Welcome to Gaia! ::

Maybe it was a first for him, but Cheyenne couldn't help but feel a little proud of himself for being able to let out with that little squeak of a whistle after the praise Bleez gave him. He never usually saw himself as something to be proud of, really, but he could do something better than other people? Him? He lowered his head, trying his best to hide his reddened grin under his sheet of white bangs, trying to get his face under the gaze of either of the two in the room. He fidgeted a little, unsure of what to do with such an emotion, other than to up and forget it. Change the subject, maybe? He wasn't used to being the center of anyone's attention, and yet, it was becoming a bit of a chore to stop smiling -- he found it very difficult to relax the grin.

He decided not to lift his head, considering that he couldn't erase the smile. He didn't mind smiling, really, it's just that the jesting of his twin brother wasn't something he wanted to incur the wrath of again. However, hadn't he already used up his part of the deal? Twitching his hands, he stated, "Whistling. That's what I wanted to do." It was his request, after all. Sure, he had used it to complete his part of the deal, but it still counted, didn't it?

Iridian swatted him on the back, good-naturedly but perhaps a little too hard -- the albino stumbled a bit. "Tha's no' a-something to do!" he tried to explain as best as he understood it. Granted, when Bleez had mentioned Cheyenne picking something to do next, Iridian had automatically translated the words as "pick a game." Whistling wasn't a game! "Pick wha' we do ness'!" he hopped, finding the letter 'x' to be a little too difficult to pronounce.

What to do next? What to do... he wasn't sure. He usually sat games out, unless Iridian was being too pushy about it. What else could they do in a cave? There was always the option of going back outside, perhaps skipping a few rocks out by the pond, back out into the field like they were suppose to be, but... he liked the darkness more. He was more comfortable in the shadows, where he was sure that no light would bother him. Not only that, but they needed to stay toward the entrance; he didn't want to upset any bats, especially since they would be the ones trespassing on their property, if there were any here. His head rose, red eyes displaying his confusion, "What could we do in a cave?" He was coming up empty, but he took a step or two away from the entrance to show them that he had no intention of picking something to do outside of said cave. He was so indecisive, and the sigh that escaped Iridian's mouth alerted him to the frustration. "Mmnh... find some rocks?" he tried not to squeak, but he didn't want to be in the spotlight anymore.

Iridian shrugged at the suggestion. Sounded boring, but maybe they could make a game out of it?

Cheyenne wandered off to one side of the cave, trying to look as preoccupied as he could with the stones that littered the floor. In all honesty, he just wanted everyone's attention to be on someone other than himself, and the only way he figured to do that was to physically put space between himself and his hyperactive brother. Well... not that the rocks were all that uninteresting. He could see all their minute features with ease, even in the hold of the darkness, and started picking a couple up to compare their coloration.

Iridian wasn't so lucky. He didn't have his younger brother's incredible night vision -- heck, he couldn't even see out of one of his eyes at all! He rocked to and fro, trying to come up with a game to make Cheyenne's suggestion seem more fun, even if it was just for his own sake. He glanced at Bleez (completely oblivious to her fear), now seated on the floor, and then over to his brother, who wasn't all that unnoticeable in the shadows.

He clapped his hands as he found an idea, though the sound was muffled by the material of his long sleeves. "Wha' kinda rock we find firs'?" he asked Cheyenne, knocking a confused glance out of the albino as he tried to crane his head around to look at his brother. After a pause, he elaborated, "Big ones, small ones, square ones..?" He tried to use his hands for further explanation, but it didn't really help all that much.

Sighing slightly, Cheyenne tried to decide something else on-the-spot to distract his own brother from himself. Glancing at the two rocks in his hands, the toddler gained a mischievous, if inward, grin on his face; time to exploit his weakness, to get a longer moment's peace. "Purple. Find a purple one," he answered, turning back to face the wall.

Iridian looked a little concerned at first, but he realized that he had asked for that to happen. Oh well, just meant the game would go on longer, as he would need to bring every rock he found to the entrance in order to verify color. Hopping over to the older spawn's side, he asked, "Bleez wanna help fin'a purple rock?"

"Eehee!" Iridian giggled, clapping his hands once again in excitement over Bleez's confirmation. Maybe he thought that his giddiness would be contagious, or maybe he was actually completely oblivious to Bleez's clutching fear, but he made no indication of letting up. He scampered off, a little quickly, and skidded to a halt near a scattering of a couple of rocks. "Mnn," he grumbled slightly as he crouched down, momentarily having forgotten that he had kicked his shoes off outside the cave. Skidding was not a good thing to do in a rocky cave, with bear feet, but he decided to ignore the throbbing and scooped up a couple of rocks.

It wasn't until he was bounding back that he heard Bleez's suggestion, coming to a halt again before he reached the partial light from the overcast sky at the entrance. He turned back, a look of slight confusion at first until his mouth broke out that huge grin again. "Ah'kay! Tha' be better!" he concluded, continuing to the entrance. "Tha'smart," he mumbled to himself, swinging his short tail happily.

Cheyenne was beginning to feel a little curious of the situation that Bleez found herself in, but the albino tried to stay facing the wall as best as he could while observing the situation. She was stiff and tense, he understood that reaction all too well. However, what was it for, exactly? What could one relate to the current predicament that would make someone so uncomfortable? With a mild, amused snort, he wondered if it was, perhaps, that Iridian was getting on her nerves.

(( *cackles* I spelled "bare" wrong in my last post. XD Whoops... ))

Hmm... this one wasn't purple. Neither was this one. Iridian held up the last rock that he took back with him, examining it in the faint light. "This one blue-y," he concluded, but tossed it aside. Blue was close, but it wasn't really purple. Were there such things as purple rocks, even in caves? Iridian wasn't the most patient of spawn, but as long as it was a game, he could endure the annoyances of failure. Turning, he flapped his wing-tines in anticipation for Bleez's incoming rocks.

Cheyenne dug through a pile of small rocks, uncovering a patch of potato bugs. He jumped slightly at the squirming beneath his fingers, hopping uneasily to his feet before falling back to the ground. "Oww..." he mumbled, scooting away again before looking back at the bugs that he had exposed. He didn't particularly like insects, but now that he actually got a better look at them, he realized that they weren't so bad. Maybe if they had been millipedes he would have freaked out more, but they weren't. Sliding forward again, rubbing at the base of his tail where he had landed on it, the pale child poked at one of the tiny bugs, "Roly-poly."

Iridian grinned, stopping the movement from his wings when the older spawn spoke up. "'S a'ight!" he answered, though he was initially unsure why she was apologizing. He could barely see her figure in the dark, and it didn't help that he was standing in a patch of light that further messed with his weak sight. He wagged his striped tail, holding his arms out to catch at any rocks that she tossed at him before she made any move to do so. Despite this action, he still failed to be completely ready for the catch; his hand closed too quickly, and his aim was far off. As the rock landed on the ground a few feet away, Iridian wasted no time in scampering up to the dark stone to investigate, leaving little time to dwell on his depth perception problems. "'S black!" he called back, rolling it over to see if there were any other colors on the rock's surface.

Curious, Cheyenne decided to come out of his corner and approach Bleez a little. He still kept space between the two of them, but he spoke as if he were standing right next to the preteen. "Like bugs?" he asked quietly, still trying to pinpoint why she was so tense. After all, she was playing with his brother, so she probably didn't find him too annoying.

Cheyenne tilted his head slightly at Bleez's reply, slightly confused. Well, if 'jaws' wasn't referring to the mouth-part, which wouldn't make sense, then it must have been a name. "Who's Jaws?" he asked, wondering what the preteen would have that would eat bugs. Some sort of lizard, maybe? Chameleons were pretty cool...

However, that was beside the point. Cheyenne was reluctant to go looking for rocks anymore, now that he had uncovered the patch of potato bugs. After all, he might find something worse if he kept digging, so decided not to pick anything else up anymore. Also, despite being so antisocial, he wanted to know what was bothering Bleez. Pass the time, maybe, but although he liked not feeling so alone with the mutual emotion (to a minor extent on his part), he also didn't like it when others felt this way. His long ears were pulled back, eyes to the ground, as he asked, "What's wrong?"

Iridian was, to say the least, bewildered. He didn't understand why his brother was asking such a question. Weren't they having fun, after all? He shook his head, his nose scrunched, but he didn't say anything. The moment seemed a little awkward anyway, and he never knew what to say in instances like this. Cheering someone up was easy, but that wasn't necessarily the case here. He nudged at a small rock with his toes before picking it up to quietly examine it in the light, "Greeey~"

Iridian couldn't help but comment on what Jaws had been referring to at that moment, "Really? Tha's so cool!" It wasn't his fault that he found having a meat-eating plant for a pet was so interesting! Granted, the size comparison from the real thing to the one pictured in the toddler's mind was way off, but he was rather fond of the idea of patting it on the head. That, and no more bugs to bother a kid! He giggled at the thought, brushing a few more rocks aside, trying to find the coveted purple one.

Cheyenne wrinkled his nose when his brother had butted in, but it wasn't as if it were a private conversation, and it was bound to happen sooner or later. However, he had to frown at Bleez's reply, specifically for the fact that he knew fear when he saw it, as he felt it a lot himself. He couldn't help that maybe he had misjudged it, though, considering that he was only a toddler and she seemed much older.

No, he shook his head. He knew better than that, and he knew better than to second-guess his own judgment. Let it come back to bite him later if it must, but he didn't want to let it drop. Besides, he could see in the dark as clear as day, with his double-dosage of dark vision and sunlight sensitivity. "Can you see okay?" he asked, thinking that the question may stir something else up, maybe make her drop her mask. Then again, Iridian couldn't see very well in the dark either... maybe it was like that for most people? If only he knew the word "tense," or "anxiety."

Cheyenne scowled at Bleez's reply, but he side-stepped backward at it. She was getting defensive over the subject, and as much as Cheyenne wanted to prove a fact, he didn't want to incur something else along with it. In irritation, his tail started twitching in reaction, but he decided to back off. He still wasn't very good at putting his thoughts to accurate words, so instead of stirring up anything else negative, he decided that it would be better if he stepped back into the harsher shadows near the walls of the cave. Despite himself, he couldn't help but glare over at Iridian over his shoulder, ears lowered. His brother always knew what to say... He shook his head, balled fists to the sides of his head as he tried to get rid of the jealousy he was feeling.

"I go' 'em! I go' 'em!" Iridian exclaimed with a giggle through the darkness as the rocks were tossed his way. He took a step or two forward, but not enough to get hit with the rocks that were thrown, hopping backwards as he heard them hit the floor like marbles against concrete. He picked them up carefully, as if they were some small animal, before scurrying off back toward the light. "Hmn... lotta grey," he grumbled slightly, getting annoyed with so many false results. Weren't rocks normally grey anyway? He picked up the darkest of the bunch with his free hand, letting the others drop as he examined it closer, "Blue coun'?" He sighed, "We play something else?" Nope, he was definitely not a patience kid, that was for sure.

Cheyenne rolled his eyes at his brother's frustration, finding it mildly amusing that he could play a game like tag all day, and yet could only go perhaps ten minutes on this scavenger hunt? It didn't help that the albino knew that the older toddler only felt this way because he wasn't exactly in the conversation that had recently transpired, the spotlight hog. Glancing around, Cheyenne found a rock that was close enough to the color purple to work as the prize, even though it was a little more indigo than what would probably be preferred. It was a little ways inward to the cave, though, so he had to make the trip quick. After all, they decided not to go to the back, right? Once there, he rolled it over to Bleez, in an attempt to hide the fact that he was helping, before moving back toward the sides.