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 Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2015 8:19 am
accidental double post, please ignore!
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Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2015 11:18 pm
In truth, his head was pounding, but that was not Alizarin's business. Aldebaran eyed him as he approached and fluttered all four of his wings in warning, but it was more for show -- a bluff -- than any real threat. He could barely move his legs... at least not without feeling searing pain. This was not something he was accustomed to. Nor was he accustomed to being nursed by males. Aldebaran met the other's eyes, still tense and wary.
"It is rude to stare," he snipped at Alizarin. "Have you never seen one of my kind before? And what are you doing up here in the mountains, anyway?" he asked the other male. With a barely discernible pause, he added, "In midwinter at that?"
Aldebaran Word Count: 124
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Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2015 11:21 pm
"It is also rude to avoid introductions, and to respond aggressively to someone who offered you help and may have saved your life," Alizarin retorted brightly. Then he snorted back at the angeni. "You're not the first angeni and I doubt you'll be the last -- the one who helped me was more impressive than you." Alizarin eyed the angeni's wings, and for a moment felt a pang of guilt for goading him, but the guilt was fleeting. He was sure of it now -- the angeni was a princeling. A very rude and aggressive one. "What's your name? I thought princes were raised to be mannerly."
"As for traveling here in the wintertime, I could ask you the same question," he said, but didn't freely offer a response.
Alizarin Word Count: 129
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Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2015 12:15 pm
Aldebaran frowned ever so slightly, creases marring his otherwise perfect features. Maybe he had offended Alizarin? Well, it did not matter; that was irrelevant.
"This is supposed to be uninhabited territory," he shot back. He tossed his mane to shake out the dirt that had become entangled in the long waves, but kept a watchful eye on the other male, uncomfortable. He kept his face carefully steady when the other commented on his breeding. Of course he was a prince; was that not obvious? But Aldebaran fought internally, uncertain if he wanted to answer the question. Ideally, no one would have known about his little venture abroad, but it was too late for that now. The idea itself was folly -- he was too high-profile to go unnoticed anyhow. If the wind carried any whispers of an unusual angeni traveling through the mountains, all in his homeland would know who it was.
He remained silent, staring and tense. If the peasant wanted to learn his name, he would have to earn it.
Aldebaran Word Count: 172
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Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2015 12:24 pm
Alizarin grinned at the prince, ignoring how he had been scorned and instead retorted, "But this region is uninhabited. We don't live here. It gets too harsh in the wintertime." He pointedly glanced at the angeni's injuries.
Deliberately, he avoided offering up any further details. If the angeni wanted to play this game, fine. Alizarin could play it too. He was not accustomed to catering to the whims and haughtiness of vain, foreign princes, but he was not above stooping to their level. Again, he felt a swift pang of guilt. Enfys would not approve of his attitude toward his patient, whether he was a narcissistic and conceited prince or not, but the angeni would probably even test her near-infinite patience. Alizarin snuck a quick, sidelong glance at the stallion.
She would probably forgive him.
Alizarin Word Count: 135
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Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2016 10:01 am
A flare of irritation ran through him, but Aldebaran ignored it, his curiosity piqued.
"What do you mean, 'we?'" he asked Alizarin, eyebrows raised. Who in their right mind would wander the mountains in midwinter? Aldebaran conveniently ignored the implication this held for his own character.
Aldebaran Word Count: 46
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Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2016 10:03 am
Alizarin paused, meeting the angeni's eyes. Maybe he should play nice for now, if it would improve the other's attitude.
"We are herbalists," Alizarin deigned to respond to the injured prince, "Enfys and myself. We come here every once in a while for our herbs."
Alizarin Word Count: 45
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Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2016 10:09 am
"Do I really look that stupid to you? I know herbalists don't make a habit of wandering in the mountains whenever they please."
Aldebaran openly stared at Alizarin, incredulous and now becoming angry at the perceived insult.
Aldebaran Word Count: 37
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Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2016 10:12 am
"How you look really is irrelevant," he answered dryly, ignoring the question instead of answering it in the affirmative. "How do your healers preserve your plants and herbs?"
He added as an afterthought, "Do you even know?" A little bit of disdain had seeped into his question. Oh well. Alizarin doubted the prince would notice too much. He eyed him carefully. Who was this guy?
Alizarin Word Count: 65
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Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2016 10:32 am
Aldebaran fell silent at the counter-question. That's true, he wasn't quite sure how the herbalists at home preserved plants. Then again, in his home country, most regions were warm and thriving, and the land was bountiful; any herbs brought to him were fresh and young from lush, well-maintained gardens. He had only seen the mountains so far, but this land definitely looked and felt different. Maybe this stallion wasn't as well off as he was, Aldebaran thought silently to himself.
"We don't usually preserve them," he answered belatedly and begrudgingly.
Aldebaran Word Count: 90
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Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2016 10:47 am
Of course, this was no surprise to Alizarin.
As I thought. You must be lucky. And spoiled. Fortunate princeling; of course he would receive the best of the best medicine from his family and caretakers, no matter what resources were easily available to the common soquili. He had no reason to know the minutiae of herbal medicine that healers steadfastly toiled on, most likely under his own father's -- or mother's -- orders. Alizarin caught himself feeling a little disappointed at this, but brushed it off. If the angeni was willing, he could be taught.
"I don't know what it's like where you're from," he started carefully, then snuck in a side-note, "Of course, you didn't mention this to me, or even your name." Alizarin shot him a glance, hoping he would talk.
"But here, we usually dry our plants. Some herbs seem to lose their restorative properties when they're sun-dried, so Enfys and I like to preserve them here, in the cold. We make trips to these mountains to dig our herbs from the snow caves or out from under the permafrost. And sometimes, we can find rare plants in the warmer mountain regions. Enfys knows a few collectors of rare flowers, so we can use those for trade."
Alizarin Word Count: 210
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Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 9:30 pm
Well, now he felt somewhat stupid. Not that the other soquili needed to know that. Aldebaran eyed the stallion critically, deciding to ignore his own shortcoming.
"Perhaps you're correct," he told him, "As far as I know, that is not done in my homeland. There is a shortage of icy mountains." He gave Alizarin a pointedly unamused look.
"This place is very different from my land. Very cold so far, at any rate." As if to make his point, a shiver ran down Aldebaran's spine, and he winced at the pain that accompanied it. His head was still hurting.
And then he added, once again grudgingly, "I'm Aldebaran."
Aldebaran Word Count: 108
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