2025-02-02 - Snugglebunny On Starlight Island

Natalia is dressed in the dark green overalls with white long-sleeved shirt covered over by a slightly warmer dark green jacket that marks her, along with her badge, as an employee of the Starlight Island animal park. She also has a clipboard, which makes it very official. She's just gotten done talking to a small group about the bats from where she stands near the larger enclosure where the mega bats are like the flying foxes currently munching away on some fruit or hanging quietly upside down and dozing in the afternoon. She makes a couple of notes on her clipboard and then sits down on a bench opposite the enclosure just to watch the bats go about their batly business.

Noah has a day off today and he likes to explore the park when he can. So he's out casually strolling by himself. He's wearing olive-green cargo pants, a pair of hiking boots, a gray Green Bay Packers T-shirt, and an unzipped dark blue Carhartt jacket. Between the flaps of the unzipped jacket his employee badge dangles on a lanyard that's around his neck.

As he walks down row of enclosures, he stops frequently to look at the animals and read the placards to learn about them. He seems like he is in exactly zero hurry. Finally Noah arrives at the bat enclosure. He stops and peers in, watching the dangling animals. He quirks a grin on his face. "It's a wonder they all get headaches hanging upside down like that all day," he says, looking over at Natalia with a friendly grin.

Natalia smiles when Noah comes over to look at the bats. She's quiet, just letting him enjoy them until he makes a comment about them. Then, she says, "Their size makes it so that their hearts can distribute the blood through their bodies easier and it isn't pulled down the way ours is if we hang upside-down. It doesn't try to rush to their heads." She then says, "If you have any questions, I'm happy to try to answer them. Natalia, Zoology Assistant." When she speaks, her voice has a soft Russian accent to it.

"Well it's really cool, however it happens," Noah notes. "You couldn't fill a thimble with what I know about biology. But I do wonder what sort of evolutionary advantage comes from them developing as upside down hangers like that."

Noah gives Natalia a warm smile and nod when she introduces herself. "I'm Noah," he returns. "I work on the Boardwalk at The Spectral Pen." He nods in Natalia's direction. "That's a cool-sounding accent. Is it Russian? Polish? Something like that?" He laughs self-consciously and runs a hand back through his hair. "Am I even in the right hemisphere?"

"It's so that they can fly very quickly. Their tendons in their little legs and feet can't support their weight standing, but they can sleep hanging upside-down, and if they need to scatter due to a predator or to feed, then all they have to do is drop and they are already airborne, rather than trying to get lift to take off as their wings are also more delicate than a bird's," Natalia says as she gets up from where she is sitting and approaches the enclosure, looking up at the fruit bats nearby.

"Hi Noah," she says. "Nice to meet you. What is the Spectral Pen? Is it a book shop?" Then she smiles and says, "Russian, yes. My family moved to the states when I was very young, though. I grew up in Chicago. But we speak Russian at home."

Furrowing his brow with curiosity, Noah peers up at the bats for a moment. "Really?" He looks back to Natalia. "So what happens if they end up on the ground? Can they take off or are they, like, doomed?"

"Well, The Spectral Pen is a shop where artists draw new portraits of deceased relatives or friends from previous pictures," Noah explains. "It gives people a chance to revisit lost loved ones." There is a tiny reddening of Noah's cheeks. "But I take it one step further. I discovered I could summon ghosts, so if the guests want me to I summon the ghost of their deceased loved one for them to have a final talk to them." He shrugs, peering downward at the ground. "And they get the portrait too."

"Usually, if you find one on the ground they are sick, injured, or exhausted and fell," Natalia says. "Most can't get lift from the ground and need to be lifted to a higher elevation so that they can drop and fly off on their own. Gently placing a box over them and using a strong card beneath is enough to gently lift them. Setting the box on its side on top of a wall over five feet tall or so is usually enough for the smaller ones to simply crawl out and drop to fly away when they're ready. But one should really only ever attempt that with gloves and protection. In the event that they're injured, they could try to bite."

"Oh," Natalia says, "That's very sweet," when he explains what he does for people, a warm smile touching her lips. Though, when he says that he actually summons ghosts, her eyes widen a bit in surprise. "Oh dear. Are the ghosts ever angry that you've called them?"

Noah listens intently to Natalia's explanation, clearly fascinated by the subject matter. "So in the wild, then, they are doomed if they end up on the ground?" He peers up at the dangling bats. "Sorry, y'all, nothing personal. I'm just trying to learn here."

Nodding soberly to Natalia, Noah says, "Oh yes, sometimes they are not happy at ALL. And sometimes they say things to the guests that make the guests not happy at all. So yeah, all sorts of things can go wrong with the process. The other day a married couple was in the shop. They wanted to talk to the woman's deceased mom. Turns out there was really expensive family jewelry that the dead mom hid. Her ghost called the lady a selfish..." Noah clears his throat. "...you know, b-word, and said she would never tell where the jewelry was." He shrugs a little bit. "The politics of the dead , I suppose."

"Yes, most don't survive if they get grounded in the wild," Natalia says. "There's just no way for them to get airborne again. And predators will usually make quick work of them once they're on the ground." She smiles as she looks up at the bats and says, "Ours are very healthy and well fed. Some are rescues but all can fly."

Then she turns her attention more fully to Noah. "I think I would be mad, too, if my selfish relative had someone drag me from my rest to try to ask where I hid my jewelry." She then says, "I would tell them that it was in some very far off expensive place to get to," with the faintest hint of a little smile. "I don't have any dead that I would like to speak to, but perhaps I could come and see your art sometime."

Sitting down with his hands tucked in his jacket pockets for warmth, Noah says, "Seriously, any time. I work a lot so I'm there pretty often." He smirks. "I really need the money and if you get the right guests the tips are nuts! I'm happy to give my cell number so you can text before making the trip to make sure I'm there."

Noah flicks his head to send some unruly hair away from his forehead. "Are you into art?" he asks.

"Yes, that would be nice," Natalia says as she pulls her phone from the pocket of her overalls and unlocks it. She starts up a new contact and hands it to him so that he can put in his number. "There are no tips here, but that's okay. I'm here to work with them, and that's all I need." She nods toward the large fruit bats fondly. "I do like art. Mine is more beadwork and I also paint small figurines and dolls."

Nearby, there is a quiet, sad little trilling sound. Natalia frowns slightly and turns away, trying to sus out where it is coming from. "Did you hear that?" she asks. Then she's stepping away in that direction, following the little noise around behind a nearby tree.

Noah enters his name -- Noah Shaw -- and phone number in Natalia's phone. He peers at her and inquires, "Mind if I send a text to myself so I have yours?" If she says she doesn't mind, Noah will send himself a text and return the device. Otherwise he will hand her back the phone.

When Natalia mentions her creative endeavors, Noah's face brightens considerably. "Really?" he says. "That's really cool. I would love to see them sometime. I mean, if it's not too personal. I'm kind of an art nerd. Anything that involves painting, drawing, gluing, pasting, glittering, or otherwise bedazzling is definitely my jam."

When the noise is heard, Noah stands up, tipping his head curiously. "Yeah, actually, I did hear that. What sort of animal makes a noise like that?" He stays back and doesn't interfere with the literal wildlife expert.

Natalia smiles and says, "Go ahead, of course." Once he has had a chance to send the text, she takes the phone back and then tucks it away into her overalls once more. When he seems interested in her art her smile brightens and she says, "Of course. I will make sure I have pictures on my phone. Or perhaps some beads when I come visit your Spectral Pen."

"A very strange animal," Natalia says as she disappears around the tree. She crouches down and there's some soft cooing sounds as she picks the little thing up and carries it back toward Noah. It's the size of a small rabbit with long ears like a rabbit but the eyes are truly alien looking and it is a very VERY vibrant pink. And it seems sad, making little unhappy sounds. "I am sorry, little one. We will find you some fruit and try to find your others." She then says to Noah, "Ravin found one like it in Nora's. It was very sad. But they sing a little song, and when you sing it back they seem.. hopeful. They like grapes."

When Natalia reemerges holding the little creature, Noah's face lights up. He. Is. Delighted. He steps a few steps closer but doesn't dare reach out to touch the fragile little critter. "Oh my god it's so beautiful." He tucks his into his pants pockets, perhaps to make the creature more comfortable.

"You're so lovely," Noah says in a soft, gentle tone. "Like something in a dream." He peers up at Natalia. "We're not hallucinating right? This thing is actually real?" He peers down at the animal. "Sorry, little one, I don't have any food on me."

"Oh yes, they're very real. The first one was sleeping under a booth. It wanted my apples from my waffles. So we tried some fruit salad and let it pick through what it wanted," Natalia says, as though the fact that the little creature was hungry and had preferences was enough to declare it as decidedly real and not a hallucination. She smiles softly at him though and says, "Oh, you can pet them. They like a little scritch behind the ears if you're gentle. The other didn't bite at all. It was quite sweet." She takes another little step closer to let him pet the little pink critter.

Noah's gaze shifts from the creature up to Natalia. It's clear by his expression that he would be mortified if he harmed this lil critter. His is a gentle, affirming personality. "Alright," he says in that soft voice. "You're the wildlife expert, so if you say it's okay." Sooooooo sloooooowly Noah reaches up a hand and touches the animal. His touch is gentle and slow. "Oh wow, it's so soft. This is intense right now. So intense." He flashes a grin toward Natalia then looks back down to the critter again.

"Hey there lil guy...or lil lady...or little non-binary cutie pie," Noah murmurs. "My name is Noah. I'm super glad to meet you."

The fuzzy little thing sits in Natalia's arms, small nose twitching and ears swiveling occasionally to listen to something, or them, or the other animals around them. It seems content enough with the touch, letting out a quiet little trilling sound. Then it sings the song, five little notes, one after the other. "Oh! That's it! It's singing!" She listens carefully and then copies the notes back to it. The little thing then repeats them again, sitting up a little straighter. But when there is no answering song from nearby, it settles again with a little huff.

"Aren't they the sweetest?" she asks as she gently gives it a little scritch behind the ears, herself. "I.. haven't exactly examined them to know. This is only the second one that I've seen. I'm going to go with 'they' for now."

Noah peers curiously at Natalia. "It seemed to respond to that song when you sang it back. What do you make of that?"

He peers back down at the tiny lil dude. He repeats back the notes with pretty decent accuracy. It's all very reminiscent of Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Noah's faces lights up. "I think the lil dude understood me. But I can't help but feel like they're...I dunno...asking a question that I don't know how to answer?" He peers back to Natalia. "Does that makes sense? I feel like I'm explaining it badly."

"Well, kittens meow for their mamas, and birds call to communicate, whales sing," Natalia says. "I think maybe they're trying to find more of their own kind. The one that Ravin found sang a little song, too." Each time that Noah repeats the song, the little creature sings it in return, and looks about hopefully, as though looking for something, but when it does not come, it always settles back with a sad little noise. "No, I think you're right. They're definitely looking for something. Maybe its mama. Maybe just others of its own kind." She offers him a warm smile. "You're explaining it fine."

Not wanting to agitate the creature, Noah takes a few steps back and slides his hands into his front pants pockets. "It's so beautiful. But something about it just makes me...I guess a little bit sad?" He purses his lips and draws in a deep breath through his nose.

Noah looks back to Natalia. "What will happen with it? Do you have somewhere safe here to put it? Or maybe take it home with you? It just looks so fragile like it can't take care of itself. But maybe I'm just making unfair assumptions about it."

"I'm not sure how fragile they are," Natalia says. "There are many creatures that are quite robust despite their small size. But since these are the first of their kind that I've seen, I couldn't really say. I'm going to bring this one home with me. I already know what they like to eat and I'll make sure it has food and water and a comfortable place to sleep for the night. Then perhaps tomorrow I'll see if Ravin wants to get them together, see if they are happier with a friend." She looks thoughtful, frowning just slightly. "I suppose there's just no telling until we try and find out."

Nodding enthusiastically, Josh voices his agreement: "Yeah that sounds perfect. It definitely seems like its searching for something. Maybe it will be happier with one of its own kind."

Noah leans down and peers more closely again, but doesn't approach or try to touch the lil dude. "You're in good hands for the night. I hope you find what you're looking for."

Standing back up, Noah looks at Natalia. "I'm gonna head home. I've gone a painting I want to finish. Would you be willing to text me and let me know how it turns out?"

Natalia smiles warmly as Noah talks to the bunny again, watching to see its reaction. It seems content enough, staring at him with those big strange eyes, little nose twitching. "Of course. I'll text you tomorrow and give you an update. Good luck with your painting!" She then lifts a hand to wave a few fingers to him as he prepares to head out. Looking down at the little one in her arms she says, "Well, it is about end of shift. What do you say we go find you some grapes?"