undergrounds | A bobcat and a squirrel walk into a house...

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A bobcat and a squirrel walk into a house...

Feb 3rd; Hillingdon House
Daryl was a hunter. Daryl was a good hunter. He could set a snare and shoot a turkey between the eyes at a hundred paces. What Daryl was not was a trapper. Keeping the things he hunted alive usually went against his nature.

Today, just a few hours before stomping through Hillingdon's doors, that nature had been challenged and he, well...

"I need a trapper," he announced loudly and tersely, shoulders tense and eyes darting around to see if anyone understood what he was talking about. "Pest control, even. The kind that do humane trapping that don't kill or harm the rodents. Anyone know anyone?"

At worst, one of the mice or rat shifters might. Was better than nothing.

Feb 5th; A park (Dawn); Closed to first responder
Daryl had a trap. He had the kid's scent. And now he just had to find her and convince her the trap wasn't a trap and... hell, would she even understand what he was saying? He'd only managed to realize she was human in some sense when she'd decided shifting and kicking him in the head would do more to save her ass than squeaking loudly as his paws came down on her. Convincing her he wasn't out to eat her now might be impossible.

Which is why he had back up. Turning to his accomplice, he whispered, (not for the first time), "If I can't get her to come eat, you gotta do it for me. I can take watch."

Because having someone on watch was very important. Especially if she shifted again. Two grown adults chasing a naked 3 or 4 year old in a public park would look really, really, really bad. God help them if it took all day...

Feb 5th; Dinnertime; For Liadan
Daryl pounded on the door to Liadan's place. The day had been a very long and tiring one and he hadn't been able to get his daily nap in which meant he was cranky as all get out. The tiny squirrel squirming around in the bandana he held tightly shut was not doing anything to calm him down, either. He knew he needed to let the kid out, but he couldn't do it at his house (he'd tried, that was a disaster: see lack of nap). And Liadan had experience with some of the Clan's children, so it was to her he went.

Between Feb 8th to around Feb 20th; Hillingdon House
It wasn't the first time this sort of thing had happened in the back rooms of Hillingdon. Every so often one of the shifters tied to the clan couldn't get a sitter or didn't feel comfortable just yet with leaving their kid somewhere so they brought them to the house and set them off in one of the side rooms where they couldn't get into too much trouble. And every so often those kids would be small enough and just discovering their ability to shift that they ended up naked and running through the house. This was simply the first time Daryl had to deal with it and the kid wasn't even his. Well, technically. He was having no luck finding any info on Squirrel shifters that had lost a child in the last five years so chances were her parents were either out of the country, or dead.

Still, over the last few days, sight had become a regular one at the house. A small girl, maybe on the cusp of turning four, galloping through the non-public rooms giggling like a banshee and followed after by one Daryl Dixon, red as an apple, yelling at her to "GET BACK HERE AND PUT YOUR DAMN CLOTHES ON!".

After the 20th; Around London, but especially Richmond
It took almost three weeks to get the girl to listen to him and not try to shift in public and to keep her clothes on when she was human. A fair achievement for someone that had the literal attention span of a squirrel. Alert, but not necessarily focused. By then she was nearly attached to him by the hip and Daryl had started to take her out with him on his daily errands and even to work. He did his best to maintain her attention by talking to her in a quiet and constant string of explanations about what things were and what he was doing and that she really shouldn't try to touch that one thing there or put it in her mouth (oh dear lord not the anti-freeze!). Whether he'd intended to or not from the get go, he'd kind of adopted her and would need to put paperwork in soon with the right officials to try and make it, well, official.

That could probably wait until next month, though. For the moment, he was okay with carrying her on his hip or holding her hand and guiding her around while she stared at everything with wide eyes and wonder. Hopefully she'd start talking to him soon. He could only hope she was half understanding him as it was.

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Liadan was surprised by the knocking and hurried to see what was going on. She was even more surprised to find Daryl on the other side. She took one look at his face and asked, "What's wrong?"

Daryl held up the bandana which had something small moving around in it, "I need your help. Can I come in?"

There wasn't much in the world that could get Rorschach to smile. He especially hadn't found much amusing since he'd died. But watching a red-faced Daryl chase after a small child running naked through the house managed to do it. One gloved hand was covering the spot on his mask where his mouth would be, and beneath the fabric, a slow twitch of the lips had come over him.

He watched the child zoom around at top speed and he was getting tired just looking at her. Little girl seemed to have an abundance of energy. He watched them pass by one, two, and three times before he finally decided to intervene. "Want help?" He asked Daryl, trying very hard to suppress the amused note coloring his tone.

"Daryl!" Nancy's the one to reach out to him this time, raising a hand to give him a quick wave. Taking advantage of the mild weather, she'd been out for a bit of a jog, hair tossed up in a ponytail and her earbuds playing silly pop music. She came to a stop when she saw him, turning off her music.

She approaches him with a smile, and was about to ask if he had a few minutes to chat when she realized oh- there was a small child on his hip.

"Oh, hullo there, lovely," Nancy said, looking at the little girl. Her voice was soft and warm. "Who's this, then?" She glanced up at Daryl, assuming she was his daughter. They didn't know each other well enough for her to be aware of any family of his. For all she knew, he could be married with kids.

Liadan wasn't sure exactly what to make of whatever it was in the bandanna but she opens the door wider. "Yes, of course."

After the door was firmly closed behind them, she asked "What exactly is going on?"

"Ain't slept all day," he said. Then amended, "I mean, I slept some last night, around midnight, but usually I get some sleep around noon, too. A little 'fore or after maybe, but I ain't been able to 'cause of this little shit."

Daryl held the bandana up again, though he was clearly being careful about how he was holding it so as not to jostle whatever was inside too much.

"She's got too much energy and gets into too many corners. Tried letting her out at my place and she just tore it right up. Figured she'd hide for a few hours, get used to the room, that sorta thing. Nah... She zipped about looking at everything, climbing on everything, pushing shit off shelves. Chewing on shit she shouldn't. I need you ta watch her for a couple hours. Please. You handle kids all the time, you can do that, right?"

"Uh, hi," he greeted her, mind blanking for a second at here appearance. He hadn't known she frequented the area of town they were in, but then he didn't know a lot about her beyond what had been said in the trial chamber.

After a second he realized she'd asked about the little terror in his arms and he bounced her while turning to smile at her. Her attention was locked on Nancy.

"This here is Dammit Girl-"

"Dammit!" she repeated. Loudly. With a grin.

"-but I've been trying to get her to respond to Willow. Ain't had much luck."

"Hullo there, Willow," Nancy says calmly towards the child, not doing anything to encourage her use of curse words. "How old are you, beautiful?"

She glances over at Daryl. "She's not your daughter, I'll take it?" There's a careful note in her words. She was not above stealing Dammit Girl and taking her someplace safe, if she had any indication Daryl could be a threat to her. But the girl seemed happy enough with Daryl.

"Dammit!" she repeated, laughing.

Daryl blushed a little with embarrassment at her enthusiasm for the word, but he wasn't that upset about it. He had to readjust her on his hip as her attention was pulled away by a pigeon coming to land not far from them and peck at some fallen food. She put her hands on his shoulders and pushed, as if about to climb.

"Nah, don't do that," he said, taking a second to pat her on the back and shift her just enough he could get his face in front of hers and redirect that short focus. "You need to stay here, okay? We're talkin' to Nancy now."

He spun his body and walked sideways to get closer to Nancy and get Willow looking at her again, "This is Nancy."

Whatever worry Nancy had, Daryl missed it totally with how completely the girl in his arms had him wrapped around her fingers. He looked over at her, "Ain't sure her age. She's only just learning to talk. Think it's close to four, though, from her size. Still working on getting the paperwork filed to make her mine. Shuffling her off to somewhere else after I got her used to me enough to stay human when she's with me didn't seem like the right thing to do."

Edited 2017-02-04 02:20 (UTC)

Daryl had more energy than most normal humans, and when it came to hunting squirrels, he could easily say he was faster... as a cat. As a human, not so much. Didn't help that the little shit liked to get into everything she could and climb everywhere.

He let himself slow to a stop and lean up against a wall to catch his breath. Her jumper dangling from his fingertips where his hand sat at his hip. He had to take a couple before he could respond to one of their resident ghosts. One he didn't see much, but had seen around. Guy was creepy with that weird mask and Daryl always wondered if maybe he was suffocated by it and that's why he still had it in death. Never quite curious enough to actually ask, though.

"You think you can herd her back this way, sure."

Did he know someone? Well, of course he did, and just Daryl's luck, the person Roddy had in mind just got out of jail last week. The question was, would he want to work with a big, scary bobcat? Then again, his dad could use the work to get back into the swing of things.

"Yeah, I know someone. Not sure if he'll be too happy about finding out I've been hanging around a bobcat, but he's in pest control and has a very strict personal policy against harming rodents. Why? What's up?"

Edited 2017-02-04 02:42 (UTC)

Nancy gave the girl a little wave.

"How did- how did you find her?" Better Daryl, then, than Fagin. With Fagin, nothing had been done legally. Here he was already trying to get papers filed. It was darling, really. But she still was going to be wary, likely for the rest of Willow's life.

"Four? You're awfully big, aren't you, Willow?" Without waiting for an answer, she starts digging in her purse, until she pulls out a small fruit bar. "Are you hungry, lovely?" She knows how to win the trust of wild children.

She glances at Daryl.

"I have a lot of little brothers."

It was currently the only offer on the table and Daryl was going to take it.

"Got a squirrel I need caught." Straightforward. A little rushed because it was kind of urgent and he was panicking a little. "Out in Richmond Park. Near Sawyer's Hill. Don't know how to catch 'em without using claws."

Willow's head tilted with curiosity and she reached out for the fruit bar. If she knew what it was or was just curious about the wrapping on it, Daryl couldn't say. He certainly hadn't fed her anything like that yet. Lots of nuts from a tin, though. She liked nuts.

"Nancy's got a treat for you," he said as she took it, trying to explain, "You gotta open it. You remember how to do that, right?"

"Richmond Park. Was uh..." And here Daryl coughed, a sense of shame rolling over him before he could shake it off and continue, "Out. In the park. Spotted her with some other squirrels."

He wasn't going to get into the fact that he almost ate her because she'd spent so much time around actual squirrels he hadn't been able to tell she was a shifter until she became human and socked him in the jaw with her heel. Better not to get into that.

He cleared his throat again and and reached up to brush some stray hair out of her eyes, "Been looking for her parents but ain't found no one in the community that knows nothin' about her. Ain't so many shifters in London that it'd be a hard search if they was still around."

Meanwhile, Willow had taken the bar in both hands and started to nibble at the packaging. Daryl eyed her carefully in case she tried shoving it in her mouth to hold onto for later. Human cheeks weren't as good for hoarding as squirrel.

"Shifter, I'm guessing?" Because otherwise, wanting to catch a random squirrel in a park wouldn't make much sense. "It's my dad, he's a rat shifter, too. If you want I can take you out to meet with him or give you his number or something."

Edited 2017-02-04 03:34 (UTC)

Oh fuck. His dad? Another rat shifter?

"uh..." Daryl blinked, looking Roddy over a second, "Better if you introduce us. And yeah. She's a shifter. Likes to stay a squirrel and needs to be grabbed before she causes too much trouble."

Nancy's heart wrenches at the thought of the poor little girl living as a squirrel. Instantly, she takes a step forward, but at the last moment remembers this girl probably doesn't want a hug.

She laughs a little, looking at the girl. She certainly was eager to eat the food, that was for sure. "I'm so sorry to hear that- I'll ask around, too, see if anyone I know has any ideas." She had friends with the witches still, and in the nest as well.

"Poor thing. But it looks like she's in good hands. Let me know, if you need help with anything, too- babysitting, even. Like I said, I have a lot of brothers, so it'd be no trouble at all." she smiles a little. Babysititng. Hey, that was a normal job for a twenty-year-old to have.

Which was exactly what she wanted to talk to him about.

Fortunately, Willow's gnawing had started to tear the package open so she got the the tastier insides and decided to abandon the wrapper. The whole of the bar disappeared into her mouth where her cheeks puffed up to accommodate it. But before Daryl could worry too much she started to visibly chew. He took the package form her and read it's name aloud.

"...that's the kind you're eating, Willow," he informed her, holding the package up. "Know you can't read yet, but we'll work on that, too."

The package got shoved in his pocket so he could remember to buy some more of that later and he let his attention drift to Nancy, a smirk on his lips, "A babysitter? You got time for that with your boyfriend up on the council?"

He wasn't going to say it just yet, but if pressed, he wasn't trusting Nancy to watch Willow. Not with a vampire boyfriend she could take her home to. Nuh uh. He was cool with the Nest for the most part, but there were some paranoias he wasn't going to shake so easily.

Nancy, for her part, smiles with pride. She was so happy for Cooper. He was a brilliant man, and it wasn't often that he got to show it. It was finally time that he could. She nods. "Yeah- you heard about that, huh?" she looks down at her Nikes, sheepish. "But I do. I'm, ah... not exactly working right now."

She looks back up at him. "I don't suppose your offer is still on the table, is it?"

Please. Why go through the trouble of kidnapping a child for dinner when Nancy was perfectly delicious herself? Gosh, she'd probably be offended if she knew that was the reason.

It would be an exaggeration to say that Natasha almost doesn't see Daryl because of his companion, but she really isn't expecting to see him out with a child. The context does give her a brief moment of pause.

Then she approaches, her smile almost uncertain. Natasha isn't what one might call experienced with children. "Daryl. Whose your friend?"

Well, you didn't see that everyday.

Sirius has to take a quick step back into the kitchen to avoid the girl flying by, before glancing up at Daryl. He's trying not look too amused, but has been finding that rather difficult lately.

"Do I even want to ask?"

He has the jist of the situation, but it's more fun to tease. Even if he's asking for trouble.

Rorschach lifted up two fingers, giving a salute. He liked Daryl well enough, but the real reason he was doing this was for the sake of the little girl. Though Rorschach seemed apathetic to human beings of all kinds, he held a soft spot in his heart for children. They were innocent and should have been kept ignorant of the world's cruelties for as long as possible.

He disappeared and reappeared right in front of the girl. She skidded to a stop, looking up at the masked ghost with surprise. This was a new development. He wasn't actively looking to scare her. That would just rile her up more and Daryl would never catch her. Slowly, he took one glove off, and brought the two fingers up to his mouth. Slipping them under the edge of the mask, he used them to create a piercing whistle. She'd been a rodent most of her life, and they did have a tendency to react to loud sounds. Just as he was hoping, the whistle combined with his unnatural look startled the girl into turning around, heading right back towards Daryl.

"I was on the Night Train. Hard to miss it," he answered before moving on to her question. She'd basically ignored the offer for so long he figured she'd either forgotten about it or gotten something else. But it had been weeks and while he personally was still willing to vouch for her... "Gonna have to talk to the boss. Think she has her eye on someone for the position. It's been hard to fill, but she ain't stopped looking, you know? Should probably head on over or give her a call if you want to try for it."

He readjusted Willow, once again having to move to catch her attention as she started to squirm and draw it back to him, "You lose the card I gave you? Can get you a new one."

Daryl smiles when Natasha approaches, though until she greets him he keeps his voice low and speaks only to the kid. The kid that squeezes in against his leg. She's short, a little under a meter tall, and looks smaller than she is. She also knows how to cling very securely to his jeans and by the time Natasha is close enough to talk to, she's got both her feet on top of one of Daryl's and is basically riding his leg around as he walks. Fortunately he's strong enough to deal with it.

"This is Willow," he answers, patting her head with one hand and trying to pry her fingers off with the other. "She's getting tired. We been out all day. Sorry about this."

"Squirrel," Daryl says by way of introduction as he slows down. He'd been doing this near daily and he'd figured out that half-assing his chasing actually made the girl slow up. She wanted him to chase him. It was play to her. He could catch her faster if he let her get close enough to try and 'tempt' him into getting back into the game. Didn't stop her from being enough of a little shit about it that he didn't still get frustrated, though.

"Found her the park. No parents. Don't understand human just yet, but sure as hell knows her squirrel." He glanced over at Sirius, "but I sure as fuck don't."

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A bobcat and a squirrel walk into a house...

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Feb. 9th

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