The Tasmanian Devil: Chapter 6
Mar. 11th, 2015 04:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wingedbeastDisclaimer 1: Looney Tunes, the characters, their names, and their likenesses are owned by Warner Brothers and this indicates no claim upon their intellectual property.
Disclaimer 2: I know next to nothing about Tasmania or how actual research facilities work.
___
Dr. Duhch took Dr. Pehg to the largest of the three storage sheds, which was actually used for storage.
"Is a the-ah a the-ah a the-ah that a regular occurance?"
Dr. Duhch sighed. "It's getting more and more regular. He hath hith reathonth, but they aren't mine to tell.
"Another thing about working here. Privathy ith a matter of rethpect more than wallth."
Dr. Pehg understood and nodded to that, allowing Dr. Duhch to go onto the next topic.
"We have very few whole thpethimenth. And, we keep them pretherved in formaldehyde. That keepth the organth pretherved for thtudy but it may dilute the venomth and toxinth that are your thpethialty.
"That said, we have pretherved inthecth and pretherved venom glandth for you to thtudy. Of couthe, Bugth and I will be glad to share noteth ath a profethional courtethy."
"Is a the-ah a the-ah a the-ah this difficult for you as a vegetarian?"
"It wath at firtht, when Mr. Fudd inthithted upon shooting fresh thpethimenth. But, I do thee the nethethity of uthing that which we have. Eventually, I convinthed him that killing thpethimenth wath unnethethary and counterproductive to our thtudy."
"If a ye-ah a ye-ah a ye-ah you don't mind, why are you and Dr. Bunnet vegetarians?"
"For mythelf, it goeth back to when I buthed tableth at a high end rethtaraunt. One time, I looked at a duck a l'orange and I thought that thith thing could be thomebody'th brother.
"I know. It theemth daffy to make thuch a thmall moment have thuch a big impact. But, there it ith.
"Bugth'th reathonth are hith own."
___
"Elmer, I think I need to tell you something."
Elmer Fudd hunched over his desk and looked at Dr. Bunnety with a baleful, sidelong gaze. "I thought I towd you to get out."
"And, I'm telling you that I got something to say."
"Oh, you said it. You have pwoof in fwont of you and you wefuse to bewieve in me. What mowe could you possibwy have to say?"
Dr. Bunnet narrowed his eyes on Mr. Fudd and stepped closer to say, "People called your dad 'Egghead.'"
Mr. Fudd shot to his feet with a force that knocked his chair back. "You do not get to tawk about my father!"
"Oh yes I do!" Dr. Bunnet poked Mr. Fudd with a pale finger. "Because, when I was a little whipper snapper, scrounging and steeling food just to survive, 'Egghead' shot at me over and over again. It were a exercise in wits just to come outta that alive and do you know what he had the gall to tell me?"
Mr. Fudd hadn't so much calmed as he had frozen in his anger. "That he was a spowtsman."
"Yeah. There weren't a hint on his face that he understood that he was talking about snuffing out my life. He just thought I didn't understand."
"He didn't get any bettew at the end. He just got... wowse."
Dr. Bunnet patted the millionare on the shoulder. "Yeah. But, I ain't done yet.
"I struggled to survive. But, I also struggled to learn. I didn't get no fancy schooling that you probably got, Elmer. I went to the libraries and I sat and, when I weren't desperate to eat, I were desperate to cobble myselft together a edumacation. And, I got it. I studdied and I got to take them tests and I earned my degree and my fellowship and my doctorate. None of it were easy, Fudd.
"Then, you come in and, 'cause you was rich and successful, you thought you could just own this field like you own a mansion and a yacht. It were a dia-bow-lickal joke.
"What I'm sayin', Elmer, is that I have every reason to be angry wit' ya. But, I don't hate ya. When I look atcha, I see some'm I don' wanna see. I see the parts of yer dad that I actually pitty.
"I'm tryin' to tell you that you don't have to wind up like your dad. This obsession, it ain't good for you. Maybe, just maybe, you need a bit of distance... maybe even some of that talk the-wrappy. You got options, Elmer. You got options."
Elmer Fudd carefully righted his chair and sat down. "Thank you fow youw considewed wowds, Dr. Bunnet. I wiww take what I bewieve to be appwopwiate action."
"I guess that's all I can ask."
"Thank you again. You awe dismissed."
Dr. Bunnet took a breath at that, then left the room. Mr. Fudd narrowed his eyes at the door behind him.
Disclaimer 2: I know next to nothing about Tasmania or how actual research facilities work.
___
Dr. Duhch took Dr. Pehg to the largest of the three storage sheds, which was actually used for storage.
"Is a the-ah a the-ah a the-ah that a regular occurance?"
Dr. Duhch sighed. "It's getting more and more regular. He hath hith reathonth, but they aren't mine to tell.
"Another thing about working here. Privathy ith a matter of rethpect more than wallth."
Dr. Pehg understood and nodded to that, allowing Dr. Duhch to go onto the next topic.
"We have very few whole thpethimenth. And, we keep them pretherved in formaldehyde. That keepth the organth pretherved for thtudy but it may dilute the venomth and toxinth that are your thpethialty.
"That said, we have pretherved inthecth and pretherved venom glandth for you to thtudy. Of couthe, Bugth and I will be glad to share noteth ath a profethional courtethy."
"Is a the-ah a the-ah a the-ah this difficult for you as a vegetarian?"
"It wath at firtht, when Mr. Fudd inthithted upon shooting fresh thpethimenth. But, I do thee the nethethity of uthing that which we have. Eventually, I convinthed him that killing thpethimenth wath unnethethary and counterproductive to our thtudy."
"If a ye-ah a ye-ah a ye-ah you don't mind, why are you and Dr. Bunnet vegetarians?"
"For mythelf, it goeth back to when I buthed tableth at a high end rethtaraunt. One time, I looked at a duck a l'orange and I thought that thith thing could be thomebody'th brother.
"I know. It theemth daffy to make thuch a thmall moment have thuch a big impact. But, there it ith.
"Bugth'th reathonth are hith own."
___
"Elmer, I think I need to tell you something."
Elmer Fudd hunched over his desk and looked at Dr. Bunnety with a baleful, sidelong gaze. "I thought I towd you to get out."
"And, I'm telling you that I got something to say."
"Oh, you said it. You have pwoof in fwont of you and you wefuse to bewieve in me. What mowe could you possibwy have to say?"
Dr. Bunnet narrowed his eyes on Mr. Fudd and stepped closer to say, "People called your dad 'Egghead.'"
Mr. Fudd shot to his feet with a force that knocked his chair back. "You do not get to tawk about my father!"
"Oh yes I do!" Dr. Bunnet poked Mr. Fudd with a pale finger. "Because, when I was a little whipper snapper, scrounging and steeling food just to survive, 'Egghead' shot at me over and over again. It were a exercise in wits just to come outta that alive and do you know what he had the gall to tell me?"
Mr. Fudd hadn't so much calmed as he had frozen in his anger. "That he was a spowtsman."
"Yeah. There weren't a hint on his face that he understood that he was talking about snuffing out my life. He just thought I didn't understand."
"He didn't get any bettew at the end. He just got... wowse."
Dr. Bunnet patted the millionare on the shoulder. "Yeah. But, I ain't done yet.
"I struggled to survive. But, I also struggled to learn. I didn't get no fancy schooling that you probably got, Elmer. I went to the libraries and I sat and, when I weren't desperate to eat, I were desperate to cobble myselft together a edumacation. And, I got it. I studdied and I got to take them tests and I earned my degree and my fellowship and my doctorate. None of it were easy, Fudd.
"Then, you come in and, 'cause you was rich and successful, you thought you could just own this field like you own a mansion and a yacht. It were a dia-bow-lickal joke.
"What I'm sayin', Elmer, is that I have every reason to be angry wit' ya. But, I don't hate ya. When I look atcha, I see some'm I don' wanna see. I see the parts of yer dad that I actually pitty.
"I'm tryin' to tell you that you don't have to wind up like your dad. This obsession, it ain't good for you. Maybe, just maybe, you need a bit of distance... maybe even some of that talk the-wrappy. You got options, Elmer. You got options."
Elmer Fudd carefully righted his chair and sat down. "Thank you fow youw considewed wowds, Dr. Bunnet. I wiww take what I bewieve to be appwopwiate action."
"I guess that's all I can ask."
"Thank you again. You awe dismissed."
Dr. Bunnet took a breath at that, then left the room. Mr. Fudd narrowed his eyes at the door behind him.
