Mounting annoyance.
Fingers gripping at her fur with that slight pinch, the sensation all too similar to having a spider crawl over your skin. The pattering of feet along her spine, starting at the tail and sliding up towards her head only to spin around and move back the other way. Some were slow, a few brave ones opted to run, and yet others still had the misfortune to fall over the side. Daniel could only sit still and try not to make things more difficult, grateful that so many would give an offering a fish and yet more pleased that people stopped panicking. But with so many petting and climbing it became mildly painful, and thanks to the size difference it was less like being surrounded by puppies and more like having a hoard giant rats scramble up your bare skin.
It was obvious none of them were trying to cause any discomfort, or at least if any were making a deliberate attempt then they had the wisdom to avoid being overly blatant about it. But one child of maybe ten years slips off the side and reaches for the nearest object to blunt his fall, and his fingers happen to curl into a lock of the lioness fur. A forceful tug, a violent pull, and Daniel is left feeling the sting as the climber regains his footing. Another teenager attempts to pull himself up, simply reaching as high as his arms would go, bracing into the light tan fluff, and then walking up the side with his feet against her flank. Adults would invariably neglect the difficulties of climbing high and pretending to ride, content to simply touch, to feel, their arms smoothing down her fur and poking into the paws she lay on. Smooth hands sliding back and forth the exposed stomach, multiple people filing in and out from either side. The gentlest would ease with the grain of the fur in its looping patterns down her flanks and ribs, others would stroke at what could only be described as random.
Daniel bore it, not with a grin but rather a stoic resignation. What proved more awkward was how immediately dismissive everyone proved upon having questions answered.
“Where does it come from?” A woman asks. The fourth iteration of such a benign question.
“I’m from Longport, trying to get back there actually.”
“Someone would have noticed a tigerlady in the big cities.” A middle aged man from the opposite shoulder calls up in between reaching twin arms out to grab a child from between Daniel’s wings.
“How many times do I have to keep saying it, I’m not a … wait. Did you say tiger?”
“She’s a lion silly!” one of the other kids giggles, sliding down the sphinx’s tail and bounding off around the crowd, only to have a teenager take that place clamboring above the spind and between her wings.
“He’s not a lion, you mean.” Daniel huffs with an upturned nose.
“Can’t say I am, nope.” Yet another man in what appeared to be his mid twenties interjects, a hand rising up to touch over that massive yet all too human nose. Treating Daniel the way one might treat a horse.
“I was talking about me!” Daniel’s eyes narrow, the man’s flannel shirt being ruffled back by the all too sudden force of a lion’s breath.
“Oh right, you’re one of those pyramid things?” A woman from Daniel’s flank offers as unhelpfully as ever. The winged lion might have offered another huff if someone pulling at her feathers didn’t elicit a pained wince.
“You mean a Sphinx, and no. I’m actually a human fro- …”
“Here’s another fish miss! Thanks for being so nice!”
Daniel finds herself cut off by the scent more so than the distraction. Trying to force a smile past her resigned sigh as she closes her teeth around the meager offering and is yet again reminded of how much food this new body needed. The inherent difficulty in having enough money to pay for the hundreds of fast food burgers crossed her mind, added to issue of dealing with plastic wraps when her paws were all but useless.
“Thank you for the food, sir.” She says to the child, eyes closing as grabby hands touch at her shoulders, her arms, someone even lifting her tail up and trying to wrap it around their neck.
With a longing glance the aggravated yet full sphinx turns her attention toward the waters, looking at how many from the beaches filtered in toward this one spot. Their absence doing a grand job of instilling this sense of emptiness throughout the rest of the park. On the other hand with so few bodies cluttering the waters and boats returning to their docks, it was a bit easier to make out which specific people were still there. Be it those who’ve already given offerings and sated their curiosity, or …
Written by Arbon on 04 January 2017