Dak had learned some lessons in the last couple days. He was feeling more confident and comfortable about his new lifestyle and home. The different areas were becoming easier to navigate and with the help of some kind females, he’d eaten better than he could ever remember. Not only that, but he actually knew where to get the food. He padded along the streets of the settlement now, enjoying the early morning quiet. The waters were too rough from a previous storm to go fishing, so his human had let him go do whatever he wanted. It was a freedom that made him enjoy being a domestic all the more.
The cull paused and sniffed the air as the scent of kibble wafted towards him. Kibble? Outside at this time of day? He followed the aroma to a house, and could see the food sitting out. It looked… almost free for the taking. Unable to resist the sweet temptation, he snuck closer and cautiously took a bite. Ohhhh! It only took that one taste to have him munching away without a care.
Nova hummed to himself softly, Tayah, his human had let him out into the yard for his 'business' as she called it. He'd made his roudns in the yard, the gates usually left open since Nova never left the sight of the house, Tayah felt he was too small to be worth stealing too so she was busy indoors, leaving the door to the yard open just a crack for Nova to get in and out. He was about to head inside when he heard the sound of munching. Turning his head he saw a cull, who looked rather hungry, judging from the way he was wolfing the kibble down. Nova never touched that bowl, Tayah had caught him once and had scolded him and told him it was for the ferals or other wandering Mokai to eat if they were hungry. Still, Nova felt a pang of something ... that in a larger Mokai would have probably had him charging the intruder. Instead Nova crept closer, his ears constantly twitching, muscles tense in case even this cull, posed a threat.
He had half of the bowl of food down his through and in his belly before he realized how lost he’d gotten in eating. He tensed immediately, ears perking even as his head was still low over the kibble. He was absolutely still. What was he doing? He was standing in a human’s property, inhaling food that probably wasn’t meant for him. Oh man… this probably wasn’t good.
Slowly he turned his head, surveying the area to see if anyone had noticed him. Would they think anything of a collared cull eating here? Maybe they would assume the owner had gotten a new pet or something. There was nothing for a good few degrees of his head turn until… bam. A pet. A small pet, but probably still bigger than Dak; he couldn’t really tell at this angle. His tail ducked between his legs and he jumped away from the food, more embarrassed than actually fearful. “I… I’m sorry.”
Nova blinked, the other had stopped eating and Nova knew he'd been quiet. It seemed the cull was as nervous as he was. He stood still and looked around, jumping away when he saw Nova. Now this was new, even the odd cull he'd seen before hadn't been quite THAT afraid of the pint-sized pet and Nova was unsure of his next move. Usually HE was the one jumping away and backing off. "No wait!" he cried to the other, his stutter forgotten for an instant. "It's okay keep eating if you w..w...w...w..want to" he said, his ears low and his posture as submissive as the other's was though his tail stayed curled over his back as it always was. "it's f..f...f...f..free f..f...f...food" he stammered, purposefully glancing away from the other.
Dak tilted his head and inched forward a little, paying extra attention to decipher the stuttered words. Had they really put out free food? Well that meant that Dak hadn’t been stealing! His tail wagged a little from its position under his belly. “Are you sure?” He didn’t want to take food if someone needed it more than he did. He could go scavenge near the human places.
He took a moment to look over the pet, and realized there had been less of a size difference than he’d first thought. With the way this pet presented himself, he could almost be a cull – except he was obviously too well fed. Either way, Dak felt himself relax a little more. He couldn’t see an immediate threat in this mokai.
Nova sighed and sat down rather than approach further and frighten the cull who appeared to be relaxing. "Yes i'm sh...sh...sh....sure." he said, going for a pleasant smile but it possibly looked more like a nervous grimmace. He glanced at the cull again and realised that he was bigger than the cull, all be it only slightly. Another new thing for Nova, always having others tower over him and he felt for the cull "I'm N..N..N...N..Nova" he stammered, his own tail giving a slow, gentle wag.
“Thank you.” Dak went for the food again, but kept control this time, eat smaller, more manageable bites. No reason to look like a glutton when in the company of the food’s owner. In between bites, he carried on the conversation.
“My named Dak. It’s nice to meet you.” Crunch crunch. “Do you guys always leave food out?” He imagined that probably gained them a lot of visitors. Dak would fear the big ferals that might come. Maybe that was why this pet stuttered? He mentally scolded himself for the thought.
Nova sighed "It's okay" he said quietly, one paw scuffing the grass. They did get ferals sometimes but usually only when Nova was inside for the night. Most using the cover of night to come and eat. The bowl was far enough from the door for Nova to slip past while a feral had it's nose in the bowl anyway but they still frightened him if he saw one. "M...m....m...m...my Human always l..l..l...l...leaves f....f..food out" he said, trying his hardest not to stutter and look like an idiot.
He chewed the statement over, quite literally. “Your human is kind.” Kinder than most. He was quickly learning that everyone seemed to have surprises up their sleeves. Fighters could have soft spots for culls, humans could be kind and generous, domestics could want to be feral. This weren’t as awful as he’d thought before coming here. “Have you always lived with this human?”
The bowl was quickly emptying, despite him trying to slow himself. He hadn’t even realized that he was this hungry, but his belly stretched happily to accommodate the meal.
Nova smiled proudly at Dak's words, "Yes she is" he said with pride, no hint of a stutter.....until he asked THE question, Nova flinched into himself and crouched, a small whine letting from his jaw "n..n...n...n..no, i had other m..m..m...masters b..b..b..but Tayah t..t...treats me good" he said, his eyes flickering to the window where he caught sight of Tayah who glanced out of the window. Nova knew the bowl would be refilled as soon as Dak finished if he didn't run off first. Tayah never liked to startle those that came to her yard, "She's l..l..looking D..D...Dak, if you s..s....stay you m...m..might get something special" he said wagging his tail as he smelled some meat being slowly warmed... mmm Tayah was cooking herself something, which meant both him and Dak might get a special treat.
The cull nodded. “That’s good. You should be treated well.” It made him feel good that others were in a good position, even if he himself wasn’t always. He blinked up through the window at the human and his tail retreated again, but he stayed. Curiosity killed the cull, but Dak was just too interested in the dynamic of these two.
“Something special?” The food was gone now, so he sat back on his haunches and perked his ears. Almost subconsciously his head tilted back and she breathed in the thick scent of warming meat. Oh wow. That smelled fabulous.
Nova nodded "C..c...c..culls don't have it g...g...g..good" he stated, this was true most of the time, the occasional one might find a sympathetic human, like Tayah for example, if she ever brought a cull home it would possibly be the best fed cull on the islands. Nova stood and moved over to the door, pawing at the wood "y..y...yes, just w..w..w...w.ait" he said, drooling a little but with a happy grin. He whined at the door a little and Tayah came out with two fairly large (for a Mokai) peices of half cooked meat, one she handed to Nova who grabbed it and moved away from Dak a little, the other she put in the bowl, moving slowly, averting her gaze she the cull wouldn't be threatened, before moving off back into the house where she carried on cooking. "See" said Nova smugly around a mouthful of meat.
“Not always, but we find ways to make it. To survive.” He’d found a way to survive, at least. Even if he wasn’t fed constantly, or consistently, he was off to a better start than a lot of culls. He’d live.
When the door opened he backed up a little, but fought the instinct to run clear off to the beach. He wanted to trust this human, because her pet seemed to look up to her. It seemed like a good enough reason. A better reason was the meat that beckoned him in the bowl. As soon as she was back in the house, he closed the distance he’d put between himself and the dish and stared in wonder. “She really wants me to have this?”
Nova frowned as Dak backed off, despite his stutter and nervousness Nova wasn't this afraid of humans, he wondered how bad culls really had it, any cull that had been born at the breeders was taken away and he never knew what happened to them. He nodded while chewing on his own meat, the juice dribbling down his chin "she put it in the bowl" he said. "She m..m....means for you to take it" he said calmer now he wasn't being threatened or being approached, especially with meat in his jaws.
He licked the meat once, then twice, and then finally ripped a piece off. He couldn’t even help the moan that escaped his throat at how good it tasted. “You get stuff like this a lot? This is amazing!” It even beat the taste of raw fish, which he quite enjoyed of the rare occasion that he was actually able to eat it. The meat was gone in record time.
“You lead a good life, Nova,” he admitted, needing to lay down and stretch out. His belly could only take so much, and he was pushing the limits. Oh, it was a good push, though.
Nova was amazined at how fast Dak ate. He vaguely remembered having to fight for scraps when he was a pup. He nodded "m...m...m...most days she c....c....c..cooks" he admitted, feeling slightly guilty that he was fed regularly. He didn't need to answer Dak's last statement so he just nodded, holding back a chuckle at the bulging belly. "You can come b..b..b....back anytime" he said
He shook his head. “Thank you, but I don’t want to be greedy. I’ve got my own human to stick around, anyways. She can’t always feed me, but she’s good,” he smiled at the thought and hmmed in satisfaction. “You both are very kind. Next time I visit, It’ll be without munching on the kibble.” With a grin his hopped up. “I should probably get back to that human I was talking about.”
Nova got up, having eaten all of his meat, his stomach not quite as distended as Dak's since he'd been fed earlier "Th...th...there's always s..s...s..something out" he said, he wondered how Dak's stomach wasn't hurting from the size of it. "If she c..c...cant feel free to c..c...c.ome b..b..back" he said, tail wagging freely in it's tight curl.
He began to bounce away and looked back with a nod. “I’ll do that. Thank you again, Nova. I’ll see you around!”
