all that remains of a cadaver of days

“Where’re you off to, beautiful?” Sunny cooed. For a moment he was silent, as if listening intently, and then reported back. “I got no clue.” Her chemical communications could express remarkably complex ideas, but that was for a reptile. It seemed Quinn was too preoccupied to explain.

The object of her attention was a bird, the size of a pigeon but not identical, hiding in the bushes planted near the sidewalk, and the snake paused as she hit hearing range. Only for a moment though, and  she shot across the concrete like a rush of water to receive her prey. “Oh! There it is! Do you see that!” He was referring to her mouth, which didn’t look much like a snakes jaw– more like her body splitting open. In Sunny’s opinion, it was an elegant hunting style, cleanly dispatching lesser animals without crushing or even biting.

“Well try not to lose her, I don’t know how predictable your friend is.” Never really good with animals, she’d eventually play it safe and leave the snake business to Sunny. It’s his companion after all, better not to dictate what was said to be a great beast.

He shrugs an arm through the air, but doesn’t look back to Pistachio as he calls back, “Whot more’s there t’say? Th’ people hide in ‘em and they…” He holds up paws and smooshes them together. “…get eaten up!” He turns his head, resting his purple on her ominously. Then he relaxes his arms. “At leas’ that’s whot I heard,” he says with a snort. His tone was becoming less and less serious and it was almost completely apparent that he was fucking with her now. He stops a moment to let Pistachio catch up, watching the flames take over her backside. “Yore lookin a lil hot there, lady.” He slaps a paw over her back, suffocating the fire in an instant.

“Y-you gotta be fucking me right now...” Is nowhere in this city safe? Her apartment, the bus stop, the alleys (well, they haven’t been the safest places in the world)... at this point she doesn’t know what to do anymore.

The nautilus hardly even seems to notice the approaching woman in the middle of all the stormy weather. Whether it was the darkness or the rain, he sure didn’t take notice of her until she was almost just a couple feet away. Catching the sound of her voice, Sal turns to face the paladin. Almost immediately, his tentacles fly in the wind and smack him in the face. He pulls away at them and squints at Pistachio. “What are you doing out here! You should–! Look, I– I can’t hear you,” he shouts back. He lets out a short swear and looks back down at his phone for a couple seconds before putting it away. He looks up at the lady again and grabs her arm, tugging on it. “We- c’mon we need to get out of here!” Even as he spoke, the water in the street was slowly starting to rise. It looked almost like the nearby storm drains had somehow gotten completely plugged up. They needed to get out of there before they got stuck. Sal didn’t know where, but he knew somewhere else.

“No, what’re YOU doing out here! I don’t care if you’ve got that big dome on your head, it ain’t safe no how! Now you either come with me or--” Being cut off by the sudden actions by the stranger, Pistachio yanks her arm away. “How in the HELL do you expect us to get out of here?! Unless you got a boat or something, we’re goin’ out for sure!”

The woman begins to pace through the water, sloshing up and down. “We’re either going to drown or freeze,” she walks over and lifts up the nautilus by the collar, “so you’d BETTER have an idea or two!” This type of aggression isn’t unusual for her, but it’s nothing to brush aside.

It seems like no matter what, he’ll stumble upon her in the midst of some weird situation or other. Without fail. He should just expect it, and he’d laugh if he weren’t kind of worried.

“You don’t– look fantastic. You’re kinda on fire, kid, and I don’t mean that as a compliment. Is something…do you need a fire extinguisher?” 

Pistachio begins to pat her shoulders out of straight habit at this point. “Fire? Oh, yea, haha, that happens, it’s normal though! Totally ok, totally fine-- OF COURSE I’M NOT FANTASTIC I LITERALLY JUST FUCKING BURST INTO FLAMES! A FIRE EXTINGUISHER WOULDN’T DO SHIT I’D JUST BURN UP AGAIN ANYWAY!”

He smiles up at Pistachio, he’s happy that she appreciated the gift. “No, it’s okay! You don’t need to thank me, I figured you needed cheering up…and everyone likes these, yes?” He adjusts their hands, so he can place the pearls in hers. “You can do whatever you want with these, I won’t care if you choose to sell them. I understand that humans find them valuable, and they’re yours now anyway!” He steps back from her now, ready to let her go off on her own.

“Uh, well…I suppose this is goodbye? I’m always at this beach if you want to find me.”

She puts the pearls in her pocket, hopefully she doesn’t forget they’re there and send it through the wash. “Well, selling a friend’s gift really doesn’t make it special anymore, now does it?” She puts a hand on Niko’s shoulder. “I know I’ve said it plenty of times before, but seriously, thank you. You’re  great person, don’t forget that.”

The child circles the man, looking him up and down out of curiosity. “Are you one’a those jelly snakes I’ve heard about? Heard you guys like frogs!”

5 - What do you think about your mun’s shopping habits?

“He doesn’t go out much. When he does, it’s usually to go shopping, and even then he doesn’t get anything. I think he just likes looking around more than buying stuff himself.”

11 - What do you think of your mun’s style?

“He not exactly the most fashionable person, it’s the same two band tees and jeans. I’m not any better, but c’mon.”

12 - What do you think about your mun’s music?

“I could see myself liking some of it if I actually bothered to sit down and listen to it.”

19 - What do you think about your mun’s sense of humor?

☁ - How often does the character dream?

“I’d... prefer to sleep in my home, but given that I’m here, I’ll just have to bear that small burden.”