Promptober 2018

Poisonious

"And here's your host..... Mitch Grassi."

The brunette man ran out waving to his audience as he did every week night. He clapped along with the music and waited for the music and applause to die down before speaking.

"Give it up for our studio band lead by the talented Matt Sallee everyone." He paused for another round of claps and shouts. "So we've got a great show for y'all tonight. We've got the newly single Broadway star Kirstin Maldonado here to discuss her next big part. Then we will have the wonderful Kevin Olusola here to perform one of his newest singles. And last but not least we will have Scott Hoying, a conservationist from 'all the way down unda'." He spoke the last part with a rather annoying Australian accent but it made his viewers giggle and that's what this show was about.

After talking with the first two guests, Mitch introduced the next man walking on stage as Scott Hoying, Australian conservationist and zookeeper.

"So Mr. Hoying,"
"It's just Scott," the tall blonde replied, his accent causing Mitch to visibly swoon.
"Just Scott, tell us a bit about yourself and why you're here."
"Well, My names Scott Hoying, I was actually born here in the US, in Texas actually but my parents moved us before I was one, hints the heavy accent." He giggled and continued. "I'm twenty seven year old. I went to uni for conservation which is a fancy word for protecting our natural resource. Since then I've worked mainly with helping to improve the populations of several endangered species. Three years ago, my mate Avi and I opened up our first rehabilitation center then we combined with the Queensland zoo to expand our reach. Eventually leading us to open four more centers, two in Africa, one in South America, and our newest right here in the USA. Which is why I'm here today to discuss the importance of conservation and protecting our wildlife."
"That's so interesting, how did you decide to pursue this line of work?"
"Well, I mentioned my parents moved us all to Aussie. The reason being that they were going to work on a remodel of the Queensland Zoo. I've been around the animals my whole life. It is truly my passion."
"I think that much we can all see. So I heard that you have a few special guests for us to see."
"I do."

Scott stood and beakoned Mitch to follow him.

"Our first guest is a hairy furious think but he shouldn't bite."

A man about Mitch's height, sporting a full beard and sholder length curls entered carrying an adorable koala.

"And everyone say a big welcome to our first guest, my mate, Avriel."

The other man rolled his eyes and his friend's laughter before passing off the small mammal.

"So seriously everyone, this is Nala. She's just about three months old. We found her on the side of the road, her mother had been killed by a car and she was injured." He held up one of her paws to show it's deformaty. "Becuase of that she will never be able to be released back into the wild which is typically the goal."
"Why not?"
"With her injury she can't properly climb, which means she won't be able to hide from predators or get the correct nutrients she needs. So she's become a bit of our spokesmodel."
"She's adorable." Mitch smiled at the tiny creature.
"Wanna hold her?"

That was when Mitch took a step back, Scott chuckled. Not many people knew his fear of animals but it was clearly millions were about to find out."

"Come on she's like a teddy, and she's not poisonous."
"I... I uh think I'll pass."

Scott stepped forward and started to hand off Nala, Mitch's reflexes kicked in and he put his arms out immediately and took the baby. She curled into his warmth and he relaxed a bit."

"See you're a natural. What she's doing right now is looking for warmth. At this age she's still having difficulty maintaining her body temp so we tend to keep her wrapped up. We left the blanket backstage because of all the hot lights. But it looks like she might be tired so let's see who else we've got for you."

Scott leaned down and took the koala and whispered in Mitch's ear, "I bet you're a natural at lots of other things as well." When he straightened up he gave the smaller man a wink causing him to blush red and bit his lip. "Now our next animal is really one of my favorites," he continued talking passing Nala to another handler and taking a box from Avi. "This is Ursula our tarantula..."

Mitch nearly fainted at the sight of the spider but managed to maintain his composure through her and the other creatures Scott had. As soon as the show wrapped he found his way to the blonde man's dressing room.

"So how long are you in LA for?"
"Uhh, just depends on how long it takes to get things up and running here. Why?"
"Because I'm going to let you buy me dinner then I'll show you a natural."

Mitch turned on his heel and walked away swinging his hips just a bit more than usual. Scott just grinned at the sight and couldn't wait for his date.