{Journalism and raptor training} 1x1 with Natasha Romanoff.

[lavender moon]

I nodded. I was excited but I calmed my nervous and approached slowly. Without making and sudden moves, I stood next to the muzzle type thing. I knew animals could sense fear and I didn't want to spread that to the raptor. I calmed my nerves before slowly reaching out my hand. I was close enough that if Blue was comfortable she could lean forward and I would be able to touch her. If she was still worried she could easily show it and I was back off.

As I waited I thought. Animals showed you the half of you that you wouldn't be able to see without them. They truly brought out the best in people. Sadly a lot of people mistreated animals. That always broke my heart. Thankfully Owen seemed to know what he was doing and had taken time to care for the animals. This was his world. This was the raptor's world. They lived in a large paddock but they were content there and along the way they had developed a strong bond with a human. They couldn't speak but they still communicated. That was the true beauty of it all.

I snapped back into reality. I looked into Blue's eyes with a calm look. Of course I didn't expect her to trust me yet. I didn't expect anyone to trust me fully as I rarely trust anyone else. That's because of my past though. I past I didn't chose, but one I live with. The animals had better judgement than I ever would anyways and could decide for themselves if I was trustworthy or not. I was still a little worried and I couldn't move any closer and I couldn't move farther. Maybe this was a bad idea? How was this so easy to Owen? I pulled my hand away quickly. "Maybe I shouldn't..." There I went second guessing myself. I always thought too much into things.

[Spock and Kirk]

◗-----------𝒪𝓌𝑒𝓃 𝒢𝓇𝒶𝒹𝓎
“Friends are medicine for a wounded heart..."
xxxxxxxxxxx~ Unknown
xxxxxx|| Male || Alpha || --

xxx blues eyes darted back and forth. From myself to the stranger and back a few times. She had stopped purring and appeared to be more uneasy. I looked at her putting my hand right on her cheek. Shh, just relax girl. It’s okay. She was rightfully so worried about who entered her paddock. She has good reason to be on edge, she’s the beta. It’s her job to look after her sisters and part of that job is making sure that they don’t get attacked by any outside forces without her knowledge. She’s good that way, always has been and always will be. I am honestly not sure what she will do without her three sisters. Blue relies on them all for so much, it’s how her pack worked. She was hard wired for it. I have it in my research, more or less the newer reports with the pack dynamic. I could feel her muscles relaxing a little bit. However I didn’t realize that I was so caught up in the moment I forgot about the reporter.

xxx my eyes snapped back to dawn. She seemed to be just as uneasy as blue was around her. No doubt the fact that blue could sense her emotion was not helping with her own uncertainty about the new person. I after all wanted her to touch the raptor. Maybe it could help the animals get a little less of a bad rap. They are so much more complex then what people know about them right now. I didn’t realize that I was staring at Dawn until I felt it was too late. She was good looking that’s for sure, but the fact that I thought this sort of thing in the first place made a pang of guilt hit me in the stomach. I haven’t even attempted a relationship since the accident. The accident I never spoke of, but it’s not like Dawn was interested in me. She’s probably got a beau already for all I know. Besides she’s not going to be on the island for long. She’s only here to report on the IBRIS project. That’s it. I need to keep that in mind.

xxx I snapped out of assessing how attractive I found the person in front of me but turned back to thinking about her getting to pet blue. Which was a strange concept, I usually let blue come to me. Since I felt she was going to get caught in hesitance like most others when they first entered the paddock I decided to take matters into my own hands. “give me your hand. It might help her not be as on edge. I don’t introduce her to many new people” I outstretched my hand for her to grab it. I honestly didn’t know what I was doing but I hoped that it would work: the raptor was looking directly at me a little bit confused. She wasn’t sure what to believe, me telling her she was okay or the stranger standing in front of her.

[lavender moon]

I hadn't entirely noticed Owen looking at me and when I did I simply thought it was because I was trying to pet his Beta. Hes right hand man, or in this case raptors. Of course, I had been right. Blue seemed to feed off of my nervous energy. She had a right to be anyways. Here I was, a total stranger, barging into her territory with her leader. That would make me uneasy as well.

I looked back to Owen. I had almost missed what he had said. "Alright."I agreed and reached out the hand with the star on it to him. Blue would be more likely to trust me if her leader did. I relaxed this time and took slow, deep breaths. Strangely, I felt safe. Having Grady there, him holding my arm, it made me feel safe.I looked into his blue eyes for about 10 seconds before turning back my attention to the raptor, looking down a bit. I was finally calm. I felt at peace. I really felt odd. I had never felt this way before. "I'll try not to freak out this time. The whole, reaching out to touch a raptor thing just overwhelmed me a little." I wouldn't freak out this time. Not with Owen there. Now that my energy was calmer hopefully Blue would feel a little more at ease. I know personally that having strange people in your environment for the first time can be either exciting or frighting. Rarely it's both. Now, Owen would guide my hand and I wouldn't have to worry.

[Spock and Kirk]

◗-----------𝒪𝓌𝑒𝓃 𝒢𝓇𝒶𝒹𝓎
“Friends are medicine for a wounded heart..."
xxxxxxxxxxx~ Unknown
xxxxxx|| Male || Alpha || --

xxx I could see the worry flashing in her eyes I don’t blame her for any of it. People know velociraptors as being killing machines. Which I suppose was true in some senses, but they do need to be taught how to behave: like dogs. They don’t behave properly without having a social leader that is able to teach them how to treat each other. It’s interesting interesting with the pack dynamic in that way. It makes me feel as though I am really making a difference in their lives. Maybe someday they will be able to raise the hatchlings together. I wouldn’t be surprised, however they might need some guidance on that front from me. It would be nice honestly to see them be able to act and learn as though they were straight out of the past.

xxx I carefully took dawns hand and brought it closer to blue however as it hovered above her scales I heard her growl a little bit uneasily. I took my other hand and ran it down her snout. ”ssh, you are okay” I was calm and looking straight into her amber eyes. I turned back to down making sure she seemed alright with this as well. I carefully placed her hand on Blue’s cheek. Blue was not exactly thrilled with this, but she wasn’t stressed out either. I continued to rub her in attempts to calm her down, it usually worked along with a few hand gestures that she had picked up on. I heard Charlie yelling from the corner. Poor girl was so needy, she’s always been that way. Even her sisters got irritated with her when she was clinging to their sides desperate for attention. She will be fine once I go see her, I hope anyways. Either that or she got far too excited making the others that were watching the paddock nervous.

[lavender moon]

I let Owen guide my hand but I almost pulled back again when I heard the growl. Thankfully, Owen made sure that I didn't.
Instead he calmed the blue-scaled animal. I wasn't extremely surprised that he had calmed the raptor so quickly. Blue seemed to ease up even more when he was there. It was reassuring to think that their bond was so strong. Maybe one day I'd fine a bond like that.
At the moment, I'd stick to training and teaching animals.

I felt my hand make contact with Blue. She didn't seem to excited about me petting her but she wasn't growling anymore at least.
I lightly pet her check. Not like you would a dog, but in a calming, soothing way. I heard a screech which made me look up. One of the other sisters sounded like she wanted some attention. "Which one is the one yelling?" I asked. It made me a little sad that one of the others wanted attention so badly. While the other raptor could just be jealous I knew what it was like to be clingy for the fear of being forgotten. Then again, I over think everything. It didn't hurt to ask though. From somewhere else in the paddock area I could hear more people moving about.

[Spock and Kirk]

◗-----------𝒪𝓌𝑒𝓃 𝒢𝓇𝒶𝒹𝓎
“Friends are medicine for a wounded heart..."
xxxxxxxxxxx~ Unknown
xxxxxx|| Male || Alpha || --

xxx I could see that Dawn seemed a little bit nervous about touching blue. I cannot blame her for this at all. Any other person I’ve done this with is the same way. Always nervous. I’ve had one actually refuse to touch her, blue refused to stop growing anyways. She bared her teeth as well, possibly from the worry that the human had been exhibiting. It’s really something that goes two ways. There is nothing that you can do if you are going to be nervous, it’s like they can smell fear. I suppose they don’t smell it, but they do sense it. I smiled a bit when Dawn seemed to become entranced with petting blue, the raptor remaining calm as well which was new. I am sure blue seemed to know how this new person could be trusted. It was nice that blue has such a good sense of character. Some piece of me ached knowing that dawn was not going to stay on the island. I just met her, how can I be so stupid? I knew... I knew that someone else for seven years before it happened... I shuttered trying to shut the memories out.

xxx Charlie was desperate for my attention as usual. However Dawn didn’t know about all the little intricacies of the pack. The things that bothered the other three raptors, and better yet the things that bothered blue. I looked into dawns eyes. The way the light sparkled off of them made me think of Chrystal clear water off the coast of the island. She was a delightful mystery but still forbidden. I am not ready to move on, despite it being four years. Besides, she’s only here to see the raptors. Not me. Honestly if anyone came here to see me alone I would be honoured. Yet still would be skeptical of their true intentions. ”Charlie, she’s always been that way. Jealous and needy for attention. My attention specifically.” I hesitated to move from where Dawn was standing. I didn’t want to have blue react to something else and have her pull back out of fear. I stayed close looking over at the raptor that had screeched for my attention. She could wait. Despite what she may say.

[lavender moon]

I relaxed knowing that Blue was postively more at ease now. She had stopped baring her teeth and that was a good thing. Hopefully, she’d accepted me now. It seemed like she did but that doesn’t mean I would walk into the paddock with her. One day I’d like to see Owen do that. I knew it was dangerous to do but a part of me really, truly believed he could.

My attention had set on the other raptor. It was almost cute how the other raptor wanted attention so much. I wasn’t going to encourage it though. That could become a problem if the other raptor decided to become aggressive about it. I listened to Owen. Charlie. So far there was Blue and Charlie. That’s all I knew though. My Apple Watch started buzzing. It wasn’t my idea to get one but my friend had suggested I should so I could talk to her while I was traveling. I was going to be late if I didn’t leave. I moved away from the raptors slowly. ”Sorry Owen, I have an interview to get to. Can we talk later? I’d like to learn more about the raptors.”I smiled a little at him. I had to go but I wanted to wait for a response. I could always get to the interview a little later. I wasn’t too worried about it as I was one of the only ones being interviewed to be the parks official reporter. I would be the one getting out information to the press and the world.

[Spock and Kirk]

◗-----------𝒪𝓌𝑒𝓃 𝒢𝓇𝒶𝒹𝓎
“Friends are medicine for a wounded heart..."
xxxxxxxxxxx~ Unknown
xxxxxx|| Male || Alpha || --

xxx I had become to caught up in the moment that it was strange to be snapped out of my stupor all of a sudden by Dawn having to leave. I was grateful that I could get some time to myself tonight of course but still. I needed to make plans to be able to relax. It’s been a rough week for both me and the four raptor sisters. I felt bad that they had to suffer because of my suffering. I have always wondered how they would react to myself being in-distress. Would they act like military dogs fighting to save me at all costs or would they take the opportunity to overtake my authority and kill me. It’s not like I would be willing to test that theory. I would have to be tortured in order to conduct proper experiments. Ha. No one would ever be willing to do so. I know this better than I know the four raptors standing in front of me. No one would be able to use their authority to test a crazy hunch like that one.

xxx dawns comment snapped me back into reality. She did have to go, I am sure she had a busy schedule while she was here at the park. I felt bad having her leave, although for some reason I felt the sting of betrayal. Don’t ask why as I could not give you a solid answer. It was like my subconscious didn’t want me to be alone. As though I were suddenly terrified of not having another human being with me at all times. Strange. I’m just over reacting. I really need to get in to see a doctor, it could be the medication starting to ware off. Which was going to be a headache, but it’s better than the constant torment of my past being packaged into small bouts I can deal with. Despite all my thinking about it I did still need to respond to the strange companion ”yes of course. You must be busy. Don’t bother honestly, if you have time go ahead.” pushing people away, a skill I’ve learned very well since the one I let in left me suddenly. The pain drifted back to me slowly, the snort Delta let out as though she were trying to reach through the species barrier and get me to snap out of my trance. I wasn’t going to say anything else but the sound of footsteps approaching alerted me to the presence of someone else in the paddock. My eyes snapped to the door and there was Vic. I have a feeling he and Dawn will crash into each other. ”wait-!” I cried out before it was too late. He had walked right into her.

[lavender moon]

I heard Owen's voice but had no time to react. It was always like that. You would only ever hear someone a moment to late. I felt someone bump into me. I stumbled backwards a bit. When I finally stopped crashing to the ground, I looked up to see another person. I almost snapped at the man for being so clumsy, then again, I could be clumsy as well. Holding back the remark, I stood up and brushed myself off. "Thanks for the warning Owen." I said in a sarcastic tone. It wasn't rude or snapish. Just a joking tone. Now, any reasonable person would've said sorry and got to where they needed to be. At this point I knew I wasn't a reasonable person a quarter of the time. I was fine though. I mean I had been knocked down, not pushed off a cliff. "Sorry for standing in your way."Okay, so it came out a little sassy. What else should I have said though? The man in front of me had brown eyes. I had never really liked brown eyes to be honest. I couldn't explain it. I just didn't. It was a fact.

At this point I was already going to be late so I guess my brain was thinking 'hold on! We can be later.' So there I stood. I was going to be at least 10 minutes late already. Welcome to Dawn's brain and how it functions.

[Spock and Kirk]

◗-----------𝒪𝓌𝑒𝓃 𝒢𝓇𝒶𝒹𝓎
“Friends are medicine for a wounded heart..."
xxxxxxxxxxx~ Unknown
xxxxxx|| Male || Alpha || --

xxxi felt guilty about it. However I did feel guilty about most situations that I was in. It’s not an uncommon thing for me which is a pity. However both of them seemed to be fine which was a plus; however Dawn seemed upset about the interaction. I knew that the guilt was coming from elsewhere but I decided to pin it on the situation. I also got a glare from Vic who appeared to not be impressed by the person he had run into. It’s uncommon for him to care about what I do with the raptors. It’s never what he wants, so why bother caring? Unless of course he is prodding me for something, this was also a normal occurrence. Vic always needed me to do something for him. InGen was the one who was paying for the project in the first place. It’s honestly the least I can do to listen to Vic, even if I never really do as he asks. To an extent anyways.

xxx Hoskins gave Dawn a strange look. As though he were assessing her worthiness to be able to pet tr raptors. He always treated them as though they were a firearm or a Panzer of some kind. All in all, to him my family of raptors were an asset. A way for him to finally make the millions he’s always talked about. Too bad he never got into West Point, but I can honestly see why he didn’t. He’s not exactly if pure moral character. ”so terribly sorry miss. his voice seemed to be on the edge of respectful and sarcastic. ”finally found a replacement, Grady?” i seized up. I don’t have the strength to talk about this.

xxx I cant lie to him, he would call me out for it based on the Midshipmen code. The code that I followed to the letter despite having it not really being applicable to my life. It was a good code to live by and so it is what I wanted to live by. I paused for a while contemplating my reply. I won’t like but I will avoid commenting. It’s for the best, before... I shut my eyes tight trying to keep the memories out: “Miss Hayes, you should be on your way.” I was far too harsh with this comment. I will have to explain later if Dawn wishes to come back and talk to me. Which at this point I doubt, it’s not like people wanted to talk to someone who is as unpredictable as I can be.