|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 5:52 pm
Once Laura’s back was to him, Byron smirked. Well, this could be an amusing trip… he hadn’t seen any woman blush like that for years. Cambrian women were very… well, they just didn’t blush like that.
“So. You going to tell me why you suddenly have a maid now?” he asked Rem, walking over to help his cousin out a bit.
“What do you have in these bags? Rocks?” Rem quipped, hefting one of the bags as best he could. “And what’s so unusual about it? I live alone and it’s a big house. I need help with the cleaning and stuff.”
“Books, actually. You never needed help before. You like doing things by yourself.” Just because he was a flirt didn’t make Byron a complete idiot. Besides, he knew Rem. There was something about Laura that had made the man change his lifestyle just a bit. And now Byron would figure out what that was. If there was one thing he liked more than flirting, it was puzzles.
“Is she your lover?” he asked bluntly after a moment of silence.
The bluntness of the question made Rem drop the bag on his toe. Biting off his curse words, Rem glared at his cousin before gathering up the bag again. “No, she’s not,” he said curtly, cheeks heating a little as he remembered that one clumsy kiss.
“I…” he paused for a moment before rushing on. “I have my eyes set on someone else. A friend of Laura’s. A noblewoman.” It was difficult to say why he was saying this out loud; maybe it was just because it was easy to relax about Byron. Still, he clamped up as they approached the house. There was no way he would expose Nyhali to Byron!!
If he was completely honest with himself, he would have realized that the reason was simply because he was afraid of losing Nyhali to his younger cousin’s charms.
They traveled in relative silence along the short corridor in the house, Rem occasionally asking questions about the other members of their family. Byron’s answers were usually short; he seemed far more interested in looking around the house than talking.
“And this will be your room.” Rem said once they had arrived. Laura had really done a nice job with cleaning it out. Reds and oranges were the dominant colors in this room, decorating nearly everything, except for the dark drapes across the window.
Leander lazily watched as the humans disappeared into the house before, once again, returning his gaze to the racer and chick before him. If beaks could smile, Leander would have smiled then. “That’s very nice. You must be very proud of them.”
Three chicks. Leander had no experience with… well… mating or chicks in general, but he knew it was a rare thing for three chicks to be born. And safely as well! “Their mother doesn’t live here? It must be very hard on you not to see them. Or her.”
Tali let out a soft squawk as Leolin nudged him and covered him with a talon. Immediately, he playfully started to ‘maul’ Leolin’s leg, as if it was this great horrific beast that he had to destroy. Actually, that was precisely the fantasy going on in his little brain at the moment.
“Grr… Hm? Leolin’s my uncle! And Aeron’s my other uncle!” he announced proudly, forgetting all about vanquishing the dreaded Foot Monster (Tali really needed to work on coming up with creative names for the monsters).
That drew a chuckle from the black-maned gryphon. “I’m sure he is, little one… Aeron? Is this another gryphon who lives here?” he asked Leolin, deciding that the adult was probably more informed about these things.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 6:15 pm
The tawny griffin laughed as well, and nudged Tali with his beak playfully before turning back to Leander. "No, just Tali and I live here. Aeron is.... well, his human brought Tali here." Not about to say something mean about someone else, Leolin simply continued playing with Tali.
"I wish I could see her more often, but my partner lives here. Tomorrow she and I might go to see the chicks together." He looked forward to that venture. He almost seemed to be beaming at the very idea of seeing Kedri again.
Laura was finishing up with the final touches of the room. Making sure there was nary a wrinkle to the bed and making sure none of the books-- more of a decoration than anything else in the rarely used room-- were aligned just right.
When the door opened, she stood up quickly from where she was crouched to deal with the books. Not knowing quite what to say to Rem's cousin, Laura couldn't help but stare. He was a gorgeous young man, and had already made a lasting impression on the woman in all the five minutes she'd known him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 2:49 pm
“So… not that I dislike seeing my favorite cousin or anything, but why the sudden visit?” Well, not really ‘sudden’. There had been a week’s notice, which was pretty nice and unlike Byron. So, Rem figured that Bevil was behind the visit, even if he wasn’t here directly, which meant that there had to be a reason. It couldn’t be that he was simply wondering how Rem was doing. One didn’t really require a visit for that sort of information gathering and Bevil was very good at gathering information.
Byron looked around the room with interest. He didn’t look particularly impressed… just, interested, the same way that a technologically advanced person would look at the home of someone less… refined. Then again, that was pretty much exactly what was happening.
“Hm? Oh, Bevil’s just being a little worried. Some of the old Wolves have been gathering in Synd for something. He thinks it’s just a funeral, but I made the mistake of showing him an old poem I uncovered from some ancient books. There’s a line about the old packs coming together. He just wanted me out of the way in case there’s another revolt.” He sidled over to the books, poking them with interest. Heh. There wasn’t a speck of dust on them!
Clearly, they had either been recently dusted or no one really read them here. Not too surprising… people out here were so… unsophisticated. But, they had their perks.
“I heard that there are gryphon races here,” he said, changing the subject rapidly, suddenly looking excited. “I’ve never seen gryphon races! Can we see one?”
For now, he seemed to be ignoring Laura, or at least not looking at her too closely while Rem was in the room.
Rem smiled then, a little secret sort of grin. “Actually, Leolin races… I’m not sure when he’s going to race next though.”
Take Byron to the races? That was a horrible idea! He would see Lucas! And… well… he was intelligent. He was bound to start making connections between Lucas and Laura. Honestly, Rem loved his cousin, but he wasn’t going to trust him with this. It wasn’t that Byron would tell everyone. It was just that he was lousy at keeping secrets. “Err… Laura? Do you know when Leo’s next race is?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 4:34 pm
"Next, erm... Weekend I believe." Was Byron actually going to come?! If she wasn't so flustered there beside Byron she would have looked pale, but with the blush perpetually stamped over her cheeks in his presence she didn't look as if she was nervous over any special secret.
With the next race date already mentioned, Laura began to think of what she would say about a rider. She obviously tended her griffin personally, and wouldn't allow anyone else on Leolin's back. She had to think of something to say to Byron that would seem plausible...
"My-my brother races Leolin. I don't think he likes to be bothered before the race though." Made sense in a way, right? Laura certainly hoped so.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 7:18 pm
Byron looked out the window towards Leolin with new respect. Compared to Leander, the racer was so… well, sort of scruffy-looking, actually. “Really? I wouldn’t have thought that… not that Leolin doesn’t look like a racer or anything,” he said, turning his gaze towards Laura with a grin. “He’s beautiful gryphon. I just didn’t think that Rem here would have anything to do with races. He lost interest in gambling after the War. I guess it is possible to go to a race without gambling…”
Rem winced a little at the mention of his old pastime. It had never been a serious issue for him, never an addiction, just something he had done for fun. There was just something exciting about going to a race and looking over all the horses carefully, and then logically deducting which one would win. It was a puzzle. And Rem adored puzzles…
“Lucas doesn’t like talking before races. He considers it bad luck,” he said easily with a slight shrug. It was amazing how easily the lie came to him, especially considering that Byron was a relative.
“What about after the race?” The idea of a jockey avoiding bad luck wasn’t really that unusual to Byron and he bought the lie easily enough. After all, since when would Rem lie to anyone? “I’d like to meet him, at least for a little while.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 7:58 pm
Colorful swears grafitied the young woman's mind at the very idea. Byron wanted to see her-- no, see Lucas-- after a big race? Like hell he would be fooled!
"I don't think so.... Lucas tends to take care of Leolin in the stables afterwards. I-I don't think you can get in there." Jockies, stable hands and griffins might be the most frequant visitors, but managers and financers were also welcomed there. She just hoped Byron wouldn't come to realize this fact. He didn't seem the sort to bet in general.
When she took a moment to think about what they'd said, her brow furrowed as she looked to Rem. "You gambled?" Laura questioned, not quite able to see Rem placing bets. Mal, sure; but Rem?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 8:11 pm
With a slight sigh, Rem waved a hand. Apparently, there was no way of getting out of admitting his old pastime. “A little bit, when I was younger. I liked the races. That’s the only thing I bet on. I wouldn’t say I actually gambled…”
“Don’t be so modest, Rem. You were a damned good gambler back then. You lost… what? Five times? And that’s only because someone else cheated?” Apparently, Rem’s younger cousin couldn’t hold back this little tidbit of information.
Byron frowned a little at the idea of not meeting Lucas, a tad disappointed by Laura’s answer. Well, there would be other ways to meet him, he was sure. “Well, he can’t stay in there all the time… I could meet him the next day or something, if he’s too tired out from the race.”
“Lucas is a very… private person,” Rem muttered. “He’s very shy.”
That sounded stupid, even to Rem. Shy? How shy could a person be if they spent a good part of their live riding around on gryphons in a race with hundreds----thousands for the bigger races--- of people watching? Shy… what the hell was he thinking?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 8:29 pm
Laura frowned at the idea. "Shy isn't quite the right word." Laura murmured, shaking her head before turning to look at Byron. "Leolin is in the yard if you would like to see him a bit more closely? He's really rather sweet." Hissing at the young Lord might not have been the best way to show that, but at least Byron hadn't seen how Leolin reacted to Nyhali. Thank god for that...
Hoping to deter Byron to giving it any more thought, Laura turned to look at Rem. "Should I bring lunch to the parlor? I made sandwiches for you both."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 12:14 pm
“I’m not asking him to come out and greet the entire world. I’m just one person…” Byron pointed out, not willing to let go of this idea yet. Sure, he could understand that some people just didn’t like meeting new people, but he wasn’t a ‘people’. He was just one singular person! Honestly, he wasn’t that scary… was he?
Oh, gryphons! The truth was, he hadn’t even noticed Leolin’s hissing; at the time, he had been a bit involved in hugging Laura. He grinned at the suggestion. “Sure. I’d like to see him a bit more closely. And you two should see Leander up close; I wouldn’t call him… sweet, but he doesn’t mind being touched. Maybe you could even ride him, Rem.”
Lunch? Oh! Right, that meal that came between breakfast and dinner… “If we’re going outside to see the gryphons, we might as well eat outside,” Rem said with a slight shrug. “And I think I’ll pass on the ride, thanks all the same.”
“Oh! Right… the height thing… well, he could just stay low to the ground…”
“No thank you.” There was a curt tone to Rem’s voice that rarely came into play, a sort of harmonic that said, ‘if you ask again, you will die in a very excruciating way, possibly involving melons’.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 1:19 pm
"You're scared of heights?" Laura's brow knit together a moment as she thought of this. He owned a griffin, and yet wouldn't want to ride when Tali was bigger? "You don't know what you're missing Rem." She gave a reassuring smile, though it almost seemed as if she were comforting a child by the expression that formed on her face.
"I'll fetch lunch then, shall I?" Slipping past the pair, Laura went to the kitchen to retrieve the sandwiches.
In the yard, Leolin had been playing with Tali. At the moment, the griffin feigned death after a play fight.
"I'm dying!" He cried dramatically, rolling onto his back and curling up his legs like a shriveled up spider. Skinny little tongue poking itself out of the corner of his mouth, Leolin closed his eyes to continue the act. Sure Tali hadn't hurt him in the slightest, but it was all in good fun.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 12:21 pm
Actually, Byron’s thoughts were running along the same lines as Laura’s. How was Rem going to keep little Tali from flying later? Come on. He would have to ride the gryphon at least once. Just a few feet above the ground would be worth it. It wasn’t anything like riding a horse. The general idea was the same, but the movement was completely different. Flying was, in Byron’s opinion, right up there with sex in the running for ‘Most Amazing and Wonderful Thing in the World’ contest.
Still, he wasn’t about to push Rem about it. Whenever he got that look on his face, the one where he very determinedly looked a little to the left and above someone else’s shoulder, it meant there was no persuading or dissuading him.
“Right, and while Laura’s getting the food, we’ll go look at the gryphons, Rem. I want to see a gryphon chick. Leander was pretty much full-grown when Bevil got him.”
Rem relaxed slightly once he saw that, for once, Byron wasn’t going to push his luck. He blatantly ignored the ‘comforting’ look Laura gave him; with his pride---yes, he did have some actual pride hidden under that blushing exterior of his---he saw it as more… condescending. But, he knew Laura well enough to understand that she wouldn’t mean it like that.
He led the way back into the sunlight world, a smile back on his face at the gryphons playing together. Well, sort of. Leander was just watching. Since he didn’t want to disrupt Tali and Leolin, he edged closer to Leander. He had never seen a gryphon with a mane like that before… that probably wasn’t normal. “How old is he?”
Since he had no fear of Leander, Byron simply walked up to the gryphon and stroked his mane; the golden gryphon nipped at the human’s fingers affectionately before allowing him to continue. “You know, I’m not sure… I’d have to ask Bevil.” He watched the other gryphons play, clearly amused by their antics.
Leander simply lay down, his paws neatly crossed in front of him and his wings held at a relaxed angle. Hm. Chicks. He had never really considered having chicks at all, primarily because his contact with other gryphons was so limited. Maybe one day he would, but certainly not for a while. Still, they were awfully cute in a fuzzy way. First he would have to find a female who was actually worth it.
“Rawr!” Tali let out a playful ‘roar’ as he charged at the fallen Leolin, his little beak digging into the older gryphon’s paw lightly. He tugged at it a little as his tail wagged, but then he got a better idea. Clumsily, he clambered up onto Leolin’s belly and reared up, his tiny claws raking the air in front of him.
He thought it must’ve looked very majestic to the humans. No doubt, they were smiling out of fear. Of course they were! He was a mighty hunter! The ‘mighty hunter’ tumbled off of Leolin’s stomach shortly afterwards, because he wasn’t used to standing on his hind legs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 9:57 pm
The little claws crawling over his stomach caused the ground beneath Tali's paws to quake long before he lost his balence. It tickled! Beak closed tightly when Tali started squirming before laughing out loud when the chick finally reared up. Rolling onto his side, the griffin continued to chortle to himself at the tickling.
With the act over, Leolin turned his attention to Byron and Rem now that he could finally bother to see them. Giving an innocent chirp, he wondered what they were up to. Then again, he was baby-sitting little Tali. And the humans couldn't hoard his attention for more than a fraction of a second with the little ball of fluff and feathers in need of a constant supply. "Well now Mighty Hunter, what would you like to play now?"
Wanting to stay out of the way, Laura brought the lunch and drinks out to a metal table on the patio for the trio to share together. All the same, Byron did have quite a bit of her attention when she could see him. Who knew someone like that could be related to Rem? Someone who blushed at the smallest teasing was related to someone that rendered her in a similar state. All the same, he was kinda cute....
No! No, bad thought! Shaking the idea from her head, Laura began pouring drinks for the men to wait until they were ready to come and eat.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 11:22 pm
Oh, no, Tali wasn’t done playing with Leo yet! As Leolin was learning, the chick was a constant bundle of energy and he needed entertainment. Luckily, he was easily amused. The little chick picked himself off the ground and fluffed out his fur, trying to pretend he had meant to tumble off of Leo’s back. Of course he had! It was… umm… a diversion! A clever, clever diversion meant to lull others into a false security. And it was working! Leolin didn’t suspect a thing… and, more importantly, neither did the new gryphon.
Tali puffed himself up as much as he could, trying to look far bigger than he really was. Since most of his weight was from his fur rather than any real muscle, it was a marvel that the extra fluff didn’t make him sail away in the next gust of wind. Swaggering like a tomcat, he approached Leander cautiously, trying to act like the ruler of the house.
One could almost hear his ego deflate when he realized that Leander wasn’t paying the slightest bit of attention to him.
Leander switched his attention from the adorable scene in front of him to the humans emerging from the house. As Rem and Byron came closer, he clacked his beak in greeting, being far more comfortable with other humans than gryphons. Getting up elegantly, the golden gryphon made a point of stretching out every muscle before meandering towards his current caretakers. No point in rushing for humans, just because he liked them, yes?
Before he had gone five steps, a small ball of silver fluff attached itself to his front leg, gnawing at the talons. Leander lifted up the leg---and Tali as well, since the chick had launched himself at the older gryphon---to peer more closely at his ‘attacker’. If beaks could smile, his would have twitched a little, especially when Tali’s little beak closed on his own. The sight should have been enough to reduce even an elegant creature like Leander to a bounding bundle of energy. Buuuut… it wasn’t. Leander lowered his leg carefully and nudged Tali back towards Leo. When the chick refused to budge, Leander was forced to pick the chick up in his beak---being very, very, very careful not to bite down---and deposited him on the other gryphon.
With that, he trotted back towards the humans once more, relaxing on Byron’s feet.
Byron watched the scene like a proverbial hawk, slightly anxious about the encounter between adult and chick. Leander wasn’t necessarily a fussy animal or anything… but, he certainly wasn’t as playful as the ball of fuzz. Not that the golden gryphon would eat Tali or anything! At least, Byron hoped not… it wasn’t until he exhaled in a huge sigh that he realized he was holding his breath. Luckily, Rem didn’t seem to notice, since he was too distracted by Leander. Good ol’ Leander… could always depend on him for a distraction. Fondly, Byron ruffled a hand through the neck mane, messing up the fur. Since this elicited a crackle of disapproval, he quickly rearranged it properly once more.
“Le… I can’t sit down at the table if you sit on my feet. Shove over, you big lummox!” he gave the gryphon a friendly shove which was promptly returned, almost knocking him over. That was more of Leander’s type of play. “Heh… he plays this weird game, Rem… I was going to ask if other gryphons did this, or if it’s just a Leander thing…”
Like Byron, Rem was more than a little anxious about Leander and Tali interacting. While Leander was a small gryphon, he could still eat the chick easily. In three bites, perhaps, which would have been amazingly messy. Still, since they seemed to get along, there were no worries. Not really…
“Hm? I… don’t know… Tali doesn’t, but that’s probably because he’s not big enough…” his face crinkled a little in concern, as it always did when he didn’t know an answer but didn’t want to quite admit it. “You’ll have to ask Laura.”
After further nudging, Leander finally moved over a little, releasing Byron just enough to go sit down at the table instead. “So, how’s Cambria?” Rem ventured eventually.
Byron knew his cousin well and knew that he only brought up the country because it was the only thing they really shared. Rem didn’t actually want to talk about it. It brought up bad memories. “Fine, fine… very green there. Very green.” His hand rubbed his chin slightly as he languidly relaxed in the chair, as if it was a throne of feather pillows rather than just a patio chair. “You should fly. You used to love going up in the big astro--”
“I said no.” Honestly, was it really that important to these people that he fly? What business was it of theirs anyway? It was his own damn decision, not theirs! Rem calmed himself and turned to Laura. “Laura, does Leo do this shoving thing? Like if you shove him he sho--”
This time, Rem was the one who was cut off, as Byron ‘accidentally’ knocked over some of the drink on his cousin’s shirt, spreading a bloom of color on the fabric. “Whoops. Sorry there… just some of the post-flight jitters,” he claimed with a bright smile that clearly said he was lying.
Rem glared at his cousin, but stood up in that cautious way that people always stood up after recently having something spilled on them. “Just… gotta change my shirt… I’ll be back soon…” trying to retain his dignity, Rem disappeared into the house, holding his shirt a little away from his chest. This couldn’t take too long, right?
“Tsk, tsk… so clumsy…” Byron tutted to himself. “How did you end up working for him, Laura?” he asked, honestly curious about this. Sure, Rem said there was nothing between them, but… well, there had to be something. A man as… as… Rem as Rem did not randomly hire servants. He liked his privacy and doing things his way and his way alone.
Oh, and the young man wanted to see how Laura would react if his hand just barely brushed hers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 7:48 am
"Actually, Leolin--" She gave a small gasp as the drink spilled. Quickly she began cleaning up the drink that puddled on the glass table as carefully as possible. The last thing she wanted to do was cause another spill. Glancing back after Rem, Laura's thoughts wandered a bit. He was going to take off his shirt....?
Then Byron decided to tease her... Freezing in place, Laura's cheeks burned just beneath the surface as she politely retracted her hand. Her mind was already in another place, and Byron wasn't helping matters by flirting. "I used to groom horses in a stable." She said politely, which wasn't entirely true. "Leolin pulled the dung cart and Rem was very interested when I told him my brother's dream was to race him. So Rem agreed to finance Leolin's career, and I would come and clean his home for him." Placing the now dirty cloth out of the way, Laura reached for the jug to refill Byron's glass.
Protector senses.... tingling. Leolin stood up to get a better look at what was going on at the table. Was that man bothering Laura? She turned a funny color, kinda like Kedri had when he gave her a compliment.... Wait... He was flirting with her?!
The griffin gave a loud cry warningly at Byron. His partner didn't need to find a mate like he did! Their last race was a huge disappointment after he was anxiously awaiting his eggs to hatch. Laura didn't need to be having eggs herself. At least, that's what he assumed... She was a girl, right? Fluffing up, Leolin grumbled before laying down once more with a death glare in Byron's direction.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 11:51 am
Oh, a blusher! It had been a good long time since Byron had encountered any of those. As mentioned before, a blushing Cambrian woman was like… well, like Rem telling a dirty joke without a blush. Still, the fact that Laura drew away was enough to make Byron stop. For now, anyway. Those who drew away that quickly were likely to be… troublesome later on, which really wasn’t worth it. The screech from Leolin startled him a little and he glared at the gryphon, wondering if Taliesin had pulled on one of his feathers or something.
“A dung cart? He was wasted on it,” he said carefully. Gryphons, as far a he knew, didn’t understand human language, but just in case he felt it was best to be polite. Also, it would probably make Laura happy. Should he toss out another compliment, something along the lines of ‘and you were wasted there too’? Nono. It was too early. Going too fast would simply cause her to spook and then he would lose out on a blusher. “Anyway, as Rem was just asking before he made a klutz of himself, does Leolin do something similar to Leander? When I push at Leander, he pushes back. It’s a game to him.”
Speaking of Leander, the gryphon had watched Leolin closely, his eyes narrowing at the screech. If the other adult attacked Byron… well, Leander would stop being polite. His tail twitched slightly, and his mane slowly settled down once it seemed that everything was fine.
“He’s not going to hurt her,” he said, nodding towards Byron and Laura. “He never harms anyone or anything.” Admittedly, sometimes people tried to harm him afterwards---typically other human males---but Leander didn’t mention that. For one thing, it confused him. Humans were such excitable creatures.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
