[OPEN] And I'm hungry like the wolf

[lonered]

WHO: Keith & OPEN
WHERE: Around and about Nonah
WHEN: RIGHT. NOW. (8/9)
WHAT: Keith's large, teleporting space wolf has gotten into some kryptonite. Now he's temporarily Space Cujo
WARNINGS: Did I not just say SPACE CUJO???



[ What do you have in your mouth? ]

Keith has always been restless. Being still has never really seemed to be in his skillset. Even all that time in space with only his mother and the large space wolf that they adopted (and who currently pads by his side) hadn't helped.

So he's out, exploring, trying to get a sense of this new world that he's been dropped in. It's been a long time since he's been on Earth. Years. It's been years since he's set foot on Earth. And this isn't his Earth, isn't his time, but it's still achingly familiar somehow to feel the wind on his face, see stars he recognizes in the sky above.

Keith's exploring has led him to a small park, and his wolf has decided all the grass and trees are excellent and is frolicking around like he's a puppy -- running about, zooming even, sniffing here and there.

There's a moment though, when he seems a bit too interested, and Keith finds himself frowning. "Hey boy, what do you have there?"

The wolf looks up, and a gleaming crystal of vibrant red is held like a tennis ball between his teeth. Not good. "Ah... maybe put that down--"

And the wolf takes off. "Damn it," Keith swears under his breath before running after him. He even gets close before with a little zap the wolf disappears and reappears several yards away. Clearly this is a game.

Keith could probably use a hand.


[ Mind the teeth ]

Eventually Keith retrieves the red crystal from the wolf and does his best to dispose of it for the time being. At first everything seems fine.

Until it isn't.

It starts with a low growl, and Keith finds himself looking at the wolf beside him in surprise. "Something wrong, boy?" His lupine companion answers with bared teeth and a lunge that knocks the paladin down before he takes off, a flurry of fangs and teeth with Keith scrambling after him. "No, hey! It's okay! Come back..."

Anyone in his path, may find themselves being stared down and stalked by a wolf who is usually a good boy, but whose mood has been badly altered so there's nothing even remotely friendly about him. "Hold... hold on. He's not usually like this. That crystal--" Keith keeps his voice pitched soft as he tries to make his way closer, to get a hold of the wolf before anything worse happens. "Easy, boy... It's okay." Probably. It's probably okay.


[ They're all good wolves, Brent ]

Eventually, thankfully, the red kryptonite's effects wear off. The feral edge of rage fades from the wolf's alien gaze, and it's a confused whimper that announces it.

Instead, for now, there's only a worried, disoriented wolf looking around with a tentative wag of its tail when it catches sight of someone, as if hopeful for help.

Keith hasn't caught up yet, but he won't be far behind.

Comments

Mind the Teeth

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[It's been about a week since Darin returned from his old world, and already he's settled back into his usual routine. He'd just finished his grocery shopping, carrying an almost impossible number of bags full of food when he catches people running by him, as if they were being chased.]

[Confused, he turns...and sees a large cosmic wolf staring him down and looking rather...angry?]

[Darin squints, as if trying to remember something.]

...Hey...wait a minute. You look familiar...

[lonered]

[Keith comes to a skidding halt around a corner, seeing that his wolf has come to a stop to menace someone in particular. He slows his steps, moving closer slow and quiet and careful.]

You might want to back away. Slowly.

[His voice is level and low, eyes flickering to the guy that is currently at the other end of the wolf's bared teeth.] He got into something that's making him act weird. I don't want anyone to get hurt.

[All very, painfully calm -- if a bit strained -- as he makes his way closer. He's not even sure what his plan is aside from get a hold of the wolf and try to keep anyone from getting hurt.]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[Darin blinks as a dawning realization hits him.]

...Keith?? Keith is that you??

Wait! No wonder this guy looks familiar! ...It's Cosmo, right?? Hey boy, long time no see!!

Hold on, I've got something for you..!

[Darin rummages around one of his bags and pulls out a packaged steak.]

How about this? Look good?

They're all good wolves, Brent

[spaceforged]

It's the whimper that catches Shiro's attention. He'd dropped by the library to get a look into this world's history and come out to a familiar blue wolf looking at him with tentative hope.

He closes the distance between them and offers his human left hand for the wolf to sniff and identify him. "Hey, it's alright. Did you get lost?" If allowed he gently pets his head and ruffles his ears. "Stick close to me, okay?" He takes out his device and fires off a quick message to Keith.

'I found your wolf buddy. We're in front of the library. Something happen?'

[lonered]

Keith is doing his best to keep up, but the problem with a wolf that can teleport and seems to be on the verge of a frenzy is, well, that the wolf can teleport and is on the verge of a frenzy. He's not too far behind at least, but he pauses as his phone chimes, pulling it out to glance at the notification.

There's a moment between relief and concern. Shiro found the wolf! ...the wolf who has been ready to attack anything that moves. Library. He breaks into a jog headed in that direction, texting as he goes.

'He got a hold of one of those crystals. It's messed with him pretty bad. Be careful. I'll be right there.'

Caution though, won't be necessary given that the wolf is sniffing at Shiro's hand, giving a friendly and relieved little lick before bumping his head below those fingers to encourage petting, another nervous whine.

[spaceforged]

His fingers gently run through the wolf's fur. It still seems so strange that wolves and lions are universal concepts in their reality. His phone makes the jingling sound of a bell. He checks it while keeping one hand still giving the wolf the pets he seems to need.

Shiro glances down at him and says softly, "So that's why you seem so off-balance. It's okay. I'm right here. I won't let anything else mess with you." He glances around just to be sure. There are no meteorites nearby.

He lets out a breath. Good. "I'm sorry you had to be the one to confirm any animal could be affected."

Mind the Teeth

[finnality]

[They've come across one teenage boy who wears blue clothes and a white bear hood over his head, and also his right forearm's mechanical. His voice might also sound a little bit familiar to Keith.

In any case, this isn't the first time Finn's seen a wolf. He even ran with a pack of wolves once! He's not entirely sure how to handle this one, but for the moment, he opts to stare it down.]

Crystal? Is this some more of that rock funkiness?

[lonered]

[The wolf growls lowly and lowers into the sort of crouch that threatens to turn into a lunge.

Keith is moving closer slowly.]

Yeah... one of the ones that fell out of the sky. I've heard they made people act weird. Guess they do it to animals too.

[Voice quiet and level.] Hey, boy. Calm down, okay?

[Keith looks from the wolf to Finn.] Think you can start moving towards me? Slowly?

[finnality]

Aw man, that's totally uncool! [He grumbles, unhappy with these rocks messing with animals too.]

Okay, okay. I got this.

[He keeps his eyes trained on the wolf while starting to slowly move towards Keith.]

Eeeaaasy there, doggio...

Mind the Teeth

[pidgewidgeon]

[ Pidge had been on her way back to the porter from Darin's forge when she'd started hearing yelling and growling. She sighed and rolled her eyes before starting to jog towards the commotion; couldn't they just have one week of peace?

She follows the noise for a few blocks and finds Cosmo standing in front of a woman, snarling and growling. What the...?

A look around shows that Keith doesn't seem to be nearby, and Pidge can't see anything about the woman that would cause Cosmo to act this way. Cautiously she starts across the road but breaks into a run when the wolf snaps at the cornered woman's feet. ]

Cosmo! What are you doing?

[lonered]

[The wolf (who one of these days ought to be informed that his name is Cosmo given that Keith is far too bad at things to have managed a naming yet) is too far gone for even recognition to register. Under better circumstances, he knows Pidge, after all. She's a source of good attention and is small and therefor should be looked after!

But now, she's another threat, though at least the yelling distracts him from trying to bite the stranger's leg off and instead he turns to her all teeth and aggression.

This is about when Keith finally comes skidding around a corner. Chasing something that teleports is not easy. He hears Pidge and sees her running at the wolf who is doing an excellent impression of having cosmic rabies.] Pidge... careful!

[Give him a second. He has been after Cosmo for a couple miles now. He's breathing hard.] Something's wrong. He got a hold of one of those crystals.

[pidgewidgeon]

And of course he got one of the ones that turn him rabid instead of just making him fly or something. [ She'd roll her eyes, but she's not about to take her eyes off the growling wolf in front of her.

She thinks for a moment, trying to remember where the nearest park was before asking ]

If I run, will he follow?

What do you have in your mouth?

[patchricide]

It isn't Allura who shows up to stop the wolf. Instead, the four smallest superheroes in the world have appeared on the scene.

Platt, the chubby yellow mouse, has taken on a big, chunky, rock-like appearance. He jumps in front of the wolf, holding a paw out in the universal gesture of "stop right there!"

Plachu is stretching up and around, as if he were transforming into a thin green rope. Chulatt disappears, and can be heard running around behind.

But most impressive of all is Chuchule, who is currently flying and on fire.

All of them are ready for action to help Keith catch his dog!

... oooor Keith could simply call out to Allura for help. She's only a short ways away, trying to catch up with her own pets who are thoroughly enjoying the effects of the X-Kryptonite. And while the mice might be eager to help, it's worth noting that they are still new to their powers, and are also incredibly small compared to the wolf.

[lonered]

The wolf isn't under the effect of the kryptonite just yet -- though that is likely to change at any given moment, unfortunately -- and is enjoying this particular game. He is, however, not expecting a group of familiar (but somehow also different) mice. He doesn't remember any of them being on fire before.

There's a moment where the wolf simply stops (right in front of Platt-Thing) and simply tilts his head in the universal expression of canine confusion.

Keith, helpfully, is mirroring the wolf entirely, head cocked to the side, looking from mouse to mouse to mouse to-- where'd the last mouse go? Those are Allura's pals, right? "Uh..."

He blinks and catches sight of Allura while he's still at a loss for words. "Are... the mice super heroes?"

He thought he'd readjusted his general expectations for weirdness enough, but apparently he was wrong.

[patchricide]

"Keith!" She lifts her head and starts hurrying over. "This is new, I assure you. The mice were perfectly normal up until they found one of those stones—"

The dsiappearing mouse suddenly reappears, right on top of the wolf's head. At that point, three of the four mice all converge, all aiming at the mouth of the wolf. Please note, this would be a tremendously stupid idea if that mouth was not currently full of kryptonite.

The Mouse Torch is just sort of circling around the area, unsure of how to contribute without setting someone else on fire.

mind the teeth!

[burlyboy]

Sometimes, you can figure out someone's passion right away. It's when you start talking about obscure film to a film student who fancies themselves an auteur, or when you bring up plants to a botanist, or when a theatre kid finally gets a chance to dispense a dialogue about Sondheim's influence on modern musical theatre.

That's Magnus and dogs. Any dog. Even something dog-shaped, like a wolf, which Magnus has always considered to be a bigger dog, with even more of them to cuddle. His entire face lights up in a way you wouldn't expect from his face, battle-scarred as he is.

"Holy shit! Is that a Blink Dog?" He turns to Keith with a wide grin before whipping his head around to see where the wolf will go next.

"Here, I can help! I've got Animal Handling!"

[lonered]

And normally said wolf acts more like a dog than not (though they are still working on fetch, as that is an ongoing challenge) but sadly at the moment, there's none of the usual gentle curiosity or friendliness. Just teeth.

Said teeth are currently being bared in Magnus' direction, since the exclamation drew his attention. Keith has slowed his approach, really not wanting to spook the wolf into teleporting again before he can get his hands on him.

"I... what?" He looks confused for a moment, blinking at the grinning man before looking back to the wolf. "Maybe? He's a cosmic wolf... but he's not usually like this. Something is wrong."

He also doesn't know what I've got animal handling means, but he's also not going to turn down help. "Thanks. Be careful though, he's... he can be dangerous. But he doesn't mean to be. This isn't him." His wolf is a good boy, and whatever is going on has to be temporary. And fixable.

Mind The Teeth

[bifroster]

Some part of her mind says, "Don't look at it in the eyes. It'll be a challenge."

But, Jane is already staring into the wolf's eyes. The best thing she can do now is not run away, because that will mean it will chase after her. Or is that for cats? Cats and dogs both like to hunt and chase things. Oh man, she is out of her depth here.

"Does he have a name?" she squeaked when Keith came closer.

Maybe two people acting calm and friendly would help?

[lonered]

"Uh... Pidge has been calling him Cosmo." So yeah, they can go with that. Maybe it will help. Keith's plan for naming the wolf was to let the wolf name itself, even if no one has figured out what that even means yet. Not the point.

The point is, Keith really doesn't want this woman to wind up hurt just because the wolf is having a kryptonite-fueled personality crisis. "Just... hold still. I'm going to try to distract him."

Without frightening him into attacking. "Hey boy. Look over here!" Keith is stepping closer, oh so very slowly.

The wolf's gaze does slide from Jane to Keith and then back, teeth still bared but not lunging or attacking for the time being.

Mind the Teeth

[pushygirl]

[Kira already jumped back, hand reaching for her bag before she heard Keith. At the sight of someone who seems to know what is going on, she nods and slowly backs up, eyes focused squarely on the wolf.

This is not her week where animals are concerned.]

He's yours?

[She takes a deep breath, trying to keep herself calm.]

[lonered]

Yeah. He's a friend. And he's not usually like this.

[His voice is soft and soothing, like he's still talking to the wolf rather than answering her questions.]

He got a hold of one of those crystals.

[The wolf is watching her hands, like it's aware of the things that one might pull out of a bag. Keith moves closer.] When I say now, run towards me, okay?

[He's still moving slowly closer.] Now..! [And with that he darts towards the wolf, intending on putting himself between his wolf and this woman.]

[hordinglife]

[Lonnie doesn't even spend that much time in Nonah, but after being fired from her pizza delivery job for telling the boss off for being too inefficient--it felt good to tell him off at the time--she's been looking for other avenues of making money in ways certain feline-people won't find out about. So here she is in Nonah, looking up job openings and suddenly there is a big...wolf? And it doesn't look happy.

And the guy who it belongs to is saying it's okay?]

That's definitely not okay.

[lonered]

Yeah I know...

[Keith keeps his voice level, not wanting to spook the wolf.

The wolf doesn't look spooked so much as he looks furious, just this side of rabid. Totally fine. Don't worry about it.]

He got a hold of a crystal. It's screwing with him. Just... no sudden movements I'll get him.

( they're all good wolves, brent )

[girlybruiser]

Haru isn't sure what it is she's looking at initially.

It looks like a wolf, but its distinctive markings and colourings tell her that it might be some other creature. Just to be safe, Haru stalls in her tracks, no sudden movements. It might be wagging its tail, but she can't be certain what that means.

Oddly, she feels as if she's seen this creature before.

"My... good dog?"

sorry for the delay!

[lonered]

The wolf looks downright relieved at being called good, so its large fluffy tail gives another tentative wag as it slowly approaches, stopping a short distance away to sit back on its haunches.

Keith comes skidding around the corner a moment or two later, staring. But the difference in the wolf from the last time he'd had sight of him is noticeable.

"Hey... sorry, you okay?" He looks at the young woman, moving slowly towards her and the wolf, whose ears perk up at hearing Keith's voice.