(OPEN) I've got more right now than ever.

[bellare]

Who: Frank Castle (bellare), a smol zebra & YOU (new characters more than welcome!)
What: Frank and Eris are apartment hunting!
When: Now!
Where: Various locations
Warning(s): You might get sassed by a dog-sized zebra so like, tread with caution.

Frank thinks it might be high time for him to move to the planet below Thesa. The recent chaos notwithstanding, the commute to Wyver is getting a bit taxing, and he's always liked having both feet on the (actual) ground. Though he's sure the room won't be much better than the one he has on the station, it will be better for Eris to have somewhere to roam around. (Her legs are much shorter than in the picture, her head only comes up to his knee.) He can be found looking for places in Olympia and Wyver though ultimately, the latter ends up being more understanding about his animal companion. Or maybe the places are just dumpy enough that no one cares. It's not like Frank has or can afford to have standards.

You might see him as well packing his room on the station, not that he has much to speak of. It's mostly clothes, ammo, and things he's accumulated for his new pet. He also keeps the rainbow eggshell that she somehow hatched out of in hopes of finding answers to that mystery someday. She's his new best friend even if he doesn't know her origins. Whether you meet up with them while they're shopping for housewares, moving in and out, or just exploring the land around their new apartment complex, Frank will be as reasonably friendly as always, if bland. But Eris will demand of anyone who looks her way, by rearranging her stripes insistently into the letters: HELP? followed by a hard beat of her hoof against the ground. Humans are so lame, they have to be bullied into doing anything useful, she's found.

[ i will match brackets so no worries, or if you want to plot something else just PM and we'll make it happen. ]

Comments

for @emori

[bellare]

[ frank and his new friend are waiting outside for her, as promised, both ready for the canteen. the zebra comes up to about his knee but she's already blinking up at emori judgmentally. ]

Ready for that midnight snack?

[ eris' stripes rearrange themselves to spell "snack" as she immediately looks in better spirits. it would seem someone likes that idea. ]

[emori]

[Emori looks delighted at both the sight of Frank and Eris. She's still in her pajamas, soft pants and a shirt that might have been John's at one point. She's comfortable enough with Frank that she doesn't have her headwrap on, but she does have a hoodie with the hood up. Kind of the same, kind of not. Her boots are unlaced but staying on her feet.]

Yes! And-- Hi, Eris! I know that name because of Bellamy. He was really into Romans and Greeks and all those kind of stories. Did I tell you that already?

[She tilts her head, a goofy smile on her face.]

[bellare]

Nope.

[ he says though in that moment he's not really sure if she had or not. eris goes up to emori and starts sniffing at her like a dog, giving a little snort at whatever it is she smells. ]

I think that means she likes you.

[ eris gives him a glance then her and her stripes slowly arrange as "maybe" like the jury's still out. ]

[emori]

[Emori sees the stripes move and her mouth drops open.]

I've never seen an animal communicate like that before. Then again, I lived in the Dead Zone, I didn't see many animals in general.

[She crouches down, resting her forearms on her thighs.]

Do you like pets, Eris?

[doubledoctornocitrus]

Rodney doesn't go out of his way to seek Frank, no. But when the man turns up in Olympia on his apartment hunt, Rodney attempts to recruit him to help him dumpster-dive for old electronics. Considering how well their previous middle-of-the-night encounter went, Rodney could use an extra pair of hands to help with carting the crap back to his apartment.

Of course, he sends the text, Scavenge with me. Meet at the Coffee Hat., doesn't give any context, and then hangs out on the patio of his favorite coffee shop between work and home for Frank (and...Eris, though he certainly doesn't know about her) to show up.

[bellare]

The message from Rodney is unexpected, but well-received. He gets himself and his new friend together to go meet him at the cafe without asking for further instruction. He'd told Rodney he'd be his minion and he was more or less sincere. Frank smiles blandly when he spots the other man and goes right up to him, the zebra walking at pace with him though she only comes up to about his knee. She's wearing a bright pink halter and her lead is clipped to his belt so that the edge of his holster can be made out under his leather jacket.

"You rang?" he teases, tone as dry as ever. He's happy to see Rodney, and as he looks at Eris her stripes will spell out Friend? in place of a greeting.

[doubledoctornocitrus]

Now, Rodney is as open-minded as the rest of them. He's seen some weird-ass pets in his travels, especially in Pegasus. That said, once he greets Frank ("Oh good, you're here. We can get--") and then spots the zebra, he freezes. He honestly can't process the fact that there is a tiny zebra and that, judging from the literal writing on its apparently magic hide, it is also at least some measure of sentient.

"Oh my god," Rodney says, and it's a measure of how thrown he is that he sort of stares for a long moment. He then stares at Frank. "What the hell?"

[bellare]

He waits expectantly to see what Rodney might have him do, but then he's distracted by Eris and Frank can't really blame him. Frank laughs, glancing down at the creature and his new near-constant companion.

"Egg showed up in my room one day." And like any normal person, he decided to hatch it and keep the contents forever. Eris' stripes move from her question to a simple comment: Rude. Frank snorts, Rodney is both rude and a friend, so she's two for two. "This is Eris."

[cadeuces]

Angela wasn't sure what to expect of the planet below, after Nadril's frozen landscaping, but a humid jungle that took her back to South America was certainly not on the list.

Whether she knows Jack (and Gabriel) were here or not, she's also trying to get a lay of the land and the stickiness is not exactly winning any points. And the dragons unsettle her. Even the "small" ones.

So when she happens to glance down to the sound of a scuffing in the dirt, seeing the tiny zebra with a word shifting into being at its side is... Well.

"Well look at you!" That's definitely the cute baby animal pitch, and she's kneeling right down to reach a hand out. So much for being unsettled by the local fauna. Sorry, Frank. She doesn't even realize you're associated with the little one. "What can I help you with?"

Not like the little thing can answer... right...?

[bellare]

Frank doesn't take offense, having just let Eris off her lead to eat some grass, though she's still wearing her bright pink halter that identifies her as probably a pet or livestock of some kind. Still, he doesn't interfere from the few feet away he's standing.

Eris looks up at Angela, unsure, but not unsettled. When she stoops down onto her level, she butts her nose against the one outstretched not unlike a dog. She seems to brighten, also, at being not only understood but listened to. Eris doesn't have the vocabulary to tell her what they need though, so it's now that she lets on she has a dad, looking up at him expectantly like, Well? Use your people words, Francis.

"We're scoping out the neighborhood. Do you live nearby?" he asks by way of wading into the conversation, smiling idly but in a way that has no hope of reaching his eyes.

[cadeuces]

The little one is certainly no shih tzu, far more exotic, but she's affectionate and friendly, and the pink harness gives her away even as she butts her nose into Angie's hand and she smiles all too fondly as she strokes back up over her little head, sifting through the black fur sticking up between her ears. As she rubs over her neck, the little lady turns to look back at something and Angela follows her line of sight, up to the man a couple of feet away who speaks up in response.

She has the decency to look a bit sheepish for helping herself to someone's companion, apology in her face even as she offers him a smile as well.

"I'm afraid I've only just arrived myself, so I've been doing much the same. I think someone I know lives around here so I was hoping to run into him, but it seems like a bit of a hopeless endeavor at this rate. Who might this little lady be?"

Don't think she doesn't notice that superficial smile, either. But Angela's always had an eye for people and their habits. Animals didn't often show their affection over obedience for people who were cruel, and despite his size, he looks like he knows how to be gentle with that bulk and a demeanor that gives away discipline. Her own is prim in comparison with the line of her back, but gentle enough in all other means.

[priorly]

[There's this whole idiom about a bull in a china shop and yet, Prior notes, as he peers over the top of a crackle-glazed porcelain plate, nobody ever applied that to other hooved creatures.

Like the one over by the soft furnishings, next to a gentleman who seems very nonchalant about the whole shetland-zebra situation. Prior watches for a long, faintly confused moment, then folds his arms over the plate and crosses the shop floor.]

You seem to have a distress zebra.

[A little nod to where it's spelling out messages like someone stranded on a desert island. Prior's been here more than a year, now. It's still a little odd.]

[bellare]

[ she's a Good Girl. she won't break anything. frank made sure of that before coming in, even as he scopes out a ratty chair. antique is often slang for 'barely holding together' and honestly, that's his aesthetic. frank looks up from where he'd sat in the wingback and lifts an eyebrow at the kid (he thinks everyone's a kid) in front of him. ]

Do I look distressed?

[ he doesn't feel distressed. or is that because he has his zebra with him? you decide. eris for her part just looks confused, those are compound concepts for her lil zebra brain. she looks damn cute in that pink halter though, don't you think? also when she tilts her head to the side like a husky dog. ]

[priorly]

Only in the same way as a vintage couch. You look like you're making yourself at home.

[Though the chair isn't anything to write home about, it does seem to suit. Prior peppers his words with smiles that don't quite ring as true as they usually would. The effort, at least, is genuine.]

Then again, some people are at their calmest when in a crisis. Take me, for example. Under stress I'm at my most serene.

[This is a lie.]

But your... zebra? Seems to be dropping a hint. [It's either a zebra or a great dane, he had to pick one.] Or maybe she just wants help reaching the high shelves?

[redweb]

[So, the zebra was a surprise.

Not something to dissuade her from approaching the man, of course. But her desire to talk to the man that had apparently spent a week with a bit of a crush on James, well- it was interesting if nothing else. She keeps an eye on him for a few blocks, before she approaches. Not entirely invisible. If he's as good as the Frank Castle she knows, then he'll notice.

She follows, lets him lead her on. She's dressed casual; jeans, a sweater, boots that are function more than style. There's a knife in her boots and her bracers under the sweater, but she's not carrying.

She leans a hip against the brick wall as they turn a corner down a rather secluded side street.]

Cute pet.

[bellare]

[ it's hard (for him) not to notice when someone is tailing him. but he's kept up appearances pretty well here so far. not that it's a conscious effort: he'll tell anyone who asks who he is and what he does. the thing is, most people just don't seem to care. except for that guy matt he still hasn't figured out. weird and irrelevant, especially right now. he doesn't think there's any reason for someone to follow him here, he wasn't doing anything particularly interesting in his view. but he can wait, he's ridiculously patient when given the incentive, though in this case the incentive is just curiosity.

frank is also dressed casually: t-shirt, jeans, boots and a leather jacket. there's a holster at his waist with one modified 1911, she'll know it as similar enough to what he usually favors in her universe. for the layman, his jacket covers it up, but for her she'll see it right away. he isn't carrying extra ammo or anything else however, it really is just a defense piece it would seem. well, that and something he never leaves without.

he turns to face her without much ceremony at all, the zebra on her pink halter and lead staring quizzically at the woman. but then she almost seems to brighten at the commentary, stripes arranging to spell "CUTE." frank laughs, low but sincere. ]

I think she agrees with you.

[wingliner]

( it's something — or it had been, being jarred out of stasis as he had — to wrap his head around when it comes to moving about the station, and then ultimately shifting to the planet below in order to better get his bearings. to get a better feel for things as a whole, because he never likes feeling like he's going into something unprepared, and ultimately avoids that feeling at all costs.

it's not that he's an outright boyscout, all right; more that military training has ingrained in him to be prepared at all times, and while that might sound a whole hell of a lot like … the tried and true boyscout motto … it isn't. it just so happens that there are a lot of correlations that could be made between one and the other and we're just going to move right along from that.

now, maybe one thing he hadn't been expecting to come across ( is there really such a thing as that sort of expectation anymore? really? ) in his wandering is … a very small zebra. a very small zebra that can rearrange her stripes to the form of a question and when shiro brings his attention away from her, he notices someone that looks like they might be moving in to a new place, and if there's ever going to be a man that stops what he's doing to help someone else … it's this man right here.

and you had better believe he's going to give eris an amused grin on his approach. ) Interesting way of soliciting some help. ( he says with a laugh, because really. he is genuinely amused. )

[bellare]

[ he'd seen for himself people waking up out of stasis, differently than it had been done before. he was only around for the one time himself but he'd asked around to get confirmation. sure enough, this was not Normal. thanks for that. he sees shiro approach and pastes a smile on - all things considered, it's convincing (ish.) ]

I'm not above groveling but we don't beg.

[ a joke even as he inclines his head towards a lighter box than the one he's carrying. thanks fam since frank has already decided he's here to help regardless of the facts. the truly funny part is he hadn't even noticed eris asking for help. ]

[wingliner]

( it's convincing in the sense that he knows a bit about a farce when he sees one — and he isn't about to question it, because it isn't his place with a complete stranger, so if this guy wants to pretend to smile he's well within his right. it's his prerogative, after all.

doesn't keep him from keeping his own smile in place, because: ) Isn't that the same thing? ( kind of a teasing question, all things considered, even if he does reach for that box and moves to follow the other. this is how you break the ice, isn't it? ) Or maybe your friend here has a difference of opinion.

( calling you out, tiny zebra … )

[romancekiller]

[clarke is walking through through the streets of olympia, heading back to her place after being out most of the day keeping herself busy through her daily routine. she is a bit lost in her thoughts at first but it doesn't escape her notice though when she spots frank walking around with a small animal alongside him which she has never seen before. she looks over curiously as the rearranging stripes are definitely something that draw her attention given what it seems to be spelling out too] Did you need help with something?

[bellare]

[ eris is on a bright pink halter and lead and clarke gets a bright smile from frank. he hasn't seen her since dranbu and he seems pleased that she's in one piece. ]

Oh... I don't know. [ he didn't catch the stripes moving and now they're back to normal, so he assumes clarke is just asking of her own accord. ] We're apartment hunting, but most places here don't seem to like... pets.

[ he glances at eris like maybe that's not the right word and she shakes her head as her stripes spell out F-R-I-E-N-D-S. frank shrugs a shoulder to concede her point. ] Friends.

[romancekiller]

Ah— well it seems like your friend thought you might at least. [clarke glances towards the zebra who once again changes its stripes to spell out the word as a correction mostly likely to his words] I'm sure there there places that allow it though— it just depends on which area you go to around here.

[thatmurdockboy]

Matt's more than happy to show him around the places at Olympia. It's treated him well so far, and the starter houses aren't bad at all, so if Frank wants a tour? Matt will oblige.

Though the footsteps that approach his door sound... strange. The footfall of Frank's boots, certainly, but also something sharper and lighter following close behind. So he opens the door cautiously at the sound of the knock, just a few inches, keeping himself in the doorframe just in case.

"I don't mean to alarm you," he says, keeping his voice low and even. "But it sounds like you're being followed by... something."

[bellare]

Oh, well if that isn't a familiar face. He smiles, thinking it's... sweet? For lack of a better word, that Matt would warn him about his own pet.

"An astute observation, Mr. Murdock." Frank glances past his shoulder into the apartment behind him, trying to get a glimpse of how the man lives, perhaps. Though he somehow doubts he'd want a neighbor in the Punisher, whichever version he happens to be. "Would you like to meet my friend? She's something alright."

Eris gives a little snort in mock-offense if zebras can have that, pushing forward without waiting for the answer and nudging her nose into Matt's hand. It isn't cold and wet like a dog's, of course, but warm and heavily whiskered. The creature still seems friendly enough, all things considered.

[thatmurdockboy]

It's something he's taken into consideration. But he's trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. This Frank, at least, appears to have some sort of closure that the Frank from his world (universe?) didn't have.

And if this Frank decided to take up the Punisher mantle here, then, well. What else is Matt here for?

But there's no time to think about that because there's a warm, soft muzzle against his hand and Matt lets out a startled laugh. "Uh -- hello." Very carefully, he traces his fingertips along the creature's nose, up to her ears. Definitely don't feel dog shaped. "She can come in, too. If she doesn't breathe fire."