august 2019. welcome to the void.

[modblob]

Who: Everyone in Anchor.
What: Second Introductory Mingle
When: The Month of August 2019
Where: Around and outside the city.
Warnings: Please add any warnings in the subject lines.

Redshift: Welcome to the v͖͕̺̲̘̱̜͎o̴̦̣̠̦̘̹͞i̯̖d̛̪̬͈̱̦̝͍̕.

Click here to read what characters will experience when arriving in Anchor.

a. bright spots in the darkness.

The redout and accompanying power outage has been going on for over a week now - even though someone must have managed to get the generators up and running so things are a little less dismal, that doesn't mean that everything is fun and games. The generators are enough to power the essentials, like lighting, the MedBay, resident sat phones, sanitation facilities...basically just the things that make life livable instead of kicking the whole city back to the dark ages.

Sometime during the second week, though, around the end of July, residents might start to notice bright spots in the darkness, mostly around the Agricultural levels. Little bobbing blobs of bright blue or vibrant green or glowing red that move soundlessly through the night, poignantly noticeable because everything else is so dark. At first, and from a distance, they might look like your typical swamp gas fake ghost, little glowing smudges in the darkness. Could be promising...but it could be dangerous too.

If residents are brave enough to head up to the Agricultural levels in the darkness and investigate the source of the light, a mildly harrowing mission, they will find that the source of the glowing is...animals. Barely differing from the usual animals one might see in a daylight in the Agricultural levels, these animals prove to simply be nocturnal versions of the usual animals that might survive in the wild and who have made their homes in the faux forest and grasslands. And when everything else is dark, these creatures roam the night, letting off a curious and almost radioactive glow.

There are, however, a slightly wider variety of these animals, who are descendants of animals exposed heavily to radiation that mutated but did not kill them. While there are the usual deer and wild horses, foxes and monkeys, rodents and insects, there are also domestic creatures that seem to have thrived in their glow-in-the-dark forms where non-glowing ones were picked off by predators. Anyone investigating may find glowing kittens and puppies, domestic mice and rats, snakes that are open to being touched, and even a few more exotic domesticated pets like ferrets, hedgehogs, turtles and foxes. While these creatures are still wild, they are the descendants of domestic stock, and with a little effort and coddling, they might turn out to be passable pets, once they're scanned in the MedBay and found to not give off dangerous radiation.

It's not all puppies and kittens, though. Some of these seemingly predatorless glow-in-the-dark creatures are mutated, just like their regular counterparts, but to a more extensive degree. Keep a close eye out while you're trying to tame that adorable glowing purple kitten, because you might find yourself as the prey to a huge mutated lizard or spider, or maybe an oversized glowing wild warthog.

Nighttime exploring, after all, is for the brave at heart...and comes with pros and cons!

b. nightmare swarm.

As if the mutated glow-in-the-dark creatures in the Agricultural levels aren't bad enough, there's something new in Anchor to cause problems. A couple of weeks after the generator room was opened, strange apparitions start showing up in various places around the city. At first they're nebulous clouds that gather in places where there's strong evidence of past violence - in the upper levels of the city where there's serious fire damage, near the security station, hovering outside the armory or wherever there are burns and gouges into the stone walls of the city. But as the month wears on, the clouds start to take shape, and some of those shapes might be very familiar.

Starting at around August 8th, whenever a resident passes by one of these ominous clouds, it will start to coalesce into a solid form, the particles coming together into a concrete shape - the shape of fear. Whether the particles coalesce into the shape of a monster or villain from a character's homeworld or previous game setting, the nebulous representation of their worst fear, a person or thing from their past that evokes a terrible memory of trauma, or even just a generic horrific monster that would particularly frighten that particular person, it's something that is guaranteed to terrify. Essentially, they will turn into the worst thing that your character can imagine.

And these representations of fear? They're not ghosts, they're not digital afterimages, they're not apparitions or holos. They're real, or at least they feel real, they can do real damage, and they're almost impossible to kill. The best way to survive an encounter with the nightmare swarm? Run fast. Because they're generally confined to areas where the echoes of old violence linger, and the quicker you leave those areas the better. Get into whatever light you can, get somewhere safe, and the fear creature will dissipate back into a nebulous cloud, lying in wait for the next victim.

c. power up.

On August 2nd, the dust storm causing the redout and power outage will subside, and a stiff wind will take its place, washing away about two thirds of the red sand piled up on the dome. This fortuitous change in weather will make it possible to start work on getting the power back up. Residents will be able to exit the city through the usual channels so they can work on clearing the dust out of the various installations outside the city that transform wind and radiation and sunlight into power that keeps the city up and running. After they're cleared off, residents can start to get the power up by making repairs to the dust-damaged computer systems. Thankfully, once the power installations outside the city have been cleared off, an automated computer subroutine will boot up on some of the computer panels in the common areas of the residential quarters, with a user-friendly guide to repairing sand damage to the power system.

Mind you, the user guide assumes that residents have a lot of tools, supplies, and assistant bots that the current population doesn't really have on hand, so user-friendly or not, it's tougher than the system seems to think it is.

Thankfully, there is another option. Anyone with a particularly tech-savvy mind who's encountered the nightmare clouds might have picked up on it already, but the clouds are actually swarms of nanites. Released from the room that held the generators, these nanites were originally intended to conduct repairs on the city (there was a reason that room and those generators were so pristine!) that have been corrupted and are malfunctioning due to the ambient radiation in the city that has only increased since their creation. Anyone with even a basic knowledge of computers (and a very strong spine) could collect a sample of the clouds in one of the containment units from the labs or the R&D area, where the semi-functioning computer can be used to work out what's wrong with the nanites...and fix them.

If characters are able to work this out and deploy repairs to the various swarms around the city, those nanites might be super helpful for fixing some of the malfunctioning tech around the city. Food for thought!

d. the wreckage in the wasteland.

Once the emergency situation with the power is sorted out, residents might become a little curious about what caused all the trouble in the first place. The dust storm was, after all, initiated by a loud crash landing outside the city. With the dust storm abated and the windows in the Observation Area cleared off, residents will be able to see the wreckage of a spacecraft crashed into the ground, several miles out from the city. Far enough away to make it impossible to see any identifying marks, but close enough to be a tantalizing mystery for anyone so inclined.

Adventurous souls will be able to suit up and trek their way out to the site of the crash in the battery Jeeps to see what's going on, risking the rough ever-changing terrain and the possibility of a red shift, to see what might be salvageable from the crashed ship, or just in pursuit of knowledge. Once those characters approach, they will find the hulk of a badly-damaged spacecraft, about as big as a medium-sized cruise ship. The hull is badly burned, with tears in the metal, and it will be obvious to anyone who's got any experience with space travel (or even anyone who's watched enough sci-fi movies) to see that the ship didn't do well on its slow fall through the atmosphere. The metal is melted and punctured, anything that might have extended away from the hull has been burned off and lies in tatters, and the sand around the crash site is littered with metal and plastic debris.

But the one thing that's still possible to tell from the wreckage? It probably came from Anchor.

The ship is pieced together from salvaged materials, the tech will be familiar to anyone who's been in the colony for more than a couple days, and there's even a few corpses of very familiar bots lying in the sand. Approaching a large tear in the side of the hull will reveal a way inside the husk of a ship, giving access to the ship's small crew quarters section. If explorers choose to proceed inside, they'll be able to dig through what few personal items remain and find personal tablet computers and sat phones with their hard drives corrupted but possibly salvageable with the right skillset and the right technology repaired back in Anchor. They will also be able to find a way down further into the ship, though it's dark and clouded with sand and...well, quite menacing.

Because it isn't just the darkness and the danger of the red shift coming while you're trapped down there, or the danger of the ship's hull cracking with the weight of the sand piled up on its shell from the dust storm...but looking into the darkness, there's a flickering bluish glow. Digital and glitchy, it flickers from wall to wall, with the faintest impression of a human form. A face. A hand. The movement of hair or clothing. And then there's the echoing sounds - soft laughter, snippets of childrens' rhymes, unintelligible whispers or mumbles.

Well. Enter at your own risk.

ooc: exploration info.

As you can probably tell, this final prompt is kind of a doozy! While the first level of the ship is available for anyone to explore with the information provided in the prompt, going further into the ship will require mod guidance, via an NPC.

Any questions can be asked in the mod questions thread below, and if your characters have progressed to the point of wanting to explore deeper in the ship, please hit up the NPC request thread with a link to where the NPC should tag in.

Have fun guys!

Navigation.

Comments

[benhargreeves]

I mean, would that be any weirder than any of the other stuff that goes on here?

[ On the scale of scientifically improbable to absolutely batshit shouldn't-be-possible, animals that glow in the dark is pretty low. Ben's gaze remains fixed on that restless, bouncing little bird, not noticing the look Klaus is giving him. There's something a little hypnotic about it, the way that small light moves through the darkness. ]

There are glowworms. Some kinds of jellyfish. Squids. It's not unprecedented.

[ Ben takes a small step closer, wanting to see the bird from nearer, but it startles and flies away. He blows out a sigh through puffed cheeks, shoulders sagging. But there are more lights visible further off. In the air, and on the ground, too. In greens and magentas and pale blue. ]

If we could touch one, we'd know if they were real or not.

[ Yes he is making this logic up as he goes, but he'd whined so much about not wanting to come here and now he wants to go further in, see more glowing animals, but he's not about to admit outright that Klaus was right to drag him here and he's happy he came. ]

[substances]

Trust you to make it all nerdy-sciencey.

[Klaus says it with no small amount of fondness though, glancing over at his brother again while they continue to look deeper into the agricultural area at all the other smudgy blurs of light. Ben steps a bit closer to the bird, and the spell is sort of broken when it startles and flies away, and Klaus moves up beside Ben, reaches out and puts his hand on his shoulder and gives it a squeeze.]

Probably better to find one that's less flighty for that. I wonder if there's any like, dogs or something.

[Reaching out, he grabs Ben's hand, gives it a squeeze and a tug, and starts moving forward again.]

Oh man, this is great, let's go look for something friendly.

[benhargreeves]

[ Ben rolls his eyes not just once, but twice as Klaus first accuses him of being a nerd and then turns around and makes a dreadful pun. But Ben knows Klaus will be able to tell that he's actually quite happy, underneath the sarcasm and empty show of annoyance. Klaus has always been able to read him better than most, and even if he's as quiet as ever, there's a little smile playing at the corner of his mouth. He doesn't resist, when Klaus tugs his hand and leads him along, deeper into the Agricultural area. ]

Or at least something slow.

[ He's hoping for a turtle or something of that sort, and so he keeps his eyes fixed on the ground in front of their feet, searching for any signs of glowing animals hiding anywhere. He listens, too, for any rustling or noises audible over the sound of their own footsteps.

Klaus is not looking so intently on the ground, and so Ben has to reach out and grab his arm, suddenly, tugging back in alarm to stop him. ]

Wait!

[ And then Ben is crouching down, looking at the tiny glowing line that is making its way across the small footpath they are following. Except it is not a line, but a tiny, fuzzy caterpillar, glowing a bright green with small orange dots scattered throughout. It inches along, tiny body rippling as it makes slow progress across the path. It had been right in the path of Klaus's foot, and definitely would have gotten a big dose of shoe if Ben hadn't intervened.

Glancing up at Klaus first, Ben looks down and lays his finger in the path of the caterpillar. It keeps inching, keeps inching, and then without seeming to notice a difference, inches up onto Ben's finger. He stands up, then, bringing the caterpillar with him, holding it at eye level. It continues to walk its way around his finger, and Ben can just barely feel the weight of it, the contact of all its tiny feet. ]

Not a hologram.

[substances]

[Ben's eyerolling is charming as (almost) always, especially since Klaus can tell Ben is happy and the eyerolling is fond. So he just grins at his brother and they head deeper into the area together. Ben suggests looking for something slow, and Klaus nods brightly, eyes flicking around to look for something slow, like a snail or a turtle or...

Suddenly Ben is saying 'wait' urgently, and years of instinct kick in. Klaus goes still in a second, and brings the foot he'd been putting forward back beside the other, blinking a few times as he looks down to see the glowing caterpillar crawling its way across his path, directly under where his foot would've fallen if he stepped.]

Whoa, good call bro.

[Crouching down beside Ben, he sits on the heels of his floral boots, arms on his knees, and stares down at the little critter as it squirms its way through the dirt and grass. Ben puts his finger down in front of it, and Klaus tenses slightly, ready to grab it if it tries to bite Ben or...something. Burn his skin with radiation. Grow to a ridiculous size and try to squeeze them to death like a giant fuzzy anaconda. Whatever. This place is weird, he wouldn't put it past it for any of those to happen.

But it doesn't. The fuzzy little thing just crawls harmlessly onto Ben's finger, and then Ben stands up, still looking at it. Klaus stands up too, leaning over to peer at the little thing. Just...inching along Ben's finger looking like a completely normal caterpillar. Besides the green and orange glow, anyway.]

Not a hologram. And it didn't try to bite you, and it isn't radioactive I guess...huh.

[Pursing his lips and raising his brows, Klaus shrugs and looks around a little more.]

I wonder what other ones there are, you wanna keep looking? This is like, super cool.

[benhargreeves]

I don't think caterpillars bite. They sting.

[ He says it in a slightly distracted way, still watching the inching progress of the caterpillar, twisting his hand slowly to keep the little thing in view for both him and his brother. Ben feels a strange sense of... peace, leaning in, close only inches away, both of them watching as this small creature goes about its day. Like the world is bigger and more complicated than just the two of them, and all their problems... ]

This little guy isn't hurting anyone. I've got the Geiger counter running on that device. So- if you hear clicking, that's when we start to worry.

[ Even after Klaus moves away, attention flitting away quickly (that is so Klaus), Ben keeps holding the little caterpillar, cupping it in his hand until he sees a good place to set it down. There's a small bush nearby, and Ben takes great care in letting the small creature off onto a leaf, far from any potential trampling. ]

I want to keep looking.

[ And so they do, the two of them wandering deeper in, glimpsing more of the glowing birds. Just as Ben is starting to wonder if they're out of luck, something comes tearing out from behind a dark tangle of plants, a bright purple animal. At first, Ben can't really tell what it is - the glow is strong and it doesn't move like anything he's seen before, a weird lolloping gait. It's small, but not a squirrel, or a cat. ]

What IS it?!

[substances]

It didn't try to sting you either, did it?

[Klaus' brow raises as he says it, eyes on Ben for a moment. His brother is watching the caterpillar in fascination, his head ducked down and eyes on it, and he's saying it isn't hurting anyone. Explains what to look out for with the Geiger counter, and Klaus glances at the device, nodding.]

Kay.

[When Ben says he wants to keep looking, Klaus can't help but grin because that was absolutely the answer he was hoping for. With a tiny squeak of excitement, Klaus barrels ahead of his brother while Ben hangs back, moving slower as he looks at the caterpillar still crawling around on his hand, and then while Ben is carefully tipping the little bug off his finger onto a leaf, Klaus' eyes brighten. As Ben catches up to him, he gently elbows him in the arm and points at a pretty little glowing bird that's perched nearby. Grinning, Klaus moves forward, then makes a little yelp as a shock of violently purple something darts out from the underbrush.]

Christ on a cracker! That startled me. Whoa.

[The purple glow has settled just underneath the underbrush and grass beneath a large bush, and Klaus gestures for Ben to stay behind him while he crouches and moves a little closer, long legs folding under him as he crouches and moves toward the bush.]

Hey little guy, we come in peace...

[He extends a hand, palm up, toward the glow under the bush. Probably not smart since he doesn't know what it is, but what's the worst that could happen?

A few moments after he speaks, a tiny little face, glowing purple, pokes out from under the bush. It looks like a tiny little teddy bear with a twitching nose as it sniffs at his fingers, and Klaus has to carefully press his free hand over his mouth to avoid actually squeaking out loud at how cute it is.]

Hey there...

[His voice is pitched very soft, very quiet.]

[benhargreeves]

[ Ben stays where he is, tucking his hands in his pockets and just watching as Klaus approaches the mystery animal. Out of old habit, Ben hopes he's not doing something stupid that will land him in a hospital. It hadn't looked like a snake but there are other nasty animals that one wouldn't want to tangle with. And there his brother is just jamming his hand into a bush where a creature of unknown species and origin is hiding. ]

Klaus-

[ Before his protest can go anywhere, though, the furry little thing is peeking out and smelling Klaus's hand. It has small whiskers that Ben can see despite the dim light, and now that it's staying still he gets a better sense of what it is. ]

Oh. A ferret.

[ Klaus is completely in love already; Ben can see that. Klaus doesn't even need to say anything. Ben knows. That isn't really the thing that surprises Ben. What does surprise him is that the small creature seems just as charmed and interested. It makes little low chattering sounds of interest and happiness, making its way out of the bush and running in circles around Klaus, clearly unafraid, wanting to play or be petted or who knows what. ]

He's awfully friendly, huh?

[ At least it is energetic enough that it probably doesn't have rabies, right? He doesn't know if ferrets can get rabies. Doesn't know much about them at all, really. They hadn't been amongst the species Reginald had bought to use in any of his experiments, and obviously pets were out of the question for the kids... ]

[substances]

[Klaus is absolutely completely in love already. Ben sounds skeptical (of course he sounds skeptical, Ben always sounds skeptical) but Klaus is convinced that this little critter is going to be his new best friend.

Thankfully, it seems like the feeling is mutual. Ben points out that it's a ferret, and Klaus nods with a grin on his face, hand still extended as the ferret chatters softly at him and sniffles at his fingertips before doing some kind of crazy glowing ferret dance around his feet.]

Oh my god.

[He laughs it out, balancing clumsily on his toes while he swivels his upper body to and head to try to keep the ferret in view. It finally stops and lifts its upper body, pressing it's little toes against his knee to look up at him curiously, and Klaus can't contain the grin.]

Hey there...

[Lowering his hand, he holds it out, and the ferret unceremoniously flops on its belly into his hand.]

Yeah. I wonder if she was someone's pet and like...no, that doesn't make sense. Maybe she just likes me...?

[Somehow, that's almost weirder than it being someone's ancient ferret pet. But her tummy is soft in his palm and he cautiously lifts her, only for her to start scrambling up his arm with sharp little scrapes of her claws. Klaus laughs again, abrupt and happy.]

Oh my god that tickles...where are you, ulp...

[After making her way up to his shoulder, she slides across the back of his neck and tries to go down his back, and he finds himself leaning forward to make sure she doesn't fall.]

This is crazy.

[benhargreeves]

[ Ben watches the scene play out without interrupting or making any comments. Being quiet, which is common enough, for him. But he's also beaming - something that is much rarer. Because honestly? He can't remember the last time he saw Klaus this happy. Like, really happy. Not fake happy, not high-out-of-his-mind happy. Just... happy.

There's no doubt in Ben's mind that the animal has a fondness for his brother in particular. She hadn't run over to him, or so much as glanced his way the entire time he's been standing there. She can't have not noticed there are two humans, but her priorities are merely elsewhere.

He only intervenes when Klaus is leaning almost horizontal to keep the ferret from falling but she doesn't understand and can't decide which way to go. Ben closes the distance and scoops her off Klaus's back. He isn't bad at handling animals, all things considered. He'd seen it done enough. It just takes confidence, a firm grip, intention and decisiveness. So he scoops the ferret from Klaus long enough for him to stand up, and then moves to hand her over.

Only now she seems to be more interested in snuffling at the strings of Ben's hoodie, and that is a complication he hadn't foreseen. It takes a little more doing, to get her back into her brother's hands ]

Must be domesticated. Even if this one wasn't someone's pet, its parents were pets. You can tell.

[ He is trying to play a little less in love than Klaus is, but all that fake coolness isn't really fooling anyone. Ben reaches into his backpack, tears a couple tiny chunks off some jerky and then offers them to Klaus, so he can feed her. ]

Ferrets eat meat, right? Gotta, with teeth like that.

[substances]

[By the time Ben steps in and scoops the ferret up off his back, Klaus is bent at a ninety degree angle, and laughing. When he stands up, he sees Ben holding her against his chest while she plays with the strings on his hoodie, and Klaus' expression softens. He knows, probably better than anyone, that Ben gets antsy around small animals, and why. All the sordid history that followed the bad luck Hargreeves kids. The ones with the powers they didn't want, who were a danger to others. A danger to themselves.]

I think she likes you too.

[It's careful and a little gentle, but Klaus doesn't hesitate to come over and scoop her up into his hands, pulling her back against his chest, where she puts her little front paws against his collarbone and starts sniffling at his ear and nibbling on the lobe. That makes him giggle a bit, and he tilts his head to the side, nose wrinkling. It might be nice to see Ben holding an animal like that, but he's not going to force him to do it if he doesn't want to.]

Seriously. She's got a thing for my ear...

[When Ben digs into his pack and pulls out a couple little bits of jerky, Klaus walks over, still smiling and scritching gently at the nape of the little ferret's neck, and accepts the shreds of meat. It's easy to tell Ben likes her too. Maybe he's nervous around her, but he likes her. So after he feeds her one of the bits, he pushes the other one into Ben's hand.]

She likes it. Here you give her one too, she already likes you, that'll just, you know, cement things.

cw mentions of past animal harm

[benhargreeves]

[ Ben opens his mouth to say no, to refuse automatically. Sure, he thinks the little thing is cute, but he doesn't do small mammals and they both know why and there's the thing itself and knowing Klaus knows all of it, and worrying how he might react...

But he catches himself. A small part of him, he finds, wants to give the little critter the beef jerky. Why not let himself try? If he is so afraid of having a bad reaction and ends up avoiding even the possibility, isn't that just as bad in some ways? How is he ever going to make any kind of progress if he doesn't force himself to risk a little discomfort, now and then?

So he nods, says: ]

Okay.

[ Then he holds out his hand, palm-up, the morsel of meat cupped in it. The little glowing ferret sniffs avidly and quickly finds the treat. Ben can feel her whiskers brushing his skin as she tentatively picks up the piece and chomps away, making little noises of appreciation even as she chews.

And Ben feels triumphant. There had been no crisis. No freakout, not even a huge spike in his adrenaline or any bad feelings. Tentatively, he reaches out and tries to scritch at her head even as Klaus holds her. She doesn't move away, and her fur is warm and nice-feeling under his fingertips.

The ferret twists away, not out of anxiety it seems, but just so she can go back to nibbling at Klaus's ear, and Ben laughs: ]

Wow, you're right, she's obsessed.

[ But he keeps petting at her, running his hand down her little long body now, tentative pets that the ferret doesn't seem to mind in the slightest. ]

She's not afraid of me.

[ Many years ago, Ben had told Klaus that the worst part of those experiments their father would do, training him to harm and kill, were the frightened noises the test animals would make. And in all likelihood, even with his boldness right now, petting this little thing by choice, if she were ever scared or hurt, Ben would be pretty well useless to help her or help Klaus help her. But for now, with her wriggly and unafraid and friendly... Ben is doing okay. Better than expected. ]

[substances]

[When Ben agrees to feed the ferret, Klaus grins, because he knows how hard this is for Ben, because he knows that Ben allowing himself to just give up on interacting with little creatures like her means letting dear old dad win. As Ben holds his hand out for the little ferret, Klaus extends his so she can sniff at the bit of meat in Ben's palm, tickles him with her whiskers, and then takes the shred of jerky and stuffs it in her mouth, gratefully chewing away.

He actually chuckles softly when Ben scritches behind her ears and at the back of her neck, and she arches her little back, soaking up the attention with little purrs of enjoyment before twisting and skittering back up his arm so she can go back to nibbling at his ear again.]

Seriously. Like, what is it about my earlobe that's got her all crazylike.

[Klaus is still grinning, and when Ben comments that she's not afraid of him, he snorts.]

What's she got to be afraid of, huh?

[Klaus knows. He knows what Ben is thinking of, he remembers the times they'd talked about what Reggie had put him through with his fucked up 'training,' knows why Ben would automatically assume that the little ferret would be afraid of him. But Klaus knows who Ben is, he knows his brother, and knows that the little creature has nothing to fear from him.]

She knows. She knows you'd never hurt her, don't you little girl, don't you...

[His voice trails off as he bumps his nose with the little ferret's, and then glances over at Ben with a crooked grin.]

What do you think I should name her? I mean, first thing that pops into my mind is Prissy...

[benhargreeves]

[ Ben gives a little shrug and shake of his head, suggests: ]

Maybe you taste like jerky?

[ Is that all ferrets eat? Or do they need veggies, too? Maybe he should find out. Because with every second that passes it's becoming clearer and clearer that Klaus is not going to leave this adorable creature here. No. Ben can see him getting attached, right in front of him.

And what Klaus says next seals it, for Ben. Klaus wants to keep her, to let her live in their apartment. He probably already would've announced he is going to do that, if it weren't for Ben, and Ben's history. Ben lets out a shaky exhale, keeps running his fingers down the ferret's back. Her fur is warm and her body small and coiled and energetic.

Swallowing he says, quietly: ]

I. Don't mind. If you - want to keep her. I'll... it'll be okay, I think.

[ And, judging by the way Klaus immediately jumps to giving her a name, he'd guessed right. Ben smiles, rolling his eyes at that absolutely awful name. ]

Short for Priscilla?

[ It really is too cute, seeing Klaus bump his nose against the ferret's tiny, glowing face. It's good. To see him smiling like that. Ben hasn't seen that smile from Klaus in too long. A smile is tugging at the corner of his own mouth as he says, decisively. ]

Prissy. Let's get Prissy home. Before you find any other strays.