MERC XVI: Morality is Relative; Professional Standards Aren't!

[Gullara]

[Front Desk => Beast Pens]

"Great, thanks." Valente puts Rosabel back in her place in the stroller. That done, he pushes his baby cargo along to poke around the base. His first stop is the beast pens, since Astrana mentioned it. The kids might like to see the animals anyway.

[Morty]

[Beast Pens]

Valente will find several wolves lounging there, at this time. Two of them are Viima and Kullervo. Valente never saw them, but he may have heard of them, since Dipsnig is rarely seen in public without one of them. Apart from them, there are two other adult wolves, younger ones. One of them has a silvery fur similar to Viima's, while the other one is greyish brown. In the middle of the assemblage rest four little cubs.

Standing by the door and observing the wolfish family is the boss goblin himself. His ears perk up and he looks back at the human questioningly.

[Gullara]

[Beast Pens]

Valente looks around the beast pen, his eyes settling on the wolves for a moment. Cute. Those are big dogs, or aren't they wolves? Valente's never seen a wolf in his life, not in person. He looks over at Dipsnig, and the name comes to mind. If he didn't know it before, he know it since his girlfriend started working for him.

"Oh hey. Dipsnig, right? Uh, I'm Valente. Astrana's boyfriend." He looks down at the four babies in their stroller. "We were just having a look around while we were waiting for her."

[Morty]

[Beast Pens]

Dipsnig nods and turns to take a good look at Valente and the children.

"The one and only Dipsnig Razortooth, yes. And Astrana did leave on a maternity leave a while ago. That's a lot of kids you have on your hands now," he observes while waving his hand towards the wolves. Quadruplets aren't common even among goblins, and he knows oversized species breed slowly. "As you can see, my two wolf mounts just became grandparents."

[Gullara]

[Beast Pens]

"Just a couple more than I was expecting." Valente laughs. He finishes with a yawn. There's very little question why he might be tired, but even so he doesn't look bothered. "I guess I learned that if my girlfriend says she'll have multiple kids believe her. She was about as surprised as me when we found out, though."

Valente leans against the stroller and looks down at the pups again. "So Astrana's not the only one around here with a pile of kids to take care of then, huh?" He grins.

[Morty]

[Beast Pens]

"And here I thought topsiders didn't have more than two kids at a time at most," Dipsnig says, before looking back to his wolves. One might be surprised to hear him be so amicable to someone he doesn't know, but he has a big soft spot for his pets. "She's not. I never planned to have my own wolf pack, but it happened. First Viima over there found herself a mate and had pups, and now one of them had a bunch himself. They'll join their mother's pack once they grow up."

[Gullara]

[Beast Pens]

"You guys are going to be overrun before long. Then the whole countryside." Valente jokes. In the stroller, the green clothed baby starts to make a fuss. Valente scoops Eshe up and bobs her up and down. "They're friendly, right? A couple of my neighbours growing up had dogs, but I'm guessing wolves are different."

[Morty]

[Beast Pens]

Dipsnig's ears flick.

"Wolves are nothing like dogs, no," he says, his tone making it clear it's a very important distinction. "But they won't hurt anyone. We have a druid training them here, so they're perfectly friendly."

And indeed, Viima the proud grandmother pads over to the new people to give them a few friendly sniffs.

[Gullara]

[Beast Pens]

"Right, not dogs." Not like dogs, huh? Valente scratches Viima's head when she nears. Sure, not at all like dogs. Nope.

Eshe looks down at the wolf curiously. She reaches out her little hand, like she wants to pet the puppy too! Valente smiles and crouches down so his daughter can pat the wolf and grab hold of her fur. Thankfully she doesn't have enough strength to cause Viima any real discomfort. "Someone wants to make a new friend, doesn't she?" He baby talks.

[Morty]

[Beast Pens]

Despite domesticated wolves being dogs for all intents and purposes, the distinction is strongly ingrained in goblin culture. Not all goblins give a toss, obviously, but Dipsnig grew up on a wolf farm.

Viima is patted and grabbed, not minding it in the least. She sniffs at the little tiefling a little more. Dipsnig can't help but smile a bit.

"Viima here is really good with kids. Her mate is less trustful. Their kids spend less time around people, since there's no one here other than me in need of a mount. My girlfriend's the only one small enough and she's not wolf rider material."

There's also Krait, technically speaking, but Dipsnig would be highly unlikely to let him ride any of the wolves even if the kobold wanted to.

[Gullara]

[Beast Pens]

"Yeah, animals will be like that. I had a friend with cats, and they were always way more friendly than cats that never had kids around. Same idea here." Valente hopes Dipsnig wouldn't mind the comparison to cats. The goblin seems prickly about the wolves. "Too bad my girls aren't a bit bigger. I'm sure they'd love to get some puppies used to people." He smiles, liking that mental image.

[Morty]

[Beast Pens]

Dipsnig shrugs.

"I was about their size when I first met my father's wolves, but I know what you mean. I could consider handing them out for adoption if it's an employee's kids we're talking about."

[Gullara]

[Beast Pens]

Valente was thinking more about how the girls aren't really that mobile yet, but that doesn't matter. "Oh really? That'd be really cool, actually. I'd like to talk to Astrana about that." He hadn't really considered getting a pet, but now he is.

[Morty]

[Beast Pens]

"I don't see why not," Dipsnig says, shrugging again, before looking into the stroller. "I have to say, 'bring your kids to work' is new around here. None of our members have been the parenting type before."

[Gullara]

[Beast Pens]

"Oh really? Astrana's great with kids. We weren't expecting to have any so soon. She's very career oriented; I'm sure you've noticed that. But I'm staying home with them, so it all works out." Valente chatters. He hardly remembered how good it was to talk with another adult. Astrana's around, of course, but she's also working for much of the day.

[Morty]

[Beast Pens]

"She does have the kind of dedication to her work that I appreciate," Dipsnig says. "She's been very useful for some of our projects already." He peers into the stroller. "Is it normal that they look, well... human? No horns or tails like Astrana has."

[Gullara]

[Beast Pens]

Valente smiles at hearing his girlfriend praised. Not that he ever doubted it.

He looks down at his children and shrugs. "Apparently all those things come in when they're... five or six I think? So until then they're gonna look a lot more like me than their mum." Even if their skin is more a light brown, as opposed to Valente's paste whiteness.

[Murkus]

[Dormitories]

Knock, knock, knockity! A small, sharp fist is rapping on Kirk's door.

A short young black man is standing outside, accompanied presumably by Miss Dena. He's very much not typical-looking. The fellow's face is feminine, handsome in a soft, cute sort of way. Round, smile-topping cheeks, pearly whites to die for, close set ears and a small, smart brow. His lips are nearly those of a woman.

The rest of him is shaped similarly - wide hips, soft, cleanly shaven skin, hands that haven't seen a day of work in their lives. The black swatch of hair he's got is curled up and back, slicked fancily. He's dressed in a small, red-black leather jacket and a pair of sinfully tight black pants. Underneath the jacket is a teeny tank-top. The fellow looks decently built, for one so well groomed. His shoulders are definitely broader than could be expected looking at the rest of him.

This smiling rake casts his gaze to Dena - a gaze that glows neon blue. "I hope you're used to losing bets, sugar." He taunts in a high, rich voice. A singer's voice. Just the right timbre - persuasive and attention-grabbing. "Do we just head in, or should I knock again?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Dormitories]

Dena who is there besides him just shakes her head, looking fairly unimpressed by it all. "This is never going to work you know. It's a plan as ridiculous as your name." Dena claims, barely able to keep a straight face. But rather than replying to her companions question she simply knock on the door again, but louder. "If he doesn't respond now, he's probably not home or sleeping."
If Kirk doesn't arrive now, she will simply attempt to open the door.

[Gullara]

[Dormitories]

The door opens to reveal a slightly groggy looking Kirk. Even so, not a hair is out of place. He spares 'Tiny' the briefest glance before he focuses on Dena. "Need something?" He's not sure why she's dragging her boytoy by his door at this hour. Who even brings people to sleep with here of all places in the first place?

[Morty]

[Beast Pens]

"Well, come to think of it, they're the first kids of this age I've seen that weren't goblins," Dipsnig says. "So are you the kind of... stay-at-home guy when Astrana comes to work here?"

[Gullara]

[Beast Pens]

"Uh, yeah. More or less. I might've still worked if we had, like, one or two, but I thought one of us needed to stay home for four of them. And like I said, Astrana is the career oriented one." Valente replies with a shrug.

[Morty]

[Beast Pens]

Dipsnig's ears twitch. Goblin culture, especially in his home colony, is fairly patriarchal. The man staying at home while the woman works is practically unheard of. But he's spent years in the Nexus, so he's more or less got rid of the old assumptions.

"Well, it's not going to get easier, unfortunately. I have no kids nor plans for any, but I do have four siblings. It's a full-time job, even with relatives helping."

[Gullara]

[Beast Pens]

"I figure it's got to be a little easier when they can eat and use the toilet themselves. And sleep clean through the night." That's the biggest issue as far as he's concerned. "But yeah, I'm aware of that, even if I wasn't before."

[Murkus]

[Dormitories]

"Oh, I'm sorry," Tiny interjects, arms crossed, his brows knit together with concern. "Did we wake you, Kirk?" The lad's tinny, pleasant voice rings and lingers in the ear like the last note of a song.

[Shadowcaller]

[Dormitories]

"This gentleman wanted to see you, Kirky." Dena says while gesturing towards 'Tiny'. Sands, that name was awful. "I believe he has a proposition for you." She can't help but to smile at this stupid idea.

[Gullara]

[Dormitories]

Kirk glances at 'Tiny' again, but it's barely a moment before he's back to Dena. "And what would that be?" He seems to be asking her more than her companion. He certainly doesn't seem to recognize Tiny, or his eyes simply refuse to see.

[Murkus]

[Dormitories]

Oh, Dena, how unsubtle! Tiny smiles richly and crosses his arms, eyes falling halfway-shut. "It isn't as though I haven't propositioned you before, Kirk. And successfully."

[Shadowcaller]

[Dormitories]

Dena gestures with her palm towards 'Tiny' as if pointing out while also distancing herself from him. "His idea entirely, you can't blame this on me, Kirky."

[Gullara]

[Dormitories]

Kirk looks back at 'Tiny' and finally realizes. He scowls slightly. "I can and I will. Lose the ****, Tina, and we'll talk. Until then, keep it to yourself." He doesn't sound terribly amused.