here moosey moosey moosey

[notan_animal]

WHO: Logan Howlett
WHERE: Here, there and everywhere!
WHEN: Jan 25th, afternoon
OPEN TO: All!
WARNINGS: Beware of antlers and moose droppings.
STATUS: Closed

---

Logan was pretty good at blending into most backgrounds. If no one bothered him, he wouldn't bother them; a fact that went on for the majority of his life. Then again, if anyone didn't know that, all they had to do was see the expression on his face. That usually conveyed things well enough.

But that particular day, there was something, or someone who felt the mutant needed to be more social. Give Logan a reason to be looked at, approached and drawn attention to. And every since that morning, he felt like he was on one of those gag shows.

He'd been cutting wood and after hearing some rustling coming from the shrubs behind him, Logan took a look at saw the antlered animal staring at him. Logan stopped, lowered the ax and raised an eyebrow.

"Got nothin' for you, bub." he called out, watching the animal move a few steps closer and linger. Logan shook his head. "Not kidding. You'll have better luck in the trees."

Nothing did, the moose wasn't planning on moving. So, Logan sighed, went about finishing his cutting while it circled around and continued to watch him cut the wood. Even after disappearing into the house, it still remained close by. When he thought it was gone, he put on his jacket and headed out again, this time to make the trek to the Inn to get something to eat.

Halfway down the road, Logan heard a snort and looked over his shoulder. "You're kidding me. People are in short supply round here. You want to get shot? Don't say I didn't warn ya."

And off the two went in the direction of town.

Comments

[71st_victor]

When she sees them, it reminds her of the good days back home, before the Games and Johanna had more money than she knew what to do with (not that she'd ever give it up, what, is she stupid?). Moose like that guaranteed you some good feeding when food was scarce thanks to some of the Peacekeepers getting a little too aggressive with their policing.

From her perch in the tree, she can see the both of them approaching and can't help her amused, high little laugh. "If you're going to adopt an animal like that, at least have the good grace to give it a name," she drawls, trying to sound bored as she peers at him from the low branch she's holding onto.

[notan_animal]

Living in the mountains, Logan had his run-ins with plenty animals. Bears, wolves, the occasional beaver (pun not intended), but never a moose. This was a first.

At the sound of the voice, he stopped and turned his head up to look at the woman in the tree, then to the moose behind him. In a tone much like hers, he gives a shake of his head.

"Not mine. But if you're the kind of person that needs to name an animal when you see it, go ahead. Naming rights go to you."

[71st_victor]

She drops to the ground, pushing her boot against the tree to make sure she isn't doing a straight jump down, eyeing the moose as it looms above her, though she's no fear in her eye. She's got something tucked in her boot to help with that, if push comes to shove. "I might need to eat it, eventually, I'll avoid the naming," she says knowingly.

"So what are you carrying that it wants you so badly?" she asks, circling him just the once as if she can sniff it off him if she's good enough.

[notan_animal]

Logan stands there, letting the woman do her single walk-around him, eyes alert and ready in case she's planning on doing anything else. And while he stands there, he appears aloof and rather bored himself.

"Nothing and I'm afraid I can't let you do that." he states cooly and matter of fact, making eye contact with Johanna when she makes her way back into his periphery.

Already Logan was sizing her up and her demeanor reminded him a lot of Victor, in a way.

[71st_victor]

"What," Johanna replies with a heavy scoff, giving him a dubious look. "If we're starving and this thing can provide meat for weeks, why shouldn't we take it down?" They're not there yet, she knows that, but it's good to know that something is lurking out there to help them in case of an emergency. "Are you a vegetarian?" she asks, with both disgust and dismay. "There's plenty of leaves for you, at least leave me an emergency moose when the smaller game runs out."

[thenewways]

This isn't exactly the way Nerys intended to spend the late morning, coming back from her traps in the cold, damp air--she's been jogging, trying to keep some muscle on her legs, but finds herself stopping dead in the middle of the path on the way back to the village, right before it intersects with the main thoroughfare.

The guy with the Will Riker beard is fine, she's seen him around, and people are coming out of the fountain periodically anyway. And Nerys is not the kind of person to panic about large animals, generally speaking. However. However, she has never in her life seen anything like the thing following Beard Guy.

"Holy shit," she says, jaw dropping. She's not entirely frozen in panic, she really isn't, but generally the best plan with something that size is not to move.

[notan_animal]

Oh, Logan knows the animal is still following him and it's reached a point where he's pretty sure that it goes beyond any kind of instinct that the mutant is any kind of 'good guy'. There's something else going on here.

Besides that, he's garnered the attention of more than one person now.

Still walking, Logan brought his gaze to the woman - someone he, too, had seen in passing - and glanced casually over his shoulder, not to completely look at the animal but enough to note how close it got in the last few minutes of walking through the corner of his eye.

"Yeah, I know." Logan remarked dryly after removing the cigar from his mouth.

[thenewways]

"There's a," Nerys starts, but then the man indicates that he's aware of the huge animal following behind him, and she stops. Admittedly, part of her does so in order to not scare the thing. It has absolutely massive racks of horns on top of its head; she honestly isn't sure how it's managing to walk unless they're lighter than they appear, but either way, she doesn't want be hit by them.

She softly clears her throat and settles her gaze at the man. "What...exactly...is that?" she asks, because she thinks it's fair to assume that if he'd never seen this kind of thing before, he'd be running away rather than sauntering down the path. Even so, he doesn't seem to want to look at it directly, either.

[notan_animal]

If Logan was the type of guy to be easily amused, the reaction of the woman would definitely be an occasion where he would be. It wasn't a normal sight to behold, in fact any other animal beyond a dog and cat would likely cause some brows to go up. But this was neither of those.

"A moose." Logan stopped and looked evenly between the woman and the animal before pulling out a brand new cigar. "I take it you've never seen one before?"

A rhetorical. Obviously, or she wouldn't be asking.

[powerunleashed]

Jean didn't know why she felt drawn to Logan but she guessed it was similar to the way she felt drawn to Erik - they were both powerful mutants and they'd both been around long enough to know more about being held against their will than she did.

She wasn't stupid. She knew she'd lived a pretty sheltered life at school and coming here was a rude awakening in more ways than one. She didn't know how to do most of the chores, for example, so she kind of hovered around behind Logan or Erik when they chopped wood. She'd learn how to eventually, right? The moose, however, made her giggle and she hid her face with her hand in a vain attempt to muffle the sound.

"I don't think the moose is going to listen to you, Logan."

[notan_animal]

"Yeah, well, not a lot of people do." Logan said, eyes drawing over to where she was even before she said anything.

He stopped and turned to look at the moose as it slowed to a stop, too, and then stared at him before swinging his head to look at Jean. After a second he started moving towards her.

Logan stood watching with a small smirk.

[powerunleashed]

"I listen to you sometimes," Jean said. She didn't know how applicable it was, considering he'd never given her a direct order before, but she had been able to calm him down at Alkali Lake. That counted for something, didn't it?

"But I'm also a lot better looking than a moose. Maybe it's just stubborn because it's so ugly."

It was, after all, one ugly, ugly creature.

[notan_animal]

It really did. Now if he could get passed the oddness he felt when talking to her. So much had happened, and yet, didn't. His life and his memories were rather complicated.

Read: very complicated.

"That's usually how it goes with animals. And people, too."

[notabirdcostume]

One minute you are taking your goat out to stretch his legs because you trust he won't run off and then the next thing you know there's a loud bleating sound and your goat is running in the other direction. Sam stared after him as he ran and two things crossed his mind. The first was that this damn goat had caused him enough problems and good riddance to the damn thing. The second was that Peggy was going to be very displeased if she found out Sam had let the goat escape after MONTHS of careful care and feeding.

Sam decided Peggy outweighed his annoyance with the goat and he shouted, "Berg! Dammit! Get back here!" He knew yelling wasn't really going to get the goat to return, but it made him feel a little better as he took off after the errant goat. Berg, being the crafty goat that he was, leaped through some bushes and was doing his best to escape.

There was no telling how far he might have gotten if he hadn't cut across the path of a grumpy woodsman and his moose friend. Whether it was the sight of Logan or the moose, the goat came to a halt and bleated pathetically. It was as though it was deciding, 'Hey. Maybe the guy who took care of me the past several months wasn't so bad.' Sam stumbled through the bushes, snatching up the rope he had tied around the goat's neck, "Gotcha. That's the last time I let you out of the station for awhile." The goat bleated and Sam looked up, finally noticing the other person on the road and his...well, that certainly wasn't a goat.

"How the hell did you catch a moose?" Sam was baffled, really, because it had taken two people to catch Berg here and now there was some guy just casually strolling along with a giant animal behind him. Why was life never fair for Sam Wilson?

[notan_animal]

After already being stopped a few times, Logan was at that point where he was sure the damn moose behind him would catch the attention of a few more. So, of course, the mutant was going to do his best to encourage the animal to be on its way. Sadly, those efforts were dashed when he heard the goat and then a man's voice following it.

When Sam came into view, Logan sighed and turned around to quietly curse the hell out of the moose he decided to call 'Bub'; a generic name that he called.. well everyone.

"Didn't." he answered simply. "I'd ask if you want him, but it looks like you got your hands full already with the goat."

[notabirdcostume]

Sam continued staring at the moose. Were moose dangerous? He thought he'd heard that somewhere on a nature documentary or something. Dangerous or not they sure as hell were big.

"If you didn't catch it...why is it following you like that?" He wasn't sure if that was common moose behavior, but, what did he know? He barely understood his goat problems. Sam looked down at said problem. Berg was behaving now, hiding behind Sam to avoid the moose.

"Yeah. He doesn't get out much," Sam replied, as a way of explaining the goat's behavior. He turned his attention back to the man, "I'm not sure your friend there would fit in the police station anyway."

[notan_animal]

That was the question, wasn't it? One that had an answer that was likely more of a joke where Logan was concerned. He was a guy that didn't really spend a whole lot of time socialising and when he did, it was fairly obvious he wasn't having much fun doing it. But at the moment, the mutant was getting more amusement out of the reactions of the people that ran into them.

Sam's reaction made it to the top of the list as the best so far.

He gave a passing glance to the goat and then slowly over his shoulder to the moose, who was casually starting to make his way over to where Sam was. Logan's eyes darted back to Sam and he gave an easy shrug first before a grin teased at one corner of his mouth.

"You have a police station here? Didn't think crime would be much of a problem around here. What? The goat your deputy?"

[frankensteinian]

He spends most of his time chopping wood (it's not like it's hard to do, when he can control an axe like he does), but since he lives in the inn and partakes of the communal meal every day, he gets plenty of time around other people. He hasn't felt lacking in that department.

He likes the solitude of chopping wood, actually. He's headed in the direction of the woodpile, axe resting on his shoulder, when he comes across Logan and his companion. "Did you find yourself a bodyguard?"

[notan_animal]

That's something they would share in common, but Logan's mind is having a hard time wrapping his head around Erik Lehnsherr doing something for someone else. Even in his later years, before the Sentinels started picking off mutants in mass amounts, the man was all about people knowing and fearing him.

Logan simply wasn't his biggest fan. But that might've had everything to do with being used as a rebar pin cushion and getting pushed halfway across Washington DC into the Potomac.

Slowing to a stop, the moose continues and slows at the halfway mark between the two men.

Logan's face tugs in deliberation. "Come at me, see for yourself."

He flashes a quick grin.

[frankensteinian]

Erik almost contemplates it, for half a second (and he knows there's not a single person here who could stop him) but doesn't know what the point would be. He'd only alienate himself. Which normally wouldn't matter, but he has no idea how to get food for himself, so for the time being, he has to rely on others.

Unfortunately.

That doesn't mean he has to like it. (Spoiler alert: he doesn't.) Besides, he's got better things to expend his effort on. Like things that don't involve Logan.

"That would be a waste. I'd have to take time away from doing something useful." Unlike wandering through town with a moose in tow.

[notan_animal]

The feeling is more than mutual, but that doesn't need to be said. Erik could probably read it on Logan's face.

He laughs soundlessly, the only show of it being in his shoulders when they bounce once. "Yeah, you keep telling yourself that. The Magneto I know doesn't know what the word 'useful' is. Or manual labor, for that matter. I'm surprised you're actually swinging that axe and not putting your power to use. Why's that?"

Oh, he knows the reason. Logan just wants to hear Erik say it aloud.

[thekittenqueen]

She had been gathering what little she could find in the snow. Thankfully some berries thrived in the winter and snow, offering her enough that she might make something useful from them or trade them for supplies. The sounds of the snow falling from the tree branches and the soft footfalls of animals around her helped bring the scenery some beauty and peace. She could forget for a time where she was and what this place was like. It could just be tranquil.

A sharp commotion interrupted her thoughts, raising her curiosity and concern. It had become apparent that there were creatures in these woods, some more dangerous than others. Pulling her cloak tight around her, she followed the sound.

Soon enough, she found Logan chopping wood. It wasn't an unfamiliar sight, but it was the hulking moose wandering around him that made her burst into laughter. "He seems to have taken a liking to you. Do you have a new pet?"

[notan_animal]

Logan heard the familiar voice, but he didn't say anything until his hands brought down the axe to split the piece of wood he had on his stump. His eyes went to the animal who was sniffing out some sort of bush that had some berries on the backside of it.

He gave a soundless laugh and shook his head. "I think he thinks I'm his new pet."

[thekittenqueen]

"If you are this good at charming a moose, perhaps I should put you to work in the barn." Margaery teased him lightly, collecting some of the wood for him, assembling them in a pile. "I never thought that you could be so appealing, but it seems that you have a gift you have been hiding beneath your prickly surface."

Plucking a few berries from the bush, she held out her hand, palms flat. Slowly, she approached the moose, offering the berries to him. "You will have to build a house for your new neighbor."

[notan_animal]

"Keep that discovery to yourself." he huffed in amusement, leaning over to grab another log to set up on the stump next. "And you're the first person to openly say that. You're either a poor judge of character, or you're trying to charm me."

Logan lifted the axe, resting it against his shoulder momentarily as he arched an eyebrow in Margaery's direction with a small grin.