If you could only see the beast you've made of me

[why_me]

» WHO? Garion and you
» WHEN? just after he wakes up near the gym
» WHERE? Around (basically anywhere public is fair game)
» WHAT? There's a wolf walking around the station
» WARNINGS? None so far. Happy to use [ ] for any replies.


There is a wolf wandering around the station. A large wolf. A large white wolf with blue eyes.

Because he woke up in a chamber near the gym, that's where he's likely to be found, but he's wandering now, trying to sniff out something, anything, to tell him what's going on. Now, of course, he's not just a wolf. He's also a man by the name of Garion (or Belgarion, technically) but given that a wolf can cover distances much faster than a human can, that he'll have the advantage of a nose that can sniff out nearly anything on his muzzle, and the fact that between his teeth and his claws, he'll have more a weapon in that form should he encounter anything dangerous...

He's always scouted as a wolf. Really, this is no change. Or he tries to remind himself it's very little change, even though he can't sense his Aunt Pol or his Grandfather or even Durnik anywhere. Even though his wife is nowhere to be found and he can't smell her, not even on his own skin, not on the clothing he woke up in. Neither his wife nor his children and it's upsetting on two legs, but on four, it just gives him a sense of urgency.

So if you happen to see a rather large white wolf near the mess or the bar area or one of the crew quarters or just in the hallways, well...

He's as new to this as you are.

Comments

[tumang]

He's on his way to bunk down when Amos finds himself faced with - the largest dog he's ever seen? No, that's not right. It doesn't quite look like a dog, more... it takes him a moment to recall, the species extinct by now - a wolf.

"What the fuck," he says, flatly, but still raises his gun without missing a beat, taking the animal in his sights. He's survived way too much in his life to be taken out by a wild animal on a space station, fuck.

"Why the hell are there so many animals around here?"

[why_me]

He doesn't know what a gun is. He can't.

But he's spent enough time watching Lelldorin and other archers ply their trade that he knows what it looks like when a man is sighting a target. That's why he makes the split second decision... to sit down. Sit down, and look like nothing so much as a large dog before looking over at the man.

After all, that is a reasonable response to a large wolf. But he doesn't exactly feel like taking whatever sort of arrow that thing shoots. Which is why this position also lets him look right at the man where he can possibly bark out a bit of sorcery if need be.

[tumang]

Amos tilts his head when the dog - wolf - animal - sits down. Like it's trying to be non-threatening? Its own way of putting its hands up? Amos doesn't lower his gun, but he doesn't shoot, either.

He's all too used to stand-offs like this. He could stay here forever, keeping an eye on the animal.

"What are you even doing here?"

Did someone get themselves a wolf, the way Frank had gotten Max?

[why_me]

There is a language spoken by wolves, in gesture and sound and movement, that some humans can understand, that all wolves can understand, that some dogs who still remember can understand.

It is utterly unnecessary to understand the expression on the wolf's face which says, in short:

How do you THINK?

There's a disappointed-in-you sound as well as he actually drops onto his front paws.

[tumang]

Amos does not speak wolf. He does not understand wolves, or dogs, or any animals of any kind. He hasn't even seen an animal in around 20 years. Max was the first dog he'd seen since leaving Earth. Excuse him for not speaking wolf, okay.

Still, the wolf-dog-animal drops down, makes a noise, and Amos, well. He lowers his gun. Fine.

"You hungry?"

[why_me]

[ His grandmother would be disappointed in him, frankly, if only for the doggishness of how his tail wags and his head pops up at the mention of food. Wolves hunt, after all, but Garion's been expending quite a lot of energy in Not Freaking Out so yes, he's hungry. He'll trot over to Amos amiably now that the gun is lowered. ]

[tumang]

Well, here we go. Looks like the beast is probably hungry. Speak to an animal like you would some illegal Earther, apparently, does the trick.

With the dog-wolf at his side, Amos starts walking, still holding his gun with some wariness, just in case it decides that actually, Amos himself sounds like a good idea for a snack. Luckily, they're not actually far from the mess hall, and when they get there, Amos goes directly to a fabricator, punching in a request for some steak.

"Protein steak, much better than human flesh."

[why_me]

The wolf doesn't seem to have any interest in harming him. Instead, he waits for the fabricator dutifully and sits next to the man as they wait for it to pop out.

The comment gets another unimpressed look.

...buddy, he's not interested in eating you.

[tumang]

Amos drops the steak onto the floor once it's done. It's grey-ish, only mildly warm, and smaller than it should be, but. It might do the trick.

Amos' first consideration still stands, though.

"The fuck do you come from, really?"

[why_me]

The wolf leans down and starts eating the steak before looking up with a quizzical noise. Okay, do you want him to eat the steak or answer the question? Because if it's both, you put the steak in the wrong place. Also, he only has one mouth.

That's why he finishes up the steak and once he's done and licked his lips off, cleaned everything he pads a few feet away. It only takes a moment or two, even if it feels longer for him, but eventually-

"You know, I didn't even realize I was hungry until you said something. Thank you."

[tumang]

Amos sits. He sits and stares.

He's had magic and weird powers thrown in his face since he got here, and that's all been an adjustment, but this? This he didn't expect.

He opens his mouth. Closes it. Opens it again.

"You're a werewolf?"

[why_me]

He's never heard this word. That's why he kind of blinks at the strange jumble of words before shaking his head.

"No, I was a wolf a minute ago. Now I'm not."

It's really that simple.

"Though I guess we ought to trade names, considering."

That's followed by a friendly enough hand extended his way.

"Garion. Woke up a few hours ago." A head tilts. "Not too pleased about it, but I'm pretty sure it's not your fault."

[tumang]

Amos looks him over. He's stupidly tall, and looks - gentle. Like a nice kid.

He's still a werewolf, though, which is really weird, but after all, if they have fucking vampires on board, why not werewolves, too? Seems fair that he'd exist, even if he doesn't even seem to know what a werewolf is.

He holds out his hand and offers his name, and Amos's fingers twitch before he forces himself to shake Garion's hand, nodding. This is what people do.

"Amos. Been here a while."

[why_me]

"And I'm assuming you didn't come here any more willingly than I did?"

It's not a bad guess, but he's talked to a few other people at this point, after all.

[tumang]

"Nope. Woke up in a corridor of this barge with nothing and no memories of how I arrived."

[why_me]

"That's about where I am, honestly," he says with a scratch to one ear, "which is certainly new for me. That and... space, to be frank."

He learned that word from someone. The whole 'stars around you' thing.

[tumang]

"You and plenty others around here," Amos answers, truthfully, shrugging a shoulder before punching a command in the food fabricator, for another protein bar, which are the more palatable thing the machines produce, as far as he knows.

"You'll get used to it."

[why_me]

As if his entire life wasn't getting used to bizarre and completely unreasonable things at all hours of day or night.

"It's not too hard to get used to. For the most part, it doesn't figure into things. There's something solid under my feet and walls on either side."

He shrugs.

[tumang]

"So you don't care that right outside these walls, there is no oxygen to breathe and the pressure will make your blood boil, if the temperatures don't freeze you up first?"

Amos tilts his head.

"You don't care that if any of the systems fail, even for a moment, we're all dead?"

[why_me]

"Not at the moment," he says after a nod or two, because he took that in. It's useful information. But-

"Because if I focus on that, I won't be able to get anything done."

[tumang]

"What are you trying to get done?"

Amos had to wonder what a guy like Garion could do. What was he looking to do?

[why_me]

"I'd like to know why we're here," he says honestly, "and I'm trying to figure that out."

He gestures around them.

"It seems as if we were all brought here. And the message indicated that they were trying to accomplish something. To me, I'd assume we were brought to finish the mission that they couldn't."

[tumang]

"Well done, Detective Obvious. With you on board, we're going to get to the bottom of this in a few hours."

Amos knows he's being an asshole, but he can't stop himself. He leans in a little closer, elbows on the table.

"Where do we go from here, then?"

[why_me]

If Amos was, say, his Aunt Pol or his Grandfather or even Silk, that barb might have had some sting. But given that Amos might as well have been a Tolnedran trade comissioner, as far as he's concerned... he simply raises an eyebrow as if to say that yes, it was supposed to be obvious, please, catch up. But he doesn't stick to it, instead moving on.

"I've been trying to figure out the purpose each one of the people here might be able to serve. And I've been searching to see what clues I can find, since I've been able to see things others couldn't before."

He tilts his head just a little at Amos, as if to ask if he had another question.

[tumang]

"Oh yeah? What can you see that I can't?"

He keeps going, because if the guy does have some kind of ability like that, it could be useful, and Amos is all about usefulness on this barge. So many people around are... well, useless.