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 Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 3:13 pm
 The tinkle of chimes was a pleasant distraction from the anxiety of the evening. With a faint smile, the crafter gave the small copper tubes another brush with his Will and hummed a soft counterpoint to their music. He cast a wistful look into the territory of his neighbor, his resolve faltering once again. This was not the first night he’d perched here on this same branch, wrestling with his mousy nature. No, he’d been in this spot every night for more moonrises than he was willing to admit, even to himself.
It was so easy to make excuses for not crossing the border between their homes. It was too early, he should let her sleep longer. All right, she was awake, but now she had a customer. He couldn’t intrude on that. Okay, the customer left, but he couldn’t visit her on an empty stomach. And then after that he had to let it digest a bit. Oh, look, another customer. Better wait again.
Tonight, however, he could find no rationalization for delaying his visit. He’d eaten, his work and rest areas were immaculate, there were no further orders to fill, and no customers had yet come to call on Bushfire. It was the perfect time to go. One quick greeting, a confident glide into her sights, and it would all fall into place.
The thrill of the possibility filled the crafter’s chest until he felt as if it would burst with joy. Then, without any intentional command, it did, breaking forth as an unexpectedly jubilant hoot from Emery’s beak as he finally left his perch.
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Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 5:05 pm
Oooooh... everything was wrong, wrong, wrong, and nothing seemed to be able to make it right. No amount of thinking or pondering had made Bushfire feel better. No amount of preening, no amount of grooming had made her feel any more calm. All in all, the Forager was damned to feel jealous over the whole ordeal, not to mention guilty over feeling jealous in the first place, because by all means... she shouldn't have felt anything when the Seeker had spilled the news on her. Basil was free to do as he wished, and she had no further say on thing. However, that did not dispel her growing insecurities. Was she just not good enough that Basil had not felt the need to fight for her? For them?
Bushfire had attempted to toss the notions aside, an attempt at making herself feel better. However, every time she turned towards her work, the Seeker's words would come back to haunt her. She'd always been prone to over-reacting, and this was no different; the female found she could not work and not focus till she put matters behind her. That was why she'd jumped off the branch of her tree and had dived into the darkness, keen on seeking Basil and the Mist, hoping that perhaps... a conversation with them would put her mind at rest (Because SURELY the Seeker HAD to be wrong - why would a pure Wildtype EVER court a Mist?).
She had almost rounded up the courage to leave her territory when a vaguely familiar shape drew itself in the near distance, "Emery?" it was called out to the male as she took roost on a random branch; the random encounter gave her both the chance to delay the meeting with Basil, and time to ponder what she was going to tell him. That aside, it was only polite to greet her neighbour, right? She'd seen him on occasion, enough to know his name at least.
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Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 7:47 pm
Emery landed as close as could be deemed polite, practically glowing from the joy that flooded his system. It was grossly preemptive of him to feel this way, especially since he hadn’t stopped to gauge her mood first. Or maybe he just truly believed that he could heal whatever emotional hurts she had, just by offering his love. Er, windchime. He’d brought it to trade. Certainly its sweet tones would cheer her up!
“Hello Bushfire. How are you tonight?” He gave what he hoped was a charming smile, wiggling his talons to make the chimes dingle faintly. “It seems business is a bit slow today, so I came to make an offer.”
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Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 6:48 am
"I.... fine," except this was a blunt lie, as was obvious by the way her plumage seemed to puff out, only to settle back down against her form, "I was on my way to.... run an errand," this, however, was not a lie. At least not entirely. Lieing made the female feel slightly guilty (adding to the already huge amount of guilt weighting down on her), however, she felt that spilling her metaphorical guts out to the poor male before her was out of the question. Why would he care, after all? He was just her neighbor, wasn't he? There was no need to spread rumours just yet, nor was there any need to worry the poor, sweet fellow.
Her eyes strayed to his talons and the offer he held there, "Oh!" it was a mildly surprised chirp, "Oh, oh! Right! A trade!" she'd been neglecting work all night though and needed to know what it was was up with Basil. It was not a question of wanting to know; it was a need. She could not shoo the poor male away though... not when he'd brought such a lovely wind chime, "I... yes, please, follow me," and with that, the female spread her wings and launched herself off the branch, returning to her roost, where she could get some exotic berries for Emery.
During the whole trip back, she kept sneaking glances behind her. Furtive glances into the darkness that they left behind... where the truth of what was really going on lay.
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Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 5:08 pm
With Bushfire’s invitation to follow came a twinge of nervousness, which put a dent in his previously bright outlook. It was normal to make stops at other Sentinels’ personal areas while doing business… but this was her personal area. The nesting place of the glorious Bushfire from such an old, prestigious family, to be sullied by plain-face Emery, with no parental history whatsoever. He’d almost forgotten how unworthy he was.
When they arrived at her roost, the Wildtype male perched rather far from the spot, making sure she had full privacy while she fetched something to trade. She'd seemed so distracted before that he wasn't in a hurry to get in her way. He'd seen enough yanked feathers left behind by retreating would-be owners of her territory to know that it was a bad idea to get her riled.
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Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 5:05 am
Never once did she think that the male's behavior was strange; after all, she was used to having respectfully polite customers. The fact he had perched himself at a polite distance did not catch her attention either... her mind was obviously distracted by the earlier events. Something about the way the Seeker had spoken had wormed it's way into her mind and seemed keen on repeating itself over and over, in hushed, horrible way. It was almost like a worm eating away at the base of her thoughts, slithering and biting at them when she thought she had finally dispelled them.
Landing rather gracefully (even despite her muddled thoughts, which was quite the accomplishment), she turned her head towards the male, "Do you have any preferences, Emery?" Bushfire felt it was only polite to call him by name, for they were neighbours and he'd never once done anything to agitate her. In fact, now that she thought about it, the male was always there with an shy, almost charming smile, welcoming her back when she returned from her hunting sessions. Strange...
Sadly, even as the thought slipped through her fogged mind, the Forager pushed it away in favor of thoughts of Basil. Oh, where had she gone wrong?
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Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 8:09 pm
"Preferences? Ah... You don't have to..." The crafter winced. He'd already told her he came to trade, not to give handouts. He would have liked to give Bushfire the chime as a gift, but he wasn't sure if she was too proud to accept it.
"I-I like everything, so anything you've got is fine," he amended, but the words poured out too fast. There was little confidence left in Emery now, especially since the female's eyes kept unfocusing almost immediately after she spoke to him. It was as if she was forgetting he was there.
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Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 10:04 am
Indeed, the female looked to be horribly distracted, as if something was bothering her deeply. She was making absolutely no effort to hide it (or was not entirely aware herself that she was practically like an open book), however, as the male spoke, her brilliant eyes returned to him, "No preference what so ever?" there was a mild pause before she lowered her gaze to her crops, turning her head, as if evaluating.
After a few beats, Bushfire seemed to have come to a decision and used her will to pluck a couple of well chosen berries from a nearby tree, suspending them between them, "Here; others really like this variety lately, and I must admit that the harvest of these berries has been rather good. Hopefully.... you can enjoy them, despite having no real preference?" there was sadly, no real fire, or light in what she was saying; it was clear something or someone had stolen her usual high spirits.
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Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 5:45 pm
Emery's heart skipped a beat when her eyes paused on him, but only the sudden spreading of his tailfeathers, hidden behind the bulk of his body, would have given away the thrill he felt. He had to take a few moments then and mentally talk himself down out of the clouds.
Calmer, he nodded with interest at the berries she offered. "I'm sure they'll taste as good as they look," he said, smiling in his humble manner as he began to draw them toward himself. He tried to hold Bushfire's gaze, hoping she might see some spark of his affection, and that it would lighten her obviously burdened mind. Poor Emery tried so hard that the expectant stare could possibly come off as creepy. He also forgot to pass along his half of the deal in a timely manner, and jumped when he realized that he was keeping the lady waiting. The wind chime, carried on the invisible tendrils of the near-panicking crafter's Will, flew toward Bushfire at an alarming rate. At the last moment, he slowed the copper noisemaker to only a fraction of its original speed, but the distance between them was too great for him to stop it completely. He could only hope that it wouldn't hit the forager if she didn't see it coming.
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Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 6:42 pm
The way he stared at her was slightly confusing, but Bushfire was too polite to tell a customer that staring was slightly... rude. Alas, she cocked her head to one side slightly, and waited for the realisation to hit him, "You should eat them soon, or they might lose some of the freshness to them," that said, she settled herself on her branch, her talons digging rhythmically into the bark, the movement almost therapeutic for her wired nerved. Oh how she wished she knew what was going on with Basil.... oh how she wished she could just take a peek for herself and sort out her emotions.
She was yanked out of her thoughts when the wind chime rushed at her at a dangerous speed, and for a moment, the only thing she could do was stare at it, her eyes going rather wide, "Woa, woa!" the female spread her wings and managed to just avoid getting hit. However, moving with such speed came with a price, and Bushfire found herself having to flap her wings wildly for a couple of seconds to regain her balance. Once she was securely perched on the branch, she turned towards the male once more, offering him a shaky smile (what was WRONG with him?), "Slow down, slow down... there's no rush," after all, it seemed like she was not going to be able to make the trip to her ex's new territory that night anyhow, "Are you... uhm... are you quite alright, Emery? You seem odd," something at the back of her mind told her that this was ironic; that it should be him asking her, not the other way around.
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Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 8:17 pm
After the mess with the speeding wind chime, Emery's head sunk between his fluffed shoulders in dismay. "O-Odd?" That was something he didn't exactly want to hear from the object of his affection, no matter how obvious it was that he was acting strangely. Anxiously, and to cover up his discomposure, the crafter quickly preened a spot on his chest, then jerkily switched to the feathers on the inside of one wing. He'd blown it for sure.
He couldn't even pretend to smile now, only managing a half-hearted wince when he looked at the lady he adored from afar. "I'm fine," he lied, and felt all the more guilty for it. She was the one who needed comfort; he just couldn't figure out how to give it properly. "Tired 'r somethin'. And thanksfertheberries." Better and better. Now he was muttering. Emery stared at his talons, thinking of leaving before he could make himself an even bigger fool.
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Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 10:06 am
"Well, yes," Bushfire told him just a tad hesitantly, "You seem odd; more nervous than usual. You're not nearly this jittery and..." she snapped her beak shut, having caught herself before saying 'accident prone', fearful she'd hurt his feelings again. She opened her beak to comfort him, wishing to rectify her 'mistake', for after all... she'd not meant to make him feel bad. However, stopped short when the male quickly turned his head to preen the spot on his chest. The jerky movement was horribly reminiscent of one of Basil's own mannerisms when they'd been mated.
Out of lack for words, the Forager felt her ear tufts lowering slightly, her eyes widening a notch. Basil was the last sentinel she wanted to be reminded of at the current moment; the copper crafter's muttering and almost dismissive attitude were also not helping. They were so alike in some ways, and so different in others... and lord, oh lord, she needed to leave and go take a flight to calm her frazzled nerves, because she was never going to be able to confront more customers if she continued like this.
"I... you're welcome," she told him as she fluffed her feathers out, "I hope you enjoy them. The wind chime is very pretty," she took that moment to grasp it with the edges of her will, turning to look up at a nearby branch. It was there that she hung it, allowing the wind to caress it, the chiming sound comforting her somewhat, "Well, if that's all, and if you're SURE you're fine..." she left the sentence hanging, though she did spread her wings, as if to indicate they should get a move on and continue their own ways. After all, it was apparent she was making him rather nervous (she did had to pause to wonder just WHY though).
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Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 6:11 pm
Emery's heart sank at Bushfire's dismissal -- for, though her words were polite, that's what it was. His mission to help her had been in vain. It wasn't her fault, of course. Only his. Why couldn't he speak up and tell her how he felt? So easily intimidated, that's how he'd always been. He wished, with little faith of it coming true, that he could be braver.
"I... I'm glad you like the chime," he choked out, forcing as cheerful a face as he could muster. "If you ever... If you wanted another, I can always tune one to whatever notes you like."
His last sentence held a small piece of that lost confidence. The thought of creating music to perfectly suit the beautiful female touched his artist's soul. It would become a compulsive project when he returned to his workplace, and he fixed his mind on it, using this new focus to bury the hurt of being sent away, however kindly, by his neighbor.
"I'll be all right," he assured her, "there's something... some work to do. Y'know, get my mind off things." As he spoke, he turned slightly away, opened his wings, and combed his primaries for flight. That done, he looked at Bushfire one last time, and for only a second. He was too ashamed to meet her eyes for more than that. "Good night," he said, meaning in his heart for her night to become a good one. Then, keeping the berries close to him, he left the branch, eager to get to the safety of his own home and thankful that there was no one yanking out his feathers on the way. He would be able to try and reach out to Bushfire again, someday.
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Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2008 12:00 am
Well, that had been... awkward, to say the least. Bushfire was still slightly perplexed by the whole series of events and had the distinct feeling she had missed something. However, before she could focus her thoughts too much on her strange but sweet neighbour, the thought of Basil crept up upon her again, instantly draining whatever spirits had sneaked into her.
Oh, but she was obsessed, wasn't she? Something told her that she was not going to be any less obsessed until she managed to sort herself out and then sort the actual problem out. She'd always been prone to over-thinking and over-worrying about situations that were too far out of her control. As her eyes watched emery's retreat, she nodded, "Good night to you too," silently, the Forager wished her neighbour a better night than she was likely going to have.
Tomorrow, she would try to seek Basil out again. At least Emery's 'interruption' had given her the time and the excuse to take the night off in an attempt to summon her courage to confront him.
-- END --
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