Down near the docks, Wednesday morning

[notquitewright.livejournal.com]

It wasn't much past dawn, but Marcus was up and walking around town. When he reached the docks, he stopped, caught as always by the sight of the ocean. It had taken on a weird sort of importance, here in this place he couldn't seem to leave. Tipping his head back to watch a seagull spiral up into the clouds and then head out to sea, he decided being jealous of a bird was ridiculous, and anyway, an island beat the hell out of a cell any day...

Something suddenly wasn't right. Of that he was certain. Glancing down, he realised he was on a horse.

"I'm on a horse." Obvious, yes, but some things are so absurd they must be said aloud.

The horse didn't seem bothered as Marcus shifted awkwardly, turning its head to gaze upon him with a look of mild inquiry, as if to ask, Is there a problem?

Marcus stared at the horse and the horse stared back, ears forward and tail swishing. Impasse. With a mild grunt of annoyance, he climbed down and landed with his back to the horse.

Which, he realised as he turned around, had disappeared.

[Open for anyone who doesn't mind serious slowplay after 8:30. Also, the number of times I typed hore instead of horse…let's just say this post would have had a rather different tone.]

Comments

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

The horse thing was a little weird. Where were they coming from? What were they doing? Where were they going?

Kyle approached Marcus. Apparently he couldn't stay away even though it was probably a good idea to. "Were you on a horse?"

[notquitewright.livejournal.com]

Marcus was actually the smallest bit relieved that someone else had seen it. Hallucinating horses was nowhere in his plan for the day. He looked at Kyle, glanced around just in case the horse reappeared, and replied, sounding more bemused than anything else, "I was on a horse."

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

"Any reason?"

[notquitewright.livejournal.com]

"Not sure anything that happens here has a reason," he replied, then gestured at Kyle. "I see you're back to normal."

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, that happens sometimes. Thanks for the hamburger. Younger me hadn't figured out where the free food was."

[notquitewright.livejournal.com]

For the very briefest of moments, Marcus looked almost uncomfortable. "No problem."

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

He'd swept the shed. It was a fair trade. "Where'd you get the horse?"

[notquitewright.livejournal.com]

"Not mine." He was not taking responsibility for a horse. "One minute, nothing. Next minute, I'm on a hores. I get down and it's gone."

[weetinyreese.livejournal.com]

"This is weird even for Fandom."

[colourfulscents.livejournal.com]

No, Angua had certainly not been out prowling last night. Don't be silly. She was always creeping around back by the docks in wolf form in the morning from the direction of the causeway...

Of course, her attempted stealthy return home was halted when she picked up scents other than those of the docks in general. She paused, stock still, ready for anythig whether it be fleeing or attacking. She smelled horse. It was definitely horse. But what she saw was a man, and the scent of the horse, while in that general vicinity, did not originate from him.

She could have sworn she smelled a horse. It was unsettling to not be able to trust her nose, disturbing her enough to let out a questioning little sound as she tilted her head at the man.

[notquitewright.livejournal.com]

Marcus liked dogs, always had, even if he'd never seen one quite like this one. "Hey," he said in a low voice, quiet and calm and steady. "You looking for something?" He extended one hand, palm down, fingers curled, ready to snatch it back if the dog reacted badly. "Was a horse here awhile ago, but it disappeared."

[colourfulscents.livejournal.com]

Not exactly the cute, friendly, lick anything in sight pup she was this weekend, Angua didn't much move as the man offered out his hand. She just stood at her reasonable distance and lifted both ears and brows, with a questioning "Aroo?" that made it pretty clear that horses didn't usually just disappear.

If she hadn't been out all night in this form, she would have had enough cognizance to realize that, around here, they probably did.

[notquitewright.livejournal.com]

Not fazed, Marcus pulled his hand back. "Don't blame you. Gotta watch out for strangers," he said. "I don't know where it went. Don't know where it came from, either. One minute horse, next minute gone." Yes, he was talking to a dog like it could understand him. After disappearing horses, sudden children, and underwater junkyards, it seemed relatively normal.

[colourfulscents.livejournal.com]

And there was the handy fact that the "dog" (ahem) could, in fact, understand him. But now that Angua could start to accept that perhaps the horse was gone, she tried to pick up the different smells under the strong scent of docks that could be attributed to this man, because they were a little...strange, too.

She leaned forward, leading by her sniffing nose, tryig to figure it out. Maybe she should have sniffed the hand after all, to pick out what that sharpness was.

Then, she went for the bark. It was a slightly demanding one, perhaps part of the copper still in her, that wanted to know what he was doing out here, by the docks, with disappearing horses about.

[notquitewright.livejournal.com]

At this point, a dog who spoke human wouldn't even surprise him. A wolf who spoke human might, but since he'd never seen one, he assumed dog. He definitely didn't assume cop. "I can't make horses appear," he pointed out, misunderstanding the point of the bark's demand. "You want horses, you'll have to find them yourself."

[colourfulscents.livejournal.com]

The growl Angua made at that was more of a soft "Mrrr" of disagreement than a harder "Grrrr" of you better watch your arse. If he was paying attention, he might have noticed almost an eyeroll. Because, really, he should not be putting thoughts into her head of hunting horses right now. One second of allowance, and the horse wouldn't have stood a chance.

[notquitewright.livejournal.com]

A growl was involved; Marcus was definitely paying attention. Which was why he did, in fact, notice the almost-an-eyeroll. Not common canine behaviour where he came from, but who the hell knew what passed for normal around here. He eyed her curiously. "If you want something from me, I don't know what it is."

[gunandcoffee.livejournal.com]

One moment Reese was out on patrol, the next she was on a horse.

"What the fuck?"

[notquitewright.livejournal.com]

It was oddly satisfying to see someone else end up on a horse. "It's going around," Marcus said, leaning against a pole.

[I was at work so couldn't reply 'til now! Totally won't be offended if you don't want to get dragged into massive slowplay.]

[gunandcoffee.livejournal.com]

Reese scowled, "I prefer it not to go around in my vicinity."

She'd stopped walking and suddenly there was no horse. Reese stumbled a bit.

[notquitewright.livejournal.com]

Disappearing horses. Marcus shook his head. "Doesn't seem to matter," he said matter-of-factly. "Place does wnat it wants."

[Yay!]

[gunandcoffee.livejournal.com]

"Ain't that the truth," Reese muttered. She looked around, "Where the hell did I end up?"

[notquitewright.livejournal.com]

"Docks." He jerked his chin at the jetties jutting out into the ocean.

[gunandcoffee.livejournal.com]

"Not where I was headin' but okay." Reese shook her head. Remembering her manners, Reese added, "I'm Detective Reese, by the way."

[notquitewright.livejournal.com]

Detective. Outwardly, Marcus didn't react, appearing as calm and laconic as ever. Inwardly, his attention sharpened, and not in a positive way. "Know someone named Kyle?"