[Open!] Dew dripping or paws splashing?

(( open to anyone! ))

The air was electric-- or, maybe, that was just the usual crawling-skin sensation that plagued Kovex every morning. At least the marsh seemed to be relatively uninhabited. It had been a few days before the long legged canine had run into any trouble... Though, that usual meant he was over due. With a groan, the dog stretched and rose from the relatively less-muck patch of sorta dry ground he had found to sleep on and tried not to mind the way the mud clung to his pelt. At least his towering form let him get through the swamp without too much trouble. He was sure if he was a smaller dog, he'd probably have drowned by now. 

Suppressing that pleasant thought, the dog pricked his ears to their full height, forming something of a hat on top of his head, ignoring the needle-like prick of his horns brushing against his fluff. His eyes, flashing flecks of gold, danced across the marshland for danger. The sound of something sloshing hit his ears and he resisted the urge to bolt, knowing his pelt blended in with the territory well enough that it was safer to hold still while he looked about. The whole "glowing vibrant gold" thing didn't really help him hide much, but his heart was racing. How was he supposed to help that? 

Holding off a self-pitying whine, the canine had enough of the dripping sound in his ears. Maybe he should just book it before anyone did show up. Flexing his claws into the soft earth for purchase, he gave another hesitant glance over his shoulder. Was the sound behind him, or in front of him? Slowly, the dog reluctantly sunk back to the ground, just about as afraid of running directly into someone as having another dog simply stumble across him.

Really, he was probably worrying about nothing.

LUKAS

Lukas found himself in the Heartlands after he finished getting his new Watcher--a Bowerbird-30. The largest Watcher and the one with the least intelligence. There was almost no AI to make it too difficult to use, but that did make it difficult to sync with. He was still working out the kinks, filling his thoughts into every crevice of the machine’s inner workings. He had a good jumpstart, using the machine to remove a shard of metal from his leg. It put them on mostly good terms.

Today, he was going to use the machine for the second purpose he chose this model of Watcher: To collect samples of different medicinal herbs. It was Wintertime in the marsh. The proximity to the ocean and the sea meant that there was some salinity here that provided interesting flora.

The mud squelched under his paws. And the dark, silty mud painted them black-brown. He moved lightly, his paws seeking areas where the winter either hardened the mud enough to carry his weight (unlikely) or where the ground was actually more solid (equally unlikely). He huffed as he moved. It wasn’t too fun, but this was also the perfect time to find some wormwood, and, if he was lucky, some Winter sea asters still lingering though Winter was nearly over.

He sniffed through the area, but all he could smell was the decaying plant matter of the marsh, a gentle and almost sweet scent that permeated through everything with a note of rot to it. He moved carefully until he went to a patch of soft ground. Lukas placed a paw gently on the surface of the mud only to find it had a thin crust of ice that crunched underfoot and gave way to cold, runny mud.

Luke sent his Bowerbird ahead to scan the surfaces. Nearly six feet out, the machine fed him information which seemed that there was decently solid ground. “Six feet out?” The Aussie said to himself with a grin. Challenge accepted. And he backed up a foot or two before he jumped, adjusting his stride so he would take off at the final possible moment. He had big air between himself and the mud and landed like a cat on the other side, all four paws hitting the ground and admittedly sinking a few inches. He lifted each paw from his landing, feeling the mud trying to suck him into the ground. Once freed, he noticed a pair of gold flecked eyes.

The eyes of an Esper. And Luke could swear this dog was familiar. But he was Ash River’s Gamma Physician, one of the few dogs who maintained his high rank in the change of power. And like a flash, the healer remembered the name of this dog. “Kovex?” He smiled a good natured smile. “Fancy meeting you here.”

word count || 473
muse || I pretty much always have Lukas muse.
tag || Kovex
notes || I just fixed the word count today (5/2)

The sound grew louder, more oppressive. A distinctive, mechanical hum buzzed through the air like mindless static, echoing deep in the borzoi's huge ears. On top of all the sound he thought he heard, his heart was hammering away in his chest, blood rushing through his legs and his stomach churned. The canine tried to ignore the way he was starting to feel dizzy and light-headed in his panic, instead turning as much of his blurry, wild focus towards the strange sound.

A voice barked a question-- "Six feet out." Unless he was actually hallucinating now, that was definitely another dog. Perhaps more than one, unless the canine in question was talking to themselves. Fur bristling along his spine, he whipped around to face his blind spot. The dog was upwind, with mud soaked white fur that blended almost seamlessly into patches of brown, and jumping right towards him. Flinching, Kovex stumbled backwards a few paces, tail between his legs and vibrant, flashing eyes darting between the dog and their robotic companion.

Perhaps it would have been alright to brush into another dog on a better day, but as the stranger unstuck themselves from the muck and met the terrified boy's eyes, the worst possible thing occurred. The fellow canine, a smiling, unaggressive shepherd, barked out a name. His name. "Kovex?" The borzoi's heart slammed to a stop, nearly jerking out of his chest. His upright, battish ears folded to each side of his long face and his fur flattened, bending down so a new layer of mud could be applied to his underbelly.

"Fancy meeting you here." The australian shepherd went on with effortless camaraderie while Kovex's mind raced. He had spent a whole year-- half his life-- with the Ash River Project. The wind shifted, ever so slightly, and he finally picked up the aussie's scent and finally the suppressed memories caught up with him. One of the pawful of dogs who he thought might be nice. If no one else could bring Kovex back to Ash River, an unassuming healer could try. The entirely-made-up-in-Kovex's-mind plan was good, but not good enough to trick a frankly feral dog on the run.

Trying to grab a name from the memories was a bit more difficult. He opened his jaws and stammered out a, "... hi?" If only to fill the silent space between them. The aussie seemed jovial, and even the borzoi's gut was telling him that he should hear the dog out and give him a chance. His mind was doing its best to convince his legs to bolt regardless. To the aussie's benefit, Kovex's legs felt less stable than the mud under their feet.

"... Luke?" The name finally came to his tongue. "Um, what..." Abruptly the borzoi remembered the machine buzzing about nearby and quickly fixated on that thing. He was fairly certain robotic junk didn't have emotions, and more often than he liked, had weapons of some sort. It was time to start checking the good old peripherals for an escape path.

LUKAS

Lukas never thought of himself as anything more than a simple Physician in Ash River. His passion elevated his rank faster than most other dogs until, at the age of four, he was the Gamma Physician. He took good care of his patients and was invested in how they felt. Sadly, he didn't see the same in many of the Physicians of Ash River, especially under Carver's reign.

And he could pinpoint that as the reason why other Physicians in Ash River were not as gifted as he: It's hard to be a good doctor when you had no bedside manner to speak of. Half of healing was the body. The other half was the heart and mind.

Luke had started his training as a military dog long before he ran off to be a healer in a pack which devolved into nothing more than a den of thieves, liars, and killers. In his training was socialization and he always seemed to understand what the other dog needed. His amber eyes looked upon Kovex, reading the nervous body language and wanting to help him, but not knowing how best to in this situation. His mind seemed twisted in paranoia and he looked like a deer caught in the ambush of a wolf, ready to sprint, but with no destination.

"You remember my name? And here, I'm thinking you could have forgotten all about me." His words were sincere, and as always, he was always well-spoken. He wiggled his entire rear because of his lack of a tail. His Bowerbird hovered near him, almost crowding him until he minded it and asked it to give him and the shy dog some space. Lukas's sharp eyes noticed the suspicious look the Borzoi gave his Bowerbird.

"It's my new Watcher. I got it a week and a half ago. Still working out the kinks, but the model is called a Bowerbird. It's pretty much harmless. Useless for most dogs, but invaluable for a Basal Physician like me. I'm actually collecting a few herbs and things before I head on back to Ash River." Lukas smiled. "I'd appreciate some help in locating a few things."

Lukas knew that the best way to get shy dogs to stick around was to give them something to do. He remembered making a few of his patients, Subjects, piece their lives back together simply by giving them a few projects to work on. Some of them went on to become members of a pack. The current Alpha included.

word count || 420
muse || Luke is so cute
tag || Kovex
notes || help him collect plants. Bwahaha.

Kovex had seen Lukas' jump, and he was more than aware that the physician could probably keep up with him if he bolted for it. It would depend entirely on who Lady Luck favored as one wrong step could mean sinking an entire leg in the bog. The odds were not good.

Although the borzoi didn't dare say it, he had been desperately trying to forget everyone and everything in Ash River. There were too many manipulative, dangerously curious brutes in that pack, and the memories of his own father haunted his dreams too often. The borzoi blinked, his onyx face darkening with the bat of his glowing irises; swallowing hard and inhaling sharply like he had just bit off more than he could chew. "I, yeah, of course I remember," came his answer. The shepherd's wiggling rump did nothing to comfort him. As far as he was concerned, the overtly friendly pooch could just be toying with him.

Again, his heart suggested that Luke had been a kind face, a friendly one. He was a healer-- Lukas' own words confirmed the softer memories that were surfacing. A gentle face from his youth; the Ash River Project, turning his father against him when he was still a child. Struggling between two incredibly polarized feelings, his consciousness focused on something completely irrelevant to cope. The Watcher. "I... I haven't really seen the things since I was... Younger," he said with drawn out hesitance, prodding and testing for safe conversation topics. As long as the Basal didn't get too close, it would be fine. Worse came to worse, he could still risk a chase. As it was, it seemed that Luke had gotten the machine to back off, which meant that he could refocus on the fellow canine. "How do you... Control it? I just, they're human things, aren't they?"

Kovex didn't have a lot to defend himself with. Denying the aussie's request seemed dangerous, so he skirted the offer and instead tugged at his powers-- despite being near always active and soothing those around him, they usually weren't focused unless he attempted something with them. He didn't want the dog to stop being friendly, but on the off chance Luke was putting up an act, the canine reached for confidence and tried to brush it down. If he could prove to himself that the Basal was planning something, then he could bolt without worrying of making a new enemy.

Until then, he technically had the chance at finding out more about his old pack. Were they still after him like he believed? Was his father still... No, actually, he probably didn't want to know that. His ears flicked behind his skull, his tail still stuck firmly between his legs.

"I'd hate having that clunky metal-hunk follow me everywhere..."

 Lukas   (( Aaw, what a cute idea... Come on Kovex! He really is nice, you'll see. ))

LUKAS

Lukas smiled. He seemed to have gotten Kovex talking, which was an accomplishment in and of itself. The Aussie could only guess that the shy Esper had left Ash River in the midst of the worst of Carver’s rule. Carver was bloodthirsty and steering the pack to dark times. Indeed, they had fallen from grace as far as Canaria was concerned: Ash River Project was now labelled the evil, untrustworthy, ruthless pack. And Lukas hated that reputation.

The Physician let Kovex lead the conversation to something that he was more comfortable with. He only nodded sagely as the young dog commented on the Bowerbird-30. Lukas tilted his head up to the much taller dog as he explained, “Ah, yes. How do I control it? Well, let me first explain what I know about this piece of technology. This is a model known as a Bowerbird-30. Bowerbird explains its purpose—a sample collection machine, really—and 30 describes its size. Actually, it is the diameter in centimeters from end…” Lukas willed the machine close enough to himself to put a soft paw against the side of the machine and then he slid his foot delicately along the top and placed it on the opposite side, “…to the end, like so.”

Luke was in his element when he was explaining things. While he wasn’t a tinkerer and wasn’t obsessed with human technology, he knew a lot because of his upbringing. Once upon a time, he was owned by people and was being trained for versatile use in the military. “And now, we get to the interesting part: Syncing. That’s a word which means the machine ties itself to your body and your mind. See, the machine is powered by my own body. Now, since syncing to this Bowerbird, I have gotten tired faster, and I have to eat a bit more, but it’s all fine and dandy. All this trouble’s worth the convenience this little guy gives me in my work. Even if I have to be stalked by a hovering scrap of metal in all that while.” Lukas winked.

“Now, the Bowerbird is interesting in that it doesn’t really have a mind of its own. The smaller models do. Some are rather chatty. Others tend to be quite aggressive. They tie to emotions, but Bowerbirds, ah, serene nothingness. And yes, they are hard to sync with because they give you nothing in return and make no attempt to reach out, but once you have one under your control, you won’t have to worry with the quirks of a human-made thing getting confused about the motivations of a dog. Perfect for the delicate work I do, no?”

word count || 445
muse || Wow, Luke. You talk a lot.
tag || Kovex
notes || n/a

Quinn was walking around. His long legs sinking in the marsh of what he was walking through. He was walking when he heard, “Now, the Bowerbird is interesting in that it doesn’t really have a mind of its own. The smaller models do. Some are rather chatty. Others tend to be quite aggressive. They tie to emotions, but Bowerbirds, ah, serene nothingness. And yes, they are hard to sync with because they give you nothing in return and make no attempt to reach out, but once you have one under your control, you won’t have to worry with the quirks of a human-made thing getting confused about the motivations of a dog. Perfect for the delicate work I do, no?” He stopped shocked. He had run into two dogs and was kinda freaking out now.  

He went to step back but heard a squelch and winced. He had made a noise from trying to move to fast, he looked left and right and caught a glance of fur. He quickly used his perception ability to hide his horns and sighed. Hopefully his powers worked and bended the way the looked to the other too.

Lukas continued on, explaining with a gentle ease that made him actually quite nice to listen to. The young borzoi kept himself on edge, making sure that the distance between them didn't shrink-- but frankly, the Basal seemed much more interested in explaining his strange machine. The technical stuff mostly flew over the dog's head, "sample collection" didn't sound too friendly, and diameters and centimeters was a bit much more than he was ready to comprehend. In the end, he really only kinda understood that it was a big hunk of metal probably named after some weird bird.

As Luke went on to talk about syncing, however, Kovex finally found an interesting hold in the conversation. It sounded like using his Esper powers, like the machine and dog connected using something beyond physically. The idea perked his interest, but at the same time, made him incredibly uneasy. The robot would do whatever he wanted, then? It was unintelligent-- the idea of a flying hunk of metal being smart and aggressive was horrifying and familiar: he had run into some rogue machines and mutants in his time. He wanted nothing to do with any of that.

"Uhm, yeah," he agreed when Luke had finally finished. Any effort to continue the conversation was lost as soon as a slush of mud and a sigh. His attention lurched to the shape of another dog, and filled to the brim with suspicious terror, the borzoi let out a yelp and scampered back away from not only Lukas but this stranger dog.

The new stranger wasn't anyone he recognized, but that did nothing to comfort him. As far as he knew, this could easily be another Ash River dog; another one come along with Luke to hunt him down and do something horrible to him for leaving. Bristling with suspicion, tail tucked firmly between his legs, he drew his lips back into a faint snarl. His eyes flicked back and forth, from dog, to robot, to dog, to possible escape routes.

"Who are you? What do you want!" He demanded sharply, accusation shooting from his tongue not only at the new stranger but also Lukas. He thought he was outnumbered, and for once it was an almost rational fear.

Lukas

LUKAS

It almost seemed like he could coax Kovex out of his shell when the dog seemed interested in his words. It was there, Lukas could see. He could perhaps get the dog to understand that he wasn't here to hurt him.  But before that could happen, another dog appeared on the scene. And Kovex freaked out, as the Aussie expected him to.

With interest, Lukas watched the other dog. Another sighthound. He could have sworn he saw horns which would make the dog an Esper, but there were none when he checked again and already the perception bending abilities of the other had changed his memories enough that all he had was a general sense of doubt. Small, but still there, more like his mind wasn't being allowed to notice the feature. And the more he tried to wrap his brain around it, the more scrambled his memories became for that one feature until he just had to accept that there were never any horns there to begin with. And once that happened, that nagging doubt disappeared.

The Aussie knew what there was little opportunity to become chummy with these guys, but he considered the different options he could take. Acting forcibly was out of the question. Also pushing the newcomer aside was against who he was. He loved to make other comfortable. It was evident in his bedside manner with his own patients, but carried over with nearly all of his interactions. He wanted to salvage whatever it was he could between the three of them. And of course, as the most socially adjusted dog in this triad, Lukas knew that it was up to him. And that it was to be a delicate procedure. And the thought of it made him eager to attempt. In the same way as the most delicate medical procedures sharpened his focus.

First, he took a few steps away to stop crowding the dogs. His Watcher followed him easily, moving with his thoughts without complaint, as it should. The tension in the air fed into his drive to do good, caused him to consider his actions even more, but also be more sure of them. Lukas always worked best under pressure. Whether that pressure was the end of a dog's life or a disaster of a social interaction.

He chose his words carefully and spoke soothingly. "I am only here to collect herbs. I've only stopped to have some chit-chat and company. I do love myself some chit-chat and company. Which you probably would have inferred by now..." Lukas stopped that train of thought before it ran away from him. "Anyways, if you'd prefer, I can move on my own way. I suppose I ought to... But first, let's introduce ourselves to this new fellow. It's only polite to do so." The Aussie dipped his head politely. "My name's Lukas. Though, call me Luke. I'm the Gamma Physician of Ash River Project."

word count || 489
muse || Tons
tag || Quinn , Kovex
notes || Luke tries to fix it! It's okay if he fails at it.

Quinn flinched again when he got barked at. "My name is Quinn...." He spoke so softly that it sounded like a whisper.  "May I ask why you guys are out here in this swamp?"   He asked as he slowly approached them his salt and pepper pelt blending being covered by the gross slush they called a swamp. I hope they don't question.... I think I would freak out before they could and run... Then they will probably chase me and I probably trip and then get caught.  He took a shuddering breath in and slowly exhaled to try and calm his nerves. He was on edge because he was wandering alone for a while. He was freaking out and had to put up his calm exterior and fast. He already hid his horns so they won't be seeing them anytime soon.

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[attr="class","kovexbox"]

[attr="class","kovexpost"]

Kovex's tension was smoothed in a way that was surprising even to him-- Lukas wasn't an Esper, and neither was the other dog, but the absolute sincerity was enough to give him pause. His muscles relaxed just slightly as he listened to Luke and suggested introducing themselves to the new dog.

Quinn seemed just as timid as the borzoi, speaking in a soft, whisper-y voice. Slowly, Kovex dipped his head down towards his paws politely. "Oh... Um, I'm Kovex." His tongue itched to ask the new stranger if he was with Lukas, but the question seemed too stupid to even attempt now. Shuffling on his paws, he very slowly let his tail uncurl from between his tail and give a gentle wag.

"I'm... I'm just trying to keep away from other dogs, but that didn't really go so well-- Uhm, I suppose I could, help you find those herbs, Luke... But I'm not going back to Ash River." The open honesty coming from his own teeth felt strange, but took a weight off of his shoulders. It almost felt like he could really trust the physician.

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KOVEX

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Lukas :3c

LUKAS

Luke smiled gently when he saw that his words had helped both nervous dogs find their ease. At least a little bit. Lukas knew that it was comforting for shy dogs to have someone redirect the flow of conversation upon the task at hand rather on the dogs themselves. He had a great deal of empathy for nervous dogs--and a great deal of experience, too. Many of the Subjects that Ash River Project had were dogs tricked into their predicament by the con-artists of the pack--the Grifters. And he felt for them, but also thought their roles were necessary for the continuation of his education. He could always learn more. So, Luke would not apologize for how such an arrangement ruined Kovex's life, but he could feel a sense of responsibility to make the dog a little more comfortable.

The newcomer, Quinn, asked him the question of why he was here.  "I'm here to collect herbs," he repeated gently without a sign of exasperation. Luke was happy to answer again. He remembered his first few times as a Physician and how nervous he had been. Now, he was cool and collected under pressure. Even if the pressure was nothing more than acting as damage control for the interaction between two anxious dogs and himself. When Kovex offered to collect the herbs, Lukas smiled and said, "Well, I can't force you to do anything you don't want, Kovex, but why don't we all begin this whole herb collecting business? Work makes small talk easy, you can say."

He started into the marsh. The light salinity and the high acid content of the water made the plants here unique compared to other areas of Canaria. There was a plant here that was sweet and made many medicines palatable for the young dogs. Winter Sea Aster. Despite the name, it was more common in the marsh than by any of the seas, though it could sometimes be found near the waterfalls  by the pronged sea. That version was less sweet and so, less useful. There was a species of wormwood here that produced fewer of the side effects of the most common species of the plant, but was still quite potent. Like all wormwoods, the taste was bitter. 

"Now, there are two plants I'm seeking, but I can come across a few different species in this marsh. The first and most important is a rather tall plant with these frilly leaves. And the leaves have these silvery hairs little hairs on them. I doubt you'll see another plant like it in this place. It's wormwood. It's good for preventing parasites. And deworming. I can always tell when a dog has worm. They get this bulgy look to their belly and lose fat and sometimes muscle as well..." He laughed. Physicians could have the blackest humor. "That's always a gory awful thing to sit through." 

The Bowerbird-30 hovered over the swamp and quietly scanned the area. The dark, glowing camera feeding it with information, but Lukas wasn't paying attention to it. He honestly could do this on his own, but he liked the company.

"The other plant is a variant on a plant that humans once cultivated on the salt marsh. Those humans are all playing around with genetics aren't they? Anyways, this mutant variety designed to bloom and grow in the winter. That said, the normal variety is doing much better. Anyways, the plant is a lovely flower. Pale blue petals, almost white, with a cluster of yellow petals in its center. It has thick leaves full of sap. Sweet tasting. The flowers have a sweet nectar themselves. And..." Lukas shook his head. "Perhaps I should tell you the name: Winter Sea Aster." He continued walking and looked back at the two sighthounds. "Any luck boys?"

word count || 633
muse || I pretty much always have Lukas muse.
tag || Kovex   Quinn
notes || n/a

Quinn trotted after listening to the description of the plants. His eyes were focused on the Bowerbird but he still caught the description of both plants. "I think I saw some of the second plant a few steps from where we were...." He said with a little confidence in his voice. It was still low because he was getting used to talking again and as to not shred his vocal cords anymore than they were. These things seem hard to control.... Why would anyone want to connect with a piece of  floating junk... He thought and smiled at himself, he was gaining his confidence and would soon just be rambling about any thing that came up in the conversation.

[attr="class","kovextable"]

[attr="class","kovexbox"]

[attr="class","kovexpost"]

Kovex felt the stress roll off of his shoulders, his bat-like ears perking up as he listened to Lukas. His pelt twitched and he cocked his head, listening with absolute focus. There were two different plants, and as hard as he tried to think about either of the descriptions, the borzoi wasn't one to pay attention to plants.

Thankfully, it seemed like Quinn knew where to find some of the plants. A gentle smile crawled on to his muzzle, his tail wagging timidly behind him. "Sounds good..." He replied, stepping forward. His eyes kept flashing between the robot and the two strangers, but he was starting to look like a different dog. A tiny bit of confidence could go a long way, it seemed.

"Lead the way, Quinn."

[attr="class","kovexname"]
KOVEX

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Lukas

LUKAS

When Quinn said that he had found the flowers already, his voice was quite low. Lukas perked his ears, "That's wonderful! Lead the way, Quinn." The Bowerbird-30 stuck close to Lukas. The flowers were said not to be far, but Lukas couldn't help but chat.

"Now, it's the Sea Asters you said you found, yes? I plan on using it to sweeten the medicines I use. Some of them can be powerfully bitter, that wormwood we've yet to find included. I sometimes get patients who aren't in the highest of mental capabilities. Perhaps too insane to be cooperative. Or lacking the intelligence to understand sometimes something that tastes bad and makes them feel bad is good for them in the long run. Or maybe they are just too young. No matter, these Winter Sea Asters help a lot. The ones that grow late summer and autumn aren't as sweet. I believe it's the fact the winter-blooming ones have been genetically enhanced by the humans. Much as we are. No dogs are the dogs the humans so fondly remember. We're better, are we not?"

"Speaking of... Ash River Project is going in a new direction. Well, rather... It's returning to the way it's supposed to be." It seemed more like he was voicing a passing thought for that last sentence than truly speaking with the dogs. He liked to fill that silence.

He believed it gave the worriers something new to focus on, something other than the actual interaction, let them warm up on their own time, and you get to see them open up like flowers in the sunlight. A good doctor not only needed to know how to deal with the body, but also with the patients themselves. He always prided himself with his bedside manner and attributed a large portion of his success to the socialization program he went through as a young puppy. It made him into a well-rounded individual full of empathy and charisma. Not that he wasn't without his vices as well. For example, he tended to be extremely chatty. And definitely obsessed with what he had now revolved his entire life around: The art of healing.

word count || 362
muse || I pretty much always have Lukas muse.
tag || Quinn & Kovex
notes || n/a