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[mordredeschain]

*Mordred has discovered the Sign and has a question to ask.* Have ya ever had the sort o' day where ya wished the universe would just end already? If so, how did ya deal with it?

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[mordredeschain]

A cow? For me? Thankee-sai so. I'd be glad ta help.

[feathered_mages]

Mistral's grinning at this, though it can't be seen under the shadows that seem to cling to the faces of the Waltzes. "I've been keeping them in an empty building the Nexus for now."

[mordredeschain]

Well then, off we trot I suppose.

[feathered_mages]

Mistral's only too happy to lead the way back to a building in the back alleys that primarily consisted of a small entryway and office and a very large greenhouse.

His latest acquisitions and thus far not proven bright enough to use a doorknob. And Red, curled up in the entry room and keeping 'guard' didn't really care to. Don't worry, the hatchling red dragon the size of a small pony is mostly harmless unless Mistral says it's ok to be otherwise.

The greenhouse currently contains an assortment of plant monsters. The largest is a tendriculos scrapes the ceiling of the greenhouse and weighs almost two tons. Most of the other creatures present are unnerved by its presence and giving it as wide a berth as possible. The one exception to this is an assassin vine that's only aware in a vague plant-like way that it's sunny and no prey is touching it right now. It does prefer to twist away from the tendriculos from where it's hanging, but it's not intelligent enough to have any understanding of why.

The smartest creatures present are the four shambling mounds and the small 'grove' - 26 in all - of needlefolk. The latter look like some cross between anthropomorphic insects and mobile cacti. The Needlefolk could actually be compared to low-human intelligence - and the mounds very slightly smarter. They'd come to an understanding where they were and he'd promised to find them somewhere nice. And that this wasn't it yet, but that he was supposed to feed them until he found a new place. That bad druid... he'd coerced most of them into all crowding into the same forest, and then the food had run low. And the other 'human' food had fought too much.

[mordredeschain]

*Mordred looks around a bit, then reaches out to the minds around him. They're a bit difficult to grasp at first, but then something slots into place and he knows where he stands with them.* (What be ya hungry for, sais? Soil, water, old meat? Aye, we can get ya such.)

*He repeats what he's found back to Mistral, then starts looking for a tasty cow.*

[feathered_mages]

Just because he's a Mage doesn't mean Mistral can make food appear out of thin air. He's texting a delivery place he knows on his phone-style PINpoint.

[mordredeschain]

*Mordred grins. It's so nice to actually be helpful for once.*

[feathers_in_wax]

The other two Waltzes have, by then, retreated to the office - not that Blaze had gotten further than the door to the greenhouse. Kitty, as well, has decided to curl up near Red for the moment.

Elec just blinks when he arrives at the given coordinates. He remembers that buttered mammoth incident. The cow, on a plate only a fraction as abnormally large, is already dead and skinned. The assorted meat scraps are in large buckets - a suggestion arrived at during some back-and-forward texts. While they usually had the day's kitchen scraps on hand, they didn't tend to keep meat that was too rotten for sanitation reasons. It's unlikely the various plant-creatures will care. Elec's already wrinkling his nose at the scent from the nearby shambling mounds. He's only too happy to leave once Mistral's paid for the food.

Mistral then starts happily distributing scraps, figuring Mordred will recognize which is the cow and help himself. Two buckets of fresher meat and three of fish are set aside for the moment. Once he's handed over the less-fresh scraps to the needlefolk - who help out in feeding the other plant monsters - he'll take the two buckets of assorted scraps to Red, and one of the fish buckets to Kitty. Which leaves two buckets of fish, as he retrieves his bell from a pocket...

[mordredeschain]

*Mordred grins when he sees the cow, then changes and starts to feed. Hopefully the sight of a giant spider webbing up a whole cow won't scare anyone too much.

*Not that he cares either way, really. His only focus is on being a-hungry and then being fed.*

[feathered_mages]

Mistral doesn't may any mind. He's made his way out a side-door to an empty lot with the last two buckets of fish. Once out there he'll freeze an area of the ground, covering it with an inch-think sheet of ice. And then he'll ring the bell he has with him. There's a twisting of reality and then a huge ice-monster where there wasn't a huge ice-monster before.

Mistral just starts feeding Sealion fish, while Sealion makes happy rumbling noises like a cement truck full of icecubes.

[mordredeschain]

*Mordred quickly finishes his meal, leaving nothing but a husk, then crawls over to see what in Creation that noise is.*

[feathered_mages]

The noise is a happy Sealion who is now getting careful scritches from the shortest of the three Waltzes.

[mordredeschain]

*He shakes his head.* Bit o' a loud beastie, that one.

[feathered_mages]

"Well, he's big. He can't really help being loud," Mistral calls down from where he's perched on Sealion's head. And somehow manages to stay there even when Sealion coils up like a dragon preparing to nap. "Don't worry, he's not going to eat you. He likes fish and octopuses, and you're not either one."

Speaking of dragons, the baby red has crept his way - as best as a dragon can - past the collection of plant monsters. Once safely past he'll give a happy little roar and bound over to curl up next to Sealion. Apparently, the confused little thing has adopted Sealion as a stand-in parent, when the larger monster is around.

[mordredeschain]

*He laughs a little at the dragon's child.* I'm hardly afraid o' that, sai. I can more than take care o' myself.

[feathered_mages]

"Good," Mistrals says. "Too many people keep thinking my pets will eat them. Or they think Sealion's angry and growling. This is a happysound."

[mordredeschain]

Generally folken be more worried I'll eat them.

[feathered_mages]

"Hmph. You'd better not try," is Mistral's comment to that. "I don't like anyone hurting my pets." He won't feed you again if you upset or try to eat his pets.

[mordredeschain]

When did I say aught about the beasts, sai?

[feathered_mages]

"That's enough, both of you," Arashi says from the doorway to the office. "If you're still hungry, we can send for more food." He's not in the mood to put up with some kind of threat contest that might escalate out of hand.

This gets a 'hmph' from a grouchy Mistral, who points out, "We're still in the Nexus, anyway."

[mordredeschain]

Don’t worry, sai, I wasn’t meanin’ ye any harm.

[feathered_mages]

"Me either," Mistral says with a sigh, stroking a patch of Sealion's scales that are still deformed from old injuries. "Sorry." Even a mistaken threat to his pets tends to make him grouchy at best.

Kitty pads her way over and gives a brief glare to the ice before extending her claws and picking her way across the frozen patch. She will not suffer the loss of dignity caused by slipping! Once she's close to the little red dragon she'll retract her claws and hop up on the hatchling to curl up. One thing about having a little red dragon around, they made for a warm kitty bed.

[mordredeschain]

*Mordred is highly amused by the apparently-floating cat.* I do so wish I had companions such as these . . .

[feathered_mages]

"This isn't even his entire menagere," Arashi says, in a not quite deadpan as he fails to conceal traces of irritation, exasperation, and amusement. "And I don't mean the small army of plants." To Mistral he adds, "You're not keeping them."

"Hmph. Of course not, Arashi. I don't think the cold would be good for them at the lodge, and they wouldn't want to stay in the village with the other mages. Though maybe in the forest..."

"He has a knack for making 'pets' out of creatures anyone sane would consider dangerous," Blaze comments to Mordred.

Mistral overhears that. "It's what Summoners do, Blaze." Nevermind that they still couldn't completely figure out how that particular wild talent had developed. It couldn't have been 'inherited' from Rydia back when he was Black Waltz One after all. But then, he'd only had Sealion then.

[mordredeschain]

Just don't try ta make a pet out o' me, sai. I'd not appreciate it, for all that ya seem likeable enough.