Orchid - 2 - Monsterhorse

"You must be bored in here."
>"Yeah, I don't do much beside jaeger trials."
"Do you ever get recess or play days or something?"
>"I've been out before," she murmurs, looking further into the pool.
>"Just, not much."
"So what happened last time you were let out of the dome?"
>"Well..."

>You sat down on the concrete floor and took a sip of coffee from a thermos you had brought along.
"It couldn't have been that bad."
>The kaiju clicked the tips of her forehooves together.
>"I guess it was kind of funny. I was having fun, at least."
"See? Go on."
>"Alright. So, they let me out of the dome so I could swim around since I wasn’t being called out to have any practice fights for a while."
>That reminds you, you’ve been working at the dome for a week now and haven’t seen her leave her concrete housing room.
>"I was relaxing on the bottom when I saw a shadow and found a little boat floating above."
"A boat? Don’t they cordon the area off?"
>"Yes, but apparently this one came through anyway. I think he was curious."
>Did those little glowing tips of Orchid’s hair just get a little brighter?
>"I went over to the boat and started to play with it."
>You quirked an eyebrow, having learned by now that those big blue eyes of hers gave more than enough detail for her to notice.
"And how do you ‘play’ with a boat?
>"I swam over and I pushed it around with a hoof."
"There wasn't anyone on it?"
>Orchid sunk a little lower into the chamber’s pool.
>"At first I thought it was just a special present for behaving so well, but then he started screaming as my hoof rose up out of the water beside the boat."
"And you stopped, right?"
>The way she swallowed, drooped those little blue dangly things, and lowered her ears were answer enough.
>"It was kind of funny; I dropped it back under the water and used another one on the other side. He'd freak out and go to the opposite side again, and I'd just pop up the other hoof again."
>You were sure now, she was glowing a shade brighter.
>"I did this a couple of times until I giggled a little too loudly and he noticed me and really got scared."
"Weren't you supposed to be supervised?"
>The way she moved her withers and flexed her shoulders gave the vague impression of a shrug.
>"They were staring down some yacht perched on the borderline."
>She pursed her lip for a moment.
>"We see a lot of onlookers."
"So what happened with the boat guy?"
>"Well, I tried to tell him he was safe but I guess he didn't believe me."
"I wonder why."
>"I know, right? You'd think they'd know me by now."
>"I mean, hello, giant friendly looking horse!"
>You can't help but stare at a few of her teeth for a moment as you take a swig of coffee.
“Then what?”
>"So I pulled the boat closer."
"You what?"
>"I pushed the boat closer and when I did that he panicked and jumped overboard!"
>She splashed a hoof into the water for emphasis.
>"I got scared he might drown so of course I scream too and tried to save him because he didn't have a life jacket."
>She raised herself out of the pool a ways.
>"But then I remembered I had hooves so that was hard and after I got him back out of the water I realized I had knocked his boat over."
>Orchid got more and more distressed as she retold the story.
>"But when I apologized he didn't respond so I started crying because I didn't know he was playing dead at the time and the supervisors arrived and started yelling at me when I was begging them to make him okay again because he was still playing dead and, and, and-!"
>The however-many-ton monster hushed when you touched your hand to her snout.
>You gave it a moment, watching membrane and muscles move as she blinked at you.
>You questioned if it was a smart move to have your hand so close to her mouth again, but it was done, and you didn't dare move it in the quiet that followed.
"Orchid."
>"Mhm?"
"When I stop poking your nose, you're going to calm down, okay?"
>She nodded weakly, eyes glowing softly in the chamber.
>"Okay."
>You took a few very hasty steps back to your usual spot on the platform, giving room to collect herself.
>Once you had sat back down, Orchid cleared her throat.
>"I felt so big and strong when I was playing," she confessed.
>"I, guess I normally don't get to feel like that when I fight the jaegers."