[video] Searching for parents

[emet_sulk]

[ Emet-Selch looks a little harried and stressed today when the video feed begins. There is a little axolotl clinging to a front lock of his hair, gently chewing. He either doesn't notice or doesn't care as there is urgency to his gaze and tone. ]

Should anyone encounter a pair of ambystomae - I mean, axolotls - with a carnivorous tendency, please abstain from killing them immediately and inform me of their location. I need to return their child to them.

[ This won't stop anyone killing the many axolotls involved in the search but he has to hope he finds the parents before they're accidentally killed. ]

Comments

[afflatusexarch]

Why do you say that? Is it biting you?

[emet_sulk]

[ The axolotl hanging off his fringe wiggles. He gently cups it and it releases his hair, plopping into his palms. And...yes, it does start mouthing at his fingers. ]

It tries to bite anything which moves. Hythlodaeus and I do try to keep it fed but it eats a prodigious amount of meat and fish over the course of a day for such a small thing.

[afflatusexarch]

[ See, mouthing doesn't necessary mean eating... ]

It could also be teething, mayhap. I recall Lyna oft trying to do something similar. Not the overeating of meat and fish, of course, but the needing to bite everything in sight.

[emet_sulk]

Hmm... Perhaps.

[ It may be mouthing now but pretty soon it's gnawing at his fingers instead. ]

I wonder if Elah intended us to be eaten by these things while we were pursuing it. They certainly made a quick meal of the ones who arrived before us.

[afflatusexarch]

I doubt that Elah thought that hard about it. It's never come across as a murderous sort to me?

[emet_sulk]

More likely it wished to delay us, I suppose. If we had been foolish enough to be eaten at all, that would have been on our heads.

[ Emet-Selch isn't looking at the camera but his expression seems to harden. There is no question about him letting Hythlodaeus die again. ]

[afflatusexarch]

I am more liable to believe that than anything that's truly malicious. Or, alternatively, it could just as easily be a test to see if we would chase after the leviathan.

[emet_sulk]

Perhaps. I would have continued the voyage had we not had to run for our lives.

[ A small sigh. He feeds the little axolotl a strip of raw fish from a dish nearby so it stops chewing on his fingers. His brow remains creased as he watches it eat. ]

...Can you believe Hythlodaeus wanted to keep it when we first found it?

[afflatusexarch]

I am not sure what sort of person your Hythlodaeus is. In truth, I only witnessed the barest of glances of the two of you as you once were.

[ Yet that still implies that G'raha has, in fact, seen Emet-Selch's real face. ]

[emet_sulk]

[ He frowns slightly. Both of them, as they once were? ]

...Hmm. I suppose you and he wouldn't have reason to cross paths here. I had him find work as a bard at the local taverns. Mayhap you could seek him out at one of them. As I recall, you have something of a sweet voice yourself.

[ Should he say anything more...? He mentally shakes his head. Hythlodaeus is a menace but harmless. G'raha will survive. ]

[afflatusexarch]

Instead of reason to, wouldn't it be more accurate to say "have an opportunity to?" Social circles are not overly large here.

Though that you choose to remember the sound of my singing voice does leave my fur standing on end.

[emet_sulk]

What? Would you rather I remember all your negative traits instead?

[afflatusexarch]

It would say that it'd be more apt of you to do so. You never fail to point them out.

[emet_sulk]

Well, if you insist:

I think you are too eager to help others and that attempting to learn multiple martial and magical disciplines did you a disservice in the mastery of any single one of them.

[afflatusexarch]

That wasn't an invitation to start talking about all of the faults you find in me.

[emet_sulk]

[ He huffs, and subsequently complains (in a tone of voice that suggests he's doing it to be dramatic): ]

If I cannot mention either your positive or negative traits then I suppose you've left me no choice but to discuss the weather instead.

[afflatusexarch]

So you consider the sound of my voice to be a positive trait.

[emet_sulk]

Don't say it like that. Your little boyfriend is going to think I'm flirting with you.

[afflatusexarch]

Little? I don't believe that "little" applies to him in any sense of the word.

Save for maybe his vocabulary.

In truth, I think he would readily agree with you instead of think negatively about the comment.

[emet_sulk]

Well... Good.

[ He doesn't want to add another compliment and make this more awkward. But he can't avoid a brief pause before he speaks again. ]

In any case, do let me know if you see any members of this one's species. I'd like to not be responsible for the death of an entire township because a child decided to run away from home.