Small Lurker in Milliways

[lurkingkobold]

Here is a kobold.

To people familiar with the species, it's obviously a young one, not quite three feet tall to the adults' three and a half foot average. Its fur is blueish-grey and relatively dull, a sign that it hasn't been eating properly recently, though it's not thin. It's wearing a simple animal-skin skirt and carrying a stick, not quite long enough to serve as a walking stick, but useful for shielding itself from the worst of the undergrowth at least.

It is moving through the forest at speed, not following any path, and then suddenly it is elsewhere. After a few minutes, it notices the difference in the light; after a few more, it notices that the trees are subtly wrong - wrong species, wrong growth patterns, wrong in subtler ways that defy describing, but that tell the kobold that it is not in the forest where it grew up.

After even more minutes, it stops, having come to a clearing. There is a building, which, despite not being alarmingly large, cannot be traveled around.

The kobold does not have permission to enter the building.

The kobold cannot go back to where it was.

The kobold sits, and waits.

Comments

[pythbox]

A small grey cat emerges from the woods nearby.

She looks at the kobold. She makes a quiet thoughtful cat noise. She pads daintily over to inspect this novel creature.

[lurkingkobold]

The kobold sits very still, only her eyes following the cat's movements.

[pythbox]

The cat sits down a little ways away from the kobold and meows inquisitively.

[lurkingkobold]

The kobold's brow furrows briefly, but she quickly goes back to staring off into the middle distance.

After a few moments, she glances back at the cat. It seems like she's marginally more relaxed, at this point.

[pythbox]

The cat meows twice, in a cadence that almost sounds languagelike.

[lurkingkobold]

This gets the kobold's attention. Understanding, not so much, but she's watching inquisitively.

[pythbox]

The cat un-sits and takes a few small steps towards the kobold, and pauses, and meows a one-word question.

[lurkingkobold]

The kobold shakes her head, once, in a 'sorry, nope' sort of way.

After a brief moment, she raises her hand to offer petting.

[pythbox]

The cat approaches within petting distance and bumps her head against Lurker's hand in a friendly way, vocalizing another meow-word as she does so.

[lurkingkobold]

The cat gets pettings! The kobold is obviously experienced at this.

[pythbox]

Purr purr.

[lurkingkobold]

Pet pet! They could be at this for a while.

[pythbox]

They could! The cat is happy to snuggle up and be petted for a good few minutes.

But then she disengages and meows a short incomprehensible sentence and darts off toward the building.

[lurkingkobold]

...okay...

The kobold waits. Not necessarily for the cat, more for lack of anything better to do.

[first_and_final]

It isn't quite clear how she manages to get into the building through the closed door, but after a minute or so she comes back out, riding on the shoulder of a short human who opens the door in an entirely mundane way.

[lurkingkobold]

And here is a kobold, watching them approach.

[first_and_final]

When he's within a reasonable speaking distance, he calls, "Hello!"

Unlike the cat, he is perfectly understandable.

[lurkingkobold]

The kobold squints sightly, and looks back and forth from the cat to the human.

Very quietly: "...hello?"

Almost as she's saying it, and not in reaction to anything the other two have done, she goes wide-eyed and fearful.

[first_and_final]

The human stops where he is, and gives her a small, reassuring smile.

"I don't think I recognize what sort of creature you are," he says. "My name is Milo, and I'm a human; this is Cath, who is a cat."

Cath jumps lightly down from his shoulder and approaches the kobold.

[lurkingkobold]

She uncoils, a little, at the smile, and more at the human's tone.

She offers Cath more petting, and after a few moments, while not making eye contact with either of them, says "kobold". She doesn't panic, this time.

[first_and_final]

"Is that your sort of creature?" the human asks. He sits down on the ground. Cath, meanwhile, snuggles up to be petted.

[lurkingkobold]

She nods. She's still not making eye contact, but it seems less intentional now, more like habit.

(Cath gets petted, because of course.)

[first_and_final]

"Well, it's nice to meet you," he says. "Are you hungry? We can get food inside," with a nod back toward the building.

Cath purrs. She approves of being petted.

[lurkingkobold]

The kobold visibly perks up at the prospect of food. She gives Cath a final pet, and then stands.

[first_and_final]

Cath climbs up to Milo's shoulder again, and he cheerfully leads the kobold toward the building.