(open) this time i know

[sparsity]

Who: mikazuki augus (sparsity) & various & you!
What: january catch-all, open prompts/closed quests.
When: throughout the month.
Where: mostly wyver, a smidge of olympia.
Warning(s): none as of now!

I. WITHIN WYVER

A. ODD JOBS:
[ Calling Mikazuki a workaholic wouldn't be an understatement. He seems to sleep as little as he can possibly get away with and spends the rest of his time either training in the jungles or picking up odd jobs around the dense, vibrant marketplace. Constant movement comes to him easier than being inert, though no one would really figure him for a restless sort. Whatever the case is, he's been hefting deliveries for different shops, earning some silver and a snack or two along the way.

His current task, one that has him parked outside a café with a carved facade depicting a dragon and a few spartan teacups wreathed in steam, sees him cleaning up a pretty tenacious gnarl of plantlife. Foliage grows freely in Wyver, but overgrowth can be a nuisance. He doesn't seem to mind doing the job barehanded, peeling back vines and thorns from bright red blossoms. Luckily his hands are tough and show he's been at this a while as a result: dirt darkens his wrists, fingertips sticky with sap. At his side is very small deer who daintily steps over the carnage, picking up fallen leaves to chew on. With a flat look, he reaches up to push at its nose. ]

Cut it out. You'll get a stomach ache.

[ While most of the unruly vines have been snapped and put aside, there's a pile of flowers neatly laid out, separated from the bulk. Mikazuki sits back on his knees if approached, reaching up to wipe beneath his bangs with the back of his wrist. There is now dirt on his face. ]

Take them if you want them. [ He places another one down. ] It's a waste to throw them away.

B. FIELDS OF THE EXALTED:
[ Working with animals had taken some more getting used to. Mars had no animals to speak of; insects and birds were rare, strays and rodents a little less so. He'd never seen livestock or working animals, so the abundance of wildlife on El Nysa had been drastic change in pace. But Mikazuki seems to thrive on new things, even (or maybe... especially...) when they're wild, strident, and bloody. Which is why he's parked on an outcrop of rock in the fields where he has his main job babysitting dragons. He tends to be not so good with small or sick things, so he spends his time with the older beasts. They're a pretty cavalier bunch, proudly turning earth and whipping the air with their wings. Squabbling over the last sheep, things like that.

Right now, it's fairly peaceful as the early afternoon sun arcs overhead. Mikazuki lets his legs dangle from his perch and watches over the windswept fields below where the dragons come and go, some napping, others blustering about proudly. He's never really approached one, but he's patient. ]

I heard you could bond with one. [ Whether it's a coworker within earshot or a visitor come to sight-see, it's the same statement. ] Somehow.

[ Though he looks relaxed, he's pretty alert, considering where they are. ]

C. LHONGHA STABLES:
[ Things Mikazuki has done: knife fight moon-crazed wyverns in his underwear. Things Mikazuki has not done: actually ride a wyvern. He's interested in seeing more of the place he's chosen to live, but the insistence on it being done with mounts leaves him skeptical. Still, it was supposed to cost lots of money to do this normally, and maybe he won't get the chance to again. Not that this makes him look any more sure about it despite the calm lay of his features. He lingers outside one of the pens where a wyvern is lashed to its fence. It dips its head over the side and tries to take clips at the edges of his hair with its pointed snout.

He doesn't look nearly as alarmed as he should at being so close to an animal that could fit his whole head in its mouth. ]

It's not that I haven't flown before...

[ Just, you know. A talented pilot doesn't necessarily mean he'd be a talented rider. ]

D. LAGOONS:
[ Whatever or whoever convinced him to go, Mikazuki did in fact take to the wilds with a large reptile creature in tow. Whether he actually rode it or just walked it along with him isn't immediately apparent, but he's stopped by the lagoons for a spell. He's left it tethered to a tree where it idles with brief flexes of its pliant wings. For his part, he's, well. Poised over the edge of one of the cold springs, his head entirely underwater. It's a sight.

With some bubbling, he finally pops his head above water with a breath and a splash, not unlike a dog shaking off. Sorry if you get the brunt of that? Glancing over his shoulder, hair now dripping and mussed every which way, his gaze hones. ]

What? It's hot.

II. WILDCARD

[ what to do something else using the jan outline or unaffiliated quests? go for it! plotting comment here or hit me up at rivalry! ]

Comments

[gekkajuu]

[How many other furries can say they got a child out of it, I mean...]

Yes, the stables in Olympia are offering rides too... Admittedly, I only used a horse myself.

[It's only then that the coincidence strikes him as it did Mikazuki before. It couldn't be that they're preparing people to go to war on those animals, could it...? But no - there'd never be enough for the whole city.]

It's fine, really! [Except that Atsushi is a little scared now, where he wasn't before. He's just going to slowly back up a little further.] You know what they say about dragons and tigers, haha...

[sparsity]

[ For all of Atsushi's vibrant mannerisms, Mikazuki doesn't think he's ever really seen him this... nervous? It was one of the qualities he found admirable, even if in an unspoken, instinctual kind of way. Whatever the case is, Mikazuki pushes the damp strands of his hair back and approaches the wyvern instead. It seems to take to that better, giving a fluttery growl throughout its long neck. ]

Not really. What do they say?

[ Lifting a hand, he pushes his palm to the creature's nose, not looking at all deterred by the fact that it has enough teeth and jaw length to bite off his arm, if it so chose. ]

[gekkajuu]

[Atsushi may be feeling a healthy amount of fear for his life, but he's still impressed at Mika the dragon tamer. Sometimes lack of fear is just dumb, but in Mikazuki, it seems like a perfectly natural coolness.]

Oh... They're like rivals, I guess? At any rate, they don't get along.

[One day he will realize the irony of Akutagawa's first name being dragon-based, but this is not that day. Instead, he will attempt a lame joke that's more self-mocking than anything.]

It's probably a good thing I didn't move to Wyver, huh?

[sparsity]

[ From one toothy beast to another, he supposes. Truthfully he hadn't really intended to do anything by visiting the Lhongha stables (besides check out freebies...) but once he found out that the wyvern wasn't going to take his arm off just because, things sort of fell into place. ]

Well, I guess.

[ the joke













Mikazuki. ]

It could be sensing that you think you won't get along.

[gekkajuu]

That's possible, too...

[Likely, even. Still, Atsushi isn't about to risk his arm on the off chance.

... But then, he doesn't need to, does he? And he really doesn't want to let fear guide him. He can't rely on his old coworkers to offer mental support anymore, either...

Fine - he'll do it. Transforming his arm while he's at a safe distance, he slowly approaches the wyvern again, tiger arm extended. If it bites him like this, it shouldn't do any damage. Admittedly, holding his own arm out almost like it's food probably isn't his brightest idea ever...]

Goooood boy... Who's a good, scaly boy?

[sparsity]

[ It does... sort of look like he's offering up a chicken wing, or something like that, but Mikazuki is sometimes wise about keeping his mouth shut, neverminding his tendency to be quiet in general. As Atsushi straightens his transformed arm out, Mikazuki watches, any concern he feels not overtly on his face.

Barbatos had been the same, hadn't it? If he felt fear, it would seize the systems. He had no spaces for that kind of hesitation. Overhead, the wyvern's sleek neck dips, bright green eyes pinning forward. Its mouth peels, growling fluting out from between teeth.

Mikazuki shifts his bent arm to fit the wyvern's jaw into the crook of his elbow, fingers crawling up the scaly ridges of its head to hook into the bridle and give it a little tug. Just a nudge. ]

It's listening.

[ ...so far as he can tell...

Animals, still not his strongest suit, but you know. ]

[gekkajuu]

[At least Mikazuki is there to keep the wyvern in line... to a point. Atsushi probably shouldn't even worry - he really doesn't have anything to lose, here - but it's reassuring all the same.

The wyvern sniffs his arm as if it's trying to get an idea of what it's dealing with, and then rubs its nose against it, almost as if it's nuzzling. Letting out a long sigh, Atsushi relaxes. Clearly they've made friends!

... Or not, since the wyvern snaps its jaws on his arm a moment later. Thank God for the tiger's skin being impenetrable: this doesn't even hurt. But it's a shock all the same.]

IT'S NOT LISTENING!!

[Or is it? It's not really trying to pull Atsushi's arm off or anything. Maybe it's just being affectionate, in a wyvern-y way.]

1/2

[sparsity]

— ah.

[ That probably wasn't supposed to happen. He really is durable, isn't he. ]

[sparsity]

Hey. [ Flatly. ] Come on, he's not food.

[ Weirdly enough, Mikazuki almost sounds as though he's wearily scolding a child. A big, scaly child with far too many teeth. Ducking aside, he moves to Atsushi and works on getting his fingers into the wyvern's jaws so he can casually start trying to pry them apart. ]

[gekkajuu]

[Things that are not helping: Atsushi trying to pull his arm free after a split second of freezing up. No self-respecting animal will give up a prey that trying to escape, after all.

But, thanks in no small part to Mikazuki's intervention, the wyvern doesn't turn it into a tug-of-war - and eventually it lets go. Looking more bored than anything, it huffs a breath that could mean either "oh, fine!" or "I hope you learned your lesson, trash!"

And Atsushi sinks to his knees in relief, transforming his arm back.]

... I really, really am glad I didn't move to Wyver.

[sparsity]

[ With the wyvern's jaws popped off of Atsushi's arm, it shakes its head out, almost an arrogant toss, and settles back into its spot against the tree with a satisfied flex of its wings. Mikazuki pushes his palm up against the underside of the creature's throat to keep that mouth pointed in a less dangerous direction. ]

Then we should probably find a pool with some gems in it so you can go home.

[ ...all business, though he doesn't mean anything by it. ]