[open] the care and feeding of your pet skag

[idkmybffbloodwing]

CHARACTERS: Mordecai and Lilith; OPEN
LOCATION: Oxygen gardens, then the hallways
SUMMARY: Dukino has come to join the Pandora crew. However, Dukino is a ridiculous skag puppy who doesn't know how to stay out of trouble.
NOTES: If you want to run across them in the halls while they walk Dukino back to Lilith's place, feel free to tag in! For the unfamiliar, a skag is a dog-like animal with heavy armored plating on the back, and a three-jawed mouth. Dukino stands at roughly 2.5 feet high, with red plating and a spiked collar.

When Lilith stopped responding, Mordecai assumed that meant she was on her way. And that was good, because while Dukino was worn out for now, he wasn't really going to try and drag him anywhere else right now, not on his own. If Lilith wanted to help, he'd take it. And hopefully Maya would lend a hand eventually as well, since she was part of the group that had started feeding the thing anyway. Mordecai still wasn't convinced that trying to tame a skag was a good idea, but he hadn't exactly tried to talk them out of it, either. He really wasn't one to speak, when it came to training strange predatory alien wildlife. Here on the Tranquility, a skag could probably wreak a lot more havoc than his bird could, but oh well. The place needed something to liven things up every now and then.

Comments

[supfirehawk]

She had managed to find rope in one of the storage rooms and headed up the lift to the second level where Mordecai said he would be. A skag on board would liven things up and how much trouble could it really be to take care of? As long as it didn't bite anyone's face off or eat someone's pet, it shouldn't be that bad.

At least, that was what she had told herself when she said she would be willing to help take care of it. She came out of the lift with the rope slung over her shoulder and waved in greeting.

"'Sup. So he just showed up?"

[idkmybffbloodwing]

"Hey. Yeah, guess so. I was just comin' up to put the chickens away an' he came runnin' over to say hi." Among many other things that happened, but at least they had him under control now.

Dukino perked his head up at Lilith's approach, and tried to pull himself up and bound toward her, but Mordecai held tight and for the moment at least, was keeping him in place until the makeshift leash could be put on.

[supfirehawk]

She laughed and tried to get the rope around the skag in as secure a way as possible. "He didn't try to eat any of them, did he?"

[idkmybffbloodwing]

"Oh, he tried, all right. He just had too many things working against him. You got him?" The knot looked good, but he wasn't about to let go of the skag's collar until he was absolutely sure Lilith was ready, just in case he tried to bolt.

[supfirehawk]

"As much as I can," she replied. She gave the skag a pat and held onto the rope tightly in case Dukino tried to run off.

[idkmybffbloodwing]

He gave a nod and let go, and for now at least, Dukino seemed happy enough to stay put. So much for trying to predict the thing. "Well, now you've got yourself a skag on a leash. I bet that's a first."

[supfirehawk]

"It'll scare the other people walking around with their animals." Especially since their animals tended to be a lot smaller and less... scary looking.

[idkmybffbloodwing]

He laughed and gave Dukino a pat. "Guess we oughta see just how much it'll scare 'em, then. Let's get him to your room."

[supfirehawk]

She tugged Dukino toward the lift and gave him a nudge with her foot to make sure he got going in the right direction. "I'll take him for a walk in the gardens and maybe with me to the bar later."

[idkmybffbloodwing]

"The bar?" He laughed. "That might get a good reaction or two." Dukino wasn't exactly straining against the leash, but he wasn't really letting himself be led by it either, clearly not used to the idea of being walked.

[supfirehawk]

Whether or not Dukino liked it, she was keeping a firm hold on the rope and tugging when it looked like he might try to stray. "He might make some friends while he's there."

[idkmybffbloodwing]

"Might wanna let whoever's working there know ahead of time just so you don't get thrown out right away."

[supfirehawk]

"Have they cared about you having your bird with you?"

[idkmybffbloodwing]

"Well, no, but he's just a bird. A skag's a little more intimidating." Said bird was still nervous about that skag, too, but he moved closer in the trees, not wanting to be left behind.

[supfirehawk]

She shrugged. "If he causes problems, I'll take him somewhere else."

[idkmybffbloodwing]

"Heh, fair enough. Hey, somethin' else showed up today, too. Got some rakkale in my locker. Maliwan, the good shit." Which was a guaranteed way to brighten up any day, he figured.

[supfirehawk]

"All the good stuff got sent to your locker this time. How many bottles did you get?"

[idkmybffbloodwing]

"Six. Not enough to do more'n just tease us, but it'll be a nice change from what's here." Finally, his bird decided to investigate closer, and swooped down to land on his head, since that was the highest point from the skag at which he could also try and reach the food. When he got there, though, he froze, gaping at Dukino, until Mordecai bumped his fist against Mijo's chest and he hopped up to gulp down the piece of chicken.

[supfirehawk]

"We'll have to drink those soon." She laughed at the bird and glanced down at Dukino. "Think we should make him a pen or something?"

[idkmybffbloodwing]

"If you can figure out a way to make one that he won't get out of, sure. Otherwise, probably easier to just keep him on a leash or in someone's room for now." Given the materials available, making something sturdy enough to contain a determined skag didn't sound likely to be much of a success. "Maybe we could make a run for him, though. You know, string up a rope an' attach him to it on a sliding leash. Might be easier."

[supfirehawk]

"You think we could find the tools to make something like that?"

[idkmybffbloodwing]

"Yeah, sure. There's rope around. Dunno about a ring, exactly, but I bet we can find somethin' that'll work. If not, I bet someone in engineering could weld us one outta a mattress spring." There were certainly enough of those around, with the rooms that had been ransacked for other supplies to make the coops.

[supfirehawk]

"We can work on that later, then. First, we have some bottles of rakkale to take care of." Though, Dukino still needed to be dropped off. She was going to have to hide the picture frame with Roland's photo so he didn't romp around and bust it.

[idkmybffbloodwing]

"Sounds good to me. Jaye might come by later, too. Told her she should try some of it." She'd better, anyway, if she wanted any, because while he could certainly try to set aside a bottle for her, he wasn't exactly going to make any promises, either, if she took too long.

[supfirehawk]

"You got anything else in your room?" A dumb question, knowing him, but she thought she'd be sure.