( open ) give me land, lots of land under starry skies above

[alfa]

who: Owen Grady & YOU!
what: a general catch-all for the month of August, including a zoo prompt and fun times beyond the walls, among other things
when: August
where: various places, in the Quarantine + beyond the walls
warnings: nudity and sexual content in one thread


I ▹ THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT

[ Having vast experience with dealing with some of the deadliest (if supposedly extinct) animals who walked the Earth has proven to be pretty helpful at his new job. Most of the animals at the zoo are pretty tame by comparison, but still Owen's not so stupid that he'll underestimate any of them— even the supposedly friendlier and more harmless ones.

He gets to work with various animals here, so it'll be easy to run into him doing a myriad of tasks, whether it's mucking up enclosures or feeding animals. He has a little more in-depth interaction with some of the animals, such as the ostrich-looking birds, tall and bulky, with long strong legs that could probably kill a guy with a well-aimed kick. Or at least break a lot of bones.

They don't seem intent on attacking Owen, but seem to be very interested in the bag of treats he's carrying, following him around the enclosure and trying to poke their big beaks into the bag. Owen doesn't seem particularly scared, swatting a hand at their heads as he pulls the bag away. ] Hey! Don't be an asshole. There's plenty for everyone.

[ Or, for a more exciting experience, come by the reptile area and see him attempting to help the alligators as they suffer through the intense heat during hotter days. He's pretty sweaty himself, shirt sticking to his back and all, but he doesn't seem to be too worried about that. The alligators barely seem interested in moving, but Owen tries to goad them into eating some meat, throwing large pieces at them, hosing them down with cool water even as they lay down in the shade. Big jaws there, and big teeth too, but Owen isn't overly concerned even when they open their mouths in his general direction. It's too hot, and he'd put up too much of a fight. Not worth the trouble. ]

II ▹ MAN IN THE WILDERNESS

[ Other than the zoo, it's beyond the walls that Owen spends most of his time. He likes it out here a lot, despite the various warnings of the dangers. He's taken Loki's offer a number of times and has been spending some nights at his cavern near a creek, which is where he goes to bathe. He might be in the wild but that's no excuse to stink up the place.

But other than that, he spends a lot of time exploring the forest, walking along the river, climbing up trees here and there to get a better view. He's excited to meet any wild creature out here, whether or not they're supposedly dangerous, and he also trudges through the forest collecting various small lizards, all perched up on his shoulders or tucked into his pockets. He's making friends, okay. ]

III ▹ WILDCARD

[ Despite enjoying the wilderness most of all, he doesn't turn into a complete hermit either. He can be found around the Quarantine often, whether he's looking for supplies for camping or for the animals at the zoo, or a place to have a nice cold drink. He also needs some new clothes so he'll be looking into that— light and comfortable pieces he can wear while out in the wild, preferably.

He also still has his room in communal housing, and he stays there sometimes too, so he's not exactly a complete stranger to the other residents there, nor is he the unsociable and unfriendly type. He likes having his own space, but he also enjoys good company at times. ]

Comments

[alfa]

"Yes, for fucking real," he nearly laughs. Okay, no, he definitely laughs. It's the usual sentiment around here, which isn't so different from his own world— before the park went to shit and the dinosaurs started eating people, anyway. But there's definitely an added layer of excitement, in her case.

"You mean you wanna come in here right now?" He raises both eyebrows. "Sounds like a terrible idea."

[whosthemonsternow]

"How terrible of an idea? I can promise to try not to kill at them or anything." She says with another flash of a grin. She likes animals, she doesn't exactly go out of her way to kill them willy nilly.

[alfa]

"Well, I was more worried about them attacking you," he points out. Fighter or not, and even if she happens to have superhuman skills, a fight breaking out between the animals and her would turn into a big mess. If neither of them got hurt, someone else getting in the way to stop it might— like Owen, for instance.

But the big birds do seem pretty happy and docile now. Owen gives them a few more treats until the bag is empty, then shrugs. "We can give it a try. Just don't make any sudden movements, and they should leave you alone." He gestures to a small cabin next to the enclosure. "The entry's through there. I'll open the door for you."

[whosthemonsternow]

"Eh, I'm not worried about that." She replies as she eyes the cabin pointed out, heading over. "I won't get all crazy, jump around or anything, don't worry. And I'm fairly sure I can take them down if they get crazy instead- humanely, just knock em out not kill em or anything."

...probably.

She goes to the door for him to open, excited to see them up close without them wanting to kill her or her having to kill them. It's kind of thrilling, see them like a normal animal instead of a beast trying to kill idiots outside the wall that she has to kill to keep people safe.

[alfa]

The intention counts for something, at least. He's fairly sure the animals won't pay her much mind, since the one here are a little tamer than the ones living beyond the walls, but he'll still keep an eye on them— and her, for that matter. He'd rather not have her knock them out for any reason, since that'd spell trouble for him.

He enters the cabin, and a few seconds later he's opening the door on her end, gesturing inside. "Come on in," offering his hand. "I'm Owen, by the way."

[whosthemonsternow]

"I'm South." She says with a smile, looking him over a moment before she goes inside.

"And you gotta tell me more about the raptors. Where there other dinosaurs too? Like the triceratops?" Not that those are her favorite or anything...

[alfa]

"Sure. We had plenty others there," he nods, while guiding the way across the shed, and through the door leading into the enclosure. The birds have stepped a little farther away, aware of a stranger coming into the area. "Triceratops, brachiosaurus, T-rex, ankylosaurus, stegosaurus, pterosaurs, a mosasaurus— that's just to name a few."

[whosthemonsternow]

Right, calm and not crazy. She can do that. Even if she's kind of excited to hear about the dinos, trying to keep her energy calmer despite the building excitement. "What were they like? The triceratops? What color were they really? Did they have feathers-?"

[alfa]

It's fine, really, she's not the first dinosaur fan he's met, and she likely won't be the last. Her excitement doesn't come as much of a surprise at all. "No feathers. They weren't... designed that way. And they had more or less gray-ish, brown and green tones, though some of them would get tinges of red and orange around their horns and along the frills."

[whosthemonsternow]

"That's kind of awesome. Were they well tempered or hot heads?" Asking the important questions, obviously.

She's always been into triceratops, and dinosaurs but specifically the ol' three horns. She can't helping asking a ton of questions and being excited. Though she does try to chill a little, so the creatures actually there don't get wound up or cray from her energy being so high.

[alfa]

"Generally calm and gentle. They could get a little moody just like any other wild animal, but I think they were the tamest dinosaurs at the park. Kids could even pet and ride on the baby ones."

Owen neither approves nor disapproves of that. They were well taken care of, and they seemed to enjoy playing around and spending time with the kids, even if it always seemed weird to him to use a dinosaur for that. But whatever.

[whosthemonsternow]

"They had kids riding dinosaurs? Like amusement park rides?" That makes her wrinkle her nose a bit.

Dinosaurs were long dead but exciting creatures, they should've been treated with more respect. In her opinion at least. Where she's from, they had big beasts and creatures, but nothing was as exciting to her as the large monsters of the past.

She looks at the current collection of creatures he was playing with though, eyeing them curiously before asking, "You name any of these guys yet?"

[alfa]

“Yeah,” he purses his lips, adding when he glances at her and notices the look on her face. “I thought it was weird too, trust me. But they were pretty well taken care of, and they liked playing with the kids. Overall they were— happy.”

Certainly had better treatment and conditions than the Indominus Rex, for one. Not that they’d had much of a choice, considering the kind of monster they’d created.

“They had names already when I got here. Syra, Aina, Rook, Braye,” he points at them as he goes through the names. “The little one is called Maraou. Don’t ask me what they mean, I’ve got no clue.”

[whosthemonsternow]

As long as they were happy and healthy and taken care of, she can't really complain. Still, it sounds demeaning as fuck and she's kind of glad not to see that. Even if she does wish she could see a triceratops in person...

She focuses on the creatures that are here instead, listening to their names and nodding a bit. "Heard stranger names, is the little one younger or just small?" Regardless, it's now her favorite so.

[alfa]

He can't say he disagrees with her, honestly. Triceratops were never his realm of expertise, though. He can't remember spending more than a couple hours total with them, or with any of the other dinosaurs aside from his raptors.

"Younger. He's seven months old now. The others have a tendency to protect him," he gestures to where the animals are, the adult ones rounding the youth and glancing at the two humans every so often, particularly keeping an eye on the stranger.