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 Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2015 9:04 am
Sparrow nodded hopefully, her hands clasping together. A clinking collar was definitely a distinct sound but she hadn't heard anything at all. Excitement began to bubble in her chest as she followed him through the grass, looking this way and that for any sign of her beloved Muffin. Mud squelched under the litch's boots as they continued and Arden's smile was more than a little reassuring. Maybe he was right. Maybe the vespercat had come out here. It would certainly be a nice place to hide.
There came another little jingle, this time lighting on Sparrow's ears as well. That was a familiar sound! A little bit of panic rumbled in under the girl's bubbling hope and she did a quick circle.
"Muffin?!"
There was an oddly long, furry black vine hanging from a low branch of one of the nearby trees. It rose behind the leaves and hovered a moment there. Sparrow did not seem to see it as she continued forward, carefully picking her way through the long grass.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 8:34 am
Arden watched Sparrow pick around, seeing the excitement (anxiety?) rise to her features. They had to be close, he didn't doubt it. Stepping carefully, he continued to pick around in the grasses, making sure he didn't startle anything else. "Muffin?" he called a little unsure, testing it out before falling back into silence as he looked.
Eventually he worked towards the trees, the lowest of the branches still a few feet above the top of his head. He could climb, but for now he circled the bottom, fingers trailing around the bark as he circled the tree. He wasn't aware of the eyes peering at him from the leaf shroud. "Do you hear him still?" Arden asked the Litch, frowning the slightest. He hadn't heard any more of the jingling. He hoped Muffin was at rest and hadn't fled far out of ear shot. His tail swung lazily behind him, squinting up at the tree canopy above him. He really hoped Sparrow didn't suggest he did a fly by to check.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 11:46 am
"No..." Sparrow responded, feeling her chest tighten. What if they never found him? The little litch frowned and clasped her hands together worriedly. No, it wasn't going to do any good to think like that!
Arden seemed interested in the trees and Sparrow supposed that that would be a pretty reasonable spot to find a runaway vespercat. Muffin might live inside a dorm on a regular basis but his instincts were for the trees. She came to the trunk and peered up.
"Muffin?"
There came a little trill and Muffin emerged from the low branches, rubbing against a twig as if it were a friendly leg. He looked rather satisfied with himself, really. Sparrow gasped and pointed.
"There! That's him!" That was the collar she'd tied around his neck for certain. Oh, they'd found him! But how would they get him down?! "What should we do?" She stretched out her arms as if promising she would catch him and was promptly ignored.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 1:21 pm
The brunette turned as Sparrow cooed in glee, taking a step back from the tree to get a better view. He smiled a little. The cat was cute. He looked back to the Litch, putting his hands on his hips. "Uhm," he offered, looking to the much shorter girl. Even if she just raised her hands, that was still too far to coax the green-collared cat into jumping.
He scratched the back of his head, wings pressing close to his back to become as small as possible. "Do you have something he likes? A toy? A... sound?" As much as he loved familiars, he wasn't very versed with him. His roommates didn't even have any. Arden looked to Sparrow hopeful before sliding his eyes to the tree trunk. "It's sort of uhm, skinny, but I can climb it if I have to for you." He half-heartedly flexed his arms before putting his hands back onto his hips, blowing a breath out of his nose.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 2:20 pm
It certainly would have helped if she'd had something of Muffin's, wouldn't it? She hadn't thought to go back to her room to grab anything in the excitement of his initial escape. She'd been worried that the longer she took, the further he'd get. As it was he'd run pretty far.
"Um," Sparrow reasoned, not intentionally mimicing the chimera, "I don't. I... if you lift me up, I could probably climb." She didn't want to demand the chimera climb up himself. It was her cat, not his. "Or... if you want to wait here, I can come back with treats." She huffed and shrugged, then letting her arms flop to her sides. Stupid cat. "What if we--" The thought wasn't completely shared before Sparrow began to look for something, anything to help her cat down from the tree. He seemed calm now, but if they went clamoring up after him he could very well try to climb higher or jump down and hurt himself.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 2:44 pm
Arden looked Sparrow over from head to toe, nodding slightly. She didn't look to heavy. He could easily hoist her up on his shoulders. Chimeras were built for muscle, and he had been pretty good about not letting the Academy life fatten him up too much. "I can lift you," he agreed, watching as Sparrow seemed to get other ideas.
"He's probably a lot more afraid of me than you," The Chimera offered, trying to help her figure out what she wanted to do. Arden didn't mind either way, as long as she didn't for him to fly he was game with rescuing the scared cat. The brunette relaxed his shoulders, letting his hands hang as his sides.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 2:55 pm
Sparrow smiled and nodded. Did she generally touch strangers? No. Arden wasn't really a stranger any more, though, and it would only be for a minute to get her cat out of the tree. Muffin was staring down at them, just watching.
"If you really don't mind," she said softly. Sparrow wasn't used to hugs or even handshakes at times and some of the chimera she had met were... different than this. They didn't want much to do with the other races, especially a litch like her, but Arden had been nothing but helpful. She reached out her arms to help him lift her, mentally cursing the cat still caught in the tree.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 3:07 pm
"I might as well be useful for something," Arden agreed as he wouldn't have suggested it if he wasn't willing to do it. He stretched for a moment, squatting briefly before arching his back. Wiggling out his arms, he gave Sparrow the same reassuring smile as he had seen the way she hesitated. He crouched down instead, bypassing her offered arms. Squatting slightly, his wings stuck out low to help him with his balance and to keep them out of her way.
"I can get you up on my shoulders," he promised, remembering how as a kid he used to ride his mothers all the time until he 'got too old for that'. Not that he could blame her, he sprouted like a weed. "Little easier," he promised. Actually, he wasn't sure what she had been thinking, because every other way involved a lot of possibly awkward touching. Definitely easier to do the shoulders.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 3:22 pm
Were Sparrow capable of blushing she certainly would have begun right now. She'd never even held hands with a boy, and PE was different. This wasn't exactly a team exercise. She smiled shyly and didn't make eye contact as Arden crouched. She straddled his neck carefully and hesitated before releasing her weight.
"Are you okay?" she asked. She was a petite little thing, but that didn't mean she was paper-light. Arden seemed strong, but how often did a person need to lift up another person, really?
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 3:29 pm
He held his breath, blowing it out of his nose as Sparrow complied. He could do this. Arden nodded a little, grabbing the Litch's thighs as he moved to stand. Having wings actually helped for once, the appendages splaying to help him keep his balance. "Don't worry about me," Arden informed, feeling the strain but he could keep it up. He just wanted to see her with Muffin.
Lifting his tail high so he wouldn't trip, he tried to keep a bit low so he wouldn't accidentally smack Sparrow's head on the branches. He couldn't exactly look up without possibly loosing her off of his back. He hummed a little to himself, trying not to focus too hard on her weight. Okay, maybe it was a bit more harder than he thought, but he wasn't going to collapse. He adjusted his grip the slightest, trying to be conscious of not puncturing her leg with his claws. He was a little forgetful on the trimming.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 4:13 pm
Sparrow wobbled as they rose and hunched over once, nearly taking over Arden's head. "Sorry, sorry!" She definitely didn't want to fall from this height.
As soon as the litch had risen enough to reach the branch, she held out her arms and used her very best baby voice. "Muffin! Hi, honey! You wanna come down? Come on! Come here!"
Muffin obliged his master in first approaching and then carefully stepping onto her shoulder. Sparrow immediately grabbed him and held him close to her chest. Her vestige of calm shattered even with Muffin's familiar purr vibrating and she called down to Arden.
"Okay! I've got him!" It couldn't feel very nice to have a whole other person on your shoulders, regardless of size difference.
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 5:27 pm
Arden chuckled a little, not really caring. He could fix his hair later. As Sparrow wobbled around reaching for her companion, he held as still as possible, bending the slightest at the knees. He waited patiently as she coaxed her friend, grunting in confirmation as she called down to him. Carefully he knelt back down, Sparrow unable to slip off his back with his stupid wings in the way. Crouching fully, he made sure her feet hit the ground before flopping backwards to sit on the grass.
"Safe and sound?" he asked with a soft smile, a bit of a breath from the exertion. Arden places his palms on the Earth behind him, leaning backwards as he sat. "He's cute," the brunet informed. He held out a pale finger to the cat, letting Muffin sniff him.
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Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 6:52 pm
Sparrow gave a soft "oh!" born from nerves when Arden crouched to let her down. She stayed standing as he fell back and, after a moment for her feet to recognize that they were on solid ground again, she finally placed Muffin back on the ground where he belonged.
"Uh-huh," she said with a nod. Muffin was curious of this new person and wandered up casually, sniffing Arden's claws. Without noisy freshlings to chase him off again he was the same calm, obedient creature.
The plan had been to give Arden a hug, but he was well out of hugging range now. Instead Sparrow fell to the ground beside him and in a great burst of boldness come from the elation of her returned friend, the litch leaned over and gave Arden a quick peck on the cheek.
"Thank you," she said, and then flopped back into the grass herself and sighed. Muffin had ceased his purring but didn't seem off-put by this new person at all.
"Thanks. I got him back during Hallowed Haunt," she said and gave a little face. That hadn't been especially fun for her, but at least she'd gotten a kitten out of the deal!
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Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 7:19 pm
Arden watched the cat pick through the grass, raising his hand a little more so Muffin could have a better sniff. He really did love familiars. They all had personalities but weren't as judgmental as Nightmares. He gently patted Muffin between the ears before letting him get comfortable. He moved the slightest as Sparrow flopped down, not wanting to get in her way.
Suddenly though Sparrow was close and he stuttered slightly. Okay, he hadn't been expecting the cheek peck but he would take it. He chuckled a little as he was unsure how to react but the Litch just kept on like normal. Arden looked away, trying to keep mellow. "I didn't participate much in that," he informed, still looking out at the trees. "I uh, can't say I've actually participated in a whole lot here." That was mostly his fault, but it had hard getting adjusted. These days he was rolling with the punches and with the New Headmaster's celebration soon, he hoped to mingle more with his peers.
grasshopper pie Sorry, since Arden got his own kitten in the event ORP I figured it's best this is assumed before aha.
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Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2015 10:46 am
"I was still pretty young then," Sparrow admitted. "Hallowed Haunt isn't really my thing. Trick-or-Treating maybe, but now I might be too old. I couldn't stand that haunted house." She shuddered involuntarily. That who fiasco had ended in torrents of tears and some shrieking. She'd never go through again unless she had someone to go with. She always felt safer with a companion.
"It's fun to get out there and meet new people. I mean, you barely see anyone from other houses, except like this." Sparrow turned then to Arden, smiling. "Thanks again. I think a lot of people would have just left me to it."
Muffin sat down between the two, tail swaying contentedly. He did not seem the type to run off in a panic so clearly the freshlings had been more than a little loud and fast.
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