Rollin' in the Deep

[windup_boytoy]

[Here is a Ri. He's currently sprawled on the floor of a rather large, but sparsely furnished room. He's happily fascinated by a ball of purple fur that's rolling about in front of him, and makes a squeaky purr whenever he pokes it. The purple and pink balls of fur stand out brightly amongst the duller brown balls of fur in the room, but the brown fur balls coo quite pleasantly.

Why don't you join your friendly neighborhood Tribble dealer come in and see what Ri is doing?]

Comments

[captive_destiny]

[He still looks ready to go over there and take that one away from Ri, but he decides to settle into a kneel instead.]

Do you think they'd... make a good pet?

[windup_boytoy]

I sure hope so. I wanna take this one with me! And they look easy to take care of.

[the purple puff is squeaking happily and not being hurt; and once Riku gets nearer to the floor, more puffs will start to roll closer for investigation]

[captive_destiny]

[He relaxes a little more as they do, holding out a hand for them to discover.]

I worry they'd sense Hachibi.

[windup_boytoy]

Hmmmm... I guess you'll never know until you bring one with you. I'm sure these guys must have some sort of instincts to protect them. But maybe Kai's presence will cancel things out.

[have curious fuzzballs bumping into your hand Riku, they're soft!]

[captive_destiny]

[He doesn't know which one he wants to pet first; they're all adorable. He'll have to settle for giving a little attention to each one, one at a time.]

Maybe. Hachibi's... different now. He's still terrifying, but...

[Riku doesn't feel like he's on the receiving end of a predator's interest so much any more.]

[windup_boytoy]

I doubt Hachibi would want to eat these guys anyway. He'd be coughing up hairballs for a month. I'm sure if you wanted to keep some, it'd be okay.

[the puffs will be rolling around to bump against Riku's knees and legs then, happy with the attention and squeaking about it]

[captive_destiny]

[He's barefoot, so any that brush against his feet will have him sucking in a breath and jerking his foot away.]

Still... It would be better to ask.

[windup_boytoy]

[is Riku ticklish? because the puffs just kind of roll until they bump into something]

Pfffff. Whatever. Just bring some with you. It'll be okay. Just tell Kai and Axel that I said it's fine.

[captive_destiny]

[His feet are, and he can be along the ribs if he's not expecting it. He's gathering the ones too close to his feet closer to his knees instead, and is already trying to talk himself out of having to ask for anything. Getting Riku to admit he wants or prefers something is more often than not like pulling teeth for Kai and Axel.]

Maybe. I don't know about more than one...

[windup_boytoy]

[Too bad Riku is going up against Ri, who can be quite persuasive in his own Ri-like way]

But you don't want one to get lonely while no one is around, do you? Plus, I'm sure once Kai sees them, he'll want one too. He likes cute little things.

[captive_destiny]

[That may be so, but how often has he turned that persuasiveness on someone with a mindset of inferiority as bad as Riku has?]

It- It wouldn't be right to surprise him with them. It's his home... I don't have any right to bring in another pet without asking first.

[windup_boytoy]

[you'd be surprised]

This is Kai we're talking about here. And it's not like you're bringing home a dinosaur. So bring a fuzzball or two and make it a happy surprise. It'll be okay.

[captive_destiny]

[He might need some tribble intervention, because he's starting to look stressed thinking about this.]

I know, and he's my master, and I don't want to upset him. I don't think I could bear it if he were get mad at me.

[windup_boytoy]

[the tribbles are totally keeping up their cooing, so the tranquilizing effects should kick in soon enough]

And he's one of my best friends. Practically like a brother. He's not going to get mad at you, okay? I promise. The worst that will happen is that you'll have to make sure Apricot doesn't squash the fuzzballs.