[video | un: TeaOnRice] wakey wakey eggs and -... nevermind it's just an egg

[gekkajuu]

[Atsushi likes his life on the planet, but now that he's on Thesa to help the people waking up, he doesn't mind spending the night. Or, rather: between all the simulations and the free food, he got so tired, he didn't even think to go home.

He wasn't expecting to wake up to a surprise next to his bed.]

I need help! No - some advice would do...

[At first, the video just shows a very panicky Atsushi, but the view shakily shifts to the bed, where an egg lies, the blankets carefully wrapped around its base so it won't roll off. It's not just any egg, either: it's huge, the size of Atsushi's arm.]

S-Sorry, I'm aware that this is a busy time for everyone, but... [The camera remains shaky, as does his voice.] I don't know what to do? This egg was next to me when I woke up, and... it's not very loud, but there's definitely a heartbeat inside of it.

If it was a chicken egg, I'd know what to do! And I'm sure that this egg just needs warmth and safety too, but... I have a job, now! I can't stay here. For that matter: even if I went home, I couldn't spend all day and all night keeping an egg warm... and I can't carry around something so big and expect to keep it safe...

... but I can't let it die.

[That comes before everything else, even his job that he's desperate to keep. It doesn't matter that he basically works on commission; he'd feel terrible if he didn't regularly check in to see if there's anything he can do. But now he's suddenly an egg mom dad on top of everything... This is too much responsibility all at once!]

I wonder if... maybe someone could babysit sometimes??

((OOC: omake thanks to Rune.))

Comments

video; un: Gnorlands

[rampager]

If I didn't know better, I'd wonder if you were visited by a cuckoo. [He gives the egg a long, long look, clearly surprised as well.] A very big cuckoo.

[If he was prone to flights of fancy, he'd be tempted to believe that one of his people woke up from stasis just to give birth and palm the result off on some random know-nothing. It would at least explain the size of the fuckin' thing.]

More to the point, you don't need to panic just yet. Caring for an egg is a relatively simple task. [One of his best friends is a bird, he's got this!! Because clearly only birds (and fish, and reptiles, and some other shit) hatch from eggs.] One step at a time: is the heartbeat steady and regular?

[gekkajuu]

[Thank God, someone to talk him through this. Okay, one step at a time. That's a good idea.]

It is! It's very soft, but... such a big egg probably muffles it a lot? And I don't know how big the embryo is...

[It's too big to just hold in front of a lamp, or something like that.

Meanwhile Atsushi grabs some blankets from another bed, adding them around the egg.]

It probably needs more warmth...

[rampager]

Don't worry about that. What's important is being able to hear the rhythm. Time it out when you have a chance so you can establish a baseline.

[This is what being invested in a good future for younger generations, even in the abstract, gets you: talking a guy down from sudden egg panic. Vorin watches Atsushi fuck around with the blankets for a few moments, thinking, then continues on.]

For now, test the temperature with the back of your hand for a few minutes. Eggs need to be kept warm, but not so warm that they overheat.

[Only detectives should be hard-boiled.]

text | username: No

[sullenstallion]

[Guess who has two thumbs, isn't responsible for this egg in any way, and hasn't stopped by to 'settle things once and for all' yet? This asshole.]

its mother will come back for it right
its huge so it probably belongs to a giant monster

text

[gekkajuu]

[The reply takes a while to come, because taking care of an egg is serious business. Clearly this is what they mean when they say that relationships can lose their spark once kids get in the way.]

I really don't think there's a monster living on Thesa Station...
Even if its mom comes back for it, I have to make sure it stays alive and well until then.

text

[sullenstallion]

[Hey, there can be monsters everywhere. And something clearly laid that egg. There's another possibility, though.]

it could belong to one of the new guys right
the ones that have been waking up
how hard of a sleeper are you that someone can lay an egg right next to your face

text, un: gardenGnostic

[witchhooded]

hi again!
i have an idea if you are open to it
i would need to see it in person though i think, i cannot do it remotely here as far as i am aware

[gekkajuu]

Any help at all would be welcome!

[He doesn't even say hi, he's so focused on taking care of this egg.]

What did you have in mind?

[witchhooded]

i can shrink it down so that it is pocket sized!
it would be the easiest way for you to keep an eye on it i think
maybe even in a little incubator if we can find one
and then when you need it normal sized again i can zoop over and return it to the right size! :)

text; un: fgk;;;;;''''aMM,sljdn...

[illuminating]

if you wish, i could lay with it from time to time.

[gekkajuu]

Thank you very much!
I'm sorry, the username doesn't ring a bell..?

[illuminating]

username?

[What an old dog…]

text | foster

[beknight]

[ He was out for morning exercise, and seeing this, ]

Do you have any idea who might have sent it?

[gekkajuu]

[Unfortunately (or fortunately?), Atsushi is on Thesa Station when he finds the egg. There's no need to be creeped out about people entering the house uninvited.... but still some major confusion in general.]

I don't. Someone suggested that it might be one of the newly awoken people, but I don't see why they would leave their egg with someone else.

But don't worry, I have a plan! Someone will temporarily shrink the egg for me, so it will be easier to carry around, and I've had some offers for babysitting, too.

[Don't worry, he is a responsible egg mom!!]

[beknight]

Do you think it's safe to shrink it?

[ Still don't know where the egg came from or what it does... or what it's meant to hatch into. ]

video / un: fivestar

[coolerjunpei]

Crack it open in the sun and you'll have enough fried egg for a month. [HA... anyway.........] But seriously, someone gave you an egg? What the hell did you do?

[Clearly, a big egg is a punishment.]

Don't they know what to do with animals at the stables? Leave it there.

[gekkajuu]

That's not very funny. It's actually alive, you know. [Siiigh. He knows it's a joke (OR SO HE HOPES), but he just can't laugh about it.]

I don't know that stables are fit for dealing with eggs? And for whatever reason this egg was entrusted to me... I'd feel bad just leaving it somewhere. What if whoever left it comes to get it back?

audio | un: saypeace

[b0mbshell]

That's really strange to wake up with an egg next to you.

[Might as well state the well-observed obvious while he's at it, huh?]

You could probably get a warm light of some sort to put over it.

Is that an ostrich or something?

[gekkajuu]

Believe me, it's new to me, too.

[At this point, he's almost hoping that it's not strange to at least one person, so he can get some idea of what happened and why.]

Yes, I'll try to find something like that when I get back to Olympia. [So much for the money he was saving. Sob.]

I don't think even ostrich eggs are this big... which is another reason I need to get it back to the city. Imagine it hatching here! The bird might fill the whole room.

text; un: ironborn

[reek]

It's about time for breakfast, is it not?

[ I am so sorry. ]

[gekkajuu]

It's alive!

[Why do people keep joking about eating it... Atsushi's stomach is rebelling at all thoughts of food now.]

I don't think I can ever eat an egg again.

video / un: mikazuki

[sparsity]

[ ah ]

...you too.

[gekkajuu]

The same thing happened to you?!

( text ) FROM: °˖✧♔KING JJ♔✧˖°

[underwhelms]

[ So JJ's only got so much of an attention span, and it doesn't help that he's also reading something else while half-
listening to Atsushi's post (because Atsushi is a good friend of his!!), that he only really pays attention to the last bit.

And even then, he types out a very empathetic: ]

did you get knocked up???
??????????

[ Atsushi is a guy but idk aliens. ]

[gekkajuu]

Knocked up?

[Distracted by egg momming dadding (and never once considering that anyone anywhere could follow that particular line of reasoning), Atsushi types the words oh so innocently before belatedly getting it.]

I DID NOT
FOR THAT MATTER: I CAN'T
AND IF I COULD, THAT WOULDN'T POSSIBLY FIT!??!

[Sure, let's focus on the logistics.]