Welcome to Gaia! ::

(Ryan, 75% Mostly Anthropomorphic, his tail and snout haven't grown all the way, and his fur isn't completely grown in.)

Ryan had been sleeping soundly in the remains of his mattress; he'd long ago clawed the center of it into tiny peices of fluff, which made sleeping with his ridged back easier. The lights were off, and the windows covered with dark cloth. The whole room felt like a cave; like a burrow.

Grumbling at the knock, he stood up, brushing peices of his mattress out of his fur. Reaching over to his nightstand, he tied the towel that passed for pants these day around his waist. "I'm coming!" He yelled at the knocking.

He opened the door about a foot, wincing as the bright light hit his eyes. He coulddn't see well enough to get a good look at whoever was knocking. "Can I help you?" His tone was as friendly as it could be, considering he'd just woken up. Bits of mattress were still stuck to his fur.

Had he been more awake, he might have been inclined to just push the guy out of his doorway and slam the door. But he'd been out late digging around in the jungle for tasty bugs and roots, and he'd only gotten to bed not too long ago.

So, for lack of better judgment, he invited the guy in. It wasn't as though he was worried about the guy stealing his stuff or anything. "Eh, sure, make yourself at home."He turned and waved the guy in. "I'm just going to get a glass of water, you want one?"

Remembering that his guest probably couldn't see as well in the dark as he could, he flipped the light on, despite how it stung his eyes. He quickly walked into the bathroom to get out of the bright light and fill a glass will water.

With the light on, Alan would be able to see that a couple walls had tally marks gouged into the drywall. Quite a few in; in fact, more than three hundred.

"Alright." Ryan filled up a couple of the glasses, which he kept in his duplex since he could drink from the faucet anymore. He strolled back into the main room, handing Alan a glass. "Don't worry, they're clean. I was them after I use them."

He sat down on the unshredded edge of the mattress, careful to move his tail out of the way. "It's definitly had it's ups and downs. I'm happy to say that being an Armadillo has been an up. I have been here long enough to get that many tally marks though." Ryan of course was refering to how many days he'd been there.

Now that his eyes had started to adjust to the light, Ryan got a good look at the animal he'd invited in. He seemed to be a donkey, the poor b*****d. "Now then, Mr...? What can I do for you?"

"No problem." It really wasn't a problem, It wasn't like Ryan was paying for it or anything.

"Yeah, that many so far. Who knows how many it will be in the end. Of course, there are others here that have a lot more than me, though I don't know if they keep track like I do." Alan himself was in that category, though Ryan didn't bring it up; it could be a touchy subject. Although this guy seemed to be in a good mood.

"I've met some great animals here. Some of the best friends I've ever had, actually. My only complaint is that I can't really bend my back any more, and it's awkward in bed at night. Maybe once I change for the last time it'll be better."

"Oh geez, I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself. Name's Ryan." He held out a hand that seemed to be more claw than fingers. "Coming here probably saved me from a lifetime of foodstamps. I can certainly understand why the others are upset though.

Alright, now Ryan was a little confused. Why would this guy be surprised that people had been here longer than him? "Um, yeah. There's a lot of people that have been here longer than me. You have been too, I take it, since you've changed all the way, haven't you?

"Well, I'm glad that things have worked out well for you. That seems to be the exception and not the rule these days."

Ryan wasn't sure what he was getting at now. Was he trying to get Ryan to support the labs? While Ryan wasn't a supporter, he wasn't exactly a voice of dissent around the island.

Ryan started laughing at the absurdity of Alan's statement. Just a quiet laugh that would wouldn't go away for the longest time. "I'm..haha..sorry." He managed to get out once he calmed down a bit. "It's just that I know a couple animals here who are rodents, for whatever reason." He had to wipe away a tear that had formed from laughing so much.

At least Ryan finally seemed to catch on that Alan had mistaken his tally marks for something else. What he thought they were for, he had no idea. "But if you've been here longer than me, then that's exactly what you have." He jerked a clawed thumb towards the tally marks. "That's how many day's I've been here.

"I've heard of Zachary a few times, usually after he's gotten into a fight with someone. Haven't heard of Jordan though."

By this point, Ryan had been nice and polite and had engaged in small talk. Now though, he was just wanting to get back to his nice shredded bed. "What did you say you came here for? I don't rember what you said."

"Hmmm." Ryan thought about what Alan had asked for a minute. So the guy WAS with the labs, or at least for them. Himself, he wasn't for them or against them. Amd he certainly didn't want to choose a side; that would alienate him from some of his other friends.

"I can't say I'd want to go that far. At the moment, I figure I'm giving back to Moreau already; he experiments on me, I don't ask for much and I do my best not to cause or get into trouble."