The Preserve, Wednesday Afternoon

[dwarvenswagger]

Thorin was atill leery of the oddly colored deer, but he was willing to give them a chance should they provide a decent enough meal for his yurt.

And possibly an interesting pelt for leathercrafting.

Though at the moment, his chief concern lie in his hunting companion's ability to stomach the activity. "Are you ready?"

[For said companion!]

Comments

[tigerundercover]

Now now, Raven only looked like a pearl clutcher to make her foster mother get off her case. She was totally up for handling a little deer hunting. She was even dressed for it (or looked like she was, at least), all in olive drab, with her hair neat and tidy under her hat.

Fly-aways were pretty easy to get rid of when you had conscious control over every hair.

She flicked Thorin a little salute. "Ready for action. I even brought something to read them."

[dwarvenswagger]

Cheater. If Thorin could do that, his beard would be amazing.

"Something suitably dull?"

[tigerundercover]

Thorin wished he had the kind of beard Raven could pretend to grow.

Raven held up a thin, slim old book. "'Common Sense,'" she read. "'Addressed to the Inhabitants of America, on the Following Interesting Subjects.' Even the title makes me want a nap."

[dwarvenswagger]

"Pray we do not succumb to it's thrall," Thorin replied oh so seriously.

[tigerundercover]

"I could always change into something interesting while I read it," Raven said. She'd gotten used enough to most people knowing she was a shapeshifter now that it didn't occur to her to explain.

[dwarvenswagger]

"Change?" WORST SKINCHANGER EVER. WHERE WERE THE EPIC SIDEBURNS?

[tigerundercover]

DID THORIN WANT SIDEBURNS? RAVEN COULD DO SIDEBURNS.

"Oh," Raven said, giving him a surprised look. She shifted, showily drawing out the process from the feet up until Thorin's own face was smirking back at him. "Didn't you know?"

[dwarvenswagger]

"Decidedly not," Thorin replied warily. "Is this some sort of magic?"

Also, did he look like that? His beard was better, right? Oh god, he couldn't wait until his beard finally grew in properly.

[tigerundercover]

Sorry, Thorin. Raven was better than a mirror. Raven shifted back to her usual look with a slight pout. That trick usually got a bigger reaction. "Not magic," she said. "I was just born this way. Well." She shifted again, this time to her base shape. "This way, if you want to get technical."

[dwarvenswagger]

Well, that explained why she became cross about his disdain for blue game.

Sort of.

Thorin almost reached out to give the oddly colored skin a touch before remembering his manners. "Are there many like you?" Blue people running around. Marvel really liked blue people.

[tigerundercover]

"Nope." Alas, Raven's own Marvel continuity wasn't nearly as into them. "As far as I know I'm the only one. Hence being blonde, most of the time."

[dwarvenswagger]

Hey, there was still Beast.

"It is a gift from your maker then?"

[tigerundercover]

"What, like a god?" Raven blinked. "I never really put it that way." Sure, the Xaviers were nominally christian, but she and Charles hadn't bothered with any of that stuff for years. "It's just genetic. If I have a kid, they might turn out blue, too."

Someday she was going to meet a version of Kurt and it was going to be very, very awkward.

[dwarvenswagger]

Thorin made a face at the term. "I suppose for the people here it would be."

You people and your religions. It was simpler where he was from because they knew their creators existed. That was cool enough for them.

[tigerundercover]

Well, yes, when you took the faith bit out, it did simplify things considerably. "So you have a lot of magic where you're from?" Raven asked, feeling like a change of subject was called for.

[dwarvenswagger]

"I would not say a lot."

Said the dwarf from the magical fantasy world.

"But there are wizards who still roam the land." Like, three of them.

[tigerundercover]

"What, they just wander around?" Raven snorted. "If I were a wizard, I would totally set up a big castle and make people come to me."

Why not? She'd basically gone from one castle to another when she came here, after all.

[dwarvenswagger]

"One has a tower." It would end badly for everyone. "I have not met one as of yet, but I have many years to do so."

Because he was gonna be both a king and awesome.

[tigerundercover]

Obviously. He had that marvelous beard coming in and all.

"A tower isn't too bad," Raven said. "But castles are better. There are no wizards in the mountain?"

[dwarvenswagger]

"No, they are shaped like your people. Too tall to live among us for long, I would venture."

Also, dwarves were hella stubborn about their advice. So.

"Ageless too, they say."

[tigerundercover]

"I guess it wouldn't be any fun to go around stooped all the time," Raven said. "Though you'd think as wizards they could make themselves any height they wanted."

She could do it and she wasn't even magic, after all.

[dwarvenswagger]

"I would assume so as well." They were pretty crappy wizards, to be honest. "Should I meet one, I will ask about it."

[tigerundercover]

"I expect a full report when you do," Raven said. She looked around. "Apparently wizards and shapeshifters are too interesting for the deer, though."

[dwarvenswagger]

"Too exciting a topic maybe?"

[tigerundercover]

"Clearly we're both fascinating."

[dwarvenswagger]

"Perhaps they are smart enough to know a trap," Thorin replied, holding up the hunting bow he may have had to make.

[tigerundercover]

"True," Raven said. "But in my version, we're not calling ourselves boring." She pulled out her book again, cleared her throat, and started reading. "'Of the Origin and Design of Government in General, with Concise Remarks on the English Constitution

"'SOME writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. . . .'"

Something rustled in the bushes.

[dwarvenswagger]

Thorin fought against the pull of sleep from listening to the book, bow drawn and arrow ready.

"Once more."

[tigerundercover]

It didn't help that Raven had no real idea what she was reading, so she wasn't putting the right emphasis and tone into it. "'Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness POSITIVELY by uniting our affections, the latter NEGATIVELY by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher.'"

Her lack of enthusiasm for the topic wasn't stopping the three young teal deer from stepping out to listen, though. They were fully grown, but not yet old enough to know a really quality speaker from one simply doing a recitation.

[dwarvenswagger]

So, really, they were merely acting in the best interest of the herd by culling those less clever.

How kind of them.

Thorin inhaled once to steady his aim before letting the arrow fly. Two deer bounded off, startled. And the third lay on the ground as it died.

[tigerundercover]

"You got one!" Raven cheered, clapping. "Nice shot!"

[dwarvenswagger]

Yeah, Thorin was just gonna preen at that a little. "Of course I did."

[tigerundercover]

"I never doubted you for a moment."

That was a lie.

[dwarvenswagger]

"Of that I am certain," Thorin replied dryly.

[tigerundercover]

Raven leaned over the deer. "What do we do with it now? Are you going to stuff the head and hang it on the wall of our yurt?"

[dwarvenswagger]

"We make use of it," he replied, carefully removing the arrow as best he could. "You may keep the head if you so choose."

[tigerundercover]

Raven thought about it for a minute. "It would probably just come across as tacky," she decided. "So you know how to do all the . . . butchering or whathaveyou?"

[dwarvenswagger]

Thorin hesitated fir a moment at that. "I'm more practiced at rabbits, but the idea is the same. Remove in innards before they spoil the meat, seperate the flesh fron the skin."

How... pleasant it sounded.

[tigerundercover]

"Gross," Raven said, not sounding too put off by it. "That's why people hang them from trees, right? To help remove the innards and all the blood?"

[dwarvenswagger]

"That's right," Thorin replied, inspecting the arrowhead for damage before putting it to the side. "Can you help left the beast once I secure it with rope?"

[tigerundercover]

Raven beefed right up.

"Not a problem."

[dwarvenswagger]

"That is..." Something. Thorin shook his head, wrapping rope around the deer's hind legs before tossing the other end over a tree branch for leverage in keeping it upright.

"Did you hope to learn this for yourself?"

[tigerundercover]

Raven shrugged. "Mostly it just sounded like an interesting way to spend an afternoon," she said, grabbing the other end of the rope and easily hauling the deer up into the air. "Though I've had to live on my own before, so knowing how to get my own meat without stealing it wouldn't be terrible."

[dwarvenswagger]

"It seems to be a skill lost for many here," Thorin agreed. "Not even I am expy from learning skills."

And he totes had servants for this.

[tigerundercover]

"Well, it's easy enough to walk into town and buy meat if you want to," Raven said. "So a lot of people never even need to learn."

[dwarvenswagger]

"A strange land indeed," Thorin said with a sigh. He pulled a knife from a sheath at his belt to begin slicing open the poor teal Bambi.