thefolder | My Monster and Me...

Who: Leatherhead and Whomever
What: A gator's on the loose and no pizza place can hold him
Where: On the outskirts of the new town
When: Mid day

He didn't care for this new change. In fact, his first instinct was to hide. It had been so long since he went without this for and now...now it was back. And just like that all the old insecurities rose up. Would they accept him? Or did they only accept him on the merit of being human? And what's more, did this just mean they'd go back to casting him out or worse?

Well, don't worry. He'll reject himself you don't need to worry about that. The alligator had already abandoned Duke and Roadbuster. For a big guy he managed to give them the slip pretty well. Guess it was back to being on his own at least until this change went away.

The mutant liked it much better than in the city, really. A lot more grass, actually. And actual flowers. He liked those. The mutant could get used to this for awhile. Soon enough the mutant began wandering the area of the outskirts, enjoying the flowers of every hue and size. Yeah, if only Mikey could find him..

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"I don't see why I have to be!" Chris chuckled a little, shifting so he was leaning on one hand. "I love gators, all crocodilians really. An early, memorable adventure even was getting into the nest of a Nile crocodile."

Then he smiled a bit broader, a bit warmer. "'Sides, you're a good guy. I don't feel I have aaaanything to worry about."

A friend to crocodilians? Holy cow it's like he struck the creature jackpot with Chris.

Continuing his float in the water, Leatherhead inquires, "...you got in a nest with a crocodile? Like me?"

"Yeah-hah!" Chris kicked out his legs and took a seat on the bank of the river, while Sylvia decided to hop down and sit beside him.

"See, we wanted to prove to one of our crewmates that crocodiles weren't the big brutes she thought they were, and since we were in Africa around nesting time, we decided the best way to do so was find a mother croc and go personal."

He spread his hands as he told his tale, making gestures with the words, and laughing a bit here and there. It was clearly a good memory, and an excellent adventure.

"We used a piece of tech we have called the miniaturizer, bringing us down to an itty bitty size. With a momma croc on shore we snuck into her nest as she was creating it, and observed it from the inside! It was really fascinating, even if a little claustrophobic." A shrug and a good-natured chuckle.

"'Course, it wasn't without dangers. A monitor lizard attacked at one point and nearly made off with one of the eggs, but Crocodila- what Martin named the mother crocodile -came to the rescue and we put her egg back where it belonged. Martin decided to stay in the nest at this point while I went up top, hanging out with Crocodila."

Bringing the heels of his palms together, he made a 'mouth' and laced his fingers. "Barring an encounter with hippos that almost bit her in half, it was alright! And well... the rain." An eyeroll. "The rain sucked." He laughed though; all in the name of science for a creature adventure. "The best part is, the babies hatched all alright- a nest full of little girls, thanks to the ambient nest temperature -and we convinced our crewmate that crocodiles can be loving and devoted mothers, and aren't at ALL the mean, nasty creatures that people try to make them out to be!"

Edited 2014-02-01 07:46 (UTC)

As the alligator listened to Chris' story, the more empathetically he listened to the plight of the story of the baby crocodile. The other stuff sounded extremely scientific, like Donatello would do. But he could scarcely believe a human being like Chris could be so kind...it reminded him of when he was a small unmutated crocodile. He wondered what life he could have had if someone kept him...

Leatherhead dips gently into the water to show appreciation, "Thank you...for sparing the the crocodile...thank you..."

Edited 2014-02-01 08:23 (UTC)

"You're welcome" He folded his arms across his lap, giving Leatherhead a broad smile. "Every crocodile, and alligator, and creature is precious. I wanna preserve the lives of as many as I can."

Leatherhead smiles, bobbing on the surface, "I feel the same way...I try to make sure all life on my world is safe..."

"An honorable thing to do." If it was possible, Chris's smile got even bigger.

"See? I knew you were a good guy. Nothin' at all to be afraid of."

"It is all I can do," he said matter-of-factly.

No matter how many times people repeat it, the fact they say it makes his heart warm, "I shall try to give you no reason to fear me..."

"Well I haven't had a reason so far, so you're doing pretty good!" Chris gave Leatherhead a bright, warm smile and a thumbs up. He didn't think he'd ever have a reason, either.

He gives a small smile in return. It means a lot Chris...now excuse him as he goes back underwater, just for the sake of enjoying a nice dive.

Chris watched for a few moments with a smile, then removed the notebook from his pocket. Reopening it, he started scribbling again, talking notes of the terrain with his partner beside him.

Swim swim swim...he missed being in the water. And this river felt so calm, so cool...nothing like the sewers back in New York. He did graceful undulations beneath water, drifting to the bottom before shooting back to the surface. He spots Chris scribbling away, tilting his head, "What are you writing?"

Chris glanced up as Leatherhead resurfaced, and he smiled brightly with a little gesture down toward the journal. "Adventure notes!" Before he could continue, Sylvia nodded with a light smile of her own.

"We and the brothers are going to explore the continent, so lately we've been taking turns scouting around the area."

"Making maps, taking pictures of the scenery, writing down different notes about the terrain and what we might need when we leave..."

"As well as gathering supplies from Hospitown. Basically gearing up for a big adventure~"

An adventure? And one that doesn't sound so dangerous? Wow, Leatherhead would go if it weren't for his dedication to his new family at Hospitown.

"All of it? It is so big...and changing. I never saw anything like this before...You must go to San Francisco...I heard it is beautiful too."

"Oh yeah, that was on the way here, wasn't it?" Chris looked up, tapping his pencil against his chin for a moment. Hard to mistake San Francisco, but then in the Digital World he was learning you could never be too sure. "Martin and I stopped there briefly on our way to Hospitown." And it was truly brief. The Kratts weren't much for cities in the first place, and an empty one you normally associated with bright, vibrant life was fairly off-putting.

"The changing of the environment has to be one of my favorite things about it!" Another briefly scribbled note and then he turned back to Leatherhead. "You never know what you'll find next. Even trees and plants are always different, if you look close enough!"

Chris seemed more...open to experiences than most humans. That's what he liked about the Kratt, "I want to go there again..."

"It is nice...I wish I could stay forever..."

My Monster and Me...

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