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 Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 5:22 pm
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In a happier world, Tomoko would have easily been mistaken for a Disney Princess. Always happy, literally starting to glow, and surrounded by four adoring little animal companions. Well, if Kawadesu was 'adoring' and if Mononoke didn't seem ready to start battle with the young upstart all the time. Tomoko had learned to put herself between the pair. Desades and Sune right next to her, Mononoke and Kawadesu on the outside. They walked in a rather nice line.
Mostly because Tomoko didn't have it in her to break up a fight if one broke out.
But the daily walks had become a nice enough routine to wear everybody out and keep them in good shape. It also let Tomoko get out every day and keep active. However, she'd made a singular point in her walks: Stay away from the lake. Her ankle itched in memory of the bite and the kitsune had been frowning for a week straight over the entire incident.
It had been strange to all who knew Tomoko to see her frown so much. Which was a strange 180 from the happy ghoul who was out walking that day, her ball of stars happily cradled in her arms, tails flickering behind her as she began her walk around the edge of the school's property.
It'd be a nice walk, if not a somewhat long one. But she had company, right?
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Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 11:13 pm
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It had been a very hectic week for Toby Lockwood, what with all the moving in and change of scenery. She'd already been to a grand festival, thoroughly explored the grounds, and gotten the majority of her things put away in the dormitory... with one exception. She hadn't been expecting to get a care package from her parents so soon, but sure enough, some janitorial gnome came tracking her down with a terribly jumbled paper full of hole-punched braille that took fifteen minutes to decode, essentially boiling down to PICK UP YOUR CRAP OR WE FEED IT TO THE BIN.
And so it was that the girl strolled along with a rather sizable box in her hand, liberally stamped with postage and only slightly dented. She was smiling faintly, even humming very softly to herself, with Iris evenly paced at her side despite failing to clutch the scareon's harness. With class out and evening approaching (not that it mattered to her), there wasn't a terrible clutter of bodies out and about, mostly just fellow peers on a stroll in the distance, or--
... Wait a second, hold on.
She wasn't certain just why one figure in particular held her attention, really. It was a perfectly average, if not dainty looking silhouette of someone with four smaller tagalongs. Pets? Probably. The shape of them suggested something fox-like, for as much as she could tell between shifting the weight of her parcel and paying attention to each step. It was just... there was something about it she couldn't ignore, but for the life of her, describing it seemed beyond her grasp.
"Hello?" Usually Toby didn't speak up as she did right then, but whatever feeling it was prompted the sudden gesture. As she paused, so too did Iris perfectly time his halt, taking a seat by her foot and just gazing at the fox quartet with quiet curiosity.
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 10:25 am
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 2:48 pm
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Oh, well, this was slightly less than expected! Not that Toby really showed much surprise as one of the little shapes broke formation to dart over, barking and wiggling and only confirming in her mind that, oh yes, this was some kind of little pet fox dog. Somewhat blurrier and fainter than most, though... which meant they were probably something only-mostly-corporael, or rotting-- though somehow, the latter seemed doubtful. Parcel still in hand, she just turned her 'gaze' down a little to watch the thing as it scampered around her, content enough to stay exactly where she was, and after a few seconds, she even crouched down to set her box aside and offer an open hand in its direction for sniffing.
The whole time, Iris remained impressively steadfast in the same spot he'd planted himself and didn't even whine. Clearly, he was very used to this sort of thing-- or at least, trained well enough to stay put and only watch it.
"It's alright; he's fine," Toby responded after a moment, clearly not the least bit ruffled by the 'Desades' thing's antics. She turned back up toward the girl, who seemed far brighter and clearer than any of her pets, and smiled a little more amicably. "I didn't meant to disrupt your walk." A brief pause followed. "... My name is Toby. Could I ask yours, Miss?"
And now, seriously, HOW was Iris staying that chill the whole time? Clearly this little fox ghost pup thing wasn't a threat, so he wasn't bothered by it. He'd only start getting tense if it bit her.
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 3:01 pm
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Desades sniffed the offered hand excitedly, his tail wagging madly before he just started licking. Licking all over the place. LICK LICK LICK. Oh he was excited. Like a puppy..only too big to be anything more than fully grown. Tomoko crouched down to pick up Desades, the little think flailing in her hands as it was scooped up like a wiggling sack of maggots. All wiggles, hard to keep her hands on.
The kitsune shook her head at the apology. "OH, it's not a problem. It's simply a matter of making sure these four get out and get plenty of exercise. Otherwise they'll just rip up my room! Playing is still exercise!" she added, smiling brightly.
Not that kitsune smiles actually did anything to raise their body temperature, so it would likely be mostly unnoticed.
"Toby! That's a lovely name!" She grinned and bowed again, the bakekitsune in one arm, the ball of stars in the other. "It's very nice to meet you, I'm Tomoko!" she introduced in turn, her tails wagging from side to side momentarily. Wag wag wag.
Her three less excitable bakekitsunes just looked at Iris. Kawadesu seemed miffed, Sune and Monoke seemed to not give too poops about the minipet stranger.
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 3:21 pm
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For little ghost creatures (or so she kept assuming they were), the one licking so furiously at her certainly had a warm tongue, which she rewarded with a scratch on the ears. Sure, the fox pet seemed a little over-eager, but that was a rather endearing trait as far as Toby was concerned, and once the pleasant mystery owner had plucked him up, she regathered her parcel under one arm and, albeit with a slightly off-centered waver, got back to her feet-- ... er, hooves. They were still close enough to feet for the expression though.
"... Thank you." And oh, oh, this young miss really did seem so terribly charming and sweet. The way she spoke had a lovely air about it: sweet and ringing so clearly genuine. She didn't even realize that her own tail had started to sway a bit in her wake. "And Tomoko is a beautiful name as well. It fits you." Whoa, laying it on a bit thick there, wasn't she? And returning the bow with a mirrored motion most cordial! Yet Toby seemed genuinely complimentary and earnest about it; she meant what she said.
"Oh-- and this is Iris," she added, giving her still-stalwart scareon a gentle pat on the head. He leaned into it a bit, and seemed visibly content for the contact, but still remained in his seat. "... What dormitory are you staying in, if I may?"
What, wasn't it already obvi-- ... oh yeah, no eyes. An outsider seriously had to wonder if she could see at all, though she did appear to look right at Tomoko's face like any other person somehow...
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 3:51 pm
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Tomoko thought nothing of the question, just remaining her sweet self. Enough times, she was mistakable enough to be thought of as a monster. After all, she lacked horns, or a demonic tail, or overall humanoid features meant to terrorize humans. That was something she had to manage for herself with illusions, more or less. So she seemed receptive enough to the inquiry.
"Oh! I live over in the demon-dorms.." without a thought about if Toby could actually see the gesture or not, she pointed over yonder towards where her ultimate destination was. "How about you?"
For Tomoko, she was genuinely curious. She couldn't tell what sort of creature the stranger (boil? She wasn't sure) was. Just that they were very nice and had a lovely horn. Horns were demonic, right?
But there were also hooves.
She truly had no idea, sadly, so she'd have to work it out elsewise.
Like by asking as she had.
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 7:37 pm
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Well perhaps she couldn't see the dorm to which the girl gestured, but Tomoko's motion was clear and precise, and such a charming thing indeed. How wonderfully considerate of her to be so obliging! The demon dorms? Given the shape of her tail(s?) and ears, Toby herself had been guessing something more monstrous, though that meant'd she'd probably be... kitsune? Something fox-like? Seemed logical enough, given the creatures she toted about. Like did often attract like.
"Oh, I just moved into the monster dorms earlier this week," she responded back, still wearing the same pleasant, unbothered smile and once against shifting her parcel a little. It was a fairly sizable box, after all, and it felt like her parents had stockpiled quite a bit inside. After another brief pause, though--
"... I'm a falsicorn-- ... a unicorn doppelganger," she added, seeming to catch whatever confusion (or just curiosity) it was that Tomoko had. "And you are... a kitsune?" Oh, she hoped her assumption was correct. All the logic and evidence seemed to point towards it, though it wasn't like she could just take a normal 'look' at the girl to confirm things.
Iris, loyal though he was, did seem to be getting a little antsier now-- if only because he recognized how heavy the box in her arms was. If they were going to converse, wouldn't that be just as well on a walk?
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 8:14 pm
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"Yes! I am indeed a kitsune!" she smiled, assuring the assumption was correct.
"Ohh! The monster dorms? Junko-chan lives there!" Tomoko said excitedly, setting Desades down. The Bakekitsune bounded around Kawadesu a few times and the pair barked at each other. Seeming to notice the parcel in Toby's arms, Tomoko tilted her head ever so slightly, ears flickering up. There was a small moment of consideration as she nodded.
"How about we walk that way then? Walking anywhere is still a walk!"she said, seeming pleased by this strike of 'genius', more or less, but waiting on Toby before she began to walk herself, a light bounce in her step. Kawadesu and Mononoke leered at each other, one hissing at the other, as Tomoko walked, but they were good enough to not suddenly lunge into battle.
It may have simply been because of the white Bakekitsune between them who walked so delicately and was overall just charming. Sune was to Bakekitsune as Tomoko was to real Kitsunes. Too sweet to harm.
"I should introduce you to some people when things are back into full swing, Toby-kun.." she assumptively put the male title there, possibly because it sounded nicer, if nothing else, "Then you can know lots and lots of people here. There are some nice ones, but there are also some really mean ones." she paused, frowning daintily.
"But I won't gossip about them."
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 9:01 pm
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Oh, good; so she had been right after all! And better still, the lovely Miss had offered up to walk with her to her dorm room, and even offered to introduce her to others? Really, how absolutely kind and sweet of her was that? Toby didn't really know what the whole 'kun' thing was about, though it sounded pleasant enough and... well, by that point, Tomoko was familiar enough to call her anything she wanted.
"That sounds nice," the falsicorn girl nodded, "thank you, Miss Tomoko. Iris?"
Iris immediately perked up at the mention of his own name, looking upwards towards his 'Master' for a moment before he rose, took a moment to shake himself off and, only waiting for her nod, began to walk again down the path, right for the dorms. It was actually impressive how well trained he seemed to be, all but glued to her side, yet somehow managing not to trip either party. Toby would've usually been clutching his harness for stability, granted, but with the box to juggle, it was just too difficult... and he seemed to know.
"... It sounds like you're well acquainted with other students," she piped up against after a few steps, perhaps an excuse for some nice, idle conversation. "So, you enjoy the life here?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 10:48 am
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Tomoko reached down and pet Iris when the scareon got up, smiling a bit. "You're a good...boy? Boy." she seemed content in her gender-assumptions for the pet, offering a few scratches behind the ears, before she straightened up again. Her own herd fell into a formation, mostly with the help of her dividing them up using a foot to keep her angry fighters separated from one another.
"I know quite a few of them. Some only by name, others are friends. Quite a few students are in the Monster dorms, though, so you'll have lots of friends to make in there. The ghost and the undead dorms are very lonely, sadly." she frowned a bit. "Not many people in there by comparison, but they're filling up slowly."
She nodded once, as though Toby could see the gesture.
"Lots of students, lots of things happening. There are almost always things happening..." She paused before leaning over to whisper;
"Try to avoid the Field Trips if you can. The one I went on was pretty bad and from what I hear the one before it wasn't much better." she frowned a bit, dainty as ever.
"But life in the school by itself is pretty pleasant. I enjoy it."
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 6:58 pm
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Iris actually seemed a little thrown by the petting, though he sure wasn't about to reject the opportunity, and though he didn't waver in his step (such things might have threatened to trip dear Toby), the scareon made sure to lean in a little against Tomoko's hand, his long tail flickering back and forth pleasurably. Hell, even if she'd made the mistake of calling him a girl, he probably couldn't have cared less.
Must've been one of those 'like Master, like pet' things, huh?
Toby seemed perfectly happy to just listen quietly the whole while too, keeping her steps even and her grip on the box firm as they made their way ever closer to what she called 'home'. It was good to hear positive things about her new peers, although the note about field trips was... slightly troubling. Were they really so notoriously bad? Just what happened during them?...
"Duly noted," she responded in turn, simple, and quiet, but she meant it. At last, they had made it to the great entry doors of the building, Iris making sure to warn her with a tap on the leg so she knew to grab the door handle and pull it open-- not for herself, of course, but to let Tomoko pass before her, like any good little gent. "Ladies first," she even commented, with a soft little smile.
She did naturally come in right after with Iris, but only once the whole procession was past, and from there, it wasn't a long walk at all to her room. Just a couple of halls-- halls she knew by heart already from repetitive travel-- and to a fairly modest looking door that bore just a few subtle little marks on it, something like... ink? Sure enough, the central design was a simple outline of something like a horned horse beast: barely visible against the deep brown wood, but for Toby, it glowed like a lighthouse in the dark.
And with a light twist of the knob, it swung open to reveal... a warm, subtly colored little room in lovely faded earth tones, with simple furniture, a mantle on each wall, a soft bed and-- ... some funny looking spotted finned kitten thing sleeping on the foot of it?
Not like it would stay sleeping for long with the new arrivals, of course.
"Please, sit anywhere you like," Toby instructed her new friend in a kindly soft tone, "I hope it's comfortable."
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 7:42 pm
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The simplistic appearance of Toby's room was appealing to Tomoko, who lived out in the mountains and trees of her own home. It was definitely a sort of soothing familiarity it gave. It was certainly not as decorated as the kitsune's room which was adorned in stars and other such things, but none the less it was nice.
Tomoko was capable of being appreciative of things that didn't directly match her own tastes.
At least she thought so, anyways. Looking around the room, she then looked back to Toby, then at the places she could have possibly sat down at, 'HMM'ing thoughtfully. Desades jumped immediately onto the bed and onto the stranger pet, barking excitedly. Tomoko frowned, hoping that his paws were clean.
She was sure she'd given her group a bath lately. Kawadesu and Mononoke growled at each other in the absence of the pup, but Tomoko divided them purposely before she went to take a seat on the bed as well, setting her ball of stars in her lap and running her hand across the surface of it.
"Your room is very nice, Toby-kun! I see you like earthy colors. Are you a fan of the outdoors then?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 10:33 pm
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The strange little kitten-thing immediately woke up when Desades made a crash entrance on top of it, its enormous eyes snapping wide as it rolled over and... squealed? Chirped? Squeaked? The sound was a mix of something between the three either way, though following the initial start, it just stared at the bake-kitsune with wide eyes, head tilting to one side and then the other in the sheets, as if just waiting for him to do something new and entertaining.
... That was, at least, until Tomoko sat down on the bed, and it promptly shot wriggled out from beneath him to go bounding over for her lap, instead.
"Thank you." And of course Toby was pleased for the compliment, following her over to set down that hefty parcel on a spare patch of mattress. With her hands finally free, the next order of business was Iris-- waiting ever-patiently in her shadow. With a quick, deft couple of snaps, the harness was pulled away, and he wasted no time giving himself a vigorous dog-esque shakeout and then promptly leaping up to perch in her desk chair.
"I am," she continued smoothly, always in the same kind, soft tone, fishing in her nightstand for a pair of scissors to open up the mystery box. "I lived out in the country before moving here. It was nice. Very wooded." Another little pause followed-- if only because she was assessing the contents of the newly opened parcel, somehow. "... Do you like apples, Tomoko?"
It might've seemed like a fairly random question... if the care package hadn't been stacked full of a solid dozen apples on top, all conveniently marked with little glowing ink-stickers on the skin.
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2011 9:23 am
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"Apples? I like apples just fine, yes." Tomoko nodded, smiling as she looked down at the little creature that had taken to her lap, offering it some pets as well. It was sort of..strange, actually. She'd never seen something like the little finned kitten before, though she was quick to lavish it with adoring attention. Desades seemed jealous and soon bounded over to throw himself on top of Tiny with a flop across Tomoko's lap, complete with more barking.
"Desades!" she chidded gently, pushing the bakekitsune out of her lap once again, scooping up the Wishing Floresce to be rested against her shoulder. Poor baby!
Sune soon jumped onto the bed as well, emitting a sound that seemed more like a mewl than a bark, but none the less finally piping up with her own demand for attention. Albeit, more daintily. So dainty. Never not. Sort of like her mom. Perhaps that was where it was learned from.
Tomoko looked at Toby again.
"I love apples! They're very nice, though not as easy to get from where I live. I lived in a forest near a costal town; lots of fresh fish. It's quite good...if you're a fish person." From the sounds of things, Tomoko was a fish person.
"So not a lot of fresh fruit there. It's sad, because fruit is very nice."
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