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 Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 1:13 am
Tug, tug, tug and suddenly the firelizards were tumbling tail over snout. There was a lot of squeeping and some undignified flopping, and Vera just couldn't help but grin. That was adorable. Where was the bell, though? She'd lost sight of it at about the time the leather bit had sprung free of the tiny flitter's mouth. "... Talk about losing your bells. That has to be the worst case I've seen of it." No doubt the firelizards had gotten Xeran's bell wet with spit, or something. ... Did firelizards have spit? She really had no idea about that. It had never occurred to her to discover it.
"I can always count on you to keep me from having a bell of a time," Vera said, putting a hint of a sulk into her voice. She wasn't truly sulky. That would have required her to be far less spirited than she was, and would have been completely out of character. Leaning over subtly, she snagged the end of the string of bells that had been retrieved and shook it.
"Queep?" A tiny green head raised itself from the pile of tangled firelizard limbs, blue eyes alive with curiosity. "Queeep?" Jangle jangle. There was a fluttering of wings, which didn't seem to get the hatchling anywhere. Entwined with the larger flitter, it was no real surprise that she couldn't move-- except that it seemed to be a surprise to her. Making a confused chirp the diminutive beast attempted to right herself, to no avail. It seemed that she was well and truly stuck, and would remain so until the other flit moved.
See that? That was the cutest thing that Vera had ever seen, or at least the cutest thing that she had seen in a long time. "Oh, I know all about your multi-tasking abilities, believe me. After the show you put on the other night..." She let that sentence dangle, not quite finishing it, not feeling very much as though she needed to bother. Xeran put on a show practically every night, and that was because it was his deep inner nature to be showy, as befitted a harper. "It would seem that our bell situation has resolved itself... for the time being. I had no idea that 'lizards were so attracted to bells." Firelizards, women... men... anything that moved.
"If you would only stop standing guard over me, you might find that you had less of a reason to," she pointed out, hands on her hips. Honestly... men were so ridiculous at times!
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 12:10 pm
And there it was! The soft ‘pop’, the rolling, the inevitable firelizard pile as both flits attempted to figure out whose tail they were sitting on and, oh my, were these your claws or mine and similar confusions. The Bronze had apparently let go of the bell at some point, so it was no longer in view. This did not please him, as he had only just gotten it for the little Green. Making indignant noises, the larger male attempted to free himself from the entanglement of limbs, tails, and heads.
“It’s my job in life, keeping you from having a good time.” Not that Xeran thought, even for a second, that Vera was truly reproachful about his attempts to stop her from dating the ‘wrong sort’, a trait that encompassed nearly all straight men. It was merely something that they had ‘argued’ about from her fourteenth nameday.
Oh, wow. That absolutely had to be the cutest noise Xeran had ever heard. Well, one of them. A happy Kelirsk purr had been pretty adorable, despite the fact that it came from a creature who could crush a man’s skull in her jaws without trying. “See? Even firelizards think my bells are amazing. The votes are against you, Vera. Three against one.”
Xeran put on a wounded and astonished look, complete with hand to his chest. “Why, I can’t believe you would accuse me of such a thing! It just so happened that I happened to drop my quill and I noticed that my boot was loose. Not my fault that I had to bend over to fix these situations. It’s a mere coincidence, that’s all.” Alright, so it hadn’t been. But, it was fun to claim so.
He snorted. “More likely, if I stopped watching you, we’d both learn that my supervision isn’t such a good thing. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as Mom always says.” Actually, in Xeran’s case, it was nearly two hundred pounds of prevention. He didn’t know what the ‘cure’ would be in this case, but he had a feeling it would be horribly bloody if anyone did try to hurt Vera.
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 3:18 pm
Sometimes he could be absolutely insufferable. Vera reached over and poked Xeran, a look of stiff disapproval on her face for a moment before it melted into laughter. "Xerrrr, you know I'm going to have a good time no matter what you do with me," she said sweetly. Oh she hoped that someone overheard that one. It would serve him right for trying to get in the way of truuuue looove! Pah, as though she really had time to go looking for romance. If it found her, well, that was another thing. It was fun to pretend, though. An old game that she and Xeran played with. She especially liked the colors that he turned when he thought she'd found someone.
"My vote is obviously worth more than yours, teacher-mine. Your vote might be a little biased, considering that it's your bells that are being discussed." At least he had bells. She knew quite a lot of men that had none. Most of these men seemed to be the ones who darkened her doorstep.
... Was that the appropriate term? Was it doorstep, or more... tent flap? Tent flap was probably more applicable. Hmm. "Don't you think that you've missed your calling as a watch wher in some lady's hold, Xeran?" The question was light and airy, but there was something to be said for the idea of Xeran as a watch wher. She was willing to bet that he would make an absolutely adorable wher! He had that family connection to them anyway. Miners tended to. Convenient beasts, watch whers.
The little Green struggled to free herself from the tangled limbs, oblivious to the fact that her efforts were working directly against the Bronze's. Vera grinned broadly as she watched them, not quite able to resist the short laugh that came when the baby flit finally tumbled free and fell onto her back.
"Quuuiii!" Was that a sound of protest? She thought it very well might be. Eyes whirling a yellowish green, the Green flapped her wings, little feet kicking in the air as she attempted to right herself. "Keeer?" Jangle jangle. The harper jingled the bells in her hand, trying to prompt the hatchling to sort herself out. ... To no avail, it would seem. Ah well. No doubt the Bronze would soon assist her. Glancing about, she tried to make out where the bell had gone off to. "Your bells have a habit of wandering, don't they?" That couldn't possibly be healthy.
"You're less like an ounce of prevention and more like a dragon's weight of prevention," she said as she rolled her eyes once more. "I really do think that the firelizards are simply confused about your bells. They can't help it if you like having them pawed over for your own amusement."
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 11:40 pm
Speaking of colors, Xeran now turned some very interesting ones as he considered the interpretations of Vera’s sentence. She had, of course, managed to go to the Gather without his supervision. Istan food, as it turned out, didn’t agree with the older Harper, or perhaps it was the fact that the fish were a little off. Either way, he had spent the Gather day in the Infirmary, making Healers feel very uncomfortable. Was it possible that Vera had found someone? Someone who Xeran hadn’t yet stamped on?
That is, with his seal of approval? Or, more likely, with his seal of disapproval? Well, a stamp certainly, most likely to whatever masculinity they thought they had.
Very slowly, he realized that Vera was just winding him up. He responded the only way he could: with a withering glare that basically said, ‘I’ll be quiet now, but I’m totally planning revenge. You’ll see on your next date. Or maybe you won’t, and your date just won’t show up’. Sneaky Xeran was sneaky when he wanted to be. Normally, however, he was about as subtle as a flying brick. “Maybe. But this is far more fun.” And there was the toothy smile that had ruined so many young mens’ dreams of Vera.
And possibly Xeran, but it was harder to tell.
“Well, you know my bells. If someone doesn’t keep an eye on them, they’ll be wandering off any old place,” Xeran went on, still keeping up that toothy grin. “Not only that, but others just can’t help but paw at them. All the time, it’s paw, paw, paw. I can’t help it either that my bells are so attractive to others. Clearly, my bells are indeed amazing since so many want them.”
Aeron snapped softly at Kia, not really as an actual punishment, but a simple reminder to stay still for now. Once the little Green was silent and staying in one place, the Bronze slowly extricated himself from the ball of ‘lizard limbs and wings. He shook himself off, causing a small storm of dustmotes before he turned his attention back to Kia once more, gently nosing her to get to her feet. He might have looked after himself first, but it was only so he could get her back up.
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 2:28 pm
"Xeran, hadn't you heard? I've fallen very much in love with Benden wine, and we're planning to elope. ... I shouldn't be telling you, should I?" Indeed! Xeran would surely see to it that they would be parted, never to know one another's sweet touch again. "They had a lovely Benden at the Gather, you know. Expensive, but worth every mark of it!" She sighed dreamily, and flopped down on 'her' hammock, putting the flute away for a moment to take out the set of multiple pipes that dangled from her belt.
Putting the instrument to her lips, she blew, testing out the sound. The tones were pure, smooth enough to satisfy her tastes. She was somewhat relieved, actually. She'd been worried that the weather would do the damage to the reeds that her master had warned her of. It seemed that her preparations were not in vain.
"Well, Xer? Is my blowing any better this time?" she asked innocently, enjoying the solid weight of the pipes in her hands. She might not actually need another set, all things considered.
"Your bells are highly overrated," came the saucy retort as she tried to get the hammock to swing a little. "Overrated and repellent. They must be. You saw how the firelizards went tumbling the other way." Paw, paw, paw indeed. You didn't see Vera pawing over anyone's bells! She was a good, moral girl... if morals involved teasing those who had none. That was decidedly fun.
Glancing up at her beloved mentor, she quirked an eyebrow at him. "You're giving me that smile again, Xeran-my-dear. What is it this time? Have you discovered a new knot that you wish to try? Something else to keep me cooped up?" He, after all, was the one who had come chasing after her when she had gotten permission to do her wandering alone.
Rebuked, the Green went silent, staying as perfectly still as a young thing could manage. The nosing helped somewhat, and Kia was finally able to get her feet under her. "Keeerrr?" Hopping closer to the Bronze, the Green tilted her head to the side-- almost completely turning her head upside, in fact-- and tried to discover what he was about. There was a small flurry of little wings as the flitter almost lost her balance, backwinging to correct it.
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Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 1:00 am
“Oh, really? So now I have to go on a war against wine? Very well, Vera! I shall drink your wine, to save you from a fate worse than eloping with a dragonrider.” Actually, it was hard to say what was worse. At least wine wouldn’t last forever, whereas a dragonrider’s devotion to his dragon would always come first. That was Xeran’s main complaint about Vera dating a dragonrider; they just wouldn’t devote the proper amount of attention to his little protégé. “I don’t suppose you brought any back for your poor ol’ sick teacher?”
He attempted puppy-dog eyes on her, an act that she used to use her own advantage. Lady Fessi was slowly and reverently returned to her case. Xeran paused only occasionally to listen to the pure tones. Vera was, without a doubt, one of the most talented instrument makers he had come across. But maybe he was a bit biased.
Just a bit.
“No, your blowing is wonderful. A work of art,” Xeran said, grin growing tooth by tooth. “But your tonguing needs work. But Marko would be better for that than me. He’s more used to it.” That is, he was an expert in wind instruments. Xeran leaned closer to harps and, more importantly, writing things down. A strange thing for a man who enjoyed attention as much as him, but… well, he was good at it, without trying too hard. He snorted at the bell comment and drew himself up proudly, as if the words actually struck a sore point. “Only after you took my bells away from them. Which, by the way, I want back now. You know me, I love my bells.”
“Oh, I’m not smiling at you, dear. I’m just happy to get my bells back. Hand them over, will you?”
Aeron trilled happily as Kia managed to stumble to her feet. At first, he tried to allow her to stand on her own four feet, as was proper for a proud firelizard. But, Kia could trip over her own feet even if she was standing perfectly still. Actually, she could probably trip while lying down! Kia’s flapping caused Aeron to flutter a little as he attempted to stop her from getting hurt. Ah, the drama of being a parent! Trying to allow the little hatchling a degree of freedom without letting her get hurt.
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