Post by hawk on Aug 16, 2011 2:57:07 GMT -5
In all the territory under the glimmering dome of the Menagerie, Morgan had never seen such a classically beautiful place as Nilda Lake. The pines were tall and healthy, the deer were fat and lazy to run, and the water was crystal clear under the sharpened point of the sun. Hawk used it out of necessity and a preference for things that didn't make him completely miserable, but he couldn't help to think that the shimmering lake and angel's-hair waterfall was a mockery of him and everyone else living here in the Menagerie. He wouldn't put it past those sadistic scientists in the hospital to poison the lake one day and laugh as all the people who went swimming here died, one by one. He had a bit of a self-administered medical license that usually made him feel pretty safe about living in this place, but he was no chemist, and whether or not he had the ingredients to deal with a poisoning here was completely up to the Keepers. Still, he utilized the lake to its full capacity, swimming and bathing and drinking from it (although he only did the latter in canine form; as a human, his stomach still left plenty to be desired) to his heart's content. There was even a little cabin on the shore near the falls, whose rooms often smelled of cat musk and female hormones, and whose amenities were really quite nice...at least, they were when put to comparison with the rest of the M. Morgan used the trail up to the cabin to get to the lake, enjoying the hard-packed gravel that acted as a pavement beneath his feet, and appreciating the seclusion the trail offered; surrounded on both sides by tall pines and huge granite boulders, it was well-concealed from hostile eyes and easy to hide along if Hawk imagined any sort of danger. That had been one of the first things he'd learned upon arriving here: not everyone was friendly. There were territories, and hierarchies, and he had to look out for those who imagined themselves into ranks higher than they deserved. It was a place that was even more volatile and dangerous than the fight ring back home or the alleys where he'd dealt his drugs...at least there was a predictable social order out there. Here, fights to the death and spilled blood weren't such an oddity as Morgan would have expected them to be.
Today, Hawk was here rather early. It was just beginning to reach summer-ish temperatures around the lakeshore, and he preferred his swim to be cool and refreshing, not just an hour's reprieve on a hot day. He stripped in the cabin, stuffed his clothes into his top hat and the top hat under a loose floorboard (loosened by him, no less), then walked out onto the rocky beach and slipped into the water. It was cold but not unbearable, and he bathed with more freedom than he'd ever had at home, circling the nearby shoreline of the lake for a compulsory lap of exercise before taking a breath and letting himself relax and enjoy the sun's heat on his elevated face and arms. Morgan didn't float too well - he wasn't fat enough for that, thank god - but he could get along well enough to lay for a good twenty minutes before his stomach began to complain and he knew he'd have to go get some food in the forest. He still missed a good piece of buttered toast, and he hadn't had any fresh grapefruit in a long time, but at the very least he didn't miss the bacon and eggs. Eating raw boar did that to you.
But as he stepped out onto the shore and looked up at the cabin, he caught sight of a blonde woman just stepping out the back door. Shit. This had to be the cat he'd smelled so regularly in the cabin. The first thought that came into his head, even before he considered shifting, was to get back in the water - and he did, with a sort of falling, tripping lack of grace that made an inconveniently loud splash and most certainly caught the girl's attention. The rock that ground against his backbone as he fell didn't help matters, either, and by the time he'd settled himself back under the water, there was no trace left of the tranquility of the morning.
"Hey!" he shouted, although the rude greeting was hardly necessary to garner the woman's attention. "Want to get lost?" Morgan had never been one for kind words or the masking of awkward situations, but now he was feeling a little more worse-for-wear, and because he was in the water (and had no intention of shifting and getting his fur all wet) he was trapped until she left. He could only hope that she was the sort of bitch who'd hang around just to piss him off.
Word Count: 829
Status: Finished
Other: Set one year in the past; 2306.
Today, Hawk was here rather early. It was just beginning to reach summer-ish temperatures around the lakeshore, and he preferred his swim to be cool and refreshing, not just an hour's reprieve on a hot day. He stripped in the cabin, stuffed his clothes into his top hat and the top hat under a loose floorboard (loosened by him, no less), then walked out onto the rocky beach and slipped into the water. It was cold but not unbearable, and he bathed with more freedom than he'd ever had at home, circling the nearby shoreline of the lake for a compulsory lap of exercise before taking a breath and letting himself relax and enjoy the sun's heat on his elevated face and arms. Morgan didn't float too well - he wasn't fat enough for that, thank god - but he could get along well enough to lay for a good twenty minutes before his stomach began to complain and he knew he'd have to go get some food in the forest. He still missed a good piece of buttered toast, and he hadn't had any fresh grapefruit in a long time, but at the very least he didn't miss the bacon and eggs. Eating raw boar did that to you.
But as he stepped out onto the shore and looked up at the cabin, he caught sight of a blonde woman just stepping out the back door. Shit. This had to be the cat he'd smelled so regularly in the cabin. The first thought that came into his head, even before he considered shifting, was to get back in the water - and he did, with a sort of falling, tripping lack of grace that made an inconveniently loud splash and most certainly caught the girl's attention. The rock that ground against his backbone as he fell didn't help matters, either, and by the time he'd settled himself back under the water, there was no trace left of the tranquility of the morning.
"Hey!" he shouted, although the rude greeting was hardly necessary to garner the woman's attention. "Want to get lost?" Morgan had never been one for kind words or the masking of awkward situations, but now he was feeling a little more worse-for-wear, and because he was in the water (and had no intention of shifting and getting his fur all wet) he was trapped until she left. He could only hope that she was the sort of bitch who'd hang around just to piss him off.
Word Count: 829
Status: Finished
Other: Set one year in the past; 2306.
