[Day 5, Late Morning] The Bare Necessities (Open)

[Calico Carter]

She'd been good. Careful with her money.

But between talking to Milo, the blossoming of a species of social life, and the fact that she was assured of at least the second-place purse, Calico figured it was time to do more than window shop.

So she strode into the NamTech store, cash in hand.

Let's see, a new cell phone- that's ten onz, it hurts, but what the hell.

...

And yes, buy yourself the Strollman. You screw up, you can always pawn it.

... A trapping kit would clean me out. Yeah, I have more money coming in, but... no. Don't be stupid. Wait until the dust settles.

...

Some new clothes might be nice, though... maybe I ought to hit up the mall...

No. Bad. Wait.

[Mara Froste]

Mara had money, finally Very necessary money at that. There were two possible expenses here. Either we go for a wrangle kit or refill our cooking kit. Bah, too expensive for the wrangle kit. She began grabbing the ingredients to refill her cooking kit. Blitz stood up at one point, and grabbed a bag of dried fish so that went in the basket. Always with that fish. You're an addict, Blitz. Then, Blitz sniffed the air and ran around the corner straight into Calico.

[Calico Carter]

"Oh! Excuse me, sorry abou- Mara?"

Calico lit up, momentarily, and Orlok made a happy chitter.

"Mara, good to see you, things have been..."

She trailed off. Blitz was right there.
Talia wasn't.

And it wasn't like Mara to just ignore one of her monsters, especially not one with a reputation like a taichen, and especially not in a public shop.

Something happened.

[Mara Froste]

Mara's eyes looked awfully red and she had been staring into space. Blitz made a mournful noise at Orlok and looked pointedly at Mara. 'Er, oh, uh... hey.' Mara stumbled over her words and seemed really off like she was struggling to keep everything bottled up. 'C-calico...,' her voice came out somewhere between whine and whimper. 'The c-chasma, 3 of them. T-they were eating a person and we tried to s-scare them off, and then tried to run and... T-talia! One hit!' The tears burst free, and Mara wrapped her arms around herself. Blitz chattered at Orlok and rubbed again her human looking quite stressed.

[Calico Carter]

Oh no...

Calico had barely met Talia, but the little murder-chicken had been nice enough... and more importantly, she'd been Mara's.

And she knew that Mara, like Calico herself, took responsibility for her monsters.

So she reached out and hugged the other woman, pulling her close.

There was nothing she could say that would do any good.

Orlok flew in mild agitation, then perched on Calico's leg, his wings stretched, one touching Mara, another touching Blitz. The psychic bug wasn't used to trying to be comforting, but it seemed important.

[Mara Froste]

Mara hugged Calico and cried a bit, needing the closeness. It took her a minute to realize they were in public in a store no less. Blitz chirped approval at Orlok for his actions. He was trying to fix her broken human, after all.

Mara pulled away and blushed a bit, 'err, sorry to fall apart like that. She wasn't with me long but if I hadn't have tried to fight them, it wouldn't have happened. Then again, they couldn't even really hit her til we tried to escape. I had used a health spray on her just in case and that left her closer to them. If she ran ahead of me... well... to be fair... I'd be dead and Blitz would too since Blitz wouldn't have left my body. I don't know if Talia would have stayed. I didn't even know it was possible for a chasma to hit that hard. I thought maybe another monster killed that guy but... maybe that one did. I-i-I wanted to bury her but they started eating her before she hit the ground and I didn't want to lose Blitz too.' Mara turned a bit green.

[Calico Carter]

"Hey. Hey. Mara. Listen."

Calico had her hands on the other woman's shoulders and made eye contact.

"You got yourself and Blitz out alive. It's a damn shame what happened to Talia, a serious damned shame, but you did what you could with what you had. Those chasma have been a problem around here for a bit, so much that I got some pay for helping thin them out a little last night. They've killed travelers, sometimes in groups. And yeah, burying Talia would have been... better for you on an emotional front, but you and Blitz getting out alive is more important, and Talia almost certainly would have agreed with that."

[Mara Froste]

Mara nodded, biting her lip. 'It's hard when monsters die. As we talked about you are responsible for their well-being. I don't really like fighting but I know to be a successful breeder I will have to have multiple monsters. You do your best to care for them, but it weighs heavy on you if they don't make it. Yet, to be able to raise a good monster to be someone's first and closest friend is something I want to do. I want to learn to be stronger both physically and emotionally. It will probably still hurt if this happens, though.'

'So... erm.. you want to pick dinner for tomorrow?' She tried to change the topic and keep it light.

[Calico Carter]

"Well, I'll have at least the second-place purse to play with... maybe I can treat you for a change?"

[Mara Froste]

'Well, I am restocking the kit but it'd be nice to eat out for a change or have you cook or something. Orlok deserves to celebrate. What are you hoping the egg will hatch into?'

[Calico Carter]

"I hope it has Orlok's eyes, Blitz's face, and way more of her attitude."

She stuck her tongue out at the saturnadus, who chattered in reply.

[Mara Froste]

'Is that sarcasm from the bug?' Mara looked at Orlok incredulously, 'it'd be nice if they had Orlok's wings, maybe fur on their bodies.'

Blitz chattered an excited clicking noise at Orlok, before making a half-lidded expression at Orlok. Oh. Oh, my... Her ears kept twitching to the two wranglers as she listened.

'I actually meant the prize egg, but if it's a mothkit, that'd be adorable too.'

'Hrm, it'd be good if they get Blitz's healing abilities. She's patched not just herself but me up several times. Orlok's hypnosis too. It's a really handy trick.'

She paused, 'when monsters breed they gain abilities from each parent. In this case, one may be able to roar and heal like Blitz and use Orlok's freeze with no horns or only little stubs, the next kitten may have Orlok's eyes, Blitz's stealth capabilities, Orlok's temper and Blitz's Horns. Not sure I want Blitz's Horns and Orlok's personality. He's been pretty well-behaved but Blitz practiced hornbutt on my shins when her Horns grew in.'

'I've seen a lot more ads for double battles exhibition matches and tournaments. I think their kits may potentially make for good support monsters, especially if they can heal and hypnotise. Actually, it seemed like Orlok had to attack their minds twice. Having two monsters focusing on one may put the one out of commission more safely. Though, their partner may wake them.'

[Calico Carter]

"Oh, god, the prize egg? Literally no idea, just glad I have, you know, room for one..."

She shook her head and chuckled.

"Far as hypnosis goes, wouldn't be surprised if they revised the rules after this tournament- I kinda think they want longer fights than he's been putting on... but being able to double-team it would be potent..."

[Mara Froste]

'Worst case, ever ever you have too many you can use me as a portable stable, I guess. I should be able to handle up to 4 Juveniles at this point, Adults are more tricky. Newborns are the easiest thing ever and don't really take a lot of effort but spending time with them is important. Its a good thing they grow out of that stage quick, in some ways. I think Blitz might like to try to support Orlok in a controlled environment, but they might distract each other too much.'

'Hrm, true. I guess some of Orlok's fights are a little anticlimactic.' Cue a chorus of protesting chitters and growls, 'I didn't mean it like that guys! Orlok's best boy. The tournament organizers just like to see pretty techniques.' Sniffs of disbelief followed.

[Calico Carter]

"Look, Orlok, buddy, nobody's happier than I am to see you not getting hurt, but... we're a bit light on the pizzazz front."

He snapped his wings.

"Okay, fair, but we've been keeping you out of melee so those haven't even been used since about round one..."

She paused.

"Anyway. Maybe we can pool our resources... er. Once we have some, anyway. Get a little land somewhere. Oh! Uh... in other news, I sorta... won a bet. So, uhm... Blitz and Orlok have a spa day coming to them, courtesy of Rayfe Drathmire. You know, the guy with Nyx the magnox?"

[Mara Froste]

'Oh yeah that was a nice looking magnox,' she paused, 'hope you didn't bet too much.' Mara stuck her tongue out at Calico. 'Gotta be careful. You've been winning a lot but jobs don't always come easy. I'll be here to feed you guys, though.'

'Hrm, a spa day, eh. That actually could work well, if I light some candles and a few blankets. Err... not sure if you can tell by those two's interactions but it's looking like their last..,' she cleared her throat, blushing, '...attempt was unsuccessful. Sorry, Orlok got to try harder little guy. I'm sure you'll get it next time. Should be pretty soon that she'll want to try again. It's usually about a week. It was the day of the first round, so... probably 4 days from this evening. I think we have hotel access through tomorrow.'

'Maybe you could put them to sleep Orlok, then freeze them?' Appeasing the bug sounded like a good idea.

Then what Calico said hit her.About a dozen emotions flashed over her face in a span of 5 seconds. 'T-that would be really nice. I mean a bit more traveling and finding good monsters first, settling funds.... but a little ranch to act as a home base and breed monsters out of, maybe train them for different types of showmanship or riding, etc. I even heard there's a ranch specialized in monsters that heal and support groups of wranglers.'

[Calico Carter]

"Oh, I didn't bet money... anyway. Uhm. Yeah. Orlok, we can... work on your pizzazz, and I'm learning a few new tricks to sorta... make your situation less fragile, you know? So. Yeah. Uh. Moving on..."

She took a deep breath, and let it slowly.

"So. Yeah, we save up a bit, but as a partnership we should be better able to get things off the ground than going it alone, right? I was thinking we could see about who else might be able to contribute, too..."

[Mara Froste]

'I wonder if we can get someone like Ashley to sponsor us in exchange for services, at least after we produce some good results. I know she's a vermin lover so Orlok's babies might be cute enough to at least get her to invest a bit. I've known her since we were kids.'

[Calico Carter]

"Isn't she still a kid?"

Calico smiled.

"I mean, a really cool one, and one whose parents are wrecking her life, in my opinion, but still..."

[Mara Froste]

'For now, she is. Only a few years younger than me, though. More of a keep in mind in the future and if I can get another monster at some point to breed to one of hers, it might be a good boon, promotion-wise.' Mara shrugged, 'I don't know too many people here. Did you find anyone else you think would be a good fit? Maybe someone you might like to live with us there?'