Backwater Nexus. Lumen's backyard and Aria's Pet Shop. Like a Bandit.

[dens_extra_pups]

Aria: *phones Lumen*

Lumen: *answers on the third ring* Hello? *sounds slightly breathless*

Aria: //Hey, Lumen. Your Awassi ewe is here. She hasn't got any tail, though. Someone docked it.//

Lumen: That's just fine. I'll be over in a bit to bring her home.

Aria: //Alright.// *sound of a sad sheep in the background* //...She needs to be milked.//

Lumen: ... I have no idea how to do that.

Aria: //How do you expect to take care of her if you don't even know how to milk her???//

Lumen: I'll get a book about milking sheep before I come and get her. *moving to jump over the fence he just finished building*

tortoise: Ow. *mild cussword*

Lumen: Sorry!

tortoise: *grumbles and goes back to eating the grass by the fence*

Lumen: *will grab his wallet and his PINpoint, then head for the book vending machine to get a book about milking sheep*

machine: *beeps at him as he approaches*

Lumen: *to the machine* I need a book about safe and low-impact practices and procedures for milking sheep. If you have one with pictures, that'd be really helpful.

machine: *low whir, and then spits out a chip*

Lumen: *will pay for the book chip*

machine: *spits out receipt and beeps cheerfully*

Lumen: *will tuck the receipt into his wallet and examine the chip. Pleased rumble as he realizes it's a self-playing holo chip with moving pictures and written words*

Jamal: Lumen!

Lumen: *looks up from going through the book* Hey, Jamal.

Jamal: *shifts the package he's delivering and waves* You have a day off?

Lumen: Yeah. I'm on my way over to Aria's to pick up the milk ewe I've been waiting for.

Jamal: Ewe... a lady sheep?

Lumen: *nods* Yeah. I got an Awassi ewe.

Jamal: *curious light in his shining red eyes* I want to come see her sometime.

Lumen: You're more than welcome to come over and visit. *grin* I gotta get going though.

Jamal: As do I. *waves again and turns to jog toward the apartment building*

Lumen: *nods and hurries over to Aria's shop, reading and watching the pictures as he goes*

Aria: *sound of scolding comes from near the back of the shop as he comes in*

Lumen: Aria? I'm here. I got a book about safe and low-impact milking.

Aria: ... Low impact?

Lumen: Less stressful for the sheep.

Aria: Oh. Well, she's back here. Don't knock anything down, alright? Ouch! Bandit! I LIVE here!

Lumen: *blinks and moves to see what the commotion is* Need a hand?

Aria: *hands on her hips as she frowns down at a puzzled looking black and white sheep with four black horns* Bandit thinks he's defending the country, but he doesn't know who's a citizen.

Bandit: *just plain puzzled and upset by being in this strange place*

Oliver: *peeeeers over the edge of the top of a high shelf*

Lumen: *ears UP!* Where'd you get a Jacob sheep?

Aria: *blinks* From a dealer I buy from.

Lumen: How much would it be to get Bandit and the ewe? *tip of his tail is twitching*

Bandit: *sees big hairy MONSTER! Scared! But shakes his head at it* *bad monster!*

Aria: Bandit's a wether, and he was easier to find, so he's only a hundred and fifty. *turns her attention back to the ewe, who is standing sadly in a corner with her head drooping*

Oliver: She's never been inside before, I bet.

Lumen: *to Aria* I'll buy Bandit, too. Do you have a bucket or something I can use while I milk the ewe?

Aria: All kinds of buckets and stuff in the front. *gentle words for the ewe* Collars, too. Bandit!

Bandit: *lifts his head with surprise, had been aiming a thump*

Oliver: Try scritching between his horns.

Aria: I have to reassure the ewe. *stern frown for the wether*

Lumen: *will move to go get what he needs to milk the ewe so she'll be more comfortable on the walk home. When he comes back, he'll also stop to scritch between Bandit's horns*

Bandit: *surprise, but then sighs and leans against him. It is not a bad monster. It is a friend*

Lumen: *to Bandit* Now, you stay put. I've got to tend to Estel.

Bandit: *follows his new friend, and then gently washes the face of the poor pretty ewe who is as scared and confused as he is*

Estel: *lifts her head slightly, droopy ears back with dismay as she wonders what this huge furry thing is*

Lumen: *gentle clicks that he learned how to do from one of the Autobots that sometimes stops by the factory* *will offer gentle scritches on the chin*

Estel: *sighs and closes her eyes, relaxing slightly. But then looks up uncertainly as Aria tries to get her butt out of the corner*

Lumen: Here. *moving to position himself so Estel's head is between his legs. Will bend over the ewe's back, carefully position the milking bucket. Is soon humming as he carefully milks the ewe*

Estel: *actually sighs with what can only be relief as the pressure is relieved in her big udder. And then she starts to chew her cud, as cud chewing dairy animals tend to do during the milking process if there is no grain offered*

Bandit: *rubs his forehead on Lumen's leg. RUB RUB RUB*

Aria: Is that the silicon milking bucket?

Lumen: *as he milks* Bandit, down. *to Aria* Yup.

Aria: You can boil that one to sterilize it. *reaches to pull on the wether's horn and distract him*

Bandit: *huh?*

Lumen: Shiny. *still milking and humming*

Aria: Are you going to need a payment plan for it? It's pricey.

Bandit: *shakes his horn loose and goes back to his friend*

Lumen: I've been saving up for awhile. I did some research about raising milk sheep months ago. Between extra deliveries, and selling yarn in my reality of origin, I've got nearly three thousand dollars saved up to put toward Estel and Bandit's needs, and everything that will make milking easier.

Aria: Wow. You're more prepared than I thought.

Oliver: Can I pick collars for 'em? *clicks beak and looks cute from his perch on the shelf*

Lumen: Sure, Oliver. Something that won't get tangled in their wool.

Oliver: Web dog collars? *another beak click, this one thoughtful* You want bells?

Lumen: *slight pause in milking*

Oliver: Cows wear bells, right?

Aria: Sometimes. But the sheep don't need Lumen chasing them around.

Lumen: *soft sigh, back to milking*

Oliver: *looks at Aria and Lumen with one eye, and then the other* ...He'd do that?

Lumen: *pointed tail twitch*

Oliver: What's that mean?

Aria: I'll go ring everything up. *heads for the till*

Lumen: *quiet rumble*

Oliver: Uh. I'll go get the collars. One pink and one blue?

Lumen: Sure. *to Aria* Do you have any ointment that's safe to use on udders? I want to use it on Estel's udder once I'm done milking her.

Aria: *comes back, taking the lid off a little jar* I used a wish to make sure she won't get sick from her udder being so full for so long. But this is supposed to help and sooth.

Lumen: *very small nod, resumes humming*

Aria: *sets the jar and lid where he can get them* Make sure the bucket handle's hooked on properly. It comes off for when you clean the bucket.

Oliver: *back with two collars in his beak. The blue one has little ornamental spikes on it, and the pink one's got a white daisy pattern woven into it* These?

Lumen: *looks up* Those'll work. Thanks, Oliver.

Oliver: *happy gork, flies to bring them to the counter. Back a few minutes later with a leash made for two large dogs* This too?

Lumen: That'll work to help lead them home. *grin*

Oliver: 'Kay! *flies to the front again*

Aria: So why sheep?

Lumen: *as he moves to check on how full Estel's udder is* Wool, mostly, but they're good for a lot more than just that.

Aria: Oh right. You're all into wool. I'd forgotten that. *glances toward the front, and then leans on the fence of the little pen that contains the sheep*

Lumen: Yup. I spin yarn that gets used both in the factory, and in my reality of origin.

Aria: Yeah. I'd heard that. Why didn't you get a llama or alpaca?

Lumen: They spit.

Aria: Not if you don't tick them off.

Lumen: With my luck, I would without meaning to.

Aria: I've seen little kids playing with them without any danger.

Lumen: I wanted something that wouldn't hurt the garden.

Aria: *slight frown* Where is your place anyway?

Lumen: It's that tiny English cottage on one of the Yuppie Hut lots in the subdivision. Same street that that Blades guy and his wife live on.

Aria: *brows lift with understanding* So you're backed onto the field around that big mansion where the Maximal Fire Tribe lives.

Lumen: Yup. Legacy's got a vegetable garden started in the back yard, and the front yard's got flowers.

Aria: *laughs* So you didn't get to keep it a secret, huh?

Lumen: Nope. *chuckles* Once the vegetables have started producing, we'll be trading with the Fire Tribe since we have a lot of different things, and we'll have more than we can eat in a reasonable amount of time.

Aria: Sounds like a good plan. So all that's just going on the big city size lot?

Lumen: Yeah. We've got room for it, and if we need more room, none of the neighbors'd complain if we bartered with them for more space.

Aria: *slight surprise* Did the tribe claim it all?

Lumen: I don't think so, but if I'm wrong, then I'll think of something to do with the land we do have.

Aria: *nods and looks at Estel* She looks pretty empty now.

Lumen: She was upset, so the milk didn't all come down at once...

Estel: *relaxing more. The big furry thing is acting in a familiar way, and he is helping her feel better. Sneezes softly at the smell of the balm*

Bandit: *baaas softly and questioningly*

Lumen: *moving to stand up, stretches a bit and scritches Estel on the chin once more*

Aria: *curiously* Got it all now?

Lumen: Yeah. She let it down while I was putting the balm on her udder.

Bandit: *bumps into his leg while trying to stay close to him* *friend! Friend!*

Estel: *also following worriedly*

Aria: So you're all ready? *watching the frightened sheep*

Lumen: Just need to pay you, put their collars and the leashes on them, and then we'll head out.

Aria: Alright. *turns and goes to the counter* Oliver, get out of the till! I don't care if the coins are shiny!

Oliver: I wasn't taking them. I was sorting them. Eeesh!

Lumen: *soft snerk, will crouch down to talk quietly to Bandit and Estel*

Estel: *kissies? Kissy you?*

Bandit: *watching that tail there as it twitches* o.0?

Lumen: *rumbly chuckles are a go*

Estel: *dry little sheepy nose snuffles him curiously and then nuzzles*

Bandit: *tries to thump the tail*

Lumen: *gentle scritchies for Estel, startled sound when Bandit tries to thump his tail*

Bandit: *eeks from the startled sound*

Estel: *eeks when the other sheepy eeks*

Lumen: *soothing sounds, will move to sit down on the floor, hiding his tail under his kilt for the time being*

sheep: *gradually come back, noses outstretched to sniff*

Lumen: *gentle encouragements*

Estel: *comes over beside him and then lays down so that she's leaning against him. Flock instinct says that it is time to rest because the friend is*

Bandit: *gonna nibble fingers. Jacob's sheep don't have much flock instinct*

Lumen: *will scritchie Bandit between the horns, and do the same for Estel's chin, rumbling quietly and happily*

Estel: *will sleep now. Such a tired sheep*

Bandit: *likes the scritches. But moves his head away sometimes and tries to nibble again*

Lumen: *will snuggle with his sheep until it's time to start heading back*

((Written with random_xtras))