thebastion | An incognito arrival

Who: Erek King and anyone!
Open: Wide open!
When: Day 247
Where: anywhere in the Bastion
What: An android arrives and skulks about hidden behind holograms before saying hello.
Format: prose preferred, but I'll match either!
Warnings: none

Erek's holographic emitter isn't projecting when he becomes aware he isn't home. That is already worrying, even before he takes in his surroundings while raising the illusion of a human boy around himself. An expression of relief flickers across the holographic face, thousands of years making shifts in expression a well-founded habit. His emitters aren't down, at least.

This isn't Earth, though, and it's the most bizarre planet Erek has ever visited. As he takes a step, the ground shifts around him, creating a path on which to walk. ...Interesting, if concerning. He doesn't think it's based on magnetism. The planet itself probably isn't sentient either. It's a matter for later investigation, though. There are more pressing concerns.

He sees a light in the distance that looks promising and replaces his human hologram with one of invisibility, blending into his surroundings. Erek will wait until he sees what species inhabit the planet and do his best to blend in. He sets off toward the Bastion.

When he arrives, Erek stays out of sight until anyone comes into view. He plans on taking up an appropriate hologram as soon as he's gauged the people well enough. Of course, should anyone human-shaped be present, it's easy enough to duck behind the edge of a building and emerge as Erek King, a fairly unremarkable teenage boy. He assumes that no one will see through his camouflage in the meantime. It hasn't happened so far, his emitters sufficiently advanced that it would take a very specialized sort of eyesight to see anything through the illusion.

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She turned an ungainly circle on the spot, the ruff of blue scales around her neck lifting in mild frustration. Tama-chan thought she had you, invisible quarry! Where did you go?

Erek's… reveal, so to speak, had her emitting a little gurgling noise of surprise and alarm and skittering back a couple of paces - in so far as an anklegator of her size can skitter, though that at least was still a reaction option open to her. Her eyes were certainly sharp enough to catch a the shine of the metal before the seemingly-ordinary flesh-and-blood boy appeared before her and under any other circumstances she would have rolled right over for him but… his scent was still off. Definitely off. Her ruff flattened down but she was still wary as she moved in closer, cautiously.

The sniffing is obvious, and Erek has seen that response in unfamiliar dogs. He treats them well, so animals tend to like him eventually, but the initial difference in scent is often unsettling. Crouching down, he holds out a hand palm up, unthreateningly. If Erek had food with him, he'd offer it. Of course, then he would smell like food rather than like metal. That might be a bad idea.

"Hello," he says quietly. "What sort of creature are you? What planet do you come from? Are you wild, or a pet?" Tama-chan isn't remotely dog-like, so Erek doesn't have an instant outpouring of affection for her. He's friendly enough to other sorts of animal, though.

He appeared to be quite nice. But that doesn't mean that Tama-chan wasn't suspicious. She edged closer with another little gurgle, less startled this time and more curious - what is it, what is it, what is it? It was hard for her to figure out what to make of him exactly. Aside from that flash of metal, he appeared to be human - like her mama and her papa and all of her aunties and uncles in the Bastion. But she had no way to be entirely sure.

Well. There was maybe one way.

Watching him carefully the entire time for any sign of alarm, she slowly opened her mouth and carefully moved to close it around his arm. Tama-chan had lived with humans all her life - she knew how squishy they could be, and if Erek was as he appeared, he should be squishy too. If he squished? Fine, no problem - she would judge him as she has every other human ever and flop onto her back for belly rubs. If not… well at least he seemed friendly? She may not roll over but her tail will swish side to side in a tentative wag.

…and if Tama-chan was very lucky, Erek would perhaps recognise her efforts to be gentle, her attempt to give him time to pull away, and not be annoyed at her for the mild gnawing received.

Erek was currently conserving energy. His usual human-shaped force fields were not in place, and he was not at all squishy. Fortunately, he was also not at all fragile. It didn't bother him a bit to be lightly gnawed on. With a very gentle pulling away, careful not to damage the creature's teeth, he asked sofly, "Could I have my arm back please, if you're done with it?"

Her curiosity was entertaining, and Erek had some of his own about Tama-chan. Seeing what she would do seemed a perfectly valid way to pass the time. Her testing of his arm had been unexpected as well as less forceful than he would have guessed.

She immediately dropped his arm at the request, curling her tail around herself and looking up at him with continued curiosity. What to make of you, strange non-squishy human? Tama-chan was relatively sure she liked him, but there were still tests to conduct.

…if he didn't squish, did he at least taste like a human? Her head tilted side to side for a moment before her tongue darted out.

Just a quick taste, Erek. Just a quick one. Tama-chan promises she won't eat you.

There was a reason Erek had been careful of her teeth. His metal frame was stronger, and Tama-chan couldn't eat him if she tried.

Erek didn't pull away from the tongue, but no, Tama-chan, he did not taste like a human. He didn't taste like much of all. Just faint traces of metal, if that were a taste she was familiar with.

"I wouldn't make a good meal," he warned her, his tone halfway between amused and apologetic. She wasn't shy at all, nor did she seem ready to live up to the predatory nature suggested by her teeth. Erek guessed Tama-chan was probably a pet, but no owner was in sight at the moment.

Her tongue remained out even as she pulled away. Like a regular human he did not taste. Or feel. Or smell - though she did run another quick circuit around him, sniffing as she went. Nothing new, just the faint hints of metal she had caught earlier.

Her tail swished on the ground a few moments before she stepped closer and rubbed the side of her horn against his leg. Congratulations, Erek! You made a friend! Granted Tama-chan was not particularly difficult to make friends with but you have given her the most difficulty in making her mind up so far, so good job!

He stayed still throughout the final examination, continuing to let Tama-chan explore and process.

Erek laughed as she leaned into his leg, the almost doglike behavior endearing Tama-chan to him. He petted her now that she'd clearly expressed acceptance of him. "I'm glad you decided I'm a friend, not food."

An incognito arrival

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androids are friends, not food (seriously, at least fish have nutritional value & don't break teeth)