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 Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 7:51 pm
How.. charming. That was a good word for it. However, that didn't mean she wasn't ready to romp right out to the beach to have a nice walk, a little picnic and... be suspicious of that bundle he'd brought with him. However, Pavo made for a very nice distraction in the meantime of the walk...
...
As did talking, as it wasn't surprising that it took a good CHUNK of the night for them to move from point A to point B -- not surprising at all. Hell, she'd actually been half-thinking he was kidding for them to go out on a walk that would be that long but...
....
.......
Well, what could one do? However, the several-hour (fdskf;j her feet) walk was definitely worth it between being groomed by Pavo (the sweet thing, she kept having to rub the ridges of his eyes because she was just so smitten with him.
Too bad she couldn't just steal him away for herself).
But alas, now it was .. actually just perfect for them to both sit down to eat their silly little picnic and rest their feet.
"I do wonder if I'll be home in time for the morning meal's preparation." Ooooh she didn't want to explain to Mirelle why she wasn't there...
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Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 8:13 pm
Chavel couldn't blame her for being suspicious at all; shards, if put in the same position as herself, he didn't doubt that he would've felt the same! Poor Shala must have taken him for absolutely insane by the time they were far beyond the Weyr, walking for hours and hours seemingly without end-- and to do what at the end, exactly? He'd never even specified their plans, always chatting about innocently mundane nothings...
How he'd managed to survive the walk without even appearing winded was another great mystery for the ages, only battered so far as a slightly bleeding ear when he accidentally jarred Tolo (who eventually retired inside his tunic to sleep) too roughly.
Why again hadn't they simply asked a rider to take them Between?...
"... Aaah, what an absolutely breathtaking landscape!" he announced as soon as they saw the dirt first turn to sand, grinning so widely that it threatened to split off his face. "Look at the stars, so clear and pure up in that sky! And their reflection off the water!... Ah, and that breeze-- so invigorating, isn't it?"
Pavo, who had eventually dozed off as well on Shala's shoulder, cracked one sleepy whirling eye open and trilled tiredly, streeeetching out his wings and giving a big yawn.
"Let's find a nice spot down the beach for our meal," the mindhealer went on rambling, beaming at his partner. "Somewhere good and open and beautiful, just like yourself! What do you say?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 8:53 pm
And she'd chattered back the exact same mundane nothings -- two could play at that game, and really she was all too delighted to do just that. So there! Besides, it was more entertaining to speculate what it was he had planned and wouldn't let her know -- so there!
But the sleeping firelizard around her neck told her the one thing she wished she was doing at that time -- sleeping. It would have been absolutely pleasant. Ohh yes, she'd be a grouch later that day if she didn't get some sleep!
Alas, it was time to sit down and have their little midnight picnic, now wasn't it? "Well, I would say that at this time of night, most of the beach is nice and peaceful -- so as long as we don't go out of our way to find somewhere that's rocky we should be well set."
Hmmm...
...
Taking the lead, Shala peered around the beach, squinting in the dark to see where the waves stopped before moving forward to take up a seat in a nicely illuminated spot, sitting down right in the sand with her basket (which had been shifted from arm to arm over their loooooong walk) However, the first thing she pried from her basket was a piece of fruit, which she carefully bit a small piece off of before offering it to the blue flitt on her shoulder with a mimic of it's trill.
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Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 9:21 pm
"Oh, but the rocky outcroppings can provide such wonderful views!" Not that Chavel had any particular interest in eating their lunch on top of said outcroppings (even if he did have the inclination for exploring them later on), but he seemed to take a strange delight in playing Devil's Advocate at every opportunity. "... But alas, as you wish, fair lady..."
He was more than happy to fall a half-step behind her as she led, humming some idle tune under his breath and absently admiring the beach front. The spot Shala had chosen was perfectly adequate and pretty and flat, and he was more than happy to drop his rucksack (a slightly jarring blow that earned a dull hiss from within his shirt) to calmly rifle through, producing, of all things, his self-declared picnic blanket to fan out and lay across the sand.
"... There we are." Quite pleased with his handiwork, he surveyed it for a moment before sitting down... only to have the thoroughly whiny Tolo crawl out from his sleeve and spill across his lap-- but not before nipping his sensitive underarm. For his efforts, he received a soft mental chide. "Fruit, I see?" He had to chuckle at that. "I'm glad you refrained from feeding that to Pavo in the Weyr; my files would have been a disaster!"
His statement was only proven further by Pavo's gleeful acceptance of the piece, eyes whirling contently and proceeding to sloppily chomp bite after delicate bite, pulp and juice dripping down his body all the while.
"And yes, Tolo, don't you worry," he assured the creeling bronze, with an appeasing bellyrub. "You'll be getting plenty as well, I promise. Let the dear woman get her things in order before you start threatening to bite."
As if he hadn't gone THROUGH with said threat already?
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Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 9:47 pm
Indeed, as was expected, Shala repeated her gesture of biting a piece of her fruit off to offer to the little bronze as well -- no smaller than the piece that had been offered to Pavo as well. Awww, fair treatment, Tolo got it! Though after that it was a piece for herself, pausing after a moment to produce another piece of similar-looking (possibly the same type) fruit to offer to the mindhealer himself.
Oh ho ho!
Fair treatment for all involved it seemed! But following that it was just a little bit of chewing on her own piece of fruit while drawing in the sand with one (unsticky, thank goodness) finger. Mmmm. At least the salt air was pleasant enough -- nice and fresh. Not to say the Weyr was gross and nasty and dirty. It just happened to smell distinctly of hot bodies after hard work and Firestone.
Blah.
Blah indeed.
...
...............
"So, are we out here because of that rumored golden firelizard and her supposed clutches?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 10:23 pm
There was a bated-breath moment for Chavel when she'd made the daring move to hand Tolo the scrap directly, but the little bronze, much to his relief, had accepted it without taking any of her fingers off... only to take one greedy, sloppy bite of the fruit, pause, and proceed to dismember it-- apparently not fond of the taste, but bent of turning his Bonded's lap (and himself) into a sticky disgusting mess regardless.
Needless to say, his plan succeeded, and the mindhealer chuckled amicably. "I think his preferences lean more toward savory fair," he commented "he's still got a very young and basic palette, after all."
In fact, it seemed rather strange that Pavo did enjoy the fruit so much, trilling happily once the whole piece had been down and affectionately butting his now TERRIBLY sticky maw against her hand.
But anyway...
"Oh, I think that's a part of it," Chav chirped, biting into his own piece and chewing thoughtfully while his other hand stayed busy placating Tolo. "I'd been meaning to spend some time at the beach recently-- and meet some charming young denizens of the Weyr more personally, of course-- and... well, you're quite partial to them, aren't you?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 10:45 pm
At the headbutt to her hand, Shala offered another piece of fruit to the little blue, scratching his eyeridges again. Really, if all flitts could be this good natured she'd be very pleased with life. Then again, that'd be a lot of flitts vying for shoulderspace, now wouldn't it?
..
....
Yes. Yes it would be. But perhaps that would be part of the fun. Unless they started fighting over the space. "Well, I imagine if I had a good natured little one, I'd be fine with having a Firelizard. Seems to me that they don't take up much space and don't require anywhere near as much feeding as a baby dragon does."
...
...... But it did feel like a bit of a cop-out because of her failure in it's own way. Now firelizards were the only option she really had -- and she was going to take what she could get. Though this wasn't to say she wasasdesperateasshewascomingoffasohFaranthshewas.
fjsdl.
"And I'll admit it would be nice to have the company."
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Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 12:45 am
Pavo was just as happy to accept the second piece as he'd been the first, taking it with a kind of ginger delicacy as if consciously trying not to claw her, and then proceeding to (surprise) lean in once more to accommodate better scratching. Sure, his bonded generally spoiled him that much anyway... but from another hand it was exciting in whole other ways!
Chavel, meanwhile, had fished around the basket to find a few scraps of meat instead-- which Tolo was much more obliged to throw down his gullet than the first offering. It even earned a whiny trill of delight, and for once, he didn't attempt to n** a finger.
Good, good... Definitely worthy of some mental praise. Ample praise. Feelings of Not Biting were something he was dead set to encourage.
"They're just as you believe," he assured his companion softly, kindly, with utmost sincerity. "Firelizards are absolutely mystical little creatures-- the perfect company, in my opinion. They're diminutive, charming, intelligent like a dragon without all the dramatic fuss or hubbub... and best yet, their companionship is unlimited in number."
After all, one couldn't impress a fair of dragonets-- but they COULD have a great mass of firelizards at their disposal!
"... But I digress-- would you like a roll?" Time for a subject change, it seemed, having dug a couple out now that his fruit was finished. "Once we've filled out bellies properly, we can head out for a good, long walk down the sands, hmm? Just keep those spirits lifted in the meanwhile! This place is too beautiful to frown at."
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Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 8:40 am
A roll, hmmm? Shala lifted a hand and shook her head at the offer. "Thank you, but I shouldn't be eating too much this late at night -- it may make me lose my appetite for breakfast later." Which would be!... Probably some more rolls and all that good stuff. Joy.
Yeah, she'd have to get in a nap later if she could. If she took two hour naps when she could, she'd be set to go to sleep all night as well. Then again, she'd probably hit a second-wind soon enough and then pass out somewhere a couple of hours after that.
Note to self: Get Klah into system before starting any cooking unless you want to lose a finger. That sounded like the only way she was going to keep herself going later because she'd splurged on this little vacation now.
..........
............... OH WELL.
She'd just get to suffer for a day for it... unfortunately.
"Eating too much will make me tired." she said in polite defense, pulling her hand away from Pavo's 'oh baby oh baby' leaning. "And we better not stay out too terribly long on that walk. If the sun comes up and I'm not back I may be in trouble."
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Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 11:12 am
"Oh? Well, if you feel you'll be alright that way..." Normally Chav wouldn't have indulged in such a late meal either, but he'd anticipated a need for more energy than usual on their adventure-to-come, and that meant putting more fuel in his tank with some good hearty kitchen leftovers!
Well, he assured himself quietly, if she got hungry along the way, there'd still be plenty of leftovers to offer later. (Shells, the same offer applied to anything in need they ran across!)
"Now, now, don't worry so much about the time," he assured her with a new bright smile, flapping a hand dismissively once he'd polished off his roll, and conveniently shaking the crumbs off it, too. "For the moment, at least, just focus on there here and now! Less stressful, that way-- and keep in mind that this beach is home to some very empathetic residents..."
He felt more or less satisfied in the meal now, however, and both Pavo and Tolo seemed placated enough for the moment, SO.
"Shall we repack our blanket and continue, then?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 12:25 pm
"Well, I think that would be the best course of action." Shala agreed, sighing lightly as she carefully arranged the contents of her basket (though not without giving Pavo some more scritches). But as expected,clean-up on Shala's part took little more than making sure she had her basket in arm and dusting off the seat of her skirt (which was covered in sand from sitting before there was a blanket. What could she do about it now, though?).
"Would that course involve some of those rocks you said were just oh-so-lovely?" she joked, knowing very well it may actually be so.
Why else would he suggest they walk down to the beach at this time of night after she mentioned the firelizard queen? Certainly she was aware that everybody and their mom had been looking for the clutch, but still..
....
......
She hadn't even heard rumor of anybody spotting the wild queen yet -- at least not in a while.
"Or perhaps you had something else in mind?" she asked, brows lifting in a sort of curious manner. Curiosity, she hadz it.
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Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 12:54 pm
As usual, Pavo was happy to snatch up any scratching or touches she tossed his way, trilling and cooing joyfully the whole while... until Chavel sent him some odd mental command and, seemingly out of the blue, he paused, creeled, and launched right off her shoulder, into nothingness. Heading between, or-- oh, wait, he'd just flashed above their heads to a much higher altitude?
Tolo did no such thing, however, merely settling back onto his bonded's shoulder with a hiss as the mindhealer rose, waiting patiently until Shala had finished with her business before grabbing one side of the blanket, giving it a good few snaps to dislodge any sand before somehow finagling the mass into a neat heap.
There, all ready to be crammed back in his rucksa--
"... Hmm?" He'd paused right then to glance back at his (human) companion, and chuckled lightly. "Oooh, we may investigate that area too." What, had they not been going to in the first place? "Really, I was just thinking of a good walk for walking's sake, myself! But... I suppose if something were to come up..."
He sounded quite amused by the thought, but shrugged it off, redawning his pack of supplies and straightening, careful to avoid jarring the fussy bronze on his shoulder.
"So then!" Hmm? "Where to, first? Pick a direction-- will it be this way, or that?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 2:02 pm
Well meh.. if they were just there to walk it would have served her better (at least to the part of her that was getting cranky and tired) to start heading back to the Weyr... but instead of snapping that (as snapping was never nice) she just sighed with resignation of being home in a timely manner.
"Well, either way sounds perfectly fine to me." she said, knowing fully well it wasn't a helpful suggestion at all.. but 'picking' wise, she had to say........
"Let's head this way.." with that, she took a few steps to continue along the shore opposite of the way they'd come from -- if only for the logic that walking further away from the Weyr was..
...
........
.................................... Okay, obviously her logic wasn't trying to follow getting back to the Weyr before the night was over. Then again, perhaps it was following a path of finding a better way of how to not be found by people.
..................... Yeah, okay.. she was a bit antsy about actually taking a look around on the beach a bit to see if she could find the golden flitt of rumor. It was definitely something to be curious about.
And she didn't get to wander out this far often when there were mouths to feed.
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Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 3:02 pm
"As you wish!" If Chavel had any inclination to go another direction, he threw it aside in favor of trotting dutifully along at his new partner's side instead, perfectly content and oh-so-pleased that she'd humored him. "I think this is a wonderful way to go! A most excellent choice!"
He was practically skipping as they went, too, picking up his legs and keeping a rather peculiar bounce in his step that left Tolo (once again) threatening to give his ear some nice new piercings.
"The weather really is perfect tonight," he commented in a conversational manner, glancing over at her. "Clear skies and a temperate sea breeze... perhaps we may glimpse some little airborne phantoms about, after all..."
As if summoned by the very word, Pavo swooped lower in the darkness right then, brushing just above the pair's heads before pumping hard and circling higher again, seemingly intent on finding... something, but just what was it, exactly?
"... Almost makes me nostalgic, these kinds of nights," he mused softly, stroking Tolo's head. "Brings back such wonderful memories of turns past..." He had to chuckle there. "What about you, Shalaera?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 4:17 pm
Shala frowned up at the blue as he circled again, but didn't allow it to stop her pace. Huuuuh. What was little Pavo up to? She could have only assumed...well.. she didn't know what to assume other than she would have imagined he would like sitting on her shoulder better than circling up above like that.
There was nobody to scratch his eye ridges up in the sky, unfortunately.
"I used to sleep at night." she answered flatly -- not 'romanticism' or anything to it from there on out. "I didn't try to pursue 'romance' because I was a candidate.." and sometimes the step beyond 'romantic' could have caused problems for a candidate who would be unable to stand because they were pregnant.
Caused confusion for a dragonet or something.
"So this is the first time I've been out at night like this, if you must know." Which he had asked, so she answered -- nice and open and honest about the whole thing. Really, had her desire to be a rider fueled all of her actions to be as such?
Seemed so.
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