"If you can talk, I give you the benefit of the doubt until otherwise proven?" Red arches a brow. "People call me a monster, true. Doesn't make it... as true as for those fuckers."
“Hey!” Katters shouts out the window. “Calm down! We’re trying to have a discussion in here!” She glances at Red. “Gracious of you,” she says. “What’s ‘talking’? Where do you draw that line?”
“Ugh, if the tornado sirens picked up the wind, I don’t want to see what that noise brings,” Katters mutters. Her tone has been relaxed and flippant, but her ears are back and her heart-rate is up. “Yes,” she says to Red, “I had guessed that much. And I’ll concede, it sure doesn’t seem like it’s interested in a conversation with us — although it sure seems intent on communicating something.” She resumes shouting out the window, “What are you trying to say, girl? Did Timmy fall down the well, again?”
"....I think you're going to end up calling more of them, at this rate. Are we going to see if they crack open and spill candy on the concrete?"
A siren sound echoes, much, much closer. About a foot above Katters' head, to be precise. (( Please roll double-dexterity. ))
“Yeah, it—” Katters ducks, swinging her kit up over her head before rolling to the side. “Shit! Where did that come from?!”
The thing's knifelike arm glances off the kit, and it drops down, scrabbling to pull itself into the window with limbs that are not made for their gripping qualities.
"........uuuuuh. UP?" Red gets to her feet, reaching to her back, under her cloak, and pulling out a fire axe.
The body seems to crumple in when you slam the kit into it, torso bursting inwards like taking a hammer to paper mache. It looks surprised, for a moment, the howl errupting from it cutting off in a droning, broken whine. Then it's falling away, sharp limbs grinding against stone for a heartbeat before it tumbles into freefall. It hits the ground headfirst, with a sound like splintering wood - it sounds different from the bones you've broken in others, almost... hollow. The skull paints the ground in bright white, speckled with black and dark gray matter. It lays still. The creature climbing the wall beneath you goes stock-still and silent, staring, then turns, slowly making its way towards the body.
“HA!” Katters raises the kit over her head in celebration. She backs away from the window and turns to Red. “That’s how you take care of a fucker!” she says, tucking the kit back under her arm. “Fucker: Taken Care Of,” she adds.
"...very good." Red grins, all teeth, then leans down to grab a packet and tosses it to Katters. "Celebration?"
Katters catches the packet and looks it over. “Aw, Red, first the axe and now this? You’ve been holding out on me.” She grins. “Guess I don’t blame you, all things considered.”
The package is made of clear plastic and filled with water, with tiny Manta Ray-like creatures swimming in it. There's a little tab that one can open, along with a larger opening, and a blue tablet in a plastic wrapper is stuck to one side. "Had to make sure you were worth the resources. No offense meant."
“Hell, no offence taken. I know how it goes,” she says, turning the packet over in her hands. “You suppose the first one’ll come back up here after it’s done, uh, attending its comrade, or…?” The question trails off and she looks up at Red. “Okay, this looks overly complicated, how is it eaten?”
"Maybe? No way to be sure. We'll have to find out." She shrugs, pacing over to look at the package, head tilted, "Uuuuh." She frowns, licking her lips, then carefully pulls the package with the tab off and opens the little tab, holding it and dropping the blue tablet in. "Maybe-?" The water freezes with a loud pop, and the little creatures freeze with it. ".....oookay. That should do it. Try opening it up the rest of the way? At least this isn't another pack of slugs."
Katters sniffs the packet — it just smells like ice, which only makes her more dubious of the snack — and tears it open. She almost drops it when the ice suddenly evaporates, leaving her with a palmful of the frozen creatures. “How gimmicky,” she says, popping one of them into her mouth. “So, I guess we’re holed up here until mighty monster number two either comes back or leaves? We could try climbing up into the room above us, there may be resources up there — but I’d bet that’d just attract a thing’s attention, again.” She proffers the small pile of manta rays to Red. “Safest bet’s the waiting game,” she says, “much as I hate it.”
Red daintily takes one ray, chewing it slowly with sharp teeth. "...yeah. Wait it out until the winds die down, then I think check out the next room up. That explains the weird shuffling I heard last night, at least."
