A rabid fox in the Meadous?
[He holds the thrashing creature away from him.]
That simply won't do. You might hurt the children. I've just been talking to someone who was worried about that. Hah! I suppose Mr. Solomons was more right than he might have expected.
[A wire cage appears when he looks down with the door at the top. It's open. Monty moves to lower Alfie down into it.]
[He holds the thrashing creature away from him.]
That simply won't do. You might hurt the children. I've just been talking to someone who was worried about that. Hah! I suppose Mr. Solomons was more right than he might have expected.
[A wire cage appears when he looks down with the door at the top. It's open. Monty moves to lower Alfie down into it.]
Edited 2018-10-27 23:19 (UTC)
[It's going to take some work and the cage gets resized with a thought to prevent the fox from grasping onto the edges. Monty manages to get nipped, anyway, on his forearm and yelps in pain before just dropping Alfie unceremoniously into the cage instead of lowering him carefully. He tries to close the door on the fox before Alfie can get his bearings and turn around for a full attack.]
[He does, indeed, shove, and hiss when he's bitten again. Monty slams the door of the cage into place and finally rises to take stock of his injuries.]
You're really not a very nice fox. All that thrashing about. Now, I am in love with a fox, so I'll be kind, little friend. I'll put you back out in the forest with your friends. Perhaps you've a wife to tend to. 'Tis the season.
You're really not a very nice fox. All that thrashing about. Now, I am in love with a fox, so I'll be kind, little friend. I'll put you back out in the forest with your friends. Perhaps you've a wife to tend to. 'Tis the season.
[It's a long and arduous trek to the forest from the far side of the village. Monty mostly struggles with the cage because the fox keeps banging around in it.]
You're going to hurt yourself, you know? That won't be good for anyone, will it?
[Someone might catch them while Monty's setting the cage down to change hands, perhaps.]
You're going to hurt yourself, you know? That won't be good for anyone, will it?
[Someone might catch them while Monty's setting the cage down to change hands, perhaps.]
[Alfie bangs into the cage extra hard at that. Part of it's an instinctual reaction to being confined, but in a case like this, he's also willing to cut off his nose to spite his face - he'll take some bangs and bruises if it makes things difficult for Monty.]
[ Alfie is okay, now. He's at home, reassuring Emily, which is just fine with Royce. She needs it. So he takes this opportunity to head out of the house.
Royce comes to Monty's place in a cloak, hood up, gloves on. Everything about his body language is tense and angry, as he stands on Monty's front doorstep, waiting for the gentleman to answer. ]
Royce comes to Monty's place in a cloak, hood up, gloves on. Everything about his body language is tense and angry, as he stands on Monty's front doorstep, waiting for the gentleman to answer. ]
[With much ado about nothing, as far as Monty is concerned, they make it out to the woods. The gentleman hunts around for a little while until he finds what appears to be a fox hole at the base of a tree. Alfie will smell that there is another todd fox around here. Monty is less discerning. It's a hole to send the wretch down.
He positions the cage over the hole and then makes a few adjustments to it. Specifically, Monty believes an exit into the bottom of the cage. He'll leave that there for Alfie to crawl out of and directly into the darkness.]
Enjoy your new home. I'll collect my cage later.
[So saying, Monty's going to make himself scarce quickly to try to avoid Alfie slinking into the hole and finding a way to come after him again.]
He positions the cage over the hole and then makes a few adjustments to it. Specifically, Monty believes an exit into the bottom of the cage. He'll leave that there for Alfie to crawl out of and directly into the darkness.]
Enjoy your new home. I'll collect my cage later.
[So saying, Monty's going to make himself scarce quickly to try to avoid Alfie slinking into the hole and finding a way to come after him again.]
[Monty does so, takes one look at the set of Royce's body and opens the door wider.]
Please come in.
[He gestures for the smaller man to enter. It's humble home, really. The most extravagant thing is the portrait of Monty's mother set up on an easel in one corner of the kitchen-cum-living room-cum-bedroom. His father's guitar sits in a stand beneath it. There's a wooden table with chairs for sitting.]
I expect this is about Mr. Solomons?
Please come in.
[He gestures for the smaller man to enter. It's humble home, really. The most extravagant thing is the portrait of Monty's mother set up on an easel in one corner of the kitchen-cum-living room-cum-bedroom. His father's guitar sits in a stand beneath it. There's a wooden table with chairs for sitting.]
I expect this is about Mr. Solomons?
[ Royce waits, a moment, lets him finish speaking. And then, with an aggressiveness and a strength that almost seems to betray his small form, Royce reaches up and grabs Monty by the front of his shirt. He'll be attempting to ram Monty back against a wall, somewhere, to get in his face, voice low and soft. ]
Yes. It's about Mr. Solomons. [ He agrees calmly. ]
Yes. It's about Mr. Solomons. [ He agrees calmly. ]
[This is more familiar than Royce might expect. Monty lets himself be thrown back, body going loose. It's far less painful than it had been with Sol. There's a soft 'oof,' but the young gentleman is otherwise neutral, looking down at the assassin.]
Have you come to hurt me, Royce?
Have you come to hurt me, Royce?
Is Mr. Solomons injured from his brief escapades as a fox?
Edited 2018-11-02 04:38 (UTC)
[Monty winces.]
Gave him some greater reason to consider his prejudice against Renart simply because of her species?
Gave him some greater reason to consider his prejudice against Renart simply because of her species?
cw: allusion to body horror, mind-manipulation, dub-con
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poisoninmypocket
2018-11-02 04:48 am (UTC)(link)
Do you know what was done to my body in Between? [Monty snaps back, anger and resentment suddenly burning bright and hot.] I have been changed and abused in far worse ways than Mr. Solomons spending a few days with four legs. My mind warped, my body twisted to suit someone else's carnal pleasures.
I do not speak of my time there. Neither does Renart or Undertaker. We do not wear those horrors as some badge of honor as the people where you come from seem to!
I do not speak of my time there. Neither does Renart or Undertaker. We do not wear those horrors as some badge of honor as the people where you come from seem to!
[ Oh, wow. Royce actually leans back a bit, looking a little... surprised, maybe. Hurt, definitely. ]
And you think that's okay to rub salt in the wounds, like that. All because Alfie was overprotective of the girl he considers his daughter? To be as bad as the people who did those things to all of us, because he said something you didn't like?
And you think that's okay to rub salt in the wounds, like that. All because Alfie was overprotective of the girl he considers his daughter? To be as bad as the people who did those things to all of us, because he said something you didn't like?
And you think it fair to compare what amounts to a practical joke to what was done to us? I will apologize for taking it too far, perhaps, but I will not accept that comparison. My only goal was to instill some semblance of empathy in your friend.
[ Royce slams him back into the wall again, fury rising. ]
It doesn't matter the scale! Do you understand what you did, Navarro? Do you understand that you've broken my trust? Do you understand what it means to have my trust?
You don't care. We're not what I thought we were.
It doesn't matter the scale! Do you understand what you did, Navarro? Do you understand that you've broken my trust? Do you understand what it means to have my trust?
You don't care. We're not what I thought we were.
[He keeps messing this up. Renart, at least, he could understand. Monty had killed Bucky, after all. This? This, it makes no sense. The changes wrought on him and the others in Between had been horrifying, but after a time, they'd become a matter of course. The existential dread of not really existing had rather tempered their reactions to it all.]
I care that that man cast Renart out and degraded her simply because of what she is, Royce. I thought you of all people could understand that! Perhaps you are not the man I thought you were!
I care that that man cast Renart out and degraded her simply because of what she is, Royce. I thought you of all people could understand that! Perhaps you are not the man I thought you were!
Edited 2018-11-02 05:12 (UTC)
I do care about that! I was the one who told Alfie that he cannot kick people out of our house. I was the one who explained to him what she is and what she meant - I defended her to him.
You didn't consider how this would affect me, however, so perhaps I'm not surprised you didn't bother to ask my opinion.
You didn't consider how this would affect me, however, so perhaps I'm not surprised you didn't bother to ask my opinion.
[That pulls him up a little short in his own anger.]
And what would you have said if I came to you and said I wished to find a way to make Mr. Solomons understand? Truly understand? I went and spoke to him after. All he had to say was that she was a dangerous creature that he didn't trust. What did your words do?
And what would you have said if I came to you and said I wished to find a way to make Mr. Solomons understand? Truly understand? I went and spoke to him after. All he had to say was that she was a dangerous creature that he didn't trust. What did your words do?
Edited 2018-11-02 05:17 (UTC)
Page 7 of 16