accidental audio

[gristle]

[This post is 100% intended to be filtered to Tommy, but Bev is freaking out a bit because she can't help but to be.]

I need you to come get me. Please come get me. I'm by the haunted house, where it was. Oh god Tommy. Aaron was here. I thought it was Aaron anyway, but it's not him. I tried to touch him and my hand went right through and there was blood and then part of his head just was missing. It wasn't Aaron but...

It was like before. When he died.

Comments

[gristle]

Can I hold Speedy?

[She would like to hold Speedy please.]

[doubled_speed]

[Of course, he guides her over to the rig and slowly strokes his back. A few pets waken the little guy and he makes happy noises as Tommy lifts him free.]

So, leave one arm free, okay? He likes to cling on it. I'll hold him near your shoulder and he'll either go toward your neck or arm. He's really sweet. Once you've got him safe, I'll get you some fruit to feed him.

[gristle]

Okay. You know I’ll be careful and gentle.

[Because she couldn’t not be with something like this. So she just holds out her arm like he says and gently pets the sloth with the other one before she whispers to it in a kind voice.]

Hello handsome.

[doubled_speed]

[Tommy helps with transition of the little creature onto Bev’s arms. And almost immediately Speedy, light and now awake, was making little squeaks and starting to climb toward her arm like it was a branch.]

He likes you. Which is good. Hold on.

[He rushes off and there is the sound of chopping in the kitchen. Soon tommy is ba k with apples cut into matchstick style pieces.]

Here. He likes these.

[gristle]

Okay.

[Bev just keeps tracing her fingers across Speedy's body gently, and she cooes softly to him, praising him in that weird sort of high-pitched way that people do sometimes. She can't help it, before she takes one of the apples with a grin and asks softly:]

Are you hungry, baby?

[doubled_speed]

[It's fine, the way she praises the slot almost sounds like sloth noises so it's fine. Speedy, however, definitely notices the apple bits quickly and one arm unhooks from Bev to start reaching for it, the two long claws on his arm flexing separately to curl around it.]

Only two whole pieces of that. He's still growing so he needs a lot of greens. And if he's still hungry after two, I've got a bottle for him as well. He's young enough for some of that in his diet.

[gristle]

How big do you think he'll get?

[Bev just gently feeds Speedy only one of the apple pieces for now, remembering what she learned about dogs and not to try and pet them when they're eating because you don't wanna make the feel not safe.]

[doubled_speed]

He's supposed to get up to around thirteen pounds. So, you know, putting on a HELL of a lot more weight. Several times what he is now.

[Tommy doesn't know if that whole thing about not petting Speedy while he eats applies here, but he's happy to see her taking care of him.]

As he gets bigger, I have to reinforce his climbing rig.

[gristle]

How much does he weigh now? It definitely doesn't feel like very much.

[Granted, Beverly definitely doesn't have a good sort of frame of references for what things actually weigh, but it seems like thirteen pounds is a lot in her head. Especially when Speedy is just so tiny.

But she does pet his head after a moment, gingerly with more care than she does most things.]

[doubled_speed]

Not even a pound and a half. And most of that is probably food. They, like, can take a month to pass their food all the way through their three stomachs.

[Said like a guy quoting out of a book and being SUPER excited about it. Speedy was pretty awesome to deal with, wasn't he?]

[gristle]

Three stomachs? [Does it sound like Bev is surprised by that? It's because she definitely one hundred percent is. She can't help it. Oh, she knows that cows have like four but that's a cow and they're huge! Speedy is the tiniest of babies.]

Why does he need three stomachs?

[doubled_speed]

I don't know. I just... leaves maybe? Plants are hard to eat?

[The book didn't explain WHY it just said it was true.]

Wanna give him a flower?

[gristle]

But their leaves.

[That seems weird honestly and Bev just pets Speedy for a second before she grins at the mention of the flower.]

Course I wanna see a sloth eating a flower!

[doubled_speed]

So, do you normally eat the leaves off of trees? Has to be something weird in them or we'd eat the stuff.

[But he does root around in the container he's got and pulls out a nice little hibiscus flower, pink and pretty, and hands it over to her.]

Here. He likes these.

[gristle]

That's true. And makes sense.

[So, Bev isn't going to argue about it. Instead she's just going to nod and smile as she takes the flower gently from him, so as not to bruise it before she offers it to Speedy.]

What kind of flower is this?

[doubled_speed]

I don't know. It's just stuff that I get at a florist. I gave them a list of things, and they put together a box.

[He smiles as Speedy, noticing the flower, makes a loud noise and starts reaching to wrap the claws of one hand around it. He's going to love munching that.]

[gristle]

It's pretty and it smells nice. Like kinda familiar.

[There's no small part of Bev that wants to try it, but, she doesn't and gives it to Speedy instead. How can she deny that fluffy little face?]

[doubled_speed]

[You can't and shouldn't. Because Speedy is wonderful. The little guy just slowly pulls the thing to his mouth and starts chewing away with those little teeth of his, wearing the flower down nibble by nibble.]

Yeah, it's pretty too. I get some from the florist that gives me leaves for him.

[gristle]

[Beverly would never do that to Speedy! She might, however go end up finding some hibiscus of her own though. But for now she just smiles at the delicate way that he's eating it.]

He's so cute. It's almost hard to believe that he's a real animal.

[doubled_speed]

[Yeah, really true. He smiles and sits down to watch them.]

My new roommate says he could, like, claw my eyes out in the future. I don't buy it.

[gristle]

I don't buy it either. It's all in how you raise animals. And Speedy is a good one and you're gonna raise him to be an even better one.

[doubled_speed]

[Except... animal natures. Can you really overcome nature?]

You really think?

[gristle]

Yeah, obviously! I mean people like have pet tigers and lions and bears and stuff all the time and they're dangerous. So, it's all in how you treat em!

[doubled_speed]

[Nurture over nature, huh? Interesting. He frowns. Not sure what to think about that.]

I try to treat him very good.

[gristle]

Of course you do! Because you're awesome!