Christmas isn't a season.

[thecourier]

Who: Dan Palmer (thecourier), Nathaniel Howe (noble_son), Emiel Regis (mandrakes), AJ Crowley (saunteredvaguelydownwards), R (keephersafe), and maybe you!?!?! Special guest appearance by Mirror!Crowley (neversauntered).
Where: All over the mansion.
When: Ewaymas!
Rating: PG-PG13 unless otherwise specified.
Summary: Top levels/etc for all my people during Ewaymas. Open top-levels inside, closed top-levels happily available on request. Please contact me on hardtostarboard if you want something special!

Comments

there's no way this could possibly be comically awkward

[heroica]

Don't worry, he won't hurt you. [ ... She's pretty sure. Calen would never disobey her commands, but Oren... can sometimes have moments of weakness. She's smart enough to recognize the look of longing in the dog's eyes, even if he's sitting a safe distance away, and so she decides to scoop the rabbit up in a gesture of defiance to the hungry dog. ]

Well, he won't hurt you now. [ sigh ] Let's get you back outside, then.

[ And off she goes toward the front doors, carefully cradling the rabbit. ]

oh lawd

[noble_son]

[Oh, Maker.

If this situation couldn't get any more embarrassing, it... definitely just did. The hare freezes up in Robyn's arms for several moments, then all of a sudden appears to realise that it's being taken towards the door.

Then, it starts to struggle.

Don't put him outside! He has no idea what kind of a state he's going to be in when he finally changes back.]

[heroica]

[ Well, the rabbit doesn't at all seem like it wants to return outside, so the Warden sighs and sets it back down on the floor, tilting her head curiously at the animal. ]

Maker. I'm not sure what you want, little thing. [ Oren still watches from a distance: there is a small pool of drool on the floor beneath his jaws. ] I suppose I'll leave you on your own, then, and take the dog far away.

[ That's the best idea, right? For this weird, loose rabbit? ]

[noble_son]

[Again, he very deliberately puts himself between Robyn and the dog, crouching down behind her feet. Being a hare is... not the worst thing that could happen, but he is entirely unaccustomed to seeing the world from this angle and he had never realised quite how large mabari were.]

... Maker. [Comes a small, quiet voice from the hare, though one that would undoubtedly be familiar.

Nathaniel, still unaware he can speak in this shape, assumes that he did nothing more than think it.]

[heroica]

[ ........ what was that? ]

Did you just-... [ The Wardern turns to peer down at the hare with big, surprised eyes, blinking at it. ] ... talk?

[ It did, didn't it? And, more than that, it sounded... very familiar.

She swallows. ]

Hello?

[noble_son]

[... Wait.

Did she just hear him? The hare's nose twitches rapidly, and he looks up at Robyn barely daring to hope that she actually understood something he said.

In a very un-hare-like way, the creature creeps out from behind her feet.]

... Hello.

[Oh, thank the Maker, he can speak.]

[heroica]

[ She starts, but then admits a shaky laugh, squatting down to peer into the eyes of the rabbit.

Definitely a rabbit, yes, but... a talking one. A Fereldan-sounding one. ]

Er-... you can speak. [ The Warden points out, brows lifting. ] Are you... all right?

[noble_son]

[Ah. Well. This is... much easier, and yet somehow entirely more awkward.]

This wasn't intentional.

[He can feel his nose twitching. It's a very distracting sensation, but certainly not distracting enough to take his whole attention away from the mabari still staring at him.]

I... didn't know I could still talk.

[heroica]

"This?" [ Becoming a rabbit? ... She has so many questions. ]

I wouldn't think so. [ Oren is still a safe distance away, unwilling to break command, but he does continue to eye the rabbit from where he sits. ] ... How long have you been-... like this?

[noble_son]

It's been difficult to keep track of time.

[Look, the questions she has are likely to be some of the same questions he has. All he knows is that he gave in to the urge to eat a cookie, and then he was suddenly a small mammal.

It's all very embarrassing.]

But it can't have been more than twenty minutes.

[heroica]

Well, you're all right now. Talking, I mean, and... er, safe from...

[ She trails off, glancing back at Oren. ]

I would send him away, but I think that would make me more nervous, not being able to keep an eye on him. [ sigh ] Sorry, Nathaniel.

[noble_son]

[Hares can't grimace, but you can bet that if he could, he'd be doing exactly that.]

It isn't your fault that I got turned into an appetising afternoon snack.

[heroica]

I suppose not. [ She chuckles. ] Well, then, where would you like to go while we wait for this to wear off?

[noble_son]

[The hare which is undeniably Nathaniel Howe makes a disgruntled noise, then sits back to scratch roughly behind one ear with a back foot.

It takes a good few seconds for him to realise what he's doing.]

... Somewhere that I can get off the floor.

[heroica]

All right. [ Beat.

Er. ]

Would you prefer to walk, or...?

[ Or?? ]