Ling was being a mooch as usual, and she wound up foisting him off on Kate, who was working early today because she had some kind of hot date in the evening. She was going out to celebrate the completion of a particularly difficult exam with her latest squeeze, and Marta had found herself vaguely jealous at the news. It had been a long time since she'd been in the world of professors and co-eds, and almost as long, it felt sometimes, since she'd been out on a date. When was the last time she'd even had a meal at a decent restaurant? And why? She couldn't remember if she'd celebrated her birthday or not last month, come to think of it.
Ah well. The job gave her other milestones, she told herself firmly. Today was the first day she'd been able to prepare the same meal for all four pitfighters, for example. Fullmetal was alert enough to be allowed to attempt his own food, with supervision. It would give him more independence and some safe stimulation, and hopefully if Pete agreed it would also open the door to new medication delivery. She had injected him this morning but she didn't want to continue to do so when it obviously agitated him. Bad for trust, and bad for her helpers - Kate had admitted she was nervous about helping her hold him.
It wasn't so much that he was unpredictable - Fullmetal was actually emminently predictable; he was always trying to bite your face off. It was that he didn't always present like a normal Elric would. Most Elrics displayed overt signs of fear or aggression; gave ample warning before they tried to bite. With Fullmetal, more often than note, the warning sign WAS the bite. Fullmetal went for hands, fingers, faces without even bothering to growl. It creeped Kate out, and okay, if she had to admit it, it made her worry to. She was concerned that the flat affect might indicate some deeper psychological damage, that the only way he knew how to deal with a problem was to go for the throat. Would he attack even an Alphonse if it were placed in an enclosure with him? Or was it he was just afraid of humans, but also, of showing them fear? There were so many possibilities. She was going to have to be very careful in determining what was wrong with him.
First things first, though. She left a tray of fruit bits and chopped weiner for her other Edward and the Alphonse, then approached Fullmetal's enclosure. He was up again today, which was again a good sign; he must be feeing better if he'd been roaming about so much lately. It looked like he was peeking through the bars and addressing the Mustang in civil tones, which was stranger still. "Fight like a Mustang and an Elric" had become the new shorthand for "fight like cats and dogs". She made a mental note of that.
The Mustang curled his lip up at her, properly warning her to keep her distance, but the Edward just watched her approach with a wary expression. No overt signs of aggression, but she could see uneasiness burning in his eyes. Subtle. She would have to watch herself around this one
She dropped off food for the Mustang and he trilled a thank you, but did not eat when she left. He was watching her as she entered the Elric enclosure. She sat the plate down in the middle of the floor and retreated out the door to a safe distance, careful to watch through the picture window at an angle.
Re: Icebane 4 - you know you've always wanted this too XD
Ling was being a mooch as usual, and she wound up foisting him off on Kate, who was working early today because she had some kind of hot date in the evening. She was going out to celebrate the completion of a particularly difficult exam with her latest squeeze, and Marta had found herself vaguely jealous at the news. It had been a long time since she'd been in the world of professors and co-eds, and almost as long, it felt sometimes, since she'd been out on a date. When was the last time she'd even had a meal at a decent restaurant? And why? She couldn't remember if she'd celebrated her birthday or not last month, come to think of it.
Ah well. The job gave her other milestones, she told herself firmly. Today was the first day she'd been able to prepare the same meal for all four pitfighters, for example. Fullmetal was alert enough to be allowed to attempt his own food, with supervision. It would give him more independence and some safe stimulation, and hopefully if Pete agreed it would also open the door to new medication delivery. She had injected him this morning but she didn't want to continue to do so when it obviously agitated him. Bad for trust, and bad for her helpers - Kate had admitted she was nervous about helping her hold him.
It wasn't so much that he was unpredictable - Fullmetal was actually emminently predictable; he was always trying to bite your face off. It was that he didn't always present like a normal Elric would. Most Elrics displayed overt signs of fear or aggression; gave ample warning before they tried to bite. With Fullmetal, more often than note, the warning sign WAS the bite. Fullmetal went for hands, fingers, faces without even bothering to growl. It creeped Kate out, and okay, if she had to admit it, it made her worry to. She was concerned that the flat affect might indicate some deeper psychological damage, that the only way he knew how to deal with a problem was to go for the throat. Would he attack even an Alphonse if it were placed in an enclosure with him? Or was it he was just afraid of humans, but also, of showing them fear? There were so many possibilities. She was going to have to be very careful in determining what was wrong with him.
First things first, though. She left a tray of fruit bits and chopped weiner for her other Edward and the Alphonse, then approached Fullmetal's enclosure. He was up again today, which was again a good sign; he must be feeing better if he'd been roaming about so much lately. It looked like he was peeking through the bars and addressing the Mustang in civil tones, which was stranger still. "Fight like a Mustang and an Elric" had become the new shorthand for "fight like cats and dogs". She made a mental note of that.
The Mustang curled his lip up at her, properly warning her to keep her distance, but the Edward just watched her approach with a wary expression. No overt signs of aggression, but she could see uneasiness burning in his eyes. Subtle. She would have to watch herself around this one
She dropped off food for the Mustang and he trilled a thank you, but did not eat when she left. He was watching her as she entered the Elric enclosure. She sat the plate down in the middle of the floor and retreated out the door to a safe distance, careful to watch through the picture window at an angle.