care and feeding for your wolf

[actuallyawolf]

Who: Ylva and the curious
What: Shenanigans with Wild Shape
When: Early September, I guess. Time is soup.


just a little nap

Ylva is a wolf and has no problem telling anyone about that fact. Still, there are other shapes she enjoys. She is not one to be pinned down to one approach to anything. She's flexible that way.

What this means, at the moment, is that there is an allosaurus stretched out on the pool deck, enjoying the sun. Mammals are fine, but have you ever been a large, warm-blooded reptile in a patch of sunlight? Her feathers are fluffed up strategically for maximum sunning, tail curled politely around her, head tucked gently into the classic bird pose of "using my own back as a pillow."

She is very much asleep, but not deeply so.


just a little awoo

When night falls, though, it's possible to hear howling.

The curious will find a large, shaggy wolf pacing the sports deck under the moon, restless and unhappy. She throws her head back to howl, and stops, listening. There's no answer, of course. She knows there can't be an answer. Still, she does howl, and wait, and listen.

She remains alert, though, one ear always out for someone who might come to investigate the actual howling wolf wandering the deck of the ship.

Comments

awooooooo

[theweakhavepurpose]

Pratt is just standing by the railing, listlessly unfurling and dropping parachute army men from the arcade over the side and watching them drown. Well assuming they do, it's dark enough that he can only see the parachute part once they get far enough down to hit the water. There's something soothing there, and he knows why, but he doesn't care right now.

He jerks upright when he hears the howl, moving towards it before he even realizes. It's been so long since he's heard the pack he cared for back home howl, something that was always calming and reassuring. This isn't like that though, the wolf that's howling is clearly sad, calling out for a reply that isn't going to come.

"Hey? Where you at?" Absolutely no fear at all as he goes to look for a strange wolf.

[actuallyawolf]

She pauses, listening. It's an answer; if it's not properly a wolf answer, well, she's not always exactly a proper wolf.

Ylva tenses, not sure if she ought to make herself scarce, or at least find another shape to be for a little while. Still, that sounds friendly enough to entertain.

She howls again, a little softer, beckoning.

[theweakhavepurpose]

He casually walks down the deck, not hiding his footfalls, there's no need to since a wolf could smell a human coming their way long before Pratt would even be able to see them.

But once he does, he grins, "Heyo. You're not Aiden. When did you get here?"

Pratt doesn't approach her, but he does sit down in the middle of the deck, palms up on his crossed legs. He is good for sniffing. He is friend.

[actuallyawolf]

She looks at him for a moment, tail wagging slightly. She could reveal herself now, if she wanted, but she's comfortable as she is, and doesn't feel like being on two legs. Not yet.

So Ylva wanders closer in a casual trot, keeping a polite distance but there's also a marked lack of fear, as there might be from a truly wild wolf. From an arm's span away she sniffs at Pratt, curious but friendly.

[theweakhavepurpose]

He sits there passively, watching her.

"I'm Deputy Pratt." He tilts his head, unsure if this is an actual wolf or a passenger, but he's leaning towards the later. Wolves would generally approach hesitantly with their head down.

"Out here howling for friends?"

[actuallyawolf]

She gives a nod, which should probably solidify any suspicion about her being a passenger. She sits, head tilted to one side to look at him closely, her nose still sniffing to draw in his scent.

But she can't talk like this, not in any way he's going to understand. Ylva shifts back into her regular shape, cross-legged on the ground across from him.

"I am," she says, "though it won't do much good. I'm Ylva."

[theweakhavepurpose]

He should probably react more to that, after all he hadn't actually seen Aiden turn into a wolf, he's just 99.9% certain it was him. But after walking skeletons, magical fancy old guys, and a ship that eats emotions, he barely flinches.

"Yeah, not gonna have much luck. Which sucks, always better with a pack but," He shrugs, "Not much to be done here."

[actuallyawolf]

"It at least makes me feel a little better."

Ylva rubs the back of her hand past her nose with a sniff. "I didn't think I'd be here this long," she says. "I thought -- look, I've woken up in strange places before. I've been to other planes. But it was never alone, and it was never... I always got home okay."

[theweakhavepurpose]

"This is way better than last time I was kidnapped. But .. it's still being kidnapped. Even if there is all you can eat garlic bread."

He runs his hands through his hair briefly, "No one else from your world huh? That's rough."

just a little nap

[millay]

Maeve stops as she spots the creature from the fight again. She still doesn't know what it's called, but she can recognize it now that she's seen it. Part of her wishes that Steven was there. Maybe he could tell her what it was called.

Either way, she sits herself down in one of the chairs and leans back as she does. She doesn't want to bother the sleeping creature, but she is happy to just lean back and relax for a little while in its proximity.

[actuallyawolf]

Ylva stirs, feathers lifting slightly, and for a moment she just looks at Maeve with one eye open. The tip of her tail twitches, in the manner of a pleased and slightly sleepy dog.

She makes a gentle little sound in greeting, a sort of deep, percussive coo.

[millay]

Maeve smiles a little once she notices and waves to the creature. "Wasn't sure I'd ever see you again, darling. Much less sleeping on the deck. Then again, I suppose there aren't a lot of places for something of your size."

She at least remembers that whatever it is can understand English. She'd find it weird, but what does she know about various and unusual worlds? "Don't let me disturb you, though."

[actuallyawolf]

Ah, conversation. Conversation is tricky when you don't have lips, or typical mammalian laryngeal anatomy. Ylva gives herself a shake, and then shifts effortlessly back down into her natural shape. Cross-legged on the floor, she grins over at Maeve.

"It's true, there's not a lot of places around here that are big enough for me like that. But it's such a fun shape to be."

[millay]

Maeve can't help but stare with a mixture of surprise and awe. She's never seen someone become something else and turn into a human again. Was that another magic thing?

"Goodness. I've never seen anything like that." She sits forward, studying the girl in front of her for a moment. "The shifting from a creature into something else or the creature in particular. They didn't have anything like that in Westworld."

[actuallyawolf]

"No? It's easy, when you know the trick. Are you from another one of these worlds where there's no magic? Because that sounds boring."

Ylva pauses, considering her words. Is that rude? "Sorry," she says, just in case. "Westworld is where you're from?"

[millay]

Maeve has had worse said to her, so she's not terribly insulted. "No. We do not have magic. At least not like that." She's fairly certain she might have seen it if they did. "It's fine," she says quietly.

"Yes. Westworld is where I am from. Technically. I was made there." She pauses, trying to decide if that was too vague before deciding to clarify with, "My creator and his partner built us. This is a few upgrades in." She gestures to herself then. She shrugs and leans back. "Where is it you are from? I'm certain it's more entertaining than Westworld."

[actuallyawolf]

"I live outside a town called Hawthorne's Fall. I live there because I guess I sort of work for the people who run it. It's sort of a place for people who aren't wanted anywhere else."

Ylva looks at Maeve hard for a moment, and her nose twitches in a curious way. "'Made'? Are you a sort of construct, too? Or," she catches herself, "Max said 'omnic,' and got sort of upset when I called him that."

NAPPING DINOSAUR

[broshaw]

OOOOOOOOH. Now he knows what an allosaurus is supposed to look like. Like, he's seen Jurassic Park, he's watched nature documentaries, he saw Walking with Dinosaurs or whatever. But that's waaaaay different than actually seeing a dinosaur just fucking napping on deck like it's no big deal.

He's halfway through taking out his phone before he realizes that it's hella rude to just like, take pictures of people without their permission????? He knows -- or thinks he knows, which is the same thing -- that this is the transforming furry girl from the arcade, so it's basically the same as trying to snap a candid of a cosplayer while they're eating or something.

So, in true convention-goer fashion, he's just gonna be like, "HEEYYY, you cool if I take a picture of you???"

[actuallyawolf]

She looks up, and tilts her head in a puzzled way. This is an entirely incomprehensible question for her, which is annoying because she knows all the words in it. What does that even mean?

So Ylva, momentarily far too comfortable to think about changing shape to ask for more details, grunts in a quizzical way, a little question in her tone. Please explain?

[broshaw]

It's either because like half of the people on the ship don't know what technology is, or because he's been obsessed with animal media since he was a kid, but Sharky totally gets it.

"You know this thing??" He whips out his phone, coming up far too comfortably to a dinosaur for a dude who's never seen one IRL before. "It takes photos, uhhh, instant paintings, of stuff." He demonstrates as he speaks, turning the camera towards himself, tapping the screen with a well-placed thumb. The resulting selfie isn't very flattering, but that's not the point!!

He shows her the screen, kind of having to move it around til it's in the optimal viewing position. "See?" The follow-up question is probably gonna be why, so he just shrugs and says, "A dinosaur sunbathing on the pool deck is photo-worthy shit."

[actuallyawolf]

She looks, turning her head to look at his phone with one eye in the way of birds. Briefly, her feathers lift in interest, and she turns her head the other way.

Ylva lifts her leg to scratch the back of her head -- whether that makes her fluff look any more composed is a matter of opinion -- and gives him a nod of assent.

[broshaw]

Aw, fuck yeah, new phone background coming up!!

Again, in true con-goer fashion, Sharky takes a few pictures, each from a vaguely different angle that makes for some decent shots. Lower down, head-on, and with a little tip-toe action for a higher angle than he'd normally get. She's a fuckin' dinosaur, man, he's gonna make sure to get shots that show it off!!!

Of course, if she doesn't know pictures then damn, she probably doesn't get to see herself all saurus'd out very often, huh? Like, are there mirrors big enough for dinosaurs in her world? Maybe... But not ones that take snapshots for posterity!

"You wanna see 'em?" he asks as he waves his phone in her eye-line.

[actuallyawolf]

Well, of course she does.

She makes a deep, rumbling sound of surprise, a sort of coo. She really doesn't get to see herself often. Reflections, sometimes, but big mirrors aren't exactly common in places where she can transform into anything very large, cameras are unknown, and she's definitely not important enough for anyone to commission a painting of her.

So this is just a really fun surprise.

Her tail thumps on the deck in a distinctly doglike way, because whatever her current shape some things are just unchangeable about her, and she gives Sharky a friendly nudge with her whole-ass head. Not too hard.

[broshaw]

That's so damn cute and also? Fucking awesome. He has to brace his foot so he doesn't stumble over, but the nudge just makes him laugh. And he doesn't even stop to think that she might transform back into a person to get a better look; he just sorta turns his body so he can angle the camera back in place for her bird-like vision.

"I can take a video, too," he says as he slowly thumbs through the pictures, already planning on sending them to her phone (even if she doesn't know how to use it). "That's like this, but it records you movin' around. So the picture moves the way you did." Fuuuck he hopes that's understandable, it's kind of hard to explain this shit to people, dinosaur or not.

[actuallyawolf]

This is, at least, not the first time someone's mentioned moving pictures. It still sounds like magic to her, but hey, that isn't a deal breaker.

Ylva considers, then nods again. She has no idea what she's getting into, but hey, it seems harmless enough.