[PRP] Vanity versus Wrath (Keiran and Fury)

[AnimeChickie]

Stalking through the trees and darkness, Keiran was unsure of where he really was headed. Nothing seemed to stir in the forest around him, for good reason too. He had gone and visited his mother this morning but he didn't stay for long because he never could stay in one area like she did. The stallion needed to watch others and pick apart their appearances and personalities as they were nothing compared to his own. Out of the corner of his eye, Keiran noticed a small shimmering puddle as light penetrated the trees above and reflected off of it. He felt the familiar tug on his hooves and walked towards the puddle and gazed into it. He stared at the familiar handsome face and couldn't help but admire his appearance for a few minutes. Pulling him away from the puddle, Keiran couldn't help but feel a little smug as he continued walking through the forest.

He needed something to keep himself occupied. Keiran's attention span was easily thwarted by distractions, mainly caused by himself. Whenever he saw his reflection, he was reminded of his father. Besides his coat color, he was a spitting image of Ariston and he was proud of that fact.  

[Meeki]

Fury snickered. She had been following the stallion for a little while now and he irritated her already. Did he stop to gaze upon himself? That's what it looked like as he damn well didn't take a drink. She knew that he was of Ariston and Heartless's lot. Her dad was close friends with Ariston and she respected that but she didn't see what was so special about him. Nor did she see anything special about his son. Did they truly find themselves to be so beautiful? It reminded her of her mother. She was so full of herself that she failed to really see what was around her.

She had to admit that he was pleasing on the eyes. She liked how his dark har contrasted with the majority of his body. He had darker looks compared to his father and it suited him. Perhaps she shouldn't judge a corn cob by it's stalk, right? Of course, he could end up as conceited as she assumed. She shook her head and stepped out, continuing to follow him.  

[AnimeChickie]

Keiran had been too preoccupied by himself to even notice that Fury had been following him. He was well aware that his father was acquainted with Wrath but he didn't know that they were really close friends and he didn't know that Wrath had children. But then again, he really didn't care anyway... The stallion gazed around at the surrounding wilderness but wasn't really looking or thinking about anything in particular. Keiran might not be as proud of himself as his father was but he sure did love looking at his reflection. He would never allow anything to mar his appearance.

The stallion continued walking through the darkness still unsure of where he was headed. Maybe he would pay his father and sister a visit later... He hadn't seen his sister or brother in ages... Nah. He heard the distant flow of a stream to the left of him and began to walk towards it. Keiran stopped at its bank and gazed down at his reflection once more. Stopping, Keiran looked up. Was somebody nearby, why did it take him so long to realize that he was being followed? Even after feeling this, Keiran stayed calm and continued to look around.  

[Meeki]

"Oh, come on," Fury stated loudly, clearly frustrated, "How many times do you have to stop and do THAT? You'd think you had something dripping out of your nose with how you act." When she noticed he had stopped staring at his reflection and was now looking around, probably sensing her intrusion, she stepped out of a crop of trees.

"No, no scars. No dripping snot. No, I don't see any drool either. Open your mouth and I'll see if you have food stuck between your teeth. WHY DO YOU KEEP LOOKING AT YOURSELF?" The last bit was practically yelled out. She wasn't sure why she was angry. She was angry a lot and usually over stupid things but really, what pressing need could there possibly be for anyone to stop and star at themselves continuously?

"You look the same as you did ten minutes ago," she added a moment later, a bit more calmly but with a hint of sarcasm.  

[AnimeChickie]

As he had suspected... It was unfortunate that he didn't sense her sooner but there was nothing he could do about that now. Keiran glanced at her with glowing eyes as she stepped out of the trees. Immediately, he began scrutinizing her appearance in his thoughts. If she weren't a kalona, he would have probably said them aloud. He knew that he needed to tread carefully around other kalonas and make sure he knew what they were capable of before insulting them. Some kalona were absolutely useless but others could be considered almost as dangerous as skinwalkers. During her outburst, Keiran said nothing but he couldn't help but chuckle slightly when she was done.

"Are you always this angry?" An amused expression appeared on his face as he spoke to her. Soquili with tempers really entertained him especially when they were angry over something that didn't even pertain to them. "Well, I don't think you'd understand my reasons even if I did try to explain to you." Keiran hadn't identified that she was related to Wrath yet. He had never met the stallion, he only had his mother's descriptions to go off of.  

[Meeki]

She swished her tail back and forth, the chains occasionally hitting the ones on her hind leg. It was the only sound that came from her before she spoke up again, "I have a temper," she admitted, "I get it from my father."

At his next set of words, she became quite irate again, "Are you saying I'm not pretty? That I wouldn't understand beauty if I saw it? Why, the arrogance of it all!" Of course, she could have misunderstood what he was saying completely. Why else would he stop to stare at himself if he wasn't smitten with himself nor had anything stuck in his teeth or hanging from his nostrils? And even if she took it the right way, why was she pissed about it? When did she ever care about how she looked.

"I could try to understand," she replied, barely above a whisper. Though she was irritated by the stallions constant need to look at himself, she had to admit that she was also intrigued by it. Why else would she have followed him for so long?  

[AnimeChickie]

"Of course. Everything seems inheritable these days... Not that I don't mind." Keiran grinned wickedly knowing that he was proud of his lineage. He was starting to get the clue that she might be related to Wrath. "So, who is your father anyway?" He didn't care if he was being rude or anything. He could care less what other people thought about him but he knew for sure that they couldn't say that he wasn't beautiful. It would just be a lie if they said he wasn't.

Keiran chuckled at how his words were misinterpreted but he could see how she could take it that way. Maybe he was secretly implying that... He could never tell. "I didn't say that. I know how to appreciate beauty when I see it." Again, he wasn't sure if he was actually complimenting her. "I just don't think I could do it justice by trying to explain my reasons."

The stallion paused and contemplated about if it was worth his time to try and explain something like this to her. "I feel compelled to stare at myself. You see, some are obsessed over other objects of beauty. They can't help but look at it because it makes them happy." He paused slightly, "That's the best I could explain it. But come on, how could you not want to look at me?" Keiran's amused, almost smug, expression appeared on his face again. He just couldn't help it.  

[Meeki]

"My dad is Wrath," she stated proudly. "He's close friends with your father." She phrased the latter like she knew who he was. At least she kept her opinion of her dad being the greatest Kalona in the world to herself. She was sure most didn't like that, especially other Kalona.

She liked that she had a bit of an upper hoof, so to speak. She had seen Ariston before even though she had never spoken to him. She had seen Loveless interact with others before as well. While she might not really know anyone in that family on a personal level, they did have a distinguishable look all the same. The stallion before her looked quite a bit like Ariston, just a darker version of him.

She couldn't recall Ariston stopping to stare at himself but of course, she never followed him around, had she? "It makes you happy to look at yourself," she asked? How strange, she thought to herself. But then.. did anything make her happy? Perhaps that's why she found it strange.

"Oh, I could not want to look at you. Oh look, here I am, doing it now." She turned her head to stare at a group of birds flying above. Ok, it was childish but he was almost infuriating. Not quite, but almost. "And look, here I am, not looking at you more." She turned her head quickly, though her eyes did gaze at him briefly and started at the branches of a nearby tree.  

[AnimeChickie]

"Oh. Wow. I didn't know Wrath had kids." Keiran didn't even really know Wrath but it was just what he had heard from his family and actually, only his father knew the kalona very well. "Yes, I had heard about that." He hadn't actually seen Wrath before so meeting one of his kids was close enough. And she sure inherited his temper. Keiran hadn't even really seen his sister in a long time so he didn't even know how she was now.

Pausing, Keiran answered, "Yes, it does. To put it quite simply though. There might be something else at work but I don't think I'd be able to explain it very well." He wasn't exactly like his father, he took vanity to a different level but they both had similar mindsets.

He winced jokingly as she looked away from him. He glanced at her with piercing golden eyes, "If you're trying to anger me, you best stop trying. No offense," or maybe he really did mean to offend her, "but it doesn't matter if you look at me or not." Maybe he was just asking for his death wish but he didn't realize what he had just said.  

[Meeki]

"I don't want to make you angry," she snapped, turning her attention back on him. Once again he made her feel unimportant and she found herself at a loss for words. Instead she turned and back kicked at a tree furiously in an attempt to calm down. She really didn't want to attack the stallion. She cared about her father too much to want to risk displeasing him and she was sure it would upset him if he knew that she did not get along with Ariston's son.

A snap could be heard and a small branch fell down and conked the mare smartly on her head. It took her a moment to realize even what happened and she burst out in laughter, wincing slightly at the pain. "I suppose I deserved that," she admitted amenably.

"Honestly, I don't really care if I don't matter to you or not. I don't know why I get so worked up sometimes. I think I'm prettier than you anyway." The mare walked over to the bank near the stream and peered over. Then she started making faces at herself in the water. She twisted her face as awkwardly as possible and turned back to the stallion, "See, this one is way prettier than you."  

[AnimeChickie]

Staring at her skeptically, Keiran knew that it would be difficult to truly make him angry but it wasn't impossible. He had a habit of putting other soquili down without even realizing it. He just didn't care too much about others and the other soquili would have to be pretty damned special for him to really care.

Keiran began laughing after the tree branch fell on her head. "You probably did." He smirked at her obviously amused by her antics. Even though this wasn't exactly the entertainment he was looking for, beggars could be choosers. At least he wasn't bored at the moment and even though his temper could flare up at any moment, this conversation would probably be worth it. He didn't like showing emotion to others especially ones that made him seem weak or vulnerable. It was something that Heartless frowned upon but he couldn't help it. His heart wasn't a black hole like her own.

The stallion glared at the other kalona rather disdainfully. "You shouldn't get so worked up but I think I would have to disagree with you on that last part." Keiran winced as she showed him her distorted face. "I don't know what you consider beauty but if that is it, then..." He wasn't even sure how to reply to what she said; he was convinced that she was not nearly as pretty as he was, though he had to admit that she was pretty. "You should really stick to being angry then trying to admire beauty." That was a pathetic line but he was speechless for the first time in his life.  

[Meeki]

Fury rolled her eyes. "I've seen rocks with a better sense of humor than you," she retorted, growing frustrated. "I don't care if I'm pretty or not. I just like trying to give you a hard time."

The mare looked back into the water. She really never considered herself pretty. She didn't want to be like her mom who thought looks were important. She used her looks to hurt people. Hadn't she hurt her father? And she certainly never came around to visit her or her sister. It was like they weren't worthy enough of her attention. She heard that she was close to her brother, but he took was obsessed with such things.

No, she never cared for such things and never would. She preferred to be like her father and just enjoy what comes out of life, doing her own thing and living from one day to the next. Perhaps she was giving this stallion a hard time because he reminded her so much of her mom yet he wasn't like her much at all, was he? He wasn't trying to seduce or her outright hurt her. He just had an arrogance about him. But she had one of her own.

"I'm Fury," she finally stated in a greeting. "I guess I have no problem if you want to look at yourself," she offered, a compromise in her own way. "But I'll still find it weird."  

[AnimeChickie]

Keiran shrugged nonchalantly, "That's good. The rocks need it anyway." He couldn't help but chuckle at that last part about trying to give him a hard time. It seemed like everybody was trying to give him a hard time nowadays. He wasn't exactly close to his family but he seemed to have stronger ties to then then Fury had to her's. He respected his parents, maybe not so much his siblings, but definitely his parents. So he thought it was unfair of him to disappear off of the face of the earth without at least telling them.

Grinning slightly at her impromptu introduction, Keiran returned the introduction, "I'm Keiran." He was slightly surprised at her attempt at concessions. He was imagining that they could possibly argue about all of this for a good amount of time, not that he was complaining. But he felt like he should offer some concession too but he couldn't think of anything... "Well, I'll admit, you are pretty." He paused for a few seconds but then continued, "But I'm still better looking." Keiran laughed again knowing that this just made him seem more arrogant. Of course, he was just fine with that.  

[Meeki]

Fury snorted in feign anger. To be honest, she felt little flutters at his compliment though she'd never let him know that. He was the first to ever say she was pretty even if it was a shadow to his own opinion of himself. She'd accept it without argument. She wanted to believe she was pretty. Who really wants to be seen as ugly? Though she might be a little rough around the edges, she was a mare. Nothing was going to change that and like most mares, she liked compliments.. at least physical ones.

"You are awfully pretty," she teased. "Perhaps when a big bad monster stallion comes to look for a pretty mare to rut with, he will mistake you for one and spare me?" Not that it was possible, nor did she believe it. Keiran looked every bit as male as most stallions. Only a fool would mistake him for a mare.  

[AnimeChickie]

He continued to watch her carefully as she spoke. Everything she seemed to say was trivial to him... at the moment. Or maybe he cared more then he lead others to think. That was quite possible but not probable. Keiran chuckled rather loudly at her saying that somebody might mistaken him for a mare. "Oh and you would be on the side laughing at me." He paused and grinned slightly, "Because I know that if you were mistaken for a stallion... I would be doing exactly that." The stallion was enjoying himself at the moment and her company wasn't as pleasing as looking at his own reflection but it was good enough.

Oh, that reminded him. He tried to sneak a glance at the water secretly even though he didn't feel the urge to look at himself again, he just wanted to see how she would react. Would she become angry with him again or would she just brush it off? Keiran liked to tease and pester others... It was all in good nature though... most of the time.