edge_of_forever | A new(ish) addition

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A new(ish) addition

It had been a very... confusing few days. When the others had been walking past the lamppost - when they'd been doing their tasks and freeing the prince, Sansa had been sitting back in the camp, talking quietly to the animals, a three-week old wolf pup in her lap. It's mother had died, she had been told by the Dryad who was sitting beside her, that it had run into a bear that had not been a talking animal; and she had been wounded, and with her dying strength had given birth to a litter of pups, and the wolf in Sansa's lap was the only one that had survived. It was too young to speak past tiny, high-pitched squeaks, and even as Sansa had spoken of being able to help, that when they went back to Cair Paravel, she had taken care of Lady since she had been a pup, so she could teach someone--

She blinked, and between one word and the next she went from sitting on the grass under a tree older than she could imagine to sitting on the cold, metal floor of the station. It took a moment for her to realise that, yes, she did still have the wolf in her lap - and, with that, Sansa's life changed. It took her until today to name him - and yes, it was a him, and over the last week and a half they barely left Sansa's quarters, for she was training him, and caring for him-- his whines would wake her up in the night, and she knew that he must miss Narnia just as much as she missed Winterfell.

Today was the first day that they were going to go for a walk - to see how he'd do, before he got so big that Sansa would have problems keeping up with him. "Come on, Star." She tested the name on her tongue, and it sounded right, and it made him perk his ears up. She thought he understood her, perhaps, because when she said Stay close to me he did, even without a lead to tie him to her. "This is your home now - I promise, I won't let anything happen to you."

She was busy watching him, not realising until he stopped and she looked up that someone else was coming down the hall. "It's alright! There's other people here." She crouched by the wolf, her fingers stroking his short fur as she glanced back up. "I'm sorry, he's not really seen anybody else here before."

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Ozzie was miles away, still determinedly trying to get his e-butler to work... and failing. He had limited access, when he wanted basic information, but there was still no Unisphere access. He'd kept himself mostly to himself, something he was used to (his own asteroid, with only maidbots for company, spending decades there helped for that, and he had patience in abundance).

He caught himself just in time before he ran into the woman and the... was that a wolf? "No... uh worries," he said, staring at the creature. "Wow. You guys really did get up to fun without us." The Portal situation was... interesting. Which reminded him, he needed to catch up with Natasha. There was definitely more about her he wanted to know.

"I was holding him when we ended up back on the station," she said with a small smile, moving to stand upright again. "So I'd not say it was fun, necessarily, as it was a... surprise." She paused, and then- "I'm sorry, but I know that I've seen you around, before, but I don't think we've actually spoken. My name is Sansa." She was hoping that he was not one of the few who had actually taken her name to be Alayne, for it was awkward, now-- that her name had changed, that everyone just seemed to accept it, but she still had to explain it every now and again. Star padded forward, and sniffed the toe of Ozzie's shoe, his pale eyes settling on it for only a moment before he moved to smell along the floor, exploring.

Ozzie just gave her a serene smile. Truth be told, he wasn't great with names unless he got to know people. He'd seen her around, but that was it.

"Ozzie. Ozzie Isaacs," he said with a smile, committing her face to memory - well, memory that would never get backed up, no doubt. He stood still as the wolf sniffed him - wolves were a rarity, long extinct on Earth, a handful on other planets saved by conservationists, and he wasn't sure what to make of them. He remembered their reputation, that was for sure. "Nice to meet you, Sansa. And no, we've not spoken."

"It's nice to meet you as well," she said with a smile. "This is Star." She looked down at him, taking a deep breath, before she nodded. "Where are you from? If you don't mind me asking, for there are people from all sorts of places - most of them seem to be from Earth, as you as well?"

"From Earth originally, but it's a museum now, basically. Home of government, and nominal home of humanity." But the power was elsewhere, really. The Big15 planets. "I live... elsewhere." On his own hollowed out asteroid, done at great expense, only accessible by his own personal wormhole but... well, what did it matter here?

"Uh," she said quietly. "It's- I mean, I'm not... I'm not from Earth. My world is different. Do you travel... space?" That's what she'd been told people did, even though she didn't understand it--didn't understand how someone could float out there, with no sea or land or life.

"We sort of travel through space. We cheat a lot." He looked at her, trying to figure out the best way to explain wormhole theory - and failing. "Well... we create special... tunnels to get from one place to another. We don't use ships that a lot of people here do." Faster than light travel was what he and Nigel had sought to avoid - it was a theoretical nightmare.

"But-" Her brows furrowed. "Isn't there just... nothing, out there? You walk through nothing?" That made even less sense than ships that sailed in the air. "Unless-- is there a bridge?" Because that would make sense. Because how dd you tunnel through nothing? Star toddled closer to her, and she extended her hand to lightly scratch the wolf's head.

Ozzie looked at her, trying to figure out how much she could understand... but then so few people understood wormhole technology. "It's... instantaneous. Passing from one point to another. It's... complicated." Even his partner in creating wormholes didn't understand it entirely.

There had been an odd tingling at the back of Klaus's neck as he walked along the hallway, as if somebody were watching him, but different. An odd tingling that still managed to leave him entirely unprepared for what he saw when he turned around the corner. He stopped walking after a few more steps, his eyes on the wolf pup, completely ignoring Sansa. He crouched down, and held his hand out towards the pup, a small smile on his lips, and a tiny gesture of his head that said 'come' in a way that also meant 'kin'.

Star padded forward, sniffing at Klaus' fingers as Sansa watched both of them, her hand smoothing from the pup's head down his back and tail. He made a low, inquisitive sound, tipping his head to the side before he licked Klaus' fingers, laying down on his belly and watching him expectantly.

Sansa, on the other hand, watched both of them, her brows high. "He likes you," she said quietly, because they'd not exactly left on the best note - of course they'd seen one another since the day in her room, but they'd not talked about it, and only superficial things since then. "You vanished, when we came down to Narnia. Where did you go?" She'd worried, but she was hardly going to tell him that.

"To the woods," he answered, but almost distractedly, his attention still on the pup. He moved his hand to his side but did not stroke his fur - that was a human thing. Wolves touched, they did not caress, and he kept his hand there, and held the pup's gaze - acceptance, reassurance, protection. "Where did you find him?"

He didn't know how he knew it was a him, since it wasn't as if he'd checked, but he'd call it instinct. Where did you find him, and where was his pack. What happened to his mother.

Did you tear him away from her, from them.

Sansa looked up at Klaus, then back at the wolf. "He was sitting in my lap when we ended back up here - his mother was killed by a bear, the Dryad said. A bear that couldn't talk, but he was just a baby, then. She found him beside her as she died, so brought him back to the prince's camp." Her brows knit. "There weren't any other wolves around, so they'd been feeding him goat's milk and trying to feed him meat. I'd had a wolf at home, when her mother'd been killed by a stag, and so I knew what to do."

She swallowed thickly, biting her lower lip - she did not exactly expect his judgement, but she still throughly explained herself because she was ready for protests, for people saying that she could not have a wild beast on the station. She worried for his safety, even if he was still small.

"Good," Klaus said, softly, as much to the wolf as to Sansa. Good that there had been someone there who knew what to do, and good that she had brought him here instead of left him with people who would have made him a dog. Better if she had found his pack for him, given him back to his people, but at least Klaus was here. He curled his fingers into a loose fist, to press his knuckles to the pup's head, affection, protection still, a promise. "If you have any trouble with him, come and find me."

Trouble because he misbehaved, of course, but he was also thinking of trouble other people might stir up about him being on the station.

Sansa looked up, and her brows furrowed even as Star rolled to the side, batting at Klaus' hand even as he lay on his back. "Come and find you? Do you know about wolves?" She sighed quietly. "He reminds me of home," she admitted. 'The direwolves grew to the size of draft horses, and the mother that was killed by the stags - she had five pups, one of each of my siblings and I."

She stared down at Star, and shook her head slightly. "I will do right by him, I know he's special."

"Every wolf is special," Klaus said, and finally looked up at her, letting the pup play with his hand. There was a bit of fangs, but not enough to pierce skin, just play. "I never raised one, if that's what you're asking, but I know about wolves. I know you'll have to take him down each time we dock somewhere, because he won't like it here. And I know he'll long for pack. We'll have to make sure he has a substitute for that."

We, because Klaus was part of that substitute, even if Sansa wasn't aware of it.

"I had Lady for a nearly year." She didn't elaborate on what happened after that year. "Robb still had Grey Wind, until they were killed." Together. She stared down at him. "He isn't a normal wolf - his mother spoke, but the Dryad said he was too young." She took a deep breath before she looked back up at Klaus. "We'll be his pack, now. I won't let anyone hurt him."

"Alpha bitch, are you?" Klaus stated, amused at her fierceness, and immediately added, "Not an insult. I'll explain later. Yes, I met speaking wolves down there as well. They were magnificent."

A small, lonely word for everything they were, but the wound was still too raw.

Sansa's brows shot up when he spoke, and then laughed when he assured her that it was no insult. "I had a wolf, Klaus. I know what you meant." She paused, and then-- "I did not meet any wolves besides this one, but I wish that I had." She sighed, and then her brows furrowed. "How do you know so much about him?" The tone of her voice was oddly protective-- in Winterfell, they had hunters threaten them a time or five, or even more, and the last thing she wished to do was put her trust in him if it hurt him.

Well, that was a surprise, for people in such a medieval world as Sansa to know about alphas, betas and omegas. It would even raise an interesting linguistic question, with words so clearly Greek, but Klaus figured it might have been translated into whatever word she knew for it.

"I don't know anything about him yet," Klaus pointed out, looking back down at Star, who had quieted and was simply curled up against Klaus's hand. He pulled it back, to rest both arms on his knees as he remained crouched beside the pup, who stood and looked back and forth between Sansa and Klaus. "But how I know about wolves is... a very long story, fit for another time."

She'd been assuming that he'd meant the bitch part of it-- but the alpha was implied by his tone, and Sansa's brows rose as he said he didn't know anything about Star yet. "You're not going to hurt him," she said, both half a question, and half of a statement. "But I would not stop you from being close to him, if you know that I will be paying attention, so that he's not hurt." She would be viligent, protect him the way she wished she had been. What happened to Lady would not happen to Star, and she'd protect him against those who were here, if need be.

"If I was going to hurt him, I wouldn't have offered my help in case of trouble," Klaus points out, and pushes back up to his feet. She can pay attention all she wants, it's not going to change a thing. "If anybody gives you any trouble about him, too," he specifies, since that had been implied but he wants to make sure she gets it. Nobody's going to hurt that wolf if he has a say in the matter.

She nodded, and then bit her lips together. "Tyrion told me that you spoke to him," she said, pushing herself up to her feet. "Thank you." She is considerably calmer than the last time she'd spoke of it, and oddly seemed older as well. The scar on her hand had healed; it was far from smooth, the edges puckered and angry, the length of it still red, but it was closed. "And I did not mean to offend, I just know that no one is able to be trusted completely, and needed to make my stance clear on the matter. I appreciate your offer for him, Klaus."

Edited 2012-08-29 19:09 (UTC)

"Has he troubled you since?" Klaus asks, simply, rather than mention the boyscout. He's quite confident that he made his message clear before his appearance, and he is going to be wary of the man, now.

Sansa hesitated, and then her brows furrowed. "He bothers me by his very presence, but there is nothing I can do to help that, what with the station's defenses. He has not touched me." She sighed, nodding once. "So I do appreciate you speaking to him for me."

"He should've got the message," Klaus confirms with a nod, and she can figure out for herself whether that's his way of accepting her not-quite-thanks. And he had not apparently told Sansa about Klaus being what he was; that had been a risk. He crouched back down to give Star a parting nudge of his hand. "Like I said, if anything's the matter with him, come to me."

John had stopped several meters away-- close enough that he could give Sansa a friendly greeting, but not so close that her pet (he assumed, anyway, that the puppy was a pet, though God, it was big) might take offense at the familiarity.

"Good morning," he said with a smile and a little wave, curiosity drawing his eyes back to the wolf pup almost immediately. "He's a new addition here, unless I'm mistaken. Did you find him on board?"

Star looked up at him, and sniffed at the ground before moving closer to him, his dark eyes inquisitive. Sansa, on the other hand, smiled widely. "Dr. Watson, it's very good to see you. How have you been?" She brushed off her skirt, standing with her back perfectly straight. "This is Star - he ended up coming back here with me, from Narnia. I suppose this is his home now." She looked at the wolf cub fondly, and there was a spark of wistfulness in her voice. "So I will do my best to make it a good home."

"I've been doing fine," John said, coming a step closer and crouching down to offer his hand to the pup, who looked at him cautiously before coming near enough to sniff him.

"He seems to be taking to life here quite well," he said, looking up at Sansa with a smile. She looked better, he noted with the bit of his mind that saw her as a patient. Much more relaxed, less tense. "I didn't go to Narnia," he added. "It sounds like it was a lovely place."

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A new(ish) addition

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