open

[heavyhead]

who: Noctis and open
what: various open prompts including baby animals at the petting zoo
when: throughout May??
where: the zoo, other miscellaneous places
warnings: nothing

A. zoo/this is technically 2 prompts

[For someone who's only ever held down one job (and not for long), Noctis is doing pretty well at this petting zoo attendant thing. He gets to sit around and pet cute animals for most of his shifts? What's not to love? It almost makes up for having to clean up after them at the end of the day.

He has zero complaints about the uniform, complete with nametag, either. Actually this is probably the best part of this job.

What's not so great is how many people he has to talk to and supposedly educate, because damn, he is not great at that. The little kids are easily entertained enough, aside from the precocious ones who keep trying to correct his Animal Facts(tm), but it's a lot harder to remember everything he has to say about the various animals in the petting zoo area when there are actual adults around... He has petting zoo stage fright.

But he tries. Mostly, to varying degrees.

If you come by the petting zoo in the morning, when he's giving it his best shot, you'll probably catch him holding, at the same time, a bunny and a rough-looking, folded-and-unfolded-too-much piece of paper. The bunny is quite literally tucked into the crook of his arm, while he frowns at the paper and flounders.]

Okay, so this type of bunny— rabbit, this type of rabbit usually lives in, uh... [please save him, ask a question or something.]

[ORRRR if you come by later in the day, when he's just tired and wants to clock out and go, he'll hold up what looks mostly like a baby alligator, but for some reason, orange, and sigh.] You want to hold a lizard?

[professional.]

B. not the zoo

[When he's not at work, Noctis can be found loitering in public spaces like shopping centers and food courts, minding his own business and playing on his phone... or buying too many fishing lures at a time, or actually standing around looking like he might want to talk to someone.

The thing is: he had shit to do at home and it was pretty dang important, and now he's here and as much as he'd like to stay in his room and sleep all the time, there are people there and so he needs something else to keep busy. Which is dreadful in and of itself, but finding something to do besides mobile games? Even worse. He's compromised and gone back to the only thing he knows how to do: favors for other people. So while he loiters, there's a little sign set next to him that just says 'ODD JOBS' on it in marker. Hire him to pick vegetables or something.

He's still wearing the lion hat.]

C. etc?!

[plotting available @melodrama!]

Comments

[heavyhead]

[They're little devils with too many legs. Look at them.]

You got me. I hate bugs.

[bringbackgold]

It's just crickets.

[ He's so unimpressed, Noctis. Like, crickets are completely harmless. He'd understand if it was something big and poisonous or something... ]

Maybe someone else should take care of the lizards.

[heavyhead]

You're telling me. [Someone else should do this, since Noctis is a huge baby about it. He doesn't even like holding this tupperware.]

Have you seen how many legs they have? And how they move? It's not right.

[bringbackgold]

They're harmless, though.

[ Blinks. He reaches in, snags another cricket to feed it, and offers it to the lizard. ]

And they're eaten within seconds.

[ Unimpressed. ]

[heavyhead]

They're gross.

[He's very insistent about this point, bud. They're nasty!!]

Eating them is gross too.

[bringbackgold]

Are you planning on eating them?

[ Gives Noctis the most flat and deadpan look he's given thus far. He agrees, but he doesn't plan on eating them, either. They're for the lizard, not himself. ]

[heavyhead]

No! I still have to watch them do it.

[The lizards. Betraying his delicate sensibilities.]

[bringbackgold]

...I bet they think it's gross when you eat.

[ Stare. STARES HARDCORE. Sorry, Noctis. ]