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 Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:42 pm
"Thought it'd make Mal piss himself." Laura stated absent-mindedly, removing the little fluff ball from the box and dropping it to the ground to cuddle the cute little thing. "Your dogs would lick him to death, even I know that."
The adorable little baby made Laura smile, and she wiggled a finger in front of the griffin before scratching the side of his head much like a cat. "Rem needs a griffin of his own to live in this city it seems." She mused quietly to herself, looking to the two men. "I'd be happy enough to look after him, it'll cheer Leolin up to have a playmate of his own kind."
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Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:58 pm
Rem thought back to what he knew about Mal and shook his head. No, it would take more than a few slobbery dogs to make him piss himself. He decided not to bring this up to Laura as it would involve explaining a few of the more… sensitive issues of Mal’s history, something that the Cambrian probably didn’t want to be brought up. Guiltily, he wondered if the other man even knew that he had his old diaries. Or his sword for that matter. Probably not. If Mal knew, Rem would never hear the end of it.
“Umm… actually, Laura, I could take care of him myself. And Leolin isn’t even here now.” Rem pointed out. After all, the gryphon was a gift to him. Technically. Sort of…
Meanwhile, Mal simply decided to enjoy the chaos he had created. He hadn’t expected this, but this would only be more amusing for him. Served Rem right for keeping so many things of his anyway. He would collect them later.
“He is for Rem, Laura,” Mal pointed out. “By the way, ‘s a boy. And he doesn’t have a name yet.”
The little gryphon’s eyes followed Laura’s finger with obvious interest before batting at it with one clawed foreleg. Seizing the woman’s hand, he ‘mauled’ it which basically meant he was tickling Laura’s hand. His little beak worked on her wrist, trying to get through the fabric as happy little noises came up from his throat.
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Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 9:15 pm
Smiling fondly at the little griffin, Laura didn't seem to pay much attention to the boys as she played with him. While he'd gotten hold of her hand, she continued wiggling her fingers in hopes of playing some more with him. Giggling softly, she looked contented; and equally unwilling to let go of the little treasure.
"Rem doesn't know the first thing about griffin care." Laura said quietly, using that as an excuse to coddle the little baby. "I looked after Leolin since he was this size, I can look after him. Even if he belongs to Rem...." She muttered the last part, continuing to play with the baby.
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Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 10:12 pm
“I could learn!” Rem protested, watching a bit jealously as Laura played with the little gryphon. He had the horrible sinking feeling that he would never get the little baby away from Laura. Ever. And he wanted to play with the chick too! Still, he also understood that learning how to take care of a baby like this wouldn’t be the best idea. It was a living creature. It couldn’t be treated like some sort of science experiment.
“And by that, I mean that I’ll help you out, Laura,” he added.
Mal merely watched with a grin, pleased that he had worked away some of Laura’s animosity. At least, that was how he was interpreting her actions. Watching the little baby gryphon play gave him a warm fuzzy feeling inside, like he had just swallowed a kitten with a fever. “He’s a rough little guy. The most vicious little bugger I’ve ever come across.”
Rem, for one, ignored Mal’s words, enchanted with the gryphon chick. Reaching over to Laura’s hands, he wriggled his fingers and laughed as the gryphon attacked his fingernails. Carefully withdrawing once more, he wiped the gryphon slobber on his shirt.
“I think I’ve got an idea for a name too. I heard it once, some time ago. Taliesin.”
Now that name took the grin off of Mal’s face. The cagey man suddenly looked poised to flee, even though his posture had not changed at all. “Taliesin? You heard it durin’ the war, I’m guessin’?” There wasn’t much of a question in his voice.
At seeing Rem’s nod, he stayed quiet for a bit longer before finally adding, “’S a good name for him. Little Tali…”
Little Tali, meanwhile, ignored everything going on around him except for Laura’s fingers. Every time one wriggled, he would seize it in his beak and attempt to gnaw on her fingernails. Of course, every time he did this, he would ignore the other fingers and then see them wriggling and go after them instead. It was an endless cycle.
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Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 10:21 pm
One finger would freeze while another began to take up the job of wiggling in Tali's grip. It brought a bright smile to Laura's face, and she kissed the soft downy feathers of the baby griffin. "Tali, how sweet." She said softly, fingers trying to escape from the newly christened bird in hopes of petting him instead.
"It'll be easier feeding him when Leolin comes back." She said quietly, not understanding what hidden meaning there was behind the baby's name. Nor really questioning it for the time being. As much as she disliked Mal, it'd be mean to go out of her way to make him uncomfortable. "Leolin can feed him better than we can, but he won't be able to return for a while..."
Her prescious partner was sorely missed, as Laura's expression clearly showed. Brow knitting together, and a slight frown tugging at her lips, Laura sighed deeply as she held the little griffin. "He should stay inside until he's bigger where it's nice and warm. Maybe an old downy pillow for bedding?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:05 pm
Unfortunately, Tali had no interest in letting her fingers go. His beak dug in harder and his legs kicked out more. Not quite hard enough to bring out blood, but certainly rougher than was necessary. No doubt, Mal had been encouraging the little guy’s rough behavior without really noticing it. Or maybe it was Aeron’s wild upbringing… after all, he had probably been raising the baby for a little while.
“So far, Aeron’s been doin’ most of the feedin’,” Mal said, waving one hand towards the adult gryphon. The very unhappy adult gryphon. No doubt, he didn’t want to let Tali go any more than Laura did. Mal felt awful about taking the little baby away from Aeron since the older gryphon so enjoyed taking care of him, but it was necessary. They couldn’t take care of him. Mal had his plate full at the moment, what with the possibility of truly being a son of Rosaylen and all. The magistrate was finally willing to admit that the notes seemed genuine.
This worried Mal in a way. He didn’t want to be a real noble. Pretending was just fine because he could easily run away. But actually being one…? That was a different story.
“Most of the time, I’ve been usin’ a pillow for his bed as well. And a little basket,” Mal said helpfully, eager to make Tali as comfortable as possible. While he was a b*****d, it seemed that he had a few soft spots. Maybe that was what Rem liked him.
“… I don’t mean to sound like a suspicious b*****d like you, Mal, but why are you doing this again?” Rem sidled closer to Laura and the gryphon once more, feeling oddly paranoid about Mal’s suddenly platonic behavior. The man was probably planning something.
But, somehow, Rem just couldn’t care in the face of the cuteness that was Taliesin.
“How come every time I try to do something nice everyone automatically assumes I’m some evil lecherous hump?” Mal asked in an injured tone.
“Because you are.”
Mal sighed and simply stroked Aeron’s back slightly. “We’re from the same world, Rem, and you know it. I’m doin’ this because it’s better for Tali.”
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 7:44 am
"Ah, no." Laura said firmly, promptly removing her hand as quickly as she could. Granted, it warented a few scratches, but Laura didn't seem to mind it in the least. Tapping the little griffin on the nose, she looked Tali in the eyes. "We don't bite, ok?"
Shifting the little griffin so Laura could hold him with both arms, she turned to look at Mal and Aeron. "Why don't you and Aeron come in for a bit?" What bomb had been ticking from having seen the infuriating man was defused by the adorable little griffin. "It's rude lurking in entrances, and I'm sure Aeron could use a few rabbits to fatten him up." If Tali had gotten most of his feedings from Aeron, it would be mean to tear them appart simply like that. It'd been heart breaking to leave Leolin- even temporarily- so she felt she knew just what Aeron was feeling.
"I suppose you boys have plenty more to talk about. Do you want me to make you both something to drink when I'm finished seeing to the griffins?" The birds seemed to get priority over either men.
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 4:34 pm
Tali squeaked at Laura and snapped at her fingers again as she tapped his beak. Apparently, the little gryphon was quite annoyed at having his game ruined and was trying to make his irritation known the best way he could. Well, second best way. He hadn’t eaten that day, so he couldn’t try the first best way. Still, he calmed down after a moment once he had exhausted himself. Clearly, he was very young and still tired easily. He yawned in an adorable fashion and tried to curl up in Laura’s arms.
Mal couldn’t stop a look of suspicion from crossing his face at Laura’s sudden amiableness. Yet another, anyway. Sure, he didn’t want to be enemies with her simply because it would make his friendship with Rem---if such a word could actually be applied to the strange relationship between the two men--- easier to deal with, but he hadn’t expected her to get over her dislike so quickly.
“Waaait… are you goin’ to poison it?” not that he expected an answer; who would actually come out honest if they actually were planning on poisoning someone?
“As if she could find anything worse than what you already willingly drink,” Rem scoffed. “Anyway, Laura’s got a point; we do have things to talk about, Mal. Come in.” The gates were pushed open a bit more just enough to admit Mal and Aeron.
The dark-haired man entered eventually, deciding that Laura wasn’t likely to try poisoning him anyway. It would be too much trouble. He clicked his tongue twice, the signal for Aeron to move forward. The adult male gryphon simply yawned and stretched his wings out before lying down halfway in the gate.
Mal sighed. “He’s just doin’ this to be difficult…”
“I wonder where he got that from,” Rem asked innocently with a slight grin.
“I haven’t the slightest idea of what you’re talkin’ about, Remmy,” Mal sniffed before tugging hopefully on Aeron’s belled collar. “Come on, you great lummox.” It was pure luck that he got his fingers back in time to avoid a snap of Aeron’s beak. Clearly, the gryphon did NOT want to move, even if he was blocking everyone’s way.
That is, until Tali started cheeping again. Aeron’s ears pricked slightly at the sound of those cries and he made his way towards Laura and the chirping Tali. Ignoring the woman completely, Aeron touched his beak to Taliesin’s before lightly preening a few of those downy feathers. Even the war-like Aeron couldn’t stand in the face of Tali’s cuteness for long.
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 5:58 pm
"Oh please, you think Rem keeps things like that here?" Laura said with a roll of her eyes. "Honestly now.... A peasent woman wouldn't know the first thing about poisons."
With Tali curled up to sleep she smiled and stroked him- though when an even larger griffin came she backed up several paces before allowing Aeron to come to preen. "Easy big fella...." Nervousness hung on her voice more clear than a red fox on a snowy field; far too obvious to be overlooked by even a creature who didn't speak english. Backing slowly, and taking Tali with her, Laura started towards the stables to look for where she'd stashed Leolin's food.
Despite the parental protectiveness, Laura closed the stable door behind her when she reached it to make Aeron wait. If he bowled her over to get to the rabbits, she doubted she could keep hold of little Tali at the same time. Quickly fetching the two she'd caught that day, Laura stepped out of the barn and tossed one of the little furry meat sacks to Aeron. With one as hopefully a distraction, Laura ventured completely out of the stables to toss him the other. "There's a good lad." She murmured, smiling. With Aeron able to eat, she set Tali down to be fed.
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 6:54 pm
Mal laughed, finding a sort of sardonic humor in Laura’s words. “The same exact things that a peasant woman would know about gryphon racing, I suppose. Or raising gryphons, for that matter…” Yeah. Sure, she was a peasant woman… Mal wasn’t about to let that make him think that she wasn’t a threat though. He had survived only because he suspected everyone. And, unfortunately, he was usually right. Eh. Such was life.
Looking back at Aeron awkwardly, he followed Rem only once he was pretty sure that the male gryphon wouldn’t attack Laura. Aeron was much better about that sort of thing now, but… well, he had his snaps.
“Just don’t touch his bells, Laura. Or his bandages,” he offered before disappearing into the house with Rem for a nice long chat.
Aeron leaned forward with interest as he apparently just noticed Laura now. In truth, he had just noticed how she smelled. She smelled very much like that male gryphon he had encountered not too long ago. His shoulder twinged in pain as he recalled the fight. Not with that male, but with the other one, that big black creature. Snorting, he shook his head roughly, trying to forget. He didn’t like remembering losing any fights at all.
At least he was distracted quickly by the rabbit. His golden eyes snapped up to the dead creature and he darted after it, as if worried that it might get away. By the time that Laura had tossed out the second one as well, the male gryphon had scarfed down the first one and was eagerly eyeing the next one. It wasn’t long before he had decimated that one as well. Finished feeding, he gathered Tali up so he could feed the chick. His focus didn’t stay on the little silver gryphon for long though. As if just noticing Laura, Aeron fixed a golden-eye glare at her. It quite plainly said ‘no watching’.
Rem led the way to the sitting room, as that seemed like the most comfortable place for a nice chat. At least he had gotten that room set up in time for a visitor. The colors were a bit garish, he felt, but apparently all the style in Xuan City at the moment. The walls were decorated with exquisite hunting scenes, of gryphon-riders hunting down deer and foxes.
Mal sidled up to examine these momentarily. “I always feel sorry for the foxes in these pictures,” he commented allowed.
“You always feel sorry for the underdog.” The blonde noble took a seat and gestured for Mal to do the same.
As he had half expected, Mal didn’t take a seat immediately and instead continued studying the designs for a bit longer. Eventually, he sat, looking perfectly comfortable. “The magistrate said he would need two or more weeks to completely look at the evidence. So far, everything is matching up and it seems as if I actually am part of House Rosaylen.” Mal sounded absolutely depressed about that. With one elbow on his knee and his head in his hand, he didn’t look like the man who had been poking fun at Laura not too long ago.
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 7:19 pm
Laura didn't bother the griffins too much; when she was sure Tali wasn't going to be mistaken for a third rabbit, she made her way towards the servant's entrance near the kitchen. Beginning to make some tea for the boys.
~*~*~*~
Several minutes later, Laura entered into the sitting room with a tray holding the tea, cups, and sliced apples in a small bowl for the pair to share. "Sorry it took so long." She murmured, setting it calmly down on the table before the pair. Glancing to Mal, she almost dared him to make another claim about her food being poisoned.
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 7:47 pm
By the time that Laura walked in, Mal had perked up a bit. At least, he no longer looked so damn depressed. “No doubt, you had to get the poison ready,” Mal quipped, accepting the tea readily enough. Sure, it didn’t have any alcohol, but he was prepared to drink it anyway. A cup of tea came in handy during conversations like this, since a cup could easily hide one’s facial expression.
Rem accepted a cup as well before gesturing for Laura to sit down. “Mal was just asking me about how you got Leolin, Laura. I can’t answer that question, so you’ll have to field it.”
It was sort of true. Mal had asked about Leolin in the past. It seemed a good enough topic to bring up now, since it would keep both Mal and Laura from trying to rip out one another’s throats. It was pretty obvious that Mal didn’t want to answer any questions about Tali’s origins, so this would have to do.
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 7:54 pm
The look of disdain faded away when Rem spoke to her, and Laura almost hesitantly sunk to a seat on the sofa with Mal. On the opposite end, of course. "Griffins show up near my house from time to time." She murmured calmly, taking a slice of apple and taking a polite little bite of it. "Leolin hurt his foot as a baby no bigger than Tali is now, and my grandmother and I raised him together." Shrugging simply, she looked to Mal. "Not much to tell after that really. Grandmother passed away, and the easiest way to make money with griffins is to race them. With my brother having been killed in the war, it was easy enough to pretend to be my family's only son."
The thought of hiding things between people who already knew her well enough was simplly absurd. Unlike Mal, or perhaps even Rem for that matter, Laura felt comfortable to some degree being open with the pair of them. "It's not very interesting... Though I'd rather like to hear how Malcom came about both of his griffins. You're obviously not a noble either, despite your facade." If the grand party that ended in even grander disaster was anything to go by, Mal was parading himself about as a Lord in some form or another. Not that anyone as experianced in jumping lattaces as Mal could be nobility...
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 8:13 pm
“The war?” Mal asked hesitantly, sounding almost gentle.
“Different war, Mal. There are others in the world, you know.”
The dark-haired man settled back at that and seemed to accept Rem’s words. They made sense, after all. “They were both acquired legally, if that’s what you’re asking, Laura. Aeron was… hm. A gift from a friend, in a way.”
Rem shifted slightly so he could look at Mal’s bandaged hands. “… are you absolutely sure that this friend actually likes you, Mal? It seems a bit like getting a rabid wolf for a friend…”
“Haha,” Mal said dryly, sticking his tongue out at Rem. “My friend gave me the money for the gryphon. I bought him myself. It’s a sad story, actually. Or sorta. It has a happy endin’.”
“If you call living with you a ‘happy ending’,” Rem quipped.
“Do you want to hear the story or not?” Mal pouted and crossed his arms across his chest. “Maybe I don’t want to tell it now ‘cause you’re bein’ mean, Remmy.” He dropped the ‘hurt’ act soon enough and continued. “As I understand it, he was caught out in the wild. His captors saw he was somethin’ special and wanted to tame him for a good price. They tried, anyway; that’s how he got the bells. They put them on him so they could hear him comin’. It didn’t work very well, from what I gathered. Anyway, they were gonna kill him on account of him not bein’ tamable. I didn’t want to let that happen, so I bought him. He still doesn’t like bein’ touched and he loves his bells. He’s gettin’ better though. Dunno why I’m havin’ more luck than the gryphon-traders though.” He shrugged. It was one of the mysteries of the world, he supposed. A smile came onto his face soon enough as he thought of Aeron. “’S a good gryphon.”
He dodged away from the question of nobility nicely, playing on Laura’s love of gryphons and her lack of interest in noble intrigue. Or, at least, she seemed like the sort to not care about stuff like that.
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