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 Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 4:15 am
 In the midst of all the gaiety, Yes hadn't had a chance to talk to the juggler, even as night fell. He'd lost track of the pretty pink thing, too - how terrible! At the end of the day, he was feeling decidedly grumpy, and it didn't help his mood any that the herbs he'd eaten were wearing off. Silently fuming and glowering darkly at any who approached him, he stamped to the denser tree-cover at the edge of the flats. He found a quiet place and threw himself onto the ground to sleep, sprawled carelessly. With a final glare at the great stone, the feat of strength that none had been able to best, he drifted off...
- And later, woke suddenly as he heard the sound of that stone grinding into motion! A thick fog had drifted in, and he couldn't see anything clearly that far out, but it was plain enough that the huge rock not just moving, but rolling over - once, twice. Yes stood, not daring to brave the crowd, but clambering up above on the roots of a landlocked mangrove tree to look over them. The silhouette he saw galloping through the fog was... small, but large. Huge horns, and heavily muscled, but short in stature. A strange, squat creature of apparently incredible strength. Perhaps the Acha were not the only ones putting on a first appearance today? Yes rather thought the flashy song-and-dance men wouldn't appreciate being shown up by another newcomer. Or oldcomer, if the story of the other eggs was to be believed.
Yes shook his head. He was thinking too deep for this hour. He thought that he should go back to sleep, but he felt strangely energized, and knew that he would be unable. Wishing he had more weeds to chew, he dipped again into the crowd, looking for something to do to burn himself to tiredness. Perhaps he could find that pretty pink thing again.
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Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 4:38 am
As soon as the unfamiliar figure had faded into - and almost immediately out of - sight in the thick fog, Rouge and Kisses had bounded after its fleeing form. Who - what was it?! First the kimeti, then the Kiokote - she had met many new cousins, but oooh that was a mystery yet! But the mist only welled thicker, and hunter's eyes or no, Rouge lost sight of the newcomer before long. Even her puppy was nowhere to be seen now, she had to call, "Kisses! Come back to mummy, it's okay!" before he slunk back, shivering, pressing, not a little damp, against her limbs.
Oh well! She clopped leisurely back to the games ground, chuckling silently at the fallen revelers - amateurs! She was good to go for quite a while yet. She only regretted that she'd lost sight of that beautiful doe, that goddess Albatross. But she had her name, and with a mane like that, she couldn't imagine she would be hard to track down. The other though - the poet... A handsome fellow...but he'd seemed more into the pretty little white doe anyway - maybe he preferred quiet girls. That was something she couldn't do, so perhaps it was just as well; she could understand if a gentleman liked other types.
All the same, it seemed a shame to be here alone at the end of such an eventful day. Pity so many of those present were out cold by now. She stepped up onto that old rock and scanned the lingering crowd - where were her fellow Acha? They, at least, could certainly party. Where was Catching Fire? Ochre? ...Anybody? Wasn't there anyone still up for some fun?
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Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 5:42 am
Yes had found a little stone and decided to try the juggling thing that dazzler had been doing earlier. Getting the rock up into the air at all turned out to be harder than he'd thought, let alone figuring out where it would go. He'd just managed to get it up above him - he hit it with his front hoof as it came down - he hit it up again with the other - he hit it back up with the first again - there's the pink Acha on top of that rock - he got hit in the snout with the rock he forgot about, and serve him right. It was large enough to bruise, but he didn't even feel it. He was already slipping into tail-chasing mode, the old routine that served him well enough with other Kimeti. Perhaps he should tone it down for this Acha, though - they were singers and dancers, maybe they were flighty? This doe hadn't seemed flighty when she was courting the big-haired kimeti doe earlier, though, so maybe not.
As casually as he could, Yes walked to the rock with the pretty pink thing on it. She probably noticed him anyways - the bright white and shining oranges were hard to miss, even in the low light and fog of the night. He hailed her, then, with the most obvious topic to initiate conversation between them - "So, you're an Acha? The stories were true, then - after the Kiokote, I should have expected it, I suppose."
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Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 5:58 am
She spied with her little eyeeeeee...glittering orange over searing purple. WOW. That kimeti buck was quite a looker - she hadn't seen many of the sparkly ones yet, and his horns pointed straight, a little more like an Acha's, though much shorter. He was bouncing a rock, not unlike how Catching Fire loved to show off so - until he looked over and walloped himself with it, anyway. What a clown! She would have burst out laughing, but he was coming towards her, and, well, it was so late, she didn't quite want to scare him off. Still, her grin was irrepressible as she answered his statement with a playful turn: "And you are a kimeti - I didn't see that coming at all! I just came to the Swamp expecting lots of green, I didn't think I would get orange and purple thrown into the equation."
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Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 7:25 am
"Well," he said, shrugging gracefully and smiling that oh-so charming smile, "surprise! Here I am, and here we are," he finished, gesturing towards the swamp and the visible forms of the few now wakeful and of the sleepers on the ground. After considering the view a moment, he chuckled and moved right up to the base of the rock. Looking up at the very bright and dainty doe, he introduced himself; "My name is Yes. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, miss... ?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 7:40 am
"Red-stained Blossom," she replied, with little bow that might be considered overly-elaborate, if effortless, "but, Yes, you may call me Rouge." Her manner appeared artlessly casual, but under veiled lashes, she watched for his reaction with no small amount of careful calculation. If her gaiety unsettled his confidence, she would tone it down - acting demure for a moment or two would be well worth a night (well, morning and day, perhaps, judging by the slight glimmer of sun on the far off horizon) of close company; if the glow of his passion waned, she would bump it up a notch…several notches, whatever it took. Rouge was determined to get her buck this time.
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Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 9:23 am
His grin grew. "Rouge. Charmed," he said, and he was. She was small and dainty, maybe, but she seemed to make up for it in sheer force of personality. He was, to be perfectly frank, quite besotted with her pale pinks and lively yellow, and excited at the thought of getting to know this prodigal daughter of the swamp better.
But how to court an Acha? He knew nothing of how their culture may have changed from his, what sorts of things were considered romantic gestures and what could be seen as a grave insult. It varied so much among a people that lived roughly in the same place, so he could only imagine how different life could be among the Acha!
He decided to take a calculated risk and play it straight. Sighing, and leaning one shoulder against the rock, he said to Rouge, "Pardon me for being so forward, but I think that you are very pretty."
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Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 9:30 am
Her inner thoughts could be adequately summarised as WHOO SCORE! She had lost count of the number of compliments she'd flung ever since arriving in this beautiful place with its beautiful inhabitants, but had not caught a single one in return. The lingering fear had bubbled in the back - far, far, back, for she did not like to dwell on negatives - of her mind, that perhaps Acha were simply not to these cousins' taste. (That she herself, with her eye-scarring pinks and yellows, may not have been to their tastes did not ever occur to her.) And such a handsome buck too, such beautiful colours, and that roguish grin - why, he was like to be the most handsome of all the bucks she had met so far...and second of all only to the goddess Albatross. But Albatross was not here now. Yes was, and she'd be a fool to let him go.
"What a coincidence," she played at being coy, though the bright sparkle in her eyes rather betrayed her delight, "I think that you are very handsome."
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Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 9:39 am
Apparently, the direct approach was the safest! Such a welcome relief from needing to circle around and around other does before approaching the desired subject. Yes' face reacted to the upwelling of pride, gratitude, and excitement by grinning wider and raising his scaly eyebrows, and his voice was quite merry when he said, "Then we are well met, my long-lost cousin!" Far distant cousin, fortunately - he had made the mistake of developing affections for closer ones before, and was determined to not let that happen again. "If you'd like, I can show you to a more... private place, and we can continue our talk there." And, he couldn't help but add with a wink, "Get to know each other better." He was incurable.
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Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 10:09 am
"I would like that," her delight was betrayed by an irrepressible little kick of her hind heels before hopping neatly off the rock, "very much indeed." She made sure to press against his flank for the briefest of moments as she slipped by, cocking her head back at him with a flicker that may have been a quick wink. "Do lead, and I will follow, gladly! We have much to talk about, don't we?"
Almost imperceptibly, she made a little, familiar gesture at her sand dog - it would tell him to follow, but not follow too closely. To curl up and sleep near wherever they may be led, to wait till her fun was done, and then she would be back to cuddle and fuss and romp with her darling Kisses and continue on their Swamp adventure…but that would not be a while yet, she didn't think, no. She intended quite a bit of fun, and Yes, she was fairly certain, would share her inclination.
All this Kisses divined from that singular gesture and more. He was all too familiar with the practices of his amorous mistress, and had spent many a cold night outside some noisy alcove snoozing with half an eye on the cottontails that scurried by unmolested (unless he was feeling particularly peckish…). The Swamp was not quite like the desert that he knew so well, but he had little doggy doubts about the nature of the proceedings that were to follow - and perhaps, there would be rather a variety in the creatures he could boredly watch in nocturnal procession (and he was feeling a little peckish). So Kisses took his station a few lengths from his owner, and waited for the buck of her affections to get a move on.
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Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 10:12 am
For a brief moment, Yes was left stunned by Rouge's charm and his own dumb luck. Her touch was - and the way she moved - the way she talked! When he regained motor control, he sauntered forward to lead, as requested. "We do," he said, "have much to discuss indeed. Right this way," he practically sang, indicating the direction with his head with his body following sinuously after.
Yes decided then and there that the Acha, or at least the ones like Rouge, were definitely his kind of people.
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