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"Butch, put your knife away! You're scaring the poor guy!"
He froze, looking to me, "Are you... Seriously?!"
I cooed, "He's just a little baby!"
I sat on the ground, holding out my arms and making a grabby motion with my hands. The baby Deathclaw came up, sniffing my face and nipping at my hair before curling up comfortably between my legs. I scratched it's rough stomach, cooing and speaking to it as though it were an actual baby. It was, but it was still the size of large dog.
Butch stood behind me with his jaw dropped. He quietly put his blade away, and knelt down, putting one knee on the ground and narrowing his eyes at the creature curling up in my lap. He elbowed me and pointed to the Deathclaw, "Tell him that I'm the only one allowed between your legs."
"You tell him."
"I don't speak their language!"
The Deathclaw rolled over onto his stomach, and turned his head, allowing me to scratch at it's jaw and get its hind leg kicking. Butch frowned, "It's mocking me."
"He is not! He's just relaxing, and I suggest you do the same, before you upset him."
Butch rolled his eyes at me, and I smiled, gently taking his hand and holding it near the Deathclaw's nose. The creature sniffed rapidly, and opened its mouth. I watched as it took Butch's hand into it's mouth, not biting down, but sucking on it like it were a pacifier. I looked to Butch, who scrunched up his nose, "What is he doing?"
I let out a small laugh, "I have no idea, but he's not biting, so that's good."
"It feels like I'm getting eaten by pumpkin guts."
The Deathclaw released his hand and nudged my hand up with his nose, making me scratch him more. Butch wiped his hand on the back of my shirt, and stopped, watching me with silent wonder as I continued to coo at the creature. He looked around, "We should steal it."
I thought for a second, "Well... it's definitely unusual for it to be out without it's mother and Deathclaws usually travel together..."
Butch leaned over me, his face upside down in front of mine, "So can we keep him? Please? I'll feed him and clean up after him!"
I looked up, kissing him sweetly, "Fine. But remember that we have to let him go whenever he gets too big to keep indoors, alright?"
He kissed me twice more, "You're the greatest. What should we name him?" I looked back down to the animal as Butch walked to stand in front of me, tapping his foot lightly. I grinned, "We should name him Fish."
"Genius! This is the reason I love you."
"Hope it's not the only reason."
"Trust me, it's not. Now, how are we getting this thing home?"
I chuckled, "I think he'll just follow us. Unless you wanna carry him...?"
He blushed, "Pfft, I mean, he's only, what, 60 pounds...? I could carry him, I just... Shut up."
I chuckled and stood up, tapping my thigh and clicking my tongue, "Come on, Fish, let's go try to find out what you'll eat."
Butch walked next to me, "We should let him eat Moriarty."
