smiles up at Dr. Holiday.

"I like it. It smells nice. The feelings are easier to read down here without being so far away. There's a scared one in that bush."

Rafe points to a normal bit of shrubbery. It is a smallish plant.

Woah. Wait. She stops to look at the bush.

"There is?" She can't really make out the EVO, but it seems to be a little guy. "Can you tell why or-?"

"Yeah. I think we just scared it coming in like that. His feelings are really erratic and all over. A squirrel nibbler or something. We have those in Abysus."

He keeps to himself that his father taught him to catch, skin, and eat them. He thought they were cute, too.

She doesn't like the EVOs in the Zoo to be scared, especially the smaller guys. Sometimes they've proven to be stronger than their bigger cousins, but she still worries about them.

"Will he... feel better if we backed off or-... I don't want him to be scared like that."

Rafe likes that she cares and that she means it. He is glad his mother let him choose to keep his powers. There is something comforting in his abilities and his perception of the world around him.

"I think so."

Rafe takes a few steps away from the bush and the uneven emotions emanating from it even out.

"Yep. Little guy was startled is all."

Holiday sneaks away with him, not wanting to scare the guy any more than what has already been done. Poor thing. She'll have to watch for that more often.

"Well, let's keep going, then."

She continues on her path, avoiding the little bush housing their little friend.

Rafe continues to follow her and turns his head in different directions, picking up signals here or there. Most of them are startled or curious. A few of them know Holiday's scent and don't acknowledge them much. Each little blip registers on his radar.

There's suddenly a dark blot beneath his feet. Burning and dark and unfriendly. Seething in its rage at...something.

"Do you...keep anything dangerous in here? Anything big? Like.. Below us?"

... She didn't think he could reach out that far... "They aren't really bad, it's just-..."

Okay. Be straight with him. "That's what we call The Hole. It's a facility built specially for EVOs who are too dangerous to be in the rest of the Zoo." They also usually kill those, but the kid doesn't have to know that. She forces herself to push away all of the bad feelings about the place before they overwhelm either of them.

"Don't worry about that. Come on. I'll introduce you to Blinky. You'll like him." Another subject.

He can't reach all that far yet without help unless there's a really powerful emotion at work, hence why he can feel this one. Rafe had heard of EVOs like that, but hadn't ever seen one close up...and apparently, he wasn't about to. Not that he minded in this particular case.

He picks up the seething rage from the floor and Holiday's own negative feelings and shivers a little. He nods and allows Holiday to lead him away. He would like to meet a nice EVO.

He can't help but keep looking back at the ground once in awhile as he tried to imagine what could possible be having such intense feelings and why.

Maybe some other time.

"Who's Blinky?" he asked.

"This is Blinky."

She comes upon another EVO which is a giant tree with a lot of red eyes dotting his body. He is a bit wild, but he doesn't ever really mean to hurt anyone.

"Where did you find it?"

Rafe smiles at it and waves politely.

"Hi there, Blinky."

The tree doesn't seem to be harboring any negative feelings. In fact, it seems to have a dull hum of curiosity. Several of its eyes blink and look over its visitors.

It looks like something he'd see at ho- back in Abysus.

Rafe took a few slow steps toward, gently holding out his hand.

"See? I don't bite or anything. I'm just Rafe."

"We found him in a suburb outside of St. Louis. People were going a little crazy considering he's an EVO, but he was just scared back then."

He may have hurt a few people in that process, but it was just an accident. They were kind of warranting it by scaring him so much in the first place.

Rafe nodded at the story and gently pressed his palm against the tree's surface. It was immediately warmed by a surge of simple, but pleasant emotions. Rafe tried to give a little back, to let the tree know he meant it no harm, that he was only a pup, and only wanted to make friends.

He had no idea if it actually worked. As far as he new, it could only go one way...and that was him feeling other's emotions.

Well, Blinky was gentle, but he was still a bit of a wild EVO even now. Holiday almost had a panic attack when Rafe approached him, but stopped short since Blinky didn't... seem to be doing anything.

"Rafe..." Be careful...

"He's okay. He's a good tree."

Warm reds, browns and oranges danced in his mind's eye as he looked into a few of Blinky's many eyes. Rafe smiled, easing his eyes shut and carefully removing his hand and slowly backing away from the Blinky.

"He's got all warm colors. I don't think he likes fast things."

"... Oh..."

She looks back up to Blinky, who does look like a happy little tree. She was always careful around him, so maybe he likes her okay. Rex on the other hand tends to get pounced often.

"He has always been a calm guy in here. None of the others tend to mess with him because they don't realize that he's really an EVO."

Rafe spoke a little bit quieter than he had.

"I guess I wouldn't like fast things either if I was a tree and not used to really moving at all. He likes you. You're quiet. He likes quiet and slow."

As long as he and Holiday had eased into the tree's space, Blinky hadn't minded. Touching the tree had also made his perceptions of its feelings a lot stronger. Skin to bark...or hide...whatever Blinky had. He hadn't noticed it ever really before except with Holiday...when he had held her hand on the shopping trip.

She smiles at his words then looks up to Blinky. "I'm going to have to remember that," she says, offering a little wave to the tree.

Rafe waved a little at Blinky before he eased off after Holiday.

He liked the soft buzz of emotions most of the EVOs here had. It reminded him of going for walks in the woods and being able to sense all the animals and some of the plants there.

Holiday walked through the Zoo, keeping an eye on Rafe as she went. She pointed out some of the EVOs to him. Some of the more friendly and the more hostile ones for sure, but he could probably sense it.

Soon enough, they were approaching the small lake in the middle of the Zoo.

Rafe stayed close to Holiday and did not wander far from her side. He might have even bumped into her a few times. Now was not the time to go exploring.

Then they reached the small lake.

There was something in the water.

Rafe could feel it.

"Who lives there?"

She didn't mind the kid bumping into her. The only thing she did as a response was to reach out and steady him a bit.

"Mel," she answered when they reached the lake, "and her babies. They're all very old, but Mel's children, in their lifespan, would still be considered young children."

They aren't sure what Mel was originally, but some sort of deep sea mammal. A whale or something of that sort.

Her touch was kind and he appreciated it.

"Thanks."

He listened to her talk about the family of EVOs.

"Whoah. That's awesome."

It was.

He liked the idea of there being packs of the same kind of EVO.

Holiday looked into the water, searching for Mel.

"She usually comes out when there are people around. She can smell us."

"Cool."

Rafe followed Dr. Holiday's gaze with his own and attempted to reach out with his empathy. His mother had told him not to press into other people's feelings, but he hadn't said anything about animal EVOs.

He picked up a blip of curiosity.

"There?"

He pointed to the center of the lake.

"That's usually where she keeps her burrow. Maybe she-"

She is cut off when Mel bobs to the surface, opening one eye to look at Holiday curiously.

Even though Rex named her, Mel was still a wild EVO. She had grown to get used to the more normal comers to the Zoo, but that didn't mean she couldn't tear Holiday's head off if she had a mind to.

Rafe had picked up Holiday's hesitation before and followed it again. He smiled and stood on the tips of his toes to see Mel better.

He hands tight with Holiday, though, not wanting to worry her again.

Holiday looked down to Rafe then slowly looked back up to Mel.

The creature in question blinked at the pair, looking oddly at the boy, before slowly moving closer. He was new after all, but the woman always brought some sort of tasty snack with her. Surely the little one wouldn't be a problem of getting in between them.

Rafe picks up on Mel's curiosity and he leans forward a little more just to get a better look at her.

"Hi, Mel."

He waves a little.

He looks back to Dr. Holiday.

"I think she's waiting for something."

"Her treat," Holiday tells him quietly.

Mel comes closer to the water's edge and Holiday inches forward, making sure that Rafe stays put. She takes something from her jacket and tosses it on the ground between them. When Mel leans in to lick it up, Holiday, quick as lightning, snatches a sample from one of Mel's scales.

With that done, Holiday dumps the rest of what looks like candy into the lake and Mel dives after them.

"She might be back if she wants more," she tells the kid, "but I don't think she'll be happy about being petted."

Rafe stays put and watches intently.

He senses the rush of positive energy from Mel when she realizes Holiday has brought her treats.

He listens to what the doctor tells him and he nods.

"I don't think so. Not yet."

"Not yet?" Holiday looks back into the water, curious now. Is Mel getting that used to them?

"She might let us, some day. We just need to be sure to bring her goodies when we do."

Rafe looked at the sample.

"What are you gonna use that for?"

... She never thought that Mel could be that tame, but it's possible depending on how long she had to stay in this place.

At his question, she looks back to Rafe. "Oh, this? Several things. We check the chemicals in the water, for one, but the cells on Mel's scales tend to show us a lot of information about she's doing, along with any of the other aquatic EVOs around."

Rafe listened and nodded.

"You want to learn about her. You want to help her and the others. I like that. I want to help them, too, when I am old enough, I mean."

Edited 2012-09-13 01:18 (UTC)

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Musebox: 6 1/2 Verse: A Trip to the Zoo

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late, but here!

Re: late, but here!