Welcome to Gaia! ::

Not speaking a word, Chris was listening intently to the conversations buzzing around her. She gathers up what she can of the satchels, tugging them up and waiting to follow after Alphonse. Feeling no need to speak more than she really needed to at the moment, she curiously was awaiting to see Tobias' reaction.

A stiffling of laughter came willowing out passed her lips, however, as Alphonse's attempt to convince Tobias that he was not afraid of the creatures. She found the Okapi to be rather adorable.

Pity it disuaded his rouse.

"I am not sure this one is even recognized in the mainstream," Alphonse says to Dorian, "it is a very obscure animal. Nobody is quite sure what it is classified under... it is neither horse nor deer. It's found deep in the jungles of the Congo, and is known only to the natives, but one of my trackers found one with the guidance of the savages. The natives call it 'okapi,' I believe."

He looks over his shoulder at the caged animal, idly wondering if it was mythical or not. It certainly looked like something you might find in a storybook. "It almost makes me not want to perform surgery on the beast, since it is a remarkable discovery for the modern world. But then again... once it is on the island, I do not want to waste the money required to ship it to England." How thoughtful of him.

"The rabbits will be going directly to my home up the mountain," he directs Tobias, pointing to the fenced off cluster of buildings off in the distance above the jungle, "so it will be more of a walk than pulling a cage to the kennel for new arrivals. And no, you may not put the rabbit cage down and go for the water-rat's cage now that you know the walk is shorter."

He picks up the rope to the okapi's cage again, preparing to roll it down the dock and up the beach to the stable. "And do keep in mind, this will require multiple trips. There are a few more animals on this ship than the rabbits, the water-rat, and the okapi. Although my shiphands will likely take care of a few of them, it does not hurt to lighten their burden."

From the congo? Christine continues to listen to Dorian and Alphonse speak, taking in the little bits on informatoin here and there. She recalls her father speaking of the congo. A dangerous place, he had told her once. Not somewhere one should go unless they are fully prepaired... and with a good guide.

The weight of the satchels was a bit more than Chris finds herself used to, but she bites it back. Complaining wasn't going to do her any good, she figures to just grin and bear it.

Well, sans the grinning.

"That's very good," Alphonse nods at Dorian with an approving smile, "you will get along better here than some people, I imagine." Oh, he's not hinting at Tobias. Not at all!

"I imagine I won't be quick to hand him off to someone who might be lazy with him, no," he shakes his head in regard to the okapi. "Since there's little to no information about this creature, all kinds of study is going to be done on it aside from the surgical process. I do know that it has a vegetarian diet -- mercifully, feeding it will be easy."

He looks towards Chris, particularly that damned cloak. Luckily it's a cloudy day or surely the 'man' would have fainted by now. What an odd thing to wear. "You, too, will be going up towards the mountain," he tells her, "but not to my house. There's a boarding house -- see the long, two-storeyed building closest to the jungle? -- up there, I'll have to lead both you and Tobias there since the gate is locked. It may be best to drop the things off at the arrival kennel until the boat is completely unloaded, then all of us can take the hike up and you can pick out your rooms."

Tossing the rope over his shoulder, he walks forward but is stopped short by the thin man's comment. He tries to stifle the laughter at Tobias, ultimately failing as he half-bends over. "Servants?" Alphonse repeats, cackling with idiotic glee. "Servants? This is a remote island reserved for scientific experiments, I have no time to fool around with servants! And I am deeply sorry, but there are no dark-skinned natives on this island to wait on your every hand and foot, either. Pity that." If both hands weren't on that rope, he'd be slapping his forehead right now.

Chris simply nods her head as Alphonse speaks to her. She caught his wayward glance to her cloak. Yes, obviously the climate was warm, but she was in no fast hurry to remove it for the moment. In due time.

It was rather warm however, as Alphonse had mentioned to her earlier, but she notes that it's not unbearable... for now at least.

Alphonse bites his lip in thought at Dorian's question. "Hmn. Well, we've got this okapi, the water-rat, an arctic bear, and two spotted cats -- a leopard and a jaguar. The latter three are in covered cages, and the bear is going to require lots of extra help getting off of the boat. It is very heavy," he says, stroking his beard. "The sailors will undoubtedly help us with that, but I cannot trust them by themselves handling a top predator like that. The water rat is the lightest of them all, save for the rabbits, and if you wish you can probably handle that one by yourself."

He reaches an arm out at Tobias, who had started walking off. "Now, boy! Where are you going? I didn't say to go up the mountain now, you nitwit! Do you not listen? I said to save that trip for last -- where we are going for now is just a little up the beach. Follow me."

He starts towing the okapi up the dock, where the sudden movement causes it to pace around in its cage a little, its hooves clicking against the wooden floor.

Plodding herself along behind Dorian and Alphonse, Chris simply, and quietly, takes up pace. Alphonse seemed to have a short temper, or at least... he wasn't used to snobbish upstarts.

She thought, then, he'd surely never survive at a gala.

Her gaze wandered around the area, grey eyes peering all around. Then again, she mused quietly, he likely didn't have to worry about such things.