Housepets!

Gael wrote:he wakes up and looks around and then he goes pale, "Oh...hi, I-I guess you win...p-please don't eat me...

She chuckled, her tail wagging. "Oh, don't be silly! I'm not even hungry yet! And who would I play with if I ate you? So, Back to my place?" She lifted him and easily put him over her shoulder as if he was a potato sack.

Hlaoroo wrote:After giggling at a joke, Chris suddenly henhouse her head as she sees a wolf carrying a cat. Curious, she follows the two with the mustelid pair in tow, and watches from a distance as the wolf revives the feline. For now she's downwind but that could change easily as the breeze is beginning to strengthen.

Without even turning, Lucilla said merrily "I can't smell you but I can hear you! Do you want to play too?" She turned.
---

Hlaoroo wrote:"Oh, I don't want to put you to any trouble." Frances demures, unwittingly repeating Scotty's line.

Cinzia scoffed. "Your stomach says 'nonsense', my dear...Yes, dear?" she asked to one of the wolves. The pack had gathered in front of the TV.
"I think that is Belisarius and Valiant and that panda prince," said the wolf that had called her, Constantine.
"Really? My son on TV?" And in fact there they were! Belisarius, Valiant, Mitch and Rikki, all dressed up like royalty! The logo on the screen red Red7, the pandas' TV channel. "Oh, will you look at them!"

valerio wrote:She chuckled, her tail wagging. "Oh, don't be silly! I'm not even hungry yet! And who would I play with if I ate you? So, Back to my place?" She lifted him and easily put him over her shoulder as if he was a potato sack.

"Umm...sure" he says feeling relieved

After going through the puzzlement of selecting both a collar and then a tag Meeko was rather content with what he had. It was his for once, paid for and all, something that he could put some pride into. Thus with that complete he was happy to do whatever Chris wanted to do now and put more effort into being social, starting with being more conversational after leaving the shop. He was rather happy with doing nothing at all as well, just moseying along, this would have been quite the treat to do in the recent past. Though things got rather iffy once Chris decided to follow some strange wolf, already had enough trouble with the out of place red pandas. It lead to something Meeko would have easily predicted, they were caught. First instinct was of course to suppress fleeing, fleeing barely worked at all, especially against someone built to run, so he froze, waiting to see how Chris handled this situation.

Waving good-bye to the cashier (after paying), Lorne heads outside and, since he decided to walk to the pizza place instead of ride his Harley, headed down the road back to his house, humming to himself as he thought Think I'm going to enjoy living here! People are very friendly!

"Oh, they look amazing! What are they on TV for?" Frances enthuses, her stomach temporarily forgotten. Even Scotty forgets his own adventures for a moment, seeing his new friends on the TV.

~~~~~~~~
"Oh, is dat whatcha call it? I just wanted ta make sure da cat was okay. I never saw a wolf carryin' a cat over deir shoulder afore." Chris answers the wolf boldly.

Hlaoroo wrote:"Oh, is dat whatcha call it? I just wanted ta make sure da cat was okay. I never saw a wolf carryin' a cat over deir shoulder afore." Chris answers the wolf boldly.

Lucilla's tail wagged. "Oh, you silly. It's because he's tired and need a little rest! Are you tired too? I have another arm free..." then her brow furrowed, and she asked the cat "How silly of *me*. I didn't even ask you if you have a pack! Can't get to know you without meeting your relatives, eh?"
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Hlaoroo wrote:"Oh, they look amazing! What are they on TV for?" Frances enthuses, her stomach temporarily forgotten. Even Scotty forgets his own adventures for a moment, seeing his new friends on the TV.

"A wedding," Amadora answered. "They are going to pledge their bond in front of the Gods on some faraway island. After that, Belisarius and Valiant will be their own pack, and we will have to move to another location."
Cinzia scoffed at the she-wolf. "Oh, you girl you don't dare! You all are part of the family, I am not going to toss anyone out of this house!"
Caesar smiled gently at the old woman. "This is about tradition, ma'm. This house will become their den, the foundation for their own pack. We cannot just stay here, it's...unnatural."
"We'll talk about that later, boy," she said "Now let's focus on the show."
---

SeanWolf wrote:Waving good-bye to the cashier (after paying), Lorne heads outside and, since he decided to walk to the pizza place instead of ride his Harley, headed down the road back to his house, humming to himself as he thought Think I'm going to enjoy living here! People are very friendly!

"So you moved here to stay, happy stud?" the rat asked from the fox's shoulder.

ooc: Edited for Heather! See last part.

The pandas were still filling out the seats in front of the wooden palace. There was seemingly enough for about 300 or so.

Mitch guided his crew away from the entrance and to a row of seats set up on the stairs.

Security was in full force. The tv crews were on the right of the palace. Buses were lining up in front of the village gate.

The last to arrive carried Trello home. She was just a tad nervous as she made her way to the back rows and sat down. There was a vacant seat next to her.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a familiar voice spoke to her.

"Excuse me miss, is this seat taken?" the male voice said. She looked up to him.

It was the bus driver she noticed. Internally she rolled her eyes. She wasn't REALLY looking for anyone right now, yet that didn't mean they couldn't be friends. She put on a warm smile and patted the chair.

"Not that I know of, what's your name, cutie," she said accidentally and instantly regretted it. Telling herself not to blush, she waited.

The driver paused for a second, dumbfounded, blushing away.

"Er, sorry, sorrry, sorry ah, thank you thanks sorry, Mort, sorry," he said, sitting down.

Moments of silence went between them as they waited for the speech to begin.
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For the Red7 prescription viewers, things changed to the inside of a van with what looked like a makeshift desk set up with two reporters, male and female, holding papers.

"Well folks, it looks like we're a little late, so lets go over local news and events for Sunset Plateau!" The male said.

The female nodded.

"Let's start with yesterday! The local art show..." She began. The news and weather went off like any normal broadcast would.

Except with animal reporters, instead of human.
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It was, at that moment, that a reporter from Channel 5 had over heard something.

He was right in Rikki's face with a camera! How he got up there so quickly was anyone's guess.

"Excuse me miss, what was that about Merriweather?" He said, and instantly had about five Uzi's in front of his face.

"STEP AWAY FROM THE ROYAL FAMILY IF YOU PLEASE SIR!" Said a guard. The man panicked, and as quickly as he got up, quickly backed down into the press area.

The Red7 reporters and other pandas had froze, then shook their head.

"Some people," said the female, the male nodding. Then she continued with the news.

Some outlets would read: 'Reporter Risks Injury For Secret Scoop!'
Channel 5 would read: 'Is The New Animal Regime Hard On Press?'
Red7 and others would read: 'This Idiot Tried To Get An Exclusive The Wrong Way.'

Mitch looked at Rikki.

"That was close," he said. He looked to the door, waiting for Benjamin and Nora to walk out. The security disappeared as quickly as it appeared, keeping behind the shadows.

Must be Mom. He thought.
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"If I AM lovely, why would I want to hide in a box?" Heather said.

"If we are to normalize animals walking freely around shouldn't we normalize them all? I'll sit up here, thank you," she stated.

"As far as where I'm from," she said, looking at the rat, "I'm from the kind of labs that feed large spiders rodents and other small mammals for dinner. Never bothered to discourse with us lowly insects, I take it?"

Valiant just hoped he and Bel weren't attracting the attention of those humans. One thing must be said, reporters tended to try and get an interview whatever the risk -only, in this case they wouldn't consider 'risky' a group of cute-looking fuzzy things.
Which lead to the main problem: now that the curiosity factor was out of the bag, how to manage it?
"Think we should tell them this is a vacation? Either that, or not one single word, but they are bound to follow us. I know the kind, believe me." He whispered so low that only Mitch's fine hearing could hear it.

Gizmo thinks for a second, "I have my human, but other than that, I doubt you can call it much a pack"

"Well, I think you're lovely but you know some Humans." He put Heather back on his head and urged her to 'play nice' with Wed and pulled his case out into the alley, closing the door up after him before Lorne came into view (so Wed's line in an earlier post makes sense(!)

Gael wrote:Gizmo thinks for a second, "I have my human, but other than that, I doubt you can call it much a pack"

Lucilla made a 'tut-tut' sound at that. "I will never understand humans. They say they're so social but they form no packs. Don't you get bored at all?"

valerio wrote: "So you moved here to stay, happy stud?" the rat asked from the fox's shoulder.

Welsh Halfwit wrote:"Well, I think you're lovely but you know some Humans." He put Heather back on his head and urged her to 'play nice' with Wed and pulled his case out into the alley, closing the door up after him before Lorne came into view (so Wed's line in an earlier post makes sense(!)

Lorne's attention is soon drawn to a alley he was passing, "Oh it's you two!" he exclaimed, "Hehe and Yes I'm moved here to stay...I'm taking over for Old Mel."

valerio wrote:Lucilla made a 'tut-tut' sound at that. "I will never understand humans. They say they're so social but they form no packs. Don't you get bored at all?"

"Not really, my human gives me a lot of freedom to wander around on my own...also cats don't exactly form packs much either way" he says

"Not sure I know Old Mel," Zachary confessed. "We're just off to move to the Panda Palaces place and..." He remembered the Tarantula on his head. "Oh! This is Heather. She's friendly."

Welsh Halfwit wrote:"Not sure I know Old Mel," Zachary confessed. "We're just off to move to the Panda Palaces place and..." He remembered the Tarantula on his head. "Oh! This is Heather. She's friendly."

"Old Mel ran the garage here where he was repairing vehicles. I'm taking over his job," Lorne explains before turning his head towards the tarantula and saying "Hello, Heather!"

Gael wrote:

valerio wrote:Lucilla made a 'tut-tut' sound at that. "I will never understand humans. They say they're so social but they form no packs. Don't you get bored at all?"

"Not really, my human gives me a lot of freedom to wander around on my own...also cats don't exactly form packs much either way" he says

"Th-they can, if they think it'll better there chances of s-survival in a harsh area," Will chimed in, before blushing a bit at his own outburst. "I m-mean, my uncle Paige said there w-was such a group where he came from, though I d-don't know if he was a part of it."

Pecan wrote:"Th-they can, if they think it'll better there chances of s-survival in a harsh area," Will chimed in, before blushing a bit at his own outburst. "I m-mean, my uncle Paige said there w-was such a group where he came from, though I d-don't know if he was a part of it."

"That's true" he says, "But for the most part cats tend to keep to they're immediate family, if I recall, I've never actually met a feral cat though so I could be wrong"

With Chris being bold Meeko followed suit, not with words but at least trying to appear more confident about the situation. Though with the cat being okay he guessed there was nothing that bad to worry about for the moment. He felt like informing the wolf that they were wrong, but that was probably not the smartest thing to do right about now, he was not that bold after all. Though he was brave enough to at least nod in agreement with what Will said, with a little embarrassment that the mink was able to speak up and still could not find his words. Probably because if he found them that would mean going into his past experiences, which he was going to avoid trying to do for a long time.

Pecan wrote:

Gael wrote:"Not really, my human gives me a lot of freedom to wander around on my own...also cats don't exactly form packs much either way" he says

Lucilla frowned. "But lions do form packs. I saw it in a book of Belisarius. And the leopards of Feraga are a collecteeve society. And even stray cats pack together. In a city called Rome, I remember."

"I guess that only goes for domestic cats like me then" he thinks for a second, "Or it could be that I'm just horrible at being actually social"

Gael wrote:"I guess that only goes for domestic cats like me then" he thinks for a second, "Or it could be that I'm just horrible at being actually social"

Again she wagged her tail. "See? I can help you with that! My pack can be really amiable, you'll love it!"

"Thank you so much" he says with a smile, "I think I'll meet them"

valerio wrote:Lucilla's tail wagged. "Oh, you silly. It's because he's tired and need a little rest! Are you tired too? I have another arm free..." then her brow furrowed, and she asked the cat "How silly of *me*. I didn't even ask you if you have a pack! Can't get to know you without meeting your relatives, eh?"

"I'm fine, fanks." Chris answers.
"Say, if'n it's not impolite ta arks, would ya mind if we met yer pack too? I always wanted ta meet real wolves!" the spaniel enthuses.
"Dis is my pack, by de way." she continues, putting her arms around the mustelids.
"Me brovver Meeko, an' me good mate Will. Er, mate in de sense of friend, not, ya know... Anyway. An' my name's Chris. Chris Mar'in. Pleasure ta meet ya."

~~~~~~~~
"The wedding is now?" Frances asks, confused. "Oh dear. I hope they won't be offended by us watching on TV. They did invite us after all..."

Gael wrote:"Thank you so much" he says with a smile, "I think I'll meet them"

"Yay! And they don't chase after cats. They do that with raccoons. You are not part raccoon, aren't you?"

Hlaoroo wrote:"I'm fine, fanks." Chris answers.
"Say, if'n it's not impolite ta arks, would ya mind if we met yer pack too? I always wanted ta meet real wolves!" the spaniel enthuses.
"Dis is my pack, by de way." she continues, putting her arms around the mustelids.
"Me brovver Meeko, an' me good mate Will. Er, mate in de sense of friend, not, ya know... Anyway. An' my name's Chris. Chris Mar'in. Pleasure ta meet ya."

"Oh, that's not a problem. Prince Rikki is mated with a ferret, and my big bro Bel is mated with a boy pet dog, so it's all nice if you two are loverboys, hee!"
---

Hlaoroo wrote:"The wedding is now?" Frances asks, confused. "Oh dear. I hope they won't be offended by us watching on TV. They did invite us after all..."

"The wedding is going to take place on the island of Meriweather," Caesar said. "Anyone invited, I guess they'll call them any moment before leaving."

valerio wrote:Yay! And they don't chase after cats. They do that with raccoons. You are not part raccoon, aren't you?"

"Not as far as I know" he said, not knowing why he's leaving any room for doubt

Gael wrote:"Not as far as I know" he said, not knowing why he's leaving any room for doubt

'Famous Last Words'... In fact, immediately Lucilla looked concerned. "Aw, then I'll have to slip you in my room. The guys know too many recipes for raccoon, and i keep telling them that you guys are too cute to be eaten!"

"Uhm," Zachary asked Lorne, "if you're heading with us through town, could I ask you to nip into a flower shop for me? I, er, have some money but I'm not sure they'd serve... me." As he said the last word, his eyes pulled upwards towards Heather for a moment before looking back down. "They'll be... for a friend,"

While at first a bit confused as shown by his head tilt, Lorne then smiles when he realized what he meant. With a chuckle, he replies "Sure, I can do it."

"Excellent," Zachary said, brightening up as he grabbed his case and started off, "I need to get there tonight or someone will, actually, shoot me!"

"Hold up...shoot you?!" Lorne was both shocked and confused, "...Uh...this isn't the mob you're dealing with, I hope?"

"Nope," Zachary said with a grin. "Red Panda patrol. You're either a pet or with them or not here. They did some deal. Tranq darts and crossbows."

Lorne went from being shocked to dumbfounded..."I am unsure if you are telling the truth or being a wise guy...but I'll amuse you and trust you." he replies before thinking to himself "Oh, Dad would be having a field day with this guy."

valerio wrote:'Famous Last Words'... In fact, immediately Lucilla looked concerned. "Aw, then I'll have to slip you in my room. The guys know too many recipes for raccoon, and i keep telling them that you guys are too cute to be eaten!"

"I'mnotpartraccoonIswear" he begins to ramble incoherently out of fear

ooc: Sorry for wall of text. TL;DR: Big national style speech. Lots of noise and patriotism. Rousing anthem. Enthusiastic crowd. Royalty assured the people they would be humble and not abuse their powers. If Valerio would be so kind as to show the crowd's reaction. :)

Heather only sighed.
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"From what I heard," Borues said from behind the wolves, having quietly kept out of everything, "Is that there would be two weddings. A practice one at Merriweather, then a real one here. Birds can talk sometimes. Oh, I think there's some movement in the back there."

Mitch tapped a message on his phone and showed it to Valiant.

*Best Not Say AnyThng at 4ll.* It said. Then Mitch's ear's twitched.

"Is that? Oh I was hoping they wouldn't use the drums!" He said concerned.

There was the sound of drums. Rapping and tapping. Big sounds, small sounds, rapping and tapping, big drums, little drums.

The news crew of Red7 looked a bit stunned.

"Oh, oh I guess we're starting, see you in a bit everyone!" Said the female announcer, the camera switched back to the front of the palace.

The drummers came out, banging a triumphant refrain! One on each side of the the door, two by two, ten in total. Two large drums came out at the last.

The beat was heavy, low, and earthly. No chants, though, Mitch was relieved.Then two armored pandas came out, dressed full, swords at their sides, mini-ak-47s in their arms. Behind them was the queen herself.

Nora Grandestaffe came out decked as all get out. Several layers of kimono, headdress, and shawl. The shawl was on her right shoulder. displaying the orange blossom attached to a staff. Two more guards dressed the same followed from behind.

Nora sat next to Rikki, smiling.

"Welcome to your new way of life dear," Nora said quietly to her, "Be proud."

The drums continued to play. Two more guards came out, followed by the chieftain himself!

The chief was also decked out in several layers. Though he wore a kilt and not a robe. He strode up to the platform. He held a staff in his hand.

The drums stopped. He looked about the nervous crowd.

He took off his headdress. Nora rolled her eyes, annoyed.

"Ah, the softie," she said, "He warned me he'd do this but I hoped he wouldn't, ah well."

He removed most of his layers, going down to just a simple shawl. He placed his staff behind him. He took his notes off the pedestal and sat down in front of it. He kicked his legs a little, nervous, he got back up, and picked up the pedestal and laid it down so the mic would be by his face still. He looked over the crowd.

He began to speak.

He spoke of humility and servitude from the royal family. He spoke of the duty and honor it was to serve as a leader. He spoke of responsibility and care when it came to power. He promised to keep the mind of a servant while he was a leader to the people. He spoke of the privilege to be starting a new nation with them. He spoke of wanting to get to know them as neighbor and friend.

"And finally, just to prove you do not need us and can handle things on your own should worse come to worse," Benjamin stated, "The royal family will not be available for one week following today. Together, we can achieve great things. Together, we can prosper and grow. Together, we can begin anew! Welcome to the newest nation in the world, as voted on by yourselves, the nation of us all, of Ailura!"

Mitch sighed in relief.

For a second, he had thought that Panda McPandaFace had won, since it was so close in the polls. Mitch nervously looked out the crowd to see their reaction.

"It's not that bad, Heather," Zachary said brightly. "You're brave enough, and smart enough, to get Humes to change their minds about you. Just won't happen tonight, right, Wed?" After leading the way for ten minutes, he pulled up outside a garage selling flowers. "Roses from here," he asked his 'passengers', wondering how much he could get with $10.

Gael wrote:"I'mnotpartraccoonIswear" he begins to ramble incoherently out of fear

She gave him a perplexed look. "You are quite the mysterious pet, y'know? But at least you don't smell like rac. Where did you use to live before coming here?"
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The genuine applause from the crowd was the answer any leader would ask for.
---

Welsh Halfwit wrote:"It's not that bad, Heather," Zachary said brightly. "You're brave enough, and smart enough, to get Humes to change their minds about you. Just won't happen tonight, right, Wed?" After leading the way for ten minutes, he pulled up outside a garage selling flowers. "Roses from here," he asked his 'passengers', wondering how much he could get with $10.

"Tss, nothing you can't do with the right attitude. It's all about believing in yourself, dude. And having a good couple of legs to run away if push comes to shove."

valerio wrote:She gave him a perplexed look. "You are quite the mysterious pet, y'know? But at least you don't smell like rac. Where did you use to live before coming here?"

"I used to live in Velvet Shores, near the beach, there were so many rowdy tourists there that it made it kind of hard for my dad to focus on work. He decided we'd move here since he figured it would be more peaceful and quiet" He wonders if the wolf would know about "the incident" as he mentions, "Of course with my luck during my first week here I actually got stinkbombed by a red panda for a misunderstanding"

valerio wrote:"Oh, that's not a problem. Prince Rikki is mated with a ferret, and my big bro Bel is mated with a boy pet dog, so it's all nice if you two are loverboys, hee!"

"Oh, it's not like dat. I mean, it wouldn't be a problem if it was but it's not like dat..." Chris tries to explain and is thankful when the wolf is distracted again by the cat.

Gael wrote:"Of course with my luck during my first week here I actually got stinkbombed by a red panda for a misunderstanding"

"Oh, yer not de only one wot's 'ad a run-in wiv da pandas, mate. Meeko was 'it wiv tranq darts de same day 'e arrived 'ere. Turned out de pandas were wantin' to 'elp 'im find a home but were goin' about it in a strange way. Dey mean well if ya give 'em a chance dough. We met deir king an' queen an' dey were lovely. Say, are you an' your pack from around 'ere, Miz Wolf?"

~~~~~~~~
Frances expresses her understanding before listening to the speech and jotting down some notes for potential future stories as the thoughts occur to her.

"Well. Looks like that went well." Scotty writes before holding up his pad for all to read. "And good on them for officially starting their own country. It's kind of exciting actually. I'd love to see their village in person. It looks pretty cool!"

Hlaoroo wrote:"Oh, yer not de only one wot's 'ad a run-in wiv da pandas, mate. Meeko was 'it wiv tranq darts de same day 'e arrived 'ere. Turned out de pandas were wantin' to 'elp 'im find a home but were goin' about it in a strange way. Dey mean well if ya give 'em a chance dough. We met deir king an' queen an' dey were lovely. Say, are you an' your pack from around 'ere, Miz Wolf?"

"Oh, don't worry I know the stinkbomb encounter was moreso an exception then a rule, the panda who questioned me about what happened was very kind, I just hope to not encounter Mr. Stinkbomb again" he says

Hlaoroo wrote:Frances expresses her understanding before listening to the speech and jotting down some notes for potential future stories as the thoughts occur to her.
"Well. Looks like that went well." Scotty writes before holding up his pad for all to read. "And good on them for officially starting their own country. It's kind of exciting actually. I'd love to see their village in person. It looks pretty cool!"

"We will bring you there, ourselves, when the wedding is settled and everyone's back," Amadora said. "Even if, from then on, Belisarius and Valiant will be their own pack, we're still allowed to visit as good neighbors and as family. That silly dog really thinks like a human. No offense meant, ma'm," she added to Cinzia and Frances.