HIGH HOPES — return; baby snake

[SÉAMUS]

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☠ Séamus Ó Faoláin

The faerie found his brother dreadfully predictable most days.  Yet when he had brought an egg back to the tree house, the pirate had been admittedly surprised.  Since the meteor, Séamus had been confined inside long enough to nearly go insane.  For a moment, he thought he had.  Raziel obviously meant well, though it still infuriated him to be fussed over on a near daily basis.  He could at least admit it was better to give his older brother a hard time than his son.

Salem had been under the same roof for a while but since left; leaving the quiet building to Raziel, Séamus and an egg.  Soon enough, the faerie had found himself invested.  With little else to do, the change in routine felt nice.  Tending and watching the egg was much more interesting than re-reading the books his brother kept offering him.

When the day came it finally hatched, the Irishman had been more than bemused to witness a distinctly familiar snake pop its head through the shell.  Determined little thing.  Upon regarding the baby black mamba for a number of minutes, pleased to see it finally emerge, the privateer decided to name it.  Her.  I think.  Niamh.

The time spent inside his brother's home had came to a close.  Séamus felt more than fit to return to work and his own hut on the shore, but he did not want to leave without little Niamh.  So, without bothering to receive the go-ahead from his brother, the small feline gently gathered Niamh into a little basket turned portable nest, and embarked down the steps.

He made a beeline for the bay, taking care to be gentle with the basket as he padded along.  Rather than head directly inside his hut, he decided to set the basket down on the sand -- they had both been cooped up inside for too long as far as he felt concerned.

Word of mouth there's a snake in the garden

[devland]

[align=center][div style=" background-color: transparent; border: 0px solid black; width: 60%; min-height: 8px; font-family: arial; line-height: 110%; text-align: justify; padding: 25px"]Devland wasn't entirely sure what brought him to the bay. He tried to convince himself it was because he was familiarizing himself with the land, but he knew the correct reason was because he was antsy. After constantly moving every few days the last two months of his life, this sedimentary lifestyle was hard to grasp. Wherever he went, he felt cooped up. So rather than wander around the tavern for the umpteenth time, he instead chose to wander the bay.

Uninterested eyes watched the comings and goings of Typhoon members. In and out of their huts they went. He couldn't understand why anyone would want to live so close to the water... He supposed everyone here could probably swim, however, so he supposed it made sense. More than that, it fit the whole pirate aesthetic.

The first individual to truly catch his eye was Séamus and the little basket he carefully carried. Devland's interest was piqued. He could be so nosy sometimes. Deciding to take advantage of the fact that he didn't know Séamus, he would take the opportunity to introduce himself and use it to snoop.

The brown tom picked his way towards Séamus, offering the other a breezy smile. "Hello, I don't think we've met. I'm Devland Taji. It's -" He cut himself off as his half-lidded eyes fell to the contents of the basket. Immediately, the want to introduce himself vanished. All he was interested in was the black mamba.

"Did you know black mambas are one of only four species of mambas?" the boy asked, not taking his eyes off the snake. An easy smile curved his lip upwards. He prattled on, "Did you also know that these snakes have a terrible reputation that's not really true? Most everyone thinks these snakes are automatically aggressive - like for no reason, but in reality, they are pretty shy. Poor guys."

[michael t.]

LIKE THE MOON SAYS TO THE DARK — Seamus was someone that Michael didn't know a great deal about, outside of the other's relation to Roan. It had always seemed kind of wild to the bobcat that Roan had an entirely different father than the rest of his siblings, considering he was such a good kid. Obviously being from a fling didn't automatically mean a kid was screwed for life, but not having a steady family... it could really screw a kid up, as Michael knew quite well. Despite this, he didn't have too many hard feelings towards Seamus, especially considering the other had seemingly disappeared after the meteor strike. The reaver had been forced to assume that the other had gone missing in action because of some kind of injuries. Of course, there had also been the lingering thought that perhaps Seamus had been swept away, or had outright died, but he often kept those thoughts to himself. After all, Roxie had enough to worry about, and she didn't need to worry about her oldest son's father potentially being dead on top of it all. Thankfully, that didn't seem to be the case.

Michael had almost done a double take when he noticed Seamus heading towards the shore, having been sitting casually in front of his hut when he saw the other move past. Not only did he look alright, but he also had a basket with him. Feeling curious and a little bit bored, the thief had gotten up to his paws, following after Seamus until the other stopped and deposited the basket in the sand. Moving over to say hello, Michael found himself suddenly caught off guard by two things. One, the baby snake that was very much present within the basket, and two, Devland's rambling about said snake's species. The presence of Niamh didn't scare Michael, considering the sort of kinship he felt with snakes in general – even going so far to have a reptile form of his own – but he did find himself curious about where exactly the snake had come from. Cocking his head to one side, the reaver spoke softly, "Hey, Seamus... I can't remember if we've ever properly met, or if I've just heard so much about you. I'm Michael, Roxie's brother..." With potential first introductions out of the way, the fugitive then moved on to the questions burning in his mind, "Who's this little one...? And, uh, where'd you get 'em?" He wouldn't mind having a snake companion of his own, even if he'd have to keep them separate from his flock of rats. — WE WILL NEVER BE APART

[ROXANNE R.]

[glow=white,1,400]I LOVE YOU, CANNIBAL QUEEN ! — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Roxanne had been more worried about her children over someone who she had a mere fling with as harsh as that sounded, the mother had priorities and those were her children not the father's of her cubs. She had lost the feeling to care for either of the individuals that had fathered her litters seeing as they hadn't had major impacts on the growth of her offspring. Roxanne had raised Roan alone fine by herself and the same went for her current batch of cubs, she was independent or liked to believe herself to be. She didn't think too much of relationships anymore or steady beginnings, and the dream of settling down with someone was a mere thought silenced and drowned out by her other thoughts that buzzed throughout her mind. So, when the somewhat familiar scent of Séamus reached her nose did the draconic feline feel a small frown form itself onto her maw, she took a few steps forward until she could see the trio ahead of her. She supposed that it would be rude of her to simply linger in the back, the Officer let a soft sigh slip past her lips only to brush up against Michael with both of her pupils narrowed down to dangerous slits. It seemed that the small tom had a reptile for a companion, a small one at that. Perhaps, Séamus would have more ease raising a serpent than his own son.

A soft snort leaving her slightly amused by her harsh thought but Roxie's pupils would widen once more as a smirk found itself present upon her maw "Hello love," She began with her fluffy tail lashing behind her, the Officer was glad to see that the small tom was doing well and hadn't been killed by the meteor shower that had struck their home. "You have a lovely lil companion there too... Welcome back, Séamus." Roxanne enjoyed reptiles herself but snakes weren't really up to her tastes like her salt water crocodile, Kalayavan, she would sit down slowly deciding to keep the welcoming short and simple. [glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]

[SÉAMUS]

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☠ Séamus Ó Faoláin

The Irishman hardly minded the attention, of new and old faces.  A spark soon lit in his eyes as Devland began his rambling, an obvious passion within his voice.  The faerie had grown up with a close association to snakes -- with his twin, especially, referring to him as a snake.  In the end, he may admit he earned that friendly moniker.

"Séamus Ó Faoláin -- did you know that black mambas are more poisonous as infants, than adults?"  His whiskers twitched at the thought; a good notion to remember, given Niamh's obvious young age.  "'course I don't think Niamh will give me any trouble; she's been sweet so far."

Smoothly, the pirate felt his eyes shift, grin still in place for the passionate topic.  Roxie's brother.  Ah.  He clicked his tongue softly.  "Raz -- my brother -- found her.  Broken up nest and one egg.  Watched 'er hatch 'an named her Niamh."

As though summoned by relation and thought, Roxie herself arrived on scene.  Séamus knew he made for an interesting father, lingering in the shadows more than light.  After everything with Keona and Kian, the faerie felt more comfortable keeping an eye on things from a distance; never forcing himself into the family picture.  He did wish at times it had been different.  Perhaps if he had courted Roxanne properly.  Done things Kian's way.

It was nice to see neither Roxanne nor her family treated him with outright hostility at least.  His tail lashed once, brow crinkling for a moment.  "It's good to be back -- I thought my brother might drive me insane.  'e meant well of course, but it's nice not being stuck in that treehouse."

As though in agreement, he caught Niamh sliding up the basket a little, propping her head on the border, tasting the air with her tongue.  "Outside's nice, hm?"

Word of mouth there's a snake in the garden

[devland]

[align=center][div style=" background-color: transparent; border: 0px solid black; width: 60%; min-height: 8px; font-family: arial; line-height: 110%; text-align: justify; padding: 25px"]Devland had problems with rambling. He knew it, but he never tried to correct the habit. Hell, he wasn't sure if that was even possible to begin with. In rare moments like this, there were those that didn't mind how words poured from his lips too quickly. Devland listened, eyes watching the tiny mamba, as the elder feline introduced himself.

A smile - a real, genuine smile - blossomed on his face as Séamus introduced himself and offered Devland a fact of his own. Devland wasn't sure this had ever happened before. Most turned their noses up at his ranting, but here was someone who didn't seem to mind it. Better yet, here was someone offering another piece of trivia. Devland pocketed the information. "Pleasure to meet you, Séamus," he dipped his head, "and I actually didn't know that. It makes complete sense though, doesn't it? I mean, if you think about it, baby black mambas are much more at risk than adult ones. They'd need more protection, huh?" He lifted his eyes from the snake finally, resting them on Séamus. "Niamh's a nice name for her too."

Devland scarcely noticed Michael or Roxie's arrivals once his attention returned to the reptile. The smile that graced his face moments early evaporated, leaving behind a concentrated look. He was studying. Remembering his manners, he mumbled a quick, "Hello," to those who arrived after him. The corner of his lip twitched upward, hinting a smile, as Niamh peaked out of the basket.

[michael t.]

LIKE THE MOON SAYS TO THE DARK — Michael felt no ill will towards Seamus, mainly because Roxie herself didn't. She had never encouraged the bobcat to be cruel to the other in any way, nor did she seem exceedingly bitter about her relationship with him. Although she did have her concerns about his relationship to Roan, considering how little he was around for the young feline of his own blood – as Michael had been told of many times in the past. For now, however, the thief chose to form his own opinions, his small tail twitching from amusement as he glanced towards Devland. The other at least had the decency to say hello, but Michael wouldn't have minded if he hadn't. After all, the reaver had a fair few things that he could ramble about for hours, as both Trevor and Roxie could attest to. Snakes could be one of them, although his rambling was mostly narrowed down to his own snake form, since he wanted to learn as much about it as possible. He didn't shift into it often, far too attached to his jewelry to do so, but he had wanted to know some key things about it, such as if it was poisonous or not – perhaps at some point he'd shift, and ask Devland.

Unfortunately, Seamus's answer would end up being a disappointment to Michael, who had been hoping to perhaps gain a reptile companion of his own. A broken up nest, with one egg? Even if he would've been able to find the nest, the one egg meant that Niamh had been the only denizen left of the poor family. It actually made the fugitive wince with sympathy, imagining a whole snake family wiped out by some hungry beast that had come along. Stretching a paw out curiously towards Niamh, the bobcat found himself musing, "Niamh, huh? Sounds real fancy... not really sure if I'm pronouncing it right." His mismatched gaze then moved to Seamus himself, a faint smile coming to his face before he spoke again, "If you ever come across another egg, be sure to lemme know. It seems like I've made a habit of collecting little companions..." Even the moths had remained within his home, despite Trevor's leaving for the uncharted lands. Michael didn't have the heart to make them go, since he and the coyote had taken care of them together. — WE WILL NEVER BE APART