tampered | Log; open

[Plodding along the sand is one King of Narnia and his most faithful steed. Being this tall on top of an already tall destrier, it surprises no one that neither man nor horse notice the patch of pale vulpine blond within the predator sights of snow feline white just up ahead. Yet that is.]

[If it weren't for the ears, he really would look something like a rat on stilts. Perhaps it's this that has attracted the cat, of whom Chase remains blissfully unaware as he noses in the sand to disturb shiny things he catches and pats with his paws.

Small creatures enjoy small entertainments, okay.

It's only when a low snarl begins low in the cat's throat that he looks up, blinking black eyes at the thing tirelessly advancing on him.]

Yip! Yipyipyip Awooooo?

[What's a cat doing all the way out here? Looking to catch some fish?]

AWOO!

[That was my NOSE.]

[On her more than well-deserved lunch break, Angela practically throws herself on the fountain's edge with a sandwich and soda on one side of her and an open sketch pad on the other. She doesn't want to think of bones and murder, case files and victims. Angela's been doing that all week and on her precious Saturday too. All she wants right now is a moment to breathe and a chance to catch the afternoon sun casting rainbows on the fountain's spray.]

...

[Caspian narrows his eyes. Is that? It couldn't be. But it is.]

Don't move.

[He commands to the fox while cantering Destrier forward. If the size and hoofbeats of the warhorse don't scare the cat off, the way those legs suddenly surround Chase like lethal pillars will. His control of the horse is impeccable as hooves are made to take wide steps to avoid crushing a tail...or ear.]

[It's a warm Saturday in June, and it's a lovely day outside--too lovely, in fact, to spend the whole day cooped up inside a library. Under normal circumstances, Rosella might feel a bit guilty about only putting in a few hours of labor and then leaving early, but she's put in more than enough hours lately to justify such a short day of work and frankly, she just wants to get out into the sun.

After stopping by one of the cafes in the Square to pick up a café mocha to go, she sets out for a walk, picking a direction and meandering without any particular destination in mind. Perhaps she'll go down to the lake and visit Ellington, or take a stroll down the rose path in Xanadu--or perhaps both, since it's not as though she doesn't have the time. Either way, it's a fine day for a walk, and the freedom of the journey itself is half the fun.]

[Lets hope Caspian's horsemanship is impeccable, because Chase appears to be doing his best to test it. Having been swiped by the cat, and now suddenly surrounded by giant lamp-post legs and thundering hooves, he's cowering and screeching as shrill as a whistle.]

Reeeeeeeeeee! Ar-Arooooo! Reeeee-eeeeee-eeeeeeeeeeeee!

[Are you insane? The cat scratched me, it wasn't going to crush my skull. What are you doing?]

[Chase isn't the only one screeching. The cat is none too pleased by this thundering interruption but at least it does leave as intended lest the warhorse give it a good kick to the tum.]

That's better. You are lucky it wasn't an eagle.

[Yes, he's talking to the fox. Er, but just to be sure, Caspian leans over as far as he can in the saddle.]

That is you, isn't it?

[The way the light refracts through droplets and sends smaller, quicker lights running across the paving stones has been a source of entertainment for Chase for the last ten minutes. He'd meant to just head back to building 12, but they were so distracting. He skids round the corner just in time to neatly sidestep headbutting a pair of slender ankles and looks up to find their owner. Oh!]

Yip! YIPYIPYIPYIPYIPYIP!

[Hi! HI ANGELA HI ANGELA HI ANGELA HI. As he tugs at the side of one of her shoes with his teeth, it does occur to him to wonder if he's regressing.]

[Chase had been considering digging a hole to hide in, with these new paws seemingly designed for the purpose, but seeing as he's now being spoken to rather than almost stamped on, it seems impolite. He looks up with a sandy nose.]

Yip. Rrruff.

[It's me. Hi, Caspian.]

[A specific tug to the reins has Destrier deftly side stepping away from the fox so Caspian can dismount and scoop his friend up. Without warning or permission, really. Dust dust dust, he works to get the sand off Chase as well.]

What are you doing out here? Someone might not see you in the sand and step on you.

[The city looks different when you're seeing it from a height of six inches, and without the shop signs and window displays, Chase is finding it surprisingly difficult to navigate. It's this reasoning that has lead him to the outskirts of the city proper - a vain attempt not to get trodden on each time he has to stop, look up and around. So far the afternoon spent by himself hasn't been going well - first the cat attack, and then being shooed out by a shopkeeper thinking he was a rat.

He hadn't been sure how to order sushi in fox speak, anyway. As he runs out in front of Rosella he keeps his head down and yaps loudly, hoping not to get a foot on his tail.]

[ max is heading home after doing some grocery shopping, several bags that are on the heavy side in hand. she's got several items inside them that would probably smell very appealing to a tiny member of the canine family. (or any member of the canine family. or...well, most people, really.)

she doesn't seem to be paying too much attention to her surroundings as she walks, but she doesn't have the same troubled expression she typically does when she's got other things on her mind (for once). she's just on her way home from running errands before going to work.

it feels normal. she likes it. ]

[So deep in the zone Angela is that she doesn't notice the teeny tiny furball ripping and running around the fountain until his head makes friends with her foot. She shrieks lightly--because that's what Angela does--and glances at the ground, automatically cooing at Chase. The pencil that was stuck firmly in her mouth is removed to make speaking easier, but not before Angela grins around it, and she sets it aside along with the pad to free up her hands.]

Easy on the shoe, sweetie. These are Italian. I might have to make a coat out of you to get my money back.

[Bending down in an attempt to save her feet, Angela scoops Chase up and holds him close to her face, staring into his eyes as if she's trying to see if he's still in there. God, it's like Ginny made Chase even cuter than usual. How was she supposed to ignore him now?]

What are you doing out here by yourself? Where's Ginny?

[Asking a grown man where his teenage babysitter is feels weirder than hell, by the way.]

Oh!

[At the sound of the yapping, Rosella pauses in her tracks, glancing around for the source of the noise. Not that it's particularly difficult to spot, seeing as how there appears to be some sort of...tiny, large-eared dog right in front of her. In fact, other than the ears, it reminds her quite a bit of Sam's chihuahua, Mojo.

And being that old habits die hard, and that stopping to talk to wayward critters in Daventry is far less of an unusual prospect than one might think, she carefully crouches down and peers at him, keeping her voice soft and friendly as she speaks.]

Well, hello there. And where are you off to, I wonder?

[He is much more butch than a chihuahua, Rosella, honestly. Chase is probably the more startled to see her - not many people have been willing to have conversations on his level, today. But of course, she lives in some sort of Disney offshoot where the birds probably make her dresses. He stops and sits, tail curling behind him.]

Yip! Yip. Yip-rooo.

[Trying to find building two. Have you noticed they all look the same from the back?]

[Chase likes chicken. He likes it usually, but just now that particular taste is scaled up an inordinate amount, particularly after a day spent telling himself wild birds and rodents do not class as food.

And they're really hard to catch.

Max soon finds herself with a silent shadow, sticking his nose up against the side of one of the bags as she walks along.]

Arooooooo-rooo, Yip Yiprooo.

[Where's Ginny? Probably off working on the rest of her zoo. That's not fair. But have you noticed I'm stuck like this?]

Owoooo.

[Never noticed how good your shoes smelt.

He does leave off the Italian leather after a moment more worrying at it (it's not like he isn't good for another pair, especially if his only future expenses involve kibble) and does his best not to flail too much when she picks him up. This is never going to be a dignified means of transport. Yes, he's in there.]

Yip.

[Hey.]

[Chase is just hoping Caspian doesn't remember his advice about small dogs and purses. Being dusted is undignified enough.]

Arrrrrrr, Arooooo. Yipyipyip!

[I was rolling in that for a reason, Caspian. And do you really think I wouldn't hear someone coming?]

[Hey, it's better than thinking he's some kind of rat, which would've been her second guess. But now she's having fond memories of Mojo, and smiling brightly as she tilts her head for a better look.]

My, you're friendly, aren't you? Hello! Don't worry, it's all right. I won't hurt you.

[Chase tilts his head. Has anything ever been scared of her?]

Yip. Yipyip arf!

[It's me. It's Chase. Chase. Hello? Carefully he raises one paw in greeting.]

[ even distracted, transgenic hearing means that max is able to pick up on the quick, tiny footsteps behind her and the nudging at one of her grocery bags. she stops and looks down, smiling when she sees who it is. ]

Hi to you, too. I'm guessing you're hungry?

Oh, look at you! Wherever did you learn how to wave? Someone must've taught you that, I should think.

[She slowly extends her own hand, palm-up, in response--half to let him inspect it if he desires, and half to get into position to scratch his ears, if he should let her.]

Which means you must be lost, I suppose. Is that it? Are you lost?

[Claire is not walking as much as she is searching. Though this can be done hurriedly, with a sense of determination and purpose, most of her disposition is dedicated to growing increasingly more anxious and checking under and around every nook and cranny that she has time for, as cafe table after twisting alley fails to give her any sense of where Chase might have gone off to. It's been a while since she noticed he'd given them the slip, and she's spent an equally nice amount of time wondering whether or not he's been eaten by bears or the cat that she managed to catch stalking him thanks to the Network or just gone and found himself a nice lady fox to den up with.

All of these thoughts are distressing enough in their own right that Claire shuts a trap on them, continuing to comb the City streets as she pointedly refuses to think, hoping she doesn't have to go into the forest with a flashlight and her own wobbly sense of direction.]

Damn it, Chase, where are you? Don't you want to get fixed? I swear, if you let yourself get eaten by a cat I'm going on a cat crusade and taking no prisoners. [She blows an exasperated raspberry, more hot air than anything.] How hard can it be to find something with ears that get reception from Mars?

[As the City buzzes around her, Claire stops in the middle of the sidewalk, getting her bearings, vaguely aware that she's talking to herself, but it has the benefit of distracting her from the potential of worst case scenarios, so she keeps a running stream of conversation going in her head, eyes peeled for streaks of pale fur, bouncing and barking or otherwise.]

[For such a small creature, Chase has developed an impressive line in dirty looks.]

Aroooo-rrruff.

[Taught me? Yeah, about thirty years ago.

But it's not her fault, and short of morse code he's lacking any way to communicate longer messages right now. So, is he lost?]

Yip!

[And a nod. That's one yip for yes, Rosella.]

Aroooo-oooo

[Is that chicken for anyone? Of course he's hungry. The sudden and dramatic reduction in size has had approximately the opposite effect on his appetite. He could eat a whole chicken, no matter how much bigger than him they might be right now.]

Roo-yip!

[Oh and hi, Max.]

Er.

[Can animals give dirty looks? No, no, she's probably imagining it. After all, the little creature is clearly much too friendly and cute to do something like that.

The nod, however, makes her blink; that's an entirely human action, and it's the second humanlike thing this little critter has made (or third, if you count the dirty look). That's enough to make her curious. It's certainly not the first time she's heard of animals behaving in humanlike ways, after all, but that usually only happens when they're under a curse, and it's the wrong weekend for that. Still...]

...Wait a moment. You can understand what I'm saying, can't you?

[Chase isn't aware of the mounting worries for his safety, or he might have found some way of communicating that he's doing fine and has found a woman with a deli counter and a very soft heart. He is aware that Claire and Ginny think he's safer stuck inside away from such threats as dogs, cats and stiletto heels, and that this currently classifies him as an escapee.

So far the dogs have been fine beyond some highly intrusive sniffing, and he has a scratch on his nose from that terror on the beach, but no greater damage. Cameron's cat, he suspects, takes after its owner and is more likely to simply ignore him when he goes by there, later.

He'll check the network, of course, or communicate that it should by checked, by a combination of tail-semaphore and very loud noises. That will tell him whether Ginny's found an antidote or not (and from the look on her face the last time he saw her, he's worried he might be waiting a while). Until then, freedom holds too great a lure. When he sees long blonde waves tumbling over the back of a red sweater, he turns and skitters the other way.]

[ she stifles a laugh, looking around for somewhere to set the bags down. she's not about to let him go hungry, but given all the other items she's carrying and where they're currently located, it might be hard to feed him here. ]

Give me a few minutes? I can come back out with something for you.

[ she'd bring him inside, but three cats and a tiny fox might not be the best combination, given the video posted on the network earlier (that she didn't see, but might giggle at later). ]

[Oh he does. He does. For now though he just gets the dusting and the cradling. Also, a wince from Caspian X.]

You are very shrill.

Hey to you, too.

[Not that Angela actually understood a damn word Chase just said to her--in fact, can those even be called words? Sounds? That works better.

The biting of her lower lip is the only visible evidence of her fighting the urge to give him an Eskimo kiss. At least on the outside it looks like she's trying not to laugh.]

You're way too cute to be healthy, you know that? I bet you do. [Sigh. And there goes Angela rubbing her nose against Chase's tiny fox one. She'll deal with the consequences later.] Hungry?

Log; open

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the fox is on the town-o, town-o, town-o;

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the fox is on the town-o, town-o, town-o;

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scent and a sound, i'm lost and i'm found;

the fox is on the town-o, town-o, town-o;

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scent and a sound, i'm lost and i'm found;

the fox is on the town-o, town-o, town-o;

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scent and a sound, i'm lost and i'm found;

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scent and a sound, i'm lost and i'm found;

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scent and a sound, i'm lost and i'm found;

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the fox is on the town-o, town-o, town-o;