Handing over the dough (D3 LM)

[Milo Whitewood]

After communicating with Calico about where and when to meet, having chosen a nice location, Milo had made sure to arrive a bit early. The pizzeria he'd chosen had outside seating, which was a huge boon for monster trainers. He'd already ordered some dough balls for the table. Now he was studying the menu. There was also fresh pizza on display. It would be easy to pick some slices.

[Calico Carter]

Calico arrived in a fairly worn yellow dress. with Orlok on her back with his wings spread making sort of an ornament of himself.

She spotted Milo and waved, heading over.

"Jeeze Milo, you didn't need to spring for this... hi Diva!"

[Milo Whitewood]

Milo returned the wave. He chuckled as he noticed they were matching a bit. He had on an outfit that was mostly yellow too.

"Hey Calico! It's fine because I like pizza." He gets up and pulls a chair back for Calico and Orlok. "They're just finishing a new batch for lunch. If you wait a couple more minutes they'll have it ready. It'll be even fresher than the slices out on display that they made this morning."

Diva sits up and barks once too as if saying hello. It also paced its front legs on the spot excitedly. It had recognised the nice human from a couple days earlier.

[Mindshred]

Milo catches some movement in the corner of his eye. It's a single piece of pizza that someone had apparently dropped on the ground... only it was crawling toward him like an inchworm. The part of the slice with the crust lifts up, revealing a tormented, pained face that resembled that of his father.

"M̶̹̙̣̦̠̥̒̄͗͝͠i̷͖͔̠̲̐l̷̡̙̖͈̠̺̐̀̆͑̊͋͝ö̷͉̤́̑...!" The voice was a raspy, hoarse whisper. "M̵̲̊i̴̹̘͔͛l̶͕̬̟̑͋̃o̴̤͕̖͑̈́,̸̢̓͊̕ ̷̢̛̖̼ẅ̸̻̰́ḥ̶͑y̵̧̜̲̕ ̶̭͕͒d̶̟̱̑ǐ̷̪͗̈́d̷̢̧̪̕n̶͉͖̿͐'̷̱͋͘̕t̵̬͇̝͠ ̶̢̰̿͂y̴͉̝̏ŏ̵̭u̷͂̋͜͝ ̶͖̈̋ś̴̨a̶̭̫͑̍͑v̶͑͜ͅe̷̫͂ ̸̧̼̟͛̋́u̴̲͚͉͆̓s̷͍̼̪̍?"̸͖͓̫̖͖̐͊"

The pizza slices reached out toward him with a goopy arm made from melted cheese and pizza sauce, then collapsed as the sound of growling monsters filled the air. Bit by bit, the pizza was ripped to pieces by unseen forces as it screamed in pain.


[Characters that notice the supernatural event become Frightened 2, and each round they remain in the area of the supernatural event, they become Frightened 2 at the end of their turn.]

[Mara Froste]

Mara arrived a bit late for the promise of pizza. She just missed the odd happenings. However, she did see the piece on the ground, just as her new taichen decided to greedily gulp it down, nearly choking on the thick toppings.

Her dark furred staguar eyed the warwolf before deciding this was not the mate-biter. Visibly calming, Blitz contented herself with being carried around.

'Hope I'm not too late.' She turned to the warwolf's handler, 'I'm Mara by the way. This is Blitz,' the staguar chirped at her name, 'and the one gobbling down the cheese off the floor is Talia. Managed to befriend her last night in the swamp.'

[Calico Carter]

Calico had been looking forward to some fresh pizza, but...

What the fuuuuuuuuuuuu-

"Uh... hi, Mara. Hello. Nice... taichen. Did you see... Milo? Did you... see that?"

Orlok, his senses attuned to matters psychic, was also a bit rattled, and fluttered over toward Blitz in some agitation.

[Milo Whitewood]

The hairs on the back of Milo's neck had stood up straight and he had paled slightly staring at the frightening happening. He'd seen, heard and felt similar things from time to time, but nobody ever believed him. It had helped him build up a near-immunity to getting too freaked out by them, but his heart rate always quickened and he was left feeling unnerved. It didn't help at all that he swore the underside briefly had a part that looked like his father's face in pain. He had shuddered and leaned back having forgotten to breathe.

Meanwhile Diva had watched the pizza for a couple of seconds before turning its attention (and wish for attention) immediately back to Calico.

Milo only remembered to take in air when Mara's Taichen snatched up the pizza slice. He gulped in oxygen suddenly, gaze darting to Calico and Mara.

"UM, sorry, what?"

He tried to stabilise his breathing. It wasn't easy. "I zoned out there. Hi?"

[Mara Froste]

(It's the taichen that's eating)

Whatever Orlok was saying, Blitz looked shocked then horrified. Her jaws and eyes opened wide and she looked around suspiciously. Whatever, he said to Blitz, Mara had no clue but she could tell Blitz didn't like it from the way her fur stood on end and her tail thrashed back and forth.

Mara looked from Calico to Milo and back clearly confused. 'Err... hi. You ok?'

[Calico Carter]

"Uh. Fine. Fine. I'm... fine."

She's seen you fine, Calico you idiot.

"So, uh... again. Milo, Mara. Mara, Milo. And that's Blitz. And Talia."

She literally said all of that not ten seconds prior.

"Uh. Yeah. So. Milo! Uhm... how have you been?"

[Milo Whitewood]

(Edited, thank you)

"Yeah..." He didn't sound sure about being fine. "Um, nice to meet you." He slowly lifts a hand to greet Mara with a wave. "Calico suggested I ask you a few questions because you know Staguars well. I hope some pizza makes up for your time."

His gaze switched to Calico and he chuckled stiffly. "Um, yeah, ok. I need to do some training with Diva so she isn't so scatter brained in front of a crowd."

Speaking of which, Diva was sitting up and looking expectantly at Mara.

[Mara Froste]

Mara reached out a hand to Diva first. 'Well aren't you the pretty Warwolf, Diva! Your plates are so shiny! Just look at you!'

'I'm from a bit south of here, in the plains. My family breeds a lot of monsters for Ophidian Studios and staguar are native so there were quite a few on the ranch. What would you like to know about them?'

Blitz decided to sit and keep an eye on the warwolf. Orlok didn't seemed bothered by it, so she just yawned and laid her head on her paws. The taichen was licking the floor clean.

[Calico Carter]

Calico had turned her attention to the slices on offer.

"Uh... Pepperoni sounds good. Kinda basic, but, you know, style is overrated..."

[Milo Whitewood]

The robotic wolf immediately moved to nuzzle into Mara's hand. It also responded well to the praise; its tail wagged left and right and it pawed at the ground excitedly. Milo could only smile as colour returned to his face.

"Well, I was wondering what it's like being bonded with one and taking care of it. Diva doesn't need to eat and she's tireless. I'm worried I'll take that sort of thing for granted if I travelled with a living monster like a Staguar."

At Calico's choice he grinned over at her. "You can have a few Calico. It is lunch, you know? Have whatever you like."

[Mara Froste]

Mara offered a hand to the metalpup to shake if it wanted and a pat on the head. She had no clue if warwolves were installed with touch sensors but maybe the gesture would be recognized.

'Blitz is very playful and mild-mannered as staguar go, but she is still a capable hunter. They tend to be fierce and protective of their bonded partner. Sometimes this leads to jealousy with other partners. I am having a bit an issue with that now as it seems this one,' she pointed at the taichen, 'wants to be the center of attention and get all the food. No incidents yet, thankfully.'

Wild staguars tend to hunt alone and wild or not they are ambush hunters. Think sprinter not cross country runner. Most staguar you'll find in the wild have pale, tan fur with white spots. As you can see with Blitz other colors do exist. I think pale fur might help them hunt better here, though. White ones exist in snowy places I've heard. They'll crouch in long grass or underbrush and pounce on prey."

'For food, it's beast bait, beast food, or any manner of meat and so on. She likes to hunt for herself but I keep dried fish and meat in a cooking kit and rehydrate it. She doesn't mind the occasional potato if I make a stew but I was always told onions are bad. Never tested that to be sure, but don't want to risk it.'

[Milo Whitewood]

Diva responds with the expected handshake, although it would be necessary for Mara to be careful about its claws. As usual, it was loving the attention.

Meanwhile Milo listened carefully as Mara shared her wisdom. He nodded along and got out his phone to make notes. "... That's really helpful. I've noted the onions and your tips on food."

It was honestly incredibly useful and it gave him a lot to think about.

"Do you usually walk around with Blitz, or does he let you ride him?"

[Calico Carter]

Calico, still rattled by the freaky pizza (helpfully removed by the taichen as it had been) mumbled, "Blitz is a her..."

And then ordered a slice of pepperoni, plus a slice of chicken and green pepper because it struck her as exotic.

"Also a bit petite to be ridden around on."

[Milo Whitewood]

"Um, right, her." Milo corrects as his cheeks turn a little pink.

The earlier incident had rattled the boy too, but he was used to hiding it. Even so, it was messing up his communication.

"Oh... yeah... I meant an adult one..." Milo dumbly clarifies. "Sorry. I should, um, probably get something to drink."

[Mara Froste]

Mara ignored the slip for now and waited til he returned. "Adult staguar are ridden by a lot of southern Arensans. I have never rode one going full speed but have helped train the adults getting used to being ridden and having weight on them."

Blitz stood, yawned, stretched lazily, and walked over to sit in from of Diva. She stood on her back paws and held them up together in a high five position.

Talia sat watching the interaction, carefully.

((Edit ooc note: Blitz is around 2 feet long minus tail and about 60 pounds, think medium dog. Talia is 14 inches tall and only 7 pounds, so basically a chicken))

[Calico Carter]

Orlok... kept a watchful compound eye on Talia. Blitz seemed cool with her, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to be careful.

Calico kept her peace, since Mara knew way more about staguars than she did.

[Mara Froste]

Talia merely proceeded to rid the floor of any crumbs and the one small dead fly she found. Mara winced as she saw the taichen licking at the floor in different places. She would have to borrow a mop from the owner and rinse all of that. At least the taichen only wandered a few feet.