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 Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 11:57 am
Was she on to him? Perhaps a small inkling of her was and as such she continued to pursue the subject with such fervour. However in time he suspected she would grow bored (as she had done with his other research) and so he let his suspicions slide. Paranoia wasn't something he needed in his life and given that it was often irrational he refused to let it bother him. This in mind he continued to trail after the mare and made no attempts to confirm or deny her somewhat teasing questions. Of course there was different foliage for every season but it was inappropriate of him to think that very many would recognise this!
"My research encompasses a great many subjects, discovering me in the middle of analysing one does not necessarily mean that I do not have another to be concerned with," he pointed out after a suitable delay. Flicking his tail against his flank, he straightened his posture somewhat and rolled his shoulders. At the very least he could be thankful that the mare was not in the highlands as his father's allies were - the spirits knew that Raniero was not in the mood for a hike.
"Hardly interesting for one such as yourself..."
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Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 12:06 pm
Marut chuckled; he was probably right, the only time she thought on plants was when she was hungry, and all she needed to know then was whether or not said plant was poisonous.
'That may be, but as your friend I will always listen to you. Even if what you're saying might not be of special interest to me. So don't think you're wasting your words.'
She cast a glance at their surroundings, listening and scenting the air. She could detect water far off in one direction which meant they were passing the Lake, and would soon be nearing the woods where her mother and father had made their home.
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Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2008 10:18 am
"It is all well and good to humour a soquili by listening to them," Raniero pointed out coolly, his ears flicking in recognition of the changing sounds around him. Shifting from one forest to another may have seemed somewhat mundane, but to those accustomed to their own territory the changes were obvious. Where his own home was calm and quiet, the volume was now increasing considerably and he had no doubt in his mind that they were definitely heading in a particular direction. Water nearby, the lake most likely but given he couldn't see it he couldn't confirm his assumption - he was more than likely correct given that the ocean had a different ring to it.
"However if what they say is deemed pointless, boring or irrelevant to you then in a manner of speaking they are wasting their breath," he finished. It was an abrupt truth, not the most pleasant one at that but he was not one to waste words. If she wasn't interested in a topic then he wasn't going to bore her by speaking about it and he wasn't going to waste his own time. It wasn't his way, if she had spoken with genuine interest then he would speak at length but really what was the point? Admittedly he had been hiding but this was reasonable enough cover. His mother would be disappointed in him for not beind honest but his father had always said white lies were better than absolute truth on occasions.
She didn't need to know he was dreading this, did she?
"Are we nearly there yet?" he pestered after a few moments, serious in his query regardless of how infuriating and childish the question might have been.
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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 7:16 am
'I'm not actually humouring you, I am listening..' Marut laughed.
'I listen way more than you think, and you may stumble onto a subject that I find of special interest to me.' she looked at Raniero.
'Look all I'm saying is I like having conversations with you, even if they do turn out to be slightly awkward or embarrassing because of a question I've asked.' she looked back towards their path, making sure she was still travelling the same way. She could smell familiarity now, her mother and her father's scents but Marius's was the older one.
'Yes, almost there.' Marut turned direction again, the ground sloping away from them into a small valley. Around the far end was a wooded area, and she could see a few small figures moving around on the grass in front of the trees. One was probably her mother.
'Not far now.'
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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 7:24 am
He took a deep breath and permitted the mare to explain herself further. That being said 'stumbling' upon a topic of equal interest to her was much like finding a needle in a haystack. It required a great deal of time, patience and while he didn't mind explaining somethings he would sooner save his voice. Just because one listened didn't mean she didn't find it boring and Raniero was one who loathed wasting his breath. In fact, this mare was incredibly lucky to even have him speak at such length about such trivial things. It was a bit of a puzzle really, for any other mare he would have stared at them and allowed them to talk endlessly about the weather - he didn't need to reply when they spoke over him.
...So why bother with the chit chat now?
He shook his head slowly as he dismissed her argument and observed the scene that lay ahead. It was certainly a quaint location, an area in which Raniero could admit to seeing children raised. Plenty of grassland,a little shelter here and there - enough space to exercise excitable limbs. No wonder the mare was an athlete, she had no excuse not to be when it came to the place she had been raised in. It was decent, he would give it that and her parents had certainly chosen well.
"Do not expect me to accept any challenges regarding my physical prowess, they will be denied," he pointed out calmly as though preparing himself for a very sporty family, though given how tidy Marut currently looked he wasn't sure if this was entirely accurate.
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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 7:48 am
Marut squinted as they crossed the valley, heading closer to the woods. She was sure that it was her mother, and her sister Maharet. Well he wouldn't have to worry about meeting her sister, she would most likely make for the woods..and there she went. Marut shook her head, chuckling. Raniero obviously wasn't a Kalona but Maharet was still too skittish to stick around for long.
'You wouldn't get any,' she commented, nodding her head towards her mother who had noticed Maharet's exit and caught sight of the reason why. Neve started walking slowly towards them, sizing up the stallion even from a distance.
'My mother only fights out of necessity, and my sister..well she was that thing dashing into the woods. Neither of them race.'
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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 8:02 am
Raniero's ears flicked slightly as Marut described her family, so far neither of the other two mares seemed to conform to the type of personality Marut had. It was at this point that he came to the conclusion that she had a diverse family, he had assumed it was large by how she spoke of it, but this simply proved it. That being said as he watched the other mare bolt off into the forest he made a mental note to proceed with caution - what a shock it was to thim then, when he caught sight of Neve and froze. It wasn't that he was intimidated by the mare but she looked rather familiar - too familiar in fact as though he had been overwhelmed by an extreme sense of de ja vu...
He wouldn't have jumped to an immdiate conclusion had it not been for the markings and the manner in which her mane fell. However after a considerable amount of time in observing the mare it dawned on him that there was a very good chance that this mare was either from the same herd or a relative of a rather memorable stallion.
"Guilian," Raniero murmured more to himself than to anyone else, clearing his throat as he regained his composure and offered a curt nod to the approaching mare. Admittedly he could have leapt to a conclusion in regards to her heritage but he'd seen a lot of mares and not one of them had come quite so close as this - if that was the case then may the gods help him, he'd suffered quite enough at the hooves of the STALLION.
"It is...a pleasure to meet you, ma'am," he offered at last, his face otherwise unreadable as he hid the dread at such a possibility being true.
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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 8:18 am
Raniero was partially right; the females definately weren't the same..the males of her family nearly all seemed to have a pigheadedness about them. Marut gave a smile to her mother as she joined them, indicating with a short flick of her head that she'd kept herself neat, adding;
'See mother, I can stay tidy sometimes.' she looked at Raniero, not having caught the single word he'd muttered before speaking to Neve.
Neve kept her wings folded, but gave Raniero a polite nod, having giving him a more thorough once over now that she was right in front of him. She was gratified with his manners, and gave a flickering look between himself and her daughter to see if she could detect any particular attachment up front.
'Likewise Raniero.' she said, giving a smile that showed her fang teeth for a brief moment. She was unaware of the whole cross-dressing and Guilian chat up scenario, and so unaware that her appearance was familiar to him.
'You didn't tell Maharet that Raniero is a grounded?' she asked, bobbing her head to look around her mother.
'I did, but you know your sister. I thought it would be easier if she wasn't fidgeting around. Maybe your friend can meet her next time.'
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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 8:26 am
There was going to be a next time?!
Raniero was scarcely over the fact that this was the first time, more to the point he was struggling against the knowledge that Marut was quite possibly related to a very strange stallion. It was really terribly awkward for him to fathom and most would have assumed that dressing as a mare would have been worse - well he'd be pleased to inform them they were wrong. Cross dressing was easy, studying was easy and being told you were an a*****e was even easier than anything else in the world - meeting a relative of a very crazy stallion was not.
Nevertheless he did take the opportunity to watch interaction between mother and daughter, only to assume that Marut took after her father in terms of coat colour. Not that there was anything wrong with Neve, they simply didn't appear to be as closely linked. That being said reference to his lack of wings did make him raise a brow ever so slightly, as did the reference to a skittish sibling.
...So they really were different.
It wasn't his place to pry though and instead he did as he always did - he observed. Infuriating and bizarre as it may have been to Marut when she first met him, it was something he was good at and therefore favoured. Really, the less of the family he could meet at the moment the better - one step at a time. He was hardly opting to present himself as her mate now was he?
Ears swivelled back and forth at each exchanged sentence and he readjusted his weight from one hoof to the other. Save for the de ja vu he had no complaints as of yet but if she was related to that stallion then it explained quite a bit regarding her preferences and hobbies!
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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 8:38 am
Neve wondered at Raniero's silence, though she supposed it was better than a blowhard of a stallion that didn't know when the hell to shut up.
'Maharet has a terrible fear of Kalonas, I'm not sure if Marut mentioned it or not.' the older mare explained briefly.
'Telling her you're grounded should have made her feel as though she could safely meet you, but she decided against it. Don't take it personally.' Neve smiled warmly at Raniero, determined to make him feel welcome, even if they were 'just friends'.
'Do you have family in the area Raniero?'
Marut would have been suprised if Raniero had taken offence to so firmly being described as non-winged, she had none after all. She gave a nod when her mother mentioned about Maharet.
'I did..' falling quiet again as Neve carried on talking to him. She snuck a sidelong look, wondering what he was thinking of her mother.
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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 8:53 am
Well Kalona's were a reasonable fear to have though the majority of those he had met were worthless. He did vaguely recall having been informed of her sister before though, during a conversation that involved Marut voicing a desire to meet her Grandmother. Ah, the more he thought about it the more he recalled that he had been somewhat blunt and inferred that if it was something she wanted to do then she should do it... Just as well he was on the same page as everyone else now. That being said he refrained from commenting further (as usual) and simply offered what seemed to be a reassuring smile as the mare attempted to console him and apologise for her daughter's fear.
"No, my family live a reasonable distance from here in the depths of the forest," he replied calmly. Choosing not to divulge too much information due to his father's desire for privacy, while maintaining a distinct level of politeness. There was no point in denying the information provided it remained reasonably vague (his specialty he might add). "My mother and father prefer seclusion to public life," he explained after a few moments before clearing his throat.
"I am afraid that while you know my name though, I cannot say I know yours...?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 9:01 am
'Apologies, I thought my daughter would have told you. My name is Neve, daughter of Guilian.' she gave her name in the more formal fashion than usual, his air leading her to be less relaxed than she would be around her children. She also had a feeling that her best behaviour would be appreciated by her daughter; she had caught the look that Marut had cast Raniero a couple of times and had spun her own interpretation of it.
She would also understand the need for privacy, there was a part of her own family that needed not to know where they were.
'I didn't? Oops, sorry mum,' Marut chuckled though. She probably hadn't told him, just eager for Raniero to meet her mother. Besides, finding him in a bush had thrown her for a while, but she was choosing to be a good friend and believe his excuse.
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Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 9:08 am
Oh... My God.
"Gui-Guilian...?" It was one of the few moments in which Raniero lost composure and stumbled across his own tongue. He'd known he was suffering from de ja vu, but never in his wildest dreams had he anticipated that he'd been right. He'd hoped it was a small ounce of paranoia that he hadn't shifted from attempting to hide from Marut - yet here it was clear as daylight that he was in fact standing before the daughter of the stallion who had attempted to bed him until he'd realised that Raniero was in fact male and not attracted to stallions in the slightest. Admittedly it did explain a lot though and he couldn't help but steal a glance at Marut.
...The only thing that didn't add up was the fact that Guilian had cared for his appearance and Marut was less than inclined to worry about her own!
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Neve," he cleared his throat and took a short breath to regather his own composure before offering a stiff smile. Why hadn't he listened to his instincts and just run? He could have avoided this whole thing and not stumbled upon what could be a death trap in the form of a potentially insane family. Granted Marut had yet to stalk him in an attempt to bed him but that was beside the point...
"I apologise for my lack of conversation but I am not entirely certain of etiquette and subjects of interest in relation to yourself. I was always taught to let the mare lead the conversation..."
Not.
He was usually taught to lead the conversation himself but a state of shock prevented this from being a viable option.
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 8:16 am
Neve could be quite a shrewd mare, and she narrowed in on the stutter that accompanied the echoing of her father's name.
'Why yes,' she said pleasantly, her Kalona blood making her dig for the reason, rather than letting it slide. Besides, if there was a particular reason he'd lost his cool, and it was to do with Guilian, better they find out now, rather than after Marut formed any real attachment to Raniero.
'Do you know Guilian well? You seem to recognise his name.'
'Small world,' murmured Marut, wondering how exactly Raniero and her lothario of a Grandad had met. Something tugged at her memory - to do with how she'd first met Raniero. But no..she made a little noise under her breath, and waited to hear how her friend already knew a member of her family.
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 8:29 am
Oh, Raniero knew Guilian alright. It would take another traumatic experience to completely wipe Raniero's memory of THAT encounter and even then he'd still have flashbacks. It had perhaps been one of the most awkward meetings he had ever had and he now completely understood how mares felt against very insistant men. Admittedly it hadn't changed his own courting techniques but he was aware that when things reached a certain point 'no' definitely meant 'no' and wasn't a part of the chase - ahahaha...yes, he wouldn't forget that day easily. The day he'd had to learn to dance in a wide circle to avoid the insistant attentions of a male who had now been revealed to be the relative of Marut...So how exactly was he meant to get out of this one?
For the usually controlled stallion, he was somewhat put out by the fact that he had been backed into a corner and had unceremoniously shot himself in the hoof. It was already uncomfortable and it was just sod's law that he was now presented with this issue - his father wasn't kidding when he warned him about the spirits and how often they enjoyed completely obliterating any sense of dignity and composure that one might be renowned for - Hell, Raniero's composure was scarcely noticable now as he glanced between both mares who seemed to be expecting some type of explanation for his albeit ungentlemanly response.
"I...cannot say I know him well, M'lady," he replied at last, clearing his throat as he chose not to divulge how exactly he had met Neve's father. "But we have met and it was most definitely not an experience one would forget quickly - he is a very memorable individual," it was the most polite he could be in the given circumstances. Had he been utterly truthful he would have called him quite a few things regarding his shameless pursuit of Raniero's backside but that was beside the point!
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