Welcome to Gaia! ::

The object of Vidya's inspection flexed and curled when the fingers wandered too close to the sharp edges and pointed tip; he didn't want her to get hurt, after all. Tybalt smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. "Fat lotta good that did, eh? I'd like t'see 'im try'n keep you locked in." If only to give him an excuse to break her out of the house, of course.

His smirk quickly fell at her quiet inquiry, turning into a puzzled frown. Where had this unexpected question, this sudden change in mood come from? "What? Err..." This wasn't going to turn into some emotional thing, was it? As much as he cared for Vidya--and he did care, as much as he could--he was ill-equipped to deal with other people's feelings, even hers. "Course y'are! I wouldn't keep y'around if y'weren't!" Point proven.

"Now ye're just bein' daft," he blurted out, uncomfortable with the heavy turn the conversation had taken. Frowning down at Vidya, he patted the top of her head awkwardly to take the sting out of his tone, if not his words. "Y'were me first mate long b'fore y'had any kinda magics, and ye'll remain as such even if y'lose 'em."

"I think ye're infected with th' crazies anyway," he teased lightly, inwardly sighing in relief. Though he was curious about Vidya's rapid-fire change in mood, he was happy enough that she seemed "up" again that he didn't dwell on it too much, instead writing it off as some strange girl thing that he would never really understand. "What's yer question, then?"

Tybalt eyed Vidya curiously, but climbed down from his perch on the back of the bench, using the seat as a step. He moved closer to her, just the slightest bit of tension in his shoulders.

Tybalt straightened his back at her change in expression, wary eyes tracking Vidya's movement until he could no longer see her. Though he should have been expecting her to pounce, he hadn't. With a startled "oof!" he staggered forward a few paces, wobbling dangerously for a moment before his wings splayed slightly to correct his balance.

"This was yer question?" he asked, turning his head to look over his shoulder at Vidya. His indulgent grin belied his disgruntled tone of voice, and he hooked his arms around her knees to keep her steady. "Which way's home, then?"

"Hmph. You implyin' I can't?" he shot back, stubbornly stumbling up the street in spite of his already-protesting back. "'Less ye'd rather I flew ye home, though as I recall it, ye're somewhat afraid o' flyin'." Tybalt's voice grew strained with the combined effort of posturing and struggling to keep them both upright.

"It was flyin'," Tybalt protested as vehemently as his shortness of breath would allow, tilting his head away from her plaintive wail. "The only hunk o' lead was you weighin' me down. If it hadn't been flyin', we'd've both been so much mulch." Nevermind the fact that they almost had been; Tybalt still couldn't climb that damnable tree without wondering why they weren't.

Pride drove Tybalt forward a few more yards after Vidya changed her mind, but self-preservation won out in the end. "Well, if ye're sure," he said, secretly relieved as he gently lowered Vidya's legs to the ground. A hand went to his neck to take one of hers, leading it from behind him to place it in the crook of his opposite elbow. "Course I wouldn't leave ye be. Someone needs t'look out fer ya, after all."

"Heavy enough," Tybalt teased, "an' I wouldn't've done it if I hadn't been confident in me own flyin' abilities." A bald-faced lie if Tybalt had ever told one, and he'd told more than a few since he had mastered the ability to talk.

"Aye, 's what I said, an' who better, eh?" Not even the strain the day's exertions had put on Tybalt could keep him from his arrogance, and he countered Vidya's doubts with a cocky smile and a flaring of too-tired wings.