Hello Sunshine

The Gila monster stares, then slowly swallows down the jerky. "Uuuhh... I dunno... What's that?"

 

Oooooh! You've seen it before? Sunshine chirps excitedly.

 

Okay. Amend that to "only slightly surprised". Corrie gapes momentarily, then starts laughing and...

...no, still going...

...it's going to take a little while before she's ready to stop laughing about how quickly her life has gone from zero to Really Goddamn Weird.

 

The gila monster hides further into the backpack.

 

There's a pause, then Sunshine starts laughing along with Corrie, not sure why, but basking in the happiness it elicits.

 

When it comes time to wipe the tears from her eyes, Corrie's laughing fit starts to subside, a little at a time, in between gasps for air. As soon as she can trust herself to speak without laughing, she says: "Hey- lizard- if you can understand me, you can understand that that's my backpack. You want to get out of it, so I can take my stuff and go someplace where I'll get bars?"

 

"....nnno. Mom-Dad says that when someone leaves stuff you can take it." The little lizard reassures her, nodding solemnly and wiggling deeper into the bag. "So it's my bag."

 

"Really now?" Corrie actually manages to sound unimpressed, a feat that surprises even her. "Because I don't think you'll be able to fit it into your burrow."

 

"'s okay. I'll put it in my room. Maybe." The lizard yawns sleepily. "'f I go home. 'm big, an' fierce, an..." His head droops.

 

....so if things are left by other things, does that mean we get to keep the lizard? Sunshine asks curiously. How many animals have you talked to? You're really good at it!

 

"...thanks? I guess technically I've talked to a lot, they just don't usually answer me..." Look, how are you supposed to respond to a dead kid complimenting your ability to reason with lizards? "And I think it's kind of extremely illegal to take Gila monsters out of the wild. Mostly I just want to get it out without waking it up and getting chewed on!"

 

Huh. Maybe that's why it sounds strange...

Why? If you die again, I'll just bring you back, Sunshine laughs. Don't be silly! Why should you be scared of a little lizard?

 

"...well, it would hurt like hell anyway, but you have a point."

Okay, she can probably grab that strap there in two places and just angle it, like this, to sort of gently "pour" the critter out, like...

(( Rolls Dexterity 3 + Dexterity 3 = 2 successes ))

 

The lizard slides out, waking and letting out an upset noise. "Huh... h... hey! Not fair, I fell asleep!"

 

Yeah, so you couldn't argue, Sunshine giggles. We're good right? Super great.

 

So we are!

"Sorry, little guy, but I need my stuff," she explains. There's some scraps of "liberated" jerky that fell out with the lizard, but they're dusty and probably have venomy Gila-monster spit on some of them. Besides, there's no need to add insult to injury here. "You seem to be doing all right for yourself without it. Very, uh, healthy glossy scales?"

 

The little gila monster shakes itself to try and stay awake, a very... human motion, then lets out an annoyed snap of teeth.

There's a crunching, crackling, and then a scaled hand grabs at one the bottom straps of the bag. A young boy...maybe early teens, at most, but clearly tall for his age, stares up petulantly, legs sprawled in front of him.

He has ragged jean shorts on and not much else, but his body is scaled, retaining the same patterns as the lizard, and he looks up with accusation in his very orange eyes. "But I want it more..."

 

....the lizards here are so cool! Do you think they do this elsewhere, too? Can we meet more lizards? Oh. Oh. DO YOU THINK PET SHOP LIZARDS DO THAT?

Silence.

What does it turn into when it dies? A lizard or a people? Or does that depend on if anyone finds it, like me?

 

...I'm pretty sure pet shop lizards don't do that... Have they only not been doing that when people were watching, or? How deep does this fucking rabbit hole go, anyway?

After a moment's uncertainty of what to say- commenting on that whole shape changing thing seems pointless, presumably he knows- Corrie settles on "What are you, a mind reader?" (She's not ruling that possibility out, mind you. Not today.) "How do you know how much I want it?"

 

He squints at her, then down at the sand, thinking for a minute before looking up again. "....you left it, so. I want it more?"

He tilts his head to one side, then the other, then hazards a cautious question, nervously eyeing up Corrie. "...do you wanna fight for it? Dad says that's the wrong way to do it but Mom-Dad says violence is a really good solution to any problem."